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After facing criticism, PrezTrump drops plan to hostG-7 at his Doral golf resort

WORLD | America

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TABLOID

Rahul criticises Piyush, calls him a ‘bigot’ overAbhijit Banerjee remark

NATION | Politics

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THE ASIAN AGENEW DELHI MONDAY 21 OCTOBER 2019

Victoria Beckham recreates hersignature leg pose

Max: 32OCMin: 19OCRH: 35%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Sunny

WINDOWS

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDE

Abu Dhabi: An 8,000-year-old pearl that archaeolo-

gists say is the world’s old-est will be displayed in Abu

Dhabi, according to authori-ties who said on Sunday it

is proof the objects havebeen traded since Neolithic

times. The natural pearl wasfound in the floor of a room

discovered during excava-tions at Marawah Island, off

the capital of the UAE,which revealed the earliest

architecture found in thecountry. — AFP

Full report on Page 11

Rohit Sharma celebrates afterscoring a double century during the second day of lastTest between India and SouthAfrica in Ranchi on Sunday.■ Report on Page 14 — PTI

A mountaineering team of 2nd Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army poses for a photograph with the tricolour after scaling Mount Trimukhi peak, situated at an altitude of 6422m, in Uttarkashi. — PTI

Vikari: DakshinayanaTithi: Ashwayuja Bahula

Saptami till 6.43 am, Ashtamitill 5.24 am (Tuesday)

Star: Punarvasu till 5.27 pmVarjyam: 5.37 am to 7.12

am, 1.09 am to 2.41 am(Tuesday)

Durmuhurtam: 12.24 pm to1.10 pm, 2.42 pm to 3.28 pmRahukalam: 7.30 am to 9 am

SUNSET TODAY 5.46 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 6.25 AM

MOONRISE TOMORROW 11.47 PMMOONSET TODAY 1.02 AM

8,000-yr-old pearl,the world’s oldest, found in Abu Dhabi

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh CMYogi Adityanath on Sundaymet here at his official resi-dence the family members

of slain Hindutva leaderKamlesh Tiwari and sought

to assure them of all helpand justice but failed to winthe trust of the killed man's

mother. — PTIFull report on Page 3

UP murder: Yogipromises all help

Jerusalem: Superstar con-ductor Zubin Mehta, 83,

takes to the Tel Aviv stageon Sunday for his final per-formance as music director

of the Israel Philharmonic,retiring after 50 years with

the orchestra. — AFPFull report on Page 11

Zubin Mehta leaves Israel Philharmonic

COUNTERPOINT

RNI No. 57290/94, Regd No: DL-SW-05/4189/15-17 Vol. 26 No. 245 | 32 PAGES | `5.00

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London, Oct. 20: A defiantBritish government dou-bled down on Sunday,insisting it would leavethe European Union in 11days’ time despite parlia-ment forcing a reluctantprime minister to requestanother delay.

In a day of high dramaon Saturday, MPs in theHouse of Commonspassed up the chance todecide on the revisedwithdrawal agreementthat Prime Minister BorisJohnson had negotiatedwith the European Union.

That defeat leaves MrJohnson under mountingpressure to find a way outof paralysing impasse onwhen and how Britain

would leave the EU blocafter Britons narrowlyvoted to exit in a 2016 ref-erendum.

Late Saturday, MrJohnson reluctantly sentEuropean Council presi-dent Donald Tusk a letterlegally imposed on him byParliament requesting an

extension, but refused tosign it. The Conservativeleader sent a second,signed letter insisting hewas not seeking an exten-sion to the Brexit dead-line, which has alreadybeen postponed twice,warning that “a furtherextension would damagethe interests of the UKand our EU partners”.

Having failed to back adivorce deal, which MrJohnson had secured onThursday, they triggereda law requiring him towrite to EU leaders ask-ing to delay Brexit, toavoid the risk that Britaincrashes out in less than afortnight’s time. — AFP

■ More on Page 8

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In the absence of anyagreement signedbetween India andPakistan on theKartrapur Corridor, theIndian governmentpostponed the registra-tion process of pilgrimsfor Gurdwara DarbarSahib Kartarpur, whichwas due to begin onSunday.

However, withPakistan adamant oncharging a $20 fee frompilgrims visitingKartarpur Sahib via thecorridor, the Indian sideis not keen to hurry insigning the pact. India

and Pakistan were tosign the pact onSaturday, that did nothappen. It is learnt thatthe Indian officials whoare part of the negotia-tions are continuing toengage with thePakistanis to convincethem to remove the $20fee.

Sources close to for-mer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh madeit clear there was noquestion of Dr Singhattending the KartarpurCorridor inaugurationin Pakistan.

Sources said he will goas part of a jatha as anormal pilgrim.

■ More on Page 4

London insists UK leaving EU on Oct. 31, despite delay plea

India halts registrations,no Kartarpur pact yet

New Delhi, Oct. 20: TheRailways has decided toprune the RailwayBoard by 25 per cent,cutting down itsstrength from 200 to 150by transferring director-level officials and aboveto zonal railways in along pending move toenhance efficiency,sources said on Sunday.

The plan was firstmooted in 2000 by theAtal Behari Vajpayeegovernment, which rec-ommended right sizingof the apex decisionmaking body of thenational transporter.

“Currently, there are200 officials in the board.It will be reduced to 150with 50 officers of direc-tor and above level beingtransferred to the zonalrailways. This was longoverdue as it was feltthat too many peoplewere doing similar jobsand senior officials wereneeded in zones to incre-ase efficiency,” said asource.

The plan would beimplemented shortly, hesaid.

The move was part ofrailway minister PiyushGoyal’s 100-day agendaand a top priority forpresent Railway Boardchairman V.K. Yadav.

Restructuring of theRailway Board was alsorecommended by theBibek Debroy Commi-ttee on Railways in 2015.

— PTI ■ More on Page 4

Rail Board tobe trimmed,25% officersto be shifted

Mumbai/Chandigarh,Oct. 20: Polling will beheld on Monday to electMaharashtra andHaryana assemblies withthe BJP and its alliesseeking to retain power inthe two states on the backof the recent Lok Sabhapolls victory, while theopposition is hoping toturn the tide by takingadvantage of any anti-incumbency.

Bypolls will also be heldto 51 Assembly seats andtwo Lok Sabha con-stituencies spread across18 states.

In Maharashtra, wherethe “Mahayuti” allianceof BJP, Shiv Sena andsmaller parties is againstthe “Maha-agadhi” led bythe Congress and theNCP, a total of 8,98,39,600people, including4,28,43,635 women, are eli-gible to vote.

As many as 3,237 candi-dates, including 235women, are contesting in288 seats and 96,661polling booths are inplace with 6.5 lakh stafffor the voting exercise.

The ruling BJP is lockedin a contest with theOpposition Congress andthe fledgling JJP for the

90 Assembly seats inHaryana which has over1.83 crore voters, includ-ing 85 lakh women and252 transgenders, while19,578 polling stationshave been set up.

Polling will be held from7 am to 6 pm. Tight secu-rity arrangements have

been made with deploy-ment of more than threelakh personnel from statepolice and central forcesin Maharashtra, whileover 75,000 security per-sonnel have beenmobilised in Haryana.

Counting of votes will beon October 24.

The high-voltage elec-tioneering by the BJP sawparticipation of a galaxyof leaders led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand his Cabinet col-leagues Amit Shah and ■ Turn to Page 4

Haryana, Maha to votetoday; BJP hopes highBypolls to 51 Assembly seats to be held across nation

Polls officials collect EVMs and other election materialsat a distribution centre in Hisar on Sunday, the eve ofthe Haryana Assembly polls. — PTI

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The ElectionCommission onSunday named for-mer deputy electioncommissioner VinodZutshi as specialobserver for theAssembly polls inAssandh, in Karnaldistrict of Haryanaafter a video wentviral in the socialmedia. The BJP can-didate in Assandh isseen in the videothreatening votersthat they will knoweasily who had votedfor them and who hasnot through EVMs.

“For a mistake offive seconds you willsuffer for five years.We will come to knowwho voted for whom.Nobody should be inany kind of illusion.We deliberately donot say this, but ifsomeone asks then Ican also tell you whovoted where becauseModiji and ManoharLal Khattar have verysharp eyes. Whereveryou may vote, it willregister with flower(lotus, the BJP sym-bol). Whichever but-ton you may press,the vote will go onlyto the BJP. We havefitted a chip in theelectronic votingmachines,” said MrBakshish Singh Virk,the outgoing BJPMLA and the party’scandidate fromAssandh.

The EC has notmade it clear whetherit has issued anynotice to Mr Virk formaking such threatsto voters and claimsagainst the sanctity ofEVMs. However, itsaid Mr Zutshi wasappointed to keep aneye against harass-ment of voters and toensure there was nofear over voting.

“Mr Zutshi has beenrequested to proceedimmediately to theconstituency to takenecessary corrective ■ Turn to Page 4

MANOJ ANANDGUWAHATI, OCT. 20

In what has created ten-sion and panic amongHindi-speaking people inUpper Assam’sDibrugarh district, a mobof more than 100 peoplebelonging to TakamMising Porin Kebang(TMPK), a local organisa-tion, attacked a village ofmilkmen and set theirhouses on fire. In theattack, one person waskilled while six othershave been criticallyinjured. More than 20people who are suspectedto have fled to nearby for-est areas to escape theassault, are still missing.The mob, armed withsticks and sharpweapons, set more than20 houses on fire.

While senior districtand police officers couldnot be contacted, the localpolice said the incidenttook place at CharkholiaRamsing Sapori villageon Saturday.

Saying that the vil-lagers were served extor-tion notices to payamounts ranging from

`20,000 to `50,000 byTMPK, security sourcessaid the attack took placeas the villagers, whomostly earn a living sell-ing milk, said they wereunable to pay the extor-tion money.

The police said oneMurli Yadav, who wascritically injured, wasshifted to the AssamMedical College andHospital, where he suc-cumbed to his injuries.Six others are reported tohave been treated in dif-ferent private hospitals,the sources said, pointingout that tension was esca-lating in the area for afew weeks.

The villagers had infor-med the police and sub-mitted the demand notesissued on the letterhead■ Turn to Page 4

Mobs attack Hindispeakers in Assam,many houses burnt

EC to probevideo ‘threat’in Karnal byBJP nominee

ANAND K. SAHAYSRINAGAR/BARAMULLA/SHOPIAN, OCT. 20

Perhaps the only set ofpeople in the KashmirValley pleased with theNarendra Modi govern-ment’s revocation ofautonomy are the adher-ents of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an influential reli-gio-political outfit whichbelieves in merging withPakistan, and which isnow expected to commandgreater attention thanbefore.

Otherwise, the reactionin the Valley can besummed up by a disgustedjournalist in the northKashmir town ofBaramulla: “We are backat 1947”. (Identities havebeen kept secret to avoiddire consequences.)

And now they are askingwhether the choice thatthey had made in 1947needs to be revisited. “Ithas been an illusion,”they say.

With Sheikh Abdullahmarshalling popular opin-ion, in 1947 Kashmiris puttheir faith in secularIndia rather than IslamicPakistan, although thelatter continued to attractthe allegiance of a smallsection since then. Withthe revocation of Article370, this section has nowcome alive.

The speech of PakistanPM Imran Khan at the UNGeneral Assembly last

month elicits nothing butpraise. A young womanlawyer said: “ThePakistan PM spoke aboutthe crisis that hit us afterAugust 5 — the jailing ofthousands, the communi-cations blackout. He is theonly one who spoke aboutus. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, on theother hand, spoke about‘shauchalya’ (toilets) atthe UN! He could havetalked about peace, butdidn’t.”

A north Kashmir ■ Turn to Page 4

J&K: Has the trust of 70 yrs gone?

PAWAN BALINEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In a major counter-attack,the Indian Army early onSunday morning killed atleast six Pakistani sol-diers and destroyed fourterror launchpads alongthe Line of Control oppo-site the Tangdhar sectorwith heavy targetedartillery shelling.

This was in retaliationfor the Pakistan Army’struce violation onSaturday night to pushterrorists into India, inwhich two Indian soldiersand one civilian had diedin the Tangdhar sector ofKupwara district in theKashmir Valley.

“According to reportswhich we have received,there has been heavydamage to the PakistanArmy and the terroristswho were in these terrorcamps. At least six to 10Pakistani soldiers diedand a similar number ofterrorists were alsokilled,” said Army ChiefGen. Bipin Rawat. He saidunconfirmed reports sug-gest that the terrorists’casualties were muchhigher.

“There is a kind of radiosilence on the other side

and we are not even ableto pick up any mobilecommunications fromacross,” said the ArmyChief. He said at leastthree terrorist campswere completelydestroyed and a fourthterrorist camp was also

heavily damaged.“It was decided that we

target terror campsacross. We had the coordi-nates of these camps,”said Gen. Rawat. He saidin the past one month,there were repeatedattempts from differentsectors to infiltrate terror-ists. “We have been ableto destroy 4-5 terroristcamps. Each such camphas around 10-15 terror-ists in them. It is difficultright now to give exact fig-ures of how many terror-ists have been killed,”said a senior Army offi-cer. He said the number ofPakistani soldiers whohave been injured ismuch higher. However,

Pakistan Army spokespe-rson Maj. Gen. AsifGhafoor in a statementsaid only one Pakistanisoldier was killed and twosoldiers were injured inthe Indian Army firing.

The Indian Army, in astatement, said itsartillery hit terrorlaunchpads, PakistanArmy posts and Pakistanigun positions along LoCin the Tangdhar sector.

One civilian, MohdSadeeq, 55, was killed inGundi Shath village inTangdhar in the PakistanArmy firing. Also, threecivilians from the samevillage were injured —Mohd Maqbool, 70, MohdShafi, 50, and YusufHamid, 22. “Last nightPak Army initiatedunprovoked ceasefire vio-lation to assist infiltrationby terrorists into Indianterritories,” said a seniorArmy officer. He said thatthe Indian Army retainsthe right to respond at atime and place of itschoosing in case thePakistan Army continuesto assist terror activitiesacross the Indian border.

Defence ministerRajnath Singh also spoketo Gen. Rawat over the sit-uation.

■ 6 Pak soldiers, many terrorists killed ■ 2 jawans, civilian die

Army hits back across LoC,destroys 4 terror launchpads

Houses and property damaged due to firing andshelling by Pakistan Army in Gundi Shath village in J&K

TROUBLE IN PARADISE-1

■ 1 dies, tension in Dibrugarh

◗ The villagers wereserved extortionnotices to payamounts rangingfrom `20K to `50Kby Takam MisingPorin Kebang, alocal organisation

◗ Rapid change infavour of Cong, will form next govtin Haryana: Selja

PAGE 3

We have beenable to destroy4-5 terrorist

camps. Each suchcamp has around10-15 terrorists inthem.— Gen. Bipin

RawatArmy Chief

� Late Saturday, UK PMBoris Johnson reluc-tantly sent EuropeanCouncil chief DonaldTusk a letter legallyimposed on himby Parliamentrequesting anextension, butrefused tosign it

PAGE

2SpecialMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

DARSHANA RAMDEVBENGALURU, OCT. 20

The turn of the 21st century has brought with ita new range of challenges and security con-cerns, many of which have not been imaginedthroughout the history of intelligence anddefence. For once, the world has seen the rise ofa new brand of leadership, dramatically differ-ent from the democrats and dictators who lednations through the 1900s.

The 21st century has seen the rise of radicalIslamic terrorism and the advent of cyber secu-rity threats. Former National Security Adviser,M.K. Narayanan, who delivered the keynoteaddress at the start of the three-day SynergiaConclave, apologized, at the outset, for turninginto a "prophet of doom," for the world is chang-ing in ways that hadn't so far been imagined,making the future that much harder to predict.The Conclave, which took place on October 17, 18and 19 here in Bengaluru, was arguably the fore-most platform of its sort in the country, with anunparalleled gathering of intelligence, securityand defense experts from around the world.

The "premature death" of liberalism and com-munism, says Narayanan, who has also servedas the head of the Intelligence Bureau, begin-ning in the 1960s, has given rise to "leaders whopractice a kind of personalised authoritarian-ism." Hitherto unforeseen innovations, in thehands of unpredictable leaders makes forecast-ing the future "rather difficult," he says. "Ideasand ideologies seem to be given short shrift andthe vacuum is rapidly being filled by national-ism. How will this impact the future? That'spurely a matter of conjecture but what is certainis that the future is likely to be startlingly differ-ent from the past."

Military strength and economic power are nolonger the sole factors that dictate leadership, asIT, biotechnology, nanotechnology and cybertake on increasingly important roles, even as thethreats of military conflict and nuclear wargrow more unlikely, Narayanan says.

Space Wars

Military conflict might seem unlikely but that'sno cause for complacence. "Space wars," saysNarayanan, "have come to replace nuclear prolif-eration. Both China and India have joined thefray with gusto, rapidly expanding their capabil-ities in outer space and testing Anti SATweapons. "Countries are capable of buildingsatellites with lasers that can jam enemy signalsand Russia is known to be experimenting withproximity operations, connected to an orbitalweapons programme. The weaponisation ofouter space is a now a reality."

Terror

"Existing threats from previous centuries, liketerrorism, are likely to continue," saysNarayanan. "They will be clothed in new garb andasymmetric threats are said to grow. Non-state

actors will play a major role in these." Islamic ter-rorism, he says, is also unlikely to be halted anytime soon. But the worst is yet to come."

Cyber Age

The leaps and bounds in technology should havemade the world a better place. Instead, they havegiven rise to a hybrid system of warfare andsecurity threats, "where the lines between thephysical, digital and biological reams are beinghighly blurred." Technology, like big data, mod-ern analytics, machine learning and quantumcomputing can do immense damage in the handsof an opponent, "one unrestrained by anynotions of law or morality."

The monetary value of data, he points out, hassurpassed that of fossil fuels and much of thisdata is "what we voluntarily share, including on

our innermost thoughts, desires and fears." Bigdata, he explains, is both an enemy and a friend."The internet, once seen as a great liberator, nowprecipitates cyber criminality, and has become asurveillance engine that induces users to tradeprivacy for entertainment and distraction."

Cyber attacks have grown more sophisticatedtoo, targeting both operational and information-al infrastructure.

Artificial Intelligence"AI has the potential to solve the problem but itdoesn't provide an all encompassing solution."Badly designed AI, believes Narayanan, cancause more harm than anything else. "Decisionmakers don't possess adequate knowledge of AIprocesses, as attackers tunnel effortlesslythrough digital networks, penetrating ourdefenses."

AI-enabled warfare, he says, will be a game-changer and "an extremely dangerous cyberarms race is already on the anvil."

Quantum Computing"The rise of quantum computers could be evenmore radical." Existing cryptographic algo-rithms can be broken in realistic time periods.These computers will also be able to produce"hyper realistic images," making veracity ascarce resource. "Passwords are easier to crack,even biometric devices that use fingerprints,facial recognition or retinal signatures can bebypassed."

Articifial Intelligence algorithms are danger-ous also because they are opaque and as theylearn on their own, "learning from bad datacould wreak havoc."

Where, then does that leave the future of secu-rity? "The existential challenge," saysNarayanan, "that the data age poses to societywill be a matter of utmost concern as the centu-ry progresses. There is a need to innovate faster,fuse traditional human skills with technologicalinnovations with a mindset that enables diversi-ty and empowers the people."

‘FUTURE TENSE, IT WILL BEWAR OF TECHNOLOGIES NEXT’

Ease of doing busi-ness, stresses NitiAayog Chairman,

Amitabh Kant, is vitalhere in India. The nation,he says, is home to thelargest population ofyouth, a factor we coulduse to our advantage.India also needs to be amore vital cog in theglobal supply chain.

"Over the last fiveyears, India has achievedsseveral of these goals.The nation has openedup vast sectors, FDI hasgrown significantly andnew technology hasentered the fray. Indiawill grow on the back ofthis."

India is the only coun-try with over a billionbiometrics, accounts andmobiles, making thenation a powerhouse ofdata. "Every digitisedfinancial transaction canbe tracked with easeand GST has given thisanother boost."

All this has resulted inan ecosystem where theprivate sector can inno-vate. "There are 30,000startups in India thatspan various sectors,from nutrition and healthto education."

◗ In December, theUnited Nationsl ClimateChange Conference, willmeet for the 25th time."We have been talkingabout climate change,the science has con-firmed it and now we'reseeing manifestations onthe ground. But are weany closer to a solution,"said Suresh Prabhu,India's Sherpa to theG20. "Do we have whatit takes to deal with theemerging challenges?"Representing nearly 80percent of the world'sGDP, the G20 could bepivotal in tackling issuesthat dog the world as awhole, from terrorism toclimate change.

Economic growthwill meet

security concerns

AKSHEEV THAKURBENGALURU, OCT. 20

The recent droneattack on oil facilitiesin Saudi Arabia has

put the spotlight on thisnew form of warfare andnow it appears that Indiatoo is working onunmanned drones goingon autonomous missionsinside enemy territory.

Speakers at a sessionon ‘Future of combat-innocuous drones andlethal standoff weapons’revealed the country’sprogress on using dronesfor combat during athree- day conference bythe Synergia Foundationin the city on Saturday.

The audience learntthat the country has thecapability of sending itsIndian Air Force (IAF)

fighters accompanied byunmanned wingman fly-ing in formation todestroy enemy targets.

Speaking of the solarpowered high altitudepseudo satellite (HAPS)UAV, developed by theHindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL), squadronleader, Sameer Joshi,CEO, New SpaceResearch, said, “HAPS flyat 20 plus kilometers inthe stratosphere. Theyare a game changer. Theycould be used inHumanitarian AssistanceDisaster Relief (HADR)operations as well.”

The unmanned wing-man developed by HALwith medium and smallscale industries (MSME)playing their part, is con-nected to a fighter air-craft and is assigned spe-

cific tasks by the pilotsthrough the data link.

“We have demonstratedthis to the Indian AirForce (IAF) at Pokhran.An unmanned wingmanflies in a formation and iscontrolled by a fighteraircraft. It has capabili-ties similar to a fighteraircraft but is smaller. Itflies upto the border anda fighter stays behind byabout 50 to 100 kms onwhatever mission he ison,” said group captainH.V. Thakur, experimentaltest pilot at the HAL,explaining that the dronehas the advantage of fly-ing deep inside enemyterritory without the riskof losing a pilot.

FLY & FORGET: INDIA AIMS AT SMARTER UAVs

DARSHANA RAMDEV

"If it wasn't sad, it would be funny." Complexproblems, unprecedented leaps in scienceand technology that have redefined the secu-rity landscape, blurring geographicalboundaries, revolutionising access to dataand surveillance, could prove either a boonor a destructive force unparalleled in the his-tory of mankind. "It all boils down to intent,"says

Israeli strategist Uzi Arad, former NationalSecurity Adviser to the government of Israel,foreign policy advisor to PM of ISrael,Benjamin Netanyahu, has served in Mossadfor over two decades. Once a loyal supporterof Netanyahu, Arad has more recentlyemerged as one of his harshest critics.Advancements that could make or break theworld are now in the hands of "charismaticleaders who use authoritarian methods andpopulist measures" to secure their own power.

"Problems are becoming bigger and morecomplicated, but the performance of the lead-ers who are supposed to address them hasdeclined," said Arad. Populism has foundimmense support across the world but theadvent of charismatic leaders - and their fol-lowers - has also led to the politicisation ofcertain administrative systems. "The politici-sation ofgovernment procedures has placedgreater reliance," says Arad, "On politicalpositioning and posturing, at the expense ofprofessionalism and empirical approaches.This is evident in thw ay governments arenow staffed, in the West, primarily." Theapproach to certain matters, he says, "couldbe defined as sheer negligence."

Looking through the internet, he says, hefinds "the one that has been on the rise is asense of good humour. I'm choosing thisbecause it was in the news - we have all seen acopy of the letter written by President Trumpto Turkish President Erdogan. Such a letter,remarked one user on social media, I havenever seen in my life! This is one of a kind'!"

Arad has "met Donald Trump once, at a din-ner," he says. "He was great fun, because Inever expected him to run for office! Talkingover drinks, he was great fun." Years later,when Donald Trump became a contender,Arad decided to watch one of his debates. "Iturned to my friends and said - totally unqual-ified!" Arad, despite his years in government,never fathomed that Donald Trump, "greatfun" though he was, stood a chance of beingelected. "Clearly, I was wrong. So much forme."

How, then, did "a person with such deficien-cies," as Arad describes the President of theUnited States, win such overwhelming favourwith the American electorate? It was the riseof another phenomenon - social media. "Thedirect impact those technologies made was

instantaneous and stronger than anything inthe past." Leaders have become more power-ful in terms of effect, but many of them dis-play personalities that are described as"flawed," Arad remarks.

Erdogan, Putin and Assad"This is a crisis of the weak." Erdogan,

"clearly a flawed character, tends to resort toforce. Also a character," remarks Arad.Erdogan, like other nationalist leaders whohave taken the world by storm, displays cer-tain character traits which don't necessarilymake him a good leader, but which strike achord with the public. "His temperament,however, is very much a factor in the game."

As for Assad, Arad provides a rather clippedsummary: "He is a certifiable psychopath."Anyone who can order the use of chemicalweapons on his own people, he says, "Is a psy-copath!" Syria has witnessed one of the mostbrutal civil wars in history. In Israel, whereSyria's proclivity for chemical weapons hasbeen closely observed for some time, expertswould ponder what use would be found forthem. A weapon of last resort, perhaps, if theruling regime faced certain defeat? Or anopening strike in a war context, perhaps todisrupt Israeli mobilisation? "Never did weimagine them being used on their own peo-ple!"

Putin, Arad says, with an imperceptiblesigh, "is consistent. Thank God for that!"Again, he is a leader prone to violence. Here,decisions are dictated by temperament andpolitical concerns, but never the good of thestate. "The prevalence of such leaders in theworld poses a serious problem."

Role of intelligenceHow does intelligence respond in such cir-

cumstances? Will they be run by people whowish to speak truth to power? "No. They willbe politicised, because that is what theseleaders do," says Arad. "Look at the way theAmerican President is leading the waragainst his own intelligence agencies! Neverbefore have we seen this!"

Where does this all lead? The world is wit-nessed continual, accelerated change, mak-ing the future very hard to predict. But thereal complicating factor, says Arad, "is therelationship between the followers and theleader. Another factor is foreign interferencein the electoral processses. Election processesare being abused."

At the moment, Arad's view is bleak. "I don'tsee multi lateralism gaining ground, electoralprocesses being corrected, or protection fromforeign influences. We have to be agile to pre-pare for surprises all the time but the waythings look now, it's only getting worse.Particularly in the form of the greater use ofviolence."

Trump great at a party...but unfit to be Prez: Uzi

Rafale RB002

Former National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan and Niti Ayog Amitabh Kant at a conclave inBengaluru

Former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon (centre) with former advisor toIsraeli PM Netanyahu and Krishnan Srinivasan former foreign secretary

Prabha Rao, fmr. Addl. Sec.Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

Gopal Hosur and SureshPrabhu at the conclave inBengaluru

Wuzhen (China), Oct. 20: China onSunday said it aims to become a“great power” in the online worldand took a swipe at Washington ontrade, kicking off its annual con-ference promoting theCommunist Party’s controlled andcensored version of the Internet.

US-China rivalry is increasinglyplaying out in the digital sphere,as Beijing pursues dominance innext-generation technology whileWashington takes measures tocripple Chinese tech firms likeHuawei.

China heavily monitors and cen-sors its Internet, with US titansFacebook, Twitter and Google allhidden behind a so-called “GreatFirewall” that also blocks politi-cally sensitive content.

At the yearly World InternetConference, held in the pictur-esque ancient canal town ofWuzhen since 2014, Chinese offi-cials talked up the country’s techprowess.

“We have become a cyberspacepower of 800 million netizens,”the head of the CommunistParty’s propaganda department,Huang Kunming, said in akeynote address.

Huang added that in the future,China “will unceasingly expandthe fruits of Internet developmentand forge ahead from a cyber-space ‘big power’ to a cyberspace‘great power’”.

The propaganda chief alsodenounced “cyber-hegemony andbullying” by other countries —using language typically reservedfor the United States — which hesaid were behind confrontation inthe high-tech world.

The US is threatening cripplingsanctions on Huawei, which isexpected to be a leading player inthe advent of ultra-fast 5G com-munications that will make many

new technologies possible.“Some countries have placed

restrictions on and suppressedother countries and companies,escalating uncertainty and evenantagonism in cyberspace,”Huang said, without naming theUnited States directly.

The US commerce departmentalso earlier this month said it willblacklist 28 Chinese entities itsays are implicated in rights vio-lations and abuses in China’sXinjiang region, where an esti-mated one million mostly Muslimminorities are held in internmentcamps.

President Xi Jinping has previ-ously sketched out plans for Chinato gain dominance — with heavyassistance from the government— in key future technologies by2025, a strategy that has caused USalarm.

The conference has faced foreigncriticism as an attempt to white-

wash the Communist Party’scyberspace controls in the nameof “Internet sovereignty” ratherthan viewing the web as an openglobal resource.

In the past, the event has drawnleading US tech CEOs such asApple’s Tim Cook and Google’sSundar Pichai.

But with the US-China tensionssimmering, this year’s conferencelacks any high-profile US figures.

Silicon Valley has also beenembroiled in recent efforts byBeijing to step up pressure on for-eign companies deemed to be insupport of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

Earlier this month Appleremoved an app criticised bymainland China for allowingHong Kong protesters to trackpolice, a move which sparkedfierce criticism and accusations ofbowing to China.

— AFP

China talks up tech prowess, takes a swipe at US on trade

A young woman walks next to a screen during the 6th World InternetConference in Wuzhen town in the city of Tongxiang in Zhejiangprovince on Sunday. — AFP

IN BRIEF

PAGE

3NationMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Jammu: General OfficerCommanding-in-Chief,

Northern Command, Lt GenRanbir Singh on Sunday vis-

ited forward posts inSiachen

Glacier, the world’s highestbattlefield in Ladakh, adefence spokesperson said. Accompanied by

General Officer Commandingof Leh-based Fire and

Fury Corps Lt Gen HarinderSingh, the army commander

complimented the troopsdeployed in the sector for

their dedication and perse-verance, the official said.

“The nation is proud of thevalour and sacrifices of the

‘Siachen Warriors’,” thenorthern commander told

the troops. — PTI

Unsafe UPAkhilesh asks UP CM Yogi tomeet kin of those killed due to ‘bad law and order situation’ in UP.

We should learndecent ways to

disagree with oneanother.

— Jagdeep Dhankar,

West Bengal Governor

Army commandervisits Siachen

Bhopal: BJP MLA RameshMendola was booked

on Sunday for being presentin Jabhua Assembly seat,

which goes to polls onMonday, even after the cam-

paign period ended.Mendola is an MLA from

Indore-II seat and ElectionCommission rules specify

that politicalfunctionaries/party workers,

who have been broughtfrom outside or are not list-ed as voters of a poll-bound

constituency, have to leavethe place once the cam-

paign period is over.Campaigning for the Jhabua

bypoll ended at 5pm onSaturday. —PTI

BJP MLA bookedfor poll violation

Beed: An FIR has beenlodged against NCP leader

Dhananjay Munde for alleged-ly making obscene comments

against his estranged cousinand Maharashtra minister

Pankaja Munde at an electionrally, a police official said on

Sunday. The NCP leader, how-ever, said the clip was edited

and fake, and his remarkswere “distorted” to project

him as a “villain” by his rivalsto win elections. A video pur-

portedly showing the NCPleader making the remarks

against the minister went viralon social media, following

which a BJP functionary fromParli in Beed district filed a

police complaint against himon Saturday, he said. Both thecousins are locked in a battle

from Parli segment forMonday’s state Assembly

polls. Pankaja Munde, the sit-ting BJP MLA from Parli, isthe daughter of late partyveteran Gopinath Munde.

“Acting on the co plaint filedby Parli BJP president Jugal

Kishor Lohiya, the FIR waslodged late Saturday nightagainst Dhananjay Mundeunder Indian Penal Code

Sections 500 (defamation),509 (word, gesture or act

intended to insult modesty ofa woman) and 294 (obscene

act in public place),” Parlipolice station in-charge

Purushottam Chobe told PTI.Lohiya in his complaint said

the NCP leader allegedlymade the obscene remarks

against the BJP minister at apublic meeting. — PTI

MUNDE IN SOUPFOR REMARKS ON

COUSIN SISTER

NEENA GOPALBENGALURU, OCT. 20

In a marked break fromthe China-leaning politicsof the past which gaveBeijing primacy in theisland nation, former SriLankan defence chiefGotabhaya Rajapaksa,widely seen as the front-runner in the upcomingpresidential polls thisNovember, has told advis-ers that he will pursue aforeign policy that main-tains “equidistance” fromIndia and China.

Speaking on the side-lines of the SynergiaConclave 2019, that con-cluded on Saturday, terrorexpert, Prof. RohanGunaratna, said that theyounger Rajapaksa’s call

to “seek neutral status”and craft an “equidistantforeign policy” unlikewhen his older brotherMahinda Rajapakse waspresident and had all butceded a string of ports inColombo and his home-town of Hambantota to theChinese, “this will be a sig-nificant departure fromthe foreign policy of theearlier Rajapaksa regime.”

Amid unconfirmedreports that Gothabaya,the architect of the May2009 obliteration of theLiberation Tigers forTamil Eelam ( LTTE), hadalready reached out to theNarendra Modi govern-ment, with assurancesthat he would not playBeijing off against Delhi,Prof. Gunaratne, professor

of security studies atSingapore’s NanyangUniversity, said that thesecret tip-off from India’sResearch & Analysis Wing(R&AW) days before theEaster attacks may havebeen the turning point.

“There was a time whenIndia armed, trained andfinanced the Tamil Tigers.But that time is over.Today, India has provided

high-quality intelligence.This intelligence demon-strates that India is will-ing to cooperate and col-laborate with Sri Lankaand other countries in theregion to fight the globalexpansion of the IslamicState,” he said.

“The vilayats have beendeclared in Pakistan,Afghanistan, India and SL.IS and Al Qaeda have a sig-

nificant presence inBangladesh. The JamaatMujahideen Bangladeshfaction that becameIslamic State in theMaldives too. This regionis a very significant terri-tory for IS to take root andgrow,” Prof. Gunaratnesaid, his remarks pointingto the growing alarm with-in the Sinhala communityof the new threat to peaceposed by the Muslimminority, post the Easterbomb attacks last Aprilthat claimed the lives of254 people, mainlyChristians.

As polls grow close,many believe the previousMaitripala Sirisena-RanilWickremesinghe govern-ment’s complacency to thegrowing home-grown ter-

ror threat, fanned byIslamic State had all butgiven the election on aplatter to the Rajapaksachallenger.

“Since 42 Sri Lankanstravelled in January 2015,from Sri Lanka to Syriaand Iraq, the threat wasknown to Sri Lankan intel-ligence and security serv-ices,” Prof Gunaratnasaid.

A Rajapaksa return willsee a government thatworks “very closely withthe Muslim community,strengthen relationshipswith them and protectthem from becoming radi-calised,” he said.

Religious leaders andeducators must cometogether to address thechallenge.

New Delhi, Oct. 20:Claiming that attemptsare being made to createan atmosphere of fear bydemonising technology,the Prime Minister onSunday cautionedagainst such efforts.

Addressing a gather-ing at his official resi-dence at the launch of abook, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said“major effort is beingmade to demonise tech-nology. Attempts arebeing made to create anatmosphere of fear”.

Specially in the contextof India, technology isbeing presented as achallenge to the coun-try’s demographic divi-dend, the prime minis-ter was quoted as sayingby agencies.

He said the debateshould not be on the dan-gers of artificial intelli-gence or when willrobots outsmarthumans. “But the debateshould be on how to cre-ate a bridge betweenartificial intelligenceand human intentions.”The Prime Ministerstressed on the need tounderstand that technol-ogy is a bridge and not adivider. “Technologybuilds bridge betweenaspirations and achieve-ment, demand and deliv-ery, government andgovernance in order toachieve sabka saath,sabka vikas,” he said.

— PTI

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

A day before Haryana goesto Assembly polls, stateCongress unit chiefKumari Selja said thatthere has been rapidchange on the ground infavour of the party and thewill form the next govern-ment in the state.

Addressing a press confer-ence she said, “Haryana’speople have seen throughtheir (BJP’s) game ofdiverting attention. Theytalked about Article 370,National Register ofCitizens (NRC). But as oftoday, the BJP has not beenable to change the narrativeaccording to its own will.They tried but there are somany issues in Haryana.We raised those issues andpeople have responded tothat.”

Earlier, too, the Congresshad alleged that the BJP

has only one point agendato talk about the abrogationof Article 370 and Pakistan.

Kumari Selja furtheradded “Be it the PM(Narendra Modi) or othertop BJP leaders or theHaryana CM, they did nottalk about even one issue ofHaryana because theyknow that they are on theback foot. The people ofHaryana said that first, youshould give your report andthen ask for votes. Theycould not give a report andtried to divert attention

continuously.” Top BJPleaders, including partychief Amit Shah, haveraised the issue in their pollspeeches and hit out at theopposition over it.Interestingly the PrimeMinister Mr NarendraModi challenged theCongress to clear its standon Article 370 whether theywant to bring it back.

Asked if the Congress hasbeen successful in counter-ing the BJP’s nationalismpitch in the assembly pollscampaign and the raising ofArticle 370, Selja said thereis nothing nationalisticabout it and it was a “politi-cal issue” as far as the BJPis concerned.

The Congress supportedthe abrogation of Article370 in parliament but hadits reservation on the way itwas done.

The ninety memberHaryana assembly goes topolls on October 21st.

Lucknow, Oct. 20: UttarPradesh chief ministerYogi Adityanath onSunday met at his offi-cial residence the fami-ly members of slainHindutva leaderKamlesh Tiwari andsought to assure them ofall help and justice butfailed to win the trust ofthe killed man’s mother.

Despite sounding sat-isfied with the chiefminister’s assurancesimmediately after meet-ing him, Tiwari’s dis-traught mother Kusumlater said she was notsatisfied and vowed to“take up the sword” her-self, if she did not getthe justice.

She also blamed thepolice for forcing thefamily to venture out oftheir house to meet thechief minister, despitecustoms forbidding afamily to get out of thehouse during themourning period.

“It was at his (CM)

direction that police-men forced us to meethim. So we were com-pelled to come (toLucknow),” she said.

“Had I been satisfied(with the chief minis-ter’s assurance), myblood would not haveboiled,” she told media-persons later whenasked if she was satis-fied with the meeting.

“If we do not get jus-tice, I myself will takeup the sword,” Kusumdistraught motherKusum Tiwari toldreporters some timeafter meetingAdityanath. — PTI

New Delhi, Oct. 20:Congress leader Priyan-ka Gandhi Vadra on Su-nday slammed the BJPgovernment in UttarPradesh over the state’slaw and order situation,alleging that it hadfailed to rein in crime.

The Congress generalsecretary also shared asnapshot of news head-lines of major crimeincidents in the state.

Among the headlineswas a reference to thekilling of Hindu SamajParty chief KamleshTiwari.

The collage of newsheadlines had the cap-tion, “Har din apraadhke naam, bhajpa sarkaarpuri nakaam (everydaycriminal incidents, BJPgovernment a completefailure)”.

The Congress onSaturday had hit out atthe BJP government inUttar Pradesh over thelaw and order situationin the state, alleging“jungle raj” was prevail-ing there. — PTI

AGE CORRESPONDENTPATNA, OCT. 20

An FIR has been regis-tered against BJP statepresident Sanjay Jaiswalfor allegedly violatingthe model code of con-duct while addressingbusinessmen inKishanganj ahead of by-elections which arescheduled to be held onOctober 21.

Officials said that thecase was lodged follow-ing a written complaintby the Kishanganj Sadar

circle officer onSaturday evening. Thecomplaint was lodged onthe basis of a videowhich showed Mr.Jaiswal urging localbusinessmen and partyworkers to shut theiroffices and pay a sum of`500 to each of their staffon the day of the elec-tions.

Sweety Singh, theparty’s candidate fromKishanganj assembly,seat was also seen sittingon the dais while he gavethe controversial speech.

Sources said that Mr.Jaiswal allegedly madethe remarks during ameeting of the localbusinessmen held onThursday at the resi-dence of one of the partyworkers. “We have regis-tered an FIR after thevideo surfaced onSaturday. Further actionagainst all those whoviolated the model codeof conduct can be initiat-ed only after the investi-gation in the case”,Sadar SDM ShahnawazAhmed Niyazi said.

New Delhi, Oct. 20:Congress leader RahulGandhi on Sunday hit out atUnion minister PiyushGoyal for his remarks thatNobel laureate AbhijitBanerjee is “Left-leaning”,saying “these bigots areblinded by hatred” and haveno idea what a professionalis.

Mr Goyal, at a media brief-ing in Pune, had describedBanerjee as a “Left-leaning”person. The Nobel laureateon Saturday told a TV chan-nel that the commerce min-ister is “questioning myprofessionalism”.

“Dear Mr Banerjee, Thesebigots are blinded by hatredand have no idea what a pro-fessional is. You cannotexplain it to them, even ifyou tried for a decade,” Mr

Gandhi said in a tweet tag-ging the media report onBanerjee’s response toGoyal’s comments on him.

“Please be certain thatmillions of Indians are

proud of your work,” theformer Congress presidentsaid.

Mr Goyal on Friday hadalso said Banerjee’s sugges-tion of a minimum incomescheme was rejected byIndian voters and there wasno need to “accept what hethinks”.

On Saturday, Congressleader Priyanka GandhiVadra had also hit out atBJP leader Piyush Goyal forhis remarks and said thegovernment’s job is not torun a “comedy circus”, butimprove the “collapsing”economy. — PTI

Goyal a bigot blinded by hatred, says Rahul

■ ‘Cops forced us to meet him’

There was a timewhen India armed,trained andfinanced the TamilTigers. But thattime is over.

— ROHANGUNARATNA

FIR AGAINST BJP LEADER OVER SPEECH

‘Rajapaksa return will curb radicalisation’ PM: Attemptsbeing madeto demonisetechnology

■ ‘BJP did not raise key issues of state’

Selja confident Cong willform next govt in Haryana

Veteran Communist leader and former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandanbeing offered a piece of cake by his wife Vasumathy on his 96th birthday at theirresidence in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. — PTI

Yogi meets kin ofHindutva leader,mom dissatisfied

UP failedto controlcrime, saysPriyanka

Yogi Adityanath

Kumari Selja

Rahul Gandhi Piyush Goyal

IN BRIEF

PAGE

4NationMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Belagavi: In a suspected caseof suicide, four members of a

family, including two chil-dren, were found dead in

their house at Hosur villagein this district in Karnataka,

police said on Sunday.Bhimappa Channappagol

(32), who worked as a secu-rity guard at an ATM, his 25-year old wife and two sons,

aged eight and five, were found hanging from ceiling

on Saturday evening, DistrictSuperintendent of Police

Laxman Nimbargi said.No suicide note was found

and the cause of the extremestep was under investigation,

he said. — PTI

Vadodara: The Gujarat forestdepartment has placed

24 cages near a village inJunagadh district to trapleopards, a senior official

said on Sunday. The movefollows the death of a 60-year-old man in a leopard

attack in Visavadar village inthe district, some 390 kilo-

metres from here, said Saurashtra chief conser-vator of forest D.T. Vasavada.“After the death of Valabhai

Manandabhai Maru onSaturday, we decided

to set 24 cages with bait totrap leopards. We have

placed the cages after study-ing pug marks in the village

and adjoining areas. Each cage has a goat or a dog in apartitioned enclosure to lure

leopards,” he said. — PTI

4 of family founddead in Karnataka

Kashmir tourismJ&K chief secy chairs high-level meet to review tourism promotional campaign

The Army has alwayskept India’s borders

safe. We are proud ofour Army

— Kumari Selja,

Congress leader

24 cages placedto trap leopard

Dantewada: Twenty-eightNaxals, including four with

rewards on their heads, sur-rendered on Sunday in

Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, a senior police offi-

cial said. They laid downarms in front of senior police

and CRPF officials in the newly-established

Chikpal police camp inKatekalyan area,

some 340 kilometres fromthe state capital Raipur, said

Dantewada Superintendentof Police Abhishek Pallava.Among those who surren-

dered, Manglu Madkami andBaman Kawasi, had rewards

of Rs 2 lakh each on theirheads, Mr Pallava said.

— PTI

Naxals surrenderin Dantewada

■ Continued from Page 1Rajnath Singh, as it continued toaggressively raise the nationalismplank by focusing on scrapping ofArticle 370 provisions on specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir andtargeted the Opposition on nation-al security and corruption.

The Opposition tried to cornerthe BJP governments at the Centreand in the states on the handling ofthe economy with Congress leaderRahul Gandhi blaming the rulingparty for the economic slowdownand unemployment and highlight-ing issues like “failure” of demon-etisation and GST rollout.

The BJP, which is seeking a sec-ond straight term under chief min-ister Devendra Fadnavis inMaharashtra, is contesting 164seats, which include candidates ofsmaller allies contesting on itslotus symbol, while Sena has field-ed candidates on 126 seats.

On the other hand, the Congresshas fielded 147 candidates and theally NCP 121.

Among other parties, theMaharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, hasfielded 101 candidates, the CPI 16,the CPM 8.

The BSP has fielded candidatesin 262 constituencies. A total of1400 Independents are also in thepoll arena.

The Opposition campaign was,however, lacklustre as both theCongress and the NCP wereplagued by infighting and deser-tions in the runup to the polls.

The bypoll for Satara Lok Sabhaconstituency will also be held onOctober 21.

Former Nationalist CongressParty leader and sitting MP

Udayanraje Bhosale is in the frayfrom the seat on a BJP ticketagainst Shriniwas Patil of theCongress-NCP combine.

Voting will also be held in bypollsto Samastipur (Bihar) Lok Sabhaseats which was held by Ram VilasPaswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, aconstituent of the NationalDemocratic Alliance.

The campaign in Maharashtrawas marked by personal attacksand sharp exchange of barbsbetween the chief minister andNCP chief Sharad Pawar, who hitthe hustings at the age of 79 andaddressed a number of rallies.However, the Congress and NCPfailed to hold even a single jointrally.

While Mr Modi addressed ninerallies across the state, RahulGandhi spoke at six public meet-ings.

The campaign also saw an under-tone of jostling for supremacybetween the Bharatiya JanataParty and the Sena, which hadfought the last assembly electionsseparately, winning 122 and 63seats respectively.

The Congress had bagged 42 andthe NCP 41 seats.

In the April-May Lok Sabha elec-tions, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena alliance won 41 of the 48 LokSabha seats in Maharashtra, whilethe Congress won one andNationalist Congress Party fourseats.

Prominent candidates in the frayare chief minister Fadnavis andhis predecessors from Congress,Ashok Chavan, who is in fray fromBhokar in Nanded district, andPrithviraj Chavan seeking re-elec-tion from Karad South in Satara

district.Yuva Sena chief Aaditya

Thackeray, son of UddhavThackeray, is contesting fromWorli in Mumbai.

The 29-year-old is the first fromthe Thackeray family to makedebut in electoral politics.

In Haryana, the Congress is hop-ing to make a comeback followinga change in guard in the state,while the BJP led by chief minis-ter Manohar Lal Khattar has set atarget of winning 75 seats out of 90in which 1,169 candidates of vari-ous political outfits are contesting.

At present, the BJP has 48 mem-bers in state Assembly.

The Dushyant Chautala-ledJannayak Janta Party (JJP), abreakaway faction of the IndianNational Lok Dal (INLD), is alsohoping for an improvement in itsprospects following the Lok Sabhadebacle.

The party had emerged on thescene following a feud in theChautala clan in Decamber lastyear.

The BSP, AAP, INLD-SAD com-bine, Swaraj India and theLoktantra Suraksha Party (LSP)have thrown their hat into thering, though none of them is fight-ing on all 90 seats.

Prominent amongst those in thecontest are chief minister Khattar(Karnal), former chief ministerand Congress Legislative Partyleader Bhupinder Singh Hooda(Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), RandeepSingh Surjewala (Kaithal), KiranChoudhary (Tosham) and KuldeepBishnoi (Adampur) and JJP’sDushyant Chautala (UchanaKalan).

The BJP has fielded three

sportspersons — Babita Phogat(Dadri), Yogeshwar Dutt (Barodain Sonipat) and Sandeep Singh(Pehowa) — besides TikTok starSonali Phogat (Adampur).

While Prime Minister Modiaddressed seven rallies in the state,Congress leader Rahul Gandhiaddressed two election meetings.

In the 2014 Assembly polls, theBJP for the first time came topower in Haryana winning 47seats. It won the Jind bypolls earli-er this year, taking its totalstrength in the state assembly to48.

The INLD had 19 MLAs while theCongress has 17 legislators.

The BSP and the SAD had baggedone seat each in the last polls whilefive were Independents.

Voting will also be held in bypollsto 51 assembly seats spread across17 states.

The BJP and its allies had nearly30 of these Assembly seats, whilethe Congress had won 12 and therest were with regional parties.

Among the states ruled by theBJP and its allies, the maximum 11seats will have bypolls in UttarPradesh, followed by six inGujarat, five in Bihar, four inAssam and two each in HimachalPradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The other states where bypollswill be held are Punjab (4 seats),Kerala (5 seats), Sikkim (3 seats),Rajasthan (two seats) and one seateach in Arunachal Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,Chhattisgarh, Puducherry,Meghalaya and Telangana.

The exercise is coinciding withassembly elections in Haryana andMaharashtra, which are the firstmajor elections after the BJP

retained power in the Lok Sabhapolls in April-May winning 303seats out of 543.

In politically crucial UttarPradesh, the polls are seen as a lit-mus test for the Yogi Adityanathgovernment which has completed30 months in office.

It is a four-cornered contest withthe BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) andCongress fielding candidates on all11 Assembly seats.

Eight of these seats were heldearlier by the BJP and one by BJPally Apna Dal (Sonelal).

The seats of Rampur andJalalpur (Ambedkarnagar) wereheld by the Samajwadi Party andBahujan Samaj Party, respectively.

The Congress is hoping to consol-idate its thin majority inRajasthan by wresting the twoseats from the BJP and its ally RLP.

Of the 200 Assembly seats inRajasthan, the Congress has 106MLAs, including the six whodefected to the party from the BSPrecently.

The AIADMK and DMK arelocked in a keen contest inVikravandi and NanguneriAssembly seats in Tami Nadu.

Sikkim chief minister PremSingh Tamang is contesting fromPoklok Kamrang constitueny, oneof the three seats where bypollswill be held in the state.

Tamang aka Golay is the presi-dent of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha(SKM), which has tied up with theBJP.

Former Indian football team cap-tain Bhaichung Bhutia is contest-ing from Gangtok on HamroSikkim Party (HSP) ticket.

— PTI

Haryana and Maha to vote today; BJP hopes high

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In the absence of anyagreement signed by Indiaand Pakistan on theKartrapur Corridor, theIndian government haspostponed the registrationprocess of pilgrims forGurdwara Darbar SahibKartarpur. The registra-tion process was to beginon Sunday.

However, with Pakistanadamant on charging $20fee from pilgrims visitingKartarpur SahibGurdwara using the corri-dor, the Indian side is notkeen to hurry in signingthe pact. India andPakistan were to sign theagreement on Saturdaywhich did not happen. It islearnt that the Indian offi-

cials who are part of thenegotiations are continu-ing to engage with theirPakistani counterparts toconvince them to removethe condition of $20.

“Since some issues areyet to be resolved, theonline registration for theKartarpur pilgrimagecould not be started onSunday,” said an official.

India has been constant-ly objecting to the $20 feewhich Pakistan claims itwill use for infrastructuremaintenance and provid-ing others facilities to thepilgrims. The Indian sidemaintains that anyamount charged is againstthe spirit of the goodwillthat Pakistan is trying tocreate by opening the cor-ridor. India also feels thatthis can lead to charginghigher amount fromIndian pilgrims in future.

“The Kartarpur SahibCorridor is an importantpeople to people initiativetaken by India to com-

memorate the 550th birthanniversary of GuruNanak Devji. After severalrounds of discussion withPakistan, we have reachedan agreement on all otherissues, except the matterof Service Fee. Pakistaninsists on levying a fee of$20 (approx. `1,420) on allpilgrims. We have urgedPakistan not to do so inthe interests of devotees,and also because this is aP2P (people to people) ini-tiative” spokesperson forministry of externalaffairs Raveesh Kumarhad said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, sourcesclose to former PrimeMinister Dr ManmohanSingh made it clear thatthere is no question of MrSingh attending the inau-guration ceremony.

Pak adamant on charging $20 per pilgrimKARTARPUR CORRIDOR

Online registration processpostponed over fee demand

President Ram Nath Kovind arrives to unveil the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at a collegecampus in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday. — AFP

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In wake of Jammu andKashmir and Ladakhbeing divided into twoseparate UnionTerritories fromOctober 31, more than380 police personnelfrom Ladakh region butdeployed in differentparts of J&K will betransferred to Ladakhvery soon.

The home ministry hasalready cleared a propos-al to transfer thesepolice personnel whoare presently postedwith different depart-ments of Jammu andKashmir Police.

A senior Ministry offi-cial said,“We havecleared the proposal totransfer 385 police per-sonnel of Ladakhi ori-gin and they will be partof the Ladakh policeafter October 31 and notJ&K Police. They will bepart of the Ladakh UTPolice, which will beunder the direct admin-istrative control of theUnion home ministry.

The police personnel ofthe new UTs, from therank of constable toinspector, will also getthe pay and perks in thesame grade that is givento their counterparts inother UTs likeChandigarh andAndaman and NicobarIslands. Police and lawand order in the UT ofLadakh will be underthe direct control of theLieutenant Governor,who would report to thehome ministry like thesituation in Delhi.

According to TheJammu and KashmirReorganisation Act 2019,Ladakh will not have alegislative Assembly ofits own.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

While showcasing theinternational and Indiancommercial cinema, the50th International FilmFestival of India will alsobe a boon for languageand regional cinema. Tomark the golden jubileethe festival will be show-casing language cinema atthe international film fes-tival. The IFFI on Sundayannounced Films inDebut Competition sec-tion of the festival. Thefestival which has beenlaunch pad to several film-makers over the past 50years aims at bringing thebest first time filmmakersof the year in this section.

Algerian film AbouLeila directed by AminSidi-Boumedine, Korean

film Romang by LeeChang-geun, Romaninafilm Monsters by MariusOlteanu, US film MyName is Sara by StevenOritt, female filmmakerEva Cool’s Cleo are thefilms which made it toDebut Competition thisyear. The National Awardwinning film Hellaro byAbhishek Shah andMalayalam film Uyare byManu Ashokan are theIndian films competing

for the Award for the BestDebut feature film of adirector at 50th IFFI.Sources states selection ofthese films signifies toprovide them with a plat-form compete with inter-national cinema.

The Golden Jubilee edi-tion of IFFI has the bestlot of 15 films represent-ing 20 countries compet-ing for the coveted GoldenPeacock Award.

The selection has beenmade from over 700entries. The goldenjubilee year of this presti-gious film event is expect-ed to be one of the biggestever celebration. The fes-tival, to be held betweenNovember 20-28 in Goa,will screenabout 250 filmsfrom various countrieswith Russia being thepartner country.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In a bid to avoid confu-sion in future as it hap-pened against Spicejetplane when it flew overPakistan recently, theDirector General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA)has set up a committeeof senior officers tocheck each entry ofmode-S transponder andput in place systems tosafeguard against anysuch mistake.

Mode-S transponder isan electronic addresswhich is unique to acountry and each planeand helps in identifyingmilitary, civil and cargoplanes. A Spicejet planewas flanked by PakistanAir Force due to mistakeby a DGCA official whogave the civil plane amilitary code leading toconfusion in Pakistan.

The DGCA had sus-pended the official whomade this mistake. “Weconducted an internalenquiry and fixed theresponsibility. We can-not have double stan-dards. Our people havemade a mistake and it isincumbent on us to pun-ish the one foundresponsible and makeamends,” said a seniorofficial of the DGCA.

The incident took placeon August 30 but cameinto light only recently.The DGCA official whileregistering the recentlyacquired new aircraft bythe Spicejet, which wasearlier with JetAirways, by mistakegave it a code of militaryaircraft AN-32.

ANANYA SENGUPTANEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The railways has decidedto prune the RailwayBoard by 25 per cent, cut-ting down its strengthfrom 200 to 150 by transfer-ring director-level officialsand above to zonal rail-ways in a long pendingmove to enhance efficien-cy, sources said on Sunday.

The plan was first moot-ed in 2000 by the AtalBehari Vajpayee govern-ment, which recommend-ed right sizing of the apexdecision making body ofthe national transporter.

“Currently, there are 200officials in the Board. Itwill be reduced to 150 with50 officers of director andabove level being trans-ferred to the zonal rail-ways. This was long over-due as it was felt that toomany people were doingsimilar jobs and seniorofficials were needed inzones to increase efficien-cy,” said a source.

The plan would be imple-mented shortly, he said.

The move was part ofRailway Minister PiyushGoyal’s 100-day agendaand a top priority for pres-ent Railway Board

Chairman V.K. Yadav.Restructuring of theRailway Board was alsorecommended by theBibek Debroy Committeeon Indian Railways in2015. The panel said in itsreport that the IndianRailways’ centralisedstructure and departmen-

talisation was adverselyaffecting the railways’work culture and narrow-ing its approach to depart-ment-specific goals.

“It has always been seenthat the railways, includ-ing the Railway Board,was overstaffed. This wasadversely affecting theefficiency of the organisa-tion,” a senior officialsaid.

He added that there hadbeen no serious attemptsto review the exact num-ber of staff actuallyrequired by the railwaysfor efficient functioning aswell as financial viability.

“Lack of adequate politi-cal will in the past has alsobeen a reason for no tangi-ble progress beingachieved with respect toright sizing of railways,”the official said.

Restructuring of theRailway Board is just thebeginning of an overhaulof the ministry, sourcesindicated. In a recentmeeting with senior offi-cials of the ministry, MrGoyal instructed Yadav,Board members and gen-eral managers of zones toreview staff and to use thesurplus only in opera-tional work. — PTI

MHA clearsproposal toshift copsto Ladakh■ Iffi 2019 will focus on regional cinema

15 films from 20 nationscompeting for top award

DGCA takesmeasures after SpiceJetcode confusion

Govt to ‘right size’ Rail Board, transfer 50 officials◗ The move was partof Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal’s 100-day agenda and atop priority for pres-ent Railway BoardChairman V.K. Yadav

Lahore: Pakistan willopen the much-awaitedKartarpur Corridor onNovember 9, PrimeMinister Imran Khanannounced on Sunday.The proposed corridorwill connect DarbarSahib in Kartarpur withDera Baba Nanak shrinein Gurdaspur district ofPunjab and facilitatevisa-free movement ofIndian pilgrims.

Will open corridoron Nov. 9: Imran

Kathua (J&K), Oct. 20:Union minister JitendraSingh said on Sunday thatJammu and Kashmirwould get “true” self-ruleand autonomy under theModi government, and itwould be quite differentto the “frivolous slogans”of such demands raisedby Kashmir-centric politi-cal parties.

Addressing a meeting ofBJP candidates contest-ing the block develop-ment council (BDC) elec-tion, Mr Singh said it isimportant for party work-ers to understand andalso make others under-stand that this is for thefirst time afterIndependence the conceptof three-tier grassrootsdemocracy comprisingpanchayats, BDCs anddistrict councils and isbeing introduced in thestate. “Jammu andKashmir will get true selfrule and true autonomyunder the Modi govern-

ment, and that will bequite in contrast to thefrivolous slogans of self-rule and autonomy raisedby Kashmir-centric politi-cal parties, which havebeen befooling the peopleof the state for decades,only to perpetuate theirdynasty rule generationafter generation,” theBJP leader said.

Mr Singh said the ques-tion to be asked to the“champions of so-calledautonomy” is whetherthey have any moralauthority to “fool” thepeople of Kashmir.

— PTI

■ Slams dynasty rule in state

Modi govt to give‘true’ self-rule, toJ&K, says Singh

◗ The festival, to beheld betweenNovember 20-28 inGoa, will screen-about 250 filmsfrom various coun-tries with Russiabeing the partnercountry

Jitendra Singh

■ Continued from Page 1villager who gets by as anelectrician said: “ImranKhan has his own inter-ests. We understand that.The people of Kashmirhave never been withPakistan. The show ofPakistani flags at protestrallies, unless theJamaatis are involved, isonly to cock a snook atNew Delhi. But now werealise India is not afriend. The trust of 70years is gone. What wasthe need for all this? Wehave been made fools. Godknows what the futureholds.” Mr Khan’s speechhas appealed even to thosewho did not hide their pro-India sentiments in a con-

flict zone. This lot seemsto have swung to the sideof “azadi”, a word withwide connotations, themost common being free-dom the all-pervasive mili-tary presence that hitsday-to-day life and woundsthe dignity of people.

Crudely etched in Urduon a side of the woodentable in a lawyer’s smalloffice in Shopian in southKashmir, the Valley’s mostdisturbed district, where akilling took place hoursafter I departed, is thelament “GhulamKashmir” (Kashmirenslaved), encapsulatingfeelings in the wake ofAugust 5.

(To be concluded)

J&K: Has the trust...

■ Continued from Page 1action and ensure free,fair and peaceful elec-tion,” the ElectionCommission said.

Mr Zutshi, a formerIAS officer, has earlierworked as chief elec-toral officer ofRajasthan and in theElection Commission forseven years in variouscapacities.

Mr Zutshi was deputedas a special observer toAndhra Pradesh,Telangana and Tripurain the recent Lok Sabhaelections in April-May2019.

■ Continued from Page 1of Takam Mising PorinKebang (TMPK),Laimekuri AnchalikCommittee, Dhemaji,but no action had beentaken to the local police,which failed to takeaction.

Meanwhile, securitysources claimed that ateam of the districtadministration andpolice had been rushedto the area. The sourcessaid they are lookinginto the possible involve-ment of any insurgentgroups behind the inci-dent.

EC probe Mobs attack

PAGE

5News+MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Hyderabad: Effectiveexploitation of copper andlead at Agnigundala inGuntur district is expectedto commence in 1971.

This was stated heretoday by the UnionMinister of State forMines and Metals, Mr. R.Jagannatha Rao, whilespeaking to newsmen.

In the Agnigundala areaexploration work has beencompleted. Samples ofdeposits in this area wouldbe sent for examinationshortly, the UnionMinister said.

Mr Jagannatha Rao dis-closed that the Centre hasapproved a Rs 5.66-crorescheme to set up a plant atBondalamattu, inAgnigundala area.

Open mindAsked whether a corpo-

ration would be set up toexploit copper deposits atAgnigundala, the UnionMinister pointed out thatit depends upon the quan-tity of ore. He said, he hadan open mind on this ques-tion.

Mr Jagannatha Raoexplained that the countrywas at present self-suffi-cient in aluminium. Wemight be in a position toexport this non-ferrousmetal during the FourthPlan period.

The Union Minister wasof the view that Indiamight be able to meet morethan 50 per cent of itsdemand for other non-fer-rous metals, like copper,lead and zinc by the end ofthe Fifth Plan period.

India mayexport

aluminiumduring Fourth

Plan period

50 YEARS AGO IN

In the last scene ofRaj Kapoor’s muchacclaimed film noir,Jagte Raho, afterthe harrowingordeal of the whole

night, when a thirsty Rajis eventually ableto quench his thirst withwater being poured downin to his hands by an ethe-really angelic Nargis, abhajan plays in the background — Jago mohanpyare jago, nagar sabkaliyan jaagi nagar,nagar... It conveys one ofthe most sublime mes-sages of hope, optimismand new beginnings.

A couple of years back,when the iconic RafaNadal lost toNovak Djokovic forthe eighth time in a row, aperplexed journalist askedhim: “Rafa, what’s goingon?” Ever sporting Rafagave a disarmingly honestanswer: “My game is nothurting him! Even my bestisn’t good enough to beathim! I have to reinvent andreset my game, bring inthat Extra something toget the better of him.”There is a lesson for RahulGandhi if he has a sports-man’s instinct like Nadal.

During the parliamen-tary elections in 2019,Rahul campaigned vigor-ously, attacked NarendraModi relentlessly blaminghim for whatever wasgoing wrong in the coun-try. Alas, the results gaveMr Modi a thumpingmajority. Like Nadal,Rahul should haverealised that his best was-n’t good enough to beat theformer chaiwala andfierce swayamsevak of theRSS who blunted all theaccusations hurled athim with an unending listof decisions taken by himto better the lives of mil-lions of Indians and makeIndia a secure andstronger nation. Many ofthe failures of Mr Modimentioned by Rahul mightnot have been totallyuntrue but the Indian elec-torate thought that in spiteof everything which hisdetractors had been say-ing against him, it was bet-

ter to give Mr Modi a sec-ond chance than to give afirst chance to a totallyuntried RahulGandhi. After all, in all theopinion polls on who wasmost suited to lead thecountry, Mr Modi alwaysregistered a lead of over 24points over Rahul Gandhi.

If in the sycophantic cir-cles of his advisers, any-one has the courage to beforthright with RahulGandhi, he/she shouldtell him that it’s time forhim to reinvent himselfand reset his strategy tocounter the Modi govern-ment with something“Extra” rather than go onrepeating the same accu-sations against the sittingPM that public has heardan umpteen number oftimes and dismissed witha shrug. Without a brutal-ly frank and honest intro-spection, the CongressParty stands no chance toever return to poweragain. Everybody thinksit’s counterproductive togo on attacking the PM;Rahul Gandhi should lis-ten to such voices.

While commenting onthe downturn in theIndian economy, the for-mer PM, Dr Manmohan

Singh, had reportedlysaid, “Before one can fixthe economy, one needs acorrect diagnosis of its ail-ments and their causes.” Ifone were to replace theword, “economy” with“INC”, it would applyequally aptly. The mannerin which the oldest politi-cal party of India has beenoperating in the fivemonths since suffering itsmost humiliating defeat inrecent times shows that ithas been unable to diag-nose correctly its malady.The most earthshakingdevelopment that hastaken place in the IndianNational Congress in thelast four-five months hasbeen that its young andpurportedly combativepresident has resigned(veteran leader and for-mer external affairs min-ister Salman Khurshid putit pithily: “Our leader leftus”) and none outsidethe Gandhi Nehru familyhas emerged as his succes-sor; so his mother hasassumed responsibilitiesas an interim president!

Rahul Gandhi’s speecheslast week still focussed onthe Rafale deal, farmersuicides, agrarian dis-tress, joblessness, corrup-

tion and so on. It showsthat he has neither learntanything nor forgottenanything!! His recent jibe— Bechendra Modi —accusing Mr Modi of sell-ing off the public sectorundertakings and givingthem to his friends reflectsthe same problem – he hasno idea how much damageMani Shankar Aiyar’sderogatory remarks —chaiwala and neech — hadcaused the CongressParty!

The INC is slowly andsurely slipping into coma.When in deep coma, thepatient is actually uncon-scious; totally unaware ofwhat’s going aroundhim/her. But when slip-ping into coma, oneregains spells of con-sciousness, can recognisefaces and sounds but can’tconnect them, can’t figureout what is happening andwhy. The current state ofthe Congress is quite akinto this state. Bereft of theglue of power and acharismatic leader whocould attract the electorateby addressing their con-cerns and articulating apersuasive and convincingvision, different from thatof the present dispensa-

tion, and without aninspired and energisedcadre that has fire withinto fight in spite of set-backs of the recent past,the Congress is likely tomeet the same fate in com-ing state Assembly elec-tions as it did in the par-liamentary election inMay this year.

In politics, perceptionsmatter more than the real-ity. On the eve of the 2014elections, the UPA-2 gov-ernment was perceived asreeking with corruptionand one deserving to beshown the door. In May2019, Mr Modi’s personaand articulation of whathe had done in five yearsand his tantalising visionof a “New India” obliterat-ed Rahul’s long list ofcomplaints against theNDA. His repeated accusa-tions of corruption in theRafale deal and chowkidarchor hai slogan didn’tstick. Nationalistic fer-vour generated by theBalakot air strikes andsolidification of Hinduvotes also helped.

Now, armed with therecord of 100 days of Modi2.0 – triple talaq bill, abro-gation of the Article 370and bifurcation of Jammu

and Kashmir Union terri-tory and the buzz createdaround the idea of a fivetrillion dollar economy,lowering of corporate taxand Howdy Modi!, theModi government is per-ceived as strong, robustand nationalist, capable oftaking tough decisionsand ready to protect Indiaagainst external threats.In state elections, stateleaders do matter but MrModi matters the most!

In contrast, theOpposition lies in total dis-array. There are too manyleaders squabbling amongthemselves, no strong andcoherent counternarrativeand a demoralised cadre.With several Congressleaders facing court cases,BJP zealots are gleefullyprojecting it as a party ofcrooks.

Only Delhi chief minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal issmart amid this crisis.With very few cards in hishand, he has put aside, atleast for the present, hisdiatribe against the lieu-tenant governor and theCentre and unleashed ablitzkrieg of media splash-es of his government’sachievements. Besidesparading AAP supporterson TV screens claiming tohave received zero elec-tricity bills and benefitedfrom mohalla clinics andgovernment schools, hiscampaigns – Dengue PerBaar, Har Keemat PerJaan Bachani Hai to saveroad accident victims andattempts at pollutionreduction through the odd-even scheme – resonatewith a large number ofpeople. With full pageadvertisements in nation-al dailies, he has becomethe most visible face in theNational Capital Regionafter Mr Modi. Rahul canlearn a few tricks from MrKejriwal. In fact, theremay be wisdom latent inthe idea of joining handswith him.

The writer is a retiredIndian diplomat

Dear Rahul, stop moaning, spell analternate vision or risk irrelevance

The RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh(RSS) has become thelargest volunteeringorganisation of world

due to consistence dedication ofits workers. Millions ofswayamsevaks, prepared by itsmother organisation over 94years, have installed and devel-oped more than 50 sister organi-sations. Despite this prolificachievement, the RSS has beenundergoing a litmus test. Aftera long legal battle, the organisa-tion has successfully isolateditself from the allegation ofMahatma Gandhi’s assassina-tion, but is still struggling tofree itself from the public per-ception of being anti-Muslim.The Vijayadashami speech ofsarsanghchalak Dr MohanBhagwat or his latest discoursewith the intellectuals in Odishaclearly indicates that there is noconcrete reason appears thatdeclares the Sangh as anti-Muslim or a rigid organisation.This organisation seems to analternative to the Congressparty, the one led by MahatmaGandhi. In that time, theCongress was trying to eradi-cate social evils like illiteracyand untouchability and the RSSand its sister organisations hasbeen doing the same exercise.

There is a misconceptionabout the Sangh that it isrestricted to a particular tradi-tion and bound with rigidity.This notion has been also clari-fied in the speech of Dr

Bhagwat. He concluded hisspeech with the song: Yug pari-vartan ki bela mein ham sabmilkar sath chale desh dharmki raksha ke hit, sahte sab aghatchale… which means: “In thetime of changing era we shouldmove together and to protectour country and dharma weshould move tolerating allassaults.” It clarifies manythings. The Sangh is ready toaccept all type of changesaccording to the changing era. Itis ready for the changes accord-ing to the times and need exceptits basic idea and core values.

Second RSS chief MadhavSadashiv Golwalkar alias ShriGuruji, who had contributed alot in the expansion andstrengthening of the organisa-tion, has written in his book

Bunch of Thoughts, about thedialogue between him and ourfirst Prime Minister PtJawaharlal Nehru. During theirconversations, Nehru askedhim that why they keep onrepeating the Hindi-Hindu lineevery time. He also told that bydoing this the RSS had confineditself inside a boundary walland stopped the fresh air ofworld from coming inside. Atthis, Golwalkar replied that weshould welcome the winds com-ing from all sides and corners.We should come in contact of alltype of ideologies being imple-mented in different parts ofworld and we should also try tounderstand them and examinethem subtly to accept the suit-able parts of each. But this does-n’t mean that by doing this we

should destroy our own houseand get buried under the demol-ished roof. Dr Bhagwat alsovery aptly once again clarifiedthat the RSS is ready for posi-tive changes and that we shouldaccept a form of education sys-tem that is able to introduce ourgeneration to our mothertongue, dress, culture and pro-vide a time-relevant, logical,righteous and gentle viewtowards the world and duty-bound knowledge.

The RSS chief clearly assertedon the questions regarding theword, Hindu, the dilemma isdriven by fictional propagandaprevalent since the British ruleperiod and there is a class ofsociety even today which doesnot accept this word in its trueessence and use the word Indian

instead. Some people use theword “Indic” for the civilisa-tions based on Indian cultureand temperament. The Sanghalso accepts these synonyms.One is not isolated only becauseof a different word, community,worship style, food habit andtraditions. All are one in theeyes of the RSS. Our benevolentnature is the national tempera-ment that is Hindutva. Thesewords, asserted by Dr MohanBhagwat, clarify the modusoperandi of this huge organisa-tion. This organisation keepsexpanding despite protest. Asthe RSS says, the reasonbehind it is that thereis no differencebetween what it issaying and whatit is doing.People continueto join thiso r g a n i s a t i o nand whoevercomes onceremains forever.Critics ignore thisfacet of the Sangh.But the fact is that its ded-icated volunteers are the corestrength of this organisation.

Politics, education, agricul-ture, industry, dharma, culture,literature, history, journalism,trade unions, medicine, servic-es and research are many areaswhere these volunteers areworking. The BJP, one of its sis-ter organisations, is ruling thecountry on the basis of its firmdetermination. The RSS hadstarted its journey in the formof a small seed 94 years ago tobecome a huge banyan tree incontemporary times, which hasspread itself across the countryover the years. Despite this fact,there are many misunderstand-ings about this organisationpersisting among intellectuals.In this context, Bhagwat’sspeech is like an authentic doc-

ument to understand the con-temporary situation, workingculture, modus operandi andtemperament of the RSS.

There is a trend of verbalattacks on the RSS regardingthe word lynching. Bhagwat dis-cussed this issue in length andsaid that violence created by anattack of one community onanother is not one-sided.According to him, reports sug-gest an unfortunate blame gamehappening over these kind ofincidents. Some incidents hadbeen intentionally orchestratedand projected in a twisted man-

ner. Bhagwat points to thetheory that ever since

2014 after the forma-tion of Narendra

Modi government,the word, lynch-ing, has come tolight in the dis-course of mob vio-lence. The RSS

chief also tried toconvey that “lynch-

ing” does not assimi-late in the culture of

India as it originates in theWestern society. But this wordwas intentionally popularisedin India after 2014. So RSSbelieves that the word lynchingidentifies the violent nature ofa society, unlike the reality ofIndian society. De-associatingthe RSS from mob violence,Bhagwat clearly said that itnever supports the peopleinvolved in such incidents andhas always condemned suchincidents. As the debate onlynching continues to be in thepolitical arena inspired by vari-ous reasons, the RSS chief hasclearly tried his best to give thediscourse a new dimension.

The writer is a political analystand a former chairman of theAndhra Pradesh Electronics

Development Corporation

RSS is strong since its worldview resonates with all

Rahul Gandhi’s latest diatribe against Mr Modi seemed tired and ineffectual

■ TheOppositionlies in totaldisarray.There aretoo manyleaderssquabblingamongthemselves,no strongand coher-ent coun-ternarrativeand ademoralisedcadre. WithseveralCongressleaders facing courtcases, BJPzealots aregleefullyprojecting itas a party ofcrooks. TheCongressdesperatelyneeds toreinventitself.

■ The RSS hadstarted its jour-ney in the formof a small seed94 years ago tobecome a hugebanyan tree incontemporarytimes. Despitethis fact, thereare misunder-standings aboutthis organisationpersisting in theintelligentsia. Inthis context,Bhagwat’sspeech is like an authenticdocument.

G.V. Anshuman Rao

meanwhile

Surendra Kumar

focus

● Rahul Gandhi’sspeeches last weekstill focussed onthe Rafale deal,farmer suicides,agrarian distress,joblessness, cor-ruption and so on.It shows that hehas learnt nothing.

Education,agriculture,

culture, literature,journalism, trade

unions andresearch are some

of the RSS’activities

ODDLY ENOUGH

Breze: Zorica Rebernik hasspent her life in red andplans to stay that way —

even after she dies.After four decades dressing

in the color from head totoe, the 67-year-old Bosnian

has had tombstones madefor herself and husband

Zoran — whom she marriedwearing a red gown — from

a special red granite import-ed from India.The retired

schoolteacher lives in a redhouse, where she and Zoran

eat from red plates, drinkfrom red glasses and sleep

in red bedding. Even herhair is dyed red. — Reuters

Bosnia’s lady in redreadies for afterlife

Those responsible for the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, who head-ed a minor Hindu Mahasabha offshoot, at his residence-cum-office in Lucknow on Friday, must be caught at the earliestafter careful investigation and put on trial. But due diligence

hasn’t been the strong suit of the UP police for a long time. Under chiefminister Yogi Adityanath, one of whose first acts as CM of the nation’smost populous state in early 2017, was to have all criminal casesagainst himself dropped, the idea of justice and of dependable policework, an important aspect of judicial administration, have become con-spicuous by their absence. The law and order machinery has been bothpoliticised and communalised.

In the present case, the police acted swiftly, booking culprits from notonly UP but also Gujarat, with tracking of suspects also being done inNagpur in Maharashtra. This is possibly because those booked arefrom the Muslim community.

This would be in keeping with the record of the Adityanath adminis-tration whether we document the fake encounters, the so-called “lovejihad” cases that were overly communalised and shown to be fabricat-ed, or of the innocent medical professional Dr Kafeel, who appears to

have been framed on account of his faith.The poorer communities among Hindus havealso been at the receiving end, as in a highprofile case in Mirzapur showed recently,where upper caste men attacked a dalit vil-lage and the CM and the police gave no suc-cour to the latter, choosing instead to attackpolitical opponents for highlighting the gov-ernment’s proclivity for one-sided actions.

In the matter of the murder of KamleshTiwari, members of the Muslim communitymay indeed have committed the crime. Thedeceased appears to have been a religiousfanatic and had bad-mouthed the ProphetMuhammad in 2015, and distributed pam-phlets carrying that dubious message, in theprocess attracting the ire of most of Muslim

society. To track Muslim suspects may, therefore, be legitimate if thereis the smallest suspicion. But the UP police and the CM himself havegone to the media in a way that suggests they have solved the case, andsome Muslim youth are at the centre of it.

This single-track approach is apt to raise doubts in light of the asser-tion by the mother of the deceased that a UP BJP leader should beinvestigated over her son’s killing. Her contention is that there was adispute between this politico and her son over temple land in a village.It is surprising that the police has not commented on this matter,though the UP police chief himself has chosen to make statements inthis case, rather than leave it to the spokesman. This too suggests hisreadiness to remain in tandem with the CM’s thinking in the case,rather than direct his force to investigate the matter in a fair andimpartial manner.

21 OCTOBER 2019

In thwarting a Brexit vote, British MPs were seeking additional insur-ance against an abrupt October 31 exit from the European Union thatwould hurt Britain. Prime Minister Boris Johnson retaliated in a tru-

culent way as he usually does by sending an unsigned letter to the EU onthe need to postpone Britain’s exit. “I am Boris, trust me,” he may say, andhave the last laugh as Parliament may vote positively later this week onthe new divorce deal he brought back from Brussels. The deal may not bethe best, and even signals a betrayal of what the PM promised over thebackstop and Northern Ireland. Brexit may be too complicated now foranyone in Britain to be satisfied, including those who voted for it in thereferendum. But is Boris the only one knows how to get it done?

The PM’s attitude, his brazen defiance of the British system’s norms andculture — of an unwritten Constitution, but bound by traditions goingback to the Magna Carta — and his devil-may-care approach to Brexit byOctober 31 should make the democratic world sit up. The PM has mockedparliamentary colleagues, sacked some of his own Tories and is cocking asnook at MPs by, quite preposterously, sending an unsigned letter amongthree to the EU. He is defying the Supreme Court that felt compelled torule his proroguing of Parliament invalid. In short, Boris is showing allsigns of “strongmanship”, which is a term in the making for the presentera, dominated by the likes of Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin,Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Jair Bolsanaro. A proclivity to believe they’realways right and that they needn’t consult anyone on their decisions is acredo of this club.

Smooth Brexit is in peril

Politics whiff to Hinduleader’s murder probe

THE ASIAN AGE

T. VENKATRAM REDDYEditor in Chief

Printer & Publisher: T. VENKATESWARLU

THE ASIAN AGE offices are located at:New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: (011) 23211124.Mumbai: Sigma House, # 43, Ground Floor, R. A. Kidwai Marg, Near Wadala Rly Station, Wadala (West),Mumbai - 400 031 Phone (022) 24195301 Fax (022) 24195347Kolkata: 4th Floor, Chowdhury Building, 8/1A Little Russel Street, Kolkata 700 071.Phone: (033) 2289 0676/77 Fax (033) 2289 0686Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office in the United KingdomAir surcharge for Kathmandu and J&K `1Published and Printed on behalf of and for◗ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002 at BFL Infotech Ltd., C-9, Sector-III, Noida -201301.◗ Mumbai: Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, Plot No 22, Digha MIDC, TTC Industrial Estate Area, Vishnu Nagar, Digha, Navi Mumbai-400708.◗ Kolkata: Satyajug Employees Cooperative Industrial Society Ltd, 13/A, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Kolkata 700 072. ◗ London: Quickmarsh Ltd, 8th Floor, Block 2, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NQ.RNI Registration number: 57290/94Postal registration numbers: DL(S)-05/4189/15-17

The single-trackapproach of the UP

police and CM isapt to raise doubts

in light of the asser-tion by the mother

of the deceasedthat a UP BJP

leader should beinvestigated over

her son’s killing

c m y k c m y k

When pure performance is the criteria, I’venoticed women naturally excel

I can, therefore I am

CHRISTINA KOCHMIND POWER

SIMONE WEIL PAGE

6EditMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Though the Narendra Modigovernment was sworn inonly five months ago, thereis already talk in the corri-

dors of power that the PrimeMinister may go in for a Cabinetexpansion/reshuffle in the nearfuture. In fact, insiders in theBharatiya Janata Party say itcould even happen before the win-ter session of Parliament slated tocommence in the third week ofNovember. There are many minis-ters who are holding more thanone portfolio and the proposedexercise is meant to lighten theirburden. The new inductions willmost likely be of a minister ofstate rank. Sulking allies like theJanata Dal (United) may also beaccommodated. Anil Baluni, whoheads the BJP’s media depart-ment, is being mentioned as astrong contender for a ministerialpost. Baluni is learned to havebefriended Modi and BJP presi-dent Amit Shah when he wasattached to Sunder SinghBhandari during the latter’stenure as Gujarat governor.Suresh Prabhu was excluded in

the first round but the possibilityof his induction cannot be ruledout. There is also a strong buzzthat Mr Modi could bring in adomain expert in the agricultureor finance sectors as he did byappointing former foreign secre-tary S. Jaishankar as the externalaffairs minister. There is no cer-tainty in this regard but severalnames are being bandied around.The guessing game is on.

It is only a by-election to anAssembly seat but the October21 poll for the Jhabua con-

stituency in Madhya Pradesh butit has become a prestige battle forboth the ruling Congress and theBharatiya Janata Party. The BJPis obviously keen to retain the seatas a victory will not only improvethe party's tally of MLAs but alsoembolden it further to topple theCongress government which has awafer-thin majority in theAssembly. On the other hand,chief minister Kamal Nath andsenior Congress leader DigvijayaSingh are putting their best footforward in this election. For them,

this bypoll is not just about con-solidating Kamal Nath’s positionas chief minister but it also has abearing on the internal dynamicsin the Congress Party’s MadhyaPradesh unit. Nath and Singh,who have joined forces to sidelineformer minister JyotiradityaScindia, are working overtime forthe victory of their loyalist,Kantilal Bhuria, as it would thenstrengthen their campaign for theappointment of the tribal leader aspresident of Madhya PradeshCongress. It is no secret thatScindia has also been lobbying forthis post in an effort to retain hishold in state politics which hasbeen weakening since his defeat inthe Lok Sabha election. Only timewill tell if Scindia will succeed inoutsmarting his senior colleagues.

As was to be expected, theannouncement of a newteam of the Uttar Pradesh

Congress Committee has led torumblings in the party with thesenior leaders complaining that itis packed with outsiders andjuniors. In an attempt to placate

the dissenters, Priyanka GandhiVadra’s loyalists have made itknown that the new members areon what is being described as pro-bation for three months.According to them, the freshincumbents have been told by theCongress general secretary’soffice that their work will be mon-itored closely and that they will beshown the door if they fail to deliv-er. For instance, the absence of themembers from a party meeting ortheir failure to hold regular pro-grammes in their areas will not betaken lightly. This has, to someextent, reassured the veteranswho find themselves marginalisedin the new set-up. A senior leaderfrom Uttar Pradesh was recentlyheard exulting that the tenure ofthe fresh entrants will not lastlong. “Wait and see... most of thenewcomers will not survive thetest. We should be prepared forfurther changes in a couple ofmonths,” he added happily.

The Congress is currentlyabuzz with stories about ashowdown between party

chief Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi a few weeks ago.Apparently, Sonia Gandhi wantedto appoint senior leader SushilKumar Shinde as party generalsecretary in charge of organisa-tion in place of K.C. Venugopalwho is a Rahul Gandhi favourite.The Nehru-Gandhi scion did nottake kindly to this suggestionthough Sonia Gandhi made astrong case for Shinde’s rehabilitation in the party by citing his years of experience andthe fact that it would send out apositive signal before theMaharashtra Assembly polls.Rahul Gandhi, it is said, remained unmoved and arguedthat younger leaders should not becast aside merely to accommodateseniors. Rahul Gandhi won thisround but the episode only shows that there is no end to thetussle between the old guard orSonia loyalists and RahulGandhi’s supporters.

The writer is a Delhi-based journalist

Rejig buzz startsguessing game;Priyanka’s team

attracts envy

Humiliation for Congwrit large in this ballot

The people ofMaharashtraand Haryanawould casttheir vote to

elect a new state govern-ment today. This wouldbe the second time with-in a span of six monthsthat they would be exer-cising their franchise,the first being the 2019Lok Sabha elections heldin the month of May ear-lier this year.

Past electoral trendssuggest if the Assemblyelections are held short-ly after the Lok Sabhaelections, as is the casewith Maharashtra andHaryana, there is a greatpossibility of voterselecting the same partythey had voted in duringthe preceding ballot. Ineight of ten suchinstances, they voted forthe same party. TheDelhi and BiharAssembly elections of2015 and Odisha in 2019were among the fewexceptions.

Theoretically, there-fore, there are possibili-ties of both kinds. Intoday’s Assembly elec-tions, voters could exer-cise an electoral choicedifferent from how theyhad voted during the2019 Lok Sabha polls orthey could go the waythey did a few monthsback. The mood on theground in both statessuggests the verdictwould be in conformitywith the broadly estab-lished pattern. For,there is hardly any like-lihood of any of thesestates bucking the trend.The BJP seems to be on avery strong wicket andthe inability of theOpposition to put itshouse in order hasplayed its part.

While the popular voteshare of political partiesremains the most impor-tant indicator of themood of the voters, themovement of leaders

from one party to anoth-er (defection) is anothersign of which way thewind is blowing. Duringthe last couple of monthsin Haryana andMaharashtra, there wasmovement of 43 politicalleaders from one partyto another. Of these,there were 19 leaders ofthe Congress Party (ninein Haryana, 10 inMaharashtra) who lefttheir parent party to joinother parties, mainly theBJP. The BJP itself didnot suffer on thisaccount but welcomed 31leaders during the lastfew months.

There was also an exo-dus from the NCP; as thecount suggests, 11 NCPleaders left the party ofwhom five joined theShiv Sena and sixswitched over to theBJP. Charanjeet SinghRori is the only leader tohave joined the Cong-ress, leaving his parentparty, the Indian Nat-ional Lok Dal (INLD) inHaryana. These defec-tions do suggest that theCongress, which beganon a weak wicket whenelections were announ-ced, kept slipping andinstead of consolidatingits position seems tohave lost more ground tothe BJP during the lasttwo-three weeks of theelection campaign.

Even if we treat thesedefections as politics ofopportunism andbelieve that this does notdepict the right picture,the past performances ofthe political parties alsofavour the BJP. Duringthe 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tions, the BJP registereda stunning victory inboth Maharashtra andHaryana. The BJP inalliance with Shiv Senapolled more than 51 percent votes and won 41Lok Sabha seats inMaharashtra. InHaryana, it polled 58 percent votes and won all

the 10 Lok Sabha seats. Ifseen in terms ofAssembly segments inMaharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine ledin 225 of the 288Assembly constituen-cies, while in Haryana itled in 79 Assembly seats,the Congress being vir-tually decimated - it ledonly in 22 Assemblyseats in Maharashtra,while its alliance part-ner NCP led in 23Assembly seats. Thestory of the Congress inHaryana remained thesame, with the partyleading only in 10Assembly seats in the2019 Lok Sabha elec-tions.

The ground reportssuggest though somesections of the popula-tion share some con-cerns about growingunemployment, ruraldistress and the agricul-tural crisis, the popularmood has not changedsignificantly. The issuesof national identity,national pride and theabrogation of Article 370by the Narendra Modigovernment have over-shadowed local issues.These are likely to loomlarge on the minds of thevoters when they casttheir vote today. Therewere concerns aboutunemployment, jobless-ness, farmer distressand rural distress evenduring the 2019 LokSabha elections, but thenational issue of thatmoment — the Pulwamaterror attack and theBalakot air strikes —overshadowed them.While these issues wereoften referred to as the“real issues of liveli-hood” during cam-paigns, a sizeable sec-tion voted on the“national issue”. Whathave also strengthened

the position of the BJP isthe popularity of PrimeMinister Modi and theabsence of any credibleface among theOpposition parties. TheCongress, which is themain Opposition in boththese states, looks veryweak when voters com-pare the two parties onthe parameters of itsleadership. PrimeMinister Modi has beena vote catcher for theBJP and it should notsurprise us if large num-bers of people in thesetwo states vote for theBJP solely in his name.

Though voters havenot always voted in theAssembly elections thesame way that they voteduring the Lok Sabhaelections even if heldafter a short interval,they exercise differentvoting choices only ifthere is a viable alterna-tive as was the case inBihar (Mahagatth-bandhan in 2015), Delhi(the Aam Aadmi Partyunder Arvind Kejriwal)and most recently inOdisha (NaveenPatnaik’s BJD). TheCongress, which per-formed badly both inHaryana and Maharash-tra during the 2014Assembly elections andin the most recent 2019Lok Sabha elections, hasfailed to show any signof revival. On the con-trary, it has got furtherweakened by rebellionsand defections fromwithin the party. Forme, it is difficult to imag-ine that the Congresswas ever in a winningposition in today’s elec-tion, but a unitedCongress could havegone down fightingbravely and won seats insome pockets with Dalitand Jat predominancein Haryana andMaratha, Muslim andDalit combinations inMaharashtra. Today’spolitical reality is at agreat distance from thatscenario.

The writer is a professor and currently

director of the Centrefor the Study of

Developing Societies. The views expressed

are personal.

Though some sections of the

population sharesome concernsabout growing

unemployment,rural distress and

the agricultural crisis, the moodhas not changed

significantly

TASK CUT OUTINDIA RANKS 102 in the 2019 GlobalHunger Index, behind China (25), SriLanka (66), Myanmar (69), Nepal (73),Bangladesh (88) and Pakistan (94).Hunger is stunting our futurecitizens. Instead of engaging inname-changing and statue-buildinggames, shouldn’t the governmentfocus on improving food distributionand taking care of the farmer?

Sujit DeKolkata

NEW BCCI ERASOURAV GANGULY, a thorough-bred cricketer, becoming the BCCIhead is a good augury. In spite of theSupreme Court’s directive to makeits balancesheet and accounts public,that has not been done. The BCCI is avery vindictive body. It exactsvendetta on cricketers who don’tdance to its tune. It is fervently hopedthings will change for the better.

ShanmugamPune

LETTERSYES, MINISTERThanks to a Union minis-ter, we have at last gotenlightened about the“fact” that there is noneed for us to give cre-dence to what Nobel lau-reate Abhijit Banerjeethinks because the peopleof India have alreadyrejected Nyay — thepoverty alleviationscheme promised by theCongress. So at last wehave come to know thatthe 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion was nothing but areferendum on Nyay! Andjust because the Congressgot vanquished in thepolls, we can confidentlyconclude how bankruptthe economic thought ofMr Banerjee is! Also, howignorant is the SwedishAcademy for giving acoveted internationalprize to this “worthless”economist, honouring hisobsolete “Left” ideology.Of course, to ensure theeconomic growth of all,we must all sell pakodas.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

`500 for the best letter of theweek goes to Srishti Mathur

(October 15). Email: letters@asianage.com

Subhani

Sanjay Kumar

Anita Katyal Political Gup-Shup

PAGE

7OpedMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

PESCETARIAN BOOM CARWord SPY

A person who supplements a vegetarian diet with fish

A car equipped with an extremely powerful stereo systembeing played with the volume and bass levels turned up

After the Uri ter-rorist attack,Prime MinisterNarendra Modihad said:“Blood andwater cannot

flow together.” By implication,he was suggesting that Indiacould retaliate by turning offthe spigot of the three westernrivers of the Indus basin thatflow unhindered into Pakistanand sustain most of its agricul-ture. Now, possibly havingrealised that the western riverwaters can’t be stopped, MrModi, while campaigning inHaryana, raised the questionof the water of the easternrivers flowing into Pakistan.The truth is that the flow ofblood can be stopped, but waterwill continue to flow.

The Indus river system has atotal drainage area of over11,165,000 sq. km. Its estimatedannual flow stands at around207 km3, making it the 21stlargest river in the world interms of annual flow. It is alsoPakistan’s sole means of suste-nance. The British had con-

structed a complex canal sys-tem to irrigate the Punjabregion of Pakistan. Partitionleft a large part of this infra-structure in Pakistan, but theheadwork dams remained inIndia, fuelling much insecurityamong the Punjabi landown-ing elite in that country. TheWorld Bank brokered theIndus Water Treaty (IWT)between India and Pakistanafter many years of intensenegotiations to allocate thewaters of the Indus river basin.Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru and President AyubKhan signed the treaty inKarachi on September 19, 1960.

Under the IWT, control overthe three “eastern” rivers —the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej —was given to India, while con-trol over the three “western”rivers — the Indus, Chenaband Jhelum — to Pakistan.Since Pakistan’s three riversflow through India first, thetreaty allowed India to usethem for irrigation, transportand power generation, whilelaying down precise regula-tions for Indian building pro-

jects along the way. Since theratification of the treaty in1960, India and Pakistan havefought three wars, but the flowof water as per the treaty wasnot hampered even for a singleday.

The three eastern rivers allo-cated to India by the IWT arethe Beas, Ravi and Sutlej.These waters sustain agricul-ture in Punjab and to someextent Haryana, and are sub-stantially used. What entersPakistan is usually just enoughto keep the stream flushed. Butnevertheless, Pakistan hasfrom time to time blamed Indiafor its floods, saying these arecaused by the sudden anddeliberate release of storagegates. Despite this, the IWTworked exceedingly well forboth countries, and both areloathe disturbing it. Evenwhen India and Pakistan wentto war in 1965, 1971 and overKargil in 1999, the watersflowed without interruption.The fact is that the IWT worksbecause it suits both countriesby making a virtue of theirgeography.

Prime Minister NarendraModi rode to power promisingto deter Pakistani-origin ter-rorism in India by threateningretribution, and is now hardpressed to deliver. The terror-ist attacks continue, even with-out Article 370. Mr Modi is dis-covering that there is a wide,yawning gap between promiseand reality. The Modi govern-

ment is flailing for options,short of the use of the militaryoption. After the Uri incident,Mr Modi threatened to with-draw from the IWT. Nothinghappened. Instead, Pulwamahappened. Even the raid onBalakot has not had quite theeffect on Pakistan as most ofhis followers claim it did.

Now campaigning inHaryana, Mr Modi has onceagain begun to somewhatobliquely raise the issue of theIndus waters. He now tellsHaryana’s farmers we are giv-ing away much of the Ravi,Sutlej and Beas waters toPakistan. This is just not true.Out of 33 million acre-feet(MAF) that is by right India’s,only about two MAF utilisablefrom the Ravi and Beas flowsinto Pakistan. Yet Mr Modithreatens Pakistan, saying:“The water which belongs toIndia was allowed to flow toPakistan for 70 years… Thiswill not happen now. We will

divert the water which belongsto India, it will be given to thefarmers of Haryana, and watershould be given to the farmersof Rajasthan.” But the mainreason why Haryana,Rajasthan and even Delhi arebeing denied the Indus basinwaters is because Punjabrefuses to permit the comple-tion of the Sutlej-Yamuna LinkCanal (SYL) from just belowthe Nangal Dam to join theYamuna canal near Karnal inHaryana.

Of the three western rivers“given” to Pakistan, the Indus,which debouches from Indianterritory near Kargil, thenflows entirely in Pakistan-con-trolled territory. The Jhelumoriginates near Verinag nearAnantnag and meanders forover 200 km in the KashmirValley before it entersPakistan-occupied Kashmir.After flowing throughSrinagar, it fills up the WularLake and then traverses pastBaramulla and Uri. The hydelprojects constructed on it sup-ply most of the electricity tothe Valley.

The Chenab, also known asthe Chandrabhaga, originatesin Lahaul Spiti in HimachalPradesh and flows through theJammu region into the plainsof Pakistan’s Punjab. Thecatchment area of the Chenabis elongated and narrow. Thecatchment area of the Chenabis mostly in India. But theChenab runs through deep val-

leys and the river drops by asmuch as 24 meters per km,imposing physical constraintsand huge economic costs onharnessing it.

Besides, as Dr Shakil AhmadRomshoo, head of earth sci-ences at the geology and geo-physics department of theUniversity of Kashmir, recent-ly put it: “Let us assume westop the water supply for thesake of argument. Wherewould the water go? We do nothave the infrastructure tostore this water. We have notbuilt dams in J&K where wecan store the water. And beinga mountainous state, unlikeTamil Nadu or Karnataka, youcannot move the water toanother state. So, you cannotstop the water technically.”

But even if it can be done, cli-mate change is upon us withsevere implicit consequencesfor both countries, but mostlyfor Pakistan. The Indus riverbasin is fed mostly by meltingglaciers, unlike the Ganga andthe Brahmaputra basins,which are fed mostly by themonsoons. Since climatechange is now affecting theHimalayan glaciers, the waterpatterns in the Indus riverbasin are already showingchanges. This is why Pakistanconstantly keeps up a drum-beat of false charges about thenon-adherence to the IWT byIndia.

Widely referenced estimatesindicate a troubling long-term

trend for the flow of the Indusriver basin. River water pro-vides 80 per cent of all irriga-tion water for Pakistan’s criti-cal agriculture sector. Thesewater sources are already neartheir limits, with most waterdiverted to northern Pakis-tan’s agricultural regions atthe expense of the south. Infact, so much water is divertedfrom the Indus before it reach-es the ocean that seawater hasinvaded the river channelmiles inland.

Based on current projections,the Indus river system isexpected to fall below 2000 flowlevels between 2030 and 2050.The drop-off is estimated to bemost serious between 2030 and2040, with a new equilibriumflow of 20 per cent below that of2000, reached after 2060.

Not only is Pakistan runningout of water, it seems to besoon running out of time aswell. As its founding father-poet Allama Iqbal wrote:“Watan Ki Fikar Kar Nadan!Musibat Ane Wali Hai/TeriBarbadiyon Ke MashwareHain Asmanon Mein. (Think ofthe homeland, O ignorant one!Hard times are coming/Conspiracies for your destruc-tion are afoot in the heavens.)”

The writer, a policy analyststudying economic and securi-ty issues, held senior positions

in government and industry.He also specialises in the

Chinese economy.

Accept it or not, much of theattraction of a festivaldepends on the irresistibledelicacies you are going to

binge on. All the fun and excitementwill be gone if you are put on a caloriediet during the festivity. And the real fun of binging is when you don’thave to think about what you are eat-ing, right?

Wrong! Actually you can have realfun when you are eating with aware-ness. Indian ayurveda and yoga havegiven tremendous importance to eat-ing — it was called a sacrifice, a havanto the body. Eating is not only done

through the mouth, but it isalso a deeply sensuous wayof relating to a sort of lifeenergy called food. You maynot have thought about itbut you enjoy food throughall your senses. One-fourthof the food is eaten throughthe eyes, the other one-fourth is enjoyed throughthe smell, and the remaining is rel-ished through the taste. There is asort of meditation in tantra whichsays, “While tasting, the food becomesthe taste”. Do not just go on swallow-ing things. Taste them unhurriedlyand become the taste. When you feelsweetness, become that sweetness.And then it can be felt all over thebody — not just in the mouth, not juston the tongue — it can be felt all overthe body, spreading its ripples!

With no taste, your senses will bedeadened. They will become less andless perceptive. And with less sensi-tivity, you will not be able to feel yourbody, your feelings. The food reaches

every cell, at different lev-els of your being and cre-ates life. Without sensitiv-ity, you will remain inyour head and will be dis-connected from your body.Tantra says, do not createany division within your-self. It is beautiful to taste;it is beautiful to be sensi-

tive. And if you are more sensitiveyou will be more alive, and if you aremore alive, then more life will enteryour inner being.

So, what you eat is importantenough but how you eat it is equallyimportant. Dieticians can give you avery healthy diet but you are the onewho is going to absorb it and assimi-late it all over the body. It is your bodythat is going to digest and send it to every cell and build up your sensitivity.

This is why Osho says: I don’t teachyou dieting; I teach you only aware-ness. Eat with full awareness, eatmeditatively, and then you will never

eat more, and you will never eat less.More is as bad as less. Too much eat-ing is bad, just like too much fasting;these are extremes. Nature wants youto be balanced, to be in a sort of equi-librium, to be in the middle, neitherless nor more. Don’t go to the extreme.

To go to the extreme is to be neurot-ic. There are two types of neuroticsabout food: those who go on eating,not listening to the body — the bodygoes on crying and screaming, “Stop!”and they go on eating. These are neu-rotic people. Then there is the othervariety: the body goes on screaming,“I am hungry!” and they are on a fast.

A religious person is one who is bal-anced: in whatsoever he is doing, he isalways in the middle. He never goes tothe extreme because all extremes willcreate tensions, anxieties.

Amrit Sadhana is editor of OshoTimes International. She facilitates

meditation workshops based on Osho insights around the country

and abroad.

On feasting and fasting: Eating with awareness

Threat to turn off water to Pakistan is unworkable

Fans of the iconic‘Peanuts’ cartoon stripwill recall how timeafter time, Lucy per-

suades the hapless CharlieBrown to kick the football sheis steadying with a finger.

When Charlie Brown asksfor an assurance, he receives apromise that she won’t pull theball away this time. He thencomes running in, and ofcourse, Lucy pulls the ballaway at the last instant, leav-ing Charlie sprawling on hisback. It never changes, and yethe never loses his innocence,just as Lucy never loses hermean streak.

This is what has been hap-pening to the Kurds over hun-dreds of years. According to anold Kurdish saying, the moun-tains are the Kurds’ onlyfriends. Although they are theworld’s largest ethnic groupwithout a state, they have beenused and abused time andagain by cynical regionalcountries, as well as by globalpowers. Today, there are any-where between 20 million and40m Kurds, depending onwhose figures you trust. At15m, they constitute around 18per cent of the Turkish popula-tion. There are also about 8min Iran; 2m in Syria, and 5m inIraq. Sadly, they have beenunable to unite and present ajoint front.

For decades, it was a crime tobroadcast in Kurdish inTurkey, or use other expres-sions of identity like singing orpublishing works written inKurdish. This pushed theKurds into demanding greaterautonomy, and when theTurkish state responded withviolence, the conflict escalatedinto a full-blown civil war.Spearheading this fight wasthe PKK, or the KurdishWorkers’ Party, a secular, left-wing group that espousedindependence.

To his credit, Erdogan, theTurkish president, lifted theban on many of the draconianbans on the display of Kurdishidentity. Schools can nowteach in Kurdish, and Kurdscan take part in elections.However, this thaw endedwhen terrorist attacks inTurkey took scores of lives.Although the PKK deniedresponsibility, Erdogan un-leashed a fierce anti-Kurdcampaign in south-easternTurkey that has levelledentire city blocks and killedthousands.

The YPG, or Peoples’Protection Units, is a Syriangroup close to the PKK’s ideol-ogy. Women have foughtshoulder to shoulder with menin the war against the militantIslamic State (IS) group, and

have won the admiration ofmany around the world fortheir courage and skill.

For the Americans, the YPGwere a godsend, as no otherregional force was willing totake on the bloodthirstyjihadists of the IS. Writing acheque in Riyadh is one thing;risking life and limb in thedesert quite another. In anycase, the fighting capabilitiesof the Saudi army have beenthoroughly exposed in the waragainst the Houthis in Yemen.

Nor did the Americans wishto send more troops to Syriaand risk vote-losing casualties.But with American air andartillery support, the YPGdefeated the IS in a series ofbloody battles. Trump couldthus declare victory, and pullout the small number of troopswho served as a trip-wire toprevent Turkish attacks on theKurds. But after they hadserved American interests,Trump has abruptly stabbedhis Kurdish allies in the back,continuing a long and dishon-ourable tradition.

Over the last century,America has betrayed theKurds exactly eight times, soTrump’s latest (and ninth) actof treachery should not sur-prise us, or the Kurds. Whenthe Ottoman Empire collapsedafter its defeat in the FirstWorld War, Kurds who hadlived for centuries underIstanbul’s yoke thought theirtime had come. But despiteearlier promises, they werebetrayed by the Americans,and denied statehood underthe Treaty of Lausanne of 1923that redrew regional maps toreflect the carve-up of theOttoman Empire.

After the Second World War,the Americans armed theKurds to bleed the governmentof Abdul Karim Kassem.However, when the (initially)pro-West Saddam Husseinstaged a coup, arms to theKurds were abruptly halted.The next chapter in betrayalcame when the Iraqi Kurdswere armed by Nixon againstSaddam at the behest of theShah of Iran, but were aban-doned to the tender mercies ofthe murderous Iraqi dictatorfollowing the revolution inIran. When he was asked toexplain this act of treachery,Kissinger cynically replied:“One should not confusecovert acts with missionarywork.” When Saddam usedpoison gas to massacre thou-sands of Kurds, an Americanreporter handed in a storyabout the incident, his editorasked: “Who will care?”

When the elder Bush haltedthe American advance duringthe first Gulf War, he encour-aged Iraqis to fight Saddam.But when the Shias in thesouth and the Kurds in thenorth did rise up, they werebutchered by the dictator with-out the Americans lifting a fin-ger to help.

The litany of betrayal goes on.

By arrangement with Dawn

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi rode topower promising todeter Pakistani-originterrorism in India bythreatening retribution,and is now hardpressed to deliver. Theterrorist attacks con-tinue, even withoutArticle 370.

AmritSadhana

Mohan Guruswamy

IrfanHusain

US act of treacheryshouldn’t surprise

Kurds, given the past

PAGE

8WorldMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Popular PresidentJoko Widodo is sworn in as Indonesian President for a 2nd term in office in Jakarta

Pakistan will achieve all

FATF targets on time

— Shah Mahmood QureshiPakistan foreign minister

IN BRIEF

HILLARY DRAWSFLAK FOR

JIBE AT TULSIWashington, Oct. 20: HillaryClinton has gone crazy, USPresident Donald Trump hassaid as he slammed the formersecretary of state for callingDemocratic presidential aspi-rant Tulsi Gabbard and for-mer Green Party candidate JillStein as Russian assets.

During a podcast interview,Clinton said Russia hadgroomed Stein to be a spoilerthird-party candidate in 2016and implied that the Kremlinis doing the same withGabbard in order to take votesaway from the 2020 Democraticticket and secure Trump’sreelection.

“Hillary’s gone Crazy!Trump said in a tweet onSaturday night.

“So now Crooked Hillary isat it again! She is callingCongresswoman TulsiGabbard ‘a Russian favorite’,and Jill Stein ‘a Russian asset’.As you may have heard, I wascalled a big Russia lover also(actually, I do like Russian peo-ple. I like all people!), he said.

Gabbard, 38, the first Hindumember of the US Congress,declared her presidential bidlast year. She is a favouriteamong Indian-Americans.

Gabbard, a fourth-termDemocratic Congresswomanfrom Hawaii, fired back atClinton. “Great! Thank you@HillaryClinton. You, thequeen of warmongers, embod-iment of corruption, and per-sonification of the rot that hassickened the Democratic Partyfor so long, have finally comeout from behind the curtain.”

Cox’s Bazar, Oct. 20:Thousands of Rohingyaliving in Bangladeshrefugee camps have agreedto move to an island in theBay of Bengal, officialssaid on Sunday, despitefears the site is prone toflooding.

Dhaka has long wantedto move 1,00,000 refugeesto the muddy silt islet, say-ing it would take pressureoff the overcrowded bor-der camps where almost amillion Rohingya live.

Some 7,40,000 Rohingyafled Myanmar in August2017 in the face of a mili-

tary crackdown, joining2,00,000 refugees alreadyin makeshift tent settle-ments at Cox’s Bazar.

Bangladesh’s refugeecommissioner, MahbubAlam, said officials over-seeing the relocationwould be posted toBhashan Char island inthe next few days.

“Approximately 6,000-7,000 refugees have alreadyexpressed their willing-ness to be relocated toBhashan Char,” Alam toldAFP from Cox’s Bazar,adding that “the number isrising”.

He did not say when therefugees would be moved,but a senior Navy officer

involved in building facili-ties on the island said itcould start by December,

with some 500 refugeessent daily.

Bangladesh had beenplanning since last year torelocate Rohingya to thedesolate flood-prone site,which is an hour by boatfrom the mainland.

Rights groups havewarned the island, whichemerged from the sea onlyabout two decades ago,might not be able to with-stand violent storms dur-ing the annual monsoonseason.

In the past half a century,powerful cyclones havekilled hundreds of thou-

sands of people in theMeghna river estuarywhere the island is locat-ed.

Rohingya leaders wouldbe taken to Bhashan Charto view the facilities andliving conditions, Alamsaid.

Safety facilities built onthe island include a nine-feet high embankmentalong its perimeter to keepout tidal surges duringcyclones, and a warehouseto store months-worth ofrations, he added.

Rohingya father-of-fourNur Hossain, 50, said he

and his family agreed torelocate to Bhashan Charafter they were shownvideo footage of the shel-ters.

“I have agreed to go. Thecamp here (at Leda) is veryovercrowded. There arefood and housing prob-lems,” the 50-year-old toldAFP.

There was no immediatecomment from the UN,although Bangladeshi offi-cials said they expect a del-egation would visit theisland in the next fewweeks.

— AFP

Boris sends unsignedletter for Brexit delayLondon, Oct. 20: BritishPrime Minister BorisJohnson reluctantlywrote to Brussels lateSaturday asking for aBrexit extension afterMPs voted to force himinto seeking a delaybeyond October 31.

But Johnson, who haspinned his premiershipon getting Britain out ofthe European Union ontime, refused to sign theletter he sent to EuropeanCouncil President DonaldTusk.

The Conservative leaderalso sent a second signedletter insisting he was notseeking an extension tothe Brexit deadline, whichhas already been post-poned twice.

In a day of high dramain the House ofCommons, MPs declinedto give their backing tothe revised withdrawalagreement Johnsonstruck with the EU thisweek until the legislationneeded to ratify it haspassed.

Having failed to back adivorce deal, they trig-gered a law requiringJohnson to write to EUleaders by the end of theday asking to delayBrexit, to avoid the riskthat Britain crashes out inless than a fortnight.

Johnson sent a photo-copy of the letter that wascontained in the law

requiring him to ask forthe delay, but did not signit, showed a copy releasedby his Downing Streetoffice. “Regrettably, par-liament missed the oppor-tunity to inject momen-tum into the ratificationprocess,” Johnson wrotein the signed letter,regretting that EU lead-ers would now have tospend yet more time onBrexit.

He expressed “confi-dent” of completing theratification process byOctober 31.

— AFP

G7 SUMMIT NOTAT MY RESORT,SAYS TRUMPWashington, Oct. 20: USPresident DonaldTrump said the next G7summit will not be atone of his own Floridagolf clubs, reversing adecision that hadsparked corruptionaccusations.

Acting White HouseChief of Staff MickMulvaney had revealedthe venue for the sum-mit, causing a firestormamong Trump’sDemocratic opponentsin Congress, who calledthe move “among themost brazen examplesyet of the president’scorruption.”

“Based on both Media& Democrat Crazed andIrrational Hostility, wewill no longer considerTrump National Doral,Miami, as the Host Sitefor the G-7 in 2020,” hetweeted. “We will beginthe search for anothersite, including the possi-bility of Camp David,immediately.” Mulvaneyhad said in hisannouncement that thesouth Florida venue was“the best place” among adozen US locations con-sidered for the June 10-12 gathering next year.

Critics, including ethiccampaigners, said hold-ing the event at Doralwould violate both theforeign and domesticemoluments clauses thatare designed to shield aUS leader from outsideinfluence.

“He is exploiting hisoffice and making offi-cial US governmentdecisions for his person-al financial gain,” JerryNadler, the chairman ofthe powerful HouseJudiciary Committee,said. Even before theDoral announcement,lawmakers were probingTrump’s suggestion atthe G7 in France that thenext one could be at oneof his resorts. — AFP

Syria govt forces must leaveborder areas, says Erdogan

■ Turkish Prez mulls resettlement of 2 million refugees

Istanbul, Oct. 20: TurkishPresident Recep TayyipErdogan wants Syriangovernment forces to moveout of areas near theTurkish border so he canresettle up to 2 millionrefugees there, hisspokesman told TheAssociated Press onSaturday.

The request will topErdogan’s talks next weekwith Syria’s ally, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin.

Arrangements along theSyrian-Turkish borderwere thrown into disarrayafter the US pulled itstroops out of the area,opening the door toTurkey’s invasion aimingto drive out Kurdish-ledfighters it considers ter-rorists.

Abandoned by theirAmerican allies, theKurds, with Russia’s medi-ation, invited Damascus tosend troops into northeast-ern Syria as protectionfrom Turkish forces. Thathas complicated Turkey’splan to create a “safe zone”along the border, where itcan resettle Syrianrefugees now in Turkey.

Erdogan’s spokesman,Ibrahim Kalin, saidAnkara does not wanteither Syrian forces orKurdish fighters in theborder area because

refugees would not go backto areas under their con-trol. Turkey has said itwants to oversee that area.“This is one of the topicsthat we will discuss with

the Russians, because,again, we are not going toforce any refugees to go toanywhere they don’t wantto go,” he said. “We want tocreate conditions that will

be suitable for them toreturn where they will feelsafe.” Turkey has taken inabout 3.6 million Syriansfleeing the conflict in theirhomeland. — AP

Rights groups have warned the island might not be able to withstand violent stormsDESPERATE | MOVE

US troops leave Syria, tofight IS from Western Iraq London, Oct. 20: EU lead-

ers were on Sunday con-sidering a request byPrime Minister BorisJohnson to delayBritain’s departure fromthe bloc, which he wasforced to make after MPsrefused to back his Brexitdeal.

Tusk said he wouldbegin consulting EU lead-ers “on how to react” — aprocess one diplomat saidcould take a few days.

Johnson has alreadyspoken to the leaders ofFrance, Germany and theNetherlands to press hiscase — and Paris warnedthat a Brexit delay was“in nobody’s interest”.

Johnson’s governmentis seeking a new vote onits deal on Monday,although this may fallfoul of parliamentaryprocedure.

If it introduces thetreaty implementationbill on Monday, however,MPs could be called tovote as early as Tuesday.

Johnson wrote to Tuskthat he was “confident”he could get it throughbefore the of the month.

— AFP

EU CONSIDERINGJOHNSON’SRELUCTANT PLEA

Rohingya agree to move to Bangla flood-prone region

Washington, Oct. 20:Defense Secretary MarkEsper says that under thecurrent plan all UStroops leaving Syria willgo to western Iraq andthe military will contin-ue to conduct operationsagainst the Islamic Stategroup to prevent itsresurgence.

Esper did not rule outthe idea that US forceswould conduct countert-errorism missions fromIraq into Syria. But hesaid those details will beworked out over time.

His comments were thefirst to specifically layout where Americantroops will go as theyleave Syria and what thecounter-IS fight couldlook like. Esper said hehas spoken to his Iraqi

counterpart about theplan to shift the morethan 700 troops leavingSyria into western Iraq.

The developmentsmade clear that one ofPresident DonaldTrump’s rationales forwithdrawing troops fromSyria was not going tocome to pass any time

soon. “It’s time to bringour soldiers back home,”he said. But they are notcoming home.

As Esper leftWashington, US troopswere continuing to pullout of northern Syriaafter Turkey’s invasioninto the border region.Sporadic clashes contin-ued between Turkish-backed fighters and theUS-allied Syria Kurdishforces despite a five-daycease-fire deal betweenUS and Turkish leaders.

Trump ordered thebulk of the approximate-ly 1,000 US troops inSyria to withdraw afterTurkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan made itclear in a phone call thathis forces were about toinvade Syria. — AP

Mark Esper

REGRETTABLY,Parliament

missed the opportunityto inject momentuminto the ratificationprocess

BORIS JOHNSON, British Prime Minister

● CHILE

1. Chile: A burnt metro station and train after protests inSantiago over hike in price of metro tickets. — AFP

2. Barcelona: Protesters stage a street protest inBarcelona, after nearly 200 people were hurt in anothernight of violent clashes in Catalonia. — AFP

3. Hong Kong: Protesters attack a man who was trying tostop them for vandalizing near the Tsim She Tsui policestation during a rally on Sunday. — AP

Protesters vent fury amid vandalism

● BARCELONA ● HONG KONG

■ ■ CURRENTLY, more than a lakh

Rohingya refugeeslive at the over-

crowded border camps

■ ■ SOME 7,40,000Rohingya fledMyanmar in August2017 in the face of a military crackdown

■ ■ BANGLADESH had been planning to relo-cate Rohingya to the desolate flood-prone site

which is an hour by boat from the mainland

Qantas completes longest flight

Sydney: Australia’s Qantason Sunday completed thefirst non-stop commercial

flight from New York toSydney, which was used to

run a series of tests to assessthe effects of ultra long-haul

flights on crew fatigue andpassenger jetlag. The Boeing

787 Dreamliner toucheddown in Sydney after a flight

of 19 hours and 16 minutes,the world’s longest.

Qantas said tests rangedfrom monitoring pilot brainwaves, melatonin levels andalertness to exercise classes

for passengers. A total of 49people were on board, in

order to minimize weight.“Overall, we’re really happy

with how the flight went andit’s great to have some ofthe data we need to helpassess turning this into a

regular service,” said Capt.Sean Golding, who led the

four pilots.

Toronto: Polls show Trudeaucould lose to his

Conservative Party rival innational elections on

Monday or fail to win amajority of seats in

Parliament and have to relyon an opposition party to

remain in power. Not since1935 has a first-term

Canadian prime ministerwith a parliamentary majori-ty lost a bid for re-election.

A combination of scandaland high expectations has

damaged his prospects.Trudeau’s opponent, AndrewScheer, is a career politician

described by those in hisown party as bland, a possi-ble antidote for those tiredof Trudeau’s flash. Scheer,

40, is promising to scrap thenational carbon tax and cut

government spending,including foreign aid, by 25

per cent.

3 DEAD IN CHILE PROTESTVIOLENCESantiago, Oct. 20: Threepeople died in a fire at asupermarket being ran-sacked in the Chileancapital early Sunday, asprotests sparked byanger over social andeconomic conditionsrocked one of LatinAmerica’s most stablecountries.

Santiago’s MayorKarla Rubilar toldreporters two peopleburned to death in theblaze and another laterdied in hospital, afterthe huge store controlledby US retail chainWalmart was looted.

They were the firstdeaths in two days ofviolent unrest in whichprotesters have set buseson fire, burned metrostations and clashedwith riot police in thecity of seven million,despite a curfewimposed overnight.

Soldiers were deployedin the streets for the firsttime since Chilereturned to democracyin 1990. The protestswere triggered by anunpopular hike in metrofares, which PresidentSebastian Pinera latersuspended followingriot-like situation.

Pinera appealed to peo-ple taking to the streets,saying “there are goodreasons to do so,” butcalling on them “todemonstrate peacefully.”Pinera acknowledgedthat those in the streetshad “good reasons” toprotest but called onthem “to demonstratepeacefully” Nobody hasthe right to act with bru-tal criminal violence, hesaid. Dozens of protest-ers torched a buildingbelonging to Chile’s old-est newspaper ElMercurio in Valparaiso,while elsewhere in theport city a metro station,supermarkets and otherstores were burned.

— AFP

Trudeau couldlose Canada polls

MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

■ Estimates show by 2024 India will be No. 2 after China

ALEXANDRE TANZIOCT. 20

The global economy,weighed down by tensionsthat have stalled interna-tional trade and elevateduncertainty, is expected tosee slower growth in thenext half decade across awide swathe of economies.

China’s growth rate isexpected to continue toslow, and will be a smallerdriver to global GDP growth in the near term.China’s share of globalGDP growth is expected tofall from 32.7 per cent in2018-2019 to 28.3 per centby 2024 — a relativelysteep 4.4 percentage pointreduction.

Weaker global growth—expected to fall to 3 percent this year and theslowest since the globalfinancial crisis—willaffect 90 per cent of theworld, according to esti-mates released by theInternational MonetaryFund.

Which economies are thekey players now and wherewill global growth comefrom in five years?Bloomberg used Internati-onal Monetary Fund proje-ctions, adjusted for purch-asing power parity, to iden-tify these growth engines.

The US, while still expect-ed to contribute a sizeable

portion to world growth, isprojected to fall to thirdplace, after India. Ameri-ca’s share of global growth

is expected to slip from 13.8per cent to 9.2 per cent by2024, while India’s share isprojected to rise to 15.5 percent and eclipse the USover this five-year period.

Indonesia will remain inthe fourth spot as its econ-omy is expected to have a3.7 per cent growth sharein 2024, a slight downwardadjustment from 3.9 percent in 2019.

The UK will see its impor-tance wane amid Brexit asits economy drops fromninth as a share of worldgrowth in 2019, to 13th.

Although world GDP gro-wth attributable to Russiais at 2 per cent now andexpected to stay there in fi-ve years, the country is lik-ely to displace Japan as thenumber five growth contr-ibutor. Japan will fall to theninth spot by 2024. Brazil isprojected to move up fromNo. 11 to No. 6. Germany’sshare of growth is expectedto remain at 1.6 per centand 7th on the list.

The IMF said new growthengines among the top 20countries in five years willinclude Turkey, Mexico,Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,while Spain, Poland,Canada and Vietnam dropout of the first 20.

— Bloomberg

New Delhi, Oct. 20: TheState Bank of India(SBI) will conduct an e-auction of 11 bad loanaccounts on November 7to recover dues of Rs466.49 crore.

In terms of the bank’srevised policy on sale offinancial assets, in linewith the regulatoryguidelines, the bankwill place 11 accountsfor sale to ARCs/banks/NBFCs and FIs,SBI said in an auctionnotice. The bank saidthe financial assetswere showcased onOctober 12 and the e-auction will take placeon November 7.

The major non-per-forming asset (NPA)accounts to be auctionedinclude Bhatia GlobalTradin, which has anoutstanding of Rs 177.02crore on the bank,Bhatia Coke & Energy(Rs 104.15 crore), BhatiaCoal Washeries (Rs 12.58crore) and AsianNatural Resources(India) (Rs 2.18 crore).

Maharastra Steels (Rs 40.51 crore), AnshulSteel (Rs 37.70 crore) andVidhata Metals (Rs 36.98crore) are the otheraccounts to be auc-tioned.

—PTI

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, OCT. 20

Customary Diwali stockpick of brokerages thisyear reveal a preference forquality companies withsteady businesses and con-sumer focus. They havelargely overlooked IT,infra-focused, power,metal, telecom, healthcareand real estate companiesin their stock selection forthe next one year.

Various governmentmeasures to boost the econ-omy and consumption, asharp recovery in mon-soon with 10 per cent abovenormal rainfall, and lowerinterest rates have led tobrokerages focusing rela-tively more on consump-tion-focused companies.

Commenting on the stockselection, Dharmesh Kant,Head-Retail Research,India Nivesh, said, “In thepresent environment ofglobal trade wars, macro-economic uncertainty, andslowing domestic economy,we tried to discover invest-ment ideas that can notonly withstand this turbu-lence but will also likely befirst movers when the tideturns.”

“A stable government,aggressive policy reformsof far-reaching conse-quences, lower interestrate trajectory, good mon-soons, stable rupee andrange-bound crude oilprices are seeds for eco-nomic revival. We expect

the economy to be back ontrack from FY21 onwardsas benefits of the recenttax reforms will play outin full throttle,” Kantadded.

Sharekhan By BNPParibas, on its Diwali pick,said, “In troubled times, itis the quality companieswith a reputed manage-ment, strong balance sheetand healthy growth trendthat perform well. On theother hand, it is once againproven that chasingmomentum stocks couldbe quite a risky proposi-tion.”

So essentially it meanssticking to basics; invest inquality companies with a

healthy growth outlookand reasonable valuations.Moreover, building a port-folio is all about under-standing the macroeco-nomic conditions, accord-ing to Sharekhan.

Religare Broking said,“The Indian markets havewitnessed high volatilitysince last Diwali due to thecombination of both glob-al as well as domestic fac-tors and gained around 7per cent so far... going for-ward, various governmentmeasures, a sharp recov-ery in monsoon (10 percent above normal), andlower interest rates augurwell for the revival of con-sumption story in India.”

India set to overtake USin global growth share

State Bankto e-auction 11 accounts

ANANYA SENGUPTANEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The Railways has decidedto prune the RailwayBoard by 25 per cent, cut-ting down its strengthfrom 200 to 150 by trans-ferring director-level offi-cials and above to zonalrailways in a long pend-ing move to enhance effi-ciency, sources said onSunday.

The plan was first moot-ed in 2000 by the AtalBihari Vajpayee govern-ment, which recommend-ed right sizing of the apexdecision making body ofthe national transporter.

“Currently, there are 200officials in the Board. Itwill be reduced to 150with 50 officers of direc-tor and above level beingtransferred to the zonalrailways. This was longoverdue as it was felt thattoo many people weredoing similar jobs andsenior officials were need-ed in zones to increaseefficiency,” said a source.

The plan would beimplemented shortly, hesaid.

The move was part ofRailway Minister PiyushGoyal's 100-day agendaand a top priority forpresent Railway BoardChairman V. K. Yadav.

Restructuring of theRailway Board was alsorecommended by theBibek Debroy Committeeon Indian Railways in2015. The panel said in itsreport that the IndianRailways’ centralisedstructure and departmen-talisation was adverselyaffecting the railways'work culture and narrow-ing its approach to depart-ment-specific goals.

“It has always been seenthat the railways, includ-ing the Railway Board,was overstaffed. This wasadversely affecting theefficiency of the organisa-tion,” a senior officialsaid.

He added that there hadbeen no serious attemptsto review the exact num-ber of staff actuallyrequired by the railwaysfor efficient functioningas well as financial viabil-ity.

— PTI

Railway Boardto be prunedby 25% inright sizing

RITWIK MUKHERJEEKOLKATA, OCT. 20

The last cotton season(2018-19) was not a goodone for India. According toCotton Association ofIndia (CAI), cotton outputhad stood at 312 lakh bale,the lowest in the decade.The top slot, which Indiahad been holding in theglobal cotton market forlong, was also shaken upslightly. However, now, ifthings go right, India isexpected to regain its num-ber one position in globalcotton cultivation, goingby the latest United StatesDepartment of Agricul-ture (USDA) estimates. Forthe marketing year 2019-20,

USDA has projected India’scotton output to be 305 lakhbale (each 217.7 kg), whichworks out to 390 lakh Indiabale (each of 170 kg).

Indian farmers have alre-ady reportedly achieved arecord cotton-sowing of ov-er 125 lakh hectare and wi-th sufficient rainfall, thecountry’s cotton crop see-ms to be good especiallyduring September andmid-October. In fact, bysome other estimates, thiskharif season, India grewcotton on larger area at127.67 lakh hectare, about 6lakh hectare more thanlast year. And analysts arenow hopeful that Indiamay eventually experiencean increase of more than

20 per cent in cotton cropduring 2019-20, if there areno more damages to excessrainfall or diseases. Altho-ugh, cotton trade bodies in

the country are yet to comeout with their own cropestimate while, the first ad-vance estimate by Centrehas projected cotton cropin the country at 322.7 lakhbales.

Meanwhile, the USDAinternational outlook oncotton crop, suggested,

“Production in India isforecast at 30.5 millionbales, 15 per cent above2018-19, and the second hig-hest on record, as botharea and yield in 2019-20are expected higher.Harvested area in India isprojected at a record 12.9million hectares in 2019-20,as domestic prices andinternal support priceprospects favour cottonover competing crops. Therecent above-average mon-soon rainfall will likely pr-ovide an extended pickingseason, which is expectedto increase the yield to a 3-year high.”

On the pricing front, cot-ton prices in the domesticmarket has been weak. The

prices hovered at Rs 41,900per candy (each of 356 kg)of ginned cotton with 29mm variety, down from Rs 43,900 two months ago.International cotton pricesquoted at 60.83 cents perpound on ICE futures forDecember 2019. Analyststhink that cotton pricescontinued to reduce inAugust 2019, mainly due toa fall in internationalprices. The prices may fallfurther as global produc-tion is likely to be higherthan the demand growth,analysts are of the view.

Interestingly, the MSP ofcotton for the 2019-20 sea-son is Rs 5,550 per quintal,against Rs 5,450 in the pre-vious year.

USDA projects strong year for Indian cotton

APRAMEYA RAOMUMBAI, OCT. 20

Pitching Taiwan as a ‘natu-ral partner’ for India,Ambassador Chung-KwanTien, representative of theTaipei Economic andCultural Centre in India,has said that his country iseager to expand trade tieswith the Asia’s third-largest economy. Tienspoke to Aprameya Rao onthe sidelines of Smart Asia2019, a ‘smart city’ solu-tions expo, organised bythe Taiwan External TradeDevelopment Council(Taitra), with Ficci. EditedExcerpts:

■ Trade between the twocountries has crossed $7.5bn. Are we seeing a majorupswing in trade ties?Yes, bilateral ties betweenthe two countries have gotan impetus since 2014. I feelIndia became more pro-business. This gave ourcompanies the opportunityto do more business. Infact, my Indian friends toldme in 2014 that theTaiwanese should not missthe bus. We are now addingmore passengers to it!

■ Why is India an attrac-tive destination forTaiwanese businesses?India is one of the largestmarkets. It has a boomingmiddle class and a largely

young population. Moreimportantly, we value polit-ical stability, which is veryimportant for companiesinvesting in a country.

■ But experts argue thattrade volume betweenIndia and Taiwan is stillquite low.Firstly, India is not a veryfamiliar territory forTaiwanese businesses. Wetend to have a much deeperand closer trade relation-ship with Asean countries.These countries also haveChinese communitieswhich help our companies.These are missing in Indiaso it is a new territory.However, trade volumeshave increased six timessince 2000. In the future, itis only going to rise.

■ The New SouthboundPolicy aims to enhance tieswith countries in South-east Asia, South Asia and

Australasia. Where doesIndia stand in your policy?

As a strategically locatedcountry, India stands firstin our policy. Among thevarious benefits, India pro-vides our businesses witheast-west connectivity. Itallows our companies toexplore greener pasturesin the global market.

We can complement eachother. Taiwan’s expertisein hardware together withIndia’s software industrycan do a lot of good!

We are natural partners,since there are no borderissues or any seriousimbalance in the bilateraltrade. There is no maritimedispute or terror-relatedproblem between us.

■ An FTA has been in theoffing for some time. Butthere has been no majordevelopment though.An FTA-like deal will be amilestone in our trade ties.In the long-run, it will notonly improve product qual-ity and competitiveness inboth countries, but alsohelp create a level playingfield for our companies vis-à-vis Korea or Japan. ButIndian government hasgenerally been reluctant tosign FTAs. The govern-ment thinks signing themwill lead to a loss in rev-enue. I urge them to set upa task force and think ofthe long-term benefits.

Diwali pick: Brokers gofor quality, consumption

India, Taiwan naturalpartners: Envoy Tien

New Delhi, Oct. 20: E-com-merce giants Amazon andFlipkart have been askedto disclose names of topfive sellers on their plat-form, price list of goods ofpreferred vendors and thekind of support providedto sellers, according tosources.

The Department forPromotion of Industryand Internal Trade(DPIIT) in separate ques-tionnaires to these compa-nies have also asked themto share their capitalstructure, business modeland inventory manage-ment system.

These questions weresent to them after severalcomplaints were made tothe department by tradersbody CAIT that e-com-merce companies havebeen violating the foreigndirect investment policy ingarb of mega festive sales.

E-mail queries sent toAmazon and Flipkart onthe matter did not elicitany response.

The Confederation of AllIndia Traders (CAIT) havetime and again allegedthat these companies fol-low unethical practices byindulging in predatorypricing.

The DPIIT has held sev-eral meetings separatelywith these companies andCAIT members.

Commerce and Industry

Minister Piyush Goyalhas stated that a probe ison with regard to allega-tions of predatory pricingagainst Wal-Mart-ownedFlipkart and Amazon.

The detailed question-naire sent to these compa-nies also includes queriesregarding total number ofsellers listed on their plat-forms; list and share ofcontrolled and uncon-trolled sellers; distributorand retailer price list forpreferred/controlled ven-dors and proportion oftotal sales from top fivesellers.

They have also beenasked to share detailsabout association withpayment gateways,sources said.

As per the current FDIpolicy, the governmentpermits 100 per cent FDIin the marketplace modelof e-commerce but not ininventory based model.

The online firms are alsonot allowed to influencedirectly or indirectlyprices of goods to be soldon their platforms.

Both Amazon andFlipkart have maintainedthat they follow the cur-rent FDI policy.

The companies alsostrongly deny havingindulged in deep discount-ing, saying brands offerthose discounts.

—PTI

Amazon, Flipkart askedto name top 5 sellers

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 39,298.38 +0.63Nifty 50 11,661.85 +0.65S&P 500 2,986.20 -0.39Dollar (`) 71.14 -0.03Pound Sterling (`) 91.66 +0.01Euro (`) 79.30 +0.25Gold (10gm)* (`) 38,925▼0.37 145 Brent crude ($/bbl)* 59.42 -0.82IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.692 -0.008US 10-Yr T-bill yield 1.747 -0.008

* As of Saturday

Govt may floatbids for Air Indiasale next monthThe government plans to invitepreliminary bids for 100 per centstake sale in Air India next mon-th and already some entities ha-ve expressed interest in the nati-onal carrier, sources said, addingthat the Expression of Interest(EoI) document is being giventhe final touches. EoI invitingbids for stake sale are likely tobe floated either this month-endor next month, they added.

FPIs put `4,970 crin stocks, `102 crin debt in Oct

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs)have infused a net sum of Rs5,072 crore into the capital mar-kets in October so far. As perthe latest depositories data, for-eign investors put in a net sum ofRs 4,970 crore in equities and anet Rs 102 crore in the debtmarket during October 1-18. InSeptember, FPIs had invested anet Rs 6,557.8 crore in the capitalmarkets in both equity and debt.

Oberoi Realtynet profit drops35% to `138 crOberoi Realty on Sunday said itposted a 35.4 per cent decline inconsolidated net profit at Rs138.07 crore for the Septemberquarter. The company had report-ed a consolidated net profit of Rs213.83 crore in the year-ago peri-od. In a filing to the BSE, thecompany said total income dur-ing the July-September perioddeclined to Rs 505.09 crore fromRs 619.78 crore a year ago.

MFs invest `9K crin Reits, InvITsthis year

Printed & Published by T Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printed atBFL Infotech Ltd, C-9 Sector 3, Noida-201301. Published at 219, N D Tiwari

Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,New Delhi-110002.

Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNIRegistration number 30074/09, Air sur-

charge Re 1. © All rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part with-out written permission of The Editor,Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

Money

Emerging investment instru-ments Reits and InvITs seem tobe finally catching on withinvestors as mutual funds haveinvested nearly Rs 9,000 crorein such units in the first ninemonths of the year. Fund man-agers have infused Rs 451 crorein real estate investment trusts(Reits) and Rs 8,528 crore ininfrastructure investment trusts(InvITs) during January-September Sebi data shows.

CommodityCompass

20 economies forecast to account for78.5% of the 2024 world GDP growth

China 28.3India 15.5United States 9.2Indonesia 3.7Russia 2.0Brazil 1.8Turkey 1.6Japan 1.6Egypt 1.5Germany 1.5All other economies combined 21.5Note: Economy's 2023-2024 growth of the GDP

as a share of world GDP growth. Growth contri-

bution shown for No. 1-10 contributores.

Purchasing power parity-based.

Source: Bloomberg

Where will growthcome from in 2024

20 economies forecast to account for 85.8of the 2019 world GDP growth

China 32.7United States 13.8India 13.5Indonesia 3.9Japan 2.4Russia 2.0Germany 1.6France 1.5Egypt 1.5UK 1.5Brazil 1.4All other economies combined 14.1Note: Economy's 2018-2019 growth of the GDP

as a share of world GDP growth. Growth contri-

bution shown for No. 1-10 contributores

Purchasing power parity-based.

Source: Bloomberg

Where does growthcome from in 2019

Brokerage House Diwali pick

HDFC SECURITIES : Affle India, Amber Enterprises, Apollo Hospitals, Bajaj Auto, BEML,Deepak Nitrite, Fairchem Speciality, GRSE, Muthoot Finance, SBI Life Insurance, SudarshanChemical and Ultratech Cement.

INDIA NIVESH: Hero MotoCorp, JK Paper, Escorts, Godrej Consumer Products, LIC HousingFinance.

ANAND RATHI: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, Reliance Industries, ICICI Pru LifeInsurance, Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Unilever, Indraprastha Gas.

SHAREKHAN BY BNP PARIBAS: Atul, Bata India, Colgate Palmolive, HCL Technologies, ICICIBank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Mahanagar Gas, Polycab India, RelianceIndustries, Spandana Sphoorty and UltraTech Cement

RELIGARE BROKING: Havells, M&M, Marico, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Nippon AssetManagement and Voltas

K R CHOKSEY: HDFC Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank,Bajaj Finserv, Tata Elxsi, Reliance Industries, Mahanagar Gas, Ashok Leyland, SundaramFasteners, Minda Corp and Sterlite Technologies

CHOICE BROKING: HDFC, ACC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Port and Godrej ConsumerProducts

Source: FC Research

Diwali pick by brokerages

Chung-Kwan Tien

Gloom won’tstop India’sgrowth; Don’texit SIP

Personal loan or car loanfor buying a car?

MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

10FinancialMONEY

Q I purchased a house by taking a loan froma bank in July 2019. However, I willreceive the possession of the house at

around October 2020? I want to know whether theinterest benefit will be available to me for theAssessment Year 2020-21 (FY 2019-20).

NAVEEN GARGVia email

A) You will not be entitled to claim interest onhousing loan for the Assessment Year 2020-21 (FY2019-20).As per explanations to provision ofSection 24 (b) of the Income-Tax Act. “Where theproperty has been acquired or constructed withborrowed capital, interest, if any, payable onsuch capital for the period prior to previous yearin which the property has been acquired or con-structed, as reduced by any part thereof allowedas a deduction under any other provision of thisAct, shall be deducted under this clause in fiveequal annual installments, commencing from theprevious year in which the house was acquiredor constructed and each of the four immediatelysucceeding previous years.” So the interest per-taining to AY 2020-21 (FY2019-20) shall bedeductible in five equal installments beginningwith AY 2021-22 (FY 2020-21).

Q I took voluntary retirement and investedmy benefits of `12 lakh in a joint account,with my wife being the other account hold-

er. An interest of `35,920 on investments is cred-ited to my wife’s savings bank account. Her totalincome is `1,78,500. My wife is not an income-taxassessee as her total income is less than the tax-

able limit as per income-taxrules. As such Form 15H wassubmitted to the bank askingit not to deduct TDS. I am anincome-tax assessee. So, Iwanted to know if the interestearned on investments shouldbe shown as a separate incomeearned by my wife or should itbe added to my income. Kindlyclarify.

YASH MISHRAVia email

A) As per the provisions ofSection 64(1) (iv), in computingthe total income of any indi-vidual, there shall be includedall such income arising direct-ly or indirectly to the spouse“where an asset is transferredto the spouse by that individ-ual otherwise than for ade-quate consideration or in con-nection with an agreement tolive apart, the income arisingfrom such asset”. Hence, theinterest earned on invest-ments made out of the

amounts contributed by you shall form part ofyour income.

Q I am a senior citizen. I wanted to buyinsurance on the life of my grandson, aged25 years, for `45 lakh. Will I get the deduc-

tion benefit under Section 80C for the contribu-tion made towards premium of LIC of my grand-son?

JEEVAN SINGHVia email

A) Under Section 80C, following sums paid ordeposited by an individual/ a Hindu undividedfamily, at any time during the previous year,qualifies for deduction:■ Any amount paid by an individual, on his/herlife or on life of his/her spouse or, on life of anychild; and■ By a Hindu undivided family, on life of anymember of the family.

Therefore, you will not be eligible to claim thededuction under section 80C for life insurancepremium paid for your grandson.

(The writer is a Hyderabad-based charteredaccountant. He can be reached at

info@rathiandmalanis.com)

No 80c sops for grandkids

■ Tax mattersKamal Rathi

Only sumspaid by an

individual onhis/her life or

on life ofhis/her

spouse or, on life of any child

qualifies fordeduction

underSection 80c;

A Hindu undivided

family (HUF)can buy for

on life of anymember ofthe family.

HOME LOANS RATES

Rates are based on thefloating rates system.Interest rate may be

subject to revision aftera specified tenure. TheEMI range is indicativeand calculated on thebasis of interest rate

range as provided in the table.

— Data Compiled By:BankBazaar.com

BrokersBYTES

Shree Cement’ssale volumesrise by 1.5%

Shree Cement’s Q2FY20results surprised positively

as it reported EBITDA of`840 crore, much better

than broking house’s esti-mate of `720 crore.

Operating profit marginsstood at 30.1 per cent com-

pared to its estimate of 25.6per cent. Subsidy incomewas `39 crore as against

`45 crore each inQ2FY19/Q1FY20. Key posi-

tive surprises: a) Realisationdecline of 1.1 pr cent quar-ter-on-quarter; and freightcosts down `90/tonne qoq

and `76 a tonne yoy (adjust-ed for rebate from railwaysin Q2FY19). The key nega-tive surprise was a 66 per

cent yoy drop in power seg-ment EBITDA. Cement sales

volumes were up 1.5 percent yoy in Q2FY20. The

broking house believes thatsales volumes would have

dropped four per cent and20 per cent yoy in North

and East regions. Valuationat 15.6x FY21E EV/EBITDA

appears rich. The board hasapproved the fundraising of

up to `30bn through theissuance of equity shares.

The broking house maintainsHold and underweight

position.

Broking firm: EmkayRating: HoldClosing price: `18,661.20

Wipro seesweakness incapital markets

Wipro’s revenue grew 3.8per cent year-on-year on

constant currency basis asagainst the broking house’s

estimate of 4.1 per cent inQ2FY20. IT Services’ EBIT

margin expanded 3.1 percent yoy to 18.1 per cent,

while profit after tax rose 12per cent yoy to `2560 crore

— a 14.4 per cent beat,mainly led by a lower-than-expected ETR. Sequentially,revenue was up 1.1 per cent

constant currency, while themargin contracted 0.3 per

cent led by lower utilisationand the two-month impactof wage hike. After remain-

ing in double digit foraround two years, Wipro’s

BFSI revenue growth decel-erated sharply to 5.9 per

cent YoY CC owing to thecompletion of some large

programmes and the weak-ness in capital markets (in

the US and Europe). Macrouncertainty translated into

cautious commentary onthis vertical. Revenue fromthe top client declined 11.8

per cent YoY, led by thenon-renewal of projects andthe delay in ramp-ups. There

are no meaningful revisionsto the company’s margin

estimates. Maintain neutral.

Broking firm: Motilal OswalRating: NeutralClosing price: `248.80

Siyaram Silksmay see higherprofit growthFor Q1FY2020, Siyaram Silk

Mills (SSML) posted sub-dued results, which were

below our expectations onboth top-line and bottom-line fronts. Revenue grewone per cent yoy. On themargin front, it reported

operating margin improve-ment by 1.09 per cent yoy

(positive impact mainly dueto change in account

policy as per Ind AS-116). Onthe bottom-line front, SSML

reported profit after taxgrowth of one per cent yoy

to `10cr due to subduedtop-line growth. Going for-

ward, the broking houseexpects SSML to report net

sales CAGR of nine per centto `2,173 crore and adjusted

net profit CAGR of 13 percent to `130 crore over

FY2019-21E on the back ofmarket leadership in blend-

ed fabrics, strong brandbuilding, wide distribution

channel and strong pres-ence in tier-2 and tier-3

cities coupled with empha-sis on latest designs and

affordable pricing points.The broking house main-

tains buy rating.

Broking firm: Angel BrokingRating: BuyClosing price: `224.35

EMI data table for top 10 banks by market capitalisationLender’s Name Floating Rate (%) EMI (In `)

based on MCLR

HDFC Bank 8.35-9.25 25,751-27,476

Kotak Bank 8.95* 26,895

ICICI Bank 8.65-9.25 26,320-27,476

Axis Bank 8.85-9.3 26,703-27,573

SBI 8.2-8.55 25,468-26,130

Bank Of Baroda 8.1-9.1 25,280-27,185

Punjab National Bank 7.95-8.45 25,000-25,940

Bank Of India 8.45-8.75 25,940-26,511

Federal Bank 8.55-8.65 26,130-26,320

Canara Bank 8.3-10.3 25,656-29,549

Buying A Car?

While the autoindustry isgoing through a

slowdown, there areplenty of good dealsavailable, and this is agood time to secureyour set of dreamwheels with deep dis-counts and premiumadd-ons. In recentyears, Indians haveshown they're no longercontent with smallhatchbacks, a departurefrom car ownershipbeing the domain of theIndian elite. They haveindicated a preferencefor bigger, faster cars,for which they will hap-pily take bigger loans.

As per BankBazaardata, in 2018, the aver-age ticket size for carloans was `5.72 lakh inmetros and `5.21 lakh innon-metros. This bringsus to the subject athand: when it comes tocar finance, is it betterto take a car loan or apersonal loan?

■ Money talk Adhil Shetty

LOOK AT THE INTERESTTo cut a long story short, the

interest rates on both forms ofloans matter a lot. A car loan isa secured loan, which normallyextracts a lower interest rate incomparison to an unsecuredloan, which is what a personalloan is. A quick scan of carloans from banks reveals theinterest rates to be in the rangeof 9-15 per cent per annum.However, personal loans startfrom around 11 per cent, goingto 25 per cent and beyond. Howmuch does this impact you?Let's say you borrow `5 lakh forfive years. At 10 per cent, yourEMI is `10,624 and your totalinterest is `1.37 lakh. But at 15per cent, your EMI is `11,895and your total interest is `2.13lakh. A car is ultimately adepreciating asset, so youshould minimiseyour spends on it.So a higherinterest onyour loanleads to ah i g h e rcost ofo w n e r -ship. Butthere’s moreyou need to consider.

LONGER TENURE MEANS LOWER EMIsThe size of one’s EMIs is often a major consideration in how much

one borrows. Car loan tenures can extend up to seven years in mostcases. A typical personal loan will extend up to five. There are excep-tions in both loan categories where some bank will provide tenureslonger than the norm. However, broadly speaking, your total interestwill be likely higher on a personal loan despite a smaller tenure. Let'ssay you borrowed `5 lakh. With a 10 per cent car loan and a seven-yeartenure, your EMI is `8,301 and interest `1.97 lakh. With a 15 per centpersonal loan and five-year tenure, your EMI is `11,895 and interest`2.13 lakh. The actual math will vary from one lender to another, andfrom one loan product to another, and so you must make these calcu-lations before deciding between the two options.

CAR LOANS MEAN RESTRICTED BORROWING

Banks will not fund 100 per centof your car purchase cost. They’llonly cover a part of it. Most bankswill finance up to 100 per cent ofthe car's showroom price, whichleaves you to bridge the gulf to theon-road price, which includes reg-istration, taxation, insurance etc. Ifyou have the margin money andwould prefer a low rate of interest,you should go for a car loan. But ifyou are short of cash and if theloan-to-value ratio is proving to bea problem, go for a personal loan,which is an open-ended credit andcan be used for any purpose youdeem fit-even a car purchase. With

a personal loan, you can borrowthe amount you're eligible

for.

NO HYPOTHECATION WITH PERSONAL LOANA car loan can be taken only to fund the purchase of a

car and related expenses. When you take a car loan,your car is hypothecated to the lender. Till your car loanis paid off, the lender owns the car as collateral for thedebt. If you defaulted on your loan, the car can be repos-sessed to recover your dues. But once you have paid theloan in full, your lender will remove the lien. Gettingthe lien removed will involve managing paperworkbetween your bank and the local RTO. On the otherhand, when you take a personal loan, the lender isn'tconcerned with the end use of the money. You could useit to buy a car, take a holiday, refurbish your home, fundyour wedding, or do anything else you need to do.Therefore, with a personal loan, your car is not hypoth-ecated to the lender and hence cannot be repossessed.

YOUR CREDIT SCORE MATTERSWith any kind of borrowing, your credit score matters. With a good credit

score (ideally, 750 or more), you have better chances of bagging a low-cost loanwith minimum hassles, especially if you're a salaried person. However, with alower credit score, the personal loan may become your only loan option, andthe price you pay for this is a higher interest rate.

In summary, a car loan with lower interest rates and longer tenures can beyour go-to option. However, personal loans allow you to borrow bigger withoutthe hassles of the loan-to-value ratio or hypothecation of your property, but ata higher interest rate. The choice is yours.

The writer is CEO, BankBazaar.com

Should You Take A Personal Loan Or A Car Loan?

There are reportsthat the SIP vol-umes are drop-ping. This means

people are suddenly notbuying equities when theprices have fallen. Does itmean that they think theasset class will no longergive them long termreturns?

For a moment, let usthink that equity as anasset class is dead. It islike saying that all busi-nesses are doomed to clo-sure, that we have stoppedearning or spending (orwill be in that state soon).We are forecasting thatour economy will notgrow any more.

If this were to happen,the only thing that wouldperhaps have some valuewould be that uselessmetal named ‘gold’. Pricesof gold will be driven byfear and panic when otherasset classes have givenup.

Eventually, it wouldbecome a bubble and thenblow out. This is because,the gold we consumecomes from overseas. Andwe need hard currency topay for it. If the economyis in shambles, imaginewhere the rupee would be?

Step back a little and seewhat you are doing to yourinvestments. You aregoing by the outcome of

some market conditionsthat are possibly new toyou. We go through thisphase of boom, doom andgloom every few years.What I can say is that if Itake a ten-year timeframe, not more thanthree will be ‘terrible’years. Does not mean thatthe other seven are greatyears? But I would thinkthat there are generallymore ups than downs inan investment journey.

Also, we have not yetreached that bubble statuswhich Japan was in 1989or so. The Nikkei Index of225 Japanese stocks(something like our BSESensex) touched a high ofnear 38916 and then wentall the way back to 7,000odd in 2008 and is nowhovering around sub23,000 levels. Look at thatindex and long terminvesting theories go outof the window. This level

of excess in the marketand then a sluggish econo-my (with probably amongthe highest per capitaGDP in the world) has notbeen seen elsewhere. I donot think we are in thatspace.

India is still a hungrynation. We are hungry forgrowth, hungry to havemore of everything. Allthis means that our percapita GDP is still a longway from being at a stagewhere growth is an issue.Yes, we have income dis-parities, but it does notmean that our economywill stop growing.

The mistake peoplemake is to start their SIPsat the top of a bull run andthen shut it when the mar-kets are at their gloomyworst. What it means isthat you are condemned tonot getting the best out ofyour investments. You aremissing on opportunities

to keep adding to yourportfolio at lower prices. Ifyou bought a stock at `500and the price has fallen to`300, with no fundamentalchange except a cyclicaldownturn or some issueimpacting earnings for ashort time, should you bebuying more or selling?What will happen is thatyou will start a fresh SIPonce things become verybright and the marketsrally a lot from here. Onceagain, you will find thetop.

Choosing a fund houseand choosing a product iswhat you should thinkabout. And today, if youunderstand the risk in theproduct, you have theoption to invest online,directly.

A direct investment canmake a small difference ofanything up to one percent per annum. The oneper cent difference can

make a small differenceevery year, and at the endof 10 years, it can be a rea-sonable sum. In a `5,000per month SIP, over 10years, the maturityamount can differ byaround `60,000 to `70,000 ifthere is a one per centannualised difference.

Yes, there will be start-ing times or measuringperiods that will eithershow great returns orvery poor returns. This isnot easy to forecast.

If we have the courage tostart our SIP and keep itgoing in ‘gloomy’ periods,the results will show foritself when the marketturns around. What onecan do is to throw in addi-tional amounts (in addi-tion to our SIP) when themarkets are gloomy. Treatit like some expenditureand buy some more unitswhen things are lookingbleak. This will help you

also to take off somemoney (without breakingyour SIPs) off the tablewhen things look veryexpensive and the wholeworld is chasing stocks. Itis like a trade you havemade.

Your SIP continues andyou made some goodmoney on the side. It cantake one to three years totake this gain. Not thatyou should, but in caseyou feel worried, this isone way to take some cashoff the table and put itback when gloom sets inagain.

Investing is a lifetimehabit. You do not want toquit good habits. In mynext piece, let me talkabout ‘selling’ or gettingout of the market.

(The writer is a veteraninvestment adviser. He

can be reached at balakrishanr@gmail.com)

■ Invest talkR. Balakrishnan

Gloom won’t stop India’s growth; Don’t exit SIP

Stephanie Corneliussen(left) and NataliePortman at Dance ProjectGala in Los Angeles onSaturday. — AFP, AP

Published by T. Venkateswarlu for and on behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited at Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110 002. and Printed by him at BFL Infotech Limited, C – 9, Sector – III, Noida – 201301. Editor – T. Venkatram Reddy,RNI Registration number 57290/94, Price in Nepal - Nep. Rs. 20.00 per copy.

PAGE

11NewsmakersMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

The beliefJ.J. Abrams believes Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerwill satisfy audience and will give a meaningful ending toall 9 films made in the franchise created by George Lucas

Los Angeles: Scientistshave found the chemicalcomposition of organicdust dunes present onSaturn’s moon Titan, anadvance that sheds morelight on the mechanism bywhich carbon-based struc-tures form in extreme coldenvironments in space.

The researchers exam-ined remote sensing datafrom Nasa’s Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan— the only body in oursolar system, besides theEarth, with a solid surface,lakes, and a thick atmos-phere with a pressure ofabout 1.5 atmosphere atsurface level.

The images from the mis-sion exposed the existenceof vast longitudinal duneson Titan’s surface across

its equatorial desertsreaching heights of up to100 meters, the study, pub-lished in the journalScience Advances, noted.

Earlier imaging studiesrevealed that Titan’s dunescontained dark organicchemicals, compared tothe dunes on the Earththat are made of silicatesor a large class of otherminerals.

The researchers exposed

acetylene ice — a chemicalthat is used on Earth inwelding torches and existsat Titan’s cold equatorialregions — to radiationsimilar to high-energygalactic cosmic rays.

They subjected the acety-lene ice to a chemical reac-tion process that formedmore complex organicmolecules like benzeneand naphthalene .

These chemical process-

es, the researchers said,also happen in the inter-stellar medium - the spacebetween stars - on hydro-carbon rich layers of inter-stellar nanoparticles.

“Titan’s dunes representthe dominating surfacesink of carbon in Titan’sorganic chemistry,” saidMatthew Abplanalp, co-author of the study fromUH. Abplanalp said thatunravelling the origin andchemical pathways behindthe dune material wasvital not only to under-stand Titan’s chemical evo-lution, but also to grasphow similar thechemistries on Titan andon the Earth might havebeen before life emergedon our planet 3.5 millionyears ago. — PTI

Researchers unravel chemical makeup andorigin of dunes in Saturn’s moon Titan

Rome pressed to ban touristcarriages after horse collapsesLondon: Lucrative botti-celle business goes ondespite pledges by succes-sion of mayors Italianleaders have been urgedto stop “the unjustifiedexploitation of animals”after a horse collapsed asit pulled tourists throughthe narrow streets ofRome, the Guardianreported.

The horse fell on the Viadei Condotti, a busy shop-ping street in the city cen-tre, on 17 October afterslipping on a manholecover. The driver of thecarriage allegedly ignoredpleas from onlookers tohave the horse checked bya veterinarian, choosinginstead to continue thetour towards the nearbySpanish Steps once the

animal was back on itsfeet. “Subjecting animalsto inhumane labour in thename of an anachronistictradition is animalabuse,” Rinaldo Sidoli, aspokesman for the animaland environmentalactivist group, AlleanzaPopolare Ecologista, said.“Horses in Rome areforced, against their will,to tow extremely heavyloads (the carriage aloneweighs 800kg) on slippery

pavements and amidnoisy traffic. We ask themayor, Virginia Raggi, tostop this unjustifiedexploitation of animals.”

ENPA, the nationalagency for animal protec-tion, said that other hors-es had fallen on the samemanhole. “To make thisstory even more disturb-ing is the behaviour of thedriver,” the agency added.“It was as if nothing hadhappened, and so the truehealth of the horseremains a mystery.”

Rome’s horse-drawn car-riages is a lucrative busi-ness, with tour operatorscharging as much as`27,780.37 for horses tocart four people aroundkey monuments for 2hours. — Agencies

London: Actor LupitaNyong’o has warned ofthe dangersof colourism, revealingshe longed for lighterskin when she wasyounger.

“I had a sister who waslighter-skinned, andpeople would coo overher in ways they would-n’t at me, so I definitelyinternalised that,”the BlackPanther star told theSunday Times Style.

Nyong’o went on torecall being mocked forthe colour of her skin asa child, the Independentreported.

“In school I experi-enced some teasing and,of course, on TV you’reseeing light skin and it’sall over the magazines,so all those things sub-consciously programmeyou to think that light isright,” she said. “I defi-nitely wished for lighterskin. I tried what I couldto make it so — prayerand stuff like that.”

The 12 Years aSlave actor added thatthe lack of representa-tion in fairytales, suchas Cinderella and Rapunzel, affected her whenshe was growing up.

“You know, they wereall white characters. Iwould read those overand over again, but I did-n’t see myself in thosebooks,” shesaid. “Subconsciously,there is that condition-ing.” It is only withhindsight that she hasrealised how problemat-ic some of the children’sbooks she read were interms of their presenta-tion of race, she added.

“When there werecharacters that weresupposed to look likeme, it was Enid Blytonand it was the golli-wogs,” she said, refer-encing the once populartoys that featured in thechildren author’s bookswhich are now widelyseen as representingnegative racial stereo-types.

“I actually didn’t knowthey were a representa-tion of me,” she added.

— Agencies

Lupita revealsshe had prayedfor lighter skin as a child

Abu Dhabi: An 8,000-year-old pearl that archaeolo-gists say is the world’s old-est will be displayed inAbu Dhabi, according toauthorities who saidSunday it is proof theobjects have been tradedsince Neolithic times.

The natural pearl wasfound in the floor of aroom discovered duringexcavations at MarawahIsland, off the capital ofthe United Arab Emirates,which revealed the earli-est architecture found inthe country.

“The layers from whichthe pearl came have beencarbon dated to 5800-5600BC, during the Neolithicperiod,” Abu Dhabi’sdepartment of culture andtourism said.

“The discovery of theoldest pearl in the world inAbu Dhabi makes it clearthat so much of our recenteconomic and cultural his-tory has deep roots thatstretch back to the dawn ofprehistory,” said its chair-man Mohamed Al-Muabarak.

The excavation of theMarawah site, which is

made up of numerous col-lapsed Neolithic stonestructures, has also yield-ed ceramics, beads madefrom shell and stone, andflint arrowheads.

The “Abu Dhabi Pearl”will be shown for the firsttime in the exhibition“10,000 years of Luxury”which is opening onOctober 30 at the LouvreAbu Dhabi — the outpostof the famous Paris muse-um. Emirati experts

believe that the pearlswere traded withMesopotamia — ancientIraq — in exchange forceramics and other goods.They were also likelyworn as jewellery.

“The Venetian jewelmerchant Gasparo Balbi,who travelled through theregion, mentions theislands off the coast ofAbu Dhabi as a source ofpearls in the 16th centu-ry,” the culture depart-

ment said.The pearl industry once

underpinned the economyof the United ArabEmirates, but the tradecollapsed in the 1930s withthe advent of Japanesecultured pearls, and asconflicts rocked globaleconomies. Instead, theGulf nations turned to theoil industry which domi-nates their economies tothis day.

— AFP

It will be shown for the 1st time in an exhibition opening on Oct. 30

8,000-yr-old pearl found inAbu Dhabi is world’s oldest

Lupita Nyong'o

IN BRIEF

Los Angeles: Oscar-winningcomposer Michael Giacchino

has come on board to lendhis music to the much-antici-

pated The Batman movie.During an event at London’s

Royal Albert Hall, whereGiacchino and fellow com-

poser David Arnold werehaving a friendly competi-

tion, director of The Batman,Matt Reeves made a surprise

appearance and shared thenews with the audience.

According to the HollywoodReporter, the filmmaker

came on stage and got downon one knee in a mock pro-

posal, asking Giacchino tojoin the Warner Bros project.

The film is set for a June2021 release. — PTI

London: Bruce Springsteensays he is happy that at the

age of 70 his artistic instinctsare still working. The singer

said he has learned to‘’appreciate the vitality’’ of

his creative life, and believesthat in past five years he has

produced some of the bestwork of his career. ‘’To be

doing, where I’m at nowbecause people do lose their

mojo, they lose interest oryou never know when you’regonna write well again. You

know it’s a mystery, but I stayvery curious about the world

and I’m curious about myown talent...,” — PTI

Michael Giacchinoboards The Batman

I think that the kidsare priority and

everything that we dorevolves around them

— Victoria Beckham,

Businesswoman

‘I stay curious aboutworld & my talent’

Washington: Days afterMeghan Markle’s estranged

father Thomas, released herprivate letter, the legal team

of the Duchess of Sussex hascriticised the publisher for

printing a “private and confi-dential” letter. Markle’s

lawyers also claim that thenewspaper “chose to deliber-ately omit or suppress” parts

of the letter, which “inten-tionally distorted or manipu-

lated” its meaning, accordingto legal documents obtained

by the UK’s PressAssociation, as cited by E!

News. — ANI

Meghan’s lawyersslam publisher

London: Veteran action starArnold Schwarzeneggar says

he is averse to politics andthe reason he joined it was

to help others. During anappearance at the Graham

Norton Show, the Terminator star, who served as the gov-

ernor of California from 2003to 2011, said that he never

viewed himself asa politician. “Ihate politics.

Even when I wasgovernor I never

consideredmyself a politi-

cian. I was a pub-lic servant who

created policiesto make thingsbetter for peo-ple,” the 72-year-old actor

said. The actor, however, saidhe feels sad that he cannot

run for the post of thePresident of the United

States due to his Austrianbackground. “Of course. Itwould have been great to

jump in and run. It’s the only thing I can’t do in

America. Everything else I’vedone is because it is in

America, it’s the land ofopportunity,”

Schwarzeneggar said. Theveteran actor is currently

promoting his upcoming fea-ture Terminator: Dark Fate. — PTI

I HATE POLITICS,SAYS ARNOLD

SCHWARZENEGG

Walnuts a day cankeep diseases at bayTiburon, US: A handful ofwalnuts a day can keepmany diseases at bay.

As per different studiesand human trials done in11 countries by over 55universities, walnut dietcan ensure adequatefiber, protein intake as itcontains vitamins andminerals, including,unsaturated fat, magne-sium, phosphorus andOmega-3 alpha-linolenicacid (ALA).

Eating at least four wal-nuts a day will help incuring many diseases,including cancer, obesity,diabetes as well as inmaintaining body weight,cognitive, reproductivehealth and many otherlifestyle problems,according to studies.

“Walnuts are the power-house of nutrients foroptimum health. Out ofnine tree nuts, they are

they only nuts that con-tain a significant amountof plant-based Omega-3alpha-linolenic acid,which are essential fattyacids required by thebody,” California WalnutCommission HealthResearch director CarolBerg Sloan said.

“People in India, whichhas huge vegetarian pop-ulation, are lacking inOmega-3 and protein. So,if they consume a hand-ful of walnuts every dayor else incorporate wal-nuts in their meals then itis a very healthy idea,”she said.

All nuts should be incor-porated in daily meals asthey are rich in source ofmonounsaturated fattyacids and walnuts in addi-tion also contain highamounts of Omega-3 fattyacid, making it hearthealthy. — PTI

Europe’s ‘most wanted’ female criminals revealedLondon: The most wantedfemale criminals inEurope include a humantrafficker who helpedlure a young girl toEngland and the killer ofa British businessman.

Europol, the EU’s lawenforcement agency,released the list ofwomen fugitives as partof its new campaign“Crime has no gender”.

Its website displays 21suspects with their facesobscured by a mask thatgradually falls away toreveal their identity.Eighteen are women.

Among those featuredare 56-year-old Hilde VanAcker, who remains onthe run after being con-victed of the murder ofBritish businessmanMarcus John Mitchell inBelgium in 1996.

Another is Czechnational Iveta Tancosova,52, who is wanted over thetrafficking of a young girlwho was beaten, locked ina room and forced to workas a prostitute in the UK.The victim, who had beenlured to England with thepromise of nursing work,

was later sold toTancosova’s relatives inIreland. Europol said theaim of the campaign wasto attract as many visi-tors to its website as pos-sible to increase thechance of fugitives beingarrested.“The femalefugitives featured onEurope’s Most Wantedwebsite prove that womenare equally as capable ofcommitting seriouscrimes as men,” theagency said in a state-ment, the Independentreported.

“In recent decades, thenumber of womenengaged in criminalactivity has increased,although at a slower pacethan men.

“The criminals of bothgenders in this new cam-paign are all wanted forgrave offences like mur-der, drug trafficking,fraud, theft and traffick-ing in human beings.”

The three men on thelist include James Kelly, a57-year-old Irishman whois wanted by the UK fordrug trafficking.

— Agencies

ArnoldSchwarzeneggar

London: Madrid’s streetswere left badlycongestedon Sunday, as more than2,000 sheep passedthrough its bustling citycentre for an annualevent, the BBC reported.

The Spanish capital sitson ancient migrationroute where shepherdswould move their live-stock south for the winter.

The event is known asFiesta de laTrashumancia (transhu-mance festival) and is pro-moted by local touristauthorities.

The festival started in1994 and is designed to pay

homage to the area’s ruralheritage. It exploits amedieval rule whichallows shepherds the rightto cut through the citywith their animals.

Every year, a nominalfee is paid in exchange forthe safe passage of theanimals, in a ceremonybetween the mayor andthe chief herdsman at thecity hall. It honours a 1418agreement with the city’scouncil where the price of50 maravedís al millar (50coins per thousand headsof livestock) was set forthe animal traffic.

— Agencies

Madrid taken over by hundredsof sheep for annual festival

Bebe Rexha(left) per-forms with aguitarist asshe opens forJonasBrothers dur-ing a stop ofthe group’sHappinessBegins Tour atMGM GrandGarden Arenain Las Vegas.

— AFP

Detox performs during RuPaul’s Drag Race: WerqThe World 2019 in New York on Saturday. — AFP

A woman lights up colour-ful clay lamps in prepara-tion to celebrate Diwali atthe old Drive-Inn inDurban, South Africa onSaturday. — AFP

Michelle Dockery onthe red carpet forDownton Abbey atthe Rome Film Feston Saturday.

— AP

Diane Warren (left) and Linda Thompsonat the Last Chance for Animals’ 35thanniversary gala in Beverly Hills,California, on Saturday. — AFP

� The pearl industryonce underpinnedthe economy of theUnited ArabEmirates, but thetrade collapsed inthe 1930s with theadvent of Japanesecultured pearls, andas conflicts rockedglobal economies.Instead, the Gulfnations turned to theoil industry whichdominates theireconomies to thisday.

� The natural pearlwas found in thefloor of a room dis-covered during exca-vations at MarawahIsland, off the capitalof the United ArabEmirates, whichrevealed the earliestarchitecture found inthe country.� The excavation ofthe Marawah site also yielded ceram-ics, beads made fromshell and stone, andflint arrowheads

�The study is vitalnot only to understandTitan’s chemical evolu-

tion, but also to grasp howsimilar the chemistries on

Titan and on the Earth mighthave been before life emerged

on our planet 3.5m years ago

� The layers fromwhich the pearl camehave been carbondated to 5800-5600BC, during theNeolithic period

● Tour operatorscharge as much as`27,780 for horsesto cart four peoplearound key monu-ments in the capitalfor 2 hours

PAGE

12MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Fake notes foundat Metro station

New Delhi: The Delhi policehas arrested a 42-year-oldarms supplier and his two

associates and recovered 21country-made pistols and 70

live cartridges from them.The police further claimed tobust an arms manufacturingunit in Sambhal area of UP.The accused was identified

as Beer Pal Yadav (42), anative of Sambhal, and he

was arrested from Ghazipurarea in Delhi and 20 country-

made pistols with 50 car-tridges were recovered fromhis possession. He was taken

to Sambhal where, at hisinstance, Kuldeep Kumar

(45) was arrested and 15 livecartridges were recovered

from him. The arms manufac-turing unit which was running

in his fields was also busted.Further, Manoj Kumar was

nabbed from Aligarh and acountry-made pistol and 5live cartridges were recov-

ered from him.

New Delhi: Four personswere arrested at the IGI

Airport for smuggling goldworth over `99 lakh in three

separate incidents, aCustoms official said on

Sunday. In the first incident,two residents of Kashmir,

who arrived at Terminal-3 ofthe IGI Airport on Thursday

from Dubai, were interceptedby the Customs officials. Five

silver-coated gold banglesweighing 1.275 kg were

recovered from them. In thesecond incident, a person

was arrested at terminal 1Don Tuesday for allegedly pos-

sessing two cut pieces ofgold bars weighing 1 kg

worth over `34 lakh. In thethird incident, a man was

arrested at terminal 1D forallegedly possessing five

gold bars of foreign originweighing 582 grams worth

over `20 lakh.

`99L gold seized atIGI Airport, 4 held

Rooney falls in Major League Soccer farewell

SPORT | Football

14 16GUIDE TO FORTUNE

SHORT TAKES

■ France ■Rembrandt van Rijn■Africa

THE ANSWERS TO TODAY’S GUIDE TO FORTUNE

1Which among the follow-ing countries gifted the

Statue of Liberty to the USin 1886?

■ Brazil■ France■ England

2The Anatomy Lesson ofDr Nicolaes Tulp, an oil

painting, is the work ofwhich painter?

■ Rembrandt van Rijn■ Johannes Vermeer■ Paulus Potter

3Which of the followingcontinents has the high-

est number of countries inthe world?

■ Asia■ Europe■ Africa

NEW DELHI MONDAY 21 OCTOBER 2019

New Delhi: Fake Indian cur-rency notes of the face

value of `4.64 lakh havebeen found in a bag at a

Delhi Metro station by CISFpersonnel, officials said on

Sunday. They said anunclaimed bag containing

the notes was recovered onSaturday evening at the

Kashmere Gate stationwhen CISF personnel were

carrying out routine anti-sabotage checks at the pub-

lic transport facility. Thebag was recovered from

near Gate No 8 of the sta-tion. The fake currency was

in the denomination of`500, they said. The baghas been handed over to

the police for further probe,officials said.

DELHI SPECIAL‘Ganguly can turn the face ofIndian cricket’

Diana toteam upwithDinesh inShiddat

DELHI AGEMatinee 24

SPORT | Cricket

Arms supplier heldwith 2 accomplices

Tick the answer and checkthem below.

■ Mother found hanging at home in Pitampura

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The severed body of a 27-year-old Delhi Universityprofessor was found onthe railway tracks in SaraiRohilla while his motherwas found hanging from aceiling fan with her mouthstuffed with cloth at theirflat in Pitampura.

Allen Stanley (27), whohailed from Kottayam inKerala, was found dead onthe tracks at the SaraiRohilla railway station onSaturday. Earlier that day,his mother Lissy (55) wasfound hanging at their flatin Ashiana Apartment,the police said on Sunday.

Stanley was a guest pro-fessor at St Stephen’sCollege, where he taughtPhilosophy and was alsopursuing PhD from anoth-er institute.

The police suspect thatStanley committed suicide

after killing his mother.However, no suicide notewas recovered fromStanley’s body though anote written in Malayalamwas found at the flat. Thepolice said it is probing allangles.

The police has registereda murder case underSection 302 of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) at theRani Bagh police stationafter it found his mother

dead inside the flat.The mother-son duo was

undergoing depressionbecause of an abetment-to-suicide case pendingagainst them in Keralaand both were on anticipa-tory bail. A few days ago,Stanley had shared aboutit with his friends whotried to convince him tonot take any extreme step,a police officer said.

Stanley was living in

Delhi for five years andhis mother came to staywith him seven monthsago.

Witnesses said Stanleyhad suicidal tendenciesand that he had told themfive days ago that he triedto force his mother to com-mit suicide, which sherefused.

“We learnt about thetragic news this morning.We are in shock. I hadinteracted with him whenwe were speaking to theteachers in the lead up toDelhi UniversityTeachers’ Associationpolls. We do not knowwhat prompted him totake such a step. He wasteaching Philosophy at thecollege,” said ProfessorNandita Narain, who wasStanley’s colleague at StStephen’s College.

The bodies have beensent for post-mortem, thepolice said.

AGE CORRESPONDNETNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The Delhi police onSunday claimed to havearrested 25 gamblers andrecovered over `1.8 lakhfrom their possession.

DCP (South) AtulKumar Thakur said thatfollowing a tip-off onSaturday, the vigilancecell conducted a raid atMadangir and AmbedkarNagar areas and arrested25 gamblers.

Three packets of play-ing cards, 26 mobilephones and cash`1,88,710 were recoveredfrom their possession.

A case under DelhiGambling Act was regis-tered at PS AmbedkarNagar and further inves-tigation is underway.

Meanwhile, the high-way patrol staff of PSSangam Vihar arrested a27-year-old robber andapprehended four juve-niles for allegedly rob-bing a person at knife-point in Sangam Vihararea on Saturday.

From their possession,robbed cash `1500, knifeused in commission ofcrime and two motorcy-cles were recovered, saidDCP (South) Atul KumarThakur.

The victim reportedthat on Saturday ataround 1.15 am when hewas returning home twopersons came on a motor-cycle and robbed him onknife point.

25 gamblersheld; `1.8L,26 mobilesrecovered

DU professor’s body foundon Sarai Rohilla rail tracks

Metro services hit dueto technical glitchesAGE CORRESPONDNETNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

Delhi Metro commuterstravelling on the VioletLine faced hardship onSunday morning as serv-ice on the corridor wereaffected due to some tech-nical issues. Violet Lineconnects Kashmere Gatestation in Delhi to RajaNahar Singh station inFaridabad.

“Service betweenBadarpur Border andKashmere Gate stationshave been affected due tosome technical issues. Weare looking into it,” a sen-ior official said. The

DMRC also tweeted toalert passengers aboutthe delay, many of whomgot down at various sta-tions and took othermodes of travel.

“The train was stoppingfor longer duration ateach station and and atLajpat Nagar station, thetrain just halted far toolong. Many commutersalighted and took an auto-rickshaw to continuetheir journey. I also didthe same to reach myworkplace. But since itwas morning, even autoswere hard to come by,”said Divya Sharma, acommuter.

� The mother-son duowas undergoingdepression becauseof an abetment-to-suicide case pendingagainst them inKerala and both wereon anticipatory bail. Afew days ago, Stanleyhad shared about itwith his friends.

Beggar held for Goa woman’sgangrape, accomplice on run AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

The Delhi police hasarrested a beggar forallegedly gangraping awoman from Goa alongwith his associate inIndraprastha Park nearSarai Kale Khan, said thepolice, adding that hisassociate is still at large.

The accused was identi-fied as Abdul Khalid, anative of Rai Bareli in UPwho has been living inDelhi for a long time. Hisassociate Munna isabsconding. Abdul, alongwith Munna, used to begand indulge in ragpick-ing.

DCP (Southeast)Chinmoy Biswal said thatin September, the victim,who is a native of Goa,

came to Sarai Kale Khan.She decided to stay at thebus stand for a wholenight as she did not haveany shelter in Delhi. Atabout midnight, while shewas sleeping at theIndraprastha Park busstand, two menapproached her andforcibly committed theoffence.

During investigation,the victim’s torn clothes,slippers, and one gamch-ha was also recoveredfrom the spot. Further,more than 4,000vagabonds were verifiedto establish the identity ofthe accused.

On Wednesday, followinga tip-off, Khalid wasapprehended from SaraiKale Khan area. Duringinterrogation, he con-fessed that he, along withMunna, committed thecrime in an inebriatedstate. He also disclosedthat the gamchha, whichwas recovered from thespot, belongs to him.

The accused was pro-duced before the court,said the police, addingthat raids are being con-ducted to nab Munna.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

A 30-year-old domestichelp and her loverallegedly hatched a con-spiracy to kill her hus-band and portray hisdeath as an accident asthey considered him anobstacle in their relation-ship, the police said onSunday.

Anita and ArjunMandal (38) were arrest-ed in connection with thekilling, they said.

The body of Dayaram(42), with grievousinjuries on his head andother body parts, wasfound lying in the shaft ofa lift in an under-con-struction building inCentral Delhi’s East PatelNagar on October 17, thepolice said.

A case was registeredand a probe was initiated,the police said. The iden-tity of the man was con-firmed by his wife andother relatives.

During investigation,suspicion grew onDayaram’s wife as sheattempted to mislead thepolice and was quite eva-sive during the interroga-tion.

During call detailrecord (CDR) analysis ofmobile phones ofDayaram and his wife,one mobile number wasfound to be the commonlink, said DCP (Central)Mandeep SinghRandhawa.

However, Anita and

Arjun confessed to theircrime after they wereconfronted with evi-dences and CDRs.

It was revealed thatAnita was in an extra-marital affair with Arjunfor the last three years.Both were planning toeliminate Dayaram forthe past few months.

To execute their plan,Arjun called Dayaram atthe Patel Nagar Metrostation at the instance ofAnita. He offered himdrinks. Subsequently,they purchased whiskey,chicken, and glasses.

Following which, Arjuntook him to the terrace ofan under-constructionbuilding in East PatelNagar at about 7 pm,where they had somedrinks.

After spending almostan hour on the rooftop, hepushed Dayaram fromthe stairs down the shaftof an open lift. Thedeceased succumbed tohis injuries due to fallfrom a height of almost45 feet, the DCP said.

Wife, paramourarrested formurder of man

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In an attempt to put acheck on the practice ofuncontrolled use of allo-pathic antibiotics,researchers have found anAyurvedic alternative toantibiotics that can beused to treat bacterial andfungal infections.

According to a study con-ducted by the AIIMSBhopal, it has been foundthat Ayurvedic antibioticsare proving a great substi-tute to modern medicine.

“An Ayurvedic antibioticdrug, Fifatrol, is provingeffective in curing major

bacterial infections as theherbal medicine has theefficacy to control infec-tions caused by the staphy-lococcus species of bacte-ria,” said Sarman Singh,the director of AIIMSBhopal.

In its research, the AIIMSBhopal has found that theherbal drug is extremelypowerful in fightingagainst bacteria of thestaphylococcus speciesthat causes fever, cold andcough, Still’s disease, etc.

Besides these, the drugwas also found suitable incontrolling the spread ofinfectious diseases causeddue to echolalia, pneumo-

nia, Klebsiella aerogenes,etc.

Highlighting theresearch, Mr Singh said,“As per trend, Ayurvedicmedicines generallyincrease immunity. ButFifatrol has shown verypromising results againstbacteria. We are doing fur-ther research to arrive atthe final result.”

Mr Singh, who is alsothe head of the researchteam, further said:“Staphylococcus bacteri-um is responsible for skin,respiratory, and stomachinfections. In people whohave weak immune sys-tem.”

Ayurvedic antibiotic to fightfever, cold: AIIMS research

� It was revealedthat Anita was in anextra-marital affairwith Arjun Mandalfor the last threeyears. Both wereplanning to eliminateher husbandDayaram for the pastfew months.

� During interroga-tion, Khalid confessedthat he, along withMunna, committedthe crime in an inebri-ated state. He alsodisclosed that thegamchha, which wasrecovered from thespot, belongs to him.

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

A 35-year-old woman waskilled while her familyhad a narrow escapeafter their vehicle washit allegedly by a speed-ing truck in NorthwestDelhi’s Bhalswa Dairy,the police said onSunday.

The woman has beenidentified as RangeelaDevi from Rajeev Nagarin Bhalswa Dairy, it said.

On Saturday, at around4.55 pm, the policereceived informationregarding an accidentnear Gurudwara Road inBhalswa Dairy, the policesaid.

According to the police,38-year-old Arjesh

Kumar, along with hiswife and two children,was returning home onhis scooter when theirvehicle was hit by atruck.

Mr Kumar and his chil-dren had a narrowescape but his wife losther life, a police officialsaid.

Based on her husband’scomplaint, a case hasbeen registered againstthe driver underSections 279 (rash driv-ing) and 304A (causingdeath by negligence) ofthe Indian Penal Code(IPC), the official added.

The truck driver, iden-tified as Anujpal (25),was arrested in connec-tion with the accident,the police said.

Woman killed astruck hits scooter

Man held for forging, owning 2cars with same number plates

Participants at Delhi Half-Marathon at JawaharlalNehru Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. Someparticipants display placards with messageagainst ‘single-use’ pastic. Specially-abled partic-ipants at the event. — BIPLAB BANERJEE

AGE CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 20

In separate incidents, thePCR unit of Delhi policearrested a snatcher and aperson for forging thenumber plate and owningtwo vehicles with samenumber.

DCP (PCR) Sharat K.Sinha said that onSaturday night the staff ofWest Zone responded toan information regardingtwo Hyndai i-20 cars hav-ing same registrationnumber plate, make andcolour.

A person namelyParminder Singh, whoclaimed to be the owner of

both the cars, failed toexplain as how he has sim-ilar numbered cars in hispossession and wasnabbed.

Further in Seemapuriarea, the MPV staff appre-

hended a snatcher afterhearing the hue and cry ofthe victim. The snatcherwas identified as Arif andthe snatched phone wasrecovered from his posses-sion, the DCP said.

Allen Stanley

Parminder Singh with his two cars of same number

Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJPMP Vijay Goel take part in a bicycle rally to protestagainst Delhi government's odd-even scheme in NewDelhi on Sunday. — PTI

PAGE

14MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

SHORT TAKES

RRaanncchhii:: South Africa spinnerGeorge Linde on Sunday said

he learnt lessons during India’s497 for nine declared as he

claimed four wickets on debutin the third Test. Linde returned

figures of 4-133 with his left-arm spin, providing some sup-

port to paceman KagisoRabada who had put the hostsin early trouble at 39 for threeon day one. “I didn’t expect to

play Test cricket. So when I gotthe call-up I was quite nervousbut luckily I had a few days to

just settle,” the Cape Town-born Linde told reporters.“Today few lessons learnt,

especially at the end. But I willtake four wickets on a debut.”

Linde got Rahane caughtbehind in the morning session

and then hurt the middle orderwith the wickets of Wriddhiman

Saha, for 24, and RavindraJadeja, for 51. “Obviously con-

sistency is very important (inIndia),” said Linde. “We got itwrong on the leg side yester-day, today I was lot better, bit

more on the off side.” Lindenearly got Sharma on 28 but

Zubayr Hamza dropped a toughchance at forward short-leg and

the bowler was not complain-ing. “Those catches, they stickor they don’t. So unfortunately

it wasn’t our way, it wasRohit’s,” said Linde. — AFP

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: There is some goodnews waiting for the Lodhacompliant state units of the

BCCI, as they will start gettingtheir allocated annual grants

once Sourav Ganguly-led newcommittee takes charge after

the Annual General Meeting onOctober 23. With the full mem-

bers of the BCCI used to get-ting an annual grant of Rs 35crore, the member units have

more than Rs 100 crore inarrears over three years as

there was no disbursementshappening till they amended

their constitution as per Lodharecommendations. “The AnnualAccounts for multiple financial

years will be passed at the AGMand once it is done, the decks

will be cleared for all the com-pliant state units to get their

allocated funds. However as perthe Supreme Court order, only

the compliant state associa-tions will get the funds,” a sen-

ior BCCI official privy to thedevelopment said on conditions

of anonymity. — PTI

Sarfaraz is not aselfish captain. He

did not deservethis treatment.

— Rashid Latif, former Pakskipper defends Sarfaraz who

has been sacked as captainfrom all three formats of the

game

Cricket

Lessons learnt fordebutant Linde

State units to getfunds post Oct. 23

George LLinde

RRaanncchhii,, OOcctt.. 2200:: RohitSharma once again pro-vided unbridled joy withhis maiden Test doublehundred before India’spacers dented an alreadyscarred South Africa top-order to gain completecontrol in the third andfinal match here onSunday.

Revelling in his newavatar, the stylishMumbaikar smashed hisway to 212 off 258 balls inthe company of vice-cap-tain Ajinkya Rahane(115), as India declaredtheir first innings at 497for nine. Before bad lightstopped play on the sec-ond day, South Africawere reduced to nine fortwo in five overs.Mohammed Shami andUmesh Yadav removedDean Elgar (0) andQuinton de Kock (4)respectively in their sin-gle over bursts, creatingall sorts of discomfort.

The second day againbelonged to Rohit, whoscored his first doublecentury in the longest for-mat, having scored 176and 127 in his ‘debut’ asTest opener inVisakhapatnam. Hisinnings had 28 bound-aries and six sixes but,more importantly, it wasthe languid grace thatstood out. The extra sec-ond to play those squarecuts and the pull shotswere exactly what asparse Sunday crowdneeded to rejuvenatethemselves.

Batting on 199, theeffortlessness with whichhe dispatched an expressdelivery from LungiNgidi into the mid-wicketstands with a front-footpull, was worth a milliondollars. His double hun-dred completed, Rohit, asif to taunt the pacer,repeated the shot and theresult was same. Rahane,who has been back inform since the tour of theWest Indies, also lookedsolid during his 11th Testhundred and the first inIndia in three years — thelast coming against NewZealand (October, 2016) inIndore.

The duo added 267 runsfor the fourth wicket toset a solid platform beforeRavindra Jadeja (51 off119 balls) and Umesh

Yadav (31 off 10balls with five sixes)provided the finalimpetus. Rohit, whohas already broken theworld record for mostnumber of sixes in aseries, has so faramassed 529 runs tobecome only the fifthIndian opener to score500-plus runs in a bilat-eral face-off. Gavaskarhad achieved it fivetimes in his Test careerand Sehwag was thelast Indian to achievethe feat, having scored544 runs againstPakistan in a three-Testseries at home in 2004-05.

Rohit also joinedSachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag andChris Gayle to notch 200-plus scores in both ODIand Test formats. Thelack of penetration in theProteas attack, saveKagiso Rabada (3/85 in 23overs), has been the realproblem for the visitors.In the three Tests so far,India have had three dou-ble centurions — MayankAgarwal, skipper ViratKohli and now Rohit —which tells the tale.

While debutant left-armspinner George Linde(4/133 in 31 overs) was themost successful bowler,Yadav took him to thecleaners, scoring all hissixes off his bowling.When South Africa battedunder fading light, theIndian pacers were toohot to handle. Shamilooked ominous, extract-ing extra bounce as hestruck off the second ball.

Elgar tried to removehis bat but the ball kissedthe gloves en route toWriddhiman Saha’s wait-ing hands. De Kock wasdone in by a brilliantbouncer, failing miser-ably in his attempt toevade as Saha timed hisjump to perfection.

Faf du Plessis andZubayr Hamza survivedthe remaining three oversas debutant ShahbazNadeem bowled two tidymaidens under flood-lights. With light deterio-rating quickly in this partof the world, the Indianbowling attack would liketo take advantage of thepitch on which cracks arebeginning to open up.

— PTI

RRaanncchhii,, OOcctt.. 2200:: RohitSharma always knewthat he had to makebest use of the oppor-tunities in his new role

as a Test opener or else“a lot could have hap-

pened” as far as his stintin the longest format isconcerned.

Rohit has had scores of176, 127 in his first Test asan opener against SouthAfrica and now has hit hismaiden double hundred toemulate Sachin Tendulkarand Virender Sehwag asplayers to score 200 acrosstwo formats.

“Kafi kuch hone walathaa naahin toh kaafikuch aap likh dete merebarein mein (A lot couldhave happened had I not

performed and you guys(media) would have writ-ten a lot about me,” a satis-

fied Sharma said at theday end press conference.

“So it was about makingmost of the opportunities Igot. I knew I had to makefull use of it, otherwisemedia would have writtenagainst me. Now I knoweveryone will write goodthings about me,” headded.

Rohit has amassed 529runs from four inningsthus becoming the onlyfifth Indian opener toscore 500-plus runs in aTest series. “It was a goodopportunity for me to openthe batting. As I said dur-ing the Vizag Test, the

communication betweenme and my team manage-ment was happening for along time about openingthe batting. So mentally, Iwas ready for it. I knew itcould come at anytime.”

“Speaking of this partic-ular knock, I would say itwas most challenging. Ihave not played much. Iplayed only 30 Tests. Interms of what was thrownat me, I would definitelysay it was probably themost challenging one,” thetalented Mumbaikar said.

While he has had a block-buster start to his careeras a Test opener, Rohit

himself acknowledgedthat he has a long way togo.“In Tests, it has it’schallenges. Having playedonly three Tests as anopener, I know I have longway to go. I am not readingtoo much into these threeTests. Of course, I willtake a lot of positives.”

Talking about the chal-lenge of opening the bat-ting, he said, “Opening thebatting is a different chal-lenge to batting at Nos 6-7.It’s just about how you pre-pare yourself, what youtalk to yourself in yourmind about what do youwant to go out there andachieve.

“Playing the first ball ofthe match, compared tofacing a delivery after 30-40 overs is a different ballgame altogether.”

— PTI

IInnddiiaa ((11sstt iinnnniinnggss)):: MayankAgarwal c Elgar b Rabada 10,Rohit Sharma c Lungi Ngidi bRabada 212, Cheteshwar Pujaralbw b Rabada 0, Virat Kohli lbwb Nortje 12, Ajinkya Rahane cKlaasen b George Linde 115,Ravindra Jadeja c Klaasen bGeorge Linde 51, WriddhimanSaha b George Linde 24,Ravichandran Ashwin stKlaasen b D Piedt 14, Umesh

Yadav c Klaasen b GeorgeLinde 31, Shahbaz Nadeem(not out) 1, Mohammed Shami(not out) 10. EExxttrraass ((bb--1100,, llbb--66,,nnbb--11)) 1177.. TToottaall ((ffoorr nniinnee wwiicckkeettssiinn 111166..33 oovveerrss)) 449977 ddeeccll..FFooWW:: 1-12, 2-16, 3-39, 4-306, 5-370, 6-417,7-450, 8-464, 9-482. BBoowwlliinngg:: Rabada 23-7-85-3,Ngidi 20-5-83-0, Nortje 24.3-5-79-1, Linde 31-2-133-4, Piedt

18-3-101-1. SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaa ((11sstt iinnnniinnggss))::Dean Elgar c Saha b Shami 0,Quinton de Kock c Saha bUmesh 4, Zubayr Hamza (bat-ting) 0, Faf du Plessis (batting)1. EExxttrraass ((bb--44)) 44.. TToottaall ((ffoorr ttwwoowwiicckkeettss iinn ffiivvee oovveerrss)) 99..FFooWW:: 1-4, 2-8.BBoowwlliinngg:: Shami 1-1-0-1, Umesh1-0-4-1, Nadeem 2-2-0-0,Jadeja 10-0-1-0.

BBeennggaalluurruu,, OOcctt 2200:: OpenerKL Rahul continued hisgood form as his stroke-filled 90 guided Karnatakato the semi-finals even asanother out-of-favour open-er Shikhar Dhawan’s fail-ure proved costly withDelhi exiting from anotherquarter-finals of the VijayHazare Trophy here onSunday.

While Karnataka cruisedto an eight-wicket victoryover Puducherry in one ofthe quarter-finals, Delhilost by six wickets toGujarat via VJD Method inanother last eight clash.Put into bat, Puducherrycrawled to 207 for 9 withVikneshwaran MMMarimuthu top scoringwith an unbeaten 58.

The Karnataka bowlersled by the vastly experi-enced Abhimanyu Mithun(2-35) ran through thePondicherry top and mid-dle order beforeMariumuthu and SagarTrivedi (54) tried to rallytheir innings.

Pondicherry were reelingat 41 for 6 at one stage

before Mariumuthu andTrivedi pulled them out oftrouble and gave the scoresome semblance ofrespectability. TheKarnataka bowlers keptstriking at regular inter-vals to ensure that theiropponents were restrictedto a sub-par total. — PTIBBrriieeff ssccoorreess:: Pondicherry207/9 (VM Mariumuthu 58not out, Sagar Trivedi 54;Pravin Kumar Dubey 3-44) lost to Karnataka213/2 (KL Rahul 90,Devdutt Padikkal 50;Sagar Udeshi 2-47). Delhi223 (Dhruv Shorey 91;Chintan Gaja 3-27) lost toGujarat 225/4 (PriyankPanchal 80, Parthiv Patel76; Simarjeet Singh 2-54).

The coming week willsee the AGM of theBoard of Control for

Cricket in India (BCCI).With office bearers already‘elected’ the impact willsoon be seen on the func-tioning of the august bodyand on Indian cricket. Lastweek saw deals being donebetween groups and caucus-es that sprung up newnames which will lead thefuture of the game in ourcountry.

The best news was thedecision to get SouravGanguly to wear the hat ofthe President. When Dada,as he fondly known, donsthe mantle of the head ofthe richest, private sportingbody in India and probablythe world, it will be the bestDiwali gift his legion offans, including yours truly,will get. Knowing Ganguly,for the next 10 months we

will see the future directionthat BCCI will be headingin.

Ganguly becomes the sec-ond Indian Test captainwho will occupy the highestadministrative position inIndian cricket. Story has itthat Dada was nicknamed‘Maharaj’ by his parentswho must have seen theroyal demeanour in himwhile rocking his cradle.The first Test skipper whobecame the BCCI Presidentwas also a Maharaj:Pusapati Vijaya RamaGajapathi Raju, theMaharajkumar ofVizianagaram, known asVizzy.

Vizzy would rather beknown as the one who gotcricketing greats like SirJohn Berry (Jack) Hobbs,Herbert Sutcliffe andLearie Constantine to Indiarather than the cricket he

played. Vizzy skipperedIndia in three Test matcheson the 1936 tour of England,which is best rememberedfor the exploits of VijayMerchant, Syed MushtaqAli and Mohammed Nissar.

If the first, Vizzy, was aMaharaja by birthright, thesecond, Dada, was crownedby the masses for his atti-tude, demeanour and lead-ership qualities.

I first saw Ganguly thenhe was part of the CCIPresidents XI that playedagainst my office team,Tata Sports Club (TSC). Histeammates includedMohammed Azharuddin(India captain then), SachinTendulkar among others.While the rest of his teamcapitulated against us, thesouthpaw played a gem ofan innings which was goodenough for TSC make himan offer which he accepted.

Those pre-professionaldays saw him play in thedusty maidans of Bombay(Mumbai) with DilipVengsarkar, Ravi Shastri,Kiran More, LalchandRajput and Raju Kulkarnias colleagues. The disci-pline, approach and disposi-

tion of Bombay cricket ofthe early 90s must certainlyhave steeled the Kolkata ladwho went on to take Indiancricket to a higher level.Watching him rise fromstrength to strength, afterhe made a dream debutagainst England at Lord’sin 1996, showed that he hadworked very hard to shutthe doubting Thomases.

The situation in whichGanguly is today, is similarto the time he took over theIndian captaincy fromTendulkar in February2000. The match fixing scan-

dal had rocked Indian crick-et and the morale of theteam and their followerswas at an all time low.Beating South Africa in hisdebut One DayInternational (ODI) seriesas captain was a huge salvefor minds that were badlybruised. We saw a captainwho moved away from thetried and tested and infuseda new spirit in a team thatwas mentally wounded.

Today, after all the twistsand turns that Indian crick-et has taken from an admin-istrative viewpoint, eversince the Supreme Courtentered the boardroom ofthe BCCI, the faith in theorganisation needs to berestored. That would beGanguly’s first task on handand his track record showsthat he would tame thischallenge just the way hedid when he took guard ascaptain. There are threemain issues that wouldneed his immediate atten-tion apart from restoringBCCI’s credibility.

Age fudging is the firstissue that needs his consid-eration. This silent menacehas plagued Indian cricket

for decades. Having comeup through the ranks,Ganguly will know how thiscan be a threat to theprogress of talent.Relations with theInternational CricketCouncil in terms of gettingmoney and Future ToursProgramme is the secondand the dreaded Conflict ofInterest cause is the third.One feels secure that thenew president-designatehas zeroed in on the last twoissues during his interac-tions with the media overthe last week.

If anyone deserves creditfor India’s rise as a cricket-ing superpower on the fieldof play, the first namewould be Ganguly’s. Gettingin fresh talent, nurturingthem to be world beatersand bringing back a senseof belief in the team, washis big contribution toIndian cricket. Now, onceagain, he has the opportuni-ty to make a bigger contri-bution by turning the faceof Indian cricket towardsthe Sun as President, justthe way he did when he cap-tained India and sowed theseeds for the future.

Ganguly can turn the face of Indian cricket Hemant KenkreSilly Point

Rahul 90 powersK’taka into semis

VIJAY HAZARE TROPHY

Umesh breaksKiwi Fleming’s 15-year-old record

Make the best of opportunities: Rohit

Batsman I Runs AVG 100Rohit Sharma (India) 18 1298 99.84 6Don Bradman (Aus) 50 4322 98.22 18Adam Voges (Aus) 12 690 86.25 3Douglas Jardine (Eng 10 490 81.66 1George Headley (WI) 18 1241 77.56 5

BEST AVERAGES AT HOME (MIN 10 INNINGS)

Score Batsman Venue Season Result319 Virender Sehwag Chennai 2007-08 Drawn254* Virat Kohli Pune 2019-20 Won215 Mayank Agarwal Vizag 2019-20 Won212 Rohit Sharma Ranchi 2019-20 waited176 Rohit Sharma Vizag 2019-20 Won

HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE BY AN INDIAN AGAINST SA

SCORECARD SSEECCOONNDD DDAAYY OOFF TTHHEE TTHHIIRRDD AANNDD FFIINNAALL TTEESSTT

RRaanncchhii,, OOcctt 2200:: UmeshYadav on Sunday sur-passed former NewZealand captain StephenFleming’s record of thehighest strike rate in aninnings in Test cricket.

He achieved the feat onDay Two of the third Testmatch between India andSouth Africa. The crick-eter broke the 15-year-oldrecord previously held byFleming.

The Kiwi skipper hadsmashed 31 runs in 11balls against South Africain 2004. The left-handedbatsman had a strike rateof 281.81 in that particu-lar innings. — Agencies

MentorFormer middle-order batsman Mike Hussey has been drafted inby Australian coach Justin Langer to help mentor the side duringtheir upcoming Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Rohit closes in on an astonishingaverage of 100RRaanncchhii,, OOcctt 2200:: Indianopener Rohit Sharma onSunday surpassed leg-endary Sir Don Bradmanrecording the highest bat-ting average in Test crick-et on home soil amongthose, who have played atleast 10 innings.

Rohit, who hit 212 inIndia’s first innings in thethird and final Testagainst South Africa, nowhas an average of 99.84 in18 innings, which is high-est by any player (withminimum 10 innings) inthe longest format athome. Rohit has so farscored 1298 runs in the 18completed innings. Therecord was previouslyheld by Bradman, whohad an average of 98.22across 50 innings at home.

— PTI

Stats: Pervez Qaiser

Rohit Sharma celebrates afterscoring a double

century during the secondday of third and final Testagainst South Africa inRanchi. — AP

<<<

the communication between me and myteam management was happening for a

long time about opening the batting. Somentally, I was ready for it. — ROHIT SHARMA

KL RRahul

Sourav GGanguly

■Rohit slams maiden double ton, surpasses legendaryBradman for the highest batting average on home soil

Double Don

PAGE

15MONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

SHORT TAKESJustin wins 11th

PGA Tour eventJJeejjuu ((SSoouutthh KKoorreeaa)):: Justin

Thomas won his 11th PGA Tourevent and his second in South

Korea in three years with afinal-round 5-under 67 and a

two-stroke victory over SouthKorean-born New ZealanderDanny Lee. Thomas and Lee

made it mostly a two-man showSunday. They entered the final

round tied and stayed that waythrough the front nine. Thomas

birdied the 14th to take one-stroke lead, then went up by

two when Lee bogeyed the 15thafter missing a 10-foot par puttand Thomas made a two-footerfor par. After going from green-

side bunker to bunker on the16th, Lee bogeyed again and

fell three behind. But Thomasbogeyed the 17th after his 12-

footer for par lipped out,reducing the deficit to two

strokes. On Saturday, Thomashad a three-stroke lead heading

into the 18th ahead of a three-shot swing when Thomas

bogeyed and Lee made a longeagle putt. On Sunday, Thomasand Lee both birdied the 18th,

with Lee lipping out on hiseagle putt to finish with a 69.

Thomas finished with a 72-holetotal of 20-under 268 at Nine

Bridges. — AP

Kang wins 2ndtitle in Shanghai

SShhaanngghhaaii:: Danielle Kangcapped her 27th birthday witha nailbiting one-stroke win atthe Buick LPGA Shanghai on

Sunday, fending off fellowAmerican Jessica Korda for her

second victory at the tourna-ment. Korda was the overnight

frontrunner at 15 under, withthe defending champion trailingby one in the second edition ofthe $2.1 million event. Both hadfinished the penultimate day atsix under par after Kang rallied

from twin bogeys on the firsttwo holes. But a bogey for

Korda and a birdie for Kangflipped the lead on the first

hole, with the defending cham-pion’s commanding short game

keeping her ahead for most ofthe day. “It was a really stress-

ful day but I definitely reallyplayed well out there. I’ve never

been more nervous than thelast putt for some reason, but I

made it,” said Kang. — AFP

We’re starting fromscratch. When weplay a team in the

relegation zone,we must win.

— Lyon coach Rudi Garcia ongoalless draw against Dijon

Title winJelena Ostapenko picked up her first title in over twoyears at the Luxembourg Open, charging past defendingchampion Julia Goerges in straight sets 6-4, 6-1

Sport‘Big surprise’ toreach final: AndyAAnnttwweerrpp ((BBeellggiiuumm)),, OOcctt..2200:: Former world numberone Andy Murray reachedhis first final in morethan two and a half yearsand admitted it was a “bigsurprise”.

Murray, steadily rebuild-ing his singles game aftercareer-saving hip surgeryin January, defeatedFrance’s Ugo Humbert 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to make thechampionship match atthe European Open.

“It’s been a big surpriseto me. I’m happy to be intothe final,” he told AmazonPrime.

“It’s been a long road toget back to this point. Icertainly didn’t expect itto come so soon since Istarted playing again.”On Sunday, the 32-year-oldBriton will tackle fellowthree-time Grand Slamtitle winner StanWawrinka in the final.

Murray, now ranked alowly 243, last reached afinal in Dubai in March2017 where he won the

most recent of his 45career titles.

He is now playing for thefourth successive week ontour having only returnedto singles at Cincinnati inAugust.

Murray leads Wawrinka11-8 in head-to-head meet-ings.

“I think it will be a nicematch to play,” added theBriton of Sunday’s duel.

“Me and Stan haveplayed a lot against eachother. It is nice that we areboth able to be back play-ing against each other ina final.” — AFP

BBeerrlliinn,, OOcctt.. 2200:: BorussiaDortmund beat top-of-the-table BorussiaMoenchengladbach 1-0 tojump to fourth in theBundesliga, level withBayern Munich who earli-er dropped points in a 2-2draw at Augsburg.

The top of theBundesliga grew evenmore congested with thetop nine separated by justtwo points. Of the eightwho have played so farthis weekend, onlyEintracht Frankfurt andDortmund have won.

Gladbach remained top,ahead of Wolfsburg, whodrew 1-1 at RB Leipzig, ongoal difference. Both have16 points from eightgames.

Bayern, Dortmund andLeipzig are all one pointbehind.

Then come four teamson 14 points, includingFreiburg, who could havegone top but lost 2-0 atUnion Berlin, and BayerLeverkusen, who couldalso have taken over first,but lost at Frankfurt onFriday.

Schalke have a chance toseize top spot when theyvisit Hoffenheim onSunday.

In Dortmund, ThorganHazard’s first-half strikefor the home team againsthis former club was ruledout by VAR for a tight off-side call.

Hazard then found asprinting Marco Reuswith a perfect throughball in the 58th minute.Reus slotted home for theonly goal of the game.

Even though anotherDortmund strike waserased by VAR in the 85thminute, the home teamfinished the game hangingon, adopting a back-fiveand even a back-six inadded time to end a run ofthree successive draws.

“We are very, very happythat our efforts wererewarded with victorytoday. You could see thatthe game could haveturned in the other direc-tion,” said Reus. — AFP

OOiittaa ((JJaappaann)):: One small conso-lation for France in their ago-nising 20-19 World Cup quar-

ter-final loss to Wales onSunday was the form of

Antoine Dupont. It was easy tooverlook the scrum-half’s con-

tribution as France let slip a 19-10 half-time lead in Oita after

Sebastien Vahaamahina wassent off. But in the early stagesthe 22-year-old Dupont direct-ed play with the assured touch

of a veteran, putting in somesteadying box-kicks as he

chivvied the experienced for-wards in front of him. And if hewasn’t kicking well out of hand,

Dupont’s quick and accuratepassing kept France on thefront foot against a Walesdefence missing Jonathan

Davies after the centre was alate withdrawal due to a kneeinjury. Dupont also linked well

with his 22-year-old fly-halfRomain Ntamack, a team-mate

at Toulouse. No mention ofNtamack is complete withoutpointing out he is the son of

former France wing EmileNtamack. But that could yet

change over the course of hiscareer, with both Dupont and

Ntamack displaying sublimehandling skills in the build-up

to France’s second try in open-ing eight minutes that ended

with flanker Charles Ollivongoing in between the posts.

The blots on an otherwise first-half display came with Ntamackseeing both his attempted con-version of Vahaamahina’s open-

ing try and a 38th minutepenalty hit the post, with those

five spurned points provingcrucial at the finish. — AFP

DUPONTSHINES BUT

FRANCE SLIP

Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus (right) controls the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match againstBorussia Moenchengladbach in Dortmund, Germany on Saturday. — AP

DEEPIKA DDASMOTEGI (JAPAN), OCT. 20

Repsol Honda rider andmultiple world championMarc Marquez produced asublime show to clinch histhird Motul Grand Prix ofJapan at the Twin RingCircuit here on a balmy andsunny Sunday afternoon.

Clear skies prevailed aftera downpour soaked thetrack on Saturday, andMarquez exploited the con-dition to the fullest and dic-tated the terms from thefirst lap itself as he held thelead through 24 laps.Though Petronas YamahaSRT’s Fabiano Quartararowas hot on his heels, hefailed to outpace him in anyof the laps as the Hondastar rider clinched hisfourth title in a row thisseason.

The strong sun was

enough to make the trackdry and the temperaturehovering at around 21degrees centrigrade was“perfect” for Marquez toconquer the Motegi trackagain in front of almost-capacity crowd.

“The weather was perfecttoday and I am happy withmy win. It went accordingto strategy and was able tomaintain the gap andpushed further in laterstage to win comfortably, “Marquez said with a bigsmile after the race.

Spain’s Marquez finishedin 42 minutes and 31.492 sec-onds, just ahead of 20-year-old rookie FrenchmanQuartararo (42 min42.492sec) with TeamDucati’s Andrea Doviziosocoming third on podium ashe was 2.6 seconds late.

Beside this year, Marquezhad also won the title here

in 2016 and 2018.Marquez now leading the

championship with 350points. Team DucatiDovizioso was second with231 points followed by of A.

Rins of Team Suzuki with176.

Still, the season championwas keeping his guard high,with the Quartararo andDovizioso maintaining

pressure. Marquez also hadthe fastest lap of day in fifthlap.

Honda’s other rider JorgeLorenzo, who owns the laprecord here with 1:43.79 in2015, had a disappointingfinished as he came at the19th spot.

It was another good newsin store for Team Honda asthey also clinched theMotoGP Constructors’World Championship with356 points for a record 25thtime ahead of Ducati (270)and Yamaha(268).

Though it was a forget-table race for former worldchampion Valentino Rossi,who had a huge fan follow-ing here, of MonsterEnergy Yamaha team as hemet a crash in the 20th lap.

Italy’s Luca Marini wonthe Moto2 while LorenzoDalla Porta from Spaingrabbed the Moto3 victory.

Marquez makes his Marc again in Motegi

AAnnttwweerrpp,, OOcctt.. 2200:: StanWawrinka ended Italianteenager Jannik Sinner’sfine run at the EuropeanOpen in Antwerp onSaturday, the Swiss veterandefeating the 18-year-old 6-3, 6-2 to book a place inSunday’s final.

Sinner was the youngestplayer to make the semi-finals of an ATP tourna-ment since 17-year-oldBorna Coric in 2014.

But he met his match inthree-time major winner Wawrinka, with the 34-year-old taking one hour 59 minutes to secure a date witheither Andy Murray or Ugo Humbert.

World number 18 Wawrinka, who trailed 0-2 in thefirst set, is aiming to win his first title since theGeneva Open in 2017.

Former world number one Murray has made itthrough to his first semi-final since the French Opentwo years ago.

Now ranked a lowly 243 the Briton is steadily rebuild-ing his career after hip surgery. He faces Humbert,France’s world number 70, later on Saturday. — AFP

STAN ENDS TEENAGERSINNER’S ADVENTURE

■ Reus scores as Dortmund beat Gladbach in Bundesliga LEADERS JOLTED

Bencic books lastShenzhen slotMMoossccooww,, OOcctt.. 2200:: Worldnumber 10 Belinda Bencicbooked her place at the sea-son-ending WTA Finals inShenzhen with a 6-3, 6-4win over KristinaMladenovic in the KremlinCup semi-finals onSaturday.

The 22-year-old Swissneeded to reach the finaland outperform KikiBertens, who lost toMladenovic in the quarter-finals, to secure her berthin the singles at Shenzhen.

She duly sealed theeighth and final place atthe tournament boastingrecord $14 million prizemoney with a confidentperformance to see off theFrench player.

“It’s a dream to be com-peting at the WTA Finalsand to be one of the topeight,” Bencic said.

“It makes it even morespecial that I booked myticket at the last possible

minute.“This match had so much

pressure and I was so nerv-ous. Now I’m over themoon to win today andachieve this dream.”It isthe first time that Bencichas reached the WTAFinals where she will lineup against Ashleigh Barty,Karolina Pliskova, SimonaHalep, Bianca Andreescu,Naomi Osaka, PetraKvitova and ElinaSvitolina.

“All the eight playersdeserve to be there becauseit shows we had the mostconsistent seasons,” saidBencic who reached thesemis of the US Open toclimb back into the top 10for the first time since 2015.

She also won the WTAevent in Dubai and reachedthe final in Mallorca.

Bencic will face eitherAnastasia Pavlyuchenkovaor Karolina Muchova inSunday’s final. — AFP

It’s been a big surpriseto me. I’m happy to beinto the final. It’s been along road to get back tothis point. I certainlydidn’t expect it to comeso soon since I startedplaying again.

— ANDY MURRAY

Tennis star

EUROPEAN || OPEN

JAPANESE MOTO GPBelihu, Tsehaydefend titlesNNeeww DDeellhhii,, OOcctt.. 2200::Defending championsAndamlak Belihu andTsehay Gemechuretained their respec-tive men’s and women’stitles at the 15th AirtelDelhi Half Marathonhere on Sunday.

Ethiopia’s Belihuclocked a timing of59:10 to defend his titleat the JawaharlalNehru stadium, whileGemechu broke herevent record and alsoproduced her personalbest with an impressive66:00. Last year she hadclocked 66:50 to setcourse record.

Belihu, who had wonthe prestigious IAAFGold Label Race lastyear with a time of 59minute 18 seconds, fin-

ished ahead of fellowEthopian SolomonBerihu, who clocked59:17. Kenya’s KibiwottKandie finished thirdwith a timing of 59:33.

Belihu missed thecourse record by justfour seconds, whichwas set by Ethiopia’sGuye Adola (59.06), inthe 2014 edition.

“I know I missed thecourse record. So I ama bit disappointed butoverall it was a goodrace. So I am happy,”said Belihu.

In the women’s race,Ethiopia’s YelamzerfYehualaw clocked1:06:01 to grab the sec-ond place, while zeine-ba yimer clocked1:06:57 for the thirdplace. — PTI

Rooney falls in MLS farewellWWaasshhiinnggttoonn,, OOcctt.. 2200::Former England andManchester United starWayne Rooney was rout-ed in his Major LeagueSoccer farewell match onSaturday as Toronto FCripped DC United 5-1 inthe first round of theplayoffs.

Rooney, who turns 34 onThursday, assisted on asecond-half stoppagetime equalizer that forced30 extra minutes, butUnited surrendered twogoals in five minutes andnever recovered.

Toronto advanced to anEastern Conference semi-final on Wednesday atEast top seed New YorkCity FC.

Marco Delgado’s goal inthe 32nd minute putToronto ahead untilRooney crossed the ballinto the heart of the box,Frederic Brillant got hishead on it and LucasRodriquez finished in thethird minute of stoppagetime to equalize.

In extra time, Toronto’s

Richie Laryea scored inthe 93rd minute, fellowCanadian JonathanOsorio added goals in the95th and 103rd minutesand Nick DeLeon nettedanother in stoppage timeafter the first 15 minutesto seal United’s fate.

United captain and topscorer Rooney arrived inMLS in the middle of last

season and lifted the clubfrom league doormat to aplayoff berth.

But Rooney said inAugust he was returningto England after this sea-son to be a player andassistant coach forChampionship clubDerby County.

“He has been a big plusfor this club,” United

manager Ben Olsen said.“He has helped us in a bigway.”While Rooney’sarrival and a new stadi-um created buzz aroundUnited, the team floppedin the playoffs, ousted byColumbus last year onpenalties, and his exitcomes with Washingtonsports fans focused onbaseball’s World Seriesreturn to the US capitolnext week for the firsttime since 1933.

Rooney had 11 goals in28 matches this season,five of them game win-ners and four of thempenalties. Last season,Rooney scored 12 goals in20 matches.

In other games, FrancoEscobar scored in the70th minute as defendingchampion Atlanta Unitedbeat visiting NewEngland 1-0. The FiveStripes advanced into anEast semi Thursdayagainst Sunday’s winnerbetween the PhiladelphiaUnion and New York RedBulls. — AFP

Wayne Rooney of D.C. United dribbles the ball duringan MLS game against Toronto FC on Saturday. — AFP

Garcia’s Lyon stutter in drawPPaarriiss,, OOcctt.. 2200:: Lyon stut-tered to a 0-0 draw againstfellow Ligue 1 strugglersDijon on Saturday asalready-embattled newcoach Rudi Garcia tookcharge for the first time.

The 55-year-old’sappointment was greetedwith anger by Lyon sup-porters because of histhree-year stint at bitterrivals Marseille. He wasroundly booed at theGroupama Stadium aheadof kick-off.

Garcia’s day did not getany better, as his sidewasted a string of excel-lent chances againstdogged Dijon.

“The fans were good dur-ing the match, at the endof the day they’re nothappy with results and

neither are we,” he toldCanal+.

“We weren’t missingmuch, aggression in frontof goal. We’re starting

from scratch. When weplay a team in the relega-tion zone, we must win.”

Lyon, who sackedBrazilian Sylvinho, in hisfirst job as a head coach,after only 11 matches ear-lier this month, havefailed to win in eightleague games.

Sporting directorJuninho has been respon-sible for hiring both for-mer Arsenal andBarcelona full-backSylvinho and Garcia.

But the former Brazilinternational insisted thatthere were positive signson Saturday.

“What hurts is to look atour place in the table,” hesaid. “Concerning thefirst week under RudiGarcia, the players have

responded, very goodthings have been seen.

“If we manage to play aswell (against Benfica inthe Champions League onWednesday), we will beable to reverse the situa-tion.”

The draw left Lyon, whohave not finished outsidethe top five since 1998, lan-guishing 16th in the tableafter 10 matches, just onepoint off the bottom.

The seven-time Frenchtitle-winners, who werewidely tipped to be ParisSaint-Germain’s closestchallengers this season,are 14 points adrift of thedefending champions.

“It’s frustrating, there’sno explanation,” saidLyon striker MoussaDembele. — AFP

Marc Marquez poses with Team Honda after winning thePremier Class Constructors Championship on Sunday.

FA CUP MATCHABANDONEDAFTER ABUSELLoonnddoonn,, OOcctt.. 2200:: An FACup qualifying matchbetween HaringeyBorough and Yeovil Townwas abandoned after alle-gations that players wereracially abused and spaton.

The players of seventh-tier outfit Haringeywalked off the field onSaturday with about 25minutes to go, shortlyafter Yeovil had scored apenalty.

The incident during thematch in the fourth quali-fying round came just fivedays after England play-ers endured racist abuseduring their Euro 2020qualifier against Bulgariain Sofia.

Haringey manager TomLoizou said defenderCoby Rowe suffered racialabuse while goalkeeperDouglas Pajetat was alsospat at, prompting him totake his players off thepitch. — AFP

Stan WWawrinka

TTHHEE RREESSUULLTTSSLLIIGGUUEE 11 FFOOOOTTBBAALLLLLLyyoonn 00DDiijjoonn 00

NNiimmeess 11(Martinez 41)AAmmiieennss 11(Calabresi 90+4)

MMeettzz 11(Diallo 86)NNaanntteess 00

AAnnggeerrss 00BBrreesstt 11(Cardona 67)

PAGE

16GamesMONDAY | 21 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASINA AGE

Injury scareJoao Felix suffers a bad twist duringAtletico Madrid’s Spanish Leaguegame against Valencia

SHORT TAKES

The road is the rightone, but we need to

work on somedetails.

— Maurizio Sarri, Juventus coachafter his side won their matchagainst Bologna in the Italian

League

Bengaluru take onNorth East United

BBeennggaalluurruu:: Boasting of fiveIndia internationals in their

ranks, including talismanic cap-tain Sunil Chhetri, a formidableBengaluru F.C. will begin their

quest for title defence whenthey take on NorthEast United

in their opening Indian SuperLeague match here on Monday.

The Bengaluru-based sidehave been synonymous with

consistency in India domesticfootball history. After three

years of success in the I-League, they joined ISL in 2017

and made an instant impact. Bengaluru suffered a heart-breaking loss in the final to

Chennaiyin FC at home.The next season (2018),

Bengaluru had Roca’s protegeCarles Cuadrat under whom

they defeated F.C. Goa to clinchtheir maiden ISL title.

With a clutch of new signingsand retention of key players,

particularly domestic,Bengaluru look set to dominate

again this season. They roped inIndia midfielder Ashique

Kuruniyan this season. — PTI

Ogbeche diffusesATK with a brace

KKoocchhii:: Two-time championsATK scored their 100th goal inthe Hero Indian Super League

but that wasn't enough to pro-vide them with any joy in the

opening match of the sixth edi-tion at the Jawaharlal Nehru

International Stadium in Kochion Sunday.

Carl McHugh had put ATKahead with an absolute stunner

in only the sixth minute of thegame but the hosts, egged on

by a vociferous crowd, hit backwith two goals from new sign-ing Bartholomew Ogbeche in

the first half itself for a 2-1 vic-tory.

The result sees Kerala get thebetter of ATK in their ISL open-er once again, having recorded

a 2-0 win last season in Kolkata. The game got off to an electri-

fying start with the visitorsstunning the packed crowd

early in the game. ATK capi-talised on a free-kick given for

a foul on Jayesh Rane byJeakson Singh. The set-piece

into the box was cushionedback for McHugh by Agustin

García Iniguez at the far post. — Agencies

SANDHU GOESPAST RASHID,TAKES CROWN

CChhaannddiiggaarrhh:: Chandigarh’sAjeetesh Sandhu pipped Delhi’s

Rashid Khan for the title in aphoto-finish on the final day of

the Jeev Milkha SinghInvitational Presented golf

tournament here on Sunday.Ajeetesh, playing at his home

course, made a spectacularcomeback in regulation playbefore coming through in a

marathon playoff that lastedfour extra holes at theChandigarh Golf Club.

It was a classical contest forthe ages that saw Sandhu col-lect the winning cheque worthRs. 24,24,750 that catapulted

him from 48th to second posi-tion in the TATA Steel PGTI

Order of Merit.Rashid extended his lead to

over Rs 34 lakhs in the PGTI’smoney list despite his heart-

breaking loss. Khan’s PGTIearnings for 2019 now stand at

a whopping Rs. 61,21,653.Ajeetesh (66-69-67-66) and

Rashid (71-64-67-66), the jointleaders after round three, head-

ed for the playoff on Sundayafter ending up with identical

totals of 20-under-268 in regu-lation play.

It turned out to be the lowestwinning score at the

Chandigarh Golf Club, improv-ing on Rahil Gangjee’s 13-

under-275 at the PGTI PlayersChampionship in 2013.Karandeep Kochhar of

Chandigarh took third place at17-under-271 after a flawless 68

in round four. Abhijit SinghChadha, another local lad,

matched the course record ofeight-under-64. — PTI

City shatter CrystalLLoonnddoonn,, OOcctt.. 2200:: Manche-ster City brushed aside in-form Crystal Palace 2-0 onSaturday to narrow thegap to Premier Leagueleaders Liverpool to fivepoints.

The defending champi-ons travelled to Londonwith questions over theirability to sustain a titlechallenge after two defeatsin four league games butproduced some incisivefootball without applyingtheir usual killer touch inthe game.

Pep Guardiola’s teamwere quickly into theirstride against RoyHodgson’s men, dominat-ing possession and forcingPalace onto the back footbut they did not break thedeadlock until shortlybefore half-time.

City were rewarded fortheir dominance in the39th minute whenBernardo Silva whippedin a left-footed cross.Gabriel Jesus shaped tohead the ball but it cameoff his shoulder and creptinto the net off the far postpast a rooted WayneHennessey.

They doubled their leadjust two minutes later fol-lowing a speedy counter-attack.

When the ball came toRaheem Sterling he pro-duced a delightful chipfrom just inside the areainto the path of DavidSilva, who watched it dropover his left shoulderbefore guiding it into thenet.

GGUUAARRDDIIOOLLAA CCAALLLLSS FFOORRKKIILLLLEERR IINNSSTTIINNCCTT

Manchester City managerPep Guardiola called onhis side to be more clinicalafter they brushed asidein-form Crystal Palace 2-0on Saturday to narrow thegap to Premier Leagueleaders Liverpool to fivepoints.

City had 21 shots butPalace goalkeeper WayneHennessey kept his side inthe game and the visitorshad their own ‘keeper,Ederson, to thank for acouple of outstandingsaves at the other end.

“We played good, createda lot of chances. They arealways so strong for thesecond ball. Unfortunately,we could not convert thechances we had but it wasan important three pointsafter the internationalbreak,” said City bossGuardiola.

“Hopefully we can startfrom here and continueour good performance,”Manchester city coachadded. — AFP

Jesus, Silva net goals as Manchester win three crucial points at Palace

Warriors get the swag off Dabang AAhhmmeeddaabbaadd,, OOcctt.. 2200:: Aclinical Bengal Warriorson Saturday clinched theirmaiden Pro KabaddiLeague title by defeatingDabang Delhi 39-34 in apulsating summit clashhere.

Naveen Kumar was bril-liant once again with 18raid points for Delhi butuncharacteristic errorscost their title hopes infront of a packed audience,including Sports MinisterKiren Rijiju, at the EKAArena by TransStadia.

The Warriors did nothave the services of starraider and captainManinder Singh but gotsupport with his presenceas assistant coach of theteam in the final match ofSeason Seven.

The pressure of the final

got to the Warriors in theearly minutes as Delhistormed to a 6-0 lead.Naveen Kumar certainlylooked charged up for theevent while Delhi’s covercombination of AnilKumar and Vishal Manealso seemed keen to stopany raider coming theirway.

The Delhi side clinchedtheir All-Out in the 8thminute to open a four-point lead but theWarriors were a differentside after the restart.Stand-in captainMohammad Nabibakhsh

picked up his game, clinch-ing valuable raid points, asthe Warriors quicklyreduced Delhi’s lead.

Delhi’s Iranian playerMeraj Sheykh impressedas a substitute, picking uptwo raid points in pressuresituations, but theWarriors secured theirfirst All-Out with underfour minutes remainingfor the break.

The closely-contestedfirst-half ended with thescores levelled at 17-17.

The Warriors main-tained that momentum inthe second half as they

quickly got into the lead.Sukesh Hegde once againsizzled for the Warriorswith some mature raiding,often getting the better ofRavinder Pahal in Delhi’sleft corner.

Perhaps the smartestmove from the Warriors’camp was to deploy theexperienced Jeeva Kumarin a shifting cover role,depending on the raider’sstrong foot.

The decision helped asthe Warriors clinchedanother All-Out in the 8thminute of the half to open-up a 4-point lead.

Delhi’s Naveen Kumarclinched his Super 10 inthe 10th minute (21st con-secutive) but his sidestruggled to get a strangle-hold of the Warriors.

— PTI

Ronaldo on target for JuventusMMiillaann,, OOcctt.. 2200:: CristianoRonaldo and MiralemPjanic sealed a 2-1 win forJuventus over Bologna toconsolidate top spot inSerie A.

Ronaldo was presentedwith a special jerseybefore kick-off to mark his700th career goal scoredplaying for Portugal dur-ing the week.

The 34-year-old hit his701st after 19 minutes,with Pjanic adding a sec-ond eight minutes afterthe break following a blun-der by Brazilian defenderDanilo, who had earlierpulled Bologna level.

The defending champi-ons are now four pointsclear of second-placedInter Milan.

Atalanta stay third afterthrowing away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 withLazio, with fourth-placedNapoli closing the gap tojust one point afterArkadiusz Milik’s doublesaw off Verona.

Bologna coach SinisaMihajlovic returned to thebench in Turin after hissecond course ofchemotherapy as he bat-tles cancer.

And the visitors weregiven reason to hope ofsnatching a rare pointagainst the Turin giantswhen Danilo responded toRonaldo’s opener with a29th-minute volley.

But Pjanic sealed victorywith his third goal in fourgames in the 54th minuteamid chaos in front of theBologna goal.

— AFP

Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus (centre) vies for the ball with James McArthur (left) as Jeffrey Schlupp (right) of Crystal Palace looks on duringtheir English Premier League match at Selhurst Park, south London, on Saturday. City won 2-0. — AFP

Amit PPanghal

Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus holds a jersey bearing hisname with the number 700, after being honoured forhaving scored 700 goals so far in his career, prior totheir Italian league football match against Bologna onSaturday at the Juventus stadium in Turin. — AFP

Panghal offthe blocks in Wuhan WWuuhhaann,, OOcctt.. 2200:: WorldChampionships silvermedallist Amit Panghalwon his opening bout inthe men’s flyweight (52kg)category as the boxersgave India a good start inthe 7th CISM WorldMilitary Games here onSaturday.

Panghal beat DouglasAndrade of Brazil, whileChirag (56kg) defeatedZambia’s KatangaChristopher 5-0.

In the men’s light fly cat-egory (49kg), Deepakdefeated Iran’s Abasz-adeh Ali while SatishKumar also won his superheavyweight category(+91kg) bout againstBrazil’s NascimentoCosme 3-2. — PTI

Indian coltsgo downfightingJJoohhoorr BBaahhrruu ((MMaallaayy--ssiiaa)),,OOcctt.. 2200:: The Indian juniormen’s hockey team lost toGreat Britain 1-2 in thefinal of the 9th Sultan ofJohor Cup here onSaturday.

Right from the hooter itwas India forcing thepace, and put GreatBritain on the back foot.They were forcing theattacks, creating morecircle penetrations buttheir finishing was lettingthem down.

The first real opportuni-ty fell to Maninder Singh,who dribbled past threeGreat Britain players tosinglehandedly fashion ashooting chance, whichflew just over the cross-bar.

Soon enough thoughJames Mazarelo wascalled into action in GreatBritain’s goal, first savinga sharp chance offSudeep before parryingthree consecutive penaltycorners, to ensure histeam went into the breaklevel.

India upped the ante inthe second quarter, andthis time it was OliverPayne in goal who washolding the score level.

In the fourth quarter,Great Britain won theirfirst penalty corner of thegame. Despite the initialsave on the line by Sanjay,the ricochet fell to StuartRushmere who slottedhome first time to drawhis team level.

Then, a ricochet fell toRushmere, who slottedhome to give GreatBritain the win and thetitle.

— PTI

Madrid take aReal tumbleMMaaddrriidd,, OOcctt.. 2200:: Troublereturned to Real Madridafter they endured theirfirst La Liga defeat of theseason at newly-promotedReal Mallorca.

Zinedine Zidane, DavidBeckham and Robinhowere in the last RealMadrid team to lose aleague game at San Moixin 2006 and 13 years later,Mallorca repeated thetrick thanks to a scintillat-ing strike by Junior Lagoin the first half.

Alvaro Odriozolaallowed Lago too muchroom to cut inside and wasthen sent off late on, evenif Madrid’s attempts at acomeback looked doomedwell before they werereduced to 10 as they lost 0-1.

The defeat halts theresurgence of Zidane’sside just as Barcelona’sappears to be gatheringpace, a 3-0 win away atEibar giving the Catalanstheir fifth consecutive vic-tory in all competitions.Lionel Messi, Luis Suarezand Antoine Griezmannscored the goals.

In between, AtleticoMadrid were pegged backby Valencia as a brilliantDani Parejo free-kickearned the visitors a hard-

earned 1-1 draw at theWanda Metropolitano.

It means Barca will fin-ish the weekend top of thetable for the first time thisseason as the defendingchampions continue toleave their stumbling startfurther behind them.

For Real, five gamesunbeaten and three ofthem victories had noterased the doubts, but atleast seemed to offer evi-dence Zidane’s team wereturning a corner.

But Mallorca, who climbto 14th, deserved their tri-umph in what is their firstseason back in the topflight since relegationended 15 consecutiveyears there in 2014.

Lago collected the ball onthe left in the seventhminute, drove at theretreating Odriozolabefore cutting inside andunleashing a shot.

Madrid lacked purposeand cutting edge, withtheir hopes all but dashedwhen Odriozola capped amiserable night by flyingin late on Lago in the 74thminute and collecting asecond yellow card.

— AFP

They are always sostrong for the secondball. Unfortunately, wecould not convert thechances we had but itwas an important threepoints after the interna-tional break.

— PEP GUARDIOLA

Manchester City manager

JOHOR || CUP

SPANISH || LEAGUE

●● India grabbed thelead throughGursahibjit Singh inthe 49th minute. ●● Stuart Rushmerescored a brace tohelp England win.

●● Despite missing their captain ManinderSingh in the title round, Bengal pulled offan emphatic 39-34 win over Delhi, winningtheir maiden Pro Kabaddi League title.

Players of BengalWarriors celebrate afterdefeating DelhiDabang in thePro-Kabaddileague final inAhmedabad onSaturday. Bengalbeat Delhi 39-34.

— PTI