SATURDAY 14 - 12 - 2019 3

Who are the Guilty? An Indonesian judge by the name

of Marzuki was sitting in judgment of an old lady who pleaded guilty of stealing some tapioca from a plantation.

In her defense, the old lady admitted to the Judge that she was indeed guilty of the crime because she was poor and her son was sick while her grandchild was hungry.

� e plantation manager insisted she be punished as a deterrent to others.

The judge going through the documents then looked up and said to the old lady, “I’m sorry but I cannot make any exception to the Law and you must be punished accordingly”.

The old lady was fined Rp.1 million (USD 100) and if she could not pay the � ne then she would be jailed for 2 1/2 years as demanded by the Law.

She wept as she could not pay the � ne.

� e Judge then took her hat and put in Rp.100,000 into the hat and said, “In the name of justice, I � ne

all present in the Court @ Rp.50,000 (USD 5.50) each as dwellers of this City for letting a child starve until her grandmother is compelled to steal to feed her grandchild. The Registrar will now collect the � nes from all present.”

� e Court managed to collect Rp 3.5 million (USD 350) including the � ne collected from the plantation manager, whereby the � ne was paid off and the rest was given to the old lady.

What a � ne piece of justice: � e judge went farther than the crime in front of him, and looked at the huge crime that allowed people to starve driving them to rob.

I wonder who would be � ned if Judge Marzuki came as a judge in India?

Juvenile and adult rapists who saw the way their fathers treated their mothers and carried the same behavior onto the streets!

Drivers hitting pedestrians on the roads! But shouldn’t it be police who don’t insist on the public using footpaths, or crossing at

zebra crossings? Or a government that allows vendors to take over footpaths, forcing people to walk on roads? Shouldn’t they be � ned?

Children on drugs? Shouldn’t some parents who think an increase in pocket money makes up for decrease in time spent with their kids, aren’t they guilty?

Or what about some desi old lady, like the one in the story, but instead of tapioca stole onions? Shouldn’t we b e ask ing big questions to a government which is focusing all it’s energy on CAB and Triple Talaq and other dramas instead of concentrating on the economy, bringing the prices of essentials down, and looking a� er unemployment so that, that old woman doesn’t have to rob?

Maybe we need to have a judge exchange between our countries and watch who Marzuki � nes. I won’t be surprised if he gets shunted back to his country in a ji� y..!

bobsbanter@gmail.com

Kolkota, Dec. 14:The first round of the

28th Telegraph Chess tournament organized by the Alekhine Chess Club at Gorky Sadan in Kolkota was a cake walk for the top seeds of the tournament. While the top seed and

IM Koutav Chatterjje of Garden High School got a full point by default, IM elect Aronyak Ghosh of South Point High School handed over a 28 moves victory over Anshuman Dargar with black pieces in a king pawn opening game. Third seed IM Srijit

Paul of DPS Nor th School, Kolkota surprised his opponent Anupa Cha t t e r j e e w i t h an unfamiliar f4 opening and forced a win on his 29th move. The visiting players

from Bangladesh namely Marzouq Chowdhury and Manon Reja Neer scored a fluent victory over their respective opponents.Earlier the nine round

swiss event was declared

open by GM Surya Sekar Ganguly after playing formal move against the youngest participant of the tournament Sriyaan Shaha. In all there are 465

players representing 202 schools drawn from three national federations are in the fray for this important r a t i n g t o u r n a m e n t conducted exclusively for the school children..

Telegraph Schools’ Chess tournament flagged off

Chennai, Dec 14: “Mind Master’’, the

book written by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was released at a glittering f u n c t i o n h e r e o n Friday. The Hindu Publishing

Group Chairman N Ram released the book in presence of sports writer Susan Ninan at the function. “If you are a chess

romantic and seek to cher i sh the beauty of chess, you should e n j o y l i v i n g a n d playing in the era of computers because computers have opened

up limitless possibilities,” said Anand during his conversation with Ram.

Anand said he has touched upon different aspects, including chess and computers in the

book and how it has

changed the game over

the years.

Anand releases his book “Mind Masters”

Kochi, Dec 14: Raphael Messi Bouli

struck twice in the last 15 minutes to eke out a 2-2 draw for Kerala Blasters against Jamshedpur in an Indian Super League clash here on Friday. Kerala had the better

chances to score but it was a Piti (38’’) penalty that broke the deadlock. CK Vineeth (71’’) added the visitor’s second before Raphael Messi Bouli scored a brace (75’’, 87’’) to pull his team level. With the spoils being

shared, Jamshedpur are third with 13 points from eight matches while Kerala sit seventh with seven points.

Mario Arques, who was deemed fit to start after a lengthy layoff, nearly got his team off to a splendid start. Seityasen Singh nicked the ball on the right flank and cut inside to deliver a threatening cross that was headed straight at the goalkeeper by the Spanish midfielder at the far post. The v i s i to r s were

careless in possession early in the game, with Jeakson stealing the ball off Aitor Monroy to set Raphael Messi Bouli free, but the Cameroonian striker couldn’t keep his shot on target. W i t h t h e g a m e

nearing half-time, the

referee penalised Vlatko Drobarov’s manhandling of Tiri inside the box from a corner conceded by a Seityasen backpass. Piti calmly slotted home from 12 yards to put Jamshedpur ahead. Kerala spurned a well-

worked chance to equalise after the restart. Seityasen drilled a low cross into the box from the right flank for Arques who failed to connect at the near post. The loose ball fell perfectly for Sergio Cidoncha whose powerful strike from inside the box flew wide. Sahal Abdul Samad’s

introduction in place of Cidoncha in the second

half gave the hosts a much-needed spark in midfield. In the 66th minute, the

Kerala-born midfielder danced his way past the Jamshedpur defence before getting a shot away. Tiri was well-positioned to block the strike and keep his team in the lead. Five minutes later,

on his return to Kochi, substitute CK Vineeth s t ruck Jamshedpur ’ s second. The forward played a one-two with Farukh Chaudhary before dribbling into the box and finding the gap between Rehenesh and the near post.

Messi double helps Kerala Blasters hold Jamshedpur 2-2 in ISL

Tasnim Mir enters quarter-finals in Junior Badminton ChampionshipsNew Delhi, Dec. 14:

In a tale of contrasting fortunes for two of India’s rising stars, U-15 women’s singles top seed Tasnim Mir entered the quarter-

finals but U-17 men’s singles top seed Varun Kapur crashed out of Badminton Asia U17 and U15 Junior Championships at Surabaya, Indonesia.

Gujarat girl, Mir has been steadily showing promise for the past few months as validated by her title win at the Dubai Junior International Series in September. Displaying the same confidence and conviction in her abilities, the youngster needed just 20 minutes to get the better of Malaysia’s Wen Tse Chan 21-6, 21-16. Mir will next face Japan’s Maya Taguchi for a place in the semi-finals.In U-17 men’s singles,

Maharashtra’s Varun Kapur put up a determined effort against Indonesia’s Raynaldi Oktavianur Rizky but was ultimately edged 21-19, 23-21 in a 50-minute battle in a big upset. There was no such problem for Assam boy Tanmoy Bikash Boruah in U-15. The top seed staved off a tough challenge from 13th seed Denis Farell Satria Pradana in the opening game and then cruised to register a 24-22, 21-15 victory on his way to the last-eight.There was double delight

for Boruah as he teamed up with Lakshay Sharma to win in doubles as well. The top-seeded pair

of Boruah and Sharma beat Tanakorn Meecha and Taenkun Tianchan of Thailand 21-18, 21-17 to make it to the quarters of U-15 men’s doubles. Telengana’s Lokesh Reddy Kalagotla and West Bengal’s Ankit Mondal also joined them in the final-eight with a 21-17, 22-20 victory over Korea’s Seung Won Baek and Sung Ju Park. In women’s doubles in

the same section, Kerala girls Andrea Sarah Kurien and Pavithra Naveen showed great fighting spirit to complete a 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 win over Hong Kong’s Man Ki Lee and Wing Ka Liang. However, their challenge later came to an end when Malaysia’s Wei Wen Carmen Ting and Masong Xin Yee beat them narrowly 18-21, 21-15, 23-21.In U-17 women’s doubles, Karnataka combine of Janani Ananthakumar and Tanya Hemanth were also put to a stern test by Japan’s Maki Kanehiro and Yuka Sarukawa. The Indians eventually managed to come through 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 to enter the second round.