cmyk
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA
WEATHER
Max: 30OC
Min: 22OC
Rainfall: Nil
ASTROGUIDE
Vikari: Margazhi 18
Tithi: Ashthami
Star: Uthiratathi
Rahukalam:
10.30 am to 12 noon
Yamagandam:
3.00 pm to 4.30 pm
PRAYERS
Fajar: 5.15 am
Zohar: 12.17 pm
Asar: 3.28 pm
Maghrib: 5.53 pm
Isha: 7.09 pm
SUNSET TODAY 5.54 PM
SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.32 AM
MOONRISE TODAY 12.16 AM
MOONSET TOMORROW 11.54 PM
High Court takes up
issue of Mahabs
monuments’ upkeep
Chennai: The Madras high court
has directed the state govern-
ment to give the list of the
recognised NGOs, recognized
guides working at the tourist
places and other recognized
volunteers, who can undertake
the review system for
maintaining cleanliness and
upkeep of the monuments and
other places in Mahabali-
puram. ■ P3
Firefighter dies
during rescue
op in Peeragarhi
New Delhi: A fire-fighting
operation in northwest Delhi's
Peeragarhi turned deadly after
a portion of the building that
housed the manufacturing unit
of inverter batteries collapsed,
killing a 28-year-old fire ser-
vice personnel and injuring his
14 colleagues.
The accident happened in less
than one month of the Anaj
Mandi fire that killed 45 peo-
ple.
Taiwan’s top military
officer killed in
chopper crash
Taipei: Taiwan's top military
officer was killed in a heli-
copter crash on Thursday, the
defence ministry said, just
days before the island goes
to polls to elect a new presi-
dent. The chief of the general
staff, Shen Yi-ming, was amo-
ng eight senior officers -- inc-
luding three major-generals --
who died when their Black
Hawk helicopter smashed
into mountains near Taipei.
COUNTER POINT
Market report
GOLD
24 ct (1 gm): `3,923.00
22 ct (1 gm): `3,736.00
SILVER
INDICES
Bar (1 Kg): `50,400.00
Sensex 41,306.02 pts
Nifty 12,182.50 pts
EXCHANGE US$: `71.22 Euro: 79.85
India has most babies on January 1
United Nations, Jan. 2:
India recorded the highest
number of babies born
worldwide on New Year's
Day with the world's sec-
ond most populous country
registering an estimated
67,385 births out of the
nearly 400,000 babies born
globally on that day, the UN
children's agency said.
An estimated 392,078 babi-
es were born around the
world on New Year's Day,
according to UNICEF. Of
this, an estimated 67,385
babies were born in India,
the most globally. China co-
mes in second with 46,299
www.facebook.com/deccannews, www.twitter.com/deccanchronicle, www.deccanchronicle.com
■ Final results of local body polls only on Friday
Dravidian parties in seesaw
battle as counting stretches
J.V. SIVA PRASANNA
KUMAR | DC
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
The counting of votes for
the Tamil Nadu rural
civic polls which, com-
menced at 8.00 am on
Thursday, from 315
counting centres amidst
tight police security, is
expected to go all through
the night. The final resu-
lts may be announced
only on Friday.
The initial trends saw a
seesaw battle between
ruling AIADMK and the
opposition DMK, which
accused the ruling party
of deliberately withhold-
ing results. By the end of
Thursday, DMK
appeared to take the lead.
The marathon count-
ing process that made
political parties restless
has proved momentous
for a few independents
who romped home the
winner in some seats.
As per the latest
reports, DMK is leading
in both Panchayat
Unions wards and
District Panchayats. By
about 4 p.m, AIADMK
had established a clear
lead and was surging
ahead.
Hours later, it was the
DMK's turn to take the
lead. DMK remained in
the lead in 162 district
panchayats wards and
AIADMK trailed just
behind and in the
PLEA BY BHARATHI
HC directs SEC
to file detailed
affidavit on
counting
Chennai: The Madras
high court has directed
the state election com-
mission to file a detailed
and comprehensive affi-
davit as to the manner
in which the counting
process is going on and
recording through CCTV
cameras, declaration of
results as well as
request for recounting if
any made by 4 pm
Friday. Justice M.Sathy-
anarayanan gave the
directive on a petition
filed by R.S.Bharathi,
the organising secretary
of DMK, after hearing
elaborate arguments
from senior counsel
P.Wilson for the peti-
tioner and senior coun-
sel A.R.L.Sundaresan for
the state election com-
mission. ■ P4
year and a new decade is an
opportunity to reflect on
our hopes and aspirations
not only for our future, but
the future of those who will
come after us,” UNICEF
Executive Director Hen-
rietta Fore said. “As the
calendar flips each Janua-
ry, we are reminded of all
the possibility and poten-
births. The babies born will tial of each child embark-
add to the world's current ing on her or his life's jour-
population of about 7.8 bil- ney-if they are just given
lion – a population that the that chance.” Fiji in the
UN expects could peak at Pacific most likely deliv-
nearly 11 billion around ered 2020's first baby, while
2100. the US, the last of the New
“The beginning of a new Year's Day. Globally, over
CHENNAI I FRIDAY 3 I JANUARY 2020
FC | 12
Tata moves apex court
against NCLAT order
FROM YOUNG TO OLD
WINNERS Preethi Mohan, a
22-year old second
Riya, a 30-year old year postgraduate
transwoman of the DMK student won as union
was declared elected union councillor from Salem
councillor in Namakkal
district’s Tiruchengode
District’s
Ayothiapattinam
Panchayat Union. She is the
first transwoman to win a
Panchayat Union.
local body election in
Tamil Nadu on the
Sandyarani Jayasarathi, a
21-year old woman and a
ticket of a recognised student was elected vil-
political party,
according to local
lage panchayat presi-
dent of KN Thotti in
Krishnagiri district.
officials.
Several from humble background were successful, including
Saraswathi, a former sanitary worker who was elected as a
village panchayat president from Virudhunagar district.
Also, in districts including Ramanathapuram a number
of elderly women ranging between 70 and 80 years
were elected to civic posts and these were allocated
to women.
of DMK candidates, espe-
Panchayat
Unions wards too the
cially in the constituen-
cies of the Chief Minister
opposition party was
clearly in the lead in 1,177
and Deputy Chief
Minister. Denying any
wards. irregularities, State
DMK chief M. K. Stalin Election Commissioner
in his complaint to the Palaniswamy said the
State Election counting process might
Commission (SEC), extend till Friday with-
alleged that the officials out any break.
and AIADMK cadre were The DMK has regis-
withholding the results tered an impressive vic-
58 persons held during
anti-CAA stir released
DC CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW,
JAN. 2
The additional sessions
court in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh, on Thursday
released on bail 58 per-
sons arrested during the
anti-CAA protests in the
state.
Actor-activist Sadaf
Jafar and several others, Sadaf Jafar
however, remained in
jail while Bollywood amended citizenship law
celebrities like Mahesh had gone violent. Mahesh
Bhatt, Swara Bhaskar Bhatt said that without
and Sushant Singh liberty, “free institutions
demanded her release.
Jafar, who is also a
are a sham”.
Among those granted
Congress spokesperson,
was arrested in Lucknow
on December 19 while
live on Facebook from
bail were environmental
activists Ekta and Ravi
Shekhar, who ended up
in police custody while
the spot where the
protests against the
protesting against the
Citizenship Amendment
half of these births were
estimated to have taken
place in eight countries -
India (67,385), China
(46,299), Nigeria (26,039),
Pakistan (16,787), Indonesia
(13,020), United States of
America (10,452), Democra-
tic Republic of Congo
(10,247) and Ethiopia
(8,493). Each January,
UNICEF celebrates babies
born on New Year's Day, an
auspicious day for child
birth around the world, it
said. However, for millions
of newborns around the
world, the day of their birth
is far less auspicious. In
SPORT | 14
Sri Lanka team arrive
for Guwahati T20
tory in Sathankulam,
Paramathi
Nainarkoil areas win-
and
ning Panchayat Union
Ward Member seats. The
ruling AIADMK's candi-
date has won the post of
Panchayat Union Ward
Member in Karur district
and the post of Panchayat
Union Ward Member in
ward 5 of Aravakurichi
panchayat town in the
Act and the NRC nearly
two weeks ago. Their 14-
month-old baby was all
over the news and the
child had taken ill in the
past few days.
“I didn”t think it would
take so long,” an emo-
tional Ekta told the
media as she hugged her
daughter after two
weeks. “Main bata nahin
sakti (I can’t put it in
words),” she said when
asked how it felt.
The bail application of
the couple — nabbed
along with other protest-
ers from Left groups
from Beniyabagh and
nearby localities for vio-
lating prohibitory orders
under Section 144 CRPC
— was initially cancelled
by a lower court and the
next hearing fixed for
January 1. ■ P7
2018, 2.5 million newborns
died in just their first mo-
nth of life; about a third of
them on the first day of life.
Among those children,
most died from preventable
causes such as premature
birth, complications during
delivery, and infections like
sepsis. In addition, more
than 2.5 million babies are
born dead each year. UNI-
CEF said over the past three
decades, the world has seen
remarkable progress in child
survival, cutting the number
of children worldwide who
die before their fifth birth-
day by more than half.
Vishnu & Jwala look
ready to ramp it up
Vol. 15 No. 278 Established 1938 | 32 PAGES | ` 3.00
As per the latest
reports, DMK is
leading in both
Panchayat Unions
wards and District
Panchayats. By
about 4 p.m, AIADMK
had established a
clear lead and was
surging ahead
district.
In Madurai's
Arittapatti, 79-year-old
Veerammal has been
announced the winner in
the local body election for
Village Panchayat presi-
dent post — perhaps the
oldest contender in the
local body elections,
while in Krishnagiri dis-
trict, 21-year-old indepen-
dent candidate Jai
Sandhaya Rani has won
K.N. Thoti panchayat.
She is pursuing BBA at a
private college.
An independent candi-
date Selvarani created a
flutter at a counting cen-
tre in Langudi in
Tiruchy, alleging that the
symbol allotted to her did
not figure in the ballot
paper.
She was, however,
evicted by the police pre-
sent at the centre. At
Edappadi in Salem dis-
trict, the DMK members
observed a fast condemn-
ing the delay in announc-
ing their party candidate
as winner. ■ P4
A mother waits for treatment of her child at the JK Lone
hospital, in Kota district, Thursday. At least 100 infants
have died at the government-run hospital in Kota in the
past month.
KOTA TRAGEDY
Maya, Yogi slam Priyanka
over 100 baby deaths
SREEPARNA
CHAKRABARTY
NEW DELHI, JAN. 2
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's
enthusiastic campaign
against the CAA and NRC
in Uttar Pradesh has led to
some political heartburn
for BSP chief Mayawati
who on Thursday sought
to target the Congress over
the deaths of 100 children
in Kota in party-ruled
Rajasthan and asked as to
why the "woman Congress
General Secretary" was
not visiting the states and
the victims' mothers.
"It is very sad that the
Congress General
Secretary is keeping mum
on the deaths of 100 chil-
dren in the Kota hospital.
It would have been better
TABLOID
Expose Pak, don’t oppose
Indian Parliament: Modi
Tumakuru, Jan. 2:
Lambasting Congress and
its allies for opposing the
Citizenship Amendment
Act, Prime Minister Nare-
ndra Modi on Thursday sa-
id the ongoing protests
were against the Parlia-
ment and called on the agi-
tators to raise their voice
against Pakistan's atroci-
ties on its minorities for
the last 70 years.
The Prime Minister said
protecting and supporting
minorities of neighbour-
ing countries who have
sought refuge in India was
our cultural and national
responsibility.
"Those who are protest-
ing against the Parliament
of India, I want to tell them
that the need was to expose
Pakistan's deeds on the
world stage. If you want to
protest, protest and raise
voice against Pakistan's
deeds for the last 70 years,
you should have that guts,"
he said.
Addressing a gathering at
Siddaganga Math near he-
re, he said, "If you want to
shout slogans, shout again-
st the way in which atroci-
ties are happening against
minorities there; if you wa-
nt to hold rallies, hold it in
favour of dalits and down-
trodden who have come
from Pakistan (to India). If
you want to do dharna, do it
against Pakistans deeds."
Modi was speaking after pa-
ying respects at the 'Gad-
duge' (final resting place) of
Shivakumara Swamiji at
Siddaganga Math, a promi-
nent Lingayat seminary
here.
Pointing out that few
weeks ago the Parliament
passed the CAA, Modi said,
however, the Congress and
its allies and the ecosystem
created by them are stand-
ing up against the Indian
Parliament.
— PTI
if like Uttar Pradesh, she
would have met the moth-
ers of the children who
have died in the hospital,
due to the apathy of the
government of her party in
the state," Ms Mayawati
tweeted on Thursday.
The BSP chief began by
claiming that the attitude
of the Ashok Gehlot gov-
ernment in Rajasthan was
condemnable as it has mis-
managed the situation of
the 100 children deaths in
Kota and still remains
irresponsible and unsym-
pathetic to the situation.
The BSP supremo fur-
ther asked the people of
Uttar Pradesh to keep alert
about the political oppor-
tunism of the Congress,
specially the Ms Gandhi
Vadra. ■ P7
cmyk
DRDO establishes
five young
scientist labs
DC CORRESPONDENT
BENGALURU, JAN. 2
Five 'Young Scientists'
Laboratories' established
by Defence Research &
Development Organisati-
on (DRDO) in five cities
across the country, with
an intention to leapfrog in
advanced technologies
which are critical for
futuristic defence sys-
tems and could change
the way wars are fought,
were inaugurated by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in this tech hub on
Thursday.
Each of these DRDO Yo-
ung Scientists' Labora-
tories, or DYSL in short,
would provide opportuni-
ties for scientists aged
below 35 years to carry
out research in advanced
technologies such as Arti-
ficial Intelligence (Benga-
luru), Quantum Techno-
logy (Mumbai), Cognitive
Technologies (Chennai),
Smart Materials (Hydera-
bad), and Asymmetric
Technologies (Kolkata).
Case registered
against BJP’s
Raja, cadre
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
Chennai police have reg-
istered cases against 311
BJP workers, including
party's national secretary
H Raja, following a
protest they held in front
of the Gandhi statue in
Marina Beach. They had
demonstrated demanding
the arrest of Tamil orator
Nellai Kannan over his
controversial speech
against Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Home
Minister Amit Shah.
The leaders and party
workers on Wednesday
had made their way to the
beach, where protests
have been banned by the
Madras High Court. The
party workers including
H.Raja, Pon Radhakris-
hnan, CP Radhakrishnan
and L Ganesan were bo-
oked under IPC Section
143 (Punishment - Whoev-
er is a member of an un-
lawful assembly, shall be
punished with imprison-
ment of either description
for a term which may
extend to six months, or
with fine, or with both),
Section 145 (Joining or
continuing in unlawful
assembly, knowing it has
been commanded to dis-
perse) and Section 341
(Punishment for wrong-
ful restraint). ■ P2
 Special
Tamil tradition
PAGE
The DMK’s threat to launch an agitation to uphold Tamil tradition in
celebrating ‘Pongal’ has led PM Narendra Modi to change the date for his 2
nationwide students interaction programme to Jan. 20, said M. K. Stalin
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY I 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Centre should roll
back the hike in
railway fares
■ Tamil orator arrested at private lodge in Perambalur WINTER WEAR WOOS KIDS
Nellai Kannan sent to Salem
jail after judicial remand
M ARULOLI | DC check-up. Palayamkottai Central

immediately
TIRUNELVELI, JAN 2
— T. R. Baalu,
The elderly Tamil orator
Nellai Kannan, arrested
for his alleged provoca-
DMK MP
tive remarks against
Prime Minister Sri
Narendra Modi and
IN BRIEF Union home minister,
Amit Shah at an SDPI-
The Melapalayam
police have booked him
under three sections--
504, 505 and 505(2) under
IPC initially, also added
up two more sections
IPC 153 (A), indulging in
wanton vilification of a
religion and section
506(1), intentionally
prison, where he was
initially lodged.
Writer arrested for
However, as the
Congress lawyers led by
advocate T Kamaraj
hate speech
along with advocate FROM P1
Amalraj of the MDMK Meanwhile, on Wednesday
lawyers’ wing, raised night, the Tamil writer was
slogans against the state
and central govern-
arrested in Perambalur on
the charges of making hate

Vellammal School
student receives
award
Chennai: A Vellammal School
student has received ‘Young
Scientist Master award in 27th
National Children’s Science
Congress, Kerala. K. Rudhayan,
Class 9, has received award in
the 27th National Children’s
Science Congress held at Mar
Ivanios, Vidya Nagar, Kerala
between 27 and 31, 2019. K.
Rudhayan won the best proj-
ect for his excellence in invent-
ing light weight paper using
nanotechnology. He was
selected one among the 10
best young scientists by the
panel of experts. The 27th
NCSC was organised by the
party organised anti-
CAA meeting here last
Sunday was remanded
to judicial custody till
January 13 and later
directed to be taken to
Salem central prison.
Arrested at a private
lodge at Perambalur on
Wednesday night, Nellai
Kannan was brought to
Tirunelveli by the spe-
cial police party led by
inspector, Barnabas on
Thursday morning at
around 7 am and was
taken to Tirunelveli gov-
ernment medical col-
lege hospital for health
CAPTIVATING POSE
making a statement like-
ly to cause, fear to a sec-
tion of the public that
may induce people
against the state and dis-
turb public tranquility.
After having an exten-
sive health check-up,
Nellai Kannan was pro-
duced before
Tirunelveli district
Judicial magistrate
court-1 around 11 am.
Hearing the case, the
judicial magistrate Mr.
Babu remanded Kannan
to judicial custody, fol-
lowing which the police
took him to
ments within the court speech against PM and
premises and obstructed Home Minister. Based on
the police vehicle taking multiple complaints filed by
Nellai Kannan to the
prison by staging a road
BJP leaders, Kannan was
booked under sections 504
roko for a while, block-
ing public traffic on the
(Intentional insult with
intent to provoke breach of
T i r u n e l v e l i - the peace), 505(1)(b) (with
Thoothukudi highways, intent to cause, or which is
the police found it inad- likely to cause, fear or alarm Different varieties of muffler put up for sale on New Avadi Road in Chennai on Thursday.
visable not to keep to the public, or to any sec- —DC
Nellai Kannan in tion of the public whereby
Palayamkottai prison. any person may be induced
Hence, according to an to commit an offence against
official source,
police approached the
court which ordered to
shift Nellai Kannan to
the the State or the public tran-
quillity), and 505 (2) (state-
ments which create or pro-
mote enmity, hatred or ill-
CMRL inaugurates two-tier
Salem Central prison. will between classes) of IPC.
two-wheeler parking lot
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN 2

department of science and The Chennai Metro Rail

technology, Central govern- Limited has inaugurated
ment. two-tier two-wheeler park-
ing lot in Meenambakkam
Solar-powered Srikala Bharath
performing an
metro station on Thursday.
CMRL Director (Systems

ferry service ashtapadi

during a solo at
and Operations)
Narasim Prasad inaugurat-
L.

launched Indian Fine Arts ed the facility that can

accommodate five two-
on Thursday.
wheelers at ground level
Tirunelveli: Solar-powered and five at an elevation of 9
ferry service has been feet. A total of 10 two-
launched for the benefit of wheelers can be parked at a
tourists visiting the time instead of five. Two-tier two wheeler parking lot inaugurated at
Manimutharu dam in the dis- The parked vehicles are Meenambakkam metro rail station. —DC
trict, officials said. The oper- lifted to top through
ation of the solar-powered hydraulic power and similar facility in other Products Engineering Pvt.
boat would prevent water brought down through metro stations also. Among Ltd. and other CMRL offi-
pollutionand also protect gravitational force. CMRL others S. Prabhu, manag- cials took part in the pro-
aquaticanimals, they said has planned to introduce ing director, Swift Power gramme.
after the launch of the serv-
ice on Wednesday. The boat
would be used to ferry
tourists around the
Manimutharu waterfalls, the
officials said. The boat has
been purchased at a cost of
New baggage screening system at airport
DC CORRESPONDENT For the first time in-line
`58 lakh, the officials said CHENNAI, JAN 2 scanning will be introduced
adding 24 passengers can in domestic terminal and it
travel in it at a time. —PTI In an effort to enhance will be commissioned
security system at Chennai shortly. The Baggage Hand-
Bank employee
accused of sexually
Activist raises concerns on international airport, in-
line baggage screening sys-
tem with CTX (Computer
ling System (BHS) is also
upgraded with high per-
formance PLC, drives, con-
Tomography X-ray) scan- veyors and control system.

assaulting minor CoP’s comment on Gayatri ners was commissioned at

Coimbatore: A bank employ-
ee was arrested on Thursday
on the charge of sexually
abusing a minor girl at her
house here, police said.
Ramkumar, working in a
nationalised bank, had
entered the 14-year-old girl’s
house a couple of days ago
when she was alone and sex-
ually assaulted her, the police
said. Also, he threatened her
of dire consequences if she
revealed the incident to any-
one, they said. However, the
ninth standard student nar-
rated the incident to her
mother who lodged a com-
plaint, they said.
A case has been registered
under Pocso (Protection of
Children from Sexual
offences) Act and Ramkumar
arrested, they added. —PTI
CM making incorrect
statements on SEC
appointment: Bedi
Puducherry: Lieutenant
Governor of Puducherry
Kiran Bedi on Thursday said
Chief Minister V.
Narayanasamy was issuing
allegedly incorrect state-
ments by saying she has no
authority to appoint or quash
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN 2
A human rights activist
has raised serious con-
cerns over the statement
made by City Police
Commissioner A.K.
Viswanathan relating to
Gayatri Khandhadai,
booked for drawing
kolam during anti-CAA
protest on Sunday, about
her association with
Bytes for All (B4A), a
human rights organisa-
tion in Pakistan.
The police commission-
er while addressing the
media on Wednesday
made these comments on
detaining a few anti-CAA
protesters and about
investigating Gayatri’s
‘Pakistan connection’.
He also claimed that she
has the support of local
organisations
named
and
“Arappor
Iyakkam” in a defamato-
ry manner.
In a statement, Henri
Tiphagne, National Wor-
king Secretary, Human
Rights Defender’s Alert -
India (HRDA), stated
that Gayatri is a human
rights defender (HRD)
currently based in
Chennai. The advocate
had interned with
People’s Watch for a few
months in 2013. She had
worked with the Asian
Forum for Human Rights
and Development (FOR
UM-ASIA), an interna-
tional human rights
organisation based in
Geneva and Bangkok.
She is now associated
with the Association for
Progressive Communica-
tions (APC).
He said B4A is a human
rights organisation and
a research think tank
based in Pakistan focus-
ing on information and
communication tech-
nologies (ICTs) to pro-
mote the use of technolo-
gy for sustainable devel-
opment, democracy and
social justice.
Gayatri, in collabora-
tion with B4A, filed a
report on “Desecrating
Expression: An account
of freedom of expression
and religion in Asia”.
The report focused on
nine countries in Asia -
Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, Malaysia,
Maldives, Myanmar,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Vietnam. The study was
conducted in association
with the Asian Forum
for Human Rights and
Development (FORUM-
ASIA), Global Partners
Digital and the
Association for
Progressive Communica-
tions (APC).
The study showed how
states legitimized vio-
lence against religious
minorities and those
who raised their voices
against injustice. The
study highlighted the
need to have mutual
respect and acceptance
to ensure the co-exis-
tence of people practis-
ing various religions.
She was critical about
restriction of freedom of
expression in Islamic
countries.
HRDA has urged the
police commissioner to
restrain from any
actions impinge upon
the personal liberties
and fundamental free-
dom of Gayathri and
Arappor Iyakkam.
the departure terminal on
Thursday. The passengers
need not stay in long queue
and get their registered
baggage scanned before
dropping at the check-in
counters. This would
enable faster passenger pro-
cessing, minimum queuing
time, and less congestion at
check-in area.
Ooty invites more tourists
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
OOTY, JAN.2
Nearly three million
tourists visited Ooty, the
queen of hill stations, in
the year 2019, a good incre-
ase compared to 2018.
The Government
Botanical Garden(GBG)
here was the main attrac-
tion with 29.72 lakh
tourists, a jump of 99,826
more visitors than in 2018.
The tourist inflow to GBG
in 2017 was 30.37 lakh,
which dropped to 28.72 lakh
in 2018 and rose again in
2019. Out of 29.72 lakh
tourists who visited GBG in
2019, a little over 10 lakh
A total of eight state-of-
the-art CTX scanners have
been deployed at interna-
tional (4) and domestic (4)
terminals at a cost of Rs.58
crore. At international ter-
minal, the old EDS scanner
has been replaced with the
CTX scanner.
Tourists at Government Botanical Garden in Ooty.
The CTX 9800 DSi scanner
is capable of handling up to
1,800 bags per hour, making
the screening process faster
and more efficient. The sys-
tem can process more than
75,000 bags in each terminal
per week in domestic and
international terminal.
—DC
The complete system at
international & domestic
terminal has been thor-
oughly tested and certified
by Battelle, a TSA approved
agency based in USA, for its
performance and through
put as per TSA protocol and
also has obtained the
approval of BCAS, the apex
regulatory body for civil
aviation security in India.
visited Ooty in the summer
months of April and May
alone.
Meanwhile, tourism
stakeholders here have
pleaded for better infra-
structure facilities to han-
dle more flow of tourists. N.
Chandrasekhar, secretary
of the Nilgiris Hotels and
Restaurants Association,
said that more importance
should be given to bolster
infrastructure in the hills
by improving the condition
of roads and footpaths,
removal of encroachments,
better rest room facilities
and parking facility to han-
dle the increased flow of
tourists to the hills.

Monsoon keeps date with city, Margazhi chill missing

the appointment of the state
election commissioner (SEC).
The Chief Minister had said at
a press conference on
Wednesday that neither the
Lieutenant Governor nor the
Union Home Ministry has any
power to cancel the appoint-
ment of the the SEC to con-
duct the civic polls. “The
appointment is fait accom-
pli,” he had said. The Chief
B.Vijayalakshmi TDS level. Metro water
reduced supply and pri-
vate water tankers fleeced
Viewpoint residents with exorbitant
rates. Multi-storied apart-
ments resorted to
rationing of water.
to 6-7 per cent. Though
water levels in the reser-
voirs did not see any sig-
nificant improvement, the
SW monsoon rain helped
in preventing groundwater
levels from plummeting
against the normal 75 cm
between October and
December. The city also
has got the maximum
rains during the last three
months thus filling reser-
voirs and water bodies.

Minister had said theSECwas
appointed by the govern-
ment in July last year
through a notification issued
as per the then directions of
the Speaker on the floor of
the House in response to a
plea by members belonging
to both the ruling and oppo-
sition parties. In the wake of
the Speaker’s ruling, the gov-
ernment appointed a former
IAS officer of the territorial
government T. M.
Balakrishnan as the SEC
whose post was vacant for
some years.—PTI
M
oderate rainfall on
January 1 in
Chennai and other
surrounding areas was the
icing on the cake as the
city had faced severe water
crisis six months ago.
Consecutive monsoon fail-
ures, lack of summer
showers, unchecked
urbanisation and poor
maintenance of water bod-
ies had pushed the city
close to Day Zero.
While four reservoirs
that supply water to
Chennai went dry, ground-
water levels also receded
Chennai Metropolitan
Water Supply and Sewer-
age Board identified quar-
ries, lakes and farm wells
to draw water. Meanwhile,
the government decided to
build one more reservoir
on the fringes to augment
drinking water supply to
Chennai and neighbouring
areas.
However, Chennaiites
heaved a sigh of relief
A brimming Red Hills lake after Chennai received enough rains during last three when sudden showers in
months. —DC June-end broke the dry
spell. It recorded 56 per
between March-May. With ple began sinking However, some places cent above normal rainfall
open wells drying up, peo- borewells up to 700 feet. yielded water with high and city’s deficit dropped
further. The crippling
water crisis drove corpora-
tion and metro officials to
check the status of rainwa-
ter harvesting structures
in all houses and multi-sto-
ried buildings.
The northeast monsoon
set in over TN, early, on
October 16. Chennai and
other districts witnessed
heavy rainfall in isolated
areas for several days. NE
monsoon had been better
for Chennai than the previ-
ous years. Met department
officials said Chennai has
received 63 cm of rainfall
As 2019 drew to a close,
Tamil Nadu recorded two
per cent surplus rainfall
while Chennai recorded 17
per cent deficit. Driven to
the edge, Chennaiittes and
authorities learnt the need
to harvest rainwater and
safeguard water bodies the
hard way.
The showers, before NE
monsoon withdraws in
next few days, are likely to
cut this deficit by one or
two per cent. However,
with monsoon still around,
the city is missing the nip
in the air.
 Umasankar
City
Withdraw case
PAGE
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. S. Azhagiri urged Chennai police
commissioner A. K. Viswanathan to immediately withdraw the case against 3
research student Gayathri regarding ‘kolam’ protests in the city
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY I 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

■Give list of NGOs, guides, volunteers, HC tells government

Court takes up upkeep of

Nobody can drive a
wedge between
AIADMK and PMK
Mahabs monuments
DC CORRESPONDENT the Assistant Inspector the knowledge. However,
— D. Jayakumar, CHENNAI, JAN. 2 General of Police submitted the Mamallapuram Town
that in compliance to the Panchayat concerned was
TN minister The Madras high court has direction of the court, directed to peruse the
directed the state govern- the Superintendent of issues and address the gen-
ment to give the list of the Police, Kancheepuram uine concerns of this
SHORT TAKES recognised NGOs, recog-
nized guides working at
District had stated in his let-
ter that a separate wing
court, firmly deal with the
violations, if any, in letter

Man held under

Pocso Act
Chennai: The Secretariat
Colony All Women Police on
Thursday arrested a 23-year-
old man for sexually harassing
a minor girl in the city. The
accused has been identified
as Abdul Basir (23) of Otteri,
who is known to the victim’s
father. Police said he used to
visit her house and allegedly
torture her sexually. On
Wednesday too he had beha-
ved inappropriately with the
girl, following which she con-
sumed poison thinking that
her father would not believe
her. She was admitted to the
Kilpauk medical college hos-
pital for treatment. Based on
a complaint by the victim’s
sister, the Secretariat Colony
police booked Abdul under
Pocso act and lodged him in
Puzhal prison.
Farmers stage
the tourist places and other
recognized volunteers, who
can undertake the review
system for maintaining
cleanliness and upkeep
of the monuments and
other places in
Mahabalipuram.
A division bench compris-
ing Justices Vineet Kothari
and R.Suresh Kumar gave
the directive on a suo motu
proceedings initiated by it
on the basis of a note pre-
pared by Justice
N.Kirubakaran to preserve
the beauty and safeguard
the monuments and to pro-
tect the tourists visiting the
town.
The bench said Advocate
General Vijay Narayan
expressed the paucity of
funds with town panchayat
to undertake various munic-
ipal work by the town pan-
chayat and he submitted
that the ASI was collecting
major revenue from
the tourists at the rate of `40
per Indian and `600 per for-
eigner and therefore, if they
can do some funding to the
town panchayat, they would
be in a better position for
undertaking such mainte-
nance works in the said
tourists places of Mahabal-
ipuram. Assistant Solicitor
General G.Karthikeyan
appearing for ASI prays
some time to give the statis-
tics with regard to the rev-
enue received from the
tourists in the last three
years. The aforesaid infor-
mation and lists may be sub-
mitted before the next date
of hearing so that an inte-
grated approach can be
made by directing the
authorities concerned, the
bench added and posted to
January 22, further hearing
of the case.
Meanwhile, counter affi-
davits have been filed on
behalf of the DGP and Mun-
icipal Administration and
Water supply department.
In his counter, E.T.Samson,
comprising one
Inspector of Police and 4
other ranks that were
Sub-
well versed in English has
been formed and the same
was functioning in Mahabal-
ipuram police station exclu-
sively to deal with com-
plaints from foreigners.
Besides, police personnel
well versed in English
have been posted to the
aforesaid police station for
guiding foreigners properly
and for dealing with their
complaints effectively, he
added.
In his counter, S.Raman-
athan, Deputy secretary to
government, MAWS depa-
rtment the ASI-Chennai cir-
cle has already declared
ward nos. 8, 9, 12 and 13 of
Mamallapuram, as monu-
ment sites and any construc-
tion or renovation was
subject to the scrutiny of
the said competent autho-
rity. The violations have
been dealt with under appro-
priate rules as and when
the same was found by
the authorities or brought to
and spirit, to ensure the
beauty and to safeguard the
ancient monuments, he
RAIN-BATTERED ROAD
added.
He said the Town Pancha-
yat has been taking steps
to identify suitable lands for
earmarking exclusive
vehicle parking, with a hope
to bring the parking issues
to an end. Totally 290 shops
which had permanently
encroached the public
places were evicted in coor-
dination with revenue
and police departments.
The eviction drive was con-
ducted at regular intervals.
As regards the issue of
food safety was concerned,
the Sanitary Supervisors of
Town panchayat were given
additional charge till the
year 2011.
Thereafter, a separate wing
of Food and Drug
Administration (Food
Safety) under the health
department has been estab-
lished to deal with the same.
The said Food safety wing
was taking care of the same,
he added.
Due to continuous rains, Aavin road at Industrial estate in Ambattur lies
damaged on Thursday. —DC

road roko for

compensation
Chennai: Around 50 farmers
from six villages in Thirukazh-
Cop told to pay `50,000 for CISF officer on bike falls into canal, dies DC CORRESPONDENT dent of Vigneshwara he allegedly slipped and spot and fished his body
ukundram staged a demon-
stration blocking the
Kalpakkam-Thirukazhukun-
dram road demanding that
foisting false case on victim CHENNAI, JAN. 2

A CISF personnel died after

the government provide com-
pensation for crop losses due
to the heavy rains on Tuesday
night and Wednesday morn-
ing. According to sources, the
farmers from Veerapuram,
Aminjikarai, Vitilapuram,
Nerumbur and Vayalur vil-
lages in Thirukazhukundram
blocked the Kalpakkam-
Thirukazhukundram road near
Vitilapuram. They said their
lands were waterlogged and
their peanut crops were
destroyed due to the rainfall
coupled with a hailstorm.
They raised slogans demand-
ing compensation. On being
informed, village administra-
tion officials arrived at the
spot and held talks, after
which the protesters
dispersed.
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
State Human Rights
Commission has directed
a cop in Virudhunagar
district to pay a compen-
sation of `50,000 to a resi-
dent in the district for
detaining him by foisting
a false case against him.
In the complaint
C.Subburaj of
Anaikkaraipatti village
in Virudhunagar district
submitted on January 8,
2018, that he and his rela-
tive Mugar Agustina
were going to the hospital
on his two-wheeler.
R.Rajesh, SI, Ammapatti
police station, Virudhun-
agar district, intercepted
the bike and took him to
the police station and
assaulted him. C.Subb-
uraj sustained injuries on
his left shoulder, back, left
hand, left leg, and stom-
ach. Rajesh claimed that
Subburaj was involved in
sand theft.
He was kept in the lockup
and a false case registered
against him. The cop also
threatened him not to
inform the magistrate
about the torture. On
instruction from the mag-
istrate he was taken to the
hospital for treatment.
Later, he was detained
under judicial custody.
Stating that he was inno-
cent, he said the cop had
detained him on false
he lost control of his two-
Nagar in Soorapattu was
working as Assistant
Superintendent of Police
with Central Industrial
fell into the canal on the
roadside and drowned to
death.
Police sources said that
out.
The body was sent to
the Stanley govern-
ment hospital for post-
charges. Hence, he sought wheeler and fell into a Security Force (CISF), Raj a round 8 a.m. on Thursday, mortem. Police have
action against the cop. canal in Soorapattu near Bhavan in Guindy. the locals spotted his informed the family of per-
In the reply, R.Rajesh, SI, Puzhal. The body was On Wednesday night after body floating in the canal sonnel.
denied the allegation and recovered from the canal on work, Saravana Raj was and alerted the police. Upon A case has been registered
stated that many criminal Thursday morning. heading home in his two- receiving information, by the Madhavaramn traf-
cases were registered According to the police, wheeler and when he Madhavaram Traffic inves- fic wing and investigations
against the complainant Saravana Raj (53), a resi- was near Madhanakuppam, tigation police reached the are underway.
in various police stations
from 2014. While escaping
from him Subburaj fell
down and sustained
injuries.
SHRC judge D
Jayachandran said
R.Rajesh had violated the
human rights of the com-
plainant. The judge
directed the cop to pay
him a compensation of
`50,000 and recommend-
ed the government to ini-
tiate disciplinary action
against him.

Man holds wet EB post, electrocuted

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN. 2

A day after two TNEB work-

ers were electrocuted
while fixing a faulty trans-
former in Sowcarpet, a 26-
year-old man was electro-
cuted in the suburbs
when he came in contact
with an electric pole in
the small hours of
Thursday.
The deceased was identi-
fied, G. Senthil, a resident G. Senthil
of Railway Quarters in
East Tambaram. Sources city and suburbs on The electric pole in East Tambaram which claimed victim’s
said Senthil’s parents had Wednesday, water had life. —DC
died recently and he had stagnated on the roads.
been living with his brother While walking on jolt and was thrown off electrocution was not the
Vigneshwar in East Tambaram-Velachery road, and died instantly. Based on reason behind the death
Tambaram while working Senthil attempted to jump an alert, Selaiyur police since the pole was in good
for a private company in over stagnated water just recovered the body and condition. Police said pre-
the city. opposite the Selaiyur sent it to the Chrompet gov- liminary reports from the
The incident happened at police station when he ernment hospital for post- hospital say the man had
around 1.30 am on reportedly lost control and mortem. died due to an electric
Thursday when Senthil held on to an electric pole Police called upon TNEB shock.
was returning home from nearby. officials to repair the elec- A case has been registered
his friend’s place. Owing to The electric pole was tric pole. and investigations are
heavy rainfall in the wet and Senthil received a The workers alleged that underway.

HC dispenses with Stalin appearance

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
The Madras high court has
dispensed with the person-
al appearance of DMK
President M.K.Stalin before
the National Commission
for Scheduled Castes on
January 7 in connection
with the proceedings
initiated based on the com-
plaint given by BJP state
secretary alleging that the
office of the Tamil daily
“Murasoli”, a party organ,
has been illegally con-
structed on a Panchami
site.
Justice C.V.Karthikeyan
permitted any representa-
tive of the Murasoli Trust
can represent Stalin.
The judge adjourned to
January 21, further hearing
of the petition filed by
Murasoli Trust represented
by its trustee R.S.Bharathi,
challenging the jurisdiction
of the NCSC to hear the
complaint of R.Srinivasan,
BJP state secretary alleging
that Murasoli Pathipagam
was constructed on
Panchami land.
Senior counsel P.Wilson,
appearing for the petitioner
submitted that the NCSC
does not have the jurisdic-
tion to hear matters per-
taining to title of proper-
ties. Despite, trustee
R.S.Bharathi appearing in
person and explaining that
the Tribunal does not have
jurisdiction to hear such
matters, the Vice Chairman
of the Commission
L.Murugan was continuing
to abuse his office and
issued summons to the
DMK president to appear in
person. The trust was only
a tenant and the owner has
validity purchased the
land. The owner of the land
was Anjugam Pathipagam
and the titled can be traced
back to more than 70 years.
In fact, even the revenue
department has accepted
the title of Anjugam
Pathipagam, he added.
In his petition, Bharathi
submitted that the
Constitution of India does
not confer powers of adju-
dication of any kind, much
less adjudicatory powers of
the title over properties on
the Commission. In fact,
only the Civil Courts can
perform such adjudicatory
function, even if the com-
plainant was a member of
the SC community.
Otherwise, whenever one of
the parties to a property
dispute belongs to the SC
community, they can sim-
ply approach the NCSC
instead of a Civil court of
competent jurisdiction.
J.Jayalalithaa, the then
Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu on the floor of the leg-
islative assembly has
informed there were no
“Panchami sites” in
Chennai city. Therefore, the
allegation that the property
in which the petitioner was
running his newspaper, at
no stretch of imagination,
be called as “Panchami
site”. Except for the bald,
frivolous and vexatious
allegation, there were no
documents referred in the
complaint, he added.
 Politics
Jaya statue
PAGE
A bust of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has been
installed at the residence of AIADMK coordinator Deputy Chief 4
Minister O. Panneerselvam as a mark of respect to ‘amma’
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY I 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Police lathi-charge clashing groups

Centre should not
deny funds for
Cauvery river
clean-up
— Dr S. Ramadoss,
PMK founder
OTHER STORY
TN cops draw flak
for being soft on
BJP leaders
M. ARULOLI I DC
TIRUNELVELI, JAN. 2
The Tamil Nadu police that
acted swiftly to arrest the 74-
year-old popular Tamil orator
Nellai Kannan for his alleged
hate speech at an anti-CAA
meeting, however, came under
strong criticism for not being
tough against the virulent
statements of some BJP lead-
ers.
Pointing to a specific incident,
when Nainar Nagendran, the
vice-president of the BJP state
unit, made a public call to be
ready to kill those who speak ill
of Hinduism, at a public meet-
ing organised by the Aandaal
Bhaktha Sabha at Palay-
amkottai on January 2018
against Tamil poet and lyricist
Vairamuthu for his statement
on Aandaal, Usman Khan of
TMMK said that the Palayamk-
ottai police did not show so
much interest to make an
arrest while they chased the
elderly Nellai Kannan.
“The state police is reluctant
to act against BJP state func-
tionary Kalyanaraman against
whom some of the Muslim out-
fits lodged a complaint for his
slanderous tweet against
Islam,” noted Mr Khan.
Mr . Vaiko, MDMK general
secretary and Rajya Sabha MP,
responding to media on the
arrest of Nellai Kannan, in
Tirunelveli on Thursday,
expressed a similar
opinion, adding that Nellai
Kannan’s local slang had been
wrongly interpreted by the
police. Mr Vaiko also con-
demned the police action
against Nellai Kannan stating
that it was against freedom of
speech ensured by Indian
Constitution.
■ Row over results
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN.2
Police resorted to a mild
‘force’ to quell two clash-
ing groups during count-
ing in Thirumangalam
here on Thursday.
According to police, the
supporters of two inde-
pendents – Thavamani and
Munishwari, who have
contested for the post of
panchayat union president
– entered into an argument
over the final tally of the
votes taken up for count-
ing. Intially, Thavamani’s
supporters questioned the
delay in announcing the
‘victory’ of their candidate
and demanded the election
DMK resorting to violence, says AIADMK
Chennai:The ruling
AIADMK on Thursday
accused the DMK of atte-
mpting to thwart the coun-
ting process by indulging
in violence and prevailed
upon the State Election Co-
mmission to take appro-
priate steps and ensure the
counting of votes takes
place.
A delegation of AIADMK
office bearers led by for-
mer Minister C. Ponnaiy-
Wild gaurs
trigger panic at
counting centre
DC CORRESPONDENT
COONOOR, JAN.2
A herd of wild gaurs
which strayed into the
road near the counting
centre for local body polls
here on Thursday morn-
ing created panic among
the candidates and their
agents.
Large number of candi-
dates and their agents
had assembled at the
counting centre at
St.Antony’s Higher
Secondary School in
Coonoor, next to
Sim’s Park here.
Suddenly wild gaurs from
the nearby jungle walked
into the Sim’s Park road,
triggering panic among
the people. However,
the cops managed to
send the animals back
into the jungles.
commission’s counting
officials to make the anno-
uncement immediately or
take up re-counting.
As they could not obtain
a favourable reply, they
resorted to a sudden road
roko in front of the count-
ing centre. This provoked
the supporters of the rival
candidate and they enter-
ed into an argument.
Soon the wordy duel
between the two groups
ended in a clash and
the police who were
deployed at the counting
centre, lathi-charged them
to control the situation.
Sources said Thavamani
was later announced the
winner.
an met the State Election
Commissioner R. Palanis-
wamy on Thursday night
and petitioned him, in this
regard.
Earlier in the day,
Chief Minister Edappadi
K. Palaniswami Deputy
Chief Minister
O. Panneerselvam visited
the party office and con-
ferred with the party sen-
iors and cadres, over the
counting trends. —DC
Poll results delay: DMK complains to SEC
D. SEKAR I DC
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
With initial trends in
counting in the rural local
bodies elections on
Thursday indicating a
lead for the opposition
DMK, the party leader M
K Stalin led a delegation
of senior party func-
tionaries to the State
Election Commissioner
(SEC) and complained
that the official declara-
tion of results was being
"delayed" in many of the
districts in "a bid to stall
the DMK’s victory by the
ruling AIADMK".
Mr Stalin, who was
accompanied by party
Treasurer and veteran
Durai Murugan and DMK
parliamentary party
leader T R Baalu, handed
over a petition to the SEC,
Mr. Palanisamy, explain-
ing the "irregularities" at
the counting centres in
various districts, where
R.Palaniswami,
State Election
Commisioner
takes a look at
the trend of
results
displayed on SEC
website at its
headquarters in
Chennai on
Thursday
morning. —DC
he alleged that the poll
officials were ‘colluding’
with the AIADMK.
Speaking to reporters
after meeting the SEC, Mr.
Stalin said that the DMK-
led front was leading in 85
per cent of the posts in
rural local bodies at the
district panchayat and
panchayat union coun-
cilors’ levels, which were
held on party basis. But in
a bid to deny the ‘victory’
College girl elected 1st woman
<<<<<
Counting of
votes going
president of K’giri panchayat
SANJEEVI ANANDAN I DC
on for
Villivakkam
KRISHNAGIRI, JAN.2
panchayat Thanks to the state elec-
in tion commission changing
Tiruvallur the K.N. Dhoodi village
district at panchayat president post
Ambattur.
—DC
to one reserved exclusively
for women, a 21-year-old
college girl broke a male
preserve to become the vil-
lage panchayat head.
J. Sandhya Rani (21), now
studying BBA final year in
a private college of the
neighbouring Karnataka
state, on Thursday was
J. Sandhya Rani
declared elected as pan-
chayat president of K. N. Sandhya was among two
Dhoodi village in other women candidates in
Shoolagiri panchayat the electoral fray after
union in Krishnagiri dis- the final list was
trict, defeating her oppo- released by the election
nent by a margin of 210 commission. She is the
votes. The girl student youngest candidate when
polled 1,170 votes against compared to her rivals R.
her rivals’ tally of 950 Radha (41) and V. Anitha
votes. (31).
“I could not have contest- Sandhya smelt victory
ed the elections and right from beginning, as
become our village’s first her villagers believed that
women president if not for an educated young woman
the SEC’s decision,” a smil- could run its administra-
ing Sandhya told reporters. tion better. “I congratulate
The girl added, her for getting elected as
“my father would have con- our panchayat president.
tested again who was the
former president of our
panchayat. I should also
Sandhya became the peo-
ple’s choice because of her
education. She will prove
DMK president thank my mother for with- her talent by running the
MK Stalin drawing her nomination administration efficiently,”
speaks to the
media after
after coming to know my
decision to test the polls.”
R. Radha, one of the losing
candidate said.
meeting
Chief Election
Commisioner.
Party treasurer
and veteran
Cop on duty, candidate
Durai Murugan
and DMK
parliamentary
die of heart attack
party leader FROM P1
to elect 655 district ward
T R Baalu are panchayat members, 6,471
seen. —DC Meanwhile, a candidate panchayat union ward
who had contested for the members, 12,524 village
to DMK and its allies, the Dindigul and Minjur. post of panchayat presi- panchayat presidents, and
ruling AIADMK sought Mr. Stalin said since the dent in Tiruchendur in 99,324 village panchayat
the help of officials and SEC was not taking any Thoothukudi district ward members, covering 27
police in various places, action, he had directly passed away on Thursday districts.
particularly in Salem dis- come to meet the state morning following a Counting got delayed in
trict including Edappadi election commissioner heart attack. In another Pattukottai in Thanjavur
union, the Chief and complain to him. tragic incident, a police district due to delay in
Minister’s home turf, and "He has assured action constable on duty outside a preparatory work and in
were delaying the declara- and on that assurance we counting station in Othiyathur panchayat in
tion of results, charged are going back," Stalin Tiruvannamalai district Villupuram district, the
Mr. Stalin. The other said, but added the also died due to cardiac counting of votes was halt-
places where such irregu- DMK was also moving arrest. ed for about 30 minutes due
larities were taking place the Madras High court in The two-phase elections - to the absence of seal on
included Thooothukudi, this regard. on Dec. 27 and 30 - was held two ballot boxes.

NY GREETINGS SEC refutes DMK charge, says no PRO-CAA DEMO

irregularities in counting of votes
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN.2
State Election
Commissioner R.
Palaniswamy refuted a
charge by Opposition DMK
president M. K. Stalin that
the commission was biased
and asserted that the com-
mission is conducting itself
in an impartial manner.
"There is no truth in the
allegation. There were no
irregularities in the count-
ing of votes in rural local
bodies," Palaniswamy said
on Thursday Speaking to
reporters, he replied when
J. Jeyaseelan, president of the Indo-American Chamber of his attention was drawn to
Commerce, calls on Chief Minister the DMK chief ’s charges,
Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the secretariat in Chennai to that "there has been no
extend new year greetings. Other office-bearers of the wanton delay" on the part
chamber including vice president V.N. Parthasarathy, for- of the election commission.
mer president Dr A.Sakthivel and zonal director "We are conducting in an
Sujatha Ravishankar are also seen. impartial manner and the
counting is taking place
peacefully, fair and trans-
parent manner," he said
and added that in the past
too, the counting process
got extended to the next
day.
"Verify the record of civic
elections held in the past.
Counting of votes invari-
ably got over the next day.
Only in Melpuram union in
Kanyakumari district, the
counting was completed
and result announced in
the evening as Electronic
Voting Machines (EVMs)
were used for the first time
in the rural local bodies’
elections on a pilot project
basis.
Counting was completed
at Melpuram union at 3.30
pm, thus making it the first
union to declare the results
in Tamil Nadu.
As to the reasons for the
protracted counting, he
said each voter casts four
votes. These are segregated
and sent to the counting
tables. "The entire process
of counting is happening
under CCTV surveillance.
We have installed 16,000
CCTVs in 315 counting cen-
tres for the purpose. Also, a
three-tier security cover
has been put in place at the
counting centres," he said.
Counting would go on
uninterrupted in the night
and the result would be
announced on Friday,
Palaniswamy said.
Stalin had alleged that
the announcement of
result was being "delayed" BJP state secretary K. T. Raghavan, during a pro-CAA demonstration in the city, tells the
in many districts in "an media on Thursday that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not affect Muslims or any
attempt to stall the DMK’s Indians. —DC
victory by the ruling
AIADMK."

CAA: Stalin gives notice for private

Substandard yarn for free saris, CM: Pondy will adopt
dhotis: DVAC told to take action anti-CAA resolution member’s resolution in TN House
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN.2
The Madras high court has
directed the Directorate of
Vigilance and Anti-
Corruption to consider and
pass orders within 3 months
on a representation which
sought to take action
against those who involved
in malpractice and corrup-
tion in the supply of sub-
standard materials of yarn
to all weavers’ co-operative
societies for manufacturing
sarees and dhoties for the
“free saree and dhoti’ proj-
ect.
Justice M.Dhandapani
disposed of the petition
filed by T.Govindaraj, presi-
dent of E.H.194, Muthur
Powerloom Weavers co-
operative society in
Tiruppur district and also
the chairman of Federation
of Tamil Nadu Powerloom
Weavers Co-operative
Societies.
In his petition,
Govindaraj submitted that
while supplying the yarns
to the weavers societies for
manufacturing of dhoties
and sarees for the said gov-
ernment project, sub-stan-
dard materials were being
supplied. Due to the same,
the manufacturing of
dhoties and sarees were
totally affected as the yarn
got cut. Because of the
same, the production got
reduced every day. For pro-
curement of yarns, tenders
were floated and contracts
were awarded only to specif-
ic 5 or 6 firms in the past 10
years.
Though inspection report
was obtained through tech-
nical officials working in
the department of
Handloom and Textiles, the
quality of yarn was not test-
ed and more so, whether
such materials were actual-
ly got from the dying facto-
ries attached to the firms,
which were awarded with
contracts. Had it been tested
properly, good quality of
yarn with proper dying
could have been procured
by the department and
thereby good dhoties and
sarees with adequate num-
bers could be manufac-
tured, he added.
He alleged that by commit-
ting malpractices and cor-
ruption by paying excess
amount more than the mar-
ket rate, the officials were
misappropriated around Rs
21, 31, 21,250 and thereby
caused heavy loss to the gov-
ernment. At the same time,
substandard materials were
provided to the weavers’ co-
operative societies and
thereby caused severe loss
to them, he added.
New Delhi, Jan.2: The
Congress government in
Puducherry is planning to
adopt a resolution in the
next Assembly session seek-
ing scrapping of the contro-
versial Citizenship
(Amendment) Act as the one
adopted by Kerala, Chief
Minister V Narayanasamy
said on Thursday.
"Soon I will hold discus-
sions with the representa-
tives of all political parties
and take further action on
my plans to adopt an anti-
CAA resolution as the
Assembly is scheduled to
meet by this month end,"
Narayanasamy told PTI
over phone.
On a BJP MP’s letter to
the Rajya Sabha chairman
seeking action against
Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan for his
anti-CAA statements,
Narayanasamy said "even
in the Kerala Assembly, a
breach of privilege motion
against the BJP MP con-
cerned can be moved for dis-
respecting the House and its
sovereignty".
He said the Kerala
Assembly had jurisdiction
to adopt the resolution on
the new legislation. The 140-
member Kerala Assembly
on Tuesday adopted a reso-
lution seeking scrapping of
the CAA as it was "illegal
and unconstitutional".
However, the lone BJP MLA
in the House opposed it by
saying that the Act was
being "misinterpreted" and
lies were being spread by
the Left Democratic Front
and the UDF for "narrow
political gains". "Like
Parliament’s decisions are
not questionable, what is
happening inside the
Assembly also can’t be chal-
lenged. Who can question
their privileges?"
Narayanasamy said. —PTI
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN.2
The DMK president and
opposition leader,
M K Stalin on Thursday
submitted a letter to the
State Assembly Secretary,
giving notice urging that
requirement under Rule
172 of the ‘Assembly Rules’
be relaxed to take up his
private member’s resolu-
tion to press the Central
government to withdraw
the controversial
Citizenship Amendment
Act (CAA) in the forthcom-
ing Assembly session
beginning on January 6.
Mr. Stalin’s communica-
tion was handed over to the
Assembly secretary, Mr.
Srnivasan, by a team of
DMK MLAs’ led by Ma
Subramanian and P K
Sekar Babu.
Under rule 172 of the
House, a member who
wishes to move a resolution
"shall give 15 clear days
notice of his intention to
move the resolution and
shall, together with the
notice submit the text of
the resolution which he
wishes to move." Mr. Stalin
in his notice has urged that
this rule be relaxed to take
up this important resolu-
tion demanding withdraw-
al of CAA in the forthcom-
ing session.
As per the resolution Mr.
Stalin intends to move, the
CAA, followed by the
Centre’s moves on updating
National Population
Register (NPR) or for
preparing National
Registry of Citizens (NRC),
sought to divide the people
of India on religious/eth-
nic lines that could under-
mine the unity and integri-
ty of India.
The Tamil Nadu
Assembly should press the
Centre to withdraw the
CAA, a controversial
legislation opposed by the
people at large as it
excludes the Muslims
and Sri Lankan Tamils,
brings in a religious
criterion for citizenship
which is against the basic
structure of the
Constitution and which
could sow the seeds of dis-
cord and hatred among the
people, Stalin’s proposed
resolution said.
The independent MLA,
Tamim-un Ansari in a let-
ter to the Chief Minister,
Edappadi K Palaniswami
has also sought a Kerala
Assembly type of resolu-
tion to be passed by the
Tamil Nadu Assembly urg-
ing the Centre to repeal the
CAA.
However, official sources
that Mr. Stalin’s private
member’s resolution was
unlikely to be taken up at
short notice as the first ses-
sion of the Assembly would
be only for a week.

Award for Edappadi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami
has been chosen for the ‘2019 Best Governance
Award’ by Hello FM radio station
Severe IPC sections
slammed on Nellai
Kannan very cruel
— Vaiko,
MDMK leader.
SHORT TAKES
Ayyakannu,
supporters begin
week-long fast in
Tiruchy
Tiruchy: Members of the
Desiya Then India Nathigal
Inaippu Vivasaayeegal
Sangam led by their state
president P. Ayyakannu
began a novel protest here
on Thursday, observing a
day-long fast for a week in
half-naked attire and spor
ing ‘Namams’ on their
foreheads near the central
bus stand.
According to Mr.
Ayyakannu they are
demanding among other
things write off all farm
dues as per the Supreme
court’s directions, to pro-
vide suitable compensa-
tion to the farmers family
of those who committed
suicide due to poverty and
drought during 2016, prof-
itable price for agricultural
produce, and to start work
on the proposed linking of
Cauvery Gundaaru-Vaigai
rivers immediately.
Saplings planted
at toll gates on
highways
Coimbatore: The alumni of
IRTT Engineering College,
Erode, under the ‘Vidhai’
initiative, on Thursday
planted saplings at toll
gates across the State to
make state highways
‘green’ . Ravi and
Ramakrishnamoorthy, for-
mer students of the col-
lege, took the lead in
Coimbatore by planting
saplings near the Kaniyur
toll plaza. As many as 500
saplings were planted by
volunteers. “Across the
state around 10,000
saplings measuring up to
eight feet were planted at
50 tolls gates on
Thursday.” Ravi said.
Around 250 volunteers par-
ticipated in the initiative in
Coimbatore.
Grand finale of
national spell bee
contest in Kovai
Coimbatore: The grand
finale of the national Spell
Bee contest was hosted at
the Kumaraguru Institutions
in the textile city recently.
Around 1,800 students from
class one to XII from across
the country participated in
the school level, inter-
school and state-level
examinations that included
written and oral rounds that
were conducted during aca-
demic year 2018-19. The
participants were divided
into six categories and
were tested on their oral
skills as the first part.
Pronunciation was tested in
the second part. The top
ten winners in each catego-
ry were awarded cash
prizes, national rank certifi-
cates and trophies.
Tiruchy woman
takes home
`25L prize money
Tiruchy: Mahalakshmi, a
36-year-old homemaker
from Tiruchy, won the prize
money of `25 lakh in the
popular women game show
‘Kodeeswari’ organised by
the Colors Tamil TV Channel
and hosted by Ms. Radhika
Sarathkumar.
Ms Mahalakshmi played the
game comfortably till the
13th question and became
the first contestant to win
`25 lakh, official release said
at Tiruchy on Thursday.
A jubilant Ms. Mahalakshmi
said, “I have always felt infe-
rior and never had opportu-
nities to pursue my dreams.
I participated in
‘Kodeeswari’ not only for the
money I won but also to
prove that self-confident
women can achieve the
best”, the release added.
Thanjai Big temple gets new
bell before consecration
G. SRINIVASAN | DC
THANJAVUR, JAN 2
A `2 lakh worth new bell
was installed at Big tem-
ple here on Thursday
ahead of the
Mahakumbabishekam to
be held on February 5.
The bell was cast at
Nachiyarkoil, famous for
bell metals and wick
lamps, using copper, zinc,
bronze etc. The bell was
donated
Padmanabhan
by T.
in
Thanjavur.
According to temple
officials, a bell was func-
tioning for the past 100
years at the entrance of
the sanctum sanctorum
in the temple.
As it outlived its utility,
it was decided to install a
new bell and
Rotarians gift super school to flood-hit community in Chennai
DC CORRESPONDENT
Chennai, Jan 2
From a rescue mission
using boats to evacuate
the huge flood-stranded
population in the 2015
deluge to building a
state-of-art higher second-
ary school, the Rotary
Club of Madras has car-
ried the Perumbakkam
population on its shoul-
ders through multiple wel-
fare and infra inputs over
the years.
Rotary International
President nominee
Shekhar Mehta, only the
fifth Indian to be chosen to
head the prestigious glob-
al position, cut the ribbon
a couple of days back for
the Rs.7 crore school to
dedicate the critical facili-
ty for the 500-plus families
living around the fast-
developing area close to
the IT cluster at
Railway hospital nurse’s
house burgled; gold stolen
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
Around 22 sovereigns of
gold jewellery were bur-
gled from the locked
house of a staff nurse at
Railway Colony in
Ayanavaram.
The burglary came to
light when the family
came home on Wednesday
night.
The burglary took place
when Viji (48), a resident
of Railway colony in ICF
who works in the
Perumbur railway hospi-
tal, had gone to Kerala
with her family to cele-
Home-grown fish’s
b’day in Rameswaram
SP. LOGANATHAN | DC
RAMESWARAM, JAN. 2
Heard of people celebrat-
ing the birthday of fish?
Even the fish-eyed
Goddess Meenakshi in
Madurai, not far from
here, would blush at this.
A family staying in the
old police lines in
Rameswaram has aston-
ished one and all here by
precisely doing that, cele-
brating the “21st birth-
day” of his pet fish
‘sweaty’ whom the family
head, one Sudalai has
been nurturing for the
past 20 years.
The family members
including the lady of the
house Vasantha and their
children merrily cut a
cake on Thursday to mark
the memorable occasion.
Sudalai has not been just
rearing the choicest of
fish at his home, but he
wants to convey to society
a larger point - love should
go beyond humans to
embrace the whole of
nature, plants, animals
and fish included-.
Sudalai says he started
fish rearing as a hobby in
a small way back in the
year 2000 with a small
fish-tank and began to
domesticate a spotless
white fishling of a mild
shark species.
Padmanabhan came for-
ward to donate a bell.
The flag mast before the
sanctum sanctorum is to
be renovated. The 28-ft
Sholinganallur on the
OMR.
Addressing the gather-
ing, Rtn Mehta said the
outstanding work by the
Rotary Club of Madras to
provide the children of
the flood-ravaged Perum-
bakkam with top-class
education "is praise wor-
thy".
President of the Club Dr
Vijaya Bharathi
Rangarajan explained
how the school evolved
from the 2015 rescue mis-
sion.
Elaborating, Rtn Satyan
Bhat said the 2015 floods
had completely washed
away the Perumbakkam
area and once the water
receded, the Club began
working on a plan to
reconstruct some of the
lost infrastructure. "We
first thought of building a
few houses but the govern-
ment suggested we do a
brate Christmas and New
Year.
According to sources,
when they returned home
on Wednesday night, the
family noticed the lock on
the front door of the
house had been broken.
They rushed inside and
found the bureau forced
open and contents strewn
around. At least 22 sover-
eigns of gold jewellery
were missing.
Viji complained to the
ICF police station that
someone had entered the
house in their absence
and decamped with jew-
ellery and cash.
Sudalai cuts cake to celebrate 21st b’day of his fish.
Her squinted eye was a
great attraction for
Sudalai and so he chris-
tened her ‘Sweaty’.
He then added few more
fish to his tank so that the
one may become many.
Sudalai says the 'one
became four' and "I was
thrilled seeing them div-
ing and dancing in water."
From then on, for the
sheer delight that his pas-
sion for fish generated, he
systematically reared
them, cared for them with
regular feeds, washing the
fish tank periodically to
ensure clean water and
“virtually conversing
with them on a daily
basis.”
Sudalai then bought a
bigger fish tank and mem-
bers in his family also
became friendly with
them. Whenever he had to
State
PAGE
5
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY I 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
SAVING TURTLES
embedded on it. Now in
view of the
Kumbabishekam, it is to
be renovated.
The new brass
bell that has
For this 'Balalayam' was
done to the flag mast on
been installed Thursday.
at the Big tem- Applying of ‘Ashta-
ple in Thanjavur bandhana Marunthu (a
on Thrusday paste prepared using var-
after complying ious articles by pressing
with all the
Shaiva Agama
in ural)’ started on
Thursday to various
injunctions. deities, Shiva Lingas and
—DC sculptures.
Hon Justice
Sivagnanam, district
judge, Mr. Velumani,
Revenue Divisional offi-
cer, Thanjavur, Durai
flag mast was installed in
Thiurugnanam,
man, ‘Sadhaya Vizha
chair-
To keep the eggs laid by Olive Ridley turtles that visit the shore from January to March
1814 CE by then Maratta committee’, were among safe from strays, forest department officials have enclosed an area in Besant Nagar
King Rajah Serfoji-II. those who participated beach. Similar enclosures have been made in Kovalam and Pulicat. While 50,000 turtle
Later, it was renovated in the simple function eggs were laid last year, it is expected that 70,000 eggs will be laid this year.
in 2003 with copper here. — DC
and justifiably proud",
Bhat said.
The 29,800 sq ft school on
1.2 acres of land has 14
classrooms and six labs.
The Tata Foundation has
been a major support
donating `four
crore while the
Anuja Foundation of the
USA and the Rotarians
from the Club contributed
the balance.
Rtn. Ashok Thakkar ,
Chairman, Perumbakkam
School Project Committee
, Rtn , R . Ravi Shankar,
Director, Community
Service, Rtn. Anil
Srinivasan
Rtn. Mohan Raman spoke
and
State-of-art higher secondary school at Perumbakkam
on how the project
was conceived after the
in Chennai. —DC floods and how it slowly
grew to becoming a state-
school. From the drawing one crore rupees to ulti- of-the-art school, crediting
board to the execution mately settle at seven the Tamil Nadu govern-
stage, the budget kept crore. It was a huge effort ment, particularly the
growing from an initial and we are mighty happy education department.
The ICF police have reg-
istered a case.
The police were check-
ing footage from CCTV
cameras in the area.
Police suspect the burglar
could be from the locality
and might have noticed
that the house was locked
for the last few days and
planned the heist.
Investigations are on.
In July 2018, at least 70
sovereigns of gold jew-
ellery worth 20 lakhs and
cash were burgled from
the locked house of a
Central government doc-
tor at the Railway quar-
ters in Ayanavaram.
—DC
go out on work out of
Rameswaram, Sudalai
says he asked his neigh-
bour to take care of the
fish.
“Like this, 20 years have
flown and it is unbeliev-
able,” sighs Sudalai with a
tear in his eyes.
“We thought we should
celebrate our 20 years
journey with these fish
and hence decided to cele-
brate their 21st birthday
today,” said Sudalai, after
cutting the cake.
In days when people fail
to remember the birth-
days of their own near
and dear ones, Sudalai's
passion for fish has made
Rameswaram citizens to
stand up and take notice.
And as luck would have it,
his tank of fish is far from
the tense waters of Palk
Straits.

Visit agenda
Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says
Narendra Modi visited the state only to
launch his political propaganda
We will try to
complete the
Ambedkar Memorial
work by April 2022
— Ajit Pawar
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister
SHORT TAKES
DESK FOR
AYODHYA
SET UP
New Delhi, Jan. 2: The gov-
ernment has set up a dedicat-
ed desk, headed by an addi-
tional secretary, to look after
all matters related to the
Supreme Court verdict on the
Ayodhya issue.
In an official order, the
Union home ministry said
Ayodhya matters and related
court judgements will be han-
dled by three officers, headed
by additional secretary
Gynesh Kumar.
The move bears significance
in the wake of November 9
judgement of the Supreme
Court which allowed construc-
tion of a Ram Temple in the
disputed site in Ayodha.
The apex court also ordered
handing over of a 5-acre plot
to Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf
Board and setting up of a trust
for construction of the Ram
temple. Now, this new wing of
the home ministry, headed by
Kumar, will look after all mat-
ters related to the Ayodhya
issue.
There have been reports that
the Uttar Pradesh government
has sent a proposal to the
home ministry suggesting
three plots in Ayodhya, one of
which can be given to UP
Sunni Waqf Board.
MAHA R-DAY
TABLEAU
REJECTED
DC CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI, JAN. 2
The Centre’s decision to deny
permission to Maharashtra’s
tableau for the Republic Day
parade has ignited a contro-
versy, with the Shiv Sena and
the NCP slamming the move.
While Sena MP Sanjay Raut
has alleged political vendetta,
NCP MP Supriya Sule has said
that the Centre is acting in a
prejudiced manner against
non-BJP states.
Raut tweeted, “Maha-rash-
tra’s tableau has always been
the country’s attraction at the
parade on Rajpath. We have
won the award for it most of
the times. By denying
Maharashtra, which state the
Centre wants to promote? Had
it happened in the Congress
regime, the Maharashtra BJP
would have made a much hue
and cry about it. Why are they
keeping their mouth shut
now? (sic)”
Reiterating that the denial of
permission to from
Maharashtra and W. Bengal as
a prejudiced decision, Sule
said that the two states had
played a major role in the free-
dom movement and the denial
amounted to an ‘insult’ of the
people of the two states.
VAISHNO DEVI
FOOTFALL
DROPS IN 2019
Jammu, Jan. 2: The cave
shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi,
situated at the Trikuta Hills in
Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi,
recorded its lowest arrival of
pilgrims in three years in 2019
with less than 79.5 lakhs devo-
tees visiting the temple,
Shrine Board officials said on
Thursday.
“As many as 79,40,064 pil-
grims paid obeisance at the
cave shrine in 2019 as com-
pared to 85,86,541 in 2018,” said
an official of the Shri Mata
Vaishno Devi Shrine Board,
popularly knows as Shrine
Board.
There has been a decrease of
6,46,477 pilgrims last year as
compared to 2018, and a
decrease of 2,38,254 pilgrims
as compared to 81,78,318 in
2017, officials said.
The arrival of pilgrims at the
shrine was the highest in 2018
in the five years since 2014.
In 2014, it had dropped to
78.03 lakh from 93.24 lakh the
previous year. The numbers
were 77.77 lakh in 2015 and
77.24 lakh in 2016, the officials
added.
Giriraj rakes up issue of eating beef
Minister says missionary students eat beef after going abroad, thus advocates teaching Gita
NAYEAR AZAD | DC
PATNA, JAN. 2
Union minister Giriraj
Singh has stoked a fresh
controversy by saying that
most of the missionary
school students eat beef in
foreign countries because
they are not being taught
about Indian culture and
traditions.
He also said that shlokas
of Bhagavad Gita should
be made compulsory in
schools in order to teach
students about the coun-
try’s traditional values.
“We have to save our cul-
IN MP, 1,000
MED COLLEGE
TEACHERS QUIT
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY | DC
BHOPAL, JAN. 2
Around 1,000 teachers of
six government medical
colleges in Madhya
Pradesh have resigned
in the last 48 hours
demanding the state
government to
announce a clear-cut
promotion policy for
them.
The protesting facul-
ties, who have been
demanding to address
anomalies in pay and
perks under 7th Pay
Commission, would stop
reporting to their duty
from January 9, Rakesh
Malavya, president of
state unit of Central
Medical Teachers’
Association told
reporters here on
Thursday.
He said that 2,300 more
teachers of other med-
ical colleges in MP
would join the stir and
will resign to press for
the demand for a ‘clear-
cut promotion policy’
for the teachers of med-
ical colleges in the state.
Medical services were
going to be hit following
the stir the faculties of
medical colleges.
JD(U) poster
asks RJD to give
account of its rule
NAYEAR AZAD | DC
PATNA, JAN. 2
Ahead of the Assembly
polls that are scheduled
later this year, posters
comparing the 15 years of
RJD’s governance with
that of the ruling JD(U)
have been put up in
Patna.
The Opposition RJD
feels that the poster has
been put up by the ruling
party in order to mislead
the people.
The poster which has
been put up near the busy
Income Tax crossing in
Patna say, “Hisab do
Hisab lo. 15 years versus
15 years”, (Give an
account of your work and
we will give ours).
According to RJD lead-
ers, the poster shows
“JD(U)’s desperation” as
the party is losing popu-
larity in Bihar due to its
failures on many fronts
which includes deterio-
rating law and order sce-
nario, AES deaths, flood
and drought.
“It seems that Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar
and his party is trying to
establish a new tradition
in politics by asking the
Opposition to give an
account of their work
instead of going before
the masses with the
report card of their own.
Everybody knows that
JD(U) has been in power
for the last 15 years in the
state,” senior RJD leader
Shivanand Tiwary said.
He also sought an expla-
nation from the state gov-
ernment for not releasing
its performance report
card after it returned to
power in 2015.
“He (Nitish Kumar) had
started a tradition of
releasing the report card
of his government at the
beginning of every New
Year. But this has not
been done for the last four
years. Why?, Tiwary said.
The Opposition parties
feel that the NDA’s confi-
ture and traditional values
and for that Bhagavad
Gita should be taught in
schools. We hear about
missionary school stu-
dents qualifying in IIT
exams and becoming engi-
neers. But they start eat-
ing beef once they get a
job in foreign countries,”
Union minister Giriraj
Singh said.
“Democracy in this coun-
try is only due to sanatan
dharma which I follow
strictly. I talk about teach-
ing Bhagavad Gita and
Hanuman Chalisa to chil-
dren in schools only to
Delhi factory fire leaves one dead
A firefighter was
killed and 14
others injured
when a battery
factory collapsed
in northwest
Delhi’s Peera
Garhi following an
explosion due to a
fire that broke out
early on Thursday
morning.
■ As many as 18
people were
rescued from the
building, including
two caretakers
and a security
guard.
■ A large portion
of the two-storey
building collapsed
following an
explosion when
firefighters were
dousing the blaze,
an official said,
adding that fire
department had
received a call at Smoke billows from a battery factory after a blaze led to the collapse of the building where firefighters were dousing fire
4.23 am. at Peeragarhi in New Delhi on Thursday.
It is with deep sadness I inform you that one of our firemen was martyred while saving people from fire. Our firemen save
other people’s lives by putting their lives under extremely risk in difficult circumstances. May his soul rest in peace
■ THE OPPOSITION
parties feel that the
NDA’s confidence in Bihar
has been shaken by the
Jharkhand election
results
dence in Bihar has been
shaken by the Jharkhand
election results where the
united Opposition com-
prising the JMM, the
Congress and the RJD
registered a resounding
victory against the BJP.
In Bihar, the Assembly
polls are expected in
November. Nitish Kumar
who is also JD(U) presi-
dent has already been
declared the face of NDA
in the state.
While reacting to RJD’s
statement on the poster’s
issue, BJP spokesperson
Nikhil Anand said that
“Any political enthusiast
may have put up the
poster comparing 15
years of RJD rule with
NDA government in
Bihar but it signifies the
fact that RJD regime was
known for misrule, chaos,
confusion while NDA
regime is known for cor-
ruption-free development
and good governance. We
had growth rate of 3.2 per
cent during the RJD era
while the present NDA
rule is registering 13.2 per
cent growth rate”.
The JD(U) also attacked
the RJD for raising ques-
tions on the good gover-
nance policy of Nitish
Kumar and the state gov-
ernment.
In a statement JD(U)
spokesperson Rajiv
Ranjan Prasad said, “the
15 years of RJD’s rule in
Bihar was like a night-
mare. The party will
never return to power in
Bihar. Nitish Kumar’s
vision has benefitted
every class in the state.
Bihar has progressed in
the field of education,
industry and the state
government is working to
generate employment”.
save our culture and tradi-
tions. I have no hidden
agenda but people often
misunderstand me and
think that I am a funda-
mentalist,” he added.
He gave these statements
while addressing a gather-
ing at an event in
Begusarai, his Lok Sabha
constituency.
His statement is likely to
snowball into a controver-
sy in a state like Bihar
where the BJP’s alliance
partners JD(U) and LJP
have been uncomfortable
with issues like these.
Sources said that there
Hearse van denied
to ferry body
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO | DC
BHAWANIPATNA, JAN. 2
Family members of a
deceased woman on
Wednesday night carried
her body on shoulder for
five kilometres from
Odisha’s Kalahandi
District Headquarters
Hospital (DHH) to their
village after the hospital
authorities allegedly
denied a hearse van,
reports said on Thursday.
According to reports,
Kuni Nayak of Barapali
village under Lanjigarh
block of the district was
admitted to the DHH on
Tuesday after she com-
plained of high fever.
However, she died while
undergoing treatment
last night.
Subsequently, the
bereaved family mem-
bers requested the hospi-
tal authorities to provide
them a hearse van to take
the body to their village.
However, Nayak’s family
members alleged that
despite a prolonged wait
No info on OIC
meet on J&K: MEA
SRIDHAR
KUMARASWAMI | DC
NEW DELHI, JAN. 2
India reached out to
countries across the
world including neigh-
bouring countries such
as Bangladesh to explain
its view point on the
Citizenship Amendment
Act (CAA), saying it is
the “internal matter of
India”, that it “does not
seek to strip anybody of
citizenship”, and that it
“does not alter the basic
structure of the
Constitution,” the min-
istry of external affairs
said on Thursday.
The Indian government
also conveyed to foreign
governments that the
DECCAN CHRONICLE
The hospital rushed an ambulance after they came to
know that the relatives were carrying the body on
their shoulders.
they did not get the
hearse van. With no alter-
native, Nayak’s family
members carried Kuni’s
body on their shoulders
and walked towards the
village. After DHH
authorities came to know
about the incident, they
immediately sent an
ambulance. But, as
Nayak’s family members
had already covered a dis-
tance of 5 kilometres,
they denied taking the
vehicle to transport her
body home.
CAA provides for “expe-
dited consideration” of
citizenship to “persecut-
ed minorities”, adding
that it also does not affect
existing means of
acquiring citizenship
available to other com-
munities.
The obvious reference
of course was to convey
that Muslims from other
countries can also be
conferred Indian citizen-
ship as per other provi-
sions of law.
In response to a ques-
tion, the MEA also said
India was “not aware” of
any Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) meeting designed
to specifically discuss the
Kashmir issue.
Nation
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
has been unease in the
JD(U) after Union minis-
ter gave the statement on
Thursday. Party leaders
said that “the JD(U)
believes in building infra-
structure and doing work
for the people but he keeps
giving statements like
these to remain in the
headlines”.
The Opposition HAM
and the RJD also criticised
him for his controversial
statement and termed it as
“a communal stunt”.
This is not the first time
when Giriraj Singh stoked
a controversy with his
— ARVIND KEJRIWAL, Delhi Chief Minister
Hospital authorities
were yet to comment in
connection with the inci-
dent. It may be noted that
like all state-run health
institutions, the DHH
have been brought under
Mo Sarkar or My
Government initiative
for better and timely
delivery of services. In
October last, transforma-
tion and initiatives
department secretary
had also visited the hos-
pital in October to review
the healthcare system.
statements. In September
last year, he had created a
flutter in the state politics
by expressing desire to
retire from active politics.
In a statement, he had
said that he didn’t join pol-
itics to become MLA or
MP but his motive was to
remove Article 370 and
35A from Jammu and
Kashmir.
“Since Article 370 and
35A have been removed at
the beginning of the
Narendra Modi’s second
term, I feel that I should
retire from politics. I have
also been concerned about
— PTI
TENDERS / NOTICES
PAGE
6
the population growth in
the country but since an
announcement regarding
the issue has already been
made I think my motive
has now been fulfilled”.
Recently while criticis-
ing the Congress for
opposing the Citizenship
Amendment Act and
National Register of
Population, he said that
the party wants to “divide
the country” by spreading
lies and confusion over the
issue. He said that “If
Rahul Gandhi has love for
infiltrators, he can take
them to Italy”.
COMMON AIR
DEFENCE
COMMAND SOON
PAWAN BALI | DC
NEW DELHI, JAN. 2
Chief of the Defence Staff
(CDS), Gen. Bipin Rawat
has set out to create a
common Air Defence
Command to secure the
country from aerial
attacks.
Also, he has directed
that efforts be made to cut
out infructuous ceremoni-
al activities, which are
manpower intensive.
Currently while Air
Force is primarily respon-
sible for air defence,
Army and Navy too have
their own air defense sys-
tems.
Gen. Rawat held a meet-
ing with functionaries of
Integrated Defence Staff
and directed various
branch heads to come up
with recommendations
for inter-service synergy
and jointness in a time
bound manner. He direct-
ed that a proposal to cre-
ate Air Defence Command
be prepared by June 30.
He also set out priorities
for execution of synergy
by June 30 and December
31. Some of the areas iden-
tified for jointness and
synergy among Army, Air
Force and Navy include
creation of common logis-
tics support pools in sta-
tions where two or more
services have their pres-
ence.
 Nation
Big loss
PAGE
Senior NCP leader D.P. Tripathi
passes away after a prolonged 7
illness at the age of 67
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

Anti-CAA stir: Two given

bail on medical grounds
From Page 1
There is no
constitutional or legal
“I didn”t think it would
take so long,” an emotion-
CPM objects to Aysha
validity to Kerala’s
anti-CAA resolution
al Ekta told the media as
she hugged her daughter
after two weeks. Main
Rena’s presence in rally
bata nahin sakti (I can’t GILVESTER ASSARY | DC “We could not have post-
— Arif Mohammed Khan put it in words),” she said THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, poned the meeting.
when asked how it felt. JAN. 2 Because of opposition
Kerala Governor The bail application of from CPM, we had to
the couple — nabbed Aysha Rena who became exclude Aysha. The event
along with other protest- the face of Jamia agita- was a big success with
SHORT TAKES ers from Left groups from
Beniyabagh and nearby
tion, was excluded from a
joint protest rally and
huge participation,”
Jameela told this news

5-DAY RSS
localities for violating meeting organised by paper.
prohibitory orders under Vazhakkad panchayat in The 22 year old student
Section 144 CRPC — was Malappuram district in of Jamia Millia

MEETING initially cancelled by a

lower court and the next
hearing fixed for January
BEGINS 1. In their absence, their
baby was cared for by her
grandmother Sheila
RABINDRA NATH Infants undergo treatment at the JK Lone hospital in Kota district on Thursday. At least 104 infants have died at a Tiwari, uncle Shashikant
CHOUDHURY | DC government-run hospital in Kota in the past month. — PTI and her aunts.
BHOPAL, JAN. 2 In Delhi, the lower
North Kerala
Thursday following objec-
tions by the ruling CPM.
on
Hundreds of people cut-
ting across political and
ideological differences
took part in the rally that
was organised jointly by
the ruling LDF and UDF.
University who along
with Ladeeda Farzana
had shot into fame after
visuals of them question-
ing the police brutality
against one of their col-
leagues went viral.
While the CPM at the
national and state level

After 104 deaths, Centre

courts granted bail to four
The crucial five-day-meet of persons over last month’s
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Seelampur anti-CAA
Sangh (RSS) began in Indore protests. While allowing
on Thursday to specify role of the bail applications by
The Congress-led UDF
which rules Vazhakkad
panchayat was keen on
getting Aysha for the
meeting. However, the
had hailed them as
valiant fighters, Rena
became a persona non
grata for the Marxist after
she criticised Kerala

readies team for Kota

the Sangh activists in the
ongoing nationwide campaign
in support of Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA),
besides giving shape to its
plan to strengthen its base in
poll-bound West Bengal.
RSS supremo
Bhagwat, who arrived in
Mohan
Indore in the morning, held
discussions with senior lead-
ers of the outfit in the city to
set the agenda for the meeting.
“The agenda for the meet has
been finalised in the meeting
of senior RSS leaders that last-
ed nearly five hours. The exec-
utive body of the RSS will
finalise the activities for the
organisation for the current
calendar year, besides deliber-
ating on crucial issues such as
CAA, removal of Article 370,
construction of Ram temple at
Ayodhya and economy of the
country”, a senior RSS leader
indicated to this newspaper.
Sources said the Sangh lead-
ership was also worried over
erosion of base of BJP in
Jharkhand leading JMM-
Congress coalition to ride to
power in the State in the
recently held Assembly polls.
Experts team from Jodhpur to visit Kota hospital
From page 1
The Centre has decided to
send a high-level team
comprising experts from
AIIMS, Jodhpur, and
health economists to Kota.
The BSP chief said that
the attitude of the Ashok
Gehlot government was
condemnable as it has
mismanaged the situation
of the 104 children deaths
in Kota and still remains
irresponsible and unsym-
pathetic to the situation.
The BSP supremo fur-
ther asked the people of
Uttar Pradesh to remain
alert about the Congress’
political opportunism,
and especially of Vadra.
“If the Congress general
secretary does not go and
meet the Kota families
■ MAYAWATI’S COM-
MENTS right after Vadra
made some aggressive
visits to UP after the anti-
CAA protests and made
efforts to meet the fami-
lies of the victims may
indicate her political inse-
curity. The BSP has
always kept itself politi-
cally equidistant from the
Congress and the BJP.
one seat — that of Sonia
Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
It might be recalled that
Vadra was launched into
politics and made the
AICC general secretary in
charge of eastern UP bare-
ly months before the Lok
Sabha polls. Then
Congress president Rahul
always kept itself politi-
cally equidistant from the
Congress and the BJP.
UP Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, targeting the
Congress over the Kota
deaths, said: “The deaths
of 104 innocent children is
extremely saddening and
heart-wrenching. The
death of children is a blot
on a civilised society,
human values and feel-
ings... It is extremely sad
that Congress president
Sonia Gandhi and general
secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra, despite
being women, are not able
to understand the sorrow
of the mothers.” He said it
would have been better
“had Priyanka met and
consoled the aggrieved
mothers instead of
Birla, who is an MP from
Kota, had also expressed
concern.
Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot
said the deaths should not
be politicised and invited
Union health minister
Harsh Vardhan to visit the
hospital and see the “best”
facilities offered there.
Gehlot said his govern-
ment is sensitive to the
issue of death of sick
infants at the Kota hospi-
tal.
“There should no poli-
tics over the issue. Infant
mortality at this hospital
is steadily decreasing. We
will try to reduce it fur-
ther. It is our top priority
that mothers and children
remain in good health,”
Gehlot tweeted in Hindi.
Sajid Ali and Daniyal, the
judge said there was noth-
ing on record yet to show
the involvement of the
two accused in any violent
mobs. Two others — Yusuf
and Moinuddin — were
given bail on medical
grounds.
Meanwhile, protests
took place in Miami,
Florida, where Indians
read out the Preamble of
the Constitution in the
streets opposing the CAA-
NRC-NPR. Students of
Jamia Millia Islamia and
several artists painted
streets outside Delhi
University to protest
against the CAA/NRC.
New dates for Japan meet
to be announced soon
SRIDHAR
KUMARASWAMI | DC
NEW DELHI, JAN. 2
seven elected members of
the panchayat belonging
to CPM threatened that
their party would boycott
the event if she were to be
invited.
Following pressure from
the CPM, the panchayat
president Jameela K.M.
had to withdraw the
invite given to Aysha.
Earlier, the organisers
had printed posters and
pamphlets with Aysha’s
name.
However, subsequently
they came out with a
revised poster in which it
was categorically men-
tioned “Aysha Rena is not
participating.”
December due to the CAA
controversy, India had
announced cancellation of
its annual summit with
Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan at an anti-CAA
meeting in Kondotty in
Malappuram district on
Saturday.
The Jamia student had
stated that like the deten-
tion of her colleagues by
Delhi police, the Pinarayi
Government had also
taken several students
and youths into custody
in Kerala and they should
be released with immedi-
ate effect.
This led to protests from
CPM workers who
accused her of trying to
draw a parallel between
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Vijayan.
had been made to hold it
there.
On Thursday, MEA
spokesperson Raveesh

WARIS PATHAN who are affected by the

tragedy, then her outreach
Gandhi had said her long-
term goal was to revive
indulging in politics in
UP”.
Gehlot claimed that the
first ICU for children in
After cancellation of its
annual summit with
Japan that was to have
been held in Guwahati
Kumar said, “We are in
touch with the Japanese

NAMED AIMIM
towards victims in Uttar the party ahead of the Union minister Mukhtar Rajasthan was established Japan that was to be held from December 15 to 17. side through diplomatic
Pradesh would be consid- 2022 UP Assembly polls. Abbas Naqvi, Rajasthan by the Congress govern- in Guwahati from With that, Japanese channels. We do hope that
ered political oppor- Mayawati’s comments BJP president Satish ment in 2003. “We also December 15 to 17, India Prime Minister Shinzo very soon, we will come to

SPOKESMAN tunism, from which the

DC CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI, JAN. 2
AIMIM chief Asaduddin
Owaisi announced the
appointment of Dr Ghaffar
Quadri as working president
of the Maharashtra unit and
former Mumbai MLA Waris
Pathan as national spokesper-
son of the party.
Owaisi tweeted about the
appointment of Dr Quadri
even as Pathan said that he
will become the voice of the
country’s minority communi-
ties as the party’s newly-
appointed spokesperson and
carry forward AIMIM’s ideol-
ogy.
“I am very happy as the
party has shown confidence
in me. I will pitch my voice for
the minorities and my party,
and will also see to it that I
take my party’s ideology for-
ward,” Pathan said.
It may be recalled that
Pathan, a lawyer by
profession, represented the
Byculla constituency in
Mumbai and contested the
incumbent seat in the
Maharashtra Assembly elec-
tions but lost to Shiv Sena’s
Geeta Gawli, daughter of
gangster Arun Gawli.
public of Uttar Pradesh is
advised to stay alert,” she
said.
While the BSP aligned
with the SP and the RLD
for the general election,
the Congress fought sepa-
rately and had won only
Broadband net restored
in 80 hospitals in Valley
DC CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR, JAN. 2
Jammu and Kashmir
government on
Thursday claimed that
broadband internet
service has been fully
restored in 80 govern-
ment-run hospitals
across the Valley.
It also said that the
service providers have
been asked to restore
this facility to the
remaining government-
run hospitals “where
local bottlenecks like
connectivity status,
billing problem, etc. are
being worked out and
right after Vadra made
some aggressive visits to
UP after the anti-CAA
Poonia have also criticised
the Congress-led govern-
ment in Rajasthan over
established an ICU for
children in Kota in 2011,”
he added.
on Thursday expressed
confidence that the new
dates for the same would
Abe’s scheduled visit to
India for the Summit had
also been cancelled.
the finalisation of the
date. It is an annual mech-
anism, the Summit that
protests and made efforts the functioning of the “We are ready to be finalised very soon in While the dates had then was supposed to be held in
to meet the families of the state-run JK Lone hospital improve medical services consultation with the been officially announced December, that is the one
victims may indicate her in Kota, where 104 infants in the state through dis- Japanese side. by India, Guwahati had that is getting postponed.
political insecurity about have died since the begin- cussions and cooperation It may be recalled that never been announced as All these matters will be
the new woman leader on ning of December. with an expert team from due to the violent protests the venue officially in discussion with the
the horizon. The BSP has Lok Sabha Speaker Om the Centre,” he said. that rocked Assam in although preparations Japanese side.”
fixed on priority”. night. Airtel, Jio and
The authorities had on other service providers
Tuesday announced that failed to implement the
Internet service through government directive,
fixed broadband lines in citing technical issues.
all government-run hos- The sources said that
pitals and Short- these companies could
Messaging-Service not restore the facilities
(SMS) facility on all as majority of their staff
post-paid mobile phones was away to celebrate
in Kashmir Valley New Year eve with their
would be restored from families and friends.
December 31 midnight An official of one of
but the service these companies had
providers failed to do so said that the services
in most cases. would be made available
Only the BSNL was by Thursday morning.
able to make SMS facili- However, some of the
ty partially available to service providers had
its post-paid mobile cus- not been able to do it till
tomers from Tuesday late Thursday evening.

Iltija Mufti detained, cops deny

YUSUF JAMEEL I DC
SRINAGAR, JAN. 2
Iltija Mufti, daughter of
incarcerated former
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Mehbooba Mufti
on Thursday claimed that
she had been detained at
her Gupkar Road residence
in Srinagar, blocking her
visit to her grandfather
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s
grave in Anantnag district.
Though the police said
that Iltija was not detained,
they refused her permis-
sion to visit Sayeed’s grave
at a short notice, the
sources said that she was
not allowed to move out of
her Srinagar home on
Thursday.
This correspondent saw a
police vehicle placed at the
main entrance to block the
access.
Iltija said over the phone
that her ‘detention’ reveals
■ ILTIJA SAID OVER the
phone that her ‘detention’
reveals the government’s
“nervousness” in dealing
with the dissent and also
negates its claim that
situation in the
Valley has returned
to normal.
the government’s “nervous-
ness” in dealing with the
dissent and also negates its
claim that situation in the
Valley has returned to nor-
mal.
She said that she wanted
to pay obeisance at her
grandfather’s grave ahead
of his fifth death anniver-
sary falling on January 7
and oversee the prepara-
tions being made for the
event. She said over the
phone, “I have been
detained here. I am not
being permitted to leave
this place nor is any one
allowed to enter.”
The People’s Democratic
Party has filed an applica-
tion before Anantnag’s dis-
trict court seeking permis-
sion for holding a prayer
meeting near Sayeed’s
grave on his death anniver-
sary.
Additional director gener-
al of police (law and order
and security) Munir Khan
rejected claims that Iltija
has been detained. He said,
“The Anantnag police did
not give clearance to her
visit. She is among the peo-
ple protected by the Special
Services Group (SSG) and if
such a person plans to visit
any place, clearance from
the local police is needed.”
The officer said that Iltija,
earlier during the day,
informed the police about
her intention to visit her
grandfather’s grave in
Bijbehara and that the
Anantnag police could not
give its clearance on such a
short notice. But Iltija
accused the police officer of
lying to media.
“The matter of the fact is
that he asked my driver and
other staff members and
even my (police) personal
security officer not to come
to my residence today. I
have been in the Valley for
over a week and was being
allowed to move around
only after I would inform
the security team at our
residence about my day
plan. Today I was told that I
need to get prior permis-
sion from the police if I
want to come out of my
home even for five min-
utes,” she said.
The authorities are
unlikely to grant the PDP
permission to hold a rally
or even a large prayer (fate-
ha) meeting at the grave of
its patrol Sayeed.
 Edit
MIND POWER
HIPPOCRATES ALBERT CAMUS PAGE
Healing is a matter of time, but it is I should like to be able to love
sometimes also a matter of opportunity my country and still love justice
8
DECCAN CHRONICLE FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI

3 JANUARY 2020

Kerala resolution on Subhani

CAA is a trendsetter
T
he resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly earlier this week
against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, in the backdrop of
fierce protests across the country against this law, is a historic
step whose epochal significance we may overlook at our peril.
Above all, the resolution cautions us that the country shall be composed,
and run on quasi-federal lines as envisaged in the Constitution, if and only
those who rule at the Centre are wise enough to be mindful of the sensi-
tivities of every religious, linguistic and ethnic group in the country.
In formal terms, it is true of course that as per the constitutional scheme,
the question of citizenship is in the Centre’s domain and there is no legal
ground on which a state may refuse to implement a Central law, which the
CAA is. However, if the Kerala example were to be emulated by others, the
damage to the spirit of the Constitution will be incalculable.
This will not be a vote of no-confidence in the Constitution but an indict-
ment of the value systems of those with a comfortable parliamentary
majority making laws which the states of the Union are uncomfortable
with. Since our states were formed on a linguistic basis, resolutions of
rejection of a Central law by states is like rejection of the Centre’s intent
by language groups which make up the diversity-filled mosaic that India
is.
India gets CDS at last: LETTERS
BOOK WORMS GET READY
The Chennai book fair, which
attracts lot of bibliophiles, is
The parallel may not be exact, but we will do well to remember that
America’s Civil War began with dissonance over a single over-arching
idea between the northern states and those that made up the Confederacy.
The issue turned grave enough to be resolved on the field of battle. We are,
fortunately, nowhere near there. But it is a dangerous sign that state leg-
islatures should begin to pass a resolution against a Central law.
A role that will evolve to be held from January 9 for
close to two weeks. With the
sale of books keep increasing
every year, the fair only unde-
rlines the fact that there will be
It is sobering to remember that while Kerala (so far) is the only state to the three service head- chief may be called upon no dearth of physical books in
pass a resolution against the CAA, the chief ministers of nine states have quarters. That means the to render more opera-
financial allocations will tional details, contin-
Indian market. It is said that this
declared they wouldn’t enforce the CAA and/or its companion idea con-
tained in the thought behind the National Register of Citizens, that Union be his responsibility, and gent upon the type of year around 5,000 students
home minister Amit Shah vociferously spoke about before the anti-CAA
protests erupted. These include Bihar, run by the JDU-BJP, and BJD-run
Syed Ata Hasnain that is where his power
will largely lie.
operation and the ser-
vice primarily involved.
from various schools in Chennai
and suburbs will assemble at
Odisha. An additional aspect is Second, if and when the the book fair and read books,
If the Centre was genuinely compassionate about “persecuted” people, it the three-year leeway integrated theatre com- showcasing the importance and
could have passed a law that offered succour to those persecuted for any given to the first CDS to mand system is in place,
reason — political, religious, or for exercising anyone’s right to dissent. prepare the ground for none of the service the value of reading. The other
That would have attracted no protests. an integrated theatre chiefs will have opera- attraction during this year’s fair

T
But the government chose to single out Hindus (and some others) while o the credit of
expressly leaving out Muslims in passing the CAA, giving a religious bias the govern-
to the idea of Indian citizenship. This was low-grade politics meant for ment, the
electoral gain, and to advance the Hindutva agenda, which privileges the P r i m e
seriously unconstitutional idea that India is for Hindus. M i n i s t e r
The foundational principle behind Indian citizenship cannot be religion- announced the intent to
based, as in Islamic Pakistan. While people of every faith were passion- create the post of a Chief
ately involved in the freedom movement, those with Hindutva leanings of the Defence Staff
stayed away. (CDS) on August 15,
2019, and a communiqué
was issued on the nuts
and bolts related to the
adoption of the CDS sys-
emerged may, of course,
not meet every aspira-
tion but a fairly exhaus-
tive communiqué has
clarified much. As a four-
star officer the CDS will
the “first among equals”,
but by virtue of his retir-
ing age being 65 will
mostly be senior in ser-
vice seniority to all the
three service chiefs. He
will exercise no opera-
command system. Thus,
it is clear that the cur-
rent CDS system is evo-
lutionary and will pro-
gressively adopt more
means of integration
and joint functioning
until an integrated the-
atre command system
emerges something akin
to the American model,
where the theatre com-
mander reports directly
tional control over their
forces; it is the theatre
commanders who will
enjoy that. In that situa-
tion, the CDS will be the
one-point adviser to the
government after the
consultations with the
integrated theatre com-
mander have been con-
ducted. There is nothing
sacrosanct about this,
and a unique system
is ‘Keeladi-Eeradi’, where
Thirukkural and the significance
of Keeladi excavations will be
highlighted. Said Dr. APJ Abdul
Kalam, “One best book is equal
to hundred good friends; one
good friend is equal to a
library.”
R. Sivakumar, Chennai
WAKE UP CALL FOR BJP
While BJP focused on inclusive deve-

India’s space decade tem. That is in contrast

to the 18 long years it
took after the Kargil
tional command over the
three constituent ser-
vices, but will be the per-
to the President through
the defence secretary.
Interestingly, an issue
suited to Indian condi-
tions may well emerge
over the next few years.
Lastly, there is a ques-
lopment and maximum governance
and introduced some people-friendly
schemes in its first tenure during 2014-
Review Committee manent chairman of the has been raised political- 19, though it fell short of fulfilling sev-

E
xcellence in planning and execution in space matters has been one (KRC) and the Group of chiefs of staff committee ly about a relative lack tion being raised about eral promises made during election
of India’s brightest spots. The Indian Space Research Organisation Ministers (GoM) had (CoSC), giving that of clarity about the “first the newly-created campaigns, it shifted its focus in 2019
has won laurels and earned cash with its expertise in launching recommended the cre- appointment stability for among equals” system; department of military after winning second sweep of power,
satellites for many countries. While satellite launches are now routine ation of a CDS and the up to three years for the on who exactly will ren- affairs, which the CDS on abrogating Section 370 and 35A in
business, where Isro has really been facing challenges is in its big-ticket integration of the present, as against the der one-point strategic will head with the status respect of Jammu and Kashmir,
missions. defence ministry. This short tenures which had military advice to the of a secretary. It is to be changing the very status and demogra-
The prospect of an Indian astronaut taking off for space from Indian soil delay is not something become a characteristic government since the seen whether this will phy of the state, and promulgating
propelled by an Indian rocket and returning safely to earth in an Indian unusual as most coun- of the CoSC. There is CDS has no authority the precursor to a more CAA, 2019 to pave the way for imple-
spaceship would have been laughable just decades ago. It’s not that far tries which have adopt- some criticism about over the three service integrated MoD if the mentation of NPR and NRC, which
back, from the 1960s, when an early rocket was taken to Thumba on the ed the joint military appointing a CDS with chiefs. In fact, it is heart- HQ IDS acts as the core have caused unrest and distress
back of a bicycle! security model have only four-star rank; the ening to note that after a of the DMA with some among minority community and led to
If we can forget for a minute that 2019 saw two glitches in a lost satellite done so riding perception prevails that long time a critical deci- inducted civilian bure- widespread protests. Students on front
and Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram braking too hard in its descent to the roughshod over opposi- equivalence of rank does sion relating to the mili- aucracy. The defence lines: What protests portend. Even peo-
moon, what we have is a saga of memorable achievements in space, some tion from within the not carry the stamp of tary is being debated secretary will obviously ple from Assam are protesting, though
like the Mangalyaan rover, done in an admirably economical manner. armed forces and civil- authority. However, this within political circles. remain the coordinator the alleged infiltration of Bengalis in
The new decade will unveil some of the nation’s most ambitious mis- ian bureaucracy. The is generally the rule in Even in the service com- between different Assam was the starting point to the
sions — Aditya (Sun mission), Chandrayaan-3 and a humanoid mission United States, which most other nations, and munity this doubt has departments of the MoD, implementation of NRC in Assam and
test before Gaganyaan with an astronaut on board — and the account- considers itself a model the physical seniority been raised, and consen- but the CDS will have meant to be extended to whole of India.
ability factor goes up manifold. Also, many moon landing missions failed of integration today, did consideration would give sus appears on the fact the power to send files There is mismatch between the state-
earlier before achieving success, which makes us marvel at the move rapidly into the authority as per norms of that in the interim the directly to the Raksha ments of Amit Shah and the Prime
Americans who sent Neil Armstrong to the moon 50 years ago. Only 100 joint theatre concept the uniformed services. CDS and the three ser- Mantri (RM), thus cir- Minister outside the Parliament.
per cent accuracy in a lunar landing will help wipe Isro chief K. Sivan’s after 1986 but till then its The CDS will exercise vice chiefs will all be cumventing the bureau- Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders
2019 tears. four services (including authority over the only invitees to the Cabinet cracy. A long-pending and the government needs to unde-
Given the sentiments that get played up and faith that drives Isro chiefs the Marines) resisted it conventional joint com- Committee on Security anomaly also needs cor- rstand their sentiments and act judi-
to seek divine blessings before missions, treating failure with equanimity tooth and nail. Only leg- mand — the Andaman & (CCS); a virtual four- rection when such ciously, before it is too late.
is much harder. The space programme’s most admirable attribute is that islation, famously called Nicobar Command point advice as the CDS momentous decisions M.Y. Shariff, Chennai
we have managed elite science and technology without letting politics the Goldwater Nichols (ANC) and also the exercises no operational have been taken. It is
ruin it, much as it has with many other aspects of Indian life. Act, saw implementa-
tion of the integration
Strategic
Command (SFC), where
Forces command and control
over the component ser-
time the defence of India
devolves on the RM. By a KOLAM PROTESTS
vices and only com- flawed understanding, Your headline, Why this Kolam Veri
under President Ronald the nuclear launch
mands the resources this still remains the Chennai police? was very apt and its
DECCAN CHRONICLE Reagan after the failed resources of all three
directly under him. Two responsibility of the impact would be what tons of words
Grenada operation and components are integrat-
points of significance defence secretary, who cannot make. The case may not stand
ADITYA SINHA T. VENKATESWARULU the earlier disastrous ed for a nuclear
Editor Printer & Publisher here. First, that this is a is neither experienced the legal scrutiny, if pursed, as it is a
rescue operation of hun- response. The latter will
R. MOHAN
work in progress and nor empowered enough very silent form of protest against
dreds of hostages at the make him the nuclear
Resident Editor
much depends on how to execute it. CAA/NRC. There was no violence, no
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: US embassy in Tehran adviser to the PM,
the CDS system pro- Much more debate on distraction of public property, slogan
Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747, in 1980. although the actual com-
22254748 gresses from here; per- the CDS will follow in shouting etc and a peaceful protest
In India, Kargil 1999 mand and control of the
Coimbatore: 77 Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore 641009. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256
haps only the CDS may due course, but for now guaranteed by the constitution. The
triggered the need for a nuclear forces may have
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040)
be consulted by the gov- we need to celebrate a only catchy point is its novelty which
27805256. CDS. The need was felt several other layers. The
ernment and a service sound decision taken involves womenfolk who may other-
Bengaluru: 5th Floor, BMTC Commercial Complex, 80 Ft. Road, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095. Ph: for a single-point strate- CDS would also take
08043460500; Fax: 080-22960551/52/55 after years of political wise adorn their house with Kolams
gic military adviser to under his wing the three
Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, and bureaucratic pro- particularly in Margazhi. Mr Pandia-
the government. Even special agencies involv-
Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285
Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866) after the KRC and GoM ing domains of cyber, Much more debate crastination. rajan, is a well-informed minister but
on the CDS will he objects to the “content” in those
2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234 recommendations, the special forces and space,
Kolams, meaning the anti CAA/ NRC
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618
Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903,
government seemed rel- and all other systems follow in due The writer, a retired
political slogans. How he could inter-
uctant and moved less relating to innovative lieutenant-general, is a
Fax: 08554-276904
technology. The 15-year
course, but for now former commander of pret that it is against the constitu-
than halfway to create a
Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore.
Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580 HQ Integrated Defence Long Term Integrated we need to the Srinagar-based 15 tionally guaranteed provisions. One
celebrate a sound Corps. He is also can only feel sorry for the minister
Karimnagar: Survey No. 1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar 505 001. Staff (IDS), headed by a Perspective Plan (LTIPP)
for his desperation to defend the
Phone: (0878 ) 2228908; Telefax (0878) 2220433
Kochi: No. 3-B, 3rd Floor, DD TRADE TOWER, Kaloor-Kadavanthara Road, Ernakulam, three-star officer, to add- will also evolve under decision taken associated with the
arrests of “Kolamists”. Importantly
Ph: 0484-4039408 ress joint aspects. HQ him as will modernisa- after years Vivekananda
International the police action on kolams may car-
Kozhikode: No 6/1002 E, First Floor City Mall, Opp. YMCA Kannur Road, Kozhikode - 673 001 IDS was to be the CDS’ tion, and he will be the
Fax : 0495 4019018 domain, but awaited its one allocating priorities of political Foundation and the ry negative fallout for the AIADMK
Thiruvananthapuram: St Joseph Press Thycaud post, Cotton Hills, Thiruvananthapuram-14, Ph: 0471-
true head for 18 years. after taking into account and bureaucratic Institute of Peace and on the eve of local body elections.
2735105/6/7, Fax: 0471-4016112 Gram: CHRONICLE Postal registration no: No. H/SD-348/2006-08ss V.N. Gopal, Chennai
What has finally the recommendations of procrastination Conflict Studies.

E
ighty years ago, at the
beginning of World War II,
W.H. Auden famously con-
demned the 1930s as a “low
dishonest decade”. In some ways
that description fits the 2010s, yet it
Mahir Ali feels inadequate. While the past 10
years have provided numerous
occasions for despair, they were
peppered throughout with signs of
hope. Inevitably, much of the good,
lished order, from Black Lives
Matter to the pussyhat protests,
#MeToo and the articulate anger of
the Parkland students, who chal-
lenged the right to bear arms after
a devastating mass shooting at
their school. But the US also threw
up the Tea Party. And Donald
Trump.
Halfway across the world, mass
youth unemployment and
to placate Lebanese protesters. A
desperate, brutal response to
protests in Iraq and Iran has sowed
the seeds of future rebellions. The
war in Yemen drags on, with the
Saudi-led coalition facilitated by
the US and Britain.
The previous decade began with
broadly left-wing revolts against
the established order in various
parts of the world, and a few
Sanders’ popularity is highest
among the youth. Young women, in
particular, have been sparkling
repositories of hope in recent years
— from Malala Yousafzai and Ahed
Tamimi to Emma Gonzalez,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan
Omar and Greta Thunberg, among
so many others. Thunberg’s cause
is overwhelmingly significant in
the decade ahead; unless man-
regard for posterity, insidious
inequality and erroneous ethno-
nationalism, a resurgence in reli-
gious fanaticism and racist fan-
tasies, rude awakenings and sleep-
walking into catastrophe.
Thunberg recently summed up in
five words the times we live: “Our
house is on fire”. It’s particularly
easy to appreciate that sentiment
in Sydney, where the sun seldom

As 2020 dawns, the bad and the ugly will carry over
into the 2020s.
Large parts of the world erupted
in protests in the early years of the
a better world last decade, following the shock of
the global financial crisis and the
subsequent use of public funds by
WikiLeaks revelations about cor-
ruption combined with a self-
immolation of a desperate
Tunisian street vendor sparked an
Arab Spring that was largely
nipped in the bud. A few tyrants
fell, only to be replaced in short
instances of popularly propelled
regime change, but ended with the
widest panoply in living memory
of far right or authoritarian (and
often both) regimes. The counter-
points are not irrelevant. Ethiopia
may yet succeed in establishing a
made climate change is ameliorat-
ed in the next 10 years, most other
nightmares (and dreams) are pret-
blazes yellow but instead casts a
red glow. That, in turn, serves as a
reminder of the choice Rosa
ty much academic. Luxemburg pinpointed a century
The 2010s are likely to be remem-
bered as the decade of smartphones
and dumb regimes, the prolifera-
ago between a regression into bar-
barism and a transition to social-
ism. A better world remains

is implausible, all too many Western governments

to rescue private enterprises. The
Occupy Wall Street movement
order by others — or by anarchy.
The occupation of Iraq earlier in
the century and then the unre-
model of reconciliation in strife-
torn Africa. New Zealand under
Jacinda Ardern puts Australia to
tion of social media alongside anti-
social attitudes, seismic rebellions
and ruthless repression, working-
implausible but not impossible.
There is, as Leonard Cohen put it, a
crack in everything — that’s how

not impossible inspired copycat protests in sever-

al countries.
The US was also the breeding
ground for various other manifes-
tations of rage against the estab-
strained brutality of the Syrian
regime led to the terrorist Islamic
State’s “caliphate”.
More recently, a half-hearted
reshuffle on the top deck has failed
shame. In Britain, had the vote
been restricted to under-40s,
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party
would have won a landslide.
Likewise in the US, Bernie
class indignados and ruling-class
insouciance, monumental techno-
logical advances and their misan-
the light gets in. Here’s wishing all
readers, and everyone else, a crack-
ing new year.
thropic misuse, profoundly damag-
ing austerity combined with a dis- By arrangement with Dawn

A gathering where several people meet A new product or service that disrupts an industry
to build and discuss scrapbooks and eventually wins most of the market share
Huawei in India: The Chinese, finally, get their way
Abhijit Bhattacharyya
T
he Chinese
seem to have
finally succeed-
ed in pushing
H u a w e i
through the
Indian heart-
land to bid for
the multi-billion-dollar hear-
ing-device 5G telecommunica-
tions system? Indeed, it speaks
volumes for the tenacity,
resilience and perseverance of
the Communist Party of China
and its leaders in convincing
the Indian establishment about
their reliability and quality for
service to India’s 1.3 billion
heads. Realistically, it wasn’t
only a matter of prestige,
image and credibility for the
Chinese, but it reflects their
desperation too. The objective
was to enter into a ready-made
consumer market of at least
800 million people, more than
that of the whole of Europe, or
of the rest of Asia, minus
China.
Rebellious, poetic New Year seen at
Jamia, but despair continues in UP
Saeed Naqvi
Wide Angle
O
ne of the contribu-
tions of the 20 days
of sit-in at Jamia’s
Shaheen Bagh may
well result in a
large-scale revival of Habib
Jalib’s “Dastur”, or custom,
as the voice of India’s youth.
“Phool shakhon pe khilne
lage, tum kaho,
Jaam rindon ko milne lage,
tum kaho,
Zakhm seenon ke silne lage,
tum kaho,
Is khule jhoot ko, zehn ki loot
ko,
Maen naheen manta, maen
naheen manta”
(Proclaim, they insist, that
flowers are blossoming every-
where
Proclaim, all glasses are full
All wounds have healed
These are outrageous lies
With which they vandalise
our minds.
We shall not accept these
falsehoods,
Never, Never)
The mood was tinged with
the kind of self-assurance
which can be easily mistaken
for rebellious fervour in
which the New Year was
wrung in by the Jamia Millia
Islamia students, neighbours
and youth from other col-
leges. There were magical
moments when poetry min-
gled with music. Since the
December 13 and 15, the
police high-handedness
(watched by the nation on TV)
against peaceful protests
demanding withdrawal of the
Citizenship Amendment Act,
the demonstrations had set-
tled down in an unbroken
All you need is common sense!
Swami Tejomayananda
C
onflicts between
communities and
religions result in
various questions
arising in the mind. Despite
the awareness that all reli-
gions teach the same thing,
we are painfully aware of the
differences and divisions.
Without taking recourse to
any religious theology, ideol-
ogy or philosophy let us
think of the simple truth, of
the underlying oneness and
harmony.
The various experiences of
Word SPY
CROP DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Who wouldn’t want to enter
the Indian market with an “L-1
tender” offer? In a market
where quantity trumps quali-
ty? Lower and cheaper prices
are always seen by Indian con-
sumers as the best option.
Now, what is “L-1”? It is the
lowest (or cheapest) bid, which
stands on top in a list of multi-
bidders, vying for the slot of
chosen supplier. That is far too
lucrative for China to let go, as
the supplier to world’s second
biggest telecommunications
market in India. Beijing,
which already is far ahead in
bilateral trade, will mint more
cash, and India as the mega-
consumer will continue to
empty its coffers, and thus face
a double-whammy — financial
uncertainty enmeshed with a
turbulent polity.
The unfolding scenario
doesn’t augur well for India’s
future. It is more than a
possibility that by allowing
Huawei to compete,
vigil interspersed with a
series of cultural programmes
reminiscent of Indian
Peoples’ Theatre of the 1960s
and 1970s.
Yes, the atmosphere was
electric. A settlement may
well be taking place some-
where near the base because
one is hearing stories of stu-
dents arguing with conserva-
tive parents before trooping
out to join a hostel here, a col-
lege there, to merge in the
nationwide protests. These
are “ostensibly” against the
Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA) and the National
Register of Citizens (NRC).
“Ostensibly”, because a mass
upsurge does not possess the
precise comprehension of a
complicated issue nor its geo-
metric lines. It proceeds on
the basis of an intuitive grasp
of a larger reality — some-
thing evil is afoot. What is at
question is something as
basic as citizenship and own-
ership of whatever little they
possess. From Jamia, the
protests have spread out to
campuses across the nation.
In a nation where 65 per cent
of the population is under 35,
this could be unsettling.
The mood at Jamia, howev-
er, is at a sharp variance from
the bleak reports coming out
from UP. Are the unspeakable
brutalities of the UP police
some sort of rearguard action
on the government’s part to
protect the key bastion? All
fangs bared, psychologists
will tell you, is a sign of fright.
The police barging into
Muslim mohallas, terrorising
life show that we want to live
happily, collectively and
together. A little thinking on
the subject shows that the
only thing required for this
is common sense! To apply or
use common sense in life, we
do not have to belong to any
particular philosophy or reli-
gion. Speaking on this rare
phenomenon, Swami Vivek-
ananda opined, “Common
sense is the most uncommon
thing in this world!”
Let us understand that we
are born in this world and
irreparable damage might be
inflicted on India’s internal
systems and national security,
exposing and allowing access
to a country that simply
doesn’t inspire an iota of
confidence. Huawei’s
shenanigans across the globe
has already reached high
levels, and the United States
certainly cannot be faulted for
keeping it in check, given the
corporation’s suspected
military intelligence links and
unlimited propensity for
espionage, on behalf of its
Communist Party masters.
The history of Chinese spying
goes back to Sun Tzu and Mao
Zedong. Just read Brig. John P.
Dalvi’s Himalayan Blunder
once again.
Indians need to understand
the intrinsic multi-
dimensional long-term
strategy of the Communist
Party government in Beijing.
That it is a party which is “all
in one”. It is the government,
the State, the military. The
Chinese Communists truly
believe that their “time has
come”, and given the fact that
the West is in virtual
withdrawal, caught up in its
own problems, wants to rule
the waves, air, land. The
Chinese are well aware that
the rest of the world has
neither the time, inclination or
A settlement may well
be taking place
somewhere near the
base because one is
hearing stories of
students arguing with
parents before
trooping out to join a
hostel here, a college
there, to merge in the
nationwide protests
the elderly and women, pick-
ing up the youth (not always
without an eye on ransom
money), in brief, inviting
“skull caps and beards” onto
the street to provide visuals
for a gleefully complicit
media. But focus on the parti-
san media must not obscure
the oases of courageous, bal-
anced journalism with the
likes of Ravish Kumar of
Hindi NDTV in the lead.
It was bad enough that the
protests erupted with the sud-
denness of revelation, what is
worse for the government is
the fact that they have taken
place against the backdrop of
electoral decline — reverses
in Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, a narrow shave
in Haryana.
Even though the Supreme
Court gifted a judgment to the
BJP affiliates enabling them
to build a Ram Temple in
Ayodhya, the political conse-
quences of this outcome are
negative for the party.
Communal polarisation bur-
geoned when the temple was
an issue, with Muslims pitted
on the other side. For the
faithful, a temple exactly on
the spot where Ram was born
is a matter of supreme satis-
faction. But by the same token
the politician has lost an issue
— the goose that laid the saf-
fron egg is dead.
This may have been an addi-
have to live our own lives. It
is not possible to live the life
of another person. This
seemingly simple statement
has far reaching implica-
tions. The corollary to this is
that we must take responsi-
bility for our lives and learn
to mind our own business.
Generally, we do not hold
ourselves account-
able for the sorrows
of our life. We shift
the blame onto
somebody, some
place or event, as it
is much easier to
pin the cause of our
unhappiness on
something other
than ourselves. We spend
our time wanting and trying
to change the people we
encounter in life and also the
world itself! However, our
best intentions and efforts do
not meet with much success
DECCAN CHRONICLE
In India, with 90 per
cent of its telecom
equipment imported,
the possibility of
foreign surveillance is
a reality. Among all
foreign players, none
can beat the Chinese
simply as India was, is,
and will continue to be
their prime target.
intention to learn Mandarin
language as it is hugely time-
consuming!
The Chinese are truly on a
“revenge spree”. Revenge for
the Opium War of the nine-
teenth century, which had its
ops headquarters in India
under the aegis of the East
India Company, backed and
supported by the British
Crown. Large parts of China’s
coastal towns and provinces
got addicted to “cheap” opium.
Today, in a reversal of roles,
the vast majority of Indian con-
sumers have got addicted to
“cheap” Chinese gadgets.
China has found the knob, and
India’s establishment seems
helpless in the face of a deter-
mined Chinese onslaught
which deftly combines psy war
with influencing a sizeable
chunk of opinion makers.
tional reason why the citizen-
ship issue was urgently
required to keep up the com-
munal temperature. But a
great miscalculation attends
this move. Ram
Janmabhoomi had been an
issue since the 19th century,
given a boost by the idols
being placed inside Babri
Masjid in 1948. The “Shila”
processions in 1989, the carry-
ing of bricks consecrated in
thousands of village temples
all the way to Ayodhya was a
marketing strategy that
would leave Madison Avenue
gasping. Even more spectacu-
lar was L.K. Advani’s Rath
Yatra, carrying a replica of
Ram’s carriage from Somnath
to Ayodhya, generating suffi-
cient saffron to boost the BJP
from a mere two seats in 1984
to power under Atal Behari
Vajpayee in a little over a
decade.
Narendra Modi had this
advantage. Further, there
was the tailwind of post 9/11
global Islamophobia to which
Mr Modi added his own
“Mian Musharraf” rhetoric
(grinding his teeth) in the
Gujarat elections and the sky-
high communalisation after
the 2002 Gujarat pogrom.
The citizenship issue,
though loaded with commu-
nal intent, has resonated quite
differently with the youth —
of all denominations. The citi-
zenship issue terrifies the
Muslim but the image of petri-
fied Muslims has, contrary to
Hindutva expectations,
touched a soft Hindu chord.
Women, with students in the
‘So much for the parties’ tree-planting pledge.’
because we are unable to
change anyone.
Having understood this
simple point, we will no
longer meddle in the affairs
of others. The concentration
or focus will shift to changing
or improving our own lives.
The only life we can change
is our own and the greatest
service anyone can
do to this world is
to mind his or her
own business and
change him or her-
self. This is the
path to happiness.
Also remember
that — if we do
what we need to do,
then one day we will be able
to do what we want to do. Our
minds are confused because
we want to do multiple
things. We are unable to
achieve great things because
we shirk at even our simple,
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
Hardly any critical apprecia-
tion, not to speak of criticism,
appears in India’s leading
news media.
In this delicate scenario, it
certainly cannot be the sole
responsibility of the soldiers of
the state or intelligence agen-
cies or a handful in the govern-
ment to be held accountable for
the safety, security, unity,
integrity and sovereignty of
the nation. All Indians have
some responsibility to save the
nation from the dangers of
China’s avowed long-term
game to break India into 30-32
pieces.
A glimpse of how Huawei
operates might be an eye-open-
er. It has been reported that
“Chinese firms are driving
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
across Africa”. That, “at least
75 out of 176 nations surveyed
globally are actively using AI
tech for surveillance, and the
leading vendors are Chinese
firms, led by Huawei, which
supplied tech to at least 50
countries”.
The Chinese are the fastest
penetrators in the African
market, as they offer soft loans
for governments to purchase
their equipment and promise
to set up and manage these sys-
tems. Does one need to explain
what this means? From
Algeria to the Ivory Coast,
vanguard, in occupation of
spaces of progressive politics
is a heart-warming trend.
How New Delhi proposes to
firm up the Citizenship
Register in Assam without
upsetting the warm relations
with Dhaka is something of a
puzzle. Does the lack of anxi-
ety on Sheikh Hasina’s brow
indicate back channel assur-
ances? Will Muslim distress
across the border not provide
a handle to the Opposition in
Bangladesh? The authors of
the CAA and NRC probably
had two simultaneous ends in
mind — keep the people dis-
tracted from their abysmal
economic lot and focused
mindlessly on Hindu consoli-
dation.
The expanding protests
have given heart to various
groups. The traditional met-
ropolitan elite, distanced
from power with the consoli-
dation of the Modi-Shah duet,
has already pulled out its cal-
culators, working out the
electoral mathematics for the
future. The habitual quest for
“connections” causes them to
dream dreams of an implausi-
ble two-party system. The
emerging reality is much
more federal. Delusory
dreams are in any case pre-
mature because the BJP is not
disappearing in a hurry. If the
party ever has its back
against the wall, there is still
that willingness to surpass
Balakot by yards.
The writer is a senior
journalist and commentator
based in New Delhi
obligatory duties assigned to
us. We are unable to perform
properly and on time, even
those duties regarding which
there is no confusion. So,
when difficulties come, we
are confused and do not
understand what to do. This
is the simple, straightfor-
ward truth.
Vedanta sums it up by say-
ing, “Avichara krito bandha
vicharane nivartate” (All our
bondage and suffering is
caused by lack of right think-
ing). Life is very simple. Let
us learn not to unnecessarily
complicate it.
Swami Tejomayananda is
from Chinmaya Mission. To
find out more about
Chinmaya Mission
and Swamiji, visit
www.chinmayamission.com.
© Central Chinmaya Mission
Trust.
Oped
South Africa to Nigeria, Egypt
to Zambia, China has emerged
the master of survey, surveil-
lance and security threats to
both coastal and landlocked
states, capturing the land,
labour and capital of Africa
through slow, steady and sur-
reptitiously destructive meth-
ods.
In India, with 90 per cent of
its telecom equipment import-
ed, the possibility of foreign
surveillance is a reality.
However, among all foreign
players, none can beat the
Chinese simply as India was,
is, and will continue to be their
prime target. This was clearly
spelt out in my book China in
India, and I will be only too
happy for it to be proved that
my fears were misplaced.
Let Indians face reality, and
not build castles in the air
about China. Huawei’s entry
will be projected as a “sign” of
Indo-Chinese “convergence”
for India’s modernisation.
Territorial disputes, on the
other hand, are a “divergence”.
But why is India forgetting,
despite it being pointed out,
that China will never, ever,
allow any foreigner, however
friendly, to get anywhere near
their “defence, electricity, oil,
petrochemicals, telecommuni-
cations, coal, aviation, and
shipping”, all of which are
As in the song Little
Boxes, music, as said
often, is like magic
Hajrah Mumtaz
M
usic has, of course,
been described as a
mathematical equa-
tion, a creation and
an endeavour that is precise —
absolutely perfectly calculated,
if you will — if it is to work and
endure. But also, as not enough
people understand it, it can be
a dialogue, a speech, a diatribe
— and yes, I’m stating the per-
fectly obvious.
A couple of weeks ago, on
Dawn was discussed the age-
old debate of whether song
lyrics were counted as poetry, a
debate that was fairly conclu-
sively put to rest in 2017 when
the Nobel Prize for Literature
went to Bob Dylan. The ques-
tion, though is, does the poetry
come first or the music? How
does that magical melding
work that builds and trans-
forms?
Consider, for example,
Allama Iqbal’s absolutely beau-
tiful poem on the Mosque of
Cordoba; unmatchable though
it is, a portion was immor-
talised even further as the song
Silsilae roz-o-Shab in the duet
between Malika Pukhraj and
Tahira Syed (poetry that in this
day in this country might be
considered worthy of approba-
tion, him being our national
poet notwithstanding — con-
sider Shikwah, Jawab-i-
Shikwah). In setting the poetry
to music, the professionals cre-
ated an entity that goes beyond.
The dialogue between the
mature voice lamenting the
progression of life, and a
degree of cynicism, and the
younger voice replying in hope
and belief, is fairly unmatched.
The point is that what was
already beautiful — glorious —
was rendered even further so.
(Aside: since I am rather par-
tial to Malika Pukhraj’s work,
another absolute gem is Mujhe
yaad karne walo, in addition to
so many others.)
As a thought experiment,
from here it is possible to cross
towards the idea that music
also speaks a dialogue of its
own, not actually or necessari-
ly requiring words and lan-
guage. This is, of course, an
age-old concept, and there is
only a plethora of examples
from around the world,
through the ages. Beethoven’s
Ode to Joy, or Dmitri
Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2, or
Itzhak Perlman’s Tango, or
Maurice Ravel’s Bolero, spring
immediately to my mind, at
least (but everyone has their
own preferences, obviously —
a hundred, several thousand
from around the world, more
could be referred to).
Inspiration breeds inspira-
tion. Consider, for example, the
rather wonderful fact that the
Bollywood song Dil to Bacha
hai Ji, picturised so memo-
rably on the inimitable
Naseeruddin Shah in the film
Ishqiya is, essentially, the
Bolero. The cadence is com-
pelling, and the songwriter’s
PAGE
9
state-owned enterprises, equiv-
alent to India’s public sector
undertakings like ONGC, Bhel,
BEL, Air India? Beijing also
steadfastly maintains its
strong presence in “pillar
industries” like “equipment
manufacturing, auto-making,
electronics, construction,
steel, non-ferrous metals,
chemicals, surveying, and sci-
entific research”.
What China is today is
because of its own initiative,
with determination to first
make the country strong sin-
gle-handedly, taking help
strictly on its own terms, even
if isolated and ostracised to
start with. The end results are
there for all to see. China overt-
ly considers India an inferior
power and walks, talks and dic-
tates from a position of
strength, taking full advantage
of India’s innate inability to
stand up for itself.
India had, quite rightly,
refused to be a part of China’s
Belt and Road Initiative and to
join RCEP. But China has,
through Huawei, decided to
penetrate deep inside India,
thereby nullifying this coun-
try’s sovereign actions.
The writer is an alumnus
of the National Defence College
and the author of China in
India
lament about love or infatua-
tion in older years — irre-
sistible, yet pointless, in the
context of the movie — no less
so. Meanwhile, the song cre-
ates bridges across continents,
cultures, and the ages, to which
many of us, multilingual and
cross-cultural as we are, can
heed.
Going on from there, music in
the dialogue form has taken so
many shapes. Pink Floyd are
often taken as having come up
with the idea of a concept
album, where the music/songs
are not single-standing entities
but a unified whole that is self-
reliant and speaks in and of
itself. The albums Dark Side of
the Moon and more famously
The Wall were path-breakers in
their own way, and set a bar for
many others to follow, such as
Prince, or Eminem.
Musicology is an academic
discipline because of a reason.
Greats across the ages have
spent their life’s blood, and pro-
duced inspiration that has
seared so many a soul. Lest one
get confused, though, one must
underline the distinction that
actually, there is really not
much distinction in this field
in terms of “high brow” or oth-
erwise. In an interview with
Rolling Stone magazine some
years ago, vocalist and gui-
tarist Arlo Guthrie — who ren-
dered the classic Alice’s
Restaurant — talked about how
his father told him, learn to
play an instrument and learn
music: it will be your friend in
life. His lovely song has
endured now for over half a
century, though not played that
often (given that it refers to the
Vietnam War). But lest the
reader bridle, the world has not
yet forgotten The Beatles, or
Elvis, or Tan Sen.
As written earlier, inspira-
tion comes from so many direc-
tions. In a random trawl, join
this to the work on someone
such as Australian film direc-
tor Baz Luhrmann, who has
often talked about being
inspired in his professional life
by the music and spectacle of
Bollywood — showcased in the
fairly spectacular 2001 Moulin
Rouge. While being in English,
of course, it draws upon tropes
that anyone from this part of
the world is well familiar with,
circularity and all (in cinemat-
ic terms).
And so, to the title of this
piece. “Little Boxes” is a song
by Malvina Reynolds (d: 1978),
American blues / jazz song-
writer, singer, guitarist and
political activist. This particu-
lar gem was revitalised when
employed as the title theme of
the show Weeds, centring on a
woman’s determined suburban
existence and need to keep the
family going after her hus-
band’s death.
The music, as said often, is
magic.
By arrangement with Dawn

Monetary support
Pete Buttigieg’s campaign has raised more than
$24.7 million, a show of financial and organisational
strength heading into the presidential primaries
Right now, some
2,50,000 migrants
are moving towards
our borders
— Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkey President
IN BRIEF
US consulate in
Mexico on alert
Mexico City: The United
States consulate in Mexico’s
border city of Nuevo Laredo
issued a security alert on
Wednesday, warning against
gun battles and urging gov-
ernment employees to take
precautions. Gun battles
have killed at least three
people this week in the
northern city bordering the
Texas city of Laredo, media
have said. “U.S. government
personnel are advised to
shelter in place,” the con-
sulate said in a Twitter post.
Tension over drug cartels
intensified in November
when suspected cartel mem-
bers massacred three
women and six children in
the northern part of the
country.
Turkey to send
troops to Libya
Ankara: Turkey's parliament
passed a bill on Thursday
approving a military deploy-
ment to Libya aimed at
shoring up the UN-backed
government in Tripoli. The
beleaguered Tripoli govern-
ment has been under sus-
tained attack since April by
military strongman General
Khalifa Haftar, who is backed
by Turkey's regional rivals —
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates. Egypt
strongly condemned the
Turkish vote, saying it
amounted to a “flagrant vio-
lation of international law
and Security Council resolu-
tions on Libya”. President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke
with his US counterpart
Donald Trump by phone on
Thursday to discuss the situ-
ation in Libya.
Macron firm on
pension reforms
Paris: French President
Emmanuel Macron vowed to
see through controversial
pension reform in his New
Year address to the country-
men on Thursday. On
December 5, France saw the
beginning of the indefinite
national strike against
Macron's initiative which will
take away a number of privi-
leges and special retirement
conditions from certain cate-
gories of workers, including
those working in transport.
As a result of the strike, the
work of the country's trans-
portation networks has been
thrown into chaos. “Must we
give up? ... The pension
reform that I have taken will
be passed," the President
said.
5 FISHERMEN
FEARED DEAD
IN ALASKA
Anchorage, Jan. 2: Five com-
mercial fishermen were
believed to have died after
their crabbing vessel sank on
New Year’s Eve in the Gulf of
Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard
said after ending a search and
rescue operation amid high
winds and heavy seas.
There were two survivors:
crewmen who took refuge in a
lifeboat and were rescued by a
Coast Guard helicopter. The
two were taken to a hospital in
Kodiak and were reported to
be in stable condition, the
Coast Guard said.
But after scouring a 3,600
square km area for 20 hours
with helicopter and fixed-wing
aircraft in the air and a cutter
at sea, the Coast Guard called
off its search for five missing
crew on Wednesday night.
The wreck appeared to be the
worst Alaska commercial fish-
ing accident in nearly three
years. In February of 2017,
another crabbing vessel, the
F/V Destination, sank and all
six aboard perished.
“The decision to suspend an
active search and rescue case
is never easy, and it’s only
made after careful considera-
tion of a myriad of factors,”
said Rear Admiral Matthew
Bell, commander of the Coast
Guard’s Alaska district.
US Army paratroopers from 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd
Airborne Division were activated and deployed to the US central command area of operations in response to recent
events in Iraq.
US-Iran tension high
after militiamen’s exit
Rising unrest could give way to further violence in ME
Baghdad, Jan.2: Iran-
backed militiamen with-
drew from the U.S.
Embassy compound in
Baghdad on Wednesday
after two days of clashes
with American security
forces, but U.S.-Iran ten-
sions remain high and
could spill over into fur-
ther violence.
The withdrawal followed
calls from the government
and senior militia leaders.
It ended a two-day crisis
marked by the breach of
the largest and one of the
most heavily fortified U.S.
diplomatic missions in the
world.
The attack and its
volatile aftermath prompt-
ed the Pentagon to send
hundreds of additional
troops to the Middle East
and U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo to delay a
European and Central
Hundreds arrested in
HK New Year protests
Hong Kong, Jan.2: Hong
Kong police arrested
about 400 people in New
Year’s Day protests after
what started as a peaceful
pro-democracy march of
tens of thousands spi-
ralled into chaotic scenes
with police firing tear gas
to disperse the crowds.
The arrests take the
total to about 7,000 since
protests in the city esca-
lated in June over a now-
withdrawn bill that would
have allowed extradition
to mainland China, and
will highlight the appar-
ent absence of any
progress towards ending
the unrest.
The tension on
Wednesday rose after
some arrests were made
in the Wan Chai bar dis-
trict near a branch of
global banking group
HSBC (0005.HK), which
has been the target of pro-
tester anger in recent
weeks.
When scuffles broke out,
large numbers of black-
clad protesters rushed to
the scene while other pro-
SAFE | FLIGHT
Global air crash deaths fell by 50%
Washinton, Jan. 2: The
number of people killed in
large commercial airplane
crashes fell by more than
50% in 2019 despite a high-
profile Boeing 737 MAX
crash in Ethiopia in
March, a Dutch consulting
firm said on Wednesday.
Aviation consulting firm
To70 said there were 86
accidents involving large
commercial planes —
including eight fatal inci-
dents resulting in 257
fatalities last year. In 2018,
there were 160 accidents,
including 13 fatal ones,
resulting in 534 deaths, the
firm said.
To70 said the fatal acci-
dent rate for large air-
planes in commercial pas-
senger air transport was
just 0.18 fatal accident per
million flights in 2019, or
an average one fatal acci-
dent every 5.58 million
IRAN NOT HEADING TO WAR
BUT NOT AFRAID OF CONFLICT
Dubai, Jan.2: A top
Iranian commander said
on Thursday that Iran
was not moving towards
a war but was not afraid
of any conflict, the semi-
official Tasnim news
agency reported after
U.S. President Donald
Trump said Tehran was
behind anti-U.S. protests
in Iraq.
Trump accused Iran of
orchestrating demonstra-
Asian trip.
In an orchestrated
assault, hundreds of mili-
tiamen and their support-
ers broke into the
embassy compound,
destroying a reception
testers formed human
chains to pass them vari-
ous supplies including
bricks, forcing police to
bring in their own rein-
forcements.
Police then asked organ-
isers to call off the march
early and crowds eventu-
ally dispersed as a water
cannon truck and scores
of police in riot gear
patrolled the streets late
into the evening.
Jimmy Sham, one of the
leaders of the Civil
Human Rights Front that
organised the march, crit-
icised the police decision
to get the crowd to dis-
perse at such short notice
and said they had arrested
■ 534 lives were lost in 13 fatal accidents in the year gone by
flights, a significant
improvement over 2018.
The fatality numbers
include passengers, air
crew such as flight atten-
dants and any people on
the ground killed in a
plane accident
Large passenger air-
planes in the study are air-
craft used by nearly all
travelers on airlines
worldwide but excludes
small commuter airplanes
tions at the U.S. embassy
in Iraq on Tuesday. Iran
has rejected the accusa-
tion.
“..we are not afraid of
any war and we tell
America to speak cor-
rectly with the Iranian
nation. We have the
power to break them ..”
Revolutionary Guards
Commander Brigadier
General Hossein Salami
said. — AP
area, smashing windows
and spraying graffiti on
walls to protest U.S.
airstrikes against an Iran-
backed militia over the
weekend that killed 25
fighters.
■ The arrests take the
total to about 7,000 since
protests in the city escalat-
ed in June over a now-
withdrawn extradition bill.
Police detain a group of
people after a pro-democ-
racy march in Hong Kong
on January 1. — AFP
protesters indiscriminate-
ly.
Police told media on
Thursday they had arrest-
ed 420 people over the New
Year holiday, most on New
Year’s Day, with 287 of
them in one sweep for ille-
gal assembly, including a
12-year old.
Police said they only
made the arrests on
Wednesday after they
notified the march organ-
isers and gave sufficient
time for demonstrators to
leave. Four officers were
injured during the day,
they said. Organisers esti-
mated that just over one
million people took part
in the march. — Reuters
■ Boeing’s board had fired Chief Executive
Dennis Muilenburg after a pair of fatal crash-
es involving the 737 MAX forced it to
announce it was halting output of its best-
selling jetliner.
■ The 157 people killed in March on
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accounted for
more than half of all deaths last year world-
wide in passenger airline crashes. Coupled
with the Indonesia crash, 346 were killed.
in service, including the
Cessna Caravan and some
smaller turboprop air-
planes, according to To70.
On Dec. 23, Boeing’s
(BA.N) board said it had
fired Chief Executive
Dennis Muilenburg after a
pair of fatal crashes
involving the 737 MAX
forced it to announce it
was halting output of its
best-selling jetliner. The
737 MAX has been ground-
DECCAN CHRONICLE
— AFP
The U.S. blamed the mili-
tia for a rocket attack on
an Iraqi military base in
the northern city of
Kirkuk last week that
killed a U.S. contractor.
The protesters set up a
tent camp overnight and
on Wednesday set fire to
the reception area and
hurled stones at U.S.
Marines guarding the
compound, who respond-
ed with tear gas. There
were no injuries on either
side and no American
staff were evacuated from
the compound.
The Popular
Mobilization Forces —
which is supposedly allied
to Iran — an umbrella
group of state-allied called
on its supporters to with-
draw in response to an
appeal by the Iraqi gov-
ernment.
— AP
Jumbo feed
Elephants eat fruits and vegetables during the Chitwan Elephant Festival in Sauraha Chitwan, some 150 kms south-
west of Kathmandu. The ongoing festival is celebrated with elephants, horses, and bullock cart races as well as
elephant soccer games and an elephant beauty pageant.
ed since March after an
October 2018 crash in
Indonesia and the crash of
a MAX in Ethiopia in
March killed a total of 346
people.
To70 said the aviation
industry spent significant
effort in 2019 “focusing on
so-called ‘future threats’
such as drones.” But the
MAX crashes “are a
reminder that we need to
retain our focus on the
World
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
IRAQ ASSURES
SAFETY OF US
PERSONNEL
Baghdad, Jan.2:
Secretary of State
Michael Pompeo on
Thursday said that Iraqi
Prime Minister Adel
Abd al-Mahdi has
assured security of US
personnel, amid violent
protest outside US
embassy in Baghdad.
“Spoke today with
Iraqi Prime Minister al-
Mahdi, who agreed that
Iraq would continue to
uphold its responsibility
to keep US personnel
secure and would move
the Iran-backed attack-
ers away from US
Embassy in Baghdad.
We'll continue coopera-
tion to hold Iran and its
proxies responsible,”
wrote Pompeo in a
tweet.
Earlier in the day, US
Secretary of State post-
poned his visit to
Ukraine, after its
embassy in Iraq was
besieged by Shiite pro-
testers after airstrikes
in Iraq and Syria.
Pompeo also said that
legitimate efforts of
Iraqi protesters since
October last year
against corruption in
Iraq should not be con-
fused with “the Iranian
regime orchestrated
attack, conducted by ter-
rorists against the US
embassy in Baghdad."
State Department
spokesperson, Morgan
Ortagus said, “The situ-
ation around embassy in
Baghdad has improved,"
but that effort by Iraqi
forces "to clear militia
members from the area
immediately surround-
ing the embassy contin-
ue." — ANI
Mike Pompeo
basics that make civil avi-
ation so safe: well-
designed and well-built
aircraft flown by fully
informed and well-trained
crews.”
The Aviation Safety
Network said on
Wednesday that, despite
the MAX crash, 2019 “was
one of the safest years
ever for commercial avia-
tion.” The 157 people
killed in March on
Ethiopian Airlines Flight
302 accounted for more
than half of all deaths last
year worldwide in passen-
ger airline crashes.
Over the last two
decades, aviation deaths
around the world have
been falling dramatically.
As recently as 2005, there
were 1,015 deaths aboard
commercial passenger
flights worldwide.
— Reuters
Orthodox Jews sing and dance during the 13th Siyum
HaShas celebration in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Security was tightened at the event.
Anti-Semitism in
NYC suburbs up
Monsey (NY), Jan.2:
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish
families pushed out of
increasingly expensive
Brooklyn neighbour-
hoods have been turning
to the suburbs, where
they have taken advan-
tage of open space and
cheaper housing to estab-
lish modern-day versions
of the European shtetls
where their ancestors
lived for centuries before
the Holocaust.
The expansion of
Hasidic communities in
New York’s Hudson
Valley, the Catskills and
northern New Jersey has
led to predictable spar-
ring over new housing
development and local
political control. It has
also led to flare-ups of
rhetoric seen by some as
anti-Semitic.
Now, a pair of violent
attacks on such commu-
nities, just weeks apart,
worry many that intoler-
ance is boiling over.
On Dec. 10, a man and
woman killed a police
officer and then stormed
into a kosher grocery in
Jersey City, fatally shoot-
ing three people inside
before dying in an hours-
long gunfight with police.
The slayings happened in
a neighbourhood where
Hasidic families had
recently been relocating,
amid pushback from
some local officials who
complained about repre-
Crash ends Taiwan
military chief’s life
Taipei, Jan. 2: Taiwan’s
top military official was
among eight people killed
in an air force helicopter
crash in mountainous ter-
rain outside Taipei on
Thursday, the defense
ministry said. Five others
survived.
As chief of the general
staff, Gen. Shen Yi-ming
was responsible for over-
seeing the self-governing
island’s defense against
China, which threatens to
use military force if nec-
essary to annex what it
considers part of its terri-
tory.
The helicopter was fly-
ing from Taipei to the
nearby city of Yilan for a
New Year’s activity when
it crashed. The victims
included other senior mil-
itary officials and the two
pilots.
The UH-60M Blackhawk
PAGE
10
— AFP
...in Rockland County I
have seen a rise in
hate rhetoric, and I was able
to foresee it would end in
violence. You have seen on
social media where the
Orthodox community has
been called a cancer..
— ARON WIEDER
Victim
sentatives of the commu-
nity going door to door,
offering to buy homes at
Brooklyn prices.
And on Saturday, a man
rushed into a rabbi’s
home in Monsey, New
York, during a Hanukkah
celebration, hacking at
people with a machete.
Five people were wound-
ed, including one who
remained hospitalized on
Tuesday. Federal prosecu-
tors said the man charged
in the attack, Grafton
Thomas, had handwritten
journals containing anti-
Semitic comments and a
swastika and had
researched Hitler’s
hatred of Jews online.
''In the last few years in
Rockland County I have
seen a rise in hate rheto-
ric, and I was able to fore-
see it would end in vio-
lence,'' said Aron Wieder,
the legislator targeted in
a video ad. ''You have seen
on social media where the
Orthodox community has
been called a cancer,
leeches...” — AP
— AFP)
Gen. Shen Yi-ming
with 13 people on board
dropped from the radar
screen 10 minutes after
takeoff from Songshan
air force base around 7:50
a.m., Taiwan’s defense
ministry said. It went
down in the mountain-
ous, heavily forested
Wulai area southeast of
the capital. Shen, 63, had
taken over as chief of the
general staff in July after
serving as commander of
Taiwan’s air force. — AP

Top contender
Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for Labour Party, has
emerged as the early front runner in the race to succeed
Jeremy Corbyn as leader, according to a poll of members
I hope this new year
will be a year free of
disasters, peaceful
and good for all of
you
— Naruhito
Japan Emperor
IN BRIEF
Bird flu kills 25K
turkeys in Poland
Warsaw: Authorities in east-
ern Poland say bird flu is
responsible for the deaths of
at least 25,000 turkeys in
poultry farms near the coun-
try’s borders with Ukraine
and Belarus. Polish veteri-
nary authorities on Thursday
were planning to cull tens of
thousands of birds in the
Lubartow area, a major poul-
try farming region. Police
were blocking access to the
affected area to non-resi-
dents. The chief veterinarian
for Lublin province, Pawel
Piotrowski, confirmed that
the deadly H5N8 virus was
responsible for the turkey
deaths in two farms in the
village of Stary Uscimow,
which lies 45 kilometres
from the borders.
5.8 magnitude
quake jolts Iran
Tehran: A 5.8 magnitude
earthquake jolted the north-
eastern Iranian province of
Khorasan-e Razavi on
Thursday, the Iranian
Seismological Centre said.
The tremors were registered
at 04:29 GMT, with the epi-
centre located at the depth
of eight kilometres (about
five miles). There are no
reports about any victims or
damages caused by the
earthquake. Iran is located in
a seismically active zone and
often suffers from powerful
earthquakes. The deadliest
earthquake in the country’s
history occurred in 856 AD,
killing some 2,00,000 peo-
Sri Lanka extends
ple.
free tourist visas
Colombo: Sri Lanka on
Thursday extended the free
visa-on-arrival scheme till
April 30 for the citizens of
48 countries, including India,
tourism minister Prasanna
Ranatunga said, as the coun-
try tries to revive the tourism
sector which was hit by the
Easter Sunday bombings.
In April, Sri Lanka suspended
its plans to grant visa-on-
arrival to citizens of 39
countries after the devastat-
ing bombings that killed 258
people. In July, the island
nation added more coun-
tries, including India and
China after it re-launched
the free visa on arrival
scheme, which was imple-
mented from August 1. “We
have decided to extend this
facility due to requests from
the stake holders. A Cabinet
paper would be submitted
for this purpose,” Ranatunga
said.
BAJWA TERM:
PAK SEEKS
STAY ORDER
SHAFQAT ALI | DC
ISLAMABAD, JAN. 2
Pakistan on Thursday request-
ed the Supreme Court of
Pakistan to form a five-mem-
ber larger bench in case per-
taining to army chief ’s exten-
sion.
The government has filed
two miscellaneous pleas seek-
ing a stay order over the previ-
ous decision and to form a
larger bench following the
review petition which was
filed earlier.
The government has request-
ed the apex court to suspend
the implementation of the
decision of November 28 till
the review petition’s verdict is
announced.
The top court had allowed
extension/reappointment of
Army Chief General Qamar
Javed Bajwa for another six
months and asked the govern-
ment to determine the tenure,
terms and conditions of the
service of the army chief
through legislation within the
period.
Meanwhile, the PML (N) par-
liamentary committee decided
to back federal government’s
Army Act amendment bill in
National Assembly to grant
extension in service to army
chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.
EU focus on climate change, Brexit
European Union has some massive challenges lined up to tackle in 2020
Brussels, Jan. 2: Dece-
mber served up a warning
of the massive challenges
ahead for the European
Union.
Freak storms wreaked
havoc on parts of southern
Europe, showing how the
impact of extreme weath-
er will drive the bloc’s
thinking and climate
change policy over the
coming years. The EU has
already said it wants to
spend effort and money to
remain the global driver of
measures to fight climate
change. All these chal-
lenges will need a strong
coordinated response from
the EU's soon-to-be 27
nations if they want to live
up to their goal of having a
bigger global impact.
“Europe must raise its
voice more strongly in the
world,” German Chance-
llor Angela Merkel said.
In many ways, 2020 could
mark a bright new dawn
for the EU. A new regime
is in place, with
Germany’s Ursula von der
Leyen taken over as
European Commission
president and Belgium’s
Charles Michel the new
Council President.
The Brexit will-they-or-
won't-they drama has also
turned a corner. The UK is
set to leave on Jan. 31 and
while the following trade
talks will be tense and
exacting, it’s hardly the
stuff that will liven up
newspaper headlines. Ten-
sions still could arise
between EU nations with
widely disparate economic
interests in trading with
Britain. EU policies on cli-
mate change, the pre-emi-
nent issue where the EU
wants to lead the world,
are facing domestic chal-
lenges. Coal-burning Pol-
and is resisting calls to
move more quickly in fig-
hting climate change and
farmers and workers in
the Netherlands, France
and beyond have protested
Indonesia flood
deaths touch 21
Jakarta, Jan. 2: Tens of
thousands of people were
evacuated in Indonesia’s
capital Jakarta on Thu-
rsday after flash floods
and landslides in the area
killed up to 21 people,
with more heavy rain
forecast, authorities said.
The flooding, among the
deadliest in years, caused
chaos in parts of
Southeast Asia’s biggest
city with train lines
blocked and power out-
ages in some areas.
Swathes of Jakarta and
nearby towns were inun-
dated after heavy rain fell
on Dec. 31 and into the
early hours of New Year’s
Day.
Social affairs ministry
spokesman said in a mes-
sage that the death toll
had now reached 21, while
the disaster mitigation
agency said it was 19.
As of Thursday, over
62,000 people were evacu-
ated in Jakarta alone, dis-
aster mitigation agency
spokesman Agus Wibowo
said, twice as many as a
day earlier.
Thousands of livestock
were reported missing
and thousands of houses
damaged in neighbouring
province of Banten.
Indonesia’s President
Joko Widodo told repo-
rters on Thursday that
evacuation and safety
procedures should be pri-
oritised, and called for
more coordination bet-
ween city administra-
tions and the central gov-
ernment.
On his Twitter page,
Widodo blamed delays in
flood control infrastruc-
ture projects for the flood-
A family walks their son through a flooded neighbour-
hood in a bucket in Tanggerang on the outskirts of
Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday.
This satellite image released by Copernicus Sentinel imagery shows wildfires burning across Australia.
new laws aiming to curb
pollution. An EU summit
had to go through linguis-
tic contortions to claim a
deal on an overall commit-
ment to achieve carbon
neutrality by 2050.
Outside EU borders, the
US has gone from a trusted
ally under former Pres-
ident Barack Obama to an
unpredictable partner
under Donald Trump, who
pulled out of the Paris cli-
mate accord that the EU
was instrumental in bro-
kering. The EU is still a
staunch defender of multi-
lateralism and seeking
global compromise. That
approach is being tested
daily, as China and the US
vie for economic and mili-
tary supremacy. — AP
■ THE FLOODING,
among the deadliest in
years, caused chaos in
parts of Southeast
Asia’s biggest city with
train lines blocked and
power outages in some
areas
■ Swathes of Jakarta
and nearby towns were
inundated after heavy
rain fell on Dec. 31 and
into the early hours of
New Year’s Day
ing. He said some projects
have been delayed since
2017 due to land acquisi-
tion problems.
Some of the victims had
drowned, while others
were killed in landslides.
Four were electrocuted,
while three died of
hypothermia.
Indonesia’s cabinet sec-
retary said, citing the geo-
physics agency, that ex-
treme weather may con-
tinue across Indonesia
until Jan. 7 and warned
people to remain on alert
for further flooding or
landslides.
Dwikorita Karnawati,
head of the geophysics
agency, said heavy rain-
fall may continue until
mid February.
Umar Dani, 52, and his
family were evacuated
overnight from his home
in East Jakarta on a rub-
ber boat after water levels
rose up to his neck.
“It has not flooded for so
long here. We didn’t have
the chance to bring any-
thing,” he said. “I have to
live on the streets now.”
— Reuters
— AP
DECCAN CHRONICLE
Oz bushfire smoke turns
New Zealand glaciers brown
Wellington, Jan. 2: Smo- ing on the thickness of the
ke from Australia’s bush- haze. “Smoke which has
fires has created a haze travelled around 2,000km
across New Zealand thou- across the Tasman Sea can
sands of kilometres away clearly be seen,” New
with normally white gla- Zealand’s official forecast-
ciers turning a shade of er MetService tweeted.
caramel, according to “Visibility in the smoke
social media posts on haze is as low as 10km in
Thursday. the worst affected
The acrid-smelling smo- areas.”A Twitter user
ke first appeared in the called Miss Roho tweeted:
country early Wednesday “We can actually smell the
when in many areas the burning here in Christ-
sun appeared as either a church.”Another woman,
red or golden orb, depend- Rachel, posted a photo of
Afghanistan gets first snowfall
A man shovels snow from the roof of his house in Kabul on Thursday. The Afghan capital Kabul city had its first
snowfall of the winter on Wednesday.
GLOBAL | WARMING ■ Study: Warming of earth could cause loss of ice on river
River ice cover decline soon: Study
Washington, Jan. 2: The said Xiao Yang, a postdoc-
annual river ice cover will toral scholar at the
decline by about six days University of North Caro-
for every one degree lina at Chapel Hill (UNC-
Celsius increase in global Chapel) in the US.
temperatures, posing eco- “We detected widespread
nomic and environmental declines in monthly river
consequences, according ice coverage. And the pre-
to a study. dicted trend of future ice
The research, published loss is likely to lead to eco-
in the journal Nature, is nomic challenges for peo-
the first to look at the ple and industries along
future of river ice on a these rivers, and shifting
global scale. seasonal patterns in
“We used more than greenhouse gas emissions
4,00,000 satellite images from the ice-affected
taken over 34 years to rivers,” Yang said.
measure which rivers sea- The team also looked at
sonally freeze over world- changes to river ice cover
wide, which is about 56 per in the past, and modelled
cent of all large rivers,” predicted changes for the
World
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
— AP/ PTI
the Franz Josef Glacier —
more than 2,000 kilome-
tres (1,240 miles) away —
with its usual pristine
white taking on a brown
hue. “Near Franz Josef
glacier. The caramelised'
snow is caused by dust
from the bushfires. It was
white yesterday,” she said.
A caption read, “All the
way over in NZ the
Australian bushfire smoke
in the atmosphere giving
us this strange sun.”
— AFP
Comparing river ice
cover from 2008-2018
and 1984-1994, the team
found a monthly global
decline ranging from 0.3
to 4.3 percentage points
future. Comparing river
ice cover from 2008-2018
and 1984-1994, the team
found a monthly global
decline ranging from 0.3 to
4.3 percentage points.
The greatest declines
were found in the Tibetan
Plateau, eastern Europe,
and Alaska.
“The observed decline in
A helicopter drops water on a bushfire outside of
Batemans Bay in New South Wales.
Fire-ravaged towns
asked to evacuate
Sydney, Jan. 2: Australia
ordered residents and
tourists out of the path of
raging bushfires on
Thursday as the country
braced for a weekend heat-
wave expected to fan the
deadly inferno.
Catastrophic blazes rip-
ped through the country’s
south-east on New Year’s
Eve, killing at least eight
people and stranding holi-
daymakers.
New South Wales (NSW)
premier Gladys Berejik-
lian declared a seven-day
state of emergency that
allows for forced evacua-
tions beginning Friday, for
the third time in Aust-
ralia’s most populated reg-
ion this fire season.
“We don’t take these
decisions lightly but we
also want to make sure
we’re taking every single
precaution to be prepared
for what could be a horri-
ble day on Saturday,” she
said.
It came as the NSW rural
fire service declared two
— AFP
river ice is likely to contin-
ue with predicted global
warming,” the rese-
archers found.
For the future, the team
compared expected river
ice cover through 2009-
2029 and 2080-2100.
Findings showed month-
ly declines in the Nor-
thern Hemisphere rang-
PAGE
11
— AFP
■ NEW SOUTH WALES
premier declared a
seven-day state of
emergency that allows
for forced evacuations,
for the third time in
Australia’s most
populated region this
fire season
“tourist leave zones”
stretching almost 300 kilo-
metres from the town of
Nowra along the pictur-
esque coast to neighbour-
ing Victoria state, where
people are also being
urged to flee. Residents
and visitors in two inland
areas — which include
popular holiday resorts in
the Snowy Mountains —
were also told to leave,
with people given less
than 24 hours to evacuate
before a heatwave brings
gusting winds and temper-
atures above 40 degrees
Celsius. That weather will
create bad conditions, offi-
cials say. — AFP
GERMANY TO
PROBE DEATHS
OF MONKEYS
Berlin, Jan. 2: Three
women are under inves-
tigation in Germany for
launching paper sky
lanterns for the new
year which apparently
ignited a devastating
fire that killed more
than 30 animals at a zoo.
The three local women
— a mother and her two
daughters, ages 30 to 60
— went to police in the
western city of Krefeld
on New Year’s Day after
authorities held a news
conference about the
blaze, criminal police
chief Gerd Hoppmann
said.
The women are being
investigated on suspi-
cion of negligent arson,
prosecutor Jens Frobel
said. The offense can
carry a prison sentence
of up to five years.
Many Germans wel-
come in the new year
legally with fireworks at
midnight. Sky lanterns,
however, are both illegal
and unusual in Germ-
any. The mini hot-air
balloons made of paper
have been used in Asia
for centuries. The fire
started in a corner of
the ape house’s roof in
the first minutes of the
new year and spread
rapidly. The zoo near the
Dutch border says the
ape house burned down
and more than 30 ani-
mals. — AP
ing from 9-15 per cent in
the winter months, and 12-
68 per cent during the
spring and fall.
The Rocky Mountains,
northeastern US, eastern
Europe, and Tibetan
Plateau are expected to
take the heaviest impact,
the researchers said.
“Ultimately, what this
study shows is the power
of combining massive
amounts of satellite
imagery with climate
models to help better proj-
ect how our planet will
change,” said UNC-Chapel
Hill Associate Professor
Tamlin Pavelsky.
— PTI

FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
quick
BITES
INDICATORS % increase in their income
Sensex 41,626.64 0.78
Nifty 50 12,282.20 0.82
S&P 500 3,239 0.25
Dollar (`) 71.37 0.09
Pound Sterling (`) 94.39 -0.41
Euro (`) 80.18 0.03
Gold (10gm)* (`) 39,892▲38 0.09
Brent crude ($/bbl)* $66.05 0.05
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.502 0.001
US 10-Yr T-bill yield 1.884 -0.026
* As of 9:30 pm IST
Bank credit
grows 7.10% to
Banks' credit and deposits grew
by 7.10% and 10.09% to Rs
99.47 lakh crore and Rs 130.08
lakh crore, respectively, in the
fortnight ended Dec. 20, RBI
data shows. In the year-ago
fortnight, advances stood at Rs
92.87 lakh crore while deposits
were at Rs 118.16 lakh crore. In
the previous fortnight ended
Dec. 6, credit had grown by
7.91% to Rs 99.34 lakh crore.
DoT demands
`15K cr from
The DoT has slapped a Rs
15,019-crore demand notice on
Gujarat Narmada Valley
Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd, tak-
ing the total amount it has
sought from non-telecom firms
to Rs 3.13 lakh crore. The com-
pany said the demand has been
made in respect of financial
years from 2005-06 to 2018-19
in connection with V-SAT and
ISP licences held by it.
Sugar output
down 30% in
Oct-Dec: Isma
Sugar production has fallen
sharply by 30.22% to 7.79 mil-
lion tonne in the first three
months of current marketing
year that began in October, but
ex-mill prices have remained
stable, helping mills clear cane
payment to farmers on time,
the Isma said. Ex-mill sugar
prices have stayed steady in the
range of Rs 3,250-3,350 per
quintal in north India.
HDFC gets nod
to acquire
Apollo Munich
HDFC Ltd said the company and
its subsidiary HDFC ERGO have
got approvals for acquiring a
majority shareholding in Apollo
Munich Health Insurance Co Ltd.
By the deal, HDFC will acquire
the majority stake in Apollo
Munich from the Apollo
Hospitals Group for Rs 1,347
crore and will merge the com-
pany with its arm HDFC ERGO.
HDFC will acquire 50.8% from
the Apollo Hospitals group.
Printed & Published by
T Venkateswarlu on behalf of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &
Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP-3 Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.
Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI Reg.
No. TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re
1. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part without written per-
mission of The Editor, Financial
Chronicle ® is prohibited.
Nearly 10,000 jewellers face tax recovery action
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
Around 10,000 jewellers
are facing income-tax
recovery procedures after
the deadline to explain the
post-demonetisation
expired on December 31.
These jewellers had
received notices from the
Central Board of Direct
Taxes, seeking explana-
■ Phase-wise increase in rates also on govt’s agenda
Centre keen to cut
GST slabs to three
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
NEW DELHI, JAN. 2
Amid conflicting reports of
an impending restructur-
ing of the goods and servic-
es tax (GST) slabs, it is
learnt that the central gov-
ernment is keen to have
three different slabs of
GST from the existing four.
Besides, the government
is also mulling a marginal
increase in the current
GST rates for some key
items phase-wise to boost
the tax mop-up.
Experts are, however, of
view that there should not
be more than two slabs of
GST in the system.
Talking to Financial
Chronicle on condition of
anonymity, a member of
the apex body of the indi-
rect taxes, Central Board of
Indirect Taxes and
Customs (CBIC), said, “The
government is planning to
reduce the number of GST
slabs to three from the
existing number of four.
The final call will be taken
by the GST Council soon in
the regard.”
“Also, the GST rates of
some key items are set to
be increased, if not at one
Sanjeevani to cover Japan’s Taiho Pharma moves US
Ayush sans sub-limits court against Natco over drug
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, JAN. 2
The insurance regulator
wants the standard health
product—Arogya
eevani Policy—to cover
Sanj-
Ayush systems without
any sub-limits. The policy
is also portable from one
insurer to another
As per the guidelines
issued by the Insurance
Regulatory and Develop-
ment Authority for the
standard health policy,
which has to be mandatori-
ly offered by general insur-
ers and standalone health
insurers, expenses
incurred on hospitalisa-
tion under Ayush systems
of medicine shall be cov-
ered without sub-limits.
The guidelines also pro-
vided clarity in terms of
portable and migration.
Portability means the
right accorded to an indi-
vidual health insurance
Raid in Japan, arrests in Turkey over Ghosn
SHINGO ITO &
ERIC RANDOLPH
TOKYO/ISTANBUL, JAN 2
Officials on Thursday raid-
ed the Tokyo residence of
former Nissan boss Carlos
Ghosn who fled to
Lebanon to avoid a
Japanese trial, while
Turkey detained several
people as part of a widen-
ing probe into the security
lapse.
Ghosn, who faced multi-
ple charges of financial
misconduct that he denies,
won bail in April but with
strict conditions,including
a ban on overseas travel.
tion as to why their
incomes had risen post-
demonetisation. The
increase was considered
as their income and they
were asked to pay tax on
it. Gold jewellery sales
had risen post-demoneti-
sation when customers
bought gold in exchange
of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000
notes.
“These jewellers had
received notices around
go but phase-wise, to boost
GST collection for the gov-
ernment. However, it is up
to the GST Council to take
a final call on the issue and
the council is likely to
finalise the revised rates
within a month’s time,” the
source added.
A panel comprising cen-
tral and state government
officials has been formed to
review the current rate
structure and examine
ways to boost revenue col-
lection. “The government
is likely review around 150
products that are currently
exempt from GST and the
GST Council is expected to
discuss the panel’s recom-
mendations at its next
policyholder (including and 65 years while for chil-
family cover) to transfer
the credit gained by the policies, it will be three
insured for pre-existing months to 25 years.
conditions and time bound
exclusions if the policy-
holder chooses to switch
from one insurer to
another insurer.
“The standard Mini-
health policy mum sum
will make assured under
portability eas- the policy should
ier as the cus- be `1 lakh and
tomer need not
maximum,
be worried
about what will `5 lakh
be covered and what
not in the policy of
another insurer,” said will increase awareness
Vaidyanathan Ramani, about health insurance
head of product and inno- and it will be priced afford-
vation at PolicyBazaar. ably. However, private
com.
The minimum
sum much incentive to promote
assured under the policy the policy as it will give lit-
should be Rs 1 lakh while tle space for differentia-
the maximum should be Rs tion. Public insurers will
5 lakh. Minimum and max- end up selling the policy
imum entry age will be 18 more,” said Ramani.
But the disgraced execu-
tive, who has French,
Brazilian and Lebanese
nationalities, managed to
slip out of Japan on
Sunday despite having
handed over his three
passports to his lawyers.
A court in Tokyo had
allowed Ghosn to keep a
second French passport as
he needed one to travel
inside Japan, a source
close to the matter told
AFP on Thursday.
"He had to keep this pass-
port" to prove his short-
stay status, the source
said, "There was permis-
sion from the court."
one-and-a-half year back
and were given time till
meeting,” the a finance
ministry source said.
In line with media
reports, meanwhile, the
experts have also favoured
the reduction of slabs from
the present four. Subhash
Varshney, former principal
chief commissioner of
GST in the Mumbai Circle,
said there should be only
two slabs of GST rates.
He said less number of
slabs would help taxpayers
file GST returns easily and
help reduce the tax eva-
sion.
The Centre is planning to
talk to the state govern-
ments after the Union
Budget 2021 presentation
on February 1. It is also
dren under Family Floater
The product can also be
offered as micro insurance
product subject to the sum
insured limits specified by
Irdai. It can be distrib-
uted across all dis-
tribution chan-
nels, including
micro insurance
agents, point of
sales persons and
common public
service centres.
“This is a plain
vanilla health policy and it
insurers will not have
Ghosn was allowed this
French passport so long as
it was kept in a locked case
with the code held by his
lawyers, the source said.
There is no emigration
data showing Ghosn's
departure from Japan but
he entered Lebanon on a
French passport, public
broadcaster NHK said.
Ghosn is thought to have
taken a private jet from
Kansai Airport in western
Japan on December 29,
heading for Istanbul. It is
believed Ghosn headed
from there to Beirut.
Turkey's interior min-
istry has opened an inves-
Body blows
Dollar’s rally in 2019 was snuffed
out as the Fed cut three times
■ Federal Funds Target Rate-Upper Bound (R1)
■ Bloomberg Dollar Spot (L1)
1280
1260
1240
Index Points
1220
1200
1180
1160
1140
1120
1100
2017 2018
Figures in per cent Source: Federal Reserve, Bloomberg
December 31, 2019 to Bullion and Jewellers
explain the income rise. Association.
Those who were not able According to him, these
to explain the rise have to jewellers might have
pay 117 per cent of the recorded an average
increased income as increase of Rs 1 crore
penalty. Now they can each in income after
appeal to
Commissioners of Income
the demonetisation. Mehta
assumes that the
Tax, but will have to pay increased income can run
20 per cent of the penalty into thousands of crores
before that,” said of rupees. These are both
Surendra Mehta, national organised and un-organ-
secretary of the Indian ised jewellers in Delhi,
Factory
activity
picks up
Bengaluru, Jan. 2:
India’s factory activity
expanded at its fastest
pace in seven months in
exploring ways to manage December as a jump in
a possible revenue short- new orders prompted
age and consequent GST companies to ramp up
compensation to the states production, a private
from the next fiscal. “The business survey showed
finance ministers of state on Thursday.
governments are also Business optimism
expected to meet the fell to an almost three-
finance minister after the year low, however, as
Union Budget to discuss companies worried
the overhauling of GST about challenging mar-
slabs,” the source said. ket conditions.
Revenue secretary Ajay The Nikkei Manufac-
Bhushan Pandey is learnt turing Purchasing
to have scheduled a meet- Managers’ Index, com-
ing with the tax commis- piled by IHS Markit,
sioners on January 7 to dis-
cuss ways for streamlining
rose to 52.7 in the final
month of 2019 from
the GST system and plug- November’s 51.2.
ging leakages. “This meet- The reading was the
ing with commissioners of highest since May. It
state tax and the chief com- also remained above the
missioner of central tax 50-mark that separates
will also deliberate about growth from contrac-
enhancing GST compli- tion for a 29th month,
ance by plugging loopholes the longest since July
and discouraging tax 2013.
evaders,” the source said. “The uptick in Indian
“Ways to stop tax evasion manufacturing sector
without any overreach or growth signalled by the
harassment to the genuine latest PMI results will
taxpayers will be discussed be welcomed by policy-
with the top tax officials makers,” noted
and the enforcement Pollyanna De Lima,
wings,” the source added. principal economist at
As of now, there are four IHS Markit.
GST slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 —Reuters
per cent tax.
Hyderabad, Jan 2: Taiho title, and interest of the
Pharmaceutical, a Japan- patent. The Japanese com-
ese pharmaceuticals com-
pany and its group compa-
pany sought the court to
pass an injunction order
ny have moved a US court
against Natco Pharma,
alleging that the Indian
enjoining Natco from
attempting to manufacture
or sell Lonsurf in the US.
drug maker was attempt- Earlier in November,
ing to come out with a 2019, through a letter to
generic version of its can- Taiho, the Indian drug
cer medicine 'Lonsurf,' maker notified that it sub-
before expiration of its mitted ANDA (abbreviated
patent. new drug application) to
In a petition filed in the the US FDA seeking
District Court of Delaware approval to engage in com-
on Dec. 30, Taiho alleged mercial manufacture and
that the Indian drug sell the generic version in
maker's proposed generic America prior to the expi-
Lonsurf (trifluridine and ration of the patents-in-
tipiracil) will infringe on suit, the petition said.
the patent and sought the Taiho further alleged
court to pass an injunction that Natco's proposed
order against manufactur- ANDA violates the
ing, importing and selling
that drug in the US.
Lonsuf's patents on six
counts.
Taiho Oncology, Inc sells
and distributes Lonsurf in
Natco informed the
Japanese drug major that
the United States, while its ANDA will not infringe
Taiho Pharmaceuticalis the patents through
the owner of all the right, “Paragraph IV notice let-
tigation into Ghosn's footage from his residence
apparent transfer between and other places they sus-
private jets at an Istanbul pect Ghosn travelled to
airport on Monday. before he fled, NHK said.
Officials questioned Police suspect "several"
seven people, including people accompanied him
four pilots, as part of the to help him escape "in an
probe, news agency DHA unlawful manner," it
reported Thursday. added.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, The Japanese govern-
raided his former Tokyo ment has yet to issue any
residence Thursday as official statement on the
part of an initial investiga- case.
tion into his escape. When his defence
Television footage lawyers were arguing for
showed several officers in bail, prosecutors claimed
dark suits entering the he was a flight risk with
property. powerful connections, but
Authorities are expected Ghosn himself said he
to analyse security camera wanted to be tried to prove
Bosch to cut India jobs
Bosch Ltd., the Indian unit of the
largest auto-parts supplier, plans to
join its parent, Robert Bosch GmbH,
in cutting jobs. The German compa-
ny will cut “a couple of thousand”
jobs in India in the next four years,
2
India MD Soumitra Bhattacharya
said. About 10% of 3,700 white-collar
jobs and a slightly higher percentage
of 6,300 blue-collar jobs will be cut,
1
he said in an interview to Bloomberg.
“There is a transformation happening across the industry,”
2019 Bhattacharya said. “We looked at that as an opportunity to
transform the company even before the downturn started.”
Punjab, Haryana,
Rajastan, Gujarat and
some parts of Madhya
Pradhesh.
“Most of them had taken
the matter lightly. Some
could not explain the
income rise properly.
Around 35 per cent of the
jewellers might win an
appeal. Others will have
to cough up the penalty,”
he said.
Even if the
Tata moves apex court
against NCLAT order
New Delhi, Jan. 2: Tata
Group filed a petition in
the Supreme Court, seek-
ing to quash the appellate
tribunal’s order that
directed the company to
rehire the chairman it
fired in 2016.
Tata Sons Ltd filed the
petition on Thursday, its
lawyer Abhishek M
Singhvi said in New Delhi.
It sought an urgent hear-
ing for a stay on the previ-
ous order, according to a
document seen by
Bloomberg.
The latest move by the
Tata Group aims to reverse
the shock defeat in
December when the appel-
late tribunal instructed
that Cyrus Mistry be rein-
stated as the chairman and
called the appointment of
his replacement Natarajan
Chandrasekaran illegal.
The ruling effectively
paralysed the Tata leader-
ship and its efforts to
revive growth by selling
assets, finding partners
and cutting costs.
The ruling by the
National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal
(NCLAT) also called the
actions of Ratan Tata,
group’s chairman emeri-
tus and the one who led
Mistry’s ouster, as “oppres-
sive.”
The NCLAT has, mean-
while, adjourned till
ter.”
Under Paragraph IV
Patent Certifications, a
company can seek FDA
approval to market a
generic drug before the
expiration of patents relat-
ed to the brand-name drug
that the generic seeks to
copy.
A senior official of a city-
based pharmaceutical
company said patent
infringement cases in the
US are not uncommon for
generic drug makers and
the lawsuit will not have
any implications on the
performance of the copy-
cat makers.
Meanwhile, Natco
Pharma in a filing with
bourses said it believes
that it was one of the first
ANDA filers for the prod-
uct and could be eligible
for 180 days exclusivity
under certain circum-
stances.
— PTI
his innocence.
One of his lawyers also
said at the time that he was
such a famous face he had
no chance of slipping away
undetected.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's
judiciary has received a
red notice from Interpol
for the arrest Ghosn.
France said it "will not
extradite" Carlos Ghosn if
the former Nissan boss,
who has French citizen-
ship, arrived in the coun-
try. "France never extra-
dites its nationals," junior
economy minister Agnes
Pannier-Runacher said.
—AFP
Commissioner of Income
Tax rules against them,
they have options to move
to the appellate tribunal
as well as the High Court.
However, Mehta feels that
businesses of most of
these jewellers would
have gone bust by then, as
the lower demand for jew-
ellery in recent times has
affected the business and
viability of most jew-
ellers.
Cyrus Mistry
Friday hearing on a plea of
the registrar of companies
(RoC0), seeking modifica-
tions in its judgement that
reinstated Mistry.
A two-member NCLAT
bench, headed by Chair-
man Justice S J Mukho-
padhaya, directed the
Ministry of Corporate
Affairs (MCA) to submit
details of the definition of
private and public compa-
nies under the Companies
Act. The bench also asked
for clarifications on the
paid-up capital require-
ment for change in the cer-
tificate of incorporation of
a company.
The NCLAT was hearing
an urgent application
moved by the RoC, seeking
to be impleaded as a party
in the petitions and dele-
tion of the words “illegal”
and “with the help of the
RoC” used by the NCLAT.
—Agencies
AI, Concor,
BPCL selloff
unlikely soon
Mumbai, Jan. 2: In
what can potentially
hurt the fiscal math for
the ongoing fiscal, a
senior government offi-
cial said strategic
divestments in Air
India, BPCL and
Container Corporation
are “unlikely” to be
completed in FY20.
Work on all these com-
panies is on and the
process is facing delays
due to “surprises” en-
countered once the
wheels have begun mov-
ing, the official from the
Department of Invest-
ment and Public Asset
Management said.
The ministry has bud-
geted to garner Rs 1.05
lakh crore from divest-
ments during the fiscal.
The government has
already breached the
budgeted fiscal deficit
gap and the extent of
the gap stands at 115 per
cent with four months
to go.
The official declined
to comment on the
impact of such events
on the fiscal math.
When asked if the
strategic divestment in
the Bharat Petroleum
Corporation (BPCL)—
which can alone fetch
the government over Rs
60,000 crore if it were to
sell its entire 53 per cent
stake —will be complet-
ed this fiscal, the offi-
cial said, “unlikely”.
“We are not saying
that for ourselves and
our timelines are such
that it should happen.
But we know that the
process throws up sur-
prises,” the official said
speaking on the side-
lines of an event here.
 DECCAN CHRONICLE
Books+ FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
PAGE

13

Call of the river, of Kashi

INDIAN TOP 10
BESTSELLERS
NON-FICTION
and the burning ghats
Varanasi. Known for
their great love for music,
art and literature, the
Sudeep Sen family continued the
patronage of the arts.
And the result of this can
Polyphony be seen all over the
family-home-hotel.
Painted walls, ceilings,
door arches, artworks,
Towards human
liberation through
spirituality
stench / rises from the the only balance that
silted sands and wooden exist, is in our minds. //
armatures — / fire-aided Young bareheaded bare-
decomposition of human
flesh — / the offerings
bodied men, draped in
swathes of pure white
Moin Qazi
swiftly lapped up by cotton, / foreheads
roaming animals. / An
emaciated sadhu with
smeared in sandalwood
and vermillion / carrying review
wild-knotted dreadlocks, ash-filled earthen pots —
/ perched precariously on / walk past me towards

W
1 2019 HOW MODI WON

alk guests. The hotel is
INDIA i n situated on the banks of
Rajdeep Sardesai, g the river Ganges at Asi
Harper Collins, `699 alo Ghat, which is said to be
ng one of the five most
2 William
THE ANARCHY
Dalrymple
Bloomsbury, `699
t h
e
gh
sacred places
pilgrimage — Pancha
Tirtha — in Kashi (or
of
ats in Varanasi, along its Varanasi). The river Asi
ancient living alleyways, used to merge in the
3 A CHEQUERED
BRILLIANCE
Jairam Ramesh,
to the cremation spots, to
the temples, to the food
waters of the Ganges at
this very place marking
stalls — the boat rides the southern boundary of
Penguin Viking along the river at dawn the holy city. Local lore
`999 and dusk, seeing the has it that the saint-poet
spectacular arati — one Tulsidas wrote a part of
sculptures adorn every
room. More artworks are
stacked waiting to find
space.
It is no wonder that a
number of well-known
contemporary artistes,
scholars, photographers,
painters, designers,
filmmakers, writers and
poets have gravitated to
this place. On the walls
and in the library — I saw
a series of stunning
black-and-white images
of Dayanita Singh, books
a bamboo frame / on the the river-edge with a
edge of the river, / sense of detachment. / As
dreams of alms that the eldest sons in their
might come his way, even family, Hindu strictures
at this late hour. // demand / that they
Presiding priests, feed perform the last rites for
with ritual ghee / the
burning of wood-and-
the dead. / White-robed
teachers / sitting under
dead — / the constant large circular cane-
flames forming huge parasols on the ghat /
flares, / fragmented
waves of golden-amber
impart
teachings
philosophical
from the
spark, / electrifying Upanishads and Vedas /
helical fire-flurries — a to the young priests-in-
crematorium. // the-making. //
A young boy scratches There are illuminated
T
hese volumes are a
compilation of the
transcribed and edited
talks of Shaykh Arif
Abdul Hussain in which the
essential message of Islam and
Prophet Muhammad’s message
of God-centricity is presented
in a fresh re-evaluation of reli-
gion and human purpose. The
talks outline the philosophical
foundations of the Quranic
outlook for humanity, in which
religion and prophetic teach-
ings are envisioned as a purpo-
sive process of continuous

4 Aanchal
REMNANTS OF A
SEPARATION
Malhotra
is transported into a
different realm and time.
It is no wonder that great
his celebrated epic, the
Ramacharitmanas, at
Asi. It is also said that the
by Raghubir
Raghu Rai and Sudhir
Singh,

Kakar, and many others.

his newly-shaven head, /
a pot-bellied man
immerses himself in the
cane lanterns / hung on
long bamboo
curving skywards — /
poles
spiritual growth .The leitmotif
of the book is the role of the
Quranic principle of God-cen- ISLAM AND
Harper Collins Indian seers, thinkers queen of Jhansi, Laxmi Unsurprisingly, my water, / stray dogs bark, homage to the memory of tricity in maintaining univer-
and writers dating back Bai, was born at Asi sojourn there resulted in cows groans, loudspeaker martyrs — / and floating sal equilibrium.
GOD-CENTRICITY: A
`599
to Kabir Das, Ravidas, Ghat. several new creative bray. / Amid so much lamps to light the journey By identifying the core tenets THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR
Tulsidas Kulluka Bhatt, The hotel itself is pieces of writing and noise, / the business of of the spirit / as they sail of purposive religion, the HUMAN LIBERATION
5 GOOD ECONOMICS
FOR HARD TIMES
Abhijit V. Banerjee,
B h a r a t e n d u
Harishchandra,
housed in a heritage
property of the erstwhile
many art photographs.
One of them that follows,
death being transacted /
carries on, without any
upstream towards its
source. //
author embraces a philosophi-
cally rigorous concept of By SHAYKH ARIF &
Jaishankar Prasad, family of the Muksudpur sums up — Varanasi, the emotion or fuss. // In the super-heated human progress that is ABDUL HUSSAIN
Esther Duflo ancient city of Kashi — Saffron-robed holy men pyre, I hear another
Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Tekari state of Bihar. Its informed by the teachings of Al-Mahdi Institute,
Juggernaut, `699 Tegh Ali, Kshetresa ancestors immigrated in for me. It is titled, on the ghat steps / sit in ritual pot break, / Islamic sages and mystics. It
“Burning Ghats, yoga postures praying for another skull crack, Birmingham
C h a n d r a Varanasi in the late 19th provides an interpretation of
pp.136, `599
6 INREPUBLIC
SERVICE OF THE

Vijay Kelkar and

Chattopadhyaya,
Acharya Shukla, Munshi
century. In 1870, Dulhin
Radha Dulari Kuwari — a
Varanasi”:
“My back, over-heated
something, / a silent
selfless quest — / what
another soul taking
flight. / I see some shore-
religion that regards humans
as dynamic beings engaged in a
Premchand, Vagish princess of the Sursand by the flaming pyres of does prayer amid all this temples slow-sink into process of achieving greater The different spiritual paths
Ajay Shah Shastri, Baldev state of Bihar, widow of the burning dead, / din and commerce get the swallowing river, / degrees of perfection at both lead to the same human heart.
Harper Collins, `699 Upadhyaya, Sudama Srimant Damodar Dev shields my sight of river you anyway? // effects of unpredictable the individual and communal The vast spiritual heritage is
Pandey, Jagannath Narayan Singh of Ganges — / its fast This medley of bells, tides and climate change levels. This progressive and actually the common treasure
Prasad Ratnakar, Devaki Chainpur State in Bihar muddy currents eddying conch, lamps, chanting, / taking with them both endless process allows religion of all of mankind. Our civilisa-
7 1971: A PEOPLE’S
HISTORY FROM
BANGLADESH,
Nandan Khatri and Vidya
Niwas Mishr have lived
— settled down at Asi and
became involved in
the
bathing
floating
humans,
lamps,
/
fire, water, boat and
people / ceases to be a
the mortals and the
immortals — / ashes to
to keep evolving in accordance
with levels of human develop-
tion’s spiritual prism provides
a kaleidoscopic canvas of
PAKISTAN AND INDIA in this city. philanthropic activities. remains of corpses, and cacophony after a few ashes, dust to dust — / ment. Religion is thus the sina shimmering stars of wisdom.
I was staying at the Local pundits of that flesh-and-bone ash. // hours — / all variant water to heavy water, life qua non of human success. The blazing radiance exuded
Anam Zakaria
beautiful Hotel Ganges time suggested that she In Manikarnika Ghat, a noises melding into a to after-life.” An essential feature of by this constellation is what
Penguin Vintage, `699 mixture of sanctity and drone, a trance — / where keeps the darkness of carnal
View, an intimate reconstruct the Asi Islamic philosophy is the spirit
museum-like complex Madhava shrine and Sudeep Sen of sincere inquiry and continu- impulses from overwhelming
8 Viswanathan
MIND MASTER
Anand
where part of the royal
family still lives. Their
build the
overlooking river Ganga.
ghat [www.sudeepsen.org]
is an award-winning
al learning. The history of
humanity has been punctuated
us.
The spiritual quest is an
Hachette, `599 personal artworks, After the death of the VARANASI THE GANGES poet, translator, by waves of progression and internal journey — it is a psy-
artifacts, books and princess in 1927, her son- editor and regression, both of which are chic path. Very often, priests,
in-law, Kumar Kailash photographer; whose rabbis, imams, and shamans
9 Nitin
R.N. KAO - GENTLEMAN
SPYMASTER
furniture are an organic
part of this place — as is
the exquisite freshly-
Kinkar Narayan Singh,
and her grandson, Kumar
By RAGHU RAI
HarperCollins
By RAGHUBIR SINGH
Thames & Hudson most recent
book is Kaifi Azmi:
the result of either the pres-
ence or absence of the spirit of
sincere inquiry and learning.
are just as consumed by world-
ly ambition as regular seekers
Gokhale pp.162, `3,499 pp.192, `2,100
Bloomsbury, `599 cooked local vegetarian Keshav Kinkar Narayan Poems | Nazms Today, there is no facet of life of material possessions. But all
fare they provide to the Singh immigrated to (Bloomsbury) in which this spirit is lacking; this is generally seen as an
religion being ironically but abuse of a sacred ideal. These
10 DARA SHUKOH: THE
MAN WHO WOULD
sorely the worst casualty.
Fundamental to this process is
power struggles are not what
religion is really about, but an

Nothing beats the romance of luxury

BE KING the examination of the theolog-
Avik Chanda ical assumptions of religion by
Harper Collins, `699 their individual adherents.
Shaykh Arif founded the Al-
Mahdi Institute in Birmingham
unworthy distraction from the
life of the spirit, which is con-
ducted far from the madding
crowd, unseen, silent and
unobtrusive.

train travel between the world wars

in 1993, and currently serves as
its director. For over 20 years,
he has been at the forefront of
training students in Islamic
theology and equipping them
with tools that can enable them
to address the needs of contem-
Christian porary societies where reli-
gious values permeate entire
Wolmar cultural systems. Arif ’s spiritu-
al messages are girded in the
modern lexicon: This is the rea-
review son why they have found natu-
ral soil in a world where reli-
gious, spiritual and philosophi-
cal outlook inform decisions
FICTION
We must understand that
every scriptural book has to be
read, not only with the tongue
and voice and eyes, but with
the truest and purest light
which our heart and
conscience can provide. This is
the only way we can
internalise it. Spirituality
springs from the soul, and
permeates the entire being. If
the soul becomes barren; we
will continue to practice our
rituals robotically. What is the
point if our prayers and fasting
and our rituals can’t clean our

T
here may never have and instincts of great leaders in heart and enhance the quality
been a murder on the diverse fields. of our character? In our
1 THE FAR FIELD
Madhuri Vijay
4th Estate, `599
real Orient Express, but
otherwise Agatha
Arif ’s mission is a response
to the need for an institutional
religious journey, we often
mistake the guideposts for the
Christie’s depiction of luxury movement to address chal- final destination. At that point,
train travel was pretty accurate. lenges to religious faith in gen- prayers become mere empty
2 GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER
(BOOKER PRIZE 2019
WINNER)
Cordon Bleu cooking, accompa-
nied by fine vintage wines and
eral and to the Islamic faith in
particular. Similarly, there is
the need for understanding the
words; rituals become routines
and the soul becomes a slave of
habit.
served by immaculately turned
Bernardine Evaristo out waiters, was offered to the ethical and social values The scriptures have not to be
Hamish Hamilton, `799 first class passengers, who often The Trans-Siberian Railway (top), enshrined in the Quran and the just ritualised; they have to be
included members of the aristoc- the Orient Express (bottom) Sunna in the context of mod- applied to our everyday lives.
racy and senior diplomats. ern cultures. These challenges What ultimately matters is the
3 THE TESTAMENTS
(BOOKER PRIZE 2019
WINNER)
The Orient Express was inau-
gurated in 1883, just as the rail-
ways, but while he does venture
abroad at times, citing the most
have been faced largely with-
out the guidance of adequately
purity and chastity of the
conscience and this is the
ways, both in the UK and else- famous foreign examples, there trained scholars. primary attribute of a true
Margaret Atwood where, were starting to realise are some glaring omissions. The core pedagogy at Al servant of God. It is the most
Chatto & Windus, `799 that their more affluent cus- India, for example, had some of Mahdi is centred around its authentic barometer of our
tomers were not only a key the most magnificent trains emphasis on the use of modern piety. Spiritual values are the

4 GENESIS
Robin Cook
Pan Macmillan, `650
source of revenue but also
deserved special attention. As
Martyn Pring puts it: “Higher
society was on the move, requir-
ing more opulent and spacious
5 KISS THE GIRLS AND
MAKE THEM CRY
Mary Higgins Clark
modes of transport.”
The railway companies had in
fact been rather slow to improve
Simon & Schuster, `599 their services to meet the needs
of this growing group of trav-
under the Raj, great expresses
which connected with incoming
ships to speed the rulers on to
their destinations and offered
lavish meals that included every-
Sutherland, whose “Dunrobin” higher standards of comfort. By
— he was probably oblivious to the Edwardian age, the availabil-
thing from roast sirloin and fish
in butter sauce to strawberries
the pun — had, according to the ity of gas on trains meant that and cream and bread pudding.
Tatler, “waiting-room, booking meals could be prepared on The Trans-Siberian, too, offered
office and other rooms [which] board and there was a “sort of sumptuous carriages, with whole
theories in the study of reli-
gion, theology and language.
The aim is to train and prepare
students who will be able to
function within Western aca-
demic traditions and contem-
porary intellectual discourse as
participants, not spectators. He
is aiming at the spiritual,
moral, social and cultural
central axis of the chariot of
civilisation As Woodrow
Wilson emphasised, “Unless
our civilisation is redeemed
spiritually, it cannot endure
materially.”
Finding common ground
among faiths can help us
bridge needless divides at a
time when unified action is

6 AGENT RUNNING IN
THE FIELD
John Le Carre
ellers. Initially, the best way for
the rich to ensure a ride in the
manner to which they were
Penguin Viking, `599 accustomed was simply to hitch
their own carriages to the back
of an existing rail service. Jay
7 GRAND UNION
(STORIES)
Zadie Smith
Gould, for example, who at one
point owned about a seventh of
the American railways, had four
Hamish Hamilton,
coaches, one of which housed a
`699 special cow to produce fresh
milk with just the right propor-
all comprised a charming pictur- arms race in railway catering”,
esque building
built of the best
with companies on
long-distance
libraries in various languages
for the long journey across the
world’s biggest nation.
development of the new gener-
ation in ways that equips them
better to face modern chal-
more crucial than ever. As a
species, we must embrace the
oneness of humanity as we
Scots fir”. Trains routes vying with Thankfully, Pring ends on a pos- lenges. Although he belongs to face global issues like pan-
would only stop each other to pro- itive note. The apogee of luxury a predominantly Shia school demics and economic and eco-
when the Duke or vide the best meals. train travel may well have been and liberally draws on imagery logical crises. At this scale, our
members of his
household needed
After World War I,
when the Big Four
the interwar period, but there
are signs of a revival, though
from Shia icons for expounding
his thesis, Arif ’s focus is clear-
response must be as one.
Harmony among the major
to use them. were created largely offered by private compa- ly on the core Islamic creed. He faiths is an essential ingredi-
through merging nies running special “rail cruis- steers clear of peripheral ent for peaceful coexistence.
For the ordinary
rich, the early more than 100 com- es” along the Trans-Siberian or thought areas that can generate From this perspective, mutual
days of train trav- panies that had parts of the now sadly defunct sectarian friction and obscure understanding among these

8 BACKLASH
Brad Thor
Emily Bestler
tion of butterfat.
Better still was to have your
own train. Mostly this was the
el were not partic-
ularly agreeable.
Cramped compart-
existed before the
conflict, there was
what Pring calls a
Orient Express route at prices
that exceed $1,000 per day. These
trains tend to use old rolling
his central mission.
The pluralistic world created
by the diffusion of understand-
traditions is not merely the
business of religious believers
— it matters for the welfare of
Books- Atria, `699 prerogative of royalty, exempli- ments with no toi- golden age of luxu- stock that has been refurbished ing of the world’s major faith humanity as a whole.
fied by Queen Victoria, a fre- let facilities — var- ry travel. Even the but, in Japan, according to Pring, traditions has made religion a Preachers like Arif, who com-
quent, if somewhat nervous, pas- ious devices were Southern, which several of its main rail compa- vital resource in the task of bine religious luminosity with
9 THE QUARTER
Naguib Mahfouz
Picador India
senger who did not allow her
train to travel at more than
offered for both
male and female
covered the small-
est geographical
nies are branching out by build-
ing new trains aimed at the luxu-
building a good society, a world
where all can live freely and
modern wisdom and learning,
are a gentle, mindful presence
35mph. The rival companies relief — were the area, launched a ry market, such as the Kyushu pursue visions of the highest in a world where scriptural
`500 operating on the east and west norm until the LUXURY RAILWAY TRAVEL: series of premium Seven Stars and the Mikuzake values. We face a constant principles are being increas-
coast mainlines soon each pro- 1870s. Then mat- A SOCIAL AND BUSINESS services, notably Twilight Express, offering two- struggle with the moral, mate- ingly recognised as fundamen-
10 LOST
James Patterson &
James O. Born
vided her with trains, one of
which was 14 carriages long. Not
ters improved rad-
ically, not least
HISTORY the Brighton Belle
and the Golden
or four-day trips far away from
the hurly burly of the country’s
more famous bullet trains on the
rial, social, cultural and politi-
cal complexities and oddities of
tal to every walk of life.

Moin Qazi is an author,

to be outdone, the Great Western because the spread By MARTYN PRING Arrow through to an ever-rapidly changing socie-
Century, Railway unveiled its Diamond of capitalism had Paris. Shinkansen. ty. Spiritualism is truly a way columnist and member of the
Pen & Sword
`599 Royal Jubilee Train in 1897. increased the Pring is excellent of setting out and travelling National Commission on
Even better was to have your potential market
Transport on the social con- By arrangement with the paths of the heart, mind Financial Inclusion for Women
Bahrisons, New Delhi own station, like the Duke of for people seeking pp.366, £35 text of the rail- the Spectator and the imaginary. at the Niti Aayog
 Spin consultant
Rajasthan Royals on Thursday appointed New Zealand
leg-spinner Ish Sodhi as their spin consultant for the
2020 edition of the Indian Premier League
DECCAN CHRONICLE
Cricket
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
PAGE

14

To every firefighter,
volunteer to every
family, we are with
Domestic grind
Karnataka skipper Karun says Mayank’s absence Parthiv advices
you. You are the
real heroes. You do
is an opportunity for others to prove themselves young Pant to
us proud.
— David Warner, Australia opener
Mumbai, Jan. 2: Mayank
Agarwal’s absence from their
crucial Ranji Trophy game
with the bat in the last Ranji
game versus Railways which
the domestic giants lost by 10
Karnataka game provides per-
fect platform to find form
before he also departs for New
ignore criticism Sri Lanka skipper Lasith Malinga takes blessings from a
on the bushfire crisis in Australia against Mumbai will be an wickets inside two and half Zealand. Also, Mumbai needs to Kolkata, Jan. 2: Veteran wicket- monk before leaving for India for a three-match T20
opportunity for others to prove days. It will be a good opportu- improve in all departments keeper batsman Parthiv Patel on
after the embarrassing loss series. — Twitter
themselves, said Karnataka nity for the two players to get Thursday advised young Rishabh
SHORT TAKES skipper Karun Nair, who attrib- some runs under their belt. against the Railways at home. Pant to ignore criticism and focus

BCCI to set medical,

media team for NCA
New Delhi: The National Cricket
Academy, which has often been
criticised for its handling of
players’ injuries, is set to get
the help of a BCCI medical
panel and a dedicated social
media department as part of its
overall revamp plan. The need
for a medical panel was dis-
cussed at the NCA’s recent
meeting which was attended by
all the BCCI-officer bearers,
including president Sourav
Ganguly and NCA cricket head
Rahul Dravid. The development
comes after the criticism the
NCA drew for the injury man-
agement of leading India play-
ers, including W. Saha and
recently Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Hardik Pandya and Jasprit
Bumrah added to the NCA’s
woes by choosing personal
rehabilitation over recovering in
Bengaluru. “The BCCI will con-
sult a London-based clinic,
Fortius, for setting up its med-
ical panel,” a top BCCI official
said. Head of fast bowling, a
position which has been lying
vacant for a long time, will also
be filled soon. That person will
be in charge of setting up a fast
bowling program at the NCA.
The board will also hire a nutri-
tion head for the Bengaluru-
based facility. — PTI
4 Pakistan cities
to host entire PSL
Islamabad: The Pakistan Cricket
Board has taken another step in
its bid to convince foreign
teams that it’s safe to play in
the country. For the first time,
all the matches in Pakistan’s
premier domestic Twenty20
tournament will be held in the
country, across four major
cities. The PCB announced
Wednesday that Karachi,
Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan
will host the 34 Pakistan Super
League (PSL) games, starting
Feb. 20. Lahore has 14 matches,
including the final on March 22.
The entire first edition of the
PSL in 2016 was staged in the
United Arab Emirates before
the PCB held the 2017 final at
Lahore. In 2018, four matches
were organized at Lahore and
Karachi — with the rest in the
UAE — while last year Karachi
hosted eight matches. A total
of 36 foreign players will play
this year for six local franchises
— Quetta Gladiators, Islamabad
United, Multan Sultans, Karachi
Kings, Lahore Qalandars and
Peshawar Zalmi. Those players
include Jason Roy of England,
South Africa’s Dale Steyn and
West Indies’ Lendl Simmons.
Pakistan has long been trying
to win back the confidence of
foreign countries. The doors of
international cricket were shut
on Pakistan after an attack on
Lankans in 2009. — AP
uted the India Test opener’s
success to years of consistent
hard work.
Karnataka will miss the serv-
ices of Mayank as he is set to
leave for New Zealand with the
A team on January 10 and BCCI
has requested to exempt him
from the upcoming Ranji game.
“Mayank is big player, but it
(his absence) opens an opportu-
nity for someone else to come
and grab their chance,” said
Nair, who has played six Test
matches for India. In his short-
international career, Mayank
has already scored two double
hundreds and Nair, who has
watched the India Test opener
from close quarters since his
fledging days, on Thursday paid
glowing tribute.
“I think, Mayank has always
been a hard-working cricketer,
so I think it was high time that
the hard-work paid off,” Nair
said. “It is just to do with his
hard-work that he (Agarwal) is
doing well now and I don’t
think he has changed much at
all.
“It is just that with the runs
that he got, his confidence also
improved and then as a bats-
man confidence plays such a
big role, it is all down to his
hard work (rather) consistent
hard-work that he is reaping
the rewards.”
The 28-year-old Mayank has
played nine Test matches so
far, scoring 872 runs, with
three hundreds and as many
fifties. He has hit two double
hundreds, with a highest
score of 243 versus
Bangladesh at Indore. Nair,
himself has a triple hundred
to his name for India but he
last played a Test way back in
March, 2017 against Australia
in Dharamshala.
“For me it is about playing
each game at a time and trying
to contribute as much as I can
to Karnataka and try to win
games for Karnataka,” he said.
“And that is what I am trying
to do this season and looking
forward to try and contribute
more with the bat and as cap-
tain, so that we can go on and
win games and all of us are
looking to win the Ranji
Trophy, so that’s our ultimate
goal.”
Asked if he is looking beyond
that, Nair quipped, “Not really,
because it is important for me
first to concentrate on what’s
happening over here and what-
ever has to happen, I have no
control over it. My only focus is
to do well here and contribute
for Karnataka.”
Focus on Shaw, Rahane as
Mumbai take on Karnataka
Focus will be firmly on Test
specialist Ajinkya Rahane and
young prodigy Prithvi Shaw
when Mumbai take on
Karnataka in their Ranji
Trophy Elite Group B game,
beginning on Friday.
Both Rahane and Shaw failed
This will be the last Ranji
match for Shaw, who departs for
New Zealand with the India ‘A’
The 41-time Ranji champions
will miss the services of India
players Shreyas Iyer, Shivam
on his game, saying dealing with
this constant pressure can help
him emerge as a better batsman.
team on January 10. The pint- Dube and pacer Shardul Seen as heir apparent to
sized opener got starts but was Thakur, who will be on national Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the 22-
not able to convert in the last duty. In their absence, it will be year-old Pant has been receiving
game, following his double hun- a chance for the likes of skipper flak for his failure to perform con-
dred in the lung-opener against Suryakumar Yadav, crisis man sistently at the
Baroda. Siddhesh Lad and experienced top level. Pant
Shaw will have Aditya Tare to make a mark. had an ordinary
to counter Also, if another player outing behind
Kar nataka’s Sarfaraz Khan, who has been the wickets in
attack in slight- named in the squad, makes the recently-
ly windy condi- the playing XI, then it will be concluded series
tions at the an opportunity for him to a g a i n s t
Bandra-Kurla make it count. Yadav also Bangladesh and
C o m p l e x heads for New Zealand the West Indies.
ground. For with the India A team on “Today’s young- Parthiv Patel
Rahane, who January 10. The bowlers sters have got
has played 63 will be led by Tushar that advantage of playing with the
Tests, the Deshpande. — PTI big players and sharing the dress-
ing room with them. But when you
are struggling for form, you get
opinions from all quarters. It’s
about keeping yourself away from
opinions and focus on your game,”
Patel said.
“If you play for India, there
would be pressure. Every player
has got pressure of different situa-
tions. Your skills get honed in such
pressure situations.
“In the T20 series (against WI) he
did well. You see he’s having a fun
time at the ground as well. He can
become a good player when he
comes out of such pressure situ-
ations,” said the Gujarat skip-
per on the eve of their Ranji
Trophy match against Bengal
here. — PTI
If you play for India,
there would be
pressure. Every
player has got pressure of
different situations. Your
skills get honed in such
pressure situations.
—PARTHIV
PATEL
Mayank
Agarwal >>>
Lankans arrive in
Guwahati for T20
Guwahati, Jan. 2: The Sri
Lankan cricket team, led
by veteran pacer Lasith
Malinga, arrived here on
Thursday for the three-
match T20 series against
India amid tight security
after the city witnessed
widespread protests
against the Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA).
The Sri Lankan team
headed straight to the team
hotel amid thick security
cover.
The members of the
Indian team are expected
to arrive in batches on
Friday for the series open-
er on Sunday. “Both the
teams have optional train-
ing sessions, Sri Lanka fol-
lowed by India in the
evening,” a official of the
Assam Cricket Association
(ACA) said.
Assam had witnessed
widespread protests
against the CAA in
December, which affected
Ranji and U-19 matches at
the domestic level because
of curfew.
“But situation is
absolutely normal now and
tourism is back in the
state. We are hosting Khelo
India Games from January
Kohli & Co. can win
all ICC events: Lara
New Delhi, Jan. 2:
Batting legend Brian Lara
believes the Indian cricket
team, under Virat Kohli, is
capable of winning all ICC
tournaments it competes
in.
The 50-year-old left-hand-
ed batting icon was of the
view that every interna-
tional side sort of targets
India in ICC tournaments.
“I think they are definitely
capable of winning all
tournaments that they
play. I think what Virat
Kohli and company and the
Indian team has to appreci-
ate the fact that every-
body sort of target
India,” Lara was
quoted as saying
by ‘India Today’.
“Everybody
knows that some
point of time one
team is going to
play that important
match against India.
Brian
Lara
10 and about seven thou-
sand players will partici-
pate,” ACA secretary
Devajit Saikia said.
“It’s now safe as any
other place in the country.
The state government is
looking after the security
arrangement and there’s
no issue at all.”
About 27,000 tickets of
the 39,500-capacity
Barasapra Stadium has
already been sold out.
“People were busy with
the Christmas and New
Year celebrations. We are
expecting a last minute
ticket rush now,” he said.
The second T20 will be
played in Indore on
January 7 while Pune will
host the final match of the
series on January 10.
— PTI
Sri Lanka squad: Lasith
Malinga (c), Danushka
Gunatilleke, Avishka
Fernando, Angelo
Mathews, Dasun Shanaka,
Kusal Perera, Niroshan
Dickwella, Dhananjaya de
Silva, Isuru Udana,
Bhanuka Rajapaksha,
Dasan Fernando, Wanidu
Raja, Kasun Lahiru
Kumara, Kusal Mendis,
Lakshan Moonakan.
If it’s a quarter-final, semi-
final and final,” he added.
Under Kohli’s leadership,
India has reached greater
heights in both Tests and
ODIs but has so far failed
to win an ICC tournament,
fizzling out in crucial
games. The Men in Blue
last won an ICC event was
in 2013 when Mahendra
Singh Dhoni-led side lifted
the ICC Champions Trophy
in the United Kingdom.
Regarded as one of the
finest batsmen that world
cricket has ever produced,
Lara’s 15-year-old record of
400 not out against
England is still the high-
est individual score in
Test cricket.
However, Lara
feels Kohli, David
Warner and Rohit
Sharma have the
potential to break
his record.
— PTI

Cricketers to pay tribute to Australia firefighters & victims

Sydney, Jan. 2: Australia
and New Zealand cricketers
will pay tribute to firefight-
ers and bushfire victims
during the third Test in
Sydney, officials said on
Thursday, as they prepare
for possible delays if air
quality plummets due to
smoke.
At least 18 people have lost
their lives in one of
Australia’s most devastat-
ing bushfire seasons which
has seen blazes raging
across the country, includ-
ing on the outskirts of
Sydney. The match, starting
Friday, will go ahead but
play will be suspended at
the umpire’s discretion,
should smoke significantly
affect air quality or visibili-
ty.
Saturday is shaping as of
most concern, when anoth-
er heatwave is expected to
sweep across the country
and create dangerous fire
conditions. “Like rain, the
rules are in place to add
time, to suspend play (for
Tests). But what we’re find-
ing is it (smoke) comes in
quick but also goes quick,”
Cricket Australia’s head of
operations Peter Roach told
cricket.com.au.
Australian team pose for a picture with Glenn McGrath ahead of the third Test against New Zealand in Sydney.
“It’s unlikely, we believe,
it’ll be there for a full day.
“We might see some chal-
lenges across that day, but
we’ll play it like rain or
adverse weather. Time can
be added on.”
Before play on Friday both
sides will take part in a
minute’s applause for fire
and emergency services
workers and wear black
armbands as a mark of
respect for those who have
died.
Cricket Australia also
announced a fundraising
drive for the Australian Red
Cross Disaster Relief and
Recovery Fund during one-
day matches between
Australia and New Zealand
in Sydney in March. “On
behalf of Australian crick-
et, we wish everyone fight-
ing the fires across
Australia a safe New Year,”
Australia coach Justin
Langer and captain Tim
Paine said in a joint letter
— Cricket Australia
published in local media
Thursday.
“We pray the conditions
improve, the fires ease and
the rains come. And, above
all else, we hope all
Australians pull together
and help each other
through this incredibly dif-
ficult time.” — AFP
McGrath not in favour of
shortening five-day Tests
Sydney, Jan. 2: Australia
pace legend Glenn
McGrath on Thursday
termed himself a tradition-
alist and said he is dead
against the idea of shorten-
ing the five-day game to a
four-day affair as proposed
by the ICC.
The ICC is considering
introduction of four-day
Tests as part of the World
Test Championships from
2023, an idea which was
supported by Cricket
Australia CEO Kevin
Roberts. McGrath, howev-
er, said he is completely
against the idea of tinker-
ing with the longer format.
“I’m very much a tradi-
tionalist. I like the game
the way it is,” McGrath,
who has taken 563 wickets
in 124 Tests, told reporters
ahead of the Sydney Test
between Australia and New
Zealand beginning here on
Friday.
To me five
days is very
special and
I’d hate to
see it get any
shorter. The
introduction of pink
Tests, day-night
Tests is a great way
to continue keeping
our game fresh and
moving forward.
—GLENN
McGRATH
“To me five days is very
special and I’d hate to see it
get any shorter. The intro-
duction of pink Tests, day-
night Tests is a great way to
continue keeping our game
fresh and moving forward.
In respects to changing
how many days its played,
I’m actually against it. I
like the way it is.”
ICC’s proposal to intro-
duce four-day Tests
received stiff opposition
from leading Australia
spinner Nathan Lyon on
Wednesday, who termed it
“ridiculous”.
Australia chief coach
Justin Langer is also not in
favour of tinkering with
the traditional format.
England batsman Jos
Buttler, however, feels
cricket must be open to
change and four-day Tests
must be looked at as it
could be a way to keep the
longer format alive.
While England and Wales
Cricket Board has “cau-
tiously” supported the idea,
BCCI president Sourav
Ganguly said it is too early
to make any comment on
the matter.
— PTI
 Coach quits
The 46-year-old Rafael Dudamel is set to
step down as coach of Venezuela after
nearly four years in charge
I’m going to try to
be even better
than I was last
year. I feel like I
can surpass them.
— Stefanos Tsitsipas, World No.6
tennis player, on compeiting with
Nadal, Djokovic and Federer
SHORT TAKES
Kulusevski likely
to join Juventus
Milan: Promising Swedish
teenager Dejan Kulusevski is
poised on Thursday to com-
plete a move to Juventus from
Atalanta after undergoing his
medical, the Serie ‘A’ champi-
ons confirmed.
“The Swedish midfielder
arrived at the medical centre
located at the Allianz Stadium
and began his tests,” the club
said in a statement.
The 19-year-old has had a
breakthrough season since
going on loan from Atalanta to
Parma in June, scoring four
goals and setting up another
seven in 17 games.
Maurizio Sarri’s Juve won the
race to sign him ahead of
Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan,
who are trying to end their
rivals’ run of eight straight Serie
‘A’ titles.
The Swede has reportedly
signed for 35 million euros ($39
million) plus nine million euros
in performance-related bonus-
es. Kulusevski, who joined
Atalanta in 2016 from Swedish
side Brommapojkarna, has
agreed a five-year deal worth
2.5 million euros a season,
according to reports. He could
remain at Parma, who are sev-
enth in Serie ‘A’, four points off
the European places, until the
end of the season. — AFP
Brighton’s racist
fan arrested
London: A Brighton fan was
arrested for racially abusing
Chelsea players during a
Premier League match, and two
other football fans were arrest-
ed in separate incidents during
the same game for hurling
homophobic abuse at rival sup-
porters.
Brighton chief executive Paul
Barber called the abuse dis-
gusting” and urged supporters
to report wrongdoing at the
stadium.
“If the prospect of a life ban
from watching their clubs play
football isn't a strong enough
deterrent, we have to ask the
question as to whether the
courts should be given the
power to hand out more severe
punishments?” Barber said in a
statement on Thursday.
“Football can only do so
much, and we are sick and tired
of the game's reputation being
tarnished by these people,” he
added. Brighton held Chelsea
to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
During a second division
game on New Year's Day, an
announcement was made in
Huddersfield warning fans to
stop offensive behavior after
sectarian abuse was allegedly
aimed at Stoke player James
McClean. — AP
THOMAS EYES
TOP SPOT AT
HAWAII GOLF
Los Angeles: Justin Thomas’ all-
around game has made him
one of the hottest players on
the PGA Tour and the American
will try to carry that momentum
into this week’s Tournament of
Champions, the first event of
2020.
Thomas, Dustin Johnson and
Jon Rahm are the headliners for
the event as the tour returns
from a December hiatus at the
par-73 Plantation Course in
Kapalua, Hawaii.
The field, which consists of
only those who won on the tour
last year, includes just 34
golfers after several notable
winners decided to skip the no-
cut event.
Top-ranked Brooks Koepka is
out with a left knee injury while
Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and
Tiger Woods also qualified but
opted not to play, as did Justin
Rose, Francesco Molinari and
British Open champion Shane
Lowry. That sets the stage for
Thomas to take advantage.
Thomas said his goal for 2020
is to get back to the world
number one ranking. “All the
motivation I need to get to
number one in the world is in
myself. I don’t need to try to
prove anybody wrong,” he said.
— AFP
All set for tennis top flight
Novak, Nadal call for merger of ATP and Davis Cup tournaments
Brisbane, Jan. 2:
Superstars Novak
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
said on Thursday there
was little point in having
two men’s team tennis
competitions so close
together and suggested the
new ATP Cup should
merge with the Davis Cup.
The ATP Cup is about to
kick off its inaugural edi-
tion, replacing a number
of previous Australian
Open warm-up tourna-
ments.
It comes six weeks after
the revamped Davis Cup,
which also has countries
playing each other in a
round-robin format, was
held in Madrid.
Canadian Denis
Shapovalov suggested
Thursday that the two
events — one run by the
men’s tour, the Association
of Tennis Professionals,
and the other by the
International Tennis
Federation — should com-
bine. “It’s a really similar
event and it’s literally
back-to-back from the
other one, so it’s a little bit
of a weird sensation com-
ing from what felt like the
world championships com-
ing to play another world
championship,” Shapoval-
ov said.
When asked about the
Canadian’s comments,
Djokovic, who heads the
ATP players’ council,
agreed.
“We need to have one
Super World Cup event,
whatever you want to call
it,” he said.
“That’s not going to hap-
pen next year as well. But
if the two sides, the ITF,
the Davis Cup, and the
ATP get together very
quickly, it can happen pos-
sibly for 2022. I hope it will
happen because it’s kind of
hard to get top players to
commit to play both
events, the Davis Cup and
the ATP Cup,” he added.
“And it’s six weeks apart,
so they’re not really help-
ing each other in terms of
marketing, in terms of the
value of the event,”
Djokovic said.
Djokovic’s concerns were
shared by world number
one Nadal, who also ques-
tioned the timing of the
events.
“Yeah, is confusing to
have two World Cups of
tennis in one month. For
me personally that’s not
the ideal situation for our
sport, but that’s how it
works today,” he said in
Perth.
Asked if the two should
be combined into one
world championship, he
replied: “I think that ten-
nis deserves something
like this.” France’s Nicolas
Mahut also said having
two men’s team competi-
tions was “too much.
Obviously, we don’t need
two competitions the same
way.” — AFP
We need to have one
Super World Cup event,
whatever you want to
call it. That’s not going
to happen next year as
well. But if the two
sides, the ITF, the Davis
Cup, and the ATP get
together very quickly, it
can happen possibly for
2022.
— NOVAK
DJOKOVIC
World No.2
tennis player
Tributes pour in for NBA mastermind
Washington, Jan. 2:
Magic Johnson and
Michael Jordan were
among the NBA legends
stunned by Wednesday’s
death of former league
commissioner David
Stern following a brain
hemorrhage he suffered
last month.
Stern, who was 77, spent
30 years as commissioner
before retiring in 2014 and
oversaw the NBA’s growth
from a league whose finals
weren’t televised live to a
global sport empire with a
worldwide following and
talent.
“The world lost a legend
today. He is the greatest
commissioner in sports
history, plain and simple,”
said retired NBA star
Charles Barkley.
Johnson, a five-time
NBA champion with the
Los Angeles Lakers who
Naomi Osaka poses for a photograph after a sightseeing ride in a helicopter at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Brisbane on Thursday.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov goes for a dive with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the back-
ground on Thursday.
Dimitrov set to take wing
Sydney, Jan. 2: Former
world number three
Grigor Dimitrov saw his
ranking slump last year as
he struggled with a shoul-
der injury, but the
Bulgarian Thursday said
he won’t push himself too
hard, too fast to return to
the top of tennis.
The 28-year-old was laid
low early in the season and
was far from his best after
he returned to action,
although he did reach the
US Open and Paris
Masters semi-finals.
revealed in 1991 he had
contracted the HIV virus,
tweeted he was “devastat-
ed” by Stern’s death, the
1992 US Olympic “Dream
Team” star adding, “I
loved and respected him.”
“David Stern was such a
history maker. When I
announced in 1991 I had
HIV, people thought they
could get the virus from
shaking my hand. When
David allowed me to play
in the 1992 All Star Game
in Orlando and then play
for the Olympic Dream
Team, we were able to
change the world,”
Johnson added.
Current Lakers super-
star LeBron James posted
a tribute to Stern on his
Instagram page. “Your
vision to make our game
become WORLDWIDE
was a vision only you
could make happen. You
Dimitrov said 2019,
where he failed to win a
title, had been “quite a
journey”.
“It’s going to be a year
that I remember for the
rest of my life,” he said in
Sydney ahead of the inau-
gural ATP Cup team event,
his warm-up for the
Australian Open Grand
Slam.
“Yeah, the body checks
out pretty good right now.
I’m still monitoring a lot of
my work, a lot that I’m
going through. I kind of
In this file photo, David
Stern (left) congratulates
Michael Jordan of the
Chicago Bulls for winning
the 1996 MVP award.
— AFP
did just that. Making our
game the greatest sport in
the world! Was a honor to
know you personally,”
DECCAN CHRONICLE
— ATP
pace myself in the right
way. I’m not in a rush,
which is also a good
thing.” The shoulder prob-
lem was Dimitrov’s first
major injury and he said
he plans to limit the num-
ber of tournaments he
plays, particularly early in
the season,” he added.
“I’m not going to force
myself to play too many
tournaments early on and
really look after the body.
That’s the number one
thing,” said Dimitrov, now
ranked 20. — AFP
Your vision to make our game become WORLD-
WIDE was a vision only you could make happen.
You did just that. Making our game the greatest
sport in the world! Was a honor to know you per-
sonally.
— LeBRON JAMES
Los Angeles Lakers player
wrote on his Instagram page
James wrote.
Stern became the NBA’s
fourth commissioner in
1984, masterminding the
league’s evolution into
corporate sponsorships
and global markets.
“Without David Stern,
the NBA would not be
what it is today,” six-time
NBA champion Jordan
said in a statement. "He
guided the league through
turbulent times and grew
the league into an interna-
tional phenomenon, creat-
ing opportunities that few
could have imagined
Games
FRIDAY | 3 JANUARY 2020 | CHENNAI
CHARITY FIRE
RAGES AMONG
TENNIS ACES
Sydney, Jan. 2:
Australia’s tennis chief
announced a series of
fundraisers for victims of
raging bushfires on
Thursday after an appeal
from bad boy Nick
Kyrgios.
Kyrgios, often a contro-
versial figure in the sport,
called for an exhibition
tournament before the
Australian Open Grand
Slam, after blazes that
have claimed 18 lives and
forced mass evacuations.
“C’mon @Tennis-
Australia surely we can do
a pre @AustralianOpen
exho to raise funds for
those affected by the
fires?” tweeted the
24-year-old, who
has handed a 16-
week suspended
ban in September after a
series of outbursts.
Tennis Australia CEO
Craig Tiley responded by
saying fundraisers would
be held during tourna-
ments. “For weeks we’ve
been watching the devas-
tation caused by bushfires
across Australia and the
people affected are con-
stantly in our thoughts,”
said Tiley. — AFP
TWEET TALK
Nick Kyrgios
@NickKyrgios
I’m kicking off the
support for those
affected by the fires.
I’ll be donating $200
per ace that I hit
across events I play
this summer.
before.
Barkley noted the NBA’s
average player salary
when Stern became com-
missioner was $200,000.
“Now the average salary
is $7.7 million. That’s
because of David Stern.
He was an innovator. He
was a great businessman.
“We all are fortunate,
we've had great lives,
because of David Stern.
The money these players
are making today is
because of David Stern,”
he added.
— AFP
— AFP
German Zverev
in top condition
Brisbane,
Germany’s
Jan.
Alexander
2:
Zverev said he felt in top
shape for 2020 Thursday
despite only starting to hit
balls a week ago after an
off-season curtailed by a
lucrative exhibition tour.
The 22-year-old only won
one title last year, in
Geneva, not quite taking
the step up that many had
predicted as he slipped
from fourth to seventh in
the men’s tennis rankings.
But Zverev remains a big
drawcard and he finished
2019 playing a five-stop
exhibition tour of South
America and China with
Roger Federer.
Although the tour meant
a shorter off-season than
normal, Zverev insisted it
made little difference.
“I mean, still I think I
had a good off-season. It
was a little bit different. It
was shorter this year, for
sure,” he said at the ATP
Cup team event in
Brisbane.
“I only started playing
Boris Becker (left) and Alexander Zverev ahead of the
ATP Cup tournament in Brisbane on Thursday.
JAMES LEADS LAKERS
TO WIN OVER PHOENIX
Los Angeles, Jan. 2:
LeBron James had a
triple double with 31
points, 13 rebounds and
12 assists as the Los
Angeles Lakers built up a
big first half lead then
held on to beat the strug-
gling Phoenix Suns 117-
107 on Wednesday.
The Lakers, who own
the NBA’s second best
record behind
Milwaukee, had to hold
on in the second half
after leading at one stage
by 36 points.
With their reserves
struggling to maintain
the big lead James and
Anthony Davis had to
return to the game and
guide the offense after the
Suns got within seven
points.
The Lakers and other
PAGE
15
THIEM CONFIDENT
OF SLAM TITLES
THIS SEASON
Sydney, Jan. 2: World
No.4 Dominic Thiem
Thursday expressed confi-
dence a new Grand Slam
champion will be crowned
in 2020 outside the big
three of Novak Djokovic,
Rafael Nadal and Roger
Federer.
While the Austrian,
Germany’s Alexander
Zverev, Greece’s Stefanos
Tsitsipas and others have
had success at lesser tour-
naments, the big guns con-
tinue to dominate the
majors.
Thiem, in Sydney for the
inaugural ATP Cup team
event, is one of the men
tipped to make the break-
through, with the first
Grand Slam of the year,
the Australian Open, just
weeks away in Melbourne.
He said the younger play-
ers were getting close.
“I think we challenged
them already a lot. We also
beat them especially on
Masters 1000 stages and
the ATP Finals and I really
hope that it’s me, but you
cannot guarantee any-
thing. There are also many
other very strong guys
who can achieve that,”
said a confident Thiem.
— AFP
tennis a week ago, pretty
much, so I don’t have a lot
of tennis practice yet,
which I will build up. But I
feel good. I feel pretty fit
again. My physical (condi-
tion) was never really my
problem. It was in the
beginning of my career,
but in the last one, two
years it’s never been a
problem. I know I can last
matches, I know I can play
longer than most guys,”
Zverev said.
While Zverev is confi-
dent about his on-court
stamina, he admitted he
could have played better
last year and wants to put
that right this season.
“For me I need to get my
tennis back a little bit and
kind of have a fresh start
as well. Obviously, the last
year I finished number
seven in the world. I had
good tournaments, but it
was still not the year that I
wanted to have and I hope I
can kind of improve this
year,” he further added.
— AFP
— AFP
NBA host teams on
Wednesday held a
moment of silence to pay
tribute to former league
commissioner David
Stern, who died
Wednesday following a
brain hemorrhage.
James posted his eighth
triple double of the sea-
son and Davis scored 26
points and grabbed 11
rebounds as the Lakers
won their third consecu-
tive contest.
Kyle Kuzma added 19
points and Avery Bradley
finished with 18 for Los
Angeles.
Devin Booker finished
with 32 points and Kelly
Oubre had 26 for the hap-
less Suns, who lost their
ninth game in their last
11.
— AFP