www.business-standard.
com
SUNDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2019
12 pages in 1 section
MUMBAI (CITY)
~10.00
VOLUME XIII NUMBER 37
PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM BENGALURU, KOLKATA, MUMBAI AND NEW DELHI
SEBI REJECTS INTERIM
RELIEF TO KARVY
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) has refused any modification to its
order dated November 22 against Karvy
Stock Broking (Karvy) for alleged misuse of
client funds. The brokerage had moved the
Securities Appellate Tribunal, seeking some
relief on the use of power of attorney on
grounds that it was causing losses to its
existing clients. The tribunal had directed a
Sebi whole time member to provide a
hearing to Karvy. 6>
YES Bank invokes 6.5 mn
pledged shares of RInfra
Private sector lender YES Bank has invoked
6.5 million pledged shares of Reliance
Infrastructure’s promoter between
November 25 and 28, the company said
in a BSE filing. These shares, representing
2.57 per cent of the share capital of Reliance
Infra, were held by one of the company’s
promoters, Reliance Project Ventures and
Management. PTI
ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS P6
IBC tweaks to address
cross-border insolvency
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
Chairman M S Sahoo on Saturday said work
was on to amend the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 that would
address cross-border insolvency. On
Thursday, Sahoo had said the government
was keen to introduce a globally accepted
and well-recognised cross-border
insolvency framework.
COMPANIES P2
78 firms had over 75%
promoter holding in Q2
Seventy-eight listed companies had
promoter shareholding of over 75 per cent in
the September quarter of this financial year.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
requires listed companies to maintain
maximum promoter shareholding of
75 per cent.MAYANK PATWARDHAN & SACHIN P
MAMPATTA report
BACK PAGE P12
64.12% votes cast in first
phase of Jharkhand polls
An estimated 64.12 per cent votes were cast in
13 constituencies of Jharkhand where polling
was held in the first phase on Saturday,
Election Commission officials said. The 13
constituencies are in six Maoist-hit districts.
ON
SUNDAY
SPECIAL
IN DEPTH
Pulwama attack and the
Balakot effect
In the shaping of the larger-than-life image
of Narendra Modi, the surgical strike was his
version of 1971, writes RAJDEEP SARDESAI 7>
Zurich landing at Jewar may challenge IGIA monopoly
Delhi’s capacity constraints will favour the new airport, but connectivity issues may prove to be a hurdle
ARINDAM MAJUMDER
New Delhi, 30 November
Flughafen Zurich winning the bid for the proposed
Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh is likely to bring a
paradigm change to India’s airport sector,
threatening monopolies for the first time, said
sector experts.
If the project is completed on time, Jewar
airport — projected as the second such facility for
the National Capital Region — will compete with
GMR-owned Indira Gandhi International Airport
(IGIA) from 2023 to attract air traffic. This could be
a threat to IGIA’s monopoly on air traffic in north
India, which has made it the crown jewel in GMR
Infrastructure’s airport portfolio.
Zurich Airport offered a revenue share of
~400.97 per passenger. GMR, which had the right of
first refusal (RoFR), offered ~351 per passenger. It
would have had the chance to match the highest
bid only if its offer was within 10 per cent of it.
“GMR’s bid was aggressive and rightly so, as
they were desperate to win it because of a lot of
synergy it offers with IGIA. That Zurich was able to
outbid GMR, which had a RoFR, is something
extraordinary. It doesn’t happen every day,” said an
executive of a financial institution which invests in
infrastructure projects.
WORLD P8
EUROPE’S WINE MAKERS BATTLE
TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE DISRUPTION
Majority expect 25-bp
rate cut in Dec policy
Some flag the possibility of inflation being higher than the repo rate
ANUP ROY
Mumbai, 30 November
A
rate cut is almost certain in
the upcoming monetary
policy review on December
5, for a six-year-low growth
rate of 4.5 per cent in the September
quarter necessitates a larger dose of
monetary and fiscal policy measures,
a poll by Business Standard of 15 econ-
omists and bank treasurers has found.
The rate cut could be 15 basis points
(bps), making the policy repo rate a
standard 5 per cent, or it could be 25
bps. But the central bank will face a
technical challenge there. Inflation,
which has spiked owing to high veg-
etable prices, is likely to cross 5 per
cent in November. The policy rate
being at 5 per cent or less will mean
that the interest rate will be lower than
the inflation rate.
Since February, the monetary pol-
icy committee (MPC) led by Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) Governor
Shaktikanta Das has lowered the repo
rate five times by a cumulative 135 bps,
and has promised to continue with an
accommodative stance as long as “it is
necessary to revive growth, while
ensuring that inflation remains with-
in the target”. But the efficacy of the
past rate cuts by the central bank in an
environment of demand collapse can
be debated.
Even as market rates have fully
reflected the rate cuts, companies are
not necessarily in the mood for bor-
rowing, as they face a slump in con-
sumption demand and investment in
the country. Household savings can-
not fully support the combined fiscal
deficit of the government and public
sector enterprises, Ananth Narayan,
UDDHAV THACKERAY-LED GOVT WINS FLOOR TEST
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray with MLAs after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress
alliance won the floor test in the state Assembly in Mumbai on Saturday. The BJP staged a
walkout before the headcount began
ADVANTAGES FOR JEWAR
| Limited space for
STRENGTH ASSESSMENT
Delhi Airport to
expand beyond 2022
| Better facilities, lower
airport charges
DISADVANTAGES FOR JEWAR
| Connectivity issues
with Delhi and major
cities in western UP
| Weaker income
profile of prospective
flyers in the region
Jewar is about 80 km from IGIA.
A six-year-long moratorium over concession
fees to be paid to the government may give a buffer
to Zurich. But, in the long term, completion of the
project on time will determine its ability to
compete with Delhi, said experts.
“The winning bid marks the re-entry of Zurich
Airport in India. What is defining is the entry of an
experienced player in a market that has GMR, GVK,
WORLD P9
BRITISH PM JOHNSON TO TRUMP:
KEEP OUT OF UK ELECTION
Day after GDP data, PM
defends govt’s record
Modi says first six months have been phenomenal
for development, hints at more measures
ARUP ROYCHOUDHURY
New Delhi, 30 November
A day after India’s economic growth hit its
RATE CUT lowest level in more than six years, Prime
EXPECTATIONS
Minister Narendra Modi said the first six
months of the National Democratic Alliance
15
government since its re-election were “phe-
RUPA REGE SOUMYAJIT
nomenal for the rise of a new India” and
NITSURE, NIYOGI, that “historic steps” were taken from the
BPS L&T Finance India Ratings end of Article 370 to economic reforms and
productive Parliament sessions to a deci-
ABHEEK BARUA, INDRANIL PAN, sive foreign policy.
HDFC Bank IDFC First Bank Pointing out that more measures would
be taken for development, a series of tweets
ADITI NAYAR, KAUSHIK DAS*, and posters published by Modi’s account
25
ICRA Deutsche Bank said numerous decisions had been taken to
GAURAV KAPUR, push the country’s development. The list
ANANTH NARAYAN, MADAN SABNAVIS, IndusInd Bank
SPJIMR CARE Ratings includes the Code on Industrial Relations, a
BPS SOUMYA KANTI sharp reduction in corporation tax rates,
B Prasanna, SAMEER NARANG, mega mergers involving 10 public sector
GHOSH,
ICICI Bank Bank of Baroda State Bank of India banks, and strategic disinvestment of the
government shareholding in five public sec-
Harihar SAUGATA UPASNA BHARDWAJ, NARENDRA MODI,
tor enterprises along with management con-
Krishnamoorthy, BHATTACHARYA, Kotak Mahindra Bank PRIME MINISTER
trol. The tweets and messages were, how-
FirstRand Bank Axis Bank *25-35 bps ever, silent on the weak economic growth
numbers released on Friday. "DURING THE LAST SIX
associate professor of S P Jain Institute
of Management & Research wrote in
“The jump in private final consump-
tion expenditure in the latest GDP
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
also joined in and defended the Centre’s
MONTHS, WE HAVE TAKEN
his column for Business Standard. print could indicate a trend towards economic record in the last six months. NUMEROUS DECISIONS
According to Narayan, the official debt-financed consumption with a “Several significant steps in structural THAT HAVE FURTHERED
combined fiscal deficit of central and jump in household leverage. Also, reforms have been taken in these months. DEVELOPMENT, ACCELERATED
state governments was 5.9 per cent of nominal GDP growth being lower than Responses and interventions addressing the
gross domestic product (GDP) in FY19, interest rates could be a sign of a debt needs of the economy will continue,”
SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT AND
while the governments and public build-up. We, thus, need an active fis- Sitharaman said, hinting that more steps ENHANCED INDIA’S UNITY"
sector enterprises borrowed an esti- cal policy as a counter cyclical sta- could be in the offing before the 2020-21
mated 9.7 per cent of GDP, the highest
for this decade.
biliser rather than perpetuating rate
cuts, which might create financial
Budget. According to officials, additional
measures could be aimed at non-banking
The data on Friday had showed that for
‘public administration, defence and other
“The RBI cannot be doing the instability,” said Soumyakanti Ghosh, financial companies (NBFCs) and micro, services, the gross value added, at the 2011-
heavy lifting alone. We cannot have a group chief economic advisor of State small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). 12 base year, for the July-September 2019
situation where inflation is higher Bank of India. Axis Bank Chief On Friday, the official data showed that quarter grew by a staggering 11.6 per cent
than the repo rate and the real inter- Economist Saugata Bhattacharya gross domestic product (GDP) rose compared to growth of 8.6 per cent for the
est rate turns zero or even negative,” expects the upcoming consumer price 4.5 per cent for the July-September quarter same period last year.
said a senior economist, requesting index (CPI) inflation at 5.4 per cent, (Q2). This was a 26-quarter low and even The key indicator of this sector, name-
anonymity. though he says the central bank may worse than the 5 per cent for the April- ly, the Union government’s revenue
But heavy rate cuts could also lead would want to pare the policy rate by June quarter. expenditure net of interest payments
to some deep fundamental problems. 25 bps. Turn to Page 4 > Sitharaman laid out steps that had excluding subsidies, grew by 33.9 per cent
already been taken on the supply side in compared to 22.2 per cent for the same
the real estate sector, banks, NBFCs, MSMEs, period last year.
auto industry, and others. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic
Most of these measures were announced advisor at State Bank of India, had said after
in August and September, and a top official the GDP data that excluding defence, public
told Business Standard on Saturday that had administration, and other services, the GVA
it not been for some of these measures, the growth would have been merely 2.8 per cent,
growth figures could have been worse. instead of 4.3 per cent. Turn to Page 4 >
NEW TWIST IN SINGUR Stressed firms
TALE, PANEL TO DECIDE
ON ARBITRATION want loans to
A newchapteris set to unfold in
the 10-year-old Singur-Tata
Motors saga.A three-member
pay tax dues at
panel will deliver its decision
on whether or not to start deep discount
arbitration proceedings in the
dispute, surrounding the DILASHA SETH & ABHISHEK WAGHMARE
acquisition of land in Singur, New Delhi, 30 November
shortly. At the heart of the
dispute is Tata Motors’ claim for Keen to shore up revenues, the Central Board of
compensation of the losses Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is examining
incurred in Singur — the location an unusual demand from industry.
of the Nano project — from which For the first time perhaps, industry has sought
it pulled out in 2008, following a government intervention in getting bank loans to
FULL REPORT Mamata Banerjee-led agitation pay the excise and service tax dues under the
by locals against the acquisition Legacy Dispute
ON PAGE 12
PHOTO:PTI of land. ISHITA AYAN DUTT reports 12 > Resolution
(LDRS) such as Sabka
Scheme GST
Vishwas. However, MOP-UP
there’s little clarity on 2019 Growth
whether such a loan is (~cr)
feasible and under
what head.
Major taxpayers,
April
1,13,865
in %*
10.06
especially in the real May
estate sector, are unable 1,00,289
6.67
to pay their dues because June 4.53
crunch at major airports. of the current financial 99,939
PROJECTED SPILLOVER TRAFFIC
Passengers from Delhi’s IGI
Delhi Airport is currently undergoing a
~9,000-crore upgrade to increase its capacity from
stress, field officers have
informed the CBIC, July 5.8
Airport’s catchment area 70 million fliers per annum to 100 million by 2022. which is assessing rea- 1,02,083
that might shift to Jewar due “After 2022, when Delhi finishes its fourth sons for the lacklustre August 4.51
to capacity constraints runway and terminal expansion, it has limited response to the Sabka 98,202
(Figures in mn per annum) capability to expand capacity. Naturally, airlines Vishwas scheme, closing
and customers will have no other option,” said an on December 31. Sept -2.67
FY 25 0.0 airline executive. In fact, field officers 91,916
FY 30 1.8 He added, “For an airline, peak-hour slots are have told the Board that Oct -5.29
crucial. There is little Delhi will be able to offer to most taxpayers are will- 95,380
FY 35 1.8 airlines as all of them have been grabbed. So, for an ing to settle pending cases * Change YoY
FY 40 2.9 airline like IndiGo, which expands rapidly, it will if banks provide them Source: Finance ministry
make sense to grab slots offered at Jewar.” loans for the purpose. The
FY 45 3.4
The executive added that airlines will not quit CBIC, in turn, has asked for a list of such taxpayers.
FY 50 3.7 IGIA but will plan future growth keeping Jewar in “The realisation of tax dues under the scheme
Source: PwC mind. A lot will also depend on the Uttar Pradesh is not as per the expectation. It has been learnt
government’s ability to complete high-speed rail from some of the field formations that major tax-
and road networks before operations commence at payers, especially in the real estate sector… are
Fairfax, and Adani. Their bidding number Jewar. This will determine the airport’s not able to avail of the scheme due to financial
underscores their understanding of the Indian profitability. crunch. Further, these taxpayers are willing to
market and how important they think it is,” said GMR’s boardroom is seeking comfort from the settle cases if banks provide them loans,” the let-
Sidharath Kapur, former executive director at fact that centrality of IGIA will always keep it more ter sent to all principal chief commissioners and
GMR Airports. attractive than Jewar. chief commissioners said. “There may be tax-
Capacity crunch in Delhi and Zurich’s ability to “Jewar is on the highway from Noida to Agra, 60 payers in your jurisdiction facing similar situa-
offer better services may make Jewar airport km away. IGIA is almost in the heart of the city,” tion,” it added. “In this regard, information should
popular among India’s airlines that are frantically said Saurabh Chawla, executive director (finance) be furnished to the Board by December 2,” it
expanding their fleets but facing infrastructure at GMR Group. Turn to Page 4 > added. Turn to Page 4 >
2 COMPANIES
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 1

IN BRIEF
Adani Transmission buys back
NCDs worth ~135 crore
Promoter holding over 75% in 78 firms
MAYANK PATWARDHAN & SACHIN P MAMPATTA amid idling existing capacity are
Mumbai, 30 November RAISING STAKE said to be some reasons hindering a
Adani Transmission on „ Listed firms require „ Of the 78 firms, 48 quick recovery.
Saturday said it has bought

back non-convertible
debentures (NCDs) worth
~135 crore. According to a
BSE filing, the NCDs were
bought back on November
29 by the firm which is part
of the Adani Group headed
by Gautam Adani
(pictured). “The company
has bought back 1,350
rated, listed, secured,
redeemable, NCDs having
face value of ~10 lakh each. aggregating to ~135 crore on
November 29, 2019,” the filing said.
GAIL to supply PNG
in Doon to 300,000
households
GAIL Gas will supply PNG to
300,000 households in
Dehradun district under the
city gas distribution project.
GAIL Gas Managing Director V
Gautam said work on laying
pipelines for the project will
begin in a month.
The target is to cover 300,000
households spread over an
area of 3,088 square km in
the district at a cost of ~1,500
crore in the next eight years.
PTI<
HCL to increase
authorised
share capital
HCL Technologies on Saturday
said its shareholders have
approved proposals to
increase authorised share
capital and issue bonus
shares. The company had
sought shareholders' approval
on October 26 for increase in
authorised share capital and
consequent alteration of the
memorandum of association.
PTI<
At Deloitte Tech Fast
50, Bizongo is
fastest-growing firm
Bizongo , a company that
solves packaging design,
development, and
procurement challenges with a
technology-enabled platform,
has been declared overall
winner of the Deloitte
Technology Fast 50 India
programme.The programme
ranks the fastest growing tech
firmsin India based on their
percentage revenue growth
over the past three financial
years. Bizongo had 8,271 per
cent growth in revenue over
the past 3 years. BS REPORTER<
Gautam Adani, founder,
Adani Group
PTI<
Kerala to get its
own bank soon as
HC clears the way
The Kerala government's long
pending dream of setting up
its own bank, by merging the
district co-operative banks,
is set to become a reality
with the High Court
dismissing a batch of
petitions filed against it.
Minister for Cooperation
Kadakampally Surendran
said the setting up of the
bank opens up a huge
potential for the
development of the state.
PTI<
DPIIT to confer
national start-up
awards
The Department for
Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT) on
Saturday said it will give
national start-up awards to
those entrepreneurs who
are developing innovative
products. The award will be
conferred in 35 areas,
classified into 12 broad
sectors. A cash prize of ~5
lakh each will be given to
the winning startup in each
area. PTI<
Nivea to expand
capacity of its
Sanand plant
In order to cater to the
growing demand in the
country, German skincare
brand Nivea is looking to
fully expand the capacity of
its Sanand plant in Gujarat
by 2025. It is currently
manufacturing 240 million
units a year which is likely
to go up by 100 million to
345 million units annually
in the next five years.
PTI<
S
eventy-eight listed companies
had promoter shareholding
of over 75 per cent in the
September quarter of this financial
year.
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) requires listed
companies to maintain maximum
promoter shareholding of 75 per
cent. They have, however, been giv-
en additional time in the event of
new listings and for other reasons
such as being backed by the gov-
ernment.
Government firms have an
extended deadline to meet mini-
mum public shareholding norms.
The 78 firms had a cumulative
loss of ~52,790.1 crore in the last
financial year ended March 2019
(FY19). The 48 profit-making com-
panies made ~20,370.2 crore, while
30 of these were in the red with a
total loss of ~73,160.8 crore.Three
government-backed entities — IDBI
Bank, Punjab National Bank and
Allahabad Bank — top the list of
such firms with losses between
‘We’re bullish on India, but not pushing
global sales, says Panerai global CEO
“WE DON'T NEED INDIA
TO PUSH GLOBAL SALES,
WHICH ALLOWS US TO
DEVELOP THIS MARKET AT
OUR OWN RHYTHM AND
THAT IS WHAT IS
WORKING FOR US”
~8,000 crore and ~15,000 crore
for FY19.
Some of the rise in stake is
because of promoters pumping in
additional capital to loss-making
firms.
Amit Khurana, head of equities
at brokerage firm Dolat Capital
Markets, suggested that there has
been little evidence of promoters
Richemont Group-owned Officine Panerai has bucked the downtrend impacting most
watch-makers in recent times, with growth in annual sales and plans to expand its
presence in the subcontinent to more locations. Panerai's global CEO, JEAN-MARC
PONTROUÉ, who took charge of the brand in 2018, tells Pavan Lall that the growth is due
to its sweet spot in pricing, distribution alignment and new product range that includes
two recently-launched limited-edition watches dedicated to former Indian Cricket
Team captain M S Dhoni, who joined as brand ambassador last year. Edited excerpts:
You’re launching new watches
today dedicated to former Indian
cricket team captain M S Dhoni,
complete with illustrations of him
along with his vest number and
image on the case-backs. This is a
first for Panerai in India. What is
the reasoning behind
this move?
M S Dhoni is an
individual who is
understated, has his
own mind and was a JEAN-MARC PONTROUÉ
natural fit for the Global CEO, Panerai
brand given his sports
background. Also,
when you shake Dhoni's hand you
know he’s a sportsman. It also helps
that he wore Panerai even before we
signed him on last year. Did we
intend to dive into cricket as a
watch brand and will we jump into
it in Australia and New Zealand and
England? No.
Your sales are growing at almost 40
per cent a year from what I hear.
What are the key drivers?
Today we have our own stores and
minimum public profit-making
shareholding companies made
„ Promoters can't own over ~20Kcrore
more than 75% „ Thirty of these 78
„ Sebi rules allow for companies were
some exceptions, in the red with a
total loss of over
including for PSUs
~73,000 crore
„ Recently, promoters
have pumped in „ Three government-
capital into loss- backed entities top
making entities the list of such firms
with losses between
„ Some firms have over
~8,000 crore and
90% promoter stake ~15,000 crore
in some cases
looking to increase their stake my stake’,” he said.Gross domestic
except for some distressed firms.
He believes that promoters in
product grew at 4.5 per cent in the
September quarter, showed data
general may be willing to put in released on Friday, the slowest since
more money in companies after 2013.
there is more evidence of turn- Analyst commentary suggested
around in the economy. that a return to higher growth may
“If the economy bottoms out in take some more time.
the next few quarters… a lot of pro- A lack of demand and a reluc-
moters may say, ‘okay, let me raise tance to make fresh investments
store expansion. We have 150 stores
worldwide and are planning to add
another 30 in the next two years.
Have you broken even?
We can't disclose numbers, but
what I can say is that not only have
we broken even but we are
move our own cases. We have a profitable — not just at a company
strong international presence level but also at every store.
which was not the case 20 years ago.
The Luminor and Submersible Will Panerai ever be moving into
watches are driving our sales the same league as Rolex, which is
forward and its not just the entry- to say become like a portfolio asset
level price point that is working that appreciates with time?
(~3.5 lakh to ~5 Out of the 700-odd watch brands
lakh). We don’t out there there are just two with
need India to whom that happens -- Patek
push global Phillipe and Rolex. That's it. We
sales, which have had older watches perform
allows us to well and beat expectations at watch
develop this auctions and if you find a “Bronzo”
market at our (Submersible model in Bronze) it
own rhythm and will be around 50 per cent higher
that is what is working for us. than the new ones. So, of course,
not all our models hold value like
What are your expansion plans for that, but you see it happen
India, store wise? occasionally.
We have three exclusive dedicated
stores and sell through ten points of
sale, including Kapoor Watches, Art
Any surprises in the market here?
We had someone in our boutique tell
of Time and Ethos Watches. We us that 25 per cent of sales are
can't commit when we will open our
next (lot of) stores but we are
coming from ladies watches and that
is surprising because we haven't
looking at Bengaluru and done anything to try and push that
Hyderabad. What I can tell you is market, like launching watches with
that globally the plan is to go for diamonds or anything.
Exceptions aside, the regulations
can call for stringent action in case
of non-compliance with minimum
public shareholding.
The regulator has proposed var-
ious strictures including fines.
“The recognised stock exchange
shall intimate the depositories to
freeze the entire shareholding of the
promoter and promoter group in
such listed entity till the date of
compliance by such entity…. The
promoters, promoter group and
directors of the listed entity shall
not hold any new position as direc-
tor in any other listed entity till the
date of compliance by such entity,”
an October 2017 circular had said.
It increases the fine and actions
against promoters if non-compli-
ance is for a period of a year
or more.
“The actions specified in this cir-
cular are without prejudice to the
power of Sebi to take action under
the securities laws for violation of
the minimum public shareholding
requirements,” it said.
Ujjivan SFB
raises ~304 cr
ahead of its
IPO this mnth
ABHIJIT LELE
Mumbai, 30 November
Private sector lender
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
(USFB) has mopped up
~303.75 crore from anchor
investors ahead of its initial
public offering (IPO), which
starts on December 2.
The bank wants to raise
~750 crore to bolster its
Tier-I capital.
It has fixed a band of
~36-37 per share for the IPO.
The allocation of 82.1 mil-
lion shares at ~37 apiece to
18 anchor investors has
been finalised, the bank
said in a statement on
Saturday.
The Government of
Singapore, the Monetary
Authority of Singapore, CX
Partners Fund, Aberdeen,
HDFC Life Insurance
Company, Bajaj Allianz Life
Insurance Company,
Sundaram Mutual Fund,
Goldman Sachs India, and
ICICI Prudential participat-
ed in the bidding.
The bank caters to the
unbanked urban poor and
young middle class
customers.

RBL Bank to raise ~826-cr equity

NIDHI RAI
Mumbai, 30 November
Private sector lender RBL Bank
is raising ~825.79 crore in equi-
ty capital from five investors
by issuing shares through pref-
erential allotment. The
investors are Bajaj Finance,
East Bridge Capital Master
Fund I, FEG Mauritius FPI,
Ward Ferry Management-con-
trolled hedge fund WF Asian
Reconnaissance Fund, and
Asia-focused stock hedge fund
lshana Capital.
The bank’s board has
agreed to allot 24.24 million
shares at ~340.7 a piece on a
private-placement basis in
accordance with the provisions
of the Companies Act, 2013,
and the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Issue
of Capital and Disclosure
Requirements) Regulations,
2018.
On July 9, RBL Bank told
shareholders at its annual gen-
eral meeting that it would raise
equity capital not exceeding
~3,500 crore.As on September
30, the bank’s capital adequacy
ratio had slipped from 13.7 per
cent to 12.3 per cent in the same
period a year ago. In the sec-
ond quarter (Q2) of 2019-20
(FY20), the asset quality of the
bank also worsened as its gross
non-performing loans spiked
95 per cent to ~1,539 crore from
~789.21 crore in the same period
a year ago.
The bank’s gross bad loan
ratio nearly doubled to 2.6 per
cent from 1.38 per cent dur- these accounts, impacting our
ing the period and its profit bottom line.”
also slipped 73 per cent to The bank’s stock came
~54 crore. The bank’s provi- under pressure because of
sions and contingencies rose this. It tanked from a 52-week
281.8 per cent to ~533.3 crore in high of ~716.4 in May this year
Q2FY20 over Q2FY19. The pro- to a 52-week low of ~230.55 on
vision coverage ratio was 58.45 October 23. Its stock closed
per cent in Q2FY20 as against 1.9 per cent lower at ~373.8 per
69.45 per cent in Q2FY19. share on Friday.
The bank had said, “Given The bank informed the
the difficult corporate credit stock exchanges that it had
environment, the bank faced appointed Ranjana Agarwal
challenges in a few corporate additional and independent
accounts. As a matter of pru- director on its board from
dence, the bank took higher- Saturday, for five years, subject
than-required provision on to shareholder approval.
.
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 COMPANIES 3 <

Maruti plans to expand Chinese giant PepperFry loss widens

BYD to invest to ~183 crore, now
rural sales network
40% sales come from non-urban market, as against 7-8% 10 years ago
~2,800 cr in
Tamil Nadu trails Urban Ladder
Loss-making company runs experience
T E NARASIMHAN & GIREESH BABU
VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT Chennai, 30 November studios across 65 locations, covering 25 cities
Lucknow, 30 November
Chinese automobile and electronics major

M
aruti Suzuki is bullish on the hin-
terland and plans to expand its
sales and service network in the
country’s rural and emerging markets.
Currently, the company has a sales
network of more than 3,100 outlets cov-
ering 2,000 locations, up from about 1,600
outlets in 2014, a growth of almost 100
per cent over the past five years.
“We plan to expand our sales network
in the same ratio going forward, especial-
ly in the smaller towns and cities,” said
Maruti Suzuki Executive Director
(Marketing and Sales) Shashank
Srivastava in Lucknow on Saturday.
Apart from the physical stores, the com-
pany operates 2,700 digital touch points
in the form of web pages, which is gaining
good traction from tier-II and -III centres.
“The rural market growth has been
good for Maruti Suzuki in comparison to
the urban areas, especially in the current
challenging auto market scenario. The
rural market contributes 40 per cent to
our sales, which was 7-8 per cent 10 years
back,” he said.
Commenting on the domestic auto-
mobile sector, Srivastava said Maruti
Suzuki was ‘cautiously optimistic’ in its
outlook, since several of the factors
pulling down the market were still alive.
“Some of the key elements, such as
the higher cost of acquisition and difficult
credit norms, both for inventory and retail
segments, continue to pose challenges
for the automobile sector,” he observed.
He said the company, which com-
Carmaker’s passenger vehicle sales touch 20 mn
Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday said it
has crossed milestone of 20 million
passenger vehicle cumulative sales in
the Indian market.
The company accomplished this
landmark in less than 37 years of selling
its first car on December 14,1983, when it
first rolled out the iconic Maruti 800,
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a
statement.
The company said while it crossed
mands a market share of over 50 per cent,
had taken several steps to revive demand
and cushion the impact of negative exter-
nal factors by bringing the cost of acquisi-
tion down with discounts, asking the
finance institutions to provide credit on
the basis of on-road price rather than ex-
showroom tag, and passing on the recent
10 million vehicle sales in nearly 29
years, the next 10 million passenger
vehicles were sold in a record time
of eight years.
Commenting on the milestone, MSI
Managing Director and CEO Kenichi
Ayukawa said, “We are overwhelmed
with this new record. Achieving this
milestone is a great accomplishment for
Maruti Suzuki, as well as our suppliers
and dealer partners”. PTI
corporate tax cut benefit to the consumers.
He further attributed the sluggish
growth in the automobile sector to some
other factors too, including 2019 general
elections, uncertainty over monsoon and
goods and services tax (GST) rates, apart
from the transition from BS IV to BS VI
from April 2020.
BYD is planning to invest around ~2,800
crore in Tamil Nadu.
This is part of the nine memorandums
of understanding (MoUs) worth
~5,027 crore, including Hero Group-backed
Ather Energy’s over ~600 crore invest-
ment, to establish a manufacturing facili-
ty for e-vehicles.
In the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister K Palaniswami, various compa-
nies have signed nine MoUs with a total
investment commitment of ~5,027 crore,
which is set to create 20,351 jobs.
BYD India Pvt Ltd, an arm of China’s
BYD, is to establish a manufacturing facil-
ity for phone components with investment
of ~2,800 crore and provide employment
to 11,500 persons.
Shenzen-based BYD is also a leading
manufacturer of electric vehicles, including
electric buses. BYD India was established in
March 2007 in Chennai and the company
also set up an office in New Delhi. The Indian
subsidiary has two factories, covering more
than 140,000 square metres, with a cumu-
lative investment of over $150 million.
BYD India’s business covers mobile
components, solar panels, battery energy
storage, electric buses, electric trucks, elec-
tric forklifts, chargers and rail transit,
among others.
Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy,
a Bengaluru-based maker of electric scoot-
ers, will establish a manufacturing facility
for e-vehicles and lithium-ion batteries in
Hosur (Tamil Nadu), with ~635.4 crore and
create 4,321 jobs.
YUVRAJ MALIK
Bengaluru, 30 November
Increasing competition and a year-long
expansion effort has put PepperFry in the
second spot. It is only behind Urban
Ladder now, which emerged profitable
last year.
In the financial year ended March
2019, net losses at PepperFry jumped 172
per cent to ~183.5 crore, company docu-
ments accessed through Tofler showed.
The figures put the Mumbai-based online
furniture brand in contrast to rival Urban
Ladder which posed a ~50-crore profit in
the same period.
In the given year, total revenue saw 47
per cent increase to ~206.8 crore, while
total expenses increased 58 per cent to
~390.3 crore. The figures are on stand-
alone basis. Given the latest numbers,
PepperFry now squarely trails Urban
Ladder, long-time second-rung player,
which posted ~434-crore sales. The lat-
ter has been gone through re-alignment
IN THE RED
„ FY18 „ FY19 (~ crore)
390.3
247.4
206.8 183.5
140.6
106.7
Revenue Net loss Total expenses
of operational leverage which are accru-
ing to us,” Murthy said in September.
“We have established a fairly clear
leadership for ourselves in the segment,
and now is the time for us to start bringing
in margin structures more in line with a
business that is turning profitable.”
However, the top-line numbers point
to pressure from increasing competi-
tion, not only from Urban Ladder but
the entry of Amazon and Flipkart in the
online furniture segment. Even Ikea,
the popular Dutch furniture brand,

Hyundai to close ’19 with 100,000 Venue bookings
T E NARASIMHAN
Chennai, 30 November
Hyundai Motor India is upbeat
that it will close calendar year
2019 with 100,000 bookings of
Venue, the company’s sub-com-
pact SUV.
“Success of India has propelled
Venue sales to the overseas mar-
kets,” said the company. Hyundai
has shipped nearly 1,400 units to
South Africa, where the SUV is
scheduled to be launched on
December 2.
The other markets for Venue
exports are Nepal, Bhutan,
Mauritius and Seychelles.
The left hand drive model is
under development and will be
exported to West Asia, Africa and
Latin America, said the company.
Total volume of the compact
SUV segment is 2,07,459 units of
which Venue got a market share of
around 21.3 per cent. Other brands
in the segment are Maruti Brezza,
Ford EcoSport, Mahindra
XUV300 and Tata Nexon.
S S Kim, managing director
(MD) and chief executive officer
(CEO) of Hyundai Motor India
said Venue has penned a new
success story since its launch in
May, having registered over
90,000 bookings (May-
November) in India.
“Introducing a technology
wave, first connected mobility in
the SUV segment, Venue became
talk of the town since its unveiling
last summer. Out of the 60,000
customers of Venue, 22,000 opted
for the ‘Blue Link Connected
Technology variant, which show-
cases customers’ trust on
Hyundai’s technology. Hyundai
promises to continue this
momentum in 2020 with new
products coupled with new tech-
nology,” he said.
Vikas Jain, national sales
head, Hyundai Motor India, said,
key reasons for the product’s suc-
cess are style, features, colour
variants, value for money and
warranty, among others. The
Venue is available in both petrol
and diesel variants.
Jain said that the company
ramped up production to
meet demand. While the
company has got over 90,000
bookings of the Venue, it deliv-
ered around 60,000.
and retrenchment to reduce costs.
In contrast, PepperFry has been on an
expansion spree over the last 12-18
months, chief executive and co-founder
Ambareesh Murthy had told Business
Standard in a recent interview.
In March 2018, the company raised
~250 crore from US-based State Street
Global Advisors (SSgA) and took to
opening new stores, expanding foot-
print in tier II markets and improving
logistics and supply chain. Now, it runs
experience studios across 65 locations
covering 25 cities.
“Last year, we invested behind growth.
This year we are getting all of the benefits
entered India in 2018.
Unfazed, the founders want to take
the company public in about two year. It
is also expecting to raise some more equi-
ty funding — about $20-30 million in next
six months, followed by another round
just before the IPO, Murthy had said.
PepperyFry is the largest funded play-
er in the space. It has so far raised around
$200 million in equity funding from play-
ers such as Norwest Venture Partners,
Bertelsmann India Investments, Zodius
Capital and Goldman Sachs.
Rival Urban Ladder is backed by
Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners, Sequoia
and Steadview Capital.
4 YOUR MONEY
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 1

REAL ESTATE
BS TUTORIAL

Buy property at discount in auctions Jayant Pai

Financial literacy
1. Which of these is not a non-cash expenditure fora
Ensure that the property title is unencumbered and you have adequate funds in place to fund the purchase should get an
in-principle home loan approval
company?
from the bank. Banks are willing to A. Advertising
RAJ KHOSLA give such loan approvals solely based B. Depreciation
on the credit history and repayment
C. Goodwill impairment

A
uctions of repossessed capacity of the bidder. The bank will
properties draw a lot of sanction the loan on the condition D. Amortisation
buyers because they can that the bidder will cover the appli-
acquire property at cheap- cable property registration charges,
er prices than the prevailing market stamp duty and other legal costs and 2. The oldest stockexchange in Asia is located in
rate. But buyers must watch out for submit the valid property registra- ____________.
the risks in this route. tion document with the bank, before
When borrowers default on loan disbursal of the actual loan. These
A. Tokyo
repayments, the lending banks seize charges are substantial, so be ready B. Hong Kong
(or repossess) their properties. Under with some surplus cash. C. Mumbai
the SARFAESI (Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets What to check before you bid D. Ahmedabad
and Enforcement of Securities Registration details of property:
Interest) Act, 2002, banks are allowed Check the key documents of the
to auction off “repossessed” or property, including the original sale 3. Which pivotal event provided a huge fillip to India's
“stressed” properties to recoup their deed and non-encumbrance certifi- cotton exports?
losses. These properties are sold off cate under CERSAI (Central Registry A. World War I
at prices that are typically 20-30 per of Securitisation Asset
cent lower than the prevailing mar- Reconstruction and Security B. The French Revolution
ket rates. Interest). Unregistered properties C. The Great Fire of London
For banks, repossessing a prop- don’t have proper documentation,
D. The US Civil War
erty is not the ideal solution but the which can lead to disputes with
last resort. They seize a property after claimants later.
a borrower misses multiple pay- Bid document and title deed: Take 4. A brownfield expansion broadly refers to
ments. Left with no other option, the the help of a property lawyer to
_____________.
lender auctions the property to understand your liabilities after the
recover the outstanding principal purchase. While a bank auctions a A. Setting up a new factory
and interest amount. According to repossessed property, it is not the B. Extending an existing factory
one auctioning website, almost are auctioning. Checking the web- base value of the auction consider- owner of the property. Get your
4,000 properties will be auctioned sites of individual banks is a tedious
off in the coming months by public process, but a portal launched by the
HIGH AVAILABILITY ing factors such as the guidance val-
ue (as provided by government reg-
lawyer to check the title ownership
and get it legally validated.
C. Merging two units to create one large unit
D. Splitting one unit into several units.
sector banks alone (see table). These Indian Banks Association (IBA) pro- Properties available for auction ulations), the deemed market value, Recovery certificate from debt
auctioned properties vides a common plat- across India and existing liabilities of the prop- tribunal and indemnity certifi-
may be available at a dis- Bidders have to form. The Indian Banks 17 erty. It’s a good idea to set a margin cate: The owner must have a recov- location.
count to the market deposit 10 per cent Auction Properties 389 Agricultural of 10 per cent over the value calcu- ery certificate from the Debt current factory or plant, rather than at a new
price. of reserve price Information (ibapi.in) Industrial lated by the appraiser as an appro- Recovery Tribunal (DRT) before you 4. B. It usually takes place as an extension of the
If this sounds like a before the auction. website provides details priate bid amount. submit a bid. The auctioning bank
cakewalk, banish the If you win, you of residential, commer- must also give an indemnity certifi-
thought. Participating in have to pay 25 per cial, industrial and agri- Arrange funds beforehand: cate to protect you from future Kings like Premchand Roychand.
a bank auction is not an cent of the bid cultural properties to be TOTAL Bidders have to deposit earnest mon- claims by the owner. Ideally, the leading exporter. It led to the emergence of Cotton
easy affair, especially for amount on the day auctioned online across 3,930 ey with the auctioneer before the owner should be the confirming par- few colonies and were able to convert India into a
a first-time home buyer of auction. The the country. Prospective process begins. It is 10 per cent of the ty to the property transaction. British experimented with cotton cultivation in a
who is not conversant balance has to be buyers can log on to reserve price of the property being NoC from housing society: You
of American cotton to the rest of the world, the
with the rules and pro- paid in 15 days ibapi.in, register them- auctioned and is refunded to those must also have a No Objection
cedures of an auction. selves, view the features 610 2,914 bidders who lose the bid. But if you Certificate (NOC) from the housing 3. D. As the US Civil War (1861-1865) cut off the supply
He competes with a crowd of bidders of properties, and then participate Commercial Residential win the bid, 25 per cent of the bid society (if applicable) and maintain
comprising deep-pocketed investors in the auction process. Source: Ibapi.in amount has to be paid on the auction detailed records of statutory dues,
2. C. It was established in 1875.
and seasoned brokers who want to day itself. The balance amount too unpaid utility bills, and pending lit-
bag the property at a low price. Find out the real costs: Auctioned has to be paid within a short time igation.
Here is a guide to help you com- properties are usually embroiled in real cost of the property could be sig- (usually around 15 days) after the bid Deduct TDS: In the end, do not for- place earlier.
plete the bidding process smoothly legal disputes. The owner may have nificantly higher than anticipated. is selected. So, a bidder must arrange get to deduct TDS equal to 1 per cent events where the cash outflow has already taken
while leaving enough in your pocket defaulted on payment of property for the funds beforehand either by of property value, if the amount
to refurbish the property after you taxes or utility bills may have Seek professional help: Get the taking a loan or from his savings. exceeds ~50 lakh. The TDS should be
1. A. The others are purely accounting entries for
get possession. remained unpaid for years. After it is property appraised. Take advice Keep in mind that if you are unable credited to the PAN of the property Solutions
bought in an auction, the buyer will from a professional property evalu- to make the payment within the stip- owner.
Research what you are buying: To have to bear these expenses. ator to figure out the market value of ulated deadline, the deposit amount The quiz master is head - marketing, PPFAS Mutual Fund
ensure greater participation, banks Therefore, add all such costs into the the property before the auction. The will not be refunded. The writer is founder & MD, Send your queries and feedback at yourmoney@bsmail.in
put out details of the properties they price when you submit your bid. The auctioning bank typically sets the Bidders who intend to take a loan MyMoneyMantra.com

ECONOMY
>
1 > FROM PAGE 1

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries
made history on November 28 by
becoming the first Indian listed company
to cross and close above the ~10-trillion
market capitalisation mark
BINAY SINHA Majority expect 25-bp
rate cut in Dec policy
“With growth well below
potential, the MPC will
maintain its focus on coun-
tering the cyclical slowdown.
While the headline inflation
has crossed over the target
and is expected to stay ele-
vated, it is mainly due to
transitory inflationary pres-
sures,” said Gaurav Kapur,
chief economist of IndusInd
Bank. “The mandate of the
MPC allows it flexibility on
headline inflation in such a
scenario. Core inflation
remains well below 4 per
cent on weak demand and
that should provide confi-
dence to the MPC on achiev-
ing the headline target,”
Kapur said.
There should be more rate
cuts in the coming months.
A similar opinion is held
by Indranil Pan, chief econo-
mist of IDFC First Bank. “The
negative output gap contin-
ues to widen, as evidenced in
core inflation falling, and
incremental data continuing
to fail to provide any signs of
green shoots. In this context,
rising food prices will proba-
bly be ignored for the
moment with hopes that the
current price rise is due to
supply shortage and will like-
ly correct as fresh winter crop
come to the market,” Pan
said.
A 25-bp rate cut now
leaves the scope for further
action that might be war-
ranted, said Abheek Barua,
chief economist of HDFC
Bank. The emphasis this time
would be more on transmis-
sion, Barua said.
“Lower growth and a
slowdown in aggregate
demand will lead to more
policy accommodations,”
said B Prasanna, head of
global markets for ICICI
Bank.
The MPC should ideally
pause now, said Rupa Rege
Nitsure, chief economist of
L&T Finance Group, but
“they would likely cut the
repo rate by 15 bps". The MPC
should also pause for the
remaining part of this fiscal
year, but “they will cut repo
one more time in Q4FY20”,
Nitsure said.
CPI inflation projection
could be raised, while GDP
projection could be lowered
from 6.1 per cent to 5.6 per
cent for FY20, Nitsure said.
“We believe that there
should be a pause, given that
part cuts have to still work
their way. Also inflation is up
and will be in 5 per cent
range for two months.
However, given part response
from the MPC and the fact
growth is sluggish, a 25-bp
cut may be expected,” said
Madan Sabnavis, chief econ-
omist of CARE Ratings.
“Growth has slowed to 4.5
per cent led by a drop in
investment spending. Private
capex is extremely weak.
Lower real rates will help in
reviving corporate capex,
though with a lag. Hence,
another 25-bp rate cut along
with focus on transmission
is what we expect in
December policy,” said
Sameer Narang, chief econo-
mist of Bank of Baroda.
A 25-bp cut now, with a
cumulative 50-bp cut, could
be the space left in the cur-
rent policy cycle, said Upasna
Bhardwaj, chief economist of
Kotak Mahindra Bank.
“Growth concerns are
becoming increasingly
entrenched and in the
absence of any extra stimulus
we see limited room for an
immediate revival,”
Bhardwaj said.
As far as the bond market
is concerned, the transmis-
sion has been good, and will
continue to remain so.
“Rate transmission has
been quite satisfactory as
indicated by the money
market spreads. The
long-term spreads are at an
elevated level, largely
because of the long-term
growth and inflation
dynamics. The bank lending
rates should come down
tracking market liquidity,
anaemic demand for credit
and rates on the certificate of
deposits. Against this back-
drop, a sentiment supportive
15-bp cut augers well,” said
Soumyajit Niyogi, associate
director at India Ratings and
Research.
Stressed firms want
loans to pay tax dues
at a deep discount
The CBIC has asked for details
on the parties and the amount
of tax dues.
Under the Sabka Vishwas
scheme, taxpayers with excise
duty and service tax dues have
been given deep discounts to
the tune of 40 to 70 per cent,
relief from payment of interest
and penalty (if any), and com-
plete relief from prosecution.
Service tax and a large part of
excise duty were subsumed
under the goods and services
tax (GST) regime in 2017.
As many as 150,000 cases
are currently under litigation,
arrears, or investigation, with
a pending tax demand of Rs
3.75 trillion. So far, about
33,000 applications amount-
ing to Rs 18,000 crore tax dues
have been received under the
scheme, according to finance
ministry data. But the amount
actually deposited has been
quite low, officials said on the
condition of anonymity.
Sabka Vishwas offers 70
per cent discount for cases
pending appeal where tax
demand is more than Rs 50
lakh, and 50 per cent waiver
beyond that amount. Even in
the case of arrears, the dis-
count is a lucrative 60 per cent
for tax demands below Rs 50
lakh and 40 per cent above it.
Also, the scheme, launched on
September 1, waives any inter-
est, fine and penalty pending,
and absolves taxpayers of any
prosecution.
Rajat Mohan, partner,
AMRG Associates, said the tax
department seemed to be
under intense pressure to
make Sabka Vishwas success-
ful. However, collecting taxes
based on newly sanctioned
loans from public sector
banks to financial stressed
corporate entities won’t make
economic sense for the gov-
ernment. “RBI must ensure
that loans are sanctioned by
banks on the basis of facts in
each case, ensuring that the
quantum of bad assets doesn’t
go up due to the tax depart-
ment’s whims and fancies,”
said Mohan.
It may be challenging for
the CBIC to convince banks to
give out loans for payment of
taxes as an end use, said a
banking industry expert.
Typically, only about 20
per cent of litigations go in
favour of the tax department.
Under Sabka Vishwas, if all
prospective applicants come
on board, the government can
earn about Rs 1.5 trillion, while
waiving the fines and dis-
counts.
‘’Banks giving loan for pay-
ment of past tax dues is some-
thing unheard of. Therefore,
I’m not sure if the idea to ask
taxpayers to approach banks
for financial assistance for
paying past taxes would yield
the intended results,” said
Harpreet Singh, Partner,
KPMG.
More on business-standard.com
Day after GDP
print, PM
defends
govt’s record
The official said that not just
in revenue expenditure, but
even for capital expenditure,
there was a push from the gov-
ernment. “Ministries and
state-owned companies were
told to clear pending dues and
spend whatever was allocat-
ed in terms of capex,” said the
official. Among her many
announcements, Sitharaman
had said that PSUs and gov-
ernment departments had
been told to clear ~60,000
crore worth of pending pay-
ments to goods and service
suppliers, and that depart-
ments and PSUs would not let
up on capex plans.
Officials said the steps tak-
en, including the corporate
tax cut and outreach pro-
grammes by banks, were
aimed at increasing liquidity
in a system starved of it due to
the NBFC crisis, and to boost
investments again. These will
enable a recovery in the sec-
ond half of the year, they said,
an assessment some analysts
disagreed with.

Zurich landing at Jewar may challenge IGIA monopoly

Steel tycoon L N Mittal’s son Aditya is
likely to chair the Essar Steel board,
which will draw directors from the two
acquiring partners ArcelorMittal and
Japan’s Nippon Steel
He said, “Also, if you look at the
income profile of Jewar’s catchment
area, you will see it is slightly inferior
to Delhi’s catchment area.”
The catchment area will play a
major part in Jewar’s success, said
experts.
“In the initial stages, the challenge
to profitability and attractiveness of a
greenfield secondary airport, where
the primary airport is owned by a
competing entity, primarily depends
on its ability to connect with the
catchment area,” said Debayan Sen,
head of India practice for aviation
consulting firm Landrum & Brown.
Sen added, “The UP government’s
ability to complete the high-speed
rail and road network is going to be a
significant determinant of profitabil-
ity for Jewar.”
Government-owned engineering
consultancy firm RITES has suggest-
ed the options of road, rapid rail, and
metro to connect Jewar airport with
Delhi. It has identified two roadways,
two rapid rail routes, and one metro
route.
Apart from this, the firm has also
suggested widening of roads to con-
nect Aligarh and Bharatpur, a dis-
tance of about 103 km.
“Traffic shifts from primary to sec-
ondary airports are tough and time
consuming, leading to prolonged
losses. Connectivity is more impor-
tant than catchment. Further Delhi,
has headroom for growth over the
next 6-10 years depending on traffic
growth further accentuating the chal-
lenge,” said Kapur.
A study conducted by consultan-
cy firm PwC said if proper connectiv-
ity is made the preference of cus-
tomers and airlines may change in
favour of Jewar. For instance, fliers
going from Ghaziabad may take 1.9
hours to Jewar compared to 1.7 hours
for Delhi Airport.
However, once the Eastern
Peripheral Expressway is operational,
the travel time may go down signifi-
cantly. Similarly, development of the
Palwal Khurja expressway may also
divert passenger movement from
Faridabad to Jewar.
However, Zurich’s trump card to
profitability can be international traffic.
“I think Zurich, while bidding so
high, factored in that international
travel from India will expand signif-
icantly. An international passenger
may not mind traveling for an hour to
catch their connecting flight if serv-
ices are better. And, Zurich’s con-
nection and services with interna-
tional airlines will help them to
attract those airlines,” said an exec-
utive of a private company, who did
not want to be named.
6 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 1

FAI: Arrears
in fertiliser
subsidy at
IBC to soon address foreign cases
IBBI chairman “WE SHOULD NOT BE
professional, IBBI or all members of

over ~33K cr M S Sahoo said work AFRAID OF ANY

Fertiliser industry body FAI
has expressed concern over
delay in payment of subsidy
arrear that has reached
~33,691 crore and is estimat-
the NCLT, everything was created
afresh, but it worked, he added.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday
is on to amend the IBC CHALLENGES.... had sent the troubled mortgage lender
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
WHAT IS REQUIRED Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) for
bankruptcy proceedings, making it the
Mumbai, 30 November IS THAT WILLINGNESS first financial services player to go to
TO ABSORB THE the NCLT for debt resolution.

I
ed to touch ~60,000 crore by nsolvency and Bankruptcy Board "RBI today (Friday) filed an appli-
the end of this fiscal year. of India chairman M S Sahoo on CHALLENGES AND cation for initiation of corporate
The Fertiliser Association Saturday said work is on to ADDRESS THEM insolvency resolution process (with

Sebi: No interim
of India (FAI) Director amend the Insolvency and the NCLT Mumbai) against DHFL
General Satish Chander Bankruptcy Code 2016 that will AS QUICKLY AS under Section 227 of the insolvency
demanded the government address cross-border insolvency. YOU CAN...” and bankruptcy code," the apex court
should clear subsidy arrears On Thursday, Sahoo had said the said in a statement.
M S SAHOO,

at the earliest as delay in pay-
ments is hurting liquidity of
manufacturers.
The government fixes
the maximum retail price
of urea and it reimburses
manufacturers the differ-
ences between the MRP
and production cost. The
Centre also provides nutri-
ent based subsidy (NBS) on
non-urea fertilisers.
According to the infor-
mation provided by 25 fer-
tiliser companies, FAI said,
a total of ~33,691 crore dues
are pending as on
November 1, 2019. Of this,
~20,853 crore is under DBT
(Direct Benefit Transfer)
and balance ~12,838 crore is
other than DBT. PTI
Coal India told to
enhance supply
government is keen to introduce a
globally accepted and well-recognised
cross-border insolvency framework,
which will make India an attractive
investment destination, given the
increased predictability and certain-
ty of the insolvency process.
“There is proposal to amend the
IBC to provide for such cases like cross
border insolvency and to address some
of the problems that have come up,
but I will not be able to say which are
these,” Sahoo told reporters in Mumbai
on the sidelines of 'Roadshow on
Competition Law and Practice' organ-
Natixis cuts price outlook for 2020 as gold loses glitter
RAJESH BHAYANI
Mumbai, 30 November
Cracks have started showing
up in the bullion market fol-
lowing the sustained decline
ised by CII.
The government had on November
15, notified Section 227 of IBC to deal
with systemically important financial
service providers with over ~500 crore
assets, excluding banks for bankrupt-
cy and empowered the RBI to do so.
Meanwhile, talking about chal-
lenges expected in DHFL being sent
to the National Company Law
Chairman, Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Board of India, on challenges expected
in DHFL being sent to the NCLT
Tribunal by the RBI, Sahoo said: "We
should not be afraid of any chal-
lenges.... What is required is that will-
ingness to absorb the challenges and
address them as quickly as you can....
New problems can come up but as
when these problems come up it will
be addressed at the earliest".
When IBC came in 2016, everything
was new, and there was no insolvency
ounce in 2018. However, the
bull run in 2019 was largely vis-
ible in the second half, with
prices between July and
November averaging $1,477.
Prices will fall sharply next year
Speaking at the event, Competition
Commission of India chairman Ashok
Kumar Gupta said CCI has constituted
Competition Law Review Committee
to study the existing framework to fur-
ther strengthen it to inter-alia meet
new economic challenges.
The committee has submitted its
report and there will be progressive
amendments to the law very soon, he
said. "The introduction of Green
Channel is to enable fast- paced regu-
latory approvals of mergers and acqui-
sitions to ensure ease of doing busi-
ness," Gupta added.
mid-December, which will set
the direction for prices in
2020.” However, he is not that
bearish for the medium term.
He said, “Peaking stock mar-
kets, a possibly dovish Fed and
relief to Karvy
SAMIE MODAK
Mumbai, 30 November
The markets regulator has
refused any modifications to
its order dated November 22
against Karvy Stock Broking
(Karvy), banning the firm
from enrolling new clients for
alleged misuse of client funds.
The Securities and
Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) order also highlighted
the alleged misuse of power
of attorney (PoA) by Karvy.
The brokerage had moved
the Securities Appellate
Tribunal (SAT) seeking some
relief on the use of PoA on the
grounds that it was causing
losses to its existing clients.
The tribunal had directed a
Sebi whole-time member
(WTM) to provide a hearing
of the prima facie violations
observed against Karvy in the
interim order, it would not be
prudent to allow use of PoA
(by) Karvy,” Barua said.
The Sebi order said there
are other options before
Karvy’s clients for use of
delivery slip instructions
(DIS). “... the clients who seek
to sell securities through
Karvy may do so by using
electronic and physical DIS
only,” the order states.
In its submission, Karvy
said Sebi’s interim order is
impacting over 2,000 of its
clients. “Karvy has 120,000
clients, of which 300,000 are
active. On an average, 20,000-
25,000 clients transact on a
daily basis, of which 15,000-
18,000 clients are doing trans-
actions through online trad-

to Chhattisgarh in gold prices, with Natixis

Coal India (CIL) has been
urged to enhance coal supply
to industries in Chhattisgarh,
which accounted for the lion’s
share in the company’s total
output. “About 25 per cent of
CIL’s coal production comes
from Bilaspur (in
Chhattisgarh) but the local
industries are not getting suf-
ficient quantities of the fuel,”
said Chhattisgarh Janta
Congress legislator Dharamjit
Singh, while raising the issue
in the state legislative
Assembly. R KRISHNA DAS
downgrading the outlook for
the next year. The metal shed
as much as 3.72 per cent in the
international market this
month, which is the largest
single-month fall after
November 2016, when gold
lost 8.14 per cent, according
to Bloomberg data.
Signs of a thaw in the US-
China trade spat and prospects
of an improvement in US eco-
nomic growth have taken a toll
on gold, which has lost nearly
$100 an ounce to trade at $1,456
on Saturday.
Bernard Dahdah, Senior
Gold has averaged $1,385.14 so far in 2019 and is expected to fall
further next year
Commodities Analyst, Natixis
said, “Our price forecast for
2020 has been revised down
to an average of 1,370/oz. This
reflects a more positive out-
look on the US economy and
our expectations that the cur-
rent Fed rate cut cycle has con-
cluded. That said, we expect
limited downside risk due to
the substantial $12.5 trillion
worth of negative-yielding
debt, which will put a floor
under gold prices.”
Gold has averaged $1,385.14
so far in 2019 and is expected to
fall further next year. The met-
al had averaged $1,264 an
if Natixis' forecast comes true.
The firm also said that the
sharp fall in demand by two
major consumers — China and
India — and a better-than-
expected US GDP in Q3 will
reduce interest in gold.
Earlier Citi had also stated
that it sees gold remaining
subdued in the near term, fol-
lowing an improved global
trade scenario.
T Gnanasekar, Director,
Commtrendz Research, said,
“In the near term there could
be some pressure on the back
of the news flow from Trade
talks and The Fed meeting
a weaker dollar could lend
strong support to gold prices in
the second half of 2020.”
Earlier, based on gold price
performance till October-end
this year, UBS had forecasted
the metal to remain bullish,
with the price likely to reach
$1,600 an ounce. However, In
the report Year Ahead 2020, it
has warned, “For precious met-
als, investors should bear in
mind that insurance-like qual-
ities do not come for free. If
geopolitical tensions ease or the
economy recovers more quick-
ly than we expect, performance
would likely suffer.”
to Karvy and consider its plea
of regaining PoA.
Ananta Barua, WTM, Sebi,
called Karvy for a hearing on
Friday and rejected the bro-
kerage’s request, fearing fur-
ther misuse.
“Forensic audit of Karvy,
initiated by the NSE (National
Stock Exchange), is in
progress and the full magni-
tude (of ) misutilisation of
clients’ securities (will) be
known upon completion (of
the) forensic audit. Therefore,
taking into consideration, the
facts and circumstances of
the case including enormity
ing platform. Of this, 2,000 to
2500 client transactions
result into delivery,” it told
the regulator.
The Sebi order highlights
the alleged misuse of PoA by
Karvy. The NSE’s interim
report mentions that securi-
ties worth ~2,300 crore of
more than 95,000
clients were unauthorisedly
transferred.
Sebi WTM also came
down heavily on the practise
of not unpledging and return-
ing of client securities beyond
the deadline of October 1.

HEALTH
>
1

FIT & PROPER

Your weekly health guide
Infertility in diabetic men
motility tends to be poorer in
diabetics and abnormal sperm
forms tend to be higher.
Diabetes is usually associated
Measles cases continue to Placenta changes of
older moms not good
increase around the world for male child’s heart
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA sex-specific fashion. These
ABDI LATIF DAHIR Brazil London, 30 November sexually-divergent changes
30 November South America’s largest may play a role in determining
nation thought it had rid Placenta changes in older health outcomes of female

RAJALAXMI WALAVALKAR
Medical director, senior
gynaecologist & IVF Specialist
Cocoon Fertility
In healthy people, the hormone
insulin is released by the pan-
creas, a gland present in the
abdomen. This hormone regu-
lates the levels of blood sugar.
When levels of blood sugar are
not appropriately controlled
and become too high this is
called as ‘hyperglycemia’ and
are diagnosed as diabetes mel-
litus. Unhealthy food habits
lead to weight gain and obesity,
insulin resistance which in turn
causes both diabetes and pre-
disposes to infertility.
When diabetes is left unat-
tended it can affect your
chances of getting pregnant
and also the health of the preg-
nancy when pregnant. Risks of
miscarriage, C-section, still
births, foetal growth issues, and
need for neonatal intensive
care unit (NICU) are all higher
in diabetic pregnancies. Babies
of fathers with type 1 diabetes
are at an increased risk of devel-
oping type 1 diabetes. It is heart-
ening to know that diabetic
fathers do not produce more
malformed children than non-
diabetics, only the general
genetic remains as for anybody
else. Diabetes in men too can
majorly wreak havoc with their
fertility and hamper a chance
of having a baby.
Pre-diabetes and diabetes
are more predominant in men
than in women and the inci-
dence is rising. This is becom-
ing a huge concern for fertility
doctors. Uncontrolled dia-
betes is associated with
increased risk of sperm DNA
damage resulting in higher
risk of miscarriage. Even when
there is good control of the
condition this risk remains
higher than in non-diabetics.
Semen parameters like sperm
with obesity; this contributes
to lower testosterone levels
and loss of libido (sex drive),
thus, reducing the frequency
of intercourse and chances of
conception. Diabetes is asso-
ciated with nerve damage and
also damage to blood vessels.
This results in a host of sexual
issues encompassing erectile
dysfunction and ejaculation
issues further hampering fer-
tility. Diabetics due to the high
sugar levels are more prone to
infections in general.
Infection, swelling and ten-
derness of the foreskin also
known as ‘balanitis’ makes it
painful to have intercourse
and affects fertility.
The good news is diabetes
can be effectively managed to
regulate blood sugar levels.
This comprises of regularly
checking your levels, consum-
ing a healthy diet, engaging in
steady physical activity, con-
sistently staying in the healthy
weight range, meditation, and
relaxation techniques to
reduce tension and anxiety,
and quitting smoking and alco-
hol. Your health care provider
may also suggest some med-
ications if required. Well mon-
itored blood sugar levels can
lessen the risk of all the issues
enumerated above.
Precautionary measures
Preferably, diabetes should be
well under control for around
three months before you start
actively trying. This will reduce
the diabetes-related risks of
pregnancy. Meet your general
practitioners (GP) or diabetes
specialist as soon as you con-
sider starting a family. When
pregnancy does occur, it is best
to consult a doctor as soon as
you find out that you are preg-
nant, so that the required care
can be taken.
A lot is talked about dia-
betes and obesity together
causing problems with fertili-
ty. A healthy diet, regular exer-
cising, and regular checks for
diabetic control will vastly
improve reproductive out-
comes.
T
here has been a rapid itself of measles in 2015. But mothers may be linked to a and male offspring of aged
increase in the global the disease has taken root in higher risk of heart problems mothers,” the researchers
measles outbreak, with the country yet again, with in their male offspring, wrote in the study. The
reported cases jumping 300 the total number of suspect- according to a study in rats. researchers said ageing in
percent in the first three ed cases this year reaching The researchers, includ- mothers affected the structure
months of 2019 compared almost 50,000 as of ing those from the and function of the placenta
with the same period last early November, according University of Cambridge in more markedly for male fetus-
year, according to the World to the WHO. the UK, analysed the placen- es, reducing the organ’s ability
Health Organization. ta of young (3-4 months old) to support their growth.
As reasons for the The Philippines and aged rats (9.5-10 months These changes potential-
increase, the organization Vaccine confidence in the old) that were pregnant with ly increased the likelihood
has cited a deep mistrust of Philippines has plummeted male and female offspring. of later-life heart problems
vaccines, gaps in immuniza- following a controversy in They said the placenta — an and high blood pressure in
tion coverage and lack of which an anti-Dengue vac- organ attached to the walls the male offspring, they said.
access to health care facili- cine was linked to the deaths of the uterus, and connect- “A pregnancy at an older
ties or routine checkups. The WHO sounded the alarm over the diseases’s grip on Congo, of several children in 2017. As ing to the umbilical cord of age is a costly proposition for
This month, the WHO where 5,000 people died in the first 10 months of this year a result, measles vaccination the growing fetus — trans- the mother, whose body has
sounded the alarm over the dropped from above 80 per ported nutrients and oxygen to decide how nutrients are
diseases’s grip on the administered during child- ple died of it from January cent in 2008 to below 70 from the mother to the grow- shared with the fetus. That’s
Democratic Republic of hood, the WHO estimated through October as the dis- per cent in 2017, according ing offspring, helping her why, overall, fetuses do not
Congo, where nearly that 110,000 people, most of ease spread to all 26 to the WHO. support fetal development. grow sufficiently during
5,000 people with measles them children under the age provinces in the country. Suspected measles cases The organ is the main pregnancy when the moth-
died in the first 10 months of of 5 and living in developing in Manila and nearby regions protective barrier for the er is older compared to when
this year. countries in Africa and Asia, Ukraine have increased to almost fetus against toxins, bacte- she is young,” said study co-
The highly contagious dis- succumbed to it in 2017. Here From Britain to Romania, 44,000 as of November this ria, and hormones — such as author Tina Napso from the
ease is caused by a virus and are some of the countries that Germany to Italy, Europe has year. stress hormones — in the University of Cambridge.
typically begins with a high have detected a large num- experienced a setback in its mother’s blood, they added. “We now know that
fever and rash that can lead ber of measles cases. efforts to end measles, with the The United States The study, published in growth, as well as gene
to complications of deafness, disease killing 72 people in 2018. Over 1,200 measles cases the journal Scientific Reports, expression in the placenta is
pneumonia, diarrhea and Congo Ukraine has been the epicenter were confirmed in 31 states noted that advanced mater- affected in older mothers in
encephalitis, according to the The world’s biggest measles of the measles surge, with in 2019 as of early November, nal age reduced the efficien- a manner that partially
Centers for Disease Control epidemic is in Congo, with doubts about child vaccinations with a majority of the new cy of the placenta of both depends on sex: Changes in
and Prevention. And though over 233,000 people infected leading to an increase in the cases appearing in New York. male and female fetuses. the placentas of male fetuses
measles has become largely this year alone, the WHO esti- number of suspected cases in “Advanced maternal age are generally detrimental,”
preventable through vaccines mated. A total of 4,723 peo- 2019, to almost 57,000 people. © 2019 The New York Times alters placental phenotype in a Napso said.
Treating HIV+ infants early may substantially improve health
JULIE STEENHUYSEN Saharan Africa. born in 2010 who was treated birth to suppress the virus,
Chicago, 30 November “Without treatment, 50 per within 30 hours of birth and was which can otherwise quickly
cent of HIV-infected children able to control her virus for sev- lead to rapid and fatal immune
A small study of African infants progress to death within two eral months after treatment was deficiency.
infected with HIV found that years,” study co-author Roger stopped. Shapiro said the earlier
treating them with powerful Shapiro of the Harvard T H In the new study, a team of treatment strategy is not a cure,
drugs within the first Chan School of Harvard and MIT researchers but could be combined with
hours and days of Public Health said tested this early treatment other interventions as part of
birth helped pre- in a telephone brief- approach on a group of 40 HIV- research toward an HIV cure.
serve their immune ing with reporters. infected infants in Botswana, The research team said that
systems, improving The study, pub- where 24 per cent of pregnant some of the children may be
their chances of bet- lished in the journal women are living with the virus enrolled in a trial testing the
ter long-term health, Science Translational that causes AIDS. use of protective antibodies
US researchers said. Medicine, builds on The researchers reported The earliest-treated infants ment group also had more specifically engineered to neu-
HIV infections in WORLD discoveries of infants results of the first 10 infants showed a much smaller viral robust immune systems than tralise HIV to see if the
newborns pose a whose HIV was who were given ART within reservoir — the pool of virus even the infants without HIV, approach could help the
huge health burden
AIDS DAY thought to have been hours and days of birth, 10 that persists through life even researchers found. infants control the disease
in developing coun- cured after receiving infected infants who began during treatment — than the Current World Health without the need for lifelong
tries. One study estimated antiretroviral therapy (ART) with- treatment four months after second infant group after 96 Organization guidelines rec- treatment. That trial is set to
that 300 to 500 infants are in weeks of birth. The first such birth and compared those with weeks, researchers reported. ommend infected newborns start in 2020.
infected every day in sub- case involved a Mississippi infant 54 infants without HIV. Babies in the earliest treat- receive ART within weeks of REUTERS
.
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 IN DEPTH 7 <

N
arendra Modi arrived in deployed for mid-air refuelling. As the
the national capital well aircraft flew into Pakistani airspace, one
past 7 pm on 14 February lot flew towards Bahawalpur, misleading
as late winter darkness the Pakistan air defence system into
enveloped the city. It had believing that the Jaish camp in the
already been a long day which had Punjab region was the target. As
begun early morning with a trip to the Pakistani fighters scrambled to take on
forests of Uttarakhand for the Discovery the Indian jets, the low-flying Mirage
Channel shoot. The Pulwama attack 2000s headed for Balakot. By the time
meant that the prime minister could the Pakistani radar detected them, they
scarcely afford to even think of his jun- were already 150 kilometres away. Five
gle adventure. A crisis meeting was bombs reportedly struck the targets,
already on at the national security secre- three of them hitting the buildings where
tariat, with Doval once again taking the Jaish recruits were staying. The actu-
charge of the rapidly developing situa- al bombing lasted for just 13 minutes,
tion. The prime minister was given a full between 3.40 a.m and 3.53 a.m; by the
briefing on the nature of the strike. As early hours of 26 February, the jets were
the death toll rose, it became apparent back in India, mission accomplished.
that the suicide attack had shaken the The 7-a.m news report was buzzing
country. On TV, angry political voices with the big breaking news: “Pulwama
were baying for blood; “Khoon ka badla Avenged” with fireballs spewing out
khoon” (Blood for blood), screamed a from different corners of the television
retired major-general. J&K governor set. Shedding any notion of journalistic
Satya Pal Malik was heard admitting to objectivity, news anchors were congratu-
an intelligence failure, a point empha- lating the Modi government for “teach-
sised by opposition leaders like the ing Pakistan a lesson”. There was bedlam
Congress’s Digvijaya Singh. on social media too: At one stage, all the
With the general election announce- top 10 trends in the country on twitter
ment less than a month away, time was were linked to Balakot.
not on the side of the government. The For Prime Minister Modi, the 48
2016 surgical strikes had set the tem- hours leading up to the air strikes had
plate: Team Modi realised that it couldn’t been business as usual. On 24 February,
afford to sit back and wait for the situa- he had travelled to Gorakhpur in eastern
tion to gradually unravel. The first step UP, where the BJP would battle the

Pulwama attack and

was to ensure that the government, and Akhilesh– Mayawati combine, to launch
not the opposition, controlled the narra- the Kisan Samman Yojana, where the
tive. Before the “intelligence failure” cho- first instalment of the ~6000 annual
rus could gather any further momen- financial assistance to farmers was cred-
tum, the spirit of martyrdom was ited to their Jan Dhan accounts. A series
invoked. When the bodies of the forty of regular meetings followed the next

the Balakot effect

slain CRPF jawans reached Palam air
force area in a special Indian Air Force
plane the next evening, the prime minis-
ter was there to pay homage. With a thick
black shawl wrapped around his shoul-
ders, hands folded and head bowed,
Modi walked slowly around each of the
40 coffins draped in the tricolour. It was
a solemn moment, one which opposition
leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, were
also part of. In a time of national mourn-
ing, any talk of “intelligence failure”
seemed jarring. The prime minister also
directed all his ministers and BJP MPs to
attend the funerals of the jawans who
had belonged to their respective states.
Funeral processions were organised
through the towns and villages of the
martyrs: 12 of the jawans were from Uttar
Pradesh. The mood was one of grief and
remembrance, and slowly building up
into anger and revenge.
The TV studio was back to being
transformed into a high-decibel war
room as news channels competed with
each other to capture the rage of a
wounded nation. Incendiary hashtags
like #PakWill Pay and #IndiaWants
Revenge were stamped on the screen.
“Pakistan must be taught a lesson they
will never forget, bahut ho chuka” an
angry relative was heard shouting on
TV. War game strategies were being
feverishly discussed, including the pos-
sibility of targeted missile attacks inside
Pakistan. “So what if there is a threat of
a nuclear war, we can meet any chal-
lenge,” a general known for his strident
views blared on TV.
Inside Pakistan, the mood was more
sombre, a reflection of a troubled nation
caught in the cross hairs of a crumbling
economy and well-entrenched terror
infrastructure, with a new leadership at
the helm. Imran Khan had been elected
as prime minister in August 2018, mark-
ing the culmination of a remarkable jour-
ney from World Cup-winning captain to
the country’s chief executive. Imran was
charismatic and courageous, but where
his cricket had dazzled, his political incli-
nations were viewed with suspicion: He
was sometimes referred to as “Taliban”
Khan for his alleged support to the
In the shaping of Narendra Modi’s larger-than-life image, Balakot
was his version of 1971, writes Rajdeep Sardesai in his new book
Afghan Taliban militias. Others saw him
as a “puppet” of the army, a leader being
propped up by the men in uniform who
wanted greater control over the civilian
leadership. I knew Imran reasonably
well: A strong cricket connection was our
common bond and during the 2011
World Cup, Imran had even spent a
month with us in the studios as a cricket
analyst. Soon after he took over as prime
minister, I asked him for an interview,
only to receive a stern message via
WhatsApp: “The Indian media has not
been kind to me. I can’t believe they
sided with that crook Nawaz Sharif. I will
speak to you, but not now.”
Imran, in fact, enjoyed a peculiar
love–hate relationship with India. No
other Pakistan prime minister had visit-
ed India so often or had so many friends
among the country’s rich and famous,
and yet he was also a politician whose
firm views on contentious issues like
Kashmir attracted furious responses. In
December 2015, Imran was in India to
attend Aaj Tak’s annual conclave: The
Indian high commission in Islamabad
offered to facilitate a meeting with Prime
Minister Modi. “What’s Mr Modi like?”
he asked me. “I am sure you will find out
for yourself soon,” was my prompt
response. Imran, then an opposition
leader, spent 45 minutes in conversation
with Modi. He returned, clearly bowled
over by the prime minister. “He seems a
really nice guy, not at all how the media
portrays him!” he gushed. Imran’s spe-
cial assistant, Naeem-ul-Haq, who was
also at the meeting, recalls Prime
Minister Modi telling Imran that
Pakistan should import tea from India.
“It was all very cordial and warm,” says
Haq. In his initial remarks after taking
over as prime minister, Imran seemed
keen to reciprocate that warmth. “If
India takes one step, we will take two,”
promised Imran in his inaugural address
to the nation. A month later, in
September 2018, reality struck. India
called off foreign minister-level talks on
the sidelines of the United Nations
General Assembly meet in New York, cit-
ing the continuing violence in Kashmir
as the reason.
“I am disappointed with the Modi
government, I don’t understand this
behaviour. Surely leaders
must look beyond elec-
tions,” was his response
when I repeated my
request for an interview
which he once again
politely declined.
In November 2018,
peace was back on the
agenda. India and
Pakistan announced that
they would develop the
Kartarpur Corridor: A 2.5-
kilometre corridor that
would link two holy Sikh
shrines across the border
to facilitate the visa-free
2019: HOW MODI
movement of Sikh pil- WON INDIA
grims who wished to visit Author: Rajdeep
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Sardesai
— the final resting place Publisher:
of Guru Nanak Dev — in Harper India
Pakistan’s Kartarpur. The Price: ~525
announcement had come
on the back of a much-
publicised “hug” between the Pakistan
army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa
and the Punjab Congress cricketer
turned politician, Navjot Singh Sidhu,
during Imran’s swearing-in ceremony.
“I am a goodwill ambassador,” exulted
Sidhu, brushing aside criticism of his
actions, and revelling in his new-found
stardom across the border. Now, just
three months after the jhappiyan-pap-
piyan (hugs and kisses) of Kartarpur,
the massacre in Pulwama came as a
wake-up call. The dark side of Pak-
based terror groups was bared once
again, leaving New Delhi with few
options but to strike back.
“Is India really going to war?” a wor-
ried Pakistani journalist friend asked me.
I didn’t respond but an escalating con-
flict appeared inevitable.
Prime Minister Modi was
pretty clear right from the
outset: He would not go in
for a “soft” option.
“Previous governments
may have chosen the
diplomatic route but this
prime minister wanted an
offensive option that
would end Pakistan’s
‘nuclear blackmail’ once
and for all,” says a senior
official. In 2001, when
Parliament was attacked,
then prime minister
Vajpayee had reportedly
considered an air strike on
Pak-based terror camps
but abandoned the idea for
fear of the situation spi-
ralling out of control.
Instead, a 10-month long
deployment of armed
forces along the border
under Operation Parakram was the pre-
ferred choice. When terrorists struck in
Mumbai in 2008, the Manmohan gov-
ernment too had reportedly weighed the
options of an air strike before eventually
choosing coercive diplomacy as a more
effective response. “I do not know what
the air force was telling itself but that [an
air strike] is not the message the political
leadership heard from the three chiefs
who briefed Dr Singh’s government. I
heard no fear of escalation but only a
clear calculation of likely outcomes and
which would be better for India,”
explains Shiv Shankar Menon, former
foreign secretary and national security
adviser to the UPA government.
Modi though was unwavering in his
belief that the “strategic restraint” script
needed to be rewritten, even if it meant
taking an audacious risk before a general
election. The message to Doval and the
armed forces chiefs was unambiguous:
There must be “visible” action against the
terror groups and their handlers embed-
ded in the Pakistani state. The focus
needed to be on the terror training
camps; collateral damage to civilian and
military targets was to be avoided at all
costs. In effect, India’s response needed
to be proportionate to what Pakistan had
done and within range of what the inter-
national community would view as “rea-
sonable” action. Says India Today editori-
al director Raj Chengappa, “The idea was
not to prevent escalation but to get the
escalation threshold just right.” It was a
risk, but one which, in the circumstances,
was seen as one well worth taking.
Operation Bandar was carried out
around 3 a.m on 26 February under the
cover of darkness by a squadron of a
dozen Mirage 2000 aircraft equipped
with Israeli built SPICE (Smart Precise
Impact and Cost Effective) bombs and
aided by a sophisticated guidance sys-
tem that could hit with precision at an
intended target 60 kilometres away. The
Mirages were accompanied by four
Sukhoi 30s to provide air cover. Two sur-
veillance aircraft and two IL 76s were also
day as Modi kept up the pretence of nor-
malcy. But under the calm exterior, anxi-
ety was reportedly mounting: Modi
would stay awake all night, one eye on
the computer screen, the other on the
phone. He had taken a big gamble, one
that could make or break his prime-min-
isterial tenure. It was only around 4 a.m
that Modi was informed of the mission’s
successful completion and he could
finally relax a bit.
By 11.30 a.m., the then foreign secre-
tary, Vijay Gokhale, officially acknowl-
edged the strikes inside Pakistan as part
of a “non-military, pre-emptive strike”,
claiming that a number of fidayeen and
terror trainers had been killed. “I think
Balakot was a strategy of measured esca-
lation that was proportionate to the
Pakistani provocation and deserves to be
applauded,” says G Parthasarthi, former
Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
Islamabad’s “nuclear blackmail” threat
had been responded to in a decisive
manner. The world was standing by
India’s action as was most of the country.
This was the moment Prime Minister
Modi had been waiting for from the day
he moved to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. His
complex persona is riven by a desire to be
both feared and embraced. The fear fac-
tor had been established domestically
early enough; now, the world was ready to
accept him as a true global figure. Not
since the 1971 war, when Indira Gandhi
was prime minister had the Indian Air
Force penetrated so deep into Pakistani
air space and inflicted damage on the
“enemy”. Although he might not admit it
publicly, Indira is a politician whom Modi
admires, even if he often describes the
Emergency as a “dark chapter” in democ-
racy. “Modi often attacks Nehru but
despite the Emergency, you will rarely see
him condemn Indira. I think he secretly
approves of her autocratic, centralising
tendencies in spirit if not in letter,” says
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyaya, a Modi biogra-
pher. Balakot, at least in the shaping of
Modi’s larger-than-life image, was his ver-
sion of 1971, proof of decisive leadership.
Excerpted with permission from
HarperCollins India

IMO Tourists ruined Venice. Now floods are making it inhabitable

GDP SLIPS TO SIX-YEAR LOW
Tehseen Poonawalla Official@tehseenp
·The way the economy has stagnated on the
ground, we may even struggle to clock 4.1% #GDP
growth this quarter. Won't be surprised if we even
slip to 4% or below 4% this quarter.
We are in the midst of a severe crisis & inflation
specially food is set to rise!
#FridayFeeling
Rizwan Arshad@ArshadRizwan
Buffeted by climate Brugnaro blamed climate change.
“I love my town, we’ve raised four
change and thrifty day children here, but the city has changed
for the worse in the last five years,”
trippers, the mood in said Giovanni Giol, president of the
the lagoon city is bleak Benedetto Marcello music conserva-
tory. Housed in a palace built in the
early 1600s, manuscripts and books
DAN LIEFGREEN in the library were soaked in this
month’s historic flood. The worst

PRAGYA SINGH THAKUR’S COMMENTS
ON NATHURAM GODSE
Rahul Gandhi@RahulGandhi
Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot.
A sad day, in the history of
India’s Parliament.
Rupa Subramanya@rupasubramanya
No fan of Pragya but she's innocent until proven
guilty. Down with the excessive political
correctness. Godse's act was heinous but he loved
India and hated Gandhi. This is the kind of stupid
over the top reaction from "liberals" that makes
folks like me defend those we dislike.
Babul Supriyo@SuPriyoBabul
BJP Working President JP Nadda to ANI, on BJP MP
Pragya Singh Thakur's reported reference to
Nathuram Godse as 'deshbhakt', in Lok Sabha: Her
statement yesterday in the parliament is
condemnable. BJP never supports such statement
or ideology.
Ruben Mascarenhas@rubenmasc
Make no mistake, Pragya Singh Thakur has said in
public what Bhakts believe in private.
Whether they admit it or not, the average BJP
supporter has sympathies for Godse.
When party interest trumps nation's interest, this
is bound to happen.
Rather than acknowledging and addressing the
issues related to our economy, govt was busy in
concealing reports and painting a rosy picture.
Hope it's not too late now.
Vinod K. Jose@vinodjose
Indian GDP slips to 4.5%.
Doesn’t it mean actually this number would have
been only 2.5% if Modi govt hadn’t changed the
GDP calculation methodology in 2015? If that’s the
actual number, India is back to 1960s and 1970s..?!!
Derek O'Brien@derekobrienmp
Lowest GDP growth in 26 quarters! No answers
from FM. No wonder, full Opposition walked out of
Rajya Sabha 40 minutes into the FM’s speech this
week. And ministers dozed off in their
seats#Parliament
MAHARASHTRA ASSEMBLY FLOOR TEST
Shatrughan Sinha@ShatruganSinha
After the formation of the united opposition Govt
in Maharashtra & now strenghtened after the
Floor test. Many people wonder about you, your
working style & performance. People’s wish
should be our priority. These are questions in
everybody’s mind & must be answered,
Shama Mohamed@drshamamohd
The @INCIndia-NCP-Shiv Sena govt easily clears
the #floortest with 169 votes. This is how a govt
which respects the Constitution proves its
legitimacy, unlike the #DevendraFadnavis govt
which prefers illegal coups in the dead of the
night!
T
wo weeks after high tides and
fierce winds produced the worst
flooding in Venice in more than
half a century, sirens sound about 6:30
am to warn the fragile lagoon city’s
weary residents that “acqua alta” is
arriving again.
Less than two hours later, tempo-
rary wooden platforms are in place to
allow pedestrians to move through
ancient cobble-stone streets. Vendors
hawking cheap water-proof boots
appear out of nowhere to cater to ill-
prepared tourists. Sergio Boldrin, one of
Venice’s most renowned mask makers,
is used to the ritual. But the floods
aren’t the only sign of decay. The feel-
ing in the city is that climate change is
hastening a downfall that started with
mass tourism.
“The city has become ugly. It’s lost
its soul,” said Boldrin, as thrifty day
trippers stream by to gawk at but not
buy his masks, which can cost as much
as ^1,000 ($1,100). “These people just
don’t recognise its real beauty.”
The son of a gondolier, Boldrin is a
living embodiment of Venetian tradi-
tion. From the stool of his tiny atelier
Bottega dei Mascareri near the famous
Rialto Bridge, the 62-year-old sees a
string of small canvas-covered stands
selling cheap trinkets, including low-
grade plastic and ceramic knockoffs of
his masks for as little as ^10.
The city—improbably spread across
more than 100 small islands in the
Venetian lagoon—attracted an esti-
mated 30 million visitors this year. The
Venice—improbably spread across more than 100 small islands in the Venetian
lagoon—attracted an estimated 30 million visitors this year
crowds strain resources but provide lit-
tle value for the local economy. Three-
quarters of the tourists stay for just a
few hours and spend an average ^13
on souvenirs, according to research by
Confartigianato Venezia, an associa-
tion of local trade businesses.
Artisans are struggling to compete
with the influx of cheaper products
made abroad, and many can’t afford
rents that have been driven up by real-
estate speculation. Skilled craftspeo-
ple in the city’s historical area have
dropped by half since the 1970s to
about 1,100 in 2018.
“A lot of it is generational change,”
said Enrico Vettore of Confartigianato
Venezia. “Often there’s no one in a fam-
ily who can take over the business,”
but there’s also the lack of demand as
day trippers “don’t buy real artisan
products.”
On the nearby island of Murano,
Luciano Gambaro is waging a battle to
preserve centuries of local glass-mak-
ing traditions. The number of people
working to produce the colorful, hand-
blown vases and figurines has also
halved, partly due to the impact of
counterfeit products from eastern
Europe, China and India, says the 54-
year-old, who runs the family’s com-
pany and heads a consortium of busi-
ness that promotes Murano glass.
The floods, which have become
more frequent, disrupt the city’s
rhythm, suspending Vaporetto boat
lines that connect stops on the Grand
Canal to outlying sites like Murano,
Burano and the barrier island of Lido.
Just before midnight on November
12, Venice’s “acqua alta” reached 184
centimeters (6 feet) above sea level. It
was generated by a combination of ris-
ing tides and powerful winds of more
than 75 miles per hour. City officials
estimated the damage at about ^1 bil-
lion. Like many others, Mayor Luigi
affected items were sent to a restora-
tion facility in Bologna, while others
were carried to higher levels of the
building and are drying out on floors of
the museum alongside 17th century
musical instruments.
“The storm brought home the real-
ity of the situation,” said Jane Da Mosto,
executive director of a non-profit
organisation trying to reverse the com-
munity’s decline by controlling
tourism, including a ban on cruise
ships. “Venice is close to falling off the
precipice. There’s no control room.”
About 1,000 residents leave every
year, and about 50,000 people now call
the lagoon home. The former city-state
has been governed together with its
larger mainland neighbour Mestre
since they were linked in 1926 by
Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
Activists like Da Mosto say the city’s
issues are so unique that it needs to be
separate. On Sunday, Venetians will
vote on a referendum to give the com-
munity its own administrative struc-
ture, but it’s non-binding and opposed
by the mayor, who has called the effort
“folly” because it risks creating bureau-
cratic bottlenecks and discouraging
investment.
That puts more focus on the fraught
MOSE anti-flooding project. Embroiled
in several corruption probes, the sys-
tem of water gates is way over budget at
^5.5 billion and counting, and won’t
be ready until 2022 — more than two
decades after construction began.
BLOOMBERG
8 WORLD
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 1

Johnson to Trump: Facebook corrective label on

user post under Singapore law
keep out of UK polls FATHIN UNGKU AND JOHN GEDDIE
Singapore, 30 November

Facebook said on Saturday it had issued a

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE &
ANDREW MACASKILL
London, 30 November
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
said on Friday it would be "best"
if US President Donald Trump
does not get involved in Britain's
election when he visits London
for a NATO summit next week.
Trump waded into the elec-
tion in October by saying oppo-
sition Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn would be "so
bad" for Britain and that John-
son should agree on a pact with
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.
On Friday, a senior Trump
administration official told re-
porters that Trump is "absolute-
ly cognisant of not, again, wad-
ing into other country's
elections". But senior Conser-
vatives are nervous that Trump
could upset the campaign when
in London, just over a week
before the December 12 elec-
tion, which polls indicate
Johnson is on course to win.
"What we don't do tradition-
ally as loving allies and friends,
what we don't do traditionally, is
get involved in each other's elec-
tion campaigns," Johnson, 55,
told LBC radio.
US president Donald Trump (right) has cast Johnson as “Britain's Trump”, and during a
previous visit criticised Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May over her Brexit policy
"The best (thing) when you
have close friends and allies like
the US and the UK is for neither
side to get involved in each oth-
er's election."
Johnson has said that, if he
retains power, he will deliver
Brexit by January 31 — after
nearly four years of political cri-
sis following a 2016 referendum
in which Britons voted to leave
the European Union.
He said he wanted to keep in
place government preparations
for a possible no-deal Brexit —
under which Britain would
leave without agreement on the
terms with Brussels and poten-
tially expose itself to more eco-
nomic uncertainty—but that he
expected to secure a trade deal
with the EU by the end of 2020.
"Many of those preparations
will be extremely valuable as we
come out of EU arrangements
anyway," he told reporters.
REUTERS
NHS ‘not for sale’
The US president, due to arrive
on Monday, has cast Johnson
as "Britain's Trump", and during
a previous visit criticised
Johnson's predecessor Theresa
May over her Brexit policy.
Labour's Corbyn has said
Johnson will sell off parts of
Britain's widely cherished
health service to US businesses
after Brexit, which Johnson has
denied. Trump previously said
everything including health
should be on the table in trade
correction notice on a user's post at the
request of the Singapore government, but
called for a measured approach to the
implementation of a new "fake news" law
in the city-state.
"Facebook is legally required to tell
you that the Singapore government says
this post has false information," said the
notice, which is visible only to Singapore
users.
The correction label was embedded at
the bottom of the original post without
any alterations to the text.
The Singapore government said on
Friday it had instructed Facebook "to pub-
lish a correction notice" on a Nov. 23 post
which contained accusations about the
arrest of a supposed whistleblower and
election rigging.
Singapore, which is expected to call a
general elections within months, said the
allegations were "false" and "scurrilous"
and initially ordered user Alex Tan, who
runs the States Times Review blog, to
issue the correction notice on the post.
Tan, who does not live in Singapore
and says he is an Australian citizen,
Telegraph CEO heralds digital growth
THOMAS SEAL comfort to the market that actu-
30 November ally we will very soon be able to
demonstrate a very clear susta-
Singapore’s law is the first to demand that
Facebook publish corrections when
directed to do so by the government
refused and authorities said he is now
under investigation. Reuters could not
immediately reach Tan for comment.
"As required by Singapore law,
Facebook applied a label to these posts,
which were determined by the Singapore
government to contain false information,"
a spokesman for Facebook said in an
emailed statement.
"As it is early days of the law coming
into effect, we hope the Singapore gov-
ernment's assurances that it will not
impact free expression will lead to a meas-
ured and transparent approach to imple-
topic of conversation among
European newspaper executi-
ves after it emerged in October
mentation."
Some Singapore users however said
that they could not see the correction
notice. Facebook could not immediately
explain why the notice was unavailable to
some users.
Facebook often blocks content that gov-
ernments allege violate local laws, with
nearly 18,000 cases globally in the year to
June, according to the company's "trans-
parency report". Two years in the making
and implemented only last month,
Singapore's law is the first to demand that
Facebook publish corrections when direct-
ed to do so by the government.
The Asia Internet Coalition, an associ-
ation of internet and technology compa-
nies, called the law the "most far-reaching
legislation of its kind to date", while rights
groups have said it could undermine inter-
net freedoms, not just in Singapore, but
elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
In the only other case under the law,
which covers statements that are com-
municated in the country even if they
originate elsewhere, opposition political
figure Brad Bowyer swiftly complied with
a correction request.
The penalties range from prison terms
of as much as 10 years or fines up to S$1
million ($733,192). REUTERS
into the future, and they recog-
nise that that’s required invest-
ment”.

Ireland scores an upgrade talks, though he later said health

BENJAMIN PURVIS
30 November
Ireland had its credit score boosted on Friday
by S&P Global Ratings, which said the nation’s
economy should remain competitive and
attractive to foreign investors even if its near-
est neighbour, the UK, tumbles out of the
European Union without an exit agreement.
“The government has amassed substan-
tial fiscal buffers to offset the risk of an exter-
nal shock, such as a sudden falloff in corpo-
rate tax receipts or a no-deal Brexit,” S&P said
in a statement. “Irish growth and employ-
ment outcomes continue to rank among the
strongest in the developed world.”
The credit assessor lifted Ireland’s rating to
AA-, its fourth-highest score, and said the
outlook was stable. While underlying domes-
tic economic growth in Ireland has slowed, it
is still “significantly” above the average for the
euro area and the government remains com-
mitted to fiscal prudence, S&P said.
The nation’s economy grew at a pace of 5.8
per cent year-over-year in the second quarter
of 2019 and data for the third quarter are due
in December. Ireland’s current situation rep-
resents a significant turnaround from the
depths of the euro-area debt crisis, which saw
S&P slash the country’s credit score in 2011 to
as low as BBB+, or three notches above junk.
BLOOMBERG
would not be.
Johnson said he would use
Brexit to introduce new state aid
rules, change state purchasing
policies and reform farming so
that public bodies aim to "buy
British" goods.
"The NHS is not for sale," he
said. Taking questions from
LBC listeners, Johnson declined
to say how many children he
had or whether he would have
any more.
Johnson, 55, is living at the
prime minister's Downing
Street residence with his partner
Carrie Symonds after separat-
ing from his wife last year.
REUTERS
Britain’s Telegraph Media
Group expects to pass a mile-
stone in coming days, when it
will get more subscribers online
than from its newspapers.
The 164-year-old publisher
of the Daily Telegraph and Sun-
day Telegraph has hit parity in
digital and print, with total com-
bined subscriptions of about
418,000, Chief Executive Officer
Nick Hugh said in an interview
this week. Hugh has hired
dozens of journalists to boost
output of exclusive journalism
and digital subscriptions have
grown by about 81,000 in a year.
“It’s a great position to be in,”
Hugh said. “To be able to grow
at that rate should give great
inable path to ongoing growth.”
Turning casual online read-
ers into paying subscribers is
critical for Hugh to meet a target
to reverse the Telegraph’s
declining profit.
He says he’ll add at least
100,000 mainly digital sub-
scribers by this time next year,
and double operating profit by
the end of 2020. That would
mark a rebound after the Tele-
graph’s operating profit drop-
ped by 61 per cent to 8.1 million
pounds ($10.4 million) in 2018
on slightly lower sales and
added costs from hiring.
The Telegraph, based a
stone’s throw from Buckingham
Palace in London, has become a
that Britain’s billionaire Barclay
twins are considering a sale or
part-sale of the company as part
of a potential breakup of their
business empire. Firms includ-
ing National World, Mediahuis
NV and Daily Mail & General
Trust could be possible bidders.
While “there’s a lot of specu-
lation about the Telegraph
being for sale,” no advisers have
been hired and there’s no
process for a sale of the
Telegraph itself, Hugh said,
declining to comment further.
The Barclays, who bought
the business for 665 million
pounds in 2004, are “incredibly
supportive of how we transform
to a model that’s sustainable
One challenge for Hugh is
that online subscribers only pay
between a third and a half as
much as print customers, he
said. But unlike print, digital is
growing. The Financial Times’s
subscriber base became major-
ity digital in 2012 and the Guar-
dian reported in 2018 that most
of its sales are from web readers.
The staunchly conservative
Telegraph has been a cheer-
leader for Brexit and regularly
publishes opinion columns by
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
— its Brussels correspondent in
the 1990s — and Brexit Party’s
Nigel Farage. Recent political
turbulence has boosted subsc-
riptions, said Hugh.BLOOMBERG

There’s never
been so many
tourists coming
to Singapore
ABHISHEK VISHNOI
30 November
It’s almost like a sequel to
Crazy Rich Asians.
A year after the movie —
set in Singapore — helped
drive a record number of vis-
itors to the city-state, the
tourists are back again in full
force, pushing arrivals to a
new high in the third quarter.
About five million trav-
ellers came to the island
between July and Sep-
tember, led by visitors from
Greater China, which
jumped 22 per cent, accord-
ing to data from Singapore
Tourism Board’s website.
The previous quarterly
record was 4.83 million set
in the same period a year
earlier.
The
About five surge in
million tourists
travellers also coin-
came to the cided with
island bet- the reopen-
ween July and ing of the
September, city’s grand
led by visitors dame,
from Greater Raffles
China Hotel. The
132-year-
old iconic hotel — the birth
place of the “Singapore Sling”
— opened after an extensive
renovation.
Singapore, which com-
petes with Hong Kong for
conferences, is also benefit-
ting from the North Asian
city’s weekly pro-democracy
protests that started in June.
As the demonstrations
turned increasingly violent,
some conferences, such as
the Global Wellness Summit,
moved their events to the
island republic.
The unrest in Hong
Kong has prompted busi-
nesses to relocate events
and major meetings to loca-
tions in Singapore as well
as neighbouring countries
such as Thailand, accord-
ing to hotel-industry bil-
lionaire William Heinecke.
The outlook for 2020 looks
bright too with a robust line
up of events such as Sin-
gapore Airshow, Food & Hotel
Asia conference and Games-
com Asia, according to a re-
port published by DBS Bank
in October. BLOOMBERG
GREEN PROTEST
A man holds a placard that shows half of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s face and the other half Hitler’s face as he takes
part in the Global Climate Strike of the Fridays for Future movement in Sao Paulo
The long and deadly road home for Vietnamese migrants
JAMES PEARSON, KHANH VU
& PHUONG NGUYEN
Hanoi, 30 November
They left Vietnam carrying dreams
of small fortunes and the heavy bur-
den of family expectations.
But they died in a box, and came
home in coffins.
For the 39 migrants who set off
from one of the poorest parts of the
Southeast Asian country in search of
work in Britain, the promise of rich-
es outweighed the risks of the peri-
lous journey through Latvian forests
and Belgian streets, to the oxygen-
starved truck container in which
they met their fate. The bodies were
discovered in late October, in the
back of a refrigerated lorry, just out-
side London. On Saturday, the last
bodies were repatriated to Vietnam.
Here are the stories of three of the
victims.
The lost boy
Teenager Nguyen Huy Hung had
longed to see his parents, both of
whom had left Vietnam to find work
in Britain's nail salons.
"It should have been a family re-
union," said a neighbour who dec-
lined to be identified. "His parents
reached Britain safely and smoothly.
They'd already paid smugglers to
arrange his trip. "He was too young
to suffer from tragedy".
Hung was one of two 15-year-old
victims. Raised in a small fishing vil-
lage in Ha Tinh province, rooms in
the family home had been rented
out because most of his family, apart
from Hung's grandparents, had
already relocated overseas for work.
Hung flew from Hanoi to Russia
on August 26, his sister, who works
in South Korea, said in a Facebook
post days after news of the incident
emerged. By October 6, he was in
France, she wrote, but they lost con-
tact on October 21, two days before
the container was found.
The family had paid 10,000
pounds ($12,900) to get him to
Europe, his sister told Reuters. They
were due to pay more money to peo-
ple smugglers in Vietnam once he
reached Britain, she added.
Hung's body was repatriated on
Saturday.
But with no documentation and
their hopes of being reunited with
their son in Britain shattered,
Hung's parents will miss his funeral.
REUTERS
Nguyen Thi Huan visits the grave of her son Nguyen Dinh Luong at the
homeland cemetery in Ha Tinh province on Friday
The carpenter
Rudimentary dumbbells made from
rusted iron and mossy lumps of con-
crete are some of the few objects
Nguyen Dinh Gia has to remind him
of his son. Luong was an honest boy,
Gia said. At 20, Luong didn't drink,
he didn't smoke, and he had never
had a girlfriend.
Luong loved sports, and his ram-
shackle weights. In October 2017, he
left Ha Tinh province and found
work in a nearby province as a car-
penter, a skill he learned from his
Japan mulls over $92-billion
stimulus package: Nikkei
LEIKA KIHARA available for comment. tainty over Japan's export-
Tokyo, 30 November Ruling party lawmakers reliant economy.
have been pressuring the gov- The package under work
Japan’s government is con- ernment to compile a big will include spending for dis-
sidering putting together a spending package, increasing aster relief, infrastructure
large-scale economic stimu- the chance fiscal policy will building and measures to
lus package with fiscal play a bigger role in support- help companies boost pro-
spending exceeding $92 bil- ing growth despite the risk of ductivity, the newspaper
lion, the Nikkei newspaper more debt issuance. said.
said, as soft global demand Bank of Japan Governor The government will also
and the US-China trade war Haruhiko Kuroda said on issue more deficit-covering
dampen the country’s fragile Friday the central bank's ultra- bonds, as tax revenues for the
recovery. loose policy is aimed at hitting current fiscal year will under-
Adding strain to Japan’s its price target, not at funding shoot its initial estimate by
tattered finances, the govern- government spending, warn- around two trillion yen, the
ment will issue more bonds to ing against complacency in Nikkei said.
fund public works spending of getting Japan's fiscal house in Aside from the fiscal
up to four trillion yen ($36.82 order. spending, Japan will also pro-
billion) and make up for tax Fiscal spending under the vide financing to companies
revenue shortfalls as firms feel package will likely exceed 10 for overseas investment to
the pinch from the trade ten- trillion yen, which will be help them diversify produc-
sions, the newspaper said on funded by a supplementary tion, Reuters reported on
Saturday. budget for the current fiscal Thursday.
Prime Minister Shinzo year ending in March 2020 Japan's economic growth
Abe’s administration will and next year's annual budget, slumped to its weakest in a
finalise the package early the newspaper said. year in the third quarter as soft
next week after consultations That will roughly match a global demand knocked
with the ruling coalition, the 13.5-trillion-yen spending exports, stoking fears of a
Nikkei said, without citing package put together in 2016, recession. Some analysts also
sources. when Britain's vote to exit the fret a sales tax hike in October
Japan’s finance ministry European Union jolted mar- could cool private consump-
officials were not immediately kets and heightened uncer- tion. REUTERS
walked for seven hours too. "It was a Lithuania, then Poland, Germany,
one-day journey and everyone with and Belgium, friends and neigh-
him was Vietnamese," Gia said. bours told Reuters.
There, Luong begged his father to It wasn't her first attempt.
pay for him to go to France, where he "My life is full of ups and downs. I
stayed until October, when he decid- want to fly to Europe, but I can't,"
ed to join friends working in Britain. she wrote, four months earlier.
"I tried to persuade him not to go," "I don't want to stay home, marry
said Gia. "I told him the money he young and live penniless," Nhung
had earned in France was huge for told friends who had suggested she
the family." Gia had paid $18,000 to stay in Vietnam and raise cattle.
people smugglers to get his son that According to her friends, Nhung
far. A few days before he boarded the first wanted to find work in Ger-
doomed truck, Luong called home. many, and spent a year in Vietnam
Gia said he was in good spirits. learning to paint nails. "A girl has to
Luong's body was repatriated on have a job otherwise no one will
REUTERS Wednesday and he was buried on marry her," she wrote.
Thursday. On her third try, Nhung finally
brother. "He didn't try to get into "After waiting for so many days, made it to Europe. "I'm about to start
university," Gia said. "Not many chil- my son has finally arrived," said Gia. a new journey," Nhung wrote to
dren around here do". friends a few days before they lost
From there, Luong travelled to The dreamer contact with her. Nhung's friends
Hanoi where he boarded a flight to Bui Thi Nhung had been dreaming have memorialised her Facebook
Russia. He stayed there until April of Europe. She hoped to be reunited page to keep her stories alive. Many
2018, when he drifted to Ukraine with her boyfriend, in Britain. of her friends are scattered overseas,
where he spent his nights with other Her Facebook posts in the days working in Europe's nail bars.
migrants in a warehouse. He would before she died showed her in Bru- "Please don't blame us," a friend
contact his father at times, Gia said. ssels, where she drank bubble tea on of hers told Reuters. "Don't blame the
"I felt comfortable knowing he the steps of the old stock exchange. 39 victims in the back of the truck".
was safe, living there". Like the other two, she flew from Nhung made her final journey
Weeks later, Luong left for Vietnam to Russia, then crossed into home on Saturday.
Germany. He moved by road, but he Latvia. From there she moved to She was 19 years old. REUTERS
.
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 WORLD 9 <

Attacker released Hong Kong seniors take to streets

last year after
REUTERS port "anti-China" activities. ‘Glory to Hong Kong’
Beijing, 30 November In Hong Kong, the city gov- In Saturday's first rally, at one
ernment is looking into setting point the crowd in the park rose
Secondary-school students and up an independent committee to sing "Glory to Hong Kong",
retirees joined forces to protest to review the handling of the cri- which has become the unoffi-

terrorism offences
Friday’s attack, just 13 days before an election that could decide the fate of Britain’s exit from the
European Union, prompted political leaders to scale back campaigning
COSTAS PITAS & GUY FAULCONBRIDGE
London, 30 November
The 28-year-old British man
who killed two people in a
stabbing spree on London
Bridge before police shot him
dead had been released from
prison after a previous con-
viction for terrorism
offences, prompting recrimi-
nations ahead of an election.
Wearing a fake suicide
vest and wielding knives,
Usman Khan went on the
rampage on Friday afternoon
at a conference on criminal
rehabilitation beside London
Bridge. He was wrestled to
the ground by bystanders
and then shot dead by police.
Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, who has called a
snap election for December
12 and is due to host NATO
leaders including US
President Donald Trump
next week, said it was a ter-
rorist attack and that Britain
would never be cowed.
Khan, whose family is
from Pakistan-controlled
Kashmir, was convicted in
2012 for his part in an al-
Qaeda-inspired plot to blow
up the London Stock
Exchange. He was released
in December 2018 subject to
conditions. “This individual
was known to authorities,
having been convicted in
2012 for terrorism offences,”
Britain’s top counter-terror-
ism police officer, Neil Basu,
said in a statement. “Clearly,
a key line of inquiry now is to
establish how he came to car-
ry out this attack.”
Two people — a man and
a woman — were killed in the
attack. In addition, a man
and two women were injured
and remain in hospital, Basu
said.
Britain’s opposition
Labour Party, which trails the
ruling Conservatives in opin-
ion polls, criticised the gov-
ernment’s record on crime on
Saturday as police continued
their investigation. “There
are big questions that need
to be answered,” London
Mayor Sadiq Khan, the most
senior opposition politician
in Britain in a position of
power, told Sky News.
“One of the important
tools judges had when it
came to dealing with danger-
ous, convicted criminals...
was their ability to give an
indeterminate sentence to
protect the public,” he said.
“(That) was taken away from
them by this government.”
Election attack
During the 2017 election
campaign, London Bridge
was the scene of an attack
when three militants drove a
van into pedestrians and
then attacked people in the
surrounding area, killing
eight people and injuring at
least 48.
Islamic State said its fight-
ers were responsible for that
attack, but the British author-
ities have cast doubt on those
claims. The 2017 attack
focused attention on cuts to
policing since the governing
REUTERS
Conservatives took power in
2010.
Junior interior minister
Brandon Lewis defended an
independent decision taken
a few weeks ago to lower
Britain’s terrorism threat lev-
el, but said sentencing rules
needed to be reviewed.
“It is right that we do have
to look again at the sentenc-
ing system around these
kinds of violent crimes... We
will want to move very swift-
ly,” he said.
Friday’s attack, just 13
days before an election that
could decide the fate of
Britain’s exit from the
European Union, prompted
political leaders to scale back
campaigning.
The campaign so far has
focused on Brexit and the
health service but is likely to
include crime over the com-
ing days as Johnson, who
praised the bravery of
bystanders who tackled the
attacker, seeks to limit the
fallout from the incident.
“This country will never
be cowed, or divided, or
intimidated by this sort of
attack,” he told reporters in
Downing Street late on
Friday.
Britain’s security minister
said police are not looking for
any other suspects after the
killing of Khan.
Queen Elizabeth sent her
“thoughts, prayers and deep-
est sympathies to all those
who have lost loved ones” in
the London Bridge attack, PA
Media reported on Saturday.
in Hong Kong on Saturday, the
first of several weekend rallies
planned across the city, as pro-
democracy activists vowed to
battle what they say are police
brutality and unlawful arrests.
A top Hong Kong official said
the government was looking
into setting up an independent
committee to review the han-
dling of the crisis, which has
seen increasingly violent
demonstrations since starting
more than five months ago.
Hong Kong has seen relative
calm since local elections last
week delivered an overwhelm-
ing victory to pro-democracy
candidates. Still, activists appear
keen to maintain the mom-
entum of their movement.
“I came out for the peaceful
protest in June when there was
more than one million people,
but the government did not lis-
ten to our demands,” said a 71-
year-old woman in Hong Kong's
Central district, who only gave
her name as Ponn.
She brought her own plastic
stool to join a cross-generational
protest of a few hundred peo-
ple at the city's Chater Garden.
Elderly Hong Kongers, some
with visors and canes, stood not
Apple reviews policies
after app controversy
ALISTAIR BARR
30 November
Apple is reviewing its mapping
policies after the company was
criticised for including Crimea
as part of Russia in some ver-
sions of its Maps app.
“We are taking a deeper
look at how we handle disput-
ed borders in our services and
may make changes in the
future as a result,” Apple said
in a statement on Friday.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian
officials accused Apple of
insensitivity for showing the
Black Sea peninsula as part of
Russia on Russian versions of
the map software used on
iPhones and iPads. They said
the area is under Russian occu-
pation and its sovereignty has-
n’t changed. Russia annexed
Crimea in 2014, prompting
international sanctions.
Apple stressed that Crimea
is only depicted that way in
Russia because the company
is complying with a local law.
The Cupertino, California-
based technology giant has
previously cited specific coun-
try laws when defending con-
troversial political positions.
The company recently re-
Hong Kong has seen relative calm since local polls last week gave
an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy candidates
far from young, black-clad pro-
testers. All listened to pro-
democracy speakers in a gath-
ering marked by a festive mood.
"I have seen so much police
brutality and unlawful arrests.
This is not the Hong Kong I
know. I came today because I
want the government to know
we are not happy with what they
have done to our generation,”
said Ponn, who attended with
her daughter and son-in-law.
Foreign arrests
Demonstrators are angered by
what they see as Chinese inter-
ference in freedoms promised
when Britain returned Hong
Kong to Beijing in 1997.
But China denies interfering,
Apple stressed that Crimea is only depicted that way in Russia
because the company is complying with a local law
moved the Taiwanese flag from
the emoji keyboard on devices
running in Hong Kong and
Macau, after earlier pulling it
from mainland China. It also
came under fire for pulling a
maps app in Hong Kong that
the developer said was designed
to help users avoid areas of pro-
test. Apple said it was following
local laws in both instances.
Here’s Apple’s full state-
ment on Friday:
“We would like to clarify for
our customers around the
world that we have not made
any changes to Apple Maps
regarding Crimea outside of
Russia, where a new law went
REUTERS
and says it is committed to the
"one country, two systems" for-
mula put in place at that time. It
has blamed foreign forces for
fomenting unrest.
On Saturday, citing authori-
ties, the Communist party
newspaper of the southern
Chinese city of Guangzhou said
police had arrested a Belizean
citizen for allegedly colluding
with people in the United States
to meddle in Hong Kong affairs.
Separately, the newspaper
said a Taiwanese man, Lee
Meng-Chu, was arrested by
police in nearby Shenzhen on
October 31, for allegedly steal-
ing state secrets for foreign
forces after he made a trip to
Hong Kong in August to sup-
ISTOCK
into effect that required us to
update the map within Russia.
We review international law as
well as relevant US and other
domestic laws before making a
determination in labelling on
our Maps and make changes if
required by law. We are taking
a deeper look at how we handle
disputed borders in our servic-
es and may make changes in
the future as a result. Our
intention is to make sure our
customers can enjoy using
Maps and other Apple services,
everywhere in the world.”
Reuters reported the com-
pany’s comments earlier.
BLOOMBERG
sis, Matthew Cheung, Chief Sec- cial anthem of protests. Many
retary for Administration, told of them put their hands in the
reporters when asked about an air with five fingers out-
independent review committee. stretched, a symbol of the pro-
"We are looking for relevant democracy movement.
candidates and we have already "My mum asked me to come
started preparatory work, so we and protect her. So I came with
hope we will make some pro- my husband. It has been quiet
gress in the short term," he said. after the district elections and
Cheung's comment came in that is unexpected," senior citi-
response to a question that did- zen protester Ponn's 26-year-old
n’t specify police or government daughter told Reuters. "We sho-
handling, but one of the pro- uldn’t stop there, I came be-
testers' demands is for an inde- cause we have to keep fighting."
pendent inquiry into allegations Some young protesters wav-
of police brutality. Some critics ed American flags, a sign of app-
on social media have said such reciation after US President Do-
a committee would fall short of nald Trump this week signed
the independent investigation into law bills that back protest-
they have been demanding. ers and threaten China with pos-
In an opinion piece in the sible sanctions on human rights.
Hong Kong-based South China A 70-year-old retiree in a
Morning Post newspaper on blue aviator sunglasses and a
Saturday, the UN High Comm- grey tracksuit, who gave his
issioner for Human Rights, name as Ko, said seniors could
Michelle Bachelet, also called offer guidance to the younger
for an investigation into allega- protesters. "Starting from day
tions of excessive police force. one I have been involved in this
"I appeal the government to movement and there is no rea-
take important confidence- son to stop now," said Ko. "Today
building measures, including a is a cross-age group meeting and
proper independent and impar- there are a lot of middle school
tial judge-led investigation into students ... We are here to give
reports of excessive use of force them advice and moral support.
by the police," Bachelet wrote. I think they need it."
IN BRIEF
Peruvian opposition leader freed
Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori
(pictured) walked free from prison on Friday
night after being jailed for more than a year
pending a trial over allegations she accepted
illegal campaign contributions from Brazilian
construction firm Odebrecht.
Fujimori, leader of the powerful right-
wing Popular Force party, left prison in the
Chorrillos district of capital city Lima,
according to a Reuterswitness at the scene
where hundreds of supporters gathered
outside in anticipation of her release.
Fujimori was met by her husband outside the prison with flowers
and balloons. The country’s Constitutional Tribunal, Peru’s top court,
ordered her release on Monday after she was handed an 18-month
pre-trial sentence in October last year. REUTERS
Geingob says he has Malaysia to tighten
been re-elected vaping rules
Namibian President Hage Malaysia is planning to enforce
Geingob said he was re-elected stricter regulations for vaping in
for a second term as support for a bid to dissuade its use among
his South West Africa People’s teens, Bernama reported, citing
Organisation slides because of a comments from Deputy Health
struggling economy. “I wish to Minister Lee Boon Chye. The laws
thank Namibians for re-electing around vaping may replicate
me as their President,” he those for cigarettes in certain
tweeted. “I am humbled and areas, such as age limits, price,
commit to serve the Namibian taxes and use in public spaces,
nation with more passion and he said, according to the gov-
utmost dedication, to bring ernment news agency. “We
tangible improvements in the want to ensure those aged 18
lives of our citizens. I have heard and below are not exposed to
you.” Geingob has 56.8 per cent vaping, which eventually leads
of the nearly 97 per cent of the to addiction and moral decad-
votes counted. BLOOMBERG ence,” he said. BLOOMBERG

Europe’s wine makers battle to adapt to climate disruption

STEFAN NICOLA, CHARLES PENTY & MEGAN DURISIN
30 November
Rising temperatures and extreme weather
events are having an increasing impact on
European wine production, forcing grow-
ers to adapt methods that have been in
place for many generations.
Almudena Alberca, technical director
at Spain’s Grupo Bodegas Palacios 1894,
neatly captures the challenge: “You have
to reinvent yourself every year.”
This can include anything from bring-
ing forward the grape harvest, replanting
to boost drought resistance, cutting herbi-
cide use to improve soil quality and leav-
ing leaves on the vines to protect the fruit,
according to Alberca, who was elected Sp-
ain’s first female Master of Wine last year.
Europe makes about 60 per cent of
the world’s wine — with Italy, Spain and
France accounting for most of the out-
put — and coping with environmental
upheaval is a delicate balancing act.
Some 15,000 diplomats and environ-
mentalists will discuss the threats posed
by climate change at a United Nations
conference next week in Madrid, where
representatives from about 200 nations
will be working on a pathway to rein in
fossil fuel pollution.
“If summer stretches on longer than
normal, that affects consumption habits
that can easily cost us a month of sales of
our main product,” said Carlos Caraballo,
head of Vinedos y Bodegas Sierra
Cantabria, a vineyard founded in 1870 in
Spain’s Rioja region that specialises in pro-
ducing reds. “It’s getting more unpre-
dictable.”
Here’s a look at how shifting weather
conditions are affecting viticulture across
the continent:
Spain
Some 200 miles north of Madrid in the
Rioja region, producers have battled with
average temperatures that climbed as
much as 1.3 degrees Celsius between 1950
and 2014. That has pushed up alcohol con-
tent, forced earlier harvests and fostered
new crop diseases.
Production costs are rising because of
“the need to irrigate more and a surge in
crop insurance”, said Sergio Andres
Cabello, a researcher at La Rioja
University. “Harvest timing is now less
predictable, and that may also lead to an
increase in manpower costs.”
Wineries are working to create clones
of their varietals that can better cope with
the new environment without altering
their characteristics, said Inigo Torres, ge-
neral manager of Grupo Rioja, an associa-
tion representing the region’s producers.
They’re also storing away up to a fifth
of their harvests over a three-year period
to hedge against potential droughts or
frost, Torres said. So far, winemakers have
managed to keep overall volumes steady.
France
The picture is grimmer in France, where
spring frost and hailstorms followed by a
summer heatwave and drought hobbled
production. In Bordeaux, where Chinese
investors have bought dozens of chateaux,
the sweltering heat reduced volumes by
an estimated six per cent this year com-
pared with the five-year average, accord-
ing to estimates from the French agricul-
ture ministry.
While growers in southern France
grapple with excessive heat, further north
wine makers in the Loire valley are seeing
some benefits. From Sancerre in the east
through Touraine to the Muscadet-pro-
ducing region around Nantes, they used
to struggle to ripen grapes in cooler, wetter
years, but over the past decade have pro-
duced a string of vintages with improved
yields and fruit.
Italy
Sunny Tuscany is every wine lover’s
dream. Rolling hills, charming castelli and
vineyards that produce some of the
world’s most sought-after (and expensive)
red wines.
But climate change is disrupting the
idyll. Piero Lanza, the 52-year-old owner
of a vineyard in the Chianti region, says
extreme weather events have multiplied
in the past 15 years, with shorter winters
Europe makes about 60 per cent of the world’s wine and coping with environmental
upheaval is a delicate balancing act
and hotter summers. Winemakers need to
be increasingly flexible when it comes to
pruning vines and harvesting grapes,
Lanza said. “You have to know the poten-
tial and limits of your land and be quick to
respond to the changing climate,” he said.
Overall, Italy still produces the most
wine in Europe, partly because it covers
many different climate zones, from the
mountainous Tyrol region to relatively
arid Sicily.
Germany
Traditionally cooler Germany has reaped
some benefits from a changing climate.
Rising temperatures have helped wine
makers grow grapes usually reserved for
warmer climates — Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot or Shiraz — extending their prod-
uct line beyond Riesling and Pinot. Last
year’s hot and dry summer, which led to
the earliest harvest on record, packed a lot
of sun into the grapes for one of the best
vintages in years. Output topped the ten-
year average by 23 per cent.
It’s not all good news. Exposure to
more sunlight drives up alcohol content,
and that could threaten wine exports to
the US, Germany’s (and Europe’s) biggest
ISTOCK
customer. Americans tend to favour
lighter wines like the Rieslings from the
Mosel region, which combine full flavour
at often less than 10 per cent alcohol. And
while the vines coped with last year’s dry
spell by tapping deeper groundwater
reservoirs, those basins were empty this
summer when the drought returned.
Wine makers are already adapting, for
example by selecting cooler, higher-alti-
tude plots, by not cutting leaves from
vines to provide grapes with shading, and
by investing in irrigation systems.
UK
The UK, until recently regarded as too far
north to produce quality wine, has seen a
rapid expansion in vineyard plantings
over the past two decades as growers have
responded to hotter summers. Wine pro-
duction in England and Wales rose to 13.2
million bottles last year from 5.1 million in
2015, according to data from Wines of
Great Britain. The area planted to vine-
yards has quadrupled since 2000.
Geological similarities between south-
ern England and France’s Champagne
region have encouraged a proliferation of
sparkling wine ventures, with leading
vineyards including Chapel Down in Kent,
Nyetimber and Ridgeview in Sussex and
Denbies in Surrey. French Champagne
house Taittinger has invested in a vine-
yard project in Kent.
“2019 has been another bumper year,
not quite at the levels of the extraordinary
yields of 2018 but not far off,” Mark
Harvey, Chapel Down’s managing director
for wine, wrote in a post on its website last
month. “The quality is high too, with the
sugars and acids at the targeted levels
across the sites.”
Portugal
Dwindling rainfall, severe droughts and
high temperatures are the main concerns
for winemakers in Portugal, said Joao
Santos, a climatologist and professor at
the University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto
Douro. “The issue of a lack of water is very
serious,” he said. “I think for now it’s not
had an effect on quality because the sector
is responding well, namely through irriga-
tion and other measures.”
Some varietals are able to cope with
heat better than others, Santos said, and
the larger wine companies especially are
taking that into account when planting
new vineyards.
Greece
Winemakers in Greece have to deal with
an increase in rainfall, hailstorms and
droughts but their vines are relatively
used to prolonged exposure to sunshine,
said George Skouras, head of the country’s
wine lobby and owner of a vineyard in
Argos in the Peloponnese region.
The country’s varietals — like the red
Agiorgitiko grape or the white Mos-
chofilero — are faring better than some
better known grapes from western
Europe, Skouras said.
Austria
It’s a mixed bag in Austria, where rising
temperatures have benefited red varietals
like Blaufraenkisch and Merlot by packing
more sun into the grapes for a fuller body.
But some white grapes, like Chardonnay
and Gruener Veltliner, now need to be har-
vested earlier to avoid over-ripeness and
maintain freshness and acidity, said
Martin Nittnaus, who runs a winery in
Gols in the Burgenland region.
With summers getting warmer, Nittna-
us and many of his colleagues are revert-
ing to more traditional methods of wine-
making — for example fermenting white
grapes in their skins to give them a com-
plex structure. “If you open your mind to
new — actually traditional — ways, you
can still produce amazing wines.”
Romania
Romania’s 2019 output, mostly for export,
is estimated to be slightly lower than the
2018 harvest of around five million hecto-
liters because crops have been affected by
hail, said Victor Ciuperca, deputy head of
the nation’s wine lobby.
“We have years with severe drought,
which is good for the wine industry, espe-
cially if it’s in the ripening season, and
years with excessive rains,” Ciuperca said.
“The worst news is that we’ve seen an
uptick in violent weather events such as
storms and hail, which can destroy an
entire crop.”
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest nation, has wit-
nessed “extreme, untypical conditions”
over the past three to four years, according
to Blagoy Roussev at Orbelus Organic
Winery. These have included long periods
of drought, which has had a seriously neg-
ative impact on quality, he said.
Bulgarian wine production last year
dropped by 3.6 per cent from a year earlier
because of poor weather conditions,
according to the OIV’s most recent data.
Croatia
“What we have noticed is that higher tem-
peratures and more extreme weather in
terms of drought and heavy rains have
shortened the life cycle of grapevines,”
said Ivica Matosevic, one of Croatia’s lead-
ing vintners. “It used to be normal to pick
the grapes in September and October, and
now we are picking them in August and
September.” BLOOMBERG
10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

CHATTERBOX

Yogi addresses ABVP event CHECKLIST

In the midst of the Maharashtra crisis, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)
— the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — held its national convention
SHORT TERM CHIEF MINISTERS
at Agra earlier this week. The main speaker was Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi n
Jagdambika Pal (one day) chief minister of Bihar, for one week but resigned
Adityanath. It was odd that Adityanath, who had once patronised and actively supported Kalyan Singh was Uttar Pradesh chief minister in on his own. A faction within the Congress led by KB
the formation of the Hindu Vahini, an organisation parallel to the ABVP, should have 1998 heading an alliance of defectors from other Sahay and supported by Samyukta Socialist Party
decided to address a convention of a rival body. parties. After a floor test that witnessed revolted against Mahamaya Prasad Sinha, Bihar’s
That apart, the atmosphere at the convention was electric. As the chief guest arrived, unprecedented violence in the assembly, governor first non-Congress chief minister. Satish Prasad
there were slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Zor se bolo Jai Shri Ram (say loudly, Jai Shri Ram) Romesh Bhandari recommended President’s Rule Singh was named CM but quit within a week.
and Ayodhya to jhalak hai/Kashi Mathura baaki hai (Ayodhya is just a glimpse/Kashi in the state. The Centre didn’t agree, and Kalyan n
Janaki Ramachandran (23 days)
and Mathura are still left). The roars were loudest when the CM referred to Pakistan Singh went ahead and appointed a 98-member After MGR’s death in December 1987 a succession
without naming it. He spoke for more than 40 minutes and only on Hindutva, asserting strong cabinet to reward all defectors, including a battle split the AIADMK. MGR’s wife Janaki was
that every speck of dust in India had Ram, Krishna and Shankar in it. breakaway faction from Congress called Loktantrik appointed CM by the faction loyal to MGR, while J
Congress that included leaders Naresh Agarwal Jayalalithaa engineered a split. It was Janaki’s claim
RJD’s futuristic plan and Jagdambika Pal. On February 21, 1998, the that Governor S L Khurana accepted as CM. On the day
Bihar’s principal Opposition party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has got a new state “In the first Cabinet meeting of new government, Loktantrik Congress withdrew its support to the of the floor test, DMK and AIADMK legislators violently
president. The previous incumbent, Ramchandra Purve has been sacked and replaced they chose to discuss how to prove majority Kalyan Singh government. The governor dismissed clashed in the assembly and police had to intervene.
by former MP and Lalu Yadav confidant, Jagadanand Singh. Singh is said to be non con- secretly, instead of discussing on how assistance the government and swore in Jadgambika Pal as Though the speaker announced that the cabinet had
and relief can be given to farmers suffering from
troversial and has a calm presence. Local newspapers say Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s unseasonal rains. If this government has majority, the chief minister late at night, a decision that the won the motion of confidence, the Central
heir apparent, was not happy with Purve. Elections in Bihar are due in 2020. By replacing then why are they secretly calling the house?” high court reversed the next morning. Government under Rajiv Gandhi refused to accept it
Purve with Singh, the strategy is to associate the Rajputs (of whom there are few in num- Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on
n
Satish Prasad Singh (one week) and used Article 356 of the Constitution to dismiss
bers) and upper castes with the RJD that is considered a party of Yadavs and Muslims. the new Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP coalition In 1968, Satish Prasad Singh became the youngest Janaki’s government the following month.

by President Sirisena, which defeated development. So while Gotabaya failed to win

OPINION Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2015. With the in the Tamil- and Muslim-majority northern
subsequent election of Wickremesinghe, Delhi and eastern coastal areas, and in the central
JAIRAM RAMESH thus hoped for a “pro-India” regime in highlands, the electorate there will be focused
Colombo, but that soon proved to be an illu- on his ability to revive economic growth.

GDP: An imperfect
sion as China continued to strengthen its eco-
nomic, political and security influence on the What is your assessment of the
island. As with the blockade on Nepal, in Sri president's India visit?

measurement
Lanka, Delhi’s security establishment realised These high-level visits are excellent optics to
that Indian sticks are of little use against signal that the relation is on a positive track
Chinese carrots. and has political investment from both lead-
This forced India to rebuild its bridge to ers. For Modi, it was the successful culmina-

I
think, it is important for the government to first acknowl- the Rajapaksas, which were courted again tion of two years of silent background work,
edge the reality that for the last eight quarters, quarterly since 2017, with several visits between Modi rebuilding relations with the Rajapaksas based
GDP growth has been declined. GDP is an imperfect meas- and Mahinda. The lessons for India are obvi- on the assessment that they would return to
ure of economic performance. But, you take any indicator of ous: Sri Lanka will keep balancing between power, sooner or later, in one way or the other.
the real economy whether it is rail freight, growth in bank India and China, and Delhi will have to focus For Gotabaya, on the other hand, the visit was
credit, electricity consumption, it is an extraordinary situation more on economic delivery, rather than the a low-cost affair to signal that he is willing to
that in a country like ours electricity consumption is showing traditional policy of denial and repair the relationship with
the lowest growth rates. coercion. India, not offering any con-
I think, the first step in addressing the economic situation While Mahinda has always crete commitments.

ILLUSTRATION BY BINAY SINHA

is acknowledging the reality that we are in a difficult situation.
I am glad that India has reached a stage where coming from 7
per cent to 5 per cent is defined as a slowdown. In many coun-
tries of the world, 5 per cent growth would be a miracle growth,
but, in India, it is changing aspirations of India that an econ-
omy that is growing at 5 per cent is unacceptable, and eco-
nomics textbooks will not define 7 per cent fall to 5 per cent
fall as a recession. It is a reflection of the changed circum-
stances in India over the last 25 years that we are not accepting
a growth rate of 5 per cent. So, I would make an earnest plea
to the finance minister to first acknowledge that there is a
problem. You cannot address the problem unless you
acknowledge that there is a problem.
Secondly, we are seeing the cumulative effects of a decision
taken on November 8, 2016, which was a political masterstroke
but it was a move that cost the economy very dearly. We are
seeing the prolonged effects of demonetisation. The govern-
ment and the party in power has benefited politically and
from a perception point of view from demonetisation but the
economy has paid a very heavy price for the demonetisation.
Thirdly, there can be no dispute that goods and services
taxt (GST) was a major step forward and a major reform. Let
us not argue who stopped GST, who accelerated GST. The idea
of GST first came into the public domain in 2004. We know
the history of what has happened. GST was implemented but
the haste with which GST was pushed through has created
many problems for small and medium businesses, has created
many problems for trade, has created many problems for
exporters, who are finding themselves priced out of interna-
tional markets because of delayed refunds. So, when we say
GST, it is not against the idea of GST, it is not against the archi-
tecture of GST also but it is the manner in which GST was
pushed through. I am glad that over the last two years, a num-
ber of amendments have been introduced in the structure of
GST, in its procedures and in its compliance. It is just like the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, we are learning by doing.
GST was a completely new world we were entering but the
effect, the combined effect of demonetisation and the GST,
which was pushed through hastily, has created a situation
where today the growth rate is declining.
The next point I wish to make is that Manmohan Singh,
when he was the finance minister and also when he was the
prime minister, but more so when he was the finance minister,
always used to say that investment is not just an economic
decision. Investment is a psychological decision. It reflects
the sentiment of the investor. I agree with Binoy Viswam, no
economy in the world has grown on the back of foreign direct
investment (FDI). I would request the finance minister to give
up the obsession with FDI and focus on DI. Forget the “F”
and focus on “DI”, “direct investment”, “domestic invest-
ment”. It is the “DI” that is going to take the economy out of
the woods.
Why is “DI” not picking up? Why is the domestic invest-
ment not picking up? Why is it sluggish? It is sluggish because
of the problems in the financial system, because of loss of
demand but it is also sluggish because there is an atmosphere
of uncertainty, fear, intimidation. The Finance Act of 2017
gave extraordinary powers to tax officials, which we did not
debate in extenso, and, I think, what has happened today is
that people are reluctant to invest because of simple policy
that if you do not do anything, nothing will go wrong.
So, I would like to make a request to the finance minister.
She is announcing one economic measure after the other, like
any finance minister would, but she has to really get behind
the psychology of investment. She has to look at laws relating
to tax policy and tax administration, which has created an envi-
ronment in small businesses, medium businesses and large
businesses, which is creating this uncertainty as far as the invest-
ment is concerned. So, I think, it is not just economics but it is
the psychology factor which is important. Sir, on a number of
measures, I stood up and supported the government. On the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, I have spoken on four occa-
Constantino Xavier, fellow, foreign policy, Brookings India tells Aditi Phadnis, Sri Lanka's new
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be a realist in his foreign policy, delivery on promises made by
New Delhi will be central to India-Sri Lanka relations. Edited excerpts:
‘India cannot take
Lanka for granted’
How do you see the outcome of the
presidential elections in Sri Lanka
impacting domestic politics in Sri Lanka?
The result reflects a return to the majoritari-
an Sinhala current that emerges cyclically in
Sri Lanka, beginning with the election of
SWRD Bandaranaike, in 1956. Except for
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resounding victory of
2010, the last president to be elected with a
larger margin than Gotabaya was Chandrika
Kumaratunga, back in 1994. This reflects the
electorate’s sense of exhaustion with four
years of chronic instability, including a failed
alliance between President Maithripala
Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe, marked by chronic infight-
ing. Governance suffered and the economic
growth declined to a record low in two
decades. After the post-war high under
Mahinda, with growth rates of nine per cent
in 2012, this slow-down was the main reason
why voters backed Gotabaya.
There is concern especially among urban
and upper-income voters that a return to the
Rajapaksas will also mean curtailing of civic
rights and growing authoritarianism.
Mahinda’s extra-constitutional attempts to
topple the government, last year, also raised
eyebrows internationally. But he ended up
backing off then and now a clear majority vot-
ed for his brother Gotabaya, even while expect-
ing him to continue to command the country’s
destinies, in parallel as the Prime Minister.
Helping rickshaw-pullers embrace EVs
A Varanasi-based startup is promoting sustainable transport by empowering
rickshaw-pullers to move to electric versions, writes Sneha Bhattacharjee
Mahinda’s last tenure was seen as skewed
to accommodate China's interests much
more than India's. Is this accurate? Do
you see a course correction this time,
given that both Sri Lanka and China's
priorities are slightly different?
Indian concerns about Sri Lanka’s proximity
to China are mostly an expression of its own
insecurity, failure to communicate clearly with
Colombo, and inability to deliver credible eco-
nomic alternatives. For example, back in 2005,
Mahinda had offered India first to develop sev-
eral infrastructure projects, including the infa-
mous Hambantota port now leased to China
for 99 years.
Unfortunately, due to domestic pressure
from Tamil parties, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh never ended up in Sri Lanka
between 2009 and 2014, and even refused to
attend the 2013 Commonwealth summit host-
ed by Sri Lanka. While the Rajapaksas may
have understood the UPA’s domestic compul-
sions, the relationship suffered. So Mahinda
and Gotabaya naturally looked elsewhere for
economic support, and China was more than
willing to step in.
After 2014, already under Prime Minister
Modi and the new Neighbourhood First policy,
India might have then overcompensated and
put excessive emphasis on coercive policies,
hoping that Sri Lanka would somehow fall in
line again. So, India reportedly played a back-
ground role in facilitating a new alliance, led
been the charismatic political But the challenge is for both
leader, Gotabaya has focused on sides to now follow up. The
leveraging Sri Lanka’s situation greatest concern is that
at the heart of the Indo-Pacific, Gotabaya will repeat the game
where Chinese, Indian, CONSTANTINO XAVIER Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli
American and other interests Fellow, foreign policy, played with India over the last
are competing for influence. Brookings India three years: He gave in to all of
This means that despite his Indian protocol demands and
campaign proclamations about political optics, visited Delhi
“equidistance” and “geostrate- first, proclaimed India first,
gic neutrality,” Gotabaya will be willing to pri- then waited for India to forget about him, and
oritise relations with India as long as he gets went on to do more business with China. So
something in return. So we should expect a with Sri Lanka, this week’s visit was only the
cold-blooded, transactional relation that prologue to a long game where India is
requires a lot of engagement and mutual trust required to keep Colombo constantly engaged
to sustain. If Delhi wants Gotabaya to stick to at all levels.
its red lines, for example not allowing China Just five or 10 years ago, I complained that
to militarise the Hambantota port, then it may Delhi invested too little in high-level summits
have to put the Tamil and decentralisation with political leaders from neighbouring coun-
issues on the backburner. tries. Except for Rajiv Gandhi’s troubled trip
India cannot take Gotabaya’s goodwill for to sanction the IPKF, before Prime Minister
granted. To avoid surprises and miscommu- Modi went to Sri Lanka in 2015, the last proper
nications as in the 2014-15 phase, Delhi will state visit by an Indian Prime Minister had
have to invest in continuous dialogue, at the been in 1979. But today, we have come to the
highest level, followed up by constant bureau- opposite extreme: it often feels like too many
cratic engagement. visits and too little follow up in substance.
Hopefully we will see more concrete achieve-
Should minorities in Sri Lanka be more ments over the next year, including many
afraid now? pending announcements since 2015, for exam-
In 2014, I visited Jaffna and many other Tamil ple in regard to upgrading the Trincomalee
cities in the north, including the LTTE’s for- port or reviving the rail and ferry links with
mer capital Kilinochchi. This was just five Tamil Nadu.
years after the end of one of Asia’s oldest and The second challenge will be to balance
bloodiest civil wars and the defeat of one of the security and economic dimensions of
the deadliest insurgent and terror organisa- cooperation with Sri Lanka. Especially after
tions the modern world has seen. People there the Easter terror attacks, India has pursued
were hardly supportive of Mahinda who was several new counter-terrorism and intelli-
then the president, and the army remained gence sharing initiatives, but the endgame
firmly in control, running most of the econo- will be to achieve greater economic interde-
my and accused of many civic violations. pendence. This is why India’s connectivity
But the road, telecommunication, public efforts are so important, including the new
services and other critical infrastructure had air link to the renovated airport in Jaffna, the
been modernised formidably, which might new Colombo port terminal developed jointly
explain why we have not seen a single major with Japan, and various other investments in
incident of Tamil terrorism since then. People the rail, energy and port sectors. These are
seemed concerned but partially also content the important, silent successes of India’s new
with the new peace and economic moderni- connectivity strategy, which require more
sation. Poverty incidence in the northern and diplomatic and technical investment. During
eastern provinces reduced massively, and this week’s visit, India announced another
growth peaked at 25 per cent between 2009 loan of USD$ 400 million for such infrastruc-
and 2012. ture projects.
Many developmental challenges remain Most importantly, there has been no
and political reconciliation and transitional progress on the Comprehensive Economic
justice have made no progress, even under Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which was
Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. But the older supposed to have been announced two years
generation of Tamil political leaders has been ago. Delhi conveniently points the finger at
unable to engage with the post-conflict reality: Colombo’s concerns about liberalisation of
minority identity claims remains salient, but migration in the services sector, but where
voters in the north and east now place greater there is a political way there should be an eco-
emphasis on how parties deliver on economic nomic way.

sions. I have welcomed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. I
have suggested amendments to it and the government has been
proactive because we are learning by doing.
But one thing of this government which I cannot support
in good conscience is “panic privatisation”. The government
has come to the conclusion, as I see it, that the engine of
growth is going to be privatisation. And this is not planned
out privatisation. This is “panic privatisation”. You are pan-
icking. And what are you privatising? You are privatising
Navratna Companies, Maharatna Companies and strategic
companies. And how are you going to privatise them? Who is
going to buy it? Are you going to create monopolies? We pri-
vatised the IPCL in 2002. We created a monopoly. We priva-
tised VSNL in 2002. The company that bought VSNL went
bankrupt. I think privatisation as a panacea for India’s eco-
nomic ills is very, very ill-advised and ill-judged. Much has to
be done to reform the public sector. Everything is not right
with the public sector. But the answer to that, in my view, is
not to privatise profit-making companies and not to privatize
strategic companies in the hope that the investment envi-
ronment is going to improve and growth is going to pick up. I
believe that this “panic privatisation mode” of the government
may yield short-term revenues, but in the medium- and long
term, it will be detrimental to the interests of the economy.
This will weaken the foundations of industrial growth.
Edited excerpts from a speech by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh in the
Rajya Sabha during a short duration discussion on economic situation
in country, November 27
T
he last decade has seen a major push Krishna’s journey began in 2015 when he remaining 25 per cent that is needed to be self-
for electric mobility to enter the mass set up his venture in Varanasi. The plight of financed by the rickshaw puller is still a large
market. Apart from climate change, manual rickshaw-pullers was what moved amount,” says Krishna who took a pilot project
there are a number of other factors that have Krishna the most. As he saw them abused and to convince banking partners to fund 90 per
contributed to this push, including advances manhandled by passengers or street vendors, cent of the cost for some 23 rickshaw-pullers.
in renewable energy sector, battery technolo- working long hours with hardly anything sub- The unavailability of major players in the
gy, and urbanisation. With 22 of the 30 most stantial to sustain themselves or their families, electric mobility market is another challenge.
polluted cities in the world being in India, the Krishna realised he should help them out in Big players despite their presence do not focus
central government had approved an outlay some way. SVM Green Solutions was the much on three-wheelers, feels Krishna. Then
of ~10,000 crore for three years till 2022 to sub- answer. The start-up helps rickshaw-pullers there are local players, who outsource from
sidise electric vehicles (EVs) change over to EVs through varied sup- China or any other part of the world, have
and drive the adoption of elec- port strategies — from mobilising the slowly started building their in-house capacity
tric mobility in the country. community and assisting them to access but again fall short when it comes to three-
However, despite the cen- micro finance, to handling the purchase wheelers. “There needs to be an alignment
tral government’s push, the and delivery of the three-wheeler, fulfill- between the policies and the stakeholders, the
local administration fails to ing the registration process, obtaining local and central governments,” adds Krishna.
reciprocate the same. Naveen insurance, and training them in steering Krishna’s venture offers a one-window solu-
Krishna, founder, SVM Green the vehicle. The venture has till date been tion that improves the livelihood of rickshaw-
Solutions, found this to be the able to help 1,328 rickshaw-pullers. pullers and also introduces them to the green Naveen Krishna with one of the women
most challenging aspect of THE OTHER With a 74-member team, the venture mobility segment. In order to mobilise rick- beneficiary of SVM’s programme ‘Vahini’
setting up his venture — operates in several cities in Uttar Pradesh shaw-pullers and create awareness of e-rick-
which helps rickshaw-pullers INDIA and Bihar. Getting here has not been easy. shaws among them, the start-up even conducts overcome issues like long charging time, bat-
move towards battery-operat- To involve stakeholders is cumbersome, campaigns and events. Once an amount of tery maintenance, and less mileage,” he adds.
ed rickshaws from the manual feels Krishna. The biggest being the bank- interest is generated, Krishna’s team approach- The venture has also launched a pro-
ones. “The local administration considers e- ing partners, who do not see the rickshaw- es them with their services. “We also offer a gramme, ‘Vahini’, to enable more women to
rickshaws as a traffic menace,” says Krishna pullers or anyone from the below poverty line pay-per-use battery-swap service, ‘SMART enter the mobility arena. The company has tak-
adding how it is a challenge to convince the category as credible lender. “They are willing Charge’, aimed at giving the e-rickshaw drivers en up the responsibility of installing their vehi-
authorities that e-rickshaws will instead solve to finance only 75 per cent of the cost of an access to high-performance lithium-ion bat- cles with a cloud-based camera and providing
the last mile connectivity problems. EV, which costs around ~1.5 lakh. But the teries with the objective of ensuring that they smartphones to ensure women safety.
 >
OPINION 11
Volume XIII Number 37
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019

Trickle-down corruption
istrations are, so to speak, the business end
of the ease of doing business environment.
For instance, almost half the respondents
(49 per cent) said the bribes were for prop-
The malaise persists at state and local-level governance erty registration and land-related matters.
Only 12 per cent of citizens said corruption
on these two accounts had fallen over the
system. That Telangana, one of the first
states to introduce a citizens’ portal for a
slew of common goods and services, figures
as India’s fifth-most corrupt state tells its
own story (Rajasthan, Bihar Jharkhand, and
Uttar Pradesh preceded it). It is worth noting,
however, that well over a third of the respon-
despite the passage of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, which deems a bribe an
offence attracting seven years’ imprisonment
or a fine or both. This situation points to the
inherently weak institutional foundations of
governance in India, which creates a vicious
circle of venality. The absence of robust sys-

P
rime Minister Narendra Modi’s
promise to establish a corruption-
free government in India would
have come up against a reality
check of sorts from the results of the 2019
India Corruption Survey conducted by
Transparency International and Local
Circles, a social media firm. Although the
headline findings of the survey point to a
five percentage point drop in corruption lev-
els — 51 per cent of Indians admitted to pay-
ing a bribe this year against 56 a year ago —
the figure for 2019 was higher than the 2017,
which was 45 per cent. The survey covers
81,000 respondents in 248 districts across
20 states.
The striking point about the more gran-
ular findings of the survey is that the bulk of
the corruption is at local levels. Thus, even if
we assume that Mr Modi is able to make the
central government corruption-free, the
malaise will persist at the lower levels of the
country’s governance structure — at state
and local government levels. This has criti-
cal implications for India’s future as an
investment destination, since local admin-
past year. Equally worrying is the fact that
Indians who admitted to paying bribes said
they did so multiple times in the year, sug-
gesting that corruption remains as endemic
as ever. The survey also contradicts the com-
mon notion that posits technology interface
as the optimum bulwark against corruption,
especially in citizen-facing services. Some 44
per cent of respondents said they paid a
bribe in an office that had computerisation,
and 16 per cent said that they paid a bribe
despite the office having a functional CCTV
dents who admitted to paying bribes paid in
cash, a potent signal that at least one of the
key objectives of the tectonic 2016 experi-
ment with demonetisation had failed.
Although Transparency International's
global Corruption Perception Index showed
that India had risen three places in the ranks,
those results are at variance with the findings
of this intra-country corruption survey —
some 48 per cent of respondents felt that
states had taken no effective steps to tackle
corruption. Corruption persists in India
tems to punish bribe givers plays into the
hands of the political class. It enables them to
enhance their powers by becoming centres of
routine approvals and clearances. They may
offer investors a degree of certainty in place
of the tortuous uncertainties of dealing with
wilfully inefficient local officials but it
involves an unhealthy element of discrimi-
nation and arbitrariness in governance,
which are embedded with risks for investors.
It is for the political class, then, to set the
standard first.

The rise of counter-revolution How to transform

The basic values on which modern civilisation rests are facing challenges across the world. How this will be
resolved is one of the most pressing questions of our time
Indian Railways
PHOTO:REUTERS
RAGHU DAYAL up to 150 km travel constituted 22.8 per
ALOK SHEEL cent of total non-suburban passenger

T
he beleaguered Indian Railways traffic in 2016-17, but yielded only 1.2

T
he common thread stitching together the great
revolutions of the modern era, such as the
English, American, French, Russian, Chinese and
anti-imperial (including the Indian freedom movement)
was a virtuous paradigm of basic values on which mod-
ern civilisation rests.
This paradigm comprises reason and the scientific
method (which accelerated material well-being), indi-
vidual freedoms (on which democracy rests), the equal-
ity of all humans irrespective of colour or creed (which
spawned the rule of law and socialist experiments), fra-
ternity (the basis of modern nation states), humanism
(which elevates human beings above the supernatural
and divine) and secularity (the belief that all religions are
equally valid, the end of the divine right of rulers and the
separation of Church and State). At the philosophical
level, free trade and markets were an application of the
concept of individual liberty to economic activity.
The ancient and medieval world embraced some of
these basic values, such as logical reasoning (the Socratic
method of classical antiquity, the Ajnana school of scep-
ticism in ancient India, and the medieval Islamic
Mutazilite rationalist school) and individual liberty
(Athenian democracy). These were, however, not part of
a virtuous paradigm, resulting in contradictory out-
comes. Thus, you had the coexistence of Athenian
democracy with slavery. Logic without the experimen-
tal approach could not lead to a systematic scientific
method that accelerated material well-being.
It bears reiteration that the great divergence between
east (China and India) and west (Europe and the “white”
settler colonies) opened up only after the west embraced
this virtuous paradigm, collectively known as the
“European enlightenment”. The movement towards
convergence between east and west commenced when
the former started adopting this paradigm.
Not all these values were adopted in equal measure in
all western societies, and later modern eastern societies,
at all times. There were also unresolved tensions between
the basic values. Social Darwinism legitimised slavery
and imperialism. The Russian and Chinese revolutions
rejected individual freedom and free markets. The polit-
ical and social structures arising from such tensions,
such as slavery, empire, and dictatorships, ultimately
failed, or reformed radically, as these tensions were
resolved. Social Darwinism was a travesty of the scientific
method, which was quite different in the physical and
human sciences. Imperialism privileged economic free-
dom over political liberty and fraternity, while Left wing
dictatorships privileged equality over individual liberty.
These values are basic and not arranged in any hier-
archy. The resolution of these tensions, first with the end
of imperialism in the mid-twentieth century, and later
following the fall of the Berlin wall towards its end,
infamously led to an influential belief in the “end of his-
tory” — meaning that this virtuous paradigm had tri-
umphed not once, or on multiple occasions, but for all
time. Some tensions however remained unresolved.
While most political groupings, from the left to the
centre to the conservative right, have accepted the vir-
tuous paradigm, it has not gone unchallenged. The
counter-revolutionary far right comprehensively reject-
ed the basic values of the European enlightenment. It
seeks to benefit from the fruits of modern science with-
out genuflecting to either reason or the scientific method;
it holds the concepts of individual liberty and equality in
contempt; it disregards humanism, and where its beliefs
are secular, it elevates the leader to a god-like status.
Mostly seen as a lunatic fringe through much of the
last two centuries, there are two historical phases where
it appeared that the counter-revolution might turn the
clock back. The first attempt during the interwar peri-
od in Europe failed spectacularly. The concept of
Hindutva, an extension of this counter-revolution in
Bringing down the Berlin wall. The fall of the wall thirty years ago led to an influential belief in the “end of history”,
meaning that civilisational values had triumphed, not just once, but for all time
India, could not also prevail over the revolutionary
movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. Over the last two
decades radical Islam has gone down the same path.
This paradigm is again under major attack, includ-
ing in India, for the second time since the nineteenth
century. This belies the belief in the end of history, as
it is by no means self-evident that the virtuous para-
digm will prevail. Unlike the interwar period, the major
challenge this time round comes not from newly estab-
lished countries like Germany and Italy, but long-estab-
lished democracies such as Western Europe and the
United States, where the para-
The far right digm originated, and the oldest
holds the major democracy in the former
concepts of colonies, India. As before, the
individual philosophical roots of this chal-
liberty and lenge lie in tensions among the
equality in basic values of the virtuous para-
contempt; it digm, this time not between but
disregards within two basic values.
humanism, and The first tension is between
elevates the political liberty and economic lib-
leader to a erty, manifested through trade
god-like status and markets. Once considered
indivisible, and vindicated by the
fall of the Berlin wall, the attractiveness of the East
Asian — including the reformed Chinese — model
(which privileges economic freedom over political free-
dom) has steadily grown, as western capitalism floun-
ders with declining growth and widening inequalities.
The second tension lies within the basic value of
fraternity, between the inclusive and exclusive aspects
of nationalism. The former gave rise to modern nation
states on the back of the breakup of the old-world
empires, and later to the nationalist revolt against impe-
rialism, itself an expression of the exclusive aspect of fra-
ternity. Whereas the tension between liberty and equal-
ity was resolved through social democracy, even though
inclusive nationalism had a synergy with humanism
(which exclusive nationalism did not), this tension was
never resolved despite the end of imperialism. This ten-
sion has unsurprisingly resurfaced, as the rising tide of
migration pitches residents against non-residents.
Ironically, even as classical socialism got the bal-
ance between liberty and equality wrong, it got the bal-
ance between inclusive and exclusive nationalism right,
as its original impulse was to strive for “permanent rev-
olution”, which did away with nation states. Might this
permanent revolution apply to its bête noire, capitalism,
which remains unstable with national borders?
Both the major challenges to the virtuous paradigm
arose in the wake of heightened globalisation accom-
panied by major crises of capitalism, the first following
the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the second fol-
lowing the Great Recession a decade ago. There is, how-
ever, a fundamental difference between the globalisa-
tion of the late nineteenth century and that of a century
later. The former was not virtuous as it was enforced,
being violative of both liberty and fraternity. The latter
is virtuous, based on both economic and political free-
dom, and fraternal in every sense.
The first major challenge was resolved after a dev-
astating war. How might the tensions underlying the
second end, or be resolved, is arguably one of the most
pressing questions of our time.
The writer is RBI Chair Professor at ICRIER. These views are
personal
(IR) has now appealed for corpo- per cent of revenue! Besides systemat-
rate benefactors to step in, to get ically discouraging short rail journeys,
its trains and stations cleaned, according IR needs to corporatise “regional” and
to recent newspaper reports. Caught in a suburban services.
low incremental growth trap, and con- Despite the steady induction of
tinuing to live beyond its means, IR expensive technologies and the out-
appears to be going the Air India way. sourcing of a slew of activities, IR is
How could the IR management over-staffed. It has as many as 150 offi-
remain oblivious of the gathering storm? cials of the level of joint secretary and
Freight output and passenger traffic above, crowding Rail Bhawan. The
recorded a dismal 0.26 per cent and 0.53 shears should have been wielded first in
per cent compound annual growth rate Rail Bhawan and then right across the
(CAGR) over the period 2014-19; but its system.
working expenses clocked 5.54 per cent IR should immediately corporatise its
CAGR, far beyond its gross earnings, at production units and construction wing,
just 4.09 per cent. In the first five months segregate its passenger and freight busi-
(April-August) of FY20, freight receipts nesses, and restructure the Railway Board.
are short by 15.6 per cent and passenger It could integrate civil engineering with
earnings by 5.1 per cent of the budgeted signalling, mechanical with electrical, and
amount; gross revenues are 14.1 per cent merge material procurement with, say,
less than budgeted, but working expens- finance. To enhance the Board’s cohesion,
es are 2.7 per cent higher than budget one member each should be made
estimates. responsible for (a) freight logistics servic-
IR’s ills are both multifarious and es along with information technology; (b)
well-known — acute capacity crunch on the passenger business; (c) infrastructure
arterial routes, overstrained terminals, — track, signalling, electrification, land
irrational fare and freight structure and buildings; (d) rolling stock and equip-
haemorrhaging its finances, and warped ment; (e) HRD, including industrial rela-
investment priorities. Its tions, vigilance, and safety;
capital expenditure of over Indian Railways and (f) finance, including
~5 trillion in the last four should accounts and material
years shows no respite immediately management). The chair-
despite the capacity crunch. corporatise its man would be the CEO,
IR is moving towards a debt production units handling overall coordina-
trap. Its lease hire charges and construction tion, planning, R&D, and
keep mounting — the provi- wing, segregate its external relations.
sion of ~11,489 crore for FY20 passenger and Also, senior general
amounts to 5.6 per cent of freight businesses, administration positions
working expenses. The wage and restructure in IR, such as heads of divi-
bill, budgeted at ~86,554 the Railway Board sions/zones and members
crore, along with ~50,100 of the Board must be
crore appropriated to the pension fund, manned only by those who are exposed
accounts for 66.9 per cent of working to the rigours of operations in the field
expenses (~2.05 trillion for 2019-20). and interaction with customers.
IR has failed to follow simple business The Bibek Debroy Committee found
norms of optimally pricing its services that “IR’s efficiency was better with 9
and judiciously restructuring invest- zones than with 16”. It would be prudent
ments. Its passenger business consumes to restructure the organisation, including
two-thirds of its resources, but yields one- streamlining the traditional four-tiered
third of revenues. Cross-subsidisation of organisation into a three-tiered system.
passenger services means it is out-priced If required, IR could thereafter re-draw
in the freight market. Scarce resources the geographical areas of its 16 zonal
are spread thinly on scattered projects, administrations, even increasing their
providing little tangible relief on con- number to, say, 22-25. Concomitantly,
gested routes. Important capacity- large station complexes, major freight cen-
enhancing corridors, if fast-tracked, tres, maintenance depots and installa-
would yield the desired benefits. tions should be placed under empowered
A rigid bureaucratic structure is anti- area managers.
thetical to a business ethos. Most rail- Since the mid-1990s, China Rail has
ways the world over, including in Russia, continuously launched extensive
China, Germany, France, and the UK, are reforms, including drastic restructuring,
autonomous corporate entities. IR must downsizing, divestment, and stringent
shed the ambivalence inherent in its accountability. CR, already the world’s
widely — and mistakenly — perceived most dynamic railway system, carries a
role of a departmental undertaking with quarter of the world’s rail traffic over six
a public service obligation. per cent of the world’s track length. CR
The IR management has just intro- lagged behind IR until some thirty years
duced ten “Sewa Service Trains”, most ago; today, it is the global leader in rail
traversing only 30-100 km. Such short- technology. IR needs an innovator’s “cre-
distance “regional” trains devour scarce ative destruction” and leadership aimed
track and terminal capacity, and cause focusing its energies.
maximum losses among passenger
services. Non-suburban commuters The writer is former chairman, Container
availing of season ticket concessions for Corporation of India

> OTHER VIEWS

Sharp rise in bad loans under The challenge in Maharashtra Illegal immigration continues
Mudra is cause for concern Power-sharing will be a big issue Menace is due to government’s laxity
Reserve Bank of India should step in After a month-long political theme. Who will take the big Over 3,000 people of Indian ernments in curbing these
churn, Uddhav Thackeray political decisions? origin are lodged in US malpractices.
to examine extent of fallout has formally taken over as The second issue is ideo- Immigration and Customs Rather than confronting
Maharashtra’s chief minister. logical. While the common Enforcement detention cen- the problem, politicians have
The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has often been held up as While the Shiv Sena had chief minimum programme of the tres; most of them are been busy scoring brownie
the solution to India’s job problem. But not only has its per- ministers in an alliance with alliance mentions its com- accused of violating immi- points by “rescuing” Indians
formance on creating new jobs been underwhelming — a the Bharatiya Janata Party mitment to secularism, it will gration laws. Last week, the who go abroad through unau-
report in this paper showed that not every loan translated to (BJP) in the 1990s, this is the have to be seen whether the US deported 150 Indians for thorised channels and get
new jobs — there are now grave doubts over the quality of the first time a Thackeray him- Sena has indeed moved from violating visa norms or ille- stranded there. The menace
loans extended as well, with a sharp rise in the number of self is leading the govern- its Hindutva worldview, or gally entering America. A of runaway NRI husbands
loans turning non-performing. On Tuesday, RBI Deputy ment. It is also the first time whether the NCP and considerable number of these also continues unabated.
Governor M K Jain voiced concern over rising bad loans that the Sena has come Congress have moved to a deportees are from Punjab, With the US and other coun-
under the scheme. At the end of 2018-19, Mudra loans worth together with its arch rivals, more majoritarian outlook in including Bathinda’s tries tightening the noose
~8.93 trillion had been sanctioned by Member Lending the Nationalist Congress practice. The government has Jabarjung Singh. Sent back around illegal immigrants,
Institutions (MLIs), Anurag Thakur, minister of state for Party (NCP) and the the numbers and is constitu- for the fourth time, he is still India — and Punjab in partic-
finance, said in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. Of Congress, relegating the BJP tionally legitimate. But it desperate to try his luck yet ular — should ensure that the
these, only 2 per cent or ~17,651 crore had turned non-per- to the Opposition. There are must always remember that again. He claims to have paid shady agents are brought to
forming. But, in the subsequent six months, there has been two issues in particular which the voters of Maharashtra did a total of ~24 lakh to a travel book. A nationwide cam-
a sharp rise in bad loans. will pose a challenge. The not vote for this particular agent and spent six months paign is needed to dissuade
Poor credit appraisals and lack of monitoring by banks, first, as in any coalition gov- combination to come to pow- in seven US camps. The fact people from putting their life
wilful defaults, and the growing inability to pay back obliga- nerability for them. While the political overtones of the scheme ernment, is power sharing. er. If it wants to win popular that the unscrupulous opera- savings — and life — on the
tions due to a slowing economy could have all played a part. are hard to dismiss, the RBI should examine the implications While the three partners have legitimacy, it will have tor repeatedly managed to line in pursuit of dollar
But, coming at a time when banks are struggling to resolve their for the financial system more closely and step in if necessary. arrived at a broad deal, ques- to deliver. send Jabarjung overseas dreams.
existing pile of non-performing loans, this spurt in bad loans tions about the exercise of highlights the abject failure
under Mudra may end up becoming another source of vul- The Indian Express, November 29 power will be a constant Hindustan Times, November 29 of the Central and state gov- The Tribune, November 29
12
>
MUMBAI | 1 DECEMBER 2019 1

Thackeray-led govt passes Twist to Singur: Panel to decide

on arbitration in dispute
floor test after BJP walkout
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA issued through the governor to convene
ISHITA AYAN DUTT
Kolkata, 30 November

A new chapter is set to

unfold in the 10-year-old
SINGUR TIMELINE
Aug ‘16: Supreme Court
sets aside land acquisition
to Aloke Chakraborti;
WBIDC also agrees to
Mumbai, 30 November a new session but that was not the case, Tata Motors-Singur saga. for Tata Motors project nominate Jayanta Kumar
Fadnavis said. A three-member arbitral in Singur Biswas as its nominee
Feb-Mar ‘17: Tata Motors May ‘19: Arbitral Tribunal set
T
he Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha He also claimed that the oath-taking panel will deliver its deci-
Vikas Aghadi government of the ceremony of Thackeray and six sion on whether or not to claims compensation from up; V S Sirpurkar named
Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress other ministers was also not in line with start arbitration proceed- WBIDC; WBIDC rejects claim presiding arbitrator
alliance passed the floor test in the the rules. “Someone took Balasaheb ings in the dispute sur-
Apr ‘17: Tata Motors invokes Jun ‘19: Tata Motors files
Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday. Thackeray’s name, someone took rounding the acquisition of
The BJP, which has 105 MLAs, names of (Congress chief) Sonia land in Singur shortly.
arbitration clause and statement of claims of
staged a walkout before the head (Gandhi) ji and (NCP president Sharad) At the heart of the dispute nominates A K Ganguly; around ~934 crore +
count of members began in the 288- Pawar Saheb. The oath was not taken as is Tata Motors’ claim for WBIDC does not appoint interim interest
member House. per the given format,” Fadnavis added. compensation of the losses nominee; Tata Motors
files application under Aug ‘19 - WBIDC files
The boycott was against the “unlaw- On the floor test being conducted incurred in Singur — the
Section 11 of Arbitration application under section
ful manner” in which the ministers on the pro tem speaker’s watch, location of the Nano project
and Conciliation Act, 1996 16 before Arbitral Tribunal
were sworn in and the House session Fadnavis said this was done as the gov- — from which it pulled out
convened, BJP legislature unit leader ernment was scared of losing the trust in 2008, following a Mamata before Calcutta HC Sep ‘19: WBIDC files
Devendra Fadnavis said. vote under a regular speaker. “They Banerjee-led agitation by Mar ‘19: HC disposes of the counter claim seeking
He faced flak from the ruling com- were afraid their government will col- locals against the acquisition matter after Tata Motors compensation of ~267 crore
bine over the move, with former CM lapse if regular Speaker is there...That’s of land. The statement of agrees to change its along with pendente lite
Prithviraj Chavan describing Fadnavis, why we walked out. We are going to claims filed by the company nominee from A K Ganguly interest
who quit as CM on November 26 before write to the governor saying the busi- has put the figure at nearly
his three-day-old government faced the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, along with Shiv Sena MLAs, ness was not transacted in line with the ~934 crore with interest.
floor test in the Assembly, as a sore loser. visits Shivaji statue before the floor test in Maharashtra Assembly Constitution,” he said. A Tata Motors spokesper- is the sunk cost and interest. tion that the Arbitral
“Fadnavis ran away from the arena in Mumbai on Saturday PHOTO:PTI Uddhav Thackeray, wearing a saf- son said, “We cannot com- After WBIDC rejected its Tribunal doesn’t have the
like a sore loser and the country has fron turban, thanked the House mem- ment on this as the matter is claim, Tata Motors invoked power to adjudicate claims of
seen this live on TV,” Chavan said. Raj Thackeray. the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance bers and people of Maharashtra after sub judice.” Tata Motors the arbitration clause under Tata Motors under the lease
Altogether 169 MLAs vote in favour Claiming that the business trans- was scared of losing the floor test, he the pro tem speaker declared that his started seeking compensa- the Arbitration and deed of 2007. The next date
of the motion of confidence, moved by acted in the Assembly ahead of the floor said in the House. “Business is being government had won the floor test. tion for its losses after a Conciliation Act, 1996. Later of hearing is on December 2,
former CM Ashok Chavan and second- test was in violation of Constitutional transacted in the House in violation of “I thank all the members for trusting Supreme Court verdict that an application was moved in when an order on Section 16
ed by senior NCP and Sena members. norms, the BJP staged a walkout, the Constitution. The session itself is me. I also thank the people of the state. set aside the acquisition of Calcutta High Court. is expected. Clauses relating
Pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil adding it will raise the issue before not in line with the rules,” Fadnavis It is not possible to work without their 997 acres by the Left Front- Between 2017 and March to compensation and arbitra-
informed the House that four MLAs Governor B S Koshyari. Fadnavis object- told reporters after BJP members blessings,” he said. led West Bengal government 2019, issues of maintainabili- tion do exist, however, in the
abstained during the vote. ed to replacement of party MLA Kalidas staged the walkout. “There was some pressure before in 2006 to help it set up the ty of the arbitration clause termination clauses of the
They include two from the All India Kolambkar as the pro tem speaker with “Since national anthem was played coming to the House as I did not have Nano plant in Singur. That and selection of nominees lease deed.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), NCP’s Dilip Walse Patil. out after the last session, this means it the experience of working in the House was August 31, 2016. The dominated the high court The lease agreement
one from CPI(M) and a member of the Such a replacement happened for ended sine die,” Fadnavis said. but only on the ground. I feel fortunate apex court directed the state proceedings. Finally, on between Tata Motors and
MNS, led by Uddhav’s estranged cousin the first time in the history of India as A summons was required to be to be here,” he said. government to take posses- March 28, 2019, the Calcutta WBIDC for the Singur land
sion of the land and re-dis- High Court accepted nomi- had an arbitration clause
tribute it to the owners. nations for respective arbi- that could be invoked if a
Thereafter, Tata Motors trators and said that the arbi- court or any other authority

Jharkhand Assembly poll sees 64.12% voter turnout
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA A total of 3,783,055 elec-
Ranchi, 30 November torate, including 1,801,356
women and five third-gender
An estimated 64.12 per cent voters exercised their franchise
votes were cast in 13 con- during the day to elect their rep-
stituencies of Jharkhand resentatives from among 189
Assembly where polling was candidates, including 15
held in the first phase on women nominees.
Saturday, Election Commission Polling on Saturday was
officials said. held in Chatra, Gumla,
The 13 constituencies are in Bishunpur, Lohardaga, Manika,
six Maoist-hit districts and Latehar, Panki, Daltonganj,
polling was held amidst tight Bishrampur, Chhatarpur,
security. The voting was by and Hussainabad, Garhwa, and
large peaceful and ended at 3 Bhawanathpur constituencies.
pm, the EC officials said. The Bhawanathpur con-
stituency has the maximum of
28 contestants, while Chatra
has the lowest with nine.
Jharkhand Additional
Director General of Police,
Murari Lal Meena said LWEs
exploded a bomb near a culvert
in Bishnupur Assembly con-
stituency in the forests of Gumla
district but there was no casual-
ty or damage. Meena said a total
of 1,097 polling stations were
marked as hypersensitive and
461 polling stations as sensitive.
The BJP, which is seeking a
second straight win under the
leadership of Chief Minister
Raghubar Das, contested from
12 seats in the first phase and
supported an Independent
candidate. The AJSU party,
which is an NDA ally contested
on its own.
The opposition alliance of
the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,
the Congress and RJD were also
in the fray in the seats. Congress
contested in six seats, JMM in
four and the RJD in three con-
stituencies in the first phase.
The other parties which con-
tested in the first phase were
Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand
Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik),
JD(U) and the Left parties.
Key candidates in the fray
were BJP nominee and state
Health Minister Ramchandra
Chandravanshi and JPCC presi-
dent Rameshwar Oraon, who is
taking on his predecessor
Sukhdeo Bhagat, who has joined
the BJP. The next four phases of
polling for the 81-member
assembly will be held on
December 7, 12, 16, and 20.
Counting is scheduled on
December 23.
wrote to West Bengal
Industrial Development
Corporation (WBIDC) for
reimbursement of its losses.
WBIDC rejected the claim
on grounds that the arbitra-
tion clause had perished
with the lease deed, as the
Supreme Court had struck
down the land acquisition
for the project. Tata Motors
had invested nearly ~1,800
crore in establishing the
plant which was almost
ready to roll out cars.
However, the project relo-
cated to Sanand in Gujarat
and what the company is
looking for now, is to recover
trators would nominate the
third arbitrator in line with
the terms of the agreement.
Subsequently, Tata Motors
filed a statement of claims
amounting to nearly ~934
and interest; WBIDC filed
counter claims of ~267 crore
along with pendente lite
interest on account of invest-
ment made in the land.
WBIDC has also chal-
lenged the arbitration clause
before the panel under
Section 16 of the Arbitration
Act, which confers powers on
the Arbitral Tribunal to rule
on its own jurisdiction.
It is praying for declara-
declared the land acquisition
proceedings had not been in
accordance with the provi-
sions of the law. The lessee
would then be entitled to
compensation for losses
incurred, equal to the actual
capital expenditure made,
mentioned the agreement.
On October 3, 2008, when
Tata Motors pulled the plug
on manufacturing the Nano
out of Bengal, the equipment
had already been installed
and trial production had be-
gun; 15-20 cars were ready for
roll-out.
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