The NEWS you like-September 2019

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VOL:7 I SSUE:8 I SEPTEMBER, 2019 `30 Editor A Rammohan Rao

Special Correspondent D. Bal Reddy Correspondents Mallesh Babu Mandha Ravi Kumar G.P. Nagaraju

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EDITORIAL

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orruption is cancer!’ This phrase sounds like a cliche. But one of the major obstacle our country facing in marching ahead is CORRUPTION. It is not confined to a few sections. May be the extent and numbers may vary, but people from almost all walks of India society are indulging in corrupt practices for making an extra buck.

A common citizen fakes his age to get old-age pension, some sell away rice procured for one rupee a kg on white ration card under PDS to local Idli vendor or grocery shop for ten rupees. A rich man avoids income tax by showing some non-existent expenditure. While a peon collects Rs.50 for allowing a visitor to meet the officer. The officer himself demands Rs.50 thousand to clear a contractor pending bill. A business tycoon runs away from the county taking a few thousand crores of Rupees as loan another siphons money out of the country to avoid taxes. It is said that said people get the government they deserve.

We have some politicians who are not only corrupt but inhuman in making money by unscrupulous measures. The number of CBI, ED cases on these political leaders speak volumes about their integrity and moral standards. In the month of August, the country has witnessed such people both from bureaucracy and public life. One of the brilliant lawyers turned politician, former Union Home and Finance Minister was arrested on allegations of corruption by CBI and ED. Twenty-two officials of the income tax department facing charges of corruption and poor integrity was forced to retire by the government. Similarly, three months ago(in June), in a similar move, twenty-seven high ranking IRS officers, including 12 direct tax officials were sacked to on the same charges.

Why do all these people indulge in corruption? Can’t they survive without that extra money? Don’t they feel ashamed of their illegal, immoral acts? The answer lies in the values our society has imbibed over a period of time. The majority of Indians are running after material gains and immediate gratification of pleasures. All this is done in the name of being successful. It seems as if we are fast losing our spiritual and moral heritage. Authority without responsibility is the prime culprit. We speak of rights of the citizen but seldom refer to the responsibility towards the society. Very little or no work, but fat payments. Short-sighted and selfserving politicians offer doles and capturing power. Things have to be changed. For that, strong but decisive leadership is needed. Small but consistent efforts have begun in some states and at the national level by some socially conscious political leaders from various political parties and people from various walks of life. At present they may be few but support to them can result in an increase of such people. Many Indians who are already vexed with corruption all around them can find solace in the fact that upright politicians and officers are trying to multiply.

Jai Hind!

(A Rammohan Rao) THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

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CONTENT

Hyd to Dynamic traffic signal system

7

Can the NMC Act cure our health care? 10

18 PM Modi in Bahrain Avail the new opportunities

Strong internal security

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

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CONTENT

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5

Aadhaar-verified Social media Is it problem-free? 36

Hong Kong Hard nut to Centre’s ‘clean-up’ drive crack for China Tax officials sacked

43

Chandrayaan-2 crossed another milestone Ready to land on Moon 48

Heera Gold scam How Nowhera dupe people easily

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

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THE NATION

The idea of New India

New building for Parliament

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s the nation is aiming newer hights in all sectors from Agriculture to Wildlife protection, Defence to water conservation idea of New India is gaining popularity.

The place where the country’s highest legislative bodies, Lok Sabha and Rayasabha meet can also new to represent a surge of a new spirit. Many view new building for Parliament needs consideration.

The Lok Sabha Speaker has urged the Prime Minister to include the modernisation of the Parliament building, which has completed 92 years of existence, in his resolution for a new India, because the world's largest republic and democracy should have the "most magnificent and attractive" one.

The Rajya Sabha chairman made a similar demand. There have been proposals to renovate or shift Parliament to other locations in the past too. In 2012, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had

decided to appoint a committee to suggest an alternative complex to house Parliament amidst apprehensions over the structural safety of the building. Then in 2015, when Sumitra Mahajan was Speaker, she wrote to the urban development minister, requesting him to look for an alternative location as the existing building was showing "signs of distress and over-utilisation".

Reports said that the ministry had subsequently in 2017 identified three alternative sites.

There are broadly four reasons.

First, the 92-year old building is showing signs of stress and changes in the original design have affected its structural stability.

Second, the chambers housing the two Houses that were designed for only 180 members initially and accommodate 790 now, won't be able to accommodate additional MPs after the 2026 delimitation exercise based on the 2021 census. Third, more space is needed even outside the two Houses for party offices, parliamentary committees, officials

and the security apparatus. Fourth, the need to preserve the heritage structure puts limitations on structural repairs.

Not everyone agrees with the need for a new Parliament building.

Some have suggested decongesting the present building and letting only the two Houses function from it and reinforcing the building like other old buildings to increase its life. After all, they point out there are much older Parliament buildings still functioning. For instance, the one in the US dates back to 1793, while the UK Parliament came up in 1870. Parliament buildings of Italy (1505), Spain (1814), South Africa (1884) also came up much before India's (1927). Some experts suggest following Britain's House of Commons formula of reserving only certain seats for senior ruling and opposition party MPs and allowing other MPs to sit anywhere. The high cost of a new structure is also a factor say some (the current Parliament was built at a cost of Rs 83 lakh).

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

STATES

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Hyd to Dynamic traffic signal system

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yderabad City police are gearing up to introduce the Intelligent and Integrated Traffic Management(ITMS) This is a dynamic system and will change with real-time traffic data from Google maps. After a two-month trial at two signals in Gachibowli, the city traffic police noticed that commuters spent less time in traffic and so, have decided to implement the system across the city. Using the data from Google Maps it decides the timings of signals at important junctions. For example, if there is less traffic coming from Lingampally towards the IIIT junction, the traffic signal would increase the wait time at the signal.

With this city traffic police expect to bring down the waiting time at signals by 30 per cent and queue lengths by 50 per cent.

Google data on traffic issues will also be used by the road engineering departments to develop roads.

At present Bengaluru is the only other city in the country to adopt data from Google Maps to manage traffic signals.

This will forewarn motorists about traffic congestion on various routes of Greater Hyderabad, so that a motorist can choose the best

route and avoid getting caught in traffic snarls.

According to city police sources, ITMS is aimed at providing a universal view of traffic flows, modelling traffic flow optimization, best possible traffic routing, optimizing traffic junction signals and disseminating the traffic information, guidance, and awareness to the citizens and road users. With the project is implementation motorists will have smooth driving experience.

According to the top police officer, motorists would be given information about the traffic situation in various places through two means — variable signage boards (VSB) and Traffic Live App. VSBs would be set up at 80 different places in the city, which will continuously share information about the traffic situation at various junctions and routes in the city. Similarly, through Traffic Live App motorists could know traffic information at various junctions and routes on their smartphones. Based on this information, the motorist can take the best route to avoid getting caught in a traffic jam and reach their destination early.

At present, the city’s traffic signals are timed at three minutes,

120 seconds and 90 seconds. The ITMS, using its sensors, would calculate the volume of vehicles passing through a junction and then recommend changes to the signal timings. The dynamic signals using traffic data from Google go a bit further, as it helps make real-time changes to traffic signals depending on the traffic volume.

ITMS would be implemented based on the automatic count and classification (ACC) gadgets, which would be set up at all junctions in the city. Through CCTVs at the junctions, ACC will classify the two-wheeler and four-wheeler movement at each junction besides counting the vehicles. If the density of the vehicle movement is higher than normal, an alert will reach the command and control centre, which would disseminate traffic notifications to VSB and Traffic Live App. In the next stage, police plan to beam live visuals of CCTVs at various junctions for a few seconds so that motorists can decide the best possible route to take or avoid.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

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STATES

First time after July 2017 B

Delhi breaths ‘good’ air

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reathing fresh, safe air may sound not news in many parts, especially in rural India. But residents of the national capital city having fresh, ‘good’ air to breath is significant as New Delhi earned the notorious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world. But thanks to intermittent rain and strong winds, with some help from anti-pollution measures put in place over the months by government agencies, the residents of Delhi recently breathed the cleanest air in more than two years.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) value improved from 53 on August 16 to 49, a level at which it is considered to be “good”. The last time Delhiites breathed such clean air was on July 31, 2017, when the AQI?measured 47. Any reading of up to 50 on the index is considered

to be an indicator of good quality air.

New Delhi was in the news for all the wrong reasons in November 2017. In November 8, 2017, is a red-letter day in the history of Delhi. The Air Quality Index indicated pollution levels of 999, way above the upper limit of the worst AQI category The smog affected visibility levels to such an extent that the Indian Railways cancelled or diverted several trains passing through Delhi. Similarly, there were frequent flight cancellations and delays due to poor visibility conditions. Medical experts likened the pollution levels to be equal to smoking 50 cigarettes a day. Hospitals in Delhi declared a state of a public health emergency. The AQI had never fallen below 50 on even a single day in 2018 when it had at best read “satisfactory.”

“The AQI dropped to less than

50 after a long gap, indicating that air quality was the cleanest. Such clean-air days are rarely seen in Delhi. It was mainly because of the rain that the air quality turned good,” said a senior Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) official. Experts said that while rain and winds played a crucial role in helping improve air quality to its best in more than two years by washing and blowing away pollutants, it was also the cumulative outcome of the anti-pollution measures that have been put in place by the city authorities.

A series of measures have been undertaken over the past two years including introducing PNG for industries, shutting down coal-based power plants, introducing BS-VI fuel among others. The overall air quality has improved according to an official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

THE NATION

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PMJDY accounts deposits cross `1 lakh crore

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ore than Rs 1 lakh crore have been deposited in over 36 crore bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). It is revealed by the Ministry of Finance in a reply to RTI. by a social worker from Madhya Pradesh. According to the reply till July 17, 2019, around 36.25 crore accounts were opened under the scheme in which Rs 1,00,831 crore have been deposited. The RTI also revealed that five years after the launch of the scheme, there were 4.99 crore or 14 per cent accounts which still have zero balance in them.

PMJDY is financial inclusion program of Government of India

which is applicable to 20 to 65 years age group, that aims to expand and make affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pensions. This financial inclusion campaign was launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014.

He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.

Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, the scheme is primarily aimed at the poorer sections who are unable to have access to the banking system. Under the programme, the accounts are opened at zero balance and they do not become dormant even if deposits are not

made into it. Under this scheme, 15 million bank accounts were opened on inauguration day. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized this achievement, stating: "The most bank accounts opened in one week as a part of the financial inclusion campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by the Government of India from August 23 to 29, 2014". By 27 June 2018, over 318 million bank accounts were opened and over 792 billion (US$12 billion) were deposited under the scheme.

According to an analysis of various studies, "Beyond enabling account ownership and the use of financial services, the PMJDY also facilitated financial inclusion for a variety of demographics. While the programme has made significant headway towards genuine financial inclusion, it is clear that improving policy communication, widening and deepening progress in lowincome states, and ironing out the kinks in the bank-agent model will be crucial if these hard-fought gains are to prove sustainable." At least 300 million new families have got Jan Dhan accounts in which almost Rs 650 billion have been deposited, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 28 August 2017, on the eve of the third anniversary of the scheme aimed at financial inclusion. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014. It has also entered the Guinness World Records for most bank accounts.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

10 THE NATION

Can the NMC Act cure our health care?

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he National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2019 was passed by both the houses of Parliament in the last two months. This important Act will decide the future course of medical education and medical ethics in the county. By careful reading of this document, one gets a feeling that it offers little when compared to the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 (which saw multiple amendments), that led to the formation of the Medical Council of India (MCI), a body which was accused of rampant corruption. The NMC Act has some provisions which are far more problematic than those in the amended MCI Act. The constitution of the medical commission as proposed in the Act has issues which centralise power and weaken federalism at various levels. The nomination of important functionaries of the NMC will rest exclusively with the Centre.

This will give rise to nepotism and the promotion of a lackey culture,

that had infested the MCI. Even the Medical Advisory Council, proposed in the Act, has nominated members from the states, thereby reducing the role of states to being consultative.

The another controversial issue in the NMC Act is the creation of a cadre of Community Health Providers with the limited licence to practice medicine at the midlevel. This provision is a means to promote quackery within the scientific practice of medicine. By providing the licence to practice medicine in such manner, the credibility the scientific community will be further eroded among citizens. There is no doubt that at the current doctor-patient ratio of 1:10,189 (WHO recommendation is 1:1,000), India is in dire need of doctors.

Successful models incorporating allied healthcare professionals, alternative systems into allopathic medical practice are present throughout the world. But their involvement and quality are thoroughly regulated. The NMC Act

does not propose any means to ensure this. Also, there is ambiguity on which alternative health professionals will be allowed a licence.

The Act has proposed a common exit examination — National Exit Test (NEXT), at the end of the MBBS course. This test shall be held to grant a licence to practice and will also be the basis of admission to postgraduate courses. It appears that this provision is based on the premise that exit examinations produce good students. This premise has been under scrutiny the world over. More so, evaluating an MBBS student at the end of the final year through multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is not a good idea.

Existing evidence from across the world clearly favours subjective clinical evaluation as the best means to evaluate an upcoming doctor. It would have been better if a common exit exam had been held after ensuring that the level of medical education throughout the country is uniform.

Besides failing to address people-centric issues like recommendations for retention of doctors in rural health services, the NMC Act appears to heavily favour private medical colleges. Allowing private medical colleges to “sell” 50 per cent seats is a serious threat to healthcare. It sets a dangerous precedent of usurping deserving students from becoming doctors merely on the basis of money.

The NMC Act fails to learn from the 65 years of experience with the MCI. A robust law would have been one that would have helped medical education to overcome traditional blocks and incorporated a culture of democratic practice in the field.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

12 COVER STORY

J&K 'special state' gone

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-D.BAL REDDY

Will this help

integration?

n one of its boldest moves ever, the Narendra Modi led NDA government has revoked the controversial Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. By this has removed the J&J state's special status. The government has also bifurcated the state into two Union territories. A 'special state' loses territory, status

and statehood. Integration with India is being completed.

The central government has revoked two key constitutional provisions — Article 370 and Article 35(A) that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special semi-autonomous status. It has also proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, J&K and Ladakh. The J&K reorganisation

bill passed in both the Houses of Parliament. It says the union territory in Ladakh will have no legislature like that of Chandigarh while J&K, the other union territory, will have a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry.

Article 370 gave Kashmir its own Constitution and restricted the Centre's powers to deciding matters of defence, communications,

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

finance and external affairs. For any other area, the Centre had to get the state legislature's approval.

Article 35A reinforced the special status by allowing the J&K Assembly to frame rules defining "permanent residents" who were eligible for acquiring immovable property, government jobs and scholarships.

Now, all the provisions of the Indian Constitution will apply to J&K as well. The decision will also allow individuals, businesses or NGOs to freely operate, under the same rules of business, in the union territories of J&K and Ladakh.

The number of assembly seats in J&K may change after the state's bifurcation. That number will be decided by a delimitation commission that will be set up by the government. With Kashmiris largely confined to their homes and cut off from the outside world, their reaction would be known better today.

Though with Modi government’s decision on 370 J & K’s special status being discussed widely. But the J&K gave up its special status over the years. It started in 1954 with the (now scrapped) presidential order of 1954 that added Article 35(A) to the Constitution also extended Indian citizenship to permanent residents of J&K, Supreme Court's jurisdiction to the state and abolished the state's customs duties.

After the 1954 order, more than 40 subsequent presidential orders have been issued by successive central governments (as amendments to the original order) to make various provisions of India's Constitution applicable to J&K. These amendments have extended 94 out of the 97 entries in the Union List and 26 out of the 47 in the Concurrent List to the state, as well as made 260 out of the 395 Ar-

COVER STORY 13

ticles of the Indian Constitution applicable to J&K. That, in a way, also points to the erosion of the special status of the state under Article 370 overtime.

When the Goods and Services Tax was extended to J&K a week after it was implemented in the rest of the country, it was seen by some as a 'blow to the state's fiscal autonomy' and also its special status.

However, over the years, the fund transfers from the central government and implementation of central welfare schemes have made J&K like any other Indian state in some ways. About 70 per cent of the state’s revenue is through central transfers. Of this, 50 per cent is through grants-in-aid from the central government, and another 20% is the state's share in central taxes.

J &K’s financial dependence on the Centre is not new. J&K got 10 per cent of all Central grants to states between 2000 and 2016

despite having just 1 per cent of the country's population.

That amounted to a fund transfer of over Rs 91,000 per person compared to Rs 4,300 for Uttar Pradesh. The grants were also more than a fourth of the Central funds given to 11 special category states.

Couldn't Jammu and Kashmir have remained a state without its special status, especially since it is already under President's rule? The government has pointed out law and order as the reason, as a central rule cannot last forever. "Keeping in view the prevailing internal security situation, fuelled by cross border terrorism in the existing state of J&K, a separate union territory of J&K is being created," said the bill presented in Parliament for the purpose. During the debate in the Rajya Sabha, home minister Amit Shah said that the government will give J&K the status of a state once the situation normalises. "We have no interest in

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

14 COVER STORY

delaying it," he said.

Many of the smaller states of today were union territories at some point of time. For instance, except Assam and Meghalaya, all the other northeastern states were union territories for a long time.

Arunachal Pradesh became a state in 1987 after being a UT since 1972. Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram were UTs before they became full-fledged states.

Goa too, after being liberated from the Portuguese in 1962, was a UT before becoming a state in 1987. Similarly, Himachal Pradesh, which was reorganised as a UT in 1956, became a state only in 1971.

The reasons for the change in status varied from people's demand (Nagaland) to the violent insurgent movement (Mizoram) to administrative ease, with politics of the time playing a big role too.

Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir and placed restrictions on the purchase of property in, limiting it to the former state’s permanent residents is dead in J&K. The central government has revoked two key constitutional provisions — Article 370 and Article 35(A) that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special semi-autonomous status. The

Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 has to be bifurcated state into two union territories, J&K and Ladakh. The union territory in Ladakh will have no legislature (like Chandigarh) while J&K, the other union territory, will have a legislature (like Delhi and Puducherry). The Centre will be in direct control of law and order and police in the Union Territory (UT)

of Jammu and Kashmir through the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) The move has been part of the BJP's election manifesto for many years ("one nation, one constitution") and demand since the time of the Jana Sangh. The party believes that Article 35A "is discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women" of J&K. But the J&K

High Court had in 2002 it self ruled that J&K women marrying outside the state will not lose their right of inheritance or share of ancestral property. And BJP believes that 35A as "an obstacle in the development of the state". The party has also promised to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to flee the Kashmir Valley almost Twenty-nine years back, in1989-90.

Article 370 gave Kashmir its own Constitution and restricted the Centre's powers to deciding matters of defence, communications, finance and external affairs. For any other area, the Centre had to get the state legislature's approval.

Article 35A reinforced the special status by allowing the J&K Assembly to frame rules defining "permanent residents" who were eligible for acquiring immovable property, government jobs and scholarships. Now, all the provisions of the Indian Constitution will apply to J&K as well.

The decision will also allow individuals, businesses or NGOs to freely operate, under the same rules of business, in the union territories of J&K and Ladakh.

Now the separate constitution of Jammu and Kashmir will cease to be in operation. The separate Ranbir Penal Code will give way to the Indian Penal Code. Article 35A, making a distinction between the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and the outsiders, will also cease to have any effect. Kashmiri women, who marry a nonKashmiri, and their children would no longer lose their right of inheri-

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

tance.

The reservation laws will apply in jobs and education in Jammu and Kashmir like rest of the Indian states. Outsiders will be eligible for admission in colleges funded by the Jammu and Kashmir government and jobs in state government offices. Purchasing land and owning property by people, considered outsiders till now, would be possible. This was considered a major reason preventing corporates setting up big units in Jammu and Kashmir. The government has argued that removal of the restriction on property ownership by outsiders will pave way for prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 370 used to make inoperative itself : Biologists tell every living cell will contain a small particle which will destroy the cell when time is up. Similar has happened with Article 370. Union government has made the controversial Article inoperative by invoking the same Article 370. Clause 3 of Article 370 empowers the President to declare the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under the Article is inoperative anytime.

Article 370(3) reads, "Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date, as he may specify" A Presidential Order, was issued using this provision to implement what the BJP had promised in the Lok Sabha election held in April-May. This move by the Narendra Modi government came as a surprise. It was being speculated that the government would scrap

COVER STORY 15

Article 370 but many brushed off the idea saying the Supreme Court is seized with multiple cases relating to Article 370 and Article 35A. Instead of scrapping Article 370, the government used the power given by the same Article to the President to make the provision ineffective. The scrapping of Article 370 would, otherwise, require a constitutional amendment under Article 368. But by invoking Article 370(3), the government has cleverly bypassed the amendment route Home Minister Amit Shah said the Narendra Modi government has followed what was done by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952 and 1962.

Nehru and then Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah had agreed on the Delhi Agreement in 1952 providing special privileges to the people of Kashmir on the matters of property ownership on the principles of

hereditary. A Presidential Order was also implemented in 1965.

Though some opposition parties like BSP, BJD, YSRCP, AAP have supported the move other parties have called the move "illegal and unconstitutional" as "Article 370 has a historical basis in the accession of the state to India." They have pointed out that with no elected government in the state, it cannot be said that the concurrence of the state government has been taken. The number of assembly seats in J&K may change after the state's bifurcation. That number will be decided by a delimitation commission that will be set up by the government. Kashmiris started coming out into the streets.

Normally seems to set in. But the key leaders who are influential in the valley are cut off from the outside world, their reaction would be known better in the coming days.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

16 STATES

Haryana is high on unemployment

H

Poll issue is Paksistan

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aryana state is going to polls in October. It has the secondhighest unemployment figures in the country after Kerala. While India had a joblessness rate of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, the figures for Kerala and Haryana are 11.4 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively. But Pakistan, not jobs, is the poll issue in Haryana. Why? What is the ground reality? How leaders various political parties responding to it?

The official data released subsequently put Haryana's unemployment rate at 8.8 per cent. The CMIE(Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) puts the Haryana unemployment rate for July at 19.5 per cent — way higher than the all-India figure of 7 per cent.

The automobile sector, which is one of the biggest employers in the state, has been badly hit by the economic slowdown. About 50,000 workers are said to have been retrenched in the Gurugram-Manesar belt alone, the country's biggest automotive hub as automobile companies and component manufacturers have fired contractual workers to deal with the slowdown.

The biggest issue highlighted in recent election speeches, however, has been Pakistan and the withdrawal of special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Union Home Minister Amit Shah went big on Article

370 at a rally in Jind saying "a tribute to martyrs of Haryana".

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh went ballistic against Pakistan declaring “now India will only discuss PoK with Pakistan”.The state's chief minister has obviously been speaking about it. He was

earlier quoted as telling people that "people from Haryana can now get brides from Kashmir". It is likely to figure in Narendra Modi's rally on September 8. Even the opposition Congress' biggest leader in the state and possibly a rebel, former Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda criticised his party’s stand on Article 370 to pressure it to put him in charge of the campaign.

One reason, why national security is likely to resonate more in Haryana than many other states, is the significant number of service voters (serving defence personnel)

and ex-servicemen. There are over one lakh service voters, more than three lakh ex-servicemen and about 9 lakh dependents. The state's chief minister says Haryana has '16 lakh ex-servicemen families'. Given the average assembly constituency size of about 2 lakh voters, the number of soldiers or ex-soldiers and their families are significant enough to swing electoral fortunes. Their concentration in some districts like Rohtak, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh is higher. The other advantage with national security is that it transcends caste and community considerations and therefore, often problematic issue of jobs and quota for politicians.

Pakistan, meanwhile, figured in the half-anhour conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at sidelines of G-7 conference in France. Pakistani PM Imran Khan's "extreme rhetoric" and incitement of anti-India violence is not conducive to peace, Modi told Trump. On the same day, the Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a three-year extension by PM Imran Khan, citing “the regional security situation” as the reason. Bajwa, whose three-year tenure was due to end in November, is said to have extensive experience in Pakistan’s Kashmir affairs.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

18 INTERNATIONAL

PM Modi in Bahrain

Avail the new opportunities “I

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t took quite a long time for an Indian Prime Minister to visit Bahrain,” Modi said, adding that he was fortunate enough to be the first Indian prime minister to visit the tiny Gulf Kingdom (Twitter/MEA) “The diversity and colours of India are our strength, they astonish and attract the world,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He told said Indian diaspora at Bahrain to avail the new opportunities being generated by his government. Addressing the Indian community at

the packed National Stadium at Gulf Kingdom. Modi said his visit to Bahrain was as the head of the government, as the Prime Minister of the country, but its main purpose was to meet the Indian diaspora and communicate with them and thousands of friends in Bahrain.

Modi told the Indian expats, who switched on their mobile flash light to welcome the prime minister upon his arrival.

The prime minister said under his government, India was moving forward with the active participation of crores of Indians both inside

and outside the country. He said his government is sitting on steering only and the accelerator is pressed by the people of the country.

“Every Indian now believes that their dreams can be fulfilled, hopes and aspirations can be fulfilled. On the strength of this belief, I am busy in fulfilling new resolutions,” he said. “Our goals are high. We have to double the size of our economy to make USD 5 trillion in coming years” he said. “Do you feel a change in India? Modi asked the crowd which responded with “yes.” He also announced that the

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

Indian expats will soon be able to transact in Bahrain with RuPay card. “Today, we have signed an MoU, our aim is to provide you the facility to send money to your home in India through RuPay Card.

Now you will be able to say that Bahrain – Pay with RuPay,” he said.

“Facilities like BHIM app, UPI and Jan Dhan account have made banking in India accessible to the general human. Our Rupay card is now becoming a preferred medium of Transaction all over the world.

Now our Rupay cards are accepted by banks and sellers all over the world,” Modi said. The prime minister said almost every family in India today was connected to banking services.

“Mobile phones, Internet are within reach of normal family of India. The cheapest internet data in the world is in India. Today, the delivery of most services in India is digitally, efforts are being taken

INTERNATIONAL 19

forward,” Modi said.

Noting that ‘Chandrayaan-2 ‘ would land on the surface of moon on September 7, Modi said the entire world was today discussing India’s space missions. “The world is astonished that how are we able to gain these results in such small budget, using only our skills,” he said. Modi hailed the contribution of the Indian community in Bahrain’s growth story and said: “there is immense goodwill here for your honesty, loyalty, workability and your contribution to the socio-economic life of Indians. You have made a place for yourself here with your hard work. We have to strengthen this goodwill”.

“Whenever I hear the praise of the Indian people, the Indian business people here, the people who are settled here, my heart is filled with happiness,” Modi said, adding the Bahrain prime minister praised the contribution of the Indian community during their meeting earlier

today. “Our relation with Bahrain has been of trade and business, but more than that it has been of humanity, values and culture,” he said and asked Indians to invite their Bahraini friends to visit and explore India. “In the last 5 years, it has been our endeavour that the head of crores of Indians living abroad, along with 130 crore Indians in the country, always remain high. Today, if India sees the world with respect, then there is a big reason behind it, there are lakhs of companions like you,” Modi said.

He also said that India and Bahrain will expand cooperation in new field including space. Modi said he will visit the historic Shrinathji’s temple tomorrow and pray for the prosperity and peace of all.

Around 350,000 Indian nationals, mostly from Kerala, live in Bahrain. The Indian community comprise a third of Bahrain’s total population of 1.2 million.

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20 INTERNATIONAL

Colonial mindset Politics of British medical journals B

THE NEWS BUREAU

ritish medical journal Lancet and British Medical Journal published an editorial regarding denial of access to healthcare in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian Medical Association Lashes out at Medical Journal Lancet for J&K Editorial saying “committed breach of propriety in commenting on this political issue”.

The Lancet published an editorial saying that the military presence in the state "raises serious concerns for the health, safety, and freedoms of the Kashmiri people".The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has criticised Lancet for its editorial piece on Jammu and Kashmir in a letter addressed to its editor-in-chief, Richard Horton. In August 17, issue of the Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, published an edi-

torial titled ‘Fear and uncertainty around Kashmir’s future‘ which said that the military presence in the state “raises serious concerns for the health, safety, and freedoms of the Kashmiri people”. The editorial cited a report published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights last month to draw attention to the number of people who had been blinded by the use of pellet-firing shotguns between 2016 and 2018. The editorial further underscored that “the protracted exposure to violence” had led to a “formidable mental health crisis” and had increased “anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder”.

In response to the editorial, the IMA, in its letter, alleged that the Lancet had “no locus standi on the issue of Kashmir” and had “committed breach of propriety in commenting on this political issue”.

Further condemning the “unsolicited intrusion into the affairs of the Sovereign The Republic of India”, the IMA questioned “the credibility and malafide intention behind the uncalled for the editorial”.

As reported by the Quartz, the Lancet has previously published editorials expressing concern over human rights issues in connection with 2014 crisis in Gaza, the migrant crisis in Europe and gun violence in the US. In addition to the Lancet, the British Medical Journal also published an editorial regarding denial of access to healthcare in Jammu and Kashmir. Articulating concern over the situation in the state, the editorial pointed to pellet gun injuries, unavailability of ambulances, lack of medication supplies and high levels of mental and psychosocial stress. It also called on the Indian government to “ease restrictions on communication and travel at the earliest” and “allow patients to access health care without hindrance”.

On August 16, as many as 130 people working in public health and academia signed a letter detailing various disruptions to healthcare and medical services. It is reported instances of health care emergencies with medicals supplies running low and patients being restricted from travelling to hospitals in the state in the aftermath of the Centre’s reading down of Article 370.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

INTERNATIONAL 21

No wisdom in turning to Pakistan US expert warns his country

"T

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he US would be unwise to turn to Pakistan as a strategic partner," Richard N Hass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations warned. In an op-ed, he wrote in August second week this top American foreign policy expert has cautioned the Trump Administration against any strategic tilt towards Pakistan and moving away from India.

Amid an increased India-Pak tension on Kashmir and an ongoing Afghan peace talks, Richard N Hass wrote: “The US would be unwise to turn to Pakistan as a strategic partner. Pakistan sees a friendly government in Kabul as vital to its security and competition with arch-rival India, he wrote in his op-ed that was first published

by Project Syndicate and thereafter, on the CFR website.

“There is little reason to believe

that the military and intelligence services, which continue to run Pakistan, will rein in the Taliban or rule out terrorism,” Hass said.

“Equally, the US would be unwise to alienate India. Yes, India has a tradition of protectionist trade policies and often frustrates US policymakers with its reluctance to cooperate fully on strategic issues,” he wrote. But democratic India, which will soon surpass China as the world’s most populous country and will boast the world’s fifthlargest economy, is a good longterm bet, he added.

“It is a natural partner to help balance China. India has rejected participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, whereas Pakistan, struggling economically has embraced it,” Hass said. According to the top American scholar, the US would also be unwise to race for the exits from Afghanistan. Peace talks with the Taliban mostly look

like a means to extract US forces from the country, he claimed, adding that the process is reminiscent of Vietnam, where a 1973 agreement between the US and North Vietnam provided a pretext for American withdrawal from the South but not a basis for peace.

The notion of a coalition government, with power shared by the current government and the Taliban, is optimistic at best, fanciful at worst, Hass observed.

“Instead of embracing fantasy, the US should continue to keep a modest number of troops in Afghanistan to ensure the government survives and the country does not again become a terrorist haven.

“What is required is an endurance strategy, not an exit strategy, based on local conditions, not political calendars. As has long been the case, south Asia is at best a region to be managed, not a problem to be solved,” he said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

22 THE NATION

Chidambaram’s dramatic arrest

Karma catching finally?

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A.RAMMOHAN RAO

y the time this issue of ‘The News’ comes into your hands the former finance minister and home minister of India and a prominent Congress leader, Palaniappan Chidambaram(73), is likely to emerge from the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation. But it may not be gaining complete freedom. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the INX Media corruption and money laundering case from his residence late 21 August evening, in a rather dramatic fashion with the investigating agency's sleuths scaling the gate of his house in New Delhi's posh Jor Bagh locality hours after the Supreme Court refused to grant an immediate hearing on his plea for interim protection from arrest and listed the matter for 23 August.

The CBI is investigating money laundering charges related to INX Media, owned by Indrani Mukherjea and Peter Mukherjea, both of whom are serving time in cases related to the murder of Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora. Indrani, who turned approver and in the middle of her divorce proceedings.

She now says the former finance minister asked her to channel funds through companies run by his son, Karti Chidambaram.

The case pertains to INX Media’s issuance of shares to three non-resident investors via the FDI route in 2007, for which it ap-

proached the FIPB for permission — which was only partially approved. That meant that while the Mukerjeas could get their FDI to the tune of Rs 4.62 crore, they couldn't offload the company's 26 per cent equity in order to raise over Rs 305 crore, which was also mentioned in their application to the FIPB Chairman. The CBI, which registered the case in May 2017, based on information provided by the ED, charged the Mukerjeas with raising the money "deliberately and in violations of the conditions and approval" at a price of over Rs 862 per share.

While the CBI case pertains to violations of FIPB and bribery, the ED case charges the Chi-

dambarams with abetting money laundering. Karti was arrested last year and later released on bail after 23 days, while the ED, which had attached half of Chidambaram's Jor Bagh bungalow in New Delhi, earlier this month asked Karti — who’s a Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga constituency — to vacate the premises. His assets worth Rs 54 crore had been attached last year by the ED. The FDI was red-flagged by the Income Tax Department in 2008, following which the Mukerjeas allegedly paid kickbacks to Karti Chidambaram, son of Chidambaram — who was the Finance Minister when the FDI came through — to get the probe dis-

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

THE NATION 23

missed, the CBI alleges. Interestingly, the amount of kickbacks paid to Karti, at allegedly Chidambaram's behest according to Indrani Mukerjea ranges from a relatively measly Rs 10 lakh to $1 million. The case apparently came to light when the ED, investigating a company with which Karti was associated, came across files pertaining to INX Media on the computer of Chidambaram Junior's CA, Bhaskarraman.

Chidambaram has promptly denied all those charges. No matter, the drama continues. And its plot is the stuff of a well-made movie. In 2010, as home minister of India, Chidambaram had Amit Shah, then a minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet in their home state of Gujarat, arrested and interrogated by the CBI in a ‘fake encounter’ case that resulted in the murder of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The case continues to be a cause championed by

activists. Shah spent months in jail, and when he came out on bail, was banned from entering Gujarat for two years. Later, in December 2014, a CBI court exonerated Shah of the charges. Modi had come to power by then.

That the CBI is a tool in the hands of those in power is clear from the instances above. And the CBI is not the exception. A lion’s share of India’s public institutions is run not on governance values. It is easy to blame the employees for this great lapse. But if they are not protected in the dispensation of their duties, there is little they can do to stay and steer, well, the righteous course.

Chidambaram out on bail soon, nevertheless, would have come out a chastened, humbler man. Humility has never been his forte. Years ago, Chidambaram famously said that all that Modi knew of economics could be written on the back of

a postage stamp. Recently, in Parliament, he made little of the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman’s claims to making Indian economy worth $5 trillion. The message that a post-bail Chidambaram brings to his friends and comrades will not be encouraging.

Almost all the top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Shashi Tharoor have cases pending against them. Amit Shah is an extremely intelligent and efficient political machine. He knows the forces and means at his command, and will not hesitate to use these as and when.

As and when is all the time India’s economy is not doing well.

Private investment, private consumption, exports are down. Only government investments in infrastructure seem positive. If the Modi government continues to fail on the economic front, it will have no alternative but to radicalise its political moves even more in the ‘Right’ direction as this will both distract attention and at the same time keep up the morale of its constituencies high.

All around, there is anxiety. The liberals have played themselves out. “I had warned of the fallout of ‘demonising Modi”, a Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh said two weeks back. He said Modi connects with people and that to vilify everything he does is counterproductive. It is not just a question of demonising Modi. The Indian state has changed its nature. It is turning harder by the day in internal and external matters. The Indian prime minister is one of the greatest contemporary salesmen of hope. Congress and the rest come across as obstacles to progress. That image has to change. But it seems not that easy.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

24 STATES

Foundation for sound economy

Strong internal security

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ndia can emerge as a great economy in the world by empowering its people, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He made it clear that it is possible with the realisation of the country’s full potential by putting an end to terrorism,

narcotics, cybercrime and disturbances created by the neighbouring countries. Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing during Dikshant Samaroh (passing out parade) IPS Probationer of 2017 batch from the prestigious Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad in August last week.

Amit Shah stressed on greater internal security to ensure the country's safety and development.

Union Home Minister said "At this opportune moment, I would like to express my gratitude to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his work in integrating around 600 princely states, but among them Jammu and Kashmir was missed out. Today under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, article 370 was abrogated and we have managed to completely integrate J&K with India."

The Union Home Mister also pointed out the role the first Home Minister of the country, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in integrating the princely state of Hyderabad with India. "Hyderabad, where this police academy has been built, was integrated to India because of historic police action. After Independence, Vallabhbhai Patel was given the very hard task of integrating over 600 princely states to India."

"The princely started unifying with the rest of the country, one after another due to the efforts of Patel, but Hyderabad's Nizam during that time did not want to accede to India. It was because of the police action taken under the leadership of Vallabhbhai Patel that Hyderabad, Telangana, parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka was unified with the rest of the country," Shah added.

Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel successfully amalgamated more than 600 princely States into the Union of

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

India but, because of Article 370, the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir was not completed.

“However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has completed the integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India by scrapping [provisions] of Article 370,” he said, Recalling Sardar Patel’s efforts to unite the nation after Independence, Shah said that when the then Nizam of Hyderabad refused to merge with India, police action played a key role. “Using the force, Patel ensured that the Hyderabad State was merged with India and the full credit goes to the then police action,” he said, during his first visit to the premier institution as Home Minister.

Motivating the young probationers to become team leaders and lead from the front, Shah said, "Sampark (Connect), Samvaad (Communicate) Aur Samanvay (Coordinate) are the core principles of team building and achieve success in challenging situations".

He emphasised on reaching people, communicating constantly and es-

tablishing a connection in order to serve them in the most effective manner. Politicians only get elected for five years, but civil servants get the opportunity to serve the country for whole life, which must not be wasted. Being free from fear and taking decisions for the betterment of masses, while abiding by the Principles of Constitution should be the hallmark of an officer, he added. Shah stated PM Narendra Modi has given a vision of a SMART Police (S - Sensitive and Strict, M - Modern with mobility, A - Alert and Accountable, R - Reliable and Responsive, T - Trained and Techno-savvy).

Amit Shah, urged the future officers, to follow the path of over 30,000 police officers who were martyred due to the insurgency, terrorist activities and so on. He said that police forces must continuously remodel on this vision to successfully face the challenges. The Union Home Minister awarded 103 best performing probationers, including 15 women officers, six Royal Bhutan Police and five

STATES 25

Nepal Police Service officers. He also congratulated the probationary officers, especially women officers, and gave best wishes for their bright careers. He expressed pride that the young officers would soon be joining the distinguished tradition of Indian Police Service in serving the nation with utmost dedication. Gaush Alam, who has been allotted for the Telangana, and Richa Tomar, who was allotted Rajasthan cadre, collected best allround male and female IPS probationers award respectively.

Union Home Minister has praised the probationers, who he said were mostly from the middle class and poor families and urged them to strive to make the country better.

This was the first time that Amit Shah Visited National Police Academy. Academy Director Abhay explained about training activities at the prestigious police training institute. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, Governor ESL Narasimhan, SVPNPA Academy Director Abhay and others were present.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

26 THE NATION

Congress leaders realisation T

Demonising Modi is wrong

he realisation among congress leaders has begun. Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for everything and ignoring works done in public interest has already costed dear to grand old party. Yet the majority of Congress leaders including its first family continuing attack.

Recognizing this suicidal approach some senior leaders started voicing differently. This has begun with former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh. During the third week of August, he said: “’demonising’ Narendra Modi was wrong and the prime minister should be praised for doing the right things.” This has created ripples in congress party.

Speaking at a book launch on Jairam Ramesh had said Modi’s governance model was “not a complete negative story” and added that not recognising his work and “demonising” him all the time was not going to help.“It is time we recognize Modi’s work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over 30 per cent of the electorate,” Ramesh had said. He had also cited how successful the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUJ) had turned out to be for the prime minister.

Abhishek Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor come out in support of party colleague on saying While Singhvi said Modi’s acts must be judged “issue-wise, not personwise”, Tharoor said praising the prime minister for doing the right things would lend credibility to the

opposition’s criticism of him.

Always said demonising Modi wrong. Not only is he PM of the nation, a one-way opposition actually helps him. Acts are always good, bad & indifferent they must be judged issue wise and not person wise. Certainly, Ujjawala scheme is only one amongst other good deeds (sic),” Singhvi tweeted echoing Ramesh’s views.

Tharoor also joined him saying,

Countering Ramesh, former Union minister and Congress veteran KK Tewary said some “self-propagating” leaders in the Congress have “hijacked” the party and were making all kinds of comments that were not in the interest of the party. “Some self-propagating leaders in the party, who never fight elections and find a sanctuary in the Rajya Sabha have hijacked the party,” he said. Asked at the

“As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time.”

Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee also agreed with Singhvi saying, “Very true sir.

Nation-building is an ongoing process carried on by successive governments. Hope Modi and team also realise this.” “Criticisms should be on policies, not personalities,” she said.

AICC briefing about the Congress leaders’ comments that Modi should be praised for doing the right things, party spokesperson Manish Tewari skirted the question, saying it should be posed to these leaders.“Insofar as the comments made by various people, whom you have referred to, are concerned, they are in the best position to clarify or amplify or retract or subtract their remarks.

“As far as the Congress Party is concerned, we believe that there is a serious economic crisis in the country. The crisis is impacting the employment situation and we are extremely concerned and worried about it,” Tewari told media.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

DEFENCE COLUMN 27

WG CDR TJ REDDY VSM (RETD)

Fighter Controllers in IAF

A

Guiding Fighter pilots

Fighter Controller is endowed with responsibilities of upholding air defence operations.

This crucial job involves Implementation of all restrictions imposed for flight safety and traffic decongestion. Ensuring authorisation of all flights within national airspace. Close monitoring of general hostile areas analysing enemy’s activity both during peace and war. Initiating tactical action with available weapon system in case of unauthorised activity.

Therefore, the job of a Fighter Controller entails a complex set of tasks requiring very high levels of technical knowledge and expertise, as well as the practical application of specific skills pertaining to cognition (e.g. spatial perception, information processing, logic reasoning, decision making), communication and human relations.

Fighter Controllers monitor with the help of ground radar more than one number of aircraft at any given time. Additionally, initiation of tactical action in case of violation of air space and surveillance of enemy airspace is exclusively carried out by them. Furthermore, the scope

has increased with the induction of newer air surveillance systems which function both on the ground

and in air.

The clichĂŠ - man behind the machine, in the aviation context, is

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

28 DEFENCE COLUMN

very significant and diverse today, perhaps more than ever. With the advent in recent times of the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) in aerial-battle management scenarios, this aspect has undergone a paradigm shift with the incorporation of the hitherto unseen catalyst – Fighter Controllers (FC), manning work stations on board the AWACS. The fighter pilots of the yore were often deemed ‘flying aces’ depending upon the number of enemy aircraft that they downed singlehandedly or at best, in pairs in the ‘dog-fights’ that ensued. The manifestation of modern-day air combats with multitudes of fighter aircraft in an era of ‘beyond-visualrange’ (BVR) missiles today are a scenario, far removed from that.

Comprehensive situational awareness is the buzzword for survivability for any modern-day fighter pilot. To achieve that it is mandatory to match the inputs from the AWACS and/or ground radars to help make the entire airspace transparent. It is here that the fighter controller’s role assumes significance as they play a decisive role in the outcome of aerial battles.

Integration of fighter controllers actively into IAF operations goes back in history where they played a significant role in all our wars.

With the advent of all-aspect infra red (IR) missiles and BVRs in the mid-80s, the pilot-controller synergy reached a new level. This lethal team combination has now become more meaty with the FC now being available inside the airborne platform.

It is a well recognised and widely acknowledged that in all bilateral international exercises with US, Royal Air Force and French

Air Force in the last decade and more IAF fighter controllers matched skills with their more experienced counterparts adapting to the new environment with panache.

IAF pilots and FCs made their presence count in every exercise.

With a pre-eminent role to guide the fighter pilots for a kill, the job of IAF’s fighter controller now is set to transcend from the realm of ‘control of interceptors and air surveillance’ to that of management of the entire ‘Air Battle’ as a whole. This was no less evident in the Balakot strike and in the air operations that followed, Abhinandan Varthaman’s mission included.

In the later instance SqnLdr Minty Agarwal was the Fighter Controller

on the ground radar who controlled the mission in the air lead by Wg Cdr Abhinandan to take on Pak F16s, with Abhinandan eventually and heroically shooting down a superior F-16 from his vintage MIG -21 aircraft. She has been awarded YSM(YudhaSeva Medal) for Independence Day in recognition of her effort as Fighter Controller and in general the crucial but lesserknown role of a Fighter Controller.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

(Auther A Wing Commander was a fighter Controller who actively participated in 1965 and 1971 wars. He was awarded VSM(VishistSeva Medal) by the President of India on 26 January 1976.)

SPORTS 29

First time an Indian army oďŹƒcer

completes oldest cycling event

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THE NEWS BUREAU

ndian Army officer Lt Gen Anil Puri has become the first serving general to complete France's oldest cycling event, the gruelling 1,200-km Paris-Brest-Paris circuit.

Lt Gen Puri, 56, completed the circuit by cycling non-stop for around 90 hours from Rambouillet on the outskirts of Paris to the Brest military port on France's western tip and back. Of the 367 participants from India, only around 80 could successfully complete the arduous trek while the rest dropped out midway.

There were a total of 6,500 participants at the event from as many as 60 countries. The gruelling nature of the cycling event can be gauged from the fact that a participant has to climb a cumulative al-

titude of around 31,000 feet during the circuit - equivalent to conquering Mt Everest - without any sleep in nearly four days.

Lt Gen Puri was among six army personnel from India who had secured berths at the event for having completed at least one 1,000-km non-stop cycling event during their respective careers.More than 31,125 riders have managed to complete ParisBrest-Paris Randonneur ever since the long-distance cycling event started in 1931.

Lt Gen Puri said the experience was very humbling apart from the excitement it provided. "The human mind is a very beautiful machine that needs to be kept excited. This excitement comes from change. We need to change our interests and hobbies in the

physical and electronic domains every three to five years in order to stimulate our minds. The whole experience of the event was humbling because it teaches you that nature can never be conquered," he said.

The participants had to bear extreme weather conditions with temperatures ranging between 35 to 3 degrees centigrade at different points during the ride. In addition, headwinds in either direction continuously kept challenging the physical endurance of the participants.

"As Indians, we don't get to cycle on hilly terrain. Our cities are mostly flat. Hence, we get tired easily because of poor muscular development," said Lt Gen Puri.

This year, the picturesque town of Rambouillet hosted the departure and arrival for the event.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

30 INTERNATIONAL

Hong Kong C

Hard nut to crack for China

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an Do development and wealth remove political discontent? Can investments, rising income and jobs alone keep the youth happy? Hong Kong may have the answer.

Hong Kong has a per capita GDP of a little over $38,000, which is 300 per cent of the world average. The British had turned the fishing village into a global financial centre, and under China, the growth exploded. Since the handover to China in 1997, its GDP per capita has nearly doubled. Its economic ties with China now outweighs that with every other nation. Mainland China accounts for 44% of Hong Kong's exports, 55% of its re-exports (imported goods processed and exported again), and 46% of imports.

The total market value of Hong Kong's stock market grew more than eightfold to $3.58 trillion as of May, after the handover to China.

The Hang Seng Index grew 60%.

The nature of the stock exchange has also changed. In June 1996, among the 33 Hang Kong Index constituents, six were controlled by the British, according to the South China Morning Post. Today more than half of the 50 constituents of the Index are Chinese firms. In 1996, Hong Kong's biggest company by value was Londonheadquartered HSBC. Today its Tencent.In short, hand over to China has accelerated Hong Kong's growth, and may well have helped

it re-emerge from the global financial crisis.

Yet, the protests in Hong Kong marked its 11th consecutive weekend. Suggestions that August second week's unprecedented violence at the Hong Kong International Airport may deflate the protests proved wrong when hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters joined a mass rally very next week, filling major thoroughfares in heavy rain, according to reports.

The protests were triggered by an extradition bill that has since been cancelled but have now grown into a broader call for democracy. Hong Kong, though semi-autonomous does not hold a direct election for the post its chief executive.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s greater economic dependence on China also gives Beijing a whip to

strike. Last just two weeks back, CEO of Cathay Pacific airline stepped down after Chinese investors and clients targeted the company for not criticising a staff that took part in the protests.

Protests over the Hong Kong democracy movement have spread across the globe, with rallies taking place in the UK, France, US, Canada and Australia. In Vancouver, Toronto and London, demonstrators were confronted by pro-Beijing rallies. Hundreds also protested in Sydney.

Some wore facemasks due to fears of alleged Chinese state surveillance of citizens who support Hong Kong from abroad. In the third week of August hundreds of thousands of people took part in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong despite increasingly severe warnings from the Chinese central government.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

AGRI TECH 31

GM crisis & tech advancement

Review the impact of illegal cultivation T

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he government should continuously promote plant biotech research and build capacity for adopting emerging technologies Suggested the experts' panel from Biotechnology, Cellular & Molecular Biology and Seed industry.

They have made recommendations at a panel discussion today on the topic, ‘Current scenario and path forward for GM crops in India’.

Organised by the University of Hyderabad supported by Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH). The experts suggested that government should continuously

promote plant biotech research and build capacity for adopting emerging technologies like genome editing, advances in regulatory sciences for safety evaluations and research on environmental, socio-economic and trade impact of illegal planting in India The deliberations by experts and farmers brought forward the necessity for adopting and advancing modern science and technology in agriculture, like GM crops in India, for bringing the farmers out of the current distress situation. It also emphasised that Government should continuously promote plant biotech research and build capacity for adopting emerging technologies

like genome editing, advances in regulatory sciences for safety evaluations and research on environmental, socio-economic and trade impact of illegal planting in India.

During the discussion, farmers have expressed their intent and willingness to accept technologies that offer promising and cost-effective solutions to their crop losses.

They are of the view that the government needs to consult them proactively rather than making decisions based on inputs from selected groups of civil society.

Farmers organisations also expressed that the government should fast-track food and environmental safety assessments so as to give

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

32 AGRI TECH

timely access to the new technologies for the benefit of farmers income and increasing productivity.

“It is desirable that the government reviews the impact of illegal cultivation. Rather than delaying decisions and punitive actions.”

Said Dr S.R. Rao, Regulatory Expert of Biotechnology. According to him, it is necessary in order to streamline the current situation of illegal cultivation by section of farmers for demonstrating their right to access to technology, prevent poor quality and the unauthorized seed of unknown identity.

The government should evaluate food and environmental safety, sustainability and impact on farmers and organized public and private seed sector in the larger interest of the country.

Speaking at the event, Mr Ram Kaundinya, Director General, FSII

said, “It is essential for farmers to get access to the latest technologies. Taking resort to illegal planting is only making farmers vulnerable towards buying seeds at a high price and taking advice from individuals without technical knowledge. The combination of these circumstances will only push the farmer towards more uncertainties and crop failure.”

India is one of the largest cotton producer countries, has still not reached high yield levels when compared globally, in spite of the huge yield gains made in the last 15 years. Long duration hybrids, low harvest index, inadequate use of biotech traits and low ginning outturn are some of the factors responsible for low productivity in India.

With conservative growth forecast for textile industry by 2027-28, there is a requirement of 569 lakh bales. However, looking at current

production trends, likely production is estimated at 476 lakh bales.

With this trend, it will increase dependence on imports to meet the domestic requirement, the impact on cotton export will be at the tune of $8bn. This can adversely impact $330Bn opportunity in global markets for the Indian textile industry by 2028. Therefore, the meeting recommended that in case HT-Bt cotton, as a follow up of Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC) report of May 2018 submitted to PMO, MOEF&CC may convene immediately all the concerned stakeholders including concerned departments of Ministry Of Agriculture And Farmer Welfare, Government of India and State Governments, applicant of technology, and seed associations and civil society for arriving at an appropriate solution.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

BUSINESS 33

Acquiring minority stake

Amazon shopping @ Big Bazaar

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mazon.com Inc is set to snag a 3.58 per cent minority stake in India’s Future Retail, which operates more than 1,500 stores in India and owns several supermarket brands, including budget department and grocery store chain, Big Bazaar.

Future Retail said in a regulatory filing that Amazon has agreed to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Ltd. That entity, in turn, owns a 7.3 per cent interest in Future Retail, according to prior filings.

The companies did not disclose the value of the deal, which gives Amazon a stake in one of India’s biggest retail chains, whose stores sell everything from clothes to fresh produce. The transaction valued Future Retail at a “substantial premium” to its existing market price. It is reported in Business media that the deal pegged the Mumbai-based company’s value at about 430 billion rupees ($5.98 billion), more than double its

current market capitalization of $2.91 billion. Amazon and Future Retail declined to comment on the value of the transaction that remains subject to regulatory approval.

The regulatory filing said the deal gives Amazon the right of first refusal should Future Retail’s founder, Kishore Biyani, or his family decide to further trim the 47.02 per cent stake they own in the company, both directly and via entities like Future Coupons that they control. The online retailer announced plans to launch its Amazon Fresh service to select areas in India’s tech hub of Bengaluru, the e-commerce company’s first such foray into delivering fresh produce in India, seen its last major growth market.

In addition to over 290 Big Bazaar outlets, Future Retail also operates a dozen up-market grocery stores under the banner, Foodhall. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven Inc has also tied up with

Future Retail to operate its stores in the country.

The Future Retail transaction marks Amazon’s second such move to acquire a stake in an Indian supermarket store operator.

Last year, Amazon and Indian private equity firm Samara Capital announced a joint investment in an entity that would give Amazon a stake in Indian supermarket chain More. Amazon also owns a stake in the department store chain Shopper’s Stop. Early this year, India revised its e-commerce rules, creating hurdles for Amazon and rival Walmart Inc’s e-commerce subsidiary, Flipkart. One revised rule bars an entity in which a foreign e-commerce company or its group companies have a stake from selling on their online platform.

These and other restrictions forced Amazon to alter how it structures some of its equity holdings in the country.

India’s revised e-commerce regulations, along with its push to compel multinationals to store data locally have irked the U.S. government and heightened trade tensions. India has argued the rules are aimed at protecting interests of its small traders and privacy of its citizens.

Ahead of the launch Amazon’s biggest campus in the world, in Hyderabad, Amazon’s India head, Amit Agarwal, said India should encourage e-commerce and not try to “define every single guard rail under which it should operate.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

34 EDU- VOICE

PROF. G. NARSIMULU

Ailing TS universities

Clean up! Or close for a few years

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he term of Vice-chancellors of Osmania, Kakatiya, Telangana, Palmuru, Dr Abedkear open university, Telugu University, satavahana, Mahatama Gandhi and JNTU were completed in the month of July 2019. Again IAS officers were appointed and will continue till the new Vice-chancellors are appointed . The selection of Vice-chancellors is usually, a lengthy process and government has to constitute a selection committee with the nominees of UGC, university and state government.

The committee will sit and scrutinised the applicants and nominate a panel of three persons for appointment of Vice-chancellor of the university. Several studies conducted time to time by the academicians' states that the quality of universities and colleges in Telangana state find very poor and even not relevant to society.

According to the education secretary of the university the selection process will take more than one month and appointments are expected to complete at the end of September 2019. Till then these universities will not be able to take any academic decisions and nobody takes initiate to clear university problems.

During the Academic year 2019-20 the state council for higher education, under DOST initiated to take common admissions for undergraduates courses and uniformity in six state universities of Telangana state. At the final phase of DOST allotment only 184000students joined in colleges of theses universities and approximately two lakh and fifty thousand were vacant.

Out of total1159 colleges in Telangana state ,169 colleges are in twin cities of Hyderabad. As per University grants commission guidelines the degree colleges must get NAAC accreditation for providing the best education for students. But so far only 135 colleges in the state could obtain NAAC Accreditation. Out of 169 colleges in twin cities of Hyderabad, only 30 colleges could get NAAC Accreditation.

As per official estimations, this year in 230 colleges in the state are likely to have only 25 per cent seats filled in the first year. It is not economically viable for the management to run the institution. Many of the college management is seriously considering to close down sections. Some of them are on the way to close the college itself. their

colleges.

Looking at the poor enrolment of the first-year admissions in colleges of Telangana universities are attributed the parents and students are not happy with the standards of these institutions and the universities which affiliated colleges producing lakh of Degrees holders every year. Majority of these ‘graduates’ join ever increasing unemployed sea of youngsters.

Osmania university a premier institution with more than one thousand affiliated colleges and with fifty six departments of campus colleges serving needs of more than two lakh students of various courses. The administration of Osmania university was finding difficult to monitor these colleges with less number of teaching and non-teaching staff. The government during YS Rajasheker Reddy established district wise universities In Nizamabad, Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar and Karimnagar.

These ‘new’ universities have completed ten years and still suffering teething troubles. Shortage of financial and manpower resources especially committed teaching and non-teaching staff. The young universities are totally depending on universities like Osmania and

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

Kakatiya for academic guidance.For example Palmuru university in Mahabubnagar has only two regular non-teaching staff and with twenty permanent teaching staff. The university is being run with the help of contact and part-time teaching staff and casual workers. Osmania university now with less than four hundred regular teaching staff against the sanctioned staff 1200 and one can imagine how can university fulfil the responsibility of Teaching, Research and outreach programmes?

The another major lacuna is the curriculum of courses offered by these universities are outdated and not relevance to the needs of society. The appointments of the vice-chancellors are not made on the basis of academic leadership but based on caste and political compulsions. Due to these factors, the majority of the parents in Telangana state who spend major portions of the earnings on financing, their children education are opting for private universities in other

states and abroad.

Only poor and weaker sections of the society are admitting the government-run universities. The classes are not regular in these universities and colleges. The university authorities never visits these colleges except during annual inspections and mostly private managed colleges are having local political influence and they manage with officials appointing less no of teaching and non-teaching staff.

A teacher is always learner by upgrading new knowledge in their subjects. But In reality nobody bothers to upgrade their knowledge and engage themselves in other activities and some of them holding administrative positions and never bothered to take classes to the students. The university authorities are also encourages them by awarding as Best teachers of the year.

The poor students who spend more than twenty years from schooling to university education with not equipping relevant knowledge to become a burden to their

EDU- VOICE 35

family and society. An illiterate who can earn by doing manual works in un organised-sector whereas the so-called postgraduates could not find suitable jobs and often subjected to exploitation by the society.

The state government of Telangana should think about the functioning of theses institutions and universities and bring radical reforms or else it is better to close down these universities for a period of five to six years and treat as zero academic years and concentrate on revamping of the school education by closing all private institutions.Irrespective of rich, poor and rural-urban provide Quilty skilled based education and enable the child at the end of ten years of education could get some professional skills or technical knowledge which enable him/her to earn daily bread for him/her and their family.

(The authour is a Retired professor department of Life long Education, Osmania university Hyderabad.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

36 THE NATION

Aadhaar-verified

social media Is it problem-free?

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THE NEWS BUREAU

s linking social media profiles with Aadhaar will help verify the users, and thus would help curtail the spread of misinformation, hate speech and fraud? It may or may not.

But the argument for such a link is fraught with problems, legal and technological.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the petitions by Facebook and WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) seeking transfer of four public interest litigation (PIL) being heard in the courts in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh over linking of Aadhaar to social media profile. The Tamil Nadu government during the third week of August told the Supreme Court that since the High Court already had 18 hearings on the case, it should be allowed to decide on the matter.

While the SC did not stop the hearing, it prevented the High Court from issuing any order.

The petition at the Madras High Court argues that linking-social media profiles with Aadhaar will help verify the users, and thus would help curtail the spread of misinformation, hate speech and fraud. On Monday, arguing against the transfer of the case to Supreme Court the counsel for the Tamil Nadu government argued that linking social media profiles with Aadhaar will help check terrorist messages and that is also working with IIT Madras on tracing the origin of messages sent on WhatsApp, an encrypted platform.

A social media account is a private account of a person, created under the terms and agreement with the internet company. The account could be personal, or hypothetical (accounts of "God") or satirical (accounts in the name of pets). The central tenet: Anonymity and privacy of the account is up to the user to decide (at least as much it can be on the internet). Why should every account thus be even required to be verified with a government database?

Then there is the fact that the internet is not a sovereign property.

There is no Indian internet. The argument is even if say every profile in India is linked with Aadhaar, the billion other profiles from outside India will enjoy the privacy and anonymity that social media can offer. In other words, accounts from China or Pakistan can con-

tinue to misinform Indians. The only solution: An internet cut off from the rest of the world and social media platforms that are homegrown. But then, is North Korea or China India's model?

Should it be even? (Note: Facebook, Google, WhatsApp are all blocked in China and North Korea) That takes us to the question of authoritative powers. If and when Aadhaar is linked to social media, will overzealous authorities use it to go against those who have expressed an opinion against it?

Then there is the matter of traceability of messages on WhatsApp. If India does go ahead with a law to break the encryption of such platforms, these companies will have to stop their services here as it will go against international norms and privacy laws such as GDPR.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

THE NATION 37

Ayodhya case back in the court

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Daily hearing to decide

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he Supreme Court conducting day-to-day hearing on politically sensitive Ram JanmabhoomiBabri Masjid land dispute case from August 6. The apex court in the country ordered it after noting that the mediation proceedings to resolve the dispute amicably have failed. The court had, on March 8, referred the dispute for mediation.

As it is reasonably well known the case is about the ownership of over 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya, where the Babri MasjidRam Janmabhoomi disputed structure stood since 1528 till its demolition on December 6, 1992. In October 2010, the Allahabad High Court had divided the disputed land equally among three parties — Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board. In May 2011, the Supreme Court stayed that verdict.

There are 14 appeals and petitions

by Hindu and Muslim parties challenging Allahabad High Court's verdict which the top court has started hearing from August 6.

Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifullah (who retired as an SC judge in 2016) was the chairman of the panel and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (who has proposed that Muslims gift the disputed land

to Hindus for building a temple) and senior advocate Sriram Panchu (who is a professional mediator and runs a mediation centre), were the other members. The SC had allowed the three to 'co-opt' more members.

There have been at least 10 previous attempts of mediation (including one before the Babri Masjid demolition) that failed to find a solution. At least three were

initiated by prime ministers (Chandra Shekhar, PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee), one proposed by Chief Justice of India (JS Khehar in 2017), three by the litigants in the case (Mohammed Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the case and retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi) and three by spiritual leaders (Jayendra Saraswati, Dalai Lama and Ravi Shankar) and Hindu and Muslim organisations. The Allahabad High Court also attempted to resolve the legal tussle with its judgment of September 30, 2010. However, none of them was court-monitored as the latest one.

Matter of law or faith?

When the Supreme Court took up the case, it said the case will be treated 'only as a land dispute'. Settling the ownership of land is a matter of law. As far as faith is concerned, both Hindus and Muslims view it differently.

Negotiations have failed due to the parties not agreeing to cede ground or the credibility of the mediators or the politically charged atmosphere that made stepping back impossible. Some of the same factors exist today. With the CJI scheduled to retire on November 17, the final verdict on the vexed issue, in litigation for the last 70 years, is expected before his retirement.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

38 ECONOMY

Full-blown economic crisis

Half-a-budget steps of confidence T

`THE NEWS BUREAU

he government finally woke up to the economic slump.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a mix of rollbacks and new steps and reiterated some old budget promises during last week of August. These are aimed to deal with economic slump and to dispel the shadow cast by her maiden budget. The minister's announcement was a sort of a minibudget with a presentation of 32 slides making it, in a way, this year's third budget. The measures come a week before the first quarter GDP numbers are to be released, which are expected to point to a further slowdown. GDP growth has fallen to 5.8% from over 8 per cent a year ago.

The minister began her speech on the following lines:: The global economy is growing at a measly 3.2 per cent, even advanced economies like US and Germany have slowed down while India is still growing faster than all of them.

And then she went on to announce the steps to "boost the economy."

And presentation began by "respecting and honouring wealth creators." The finance minister's presentation began by "respecting and honouring wealth creators."

So, company officials will not be

sent to jail for not spending a part of their firm's profits on social development activities and taxpayers will get income tax notices only through a centralised computer system.

The key takeaway from Nirmala Sitharaman’s many measures announced ‘to boost the economy’ is that the government is seized of the slowing economy, and is willing to roll back some decisions and correct some others, that have had an adverse impact on sentiments.

That’s a big positive in itself,

and a step towards regaining trust.

While these measures do not mean much either for the markets or the economy gripped in a crisis of confidence, it will shield the government to some extent from the criticism that it is not doing enough to revive consumer confidence.

Doing away with the surcharge on domestic and foreign portfolio investors will perk up stocks on Monday, but going forward the markets will look if the government tackles the real reasons pulling the economy down.

Markets are also responding to the

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

ECONOMY 39

trade war between the US and China, and its second-round impact on the Indian rupee.

Finance Minister has clubbed the 33 measures into five buckets: taxation, banks/ NBFCs/ SMEs, financial markets, infrastructure, and the automotive sector, which has visibly been one of the worst-hit leading to many direct and indirect job losses.

Two measures that will go some distance in de-stressing the finances of small and medium enterprises are honouring pending GST refunds within 30 days and clearing the payment backlog of MSMEs. Over the next three months, Sitharaman has promised to disburse delayed payments to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore. This will give a breather to small firms that are gasping for liquidity.

While Sitharaman reiterated the Prime Minister’s message that the government “respects wealth creators�, she stopped short of doing away with the 3 per cent and 7 per cent surcharge on those earning Rs 2-5 crore and over Rs 5 crore, respectively. For wealth creators to make wealth for themselves still remains a vice.

The decisions relating to banks and non-banking finance compa-

nies (NBFCs)are at best a lifeline, but not that would trigger increased lending or credit. Most NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFCs) have sold their highly rated pool of assets following the crunch over the last many months, so the partial credit guarantee would hardly be useful. The increase in NHB refinance limit by 50% to Rs 30,000 crore too will have a marginal impact since the sector needs fresh funding more than refinance.

The hope that upfront recapitalization of public sector banks to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore would help them on-lend to financial firms may be misplaced since most banks have already hit their sectoral exposure towards NBFCs and HFCs In a bid to get investors to bring in more capital, the government has withdrawn the enhanced surcharge on capital gains on equity announced in the budget (it would have earned Rs 1,400 crore from it) and said the 'anti-abuse' provision of 'angel tax' won't be applicable on start-ups. The Rs 70,000 crore set aside in the budget to boost the capital of banks will be 'released immediately' to prompt them to lend more. Banks have also "agreed to" pass on interest rate cuts to borrowers and return the

documents you have mortgaged with them within 15 days of closing the loan. Measures have been announced, "to protect honest decision-making by banks".Since "charity begins at home" the government has agreed to clear pending dues faster. Pending GST refunds will be cleared in a month and the ban on the purchase of new vehicles by government departments is lifted. To get you to buy new cars, the planned increase in the registration fee has been postponed and an additional 15 per cent depreciation allowed, taking it to 30 per cent on vehicles acquired from now till March 2020. And "we haven't forgotten reforms", the finance minister said twice during her presentation.

The economy, as the government realises the gravity of the situation. Investors, who were worried about the tax surcharge (foreign portfolio investors had withdrawn close to $3.4 billion since July) introduced in the budget. Borrowers, as banks are likely to bring down loan rates further and ease lending processes.

Businesses, whose refunds have been stuck and who had been complaining about higher compliance burden and "tax terrorism".

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

40 FINANCE

RBI to transfer it’s surplus

Union govt. gets rich

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inally BJP government had its way. Reserve Bank of India on Monday decided to transfer a sum of Rs 1,76,051 crore to the government.

Accepting the recommendation of the Bimal Jalan panel the apex bank has taken this decision. “The board of central bank decided to transfer a sum of Rs 1,76,051 crore to the Government of India comprising Rs 1,23,414 crore of surplus for the year 2018-19 and Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF),” the RBI has announced during last week of August. The announced surplus transfer will help the government come over any potential shortfall in its tax revenue

The Bimal Jalan panel, which was set up in November to examine the RBI economic capital framework, met on August 14 to decide and recommend the transfer of the central bank’s excess reserves to the government over a period of three-five years.

The panel retained its major recommendations with just one change in its composition, with Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar replaced Subhash Chandra Garg as a member. The announced surplus transfer will help the government come over any potential shortfall in its tax revenue.

Earlier, it was reported in the media that the rift between the Centre and RBI over a proposal by the Finance Ministry seeking to transfer a surplus of Rs 3.6 lakh

crore, more than a third of the total reserves of the central bank—to the government. However, the ministry added that this surplus can be jointly handled by the bank and the government.

Amid this boiling issue, former RBI governor Urjit Patel too tendered his resignation from his post citing personal reasons. After Patel’s resignation, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government did not ask for Patel’s resignation, adding that the Centre does not need a single penny from the RBI’s capital reserves during the current fiscal.

Jaitley had said the issue of RBI reserves was cordially discussed between the government and the central bank during the RBI’s board meeting.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

INTERNATIONAL 41

India-Pakistan issues are bilateral

Modi makes it clear

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ll issues between India and Pakistan bilateral.

Don't want to give pain to any third country. We can discuss and resolve all issues bilaterally," Priem Minister Narendra Modi told US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in the French town of Biarritz. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz in southwestern France. Modi was invited to attend the Summit as a special guest of French President Emmanuel Macron.

In their first meeting after the government scrapped special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 leading to tensions with Pakistan, Prime Minister made it clear to Trump that All issues between India and Pakistan bilateral. Don’t want to give pain to any third country. We can discuss and resolve all issues bilaterally.

PM Modi’s remarks come after Trump — thrice in the space of a month — had said he would do his best to “mediate” on the Kashmir issue. However, the US has nuanced its position in the past week, calling the issue of Jammu and Kashmir an “internal matter” of India — something that New Delhi has always insisted on.“India and Pakistan were together before 1947 and I am confident that we

can discuss our problems and solve them together. India and Pakistan should work together for the welfare of people of our two nations,” PM Modi told media.

Speaking to reporters following their meeting, Trump said PM Modi had assured him that the Kashmir situation was under control. “The US very good friends

with both India and Pakistan. Think India and Pakistan can discuss among themselves and sort it out mutually,” Trump said. Trump’s statement comes after the US had said that it was concerned about reports of detentions in Kashmir, and urged respect for individual rights and discussions with those in affected communities.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

42 INTERNATIONAL

Taking a different tone from his previous offers to serve as a mediator, Trump said, “They speak with Pakistan and I am sure that they will be able to do something that will be very good.” On August 2, hours after Trump said he would “certainly intervene” on the Kashmir issue if New Delhi and Islamabad wanted him to, India had rejected the suggestion. Significantly, Trump did not reiterate a previous claim that Modi had asked him to intervene, in what was perceived as back-pedalling from his claim last month.Recently, in a telephonic conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump asked him to tone down the rhetoric against India and avoid escalating tensions over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister arrived in this town on France’s southwestern tip from Bahrain on a personal invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron.

PM Modi, Trump discuss ways to enhance trade. Meanwhile, two months after the US ended special trade treatment for India under a program known as Generalised System of Preferences, Trump said both sides discussed steps to

enhance trade ties.

“We are talking about trade, we’re talking about military and many different things. We had some great discussions, we were together last night for dinner and I learned a lot about India,” Trump said.The preferential trade program gives developing countries easier access to the US market and lowers US duties on their exports. “I have determined that India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets,” Trump had said in a proclamation issued by the White House in June.

The invite to India to be a Biarritz Partner and to Prime Minister Modi to be a special guest at the Summit was extended by President Macron keeping in mind the common interests of India and France, such as tackling climate change and the development of renewable energy. Prime Minister Modi collaborated closely with President Macron’s predecessor, President François Hollande, in the creation of the International Solar Alliance in 2015. Modi addressed sessions on digital transformation and climate change at the Biarritz Summit.

The G7 Summit is an informal gathering that lasts two days, in which leaders of member countries discuss a wide range of global issues. The groundwork for the Summit, including matters to be discussed and follow-up meetings, is done by the “Sherpas”, who are generally personal representatives or members of diplomatic staff such as ambassadors. The G7 does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual Summits are non-binding.

The rise of India, China, and Brazil over the past few decades has reduced the G7’s relevance, whose share in global GDP has now fallen to around 40 per cent.

With this background G20 formed.

The G20 is a larger group of countries, which also includes G7 members. The G20 was formed in 1999, in response to a felt need to bring more countries on board to address global economic concerns.

Apart from the G7 countries, the G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. India is slated to host a G20 summit in 2022.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

THE NATION 43

Centre’s ‘clean-up’ drive

Tax officials sacked T

THE NEWS BUREAU

he government is continuing it’s bureaucracy ‘clean up’ drive. It has sacked twenty-two more tax officials accused of corruption and serious irregularities inline with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to purge the “black sheep” in the tax department, the government announced. The finance ministry had earlier sacked 27 senior Indian Revenue Service officers including 12 from the income tax department.

“The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has compulsorily retired yet another 22 senior officers of the rank of Superintendent/Administrative Officer under Fundamental Rule 56 (J)... due to corruption and other charges and CBI traps,” the CBIC said.

The crackdown on officials facing corruption and other serious charges come against the backdrop of a concerted effort by the government to end any possibility of tax

officials issuing notices and summons to individuals and businesses on the sly to make money.

From 1 October, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced, all notices, summons and orders by the income-tax authorities will be issued through a centralised computer system and will contain a computer-generated Unique Document Identification Number.

“Any communication issued without computer-generated DIN shall be honest in law”, she has announced during the third week of August. If the tax department doesn’t decide a case within three months of a company’s response, the tax notice shall lapse.

The decisions taken by the Modi government in its second term related to corruption sent shock waves in the bureaucracy.

Referring to this recently PM has clarified saying “Since India’s independence, one of the biggest things holding us back was corrup-

tion. Corruption spared no one, neither the rich nor the poor.” He said people resorted to corruption either due to some greed or to make a quick buck or due to some compulsion. But even these people wanted corruption to stop. The question in everyone’s mind was who will start the fight against corruption and from where. The fight against corruption always had the support of people, media, institutions, because everyone agreed that corruption was a major obstacle in India’s development journey. Modi said “Corruption was not only an issue related to money. Corruption eroded trust in the society, be it a government office or the market.”

A person going to the police station would think whether he will get justice and similarly a person buying something from the market will fear adulteration.

“We decided, right from day one, to attack the menace of corruption. Someone had to make a start somewhere, we decided to do this, without caring for political consequences.” Prime Minister declared. The results show that we are succeeding. Not only is corruption coming down, but trust in society is increasing. The number of people filing income tax returns almost doubled in the last 5 years.

Government has systematically clamped down on corruption and made tax filing and refund process online.” PM announced.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

44 POLICING

Margadarshaks @ Rachakonda

Helping women in distress

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P VISHNUVARDHAN REDDY

ver 500+ Margadarshaks were trained and deployed to guide women in times of distress on the process of seeking basic police and legal support in Rachakonda Police Commissionerate. Area. Margadarshaks act as a catalyst and bridge the gap between the police and themselves when faced with domestic violence, harassment, stalking, cyber crimes etc Mahesh Bhagwat, IPS., Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda Police Commisionerate has urged them to bring in a positive change in the lives of distressed women and spoke in detail about the 4 family counselling centres of Bhumika, 3 centres of Sakhi and Ankuram under Rachakonda jurisdiction, which will provide the necessary counselling and help to women in distress. He was presiding over the programme of certification to the latest batch of Margadarshak. In this batch. 27

Margadarshaks of Infosys, Genpact, TCS, Cyient, Cognizant, CCMB etc underwent a 3 months of long training. The training included experiential visits to the She teams, Women’s Police Station, Bharosa, Shelter homes and other helpline centres to help women in distress.

The Margadarshak program has been initiated as part of Society for Cyberabad Security Council’s (SCSC) Women’s Forum initiative in October 2015 in collaboration with the IT Industry. The objective of the Margadarshak program is to develop resources within every IT/ITES company at Cyberabad and Rachakonda who guide women in times of distress on the process of seeking basic police and legal support. These resources are nominated by the company and are certified as a “Margadarshak” post formal training and certification by SCSC. Margadarshaks act as a catalyst and bridge the gap between the police and themselves when

faced with domestic violence, harassment, stalking, cyber crimes etc Till date, 9 batches consisting of 500+ Margadarshaks were trained from 75 organisations. Another 60 members are undergoing training for certification. Majority of them from the IT Industry like TCS, Cognizant, Infosys, Genpact, HSBC, Cyient, etc.

The 8th batch of Margadarshak certification programme was held today at the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate.

Mahesh Bhagwat congratulated Margadarshaks on the successful completion of the programme. He shared the details of the women hostel audits held in the Rachakonda zone where 50 hostels were audited as per the predefined parameters based on safety and security. He stressed that women safety and security is the priority of the police force and spoke of the various safety measures like the cab and auto registration programmes - 'My Cab is Safe' & 'My Auto is Safe' that are introduced to ensure a safer city. He also spoke of the cyberstalking and eve-teasing incidents and stressed on the need to be vigilant.

Pratyusha Sharma, Jt.Secretary SCSC & Women’s Forum leader said that the purpose of the training is to help the Margadarshaks experience in real-time counselling of the women in distress and how to handle cases of domestic abuse, cyber crimes etc. She spoke of the SHE SAFE app which will be launched soon and will help in a wider reach to all women in city.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

CYBER CRIME 45

Techie conman extorted

Nude pics from women

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e is a married man. Lives with wife and seven-year-old daughter in Chennai. Works for MNC in that metro. No this is not the first para from the profile of a successful person. It’s about 35yrs techie, Clement Raj alias Pradeep who on the pretext of offering a job, the Chennai-based techie would ask the women to send their nude pictures and extort them. He has pretended to be a recruiter and allegedly duped over 600 women across the country, was arrested by Hyderabad (Miyapur) police.

Clement Raj Chezyian allegedly posed as a recruiter and lured young women from 16 states, making them share their nude and private pictures on the pretext of securing them a job. The Cyberabad police took action but only after 60 such cases emerged from Hyderabad. According to the police he used to introduce himself to the women aspirants as Pradeep, an

HR executive of a private IT firm or a hotel, through Whatsapp. He would inform the women that they have cleared their first-round and a female Human resource executive would be contacting them for the next set of interviews. In the next few hours, Raj would switch to a different number and contact the women masquerading as a woman HR. After a couple of interactions, the aspirants would be asked to send their nude pictures and videos to the woman HR, specifying that the organisation was very particular about the candidate’s figure as it is a front-office job, the police said.

The women who were in desperate need of a job fell prey to the perpetrator. According to reports, the lured women hail from different states like Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and some other states.

Clement Raj targeted the women who put their resume on

websites seeking a front-office executive job. He will message the aspirants through Whatsapp and after gaining their confidence he will be contacting them through his another number disguising as a woman HR. He would make sure the women get deceived with his talks. After a few days, he would be asking the women to send nude pictures stating the office requires a pleasing personality at the front desk.

In April, a lady belonging to Cyberabad in Hyderabad lodged a complaint at the Miyapur Police Station stating she had been cheated by Clement Raj. The woman who complained to us was created similarly. She was asked to send her pictures to another number that Clement was having.

She was promised that if she sends her pictures the company would select her as a model and will make her posters get placed in front of a popular hotel. A few days later, she was contacted by him in the name of Pradeep and was informed that her pictures were beautiful. The lady immediately got suspicious since she believed that she sent her pictures to the lady HR executive.

She had asked him how he got the pictures and started to ask about the company’s address and other details. The man immediately hung up the phone and never replied to her back.

The police then started to investigate and found out that a person working in an MNC company in Chennai had been carrying out these activities for more than a year.

Clement Raj was arrested from a bank colony in NMC Chennai.

Police have seized his laptop and found a password protected gallery where the nude photos of the women were saved.

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46 CYBER CRIME

e-Biz MD & Son arrested

MLM fraud of Rs 5,000 crore

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he Cyberabad cops arrested father-son duo who was behind the fraudulent multilevel marketing (MLM) company that cheated thousands of people to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore all over the country.

Accused identified as Pawan Malhan, Managing Director of “eBiz” MLM company and his son Hitikh Malhan were arrested in the third week of August. Officials were able to freeze Rs 389 crore in bank accounts of eBiz.Com Pvt. Ltd company, its directors and accused persons. The Malhans were running the MLM company since 2001 from Noida in UP. Established in 2001 in Noida of Uttar Pradesh. The company had got 17 lakh representatives as its members. The eBiz business model is a simple pyramid scheme in which the early entrants earn money and as the number of representatives’ increases, finding more representatives (newcomers) to

join becomes difficult or impossible.. Specifically targeting the students and unemployed youth, eBiz.com promoters gave them motivational lectures stating that there is a business opportunity which will yield them huge profits.

A member has to join the scheme by paying Rs.16,821 so that he gets 10,000 points and subsequently he should join three more members. For six members, he will get 30,000 points and Rs. 2,700 as commission and for joining 50 members in the schemes he would get a higher commission. There were several schemes like First Orbit Group Incentive Plan and Second Orbit Onwards Group Incentive Plan. The hierarchy of the eBiz representative was begun from silver and went onto silver ambassador, gold ambassador, diamond ambassador and so on.

Once customers joined by paying a DD to the company, a username and password would be generated. The promoters told stu-

dents that they would be a part of a large ‘eBiz Kingdom’ where they could build their own future. They claimed that students could claim a refund of their money within a month if the business didn’t work.

However, the promoters would then drag matters by holding motivational classes, training sessions and providing business school books and even holiday package at times The scheme, police said, was rampant in cities including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and across Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa. Cases against the company have also been registered all over the country “The company head office is located at Sector 63 of Noida in Uttar Pradesh, which was sealed by the police now and an amount of Rs 389 crore is frozen in the company’s bank account. It was registered with ROC in New Delhi with Pavan being the MD, his wife Anitha a director and his son Hitik looking after day-to-day affairs.

Earlier, there were two cases registered against this company at Warangal and Adilabad which are under investigation,” said VC Sajjanar, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad. Talking about their ‘business model’, Commissioner Sajjanar said Police said the company’s head office at Noida has been sealed and other accused in the fraud are yet to be arrested. A detailed investigation is being done in the fraud case.

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POLICING 47

Cyberabad commissionerate

Tech-savvy to contain crime

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se of technology has to help the Cyberabad police reach the crime scene within a very short duration, sometimes even in minutes and added that these steps resulted in a 30per cent decrease in the crime rate under the Cyberabad police commissionerate. This was revealed by VC Sajjanar, the Cyberabad Police Commissioner. He was presiding over Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) has organized a meeting of the HR Heads on 23 August at Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.

The commissioner appraised the gathering on the various initiatives undertaken by the police to ensure safety and security of the citizens. He said that HR professionals play a very critical role in ensuring health and safety of employees within the organizations and called upon them to partner with the police, government and SCSC in making Cyberabad a safer place. He appealed to the attendees to be more vigilant and not to hesitate to reach out to the police if

they observe violations and suspicious activities. He spoke of how even the educated professionals are falling prey to the PONZI schemes and MLM scams. Talking of the increased focus of the police on crime prevention through enhanced patrolling and surveillance, Sajjanar, said that a large number of CCTVs were installed in cyberabad for public safety. He said that ensuring the safety and security of women is the utmost priority of the police in Cyberabad.

Pratyusha Sharma SCSC Joint Secretary & Women Forum Leader spoke on the importance of women safety and the measures SCSC is taking along with the police. 47 per cent of the women face domestic violence, physical abuse etc and certified Margadarshaks are able to guide women in distress promptly.Three big launches you can look forward by the SCSC women’s forum are the She safe app which will help to a wider reach of people on all the safety programs, ICC workshops will be conducted for all SCSC members to minimize workplace harassment

and finally Radiant Hyderabad will be launched in partnership with GHMC to identify dark streets and spots to reduce crimes and abuse against women.

DCP Traffic SM Vijay Kumar while speaking to the attendees explained about the increasing traffic density and appealed to opt for carpooling to reduce the traffic congestion. He said IT employees were the major contributors on roads and Development of wide road network, provision for seamless pedestrian movement through proper infrastructure, the motion of common mass transport facilities across the IT sector, provision for transit centres, Prevention of suspicious activities etc. .

More than 100 HR professionals from IT/ ITES representing 80 organizations including Accenture, Invesco, Infosys, JDA, Amazon, Opentext, Cognizant, Synchrony Financial and other businesses in Cyberabad have participated in SCSC meeting. The programme was concluded by meaningful dialogue and way forward for the safety of employees.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

48 CRIME

Heera Gold scam

How Nowhera dupe people easily T

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he Enforcement Directorate has attached properties to the tune of Rs 299 crore of Nowhera Sheikh of Heera Group including 96 immovable properties spread across several states in its probe into the ponzi scam. In the third week of August ED has announced that the agency has attached properties to the tune of Rs 299.99 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED has attached properties of Sheikh consisting of 96 immovable properties located in Telangana along with those in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi and worth Rs 277.29 crore in the form of agricultural lands, commercial plots, residential buildings, commercial complexes and balances in bank accounts worth Rs 22.69 crore.

The ED has filed a case of money laundering on the basis of FIRs registered by Central Crime Station, Hyderabad, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Police against Sheikh of Heera Group of Companies and others on the allegation of illegally collecting deposits from lakhs of investors under the guise of high returns.

How could Nowhera Sheikh do this scam? Why lakhs of investors fallen prey to her trap? It’s carefully laid evil plan. This white caller crime story has all the ingredients of a cinema-like, religion, sentiment, betrayal, greed and glit-

tering gold.

Md.Kareem (55) a government employee in Tirupathi has invested Rs 10 lakh in Heera Gold of Companies in 2015. The amount was his lifetime savings meant to build a house his native place in Nellore district. With 3 per cent growth offered by the company, he dreamt increase the amount to around Rs. 15 lakh. But Heera Gold stopped paying monthly dividends from fifth month itself. When he wanted to withdraw investment they have refused to say soon they will pay all the amount with errors. Just before retirement Md. Kareem had fallen victim to a halal Ponzi scheme that has scammed thousands of people in both the Telugu states across the world. “ My brother – in- law has introduced me to Heera Gold company. When I

went to the office they told me that’s a multinational company with investors and companies across the world,” said Kareem.

Like this Tirupathi man’s relative, most of the marketing was done by investors who had turned agents for a commission.

Nowhera Shaikh – a Muslim businesswoman – was the face of the Heera Gold had another consequence. Nowhera Shaikh hails from Tirupati and is reportedly the daughter of a vegetable seller with little or no formal education. At some point, she called herself an Islamic scholar and attached a doctor tag to her name. She is said to have started as a Quran teacher in Tirupur collecting money from the locals with the promise of monthly payments. Ponzi schemes were her bread and butter. She

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would in 2006 become the president of At-Tawheed International Dawah Centre for Women.

A Ponzi scheme is one that promises high returns to investors, but which does not have a legitimate business backing. Old investors are paid using the money generated from new investors, and the scheme can only last as long as there are more and more investors willing to put in their money.

What attracted investors from the Muslim community to the Heera Gold was the promise of halal investments, a form of noninterest-paying investments conforming to the Islamic Sharia laws.

Unlike fixed bank interest rates, which are considered to be antiIslam, halal schemes sell their plans as a form of partnership business with the promise of high returns. The company tapped into the community of Islamic clerics, giving them small donations in ex-

change for them advocating their followers to invest. The company promised a 36 per cent partnership return on investments, whereas banks could give a return of at most 10 per cent per annum.

Many of the investors were women and quite a lot of them did not tell their husbands about investing in the company. But the last time that investors got any dividends, for their investments into Heera Gold and 15 other companies that operate under Heera Gold was in June 2018. The Enforcement Directorate pegs the scam to be worth Rs 3,000 crore, and the number of Heera Gold victims to be around 1.72 lakh. The Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) pegs the scam to be over Rs 5,460 crore and called the 15 companies floated by the Heera Gold as shell companies. However, those who are fighting the group in court and are offering legal support to the

CRIME 49

victims say the scam is worth much more, and that the number of victims could be well over a couple of lakhs in India alone.

The police have so far made three arrests in the case – Nowhera Shaikh the chairperson, CEO and founder of Heera Gold; the company director Biju Thomas; and General Manager Mary Thomas. So far 22 cases have been filed against Nowhera and her associates and the investigation of the case is spread across several Indian states with victims filing FIRs against the company in Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and many other places. Investors from abroad are yet to even begin litigation against the firm. In the meantime, Nowhera Shaikh – now in Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad – is not cooperating with the case, the police have told the courts.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

50 CONSUMER CONCERN

Houses unaffordable

Just rent it for now P

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eople in many cities in the country are opting for rented houses rather than owning one. Not only lover middle class even uppermiddle-class families are preferring to rent a house. The Reserve Bank of India's latest report on housing affordability just underlines why more and more people are opting to stay in rented accommodation than buy a house of their own — for the simple reason that in the last four years, owning a house in any of the major cities in India have become unaffordable for the vast majority.

In the four years between the quarter ended March 2015 and March 2019 — that is, from January 1, 2015, to March 31, 2019 — the median house price to monthly income (HPTI) ratio has gone up by 9.62 per cent. This means that if your house price was 56.1 times your monthly income in March 2015, it is now 61.5 times your monthly income. So for someone earning Rs 1 lakh a month in 2015, the price of a house was Rs 56.1 lakh while it's Rs 61.5 lakh now, with Mumbai retaining its status as India's most unaffordable city. The only silver lining: the gap between your monthly income and the price of your house has narrowed in the last one year when the HPTI was 62.7 at the end of March 2018.

Given that salary, hikes are now in single digits, it follows that the loan amount being availed has also

TOLET increased, by more than 13 per cent in the last four years with the median loan to annual income ratio (LTI) going up from 3 in March 2015 to 3.4 in March 2019. Surprisingly, it's the foreign banks which became noticeably aggressive in dishing out a larger value of loans against the overall cost of the house in the past four years — against the PSU banks and Indian private sector banks, which have been relatively conservative in increasing the quantum of loans dished out.

Housing Finance Companies

(HFC), in fact, have significantly reduced their risk exposure since December 2017 with their median loan to value (LTV) ratio dropping three percentage points from 75 per cent to 72 per cent.

What that means is that for a house priced at Rs 1 crore, if the HFCs were giving up to a maximum of Rs 75 lakh as a loan, they now give only Rs 72 lakh. Part of the reason why banks may have loosened their loan strings could be the unsold inventory of houses, which, at close to 13 lakh units, is at an all-time high.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

TRANSPORTATION 51

India's hyperloop

dream becoming reality

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aharashtra will create the first hyperloop transportation system in the world and a global hyperloop supply chain starting from Pune," Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has announced recently. He also said the project will create "hundreds of thousands of new hightech jobs" and generate "$36 billion in wider socio-economic benefits".

The eye-catching stat: The hyperloop train (pod, to be specific) would reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Pune to 31 minutes, from near 3 and a half hours. Maharashtra government has approved the consortium of Virgin Hyperloop and DP World as the "original project proponent" of the proposed hyperloop track between Mumbai and Pune.

What's hyperloop, you ask? The futuristic transportation technology

was introduced to the world by Elon Musk (of Tesla and SpaceX) in 2013. The essence of the idea is quite simple: Create a low-pressure channel or tunnel, and thus with very little air friction, and let a specially designed pod zoom around in it — not on wheels but on air. The technology was then opensourced, thus giving birth to companies such as Virgin's Hyperloop One, and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) aiming to build it.

But making a transportation system from the ground up is not easy, and thus no city thus far has successfully built it. But the companies have caught the eye of officials in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Abu Dhabi and the Chinese province of Guizhou have selected HTT for its projects. Hyperloop projects in the US, including in San Francisco, meanwhile have progressed at a snail's pace. Chal-

lenges such as high-tech suspension, guidance, braking during a power failure, pod depressurisation, and passenger air supply during delays have raised doubts over the feasibility of such a transit system. The UK Department for Transport's Science Advisory Council concluded that "an operational hyperloop is likely to be at least a couple of decades away.''

But Virgin and DP World and India hope to prove critics wrong.

The Mumbai-Pune project is expected to take 7 years to complete but a pilot project will run before that in Pune, on an 11.8 km stretch.

Virgin will begin the construction of the first phase by the year-end and the work is expected to be completed by 2023. DP World, whose economic interests in India is on the rise — including funding the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund — will invest $500 million for the first phase.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

52 HEALTH

Postpone menopause Can be a mom at grandmom’s age?

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THE NEWS HEALTH DESK

ow a woman can conceive and give birth to a child even in her 50s and 60s. A radical new procedure that will help delay the onset of menopause among women by 20 years has been developed.

That could probably help women conceive and give birth even when they are at that late age according to Simon Fishel. She is the scientist who was part of the team of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe that pioneered IVF, which led to the birth of the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown in 1978.

The news follows recent research which found that exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children. In three months back in June, researchers from the University of Modena published the findings of a study which examined the effects of exhaust fumes and soot on fertility, which revealed that women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings.

Fishel, who developed the procedure, said that the delay in menopause would depend on the age of the woman. Typically, menopause occurs in women in their mid-40s to mid-50s, though there have been exceptions when it has occurred at 40 or at 60 — the onset of menopause is dependent

on various factors such as race, geography and lifestyle. For instance, white women in industrialised nations experience menopause between 50-52 years. While Fishel's current procedure delays the onset of menopause in a 25year old woman by 20 years, in a 40-year-old, the onset could be delayed by 5 years.

The procedure, which costs between £7,000 (Rs.6 lakhs) and £11,000(Rs.9.5 lakhs), has already been implemented in nine women — with no reports so far of any adverse side effects. It involves a 30-minute keyhole surgery to remove a small piece of ovarian tissue, which is then sliced up and

frozen to be preserved — with the ovarian tissue being thawed out and grafted back into the body of the woman when she enters menopause.

According to doctors and scientists, the operation could benefit thousands of women who experience serious health problems that are brought on by menopause, including heart conditions and osteoporosis.

Not just that, it could help improve the lives of millions of more women by delaying the onset of more common symptoms of menopause, which range from hot flushes and memory problems to anxiety and a reduced sex drive.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

SPACE TECHNOLOGY 53

Chandrayaan-2 crossed another milestone

Ready to land on Moon

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lmost 30 days after it was launched, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has moved into the lunar orbit in August third week. It has started going around the moon, in preparation for a landing on September7. Chandrayaan-2 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22, is India’s first lander mission to the moon.

“Now Chandrayaan-2 mission

crossed a major milestone. The lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre carried out for about 30 minutes, precisely injected Chandrayaan-2 in a pre-defined orbit (around the moon), in a perfect way, All the systems onboard are functioning normally. The spacecraft is in perfect health,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan has announced. The spacecraft has been injected into an elliptical orbit that is 114 km away from the moon’s surface at its

nearest point and 18072 km at its furthest. Sivan said this orbit would be changed through another series of manoeuvres, to let the spacecraft eventually attain a near-circular orbit of 100 km around the moon.

At this point, the Vikram lander, along with the small Pragyaan rover, is slated to separate from the main composite module and start its incremental descent towards the moon’s surface. The separation is scheduled for September 4, following which the lander and rover

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

54

SPACE TECHNOLOGY

would position themselves in a lower orbit, while the landing is planned to take place at 0140 am IST on September 7. The main spacecraft module would continue to go around the moon in its orbit for at least one full year.

Sivan gave an account of the precision involved in inserting Chandrayaan-2 into the lunar orbit.

He said because Vikram is meant to land in the region around the South Pole of the moon, Chandrayaan-2 needed to attain an orbit that had an inclination of 90 degrees with respect to the lunar equator. In other words, the lunar orbit selected for Chandrayaan-2 had to pass directly overhead the polar regions.

“This is a unique requirement that only Chandryaan-2 has… other countries that have landed (their spacecraft, all in the equatorial regions of the moon) did not have this constraint. With manoeuvre, Chandrayaan-2 is now going around the moon in an orbit of 114 km x 18072 km with an inclination of 88 degrees. In due course, this orbit would be brought down to 100km x 100km, and further to 100km x 30km. At that time, the inclination of the orbit would also be 90 degrees,” he said.

After its launch on July 22, the spacecraft had been put in an earthbound orbit. It went around the earth till August 14, raising its orbit incrementally five times, before beginning its six-day journey towards the moon with higher energy. Sivan said when the spacecraft had left its earth-bound orbit for the final time on August 14, it started with a velocity of 10.9 km per second (39240 km per hour).

“To give you an idea of the precision required for today’s manoeuvre, if the velocity of the spacecraft

Moon surface-first photo catpured by Chandrayaan-2

was different (from 10.9 km per second, or 39240 km per hour, at the initial point) by even 10 cm/sec (0.36 km per hour), the spacecraft would not have been able to attain the required inclination in lunar orbit. It would have been off by at least seven degrees,” he said.

The ISRO chairman said Chandrayaan-2 had come under the influence of moon’s gravity on Monday and had started gaining velocity, after having slowed down considerably, to well below 2 km/second (7200 km per hour), during its journey. He said the spacecraft, at one point, had accelerated to 2.4 km/second (8640 km per hour), which if left unchecked, would have made it fly past the moon. In order to keep it in the lunar orbit, it had to be slowed down to 2.1 km/second (7560 km per hour), just like a moving vehicle needs to slow down while travelling from a straight road into a round-about.

Over the next few days, Chan-

drayaan-2 will do a series of four ‘burns’ to slow down its speed further and get into a lower orbit, eventually reaching an orbit of 100km x 100 km. The other manoeuvres will take place during the last three day of August. On September 3, before the planned separation, a small three-second operation would be carried out to check the functioning of all onboard systems on the Vikram lander. On the next day, the lander and the rover would separate from the main spacecraft through a manoeuvre that would last 6.5 seconds, Sivan said.

After separating, Vikram would not immediately land on the moon’s surface. Instead, it would go around the moon for three days, during which all its parameters would be checked. Its powered descent would start in the early morning of September 7, around 1.40 am, and it is expected to land within 15 minutes, the ISRO chairman said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

ENVIRONMENT 55

T

Amazon in flames Earth’s LUNGS burning

A RAMMOHAN RAO

he world's largest rainforest, Amazon is on fire. It is burning at the highest rate since 2013 Amazon is precious for life on this

blue planet. This biggest forest produces about 20% of earth's oxygen, is often referred to as "the planet's lungs."

The Amazon which spans eight countries and covers 40% of South

America with an area that is nearly the size of two-thirds of the US, according to the World Wildlife Fund. More than 30 million people live in the Amazon, which is also home to large numbers of

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

56 ENVIRONMENT

mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, most of them unique to the region. A new plant or animal species is discovered there every two days. Two-thirds of Amazon is in Brazil, threatens the rainforest ecosystem and also affects the entire globe.

Since the beginning of 2019, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (known as "INPE") has reported 72,843 fires in the country, with more than half of these being seen in the Amazon region. This

means more than one-and-a-half soccer fields of Amazon rainforest are being destroyed every minute of every day, INPE has stated. The smoke has covered nearly half of the country and has begun to spill into neighbouring Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. An 80 per cent increase in deforestation has occurred so far this year compared to last year, according to the institute.

What's the cause why a wet rainforest burns? Fires in Brazil increased by 85 per cent in 2019,

with more than half in the Amazon region, according to Brazil’s space agency. This sudden increase is likely down to land degradation: land clearing and farming reduces the availability of water, warms the soil and intensifies drought, combining to make fires more frequent and more fierce. Farmers and cattle ranchers have long used fire to clear land and make it ready for use, so they are likely behind the unusually large number fires burning in the Amazon today, said

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

ENVIRONMENT 57

Christian Poirier, the program director of non-profit organization Amazon Watch.

This year's fires fit with an established seasonal agricultural pattern, said CNN meteorologist Haley Brink. "It's the best time to burn because the vegetation is dry.

(Farmers) wait for the dry season and they start burning and clearing the areas so that their cattle can graze. And that's what we're suspecting is going on down there."

Ironically, farmers may not need to

clear new land to graze cattle. Research has found a significant number of currently degraded and unproductive pastures that could offer new opportunities for livestock. New technical developments also offer the possibility of transforming extensive cattle ranches into more compact and productive farms – offering the same results while consuming less natural resources.

The Brazilian government has set an ambitious target to stop illegal deforestation and restore 4.8 million hectares of degraded Amazonian land by 2030. If these goals are not carefully addressed now, it may not be possible to meaningfully mitigate climate change. But Since 2014, the rate at which Brazil has lost Amazonian forest has expanded by 60 per cent. This is the result of economic crises and the dismantling of Brazilian environmental regulation and ministerial authority. Regulations and programs for conservation and traditional communities’ rights have been threatened by economic lob-

bying. Over the last months, Brazil’s government has announced the reduction and extinction of environmental agencies and commissions, including the body responsible for combating deforestation and fires.

The devastating loss of biodiversity does not just affect Brazil.

The loss of Amazonian vegetation directly reduces rain across South America and other regions of the world. The planet is losing an important carbon sink, and the fires are directly injecting carbon into the atmosphere. If we can’t stop deforestation in the Amazon, and the associated fires, it raises real questions about our ability to reach the Paris Agreement to slow climate change.

Although Brazil’s national and state governments are obviously on the front line of Amazon protection, international actors have a key role to play. International debates and funding, alongside local interventions and responses, have reshaped the way land is used in the tropics. This means any govern-

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

58 ENVIRONMENT

ment attempts to further dismantle climate and conservation policies in the Amazon may have significant diplomatic and economic consequences.

For example, trade between the European Union and South American trading blocs that include Brazil is increasingly infused with an environmental agenda. Any commercial barriers to Brazil’s commodities will certainly attract attention: agribusiness is responsible for more than 20% of the

country’s GDP. Brazil’s continued inability to stop deforestation has also reduced international funding for conservation. Norway and Germany, by far the largest donors to the Amazon Fund, have suspended their financial support.

These international commitments and organisations are likely to exert considerable influence over Brazil to maintain existing commitments and agreements, including restoration targets.

Brazil has already developed a

pioneering political framework to stop illegal deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation peaked in 2004, but dramatically reduced following environmental governance, and supply change interventions aiming to end illegal deforestation.

Environmental laws were passed to develop a national program to protect the Amazon, with clearing rates in the Amazon falling by more than two-thirds between 2004 and 2011.

Moreover, private global agreements like the Amazon Beef and Soy Moratorium, where companies agree not to buy soy or cattle linked to illegal deforestation, have also significantly dropped clearing rates. Many countries have financial, diplomatic and political tools world knows will work to stop the wholesale clearing of the Amazon, and in turn, halt these devastating fires. Now it is time to use them.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND 59

Patriotism: Transcending self to serve with sacrifice Cricket match ....b etween India and Pakistan!

My God!! These men!

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y husband and a few cousins clapping and whistling when India makes runs. Making “Shit” and other weird sounds with utter disappointment when Pakistan takes a wicket.

Slowly India started lagging in the score. There started a restlessness in each of the TV viewers.

They began to express their impatience at each other for no valid reason. They switch off the TV, though there was an over to be bowled because they calculated that India cannot win even if they hit a sixor for each ball.

Everyone decided to take drinks to cope up with the tragedy of India’s defeat. I am sure, they would have resorted to the same thing even if India was winning - to celebrate. The hosting cousin says he has MacDowell. The other cousin who lives close by declares, he has Chivas Regal. Everyone will choose to go to the later’s house, seeing me off to our house. It’s the knowledge, I acquired in that context that the first one is Indian Whiskey and the later a foreign brand.

To mourn the defeat or to celebrate the victory of India, they chose a foreign brand of whiskey to an Indian one! What patriotism!

I gave it a thought. Is it happen-

ing because of the rivalry between the two countries? May be yes to a certain extent. But I have observed them taking similar sides and resorts when India played with other countries also though the emotion is not of the same intensity.

Was it patriotism?

When I was in the seventh standard, all my classmates used to like my singing so much that they use to ask me to sing, whenever we got free time. There used to be a girl by name Vimala, who used to feel hostile with me, for no reason. May be jealous. When I come up with some excuses when everyone repeatedly requested me to sing, she uses to say, “Leave it. Why do you people beg her to sing? Let her not sing”.

One day, our Andhra Vidyalaya High School’s throwball team was to play with Keshava Memorial High School team. We all went to see the match at Keshava Memorial High School ground. All of us were encouraging our school team players so much saying “Common Vijaya”...”Common Gouri”....”Taken”, when our player scores a point. Our people didn’t hesitate to call the opposite team players with mockery names like, “Leave the ball hathi (elephant)!”, “Out (Even before she played the service) Tuntun! (The then comedian of Bollywood)” and so on.

The team spirit among us was

DR.SHOBHA RAJU

to be seen! Vimala had brought a packet of peanuts. Her spirit of the team made her share them with all of us. She gave one peanut to each of us and said sorry to a few as they were exhaust. I wondered at her smiling at me and giving a peanut.

This transformation in otherwise hostile Vimala was possible because there was a common enemy to us and because we all belonged to one team. The hostility was diverted towards the opposite team.

There was a spirit of belonging in each of us that erupted when is set against someone else. It could surface when there is a fight with the neighbours in our housing locality. We see our family members supporting and encouraging us against our neighbours when in a fight. It could erupt when one religion is set against another, one caste against another, generally in any group of any common identity when challenged by the other similar group of a different identity.

If this spirit is nurtured properly and diverted towards an enlightened cause, it will be a tool to achieve a positive goal. If it’s diverted towards a destructive goal, it will be disastrous as we see in terrorist groups. Leaders have taken advantage of such impulsive spirit and achieved their motives that are selfish in nature and also lofty. People get prepared even to sacrifice their lives while in such

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

60

SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND

emotion.

I name this spirit “cockfighting spirit” for the time being. This spirit could be ignited between siblings too in a family, particularly after marriages, when it comes to issues like property division or even because of silliest reasons like whose wife is burdened more with work.

So what is patriotism?

When an enlightened Guru educates a group of people with collective consciousness saying that the indwelling spirit in all the beings is one and the same, “Brahmamokkate” (Consciousness is One), he connects with every being in the universe. That is the reason, spiritually aware people easily sacrifice their comfort to others. They are full of compassion.

It brings about the real universal peace.

But different nations have a different set of values, constitutions & law. In this context, it becomes difficult to be acting practically though the love flows for all from within. Hence the largest community one can connect practically is a country.

Moreover however spiritually evolved one is, when one’s consciousness is in the intellectual or physical level, one is emotionally connected to his family, friends, country, culture, people.

If a human is lacking a legitimate feeling for his family, parents, siblings, native place, friends, relatives, nation, and dwells only in beastly emotions then he or she is supposed to be a beast in human body.

After two to three months tour in the USA, I felt so desperate to come back to India. My husband was also with me in the USA, most of my siblings are in the USA.

Many listeners to appreciate. Still, the heart longs to come back. Actually, I too could have settled in the USA but I am aware of my bond with this soil, parents, this atmosphere, my Lord Venkateswara, my listeners and later my Annamayyapuram. Every month if I don’t see my Lord at Tirumala, I become dispirited. Missing to see Swami at Annamayyapuram one day creates a feverishness in me.

Ustad Bismillah Khan was asked why he didn’t go to foreign tours. He said,” Ganga Mayya

won’t flow there”. His bond with The Ganges was such. He played Shahanai for Kasi Viswanatha.

Who could be a better patriot?

Who is P V Sindhu? I don’t know her in person. Why a fountain of joy surges as I hear that she bagged world championship? Just that she too belongs to the same land, culture, constitution and nation? That’s it, what else?

It’s with a strong, sustained bond to this country that makes our soldiers live on snow in darkness guarding our country against enemies leaving their young and pregnant wives knowingly that they may not come back. What kind of spirit is this! This is called sacrifice when you give up family

interests in the interest of broader family (Country). What makes them salute our flag in those snow mountains withstanding all the odds?

The flag is not a piece of cloth.

It’s an icon for our country, people, culture, arts, literature, constitution.

When you want to salute all of that you salute the flag. National Anthem is a sound icon of our country, culture and people. We created these things to express our love and respect for the people, a country in entirety. When we salute, there is a commitment to the country, when we sing there are unity and sense of belonging, binding, bonding. Collectively we march ahead as a country. As a culture. As people. As a nation.

These are the tools for unifying people with diversified interests and emotions.

Let us get our “Cockfight spirit” enlightened with understanding the values and culture of country, broaden it with the collective consciousness of one country and one people, discipline it with the reverence to the constitution and in that awareness say “Vande Mataram” with love. It majors into patriotism It’s with this patriotism that Atalji said, "हम जीएंगे तो इस भारत के लिए और मरेंगे तो इस भारत के लिए... और मरने के बाद भी गंगा जल में बहती हुई हमारी अस् थ ियों को कोई कान लगाकर सुनेगा तो एक ही आवाज आएगी भारत माता की जय!"

“If we live, we live for Bharat If we die, we die for Bharat And even after our death, if someone applies ears to the bones that flow in the waters of Ganges, only one voice will be heard, Bharat Maataakee Jai" Let’s all join in chorus with him.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

POLICING 61

DGP’s has a dream

Police staff feels it extreme T

- D.BAL REDDY

he staff and officer of Telangana Police are ‘facing a peculiar’ problem in their work. Their boss, the Director-General of Police M Mahender Reddy instructed them to strictly follow ‘Friendly Policing’ and issued new rule s to fallow.

A Police Service Quality Management Unit(PSQMU) established for this. A booklet with a large number of instructions, protocols are sent various sections within police stations. While Superintendents of Police(SPs) in districts are asking their subordinate officer to implement DGP’s ‘policy of friendly

policing.’ Constable to inspector complain that insisting on these instructions are not only making their work slow but many times difficult.

DGP Mahender Reddy with his wide-ranging experience at various levels of policing including Commissioner of Police at state capital city is trying to make police personnel friendly and trustworthy to citizens. He repeatedly told that “people are the ultimate bosses of police because they elect the governments which appoint police personnel as per the laws framed by them. This is nothing but people electing police.”

Addressing the ranked police officers whenever he vists a district

Mahender Reddy stressing extensively on the need for friendly policing and behaving well with the people. He says that people shouldn’t feel scared of going to police stations and that police should behave in a friendly manner when receiving people with complaints in police stations.“We should exceed people’s expectations on us and should protect our self-respect at any cost. Protection of people must be our foremost priority and while doing this, we should earn respect among the people whose tax money we are being paid as salaries,” he tells his officers.

Mahender Reddy also says that police personnel shouldn’t expect

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62 POLICING

tips or bribe at any cost and stresses that harassing and insulting people must be avoided at all times. According to him, the four things police should make use of for effective policing were through technological initiatives, work initiatives, competitive initiatives and by inculcating leadership qualities. He added that the policy, working methods and policing should be uniform. Some time back while conducting a video conference with Commissioners of Police and Superintendents of Police he underscored the need for visible and people-friendly policing across the State. Interacting He advised the officials to ensure that the staff focused on patrolling the areas instead of staying in the police stations concerned.

Some of the SPs are taking this to heart by organising health camps, distributing sports kits among other things in their districts. In the health camp treatment

is being provided for Cardiac, Orthopedic, Ophthalmic, Dental, Pulmonology, Gynecology, and Pediatrics related issues. General Medicine, as well as service of experts, was provided to hundreds of patients. SPs are also advising their officers to organise similar programmes in places in their jurisdictions. Police Department had introduced ‘Village Police Officer’ and ‘She Teams’ to bring the police closer to people so that people could approach the police without hesitation.

Police staff and officers, like Constables, Sub Inspectors and Inspectors who are constantly in the field say they are facing many problems with new working style. “ We are living in the real world.

Just telling and want us these rules won’t really help. Do higher-ups mean to say rules and out of the world working styles are for only Police?” questions an Inspector from a north Telangana district.

The ‘friendly police’ approach is leaving cops confused. Even while dealing with criminals or suspects.

Some such incidents are reported. means to dissuade the crowds from going crazy don’t work. Finally when we will be forced to can them. In such incidents, we can’t stick to friendly policing" said a senior official.

Many Policemen from different districts say if they strictly adhere to new instruction it will be difficult to operate in the field. For effective policing is people should either have respect or fear of rules implementation. Things won’t change in a day or two.” Says a retired DSP from Hyderabad. The policy has a very thin line separating handling of different types of people and that has to be made clear. While senior cops say this was a good policy, relaxation should be allowed while handling criminals or suspects or even crowds intense situations.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

REAL-SCAM 63

Dual registration of lands goes unchecked in Hayathnagar Role of an Addl SP(ARP) and sub-registrar alleged, victims seek justice

D

THE NEWS BUREAU

espite tall claims by the TRS government and the administration, dual registration of lands goes on unabated in Telangana at the cost of gullible public. In addition, if the fraudsters get the support of from the officials of

stamps and registration department and the police, there is no stopping them.

Here is one such classic case.

Property owners Parvatha Malla Reddy, Parvatha Amarender Reddy and Parvatha Vishnuvardhan Reddy own sizeable lands in survey numbers 279 and 380, situ-

ated at Anmagal Hayathnagar village, Hayathnagar mandal, Ranga Reddy district. The trio, biological brothers, sold the lands in pieces as house sites through their father Madhava Reddy as General Power of Attorney.

One must be wondering what the illegality in it is. The actual

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64 REAL-SCAM

P Vishnuvardhan Reddy

story begins here. The property owners sold same piece of lands to different persons in collusion with the officials of the stamps and registration department. The gullible buyers will have to face threats when they try to question the original property owners after realizing that they had been duped.

One of the owners of the property, Parvatha Amarender Reddy is a senior police official and worked in Ranga Reddy district in the capacity of assistant commissioner of police (ARM). The victims allege that the police official either threat-

Parwath Amarender Reddy Addl SP(ARP)

P Malla Reddy

ens them directly or influences the officials concerned into not taking any action.

Documents available with The News make it clear that the property owners are raking in the moolah with the help of local police and stamps and registration officials through dual registrations.

Sources said that cases were booked against the fraudsters with a great effort but the local police have not taken any action against the accused in view of their influence. The victims also wonder at the way the stamps and registration

department officials are allowing dual registrations despite tall claims by the government and administration about the steps taken by them for preventing dual registrations.

The victims allege that the fraudsters cannot commit such organized offence without the active connivance of the stamps and registration and police officials. They appealed to the government to initiate action against the accused apart from flushing out the corrupt officials of the departments concerned in Hayathnagar.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | SEPTEMBER 2019

SPORTS 65

PV Sindhu scripts

New chapter in Indian badminton

P

THE NEWS SPORTS DESK

V Sindhu made history by winning gold at BWF World Championships. She won her fifth World Championships medal at BWF World Championships 2019 in Basel on 25 August. PV Sindhu defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in straight games by 21-7, 21-7 to win the BWF World Championships 2019 and the elusive gold medal after having to settle for silver in the last two years. The 24year-old also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the BWF World Championships Two years after being robbed of

the gold by Okuhara in an epic 110minute final at Glasgow that went down as one of the greatest battles in badminton history, Sindhu finally exorcised the ghost of that heart-wrenching loss with a win over the same opponent. The match lasted for just 38 minutes in what was a show of sheer dominance and power by the towering 24year-old Indian.

It was Sindhu’s fifth World Championships medal joint-most for a woman singles player with former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China to go with the two successive silvers and a couple of bronze medals.

“Last time, I lost in the final, before that also I lost in the final, so it is a very important win for me.

I want to thank the crowd for supporting me. I won it for my country and I am very proud being an Indian,” said Sindhu.

After Okuhara opened the match with the first point, Sindhu went on to dominate the game after taking eight straight points to make it 8-1. From there, with a variation of backhands and forehands, Sindhu made her opponent work hard until she took a massive lead of 14-2. Using her height and energy, she bagged the first game by 21-7.

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66 SPORTS

In the second game of the match, she channelised her momentum of the first game and got two quick points. Okuhara replied in kind and tried to set off a comeback, but her unforced errors gave Sindhu another massive 11-4 lead.

From there, the Indian made a couple of errors but she kept the tide with her with a powerful smash towards the end.

Sindhu grabbed the match point when Okuhara went long again and sealed the title with another superb return before throwing her hands in the air in celebration.

Prakash Padukone became the first Indian to win a medal in World Championships with a men’s singles bronze in the 1983 edition while Saina Nehwal bagged a silver and a bronze in 2015 and 2017 respectively in women’s singles.

Sindhu has also won Olympic silver in 2016 Rio Games, silver at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, an Asian Games silver at Jakarta and the BWF World Tour Finals last year.With Sindhu’s gold and Praneeth’s bronze in this edition, Indian shuttlers also continued the six-year streak of winning at least one medal in the prestigious event.

Sindhu’s most glorious moment in international badminton will be the start of this final. Not the 22shot rally, but her stomping stamp on the whole match, never mind the baby pink sneakers. In 2016, Sindhu was taught to scream on cue. One suspects in 2019, the guttural cry needs no prompt. Looking supremely fit, she made a statement early — hit hard, shout, charges hard at the net. The body language was a pristine menace and in between the unbelievably intimidating glut of points, Okuhara tried

in vain to poke her with a fingernail on her backhand side.

The anatomy of a Sindhu smash is unreally simple. “Play when you get a chance. To hit. Hit it straight.

Because she can follow it up. The power with which Sindhu is hitting, it would be impossible for Okuhara to convert it to a cross. So for that reason, I told her to keep it simple, keep it straight when you get a chance just hit hard,” her coach added.

“I think physically Sindhu looked much stronger, looked much powerful. The punch clears were going, the mid-courts were getting finished. And Okuhara didn’t have a chance on the attack as well. Overall, she was trying and she would attack and Sindhu would

come out with a finish. It was tough for Okuhara. She just didn’t see a way around Sindhu,” Gopichand would say.

“It’ll be a little arrogant to say this, but I was expecting a clean and comfortable match. That’s what I told some friends on WhatsApp. The way Sindhu played was that” coach Pullela Gopichand explained. “To add to that, for her to get into a rhythm with an easier match yesterday and Ratchanok and Okuhara going the distance makes the difference. To have that bit of extra energy and strength really helped Sindhu to play the way she did.” After a long epic two years ago, Sindhu was due some respite which she earned for herself by scything like only she can.

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The News You Like September, 2019

RNI No: APENG/2013/48048 P.R. No. RNP/HD/1187/2017-19 (DOP: 1st of Every Month; DOP: 8/9-9-2019)