cdn.splessons.com · sanjay bbasak new delhi, oct. 24 taking the voters for granted did not work...

SANJAY BBASAKNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

Taking the voters for granted did notwork for the BJP this time. The slogan,“Ab ki baar 75 paar” about the 90 seatsin Haryana and 220-plus target of 228Assembly berths in Maharashtra fell bythe wayside.

The BJP, which brazenly ignoredlocal issues, refused to address econom-ic slow down, unemployment and stuckinstead to contentious national issues— abrogation of Article 370 and theNational Register of Citizens (NRC) —was delivered a body blow by voters inboth the states.

There arealready talksof replacingPunjabi chiefm i n i s t e rManohar LalKhattar witha Jat face inHaryana.

If Haryanaturned into anunmitigatedhorror showfor the BJPwith a hungAssembly andsix ministerslosing the

polls, in Maharashtra, despite theNDA’s win, BJP was put on the racks asits ally and bugbear Shiv Sena begantalking of a “50-50 deal” for the chiefminister’s post.

Despite the poor show in Haryana, theBJP, which was six short of the simplemajority of 46 Assembly berths has wonthe support of four of the sevenIndependent candidates. Now just twoseats short of majority, chief ministerKhattar is all set to stake claim to formthe government. The party has flownthe Independent MLAs to Delhi to “keepthem safe” from “poachers”.

The by-polls held in 51 Assembly seatsalso did not go the BJP way. Eventhough the BJP held on to 30 Assemblyberths, the Congress managed to win 12

and eight went to others. Gujarat, thehome turf of both, PM Narendra Modiand home minister Amit Shah, threw upa major surprise with the Congress win-ning three of the six Assembly by-polls.

BJP has won two and was leading inone. Turncoat Alpesh Thakor, who hadquit the Congress to join the BJP, lostthe bypoll to Radhanpur Assembly seatin Gujarat. Even though the Congress

has miles to go, it was celebrating the tri-umph of the old guard. Despite Congressleader Rahul Gandhi’s open attempts tosideline former chief minister and Jat■ Turn tto PPage 55

SREEPARNA CCHAKRABARTY and ASHHAR KKHANNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

More than the BJP forming the gov-ernment, it was the resurgence of theCongress that made news in thisround of Assembly polls onThursday. However, it wasn’t theclout of Rahul Gandhi’s brigade, but acarefully craft-ed socialalliance of Jatsand dalits thatbrought cheerto the flaggingparty inHaryana. InMaharashtra, itwas the changein the stateleadership andthe alliancewith SharadP a w a r ’ sN a t i o n a l i s tCongress Partythat did thetrick for theCongress inincreasing its tally. The decision tomake Jat strongman BhupinderHooda the party’s face and dalit leaderKumari Selja the pradesh Congresscommittee chief just a little over amonth before the state went to polls iswhat paid dividends for the party inHaryana. A decision was also taken atthe highest level to give charge of thecampaigning to Mr Hooda which paidrich dividends.

Along with this, the campaign strat-egy of focussing on economic distress■ Turn tto PPage 55

Crafting castealliance reviveswoe-hit Cong

◗ Making JatstrongmanBhupinderHooda the

party’s face anddalit leader

Kumari Selja thestate committeechief just beforepolls is what led

to the party’simpressive per-

formance inHaryana

People ofMaharashtrahave blessedNDA withimmense affec-tion. We arehumbled to havegot the people’ssupport yetagain. — Narendra

Modi

BJP-SHIV SENA TO FORM GOVT IN MAHA, MANOEUVRING BEGINS IN HARYANA

ASSEMBLY ELECTION VERDICT 2019 MAHARASHTRA, HARYANA

BJP leads, but loses heft

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THE ASIAN AGENEW DELHI FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER 2019

Tiger Shroff not eager to jump into the digital space

Max: 31OCMin: 19OCRH: 49%Rainfall: 20%

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ASTROGUIDE

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday rejectedtelecom companies’ appeal

against the government'sdefinition of adjusted grossrevenue (AGR) and allowed

the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT

to recover dues worth`92,000 crore from telecom

companies — Bharti Airtel,Reliance Communications

(RCom) and Vodafone Idea.Full report on Page 9

Bollywood actor SonakshiSinha at a Diwali party, host-ed by producer RameshTaurani, in Mumbai, late onWednesday. — PTI

Vikari: DakshinayanaTithi: Ashwayuja Bahula

Dwadasi till 7.05 pm Star: Pubbai till 10.58 amVarjyam: 5.24 pm to 6.50

pm Durmuhurtam: 8.33 am to9.19 am, 12.22 pm to 1.08

pm Rahukalam: 10.30 am to

12 pmSUNSET TODAY 5.42 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.28 AMMOONRISE TOMORROW 4.10 AM

MOONSET TODAY 4.06 PM

SC allows Centre to recover `92Kcr

from telecom firms

New Delhi: Government isconsidering tax relief forindividuals as it looks at

measures to accelerate con-sumer demand and boosteconomic growth, peoplewith direct knowledge of

the matter said. The Modi’sgovernment is mulling a

proposal to hike the taxableincome limits.

Full report on Page 9

Govt mulls personalIncome Tax relief

London: The 39 peoplefound dead in a truck in

Britain were Chinese nation-als, British media outlets

reported on Thursday, citingsources. The victims were

discovered in a container onthe back of a truck in Grays,

east of London, onWednesday.

Full report on 1

39 dead in UK wereChinese, says media

COUNTERPOINT

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25

AGE CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

The Jannayak JanataParty (JJP) hasemerged as a thirdforce in Haryana asresults for theAssembly polls came inon Thursday. With theparty securing at least10 Assembly con-stituencies, it mayemerge as one of thekey factors in forma-tion of a new govern-ment.

With the BharatiyaJanata Party fallingshort of half-way markin the 90 memberHouse, it is learnt thatparty is in touch with■ Turn tto PPage 55

JJP emergesas 3rd forcein Haryana

BHAGWAN PPARAB aandSONU SSHRIVASTAVAMUMBAI, OCT. 24

The Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and Shiv Senawill form the next govern-ment in Maharashtra,albeit with a reduced mar-gin, and some compromis-es.

Indicating that he woulddrive a hard bargain intalks with the BJP duringgovernment formation,Sena chief UddhavThackeray said onThursday that it was timeto implement “fifty-fifty”formula for power-sharingdecided during the LokSabha polls.

“Despite the 50:50 formu-la, I agreed to contestfewer seats in the Vidhan

Sabha polls taking intoconsideration the BJP’sdifficulties. However, I amnow not ready toempathise with the BJPevery time as I have tolook after my own party’sgrowth,” he said. Claims■ Turn tto PPage 55

Uddhav insists on50-50 power share

VINEETA PPANDEYNEW DELHI, OCT. 24:

The Bharatiya JanataParty’s popularity took ahit as the results of thebypolls, that were con-ducted in two parliamen-tary and 51 Assemblyseats across 17 states, weredeclared on Thursday.Even though in theAssembly bypolls, the BJPtook 14 and the Congressbagged 12 seats, the resultsthrew a few surprises inBihar and Gujarat.

The BJP managed to getonly one out of the fiveAssembly seats in Bihar,while Lalu Prasad Yadav’sRashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) got two. Gujaratresults were also surpris-

ing as both, the Congressand the BJP, got threeeach out of the six seatsthat went for bypolls.

In all, the saffron partyand its allies grabbed atotal of 30 seats.

Another surprise was

Asaduddin Owaisi’sTelangana-based partyAIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen),which opened its accountin the north with its firstvictory in Bihar after its■ Turn tto PPage 55

Bypolls spring surprisesfor BJP in Bihar, Gujarat

BHAGWAN PPARABMUMBAI, OCT. 24

When cam-p a i g n i n gbegan forthe LokSabha polls,the chancesof SharadP a w a r - l e dN a t i o n a l i s tCongress Party(NCP) was all butwritten off by pollpundits. Badly hit bya series of defec-tions, NCP wasexpected to hit rockbottom in theAssembly polls.However, the partyrose like a phoenixfrom the ashes andsurprised everyoneby winning 54 seats.

The NCP emergedas the third-largestparty in the state,relegating theCongress to thefourth position. Ifthe BJP-Senaalliance decides toform a governmenttogether, NCP willstake claim to theposition of Leader ofOpposition in thel e g i s l a t i v eAssembly.

The credit for therevival of NCP’s for-tunes goes to its 79-year-old party chiefSharad Pawar, whosingle-handedly ranthe party’s cam-paign, notwithstand-ing his poor health.He also took onBJP’s star campaign-ers, PM NarendraModi and CMDevendra Fadnavisaggressively, whichenergised the party’scadre.

Pawar magicleads to NCP’sremarkablepoll comeback

It is time to remindthe BJP about theformula arrived atwhen BJP chiefAmit Shah visitedmy home... We haddecided on fifty-fiftyformula for thealliance.

— UddhavThackeray

� Asaduddin Owaisi’sTelangana-basedAIMIM opened itsaccount in the northwith its first victory inBihar. Its candidateQamrul HodadefeatedSweety Singh ofthe BJP inKishanganj

� Bypolls were heldfor 2 parliamentary,51 Assembly seatsacross 17 states inIndia� The BJP took 14 andthe Congress bagged12 seats� BJP’s popularitytook a hit as theresults of the bypolls

OWAISI’S PARTY OPENS BIHAR ACCOUNT

SharadPawar

TOTAL 161

MAHARASHTRABJP 105 + SS 56

TOTAL 98CONG 44 + NCP 54

OTHERS 29

Congress spokespersonloses to BJP’s Leela Ramfrom Kaithal by 1,246 votes.He had also lost LS polls.

SURJEWALA LOSES, AGAINAbhimanyu, Cabinet minister in Haryana, losesto JJP’s Ram K. Gautam inNarnaund by 18,243 votes.

MANTRI ABHIMANYU LOSES Great-grandson of Devi Lalseemed set to play ‘king-maker’ after his JJP won 10seats in its debut elections

‘KINGMAKER’ DUSHYANT?

BJP 40 CONG 31 JJP 10 OTHERS 09

TOTALSEATS288 MAGIC

MARK146

HARYANA TOTALSEATS90 MAGIC

MARK46

� In the 2 parliamentary bypolls, the NCP and Lok Jan Shakti Partyretained their seats in Satara (Maharashtra) and

Samastipur (Bihar) respectively. The Samastipurseat was taken by LJSP’s Prince Raj, while

NCP’s Shriniwas Patil won from Satarawith ease.

PARLIAMENTARY BYPOLLS

Shiv Sena’s AadityaThackeray won from Worli.He is the first Thackeray tostand for elections.

AADITYA WINS WORLIFormer Maharashtra dy CMand NCP leader Ajit Pawarwon from Baramati withover 1.65 lakh vote margin

AJIT PAWAR TAKES BARAMATIMaha minister loses toher cousin and NCP candi-date Dhananjay Mundefrom Parli

PANKAJA MUNDE LOSES


Thanking people ofMaharashtra andHaryana for reposingfaith in the BJP, PrimeMinister Narendra Modion Thursday praisedboth the incumbentchief ministers —Devendra Fadnavis andMahohar Lal Khattar.

Asserting that the BJPled governments in bothstates will work evenharder in the next fiveyears to serve them, MrModi said while govern-ments often lose powerafter five years, it is“remarkable” that theBJP have been given afresh mandate for fiveyears in both states. TheBJP’s tally, howvere,decreased in both statesas compared to lastAssembly polls.

While addressing theBJP workers at the partyheadquarters, Mr Modidescribed the party’sperformance inHaryana,where it failedeven to get simple major-ity, as “unprecedented”.He also said that theparty’s vote share wentup to 36 per cent from 33per cent in 2014.

Congratulating MrKhattar and Mr

Fadnavis, the PrimeMinister said theKhattar governmenttook along all sections ofsociety while hisMaharashtra counter-part ran an untaintedadministration andbecame the firstMaharashtra chief min-ister in 50 years to com-plete term.

Mr Modi said both thechief ministers had noprior administrativeexperience when theytook over in 2014 but thepeople “have put theirstamp of approval on theworks on these chiefministers”.

Recalling his organisa-tional work in Haryana,Mr Modi said the BJP

would often fight elec-tions as a junior partnerof one party or anotherin the state and consid-ered itself lucky if itcrossed even 10 seats inassembly polls before2014. Noting that it usedto be a junior partner toShiv Sena inMaharashtra before2014, Mr Modi said theBJP-run states work“seamlessly” to imple-ment central schemeswhile the opposition-ruled states are busier inrenaming them.

Earlier, BJP presidentAmit Shah hailed themandate and said theparty has won the firstround of elections in theModi 2.0 government.

NAYEAR AAZADPATNA, OCT. 24

Bihar chief ministerNitish Kumar suffered ahuge setback after NDAlost three of the fiveassembly seats during theby-polls on Thursday.

The LJP, which is also amember of NDA in Bihar,however, managed toretain its Samastipur par-liamentary seat which fellvacant upon the demise ofsenior party leader andMP Ram Chandra Paswan.His son Prince Raj won theseat by a comfortable mar-gin by defeating Congressrival Ashok Kumar.

Simri Bakhtiyarpur andBelhar Assembly seatswere won by the RJD.Daraundha seat where arebel BJP leaderKaranjeet Singh aliasVyas Singh contested asan independent againstthe JD(U) nominee alsowon by a huge margin.

In Kishanganj, BJP can-didate Sweety Singh wasdefeated by AsaduddinOwaisi’s party AIMIMnominee Qamarul Hodaby more than 11,000 votes.According to politicalexperts, AIMIM’s entry inKishanganj could influ-ence a large group of vot-ers in the Seemanchalregion where Muslimshave maximum represen-tation.

During the Lok Sabhapolls, AIMIM’s candidateAkhtarul Imam wasdefeated by Congress nom-inee Mohammad Javed.

Political analysts are ofthe view that poor per-formance by the rulingalliance may cause troublefor the JD(U) which hasbeen trying to maintain astatus of “big brother” inthe NDA. Sources said thata section in the BJP wantsintrospection at the orga-

nizational level to find rea-sons behind the humiliat-ing defeat.

Speaking on the issueJD(U) spokespersonArvind Nishad said that,“NDA’s performance inthe by-election is a matterof introspection. We willsoon review the pollresults to find reasonsbehind our defeat”.

Upbeat over the party’svictory in the by-electionsRJD spokespersonMrityunjay Tiwary onThursday said, “People ofBihar have suffered dur-ing the current regimeand now want a change.We are sure that the RJDled alliance will be able toform a government in2020”.

Using the occasion tocharge Nitish governmentfor poor handling of floodcrisis and AES outbreakin the state, RJD leaderssaid, “He remained inpower for almost 15 yearsbut failed in providingeven basic facilities for thepeople. By-elections is anindication that people ofthe state are not happywith the government".

By-polls on five assemblyseats in Bihar were neces-sitated after MLAs whorepresented them won theLok Sabha elections earli-er this year.

■ Bypolls deal body blow to NDA, hold glimmer of hope for RJD


The credibility of theExit Polls came undercloud once again withalmost all barring two —TV9 Bharatvarsh andIndian Today-Axis — thathad predicted a close fightand a hung assembly inHaryana. Majority of theExit Polls had, however,had predicted a SaffronTsunami indicating hugemajority for the BJP-ShivSena alliance where theNCP and Congress combi-nation did not do as badas predicted.

In Maharashtra, the‘Poll of Exit Polls’ showedBJP-SS alliance were tobag 218 seats in theassembly of 288 while theCongress-NCP was to get57 and others 13. InHaryana too the ‘Poll ofExit Polls’ gave BJP 66seats in the Assembly of90, while giving 14 to theCongress, 2 to INLD andAkali Dal alliance and 8to others.

However, Haryana waswhere majority of theExit Polls went wrong asthey failed to catch themood on the ground.India Today whichannounced its Exit Pollsthe next day kept its esti-mates conservative andpredicted a close fightbetween the BJP and theCongress. It predicted 30-40 seats for the Congressand 32-42 for the BJP.

The ABP-C Voter hadpredicted 70 seats for theBJP and eight for theCongress, while the CNN-IPSOS and Times Nowforecast of 75 and 71 forthe BJP and 10 and 11 forthe Congress respectively.

In Maharashtra, theIndia Today-Axis poll pre-dicted 166-194 seats for theBJP-Shiv Sena, 72-90 forthe Congress-NCP and 22-34 for other smaller par-ties and independents. InMaharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is setto bag 159 seats and theCongress-NCP alliance102 seats. The ABP-CVoter had a made a fore-cast of 210 seats for theBJP and 63 seats for theCongress-NCP alliance,while the Times Now gave230 and eight for 48 for theBJP-Sena and theCongress-NCP combine.

This is not the first timethat the majority of ExitPolls have failed to givecorrect predictions. Thesituation was similar tothe Exit Polls of Bihar in2015 where majority ofthe pollsters went wrongafter they predicted hugemajority for the BJP-ledNDA and giving little tothe then Grand Allianceof Janata Dal-U,Rashtriya Janata Dal,Congress and others.Today’s Chanakya, whichhad earned a reputationfor being most accuratehad to issue an apologyafter it went way off markin Bihar.

In fact, the only one thathad got it right in Bihar2015 was Axis-Ad-Print-Media that had to post itsfindings on website afterthe news channel it hadtied up with refused to air.

Barring two, allexit polls offthe mark again

‘Maha, Haryana havereposed trust in BJP’

REACTIONSSHARAD PAWAR

People havenot acceptedthe talk of220 seats(out of288)... Theelection

result shows peopledid not like thearrogance of power.

SANJAY RAUT

It will be a BJP-ShivSena government.

Seats may increase ofdecrease in an election.We will talk to Uddhavji,he will then speakwith the CM. Andwhat was agreedbefore the elec-tion, 50-50.

Shiv Sena leader

NCP chief

PANKAJA MUNDE

I worked forthe con-stituency.Though, Iwas in thegovernment,my struggle

for my constituencyand people contin-ued.

BHUPINDER SINGH HOODA

We (Congress)would have won a

full majority if we hadmore time. The trendsare in our favour. Peoplewant a stronggovernment withthe Congress, JJPand other parties.

Former Haryana CM

BJP leader

DUSHYANT CHAUTALA

Counting ofslips from aVVPAT isunderway.As soon as Iget certifi-cate,I’ll dis-

cuss with everyoneand decide futurecourse of action.

AJAY KUMAR LALLU

Till the 27th round,the Congress candi-

date was leading by 4,753votes and then the DMgot the countingstopped and thecandidate andcounting agentsto leave thecounting centre

UPCC president

JJP chief

SITARAM YECHURY

Results showthat commu-nal jingoismdoes notwork at atime whenpeople are in

misery over lack ofjobs and economicslowdown

AKHILESH YADAV

People have seenthrough BJP game

plan and will no longer befooled by their falsepromises. They arenow talking aboutour regime andcomparing it withBJP.

Former CM UP

CPM general secretary

◗ Haryana waswhere majority ofthe Exit Polls wentwrong as they failedto catch the moodon the ground.

Srinagar/Jammu, Oct. 24:The first democratic exer-cise in Jammu and Kashmirafter the scrapping of itsspecial status in August washeld on Thursday, with allmajor political parties,other than the BJP, stayingaway from the BlockDevelopment Council (BDC)elections because of contin-ued detention of their lead-ers.

Out of the 26,629 eligible'panch' and 'sarpanch', 98.3per cent voted to elect 310chairperson for theirrespective blocks, ChiefElectoral Officer (CEO)Shailendra Kumar said.

Panch and Sarpanch areelected by people at the vil-lage level. These representa-tives go on to elect chairper-sons of Block Development

Councils which are secondtier organisation in thePanchayati Raj system.

The state has 316 blocksbut elections were held in283 blocks on Thursday. In27 blocks, chairpersonswere elected unopposed.

Elections couldn’t takeplace in two blocks as theydid not have an electedpanch and sarpanch, whilein four blocks reserved forwomen, there was no elect-ed woman panch.

The panch and sarpanchin Srinagar were taken in abus under security cover tofacilitate them in pollingand the district, which hasbeen witnessing a tenseatmosphere since August 5when the state’s special sta-tus under Article 370 wasabrogated by the Centre,

saw 100 per cent polling by11 am.

The similar exercise wasfollowed in all remainingdistricts in Kashmir, whereterrorists have threatenedto disrupt the democraticexercise.

The poll percentage for the10 districts in the Kashmirregion was 93.65 per centand 99.4 per cent for the 10districts in the Jammuregion, Kumar said.

There were 26,629 panchand sarpanch voters -- 8,313women and 18,316 men -- for

the polls to elect chairper-sons of BDCs, officials said.

PRIs have three levels —village, block and district —and election for the first tierwere held last year, whichwas also boycotted by theNational Conference (NC)and the People’s DemocraticParty (PDP).

Congress, CPI(M), NC andPDP did not take part in theelections, which are beingheld on party basis, leavingthe field open to the BJP,that had candidates in 280blocks, and Independents.

The National Conferencehad made clear that it wouldbe able to decide on partici-pating in the BDC electionsonly after its leadership was released so that abroader consultation couldbe held. — PTI

98.3% polling in first-ever BDC polls in J&K◗ The panch andsarpanch in Srinagarwere taken in a busunder security coverto facilitate them inpolling.

Nitish Kumar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to addresssupporters at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi onThursday. BJP president Amit Shah and workingpresident J.P. Nadda are also seen. — PTI

AIMIM opens account in BiharThe byelections to 51 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituenciesacross 17 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry have thrown up a

few surprises, especially in BJP-ruled Bihar and Gujarat

ASSAM� The BJP has retainedRangapara andRatabari constituenciesin the assembly bypollswhile its party candi-date also won in Sonari.

� BJP’s RajenBorthakurdefeated hisnearestCongress

candidateKartik Kurmi by awhopping 50,104 votesin Rangapara � Bijoy Malakar wasdeclared winner inRatabari.

KERALA� In Vattiy-oorkavu inThiruvan-

anthapuramdistrict, CPM’s

young face VK Prasanthwon with 14,465 votes� In Konni, situated inPathanamthitta districtwhere Sabarimala islocated, CPM’s JaneeshKumar is won with9,940 votes.� Congress candidateShanimol Usman wonwith a slight majority of2,079 votes in Aroor

� Congress candidate Rita Chaudhary onThursday won the Mandawa assembly bypollin Rajasthan by a margin of 33,704 votes.� On the other Assembly constituency ofKhinwsar in Nagaur, RLP candidate NarayanBeniwal has defeated Congress leaderHarendra Mirdha, who hails from the Mirdhafamily

HIMACHAL� Ruling BJPretained bothDharamshala andPachhad seats inHimachal Pradeshwhere bypollswere held earlierthis week. InPachhad, ReenaKashyap of the BJPdefeated her near-est rival formerminister GanguRam Musafir of theCongress by amargin of 2,742votes. � In Dharamshala,BJP’s Vishal Nehria

defeated hisnearestrivalRakeshKumar by a

margin of6,758votes.

PUNJAB� The rulingCongress won threeAssembly seats,while the oppositionShiromani Akali Dal(SAD) won one in thePunjab bypolls� Congress candi-date and former IASofficer B.S. Dhaliwaldefeated BJP’sRajesh Bagha by amargin of 26,116votes in Phagwara.� Congress’s InduBala won fromMukerian by defeat-ing BJP’s J.L.Mahajan.

� Congress’sRaminder AwladefeatedSAD’s R.S.Dibipura by

16,633 votesin Jala-labad

� Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP retainedthe Samastipur reserved LokSabha seat from where hisnephew Prince Raj made asuccessful debut in the by-election necessitated bythe death of his father

� The AIMIM registered its firstelectoral victory in Bihar with itscandidate, Qamrul Hoda, winningfrom Kishanganj� RJD’s Zafar Alam and RamdeoYadav won from Simri Bakhtiarpurand Belhar respectively

BIHAR

RAJASTHAN

2019ASSEMBLYVERDICT Congress workers must

believe that the BJP can bedefeated in an election. Calmand quiet patriotism candefeat muscular nationalism

— P. ChidambaramSenior Congress leader

PAGE

2

AKHILESH YADAV TERMS THE VICTORY OF SP CANDIDATES INUTTAR PRADESH BYELECTION AND MAHARASHTRAASSEMBLY POLLS AS A MANDATE TO SAVE DEMOCRACY

FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI THE ASIAN AGE

BHUPINDERSINGH HOODA● Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, defeats S.Nandal (BJP) by58,213 VOTES

ANIL VIJ (BJP))● Ambala Cant,defeats ChitraSarwara(Independent) by20,165 VOTES

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS(BJP) ● Nagpur SW, defeatsAshish Deshmukh (Cong)by 49,344 VOTES

C.C. BHUJBAL(NCP)● Yevla (Maha),beats SambhajiSahebrao Pawar(Shiv Sena) by53,870 VOTES

AMITDESHMUKH(CONG)● Latur, beatsSailesh Lahoti(BJP) by40,321 VOTES

M.L. KHATTAR (BJP)● Karnal, beatsTarlochan (Cong)by 45,000 VOTES

CAPTAINABHIMANYU (BJP)● Narnaud, losesto R.K. Gautam(JJP) by18,243 VOTES

RANDEEPSURJEWALA(CONG)● Kaithal, losesto Leela Ram(BJP) by1,246 VOTES

YOGESHWARDUTT (BJP)● Baroda (Har),loses to S.K. Hooda(Congress) by5,000 VOTES

BIGLOSERS

BIGWINNERS

YOJNA GGUSAINEW DELHI, OCT. 24

An “overconfident” BJPfloundered in bothMaharashtra andHaryana in the Assemblypolls, though the partycontinued to remain asthe largest political outfitand indicated that it willstake the claim for gov-ernment formation inboth states under theincumbent chief minis-ters. Results ofMaharashtra andHaryana assembly pollswere declared onThursday.

Poll results were a clearindication that the BJP’snationalim plank, includ-ing the abrogation ofArticle 370, and also itsclaim of “pro-incumben-cy” factor, failed to garnerthe expected results. Justfew months ago, the BJPstrategists had given cred-it to both nationalism andpro-incumbency — for itsthumping majority in theparliamentary polls.Ticket distribution, over-confidence and anti-incumbency against thelocal BJP leadership, arealso being blamed for theparty performance, espe-cially in Haryana wherethe BJP remained short ofsix seats from the halfway mark.

While the party leadersgot in touch with inde-pendents in Haryana,including controversialleader Gopal Kanda, BJPnational president andUnion home ministerAmit Shah will speak toally Shiv Sena chiefUddhav Thackerayregarding governmentformation. Speculation isrife that Mr Thackeray’sson, Aditya, who made hiselectoral debut, could bethe deputy chief ministerin Devendra Fadnavis ledNDA government. The

BJP leadership also clari-fied that the saffron partywill continue to remainthe “big brother” in theruling alliance, thustrashing reports on thechief ministerial issuecoming from the Sena’sside. Mr Thackeray againraised the 50:50 powersharing formula.Speculation is also rifethat the BJP is also intouch with DushyantChautala, whose fledglingoutfit, JJP was the biggestgainers in Haryana otherthan the Congress. MrChautala however,remained non-committalon whether his partywould support the BJP ornot. The BJP parliamen-tary board met in theevening and was alsoattended by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.Earlier, BJP Mr Shah andMr Modi addressed theparty workers andthanked the voters forretaining faith in both the

states. Mr Modi appreciat-ed both Mr Khattar andMr Fadnavis for retainingthe people’s faith in theirrespective state and run-ning a corruption freegovernment and remind-ed that after 50 yearsMaharashtra saw a chiefminister completing fiveyears term. Mr Khattar isexpected to meet Mr Shahon Friday morning overgovernment formationissue.

In Haryana, where theBJP had set a target of‘Mission 75 plus,’ theparty remained short offew seats from the half-way mark in the 90-mem-ber assembly. Reportsreaching the BJP leader-ship showed that thenumerically dominantJats and the Dalitsfavoured were in favour ofthe saffron party’s oppo-nents. Dushyant Chautalaled JJP, a fledgling outfit,and the Congress were thebiggest gainers.

Chandigarh, Oct. 24: EightHaryana ministers lost theassembly elections, whichsaw just two of the 10 minis-ters fielded by the ruling BJPreturning to the state assem-bly. Cabinet minister andfive-time MLA Anil Vijretained his traditional bas-tion of Ambala Cantonment,whereas minister of state DrBanwari Lal emerged victo-rious from Bawal.

Mr Vij drubbed Congressrebel Chitra Sarwara, whofought as independent, byover 20,000 votes.

Dr Lal retained Bawal,defeating Dr M.L. Ranga byover 32,000 votes.

The minister who lost theelections are Ram BilasSharma (Mahendragarh),Capt Abhimanyu(Narnaund), Om PrakashDhankar (Badli), Kavita Jain(Sonipat), Krishan LalPanwar (Israna), ManishKumar Grover (Rohtak),Krishan Kumar Bedi(Shahbad), and Karan DevKamboj (Radaur).

The BJP had earlier deniedtickets to two of its minis-ters-Vipul Goel and RaoNarbir Singh.

The saffron party's idea ofshifting minister Karan DevKamboj from Indri to Raduaralso failed to yield positiveresults. Khattar retained hisKarnal constituency.

Grover and Kamboj lost totheir rivals by just over 2,000votes, whereas other minis-ters faced defeat by over10,000 votes. Lone womanminister in the Khattar cabi-net, Kavita Jain, a three-timeMLA, lost her traditionalSonipat seat. — PTI

BJP’s ‘nationalism’ plank backfired?

SREEPARNACHAKRABARTYNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

Thursday’s Assembly pollresults show that oldremains gold as far as theCongress is concerned withJat strongman BhupinderSingh Hooda and key allySharad Pawar helping it gar-ner a decent seat count inHaryana and Maharashtra.

Largely written off by thepollsters, who had predicteda tally of less than 10 seatsin both states for theCongress, the proverbial oldguard of the party showedits mettle.

The biggest takeaway wasin Haryana where the seniorHooda and his sonDeepinder had beenembroiled in a bitter turfbattle with then state PCCchief Ashok Tanwar. Mr

Tanwar, who is seen to be aRahul Gandhi pick, foughtbitterly to save his post, buteventually was ousted whenthe Hoodas threatened toleave the party.

Bowing to the pressure tac-tic, Congress presidentSonia Gandhi removed MrTanwar and made Dalitleader Kumari Selja the newPCC chief and BhupinderHooda the chief of the cam-paign committee as well asthe legislative party leader.

After this, it was MrTanwar’s turn to rebelwhich he did by announcing

his support for JJP’sDushyant Chautala.

The bitter rivalry contin-ued during campaigningwith things coming to such apass that Mr Hooda did noteven attend the two ralliesby Rahul Gandhi.

The results were thoughsatisfactory for theCongress with Mr Hoodalargely delivering with akitty of 31 seats in an elec-tion which had earlier beenseen to be a no contest.

In Maharashtra, the partyadopted a completely differ-ent strategy outsourcing theentire campaign to MrPawar. The old war horse, anex-Congressman, not onlykept his own pocketburough of Marathwadaintact, but also helped theNCP-Congress alliancebreach the respectable markof 100 seats. The veterans

versus new leadership rival-ry in Congress came out inthe open right after the LokSabha polls.

Days after the reults of thegeneral elections, MrGandhi had resigned as theparty president owingresponsibilty for the defeat.Sources say what he proba-bly expected was that all ofthe top leadership would fol-low suit thus helping himeffect a structural change.However, what it led to was abitter turf war between theold and new leaders.

While many of RahulGandhi loyalists or the “newguard” quit, the old leader-ship largely stayed putthough officially asking MrGandhi to continue. It wasonly after three monthssince the May 23 results thatSonia Gandhi took over asthe interim chief.

8 Haryanaministerslose polls

AGE CCORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, OCT. 24

The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)has emerged as a third force inHaryana as results for theAssembly polls came in onThursday. With the party secur-ing at least 10 Assembly con-stituencies, it may emerge as oneof the key factors in formation of anew government.

With the Bharatiya Janata Partyfalling short of half-way mark inthe 90 member House, it is learntthat party is in touch with severalof these newly-elected MLAs.However, it is also understood thatthe BJP is also trying to woo sever-al newly elected independentMLAs for possible post pollalliance.

JJP chief Dushyant Chautala hasproved he is a force to reckon within the state, with the chance that hecould even play kingmaker in caseof a hung assembly. The party,formed in December 2018, is under-stood to hav banked on its strongand infulential Jat votebank in thestate. The young and energeticleadership of Dushyant Chautala,led his less than an year old partyfrom the front and ensured that itemerged as a viable alternativethat has a future in the state poli-tics.

The JJP worked on a expectationthat a repeat of recent Lok Sabhapolls defeat would not be possible.

The alliance of the JJP with theAam Aadmi Party in the LokSabha polls earlier this year hadproved to be a disaster, where ithad to suffer a humiliating defeat,being unable to secure even a sin-gle seat. The party was confidentthat the situation before October2018 and after were different asover 80 percent of Chaudhary DeviLal loyalists have returned to theJJP fold, sources claimed.

The party was forced to contestthe Assembly polls alone after itsmuch-touted alliance with BahujanSamaj Party fell through just daysahead of the voting day.

However, the failure to get inot analliance has seemingly turned intoa boon for the party.

JJP, with 10 seats, mayget to play kingmaker

Cong old guard proves itself yet again

New Delhi, Oct. 24: TheCongress is adopting await-and-watch appr-oach and has kept itspost-poll options open inHaryana after the BJPfailed to get a majorityon its own in a hung ver-dict.

Sources said theCongress is seeking towoo all other non-BJPparties and its leadershave appealed to them tocome together in a bid tostop the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) fromretaining power in thestate.

Congress’s formerchief minister

Bhupinder Singh Hoodaarrived in the nationalcapital late in theevening for talks withthe party leadership.

He met some Congressleaders in Delhi and isset to meet party presi-dent Sonia Gandhi onFriday. Mr Hooda willalso hold discussionswith All India CongressCommittee (AICC) gen-eral secretary in-chargeof Haryana GhulamNabi Azad and seniorparty leader AhmedPatel. Earlier in the day,Mrs Gandhi called upHooda to discuss theelection verdict. — PTI

Haryana: Cong keepspost-poll options open

PARTY SEATSBJP

CONG

JJP

OTHERS 9

40

31

10

HARYANA 90 SEATS

New Delhi, Oct. 24: The poll verdictin Haryana and Maharashtra is amoral defeat of the BJP and what itstands for, the Congress said onThursday, hoping that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi will nowfocus on the problems confrontingthe country and its people.

Senior Congress spokespersonAnand Sharma said BJP presidentAmit Shah’s claim of victory inHaryana does not hold as the partyis short of a majority.

There has also been a significantdrop in the BJP’s vote percentagein just four months after its LokSabha election victory in the state,he said.

Claiming that the verdict ofHaryana is against the BJP, MrSharma said all parties opposingthe BJP must come together as hasbeen appealed by former Haryanachief minister Bhupinder SinghHooda.

“We accept the verdict of the peo-ple with humility. This verdict is amoral defeat for the BJP and what

they stand for,” hetold reporters at apress conference.

Prime MinisterModi, BJP chiefAmit Shah and itsentire leadershipare away from theground realitiesand their cam-paigns did nottalk about peo-

ple’s issues, Mr Sharma said.Even after “misuse” of official

machinery and state resources inmassive campaigns in the twostates, the BJP’s vote share fell sig-nificantly, he claimed.

There is a need to create a mas-sive awareness programme thatwill come out in the form of a ‘janandolan’. “They cannot terrorisethe Indian voters anymore”, MrSharma said.

The Congress party hopes that“Mr Modi will now look into theproblems confronting the country.”

— PTI

Election verdict moraldefeat of BJP: Congress

Hooda Pawar

Anand Sharma

◗ The party was forced tocontest the polls aloneafter its much-toutedalliance with BSP fellthrough just days aheadof the voting day

BABITA PHOGAT ● Dadri, loses toSomvir Sangwan by 14,272VOTES

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla Kiloiconstituency celebrates after his victory in the Assembly elections inRohtak on Thursday. — PTI

2019ASSEMBLYVERDICT Prime Minister Modi, BJP

chief Amit Shah and its entireleadership are away from the ground realities

— Anand SharmaCong leader

PAGE

3

ALMOST HALF OF RULING BJP’S SITTING MLAs LOST THEELECTIONS, INCLUDING EIGHT MINISTERS, AS HARYANATHREW UP A FRACTURED MANDATE ON THURSDAY.

FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI THE ASIAN AGE

NationFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Child developmentOdisha government plans to make state child marriage free by 2030

I am very grateful to our Congress

workers. We have toshow our strength.

— D.K. Shivakumar,Congress leader

SHORT TAKES

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will make anofficial visit to Saudi Arabia

on October 29, even as NewDelhi said that the “under-

standing” showed by theSaudis on India’s position

regarding the Kashmir issuehas “had a salutary effect on

Pakistan”. An agreementbetween the two countries on

the Strategic PartnershipCouncil will be signed on theoccasion. The Council will bechaired by PM Modi and the

Saudi Crown PrinceMohammad bin Salman and isintended to be an institutional

mechanism to monitor thestrategic partnership betweenthe two nations. PM Modi will

attend the third session of theFuture Investment Initiative

Forum and will deliver thekeynote address on the occa-

sion. The FII is also referred toas the “Davos in the Desert”.During the visit, PM Modi will

meet both Saudi King Salmanand Saudi Crown PrinceMohammad bin Salman.

Speculation is rife that PMModi may brief the Saudi

King and Crown Prince on thelatest developments in

Kashmir.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday has

asked the J&K governmentto cleanly spell out on howlong they are going to con-

tinue with the restrictions inthe Kashmir Valley, which

were imposed with theabrogation of Article 370

and converting the state intwo union territories. “Youhave to give us a clear-cut

picture of how long you aregoing to continue with

these restrictions. Alreadytwo months have been

passed,” asked Justice N.V.Ramana sitting with Justice

R. Subhash Reddy andJustice B.R. Gavai. Seeking

response from the J&K gov-ernment as to when are

they going to ease the situ-ation and restore the

Internet, Justice Ramanasaid that ultimately people

should have a mode of com-munication. Joining Justice

Ramana, Justice Reddy alsosaid that the governmenthas to review the restric-tions imposed by it. “Mr.

solicitor general, you haveto review the situation”,

said Justice Reddy.

Prime Minister to visit Saudi

Arabia on Oct. 29

How long Kashmirrestrictions stay:

SC asks Centre

AGE CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT.24

A day after registering acase against the formerchief minister ofUttarakhand, HarishRawat for the allegedattempts of horse-tradingin 2016, the CBI is nowprobing the role of atleast three formerCongress MLAs in con-nection with the case.

Sources said, “The CBIwill soon call three formerCongress MLAs for ques-tioning in connection withthe case. It is suspectedthat these three formerMLAs were in constanttouch with Harish Rawat”.

The CBI on Wednesdayfiled an FIR againstHarish Rawat and his thencabinet colleague HarakSingh Rawat, who is now amember of the state’sBJP-led government, foralleged attempts of horse-trading in 2016, which wascaught on tape by an edi-tor of a news channel.

The CBI had registered apreliminary enquiry toprobe the alleged horse-trading attempt on March23, 2016, when the statewas under President’srule. It sent the tape to theforensic science laborato-ry, Gandhinagar inGujarat for an analysis,which opined that therecording was “genuine”and there was no evidenceof any “addition/dele-

tion/insertion/tamper-ing/morphing” in thevideo files, they added.

The video purportedlyshowed the Congressleader discussing moneyto win back the support ofdisgruntled MLAs, whohad crossed over to theBJP so that the Congresscould get back to power.

Recently, theUttarakhand high courtgave its nod to the CBI togo ahead with its investi-gation in the case andlodge an FIR against MrRawat after the agencysubmitted a report in asealed cover on the pre-liminary inquiry. BesidesHarish Rawat and HarakSingh Rawat, the CBI hasalso booked editor-in-chief of Noida-basedSamachar Plus channelUmesh Sharma, who hadpurportedly carried outthe sting operation in theairport lounge, sourcessaid.

3 Cong ex-MLAsunder CBI lensfor horse-trading

YUSUF JJAMEELSRINAGAR, OCT. 23

Two more truck driverswere killed and a crewmember was criticallywounded in a sneakattack carried out by sus-pected militants inJammu and Kashmir’ssouthern Shopian districton Thursday evening,officials said.

The assailants alsotorched two trucks inwhich apple boxes werebeing loaded for trans-portation to a Delhi fruitmarket and also a three-wheeler load-carrierowned by a local resident,a report said.

Confirming the incident,Shopian’s DCP MuhammadYasin Chaudhary said thatthe seriously injured con-ductor of one of thesetrucks, identified as JeevanSingh, has been evacuatedto a hospital.

The police said that gun-men targeted the truckersand their vehicles inChittergam Kalan villageof Shopian, about 50-kmsouth of summer capitalSrinagar. One of the slainmen is Ilyas Khan, a resi-dent of Alwar district ofRajasthan, whereas theother victim could not beidentified immediately buthe appears to be a Hindu, apolice officer said over thephone from Shopian.

DC Chaudhary said thatthe corpses of the slaindrivers and injured con-ductor bore both bulletand burn injuries. An ear-lier report had said thatthe identity of one of theslain drivers could not beascertained as his bodyhad been charred beyondrecognition.

The security forces laidsiege to a vast areaaround Chittergam Kalanto conduct searches, thesources said. On October16, two apple buyers fromPunjab were shot by sus-pected militants in Tranzarea of Shopian. Whileone of them CharanjitSingh was brought deadat a government-run hos-pital in neighbouringPulwama district, the con-dition of the other identi-fied a Sanjiv Kumar whois admitted in a Srinagarhospital continues to becritical. The assailantshad also torched the truckin which the apple boxesbought by the duo werebeing loaded.

2 truckers killedas militants torchvehicles in Valley

SRIDHARKUMARASWAMINEW DELHI, OCT. 24

India on Thursday signedan agreement withPakistan government onthe modalities for opera-tionalisation of theKartarpur Sahib Corridorat the “Zero Point,International Boundary,Dera Baba Nanak” inPunjab that will allow pil-grims access to the his-toric Kartarpur SahibGurudwara near the bor-der in Pakistan’s Punjabfor the 550th birthanniversary celebrationsof the founder of Sikhismand the first Guru of theSikhs, Guru Nanak.

The Indian governmentsaid, “The required infra-structure viz., the high-way and the passenger ter-minal building are near-ing completion for thetimely inauguration of the

Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.A robust security architec-ture has been put in placewhile facilitating smoothand easy passage of pil-grims.”

The Indian governmentsaid, “Pilgrims of allfaiths and of Indian origincan use the Corridor. Thetravel will be visa-free andpilgrims need to carryonly a valid passport.

Persons of Indian Originneed to carry OverseasCitizenship of India (OCI)card along with the pass-port of their country. Thecorridor is open fromdawn to dusk. Pilgrimstravelling in the morningwill have to return on thesame day.”

The corridor will beoperational throughoutthe year, except on notifieddays, to be informed inadvance. They will have achoice to visit as individu-als or in groups, and also

to travel on foot. India willsend the list of pilgrims toPakistan 10 days ahead oftravel date. Confirmationwill be sent to pilgrims 4days before the travel date.

Additionally, pilgrims

will be allowed to carry amaximum of `11,000 and a7kg bag, and will not beallowed to venture beyondthe shrine. According tothe “do’s and don’ts”issued by the ministry of

home affairs, childrenbelow 13 years and elderlypersons of about 75 yearsand above will have totravel in groups.

Eco-friendly material,preferably cloth bags,should be used during thepilgrimage and the sur-roundings should be keptclean.

Wi-Fi and broadbanddevices, flags and bannerschallenging the territorialintegrity of India orPakistan, liquor and ahost of other items havebeen put in the prohibitedlist.

The Indian governmentfurther said, “The mainissue that has been a pointof discussion is the insis-tence of Pakistan to levy$20 as a service charge perpilgrim per visit. For reg-istration of pilgrims, theonline portal (prakash-purb550.mha.gov.in) hasgone live on Thursday.

Pilgrims can carry `11,000, a 7kg bag ■ Online registration for pilgrimage starts

◗ The CBI filed anFIR against HarishRawat and his thencabinet colleagueHarak Singh Rawat,who is now a mem-ber of the state’sBJP-led govern-ment, for allegedattempts of horse-trading in 2016

■ Continued from Page 1 candidate Qamrul Hodadefeated Sweety Singh ofthe BJP in Kishanganj.

The states that stronglybacked the BJP wereHimachal Pradesh, Assam,Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.The BJP had an upperhand in UP where 7 out of11 seats went to it andanother one went to itsally, Apna Dal (S), whilethe Samajwadi Partybagged three seats. Thestate witnessed some highdrama with Congressleader Priyanka Gandhiaccusing the UP govern-ment of manipulating thecounting in GangohAssembly seat where theCongress’ Noman Masoodlost to the BJP’s KiratSingh by over 5,000 votes.

An upbeat UP chief min-ister Yogi Adityanath gavecredit to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s policiesfor the party’s victory. “In8 out of the 11 seats, BJPand its allies have regis-tered victory. I congratu-late all the candidates whohave won today. PM Modi’smantra of Sabka saathsabka vikas has becomethe mantra of the politicsin India,” Mr Adityanathsaid. In Bihar, where JD-Uchief Nitish Kumar is hop-

ing for his fourth term in2020, the BJP and its allyseem to be losing groundas it managed only one outof the five Assembly seatswhere bypolls took place.Lalu Prasad Yadav’sRashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) bagged two seats.

The AIMIM, which hadfielded six candidates inBihar Assembly electionsin 2015 and one in 2019 inLok Sabha elections buthad failed to open itsaccount, registered its firstvictory in Bihar’sKishanganj. The fifth seatin the state went toIndependent candidateKarnjeet Singh whodefeated JD-U’s AjayKumar Singh.

Gujarat results were alsosurprising as the Congressand BJP both bagged threeseats each. Among the bigdefeats was that of OBCleader Alpesh Thakor,who had jumped fromCongress to join the BJP.Mr Thakore was an MLAfrom Radhanpur onCongress seat since 2017before he quit the party tojoin the BJP after differ-ences with state partyleadership. He was defeat-ed by the Congress’Raghubhai Desai by 3,807votes.

Bypolls surprise BJPin Bihar, Gujarat

■ Continued from Page 1leader Bhupinder SinghHooda, the elections inHaryana witnessed thereturn of the “Hooda fac-tor.”

The Congress’ battleplan — worked out by thecampaign committeechief, Mr Hooda, andstate unit presidentKumari Sheilja — tostick to local issues andplay the Jat-Dalit cardoutwitted the BJP.

In Maharashtra,Maratha strongman andNCP chief Sharad Pawarled the UPA charge,bringing much neededcheers to the Congresscamp. Following its poorshow, the BJP high com-mand is now worriedabout the forthcomingpolls in Jharkhand at theend of this year andDelhi early next year.

In Haryana, the BJPbagged 40 seats,Congress 31, JJP 10,INLD one and othersseven so far. InMaharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine wereleading in 158 seats,Congress-NCP in 106 andothers in 23. The break-up shows the BJP win-ning 103 seats (19 seatsshort of what it got in

2014) and Shiv Sena 56.For the Haryana

throne, both the BJP andCongress are trying towoo Dushyant Chautala’sJJP and theIndependents. The BJPhas asked Akali Dal lead-ers Prakash Singh Badaland Sukhbir Singh Badalto approach the JJP,while the Congress Jatleader, Mr Hooda, is intouch with Mr Chautala.The BJP is ahead in therace with fourIndependent candidatesfalling into its coffer.

While the BJP highcommand went into ahuddle after the “shock-ing” outcome, some saf-fron functionaries feltthat the “sheer arro-gance” of the party lead-ers after the overwhelm-ing victory in the LokSabha polls was one ofthe “major reasons” forthe party’s “under-whelming performance”.

In Haryana, two crucialcommunities, Jats andDalits, who had voted forPrime Minister Modiduring the Lok Sabhapolls in 2014 and 2019,deserted the BJP in thisAssembly polls. Theyturned to the Congressand the JJP instead.

BJP-Shiv Sena toform govt in Maha■ Continued from Page 1

and local issues as well as avoid-ing falling into the nationalismtrap by not discussing Article 370also paid off.

Mr Hooda along with his sonDeependra Hooda, a former two-time MP from Rohtak, startedcampaigning in all the con-stituencies of Haryana immedi-ately after the Lok Sabha debaclein which the Congress lost all 10seats in the state. Hooda seniorheld almost 200 small and big ral-lies in the state.

Capturing the local mood, MrHooda announced that one per-son from every family would begiven a job. He also promised jobreservation in the state for localson the lines prevalent in severalother states like Gujarat, MadhyaPradesh and Maharashtra.Among the other promises madewas free electricity for farmers,loan waiver for farmers havingland holdings of two acres.

PCC chief Kumari Selja alsodid her bit by keeping the focuson local issues. “Be it the PM(Narendra Modi) or other topBJP leaders or the Haryana CM,they did not talk about even oneissue of Haryana because theyknow that they are on the backfoot. The people of Haryana saidthat first you should give yourreport and then ask for vote.They could not give a report andtried to divert attention continu-ously,” she said.

In Maharashtra, the Congress’state and Central leadershipstayed away from the infighting

between former Union ministerMilind Deora and formerMumbai Congress chief SanjayNirupam. Instead they asked for-mer chief ministers AshokChavan, Prithviraj Chauhan andfamily members of late VilasraoDeshmukh and Sushil KumarShinde to contest. This bolsteredthe fortunes of the party as theywere able to attract the Marathavote.

Like Haryana, in Maharashtraalso the Congress concentratedon local issues of unemployment,farm crisis and the state of theeconomy. The party also did wellin the byelections, winningRajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.In Gujarat, the Congress and theBJP both won three seats each inbypolls.

The Congress leadership bothat the state and the national levelavoided getting into verbal duelswith disgruntled former stateunit chief Ashok Tanwar, whohad been replaced with Ms Selja.Before resigning from the party,Mr Tanwar even held a demon-stration outside the residence ofthe Congress president and wenton to accuse the Congress of sell-ing tickets. There was also ascare that he may put up inde-pendent candidates who coulddiminish the chances ofCongress candidates.

Sources told this newspaperthat Congress president SoniaGandhi called Mr Hooda onThursday morning and askedhim to take the lead in govern-ment formation if needed.

Congress’ revival

■ Continued from Page 1several of these newly-elected MLAs. However,it is also understood thatthe BJP is also trying towoo several newly electedindependent MLAs forpossible post poll alliance.

The JJP chief DushyantChautala has proved he isa force to reckon with inthe state, with the chancethat he could even playkingmaker in case of ahung assembly. Theparty, formed inDecember 2018, is under-stood to hav banked onits strong and infulentialJat votebank in the state.The young and energeticleadership of DushyantChautala, led his lessthan an year old partyfrom the front and

ensured that it emergedas a viable alternativethat has a future in thestate politics.

The JJP’s worked on aexpectation that a repeatof recent Lok Sabha pollsdefeat would not be possi-ble. The alliance of theJJP with the Aam AadmiParty in the Lok Sabhapolls earlier this year hadproved to be a disaster,where it had to suffer ahumiliating defeat, beingunable to secure even asingle seat. The partywas confident that the sit-uation before October2018 and after were differ-ent as over 80 percent ofChaudhary Devi Lal loy-alists have returned tothe JJP fold, sourcesclaimed.

JJP 3rd force in Haryana

Uddhav for 50% power

India, Pak sign Kartarpur pact


The Supreme Court onThursday was told that theKarnataka AssemblySpeaker VishweshwarHegde Kageri can hold afresh hearing on the resig-nation coupled with pleafor the disqualification of17 unseated lawmakers ofstate Assembly, belongingto Congress and JanataDal (Secular), if court sodecides.

Noting that the orderunseating 17 lawmakers ofCongress and JD(S) wasex-parte and suffered fromprocedural disabilities asdisqualified lawmakerswere not given requiredtime under the rules, solic-itor general Tushar Mehtatold the bench comprisingJustice N.V. Ramana,Justice Sanjiv Khannaand Justice KrishnaMurari that the currentSpeaker VishweshwarHegde Kageri can give

them fresh hearing.“Under the rules, a mem-

ber whose disqualificationis being sought would begiven a minimum of 7days time to reply tonotice by the Speaker. Inthe case the lawakers weregiven just 3 days time,”said SG Mehta, duringthe second day of the hear-ing of disqualified law-makers from the stateAssembly for the rest ofits term.

The then Speaker ofKarnataka Assembly haddisqualified and unseated17 lawmakers belonging toCongress and JD(S) afterthey had defied the whip

to vote in the favour ofmotion of trust moved bythe former chief ministerH.D. Kumaraswamy.

The former chief minis-ter had moved the trustmotion after he lost major-ity support followingrebellion by 17, nowunseated, lawmakers.

Seeking the quashing ofthe former SpeakerRamesh Kumkar’s order,these disqualified law-makers have assailed theSpeaker Ramesh Kumar’sdecision on the groundsthat their resignation wasprior to issuance of thewhip and their defiance ofthe same.

Appearing for formerCM Kumaraswamy, seniorcounsel Rajeev Dhavanassailed the argument bythe unseated lawmakersthat then Speaker shouldhave accepted their resig-nations as they were bothvoluntary and genuineand were presented to theSpeaker in person.

K’taka Speaker to take callon rebel MLAs, SC told

AGE CCORRESPONDENTwith aagency iinputsNEW DELHI/LONDON, OCT. 24

A march planned by pro-Pakistani separatistgroups on Kashmir to coin-cide with Diwali on Sundayhas been denied permis-sion by the UK authoritiesto assemble outside theIndian high commission(IHC) in London.

A day after PrimeMinister Boris Johnsontold MPs in the House ofCommons that any kind ofviolence during such

demonstrations was“wholly unacceptable”, itemerged on Thursday thatthe groups behind theprotest will have to steerclear of the Indian mis-sion area of Aldwych inCentral London.

The route of the marchwill now reportedly endup at Trafalgar Squareinstead, a requirementimposed due to concernsof violence in the wake ofclashes at a previousdemonstration by similargroups on August 15. TheMetropolitan police is yetto confirm the details of

the restrictions, but it fol-lowed various interven-tions over the last fewdays, including a diplo-matic “note verbale” fromthe IHC expressing safetyconcerns, according to a

report of news agency PTIfrom London.

On Wednesday,Conservative Party MPBob Blackman had raisedhis fears of violence duringthe weekly (British) PrimeMinister’s Questions ses-sion in Parliament. Heurged the British PrimeMinister to take action ashe told the House about vio-lent protests by similar pro-Pakistani groups at theLondon mission duringIndian Independence Daycelebrations on August 15.This is a police operationalmatter and the home secre-

tary Priti Patel will be rais-ing it with the police, MrJohnson responded. Wemust all be clear in thisHouse that violence andintimidation anywhere iswholly unacceptable in thiscountry, he said.

With an anti-Indiademonstration beingplanned in London by pro-Pakistan elements andKashmiri separatists onDiwali day, Britain hadtold India that it will pre-vent recurrence of the vio-lence seen a few weeks agooutside the IHC during asimilar demonstration.

■ March on Kashmir is planned by pro-Pak separatist groups

UK bans protest near Indian high commission on Diwali◗ Britain had toldIndia that it will pre-vent recurrence ofthe violence seen afew weeks ago out-side the Indian highcommission duringa similar demon-stration

New Delhi, Oct. 24:Former DU professorSyed Abdul RahmanGeelani, who was sen-tenced to death by a spe-cial court but lateracquitted by the SupremeCourt in the 2001Parliament attack case,died here on Thursdayfollowing a cardiacarrest, his family said.

“He passed away onThursday evening due tocardiac arrest,” a familymember confirmed.

Geelani, who used toteach Arabic at DU’sZakir Hussain College, issurvived by his wife andtwo daughters.

He was also chargedwith sedition in 2016,after he had organised anevent against the hangingof Parliament attack con-vict Afzal Guru. — PTI

Former DU profSAR Geelani dies


India on Thursday saidthat it would request for-eign nations to shutdown “Kashmir cells”established in Pakistanidiplomatic missionsabroad, whose job was to“incite the local popula-tion in those countries”against India and “radi-calise” them.

India also termed

Pakistan’s move to takeforeign diplomats sta-tioned in Islamabad toareas near the LoC as“drama”, saying “every-one knows there arelaunch pads in proximi-ty”. The MEA accusedPakistan of indulging in“naked propaganda”,adding that theIslamabad should insteadshow the world whatcredible action they aretaking against terrorists.

INDIA TO ASK COUNTRIES TO SHUT‘KASHMIR CELLS’ SET UP BY PAK UTTARAKHAND

V.H. Kageri

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi during her visit toAmethi on Thusrday. — PTI

■ Continued from Page 1for government formationwill be made after dis-cussing the formula, MrThackeray added.

Shiv Sena, which foughtAssembly elections inMaharashtra in alliancewith the BJP, has won 56seats, and was leading inone more constituency asthe results came in onThursday. With the BJP’stally coming down to 105from 122 in 2014, the Shiv

Sena’s bargaining powerhas increased.

While the two partiescan form the governmentcomfortably, the BJP fellshort of its target ofreaching near the half-waymark on its own, givingmore leverage to the Sena.

The predictions of allpollsters were way off themark, as the saffron alliescould not repeat theirremarkable performancein the Lok Sabha polls.

The Union Cabinet’s decision to clear a nearly `69,000 crore bailoutpackage, albeit long delayed, for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) — two loss-makingpublic sector telecom service providers — is a step in the right

direction. After two failed attempts to merge MTNL with BSNL in the last15 years, the government has finally bitten the bullet. MTNL — which wasset up 14 years before BSNL in 1986 to cater to two metropolises, New Delhiand Mumbai, that ostensibly required better services than rest of India —has lost its relevance in view of mobile telephony and the internet revolu-tion. Today, Indians living in both metropolises as well as small townshave access to the same content with same quality. The allocation of 4Gspectrum to BSNL - though much delayed - could help it compete in a data-driven market, while a handsome voluntary retirement package for 1.9lakh employees could reduce salary cost that eats away 77 per cent of itsprofits, leaving virtually nothing for capital expenditure.

These decisions are positive for ailing BSNL and MTNL. However, thegovernment should be under no illusion that BSNL would have achche dinhenceforth as the malaise in government-run companies runs deeper.Unless the management structure and work culture of BSNL are reformed,

the state-owned telecom company cannotdaydream of competing with the highly-focused private telecom trio — Jio, Airteland Vodafone. Air India is a classic exampleof how a PSU, bogged down by bureaucraticshortcomings, could go bankrupt despitehaving the best of equipment — aircraft incase of Air India. BSNL too has been the vic-tim of bureaucratic procedures that had putit at a disadvantage compared to the privatecompanies. After the allocation of 3G, BSNLwas still in the process of inviting tendersfor telecom gear when the private compa-nies were ready to roll out the service. Thetelecom PSU must jettison this kind oflethargic decision-making, if it wants tospare itself the ignominy of going to the gov-

ernment seeking a bailout once again. On its part, the government shouldallow functional autonomy to BSNL.

Speaking about the issues behind cautious lending by government-ownedbanks, Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee has recently claimed that publicsector lenders are scared of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).While the mandate of the CVC to control corruption in government-runorganisations is important, the government should not lose its sight of thefact that most PSUs - BSNL included — are functioning in a competitivemarket and not a monopoly. The processes must be, therefore, suitablychanged to make them competitive.

For making BSNL market-ready, the government should hive off all themilitary-related services offered by the public sector telecom company intoa new department under the defence ministry. Later, it should divest 51 percent of its stake in BSNL and list it on stock exchanges. The governmentshould fund all operations that BSNL undertakes to connect areas that arenot served or underserved by private companies from the UniversalObligation Fund corpus. If the government lacks the will to take thesesteps, one should have no doubt that BSNL too would go the Air India way— if not now, a few years later.

25 OCTOBER 2019

It’s a positive strike for democracy that the elected representativesshould be running the BCCI once again. The choice of Sourav Ganguly,a reliable batsman of his time, engenders optimism that what’s right for

cricket and its players will be done. The wounds the game suffered by wayof major hits to its image as metaphor for fairplay may have been self-inflicted as administrators indulged their offspring or “damads”.

The top court had to entrust revival of the game to a bureaucrat and aretired Indian woman cricketer as they were about the only ones whostuck to their SC-appointed-administrators’ tasks. Would you believe thatVinod Rai and Diana Edulji are to be paid `3.5 crores each for holding thereins for 33 months, a princely sum a first class cricketer would not haveearned in his career as match fee for sweating it out under the unforgivingsun in a test of skills against his peers!

Cricket in India is a “stinking” rich game, with a reported `2,400 crorerevenue surplus in 2018, about 95 per cent of which comes from the cashcow IPL. A sense of perspective is lost when riches pour in like that. Evenso, it seems excessive when the suit and tie media plan executives andnumber crunchers are paid comparatively extravagant salaries when thePrime Minister of India gets a basic pay of `1.6 lakhs per month.

Administrative efficiency after an in-demand game sells itself for billionis vastly over-rated. While CoA and BCCI associations were at loggerheadsall through the interregnum, the cricketers held the Indian pennant high,winning mostly every prize in the Test arena and performing well enoughin unpredictable white ball cricket. So much so, it raises the point aboutwhy so many in India line up for honorary jobs in cricket administration.But at least a Test cricketer gets to direct the game while dynasts of thepolitical, industrial and cricket admin variety claim their share of reflect-ed glory.

Dynasts and the cricketer

Merger fine, but BSNLnot out of the woods

THE ASIAN AGET. VENKATRAM REDDY

Editor 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 governmentshould hive off all the

military-related ser-vices offered by the

public sector telecomcompany into a new

department under thedefence ministry.

Later, it should divest51 per cent of its

stake in BSNL...

c m y k c m y k

For a successful technology, reality musttake precedence over public relations

I don’t mind being the one people talk about.It doesn’t weigh on me.

RICHARD FEYNMANMIND POWER

NEYMAR PAGE

6EditFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Returns on rhetoricdiminishing for BJP

Prime MinisterN a r e n d r aModi andUnion homeminister and

Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) president AmitShah have turned thestate Assembly elec-tions into referendumsof the party’s govern-ment at the centre, atest of the party's stand-ing in the country assuch. It is because ofthe political markup ofthe provincial electoralcontests that Assemblyelection results in thelarge western state ofMaharashtra and thesmall northern state ofHaryana become biggerthan they really are.

The BJP is winning inMaharashtra but it isnot a case of winnertakes all. The ShivSena, though in a sec-ond position, becomes akey partner. The BJPcannot form the gov-ernment without theSena. It is not the casethat the BJP is gener-ous towards its allythough it can form thegovernment on its ownas it is in the Lok Sabhawhere it is in a majori-ty on its own.

And in Haryana, theBJP gets a jolt and theModi juggernaut is lit-erally halted. Given thegung-ho spirit of MrModi and Mr Shah,they will declare thatthe people in these twostates have reposedfaith in the PrimeMinister because MrModi has been made thefulcrum of the party’spolitics, a premise ofdoubtful value as wellas a flawed strategy atthe best of times. Butthe party is willing torisk it all on Mr Modi,and it seems to havepaid off in the last fiveyears, in a manner ofspeaking. The Haryanaresult shows that theModi factor is subjectto the law of diminish-ing marginal utility.

In retrospect, the BJPseems to have been ner-vous about the outcome

in Maharashtra whichforced it to make thatvulgar electoralpromise of conferringBharat Ratna on VirSavarkar, an insult toSavarkar, to BharatRatna and toMaharashtra. The BJPdid not win because ofthis singularly shame-ful promise, but itbetrays the fear ofdefeat that the partyand its leaders seemedto have sensed in therun-up to the polls. Ithas won in the state,and with a comfortablemajority with the helpof its ally, the Sena. Butit becomes clear thatthe party sensed thediscontent and disen-chantment of the peo-ple. The party’s marketsavvy-leaders are sureto laugh at the sugges-tion that they werequite apprehensive andthe Bharat Ratna-for-Savarkar was a politi-cal insurance policy.The Devendra Fadnavisgovernment has to beon its toes now. It can-not bask in the reflect-ed glory of Mr Modi.

Mr Modi, Mr Shahand the rest of the topbrass in the BJP arelikely to argue thatthey did not fight theAssembly elections inthese two states on theissue of abrogation ofArticle 370 in Jammuand Kashmir, and thatthe Prime Minister andthe home minister men-tioned it in passing inthe election rallies theyheld, and the media hadplayed it up. This wasthe argument that was

proffered when criticspointed out that theBJP won the Lok Sabhaelection by raking upnational security, ter-rorism and Pakistan,and that they had nopositive agenda of theirown. It is true that MrModi had spoken bel-ligerently about develop-ment and the economyin the 2014 election, buthe could not do the samein 2019. The achieve-ments of the govern-ments of Fadnavis andManohar Khattar werenothing to write homeabout. Mr Modi and MrShah had to shout fromthe rooftops about whatthey believe to be his-toric decision to do awaywith the temporary spe-cial status of Jammu andKashmir. The BJP mayhave to review its propa-ganda offensive based onnational security, terror-ism and Pakistan. MrModi and Mr Shahshould strive for a timewhen they can fight andwin an election withoutreferring to Pakistan.

These Assembly elec-tion results prove thatthe people are not hyp-notised by the Modicharisma, and that theywould vote for his partybased on performanceand when theOpposition fails to pro-vide a reasonable alter-native. The BJP willhave to get off its highhorse of ranting nation-alism and address themore serious economicand social challenges ofthe country. They can-not win elections byfomenting fear psy-chosis about Pakistan.

The Congress, whichappeared to be slippinginto oblivion, has madean emphatic comebackin Haryana. It has suc-cessfully challenged theBJP’s triumphalism inthe state. InMaharashtra, it is theOpposition that hasdone well, led by Sharad

Pawar’s NationalistCongress Party (NCP)and not the Congress.The Congress is set tobecome the junior part-ner in the alliance. Thelesson for Congress inthese elections is quiteclear. It had found a reli-able and strong leaderin Bhupinder SinghHooda in Haryana.There was no leader ofthe party inMaharashtra. Pawarwas the face of NCP.There is a lesson ifsomeone wants to learnfrom it.

There is also muchneed to hector eitherCongress’ working pres-ident Sonia Gandhi orformer president RahulGandhi about revivingthe party, of vacatingtheir privileged space tothe non-existentclaimants. The grandold party is likely totrundle along its dis-graceful path of depend-ing on the Nehru-Gandhis to maintaincohesion in the ricketyparty. And there willemerge local satrapslike Mr Hooda who willsalvage the fortunes ofthe party in the states.Satraps like Mr Hoodado not entertain nation-al ambitions while pro-viding a safety valve atthe ground level.

The BJP and theCongress face the sameproblem. While the BJPhas to come out of theModi trance, theCongress will have to getout of the Nehru-Gandhisyndrome and throw upleaders at the nationallevel as it does in thestates. Leadership isimportant but when aparty depends on anindividual as the soleleader, it is going downthe slippery path ofdecline and headingtowards defeat.

The writer is a Delhi-based commentator

and analyst

In Haryana, the BJPgets a jolt and theModi juggernaut is

literally halted.Given the gung-ho

spirit of Mr Modiand Mr Shah, they

will declare that thepeople in these twostates have reposed

faith in the PM...

These results provethat the people arenot hypnotised by

the Modi charisma,and that they would

vote for his partybased on perfor-mance and when

the Opposition failsto provide a reason-

able alternative

The BJP is winningin Maharashtra butit is not a case ofwinner takes all.The Shiv Sena,though in a secondposition, becomesa key partner. TheBJP cannot formthe governmentwithout the Sena.

BUILD CONSENSUSAPROPOS THE EDITORIAL,“Kashmir ‘internationalised” (Oct24), though it has not happened yet,Pakistan, too, is hell bent oninternationalising the Kashmir issuebacked by its all-weather friend,China, which currently heads theFinancial Action Task Force. Afterthe drubbing of its team at thehearings, the Narendra Modigovernment has no choice but tocomply with the powerful USCongressional Committee’s urgingsto lift restrictions in the KashmirValley to pre-empt such apredicament. It should also try andreach out to the people to build aconsensus among them regardingtheir political future.

S.S. PaulChakdaha, West Bengal

FINETUNE REFORMThis refers to the news titled “Govtthrows open fuel retailing to allplayers”. This is indeed the biggestoil sector reform in many years.Lowering the investment thresholdfor entering fuel retailing is also awelcome decision. The governmenthas put a clause for opening at leastone CNG, LNG or electric chargingstation simultaneously in the nextthree years. But it should haveincreased the cap for setting upthese pumps in rural areas fromfive per cent to at-least 20-25 percent, depending on viability. Also,some clarity on how long it willallow sale of diesel to private vehi-cles given that it plans to sell onlyelectric cars in the future wouldhave been useful.

Bal GovindNoida

LETTERSNOT HIS TURNIt is for the first time thatsomeone from theThackeray family hasfought elections.However, I feel that theaspiration of youngAditya Thackeray tobecome chief minister isout of place as he is yetto gain political experi-ence. If someone fromthe Sena family wants tobecome a CM, it shouldbe Uddhav Thackeray, ashe has more experienceand his finger on thepulse of the entire state.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

Every Monday the best letter ofthe week wins `500. Email:

[email protected] Else, sendto Jawaharlal Nehru NationalYouth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal

Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi 110002

Subhani

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

OpedFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

ECOSEXUAL SOLUTIONISMWord SPY

A single, environmentally consciousperson with a strong aesthetic sense

The belief that every problem has a solution, particularly one that utilises technology

As was thecustom inm e d i e v a lt i m e s ,O t t o m a nS u l t a nMehmet theC o n q u e r o r

in 1452 transformed the great-est Byzantine cathedral, theHagia Sophia, into a mosque.But the founder of modernTurkey, Mustafa Kemal PashaAtaturk, in 1935 discardedmedieval insensitivities andtransformed the Sophiamosque into a Byzantine muse-um. An Europeanist, he knewthat the ancient cathedral, as amosque, at the entry point toEurope, would continue to hurtEuropeans for generations. In1526, someone associated withBabar is alleged to have trans-formed a comparably holyHindu place into a mosque.

Alas, there is no Ataturkaround to take a statesman-likeposition on Ayodhya.

Already, intemperate whis-pers are afloat that should theSupreme Court verdict favourthe mandir, some members ofAll India Muslim Personal LawBoard would go in appeal.Years ago, a radically differentway out for Muslims was speltout by my mother, Atia Naqvi.She had accompanied me toAyodhya, not specifically towatch the brick laying ceremo-ny in August, 1989, but to beable to spend time with mebecause soon after the Ayodhyaassignment, I would catch theflight to New Delhi fromLucknow, where she lived.

She made three observations:First, she found a mosque on ahigh ground jarring in apatently Hindu temple town.Secondly, by her understand-

ing of Muslim names, MirBaqi, who is supposed to havebuilt the mosque, was quiteclearly a Shia. Why then wasthere no agitation in the Shiaenclaves of Lucknow? Andfinally, and most importantly,if the Hindus had claimed it tobe the birthplace of Ram, whyhad the Muslims raised theirobjection to the highest pitch.Let me try to quote her verba-tim from memory:

“A Muslim can spread out hisprayer mat anywhere facingthe Kaaba and say his “namaz”(prayer). A Hindu consecratesthe idol which is then aliveeternally for worship.”

It is not wise for Muslims toargue against the Hindu claimthat Ram Lalla was born underwhat became the central domeof the mosque, now demol-ished. What archaeologists sayis, in political terms, not asimportant as what the vastmajority of people have beeninduced to repose absolutefaith in. Since this faith isbeing exploited by politicalinterests towards their agendaof a “Hindu Rashtra”, theMuslim opposition to thistransformational plan pro-vides grist to the Hindutvamill. It enables Hindutva to

sharpen Muslim-Hindu polari-sation on an even larger scale.

The boost from two BJP seatsin 1984 in Parliament to 350now would not have been pos-sible without the Muslims hav-ing been ensnared into oppos-ing the agenda. This posture ofMuslims, ironically, servedHindutva’s purpose.

Muslims were first led intofaulty politics by SyedShahabuddin, a brilliant offi-cer of the Indian ForeignService whom Atal BehariVajpayee, as foreign ministerin the first Janata government(1977-80), handpicked as a“Muslim” face of the JanataParty. Shahab fell into the trapof wanting to be a leader ofIndian Muslims rather than

being a “Muslim leader”.Communal polarisation isbuilt into the approach. Littlewonder he found himself dig-ging his heels in for themosque when the Ayodhya dis-pute erupted. The VHP and theBJP had reheated an old issueas a strategy to neutralise V.P.Singh’s promotion of casteforces in the Hindi belt. L.K.Advani’s Rath Yatra wasintended to serve more thanone purpose: to contain theogre of casteism let loose byV.P. Singh and to accentuatethe anti-Muslim slant of theBJP. This is where Shahab’sfierce opposition helped theBJP. What Mr Advani initiatedhas spiralled into the stratos-phere which is where the BJPtoday is.

I must, of course, add inparenthesis, that Shahab wasfar from being communal. Hewas a deeply religious gentle-man. In amoral politics, devoidof honesty, such a person caneasily be cast as “communal”by those on an agenda ofmajoritarianism. Shahab hadthe honesty to recognise hisnaiveté and withdraw frompolitics.

Shahab did not have the“tact” which Justice Sibqat

Ullah Khan stressed in his 2010Allahabad high court judgmenton Ayodhya. Justice Khan gavethe example of the Treaty ofHudaybiyyah which ProphetMohammad signed with thehostile tribe of Quraysh in 628AD. It had been six years sincethe Prophet and his followershad left Mecca for Medina.

After these years, the Prophetwith a caravan of 1,000 men onhis way to Mecca for the Hajreached Hudaybiyyah.Quraysh had made it knownthat they would block Muslimentry to Mecca. The Prophetconsulted his companions:should the caravan return toMedina or proceed, risking abattle? Intermediaries carriedmessages back and forth. Allthat the Muslims wanted wasto perform Haj at Mecca. This,the Quraysh were determinedto prevent. Eventually a trucewas agreed upon. Ali, theProphet’s cousin, drafted atreaty. The prophet dictatedthat it was a treaty between“Mohammad, the Prophet ofAllah, and Quraysh”.Interlocutors for Qurayshobjected. They did not recog-nise him as God’s Prophet. Ali,his cousin, refused to drop thepreamble. The Prophet inter-

vened and himself deleted thephrase, thus paving the wayfor a treaty which declared atruce between the two sides.

The terms of the treaty wereconsidered a surrender. Forinstance, despite the compro-mise, Muslims would not beallowed to perform Haj thatyear. Next year, they could,provided they stayed in Meccafor only three days and so on.

In modern military terms,the treaty turned out to be asort of tactical retreat, becausein a matter of a few years,Muslims had conqueredMecca. At this stage, the storybecomes a parable.

What “conquest” was JusticeKhan recommending? If youstudy Hudaybiyyah as a para-ble alongside some of Iqbal’scouplets which Justice Khanso aptly quotes, his messagebecomes clear: “communaldisharmony” is what has to beconquered.

But that precisely is whatmajoritarianism does notwant. Its meteoric rise since2014 is based on polarisationand more polarisation.

The writer is a senior journalist and commentator

based in New Delhi

Recently, India’s FMNirmala Sitha-raman blamed a for-mer Indian PM,Manmohan Singh,

and a former RBI governor,Raghuram Rajan, for the cur-rent banking mess in India. Inher lecture, delivered atColumbia University, she saidthat under their combinedleadership, the Indian bank-ing sector had its worst phase.Earlier, Mr Rajan had put theblame for slower growth of theIndian economy during theNDA’s first term on anextremely centralised govern-ment and a lack of a consistentarticulated vision.

Regardless of this spatbetween them, the factremains that the Indian econ-omy is going through a toughphase. One of the key driversof economic growth — name-ly, private investment creat-ing jobs/employment whichin turn generate incomes thatpeople spend on consumption— has not been very effective.And much of the reason for aslowdown in private invest-ments can be attributed to thecorporate cleansing that theNarendra Modi government ishaving to do.

This cleansing is a majorreform in itself, and is thehardest one as it relates todealing with the mindset ofIndia Inc. Things had gottenreally bad. Examples aboundof loans taken by businesseswith the intention of notrepaying, bribes taken to pur-sue policies/decisionsfavourable to a select few, pay-ments made to legitimise ille-galities, money paid to get cov-eted positions or to win gov-ernment contracts and soforth. Things had gone to sucha pass that somebody had todo this cleansing. PMNarendra Modi happens to be

the one leading it.This reform isn’t confined to

the corporate sector alone.Actually, this reform touchespeople from all walks of life,be it politicians, bureaucrats,judges, bankers, etc whosefinancial interests span out-side of their work domain.People often wear more thanone hat. Mr Modi is indeedhaving to reset the moral com-pass of Indians that had goneawry.

To carry out such epochalreform, a certain degree ofcentralisation is indispens-able. Given its nature, thisreform can’t be decentralisedor delegated to other con-stituents as it involves dealingwith resourceful and influen-tial people. They are alsosmart people who have cov-ered their dealings beneathseveral layers to make thoseopaque. Money has beendiverted and misappropriatedfrom businesses to the person-al accounts of their relativesand friends and to their off-shore accounts. Funds havebeen routed and reroutedthrough several shell compa-nies and invested in benamiproperties and other unac-counted assets.

It is precisely because of thetightening of the noose by theNarendra Modi governmentthat some people are now cool-ing their heels in jails; somehave fled the country toescape the judiciary; some arestill fighting legal battles;some have chosen to commitsuicide; and some have comeforward to settle their dues.And many are living under aconstant fear that theirhanky-panky dealings mayalso come to the surface.Through their proxies theyare trying to create an impres-sion that something is wrongwith the Narendra Modi gov-

ernment and its policies.Some may be trying to destroyevidence too — just in case.

It’s impossible for theNarendra Modi government tounearth each and every cor-rupt dealing of significance.But through the rigorous pur-suit of select high-profilecases, the Narendra Modi gov-ernment probably wants toconvey the message that it isserious about its zero-toler-ance policy towards corrup-tion. This message is as muchfor corporates as it is for theothers, for anti-corruptioncannot be a halfway house.Like an anti-termite solution,anti-corruption calls for atotal cleansing.

In doing so, the government,

and indeed the country, ispaying a heavy collateral forthe system clean-up. The col-lateral is in terms of a slow-down of economic growth, joblosses and reduced investors’confidence which is having acascading effect, engulfingalmost every section of thesociety. The root cause of thisproblem is not the fact of a sys-tem clean-up but the conductof the people at scaleindulging in hanky-pankydealings.

The Narendra Modi govern-ment seems to be pro-privatesector, provided it plays bythe rules. India’s growth storyremains intact. The Indianmarket is also quite lucrativefor any long-term investor. Toaccess this market, however,the private sector needs to bal-ance their profit motive withthe motive of serving society.In her recent visit to the US,Ms Sitharaman told interna-tional investors that they willfind no better place than Indiato invest in. India has areform-oriented government,the rule of law works here,and the environment is capi-talism-respecting. Further,the government is open, trans-parent, and receptive to ideasand inputs from the corporate

sector on the ease of doingbusiness, making Indiainvestor-friendly and so forth.

Those who have been criti-cal of the Narendra Modi gov-ernment’s economic policiesneed to not talk in generali-ties. They need to come upwith specific ideas and sugges-tions. They have the advan-tage of a government that islistening and is responsive togood ideas and suggestions.The government may notagree with all their sugges-tions but good ideas have ahigh chance of getting actedupon.

As more and more cases ofcorporate malfeasance arecoming to notice, the govern-ment is trying to plug loop-holes, tighten the law andstrengthen accountabilitymechanisms. The corporatesector too needs to recognisethat the terms of doing busi-ness in India have changedtoo. In keeping with thischange, they need to changetheir mindsets and businessethos.

The writer is a developmenteconomist, formerly with

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

and the World Bank

How does desirearise? It comes indiverse ways.Sometimes it hap-

pens when you see an object.Let us take a familiar illus-tration. You go to an elderlyaunt’s home and she asks,“What would you like to have— something hot or cold?What about a snack to gowith it?”

“No, no, I am full. I just hadmy lunch. I don’t want any-thing.”

Your aunt refuses to take“No” for an answer. A slice of

chocolate cake and deliciousmango ice cream are placedin front of you. You see themand say, “Well, on secondthought, anytime is desserttime!”

Now what changed yourmind and created desire? Itarose because you saw theobject. Had you not seen it,there may not have been anyyearning for it.

At times, desire arises whensomeone describes an object.For instance, your friend nar-rates the story of a fascinat-ing movie. The longing to see

it arises in your mind. Youthink, “What a wonderfulmovie. I should also go andsee it soon.” A craving canarise after hearing about anobject without seeing it. Evenan aroma can create desire.These analogies are related toeating, but similar compar-isons can be applied to othersituations as well. Desiresthat trouble manrise from seeing,hearing, smelling,tasting and touch-ing — that is, theyemanate from thesenses.

S o m e t i m e s ,while sittingalone the mindrelives an earlierenjoyable experi-ence. That very memory cre-ates a desire to repeat it. “Imust go again on a vacationto Europe. It was so wonder-ful.” Here, though the object

is not in front of us, our mem-ories have kindled a longingto repeat that joyful experi-ence.

Perception by itself does notcreate desire. Yearning riseswhen the mind starts project-ing beauty, joy and enjoy-ment on a particular object orexperience. Sometimes, per-ception acts as an excuse or a

trigger for themind to fantasise.At other times,there is nothing;but the mind con-tinues to craveobjects and expe-riences.

Here, the mindhas little to dowith the present.It associates with

and remembers pleasant pastexperiences, giving birth todesires.

The intellect has the abilityto plan, think and improvise;

it also knows how to improveupon previously experiencedpleasures. The senses seeobjects in the present; themind focuses on the past; andthe intellect plans the future.

Therefore, desires arise byperception, remembrance,thinking and planning. Whenlonging arises, it creates agi-tation, veils our faculty ofthinking and discrimination.When desire arises, we mustbe vigilant; we should exam-ine whether it is sattvik, raja-sic or tamasic in nature;question its impact on themind and ask whether itshould be fulfilled or not.

Swami Tejomayananda isfrom Chinmaya Mission.

To find out more aboutChinmaya Mission and

Swamiji, visit www.chinmayamission.com.

© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.

Slowdown due to corporate reform

When desire arises, we must be vigilant

Where is the Muslim statesmanship on Ayodhya?

Big brother handlesmedia in Kashmir

Srinagar/Baramulla/Shopian:Aside from the communica-tions lockdown and the jailingof leaders of the non-BJP par-ties, a major casualty inKashmir has been the sanctityof the news flow on account oftight surveillance.

This has come in the way ofletting the country know ofthe stifling of the public voice,of practically all economicactivity, and of the experienceof people’s interface with thesecurity forces present infighting gear.

Thus, the unreal parades asthe real — the media is crude-ly suppressed — both televi-sion and print. With the clo-sure of the Internet, the socialmedia — egregious though itscontents can be — is dead.

The newspapers in theValley, which used to be livelyif somewhat partial to theSeparatist aspiration, havebeen obliged to become thegovernment’s voice exclusive-ly. There is a sorry dullnessand unanimity about them.The government’s spokesmenhave full play. No other entityhas any say.

Editorials, which reflect anewspaper’s opinion on keyissues, are not written now.Long, boring articles on eso-teric and arcane themes typi-cally fill the op-ed space.District correspondents havelittle work to do.

Very slow Internet lineshave of late been made avail-able at district headquartersfor use by people in emergen-cies. The same lines are alsomeant for the media. Theprocess takes long. In anycase, news that is fit to printdoes not make the cut. Hawk-eyed minor officials see tothat.

Congress leader and formerJ&K chief minister GhulamNabi Azad was in Baramullaabout three weeks ago. Somehalf-a-dozen delegationscalled on him (several wereprevented from doing so).Local journalists got their sto-ries by talking to them, butthese could not be filed, someof them told me. The unoffi-cial censors would not letthem.

The editor-in-chief ofGreater Kashmir, the English-language paper with thelargest circulation in theValley, was recently called toNew Delhi by the NationalInvestigation Agency forquestioning. The Kashmircorrespondent of a televisionchannel, who had shown upthe discrepancy in an officialclaim, had to be hurriedlycalled to headquarters for atemporary period as a protec-tive gesture. The message hasgone down the line.

As a special dispensation, ontheir request, senior journal-ists in Srinagar were offeredthe restoration of broadbandInternet connections in theiroffices (so that they may avoidthe inconvenience of havingto queue up to email theirreports from the govern-ment’s media centre where

the wait can be long), provid-ed they signed an undertakingthat they would not “misuse”the facility. Since the meaningof this term was not madeclear, there were no takers.

As a consequence of thepress gag, everyday happen-ings cannot be reported.Drawing the big picture is outof the question. Vaguerumours float about. Mostly,people are kept unaware ofevents happening even neartheir homes. What they con-sume in dollops, though, arethe national television chan-nels, which the governmentchose not to interrupt whenthe clampdown came onAugust 5. These tend to bedownright derogatory to thepeople of Kashmir and injuretheir pride, turning in theknife psychologically anddeepening alienation.

Visiting Baramulla’s con-gested old city recently, Ilearnt that there have beenfrequent public protests. Thepapers cannot carry suchnews. In Srinagar, the propri-etor of a successful hardwarestore says he has kept hisestablishment shut for a longtime. He says there are noconstruction trade workersleft in the Valley, not even ahandful to load goods intotrucks.

A government advisoryissued on August 2 raisedfears and drove the approxi-mately 4.5-5 lakh workers —just under 10 per cent of theValley’s population — fromother states out of Kashmir.They were farm labourers,construction workers, carpen-ters, plumbers, electricians,motor mechanics, even shop-keepers. All fled. A trans-porter in Baramulla, whosebusiness has also sufferedbadly on account of the policy-imposed labour constraint,confirms this.

The impact of the seriouslabour shortage on Kashmir’seconomy is yet to be assessed.The short-sighted advisoryhas since been recalled. Butthe non-state workers, a largechunk from Bihar, have notreturned. Local media reportsare unable to offer an under-standing of any of this. Thatwould amount to discussingthe current situation. That isout of bounds.

In Shopian, a political figureexplains that Kashmir valleyis mostly a “middle class”place, unlike other states.Nearly every family owns acar or two-wheeler.Sometimes these choke roads,although shops and schoolsand colleges are shut. The rea-son is that public transport isoff the roads and governmentemployees must attend office.The sick must be taken to hos-pital. There are social visits tomake. Visuals of tight traffichave been presented onnational television to suggestnormality in Kashmir, and asa sign of happy acceptance oftheir present fate.

(Concluded)

If you study the Treatyof Hudaybiyyah as aparable alongsidesome of Iqbal’s couplets which JusticeSibqat Ullah Khan soaptly quotes, his message becomesclear: ‘communaldisharmony’ is whathas to be conquered

Private investmentcreating jobs... has notbeen very effective.And much of the reason for a slowdownin private investmentscan be attributed tothe corporate cleansingthat the NarendraModi government ishaving to do.

Swami Tejomayananda

Saeed Naqvi

Wide Angle

Anand K. Sahay

TROUBLE IN PARADISE-5

Rajeev Ahuja

‘Enough portraits — respect my privacy!’

Books+FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

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Bahrisons, New Delhi

Conservatives can co-optthe new Indian aesthetic

In The Indian Conservative,the author’s bold objective isto explore the philosophicalunderpinnings of modernIndian conservatism. Withthis vision, he has analysedthe influence and predomi-nance of conservativethought and practices in thepolitical, economic, social,cultural, and aesthetic andeducational spheres, oftenwith interesting results.Here is an excerpt:

It all started with orien-talism. Let me state thebasic orientalist prem-ises. Indian sculpturelacked classical simplic-

ity. It was too ornate, con-fused and bordering on thegrotesque. The only partiallysophisticated Indian sculp-ture was on account of Greekinfluence on the Gandharaschool. Indian paintinglacked an understanding ofperspective and was there-fore childish. Indian musiclacked harmony and there-fore could not be consideredan evolved art. There wasnothing in Indian dramacomparable to the Pericleanor the Elizabethan stages.Because it was sculptural inits tone, Hindu, Buddhist andJain architecture was unim-pressive. The only Indianarchitecture worth talkingabout was the Islamic school.There, too, ornate schoolslike the Gujarati Muslimschool of architecture need-ed to be at a discount. Indianliterature was almost exclu-sively focused on religionand myths. It was as if it hadnever come of age. Indialacked any sound aesthetictheory. Art remained at bestat the folk level. Indian crafts,as distinct from art, in theform of its textiles, brass,bronzes, carpets and furni-ture had a childlike andprimitive charm. But none ofthese could stand up to solidaesthetic standards.

In fairness, side by sidewith this hypercritical orien-

talism, there was a school ofBritish thinkers led byWilliam Jones, and whichincluded James Prinsep,Alexander Cunningham,Robert Sewell, G.V. Pope andEdwin Arnold, that oscillat-ed between a balanced, soberaffection for Indian cultureand occasionally an enthusi-asm which was a tad excessive.

Over the years, the extremecondescending orientalistpositions have been prettymuch demolished. A tradi-tion of aesthetic scholarshipgoing back to the legendaryBharata Muni, to Saran-gadeva, to Abhinavagupta, toAppayya Dikshita, toJagannatha Pandita andmany others existed in ourcountry. The Navarasa theo-ry, which posits that the aes-thetic experience emanatesfrom the rise and fall of nineemotive states, has retainedits originality and its rele-vance, and today seems to fitin with some of the insightsof neuroscience. The texts ofthe Natya Shastra and ShilpaShastra traditions continueto be mined for insights thatare timeless and refreshing.

And while conquests and

destruction did lead to somediscontinuities, thereremained a flowing streamwithin the tradition. Forexample, even as there waswhat our erstwhile rulersliked to call pre-British anar-chy in the land, Tanjoremaintained and enhancedartistic traditions right fromthe Chola period of the tenth-eleventh centuries throughthe Nayaka and Marathaperiods from the sixteenth tothe nineteenth centuries.And isolated Himalayankingdoms, such as inLadakh, Kashmir, Chambaand Spiti, produced astonish-ingly important and beauti-ful art from the tenth centuryonward right through till theearly twentieth century.

Another kind of subter-ranean continuity also oper-ated. Kakanakote, by Maasti,the great twentieth-centuryKannada writer, can be seenas deriving its inspirationfrom Kalidasa's classicAbhijnanashakuntalam.They both deal with thetheme of an urban sophisti-cate marrying a naturenymph, represented by amaiden from the forests.

For that matter, when in theseventeenth century aNayaka king wrote a dancedrama depicting the divinewedding of SenkamalaNachiar to Rajagopalas-wamy, he was deriving hiscontent and his techniquefrom another monarch, thesixteenth-century Vijaya-nagara emperor KrishnaDeva Raya, who wrote thegraceful Amukta Malyada.The tradition of kings writ-ing plays and composingmusic that their subjectsadmired goes back toMahendra Varma Pallava inthe seventh century andcomes down all the way toWajid Ali Shah in the nine-teenth century, whose compo-sitions and choreographiesaround Lord Krishna wereloved by his subjects.

Despite the attempts at suf-focation on the part of orien-talist British administratorsand puritanical Christianmissionaries, Indian art ofall kinds — the classical, thefolk, the pan-Indian and theregional — not only did notdie, but it demonstrated anastonishing vitality. In fact,British rule and colonial dis-

dain might have given us anadded incentive to light thefires of our creativity. Atleast until now we have nothad to face the poignant painof Roger Scruton and hisfriends, as English churchmusic seems to bedisappearing.We have produced scholars

of aesthetics. VishnuNarayan Bhatkande, AnandaCoomaraswamy and theextraordinary multifacetedgenius Rabindranath Tagorestand out as signifi cant arthistorians and philosophicalminds. Fortunately, not allforeign scholars were of thepatronizing variety. StellaKramrisch and HeinrichZimmer made significantpositive contributions to thestudy of Indian art.

With the coming ofIndependence, the countryfound a new pride and newenergy in its art scene. It wasnot just painting, sculpture,music, dance and drama thatflourished. Aesthetics as abranch of philosophy and asa close cousin of politicalphilosophy also got its fairshare of attention. Kamala-devi Chattopadhyaya, B.N.Goswami, Sivaramamurti,K.K. Nair who wrote underthe pseudonym of KrishnaChaitanya and others werejoined by brilliant and sym-pathetic foreigners like AnnaDallapiccola, David Shul-man, George Michell andRichard Blurton in thisendeavour.

Conservatives have everyreason to be happy about thecurrent state of both high-brow and popular art inIndia. We have not aban-doned traditions and soughtrefuge in sterile modernismor that abomination, post-modernism. If anything,declining folk and other tra-ditions have been revivedand the disdain for so-calledfolk art has disappeared. Ithas become fashionable totalk of India's soft power. Ifsuch a thing exists, it isbecause despite all the glitzyinfluences of technology, wehave kept faith in our uniqueartistic traditions, our diver-sities and our connectionswith the sacred.

Excerpted with permissionfrom the publisher,

Juggernaut

Jaithirth Rao

extract

By JAITHIRTH RAOJuggernaut

pp270

THE INDIAN CONSERVATIVE

The incipient crispwinter sun lit up themulti-hued marqueeat the Kasauli Club

as it prepared to host theeight edition of KhushwantSingh Literature Festival.This year’s theme ‘Of Saints& Sinners’ also commemo-rated 550 years of GuruNanak, 150 years ofMahatma Gandhi, 20 yearsof the Kargil conflict, cente-naries of Jallianwala Baghand the great Urdu poetKaifi Azmi. So unsurpris-ingly, the bulk of the ses-sions concentrated on histo-ry, military matters (the clubbeing housed in the canton-ment area), politics, saint-hood, sinners, godmen, art,poetry, and of course a gooddose of Bollywood quotientprovided by SharmilaTagore, Shabana Azmi andManisha Koirala.

Radha Kumar’s“Kashmir: Past Imper-fect, Future Tense”

was one my favourite ses-sions. She is the author ofseveral books, including theexcellent recent one,Paradise at War: A PoliticalHistory of Kashmir (Aleph,pp.394, `799), which was thebasis for the discussion. Thediscussants — General AtaHusnain, Tavleen Singh andTuhin Sinha — were feisty,contrarian and controver-sial; but amid all that Radha Kumar held her head high with grace, lin-guistic erudition and soundscholarship.

Sagarika Ghose, authorof the new book, Why IAm A Liberal (Penguin,

pp.480, `599), in a similarmode, was simultaneouslyintelligent and forcefulwhile discussing “StatePowers & Liberal Values”.She did not mince her

words, as one has come toexpect of her, and her pleafor an egalitarian secularIndia rang true loud andclear. Another session ofparallel interest was“Gandhi: The DisobedientIndian”, which includedRamin Jahanbegloo andBrinda Puri, finely moderat-ed by the journalist SunitArora.

Anurag Tripathi,author of Dera SachaSauda and Gurmeet

Ram Rahim (Penguin,pp.216, `299); UshinorMajumdar, author of God ofSin: The Cult. Clout andDownfall of Asaram Bapu(Penguin, pp.356, `350); andPriyanka Pathak-Narain,author of Godmen toTycoon: The Untold Story ofBaba Ramdev (Juggernaut,pp.237, `299) — provided afascinating panel “Godmen:Of Cults, Sinners, Saints”and their “empire ofexploitation”. One of thepoints that emerged was,often journalists coveringthese controversial storiesare out on a limb on their,without the support of theorganization they work for.So the only way forward,especially if the reporter ispassionate and conscien-tious to get the story out intothe world, is to publish a full-

length book. The writersshowed honesty, grit andimmense determination —not only as they spoke — butalso through their writtenword and books. At the timeof the festival Priyanka’sbook had a stay orderagainst it, which she hadchallenged, and the case isin the Supreme Court.

Another interestingsession for me wasappropriately titled

“Delhi: From Sujan Singh toKhushwant Singh”. BothSwapna Liddle [author ofChandhi Chowk: TheMughal City of Old Delhi(Speaking Tiger, pp.196,`499)] and Giles Tillotson[author of Delhi Darshan:The History andMonuments of India’sCapital (Penguin, `499)]showed the trajectory ofDelhi’s growth as a city withunderstated élan.

Jalianwalla Bagh hasbeen the subject of longcelebrations recently,

and rightly so. KishwarDesai and her team’s excel-lent initiative made themuch-needed PartitionMuseum in Amritsar possi-ble. It restores dignity and asense of history to the right-ful players and celebratesthe rich important history ofthat time. The session,“Punjab at the Time ofJalianwalla Bagh” includedtwo star speakers — NavtejSarna, author of The Bookof Nanak (Penguin, pp.160,`250) and Navdeep Suri,author/translator of KhooniVaisakhi (HarperCollins,pp.128, `399) — both formerIndian ambassadors to theUK, USA and Saudi Arabia.The level of discourse wascerebrally calibrated andemotionally restrained atthe same time.

Kargil: 20 Years On”'was wonderfully mod-erated by the prime-

time NDTV news-anchor,Vishnu Som. He brought in asoft touch as he narrated thedeeds of some of our warheroes. Officer-soldiers Col

S.C. Tyagi and Col SonamWangchuk (MVC) spokewith patriotic gravitas, high-lighting the sense ofcamaraderie and brother-hood our soldiers show onthe front-lines.

Another emotionallycharged sessionincluded the cancer-

survivor, Bollywood actress,Manisha Koirala. She spokeand read from her new book,Healed (Penguin, pp.240,`499), a memoir and herjourney through the vicissi-tudes of her illness. SathyaSaran guided the conversa-tion with sensitivity andmany in the audience wereleft teary-eyed. Anotherwonderfully crafted book ina similar vein that is wellworth reading is Lisa Ray’sClose to the Bone (Harper-Collins, pp.386, `599) — onethat Deepa Mehta describesas containing “beautifulprose which is accessible,honest, often ironic andheartbreaking all at thesame time”.

An epitome of eleganceand class, SharmilaTagore held forth in

the session “60 Years ofFilmistan” adroitlyanchored by the extremelyknowledgeable film-buff,editor and publisher,

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri.Tagore highlighted theimportance of family (espe-cially her Bengali upbring-ing), lineage, and education.The session was a potted slide show of the Hindi andBengali film industry, withpersonal anecdotes punctu-ating the discussion.

The grand finale includ-ed the actress andactivist Shabana Azmi,

Saif Mahmood and I as wedid the Kasauli launch ofKaifi Azmi: Poems | Nazms(Bloomsbury, pp.224, `499) —a book I have edited, intro-duced and co-translated.Azmi read the Urdu poemsof her father with perfectpitch and musicality —herside-notes that precededeach reading providing aglimpse into the life of theman himself. Mahmood inhis typically exuberant andpassionate style moderatedthe session displaying hisimmense knowledge of theUrdu poetic tradition. The200-odd copies of this bookin the bookstore sold outwithin minutes, and the peo-ple were left with paper nap-kins, handkerchiefs andstray pages in notebooks toget signatures.

There was music, per-formances and filmscreenings (including

an excellent documentary,Peering Souls, by AmardeepSingh, that beautifullytraced nearly 100 disusedgurdwaras in Pakistan).“The hills [were truly] alivewith the sound of music”,dance, fiercely argueddebates, and finely crafted words — a kaleido-scopic mosaic that cametogether beautifully underthe able directorship ofRahul Singh and NilouferBillimoria — in an atmos-phere full of camaraderieand celebration.

Sen is an award-winningpoet, translator, editor andphotographer; whose mostrecent book is Kaifi Azmi:

Poems | Nazms(Bloomsbury)

Ideas crystallise in the Kasauli sunSudeepSen

Polyphony

By RADHA KUMARAleph

pp394; `799

PARADISE AT WARBy MANISHA KOIRALA

Penguinpp240; `499

HEALED

FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI

■ The country now ranks 63 on the World Bank index

Housingsales inchingtowards pre-demonlevels

Young entrepreneurslook for social causes

MADHUSUDAN SAHOONEW DELHI, OCT 24

India has moved up 14notches to the 63rd spot inthe World Bank’s ease-of-doing-business global ran-kings 2019, released onThursday. India figuredamong the world’s top 10most improved countriesfor the third consecutiveyear on the back of fasterbankruptcy resolution andissuance of constructionpermits.

The improved rankingsare expected to facilitatehigher foreign investmentinto the country to pace upgrowth at a time when theReserve Bank of India,International MonetaryFund and the World Bankhave slashed India’s eco-nomic growth forecast for2019-20.

India also rankedNumber One in SouthAsia. India went up aheadby 23 and 30 places, respec-tively, in the past two years.

Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman saidthat besides implementa-tion of Insolvency andBankruptcy Code, effortswould be made to simplifyGoods and Services Tax forfurther improving India’sranking in the index. “Inthe next ranking, the WorldBank will include the busi-ness climate in Kolkataand Bengaluru as well.Currently, it takes intoaccount only Delhi andMumbai,” she said.

The report, however, saidthe challenges India is fac-ing would continue. “The

country needed to do morein areas such as enforcingcontracts and registeringproperty where Indiaranks a dismal 163rd and154th globally. Also, in themost fundamental of themall--ease of starting a busi-ness–India’s rank rose byjust a single place in the lat-est report,” the World Banknoted.

Industry bodies said thejump in India’s ranking isa testimony to the remark-able improvement in thecountry's business climateowing to the series ofreforms undertaken by theNarendra Modi-led govern-

ment.The report said India had

broken into the club of 100easiest nations to conductbusiness two years agowhen it managed to jump30 spots from the 130thposition. “The World Bankhas named India as one ofthe economies with themost notable improvementfor the third year in a row,along with Saudi Arabia,Bahrain, Kuwait, andneighboring Pakistan andChina,” it said.

As far as resolving insol-vency is concerned, thecountry had the best per-formance in ‘Resolving

Insolvency’ where itjumped by 56 places tobecome the 52nd easiestplace in addressing bank-ruptcy. Streamlined proce-dures allowed by the imple-mentation of the IBC arelargely to thank for this.

“Since its implementa-tion, more than 2,000 com-panies have used the newlaw. Of these, about 470have commenced liquida-tion and more than 120have approved reorganiza-tion plans, with theremaining cases still pend-ing,” it said.

The report quotes studiesthat have found that restric-tive labour regulation inIndia is associated with a 35per cent increase in firms’unit labour costs while a 10per cent increase in judi-cial quality increases firmsales by 1-2 per cent.

Welcoming the WB rank-ings, CII president VikramKirloskar said, “Indiaachieved another signifi-cant millstone in the areaof ‘trading across borders,where we now stand at 68thrank, up from 146th in 2018.Procedures, time and costfor export and importshave been coming downsharply with continuousintroduction of trade facil-itation reforms.”

“We have a long way to goin several other indicatorsof ‘doing business’ report,including enforcing con-tracts, registering proper-ty, and starting a business.With continuing reformmomentum and govern-ment-industry partner-ship, I am confident of

PRAMOD KUMARwith agency nputsNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

In a jolt to the troubledtelecom sector, theSupreme Court onThursday ordered theservice providers, includ-ing Bharti Airtel,Vodafone Idea and manydefunct telecom compa-nies, to pay the govern-ment Rs 92,000 crore duesarising from sharing ofadjusted gross revenue(AGR).

The court said that apartfrom the fee on account oftermination of call androaming charges, all rev-enues coming to telcomservice providers would becounted in AGR.

The apex court upheldthe government's positionon including revenue fromnon-telecommunicationsbusinesses in calculatingthe annual AGR of telecomcompanies, a share ofwhich is paid as licenceand spectrum fees to theexchequer.

While the governmenthad raised a demand of Rs92,000 crore from BhartiAirtel, Vodafone, Idea andmany now-defunct telecomoperators in licence feesbased on revised revenue,the actual payout will bearound Rs 1.4 lakh croreafter including spectrumusage charge, penalty andinterest, it is learnt.

Over the next few days,the numbers will get fur-ther calibrated. Older tele-com companies would bethe worst hit, whileReliance Jio, whichentered in 2016, owes theleast among all.

“Fresh calculation willbe done now for all the lia-bilities of telecom opera-

tors. The total amount isaround Rs 1.34 lakh crore.It is likely to go up by 4-5per cent as the liability ofone more quarter will getadded to it," an officialsaid.

Directing the cash-strapped telecom serviceproviders to cough-up thepast dues, a bench ofJustice Arun Mishra,Justice S. Abdul Nazeerand Justice M.R.Shah saidthey would decide on thetime-line for the paymentof Rs. 92,000 crore by theservice providers.

The court will pass a sep-

arate order on the time-frame within which Rs.92,000 crore would be paidby the telecom operators.

Telcos have to payaround 3 per cent of AGRas spectrum charges andanother 8 per cent aslicence fees.

The court has not accept-ed the contention by thetelecom service providersthat AGR should excludethe earnings from non-tele-com revenues, includingrent, dividend income,interest income, profitfrom the sale of fixedassets, etc.

India jumps 14 placesin ease of doing biz

MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, OCT. 24

Hit by subdued demand inthe Indian passenger carmarket, Maruti Suzuki,India’s biggest car maker,on Thursday reported amassive 39.4 per cent year-on-year drop in net profitfor the September quarterat Rs 1,358.60 crore due toweak auto sales amid sub-dued demand in the econo-my. The Delhi-based makerof popular models likeVitara Brezza and Balenohad clocked Rs 2,240.4 crorein profit in the same periodin 2018.

A sharp fall in corporate

tax expenses (as the compa-ny enjoyed the maximumbenefits because of the cor-porate tax rate cutannounced by the govern-ment in September) andhigher other incomehelped the company limitthe profit decline.

“Net profit fell on accountof lower sales volume,higher sales promotionexpenses and higher depre-ciation expenses, partiallyoffset by cost reductionefforts, higher fair valuegains on invested surplusand reduction in corporatetax rate,” Maruti said in aBSE filing.

The revenue during the

quarter dropped 24.3 per-cent year-on-year to Rs16,985.3 crore as volumesfell 30 per cent year-on-year. “This year, the auto-mobile industry has seen asignificant decline in salesowing to several factors,”Maruti said.

“One of the main factorsis increase in the cost ofacquisition of the car dueto various reasons comingtogether like implementa-tion of more stringent safe-ty and emission (BS6)norms, increase in vehicleinsurance expenses andhike in road taxes in manystates. the companyexplained.

Maruti Q2 profit tanks 39%

SACHIN RAVIKUMAR &ADITI SHAHBENGALURU/NEW DELHI,OCT. 24

India's biggest airlineIndiGo reported itsbiggest ever quarterlyloss on higher mainte-nance costs and cut capac-ity expansion targets, at atime when the industry isgrappling with slowingpassenger growth.

IndiGo parent Inter-Globe Aviation Ltd's netloss grew to Rs 1,066 crorein the three months toSept. 30 from Rs 652 crorea year earlier, the onlyother instance that theairline reported a quar-terly loss.

Maintenance costsspiked as IndiGo wasforced to reassess theexpense of leasing andmaintaining older AirbusA320 planes to fill a gapcaused by the groundingof newer A320neo aircraftdue to engine issues,Chief Financial OfficerAditya Pande said on acall with analysts onThursday.

The company also cut itsexpectations for capacityexpansion for 2019-20 to 25per cent from 30 per cent,blaming a 3-4 month delayin aircraft deliveries byAirbus.

—Reuters

IndiGo reportsbiggest quarterly loss

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, OCT. 24

Dussehra sales had disap-pointed the jeweler frater-nity. However, they hope tosee the latent demand forgold to support Dhanterassales this time.

Gold demand hasremained subdued for pre-vious festivals, whereDussehra sales were 20 percent lower than previousyear, finds Motilal OswalFinancial Services. Cust-omers have been keepingaway from the market forthe past four months as theprices were rising. Prices

had come closer to Rs40,000 per 10 gm levels inthe domestic marketamidst rising internation-al rates and weakeningrupee. However of late,there has been some stabil-ity in the market and jew-ellers expect that cus-tomers will make use ofthe stability.

“The prices have reduceda bit and the customersnow understand thatprices may not fall furthermuch. There is a latentdemand in the market andwe have started seeingsales picking up slowlysince Navarathri. Jewell-ers are seeing an increas-ing trend in pre-festivalbookings. We expect 10 to12 per cent growth in salesduring this Diwali,” saidBachhraj Bamalwa, formerchairman of All-India Gem& Jewellery DomesticCouncil (GJC). Weddingpurchases too have startedpicking up.

Jewellers expect better Dhanteras

VRISHTI BENIWALOCT. 24

India is considering taxrelief for individuals as itlooks at measures to accel-erate consumer demandand boost economicgrowth, people with directknowledge of the mattersaid.

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s govern-ment is mulling a propos-al to hike the taxable

income limits, especiallythe Rs 10 lakh slab, whichattracts a 30 per cent taxrate at present, the peoplesaid, asking not to be iden-tified as the discussionsare private.

The move will be accom-panied by scrapping sometax breaks, including theone offered on house rentpayments and interestearned on some bankdeposits.

The measures may form

part of the federal budgetto be unveiled inFebruary, the people said.A spokesman for theFinance Ministry couldn’tbe immediately reachedfor a comment.

If the government tin-kers with personal taxes,it will add to the list ofmeasures taken in recentmonths to boost growththat’s expanding at theslowest pace in nearly sixyears. Apart from last

month’s cut in corporatetaxes, the government hasalso rolled back a levy onforeign funds, injected $10billion into banks, relaxed

foreign direct investmentrules, and merged state-run lenders.

A steep reduction in cor-porate tax rate to 22 percent meant companies paytaxes at a lower rate thanmany individuals who arein the top 30 per cent ratebracket. That’s raised theclamor for a relief in per-sonal income tax rates.

As Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharamanaims to narrow the fiscal

deficit to 3.3 per cent ofthe gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) this year, thegovernment has limitedfiscal space for fresh give-aways after the $20 billioncorporate tax stimulus.It’s now banking on com-panies and individuals toboost consumption andadd to revenue collec-tions.

Personal tax kicks off onincome above Rs 250,000 ayear, levied at 5 per cent.

Top marginal tax rate inIndia is 42.74 per cent forincome above Rs 5 crore.That’s higher than theAsia average of 29.99 percent, according to datacompiled by KPMG. Onlyabout 5 per cent of thepopulation pays taxes andthe country’s tax-to-GDPratio of about 11 per centranks lower than the glob-al average.

— Bloomberg

Telcos suffer `1.4 L cr joltas SC asks them to pay up

Govt mulls income-tax relief for top bracket after scrapping exemptions

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 39,020.39 -0.10Nifty 50 11,582.60 -0.19S&P 500 3,006.99 +0.08Dollar (`) 71.01 +0.08Pound Sterling (`) 91.54 +0.34Euro (`) 79.00 +0.16Gold (10gm)* (`) 38,110▲107 +0.28Brent crude ($/bbl)* $61.79 +0.62IN 10-Yr bond yield +6.678 —US 10-Yr T-bill yield +1.740 -0.019

* As of 9:30 pm IST

Fitch cuts FY20GDP growthforecast to 5.5%Fitch Ratings slashed India's GDPgrowth forecast in the current fis-cal to 5.5 per cent, saying a largecredit squeeze emanating fromshadow banks has pushed eco-nomic growth to a six year low.Fitch, which had in June this yearput India's GDP growth at 6.6 percent for the fiscal year that beganin April 2019, said the recent gov-ernment measures to boost econo-my will gradually nudge growth.

Nifty Midcap150Quality 50 Indexlaunched

NSE Indices Ltd launched anew smart beta index, NiftyMidcap150 Quality 50 Index,which will track performance ofmid-cap companies based onprofitability, leverage and earn-ings growth variability. Thebeta index includes top-50companies from its parentNifty Midcap 150 Index, select-ed based on their 'qualityscores'.

Trump says Fed'derelict in itsduties'President Donald Trump againattacked the US Fed onThursday, calling for more inter-est rate cuts to stimulate theAmerican economy just daysbefore the key policy meeting."The Federal Reserve is derelictin its duties if it doesn't lowerthe Rate and even, ideally, stim-ulate," he said on Twitter, a rel-atively mild epithet after callingpolicymakers "boneheads."

Smartphoneshipment touches 49 mn

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.

Overleaf

India smartphone shipmentreached the highest-ever quar-terly shipment at 49 millionunits in the July-September2019 quarter, growing 10 percent year-on-year and beatingconcerns of slowdown in thesegment, a CounterpointResearch report said . Thegrowth was driven by newlaunches, discounts and variouspre-Diwali sale channel fill byall the leading brands.

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, OCT. 24

In a regulatory update,Infosys on Thursday con-firmed probe into thewhistleblower’s allegationsby the Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi) and the USSecurities ExchangeCommission (SEC). TheBengaluru-based IT majoralso said a class action law-suit has been filed againstit in the US.

Surprisingly, amidst allthe trouble, in an apparentmove to lift the saggingmorale of its employees,the software major annou-nced grant of stock incen-tives of around 23 lakhshares to around 7,000thousand mid-level eligibleemployees.

The Infosys stock remain-ed the whipping boy of themarket for the fourth day,closing 2.36 per cent downat Rs 635.40 on the BSE.

Reports said the Sebi hassought additional informa-tion from the company,while the NationalFinancial Reporting Autho-rity (NFRA)--which is partof the corporate affairsministry--has been asked tolook into the matter.

Infosys said, “The compa-ny has been in touch withthe Securities andExchange Commissionregarding the anonymouswhistleblower complaintsand has learnt that the SEChas initiated an investiga-

tion into this matter. Thecompany will cooperatewith the SEC’s investiga-tion. Also, Securities andExchange Board of Indiahas requested additionalinformation from the com-pany concerning theanonymous complaints.The company will providethe information as perSebi’s request.”

“The company is alsoaware of a securities classaction lawsuit that hasbeen filed against the com-pany in federal court in theUnited States based on thegeneralised allegations inthe anonymous com-plaints. The companyintends to defend itself vig-orously in such a lawsuit,”Infosys said.

On BSE questioning itover late disclosure ofwhistleblower’s com-plaints, Infosys said,“Before conclusion of theinvestigation of the gener-alised allegations in thecomplaints, a disclosureunder Regulation 30 ofLODR Regulations was notrequired. The disclosuremade on October 22, 2019was to respond to multiple

media inquiries andreports.”

“The anonymous whistle-blower complaints havebeen placed before theaudit committee who hasretained the law firm ofShardul AmarchandMangaldas & Co. to con-duct an independent inves-tigation,” Infosys said.

Makarand Joshi, partnerat Mumbai-based MMJCand Associates LLP--a cor-porate compliance firm--said, "So far, as per theprevalent Sebi LODRRegulations, there are noclauses that makes itmandatory to disclose suchinformation to the stockexchanges, however, as aprinciple every materialinformation needs to beinformed to stock exchangeunder regulation 30 of SebiLODR Regulations.However, between the peri-od when the whistleblowercomplaint was receivedand the information wasmade public, if some insid-er including the whistleblower himself had tradedin Infosys share, it willwithout doubt violate thenorms of insider trading."

"Legal liabilities in suchcases can be exponentialand Infosys has alreadyinformed that a securitiesclass action lawsuit thathas been filed against thecompany in the US federalcourt based on the gener-alised allegations in theanonymous complaints,"Joshi said.

Infosys confirms US SEC probe

FC BANKING BUREAUMUMBAI, OCT 24

The Supreme Court’sdecision that upholds theDoT demand is unlikelyto have much materialimpact on banks. Bankerssaid except Jio, other tele-com players have not bor-rowed from banks in thelast one-and-a-half yearswhile the existingstressed loans to the sec-tor have been providedfor.

However, analysts saidthat the Supreme Courtdecision comes as a majorsetback to the incumbenttelcos as it implies higherpayments when the indus-try is facing a price-warand intense competition.The payment terms forthese liabilities wouldremain a key monitorablefor the asset quality of

banks as well as the debtservicing ability of tele-com companies, they said.

“Around a year-and-a-half ago, the ReserveBank of India had identi-fied the telecom sector asstressed and had askedbanks to make additionalprovisioning towardstheir exposure.Technically, there has notbeen any borrowing fromthe telecom companiessince then. Only Jio hasborrowed from banks andit too has been bringingdown the debt by monetis-ing its assets. Whateverexposure we have towardsthe telecom sector, wehave provided higher forthose loans as it is alreadya stressed sector in termsof revenue generationand profitability,” said abanker with a large publicsector bank.

Banks say no materialimpact from SC order

FC BUREAUNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

In a move to improveIndia’s ranking in theWorld Bank’s ease ofdoing business index, thegovernment is likely tofurther simplify Goodsand Services Tax (GST).Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onThursday said thatefforts would be made tofurther the simplify GSTsystem.

Sitharaman said effortwould also be now toachieve the target toreaching within top 50rank.

“In GST, it is an ongo-ing process to under-stand where the difficul-

ties are. We are also look-ing at what were theglitches in using onlinefiling of returns. So, GSTis an ongoing process inimproving. Even now forthe next meeting, as andwhen it happens, wewant to make sure thatseveral steps are taken tosimplify compliance,”she said.

Govt to simplify GST

Nirmala Sitharaman

FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHI


As the most preferred chan-nel, e-commerce is beingopted by 76 per cent of thefestive shoppers this time.Similarly, credit card is themost preferred and grow-ing mode of payment.

Adoption of e-commercehas been growing year-after-year. The FestiveShopping Index byRetailers Association ofIndia and Litmus Worldfound that 89 per cent cus-tomers were willing tomake some purchases dur-ing this festive season. Ofthis 89 per cent, a whopping76 per cent found online as

the preferred channel.Last year also e-commerce

was the most preferredchannel, but the share ofcustomers was lower at 65per cent. In 2017, it wasmuch lower at 53 per cent.Festive season sales havebecome major shoppingevents on the online plat-form with huge discounts,offers and credit facilities.The event has been growingin size year-after-year withnew customers coming in.

Similar to e-commerce,malls too have been grow-ing their share of cus-tomers. In 2017, malls had ashare of 49 per cent, whichgrew to 64 per cent in 2018.By 2019, this has further

gone up to 71 per cent.Shops have a smaller

share of 41 per cent, whichhas grown from 37 per centlast year. However, their

share was higher at 48 percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, the wide-spread adoption of e-com-merce has helped the

growth of credit cards anddebit cards as preferredpayment modes. Additionaloffers like cash-back andloyalty points available forcard purchases too have ledto their increased use dur-ing festive sales.

Credit cards are preferredby 55 per cent customersand this share was 42 percent in 2018. In 2019, debitcards are being used by 28per cent, up from 26 percent in 2018. Cash has lostits share significantly from19 per cent in 2018 to 9 percent in 2019. Mobile Walletsand Net Banking modes ofpayment also show a down-ward trend with 5 per centand 3 per cent respectively

this season as compared to8 per cent and 6 per centrespectively last year.

“Product features fol-lowed by discounts are themost influencing factors forpurchase decisions this fes-tive season. However, con-sumers are also looking atunique experiences andcashback offers, followedby attractive EMI offers andthe opportunity to redeemtheir kitty of loyaltypoints,” said KumarRajagopalan, CEO,Retailers Association ofIndia.

The survey was conduct-ed on a sample size of 50,000consumers across metros,tier II and III cities.

BELINDA GOLDSMITH,SARAH SHEARMANADDIS ABABA/SAN FRANCISCO, OCT. 24

As the brains behind ahydroponics farming sys-tem in rural Kenya, 17-year-old Jefferson Kang’achastruggled to get noticed buthe now expects the youth cli-mate movement led byGreta Thunberg to bolsterother young people on a mis-sion.

Kang’acha, a computertechnology student, decidedto apply technology to farm-ing when his parents werehit by another drought andhe came up with an auto-mated hydroponics unitbuilt from recycled wasteand plastic bottles.

After his first unit pro-duced 2 tonnes of tomatoes,he founded the Eden Horti-cultural Hub, a social enter-prise that now runs fourhydroponics systems in hishome town of Limuru tosupply the local communityand lunches to 1,500 schoolpupils.

Echoing many youngsocial entrepreneurs attend-ing two of the sector’s bigannual events this week,Kang’acha said he wasbrushed off at first but even-tually - similarly to Swedishteenager Thunberg - peoplestarted to listen.

“At first it was hard to beheard, particularly as theaverage age of a farmer inKenya is about 60,” saidKang’acha, now 20, speak-ing on the sidelines of the12th annual SocialEnterprise World Forum(SEWF) in Ethiopia.

“But young people havethe advantage of exposureto technology and can bringsolutions to old problems,working together with the

experience of older people,not as rivals.”

A Thomson ReutersFoundation poll releasedthis week found there wasrising enthusiasm amongyoung people globally towork for businesses with amission to do social good.

Three in four of about 900experts surveyed said moreyoung people—under theage of 25 — were interestedin working in social enter-prises, which tackle a host ofissues, from healthcare toclimate change.

“We don’t just want jobs,we want meaningful jobs,”said Sabrina Chakori, 27,who set up a “tool library”in Brisbane in Australia in2017 that charges an annualmembership fee to borrowdonated tools, campingequipment and sports gear.

“The current economicsystem does not work for themajority of us and we arestarting to look at new eco-

nomic systems,” she said,adding the library not onlyused equipment filling uplandfills but also cut con-sumerism.

As well as concerns aboutthe global economy and cli-mate change, young entre-preneurs said a lack of jobsand worries about affordingtheir own homes weighedon their generation.

Having previously workedfor a Wall Street hedge fund,New Yorker Bree Jonesdecided to use her skills tohelp people so foundedParity, a social enterprisethat converts abandonedhomes in Baltimore intoaffordable ones.

Jones, 28, said youngergenerations have beenspurred on by the “existen-tial threats” they face, frommass incarceration, policebrutality and maternal mor-tality rates afflicting blackpeople in the United States,to issues like climate break-

down. “For me it was aboutusing my college educationand career skill set andbringing that back into mycommunity in a way thatlifts my community,” Jonestold the Thomson ReutersFoundation at the sidelinesof SOCAP in San Francisco.

“We realise we have beenextracting so much from theearth without replenishingand that is not sustainable –we can do business, make aprofit, make money, but alsogive back to our customers,community and the environ-ment.”

A Deloitte report on therise of social enterprise in2018 highlighted that for thefirst time in mature mar-kets, young people believetheir lives will be worsethan their parents.

This was making themquestion corporate behav-iour and the economic andsocial principles that guideit, with 86% of millennialssaying business successshould be measured interms of more than justfinancial performance.

At the same time, techno-logical advances were open-ing up new opportunities forbusinesses to positivelyimpact society.

Ellen Chilemba, 25, a DJand founder of Tiwale, acommunity-based organiza-tion set up in 2012 to givemicroloans, training andschool grants to women andgirls in Malawi, said peoplewere starting to take youngpeople more seriously.

“For us, our future is notas visible as for older gener-ations,” said Chilemba atthe SEWF, pointing to theglobal climate movementspurred by Thunberg.

“It is time for movementsand not just individualefforts.” — Reuters

Financial

OPENING

PROJECTION FOR TODAYBELL

The market continued tobe volatile in the busyearnings season; onThursday SupremeCourt order on telecomcompanies license andspectrum usage chargesto be paid to the govern-ment led to highervolatility as telecomstocks fell sharply.Assembly electionresults for Maharashtraand Haryana also werenot as per market expec-tations with Haryana’shung assembly verdict.

The Sensex closed near-ly flat at 39,020.39, down38.44 points or 0.10 percent, in a volatile tradingsession, the indextouched an intra-dayhigh of 39,327.15 afteropening in the green butlater touched a low of38,840.76.

Telecom major BhartiAirtel fell close to 10 percent intra-day, but recov-ered later posting morethan 3 per cent gain.Infosys also fell in thelast hour of trade closing2.36 per cent down at Rs635.40 on the BSE as bothIndian and US marketregulators have begunprobe in the whistleblower matter.

Bharti and VodafoneIdea’s overdue licence feestands at Rs 6,800 croreeach. Including the inter-est and penalty, the totaloutstanding amount forall the companies is Rs92,600 crore. The decisioncomes as a major stebackto the incumbent telecomcompanies as it implieshigher payments whenthe industry is facingprice-war and intensecompetition, analystssaid.

Nifty-50 index closed at11,582.60 down 21.50points or 0.19 per cent.

The sectoral indicesclosed mixed the losersincluded BSE Bankex(-1.16 per cent), Power (-1.24 per cent), IT (-0.71per cent), Telecom(-0.67per cent), Auto (-0.32 percent).

The market didn’t getmuch support fromeither domestic the insti-tutions who were net sell-ers of equities worth Rs738.75 crore or the for-eign portfolio investorsalso were net sellers byRs 72.87 crore.

Technical View

Shrikant Chouhan, sen-ior vice-president-Equity TechnicalResearch, KotakSecurities said, “Mixednews flow on the domes-tic front kept the marketvolatile throughout theday. Supreme court’s ver-dict for telecom carrierto pay past dues of $13billion has shaken thetelecom companies, aswell as their lenders likeprivate and public banks.Also, assembly electionsresults were little belowexpectations that hasincreased short termnervousness in the mar-ket.”

“However, the market ispreparing for a majortrending move and suchtype of negative newsflow offers buying oppor-tunity for those who havemissed the opportunityat lower levels. Techni-cally, we are of the viewthat the market is consol-idating between therange of 11,720 and 11,470to surpass its resistancelevel of 11,720 decisively,”Chouhan said.

Market View

Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, GeojitFinancial Services said,“Market has been flattishduring the week assess-ing the ongoing Q2 resultwhich is marginally bet-ter than expected tilldate. Given the tradingholiday, volume hasreduced taking a conser-vative approach. Goingforward weak crude oilprices, positive globalsentiments and furtherreforms from the govern-ment are expected to pro-vide positive momen-tum."

Market consolidatingin range of11720-11470

■ Rising enthusiasm among youth globally to work for a mission


Despite the subdued senti-ments, the residential mar-ket has started looking up.While the industry is confi-dent that sales will get backto pre-demonetisation lev-els, it is not sure abouttouching 2013 levels.

As per the data from JLLIndia, residential sales inthe top seven cities havemoved up to 1.15 lakh unitsin the first nine months of2019 from 1.01 lakh units inthe same period last year.Post demonetization, in thefirst nine months of 2017,sales had fallen to72,300 units – adecline of 40 percent from 1.19lakh units inthe previousyear period.

According toSamantak Das,Chief Economistand Head ofResearch & REIS, JLLIndia, the first benchmarkwould be the pre-demoneti-sation levels, which isachievable for the industry.However, it will be difficultfor the market to get back to2013 levels when 1.48 lakhunits were sold in the firstnine months.

‘The 2013 level is the ulti-mate benchmark. Butwhether the industry willget back to those levels is abig question. The investorfraternity which was activein the real estate market till2013 is not likely to comeback. Till then, it wasinvestor-driven sales an dnow it is an end-user mar-ket. The industry as suchwill be in a better positionin 2020,” said Das.

The disruptions in themarket, including RERA,GST and the changes in the

Benami Act, have almostsettled down. “The realestate market has becomemore dependable. Further,the declining interest ratesalso have started manifest-ing positively, especially inthe affordable and mid-seg-ment residential units.Once the economy startspicking up, things willimprove,’ he added.

Meanwhile, the govern-ment measures to boost theaffordable segment sales areexpected to support fasterdelivery of units. PropTigerestimates that nearly 4.5lakh affordable homes will

be delivered by 2020 inIndia’s 9 major cities.

Real estate devel-opers havechanged theirapproach amidchanging marketdynamics, show-ing a greater

c o m m i t m e n ttowards project

delivery than on newlaunches.

“The demand for afford-able homes is expected toincrease in the near futureamid record low-interestrates and higher tax bene-fits. In the past, projectdelays have resulted indevelopers attracting nega-tive publicity, which hasdented the fortunes of manyand left several others strug-gling for survival. A reset inthis regard is absolutelynecessary to bring back themissing trust factor amonghome buyers. Now that thegovernment has announcedlast-mile funding for stuckprojects through the launchof the Rs 20,000 crore stressfund, project delivery rateswill hopefully improve fur-ther in the near future,”said DhruvAgarwala,Group CEO, Elara technolo-gies, which owns PropTiger.

Housing salesinching towards pre-demon levels

Growing preference for e-com in festive shopping

MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, OCT. 24

Audi, India’s third biggestGerman luxury car maker,on Thursday introduced themuch awaited eighth gener-ation all new Audi A6 sedanto take on archrivalsMercedes-Benz, BMW,Jaguar Land Rover, VolvoCars and Lexus in Asia’sthird biggest economy.

Priced between Rs 54.20lakh and Rs 59.20 lakh at panIndia showroom, news A6

takes on the likes of theBMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-class and the JaguarXF.

The A6 costs about Rs 4lakh more than its predeces-sor, and it is also priced justbelow rivals like theMercedes E-Class, BMW 5Series and Jaguar XF toentice buyers.

In fact, the A6 sedan isthe German car-maker’s firstall-new prod-uct in the

40,000 luxury car unit Indianmarket in over a year.

The new A6 model is avail-able in two variants—Premium Plus andTechnology—and comeswith a petrol engine only.

Powered by the 2.0-litreturbo-petrol engine, it gener-ates 245 hp and 370 Nm of

torque propellingthe car from 0-

100 kmph in6.8 seconds.The enginec o m e s

paired to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox asstandard.

The fully connected, com-fortable, sporty and elegant-ly sculptured new A6 is nowavailable across Audi dealer-ships in the country.

“With the launch of thenew Audi A6, we are present-ing the eighth generation ofthe successful full size sedanthat brings numerous inno-vations to the segment,”Balbir Singh Dhillon, Headof Audi India, said.

ANUJ BALI

Steep start-up valuationshave become a global con-cern, with many stocks dis-appointing investors post-IPO. Many believe the valua-tions often do not commen-surate with a start-up’s com-petitive market share, size,pricing, customer base andgrowth rate. What shakesthe very foundation of a fairvaluation is misleadingaccounting reporting struc-tures and presentation ofaccounts.

In India, the accountingregulatory bodies have laiddown certain principles forpresentation of accounts forconsistent analysis and topresent a true and fair viewof a company’s books forshareholders and otherstakeholders. But there isscope for manipulation ofthis if not carefully scruti-nised.

It is noticed that certainregulations have beentweaked by startups to their

advantage for securingfunds from investors. Insuch cases, investors end uplosing their money.

Collectively, more than 27Indian AccountingStandards prescribed by theICAI attempt to ensuretruthful, consistent and fairpresentation of incomes,expenses, assets andpayables. These have been,to a largee x t e n t ,embraced bythe Ministry ofC o r p o r a t eAffairs, thereby imposingcompliance to these stan-dards for consistent report-ing for all.

However, due diligenceexercise by investors prima-rily focuses on the numberspresented, not on theaccounting principles fol-lowed in the recognition ofrevenue, expenses and capi-talisation.

Globally, more than 20 per-cent of the companies haveseen a sharp decline in their

overall valuation owing toirregular and inconsistentreporting methodologies.This has been observed atlater stages than the earlystage, which points to thefact that these deficienciesget highlighted on profes-sional scrutiny. One reasonfor this is that most account-ing principles that aremandatory are applicable to

bigger sized com-panies only, hencethe reporting ofcertain headsbecomes manda-

tory only in later stages.Very recently, a celebrated

global startup booked dis-counts received in negotia-tions while renting of prop-erties as revenues—this ismisleading as this has notangible impact on cashinflow.

Technology companiesresort to similar manipula-tions wherein proportionatecompletion methodologygives misleading revenueand profit numbers.

Revenue recognition prin-ciples for sale of goods, ren-dering of services and pro-portionate completion ofwork have certain rules to befollowed as per IndianAccounting Standard 9. Butthis is applicable primarilyfor companies with morethan Rs 50 crore turnover.Others, may adopt a differ-ent approach that suitsthem.

More than $4.88 billion hasbeen invested in the first halfof 2019 in Indian startups.But a shift has beenobserved in the investmentpattern—from investing intopre-revenue to revenue-earn-ing startups. This makesreporting and presentationof financials all the morecritical in decision-making.Any startup with a less thana certain threshold limit ofturnover has the elasticity of“choosing” the reportingmethodology. Investors haveto be beware of this.

(The author is Founder,Anbac Advisors)

PAGE

10

—FC BUREAU —RAVI RANJAN PRASAD

ITC Q2 net profit up 37%FMCG major ITC on Thursday reported a 37.06 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,173.72 crorefor the second quarter ended September 30.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 3,045.07crore in July-September quarter a year ago, ITC saidin a regulatory filing.

Its net sales rose 6.16 per cent to Rs 12,759.44 croreduring the quarter under review from Rs 12,018.61crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Total expenses rose 4 per cent to Rs 8,455.16 crore inJuly-September from Rs 8,129.19 crore in the year-agoperiod.

Shares of ITC on Thursday closed 0.82 per cent lowerat Rs 248.95 apiece on the BSE.

Praj Industries net up 81%The Pune-based Praj Industries, the global biofuelstechnology and renewable energy firm, has reported81.2 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 16.1 crore. The rev-enue was up 17.2 per cent at Rs 294.1 crore versus Rs 251 crore in the same quarter last year.

PNB Housing Financereported a 45 per centrise in net profit at Rs366.8 crore in the secondquarter ended Septemberof this fiscal. The bankhad posted a net profit ofRs 253 crore in the corre-sponding July-Septemberperiod last fiscal. Totalincome rose to Rs 2,230.34crore during the quarterunder review from Rs1,808.26 crore a year ago.

Net interest incomerose 36 per cent year-on-year to Rs 628.4 crore.

STREETbuzz

PNB Housingnet rises 45%

Liquor major UnitedSpirits Ltd (USL) report-ed a 28.59 per cent declinein consolidated net profitat Rs 157.6 crore for thesecond quarter endedSeptember on consump-tion slowdown and liq-uidity challenges. Thecompany had posted anet profit of Rs 220.7crore in the July-September period last fis-cal. Its revenue fromoperations rose 2.26 percent to Rs 7,299.9 croreduring the quarter.

USL netdown 28.6%

Oct. 24: China aims tobuy at least $20 billion ofagricultural products ina year if it signs a par-tial trade deal with theU.S., and would considerboosting purchases fur-ther in future rounds oftalks, people familiarwith the matter said.

That amount wouldtake China’s imports ofU.S. farm goods back toaround 2017 levels,before President DonaldTrump began a tit-for-tat tariff feud withBeijing. In the secondyear of a potential finaldeal when all punitivetariffs are removed, pur-chases could rise to $40billion to $50 billion,said the people, whoasked not to be namedbecause talks are pri-vate. The market reac-tion to China’s pledgewas relatively muted,with Chicago soybeanfutures climbing lessthan 0.5 per cent butstaying below highsfrom earlier this week.

When trade talkswrapped up inWashington on Oct. 11,Trump said Chinawould lift agriculturepurchases to between$40 billion and $50 bil-lion. — Bloomberg

China aims tobuy $20bn ofUS farm goods

New Delhi, Oct 24: TheNational AgriculturalCooperative MarketingFederation of India Ltd(Nafed) decided not tosell mustard seed, urad,moong and gram belowthe minimum supportprice (MSP) to curb itslosses, said an official ofthe cooperative giant.

The move will have abullish impact on pricesin the open market astill now the governmentagency was selling puls-es and oilseeds at pre-vailing prices, which ismuch below the buyingprice or MSP, saidtraders. Nafed hasdecided not to sell belowMSP, said a senior offi-cial. The base price is tobe kept at MSP plusbonus (where bonus isdeclared by the govern-ment of India) said theofficial.

Nafed purchases urad,moong, chana, masur,tur, mustard seed, soy-bean etc. at governmentfixed MSP to save farm-ers from distress salesand to encourage togrow these farm pro-duce more. Nafed is car-rying a stock of around9.80 lakh tonne of mus-tard seed.

— TickerNews Service

Nafed willnot sellbelow MSP

New Delhi, Oct 24:Shares of oil marketingcompanies on Thursdaydropped up to 3 per centafter the governmentrelaxed norms for set-ting up petrol pumps,allowing non-oil compa-nies to venture into thebusiness.

Hindustan PetroleumCorporation tumbled3.16 per cent, BharatPetroleum Corp Ltd(BPCL) 2.49 per cent andIndian Oil Corporationfell 2.22 per cent on theBSE.

In the biggest reformin fuel retailing sectorin almost two decades,the government onWednesday relaxednorms for setting uppetrol pumps, allowingnon-oil companies toventure into the busi-ness —a move that couldhelp private and foreignfirms to enter theworld's fastest-growingmarket.

State-owned oil mar-keting companies—Indian Oil Corp (IOC),BPCL and HindustanPetroleum Corp Ltd(HPCL) —own most of65,554 petrol pumps inthe country. Currently,IOC is the market leaderwith 27,981 petrolpumps. —PTI

Oil companystocks fallup to 3%

GRETA EFFECT

Column

Young entrepreneurslook for social causes

◗ A Deloitte report on the rise of social enterprisein 2018 highlighted that for the first time inmature markets, young people believe their liveswill be worse than their parents

The2013 level isthe ultimate

benchmark. But ifthe industry gets

back to those levels is a big

question

Audi drives in all-new A6 luxury sedan

The ‘choice’ factor in startup valuations

WorldFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

ConspiracyThe PML-N said the government was delaying treatment to Nawaz Sharif as partof a campaign against him and his family

I denounce, in frontof the Bolivian people

that a coup d’etat isin progress

— Evo Moraleson Bolivia situation

IN BRIEF

ZUCKERBERGDEFENDS FB’S

CURRENCY Washington: Facebook CEOMark Zuckerberg enduredhours of prickly questioningfrom lawmakers as he defend-ed the company’s new globallyambitious project to create adigital currency while alsodealing with widening scruti-ny from US regulators.

The immediate focus of thehearing by the HouseFinancial Services Committeewas the project for the curren-cy, to be called Libra.Zuckerberg took pains to reas-sure lawmakers that he would-n't allow Facebook to move for-ward without explicitapproval from all US financialregulators. Members of theHouse Financial Services com-mittee were not convinced.

Rep. Maxine Waters, theCalifornia Democrat whochairs the House FinancialServices Committee, said thatFacebook's cryptocurrencyproject Libra “create manyconcerns” and argued thatmaybe Facebook should bebroken up.

On the Republican side, Rep.Ann Wagner of Missouriasked Zuckerberg why severalhigh-profile corporations haverecently departed the Libraproject. Zuckerberg, momen-tarily at a loss for words, notedthat “it’s a risky enterprise”.

While the hearing is focusedon the digital currency, the fullrange of Facebook’s policies,conduct and market domi-nance is attracting congres-sional attention. It’s theFacebook chief ’s first testimo-ny to Congress. The companyseems to spark public and offi-cial anger at every turn thesedays, from its shift into mes-saging services that allowencrypted conversations to itsalleged anticompetitive behav-ior to its refusal to take downphony political ads or doc-tored videos.

Trump impeachment disruptedUkrainian Prez faced pressure from Trump, Dems target December Washington, Oct. 24: A USHouse of Representativesimpeachment inquirydevolved into chaos asRepublican lawmakers,encouraged by PresidentDonald Trump to gettougher in fightingDemocratic efforts toimpeach him over deal-ings with Ukraine,stormed into a high-secu-rity hearing room anddelayed testimony by awitness.

The more than two dozenRepublican lawmakers,who were not authorizedto attend the hearing,entered before LauraCooper, the US defenceofficial who overseesUkraine and Russia mat-ters, was due to testifybehind closed doors beforeRepublican andDemocratic lawmakers.

The Republicans yelledcomplaints that theDemocrats in charge ofthe inquiry were conduct-ing it in private, lawmak-ers and aides said.Republicans who aremembers of the three con-gressional committeesconducting the inquiry

have taken part in theprocess throughout.

After a delay of aboutfour hours, Cooper beganher testimony.

It was a dramatic con-frontation in the House ofRepresentatives inquirythat threatens RepublicanTrump’s presidency evenas he seeks re-electionnext year.

Democrats are investi-gating whether there aregrounds to impeachTrump over his July 25request in a phone call toUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskiy toinvestigate a domesticpolitical rival, former VicePresident Joe Biden.Biden is a front-runner forthe 2020 Democratic presi-dential nomination.

Federal election law pro-hibits candidates fromaccepting foreign help inan election.

The content of the phonecall was revealed by awhistleblower complaintagainst Trump by a per-son in a US intelligenceagency.

The top Republicans onthe three committees sent

a letter to HouseIntelligence CommitteeChairman Adam Schiffcalling on him to have thewhistleblower testify pub-licly. They said Schiff haddecided that the commit-tees would not hear thewhistleblower’s testimony.A Schiff spokesmandeclined to comment.

Trump had suggestedthe person committedtreason, leadingDemocrats to worry thattheir testimony could put

them at risk of exposure.By having Republican

lawmakers barge into thehearing room, Trump’sallies sought to put thefocus on what they portrayas unfair Democratic tac-tics rather than on thepresident’s conduct.

Meanwhile, more thantwo months before thephone call that launchedthe impeachment inquiryinto President DonaldTrump, Ukraine’s newlyelected leader was alreadyworried about pressurefrom the US president toinvestigate his Democraticrival Joe Biden.

Volodymyr Zelenskiyand his group of adviserson May 7 in Kyiv had athree-hour discussiontalking about how to navi-gate the insistence fromTrump and his personallawyer Rudy Giuliani for aprobe and how to avoidbecoming entangled in theAmerican elections.

The meeting came beforeZelenskiy was inaugurat-ed but about two weeksafter Trump called to offerhis congratulations on thenight of the Ukrainian

leader’s April 21 election.The full details of what

the two leaders discussedin that phone call are notpublicly disclosed.

Meanwhile, Democraticlawmakers hope to com-plete their impeachmentinquiry into PresidentDonald Trump by year’send and are coalescingaround two articles ofimpeachment, abuse ofpower and obstruction,lawmakers and aides said.

But some Democrats fearthat a costly distractionmay be the looming battlebetween the RepublicanTrump and Congress overfunding the governmentwhen money runs out formany federal operationson Nov. 21, Democraticaides said.

Some Democratic law-makers said they believedthey already had gatheredenough evidence from thetestimony of current andformer US officials toimpeach Trump for askingUkraine to investigate apolitical rival, Joe Biden, aleading contender for thepresidential nominationin 2020. — Reuters

Imran Khan vowsnot to resign

Hong Kong ralliesfor Catalan leadersHong Kong: Hong Kong pro-

testers plan to rally in sup-port of demonstrators push-ing for a separate Catalonia

in northeastern Spain as aChinese official denouncedmonths of “mad violence”

and forces pushing for inde-pendence. The protests in

Spain’s wealthiest region ofCatalonia bear some resem-

blances to the demonstra-tions in Chinese-ruled Hong

Kong, where millions havetaken to the streets for fivemonths to vent their anger

over what they see asBeijing’s tightening grip on

the city. Most protesterswant greater democracy,

among other demands,although a small minority iscalling for independence, a

red line for Communist Partyleaders. “It has become

more and more clear that itis not a peaceful demonstra-

tion at all, but a violentcrime that is mad,” said XieFeng, the Commissioner for

the Chinese Foreign Minister.

Islamabad: A defiant ImranKhan has vowed not to step

down as Pakistan PrimeMinister despite the

Opposition mounting pres-sure on him and dismissed

the next week’s plannedmega sit-in as agenda-driv-

en, saying it has sent a waveof joy in India. The Azadi

March in Islamabad onOctober 31 will be led by

Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chiefFazlur Rehman. All major

Opposition parties includingthe Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of jailed former prime

minister Nawaz Sharif andthe Pakistan Peoples Party

of former president Asif AliZardari have announced

their support. Fazl hasdemanded Khan’s resigna-tion, alleging that the elec-tion held in July, 2018 wasrigged to help his Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf party.Geo News reported.

■ ■ UKRAINIAN PPREZVolodymyr Zelenskiyfelt pressure fromTrump months beforeJuly call on Bideninvestigation

Victims in UK truck were chinese: PoliceGrays, Oct. 24: Britishpolice said on Thursdaythat 39 people founddead in a truck nearLondon were allbelieved to be Chinesenationals, in a case thathas triggered nationaloutrage over the humantrafficking business.

Emergency workersdiscovered the bodiesearly on Wednesdayinside the refrigeratedcontainer of a truckparked in an industrialarea east of London,shortly after it hadarrived on a ferry fromBelgium.

Police are conductingthe country’s largestmurder probe in morethan a decade into whatPrime Minister BorisJohnson described asan “unimaginabletragedy”.

The local police force,who have arrested thetruck’s driver, said in astatement that eight ofthe dead were womenand 31 were men. “Allare believed to be

Chinese nationals,”Essex Police said.

China’s foreign min-istry said its embassystaff in London wereheading to the scene “toverify this situation”.

An embassyspokesperson said

Chinese authorities hadread the reports with a“heavy heart” and werein close contact withpolice “to seek clarifica-tion and confirmation”.

The deaths echoed thediscovery of 58 Chineseimmigrants hidden in aDutch truck in theEnglish port of Doverin 2000. Only two peoplesurvived.

With the help of immi-gration officials and theNational Crime Agency(NCA), Essex Police areleading the biggest mur-der probe in Britainsince the 2005 Londonterror attacks thatkilled 52 people.

The force confirmedofficers had searchedthree properties inNorthern Irelandovernight in connectionwith the probe.

The addresses arebelieved to be linked tothe arrested truck driv-er, a 25-year-old manfrom the province, saidthe police.

— Agencies

■ ■ Emergency work-ers discovered thebodies early onWednesday inside therefrigerated containerof a truck parked inan industrial area eastof London

■ ■ Police are conduct-ing the country’slargest murder probein more than adecade into whatPrime Minister BorisJohnson described asan ‘unimaginabletragedy’

Feni, Oct. 24: Sixteen peo-ple were sentenced todeath on Thursday forburning alive aBangladeshi teenagerwho refused to withdrawsexual assault chargesagainst her head teacher.

The case highlightswhat activists say is a cul-ture of impunity oversexual violence in theSouth Asian country of168 million people, as wellas abuse rife in around20,000 seminaries thateducate mostly poor andrural students.

Nusrat Jahan Rafi wasdoused in kerosene andset on fire on April 6 aftershe made a sexual harass-ment complaint againstthe principal of her ruralIslamic seminary.

The head teacher, who acourt in the southerncoastal town of Fenifound had ordered thebrutal killing from jailafter being arrested overthe harassment claim,was among those sen-tenced to death.

Others includedactivists from the rulingAwami League party andsome students — includ-ing two females — whoeither participated in thekilling or guarded thegates of the seminarywhile it took place.

“The verdict proves thatnobody will get awaywith murder inBangladesh. We have therule of law,” prosecutorHafez Ahmed toldreporters after the ver-dict in a crowded court-

room. Rafi was lured tothe rooftop of the semi-nary in Sonagazi whereher attackers pressed herto withdraw the com-plaint she had filed withpolice.

When she refused, shewas tied up, doused inkerosene and set on fire.

She suffered burns to 80per cent of her body anddied in hospital four dayslater. Her death triggeredwidespread horror acrossthe nation, with protest-ers in the capital Dhakastaging days of demon-strations seeking “exem-plary punishment” forthe killers.

The murder put pres-sure on Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina to do moreto protect women, withher government orderingsome 27,000 schools to setup committees to preventsexual violence.

Rafi had gone to policein late March to reportthe sexual harassment,and a leaked video showsthe local station chiefregistering her complaintbut dismissing it as “nota big deal”. — AFP

16 get death forburning alive teen

Nusrat Jahan Rafi

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

12NewsmakersFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Legal woesSinger-rapper Lizzo hits back at theplagiarism accusers for her song,Truth Hurts, with legal action

L o n d o n : A m n e s t yInternational has calledon Jordan to end what ithas described as an abu-sive system that jailswomen if they disobeytheir male “guardians” orhave relationshipsdeemed inappropriate.

Despite recent efforts togive women better protec-tions, Amnesty said in anew report published onWednesday that Jordanstill allows the arbitrarydetention of women,including when male fam-ily members — usuallyfathers or brothers —complain to the authori-ties that they have beenabsent without permis-sion.

Under the male“guardianship” system,which Amnesty said is atthe centre of a web of dis-criminatory provisions,men are empowered tocontrol “women’s livesand limit their personalfreedoms”, while womencould be subjected todegrading practices suchas “virginity tests”, aimed

at determining whetherthey’ve had sex outsidemarriage, the Guardianreported.

The report accusesJordan of applying “coer-cive and penal power toreinforce male guardian-ship, effectively colludingwith male guardians toensure male control” overwomen. Women can also

be forcibly separated fromtheir children if theirbabies are seen as “ille-gal”, when they are theresult of an unsanctionedrelationship.

In Jordan, womenrequire permission from amale guardian to get mar-ried if they are under 30and sex outside marriageis punishable by up to 3years in prison. Similarpractices are prevalentacross Middle East, butAmnesty’s 64-page report— which interviewed 121people, including womenheld in Juwaideh prison,the country’s mainwomen’s jail — showsthey are also taking placein Jordan. — Agencies

Jordan urged to stop imprisoning women for defying wishes of men

In land of patriarchy, Afghan girls create their superheroesHerat, Afghanistan: Likethe princess who hopsover goblins and throwsdaggers at evil wizards inthe video game they built,a team of women codersin patriarchalAfghanistan wants toinspire a generation ofgirls to smash obstacles.

The young women arepart of an after-schooltraining programmecalled Code to Inspire inthe western city of Herat,where they learn techskills and create gamesand apps to educate girlsacross Afghanistan andbeyond. Their highest-profile success has beenthis year’s release of“Afghan Hero Girl”, builtover six months by 12young women, a phone

app in which a princesswearing a green veil leapsaround a crumbling castlein a quest to defeat a wiz-ard and rescue her family.

Fereshteh Forough, acomputer science teacherand a former refugee whofounded Code to Inspire in2015, said students weresick of the lack of female

representation in thegaming industry and toldher they were bored of“playing games wheremen are superheroes”.

The game represents“the challenges and obsta-cles that women are fac-ing every day inAfghanistan and despiteall the backlashes theykeep fighting and goingthrough it,” Forough, whois now based in New York,said in an email exchangewith AFP.

In a country where girlsoften have limited educa-tional opportunities,internet access is patchyand women face deeplyingrained discrimination,Forough sees tech skillsas having a transforma-tive potential. — AFP

B a n g k o k :The ThaiKing hasfired sixpalace offi-cials for“severe dis-c i p l i -n a r ymiscon-duct,” only days afterstripping his royal con-sort of her titles andmilitary ranks, CNNreported.

According to two offi-cial notices from theThai Royal Householdon Wednesday, KingMaha Vajiralongkorndismissed six officialsand stripped them oftheir ranks. They rangefrom officials in thepolice and army, to a“khun ying,” or a lady inthe Royal Household.

Among those dismissedis Sakolket Chantra, ahigh-ranking police lieu-tenant general of RoyalHousehold Bureau.

“His Majesty theKing’s order accusedthem of severe discipli-nary misconduct andexploiting their bureau-cratic position for per-sonal gains,” the palacestatement read.

These dismissals arethe latest developmentin a turbulent week atthe palace. On Tuesday,the King stripped hisroyal consort of hertitles for being “disloy-al,” only three monthsafter she was anointed.Sineenat had beenbestowed the title ofroyal consort on July 28,the first woman to begiven the rank by a Kingin nearly a century —but palace announce-ment on Tuesdayaccused her of trying toobstruct the King’s wifefrom being crownedqueen. — Agencies

Thai kingdismisses 6palace officialsfor misconduct

Islamabad: AcclaimedPakistani filmmakerJamshed Mahmood Razahas added new momentumto the country’s fledgling#MeToo movement afterairing allegations that hewas raped by an unnamedmedia tycoon.

The director, who is popu-larly known as Jami,rocked Pakistani socialmedia over the weekendafter he published severaltweets describing thealleged assault that hap-pened 13 years ago.

“Why im so strongly sup-porting #metoo? cuz iknow exactly how it hap-pens now, inside a roomthen outside courts insidecourts and how a survivorhides confides cuz i wasbrutally raped by a verypowerful person in ourmedia world,” he wroteSunday evening. Thetweets were in response toa backlash online after aprofessor in the easterncity of Lahore committedsuicide after allegedlybeing falsely accused ofsexual harassment. Amidthe backlash, Jami pleadedwith social media users to

trust victims of sexualassault and avoid ignoringtheir accusations.

“I told my few closefriends but no one took itseriously,” added Jami,whose 2015 film Moor(Mother) was a massive hit.

The filmmaker has so farrefused to name the tycoonallegedly behind theassault, while the allega-tions have unleashed a tor-rent of differing reactionsonline. “@jamiazaad I seeyou. I hear you. I standwith you. Always,” tweetedpopular actress MeeshaShafi — who helped kick-start Pakistan’s #MeToomovement in 2018 afteraccusing a popular singerin the country of harass-ment — on Thursday.

“Jami is a true ally. Thisis unprecedented inPakistan. This kind of rev-elation from a man,” wroteTwitter user Khizra.Others were more scepti-cal. “Still, u cant b serioususing it to square Lhr pro-fessor’s suicide & misuseof #MeToo,” said anotherTwitter user. “Pakistan is

suffering by both #metoo& misuse of #MeToo,”wrote Ali Raj.

#MeToo and #Timesupcampaigns have gone glob-al since allegations of sex-ual misconduct by HarveyWeinstein in 2017, sparkingan avalanche of accusa-tions against other power-ful men. — AFP

Pak #MeToo: Director saysmedia tycoon raped him

Thai King

IN BRIEF

Los Angeles: Actor SamuelJackson defended QuentinTarantino over usage of N-word in his films. Jackson,who featured in the docu-

mentary QT8: The First Eight,questioned the double stan-dards in outrage against theuse of the slur. “You take 12

Years a Slave. Steve McQueenis different than Quentin.

When you have a song thatsays (N-word) in it 300 times

nobody says s**t. So it’s okfor Steve McQueen to use (N-word) because he’s artistical-

ly attacking the system andthe way people feel, but

Quentin is just doing it tojust strike the blackboard

with his nails. That’s not true...,” he said. — PTI

Los Angeles: FilmmakerDamian Chazelle and wife Olivia Hamilton are set to

welcome their first childtogether. The news was

shared by Hamilton, 32, onInstagram where she recently

posted photos from her tripto Rattlesnake Canyon with

Chazelle. On Tuesday,Hamilton shared a photo with

friends Lauren Rodman and Yas Yeganegi placing their

hands over her growing babybump. “Magic hour with

magic humans,” she cap-tioned the image. Chazelle,

34, and Hamilton got marriedin September 2018. — PTI

Samuel comes toTarantino’s rescue

I do intermittentfasting, so there’s nofood in morning. Justgreen juice & coffee.

— Jennifer Aniston,

American actress

Chazelle & Hamiltonexpecting 1st child

Paris: French media firmssaid Thursday that they

would drag Google beforethe country’s competition

regulator over its refusal topay for displaying their con-

tent in search results, settingup a legal fight over a new

EU copyright law. The APIGpress alliance, which groups

dozens of national andregional newspapers, said itwould also press the French

government to take actionagainst the US internet giant.

“We are outraged,”said Jean-Michel Baylet,APIG president. — AFP

French media todrag Google to court

Los Angeles: Veteran HelenMirren has said that she once

secretely clicked a photo ofthe Aquaman star Jason

Momoa aboard a plane. The74-year-old actor shared theincident during her appear-ance on CBS chat show TheTalk. “I had secretly sort of

done something ratheruncool on an air-

plane. I didn’tknow him at all at

that point. “Hewas with his

beautiful wife(Lisa Bonet) and

my heart justwent... I was with

my husband(Taylor Hackford),but my heart just

went, ‘Oh my God, that is justthe most beautiful man I

have ever seen in my life,”Mirren recalled. The veteranstar said she was “floored”

by the personality of theactor and it prompted her to

take his photo without hisknowledge. “Oh my God, hewas so gorgeous,” she said.

But fate was not yet donewith the actor as she was

asked to present an awardwith Momoa during the

Oscars this year. “When theysaid, ‘Would you like to pres-

ent with Jason?’ I thought, ‘My dream has come true’,”

Mirren said. — PTI

MIRREN ONCESECRETELY TOOKMOMOA’S PHOTO

London: The scent-track-ing abilities of traineddogs have helped archae-ologists discover iron agetombs in Croatia datingback nearly three thou-sand years.

The dogs sniffed out bur-ial chests containinghuman bones and arte-facts in a hilltop fort inthe Velebit mountainsalong the Adriatic coast.Experts have said thatusing dogs could be agood way to identifyarchaeological sites, as itis less destructive thanmany traditional methods,the Guardian reported.

“Dogs’ noses obviouslydon’t make mistakes,”said Vedrana Glavaš, anassociate professor ofarchaeology at theUniversity of Zadar inCroatia and the leadauthor of the study, whichwas published in theJournal of ArchaeologicalMethod and Theory.

Glavaš had alreadyfound a few tombs in anecropolis near the pre-historic hilltop fort ofDrvišica, which datesback to the eight centuryBC. Hoping to find more,she contacted AndreaPintar, a trainer whoworks with dogs used forsniffing out graves incriminal investigations.

Pintar brought Belgianmalinois and Germanshepherds to the remotesite in 2015.

Glavaš first sent thedogs to graves they haddug up the previous year

but which were not appar-ent, without telling thetrainers the location.

“We always use at leasttwo dogs to confirm theposition,” Glavaš said,adding that the secondtrainer and dog were nottold where the first dogand trainer had indicateda grave.

The canines discoveredall three graves, eventhough the humanremains, associated arte-facts and surroundingsoil had been removed.The area had also beenexposed to wind, sun andrain since the excavation.

Glavaš said the porousrock around the excavat-ed soil had probablyabsorbed enough of thearoma of decompositionthat the dogs could stilldetect it. Glavaš then letthe dogs loose in an areathey suspected moreremains could be found,and excavated six newtombs – five of which aredescribed in the recentpaper.

The dogs were extreme-ly accurate in every case.The tombs consist ofsmall stone burial chests.

— Agencies

Helen Mirren

NEWS NUGGETS

Hong Kong: HongKong might be headingfor recession aftermonths of violentprotests but that hasn’tstopped one business-man from forking outalmost $1 million for aparking spot.

The mind-bogglingsum paid by JohnnyCheung highlights thegaping inequality thathas helped fuel nearlyfive months of demon-strations in the finan-cial hub, where one infive people live belowthe poverty line. TheHK$7.6m ($9,70,000)price tag is more than30 times the averageannual wage in HKand about same as aone-bed apartment inLondon’s plushChelsea area. It is situ-ated in The Centre, thecity’s fifth-highest sky-scraper, which hitheadlines in October2017 when it becamethe world’s mostexpensive office build-ing. after HK’s richestman sold it for over $5bn. — AFP

Tehran: Iranian statetelevision has airedan interview withan Instagrammerfamous for drasti-cally altering herappearance throughplastic surgery to looklike a zombie andarrested for alleged“blasphemy”.

The social mediacelebrity known asSahar Tabar wasarrested on the ordersof Tehran’s Islamicguidance court onOctober 5 after “numer-ous requests from thepublic” for her to bedetained, the broadcast-er said.

She faces chargesincluding blasphemy,inciting violence, gain-ing income throughinappropriate meansand encouraging cor-ruption among theyoung. — AFP

IRAN TV AIRSINTERVIEW WITHJAILED INSTA STAR

Paris: Leonardo daVinci is the star in ablockbuster retrospec-tive opening Thursdayat the Louvre museumin Paris to mark 500years since the death ofthe Renaissance master.

Some 2,40,000 peoplehave already reservedtheir place in line forthe exhibition, thebiggest ever organisedto showcase the Tuscanpolymath’s indeliblecontributions to

humanity — with anemphasis on his paint-ing.

A decade in the plan-ning, the show simplytitled Leonardo daVinci groups 162 works,including 24 drawingsloaned by QueenElizabeth II of Britainfrom the RoyalCollection. — AFP

500 YEARS ON, DA VINCI SHINESAT THE LOUVRE

HK BIZMAN PAYS$1M FORPARKING SPACE

Los Angeles: Actor RoseMcGowan has filed alawsuit against dis-graced Hollywood pro-ducer Harvey Weinsteinover alleged attemps ofsilencing her. McGowanwas one of the firstwomen to speak upabout Weinstein’salleged history of sexualharassment and abuseincidents in the year2017. In her lawsuit,which also targets attor-neys David Boies andLisa Bloom. She said theproducer tried to dis-

credit her after sheaccused him of rape.“This case is about a dia-bolical effort by one ofAmerica’s most power-ful men and his repre-sentatives to silence sex-ual assault victims,” thedocuments filed in LAcourt stated. — PTI

● The dogs sniffedout burial chestscontaining humanbones and artefactsin a hilltop fort inthe Velebit moun-tains along theAdriatic coast

McGowan files lawsuitagainst Harvey Weinstein

RoseMcGowan

HarveyWeinstein

Meerkats inspect a pumpkin in their enclosure of the zoo in Hanover, northernGermany on Thursday days before Halloween. — AFP

The gilded bronze statue of the French sculptorPierre Granet “La Renomée au Combat” depictinga woman holding a winged horse at night with theEiffel Tower in the background in Paris. — AFP

Lily Aldridge (left)and model GeorgiaFowler attends theworld premiere ofVery Ralph at TheMetropolitanMuseum of Art inNew York City onWednesday. — AFP

Adult film actress SophieDee at the world pre-miere of LadyKillerTV atthe Brenden Theatresinside Palms CasinoResort in Las Vegas,Nevada on Wednesday.

— AFP

� Report accusesJordan of applying‘coercive power toreinforce maleguardianship, collud-ing with males toensure male control’over women

� In Jordan, womenrequire permissionfrom a male guardianto get married if theyare under 30 and sexoutside marriage ispunishable by up to 3years in prison

Jamshed Mahmood Raza

Dogs show nose forarchaeology, help find ancient tombs

Rocks Pak social media with tweets describing 13-year-old assault

Afghan students attend aclass at the Code to Inspireschool in Herat. — AFP

Man killed byunknown vehicle

New Delhi: The Power GridCorporation of India Limitedhas been conferred with the

Maharatna status by theGovernment of India, Unionminister of state for power,new and renewable energy

R.K. Singh announced at the30th Raising Day celebrationsof the company in New Delhi

on Wednesday. TheMaharatna status provides

enhanced powers to theboard of Powergrid to facili-

tate expansion of operations,both in domestic as well asglobal markets. Powergrid,

the third largest CPSE inIndia, is also the third largest

transmission company global-ly. It has been recognised as

“fastest growing electric utility in Asia Pacific” succes-

sively for the last six years,since 2014.

New Delhi: A man snatchedthe mobile phone of a 45-year-old female journalist,

working with an Englishnewspaper, in central Delhi’sDaryaganj area on Thursday

morning, barely 100 metreaway from Daryaganj policestation. The police said that

the incident happened whenthe victim, was travelling in

auto-rickshaw fromDaryaganj to Connaught

Place when near 24x7 store aman snatched her Samsung

A-50 phone. The man was onfoot. The victim and theauto-rickshaw driver ranbehind the snatcher but

before the Delhi Gate trafficsignal the snatcher managed

to flee, said the police. Acase under relevant sectionof Indian Penal Code (IPC)

has been registered atDaryaganj police station.

Police teams are scanningCCTV footages in the area to

identify and nab the culprit,said a police official.

Irving’s 50 points not enough in Brooklyn Nets debut

SPORT | Basketball

14 15GUIDE TO FORTUNE

SHORT TAKES

■ John Locke ■Plantagenet■The Far North Line

THE ANSWERS TO TODAY’S GUIDE TO FORTUNE

1Which philosopher pro-duced “Essay Concerning

Human Understanding” in1690?

■ Sir Isaac Newton■ John Locke■ David Hume

2In 1154, Henry II becamethe first English sover-

eign from which House?

■ Norman■ Tudor■ Plantagenet

3What name is given tothe line in the Scottish

Highlands that runs fromInverness to Thurso andWick??

■ The Far North Line■ The Grampian Line■ The Highland Line

NEW DELHI FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER 2019

New Delhi: A man was killedafter a vehicle hit him innortheast Delhi’s KhajuriKhas area, police said on

Thursday. During patrollingat around 5.45 am, the police

team noticed a body lyingnear the service road in

Khajuri Khas, said VedPrakash Surya, DCP (north-

east), adding that skid markswere also present at the

spot. The police analysed theCCTV footage and found that

the victim was hit by anunknown vehicle, following

which a case under sections279 (rash driving) and 304A

(causing death by negli-gence) of the Indian PenalCode has been registered.Efforts are being made to

identify the victim and thevehicle, the DCP said.

DELHI SPECIALCaptain Kohli looks forward to Dada time

Kiarastartsshootingfor IndooKi Jawaani

DELHI AGEMatinee 24

SPORT | Cricket

Maharatna status for Powergrid

Mobile of womanscribe snatched

Tick the answer and checkthem below.

SHASHI BBHUSHANNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

The outcome of theHaryana Assembly elec-tions has set the Delhiunit of the BJP thinkingon how to woo back its tra-ditional voters to ensurethe party’s victory in thecoming elections.

The party has been out ofpower in Delhi since 1998.The saffron party, whichfirst rode to power in 1993with the support of thePunjabi and baniya vot-ers, had failed to retain itstraditional vote bank andwas reduced to just threeseats in the 70-memberAssembly in the 2015 elec-tions.

A senior party leader toldthis newspaper that fromthe poll outcome inHaryana and Maharashtra,it is clear that any imbal-ance in the traditional votebank will not give thedesired results to any polit-ical outfit. “Initial analysisshows that Jats andMarathas have votedagainst us in Haryana andMaharashtra. In the lastcouple of years, the partyleadership has not focused

much on its traditionalsupport base of Punjabiand Baniya (traders) votersin the national capital.Instead, the party’s focushas been on wooing onlythe Poorvanchali voters,”he said.

“Everyone is importantand the party must makeinroads into the new votebank. The message fromthe outcome of the twostate Assembly electionsis loud and clear that oneshould not stray awayfrom its traditional sup-port base,” the seniorparty leader added.

Another senior saffronleader said that Congress

has already appointedSubhash Chopra, aPunjabi, as its Delhi unitpresident and cricketer-turned-politician KirtiAzad, a Poorvanchali, asthe head of its campaigncommittee to woo tradi-tional and new voters.

However, things arequite different with BJP,which has so far not paidmuch attention to its erst-while traditional votebank of Punjabis andBaniyas in Delhi.

A party leader suggestedthat the saffron leadershipmust woo Poorvanchalisbut at the same time makeserious attempts to win

back the trust of thePunjabi and baniya com-munities.

“Leaders from thePunjabi and Baniya com-munity must be promotedand given key role in theorganisational set-upalong with thePoorvanchalis,” he added.

Concerned over the dis-gruntled Jat community,which voted against theparty in Haryana, a seniorparty leader from SouthDelhi said that if the com-munity does not vote in itsfavour, it will be very diffi-cult to win the Jat-domi-nated seats like Mundka,Najafgarh, Narela,Bawana, Kirari, NangloiJat, Vikaspuri, Matiala,Bijwasan, Mehrauli, R.K.Puram and Rithala.

The BJP had failed towin even a singleAssembly constituencydominated by the Jats inthe 2015 polls. “If we fail towoo back the Jat commu-nity, it will weaken ourchances to return topower after two decades.Now, it is necessary to winback all the traditionalvoters of the city,” a BJPMP said.

Traders’ bodyprotests parking lots’closure in CP

New Delhi, Oct. 24:Continuing its driveagainst dust and air pol-lution, the SDMC has inone day issued 310 chal-lans amounting to `21.35lakh for burning of solidwaste, dry leaves andother violations, officialssaid on Thursday.

In Central Zone, 175challans were issuedamounting `10.5 lakh asfine during nightpatrolling on Wednesdayfor violations related tosolid waste managementand pollution-relatedlaws.

The teams looked forviolations such as burn-ing of solid waste,garbage, dry leaves, andplastic, rubber, and con-struction activities.

In Najafgarh Zone, 63challans have beenissued while in the WestZone, 46 were issued. Inall, 310 challans amount-ing to `21.35 lakh wereissued across the fourzones. — PTI

SDMC collects `21.35L fine,issues 310challans

Poll effect: City BJP keen towoo back traditional voters

� BJP has been out ofpower in Delhi since1998. It first rode topower in 1993 with thesupport of Punjabi andbaniya voters, butfailed to retain its tra-ditional vote bank andwas reduced to justthree seats in the 70-member Assembly inthe 2015 elections.

� BJP has so far notpaid much attention toits erstwhile traditionalvote bank in Delhi.A party leader sug-gested that the saffronleadership must wooPoorvanchalis but atthe same time makeserious attempts towin back the Punjabiand baniya voters.

Traffic logjam continues asdivyangs protest for 2nd dayAGE CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT. 24

Commuters had to faceinconvenience as trafficsnarls were reported inCentral Delhi, onThursday, owing to aprotest at Mandi House bydifferently-abled peoplewho had applied for groupD jobs with the Railways.

They had staged aprotest at Mandi House onWednesday, demandingthat railway officials meetthem.

They continued theirprotest on Thursday. Thepolice had to divert thetraffic on the route, whichcaused jams.

“We have blocked the

Mandi House roundaboutarea for traffic and thevehicles have been divert-ed to other routes,” a sen-ior traffic police officialsaid.

“Traffic is affected onVikas Marg from LaxmiNagar to ITO due todemonstration at theMandi House. Traffic

coming fromAkshardham towards ITOhas been diverted towardsGeeta Colony,” the Delhitraffic police tweeted.

The Bhagwan Das Roadis currently closed fortraffic and other roads atthe roundabout are func-tioning.

Commuters wereadvised to use Tilak Margand India Gate to reachMandi House sinceSikandra Road andBhagwan Das Road had tobe closed owing to theprotest.

The agitators blockedthe road on Wednesdayand said they will endtheir protest after gettingtheir appointments.

� Commuters wereadvised to use TilakMarg and India Gateto reach Mandi Housesince Sikandra Roadand Bhagwan DasRoad had to be closedowing to the protest

A potter sells diyas (oil lamps) at a roadside shop ahead of Diwali in New Delhi onThursday. — AFP

Saffron party failed to win support of Punjabi, baniya voters after 1993

AGE CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, OCT.24

A 31-year-old woman andher accomplice werearrested for robbing `7lakh cash and Jewelleryfrom a house in GreaterKailash-II where she usedto work as a domestichelp.

The accused were iden-tified as Kavita Kumari(name changed), a nativeof Faridabad, and RaviRajbhar (29), a native ofMadhubani, Bihar. Stolencash `5,10,520 and jew-ellery have been recov-ered from their posses-sion, said DCP (South)Atul Kumar Thakur.

A complainant reportedthat he had hired a domes-tic help 17-18 months ago.On October 14, his domes-tic help left the house onthe pretext of some emer-gency.

Soon, the complainantrealised that some orna-ments and cash, whichwere kept in the almirah,were missing.

During investigation,

footages of the CCTVcameras installed in thevicinity of the area wereanalysed. Further infor-mation was receivedregarding her friendRavi.

Later, it was revealedthat both had fled toBihar. When the teamreached Bihar, it waslearnt that the duo hadmoved towards Delhi. Thestaff nabbed them fromDelhi.

They confessed to com-mitting the theft and werearrested in the case. Onquestioning, they dis-closed that they knew eachother for last 6-7 years andowing to their poor finan-cial condition, they hadcommitted the theft.

Woman, aide heldfor `7 lakh theft

� The accused wereidentified as KavitaKumari (namechanged), a native ofFaridabad, and RaviRajbhar (29), a nativeof Madhubani, Bihar.


“Ban crackers, notcars”, say traders atConnaught Place, whoare objecting to the clo-sure of parking lots andsome roads in the areafor Delhi government’sfour-day laser showstarting from Saturday.

The traders have putup posters across theConnaught Place, in theheart of Central Delhi,saying “CP is a commer-cial centre not melaground” and “Ban crack-ers, not cars”.

The New Delhi TradersAssociation has alsowritten a letter toLieutenant GovernorAnil Baijal, seeking hisintervention in the mat-ter. “It is a good idea toencourage people to cele-brate Diwali withoutcrackers and we are notagainst holding theevent but why affectbusiness of traders?Why close roads?” saidAtul Bhargava, presi-dent, NDTA.

“We have written to L-G Baijal today and wewill also be writing toDelhi police commis-sioner about the same.Our attempts to have dis-cussions with NDMC didnot yield results,” headded. The laser showwill be organised toencourage people not toburst crackers onDiwali, chief ministerArvind Kejriwal hadsaid on Monday.

New Delhi, Oct. 24:Festivities appear to havepeaked in the capital’swholesale market SadarBazaar, colourful, glitter-ing and all lit up ahead ofDiwali, but it is almostimpossible to find any fire-crackers.

With Delhi’s air qualityplummeting to dangerouslevels around Diwali everyyear, the Supreme Courtin 2018 banned pollutingfirecrackers and orderedthat only green firecrack-ers, which cause 30 percent less pollution, can bemanufactured and sold.

Narendra Gupta, presi-

dent of the Sadar Bazaarfireworks and generaltraders association, saidonly 12 people applied forlicences this time out ofwhich seven got thelicences this week in thebazaar, which is also thecity’s largest wholesalemarket for firecrackers.

“Earlier, around 80licensed merchants wouldsell firecrackers. Therearen’t enough green crack-ers and varieties in themarket. The sales are low.No one is ready to take therisk,” he said.

In the nearby JamaMasjid market, several

merchants have desistedfrom selling firecrackersthis time. During a spotvisit on Wednesday, 10-12shops were found sellingonly green firecrackers,with the owners ruing a

drastic dip in sales.“There’s only ‘anaar’

(flowerpot) and ‘phuljhari’(sparklers) so far, that tooare hard to come by. Thereis a lack of variety and thestock is limited,” said ashopkeeper.

A proprietor at Majesticfireworks alleged “there’sa conspiracy to finish theindustry”. “The crowd ofcustomers has thinned outover the last two years.That’s obvious. Whywould anyone buy only‘phuljhari’ and ‘anaar’,which are much moreexpensive than the con-ventional firecrackers.

The fun of Diwali is lost,”he said.

Another merchant atVishal fireworks said, “Wehave been selling govern-ment-approved green fire-crackers only. Despitethat, there was a protestby schoolchildren here onMonday.”

A buyer said it’s goodthat green crackers arefinally available in themarket, but they are verycostly. “People do not havemany options to choosefrom. The green crackersare almost double theprice of conventionalones,” he said. — PTI

Lull at Sadar Bazaar as crackers’ sale takes a hit� With Delhi’s air qual-ity plummeting to dan-gerous levels aroundDiwali every year, theSupreme Court in 2018had ordered that onlygreen firecrackers canbe manufactured andsold


Four students of DelhiUniversity’s law facultywere allegedly beaten upby bouncers at a cafe overraising the volume ofmusic in NorthwestDelhi’s Mukherjee Nagararea, the police said onThursday.

The injured have beenidentified as Samar,Mukul, Abhigyaan, andMayank, all hailing fromthe Purvanchal area.

Samar and his friendshad gone to a cafe inHudson Lane onWednesday evening tocelebrate his birthday.

During the celebration,a scuffle broke outbetween the victims andbouncers of the cafe forraising the volume ofmusic, following whichthe accused started beat-ing them, a senior policeofficer said.

“Based on the com-plaint of Samar, a case

under Sections 323 (pun-ishment for voluntarilycausing hurt), 341 (pun-ishment for wrongfulrestraint) and 34 (actsdone by several personsin furtherance of com-mon intention) was regis-tered at the MukherjeeNagar police station. Theaccused have been identi-fied and they will bearrested soon,” said DCP(Northwest) VijayantaArya.

Former DUSU presi-dent Shakti Singh saidthat some students of thelaw faculty were having abirthday party at the

Houseful Cafe in HudsonLane where an alterca-tion broke out over rais-ing of the volume ofmusic. Following this,the cafe bouncersthrashed four studentsseverely. The thrashingwas so brutal that one ofthe students, Mayank,had to be referred to RMLHospital.

“Incidents like theseare a common sight inthe university areawhere cafe owners andbouncers assault stu-dents,” Mr Singh said,adding “As initially theauthorities failed todeliver justice, we wereleft with no option but toprotest. However, laterthe police registered acase.”

The owner of the cafedid not get the verifica-tion of his employeesdone, including thebouncers. Owing to this,a case has been regis-tered against the cafeowner, the police added.

4 DU students beatenup by bouncers at cafe

DU students sit on adharna

Newly-appointed president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Subhash Chopraand Congress campaign committee chairman Kirti Azad with Congress presidentSonia Gandhi at her residence in New Delhi on Thursday.


Two persons who werestuck in a car after anaccident in South Delhiwere evacuated and shift-ed to hospital by the PCRstaff of Delhi police. DCP(PCR) S.K. Sinha said thaton late Wednesday nightthe MPV staff namely ASIJagdish and Ct Shiv Dayalreceived an informationthat an accident tookplace in Bijwasan areabetween a car and tempo.

At the spot, two personswere found stuck insidethe damaged car. The staffevacuated the injuredpersons out of the carafter breaking open thedoor and immediatelytook them to SpinalInjury Hospital, VasantKunj.

The injured victimswere identified asGurdhian Singh (27), aresident of SafdarjungEnclave and Shrikant(28), a resident ofGurugram.

2 rescued by PCR stafffrom car after accident

MMuummbbaaii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: India cap-tain Virat Kohli was onThursday rested from theupcoming three-match T20series against Bangladeshwhile Mumbai all-rounderShivam Dube was reward-ed with a maiden call-upfor his “phenomenal”exploits with the India Ateam.

The prolific SanjuSamson and leg-spinnerYuzvendra Chahalreturned to the side for theT20 Internationals.

The 24-year-old Samsonfrom Kerala has played hisonly T20I, againstZimbabwe in 2015. A regu-lar in the India A set up,Samson has been reward-ed for a good Vijay HazareTrophy season, havingamassed 410 runs in eightinnings, including a dou-ble-century earlier thismonth.

Dashing all-rounderHardik Pandya was notdiscussed in the selectionmeeting as he underwent asurgery in the UK for aback injury this month,paving the way for the 26-year-old rookie Dube’sinclusion in the shortestformat.

Dube pipped VijayShankar as the secondchoice all-rounder, prima-rily based on his big-hit-ting prowess.

Chairman of selectioncommittee MSK Prasadsaid, “You can see, earlierwe had Hardik Pandya,then we also tried VijayShankar. All of us agreedin unison that the role wehave, he (Dube) fits in verywell.

“He bats aggressively, hisperformances in the IndiaA Series in West Indiesand also against SouthAfrica in the ODIs (forIndia A) was phenomenal.He has gone up by leapsand bounds, a notch higherand we are convincedabout it.”

As has been the case inthe past, Rohit Sharmawill lead the squad inKohli’s absence.

Apart from the three-match T20 series whichstarts in New Delhi onNovember 3, followed bymatches at Rajkot andNagpur on November 7and 10 respectively,Bangladesh will also playtwo Tests as part of theWorld Championship, inIndore and Kolkata, fromNovember 14-18 andNovember 22-26 respective-ly.

The squad for the Testseries against the neigh-bours remained unchan-ged after India’s 3-0 white-wash of South Africarecently. Left-arm spinnerShahbaz Nadeem, whopicked up four wickets onhis Test debut againstSouth Africa, was not con-sidered for selection.

Shahbaz, though, was notpart of the original squadagainst the Proteas, com-ing in as replacement forthe injured Kuldeep Yadavahead of the Ranchi Test.

— PTI

PAGE

14CricketFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Yuvi timeFormer India batsman Yuvraj Singh namedMaratha Arabians’ icon player for theupcoming Abu Dhabi T10 tournament

SHORT TAKES

I have a bit ofnatural power and Iwork on that. I love

power-hitting.— Shivam Dube after being drafted

into the Indian T20 side for theBangladesh series.

ECB chief defends100 tournament

LLoonnddoonn:: England cricket chiefTom Harrison says the contro-

versial Hundred competitionwill help protect other formatsof the game despite fears over

its potential impact.The Hundred, starting in 2020,is a new tournament consistingof eight city-based franchises.

#StopThe100 trended onTwitter while the draft was tak-

ing place and several peoplewere asked to remove “Opposethe 100” T-shirts during an evi-

dence session held by Britishlawmakers involving England

and Wales Cricket Board chair-man Harrison and other ECBofficials. “The 100 is a really

good way of protecting every-thing that we are serious about.It’s about protecting Test match

cricket, it’s about protectingfour-day Championship cricket,

it’s about getting kids playingmore cricket at school,”

Harrison said. — AFP

India to face SL inU-19 WC opener

DDuubbaaii:: Holders India will begintheir Under-19 World Cup

defence with a clash against SriLanka on January 19 at the

Mangaung Oval inBloemfontein, South Africa.Four-time champions India

have been grouped alongsideNew Zealand, Sri Lanka and

first-timers Japan in Group ‘A’in the tournament, starting on

January 17.India will take on Japan and

New Zealand on January 21 and24 respectively in the 16-teamtournament, the final of which

is scheduled for February 9.Three-time champion

Australia will take on WestIndies in Group ‘B’ opening

encounter that also featuresEngland and debutants Nigeria.

Group ‘C’ will see Pakistanbattle alongside Bangladesh,

Zimbabwe and Scotland. SouthAfrica will play their opening

match against Afghanistan onJanuary 17. — PTI

GANGULY TODECIDE ON

SELECTORSNNeeww DDeellhhii:: The selection com-

mittee, headed by M.S.K.Prasad, is nowhere close to

completing its tenure as per thenew BCCI constitution but new

Board President SouravGanguly will decide whether

the panel completes the man-dated five years in office.

The selectors’ term was fouryears according to the old con-stitution but the amended con-

stitution, which has come intoeffect now, has a provision of a

maximum of five-year term.The clause 26(3) of the new

constitution states: “No personwho has been a member of anyCricket Committee for a total offive years shall be eligible to be

a member of any cricket com-mittee.”

The Prasad (south zone) andGagan Khoda (central zone)were appointed at the 2015

BCCI Annual General Meeting(AGM) and technically their

term would end in September,2020 as per the new constitu-

tion.On the other hand, Jatin

Paranjpe (East zone),Sarandeep Singh (North zone)

and Devang Gandhi (east zone)have two years left as they

started in 2016.The matter is expected to bediscussed during BCCI presi-

dent Sourav Ganguly’s meetingwith the selectors.

There is a clause in the selec-tors’ contract that states that a

renewal is required at everyAGM. Since there were no

AGMs in 2017 and ‘18 due to theBoard being governed by

Committee of Administrators,the panel continued.

Ganguly has indicated thatPrasad and Khoda are set to be

replaced while Paranjpe, Gandhiand Sarandeep have a year left.

It is believed that Ganguly’sstatement was based on the old

constitution which had provi-sion of a four-year tenure.

— PTI

KOHLI GETS A BREAKCaptain asked to put feet up for upcoming Twenty20 series against Bangladesh

Kohli upbeat about Dada timeMMuummbbaaii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: India cap-tain Virat Kohli onThursday said he is look-ing forward to a “high-level, professional” discus-sion with newly-electedBCCI President and for-mer skipper SouravGanguly when the twomeet to thrash out the wayforward for the nationalcricket team.

After taking charge asBCCI President here onWednesday, Ganguly hadcalled Kohli the mostimportant man in Indiancricket and said he wasthere to make life easierfor the skipper, not diffi-cult.

“I am going to meet himnow. I am looking forwardto a good discussion. Heis someone who hasplayed a lot of cricketbefore, who knows thesituation we are in,what the team needs,the requirements ofIndian cricket,” saidKohli at an Audi eventhere on Thursday.

“So you need a good,professional, high-leveldiscussion. It will be ahealthy discussionbecause I am playingcurrently and he hasplayed before, therewill be a understand-ing of these things. Ihave had good discus-sions in the past with

him and I expect the samethis time,” he added. Onething Ganguly wants fromKohli is to lead India to tro-phies in ICC tournaments,something that the coun-try has not done since theChampions Trophy.

On Wednesday, the 47-year-old Ganguly said hehas a fair understanding ofKohli and the team’srequirements and he was

committed to fulfillingthose during his tenure.

WWIILLLL BBAACCKK PPAANNTT,,AASSSSUURREESS MMSSKK

Chief selector M.S.K.Prasad on Wednesdaymade it clear that they arewilling to give RishabhPant a long rope, sayingMahendra Singh Dhoni ison the same page with theselection committee’s deci-sion to back youngsters.

While Dhonihas madehimself un-available fors e l e c t i o nsince the2019 WorldCup, the

selection committee onThursday included SanjuSamson as a back-up wick-et-keeper for Pant inIndia’s T20 squad.

Prasad said he hasalready mentioned that it’stime to think beyondDhoni and it reflected intheir team selections. “Imade it very clear, postWorld Cup that we aremoving on. We are givingopportunities to young-sters and see that theyestablish themselves in theside. With Rishabh Pantdoing so well and SanjuSamson coming into theside, I am sure, you mustbe understanding ourthought process. We defi-nitely had a chat withDhoni and he also endors-es our view of backingyoungsters,” Prasad said.

Putting his weight firmlybehind Pant, Prasad said,“Post World Cup, I havebeen very clear on this,and now, we have startedbacking Rishabh Pant,”Prasad said. — PTI

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma (left), captain Virat Kohli, BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, President, Sourav Ganguly and chief selector, MSK Prasad share a light moment during theirselection meeting for Bangladesh’s tour of India at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday. — BCCI

SQUAD FOR T20I SERIES

TEST TEAM

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KLRahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, ManishPandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar,Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar,Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube &Shardul Thakur.

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, MayankAgarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane,Hanuma Vihari, W. Saha (wk), R. Jadeja, R.Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami,Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill &Rishabh Pant.

BCCI needs to get back its power, says DhumalNNeeww DDeellhhii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: Indianot having a “say” in theInternational CricketCouncil is a major concernfor newly-appointed BCCITreasurer Arun Dhumal,who has questioned thevery relevance of theworld body if it doesn’thave the country in aprominent role.

After taking chargeunder new President —the legendary SouravGanguly, Dhumal spokeabout his immediate prior-ities, which includeincreasing the Board’s rev-enue despite the fact thatthe BCCI remains the rich-est body in internationalcricket.

“Could we have everimagined that BCCI willnot have a say in ICC’sroadmap? It was neverimagined. What is ICCwithout BCCI?” askedDhumal referring toIndia’s absence from theICC’s newly-created work-ing group to chalk out afresh governance modelfor the body.

He also made it clear thatBCCI is not on board withthe ICC as far as theFuture Tours Programme(FTP) for the 2023-2031cycle is concerned.

“We are not agreeable to

the new proposal of theICC with regards toincrease of tournaments,”he said.

Dhumal said cuttingdown on unnecessaryexpenditure would be highon his priorities. He wouldlook to use that money toimprove the financial posi-tion of first-class crick-

eters.Dhumal, brother of for-

mer BCCI PresidentAnurag Thakur, is “sur-prised” at the amount ofmoney that has gone intocovering legal expenses.Since 2017, the Board wasbeing managed by aSupreme Court-appointedCommittee ofAdministrators, whichdemitted office onWednesday.

“My goal is to increasethe BCCI revenue as whathas happened now is thatrevenues are stable butexpenses have gone up.Administrative and legalexpenses need to bechecked,” Dhumal said.

“There are few otherissues that we need to han-dle including the tax liabil-ities and issues with thepast IPL franchises alsoneed to be addressed,”Dhumal said.

He echoed Ganguly’s sen-timent that first-classcricketers need to be takencare of.

“We need to increase therevenue so that it can ben-efit first-class cricketers aswe would be able to dis-tribute the amount amongthem. Because they arerequired to be lookedafter,” he said. — PTI

Treasurer wants to keep atab on rising expenditureNNeeww DDeellhhii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: Thenewly appointed BCCItreasurer Arun Dhumal’sprimary objective is toincrease the board’s rev-enue generation by curb-ing the unnecessaryexpenditures and insteaduse that money to improvethe financial health offirst-class cricketers.

Dhumal, another youngface in ‘Team SouravGanguly’s cabinet, hasbeen “surprised” at theamount of expenses thathad gone up in past fewyears mainly due to thelegal hassles.

“My goal is to increasethe BCCI revenue as whathas happened now is thatrevenues are stable butexpenses have gone up.Administrative and legalexpenses need to bechecked,” the BCCI treas-urer said during an inter-action.

“There are few otherissues that we need to han-dle including the tax liabil-

ities and issues with thepast IPL franchisees alsoneeds to be addressed,”Dhumal said.

He echoed presidentGanguly’s sentiment thatfirst-class cricketers need-ed to be taken care of andhence they need morefinancial resources.

“We need to increase therevenue so that it can ben-efit first-class cricketers aswe would be able to dis-tribute the amount amongthem. Because they arerequired to be lookedafter,” he said.

While they haven’t decid-ed on any amount,Dhumal is confident theywill have a figure once

there is a meeting of thesenior members and ApexCouncil.

“We need to sit with thepresident and other seniormembers of Apex Counciland decide on an amount.But it will depend on thequantum of increase inrevenues as we have tocheck how much we areearning from the bilateraland other ICC tourna-ments,” he said.

But one thing Dhumal ishellbent on is to check theundue expenses and saidthat is something non-negotiable.

“Definitely, the legalexpenses have shot up inpast few years. Not onlyam I surprised but all themembers are surprisedwith the kind of expensesincurred. This needs to bechecked and we will defi-nitely do it.”

He also made it clear thatBCCI is not on board as faras the FTP for the 2023-2031 is concerned. — PTI

●● The newly electedtreasurer has beentaken aback by theexpenses that havegone up in the pastfew years due tolegal hassles.

BANGLADESH’STOUR OF INDIAIS ON TRACKDDhhaakkaa,, OOcctt.. 2244::Bangladesh cricketers,led by star allrounderShakib Al Hasan, havecalled off their strikeover pay and benefitsafter getting assurancefrom the country’s boardthat all their demandswill be met, putting theirtour of India back ontrack.

The deadlock betweenthe players andBangladesh CricketBoard (BCB) ended after atwo-hour long meetingwhich went on close tomidnight on Wednesday.

The truce means thatthe team’s T20 and Testtour of India, beginningNovember 3, will go on asper schedule and playerswill be joining thepreparatory camp onFriday.

“As Papon bhai (BCBboss Nazmul Hassan)said, it was a fruitful dis-cussion. He and the rest ofthe directors assured usthat our demands will bemet as soon as possible.Based on their assurance,we will start playing theNCL and attend the train-ing camp,” Shakib said.

— PTI

ALL EYES ON HAZARE FINALAS TN TAKE ON KARNATAKAMMuummbbaaii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: The spotlight will be on India playersMayank Agarwal, R. Ashwin and K.L. Rahul when theevenly-matched Karnataka and Tamil Nadu lock hornsin the title clash of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here onFriday.

The Manish Pandey-led Karnataka were convincing intheir victories in the knockout games but Tamil Nadu,who dominated the league phase, were a tad lucky as therain rule allowed them to go past Punjab in the quarter-finals before young M. Shahrukh Khan guided themhome in the semifinal against Gujarat.

The two sides are equally matched, with a formidablebatting line-up and a set of quality bowlers, though thepresence of R. Ashwin gives the TN attack more experi-ence and variety.

The Friday’s clash will be decided by how the two bowl-ing attacks perform given that both teams have a lot ofdepth in batting.

The home side has been well served by out-of-favourTest opener K.L. Rahul (546 runs in 10 games), who hascome into his own in the quarterfinals and semis and hisopening partner Devdutt Padikkal. — PTI

●● While M.S. Dhonihas been unavailablepost the 2019 WorldCup, the selectioncommittee hasincluded SanjuSamson as a back-up for Rishabh Pant.

Arun DDhumal

Could we haveever imagined

that BCCI will nothave a say in ICC’sroadmap? It wasnever imagined.

— Arun Dhumal,BCCI treasurer on

the Board’s roadmap in the ICC

Sourav Ganguly and ViratKohli in this file photo.

Wolves net win

PAGE

15FRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

SHORT TAKESBeverley fined

$25K by NBA LLooss AAnnggeelleess:: Los Angeles

Clippers guard Patrick Beverleywas fined $25,000 by the NBAon Wednesday for hurling the

ball into the stands at the finishof his team’s season-opening

victory Tuesday. Beverley wasstanding next to a referee after

the Clippers defeated the LosAngeles Lakers 112-102. But

instead of handing the officialthe ball after the final seconds

expired, Beverley hurled theball a considerable distance

into the spectator area. The fineon Beverley marked the first

fine or punishment of any sortimposed by the league follow-

ing the start of the 2019-20campaign. The 31-year-old

American had 10 rebounds andsix assists for the Clippers

despite a 1-for-7 shooting per-formance for two points against

the Lakers. Beverley played inUkraine, Greece and Russia

after college before joining theHouston Rockets in 2013 and

spending four seasons with theclub before being traded to the

Clippers as part of a deal thatbrought Chris Paul to the

Rockets. — AFP

Hope And Glorywins Delhi races


Hope And Glory wins theChampion Sprinters Cup, themain event at the Delhi races

here on Thursday.

RREESSUULLTTSS11sstt rraaccee:: TThhee FFllyyiinngg BBrraavvee PPllaattee

((11000000 mmttss))1. Master Badal, 2. Artaxias, 3.

Darjeeling

22nndd rraaccee:: TThhee TTaauurriiaann PPllaattee ((11000000mmttss))

1. Mister Stunner, 2. Powerhaus, 3.Master Jefferson

33rrdd rraaccee:: TThhee CCeelliinn DDiioonn PPllaattee((11440000mmttss))

1. Responsibleforlove, 2. JungleWave, 3. Seahorse

44tthh rraaccee:: TThhee CChhaammppiioonn SSpprriinntteerrssCCuupp ((11220000mmttss))

1. Hope And Glory, 2. Organic, 3.Master Cristiano

55tthh rraaccee:: TThhee RRoommaannttiicc HHeerrooPPllaattee ((11220000mmttss))

1. Mighty, 2. Ashwa Maithli, 3. FlyAway

66tthh rraaccee:: TThhee DDeesseerrtt EEaaggllee PPllaattee((11110000mmttss))

1. Forever Yours, 2. Miss BlueFairy, 3. Imbali

It’s good to make400 here in Phillip

Island because it isan iconic place for

motorsport.— Motorcycle driver Valentino

Rossi ahead of Austrian GP

AwardedLos Angeles FC coach Bob Bradley was named MLS Coach ofthe Year for the third time. LAFC set a new single seasonpoints record (72) as well as equalling the goals record (85)

SportRoger into 17thBasel quartersBBaasseell ((SSwwiittzzeerrllaanndd)),, OOcctt..2244:: Roger Federer crushedRadu Albot 6-0, 6-3 onWednesday to win his22nd match in a row at theSwiss Indoors and earn aquarter-final place at hishome event for the 17thtime.

The nine-time championwas ruthless in a 22-minute opening set, fin-ishing the entire job in 63minutes in front of 9,000fans.

He will on Friday facethe winner from StanWawrinka and FrancesTiafoe, who both earnedstraight-set wins earlierin the day.

“It’s a super feeling toknow exactly where theball is going, what theother guy is doing,” saidtop seed Federer.

“I was hitting a lot ofwinners, those kind ofmoments are really rare.”

Federer’s Swiss compa-triot Wawrinka fired 10aces and 30 winners tooverwhelm fellow veteranPablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4 tomake it into the secondround, keeping alive hisoutside chances of mak-ing the ATP Finals.

Federer, who is playing

in Basel for the 19th time,won his first set to love atthe tournament since2006.

His loss of just threegames on Wednesday washis most powerful show-ing on the ATP since beat-ing Andreas Seppi at theParis Masters 6-1, 6-1 fouryears ago.

“I’m very happy, it wasimportant to start the sec-ond set with a break,”said 38-year-old Federer.

“Even though I was play-ing well, I was not over-confident, I was alwaysworried that he mightmake a comeback.”

If Wawrinka beatsAmerica’s Tiafoe in theirsecond-round match, theSwiss pair will clash inthe quarters. — AFP

NNeeww YYoorrkk,, OOcctt.. 2244:: KyrieIrving dazzled in hisBrooklyn debut, but his 50points weren’t enough asthe Nets fell 127-126 inovertime to the MinnesotaTimberwolves in theirNBA season-opener.

“Outstanding,” was theverdict of Nets coachKenny Atkinson. “Greatdebut for him.”

Irving, whose arrivalfrom the Boston Celtics asa free agent helped stampthe Nets as contendersthis season, opened thenight with an emotionaladdress to fans inBrooklyn -- not far fromwhere he grew up in NewJersey.

“I’m eternally grateful tobe here, be back home infront of you guys with myteammates,” Irving said,choking up at one point.

But it was theTimberwolves whojumped out to the fasterstart, leading by as manyas 18 in the second quar-ter.

Then came Irving, whoscored 13 points in thefourth quarter. His step-back three put Brooklynup 115-112 with 1:16 left inregulation, but KarlAnthony Towns -- who ledMinnesota with 36 pointsand 14 rebounds --answered with a three-pointer as they went toovertime.

They traded the lead fivetimes in the extra period,two driving baskets fromAndrew Wiggins givingthe Timberwolves a 127-124 lead.

Irving sank two freethrows, but with the ballin his hands for a poten-tial game-winner he losthis balance, recovered andkept the play alive butmissed the final shot.

Irving finished without aturnover and broke theprevious record of 47 formost points by a player inhis first game with anNBA team.

“It’s a great startingpoint,” Irving said.“Obviously, you wanted tocome out and get a win infront of our home crowd,but we’ve got anotherchance on Friday.”

The Celtics’ post-Irvinglife began with a 93-107

loss to the 76ers inPhiladelphia.

Ben Simmons, whoopted not to play forAustralia in the WorldCup to focus on his prepa-rations for the season, ledthe Sixers with 24 points,eight rebounds and nineassists.

Five 76ers in double fig-ures included JoelEmbiid, who took a beat-ing on the way to 15 pointsand 13 rebounds.

Al Horford added 16points for Philadelphia.Gordon Hayward led theCeltics with 25 points.Jayson Tatum had 21 andKemba Walker added 12.

Washington shines

Charlotte rookie PJWashington, the 12th over-all pick in the draft inJune, made a splashydebut, scoring 27 points tohelp the Hornets to a nail-

bitting 126-125 victoryover the Chicago Bulls.

Hornets coach JamesBorrego gave Washingtonthe start in his first NBAgame, saying he’d seen inthe pre-season that thefirst-year player isn’tafraid of the big moment.

Washington justifiedthat faith, making his firstthree shots — all fromthree-point range. Hemade seven of 11 fromthree-point range. — AFP

SShhaanngghhaaii:: China, the world'ssecond-biggest economy, is

becoming increasingly influen-tial in football under Xi Jinping,

a known fan of the game. Heand Gianni Infantino met lastweek. Xi and his communist

government’s stated aim is forthe country of 1.4 billion to host

and eventually win a WorldCup. A bid for the 2030 World

Cup has long been mooted.Mark Dreyer, a Beijing-based

expert on China’s sports indus-try, said that the country has aproven track record in staging

major sporting events andviews a World Cup as the ulti-mate aim. But Dreyer, founder

of the China Sports Insiderwebsite, added: “I worry from

China’s perspective whether theother competing bids (for

2030) will use this (hosting theClub World Cup) against China

and say they already havesomething from FIFA and have

rewarded the country for itsfinancial support, so give theWorld Cup to someone else.”

Infantino largely dodged ques-tions that could be raised overChina’s human rights record asa result of the Club World Cupdecision. He was also asked by

AFP whether players coming toChina may have to self-censor.

“Everyone can say what theywant,” he said. “As far as we areconcerned, we are trying to use

football as a catalyst for posi-tive, and never for negative,” he

added. — AFP

WORLD CUPNEXT FOR

CHINA?

Kyrie Irving (right) of the Brooklyn Nets guards Treveon Graham of the Minnesota Timberwolves as he dribbles theball during the second half of their game at Barclays Center on Wednesday. — AFP

IInnzzaaii ((JJaappaann)),, OOcctt.. 2244:: TigerWoods got off to a horrificstart before roaring backwith nine birdies in 15 holesto share the inaugural ZozoChampionship lead inJapan Thursday as RoryMcIlroy struggled.

Woods, three over afterthree holes, bounced backin stunning fashion with aback-nine of 29 and a six-under round of 64 to top theleaderboard alongside USOpen champion GaryWoodland.

“I certainly was notexpecting to shoot six-under par after that start,”admitted Woods.

“It was ugly early and itwas nice to be able to flip it.Now I’m in a position wherewe’re going to have a long,long weekend of a lot ofgolf. Hopefully I can keep itgoing.”

The American duo headinto Friday with a one-shotlead over home favouriteHideki Matsuyama atAccordia Golf NarashinoCountry Club in Inzai City.

“I was excited that fanswere calling out my name,”said Matsuyama, who at27th in the world is thehighest-ranked Japaneseplayer in the event. “Wedon’t normally have suchbig crowds.”

Woodland, who won hisfirst major at Pebble Beach

in June, never looked trou-bled in a blemish-free roundwith six birdies.

“I drove the ball well. Anytime I can control the ballon the greens from the fair-way and make some putts,that adds up to a pretty goodday,” said the world number18. McIlroy is ranked the

second best player on theplanet, but you wouldn’thave known it as hescratched around with acold putter in a two-over 72,the low point being a dou-ble-bogey six at the 12th.

Remarkably, Woods’s 64was the lowest season-open-ing round of his long careerand came as the 43-year-oldchases an 82nd US PGATour victory to tie the all-time record held by SamSnead.

It was the most birdiesWoods has scored in 18holes since the first roundof the 2013-WGC Mexico

Championship.But all that had not

seemed remotely possiblewhen Woods, who won his15th major at the USMasters in April, creakedinto action after a two-month layoff for arthro-scopic left knee surgery.

Starting his round on a10th hole lined by massivecrowds more than 10 peopledeep, Woods dropped threeshots in as many holes withthree consecutive bogeys.

He steadied himself witha par at the 13th beforeturning his round on itshead with three birdies in arow. His fourth gain in fiveholes at the 18th saw himturn for home in one-under35, with only two pars onhis card.

Three more birdies fromthe third, his 12th hole, tookWoods to a share of the leadat four under withMatsuyama and Woodland.

A two at the short seventhput Woods out on his own toa deafening roar from thegolf-crazy crowd. — AFP

Tiger roars back to share lead in Japan

■ Irving’s 50 points not enough in Brooklyn Nets debut

Marquez keen tobetter Oz record PPhhiilllliipp IIssllaanndd ((AAuussttrraalliiaa)),,OOcctt.. 2244:: Phillip Island isone of Marc Marquez’sfavourite places and thealready-crowned MotoGPworld champion has nointention of easing up thisweekend in Australia,where he lays claim to abizarre record.

The gifted Spaniard, whoequalled Australian MickDoohan’s premier classwins tally with his 54th vic-tory in Japan last weekend,is eager to keep his incred-ible season going.

“It’s one of my favouritetracks. I enjoy a lot, ridingthere, especially the leftcorners,” said Marquez,who will be gunning for his11th victory of the year,and fifth in a row, on theisland south of Melbourne.

“But it’s a circuit wheremany others, and especial-ly Yamaha can be strong,”he added.

“Normally we have a lotof competition there and itwill be a challenge asalways. Our target is of

course to try to win, butonce the weekend begins,we will see where we areand assess the situation.”

He has a chequered histo-ry in Australia.

Marquez won at the pic-turesque circuit in 2015and 2017 but was dramati-cally forced out after afrightening high-speed col-lision last year.

Starting from pole, hewas shunted by Yamaha’sJohann Zarco on lap six asthey were screaming downthe track at 250 kph. Whilehe managed to stay on hisbike, his back seat wasmangled and his suspen-sion damaged, forcing himto call it a day.

It meant Marquez hasfailed to finish in Australiaon three occasions afterclinching the world title inJapan -- 2014, 2016 and 2018.

He sealed his sixth worldcrown this year a race ear-lier in Thailand, whilewrapping up a 25th con-structors’ championship inMotegi for Honda. — AFP

It’s a super feeling toknow exactly where theball is going, what theother guy is doing. I washitting a lot of winners(against Albot), thosekind of moments arereally rare.

— ROGERFEDERERTennis star

It was ugly early and itwas nice to be able toflip it. Now I’m in a posi-tion where we’re goingto have a long, longweekend of a lot of golf.Hopefully I can keep itgoing.

— TIGER WOODSUS golfer

SWISS|| INDOORS

MOTOR RACING

INTERNATIONAL GOLF

Hamilton doubts title chanceMMeexxiiccoo CCiittyy,, OOcctt.. 2244:: Ifthings go his way, LewisHamilton can clinch hissixth drivers’ world titletriumph in the rarefiedatmosphere of theMexican Grand Prix thisweekend.

It would be a monumen-tal achievement, nudginghim ahead of five-timechampion Juan Fangioand making him the sec-ond most successful driv-er in Formula One histo-ry behind only MichaelSchumacher whose seventitles between 1994 and2004 remain the pinnacle.

The 34-year-oldEnglishman, though,holds out little hope ofeither winning the race ata venue ill-suited to thestrengths of his Mercedescar or sealing the title.

“Mexico is generallyour worst race of the yearbecause of the way ourcar is set up and it’s goingto be a tough one for us,”said Hamilton.

History shows that thisis one of his leastfavoured tracks — he haswon just once, in 2016, infour races although he

did enough in 2017 and2018 to secure the worldtitles in Mexico.

Hamilton, who leads thechampionship by 64points with four races,including Mexico still tocome, knows he can takea cautious approach with-out scrapping for victoryon Sunday.

He will secure the titleby out-scoring hisMercedes team-mateValtteri Bottas, who liessecond, by at least 14

points. But he acceptsthat the Finn will be a very competitive rivaland unlikely to wave him through to the che-quered flag.

Resurgent Ferrari

Both the in-form Ferrariteam and Red Bull, forwhom Max Verstappenwill hope to complete ahat-trick of Mexican vic-tories after his wins in

2017 and 2018, have highhopes of success at atrack where Mercedeshave admitted they expectto struggle.

Although Mercedescompleted a record sixthconsecutive constructors’and drivers’ champi-onship double at theJapanese Grand Prix ear-lier this month, the teamhave been overhauled byFerrari, in terms of purespeed and performance,since the Belgian GP.

Charles Leclerc won inBelgium, where Ferraribegan a run of five suc-cessive pole positions.

That domination yield-ed three victories, two forLeclerc and one for four-time champion SebastianVettel, and two opportuni-ties lost due to mistakesand misfortunes.

“After two races inwhich we could have donebetter, we arrive inMexico determined towin. We will be aiming forour sixth consecutivepole, before looking toconvert that into victor,”aid Ferrari team chiefMattia Binotto. — AFP

Lewis Hamilton spars with Mexican former boxingchampion Julio Cesar Chavez in a promo event. — AP

Tiger Woods of the United States watches his tee shot onthe 11th hole in Tokyo on Thursday. — AP

Switzerland’s Roger Federer acknowledges the crowdafter beating Moldova’s Radu Albot. — AFP

Dice set to rollfrom next yearCChhiibbaa ((JJaappaann)),, OOcctt.. 2244::The US PGA Tour isready to roll the diceand unveil gambling attournaments “fromnext year” to tap intonew audiences,Commissioner JayMonahan has revealedto AFP.

Gaming restrictionsare being relaxedacross the UnitedStates and golf hasbeen preparing forlegalised sports bettingfor years, Monahansaid in an exclusiveinterview on the side-lines of the inauguralZozo Championship inJapan.

“You’ll start to seeproduct in the marketplace next year,” hesaid, with the primaryaims to attract newfans and to prolonginterest over a tourna-

ment day, which canstretch to 12 hours ormore.

The $9.75 million ZozoChampionship, whichbegan Thursday featur-ing Tiger Woods andRory McIlroy in a star-studded field, is themiddle leg of the Tour'snew Asian swing,worth almost $30 mil-lion in prize money.

It began last week inSouth Korea at the$9.75 million CJ Cupwon by Justin Thomasand concludes at the$10.25 million WGC-HSBC Champions inShanghai next week.

“It’s all about engage-ment,” said Monahan.

“When done right, itgives fans the opportu-nity to engage withyour sport over alonger period of time,”he added. — AFP

RICCIARDO ANDHULKENBERGDISQUALIFIED PPaarriiss,, OOcctt.. 2244:: Renaultdrivers Daniel Ricciardoand Nico Hulkenbergwere disqualified fromthe Japanese Grand Prixon Wednesday after theirteam was punished forbreaching regulationsover brakes, the govern-ing body FIA announced.

Ricciardo was sixth andHulkenberg 10th in therace at Suzuka on October13 but the French teamwill now lose the ninepoints accrued by theAustralian driver.

“Renault have been dis-qualified from the resultsof the Japanese GrandPrix after a protestbrought by rivals RacingPoint was upheld,” saidan FIA statement.

“Racing Point’s protestregarded an allegedbreach of the Sportingand TechnicalRegulations and the FIAInternational SportingCode, relating to a ‘pre-setlap distance-dependentbrake bias adjustmentsystem’.” — AFP

GamesFRIDAY | 25 OCTOBER 2019 | NEW DELHITHE ASIAN AGE

Ray of hopeInter Milan interested in signing former Germanystar Thomas Mueller, who has lost his startingplace at Bayern Munich, says report

SHORT TAKE

It is really anincredible record. I

hope Leo willcontinue to do well.

— Ernesto Valverde, Barcelonacoach on Lionel Messi making

history in the Champions League

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: The Indian footballteam dropped two places to

106th position in the latest Fifarankings issued on Thursday.The downward slid came fol-

lowing the Blue Tigers’ 1-1 drawagainst lower-ranked

Bangladesh in the Fifa WorldCup qualifier earlier this month.

The draw against Bangladeshcame after India’s impressive 0-

0 stalemate against Asianchampions Qatar in September.

Bangladesh, however, benefit-ted from the draw, jumping

three rungs to 184th spot.Belgium has managed to hold

on to the top spot, followed byFrance and Brazil.

Top-ten rivals Uruguay (5th, up1), Croatia (7th, up 1), Argentina(9th, up 1) have edged closer tothe summit. England are placed

fourth ahead of Uruguay,Portugal, Croatia, Spain,

Argentina and Colombia. — PTI

MMaaddrriidd:: Real Madrid’s SergioRamos has confirmed he has

been fined by Spanish taxauthorities for irregularitiesrelating to his image rights

between 2012 and 2014.According to the newspaper El

Mundo, Ramos was fined onemillion euros for transferringrevenue to his own company

Sermos 32 SL, which is based inSpain, in order to pay less tax.

The Spain and Real Madrid cap-tain has paid the fine but said

in a statement late on Tuesdayhe plans to appeal as he claimshe was unfairly penalised by a

change in the law.Ramos joins a growing list of

high-profile footballers target-ted in recent years by the

Spanish tax agency, who havecracked down on loopholes in

regulations on image rights.But while the likes of Cristiano

Ronaldo, Lionel Messi andNeymar have faced criminal

proceedings, Ramos hasemphasised his case is adminis-

trative. “It is an administrativefine, not a criminal offence,”

Ramos said in the statement.“Given the information pub-

lished recently, I would like toemphasise that I declare all myincome in Spain. I have a team

of professional advisors whoanalyse, manage and resolve all

my tax matters.” — AFP

PPaarriiss,, OOcctt.. 2244::Liverpool and

Chelsea clinchedimpressive vic-

tories on the road in theChampions League onWednesday as LionelMessi, Dries Mertens andteenage sensation ErlingBraut Haaland claimedimpressive goal-scoringlandmarks.

Defending championsLiverpool defeated Genk4-1 which saw Alex

O x l a d e - C h a m b e rl a i nscore twice while MichyBatshuayi gave Chelsea a1-0 win at Ajax.Elsewhere, Messi became

the first player to score atleast once in 15 successiveChampions League seasonsas Barcelona beat SlaviaPrague 2-1.

Napoli defeated Salzburg3-2 in a game which sawMertens go past DiegoMaradona’s 115-goals tallyfor the Italian club whileHaaland’s two strikes forthe Austrians in the samegame made him the firstplayer to score six times inhis first three ChampionsLeague games.

England internationalOxlade-Chamberlain, whomissed almost all of lastseason due to injury,opened the scoring in thesecond minute at theLuminus Arena and scoredLiverpool’s second justbefore the hour mark.

Sadio Mane andMohamed Salah then set upeach other for late goals towrap up the victory beforesubstitute Stephen Odeypulled one back for Genk.

Liverpool remain a pointbehind Napoli in Group E.

Haaland, 19, and widelytipped for a big-moneymove to England or Spain,had the ball in the Napolinet after just 10 minutes in

Austria. However, a VARreview scrubbed off thegoal for offside.

The Italians made themost of their reprievewhen veteran forwardMertens converted a crossfrom captain Jose Callejonto score. It was theBelgian’s 115th goal forNapoli and took him levelwith Maradona.

Haaland levelled from thepenalty spot in the dyingmoments of the first half.

Mertens, however,grabbed his second on 64minutes, again withCallejon the provider to gopast Maradona’s record setbetween 1984-1991 and closein on Marek Hamsik’s all-time club high of 121.

Haaland equalised againbut just a minute later,Napoli restored their leadthrough Lorenzo Insigne in

a breathless second half.Haaland at least had the

consolation of becomingthe first player to score sixgoals in his first threeChampions League games.

‘‘HHUUGGEE’’ WWIINN FFOORRCCHHEELLSSEEAA

Chelsea showed that theiryoung side were ready forthe European stage afterBatshuayi’s late winnerfired them to a 1-0 win atAjax.

Substitute Batshuayistruck in the 86th minuteand put Chelsea level on sixpoints with last year’ssemi-finalists at the top ofGroup H. “It’s feels huge,which always scares mebecause there’s a lot to do.We’re entitled to be excitedabout the way we playedtonight,” said coach FrankLampard. — AFP

TTHHEE RREESSUULLTTSSRReedd BBuullll SSaallzzbbuurrgg 22 (Haaland 41-pen, 72)NNaappoollii 33 (Mertens 17, 65,Insigne 73)

GGeennkk 11 (Odey 88) LLiivveerrppooooll 44 (Oxlade-Chamberlain2, 57, Mane 77, Salah87)

IInntteerr MMiillaann 22(Martinez 22,Candreva 89) BBoorruussssiiaa DDoorrttmmuunndd 00

SSllaavviiaa PPrraagguuee 11 (Boril 50) BBaarrcceelloonnaa 22 (Messi 3, Olayinka 57-og)

RRBB LLeeiippzziigg 22 (Laimer 49, Sabitzer59) ZZeenniitt SStt PPeetteerrssbbuurrgg 11(Rakitskyy 25)

BBeennffiiccaa 22(Rafa Silva 4, Pizzi 86)LLyyoonn 11 (Depay 70)

AAjjaaxx 00 CChheellsseeaa 11 (Batshuayi 86)

LLiillllee 11 (Ikone 90+5) VVaalleenncciiaa 11 (Cheryshev 63)

GGeennkk ((BBeellggiiuumm)),, OOcctt.. 2244::Liverpool condemned a“racist” banner depictingDivock Origi that was dis-played in the away endbefore their ChampionsLeague clash with Genkin Belgium on Wednesday.

The banner appeared toshow Origi’s head photo-shopped onto a nakedbody alongside theChampions League tro-phy. It was removedbefore the start of the

match, which Liverpoolwon 4-1.

A club statement said:“Liverpool Football Clubcondemns the offensivebanner displayed in oursection of the ground,prior to kick-off.

“To be clear, the imageused perpetuated a raciststereotype. This is com-pletely unacceptable.

“We acted swiftly tohave the banner removedand we are now working

with the local authoritiesand stadium team inGenk to identify thoseresponsible.

“Any subsequent actionwill be taken in keepingwith our sanctionsprocess.”

Asked for his reactionafter the game, managerJurgen Klopp replied: “Ididn’t see it yet but Iheard we already gave astatement so I have noth-ing to add.” — AFP

REDS CONDEMN ‘RACIST’ ORIGI BANNERBarcelona’s

Lionel Messi (left)celebrates with Arthurafter scoring againstSlavia Praha in their

Champions League Group Fmatch at the Sinobo

Stadium in Prague, CzechRepublic, on

Wednesday. — AP

Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (right) celebrates after scoring a goal against Genkat the Luminus Arena in Genk on Wednesday. — AFP

CChheennnnaaii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: India’sleading female squashplayer Joshna Chinappa isworking harder than everas the world number 12aims to break back into thetop-10 of PSA rankings,starting with a good show-ing in the WorldChampionship in Cairo.

The 33-year old, whoachieved a career-highranking of world number10 in 2016, will be compet-ing at the WorldChampionship starting onThursday .

“I am looking forward tocompeting at the WorldChampionship. I wouldlike to break back into top10 this season, better mycareer high rank of 10 andtake it from there,”Chinappa said.

Chinappa will face 42nd-ranked Haley Mendez ofUSA in the first round fol-lowed by either MariamMetwally (27) or Ho Tze-Lok of Hong Kong. In thepre-quarters, the Indiancould face world number 2Nour El Sherbini of Egypt.

“Right now, I am seeded12 in the tournament. Ihave a couple of tough firstand second round matches.I have the current worldNo. 2 in my pre-quarter, so,right now, I am just lookingforward to take it match bymatch,” she said.

The world number 12player said she is also look-

ing forward for to repre-senting her country in theupcoming South AsianGames (SAF) starting inDecember.

“After the WorldChampionships I will go tothe UK to train for fewweeks. We have beeninformed that we have SAFGames coming up. Andhopefully I can be part ofIndian team that playsthere in Nepal.”

Indian players have beentraining without a full-time coach ever sinceEgyptian Achraf Kararguileft on a bitter note aheadof the CommonwealthGames last year. Talkingabout the standard ofIndian squash presently,Chinappa, who won her17th national title in June,said the competition at thedomestic level has got a lotstronger. — PTI

Chinappa aims tobe back in top-10

Liverpool, Chelsea win onroad as Messi, Mertens andHaaland set goals records

KKoocchhii,, OOcctt.. 2244:: A late goalfrom Amine Chermitisaw Mumbai City FC stunKerala Blasters FC 1-0 in aclosely-fought HeroIndian Super Leagueclash here on Thursday.

The teams had severalhalf chances to break thedeadlock but lacked anend product for most ofthe game until Chermiti’ssmart 82nd-minute finishsettled the contest.

While the result meantMumbai start their sea-son with a win, it was alsotheir first-ever victoryover Kerala Blasters inKochi.

Kerala Blasters strug-gled to test AmrinderSingh early on whileMumbai resorted to aeri-al balls and floating cross-es into the box at theother end.

A Diego Carlos crossinto the box from theright flank in the 10thminute had the homedefence under pressurebut Mohamed Larbi’sweak header fell straightinto the hands of goal-keeper Bilal Khan.

Mumbai continued tothreaten and Carlos out-paced Jessel Carneiro onthe right flank again inthe 19th minute. Thistime around, the formerFC Pune City playerattempted a powerfulstrike from a tight angle,forcing Bilal Khan tocome up with a reflex saveat his near post. — PTI

KKoollkkaattaa,, OOcctt.. 2244:: Backhome after suffering anaway defeat, formerchampions ATK will lookto regroup and pick theirfirst points when theybegin campaign in thesixth season of the IndianSuper League againstHyderabad FC here onFriday.

For Hyderabad FC, whowere formed after PuneFC were disbanded lastseason for financial irreg-ularities, this will be thefirst match of the season.

Despite a sixth minutelead by Carl McHugh,ATK were left to rue somegood opportunities asKerala Blasters restoredparity by converting aspotkick in the 30thminute and sealed theissue before half-time inthe ISL opener in Kochion Sunday.

Most of the players fromthe now-defunct Pune FChave been retained by theHyderabad side. PhilBrown, who joined Punelast season in Januaryand guided the club to aseventh-place finish, willcontinue to guideHyderabad as they playtheir first match. — PTI

WOMEN’S || SQUASH

ATK SEEK FIRSTPOINTS AGAINSTHYDERABAD FC

Mumbai City openaccount in Kochi

RAMOS FINEDBY SPANISH

TAX AUTHORITY

Satwik-Chirag stun world champsPPaarriiss,, OOcctt.. 2244:: The Indianmen’s doubles pair ofSatwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shettyshocked reigning worldchampions MohammadAhsan and HendraSetiawan to join P VSindhu and SainaNehwal in the quarterfi-nals of the $750,000French Open here onThursday.

Satwik and Chirag, whohad claimed their maidenSuper 500 title atThailand Open in August,

notched up a stunning 21-18, 18-21, 21-13 win overthe world No 2 pair, a win-ner of the 2013, 2015 and2019 WorldChampionships.

The world No. 11 pairwill next face Denmark’sKim Astrup and AndersSkaarup Rasmussen.

World championSindhu, who made earlyexits in the last threetournaments at China,Korea and Denmark, beatSingapore’s Yeo Jia Min21-10, 21-13 in 34 minutes

to snap her recent run ofearly exits and enter thequarterfinals.

The world No. 6 Indianis expected to meet worldNo. 1 Tai Tzu Ying ofChinese Taipei next.

The eighth-seededLondon Olympics bronzemedallist Saina, who hadwon the IndonesiaMasters early in the yearbefore going through arough patch, dispatchedDenmark’s Line HøjmarkKjaersfeldt 21-10, 21-11 in27 minutes to make it to

the last eight.The reigning

Commonwealth Gameschampion, who had lostin the first round in lastthree successive events,will next take on Korea’sAn Se Young, who hadlast week knocked outIndia’s P.V. Sindhu in theopening round ofDenmark Open.

Saina had defeatedHong Kong’s CheungNgan Yi 23-21, 21-17 in theopening round onWednesday night. — PTI

Heavyweightshave it easy

India drop 2 spotsin Fifa rankings

Sindhu, Saina too enter French Open quarterfinals

Joshna CChinappa

cdn.splessons.com · sanjay bbasak new delhi, oct. 24 taking the voters for granted did not work...

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