DELHI, SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

Weekly Edition Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. TNENG/2012/49939 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 5 No. 33 CITY EDITION 26 Pages Rs. 8.00 www.thehindu.in

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INDEPENDENCE DAY ADDRESS PM lists out achievements of his government

Start-up, stand up campaign is CBI struggles with Dabholkar case

Maharashtra yet to act on its request He was shot dead in
Pune on August 20,

Modis new route to push growth for hands to find rationalists killers
Alok Deshpande while out on his morning
walk. As the police could not
2013, while out on
his morning walk

MUMBAI: More than a year af- arrest the culprits, the Bom-
Without backing Ex-servicemen ter the Central Bureau of In- bay High Court handed over lieved from their present
of 1.25-billion reject Modis vestigation took over the the investigation to the CBI duty.
Indians, no target case of murder of Narendra in May 2014. Chief Minister Devendra

can be achieved word on OROP Dabholkar, a rationalist who Many letters

Smita Gupta
NEW DELHI: In his second Inde-
pendence Day address as
Prime Minister here on Sat-
urday, Narendra Modi ac-
knowledged that whether it
was the goal of ending corrup-
tion or electrifying 18,500
more villages in 1,000 days,
nothing could be done without
the efforts of Team India,
the 1.25-billion people of the
country.
Demonstrating his felicity
for coining catchy titles for
government campaigns, the
Prime Minister announced
the Start-up India, Stand up
India scheme aimed at pro-
moting entrepreneurship at
the bottom of the pyramid.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the
nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort during
the Independence Day celebration in New Delhi
on Saturday. PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
Each of the 1.25 lakh bank
branches across the country,
he said, should encourage at
least one Dalit or Adivasi en-
trepreneur and one woman
entrepreneur. But Mr. Modi
disappointed ex-servicemen
as he failed to announce the
implementation of the long-
pending one rank, one pen-
sion scheme.
ATMOSPHERE OF GLOOM | PAGE 12 EX-SERVICEMEN TO INTENSIFY
MIXED REACTION | PAGE 13
Dinakar Peri
NEW DELHI: Reiterating his
governments commitment to
implement the one rank, one
pension (OROP) scheme for
retired armed services
personnel, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, in his
Independence Day address on
Saturday, said that though
negotiations were at the last
stage, justice had to be done to
all sections of the population.
Ex-servicemen termed the
speech hollow.
Talks are going on, and very
soon, a decision would be
reached. Discussions have come
to the final leg, Mr. Modi said.
AGITATION | PAGE 12
spearheaded an anti-super- A State Home Depart- ry (Home) K.P. Bakshi said
Fadnavis said that his gov-
ernment would provide
ment source said the CBI the department had re- more hands if needed. We
EXCLUSIVE wrote to it seeking six offi- ceived the requests. I have want a speedy probe and if
cers on deputation in the personally spoken to CBI of- the CBI wants, we will give
stition movement in Mah- last week of July and again ficials and I am aware of the them officers, he told The
arashtra, the agency faces a in the first week of August. situation. We will ensure Hindu.
shortage of hands. Its re- The agency had raised the that more hands are provid- The source said the staff
quests for more officers issue with the State govern- ed to the CBI, he told The shortage had affected the
have been pending with the ment earlier as well. Hindu. CBI investigation even in
State government. The CBI team refused to The entire process may the initial stage.
Dabholkar was shot dead comment on the issue. take 20 to 25 days as officers
in Pune on August 20, 2013, Additional Chief Secreta- have to be selected and re- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
Naga peace deal only a 20 crore seized
from Kolkata
framework, says Rijiju
engineers house
Vijaita Singh exclusive interview to The Shiv Sahay Singh
Hindu, the Minister, who is Congress leaders
NEW DELHI: The National So- from Arunachal Pradesh, instigated the Chief KOLKATA: It took almost 21

Abu Dhabi labour camp Bonhomie

excited about PMs visit
Nistula Hebbar
ABU DHABI: Narendra Modis
visit to the UAE, the first to
the West Asian nation by an
Indian Prime Minister in 34
years, is a trip with as much a
domestic constituency in
mind as it is with bilateral re-
lations. In no other place does
this become clearer than at
the ICAD Residential Labour
Camp here, housing migrant
labourers from the Indian
subcontinent in their thou-
sands in one square kilometre.
The camp will be Mr. Modis
second port of call in the UAE.
Security agencies of both na-
tions have cleared a select
group of 300 migrant workers
to interact with him in a mod-
est 20X40-metre sports hall
on the premises.
We came to know of the
visit five days ago, and these
are the arrangements that we
could do. Earlier, we had sent
a list of 350 people, but it has
been pared down to 300, said
an official involved in the
arrangements.
The nearly 2.6-million-
strong Indian diaspora in the
UAE sends the largest amount
of remittances up to $13 bil-
lion annually, or 60 per cent of
all remittance, despite making
up only 17.5 per cent of the
diaspora population.
CONTINUED | PAGE 12
cialist Council of Nagalim
(Isak-Muivah) has with-
drawn its demand of sover-
eignty and now wants a
solution within the Consti-
tution of India, Minister of
State for Home Affairs Ki-
ren Rijiju said on Saturday,
days after the Naga peace vice-president Rahul Gand-
accord was signed at a hi.
much-publicised ceremony
here.
The accord became pos-
sible because Prime Minis- consulted before the an-
ter Narendra Modi took a
big lead, Mr. Rijiju
said, even as he ac-
knowledged that the
northeastern states
of Assam, Manipur
and Arunachal Pra-
desh were not con-
Congress president Sonia Gandhi with
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan during sulted as the final
solution has not
the At Home at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on been arrived
Saturday. PHOTO: PTI (REPORT ON PAGE 12) yet.
In an
said the deal was only a
framework agreement.
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
Ministers of Assam,
Arunachal, Manipur
hours and three note-count-
ing machines to estimate the
amount of cash stashed inside
and Manipur, he said, have
been forced to make a U-
turn and oppose it on the when it was decided. That
cushions, mattresses, sofas,
ceilings, walls and even inside
boxes under the tiles of the
directions of Congress pres- was the PMs call; it does toilet in the house of Pranab
ident Sonia Gandhi and not mean we were in the Adhikari, a sub-assistant en-
dark. PM wants action and gineer in West Bengals How-
proper positive action, rah district. Cash was also
without any delay. It is just found from the refrigerator
Just an announcement an announcement, not im- and inside the cabinet of tele-
Asked if the Ministry was portant when I came to vision sets.
know. We are all part of the On Saturday afternoon,
nouncement, Mr. Riji- team. when the counting was com-
ju said: The If the Chief Ministers Ta- plete, the exhausted police of-
interlocutor run Gogoi, Nabam Tuki and ficers had counted currency
[peace interlocu- Okram Ibobi Singh, whose notes of denomination Rs.
tor R.N. Ravi] States have a sizeable Naga 500 and Rs. 1,000 valuing Rs.
represents the population, said they were 20 crore and seven and half
government. He not consulted on the Naga lakhs.
briefs the Home peace accord, even the
Ministry from time Home Affairs Ministry was DETAILS | PAGE 9
to time. It does not reportedly kept out of the
make any dif- entire process.
ference,
SWACHH BHARAT: TOURISTS
AS LITTERBUGS: PAGE 6
how and CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

INSIDE Kejriwals name triggers a storm Amid shelling and firing on

SUCCESS STORIES
Jatin Anand

NEW DELHI: Kejriwal Day or

CINEMA FINDS COMMON HERO
Manjhis upcoming release is
part of a newfound celebration
of unknown and unsung success
stories from small-town India.
SUNDAY ANCHOR | PAGE 10
SAINA IN FINALS
1ST INDIAN TO REACH THERE
JAKARTA: Olympic bronze
medallist Saina Nehwal became
the first Indian to reach the
finals of the World Badminton
Championships, assuring
herself of at least a silver
medal.
SPORT | PAGE 17
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
6 Pages
CLASSIFIEDS
On pages 5 & 7
Independence Day? was the
question spinning around so-
cial media on Saturday short-
ly after visuals of
placard-holding school chil-
dren spelling out the Chief
Minister's name at the venue
of the State-level Independ-
ence Day event went viral.
An embarrassed Mr. Kej-
riwal, later took to the same
medium expressing igno-
rance about instructions to
this effect, terming the epi-
sode a wrong practice and
promising to stop it forth-
with. Incidentally, this was
the first Independence Day
as CM for Mr. Kejriwal.
Allegations of megaloma-
nia and pictures of chil-
dren's formations spelling
out patriotic messages at In-
dependence Day celebrations
held at the Red Fort followed
as Twitter users across the
country expressed outrage
over Mr. Kejriwals bid to
advertise his cult over a pa-
triotic message at north Del-
hi's Chhatrasal Stadium.
The Hindu has learnt that
contrary to Mr. Kejriwal's as-
sertion that he had no prior
knowledge of what hap-
pened, close to 1,400 children
from 16 government schools
located across north and
north west Delhi were prac-
tising every morning since
August 1 as per written direc-
tions issued by the Directo-
rate of Education (DoE) on
for celebrations of events of
national importance, the
statement added.
The Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty and the Congress chose
not to let the opportunity go
by and cornered the Chief
Minister over the episode.
Mr. Kejriwal also drew flak
from his former party col-
leagues Prashant Bhushan
and Yogendra Yadav.
From crs (sic.) on person-
ality cult promoting Kejriwal
Placard-holding school children spelling out Chief ads to "Jai Ho Kejriwal" in-
Minister Arvind Kejriwals name at the venue of the stead of Jai Hind. Shameful
Independence Day event in Delhi on Saturday and Megalomania! tweeted Mr.
Bhushan.
(below) the picture released by the AAP showing Mr. Yadav asserted that
school children spelling out the name of Lieutenant trying to explain the episode
Governor Najeeb Jung on a previous occasion.
by invoking Ms. Dikshit hav-
ing done the same in the past
was worse than the accusa-
tion levelled at Mr. Kejriwal.
Has the AAP begun con-
sidering the former Congress
government in Delhi its role
model? Mr. Yadav asked.
Meanwhile, Delhi unit BJP
president Satish Upadhyay
condemned the State govern-
ment for politically misusing
the Independence Day func-
tion and lowering the digni-
July 24. an end to undesirable spec- ty & sanctity of the day.
On its part, the Delhi gov- ulation which was complete- Delhi Congress chief Ajay
ernment reacted by releasing ly avoidable, the Maken termed the visuals
pictures from similar events government said in a shameful with the party's
in the past -- when school statement. chief spokesperson Shar-
children had spelt out former It was unfortunate that a mishta Mukherjee alleging
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit needless controversy was that the Chief Minister had
and Lieutenant-Governor sought to have been created forsaken all sense on pro-
Najeeb Jung's names. These where none existed and the priety, decency for self
photographs speak for them- government wants to set the glorification.
selves and this direct and record straight that it does
concrete evidence should put not interfere in preparations
I-DAY IN DELHI | PAGE 4
LoC, Sharif greets India
National Bureau
NEW DELHI: Even as India and
Pakistan traded fire on the
Line of Control (LoC), leav-
ing five persons dead and 10
injured, Pakistan Prime Min-
ister Nawaz Sharif on Satur-
day sent a message to his
counterpart, Narendra Modi,
to wish him on Indias Inde-
pendence Day.
He said friendly, cooper-
ative and good relations
were in the interest of South
Asia. We in Pakistan sin-
cerely hope to settle all our
bilateral issues through a
sustained and comprehen-
sive dialogue and usher in a
new era of mutual trust and
cooperation, Mr. Sharif
wrote in a letter.
In a separate message to
President Pranab Mukher-
jee, Pakistan President
Mamnoon Hussain wrote
that Pakistan was committed
to promoting friendly rela-
tions between the two coun-
tries for peace and prosperity
in the region.
On Friday, when Pakistan
marked its Independence
Day, Mr. Modi had tweeted
Greetings & good wishes to
the people of Pakistan on
their Independence Day.
However, the friendly ex-
change of words was belied
on the border between both
countries, with another day
of shelling and mortar cross-
An injured civilian at a hospital in Rajouri after the
ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch and
Balakot sectors on Saturday. PHOTO: PTI
fire at the LoC, the seventh sions come days ahead of
consecutive day of ceasefire talks between the National
violations. Security Advisers that prom-
ise to be stormy, given that
Five casualties India is preparing a full dos-
Firing along the LoC in sier of Pakistans involve-
Poonch district of Balakote ment in the latest terror
on Saturday resulted in five incidents in Punjab and J&K,
civilian casualties, Pawan while Pakistan has made it
Kotwal, Divisional Commis- clear that it will raise the
sioner of Jammu, told The Kashmir issue as well as the
Hindu. Unlike in the past, trial of the Samjhauta blasts
there was no customary ex- case and bail to prime ac-
change of sweets on the bor- cused Aseemanand.
der crossing at Wagah, as the Meanwhile, Mr. Modi
BSF decided not to receive came in for criticism from
or give sweets to Pakistani the Congress for not refer-
rangers on August 14 and 15 ring to the situation with Pa-
to protest recent terror at- kistan in his Independence
tacks. The decision follows a Day speech. Why did he not
similar move to not exchange say anything on foreign pol-
Eid greetings last month to icy or terrorism? ques-
protest the killings due to tioned party leader and
shelling on the border. former MoS Home R.P.N.
The messages and ten- Singh.

CM ND-ND
YK
2| CITY THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI

City celebrates Independence Day Tourists as litterbugs

From teaching karate for self-defence to planting Todays Ground Reality takes a look at the tourist
herbal saplings, residents across Delhi NCR actively spots in the Capital and how swachh their
celebrated Independence Day. >> Page 4 surroundings are. >> Page 6

ALL IN THE GAME

Popular weekend sport
DELHI TO GET ITS FIRST ADVENTURE PARK BY SEPTEMBER
comes under NGT scanner
All for an adrenaline rush
Sidhartha Roy
Deeksha Teri

NEW DELHI: River rafting

camps in Uttarakhand have
come under the scanner due
to a petition filed by a non-
profit organization, Social
Action for Forest and Envi-

C
ome September and Delhi will get ronment (SAFE), before the
its first ever adventure park. National Green Tribunal
The adventure park is coming (NGT). SAFE has demanded
up next to Sanjay Jheel in Mayur action against camps along
Vihar and is spread over an area the Shivpuri to Rishikesh
of 6.3 acres. The park promises stretch that do not follow
Delhiites soft adventure sports regulations.
such as spider webs, Burma SAFE claims that the raft-
bridge, quad biking, monkey ing camps not only violate SAFE claims that the rafting camps not only violate
crawling and water sports too. the Forest (Conservation) the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, but also the
The park is being built by a con- Act, 1980, but also the Envi- Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Water
cessionaire engaged by the Delhi ronment (Protection) Act,
Tourism and Transportation De- 1986, and the Water (Pre- (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
velopment Corporation vention and Control of Pol- FILE PHOTO

(DTTDC). The corporation had lution) Act, 1974.

taken over the land from the Del-
hi Development Authority (DDA)
under a license fee and revenue
sharing basis.
Work is on and at an advanced
stage and DTTDC plans to open it
for public from next month.
The adventure park would be
the first of its kind in the Capital
and will offer Delhiites the option
to enjoy soft adventure sports
right in the city, said Ravi Dadh-
ich, General Manager, DTTDC.
Similar adventure parks are lo-
cated in some areas of NCR, but
nothing like this has ever come up
in Delhi itself, he said.
The land where the park is
coming up was an area that was
not in use when we took permis-
sion from the DDA to use it for an
adventure park. It is for the first
time that such an open area
would be made available for Del-
hiites to enjoy soft adventure
sports, he said.
Mr. Dadhich said that a con-
tract was awarded to the conces-
sionaire to build, operate and
manage the park following a due
tendering process. He said that
THE LAKE IS BEING CLEANED FOR THIS
PURPOSE SO THAT WATER-BASED
ACTIVITIES COULD BE STARTED
The park is being built by a concessionaire engaged by the Delhi Tourism and
Transportation Development Corporation. PRASHANT NAKWE
the concessionaire was given six
months time to build the park and
work is at an advanced stage now.
We are going to open it from the
month of September for the pub-
lic, he said.
He said that most of the soft
adventure activities would be
land-based with some water-
based sports to be started too.
The park would have no build-
ings or permanent structures, but
the site has been developed for
land-based activities, which
would use only rope or bamboo-
based structures, he said. These
would include spider web, Burma
bridge etc. The Government of
India has also provided funds for
the construction of the park, he
said.
Water-based sports such as
aqua jogging and boating facili-
ties wouldalso be made available
at the Sanjay Lake. The lake is
being cleaned for this purpose so
that water-based activities could
be started. There would also be a
designated pool corner and a kid-
zone in the park, he said.
Earlier, it was planned that
bungee jumping and zorbing
would also be provided, but those
plans have been shelved for now.
Bungee jumping may not be
there because it requires adher-
ing to many safety regulations.
But there would be lot of open
spaces available for other activ-
ities, he said.
Though the entry tickets and
prices for taking part in the ad-
venture sports would not be fixed
by the DTTDC, Mr. Dadhich said
that these would be within the
reach of the common man. We
will not regulate pricing, but we
would ensure that the prices are
kept affordable, he said.
For feedback, please mail us at
cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in
The camping area around
river Ganga has increased
from 2,000 square metre in
1994-1995 to 1,80, 000
square metre in 2009, for
which SAFE blames the hap-
hazard and unregulated li-
censing. The system of
first-come-first serve is be-
ing followed without any
consideration of the carrying
capacity of the river, which
in turn has added to the im-
mense pressure on the river.
On the bed of the river are
about 30-40 camping sites
and almost 800-1,000 river
rafting beach camps, which
have been permitted by the
State authorities. In order
to accommodate such a large
number of licences, trees are
cut and land flattened for
setting up camp sites, the
plea had said. This argument
is further supported by lo-
cals who feel that camp-
owners cut trees to meet
their needs of food and hous-
ing, with trekking contribut-
ing to the deforestation.
Due to the increasing
number of rafting camps, the
problem of disposal of solid
waste has gone up. Even hu-
man discharge, according to
SAFE, is becoming a huge is-
sue as it is collected in dry
pits, which ends up in the
river due to rains.
Rishikesh is known as
Devanagari of our country. It
is pure, sacred and pious.
The camps along the Shiv-
puri-Rishikesh stretch are
temporary sites. They, thus,
do not have adequate sewage
and sanitation facilities. This
not only disturbs the rivers
ecosystem, but also hurts the
cultural and religious senti-
ments,says Vikrant Tongad
of SAFE. The arrival camp
sites are located down-
stream, while the rafting
sites are further upstream.
To commute between the lo-
cations, camp-owners use
diesel vehicles. Parking, too,
is a concern with visitors in-
creasingly getting their own
vehicles. This not only pol-
lutes the air, but also dis-
turbs the peace.
Another problem is that of
people taking the word fun
too literally. According to a
study conducted by Wildlife
Institute of India (WII) in
June 2010, camping activ-
ities situated in the forests
force or attract the animals
to use the edges of the beach.
Further, camp-owners orga-
nise for music at night to let
the visitors enjoy. It is sad
that people do not even
think about the harm they
are doing to the animals.
They set up dance floors and
play loud music, which is
harmful for the animals.
This is why we want the NGT
to set up a proper mecha-
nism of regulating these ac-
tivities, says Rahul
Choudhary, an RTI activist
who filed the petition.
Camp-owners, meanwhile,
are concerned. Not every
rafting camp is guilty. Many
camps follow rules and regu-
lations. I think this problem
is arising due to the increas-
ing competition and sudden
increase in demand. Every
camp-owner wants to attract
people to his own camp and
earn money. Thus, they give
various offers which do not
comply with rules. I think
the camps abiding by regu-
lations should be allowed to
operate, said Manish, who
owns FoolHardy, an adven-
ture camp.
Rajen Singla of Club Holi-
days and Adventures, how-
ever, supports this decision.
We welcome this decision
of the NGT. I, myself, have
been guilty of not taking care
of the environment and feel
that this step was
necessary.
(The writer is an intern
with The Hindu)

Dream come true: Diljit NHRC for debate on human

NEW DELHI: Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh has recorded a song
with legendary Punjabi musician Gurdas Maan and he feels rights versus animal rights
lucky to have got an opportunity to collaborate with the icon.
The song titled, Ki Banu Duniya Da, is the re-worked Mohammed Iqbal
version of Manns hit with the same name and will feature in
season four of MTV Coke Studio. NEW DELHI: Taking suo motu cogni-
I was very busy with my work, when I got a call about the sance of reports on the stray dog
song. But the moment I heard about the collaboration with menace in Delhi, the National Hu-
Maan sir, I was ready for it. I was very excited to record the man Rights Commission (NHRC)
song. Working with Gurdas Maan was a dream come true, has called for a debate by the civil
Diljit said. PTI society on whether the human
rights should weigh above animal
rights in a situation where human
lives are at risk due to attack by
animals.
The Commission has issued no-
tices to the Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare and
Delhi Chief Secretary calling for
reports within four weeks to as-
certain their views on the issue as
well as on a recent incident when a
five-year-old child was mauled by
five stray dogs in Jamia Nagar
here. The NHRCs observations
have also come in the light of other
reports on the efforts of the Cap-
itals municipal bodies to deal with
the menace of stray dogs.
Municipal corporations, with
the help of non-government orga-
nisations, catch the dogs, sterilise
them and drop them back from
where they are caught. Even in
this job, the municipal bodies are
reportedly struggling to cope up.
The Commission said while the
measure of sterilisation might
The Commission has issued
notices to the Union
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and Delhi
Chief Secretary, calling
for reports within four
weeks to ascertain their
views on the issue
help contain the increase in the
dog population, it did not save or
shield people from the bites of ex-
isting dogs. It looks like human
rights versus animal rights battle.
This is not a problem of Delhi
alone, observed the Commission.
As the NHRC has come across
similar incidents in several other
parts of the country, it said the
situation assumes alarming pro-
portions if the stray dogs were
linked with their contribution to
rabies disease.
According to some estimates,
more than 50,000 deaths take
place in India annually due to ra-
bies. Most of the victims are chil-
dren. According to some reports,
the scarcity and exorbitant cost of
anti-rabies serum also are serious
issues, observed the Commis-
sion.

CINEMA
ENGLISH:
VACATION: PVR (Plaza, Rivoli, Priya,
Saket), DT (Saket, Shalimar Bagh, Vasant
Kunj), Wave (Raja Garden, Noida), Spice
(Noida).
HINDI:
BROTHERS (New Release: Akshay
Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline
Fernandez, Jackie Shroff): Delite, Shiela,
Golcha, Regal, Abhishek Cineplex, Batra,
Milan, Vishal, Liberty, Samrat, Aakash, Ritz,
Seble, Supreme, Suraj, Gagan, Lokesh,
Cinemax, G3S (Rohini), PVR (Plaza, Rivoli,
Priya, Saket, Citywalk, Naraina, Vikaspuri,
Prashant Vihar, EDM, Mahagun, Opulent),
M2K (Rohini, Pitampura), FUN (Moti
Nagar, Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar,
Karkardooma), DT (Saket, Shalimar Bagh,
Vasant Kunj), Movie Time (Raja Garden,
Pitampura), Satyam (Patel Nagar,
Janakpuri, Nehru Place), Wave (Raja
Garden, Noida, Kaushambi), BIG (Odeon,
Noida, Vaishali, Kaushambi), SRS Cinemas,
Spice (Noida), MMX, JAM Shipra, Galaxie,
Star X (Vaishali), Movie Palace, Movie
Magic, M4U, SM World, Chaudhary
(Ghaziabad), Movie World and Silver City
(Ghaziabad), Inox and Q Cinemas
(Faridabad).
DRISHYAM (Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran,
Tabu): G3S (Rohini), Cinemax, PVR (Saket,
Citywalk, Naraina, Vikaspuri, Prashant
Vihar, EDM), M2K (Rohini, Pitampura),
FUN (Moti Nagar, Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar,
Karkardooma), DT (Saket, Shalimar Bagh,
Vasant Kunj), Movie Time (Raja Garden,
Pitampura), Satyam (Patel Nagar,
Janakpuri, Nehru Place), Wave (Raja
Garden, Noida, Kaushambi), BIG (Odeon,
Noida, Vaishali, Kaushambi), SRS Cinemas,
Spice (Noida), Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali),
MMX, Movie Palace, Movie Magic,
Chaudhary (Ghaziabad), Movie World and
Silver City (Ghaziabad), Inox (Faridabad).
BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN (Salman
Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi):
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PVR (Saket, Citywalk, Naraina, Vikaspuri,
Prashant Vihar, EDM), FUN (Moti Nagar,
Pitampura, Laxmi Nagar, Karkardooma),
M2K (Rohini, Pitampura), DT (Saket,
Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj), Movie Time
(Raja Garden, Pitampura), Satyam (Patel
Nagar, Janakpuri, Nehru Place), Wave (Raja
Garden, Noida, Kaushambi), BIG (Odeon,
Noida, Vaishali, Kaushambi), Spice (Noida),
Galaxie, Star X (Vaishali), MMX, Movie
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(Ghaziabad), Movie World and Silver City
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(BOOKING ENQUIRIES: PVR
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Satyam Cinemas 25797385; Delite
23272903; Wave 51832222)

CM ND-ND
YK
 CITY |3
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

D E L H I
Aug 16, Sun Aug 17, Mon Aug 18, Tue
RISE 05 52 SET 19 00 RISE 05 52 SET 18 59 RISE 05 53 SET 18 58
RISE 07 11 SET 19 55 RISE 08 02 SET 20 29 RISE 08 53 SET 21 03

TRAGIC END
10-year jail HC to hear appeals in
CHILD BECAME VICTIM OF MINORS WRATH, WAS PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED for sodomy Hashimpura massacre

Victim of violence
Nirnimesh Kumar
Mohammed Iqbal A Division Bench said
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has
sentenced a man to 10 years of NEW DELHI: The Delhi High
that since the issue
rigorous imprisonment for so- Court, on October 20, will required serious
domising a four-year-old boy hear the appeals filed by vic- consideration, it would
in the bushes of a graveyard in tims of the infamous 1987 hear all the parties in
Kanjhawala in North-West Hashimpura massacre and
Staff Reporter Delhi in a drunken state on the Uttar Pradesh govern-
detail. As many as 42
the day of Bakri-Eid in 2013. ment against a trial courts people were killed in

L
ess than a month after the in- Evidence by the victim and acquittal of 16 Provincial Hashimpura village in
famous Meenakshi murder case, two eye-witnesses who had Armed Constabulary (PAC)
a seven-year-old girl child died
Uttar Pradeshs Meerut
saved the boy and caught hold personnel in the case.
allegedly after being subjected to of the accused helped the A Division Bench com-
district on May 22, 1987
merciless physical assault by her court in holding accused Sure- prising Justices Sanjiv
neighbour at north Delhis nder guilty of the offence un- Khanna and RK Gauba said (NHRC).
Anand Parbat on Friday evening. der Section 6 (aggravated on Thursday that since the The NHRC has further
The victim, Payal, was beaten sexual penetrative assault) of issue required serious con- sought an enquiry into the
up by the minor son of a neigh- the Protection of Children sideration, it would hear all incident and framing of gui-
bourhood shopkeeper on Thurs- Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. the parties in detail. delines for cases of custodial
day evening, allegedly in reaction The accused had tempted The court observed that violence.
to choosing to purchase groceries the victim with promises of the occurrence of the inci- The Bench also asked the
from a rival shopkeeper. She was sweetmeat. The boys father dent was not in dispute, with victims counsel about the
shifted to hospital for treatment was a neighbour of the ac- even the trial court accept- possibility of payment of
and had been discharged hours cused. Counsel for the ac- ing it in its judgement of compensation to the affect-
before she breathed her last. cused indirectly tried to acquittal. ed families through the Del-
According to the police, a case discredit the two eye-witness- The court, which had is- hi Legal Services Authority.
of culpable homicide amounting es by enquiring from the vic- sued notices to 16 PAC per- As many as 42 people
to murder has been registered. tims father whether they sonnel on May 29 on the were killed in Hashimpura
Though police sources said the belonged to his community. appeal against the trial village in Uttar Pradeshs
juvenile who allegedly assaulted The medical report also said courts verdict, issued fresh Meerut district on May 22,
her had been detained, senior of- that the sodomy on the child notices to them on an in- 1987, when they were alleg-
ficials denied the contention and cannot be ruled out and cor- tervention application edly shot by the PAC person-
refused to either confirm or deny roborated the deposition by moved by the National Hu- nel and their bodies thrown
the development till the official the victim who stood by his man Rights Commission into a canal.
receipt of her post-mortem ex- After the Meenakshi murder case, north Delhis Anand Parbat sees yet another incident statement recorded by a Met-
amination report. of mindless assault. PHOTO: PTI ropolitan Magistrate under
We are in the process of ascer- Section 164 of the Crime Pro-
taining the precise reason behind formed about the incident post followed by a terrible beating in riorating further and leading to cedure Code in the trial. WEATHER WATCH (City-wise reading yesterday)
her death; the incident is also be- Payals death on Friday evening. full public view, following which her death. The local police were The prosecution has been
ing probed from the angle of pos- According to her family, Payal he fled leaving Payal crying in informed and a team was des- For metros highlighted, readings show max temperature
able to prove the charge
sible medical negligence and had gone to the neighbourhood pain. patched to the spot from where it against the accused beyond
further investigation is under- market on Thursday evening to A neighbour informed her rushed Payal to the Lady Hard- reasonable doubt. The ac-
way, said a senior police officer purchase a few things on instruc- family, which then rushed her to inge hospital where doctors de- cused accordingly stands con-
adding that the police were in- tions from her mother. the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) clared Payal dead. Her body has victed for offence punishable
When she reached the market, Hospital for medical assistance. been retained for a post-mortem under Section 6 of the Act,
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF it is alleged, she went to the shop
adjacent to the one the family
Payal was then treated for bro-
ken ribs in addition to similar
examination at the same facility,
the police officer said.
Additional Sessions Judge Vi-
nod Yadav said, holding the
ASCERTAINING THE PRECISE REASON usually went to. This is under- injuries at the RML hospital for a accused guilty. Delhi | 33.6 C
BEHIND HER DEATH; THE INCIDENT IS stood to have angered the minor
son of the said shopkeeper.
day before being discharged.
It is alleged that her condition
However, the Judge showed
For feedback, please mail us at compassion to the accused
ALSO BEING PROBED FROM THE ANGLE The accused is alleged to have worsened soon after reaching her cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in while sentencing him keeping
OF POSSIBLE MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE cornered the child immediately residence before gradually dete- in view the burden of taking
Kolkata | 31.2 C
care of his wife and a minor
daughter.
Mumbai | 31.5 C
Hyderabad | 33.4 C
ENGAGEMENTS
Medals for 20 Delhi police personnel Art: Life Series - solo art
exhibition by Nawal Kishore
Classical Music. Sarod recit-
al by Ranajit Sengupta fol- Bengaluru | 31.1 C Chennai | 36.4 C
Staff Reporter at Ekaani Art, A 274, De- lowed by Hindustani Vocal
fence Colony, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. recital by Ashwini Bhide-
NEW DELHI: Twenty Delhi Po- Exhibition: Monumen- deshpande at Habitat
lice personnel, including tal - a photographic repre- World, India Habitat Centre
Special Commissioner (Wel- sentation of the monuments (IHC), 7 p.m.
fare and Estate Oversight) Image & Data: India Meteorological Department
of Delhi in an abstract mini- Lecture: The Nemichan-
and Joint Commissioner malist form by Ahmed Firoz dra Jain Memorial Lecture Forecast for Sunday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at isolated
(Special Cell), were confer- Delhi O Delhi Foyer, India 2015 - Jhadu Katha: Enact- places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
red Police Medals for their Habitat Centre (IHC), 10 ments of the Broom in Oral Assam and Meghalaya. Heavy rainfall would occur at isolated places over
services on the eve of Inde- a.m.-8 p.m. History, Political Spectacle east Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
pendence Day. Painting: Solo show of and Bare life by Rustom
Inspector Kailash Singh Max Min Max Min Max Min
paintings by Bhawna Bhanot Bharucha, Eminent Scholar Agartala 32.6 25.9 Hubballi 30.0 21.0 New Delhi 33.6 28.5
Bisht, Head Constables Sa- at Convention Centre Foyer, at Seminar Hall, First Floor, Ahmedabad 32.9 25.5 Hyderabad 33.4 23.3 Patna 34.8 27.5
tender and Rajeev Kumar Spl. CP S. Vasudeva Rao Jt. CP Vivek Gogia ACP Gyan Singh Meena India Habitat Centre (IHC), India International Centre Allahabad 33.7 27.8 Imphal 30.6 23.5 Port Blair 31.6 25.8
and Constable Birender 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. (IIC), 6 p.m. Aizawl 27.9 Jaipur 31.0 26.2 Pune 29.8 21.5
Singh have been awarded the Talk: Shri Ambarish Dave Screening: Where the Bengaluru 31.1 20.5 Kohima 25.6 15.8 Puducherry 35.4 25.6
prestigious Police Medal for on Self Enquiry - as taught Sun is born Spanish film Bhopal 28.5 23.6 Kolkata 31.2 26.3 Raipur 32.0 26.0
Gallantry. by Bhagavan Ramana Ma- screening as part of Guate- Bhubaneswar 30.0 25.3 Kochi 31.0 24.0 Ranchi 31.4 24.4
S Vasudeva Rao, Special harshi at Ramana Kendra, 8 malan Film Series at Institu- Chandigarh 32.2 26.4 Kozhikode 31.2 24.5 Shillong 25.2 18.4
Commissioner of Police Institutional Area, Lodi to Cervantes, 48, Hanuman Chennai 36.4 27.9 Kurnool 36.9 26.4 Shimla 20.6 16.7
(Welfare and Estate Over- Road, 5 p.m. Road, Connaught Place, 4:30 Coimbatore 33.8 23.5 Lucknow 36.2 27.0 Srinagar 31.3 19.3
sight), and Vivek Gogia, Jt Music: Gandharva Maha- p.m. Dehradun 31.4 23.6 Madurai 39.6 26.2 Vijayawada 35.3 26.5
Commissioner of Police vidyalaya presents Vishnu (Mail your listings for this Gangtok 22.2 18.0 Mangaluru 30.8 24.2 Visakhapatnam 31.3 27.4
(Special Cell), have been Digambar Jayanti 2015 an- column at cityeditordelhi Goa 30.0 24.0 Mumbai 31.5 24.8 Thiruvananthapuram 32.0 25.2
awarded the Presidents Po- nual festival of Hindustani @thehindu.co.in) Guwahati 32.5 25.0 Mysuru 31.6 20.3 Tiruchi 40.1 27.6
lice Medal for Distinguished
Service.
Fourteen police personnel
including Vijay Kumar, ACP ACP Swatantar Singh Gill ACP Laxmi Bai Kanwat Insp. Kailash Singh Bisht
(Rashtrapati Bhawan), Swa-
tantar Singh Gill, ACP (Ist Pal, SI Naresh Chopra, ASI Chand, have been conferred sented to the personnel on
Bn DAP), Laxmi Bai Kanwat, Ramesh Chander, Head the Police Medals for Meri- the occasion of National Po-
ACP (SPUWAC), Inspector Constable Jitender Kumar torious Service. lice Day on February 16,
Surender Kumar, SI Brahm and Constable Kalyan The medals will be pre- 2016.

Brigadier Four acquitted in Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify &

make appropriate enquiries to satisfy

duped themselves about the veracity of an adver-

Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: An Indian Army
Brigadier was allegedly duped
of Rs.20 lakh after being in-
formed he had earned a bonus
on his Life Insurance Corpo-
ration (LIC) policy, the police
confirmed on Saturday.
Identified as Brigadier Ajay
Pal, 52, the victim was told he
had to invest 40 per cent of
the bonus. Soon, Brig. Pal was
informed the bonus had in-
creased to Rs.1.86 lakh and he
was asked to deposit Rs.
49,000 to Go India Service.
He made the payment, but
the demand did not stop. De-
posits were requested for
opening a Demat account,
agent code removal, etc.
On the basis of Brig. Pals
statement, a case under sec-
tions 120-B (criminal con-
spiracy) and 420 (cheating) of
the Indian Penal Code has
been filed with the crime
branch.
The investigating officers
are probing details provided
by Brig. Pal, who has named
three of the accused, includ-
ing a woman.
gangrape case
Nirnimesh Kumar
NEW DELHI: Four accused have
been let off by a Delhi court in
a gangrape case as the victim
deposed in the trial that they
have committed no offence
against her. She also urged
the court to acquit them.
The four accused were ten-
ants of the victim in Rajouri
Garden in West Delhi. They
stayed on the first floor while
the victim, along with her
husband, lived on the ground
floor of the building a wed-
ding gift from her father.
They had also threatened her
that they would kill her if she
disclosed the incident to her
husband. According to the
complaint lodged with the lo-
cal police, the four accused
had intruded into the house
of the victim and raped her. A
few days later, they had once
against barged into her house
and molested her.
The police had got the
statement of the victim re-
corded by a Metropolitan Ma-
gistrate for making it a
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 advertisers pro-
ducts and/or services. In no event can the
Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s,
foolproof case. Employees of this newspaper/company be held
The case hinged on the vic- responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for
any claims and/or damages for advertisements
tims allegations in her com- in this newspaper.
plaint and the statement
recorded by the Magistrate.
But in the trial, she refused to
support the prosecution.
She was extensively cross-
examined by the prosecution
but she did not budge from
the inverse position she took
on the case. All the accused
persons present in the court
today have not committed
any offence against her and
they are innocent. She did not
want to say anything else,
the victim deposed in the
trial.
Therefore, in view of
above discussion, the con-
science of this court is com-
pletely satisfied that the
prosecution has failed to
bring home the charge
against all the accused per-
sons namely Puneet Batra,
Arjun Singh, Sanveer Sharma
and Rohit Joshi for the of-
fences Additional Sessions
Judge Nivedita Anil Sharma
said acquitting them.

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Malini Parthasarathy (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

CM ND-ND
YK
4| CITY THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI

COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

KEJRIWAL CALLS FOR SYNERGY BETWEEN CENTRE AND DELHI; HIGHLIGHTS AAP GOVT'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN FIRST SIX MONTHS

Differences are healthy in democracy: CM

Staff Reporter

C
hief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on
Saturday pitched for 'synergy'
between the Centre and the Del-
hi government in his Independ-
ence Day speech at Chhatrasal
Stadium here, saying that a
cooperative approach was the
key to development while 'dif-
ferences' were healthy in a
democracy.
In his 40-minute speech with
several dignitaries and thou-
sands of schoolchildren looking
on, Mr. Kejriwal ran through the
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) govern-
ments 'unprecedented' achieve-
ments in its first six months,
mainly in social sectors and in
curbing corruption, saying Delhi
has an 'honest Chief Minister,
Ministers and officials'.
I have political differences
with Modiji. But differences are
healthy in a democracy. Its a
good thing to have differences.
But it is important to have syn-
ergy between the two as well.
Such cooperative arrangements
are needed for development.
Since we are running govern-
ments, we should have a working
arrangement irrespective of our
major ideological differences,
he said at the end of his address
after unfurling the tricolour.
Referring to distribution of
compensation to the victims of
1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Chief
Minister showered praise on
Home Minister Rajnath Singh
saying he wholeheartedly coop-
erated with his government on
the issue.
Cheques will be distributed
soon and I want the first cheque
to be handed over by Rajnath
Singhji. He has assured us that
the money for it will be given by
the Centre, he said, adding Rs. 5
lakh each will be given to the
families of the victims.
Interestingly, he did not refer
to the acrimony between the
Delhi government and the Lieu-
tenant Governor Najeeb Jung's
office due to the power tussle
over issues of administrative
jurisdiction. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal taking salute on Independence Day at Chhatrasal Stadium on Saturday; and students at the celebrations. PHOTOS: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
At the function, he also took

Walled city relaxes and feasts

salute of contingents comprising
personnel from the Delhi Police,
Delhi Home Guards, Civil De-
fence, NCC, and the Delhi Fire
Services
Mr. Kejriwal said the govern-
ment was on course to fulfill an-
other of its major electoral
promises by launching the edu-
cation loan guarantee scheme
for higher education in the next
one month.
Higher education fees are be-
yond the reach of the common
man today. It is difficult to get
bank loans without mortgaging
property. We are launching our
education loan guarantee
scheme within a month, which
will require no such mortgage.
In case of inability to pay back,
the government will pay, he
said.
The heavens opened 30 min-
utes into his speech, but the
Chief Minister asked the audi-
ence and participants of the
march past, comprising largely
students, to stay put and contin-
ued his address.
SINCE WE ARE RUNNING
GOVERNMENTS, WE SHOULD
HAVE A WORKING ARRANGEMENT
IRRESPECTIVE OF OUR MAJOR
IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
Authorise us to end pacts
with power generators
Staff Reporter said.
The Chief Minister said Delhi was Narendra Modi's speech hammed Adil (25), a busi-
NEW DELHI: Choosing Independence getting 24-hour power supply and
Day as an apt occasion, Chief thatthe AAP governments decision
Minister ArvindKejriwal on Saturday earlier this year to slash powertariff couple of hours ago and the
urged the Central government to by more than half had brought
hand over the authority to cancel relief to the commonman .
existing power purchase agreements This is possible only under an
withelectricity generating honest government, hesaid,
companies to the State government. adding, Power Minister Satyendra
The move, Mr. Jain has calculated thecost and has Chandni Chowk, however, find it there, said Santosh
Kejriwal said, concluded that cost may further
THE MOVE could help come down. Power experts said
COULD further cut Delhi discoms have to incur 60 per
power tariffs in centmore cost on buying power
HELP the Capital. compared to other States because
FURTHER Entered into by ofthe long-term power purchase.
CUT POWER the SheilaDikshit According to the Delhi Electricity ers
government, he Regulatory Commission, thethree
TARIFFS said the long-term private power distribution
power purchase companies havebeen buying 95-98
pacts would have to bescrapped to per cent of power as per provisions
bring down the power rates. Power of thelong-term power purchase
is being bought at Rs. 5 per unit in pacts signed between erstwhile
Delhi at themoment. Many DelhiVidyut Board and various
companies have offered us Rs. 2.5/3 power generators, includingState-
per unit in ve-year agreements. But run NTPC.
previous governments had entered
into30-year agreements. I urge
Union Power Minister PiyushGoyal For feedback, please mail us at
to cancel those agreements, he cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in
Sidhartha Roy idents of the walled city just
take it easy and enjoy home
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister cooked food, said Mo-
from the ramparts of the nessman and resident of
Red Fort had just got over a Matia Mahal.
Indeed, most of the few
stringent security cordon shops open were that of
had relaxed a bit after days butchers and barbers.
of rigorous preparation. Our Independence Day
Life on the other side of celebrations don't happen
Netaji Subhash Marg at on the streets; you would
was yet to pick up pace. Gupta (48), a resident of Ba-
With almost all its shops zar Sitaram, pointing to-
closed and the street, just wards the roofs of the
drenched in a downpour, cheek-by-jowl buildings,
empty except for a few tour- where many youngsters had
ists and some rickshaw pull- started flying kites even
moving languidly, though the sky was overcast A boy waves the national flag in the backdrop of
Chandni Chowk was unrec- after the downpour. Jama Masjid on Saturday. PHOTO: AP
ognisable on Saturday. The Patangbaazi (kite flying)
frenetic movement of goods in the walled city is unlike nied with playing of patriot- Still, people even go on to
and people was missing even anything similar that you ic songs from the rooftops, the roofs of their neighbours
in the middle of the day. would see in other parts of but because of the rain, to fly kites together, said
Even though the focal the city. It's a passion here, many had removed their Pawan Yadav, a resident of
point of the nation's Inde- he said. music systems. Chooriwalan.
pendence Day celebrations We have learned the I have grown up in these The tradition of kite flying
is just across the road, Au- daao pench (manoeuvres) of galis like the nine genera- ensures that there are
gust 15 for the walled city is a kite flying from our elders tions before me. Earlier, ev- scores of shops selling kites
day to sit back, relax and and it is a legacy passed on eryone flew kites from the and kitestring. A huge de-
feast even as it celebrates from one generation to rooftops of their own mand, however, is also for
the occasion in its own way. another.
Most businesses are
houses, but standalone tricolour armbands, hats,
Mr. Gupta said that kite buildings have now been re- bangles, and of course flags
closed on August 15 and res- flying is usually accompa- placed with builder flats. of all sizes.

RWAs focus on cleanliness campaign Serve nation

United Residents of Delhi has organised year-long herbal plantation drive
Sweta Goswami
NEW DELHI: From teaching
karate for self-defence in
an increasingly crime-
prone city to planting
herbal saplings, residents
across the NCR celebrated
Independence Day on
Saturday.
Unlike the usual trend
where people mostly sit
back and enjoy the nation-
al holiday, residents in
thousands of housing so-
cieties this time chose to
step out.
Even a year later, im-
pressions of the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan launched
by Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi remain intact as
the theme of most resi-
dents welfare associations again and swept them make people aware of civic and the police have failed
(RWAs) revolved around
the campaign.
Residents of Laxmi Na-
of hundreds of RWAs, has
organised a year-long
herbal plantation drive.
Our aim is to keep one
medicinal plant for each
household at least. Our
plantation drive is spread
across 10 Assembly seg-
ments only, because we do
not want to dilute the ef-
fectiveness, said Saurabh
Gandhi, member of the
URD.
Interestingly, some even
took to training and show-
Children showcase their karate moves during
casing karate and judo
the Independence Day celebrations organised skills. When asked how
by Gardenia Glamour Apartment Owners these are related to the oc-
Association in Vasundhara Sector 3, casion, residents of Garde-
Ghaziabad, on Saturday. nia Glamour Society in
PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Vasundhara Sector 3, Gha-
ziabad, said, The crime
gar took to streets once formed plays and mimes to rates are just increasing
clean. Similar scenes could sense and cleanliness. to perform their job effi-
be seen in Ghaziabad and United Residents of Del- ciently. Self-defence is the
Noida. Many even per- hi (URD), a conglomerate need of the hour.
with vigour,
says Jung
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: On the occasion of
the 69th Independence Day,
Lieutenant Governor Najeeb
Jung hoisted the flag at at Raj
Niwas on Friday.
Mr. Jung inspected the guard
of honour and greeted the offi-
cers and staff present.
He exhorted all present to re-
new their pledge to serve the
nation with greater vigour, sin-
cerity and commitment.
As we remember those who
sacrificed their lives for our
great nation, our true tribute to
their memory would be to
steadfastly walk in the path of
righteousness, Mr. Jung said.
He reminded all present of the
importance of Indias Constitu-
tion.
It is an unparalleled docu-
ment and we must abide by it
and live up to the ideals envi-
saged by the architects, he said.
Mayor announces insurance
cover for EDMC employees
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: Independence
Day was celebrated by differ-
ent municipal agencies with
much fanfare on Saturday.
East Delhi Mayor Harsh-
deep Malhotra hoisted the
national flag at Udyog Sadan,
Patparganj.
Speaking about the contri-
bution of freedom fighters,
he said, We should draw in-
spiration from them as they
dedicated their lives for the Schoolchildren presenting cultural programmes at
country. Udyog Sadan in Patparganj on Saturday.
He said the tricolour rep- PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
resents saffron for courage
and sacrifice, white for peace would be paid from the cor- cil (NDMC) were held at Pal-
and truth, and green for faith porations account. He said a ika Kendra, with unfurling of
and chivalry. group of students from mu- the national flag by Naresh
Mr. Malhotra said that all nicipal primary schools, who Kumar, NDMC chairman.
EDMC employees would be performed cultural pro- Students of NDMC
covered under the Pradhan grammes, would be given Rs. schools presented patriotic
Mantri Sukrasha Bima Yoja- 1,000 each. songs and ballet on the
na (accidental death insur- The celebrations of the theme of freedom move-
ance) and the premium New Delhi Municipal Coun- ment.

CM ND-ND
YK

NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
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SSSUSG TRAINING Centre (ABD&OBG)/ 32/159 M.Phil Pursuing Ph.d Fair Well qualified in reputed College
TVS/ECHO Ct:9840074400 Godfearing Christian Divorcee Prof with good family background Caste
with 7 yr Child lived a year needs No Bar Anywhere India & Abroad
godfearing eductd Groom. 7299392233 / vinothvino92@
GENERAL 09500324637 yahoo.com.
TOOL ROOM MANAGER Reputed Tool RC VELLALAR parents seeks good al- HINDU NADAR 24/157 Kettai Fair BE
Room in Chennai Requires a Person liance for their daughter fair CSE, BDO JETRO Chennai 24000/pm
Experienced in Tool Room Manage- B.Tech 24/164 affluent from pious seeks BE/MBA/MCA, employed, ht
ment Having Tool MFG, Processing, Catholic qualified tall handsome 169cm, prfd starKarthigai/ Punar-
Planing, Estimation, Quality Con- well settled families. Email: poosam/ Poosam/ Uthiram/Swathi/
trol with CADCAM & Knowledge sjpeliz@gmail.com Ph: 098430 Anusham only. Ct:9840269908/
Salary at Par with Experience. Con- 19950. varunaso3@gmail.com
tact Post Box or Email:
hrinterview123@gmail.com. Box RC AD 31/ BVSc/ Phd fair seeks RC
Mudaliar Sep. 1973/160, Punar-
Tamil Groom caste no bar. gia792@ SAIVA PILLAI, 25yrs, Poorattadhi,
No.HA38138, THE HINDU, Chennai pusam, MBA, Good looking, Employed Kumbam, ME, Phd (Full Time & com-
600002. gmail.com, 09884352692, 0
MNC Indonesia, seeks groom from De-
9840715492 pletion by April 2016) settled in
cent Family, Professionally Quali- Chennai seeks groom from highly
fied employed abroad Email: qualified working professional,
CSI CHRISTIAN Nadar Girl Fair, lp_chechat@yahoo.co.uk Ph:
Good Looking, 03041986 / 152cm / 0628111975718 good habits, good family back-
M.Sc (Botany) M.Phil (Botany) / ground, below 28yrs. Ct:
S.E.T (State Eligibility Test For MUDALIAR 24 MBBS 50000/attractv achidambaranathan@gmail.com
Lectureship) Passed/ Both Parents seek Doctor any Vellar/Pillai.
Doctors (Private), Suitable Al- Email: dinaeshsuchi@gmail.com Tamil Yadhava. age 25, Female,
liance, Employed/ Settled in Chen- BE, working in IT Company, Chen-
nai/ With Clean Habits from Same VELLALAR DIVORCEE 30 USA 3Lac/pm nai, salary Rs.45,000/pm, fair &
Community. Contact: 9841182514. beautiful, seeks suitable groom
seeks groom USA/Chennai profenl. E from Tamil Yadhava Box NoHB3154,
MALAYALAM CSI BC 28/162 BPT Rs.80000 Physio-
mail: dinaeshsuchi@gmail.com THE HINDU Chennai600002
therapist Saudi, Own House Chennai CHETTIAR (NATTUKOTAI) 35, B.E (IT)
THIYYA GIRL 27/160 Fair MS(Engg) seeks suitable groom. 9444911818 ADI DRAVIDAR 23/157 MBA AdminHR
Uthram Chowa in Eighth Senior Mail alexanand53@gmail.com Working U.S.A Avittam, Good Family
Cont. 9962968213 9677685370 Imperial IT Solutions Chennai 15K
Project Engineer Working in Singa- p.m. 04134205775/04162256257
pore seeks Suitable Groom Ct MBBS 30/156 F.Hindu(Vanniar) M
09841014104/04423821463/ MMudaliar FSC(Ad) 24/160 BE
Christian seeks Catholic Doctor/En- Kirthigai Fair Upper Middle Class PILLAI (CASTENOBAR) 24/162 MBA Bar-
psprabhasuresh@gmail.com gineer. OC/BC/MBC. 9940529886/ Only Daughter.Seeks Fair Qual Work clays Bank Manager Chennai . 044
9444808870 Reputed Firm/Govt blw 29. Ct: 42805759/04314024022
NAIR GIRL 32/158 Uthradam (Shudha- RC /CSI/ SC/ 32/ 162cm/ Professor/ 09444396382
jathakam), B.Tech, MNC Bangalore. Fair/ Seeks Grooms/ Chennai / HINDU VELLALAR 44/152 Slim, Fair,
09633851831, 09686880794. SAIVA VELLALA Swathi/Thula fair 27/ Good looking US Citizen, BE,
8056405017 / prayerwinstheworld@ 165 BE/MBA 8L pa Chennai, seek MS,Ph.D, USA, Working in USA. Ct:
gmail.com well qlfd. below 31 yrs groom from 04443553603, 9841680071. Email:
TAMIL NADU settled, Malayale Nair any Veg community. Ct: 8870338311 janakamckumaraguru@gmail.com
girl age 27 MCA star Avitam, Rasi RC MDS Path 26/157/Nadar seeks RC
Kumbam, Working in MNC Chennai. groom MS/MD/MDS/M.Tech/ Group1 C.S.I NADAR parents seeking groom
CT:09790231274 Email:sandy.cslm@ Sub Caste Ok. 9444273994, for daughter BE,162cm.1984,Central
gmail.com 9444274088 Govt bank manager.Preferably pro-
ROMANCATHOLIC VELLALAR seek al- fessional groom from chennai or
can come to chennai.
EZHAVA 25/157 B.Tech MNC MediumCom- liance for daughter 46 yrs BCA BEd Ct:09443282524
plexion Thulam Chitra onlyChild Fair Slim Unmarried from Grooms 50
suitableGroom below 30yrs to 55. PH:08912745771, 9291457202 Suitable Match for Mumbai based
Ct:8056272565 reddiar girl, fair, slim, 27/183cm
Christian AUG 1986 166Cms B.Tech
Senior Associate MNC, Chennai, 8 Manager in Pvt. Bank looking for
TRISSUR NAIR Girl 26/170 Makam Lakhs per annum from suitable like minded groom from well educat-
(Dosham), MSc, JobCoimbatore Protestant Christians 94425 57732 ed family and working in the met-
Seeks Suitable Boy. 08903406186, susiandeben@gmail.com ros. Contact: 9867432009 /
04222606255 9930674364 nilavu64n@yahoo.co.in
RC TAMIL MBBT Degree 26/163,
wheatish seeks God fearing good SOZHIAPILLAI M.COM(CA), MBA, 24,
PALGHAT NAIR divorcee girl post looking,post graduate professional fair seeks profnl below 30yrs
graduate, Senior Business consul- from decent RC family.04712337662/ vrm1759@gmail.com Ph: 9087200311.
tant in IT MNC at Bangalore, Oct 2332562 send BHP.
83/160, fair, athletic only child
of upper middle class parents CSI born again Thevar 31/158, MUDALIAR, 27/165, Fair, MBBS, MS,
seeks alliance from boys of compa- Wheatish, M.Phil (French), Intl. Doctor, Govt Hosp, India, well to
rable profiles. 9446022706, Bank, Blore, 9.5Lpa, seeks well ed- do, seeks Doctor/Eng,04443483328
nairjk54@gmail.com ucated any CSI groom, working/Relo-
cated in Bangalore. Caste No ADIDRAVIDAR, Beautiful, 26/165,
bar.Ct:9442580696 / 8870367781 / MBBS, Doctor, Govt.Hosp.Chennai,
ALLIANCE FOR Fair bful PG 46/160 ntvs007@gmail.com 40000PM seeks Doctor/Eng, 044
Issueless Divorcee Looks younger 43483326
employability trainer Nair fmly BAPTIST SC / 170 / 25yr / ML /
settled Secbad seek handsome Affluent family / Seeks groom IAS, SAIVA MUDALIAR 26 Thiruvonam Maga- VISWAKARMA, Beautiful,25/165, B.E,
proff. well settled in Hyd 4650 IPS, IFS, Doctor, Arch, Govt / TN ram Fair SWE, MNC, Rich. gunasekar Unemployed, well to do, seeks job/
Hindu ucaste pref Malayalee Nair / Caste no bar / Ct: 9940649593 anpoonamallee@gmail.com/ business/India/abroad,04443483310
Menon etc Issueless Divorcees Wid- 09629276108
owers need only reply BHP RC UDAYAR 28 MBA, Working in Gov- PILLAI, Beautiful, 24/165, B.
sahasrapoojya15@gmail.com ernment Sector Chennai, 42000/PM. HINDU INTERCASTE FGramani,MBrah- Tech,Swe,Infosys, Ch, 30000PM,
Invites Suitable Proposals. min,Danusu Rasi Uthiradam,26/168/B. Rich Family,seeks job/business,044
9444456881 Tech,Software Engineer/CTS seeks 43483325
NAIR DOCTOR doing MDChest professionally qualified suitable
Medicine, Chennai settled, 28/155/ RC,DKV,BSMS,MD(Siddha)30,Own bridegroom(Raghu,Kethu Dosha), YADAVA, Beautiful, 21/160, B.E, Un-
Uthirattathi, Very fair,Beautiful, Clinic.Caste Nobar.40000pm.Seek Ct:9486629266,elango9759@gmail.com employed, Rich Family,seeks job/
from Well to do business family Suitable Groom.9176260510,carulandu
seeks Post graduate Doctors/ High- @yahoo.in business/India/abroad,04443483324
PILLAI REVATHI 26/153 fair beauti-
ly qualified Very well Employed/ ful veg BE (MBA) HCL 4.2L pa seeks
Businessman from affluent fami- CSI NADAR / 30 / PG / 6 Lacs PA / pure veg Pillai/Brahmin below SC, Ad 24/BE., Central Govt
lies. Ct: 09003134444/ santhusti19@ Chennai based girl seeks suitable 30yrs govt/pvt professionals JobAssistent Manager( Indian Oil
gmail.com employed Christian boy. Ct: Ct:9894362004 Corporation) 80,000PM seeks groom
9345202020 / email: bjmr1303@ chennai.8939085551
gmail.com KALLAR AMBALAM 28/155 Rohini,
NAIR GIRL 32/157, Pooyam, B.Tech, Rishabam MCA seeks suitable bride- TAMIL IYER Vadamal Kousiga Tiru-
employed in Trivandrum (relocating CHRISTIAN PRPOTESTANT 24/170CM/MA groom. Ct: 94435 93310. vathirai 1991/170 M.Sc Speech Ther-
to Bangalore soon) seeks alliance Eng/Slim Wheatish, Charming, Home- apy Empd in Chennai seeks groom
from professionally qualified and maker, God Fearing Girl Seeks Offi- HINDU NADAR Revathi 27/165 MBBS, well Qualified Employed in India/
employed boys. 09496545606 cer/Executive/Defense Groom 175cm& Fair, well to do family seeks Abroad.Ct: 09884869751, kouki1923@
Above 2630yr Broadminded,Teeto- groom from well settled family. gmail.com
taler,Fit Christian,Catholics, Contact:9790504601.
HINDU EZHAVA MBBS girl doing MD North Indians No bar. 09442500467, niranjanperfect@yahoo.com TAMIL IYENGAR / 29 Fair seeks suit-
Paediatrics 26/160 fair Ayilliam 04368228467 able Groom. Ct: 9841320762
seeks alliance from MBBS PG Yadava Aarthee, 28, MCA, Kiruthi- rangamaniramya@gmail.com
doctors.09747877332, surendranatl@ RC NADAR Female Age 30 US Citizen gai, Karthika , 28 MBA, Kiruthigai
gmail.com Doctor Well Mannered & Brought up Twins Contact Mohandoss Puduch- IYER GARGA Hastham 35/173 MCA SWE
in a Very Traditional Setting with ery 0413 2214697, 99432 56006.
Good Family Values. Ct:09841505379 USA H1B Issueless Divorcee. Seeks
PROPOSAL INVITED from nair grooms Brahmin Groom 3540 USA/India. Ct:
RC NADAR 23/160 Chartered Accoun- 09444079593, pmeenakshi@gmail.com
employed in USA for nair unmarried RC NADAR Female Age 31 US Citizen tant, Chennai Parents Seeks God
girl 44/160 fair B.Tech, ME, MS Dentist Well Mannered & Brought up fearing, Professional Groom Doctor/ PILLAI IT DIVORCEE 30, 7Yrs Girl
green card holder working as soft- in a Very Traditional Setting with CA etc. Clean habits from good fam- Baby Seeks Profl/Business Chennai
ware enginner in USA. Write to Box Good Family Values. Ct:09841505379 ily. Ct:09443018458 devarajm1940@ Ct:Geetham09884858014/09884658014
NoBA96,THE HINDU Bangalore gmail.com
560001 REDDY, 1951987, Avitam, Magaram,
BE, CSE, working at Software compa- NADAR /DIVORCEE /621983/155/ MS Tamil Iyer Vadama Kousika Thiruvon-
ny, Rs.70,000/pm.9894043207 (ENT)/ GovtDoctor/Anusham am 25/165 BE empd MNC in Chennai
ASHWATHI FAIR MCA 28/54 S/W Er Viruchigam, Kethu in 8th place, 7lakhs PA. Seeks Groom BE/ Well
5.8 LPA Ftr Nair Mtr Tamil Del VELLALAR SAIVAM Anusham 30/153/ Seeking suitable qualified Bride- qualified empd in Chennai. Ct:
stld caste noBar 01830571013, Fair UG Employed 7.5Ls/P.A. Seeks groom9443223657 9884533465
07042579807 Groom Never Married, Qulfd, Em-
ployed Chennai Based. Below 36Yrs VANIYA CHETTIAR, Fair 22/170 BE IYENGAR ATHREYA,POORADAM 3 padham,
From Tradional Veg Family. BHP seeks alliance from same caste. no dosham,BE TCS chennai 25/170
CHENAI SETTLED Upper middle class Must. Box No.AM115876, THE HINDU, Contact : 9940196169 / 9962296169 beautiful, doctors,ACA/ACS,MS/Phd/
Nair Girl 29/163 Divorcee MBA MNC Chennai600002. PGengrs,handsome below 29.
Chennai seek alliance from Nair INTERCASTE PARENTS Pillai/ Brahmin ct:8220263082
Boys Below 35yrs. Ct: 09444212871/ MUDALIAR, SWATHI, 33/165, BE MBA 27 B.Tech, Sadayam, Kumbam , Fair,
09444549138 working in TCS, 16LPA, Pref. Pro- TL TCS Chennai seeks Groom Pure 33 / 60 / Brahmin Smartha / BE,MS
fessional qual Caste No Bar Ct: Veg. Same Community 9944573873 ei- / Bangalore / Upper Middle Class
suhamano@yahoo.com ther of the Parent Brahmin. family seeks Bride from any Brah-
NAIR 24 ME Pooyam Suddha Jadagam min family, Language No Bar
settled in Tamilnadu expecting MUDALIAR 34, M.Com Business Family 9916167345 / divyabharathi.divya3@g
well employed Nair boys CT CBT Seeks Business Family CasteNo- mail.com
9443030260 9600253414 Bar Ct: GEETHAM 9884858014/
COSMOPOLITAN
9884658014 WANTED SUITABLE Bridegroom for un-
A TELUGU Brahmin bride MD (Hon) Ju- Alliance invited for Nair girl 28/ married Iyengar girl June 72/
170 hailing from Kerala, IAS Offi- HINDU NADAR Parents Educated and 160cms, very fair, good looking,
ly 78 Born seeks a Hindu Vegetari- Well Settled at Chennai Seeks al- Senior Director MNC Singapore. Wid-
an PG Doctors / Other Profession- cer in Karnataka from well educat-
ed youngsters. harsham15@ liance for their only unmarried owers, Divorcees acceptable, will-
als 3540 all over India. daughter 1972/160/M.Com/Vegetarian ing to relocate. Brahmins contact:
yahoo.com
from Educated Nadar Groom.Send BHP kanyarasi149@gmail.com Box
Box No.CC25437, THE HINDU, Chen- No.WW57189, THE HINDU, Chennai
DIVORCEE NRI
nai600002. 600002.
VACANCIES
VANNIYAR 27 M.Tech SALARY 30000 Pm 38 / 52" Alliance sought for VANNIAR 24/168 Fair Slim BE SWE Age 25, BE, 167CM, TCS, 5LK PA BRAHMIN TELUGU155/29 Uthiradam 1P
Seeks suitable groom. Ct: slim, fair, unmarried, veg, teeto- 63K pm well settled. Seek Educated K.A.RAMANNADAR, 9380791999, BCom Pvt Emp. Divorced,NonConsum-
Muscat Sep.take off. 07598282581, 09710344251 SWE Fair wellsettled Groom. ramannadar2004@yahoo.co.in mated Seeks Prof.Qld.Emp Less than
taler, well qualified & well set- 08524996674
Sozhiya Vellalar 27, M.Sc., M. 34 Tamil/Telu.Brahmin only
tled Hindu upper caste girl (Indi- 09840149081
an). Seeking well placed match set- AFFLUENT FAMILY ,well educated , Phil., Kettai Govt. employee seeks
34/ HINDU/ Divorcee/No issues/Mid- tled abroad / India. Upper caste fair, 25yrs bride seeking IAS/IPS BE Software / Bank / Govt. employ-
dle Class/Working/ seeks suitable no bar. Email: lalitapuri15@ Groom . contact : alliance2015gold@ ee. Ct: 09442740358. TELUGU
groom Caste no bar anywhere in In- gmail.com Ph: 09927356635 gmail.com
dia & abroad.9962946555 Age 25, Ashwini star, Maysam rasi, CHRISTIAN July 1982 /168, B.Tech
VISWAKARMA BARANI 25/160 BE, Wipro MSC Biotech, Working in Tamilnadu M.S SW Engineer working in U.S.A,
Chennai Seeks same caste SWE Groom Govt. Wanted Bridegroom Groom should be B.Tech M.S MCA
PUNJABI
BUSINESS DOCTOR 9940273679/ kganesan3655@gmail.com 09416972721 preferably working in USA or will-
ing to relocate. Ph: 9849679943 /
Punjabi Beautiful Girl 22 Apr88/ MUDALIAR 27 PG Dr Kettai Affluent HINDU NADAR Girl 165cms good look- 9885626806
NGO CONSULTANT We help to create 168 MBA Bride setled in Hyd Kasha- Seeks High Profile Prfsnl/Busi-
ing 22yrs B.E (AERO) Karthigai Me-
new Trust Fund Raising Account&Au- trya caste for Suitable Groom ness. Ct:Geetham 09884858014/ sham seeks only Hindu Nadar boys VYSYA 33/157/P.G.Tally/Widow, two
dit also 12A 80G FCRA 35AC. 9849400950
09884658014 well settled good Business back female children 7,5. no fertility
9841082640 ground educated family and aged be- seeks suitable peacefully homely
NAIDU GIRL (B.D.S) 24/158 Magaram, low 27yrs with clean habits send living. matchsuitable.2015@
TAMIL Thiruvonam prefers qualf. Well set- biodata with photo gmail.com. Contact: 76800 59076
FINANCE tled Naidu boy (MBBS /B.D.S) from Rajagopal1581962@gmail.com 1431,
TAMIL MUSLIM 23/162 B.Tech/MNC Khu- good family. devichandran24@ Gnanagiri Road Sivakasi626189 PADMASALI 25/159 MSC(Cs). Moolam
FINANCE ARRANGED Properties,For- la within 6Months No Issue Seek ed- yahoo.com 9443338007 2nd Padam. Parents Seeks well Edu-
eign Projects 09003092121/044 ucated Qualified Divorcee/Unmar- cated Groom. Ct: 098841 49006
64558666 ried Groom blw30 Chennai only. CHETTIAR 29/165 MBA, unmarried, em- Thevar 1983/ 152 B.Sc., wheatish
98402 94276 pld Chennai seeks Chettiar/ Saiva Sevvaai (2) Mukkulathore accepted ALLIANCE INVITED from Well Edu &
Pillai groom. 07259698474/ seeks suitable groom. Ct: Settled Issueless Widower/Divorcee
8939416410 09965128267. Groom between 4044 for Naidu
All Over India Loan Available MUSLIM ROWTHER, 25/158/M.Sc Seeks
@Very Low Interest Spot Approval HINDI Educated Groom around Chennai HINDU,VANNIYAKULA KSHATHRIYA, SC Age27 PG Unemplyd Fair Homely bride, Divorce Govt. Officer. Send
Min 1Cr.& Above Ct:07418070742/ 09444506326 md_siraj2008@ Meenam,Uthirattadhi,33/150,M.Sc. wants educated working groom from BHP to: mail2me199@yahoo.com
07418070736 09789818004
PQM4 FAIR Bful Punjabi girl yahoo.co.in Agri,Deputy Mgr, SBI,Seeks suit- decent family: 9445286788
160 cm, 8.3.86, 2:50 pm Delhi able groom between 3336 yrs. Ct
B.Tech wrkg TCS USA, M: 09629026610 SC HINDU, 39/153 Kanni Rasi, Uthi- TELUGU BALIJA 44 B.E., looking for
8130090751, E: suneha.bhatia@ TAMIL MUSLIM Religious 30/153 ram, Lame Right Leg, M.com Govt. well settled groom. CNB Ph:
gmail.com M.Pharm Lecturer in Bangalore na- VANNAR GIRL 25/152 Anusham BE Job, Seeks Good Job and Chennai 7871162802.
tive Tamilnadu seeks educated em- seeks well educated employed groom Bridegroom only wanted Ct:
ployed muslim groom. Ct: from same Caste. Ct: 09486951319. 9944705717 REDDY VISAGAM Thulam 34/155 well
8760576661. Email: amaravanavijay@gmail.com Educated Divorcee Short lived No
HOTELS MALAYALAM MUDALIAR ASWANI fair 28/157 MA Issues seeks suitable Groom
MBBS, Hindu SC AD PR, 24/163 M.Ed. (Ph.D), State Govt. B.T. 07401536500
Do you Need Job @ Star Hotel, MALAYALA MUSLIM Chennai based 25 TAMIL MUSLIM Parents Chennai seek Moolam, daughter of well settled Teacher 41K seeks alliance from
Restaurant, Bars&Pubs, Abroad,Ship, MCA SWE seek suitable Groom. Ct Doctor Engineer Professional Groom Doctor at Sirkali. Expectation: similar educational & with Govt. GAVARA 28/157 Anusam ME Seeks Suit-
Airlines? VISIT: www.hotelierstalk. 9629275111 /Mail : saifpzaara@ for Girl MBBS 22/158. MBBS or any Medical PG. Mob.94439 employment. Ct 9840136141. ID able Groom,Caste No Bar.Ct:96596619
com gmail.com Ph:07418006848 85758 dskflats@gmail.com 31/9942323256,asarchana723@gmail.com
ND-ND
6| STATE THE HINDU
NOIDA/DELHI

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

Plastic waste dots the area around Red Fort after Independence Day celebrations on Saturday (left), garbage strewn on the streets near Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. PHOTOS: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Tourists as litterbugs
MANY TOURIST SPOTS HAVE DUSTBINS, YET VISITORS DIRTY THE SITES, WRITES JAIDEEP DEO BHANJ

Hold your breath

NEW DELHI: The condition of
public toilets in India has
PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN
never been good. For tourists,
who set out early and return
only at the end of the day, it is
mostly restaurants that come
to the rescue. Often, they are
Where VIPs tread
forced to order something, NEW DELHI: Parks and picnic spots in Lutyens Delhi seem to be
only to use the restroom at an maintained much better than those outside the New Delhi
eatery. Municipal Corporation Zone. In a free-wheeling conversation with
Owing to lack of mainte- a group of gardeners who keep the Lodhi Gardens clean, The Hindu
nance at picnic spots and found out why the gardens frequently visited by VIPs for their
tourist hubs, waste can be morning walk is kept spotless.
seen strewn all over the floor Prem Singh, a mali, says there are dustbins placed 20- 30
of public toilets. In fact, it is meters apart all over the park but those on a picnic still leave the
often a challenge to hold area littered and it is left to the cleaning team to clean up. It is
ones breath during a visit. because the horticulture department of the NDMC has a
The stench is unbearable Inside a toilet near the Jama Masjid area in Old supervisor for every 10
at the public urinal, said a Delhi on Thursday . PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA THE ONLY WAY TO workers to ensure that the
job is done and the garden
tourist who was seen urinat-
ing in the open near one of the better at pay-to-use toilets. Qutub Minar and Lodhi Gar-
MAKE PEOPLE stays clean. If the supervisor
Hundreds of civic employees work tirelessly each day to keep tourist hubs like citys protected monuments. Public toilets near the Cen- dens, which charge Rs. 5, do CONSCIOUS ABOUT does not ensure that his team
the Lodhi Garden (above) clean. FILE PHOTO is functioning well then he is
I know it is not the right tral Park in Connaught Place not encounter these issues.
thing to do, but I was left with do not charge people. Though Not only are the floors clean,
KEEPING THE reprimanded by his
no option, he added the floors here are generally the taps work, the toilets are SURROUNDINGS CLEAN supervisor who conducts

E
xquisite Mughal monuments encircled although the premises are clean, as you surprise visits, says Prem
by manicured lawns, parks with pretty move further away towards the park- Though
public
the
toilets has
condition
improved
of
in
clean,
sing,
the
with
dustbins
even the
are
water
mis-
taps
well-equipped
and are cleaned
with
at
dustbins,
least twice
IS TO IMPOSE FINES Singh.
beds of seasonal flowers, spotless mu- ing lots and the shops outside the He adds that since the park is frequented by so many VIPs it
seums showcasing our history and cul- gates, it gets filthier. the past few months, it is no- not working at times. I gen- a day. The public toilets near
stays clean and the entire system works well to make sure that no
ture and many cities within a city For instance, Jama Masjid is spot- where near perfect. erally do not use public toi- Qutub Minar are clean. May-
complain is received.
these are some of the factors that draw less but as you move away from Gate Citizens, especially wom- lets. I once entered the toilets be that is because they charge
en, are clueless about how to of Central Park and was sur- Rs.5. I think it is okay if they Ravinder, another civic employee, comments that the Swachh
foreign tourists to Delhi. Number 3, the scene makes for quite Bharat Abhiyan has brought no change in the attitude of the
Every single day, hundreds of civic an eyesore. discard used tissues and sani- prised to find that there were charge, provided they keep it
people who come to visit from far off areas.
employees work tirelessly at different In the parking area that is shared by tary napkins with dustbins no dustbins where I could this clean, said Harsh Sodhi, He says, The only way to make people conscious about doing
locations to ensure that the tourist the Delhi Zoo and Purana Quila, re- missing from many public throw used tissues, said Al- a tourist.
toilets. isha Sharma. (Deeksha Teri is an intern their bit to keep the surroundings clean is to impose fines.
hubs remain clean and there are no cently, a bus filled with tourists had Otherwise they see it as their job to litter and mine to clean up.
ugly spots on a photograph a tourist stopped for lunch before heading for The situation, however, is However, the toilets near with The Hindu)
takes back home as a souvenir. On the the next destination.
face of it, it looks like Prime Minister Boxes of packed lunch were passed THEN AND NOW
Narendra Modis Swachh Bharat Ab- around, devoured by tourists sitting in
hiyan initiative is working. But, delve the bus and then tossed out of the win-
deeper and you find that the heritage dow leaving behind a pile of mess.
buildings are clean not because of a When questioned, the parking attend-
sudden change in the attitude of vis- ant said that it happens all the time and
itors, but because people entrusted someone from the safai team would
with the task of keeping it come and clean it in
clean are doing their job sometime.
well. Malis and guards
If we stop doing our say that foreign tour-
job even for a day, you will ists are much better
see the difference. Tour- than Indian tourists
ists litter the place as they as they dont even
know that there is some- throw away a mung-
body to clean up the phali ka cheela on
mess, says Prem Singh, a the ground.
gardener at Lodhi Gar- An ice-cream ven-
dens. dor at India Gate
He adds, The initiative says that every Sun- EYESORE: Jantar Mantar is part of every tourist itinerary, both domestic and foreign, but authorities appear to care two hoots.
was launched to bring day, thousands visit The garden around the giant sundial was littered with rubbish last year (left). It was no better this year as the civic
about a behavioural India Gate and even
change, but the attitude remains the though there are ample dustbins in the
authorities had not bothered to clear the piles of cut grass (right), lending the area an unkempt look. PHOTOS: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
same. People keep their houses clean, area and one attached to his cart, he
but as soon as they step out they think needs to tell people not to litter and
it is no longer their responsibility and more often than not, it is youngsters
somebody else needs to take care of the who he has to reprimand.
mess. Posters and photos of netas wield-
Another civic employee at Humay- ing the broom are all temporary solu-
uns Tomb says, When you see some- tions; the problem is people are used to
The curious case of Delhi belly
thing so beautiful, how can you litter it. people cleaning up after them and un- NEW DELHI: One of the citys problem when it comes to restaurant in Paharjanj
It is sad to see children coming for less they are imposed a fine or shamed, biggest draws is its street street food, says Chetan Si- Street vendors need says Swachh Bharat is not
picnics and littering the place. Their nothing is going to change, says Sat food and tourists always kand whose trips to Delhi just about garbage. It is also
teachers say nothing, which is sad as Pal who wakes up every morning to to be educated
take out time to sample its are incomplete without a about hygiene, he adds.
you have to teach youngsters to in- ensure tourist hubs look as pretty as famous chaats and kebabs. metro ride to Delhi 6 to about basics like If you want visitors to
culcate the right habits. Teachers they do in picture postcards and bro- However, one of the as- sample the local delicacies. using clean water, relish the culinary delica-
sometimes tip us to clean the mess but chures.
that does not serve the purpose.
pects synonymous with He feels the problem lies in fresh ingredients cies of Delhi you need the
street food is the famous the basics such as the un- food to be tasty as well as
An interesting trend that can be Delhi belly that can hygienic way food is cooked healthy.
noted at most of the tourist hubs is that TOMORROW: MARKETS change a visitors schedule and how the utensils are city, Delhi needs to show- The way to do it is to edu-
quite drastically if they fall washed. case its culinary heritage as cate street vendors about
PEOPLE KEEP THEIR HOUSES CLEAN, BUT AS prey to the syndrome. The water used can also well, not in fancy food tast- the basics of using clean
Street food in the city is a major It is not just the dispos- be a problem for people ings at hotels but on the water, fresh ingredients
SOON AS THEY STEP OUT THEY THINK IT IS For feedback, please mail us at
attraction, but it needs to up the able plates that are strewn with a weak stomach. streets, the way it is served. and not to keep food in the
cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in
NO LONGER THEIR RESPONSIBILITY hygiene quotient. FILE PHOTO everywhere which is the To be a tourist-friendly Naman Goil who runs a open for long.

CM ND-ND
YK
 |7
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

CM ND-ND
YK
8| NATION THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI

MARVEL OF CREATION

MEASURING 0.16 MM, KIKIKI HUNA IS WORLDS SMALLEST INSECT

An army against
agri pest attack
Tiny bit found in India too Bengaluru-based NBAIR has several weapons up its sleeve
Chitra V. Ramani culture and is on constant instance, NBAIR used ento-
Chitra V. Ramani find as we didnt expect it to vigil. Currently, the entomol- mopathogenic nematode to
turn up in our traps, he said. BENGALURU: A strange white ogists are working towards kill the root grub of white

W
hen the entomologists laid in-
sect traps in Yercaud in Tamil
Nadu a few months ago, they
did not expect that India would
join the club of countries that
are home to a unique insect.
For, they were surprised to find
the worlds smallest flying in-
sect, a fairyfly that goes by the
name Kikiki huna.
Measuring a mere 0.16 mm,
Kikiki huna is a multicellular
organism that is smaller than
single-celled organisms.
Kikiki huna has been found
in Chidambaram as well. While
the insects functions are yet to
be determined, Kikiki was first
discovered in Trinidad around
20 years ago and later in Ha-
IT CAN DO EVERYTHING THAT
A LARGER INSECT CAN DO. IT HAS
A BRAIN, A NERVOUS AND
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Kikiki was first discovered in Trinidad around
20 years ago and later in Hawaii. Above, a
magnified image of the insect.
waii. It has also been found in
Australia and Argentina. It de-
rives its name from Hawaiian
which means tiny bit.
Prashanth Mohanraj from
the National Bureau of Agricul-
tural Insect Resources
(NBAIR), Bengaluru, said Kiki-
ki huna is an engineering and
artistic marvel. It can do ev-
erything that a larger insect can
do. It has a brain, a nervous and
digestive system. It is the sheer
marvel of creation it is a great
He said that like all fairyflies,
Kikiki huna lays its eggs in the
eggs of other insects. The en-
tire life stage is passed in the
single egg, from which it emerg-
es as an adult, he said.
The challenge
Not visible to the naked eye,
the tiny insect has eluded many
entomologists, said Abraham
Verghese, director of NBAIR.
He said that the challenge is
now to study the tiny insect and
understand its role. Insects in
our country are poorly known
we still have over a lakh species
to identify.
Each has a role to play in the
ecosystem, he said.
Dr. Mohanraj said that the
presence of such exquisitely
crafted organisms within the
confines of our borders should
be a source of national pride
and ensuring their continued
survival should be our duty.
substance on a few rambutan
fruits puzzled the officials at
the quarantine cell in the
Kempegowda International
Airport. They immediately
sent a batch to the National
Bureau of Agricultural Insect
Resources (NBAIR) for it to
be tested.
The entomologists at
NBAIR identified the white
substance as the Sapota
mealybug, a pest that had se-
riously affected crops in the
Philippines. As suggested by
them, the quarantine cell offi-
cials destroyed the entire
consignment of the rambutan
fruit.
This timely detection
helped save loss amounting to
crores. The mealybug never
established itself here, as we
nipped it in the bud, noted
Abraham Verghese, director
of NBAIR.
The mandate of the city-
based NBAIR is to ensure that
no insects or pests affect agri-
mitigating the threat posed
by the cassava mealybug and
the coconut hispine beetle.
While the cassava mealybug
is a major threat to tapioca
plantations in Africa, espe-
cially East Africa, the coconut
hispine beetle has affected
coconut plantations in neigh-
bouring Myanmar and many
Southeast Asian countries.
Expeditions
We frequently take out ex-
peditions, while our own fa-
cilities in Assam, Mizoram,
Arunachal Pradesh and many
other States are on the vigil
for these insects. NBAIR is on
the alert all the time and is
equipped to identify the in-
sects both molecularly and
morphologically, said Dr.
Verghese.
NBAIR also works on im-
proving bio-security by pro-
ducing products that will kill
the insects naturally, without
the use of any insecticide. For
grub that had affected cash
crops, sugarcane, groundnut
and maize. The tiny worm-
like insect affected the root
grubs and multiplied within
it. We developed a talc-like
substance with the inactive
nematode. The nematodes
get activated when applied to
the affected field with a little
moisture. We have Intellec-
tual Property Rights over the
product, he said. Similarly,
NBAIR has also developed
traps for the tomato pest
Tuta absoluta.
Dr. Verghese said that
NBAIR was now encouraging
small-scale entrepreneurs,
graduates, farmers to sign a
memorandum of understand-
ing with NBAIR, following
which the strain for the ne-
matode will be shared. The
government will also get a
royalty after the strain is
shared. We, however, are not
selling it to multi-national
companies, he added.

Uttarakhand on the path of Warmth of spirituality

development, says Rawat
Kavita Upadhyay
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has
overcome the massive del-
uge it witnessed in 2013
and was now on the path of
development, Chief Minis-
ter Harish Rawat said on
Saturday.
Addressing the gathering
after hoisting the flag at the
Independence Day celebra-
tion here, Mr Rawat said,
On the same day [August
15] last year, when I stood
before you, the State was
struggling to cripple back
from the [June, 2013] di-
saster. Today, I can say
with pride that Uttarak-
hand has emerged from the
disaster and is now on the
path of development.
In June, 2013 the State
had witnessed a massive
deluge where thousands of
people, especially pilgrims
who were undertaking the
Char Dham yatra, had died.
After the deluge, the foot-
fall to the four shrines of
Kedarnath, Badrinath,
Gangotri, Yamunotri, and
to the Sikh pilgrimage of
Hemkund Sahib, had re-
duced from lakhs to few
thousands.
However, after recon-
Two Indian children scale
Uttarakhand CM Harish
Rawat with freedom
fighters during the
Independence Day
celebrations in Dehradun
on Saturday.
PHOTO: VIRENDER SINGH NEGI
struction works in the di-
saster-hit areas, the
numbers have drastically
improved and more pil-
grims are now undertaking
the Char Dham yatra.
The reconstruction and
rehabilitation works are
going on and much remains
to be done [in the disaster-
hit areas]. Currently,
about seven lakh pilgrims
have visited the shrines. I
believe the numbers would
cross 11 lakh, this year, Mr
Rawat said, adding that fi-
nancial assistance was ex-
pected from the Centre to
help the State in the recon-
struction and rehabilita-
tion works.
Mr Rawat said that
works were underway to
make the State a major
tourist destination. Places
for eco-tourism, trekking,
mountain biking, paraglid-
ing, river rafting were being
identified and developed
accordingly across the
State.
Mr Rawat said education
upgradation, promoting
agriculture and horticul-
ture, developing handicraft
and traditional architec-
ture were three tools for
Uttarakhands economic
development. In the next
four years Uttarakhand will
be able to address the prob-
lem of migration by using The birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Aurobindo commenced with a bonfire at Auroville near Puducherry on
other development Saturday. Hundreds of Aurovilians and visitors gathered at the amphitheatre in front of the Matrimandir. Special
schemes with the three flower arrangements also marked the day as people experienced sunrise in an atmosphere of collective spirituality.
tools. PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR
He said in the next seven
years, as employment op-
portunities grow in the
State, people would return
to the
abandoned.
land they Vizhinjam plan:
Chandy consults
Indias Mars mission exceeds expectations
Special Correspondent distance of 1,857 km and withreleased earlier. minerals.
a resolution of 96 metres, the The first Indian Mars Orbi- Earlier this month, ISRO
church officials BENGALURU: Newly released Indian Space Research Orga- ter Mission, costing around threw open the enormous da-
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala
Chief Minister Oommen
images of the Martian surface
taken by the Indian Mars or-
biter show Ophir Chasma, a
nisation said on Saturday.
The walls of the chasma con-
tain many layers and the
Rs. 450 crore, has been going
round the red planet since
September 2014 and has ex-
ta coming out of the mission
to national scientific commu-
nity and invited proposals

Kalapathar peak in Nepal Chandy on Saturday held dis-

cussions with representatives
of the Latin Catholic church in
canyon 317 km long to the
south of the Martian equator.
The chasma is part of
floors contain large deposits

KATHMANDU: Two Indian sib-
lings, 5-year-old Kandarp
Sharma and 8-year-old Rit-
wika, have successfully
climbed the Kalapathar
peak, which is higher than
the highest peaks in the U.S.,
Europe and Antarctica, to
reach the base camp of
Mount Everest, becoming
the youngest climbers to re-
ach the destination.
They reached the base
camp situated at an altitude
of 5,380 metres in northeast
Nepal earlier this week.
It was a very exciting ex-
perience for me to reach the
base camp, Ritwika told re-
porters here.
We saw snow falling
from the mountain there
and also saw the Everest
which was very close from
us.
The siblings reached the
base camp of the 8,848-
metre peak accompanied by
their parents.
After scaling the Kalapat-
thar peak, the children
chanted Bharat Maata Ki
Jai and hoisted the
Tricolour.
A view of the Everest from the Kalapathar peak
(left foreground). - FILE PHOTO: AP
First-grader Kandarp and
fourth-grader Ritvika are
students of Little Angels
High School in Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh. Both of
them are national adventure
sports players and are the
worlds youngest siblings to
scale such height. It was a
challenge for us and we have
accepted it, without hesita-
tion, said Bhupendra Shar-
ma, father of the two.Sharad
Pradhan, media consultant
of the Nepal Tourism Board,
said the two Indian children
had not only shown their
love for mountains, but also
helped in promoting tou-
rism in Nepal at a time when
the country was suffering in
the aftermath of the devas-
tating earthquake in April.
By reaching the base
camp, Kandarp broke the re-
cord previously held by Har-
shit who had reached the
base camp in 2014 at the age
of 5 years and 11 months.
PTI
an effort to assuage their ap-
prehensions over the Vizhin-
jam project.
The meeting was held at the
Chief Ministers residence
here.
A Church spokesperson lat-
er said that Chandy had given
them a patient hearing and
they were expecting a favour-
able response from the
government.
The Latin church had stated
that nearly 50,000 fishermen
would have to be rehabilitated
due to the project and would
lose their livelihood once it be-
comes a reality.
The church wants the gov-
ernment to address the con-
cerns of the fishermen
community and has also
threatened to launch an indefi-
nite agitation from August 17,
when the government will be
signing an MoU with Adani
Vizhinjam Ports Ltd, the SPV
floated by Adani Ports and Spe-
cial Economic Zone Ltd.
The fishermen have de-
manded a better rehabilitation
package for those getting af-
fected by the deep water sea-
port. PTI
Valles Marineris, which sci-
entists say is the largest ca-
nyon system in the entire
solar system.
A chasma is a long, steep-
sided depression as designat-
ed by the International As-
tronomical Union.
The three-dimensional im-
ages of the terrain of interest
were taken by the Mars Col-
our Camera on July 19 from a
Wiki has 890 Tulu articles and counting
Raviprasad Kamila
MANGALURU: Pushing the lan-
guage globally, Tulu lovers
have so far uploaded 890 arti-
cles to the Tulu Wikipedia,
which is in incubation stage.
If one wants to write arti-
cles in Tulu, he or she can log
on to bilty.com/tuluwiki and
register. One can write, edit or
read articles written in Tulu
using the Kannada script, said
U.B. Pavanaja, programme of-
ficer, The Centre for Internet
and Society, Bengaluru, and a
Wikipedia representative.
Mr. Pavanaja, who has his
Ophir Chasma
ceeded the planned life of six
months.
of layered materials, it said.
The camera is one of the
from researchers in universi-
ties, institutions and relevant
government bodies.
five scientific instruments it Apart from the camera, the
The Ophir Chasma lies in carries as it orbits Mars in an orbiter carries a Thermal In-
the Coprates square (quad- elliptical path of 470 km by frared Imaging Spectrometer,
rangle) and is named after 71,000 km once in about a Methane Sensor for Mars, a
Mars enthusiast Ophir Ben- three Earth days. Lyman Alpha Photometer
tov of Los Angeles, who has and a Mars Exospheric Neu-
invested in Mars expeditions Enormous data tral Composition Analyser.
for eventual human Its mission is to look for [Site link : http://www.is-
exploration. tell-tale signs of atmospheric ro.gov.in/pslv- c25-mars-or-
3D images of the mother methane, which could indi- biter-mission/
canyon, the 4,000 x 200 km cate ancient life on Mars, and 3d-portrayals-of-
Valles Marineris, have been to map its terrain and ophir-chasma-terrain]
Tulu Wikipedia community
Tulu Wikipedia is yet ensured this, then a request to
the Wikipedia Foundation in
to go live
the United States can be sent
to make it live, Mr. Pavanaja
said. He said that unlike the
roots near Sullia in Dakshina Karnataka government, the
Kannada, said the Tulu Wiki- Goa government fully sup-
pedia was yet to go live while ported Konkani Wikipedia.
the Konkani Wikipedia went Mr. Pavanaja said that the
live a month ago. There were Kannada Wikipedia started in
74 editors till August 14. 2003 had about 20,000 arti-
If Tulu Wikipedia was to be cles now and there were about
active, between five and 10 ar- 700 editors.
ticles would have to be up- About 290 langauges across
loaded to it every month and the world, including 20 Indi-
at least 15 editors would have an languages, had Wikipedia
to edit it every month. If the pages.

Kerala now declares itself complete digital State, thanks to e-district initiative
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Decla-
ration of Kerala a complete
digital State and announce-
ment of a new youth pro-
gramme in memory of former
President, the late A P J Abdul
Kalam marked Independence
Day celebrations in the State.
With the State making re-
markable strides in the imple-
mentation of various
e-governance initiatives,
CM
YK
Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy declared Kerala the
complete digital State.
The State has achieved 100
per cent mobile density, 75
per cent e-literacy, highest
digital banking rate and
broadband connection up to
panchayat level, Mr. Chandy
said in his 69th independence
day speech at the Central Sta-
dium here.
Chief Minister
announces launch of
a youth programme in
memory of Kalam
The implementation of e-
district programmes in all dis-
tricts and linking of Aadhaar
and bank accounts have laid a
strong foundation for Digital phase to achieve the best re- wealth and create mass aware-
Kerala. I am proud to declare sults of the Digital Kerala ini- ness for their conservation,
the State the complete digital tiative, he said. government plans to set up an
state, based on these indica- The State government inclusive development coun-
tors, he said. would launch an innovative cil, he said.
programme in the name of Dr. Mammoth development
Wi-Fi hotspots Kalam to enable youth to projects to the tune of Rs.
The government would set translate their innovative 16,000 crore, including Kochi
up Wi-Fi hotspots in all local ideas into successful business Metro, Kannur Airport and
self-government institutions ventures. Vizhinjam projects are be-
and implement complete mo- Seeking to check wide- coming a reality, he said.
bile governance in the next spread exploitation of natural PTI
ND-ND
 NATION |9
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

RS. 20-CRORE HAUL

The Hyderabad duo slept on trees,
CURRENCY SEIZED FROM BENGAL SUB-ASSISTANT ENGINEERS HOME
walked on for miles without food

Massive stash exposed

Shiv Sahay Singh were employed as workers in jute
Rahul Devulapalli

HYDERABAD: They strayed

mills. The parents of the engineer
into a forest, home to more
than three dozen tigers,
faced hundreds of leech at-
tacks, slept on trees, walk-
ed miles without food or
light and drank water di-

I
t took almost 21 hours and three
note-counting machines to esti-
mate the amount of cash stashed
inside cushions, mattresses, so-
fas, ceilings, walls and even in-
side the boxes under the tiles of
the toilet in the house of Pranab
Adhikari, a sub-assistant engi-
neer in West Bengals Howrah
district.
Cash was also found from the
refrigerator and inside the cabi-
net of television sets.
On Saturday afternoon, when
the counting was complete, the
exhausted police officers had
counted currency notes of de-
nomination Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000
valuing Rs. 20 crore and seven
and half lakhs.
Along with cash, gold valuing
Rs. 14 lakh and post office depos-
its of Rs. 58 lakh were also reco-
vered from the house of the ward
inspector of the Bally Municipal-
ity.
A trap was laid and Mr. Ad-
hikari was caught red-handed
while accepting a bribe of Rs. 1
lakh from a local builder on Fri-
CASH WAS ALSO FOUND FROM THE
REFRIGERATOR AND INSIDE THE
CABINET OF TELEVISION SETS.
lived in a modest dwelling. The
neighbours were surprised at the
recovery.
Mr. Adhikari did not even
possess a car and maintained a
humble prole, said Amit Gha-
tak, who resides in the Mali-
panchghora area.
A local promoter A.P. Singh,
who had brought the allegations
against the engineer, said the
government official worked in
collusion with the authorities of
the Bally Municipality.
He was the last word in the
Bally Municipality. I had brought
the matter to the notice of previ-
ous chairman of the Bally Munic-
ipality but he said that promoters
will have to pay the engineer for
getting work done, Mr. Singh
told journalists.
The cash recovered from the engineers house in Kolkata He believed that Mr. Adhika-
on Saturday. PHOTO: SANJOY GHOSH ris arrest would open the can of
worms and many big names
day. When this happened, his the run, was later located and might come up as the engineer
wife went to the roof and made a taken into custody. His son Tan- was not pocketing all the money
hue and cry and he escaped in the moy Adhikari was also arrested. alone.
melee, a senior ACB officer said. A city court remanded Mr. Ad- While Trinamool Congress
We are trying to gure out the hikari and his son in police custo- leaders remained tight-lipped
number of properties that Mr. dy till August 17. throughout the day, Arunava La-
Adhikari booked or purchased Son of a factory worker, Mr. hiri, a local CPI(M) leader and
and perhaps we need to search Adhikari was brought up in a low the previous chairman of the Bal-
those houses as well, said an of- income family with four siblings. ly Municipality, said any allega-
cial. The engineer, who was on His neighbours said his brothers tion against him was baseless.
rectly from streams. For
the lost and found trekker
duo, Vivek Gupta and M.
Shashidhar, their most
memorable trek ended like
a typical Indian movie cli-
max scene - with the arriv-
al of a jeep.
It was a great relief see-
ing the officers who were
searching for us. They lift-
ed us and put us in the jeep.
The rst thing we did was
to ask them for the phone
and called parents to tell
that we are safe, said 24-
year-old Shashidhar, who
is a software engineer from
the city.
Both spoke to the media
on Saturday after their re-
turn from Karnataka.
With their arms and legs
showing ample signs of
healing wounds, a result of
leech attacks, the senior
members of Greater Hyd-
erabad Adventure Club
(GHAC) recounted their
experiences.
Part of the 11-member
group from Hyderabad,
both youngsters lost their
way on June 9, Sunday af-
ternoon, at a location, 20
km from Chikkamagaluru.
For the next two and a half
Vivek Gupta (left) and Shashidhar lost their
way on June 9, 20 km from Chikkamagaluru in
Karnataka. PHOTO: G. RAMAKRISHNA
days, a packet of salt, whis-
tle, glucose tablets and
compass were their
company.
We were sure that we
had to keep moving and
looking out for any trails,
said 29-year-old Vivek
Gupta, who is a technical
assistant at IIIT, Hydera-
bad. During day time we
would keep walking and by
evening we had no choice
but to stop and rest since
there was no visibility. The
weather was windy, cold
and it was raining which
made the time spent there
uncomfortable. It would
get dark by 4 p.m. and we
could hear strange noises
which was very scary.
According to them, they
slept on a tree branch on
Sunday night and in a cave
on Monday night. Though
they spotted what looked
like fruits they did not risk
eating it not knowing fully
its implications after con-
sumption, shared the vis-
ibly tired trekkers.
On Tuesday, we located
what looked like road ref-
erence from the top of a
hill. There were two ways
to reach the other side, ei-
ther through forest or by
traversing it. We decided to
avoid the forest even
though the route we chose
might take a longer time.
But thankfully, we were
found by the search party
of the forest officials soon,
said Mr. Shashidhar.
Since they had acciden-
tally strayed in to the Bha-
dra Tiger Reserve, cases of
trespassing have been
booked against the duo.
The GHAC members said
their legal team would take
care of the cases.

I am not god, I am Radhe Maa A Mumbaikar engineer Shivaji performed

fasting ritual at
Sangameswaram
Omar Rashid

MUMBAI: It was 12 years ago

that Sanjeev Gupta, one of
shows the Swachh way
Mumbais leading outdoor
advertisement providers, got
his rst darshan of the devi.
A non-believer, he visited her
on the insistence of a friend.
On reaching the venue, he
found a self-styled godwom-
an sitting quietly in an asan.
She whispered things into
my ears. I was left mesmer-
ised as she knew everything
about me, even my weakest
links. Just 18 days after that
meeting my problems got
solved. Since then, every pre-
diction she has made about
me or my business has come
true, Mr. Gupta claims.
Many see her as another
purveyor of magic remedies,
even more ridicule her for
her antics, but for devotees
like Mr. Gupta, Radhe Maa,
the controversial godwoman
based in suburban Mumbai,
is mother. She comes to the
rescue of her bhakts and
cures their ailments through
divine experiences.
She has supernatural
powersThis is a matter of
faith and devotion. We cant
use brains here, its about
heart, explains Mr. Gupta,
who has Radhe Maa promi-
nently tattooed on his left
forearm. Incidentally, Mr.
Gupta, also a trustee of Maas
Trust, is a close relative of
Nikki Gupta, the woman who
has charged Radhe Maa with
instigating her in-laws, who
are also Radhe Maa bhakts, to
torment her for dowry.
She is so tender and in-
nocentall allegations are
false and baseless. How can
there be dowry in a love mar-
riage? Mr. Gupta asks with a
sneer.
On the rst oor of his
large apartment in South
Mumbais posh Walkeshwar,
Mr. Gupta has, like many oth-
er faithful devotees, con-
structed a permanent gufa
(cave) for Radhe Maa to re-
side. But dont fall for its no-
menclature it is a
well-decorated room, spat-
tered with a strong theme of
red. The bed and the pillows
are blood red, so are the huge
cushions of velvet on the
wall; all this is shadowed by a
dim red disco light. Almost
personifying the tacky room
Self-proclaimed godwoman Radhe Maa finds
herself at the centre of controversy.
FILE PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE
May be questioned again
MUMBAI: Police may call for
questioning again the con-
troversial spiritual leader
Sukhvinder Kaur alias
Radhe Maa, an accused in a
dowry harassment case, an
official said on Sunday. Her
statement was already re-
corded on Saturday. Some
of the accused have submit-
ted documentary evidence
to support their version. The
accused, if needed, could be
called again for question-
is the godwoman herself,
seated on the bed.
Lavish lifestyle
Wearing her trademark
red and gold choli, adorned
with glittery ornaments and
precious jewels, she rmly
holds a gold trident and a rose
in her hands. Radhe Maas
lavish lifestyle is well known.
So is her high-prole list of
devotees, including director
Subash Ghai, BJP MP Manoj
Tiwari and Ad-guru Prahlad
Kakkar. But the 50-year-old
has no qualms about the
extravagance.
This is my style. If you
dont like it, dont follow me,
she says. I am not god. I have
been created by the same God
as you. I am Radhe Maa rah
dikhane wali maa (Mother
who shows the way), a sevika
of God, and you are all my
children she continues, as a
ock of devotees, mostly af-
uent and educated men and
women, sit obediently on the
oor, with hands folded in
ing, Kandivali police in-
spector Mukund Pawar said.
He said the police had
completed recording of
statements of all the seven
accused in the case.
Mr. Pawar, however, re-
fused to divulge details of
the statements, saying,
[since the] investigating of-
cer is further probing the
case, sharing of details [of
the statements] can harm
the case. PTI
reverence. Her trusted seva-
dars (aides) Talli Baba, ac-
cused of running several
rackets, and Choti Maa,
closely monitor activities
around her. Radhe Maa is
known to kiss and hug her
devotees and is now facing
charges of obscenity a tele-
vision reporter was caught by
surprise when she kissed him
during an interview recently.
Born as Sukhvinder Kaur
to a government servant fa-
ther, Radhe Maa hails from
village Dorangla in Gurdas-
pur district of Punjab. After
losing her mother at the ten-
der age of ve, Sukhvinder,
who studied till class 10, was
married off at 18 she gave
birth to two sons. However,
soon after, her husband left
for abroad to pursue business
interests. To counter the
loneliness, Sukhvinder took
to sewing and even tutored
young girls in her neighbour-
hood. The rest of the time
was devoted to bhakti and
reciting the Gurbani. The
pivotal moment came when
she took as her teacher, Ma-
hant Ramdin Das, the care-
taker of the Paramhans Bagh
before conquests
Dera, and allegedly 130 years Manasi Deshpande M.V. Subramanyam
old at that time.
At 23, Sukhvinder re- MUMBAI: The Kings Circle railway station on KURNOOL: The chief priest of the
nounced household life. In Mumbais Harbour line was notoriously dirty and famous Sangameswaram tem-
time, she became the contro- had the reputation for being an unsafe station for ple, Telakapalli Raghurama Sar-
versial Radhe Maa, who is commuters at night. Poorly lit and lack of maintai- ma, has chanced upon historical
now under the scanner for nenance had made it a dumping ground of gar- evidence of Maratha emperor
several criminal charges, in- bage. After repeated complaints failed to bring Chhatrapati Shivajis perform-
cluding alleged offences un- about any change, Gaurang Damani, an engineer, ance of Maha Shakti Puja at
der the Dowry Act, decided to be the change-maker. In seven months, Sangameswaram and Srisailam
indecency, fooling people for he succeeded in completely transforming the rail in 1677 AD, a year after he
money and driving farmers to head one of the only two suburban stations launched a wave of conquests in
suicide. located on a bridge. Engineer-turned activist Gaurang south India.
An unknown person re- Saddened by watching condition of the station, Damani with his team of volunteers at Shivaji undertook a nine-day
cently also hacked her web- Mr. Gaurang, who lives close to it, used to write to the transformed Kings Circle railway Upavasa Deeksha (fasting)
site. I am pure and pious. I the station authorities to report the complaints he from March 24, 1677 to April 1,
am ready for a CBI inquiry had. On one occasion station authorities replied station. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT 1677 atop a hillock where god-
into the allegationsI hurt
nobody. If even a single ille-
gal account is found in my
him saying that why didnt he do anything about it.
I dont know if it was a sarcastic or genuine reply,
but it really got me thinking. I started to think
Work started by cleaning station and its sur-
roundings, lifting debris and xing potholes.
When we actually started working on the issue,
dess Sri Gayatri Devis footprint
was recently discovered, Sarma
said. The emperor also perform-
name anywhere, I will self- what I can do to resolve this problem. said Mr. we discovered that there were many problems ed Maha Shakthi Puja on the
immolate, she threatens Damani told The Hindu. other than garbage. For example there were no Bhavanasi river banks at Sanga-
with a sprinkling of English. Then he decided to take matter in his hands and streetlights near platforms and around the meswaram, he added. The his-
At this, her devotees beg her applied to carry out a cleanliness drive on station. station. torical evidence was traced in a
to forgive those who accuse The rst time ever in India, the Railways approved Acting as a coordinator between 550-plus vol- book, Shivaji and his Times,
her. She believes she is being a non-prot venture to adopt a station and then unteers and generous donors, Mr. Damani man- written by Jadunath Sarkar and
targeted due to her wealth the work of beautication of the station started in aged to resolve the problems and succeeded in published in London in 1920.
and boasts of spending a few December 2014. changing the face of the station. Now the station
lakh rupees each day. I get a Mr. Damani used his website as the platform to premises is cleaned on daily basis and a number of
lot of daans but I give away inform people about this project. Many NGOs dustbins have been placed on the station to main-
too Why then would I cheat and volunteers came forward to contribute in the tain cleanliness. Over 100 saplings have been
people for money, she asks, project. I distributed work as per the calibre of the planted around station and 29 streetlights have
losing her calm. person. For example, we didnt want schoolchil- been installed on foot-over bridges which makes
dren to do heavy work so we engaged them in the station safer for commuters. The walls of sta-
A dichotomy spreading awareness campaign amongst passen- tion have been painted and now the informational
The godwoman is known gers about the importance of cleanliness and gave posters and banners on cleanliness and safety
to shift between two avatars them the task of painting walls. have been put on walls to spread awareness.
the playful gudiya (her
childhood name) and the
bountiful Maa a dichotomy Two techies
she uses to explain her dra-
matic shift in wardrobe. killed in mishap
She was recently caught on
camera publicly dancing in a Staff Reporter
pinkish mini skirt. Of course,
she was trolled and mocked HOSUR: The weekend tour of
for this ungodly moment. two young IT professionals
But Radhe Maa is not de- took a tragic turn when they
terred. In her defence, she met with a fatal accident at
quotes line after line of San- Udhanapalli near here at
skrit shlokas on the power of forenoon onSaturday. Eleven
truth before losing herself in others were injured when the
a trance of story-telling and a SUV in which they were trav-
Bollywood song in praise of elling turned turtle.
Lord Shiva Jai Shiva The victims were employ-
Shankar ees of Wipro in Bengalu-
Radhe Maa is a staunch ru.The victims were part of a
critic of love marriages as she 12-member group which was
believes that one should only driving down fromBengaluru
marry with the permission of to Hogenakkal.
parents. For young men and The SUV had crossed Ud-
women she has this advice: hanapalli, whenthe driver
If you want a husband like lost control and the SUV skid-
Ram, then you must become ded off the road.
Sita. And if you want a wife The SUV ippedover
like Sita, you must act like thrice, hurling all 13 passen-
Ram. gers out of the vehicle.

35-year-old Army jawan dies fighting eve-teasers in Meerut

MEERUT: A 35-year-old Army
jawan, who tried to rescue a
girl from eve teasers, was
beaten to death by aides of
one of them.
On Thursday, Vedmitra
Chaudhury, a Lance Naik in
416 Engineering Brigade,
had gone to get milk from a
booth on Rohta Road in Har-
devnagar where he saw some
youths teasing the daughter
of the booth owner.
The jawan went the girls
rescue and even beat up one
of the eve-teasers Akash
Saini, police said.
CM
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All the three who
assaulted Vedmitra
Chaudhury have been
arrested
Enraged, Akash called his
friends, who arrived at the
spot armed with sticks. They
then assaulted Chaudhury,
leaving him seriously
injured.
The jawan, who was stay-
ing at Gopal Vihar with his
wife and children, was ad-
mitted to Army Hospital
where he succumbed to his
injuries on Friday night, po-
lice said.
SSP Dinesh Chandra Du-
bey said, besides Akash, two
others, Sanju and Ritesh,
have been arrested and the
search was on to nab other
accused.
Talking about the inci-
dent, Sub-Area Colonel Rajiv
Kumar said, Chaudhury ful-
lled the duty of an Indian
citizen and protected a girls
honour. He will be remem- Distraught family members of Vedmitra Chaudhary
bered as martyr. PTI in Meerut on Saturday. PHOTO: PTI
ND-ND
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THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

CM ND-ND
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NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

CM ND-ND
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CBI struggles with Dabholkar case
Alok Deshpande
uproar in the State and be-
MUMBAI: The CBI had to rely yond, especially in progres-
only on evidence collected by sive and rationalist circles.
the Pune police, with the The then Congress-Nation-
writings in Marathi, in the alist Congress Party govern-
initial stage of the probe. It ment had come under fire for
was a complicated case from failing to nab the killers.
day one.
The Pune police had Opposition in 2013, had tar-
formed 22 teams to probe geted the government over
this case, while the CBI may the deteriorating law-and-
not even have 22 officers on order situation in the State.
this case, the source said. Despite the assurances,
Abu Dhabi labour camp excited
about Prime Ministers visit
Nistula Hebbar
ABU DHABI: That is, however,
only one part of the story. As
Arif, the manager of a gro-
cery store at the camp, says,
It will be good to see an
Indian Prime Minister meet
real NRIs of the Gulf, with
their real problems. Mi-
grants live six or seven to a
room and eat in company-
run messes.
Actually, I was told by my
Bangladeshi colleague that
Naga accord is a framework: Rijiju
Vijaita Singh
NEW DELHI: Mr. Rijiju said no-
body in the northeast op-
posed the agreement. It is
only because of Ms. Gandhi
and Rahul Gandhi that it is
being made into a political
issue. Why should Congress
parade its CMs against such
an important decision? PM
has said they would be con-
sulted in due course of time.
They can make their point
later on. Asking them [the
Chief Ministers] to delete
Facebook and Twitter posts
[praising the deal] and op-
pose this particular step
was [a] totally avoidable
[act of the Congress]. I did
not expect a national party
like the Congress to play
politics, Mr. Rijiju said.
Myanmar operation
Referring to the episode
in which Special Forces of
the Indian Army crossed in-
to Myanmar and destroyed
insurgent camps including
that of the NSCN-Kha-
plang, a group that violated
the ceasefire with India in
March, Mr. Rijiju said the Action against Teesta
1,643-km-long border the Defending the Home
EC suspends Aadhaar United Opposition turns the tables on Modi government
linkage initiative
Vidya Venkat
NEW DELHI: Following the Su-
preme Courts August 11 or-
ders on Aadhaar, the Election
Commission of India issued
notices on Thursday suspend-
ing with immediate effect till
further orders all activities to
collect and feed Aadhar num-
bers of voters as part of its Na-
tional Electoral Roll
Purification and Authentica-
tion Programme. It has also
duly withdrawn all publicity
activities to collect Aadhaar
numbers of citizens for seed-
ing in the electoral database.
The directions have made it
clear though that all other ac-
tivities under NERPAP to pu-
rify the poll process will
continue. Meanwhile, civil lib-
erties activists have called for
delinking the already merged
voter ID card details from the
Unique Identification (UID)
number.
Activist groups plea
In a letter written to the
Chief Election Commissioner
on Saturday, the Citizens Fo-
rum for Civil Liberties has
highlighted that the UIDAI in
CM
YK
FROM PAGE ONE
The murder had created
The BJP, which was in the
Prime Minister Modi would
be visiting, there is a lot of
excitement here, Mr. Arif
says.
An acknowledgement
Official sources describe
the Inidan Prime Ministers
visit to the camp as an ac-
knowledgement not just of
the diaspora but also of the
UAE as host country. This
is the Prime Ministers first
visit to the region, and he
has picked the UAE mainly
two countries shared was
not manned properly as In-
dia and Myanmar had
friendly relations.
Explaining that India
would require an agree-
ment to fence the border,
he said: Currently, we
dont deploy border guards
at zero point. Right now,
there is no such move to
fence it either. We have to
make our border patrolling
more robust. The militant
groups operate on this side
as well as that side of the
border. The issue concerns
both the countries.
The Home Ministry has
moved a Cabinet note to
compensate families whose
members have been killed
in firing along the Pakistan
border. We have moved
the Cabinet [to put on par]
those killed due to ceasefire
violation by Pakistani
forces with victims of com-
munal violence or terrorist
acts. The suggestion to give
Rs. 5 lakh to the kin of each
of the deceased is at a pro-
posal stage now.
It has also withdrawn
all publicity activities
to collect Aadhaar
numbers for seeding
in electoral database
a 14-page document titled
Strategic Vision: Unique
Identification of Residents
prepared by Wipro Ltd and
submitted to the Processes
Committee of the Planning
Commission envisaged the
close linkage that the UIDAI
would have with the Electoral
Database in 2006-2007 itself.
Referring to the proposal to
merge the Election ID cards
with UID as an exercise in re-
writing and engineering the
electoral ecosystem, the letter
underlines that the use of bio-
metric technology and EVMs
is not as innocent and as politi-
cally neutral as it has been
made out to be. Given that it
amounts to surveillance of the
citizens political choices, the
organisation has further de-
manded that all databases con-
taining such information be
dismantled immediately.
deputation of more officers
does not seem to be moving
ahead, feel family members
of the slain activist.
The Chief Minister had
assured us that total cooper-
ation will be extended to the
CBI from the government to
solve this case. Then why is it
that the government is tak-
ing so much time to relieve
just six of its officers for this
case, asked Hamid Dabhol-
kar, son of Dabholkar.
for this reason, an External
Affairs Ministry official said.
First on the Prime Minis-
ters itinerary is a visit to
Sheikh Zayed Grand
Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which
is being looked at as a nod to
the Muslim population of
India.
But official sources said it
was to pay homage to the
former ruler of the Emirate,
Sheikh Zayed, rather than a
domestic political
statement.
Ministrys action in recom-
mending a CBI investiga-
tion against an association
run by social activist Teesta
Setalvad, Mr. Rijiju said:
These are not new cases:
the Gujarat government is
also probing cases against
NGOs run by Teesta
Setalvad.
The Ministry, he said, is
not targeting a particular
NGO. It has to act as there is
clear evidence of violation
of norms. We just want to
make the system robust.
The inaction of the previ-
ous government cannot
prevent us from taking ac-
tion. It was not that the
Gujarat government was
against Teesta She was
throughout trying to ma-
lign the Gujarat govern-
ment, he said.
He said the Ford Founda-
tion, which financed Ms.
Setalvads NGOs, would
continue to be under the
scanner and under the pri-
or-permission category.
The Ministry recently un-
blocked foreign funds to-
talling $150,000 to be
released to the U.S. donors
bank accounts.
Smita Gupta
NEW DELHI: An uncompromis-
ing Congress led by a suddenly
combative Rahul Gandhi, and
an Opposition that refused to
be breached, forced the Modi
government into opposition
mode. As the spectre of elec-
tions in Bihar loomed large,
the national capital witnessed
an unusual sight this past week
senior Cabinet Ministers
and BJP MPs, holding placards
aloft, marching up Raisina Hill
to protest against the Opposi-
tions disruptive tactics in
Parliament.
All through the session, the
BJP tried hard to isolate the
Congress. But the Opposition, Conflicting pressures
divided by ideology, personal-
ities and competing ambitions, on Mulayam
stuck together for the greater
part. sures on Mulayam Singh and
In one episode, after Samaj- there are cases pending against
wadi Party chief Mulayam members of his family on the
Singh said he did not favour other hand, non-SP sources
prolonged disruption of Parlia- said. The SP is in power in
NEWS
I-DAY SPEECH
Media pundits creating atmosphere of gloom: PM
Corruption has to be systematically fought by all, Narendra Modi says
Smita Gupta
NEW DELHI: If the glow of newly
acquired power had marked
Prime Minister Narendra
Modis first Independence
Day speech a year ago, when
he had set out his vision for
the country and had spoken of
ruling through consensus, his
address to the nation from the
ramparts of Red Fort on Sat-
urday was tinged with
disappointment.
Mr. Modi made a brief,
veiled attack on media pun-
dits and political rivals who
were criticising his govern-
ment and creating an atmo-
sphere of gloom and
pessimism. Despite his for-
eign policy forays, he did not
touch on the subject at all.
Possibly with an eye on the
Bihar Assembly elections, the
Prime Minister spoke at
length on having fulfilled
some of the promises he made
a year ago constructing toi-
lets in schools, fulfilling finan-
cial inclusion targets through
the opening of 170 million Jan
Dhan Yojana bank accounts
and launching insurance and
pension schemes. He laid em-
phasis on ending poverty, and
of using the riches of those
at the bottom of the economic
pyramid to build the country.
On the one rank, one pen-
sion scheme, he said the nego-
tiations were at an advanced
stage, but before taking a final
call, care had to be taken to
ensure justice to all sections
of the population.
In the 80-minute speech,
he made no appeal to the Op-
position for cooperation. Nor
did he break his silence on the
allegations of corruption
Sadananda seeks speedy Rain doesnt dampen At Home mood
justice for social crime
Legal Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Union Law Minis-
ter D.V. Sadananda Gowda
has sought speedy justice in
cases dealing with crimes
against the society, saying
delay would increase public
sympathy and support for
offenders.
On Friday, Mr. Gowda said
these offenders, fuelled by
certain ideologies, disturb the
peace of the society.
Speaking at the Independ-
ence Day address at Supreme
Court, he said: Not only
should proper justice be en-
sured but punishment for
such offences should be
awarded.
In his speech, Chief Justice
of India H.L. Dattu urged
Tripura CM for all-party protest
Syed Sajjad Ali
AGARTALA: Tripura Chief Minis-
ter Manik Sarkar has called for
a protest by all parties against
the NDA governments at-
tempts to centralise powers, to
the detriment of the States.
Speaking at the Independ-
ence Day function here on Sat-
urday, he said such a practice
undermined the rights of the
States. I urge all, irrespective
The Opposition, divided by ideology, personalities and competing ambitions,
stuck together for the greater part of the session. PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM
ment, the government thought
it had finally breached the Op-
position. But a day later, find-
ing himself cold-shouldered by
other Opposition leaders, he
urged his MPs to enter the
Well of the House, though on
the caste census issue.
There are conflicting pres-
Modi stresses on
ending poverty, and
of using the riches
of those at bottom of
the economic
pyramid to build the
country
against senior members of his
party, charges that ensured
that virtually no business was
transacted in the just-con-
cluded Monsoon Session of
Parliament.
He spoke of fighting the
poison of casteism and the
madness of communalism.
Fighting corruption
Mr. Modi touched on the
issue of corruption, without
referring to the allegations
made against members of his
party. But he hinted that he
alone could not end it. Cor-
ruption, he said, was like an
attack of termites that had to
be systematically fought,
square inch by square inch, by
the entire population.
In this connection, he said
auctions of public resources
such as coal, doing away with
subjective job interviews,
wherever possible, and direct
bank transfers of subsidies for
the needy would help check
graft.
Indicating a change in em-
phasis, Mr. Modi renamed the
Ministry of Agriculture as the
Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare, while
stressing that the government
would work to raise farm pro-
ductivity and increase areas
under irrigation to ensure
per drop, more crop.
proper coordination between
the Bar and the Bench, as they
together constitute the jus-
tice delivery system.
Supreme Court Bar Associ-
ation president Dushyant
Dave said freedom was very
easy to enjoy but very diffi-
cult to preserve.
The duty of preserving
this freedom is on the judi-
ciary. The Executive will al-
ways want social control, the
Executive will always want
that security... but we as law-
yers and the judiciary must
remember that neither the
social interest nor the State
security should ever owe
right to the individual's free-
dom and individual's right in Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
a constitutionally elected so- and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during At Home at Rashtrapati Bhavan
ciety, Mr. Dave said. on Saturday. PHOTO: PTI
of political divide and differ-
ences, to oppose it. To drive
home his point, he said Tripura
was affected by a cut in the allo-
cation for most of the welfare
schemes.
Mr. Sarkar came down heavi-
ly on the demand to bifurcate
Tripura to create a tribal state.
This would cause a rift in our
society.
Uttar Pradesh and its chief po-
litical rival in the State is the
BJP. It cant afford to be seen
on the same side as the BJP,
whatever its reservations
about the Congress.
With the decline of the Con-
gress, reduced to mere 44
members in the Lok Sabha,
many political parties fear the
possibility of the BJP growing
at their expense.
As for regional parties ruling
the States, such as the Trina-
mool Congress, cuts in Central
allocations for welfare pro-
grammes, and the dilution of
Ex-servicemen observe black day,
to intensify agitation from today
Dinakar Peri
NEW DELHI: Rejecting Prime
Minister Narendra Modis
word on the one rank, one
pension (OROP) scheme in
his Independence Day ad-
dress, Major-General (Retd.)
Satbir Singh of the United
Ex-Servicemen Movement
(UESM) said: This is not
about hope, this is our right.
This is injustice, it has al-
ready been 17 months, what
is stopping the government
The bureaucracy does not
want that it is given to sol-
diers We will intensify the
agitation.
Soon after Mr. Modis
speech, ex-servicemen said
they were not beggars and
were only demanding their
rights. The protesters said
the agitation would be inten-
sified from Sunday and called
August 15 a black day.
The former Chief of the
Navy Staff Arun Prakash, one
of the four former service
chiefs who last week wrote
an open letter to the Presi-
dent, said the ball was in the
court of the government,
which had consistently ig-
nored and humiliated the
veterans. He called for dis-
cussions on both sides. The
veterans are first and fore-
most patriots. They will not
make unreasonable de-
mands on the country. But
for that the government has
NEW DELHI: Rains forced the
shifting of At Home func-
tion hosted by President
Pranab Mukherjee on Sat-
urday from the Mughal Gar-
dens to the Ashoka Hall
where a large number of dig-
nitaries including Vice-
President Hamid Ansari and
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi were present.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumi-
tra Mahajan, Congress pres-
ident Sonia Gandhi, Leader
of Opposition in Rajya Sab-
ha Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP
patriarch L.K. Advani, BJP
their say in Central institu-
tions like the Planning Com-
mission, or National
Development Council have
made them wary of the Modi
government.
Indeed, this wariness has
seen a growing closeness in
Opposition ranks. Last week,
Nationalist Congress Party
chief Sharad Pawar invited
leaders of the JD(U), the RJD,
the National Conference, the
Trinamool and the SP to tea.
All those gathered declared
their support for the JD(U)-
RJD-Congress combine in Bi-
THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
to take the first step, he said.
Admiral (Retd.) Prakash
called for a give-and-take on
both sides, especially on the
issue of base year. He termed
shameful the governments
decision on Friday to send
the police to evict the ex-ser-
vicemen from Jantar
Mantar.
The major stumbling
blocks seem the issue of fi-
nances and the modalities of
implementation. Several
rounds of talks last week be-
tween the government and
veteran groups remained in-
conclusive. While the initial
expenditure is estimated at
about Rs. 8,300 crore, the
government worries that it
will sharply increase the an-
nual pension bill. It is close
to Rs. 55,000 crore this year.
In general, the definition
given by the Parliamentary
Committee, headed by Bha-
gat Singh Koshiyary, in 2011
had been accepted by the
government and Parliament.
OROP seeks parity in pen-
sion for those retiring in the
same rank and duration of
service, irrespective of the
time of retirement. Now, this
has emerged as the sticky
point between the govern-
ment and ex-servicemen.
Currently, defence per-
sonnel draw 50 per cent of
their last drawn salary as
pension. OROP is necessitat-
ed as jawans retire at 32-35
president Amit Shah and
Cabinet Ministers attended
the reception.
After a tumultuous Par-
liament session in which
the Congress had crossed
swords with the Speaker,
Ms. Gandhi and Ms. Maha-
jan were seen holding each
others hands and having a
word with smile on their
faces.
Delhi Chief Minister Ar-
vind Kejriwal, who has a
running battle with Lt. Gov-
ernor Najeeb Jung, ex-
changed pleasantries with
har. The Congress was not in-
vited, but the NCP was at pains
to stress it was because it was
a meeting of regional parties.
Earlier this year, when the
BJP came a cropper in the Del-
hi Assembly elections, after a
string of electoral triumphs in
Haryana, Jharkhand, Maha-
rashtra and Jammu and Kash-
mir last year, Opposition
parties and not just the Con-
gress began to feel embold-
ened to take on the BJP more
frontally as the latter works to
expand its footprint across the
country. Parliaments Mon-
soon Session, therefore, saw a
fair degree of opposition soli-
darity.
There were minor differenc-
es in approach to various is-
sues, but most had grievances
against the government. This
was reflected both in the Well
of the House as well as within
the precincts of Parliament.
If the Congress and the Left
Parties targeted the govern-
ment for failing to respond to
their demand for the resigna-
tions of some of its senior
members charged with corrup-
tion and acts of impropriety,
the Telangana Rashtra Samithi
sought a separate High Court
in Telangana. And the RJD, the
NOIDA/DELHI
years, unlike government
employees who retire at 60.
Therein lies another con-
cern: they need to be paid
pension for a longer time.
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said the arithmetical
translation of that principle
was holding things up be-
cause several interpreta-
tions were being
considered. As reported by
The Hindu, he has held sev-
eral rounds of talks with
interlocutors.
In a bid to reduce the fi-
nancial burden, the govern-
ment has proposed that the
base year for implementa-
tion be 2011, instead of 2014
as agreed earlier, and this has
been rejected by the
veterans.
Colonel (Retd.) Anil Kaul,
media adviser for the UESM,
explained that as pension
was calculated post-retire-
ment and multiplied with
time, pushing the date of im-
plementation back would
save the government a few
hundred crores. Officials
contest this, saying that at
this rate, after a few revi-
sions, a Colonel would draw
more pension than a
Secretary.
Officials, however, point-
ed that even with the same
rank, two officers could re-
tire with a different length of
service and they could not be
given the same pension.
him in the ceremonial high-
domed chamber.
The two laughed their
hearts out in the company
of Mr. Azad, Minister of
State for Personnel Jiten-
dra Singh and Telecom
Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad.
Mr. Mukherjee moved
out of Ashoka Hall and
mixed with the crowd in the
adjacent banquet hall.
Former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and his
wife Gursharan Kaur were
also present. PTI
JD-U and the SP protested
against the governments delay
in releasing the countrywide
caste census results.
The contentious Land Ac-
quisition Bill, of course, saw al-
most the entire Opposition
forcing the government to go
back on provisions that its
members believed were pro-
corporate and anti-farmer. In-
deed, the BJP members of the
Joint Parliamentary Commit-
tee examining the legislation
even agreed to restore clauses
relating to consent and social
impact assessment while drop-
ping the idea for an industrial
corridor. (Later, panel chair-
person S. S. Ahluwalia post-
poned submission of the
report to the Winter Session as
the government wanted more
time to think on whether this
capitulation might send the
wrong message to the
corporates.)
Evidently, these Opposition
parties believe that if the BJP-
led alliance loses in Bihar, it
may improve their prospects
in West Bengal, Assam and
Punjab in 2016, and UP in
2017. If the Trinamool has
stakes in West Bengal, in As-
sam and Punjab it is the Con-
gress, and in UP the SP.
ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015 NEWS | 13

CONNECTING WITH THE MASSES

FIRE OF LAST YEARS SPEECH ABSENT, FEEL MEMBERS OF AUDIENCE

Mixed reaction to Modis Red Fort address

Sweta Goswami POLITICS OF A PATTERN
Twitterati protest NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister

A
lthough a bit fewer than last
years packed audience of
10,000, the 69th Independence
Day celebrations at the historic
Red Fort pulled a sizeable crowd
on Saturday morning. The rea-
son was clear; people patiently
bore the muggy weather expect-
ing another fiery and inspira-
tional speech from their
Pradhan Sevak - a name Prime
Minister Narendra Modi gave
himself in his maiden I-Day
speech in 2014.
Cheers echoed across the fort
as Mr Modi arrived at Lahori
Gate in his cavalcade by 7:20 am,
the Modi-Modi chant that re-
verberated last year was, howev-
er, absent. As the audience
passed time guessing his attire
for the occasion, the Prime Min-
ister alighted from his car don-
ning his now trademark turban
the colour had changed from
electric orange to mustard yel-
low this time.
He was received by Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar and
Minister of State for Defence
Hindi imposition
Udhav Naig
CHENNAI: When Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was making his
Independence Day speech in
Hindi on Saturday, hundreds of
tech-savvy Indians took
to Twitter to protest
against how the Central
governments have
historically privileged
Hindi over other Indian
languages, by sending
out pointed tweets criticising
what they alleged as Indias
flawed language policy.
This campaign was organised
by members of Facebook
advocacy group, Promote
Linguistic Equality, to protest
and raise awareness of how
non-Hindi States are often
India into a Start-Up hub. coerced into using Hindi. For
While the 3,500 participating
school children were kept alert
False report irks Deoband several hours on Saturday,
#StopHindiImposition was a
and a student, said, We felt
that August 15 would be the
best day to highlight the fact
that Indians can enjoy true
independence only when all
Indians and their languages are
given equal status.
Otherwise, non-Hindi
speakers will remain as
second class citizens.
We demand that all 22
languages of union be
declared as official
languages under the 8th
Schedule of the Constitution,
he said.
The campaign had the
participation of hundreds of
social media users who share
the same demand.
Speaking about how the
campaign was organised, Vishal
V Navekar said, We prepared a
database of tweets in different
languages and asked our
Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday
drew flak over students
creating a formation of his
name during Independence Day
celebrations here, soon after
which AAP government went
into damage control mode by
claiming that it was part of a
tradition being followed over
the years. Mr. Kejriwals name
was a part of several such
designs, including the Tricolour
and thank you, created by
students. PTI
UPSIDE DOWN
AMRITSAR: In a faux pas, Punjab
Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh
Majitiha on Saturday unfurled
the national flag which was
upside down during an
Independence Day function
here and it was only corrected
as the event was about to
conclude. Two police personnel
responsible for the flag hoisting
arrangement were suspended
over the incident. PTI

Rao Inderjit Singh and Defence
Secretary G Mohan Kumar. The
customary 21-gun salute and un-
furling of the National Flag fol-
lowed next.
To make a direct connect with
the masses, Mr Modi once again
decided to do away with the bul-
let-proof glass shield on the po-
dium. At 7:32 am, he began his
speech with a thundering ap-
plause from the audience. The
84-minute speech, one of the
longest made by any Indian
Prime Minister, ranged from
what the Central government
has achieved in its 15 months to
newer initiatives like electrify-
ing 18,500 village and turning
THE LOUDEST APPLAUSES CAME WHEN
ONE OR TWO TIMES PM TOOK A SWIPE
AT PREVIOUS GOVERNMENTS
by their teachers to cheer and
clap from time to time, the gen-
eral public, by around 8:30 am
when Mr Modis speech was still
on, had already begun to mum-
ble comparing his speech with
that of last years. The loudest
applauses came when one or two
times he took a swipe at previous
governments and how some peo-
ple thrive on despair. As a large
number of the crowd present
comprised youths, they ex-
pressed their joy when Mr Modi
talked of the need to abolish in-
terviews for small jobs.
Taking advantage of free ride
in DTC buses and Delhi Metro in
the morning hours, people came
to the venue from every nook
and corner of city. Among the
VIPs were Mr. Modis predeces-
sor Manmohan Singh who was
accompanied by his wife Gur-
sharan Kaur.
Mohammad Ali
DEOBAND: Scholars at the Islamic
seminary here, along with Mus-
lims in general, were puzzled and
upset this Independence Day af-
ter the media reported that the
Darul-Uloom-Deoband had is-
sued a fatwa asking Muslims and
madarsas to celebrate Independ-
ence Day and hoist the national
flag on their homes.
The widely reported and circu-
lated fatwa or appeal does not
exist and was never issued from
the seminary, said scholars at the
seminary as well as its spokesper-
son Ashraf Usmani.
After one mainstream English
daily quoted a non-existent fat-
wa from the Darul-Uloom-Deo-
band, that false story was
reported and copied by almost ev-
ery media house without due ver-
ification, alleged Uslami, visibly
upset at what he terms as fre-
quent false/negative reporting
and stereotyping of Muslims and
madarsas.
An impression was created
that we have asked Muslims and
madrasas to celebrate Independ-
ence Day as if they dont celebrate
it. This is a utter lie. We never
issued any fatwa or appeal or any
sort of statement regarding the
issue, clarified Uslami.
One reporter had called me
asking about Muslims and Inde-
pendence Day celebrations. I
countered his question and told
him that Muslims and madrasas
have been celebrating Independ-
ence Day with fervour and enthu-
siasm since the time we became
independent, he said while alleg-
ing that a wrong statement was
attributed to him saying that he
had appealed to Muslims and ma-
darssas to hoist the national flag.
trending topic in many of the
non-Hindi cities.
Asked why Independence Day
was hand-picked to organise
this protest, Prasanna LM, a
main organiser of the campaign
Border Security Force personnel dance during
a ceremony at the Wagah border on Saturday.
- PHOTO: AFP
KILLER FLAGPOST
members to tweet them using NAWADA(BIHAR): A school
the hashtag director was on Saturday
#StopHindiImposition, he said. electrocuted and three
The Twitterati also kick- students were seriously injured
started a debate on issues when high voltage electric
faced by non-Hindi speakers. current passed through the
flagpole during a flag hoisting
ceremony at a school here. The
flagpole was said to have come
in contact with a live wire. PTI
DOODLE ON DANDI MARCH
NEW DELHI: Search engine
Google on Saturday
commemorated Indias 69th
Independence Day by
remembering Mahatma Gandhis
Dandi March, which sparked
widespread protests across
India against the then British
government. The tech giant has
dedicated the historic march
with a doodle showing Gandhiji
in his khadi white clothes
leading the way. PTI

Celebrations under security Scientific ambitions behind DNA Profiling Bill

clampdown in Kashmir Vidya Venkat

NEW DELHI: This week, the De-

Mehboob Jeelani
NEW DELHI: As during every In-
dependence Day, extensive se-
curity preparations were made
across Jammu and Kashmir on
Saturday, with all mobile
phone networks and internet
services suspended for most of
the day.
To keep militants and stone
throwing protesters at bay, the
Jammu and Kashmir govern-
ment, a six-month-old coali-
tion between Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and
the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), didnt do anything dif-
ferent than its predecessor gov-
ernments. Following the same
old strategy of laying a siege,
they deployed a heavy contin-
gent of police and paramilitary
forces on all roads that led to
Srinagars Bakshi stadium,
where Chief Minister Mufti
Muhammad Sayeed marked
the official ceremony by unfur-
ling the Tricolour and review-
ing an honour guard.
In the Kashmir Valley, Inde-
pendence Day celebrations
have also meant trouble for the
people as security forces install
barricades on all major roads of
the city, conduct surprise
searches and frisk operations
and patrol the areas surround-
ing the venue where the na-
tional flag is hoisted.
On Friday night, the J&K po-
lice followed its decade-old rit-
ual of putting all the separatist
leaders under house arrest and
conducting raids in Srinagars
old city to arrest suspected tracted bad press, the PDP
stone throwers.
Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani,
Inspector General of Police in
Kashmir, said: that a few doz-
en people were detained in the
past 24 hours. Wherever pre-
ventive detentions were re-
quired we carried them out,
said Mr. Gillani. Everything
passed off peacefully, and we
had functions across all the dis-
tricts of the [Kashmir] Valley.
A week ahead of the celebra-
tions, the PDP high command
doled out invitations to civil
servants, members of the Leg-
islative Council and trade
union workers. About 15,000
PDP workers were bussed in
from all parts of the State to
attend the ceremony.
A senior PDP leader told The
Hindu that by gathering a large
crowd the party wanted to re-
mind New Delhi that there are
pro-Indian Kashmiris living in
Kashmir.
As ISIS and Pakistani flags
displayed by young Kashmiri
boys in Srinagars old town at-
which continues to raise sev-
leaders have had to assure its
coalition partner BJP that the
government was committed to
fighting such sentiments.
While addressing the Inde-
pendence Day function in Sri-
nagar, Chief Minister Mufti
Muhammad Sayeed was tactful
in his speech. Mr. Syeed care-
fully spoke about Article 370,
which gives special status to
the State, rejecting the two-na-
tion theory, balancing his argu-
ment by invoking the positions
of other political parties over
the Kashmir issue.
partment of Biotechnology
(DBT) uploaded a slightly
modified draft of the Human
DNA Profiling Bill on its web-
site, opening up the contro-
versial Bill, now tabled in
Parliament, for public
scrutiny.
Legal researcher Usha Ra-
manathan, a member of the
Committee formed by the
Centre in 2013 to review this
Bill, spoke to The Hindu
about the modified draft Bill
Aadhaar
eral critical concerns relating
to privacy, ethical usage of
DNA samples and uses of the
proposed DNA database. In
February this year, she wrote
a dissent note to the DBT
highlighting the Bills contro-
versial provisions, but her
concerns remain
unaddressed.
Like the Unique Identifi-
cation (UID) project in which
the government collected
biometric samples of citizens
to create a general database,
marketing it as Aadhaar or
the basis for citizens to seek
entitlements, the DNA data-
base too aims to collect citi-
zen DNA samples and make a
database out of it. In UID,
biometric data samples were
collected from willing or co-
erced citizens, but there was
no way people could opt out
of the database once in it, as
no consent clause or guide-
lines for sample collection
were specified for it. The
DNA Profiling Bill too brings
similar concerns, she says.
Biometric through
Bill. That the agency has been
With the Supreme Court
now coming down heavily on
the government for insisting
on biometric profiling of citi-
zens through Aadhaar, the
question is whether the gov-
ernment ought to push the
draft DNA Bill in its current
form, given its unresolved
concerns. The Bill contains
provisions for a volunteers
index and collection of such
other DNA indices as may be
specified by regulation,
which, Ms. Ramanathan says,
is problematic, as it is not
Govt. may use DNA
samples to profile
people on the basis of
caste
sure who might be coerced
into giving biological samples
under these provisions.
The Director of the Centre
for DNA Fingerprinting and
Diagnostics in India (CDFD),
based in Hyderabad, will al-
ways be the ex-officio mem-
ber-secretary of the DNA
Profiling Board as per the
given considerable powers to
take decisions regarding
DNA sample usage and regu-
late DNA profiling in India is
itself a cause for concern, she
says. The reason is the 12th
plan (2012-17) document put
up on the Department of Sci-
ence and Technology (DST)
website, describes the CDFD
as intending to conduct Hu-
man population analysis with
a view to eliciting signature
profiling of different caste
populations of India to use
them in forensic DNA finger-
printing and develop DNA
databases. An identification
form for DNA sample tests,
put up on the CDFD website,
of which The Hindu too ac-
cessed a copy, includes an en-
try column for filling caste
and origin of State informa-
tion. Ms. Ramanathan says
this is the source of current
concerns regarding how an
agency empowered by the
proposed law might use DNA
samples to profile people on
the basis of caste.
Further, Schedule I under
the Act, in the List of Matters
for DNA Profiling allows for
data collection on maternity
or paternity disputes, issues
relating to pedigree, surroga-
cy and immigration or emi-
gration as well.
The Board, in which CDFD
plays a central role, will also
control how privacy concerns
are addressed. With the on-
going Supreme Court case on
Aadhar not taking a definitive
stance on privacy, the privacy
concerns raised by the DNA
database project too hang in
the balance, she says. The UI-
DAI vs. CBI case has revealed
the difficulties of safeguard-
ing a database apart from
the technical difficulties
when such a database has
been created, she says.
There are clearly scientific
ambitions fuelling the DNA
database project, Ms. Rama-
nathan says. In the same 12th
plan document, CDFD is also
described as aiming to work
on molecular genetics, cyto-
genetics, biochemical genet-
ics, newborn screening
centre and develop a national
database for genetic
disorders.
No studies have been done
on the costs involved in pur-
suing the extraordinary am-
bitions that the Bill sets out,
she has pointed out in the dis-
sent note submitted to the
government. The DNA data-
base annual report of UK
shows that the UK Home Of-
fice spent 2.2 million in
2013-14 in running the Na-
tional DNA Database on be-
half of the UK police forces.
Can India afford to pump in
such vast sums of money to
aid a scientific agencys re-
search ambitions? she asks.

Storming of IC 814 dropped not because of officers presence
What happened in Amritsar is the precise question after the release of Dulats memoir
Suvojit Bagchi
KOLKATA: Partly clearing the
confusion triggered after the
release of his memoir, the
former chief of Research
&Analysis Wing, A.S. Dulat,
has said that the government
did not alter its plan of oper-
ation after being informed
about the presence of a se-
nior officer of the external
intelligence agency on board
the hijacked Indian Airlines
flight IC 814.
On its way to Kandahar,
the flight landed at Amritsar
and many senior officers
have said over the years that
the flight was allowed to
leave Indian soil, even after
an initial plan to launch a
commando operation, be-
cause the R&AW officer
Sashi Bhusan Singh Tomar
then posted as First Secre-
tary in the Indian embassy in
Kathmandu, was on board.
Mr. Tomar is related
through marriage to the then
Cabinet Secretary N.K.
Singh and former National
CM
YK
Security Guards Director
Nikhil Kumar.
But 15 years after he left
his office, Mr. Dulat has
clarified that while Mr.
Singh, Mr. Kumar and he,
himself, was aware of Mr.
Tomars presence, it had not
altered their Amritsar plan.
We knew that he was on
board and we did not want
any harm to come to him
but that had nothing to do
with what happened in Am-
ritsar.
But what happened in
Amritsar is the precise ques-
tion after the release of Mr.
Dulats memoir, a bestseller
in every list, Kashmir: The
Vajpayee Years. Why has
Mr. Dulat skipped one of the
most critical events of his
career the Tomar-Amrit-
sar episode in his book is
what observers have asked.
I did not want to men-
tion that as he was a friend
and a colleague and I did not
want to bring him into the
limelight but what has been
said [about proposed Amrit-
It was coincidental that
Mr. Tomar was on
board, says former RAW
Chief A.S. Dulat
sar operation of IC 814] is
wrong, Mr. Dulat told The
Hindu, before the launch of
his memoir in central Kol-
katas Oxford Bookstore.
IC 814 was eventually tak-
en to Kandahar in Southern
Afghanistan from Amritsar,
after briefly touching down
in Lahore and Dubai. On De-
cember 31, 1999 the crisis
came to an end as India
agreed to release three of
the top militants including
Masood Azhar, the founder
of militant outfit,
Jaish-e-Mohammad.
However, Mr. Dulat has
not indicated why IC 814
was allowed to leave Indian
soil and rather underscored
that initially the members of
the Crisis Management
Group were in the dark
about Mr. Tomars
presence.
It was coincidental that
Mr. Tomar was on board.
Nobody knew anything
about it on that night [De-
cember 24, 1999] and it
came to be known as time
passed, he added.
have not heard anything
Official Secrets Act not
violated
Quoting unnamed gov-
ernment officials the media
has reported that Mr. Du-
lats observation in the book
has violated Section 3 of
countrys Official Secrets
Act and the government is
mulling action against Mr.
Dulat. The Section prohibits
a person from publishing,
among other things, official
secrets and Mr. Dulat cate-
gorically said that he has not
violated any secrets of the
State.
I am conscious of the re-
quirements of an intelli-
gence officer. I have just put
together what is already
known and in the public do-
main, Mr. Dulat said. How-
ever, he has heard some of
his former colleagues dis-
cussing the alleged breach-
ing of the 1923 Act.
It is normal when an in-
telligence officer says a
thing. I am not the first and I
would not be the last but I
from the government, he
added.
Mr. Dulat did not rule out
the idea that he may write a
sequel to his book. I doubt
it very much, but then a spy
has many stories [by the]
end of the day, he said.
Taj takes Twitter world by storm
Akhilesh launches the official Twitter handle @TajMahal
Mohammad Ali
MEERUT: The Taj Mahal on
Saturday became one of
the first historical
monuments in the world
to have a Twitter account
of its own. The Mughal
monument made its debut
on the micro-blogging site
with the State Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav
launching the official
Twitter handle
@TajMahal on
Independence Day in
Lucknow.
The irony of at all is that The Taj Mahal became one of the first historical
the historical launch could monuments in the world to have a Twitter
not be organised at the Taj account of its own. - FILE PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY
Mahal in Agra as desired
by personnel associated so started the trend Making its Twitter
with Twitter because of #MyTajMemory. Soon debut interesting, the
permission issue from the after hundreds of people Twitter handle tweeted,
Archaeological Survey of tweeted picture of their There are two kinds of ppl
India, sources told The visit to the Taj tagging in the world. Those who
Hindu. @TajMahal and making its have visited me and follow
Hours after its Twitter debut on the virtual world me here and those who
debut, @TajMahal got conversational and havent seen me and yet
thousands of followers and interactive. follow me here.
ND-ND
14 | WORLD THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
ISs Baghdadi raped American hostage
INVESTORS FROM INDIA, CHINA WELCOME TO OUR COUNTRY Mueller was abducted from Aleppo in 2013; IS says she was killed in an airstrike

Ranil bats for

WASHINGTON: American hos- pened. Kayla tried to protect
tage Kayla Mueller was re- these young girls, her moth-
peatedly forced to have sex er said. She was like a moth-
with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, er gure to them.
the leader of the Islamic When the teenaged Yazidi
State group, U.S. intelligence girl escaped with her sister,
officials told her family in she asked Mueller to accom-

devolution of power
June. pany her, the parents were
The news is but the latest told, but Kayla refused, wor-
in a litany of horrors perpe- rying that her obvious West-
trated by the IS group, which ern appearance would lead to
has beheaded, burned and their capture. By the time the
crucied male captives while Yadizi escapee reported the
passing around women as sex situation to Delta Force com-
slaves. mandos in Iraq, Kayla had
T. Ramakrishnan Mueller was held for a time been moved, her parents
by Islamic State nancier were told.

S
ri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesingheon Saturday
said devolution was the best way
to take away barriers construct-
ed by the previous Mahinda Ra-
japaksa regime for provincial
councils to operate.
Asserting that his party, the
United National Party (UNP),
had always stood for a unitary
state, Mr. Wickremesinghe, in an
interview with The Hindu at his
official residence (Temple
Trees) here, said the UNP had
supported devolution. We had
brought in the 13th Amend-
ment. This time, we will give
powers down to the level of
villages.
Asked whether the opposition
to federalism was because of the
fear of losing votes, the Prime
Minister replied that historical-
ly, we have not had it.
Mr. Wickremesinghe had ear-
lier served as PM twice during
1993-1994 and 2001-2004.
Referring to the December
2002 Oslo communiqu, which
talks of an agreement between
the Sri Lankan government and
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) forexploring a
solution founded on the princi-
ple of internal self-determina-
tion in areas of historical
habitation of the Tamil-speaking
peoples, based on a federal struc-
ture within a united Sri Lanka,
he said: We did not say we
agreed [to federalism]. But, we
had said we would explore it dur-
ing the talks.
THIS IS ONE OF THE CRUCIAL ELECTIONS
SUCH AS THE ONE IN 1977 WHEN THE
UNP RETURNED TO POWER
On the issue of accountability
for alleged crimes during the Ee-
lam War, he said it had been
agreed nally that let the report
[of the U.N. Human Rights
Council] be tabled and brought
out to the public in September.
Within the adequate time agreed
by both sides, we will give our
response.
Crucial election
Mr. Wickremesinghe, who
carried out a month-long cam-
paign for Mondaysparliamen-
tary election, described the poll
as one of the crucial elections
such as the one in 1977 when the
UNP returned to power.
Thereis a denite trend
against Rajapaksa and his type of
autocratic government. People
are for good governance and-
transparency. Theyalso like to
see rapid economic progress."
Asked whether the entry of Mr.
Rajapaksa into the poll fray had
made the contest more exciting,
he replied that a part of the high-
est echelons in the media had
been backing him.
They try to make out [that]
Mahinda is the winner. He add-
ed that nothing is working.
On economic ties with India
and China, he said Indian and
Chinese investors were free to
come and invest here.
Sri Lanka will take loans from
those who offer them on a com-
petitive basis and on a conces-
sional basis.
He added that some Chinese
loans [drawn by the previous Ra-
japaksa regime] were being rene-
gotiated. His government is
restoring good relations with
the West.
(The complete transcript of
the interview is available at:
http://thne.ws/WRanil)
Abu Sayyaf and his wife, Kayla Mueller (in picture), her parents say quoting Mueller, from Prescott,
known as Umm Sayyaf. Al- American officials, was repeatedly forced to have Arizona, was taken hostage
Baghdadi took Mueller as a sex with IS leader Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi. with her boyfriend, Omar
wife, repeatedly raping her Alkhani, in August 2013 after
FILE PHOTO: AP
when he visited, according to leaving a Doctors Without
a Yazidi teenager who was Borders hospital in Aleppo,
held with Mueller and escap- February. Umm Sayyaf con- intelligence about IS. Umm Syria, where he had been
ed in October 2014. rmed that al-Baghdadi had Sayyaf has been turned over hired to x the Internet ser-
The 14-year-old made her owned Kayla during Umm to the Iraqi Kurds for trial. vice for the hospital.
way to Iraqi Kurdistan, Sayyafs lengthy American The Muellers have been Mueller had begged him to
where she talked to U.S. com- interrogation in Iraq, the told she can be expected to let her tag along because she
mandos in November 2014. Muellers said they were told serve a long prison sentence, wanted to do relief work in
Intelligence agencies corrob- by American officials. said a family spokeswoman, the war-ravaged country.
orated her account and A U.S. official conrmed Emily Lenzner. Alkhani was released after
American officials passed it their account, rst reported Mueller was held with two months, having been
on to her parents in June. by Londons Independent three other women, all Yazi- beaten.
They told us that he mar- newspaper. The official was dis, the Muellers were told. The Islamic State group
ried her, and we all under- not authorised to be quoted All were sexually abused. claimed Mueller was killed in
stand what that means, Carl by name and spoke on condi- When al-Baghdadi visited, he a Jordanian air strike near
Mueller, Kaylas father, told tion of anonymity. would take Mueller to his Raqqah, the groups self-de-
The Associated Press on Fri- Abu Sayyaf was killed in a room, the witness told Amer- clared capital in Syria. U.S.
day, which would have been Delta Force raid of his Syrian ican officials. She would tell officials conrmed the death
his daughters 27th birthday. compound in June, which re- her fellow captives some- but not the circumstances.
Her death was reported in sulted in a treasure trove of times tearfully what had hap- AP
Blast zone evacuated over contamination fears
TIANJIN: New explosions and rial at a warehouse. with water or damp air.
res rocked the Chinese Chinese govt. has set Burning ames were
port city of Tianjin on Sat- up a no-man zone Survivor found spotted on Saturday, and
urday, as one survivor was within 3 km of the Authorities on Saturday explosions were reported
pulled out and authorities pulled out one survivor by witnesses and state
ordered evacuations to site of explosions to from a shipping container, media.
clean up chemical contam- carry out clean-ups state media reported. His In one case, heavy smoke
ination more than two days identity was not immedi- from a re engulng several
after a re and a series of ately known. Television vid- cars rose up as high as 10
blasts set off the disaster. 104, including 21 re-ght- eo showed the man being metres, accompanied by at
Meanwhile, angry rela- ers, making the disaster the carried out on a sketcher by least ve explosions.
tives of re-ghters missing deadliest for Chinese re- a group of soldiers wearing Police and military per-
in the catastrophe stormed ghters in more than six gas masks. sonnel manned checkpoints
a government news confer- decades. The government set up a on roads leading to the blast
ence to demand informa- An unknown number of no-man zone within 3 km of sites, and helicopters were
tion on their loved ones. re-ghters remain mis- the explosions to clean up seen hovering in the over-
sing, and a total of 720 peo- chemical contamination cast sky.
Death toll rises to 104 ple have been injured in the from sodium cyanide, ac- The air had a metallic
The death toll in Wednes- rapid succession of explo- cording to media reports. chemical smell, and there
days inferno and blasts that sions that began with a re Sodium cyanide is a toxic was uneasiness over rain
devastated industrial and from shipping containers chemical that becomes forecasts, although it was
residential zones climbed to containing hazardous mate- combustible on contact warm and windy. AP

40 migrants
suffocate in
boat off Italy
ROME: More than 40 migrants
have died in the Mediterra-
nean on Saturday, the Italian
navy said, after apparently
suffocating below deck on the
boat taking them to Europe.
Operation underway...
many migrants saved. At
least 40 dead, the navy said
on Twitter, while the Cor-
riere della Sera newspaper
said those who died were
found in the hold of the
vessel.
The boat, which was inter-
cepted south of the Italian is-
land of Lampedusa, was
carrying around 300 people,
the paper said.
An Italian navy helicopter
spotted the boat, which was
overcrowded and starting to
sink, about 21 miles off the
Libyan coast.
An Italian navy vessel was
sent to its aid at 7 a.m. local
time and when its sailors
boarded the vessel the grim
discovery was made.
Survivors of the hazardous
crossing from Libya often tell
of how traffickers lock mi-
grants in the hold most
black Africans who pay less
for the voyage. AFP
A farewell to arms Japans Emperor offers
remorse for WWII
TOKYO: Japanese Emperor
Akihito expressed rare deep
remorse over his countrys
wartime actions in an ad-
dress on Saturday, marking
the 70th anniversary of Ja-
pans World War II surren-
der, a day after the Prime
Minister fell short of apol-
ogising in his own words to
the victims of Japanese ag-
gression.
Prime Minister Shinzo Japans Emperor Akihito
Abe, meanwhile, stayed away and Empress Michiko
from a contentious Yasukuni attend a WWII
shrine that honours war
criminals among other war memorial service
dead. He instead prayed and ceremony in Tokyo on
laid owers at a national Saturday PHOTO: REUTERS
cemetery for unnamed fallen
soldiers ahead of the annual speech. Japanese media said
ceremony at Tokyos Budo- it was the rst time he had
kan hall. used the words deep re-
That ceremony started morse in reference to the
with a moment of silence at war.
noon to mark the radio an- Akihito also emphasised
nouncement by Emperor Hi- that Japans peace and pros-
rohito, Akihitos father, of perity stand on the peoples
Japans surrender on Aug. 15, tireless endeavours and their
1945. earnest desire for peace, and
Reecting on our past and renewed his war-renouncing
bearing in mind the feelings pledge.
of deep remorse over the last On Friday, Mr. Abe fell
war, I earnestly hope that the short of apologising in his
Honour guards perform during a parade in Seoul on Saturday. South Korea celebrated the 70th anniversary of its ravages of war will never be own words to the victims of
liberation from Japanese colonial rule. PHOTO: AFP repeated, Akihito said in his Japans aggression. AP

24 killed in Baghdad serial blasts

BAGHDAD: A spate of bombings
across Baghdad killed at least
24 people on Saturday, two
days after the deadliest attack
in the Iraqi capital since Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi took
Abused Pak. boy 'killed himself
MULTAN: A Pakistani teenager
believed to have been
kidnapped and sexually
assaulted has committed
suicide after police refused to
help and even taunted him, the
victims father said.
One police official has now
been suspended for
negligence, police have
office one year ago. The
deadliest attack took place in
the Shia district of Habibiya,
where 15 people were killed
when a car bomb exploded near
an open area where cars are
displayed for sale.
Habibiya is near Sadr City,
where more than 70 people
were killed in a massive truck
bomb blast claimed by Islamic
State on Thursday. Reuters
confirmed. Muhammad Ikram,
14, who worked at a furniture
workshop in the Rahim Yar
Khan district of Punjab
province, was kidnapped by a
gang and raped for two days,
his father said.Ikram was then
dumped on a road near his
home after his condition
worsened. AFP
Taliban present gentler face but wield iron fist in Afghan district
Joseph Goldstein &
Taimoor Shah
LASHKAR GAH: As they have
captured more territory in
Afghanistan this year, the
Taliban have twinned their
military offensive with a
publicity push. Their pitch
goes something like this:
weve learned the lessons
from our time in power, and
were ready to moderate a
bit.
At international confer-
ences, delegates from the Ta-
liban infamous for
outlawing girls schools dur-
ing their rule from 1994 to
2001 have made a point of
being willing to meet and
talk with female officials.
Old hardline stances against
music and photography have
been softening.
But for insight into how Talibans formal name, the
the Taliban might rule if they
succeed in holding large
stretches of Afghanistan,
consider Baghran district, in
the southern province of
Helmand. There, where the
Taliban were scarcely ever
out of power, the harsh old
policies of the 90s are still in
full swing. Men are hauled
into jail if they shave beards,
and spot turban checks are
still in place to expose any
fancy haircuts. And there is
still no freedom for women
to travel or learn.
The Taliban in Baghran
are not an insurgent force
but the government, and a
long-established one at that.
In Baghran, you feel like
you are in a mini-emirate of
the Taliban, said a 45-year-
old shopkeeper, Esmatullah
Baghrani, referring to the
lines, as well as men standing
The Taliban in
Baghran are not an
insurgent force but
the government, and
a long-established
one at that
Islamic Emirate of Afghanis-
tan. When I am out of Bagh-
ran, I feel like I am in a
different world.
There is no cellphone ser-
vice in Baghran, reecting
the Talibans wishes. In-
stead, people communicate
with the outside world
through a handful of public
call offices phones in
stores near the bazaar.
Through more than a doz-
en interviews with the men
who answered these phone
sought out Baghrans relative
nearby, a rare sketch of life in
the Talibans most secure
stronghold began to emerge.
The New York Times also in-
terviewed Baghran residents
in person in Lashkar Gah, the
provincial capital.
There is probably nowhere
else in Afghanistan more
completely under Taliban
rule. Officially, the Afghan
government acknowledges
having lost only four out of
roughly 400 districts to the
Taliban. Of these, Baghran
was the rst to fall, about a
decade ago.
The Talibans rule has
proved attractive, or at least
tolerable, to many rural Af-
ghans who have endured
decades of war. Residents of
other parts of Helmand, who
nd themselves caught in the
cross hairs of the war, have
boys is limited, too. The Tali-
security, migrating away
from the front lines.
Some things have changed.
Public executions, a feature
of the Talibans national rule,
were halted in Baghran in
2007 after a U.S. airstrike
killed a large number of Tali-
ban ghters and residents
who had assembled for one,
residents recalled.
Social restrictions
But in most ways, the so-
cial restrictions that made
the Taliban international pa-
riahs during their reign have
been resurrected in full in
Baghran. Women leave home
only with their husbands or
male family members, and
then only to visit a doctor or a
few other authorized desti-
nations. There are no girls
schools, and education for
Service
ban here converted schools
to madrasas, which boys typ-
ically attend for perhaps
three years before returning
to family farms.
The Ministry for the Pro-
motion of Virtue and the Pre-
vention of Vice, once famous
for pummelling women who
went out and men who
played music, is back on pa-
trol in Baghran. Vice-pre-
vention officers often carry
scissors so that they can deal,
on the spot, with haircuts
deemed excessively vain.
Where the Taliban remain
an insurgency competing
with the government for the
peoples loyalties, the
groups social restrictions do
in fact appear to have mel-
lowed slightly, particularly
in the countrys north.
New York Times News

CM ND-ND
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 BUSINESS | 15
NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

Forex reserves decline by $113.5 b Start mining, Goa CM tells firms More car exports than local sales
Foreign exchange reserves declined by $113.5 Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen exported more
million to $353.347 billion in the week to August 7, exhorted mine owners to emulate Vedanta Made in India passenger vehicles during April-
says a data from the RBI. Agencies Resources and start mining operations. IANS July 2015 than they sold in the local market.

CONCERN OVER CHINESE STEEL IMPORTS

New global diamond

Centre should sort out internal standard hailed

challenges, says Tata Steel MD

THE STEEL INDUSTRY IS A VERY DIFFICULT SECTOR DUE TO HIGH CAPITAL AND TRANSPORT
The ISO Standard provides a series of definitions,
COSTS, AND HIGH RATE OF INTEREST which aim to provide further clarity for traders and
to maintain consumer confidence in the diamond

T
he Central government should
sort out internal challenges at a
time when the domestic steel in-
dustry is facing challenges from
China, Tata Steel Managing Di-
rector (India and South East
Asia) T. V. Narendran said on
Saturday. We can do much bet-
ter had the government ad-
dressed internal challenges such
as availability of raw material
and import duty as demand of
steel would continue to grow, he
told reporters here.
Mr. Narendran said it was not
that Indian producers are not
competitive with world players
as our ve/six steel producers
feature in the top steel producers
of the world even now.
Elaborating on the challenges
faced from China, Mr. Narendran
said China was producing 825
million tonnes of steel against
their demand of 725 million
tonnes.
They are producing 100 mil-
lion tonnes more than the de-
mand, which was more than the
current total capacity of our
CHINA IS EXPORTING TWO TO THREE
MILLION TONNES, WHICH IS SPOILING
OUR MARKET. THE TOTAL EXPORT OF
STEEL TO INDIA IS 10 MILLION
TONNES, WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO
THE CAPACITY OF TATA STEELS
JAMSHEDPUR PLANT.
T. V. NARENDRAN,
MANAGING DIRECTOR, TATA STEEL
country, which was between 80
to 85 million tonnes, Mr. Naren-
dran said.
China was exporting two to
three million tonnes, which was
spoiling our market, he said, add-
ing that the total export of steel
to India was 10 million tonnes,
which was equivalent to the ca-
pacity of Tata Steels Jamshed-
pur plant.
We could set up a steel plant if
(we) could have such a volume of
export of steel, he said.
Not necessarily Tata Steel
alone, this would help steel pro-
ducers such as Jindals, Bhush-
ans, SAIL, among others, to set
up steel plant and increase the
capacity of the country, which
was targeting to enhance it to
300 million tonnes, he added.
To achieve the target, he said,
We will have to invest more
than $200 billion to produce ad-
ditional 200 million tonnes of
steel.
The central government had
taken various initiatives in this
regard and more steps were
needed to be taken to attract in-
vestment, he suggested, while fo-
cusing on the need to implement
projects in sectors such as infras-
tructure and automobile to in-
crease steel consumption and
create job opportunities.
The steel industry was a very
difficult sector due to high cap-
ital cost, transport cost, high rate
of interest but it was this indus-
try that competed with world
players, Mr. Narendran said. We
are competing with Japan and
Korea, who have a zero import
duty due to FTA (free trade
agreement) against our more
than 10 per cent, he added.
Need for infrastructure
development
In fact, transporting our mate-
rials from Jamshedpur to Mum-
bai was costlier than importing it
from Korea to Mumbai, he
claimed while stressing on the
need for infrastructure
development.
Tata Steel might have to im-
port iron ore if the Jharkhand
government did not allow the
company to dispatch raw materi-
al from its Noamundi mine in
Jharkhand, Mr. Narendran
said.
We are now procuring raw
material from our mines in Od-
isha as well as purchasing from
local miners, which is affecting
our productivity and nancial
performance, he said after un-
furling the National ag inside
the company works here on
Saturday. We may have to ap-
proach the National Mineral
Development Corporation
(NMDC) for raw material or
import it again like we did last
year, he added.
Mr. Narendran said the cap-
tive Noamundi mine in West
Singhbhum district used to
provide 50 per cent of the iron
ore for the company but the
State government had stopped
issuing challans (forwarding
notes), blocking the dispatch of
the raw material to its Jam-
shedpur plant. The matter was
sub judice and the company
would honour the court verdict
when it comes, he added.
The Tata Steel MD said the
nancial performance of the
company had been badly affect-
ed when it was forced to import
iron ore following the closure
of its mines in Odisha and
Jharkhand on the lease renewal
issue last year. The Noamundi
mine is closed since September
last on the lease renewal issue.
The company had resumed
production at Noamundi mine
in January, after a gap of four
months, he said. PTI
industry as a whole, a joint statement from GJEPC,
BDB and GJF said.
Ramnath Subbu
MUMBAI: A new set of interna-
tional guidelines aimed at in-
creasing the condence of
consumers when purchasing
diamonds has been welcomed
by a number of Indian dia-
mond and jewellery industry
organizations.
Gem and Jewellery Export
Promotion Council (GJEPC),
Bharat Diamond Bourse
(BDB) and Gem & Jewellery
Federation (GJF) have all
praised the release of ISO In-
ternational Standard 18323:
Jewellery Consumer con-
dence in the diamond
industry.
It provides a series of de-
nitions, which aim to provide
further clarity for traders and
to maintain consumer con-
dence in the diamond indus-
try as a whole, a joint
statement from GJEPC, BDB
and GJF said.
It also provides guidelines
on the nomenclature that
should be used by those in-
volved in the buying and sell-
ing of diamonds.
The ISO ruling denes a
diamond as something that
was crated by nature. Buyers
do not usually have the tech-
nical knowledge to under-
stand the many aspects of
diamonds and so they are re-
liance on correct and honest
labelling. The importance of
this standard lies in the fact
that it sets out which nomen-
clature can be used and which
cannot in the purchase and
sale of diamonds, treated dia-
monds and synthetic dia-
monds, Vipul Shah,
Chairman, GJEPC, said in a
statement.
Importantly, the ISO stan-
dard sets out descriptions for
synthetic diamonds plainly
and precisely which is a crit-
ical issue for the diamonds
business. It also bars the us-
age of deceptive terms such as
cultured and cultivated,
real, precious and gem to
describe any synthetic
diamond.
It also states, brand names
and manufacturers names
combined with the word dia-
mond are insufficient means
of disclosure when applied to
synthetic diamonds, said
G.V. Sreedhar, Vice-Presi-
dent, GJF.
This will help clear the ex-
isting ambiguity in identify-
ing real diamonds.
ISO notes very clearly the
issues that all Indian Trade
Associations have been em-
phasizing for some time: the
need for integrity and trans-
parency to ensure that con-
sumers have total
condence, said Anoop
Mehta, president, BDB.

Equity MFs witness

strong retail
participation
NEW DELHI: Equity mutual
funds witnessed an addition
of over 11 lakh investor ac-
counts or folios in the rst
four months of the current
scal (2015-16), primarily on
the back of strong retail par-
ticipation. This follows an ad-
dition of 25 lakh folios for the
entire last scal 2014-15. Ac-
cording to Securities and Ex-
change Board of India (SEBI)
data on investor accounts
with 44 fund houses, the
number of equity folios jump-
ed to 3.28 crore last month
from 3.17 crore at March-end,
translating a gain of 11.67
lakh. April last year saw the
rst rise in more than four
years. Prior to 2014-15, the
equity MF sector had seen a
continuous closure of folios
since March 2009 after the
global nancial crisis in late
2008. Since March 2009, as
many as 1.5 crore folios got
closed. Industry experts said
the heightened investor in-
terest has led to a sharp in-
crease in retail folios.
It is the optimism of in-
vestors because of which the
folios in equity segment have
increased. Besides, increased
participation by retail inves-
tors in equities has led to an
increase in folio numbers, an
expert said. PTI
Rupee likely to remain weak despite better economic indicators HDFC to pare
stake in
Oommen A. Ninan in the Indian rupee, which 64.30 and the rupee currently the global headwinds as our
curtailed further fall. Lot of factors have contributed to the recent has depreciated below the macro-economic fundamen- insurance JV
MUMBAI: While talking to ex- The rupee also got a boost fall of the rupee against the dollar. The major psychological 65 a dollar tals are quite encouraging vis-
porters in September 2013, P. after the formation of a BJP- reason has been the concerns about an mark and hit the low at 65.32 a-vis the calendar year 2013. P. Narasimhan
Chidambaram, the then Fi- led Government at the centre, on last Friday. We have healthy foreign ex-
nance Minster, had retorted which resulted in signicant imminent interest rate hike by the U.S. Fed As of now, there is strong change reserves, low current CHENNAI: Housing Develop-
thatthe right level of rupee capital inows to the equity after almost a decade which led the demand for dollar from banks account decit, steady capital ment Finance Corporation
would be between 59 and 60 a as well as debt markets. This dollar index mounting to a high. for their importer-clients, inows, record low ination Ltd. (HDFC) will sell 17.95
dollar and the currency was a time when the rupee which has resulted in rupee and growth gradually inching crore equity shares of Rs.10
should not overshoot that transformed itself from being again depreciating to its near higher. More so, the plunging each of HDFC Standard Life
level. He made this state- one of the worst to one of the in the value of rupee as com- investors eeing away from two-year lows. The market commodity prices should act Insurance Company Ltd.
ment exactly one month after best performing currencies pared to the environment of emerging markets risky as- however, largely, ignored the as a boon for the economy (HDFC Life) to Standard Life
the fall of rupee to its histor- within a span of just 8 to 9 2013. sets and lead to concerns better-than-expected Index and underpin the local (Mauritius Holdings) 2006
ical low of 68.93 on August 28, months compared to other about capital outow. of Industrial Production (IIP) currency. Ltd.
2013. Since then, the rupee emerging market currencies. Steady depreciation data and a record low ina- Despite the bleak outlook In a communication to the
remained strong , for various The rupee held its ground Since November-Decem- Greece debt crisis tion number. for exports on account of fac- BSE, HDFC said, After the
reasons. thereafter. ber 2014, the rupee again wit- Another factor, which is tors such as the strengthen- increase in the foreign own-
With the unprecedented Gradually, the country wit- nessed a steady depreciation, still in the minds of investors, Chinese yuan ing of the rupee on an REER ership limits in the insurance
fall of rupee in 2013, the Indi- nessed growth ticking slightly which set the tone for 2015 is the Greece debt crisis The overall trend in rupee basis and weak global de- sector, Standard Life and
an currency turned out to be calendar year. Around this which led a ight to safety to- is likely to be skewed on the mand, Indias current ac- HDFC have had discussions,
the worst performing curren- NEWS ANALYSIS time, the world witnessed a wards dollar index, thereby negative side as it has count decit is expected to and the Fridays agreement
cy amongst the other emerg- gigantic fall in Russian rouble hurting the Indian rupee. breached the key support of decline in 2015-16 from 1.3 will see Standard Life in-
ing market currencies on the higher as the Government due to the cascading effect of More recently another add- 64.30, which was guarding it per cent of GDP in 2014-15, crease its stake in HDFC Life
back of policy logjam, sub-par initiated a lot of reforms, fall in crude oil prices as Rus- on to the downward trajecto- for last three months. The led by benign commodity to only 35 per cent, its pre-
growth regime, high ina- which resulted in an upsurge sian economy in a big way de- ry of the Indian rupee has precipitous fall witnessed re- prices. ferred long-term sharehold-
tionary pressures, soaring in the domestic equities. The pends on crude oil exports. been the decision by the Peo- cently has been triggered by Suchimprovements are ing, without parity.
current account decit (CAD) boom came in the form of Lot of factors have contrib- ple Bank of China earlier this Chinese yuan depreciation likely to buffer the rupee and HDFC and Standard Life
and the talk of tapering of considerable fall in crude oil uted to the recent fall of the week to change the way it cal- which has sparked concerns reduce the extent ofvolatility launched a joint venture,
bond buying programme of prices in the global markets rupee below 64.30 a dollar. culates the reference rate of about capital outows and followingglobal shocks,as HDFC Life, the rst private
the U.S. Federal Reserve (U.S. since June 2014, resulting in The major reason has been yuan which led to more than the broad strength in Dollar compared to other emerging life insurance company to be
Fed). reduction in import bill, con- the concerns about an immi- four per cent fall in Chinese Index. In near term, it may market currencies, says Ad- granted a licence to operate in
tained CAD and cooling off nent interest rate hike by the currency against the dollar. nd major ground at the level iti Nayar, Senior Economist, India. In line with the laws
Slew of measures headline ination. U.S. Fed after almost a decade This also raised concerns of around 66 a dollar, says ICRA. governing foreign ownership
However, there was a sig- It was the time the rupee which led the dollar index about a full-edged currency Sugandha Sachdeva, AVP & Going forward, says Ms. in the insurance sector, Stan-
nicant recovery in the do- was seen inching up to a level mounting to a high. The dol- war and, in order to protect In charge-Metals, Energy and Sachdeva, the domestic unit dard Lifes ownership in
mestic unit after the of 58.32 in May 2014, in spite lar index hit a 12-year high of their trade, other emerging Currency Research, Religare is likely to take cues from any HDFC Life has thus far been
appointment of the new Re- of the fact that the U.S. Fed 100.39 in March 2015. market economies devalued Securities Ltd. rate cut by the RBI, which can restricted to 26 per cent. A
serve Bank of India (RBI) was on course to end its bond Any hike in interest rate by their currencies. According to her, the sit- boost the credit growth and long-held understanding be-
Governor Raghuram Rajan, buying programme. The year the U.S. Fed either in Septem- In tandem with that, the uation for Indian rupee this the U.S. Feds stance towards tween HDFC and Standard
as he introduced a slew of 2014 was also witnessed sig- ber or most possibly in Octo- Indian currency also year should not play out to be interest rate hike in their Sep- Life was that Standard Life
measures to control volatility nicantly reduced volatility ber this year would lead to breached the recent level of as bad as in 2013, in spite of tember meeting. would increase its sharehold-
ing to parity with HDFC at
such time as legislation al-

Ethical practices and good corporate governance can boost GDP
P. Narasimhan
CHENNAI: Good ethical practic-
es and corporate governance
norms followed by the com-
panies can boost the gross do-
mestic product (GDP) by
1.5-2 per cent much like the
potential spinoff benets of
the goods and services tax
(GST), a statement of Asso-
cham quoting Union Power
Minister, Piyush Goyal said.
If we are going to run our
organisations with dened
processes and a degree of se-
rious and ethical guidelines
which will always have an ele-
ment of integrity at the core,
to my mind getting a 1.5-2 per
cent bump in the GDP, good
additional growth in the GDP
is certainly not impossible,
very much achievable and Financial stress
possibly one could do even
CM
YK
better than that, said Mr.
Goyal while inaugurating
Corporate Governance Sum-
mit-cum-Excellence Awards,
organised by The Associated
Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India (Asso-
cham), in New Delhi on
Friday.
To my mind, ethical prac-
tices and good governance
can possibly add as much to
the Indian economy as GST
could, said Mr. Goyal.
The impact of good gov-
ernance, corporate govern-
ance can be felt when one
looks at the top Sensex stocks
and you nd that good, reput-
ed companies are given a pre-
mium for good practices, he
added.
Talking about the discoms
nancial stress, the Union
Minister said, We are in ac-
tive dialogue with discoms,
we have a broad framework
under which I am very con-
dent, three or four discoms
which are really under stress
The Centre is looking at
extending financial
restructuring plan (FRP)
for the State Power
Distribution Companies
as previous FRP
schemes have actually
not changed the
situation on the ground
and failed to bring about
any significant
improvements
will have a roadmap and in
the next three years you will
see a sea change in discom
story of India.
On being asked if the gov-
ernment was looking at ex-
tending nancial
restructuring plan (FRP) for
the discoms, Mr. Goyal said,
FRP, which was introduced
originally in April 2012 and
implemented in October 2013
had actually not really
changed the situation on the
ground, it failed to bring
about any signicant im-
provement in AT&C (aggre-
gate technical and
commercial losses, in the -
nancial losses of the
companies.
We are working on a more
holistic approach where the
companies, the discoms
themselves will be encour-
aged to bring about the
change, the turnaround
through good corporate gov-
ernance practices and we will
hand-hold them and ensure
that within a dened time-
frame we turn these around,
he added. The Union Power
Minister also said that he was
looking at National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC)
Ltd., which won the Asso-
cham Corporate Governance
Award in the PSU (listed
company) category, as the
worlds most valuable energy
company four years from
now.
I am going to hold to
NTPC to this when I am con-
tinuously telling them you
have to be the world's most
valuable power company in
the next four years.
In his address at the sum-
mit, Rana Kapoor, President,
Assocham, said, With the ad-
vent of dynamic regulatory
landscapes, an increasingly
complex global business en-
vironment and rapid technol-
ogy disruptions, it is critical
for organisations to identify
and assess key governance
and compliance risks.
While Corporate Govern-
ance regulations in India are
amongst the best globally,
striking the right balance be-
tween growth and sustaina-
bility and following corporate
governance practices in spir-
it, will signicantly improve
Ease-of-doing-Business and
galvanise investments into
the country, said Mr.Kapoor.
Assocham is fully commit-
ted to working with the Gov-
ernment and regulators
towards enhancing transpar-
ency and increasing account-
ability to promote innovation
and competitiveness nation-
ally, thereby making India the
most preferred investment
destination globally, added
Mr. Kapoor.
lowed.
As per the agreement, sub-
ject to necessary approvals,
Standard Life will acquire 9
per cent of the shares of
HDFC Life from HDFC at a
price of Rs. 95 per share. As a
consequence, Standard Life
will increase its shareholding
in HDFC Life to 35 per cent
from 26 per cent at present.
Post the sale stake in
HDFC Life, HDFCs holding
in HDFC Life will be 61.65 per
cent and that of Standard Life
(Mauritius Holdings) 2006
Ltd. will be 35 per cent.
I am delighted that Stan-
dard Life is increasing its
stake in HDFC Life to 35 per
cent. The founding sharehol-
ders are also committed to
obtaining a listing for HDFC
Life. This will allow investors
to participate in the growing
Indian insurance sector, a
release quoted Deepak Pa-
rekh, Chairman, HDFC, as
saying.
ND-ND
16 | BUSINESS THE HINDU
NOIDA/DELHI

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015

Private equity players

bet high on India
S. Varadharajan
CHENNAI: Private equity funds
are betting high on India and
its growth outlook, commit-
ting $7.1 billion in rst-half of
2015, up 38 per cent year-on-
year,in 460 deals with IT &
ITeS, banking, nance and
pharmaceuticals being the fa-
vourites, an Assocham study
has said.
The private equity inows
in the rst-half of 2015 point
to the higher interest gener-
ated in terms of number of
deals, which have gone up by
62 per cent, year-on-year. In
value terms, the deal sizes
this year compare quite well
against $5.11 billion in the
same period of 2014 and
$5.64 billion in the year be-
fore, the study notes, compil-
ing various transactions.
When it comes to mergers
and acquisitions, therehave
been around 277 M&A deals
(excluding private equity) va-
luing around $15.8 billion in
H1, 2015 against269 value-
daround $17.2 billion in 2014,
when a quantum jump was
provided by the Sun Pharma-
Ranbaxy mega mergerworth
$3.2 billion. The M&As had
aggregated 255 for the corre-
sponding period of 2013
worth $12 billion. The top
three sectors dominating the
M&A scenario in H1 2015 are
IT & ITES (38 per cent) fol-
lowed by banking & nancials
services (14 per cent), phar-
ma, healthcare & biotech (11
per cent) and others.
While the M&A opportu-
Therehave been
around 277 M&A
deals (excluding
private equity)
valuing $15.8 b in the
rst half of 2015
nities remain robust, espe-
cially when there are
companies on the block with
high level of leverage, en-
hanced interest by the private
equity players certainly re-
mains a noteworthy point,
said Assocham Secretary
General D.S. Rawat.
The inbound M&As saw
more interest in terms of val-
ue to $7.4 billion in H1 of
2015, against $4.8 billion in
the same period of the previ-
ous year, reecting much
more global interest in the In-
dian economy that the do-
mestic rms looking outward.
While partly it is because of
increased opportunities in
the Indian markets, some
amount of credit is due to the
pragmatic policies being fol-
lowed by the Narendra Modi
Government, which is seek-
ing to unclog the investment
scenario, the paper pointed
out. TheH1 2015 has also ob-
served more high value deals
compared with the same peri-
od in 2014, with 15 deals val-
ued above $100 million each
and 19 deals in the $50-100
million range. The top 30
deals accounted for around
60 per cent of the total deal
value in H1 2015.

China gold reserves up more

than 19 tonnes in July
BEIJING: Chinas gold reserves
rose by more than 19 tonnes
in July, the official Xinhua
news agency said on Satur-
day, after the central bank
last month gave the statistic
for the rst time in six years.
Bullion holdings stood at
1,677.30 tonnes at the end of
July, Xinhua said citing the
People's Bank of China
(PBoC), a 1.16 per cent in-
crease on Junes 1,658 tonnes.
The rise is worth nearly
$700 million, according to
Fridays price of $1,118.25 an
ounce on the London Bullion
Market. It also revealed a rise
of 57 per cent over the past six
years. China is the worlds
largest producer of gold, but
the increase marked a slow-
down in gold accumulation
after holdings jumped 75 per
cent from 2003 to 2009.
China ranks fth globally
in gold holdings, according to
Bloomberg News. AFP

Century Plyboard plans e-commerce Sundram Fasteners

Q1 net profit up
platform for furniture sales N. Anand

Indrani Dutta survive in the long term. We CHENNAI: Sundram Fasteners

It has commenced have plans to open in cities Ltd. has reported a 10 per
KOLKATA: Century Plyboard, talks with such as Ranchi, Patna, Guwa- cent increase in its net prot
which entered the furniture e-commerce players hati and also in Odisha. after tax of Rs.42.29 crore for
business as part of a strategy Now with e-commerce the rst quarter ended June
to de-risk its plywood and ve- such as Flipkart picking up, youths prefer 30, 2015 against Rs.38.12
neer business, is contemplat- making these decisions from crore, reported for the corre-
ing an entry into e-commerce the comfort of their home sponding period last year.
by setting up its own plat- all franchisees. The venture and the Century Ply e-com- Sales and operating income
form. has so far been loss-making merce venture addresses this was Rs.631.94 crore against
but the senior management is need. Rs.578.61 crore, showing an
More stores looking at a breakeven in the The company said that as a increase of 9 per cent.
The company had launched fourth quarter of this scal. run up to launching its own Domestic sales, net of ex-
its furniture stores under Pointing out that Century e-commerce platform, it has cise duties, was Rs.395.64
sub-brand Nesta in late Ply, which has a 25 per cent begun talking with the e-com- crore against Rs.338.69 crore
2013. From 20 stores now, it share of the organised market merce giants such as Flipkart posted for the corresponding
is planning to have 35 stores in its segment (estimated at and was also trying to develop period last year. Domestic
by 2016-17 in South and East Rs.18,000 crore), is keen that a new portfolio of products sales posted 25 per cent in-
India. its franchisees make money a which would follow the deep crease, export sales remained
While the company owns senior executive said : This is discount model of the e-com- at on account of continuing
the mother store, the rest are important for the venture to merce companies. slow down in export markets.

Realisation, Tata Global to be cautious in TVS Srichakra

prices hit SAIL scaling up Starbucks stores net zooms in Q1
net profit in Q1 Indrani Dutta Tata Starbucks have
G. Balachandar

NEW DELHI: State-run SAIL has
reported a standalone net
loss of Rs.321.64 crore for the
rst quarter ended June 30,
2015 as against a net prot of
Rs.530 crore in the year-ago
period, due to lower realisa-
tion, higher royalty and pow-
er prices, it said in a BSE
ling.
Standalone total income of
the company fell by 16 per
cent to Rs.9,502.80 crore as
against Rs.11,341.20 crore in
the same quarter of 2014-15.
Apart from lower net sales
realisation, increase in royal-
ty on iron ore from Septem-
ber 1, 2014, increase in the
purchased power rate etc. al-
so added to the losses, it said
in a statement. Though do-
mestic steel consumption
grew about 7 per cent in the
rst quarter of 2015-16, high
imports from countries such
as China, Japan, Korea, Rus-
sia, and others eroded a large
market chunk of the domes-
tically produced steel. Lower
exports from India, which fell
by 31 per cent in the rst
quarter, further affected the
demand-supply balance,
SAIL added.
Barring Bhilai and Durga-
pur steel plants, all other
units of SAIL reported net
loss in the June quarter.
PTI
CM
YK
KOLKATA: Tata Global Bever-
ages (TGB) has decided to
adopt a cautious approach in
the opening of Starbucks
stores across the country,
said Cyrus P. Mistry, its
Chairman.
Responding to a sharehol-
ders query at the annual gen-
eral meeting of TGB, he said,
A number of the stores (cof-
fee shops) are making prots,
but we have to open stores
carefullywe need to be cau-
tious.
While stores opened under
the joint venture, Tata Star-
bucks Pvt. Ltd., have come up
in many places, there has for
long been a clamour for a
store in Kolkata, the regis-
tered office of TGB. Mr. Mis-
try earlier said that Tata
Starbucks added 29 stores
during the year, taking the
count to 72 across seven cities
at March-end 2015. Coffee ac-
counts for 25 per cent of
TGBs revenue and tea gives
74 per cent.
TGB ended the rst quarter
with a 9 per cent rise in its
income and a 6 per cent drop
in prots. Mr. Mistry attri-
buted this to increased in-
vestment on brands and
expenses. In 2014-15, the
company also recognised
non-cash impairment losses
amounting to Rs.95 crore re-
come up in many
places, but there is
a clamour for a store
in Kolkata.
lating to businesses in China
and Eastern Europe. The Chi-
na business, he said, was af-
fected by delays in start-up
and stabilisation of technol-
ogy
He said that a Rs.150-crore
capital expenditure was on
the anvil for the current scal
year on a consolidated basis.
Although Singur has fea-
tured at TGB meetings ever
since Tata Motors withdraw-
al of its small car project, Mr.
Mistry said that he would not
comment on a sub-judice
matter. He, however, dismis-
sed suggestions that Tata
group was not investing in
West Bengal. Most Tata
companies will surely look at
the state for investment.
There is no question about it-
different companies are
looking at West Bengal, he
asserted.
He said that the year ahead
held many opportunities.
With our green tea and spe-
ciality teas, we are well poised
to leverage consumer trend
towards health and wellness,
he said.
CHENNAI: TVS Srichakra Ltd
has posted impressive num-
bers for the Q1 of this scal.
Its net prot rose signicant-
ly to Rs.49 crore when com-
pared with Rs.17 crore in the
year-ago period, due to strong
operating performance.
EBITDA (earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortisation) was higher
at Rs.85 crore as against
Rs.40 crore. EBITDA margins
stood at 17 per cent for the
rst quarter. Strong bottom-
line growth was aided by re-
duction raw material cost,
lower interest charges and
higher other income. Its total
revenues for Q1 stood at
Rs.504 crore as against Rs.451
crore, posting a growth of 12
per cent.
We continue to do very
well in the aftermarket seg-
ment, with our numbers
growing every quarter. Ex-
ports also showing improve-
ments in both off-road and
two wheeler tyre segments,
P.Vijayaraghavan, Director of
the company said.
Its total production capac-
ity is expected to touch 2.3
million tyres a month by Oc-
tober or November from 2
million now. Its is also hope-
ful of launching its radial bike
tyres for the domestic market
in the next few months.
ND-ND

NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
Gill and
Macneall in
second
JOHOR BAHRU: Gaurav Gill and
co-driver Glenn Macneall trailed
MRF teammates and leaders
Pontus Tidemand and Emil Ax-
elsson by one minute and 19.9
seconds at the end of leg one in
the Malaysian Rally, the fourth
round of the Asia-Pacic Rally
Championship (APRC) here on
Saturday.
Both Tidemand, who leads the
championship, and Gill survived
a nightmarish ride through the
days eight Special Stages, high-
lighted by bouts of overtaking
between the two as they stopped
to remove grass from the front
grill which led to overheating of
the engine.
I have never seen anything
like it in my rallying career. In
Special Stage 3, for instance, I
had to stop four times to remove
grass from the front grill and
Pontus did the same twice. So,
we overtook each other on the
Stage, said Gill, who was quick-
est in three of the eight stages.
Provisional classification (after
leg one): Pontus Tidemand & Emil
Axelsson (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia
S2000) 02:09:21.2; Gaurav Gill &
Glenn Macneall (Team MRF, Skoda
Fabia S2000) 02:10:41.1. PTI
Ronit, Archana
emerge winners
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Ronit Bhanja of West
Bengal and Airport Authority of
Indias Archana Kamath, both
qualiers, bagged the junior
boys and girls titles with ease in
the South Zone National-rank-
ing table tennis championships
here on Saturday.
Returning after serving a ban
for a year and a half for age mis-
representation, Ronit drubbed
state-mate Abhimanyu Mitra
11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 while Archa-
na had a 11-8, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 win
over R. Harshavardini of Tamil
Nadu in the girls nal.
As facile as the title round
matches were, both their semi-
nals were nerve-wracking af-
fairs. While Ronit outlasted top
seed Manav Thakkar in seven
games, Archana had to save two
match-points to edge second
seed Selenadeepthi Selvakumar.
Harshavardini put her junior
girls defeat behind her to script
one of the biggest upsets of the
day, by getting the better of top
seed PSPBs Manika Batra 6-11,
11-9, 11-7, 14-12, 5-11, 3-11, 12-10
in the youth pre-quarternals.
In one of the major upsets in
the womens sections, former
National champion K. Shamini
went down to Anindita Chakra-
borty of Railways in the
pre-quarternals.
The results: Junior Boys: Final:
Ronit Bhanja (WB) bt Abhimanyu Mi-
tra (WB) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7. Semi-
finals: Ronit bt Manav Thakkar
(PSPBA) 8-11, 13-11, 6-11, 6-11,
11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Abhimanyu bt Sidd-
hesh Pande (Mah A) 11-8, 5-11, 3-11,
11-6, 11-9, 11-8. Junior Girls: Final:
Archana Kamath (AAI) bt R. Harsha-
vardhini (TN) 11-8, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9.
Semifinals: Harshavardhini bt Shailu
Noorbasha (AP) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5, 9-
11, 7-11, 11-5; Archana bt Selena-
deepthi Selvakumar (TN) 11-8, 11-2,
11-13, 10-12, 11-4, 9-11, 15-13.
Men: Pre-quarterfinals: Soumyajit
Ghosh (PSPB) bt Souvik Kar (WB)
11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-5, 8-11, 10-12,
11-3; Nitin Thiruvengadam (Canara
Bank) bt Jubin Kumar (PSPB) 10-12,
13-11, 11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 8-11, 11-4;
Devesh Karia (Guj) bt Abhishek Yadav
(PSPB) 11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 8-11, 12-10,
11-2; G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Sanish
Ambekar (Mah A) 11-5, 11-3, 11-5,
11-6; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Anirban
Nandi (RSPB) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8;
Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Subhajit
Saha (PSPB) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9;
Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) bt Raj
Mondal (RBI) 11-2, 11-8, 11-5, 8-11,
11-8; Harmeet Desai (PSPB) Anirban
Ghosh (WB) 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 6-11,
12-10, 11-5.
SHOOTING
Manavjit and Chenai
miss the bus
NEW DELHI: Former World
champion Manavjit Singh
Sandhu and Kynan Chenai
made a brave attempt to get the
Olympic quota in trap by shoot-
ing 123 out of 125, but lost out
on a berth in the nal in a
shoot-off with 10 others for two
spots in the shooting World
Cup at Gabala, Azerbaijan, on
Saturday.
The only consolation, if any,
was the fact that Jean Pierre
Brol Cardenas of Guatemala,
who equalled the World record
with a perfect 125, also failed to
get the Olympic quota as he was
placed fth in the seminals
with a score of 13 out of 15.
Shooting three perfect
rounds after 48 overnight, both
Manavjit (25, 23) and Chenai
(24, 24) were placed fth and
sixth before the shoot-off, and
they bowed out sixth and fth
respectively.
It was the second time this
season that Manavjit, who
competed in the last three
CM
YK
Saina one step away from history
Becomes first Indian to reach the final of a WBC
I'VE MADE IT: Saina Nehwal entered the final with a
21-17, 21-17 win over Indonesias Lindaweni Fanetri
on Saturday. PHOTO: AP
TENNIS
A day to remember for Sacchitt, Mahak
NEW DELHI: It was a dream day
for the Indian juniors on the
grass courts of the AELTC as
Sacchitt Sharma and Mahak
Jain won the boys and girls
titles in the HSBC Road to
Wimbledon UK under-14 ten-
nis championship on Saturday.
Unseeded Sacchitt, who
trains with coach Arif Khan at
the MM Public School in Pi-
tampura in Delhi, fought his
way past second seed Bradley
Buckland of Derbyshire 6-4,
0-6, 6-4 in the boys nal.
Mahak Jain maintained her
record of not dropping a set,
defeating second seed Esther
Adeshina of Hampshire 6-4,
6-3 in the girls summit clash.
Mahak had beaten the same girl
in the rst match of the league
phase for the loss of just six
games. I am very happy. It is a
great experience, playing on
the Wimbledon courts and win-
ning the tournament. It moti-
vates me to play in the main
event some day. I am happy
that my parents are with me to
savour the moment. They have
been with me for ve weeks on
the European circuit as well,
supporting me all along, said
Mahak.
Coach Ankita Bhambri was
all praise for Mahak. The nal
was tougher than the league
match against the same player.
Mahak was calm and consistent
through the week. She was
match-sharp because of playing
for ve weeks in Europe, said
Ankita.
Uppal thrilled
Former Davis Cupper Vish-
Olympics in Athens, Beijing
and London, was missing the
Olympic quota. He had shot 123
on way to the bronze medal in
the Acapulco World Cup. He
had shot 120 and 118 in the oth-
er two World Cups in Larnaca
and Al Ain respectively.
It was the rst World Cup of
the season for the 24-year-old
Chenai, who had made the nal
of the Beijing World Cup last
year with a score of 121.
Interestingly, Giovanni Cer-
nogoraz of Croatia, who along
with Herve Boivin of France
made the cut for the nal by
shooting 13 birds in the shoot-
off, managed to clinch one of
the two quota places with the
silver medal after he was bea-
ten by Athens Olympics cham-
pion Alexey Alipov of Russia.
The second Olympic quota
place went to fourth placed Er-
dinc Kebapci of Turkey. While
Alipov had already won the
quota, bronze medallist Ermi-
nio Frasca was ineligible to win
parity at 15-15. A net fault and a
MEMORABLE WIN: Sacchitt Sharma (left) and Mahak
Jain, winners of the singles titles, with coaches
Vishaal Uppal and Ankita Bhambri. At right is
Shashank Theertha, the third member of the team.
aal Uppal, who mentors the
boys, was delighted at the way
Sacchitt kept improving with
each outing.
Sacchitt had a meltdown in
the second set in the nal, but
went back to our plan of playing
aggressively. He started slowly
in the tournament, but quickly
understood the need to hit big.
The last two matches were his
best, said Vishaal.
Sacchitt had beaten the top
seed Matthew Clegg of York-
shire in the seminals in
straight sets.
Talking about the third
member of the team, the big-
serving Shashank Theertha,
who lost in the pre-quarter-
nals, Vishaal said the Hydera-
a quota as Italy had already se-
cured two Olympic quota plac-
es in the event.
In womens trap, Yukie Na-
kayama of Japan clinched the
gold ahead of Yi Chun Lin of
Chinese Taipei, and the duo
won the two Olympic quota
places as well.
The shotgun shooters will
have two more chances at the
World Championship in Italy
and the Asian Championship to
win Olympic quota places.
The results: Men: Trap: 1. Alexey
Alipov (Rus) 15(15) 124; 2. Giovanni
Cernogoraz (Cro) 14 (14)4 (123)13; 3.
Erminio Frasca (Ita) 13 (14)3 (124); 4.
Erdinc Kebapci (Tur) 12 (14)2 (124);
11. Manavjit Singh Sandhu 123(3); 12.
Kynan Chenai 123(2); 53. Zoravar
Singh Sandhu 119.
Women: Trap: 1. Yukie Nakayama
(Jpn) 14(15) 74; 2. Yi Chun Lin (Tpe)
12(14) 73; 3. Corey Cogdell (US) 12(5)
13(74); 4. Jessica Rossi (Ita) 12(4)
13(73); 17. Shagun Chowdhary 71;
21. Shreyasi Singh 70; 40. Rajeshwari
Kumari 67.
SPORT
JAKARTA: Olympic bronze med-
allist Saina Nehwal on Saturday
became the rst Indian to reach
the nals of the World Badmin-
ton Championships, assuring
herself of a silver medal here.
The World No. 2 Indian
notched up a 21-17, 21-17 win
over Indonesias Lindaweni Fa-
netri, who was struggling with
her right knee, in the seminals
of the womens singles.
Saina will take on defending
champion and World No. 1 Car-
olina Marin of Spain in the
summit clash on Sunday.
It would be Indias fth med-
al at the World Championship
after P.V. Sindhu clinched the
bronze twice in 2013 and 2014
and G. Jwala and Ashwini Pon-
nappa won the womens dou-
bles bronze in the 2011 edition.
Tight match
It turned out to be a tight
match as Saina and Lindaweni,
who was playing
with a strapping WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
on her right
knee, engaged in long rallies at
the Gelora Bung Karno
Stadium.
Lindaweni opened up a 6-2
lead early on in the rst game as
Saina tried to get a hang of the
drift in the stadium. The In-
donesian had to take advice
from the team doctor after feel-
ing pain in her knee with the
score at 7-6.
The Indonesian looked re-
stricted in her movement as
Saina clawed back to 9-9 and
grabbed the lead next when
Lindaweni hit wide.
A service fault helped Linda-
weni level the score 10-10 but
Saina went into the break at
11-10 lead after winning a long
rally.
After the interval, Saina in-
creased the gap to 15-12 but she
committed a few unforced er-
rors to allow Lindaweni draw
Fanetri (Ina) 21-17, 21-17.
wide shot by the Indonesian
bad lad will get better if he
learns to use his weapons bet-
ter. Shashank has a big game,
but needs to construct the
points better. Both boys need
to work on their movement and
tness as they have the ability
to strike the ball big, said
Vishaal.
Last year, Siddhant Banthia
won the singles title and the
doubles crown with Adil Ka-
lyanpur. The girls, Shivani In-
gle and Aarja Chakraborty,
nished runner-up in doubles.
The results (finals):
Boys: Sacchitt Sharma bt Bradley
Buckland 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
Girls: Mahak Jain bt Esther Adesh-
ina 6-4, 6-3. Special
Correspondent
made it 18-16 in favour of Saina.
The home girl kept ghting
but a ferocious return helped
Saina make it 19-17. Lindaweni
next found the net again as Sai-
na gained three game points
and the Indian pocketed it after
the Indonesian again hit wide.
Struggling
In the second game, Linda-
weni struggled with her knee
but she never gave up and
matched Saina stroke for
stroke and went into the lead at
4-3. Every time Saina took the
lead, Lindaweni clawed back.
They moved neck and neck
from 6-6 to 10-10 before Saina
moved into the break with a
slender 11-10 lead.
After the breather, Saina
opened up a 14-11 lead. Again
the Indian again committed a
few unforced errors which
helped Lindaweni to draw level
at 14-14. Saina once again
surged ahead
to 17-14 but
Lindaweni
showed steels of nerves to nar-
row it down to 16-17 and 17-18.
Saina eventually gained a
three match-point advantage
when Lindaweni hit long. Saina
raised her arms in celebration
as Lindaweni hit another shot
wide.
I never thought Id reach
the nal, said Saina after the
match. It was one of my tough-
est matches this week and I was
playing against the crowd.
Whatever points she got was
due to my mistakes, due to the
pressure. She was playing with-
out any tension, said Saina.
The results (semifinals):
Men: Chen Long (Chn) bt Kento
Momota (Jpn) 21-9, 21-15; Lee Chong
Wei (Mas) bt Jan O Jorgensen (Den)
21-7, 21-19.
Women: Carolina Marin (Esp) bt
Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) 21-17, 15-21, 21-
16; Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Lindaweni
celebratory mood after clinching the men's title.-
Agencies
Panachecorn has an edge over her rivals
HYDERABAD:Panachecorn has an
edge over her rivals in the rst division
of the Major Mir Mujtaba Hussain
Memorial Cup (1,200m), the main
event of the races to be held here on
Sunday (August 16).
1 (Cat. III), 2.45: 1. Exclusive Lady (9)
SANGAREDDY PLATE (Div.
II), (1,100m), maiden 3-y-o & over,
rated upto 50 (Cat. III), 1.45 p.m.: 1.
Ondha Ondha Ondha (2) Kuldeep
Singh 60, 2. Golden Angel (3) Aneel
58.5, 3. Blaze Of Glory (7) P. Gaddam
56.5, 4. Kaadambini (6) Sai Kumar
56, 5. Exclusive Theodora (8) Deepak
Singh 55, 6. South Lake (1) Arshad
Alam 55, 7. Eva (4) C. S. Vikrant 53.5
and 8. Kohinoor Flare (5) N. Rawal
53.5.
1. South Lake, 2. Eva,
3. Ondha Ondha Ondha
2 ASTRONOMIC CUP (1,200m),
3-y-o & over, rated upto 50 (Cat. III),
2.15: 1. Rubyonrails (3) R. Vaibhav
61.5, 2. Mangalyaan (6) Aneel 59, 3.
Romantic Fire (2) Deepak Singh 59,
4. Princes Hina (1) K. Mukesh Ku-
mar 58, 5. Enter Canter (4) S. S. Tan-
war 53.5, 6. Arudra (7) Ajeeth Kumar
Kolors wins K. Mahipathi Rao Memorial Million
HYDERABAD: Kolors (Chouhan as-
tride) won the K. Mahipathi Rao Me-
morial Million, the main event at
Malakpet on Independence Day. The
winner is trained by L.V.R. Deshmukh
and owned by Kondlapudi Satish.
The results:
1. SANGAREDDY PLATE (Div.
I), (1100m), Cat. III, maiden 3-y-o on-
ly, rated upto 50: My Choice (Deepak
Singh) 1, Rocky Hill (Koushik) 2, Pride
of Maduranagar (C S Vikrant) 3, Angel
Bell (Praveen Gaddam) 4. 2-1/2, 1/2, 1.
1m 08.63 s. Rs. 12 (w), 7, 6, 17 (p), SHP:
Rs. 19, FP: Rs. 45, Q: Rs. 18, Tanala: Rs.
197. Favourite: My Choice. Owners:
Mr. Sk. Kassam, Mrs. Marie Prasad &
Mr. S. Khalid. Trainer: Sk. Kassam.
2. K. MAHIPATHI RAO MEMO-
RIAL MILLION (1400m), 3-y-o only
(Terms): Kolors (P.S. Chouhan) 1,
Vallee Secrete (Akshay Kumar) 2,
Rock Baby Rock (Imran Chisty) 3,
BASKETBALL
Indian Army,
Chhattisgarh reign
Special Correspondent
COIMBATORE: The Indian Army
men from New Delhi came out
all guns blazing in the nal
quarter to score a surprise 59-
53 win over Indian Overseas
Bank (Chennai) in the 51st all-
India basketball tournament
for the PSG Trophy at the PSG
Tech indoor sports complex
courts here on Saturday.
For the teams, it was their
second meeting in as many
days.
IOB, in the league phase,
held its nerve to get past Army.
But this time around, it was the
latter who returned the favour.
In the rst quarter, the IOB
men drove the length of the
oor, though cautiously, for
some juicy layups and slicing
oaters. The Army men
matched their skills and stayed
in touch right through the ses-
sion. But IOBs impressive
steals and rebounds put the
team ahead 15-11 at the break.
M.A. Raghuram and G. Siva-
balan proved effective for IOB,
making a huge difference in the
second quarter.
Sivabalan, in particular,
shook the Army defence with
JOYOUS LOT: The Indian Army team turns into a
PHOTO: M. PERIASAMY
50.5 and 7. Sprint Saloni (5) Sai Ku-
mar 50.
1. Princess Hina,
2. Mangalyaan, 3. Rubyonrails
3 BYERLY BRIGADE CUP
(1,400m), 5-y-o & over, rated upto 50
(1,800m), 3-y-o & over, rated upto 75
A. S. Pawar 61, 2. True Friend (7)
Deepak Singh 61, 3. Nano Dame (2)
R. B. Shinde 59, 4. Khalis Gold (1) K.
Mukesh Kumar 57, 5. Sonic (3) Sai
Kumar 54, 6. Classic Emerald (4) Ar-
shad Alam 53.5, 7. Fenway Court (6)
A. K. Pawar 52, 8. Fashionista (8) G.
Naresh 50.5 and 9. Jamie (5) Ravin-
der Singh 50.
1. Khalis Gold, 2. Sonic,
3. Classic Emerald
4 MAJOR MIR MUJTABA HUS-
SAIN MEMORIAL CUP (Div. II),
(1,200m), 4-y-o & over, rated upto 75
(Cat. II), 3.15: 1. Always Together (1)
N. S. Rathore 60, 2. Rosemonde (6)
Chary 58.5, 3. Vista (5) A. S. Pawar
57, 4. Noble Citizen (2) Deep Shank-
er 55, 5. Kohinoor Punch (8) S. Sree-
kant 54.5, 6. Military Cross (3) I.
Chisty 53.5, 7. Aston Doulton (4) N.
Rawal 53, 8. Symbol Of Honour (10)
Whispering Pines (Arshad Alam) 4. 2-
3/4, 2, 4-1/4. 1m 27.38 s. Rs. 7 (w), 5
and 10 (p), SHP: Rs. 15, FP: Rs. 18, Q:
Rs. 15, Tanala: Rs. 51. Favourite: Ko-
lors. Owner: Mr. Kondlapudi Satish.
Trainer: L.V.R. Deshmukh.
3. B. MARIDESWARA RAO ME-
MORIAL CUP (1600m), Cat. II, 3-
y-o & over (Terms): Vijay Vidhata
(Kuldeep Singh) 1, Aventus (N. Rawal)
2, Alameda (Arshad Alam) 3, Veloz
(Imran Chisty) 4. S hd., 2, 3. 1m 39.48
s. Rs. 16 (w), 7, 13, 8 (p), SHP: Rs. 39,
FP: Rs. 223, Q: Rs. 117, Tanala: Rs. 977.
Favourite: Veloz. Owners: M/s. Vijay
Racing & Farms Private Limited rep-
resented by M/s.Vijay Kumar Gupta &
Susheel Kumar Gupta & Mr. Ahmed
Alam Khan. Trainer: Laxman Singh.
4. XISCA PLATE (1400m), Cat.
III, 3-y-o & over, rated upto 50: O Ms
Akilah (Imran Chisty) 1, Vijay Vishw
(P.S. Chouhan) 2, Delta Force (B. Di-
leep) 3, Dolce (P. Ajeeth Kumar) 4.
his surprise raids. IOB, thanks
to his efforts, continued to stay
aoat at 30-26.
But in the nal two quarters,
the Army men attacked with vi-
gour to put the pressure back
on IOB. Mayur Bhat, Manu
Thomas and Gopal Ram were in
full ow. It was enough to dent
the hopes of the bankmen.
Poonam shines
Earlier, Poonam Chaturvedi
struck 48 points to help Chhat-
tisgarh defeat Kerala State
Electricity Board (KSEB) 84-78
in the nal for the CRI Pumps
Trophy for women.
Shilji George (KSEB) red in
four threes to put KSEB ahead
22-17 at the rst quarter break.
The seven-foot Poonam col-
lected 10 points to help Chhat-
tisgarh stay aoat in the
second, harassing the Kerala
defence right through.
The results (final):
Men: Indian Army, Delhi 59 (Gopal
Ram 17, Arockia Babu 10, Manu Tho-
mas 10) bt IOB, Chennai 53 (Sivaba-
lan 19, Rikin Pethani 10).
Women: Chhattisgarh 84 (Poonam
Chaturvedi 48, Saranjeet Kaur 16) bt
KSEB 78 (Griha Merlin Varghese 19,
Rosmy Mahesh 19, Shilji George 16).
ham Ranjane 44, Iqbal Abdulla 34,
Ajeeth Kumar 51.5, 9. Golden Storm
(9) G. Naresh 51 and 10. Graceland
(7) A. K. Pawar 50.5.
1. Rosemonde, 2. Always Togeth-
er, 3. Kohinoor Punch
5 INDISCRETION PLATE
(Cat. II), 3.45: 1. Ice Barrier (6) Aneel
60, 2. Star Player (9) B. Dileep 60, 3.
Escalante (7) K. Mukesh Kumar
58.5, 4. Flower Roll Up (8) Deepak
Singh 57, 5. Great Warrior (2) C. S.
Vikrant 56, 6. Sunday Beauty (5)
Ajeeth Kumar 56, 7. Sarvagnya (3) P.
Gaddam 53.5, 8. Tiger (4) P. S. Chou-
han 53.5 and 9. Time To Climb (1)
Kuldeep Singh 53.
1. Escalante, 2. Flower Roll Up,
3. Time To Climb
6 MAJOR MIR MURTABA HUS-
SAIN MEMORIAL CUP (1,200m), 4-
y-o & over, rated upto 75 (Cat. II),
4.15: 1. Blossom (8) Deepak Singh 62,
2. Symbol Of Glory (9) P. Kaddam 59,
3. Rapidest (2) Ajit Singh 57.5, 4.
Panachecorn (5) Ajeeth Kumar 55.5,
5. Altruist (7) I. Chisty 54, 6. Vijays
Victory (10) Kuldeep Singh 53.5, 7.
Bouncer (4) N. S. Rathore 53, 8.
3-3/4, 3-1/2, 3-1/4. 1 m 28.64 s. Rs. 14
(w), 5, 6, 7 (p), SHP: Rs. 16, FP: Rs. 27,
Q: Rs. 9, Tanala: Rs. 56. Favourite:
Vijay Vishw. Owner: Mr. Sarasam
Madhusudan Reddy. Trainer: M. Sri-
nivas Reddy.
5. INDEPENDENCE CUP (Div.
I), (1400m), Cat. I, 3-y-o & over: Hap-
py Guy (N. S. Rathore) 1, Carlton
(Deepak Singh) 2, Always Bullish (Im-
ran Chisty) 3, Santa Monica (Arshad
Alam) 4. Nk., 1/2, 2-1/4. 1m 26.80 s. Rs.
14 (w), 7, 8, 18 (p), SHP: Rs. 20, FP: Rs.
45, Q: Rs. 25, Tanala: Rs. 332. Favou-
rite: Movie Moghul. Owner: Mr.
M.A.M. Ramaswamy. Trainer: K.
Satheesh.
6. INDEPENDENCE CUP (Div.
II), (1400m), Cat. I, 3-y-o & over:Su-
preme Fairy (P.S. Chouhan) 1, Sweet
Candy (Aneel) 2, Winds and Waves
(Imran Chisty) 3, Palm Springs (Ki-
ran Naidu) 4. 2-3/4, 1-1/2, 1-1/2. 1m
26.42 s. Rs. 7 (w), 5, 18, 20 (p), SHP: Rs.
| 17
INDIANS ABROAD
$42,500 Challenger men, Porto-
roz, Slovenia: Doubles (final): Fab-
rice Martin (Fra) & Purav Raja bt
Aliaksandr Bury (Blr) & Andreas Sil-
jestrom (Swe) 7-6(5), 4-6, 18-16.
$100,000 Challenger men, Aptos,
USA: Doubles (quarterfinals): Mat-
thew Ebden (Aus) & Yuki Bhambri bt
Malek Jaziri (Tun) & Zhang Ze (Chn)
7-5, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF men, Champaign,
USA: Singles (quarterfinals): Ram-
kumar Ramanathan bt Daniel Garza
(Mex) 6-3, 6-4. Pre-quarterfinals:
Ramkumar bt Aron Hiltzik (USA) 7-5,
6-7(6), 6-4; Alex Rybakov (USA) bt
Sanam Singh 6-3, 7-5. First round:
Ramkumar bt Hunter Callahan (USA)
4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Sanam bt Konrad Zieba
(USA) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2.
Doubles (semifinals): Evan King
& Kevin King (USA) bt Ramkumar Ra-
manathan & Sanam Singh 6-1, 6-2;
Quarterfinals: Ramkumar & Sanam
bt Aron Hiltzik & Stephen Madonia
(USA) 6-3, 6-0. Pre-quarterfinals:
Ramkumar & Sanam bt Jared Hiltzik
(USA) & Aleksandar Vukic (Aus) 7-6
(4), 6-1.
$10,000 ITF women, Sharm El
Sheikh, Egypt: Doubles (semifi-
nals): Jenny Claffey (Ire) & Sara Tom-
ic (Aus) bt Ushna Suhail (Pak) &
Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-4, 7-5.
D.Y. Patil
Academy wins
BENGALURU: Yogesh Takawales
110 (124b, 12x4, 4x6) and left-
arm spinner Iqbal Abdullas ve
for 39 helped Dr. D.Y. Patil Acad-
emy defeat host KSCA XI by an
innings and 31 runs, and with
two days to spare, in the Dr.
(Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memo-
rial tournament nal that con-
cluded on Saturday.
After Takawales century
helped the visitor post 307 and
secure a 123-run rst innings
lead, KSCA XI wilted in the sec-
ond innings and was bundled out
for 92.
The scores (final): KSCA XI 184 in
73.5 overs & 92 in 33 overs (R. Vinay
Kumar 25 n.o., Iqbal Abdulla five for
39, Swapnil Singh three for 44) lost to
Dr. D.Y. Patil Academy 307 in 72.1
overs (Yogesh Takawale 110, Shub-
Vikrant Auti 28).
Aware (6) R. Vaibhav 52.5, 9. Regal
Groom (1) S. S. Tanwar 51 and 10.
Amazing Power (3) Akshay Kumar
50.
1. Panachecorn, 2. Blossom,
3. Amazing Power
7 SUBRAMANYA
BHARATI
PLATE (1,400m), 4-y-o & over, rated
upto 25 (Cat. III), 4.45: 1. Beauty
Flash (6) Aneel 60, 2. Chocolate
Greedy (1) Sai Kumar 60, 3. Fresco
(10) Md. Sameeruddin 60, 4. Oatho-
fyourdaughter (4) G. Naresh 59.5, 5.
Arrey O Samba (11) Uday Kiran 59, 6.
Well Wisher (8) R. B. Shinde 59, 7.
Junior (9) B. Dileep 58.5, 8. Maha-
nanda (7) Ravinder Singh 58.5, 9.
Bold Reason (12) K. Mukesh Kumar
58, 10. Nano Class (3) Vivek 57, 11.
True Haven (5) R. Vaibhav 56.5, 12.
Walloper (-) (-) 55.5 and 13. The Da
Vinci Code (2) Kunal Bunde 51.
1. Beauty Flash,
2. Chocolate Greedy, 3. Junior
Days best:Panachecorn
Double:Princess Hina
Escalante
Jkt: 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7; Tr (i): 2, 3 & 4; (ii): 5,
6 & 7; Tla: All races.
68, FP: Rs. 90, Q: Rs. 82, Tanala: Rs.
636. Favourite: Supreme Fairy. Own-
ers: Mr. Ahmed Alam Khan & M/s.
Vijay Racing & Farms Private Limited
represented by M/s. Vijay Kumar
Gupta & Susheel Kumar Gupta.
Trainer: Deshmukh.
7.VIJAYANAGRAM PLATE
(1100m), Cat. III, 3-y-o & over, rated
upto 50: Green Image (Deepak
Singh) 1, Eternal Gift (P. Sai Kumar) 2,
Lightning Streak (Md Sameeruddin)
3, Tinsel Town (Vivek) 4. 1, 2, hd.. 1m
07.70 s. Rs. 46 (w), 12, 5, 7 (p), SHP: Rs.
16, FP: Rs. 109, Q: Rs. 27, Tanala: Rs.
568. Favourite: Eternal Gift. Owner:
Mr. Tatineni Raghuram. Trainer: Sk.
Waseem Ahmed.
Treble (i): Rs. 106 (350 tkts.); (ii):
Rs. 173 (296 tkts.).
Consolation: Rs. 90 (1310 tkts.).
Jackpot: Rs.2,724 (102 tkts.).
ND-ND
18 | SPORT THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI

Abhishek Dortmund drubs

wins gold
KOLKATA: Abhishek Verma
powered his way to gold in the
mens compound individual fi-
nal of the World Cup archery
Stage 3 at Wroclaw, Poland, on
Saturday.
He defeated Irans Esmaeil
Ebadi 148-145 in the 15-arrow
contest.
The victory was sweet re-
venge for the 26-year-old from
Delhi as he had lost to Ebadi in
the Asian Games individual fi-
nal at Incheon last year.
Earlier, the Indian trio of
Verma, Rajat Chauhan and Ka-
wal Preet Singh lost to Italy in
the team bronze medal play-off
at 230-233.
Verma shot 13 ten-pointers
and two 9s to log 148 points.
Ebadi, 39, Irans world cham-
pionship gold medal winning
team member, conceded two
points in the opening three-ar-
row round where the Indian
came up with three 10s.
Verma increased the lead to
three points in the second end
as he compiled 29 points to
Ebadis 28.
The lead continued in the
third end as both shot 30 each.
As the Indian reproduced the
form to get 30 points in the
fourth end, Ebadi faltered un-
der pressure to drop a point for
29.
At 119-115, Verma had to
keep the arrows in the yellow
circle which he did to emerge
victorious.
On the concluding day on
Sunday, Indias mixed recurve
team of Deepika Kumari and
Mangal Champia will figure in
the final against Mexico.
Abhishek Verma.
FILE PHOTO
SMILES ALL AROUND: Everton's Romelu Lukaku (right) celebrates after scoring his first goal against Southampton in the Premier
League on Saturday. PHOTO: REUTERS
Leicester downs West Ham to go top
FOOTBALL / Lukaku brace fires Everton to its first win of the season
LONDON: Leicester City brought
West Ham United crashing to
earth and returned to the top of
the early Premier League stand-
ings with a 2-1 victory at Upton
Park on Saturday.
West Ham opened its cam-
paign by winning 2-0 at Arsenal,
but was 2-0 down by half-time as
Shinji Okazaki headed in his first
goal in English football and Ri-
yad Mahrez scored his third in
two games.
New signing Dimitri Payet re-
plied for West Ham with a pow-
erful strike, but it was not
enough to prevent Foxes from
reclaiming first place on goal dif-
ference from Manchester
United.
West Hams misery was com-
pounded in stoppage time when
goalkeeper Adrian was sent off
for a high foot after going up to
contest a corner.
Swansea City also built on an
impressive opening perform-
ance, following up a battling 2-2
draw at Chelsea with a 2-0 win at
home to Newcastle United.
Bafetimbi Gomis rounded Tim
Krul to put Swansea ahead in the
ninth minute and Newcastles
afternoon took a further turn for
the worse shortly before half-
time when Daryl Janmaat was
sent off for two bookable
offences.
Andre Ayew made the game
safe by polishing off a cross from
Montero to register his second
goal in two games.
A late Stoke City fightback
prevented Tottenham Hotspur
claiming a
first win of
the season
in a 2-2
draw at
White Hart
Lane.
Beaten
1-0 by Man-
chester United on the opening
day, Spurs went 2-0 up through
an Eric Dier header and a de-
flected Nacer Chadli volley.
But after Spurs striker Harry
Kane had been taken off with an
apparent injury, Stoke stormed
back to level courtesy of a Marko
Arnautovic penalty and a Mame
Biram Diouf header.
Romelu Lukaku scored two
first-half goals and Ross Barkley
added another as Everton
claimed its first victory of the
season, a 3-0 at Southampton.
Lukaku headed home Arouna
Kones 22nd-minute cross and
swept in from Barkleys astute
pass on the stroke of half-time
before the England midfielder
neatly curled in a third goal six
minutes from time.
Victory, Evertons first at St.
Marys since 2002, elevated Ro-
berto Martinezs team to third
place in the table, two points be-
low Leicester and Manchester
United, which won 1-0 at Aston
Villa on Friday.
Sunderlands early-season
woes continued as it went down
3-1 at home to promoted Nor-
wich City.
The results: West Ham 1 (Payet
55) lost to Leicester 2 (Okazaki 27,
Mahrez 38); Swansea 2 (Gomis 9,
Ayew 52) bt Newcastle 0; Tottenham 2
(Dier 19, Chadli 45+2) drew with Stoke
2 (Arnautovic 78-pen, Diouf 83);
Southampton 0 lost to Everton 3 (Lu-
kaku 22, 45, Barkley 84); Sunderland
1 (Watmore 88) lost to Norwich 3 (Mar-
tin 26, Whittaker 37, Redmond 57);
Watford 0 drew with West Brom 0.
On Friday: Aston Villa 0 lost to
Manchester United 1 (Januzaj 29).
Agencies
Monchengladbach
BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund
threw down the gauntlet to de-
fending champion Bayern
Munich on Saturday with a 4-0
drubbing of Borussia Mon-
chengladbach on the
opening weekend of
the new season.
After Jurgen Klopp
resigned last season, Dort-
munds new coach Thomas Tu-
chel began his tenure in
emphatic style with left winger
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring
twice as Marco Reus and
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
also netted.
Bayern began its quest for an
historic fourth successive title
when it routed Hamburg 5-0 at
home on Friday, but Dortmund
suggested Pep Guardiolas Ba-
varians may not have it all their
own way this season by ham-
mering Gladbach, which fin-
ished third last season.
Dortmund took the lead after
just 15 minutes when winger
Reus hammered home Shinji
Kawagas pass, while Auba-
TENNIS
Nishikori sends
Nadal packing
MONTREAL: Novak Djokovic had
to fight off an upset bid from
qualifier Ernests Gulbis, finally
defeating the Latvian 5-7, 7-6
(7), 6-1 on Friday to reach the
semifinals of the ATP Montreal
Masters.
But Rafael Nadal, like Djo-
kovic a former champion at the
event, was unable to escape an
in-form Kei Nishikori as the
fourth seed sent the Spaniard
packing 6-2, 6-4, thanks in part
to six double-faults from Nadal.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 Se-
rena Williams continued her
march towards her fourth WTA
Rogers Cup title in Toronto
with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Italys
Roberta Vinci in the
quarterfinals.
Sania-Martina in
seminals
Top seeds Sania Mirza and
meyang added the second when
he headed home Marcel
Schmelzers pin-point cross six
minutes later.
On Friday, new signing Dou-
glas Costa shone on his
league debut for
Bayern. Its established
campaigners Robert
Lewandowski, Medhi Benatia
and Thomas Muller, who net-
ted twice, grabbed the first four
goals with Brazil winger Costa
adding the fifth to seal a show-
stopping performance.
The results: Bayer Leverkusen 2
(Kiessling 45, Brandt 71) bt Hoffenheim
1 (Zuber 5); Augsburg 0 lost to Hertha
Berlin 1 (Kalou 48-pen); Werder Bre-
men 0 lost to Schalke 3 (Gebre Selassie
34-og, Choupo-Moting 68, Huntelaar
85); Mainz 0 lost to Ingolstadt 1 (Hin-
terseer 66); Darmstadt 2 (Heller 31, 54)
drew with Hanover 2 (Benschop 48,
Sulu 62-og); Borussia Dortmund 4 (Re-
us 15, Aubameyang 21, Mkhitaryan 33,
50) bt Borussia Monchengladbach 0.
On Friday: Bayern Munich 5 (Bena-
tia 27, Lewandowski 53, Muller 69, 73,
Costa 87) bt Hamburg 0. AFP
Martina Hingis eased into the
doubles semifinals, following a
6-4, 6-2 win over Taipei pair of
Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan
Chan. Sania and her Swiss part-
ner saved two of the three
break points they faced in the
match that lasted one hour and
10 minutes.
The results (quarterfinals):
At Montreal: ATP Coupe Rogers:
Jeremy Chardy bt John Isner 6-7(9),
7-6(13), 7-6(4); Novak Djokovic bt Er-
nests Gulbis 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-1; Kei Nish-
ikori bt Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4; Andy
Murray bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4.
At Toronto: WTA Rogers Cup:
Simona Halep bt Agnieszka Radwan-
ska 0-6, 6-3, 6-1; Sara Errani bt Lesia
Tsurenko 6-4, 6-4; Serena Williams bt
Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3; Belinda Bencic
bt Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles: Sania Mirza & Martina
Hingis bt Hao-Ching Chan & Yung-Jan
Chan 6-4, 6-2. Agencies

Bilbao thrashes Barca FMSCI

president dead
CRICKET

Australia needs to change approach in

MADRID: European champion
Barcelona was stunned by an
Aritz Aduriz hat-trick and bril-
liant opener from Mikel San
Jose as Athletic Bilbao took a
4-0 lead into the second-leg of
the Spanish Super Cup on
Friday.
Barca had picked up their
fourth trophy of the year in
Tbilisi on Tuesday with a 5-4
win over Sevilla in extra time in
the UEFA Super Cup.
But those exertions clearly
took their toll as an under-
strength side was dominated
from the off by the Basques
who exacted revenge for defeat
in the Copa del Rey final back in
May.
San Jose fired in a volley
from just inside the Barca half
to break the deadlock before
Aduriz struck three times in the
second half to give Ernesto Val-
verdes side a huge advantage
heading into Mondays
second-leg.
Barcas defensive deficien-
cies had been laid bare in blow-
ing a 4-1 lead against Sevilla
that forced them into an ener-
gy-sapping extra 30 minutes in
the Georgian capital.
However, with Gerard Pique
CLINICAL FINISH: Athletic Bilbaos Aritz Aduriz
(right) heads in his first goal past Barcelonas
goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen in the Spanish
Super Cup first leg match on Friday. PHOTO: REUTERS
among four first-team regulars
rested the Catalans were even
more of a shambles at the back
and this time couldnt be res-
cued by an off-colour Luis Sua-
rez and Lionel Messi.
It is the first time in 14 years
that the Catalans have conced-
ed four times in two consec-
utive games.
Barca now have a huge
mountain to climb at the Camp
Nou on Monday if they are to
maintain their push to emulate
Pep Guardiolas Barca side
which won six trophies in a cal-
endar year six years ago.
The result:
Spanish Super Cup: Second leg:
Athletic Bilbao 4 (San Jose 13, Aduriz
53, 62, 68-pen) bt Barcelona 0.
AFP
BENGALURU: R. Bharath Raj,
president of The Federation of
Motor Sports Clubs of India
(FMSCI), passed away here on
Saturday afternoon. He was 56.
Raj, also the chairman of the
Karnataka Motor Sports Club
(KMSC), was known for his pas-
sionate involvement with Indian
motorsports and his tireless ef-
forts to lift its profile. I worked
with him very closely. He was the
backbone of the KMSC. Were all
orphaned without him, said an
emotional Shivu Shivappa, presi-
dent of the KMSC.
He worked for close to two
decades with the KMSC and did
so much for it. The whole fra-
ternity is totally in shock now.
Its a huge loss to the sport.
Raj, who had previously
served as president of the KMSC,
was elected FMSCI president in
December 2014. A miner by pro-
fession, he will be remembered
for supporting motorsports con-
tinuously.
His company, IMG Sports, is a
long-time sponsor of the K-1000
rally and had also promoted the
Indian National Rally Cham-
pionship during the 2008, 2009
and 2010 seasons. Principal
Correspondent
conditions that encourage seam, swing
S. Dinakar
CHENNAI: Brad Hogg has a crick-
eting mind that is analytical.
The 44-year-old left-arm Chi-
naman bowler has his reasons
for the Aussie fade out in the
Ashes.
The West Australian, in a
chat with The Hindu, compli-
mented England for preparing
juicy tracks in Edgbaston and
Trent Bridge. It was a gamble
that paid off. Hogg said, They
found a weakness with Austra-
lias batting. Thats why they
produced those pitches. It was
a risk. It worked for them.
The former Australian spin-
ner, still fighting fit, elaborated,
To play the moving ball, off the
pitch or in the air, you go for-
ward to cover the movement. I
think we played from the crease
and away from our body. And
we werent prepared to leave
the ball. Our batting let us
down.
Hogg indicated Australia
needed to change its approach
in conditions that encouraged
seam and swing, Its all right to
say we went to England to play
aggressive cricket. But you have
to be aggressive in defence as
well with solid footwork, get-
ting to the pitch of the ball, giv-
ing the bowler the feeling that
you are in control. That did not
happen.
He felt the Australian meth-
ods with the bat always kept the
English seamers in the game.
When you bat aggressively like
the Australians do, somethings
got to give. That is where En-
glands game plan of producing
those pitches in the last two
Test matches comes in. We just
need to change our tactics when
we face similar conditions
again.
Not enough preparation
On Australias preparation or
the lack of it, he said, Obviously
we had not prepared well
enough. Or we had prepared but
were not mentally up to the
challenge. In these times we
have competitions like the IPL,
Brad Hogg. FILE PHOTO
various Twenty20 and one-day
tournaments. You got to be
adaptable with your technique
and mindset.
Hogg said the talented Steve
Smith would soon recover from
the failures of the last two Tests.
When Smith first came in, peo-
ple said his technique was not
good enough. But he adjusted to
Tests, made tons of runs. Now
he has been challenged by the
conditions in England. He had
been shuffling around earlier
too but made runs. He will turn
things around.
Hogg had good words for
Smith on his leadership skills.
He is a fine thinker and student
of the game. The boys would
love playing under Smith.
On Clarkes retirement
Asked about Michael Clar-
kes retirement, Hogg said, I
dont think he [Clarke] had any
issues mentally. He still has the
desire. I just think it might have
been an injury that might have
been plaguing him otherwise
you dont pull out at 34.
Queried on Clarkes captain-
cy and batting, Hogg said, As
captain, he [Clarke] knew when
to attack, and when to defend.
He was creative. He was one of
the captains who made the
game go forward. He was a lead-
er from day one. With the bat,
his footwork really put you off
as a bowler. He could play force-
ful shots or milk you. His record
speaks for him.

VARIETY
SU | DO | KU
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 yesterdays
puzzle is at left.
CM
YK
Matt Jones moves two ahead Bulls seal semifinal slot
KOHLER (USA): Unheralded Matt
Jones birdied two of his last six
holes to seize a two-shot lead
when the storm-delayed sec-
ond round of the PGA Cham-
pionship was completed at
Whistling Straits on Saturday.
Jones sank a 15-foot putt on
the par-four sixth before drain-
ing a 50-footer at the eighth on
way to a seven-under 65 that
left him at 11-
under 133 and
two ahead of
Jason Day,
who carded
67.
Justin Rose,
among the 57
players still
out on the course when play
was suspended for the day on
Friday, was at eight-under after
parring his final hole for a 67.
Jordan Spieth, 67 on Friday,
was five strokes off the pace
when the second round was
completed.
Defending champion Rory
McIlroy was at two under after
carding a 71 on Friday.
Tiger Woods missed the cut
his third straight missed cut
at a major carding one-over
for a four-over total of 148, two
outside the cut line.
Anirban Lahiri produced a
brilliant finish to his second
UNWELCOME VISITOR: Fans scramble for cover as a
storm disrupts play during the second round of the
PGA Championships. PHOTO: AP
round with a hat-trick of bird-
ies and two steady pars for a
round of five-under 67 the
best-ever round by an Indian at
any Major that catapulted
him to seven-under and tied
fourth. Lahiri came back to fin-
ish his remaining five holes of
the second round, and immedi-
ately rolled in three successive
birdies to go with the three he
had in the first 13 on Friday.
The scores: 133: Matt Jones (Aus)
68-65; 135: Jason Day (Aus) 68-67;
136: Justin Rose (Eng) 69-67; 137:
Tony Finau (USA) 71-66, David Ling-
merth (Swe) 67-70, Anirban Lahiri
(Ind) 70-67; 138: Brendan Steele
(USA) 69-69, Scott Piercy (USA) 68-
70, Jordan Spieth (USA) 71-67; 139:
Dustin Johnson (USA) 66-73, J.B.
Holmes (USA) 68-71, Russell Henley
(USA) 68-71, George Coetzee (RSA)
74-65, Harris English (USA) 68-71;
140: Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 70-70,
Branden Grace (Rsa) 71-69, Marcel
Siem (Ger) 70-70, Martin Kaymer
(Ger) 70-70, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68-
72, Charles Howell (USA) 70-70, Hi-
roshi Iwata (Jpn) 77-63, Hunter Mahan
(USA) 72-68, Paul Casey (Eng) 70-70,
Billy Horschel (USA) 72-68.
Ashwin Achal devastating raid by Mumbas gins at Pune on Sunday.
Rishank Devadiga, who shoul- The results:
BENGALURU: Bengaluru Bulls der-charged the defender all U Mumba 32 (Anup Kumar 7) bt
sealed a Pro Kabaddi League the way past themid-line. Patna Pirates 27 (Girish Maruti 5).
(PKL) knockout round spot Minutes later, Patna was rel- Bengaluru Bulls 43 (Manjeet Chillar
with a 43-29 win over Telugu egated to an all-out, and Mum- 9, Dharmaraj Charalathan 7, Ajay
Titans here on Saturday. ba did not look back. Thakur 6) bt Telugu Titans 29 (Prash-
The home side had little The eighth and final leg be- ant Rai 10, Sandeep 8).
trouble putting it across Titans
for its second straight victory.
Titans are already through to
the semifinals.
Once
again,
the star
duo of
Man-
jeet
Chillar and Ajay Thakur power-
ed Bengaluru along.
The visiting team, which
stays in second-spot, trailed by
a heavy margin for nearly the
entire duration of the match.
U Mumba keeps winning
Earlier, U Mumba improved
on its excellent record with a
32-27 victory over Patna Pi-
rates.
Table-topper U Mumba has
now won 11 of its 12 matches
played so far.
Patna, on the other hand, will
need to come out on top in both
its remaining fixtures to stay in BRILLIANT EFFORT: U Mumba's Rishank Devadiga
the hunt. (right) came up with a devastating raid that set the
The highlight of the day was a tone for his team's victory. PHOTO K. MURALI KUMAR
ND-ND

NOIDA/DELHI
THE HINDU SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
Telecast schedule
Badminton: World championships, STAR Sports 4 & HD 4, 11.30 a.m.; EPL: STAR Sports 1 &
HD 1, 6 p.m. & 8.30 p.m.; ProKabaddi: STAR Sports 2 & 3, HD 2 & 3, 7.50 p.m. & 9 p.m.; PGA
championship: Final day, TEN Golf, 11.30 p.m.
Sri Lanka turns the hunter, hurries India into defeat
CRICKET / Rangana Herath (seven for 48) the wrecker-in-chief, as the visitors get bowled out for 112 in just 49.5 overs
N. Sudarshan
GALLE: Going into the second
Test of an overseas series 1-0
down is something the Indians
have grown quite accustomed
to in recent years. But the man-
ner of defeat here on Saturday
will rankle them. After having
been the dominant side for a
good part of three days, they
lost the Test in unseemly haste,
just after lunch on day four.
From the overnight score of
23 for one, needing 153 more to
win, India was bowled out for
112 in just 49.5 overs its low-
est-ever total against Sri Lanka.
Indeed, no side had ever
chased a score more than 99 at
Galle. Yet, in the list of batting
collapses, it will be right up
there with the worst, though
still not as bad as Bridgetown,
1997 when 120 proved too far.
These two are the only sub-200
totals India has failed to chase
in more than eight decades.
The situation demanded a bit
of courage, some batting skill
and a tinge of ambition; all of
which the Indian side had
promised to show prior to the
match. But come Saturday, Sri
Lanka had them in much grea-
ter measure.
The pitch did assist the bow-
lers, spinners in particular. But
one cannot recollect a single
unplayable delivery, making
the surrender all the more ab-
ject and totally unwarranted.
Rangana Herath was the star
for Sri Lanka, bowling 18 unin-
terrupted overs on either side
of the lunch break for his six
wickets on the day. He ended
with figures of 21-6-48-7.
For someone who was drop-
ped for the last Test against Pa-
kistan, it was a revelation of
character of the highest order.
SA wins opener
DURBAN: Hashim Amla guided
South Africa to a comfortable
six-wicket win in the first T20
International against New
Zealand here on Friday.
The Kiwis squandered a good
start, losing seven wickets for
49 runs, and finished at 151 for
eight. Amla hit 48 and shared
half-century partnerships with
A.B. de Villiers and Rilee Ros-
souw. AFP
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand: M. Guptill run out 42,
K. Williamson st. van Wyk b Phangiso
42, G. Worker lbw b Phangiso 28, C.
Munro c de Villiers b Wiese 0, G. Elliott
c Rossouw b Wiese 5, L. Ronchi run
out 5, T. Latham c Morkel b Rabada
12, N. McCullum c de Villiers b Raba-
da 2, D. Bracewell (not out) 7, A. Milne
(not out) 2; Extras (b-3, lb-2, w-1): 6;
Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-102, 3-
102, 4-118, 5-125, 6-138, 7-142, 8-
142.
South Africa bowling: Abbott 4-0-
27-0, Rabada 4-0-29-2, Morkel 4-0-
37-0, Wiese 4-0-24-2, Phangiso
4-0-29-2.
South Africa: M. van Wyk c Work-
er b Bracewell 19, H. Amla c Latham b
Milne 48, A. de Villiers c McCullum b
Worker 33, R. Rossouw c Ronchi b
McClenaghan 38, D. Miller (not out) 2,
F. Behardien (not out) 4; Extras (lb-5,
nb-1, w-2): 8; Total (for four wkts. in
17.5 overs): 152.
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-85, 3-144,
4-147.
New Zealand bowling: Bracewell
3-0-17-0, Milne 3.5-0-23-1, McCle-
naghan 3-0-33-1, Worker 2-0-19-1,
McCullum 4-0-34-0, Elliott 1-0-12-0,
Williamson 1-0-9-0.
Toss: South Africa.
Man-of-the-match: Phangiso.
South Africa won by six wickets
with 13 balls to spare.
CM
YK
FINAL NAIL: It's Dimuth Karunaratne's turn to pull off a brilliant close-in catch, to dismiss Amit Mishra off Tharindu Kaushal and
complete Sri Lankas incredible win. PHOTO: AFP
This is not the first time that I
was dropped from the team,
he said cheekily. Ive been
dropped from the team so
many times. For me, its like
bread and butter.
From the outset, Shikhar
Dhawan came out blocking. He
didnt score off the first 35
deliveries he faced. Then, he
inside-edged the 36th to fine-
Indians have the art of playing spin, but the mindset has changed: Laxman
Vijay Lokapally
NEW DELHI: V.V.S. Laxman com-
ing down the pitch and on-driv-
ing Shane Warne will remain
one of the most fascinating
sights on a cricket field.
But playing quality spin, or
tackling even a regular spinner
on a challenging pitch, is an art
that most batsmen today seem
to have forgotten. It was evi-
dent at Galle when India lost all
ten wickets to left-arm spinner
Rangana Herath and off-spin-
ner Tharindu Kaushal.
They have the art of playing
spin but the mindset has
changed, said Laxman. You
Tentativeness cost India: Kohli
Principal Correspondent
GALLE: On the eve of the match,
there was this fear that India, in
its bid to be an aggressive unit,
would not know where to draw
the line.
On Saturday, in an anti-cli-
max, it did not display even a
modicum of positivity and end-
ed up losing the Test following
a stunning batting collapse.
Excerpts from Virat Kohlis
media interaction:
Was the wicket a and that it was a great
112-surface?
No. When pressure is mount-
ed, the wicket looks difficult. It
did not really change much
through the four innings. The
turn and the bounce were pret-
ty consistent. There werent
too many demons. People did
not get hit in the chest or the
gloves. It was a case of us not
playing fearless cricket. We
were tentative and thats why
we ended up being exposed.
Where did things go
wrong?
If you talk about bowling in
the second innings, I think we
were spot-on. When you are
bowling and people are hitting
against the spin or reverse
sweeping and connecting ev-
erything, there is only so much
you can do. The bowlers kept
bowling attacking lines and you
have to keep going for wickets
because you have a lead.
Throughout the game, we dom-
inated and it feels strange to be
on the losing side.
On being undone by spin-
ners again
I think we did not counter
what was being thrown at us.
We should have been smarter.
In the end you saw [Amit] Mis-
hra using his feet quite a bit.
Ashwin too. So the need was to
take calculated risks. The in-
tent had to be there and it is
something we need to improve
on.
Did the umpiring deci-
sions affect you?
Not at all. I dont want to
speak about things we cannot
leg for four. The negativity he
bred trickled down the order.
Herath trapped Ishant Sharma
the night-watchman in
front with his first ball of the
day.
Then in what was a classic
left-arm spinners dismissal, he
shook Rohit Sharmas off
stump, forcing the batsmen to
play inside the line trying to
have to give respect to the spin-
ner. My generation of players
was fortunate to play against
top-class spin bowlers in do-
mestic cricket. In the Hydera-
bad nets, I faced Arshad (Ayub),
Kanwaljeet (Singh), (Venkata-
pathy) Raju, and the likes of Anil
(Kumble) and Harbhajan
(Singh) in India nets. It is differ-
ent now.
Mediocre spinners can
make you complacent, and
maybe that is the case with bat-
smen today. I wont say they
dont have the art. They need to
have the opposition to develop
the right mindset, said Lax-
man, who is known to have
FAMILIAR ROLE: Rangana Herath won yet another
home Test for Sri Lanka with his immaculate
control and terrific striking ability. PHOTO: AFP
control. We bowled very well
throughout this Test. But cred-
it to them. They had nothing to
lose. Free mind and were able
to think clearly.
Were you a batsmen
short?
No. The changes that hap-
pened were in our mindset. We
were pretty composed and con-
fident when we batted on the
second morning. If I have cho-
sen to play with five bowlers to
take 20 wickets then it is our
responsibility to bat better.
On Rohit Sharma
I think you have to back your
best players those you think
can be match-winners. Right
SPORT
A fine is not enough
I think there needs to be more than just a fine. There is no place for that
kind of behaviour Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, tweeting about
the Nick Kyrgios incident
avoid the lbw and avert the
danger of the arm-ball. Rohit
now totals a dismal 380 runs in
Sri Lanka across 28 innings
in limited overs matches and
Tests.
Virat Kohlis first attempt to
move things a bit ended up in
his dismissal. He was caught by
Kaushal Silva at short-leg,
while trying a flick, in Tharin-
Navjot Singh Sidhu was feared by spinners. His philosophy was simple:
defence, defence and six. Defence, defence and four.
practiced on gravel when pre-
paring to play some of the best
spinners in the game.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was
feared by spinners. His philoso-
phy was simple: defence, de-
fence and six. Defence, defence
and four.
Not all batsmen posses such
skills. It is the footwork they
lack the most. You have to leave
the crease to confront the spin-
ners. I am a product of that
school which taught one to baf-
fle the bowler when he is at no
now, Rohit has got three-four
chances at No. 3.
The idea has to be to persist
with him. We obviously need to
have a discussion about the bat-
ting unit as a whole whether
they on the same page as far
executing the plans that we
want them to.
On Harbhajan Singh
He bowled well in a couple of
spells. He was getting good
rhythm but in the second in-
nings Chandimal started at-
tacking every bowler. I think
that threw him and two three
other bowlers off. But apart
from that I think he was pretty
good.
| 19
Putting things in perspective
Every defeat makes you a bit smaller, but it is our job to take it in
perspective with 37 games to go Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger about
the loss in the opening game of the season
Herath is now the third most successful left-
arm spinner in Tests (270 wickets) after Daniel
Vettori (362) and Derek Underwood (297)
He went past Bishan Singh Bedi (266) during
his seven-wicket haul
went into lunch at 78 for seven. with no width on offer, had to
The way Kaushal was han- reverse sweep to get the ball
dled was indicative of Angelo squarer for runs.
Mathewss smart captaincy. Post-lunch, Ashwin was out
For all his wicket-taking skills, caught by a diving Dhammika
the 22-year-old is known to be Prasad at mid-on. Then when
wasteful. With a set Ajinkya Herath made Rahane edge to
Rahane at the crease, and not slip, with the score at 102, it
much to defend, Mathews had was as good as over.
a sweeper-cover throughout The last irritant was re-
an area where the spinner moved and the victory was had
leaked plenty of runs bowling 10 runs later, setting the stage
fuller deliveries in the first in- for a perfect Kumar Sangak-
nings. So much so that Rahane, kara farewell in Colombo.
du Kaushals first over. It was trying to play against the turn;
yet another in a series of bril- Wriddhiman Saha was
liant close-in catches this stumped off a ball that climbed
match saw. In the first hour and beat him; and Harbhajan
India made 22 runs in 14 overs Singh sent ahead of R. Ash-
for the loss of three wickets. win, to banish the seeping pes-
The close-in fielders seemed simism caught, yet again by
like a bunch of scavenging vul- Kaushal Silva at short leg. In
tures, not letting anything pass tandem, the two spinners bow-
by. Dhawan was caught and led 16 overs for 38 runs and
bowled by a diving Kaushal picked up four wickets. India
tion for playing spinners. simha Rao. It prepared us well.
Throw-downs can simulate Playing spin is driven by in-
bounce, seam and even swing, stinct. It is missing now.
but not turn. Some observers al- Good defence is a must and
point of return. It is a split-sec- sault on E.A.S. Prasanna and so believe that the Boards ob- also a range of shots. But this
ond decision to react to the Bishan Singh Bedi while making session with preparing can come only when you play
ball, Sidhu explained. a century in the 1975 Irani Cup. green-tops in Indian conditions quality spinners at home also,
Warne would tell Sidhu that On the Indian debacle at has left the youngsters strug- said Laxman.
he got away with bad balls going Galle, Vengsarkar said: I think gling when pitted against spin- Batsmen have to watch the
unpunished when not bowling they should have applied them- ners elsewhere. ball closely. One cant bring in
to Indian batsmen. The Indians selves better. It doesnt help if Ashok Malhotra, a dexterous T20 shots in a Test situation.
would not let the ball land. Pre- you become overcautious. batsman against the slow bow- No wonder his recent batting
cisely! You have to attack the These things you cant always lers, said: Playing on seaming, camps in Kolkata and Hydera-
bowler and sometimes take a practise in the nets. I think we green-tops has left the spinners bad emphasised on shots along
chance too. You cant just keep missed partnerships, and most frustrated. We were trained to the ground against the spin-
playing from the crease, Sidhu significant was their inability to bat on dust bowls. It was a great ners.
said. rotate strike. challenge to step out to bowlers The Indian batsmen may do
Dilip Vengsarkar arrived on The modern trend of throw- like Dilip Doshi, Rajinder Singh well to remember that in Sri
the scene with a sensational as- downs is hardly ideal prepara- Hans, Shivlal Yadav and Nara- Lanka.
Will go for the
kill: Mathews
GALLE: After having dished out a
humiliating loss in the first Test
here, Sri Lankan skipper Ange-
la Mathews now has his eyes
firmly set on P. Sara Oval where
he wants to go for the kill.
It is a transitional period for
us, he said. But I thought it
was a great team effort. It gives
us the morale boost to go
forward.
Mathews admitted that he
didnt see the victory coming
turnaround.
We were down and out.
Chandis [Dinesh Chandimal]
innings gave us some sort of
life. We batted really poorly in
the first innings and really
didnt give ourselves or our
bowlers a chance.
To be honest it was not an
easy wicket to bat on. We didnt
use our feet. We cant play for-
ward defence all the time and
more often than not it goes to
silly point or short leg. So we
had to use our sweeps, reverse
sweeps. When it came to the
second innings we had nothing
to lose. Principal
Correspondent
Maruthi &
Anand in lead
BENGALURU: Karthick Maruthi
and Shankar Anand secured a
44-second lead on the opening
day of the Ceat-Mahindra Ad-
venture Monsoon Challenge
TSD Rally, which reached Shiv-
amogga after starting from
Bengaluru.
Running in the Challenge
category, Maruthi and co-driv-
er Anand, both from Erode,
clocked a penalty of three min-
utes and three seconds on Sat-
urday, ahead of Sudhindra
Hebbar and M. Sagar.
Defending champions Ga-
nesh Moorthy and T. Nagarajan
were in third, with a penalty of
7:32s. Principal
Correspondent
ND-ND
20 |
Toy Story 4 on its way
The fourth instalment in the Toy Story franchise is
getting a sequel and it will narrate a love story
between Woody and Bo Peep.
In music, Obama is fan
of Swinging Sixties
CHILMARK, MASS.: U.S.
President Barack Obamas
musical tastes run from
boomer to Beyonc, with a
streak of jazz and a nod to
Sinatra. That at least is
what he released on Friday
in his first Spotify playlists,
sharing a 20-song
daytime list and another
20-song evening one. A
White House blog post said
the lists were hand-
created by Mr. Obama.
If the lists are a guide to
how the president rocks
out, his days are spent
mostly in the 1950s and
1960s, with songs like Bob
Dylans Tombstone Blues,
Stevie Wonders Another
Star, the Isley Brothers
Live It Up and Aretha
Franklins Rock Steady.
The Rolling Stones are
represented with Gimme
Shelter and Bob Marleys
So Much Trouble in the
World is a perfect title for a
commander-in-chief.
And Aint Too Proud to
Beg, by the Temptations, is
an interesting choice for a
President who faces an
uphill battle in Congress
persuading members of his
own party to approve his
nuclear deal with Iran.
There are a few more
recent hits on the daytime
playlist: Paradise, by
Coldplay, and Shake It Out,
by Florence and the
Machine. But unlike
Hillary Rodham Clinton,
whose recent Spotify list
was filled with current pop
hits, Obama has no Katy
Perry or Kelly Clarkson or
Ariana Grande.
Mr. Obamas evening list
continues the pattern, with
Al Greens How Can You
Mend a Broken Heart? and
selections from Frank
Sinatra, Ray Charles, Miles
What eating 40 teaspoons of
sugar a day can do to you
Anahad OConnor
S oda has been a major tar-
get in the debate over sug-
ar and its role in the obesity
crisis. But high levels of added
sugars can be found in many
seemingly healthful foods,
from yogurts to energy bars
and even whole-grain bread.
A new movie called That
Sugar Film seeks to educate
consumers about the hazards
of consuming too much add-
ed sugar, which can be found
in an estimated 80% of all su-
permarket foods. The new
documentary stars Austra-
lian actor-director, Damon
Gameau.
In the film, which first had
its debut in Australia this
year, Gameau gives up his
normal diet of fresh foods for
two months to see what hap-
pens when he shifts to eating
a diet containing 40 tea-
spoons of sugar daily, the
amount consumed by the av-
erage Australian (and an
amount not far from the 28
teaspoons consumed daily by
the average American teenag-
er).
The twist is that Gameau
avoids soda, ice cream, candy
and other obvious sources of
Nonseum, a museum of the absurd with a cult following
Its vast collection of silly yet brilliant inventions proves that bad ideas can turn into genius creations
HERRNBAUMGARTEN (AUSTRIA):
From a transparent suitcase
for nudists to automatic nose
pickers Austrias museum
of nonsense and its vast col-
lection of silly yet brilliant in-
ventions are proof that bad
ideas, if carried out well, can
turn into genius creations.
The so-called Nonseum,
which claims to be the only
one of its kind in the world,
has developed a cult following
among fans of the absurd.
Every year, thousands of
people from around the world
flock to the small village of
Herrnbaumgarten, tucked
away in the northern wine re-
gion close to the Czech bor-
der, to find comic relief at the
Nonseum.
We get groups from far-
flung places like China and
South Korea, and although I
sometimes worry that the
puns wont necessarily trans-
CM
YK
His Spotify playlists
show that his days
are spent mostly in
the 1950s and 1960s
Davis and Billie Holiday.
But the Presidents playlist
also includes a Beyonc
song, Superpower, and one
called Stubborn Love, by
the Denver-based folk-rock
group the Lumineers.
Hes also got Nina
Simones Feeling Good,
which might be a reflection
of the past two months of
his presidency, which have
featured a series of foreign
policy achievements, falling
unemployment rates and
rising approval numbers in
the polls. Due to popular
request, here are my
vacation playlists, Obama
said on Twitter. Whats
your favorite summer
song?
The response on Twitter
has been mostly positive.
VentureBeat, a technology
website, called the lists
Barack Obamas cool dad secutive days. The first call re-
summer jams.
New York Times
News Service
Actor-director Damon
Gameau of That Sugar
Film says that snacks
perceived as healthy can
come loaded with added
sugars
sugar. Instead, he consumes
foods commonly perceived as
healthy that are frequently
loaded with added sugars, like
low-fat yogurt, fruit juice,
health bars and cereal.
Gameau finds that his
health and waistline quickly
spiral out of control. While
the film is mostly entertain-
ment, it tries to present the
science of sugar in a consum-
er-friendly way, with helpful
cameos from Hugh Jackman,
Stephen Fry and others.
Despite some of the doc-
tors telling me I was crazy, I
thought consuming a lot of
late into another language,
they do laugh, so clearly
theres something universal
about what we show, Su-
sanne Machac, one of the mu-
seums co-managers, said.
Her brother-in-law, sculp-
tor Fritz Gall, co-founded the
Nonseum in 1994 with four
other local artists.
They got the idea after or-
ganising the countrys first
fair of failed inventions in
1984, which unexpectedly
proved a huge success.
Sleepy Herrnbaumgarten,
usually home to around 970
inhabitants, was suddenly
overrun with 5,000 visitors
from across Austria and be-
yond, who had all come to
chuckle at the unsuccessful
gimmicks.
Gall and his friends real-
ised they had uncovered a
unique market niche com-
ing up with seemingly point-
TREND
The next star is just a tweet away
Production houses now post casting calls on social media
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo
O
n July 7, actor Aa-
mir Khan an-
nounced a casting
call on Twitter for
his next production, directed
by Advait Chandan. The pro-
duction house was looking for
a girl in the 12-17 age group
who could sing.
Interested candidates were
required to e-mail with a vid-
eo recording and a letter of
consent from a parent or
guardian. Within an hour of
Aamirs tweet, his office re-
ceived more than 3,000 e-
mails with video clippings.
The server crashed despite his
office trying its best to down-
load and back up the files.
There was a time when
casting calls for films hap-
pened primarily by sounding
out modelling agencies or the-
atre groups. Just as produc-
tion houses big and small saw
the scope of promoting their
films through Twitter and
Facebook, they realised these
networks could be tapped for
audition calls. This channel
came in handy for small- and
medium-budget films, both in
Hindi and regional languages.
Last week, soon after Rana
Daggubati and Akshay Kumar
announced their co-produc-
tion Poster Boyz, Rana posted
a casting call. Their first an-
nouncement was for an actor
who would befit a 60-year-old
character, Jagdish.
Poster Boyz is a small-
budget film with three princi-
pal characters. Our idea was
to post casting calls for each of
these characters on three con-
vas Avasarala and Sekhar tions.
ceived such an overwhelming
response that the office is still
going through the applica-
tions received and shortlist-
foods like low-fat yogurt and
orange juice would be just
fine, said Gameau. But
things started to change. I
put on a lot of weight very
quickly. After 18 days, I devel-
oped signs of fatty liver. That
was a huge turning point for
the film. Thats when we
started exploring a lot more
of the science and then look-
ing for people to interview
and stories to tell in the film,
the actor said.
He added that he had been
eating chocolate doughnuts
and soft drinks, he would
have known what would have
happened. But the fact that he
piled on weight when he was
following the low-fat diet was
surprising, he said.
Were not demonising
sugar, were just showing
people where its hiding.
There are people having their
chocolate bar or ice cream at
the end of the day without
realizing theyve had 30 tea-
spoons in other foods
throughout the day. I say en-
joy your chocolate and your
ice cream, but just know
where most of the sugar in
your diet is hiding, he added.
New York Times News
Service
A tricycle for twins is displayed at Nonseum at the pieces. I wish Id had one of
Austrian village of Herrnbaumgarten, north of
Vienna near the Czech border. PHOTO: AFP
less inventions, which The five artists created a tion of famous button holes,
manage to serve a purpose, not-for-profit
said Machac: Putting a smile which would, for the next boxes with transparent lids.
on peoples face but also mak- decade, organise a series of
ing them think for a second. absurd events like a 24- hole from the top of Napo-
LIFE
Pink Floyd fans in despair
Legendary guitarist David Gilmour of the iconic rock
band Pink Floyd says the band will not reunite for
another round as the band has had its heyday.
ranted applications from
people who try their luck.
Each day, on my Facebook
page, I get 300 to 400 mess-
ages asking for opportunities.
If I get 80,000 applications
for a film, only 20 to 25 will be
worth considering.
Tejas casting website func-
tions only when he is on the
lookout for new actors and
technicians. When we made
the applications free of cost,
the server crashed with the
response. We found many
people e-mailing us 20 to 30
times. Then, we charged Re.1
for the applications and again,
the server crashed. Later, we
raised the charge to Rs. 111 to
put an end to repetitive appli-
cations, he says.
Arun Vaidyanathan, who
produced the Tamil film Ka-
lyana Samayal Saadham, di-
rected Achchamundu!
Achchamundu! and the Ma-
layalam film Peruchazhi,
shares Tejas concern of being
inundated with applications.
In India, there is no dearth of
A screenshot of the #castingcall hashtag on Twitter people who want to be actors.
shows a call for actors for Poster Boyz. At the same time, I find Face-
book useful to hire assistant
ing candidates. So we will Beautiful and Kerintha, re- directors, he says. For his
announce the other two cast- spectively. next film, he has sought the
ing calls in subsequent help of BenchCast, an initia-
weeks, Rana says. Its a deluge tive by director Karthik Sub-
He points out that the so- Director Teja, who has pri- baraj (Pizza and Jigarthanda).
cial media, once considered marily worked with new ac- Karthikeyan Santhanam,
an alternative channel to an- tors and technicians since co-founder and chief operat-
nounce and promote films, 2001, has looked for uncon- ing officer of BenchCast, is
has now emerged stronger. ventional ways to tap poten- confident of the talent pool
At one go, we are able to re- tial actors pamphlets, FM that can be tapped through
ach the target audience radio and, later, through a social media. We realised the
modelling agencies, theatre dedicated website. He is still need for a project manage-
groups and film schools, he wary of announcing through ment tool with an efficient
adds. Twitter and Facebook, for it search engine mechanism.
In Telugu, directors Srini- brings in a deluge of applica- BenchCast is an integrated
platform through which we
Kammula and producer Dil So far, Ive introduced have around 10,000 profiles of
Raju announced casting calls more than 1,000 people to the potential actors. So far, weve
online for their projects Oo- Telugu industry. Through so- cast for seven films and eight
halu Gusagusalade, Life is cial media, you get unwar- short films, he says.
Retro pose
Couples, some dressed as sailors and nurses, embrace in Times
Square in New York on Friday. They came together to recreate
the scene in the iconic photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt,
published in the Life magazine in 1945, that captured a kiss
between a U.S. sailor and nurse on August 14, 1945, marking the
end of World War II. PHOTO: AFP
hour snail race or a festival of leons military vest, ex-
scarecrows. plained Machac with a
With each event, their in- serious face, pointing to one
ventory of weird inventions of the empty boxes. While
grew too and in the end, they that one was worn by Aus-
decided to unite all these silly trias foreign minister during
ideas under one roof. the signing of the republics
Today, hundreds of pieces treaty of independence (in
are spread across the mu- 1955). There is also a rifle
seums three large buildings, with its barrel twisted back-
with new items added by the wards so that the muzzle
founders on a regular basis. faces the shooter the ulti-
They include, for example, mate, and final, selfie, in-
a soup plate with a plug, dicates a small note next to
which allows you to discreetly the glass display.
drain the food when youve But the spaghetti travel
had enough. case, tricycle for twins and
Its one of my favourite champagne cork retainer also
hide a more serious message:
those as a kid, said Machac. they reflect a subtle critique
Another highlight is the of the modern consumer so-
worlds one and only collec- ciety, according to Machac.
Its a philosophy of life:
association concealed inside little square these are all things that we
dont really need, but at least
This is the third button were admitting that we really
dont need them. AFP dont have the same opportu-
THE HINDU
NOIDA/DELHI
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
Tricolour in the shopping cart
Tricolour and khadi products were a hit among online
shoppers on Independence Day, says Flipkart.
Products with colours of the National Flag were a hit.
STAR TREK
MEET THE NEW DISNEY LEGENDS
H
ollywoods beloved pirate Johnny Depp surprised
the audience here at the D23 Expo 2015, where he
and Star Wars director George Lucas, were
honoured with a Disney Legend Award for bringing a
world beyond imagination onto the big screen. The
actor, popular as Captain Jack Sparrow of the
Pirates of the Caribbean franchise,
came onto the stage of the event in
Anaheim on Friday, and left the
crowd enamoured.
Meanwhile, Lucas shared a
trivia about his popular space
saga Star Wars. Disney has given
me a lot of inspiration through the
experience I had with their
movies, television and art. I
refer them as catalogues. In
fact, heres a secret Goofy
[a cartoon character] was
the inspiration for Jar Jar
Binks, Lucas said. IANS
THE LIFE OF GABBAR
S
hadaab Khan, son
of noted actor
Amjad Khan, says
he is working on a
biography on his
father.
I am working on a
book on my father and
will start it next year.
The book will have
details about his
professional and
personal life. We want
everyone to know
about the great work he has done as an actor and how
he was in real life, Shadaab said.
In his career spanning nearly two decades, Amjad Khan
has worked in over 130 films but is best remembered
for his iconic portrayal of villain Gabbar in 1975 cult
Sholay, which completes 40 years.
His other prominent films include Kalia, Muqaddar Ka
Sikandar, Yaarana, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, Des Pardes,
Nastik, Satte Pe Satta, Dada, Laawaris, Ganga Ki
Saugandh, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin and Naseeb among
others. PTI
PROF. X, WOLVERINE TO TEAM UP
A
ctor Patrick Stewart has confirmed he will reprise
his role of Professor Charles Xavier in the
upcoming action film,
Wolverine 3. The currently-untitled
The Wolverine 3 is underway with
Hugh Jackman returning as the
clawed mutant. The actor said he
would not appear just as a cameo,
reported Aceshowbiz.
I think what you say is true. There
is a project in development. I
understand that Professor Xavier
will be making more than an
appearance, however, and that intrigues me, Stewart
said. The actor added fuel to the speculation that the
upcoming film would follow the 2008 comic book
storyline Old Man Logan, in which Wolverine was in his
twilight years. PTI
PUTTING THE PAST BEHIND
S
inger Madonna and director Guy Ritchie put aside
their differences to celebrate their son Roccos
15th birthday.
The couple, who divorced in 2008, sang Happy
birthday to their son, who had delivered
a speech at Ritchies wedding to
Jacqui Ainsley last month.
Madonna had some time ago said
she felt like a prisoner during
her seven-and-a-half-year
marriage to Ritchie. But she
stood beside her ex-
husband as they
presented their son with
a cake earlier this week.
The former lovers
clapped and cheered
along with the
crowd, while Ritchie
planted a kiss on his
sons head.
IANS
Denmark opens its first
LGBT elderly home
COPENHAGEN: Denmark has
opened its first care home for
elderly members of the lesbi-
an, gay, bisexual, transgender
The home is still open
to residents of all
sexual orientations
(LGBT) community, a media
report said.
According to sources, plans nity to be yourself with others
for the home were first an- and that can make you lonely.
nounced in November 2014, That is precisely why we need
with the intention of turning a place where LGBT people
Slottet, in Copenhagens Nor- can talk openly about the
rebro district, into a place lives they have led, she
where elderly LGBT resi- added.
dents can live out their gold- Helge Madsen, 83, was al-
en years without having to ready living at Slottet before
hide their true identity, The it adopted its LGBT profile.
Local news portal reported. He said that it took him four
We know that older LGBT full years to tell the care
people often go back in the homes staff that he was ho-
closet when they come to a mosexual. He said he looks
nursing home. People have forward to life under the
lived different lives some homes new profile and with
were completely open, while his new fellow LGBT
others were more careful, residents.
Vivi Jelstrup, a member of I think it will mean more
LGBT Denmarks seniors secure conditions and safer
committee said. conditions to be with some of
Many feel that it is easier my equals, he said.
to not open up [about them- Although Slottet has for-
selves in a care home] than to mally adopted its new LGBT
once again fight for accept- profile, it is still open to resi-
ance. That means that you dents of all sexual orienta-
tions. IANS
ND-ND