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deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 15 No. 313 Established 1938 | 32 PAGES | ` 3.00

MODI VS RAHUL

Apology battle rocks LSas mantri, Rahul wrangleSREEPARNACHAKRABARTY | DCNEW DELHI, FEB. 7

Major trouble erupted inthe Lok Sabha on Fridaywhen Union health minis-ter Harsh Vardhan askedformer Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi toapologise for a remarkagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi during anelection rally earlier thisweek.

Within minutes of DrHarsh Vardhan's demand,MPs from both the trea-sury benches and theOpposition were seen fac-ing each other as if in abattlefield and almostcame to blows.

It all began when themoment the minister readout the apology demandto the House, CongressMP from Virudhunagar,Manickam Tagore,jumped into the Well andmoved towards the minis-ter, but was stopped byBJP MPs led byKaiserganj MP BrijBhushan Sharan Singh.

As both sides almostcame to blows, CongressMP from Ernakulum HibiEden was seen playingpeacemaker and leadingMr Tagore out of themelee.

After the House wasadjourned by theSpeaker, MPs from boththe ruling side and theOpposition were seenshouting slogans at eachother. Many remained inthe well.

Word from Modi speechin Rajya Sabha expunged New Delhi, Feb. 7: In a ra-re move, a word from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sspeech in Rajya Sabha wasexpunged from records.

Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu expungedthe word used by Modi onThursday during his replyto the discussion on a moti-on thanking the Presidentfor his address to the jointsitting of both Houses of Pa-rliament at the start of theBudget session. “Chairmanwas pleased to direct expu-nction of a certain portionof the proceedings of RS

dated Feb. 6 at about 6.20and 6.30 pm,” Secretariatsaid. Naidu routinely ex-punges any remark foundunsuitable from RS’s reco-rds after going through theproceedings of the day. Th-is has been done on severaloccasions but rarely wasany remark of Modi expun-ged. Modi had made the re-mark as he launched a stro-ng defence of the NPR say-ing the population registerwas being updated with de-mographic info for bettertargeting of government'swelfare schemes.

$50K crore petroproject for TNDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, FEB. 7

In a significant develop-ment, the Kolkata-basedHaldia PetrochemicalsLimited (HPL) founder-chairman PurnenduChatterjee met theTamil Nadu ChiefMinister, Mr. EdappadiK Palaniswami here onFriday, raising hopes ofHPL propelling hugeinvestments of the orderof Rs.50,000 crore for set-ting up a petroleumr e f i n e r y - c u m - p e t r o -chemical complex inCuddalore district.

The State governmenthad entered into an in-principle MoU for theproposed petrochemicalcomplex in Cuddaloredistrict, south ofChennai, with HPL aspart of the bunch ofMoUs' that were signedwith various captains ofindustry when Mr.Palaniswami went on atour of the US last yearto attract more industri-al investments intoTamil Nadu.

The meeting that tookplace Friday at the ChiefMinister's camp officehere is said to be in pur-suance of the MoU withHPL, which has symbol-ised the industrialresurgence in WestBengal in recent yearswith the setting up of amodern naphtha-basedpetrochemical complexat Haldia, 125 km fromKolkata.

While the HPL's execu-tive vice-presidentRobin Mukhopadyayawas also part of themeeting with Mr.

Palaniswami, represen-tatives from the TamilNadu side included theState Industries minis-ter, M.C. Sampath, Chief Secretary, K.Shanmugam and Indus-tries secretary, Mr. N.Muruganandham, sou-rces said.

This meeting assumesadded significance as inNovember 2019, the HPLhad filed a fresh bid forthe oil refinery ofNagarjuna chemicals inCuddalore district, aspart of the efforts to turnaround that defunct oilplant in coastal TamilNadu into a large petro-chemical complex andrefinery. ■ P2

Delhi goesto pollstoday SANJAY KAW ANDSHASHI BHUSHAN | DCNEW DELHI, FEB. 7

If surveys are to bebelieved, the Aam AadmiParty is all set to return topower in the national cap-ital where polls to all 70Assembly seats will beheld on Saturday.

But if one goes by grand-standing, then the BJPappears set to usher in anew chapter in Delhi andforming the city-state'sgovernment on its ownafter 22 years.

Two surveys, onereleased on Wednesdayand another earlier onMonday, clearly suggestthat the AAP will not beable to retain all 67 seatsit won in the 2015 elec-tions, but will be able toform the government onits own.

They give 10 to 14 seatsto the BJP. But home min-ister Amit Shah hasclaimed his party will bewinning more than 45seats. The saffron partywon in just three con-stituencies in 2015, wherethe Congress couldn'tretain one seat.

According to the ABPNews-CVoter survey,Arvind Kejriwal's AAP ispredicted to win 42 to 56seats. The IPSOS-TimesNow survey, based on asample size of 7,321 vot-ers, says the AAP is like-ly to get anythingbetween 54 and 60 seats,the BJP 10 to 14 seats,while the Congress maydraw a blank or win, atbest, two seats. ■ P6

MANOJ ANAND | DCGUWAHATI/KOKRAJHAR,FEB. 7

Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi said here Fri-day that the new Bodo pe-ace accord would bring inpeace and developmentin Assam. Saying it wasnow time to work toge-ther, while addressing ahuge public rally at theBodo Territorial Area Di-strict (BTAD) of Assamin Kokrajhar, Mr Modipromised that the Citize-nship (Amendment) Actwould not harm their int-erests. “A canard is being

spread that lakhs of peo-ple will come from outsi-de after the CAA's enact-ment. Nothing of that so-rt will happen,” he said.

The Prime Ministeralso urged Kashmiri mili-tants, other banned out-fits in the Northeast andthe Naxalites to lay downtheir arms, join the

national mainstream and“celebrate life”. He alsoattacked the previousnon-BJP governments for“procrastinating” on aresolution of vexedissues that alienated peo-ple and made them losetheir faith in democracyand the Constitution.

“Those still withbombs, guns and bulletsin Kashmir, other partsof the Northeast, andNaxalites... Come back.Join the mainstream.Wapas laut aiye aur jee-van ka jashn manaiye(come back and celebratelife,” he said.

Lay down arms, enjoylife, PM tells militants

“A canard is beingspread that lakhs ofpeople will comefrom outside afterthe CAA's enact-ment. Nothing of thatsort will happen”

Beijing, Feb. 7: Pangolinscould be responsible for thespread of the deadly coron-avirus in China, scientistssaid on Friday after theyfound the genome sequenceseparated from the endan-gered mammals 99 per centidentical to that frominfected people.

Pangolins are believed tobe one of the world's mosttrafficked mammals. Thou-sands of them are poachedevery year due to their me-dicinal value and human

consumption in countrieslike China and Vietnam.The genome sequence ofthe novel coronavirus stra-in separated from pangoli-ns was 99 per cent identicalto that from infected peo-

ple, indicating pangolinsmay be an intermediatehost of the virus, accordingto a study led by scientistsat the South China Agricu-ltural University.

According to Liu Yahong,president of the university,the research team analysedmore than 1,000 metage-nome samples of wild ani-mals and found pangolinsas the most likely interme-diate host, state-run Xin-hua news agency reportedas 73 new deaths were

reported in China onThursday due to the novelcoronavirus.

As of Friday, 638 peoplehave died mostly in Hubeiprovince and its provincialcapital Wuhan due to the vi-rus with the total number ofconfirmed cases jumping to3,143, Chinese officialsannounced on Friday. Mo-lecular biological detectionrevealed that the positiverate of Betacoronavirus inpangolins was 70 per cent,the scientists said. — PTI

‘Pangolins may’ve spread coronavirus’

The State govern-ment had enteredinto an in-principleMoU for the pro-posed petrochemicalcomplex inCuddalore district,south of Chennai,with HPL as part ofthe bunch of MoUs'that were signedwith various captainsof industry when Mr.Palaniswami went ona tour of the US lastyear to attract moreindustrial investme-nts into Tamil Nadu

Budget session of TNAssembly from Feb. 14

■ FULL REPORT ON PAGE 2

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu budgetfor the year 2020-21 will be presentedin the Legislative Assembly onFriday, February 14, when the budget session of the house begins.

Footwear issue: Ministerapologises to boy, mom

■ FULL REPORT ON PAGE 2

Ooty: The infamous footwear contr-oversy, involving the TN forest min-ister Dindigul Srinivasan, came toan end as the minister met the emb-arrassed tribal boy and his mother,and apologised to them personally.

COUNTER POINT

Max: 31OCMin: 24OC RH: 68%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Sunny Max/Min temp.

31/24ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDEVikari: Thai 24Tithi: Chaturthi

Star: Pusam Rahukalam:

9.00 am to 10.30 amYamagandam:

1.30 pm to 3.00 pm PRAYERS

Fajar: 5.22 amZohar: 12.28 pm

Asar: 3.43 pmMaghrib: 6.12 pm

Isha: 7.25 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.12 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.34 AMMOONRISE TODAY 5.21 PM

MOONSET TOMORROW 5.33 AM

Nirbhaya case:Judge rejects

plea for warrants New Delhi: Efforts by

authorities for a speedyhanging of the four convicts

in the Nirbhaya case suf-fered a jolt as a trial courton Friday refused to issue

fresh death warrants, askinghow is it presumed that thefourth condemned prisoneris not going to seek the lastavailable legal remedy for a

reprieve.

CBI arrests OSDto Delhi deputy

CM SisodiaNew Delhi: The CBI on

Friday carried out searchesat the premises of IAS offi-

cer Udit Prakash Rai in con-nection with the arrest of

Gopal Krishna Madhav, OSDto Delhi Deputy Chief

Minister Manish Sisodia, in abribery case, officials said.

Over a dozen more officersof the Delhi government are

also under the agency'sscanner in the case, they

said.

Senthil Balajigranted bail

Chennai: The Madras highcourt has granted anticipa-

tory bail to DMK MLA andformer transport minister

Senthil Balaji and his broth-er, who apprehended arrest

in connection with a jobscam in the transport depa-rtment. Justice P.D. Audike-savalu granted anticipatorybail to Senthil Balaji and his

brother Ashok Kumar onthe conditions that they

should execute a bond forRs 50,000 each with two

sureties each for a like sumand shall report before the

police on the date and timewhenever required until fur-

ther orders. ■ P2

TAKE ACTIONAGAINST TAGORE:UNION MIN New Delhi: Condemningthe Congress and its MPManickam Tagore for "mis-behaving" with UnionMinister Harsh Vardhan inLok Sabha, UnionParliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi onFriday demanded thataction be taken againsthim.

Opposition members protest in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament,in New Delhi, Friday. — PTI

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POLITICS pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

IN BRIEF

Flagpolemishap: Woman

gets govt jobCoimbatore: A 30-year-oldwoman, whose injured leg

was amputated after a truckhit her scooter while she was

avoiding a falling flagpole,was Friday given a

government job. Rajeswarireceived the order

appointing as VillageAssistant in Sanganur

Village from MunicipalAdministration Minister

S P Velumani at a function in the district

collectorate. Rajeshwari,along with her relatives,

thanked the government and Velumani.Both the legs of Rajeswari

got grievously injured afterthe truck hit her scooter

while avoiding the fallingflagpole erected by the

AIADMK on November 11last. Rajeswari was on her

way to work when the accident took place and was

in the ICU of a private hospital and her left leg

had to be amputated fromknee after four days.

The incident kicked up a rowwith opposition DMK

raising the issue oferecting flagpoles

especially after a bannerput by an AIADMK worker

fell on another woman andwas run over by a lorry in

Chennai. —PTI

An opportunity to fast track consumer cases

A young media executivefiled a case in a consumerforum over a manufacturingdefect in her expensivemobile phone. The wide gapbetween statute and realitydawned on her, making herwonder if she will have theresources or the inclinationto brazen it out against aglobal corporate goliath.First it was the shockingpractical picture from heradvocate on the average timefor disposal of the case -

about 3 years, which is closeto 10 times more than whatSection 13 (3-A) of theConsumer ProtectionAct,1986, contemplates.Then comes the exploitationof the procedural scope fordelay by the opposite partyat every stage.

No turn in delaying thecase is left unstoned! Adelay in entering appear-ance with a Vakalatnama, adelay in filing the writtenversion, a delay in markingdocuments with a proof affi-davit, a delay in filing writ-ten submissions and delaysin advancing oral argu-ments. For every delay,there is the condonationescape route. The only whipthat the consumer forum orCommission can crack is to

impose costs, which in mostcases, are not substantialenough to carry deterrence.And the theoretical settingthe party exparte. Theseorders are invariably setaside that they have becomea sure shot strategy to pro-tract the case. The 'delay -exparte - condonation' routehas become so common thatit is almost accepted as atemplate today. The longerthe duration, the costlier thebattle. Corporate entitieshave retainerships withadvocates, individuals don't.

It is against this backdropof a mockery of a legislationintended to be expeditious,that the reported reservingof orders by a ConstitutionBench of the Supreme Courtmust be seen. In New India

Assurance CompanyLimited Vs HilliMultipurpose Cold StoragePvt. Ltd, the apex court is torule on whether extra time,

beyond the statutory pre-scription, can be granted toan opposite party to file hiswritten version.

The filing of the writtenversion, which is theresponse to the complaint,must be done within anextended total period of 45days (30+ 15) under Section13(2)(a) of the ConsumerProtection Act,1986, orunder Section 38(2)(a) of thenew 2019 Act.

The interpretation of thewords "not exceeding"before the extended totalperiod of 45 days, has seenconflicting decisions of theSupreme Court. On the onehand was the court's view inDr J.J. Merchant VsShrinath Chaturvedi (2002)that "the legislative intent"

is to permit a "maximum 45days for filing the version bythe opposite party.Therefore, the aforesaidmandate is required to bestrictly adhered to" On theother, is the ruling inKailash Vs Nankhu (2005) tothe effect that "the provisionbeing in the domain of theProcedural Law, it has to beheld directory and notmandatory" and that exten-sion of time may be allowedunder "circumstances whichare exceptional, occasionedby reasons beyond the con-trol of the defendant andgrave injustice would beoccasioned if the time wasnot extended."

The right to speedy justiceflows from Article 21 of theConstitution. In the state-

ment of objects of theConsumer Protection Act,2019, the words "timely" and"effective" are added in thecontext of settlement of con-sumer disputes.

The pending case presentsan opportunity for theConstitution Bench of theSupreme Court to rule onnot just the 45 day extendedperiod for the filing of thewritten version but all thestages in a consumer case - right from the limita-tion period to file a freshcomplaint to a cap on thependency of a case itself.The term "sufficient cause"that pops up in condonationof delay petitions needs tobe fleshed out with a possible enumeration of cir-cumstances.

But before all that, can theministry of consumeraffairs please let consumersknow the date from whichthe new 2019 statute, whichreceived Presidential assent6 months ago, will come intoforce? As the new Act drasti-cally alters the pecuniaryjurisdiction of the threetiers - district, state andnational, cases are keptpending indefinitely, defeat-ing its legislative intentitself. Till that happens, onehopes the young mediaemployee with a defectivephone stays on line and doesnot hang up!

(The writer is an advocate at the Madras

high court, columnist& author)

SanjayPinto

JUSTICEFOR ALL

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7

Sri Lankan PrimeMinister MahindaRajapaksa reached NewDelhi on Friday at thebeginning of a four-dayvisit to India duringwhich he will meet "goodfriend" Prime MinisterNarendra Modi onSaturday in the Capitaland will also visitVaranasi, Sarnath, BodhGaya and Tirupati.

The Sri Lankan PMtweeted earlier in the day, "I will be in Delhi on a state visit, meetingmy good friend PM @narendramodi, thePresident, the ExternalAffairs Minister and othergovernment officials.Looking forward to build-ing new avenues of coop-eration with this visit and

strengthening the alreadyexisting ties between ournations."

MEA spokespersonRaveesh Kumar tweeted,"On PM @narendramodi'sinvitation, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka@PresRajapaksa arrivedin India to a warm wel-come, on his first overseasvisit since assumingoffice. Sustainedexchanges at the highestlevel continue to energiseIndia-SL ties."

Rajapaksa embarks on 4-day visit to India

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, FEB. 7

Kamal Hassan's MakkalNeethi Maiam has opposedthe four-day visit of SriLankan Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa to thecountry from Friday.Besides meeting PresidentRam Nath Kovind andPrime Minister NarendraModi, Mahinda will holddiscussion with Indian del-egation and visit religiousimportant places in thecountry.

In a statement, theMakkal Neethi Maiam hasstated that Tamils weresubjected to serious hard-ship after GotabayaRajapaksa assumed office

as President and Mahindatook over as PM in theisland nation.

Citing that Tamil nation-al anthem has been stoppedbeen played duringIndependence celebration,even after completion ofwar a large number ofarmy personnel are postedin Tamil dominant areas inSri Lanka and IndianTamils continue to face theheat from Sri Lankan navyin the high sea, the MNMurged the Sri Lankan gov-ernment to withdraw anti-Tamil policies.

MNM has appealedPrime Minister NarendraModi to highlight the plightof Tamils in Sri Lanka andmount pressure on

Mahinda to end the anti-Tamil policies. The visitwill be the MahindaRajapaksa's first overseasvisit since his brotherGotabaya was elected asPresident in November lastyear.

Mahinda will have meet-ings with President RamNath Kovind, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand external affairs minis-ter S Jaishankar. The meet-

ing aims to build on thestrong relationship thatalready exists between thetwo countries.

Mahinda hopes tofinalise the implementa-tion of the $ 450 million lineof credit pledged by PrimeMinister Modi to PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa dur-ing his visit to New Delhi inNovember. In an effort toenhance sub-regional mar-

itime security cooperation,the delegations from boththe countries are expectedto discuss key areas underthe defence and maritimesecurity initiatives thatinclude the Sri Lanka-Indiaannual defence dialogueand the trilateral maritimesecurity cooperation withIndia and the Maldives.

Mahinda also likely tovisit the religious places -Varanasi, Sarnath,Bodhgaya and Tirupathi.Two Tamil ministers in theRajapaksa government -Douglas Devananda fromthe north and ArmugamThondaman from the cen-tral tea plantation districtsexpected to be in the 10-member delegation.

MNM opposes Lankan PM’s visit to India● MNM has appealedPrime MinisterNarendra Modi tohighlight the plight ofTamils in Sri Lanka andmount pressure onMahinda to end theanti-Tamil policies.

‘Ceat tyres’ top officials also

call on CMFrom p1

It may be recalled that HPL has already galvanised

a large number of downstream units in West

Bengal as the complex has acapacity to process morethan 3.50 lakh tonnes per

annum of polymers, is a joint venture of the WestBengal government, the

Chatterjee group founded byPurnendu, the Tata group and the IOC.

The 'Ceat Tyres' chief financial officer Kumar

Subbiah and vice president,V. Sundararajan, also met the

Chief Minister today separately in connection

with the inaugural of theirradial tyre factory in the

state, sources added.

D. SEKAR | DC CHENNAI, FEB. 7

The DMK president, Mr.M. K. Stalin on Fridayreiterated his party'sdemand for a CBI probeinto the recently surfacedTamil Nadu PublicServices Commission(TNPSC) recruitmentscam and also demandedthe resignation of theFisheries minister, Mr. D.Jayakumar who is also in-charge of Personnel andAdministrative Reformsdepartment.

Speaking at a marriagefunction here, Stalin refer-ring to more arrests beingmade by the Police regard-ing the TNPSC irregulari-ties and fresh informationcoming out every day, Mr.Jayakumar, the ministerunder whose control the

TNPSC comes, should quiton moral grounds.

Adverting to reports thatsome 'top brass' wereallegedly involved in therecruitment scam, Mr.Stalin alleged that theState government was try-ing to cover up the wholeissue. Hence, only a CBIprobe will be able to bringout the whole truth, saidStalin in backing hisdemand. He added that theDMK, on returning topower, will take strongaction against all thoseinvolved in the scam.

BJP's Hindu card:

Taking a dig at certainpolitical forces trying to"destroy the DMK" byplaying the 'majoritarian

Hindu card' by portrayingDMK as anti-Hindu, Mr.Stalin said that will neverbe possible as "the peopleare solidly with the DMK."

Later, speaking atRoyapuram in northChennai where he stoppedby to oversee the DMK's signature cam-paign against theCitizenship AmendmentAct (CAA)/ NPR/ NRCexercises, Mr. Stalin saidthat they (DMK and itsallies) have already col-lected close to two croresignatures all over TamilNadu against their targetof one crore signatures.

If the Central govern-ment did not pay heed tothe message from thismassive signature cam-paign pressing for revoca-tion of CAA, Mr. Stalinsaid the DMK and its

allies will again meet andchalk out a much biggeragitation plan.

Doctors’ leader's deathshocking:

In a separate statement,Mr. Stalin expressed deeppain and grief at the pass-ing away of the noted sur-geon from Salem, DrLakshmi Narasimhan,president of the Fede-ration of GovernmentDoctors Associations, whodied of a sudden heartattack earlier on Friday.He charged the AIADMKgovernment with beingresponsible for DrLakshmi Narasimhan'sdeath through its repres-sive measures by transfer-ring him toRamanathapuram afterthe strike was withdrawn.

Stalin reiterates demand for CBI probeTNPSC SCAM


The Madras high courthas granted anticipatorybail to DMK MLA and for-mer transport ministerSenthil Balaji and hisbrother, who apprehendedarrest in connection witha job scam in the trans-port department.

Justice P.D.Audikesav-alu granted anticipatorybail to Senthil Balaji andhis brother Ashok Kumaron the conditions thatthey should execute abond for Rs 50,000 eachwith two sureties each fora like sum and shallreport before the police onthe date and time whenev-er required until furtherorders.

The judge said it wascontended by senior coun-sel S. Prabakaran, appear-ing for the petitioners thatat the time of registeringthe complaint, the peti-tioners were not evenremotely cited as connect-ed in any manner with thealleged offences, muchless as accused, but now afalse case was being foist-

ed against them due topolitical vendetta takingumbrage of the orderdated November 27, 2019,passed by this court on apetition filed by theIntervener, directing toconduct further investiga-tion in the matter. He fur-ther submitted that thefirst petitioner who was aminister in the govern-ment of Tamil Nadu dur-ing the period from 2011 to2015 would fully cooperatewith the investigation, butattempts were being madeto lower his image in soci-ety by implicating him. Itwas also vehementlyargued that the procedureprescribed under section41-A of the Cr.P.C has notbeen followed in requiringthe petitioners for anyinterrogation, despite thedirections of this courtdated January 7,2 019, thejudge added.

The judge said publicprosecutor A.Natarajanstated that the petitionershave been out of reach forservice of any summonsfor interrogation and haveabsconded, though noother objections have

been raised for grantinganticipatory bail to them.In reply to the same,Senior CounselPrabakaran stated thatthe petitioners wouldappear for interrogationwhen any notice wasissued to them. In thebackdrop of the aforesaidrival contentions, publicprosecution Natarajanproduced a copy of thesummons issued to thepetitioners for theirappearance in terms ofsection 41 A of the Cr.P.C.Accordingly, the petition-ers were ordered to bereleased on bail in theevent of arrest, before themagistrate concerned, thejudge said.

The judge said the peti-tioners shall not tamperwith evidence or witnessduring investigation.They shall not abscondduring investigation andthey shall immediatelysurrender their passportsto the magistrate con-cerned. If any of theaforesaid conditions werenot complied, the bailgranted shall stand can-celled, the judge added.

Senthil Balaji grantedadvance bail by HC

B. RAVICHANDRAN | DCOOTY, FEB. 7

The infamous footwear con-troversy, involving the TNforest minister DindigulSrinivasan, came to an endas the minister met theembarrassed tribal boy andhis mother, and apologizedto them personally. Thus hestruck a compromise note,before leaving Ooty onFriday afternoon.

The tribal boy, Kethan, aclass 9 student in a localschool near Thepakkadutribal village in MudumalaiTiger Reserve (MTR),walked to the police stationat Masinagudi along MTRborder on Thursday lateevening, to file a complaintagainst the minister underatrocities against the TribesAct. However, the cops whoreceived the complaintasked the boy to come againon Friday morning to regis-ter the case as the inspectorwas not available in stationthen.

While all were expectingsome drama at theMasinagudi police stationon Friday morning, anunexpected twist sawKethan and his mother

Kaaliyammaal, their rela-tives and tribal leadersreaching 'Tamizhagham'guest house here, where theminister was staying.

After an hour-long parley,minister Srinivasan toldmedia persons that he exp-ressed his regret and apo-logized to the embarassedtribal boy and his mother,and the issue came to anend.

Speaking to mediaper-sons, Kaaliyammaal, saidthe minster apologized tothem and also promised tolook after some of thedemands put fourth by thetribes in regard to infra-structure and basic ameni-ties in Theppakadu tribalvillage. She also said thatminister also promised tolook after her plea for a jobfor her in the MTR. "Fromour side, we promised towithdraw the police com-plaint against him, as thisissue is settled now," sheadded.

Meanwhile, B. Pushpa-kumar, secretary, NilgirisParticularly VulnerableTribal Group Council, said,the tribal boy's family andthe tribal leaders who tookpart in the parley accepted

the regret and apology fromthe minister, and thus decid-ed to end this issue.

On Friday morning, someprivate organizations sta-ged protest in front of Tami-zhagham guest house here,where the minister wasstaying.

Footwear issue: Minister apologises to boy, mom

Budget session of TN Assembly from Feb. 14DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, FEB. 7

The Tamil Nadu budgetfor the year 2020-21 will bepresented in theLegislative Assembly onFriday, February 14, when

the budget session of thehouse begins.

An official release fromthe Legislative AssemblySecretariat, by secretaryK Srinivasan here saidthat the Speaker, Thiru. P.Dhanapal has summoned

the Assembly to meet at 10am on that day.

The Governor Mr.Banwarilal Purohit hasfixed the date for the presentation of the statebudget on February 14.Deputy Chief Minister

Mr. O. Panneerselvam,who is also in charge ofFinance portfolio, willpresent the budget.

This communication hasbeen sent to all the TamilNadu MLAs', the releaseadded.

DC CORRESPONDENT COIMBATORE, FEB. 7

Members of the TamilNadu Untouchability Era-dication Front (TNUEF),The Students' Federation ofIndia (SFI) and DravidarTamilar Katchi on Fridaymorning submitted a peti-tion to L. Balaji Saravanan,deputy commissioner ofPolice (Law and Order)Coimbatore city requestingthat action be taken againstState Forest MinisterDindigul C. Srinivasan forasking a teenage tribal boyC B Kethan (14) to unbucklehis footwear.

The incident took place onThursday in Ooty and onthe same day the minor bo-y's family filed a police com-plaint. However, on the fol-lowing day on Friday, theboy's family withdrew theircomplaint. "Ministers takean oath that untouchabilityis sin. Contradictory, to this,are some of these ministersactions which are punish-able under law," the petitionsaid. Moreover, the toneused by the minster to callthe boy is disrespectful, thepetition added.

"Despite the complainthaving been withdrawn, theminister must be warned so

that a repeat of the incidentdoes not happen in thefuture." U K Sivagananam,state deputy general secre-tary of TNUEF said.Seconding him is DineshRaja district secretary SFICoimbatore chapter whoadded, "government offi-cials and police personnelwere also present when theincident took place. They(officials) must explain whythey stood as mute specta-tors and allowed the inci-dent to take place."

The CoP on receiving thecomplaint assured that itwill be forwarded to thelegal cell.

Action sought against forest minister

CORONA PREVENTIONHealth seretary Beela Rajesh inspects coronavirus infection prevention measures at Stanley Medical College in Chennai onFriday. —DC

School students from Tiruvallurdistrict participate in a handwash awareness campaignto keep away from infections,specially after corona scare inTamil Nadu. District collectorMaheshwari Ravikumnar inaugurated the campaign. —DC

Forest minister DindigulSrinivsan with Kethan’sfamily on Friday. CollectorDivya is also seen. —DC

STATE pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

IN BRIEF2 die as car

catches fire nearMusiri

1 boy killed, 30others hurt in bus

capsize

Sastra varsityrewards youth’s

family for bravery

CME prog forpediatricians inPudukkottai dt

Tiruchy: Two persons werekilled on the spot and five

others were seriously injuredwhen an Omni car in whichthey were travelling caught

fire and rolled downinto a road side ditch after

hitting a tree atThiruengoimalai near Musiri

on the Tiruchy-Salem high-way in the wee hours of

Friday. The occupants of thecar hailed from Kolappalur in

Erode district and were ontheir way home after offer-

ing worship at SriSaneeswarar temple atThirunallaar when the

mishap occurred.Police said the deceased

were identified as car driverManikandan and Mayilsamy,

occupant of the car.The injured including Mrs

Loganayagi wife of thedeceased Mayilsamy, and hisson Yuvagtheesh, father-In-law Arumugam, mother-in-

law Mrs Chellammal, and hisrelative Viswanathan, were

admitted to the Governmenthospital Musiri, police added.

Perambalur: A teenagedschool boy studying 9th

standard was killed on thespot and at least 30 bus pas-sengers were injured when a

private bus in whichthey were traveling tumbled

into a roadside ditch afterhitting a cement tanker lorry

at Othiyam Patahai nearKunnam on the Perambaur-Ariyalur highway near here

on Friday.The deceased student was

identified as P. Arya. TheInjured were admitted to the

Government hospitalPerambalur, police said.

Pudukkottai: The pediatricmedicine department of

Government Medical CollegePudukkottai, organised a

continuing medical educa-tion programme (CME) on

Friday. In a release here, col-lege dean, Dr.AL.

Meenakshisundaramwho presided over the func-tion said the infant mortalityrate was very much reduced

in Tamil Nadu because of thecontinuous and dedicatedeffort of pediatricians. He

appealed to the doctors andthe public to ensure 100 percent immunization for all the

babies in Tamil Nadu.In this programme, retired

pediatric surgery professorfrom Thanjavur Medical

College Dr T.V. Sathappandelivered a lecture on

"common pediatric surgicalproblems”.

Thanjavur: Yagesh, a 23-year-old youth saved the lifeof a young woman from the

hands of notorious auto driv-er, sacrificing his life in the

process. For his act of bravery and

sacrifice, Sethuraman, chair-man, Sastra University

announced `2 lakh as atoken reward to Yagesh’sfamily and the same was

handed over by Srinivasanon behalf of the Thanjavur-

based university.At Thiruvallur recently, a

woman boarded an auto togo back home, but the driver

took a different route andshe shouted for help,

Yagesh and his friends, hear-ing the women’s cry for help,

chased the auto and freedthe young woman; but the

auto hit the three youth, oneof whom, Yagesh fell down.

He was taken to hospitalwith injuries, but he unfortu-

nately died in hospital.

ZAKEER HUSSAIN | DC NAMAKKAL, FEB. 7

A week ahead ofValentine’s Day, people inthis small town ofTiruchengode near herehardly expected to witnessa dream, model Tamil-Swedish wedding thatwent beyond considera-tions of caste, religion andnationality and performedas per three distinct mari-tal customs.

The blessed two whoentered into wedlock wereS. Tharani, a youth fromTiruchengode’s Sanarpa-layam area and workingas an engineer in Swedenafter completing his MSdegree, and Ms. MarinaSusan, who belongs toStockholm.

Tharani first met Susanin Stockholm few yearsback in a basketball courtand their friendship soonblossomed into love. Theydecided to tie the knot andgot the consent of the par-ents from both sides, but

they did not want culture-specific marriage customsto pose any hurdle to theirwedding.

Both Tharani and Susanwere on the same page onthis aspect and hence theydecided on an inclusive,inter-cultural approach,said a source close toTharani’s family. Not to

disappoint her parents,both Tharani and Susanfirst entered wedlock asper the Christian tradi-tion.

Tharani, on his part, notto displease his Tamil par-ents, persuaded Susanthat both will marryaccording to Hindu tradi-tional practices and that

ceremony was held atTiruchengode onThursday.

Topping it all, the part-ners entered wedlock for athird time on Friday in atypical, simple ‘Self-Respect Marriage’, asTharani is personally arationalist, sources said.Today’s ceremony was thesimplest of the three-, thebeaming couple, dressedin traditional Indian attireof ‘veshti’ and ‘sari’respectively, exchanginggarlands amid theirfriends and close relativesbesides exchanging rings-,sources said.

People of Tiruchengodewere amazed that to avoidany inter-religious orinter-cultural conflict, thecouple decided to marryas per three different cus-toms- Christian, Hinduand Self-Respect mar-riages-. Shanmugavel andTamizharasi, the parentsof Tharani, were allsmiles in hosting this rearinter-cultural fusion.

■Marriage beyond caste, religion, nations in Namakkal

Tamil-Swedish couple uniteas per 3 wedding customs

Visitors take a look at wide collection of ‘Thambaalams’, (metal plates) at an exhibi-tion-cum-sale organised by Crafts Council of Tamil Nadu in Coimbatore. —DC

Susan and Tharani exchange garlands at Tiruchengodeon Friday. —DC

Sterlite pinchseen in Copperimport surge DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, FEB 7

Import of refined copperincreased from 44,245tonnes in 2017-18 to 92,290tonnes in 2018-19, UnionMinister of Commerceand Industry, PiyushGoyal said.

Replying to a question,Goyal told the Rajya Sabhaon Friday that export ofcopper has also gone downfrom 378,555 tonnes to47,917 tonnes for the sameperiod.He cited the reasonfor the decline in copperproduction in the countryto the closure of coppersmelter plant of VedantaLtd in Thoothukudi inMay 2018.

A few days ago Ministerfor Mines, Coal andParliamentary AffairsPralhad Joshi told LokSabha about the increasein import and drop inexport of copper and saidthat copper consumptionin India was growing at 10per cent compound annualgrowth rate.

R. VALAYAPATHY | DCTIRUVARUR, FEB 7

Black gram (UlunthuPayiru) cultivated in anarea of one acre has beentotally damaged due to oilspills (leakage) from theONGC crude oil pipelinewhich broke atMoolangudi village nearTiruvarur on Friday.

It might be recalled thatthe ONGC extracts thecrude oil in differentparts of Tiruvarur dis-trict and moved itthrough pipelines laidunder the cultivable farmlands to its refinery forover 50 years now.

The oil spills, in thewake of the ONGCpipeline crack, spoiledthe black gram grownfield of onePanneerselvam and thecrude oil submerged theentire crop, which result-ed in its damage.

Mr. Panneerselvam toldvisiting newsmen thatthe ONGC authoritiesshould clear the entire oil

spill from his field anddue to the incident, hewas unable to cultivateany crop for at least sixyears; so the ONGCshould pay adequate com-pensation to him, heurged.

Another group offamers of that villagewho gathered there point-ed out that similar losswas suffered by otherfarmers of that area andurged the Central govern-

ment to remove all thecrude oil pipeline of theONGC laid under agriculture lands and toprotect the farmers’livelihood.

A team of ONGC offi-cials also rushed to thespot and assured theaffected farmer that theoil spill will be clearedimmediately and theefforts would be made forgetting suitable compen-sation to him.

Oil leaks from ONGC pipehit black gram crop in delta

Oil spills from the ONGC crude oil pipeline which brokeat Moolangudi village near Tiruvarur on Friday. —DC

LAKSHMI L LUND | DC COIMBATORE, FEB. 7

Nearly 100 individualswho are in Coimbatorefrom China are underhome quarantine for aperiod of 28 days. In thebackdrop of the novelcoronavirus (2019-nCoV)affecting 24 countriesacross the globe, theHealth and FamilyWelfare department ofthe Government ofTamil Nadu has steppedup vigil across thestate.“Government ofTamil Nadu hasstrengthened surveil-lance and control meas-ures against the virus asper the national guide-lines.” a source from thehealth department said.

In Coimbatore alonefrom January 24 to Feb.4, a total of 78 air pas-sengers from flightsfrom China, Singapore,Hong Kong andThailand were screeneduniversally throughthermal screening.During the period, atotal of 13,112 air pas-sengers were screened atthe various airportsacross the state of whichas many as 1,351 areunder home quarantinefor a period of 28 days.

The local healthdepartment has issuedadvisory to the public tostrictly follow the basichygiene routine likewashing hands withsoap regularly and cov-ering face while cough-ing and sneezing.“Individuals who havearrived from the regionsimpacted by the 2019-nCoV must be understrict home quarantine,regardless of them displ-aying symptoms of thevirus or not.” officialsaid.

BJP supporters protest Vijay film shoot at NLC

nCoV: 100 personsunder home quarantine in Kovai

Relief for veggie traders astemporary market opens G.SRINIVASAN | DC THANJAVUR, FEB 7

Temporary vegetablemarket on SPCA groundson Pudukottai road nearChild Jesus church start-ed functioning fromFriday at Thanjavur.

Wholesale traders andretail traders of Kamarajmarket near palacegrounds, shifted theirvegetable shops to outletsprovided by the city cor-poration in the tempo-rary market to facilitatethe construction of a newmarket complex undersmart city scheme in theplace where the Kamarajmarket existed.

In the temporary mar-ket put up on two acres ofland, there are 96 whole-sale shops and 224 retailshops. Market startedfunctioning from 4 am onFriday and people startedpurchasing vegetables,fruits etc from the newtemporary market.

History of Kamarajmarket, which is to bereconstructed, dates backto 1804. It started as aweekly shandy and laterconverted into a dailymarket.

In1965, a fire devastatedthe market.

The then Chief Ministerof Tamil Nadu K.Kamaraj ordered con-

struction of a new marketand he declared it openwith 93 wholesale shopsand 212 retail shops.

The plan now is to con-struct a new market com-plex on 17.47 acres of landat a cost of `17.47 crore.“The market will be com-pleted in eight monthstime,” said corporationofficials.

The complex will house211 shops and will haveparking place for eightlorries,17 four- wheelersand 176 two-wheelers. Itwill have toilet and drink-ing water facilities.

Meanwhile, bananatraders appealed to thecity corporation officialsto allot them shops in amore convenient place inthe temporary marketthan the place now allot-ted to them as it is in acorner and hence couldnot attract the attentionof customers. Tradersalso demanded better toi-let and drinking waterfacilities in the tempo-rary market.

CM urged to granttea subsidy forsmall farmersOoty: In a memorandumto Chief Minister Edap-padi K. Palaniswamy,Ooty Congress MLA, R.Ganesh, had requestedimmediate steps to grantsubsidy to small tea gro-wers (STG) in Nilgiris.

The memorandum stat-ed that there are 65,000STG families in theNilgiris whose livelihooddepend on tea cultiva-tion. Though the greentea leaf (GTL) which theSTG cultivate and supplyto tea factories, used tofetch around `20 per kgin the year around 1996,but for the past twodecades, the GTL pro-curement price had comedown to an average of`10 per kg.This is notonly non-remunerative,but subjected small teagrowers to untold miseryand made it difficult forthem to make ends meet.

With increase in thecost of farm inputs andincrease in wages andother related expendi-ture, tea cultivation ispinching STGs who sole-ly bank on tea cultivationfor their livelihood. Thedip in prices of tea is alsoaffecting the tea-basedeconomy in the Nilgiris.

As tea cultivation hasbecome non-remunera-tive, many STG familieshave begun to migrate insearch of job opportuni-ties in the neighbouringdistricts, he noted.

So, at this juncture, thegovt should come for-ward to grant `5 as sub-sidy for a kg of GTL tohelp STGs tide over thecrisis till conditionsimproved, he urged.—DC

ZAKEER HUSSAIN | DC SALEM, FEB. 7

The medical fraternityhere is shocked and painedover the sudden demise ofDr N Lakshmi Narasim-han, a senior surgeon ingovernment medical serv-ice and president of theFederation of the Gover-nment DoctorsAssociation who had coor-dinated a prolonged stir topress for the doctors’ fairdemands.

Dr LakshmiNarasimhan, 52, fromRaman Nagar in Metturnear Salem, suddenly col-lapsed here on Fridaymorning following a car-diac arrest. Sources saidhe was rushed to a privatehospital here, but doctorsthere had pronounced himbrought dead. An avidactivist, he had been in theforefront of voicing peo-

ple’s demands for bettermedical facilities besidesdoctors’ legitimatedemands for last 25 years.

During the recent strikeby the government med-ical doctors across TamilNadu, Dr Narasimhan hadcoordinated their peacefulprotests to press for amongother things, equal pay forstate government doctorson par with central govern-ment doctors, time-boundpromotions for doctors andappointment for more doc-tors to cope with theincreasing number ofpatients flocking to gov-ernment hospitals.

The state-wide strike dur-ing November 2019 had vir-tually brought publichealth services to a halt,forcing the Tamil Nadugovernment to warn ofsevere disciplinary actionagainst the protesting doc-tors if they did not return

to work. Dr LakshmiNarasimhan then had per-suaded the doctors to callof their stir on the assur-ances of the ChiefMinister, Mr. Edappadi KPalaniswami and Healthminister, C Vijayabhaskar.

Though the governmenthad also assured that theywould not penalize theprotesting doctors, sourcessaid that after their agita-tion, many doctors weretransferred. Dr. LakshmiNarasimhan, who was apracticing surgeon at theMohan Kumaramangalamgovernment hospital here,had been earlier promotedas associate professor inthe government medicalcollege hospital,Dharmapuri.

However, after the recentagitation, as coordinator ofthe strike, he was shuntedto Ramanathapuram gov-ernment hospitals as part

of the 127 service doctorstransferred during thatperiod. Depressed by thatmove, sources said, DrLakshmi Narasimhan wasunder great mental stress,leading to his fatal heartattack today.

The deceased doctors’wife Ms. Anuradha said,Dr Lakshmi Narasimhanhad been highlighting theplight of doctors andpatients for the last fouryears and paid a heavyprice for it. "He used toorganise fasts and otherpeaceful forms of protest,but the government tookno action on any of thosedemands pulling him intoa depression and leading tohis death," Ms. Anuradhawailed. "At least after myhusband's death, the TamilNadu government shouldfulfill the legitimatedemands of its doctors,"she urged.

Salem grieves death of people’s doc

R. VALAYAPATHY | DC PUDUKKOTTAI, FEB. 7

Field day was conductedby the Agriculture depart-ment , at a Paddy clusterdemonstration laid out inover 40 hectares of land atSingathakurichi village ofViralimalai block inPudukkottai district, onFriday.

In a release here, thejoint director ofAgriculture M.Periyasamy said thatunder the NationalMission on SustainableAgriculture , soil sampleswere collected in gridsampling method from allthe farm holdings in thevillage, analysed in statesoil testing laboratory andsoil health cards wereissued to all the farmers .

Out of total of 120 farmholdings, 40 fields with

problem soils were select-ed for cluster demonstra-tion and paddy crops weresown . In these demonstra-tion fields, set of packageslike green manure , farmyard manure , gypsum

and other fertilizers wereapplied based on soil testvalue, he said.

Under his guidance,assistant directors ofAgriculture T. Ramar, andRajasekaran monitored

all the demonstrationwork. The field day wasconducted today by assem-bling all the farmers at thedemonstration site .Mohammad Rafi,Agricultural officer andsubject matter specialistfrom the office of the jointdirector of Agriculturedelivered special lectureon the necessity of soiltesting and soil-test basednutrient application in thecultivation ofAgricultural crops.

The farmers sharedtheir experiences abouthow the soil test basednutrient application andsoil fertility managementpractices helped in gettinghigher yield, by ten percent more than controlfield, besides considerablyreducing cost of fertiliz-ers and total cost of pro-duction.

Ryots laud tests-based fertiser use

The cheque for `2 lakh beinghanded over to family ofYagesh on behalf of Sastrauniversity, Thanjavur.

Farmers at the demonstration plot near Pudukkottai.—DC

Visitors look at the handicrafts at the Co-optex show-room during the Dastkaar Nature Expo organised inEgmore on Friday. —DC

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, FEB 7

Tension prevailed at theNeyveli Lignite corpora-tion after the TN BJPprotested against the man-agement of NLC IndiaLtd, a public sector under-taking, in Cuddalore dis-trict for permitting theshooting of actor Vijay'supcoming movie 'Master'.

Actor Vijay busy shoot-ing for his upcoming filmMaster hit the headlineson Wednesday afterincome tax departmentraided his houses inChennai. The actorreturned to Neyveli afterextending full cooperationto the Income-tax officialswho conducted a 35-hourenquiry with him anddeclared that no inappro-priate cash or accountswere discovered on hispremises.

The actor resumed theshooting of Master onFriday. However, thingsonly turned worse, whencadres belonging to BJPconducted protests in

front of the second minessite of the Neyveli LigniteFactory (NLC) demandingthe management of theCentral government-owned company immedi-ately cancel the permis-sion given to shoot thefilm and stop the proceed-ings immediately.

According to mediareports, a team of around200 people includingartistes and technicians isshooting in the miningarea of the company. Themakers of the 'Master'team have reportedly paidRs 25,000 per day toNeyveli LigniteCorporation Limited andthey have paid an amountof Rs 2.5 lakh for 10 days ofshooting at their place.

Sources said that a fewBJP cadres with theirflags staged a protest.Neyveli Vijay fans andcadres belonging to VCKparty gathered at the NLCin huge numbers andstood in support of theactor. Police initiated amild lathi-charge to dis-perse the crowd.

GLISTENING PLATES

NATION pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

IN BRIEF

Tainted J&K copclaims life threat

Kerala withdrawscalamity warning

Virus screening at12 major ports

Indrani seeks bailby citing parity

Srinagar: Tainted Jammu andKashmir police officer

Davinder Singh and four oth-ers including two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants

and their two alleged ‘over-ground workers’ (OWG)

were on Friday sent to 15-day judicial custody by a

special NIA court in Jammu.While Singh was soon sentto Hiranagar jail in Kathua

district, the others werelodged in high-security

Kotbalwal jail. Singh had ear-lier pleaded before the judge

that he may face a seriousthreat to his life if he too islodged in Kotbalwal prison.

Thiruvananthapuram: TheKerala government on Fridaywithdrew the ‘state calamity’

warning issued in the wakeof the novel coronavirus

(nCoV) scare as no new pos-itive cases of infection havebeen detected over the last

few days, even as over 3,000people are still under obser-vation. State health minister

K.K. Shailaja said as of today61 people are in isolation

wards of various hospitalsacross the state.

New Delhi: The governmenton Friday said it has directedall 12 major ports to immedi-ately put in place screening,

detection and quarantinesystem for disembarking

seafarers and cruise passen-gers as a preventive measureagainst the coronavirus out-break. The direction comes

against the backdrop of thevirus — which first emerged

in Wuhan city in China's cen-tral Hubei province —

spreading to 25 countries.

Mumbai: Indrani Mukerjea,the prime accused in the

2012 Sheena Bora murdercase, Friday told the court

that she should be grantedbail on grounds of parity asthe co-accused in the case,

her former husband PeterMukerjea, was granted bail.

She said the CBI’s claim thatshe killed her daughter formoney was false as 75% ofproperty was in her name.

FROM P1

Tight security measureshave been put in placeacross the city, especiallysensitive areas likeShaheen Bagh, for peace-ful polling in whichDelhi's 1.47 crore voterswill decide whether MrKejriwal gets anotherterm as chief minister forthe development workdone and promised, or theBJP, which campaignedaggressively on the "anti-Shaheen Bagh" national-ism pitch, will get achance to form the govern-ment. The voters' verdictwill also decide the politi-cal relevance of theCongress in the state ithad ruled for 15 consecu-tive years.

The last two weeks ofcampaigning for the coun-try's most prestigious elec-toral battle since the LokSabha polls in April-May2019 saw the BJP roping inalmost all Union minis-ters, 11 chief ministersand 200-odd MPs to hard-sell its nationalistic narra-tive to garner the supportof voters to unseat MrKejriwal. Many BJP lead-ers even tried to polarisevoters along communallines.

To address the Hinduvotebank, the chief minis-ter even recited the"Hanuman Chalisa" at arecent show organized bya news channel where hedeclared himself to be adiehard follower of LordHanuman. On Friday, healong with his familyoffered prayers at thefamous Hanuman Templein Connaught Place. Afterhis visit to the temple, hetweeted: "Sought blessingsof Hanumanji at famousHanuman temple at CP.Bhagwanji said - 'You aredoing good work.Continue serving peoplelike this. Leave the out-come to me, all will befine'."

PARMOD KUMAR | DCNEW DELHI, FEB. 7

The Centre and Delhi gov-ernment on Friday urgedthe Supreme Court to laydown a law to separatelyhang death row convictswho are convicted for thesame crime so that theymay not by a “calculateddesign” delay the execu-tion of sentence.

Taking the courtthrough the dates of theNirbhaya case to contendthat the four convicts in a“calculated” mannerwere delaying the execu-tion of sentence, SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehtasaid, “Nation’s patiencehas been tested enoughnow … as death convictsare not exhausting theirlegal remedies and adopt-ing delaying tactics.”

The Solicitor-Generalplaced before the court achart with dates showingthe way in which fourconvicts have taken stepsto exhaust their legalremedies including mer-cy petitions with PawanKumar Gupta yet to file acurative petition and themercy petition and con-tributing to delay in theexecution of sentence.

As Mr Mehta proceededwith his submissions, thetop court bench compris-ing Justice R. Banumathi,Justice Ashok Bhushanand Justice A.S.Bopannasaid that they would liketo hear the SG on meritsof the case and posted thematter for further hear-ing on February 11, 2020.

Solicitor General Mehtaurged the court to issuenotices to the four con-victs in Nirbhaya case asit would be required. Thebench said that it wouldfirst like to hear the SGon merits.

While Justice Bhushan

said that the death rowconvicts could not be“compelled to exhaust alltheir legal remedies”,Justice Banumathi saidthat the High Court hasgiven the four convicts 7-days time to exhaust theirlegal remedies and time isstill there. JusticeBhushan said one doesnot know the situationthat would emerge afterseven days.

The HC in its February 5judgment had held thatall the four death row con-victs in Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case willbe executed together andnot individually.

DC CORRESPONDENTTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,FEB. 7

The CPM-led LDF govern-ment in its last full budg-et before next year’sAssembly elections, anno-unced a slew of measuresfor mopping up addition-al resources and pro-viding relief to thepoor sections.

The governmentannounced welfareprogrammes forwomen, raised thesocial welfare pensionby `100, 1000 eating out-lets to be opened acrossthe state for providingmeals at `25, She Lodgesfor women in all major

towns, total ban on use ofCFL by November 2020.

Land transactions willcost more with fair pricebeing increased by 10 percent. Tax on luxury build-ings increase increased.Cars up to `15 lakh willcost more with increaseof 2 per cent tax, 1 per

cent additional tax onmotorbikes notcosting above `2lakh. There willbe one time 5 per

cent tax for allelectric vehicles.

The government alsoannounced austeritymeasures. Instead of buy-ing new vehicles, the gov-ernment will hire cars forofficial purpose.

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, FEB. 7

The CBI has arrestedDelhi Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia’sOSD (Officer on SpecialDuty), Gopal KrishnaMadhav, on the basis ofinformation provided by amiddleman who allegedlycollected bribes from tran-sporters on his behalf,officials said on Friday.

The arrest of Madhavwas made by the agency inan operation on Thursdayevening, ahead of the cru-cial Delhi elections, aftermiddleman DheerajGupta, nabbed on Febr-uary 5, claimed he wascollecting money on

behalf of the officer.Sources said that the

agency has not found MrSisodia’s involvement inthe case so far.

“CBI has arrestedDheeraj Gupta, who is aresident of Delhi, andGopal Krishna Madhav,the GST officer in tradeand taxes department ofgovernment of NCTDelhi, who is also the OSDto deputy CM of Delhi, ina bribery case of `2.26lakh,” a CBI spokespersonsaid.

During the questioning,Gupta claimed that he wascollecting the bribe forMadhav, a Delhi,Andaman and NicobarIsland civil service officer

in trade and tax depart-ment, officials said.

“It was alleged that theprivate person (Gupta)was acting as a middle-man on behalf of someGST department officers,including for the publicservant (Madhav), for col-lecting illegal gratifica-tion from transporters fornot charging GST fromthem,” the spokespersonsaid. Madhav was imme-diately taken to the head-quarters where he wasquestioned in detail by theCBI officers, officials said.

Gupta has been sent tojudicial custody by a spe-cial court while Madhavwill be produced beforecourt on Friday, they said.


The CPM led Left FrontGovernment in Keralautilised the budget speechon Friday to launch ascathing attack on theCitizenship AmendmentAct. The cover picture ofthe budget speech featur-ing the painting ofMahatma Gandhi’s alsotriggered a controversy.

The Left Governmentdefended the picture say-ing it was to remind thepeople that Hindu commu-nalists were behind thegruesome murder.

Reading out the budgetspeech Finance MinisterThomas Isaac painted agrim picture of the coun-try. “Democracy and dicta-torship are standing faceto face in India. The rulersin Delhi speak only in thelanguage of hatred andrancour. The administra-tive set up has completelyyielded to communalism,”he alleged. Isaac said thethreat of detention campsis hanging over 19 lakhAssamese. In this back-drop, the unity shown bythe ruling and oppositionparties in Kerala in fight-ing against CAA, was amodel for the rest of thecountry. The CM and Opp-

osition leader sitting inSatyagraha against CAAon the same platform,passing of unanimous res-olution against CAA andfiling of suit in SupremeCourt against CAA sentout a powerful message tothe whole country.

The Congress led opposi-tion expressed reservatio-ns about the use of Maha-tma Gandhi assassinationpicture on the cover of bu-dget speech. Oppositionleader Mr RameshChennithala said it wasnot appropriate to use

the picture on budget speech.

The BJP on the otherhand said the Left govern-ment was using such tac-tics to divert the attentionof people from its failureon all fronts. The financeminister, however, defend-ed the decision to useMahatma Gandhi assassi-nation picture saying thatit reminded the peopleabout the act of Hinducommunalists.

Kolkata, Feb. 7: A team ofresearchers from IITKharagpur has found thatmost cities in the country areturning into “urban heatislands” in all seasons duringday and night, officials said.

In their study, researchersfrom Centre for Oceans,Rivers, Atmosphere and LandSciences (CORAL) of IIT-KGPand its Architecture andRegional Planning depart-ment showed that most bigcities in the country with pop-ulation more than one millionhave recorded rise in mercurylevel during daytime whileshowing an increasing trendin the night hours.

The study, Anthropogenicforcing exacerbating theurban heat islands in India,noted that the relativelywarmer temperatures inurban areas, compared to sub-urbs, have potential health

hazards due to heat wavesapart from pollution, an IIT-KGP statement said on Friday.

“Our research is a detailedand careful analysis of urbanheat islands of India, which isthe difference between urbanand surrounding rural landsurface temperatures, acrossall seasons in 44 major citiesfrom 2001 to 2017,” ProfessorArun Chakraborty, one of theresearchers, said.

He further said, “For thefirst time, we have found evi-dence of mean daytime tem-perature of Surface UrbanHeat Island (UHI Intensity)going up to 2C for most cities,as analysed from satellite tem-perature measurements inmonsoon and post-monsoonperiods.” In Kolkata, Puneand Guwahati where theurban areas are surroundedby large green cover in subur-ban regions, there is “an

enhanced cooling effect onsurface” in suburban areasduring daytime as againstcities in arid regions, theresearchers said.

“Evidence from our studysuggests that more greenspaces within the city and itsboundary could reduce thetemperature in the city and itsneighbourhood,” co-author ofthe paper Prof.Jayanarayanan Kuttipp-urathsaid.

Conservation of water bod-ies and expansion of greenareas in and around citiescould be an effective strategyto curb the effects of urbanheat islands, he said.

The construction of build-ings and infrastructure witheco-friendly materials couldalso prove to be crucial to mit-igate the effects of heatislands, he said.

— PTI

Indian cities turning urbanheat islands: IIT study

Appeal for law onseparate hanging

New Delhi, Feb. 7: ADelhi court on Friday dis-missed the pleas of Delhigovernment and Tiharjail authorities seekingfresh date for executionof the four death row con-victs in the Nirbhayagang rape and murdercase.

Additional SessionsJudge Dharmendra Ranatook note of the DelhiHigh Court’s February 5order permitting the con-victs to exercise theirlegal remedies withinone week. “It is criminal-ly sinful to execute theconvicts when law per-mits them to live. TheHigh Court on February 5has permitted the con-victs, in the interest ofjustice, to exercise theirlegal remedies withinone week from sameorder,” the court said.

— PTI

TIHAR PLEA FORNEW EXECUTIONDATE DISMISSED

Security up for Delhi pollsBJP confident of winning 45 seats as surveys point to AAP win

New Delhi, Feb. 7: AnFIR was registeredagainst the Aam AadmiParty over a spoof videoof popular Bollywoodfilm Sholay in whichUnion Home MinisterAmit Shah is shown as‘Gabbar’ and three BJPleaders as dacoits, policesaid on Friday.

The FIR was registeredon January 25 by theSpecial Cell of DelhiPolice on the complaintof the BJP, they said. Inits compliant, the BJPalleged that the spoofvideo of the famousscene from Bollywoodfilm Sholay has beenedited by the AAP and isbeing circulated on alarge scale on socialmedia and YouTubewith an intent to “dam-age, demean and tar-nish” the party’s image.It alleged that the spoofvideo is being projectedand circulated on a largescale to influence thevoters of Delhi.According to the com-plaint, the video showsBJP leaders as dacoits.

— PTI

FIR LODGED ONAAP FOR SHOLAYSPOOF VIDEO

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offers prayers at the Hanuman Mandir, in NewDelhi on Friday.

Kerala Budget cover stirs rowIsaac to mop upmore revenue

S.N.C.N. ACHARYULU IDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 7

A series of raids in thelast 48 hours by Centralagencies of the homesand offices of close asso-ciates of former chiefminister N.Chandrababu Naidu,including his former pri-vate secretary, is caus-ing some anxiety inTelugu Desam circlesabout the future of theirboss.

Income-tax officialsraided the residencesand offices of MrNaidu’s former personalsecretary P. SrinivasaRao and Kadapa districtTD presidentSrinivasula Reddy atVijayawada, Kadapa andHyderabad.

On Friday, I-T officialsreportedly raidedAveksa Corporation inHydera-bad owned byformer TD ministerPrattipati Pulla Rao'sson Sharath.

Apparently, I-T offi-cials have never raidedthe house of the person-al secretary of a formerchief minister be-fore.

Ring closes onNaidu as aidesface big raids

Sisodia OSD held for graft

NIRBHAYA CASE

Varsity violence: 10held, freed on bail


Around 10 students of SRMUniversity, Kattangulathurcampus, were arrested by

Maraimalai Nagar police forinvolving in violence inside

the college campus, alleged-ly carrying deadly weapons

like a machete and a gun.The students were booked

under IPC sections147(Punishment for rioting),

148 (Rioting, armed withdeadly weapon), 343

(Wrongful confinement forthree or more days),

294(b)(sings, recites orutters any obscene song,

ballad or words, in or nearany public place,) and

506(ii) (Punishment forcriminal intimidation).

IIMR ENCASHESPOPCORN CRAZEIN JOWAR PUFFSN.B. HOMBAL | DC BENGALURU, FEB. 7

Popcorn is a craze amongmovie-goers across the worldand encashing on this mind-set, Hyderabad based IndianInstitute of Millet Research(IIMR) has developed a tech-nology using which one canproduce Jowar puffs, Bajrapuffs and puffs from varioustypes of millets, which notonly taste similar to popcornbut are also more nutritious.

Speaking to DeccanChronicle on the sidelines ofthe National Horticulture Fairhere, IIMR-NutriHub Techn-ical assistant, Sai Prashantsaid, “We have received morethan 50 inquiries in the lasttwo days on the setting-up ofthis puff making machine inKarnataka. After tasting ourproducts, many have showninterest but it will take sometime to finalise the deals.”

According to him, IIMR hasdeveloped this process formanufacture of millet puffsusing explosive puffing or gunpuffing where the grain isexpanded to the maximum.

The cover picture of Kerala’s Budget speech featuring apainting of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination that trig-gered a controversy in the state.


Kerala CM Pinarayi Vija-yan on Friday said PrimeMinis-ter Narendra Modimust rectify his statementthat maligned anti-Citi-zenship Amendment Act(CAA) protests in Kerala.

He said that it was notbefitting a PM to be partof those who were disap-pointed with the fact thatKerala is leading thestruggle against the com-munalism of both the RSSand the SDPI. Mr Vijayanwas referring to the state-ment made by the PMabout Kerala during themotion of thanks to thePresident's address inParliament.

He said the PM’s state-ment was prot-est-worthyand untrue.

Mr Modi had referred toMr Vijayan’s recent state-ment that certain extrem-

RECTIFY STAND ONANTI-CAA STIR,CM TELLS PM

■ `1,000 crore for rural roads development project■ 1.5 lakh jobs to be created in agri sector■ 12,000 public toilets to be constructed■ School uniform allowance raised by `200■ 50,000 streams and canals will be cleaned up during the current financial year.■ 50,000 wells to be recharged, 25,000 ponds to bemodernized ■ `3 crore for providing assistance to women directors

IT’S RAINING SOPS, TOO

UP’s Basti dt may berenamed after sageGorakhpur, Feb. 7:The renaming ofBasti district afterM a h a r i h s iVashishth appearsto be on the cardswith the locala d m i n i s t r a t i o nsending a proposalon this to the state’srevenue board. DMAshutosh Niranjansaid the proposal tochange the name ofthe district hasbeen sent to the rev-enue board and theexpenditure for it ispegged around `1crore.

The Adityanathgovernment haschanged the nameAllahabad toPrayagraj andFaizabad toAyodhya. It has alsor e n a m e dMughalsarai rail-way station after

Deen DayalUpadhyay.

According to offi-cials, about a yearago during BastiMahotsav, CM Adi-tyanath hadannounced thatBasti Medical Coll-ege will be namedafter MaharihsiVashishth, whoaccording to Hindumythology was theguru of Lord Ram.

After thatannouncement, anumber of peopledemanded changingthe name of the dis-trict.

On November 28last year, the pro-posal of changingthe name of the

district was sentto the RevenueBoard which soughtan estimated— PTI

WORLD pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Washington, Feb. 7: Acombative PresidentDonald Trump celebratedhis acquittal in the gru-elling impeachment trialby launching a tiradeagainst the Democrats,saying, “they want todestroy our country.”

A day after he wasacquitted by the rulingRepublican Party-control-led Senate on the twoimpeachment charges –abuse of power and obstr-uction to Congress –Trump appeared confi-dent, energetic and com-bative as ever against hisopponents. “It’s a celebra-tion,” Trump said of theevent, attended by topRepublican politicians,including Senate Majo-rity Leader Mitch McCo-nnell as well as the mem-bers of the Cabinet andthe legal team that defen-ded him in the Senatetrial. “We went throughhell, unfairly, did nothingwrong, did nothingwrong. I’ve done thingswrong in my life, I willadmit,” Trump said in theEast Room of the WhiteHouse. “This is really nota news conference. It’s nota speech. It’s not any-thing. It’s just we’re sortof - it’s a celebration bec-ause we have somethingthat just worked out. Imean it worked out,” the73-year-old president said.

In his speech that lastedfor over an hour, Trumpsaid, “Now we have thatgorgeous word. I neverthought it would sound sogood.” “It’s called ‘totalacquittal’.”

“They want to destroyour country,” Trump saidof the Democrats. Trumpwas impeached by theDemocratic Party-ledHouse of Representativesin December for abuse ofpower and obstruction ofCongress, but was acquit-ted in the Senate. — PTI

Trump unleashes furyPrez celebrates impeachment acquittal by blasting Oppn Dems

President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. — AP

London, Feb. 7: The Brit-ish government said it hadchanged the policy of fly-ing flags on royal birth-days, with local authori-ties no longer required toraise the Union Flag forscandal-hit Prince And-rew. Officials earlier saidthey were consideringhow the policy applied “inchanging circumstances,such as when members ofthe royal family step backfrom their duties”, accord-ing to a spokesman forPrime Minister BorisJohnson. The government

later said it would beadvising councils “thatthere is no requirement tofly flags on the 19thFebruary following thedecision by the Duke ofYork to step back frompublic duties for the fore-seeable future”.

The Sun newspaper hadpublished a leaked emailsent to local authoritiesreminding them to fly theBritish flag for Andrew's60th birthday on February19. It came just weeks afterQueen Elizabeth II’s sec-ond son withdrew from

public life and royal dutiesafter a disastrous televi-sion interview defendinghis friendship with thelate US sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein. Flyingflags on government build-ings in his honour “wouldbe wholly inappropriate”,opposition Labour law-maker Wes Streeting toldThe Sun daily.

Johnson’s spokesman sa-id the email, sent by a civilservant in the local gov-ernment ministry, was an“administrative emailabout long-standing poli-cy”. He said discussionswere under way betweenthe ministry and the RoyalHousehold about a change.

Designated days for fly-

ing the British flag on UKgovernment buildingsinclude the birthdays ofQueen Elizabeth and herhusband Prince Philip,their wedding day, thebirthdays of their fourchildren and of theirgrandson Prince Williamand his wife Kate.

Andrew has strenuouslydenied claims he had sexwith a 17-year-old girl pro-cured by Epstein, a finan-cier found dead in prisonlast August while awaitingcharges of traffickingminors. — AFP

UK ditches flags for Prince Andrew’s birthday■ British govt says it has changed policy of flying flags for scandal-hit AndrewROYAL | IMPACT

Democrats set for NH debate Manchester (New Ham-pshire), Feb. 7: TheDemocratic Party’s sevenstrongest presidentialcontenders are preparingfor what could be thefiercest debate stage clashof the 2020 primary sea-son as candidates look tosurvive the gauntlet ofcontests that lie ahead.

The field has been shak-en and reshaped by chaot-ic Iowa caucuses earlierthis week, and Friday'sdebate in New Hampshire— coming four daysbefore the state's primary— offers new opportunityand risk for the shrinkingpool of White Househopefuls. Two candidates,Vermont Sen. BernieSanders and formerMidwestern mayor PeteButtigieg, enter the nightas the top targets, havingemerged from Iowa essen-tially tied for the lead.

Those trailing after thefirst contest — includingformer Vice President JoeBiden, MassachusettsSen. Elizabeth Warrenand Minnesota Sen. AmyKlobuchar — have anurgent need to demon-strate strength.

Billionaire activist TomSteyer and New York ent-repreneur Andrew Yang,meanwhile, are fightingto prove they belong inthe conversation.

The rapidly evolvingdynamic means that thecandidates have a veryreal incentive to mix it upwith their Democraticrivals in the 8 pm debatehosted by ABC. They maynot get another chance.

“This is the time whenvoters are eager for candi-dates to show they cancompare and contrast,but also show they’re in itto win it,” said Demo-cratic strategist LilyAdams, who worked onCalifornia Sen. KamalaHarris’ unsuccessful 2020presidential campaign.

“Expect it to get morefeisty.” Indeed, it was adebate at this same stagein New Hampshire fouryears ago on the Repu-blican side that then-NewJersey Gov. Chris Chri-stie devastated FloridaSen. Marco Rubio's presi-dential ambitions with awell-timed take-down.Rubio never recovered,making it easier forDonald Trump to emergeas his party's presidentialnominee.

The stakes are particu-larly high this week forBiden, who has playedfront-runner in virtuallyevery one of the previousseven debates but leftIowa in distant fourthplace. — AP

M o n t p e l i e r(Vermont): Verm-ont’s Republican gov-ernor says he thinksPresident DonaldTrump abused hispower and shouldn’tbe in office.

Gov. Phil Scott is afrequent Trump crit-ic, but his commentsat a news conferenceThursday are anotably rare dissentfrom within partyranks.

He says the Senate

should have beenallowed to hear frommore witnesses dur-ing the impeachmenttrial that endedWednesday with anacquittal for Trump.

Scott says that “Ibelieve he abused hisposition of power.”He also praised Sen.Mitt Romney, ofUtah, the onlyRepublican to breakranks with his partyand vote to convictTrump. — AP

GOP governorflays Trump

Derry (US): ElizabethWarren is apologising to sixwomen of colour who left herpresidential campaign officein Nevada before the state’scaucuses because they feltmarginalised and becausetheir concerns weren’taddressed by supervisors.

“I believe these women com-pletely and without reserva-tion. And I apologise that theyhave had a bad experience onthis campaign,” the Massa-chusetts senator said after anevent in Derry, New Hamp-shire. “I tried to build a cam-

paign and an organisationthat is diverse and welcoming,that celebrates people, thatencourages people to bringtheir whole selves to workevery single day,” she said.Politico reported that sixwomen have left Warren’scampaign office since Nove-mber. Nevada holds its Demo-cratic caucuses on February22. Campaigning in NewHampshire for the state's Feb.11 primary, Warren said sheunderstands “the long legacyof racism in this country andwhat it means”. — AP

Warren apologises to6 women of colour

London, Feb. 27: Bri-tain’s Prince Andrew is todefer an honorary RoyalNavy promotion after hestepped back from fullroyal duties over his linksto convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein,Buckingham Palace saidFriday.

The former naval officer,who saw service as a heli-

copter pilot during the1982 war with Argentinain the Falklands Islands,was set to become anadmiral for his 60th birth-day on February 19.

But a palace spokes-woman said Andrewwould push back the pro-motion until he canresume full royal duties.

— AFP

Epstein scandal: Princedefers navy promotion

Democratic presidentialcandidate Senator BernieSanders speaks during apress conference at hisNew Hampshire head-quarters. — AP

■ ■ THIS IS the eighthdebate of the race,and none has reallyhad an impact.There’s been anoticeable lack ofattacks or memo-rable lines, and tele-vision ratings havetanked.

Britain’s Prince Andrew

IN BRIEFFrance pushes

arms controlParis: French President

Emmanuel Macron warnedFriday that European nations

“cannot remain spectators”faced with a potential

nuclear arms race, urgingthem to push an “internation-

al arms control agenda”.“Europeans must realise col-lectively that in the absence

of a legal framework, theycould rapidly face a new race

for conventional weapons,even nuclear weapons, on

their own soil,” Macron saidin a speech laying out

France’s post-Brexit strategyfor its nuclear arsenal. He

added that France hadalready reduced its numberof warheads to under 300,

giving France “the legitimacyto demand concrete movesfrom other nuclear powers

toward global disarmamentthat is gradual, credible and

can be verified”.

Pak jet crashesduring training

Islamabad: A Mirage aircraftof Pakistan Air Force crashedon Friday in Punjab provinceduring a routine operational

training mission. The PAFsaid in a statement that the

Mirage jet crashed nearShorkot area in Punjab

province. “The pilot ejectedsafely and no loss of life or

property has been reportedon ground,” according to thestatement. The cause of theaccident was not known. A

board of inquiry was orderedby Air Headquarters to

determine the cause of theaccident. On January 7, two Pakistan Air Force

pilots were killed when theirChina-made trainer

aircraft crashed in Punjabprovince.

‘Shouldergate’dress for auction

London: Labour MP TracyBrabin, who was branded a

“tart” for wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in the Houseof Commons, is selling it on

ebay for charity, with bidsalready topping £1,250. MsBrabin, 58, hit back at “sex-

ist” criticism after the top ofher outfit slipped down her

shoulder as she leaned onthe despatch box on Monday.Widespread coverage of the

incident – which saw manyspring to the shadow culturesecretary’s defence – report-edly saw a surge in demand

for the black pencil dress. Anitem description accompany-ing the new ebay auction lot

reads: “This is an ASOS dresswhich has been flying off the

shelves... and is now soldout!”

Islamabad, Feb.7: EhsanullahEhsan, the Taliban terroristresponsible for shooting NobelPeace prize winner MalalaYousafzai in 2012 and carryingout the deadly Peshawar Armyschool terror attack in 2014-inwhich 132 students were killed-has escaped from prison,according to an audio clipreleased by him.

In the audio clip, which sur-faced on social media onThursday, Ehsanullah Ehsansaid that he escaped the con-finement of Pakistani securityagencies on January 11, claim-ing Pakistani forces failed tokeep their promises made tohim during his surrender in2017.

“With the help of God, I suc-ceeded to escape on January 11,2020 from the confinement ofthe security forces,” he isheard saying in the clip.

Without revealing his currentlocation, Ehsan said that hewould soon make a detailedstatement about his confine-ment.

Malala Yousafzai, 22, was shotfor campaigning for girls’ edu-cation in 2012 in Pakistan’sSwat Valley.

In the audio clip, EhsanullahEhsan said that he surrenderedto the Pakistani security agencies on February 5, 2017under an agreement but theforces failed to keep theirpromise made before the sur-render.

“I followed the agreement forabout three years. But theseshrewd security institutionsput me in prison along with mychildren in violation of theagreement,” he said, addingthat he finally decided to fleefrom the forces.

The authenticity of the audioand veracity of EhsanullahEhsan’s claim was not verifiedby the security forces or thePakistan government.

MALALA’SSHOOTERESCAPES

US kills YemenQaida leaderWashington, Feb.7:President Donald Trumpsaid Thursday that the USat his direction has con-ducted a counter-terror-ism operation in Yementhat killed Qassim al-Rimi, an al-Qaida leaderwho claimed responsibili-ty for last year’s deadlyshooting at Naval AirStation Pensacola, wherea Saudi aviation traineekilled three Americansailors.

Al-Rimi is a founder ofal-Qaida in the ArabianPeninsula. The affiliatehas long been consideredthe global network’s mostdangerous branch for itsattempts to carry outattacks on the U.S. main-land. Trump said the U.S.and its allies are safer as aresult of his death.

“We will continue toprotect the American peo-ple by tracking down andeliminating terroristswho seek to do us harm,”Trump said.

While Trump confirmedreports that al-Rimi hadbeen killed, he did not saywhen the U.S. operationwas conducted or offerany details about how itwas carried out.

Al-Rimi had said in an18-minute video that hisgroup was responsible forthe Dec. 6 shooting at thebase. He called the shoot-er, Saudi Air Force officerMohammed Alshamrani,a “courageous knight”and a “hero.” The shooter

opened fire inside a class-room at the base, killingthree people and wound-ing two sheriff ’s deputiesbefore one of the deputieskilled him. Eight otherswere also hurt.

The shooting focusedpublic attention on thepresence of foreign stu-dents in American mili-tary training programsand exposed shortcom-ings in the screening ofcadets. In January, theU.S. sent home 21 Saudimilitary students, sayingthe trainees had jihadistor anti-American senti-ments on social mediapages or had “contactwith child pornography,”including in internet chatrooms.

Trump’s announcementconfirmed earlier indica-tions that al-Rimi hadbeen killed. —PTI

PALESTINIANS:TRUMP PLANLED TO CLASHESJerusalem, Feb. 7: ThePalestinians on Fridayrejected United Statesallegations of incite-ment after a day ofclashes and attacks leftthree Palestinians deadand more than a dozen Israelis wound-ed.

They instead linkedthe violence to PresidentDonald Trump’s Mideastinitiative, which heavilyfavors Israel on all themost contentious issuesof the conflict and wouldallow it to annex largeparts of the occupiedWest Bank.

“Those who introduceplans for annexationand apartheid and thelegalization of occupa-tion and settlements arethe ones who bear fullresponsibility for deep-ening the cycle of vio-lence and extremism,”senior Palestinian offi-cial Saeb Erekat said ina statement.

He was responding toremarks delivered theday before by JaredKushner, Trump’s son-in-law and the architectof the Mideast blue-print, who had blamedPalestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas for thelatest violence.

“Don't call for days ofrage and encourage(your) people to pursueviolence if they’re notgetting what they want,”Kushner said onThursday.

—AP

Qassim al-Rimi

Mascow, Feb. 7: A pas-senger plane carrying 172passengers from Tehranto Damascus made anemergency landing at theRussian-controlled Hme-imim Air Base in Syria onThursday to avoid comingunder fire from Syrian airdefenses, Russia said onFriday. The Syrian forceswere responding to Israelistrikes on targets in Syria,Defense Ministry spokes-man Igor Konashenkovwas quoted as saying byInterfax and otherRussian agencies.

The incident took place a

month after a UkraineInternational Airlinespassenger plane crashedshortly after take-off from

Tehran, killing all 176 peo-ple on board. Iran latersaid its forces had shot itdown unintentionally due

to human error. TheSyrian defense ministrysaid on Thursday it hadintercepted Israeli mis-siles over Damascus thatwere fired at military tar-gets in southern Syria.Israel has declined to com-ment. The Airbus A320(AIR.PA) had been cominginto land at DamascusInternational Airportwhen it was forced to div-ert to the nearest alterna-tive airfield, the HmeimimAir Base near Latakia innorthwest Syria, which isoperated by the Russianmilitary. — Reuters

A passenger plane narrowly escapes being shot by Syrian anti-aircraft fire. — AP

Syria fire targets passenger jetAnkara, Feb. 7: Turkeyhas sent nearly 150 vehi-cles with commandosand ammunition to rein-force its observationposts in Idlib, Syria’s lastrebel-held region,Turkish state newsagency Anadolu reportedFriday.

A Turkish securitysource emphasised they were only to reinforce the 12 existingposts established under a2018 deal with Russia to prevent an offensive by Syrian government forces.

—AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lengthy replies in the Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha on Thursday to the debate on the motion of thanks on thePresident’s address underscored a push — on the eve of the DelhiAssembly polls — to deepen the communal divide which his senior col-

leagues in the BJP and the government have been working hard to sharpen asa vote-polarising tactic. Perhaps the most graphic example of this came on thesame day as the PM’s intervention in Parliament as one of his ministers saidsuicide bombers were being trained at Shaheen Bagh.

When the country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, it is noteworthythe PM’s reply showed no sign that the holder of the highest executive officewas sensitive to the impact on the people’s lives of the economic downturncaused by faulty policies. The efforts of Opposition leaders to elicit from thePM a response framed under circumstances of urgency, and doing somethingspecial to alleviate the worsening jobs situation, proved futile.

The President’s address to the joint session is a document cleared by the gov-ernment, and is seen as a statement of the government’s priorities and inten-tions. It made explicit that the government would be focused on politics, noteconomics. The politics surrounding the revised citizenship law gained prideof place in this as this law is tailormade for deepening communal schisms ifthe ruling party is intent on doing so.

Mr Modi lost no time in exploiting the situation. At the theoretical level, hehad a hand packed with aces when he declared when a law passed byParliament or a state Assembly is opposed by the people, this produces arecipe for chaos.

As a broad principle, this is unexceptionable. This is why, in the normalcourse, laws duly passed are not opposed wholesale and, when they are, thegovernment and ruling party typically come forward with ameliorativeamendments in the spirit of democratic sensitivity.

It is only a brute majoritarian government which, in the first place, brings alaw that it knows will be deeply contentious and will be bitterly opposed, andthen proposes to defend it in the public sphere on the ground that it has par-liamentary sanction. In effect, this amounts to the defence of majoritarianrule, and not of democratic life, ethics and standards.

In the case of the BJP-RSS, the CAA springs from its belief which, at base,sees people of a certain minority faith as the hostile “other”. This is not pro-claimed officially but no stone is left unturned to propagate this to the faithful.Forceful civil society interventions are the instrument to diffuse the rulingparty’s ideological preferences to a wider public.

Looking at this controversy, there would have been no need for a CAA ifIndia had only announced, without naming religious groups, that it wouldoffer citizenship to those facing persecution. For the BJP-RSS, however, a cer-tain religious category had to be openly declared as being excluded in orderfor it to assert its politics.

8 FEBRUARY 2020

Areport by international news agency Reuters that South Korean automajor KIA Motors is planning to shift its manufacturing facility locat-ed in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district to neighbouring Tamil

Nadu has rightly created political ripples and public concerns.The question underlying the political churn and doubts in the minds of the

general public is, does chief minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy have the capac-ity, interest and willingness to focus on development of the state and creatinga business-friendly eco-system that will help the state rise in line with aspira-tions as an industrial and business powerhouse, and prosper.

Mr Reddy has scored in reforms and welfare — he has made English thedefault medium of school education and delivered on almost all his socialwelfare promises — but there is clearly more to a CM’s job scope — mak-ing his state conducive to welcoming investors, creating jobs and settingit forth on a journey of ever-increasing growth. It is on this count thatperhaps Mr Reddy has disappointed not only his voters and supportersbut the business community.

The new report came as a bolt but it was not from the blue. YSRC lead-ers — including its Hindupur member of Parliament Gorantla Madhav,who reportedly misbehaved with the global CEO of Kia Motors at theplant inauguration programme last year — have been making unrealisticand unethical demands of Kia — whose denial of the news report was tameand not convincing enough.

Let Mr Reddy not forget the Nano episode — West Bengal under MamataBanerjee is still to recover from the decision of the Tatas to leave. MrChandrababu Naidu put in some effort to bring Kia to AP — in a seemingpolitical zeal to undo every decision taken by the previous government,Mr Reddy must not let Kia leave.

Don’t let Kia leave Andhra

A conscious move todeepen social divide

There is no end to the twists inthis family saga made up ofjails, hospitals, vast sprawl-ing estates and foreign

dreams, with all kinds of charactersand frills thrown in for effect. MianShahbaz Sharif has taken the story tothe latest dizzying stage with a reve-lation about the hurdles in the long-awaited and urgently required treat-ment for Mian Muhammad NawazSharif.

Here is a serious patient needingurgent medical intervention and hislearned attendants are risking adelay — for whatever reason. Thereare serious issues with this explana-tion (to begin with) that could sparkan unending debate about roles andresponsibilities and blame.

But trust the good old youngerbrother for trying to be as convinc-ing in his plea as he has ever been.Mr Shahbaz Sharif goes about build-ing his case with typical emphasis oncertain words. He wants everyone tobelieve that he is speaking on behalfof a man whose condition is serious-ly unstable.

“Mian Sahib was investigated com-prehensively at Royal BromptonHospital, London, for the present car-diac status and to determine the needfor intervention,” reads a story inthis paper by Amir Wasim which

cites a statement by the PML-N. “Theinvestigations revealed significantischemic burden affecting majorareas of heart and impaired functionas well.” And then there is the realpurpose of these technical detailsthat another patient wanting someprivacy would rather keep underwraps: “In view of the unstable stateof health of Mian Sahib, MaryamNawaz should be allowed to join herfather. The more time is passing, theless is the space for intervention.”

Desperation begets desperation.Some of the reaction that this ratherdesperate-looking attempt at master-minding a long-distance flight for MsMaryam Nawaz is reflective of thedisastrous mindset in the PTI campright now. One quote from a morevocal minister from the same storywould suffice.

The worthy minister says thatallowing Ms Maryam to leave at thisstage would be like striking the lastnail in the PTI’s accountabilitypledge. It couldn’t have been moredamning than this.

It would seem that a large numberof people had long got the drift. Invarious commentaries, it has beendiscussed how the governmentwould be far better off dispatchingthe whole Sharif clan across thefence. The absence, it is submitted

with a lot of reliance on commonsense, would help the governmentclaim there was a deal behind thisescape by the former ruling family.

The removal of as many Sharifs aspossible, the point goes, would freethe Imran Khan government to con-centrate on development. The gov-ernment cannot be forever boggeddown in the romantic ideal of hold-ing everyone accountable for pastdeeds. Frankly, this is not at all anew angle. The original advice to thePTI government had warned theparty against having too deep anobsession with punishing rulers ofthe past. It is the prime minister whohas, against counsel, steadfastlyopposed all suggestions that mighthave found him extending favours tothose facing corruption charges.

However, a situation where itseems that Mr Imran Khan has beenforced to grant a reprieve has its owndemerits. It has an element of sur-render to it as opposed to a leadermagnanimously, or simply proudly,agreeing to the departure of politi-cians under trial by invoking the olddoctrine of ‘good riddance’.

The intended alarm in the lateststatement by Mian Shahbaz Sharifsignifies the beginning of another,stronger push by the PML-N to carryMs Maryam Nawaz across the line.

In the hours and days to come, thethrust is likely to intensify. Morereports of a long silent Mian Sahibstubbornly shaking his head in rejec-tion to all trying to persuade him toundergo a cardiac procedure we aretold he ought to have undergone along time ago, could increase pres-sure on the accountability-obsessedgovernment.

Indeed the government may be toosingle-minded. This could sparksome very tense moments in theemotionally charged Pakistani poli-tics. If the past is any guide, a grow-ing number of commentators may beswayed by the human side of it to callupon Prime Minister Imran Khan tomake this departure.

Meanwhile, the discussion aboutwhatever the PML-N needs rightnow — leadership, to start with —can wait. What can be guessed is thatthe task of repairing the party fromabroad would be far more onerousthis time round than it was twodecades ago after the Sharifs weretoppled and sent out by GenMusharraf. It would require somespecial intervention, the kind ofmagic spun by Begum KulsoomNawaz back then.

We all know the privileged scribesamongst us live in a neighbourhoodof their own. Among the other facili-

ties that they enjoy, they have thisluxury of falling back on theirsources in the world beyond. Thesescribes get heavenly letters that canneither be denied nor questioned.Unfortunately, the facility is unavail-able to the meek and timid, but some-thing we cannot do without, supposewe were to today receive that elusiveenvelope in the mail? What wouldthe contents of that letter be?

And even more importantly, whowould be its sender — that someoneimportant on the other side suffi-ciently moved by an event to writethe long-awaited note? Like “Dearscribe. This is Kulsoom NawazSharif. I hope you are doing well andstill have enough motivation to occa-sionally report on voices that arecloser to the more obscure versionsof truth. “I need your help to conveythis message to Mian Shahbaz Sahib... Next time could he please not men-tion my illness as he goes aboutappealing for Maryam’s presence byMian Sahib’s side in a London hospi-tal. Illness. Hospital. London. As anelder it is my duty to ensure thatthere are no unwanted comparisonsbetween family members who haveundergone or are undergoing med-ical treatment.”

By arrangement with Dawn

Is okayingMaryam exit

freedom orsurrender?

Saffron rainbow rises as queers police their own

If you still had anydoubts that the“queer movement”in India is a right-wing, neoliberal,

hellish agglomeration,the events of the last fewdays should have settledthem.

First, there was thesingling out of protest-ers who exercised thedemocratic right toprotest against CAA-NPR-NRC as part ofBombay Pride. And theywere singled out andreported by members ofthe “queer community”.Ashok Row Kavi, well-known, rabid, right-wing amma of theLGBTs, reduced them to“Left-Islamist nonsense”and claimed that theircolleges were easy to“comb and search”.Several queers took tothe social media to con-demn the protesters andclaim “queer” space andPride March space asapolitical. The organis-ing body of the marchdistanced themselvesfrom the protesters, con-demning pro-Sharjeelslogans as harming the“integrity of India”,even as they claimedallegiance to theConstitution and law,both of which they clear-ly know nothing about.

Kris Chudawala, atrans student from TISSwho exercised a democ-ratic right is in jailunder sedition chargesand was denied anticipa-tory bail (along with 50others). This for raisinga slogan in a protestmarch and reading thePreamble of the Consti-tution. The “queer com-munity” is delightedwith this arrest. Theyhad written to theMumbai police askingfor the arrests.

Then, Pune Pride fol-lowed with an equallyrepulsive statementclaiming both distance

from those “supportinganti-nationals” and peo-ple who “bring politicalflags” (what on earth is anon-political flag?) andpollute Pride, which isonly about “raisingawareness”. Clearly,these folk have noawareness of the originsand history of Pride. But“national integrity andsecurity cannot be com-promised.” Heil Hitler!

Then, Delhi had anevent against the Budgetand all sorts of minorityorganisations partici-pated, but “queer”groups were conspicu-ous by their absence.The one trans activistpresent, Meera Sangha-mitra, who, by her ownpublic admission, hadnot intended to speak atall, eventually spoke butdid not feel the need toeven mention Chuda-vala and Bombay orPune Pride. She settledfor bland solidaritiesand a banal rewriting ofthe national anthem.

Fourth, no “queer”group has come out witha statement condemningthe CAA-NRC-NPR, letalone the arrest of mem-bers of their community.

Fifth, as an experi-ment, I changed my han-dle on all the gay datingand hookup apps I am onto “No to CAA-NPR-NRC”. The barrage ofabuse I got from peoplecalling me Muslim (as aform of abuse), wanting

to rape my mother, mywife (yes, most Indiangay men have wives orare going to get them, sothey presume all gaymen do) was predictable.

Jasbir Puar, a USSouth Asian academic,in her book TerroristAssemblages over adecade ago, had come upwith the idea of homona-tionalism by which shemeant countries like theUS and Israel using gaypolitics/positions to jus-tify imperialism, claim-ing the gay for thenation to other the fig-ure of the “terrorist”,demonising the Muslimand the Muslim country.

The nation here hasdone no such thing (theIndian State is robustlyheterosexual and mas-culinist and does notwant to claim queers atall), but queers are clam-ouring to be included inthe nation. They areeach more hystericalthan the other in theirclaim to the nationalist.

Moreover, the “terror-ist” is anyone who criti-cises the State (the dutyof a citizen in a democra-cy) and they don’t minddemonising their owncommunity members.This is not a nationalismagainst an Other outsidethe nation (the Pakistani)but within the nation.This is a Hindu national-ism, and while Muslimsmight be the primaryenemy, Christians, dal-its, adivasis, women andanyone who is critical ofthe state is the enemy.

This is not a minorityas we understand it atall. A minority is agroup underrepresentedby the state, demandingrights, offering a cri-tique of the state. ThePride march has its ori-gins in transgenders in

New York finally losingit with police tyranny,whereas these folk aretweeting the police ask-ing them to come arrestmembers of the commu-nity. “Queer” has its ori-gins in demandinghealthcare from thestate at the height of theAIDS crisis when the UShad left gay men to die.

These queers embracethe state and are bend-ing over backward tokick their own to thekerb. These Pride archesare about apolitical frol-ic and parties at five-starhotels later.

If “queer” lost its polit-ical edge long ago in theUS (once it was co-optedby US academia), its cir-culation across theworld through the glob-alspeak of NGOised sex-ual governance had littlemore than an assimila-tionist and inclusivistrhetoric going for it.

But even that is gonefrom the new (or werethey always that, but itis only now that theirfangs are bared?), right-wing Hindu-fundamen-talist queers who arenow deciding whichqueers get to be Indianand which don’t.

The Left anti-Budgetmeeting had the usualsuspects invoking theusual laundry list ofminorities: farmer, wor-ker, dalits, adivasi, wo-man. The queer wasmissing. While that usu-ally incenses me, thistime it was reassuring.Queers are the enemy.

It is time for the realsexual minorities tostand up, please.

Tellis is an academic,a journalist, an editorand a writer on LGBT

and other minorityissues

Jasbir Puar, over adecade ago, had

come up with theidea of homona-tionalism... Thenation here has

done no such thing,but queers are

clamouring to beincluded in the

nation.

These queersembrace the stateand are bendingover backward tokick their own tothe kerb. ThesePride arches areabout apoliticalfrolic and parties atfive-star hotelslater.

The Left anti-Budget meetinghad the usual sus-pects invoking theusual laundry list ofminorities: farmer,worker, dalits, adi-vasi, woman. Thequeer was miss-ing... This time itwas reassuring.

Subhani

Ashley Tellis

Asha’arRehman

EDIT pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

View from Pakistan

There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead ofestablishing the truth. — Marie Curie

MIND POWER

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA T. VENKATESWARULUEditor Printer & Publisher

R. MOHANResident Editor

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RATES STATUS QUOThe decision of Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) to maintain the sta-tus quo on basic rates is hardly sur-prising given the surge in inflationand no sign of it relenting in the com-ing quarters. While MPC underscoredits commitment to accommodativemonetary stance to revive growth andindications about cut in rates oncethere is a discernible fall in inflation,RBI with no restrictions on policyspace has taken recourse to credit pol-icy and other tools available to stimu-late the economy. By taking recourseto its strategy of hastening the trans-mission of rate cuts to the broadereconomy and boosting credit flow toselect sectors, RBI has achieved mone-tary easing without cutting the policyrate. The relief to banks for incremen-tal loans extended to sectors such asautomobiles, real estate and Microsmall and Medium enterprises,(MSME) by reducing the cost of lend-ing by waiving the requirement ofcash reserve ratio will have multipliereffects and helpful in stimulating theeconomy. But the concerns about therisks of forbearance associated strate-gy of directing credit to select sectorscannot be taken in lighter vein.

M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan

SO AUTHORITATIVEThis is with reference to, Forest minapologises for embarrassing boy.Tamil Nadu forest minister DindigulC.Sreenivasan has caused outrageafter asking two minor boys from trib-al communities to remove his slipperswhile on a visit to Mudumalai TigerReserve and subsequently beforeentering into a temple nearby. Thedistrict collector Ms Divya whoaccompanied the minister was seenwitnessing the incident without try-ing to prevent it. The act of the minis-ter was in bad taste as the tone of himwhile calling the boys was so authori-tative. The minister who representsthe people has to be role model to oth-ers instead he was setting a bad prece-dent; he was not ready to utilise any-one out of the persons who were at hisdisposal and available with him at thetime of the incident, this itself is theproof that he misused his power.

A. Kumar, Chennai

ENSURE DEMOCRACYPrime Minister Narendra Modihas warned that the protestsagainst the Citizenship Ame-ndment Bill by the Oppositionparties across the country willlead to anarchy. It must heremembered that the will ordecision of the absolute maj-ority government is not nece-ssarily the will of the majorityof the people. The governme-nt has passed the bill in hasteand is reaping the conseque-nces. It is imperative that thegovernment senses the pulseof the society before framingsuch sensitive laws to ensurea peaceful democracy.

S. Ramakrishnasayee,Chennai

LETTERS

President DonaldTrump’s tri-umph appearstotal after thecollapse of hisimpeachmenttrial in the USSenate, leading

to his acquittal Wednesdaynight. Not only that, his popu-larity ratings too have soared,according to the Gallup polls.The Democrats are in disarray,and as of now he looks a clearfrontrunner in the run-up tothe November presidentialelections.

President Trump’s victory inthe Senate trial was a foregoneconclusion with its Republicanmajority standing firm behindtheir leader. Senate rulesrequire a two-thirds majorityfor a successful impeachment,and it was clear from the begin-ning that the Democrats andMr Trump’s rivals could nevermuster that figure.

Mr Trump continues to be the

Republicans’ best and only betnow, and there’s simply nocredible opposition to himwithin the party. Senator MittRomney, the lone Republicanto vote against the President,whom he publicly accused ofcommitting “an appallingabuse of public trust”, findshimself ostracised and staringat the end of his politicalcareer.

Massachusetts governor BillWield, talk show host and for-mer US representative JoeWalsh, and realtor Rocky DeLa Fuente have thrown theirhats into the ring, but nobodyconsiders them serious chal-lengers to Mr Trump. The IowaRepublican caucuses that tookplace on February 3 gave thePresident 97 per cent votes,illustrating clearly which waythe wind is blowing.

The Democrats, on the otherhand, present a much-dividedhouse with as many as 11 pres-idential hopefuls and a dimin-

ished support base. Formervice-president Joe Biden iswidely considered theDemocrats’ favourite, butsome reports suggest BernieSanders, the Brooklyn-bornsenator from Vermont, has achance of taking the lead.

If the Iowa caucuses 2020results are anything to go by,the results are significant.While President Trump got anoverwhelming majority ofRepublican votes, theDemocrats’ vote was split, withPete Buttigieg securing anunexpected 26.2 per cent share,Bernie Sanders 26.1 per cent,Elizabeth Warren 18.2 per centand Joe Biden trailing withjust 15.8 per cent. These resultsare not just a big upset, butalso reflective of the turmoilwithin the Democratic Party.

President Trump’s populari-ty, meanwhile, continues togrow despite his unpredictablebehaviour, frequent gaffes andclaims of past misconduct.According to the latest Galluppolls, approval for Mr Trumphas shot up from 41 per cent inOctober last year to 48 per centin January this year, whichsuggest that impeachment pro-ceedings actually helped him!

Gallup’s economic confi-dence index shows an evensharper rise between October2019 and January 2020, up from

21 (on a scale of 100 to 100) to 40.As much as 62 per cent ofAmericans said the economy is“excellent” or “good”, asagainst eight per cent, whodescribed it as “poor”.

Clearly, the President’s hard-nosed economic decisions, par-ticularly the renegotiating oftrade deals (with Canada,Mexico, China and India), hasthe approval of large numbersof Americans. Also, employ-ment is at a 50-year high andthe economy has been doingconsistently well over the pastfew years.

Not surprisingly, in the sameperiod, the polls saw a happyrise in US “satisfaction levels”,or the percentage of Americanswho are satisfied with the waythings are going in the coun-try, which is up from 28 to 41per cent. Satisfaction levels

haven’t been this high since2005.

In short, President Trump isdoing pretty good. Yet, on theflip side, Americans havenever been as divided as theyare today. While PresidentTrump might have beenacquitted in the Senateimpeachment trial and is push-ing ahead with a popular tail-wind, it does not mean that thefundamental churnings withinAmerican society and politicshave ended. Far from it.

Timothy Naftali, co-author ofthe book Impeachment: AnAmerican History, pointed outin an interview that wrongs donot necessarily lead toimpeachment. Bill Clinton wasimpeached in 1998 but like MrTrump was later acquitted in aSenate trial.

However, a failed impeach-ment trial also does not suggestthat the charges were wrong.In the end, as in the Clintoncase, the Trump impeachmentwas all about politics andpower. The substance of thecharges was secondary and inthe ultimate analysis of littleconsequence.

President Trump might havetriumphed and is likely on thepath for a second stint as USPresident, but he has not beenable to unite the countrybehind him. If anything, it is

more fractured today with theGallup polls showing that 50per cent Americans continueto disapprove of him.

Given the current politicalconfiguration in the UnitedStates, this disapproval ratingwill translate to little; politics,economics and the US strategicoutlook can be expected toremain consistent over themedium term.

This can only be good newsfor India. For PresidentTrump, despite his hard deal-ings in trade and business mat-ters, does not appear to dis-favour India.

Even his unwelcome offers tomediate between India andPakistan over the Kashmirissue appears more a conces-sion to the Pakistani leader-ship than an ill-intentionedsnub to India. For Washingtoncontinues to negotiate withIslamabad over a possible dealon Afghanistan and PresidentTrump has to keep thePakistani leaders appeased.

Donald Trump will be visit-ing India later this month as aconfident and relaxedPresident. He will be tough innegotiations and expect con-cessions from India, which hemost likely will extract. Yet, inthe overall scheme of things,the strategic engagementbetween the two countries can

only be expected to intensifyduring his tenure.

India and the United Stateshave a common opponent in theform of the great disrupter, thePeople’s Republic of China.President Trump has emergedas the first US leader to stop hiscountry’s slide into total indebt-edness to China. His “AmericaFirst” slogan, slapping ofimport duties on Chinese goodsand decision to enhance US mil-itary presence in the Indo-Pacific region suggest a mind-set determined to resist China’stotal domination of Asia and itsspreading global ambitions.

An unrestrained hegemon inAsia is not in India’s interesteither. Besides, India also facesan economic as well as a strate-gic challenge from China. NewDelhi’s repeated requests forgreater market access forIndian goods and services or aresolution of border disputeshas met with prevarication orobfuscation.

New Delhi will do well to fur-ther cultivate a politically reju-venated President Trump,fresh from his Senate triumph,and determined more thanever before to push through hisoverall agenda for America.

The writer is an independentcommentator on political

and security issues

The political contradictionsand optics are countlessand sickening. Looking atthe front page of leadingdailies… forget visitors

from outer space… even we, the citi-zens of India, are left bewildered andupset. In fact, we are feeling likealiens in our own land. Visitors to adestination called India that we canno longer recognise. We can collec-tively star in a movie titled, “Aliensin Modiland”, and show the rest ofthe world, what’s going on… it’s sci-fi meets horror, meets ComedyCentral, meets melodrama. Amacabre formula for a mega box-office experience, for those who arenot a part of the script. I am lookingat a perfectly framed photograph ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi atthe DefeExpo 2020 in Lucknow. He isshown pointing a lethal weapon,eyes screwed up as he takes carefulaim (target, unknown). The reportsays India should target exportingbillions of dollars worth of militarygear in the next five years. Hurrah!In a small, left hand corner of thesame newspaper, we have anothermegalomaniac, Donald Trump,scowling for the cameras, as NancyPelosi dramatically tears up hisState of the Union speech. The newsof his impeachment and acquittal isso blah, nobody thinks it’s worthmore than a casual mention.Trump’s bombast knows no limits.His boast, the “Great AmericanComeback”, mocked by critics butgreeted with loud cheers from hissupporters, is a precursor to hisexpected second term win. Well, ourman has no such tension back home.He is comfortably ensconced — and

ain’t going anywhere! Deal with it,folks.

The rest of the disturbing anddepressing domestic news involvescomical clips that would have raiseda chuckle had they not been sobizarre. “Tigers must be punishedfor eating cows, like humans,”declared NCP MLA ChurchillAlemao after a tigress and her threecubs were killed inside theMahadayi Wildlife Sanctuary. Andno, he was not sacked by his bosses.His bosses happen to be educated,intelligent, seasoned netas — butthey let it go. Anywhere else in theworld, this man would have beenquestioned and made to issue anapology/clarification. Not in India.He had raised the “C-word” (cow).And he got away with that outra-geous comment.

Cut to a rowdy group of mostlymen, waving the tricolour andyelling, “Desh ke gaddaron ko… golimaaron saalon ko,” (“shoot the trai-tors/scoundrels”). The video clipclearly shows the police “protect-ing” this lot, when they should bearresting a few for inciting murder.Who are the “gaddars” this lumpenlot wants to gun down? Errrr… let’slook at just one. A young Muslimlady called Nazia, who has beenprotesting at Shaheen Bagh. So,what’s special about Nazia? Thereare thousands of Muslim and non-Muslim ladies at Shaheen Bagh stag-ing a non-violent, peaceful protest.They have been there for over 50days now, braving the bitter Delhicold. Yes, the same harsh and unfor-giving cold that took the life ofNazia’s four-month-old son, whocaught a chill, while his mother

huddled with the protesters andtheir children, determined to haveher voice heard. She is mother totwo other children, and this is whatshe had to say when asked about thedeath of her youngest: “I am ready tosacrifice myself and my other twochildren for the cause, if need be.”When asked by a reporter why shehad taken an infant with her for theprotest, she answered simply:“Because there is nobody at home totake care of my child. I have sacri-ficed one child for the sake of thenation. Yeh desh hamara hai… wewill not leave our country. If wehave to go anywhere it will bestraight to Allah.”

I wonder: Did Narendra Modiwatch that heart-rending clip? Whatabout Amit Shah and the others?Doesn’t it tell them something? Whilethey announced the go-ahead for theRam Mandir, a different drama wasbeing staged in their backyard. Whatsort of blinkers prevent those inpower from paying attention to the

protesters at Shaheen Bagh? Listento their cries? Respond to their pleas?Nazia has called her son a “shaheed”(martyr). How many more shaheedsdoes India need before this govern-ment wakes up?

There have been attempts to con-vert Nazia’s son’s death into some-thing else and not a sad consequenceof him being present at ShaheenBagh in the bone-chilling cold of thecapital. You know what? Suchmanipulation comes with conse-quences. Perhaps, the arrogance ofthose in power does not allow themto confront the truth of ShaheenBagh. “Goli maaron saalon ko…” issuch a pathetic response to the farmore powerful and stirring cry of“Azaadi... Hum dekhenge.” Onlycowards and losers with zero imagi-nation and even less intelligencetalk in terms of shooting those whodisagree with them. They are, inreality, shooting their own feet —and looking like absolute fools.Please guys, your dhamkis are soyesterday! India is on the brink of amajor shift. India has always nur-tured a thriving culture of protestand dissent. The Prime Minister cantry scare tactics and warn the nationabout an “anarchic situation”. If heindeed believes it has come to this —step up, mate. Take control. Start adialogue with those ladies atShaheen Bagh. Ask the people ofIndia what’s bothering them. Then,maybe, we will find a more equitableway through the chaos and sorrow.

Readers can send feedback towww.shobhaade.blogspot.com

To his disciple whopersistently prayedto God to fulfil thesmallest of his

needs, the master said,“When will you stop lean-ing on God and stand onyour own feet?”Astonished, the discipleprotested, “But, wasn’t ityou who told us to call God‘Father’?” The masterreplied, “Yes! But, whenwill you realise that afather isn’t someone whosatisfies your needs allthough your lifetime, butsomeone who rids you ofyour tendency to lean?

God is regarded as“Father” in some religioustraditions, mainly Judaismand Christianity. In theBible’s First Testament,common to Judaism andChristianity, viewing Godas “our Father” is rare,occurring just 14 times. Bycontrast, in the Gospelscontaining narratives ofChrist’s birth, life, deathand resurrection, Jesus notonly calls God “Father” 170times, but also teaches hisdisciples the “Our Father”prayer.

Jesus speaks of God as“Abba”, loosely translated

as “daddy”; or papa, appaor dadda in Indian lan-guages. Broken up into itsconstituent pleas, “OurFather” is very meaningfuland puts the focus not onselfish, individualisticneeds but on a loving rela-tionship with God and withothers.

On their request, “Lord,teach us to pray,” Jesusinstructs his disciples tosay, “Our Father” and not“my Father”, for God is nei-ther the private property ofone particulargroup nor privi-leges one specif-ic people, forget-ful of others.T h e r e a f t e r ,there are fourhallmarks ofprayer: praise,surrender, peti-tion and forgiveness.

“Holy be your name!”expresses praise and wor-ship due to God. God’s

name is holy. Repeating thethousand names of Godbrings peace and happi-ness. For instance, of thenam-simran, the GuruGranth Sahib succinctlysays: “Repetition of God’sname expunges, grief, painand fear and produces hap-piness, everlasting.”

“Your kingdom come;your will be done!” is trust-ful surrender of the believ-er: allowing God to be God.It entails striving for God’suniversal family where

love, joy, unity,peace, prosperi-ty, equality,sharing and car-ing will prevail,here and now.It’s vital that wecollaborate withGod to build aworld communi-

ty called VasudhaivaKutumbakam, Ram Rajya,Umma, Sangha, Kingdom ofGod, or whatever.

“Give us today our dailybread!” is a petition forfood. God is Annadata,food-giver, who sustains usthrough the benevolence ofmother earth whoseresources must be sharedby all God’s children. Howcan we allow people to dieof malnourishment andhunger if God is abba-amma?

Finally, “forgive us oursins as we forgive thosewho sin against us” ishumble acceptance thateach of us is guilty of thevengeance and violencethat has turned ourhomelands into battlefields.May God — called by everyname — free us from allmanmade divisions andstrife!

Francis Gonsalvesis a professor of

theology. He can be contacted at

[email protected]

Is the BJP paying attention tothe voices from Shaheen Bagh?

God, our Father, who sets us free

Trump is on a roll now, India needs to cash in

Wanting to kill all is just madness, it’snot about religion

Sudesh Amman was singu-larly unsuccessful in hiswish to kill kafirs, as he putit, and thereby find himself

surrounded by the hoor al ayn —beautiful handmaidens who’ll doanything you want, frankly — inthe afterlife. He had perhaps notfollowed the instructions in thebook he had about how to stab peo-ple. Two were injured by the mad-man on Streatham High Road;both, mercifully, should live.

However, Amman was shot deadby plainclothes policemen beforehe could even scream out the old“Allahu Akbar” thing. The copswere already there becauseAmman was known to them —known very well to them. I sup-pose, under British law, they wererequired to wait until he’d tried tostab somebody before they shothim. That is perhaps the first lawthat I would revisit when it comesto jihadi terrorists. I’d find itpreferable if we dealt with themwhen they emerged from theirhomes. It would save a lot of time. Iwonder how many policemen weretracking Amman? Bear in mindthat they have at least another3,000 known jihadis to keep an eyeon and you have an indication ofthe enormous cost imposed on thetaxpayer.

Amman was well-known to thesecurity services because he hadjust been released from prison forterrorist offences. He had beenreleased, automatically, early —and it is this fact which seems tohave caused most outrage. Thegovernment is now thinking ofceasing the automatic release ofterrorists halfway through theirsentences, mindful that some moreof them are due for release thisyear. I am not sure that we aremuch better off if we simply let thelikes of Amman wait another 14months before enjoying a briefstabbing spree. It seems to me to bemissing the point somewhat.

More has emerged about the stab-ber. He had apparently urged hisgirlfriend to decapitate his father— and mother-in-law — well, okay,we’ve all been there. He hadexpressed a wish to kill the “filthykafirs” and while in prison hadvoiced a desire to kill an MP. Hismum, meanwhile, a lady calledHaleema Faraz Khan, insisted thather offspring was a “nice politeboy” who had been radicalised inBelmarsh prison. Given that hewas sent to prison for possession ofISIS material and the aforemen-tioned book about how to stab peo-ple, you may think Ms Khan a littlewide of the mark, certainly on the“nice” bit, although we cannot becertain that he did not wish his vic-tims a cheery “good afternoon”before he plunged the knife in.

Amman is the latest case of a ter-rorist released from prison, under-going a spectacularly unsuccessfulderadicalisation programme andthen wandering off to murder, ortry to murder, kafirs. Usman

Khan, who killed two people nearLondon Bridge in November, isperhaps the most infamous. Khanwas actually engaged in a deradi-calisation conference when hedecided to have a break and mur-der a few kafirs.

Have we not grasped that theseprogrammes are not terribly effec-tive? Neither the “hard” nor “soft”programmes, the latter of whichattempt to divert their subjectsinto developing agreeable hobbies,such as ping-pong or basketry.Nor, pace Ms Khan, is prison work-ing terribly well. There is no doubtthat many are radicalised in suchplaces as Belmarsh. We are nothelped by the fact that manyimams we allow to minister tothese maniacs are followers of theDeobandi sect, which is strictlyopposed to integration.

We are also a little hamstrung byour liberalism, as ever. IanAcheson, who led the independentreview of Islamic extremism in ourprisons, is opposed to the paroleboard assessing the threat value ofprisoners about to be released andcommented: “Cultural sensitivityamong [prison] staff towardsMuslim prisoners has extendedbeyond the basic requirements offaith observance and could inhibitthe effective confrontation ofextremist views.”

You would guess that’s aboutright. But there is another point tobe made here. We insist, wheneversuch terrorist incidents occur, thatthe attack was “nothing to do withIslam”. And yet we are not consis-tent in this belief. The way in whichwe treat the perpetrators lateralways contains a genuflectiontoward the suggestion that thesepeople are in some way enemy com-batants on account of their faith.They are afforded imams, they arequartered with other Muslims, theyare sent on deradicalisation pro-grammes where Muslim communi-ty elders address their violent, er,shortcomings.

Why do any of this? If we are seri-ous that these attacks have nothingto do with Islam, then let us applysome consistency to this apparentconviction. If somebody wishes tokill as many people as possiblebecause they do not believe pre-cisely what that person believes,and further holds that their rewardfor doing so will be an endless suc-cession of hoor al ayn, they areclearly mad and should be sec-tioned, incarcerated permanentlyas a consequence of their derange-ment. That is what we would do tosomeone possessed of similar nar-cissistic delusions who did not dig-nify them by recourse to theQuran. They are all simply psy-chopaths, not simple criminals,and should be treated as such.

Wanting to murder us all is sure-ly a conviction rooted in insanity— and given that we have decidedthe likes of Amman are insane, wecan hold them indefinitely and notlet them out to be trailed across thecountry by plainclothes police-men, waiting for them to stabsomeone. It would be hard for any-one to oppose such an approach,seeing as it also tidily removesIslam, and thus the wider andblameless Muslim population,from the equation.

By arrangement with the Spectator

According to the latestGallup polls, approvalfor Donald Trump hasshot up from 41 per cent in October last year to 48 per cent in Januarythis year, which suggest that impeach-ment proceedingsactually helped him

Only cowards and loserswith zero imagination andeven less intelligence talk in terms of shootingthose who disagree withthem. They are, in reality, shooting theirown feet — and looking like absolute fools. Please guys, your dhamkisare so yesterday!

RodLiddle

Francis Gonsalves

OPED pg 9DECCAN CHRONICLE SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Word SPYA person who obsessively collects and shares data about his or her own life toimprove self-knowledge and embellish self-presentation

DATASEXUAL

Indranil Banerjie

Shobhaa’s Take

‘Our target is to meet net zero by 2035.’

WORLD pg 10DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

IN BRIEF

Rains ‘breaking the back’ of bushfire crisisSydney, Feb. 7: Heavyrain was raising hopes onFriday for an end toAustralia’s unprecedentedbushfire crisis, as down-pours douse blazes thathave burned out of controlfor months.

The devastating fires,fuelled by prolongeddrought and record-hightemperatures, have ragedsince September, burningmore than 10 millionhectares (25 million acres)and killing 33 people. Anestimated billion animalshave perished in the firesthat destroyed more than2,500 homes.

The rains in New SouthWales (NSW), which beganearlier in the week in someareas and are forecast toextend into next week, areexpected to drench a num-ber of the remaining firesand help contain others.“It’s breaking the back ofthis bushfire season,there’s no doubt about it,”said Shane Fitzsimmons,the head of rural firefight-ers in NSW, the state worsthit by the crisis. By Fridayafternoon there were nobushfires burning in NSWat the most dangerousemergency or “watch and

act” levels — a situationvirtually unseen in almosthalf a year. Beleagueredvolunteer firefighters whohave fought the blazes day-in-day-out declared them-selves “over the moon” atthe rain.

Even Fitzsimmons —who became the publicface of the crisis throughstoic daily TV briefings

and consoling childrenwho, like him, lost theirfirefighting fathers inbushfires — expressed joyat listening to the rain fallovernight and drivingwith windscreen wiperson. “Obviously we don’twant to see lots of wide-spread damage and destr-uction from flooding, but itis certainly a welcome

change to the relentlesscampaign of hot, dryweather” he said. As thebushfire crisis abates,authorities are now brac-ing for possible flooding.The Bureau of Meteo-rology issued a string offlood warnings and saidsome parts of NSW willsee their highest rainfalltotals in four years. —AFP

T-shirt weatherin Antarctica?Antarctica, Feb. 7:Antarctica has logged itshottest temperature on re-cord, with an Argentinianresearch station therm-ometer reading 18.3degrees C, beating theprevious record by 0.8C.The reading, taken atEsperanza on the north-ern tip of the continent’speninsula, beats Antar-ctica’s previous record of17.5C, set in March 2015.A tweet from Argentina’smeteorological agency onFriday revealed the reco-rd. The station’s data goesback to 1961.

Antarctica’s peninsula –the area that pointstowards South America –is one of the fastestwarming places on earth,heating by almost 3C overthe past 50 years, accord-ing to the World Meteo-rological Organization.Almost all the region’sglaciers are melting.

The Esperanza readingbreaks the record for theAntarctic continent. Therecord for the Antarcticregion — that is, every-where south of 60 degrees

latitude — is 19.8C, takenon Signy Island inJanuary 1982.

Prof James Renwick, aclimate scientist at Vict-oria University of Well-ington, was a member ofan ad-hoc World Mete-orological Organizationcommittee that has veri-fied previous records inAntarctica. He said thatAustralia it was likely thecommittee would bereconvened to check thenew Esperanza record.

He said “Of course therecord does need to bechecked, but pendingthose checks, it’s a per-fectly valid record andthat [temperature] stationis well maintained.”

—Agencies

Exodus! Serbia struggles with population decline■ UN has stepped in to help what is being considered a national emergencySHRINKING | COUNTRY

Blagojev Kamen Serbia,Feb.7: Uros Trainovicremembers when hissmall mining village ineastern Serbia was avibrant home to 200 fami-lies, had a school of itsown, a doctor and a shop.

How times have changed.Now, 60-odd years later, it’sa ghost village with justeight residents.

The transformation ofBlagojev Kamen is notunique in a country thatexperienced years of warand sanctions in the 1990sfollowing the break-up ofYugoslavia. In a twist ofhistorical irony, one of thecauses behind those yearsof war was the idea of cre-

ating a Greater Serbia outof the ashes of the formerYugoslavia.

Near-empty villages withabandoned, crumblinghouses can be seen all overSerbia — a clear symptomof a shrinking populationthat is raising acute ques-tions over the economicwell-being of the country.The decline is happeningso fast it’s considered anational emergency andthe United Nations hasstepped in to help.

“This village used to befull of people, I used to goto school here,” the 71-year-old Trainovic recalls.

“It is such a pity and sosad that everybody left ...

now there are only few ofus and there are no youngpeople any more.”

However it’s measured,the numbers look stark.

According to the WorldBank, Serbia’s populationof just below 7 million isprojected to fall to 5.8 mil-lion by 2050. That wouldrepresent a 25% fall since1990.

The Serbian governmentsays the Balkan country iseffectively losing a towneach year, and that asmany as 18 municipalitieshave fewer than 10,000 peo-ple: “We are 103 people lesseach day.”

Population changes are afact of life across Europe,

but the problem is acutelydifferent in Central andEastern Europe where thelow fertility rates that arecommonplace in devel-oped countries combinewith high migration ratesand low immigration moreakin to developingnations.

The economic knock-oneffects on a country striv-ing to join the EuropeanUnion are evident andamount to billions of dol-lars in the short term. Inthe longer run, there arealso costs related to thefact that a smaller popula-tion of working age willhave to contribute more tosupport the ranks of those

of pensionable age.The U.N. Development

Program and the U.N.Population Fund haveassembled a group ofseven international expe-rts of different back-grounds and specialities tohelp out. The membersvisited Serbia last monthfor a fact-finding mission.

Wolfgang Lutz, anAustrian expert in demo-graphics at the Internat-ional Institute for AppliedSystems Analysis, orIIASA, said the main prob-lem is related to the make-up of those leaving Serbiarather than the overallpopulation decline.

—AP

A couple take shelter under an umbrella during rain in Sydney on Friday. —AP

The local community ofa small town in Que-

ensland, Australia havebeen plagued by a colonyof “fruit bats” which havebeen causing widespreadhavoc. What started as anuptick in fruit bat num-bers around the smalltown of Ingham has bec-ome a virulent plague wh-ich the people of this townhave been fighting to rootout for the better part ofthe decade.

Sometimes referred to as“flying foxes”, the batcolony has reached suchbiblical proportions thatit now outnumbers Ingh-am’s 4,300 residents bygargantuan margins. Res-idents have called the situ-ation a “bat tornado”,with the epicentre resid-ing over the town's botani-cal gardens and the treesin nearby local primaryschools.

Pilots and aviationenthusiasts in 2013 hadcomplained about the fly-ing foxes as their presencemade flights difficult.

An abandoned factory seen near the town of Kucevo,Serbia. AP

Botswana elephanthunting auction onGaborone: Botswana, home

to the world’s largest ele-phant population, on Friday

was set to hold its first majorauction for trophy elephanthunting quotas since scrap-

ping a hunting ban last year.The sale will be conducted bya local firm from the premises

of the Ministry of Enviro-nment, Nature Conservation

and Tourism in the capitalGaborone. President Mokg-

weetsi Masisi raised the ire ofconservationists in May when

he revoked a moratorium, justa year after he succeeded IanKhama, an avid environmen-

talist, who introduced a blan-ket ban in 2014 to reverse adecline in the population ofwild animals. Masisi fendedoff criticism of his govern-

ment's decision, saying themove would not threaten the

elephant population. The gov-ernment is issuing seven

hunting “packages” of 10 ele-phants each, confined to

“controlled hunting areas”, awildlife spokeswoman Alice

Mmolawa said.

Texas executesman who killed 5

Huntsville, Texas: Dallas manwas executed Thursday

evening for a shooting inwhich he killed his wife, twochildren and two other rela-

tives during a drug-fueledrage nearly 18 years ago.

Prosecutors say Abel Ochoawas high on crack cocaine

and looking for money to buymore drugs when he startedshooting inside his home in

August 2002. Ochoa, 47, waspronounced dead at 6:48

p.m., 23 minutes after receiv-ing a lethal injection at the

state penitentiary inHuntsville for the slayings of

his wife, Cecilia, 32, and his 7-year-old daughter, Crystal. He

also killed his 9-month-olddaughter, Anahi; his father-in-

law, 56-year-old BartoloAlvizo; and his sister-in-law,

20-year-old Jacqueline Saleh,and seriously injured his sis-

ter-in-law Alma Alvizo.

Cabbage compoundfor liver disease

Houston: A natural compoundfound in widely consumed

vegetables such as cabbage,kale, and cauliflower may help

treat fatty liver disease, astudy claims. The study, pub-

lished in the journalHepatology, demonstrates

how non-alcoholic fatty liverdisease (NAFLD) can be con-

trolled by indole, a natural co-mpound found in gut bacteria,and in cruciferous vegetables.It also addresses how this nat-

ural compound may lead tonew treatments or preventive

measures for NAFLD, theresearchers said. “We believe

healthy foods with highcapacity for indole production

are essential for preventingNAFLD, and are beneficial forimproving the health of those

with it,” said Chaodong Wufrom Texas A&M AgriLife

Research in the US.

Rio De Janeiro, Feb. 7: Brazil-ian President Jair Bolsonarohas unveiled a sweeping planfor the Amazon rainforest thatwould open indigenous lands tomining — a “dream” for the far-right leader, but a “nightmare”for environmentalists and trib-al leaders.

Bolsonaro proposed a new billWednesday that would allowmining, farming and hydroelec-tric power projects on formerlyprotected land in the world’slargest rainforest, saying: “Ihope this dream... comes true.”He further stoked controversyby naming a former Evan-gelical missionary to head thegovernment department resp-onsible for protecting isolatedindigenous groups in Brazil,which is home to at least 100uncontacted tribes, more thanany other country.

Together, the measures under-lined the Brazilian president'scommittment to two key groupsof supporters: conservativeEvangelical Christians andagrobusiness. But they drewoutrage from other quarters.“Bolsonaro’s dream is ournightmare, and it will be ourextermination. The mining ind-ustry brings death, disease, andmisery, and it will be the end ofour children’s future,” saidSonia Guajajara, of the Braz-ilian Indigenous People’s Ass-embly (APIB). The clash sho-wed Bolsonaro’s determinationto press ahead with his agendafor the Amazon basin region,despite international condem-nation of his policies last year.

BOLSONAROHAS A PLAN

FOR AMAZON

BAT TORNADOWREAKS HAVOC

For representation only

China to probe Wenliang’s deathWhistleblower doc was first to raise alarm about novel coronavirus in early JanuaryBeijing, Feb. 7: China’santi-graft watchdog onFriday launched a probeinto the death of a whistleblower doctor who wasreprimanded by police forspreading “rumours”about the coronavirus out-break in China that hasclaimed over 630 lives,amid an outpouring ofglobal grief and angerover his demise.

China’s ruling Commu-nist Party has sent a high-level investigation team tothe epidemic-hit Wuhancity in Central Hubei pro-vince to probe Li Wen-liang’s death on Thursday.

Li, 34, was among eightWuhan residents whowere reprimanded by localpolice in early January forspreading “rumours”about the outbreak of thenovel coronavirus in theprovince. The doctor dieddue to the very virus hedesperately tried to high-light in December last yearthrough social media andhas become a national iconwith millions of netizensexpressing their grief andanger over the way he wastreated.

His death is widelyreported by the state-runmedia which had earliershunned him. A specialteam will head to Wuhanto investigate issues regar-ding Li, state-run People’sDaily quoted China’s topanti-corruption agency assaying on Friday.

The action has beenapproved by the centralgovernment and the teamwill have a comprehensiveinvestigation into mattersrelated to the deceaseddoctor, China’s NationalSupervisory Commissionsaid in a statement.

Li’s death has beenmourned by the NationalHealth Commission.

The police reaction in sti-fling his warning of coron-avirus which now hasbecome a national andinternational disaster hasevoked public resentment.

As of Thursday, 636 peo-ple have died due to thevirus outbreak with thetotal number of confirmedcases jumping to 3,143,Chinese officials announ-ced on Friday.

“After emergency treat-

ment, Wenliang passedaway. We deeply regret andmourn Li’s death,” theCentral Hospital of Wuh-an announced on Thurs-day. The doctor’s death tri-ggered an outpouring ofmillions of comments onChina’s social media sitesas well as concerns from

the international commu-nity. “We are deeply sad-dened by the passing of DrLi Wenliang. We all need tocelebrate work that he didon 2019nCoV,” the WHOtweeted.

According to his post onWeibo on December 30, Li,an ophthalmologist at theCentral Hospital ofWuhan, warned in theonline chat group WeChatthat he had seen a reportthat showed positive testresults of SARS for sevenpatients. —PTI

We’ll defeatthe virus: XiB e i j i n g / S h a n g h a i ,Feb.7: Chinese PresidentXi Jinping spoke onFriday with his US coun-terpart Donald Trump onthe novel coronavirus out-break and asked him toassess the epidemic in a“calm” manner, urgingAmerica to adopt andadjust its response meas-ures in a “reasonableway” to China’s intensi-fied efforts to contain thedreaded virus that hasclaimed over 630 lives.

Xi, in his first phone callwith Trump since thecoronavirus outbreak inDecember, told the USPresident that China hadlaunched a “people’s war”against the epidemic thathas been wreaking havocin China and across theworld. People’s war is anideological concept devel-oped by the rulingChinese Communist Party

founder Mao Zedongwhich meant a prolongedstruggle with the supportof people while fightingfor a particular cause.

Xi told Trump that theChinese government andthe people were makingtheir maximum efforts tocontain the outbreak. “Wehave adopted the mostcomprehensive and stri-ctest prevention and con-trol measures through mo-bilising and rapid respo-nses. We have declared apeople’s war against theepidemic through preven-tion and control,” Xi wasquoted as saying by state-run CCTV. “We are fullyconfident and capable offighting the epidemic. Thelong-term trend of China’seconomic developmentwill not change,” the SouthChina Morning Post quot-ed the official television asreported. —Agencies

A floating prison’: Cruise ofAsia ends in virus quarantine

Bangkok, Feb. 7:Thailand’s health minis-ter lashed out at“Western” tourists onFriday for not wearingface masks and suggestedthey be expelled from thecountry for putting othersat risk during the coron-avirus outbreak.

The outburst came as thekingdom faced steep loss-es over a drop in visitorsfrom China. Tourismaccounts for 18 per cent ofthe country’s gross domes-tic product and Chineseholidaymakers make up aquarter of total arrivals.

Thailand has detected 25coronavirus cases andnine of those patientshave recovered, whilestreets, public transportand shopping centres havefilled with people wearingface masks. —AFP

■■ JAPAN ON FRIDAYreported 41 newcases of the virus onthe cruise shipDiamond Princessthat’s been quaran-tined in Yokohamaharbour.

■■ BRITAIN,GERMANY and Italyhave announcedmore cases of thenew virus fromChina, bringing thetotal number of con-firmed cases inEurope to 31.

A couple wearing face masks exchanges their rings in a mass wedding ceremony at the Cheong Gapyeong: ShimPeace World Centre in Gapyeong, South Korea, on Friday. South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaf-firmed marriage vows in the Unification Church’s mass wedding arranged by Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the late Rev.Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the church. —AP

THAI MINISTERSLAMS TOURISTS

YOKOHAMA, Japan:David Abel’s 50th weddinganniversary luxury cruisebegan with him eating hisfill and enjoying the sightsof East Asia.

It’s ending with himquarantined in his cabinaboard the DiamondPrincess for two extraweeks, eating a “lettucesandwich with somechicken inside” andwatching as officials inhazmat-style suits escortdozens of infected people,some of them hiding theiridentities under sheets, offthe ship to hospitals fortreatment of a new virus.Officials said Friday that61 people from the shiphad the fast-spreadingcoronavirus.

“It’s not going to be a lux-ury cruise; it’s going to be

like a floating prison,”Abel said on Facebookfrom the ship in the port ofYokohama, outside Tokyo.

He is among thousandsof people on two cruiseships in Japan and HongKong who are facing quar-antine because of thevirus.

Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe announcedThursday that Japan willdeny entry of foreign pas-sengers on another cruiseship heading to Japan —Holland America’s cruiseship Westerdam, on itsway to Okinawa fromHong Kong — because ofsuspected coronaviruspatients found on the ship.

The new immigrationpolicy takes effect Fridayto ensure border control toprevent the disease from

entering and spreadingfurther into Japan, Abesaid.

As Japanese officialsloaded the DiamondPrincess with supplies tomake the quarantine asbearable as possible, pas-sengers took to socialmedia to highlight kind-nesses by the crew and tocomplain about dwindlingmedicine, the quality ofthe food and the inabilityto exercise or even leavetheir cabins.

Their photos and videosshowed the vessel thatonce had 3,711 passengersand crew is now a ghostship of deserted receptionareas, swimming poolsand hallways. Babies onthe Hong Kong ship werereportedly running out ofdiapers and milk. —AP

Li Wenliang

■ Large-caps see more earnings cut than SMIDS

ASHWIN J PUNNENMUMBAI, FEB. 7

With companies reportingtepid top line growth,there are more earningsdowngrades thanupgrades in the currentresults session

For the results declaredso far, 57 per cent of com-panies have seen consen-sus FY21 EPS (earningsper share) estimates beingcut by analysts.

Interestingly, large-capcompanies are seeingmore earnings cut thansmall and mid-cap firms(SMIDS), even as mid-capand small-cap stocks areruling at a premium tolarge companies.

Earnings expectationsare largely pushed downin companies in sectorslike power, retail, FMCGand cement, while com-paneis in telecom, agri-chem, auto and NBFC sec-tors are seeing upgrades inearnings.

“We continue to seedownside risks to consen-sus Nifty EPS growth of 28per cent for FY21, saidEmkay Global in a report.“Our preference stayswith consumption themessuch as auto and con-sumer goods – which couldbe the earliest beneficiar-

ies of any turn in con-sumer sentiment. OurUnderweight positions arein engineering/ capitalgoods and financialsremain,” the report fur-ther said.

An analysis shows thatthere is broad-based stabil-isation in top-line growthbut overall numbers stillremains weak, analystssaid.

At an aggregate level, thetop line across all compa-nies that have reportedwas flat YoY – showingcontinued weakness butarresting the decliningtrajectory of previousquarters. Top-line growthfor SMIDs is still positivethough.

While nearly a third of

these companies reporteda deceleration in salesgrowth in Q2, in Q3 half ofthe stocks reported anacceleration in top-linegrowth trends.

The improvement in top-line trajectory was evi-dent in agri-chem, auto,power and retail, whilepharma, media and chem-icals, while most compa-nies in other sectorsreport a weak top-line tra-jectory.

The aggregate operatingprofit growth remains sta-ble at 10 per cent YoY, indi-cating improvement inmargin trajectory.

However, a disaggregat-ed analysis shows thatnearly 57 per cent of thecompanies have seen a

slowdown in operatingprofit growth as against 54per cent in the previousquarter.

Most companies in spe-ciality chemical, mediaand insurance showed aslowdown in their operat-ing profit trajectory.

The companies in retail,power, FMCG anddurables largely missedexpectations on operatingprofit, while those in agri-chem and auto largely beatexpectations.

“Private banks, NBFC,cement and IT sectorshave met expectations,while consumer has deliv-ered a beat,” Motilal OswalFinancial Services said.

It says there are severalconcerns on corporategrowth, capping theupside in market.

“The ongoing 3QFY20results season has high-lighted several concerns,especially on asset qualityand elevated slippages insome banks. We expect themarket to stay narrowuntil the emergence ofgreater evidence ofgrowth recovery.Meanwhile, select sectorswith better earnings visi-bility will continue enjoy-ing valuation premiumover the broader markets,”it further said.

FC BANKING BUREAUMUMBAI, FEB. 7

In order to help policy-holders make informedchoices, the insuranceregulator has proposedto mandate insurancecompanies and TPAs todisclose various impor-tant parameters aboutthe network hospitalsproviding cashlesshealth services on theirrespective websites.

This would include thenumber of hospitalbeds, ICU beds, the doc-tor-bed ratio, doctor-patient ratio, doctor-nurse ratio, the numberof qualified doctors,nurses in ICU and gener-al wards, number of sur-geons or intervention-ists like cardiologists,gastroenterologists whoare on the rolls of thehospital and those whoare not on full time roll.

Other performance-related data to be pub-lished include averagetime for admission anddischarge and averagelength of stay in hospi-tals. Insurers and third-party administrators(TPAs) will also have todisclose the Caesareansection rate.

“This move is aimed atensuring that for a par-ticular ailment or surgi-cal intervention, hospi-tals do not keep patientslonger than necessary,”said the InsuranceRegulatory and Deve-lopment Authority.

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, FEB. 7

Manufacturing activity inIndia across industriesmay get stuck if closure offactories in China getsextended beyond a week.Suzuki Motor Corp, par-ent of India’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki, hasalready declared thatvirus infection in Chinathreatens to disrupt vehi-cle production in India.

Consumer durable-mak-ers, who source mostproducts from China, arealso concerned. And so dotyre and drug companies.“As of now we hear thatunits (in China) might getopened by February 10.But if this gets extended,manufacturing might getaffected across sectors, asChina is the main compo-nent provider for most ofthe products. Even ifunits in China resumeproduction, we do notknow how fast they will beable to scale up to theirpeak production levels. Inthat case, there could be alag effect on our manufac-turing,” said KamalNandi, president of Con-sumer Electronics andAppliances Manufactur-ers Association.

Suzuki said that it isbracing for disruption inproduction and supply

chain, and is looking forsourcing vehicle compo-nents from outside China.However, industry insid-ers find that sourcingfrom alternate marketsmay not be an immediatesolution. Suzuki does notproduce or sell any cars inChina, but procures com-ponents for its plants inIndia. Other automakers,like Toyota Motor Corpand Fiat Chrysler Auto-mobiles are also reported-ly staring at a disruption.

Consumer durables andappliances are heavilydependent on China fortheir components as somebrands just assemble theimported parts in India.For electronic compo-nents, television panels,LED chips, compressorsfor refrigerators and air-conditioners as well asmotors for almost all theproducts and brands aredependent on China.Consumer durables, espe-cially fridges and ACs, arealready into their biggestseason sales in summer.

“Most of us currentlyhave enough inventory forMarch sales. But Chinesecompanies have alreadylost one week of produc-tion. If it prolongs, salesduring the peak season ofApril, May and June canget disrupted,” said BThiagarajan, joint manag-

ing director of Bluestar.In the tyre industry, 15 to

40 per cent of the rawmaterials are beingshipped from China.These include syntheticrubber, carbon black,chemicals, nylon tyre coatfabric.

“There is no alarm as yetbecause the Indian domes-tic consumption is notlooking up. Have we beenin our peak production,there would have been animbalance. However, ifthe product-halt in Chinacontinues till end ofFebruary or mid-March,we will definitely see dis-ruption,” said RajivBudhraja, director gener-al, Automotive Tyre Man-ufacturers Association.

Drug manufacturers getactive pharmaceuticalingredients (APIs) fromChina for their formula-tions. Usually they stockraw materials for a mon-th. But the lag effect of theclosed days will remain inthe supply chain.

“We are unable to assessthe magnitude of impact.We are dependent on the$4 billion imported APIsfrom China. Formulationsupply will get affected ifthe closure prolongs,”said S. V. Veeramani, pastpresident of the IndianDrugs ManufacturersAssociation.

Earnings downgradesoutstrip upgrades in Q3

Soon, insurers,TPAs have to

reveal hospitaltrack record

Firms see disruption ifChina shutdown lasts

ARCHAK SENGUPTAHYDERABAD, Feb. 7

With digital paymentsexpected to more than dou-ble to $135.2 billion by 2023,India has become afavourite target for nefari-ous actors, thanks to itspoor digital safety prac-tices. In less than fourmonths, cybersecurityfirm Group-IB discovereda new database containingrecords of over 4.6 lakhcards that have been put onsale in a popular under-ground cardshop in thedark web. The Singapore-based cybersecurity firm,in October 2019, had alsodiscovered a database con-taining records of nearly13 lakh cards on the sameJoker’s Stash cardshop.

While the source of thelatest leak is unknown,nearly 98 per cent of therecords are from some ofthe biggest Indian banks.

Moreover, not only doesthe database reveal verysensitive information suchas card numbers, expira-tion dates, CVV/CVCcodes, it also reveals thecardholders’ full name,emails, phone numbersand addresses, the cyberse-curity firm said.

According to Group-IB?ybercrime research unithead Dmitry Shestakov,“Such type of data is likelyto have been compromisedonline—with the use ofphishing, malware, or JS-sniffers. In the previouscase, we dealt with carddumps (the information

contained in the card mag-netic stripe), which can bestolen, for example,through the compromise ofoffline POS terminals.”

According to Rohan Seth,technology policy analystat The Takshashila Institu-tion, a Bengaluru-basedthink-tank, Indians need totake greater care abouttheir digital safety. “Indiais reportedly the secondmost affected country dueto cyberattacks. Almost 70per cent organisations areat risk of a data breach…Indian organisations havebeen guilty of leavingparts of their websitesexposed. So informationthat should only be accessi-ble to people with a user-name and password, comesup indexed in Google,allowing anyone to accessit. There have also beenreports of Aadhaar databeing stored and transport-ed in hard disks,” he said.

Over 4.6L card data on sale

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, FEB. 7

Global rating agencies andbrokerages have startedassessing the impact of thedeadly coronavirus on theChinese and global econo-my and they expectChina’s first quartergrowth to fall sharply to 3.8per cent and full yeargrowth to 5 per cent.

They also expect thevirus to be contained by asearly as March 2020 to May2020 as it doesn’t like sun-light, high temperatureand humidity.

According to Nomura,the first quarter growthrate in China may dip to 3.8per cent before a bounceback in Q2 on pent-updemand. Outside China,Hong Kong, Taiwan,Singapore and Thailandwill be impacted the most.

Virus was not so deadlyoutside Wuhan with justtwo deaths outside Chinaand much lower mortalityrate outside Wuhan inChina, says brokerage firmCLSA after interactionwith a leading Hong Kong-based medical expert work-ing on such viruses for thelast 25 years.

S&P Global Ratings esti-mates China’s full-yearGDP growth will fall to 5per cent in 2020, from 5.7per cent projected earlier,but it feels the lost groundwill be made up in 2021.

"Most of the economicimpact of coronavirus willbe felt in the first quarter,and China's recovery willbe firmly in place by thethird quarter of this year,"said Shaun Roache, Asia-Pacific chief economist forS&P Global Ratings.

“We now expect an above-trend 6.4 per cent growthrate in 2021, compared withour previous forecast of 5.6per cent,” S&P said.

“China accounts for one-third of global growth so a1 percentage point slow-down in the country'sgrowth rate is likely tohave a material effect onglobal growth.

“The global impact willbe felt through four realeconomy channels:sharply reduced tourismrevenues, lower exports ofconsumer and capitalgoods, lower commodityprices, and industrial sup-ply-chain disruptions,”S&P said.

“These spillovers couldbecome larger if marketsstart to price in the risk ofa material global slow-down and financial condi-tions tighten as risk pre-mia rise across asset class-es. Pressure on the renmin-bi exchange rate will beimportant to track, but fornow, markets are takingthe impact in their stride,”the rating agency said.

The impact of coron-avirus is still uncertain,but Japanese brokerage

Nomura expects China’sGDP growth to slow from 6per cent year-on-year in thefourth quarter of 2019 to3.8 per cent in the firstquarter of 2020 (previously5.8 per cent), beforerebounding to 6.4 per centin the second quarter. Forfull year of 2020, Nomuranow expect 5.6 per cent ver-sus 5.7 per cent earlier.

“For the rest of Asia, theeconomic impact for now ismainly indirect via weakerChina demand, disruptionto supply chains, collapsein visitor arrivals fromChina and lower commodi-ty prices rather than directlower tourism revenues,impact on vulnerable localservices, as infections out-side China are low,”Nomura analyst said.

However, IHS Markit, aLondon-based informationprovider said on Friday,said the outbreak of coron-avirus will have a largernegative effect on the glob-al economy than the SARS(Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome) outbreak in2003, as any slowdown inChinese economy wouldsend not ripples but wavesacross the globe.

"The slowdown inChinese growth may be asignificant drag on globalgrowth. In 2002, China con-tributed 23 per cent ofworld GDP growth, in 2019China contributed an esti-mated 38 per cent of worldgrowth," IHS said.

In 2019, China's oildemand was 13.9 millionbarrels per day or 14 percent of world market ascompared to 5.6 millionbpd in 2003 which equatedto 7 per cent of worlddemand.

Coronavirus to slow ChinaGDP growth to 3.8% in Q1

FC BUREAUNEW DELHI, FEB 7

E-commerce giants havecome under the scanner asthe government is lookinginto matters related tounfair business practicesof firms like Amazon andFlipkart, against whom thecommerce ministry hasrecived predatory pricingcomplaints.The Centre’s move comes

on the back of the orderissued by fair trade bodyCompetition Commissionof India (CCI) in January,which asked the ministryto enquire into the opera-tions of both Amazon andFlipkart, including their‘illogical’ discounts andexclusive tie-ups with pre-ferred selling agents.

The Department for

Promotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT)under the commerce min-istry is looking into allcomplaints, alleging preda-tory pricing and excessivediscounts on e-commerceplatforms. The govern-ment was alerted after theCCI conducted a marketstudy on goods, food servic-es and accommodation seg-ments and started investi-gation against Amazonand Flipkart over allegedanti-competitive practices.

Confirming the move,commerce and industryminister Piyush Goyal toldthe Lok Sabha in a writtenreply that representationshave been received fromDPIIT alleging that some e-commerce platforms areengaged in predatory pric-ing and are providing

excessive discounts.“The extant foreign

direct investment (FDI)policy on e-commerce sec-tor, inter-alia, specifies thate-commerce marketplaceswill not directly or indi-rectly influence the saleprice of goods or servicesand shall maintain a levelplaying field. These repre-sentations are under exam-ination,” he said.

The government, howev-er, noted that servicesshould be provided by thee-commerce marketplaceentity, or other entities inwhich the e-commerceentity has direct or indi-rect equity participation orcommon control, to ven-dors on the platform atarm’s length and in a fairand non-discriminatorymanner.

E-com firms under govt radar FALAKNAAZ SYEDMUMBA, FEB. 7

A day after the centralbank announced severalmeasures to boost liquidi-ty and bring down the costof funds for lenders, StateBank of India and Bank ofIndia announced a cut intheir marginal cost offunds-based lending rate(MCLR).

SBI announced a reduc-tion in its MCLR by 5 basispoints across all tenorswhile BOI cut MCLR by 10basis points for maturitiesup to six months.

SBI’s one-year MCLR towhich home loans arelinked will now stand at7.85 per cent per annumfrom 7.90 per cent.

The actual effectivehome loan interest rate of

SBI will, however, dependon the loan amount andother factors.

However, the impact ofMCLR cut may not beimmediate as there is areset-period clause inMCLR-based home loancontracts which is gener-ally of 12 months afterwhich the interest rategets reset.

Similarly, BOI housingloan will now be availablestarting from 8 per centper annum and vehicleloan from 8.5 per cent.

The reduction for bothlenders is effectiveFebruary 10.

In a release, SBI said theimpact of recent RBI poli-cy measures and reduc-tion in deposit rates willbe reflected in the nextreview of MCLR.

In view of surplus liq-uidity in the system, SBIalso said it is realigningits interest rate on retailterm deposits (less thanRs 2 crore) and bulk termdeposits (Rs 2 crore andabove). The bank slashedterm deposits rates by 10-50 bps in the retail seg-ment and 25-50 bps in thebulk segment.

Banks have been reluc-tant in aligning their lend-ing rates in response tothe rate cuts as effectivetransmission of rates wasmere 69 basis pointsagainst 135 bps of ratecuts by the RBI duringFebruary to October 2019.

The RBI on Thursdayallowed banks exemptionfrom maintenance of CRRon incremental disburse-ment on auto, housing and

MSME loans. The CRR isthe percent of cashdeposits a commercialbank must maintain withthe RBI. This moneyearns no interest. The cur-rent CRR level is 4 percent, which means that forevery Rs 100 of depositthat a bank holds, it keepsaside Rs 4 with RBI.

The RBI has now saidthat new retail and MSMEloans disbursed till July31, 2020, will be adjustedagainst a bank’s CRRrequirements whileensuring that banks meetat least 90 per cent of theirCRR requirements.

This would free up thebanks to monetise more oftheir liquidity and overthe next few monthsshould soften interestrates further.

SBI cuts rates, says more next time

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 41,141.85 -0.40Nifty 50 12,098.40 -0.33S&P 500* 3,335.54 -0.32Dollar (`) 71.40 0.28Pound Sterling (`) 92.56 0.09Euro (`) 78.23 -0.08Gold (10gm)* (`) 41,249▲112 0.27Brent crude ($/bbl)* 54.85 -0.08IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.439 -0.007US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.602 -0.042

* As of 9:30 pm IST

RBI to conductlong-term repoops on Feb. 17, 24The RBI will begin the firsttranche of its long-term repooperations on Feb. 17 withthree-year repo of Rs 25,000crore, followed by another onFeb. 24 for an equal amount.The operations date isannounced a day after the RBI'smonetary policy wherein it saidlong-term repos aggregatingup to Rs 1 lakh crore will beconducted in tranches frommid-February to ease liquidityin the system.

Tata Steelreports `1,228 crnet loss in Q3

Tata Steel reported a consoli-dated net loss of Rs 1,228.53crore for the December quarter,mainly due to lower sales andimpairment provisions for itsEuropean operations. Thecompany had posted a consoli-dated net profit of Rs 1,753.07crore for the year-ago quarter.Its gross sales fell to Rs 34,774crore from Rs 38,086 crore inthe year-ago quarter. Totalexpenses for the quarter wereat Rs 35,849 crore against Rs35,930 crore.

ACC net profitdrops 62.7%to `273 croreCement maker ACC reported a62.68 per cent decline in con-solidated net profit to Rs273.28 crore for the Decemberquarter from 732.35 crore in theyear-ago quarter. Its totalincome was up 4.89 per cent atRs 4,117.85 crore from Rs3,925.61 crore. Total expensesof the company, which followsJanuary-December as its fiscalyear, were at Rs 3,709.42 croreagainst Rs 3,585.32 crore of thecorresponding quarter, up 3.46per cent.

General Atlanticinvests $200 mnin Byju’s

Printed & Published by T Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &

Published at Deccan Chronicle Pressessituated at SP-3 Developed Plot,

Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI Reg.

No. TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re1. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in

whole or in part without written per-mission of The Editor, Financial

Chronicle ® is prohibited.

PE investor General GeneralAtlantic has joined the latestround of funding in ed-techfirm Byju’s. According tosources, Think and Learn, whichowns K-12 learning app Byju’s,has received from GeneralAtlantic a funding of $200 mn,which is almost similar to whatTiger Global had pumped intothe firm in January. Byju’s wasthen valued $8 bn. Sources saidthe current round values thefirm at about $8.2 billion.

■ Suzuki Motor looks outside China for components

pg 11SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Sanand, Feb. 7: VoltbekHome Appliances PrivateLimited, a joint venturebetween Voltas andEurope’s leading con-sumer durables playerArçelik, opened its firstm a n u f a c t u r i n gfacility in India atSanand, Gujarat.The factory willmanufacture homeappliances, includingrefrigerators and washingmachines. Backed by aninvestment of $180 million

(over Rs 1,000 crore), thefacility will create an

OEM base for homeappliances in theregion. Mr. NoelTata, Chairman,Voltas Limited, said,

“We continue to see hugegrowth opportunities forconsumer durables in theIndian market.”

Mr. Pradeep Bakshi, MD& CEO, Voltas, said,“Since its launch in 2018,Voltas Beko has estab-lished itself as one of thefastest growing consumerdurables brands in thecountry and is expected tosell close to half a millionunits by the end of this fis-cal year.”

Voltas Bekoopens first plant in India

BusinessN O T E

(L to R) Mr. Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO, Arçelik, Mr. Jayant Balan, CEO,Voltbek Home Appliances Ltd and Mr. Pradeep Bakshi, MD & CEO,Voltas Ltd at the launch of Voltas Beko's first factory in Sanand, Gujarat.

IN BRIEF

Los Angeles: BohemianRhapsody star Lucy Boynton

is set to play the role of icon-ic British singer-songwriter

Marianne Faithfull in a musi-cal biopic. The film will be

directed by Ian Bonhote, bestknown for helming documen-

tary McQueen about Britishfashion designer Alexander

McQueen. Titled Faithfull, thefilm will be set in mid-1960’s

London and track thesinger’s rollercoaster career

from initial stardom, her timeas a homeless drug addict,

and her subsequent recovery.According to EntertainmentWeekly, the movie will also

chronicle her tumultuousromance with singer-song-

writer Mick Jagger thatinspired some of their great-

est songs. Julia Taylor-Stanley of Artemis Films,

Colin Vaines of Synchronistic Pictures, and Andee Ryder of

Misfits Entertainment willproduce the movie. — PTI

London: Actress JameelaJamil came out as queer in aTwitter post on Wednesday.

The Good Place star hadadded a rainbow to her

Twitter name years ago, butshe had never revealed her

sexuality officially, Jamil saidin a post to her Twitter. “Ikept it low because I was

scared of the pain of beingaccused of performative

bandwagon jumping, oversomething that caused me a

lot of confusion, fear and tur-moil when I was a kid.” Jamil

said that it was scary to comeout as a South Asian actressin her 30’s, and that Twitter

was not the place she wantedto do it. This week, Jamil has

been addressing backlashsurrounding her involvement

in Legendary, an upcomingHBO Max ballroom competi-

tion show. — Agencies

Lucy Boynton to playMarianne Faithfull

Jameela says sheidentifies as queer

New York: Oscar-winningactress Viola Davis will play

former US first lady MichelleObama in a new TV series onthe Showtime cable network,

it was announcedWednesday. First Ladies will

focus on the wives of USpresidents and their lives in

the White House, and mediareports said Eleanor

Roosevelt and Betty Fordwould also be portrayed.

“Presidents’ spouses havewielded remarkable influ-

ence, not only on the nation’sleaders but on the country

itself,” Jana Winograde, pres-ident of entertainment forShowtime, said. Davis, 54,has been nominated three

times for Oscars, winning in2017 for her supporting role

in “Fences.” — AFP

Viola to play MichelleObama in TV series

Mexico: Harrison Ford, inMexico City on Wednesday to

promote his latest film,decried the collapse of US

“moral leadership” on issuessuch as improving the environ-

ment and immigration policy.“We need moral

leadership. We’velost some of our

credibility and weare anxious toregain it,” the

Hollywood startold reporters.

Ford was in townto talk about his

starring role in TheCall of the Wild, anadventure film set in Alaska in

the 1890s and based on anovel by US author Jack

London. Relaxed and smiling,the veteran actor also touched

on his iconic Hollywood rolesin the Star Wars, IndianaJones and Blade Runner

movies. A fifth Indiana Jonesmovie, starring as the swash-

buckling archaeologist withthe unusual first name, is alsoin the works. “To do another

Indiana Jones movie, it seemslike a good idea, if we had agood script and I believe we

are very close to have thescript that we really want, so I

am excited about the idea,” he said. — AFP

U.S. LOST ‘MORALLEADERSHIP’:

HARRISON FORD

HarrisonFord

H’wood legend Kirk Douglas dies at 103Veteran actor was a humanitarian, one of the last stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age: MichealLos Angeles: Veteranactor and Hollywood’sGolden Era icon KirkDouglas, known to fansworld over for his filmssuch as Spartacus, 20,000Leagues Under the Sea,The Bad and the Beautifuland Champion, has passedaway at the age of 103, hisfamily has announced.

The actor died of naturalcauses on Wednesday. Hisson, actor MichealDouglas shared the newsof his father’s death onsocial media.

It is with tremendoussadness that my brothersand I announce that KirkDouglas left us today at theage of 103. To the world hewas a legend, an actorfrom the golden age ofmovies who lived well intohis golden years, a human-itarian whose commit-ment to justice and thecauses he believed in set astandard for all of us toaspire to.

“But to me and my broth-ers Joel and Peter he wassimply Dad, to Catherine,a wonderful father-in-law,to his grandchildren andgreat grandchild their lov-ing grandfather, and to hiswife Anne, a wonderful

husband,” he wrote along-side pictures of KirkDouglas through the ages.

Michael Douglas said hisfather leaves a rich cinemalegacy behind but he willalso be remembered forhis contribution to publicservice.

“Kirk’s life was welllived, and he leaves a lega-cy in film that will endurefor generations to come,and a history as arenowned philanthropist

who worked to aid thepublic and bring peace tothe planet.

“Let me end with thewords I told him on hislast birthday and whichwill always remain true.Dad - I love you so muchand I am so proud to beyour son,” he wrote.

His daughter-in-law,actor Catherine Zeta-Jones also shared a lovingphoto with Kirk Douglas.

“To my darling Kirk, I

shall love you for the restof my life. I miss youalready. Sleep tight...” shewrote.

Filmmaker StevenSpielberg, who presentedKirk Douglas with an hon-orary Oscar at the 1996Academy Awards, remem-bered the actor whoretained his movie starcharisma right till theend.

Born as IssurDanielovitch Demsky in

Amsterdam, Kirk Douglaswas one of the seven chil-dren of his parents —Jewish immigrants fromRussia. When he came ofage, he went to work tosupport his family.

According to TheHollywood Reporter, KirkDouglas put himselfthrough New York’s StLawrence University byworking as a janitor.

After receiving his bach-elor of arts degree, hemoved to Manhattanwhere he received a spe-cial scholarship for theAmerican Academy ofDramatic Arts.

He made his Broadwaydebut as a singing mes-senger boy in SpringAgain, starring GraceGeorge and C. AubreySmith, soon after graduat-ing in 1941.

Next year, he legallychanged his name to KirkDouglas before enlistingin the US Navy duringWorld War II. He attendedthe Midshipman School atNotre Dame, and was com-missioned an ensign. Heserved on anti-submarinepatrol in the Pacific as a

communicationsofficer until 1944,

when he was honourablydischarged as a lieutenant.

Post-war, he returned tocivilian life andBroadway, replacingRichard Widmark as thejuvenile lead in Kiss andTell and appeared in Trioand Star in the Window.His performance in “TheWind Is Ninety” broughthim to Hollywood’s atten-tion.

What followed was hisHollywood debut in 1946with the film The StrangeLove of Martha Ivers”with Barbara Stanwyck,which led to leading manroles in the 1950s-60s.

He starred as a ruthlessboxer in Champion (1949),a hated, ambitious movieproducer in The Bad andthe Beautiful (1952) andiconic painter Vincentvan Gogh in Lust for Life(1956).

He also launched hisbanner, BrynaProductions, in 1955. He isbilled as the first actor totake control of his careerthrough a productionhouse in the post-War era,challenging the strong-hold of Hollywood stu-dios.

— PTI

Letterman reveals Tarantino once threatened to beat him upLos Angeles: Veteran TVhost David Letterman hasrevealed that QuentinTarantino once threat-ened to thrash him and inhis response, he gave thefilmmaker an option tochoose his weapon — hisfists or a bat.

The 72-year-old sharedthe story during hisappearance onShowtime’s Desus & Mero.

He said the feud startedafter he interviewed a“famous star”, who wasapparently datingTarantino at the time.

“There was one guest onthe show and her girl-friend was somebody hewas dating. A famous star.

And I was saying, ‘No,you’re not dating QuentinTarantino.’ And she said,‘Yes, yes I am.’ And I said,‘Oh, please tell me thisisn’t true... I’m pretendingthat I’m stunned that thisglorious movie star is dat-ing this little squirrellyguy,” Letterman revealed.

Days later, Tarantinocalled up the TV host andthreatened to beat him todeath.

“He starts screaming atme, ‘I’m going to beat youto death, I’m going to killyou. I’m coming to NewYork and I’m going to beatthe crap out of you. Howcan you say that aboutme? I said, ‘Quentin, hang

on a bit.’ This is so gogood, I’m going to get myproducer to pick up theother line...”

After his producerjoined the call, Tarantinoagain threatenedLetterman.

“He was full blown, clini-cally goofy,” the host said.

He then askedTarantino, “‘How do youwant to do this? Bat orfists?’ He said, ‘Bat. Youget me a bat and I’ll beatthe hell out of you with

it... There’s no cooling off.It just keeps blowing up.”

Letterman said he final-ly met Tarantino when thefilmmaker came to pro-mote “IngloriousBastards” on his show.

“He was in the make-up

room. Typically, I wouldnot want to meet a personbefore the show. But thistime, I went to seeQuentin. I go in there andhe was with his publicist...I said, ‘Remember thatthing when you weregoing to beat me and wehad a plane ticket waitingand a baseball bat ready... Ithink you owe me an apol-ogy.”

Letterman said thoughTarantino was not readyto apologise, his publicistmade him do so.

“So finally he apolo-gised. But he was not cer-tain that he owed me anapology,” he added.

— PTI

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif,Feb.7: Through laughs,tears and speeches thatturned into sermons andaffirmations, the overar-ching theme of this year'sstar-studded Essenceluncheon was that in anunforgiving industry thatoften overlooks, blackwomen need no validationfrom Hollywood - or else-where - to appreciate theirself-worth.

"No one in this roomderived from luck. We area powerful force field thatderived from greatness,"said "Captain Marvel"actress Lashana Lynch atThursday afternoon'sEssence Black Women in

Hollywood event. "Wework hard on our craftand our self love, and haveto remind ourselves dailythat we deserve a seat atthe table."

"Queen & Slim" directorMelina Matsoukas, anoth-er honoree, echoedLynch's sentiments whenshe received her awardfrom "Insecure" actressand creator Issa Rae, whotapped Matsoukas todirect the hit HBO comedyseries.

"It feels incredible to beseen, respected and haveyour work valued; itmeans more when thatacknowledgement comesfrom your own communi-

ty," she said.Matsoukas, who has also

directed videos for A-lis-ters including Beyonce's"Lemonade" opus, added:"Recently I've been bat-tling my own rage. As Ikeep saying, the dailyonslaught of whitesupremacy and coloniza-tion is infuriating and alsoexhausting.

"I shared my sentimentswith Ms. (Ava) DuVernaythe other night, and whatshe said went deep. It wassimply: 'Don't let themsteal your joy,'" she said toapplause. "Since them, I'vebeen thinking about howto reclaim my own joy."

—AP

London: Scotland’sfinance minister hasresigned, hoursbefore he was due todeliver his annualbudget, after hereportedly sent hun-dreds of messages toa 16-year-old boy onsocial media.

Derek Mackay quiton Thursday, sayinghe had “behaved fool-ishly”.

The Scottish Sunnewspaper reportedthat 42-year-oldMackay sent the teenmore than 270 mes-sages on Facebookand Instagram,telling the boy he was“cute” and offering totake him to a rugbymatch and to dinner.

Mackay is notaccused of breakingthe law.

“Serving in govern-ment has been a hugeprivilege and I amsorry to have let col-leagues and support-ers down,” Mackaysaid in a statement.

Mackay was a ris-ing star in theScottish NationalParty, which runsScotland’s semi-a u t o n o m o u sE d i n b u r g h - b a s e dadministration.

He had been seen asa potential successorto First MinisterNicola Sturgeon asleader of the SNP,which advocatesindependence fromthe United Kingdomfor the nation of 5.5million. — AP

Minister quitsover messagesto teenager in Scotland

Los Angeles: The showbusiness’ love affair withone of its favouritemuses, Hollywood iconMarilyn Monroe, refusesto die as a new project onthe legend is in theworks. According to TheHollywood Reporter,Yellowstone producer 101Studios and UK produc-tion company Seven SeasFilms are collaboratingto develop a TV seriesbased on the finalmonths of Monroe’s life.

The show, based onKeith Badman’s nonfic-tion book The FinalYears of MarilynMonroe, is the firstfilmed project about thelate star’s life to beendorsed by AuthenticBrands Group, the ownerof the Monroe estate.

CEO David Glasser saidthough many peoplehave explored the life ofthe Some Like It Hot star,the upcoming series willbe a class apart.

“Beloved MarilynMonroe has had manymemoirs created abouther life, but none quitelike this. Keith Badmanhas uncovered gems ofnever before releaseddetails, centered aroundthe last few months ofher sensationalized lifeand the accusationsmade. The series payshomage to her,” Glassersaid. — PTI

Essence event affirms powerof black women in Hollywood

New show on MarilynMonroe inthe works

NEWS INUGGETS

Italy: The call of thepenguin, a wheezingbray that sounds like adonkey in distress, fol-lows some of the samelinguistic laws found inhuman languages, sci-entists have found.

According toresearchers, just like inour own speech, morefrequently used soundswithin the call tend tobe shorter, while thelonger the call, theshorter the sounds with-in it. It is the first timethis pattern has beenshown outside pri-mates. — Agencies

‘Penguin callshares traits ofhuman speech’ London: Sleep prob-

lems in children arecommon, andimprove with time,according to a studywhich help parentsunderstand if theirtoddler’s sleep pat-terns are normal ornot.

The study, publishedin the journal SleepMedicine, found thatthe time taken to fallasleep reduces to anaverage of 20 minutesby the age of 6months, and by thetime infants are twoyears old, they wakeup only once duringthe night on average. — PTI

Sleep issuescommon ininfants: Study

Paris: It may soundlike a gruesome detailfrom a movie, but scien-tists believe yarngrown from humanskin could soon be usedto stitch up surgicalpatients and repairorgans.

The researchers saytheir “human textile,”

which they developedfrom skin cells, can beused for knitting,sewing and even cro-chet, and can aid inmedical procedures.

The string-like sub-stance would have theability to “truly inte-grate into the host’sbody,” scientists.

‘Yarn made from human skin couldsoon be stitching up your wounds’

Derek Mackay

Douglas was theson of JewishRussian immigrantswho rose throughthe ranks to becomeone of Hollywood'sbiggest-ever stars The famed actor,who was one of thelast of Hollywood'sGolden Age, mademore than 90movies in a careerthat stretchedacross sevendecades Films such asSpartacus and TheVikings made himone of the biggestbox-office stars of

the 1950s and 60sHe was nominatedthree times for thebest actor Oscar in1949 for Champion,The Bad and theBeautiful in 1953and Lust for Life in1957 Douglas neverreceived anAcademy Award foran individual filmbut the Academy ofMotion Picture Artsand Sciences award-ed him an honoraryOscar in 1996 for hisrole as a creativeand moral force inthe industry

Jessica Simpson atMacy’s Herald Square topromote her new mem-oir Open Book in NewYork on Wednesday.

— AP

Devon Windsor, Nina Agdal and Heidi Klum attend theamfAR Gala New York AIDS research benefit onWednesday. — AP

People walk in snowfall past one of the four famous horse sculptures on theFontanka River in St. Petersburg on Thursday. — AFP

After Lettermanjoked about Tarantinoduring an episode ofThe Late Show, thedirector allegedlycalled him with someexplicit words. He saidthough Tarantino wasnot ready to apolo-gise, his publicistmade him do so.David Letterman Quentin Tarantino

NEWS MAKERS pg 12DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

CRICKET pg 14DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

SHORT TAKES

NZ ‘A’ post 276/5 vsIndia ‘A’ on day oneLincoln (New Zealand): India‘A’ bowlers struck at regular

intervals but middle-orderbatsman Glenn Phillips’ fine

half-century guided NewZealand ‘A’ to 276 for five on

the opening day of the sec-ond unofficial Test here on

Friday. Phillips smashed ninefours and a six in his 80-ball65, while Dane Cleaver andskipper Hamish Rutherfordalso chipped in with useful

contributions after the hostswon the toss and decided tobat. For India, medium pac-

ers Mohammed Siraj andAvesh Khan took a couple of

wickets each, while spinnerShahbaz Nadeem also

snapped one scalp. — PTIBrief Score: New Zealand ‘A’

276/5 in 90 overs (GlennPhillips 65; Avesh Khan 2/57,

Mohammed Siraj 2/58) vsIndia ‘A’.

Pak’s Shah bowlsBangla out for 233Rawalpindi: Lanky paceman

Shaheen Shah Afridi tookfour wickets to help Pakistan

dismiss Bangladesh for apaltry 233 on the opening

day of the first Test here onFriday. Shaheen recorded

figures of 4-53 in 21.5 oversand was ably assisted by fel-low pacer Mohammad Abbas

and spinner Haris Sohail tojustify Pakistan’s decision to

send Bangladesh in to baton a greenish-yellow

Rawalpindi stadium pitch.Pakistan were due to bat for

five overs but bad lightforced umpires to call it a

day. — AFPBrief scores: Bangladesh 233

in 82.5 overs (MohammadMithun 63, Najmul Hossain

44; Shaheen Shah Afridi4/53, Mohammad Abbas

2/19) vs Pakistan

CCB files chargesheet in KPL fixing

Bengaluru: The Central CrimeBranch investigating into the

Karnataka Premier Leaguematch-fixing scandal has

filed charge sheet in threecases, Additional

Commissioner of PoliceSandeep Patil said on Friday.

He said the charge sheet inthe case at Cubbon Park

police station was filedagainst six accused-team

owners of Belagavi PanthersAli Asfaq Thara and Ballari

Tuskers Arvind Reddy-,KCSA management commit-

tee member SudhindraShinde, two cricketers C M

Gautham and Abrar Kazi anda bookie Amit Mavi. In thesecond case registered at

the JP Nagar station basedon a complaint by Ballari

Tuskers player BhaveshGulecha, charge sheets were

filed against four accused,Bhavesh Bafna, Sayyam,

Jatin Sethi and Harish. — PTI

Auckland, Feb. 7: Someof their bowling and field-ing frailties exposed in theseries-opener, India willaim for quick course cor-rection when they take ona resurgent New Zealandin the second ODI here onSaturday.

Flying high after the 5-0whitewash of NewZealand in the T20 series,India were brought to theground after the hoststook a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with a four-wicket win in the firstODI.

The Black Caps chaseddown their highest-evertotal in ODI cricket atSeddon Park and the tosswill be crucial once againat the even shorter EdenPark where the side bat-ting second will have aclear advantage.

New Zealand opted to bathere in both the T20Is, butIndia chased well in bothinstances albeit in differ-ent circumstances. Indiafind themselves in a famil-iar situation after the lossin Hamilton.

But the visitors havecome from behind againstthe West Indies andAustralia to win their lasttwo ODI series and ViratKohli’s men will look to dothe same here. Like inChennai against the WestIndies, or in Mumbaiagainst Australia, India’sloss at Hamilton was downto their lack of ability to

take wickets in the middleovers.

The opposition batsmentook advantage to hit bigand the Indian attack did-n’t have any answers. Inthe first ODI, skipperVirat Kohli turned toJasprit Bumrah everytime he went searching for

a wicket. This over-dependency is something

India would want toaddress in their composi-tion. India’s fielding toowill be under the scanner.

In each of those losses atChennai, Mumbai andHamilton, it was poordespite flashes of individ-ual brilliance.

— PTI

All pumped upJolted India to take on resurgent New Zealand in the second ODI

Auckland, Feb. 7: NewZealand opener MartinGuptill on Friday saidhis team will look topump up the aggressionagainst Indian spinnersduring the second ODIhere on Saturday in pur-suit of an early serieswin against the fanciedvisitors.

The Black Caps chaseddown their highest-evertotal in ODI cricket atSeddon Park on way totheir four-wicket win inthe first ODI for a 1-0lead in the three-matchseries.

Guptill said the key toNew Zealand’s victorywas playing well againstthe spinners. KuldeepYadav and RavindraJadeja were taken to thecleaners in Hamilton byKiwi batsmen andleaked 148 runs in all.

“It’s completely differ-ent conditions, isn’t it?You have to be a little bitmore attacking here Iguess and have the confi-dence that the ball willprobably will not spinpast your edge as much.You know the odd onemight as it did the othernight,” he said.

“I thought the way wehandled the Indian spin-ners in Hamilton wassome of the best we havedone it in a long time. Sowe can take confidencefrom that going forwardin the series.” Guptillalso warned his sideagainst complacency,saying it cannot afford totake a world class teamlike India lightly.

“I don’t think you cancount India out. Theyare a world-class side,they have got match win-ners batting and bowl-ing. So, we still have toput up a very good per-formance tomorrow tobe get another winunder the belt and takethe series,” he said.

— PTI

Sydney, Feb. 7: Indiancricket icon SachinTendulkar on Fridaypicked Australian MarnusLabuschagne as the playerwho most reminds him ofhimself, calling the fast-rising batsman a specialtalent with impeccablefootwork.

Here to coach a side atSunday’s charity

fundraiser for the dev-astating bushfires in

Australia, Tendulkarwas asked to name

the player who hethinks comesclosest to resem-bling him at hisprime. “I hap-pened to bewatching the sec-ond Test matchat Lord’sbetween Englandand Australia.When SteveSmith got

injured, I sawLabuschagne’s secondinnings,” Tendulkarresponded.

“I was sitting with myfather-in-law. I sawMarnus get hit off the sec-ond ball from Jofra Archerand, post that, the 15 min-utes he batted, I said, ‘Thisplayer looks special’,” herecalled.

“There is somethingabout him. His footworkwas precise. Footwork isnot physical, it’s mental. Ifyou’re not thinking posi-tively in your mind, thenyour feet don’t move,” headded.

The 25-year-oldLabuschagne became Testcricket’s leading scorerlast year with 1,104 runs.He broke into the sceneafter coming in as a con-cussion substitute forSteve Smith during theAshes last August.

Grabbing his chance withboth hands, Labuschagnemade four consecutivehalf-centuries to notch upwith 353 runs at 50.42 inthe Ashes.

Tendulkar saidLabuschagne’s fine foot-work is also a sign that heis a mentally strong player.“...because if you’re not,your feet will not move.His footwork was incredi-ble,” he said.

Labuschagne hasamassed 896 runs this Testsummer, notching up fourcenturies. Tendulkar, how-ever, refused to be drawninto the debate on whoamong Virat Kohli andSteve Smith should be con-sidered the better. “I don’tlike getting into compar-isons. People have triedcomparing me to a numberof guys and I’ve said, ‘Justleave us alone’,” saidTendulkar.

‘No-brainer in joiningBushfire charity game’

It’s a country whichalmost gave him a newaccent and this “specialfeeling” for Australia wasone of the reasons whySachin Tendulkar didn’tthink twice before joiningthe Bushfire Bash charitygame on receiving a callfrom his former on-fieldfoe Brett Lee.

Tendulkar, who willcoach the Ricky Ponting XIduring Sunday’s charityfundraiser match at theJunction Oval here, saidthe moment he got a callfrom Lee, it was “no-brain-er” that he wanted to jointhe project.

“I received a messagefrom Brett Lee. Brett saidthat Kevin (Roberts,Cricket Australia’s chiefexecutive) would like to bein touch with you. It was ano-brainer.” — PTI

Labuschagne is special: Sachin

Auckland, Feb. 7: India’sfielding hasn’t been par-ticularly good in the ongo-ing series against NewZealand, coach R Sridharsaid on Friday but refusedto blame tight schedulesfor the “downward curve”despite conceding thathectic travelling is affect-ing the side’s practiceplans.

Sridhar said India’sfielding has at best aver-age in the last fourmonths. He said fatiguecould be a contributingfactor to losses during thistime period, including theone in the first ODIagainst New Zealand atHamilton on Wednesday.

“...the West Indies series

at home was somewherewe really dropped. Wewere average, to say theleast. But definitely wehave not lived to the stan-dards as we did in theworld Cup or even in thebuild-up to the World Cupin the last couple years,”said Sridhar on the eveof the second ODI here.

Sridhar said they haveaccounted for the down-turn in fielding standardby a grading systemprivy to the supportstaff. He said theteam manage-ment keeps asharp eye on

the workloads and prac-tice schedules of all play-ers.

“We keep reminding theplayers about attention tobasic detail...In a T20

game, each fielderhas to be his own

captain. Heneed not wait

for the cap-tain to move

him or thebowler to movehim in a certain

direction orto a cer-

t a i n

position,” he said.“We try and tell them to

think ahead of the game,you as a fielder captainyourself, see which waythe breeze is, which waythe batsman’s tendenciesto hit are, what’s thebowler’s plan and positionaccordingly.

‘Kuldeep’s irregularityaffects his rhythm’

Sridhar dismissed reportsraising question marksover Kuldeep Yadav’s fit-ness, saying the spinner isfully fit but not playingregularly is probably hav-ing a negative impact onhis bowling.

Yadav has been fairlyinconsistent in his inter-

national outings of lateand conceded 84 runs inhis 10 overs and took twowickets in the first ODIagainst New Zealand onWednesday. It was his firstgame of the tour afterbeing left out of the elevenin the five T20Internationals.

“He is fully fit and he isnot carrying any injury.He is totally cleared toplay all the games. He hasplayed a lot of ODI cricket,played all three gamesagainst Australia. He did-n’t play the T20s as Chahalwas there. Maybe Kuldeepis the kind of guy whoneeds a lot of overs underhis belt to get his rhythm.

— PTI

We’ve to beaggressive,says Guptill

Sridhar concedes downward curve in fielding

HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALS

India: 314-9 in 50overs v New

Zealand in 2014New Zealand:

340-5 in 48.4 oversv Australia in 2007

LOWEST INNINGS TOTALSIndia: 108 in 32.5overs v NewZealand in 2002New Zealand: 73in 26.3 overs vSri Lanka in 2007

BACK IN ACTION

KL Rahul carries the weight of expectations after his recent performances in limited-overs format. —Twitter

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson at a training session with histeammates ahead of the second ODI against India at Auckland.

— BLACKCAPS

INDIA-NEW ZEALAND AT AUCKLANDTeam P W L T N/R

India 9 4 4 1 -

New Zealand 74 34 35 2 3

India (vs NZ) 8 3 4 1 -Stats: S.PERVEZ QAISER

LIVE on TVIndia vs New Zealandon STAR Sports 1, HD

@ 7:30 AM

Melbourne, Feb. 7: TheIndian women’s cricketteam produced anotherlistless batting perform-ance to suffer a secondsuccessive loss in the T20triangular series, goingdown to England by fourwickets here on Friday.

Sent in to bat, Indianbatters failed to capitaliseon their starts as theystruggled to 123 for six in20 overs with openerSmriti Mandhana emerg-ing as the top-scorer witha 40-ball 45.

Chasing the total,Natalie Sciver smashed astrokeful fifty as Englandromped home comfort-ably, scoring 124 for sixwith seven balls to spare.Sciver’s 50 off 38 ballscontained six hits to thefence and a six.

For India, RajeshwariGayakwad (3/23) was out-standing with the ball,while Radha Yadav (1/24)also took two wickets butthe total on the board wasjust not enough. Indiahad beaten England intheir first T20 of theseries.

After their disappoint-ing show with the batagainst Australia, whichresulted in a four-wicketloss in their last match,

India were expected toput up an improved showbut Harmanpreet and Co.were once again belowpar.

Sixteen-year-old ShafaliVerma, touted as the nextbig thing in women’scricket, continued herdisappointing run as shelasted just nine balls. Shewas bowled by SophieEcclestone in the sixthover.

Mandhana, whosmashed seven fours andone maximum in her 40-ball innings, was the nextto go as she was caughtbehind by Amy Jones offKatharine Brunt’s deliv-ery in the 10th over.

Jemimah Rodrigues (23)and skipper Harmanpreet(14) were off decent startsonly to throw them away.India will next playagainst Australia onFebruary 8. — PTI

Another defeat forIndia women in T20

Melbourne, Feb. 7:Performances of theteams have gone betterand better in the last twoyears and the upcomingwomen T20 World Cuphas the potential to revo-lutionise the game evenfurther, India skipperHarmanpreet Kaur saidon Friday.

In a column for the ICC,Harmanpreet wrote howwomen’s T20 cricket hascome a long way in thelast two years.

“It wasn’t so long agothat a par score in T20cricket was 120 or 130.Now, that’s not enough.Teams are looking muchmore confident and try-ing to get bigger scores onthe board,” saidHarmanpreet.

“It’s that change in themindset that means per-formances are getting bet-ter across the board and

the ICC Women’s T20World Cup 2020 has thepotential to revolutionisethe game even further.”The tournament beginsin Australia on February21.

“If I look back twoyears, India’s 50-over sidewas doing well and ourT20 was struggling. Butin the past two years, wehave transformed as a T20team and are very posi-tive going to Australia.”

— PTI

BRIEF SCORESIndia 123/6 in 20overs (SmritiMandhana 45; AnyaShrubsole 3/31) lostto England 124/6 in18.5 overs (NatalieSciver 50; RajeshwariGayakwad (3/23)

Harmanpreet Kaur

New Delhi, Feb. 7:Gujarat virtually pusheda lacklustre Delhi out ofthe knockout race aftergrabbing three pointsfrom their group A RanjiTrophy match, whichended in a draw here onFriday.

On the basis of their 42-run first innings lead,Gujarat grabbed threepoints from the contest totake their tally to 29 fromseven outings. They nowsit atop the cross pool(group A and B) stand-ings.

The top five teams in thecross pool will qualify forthe quarterfinals.

Top two from Group Cand the best side in thePlate Group will completethe line-up. Delhi are nowleft with a home gameagainst Rajasthan, start-ing here from February12, and they have to getseven points (includingbonus) to have any chanceleft.

Mumbai out ofcontention

Multiple-time championsMumbai were knockedout of the ongoing RanjiTrophy after drawingagainst Saurashtra on thefourth and final day oftheir elite Group B matchat Rajkot on Friday.

Dharmendrasinh Jadejaand Kamlesh Makwanaplayed patient knocks todeny Mumbai an outrightwin. Saurashtra, thus,took three points from the

drawn affair, courtesytheir first-innings lead.Mumbai, whose fight backwas led with Surya KumarYadav’s ton, had to be con-tent with a lone point.

Mumbai, the most suc-cessful team in the historyof Ranji Trophy with 41titles, still have a game leftagainst Madhya Pradesh,but their campaign is overas they have only 14 pointsand even an outright winwon’t help them to makethe knock-outs. — PTI

Gujarat push Delhi outof Ranji knockout race

BRIEF SCORESIn Delhi: Delhi 293 & 333/8 decl. (Himmat Singh70) drew with Gujarat 335 & 128/2 (ManpritJuneja 51 no). Points: Gujarat 3. Delhi 1. At Rajkot: Mumbai 262 & 362/7 decl.(Suryakumar Yadav 134, Shams Mulani 92;Prerak Mankad 2/52) drew with Saurashtra 335& 158/7. Points: Saurashtra 3, Mumbai 1. At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 & 62/1 drew withMadhya Pradesh 431 (Aditya Shrivastava 192,Venkatesh Iyer 86; Abhimanyu Mithun 3/69).Points: MP 3, Karnataka 1.

There is something about Labuschagne. His footwork was precise. Footwork is notphysical, it’s mental. If you’re not thinking positively in your mind, then your feetdon’t move. — SACHIN TENDULKAR

Shaheen Shah Afridi

WOMEN’S TRI-SERIES

Australia’s Natalie Sciver en route to her half-centuryagainst India in the T20 triangular series at Melbourneon Friday. — ICC

WC can revolutionisegame: Harmanpreet

R. Sridhar

GAMES pg 15DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 8 FEBRUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

SHORT TAKES

Osaka stunned bySara at Fed Cup

Madrid: A tearful Naomi Osakafollowed up her Australian Open

disappointment with anothersurprise defeat on Friday when

she was beaten 6-0, 6-3 byworld number 78 Sara Sorribes

Tormo in the Fed Cup.Spain took an unexpected 1-0

lead over Japan in the tie inCartagena after Sorribes Tormo

capitalised on a careless per-formance from Osaka, who

made an astonishing 50unforced errors in the 15 games.

Sorribes Tormo enjoyed thebacking of a sizeable home

crowd at La Manga Club and herconsistency proved too much

for Osaka.“We knew that Sara had the

game to make it very uncom-fortable for Naomi. She stuck tothe game plan perfectly,” Spain

captain Anabel MedinaGarrigues said.

Osaka, a two-time Grand Slamchampion, has endured a shaky

start to the year after beingknocked out by 15-year-old

Coco Gauff last month. — AFP

Mirabai adjudgedbest weightlifter

Kolkata: Chandrakant Mali ofServices smashed three recordsto take the concluding day hon-

ours even as Railways reignedsupreme, grabbing both the

men’s and women’s trophies atthe Senior National

Weightlifting Championshipshere on Friday.

Former world champion MirabaiChanu, who had shattered three

records to win women’s 49kgtitle, was adjudged the BestSenior Women’s Lifter with

865.796 ‘Robi points’.Youth Olympic champion

Jeremy Lalrinnunga, who creat-ed a record in clean and jerk onway to winning the men’s 67kg

for Services, became the BestSenior Men’s Lifter with 658.962

‘Robi points’.'Robi Points’ is the official IWFcalculation method to compare

individual athlete total resultsacross each of the IWF body-

weight categories.Mali hoisted a total of 330kg,

improving the previous mark ofAnkit Chhoker by 6kg. — PTI

Ayushi, Divya winat shooting trials

Thiruvananthapuram: AyushiPodder won the women’s 50m

Rifle 3 Positions (3P), while T. S.Divya and Adarsh Singh claimed

the titles in the women’s 10mAir Pistol and men’s 25m CentreFire Pistol T1 events respectively

on the penultimate day of theNational Shooting Trials for Rifle

and Pistol here on Friday.West Bengal’s Ayushi, in fact,

won both the senior and juniorcategories in women’s 3P,

shooting 452.3 in the senior cat-egory and 0.1 less in the junior

final to take home a coveteddouble.

She got the better of TamilNadu’s N Gaayathri in the senior

final by 0.4 points and MadhyaPradhesh’s Bandhvi Singh in the

junior event by 0.9 points.Ayushi had earlier topped quali-fication in both categories with

a score of 1166.In the women’s 10m Air Pistol

final, Karnataka’s Divya came uptrumps in a low-scoring final,

finishing ahead of experiencedShweta Singh. — PTI

Bengaluru: Reigning nationalchampion Niki Poonacha and

Pune’s Arjun Kadhe have beengiven the singles wildcards forthe upcoming Bengaluru Open

ATP Challenger, that kicks offon Monday.

A total of five wildcards will begiven in the main draw of 48 in

the singles.“I am thrilled to have received a

wild card for the BengaluruOpen which is taking place in

my city. I have been playing wellbut unfortunately it is not fructi-

fying into great results,” saidthe 24-year-old Poonacha, whowon the National championship

in Delhi last year.“I thank the KSLTA and AITA forhaving given me this opportuni-

ty and I will strive to make thebest use of the wildcard,” he

added.Kadhe, ranked 219 in doubles

and 612 in the singles, alsothanked KSLTA.

“There are strong and competi-tive players in this edition of the

Bengaluru Open. We hope tosee some exciting action. Both

Kadhe and Poonacha are talent-ed players and deserve a

chance to prove themselves. Wehope they utilise the platform to

the best,” said Sunil Yajaman,Tournament Director.

Prajesh Gunneswaran,Sasikumar Mukund, Sumit Nagal

and Ramkumar Ramanathanhave all got direct entries into

the main round. — PTI

Barcelona, Real Madrid beaten in Spanish CupMadrid, Feb. 7:Barcelona and RealMadrid both crashed outof the Copa del Rey asAthletic Bilbao and RealSociedad pulled off ashock Basque double toreach the semifinals.

Barca were beaten 1-0 byBilbao at San Mames,where Inaki Williamsheaded in a dramatic 93rd-minute winner, after LaReal had seen off Madrid4-3 in a seven-goal thrillerat the Santiago Bernabeuon Thursday.

Two sensational upsetsadded another layer ofexcitement to a competi-tion that has been full ofsurprises this season,with Bilbao and RealSociedad joining Granadaand second divisionMirandes in an unfamiliarline-up for the draw onFriday.

For Barca, defeat wasparticularly painful, com-ing at the end of a turbu-lent week that saw LionelMessi engage in a publicspat with the club’s sport-ing director Eric Abidaland Ousmane Dembeleruled out, probably for therest of the season, withanother hamstring tear.

To make matters worse,Gerard Pique hobbled offwith his own injury prob-lem in the second halfagainst Bilbao and looksdoubtful to face Real Betisin La Liga on Sunday.

Messi's riposte that“everyone should takeresponsibility for theirown decisions” afterAbidal suggested ErnestoValverde was sacked lastmonth because of theplayers, means Barcelonaare in political turmoil offthe pitch.

And the fear is Messicould even leave in thesummer by activating aclause in his contract thatallows him to walk awayfrom the club for free.

Defeat in the Copa delRey, a distant third inBarca’s list of prioritiesthis season, will not dic-tate Messi’s thinking butanother setback certainlyadds to the sense of a clubcurrently in crisis.

Quique Setien has losttwo of his opening sixgames in charge, with aChampions League tieagainst Napoli fast-approaching. The fall-outfrom another failure inEurope would provelonger-lasting.

For a rotated Madridside, who sit top of LaLiga, the loss against RealSociedad was perhaps lessdamaging, even if theyconceded as many goals in69 minutes as they had intheir last 11 matches puttogether.

Martin Odegaard, onloan at la Real but allowedto face his parent club,found the opener before

the superb Alexander Isakhit two to give RealSociedad a remarkable 3-0lead.

Marcelo and Rodrygoboth scored late in the sec-ond half and while MikelMerino added a fourth forthe visitors, a NachoFernandez header set up awild final three minutes,in which Andoni

Gorosabel was also sentoff. Ten-man RealSociedad held on for asuperb win to progress tothe last four whileMadrid's run without suc-cess in Spain's domesticcup extends to six years.

“It hurts, we have to behonest,” Madrid coachZinedine Zidane said.

— AFP

BIG TWO BOMB

Above: (from left) Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Sergi Roberto, Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and Frenchdefender Samuel Umtiti react after Athletic Bilbao’s Spanish forward Inaki Williams scored in their Spanish Copadel Rey (Kings Cup) quarterfinal at the San Mames stadium in Bilbao on Thursday.Below: Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi (left) reacts during the match. Real Madrid’s French coachZinedine Zidane (right) looks on during the Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Real Sociedad at the SantiagoBernabeu stadium in Madrid on Thursday. — AFP

North East raceinto PBL final

WOMEN PULL OUT OFASIAN BADMINTON

Captain creditsfitness for run

GANDHARV KAMALA | DCHYDERABAD, FEB. 7

The dream run of theNorth Eastern Warriorscontinued as they made itto their maiden PremierBadminton League final,defeating ChennaiSuperstarz (3 to -1) in thefifth season being playedat the Gachibowli IndoorStadium in Hyderabad onFriday.

The Indo-Thailand pairof Krishna PrasadGaraga and Bodin Isaraplaying for the Warriors,defeated the Indian duo ofB. Sumeeth Reddy andDhruv Kapila 15-13, 14-15,15-10 in their men’s dou-ble match to help theWarriors slay 2017 cham-pions Chennai.

Krishna and Bodinadded insult to the injuryas they won Chennai’strump match.

Earlier, Lee Cheuk Yiugot the Warriors off to agood start as he beatTommy Sugiarto of theChennai Superstarz inthe men’s singles. Yiu gotthe better of Sugiarto 15-12, 15-12, handing him hisfirst defeat of the league.

The World No.18 made astrong statement by win-ning the first four pointsof the opening game toput the Indonesian on thebackfoot. Sugiarto stolethree quick points tomake it 4-5. Both Yiu andSugiarto traded shots inan exciting encounterbefore the Hong Kongplayer taking the firstgame 15-12.

Not once in a match,that lasted 27 minutes, didthe World No.21 manageto get a lead over Yiu, los-ing the second game toowith an identical score-line of 12-15.

Earlier, in the openingmatch, the South Koreanpair of Lee Yong Dae andKim Ha Na, representingthe league-stage toppersWarriors got the better ofB. Sumeeth Reddy andJessica Pugh of theSuperstarz.

In a topsy-turvy rubber,

Dae and Na won the firstgame 15-12. But the Indo-Brit pair of Reddy andPugh were not goingdown without a fight.They took the secondgame 15-9 to make it onegame apiece. In thedecider, both teams con-tinued to draw a pointeach until the scores read14-14. With all to play for,the South Koreans heldonto their nerves to winthe final point and sealedthe match 15-14 in favourof the Warriors.

New Delhi, Feb. 7:Skipper Rani Rampalfeels the improved level offitness has played a keyrole in the Indianwomen’s hockey team’srecent success.

Last year marked aneventful season for theIndian women’s team as itbooked its ticket to 2020Olympics, where for thefirst time in the history ofthe game it will makeback-to-back appear-ances.

The team also scriptedcreditable victoriesagainst quality sides likeSpain, Ireland, Japan,China, Korea amongother countries last year,while defeating higherranked teams like NewZealand and GreatBritain in 2020.

“The starting of theOlympic year has beengood. Specially, becauselast year we managed toqualify for Tokyo. Sincethen women’s hockey’sgraph is going well. In thelast three years the teamhas done quite well,”Rani said.

The skipper feels SouthAfrican Wayne PatrickLombard, who wasappointed as the scientif-ic advisor of the women’steam in 2017, has made asignificant contributionin improving the fitness

level of the players, some-thing the squad hadlacked earlier.

“The combination of fit-ness and skill has beengreat. Earlier we used tolag behind in fitness. Butthat has improved in thelast three years. WayneLombard, has workedreally hard with the team,personally and individu-ally,” she said.

“In today’s time if thefitness is good we canplay well but if there is nofitness even the skillwon’t help,” she said.

Rani, who currently hasmore than 240 caps forIndia, feels the improvedlevel of fitness hasbrought a belief in theplayers that they can beatany team irrespective ofthe rankings.

— PTI

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 7:They are confident after astupendous debut at theFIH Pro League but Indiahave their task cut outwhen they host worldchampions Belgium intheir second round of thetournament, starting hereon Saturday.

After skipping the firstedition of the tournamentin 2019, India made adream debut at theLeague, collecting fivepoints from the openingtie against theNetherlands.

World number five Indiathrashed Netherlands 5-2in the opening match ofthe two-leg tie before beat-ing the Dutchmen 3-1 inshoot-out after both theteams were locked 3-3 atthe end of regulation timein the second match herelast month.

But since then, theManpreet Singh-led sidehas not featured in theleague so far, thus slippingto the number five inpoints table.

Belgium are currentlyleading the standings with11 points from four games,while Netherlands areplaced second with sevenpoints from as manymatches.

Australia are placedthird with six points fromsix points from fourgames, followed byGermany and India.

But irrespective of the

confident start, theIndians are expected toface a tough outingagainst Belgium at theKalinga Stadium, a venuewhere the Red Lions wontheir maiden FIH WorldCup in 2018.

Belgium, who recentlyreplaced Australia in thecoveted top position in the

world rankings, are brim-ming with confidenceafter wins over Australiaand New Zealand.

But the visiting teamskipper Thomas Brielshas no qualms in admit-ting that they are expect-ing a tough fight from thehosts India in the upcom-ing matches.

Briels believes India willbe a totally differentlyopponent, especially aftertheir morale-boosting winover Netherlands.

“India are looking reallysharp and they have beenplaying well which issomething we saw in theirinitial two matchesagainst the Dutch,” Brielshad said after arrivinghere.

“We expect a tough cou-ple of matches, and it’sgoing to be a good fight forus as well. Of course, weare wary of the threat thatthey (India) possess, butwe are really excited toplay a tough opponent likeIndia so we can improvefurther before theOlympics,” he said.

Even though India arethe hosts, Belgium are tak-ing confidence from thefact that the venueKalinga Stadium has beena happy hunting groundfor them.

“It feels really good to beback in the city where webecame the world champi-ons. We have some amaz-ing memories of playinghere, and it is always agreat spectacle when westep foot onto the turf atthe Kalinga HockeyStadium.”

India and Belgium haveplayed 10 times here withthe visitors coming out ontop on eight occasionswhile two games ended indraws. — PTI

POONACHA,KADHE GET

WILDCARDS

THE RESULTSReal Madrid 3(Marcelo 59, Rodrygo 81, Nacho Fernandez 90+3)Real Sociedad 4(Odegaard 22, Isak 54, 56, Merino 69)

Athletic Bilbao 1(Williams 90+3)Barcelona 0

India up against world champs

Indian captain Manpreet Singh and chief coach GrahamReid pose with the FIH Hockey Pro League Trophy inBhubaneswar on Friday.

Lee Cheuk Yiu of theNorth Eastern Warriorsplays a shot during hismatch against TommySugiarto of ChennaiSuperstarz in the firstsemifinal of the PremierBadminton League inHyderabad on Friday.

— DEEPAK DESHPANDE

CORONAVIRUSSCARE NIXESHOCKEY TOUR

The combination of fit-ness and skill has beengreat. Earlier we usedto lag behind in fitness.But that has improvedin the last three years.Wayne Lombard (scien-tific advisor), hasworked really hard withthe team, personallyand individually.

— RANI RAMPALIndian women’shockey captain

New Delhi, Feb. 7: Theoutbreak of the deadlyCoronavirus has forcedthe Indian women’shockey team to canceltheir tour of China, leav-ing the federation withthe difficult task of find-ing an opponent to com-pete with as part of itspreparation for theOlympics.

The Indian women’steam was scheduled totravel to China fromMarch 14 to 25. However,due to the fast-spreadingdisease, that has killedover 636 people andinfected at least 31,161, ithas been cancelled.

“We had to travel toChina but that has beencancelled due to thevirus. So a lot of teamsare also not available toplay with because theyare participating in thePro hockey league,”Indian skipper Ranisaid.

“Hockey India and ourcoaches are working outwhom to play,” sheadded.

With less than fivemonths left for theOlympics, time is cru-cial for preparing for thequadrennial event.

“For good preparation,you need to play withgood teams,” Raniadded.

— PTI

Hyderabad, Feb. 7: The Indian women’s team will notparticipate in the Badminton Asian Championships,scheduled to be played from February 11 to 16 inManila, Philippines, in view of the Coronavirus scare.

However, the men’s team will go ahead with theevent.

“Unforeseen health hazard apprehension due to theCorona Virus outbreak has resulted in withdrawal ofthe women’s team for the upcoming Badminton AsianChampionships,” Badminton Association of India(BAI) secretary Ajay Kumar Singhania said in a state-ment.

“BAI had reached out to the concerned authorities inBadminton Asia (BA) for assurances regarding thecurrent situation and necessary health advisory andprecautionary measures taken. After receiving com-plete assurances from BA, BAI had discussed the samewith the Indian squad, the men’s team agreed to traveland confirmed their participation. They will leave forManila on February 9. However, the women’s team waswithdrawn owing to concerns showed by parents andplayers,” the statement read.

● Krishna PrasadGaraga and BodinIsara of theWarriors beatChennai trumps B.Sumeeth Reddyand Dhruv Kapila toadd insult to injury.

vikari: thai 24 $50k crore petro tithi: modi vs rahul star ... · cmyk cmyk deccanchronicle.com,...

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