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NEARBY
India seeks Kartarpur
talks from July 11 to 14
NEW DELHI
Sano positions itself as the home of cricket in Japan
After weeks of an impasse on
the Kartarpur corridor, the Nondescript town is betting big on the sport to transform its fortunes as it grapples with demographic and economic decline
government has written to
Pakistan, proposing the next Pallavi Aiyar sport to transform its for Japan recently qualifi ed for and develop a cricketing of a declining birth rate com
round of talks to be held from Tokyo tunes as it grapples with de the fi rst time ever to play in ground in a city as congested bined with largescale migra
July 11 to 14 on the Pakistani Sano is a nondescript town mographic and economic the Under 19 Cricket World as the Japanese capital tion to big cities, this trend
side of the AttariWagah bang in the centre of Hon decline. Cup next year. would be impossible. Mr. Mi means hundreds of towns
border. “Meeting will discuss shu, the Japanese archipela How this unlikely turn of yaji cast around for other lo might disappear altogether.
draft agreement on modalities
for movement of pilgrims,” an
go’s largest island. Although events came to be is a story SPECIAL cations and settled on Sano, The national government
only about 80 km from the that includes entrepreneu a town he knew well, having has responded by providing
offi cial source said. capital, Tokyo, the town rial city hall offi cials, base The Japan Cricket Asso lived there for a few years. It a generous budget to region
NEWS A PAGE 10 could be another planet, as ball starsturned cricketers ciation ( JCA) was an organi ticked several boxes, being al bodies to invest in creative
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
sparsely populated and and a national government sation that existed only in within 100 km of Tokyo, on a ways to stem depopulation.
modest as Tokyo is fl ashy strategy to revitalise regional disembodied name until Mr. relatively fl at ground and, Cities and towns have taken
and thrumming. The abrupt economies, stirred in with a Miyaji, who’d learned to play most importantly, had a to vying with each other in
appearance on its outskirts dollop of serendipity in the cricket as a child during mayor who happened to be positioning themselves as
of an international standard form of a halfJapanese, half summer holidays in the U.K., casting about for strategies centres of arts and crafts,
cricket ground is therefore Scottish cricket enthusiast became its fi rst fulltime to revitalise the town. natural beauty or specialty
miragelike. But this is no called Naoki Alex Miyaji and chief executive in 2008. The Among Japan’s numerous foods to attract tourism and
optical illusion. Sano bills it his passion for Ramen noo JCA offi ce was at fi rst located demographic challenges, businesses.
self as the home of cricket in dles. It’s also a story with a in Tokyo, but it quickly be the depopulation of vast New arena: The abrupt appearance of a cricket ground
MAGAZINE A 32 PAGES (TABLOID) Japan, and is betting on the catchy headline, given that came apparent that to fi nd tracts ranks high. The result CONTINUED ON A PAGE 10 in the town of Sano is miragelike. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
*
Trump, Xi seal trade war truce
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Tiwari wants police squads ‘similar
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DELHI
Sunday, June 30
Timings
<
> Construction
The Hindu found that dif forward it them for action.” and is dumped in the open. Road, which reads: “Dump have got a mask only twice.” when she tried to overpow
ferent measures to control demolition waste is ing of waste or construction er him,” the offi cer said.
dust — a major cause of air Harmful eff ects being dumped Ground reality debris here is strictly prohi Steps to be taken Gidesh then started
pollution during summer — On one June afternoon, 59 across the city and The road between Moti Bagh bited.” The situation was no “There is a lot of exposed looking for valuables and
are not properly being en yearold Pramod Singh, sell and South Campus metro diff erent at construction earth across Delhi and dust cash on the ground fl oor af
strong action is
forced by multiple govern ing lemonade by the road stations has been dug up for sites. Near AIIMS, there are control measures are mostly ter which he went to the
needed against it.
ment agencies. between Moti Bagh and laying a pipeline. Mounds of over sixfeethigh mounds of not enforced. Also, C&D fi rst fl oor where Santosh’s
Spot checks on 12 loca South Campus metro sta Also, it should be earth and construction de soil as the New Delhi Munici waste is dumped in wet grandson and his wife were
tions in North, South and tions, stood next to a four recycled bris are left at multiple points pal Council (NDMC) is con lands, roads, and drains in sleeping. “On hearing the
East Delhi showed that dust feethigh mound of soil. The Bhure Lal along the road and there is structing a fountain along Delhi. This dust is more toxic commotion, the couple
Environment Pollution (Prevention and
control measures, including road was dug up and any Control) Authority Chairman mud even on the pavements. the road. Some children than the road dust,” said woke up and saw the ac
proper maintenance of pave vehicle passing through the “Use covering sheets were seen playing near it. head of ‘Clean Air’ pro cused. He said two of his
ments, covering construc stretch kicked dust. polluted cities are in India [plastic, tarpaulin, etc] on a “Sand and other fi ne aggre gramme at Centre for associates were downstairs
tion materials and sand, “Kam se kam 100g mitti with Delhi taking the sixth construction material heap gates should be stored in de Science and Environment, with their grandmother
DELHI TODAY were not being implemented andhar jaati he [at least 100g position, states the World that are easily airborne. Also, marcated areas and given a Delhi Anumita and they should part with
in many cases. Also, con of dust goes inside the body Health Organization. Air pol use them on C&D debris that covering,” reads the CPCB Roychowdhury. their belongings imme
Music: 12th Quarterly Baithak: “Le struction debris that contri daily],” Mr. Singh said, ad lution has been linked to is dumped at temporary stor guideline. “The rules have to be im diately,” the offi cer said.
gends of Tomorrow” a musical event
will feature sitar recital by Soumitra butes to dust, was found ding, “When there is a traffi c lung cancer, stroke, and age [construction] sites,” Two other works by Delhi plemented,” she added. En The couple shouted for
Thakur with Romaan Khan on tabla, dumped on the roads all jam, the dust will increase heart disease. states Central Pollution Con Jal Board and one by the vironment Pollution (Preven help following which Gi
Kathak recital by Shinjini Kulkarni these areas. Dust control and you won’t be able to During summer, dust from trol Board (CPCB) guidelines PWD were seen to not follow tion and Control) Authority desh got scared and locked
with Anubrata Chatterjee on tabla and
Zohaib Hassan on vocals and Ghulam norms were fl outed at over stand here. After work, I go soil, road, and construction for dust control issued in No the dust control measures. Chairman Bhure Lal said cur himself in a room, the pol
Mohd. on sarangi, at Triveni Kala six construction sites, in home and eat a piece of is responsible for 38% of the vember 2017. The NDMC and DJB did not rently C&D waste is being ice said. The couple then
Sangam, Mandi House, 6:30 p.m.
cluding government works. jaggery.” total PM 2.5 and 42% of PM The road between Rajen respond to these queries. dumped across the city and locked the door from out
Music: Daachi Waleya Modh Muhar On June 19, the Lieute Dust contributes to fi ne in 10 in Delhi, according to a dra Place and Karol Bagh me At all these sites, workers strong action is needed side and called the police.
Wey a nostalgic look at Prepartition
Punjab with tales from the agony of nantGovernor had directed halable particles called Par 2018 study by the Energy Re tro stations also suff ers a si were not seen wearing masks against it. Meanwhile, the couple
Partition told by artistes of Impresario diff erent agencies to take ac ticulate Matter (PM), which source Institute (TERI) and milar fate. which is mandatory as per “It should be recycled,” he went to see their grand
Asia and folk and sufi music by Piyush
Raj and others at Amaltas Hall, India tion on “illegal dumping” of can get into the lungs and Automotive Research Asso Standing next to a mound CPCB guidelines. said. “Proper sweeping and mother, who had passed.
Habitat Centre (IHC), 7 p.m. construction and demolition even into the bloodstream ciation of India (ARAI), of dug up earth, 36yearold Mohammad Masum (22) greening of roads and me “When the police opened
Exhibition: “Assemblage’19”, a (C&D) waste. This, however, and cause health problems. which has been quoted in Moti Lal, who drives a rented from Bihar and his friends dians will help to reduce lo the door, Gidesh was found
group show by the students of the is yet to materialise. “PM can lead to lung and Parliament documents. erickshaw, said: “If they can were demolishing a twosto cal dust lifting. Also, the im with his wrists slit. He was
Delhi School of Photography at Con
vention Centre Foyer, India Habitat Secretary at Department heart diseases, including Dust pollution is mainly dig this up night, why are rey house in south Patel Na plementation of existing rushed to a hospital where
Centre (IHC), 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. of Environment Sanjeev asthma, bronchitis and heart from two sources: the road they not fi xing it? Who will gar without any boots or sa rules is lacking,” said Polash he is undergoing treat
Screening: 24th edition of European Khirwar said, “The land attacks,” said a senior consul from where dust gets kicked fi x it now?” fety masks. Mukerjee, lead, air quality ment. Santosh was de
Union Film Festival will showcase a owning agencies such as tant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospi up in the air, especially from On more than a dozen lo “When I cough, the spu and climate resilience at In clared brought dead,” the
boutique of 23 latest, awardwinning
European fi lms at Gulmohar Hall and PWD and civic bodies have to tal Ashwani Mehta. “An in streets that dug up or not as cations, construction debris tum has mitti [mud] in it,” he dia Programme of the Natu offi cer said.
Stein Auditorium, India Habitat implement the dust control creasing number of people in phalted. Second is from con was found to dumped illegal said, adding that he gets ral Resources Defense Coun A case has been regis
Centre (IHC) and Instituto Cervantes,
48, Hanuman Road, 7 p.m. measures and they can im Delhi are suff ering nasal al struction activities where ly on busy roads and even cough almost once every cil, a USbased tered and further investiga
(Mail your listings for this column pose fi nes. But if any specifi c lergies also due to dust,” he dust control measures are under a board erected by month. “I have been working environmental advocacy tion is under way, the pol
at cityeditordelhi@thehindu.co.in) case is pointed out, we will added. World’s top 14 most not being followed and waste PWD in Vande Mataram for the past seven years but group. ice added.
Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).
Regd. DL(ND)11/6110/20060708 RNI No. UPENG/1986/49939 ISSN 0971 751X Vol. 9 No. 26
● ● ● ●
CM A ND-NDE
YK
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THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
CITY 3
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IN BRIEF
Minors held for killing
2 of family, driver killed on Delhi-Meerut Expressway Man plans
armed robbery,
youth, dumping body
10 others injured as the vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a water tanker on NH24 arrested in
Kin donate
NEW DELHI
Two minors have been held
for allegedly strangulating Hemani Bhandari shoot-out
one Nitin Mishra (20) in NEW DELHI
(East) Jasmeet Singh, adding
that twothree of them are
evening, he had gone to meet
our sister in Jor Bagh, after eyes of two
Anand Vihar on Wednesday, Staff Reporter
Twelve members of a family still critical. which he went to Uttam Na
the police said on Saturday. NEW DELHI
were on their way to Nainital The family said that they gar to pick them [the Jains] Staff Reporter
The accused, who also
dumped the body in a drain,
for a twoday vacation when had planned the trip about up,” said his younger brother NEW DELHI A 32yearold man has
said that the victim used to the vehicle they were travell fi ve days ago, as the children Manjeet Singh. The families of two of the been arrested following a
bully them and had ing in hit a private tanker on in the family wanted to go on Mr. Manjeet also claimed three persons killed in the shootout near Akshard
suspected them of stealing Friday night, killing the driv one. “Ms. Poonam’s children that Nishan had been a driver accident on NH24 on Fri ham on Friday night, the
his money on the day of the er and two members on Del had asked Mr. Sudershan to for the last fi ve years and was day night have donated the police said on Saturday.
incident. hiMeerut Expressway near take them on a trip. They had working with a private travel eyes of the deceased. On the They said that he has been
East Delhi’s Kalyanpuri. booked the minibus from a house for last one year. “He other hand, one of the sur planning to commit armed
The Jain family — Premwati private travel house two days did not drink and had never vivors, who sustained inju robberies in Delhi.
Police patrol: eight held
(63), her son Sudershan (44), ago. They had left for Nainital met with an accident. We are ries in the incident, has lost DCP (Special Cell) P.S.
in Outer North district
his wife Kumud (38), their on Friday night and had wondering what happened,” an eye. Kushwah said that accused
NEW DELHI
Eight persons, including a
children Sonu (10), Monu (13) planned to return on Monday the brother said. The tempo traveller, Mohd Rihan alias Shamim
minor and a proclaimed and Sneha (15), Sudershan’s The vehicle in which the family was travelling, at Kalyanpuri. morning,” said Mr. Suder DCP Singh also said that a which the Jains were travell was out on bail in a 2018
offender, were held during sister Poonam (36), her hus *
R.V. MOORTHY shan’s paternal uncle, Vimal case on charges of rash driv ing in, hit a water tanker dacoity case in which he
routine patrolling in Outer band Mukesh (39), their chil Jain. ing and causing death by ne from behind killing two was arrested along with
North district on Friday night, dren Lovish (14) and Khusboo the other 10 sustained severe reached the spot within mi The Jains are in the busi gligence has been registered members of the family and four accomplices for alleg
DCP Gaurav Sharma said, (17), and Sudershan’s cousins injuries in the incident. nutes. Locals, however, had ness of property dealing and and the driver of the water their driver, Nishan Singh. edly looting ₹ 8.9 lakh from
adding that pistols, stolen Priyanka (21) and Anurag (16) managed to pull all the 12 fa have been staying as a joint tanker has been arrested. Nishan’s family has donated a Gandhi Nagar trader. Ri
vehicles were recovered from — had left their house in Ut Local rushed to help mily members out of the veh family in Uttam Nagar for the “The driver, Santosh Yadav his eyes and the Jains have han’s accomplice Mohd
them among other articles. tam Nagar with the hired Over 100 police personnel icle by then. The driver, who last 35 years, Mr. Vimal said. (34), a resident of Mandawali, donated Mukesh’s eyes. Vi Mujeeb was arrested on
Two of the accused have been driver Nishan Singh (34), a re reached the spot after a PCR was stuck between the seat Nishan’s family said that who had fl ed the spot, has mal Jain, a relative of the June 17 and he had said that
found involved in cases sident of Tilak Nagar, around call was made about the acci and the steering wheel, had he was a divorcee and is sur been arrested. He said that Jains, said: “He is critical. Rihan was “desperately at
registered by the NIA, the 10.30 p.m. dent around 12 a.m. A police to be pulled out slowly,” the vived by his fi veyearold son the tanker was moving slowly Doctors said he will not be tempting to commit rob
police said. When they reached NH24, offi cer said that it took nearly offi cer said. who studies at a private due to a faulty clutch and that able to see from his left eye beries to pay his debt and
their minibus hit a tanker oneandahalfhour to pull All the injured people were school in Tilak Nagar. “On the minibus hit the vehicle .”While Mukesh’s wife Poo fund court proceedings”.
from behind. The impact was the driver out of the vehicle. rushed to diff erent hospitals, Friday morning, he had re from behind. The actual nam is critical and is un The police received a
Police such that the front portion of
the vehicle got completely
“As a routine patrol was being
conducted on Friday night,
including Lal Bahadur Shastri
and MAX, where Nishan
turned from Manali, but did
not come home and instead
cause of the accident will, ho
wever, only become clear af
aware that her husband is
no more, Sudershan does
tipoff that Rihan was com
ing to NH24 to commit
patrolling damaged. Nishan, Mukesh,
and Monu were killed while
most of the policemen de
ployed in the district had
Singh, Mukesh and Monu suc
cumbed to injuries, said DCP
went to Gurdwara Damdama
Sahib and slept there. In the
ter further investigation,” Mr.
Singh said.
not know that he has lost his
son.
robbery and would also
meet his accomplices near
conducted Khel Gaon bus stand. They
laid a trap and when they
across city Traders stage protest as NDMC holds Man held for trying to kill live-in-partner spotted the accused, he
was asked to surrender.
“He immediately fi red at
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI mock drill for pedestrianisation in CP Accused hit woman on the head, locked room and fl ed
them and the police had to
fi re in self defence. Rihan
Delhi Police Commissioner sustained injuries and was
Amulya Patnaik, along Staff Reporter The police registered a case accused allegedly revealed apprehended,” Mr. Kush
with Special Commissioner Vehicular movement to be restricted today, tomorrow NEW DELHI and started to look for the that the victim is his cou wah said. A loaded pistol
(Law & Order), conducted A 32yearold man has been accused. “Technical surveil sin’s wife and the two had with three live cartridges
general patrolling across Press Trust of India arrested for allegedly trying lance was mounted on his been living together since was seized from him.
the city on Friday night in New Delhi to kill his livein partner in number. The photo of the the last twothree months.
cluding areas where crime Traders in Connaught Place outer north Delhi’s Narela, suspect was also shown Arjun also told the police
was recently reported. on Saturday staged protest as the police said on Saturday. around. The landlord said that the relationship had be
The police assessed the the New Delhi Municipal DCP (Outer North) Gau that the man had identifi ed come a burden for him and
possibility of enhancing Council (NDMC) conducted a rav Sharma said that ac himself as Arun,” Mr. Shar he wanted to get rid of the
police visibility to prevent mock drill for the pedestrian cused Arjun Baitha, who ma said. woman. “Late on June 22,
recurrence of crime and al isation of the shopping hub hails from Bihar, allegedly With the help of techni he hit her on the head with
so identifi ed stretches that on Sunday and Monday. attempted to kill his livein cal surveillance, the police a stone while she was sleep
required rearrangement of Traders who are miff ed partner Reeta at their rent came to know that the man ing, locked the room and
deployment to plug the with the NDMC allegedly for A trader removes a traffi c cone placed by the civic body in ed accommodation. They had switched off his phone left,” the offi cer said.
gaps. not keeping them in confi Connaught Place on Saturday. R.V. MOORTHY *
have been living in the in Dehradun. They said that
Around 16,000 vehicles dence about the plan, re house since a few months, the accused was fi nally Landlord booked
were checked, they said. moved barricades placed by NDMC plans to execute its tweaked its earlier plan.Con he said. nabbed from his sister’s The police have also booked
Nearly 3,000 people were the civic body. Vehicular pedestrianisation plan. naught Place market along The police said that on house in Dehradun’s Sub the landlord for not con
bound down, while 185 movement to Connaught Traders had raised objec with Chandni Chowk were June 22, the woman, who hash Nagar where he had ducting tenant verifi cation
were checked for legal ac Place will be restricted this tion to the plan following one of the locations initially was severely injured, was been hiding. while renting out the ac
tion, the police added. Sunday and Monday as the which the NDMC had chosen for pedestrianisation. found locked inside a room. During interrogation, the commodation.
THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
CITY 5
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IN BRIEF
Sewer tragedy: two missing AAP has become a laughing
stock, says BJP leader
workers yet to be traced
R.V. MOORTHY
Nadda says it has ‘grabbed power’ by making ‘false promises’
No respite from heat One employee of contractor fi rm held; authorities not doing enough, allege kin Staff Reporter
for Delhiites
<
> Delhi, being the
‘Operator did not close the
New Delhi
Staff Reporter national capital,
NEW DELHI
There was no respite from
New Delhi BJP national working presi needs a leadership
the heat for the Capital on Nearly 32 hours after three dent J.P. Nadda on Saturday
which has a serious
gates of drain, ran away’
Saturday as the maximum people fell unconscious in a claimed that the Aam Aadmi
vision for the city... I
temperature was recorded at 30footdeep Delhi Jal Board Party (AAP) had become a
sewer line in Keshopur, west “laughing stock” even as he am fully confi dent
42.3 degrees Celsius, five
degrees above the normal on Delhi, on Friday, fate of two alleged it had “grabbed pow that we [BJP] will
Saturday. Similar weather still remains unclear. Mean Doing so would have saved lives of fellow workers: survivor er” by making “false promis succeed
conditions are expected to while, the police on Saturday es” and needed to be dis J.P. Nadda
BJP national working president
prevail on Sunday. The arrested a man associated Nikhil M Babu lodged.
humidity level oscillated with a contractor fi rm that New Delhi The leader was address
between 28% and 55% even was involved with the work. On June 28, after three la ing the party’s State working Delhi,” the BJP leader said. lal asked workers to ensure
as a partly cloudy sky, with Body of one worker, iden bourers fell unconscious in a committee meeting at the Delhi BJP president Manoj that the party’s soontobe
the possibility of thundery tifi ed as Shahrukh, was reco Delhi Jal Board sewer line in Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar In Tiwari presided over the launched membership cam
development, were forecast vered on Friday. The two Keshopur, Mohammad Im ternational Centre here. meeting which also had na paign made it possible for
for Sunday, according to the ran, 19, ran to the man oper Other senior party lead tional vicepresidents the party to “enter every
other labourers — Kumar, 24,
Met Department.
and Ankit, 19 — were washed ating the gates of the drain ers took the opportunity to Shyam Jaju, Dushyant Gau house”.
away and are still missing. that fl owed into the sewer. blame both the Congress, tam, former Union Minister Delhi BJP president Manoj
Gopal Rai inaugurates Imran said he begged him which helmed three succes Vijay Goel, Leader of the Op Tiwari claimed that the AAP
“Rescue operations has
two mohalla clinics
been called off for the day to close the gates but the op sive governments in the position in Delhi Assembly had “failed” to address what
NEW DELHI
and it will restart from 7 a.m. erator ran away. Capital before the AAP, be Vijender Gupta, MPs Mee he termed was an “acute wa
Labour Minister Gopal Rai on
Saturday inaugurated two tomorrow [Sunday]. The “After they [three worker] fore passing a resolution to nakshi Lekhi, Ramesh Bid ter crisis” in the city and an
mohalla clinics in his two persons are stuck in the fell unconscious, I ran and “take the achievements of huri, Pravesh Verma, Hans nounced that the BJP had
Assembly constituency of pipeline, but chances of told him [operator] that peo The broken lock of the room which has the controls to the the Narendra Modiled go Raj Hans and Pradesh gener prepared a “detailed plan”
Babarpur in NorthEast Delhi their survival are bleak,” a ple are trapped inside and gates. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
* vernment to the people of al secretary Ravinder Gupta, to address the problems be
here amid a protest by BJP Delhi Fire Service offi cial asked him to close the gates Delhi” and “dislodging the who conducted the meeting, ing faced by the Capital
workers.After the event, Mr. said. [to stop the infl ow of water]. workers got washed away in drowning,” he said. Two pe government of liars” that in attendance. faces.
Rai shared a video of the But he closed the room to the pipeline,” Imran said ople were washed away and the Delhi government had “There is enough water in
protest on Twitter and sought No safety gears which controls the four outside the mortuary of chances of their survival are become. Membership campaign Yamuna which fl ows
to know “why the BJP is “We have registered an FIR gates and ran away,” Imran Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospi very less. Mr. Nadda listed the public through Delhi but people are
scared of opening of a against the contractors S.K. said, adding, “If the gates tal in west Delhi while wait Though workers said that ‘Serious vision’ welfare schemes of the Na not being supplied water.
mohalla clinic”. Enterprises and Sara Enter were closed, the three could ing for Shahrukh’s body. the gates were operated by Mr. Nadda exuded confi rendra Modiled govern When Kejriwal came to pow
prises who were doing the have been saved.” On Saturday, the door to the Irrigation and Flood dence about the BJP forming ment and congratulated the er, there were 6,800 buses
Airline directed to pay work. The workers did not the room which controls the Control Department, Nikhil the government in Delhi. party’s Delhi unit for its per in the fl eet of the DTC but to
₹ 79,000 compensation have any safety gears, ac Broke open the gates gates, was found to be open Kumar, Secretary of the de “They [the AAP] have be formance in the recent Lok day there are only 3,800
NEW DELHI
cording to other workers’ Imran then tried to go down and its lock broken. partment said that it cannot come a laughing stock. Del Sabha election in which par buses by paralysing the tran
A district consumer disputes statement,” said Deputy the sewer line using a rope, Ramrup Chaudhary, 51, be confi rmed at this point. hi, being the national capi ty won all the seven seats in sport system...People are
redressal forum here has but fell almost unconscious
Commissioner of Police who runs a tea shop next to “Drains in Delhi are under tal, needs a leadership the Capital with signifi cant suff ering due to 15 years’
directed an international
(West) Monika Bhardwaj. due to the gases and was the gates, said he had seen diff erent agencies and we which has a serious vision margins. Congress rule and now 5
airline to pay ₹ 79,000
The DJB had given the pulled up. He, along with his the workers breaking open cannot confi rm whether this for the city...I am fully confi The party’s national se years of Kejriwal’s misgover
compensation to a Delhi
project to Engineers India Li friends, broke open the the door of the room with a is under our department. dent that we will succeed in cretary [organisation] Ram nance,” Mr. Tiwari said.
based couple after it
allegedly downgraded them mited (EIL) and said that DJB room and fi nally closed the hammer. Things would be clear once
to economy class despite “only monitors” the work gates. Ram Lakhan, 25, who was EIL [Engineers India Limit
having booked business class
tickets. The consumer panel
and there is no “daytoday
interference” of the govern
“After we closed the gates,
the water fl ow decreased
also working at the sewer
line said, “The water fl owed
ed] submits a report,” he
said. Court acquits BJP wants panel to look
said, “The inconvenience, ment agency. and Shahrukh’s body was re in very fast leading to the The DJB had given the
man in
harassment and
compensation, we are of the
The Delhi Jal Board was
constructing ‘Interceptor
covered. But the other two death of one worker by project to EIL.
murder case
into ‘ad blitz’ on free rides
considered view that the Sewer Project’, which takes
downgrading from business sewage from drains and at its opening, the police is about 40 feet under the handed over to the family af Accuses Kejriwal of wasting money
class seat to economy class pumps it to a Sewage Treat said. He inhaled poisonous surface and it is very diffi cult ter postmortem. Mean Nirnimesh Kumar
was on account of last minute ment Plant (STP) through gases emanating from the to dig that deep. Also, we while, families of the two New Delhi Staff Reporter coming Assembly elections
‘aircraft change’ on account pipelines. drain and felt nauseous. cannot let a man crawl persons who were washed A court here has acquitted New Delhi that he has gone on an ad
of some technical fault, which When he signalled others to through the pipeline to look away in the pipeline com a man in a murder case as The BJP on Saturday urged vertising blitz on the pro
necessitated such change.” Poisonous gases pull him up, two workers for the body because of the plained that the authorities the complainant as well as LieutenantGovernor Anil posed scheme without even
According to workers, Shah went in. sludge and poisonous gases were not doing enough. The all the fi ve eyewitness Baijal to set up an enquiry submitting the mandatory
rukh went inside the drain to The other labourers were in the pipeline,” a DFS offi cer EIL has formed a committee turned hostile. committee to examine proposal to the Centre and
DPCC seals get a measurement of an
iron grill that had to be fi xed
washed away, offi cials said.
“The pipeline at some parts
said.
Shahrukh’s body was
to look into the accident and
will submit it to the DJB.
The material evidence — whether an “advertising
blitz” over free metro and
consulting the Union Urban
Development Ministry,” Mr.
CCTV footage, recovery of
three more the crime weapon, attack DTC rides for women vio
lates existing Supreme
Gupta alleged.
“An advertising blitz is be
marks on the accused’s
‘polluting’ DU aspirants turn up for yoga trials for 10 seats kurta and the postmortem
report — were also of
Court guidelines delineated
for the Delhi government.
ing carried out whilst no se
rious technical feasibility
factories Confusion prevails over selection criteria; ‘reduction in number of seats unfortunate’
doubtful value prompting The party also asked the LG study has been carried out.
the court to give the benefi t to seek report from the pa He [Mr. Kejriwal] over
Press Trust of India of doubt and acquit the nel within three days. looked the fact that both the
New Delhi
Builder told to pay over ₹ 20 lakh compensation
Had ‘arbitrarily’ altered the specifi cations of Gurugram fl at booked in 2012
to only three bedrooms. The signing the agreement, the
<
> While signing the
Staff Reporter
New Delhi
agreement, the defi ciency in service and un complainant was shocked to
A private real estate develop complainant was fair trade practice on the fi nd out that the fl oor plan
er was directed to pay over part of the developer stands annexed was only of three
shocked to fi nd out
₹ 20 lakh compensation to a established.” bedrooms,” read the
that the fl oor plan
homebuyer after it was al The directions came when complaint.
leged that the developers annexed was only a Lucknowbased couple ap It was further alleged that
failed to deliver possession of three bedrooms proached the consumer pa despite alerting the develop
of a property booked in Gu Complaint nel alleging defi ciency on the ers, they failed to rectify the
rugram in 2012. part of Imperia Structures Li fl oor plans.
It was alleged that the de dressal Forum said: “The evi mited. “Under good faith Directing compensation
veloper had “arbitrarily” al dence on record shows that and in absolute belief about to the complainant, the fo
tered the specifi cations of the complainant had booked site plans shown, the com rum additionally observed
the fl at. a unit having three be plainants booked a threebe that the developer had failed
Holding the developers drooms with a servant room, droom plus one servant to “explain” why the location
defi cient in services, the whereas the developer has room fl at, which was to be of the fl at booked was
State Consumer Disputes Re arbitrarily changed the same constructed. However, while changed “unilaterally”.
CM
YK
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THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
Indomitable spirit
Move likely to benefi t BJP in upcoming byelections to 12 Assembly seats
Indo-Asian News Service hujan Samaj Party. declaring the move uncon
Lucknow This, incidentally, is the stitutional and void.
The Yogi Adityanath govern third time that the State go Another attempt was
ment in Uttar Pradesh has in vernment will be making an made in 2012 when Akhilesh
cluded 17 communities be attempt on the issue. Pre Yadav came to power and a
longing to the Other viously, both, the SP and BSP highlevel committee, head
Backward Classes in the governments had attempted ed by the then Chief Secre
Scheduled Castes list. to include these groups in tary Jawed Usmani, sought
A decision to this eff ect the SC category but failed to details from the Department
was taken late Friday night do so due to legal of Social Welfare in this re
and authorities have been di intervention. gard. The circular from the
rected to issue certifi cate to Yogi Adityanath *
FILE PHOTO The fi rst attempt was Chief Secretary on March 28,
families belonging to these made by the Mulayam Singh 2012, spoke about the go
17 castes. past. The move will leave Yadav regime when it vernment’s priorities, in
The additions are — Nish greater space in the OBC qu brought a resolution in cluding the inclusion of as
ad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, ota for the remaining OBC 2004. The then SP govern many as 17 OBC subcastes
Kashyap, Bhar, Dhivar, Bath caste groups. ment amended the U.P. Pu within the SC category. The
am, Machua, Prajapati, Rajb blic Services Act, 1994, to in matter, however, was reject
har, Kahar, Pottar, Dhimar, 15-year-old demand clude as many as 17 OBC ed by the Centre.
Manjhi, Tuhaha and Gaur. This is also the fulfi lment of a communities in the SC cate The BSP, however, vehe
This move is seen as an at 15yearold demand by these gory. Since the power to de mently opposed the idea
tempt by the Adityanath go 17 caste groups. clare any caste as SC rests and demanded increase in
vernment to provide these Coming before the by with the Centre, the then SC quota from the present
socially and economically elections to 12 Assembly State government’s decision, quantum in the changed sce
backward classes with the seats in the State, the move is taken without the Centre’s nario. It also termed the
benefi ts of reservation after likely to benefi t the BJP and consent, proved futile. move as a “conspiracy to di
First woman pellet victim Insha Mushtaq clapping during the fi rst cricket tournament for the visually impaired in Srinagar, on
removing legal irritants that further erode the vote base The Allahabad High Court lute the reservation quota
Saturday. NISSAR AHMAD
*
Irrigation hit as projects Odisha puts all District Collectors on rain alert
damaged in Odisha Lowpressure area may concentrate into a depression over north Bay of Bengal
‘₹ 176.30 crore ed through these projects. Staff Reporter or waterlogging situation
“At present, minor irriga BHUBANESWAR that may arise in the event of
needed to make tion projects cover 4.77 lakh The Odisha government on extremely heavy rainfall.
them functional’ ha of area in the State. As Saturday put all the 30 Dis The Collectors have been
many as 141 projects are trict Collectors on alert as advised to keep a close
Staff Reporter completely defunct and 393 the State is likely to receive watch on the situation.
BHUBANESWAR minor irrigation projects are heavy to very heavy rain ov The SRC offi ce said the
Irrigation in 35,260 hectares partially damaged. Irriga er the next three days due to rainfall, which would begin
of crop land has been aff ect tion has been aff ected in a lowpressure area that may in some southern Odisha dis
ed as 534 minor irrigation 35,260 ha of crop land,” said concentrate into a depres tricts from Saturday night,
projects have either become Mr. Das. The State govern sion over the Bay of Bengal. would continue in the west
defunct or suff ered partial ment required ₹ 176.30 crore In an emergency message, ern districts till Tuesday. Al
damage, admitted the Od to make these projects func Special Relief Commissioner most all districts are likely to
isha government. tional again, he said. Bishnupada Sethi said that Monsoon rain clouds hovering over Bhubaneswar. * FILE PHOTO be impacted. “Squally
To a query on minor irri Of the 35,260 hectares of the India Meteorological De weather with wind speed
gation projects, Water Re the aff ected area, 10,152 hec partment sources indicated ing the subsequent 48 hours. administrative machinery of reaching 4050 km per hour
source Secretary Raghunan tares fall in Ganjam, Chief a lowpressure area was like Under its infl uence, en all districts, especially Kala is likely to prevail over north
dan Das said that the State Minister Naveen Patnaik’s ly to form over north Bay of hanced rainfall is likely to handi, Kandhamal, Gajapati, and westcentral Bay of Ben
has total 3,822 minor irriga home district. Here, 21 mi Bengal and its neighbour take place over Odisha dis Ganjam, Nabarangpur, May gal during June 30 to July 2
tion projects in 29 districts nor projects are completely hood during the next 24 tricts, he added. urbhanj, Malkangiri and Ba and whoever in deep sea is
and 5,54,090 hectares of ir damaged and 191 partially hours, which may concen Issuing the advisory to the lasore, should remain alert advised to return to coast to
rigation potential was creat damaged. trate into a depression dur Collectors, the SRC said the to meet any localised fl ood night,” states the advisory.
8 SOUTH
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DELHI THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
IN BRIEF
After CMs meet, A.P., Telangana Ola, Uber defy
Karnataka
diktat, off er
move ahead on assetsharing rideshares
Rajnath, Jagan review
naval projects in A.P.
Offi cials to meet again in 10 days; transfer norms for staff to be made easier Special Correspondent
Bengaluru
VISAKHAPATNAM
Defence Minister Rajnath
M.L.Melly Maitreyi Appbased taxi aggregators
Singh and A.P. Chief Minister
HYDERABAD Ola and Uber continued to
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Offi cials of both Andhra Pra off er the ride share option Minister M. Sankar Narayana, left, and Collector S.
Saturday reviewed the desh and Telangana govern on their platforms on Sa Satyanarayana with family members of the victim. *
R.V.S. PRASAD
progress of ongoing ments met for the second turday, a day after the
infrastructure projects and
proposals of the Indian Navy
in the State. Mr. Singh
day at Pragathi Bhavan here
on Saturday to discuss issues
related to division of assets
Transport Department di
rected them to shut down
the service on the ground
Transfusion of wrong
directed officials to continue
proactive civilMilitary
synergies and cooperation.
of Schedule IX and X institu
tions which are corpora
tions, cooperatives and oth
Assessing assets: Offi cials of A.P. and Telangana at a meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday.
ing is to see what has been and wait for their guidance plies Corporation. Barring
that it violated the Karnata
ka On Demand Transporta
tion Technology Aggrega
blood type kills woman
er organisations listed in resolved so far, what is stuck and decisions, after which RTC and a few other institu tors Rule, 2016.
20 ‘illegal’ structures the Andhra Pradesh Reor and how they can be taken they would meet again in a tions, both States agreed to The bone of contention A.P. government suspends several staff
identified in A.P. ganisation Act that have hit a forward,” an offi cial source week to 10 days. abide by the Shila Bhide is the picking up and drop
VIJAYAWADA
roadblock. One of the factors said. The issues pertaining to Committee ping of passengers along a Special Correspondent suff er extreme complica
The A.P. Capital Region
Development Authority has
involved is relaxation of The meeting was a follow Schedule IX institutions are recommendations. route, as city buses do. ANANTAPUR tions and was rushed to the
identified at least 20 norms for staff transfer. up to the deliberations held about the defi nition of ‘head The division of assets of “In the city, only the A young woman who had hospital’s Intensive Care
properties on the banks of Chief Secretaries of both in a positive environment quarters building,’ which led Schedule IX and X institu Bangalore Metropolitan just become a mother died Unit.
the Krishna that have been States and Principal Secre created by the meeting of to the stalemate in the divi tions had become knotty be Transport Corporation has at the Anantapur Govern In the early hours of June
built allegedly in violation of taries of Finance and Gener Chief Ministers K. Chandra sion of RTC assets and divi cause of the diff ering stands a stage carriage licence to ment General Hospital in 27, doctors told Bano’s hus
the river conservation laws al Administration depart sekhar Rao and Y.S. Jagan sion of AP Bhavan in Delhi. taken by the Andhra Pradesh operate buses. Taxis can Andhra Pradesh on Thurs band Habibullah that his
and building rules. The CRDA ments and State mohan Reddy on Friday. Other unresolved issues and Telangana governments. operate ondemand servic day after being wrongly ad wife died after suff ering a
had issued notices to the Reorganisation Cells met to The offi cials would brief were division of employees “Now that an amicable es from point A to B, but ministered a wrong blood heart attack.
owners of a few properties discuss bifurcationrelated the Chief Ministers and fl ag of Transco and Genco and mood is prevailing, the two they are not allowed to type, in a shocking case of
and given a week’s time to issues. contentious issues, and also payment of dues of over States may opt for via media pick up or drop passengers medical callousness that is Cover-up begins
explain their position. “The purpose of the meet suggest possible solutions ₹ 1,700 crore to AP Civil Sup options,” sources added. en route. If ride share is sending ripples across the Suspecting medical negli
provided from one point to establishment. The woman, gence, Bano’s family refused
another, we have no objec Akhtar Bano, was 32 years to take her body for three
KPSC: Governor returns Kerala Tourism launches
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Perfect sync
Ordinance yet again app to fi nd nearest toilet
Karnataka to table Bill in legislature It has already listed 750 toilets
Special Correspondent barrassment to the JD(S) S. Anil Radhakrishnan restaurants, petrol pumps,
Bengaluru Congress coalition govern THIRUVANANTHAPURAM public toilets, wayside
Following Karnataka Gover ment in the State. The Go Searching for a toilet need amenities, shopping malls,
nor Vajubhai R. Vala return vernor is learnt to have not be a worrisome expe museums/galleries, railway
ing the State’s recommenda directed the government to rience in God’s Own Coun stations and restaurants.
tion to promulgate an place The Karnataka Civil try any more. The link will be incorpo
Ordinance — to protect 28 Services (Protection of Ser All that one has to do is to rated in the offi cial Kerala
gazetted offi cers of the 1998 vice of Persons Appointed in search online on the Kerala Tourism website https://
batch, selected by the Kar Pursuance to Final Selection Tourism website or down www.keralatourism.org
nataka Public Service Com List Published by Selection load the mobile app and de and the offi cial mobile app.
mission (KPSC) — for the se Authority) Ordinance Bill, tails of the toilets near your The facility is to be launched
cond time, the government 2019, in the next session of location will be available. in July, Director of Tourism,
is now planning to table a the legislature. Not just the location of P. Balkiran said.
Bill in the coming legislature He is learnt to have writ the toilet, but pictures of the
session. ten on the fi le that there commode, whether it is an Based on foreign apps
Law and Parliamentary should be a detailed discus Indian or a western toilet, a Modelled on the lines of the
Aff airs Minister G. Para sion on the matter in both photograph of the institu mobile apps widely used in
meshwara, who confi rmed Houses of the legislature. tion, working hours and ho the U.S., the U.K. and Aus
that the Governor had re The State Cabinet had in lidays, access to the public if tralia to locate toilets, the in
turned the fi le pertaining to May decided to promulgate it is attached to a hotel or tention is to provide precise
the recommendation for Or an Ordinance for providing restaurant and whether it is information, including tim
dinance, said the govern employment to 28 candi womanfriendly or not will ings, to travellers, especially
ment will now place the is dates who were denied the also be made available. women, and to make travel
sue in the legislature session opportunity to join as gazet Users can also rate the fa hasslefree.
beginning July 12. ted probationer Group ‘A’ cility. The online tagging of the
and ‘B’ posts in 200506 on The 750 toilets, mapped 750 toilets with geocodes
Major embarrassment their selection in the 1998 on the basis of a fi eld visit has been executed by Invis
The Governor’s refusal to batch of KPSC owing to al All on board: Sailors arriving for the Yachting Association of India Senior Multiclass Ranking Sailing Championship2019, at the and survey, has been Multimedia, the IT solution
promulgate the Ordinance leged irregularities in re Hussainsagar Lake in Hyderabad on Saturday. The event will be hosted by the EME Sailing Association in July. G. RAMAKRISHNA * grouped into categories provider of Kerala Tourism,
twice has caused major em cruitment. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC such as hotels, homestays, for ₹ 33.04 lakh.
March 2020 date set for
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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
NATION 9
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IN BRIEF
Only 20% of Nirbhaya Fund has been used by States until 2018
Centre pumped in more this year (38.17%). However, the go the money it received for
vernment data shows more compensating victims of
despite the poor show of some States money was utilised by Chan gender based violence.
digarh than what was allo However, despite a poor
JAGRITI CHANDRA crore has been spent by va cated to it under Central Vic record by States in using the
Working Women’s SUMANT SEN
Forum founder dead rious States and UTs on dif tim Compensation Fund as money given to them, the
NEW DELHI
CHENNAI
ferent schemes launched by well as Women Helpline Centre has continued to
Jaya Arunachalam, founder of The States and Union Terri the Centre as well as other Scheme. pump in more cash for
Working Women’s Forum tories have utilised less than schemes for which the local The worst fi ve States in schemes like One Stop
(WWF) and a pioneer of the 20% of the budget allocated governments sought funds. clude Manipur, Maharash Scheme as well as Universal
women’s selfhelp group to them under the Nirbhaya The Nirbhaya Fund was tra, Lakshadweep – which isation of Women Helpline
movement in the country, Fund for safety of women by set up by the UPAII in the af didn’t spend even a single Scheme — which provides
died on Saturday. She was 87. the Central government bet termath of the gangrape of a penny – and were followed for a single national helpline
Dr. Arunachalam helped lakhs ween 2015 and 2018, accord paramedical student in a by West Bengal (0.76%) and 181 linked with One Stop
of poor women to organise ing to offi cial data. moving bus in New Delhi in Delhi (0.84%). Centres for women in
themselves in becoming A sum of ₹ 1,813 crore has December 2012 with an in Delhi, which was at the distress.
financially independent. She been disbursed by the itial corpus of ₹ 1,000 crore. centre of nationwide prot Some of the glaring exam
was awarded the Padma Shri Centre from 2015 to 2019. Of The Fund supports schemes ests following the 2012 gan ples include Bihar, which
in 1987, and bagged the this, The Hindu analysed de for safety of women, and ov grape setting the wheels in did not use even a single ru
Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2009 tails of ₹ 854.66 crore dis er the past six years it has motion for introducing the pee out of ₹ 5.20 crore for
for contributing to the bursed until 2018, for which swelled to ₹ 3,600 crore Fund, didn’t use any money One Stop Centres between
welfare of women and utilisation details were made through allocation in the Fi for three of the four schemes 2015 and 2019 but was grant
children.
available by the Minister of nance Budgets. under which it was allocated ed ₹ 3.9 crore again in 2019
Doctor beaten up by Women and Child Develop Though the Fund was in allocated money include Stop Scheme, Mahila Police ney across various schemes a total sum of ₹ 35 crore. and 2020. Similarly, Uttar
patient’s family in U.P. ment Smriti Irani to the Lok stituted in 2013, its disburse Emergency Response Sup Volunteer, and Universalisa under the Nirbhaya Fund These include schemes for Pradesh didn’t use any mo
UTTAR PRADESH
Sabha on Friday. ment gathered pace only port System, Central Victim tion of Women Helpline were Chandigarh (59.83%), emergency support, women ney from ₹ 1.91 crore given to
A doctor at a Community As per the data, of the from 2015. Compensation Fund, Cyber Scheme. Mizoram (56.32%), Uttarak helpline, and cyber crime it for the Women Helpline
Health Centre was beaten up ₹ 854.66 crore released by The key schemes under Crime Prevention against The top fi ve States ranked hand (51.68%), Andhra Pra prevention. The national Scheme, yet it was granted
by family members of a the Centre, a mere ₹ 165.48 which the States have been Women and Children, One in terms of utilisation of mo desh (43.23%) and Nagaland capital used a mere 3.41% of ₹ 46.5 lakh again in 2019.
patient who alleged that the
doctor was drunk while
Accused in murder of
Odisha Congress
candidate arrested
Staff Reporter
BERHAMPUR
Bhagaban Sahu, prime accused in the murder
of Congress candidate from Odisha’s Aska As
sembly Constituency, Manoj Kumar Jena, was
arrested by Berhampur police on Saturday.
The Congress candidate had been mur
dered in Berhampur on May 22, a day before
the counting of votes. Police had earlier ar
rested seven persons in relation to this case.
But Sahu, the prime conspirator behind the
murder, had absconded. Sahu, a liquor trad
er, had used hired killers to murder Jena. Sahu
now has seven criminal cases pending against
him, including fi ve murder cases.
According to the fi ndings of investigating
police offi cers, a longstanding tussle over cri
minal activities and the liquor trade were the
reason behind this murder.
Balaji Telefi lms on Saturday said it had decid
ed to change the title of its upcoming feature
‘Mental Hai Kya’ after the Censor Board re
portedly had raised objections.
The Prakash Kovelamudidirected thriller,
starring Rajkummar Rao and Kangana Ra
naut, has been at the receiving end for quite
some time with many people calling the title
derogatory and insensitive to mentallychal
lenged persons.
The banner said the title had been changed
to ‘Judgementall Hai Kya’.
“Given the sensitivity attached to mental
health and our intention of not off ending
anyone’s sentiments, the makers have decid
ed to change the title.
“Both Kangana and Rajkummar have out
done themselves in this thriller and we can’t
wait for audiences to witness it on the big
screen,” it said.
The movie is set to release on July 26.
CM
YK
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10 NEWS
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DELHI THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
Sano becomes home
Cong. resignations clock 200 India seeks Kartarpur
talks from July 11 to 14
Party spokesperson denies it was a way to show the door to the old guard
of cricket in Japan Special Correspondent itiated by erstwhile Youth
Meeting to discuss draft agreement
New Delhi Congress functionaries, was Suhasini Haidar “We will continue to work
As resignations of national a way to push out the old New Delhi for early operationalisation
and State functionaries of guard in the party. “In our After weeks of an impasse of the Kartarpur Corridor
the Congress continue to huge family of the Congress, on the Kartarpur corridor, and keeping it functional all
pour in, more leaders have diff erent people have diff e the government has written year round,” Ministry spo
come out with the demand rent ways to express their re to Pakistan, proposing the kesperson Raveesh Kumar
that Rahul Gandhi stay as quest,” Mr. Khera said. next round of talks to be said on June 20. However,
party president. Party general secretary in held from July 11 to 14 on the talks had been put off as In
Among the latest to join charge of Madhya Pradesh Pakistani side of the Attari dia had sought “clarifi ca
the list of leaders who re Dipak Babaria, Goa unit Wagah border. tions” on several issues in
signed are Chhattisgarh gen chief Girish Chodankar, Del “The meeting would dis cluding whether to build a
eral secretary incharge P.L. hi unit’s working president cuss the draft agreement on bridge or a causeway over
Punia and Kisan Congress Rajesh Lilothia and Telanga the modalities for move the Ravi, proposed caps on
President Nana Patole. Ac Rahul Gandhi must stay, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera na unit’s working president ment of pilgrims along the pilgrim numbers, and the
cording to sources, nearly said at a press conference on Saturday. FILE PHOTO *
Ponnam Prabhakar were Kartarpur corridor and re presence of Khalistani sepa
200 offi cebearers have quit among the 140 odd function solve outstanding technical ratists in key posts of the
Sporting spirit: Children playing inside a cricket dome set up so far. of the party said. The mass won in the recent Assembly aries who quit on Friday. issues related to alignment gurdwara committee in Pa
at a shopping mall in Tokyo. SANO CRICKET CHALLENGE
*
As many as 36 offi cebear resignations come more election. and infrastructure along the kistan. Asked if the new In
ers of the Uttar Pradesh Con than a month after Mr. Gand “Everybody in the Con No study corridor,” an offi cial source dian proposal for dates
But what do you do when forts. But they also managed gress Committee resigned on hi announced his decision to gress has only one request “The stalemate has conti said. meant that the issues had
you are not particularly pic to introduce the sport into Saturday. quit on May 25 at the Con and one desire that Rahul nued far too long. The fi rst The government’s deci now been resolved, a source
turesque, historic or artsy? the regular curriculum of gress Working Committee Gandhi should continue as step we should have taken sion to propose the fourth said that the move “shows
Sano, whose population has six local schools. Given that Moral responsibility meeting in New Delhi. our party president. The post the debacle was to do a round of talks came a week India’s commitment to the
declined from about the JCA conducts regular Congress leader in the Legis Many of those who re Congress Working Commit forensic study of the reasons after the External Aff airs Mi corridor”.
1,30,000 to 1,16,000 over cricket camps in other lative Council Deepak Singh, signed on Friday are de tee too passed a resolution why we lost the election so nistry said Prime Minister “India has also asked Pa
the last decade, was grap schools as well, a youngster the State unit’s senior vice manding that the entire Con saying so. Many other State badly. For every constituen Narendra Modi wrote to his kistan to increase the num
pling with this question and in Sano today has a more president Ranjit Singh Judev, gress Working Committee be units too have passed a simi cy there is a diff erent reason Pakistan counterpart Imran ber of pilgrims under the
the best answer its elected than even chance of at least general secretary Aradhna disbanded and offi cebear lar resolution,” Congress for our performance. And Khan. Mr. Modi wrote that 1974 bilateral Protocol who
leaders had managed to knowing the basics of the Mishra Mona, vicepresident ers of the 17 States where spokesperson Pawan Khera the more we postpone this India was keen on seeing the visit annually various reli
come up with was outlet sport. That’s a far cry from a R.P. Tripathi and many oth Congress did not win a single told presspersons on Satur exercise the more we will corridor completed in time gious shrines in Pakistan on
malls. But this was before few years ago. The Deputy ers have resigned taking mo seat be dismissed. day. lose out,” a top Congress for the 550th birth anniver the occasion of Guru Nanak
they met Mr. Miyaji. Mayor, Eisaku Kato, said ral responsibility for the par Those States include Ra He rejected reports that leader said. sary of Sikh founder Guru Dev Jayanti, to 10,000 this
The JCA CEO began to that when he fi rst heard ty’s defeat, an offi cial release jasthan, which the party the mass resignations, in (With PTI inputs) Nanak in November. year,” the source said.
work Sano’s corridors of about cricket he thought it
power through contacts was a type of biscuit.
made with the help of the
owner of his favourite Ra Changing bats Trinamool CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
PM Modi to
men restaurant, Nikkoken. A recent development that
leader killed It’s a celebration visit Varanasi
The restaurant was a hub for has taken cricket into the
all those with a penchant for national headlines is a cou
noodles in pork broth, ple of the country’s baseball in Hooghly on July 6
which more or less included stars deciding to try their
everyone in town. hand at cricket. Baseball is Special Correspondent PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
“I met Miyaji san and Japan’s most popular sport. Kolkata Varanasi
came to know that this sport In January 2018, Shogo Kim A Trinamool Congress Prime Minister Narendra
called cricket had an inter ura who had played in the leader was shot dead on Sa Modi will visit his Lok Sab
national viewership that Japanese Professional Base turday morning in Hooghly ha constituency Varanasi
could compare to soccer,” ball League from 2003 to district of West Bengal. The on July 6, the BJP said on
recalled Kenji Yajima, the 2017, decided to shift to victim, Dilip Ram, was the Saturday.
chairman of the Sano Cham cricket. Only four months husband of a Trinamool The Prime Minister
ber of Commerce. A 2018 In later he was selected for Ja gram panchayat pradhan, would launch the party’s
ternational Cricket Council pan’s national cricket team. Ritu Ram. membership drive besides
survey showed that the Twentyoneyearold Mu Party Hooghly district a tree plantation cam
sport has over one billion sashi Yamamoto runs his president Tapan Dasgupta paign, said Navratan Rathi,
fans globally. “I was hand through his bleached and the wife of the de local media cell incharge
stunned. I thought why not blonde hair while revealing ceased blamed local BJP of the BJP. The plantation
use this to help develop our that he was inspired by Mr. supporters for the murder. drive will be held along the
town also,” he said. Kimura when he too decid “He was threatened multi Panchkoshi route. Around
Mr. Yajima was aware of ed to exchange his baseball ple times. We had in 10,000 students would join
other Japanese cities that bat for cricket’s willow last formed the police about the PM, he said.
had latched onto niche year. Mr. Yamamoto, who the threats but they did not Mr. Rathi said Mr. Modi
sports. He alluded to Sappo had played professional ba take any initiative for his would also address party
ro, on Hokkaido island, that seball for Yokohama DeNA protection,” Mr. Dasgupta workers at Rameshwaram
has promoted itself as a cur BayStars, moved to Sano said. The local Trinamool on the outskirts of the city,
ling centre. “If they can use two months ago to begin leadership called for a for which preparations
curling, we can use cricket,” cricket training. He is still bandh at Chinsurah on were in full swing. Mr. Mo
he concluded. puzzling over rules like Sunday. Hooghly BJP MP di’s visit, second after win
Mr. Yajima teamed up LBW, but said that he’s gra Locket Chatterjee rub ning the Lok Sabha poll,
with Sano Mayor Masahide dually beginning to appre bished the allegations say will coincide with the birth
Okabe to set up a cricket ciate the nuances of the ing feuds within the ruling anniversary of Bharatiya Ja
supporters’ club that includ sport beyond just hitting the party over “cut money” led Collective trek: Sadhus waiting to get themselves registered for the Amarnath Yatra at a base camp in Jammu on Saturday. *
PTI na Sangh founder Syama
ed prominent local busi ball. to the the violence. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC Prasad Mookerjee.
nesses (the number current How much any of this will
ly stands at 120 companies, help revive Sano’s fortunes
Shah’s statement opens J&K debate
up from an original 40). remains up in the air. It
Their aim was to fi nd the
funds necessary to develop
could end up as a boundary,
but equally be out caught.
Chargesheet in Pehlu
the sport in Sano. The open
ing of the Sano International
“For us, it’s a feeling that we
can use an internationally Khan case sparks row
Cricket ground in 2016 — the famous sport to help Sano Karan Singh says not just Article 370, but many provisions too were temporary
fi rst dedicated cricket pitch develop an international CM denies he has been named accused
in Japan to meet interna profi le,” said Mr. Yajima. Vijaita Singh For this major change, the
tional standards — was the “Our cricket ground is the New Delhi Supreme Court will have to
crowning glory of these ef Lord’s of Japan.” Jammu & Kashmir’s former take the fi nal decision. There
head of State and senior are confl icting legal opinions
Congress leader Karan Singh and it ought to be challenged
Prime Minister holds said many provisions in the
Constitution were tempor
ary in nature and even the
in the SC,” he said.
Onus on Assembly
THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
NEWS 11
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
G20 resolves to free Internet of extremism
Says that it must Modi hard sells
not be a terror
safe haven Ayushman
Press Trust of India Bharat, yoga
Osaka
Prime Minister Narendra Press Trust of India
Modi and other G20 leaders Osaka
on Saturday resolved to pre Prime Minister Narendra
vent the use of the Internet Modi on Saturday used the
to fund and facilitate terro G20 Summit here to pro
rism and extremism, saying mote India’s traditional
that while the Internet must healing practices, yoga and
be “open, free and secure”, his fl agship Ayushman
it could not serve as a safe Bharat health scheme.
haven for terrorists. Mr. Modi took part in a
In a statement after the special session on empo
Osaka summit, the leaders
said they were committed to
protecting people from vio
werment of women. The
session witnessed an in
depth dialogue on how to
‘One nation, one ration
lent extremism conducive to
terrorism, or VECT, through Power point: World leaders at the 3rd Session of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan on Saturday. *
PTI
further women’s empo
werment and work to card’ from July 1, 2020
the exploitation of the Inter wards gender equality.
net. tion of the Internet,” the land that killed 51 people, human rights and the free achieved in a way that is Speaking at the third Aadhaar linkage needed for it to work
statement said. and other recent atrocities, dom of expression and ac consistent with national and session of the G20 Summit,
Citizens’ security “We issue this statement demonstrated the urgency cess to information. The In international law, including Mr. Modi mentioned AY Special Correspondent taka, Kerala, Maharashtra,
“As leaders, one of our to raise the bar of expecta with “which we must fully ternet must not be a safe human rights and funda USH (Alternative and Tra NEW DELHI Rajasthan, Telangana and
greatest responsibilities is to tion for online platforms to implement relevant UN re haven for terrorists to re mental freedoms such as ditional System of Medi The ‘One nation, one ration Tripura already off er this
ensure the security of our ci do their part. We, the lead solutions, the UN Global cruit, incite or prepare ter freedom of expression and cine) and Ayushman card’ scheme, which will al portability, Mr. Paswan said.
tizens. It is the state’s role, ers of the G20, reaffi rm our Counter Terrorism Strategy rorist acts. access to information — we Bharat. low portability of food se Delhi had begun imple
fi rst and foremost, to pre strongest condemnation of and other instruments, in “We urge online plat hold these in high regard. The UN General As curity benefi ts, will be avail menting portability, but was
vent and combat terrorism. terrorism in all its forms and cluding the 2017 Hamburg forms to adhere to the core We commit to collaborate sembly in 2014 adopted an able across the country stopped for technical rea
Here in Osaka, we reaffi rm manifestations.” G20 Leaders’ Statement on principle, as affi rmed in with states, international or Indialed resolution declar from July 1, 2020. This sons. The States such as Hi
our commitment to act to The G20 leaders said the Countering Terrorism.” Hamburg, that the rule of ganisations, industry, and ing June 21 ‘International means poor migrant work machal Pradesh, Madhya
protect our people from ter livestreamed Christchurch The leaders agreed that law applies online as it does civil society in this endea Day of Yoga’, recognising ers will be able to buy subsi Pradesh, Jammu and Kash
rorist and VECT exploita terrorist attacks in New Zea such eff orts must respect offl ine. This must be vour,” they said. that “yoga provides a holis dised rice and wheat from mir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu
tic approach to health and any ration shop in the coun could easily implement the
wellbeing”. try if their ration cards are scheme, as they had PoS
linked to Aadhaar. machines in all the ration
Act against fugitive economic off enders: India Pushing the fi ve As
“PM @narendramodi at
the 3rd Session of #G20 — 5
All the States have been
given one more year to use
pointofsale (PoS) machines
shops.
A senior Ministry offi cial
clarifi ed that migrants
A’s are well known in in the ration shops and im would only be eligible for
We strongly feel that we as a global community must act in unison to deal with the issue: Prabhu Health Services: Accessi plement the scheme, Food the subsidies supported by
ble, Aff ordable, Appro Minister Ram Vilas Paswan the Centre, which include
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA economic off ences and fugi Prabhu said the reasons had number of people. Many priate, Accountable and told presspersons on Satur rice sold at ₹ 3 a kg and
Osaka tive off enders running away been communicated to Ja transactions are happening Adaptable. To this, India day. Already, more than 85% wheat at ₹ 2 a kg. Even if a
India has pitched strongly [from the country]. We have panese Prime Minister Shin through the digital forms.” has added: AYUSH and Ay of people covered under the benefi ciary moved to a State
to deal with fugitive eco also been very strongly zo Abe. Mr. Prabhu, Railway Mi ushman Bharat — world’s National Food Security Act where grains were given
nomic off enders and Prime championing this,” Mr. nister in the fi rst term of the largest health insurance (NFSA) have their cards free, that person would not
Minister Narendra Modi has Prabhu told a press confe Digital economy NDA government, said the scheme,” External Aff airs linked to Aadhaar, he said. be able to access those be
fl agged the issue at all global rence, giving details of the But he clarifi ed that India Railways had almost 8.1 bil Ministry spokesperson Ra While Aadhaar linkage is nefi ts, as they were funded
forums, the country’s Sher deliberations. strongly believed in digital lion passengers a year, and veesh Kumar said. not necessary to access the by the State exchequer.
pa to G20, Suresh Prabhu, “We strongly feel that we economy and had taken a many of them buy tickets “Emphasised on health NFSA benefi ts in a benefi In a bid to reduce nutri
said on Saturday. as a global community must Suresh Prabhu host of measures, including through digital platforms. care, including traditional ciary’s local ration shop tion defi ciencies among be
“We strongly put forward act in unison to deal with a huge number of bank ac “So, digital is something healing measures, yoga closest to her home address, nefi ciaries, the Centre
the need to deal with fugi such issues of people com sons after the G20 Sherpas’ counts, to give it a thrust. which we all believe in, we and our present eff orts like it will be necessary to access would roll out a pilot project
tive economic off enders. It mitting economic off ences meeting. “India has a very massive have a market which is the world’s largest health the portability scheme, se in 15 districts to fortify rice
has been a strong agenda, and running away from Asked why India did not programme on digital tran growing including the e care programme, Ayush nior Food Ministry offi cials with iron, folic acid and vita
we have been working on their national domicile join the Osaka declaration sactions. We have opened commerce market,” Mr. man Bharat,” Mr. Modi said said. mins A and B12. It would be
tax evasion, corruption, country,” he told pressper on digital economy, Mr. bank accounts of a large Prabhu said. on Twitter. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, available in ration shops
Haryana, Jharkhand, Karna from November.
New GST return fi ling system from Oct.
Focus on simplifi cation of procedures and crackdown on tax evasion: Sushil Modi
Special Correspondent was held after eight months, mat called “Sugam” is ready
Bengaluru the gap largely due to the en for those in businesstocon
A new return fi ling mechan forcement of the model code sumer and businesstobusi
ism — Goods and Service Tax during the Lok Sabha ness. Businessmen having an
2.0 — will be rolled out from election. annual turnover of more
October 2019 for big busi Mr. Modi said traders and than ₹ 5 crore will have to fi le
nessmen and from January businessmen having zero returns every month, Mr.
2020 for small businessmen. transactions or nil fi lers Modi said.
The GST, which is enter could now fi le returns Noting that Infosys had
ing the third year from July 1, through SMS. developed the GST software,
2019, will be focussing on Those dealing with busi Mr. Modi said online refund
simplifi cation of procedures, Sushil Modi nesstoconsumer with an from one source (central)
compliance and crackdown annual turnover of less than and online refunding pro
on tax evasion, said Bihar The GST registered an av ₹ 5 crore a year would have a cess would be completed by
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil erage monthly collection of new format, “Sahaj”, and September 2019. Currently,
Modi, who chaired a Group ₹ 91,334 crore in the past 21 they could fi le returns once exporters have been facing
of Ministers’ meeting here months. in four months. many diffi culties in receiving
on Saturday. The meeting of the GoM A new single return for export refunding, he said.
IN BRIEF
CPI(ML) veteran
Santosh Rana dead
He was an awardwinning writer
Special Correspondent
Sushma Swaraj vacates Kolkata
offi cial residence
NEW DELHI
Santosh Rana, one of the fo
Former External Affairs remost leaders of the Com
Minister Sushma Swaraj has munist Party of India (Mar
vacated her official residence xistLeninist), major thinker
8 Safdarjung Lane. “I have on caste, class and tribal
moved out of my official politics in West Bengal and
residence 8 Safdarjung Lane, winner of a top literary
New Delhi. Please note that I award in the State, passed
am not contactable on the away in Kolkata on Satur Santosh Rana
earlier address and phone day. He was 76.
numbers,” she tweeted. Ms. Mr. Rana, who grew up in (ML) (Provisional Central
Swaraj, who has long been rural Gopibhallavpur, was Committee). He was elected
the BJP’s most prominent doing his Ph.D. in Physics at its general secretary.
woman face, did not contest the Calcutta University Mr. Rana spent a signifi
the recent Lok Sabha poll. PTI when he joined the CPI(M cant time in prison during
L), led by Charu Majumdar, the 1970s and was released
Indiaassisted ITbiotech in the late 1960s. He led an during the general amnesty
park opens in Cote d’Ivoire armed peasant uprising in for political prisoners at the
NEW DELHI
his native DebraGopiballav end of the Emergency,
The Mahatma Gandhi IT and pur region of Bengal. when the Left Front came to
Biotechnology Park, a
Mr. Rana was one of the power in West Bengal.
dedicated free trade zone
fi rst leaders of the original CPIML (PCC) was one of
built with India’s assistance,
CPI(ML), along with Satyan the very fi rst Naxalite
has been inaugurated in Cote
d’Ivoire. The facility was
arayan Singh of Bihar, to groups to participate in elec
jointly inaugurated by the diff er with Mr. Majumdar on tions. In 1977, while still in
Ambassador of India and Cote a number of key political prison, Mr. Rana created
d’Ivoire Vice-President Daniel questions such as the anni history by contesting and
Kablan Duccan at a ceremony hilation of class enemies winning the Assembly elec
in Grand-Bassam, Cote and election boycott. tion from Gopibhallavpur,
d’Ivoire, on Thursday, the Mr. Rana and Mr. Singh where he had led an armed
Ministry of External Affairs eventually formed a breaka uprising only a few years be
said in statement. PTI way faction called the CPI fore.
CM
YK
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Trump off ers to meet N. Korea’s Kim A conciliatory tone at G20
Proposes ‘handshake’ meet at the demilitarised zone on NorthSouth border; Pyongyang welcomes it U.S. President showed readiness to cooperate on major issues
Reuters esting suggestion, but we will be a threeway meeting Stanly Johny
OSAKA/SEOUL have not received an offi cial with Mr. Kim and South Ko
P
U.S. President Donald proposal,” Choe Sonhui, rean President Moon Jaein resident Donald
Trump proposed a weekend North Korea’s fi rst ViceMi on Sunday. “Were going to Trump went to Osaka
meeting with Kim Jongun at nister of Foreign Aff airs, said see.” as tensions, especially
the demilitarised zone in a statement, state news U.S. special envoy Ste trade ones, were on the rise
(DMZ) between North and agency KCNA said. phen Biegun said on Friday between the U.S. and several
South Korea on Saturday, an “If the DPRKU.S. summit that the U.S. was ready to other countries, both its
encounter North Korea said meetings take place on the hold constructive talks with friends and foes.
would be meaningful in ad division line, as is intended North Korea to follow A day before the summit
vancing relations if it goes by President Trump, it through on a denuclearisa opened, he fi red a salvo on
ahead. would serve as another mea tion agreement they reached India, saying India’s tariff s
If Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim ningful occasion in further last year, South Korea’s Fo are unacceptable. Mr.
do meet, it will be for the deepening the personal rela reign Ministry said. Trump had been critical of
third time in just over a year, tions between the two lead Mr. Biegun told his South Japan’s trade practices as
and four months since their ers and advancing the bilat Korean counterpart, Lee Do well and has also launched a Talking big: President Donald Trump in Osaka on Saturday. *
AP
second summit broke down eral relations,” Ms. Choe hoon, that Washington want tariff war with China. Be
with no progress on U.S. ef Promoting peace: A banner in Seoul showing photos of said. ed to make “simultaneous, sides, the talks his adminis Mr. Trump’s most remar came on Saturday early
forts to press North Korea to North Korean leader Kim Jongun, South Korean President Later, Mr. Trump told a parallel” progress on the tration initiated with North kable turnaround was on morning when Mr. Trump
give up its nuclear weapons. Moon Jaein and U.S. President Donald Trump. AFP *
news conference: “We may agreement reached at a sum Korea have been stalled for China with which the U.S. tweeted that he was ready to
North Korea said that a be meeting with Chairman mit between Mr. Trump and months, while the U.S. was had a $378.6 billion trade meet North Korean leader
weekend meeting between mit in Osaka, Japan. “While be fi ne,” he said, adding he Kim... Kim Jongun was very Mr. Kim in Singapore in June on the brink of a war with defi cit in 2018. After trade Kim Jongun in the demilitar
Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump, who there, if Chairman Kim of and Mr. Kim “get along very receptive.” last year, the Ministry said in Iran a few days earlier. But at talks between the two sides ised zone between the North
is scheduled to return to North Korea sees this, I well”. He added: “We won’t call a statement. G20, despite these tensions, collapsed in May, he had and South Koreas. Talks bet
Washington on Sunday, would meet him at the Bor it a summit. We’ll call it a Both sides had agreed to the world saw a more conci threatened to impose tariff s ween the U.S. and North Ko
would be “meaningful”, alth der/DMZ just to shake his ‘Meaningful meet’ handshake,” and said he establish new relations and liatory Trump. on the $300 billion worth rea have stalled after the Ha
ough it had not had an offi hand and say Hello(?)!” Mr. About fi ve hours after Mr. would be very comfortable work towards denuclearisa Chinese products that are noi summit of Mr. Trump
cial proposal. Trump said, later telling re Trump’s off er, a senior North stepping over the border in tion of the Korean peninsula ‘Deal in the offi ng’ currently spared in the tariff and Mr. Kim in February
Mr. Trump made the off er porters his off er was a spur Korean offi cial said a summit to North Korea if he met Mr. but talks stalled in February In two days, he held talks war. The U.S. accuses China failed to produce any result.
to meet Mr. Kim in a com ofthemoment idea: “I just between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim at the DMZ. as the two sides failed to nar with a host of leaders, in of wrong trade practices, Mr. Trump’s sudden call for
ment on Twitter about his thought of it this morning.” Kim in the DMZ would be “We’re working things out row diff erences between U.S. cluding Prime Minister Na currency manipulation and another meeting suggests
trip to South Korea, where “If he's there, we’ll see “meaningful” in advancing right now,” Mr. Trump said calls for denuclearisation rendra Modi, Vladimir Putin technology theft. that he’s keen on pursuing
he landed on Saturday after each other for two minutes, relations. after his arrival in Seoul, and North Korean demands of Russia, Xi Jinping of China the diplomatic route with
wrapping up the G20 sum that’s all we can, but that will “We see it as a very inter when asked whether there for sanctions relief. and Shinzo Abe of Japan. Be NEWS ANALYSIS North Korea despite the re
fore the crucial talks with cent setback.
Mr. Modi, he said that “a ve The Trump administra
ELSEWHERE
China proposes 5G tieup with India, Russia ry big deal” with India was in
the offi ng. “I think we were
going to have some very big
tion has slapped 25% addi
tional tariff s on $200 billion
of Chinese goods, prompt
Attack on journalists
While the U.S. President
dialled down tensions and
things to announce. Very big ing Beijing to retaliate. After appeared more willing to
Xi calls for expanding cooperation in high technology, connectivity and energy trade deal,” he observed. trade talks failed, the U.S. work with world leaders to
Later, both India and the had launched a global cam resolve diff erences and dis
Atul Aneja other areas,” Xinhua report countries, deliberated on unilateralism had seriously U.S. said the leaders had a paign against Chinese tele putes, there’s one section of
Beijing ed. He also called for reform counterterrorism, and relat aff ected the stability of the “productive” meeting on communication giant people he continued to at
Chinese President Xi Jinping ing the World Trade Organi ed common security issues, global landscape, dragged subjects such as trade, 5G Huawei. tack even in Osaka — journal
on Friday pitched for a part zation (WTO), based on during the Shanghai Cooper down world economic technology, energy security ists. “Fake news is a great
nership with New Delhi and consensus. ation Organisation (SCO) growth, and exerted a nega and the Iran crisis. Talks with Xi term isn’t it,” he joked with
Haftar vows to attack Moscow for expanding a Mr. Xi also proposed dur summit held in Bishkek, tive impact that cannot be ig In the case of Japan, Mr. In talks on Saturday, both Mr. Putin, referring to his fa
Turkish assets in Libya joint footprint in the ing the meeting that the Kyrgyzstan. nored on the international Trump had repeatedly at Mr. Trump and Chinese Pre vourite attack on America’s
BENGHAZI cyberspace. three countries should be The trio will meet again in order on which emerging tacked Tokyo for the trade sident Xi agreed to resume liberal media.
Libyan strongman Khalifa In his remarks at the Rus come guardians of “global Vladivostok at the Eastern market countries and deve imbalance. In 2018, the U.S. trade talks. Mr. Trump said When journalists sur
Haftar has threatened to siaIndiaChina (RIC) trilater and regional peace and sta Economic Forum, where Mr. loping countries depend. had a trade defi cit of $67 bil the U.S. would hold off on rounded Mr. Trump and Mr.
attack Turkish interests in
al on the sidelines of the G20 bility”. Without going into Modi will be the chief guest. The Chinese President al lion with Japan while the to further tariff s and allow Putin with questions after
Libya after suff ering a serious
summit in Osaka, Japan, Mr. details, he said the trio Mr. Xi said the three coun so stressed that the three tal trade stood at about $220 American companies to sell their meeting, the former
setback in his push to take
Xi urged the three countries, should “advocate a com tries should jointly combat countries need to promote a billion. At Osaka, Mr. Abe hitech equipment to Hua even quipped: “Get rid of
the capital Tripoli, accusing
Ankara of backing his rivals.
in the presence of Prime Mi mon, comprehensive, coop terrorism in all forms, and multipolar world and make provided the U.S. President wei, a key demand from Chi them.” And then he asked
He accused militias backing nister Narendra Modi and erative and sustainable se work together to address international relations more with a list of recent Japanese na. In return, China would the Russian leader, “You
the Tripolibased President Vladimir Putin, to curity concept…” global challenges such as cli democratic. The three lead investments in the U.S. “We buy large amounts of U.S. don’t have this problem in
Government of National “expand cooperation in 5G Earlier this month, the mate change and cyberse ers decided to institutional are very very happy about farm goods. Russia, but we do,” to which
Accord of executing his network, high technology, three leaders, along with curity. He pointed out that ise their “informal summit” that,” Mr. Trump told repor The most surprising an Mr. Putin responded, “We al
wounded troops . AFP connectivity, energy and heads of fi ve other Eurasian the rise of protectionism and on the sidelines of the G20. ters about the list. nouncement, however, so have. It’s the same.”
‘Nobody has blamed MBS
for Khashoggi murder’
OSAKA
U.S. President Donald Trump
said on Saturday that he is
Liberal, proLGBT ideas are being
“extremely angry” about the
murder of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi but that
imposed on the majority: Putin
nobody had “pointed a
fi nger” at Crown Prince Russian President defends law banning gay propaganda
Mohammed bin Salman. The
comments came despite a Agence France-Presse nomenon, his victory, this is
recent report that judged it Osaka why unhappy people take to
“inconceivable” that the Russian President Vladimir streets in Western Europe.”
Prince was unaware. AFP Putin on Saturday blasted While everyone is blam
ideas of freedom of sexuality ing Russia for political med
Taliban kills 25 progovt
and gender identity, saying dling, these are the real
Afghan militia members
KABUL
that they are being forced on “deep reasons” for discon
At least 25 progovernment an unwilling majority, lead tent, he said.
militia members were killed ing to political changes like Mr. John on Friday ad
in a Taliban attack in northern the election of Donald dressed Mr. Putin with a se
Afghanistan on Saturday, Trump. Russian President ries of tweets after Mr. Putin
offi cials said, as the U.S. was Speaking at a press confe Vladimir Putin. AFP * said Russia had “no pro
due to start a new round of rence following the G20 blem” with LGBT people
talks with the militants in summit in Japan, Mr. Putin said. “There are all kinds of and wants everyone to be
Qatar. The attack happened said Western liberalism is things now — they came up happy. Mr. John said it did
in Nahrin district of Baghlan “devouring itself ” and de with six or fi ve genders: not match Russia’s actions,
province before dawn. AFP fended Russia’s ban on “gay transformers, trans... I don’t following recent censorship
propaganda”, after criticism even understand what it is.” of his fi lm Rocketman.
Turkey confi dent of
averting U.S. sanctions from musician Elton John. He said parts of society But Mr. Putin on Saturday
OSAKA
are “rather aggressively said Mr. John is a “musical
Turkish President Recep ‘An overreach’ coercing” the majority to ac genius” who is “wrong”.
Tayyip Erdogan said on “In some European coun cept new attitudes. “You “We have a very calm atti
Saturday that he was tries, parents are told that can’t impose your point of tude about LGBT communi
confi dent there would be no girls can no longer wear view by force,” he said. “Re ty,” he said. “We have a law
U.S. sanctions against Turkey skirts to school? What is presentatives of the liberal everyone criticises us for,
over a Russian missile deal, this?” he said in a rambling idea impose certain sexual the law on banning propa
following reassurances from monologue blasting policies education in schools, pa ganda of homosexuality to
Donald Trump. Ankara's push meant to encourage tole rents don’t want it and are minors... But listen, let a per
to buy Moscow’s S400 rance. “There is a real over practically jailed... people son grow up, become an
missile system has strained reach and this liberal idea are fed up,” he said. “This adult, and decide who he is.
ties between allies. AFP begins devouring itself,” he may explain the Trump phe Leave the children alone.”
Dubai’s Princess Haya ‘Russian offi cial in U.K.
fl ees UAE with children staged Salisbury attack’
She is reportedly in hiding in London Probe pins blame on GRU network
Indo-Asian News Service Agence France-Presse on the likely chain of com
London London mand for this (and other)
Princess Haya Bint alHus An opensource investiga GRU overseas operations,
sein, the sixth wife of Du tion has found that a top with one coordinating se
bai’s billionaire ruler, has re Russian military intelligence nior offi cer communicating
portedly fl ed the United offi cer coordinated last with headquarters in Mos
Arab Emirates (UAE) with year’s Salisbury chemical at cow while the team on the
£31 million and their two tack from a London hideout ground receive limited to no
children following the using his phone and a few new instructions,” the re
breakup of their marriage. Princess Haya Bint messaging apps. port said. “Evidence ob
According to media re alHussein. GETTY IMAGES
*
The awardwinning web tained by us on other inter
ports, the wife of Sheikh site Bellingcat said late on national operations
Mohammed bin Rashid Al she requested political Friday that its joint analysis involving the same team
Maktoum — the VicePresi asylum. with the BBC helps establish suggests that this is a stable
dent and Prime Minister of Princess Haya has not the command structure GRU operational model.”
the UAE — is believed to be been seen in public since Moscow’s GRU network of British offi cials have iden
in hiding in London. May 20 and her social media foreign agents used to poi tifi ed the two Russians sus
The Princess is said to be accounts, which are usually son former Russian spy Ser pected of delivering the
seeking a divorce after in full of photos of her charita gei Skripal and conduct oth nerve agent to Salisbury as
itially fl eeing to Germany ble work, have not been ac er attacks. GRU agents Alexander Mish
with her children, where tive since February. The fi ndings “shed light kin and Anatoly Chepiga.
CM
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THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
BUSINESS 13
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‘Flexible work
hours key to Reliance Home defers NCD repayment
choosing a job’ Citing cash crunch, fi rm extends maturity of nonconvertible debentures worth ₹ 400 cr. till October 31
Lalatendu Mishra SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT holder was Reliance Mutual these instruments were ear
Mumbai
MUMBAI Fund, a group company, and lier marked down, being rat
As workplaces undergo The liquidity crisis of hous as a result the company has ed ‘C’ and in line with the lat
transformation, the top ing fi nance companies dee to mark down the est development and
emerging trends impacting pened further with Anil Am investment. regulatory guidelines, the
workforce planning and bani’s Reliance Home “As per regulatory guide company has decided to
management are fl exible Finance (RHF) extending till lines prescribed by the Se further mark down the se
Falling value: High infl ation makes fi nancial asset holdings
working hours, evolving October 31 the maturity of curities and Exchange Board curities issued by RHF.
economically unattractive, says Viral Acharya. V. V. KRISHNAN *
‘Developers may add 65 mn sq ft mall space in India’ Price Waterhouse quits as auditor
New supply driven by increasing interest of institutional investors, including PE players, says Anarock of Eveready Industries India
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI
2022end across the country. NCR, Hyderabad and Benga lion in Indian retail between tracted investments of al ‘Decision based on review of annual continuance process’
And, nearly twothirds of luru together lead with new 2015 and Q1 2019.” most $115 million in just the
Despite the fast growth in e the new supply (40 million supply aggregating to nearly fi rst quarter of 2019,” he Special Correspondent nuance process “ at EIIL.
commerce business across sq. ft) will hit the market by 34 million sq. ft in these ci Investments in retail said. Kolkata <
> the
Singhi & Co. will be
new auditor of EIIL board had approved
India, real estate developers 2020. ties, it said. “Over 60% of this invest Regionwise, new mall Price Waterhouse & Co. the company the appointment of Singhi &
are heavily investing in con Of this total new supply, Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO, ment was infused in the last supply in west India tops Chartered Accountants LLP Co. Chartered Accountants
struction of malls; and, ac the top seven cities consti Anarock Retail said, “This two years (2017 and 2018) with 25 million sq. ft, fol (PwC) has stepped down as tors of the B.M. Khaitan fl ag in the place of PwC.
cording to a report by Ana tute a 72% share and the re new supply is driven by the alone. Notwithstanding the lowed by south India with auditor of Eveready Indus ship company. The company, which has
rock Property Consultants, maining 28% (18.2 million sq. the increasing interest of in decline in deal activity in the 21.7 million sq. ft, north India tries India Ltd. (EIIL) In a regulatory fi ling, Eve also suff ered rating down
over 65 million sq. ft (the size ft) will come up in tier 2 and stitutional investors, includ second half of 2018 following with 11.9 million sq.ft and In a letter dated June 28, ready Industries said that grades, also announced the
of 1,128 football fi elds) of new 3 cities. The Mumbai Metro ing private equity players, the NBFCinduced liquidity east India with 6.4 million 2019, PwC expressed its in their decision was based on sale of its tea packet brand to
mall supply will be added by politan Region (MMR), Delhi who invested almost $1.9 bil crisis, the retail segment at sq. ft. ability to continue as audi “review of annual conti Madhu Jayanti International.
‘Choice for consumers has increased’
Popularity of sportswear in daily fashion is driving India growth: Puma India MD
popular products like Thun
<
> The way people are creased. The way people are
Mini Tejaswi
der, RS0 and RSX have consuming brands consuming brands and infor
Puma, the German sport been extremely successful and information is mation is continuously
swear, clothing and lifestyle despite their high price continuously changing with the advent of
accessories brand calls India points in a valueconscious changing with the digital and social media.
‘a strategic marketplace’ country like India. advent of digital
among its global businesses. Why do you call India a
The brand has fi nalised a What kind of acceptance do tribution networks have strategic market?
massive expansion and you see for Puma products evolved from traditional ■ India is a very important
brand building exercise in among women in India? brick and mortar to an omni market for Puma globally.
the country, says Puma In ■ Women’s category has channel approach where With the developments in
dia MD Abhishek Ganguly. shown fantastic growth in physical and digital activities sports and also the increas
Excerpts: the country. The paradigm are working in tandem. We ing popularity of sportswear
shift in women’s lifestyle is have also seen a lot of new in fashion, especially among
How do you assess Puma evolving their buying beha brands enter the market, the youth, we see huge po
India’s growth so far? viour. It’s interesting that the which means competition tential for growth in future.
■ We entered India in 2006. growth in the women’s cate and choice for consumers Digitisation and evolution of
Today, we have established gory is outdoing the growth have in social media has propelled
ourselves as the number one in men’s category. Indian the adoption of global trends
sportswear brand here. Our women are taking to various around innovative designs
brand presence in the mar other fi tness activities like and latest products. We will
ket is extremely compelling, callisthenics, pilates, Zum continue to focus strongly
achieving strong doubledi ba, yoga etc. There is also and invest heavily in India as
git growth in the last 23 growing demand for athlei the market is very strategic
years. While we continued sure in everyday fashion and for our future.
the growth trajectory in 2018 for various occasions.
with a strong 21% growth, What are the new things in
our directtoconsumer e You said changes that the pipeline for India?
commerce business has also happened (in the Indian ■ We now have 360 exclu
grown the fastest in the same marketplace and also in sive stores and 3,100 PoS
year. customer behaviour) in (points of sale) in India. We
the last fi ve years have will add another 20 new
What are your fastmoving been more profound. stores in 2019. Puma In
products in India? Can you explain? dia oversees the
■ We have had huge success ■ Retail has tre brand’s operations in
in the sneaker market here. mendously Nepal and Bangladesh
Increasing popularity of changed over as well.
sportswear in everyday fash the last fi ve We opened our fi rst
ion and for various occa years. The fl agship store in Dhaka,
sions of use is driving our In marketplace Bangladesh and currently
dia growth strongly. There is has become have three stores in Nepal at
huge upswing in sneaker cul very fast and key locations like Darbar
ture and some of our most dynamic. Dis Marg.
CM
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Should India stay with RCEP?
What are the concerns regarding the
Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership mooted by ASEAN?
What is holding up India’s entry into
the trade pact?
Suhasini Haidar
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
The story so far: The Association of South East Asian
Measuring black money Nations (ASEAN), which announced the idea of a
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
in 2012, is pushing stakeholders to conclude talks by the
Why is it so diffi cult to quantify end of 2019 and take it forward. At the ASEAN summit
unaccounted income both within which ended in Bangkok last Sunday, the Malaysian
Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said he is willing to
and outside the country? What are push through the trade agreement without India “for the
the steps the government can take? time being.” Others said all 16 members must agree on
the fi nal RCEP document. India apart, Australia and New
T.C.A. Sharad Raghavan Zealand have raised concerns about joining such a
partnership.
The story so far: The Standing Committee on Finance
recently came out with its report on the ‘status of What is RCEP and why does it matter for the
unaccounted income and wealth both inside and outside world?
the country’. It came to the conclusion, after consulting Billed as the world’s biggest trade agreement, the RCEP of
three premier thinktanks and doing multiple analyses 10 ASEAN countries with its six free trade agreement
using various methods, that there was no reliable way to (FTA) partners India, China, Australia, New Zealand,
quantify black money whether in India or abroad. Japan and South Korea could well change the face of
global trade as we know it. The RCEP includes countries
What is black money? that make up 45% of the world’s population with 33% of
There is no offi cial defi nition of black money in its GDP, and at least 28% of all trade in the world today. If
economic theory, with several diff erent terms such as the RCEP is concluded, as ASEAN countries that are
parallel economy, black money, black incomes, driving it hope it will be, by the end of this year, it will
unaccounted economy, illegal economy and irregular bring stability to an otherwise unpredictable world
economy all being used more or less synonymously. The market. The worry is that it could also make world trade
simplest defi nition of black money could possibly be less fl exible, putting members into a quasibloc with
money that is hidden from tax authorities. That is, black China at the helm. Most RCEP members also conduct
money can come from two broad categories: illegal substantial trade with the United States, and the ongoing
activity and legal but unreported activity. U.S.China trade war may force many of them to take
The fi rst category is the more obvious of the two. sides, causing a geopolitical rift within the group even government’s plans to ramp up its engagement with like many other industry bodies, that India’s trade
Money that is earned through illegal activity is obviously before it is fully formed. As a result, the next four months ASEAN countries through the “Act East” policy, as well as defi cits have only grown with each country it has an FTA
not reported to the tax authorities, and so is black. The leading up to the next RCEP summit will be watched its hopes for maritime cooperation in the IndiaPacifi c. with, and already has defi cits with 11 of the 15 other RCEP
second category comprises income from legal activity closely by the entire world. Anticipation levels are high, countries. As a result, the government has been cautious
that is not reported to the tax authorities. For example, and the ASEAN grouping even has a countdown to the Why is India holding up the deal? about moving ahead. India has asked for strict “Rules of
let us assume that a piece of land is sold, with the summit, to be held on November 19 in Bangkok, on its India’s chief concern with the RCEP is the fact that it Origin” markings on all goods, so they don’t come in
payment made in the proportion of 60% by cheque or website (https://bit.ly/2XcjAe2). needs to protect its economy from the fl ooding of cheap through a third country. In addition, India wants to
electronic transfer, and 40% in cash. If that 40% cash imports from China. Of all the countries in the RCEP, ensure the free fl ow of services (manpower) to RCEP
component is not reported to the Income Tax Why has it taken so long to negotiate? India is the only one not involved in any bilateral or countries as well, but has faced an uphill task as most
Department, then it is black money. A large number of This week marks the 26th round of negotiations for the multilateral negotiations for an FTA with China, and the countries tighten their immigration laws. During the
small shops around the country almost exclusively do RCEP, which are being held amidst high secrecy in worry for the government and industry is that an FTA current round of talks in Melbourne, trade negotiators
business in cash without receipts. All of this could Melbourne, Australia ( June 22July 3). So far, seven of the within the RCEP will just become a cover for duty free are focussing on market access for goods, services, and
potentially be black money. 18 fi nal RCEP agreement chapters have been concluded, trade into India for Chinese goods. RCEP negotiators have investment as well as negotiations on Rules of Origin,
Another major source of black money is income say offi cials, and ASEAN chair Thailand has committed to thus far agreed to allowing India a diff erential tariff Intellectual Property and ecommerce, and the outcome
earned by companies that is routed through shell wrapping up all the rest in time for the November ladder, for its FTA partners and its nonFTA partners of this round will be most keenly watched.
companies abroad, thereby evading tax authorities. summit. The concept of the RCEP was promoted by (China, Australia and New
ASEAN countries in 2011, but an RCEP declaration came Zealand) within the What lies ahead?
Why is it diffi cult to measure it? at the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh in 2012, and Several industry groups grouping. China wants Once the Melbourne round ends, a threemember
The very defi nition of black money makes it extremely negotiators met for the fi rst time in 2013. Six years later, have already petitioned zero tariff s for over 90 delegation consisting of ASEAN Secretary General Lim
diffi cult to quantify. How is the government supposed to the main stumbling blocks for the RCEP are the India the government not to per cent tariff lines Jock Hoi and representatives from Thailand and
measure the economic activity that is actively being China trade relationship, as well as some concerns from however, which could see Indonesia will be coming to New Delhi to put the
hidden from it? According to the Standing Committee’s Australia and New Zealand on labour and environmental go ahead with the lowcost “Made in China” negotiations on a fast track. For its part, China says it is
report, the sectors that see the highest incidence of black protections. While much has been agreed on, and all RCEP. Adding to this is goods kill locally willing to reassure India on its concerns, and sent a
money include real estate, mining, pharmaceuticals, pan countries remain committed to concluding the RCEP political pressure manufactured goods. delegation led by ViceMinister for Commerce Wang
masala, the gutkha and tobacco industry, bullion and agreement, the lastmile will only be crossed when all Several industry groups Shouwen for talks with India’s Commerce Secretary Anup
commodity markets, the those concerns are met. In May this year, China proposed have already petitioned Wadhawan earlier this month. In the past year, China has
There are several ways fi lm industry, and a plan to conclude the negotiations without the the government not to go improved market access to several Indian agricultural
in which black money educational institutes and naysayers, i.e. take the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South ahead with the RCEP, and pharmaceutical products, and says it is working on
professionals. Korea) into the agreement, while leaving space for India, including manufacturers ways to balance the nearly $60 billionplus trade defi cit
may be traced,
As the report also notes, Australia and New Zealand to join later. The Malaysian of steel and aluminium, copper, pharmaceuticals and that India suff ers at present. Offi cials privy to the
through legislative neither are there reliable Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, echoed the idea textile, which will be the worst hit in such a scenario. discussions on the RCEP, however, said the talks were
action, monitoring estimates of black money after the ASEAN summit last week, but the move was Adding to the pressure on the Modi government is its inconclusive. Last year, Mr. Modi and others at the RCEP
nonfi lers of income generation or opposed by most in the grouping. As one ASEAN own protectionist underpinnings within the Bharatiya summit had convinced the group to wait a year, given
tax and PAN reporting accumulation and nor is diplomat put it, given the size of India’s market there is Janata Party (BJP) and its parent body, the Rashtriya that elections in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia
there an accurate well “no point without India in RCEP”. For India, too, there Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Ahead of the last round of were due. With fresh mandates, each of the leaders of
for high transactions
accepted methodology to are many reasons to stay in the deal. Apart from giving up negotiations in February 2019, the RSS’s trade body, the those countries, including Mr. Modi, is expected to have a
make such an estimation. the fi rst mover’s advantage, India would give up the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, had called for a clear declaration greater ability to take tough decisions this year. The
Every estimate depends chance to frame the grouping’s rules and investment that the government would quit RCEP negotiations worry, say many diplomats, is that 2019 is a make or
upon the underlying standards if it fails to join the RCEP at this stage. Staying entirely, citing the impact the agreement would have on break year for the RCEP, and if it doesn’t conclude now,
assumptions made by the designers of the measurement, out would also run counter to the Narendra Modi agriculture and dairy sectors. The SJM also pointed out, the deal itself could be “dead in the water”.
and so far there is no uniformity in the assumptions
made by the various agencies tasked with measuring the
black economy.
The estimates of the black money in the system
provided by the Standing Committee vary from 7% of
Why are monsoons diffi cult to predict?
GDP to 120% of GDP, highlighting the wide variance in
the methods of estimation.
Have the methods to forecast India’s seasonal rain changed? What are the factors that can turn predictions awry?
Jacob Koshy temperature, moisture, windspeeds at various heights,
What are some of the methods used? etc. — and computers calculate how these weather
One of the more popular methods is the monetary The story so far: The southwest monsoon made a late variables will change over days, weeks, months. It's able
method. This method assumes that the existence of and entry into Kerala on June 8, after a delay of nearly a week. to do this by solving physics equations that show how
changes in the share of unaccounted income is refl ected However, things haven’t looked rosy. With India having each of these weather variables is related to each other.
in the stock or fl ow of money in the system. In other posted its lowest premonsoon rain from November 2018 Though meteorological agencies around the world are
words, track the money in the economy and you’ll get an to March 2019, reservoirs were depleted and a good shifting to such techniques, they still aren’t considered
idea of how much has not been accounted for. monsoon was necessary. As of June 27, India got only entirely reliable for forecasting the monsoon. The IMD
Another method is the global indicator or inputbased slightly more than twothirds of rain it normally gets in and several private weather agencies are increasingly
method. In this method, unaccounted income is this month. Many places, including Chennai, are in the relying on more sophisticated and highresolution
modelled using a single universal variable with which it grip of a water crisis and about 80% of the country’s computer models to give localised forecasts, or warn
is assumed to be highly correlated, therefore these meteorological divisions have registered defi cient rainfall. farmers of changes in weather 1015 days ahead. Rather
estimates are also called inputbased estimates. Basically, than longrange forecasts that only give a broad tenuous
the estimated level of activity in these indicators is What is the prediction for the months ahead? picture of the likely performance of the monsoon, these
compared to the reported level of GDP to arrive at an July and August are most important for the monsoon and shorter forecasts are far more reliable and help farmers
estimate of underreporting. contribute nearly 66% of the 89 cm of rainfall that India make decisions about sowing. These models are also
One common input used in this method is the gets from JuneSeptember. This year, the India useful for anticipating heatwave or a coldwave and
quantity of land freight transport. The idea is that Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast in May therefore useful to urban planners and government. The
K.K. MUSTAFAH
matching the actual amount of freight transported in the that July rainfall would be 95% of what it usually gets and statistical model continues to be the bedrock of the IMD’s
country to the reported amount of economic activity in August 99% of its normal. These numbers were calculated covered its last outpost in western Rajasthan, but this is forecast philosophy but its days are numbered.
the related sectors could give an estimate of how much is on the assumption, in April, that an El Niño— unlikely given the delay in the monsoon’s advent. In the
not being reported. characterised by a warming of the Central Pacifi c Ocean — week ahead, it’s expected to make further inroads into Does the monsoon have a bearing on India’s water
A third method to measure black money is a that seemed to be visible on the horizon, would slowly central India and most of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. crisis?
straightforward survey. This one, however, requires lose steam. An El Niño is generally associated with a However, the geographic spread obscures the quantity of Yes and no. India’s water crisis, according to experts, is
voluntary information from people and businesses weakening of monsoon rains in India though there are rain. Only two of India’s 36 meteorological subdivisions due to overextraction of groundwater resources and not
concealing their incomes and so is prone to inaccuracies. several other climatological factors that too could cause a have posted normal rainfall and 27 of them are grappling enough storage of rain water and surface water. The
drying up of monsoon rains. In May, the IMD said India with defi cient rainfall. By June 30, a low pressure pulse is Central Water Commission, in its recommendation of
How can the government curb black money? would get ‘normal’ rains from JuneSeptember. The expected to form over the Bay of Bengal and give a how reservoirs should store and release water assumes
There are several ways and the fi rst is through legislative agency, however, refrains from giving a specifi c forecast signifi cant push to the monsoon. that reservoirs will be
action. The government has already enacted several laws for the month of June. Historically, there’s no correlation empty on June 1 and
that seek to formalise the economy and make it between the amount of rainfall in June to what lies in the How is the monsoon forecast?
Though gradually refi ll over the
necessary to report economic transactions. These month ahead. Cyclone Vayu that formed in the Arabian Until about 2010, the only method employed by the IMD meteorological course of the monsoon, and
include the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, the Sea and threatened Gujarat was a major hurdle to the to forecast the monsoon was statistical models. These agencies around the be available for the non
various GST Acts at the State levels, the Black Money progress of the monsoon. Later a western disturbance — a essentially involved identifying climate parameters linked world are shifting to monsoon months. Given
(Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition rainbearing system that passes over Pakistan, Jammu to the performance of the monsoon — for instance, the dynamical that June contributes only
of Tax Act, 2015, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Kashmir and parts of north India — was also obstructing sea surface temperature gradient between North Atlantic 17cm or about 20% of the
Amendment Act, and the Fugitive Economic Off enders monsoonal currents. and North Pacifi c, the volume of warm water in the
techniques, they still monsoon rainfall and is
Act to name a few. The delayed progress of the monsoon, that is causing equatorial Pacifi c and the Eurasian snow cover. Their are not considered known to progress in
Another method employed by the government to national consternation, is largely due to the laggardly values in February and March are correlated to values of entirely reliable for spurts, farmers have
make it harder for transactions to be hidden is to branch of the monsoon that begins in Kerala and travels actual rainfall over a hundred years and then, using forecasting already delayed sowing and
mandate the reporting of PAN for transactions of more upwards along the western coast. The monsoon branch statistical techniques, extrapolated to forecast a the monsoon relying on crop varieties
than ₹ 2.5 lakh, and the prohibition of cash receipts of ₹ 2 that enters eastern India, around the same time as the particular year’s monsoon. This has, however, proved that grow relatively quickly.
lakh or more and a penalty equal to the amount of such southern branch, is relatively better performing thanks to wrong and the IMD missed its mark on forecasting major Moreover, several farmers
receipts if a person contravenes the provision. convective currents formed in the Bay of Bengal. droughts and raindefi cits — particularly 2002, 2004 and plant intensely water
The Income Tax Department has also started 2006. The IMD responded by fi nding new parameters but guzzling crops that aren’t suited to their climate or
monitoring nonfi lers of income tax returns using third To what extent has the monsoon covered the keeping the technique essentially the same. prevalent water table. While a July rainfall can
party information to identify persons who have country? Only around 2015 did it start testing a dynamical temporarily alleviate parched ground, it can’t solve the
undertaken high value fi nancial transactions but not The monsoon has covered the whole of south as well as system. This simulates the weather at a chosen set of graver crisis of depleting groundwater and insuffi ciently
fi led their returns. eastern India. By July 15 the monsoon should have ideally locations on a given day — the land and ocean charged aquifers.
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THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
CAPSULE
IIT Hyderabad fabricates device
for early diagnosis of heart attack
The microfl uidic device can detect the biomarker even at low concentrations
Strong smell
It is well known that elephants R. Prasad
nospheres have greater surface
have a fine sense of smell. An area, more antibodies are pre
experiment on Asian elephants A cardiac biomarker — cardiac sent on the surface thus increas
that controlled for alternative
troponin I — that is widely used ing the chances and ability to
interpretations found that
for early diagnosis of acute heart bind to the biomarker. The func
they could differentiate a
attack can now be detected in tionalised nanospheres are then
bucket containing a lot of
about three minutes and even coated on the working electrode Coronal eruptions: This is the structure of the solar magnetic fi eld rising
sunflower seeds from those
when present at very low concen that is present in the microfl uid vertically from a sunspot, into the solar atmosphere. AP/NASA *
with far fewer seeds, purely
using their sense of smell. This tration. And the detection can be device chip.
study addresses bias in tests of
animal perception and
cognition.
done at bedside. This has be
come possible with the develop
ment of a microfl uidic device by a
“The integration of the nanos
pheres which detect the biomark
er with the compact microfl uidic
Indian scientist to be Co-I
team of researchers from the In
dian Institute of Technology (IIT)
device speeds up the detection
process,” says Nawab Singh from for NASA’s PUNCH mission
Hyderabad. IIT Hyderabad and fi rst author of
The heart cells that get dam the paper. The mission will study the Sun using four
aged during heart attack cause “When the patient’s serum is suitcasesized microsats
the expression of cardiac muscle introduced into the microfl uidic
proteins such as the biomarker device, the biomarker present in Shubashree Desikan Prof. Banerjee is the coChair of
cardiac troponin I, which get re the serum binds to the antibodies the Science Working Group. “We
leased into the blood. Detecting present on the nanospheres. This NASA has selected Texasbased expect coordinated observations
the biomaker in the blood serum causes a change in the current Southwest Research Institute to of Aditya and PUNCH in order to
Climate change guide
Dendrochronology, the
helps in early diagnosis of heart Early indicator: Heart cells damaged during heart attack cause the fl ow at a microamphere level,” lead its PUNCH mission which will understand our space weather en
analysis of tree rings to infer
attack. release of the biomarker into the blood. V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
* explains Prof. John. “The electro image the Sun. This is a landmark vironment,” he says.
things about the past, can now chemical response of the sensor mission that will image regions
be used to understand the Superior performance as low as 0.005 nanogram per makes the diff erence in terms of changes in response to a change beyond the Sun’s outer corona. Di Constellation of satellites
future. A study, published in Commercially available assays ml. better sensitivity and rapid in the concentration of the tropo pankar Banerjee, solar physicist PUNCH will consist of a ‘constella
Nature Communications, of have limitations in terms of both “Our device can detect the bio detection. nin I biomarker causing a change from Indian Institute of Astro tion’ of four suitcasesized micro
tree rings of living and dead sensitivity and time taken for de marker over a wide range — from in the current fl ow.” physics is also a CoInvestigator of sats that will orbit the Earth in for
conifers suggested that slowly tection. These assays cannot de 0.005100 nanogram per ml,” Rapid detection the PUNCH mission. PUNCH, mation and study how the corona,
growing trees sequester more tect when the biomarker is pre says Prof. John. Serum samples The researchers have successful Bedside device which stands for “Polarimeter to which is the atmosphere of the
carbon than fastgrowing sent at concentrations below from patients were used for test ly integrated the microfl uidic Since the microfl uidic device can Unify the Corona and Heliosph Sun, connects with the interplane
ones. This finding can inform 0.02 nanogram per ml and take a ing the device. The results were device with chitosancoated nick be made tiny, detection of the ere,” is focused on understanding tary medium. The mission is ex
environmental policies that long time for detection. In con published in the Journal of Mate- el vanadate nanospheres to ena biomaker can be made right at the transition of particles from the pected to be launched in 2022.
rely on plantations of fast trast, the microfl uidic device de rials Chemistry B. ble rapid detection and better bedside. Sun’s outer corona to the solar The mission will image and
growing trees to mitigate veloped by the team led by Renu Commercially available assays sensitivity. “This is a proofofconcept wind that fi lls interplanetary track the solar wind and also the
global warming. John from the Department of Bio as well the microfl uidic device The outer surface of the nanos work. We have to undertake large space. coronal mass ejections – which are
medical Engineering at IIT Hyde use the same antibody to bind to pheres is fi rst coated (functional trials involving many patient “The Sun and the solar wind huge masses of plasma that get
rabad can detect the biomarker the biomarker. But the way the ised) with the antibody that binds samples before it can be used are one interconnected system, thrown out of the Sun’s atmosph
even when the concentration is device has been constructed to the biomarker. Since the na commercially,” says Prof. John. but [these] have until recently ere. The coronal mass ejections
been studied using entirely diff e can aff ect and drive space weather
rent technologies and scientifi c events near the Earth.
approaches,” explains Prof. Ba
Nipah virus: Experimental antiviral drug shows promise Stimulation selectively aff ects
diff erent parts of the brain, which
allows you to functionally en
Wrong approach: Now, all
patients, regardless of the severity
of injury after a stroke, are off ered
hance activity in some areas while a relatively standard treatment
suppressing unwanted processes regimen. AFP *
Remdesivir drug used for Ebola treatment can stop Nipah virus from making new copies of its genome in others that impede the restora
tion of brain functions. suppresses it even more,” said Ma
Aswathi Pacha
ment ended, so we were very This is a promising mean of reh ria Nazarova, researcher at the
<
> It is always good to
confi rm, but we are surprised to see this meningoen abilitation after a stroke. However, HSE Institute of Cognitive
In a new study published last confi dent that the drug cephalitis in a small part of the its results in patients remain high Neurosciences.
month, researchers from the Na brain,” she adds. ly variable. “In this regard, the suppression
will be eff ective against
tional Institutes of Health, U.S., Authors of the study, which was of the activity of the ‘unaff ected’
Indian Nipah viruses as
have shown that Remdesivir was Mode of action published in the journal Frontiers hemisphere should help restore
able to treat four African green well. When asked about the mode of in Neurology, argued that the the aff ected side of the brain. Ho
Emmie de Wit
monkeys which were given a National Institute of Health
action of the drug, Dr. de Wit main reason for the lack of eff ec wever, the fact is that this particu
lethal dose of Nipah virus. writes “Remdesivir can stop the tiveness in neuromodulation ap lar scheme does not work in many
Remdesivir is a broadspec well.” virus from making new copies of proaches after a stroke is an in patients after a stroke. Each time
trum antiviral drug which is cur During the course of the stu its genome. Because the genome adequate selection of patients for it is necessary to check what the
rently in phase 2 clinical trial for dy, the researchers found that is an essential part of the virus, the application of a particular impact of the unaff ected hemisph
the treatment of Ebola. one of the drugtreated animals the virus cannot replicate itself brain stimulation technique. ere is whether it is suppressive or
Eight monkeys were inoculat exhibited infl ammation of the very well in the presence of the They said the existing approach activating,” she said.
ed with a lethal dose of Nipah vi brain tissues. drug, and there is less damage to does not take into account the di According to the researchers,
rus Bangladesh strain, and, 24 Dr. de Wit explains, “We organs and thus less severe versity of lesions after a stroke and the second criterion is the neuro
hours later, four of them were Connection: The virus that caused Nipah in India belongs to the same know from patients with Nipah disease.” the variability of individual res nal phenotype.
treated intravenously with the genotype as that from Bangladesh used i n the study. G. RAMAKRISHNA *
virus that they also often deve “Right now, there are two ponses to brain stimulation as a This is an individual characte
drug for 12 consecutive days. lop this disease of the brain promising antiviral treatments whole. ristic of the activity of the brain,
The four animals which were hold true for Indian Nipah when they are infected. There against Nipah virus that could be The researchers have proposed which is ‘unique to each person
Response in monkeys treated with the drug survived. strain, Emmie de Wit, the fi rst are also patients in Malaysia who used in humans soon. The fi rst is two criteria for selecting the opti like their fi ngerprints’
The ones that did not receive the They did not show any clinical author of the study said in an were infected with Nipah virus, a monoclonal antibody deve mal brain stimulation strategy. Such a phenotype is deter
drug developed respiratory pro signs up to 92 days and the expe email to The Hindu: “The Nipah survived and then got encephal loped by Chris Broder and col The fi rst is an analysis of the in mined, fi rstly, by the ability of the
blems with the disease rapidly riment was terminated. virus that caused the outbreak in itis caused by Nipah virus sever leagues at the Uniformed Servic teractions between the hemis brain to build eff ective structural
progressing in about a week. Though parameters such as India belongs to the same geno al months or years later.” This is es University in the U.S. The pheres. and functional connections bet
Two of these were sacrifi ced on body weight and temperature type as the Nipah virus from most likely because the Nipah vi second promising treatment is Now, all patients, regardless of ween diff erent areas
day seven due to disease severi remained unchanged in the two Bangladesh that we used in our rus easily enters the brain and Remdesivir. Both treatments are the severity of injury after a (connectivity).
ty, and the remaining two were groups, an increased respiration study. So although there are then slowly replicates until it available as clinical grade mate stroke, are off ered a relatively Secondly, the individual cha
sacrifi ced on the eighth day rate and decreased oxygen satu some small genetic diff erences causes disease. “In the animal rial and have been safety tested standard treatment regimen. This racteristics of neuronal dynamics,
when they reached the humane ration (oxygensaturated haemo between the two viruses they treated with the drug that had in humans. These two treat approach relies on the idea of in including its ability to reach a crit
endpoint criteria (when the ex globin versus total haemoglobin are very similar. It is always good histologic evidence of menin ments could thus be tested in Ni terhemispheric competition. ical state. This is the state of the
perimental animal is in pain in the blood) were seen in the to confi rm, but we are confi dent goencephalitis, we did not ob pah virus patients in the context “For a long time, it was believed neuronal system in which it is the
and/or distress and the experi nondrug group. that the drug will be eff ective serve any signs of neurological of a clinical trial,” explains Dr de that when one hemisphere is bad, most plastic and capable of
ment is terminated). When asked if these results against Indian Nipah viruses as disease at the time the experi Wit. the second, instead of helping it, change.
CM A ND-NDE
YK
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Introvert’s
Friends across borders of acrimony journey
Traditions that live, a language that connects, a history that will tie us together Shelly Simon
I
Vrinda Lohia so much. There were a few, however, selves. Yes, we have indeed spent got into a bus, to a place far
who made the unfamiliarity of the ci more than 70 years in a state away. It isn’t the destination
It was a rainy evening in Paris, as ty easier to deal with. There was no of cold war that con that matters, though; it’s the
usual. I’d just arrived at the Nord sta need to be diplomatic or politically tinues and reigns. journey. I sat on one of the rear
tion and was trying to get to my un correct around them. There was no Generations seats. It wasn’t long before I re
iversity, located in the suburbs and need to consciously avoid using any have grown up gretted my choice, as I was
almost a lifetime away from the city Indian references or ‘Hindi’ around media tossed about whenever the bus
centre. I had some luggage with me, words around them. We and leaders that hit a pothole. Ouch! I sat alone,
so I decided to book a cab. But, tech could listen to Bollywood falsify events, ex with people all around me.
nology almost always fails you numbers together, dis aggerate violence In front of me was a girl, a si
when you need it the most, and cuss cricket (even though and conceal peace ef lent onlooker. She viewed the
my phone app just wouldn’t I’m not particularly fond forts. And yet, we can’t outside world with a mixture of
Postretirement load the driver’s lo
cation.
of the sport), and relish
butter naan. While yes,
run away from the fact that
we’ve also spent more than 700
wonderment and curiosity. Be
hind me sat a trio, chatting and
blues, paths the
I dialled
driver’s
number, though I was
most of them were Indian,
there was a Pakistani
among them too.
years living together, building tradi
tions together, writing our history
together. Traditions that still live, a
giggling the whole time. They
didn’t seem my type, so I didn’t
bother to make conversation.
resigned to my fate. I’d been in They say friendship language that still connects (even I was interested in the music
Betty Kuriyan this situation on numerous occa begins with a ‘me too’. halfway across the globe) and his playing in my ears. I hummed
sions earlier. I’d already played out And, we had so many of them. We’d tory that still does and will al along and watched everything
Come the 60th birthday, sometimes the sequence of events in my head. long for home together, we’d bond ways tie us together. happening outside and inside.
even a few years earlier, it is mandatory The driver would receive the mes over a shared sense of ambition, dis Sitting in those artsy Pari My thoughts kept returning
to retire from regular service, though sage. Then I’d ask him if he spoke cuss how our cultures were similar, sian cafes, surrounded by Ita to the girl in front. She seemed
it’s usual for the cranium contents to some English. He’d refuse and hang how we’d been taught to hate each lians and Germans and a gazil like an older version of myself;
function well and intelligently for a up. After a few minutes my ride other, how our countries were happy lion other European nationals, quiet, though people her age,
good many years ahead. would be cancelled and I’d be and miserable in similar ways. She’d I’d often wonder what kept them to and presumably in her class by
But as Charles Lamb so succinctly put charged a fee by the app for not arriv say she had met very few people who gether, despite the years of war, the looks of their uniform,
it, ”I’m retired leisure.“ The encomiums ing at the indicated meeting point on were so similar to her, not just in ha despite the cultural diff erenc were talking on the seats be
by my juniors have stopped reverberat time. I felt frustrated even dialling bits and ways of life, but in beliefs es. I’d wonder how many side her. Just like me. Thoughts
ing, the garlands have faded, and the the number. and values too. Even though we years of despising thy ran through her mind, while
gifts lavishly given no doubt, are con But, then again, things never hap spent only a few days together, it’s neighbour would it music fl owed through mine.
signed to the cupboards — for how many pen the same way over and over uncanny how much we resonated. take to fi nally erase the I wanted to talk to her,
pieces of glassware or crystal or plaques again. Fate surprises you when you But life does go on, time fl ies and centuries that were maybe about our mutual reluc
can be put on display? least expect it. I was greeted by a fa all we’re left with is a quintessential spent being friends. tance to socialise, or anything
Now it takes me awhile to remember miliar accent on the other side. A ‘so close, yet so far’ kind of wonder I know what you’re else we had in common. But
not to jump out of bed at daybreak to get voice that sounded like home, in that ment. In a land where the dividing thinking. How can we forget something stopped me. Soon
the household organised before I leave suddenly alien city. The driver heard border isn’t just a line, but years of all the lives that have been lost, all she leaned her head on the
for work. It matters little if the maid the panic in my voice, asked me to misunderstanding and insecurities the sacrifi ces that have been made? window and tried to take a nap.
turns up an hour late for I have time by calm down, fi gured where exactly I leading to wars, hatred trumps love. But that’s the thing. Nobody wants I wanted to get to know her.
the bushel to potter around, make a was, from what I blabbered in my Warmth, compassion and a shared you to forget any of that. But she seemed at peace with
steaming hot cup of coff ee and to listen fl ustered state, and arrived. culture feign as individuals begin to We just need to recognise, herself, and I didn’t want to
to the koel on the mango tree warbling As I sat in the car, he looked at me relive atrocities and disregard acts of we’ve been counting it disturb her. We reached our
its paeans for existence. And I leisurely and asked if I spoke Hindi. I excitedly kindness. We forget that civilians eve wrong all this while. In destination. She got off , I fol
can glance through the newspaper, nodded, and asked him if he was rywhere are the same. They care these 70 years, we ha lowed. She went her way, I
beyond the headlines. from India. He replied in Urdu, albeit about their families, decent means of ven’t just lost our went mine, wondering how the
Still my feet yearn to saunter to my shyly, that he was actually from Pa income and leading a peaceful life. friends on this side, but whole ride might’ve been had I
erstwhile workplace of endeavour of 30 kistan. Needless to say, it was the best We start labelling an entire popula those across the border talked to her. I guess that’s how
years, the fi les and friendships that cab ride I had in Paris. tion based on the acts of a few extre too. we introverts work!
once matured into aff ection. Studying in Paris, I made a lot of mists. We stop trying to understand
I walk into the department, now bus friends. Some were close, others not and start trying to distance our vrindalohia@gmail.com ILLUSTRATION: J.A. PREMKUMAR shellysimon07@gmail.co
tling yet quiet as my younger colleagues
are now on the treadmill. They greet me
with smiles of concern. They inquire
How the pursuit of perfection could drive you
about my health as though I’ve been an
invalid all my life and forgetting that I
bid farewell to them offi cially only a
couple of years ago. Most of them hurri
edly pick up their fi les, to attend semi
nars or workshops, and say “we must And in doing so, we could forget to enjoy the journey rather than focus on the goal ahead
meet soon”. Maybe some deadline or a
way of saying sayonara. Chitra Srikrishna where the meeting was being the pressure. I shared anecdo
Some small talk comes from those held. “At least we’ll get to meet <
> It’s time to reevaluate
what ‘perfection’ tal experiences, some funny,
“I
who remain. I feel aloof because the want my presentation to some people!” he argued. means to us often refl ective. And after each
chain of interaction is now lost as roo be perfect,” my daughter Having been a professional one I received feedback that
kies fumble with their newfound status says on the phone. She is musician all my adult life, you was encouraging and energis
and work. on her way to work on a Mon would think I was comfortable the cafe — a rabblerouser of a ing. The watershed moment
So I stroll out, glad to be out before I day morning. “What if I make in front of strangers. But I had greyhaired professor, a came when I demonstrated at
become too mawkish for my own good. mistakes? What if my team never spoken during any of my theatreloving couple, a dyed one of our meetings how to
I stroll calmly through the precincts doesn’t like it?” As I try to quell concerts and was often tongue inthewool musician, student wear a sari in six simple steps.
with its potted plants and colourful her fears over the phone, I tied when I met people for the secularists, fi ction writers, and My speech may have been im
bushes, realising that they too will have wonder what would have hap fi rst time. I was used to criti others. I was reminded of John perfect, not unlike the pleats in
their retirement date when their leaves pened if I hadn’t listened to my cism as a performer not just in Steinbeck’s description of Can my sari. But I was fi lled with an
fall. I sit for a while under the shade of a own advice sometime back. private but also in public. “You nery Row in the eponymous immense sense of content
spreading tree, and revive my mood. With a great deal of trepida need to get better!” This was book: “a poem, a stink, a grat ment. In the pursuit of perfec
Back home, there are many books to tion my husband and I had fol the mantra that was dinned in ing noise, a quality of light, a tion I realised how I had forgot
be read, music to listen to, movies to lowed our daughter to a small to me by family and teachers. tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a ten to enjoy the journey rather
watch, let me see beauty with new eyes, midwestern town in the U.S. Thus began my search for per dream.” than focus on the goal.
and the hope and everyday joy that re when she began her under fection — an elusive goal. And Over the next few weeks, the We live in a society where
tired life cannot destroy. graduate education a few years the pressure never ceased. speeches I heard at the club be children are pulled up by pa
I’ve decided to live each day as it earlier. All I knew about my ILLUSTRATION: SATWIK GADE I recall that fi rst speakers’ came the topic of conversation rents for not scoring perfect
comes, rain or shine, as I hum to myself new hometown was that it had A week after we had fi nally speakers’ club. “We meet twice meeting I attended, as though at our dinner table every night. grades in every test. It’s time to
the opening lines of the theme song long and brutal winters and settled in a quiet neighbour a month and improve our it was yesterday. Within a few I heard personal testimonies of reevaluate what ‘perfection’
from Dr. Zhivago — there will be songs was crazy about American hood, we met one of our neigh speaking skills in a noncom minutes of our arrival, my hus overcoming grief and disability means to us. I took the fi rst
to sing, I’m now venturing into learning football, a sport I knew nothing bours, a middleaged couple petitive, friendly environment” band seemed to be at home to camping adventures and step that day, just as my
Japanese, calligraphy or Yiddish. The about. Moving to a new town who lived across the street. they explained. “Why don’t talking to strangers as though kitchen disasters. I watched daughter was about to hang up,
untravelled world gleams from afar for came with its own set of chal One thing led to another and you attend a meeting and just he had reconnected with long speakers fumble and mumble by reminding her of Leo Tol
me, so tomorrow to fresh woods and lenges, and ‘whatif’ scenarios they became our best friends check us out?” lost friends. Meanwhile, I their way through their speech stoy’s words, “If you look for
pastures new. began swirling in my head — in town. Over a meal at home “I’m not speaking. I’ll not be looked for a corner seat in the es and then asked myself, perfection, you’ll never be
what if I wasn’t able to make as they wolfed down samosas speaking,” I remember mutter very last row. “Why not take the plunge?” content.”
bkuriyan@gmail.com enough friends? What if I and parathas, they spoke about ing all the way as my husband There was a motley crew My new club friends showed
didn’t fi nd something to do? their newfound passion, a dragged me to a quaint cafe seated in a room at the back of me a way to improvise without chitra_sri@yahoo.com
M
y parents’ marriage the issue, but little did she better. Mom had had enough mom’s parade — right there,
was a union of two know how fate would inter of the obscuring of the name on her favourite son’s broad
Go, reconnect with life
families from diff e vene in the matter of her she chose for her favourite chest, was a shiny name tag
rent milieus. A refl ection of son’s name. son, and dad was coaxed to that read ‘P. Ramakrishnan’. Let’s just raise our heads above those screens
this can be seen in the names When Appu was old head to court to get the ano And worse, as if to remind and observe and interact with the world
and the numbers of their si enough to go to school, in maly fi xed legally — to re mom of her motherinlaw’s around us
blings. My dad’s eight si Mumbai where dad was em trieve ‘Prakash’ from the disappointment over the SAAVI SRIVASTAVA
blings have names that are at ployed, the school insisted oblivion of being reduced to naming, Appu’s armymates
least 10 letters or more in on adding the father’s sur a mere initial. Thanks to just called him ‘Rama’!
length — Ramakrishnan, name to his name. In the ma dad’s eff orts, when Appu Mom grudgingly resigned The universal genius
Kunhiraman, Kamalakshi, trilineal society of the Mala passed his SSLC examination herself to this situation. But Why it is just impossible that Leonardo da Vinci
and so on. In contrast, my bar region to which my with fl ying colours, while never one to easily admit de had disabilities such as ADHD
mom’s four siblings have parents belonged, the norm dad smiled looking at the list feat, she was keen to add to J.V. YAKHMI
briefer names, such as Vish is that the children take the of marks, mom smiled even the ranks of people who
nu and Girija. ILLUSTRATION: SREEJITH R. KUMAR mother’s surname. Mom was more looking at the name called her fi rstborn by the
So, when Uma and Ra When the time came to agreed with the name, ex disappointed at this develop printed in bold which read name she had given him. So A mirror unto oneself
makrishnan got married one hold the 28th day ceremony cept my paternal grand ment, though not as much as ‘Prakash Ramakrishnan’. when my parents successful So, can we at all live without those
might have expected serious of the fi rstborn of my pa mother. She was upset and Appu himself, who hated be Freed from the perfor ly found a suitable bride for windowdressing exercises?
negotiations to take place rents, in the presence of rela quite vocal about her disap ing allotted Roll No. 1, given mance anxiety of being Roll Appu, the only demand S. SIVARAMAN
when the time came to name tives from both sides, the pointment. For many years the alphabetical slot the Number 1 maybe, Appu soon mom made of his future in
their off spring. But mom’s son, lovingly called Appu, to come she chided mom for name brought in all lists, afterwards cracked the Na laws was that they call him
independent streak and a was formally named ‘Pra denying her the right to with all its attendant disad tional Defence Academy test by the name that she had
diff erence in the respective kash’ — a name mom liked name her grandson, which vantages and anxiety — for, and became an offi cer in the chosen for him.
cultural rituals precluded but dad did not disapprove. she held was the prerogative in the school records Appu Indian Army — a fi rst in the So, unlike many other
this — while on mom’s side a Mom did not feel the need to of the child’s father’s side. ended up as ‘Aaliyot Prakash family. Mom and dad were wives who have special Contributions to this page may be emailed to openpage@thehindu.co.in to a
length of up to 700 words. Please provide the postal address and a brief descrip-
newborn is by tradition confer with anyone over the She indicated she would Ramakrishnan’. proud of his achievements. names of endearment for tion of the writer. An email id that is provided could be considered for publication.
Certify in writing that it is original material; The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious
named at the 28th day cere issue of naming her son. have preferred a more tradi Appu persevered through When invited for Appu’s their husbands, mom’s duti issue. Also confirm that the submission is exclusive to this page. Taking into ac-
mony, on dad’s side this is As was to be expected, the tional name such as ‘Rama the ‘Roll No. 1’ years, till fi nal commissioning ceremony at ful daughterinlaw always count the volume of material being received, we regret our inability to acknow-
ledge receipt, or to entertain telephonic or other queries on the status of a submis-
done along with the rice relatives from dad’s side chandran’, to go with ‘Jaya ly, when he was in Class 10, the Indian Military Academy, calls her husband ‘Prakash’. sion. If a submission is not published within eight weeks, consider it to be out of the
feeding ceremony held when were taken by surprise, chandran’, which was what due to some administrative they were overjoyed to see reckoning — in most cases owing to dearth of space. The publication of an article is
not to be seen as The Hindu endorsing the viewpoint in any way.
the child is fi ve months old. though no one overtly dis she had named another of mixup or other reason, the him in full formal military re nombiar@gmail.com
CM A ND-NDE
YK
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THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
SPORT 17
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Confi dent India takes on desperate England in a key clash
After two consecutive defeats, Morgan’s men are in a must-win situation against an unbeaten opposition
allrounder Ben Stokes, there
is a sense of persecution
within the ranks and it al
most mirrors the ancient
lines from W.H. Auden’s
poem Funeral Blues. The fa
mous poet, with Birming
ham roots, wrote: “Silence
the pianos and with muffl ed
drum; Bring out the coffi n,
let the mourners come.”
K.C. Vijaya Kumar
Birmingham
Not an easy opponent
Still, England with its batting
In quaint Birmingham, rich fi repower, albeit muffl ed for
with treelined avenues, Pa now, and a decent pace at
kistani curry joints, wood tack, cannot be labelled as an
panelled pubs, canals where easy opponent. Injured
houseboats sway to the lulla opener Jason Roy and speed
by of fl owing water, drive ster Jofra Archer, who suf
ways that curl past the ‘Old fered a niggle, are in the mix
Edgbaston Church’ and a and may play provided they
backyard cemetery steeped clear their fi tness tests. But
in silence, India and England Morgan’s men, at least some
will clash in a key World Cup of them, should stop being
fi xture on Sunday. hypersensitive to the sur
Much has changed for the roundsound or whine about
rivals as the global tourna surfaces that have become
ment fi nishes a month this slow.
weekend. England, homefa At the other end, India is
vourite and until recently sitting confi dent but never
ranked No. 1 in ODIs, has smug. Virat Kohli’s men have
slipped, while India regis been seemingly impervious
tered clinical victories and to stress, but the skipper ad
snatched away the ICC’s top mitted that ‘butterfl ies in the
billing that was vested with stomach’ are still fl uttering,
Eoin Morgan’s men. The op just that he and his team
position has its angst, Jonny have masked it well. The top West Indies and Afghanistan. have played their parts and an ‘away’ game, but would
Bairstow lashed at the local order is in fi ne fettle and Mohammed Shami seamless Yuzvendra Chahal and Kul hope that there is no change
media for ‘fi nding faults’ and even if the middlerung has ly moved into the slot vacat deep Yadav could fi nd some in its upwardlymobile for
former captain Michael raised some concerns, diff e ed by the injured Bhuvnesh purchase on a pitch baked tunes. India needs a triumph
Vaughan, eager for a Twitter rent men have put their to seize the semifi nal spot, a
spat, fi red his riposte. hands up and revved the berth that seems inevitable
score. given the way the unit has
In a quandary performed. The last word be
The losses to oldfoe Austra More may be needed longs to Javed, a cab driver,
lia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan After a glut of centuries (Ro who dropped a few Indian
have left the host in a quan hit Sharma 2, Shikhar Dha scribes at the Edgbaston Letting his bat talk: M.S. Dhoni can still play the big shots at the right time as he showed
dary and nudged it to the wan 1) in the beginning of Cricket Ground: “So the fa against the West Indies. AP *
Boult’s hattrick puts the skids on Australia
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA ter Khawaja and Alex Carey by Boult, Warner departed ing up with a sharp refl ex DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
LONDON (71 off 72 balls) scored con after making 16. Things got catch. NZ 131 for six
Pace spearhead Trent Boult trasting halfcenturies to lift worse when Steve Smith was Khawaja played second
B Kiwis were 131 for six in 38
hogged the limelight with a Australia from a disastrous sent back by Lockie Fergu fi ddle as Carey hit 11 boun overs in pursuit of 244
sensational fi nalover hat start. The defending cham son, with Martin Guptill com daries in his fl uent knock. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
trick as New Zealand restrict pion lost half its side with
ed Australia to 243 for nine at less than 100 on the board, SCOREBOARD AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND
Lord’s on Saturday. but a 107run partnership for
He became the fi rst Kiwi the sixth wicket between AUSTRALIA 11x4), Pat Cummins (not out) 23 well, 21.3), 6199 (Carey, 42.6),
to grab a hattrick in the Khawaja and Carey helped it David Warner c Latham b Fer (19b, 1x4), Mitchell Starc b 7243 (Khawaja, 49.3), 8243
World Cup. rebuild. guson 16 (23b, 3x4), Aaron Boult 0 (1b), Jason Behrendorff (Starc, 49.4), 9243 (Behren
Finch lbw b Boult 8 (15b, 1x4), lbw b Boult 0 (1b), Nathan Lyon dorff, 49.5).
With his swinging full It was a rare occasion as
Usman Khawaja b Boult 88 (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (lb3, NEW ZEALAND BOWLING
pitched deliveries, the left the opening duo of David (129b, 5x4), Steve Smith c Gup w7): 10; Total (for nine wkts. in Boult 101514, de Grand
armer sent back the wellset Warner and Aaron Finch, in till b Ferguson 5 (8b), Marcus 50 overs): 243. homme 81290, Ferguson 10
tled Usman Khawaja (88 off redhot form going into this Stoinis c Latham b Neesham 21 FALL OF WICKETS 0492, Sodhi 60350, Nee
129 balls), Mitchell Starc and game, failed to fi re. (26b, 3x4), Glenn Maxwell c&b 115 (Finch, 4.3 overs), 238 sham 60282, Santner 30
Jason Behrendorff . While Finch (8) was the Neesham 1 (5b), Alex Carey c (Warner, 9.1), 346 (Smith, 11.2), 230, Williamson 70251.
Remember the name! Boult became the fi rst Kiwi to take threeinarow at the World Cup. * AP Bolt (four for 51) struck af fi rst to go, trapped in front Guptill b Williamson 71 (72b, 481 (Stoinis, 19.6), 592 (Max Toss: Australia.
CM A ND-NDE
YK
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Imad keeps his nerve as Pakistan wins a thriller Of fans’ scuffl e and
Afghanistan goes down with guns blazing after being restricted to 227 by Shaheen’s burst political banners
the fourth wicket between Shayan Acharya police forces around the
WORLD CUP Asghar Afghan and young LEEDS country to prevent this
wicketkeeper Ikram Ali Khil As the fans walked into type of incident
Shayan Acharya before Najibullah Zadran Headingley on Saturday occurring and were
LEEDS chipped in with a 54ball 42. morning for the World assured that given
Pakistan survived an Afghan Cup fi xture between Headlingley is under the
istan scare to scrape through Stellar show Pakistan and fl ight path for the Leeds
to a threewicket win and Apart from Shaheen who Afghanistan, they spotted Bradford Airport it would
keep its World Cup hopes produced a stellar show, pac a plane fl ying above the not be an issue. We do
alive. er Wahab Riaz and leftarm stadium carrying not condone any sort of
After Shaheen Afridi had spinner Imad, who opened political banners related political messages at the
scythed through the Afghan the bowling, took two wick to Pakistan. “Help end World Cup,” an ICC
istan lineup on a bright Sa ets each. disappearances in spokesperson told
turday morning at the Hea The Pakistan batsmen al Pakistan,” read one of Sportstar.
dingley, allrounder Imad most failed to cash in on Sha the banners. And even as the two
Wasim held his nerve and heen’s eff orts before Imad Though the plane teams locked horns on
stitched together crucial came to the team’s rescue. disappeared after a Saturday, there were
partnerships with Shadab while, it was back again some ugly scenes inside
Khan and Wahab Riaz to save during Afghanistan’s and outside the ground
Pakistan from batsmen, giving away 50 in spell to remove Naib and innings. This time with a with Afghanistan and
embarrassment. 10over spell. Hashmatullah Shahidi off message on Balochistan. Pakistan fans getting into
Earlier, skipper Sarfaraz consecutive deliveries. While the local confrontation, forcing
Quick strikes relied on Shaheen who dis Afghanistan recovered organising committee the security team to send
Pakistan looked on course hed out a blistering opening through a 64run stand for members had no idea them out of the ground.
for a comfortable win when about the plane, the ICC, Police offi cials said that a
ImamulHaq and Babar SCOREBOARD AFGHANISTAN VS PAKISTAN it has been learnt, is few fans were also
Azam forged a 72run part looking into the issue. arrested for violating law
nership for the second wick AFGHANISTAN 11.6), 4-121 (Afghan, 25.2), 5- hab Riaz (not out) 15 (9b, 1x4, “We work with local and order issues.
et. Off spinner Mohammad Rahmat Shah c Azam b Imad 35 125 (Ikram, 26.6), 6-167 (Nabi, 1x6); Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-5) 10;
(43b, 5x4), Gulbadin Naib c Sar- 36.4), 7-202 (Najibullah, 44.4), Total (for seven wkts. in 49.4
Nabi, however, removed
faraz b Shaheen 15 (12b, 3x4), 8-210 (Rashid, 46.4), 9-219 overs): 230.
both in quick succession to
Hashmatullah Shahidi c Imad b (Hassan, 48.2).
bring Afghanistan back into FALL OF WICKETS
Shaheen 0 (1b), Ikram Ali Khil c PAKISTAN BOWLING
the contest. 1-0 (Zaman, 0.2 overs), 2-72
Hafeez b Imad 24 (66b, 1x4), Imad 10-0-48-2, Amir 10-1-
The team was in dire (Imam-ul-Haq, 15.6), 3-81
Asghar Afghan b Shadab 42 41-0, Shaheen 10-0-47-4, (Babar, 17.2), 4-121 (Hafeez,
straits at 156 for six, but Imad (35b, 3x4, 2x6), Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-10-0, Wahab 8-0- 29.1), 5-142 (Sohail, 34.6), 6-
kept his cool. He added 50 Nabi c Amir b Wahab 16 (33b), 29-2, Shadab 10-0-44-1. 156 (Sarfaraz, 38.6 ov), 7-206
with Shadab and an unbea Najibullah Zadran b Shaheen 42 PAKISTAN (Shadab, 46.4).
ten 24 with Wahab (15 not (54b, 6x4), Samiullah Shinwari Fakhar Zaman lbw b Mujeeb 0
(not out) 19 (32b, 1x4), Rashid (2b), Imam-ul-Haq st Ali Khil b AFGHANISTAN BOWLING
out) to guide the team home
Khan c Zaman b Shaheen 8 (12b, Nabi 36 (51b, 4x4), Babar Azam Mujeeb 10-1-34-2, Hamid 2-0-
with three wickets and two Rising to the occasion: When the chips were down, Pakistan 13-0, Naib 9.4-0-73-0, Nabi 10-
1x4), Hamid Hassan b Wahab 1 b Nabi 45 (51b, 5x4), Mo-
balls to spare. Wahab found Imad Wasim. AP *
Dravid to take
charge as NCA’s
Argentina in semifi nals Rapinoe’s double stuns France Leclerc blazes to pole
Chile dashes Colombia’s hopes Sweden dumps Germany; Dutch make maiden last four Hamilton gets a threeplace penalty
Head of Cricket
to do what we did tonight is up a lastfour clash with the
Press Trust of India
WOMEN’S WC tremendous,” said the 33 Netherlands.
New Delhi yearold Rapinoe. Second half headers from
Batting great Rahul Dravid Agence France-Presse Vivianne Miedema and Ste
will move to a bigger crick Paris Unforgettable fanie van der Gragt earned
eting role on Monday when Megan Rapinoe admitted it “We were ruthless with our the Netherlands a 20 win
he takes charge of the Na had been an unforgettable chances, so moving on to the over Italy in their quarterfi
tional Cricket Academy night after her brace took next round, that’s really all nal and a fi rst ever place in
(NCA) in Bengaluru on a the United States through to that matters. It’s a game that the World Cup last four.
twoyear contract. the semifi nals of the wo we’ll never forget here in The results (quarterfi nals):
As NCA’s Head of Cricket, men’s World Cup on Friday, Paris.” France 1 (Renard 81) lost to
Dravid will groom the next the holder beating France USA 2 (Rapinoe 5, 65).
Goals from Sofi a Jakobs Italy 0 lost to Netherlands 2
generation of cricketers 21 here to puncture the son and Stina Blackstenius (Miedema 70, van der Graght
and chart out a roadmap Sviour: Substitute Giovani Lo Celso, left, scored Argentina’s hopes of the host nation. helped Sweden came from 80).
for junior cricket. He will al badly-needed second goal in the 74th minute. AFP * Rapinoe’s freekick fi ve behind to stun Germany 21 Sweden 2 (Jakobsson 22,
so monitor the upcoming minutes into this quarterfi in the quarterfi nals at Roaz Blackstenius 48) bt Germany 1 Great going: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed his second
women cricketers, besides Reuters so scored Argentina’s badly nal evaded a sea of bodies in hon Park in Rennes and set (Magull 16). career pole. REUTERS
*
appointing the coaching RIO DE JANEIRO needed second goal in the the box on its way into the
staff at NCA and the zonal 74th minute, passing a loose net to stun the home crowd. guilty of impeding Kimi
cricket academies. COPA AMERICA ball into an empty net after The USA then soaked up AUSTRIAN GP Raikkonen. Leclerc will
The new role means that another shot from Aguero pressure before delivering now have fellow21yearold
he won’t be able to travel Argentina delivered a much squirmed through the the knockout blow midway Agence France-Presse Max Verstappen of Red Bull
with IndiaA and U19 teams improved performance to hands of Venezuela goal through the second half Spielberg alongside him.
as he used to. beat Venezuela 20 in the keeper Wuilker Farinez. when Rapinoe turned in To Charles Leclerc claimed The two young tyros will
Copa America quarterfi nals In the other quarterfi nal, bin Heath’s centre, although pole position for Ferrari in start ahead of Valtteri Bot
on Friday and set up a champion Chile advanced Wendie Renard pulled a goal Sunday’s Austrian Grand tas in the second Mercedes
mouthwatering lastfour after beating Colombia 54 back for France to set up a Prix with a track record lap and British rookie Lando
meeting with Brazil. in a penalty shootout follow tense fi nish. on Saturday as Lewis Ha Norris, 19, of McLaren.
Striker Lautaro Martinez ing a 00 draw. Alexis San Jill Ellis’ team held on and milton was hit with a three Leclerc had secured his
scored for the second game chez got the winning kick go through to a semifi nal place grid penalty, demot second career pole when
running to put Argentina in for Chile after William Tesil against England in Lyon next ing the World Champion clocking his best lap of one
front in the 10th minute lo missed Colombias last Tuesday as it seeks to retain from second to fourth after minute and 3.003 seconds
with a clever backheeled attempt. its crown and win a fourth various penalties were in the fi nal seconds of a
fi nish, diverting in a shot The results: World Cup. applied. dramatic session that saw
from Sergio Aguero follow Venezuela 0 lost to Argenti- “We didn’t have the best Hamilton was due to his Ferrari teammate Se
ing a corner swung in by na 2 (Martinez 10, Lo Celso 74). night on the ball but the fo share the front row with Le bastian Vettel unable to run
Rahul Dravid. captain Lionel Messi. Colombia 0 drew with Chile cus defensively, and the wil clerc but the stewards due to an air pressure pro
* FILE PHOTO: N. SUDARSHAN Substitute Giovani Lo Cel 0 (Chile won 5-4 on penalties). lingness and the discipline Diva! Megan Rapinoe celebrates a strike against France. *
AFP found the Mercedes driver blem.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD RACING
Adjudicate wins main event
SUDOKU It’s Impavid vs War Hammer BENGALURU: Adjudicate (Suraj
up), won the Chief Justice’s Cup,
the feature event of the races
vor) 3 and Queen Runner (Suraj)
4. Not run: Lady Of Fame. 73/4,
Snk and 33/4. 1m 24.52s. ₹ 16 (w),
SERMON (Sandesh) 1, Southern
Ruler (Bhawani Singh) 2, Exclus
ive Art (Koushik) 3 and Manzoni
BENGALURU: Impavid and War Zedclass (10) A.S. Peter 51.5 and 57.5, 9. Constantinople (8) Trevor held here on Saturday ( June 29). 13, 10 and 15 (p), SHP: 25, THP: (Hindu Singh) 4. Snk, 83/4 and
Hammer may fight out the finish 12. Proudwish (6) A. Merchant 50. 56, 10. Decisive (4) A. Imran 56, The winner is owned by Soom 33, FP: 28, Q: 21, Trinella: 40 and 3/4. 1m 24.57s. ₹ 16 (w), 12, 22
of the Colts Championship Stakes 1. HIMACHALI, 11. Pink Smile (2) Tauseef 55 and Stud Farm Pvt Ltd rep by. Mrs. 40, Exacta: 176 and 134. Favour and 180 (p), SHP: 68, THP: 407,
(1,600m), the chief event of the 2. REGAL FORCE, 12. Grand Empire (6) Bhawani D. Khaitan, Mr & Mrs. A. Khaitan ite: Northern Alliance. Owners: FP: 85, Q: 100, Trinella: 4,152
races to be held here on Sunday 3. MASTER OF WAR. Singh 54. and Mrs. D. Jalan & Arion Horse Mr. Clinton Miller, Mr. Sujay and 3,050, Exacta: 55,691 and
( June 30). 1. ANGELS KISS, Co. Pvt Ltd rep by. Mr. D.A. Chandrahas, Mr. Dean Stephens 47,735. Favourite: Victorious Ser
There will be no false rails.
4 JUSTICE P. MEDAPA ME-
MORIAL TROPHY (1,400m), 2. CONSTANTINOPLE,
3. WINGS OF DESIRE.
Nanda, Ms. Esha Nanda Bho
jwani and Mr. Amitabh Nanda
and Mr. Martin Alan Wheeler.
Trainer: Neil Devaney.
mon. Owner: Mr. Chirag V. Shah.
Trainer: Vishal Gaikwad.
1 ADLER STAKES (1,600m), rated
15 to 35, 200 pm: 1. Revan Star
rated 30 to 50, 330: 1. Akita Pro
(9) Trevor 60, 2. Game Changer and trained by James Mckeown.
(4) Shobhan 60, 2. Kirkwood (3) (7) Arshad 58.5, 3. Corona Del 7 RACING PATRONS TROPHY
(1,600m), rated 75 & over, 5 THE RESULTS 4 J.B. MALLARADHYA ME-
MORIAL TROPHY (1,200m),
John 59.5, 3. Ido What I Do (8) Ak
shay K 59, 4. Natalma (7) Zervan
Corsa (4) Suraj 56, 4. Land Of
Liberty (5) Rajesh K 56, 5. Tan
00: 1. Kambaku (5) John 62.5, 2.
Auburn (2) Akshay K 60.5, 3. 1 SIR M. VISVESVARAYA ME-
MORIAL TROPHY (1,400m),
rated 45 to 65, 5yo & over: FAIR
WARNING (Antony) 1, Tarini
7 ALEKONA PLATE (1,200m),
rated 15 to 35: TOKYO ROSE
(Suraj) 1, Tiger Returns (Afroz
59, 5. Crack Of Dawn (2) Sandesh oura (8) Adarsh 55, 6. Star Cavalry Wave Rider (4) Koushik 57, 4. Ulti rated 60 & over: PELUCHE (Tre (A.S. Peter) 2, Turf Magic (Dar
55.5, 6. Debonair (1) Neeraj 54, 7. Khan) 2, Princeazeem (Dhanu
(6) Sandesh 54.5, 7. Raw Gold (2) mate Warrior (6) Darshan 56.5, 5. vor) 1, Aeisir (P.S. Chouhan) 2, shan) 3 and Torsoro (R. Manish)
Granada (6) Md. Asif Khan 54 and Singh) 3 and No Opinion
Vivek 54, 8. Reference (1) Dhanu Tororosso (7) S. Shareef 56, 6. Sakura (Akshay K) 3 and Surf Ro 4. 11/4, 11/4 and 11/2. 1m 12.25s.
8. Tequila Tornado (5) Dhebe 52. (Tauseef ) 4. 1/2, 1 and 1/2. 1m
Singh 54 and 9. Aceros (3) P. Automatic (3) P.S. Chouhan 55, 7. mance (Zervan) 4. Lnk, 1/2 and ₹ 74 (w), 26, 26 and 31 (p), SHP: 13.69s. ₹ 17 (w), 11, 40 and 18 (p),
1. CRACK OF DAWN, Surya 52. Isn’t She Lovely (9) Sandesh 54, 8. 53/4. 1m 24.04s. ₹ 41 (w), 12, 15 80, THP: 64, FP: 1,040, Q: 408, SHP: 137, THP: 42, FP: 178, Q:
2. KIRKWOOD, 1. AKITA PRO, Booker Jones (1) Irvan 51.5 and 9. and 10 (p), SHP: 34, THP: 72, FP: Trinella: 7,832 and 2,238, Ex 170, Trinella: 564 and 223, Ex
3. IDO WHAT I DO. 2. CORONA DEL CORSA, Magistero (8) Neeraj 50.5. 238, Q: 118, Trinella: 279 and 84, acta: 1,11,949 (carried over). Fa acta: 6,314 and 3,382. Favourite:
3. STAR CAVALRY. 1. ISN'T SHE LOVELY, Exacta: 1,546 and 1,305. Favour vourite: Good Time Indeed.
2 RED DIVINE PLATE (1,200m),
maiden 3yo only, (Terms), 2
30: 1. Altair (4) Irvan 56, 2. Knotty 5 COLTS CHAMPIONSHIP
STAKES (1,600m), 3yo Colts
2. KAMBAKU,
3. AUBURN.
ite: Sakura. Owners: M R Stud
Farms Pvt Ltd rep by. Mr. N.
Owners: Mrs. Tripti Kohli &
Sarainaga Racing Pvt Ltd.
Tokyo Rose. Owner: Mr. S. Vish
wanatha Reddy. Trainer: V.
Dheeraj.
Oak (2) Antony 56, 3. Mr Humble and Geldings, (Terms), 400: 1. Chandrashekar Rai & Manjri Trainer: Arjun Mangalorkar.
(5) R. Manish 56, 4. Stroke Of Exclusive Blue (7) Akshay K 56, 2. 8 CLASSICAL ACT PLATE (Div.
II), (1,200m), rated 30 to 50,
Horse Breed Farm Pvt Ltd rep
by. Mr & Mrs. S.P. Mistry.
5 CHIEF JUSTICE’S CUP
Genius (3) Sai Vamshi 56, 5. Blue
Bliss (7) Yash 54.5, 6. Constanza
(8) Sandesh 54.5, 7. Donna Bella
Impavid (5) Sandesh 56, 3. Light
ning Bolt (8) Zervan 56, 4. Malwa
(6) P.S. Chouhan 56, 5. Mystic Bay
4yo & over, 530: 1. Benediction
(8) Irvan 60, 2. San Bernardino
Trainer: Neil Darashah.
(1,800m), 4yo & over,
(Terms): ADJUDICATE (Suraj) 1,
Salazaar (P.S. Chouhan) 2,
8 YOUNG RAJPUT PLATE
(1,400m), rated 15 to 35, 4yo
& over: ANOTHER RAINBOW (Ar
Koushik 60, 4. Simply Magical (3) Vamshi 60, 2. War Hero (9) R. 1. STAR MAN, Mr. Aditya P. Thackersey. Co. Pvt Ltd rep by. Mr. D.A. Jackpot: ₹ 1,944 (382 tkts);
Yash 59.5, 5. Unbroken (1) Afroz Manish 60, 3. Wings Of Desire (7) 2. SAN BERNARDINO, Trainer: S. Dominic. Nanda, Ms. Esha Nanda Bho
Khan 59.5, 6. Himachali (5) Tre P.S. Chouhan 58.5, 4. Alberetta 3. BOLD MOVE. jwani and Mr. Amitabh Nanda.
vor 58.5, 7. Natalie (11) P. Surya 57, (11) A. Qureshi 58, 5. Kerazano (3) Day’s best: ISN'T SHE LOVELY
Double: CONSTANZA — AKITA PRO
3 FANTABULOUS KING PLATE
(Div. II), (1,400m), maiden 3
Trainer: James Mckeown. Runner up: 229 (1,390 tkts);
8. Duty Call (4) Arshad 55, 9.
Desert Gilt (9) Dhanu Singh 54,
10. Kanthaka (7) Rajesh K 54, 11.
Sandesh 58, 6. Secretsuperstar (5)
Darshan 58, 7. Angels Kiss (12)
Antony 57.5, 8. Kvasir (1) Akshay K
Jkt: 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8; Tr (i): 3, 4 and
5; (ii): 6, 7 and 8.
yo only. (Terms): NORTHERN AL-
LIANCE (Zervan) 1, On The Trot
(Neeraj) 2, British Empress (Tre
6 FANTABULOUS KING PLATE
(Div. I), (1,400m), maiden 3
yo only, (Terms): VICTORIOUS
Treble (i): 271 (85 tkts); (ii): 100
(361 tkts).
CM A ND-NDE
YK
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
THE HINDU
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
DELHI
SPORT 19
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TV PICKS
ICC World Cup: Star Sports 1
No problem with Gill’s form Praful to meet
ILeague clubs
& 2 , SS Select 1 (SD & HD), 3
p.m. Sensor issues put paid to the driver’s hopes in opener on July 3
Formula One: Austrian GP,
SS Select 2 (SD & HD), 6.30 Rayan Rozario
and circumstances that were
p.m. Chennai
beyond our reach. It does Shyam Vasudevan
It was a bad day in offi ce for not matter as we still have CHENNAI
Mascarenhas dazzles
club owners on Saturday
<
> We
ROGERS (USA) the machine (Mahindra Ad are trying to bound to happen,” he
Aditi Ashok made her best venture XUV 300 R2 Petrol)? understand what added. afternoon said: “This is to
start of the season with a Blame it on the machine as inform you that a meeting
the car wants but
bogey free fiveunder 67 to Gill is currently in top form. Confi dent with representatives of I
be tied13th on the first day
there’s nothing
Obviously, he was He further stated that the League clubs with the Pre
wrong as well as it’s
of the Walmart NW Arkansas Gill recovers to fi nish ninth after his car lets him down disappointed.
all a part of the
team will beat the opposi sident of AIFF has been
Championship. In a season, tion by atleast three mini fi xed for July 3.”
“My form is not the ques
where she has not been able
for the second day on the said Dean. tion but there are some mi development utes in the next round at It may be noted that the
to find her form, Aditi is now INRC trot but he recovered late in “We lost lots of time in the nor issues. We are trying to process Coimbatore. ILeague clubs had re
four behind the first round
Rayan Rozario the evening to fi nish ninth. second stage but though the understand what the car Hari Singh, Head of Oper quested a meeting with
leader, Inbee Park, who had
Chennai And that saw some inter service crew worked on it, wants but there’s nothing okay as it is all about learn ations, JK Tyre Motorsports, Praful, once before the be
five straight early birdies and
shot a 9under 62. This was Team Champions Dean Mas esting battle between the the problem kept coming wrong as well as it’s all a part ing,” he added. said: “I know things have not ginning of the season and
Aditi’s first score in the 60s in carenhas (codriver others. Dean, the INRC 2 back. But, it was far better of the development pro fallen in place but the once before the Super Cup,
But should the test not but the meetings did not
any first round in 2019 and Shruptha Padival) was not at driver, supported by JK than the morning loop,” he cess,” said Gill. XUV300 is a new car and the
have been done before the take place.
only the second round below his aggressive best but, he Tyres, squeezed the best out added. “We thought we will use work is still going on.
rally? It is expected that the
70 on either of the first two was still strong enough to of his car in the fi rst stage of The results (provisional): this rally as a test. We ex “So nothing to worry as
days. PTI fi nish on top of the pack on the day but failed to carry it INRC overall: 1. Dean Masca pected our results to be a lit “Quite true, but we had we got the best driver, tuner roadmap of the ILeague
day two of the 41st South In forward in the very next renhas & Shruptha Padival tle inconsistent but that’s some unfortunate incidents and the car.” and the structure of Indian
dia Rally, the fi rst round of stage at Aavisa. And that 54:48.8s; 2. Rahul Kanthraj & football will be discussed
the Champions Yacht Club – turned the contest closer Vivek Bhatt 54:58.1s; Fabid during the meeting as re
Ahmer & G. Sanath 55:03.0s.
FMSCI Indian National Rally
Championship here on
still.
The lead kept changing INRC: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh &
Ashwin Naik 55:26.1s; 2. Gaurav
India starts India1 fi nishes ports have suggested the
AIFF is considering making
Saturday. hands between Chetan Shiv
well in IBSF the cashrich Indian Super
It was seasoned cam
paigner Bikku Babu (codriv
ram (Dilip Sharan), Rahul
Kantharaj (Vivek Bhatt) and
Gill & Musa Sherif 56:30.3s; 3)
Phalguna URS & Srikanth Gow
da 56.54.7s. snooker WC runnerup League (ISL) as the top divi
sion.
er Milen George) from the Bikku from there.
INRC 2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas &
same team who shot into the But, at the end, it was coming Rawat 699.
Shruptha Padival 54.48.8s; 2. ASIAN SNOOKER
lead the other day.
Team Mahindra Adven
Dean who had the last laugh
with an overall timing of
Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Bhatt
54.58.1s; 3. Younus Ilyas & Har
Press Trust of India
DOHA
Sports Bureau
Earlier, in the semifi nals,
India and Pakistan2 had
Sethu fi nishes
Pliskova takes
ture’s Super Star Gaurav Gill
trailed him by just seven se
54:48.8s ahead of Rahul,
who timed 54:58.1s.
ish Gowda 55:18.3s.
INRC 3: 1. Fabid Ahmer & G. Sa
Defending champion India
made a strong start in the
DOHA
Pakistan2 got the better of
edged past Myanmar and
Thailand respectively with
15th; Senthil
Eastbourne title
EASTBOURNE
conds and, obviously, one
expected him to come back
“The issue was with the
ECU and the engine. I don’t
nath 55:03.0s; 2. Chetan Shiv
ram & Dilip Sharan 55:04.3s; 3.
IBSF snooker World Cup
with victories over South
India1 32 in the fi nal of the
Asian team snooker cham
identical scorelines of 32.
The scores:
28th in Race 1
World No. 3 Karolina Pliskova
with a bang. know exactly what it is but Sahil Khanna & Rajit Kadian Africa and Thailand here pionship here on Friday. Final: Pakistan2 bt India1 32
cruised to her second
But his car let him down they are trying to rectify it,” 57.15.7s. on Saturday. India was outplayed in (Babar Masih bt Pankaj Advani Press Trust of India
Eastbourne International title
Pankaj Advani and Ma the fi rst two matches with 791, Zulfi qar Qadir bt Laxman Suzuka
with a 61, 64 destruction of
nan Chandra had annexed Pankaj Advani going down Rawat 711, Masih & Qadir lost IDEMITSU Honda Racing
Wimbledon champion
the coveted title last year. 791 against Babar Masih to Advani & Rawat 699, Qadir India’s Rajiv Sethu fi nished
Angelique Kerber on
Saturday. The Czech did not
drop a set all week and raced
Rakesh Shukla passes away This time, India’s top two
ranked players, Advani and
and Zulfi qar Qadir outplay
ing Laxman Rawat 711.
lost to Advani 6739, Masih bt
Rawat 699).
Semifi nals: India1 bt Myan
15th to grab one point,
while a crash created trou
through the final in little over Laxman Rawat, are vying The Indian duo won the ble for Senthil Kumar, who
mar 32 (Advani bt Ko Htet 95
an hour on court to claim her He played 121 First Class matches and one Test to bring back the cup. next match against the Pa 46, Rawat bt Win Ko Ko 5542,
ended up in 28th spot, in
third title of the year. AFP India trounced South kistani pair 5818 before Ad Het& Ko Ko bt Advani & Rawat Race 1 of the fourth round
Africa 30 before getting vani got past Qadir 6739. 7428, Htet bt Rawat 5143, of FIM Asia Road Racing
special Correspondent for Delhi cricket and Rakesh
the better of the mighty Pakistan, however, had the Advani bt Ko Ko 6929); Pakis Championship (ARRC)
Anand draws HYDERABAD
Rakesh Shukla, former India
had a huge hand in it,” Ma
dan said of that eff ort from
Thailand 31. last laugh with Masih over tan bt Thailand 32. here on Saturday.
Sports Bureau
Delhi on Saturday. He was
71. He had represented Delhi
“A nofuss cricketer. We
played in the same team. Ex Indians eye medal sweep in Commonwealth chess
and Bihar in First Class crick tremely committed with
ZAGREB
Viswanathan Anand stayed
et and earned his Test cap both ball and bat. Gave his Fourtime winner Abhijeet Gupta will face a challenge from many Indian GMs
against Sri Lanka in 1982. 100 per cent. Had a quiet
on the recoverycourse af
Shukla played 121 First presence in the dressing RAKESH RAO event features more GMs (12) ping 139 rating points on way by England, have stayed
ter a 41move draw with Le
Class matches, claimed 295 room. He left the way he NEW DELHI than International Masters to winning an international away. Initially, this edition
von Aronian in the third
wickets and aggregated 3798 played his cricket — no fuss,” In the absence of any quality (11). In fact, two of the IMs, P. roundrobin women event in was awarded to South Africa.
round of the Croatia Grand
runs. Rakesh Shukla. said Bishan Singh Bedi. opposition from overseas Iniyan and Swayams Mishra, Chennai. But this week, Di After the country expressed
Chess Tour here on Friday.
Known for his gentle de *
FILE PHOTO “Wonderful human be challengers, India appears are awaiting confi rmation of vya is expected to fi nd the its inability to host it, Sri
Anand, who suff ered a meanour, Shukla was loved ing, said his former Delhi their GM titles. In all, there
set to make a clean sweep of going very tough when com Lanka was the likely host.
surprise defeat against by his teammates for his na with him. He could bat sensi colleague Surender Khanna. are 614 entries across all
medals in all 16 categories in peting with the seniors. But once Sri Lanka opted
leader Ian Nepomniachtchi ture to help anyone who bly and also guide his partn “Very good team man. Al categories.
the Commonwealth chess Women players play in the out, India took the responsi
in the opening round, held sought his guidance. “I er,” remembered Madan. ways positive. We were to championship beginning Open section and the best bility.
Magnus Carlsen in the se learnt my lessons from my One of Shukla’s memorable gether in SAIL after sharing Divya is the favourite
here on Sunday. three fi nishers make it to the The top10 seeding: 1. Abhijeet
cond round. seniors and it is my duty to performance came in the the Delhi dressing room for Gupta (2606), 2. S.L. Naraya
The results (third round): Vis Top seed and a fourtime Among the leading ladies, podium. In all other catego
pass on the knowledge to the Ranji Trophy of 1982 when years. Have so many memo nan (2603), 3. Aravindh Chith
wanathan Anand (1) drew with winner Abhijeet Gupta will Divya Deshmukh, 14, is the ries, competitions are held
current generation,” he Delhi chased Karnataka’s ries of him. Whenever the ambaram (2598), 4. M.R. Lalit
Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5); Shak be looking to add to his tally. rating favourite, ahead of de separately in open and girls’ Babu (2571), 5. Deepan Chak
hriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 1) lost would often say. score of 705. A knock of 185 team needed him to per fending champion Tania sections.
Ranked jointninth in the kravarthy (2557), 6. Arjun Eri
to Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 3); Having picked early les by skipper Mohinder Amar form, he came up with so Sachdev and fellowformer
country, Abhijeet expects se For the record, out of the gaisi (2526), 7. P. Iniyan (2525),
Fabiano Caruana (USA, 1.5) sons from elder brother nath and a 101 by Gursharan mething special. That was a Asian women champion
rious challenge from, among 94 entries, India accounts 8. Swayams Mishra (2493), 9.
drew with Magnus Carlsen (2); Anand, who also bowled leg Singh set up the chase which special quality in him. I pray Bhakti Kulkarni. Swapnil Dhopade (2488), 10.
others, S.L. Narayanan, Na for 83. The remaining 11 en
Anish Giri (Ned, 1) drew with spin and played for Bihar was given the fi nishing that his soul rests in peace. “ C.R.G. Krishna (2481).
Wesley So (USA, 2), Sergey Kar tional champion Aravindh Divya, winner of two tries are from Bangladesh,
and Uttar Pradesh, Shukla touches by Shukla’s bril Shukla loved to coach Women (topfi ve): 1. Divya
jakin (Rus, 1.5) drew with Hikaru Chithambaram, former world (under10 and un Botswana, Malaysia, Mal
was much respected for his liance with the bat. youngsters and insisted they Deshmukh (2414), 2. Tania
Nakamura (USA, 1.5); Maxime champion M.R. Lalit Babu der12) titles, took her rating dives, Mauritius, South Afri
ability to beat the batsman Batting at No 9 and com learn the basics well. Sachdev (2401), 3. Bhakti Kul
VachierLagrave (Fra, 1.5) drew and several other Indian from 2127 to 2432 in just two ca, Seychelles and Singa karni (2380), 4. R. Vaishali
in the air. ing in at 548, Shukla (69 not “Cricket teaches you to
with Ding Liren (Chn, 1). Grandmasters. months earlier this year, pore. As usual, stronger (2338), 5. M. Mahalakshmi
“He was not afraid of out) stuck it out with Rajesh live life honestly. You must
fl ighting the ball. What I Peter (67 not out). Their 118 respect the laws of the game In a rare instance, the mainly after gaining whop Commonwealth nations, led (2245).
Vrushti forces loved most about him was run chanceless partnership and never show dissent on
Vishwa and Anusha claim titles
his spirit to fi ght. No bat took the game away from the fi eld,” was his philoso
top seed Saina sman could challenge him Karnataka which had an at phy. Rijiju
on a helpful pitch. He was a tack. He stayed connected with
to a draw matchwinner,” said his “I give credit to Rajesh,” the game through an acade announces
longtime Delhi teammate
Madan Lal.
was Shukla’s humble res
ponse after that epic victory.
my he ran at the YMCA and
was a popular expert with increase in NORTH ZONE TT
Special Correspondent
“I had many partnerships “It was an unforgettable day All India Radio.
diet budget
Kochi RAKESH RAO
West Bengal’s Aronyak SONEPAT
Ghosh, the top seed in the
open section, had a win
ning start in the 30th Na
Strong team for junior World Cup Press Trust of India
PATIALA
Fifth seed Vishwa Deendaya
lan regained control when it
mattered and got the better
tional under17 chess The Sports Minister Kiren
championship at the Obe
India had topped the table last year with 26 medals Rijiju on Saturday an
of Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta
in a sevenset thriller to
ron Mall here on Saturday are scheduled to send 652 The schedule has 25 nounced that the diet bud
claim the junior boys’ title in
evening. He defeated Guja SHOOTING shooters. That should un metre standard pistol for ju get of the SAI trainees, se
the Nationalranking table
rat’s Ajmera Tanmay. derline the physical strength nior men and women on July nior and junior athletes
Special Correspondent tennis (North Zone) cham
But the girls’ No. 1, Od of India, as the host will fi eld 13, followed by free pistol, will be increased to bring
NEW DELHI pionship here on Saturday.
isha’s Saina Salonika was the second biggest contin trap, rifl e prone on the se parity.
Some of the accomplished Earlier, the diet budget The girls title went to top
forced to a draw by 28th gent of 40. cond day. The air rifl e and
shooters like Elavenil Valari for SAI trainees, junior ath seed Anusha Kutumbale.
seed Vrushti Shah in the Russia (36), China (34), trap fi nals are scheduled for
van and Mehuli Ghosh, apart letes and senior athletes The Madhya Pradesh girl, af
opening round. Czech Republic (34), Italy the third day. After days of
Important results (fi rst from Manisha Keer and was ₹ 250, 480 and 690, ter a fruitful outing the in
(32), USA (31), Britain (29), packed events, the event will women section, proved her
round): Open: Ajmera Tan Adarsh Singh, will be part of respectively but the Rijiju
France (28), Poland (25) and conclude with mixed air pis superiority over second seed
may (Guj, 0) lost to Aronyak the strong 53member In has decided to make the
Japan (20) will be the other tol and rifl e 3position Swastika Ghosh in six sets.
Ghosh (WB, 1), Neelesh Saha dian team for the junior amounts equal.
(WB, 1) bt S. Nithyan (Ker, 0),
countries trying to capitalise events on July 19.
World Cup scheduled to be In a neckandbattle, Vish
S. Rohith (TN, 0) lost to Vat on the best exposure for Most of the shooters are Young champions: Anusha Kutumbale and Vishwa
held in Suhl, Germany, from Supplements wa prevailed after managing Deendayalan with their rewards. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
sal Singhania (Jha, 1), Utsab juniors. in competitive mode, espe *
IN BRIEF
Cosmic waves discovery could IndianAmerican teenager
unlock the mysteries of space bags $1,00,000 quiz prize
High school student Avi Gupta wins the ‘2019 Teen Jeopardy’ contest
In a fi rst, the precise source of a powerful, oneoff burst of such waves spotted
Auction of videotape of
man’s fi rst steps on moon Agence France-Presse In 2017, astronomers were Press Trust of India the cherry on top,” Nandita
NEW YORK Washington able to trace the source of a New York Gupta, his mother, said.
A former NASA intern who A team of international as repeating burst, but locating An IndianAmerican teenag Ryan Presler, an eighth
bought a truckload of er has won a whopping grader from Sioux Falls,
tronomers have determined a oneoff FRB presented a
videotapes to resell them $1,00,000 prize in the most came in second place, grab
for the fi rst time the precise much more diffi cult
may end up a millionaire next
source of a powerful, oneoff challenge. watched individual quiz bing the $50,000 runnerup
month when Sotheby's
burst of cosmic radio waves. show in the U.S. prize, while Lucas Miner, a
auctions what it says is the
They have pinpointed it to Live replay Avi Gupta, a high school high school junior from Mia
only surviving original
recording of man's first steps a massive galaxy billions of Without the benefi t of know senior from Portland, U.S., mi, fi nished third and re
on the moon 50 years ago. light years away, with pro ing where to look, a team led won the show’s latest Teen ceived $25,000.
The tapes are expected to perties that upend what by Keith Bannister had to de Tournament, taking home The 2018 College Jeopar
sell for as much as $2 million scientists previously thought vise a new methodology. the $1,00,000 grand prize, dy, which also carried a
when they hit the auction on they knew about the forma Giant leap: The team pinpointed the location of FRB 180924 “You can think of it as live Jeopardy! said in a state prize of $100,000, was won
July 20. REUTERS tion of mysterious fast radio about 3.6 billion light years from earth. AFP *
action replay mode, where ment. Avi Gupta by Dhruv Gaur.
bursts (FRBs). “This result is we have a computer that’s His victory on the ‘2019 Jeopardy!, which featured
highly anticipated within the of FRBs, which fl ash for only remains the subject of in actually looking for the FRB, Teen Jeopardy’ contest was “As a mother, my heart a total of 15 students, is an
astronomy community,” Ca a microinstant but can emit tense debate, though scien so it looked through about a televised on Friday, in which was beating 100 miles per American television game
sey Law, an astronomer at as much energy in a millise tists now agree they origi billion measurements every he beat three other Indian hour. I think the thing about show which features a quiz
UC Berkeley, who was not in cond as the Sun does in nate in far away galaxies. second and I tried to fi nd the American teens. Avi is his perseverance. For competition in which con
volved in the study, said. 10,000 years. Since the fi rst FRB was de one that contains an FRB,” “It still feels unreal, and I him, I could see the eff ort he testants are presented with
The fi ndings, published in Exactly what creates these tected a little over a decade Mr. Bannister said. The team honestly can’t express how has put in throughout the general knowledge clues in
the journal Science, are highenergy surges of long ago, a global hunt has found pinpointed the location of grateful and fortunate I feel year. So, I wanted him to the form of answers, and
among the most signifi cant waves at the far end of the 85 bursts. Most have been FRB 180924 about 3.6 billion to have had this opportuni have a happy wholesome ex must phrase their responses
40 tonnes of fi shing nets ty,” Mr. Gupta said. perience. And the win was in the form of questions.
since the discovery in 2007 electromagnetic spectrum “oneoff s”. light years from earth.
removed from Pacifi c
SAN FRANCISCO
In a mission to clean up trash
floating in the ocean,
environmentalists pulled 40
tons (36 metric tonnes) of
Medical ‘selfi es’ help Assam’s fi rst superhero is a commoner and ready to fl y
abandoned fishing nets this
month from an area known as
patients feel satisfi ed Advitya, unlike his counterparts elsewhere, does not hide his real identity and wears no costume, mask
the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch. The group then Indo-Asian News Service sumergenerated health RAHUL KARMAKAR fi lm’s supervillain is an evil or Bollywood counterparts —
collected nets entangled with Sydney photographs, the research GUWAHATI scientist who derives does not hide his real identi
plastic chairs, bottles and Taking medical ‘selfi es’ and ers conducted a twopart It was with a romantic fi lm strength from his laboratory ty and wears formal clothes,
other trash in an effort that sharing them with a doctor study published in the Jour- that he wanted to make his experiments and the fury of would strike a chord with the
cost $3,00,000. AP empowers and reassures pa nal of Medical Internet Re- directorial debut. But the nature. viewers. Chiranjib Dutta,
tients and can improve their search. They fi rst inter yearning to “do something “The underlying message who starred in the 2017 ac
relationship with the medi viewed 30 patients, diff erent” led Arindam Shar of the fi lm is that one should tion thriller Gangs of North-
cal practitioner, research clinicians and caregivers. In ma to direct the fi rst super not go against time and na east, plays the superhero in
has found. the second part, parents hero fi lm in Assamese cine ture, and that truth will al Advitya.
“Healthcare consumers were asked to take photos of ma’s 84yearold history. ways prevail over lies and Ajay Barman of Bengali
feel this data is valuable. It their children’s surgical Mr. Sharma has almost good over evil,” he said. TV serial E. Amar Guru
helps them have a sense of wounds at the hospital and completed the shooting of The supervillain, with Dakkhina plays the supervil
autonomy in their care, im send it to the surgeon so his directorial venture Advi- powers similar to the super lain. Niha Rani Das makes
proves their view of the ser that he could review heal tya, a Sanskrit word for the hero, meets his end in the her debut opposite Chiranjib
Beer, wine bottles
contain toxic substances vice they are being provided ing. Sun. Advitya is the name gi A still from the fi lm Advitya. *
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT fi lm. “How he died is a mys and Assamese TV actor Bi
LONDON
and it enhances the relation Parents said it improved ven by the people to the tery for the viewers to fi nd kash Borah, who plays his
Bottles of beer, wine and ship between doctor and pa their confi dence and satis fi lm’s superhero who has no equally powerful. more like a friend. Someth out, since the superhero and younger brother.
spirits contain potentially tient because there is a faction with the medical ser time to wear a fancy costume “Advitya is a superhero ing suddenly happens to him and his nemesis are not The fi lm, which will have a
harmful levels of toxic sense of mutual respect and vice. Taking photos was a and a face mask. fi lm that has bits of romance, that gives him super strength strong enough to kill each song each by popular ar
elements, such as lead and communication,” said Kara useful reminder for them to A common man seeking family drama and action be and the ability to fl y,” Mr. other,” Mr. Sharma said. tistes Dikshu Sarma and San
cadmium, in their enamelled Burns from the Queensland check how the surgical sites job security and stability in sides computergenerated Sharma told The Hindu from The fi lmmaker, who did a chita Sharma, is expected to
decorations, a study by University of Technology in were healing. The fi ndings life, the superhero is not rea special eff ects. The lead cha eastern Assam’s Jorhat. course in direction from be completed for an early
Researchers at the University Australia. from the photographic trial dy to manage his suddenly racter is an ordinary person Declining to reveal the Mumbai Film Academy, is 2020 release. The offi cial
of Plymouth in the U.K. has To gauge experiences supported conclusions acquired superpowers to with an understanding girlf source of the superhero’s su hoping that Advitya, who — teaser of the fi lm was re
found. PTI with and attitudes to con drawn from the study. take on a supervillain who is riend and a brother who is perpowers, he said that the unlike most of his Hollywood leased on June 20.
Drought
city
With its four main
reservoirs turning arid,
Chennai, India’s sixth
biggest city, has become
the fi rst one in the
country to run dry p6
2 LAST WEEK DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Trans first Naleena Prasheetha became Author dies Writer Judith Krantz,
the first transperson to not only known for steamy romance novels like
graduate from Loyola College, Chennai, Scruples and Princess Daisy , died at 91
but also to be elected as associate this week. She published her first novel
secretary of its students’ union. Having at the age of 50 after a career writing for
Tusker train The Assam Rock auction Former Pink
endured years of discrimination, she magazines, and went on to write
government announced that it Floyd frontman David Gilmour
promised in her manifesto to empower bestseller after bestseller. Fans and
would transport four elephants sold 126 of his guitars in a
women and take up other student issues. friends paid tributes on Twitter.
over 3,100 km by train for the record-breaking auction. The
annual Rath Yatra festival. proceeds go to ClientEarth, an
Animal rights activists have environmental law NGO. His
protested, saying the journey iconic ‘Black Strat’ sold for over
could be potentially fatal for 26 times its asking price, and
the elephants. Gilmour raised more than $21 m.
60 MINUTES 3
equals’. Asking people to forget
centuries of oppression is also a
WITH PA. RANJITH violence. We need to discuss it, and
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC make reparations. Unless we do this,
we can’t say things have changed.
me from tell the story of the people living there.
Every backdrop has a story behind it. I
research the backdrop in detail when I
fi lm any character because I believe it
childhood’ contributes immensely. Think of an
aerial shot where you see a village that
has a settlement of 50 families staying
a little away from the main area — it
tells the story in a single visual.
The Tamil fi m director, Your dialogues are powerful, be it
whose fi ery fi lms and the ‘Gandhi dress – Ambedkar
coat’ quip or ‘Nilam Engal Urimai ’.
statements have made Do you ever fear they’ll remain
mere punchlines instead of
a mark, talks of why making a statement?
he cannot help but ■ I remember writing the ‘Gandhi –
Ambedkar’ line and keeping the
be political in life notepad in front of Rajini sir, worried
what he’d say. “Super, sir,” he cried
and work out, something I wasn’t expecting at
all. After the shot was fi lmed, I went
straight to the restroom and cried my
ILLUSTRATION: R. RAJESH heart out. It was too emotional; I felt I
had made a strong statement through
SRINIVASA RAMANUJAM dhobis in the engravings on the presents a diff erent story to me. I want a powerful voice.
walls. Your thoughts? to be the fi lmmaker telling that story.
D
irector Pa. Ranjith’s offi ce ■ I am in awe of the temple The women in your films are so
reception resembles a architecture. I have no issues with that You can, of course, tell that story strong. Can we expect a woman-
library. It’s a far cry from the aspect of the king, but it is during his through alternate cinema but centric film soon?
Kodambakkamesque spaces reign that caste raised its ugly head — what are the challenges of doing ■ The women I grew up around were
of Tamil directors, which usually boast there were even separate graveyards it in commercial, superstar films? from the working class. What I saw in
fi lm posters on the walls. Here, for separate castes. It might have been ■ When Rajini sir came to me, I knew cinema — women standing meekly
Ambedkar, Periyar and Marx rub prevalent earlier, but during his reign he had selected me after watching my before their husbands — was
shoulders on the bookshelves. There’s it became a strong practice. Several realistic fi lms like Attakathi (2012) and something I had never encountered in
a carrom board in the corner which books point this out. Madras (2014); so I was quite insistent real life. I have observed my parents,
his assistant directors use for that Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018) the women in my locality, and such
recreation and brainstorming. There’s Why is it important for a had to be in the style I was most characters have never been chronicled
not a single movie poster in sight. filmmaker to be political in his comfortable with. Commercial cinema in Tamil cinema. That’s why I write
There are no photographs of him work and outside of it? talks to the majority and that’s why I strong roles for women. I strongly feel
either. “Well, it was never about me,” ■ I have to chronicle what I have will be here. But people appreciate they can reform society if they
shrugs off Ranjith, who has emerged learnt from life. I have to talk about honest content. And with my fi lms, I become more empowered, because it
■ Born in a village not just as an important voice in Tamil what I faced in life in my works and can surely say I’ve opened is they who raise children, telling
near Avadi.
cinema, but also as a voice against elsewhere. The issue of caste has communication lines with my them who to mingle with and how. I
Graduated
from Chennai’s casteism. followed me everywhere from my audience. This keeps me going. have a couple of ideas that are entirely
Government The past few weeks have been growingup years — be it in womencentric. There’s a love story,
College of eventful for Ranjith — his remarks on celebrations or disappointments. So Is there some unforgettable told completely from the woman’s
Fine Arts the 11th century Tamil emperor Raja when I became a director, I had to talk incident that triggered you to point of view. I also hope to someday
Raja Cholan angered some people. He about it... there’s no way I can make become political? do a superhero story... on the lines of
■ Directorial
debut in 2012 was granted conditional anticipatory fi lms just to quench my creative thirst. ■ It was a part of my lifestyle. It was Wonder Woman.
with romantic bail just the day before we meet. Take a tree, for instance. Or a well, the way the neighbour’s kid handed
comedy “Pudhu anubhavam (new or a playground. Most people in my me a glass of water in school. Or how Kaala’s climax had significant
Attakathi. experience),” he says, as we settle village saw them as things of beauty or the shopkeeper would not put the subtext in terms of colour. Manjal
Working on first down for a chat. Excerpts: places of joy, but I did not... because change in my hand but keep it on the is the title of one of your plays.
non-Tamil society kept telling me it did not counter. There are so many incidents. You try to explain concepts
project, a Hindi
Why did you raise the topic of belong to me. Someone would say that The one question that kept haunting through colour. Is it successful?
biopic on
freedom fighter Raja Raja Cholan now? I, a Dalit, was not allowed to climb the me was: why were we (Dalits) not one ■ I believe I’ve been successful.
Birsa Munda ■ I spoke about him because of the tree or use the well. I kept thinking: with society? This might have been Colour is very signifi cant in the Indian
venue (Thanjavur) and because why is something so commonly used trivial for others, but it deeply context. Take the fl ag — some people
■ Produced the everyone claims that the Raja was by everyone not accessible to me? So disturbed me. think saff ron, green and white
critically from their caste. My main issue is this: when I fi lm a tree or a well today, I represent Hindus, Muslims and
acclaimed
Pariyerum
why did the working class not own any cannot see it only in an artistic way; it You mostly speak about issues Christians. Ambedkar talks about the
Perumal (2018) land during his reign? What I said is from your childhood. Aren’t blue as a colour that denotes equality.
based on what I have read in the things vastly different in 2019? I wanted to put all this in Kaala’s
■ Works with the works of K.K. Pillai, K.A. Neelakanda A ■ How diff erent? We just heard of a climax. It was essentially a fi ght
NGO, Neelam Sasthri, P.O. Velsamy, and Noboru headmistress who asked children to sequence, but I wanted it to convey
Cultural Centre, When I film a tree or a well, I
Karashima. clean toilets; a judgement that called something philosophical — that if the
which is also cannot see it only in an artistic
behind the edgy Elavarasan’s death a suicide. How do people under these three colours
Raja Raja Cholan built way; it presents a different story we say things have changed? We can’t come together, they can battle the
music band,
The Casteless magnificent temples and included to me. I want to be the even stomach reservations, but we say hierarchy. And I believe the blue
Collective the names of even barbers and filmmaker who tells that story ‘New world. Let’s forget caste and be chakra represents this unity.
4 DESPATCHES DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
INNSBRUCK BEIJING
Emran Feroz is a journalist based in Stuttgart, Germany. Atul Aneja is The Hindu ’s Beijing correspondent.
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
DESPATCHES 5
COLOMBO LAHORE
Tackling the aftereff ects Elected or selected PM?
of Easter terror attacks A debate is on in Pak.
Within a span of two Last Sunday, Qasim Suri,
weeks, an infl uential Deputy Speaker of
Buddhist monk in Sri Pakistan’s National
Lanka and a local government Assembly (NA), asked Members of
authority came up with the same Parliament not to use the word
demand – that the people boycott ‘selected’ for Prime Minister Imran
Muslim traders and their businesses. Khan. Federal Minister of Power Omar
In the two months since the Easter Ayub Khan was speaking on a point of
terror attacks, concerns over security order when he asked the Deputy
seem to have given way to Speaker to stop the Opposition
discrimination, as can be seen in the members from using the word. Mr.
recurring attempts by many to seek a Ayub Khan threatened to use privilege
boycott of Muslim businesses — both motions against those who would use
in the Sinhalamajority south and in this word.
the Tamilmajority north and east. c It all began with Pakistan Peoples c
A Buddhist monk from the much Since the Easter blasts, concerns Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Parliament Deputy speaker
revered Asgiriya chapter went a step over security seem to have Zardari’s maiden speech at the
banned the word ‘selected’ in
further last week, when he endorsed a National Assembly in August last year.
given way to discrimination, reference to PM Khan as several
violent call against Muslims. He “I’d like to thank and congratulate the
subsequently backed down, saying his as can be seen in calls for a Prime Ministerselect and wish him Opposition MPs used it alluding
statement had been misinterpreted, boycott of Muslim businesses good luck” is how Mr. Bhutto to his ‘selection’ by the Army
but to most who heard his message, concluded his speech. Prime Minister
there was no doubt that it was citizens, putting their civil liberties Khan thumped his desk after Mr. certain procedure then that procedure
provocative and unambiguously racist. and fundamental freedoms at risk. Bhutto’s speech. It is said that he must can only be dispensed with by
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Muslims have missed the word ‘select’ and may suspension of the rule by the majority
Samaraweera’s warning continue to bear the brunt of the have thought he was being called of the members present. This is done
Standing out amid the telling silence fallout of the Easter bombings. ‘Prime Ministerelect’. by a motion to suspend the rule,” Mr.
of Sri Lanka’s political class was Last week, a Pradeshiya Sabha People commented on Mr. Bhutto Sajjad said.
Finance Minister Mangala (local government body) in Puttalam Zardari’s wit and since that day, the Irrespective of what the Opposition
Samaraweera’s statement asking “true district, some 150 km north of phrases ‘Prime Ministerselect’ and can do to counter it, the Deputy
Buddhists” to unite against the Colombo, sought to ban at least 80 ‘selected Prime Minister’ have often Speaker’s decision appears to be
“Talibanisation” of the religion. Days Muslim traders in the area from the been used by Opposition members counterproductive, say analysts.
later, Colombobased NGO Centre for pola, or the weekly community both on the fl oor of the House and Amber Shamsi, journalist and
Policy Alternatives wrote to the police market. The Mahinda Rajapaksa outside. This has obviously irked the anchorperson, said that if the purpose
chief about the chief prelate’s speech backed Sri Lanka Podujana Party, Prime Minister as well as some of banning the word ‘selected’ from
that “directly targets Muslim which controls the local body, has members of his party, the Pakistan being used for the PM in the NA was to
businesses and feeds into the distanced itself from the chairman, TehreekeInsaf (PTI). Mr. Ayub Khan’s spark a debate on primetime
environment of fear and hate that who wrote to the police seeking the threat and the Deputy Speaker’s television, generate international
already exists against Muslim citizens ban. But there are no indications yet consequent directions to lawmakers headlines and launch a thousand
in Sri Lanka.” Seeking “urgent action” of the party initiating disciplinary are a testament to this fact. The memes, then it succeeded. “If the ban
to investigate the monk’s statement, action. In any case, Sri Lanka’s top Opposition has been criticising this was meant to demonstrate that the
the letter reminded the authorities political leadership has said little in ‘ruling’ ever since. Opposition was poking the
that “numerous citizens have already the wake of the disturbing antiMuslim Mr. BhuttoZardari told The Hindu government in the soft underbelly,
been questioned and for making far rhetoric and actions. that over the course of the last year, then it succeeded,” she said.
less dangerous statements”. However, the trend has drawn “we have seen how PM Khan’s naya
While it remains to be seen if the concern from many citizens and from Pakistan slips from authoritarianism ‘Subtle taunt’
police act on the letter, two other international actors. On Wednesday, a towards fascism”. Now, for the fi rst Ms. Shamsi said the ‘soft underbelly’
cases, where the police had no delegation of envoys representing time in Pakistan’s history, seems to be “the accusation that the
hesitation in invoking the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation parliamentarians are being censored PTI clambered to power on the back
International Covenant on Civil and countries held two separate meetings on the fl oor of the House, he said. of the military.” ‘Selected’ is a subtle
Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, point to a with President Maithripala Sirisena “Banning the word ‘select’ doesn’t and subversive taunt, delegitimising
striking contrast. The Act says: “No and Prime Minister Ranil change the fact that the PTI won a the party in power. It’s a tip of the hat
person shall propagate war or Wickremesinghe, according to a selection, not an election. This to the ultimate historical shame — a
advocate national, racial or religious statement. Raising concern over the government has no legitimacy... They political leader created by the military
hatred that constitutes incitement to safety of the Muslim community in the can censor all they want, send the elite rather than through popular vote.
discrimination, hostility or violence.” island, they emphasised the need for entire Opposition to jail. That won’t Ms. Shamsi recalled how Mr. Khan
Sinhala novelist Shakthika Sri Lanka’s political leadership to change the fact that Imran Khan is no often called Nawaz Sharif the political
Sathkumara has been in prison for “take proactive” measures to create a diff erent to Zia ul Haq’s [Muhammad off spring of military dictator Zia. She
nearly three months now. His crime? peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Khan] Junejo or [Pervez] Musharraf’s added that if the point of banning the
Penning a story that touched upon In her opening statement at the UN Shaukat Aziz,” he said. word ‘select’ was to force the
about sexual abuse and paedophilia Human Rights Council session According to journalist Sana Opposition to respect the Prime
involving the Buddhist clergy. recently, High Commissioner for Bucha, a House of 342 politicians “is Minister, then it hasn’t succeeded. It
In another case in May, police Human Rights Michelle Bachelet being disciplined to serve the vanity of has just given the Opposition further
arrested Abdul Raheem Masaheena, highlighted the developments in Sri an individual”. “PM Khan should learn ammunition to accuse the PTI of
47, under the ICCPR Act for wearing a Lanka and noted that the terrorist to distinguish between the Assembly undermining democracy. “After all,
dress with an image of a ship’s helm or attacks have “fuelled increasing and the dressing room,” she said. freedom of speech is a parliamentary
steering wheel that the police mistook tensions”. “I am disturbed by reports Barrister Omar Sajjad said the privilege protected in the
for a Dharmachackra, considered to of antiMuslim attacks; recent ruling of the Speaker/Deputy Speaker Constitution: a parliamentarian is not
represent Buddha’s teachings and statements by some religious leaders cannot be challenged under the liable to court proceedings based on
moral order. The Act, which inciting violence constitute worrying Constitution. However, what he or she says during a session.”
many had championed for early warning indicators that should courts have in the past She added that there are plenty of
its potential to promote be addressed,” she said. entertained such synonyms for the word ‘select’. “Can
and protect individual Many Sri Lankans are hoping their petitions. “If rules the government ban them all?” she
rights, is now haunting leaders will do just that. require to adopt a asked.
Meera Srinivasan is The Hindu ’s Colombo correspondent. Mehmal Sarfraz is a journalist based in Lahore
6 COVER STORY DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Cover photo:
Filling water from a
hand pump on Marina
Beach. B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
THIRSTY CITY
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Chennai’s Day
E months, N. Thangaraj has set
out from his home at 4 a.m.,
carrying plastic pots, ready to
jostle through crowds, to collect a few
litres of water to meet his family’s
Rain Centre, a citybased voluntary
organisation. On an average, a
contractor sinks 30 borewells a
month, says V. Ravichandran of
Chennai Borewell Rig Owners and
Triplicane. Nobody has been spared —
the water crisis has brought the rich
and the poor, homes and industries to
their knees. The hotel and
construction industries have been hit
and abandoned quarries on the city’s
fringes — all of these now provide
roughly 525 million litres a day to the
city. Nearly 900 tankers hired by
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply
basic needs. This family of four in Contractors Association. Some particularly hard. Several restaurants and Sewerage Board (Metrowater) are
Chennai’s Vyasarpadi neighbourhood borewells are sunk to depths of 600 are planning to stop off ering lunches crisscrossing the city this year,
gets busy before dawn, waiting for the feet in suburbs such as Avadi, to reduce water consumption, says M. making as many as 11,154 trips a day.
tanker to arrive. Water drives the daily Pallavaram and Irumbuliyur. Yet, Ravi, president, Chennai Hotels This is the highest in 15 years.
routine of all 200 families in the Tamil some residents have to settle for saline Association. Banana leaves have
Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) water. replaced plates in some restaurants, Short-term plans
tenement. while others are providing fi nger Smaller vehicles mounted with two or
Scores of pots of every colour line Clear warning bowls because there’s no running threekilolitre tanks have been added
up the streets of Vyasarpadi, some It was early this year when Chennai water. to this fl eet. Metrowater is scouting
marked with the owner’s initials, as Metrowater tankers began to replace The city’s famous IT corridor, everywhere for new water sources,
everyone waits with visible anxiety. piped water in many locations, a clear which has always been dependent on and the latest plan is to transport
Chennai, India’s sixth biggest city, has warning sign. At ₹ 10 a pot, residents private tankers, is the worst hit. Each water to Chennai by train from
run almost entirely out of water. After say they spend as much as a fourth of time private tankers threaten to go on Jolarpet, 220 km away.
a weak northeast monsoon, the city’s their earnings on tanker water, but strike, the residents here literally take These are, however, essentially
four main reservoirs — Red Hills, even that supply is erratic. Many to the streets, either to ask for help or shortterm survival strategies. Such
Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram and people walk with their pots for at least to protest. “We can’t use the saline bandaid solutions are hardly
Poondi that contribute 60% of the a couple of kilometres to reach a water from our borewells. And a 12 kl sustainable, nor can they help the city
city’s requirements — have shrunk and tanker, and many homes wait as long private tanker load now costs ₹ 3,000. become watersuffi cient, says Bharath
dried up, and the cracked lake beds as one month to get one lorryload of We are looking for more rainwater Jairaj, an environmental researcher
have become grazing grounds. What water to fi ll up their overhead tanks. harvesting solutions and we’re with World Resources InstituteIndia.
little water the city has now comes “Initially, we often fought over creating awareness on the judicious “Instead of looking at solutions within
from dwindling aquifers and tankers — water. Now, everyone seems to use of water,” says S. Sakthikumar, the city, we are focusing energy and
some of which ferry water from understand the situation and we form secretary of Olympia Opaline Flat money on fi guring out how far we can
agricultural wells or quarries several a queue,” says Thangaraj. He and his Owners Association in Navalur. go from Chennai to bring in water;
kilometres away from the city. The daughters carry back fi ve or six pots of To make matters worse, this year why should Chennai become a
Central Water Commission has water home everyday. “I buy a pot of there has been no Krishna water from parasite eating the resources of the
reported a 41% rainfall defi cit in Tamil water for ₹ 10 from private tankers. If Andhra Pradesh either. This has been rest of the State?” he asks.
Nadu, up until when this went to the crowd is less, I fetch up to 10 pots.” a blow to a city that’s just about Jairaj says the problem is not just
press. K. Viji has rescheduled her day recovering from a severe heat wave. meteorological, but administrative:
With this, Chennai becomes one of around the water supply hours. Viji Over the years, Chennai has tried gross mismanagement of water
the fi rst Indian cities to have run dry. lives in the TNSCB tenement in to fi ght back. Desalination plants in resources and unplanned
The Chembarambakkam reservoir, for Perumbakkam, which gets piped urbanisation has brought on this
instance, has never dried up fully in water for one hour every two days. “I A crisis. “We have always had enough
the last 25 years, indicating the begin fi lling my pots at 5 a.m.,” she water — let’s not forget that just a few
Nobody has been spared — the
severity of the crisis. says. “Then I try to fi nish some chores years ago, Chennai was in the throes
As taps stop fl owing, residents have like bathing and washing clothes while water crisis has brought the rich of a fl ood and had to release excess
turned to borewells, but these are the water still runs in the taps.” and the poor, homes and
drying up too. The average This year, not even Chennai’s tony industries to their knees ACONTINUED ON PAGE 8
CREDITS
Chennai’s Day Zero
By turns Pallavaram residents
use tokens to take turns
drawing water from an old well.
(Bottom) A woman hurries home
with her precious cargo.
B. VELANKANNI RAJ & B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
China’s one child policy, the water from the reservoirs.” But the
nationwide extreme population city’s watershed areas have been
control measure, may have ended in neglected. “Reservoirs should be
2015, but the process of dealing with regularly desilted, we need to create
its trauma is only just beginning. The more storage areas by making use of
documentary explores the aftermath existing ponds and tanks and creeks.
of the tragic social experiment, We need to manage the water
including personal experiences from channels that bring water into these —
the director’s life as well. instead, we have built over them,
allowed construction over them.”
Indumathi M. Nambi, associate
professor, Environment and Water
Resources Division, IIT Madras, also
calls for better water governance. “We
can’t depend on a few reservoirs to
supply water to a growing, water
All at sea
wo desalination plants, set up in Minjur in North Chennai and Nemmeli on the
starved metropolis. We need a
decentralised system that stores and T East Coast Road, in 2010 and 2013, respectively, have ensured that Chennai gets
an assured drinking water supply of 200 million litres a day (more than onethird the
supplies water. Every lake must have a
treatment plant,” she says. “Only then total water supply).
will the misuse of water bodies stop.” This week, the State government inaugurated a third, ₹ 1,259 crore plant, with a
Sekhar Raghavan, director, Rain 150 mld capacity, also in Nemmeli. By the end of the year, Chennai Metrowater will
Centre believes that rainwater fl oat tenders for a fourth plant.
harvesting (RWH) and grey water This sounds like a solution. Environmentalists, however, point out that the plants
reuse in the apartment complexes that not only consume huge energy, they affect marine life and discharge harmful
byproducts. With average annual rainfall of 140 cm, experts argue that Chennai
Before Stonewall doesn’t need desalination plants, which are more suited to arid areas with limited
GRETA SCHILLER, ROBERT ROSENBERG fresh water.
& JOHN SCAGLIOTTI, 87 MIN So what’s a sustainable alternative? Restore existing freshwater sources, say
experts. The use of treated sewage is another option. Chennai Metrowater has made
The 1984 fi lm is being rereleased in some headway here, with a proposal for tertiary plants from where treated sewage
theatres in celebration of Pride will be conveyed to lakes. Reducing overdependence on fresh water and
Month. Told through interviews with replenishing the ground water, fi nally, remain the best bets. — K.L.
activists and scholars, including
celebrated gay poet Allen Ginsberg,
the fi lm traces the cultural
perceptions of homosexuality before have mushroomed in the suburbs restricted, banning constructions over
the Stonewall riots, particularly could go a long way. Though most water bodies — these can all be easily
focusing on the confl icts with police buildings in the city have rainwater implemented if there’s political will.
and censorship. harvesting structures, after it was But that seems to be clearly missing.
made mandatory in 2003, many of The crisis has now escalated into a
them are either not maintained or are political feud. Tamil Nadu’s opposition
badly designed. An audit done a few party DMK has staged protests against
years ago found that 52% of the the AIADMK government, demanding
multistoried buildings surveyed in the a solution. It has charged the
suburbs did not have functional RWH government with neglect and
structures. ineffi ciency. The government,
meanwhile, has chosen to ignore the
No political will signs and instead says the crisis is
The huge disparity in water being exaggerated.
consumption and access to water As we go to print, the skies are
among various sections of people cloudy. The little rain that looks likely
must be addressed too. For example, will bring some respite from the heat,
as Jairaj says, we take it for granted but will certainly not replenish the
that people living in slums can manage reservoirs.
with fourfi ve pots of water a day. In this bleak scenario, residents are
Saving Ivan Golunov “Tenements too must get water showing the way. Harsha Koda,
SERGEY ERZHENKOV, 20 MIN
pipelines,” he says. coordinator, Federation of OMR
Grey water recycling, regulation Residents Association, says that his
After investigative journalist Ivan zones where development is apartment was able to harness 10 lakh
Golunov was arrested this month, he litres of rainwater even during the
became a symbol of resistance to drought last year. “During a good
A monsoon, we can collect 30 lakh
police misconduct in Russia. The fi lm
follows Golunov over the fi ve difficult We can’t depend on a few litres.”
days it took to free him, in what was reservoirs to supply water to a It is unthinkable that a chronically
perhaps the fi rst time in the country’s growing, water-starved waterstarved city does not have
modern history that civil society systems already in place. “All we need
metropolis. We need a is more R&D,” says Jairaj. “But today,
forced law enforcement to back
down.
decentralised system that stores we are about to hit Day Zero — the day
and supplies water our reservoirs run dry.”
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
FOCUS 9
design. “Concept development was
completely new to me. We were
taught how to develop a theme; it was
aligned to what I wanted to do,” he
says.
Dargah on cloth
Khatri’s fi rst fi nished product as a
student was a black stole on which he
BLOCKED made mountains and clouds. “A lady
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC from the U.S. had come to see our
products and when she saw my
Shrines creation, she said my talent was
qudrati, that I was a natural, like M.F.
Husain. I didn’t even know who
Husain was then,” he says. The stole
sold for ₹ 50,000.
on a stole
Since then, Khatri’s visually
arresting work has gained widespread
popularity, both among Ajrakhpur’s
regular customers and new buyers.
His work is unusual, for instance, a
stole with a vivid image of Mumbai’s
Meet the artist who decided to go abstract Haji Ali Dargah, complete with the
halfsubmerged road leading to it. Or
in the symmetrical world of ajrakh the white Rann of Kutch printed on a
scarf. He also does a lot of abstract
work, both on silk — modal, mashroo,
AZERA PARVEEN RAHMAN etc. — and on cotton.
“I spend a lot of time on each piece
H
e grew up in a world of and make sure it is unique. I take at
symmetry. The perfectly least two hours to print a twometre
synchronised movement of piece of cloth, when traditional ajrakh
wooden blocks from a plate blockprinting would have taken 10
of colour onto long stretches of cloth, minutes,” he says.
and the accompanying sound of a He gets wooden blocks made for
regular, dull beat, are deeply every design and theme, and uses
ingrained in Khalid Amin Khatri. paper to cover portions of the cloth in
This is, after all, Ajrakhpur, in the order to break the symmetry; he
Kutch region of Gujarat, and he was handpaints some as well. This means
born the son of generations of ajrakh that unlike the traditional six metre
printers. Khatri, however, was bored long ajrakh prints, he usually does
A
by the regularity. He wanted to stoles, scarves and dupattas. “But I
Khatri’s capture his imagination on a piece of recently got an order for a cotton sari
visually cloth, to bring the clouds and the and I did that,” he says.
arresting mountains, shrines and monuments Khatri has travelled across the
work has down to his canvas. country for exhibitions and his wares
So that’s what he did. are displayed at fashion shows. A lot of
gained Khatri, 26, calls himself an artist — his orders come from overseas.
widespread more than an artisan. A step away “These,” he says, showing a pile of
popularity, from the traditional ajrakh block abstract art stoles on his bed at home,
both among printing that relies on uniformity of form that mostly prints fl oral motifs community of artisans moved to “are ready to be shipped to a textile
Ajrakhpur’s design, Khatri’s work is dominated by and geometrical designs, Khatri’s Ajrakhpur. Most villagers went back to designer and collector in the U.S.”
regular asymmetricity. But it’s more than that. designs are guided by his imagination. their craft, but Khatri’s father, Amin Khatri’s work was exhibited at the
“Each of my creations has a theme,” His favourite theme, for example, is Khatri, stopped working on ajrakh and V&A Museum in London. And he is
customers he tells us, as he unfolds piece after clouds fl oating atop mountains. instead opened a grocery shop. renowned enough for students from
and new piece, each hand crafted, each guided He did not however discourage his design schools like the National
buyers by a theme. Unlike the traditional Different strokes son from learning the art form in his Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
Showing us one such piece — it has a uncle’s workshop. But traditional and M.S. University (Vadodara) to visit
river, fl owers, bushes, and yes, clouds ajrakh could not capture the boy’s him for learning.
and mountains — Khatri recalls a time, interest, and he ran away to Mumbai. Asked about his future plans,
not even 10 years ago, when other He was just a teenager and he had Khatri looks up for a second and then
artisans in his village would look at found himself a job as a telemarketer. smiles. “I don’t think too much about
him with dismay. “‘Why are you hell “I lasted just six months there,” he the future. I enjoy doing what I do.
bent on destroying the art form,’ they smiles sheepishly. “I decided to come Like, right now, I want to work on a
would ask,” he says, smiling. “But I back to my world — but to innovate piece that celebrates Delhi, its
didn’t care. I always knew if I was and leave my mark.” In 2010, his monuments and landmarks,” he says.
going to do Ajrakh, I would do uncle, Dr. Ismail Khatri, encouraged His father, who now helps him in his
something diff erent.” him to study textile design at Kala workshop, nods approvingly.
Khatri was a child when the 2001 Raksha Vidyalaya. ..............................................................................
Bhuj earthquake destroyed their During the oneyear course, one The author is a Gujarat-based
village, Dhamadka, and the entire theme caught Khatri’s fancy: concept freelance journalist.
10 CULTURE DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
T
here has perhaps never been a
better time for queers in global
Nothing black
cinema. Moving beyond
narratives of visibility or
affi rmation, the lines between
upliftment and victimhood have been
delectably blurred, and LGBTQI
rainbows
untimely death grapples with his Stills from A Monsoon Date , The Favourite ,
relatives’ insensitivity; but it is her A Fantastic Woman , and (facing page)
utter desolation, and magnifi cent from Made in Heaven and (bottom) Pride . .
stoicism, that gives the fi lm its deeply
emotional arc. Vega’s casting is a rare
instance of a substantial trans part not marched in solidarity, shows how the
Queer cinema in India is so new it played by a cis actor.
Similarly, the amorous ‘female
path to inclusivity brings with it
unexpected allies.
can seem hopelessly dated, but the hidden triangle’ in Yorgos Lanthimos’s The This year marks the 50th
Favourite (2018) is given luxurious and anniversary of New York’s Stonewall
subaltern is slowly emerging unapologetic freedom, much like the uprising, the ‘riots’ that sparked the
central romance in Abdellatif modern gay movement. While
Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour signposts are shared, queer histories
(2013). Gay cruising in Alain diff er from country to country, and
Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake (2013) the timelines of revolution very rarely
is looked at without moral judgement, overlap. In India, we are less than a
a far cry from Cruising, the 1980 crime year into our second glorious
thriller starring Al Pacino, whose ‘decriminalisation’; in Brunei, the
exploitative gaze on an S&M death penalty was recently announced
subculture riled activists. for gay sex; in Iceland, on the other
The sex positivity and refreshing hand, gay marriage has been legal
nonheteronormativity in fi lms like since 2010.
Olivier Ducastel and Jacques This is why queer cinema can
Martineau’s Theo and Hugo (2016) — never be truly monolithic. It is a
which begins with a graphic 20 continuum, but stuck in a time loop
minute nightclub orgy — doesn’t come paradox. Which is why a web series
packaged with the apprehension that like Made in Heaven (2019) can feel
the mainstream might pathbreaking and hopelessly dated at
‘misunderstand’. the same time. Having a gay man as
the leading protagonist aside, the
Straight anxieties world of the privileged closet with its
The romance in Luca Guadagnino’s assembly line of lusty Lotharios is
Call Me By Your Name (2017) is not strangely reductive, and its queer
airbrushed to accommodate straight politics of deception and selfloathing
anxieties, with Timothée Chalamet’s at least a decade old.
Elio cast as an unaff ected newage Over 10 years, the Kashish Mumbai
lover boy even in a fi lm set in the International Queer Film Festival (held
1980s. And Matthew Warchus’s Pride earlier this month) has become a
(2014), a heartwarming account of a citadel to a collective cultural
mid1980s London pride parade in experience that celebrates
which mining associations from Wales marginalised voices.
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
CULTURE 11
E
arly in Sriram Raghavan’s “Beautiful!”, making Sarika uneasy;
2004 thriller Ek Hasina Thi, looking up to see that he is apparently
the suave Karan (Saif Ali admiring a paperweight, she smiles;
Khan), who has insinuated but then he looks at her frankly and
himself into the life of the nervous says he wasn’t talking about the
Sarika (Urmila Matondkar), saves her paperweight. (A more regular scene
from a band of thugs and sends them would have let the innuendo stay as
scurrying. Then, as the two of them innuendo.)
drive away, he casually tells her these
were kiraaye ke gunday, a setup to In cahoots
give him a chance to play hero. It might be said that we have been
Sarika — being disoriented and also invited to play a little game: we are in
not constitutionally equipped to deal cahoots with the fi lm, while Sarika is
with deadpan humour — is startled, the foil, like one of the “humourless”
then gasps in relief when she realises people described by Martin Amis:
Karan is joking. But he unsettles her “…the cocked and furtive way they
More than cinematic excellence, trans parts doesn’t yet raise eyebrows again by quipping that he’ll have to monitor all conversation, their fl ashes
the festival focuses on inclusiveness here, as it did when Priyanka Chopra pay one of the men extra (“I broke his of panic as irony or exaggeration
and diversity. The quality of queer was cast to play Mary Kom. Last year, arm”) — and so it goes. eludes them, the relief with which
fi lms has signifi cantly improved over Scarlett Johansson dropped out of The problem with you is that you they submit to the meaningless babble
the years, unearthing the hidden Rub&Tug in the uproar over her don’t know the diff erence between of unanimous laughter.” And this is
subaltern in fringe eff orts that have casting as a trans man in the fi lm, truth and lies, he tells her. But as the why the second half of Ek Hasina Thi,
heart if not craft. criticised as another form of fi lm continues, we see that he is while having its own merits, isn’t at
‘whitewashing’. willing to exploit this very quality. It’s the same level as a crafty work of
Delicate dalliances one of many scenes that make the fi rst suspense: because now Sarika is the
This year’s crop included Rohin A half of this thriller so tense and edgy. one in control and we know almost
Raveendran Nair’s The Booth featuring We constantly wonder what Karan is everything that she is planning, or at
This year, the Kashish festival
Amruta Subhash’s limpideyed up to, whether he is taking Sarika for a least that she is out for revenge.
security guard whose dalliance with a
included The Booth featuring ride — and how far he will go. The Hindi fi lm I am most reminded
young girl takes place outside the gaze a limpid-eyed security guard of when I watch the early scenes in Ek
of CCTV cameras. In Rohan whose dalliance with a young Verbal games Hasina Thi isn’t, strictly speaking,
Kanawade’s delicate Marathi fi lm U girl happens outside the Later, on rewatching the fi lm, one from the suspense genre. It is
Ushacha, cottonpicker Kiran Khoje gaze of CCTVs realises there was no “logical” reason Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Bemisal,
falls in love with her female language for Karan to play such verbal games. where the enigmatic antihero Sudhir
tutor. From the start, it’s obvious that Sarika (Amitabh Bachchan) engages in
In the profusion of international The tradeoff seems to be that is a bit of a square: she takes things at
fi lms showcased, we see the entire Rub&Tug might never get made face value and would have been taken A
gamut of queer experience unfold — because of the absence of a high in without any of these doubleand Karan (Saif Ali Khan) gets Sarika
from hesitant selfacceptance to profi le name attached to it. This triple bluff s. But Karan needlessly (Urmila Matondkar) to play a
tentative comingout to elusive discourse isn’t particularly pertinent reveals things about himself, telling
truths while couching them as jokey “five questions” game — where
romance. in India at the moment — very few
One of the showstoppers at Kashish queer actors are actually out — but lies. This habit is summarised in a each answer must be a lie —
this year was Tanuja Chandra’s A writers like Dhaliwal have been quietly scene where he gets her to play a “fi ve and uses this façade to disclose
Monsoon Date, a short fi lm written by breaking new ground (she cowrote questions” game — the rule is that that he is a gangster
Gazal Dhaliwal (drawing from her life) this year’s Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh each answer must be a lie — and uses
and featuring Konkona Sen Sharma in Aisa Laga on a lesbian relationship). this façade to disclose that he is a
the role of a trans woman. Progress might be slow but change is gangster. irreverent wordplay, unsettling his
It’s perhaps telling of how global clearly in the air. But the sly scenes are necessary for childhood friend and the woman he
queer conversations fl ow at diff erent ........................................................................... the fi lm’s purpose — because though loves. By making tantalising
paces that the casting of cis women The writer is a playwright and Sarika doesn’t know she is in a thriller, references to a dark past and a history
like Sen Sharma and Kubbra Sait in stage critic. we the viewers do. We are expecting a of mental illness, and cracking
few sleights of hand. And we know inappropriate jokes, Sudhir conceals
cinematic tropes, such as the one his demons while holding them in
where the hero saves the heroine from plain view. His friends assume he is
a goon and they fall in love. It’s such jesting, but there is more truth in his
an old device in Hindi cinema that the behaviour than they realise.
1980 The Burning Train (which was In that fi lm, playacting serves as a
not a twisted thriller) had some fun form of personal therapy, allowing
with it: buddies Dharmendra and Sudhir to express his dark, bitter side
Vinod Khanna take turns to play rogue even as he works for the greater good.
and help each other “impress” the In Ek Hasina Thi, Karan does the
girls they like. opposite, but the principle is the
Ek Hasina Thi takes digs at other same: revealing deep and self
clichés too: when they fi rst implicating truths while pretending to
meet, Karan says lie.
‘Uprootedness
important for me but for Indian art, along with the process of globalisation.
and nonWestern art in general.
You once said that an individual
You have described yourself as a can take responsibility for the
fan of Miró’s work. How has his collective. In terms of India and
work influenced you? the world’s rise of
O
ne of our most thought Excerpts from an interview: or diff erent moments in a narrative. It
changing
provoking contemporary inspired me and over the years I Artsy is calling this the year that
social fabric artists, Nalini Malani, known Congratulations on the Joan Miró developed a lexicon of simultaneities older women replace younger men
and for her lush, politically Prize. What does this award mean that became a crucial part of my own as the art world’s darlings. Do you
suppression charged mixedmedia paintings and to you at this point in your career? art language as can be experienced see this happening in Indian art as
of the drawings, videos, installations and ■ This is my fourth international award even today in my current all well?
voiceless that theatre was recently awarded the in the last seven years, but this one encompassing video/shadow plays. ■ I would say that this change of
prestigious Joan Miró Prize for 2019. feels quite special. So far the Joan Miró interest already started in 2012 with
drove me to
Malani’s works give voice to the Prize was given to high profi le Western The previous recipients of this Carolyn ChristovBakargiev as the
find new silenced, particularly women. The artists like Olafur Eliasson, Pipilotti award are all known for their artistic director of Documenta (13) in
forms award covers the production of a solo Rist, Mona Hatoum and Roni Horn. This avant-garde works in multi- Kassel, Germany. In India, except for
SCANNER
Beyond the streets Trump balloon
Celebrating the past, present and future of In a surprising instance of protest-turned-
graffiti and street art, this new show (till art, the Museum of London has announced
August) will span over 100,000 sq.ft. of space their interest in acquiring the ‘Angry Trump
at 25 Kent, Williamsburg, New York. Graffiti Baby’ balloon, and the balloon meant to
historian and exhibition curator Roger Gastman resemble London mayor Sadiq Khan. The
promises an ‘immersive art experience’ with institution’s director, Sharon Ament, said
works from over 150 artists. that the balloons are “both really important.”
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
CULTURE 13
the exotic bourgeois painter Amrita
SherGil, the importance of the senior STAGE WHISPERS Sathyu, a pioneer in children’s
female artist was acknowledged only CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC theatre and founder of Gillo
in the last decade. This recognition in Repertory, said there’s no such crisis.
India has a lot to do with the
pioneering role of Roobina Karode at
the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. I do
hope this current acceptance of the
No child’s play Their shows are packed, and kids are
fl ocking to see them. The crisis, she
said, is in the content, in the quality
of theatre for children. “Theatre
female artist in India and abroad, old makers are not challenging
or young, is a longterm shift. How do we bring children back to the theatre? themselves while creating work for
Suppression by the alpha male not young people, and so not challenging
only in the arts, but also in other the audience either. Too much
disciplines has lasted too long and playing to the gallery, old content,
brought the world to the brink of below par and under rehearsed
collapse. acting,” said Shaili.
S
exhibition at an international museum ummer at Prithvi Theatre has once used to. Some closed in May, theatre people made a little more
was at New Museum in New York in always been a bustling period while others in July, scattering the eff ort to reach their audience,
2002, curated by Dan Cameron. for children’s plays, audiences. Another reason, some geographically, intellectually,
It might be hard to imagine, but overfl owing with so many said, could do with global warming. respectfully.” Words to live by.
there was at that time no interest at all children that adults need to steer No, seriously. More and more Gillo has been making the eff ort
to report on or review this clear. But this April, there was a families are leaving the city to escape to travel not only to other metros but
international solo exhibition within marked reduction in the number of the cruel summers. also to smaller towns through the
India, neither in the newspapers nor children we saw. In the fi rst couple of year. This was a wakeup call for me
even in art magazines like Art India. weeks, the noon shows had a Netflix mania as well.
This process of international consistently dismal turnout, when There were other opinions: theatre Back in the day, our plays for
recognition has, of course, completely once children’s shows would always was now part of the curriculum in children travelled to Bhopal,
changed in the last decades, as we can be sold out. Sales did look up as June some schools, and so the novelty of a Dehradun, Jabalpur, Jaipur,
already see with Amar Kanwar, Raqs approached, but the change was dedicated kids’ season had been lost; Mussoorie, and Nashik, but of late we
Media Collective, and Sheela Gowda, obvious. children valued theatre less now with have focused only on Bengaluru and
to name just a few. Delhi.
........................................................................... So far and few Propelled by this realisation, I
A
The writer, the author of a fantasy Summer Fiesta at the National Centre have now lined up shows of our latest
series, specialises in art and culture of Performing Arts saw a similar It’s time theatre people made a production in Tezpur, Pune, and,
of South East Asia. trend. Friends who conducted little more effort to reach their hopefully, Bhubaneswar soon.
annual workshops for kids told me audience, geographically, I’m still none the wiser about
they had a fi fth of the number of intellectually what is actually causing this
entries from the previous years. downward trend. Summers have
Recently, in Delhi, across three been hot before, productions have
shows, the percentage of kids Netfl ix and the other streaming been substandard before, and
watching our children’s play was platforms out there. One theatre theatre has always had to fi ght for
about 10%. I wanted to get to the veteran even asked if it was because attention in a world full of easy
bottom of this, considering we couples of our generation were just distractions.
opened our ninth production for not having children. A thoughtful I am concerned but I am also
children this year. silence followed. Till it was broken by prepared to work harder to get those
One reason that emerged was that someone blaming the big Disney youngsters back into the theatres.
schools across the city productions luring children away After all, it was a play for children
did not close for with their big budget summer back in 2008 (based on the stories of
vacations at the razzmatazz. Ruskin Bond) that really put us on
same time as they But not everyone agreed. Shaili the map.
Akarsh Khurana, theatre producer and director, is often broke. To cope, he writes and
directs films and web series and occasionally acts, albeit reluctantly.
HEALTH facility fi rst, and the doctors at these
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC hospitals do not direct their patients
to the appropriate centres
Up to 96
An orphaned
immediately.
“Doctors in smaller hospitals don’t
million Indians realise that these are manifestations of
a genetic disease. So they continue to
are aff ected by treat the patients symptomatically.
rare diseases, They send them to a big hospital after
affl iction
quite some time,” she says. Bhat adds
which are that the occurrence of genetic disease
is marginally higher in developing
incredibly countries due to poorer early
diagnosis and additional
costly to treat disadvantages such as maternal
malnutrition or infection.
N
idhi was seven years old India’s National Policy for patients with rare diseases in India. treatment remains one of the biggest
when she was diagnosed Treatment of Rare Diseases, brought According to Shirol, while 80% of the obstacles. “Rare diseases are not
with a disease few have out in 2017, estimates that globally, diseases are of genetic origin, 50% of covered under the Rights of Persons
heard of — Pompe. Her there were around 6,000 to 8,000 new cases occur in children, and 35% with Disabilities Act and there is no
parents had noticed that there was a rare diseases, with 450 of these of deaths occur before the age of one. law that recognises medical disability,
problem when she was just one, but it recorded in India, aff ecting 72 to 96 “The average diagnosis period depriving patients of all facilities and
took an excruciating journey of seven million Indians. worldwide is seven years, even in the benefi ts. The cost of management and
years and 40 hospitals before she U.S., and FDAapproved drugs exist for supportive care is also prohibitive for
A could fi nally be diagnosed. Nidhi is Rare challenge just over 500 of these diseases.” parents,” says Shirol.
It is estimated said to be among the fi rst cases of The most common rare diseases listed The main challenges that patients Due to fewer patients, drug
that for a Pompe to be diagnosed in India. are haemophilia, thalassemia, sickle and caregivers face include a lack of manufacturers are not particularly
Despite suff ering from this cell anaemia and primary awareness among the medical keen on targeting rare diseases. The
child weighing metabolic disorder that damages immunodefi ciencies, autoimmune fraternity and a lack of dedicated national policy paper acknowledges
10 kg, the muscle and nerve cells, Nidhi was able diseases, lysosomal storage disorders healthcare policies, schemes and that drugs to treat these “orphan
annual cost to fi nish regular schooling. such as Pompe disease, diagnostic facilities, but worse is the diseases” are sold at “extremely high
of treatment It was while she was in the fi rst Hirschsprung’s disease, Gaucher’s absence of counselling or even just a costs to recoup the cost of research
for some rare year of college that one of her two disease, cystic fi brosis, haemangiomas database of rare diseases. and development.”
diseases may ventilators crashed. Now 20 years old, and certain forms of muscular Dr. Meenakshi Bhat, consultant in “At present, very few global
Nidhi is in a semicomatose state. As dystrophy. Clinical Genetics, Centre for Human pharmaceutical companies are
vary from tragic as this sounds, Nidhi has been Nidhi’s father, Prasanna Kumar B. Genetics, points to a study by a team manufacturing drugs for rare diseases,
₹ 18 lakh to more fortunate than some others — Shirol, is cofounder of the from IGICH that found that a majority and there are no domestic
₹ 1.7 crore she was diagnosed with a rare or Organisation for Rare Diseases India, of patients visit their nearest medical manufacturers in India. Due to the
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
FIELD NOTES 15
high cost, the government has not
been able to provide these drugs for SERENDIPITIES
free. It is estimated that for a child CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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weighing 10 kg, the annual cost of
Thick letters to friends
treatment for some rare diseases may
vary from ₹ 18 lakh to ₹ 1.7 crore,” the
statement says.
Government steps in
It’s just another day at the Centre of
Excellence for Rare Diseases at the
Books have evolved, but their fundamental conceit — to
Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health reconfi gure our inner worlds, to provoke and stir — remains
(IGICH) in Bengaluru. Shravanth, 16,
his sister Arshitha, 13, and their
mother Lakshmi are packing up after a a likeminded collective of friends
day’s treatment. Shravanth started through reading the same books?”
suff ering from frequent coughs, colds No one understood this ability of
and fevers when he was three. It was reading to transform individuals into
only when he turned seven that he ideologues better than the
was diagnosed with Primary Immuno Communists in USSR. ‘Study, study,
Defi ciency. Arshitha was also study’ became the Leninist motto
diagnosed with the same disease. and inevitably a joke about
“Shravanth needs fi ve bottles of propagandistic excesses. Yet the
medicine every 21 days. Each bottle message was clear — if the creation of
costs around ₹ 7,500. My daughter the nationstate was a way to escape
needs a bottle every 30 days. For the a Hobbesian state of war among
past six months, we have been getting polities, then reading the pre
it for free from the government. But approved books, especially one
before that, it was such a huge prescribed by the nationstate or the
party, was a way to avoid the
A barbarisms that lurk within us. But
for all these claims of ennobling, in
The national policy paper acknowledges that
our age of great distractions, the act
drugs to treat these ‘orphan diseases’ are sold of reading, the possession of books is
at ‘extremely high costs to recoup the cost of still often seen as the indulgences of
research and development’ those with disposable incomes. But
GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
to conclude thus would be a mistake.
A
few days ago I came across provoke and stir us — has been a Homeless wanderers
a line by a now little formidable constant throughout. In At the New York Public Library,
remembered German poet the face of both — the vanishing of where I often browse through the
Jean Paul: “Books are thick letters and the expanding readership stacks — there are those who wander
letters to friends.” That phrase of books — Jean Paul’s phrase about in — homeless, unbathed, unshaven
fragment, its lapidary precision — the intimacy of books, reading, and — seeking a place to rest, a moment
could that still be true? Letter writing the community of cobelievers in the of reprieve from the harsh streets
is nearly obliterated as an activity. Of written word retains its original outside. Yet, like the rest of us, they
those who claim to still write them, provocation. too browse glitzy magazines fi lled
we speak with wonder. with women of impossible beauty,
An entire generation or two is A
make elaborate notes in private
alive in India today who have never notebooks, and a few read volumes
used an inland letter, their tongues We need to think of reading with great care. By virtue of their
and lips have never felt the odious more radically, more presence, these stragglers from the
tastelessness of government issued existentially — not merely as margins remind us about how
adhesives. Neither have they prescriptions to tame the mind reading percolates into lives in ways,
experienced the quiet desperation of into somnolent dutifulness but far removed from those who think of
fi nancial burden that we would delay waiting for a postman, the moment reading in political, activist, or
as a way to calm human angst
treatment until we arranged for the of solitude while composing a letter, ennobling terms. It is also a reminder
money,” says Lakshmi. Today, all six or the pleasure of reading it aloud to that a community of readers is
PID patients at the centre are fully others. Letterwriting, like love in Up until modernity, reading was diff erent from a community of book
funded by the Karnataka government. some marriages, has vanished from an act of participating in a buyers.
In cases such as Nidhi’s, the drug our social lives and few seem to have community of those who could read Reading, German philosopher
manufacturer is providing medicines noticed the absence. Other against those who couldn’t, which Martin Heidegger believed, allowed
free as a part of its compassionate distractions, expediencies, and for most parts of history was much for “befriending of man through the
access programme. obligations have taken its place. of humanity. word of the other”. But to recognise
The Centre earmarked ₹ 100 crore this, we need to stop treating reading
when the national policy was released Intimate ties Circle of friendship and books as utilitarian tools.
two years ago. Although the policy Meanwhile, at least since Johannes However, the nature of this Instead, we need to think of reading
had suggested that costs be estimated Gutenberg in the 15th century, books community of readership — the circle more radically, more existentially —
for treatment, training and research, also have undergone of friendship — was contingent on not merely as prescriptions to tame
and aff ordable drugs be developed transformations. who came together and what task the mind into somnolent dutifulness
accordingly, caregivers and the From monks and aristocrats, who the act of reading sought to answer. but as a way to calm human angst, to
medical fraternity argue against this were the original producers and By the 19th century — an age of reconcile with the disquiet of
“numbersbased approach”. Doctors consumers of the written word, to empires, ideas without borders, and existence, and ultimately to bathe in
point out that given the diverse nature our times when mass literacy and steamships — reading became the the same reservoir of words that
of rare diseases, it would be diffi cult to inexpensive printing are widespread, wet nurse who raised the literate. others have dipped their toes into. It
put an estimate to the costs. the history of the book has become The national canon became the is a view about reading that
Meanwhile, the policy was put on intimately tied to the history of means to facilitate the sustenance of privileges the neighbourliness of
hold last year, and the Centre reading and a history of human a vision of an existing order. minds rather than one that thinks of
announced that a revised policy would selfunderstanding. Yet, the As German philosopher Peter reading as a standalone Olympian
be issued. This has not yet happened, fundamental conceit of Sloterdijk writes, “What are modern gaze at the world. This enlargement
and patients and caregivers are books — to reconfi gure nations except the eff ective fi ctions of what books allow for is how they
waiting anxiously for some clarity. At our inner worlds, to of literate publics, who have become become thick letters to friends.
the daycare centre in IGICH, the
writing is on the wall: “Hope. It’s in Keerthik Sasidharan is a writer and lives in New York City.
their DNA.”
16 FRAMED DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019 17
The
waterboy
Children in a village in
drought-hit Maharashtra take
a train to Aurangabad every
Two to tango
day just to fetch water from Rehan’s younger
brother Irfan, 9,
the platform there joins him on
some days.
IMAGES AND TEXT BY EMMANUAL YOGINI
O n a blazing afternoon, Rehan Qureshi, 11,
sprints to the Mukundwadi railway station
with two empty pots. He must board the 3.15
p.m. train to Aurangabad, 7 km away. He has
never missed the train all summer.
The wells and ponds at Mukundwadi in
Maharashtra, where Rehan lives, have been dry
since April. Rehan’s mother is a domestic help
and his father a dailywage labourer.
It is Rehan’s duty to fetch water home from
the Aurangabad railway station. Tankers visit
the droughthit Mukundwadi every fi ve days, On track At the Mukundwadi station, Rehan waits for the train to Aurangabad, 7 km away. Mission
but they charge up to ₹ 100 for a drum of water, accomplished
which is not even potable. Rehan waits,
Rehan has dropped out of school; he can having
aff ord to do this daily journey. On some days his Non-stop At the successfully
younger brother and several friends also join Aurangabad taken the cans
him. The train ticket costs ₹ 20 up and down, station, Rehan and off the train.
expensive for Rehan’s family, but still cheaper his friend Prakash
than buying water. Nagre quickly fill
The train stops for about 40 minutes at their buckets.
Aurangabad; Rehan and his companions rush to
fi ll their pots. The diffi cult part is carrying their
full pots off the train at Mukundwadi — the
Hyderabadbound train stops only for a minute
here. “Often, policemen shout at us and
sometimes they empty our cans, but we have to
take that risk,” Rehan says.
Prakash Nagre, Rehan’s friend, nods in
agreement. “Sometimes we fall and get hurt...
Sometimes we carry back cans for other families
in our neighbourhood.”
“We have no other option,” says Rehan’s Filling station
mother, Parveen Qureshi. A month ago, their Many
fears came true when Rehan’s cousins Ayaan, 3, Mukundwadi
and Shoaib, 8, went missing. The train started villagers collect Joining hands
moving even as their mother was helping them water at the Rehan and friends
unload the water cans. The children are still station, evading carrying the
missing. officials. water home.
18
Literary Review
THE LEAD
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I
n the 16th book of the
Mahabharata, titled ‘Mausala
Parva’ or ‘The Book of Clubs’, we
fi nd ourselves in the 36th year of
Yudhishthira’s reign at Indraprastha,
the great war long over and an uneasy
peace prevailing over the Pandava
kingdom. In Dvaraka, Krishna’s capital
on the western seaboard, time is
running out. He recalls that the curse
of the Kaurava queenmother
Gandhari must inevitably befall his
clan of Vrishnis. Kali Yuga, the last of
the four cosmic ages, demonic in its
might, awaits its beginning once
Krishna passes on.
With the inexorable fatality that
marks his tenure as the incarnation of
Vishnu in human form, Krishna sets
the ball rolling. This will be the fi nal
denouement of the long confl ict that
has decimated the fraternal Yadava
lineages. The supposed triumph of
Yudhishthira and his brothers is
marred by a permanent sense of
exhaustion. They suff er an existential,
if not a military, defeat.
after all. It is time for the Pandavas to give either, in the long run.
up their kingdom and depart for their This here in the ‘Mausala Parva’ is the REPRISE
fi nal death march to the high Himalaya. timeless folk wisdom of India; this is the CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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Krishna is gone from the world of men; conclusion of the master text of Hindu
Dvapara Yuga has ended; Kali Yuga culture; this is what we have always
begins in right earnest. In Carole
Satyamurti’s lovely modern retelling of
the Mahabharata (2015), “the past closed
known and recounted. How far a cry
from the triumphalist history of the
Napoleonic wars and the devious
Catch-22
up behind them”.
In my late father Kailash Vajpeyi’s
Hindi poetry collection Dooba sa
stratagems of Clausewitz that the new
Machiavellis of Hindutva bandy about
nowadays!
by Joseph Heller
andooba tara (2011), a series of tableaux,
dialogues and meditations unfolds Ultimate justice SUDIPTA DATTA
underneath the Ashvattha tree in the The death of Krishna and the mass
mysterious Prabhasa Kshetra, a luminous suicide of the Vrishnis end Yudhishthira’s
stretch of wooded beach between land halfhearted reign over Hastinapura. The
and sea where the immortal Krishna fi ve Pandava brothers, their wife
paradoxically awaits his demise. Badi Draupadi and their widowed mother
gahan gatha hai hatya ki, the blue Kunti set out on their fi nal journey. As
skinned one ruminates: the saga of killing they climb ever higher into the cold and
is unfathomable. barren Himalayas, one by one they die on
In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna had the way. Only Yudhishthira makes it,
revealed himself to Arjuna as Time. Here together with his dog, to the gates of
he says: Bhavishya ki niyati hokar sam- Svarga, the celestial realm. Indra the lord
saamayik/ beet-beet jana hai/ main bhi of gods stands there waiting to welcome
ab beeta ki abhi beeta ki beet gaya. The the weary king, but insists he leave
future must become present, and then behind his canine companion.
past. I too am about to pass, but I am Yudhishthira refuses. We have come
passing — lo, I have passed away. thus far together, he says of the beast
waiting patiently by his side in the snow.
Forgiveness, the polestar We go on together or I will turn back and
A little later he says to Jara, the hunter, die here on earth, one with my wretched
who begs forgiveness for mistaking the family and my loyal dog. The god and the
god’s darkly glowing foot for the eye of a man are at an impasse, as the animal
deer: Kshama ka koi sampraday nahin, between them awaits its fate. But
forgiveness transcends all sectarian War story A still from the recent Hulu production of Catch-22 .
c
diff erence; asal mein kshama dhruv-tara
There are no gods and no heroes in the
I
hai, truth be told, forgiveness is the t may not have won prizes, but blacking out every word except the
polestar, the one fi xed point that orients Mahabharata, a naked struggle for hegemony Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, articles ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. The
the vast slow turning of the moral that decimates every delicate human published in 1961, went on to narrator tells us of Yossarian’s
universe. (This short poem, ‘Krishna ka construct with brute force become one of the most loved mates, Dunbar the Texan, Orr, who
kshama-daan’, ‘Krishna’s act of books of the 20th century, selling undertakes risky operations, and
forgiveness’, is strongly reminiscent of suddenly the dog disappears, to be more than 10 million copies. The others like the mess manager Milo
Portia’s speech in Act IV of Shakespeare’s replaced by Dharma, the very title has found its place in the Minderbinder, group commander
Merchant of Venice: “The quality of principle of righteousness, the Law dictionary to mean any diffi cult Colonel Cathcart and the physician,
mercy is not strained/ It droppeth as the that undergirds the order of things. circumstance from which there is no Doc Daneeka. Yossarian realises that
gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place Dharma — Yudhishthira’s escape “because of mutually “the enemy is anybody who is going
beneath.”) progenitor — has given his son a fi nal confl icting” conditions. to get you killed, no matter which
My teacher, the Sanskritist Sheldon test, which he passes with a Heller, who had served as a side he’s on.”
Pollock, reminded me of this little demonstration of the very “quality of bombardier in World War II, wrote In this Kafkaesque situation, Orr
discussed but nevertheless signifi cant mercy” Krishna discusses with his the novel as he pursued a career in will have to get past a clause in the
chapter of the great epic in the aftermath hapless assassin in my father’s poem. advertising. The satirical war story system, Catch22, to escape the war
of the recent Lok Sabha election in India The war may be lost, the kingdom begins with these words: “It was love alive. He has to be crazy to be
and the leadup to the American forfeited, the band of brothers at fi rst sight.” Set between 1942 and grounded; but to have concerns for
elections in 2020. I reread it, not sundered, the omniscient avatar 1944 in the island of fi ctional Pianosa one’s safety in the face of real and
because of any perceived analogies of departed from an irredeemably fl awed in Italy, the hero, Captain John present danger is a sign of a rational
plot or personality to events and persons world. But the dog is saved, and with Yossarian, a U.S. Army B25 mind, so if he refuses to fl y, it shows
in our contemporary moment, but that, justice is done. There is no bombardier, lands up in hospital he is not insane. “Orr would be
because of the sense of doom, moral further impediment to the entry into with liver pain. The doctors are crazy to fl y more missions and sane
collapse and political ruin that colours Heaven. Yudhishthira ascends Indra’s puzzled by the fact that it isn’t quite if he didn’t, but if he were sane he
this bloodsoaked book. And because of chariot, and is whisked away into the jaundice and don’t know how to go had to fl y them. If he fl ew them he
its unmistakable messages: that civil war vanishing heights of a crystal sky. about the treatment. Yossarian is was crazy and didn’t have to; but if
has no happy endings; that fratricide Our country — a microcosm of happy to be in hospital and decides he didn’t want to he was sane and
polarises and ultimately hollows out a human history, a repository of all to spend the rest of the war there. had to.”
society beyond saving; that the sturdiest experience, an archive of all After all, “the food wasn’t too bad, In the Vintage edition, Howard
alliances and mightiest empires collapse knowledge, a catalogue of all atrocity and his meals were brought to him Jacobson writes that he loved the
before the tsunami of unethical ambition. and a beacon of all wisdom; this land in bed” and the fi rst time Yossarian book precisely for the reasons
Whatever the cast of characters, we call by its customary names, saw the chaplain he fell in love with others hated it — “its looseness, its
there are no gods and no heroes in the Bharat or Hindustan; this idea we call him. unruliness, its extravagance, its
Mahabharata, a naked struggle for India; this dearly beloved home of verbal niceties, its emotional
hegemony that decimates every ours on a planet whose very survival is Sane or crazy? waywardness.... its apparent
delicate human construct with brute today in question — what has it come Yossarian spends his time censoring formlessness.” If those are faults, he
force. A protracted and apocalyptic to? Did we exercise our franchise to letters written by enlisted men. He is says, then hang the virtues. Heller
battle throws all dharma, all principles, lynch the weak, to murder minorities, creative with the job, one time had initially wanted to call it
and all relationships under the wheel of to defend the killers of Mahatma Catch-18, but was prodded by his
a heedless — and indeed, in the fi gure of Gandhi? Is that what our vaunted A publisher to change the title
King Dhritarashtra, a blind — will to civilisation was all about? Is this how it Yossarian realises that ‘the because of Leon Uris’ bestseller
power. ends? Mila-18.
........................................................................... enemy is anybody who is going
Those who somehow remain after .........................................................................
catastrophe, they too will club one The writer is a Fellow at the Centre to get you killed, no matter
The writer looks back at one classic
another to death. Not only are there no for the Study of Developing Societies, which side he’s on’ each fortnight.
victors, in fact, there are no survivors New Delhi.
20 Literary Review DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
IN CONVERSATION
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‘I believe we can
decide how much
change will be
allowed’
‘The old keepers of the stories are dying out,’ says Easterine
Kire, whose latest book, Walking the Roadless Road, is a
comprehensive history of the tribes of Nagaland
SUDIPTA DATTA Let’s start with the title — why
do you call it the ‘roadless road’?
E
asterine Kire grew up in
Kohima, Nagaland, in a big, ■ I borrowed it from the muchloved
warm house with a view on and venerated Naga elder, Niketu
Mission Compound and a Iralu. He said, “Nagas are walking the
garden fi lled with roses, azaleas, roadless road” referring to the very
geraniums and forgetmenots. A good delicate path of peace that Naga
listener, she was interested in the tales citizens are endeavouring to carve out V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
of her large family and the world so that generations of young Nagas
outside. Kire turned to writing as may have a peaceful, meaningful authenticated information which enriched by the experience. We are
confl ict engulfed the State. future. attends to formalities like indexing, hospitable people. Guests are
Nagaland’s rich oral literature referencing etc. honoured members of the family.
needs to be written down and she has In your fiction you have drawn Largely by such encounters can many
been doing that since 1982 when her material from some of the tribes Do you think Nagas are of the stereotypes be corrected.
book of poetry, Kelhoukevira, was (Angami, Zeliang etc). What misunderstood and stereotyped?
A
published in English. In her novels, A made you want to write a book of ■ It’s not possible to expect an What has been the influence of
The present Naga Village Remembered, A Terrible non-fiction on all Naga tribes? ‘outsider’ (I use this term to refer to Christianity on the tribes?
time is such a Matriarchy, Bitter Wormwood, When ■ Written Naga literature is still very people who were not born or brought ■ The positive side of Christian
crucial the River Sleeps (which won The Hindu young. For many years we have relied up there, not visited it or researched conversion was that it stopped head
moment Prize for Fiction, 2015), to name just on our rich oral literature. But Naga accurately) to represent Naga history hunting and feuding among the tribes
four, she has drawn from the society began to change from the accurately because they will, because the missionaries preached
when we can historical, social, geographical, 1980s. The ageold tradition of the unfortunately, come into the region the ideology of forgiving your
document the political and cultural strands of the agegroup houses where stories were with an understanding of the situation enemies.
collective State. passed down orally has fewer from what they have heard, read, or I see Christianity evolving in
wisdom, Her latest book, Walking the members now as many have migrated been told. On top of that, the media Nagaland. While the older churches
village Roadless Road, is about the tribes of to the towns to get Western education, stereotype of the Northeast has done are quite traditional and conservative,
Nagaland. Kire, an Angami Naga, says and jobs. The old keepers of the so much damage that the true cultural the younger churches want to grapple
narratives
the elders, repositories of all tales, are stories are dying out. The present time life of the Nagas and their rights have with modern issues that directly aff ect
and history of dying and she wanted to record their is such a crucial moment when we can been overlooked. them. Educated Nagas are able to off er
the tribes. voices before it gets too late. The document the collective wisdom, Any nonNaga person who constructive criticism of the areas
This was one house she lived in was washed away in village narratives and history of the sincerely desires to understand the where the traditional churches
reason why I a devastating landslide. tribes. This was one reason why I people and the region should come become entrenched. Interestingly,
wrote this Kire is in Norway now, but has wrote this work of nonfi ction. I have with an open mind and spend time Christianity in Nagaland became quite
Nagaland on her mind, and explains been doing it constantly in my there, live in the villages, meet the nativised.
work of non-
over email why she must tell stories fi ctional work, but universities and people, give oneself enough time to
fiction from her homeland. Excerpts: such need this kind of boxedin, befriend them, and prepare to be How do you think the Battle of
BOOKMARK
Miss Laila Reviving words
Manu Joseph’s novel, Miss Laila, Armed and Jackie Morris, illustrator of The Lost Words , has
Dangerous, is to be adapted into a TV series. got the Kate Greenaway Medal for children’s
Joseph’s debut novel, Serious Men , which won book illustrations. The Lost Words is a series of
the PEN/Open Book Award, is also being made poems about birds, animals and plants the names
into a film by Sudhir Mishra. It has Nawazuddin of which were removed from a U.K. children’s
Siddiqui in the lead role. dictionary because they weren’t used enough.
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
Literary Review 21
I
sn’t the Cricket World Cup and The Bones of Grace — that takes
against. It established pride in the
underway in England and Wales the reader from the Liberation War
Naga people who were at that time
looking too clubby? By very to the present.
being colonised and occupied by the
obviously privileging England: This is a better time
British colonists.
commercial considerations over the than most to return to Zadie Smith’s
The role reversal for Khonoma
sport’s spirit, the ICC has this year White Teeth, with characters drawn
from being a warrior village to a
whittled down the number of teams from cricketplaying regions such as
peaceful protector of the environment
in contention from 14 in recent Jamaica and Bangladesh and with
might look like a sea change. But the
World Cups to just 10. Gone from the the current Brexit chaos as a
truth is, if you read the history of
fray, in the process, are what are sobering backdrop.
Khonoma closely, it has always
called cricket’s “minnows”, weaker India: Historian Prashant
functioned as a protectorate. Smaller
teams with the odds loaded against Kidambi has just published Cricket
villages came under their protection
them but whose presence gives Country: The Untold History of the
against their ageold enemy villages.
some ballast to the word “world” in First All India Team, including in its
The villages under Khonoma’s
the title, and lets the sport imagine arc stories of great Indian wrestlers.
protection paid some revenue to
what could be if it were more Alongside, The Fire Burns Blue: A
Khonoma. In its seemingly new avatar GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK
largehearted and embracing of the History of Women’s Cricket in India,
as guardian of the endangered Blyth’s
aspirations outside of its traditional by Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta
tragopan and of the mountain
geography. Nadia Hashimi’s novels, starting with Patnaik, provides a valuable
territories, it is still fulfi lling its
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell. But argument against seeing the sport in
traditional role as protector, even
Vivid argument this World Cup is a perfect time to India through the IPL prism.
though the premises might be slightly
In the years since the 2011 and 2015 reread Second XI: Cricket in Its Pakistan: Osman Samiuddin’s
altered. It is still fulfi lling a relevant
tournaments for instance, when Outposts by Tim Wigmore and Peter The Unquiet Ones: A History of
role: I think that is vital for village
Ireland captured everyone’s Miller. Wigmore’s chapter on Pakistan Cricket is a mustread.
survival.
imagination with improbable wins Afghanistan is a recap of how cricket Kamila Shamsie’s Kartography and
against England and the West Indies, took hold in the country and off ered Broken Verses are such superb
Where do Nagas stand now?
respectively, the team did acquire hope and relief from the confl ict, novels, but with the cricket
With a solution to the Naga crisis
Test status. But TV advertising how so many players found their backdrop, it’s fun to fi nd references
awaited, what is the way
revenue follows the big teams, way to cricket in the refugee sprawls to the sport and its players in the
forward?
especially India — and the ICC for outside Peshawar, and how their books.
■ I don’t feel qualifi ed to answer this
this year chose to ensure that the big exploits encompass so many New Zealand: It’s been 34 years
question. It would be most fruitful to
teams would rule the broadcasts aspirations in Afghanistan. And with since Keri Hulme’s The Bone People
direct this question to the people who
every single match, and it’s only Afghanistan the only “outpost” won the Booker Prize, and it
have dedicated themselves to working
Afghanistan that’s got the chance to represented in the 2019 tournament, remains a disappointment that the
for peace in Nagaland, such as the
valiantly show us why cricket needs Second XI is a vivid argument for novel is still not widely stocked in
leaders in the Forum for Naga
to fi nd ways to expand its footprint paying deeper attention to the game bookshops.
Reconciliation, as well as other public
and make a case for itself to new around the world, from Papua New South Africa: Sport in the
bodies working for peace.
fans worldwide. Guinea to Scotland, China to the U.S. country has long been the context to
If this sounds like a lament for Australia: With writers like make a statement about the
Do you mourn the loss of
cricket’s lost opportunity to bring Gideon Haigh, the country produces importance of inclusiveness, and
traditional culture?
the “minnows” to its greatest stage, some of the best cricket writing J.M. Coetzee’s correspondence with
■ As I grow older, I see the
as football does so much better in its these days; but two books on the Paul Auster (Here and Now) has
inevitability of change. I believe we
World Cups, it is actually a bit more making and transformation of meditations on why we watch
can decide how much change will be
than that. For someone who Sydney recommend themselves: cricket, among other things, and
allowed. Some things should not be
routinely makes reading lists based Mirror Sydney by Vanessa Berry, and why victory is not everything.
replaced, however. For example, we
on the nationalities of teams in Sydney by Delia Falconer. Sri Lanka: The choice is obvious,
customarily accept that children are to
contention in a given tournament, Bangladesh: Ever since that upset for can there be a more perfect
take care of aged parents.
this year my register is shorter. in the 1999 World Cup, when they cricket novel than Chinaman by
This is a beautiful custom that
But here goes, books, most beat Pakistan, and then in 2011 Shehan Karunatilaka?
should not be lost, but we could
already read and some not, for each when they hosted a riveting opening West Indies: The list has to
improve it by providing additional
of the teams making a bid for the ceremony, Bangladesh have been an include Beyond a Boundary by
care professionally, and creating
2019 trophy, alphabetically: integral part of world cricket. My C.L.R. James, but also
public spaces where the elderly can
Afghanistan: On my reading for the country this season recommended is Sugar in the Blood:
meet their contemporaries for an hour
reading list this summer is Tahmima Anam’s powerful trilogy A Family’s Story of Slavery and
or two and be entertained by
are AfghanAmerican — A Golden Age, The Good Muslim Empire by Andrea Stuart.
musicians etc. Educational institutions
would also benefi t so much if they
employed the living books of history, Mini Kapoor is Ideas Editor, The Hindu .
elderly storytellers.
BROWSE FICTION
Love in the Time of Affluenza
Shunali Khullar Shroff
Bloomsbury
₹ 299
• Raising three children in her
beautiful Bombay home with
her aristocratic husband of 15
years, Natasha has it all. But
when her closest friend
confi des in Natasha about her
own dissatisfaction with family
life and confesses to having an
affair, Natasha begins to ask
difficult questions about her
own seemingly perfect life.
A Dog’s Journey
W. Bruce Cameron
Pan Macmillan
₹ 399
• In this sequel to the
bestselling A Dog's Purpose,
Buddy the dog fi nds a new GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
destiny in helping Clarity, a
troubled teenager. With
Clarity’s mother determined to CLI-FI
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keep her apart from Buddy, and
an unpredictable boyfriend,
Clarity needs help more than
A
tree is not just a tree. And a outlive him 10 times or a 100 times the reader in and crafts protagonists
explores the contours of book is not just a book. At over. It is a magnifi cent sleight of gradually, and weaves them together
broken relationships and the least not Richard Powers’ perspective which says that the organically, until you realise we have
meaning of commitment. Pulitzerwinning The markers of history, even of people, been reading not about individual
Overstory. This book is the gong of the need not be human. One lives, but an understory of
The Book of Love: Stories
doomsday clock of our era striking might be forgiven for thinking people who transact,
Ekarat
midnight. It is set to the collective that the humans in The confl ict, communicate and
Speaking Tiger
symphony of beings with whom we Overstory are simply so much commingle with each other.
₹ 250
share a quarter of our DNA — trees. It fat, to be trimmed away and Though it falls into the
• When an encounter turns
does not alarm so much as wake us discarded. If only they genre of clifi , The Overstory
into a date, will Ajay and Priya
from our wilful slumber. Readers will weren’t so beautiful, so richly also manages to rise above it,
give love a chance despite their
begin to fi nd meaning in the rustle of conjured. due in part to Powers’ rigour
broken hearts? The fi ftynine
the leaves that eat light and air, in the in the narrative arc which,
yearold Subhash tries to fi nd a
wood that builds and sustains our Solid as a Douglas Fir though not original or overly
lover from 30 years ago, not
world; they will rediscover the kinship The roots of the book are ambitious in format, feels as
with the giants that predate us by individual storylines. One The Overstory solid as a Douglas Fir.
knowing her last name, by
millennia; and understand quite family/ person/ story after Richard Powers Powers is aware of the limits
sharing their story on a radio
show. The stories in this
irreversibly our total dependence on another, told simply and Penguin Random of empathy and attention
collection are about the
them. chronologically. Ignore the House that characterise humans.
Powers builds The Overstory gossamerthin connector at ₹ 499 When people live, love and
darker shades of romance.
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
Literary Review 23
on the sweep of this story, the vision A novel, centred on
of the author, and the poignant
generosity of the natural world. refugees of the West
The little details are crafted niftily
too. When Powers quotes from a book
Asian confl ict, that
authored by one of his protagonists, it talks of retaining hope
is diffi cult to resist the urge to try and
look for it online. The vision seems to against all odds
blur — and this might be deliberate —
in the last act, ‘Seeds’. Just as it is hard UDAY BALAKRISHNAN
to imagine the transformation of a 3
T
mm seed into a 200ft Redwood, the his is a beautiful book, written
seeds of hope (?) that Powers plants in from the heart in a style that
the end don’t seem like all that much. sings to you. At one level it is
But they soften the blow of the the story of Afra, stunned
preceding 100 pages. sightless after watching her son die in
a blast, and at another level, the story
Hear the trees of her husband, Nuri, the book’s
How do we feel that blow? How can narrator and the eponymous Having spent years in places from Nuri endures and when they fi nally
you get a reader to emotionally invest beekeeper. where Christy’s characters come, I reunite with Mustafa in England what
in trees? By anthropomorphising Christy’s novel magnifi cently found their voices, even in translation, pervades their minds are only
them? By having them ‘talk’ to people? captures their lives in Aleppo as stunningly authentic, with the thoughts of going home — “to rebuild
Harping on their utility to humankind, lovers, parents, friends and Moroccan sounding distinctly the apiaries and bring the bees back to
perhaps? Or by pointing out the professionals with their everyday joys diff erent from the Syrian, and life.”
obvious but ignored fact that we need and regrets. Afra is an acclaimed artist the refugee from Ivory Coast Only someone like Christy
them for continued survival? The and Nuri a beekeeper running a having an easygoing Lefteri, herself the daughter
Overstory does all of this — a near thriving business with his cousin, insouciance that could not have of refugees who had helped
death experience causes someone to mentor and passionate apiarist, come from anywhere else. the likes of Afra and Nuri,
be able to ‘hear’ trees. The utility part Mustafa. It is the shattering of their What Nuri tells us about could have written such a
is laid bare — not as something we lives by the ongoing confl ict in West bees in exquisite, but never book. That someone so
already exploit, but as something Asia as seen through Nuri’s eyes that overpowering, detail is one of young could have conjured
we’ve barely scratched the surface of. forms the book’s narrative. the most delightful parts of the such a mature and moving
And the benefi ts of simply letting At a broader level, Christy’s novel novel. It makes them almost work is astonishing, leaving
them be are not just indicated but is the story of all those compelled to human, wonderfully me like the Mole in The Wind
extrapolated with a level of detail that leave home to seek refuge in unknown complementing the characters The Beekeeper in the Willows, “bewitched,
should make us blush with shame. lands, crossing treacherous deserts in their doggedness and Of Aleppo entranced, fascinated.”
However, what gets us to really and wild seas, frequently becoming persistence against all odds. Christy Lefteri ...........................................................
invest in these wooden actors is their victims of individuals and gangs The book is one of hope. Zaffre Publishing The writer teaches at
own nature — how diverse and rich preying on the helpless. The love between Afra and ₹ 319 IISc. Bengaluru.
their lives are and how interconnected
their story and evolution is with our
own. Divesting the utility of plantkind
from the rationale of conservation MAGIC REALISM
makes The Overstory the most CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
legitimate use of wood pulp in our
time.
Read one way, The Overstory is a
nuanced, empathetic take on the
ravenous matrix of human life — the
Magic with masala peanuts
beauty of a moth’s dance into the
fl ame. Tilt it just a smidge, and it is a Fourteen stories that rework myths, foregrounding woman power
devastating takedown of human
‘intelligence’. Unlike the moth, we SINDHURI NANDHAKUMAR Herculean that task is, the book has respite from the same old bedtime tales
know what would happen if we touch largely succeeded, relying on magical many of us have grown up on. They
I
that fi re. We created it in the fi rst n her book, Belonging: realism, mythical storytelling and unabashedly put women at the centre,
place. Remembering Ourselves Home, tropes of scifi . and do not shy away from sharing their
The line that opens this review is Tokopa Turner writes that magic, In her introduction, editor Sukanya rage (about issues as widespread as
the beginning of Ovid’s dreams, myths and fantasy help us Venkatraghavan writes that a book climate change, rape and slut
Metamorphoses. Powers quotes this ‘restory’ ourselves out of the places such as this is necessary to reclaim shaming). And in a world where
more than once. One wishes that it where we feel trapped or stuck. They narratives in a world that is afraid “of a fantasy is largely equated with Western
were true, that people could change, are, she writes, “windows of female who knows she is powerful”. narratives (like Game of Thrones, for
for their own sakes. If we don’t, the opportunity to escape Across 14 stories, we meet instance), it’s exciting to encounter
experiment of life will continue, our outdated myths”. rakshasis, vegan chudails who have recognisable characters (even if they be
without us. Our country is built ambitions of working in human demonic), munching on masala
........................................................................... on millennia of folklore resources, timetravellers, demon peanuts or neonorange jalebis (Shveta
The ex-journalist works as a and myths. They are hunters, marionettes travelling Thakrar’s ‘The Carnival at the Edge of
consultant in fintech and crypto- certainly not outdated, across the edge of worlds, and the Worlds’).
economics. but an upgrade — stone goddesses trapped in an As with any anthology though,
especially one that Orwellian world of surveillance. some of the storytelling experiments
moves beyond Also making an appearance are fall fl at. In Sejal Mehta’s ‘Earth and
patriarchal narratives — familiar deities in their 21st century Evolution Walk into a Bar’, for
c is welcome. That is avatars, like Lakshmi in red instance, we meet Mahi (earth) and
Divesting the utility of what Magical Women, athleisure and a haggardlooking Sangatarash (evolution) who report to a
an anthology of Magical Women Saraswati in a tattered, saff ron ‘board’ and ‘management’ — the
plantkind from the rationale
fantastical and magical Edited by Sukanya stained sari (in Trisha Das’ ‘Tridevi framework, unfortunately, feels
of conservation makes The Venkatraghavan
short stories by 14 Turbulence’). strained. But the book will, with any
Overstory the most legitimate women writers, aspires Hachette Many stories work because they luck, pave the way for more original
use of wood pulp in our time to do. And given how ₹ 399 are refreshing, providing some worlds and creations.
24 Literary Review DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
A
citizen, of both India and the few years before his death in
world. 2014, a farewell letter to the
world appeared in the name Tale teller His willingness to see the world made Márquez a most beloved writer. AP
of “Gabriel García Márquez”
Bottle of Lies: Ranbaxy and
which fl outed the only rule Márquez became sentinels guiding other sought to dust away their sins by
the Dark Side of Indian Pharma
had assiduously followed over his people’s minds, it is not surprising to soaking in Márquez’s literary sunshine
Katherine Eban
fi vedecade career: it was badly learn of the other “Gabriel Garcia and anodyne socialism. Amidst all this
Juggernaut
written. Nevertheless, reading it, Márquezes” who presented global renown, often forgotten are the
₹ 699
fi lmmaker Mrinal Sen, among others, themselves to unsuspecting admirers. genius of Gregory Rabassa and Edith
• An exposé of how one of
reminisced nostalgically to the press Despite his eff orts to explain this Grossman — his translators — who
India’s largest drugmakers
of their days together at Cannes and disconcerting comedy of transmuted his fl ighty but carefully
Ranbaxy Laboratories fell apart,
Havana. But like all great festivities of doppelgängers run amok, it still composed Spanish into the pragmatic
based on fi rsthand accounts of
public sentimentalism, truth played retains mystery. What one does realise ecstasies of English. This anthology is
whistleblowers, and thousands
spoilsport when it was discovered that eventually is that these harmless con no diff erent. Under Anne McLean’s
of FDA documents. It follows
the real author was a Mexican jobs were not born out of expert guidance, the
the global generic drug boom
ventriloquist. If Márquez wouldn’t malice but rather from that sentences here crackle with
and reveals the nature of the
speak publicly of his fi nal days, about least understood of places in a young writer’s ambition to
industry where fraud is
the immensity of his bonds to his our culture: an unrequited describe the world.
rampant.
readers, it was as if they would take it love for a writer. Márquez An advantage, among
upon themselves to speak as him, wrote about semiurban others, of seeing such a long
Make, Think, Imagine: however hackneyed the expression. societies where an agrarian span of writings in one
Engineering and the Future of past, in which grandmothers volume is the evolution of
Civilisation Luminous presence spoke about women who his literary bag of tricks: the
John Browne In much of the nonSpanish world, ascend to the heavens while use of contradictions, his sly
Bloomsbury Márquez was known for his novels and doing laundry, jostled and exaggerations, and a
₹ 550 short stories — those capacious arks sometimes sharply elbowed The Scandal of journalist’s suspicion of
• A blueprint for the future built out of words into which the present marked by the Century and literary criticism that
argues that we must not put humanity trundled in pairs of two: politicians, erectile Other Writings baptizes his work with the
the brakes on technological generosity and cruelty, the dysfunction, and drug Gabriel García holy waters of their
advance. Civilisation, Browne extravagant and the minutiae. In cartels. The result of this Márquez interpretive liturgy.
says, is founded on engineering much of the Spanish world, however, intimate struggle between the Knopf/ PRH Alongside, we also see the
innovation and all progress Márquez is more than that. He was sensuous and the ₹ 1,716 crystallization of an aesthetic
stems from the human urge to also a luminous presence as a reporter commonplace was his that exalts the profane in the
shape the world around us, and an editor. recognition that what is blandly world as worthy of understanding,
resulting in greater freedom, Read feverishly and discussed described as reality is merely life which allows him to endow the
health and wealth for all. widely without the artifi ce of social sheared of the fantastic. His writings, conceits of spurned lovers and the
media, his columns became mini particularly his novels, restored life to loneliness of deposed tyrants with
cultural events in themselves. In the its fulsomeness. That he succeeded at empathy. It is this willingness to see
Rivers Remember mid1980s, French scholar Jacques doing so spoke to some deep human the world, without sanctimony, with
Krupa Ge Gilard took it upon himself to organise intuition, which in turn has endeared some bemusement, but most often an
Context/Westland Márquez’s vast oeuvre from 1950 to him in ways greater literary ambition to write in the most large
₹ 499 1984 — a task he went about with the intelligences don’t. hearted manner he was able to, that
• Chennai battled a devastating patience of a butterfl y hunter, tracking made him among the most beloved of
fl ood in 2015. As fl oodwaters down forgotten pieces and lost essays. Genius of translation writers of 20th century.
and sewage swallowed the city, From these, Márquez’s recent editor This collection ends in 1984, two years The kind of writer who despite
it lost lives, homes and Cristobal Pera chose a few pieces after Márquez was bestowed with having been consecrated at birth with
livelihoods. Experts said it was which now appear in translation as a literary immortality courtesy the a name worthy of a conquistador —
a manmade disaster. Why did collection with an artful hyperbole for Nobel Prize, which in turn cursed with Gabriel José de la Concordia García
the city drown? What was the a title: The Scandal of the Century and him celebrity which took him into the Márquez — is still lovingly
government’s response? Who Other Writings. antechambers of power, where remembered, as if he were a family
is responsible? Ge tries to fi nd Given the prodigious career Communist dictators, corrupt member who told tall tales at dinner,
some answers. Márquez had, where his words Archbishops, and libertine Presidents by his nickname: ‘Gabo’.
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
Literary Review 25
ECONOMY
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T
he adoption and Chapter 4 examines several
implementation of the Goods challenges faced by policymakers in
and Services Tax Act (GST) is framing a sound GST mechanism like
one of the signifi cant reforms design and administration. The book
of the NDA government, announced also tries to dispel misconceptions
with fanfare in the Central Hall of about the GST, pointing out that it will
Parliament. The euphoria was broaden the tax base by expanding
accompanied by hopes that it would the coverage of economic activities;
usher in a new saga of ‘One Nation, improve competitiveness of domestic
One Tax and One Trade’. Strangely, industry in the international market
the BJP had opposed the measure and will lead to a common national
when in the Opposition. It inherited it market for India. But the authors also
from the UPA and chaperoned it to accept that under GST “the tax system
gain political leverage. could be regressive.” They argue that
unless the tax administration is
In the works for long GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
improved across governments, the
Proposals to reform indirect taxes anticipated benefi ts will not fl ow
have been in the works for decades and fi nancial wizards were roped in to the GST as well as capturing the automatically.
dating back to the early 1950s. The study and off er advice. It is creditable evolution of the concept of GST in The assessment of the impact of
GST itself was mooted in the budget that all these issues could be resolved India since the late 1980s.” It has been GST in the last two chapters tempers
speech (200607) of P. Chidambaram, smoothly over a series of meetings written with meticulous care for undue expectations. On the supply
then Finance Minister, with the intent between the States and the Centre details covering developments over side, under current conditions, the
to introduce it from April 2010. refl ecting a spirit of cooperative many years. benefi ts may be realised only after a
Evolution of Though the idea of harmonising all federalism. The fi rst part of the book details few years. Formalisation of the
Goods and indirect taxes under one format and The authors of this book are eff orts made to reform indirect taxes informal sector may not materialise
Services Tax making it applicable across the professors of the National Institute of and the work of many Tax Reform given the tendency to avoid taxes
in India country appeared attractive, Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). Committees. when transactions under GST are
R. Kavita Rao, policymakers had to contend with The NIPFP provided the backup In one chapter, Amaresh Bagchi invoicebased. Finally, “the revenue
Sacchidananda several issues such as ensuring service for over a decade for questions the rationale for a GST and performance under the GST has been
Mukherjee revenue neutrality, claims and counter processing the GST from its infancy to suggests alternatives for it. While he less than par at least for the Union
Cambridge claims of States, confl icts over State the fi nal stage of giving shape to the concedes that there are advantages in government.” This book is a valuable
University Press autonomy on revenue collection and Bill. This book highlights its role “in centralising tax, he fears that there are addition to GST studies, but may be a
₹ 612 so forth. Many committees, task forces shaping the design and structure of political costs in weakening the bit dense for the lay reader.
CRICKET
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Kapil’s Devils
and a miracle win
In this retelling, special memories from India’s
1983 World Cup triumph
ASHWIN ACHAL Kirti Azad, son of a distinguished
politician, is the playful prankster.
I
ndia’s fairytale run in the 1983 Mohinder Amarnath is the sage and
Cricket World Cup is the stuff of elder statesman, while Syed Kirmani is
legend. Tales of the historic the eccentric pipesmoking maverick.
triumph have been well Sandeep Patil is the handsome,
documented over the years, through dapper chocolate boy. Krishnamachari
video highlights, player interviews, Srikkanth tackles the roughest of Singular vision Kapil Dev lifts the World Cup trophy. GETTY IMAGES
nostalgia articles and other means. situations with humour, and his
Given the extensive coverage, is there teammates love him for it. fi eld, Kapil fuels the once disbelieving for his eff orts. We follow the
anything new to learn about Kapil’s players with mighty hopes and adventures of Ayaz Memon, then a
Devils? Indeed there is, as television Star of the show dreams. greenhorn reporter with Mid-Day. It is
journalist and author Nikhil Naz has And then there is Kapil Dev, the star of There are central characters from a throwback to a bygone era, when
shown in this wellresearched retelling the show. The brave leader is unafraid outside the squad list as well. Indian rudimentary telex machines and
of a famous story. to speak the blunt truth, even if it expat and restaurant owner Mintu compositors were essential items in
This book is fi lled with interesting means rubbing seniors the wrong way. Bhatia makes frequent appearances as the life of a journalist.
anecdotes, from both on and off the The skipper has a singular vision — to the team’s unoffi cial caterer. There is News anchor Rajdeep Sardesai,
fi eld. The varied personalities in the lift the World Cup trophy — and drags the emotional story of Jiten Bhai who was playing club cricket in Miracle Men: The
squad, including lessheralded names his mates along for the ride. In the Parekh, another Indian expat, whose England at the time, is one of several Greatest
like manager P.R. Man Singh and fast days leading up to the tournament, shop is ransacked by racist thugs. A fans who tried every trick in the book Underdog Story
bowler Sunil Valson, shine through. Kapil did not take kindly to his bold Parekh wagers the £600 he to gain match tickets. in Cricket
Sunil Gavaskar cuts a serious fi gure, teammates joking about heading to receives as insurance money on his This stellar cast, whose stories are Nikhil Naz
worried about his place in the playing England as nohopers on vacation. home nation clinching the title, and wonderfully intertwined, made Hachette India
eleven after a few low scores. And with each positive result on the ends up winning a handsome £39,600 memories to last a lifetime. ₹ 399
26 BOOKEND DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
NOSHTALGIA
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Midsummer
memories
Remembering a long-ago June that brought a new and lasting love in its wake
I
n the village where I live, dozens of just ended, and we were heading into mathematically challenged that even institute in Chembur, we watched the
ripe mankurads hang outside a dreaded Delhi summer. the probability of clearing the exams rain bring out a hundred shades of
every other house. The sunshine made me look at the skies with green on the campus. As lunchtime
coloured mangoes look so inviting Sunny entrance despair. But not wanting to be left approached, the rains stopped and, as
that they tempt even the most resolute In India, summer means many things behind, I too decided to try my hand if on cue, an icecream cart appeared,
passerby to reach for the fruit but in the life of an 18 or 20 at a couple of entrance exams — as a off ering vanilla cups for the nervous
dangling across forbidden boundary something student, summer signifi es rite of passage, if you will. candidates.
walls. These mangoes that grow in mostly one thing: a multitude of We nonMumbai candidates did
abundance in Aldona, Goa, in the entrance examinations. MayJune is A wet June not venture anywhere close to the
relentless month of May taste like the designated season of dread when And so there I was, waiting on the cart, but the local girls quickly and
happiness on an indiff erent day. And one attempts to get into a college or streets of Mumbai for an autorickshaw eagerly bought the vanilla cups. They
with the mangoes ripening begins the university of one’s choice. on the fi rst day of the monsoon. then proceeded to take out small tiffi n
congenial village ritual of friends and It was my summer of graduation Mumbai gets lashed by rains in boxes from their bags and promptly
neighbours exchanging fruit from and all my friends with employment June, a month that I, Delhibred, had emptied the icecream into the
each other’s trees. friendly courses were appearing for grown up believing was meant, contents of their boxes.
But the mango season here also various exams. These would take despite the occasional showers, to Their faces transformed as they
reminds me of another summer, them to cities outside Delhi, and to a suck every desire out of the human began to eat. Their snack was cubes of
diff erent in heat and taste but one that world where salaries were discussed body. But in Mumbai, I discovered a sweet mango brought from home,
brought new and lasting loves into my in fi gures that could put the Delhi real cool, wet June, a new month for the topped with vanilla icecream, a treat I
life. estate market to shame. newlyminted graduate. had never tasted in that form till then.
THE HINDU Magazine DELHI
In Bengali households, mangoes are
often combined with milk, a PEACE IN A POD
grandmother’s treat we rebellious CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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teenagers scorned. Or there’s the syrupy,
sweetsour, green mango chutney,
deceptively called ambal (also the word
for the Bengali’s famous acidity), which is
a perfect ending to any meal.
A listening smörgåsbord
Mad happiness From foreign policy analysis to banter about Tinder,
But on the steps of that Mumbai institute
that day, while nothing of my per annum
IVM off ers a wide range of podcasts
future was decided, my mother and I
to “create a destination, a place “fl agship show”, where Broacha
discovered the mad happiness that could USHA RAMAN
where people could come and engages with a variety of guests,
overcome the dreariest days when vanilla
S
earching for podcasts on a consume all kinds of podcasts.” from (most recently, in episode 387)
icecream meets Alphonso mangoes.
dull day can be quite fi lmmaker Jaydeep Sarkar to
With one taste of this treat, Bombay
frustrating. On some apps, a Audio-first country nutritionist and physician Vishakha
changed for me. A perfect combination, a
list of recommendations If there’s one thing that binds the Shivdasani (episode 357) in
meal in itself, a duet of sunshine and
pops up, usually based on your shows under the IVM banner, it is a exchanges that are fl uid, sometimes
snow perfect for any hour.
listening history or on entering a focus on talk. Apart from the serious, but always laced with
That week, between interview, group
search term. Another way is to go couple of storytelling podcasts humour.
discussion and results, I trekked across
to a search engine like Listennotes mentioned above, all the shows are At the other end, you have
homes, cafes and icecream parlours as a
and rifl e through the thousands of based on that staple of radio — amateurish banter between
mango tourist, sampling and grading the
podcasts, sorted by category. But in either straight out singlevoice talk, twentysomethings in Dating is
best Alphonso and icecream combos.
most cases, you have to know what or two or more people engaged in Garbage, a show about twists in the
There was pure monsoon romance in
you’re looking for — or have some animated conversation. “I’ve age of Tinder.
devouring a Haji Ali mango cream by the
sense of direction. always enjoyed talk content, and In the zone of what Rajwade
windy Arabian sea.
The IVM Podcasts app, on the having listened to a lot of talk radio describes as “edutainment” are
By the end of the trip, I was
other hand, opens up a tiled screen several policy podcasts, among
hopelessly in love — with vanilla ice c
with over 60 options to choose which are Ganatantra, hosted by
cream and Hapuz, fl avoured with a
from, all made in India, all If there’s one thing that political scientist Sarayu Natarajan,
drizzle of Mumbai rain.
featuring desi voices and desi binds the shows under the and States of Anarchy with foreign
Back home, the magic of mango and
concerns, speaking an idiom that IVM banner, it is a focus on policy analyst Hamsini Hariharan.
icecream was not quite appreciated by
feels a lot like home. There’s the “Policy podcasts are our second
my Bengali family, for whom the green talk. All the shows are either
lighthearted conversation show most popular category, after
mango ambal still ruled mealtimes. But straight out single-voice talk,
Cyrus Says, featuring the comedy,” she says. The group is
that was just not sinful enough for me or two or more people in
irrepressible Cyrus Broacha, or actively exploring Indian language
nor did it off er the allure of seaside
Ronnie Screwvala’s entrepreneurial conversation podcasting, with small steps into
romance.
c journey on Dreaming with Your Eyes the Tamil, Kannada and Marathi
By the time the summer ended, I had
Open. For children, there’s Kini aur in the US, I missed that format,” markets, apart from a few shows in
decided on a career and a city. It was one Back home,
Nani ki Kahaaniya and, for those says Doshi. For Kavita Rajwade, Hindi.
where summers would always be harsh the magic with a taste for the ghoulish, Zara IVM cofounder, a fouryear stint in “We’ve made some deliberate
and where it was lemon soda and falsa of mango and Khauff se Suno. Add to this plenty of radio reinforced the idea that India choices,” says Doshi. “The most
that would await examgoers. The things I
ice-cream conversation shows around was “an audiofi rst country” and popular podcasts in the world are
really desired were neatly packed in my
was not quite business, entertainment, food, podcasting “fi lled a big content conversation shows…and when
memory cells because pragmatism had
appreciated politics, policy, and sports, plus a category that was missing on there is a lot of choice, there is a lot
found me.
healthy dose of selfhelp and well radio…what we’re doing is like of room for diff erentiation…right
But come Delhi summers, I can still by my Bengali
being. Radio 10.0.” now, [the Indian market] isn’t
never stop wishing for Alphonso family, for “We want to be a big tent in The truly wide range of topics there.”
mangoes and icecream against a canvas whom the ........................................................................
terms of content,” says Amit Doshi, and the number of shows leads to
of pouring rain.
................................................................................. green mango who launched IVM Podcasts in the IVM portfolio being something The Hyderabad-based writer
ambal still March 2015 after surveying the of a mixed bag in terms of quality. and academic is a neatnik fighting
The author teaches English literature at
ruled Indian audio market and fi nding At one end of the spectrum is Cyrus a losing battle with the clutter
Delhi University. She also writes fiction
that there was a large opportunity Says, which Rajwade calls IVM’s in her head.
and films and obsesses about her cats. mealtimes
SUNDAY RECIPE
Ripe mango chaatni
INGREDIENTS:
7-8 ripe mangoes
A pinch mustard seeds
1 whole red chilli
Some sugar
METHOD:
1. Cut and slice a combination of hard and
soft ripe mangoes.
2. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds
and the red chilli.
3. Add the firmer mango cubes first. Let
them soften.
4. Add the mushy mangoes and let the
whole mixture come together.
5. Stir in some sugar.
6. Simmer for about 10 minutes and turn
off heat.
7. Cool and serve with or after meals.
28 BOOKEND DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
AD LIB
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In sublime terror
There are times when I have heard the sea speaking. It speaks to me and it terrifi es me
JERRY PINTO of spume, into her embrace and hold with it? I think because the sea starts compunction, no remorse, no change
it there. by being beautiful. in its scratch.
I
A live in a city by the sea and I How lucky you are, she says. I stand at the window in an
At times, ignore it 99% of the time. The How lucky I am, I say. And then I Magnificent and remorseless apartment and listen to the sea roar
other 1%, I go and sit by it and have to admit that I spend most of my Even when it is slate grey or faecal outside the window. It is a steady roar.
I think the
within a few minutes, I am not time ignoring the sea. One reason is of brown, it is still the sea. It is still At times, I think the sea coughs and
sea coughs seeing it any longer. I have wandered course that it is always there and what magnifi cent, it is still unknowable, it is scrapes its scratchy throat; this
and scrapes back inside my head and started is always there can be taken for still a force of nature. It has claimed monsoon night, it simply kept up a
its scratchy thinking about other things, namely granted. But if you are only here for a lives and it still does. Even as I stand steady triumphal roar. I am going to
throat; this myself. while, you had better stop and stare here, it is swallowing another poor win. I am going to win.
monsoon A friend returning from a and absorb. forked animal who thought this was I think that is why I go and sit by
landlocked country stretches her arms Why do I not stop and stare and such fun, the pull of the water, the the sea. I must make some sense of the
night, it
out as we walk by the sea, as if she absorb? Why do I always talk about scratch of the sand; or it is swallowing compact I have with it. But that is also
kept up a would like to take everything, every the sea as central to my experience of someone who found no fun, who the reason why I stop seeing it in fi ve
steady roar drop of water, every wave and splash the city and then spend so little time wanted to go. It swallows both with no minutes. Because it goes from
THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
DELHI
BOOKEND 29
beautiful to unsettling quickly, as a
thought leaps from one wavelet to the PASSING BITE
next. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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The water is not moving, no, the
I
implacable. It speaks to me and it vividly remember the summer of
terrifi es me. 2003 in London. My life at that
I have been here before you. I have time had led to me spending a few
been here before your kind. months every year in London for
I made you and rocked you. over a decade, and I considered
I will be here after you. myself a veteran of the British
I will not unmake you. You will do summer.
that to yourself. Your kind is good at The summer, June to August,
that. would usually begin and end with
Time will help in the unmaking. I rain. The hot, dry periods, when they
will only measure time with the occurred, were periods to be valued,
percussion of the tide. for soon the grey days would return
And with that percussion, I set my to reestablish their hegemony over
watery teeth to nibble at the land. the islands. Most summers, you
I will take a small chunk. watched the rain and not the sun,
So small you will not notice. evaluating each summer by how
I will take another chunk. You will much or how little you suff ered under
still not notice. the rainy and cold weather, and each
I eat in geologic time. I eat in sunny day seemed to carry with it a
nibbles. user warning: ‘Don’t get too comfy, Cool kids Children cooled of in Paris’s Trocadero fountains as the heat wave hit France. AP
freezing weather on the fl ip side.’
c But, 2003 was diff erent. June day in early July and could not change As I sit here awaiting the
It is back again, that ache of came and began to behave like a back to a warmer outfi t till the end of monsoon, news comes in that Europe
recognition, that memory of shifty envoy from an enemy camp, September. is bracing for the fi rst of several
like an ambassador who knew their extreme heat waves expected this
some watery origin story,
government was about to launch an A people in shock summer. In the U.K., France and
that one single running story attack on you. There was rain, but it Inside the house or out, the memory Germany, records for high
from here to Africa and back was unconvincingly thin and is of a people in some shock. Those temperatures set last year are due to
and out and up and around, scattered, not English summer rain at who remembered the 70s had a clear be incinerated between now and the
that gush and flow all; the hot days were really hot, too comparison to a freakish summer autumn. Public services are on high
hot for early to midJune; you could towards the end of that decade, either alert, as if for some emergency or
I rise. almost tell the trees, fl owers and 1977 or 1978, and even older people calamity.
I rise in centimetres. But my birds knew something was off kilter. vaguely reached back to the
centimetres are millions of metric With the fi rst week of July, the exceptional summer of 1952; save No more retreats
tonnes of water. gloves were off . Instead of these two years, there had been Surviving extreme conditions
You might notice that. But you can’t manoeuvring to be in the much nothing like this for half a century. depends on being able to get away
keep noticing it. If you did, you would needed warmth of the sun, you were I was in London in the middle of from them — either by going inside to
blench in horror, you would run and shuffl ing towards the shadows to last year and the summer of 2018 a warmer, dryer or cooler shelter, or
hide. You do not. You go on as if avoid the discomfort, almost as made 2003 look amateurish. This by going away from the site of the
nothing is happening. though you were back in India. time, the serious heat began by end undesirable weather.
This is called Denial. Going out, you were always May and continued through early Normally, people at the deprived
So turn away from me now. Turn thirsty, always calculating when and end of the scale have limited options
and walk with your friend who is where you could next get a swig of A while the wealthy have a choice of
saying, “But Jerry, everything I think of water. In buses, trains, shops and Heat-related violence increased, both. Classically, the desi rich and
doing seems so pointless, so self- cafes, your thoughts turned to air middleclasses could sit in their
and general public behaviour in
indulgent when things are the way they conditioning. The normal pleasures cooled houses or go away to the
of summer fooding, the barbeques terms of jostling and pushing to mountains or go to ‘phoren’ for the
are.”
And I hear your reply: “The only and such, seemed too excessive — get on and off public transport summer. But this year, I’ve seen
answer I have to that is: when someone your appetite had gone into hiding, began to resemble that of airconditioners go on strike in some
does something with rigour, whatever just as it does in the hot weather back Calcutta’s or Delhi’s of the poshest Delhi homes, there
it is, however slight and small, it helps home. have been forest fi res in the
us all.” By midJuly, people were September. London underground Himalayas, and as for going abroad,
I smile. collapsing from heatstroke and and buses, normally unbearable on it’s not exactly cool there either.
So most of my life I spend turning reports were coming in from France, really hot days, were now deemed Similarly, for citizens of the so
from the sea even when I have sought it of elderly people dying having dangerous. There was a near riot in called fi rst world, the planet used to
out to sit beside. But when the bus that forgotten to turn off the heating in one train during morning rush hour be their oyster; one typical pattern
is taking me to the next appointment their apartments. If you had young when staff forgot to switch off the was that they stayed home in the
comes around a corner and is suddenly children, you avoided taking them heating. Train tracks melted summer and travelled to the tropics
running parallel to the sea, it is back outside till after 8 p.m. when the slow regularly, signal boxes were fried in the winter. Now, their home is
again, that ache of recognition, that sunsets would, sort of, begin. every day, heatrelated violence challenging in the summer and a lot
memory of some watery origin story, The house I lived in was a increased, and general public of the tropics are horrifi cally polluted
that one single running story from here teetering old pile that was usually behaviour in terms of jostling and in the winter. Pulling back a bit you
to Africa and back and out and up and very cold and draughty. Now, the pushing to get on and off public can see that the longcommitted sins
around, that gush and fl ow — and in the place felt soothingly airconditioned transport began to resemble that of against the environment are coming
night, only so many variations of when you came away from Calcutta’s or Delhi’s. Reports were back to bite people everywhere.
darkness that light seems to be a the street outside. I took coming in of older people dying in Pulling back a bit you can see that
mirage and only a small consolation to wearing shorts, loose their homes even though they had there might be no getting away — for
against the vastness of the void. Tshirts and sandals one turned off their heating. anyone, anywhere.
.............................................................................
The author tries to think and write and Ruchir Joshi is a writer, filmmaker and columnist.
translate in the cacophony of Mumbai.
30 BOOKEND DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
BOOKEND 31
Card
reading
Both vulnerable,
South deals
BOB JONES
West had a diffi cult choice diamond back to dummy’s
of leads. Only an unlikely queen, leaving this position:
diamond would give nothing
away and he can’t be faulted
for his choice of a club.
Simpson won in hand with the
jack and crossed to dummy
with a diamond. A heart to the
queen and the ace of hearts
saw a highlow from both
opponents. This was the
standard signal to show an
even number of cards in the
suit, if they were telling the
truth. Simpson looked at their
angelic young faces and
decided that a third round of Across hostelries (4)
hearts would be too Having a perfect count on 1 Decrepit elders recite ‘Cheese!’ (3,9) 5 ‘Capturing in sneaky net’: fishing (10)
T
oday’s deal features dangerous. the hand, Simpson cashed 10 Inaccuracy with ‘vertical’ crossword 6 Overheard: those people are in that place (5)
British expert Colin Simpson cashed the ace of dummy’s king of clubs and clue – get ‘horizontal’ (3,4) 7 Bible class to screen rally (7)
Simpson. He was clubs, then played the ace of put West on play with the 11 Corrupt cartel gets around Europe 8 Furious with unethical beef
with flattery (7) production (4,2,3,4)
South, playing against spades and a spade to queen of clubs for a spade
12 Chosen few among Pre-Raphaelites (5) 9 Cry ‘that hurt!’, with beer gut prone
a couple of upandcoming dummy’s 10. He then played a lead away from the queen.
13 In their oddly endless hollow time (8) to wobbling (6-7)
juniors. diamond to his ace and a Well played! 15 ‘Gone out to lunch’: register 14 Pelted by storms, Aintree ban racing (4-6)
describes one; that’s open to question (10) 17 Reserve is tackling in front with ball
16 ‘Cultivated’ Greece? That’s gaining possession (8)
disgusting! (4) 19 Thatcher was associated with one
18 Feature of posh garden that I find worker getting sack (7)
BAKER STREET amusing (2-2) 21 Disciplined youngster with fattening food (7)
20 Disagreeable novel, Blue Vienna (10) 23 Offer up nonsense verse (5)
22 Fiendish rogue’s done for (8) 25 Episcopalian’s concealed precious jewel (4)
24 Online annoyance rambles endlessly (5)
26 Revue’s act reformed, covering up Solution No. 3053
nude (7)
27 ‘Atonement’ writer McEwan
regularly lost, confused (7)
28 Air essentially unchanged for
centuries!? Environmental group
reportedly splits (12)
Down
2 Levelling the score late in the day (7)
3 Was dependent on throne? King
Edward finally wasn’t so (6,2)
4 Scandinavians barring French in
32 BACK PAGE DELHI THE HINDU Magazine
Sunday, June 30, 2019
QUIZ
LETTER FROM A CONCERNED READER
T
wothree days back I made only then he will come upstairs. He
one masterplan like hero will give item, I will sign, he will
New Zealand mountain immediately vanish.”
BERTY ASHLEY
6 This is one of the 10 most massive
asteroids known, almost 200 km in
diameter. It is entirely metal and is
climber Keith Mallory in
worldfamous Alistair MacLean
Madam/ Sir, what you are
thinking about my masterplan? Did
novel The Guns of Navarone. In the it work? One hundred per cent total
1 June 30 has been celebrated as
International Asteroid Day since
2014. Its aim is to raise awareness
thought to be the exposed iron core of
a protoplanet. In May 2023, an orbiter
will visit to study it. The asteroid is
novel he is trying to defeat German
army on Greek island. I am trying
and utter failure.
Everyday somebody will ask
about asteroids and what can be done named after a Greek mythological to defeat Mrs. Mathrubootham in me, what Mathrubootham why you
to protect the earth from a catastrophic fi gure whose name means 'soul' or Anna Nagar fl at. are reading old novel like The Guns
event. One of the aims is the '100X 'breath of life'. She was a princess of I did very careful calculations of Navarone. Is it colonial
Declaration', which anyone can sign great beauty who aroused Venus’s including map. hangover? Why you are not reading
and which calls for increasing the rate jealousy and Cupid’s love. What is the Victorian alien Tuesday morning 0900 hours Indian novels. I will say whether a
of discovery of NEAs to 100,000 per name of this asteroid? Illustration of a we will have breakfast. Then at single person will write similar
year. What are NEAs, which could be a Martian from the approximately 0945 hours myself, novel in India? Never, thousand
codename ‘Steel Falcon’, will times never. Madam/ Sir, imagine
huge threat to humanity itself?
7 A fi ctitious asteroid named 2013
PDCE has been developed as an
1898 novel
Edison’s Conquest proceed in northeast direction
to living room from dining
one Guns of Nagercoil. Team
leader will say, friends we
2 Asteroid Day is held on the
anniversary of the Tunguska event,
considered the largest impact event on
emergency response drill for
conference
purposes. It is
of Mars .
room to read
newspaper, enjoy
will meet at exactly
10:00 hours and do
Earth in recorded history. It happened intended to give some novels etcetera. attack on enemy.
on the morning of June 30, 1908, experts the Meanwhile, Mrs. M, What will happen?
fl attening 2000 km2 of land — but practice to codename ‘Torture Nothing. Because
thanks to the sparsely inhabited and respond to a Party’, will take bath everyone will only
inhospitable nature of the region it hit, hypothetical and at approximately reach by 1045.
there were no human causalties. If a impact with global 1030 hours she will Madam/ Sir, what
city had been hit, losses would have consequences. If proceed from dining room really happened?
been in the millions. In which extensive 'E' stands for through front door Courier boy came at 1115
geographical region, mostly contained 'Exercise', what and take staircase hours. He called me on
in Russia, did this event take place? does 'PDC' stand to go upstairs to mobile phone. I said,
for? Mrs. D’Costa fl at. “Come to fl at
There from immediately.” What
3 This American astronomer played a
crucial role in the fi eld of
observational cosmology. He was one 8 The majority of
the known
1045 hours to
1145 hours she will
did he do? He took lift
and went directly to
of the physicists who campaigned to asteroids in the attend working fl at on top. He went
have astrophysics included in the Solar System orbit committee meeting of inside and said, “Hello
Nobel Prize in Physics, which was the Sun in a band Ladies Association. At 1145 GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
aunties, any idea of one
fi nally done after his death. During his known as the hours approximately half Mr. Mathrubootham?”
survey on the universe, Albert Einstein 'Asteroid Belt'. One the members of working At 1200 hours, Torture Party
visited him to explain his equations in theory is that these committee will go back home. came and said, “Old man, what is
person. His name lives on in the name asteroids are the Then from 1145 hours to 1200 hours this?” She gave courier box to me. I
of a space telescope that has led to the remnants of a remaining members, codename said, “It is online item I have
discovery of many asteroids. Who was planet that failed ‘Nonstop Jealousy’, will put gossip purchased.” She said, “How many
the astronomer? to form because of about members who have just left times I have told you not to buy
the huge mass and gravitational pull of meeting. things from internet without
At 1200 hours, Torture Party asking. What is inside? Where will
4 Edison's Conquest of Mars is an 1898
science fi ction novel by Garrett P.
Serviss that features Thomas Edison
the two nearest planets. Between the
orbits of which two planets does this
belt exist?
will take staircase to fl at and then
she will have lunch with Steel
we keep this? Is there any space in
this house?”
and a team fi ghting aliens in space and Falcon. This means there will be 90 Anyway, you open and tell me
minute gap between 1030 hours what is inside. If it is some useless
on Mars. In the story, Edison fi nds that
the Martians are using a huge solid
lump of gold that orbits their planet to
9 In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered
what he believed to be a new planet
and named it after the Roman goddess
and 1200 hours for Steel Falcon to
ensure that delivery of online
item like showpiece or wall hanging
immediately this marriage is
drive their civilisation. This was the of the harvest. This was the very fi rst
French. purchase item takes place during cancelled, don’t forget fl at is in my
very fi rst mention of a particular asteroid to be discovered and at a
B612 in absence of Torture Party. This will name.
practice that went on to become a massive 933 kilometers across, it is also
to pronounce avoid unnecessary questioning and I carefully opened the box and
staple in science fi ction books and the largest known so far. In fact, it is
is one way investigation. Previous day itself took out one latest model mobile
movies. Since 2000, there has been only slightly smaller than Pluto, hence
Bésixdouze Steel Falcon has called courier phone. I said, “Kamalam, this is for
real world interest in this as of 2008 it is classifi ed as a 'dwarf
Prince. And fellows to give detailed your next week birthday, your old
phenomenon, and some companies planet'. What is the name of this
10. The Little instructions. phone is in very low dilapidated
are invested in bringing this science asteroid?
9. Ceres Courier fellow said, “Uncle, condition. I thought it will be
fi ction to reality. What is this practice?
Jupiter what do you want?” By mistake, I surprise. But stupid courier fellow
8. Mars and said, “Listen carefully I will explain spoiled everything.”
5 Initially when asteroids were
discovered they were thought to be
10 46610 Bésixdouze is an asteroid
discovered in 1993. The name is a
reference to a popular novella by
Conference
Defense
how to avoid my wife Torture
Party. Courier fellow laughed like
Madam/ Sir, next 1015 minutes,
some romantic moments
planets. Later astronomers realised French aristocrat and aviator Antoine
7. Planetary Corporation’s malaria spray happened. Then she said, “Old
that they were not, and William de SaintExupéry. In the novella, B612
6. Psyche machine, and then he said, “Uncle, man thank you, how can I give you
Herschel named them 'asteroids' due to is a fi ctional asteroid discovered by a
5. Starlike your wife’s name is Torture Party, reward?” I said, “Can you please
the visual characteristic they shared Turkish astronomer that has two active
Mining whether she is Malayali? We have call courier company and give one
with another type of celestial body volcanoes, an extinct volcano and a
4. Asteroid one boy in our offi ce, name is shouting?”
when seen through a telescope. So, rose. Which novel had this asteroid and
Hubble Bonanza, from Palakkad. His name Madam/ Sir, plan was 100%
what does 'Asteroid' mean? what does 'Bésixdouze' refer to?
3. Edwin is mix of father’s name Bonvoyage failure, but also 100% success.
2. Siberia and mother’s name Extravaganza.”
..................................................................................................................................................................... Asteroids I said, “At 1045 hours your boy Yours in conspiracy,
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is 1. Near Earth will arrive. He will call on mobile J. Mathrubootham
working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley Answers