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RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18
Late City Vol. 152 Issue 71
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LUCKNOW, SUNDAY MARCH 13, 2016; PAGES 12+8 `3
www.dailypioneer.com
USUALSUSPECTS
SWAPAN DASGUPTA
‘Secularists’ shaken by
Sri Sri’s grand show
ate afternoon last Friday, I switched on the TV to a
‘national’ channel, hoping to catch up on what has been
L
happening in India, if not the world, before stepping out for
dinner. Imagine my utter astonishment when I found the
entire focus of nearly all the English-language channels on
the traffic in Delhi.
The news readers solemnly informed viewers — the few
that have the TV on in the late afternoons — that a
combination of some 25,000 marriages and a huge cultural
festival being organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of
Living would mean hideous traffic jams in Delhi. The tone
was distinctly alarmist, as if to suggest that all decent folk
should remain sane by remaining indoors. And then the
focus shifted to the AOL event where the Prime Minister was
due to speak. Here the suggestion was that the lifestyle
guru’s cultural jamboree would result in the total destruction
of Delhi’s already fragile environment. Reading between the
lines, the impression was unmistakeable: The Hindu hordes
were holding the Capital to ransom with their environmental
vandalism and their opulent weddings.
It’s not that I dislike local news or have joined the band
of climate change sceptics who assault the sensibilities of
Green fundamentalist. What seemed bizarre to me was the
generous top billing accorded to the traffic situation in Delhi.
While we may have definite views on what should or should
not be done to maintain the health of our rivers, I find it hard
to believe that the AOL lot are single-mindedly out to destroy
what nature has bequeathed to India. More important, I find
it curious that our TV producers believe that a small
controversy in Delhi would be of paramount interest to the
English-knowing viewers in India’s other cities and towns.
Over the years and increasingly in the past six months,
the important distinction between what is Delhi and what is
nation is being effortlessly obliterated.
As a rule, I like to glance at the morning newspapers in
any city I am visiting, to
The AOL icon was portrayed as gauge the local
a dodgy godman because the preoccupations. I was
consequently astounded
battle had been elevated into a when, on a recent visit to
crusade against Hindu
Kolkata, I found the entire
first page of editorial
supporters of the PM. I dare
content (thanks to
say if the event on the Yamuna advertisements, that is alas
banks had been organised by no longer page one) of the
city’s main English
an avowedly minority faith
newspaper devoted to a
group, the media wouldn’t have slightly tendentious
turned Green guardians
coverage of the events in
Jawaharlal Nehru
University in Delhi. True, there is a body of JNU alumnus
resident in Kolkata who follow the happenings of their alma
mater. But had anything so earth shattering happened that
day to warrant the entire first page to be devoted to JNU?
The distortion began for a purely economic reason.
Cash-strapped news channels in particular began to
increase their coverage of Delhi and the National Capital
region because it was relatively cheaper. It is expensive, to
say the least, to despatch Outside Broadcast vans and
reporters to remote areas of India to chase an interesting
story. It is far better to merely look at what is happening at
the channel’s doorstep and project it as truly ‘national’. This
incidentally also works to the benefit of the media savvy Aam
Aadmi Party Government in Delhi that, apart from punching
above its weight, also sees itself as the true ‘national’
alternative to the Narendra Modi Government. An expedient
combination of cost cutting and political partisanship has,
therefore reshaped the hierarchy of news. Earlier, the belief
was that all politics is local; now that principle is being
rewritten to imply that Delhi is always national.
The shift has led to unintended consequences. Earlier
this month after JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya
Kumar was grudgingly granted bail by a Magistrate’s Court,
he returned to JNU as an all-conquering hero. After the
exhilarating bout of ‘revolutionary’ slogans and excitable
speeches, shown live on TV, we had the comic spectacle of
Pak infiltrators cash in on scanty snowfall
25 heavily-armed terrorists
sneak into Kashmir in Jan-Feb
RAHUL DATTA/MOHIT KANDHARI
n NEW DELHI/JAMMU
elatively poor snowfall in
Kashmir this year resulting
R
in lesser ingress routes being
blocked by snow has increased
infiltration from across the
Line of Control (LoC). In the
first two months this year, as
many as 25 heavily-armed militants sneaked into Kashmir.
Not just that, they have also
managed to evade arrest so far,
causing a major concern for the
security establishment. This is
in sharp contrast to “almost nil”
bids during the same period in
2015, when the region wit-
and mountain boots, to infiltrate
from across the LoC, they said.
Infiltration in these sectors
do not take place during winter months as most ingress
routes are blocked by snow,
they said, adding some of the
mountain passes are above
13,000 to 14,000 feet high.
Interestingly, LoC in north
Kashmir comprising Jammu
division did not report any
major infiltration bid in the last
two months though it does not
snow there, officials said.
However, January and
February this year have seen at
least four fierce encounters
between the security forces
and terrorists in Pulwama and
Keran sectors. Four Army men
died in the firefight, including
Bad loan crisis overdo
will hit banking: Jaitley
RBI Governor
echoes similar
views, ‘we need
to draw balance’
PNS n NEW DELHI
that the NPA situation, which
has been created on account of
an overall economic environment and slowdown in certain
sectors, would see improvement. “As the revival of those
sectors takes place, you
will certainly find cleaning up
of balance sheets, which also
takes place because over the
next few quarters they would
probably have a possibility of
reviving,” he said.
Turn to Page 4
India haven of
macroeconomic
stability: Modi
n a bid to divert attention
Idefault
from Vijay Mallya’s massive
on bank loans that created outrage from the
Opposition and the media,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
and Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) Governor Raghuram
Rajan on Saturday cautioned
against exaggerating the bad
loan crisis lest it hampers the
entire lending operations and
economic growth.
“We don’t want to create
a situation where we overstate
the crisis and in the process
the whole activity of lending
for growth itself starts suffering because people become
extraordinarily defensive; we
don’t want to reach that situation. It is that limited category where there is some
kind of a prima facie misconduct or misdemeanour
which has taken place by the
individual. It is those areas
which will be looked into
differently,” Jaitley said, while
speaking to the media after
RBI’s board meeting where
Shifting to a broader panel for
interest rate, the move is in the
interest of the economy and a
6-member policy panel will set
interest rates to bring consumer or
CPI inflation to pre-set targets
RAGHURAM
RAJAN
Turn to Page 4
CAPSULE
TRUMP CANCELS CHICAGO
RALLY AMID CLASH
Washington: Donald Trump was
forced to cancel his campaign
rally in Chicago after hundreds
of people gathered at the arena
to protest against his “politics of
hatred” and scuffled with his
supporters in the largest-ever
demonstration against the
Republican presidential
frontrunner.
2 KILLED AT COUNCILLOR’S
OFFICE IN NAJAFGARH
New Delhi: Two ex-servicemen
working as private security
guards were killed during
indiscriminate firing after a
heated argument among some
people at a liquor party at Indian
National Lok Dal councillor
Kishan Pehlwan’s office in
Najafgarh on early Saturday.
the central bank chief Rajan
was also present.
Echoing similar views,
Rajan said, “We have to be careful as we go forward. On one
hand criminal actions are
penalised. But at the same
time, we don’t indulge in a
broad fishing expedition which
then becomes a reason for
banks to get worried about giving loans which will hamper
the recovery. It will also hamper the absolutely important
Kaushambi: Marriage is the
biggest institution in India and
it doesn’t apply only to humans
and it was evident when over
5,000 people in Uttar Pradesh’s
Kaushambi district attended a
“big fat” dog wedding.
The “ceremonial association” of two dogs took place as
per Hindu traditions
and the attendees
danced with full
enthusiasm to
the tunes of peppy songs. The
“groom” Shagun belonged to
Basant Tripathy, while the
“bride” Shaguniya belonged to
Jung Bahadur.
Traditional cuisine was
served to the attendees. Jung
Bahadur gave a tearful send-off
to Shaguniya, who departed
with her groom in a car, and
wished them a “happy married
life”.
Agencies
NIRJHAR
lence could well witness a spurt.
Explaining the reasons for
the upsurge in infiltrations,
sources said the higher reaches
of south Kashmir, including
Keran, Kupwara, Tangdhar and
Uri, received lesser snow this
winter in comparison to last
year. This enabled the terrorists
clad in winter clothing, including insulated combat fatigues
investment in infrastructure
that have to take place.”
“So as a country, as a system, we have to draw that balance very carefully and we are
hopeful that we can manage
that,” he added.
As on December 2015, the
bad loan or gross Non
Performing Assets (NPAs) of
the public sector banks (PSBs)
increased from 5.43 per cent as
on March 2015 to 7.30 per cent.
Jaitley also expressed hope
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with International Monetary Fund
Managing Director Christine Lagarde as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley looks on
during a conference in New Delhi on Saturday
PTI
If we overstate the NPA
crisis, the whole activity of
lending for growth itself
starts suffering because
people become
extraordinarily defensive
and we don’t want to reach
that situation
ARUN JAITLEY
This newly-wed couple Indonesian man
is envy of canine world dies of eating at
2 BSF JAWANS KILLED
IN MAOISTS’ ATTACK
Raipur: Two BSF jawans were
killed and four others injured
when Maoists attacked a squad
of BSF and district force which
was undertaking a special
operation in the interior forests
of Kanker district in Chhattisgarh
around 2.30 am.
nessed heavy snowfall.
Further, in these two
months, security forces have
killed 26 terrorists in the hinterland in South Kashmir alone
compared to 55 of them killed
during the entire 2015 in the
State. Besides the snow factor,
“heightened desperation”
among terrorists to inflict maximum damage regardless of
their own casualties is being
attributed to the alarming
increase in infiltration.
Admitting that these new patterns were a matter of serious
concern, officials said here on
Saturday the summer months
will be “hot” as the level of vio-
two Captains of Special Forces,
in an encounter in Pulwama in
the first half of February. Two
CRPF personnel were killed in
the same incident when militants tried to ambush a bus ferrying CRPF personnel.
The militants then took
refuge in Entrepreneurship
Development
Institute,
Pampore, Pulwama and the
encounter lasted for more than
two days after security men
managed to rescue more than
100 students studying there.
The tourism season in
Kashmir Valley begins in April
end while lakhs of devotees
from all over the country come
for pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi
shrine in Katra in Jammu during “navratras” in the first
week of April.
Turn to Page 4
chicken contest
Jakarta: A 45-year-old
Indonesian man, Fredy, died
after he choked on a piece of
chicken wing on Friday in
Jakarta while taking part in a
chicken-eating competition,
local media reported.
The competition, organised by fast-food chain
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)
had three participants who
raced to eat the fried chicken
wings in the least amount of
time possible.
“When the incident happened, Fredy was taking part in
the competition, which
requires its participants to eat
three chicken wings as fast as
possible in five minutes.
Turn to Page 4
PM pitches for quota
reforms at IMF,
India’s larger say in
multilateral bodies
PNS n NEW DELHI
owing to continue the
refor m-to-t ransfor m
V
process and pursue policies
that will enhance growth and
further inclusion, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on
Saturday said India is a “haven
of macroeconomic stability
and a beacon of hope,
dynamism and opportunity”
amid global problems.
“India has dispelled the
myth that democracy and
rapid economic growth cannot
go together and the country
has also shown that a large
diverse country can be managed in a way that can promote
economic growth and maintain social stability,” he said
while addressing a conference
on Advancing Asia co-hosted
by India and International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
“We have never tried to
gain in trade at the expense of
our partners. We do not follow
‘beggar thy neighbour’ macroeconomic policies. We have
never under valued our
exchange rate,” he added.
Among all reforms that
the country needed for its
economic growth, Modi also
pitched for quota reforms at
IMF to reflect global economic realities and give India and
other emerging economies
larger say in the working of
multilateral bodies.
“The long-pending quota
revisions agreed in 2010 have
finally come into effect but even
now, IMF quotas do not reflect
the global economic realities,”
Modi said, adding that change
in quotas is not an issue of
increasing the “power” of certain countries, it is an issue of
fairness and legitimacy.
Listing achievements in
macroeconomic stability, he
added that there has been a
durable reduction in inflation,
steady fiscal consolidation, a
comfortable balance of payments and build-up of forex. In
a difficult external environment and despite a second successive year of weak rainfall,
India’s growth rate increased to
7.6 per cent, the highest among
major economies.
Turn to Page 4
Foreigners learn Art of Living on riverbed
ANKITA SHARMA n NEW DELHI
he second day of Sri Sri
T
Ravi Shankar’s World
Culture Festival being held on
the Yamuna riverbed was a
huge hit on Saturday with
people coming from across
the world. The three-day cultural festival that was also
attended by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Friday
attracted visitors from several countries, including over 80
people from Pakistan, who
sought to “spread peace and
love”.
Dignitaries from different
countries participating in the
event included former French
Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin, Nepalese Deputy
Prime Minister Kamal Thapa,
Vice-President of Suriname
Ashwin Adhin and Speaker of
Sri Lankan Parliament Karu
Jayasuriya.
During the mega event, Sri
Sri signed a declaration
of support to the International
Solar Alliance. The cultural
extravaganza began on
Saturday with national and
international artistes perform-
ing traditional dances and
musical performances.
The event saw a celebration of spirituality as religious
leaders, saints and spiritual
heads from across the globe
came together to spread the
message of peace and unity.
About 50 musicians played
the exotic strains of the
Naadaswaram and 1,000 scholars sang vedic chants from
ancient scriptures that resonated with peace followed by
World Culture Festival theme
song — Sangachadwam — ‘Let
us move together as one’.
The fusion of art and
culture was visible in vibrancy
of dance, and serenity of
music was the highlight of
the evening.
Dhangari Dhol (drums)
were played by 1,008 artistes
from Maharashtra and 250
folk dancers from Madhya
Pradesh performed Gudum
Baja, Pankhi dance from
Chhattisgarh, while 34 artistes
from Switzerland showcased
the Alpine Horns. Traditional
dance performance was held by
Thailand artistes.
Turn to Page 4
Artistes from Sikkim perform at World Culture
Festival on Saturday
AP
city 02
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Irani tells IIM-L grads to work for country’s good
Shreya bags Chairman Gold and Reshma Sareen Medals
Toppers keen on
L
entrepreneurship
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
aying emphasis on the
fact that they should not
get involved in politics,
chairman, Board of Governors,
IIM-L, JJ Irani told the graduating batch of IIM-L students
that they should instead carve
a path for themselves and
should work for the good of the
country.
JJ Irani was speaking at the
30th annual convocation of
Indian
Institute
of
Management-Lucknow which
saw 619 students being awarded diplomas by Ajit Prasad,
director, IIM-Lucknow, and
Naveen Tewari, founder and
CEO of InMobi, who was the
chief guest on the occasion and
delivered the convocation
address. The convocation was
held at the IIM-L grounds on
Saturday.
Irani stated categorically
that politics was found everywhere and in all the fields for
catching eyeballs whether it be
politics, religion or sports. “But
do not get involved in politics
and think what is good for the
country and then what is good
for the industry,” he said. He
stressed that first they should
focus on their merit. “There is
life beyond politics and currently there are several skill
development programmes
which are going on. We need
20 million skilled people and
some people are already
addressing these issues,” he
said. He said currently the
flavour was entrepreneurship
and innovation. “When I started out the whole focus was
industry and then it was med-
NOTICE
I Dileep Punetha R/o 628KA
/93A, Kurmanchal Nagar
Lucknow. here by inform that I
am changing my daughters
name Laxmi Punetha to Latika
Punetha for all purpose.
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SHARMILA KRISHNA ■ LUCKNOW
n a clear indication of
changed mindsets, the
IIndian
Institute
of
ical colleges followed by the tilt
towards the software and IT.
But today the flavour is of
entrepreneurship
and
innovation.”
Irani added that he was
happy to see girls making a
clean sweep of medals. “The
parameters have really shot up
this year with girl students
making a mark. It clearly shows
that we will have to have a separate category of best male
student,” he observed.
Chief guest Naveen Tewari
stressed the fact that much
depended on choices one made
in life. “With the average age of
a person shooting up to 100
years, students like you have
almost 60 years in front of you
and much will depend on
choices that you make in the
next five years which is not
easy,” he said.
Talking about his own
choices in life, he said that his
father had given him a word of
advice when he had completed his engineering. “Much of it
I did not understand at that
point of time but later when I
followed my life I saw that people whom I had thought were
great and different did things
like most of us and had the
same fears which I had. Hence,
I would want parents to allow
the children to follow their
heart,” he said.
Some 405 students from
the 30th batch of PostGraduate Programme in
Management, 40 students from
the 10th batch of PostGraduate Programme in Agribusiness Management, 7 students from the doctoral programme along with 103 students from Post-Graduate
Programme in Management
for Working Executives
(WMP) and 64 students from
International Programme in
Management for Executives
(IPMX) batches from the
Noida campus received the
diplomas.
Shreya Tiwari won the
Chairman’s Gold Medal and
Reshma Sareen Memorial
medal for Best Girl Student.
Abhinav Anand won the
Director’s Medal, Riya Jain
won the Director’s Medal,
Anand Barot won the PGP
Chairman’s Medal, Vaishali
won the Bizkool Medal for the
Best Student in Information
Technology, Anika Malhotra
won the Hari Shankar
Singhania Medal for Best All
Rounder and Pooja Agarwal
won the Budhiraja Medal for
Best All Rounder.
From the post graduate
programme in management
for working executives, Dipesh
Jain won the Chairman’s Gold
Medal and Mohit Garg won
the Director’s Medal.
From the International
Programme in Management
for Executives (IPMX), the following were the award winners:
Aniruddha Banerjee won
the Chairman’s Gold Medal,
Ananya Phani won the
Chairman’s Gold Medal, Tapas
Sapra won the Director’s
Medal.
Speaking on the occasion,
Ajit Prasad, director, IIMLucknow highlighted the
accomplishments of the institute in the academic year 20152016. He pointed out that IIMLucknow had also entered into
an institutional alliance with
Harvard Business School. Two
faculty members from IIMLucknow Sanjay K Singh and
Ashutosh K Sinha attended
the “Microeconomics of
Competitiveness (MOC)
Faculty Workshop” at the
Institute for Strategy and
Competitiveness (ISC) at
Harvard Business School
(HBS), Boston.
Management (Lucknow) toppers who received their
medals and diplomas on
Saturday said they were keen
on entrepreneurship and ventures of their own.
In a chat with The
Pioneer, the toppers said that
the conducive environment
for entrepreneurship existing in the country and the
supportive attitude of the
government was making
them think in this direction.
They said they would
bide for a few years before
branching out on their own.
Most of them said that a
study in management had
made them more than ready
for risks.
Shreya Tewari, who won
the Chairman’s gold medal,
told The Pioneer that she
would like to do something in
the field of education. “I think
the best of education comes
only to a few privileged ones,”
she said.
Belonging to Bhopal, the
topper who has an engineering background, when asked
if she had to choose between
being the CEO of a company
or an entrepreneur, she said:
“I would like to be the CEO
of a company because that
way, I would be able to give a
chance to a lot of entrepreneurs.”
Abhinav Anand who has
won the ‘Directors Medal’
belongs to Delhi and has a
background in economics.
He said he was keen on starting an institute and improving education at the primary
level.
“This is an area which
needs a lot of focus. The government is working in this
direction but a lot more needs
to be done,” he said. Having
specialised in finance and
marketing, he said the management degree would help
him go out and take risk.
Vaishali Yadav, who has
won the medal for information technology, said she
would go for handicrafts promotion and marketing. “I
think handicrafts need to be
promoted and marketed,” she
said.
Anika Malhotra, who has
won the medal for the best allrounder, said she would like
to hone her skills before starting out with her own venture.
Anand Barot, who has
won the PGP Chairman’s
medal, said that the mindsets
were changing. “This is
because parents see for themselves the startups which are
doing well and hence they are
encouraging wards to go for
entrepreneurship,” he said.
Girls said there was nothing stopping the women these
days. Most of them said that
if all women did not go out,
it was because they were also
looking after their families.
“People who look at the
success of a women do not see
that she is also looking after
her family. It is a very good
environrment for entrepreneurship today,” winner of the
Director’s medal Riya Jain
said.
Sub-inspector
suspended
for extortion
‘Painless jaundice’ a
big hazard: Experts
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
f one has jaundice-like
symptoms in which he
“I
does not feel pain while easing
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
harbagh police outpost
incharge was suspended
C
on charges of accepting cash
from vendors to allow them to
put up stalls at the foot overbridge in Naka. The errant cop
identified as sub-inspector
Ram Bahadur Pal was caught
red-handed when a police
team, led by SSP Rajesh
Pandey, carried out a surprise
checking.
The SSP inquired from
vendors about persons who
gave them permit to put up
stalls. On being told by vendors
that they were paying a ‘weekly fee’ (hafta) to the sub-inspector for the favour, the SSP taking cognizance ordered the
cop’s suspension immediately.
It also surfaced that the said
cop was transferred to some
other district six month back
but he greased the palm of officials and got his transfer file
shelved.
A girl protecting herself from rains in Lucknow on Saturday
Pioneer
City girl makes it to ‘Miss India 2016’
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
Lucknow girl has again
made it to the finals of
‘Miss India 2016’ contest.
Pankhuri Gidwani is an 18year-old student from La
Martiniere Girls School who is
dropping her Boards exams
this year for the contest.
Talking to The Pioneer on
Saturday, Pankhuri said she
would highlight Lucknow in
the competition by presenting
‘adaab’. Daughter of a journalist, she is a resident of Gulistaan
Colony. The young girl said she
got a direct entry into the
competition because she had
won the ‘Campus Princess’
contest, which is a sub-pageant
of Miss India. “I won the
‘Campus Princess’ pageant on
March 9 and got a direct entry
into ‘Miss India’ without facing
the auditions,” she said.
Pankhuri is inspired by
Vartika Singh from Lucknow
and Priyanka Chopra. “I wanted to become an actress when
I was 4 and I started modelling
A
when I was 16. For the past two
years, I had been trying for
Miss India and it was this year
that I became eligible for it,” she
said. Pankhuri is a kathak
exponent and has been learning the nuances for the past 14
years.
The young girl said if she
won the crown, she would
promote the idea of making toilets in rural areas.
“I strongly feel it is because
of the absence of toilets that the
cases of sexual assault are on
the rise,” she pointed out.
Pankhuri, who enjoys the
support of her parents, said: “I
asked my father if I should
appear for the civil services and
he told me to go into acting if
I had the confidence and
belief.”
Describing herself as a
bubbly girl, Pankhuri said: “I
think I am suited for this
pageant because I make an
instant connect with people
around me. I want to be a beauty with a purpose,” she said.
himself or any itching in eyes,
then such patients are at higher risk when it comes to developing cancer at the later stage.”
This was the common
refrain of experts of surgical
gastroenterology attending the
20th Surgical Gastroenterology
Week underway at Sanjay
Gandhi Post Graduate Institute
of
Medical
Sciences
(SGPGIMS) on Saturday.
“In common cases of jaundice, patients often feel pain in
eyes and during urination. But
in case of ‘painless jaundice’,
patients hardly develop these
symptoms and hence is difficult
to diagnose. Such patients are
at higher risk of developing
stomach cancer. If detected
early, chances of treatment of
such cancer is high and surgery
can increase chances of patient’s
survival,” said Dr R Pradeep.
Moreover, experts suggested that the surgical procedure involved lymph node dissection, in which a group of
lymph nodes were removed.
“At present, D-1 and D-2
Lymphadenectomy or lymph
node removal method is
applied to remove group of
lymph nodes. The method,
however, varies across many
countries. Like in Japan, they
remove all lymph nodes in this
“In common cases
of jaundice,
patients often feel
pain in eyes and
during urination.
But in case of
‘painless jaundice’,
patients hardly
develop these
symptoms and
hence is difficult
to diagnose”
procedure. But in the US, they
follow a practice of removing
target-based lymph nodes only
and thereby reducing the total
number of lymph nodes being
removed,” said Dr George
Barreto. He also elaborated on
various advancements in the
laparoscopy technique.
Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Tel: (0522) 2438656 / 9336266608.
Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (95532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (95512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (95542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi
Office: Link House, II Floor, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002. Tel: (011) 23755271-274, 41509074.
city 03
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Akhilesh warns people
against divisive forces I
11 of a marriage AIMIM ready to take on dist adm
... if permission for meeting is denied
party killed in
road accident
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■
LUCKNOW
ith Assembly elections
less than a year away,
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
cautioned people against the
machinations of casteist and
communal forces.
He said as the polls were
approaching, these forces were
out to destroy social harmony.
Yadav said the prime concern of the UP government was
people’s welfare and it had put
its best foot forward in that
pursuit. Without naming the
Bharatiya Janata Party or the
Bahujan Samaj Party, Yadav
said, “For obvious reasons,
casteist and communal forces
have different agenda as they
do not have any issue to go to
the people with. In the last four
years, the opposition, especially the BJP, has pursued
negative politics and spread
canards against the state government.”
Claiming that the
Samajwadi Party was pursuing
the ideals of Gandhi, JP, Lohia
and Charan Singh, the Chief
Minister said that the state
government had addressed
social and economic inequity
and made significant achievements in the last four years.
SP spokesman Rajendra
Choudhary said that people
had benefited from the numerous schemes launched to uplift
all sections of society.
He said the party would
organise a two-day Samajwadi
Vikas Diwas from March 15 at
districts to make people aware
of government schemes.
Besides, he said, people
would be made aware of the
BJP conspiracy to divide people on communal lines for its
narrow political gains.
W
CM visits families of
deceased SP leaders
Lucknow (PNS): With
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
visiting Moradabad and
Sambhal to express condolences to the bereaved families
of Samajwadi Party leaders
Haji Irfan and KP Yadav who
died in a road mishap last
Thursday, the Badaun district
administration ordered a magisterial inquiry into the negligence in providing prompt
medicare to the injured leaders on the fateful day.
An official statement said
that the Chief Minister first
visited the residence of Irfan
in Moradabad on Saturday
morning and paid his condolences to the family. He also
addressed a prayer meeting
organised to pay homage to
the MLA and other victims of
the mishap. Yadav later went
to SP leader KP Yadav’s residence in Sambhal. KP Yadav
also died in the same mishap.
Paying tributes, Yadav said
that both the leaders were
honest, hard working and
devoted to the welfare of people and development of their
areas.
He assured the bereaved
families that all development
works taken up by the leaders
would be completed by the
Samajwadi Party government.
State minister Abhishekh
Mishra and MP Dharmendra
Yadav accompanied the CM to
Moradabad and Sambhal.
Irfan represented the
Bilari Assembly constituency
and was on going to attend the
wedding ceremony of Cabinet
minister Shivpal Singh Yadav’s
son at Saifai in Etawah when
his vehicle met with the
mishap on Thursday. While SP
leader KP Yadav and driver
Farzad Ali died on the spot,
the MLA succumbed to his
injuries at a hospital.
After allegations poured
in that the victims were not
given timely and proper
medicare, District Magistrate
of Badaun, Shambhunath,
conducted the preliminary
inquiry by making surprise
inspection of the hospital and
inquired about the process of
admission of critical patients.
The DM said that there
were complaints that the MLA
was administered injections
containing steroid which led
to internal bleeding.
There were also complaints that the cylinder in the
ambulance did not have oxygen and life saving drugs were
missing.
The DM said an inquiry
would be initiated against the
hospital administration on 30
points and it would be carried
out by ADM Ashok Kumar
Srivastava, who would submit
a report within 15 days.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya
Janata Party attacked the Chief
Minister, saying that his “tall
claims” of ensuring better
health and ambulance services in UP had been exposed
by the accident.
“The ambulance which
carried the injured MLA
lacked proper kit. Haji Irfan’s
relatives have claimed that
had oxygen been available, the
MLA’s life could have been
saved,” BJP spokesman Vijay
Bahadur Pathak said in
Lucknow on Saturday.
Govt to extend all help to solar energy sector
PNS ■ LUCKNOW
he UP government will
extend all possible assisT
tance to entrepreneurs for promoting solar energy in the
state.
Addressing the National
Solar Conclave organised by
Indian Industries Association
in Lucknow on Saturday, Chief
Secretary Alok Ranjan said
that UP was the first state in the
country to formulate a Mini
Grid Policy for generating
solar energy on commercial
scale.
Emphasising the need for
creating awareness about solar
energy, Ranjan said the state
government would ensure that
the Mini Grid Policy was effectively implemented and its
benefit reached the common
man.
On the employment potential in solar energy sector, the
Chief Secretary said that this
sector held huge potential for
creating employment and the
youth should be imparted
training in it.
Besides, he said, the state
government had taken a slew of
measures for formulating solar
energy policy, net metering
and waiver of VAT on solar
power equipment.
Ranjan, who also inaugurated an exhibition of solar
energy equipment, said that the
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan looking at the products at Natinal Solar Conclave in Lucknow on Saturday
government would provide
information under one roof to
entrepreneurs for setting up
solar power plants in UP.
“Solar power being a fast
growing sector of the economy,
it offers huge opportunity to
investors besides creating a
large number of jobs,” he pointed out. The Chief Secretary said
that the Chief Minister was taking personal interest in promoting solar energy in the
state and all beneficiaries of
Lohia Gram Yojana and
Janeshwar Mishra Gram Yojana
would be provided solar panels.
Secretary (Non-conventional Energy) Parthasarthy
Sen Sharma said that the UP
government would organise a
conclave on Mini Grid Policy
on March 28.
QUICK TAKES
MAN, SISTER KILLED IN ROAD MISHAP
MAU: A 34-year-old man and his sister were today killed and
another injured when the motorcycle they were riding was hit
by a truck in Kopaganj area, police said here. Bechu Chauhan
and his sister Sunita Chauhan (30) were killed when the motorcycle was hit by the truck coming from the opposite direction,
they said. Ram Nayan, who sustained serious injuries, has been
referred to Varanasi for treatment, police said. The truck driver
fled from the spot with his vehicle.
SP LEADER TO LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO WOO NRI SIKHS
LUCKNOW: To mobilise support of Sikhs for Samajwadi Party
in the 2017 state assembly polls, UP Cabinet Minister Balwant
Singh Ramoowalia has taken an initiative to woo the members
of the community living abroad. Noting the “strong presence”
of Sikhs in 70 assembly seats, Ramoowalia said a campaign would
be launched with the help of community members living abroad
through social and other media ahead of the assembly polls. “Units
of UP NRI Sabha have been constituted in Canada and US,” he
told reporters, citing the presence of Sikhs from Uttar Pradesh
in these countries. e said Sikhs living abroad would be asked to
handle the command of 2017 polls and campaign in favour of
SP on social media like Facebook and Twitter. These teams would
start functioning two months before the assembly polls,
Ramoowalia, UP Jail Minister, said. He added that Sikhs from
Punjab, Haryana and Delhi would also be involved in the campaign to garner support of the community.
VILLAGERS THREATEN TO BOYCOTT LATHAMAAR HOLI
MATHURA: Residents of Barsana and Nandgaon villages have
threatened to boycott their famous ‘Lathamaar Holi’ if the Tourism
Department holds Holi Mahotsava before it. While the
Department has decided to hold the Mahotsava in Vrindaban
on March 16, the villagers have reservations against it as the
Lathamaar Holi of Barsana is slated for March 17 and of
Nandgaon, following day. If the administration wants to promote
Holi of Braj, it should organize the event after March 18 when
the Lathamaar Holi of the twin villages would be over,” Ram
Bharose Goswami, a villager, said. While, another villager
Tarachand Goswami said the celebration of the festival would
be in peril if the Holi Mahotsava is allowed to take place prior
to the Lathamaar Holi. “If the administration thinks, the programme is necessary for promoting the Holi of Braj then it should
be organised in Barsana,” Sanjai Goswami, an advocate, said.
Justifying the holding of the Mahotsava in Vrindaban on March
16, District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar said “the programme by
the Tourism department is being misinterpreted and its not parallel to the Lathamaar Holi.” The plan is to present all shades of
Brijbhumi’s Holi in order to attract international tourists. Efforts
would be made to highlight Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon also
in order to ensure the reach of international tourist in the twin
villages from next year, the District Magistrate said.
GIRL ABDUCTED IN MEERUT
MEERUT: An 18-year-old girl has been allegedly abducted from
outside her house in Atouli village here, police said on Saturday.
The girl’s family alleged that she was forced inside an Indica car
by two youths yesterday when she had gone to fetch water from
a nearby hand pump, they said. Police though claimed that the
girl appeared to have left with the kidnappers on her own accord.
According to the eyewitnesses, there were around three to four
youths involved in the incident. Police said they have recovered
the kidnappers’ car from a forest in Matnoura village in Hapur
district.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
PNS ■ LUCKNOW
ll-India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (AIMIM) is ready to take
A
on the district administration if it does
n a tragic mishap, 11 persons were killed
and nine others were injured when a bus
carrying a marriage party collided with a
tanker and then came in contact with a high
tension wire in Ferozabad on Friday night.
As per reports, while four persons died
on the spot, seven later succumbed to their
injuries in the wee hours.
Of the nine injured, five were referred
to Agra medical college in serious condition.
The deceased were identified as Wakil
(45), Karua (20), Krishna (25). Efforts are on
to ascertain the identities of the others.
In a separate incident reported from
Etawah, two brothers were killed when the
motorcycle they were riding was hit by a
speeding truck in Civil Lines area on Friday
night. Balram Singh and Dalbeer Singh were
killed when their motorcycle was hit by the
truck. The agitated locals damaged six vehicles and put up a road block demanding
action against the truck driver.
Later, on assurance of officers, the
blockade was lifted.
In another accident reported from
Barabanki, two persons were killed when the
motorcycle they were riding was hit by an
unidentified vehicle in Fatehpur area on
Friday night.
Rajendra Rawat (22) and his cousin
Manohar were killed near Madanpur village
in the mishap. The vehicle driver escaped
after the accident.
not permit them to hold a rally in
Lucknow on March 17.
Party chief Asaduddin Owaisi is
scheduled to participate in the rally.
On Saturday, AIMIM state president
Shaukat Ali said in Lucknow, “Permission
or not, Owaisi will come to UP and will
meet the local people and try to find out
their problems. If the Lucknow administration gives us permission to hold a
public meeting, then Owaisi will return
the same day. But if the district administration denies permission to hold the
meeting, Owaisi will stay here for two
days and visit other districts to register
our protest,” Ali said.
He said the party had duly
approached the administration to seek
permission for holding a public meeting
at Refah-e-Aam Club grounds in
Lucknow on March 17. “We have submitted our application three days ago but
are yet to receive a confirmation. We are
not bothered about the outcome as
Owaisi will come here in any case,” Ali
added. The AIMIM is upbeat after its
performance in the Bikapur Assembly
bypoll, where the outfit’s candidate came
fourth after Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya
Lok Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates. Ali said that there was little time
left for the 2017 Assembly polls and
hence the outfit could not waste time
Shah, Rajnath
to address
public meetings
in Uttar Pradesh
BJP hits out at PK for
stressing on caste factor
PNS ■ LUCKNOW
he Bharatiya Janata Party
targeted Prashant Kishor,
T
the poll strategist hired by
Lucknow (PNS): The
Bharatiya Janata Party will
hold public meetings, which
will be addressed by party
chief Amit Shah and Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh,
in Mau, Allahabad, Lucknow,
Moradabad and Jehanabad in
Kanpur in April.
This was announced by
BJP general secretary and incharge of UP, Om Mathur,
after a meeting with state
party leaders in Lucknow on
Saturday.
BJP spokesman Manoj
Mishra said party president
Amit Shah would preside over
a meeting of party MPs from
UP in Delhi on March 14.
Mishra said the party
intended to take the achievements of the National
Democratic Alliance government to every nook and corner of the state. He said the
focus would be on the
announcements made in the
2016-17 Union budget and the
Crop Insurance Scheme
announced by the Centre.
The BJP will celebrate its
foundation day as ‘Samarpan
Diwas’ at the divisional level
on April 4. The party will also
celebrate the birth anniversary
of Dr BR Ambedkar on April
14.
waiting for permission. He added that the
state unit had drawn up the plan of
Owaisi’s visit. Besides addressing the
meeting in Lucknow, Owaisi will visit
Islamic seminary Nadwatul Uloom and
Dargah of Haji Waris Ali Shah at Dewa
in Barabanki. The next day, he will visit
the eastern districts of UP.
In the last 18 months, the district
authorities have prevented the AIMIM
from holding meetings on at least 12
occasions in Allahabad, Agra, Azamgarh
and other sensitive districts.
But ahead of the Bikapur Assembly
bypolls, Owaisi had addressed two
election meetings in February, thus ending the undeclared ban on it by the ruling Samajwadi Party.
The party had also moved the
Allahabad High Court against the decision of district administrations denying
it permission for holding meetings. It said
the decisions were “politically motivated”.
Congress for the UP Assembly
polls, for laying stress on caste
factor during his recent meeting with the party’s state leaders. The BJP hit out at Prashant
Kishor, or PK as he is known,
for laying stress on caste equations at a time when the country was more focused on the
plank of development.
BJP state spokesman Vijay
Bahadur Pathak said on
Saturday that the Congress
had now returned to its casteist
agenda after being ousted from
the Centre due to rampant
corruption. He said that such
divisive move of the Congress
would only blow up on its face
in the 2017 Assembly polls as
people were more interested in
development than caste politics.
“The queries sought by
PK from state Congress leaders showed how the party
would try to woo voters on
caste lines,” he added.
On March 10, during his
interaction with Congress leaders in Lucknow, PK sought
answers to a 14-page questionnaire that had questions on
caste equations in their respective areas. The questionnaire
also asks the Congress leaders
to give at least three reasons for
the poor performance of
Congress in the 2012 Assembly
and 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
PK has also sought opinion
of the party leaders as to what
were the advantages of
Samajwadi Party in the 2012
Assembly polls and of BJP in
the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
city 04
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Two labourers fall
off second floor
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
wo labourers fell down from the
second floor of an under construction building in Chowk police
station area on Saturday afternoon.
According to reports, Jilan and
Mohammed Usman, both brothers
and residents of Yasinganj in
Thakurganj and brothers, were
working as labourers and were hired
by contractors Raees and Rehan,
both of Thakurganj. The labourers
were hired for the construction
work at a building near old post
office in Chowk and owned by
Mohammed Suhail.
When they were standing on a
scaffold and busy in laying a balcony
at the under construction site, the
structure caved in. Due to the
impact, both came down falling and
suffered critical injuries. Fellow
labourers immediately rushed them
to Trauma Centre. Their condition
was said to be critical. Police were
working on the case.
T
Sparrow census
on March 20
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
he Biodiversity department
of Lucknow University will be
T
carrying out a sparrow census on
March 20. Associate professor
Amita Kannaujia, while talking to
The Pioneer on Saturday, said she
wanted to appeal to the people to
send them figures of sparrows that
they sighted on the particular day.
She said the first World Sparrow
Day was celebrated in 2010 by
Nature Forever Society. The day
was celebrated by carrying out various kinds of activities and events
like art competition, awareness
campaigns, and sparrow processions as well as interactions with
media.
“To encourage efforts made
towards this cause and to conserve
the environment, Nature Forever
Society instituted the first Sparrow
Awards in Ahmedabad on March
20, 2011. Among the various
species of birds, the house sparrow
(passer domesticus) is closely
associated with human habitations
and cultivation throughout the
world from historic times. The
house sparrows are unwelcome
guests in our homes. In Hindi, it
is commonly known as gauraiyya.
It is a small, stocky song bird with
thick bill and short legs. The
sexes are dimorphic. Their stout
beaks are well suited to a diet based
on cereals,” she said. LU’s Zoology
department will celebrate Sparrow
Week from March 15 to 20. There
will be various competitions at
Regional Science City, awareness
drives in the city for providing
space to house sparrows, installation of sparrow houses, feed,
water and bushy plantation to
bring back the sparrows.
For all those who want to set
up sparrow houses, the height of
the box should be 20X6 cm with
an entrance hole of 3.2 cm. They
should be kept to assure the nesting of only house sparrows. The
entrance hole should be at a
height of 9.2 cm from the base of
the box. Ventilation slits and
drainage holes should be also
made in the boxes to keep them
airy and dry, whereas drainage
hole at the bottom help in removing and cleaning the broken egg
materials from the nest. Nest
boxes should be placed facing
opposite to sun.
U.P.POWER TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LIMITED
Tender Cancelation
Notice Due to some unavoidable circumstances tender No.
144/2015-2016/ETC/VNS
for Carriage of 20 MVA
Transformer from 132 KV
Substation Jalaun to 132KV
Substation Kaithi Varanasi is
hereby cancelled. SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION CIRCLE
UPPTCL,
D.L.W.
Bhikharipur VARANASI. No.
307,Date- 11.03.2016 SAVE
ENERGY IN THE INTEREST
OF NATION
U.P.POWER TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LIMITED
57,George Town, Allahabad
Tender No.49-CE (TE)/2015-16
Due to unavoidable circumstances receiving and opening
date of this office Tender No.49CE(TE)/2015-16 for supply of 36
KV C.T. as scheduled on
11.03.2016 is hereby extended
to 26.03.2016 The other terms
and conditions of the tender
shall remain unchanged.
Executive Engineer (A) for Chief
Engineer, (TE) 57- George
Town, Allahabad. No. 589,Date11.03.2016 "SAVE ELECRICITY
FOR NATION".
Meanwhile, two groups clashed
in connection with a dispute over a
plot in Indira Nagar. Police registered
a cross FIRs in this connection and
arrested three persons from each
side. According to reports, both the
groups were vying with one another to grab the plot located in
Swaroop Nagar locality in Indira
Nagar.
One of the groups, led by Alok
Kumar Yadav along with his two
brothers Vipin and Rahul, reached
the plot when they were informed
that some persons were grabbing the
land. On finding the second party,
led by Shiva Yadav and his aides
Abdul Qadir and Pankaj Verma of
the same locality, challenging them,
both attacked one another. Police
force reached the scene for investigation and later arrested the above
named persons in this connection.
Shiva alleged that Alok and his
brothers opened fire on him and his
supporters. On his complaint, police
lodged a case of murderous assault.
Gall bladder stones a
rising trend: Doctors
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
xperts on Saturday opined
that gall bladder stones in
E
the urban population was a ris-
Fire brigade personnel dousing flames after a blaze breaks out in Aminabad market on Saturday evening
Pioneer
ing trend as the cholesterolrich diet had assumed a big
share in common dietary
habits.
According to a research
study, over 80 per cent of the
gall bladder stones are made of
cholesterol. The other 20 percent of them are made of calcium salts and bilirubin. These
are known as pigment stones.
Gall bladder can be considered as a store house of an
enzyme that helps in digestion
of fatty food. Bile itself crystallises and hardens in your gall
bladder and leads to forming
of stones,” Dr Sadiq Sikora, a
specialist in surgical gastroenterology, said.
“Gall bladder stones, also
known as gallstones, may
develop when there is too
much cholesterol in the bile
secreted by liver. Bile usually
dissolves or breaks down cholesterol. However, if your liver
makes more cholesterol than
your bile can dissolve, hard
stones may develop,” he
explained. Further, another
expert from Hyderabad-based
Liver Institute Dr Raghvendra
Rao said it was important that
the bile secreted should be
emptied properly.
“Excretion of bile is a feature of healthy body. It also
enables the body to function
properly. But when the bile
concentrates in the gall bladder, it often results in gall
bladder stones,” he added.
The most common
patients that come to OPD
with gallstones are those who
change their dietary habits.
“Many risk factors for gallstones are related to diet. These
include being overweight or
obese, eating something that’s
high in fat or cholesterol and
rapid weight loss within a
short period of time,” he said.
The experts are of the
view that though one cannot
prevent gallstones, but the risk
cab certainly be reduced bringing changes to the lifestyle.
“You can’t prevent gallstones,
but you can reduce your risk
with various lifestyle changes,”
they said, adding that one
should have a balanced diet
and skipping meals was a strict
no-no.
They also cautioned people against drastic weight loss.
“If you plan to lose weight, do
it slowly. Rapid weight loss may
increase your risk of gallstones
and other health problems,”
they opined.
Changing weather: CISH
advisory for farmers soon
JNU says Kher’s film screening was not refused
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
screening of his film- 'Buddha in a
Traffic Jam' on campus, saying that
there was no space in the varsity's programme to screen the film.
Professor of Film Studies at the university, Ira Bhaskar, said usually a last
minute request can only be accommodated if the faculty approves of it and also
if a slot suddenly falls free, because
somebody has withdrawn from the programme. "Since it was not possible, I said
entral Institute of Subtropical Horticulture
will be soon releasing an advisory for farmC
ers to guide them on crops as regards changing weather conditions.
CISH director Shailendra Rajan, while talking to The Pioneer, said the advisory could help
the farmers and those training them. He said
it was important in connection with the
mango crop, already showing signs of infection
which could spread if there was a sudden
change in temperature.
“The mango crop is showing symptoms of
powdery mildew disease infection. Powdery
mildew is a mango disease caused by fungus.
White powdery growth of fungus appears on
inflorescence, leaves and young fruits. An airborne disease, it causes severe yield losses due
to dropping of infected flowers and fruits. Wind
velocity around 2-5 km with maximum temperature between 32° Celsius and 35° Celsius,
minimum temperature around 15-17° Celsius,
and maximum relative humidity below 60 per
cent are conducive for the rapid spread of powdery mildew. Such kind of weather prevails
mostly during mid March in northern India.
The incidence of the disease is already present
in mango orchards,” he said.
He said that during the current season, very
little incidence of symptoms of blossom blight
disease infection had been observed.
“However, crop is still under risk of this disease if weather turns rainy and cloudy. Blossom
blight disease of mango causes dropping of
infected flowers and fruits. Dark brown to black
spots and lesions develop on affected inflorescences. High relative humidity and rains
favour rapid disease development and severe
blight of inflorescences,” he said.
He said that hopper was a serious pest of
mango and in cases of severe infestation, it
might cause failure of good crop. “A large number of nymphs and adults puncture and suck
the sap of tender parts of panicles, inflorescence,
leaves and fruit. It results in weakening of inflorescence and affects fruit set and their drop.
They also damage the crop by excreting sweet
and sticky substances facilitating the development of sooty mold, a fungus which affects photosynthesis activity of leaf,” he added.
He said Inflorescence midge was a serious
pest of mango and in cases of severe infestation, it might cause failure of good crop. The
incidence persists from January to July. It attacks
soft young shoots and new tender leaves.
‘Lucknow Black and White’ exhibition
Lucknow
(PNS):
‘Lucknow Black and White’
exhibition is being held at
Kala Strota Gallery. Curator
Bhupendra Asthana said it
was not an easy task to draw
a city in meagre sizes of canvases, papers, etc as it was
continuously growing from a
gigantic historical importance
to a fast-changing multiplexes inheriting all the political,
social, cultural and economical conditions.
Rahul Chaudhury’s works
are based on the fading structure of historical importance
juxtaposing with a vision that
the city breaths and is alive in
days as well as in nights. The
importance of these monuments not only gives an identity to its presence but also
reflects thousands of stories
related to the masses and
people who built with sweat
and blood.
Pankaj Saroj’s work diversifies itself to the living and
functioning of common people - as to how they behave,
how they live their lives and
how their socio-cultural or
economic-political situation
arises in the diverse social
structure of society. The collages have many different stories to tell about the changing
nature of the city.
“We have called it a black
and white show on Lucknow
because on the one hand in
the background, we see the
fading but strong cultural
bond within people and the
state and on the other, this
fast-changing nature of city
building multiplexes, apartments and modern metros
changing its nature completely,” Asthana said.
Pankaj Saroj is an artist
who graduated in Science
and has been working in the
field of art and culture for
more than 15 years. He has
done more than a dozen solo
shows and participated in
many prestigious art camps
and workshops.
CITYBRIEFS
WORKSHOP
Richmond Fellowship Society on Saturday
organised a workshop on ‘Dignity in Mental
Illness’. Psychiatrist Dr Shashi Rai said that every
mental health was something people had in
common. It also affirms that even mentally sick
have a voice and confirm that they are also equal
members of society. Dr Anil Kumar Aggarwal
said: “Mental sickness is a public health issue
and we need to educate the people about what
they can and do to recover.”
APPLICATION
The state government on Saturday launched
an Android application to keep a tap on violators of the Tobacco Products Act. With this
application installed on their smartphones, peo-
ple across the state can file an online complaint
along with photo attachments and other details
of the violators.
BANDH CALL
Akhil Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal on
Saturday called for ‘Bharat Bandh, Pradesh
Bandh, Lucknow Bandh’ on March 17. ABUYM
president Sandeep Bansal said that the call was
for traders’ association to protest against the
increased excise duty on jewellery.
DISCOURSE
The weekly discourse on ‘Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna’ by Swami Muktinathananda
will be organised at the auditorium of
Ramakrishna Math on Sunday.
SCHOOLSCAN
DIVINE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar
(Campus I), organised its ‘Divine Education
Conference’ at the Gomti Nagar (Campus II)
auditorium. Social activist Aparna Yadav was
the chief guest on the occasion. Addressing the
gathering, she said the best time for inculcating good character traits in children was
when they were young. “A strong and healthy
foundation should be laid in their early childhood. Education is a continuous and creative
process. It aims at imparting material, human
and divine knowledge to children for their allround development,” Aparna said. The conference witnessed some of the best performances, including speeches on global values,
global consciousness, service to humility and
excellence in life, that left the parents mesmerised. The conference was also an opportunity to recognise and award the toppers of different contests and the first position holders in
the annual examination. Meanwhile, CMS
Aliganj (Campus I) celebrated the ‘Divine
Education Conference’. Meritorious students
were felicitated and children presented devotional songs and dance.scan
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION
Lucknow Public Collegiate organised a
prize distribution and convocation ceremony
on Saturday. The event was to mark the end of
the academic session in the school. The unique
feature of the event was the convocation ceremony of students of Nursery and KG classes.
PNS n NEW DELHI
awaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has
refuted Bollywood actor Anupam
JKher's
allegation that it blocked the
it's not possible. They have not applied to
the JNU administration not applied to any
student body. So, the question of not
allowing the film to screen doesn't actually arise because there is no space in the
programme in our school," Bhaskar said.
"A girl called Nairita had written an
email to me as a member of the faculty
at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, saying that the director would like the film
to be screened at our school. This email
came on February 26. I was out of Delhi
at that time, and therefore, could not
check with my faculty members whether
it is possible to screen the film at certain
short notice," she added. Bhaskar added
that she returned to Delhi on March 7 and
the next day she informed Nairita that
there was no slot free for the screening of
the film in the school.
"I told Nairita on the phone that
maybe we can consider it for next semester. But we will have to address that in
June -July, when we are preparing the calendar for the next semester. There is no
controversy. I agree with Kher that opinion of all kinds should have space in a university campus," she added. Kher on
Friday urged the JNU students to practice 'freedom of speech and expression' for
which they have been raising their voices in recent times.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
PAK INFILTRATORS...
Security forces, including the
Army, the CRPF and local police in
conjunction with the State
administration, have thus started
reviewing preparations to counter
any threat to disrupt peace.
Against the backdrop of this
unprecedented pattern wherein
militants came in through the
tougher snow-bound terrain in
south Kashmir, officials said it
clearly indicated that determined
efforts were on to keep up the
pressure. Maximum infiltrations
and high numbers of terrorists
killed in the first two months
backed this assessment, they said.
Moreover, most of the militants
killed in the encounters in the
hinterland were foreigners owing
allegiance to Laskhar-e-Tayyeba
(LeT). Another alarming trend
was protests by misguided locals
against the security forces during
and after the encounters in south
Kashmir. Earlier, they used to take
out rallies when a local militant
was killed but now they are also
protesting when a foreign militant
was killed as was the case in the
Pampore encounter.
Moreover, locals set up road
blocks and indulge in stone
pelting on security forces engaged
in the encounter besides religious
leaders raising slogans from
places of worship hailing
martyrdom of militants. Officials
said this was done to trigger
violence and retaliatory action by
security forces leading to collateral
damage. Operational commanders
have instructed their troops to
exercise restraint in the face of
such provocation and prevent the
situation from escalating, officials
said. Moreover, an advisory was
also issued earlier this week
warning trouble makers from
trying to hamper anti-militancy
operations and exploit sentiments
of locals. After detection of crossborder tunnel in RS Pura sector
on Jammu frontier, the BSF has
now enhanced vigil on the
International Border by stepping
up foot patrols in the vulnerable
pockets to prevent infiltration.
Terror strikes on Pathankot
airbase in January this year
besides attack on police posts in
Punjab last year and Army
installations in Kathua and Samba
close to the International Border
were targeted by the infiltrators
after sneaking from there.
Following detection of terror
tunnel, the Home Ministry had
also ordered fresh audit of
security to further strengthen
security apparatus. The Army
authorities are also revisiting
standard operating procedures to
effectively deal with the militant
strikes.
BAD LOAN...
Defining wilful defaulters, Rajan
said there is a well-defined
process for this and broadly
speaking, it may be maneuvers,
which strictly speaking are not
illegal, but which divert funds
away from the project and
elsewhere. Now some of these
actions may also be illegal.
“We have a process by which
people are declared wilful
defaulters, we maintain a registry
of wilful defaulters and we have
strengthened the penalties, if you
are a wilful defaulter on your
ability to raise money from the
system. So I think that process is
there,” the RBI Governor said.
The central bank, he added, has
put in place process to penalise
wilful defaulters, but accepted that
there are problems when it comes
to implementation. “One of the
problems in the past has been
difficulty of enacting the full
process given the necessity for
following certain aspects that
judiciary focussed on. Going
forward, I hope this process is
streamlined,” he said.
However, Rajan added that one of
the problem in past has been
difficulty of enacting the full
process given the necessity for
following certain aspects that
judiciary focused on. Going
forward, Rajan exuded confidence
that the process is streamlined so
that entities following aberrant
practices end up not paying loans
and subsequently we get a better
system. “So my hope is that some
of the attention that has been paid
to some of these actions will help
streamline the system.” On rate
cut mechanism that will pep up
growth in the banking system,
Rajan was happy about his
powers to decide interest rates
being shifted to a broader panel,
saying the move was in the
interest of the economy. A sixmember monetary policy
committee (MPC), which will
include RBI Governor and three
nominees of the Government, will
set interest rates to bring
consumer or CPI inflation to preset targets. The provisioning for
NPAs done by PSBs as on
December 2015 stand at
`1,35,938 crore. State-owned
banks wrote off over `1.14 lakh
crore debt during the last three
financial years that was more than
the amount written off in the
previous nine fiscals. Besides
NPA issue, Rajan also highlighted
about raising productivity,
improving infrastructure and
simplifying regulations, which is in
the domain of the Government.
“The bottom line is that even
though Indian trade has been
slowing, the slowdown is similar
to what has been happening
elsewhere, with a significant
portion due to a fall in commodity
prices and a smaller share due to
a fall in trade volumes,” he said.
FOREIGNERS LEARN...
Sri Sri said, “We are here from so
many different nationalities and
faiths but for the same intention to
spread peace and harmony.
Daring the weather and
inconvenience we want to show
that we are determined to bring
positivity in society where people
from all different ideology come
on one platform to agree on the
common. 161 countries in 1,008
locations watched this event
yesterday. It is so good to see
many Imams from Pakistan, Mufti
from Syria who said India has
oldest philosophy of the planet. He
said they need this peace today in
Syria. We have people from Iraq,
Lebanon and Jordan here at this
event.” HH Swathantranand
Maharaj, Sri Sri
Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, Head
Adichunchanagiri
Mahasamsthana, HH Giani
Gurbachan Singhji from Akal Takht
Jathedar, Pakistan Senator Sherry
Rehman, Pastor of Providence
missionary Baptist church from
USA Rev Dr Gerald Durley and HE
Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo,
Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh, External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj, Delhi Deputy CM
Manish Sisodia participated in the
event. Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh appreciated Sri Sri
for organising the cultural festival
in Delhi. “India with its broad
vision is spreading love and peace
across all over the world. India is
the only nation in the world where
Muslims, six different sections of
Christians and many categories of
Parsi community live. Sri Sri is
trying to spread Indian culture in
the world, I appreciate his efforts
for this,” he said. External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj said she
was not surprised but
overwhelmed to see the
amalgamation of spirituality. “We
all speak different languages but
our own is the same and that is to
spread peace. Today we can see
the cultural homogeneity at its
best. People from conflict zone
Syria have also come to spread
the message of peace.”
A message was sent by Dalai
Lama. “India has set an example
in the world by following the path
of non-violence. I request all to
implement the combined
knowledge of science and
technology with ancient heritage
values. Nalanda students will
follow the traditional values. I offer
my greetings to India on this
occasion.”
INDIA HAVEN OF...
“All of us need to pursue policies
that provide a stable
macroeconomy, enhance growth
and further inclusion,” he said.
Stating that economic governance
has improved, he said corruption
and interference in the decisions
of banks and regulators are now
behind us. “We do not intend to
rest on these achievements
because my agenda of ‘reform-totransform’ still needs to be
finished,” he said. Modi also said
Budget 2016-17 provides a
roadmap for future plans and
ambitions. “Our underlying
philosophy is clear: To create the
climate for wealth generation and
for that wealth to be spread to all
Indians, especially the poor,
vulnerable, farmers, and
disadvantaged communities,” he
said.
INDONESIAN MAN...
The competition offers a prize of up
to Rp 5 billion,” said Chief of the
General Crime Unit of the
Tangerang Resort Police Adj Comr
Taufik Iksan to reporters. Fredy then
drank water and was given first aids
by the organiser, who also took him
to the nearest clinic. “However,
when the doctor checked on him,
he was already dead,” Taufik said,
adding the police are now
investigating the case.
Agencies
‘Secularists’ shaken by...
From Page 1
the student leader being interviewed by nearly all the
channels. This by itself is unexceptionable but what was
laughable was the depiction of the articulate, rabble rousing
Kanhaiya Kumar as a political philosopher with a ranking
next to Plato or even Lenin.
I don’t know whether this rather excessive elevation of
the young man with JNU as his near-permanent address will
result in Modi getting frazzled, losing his political touch and
securing the BJP’s return to the opposition benches in
Parliament. However, it has secured the construction of a
make-believe world where politics can be played in the safe
zones of the campus and the TV studios.
The centrality of Delhi in this political course has, quite
predictably, led to the mainstreaming of ridiculous fringe
tendencies. It has also led to the media believing it is now in
the vanguard of change. A casual perusal of the social
media reveals that anchors and reporters are less interested
in covering news than in proffering their views in 140
characters.
This was also the reason why Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s
event took such a media beating. The AOL icon was
portrayed as a dodgy godman because the battle had been
elevated into a crusade against Hindu supporters of the PM.
I dare say if the event on the Yamuna banks had been
organised by an avowedly minority faith group, the media
wouldn’t have turned Green guardians. They didn’t even turn
guardians of the law when there was an assertion of
religious power in Malda district earlier this year. Was that
lapse merely a result of distance — Malda is located out of
motorable distance from Delhi? Or was it because in today’s
environment, all politics has to promote the desecration of an
elected Government? I guess asking such irritating
questions just won’t do: It punctures the bubble in which
some people are living.
landmark 05
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Ghulam Nabi equates RSS with ISIS ‘Nation’s prosperity lies
RSS warns of legal
action, demands
apology for remark
PNS n NEW DELHI
enior Congress leader
Ghulam Nabi Azad on
SSaturday
triggered a controversy by equating the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)
with the international terror
group, Islamic State (ISIS).
Reacting sharply to Azad’s
words, the RSS threatened
legal action against him and
sought an apology, while the
BJP asked Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi to dissociate herself
from his remarks and take
action against its leader if he
does not withdraw his remarks.
While arguing that both
ISIS and RSS allegedly attempt
to divide communities, Azad
said Muslims oppose both the
Islamic State and the Sangh
Parivar. For her part, attacking
the Modi Government, Sonia
said that the country is passing
through a “critical phase” as
those in power are “spreading
hatred” by targeting secularism.
“We see among Muslims
too, who have become reason
of destruction of Muslim countries today... There are some
forces behind it... But we need
to understand why Muslims are
taking part in it, why they are
getting trapped.
So, we oppose organisations like ISIS, the way we
oppose RSS. If those among us,
in Islam, too do wrong things,
they are no way less than RSS,”
the Leader of Opposition in the
Rajya Sabha said while speaking at the National Integration
Conference organised by Jamiat
Ulama-i-Hind. However, Azad
later sought to clarify that his
statement was not against the
political activities of RSS but
against its ideology.
Hitting back, a RSS
spokesperson in Nagaur said
such a comparison showed
“intellectual bankruptcy” of
Congress and its “unwillingness to deal with fundamentalist and cruel forces like
ISIS”. The BJP termed Azad’s
remarks as unfortunate and
asked Sonia Gandhi to disassociate from his remarks and
take action against him if he
does not withdraw them.
“RSS is a nationalist organisation. It is very unfortunate
that he has said so. It shows his
mental bankruptcy. He must
apologise or Gandhi should
take action against him,” party
National Secretary Shrikant
Sharma said. He said a number
of Congress leaders, including
Jawahar Lal Nehru and Rajiv
Gandhi, had tried to repress the
organisation but it has only
emerged “stronger”.
Speaking at the function
Azad urged the people to fight
communalism of all types saying they are threat to the world
and country. “They create distances between a man and
another. Let them be of any
religion, we will have to fight
them. Hence, all the secularist
forces need to come together to
eliminate these forces. The
fight is between communalism
and secularism, let’s see
whether communalism wins or
in Bihar’s development’
PM opens two rail-road
bridges, lays foundation
stone for another
FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA
rime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday opened
P
two rail-cum-road bridges on
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad addressing the National Integration Conference at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New
Delhi on Saturday
PTI
the secularism,” Azad said.
“India belongs to all religions,
which means majority is with
us,” he added.
In her written message that
was read out at the gathering,
Sonia said: “As you know, the
country is passing through a
critical phase. Powers that be
are spreading hatred across
the country. Especially, secularism is being targeted. It is a
matter of concern. In such a situation, it is an important work
to bring together people forgetting their religion, caste,
colour and race.”
‘THEY CREATE DISTANCES BETWEEN ONE
MAN AND ANOTHER. LET THEM BE OF ANY
RELIGION, WE WILL HAVE TO FIGHT THEM.
HENCE, ALL THE SECULARIST FORCES
NEED TO COME TOGETHER TO ELIMINATE
THESE FORCES. THE FIGHT IS BETWEEN
COMMUNALISM AND SECULARISM, LET’S
SEE WHETHER COMMUNALISM WINS OR
THE SECULARISM’
BJP termed Sonia’s speech
as politically motivated. “She is
speaking against what her
party has always practiced.
Congress divided nation along
caste, religion and regional
lines. She should not be
preaching BJP,” Sharma said,
accusing the party of “supporting” anti-national elements
for political reasons, a reference to the JNU row.
Ganga in Patna and Munger
and laid the foundation stone
of an additional rail bridge, also
on Ganga, at Mokama to usher
the State into a new era of prosperity and unification of North
and South Bihar.
For a change, the PM
talked only development, without mentioning a single word
on politics. He even praised the
Nitish Kumar Government for
its cooperation in the Centrally
sponsored schemes, particularly in power sector and reiterated his stand that to change
the destiny of India, the destiny
of Bihar has to be changed first.
“I am fully confident that
Centre and Bihar Government
will work together to achieve
this goal. Bihar is our priority,”
Modi said at Chhaukia village
in Vaishali district. He also
flagged off a new train from
Patna to Lucknow, which will
travel through North Bihar
crossing the new bridge.
However, the PM indirectly taregted the erstwhile
Congress led UPA Government
for neglecting the project for 10
long years, which led to its cost
escalating from `600 crore to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurating Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road
bridge in Hajipur on Saturday
PTI
`3,000 crore. The project was
initiated when AB Vajpayee
was the PM and Nitish Kumar
the Railway Minister, whom
the PM lauded.
“The foundation on these
bridges was laid in 2002 when
Nitish ji was heading Railway
ministry and Atal Bihari
Vajpayee was PM. Had these
projects not been neglected it
would be completed 5-7 years
earlier. The cost of Patna rail
bridge was `600 crroe which
now touched `3,000 crore.
During the past 18 months,
34% of the pending work was
completed on these bridges,”
Modi said.
Earlier CM Nitish Kumar
told the PM that then PM
Vajpayee had flagged off work
on Digha-Sonepur bridge
through remote on February 3,
2002 from Patna’s Gandhi
Maidan and on Munger bridge
on December 25, 2002 from
Delhi. “Today is a day of happiness for Bihar so I will say nothing else,” he said but reminded
the PM of the dilapidated condition of the Gandhi bridge on
Ganga and drew his attention for
its renovation and repair. He
said, “After the Assembly polls
you have come for the first time
to Bihar. We wish you continue
coming here in future too.”
The bonhomie between the
PM and CM, after a prolonged
bitterness during OctoberNovember 2015 election, was
apparent as the two sitting side
by side on the dais continued
talking and smiling. While leaving Modi was seen patting and
having a word with Deputy CM
Tejashwi Yadav who reached the
function “uninvited.”
Modi spoke about the two
major locomotive companies in
Bihar for which tender has been
allotted to international companies of USA and France. “The
biggest FDI of `40,000 crore
India is getting has come to Bihar
for which process has been completed,” the PM said and added
that the proposed gas pipe line
project would also benefit Bihar.
Publish bulletin of old, pending cases, PM to courts
Says it’ll help
create
sensitivity
FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA
oncerned over the cases
pending in the courts for
C
decades and in a bid to create
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, during the
conference on ‘Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future,’ in New Delhi on Saturday
PTI
a psychological atmosphere
and sensitivity, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Saturday
suggested that courts could
bring out their bulletins listing
the oldest pending cases.
Addressing the concluding
function of the centenary celebration of Patna High Court
he told the judges including CJI
TS Thakur that such bulletins
could be published to create
sensitivity about the pendency
of the cases.
“There will nothing wrong
in it rather it would be a good
gesture. You (judges) will not be
held responsible for the pendency of the old cases because
they are lying pending much
before you assumed the office,”
he said and added that this
would help create an atmos-
phere about the pendency of
cases and inspire others to
wriggle out of this problem.Modi also suggested that
digital technology should be
injected in the judicial functioning in bars and benches by
seeking help of new technology and Google. It would
improve the quality of arguments and judgments.
“Now we have something
that we did not have earlier the power of technology. How
much techno-savvy can we
make the bar, the bench and
the courts by injecting digital
technology in their functioning
and help work towards improving the quality of judgments
and arguments by using technology actively,” he added.
CJI Thakur spoke about
the vacancies in the courts
and said for the past one year
no new appointment of judges
was made due to some problem
which has now been solved.
“Judicial institutions are working with half of their sanctioned posts,” he said and
added that 150 names of the
judges have been cleared by the
apex court and in the coming
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Justice of India Justice TS Thakur, Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind and Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar at the closing ceremony of the centenary year celebrations of the Patna High Court in Patna on Saturday
PTI
days there would be no delay in
appointment of judges.
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar said a judicial academy
has been set up for the training
of judicial officials. Judiciary
has a big role in our aim of
development with justice. The
building of the judicial academy at Gai Ghat on the banks of
India, Mexico to boost trade, commerce ties
PNS n NEW DELHI
ndia and Mexico hope to boost
trade and commerce in the
Icoming
days besides setting up
mechanisms for carrying out direct
trade in precious metals like gold
and silver.
During a meeting with visiting
Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia
Ruiz Massieu Salinas on Saturday,
External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj, had a comprehensive review
of the bilateral relations between two
sides including political, commercial and trade, financial, technical
and other areas. The two leaders also
decided to explore ways to further
strengthen cooperation in sector of
renewable energy and information
technology besides easing visa
norms.
During her visit the Mexican
Foreign Minister also interacted
with the private sector in a business
event organised with the
Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) and delivered a lecture in the
Indian Council of World Affairs
(ICWA) on ‘Mexico in the international context and its relations with
India’. Salinas also undertook a
short ride in the Delhi Metro and
inaugurated a photographic exhibition called ‘Mexico Is’ in the
Rajiv Chowk Metro Station.
There was also a Bilateral High
Level Group (HLG) meeting on
trade, investment and economic
cooperation where it was decided
to increase collaboration between
companies in renewable energy,
automobile and auto-components,
hydrocarbons, information technology, pharmaceuticals, urban
planning, housing, tourism and
entertainment.
The annual bilateral trade
between India and Mexico is $6.2
billion which the Indian officials
believe to be just a fraction of the
potential. Mexico is the largest sil-
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Claudia Ruiz Massieu, Foreign Minister of
Mexico in New Delhi on Saturday
PTI
ver producer, fourth largest producer of gold and India believes it
can help the country meet it
requirements for the precious
metals. Mexico is ranked among
the top 10 oil-producing nations
and has the world’s fourth largest
shale oil reserves.
India is the third largest
importer of crude oil from Mexico.
Salinas asked the Indian companies to invest in Mexico in sectors such as energy and telecommunication. “India has the opportunity to sell items like consumer
goods. It has a huge demand in
Mexico,” she said.
According to MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup, Swaraj sought
Mexico’s participation in
Government’s flagship programmes like Make in India,
Digital India, Skill India and Smart
Cities besides seeking technology
support for in Indian agriculture
and agro-processing sectors. “She
also conveyed our interest in providing launch facilities for Mexican
micro and nano satellites,” Swarup
said.
“Both sides shared their perspective on increasing engagement with the diaspora (Mexico
has a 35 million diaspora in the US
alone). They also exchanged views
on cooperation on issues relating
to women’s empowerment,”
Swarup said. Salinas also called on
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and extended an invitation by
Mexican President Enrique Pena
Nieto for a visit to Mexico.
Cong calls CBI ‘excuse’ on Mallya a ‘cover-up’
PNS n NEW DELHI
itting hard at the Government
for the controversial “escape”
H
of businessman Vijay Mallya, the
Congress on Saturday described
as “cover-up excuse” CBI’s “very
strange explanation” that the
Lookout notice for the controversial businessman was erroneously issued.
The liquor baron and owner of
now defunct Kingfisher airlines
who has been accused of defaulting on loans running into an estimated `9,000 crore of about dozen
PSU banks had taken a flight to
London on March 2 `undetected`
at IGI airport here.
“We have a very strange
explanation coming from the
Government authorities at the
highest level of the CBI purportedly stating that they issued a
Lookout Notice by an error. It’s not
a child’s play and they are not casually issued or revoked,” party
spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told
newspersons here.
Asserting that such notices are
not limited to national boundaries, he said it goes beyond and has
connectivity with Interpol rules and
are circulated across the world.
“How is it possible that the CBI is
issuing such notices erroneously?
Has any disciplinary action been
initiated against anyone? The supposedly wrong notice was revoked
at the level and instance of the CBI
director or at the level of Minister
in Charge of the department namely the PM of India?”, he asked.
Insisting that such explanations raise many questions than
answers, he said, “it would be
comic, if not tragic that such mysterious, strange explanations are
trotted out.” “The bottom line is,
under the cynosure of press, court
proceedings, notices and orders,
a person is allowed to depart. A
cover-up excuse is trotted out that
there was a defective Lookout
Notice”, he said.
Targeting the BJP, he said that
the Lookout notice must be seen
in continuity. “Yet another part of
the same chain is to be noted that
Mr. Mallya entered the Rajya
Sabha in 2003-2004, it was only
with the support of BJP and this is
widely known.”
Besides, he said it’s also equally very well known that when
banks attached Mallya’s valuable
properties in Goa, then the CM of
Goa and the Government of Goa
intervened and stopped the
process. “In that comes the very
strange pretext of a cover-up about
departure on the basis of incorrect
or illegal lookout notice and the
totality of such circumstances
raise serious question marks”, he
said.
On the question of a farmer
in Tamil Nadu, who had taken a
loan of `3 Lakh for tractor, being
attacked by the cops and the bank
employees, he condemned the
“high handedness”. “We do
believe that highhandedness,
throwing the rulebook and all
kinds of procedures for a miniscule amount for a common man
and allowing elephants to be
swallowed as far as big people are
concerned is a systemic problem,”
he said.
Ganga was opened by CJI
Thakur, who stressed need for
more such academies.
The centenary celebration
of the Patna High Court had
been inaugurated in April last
by
President
Pranab
Mukherjee. The closing function was attended among others by Union Law Minister
Sadanand Gowda, Governor
Ramnath Kovind, some judges
of Supreme Court, Chief
Justices
of
Kolkata,
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand
High Courts, Acting Chief
Justice of Patna High Court
Iqbal Ahmad Ansari and
members of bar apart from
ministers and legislators.
Probe sought in delayed possession of Mallya’s villa
Panaji: The controversy surrounding the
heavily-in-debt billionaire Vijay Mallya has
taken political color in Goa, with opposition
legislators demanding a high-level probe into
the delay by the State administration to
possess the former beer baron’s palatial
Kingfisher villa The villa has been named after
the iconic beer manufactured by his erstwhile
brewery.
With the budget session of the Goa
Legislative Assembly looming, the
Opposition on Saturday collectively
demanded a probe into the delay on part of
the North Goa district administration to
possess the villa, despite the clear directions
from the Courts, and hand it over to the
consortium of banks to which Mallya owes
over `7,000 crore.
The other opposition legislators including
Congress MLAs Vishwajeet Rane and
Reginaldo Lourenco also back the demand
for a high level probe.
nation 06
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Team begins probe
at Kakarapar N-plant
PNS n GANDHINAGAR
team of experts initiated
probe at the units of
A
Kakarapar Atomic Power
Station (KAPS) near Vyara
town in South Gujarat. KAPS
was shut down after heavy
water leakage.
It has already been confirmed that there was no
radioactive release at the site.
Sources at KAPS said that two
experts from the Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board
(AERB) have reached at the site
to assist KAPS officials in finding out the reason for leakage.
They would do an independent
assessment of the various units
of the plant.
On Friday morning one of
the two 220 MW units of
KAPS was shut down after
leakage of heavy water, which
is used for cooling off the
nuclear reactor core. A temporary site emergency was
also declared as a measure of
safety, although the officials
said that there was no radioactive leak and all the workers
were safe.
According to KAPS director Lalit Jain the KAPS authority had carried out a thorough
radiation survey and there was
no change in radiation level at
the plant and into public
domain (outside the plant) till
Saturday evening. Jain said
that there has been no increase
in radiation level.
He further said the focus
would be on identifying the
cause of the leakage and till the
plant would remain shut down.
According to him the radiation
levels inside the plant and in
the nearby areas are being regularly monitored.
The AERB has already
clarified that all the safety
functions of the reactor were
working satisfactorily and there
has not been any “abnormal
release” of radioactivity outside
the plant or radiation exposures
as a result of the incident.
ED quizzes Kingfisher Airlines’ ICG ship C-156
ex-CFO for second day
commissioned at
Porbandar coast
PTI n MUMBAI
nforcement Directorate (ED) officials questioned former CFO of Kingfisher Airlines A
E
Raghunathan for the second day on Saturday in
connection with the money laundering probe
in the alleged default of over `900 crore loan
from IDBI bank.
“Yesterday, Raghunathan was questioned for
around eight hours. He is being interrogated for
the second day today,” a senior ED official said.
Raghunathan appeared before the ED office
at 11am. The ED had issued summons to over
half a dozen officials of the IDBI bank and Vijay
Mallya-owned airlines under provisions of the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),
wherein all the individuals have been asked to
submit details about their personal finances and Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of long-grounded carrier
Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of last five years to Kingfisher Airlines, A Raghunathan, coming out of ED office,
in Mumbai on Friday
PTI
the investigators.
Apart from Raghunathan, summons have
The ED has pressed charges under various
also been issued to former chairman and
managing director of the bank, Yogesh Agarwal sections of the PMLA against Mallya and othand other senior executive members and offi- ers named in the complaint. The CBI had
cials of both the organisations. Officials had ear- booked Mallya, director of Kingfisher Airlines,
lier indicated that the agency would question the company, Raghunathan and unknown offisome important functionaries of the bank and cials of IDBI Bank in its FIR alleging that the
the airlines before they decide on issuing loan was sanctioned in violation of norms
summons to the main player and liquor baron regarding credit limits.
The ED is looking into the “proceeds of
Mallya in the case.
The ED had recently registered a money crime” that would have been generated using the
laundering case against Mallya and others slush funds of the alleged loan fraud and it is
based on a CBI FIR registered last year. The also probing if some of this amount was sent
agency is also investigating the overall financial abroad illegally, they said. The attorney generstructure of Kingfisher Airlines and if any pos- al has informed the Supreme Court that Mallya
has left the country on March 2.
sible kick backs were made.
Representational picture
PNS n GANDHINGAR
ndian Coast Guard Ship
(ICG) C-156 was commisIsioned
at Porbandar coast on
Saturday, said official sources
of ICG.
Gujarat Chief Secretary
GR Aloria commissioned thestate-of-the-art patrol ship
built by Bharti Ship Yard, Goa,
in presence of Inspector
General VS Pathania, Coast
Guard Commander (North
West) and other distinguished
guests from various Central
and State agencies.
The induction is part of
on-going effort by the Coast
Guard to strengthen coastal
security. It will strengthen the
security umbrella over 1600 km
long coast of Gujarat and also
help augment patrolling and
prevent illicit activities such as
infiltration, smuggling and illegal fishing.
ICGS C-156 shall be based
at Pipavav in Amreli disrict
under the administrative and
operational control of the
Commander Coast Guard
Region (North -West).
Sources said that the 27.65
meters long ship with 107
tones can achieve a maximum
speed of 35 knots. The vessel is
fitted with cutting edge navigation and communication
equipment.
SCULPTORHEMA’SMURDER
Chargesheet filed against artist
Chintan Upadhyay, 4 others
T N RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI
he Kandivli police filed a chargesheet
against artist Chintan Upadhyay and
T
four others in the much-discussed twin
murders of his sculptor-wife Hema
Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish
Bhambani, in December last year.
While police named Chintan as the
main accused in a 2,000 page chargesheet
filed before a Borivili court on Friday, the
four others named in the charge-sheet
were: Vidyadhar Rajbhar, Pradeep
Rajbhar, Shivkumar Rajbhar and Vijay
Rajbhar. Of the accused, Vidyadhar is
absconding.
In the charge-sheet, police listed 30 witnesses, including absconding accused
Vidyadhar's mother who has allegedly
named Chintan in her statement. Police
also named Hema's servant Lalit Mandal
as one of the witnesses witnesses in the case.
With police having filed the chargesheet before the Borivili metropolitan
magistrate court, the magistrate there will
soon commit the case to a sessions court
where the trial will begin in the case in
the coming weeks.
Hema (42) and Bhambani (65) were
gagged to death allegedly by the aides of
Vidyadhar at his warehouse at Kandivli
on December 11. Two days later, the bodies of Hema and her lawyer Harsh were
recovered from a drain at Laljipada
locality of Kandivli (west) in north
Mumbai on December 13. Wrapped in
plastic sheets, the two bodies were found
packed in card board boxes and dumped
In the chargesheet, the police listed 30
witnesses, including absconding
accused Vidyadhar's mother who has
allegedly named Chintan in her
statement. The police also named
Hema's servant Lalit Mandal as one of
the witnesses witnesses in the case
in a drain.
Chintan and Hema, who were classmates at Baroda Faculty of Fine Arts, had
married in 1998. After their relations went
sour, the couple had filed for divource in
a family court in 2010.
Chintan was arrested on December 22
last year on charges of conspiracy and
murder. Chintan was booked under sections 302 (punishment for murder), 120
(B) (punishment for criminal conspiracy) and section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian
Penal Code. In the charge-sheet, police
accused Chintan of having allegedly conspired with Vidyadhar and other accused
in executing the murder of his wife Hema
and that the motive behind the murder
was the dispute over the divource between
the couple and issues arising out of it.
Following an agreement arrived at
between the feuding couple through the
legal process, Chintan was supposed to
make an initial Rs 4 lakh to Hema by
December 11. Of which, he reportedly
paid a sum of Rs 2 lakh by the stipulated date.
The investigations have
revealed that Chintan had not reconciled
himself to a situation under which he
would have to pay huge sums of alimony to his divourced wife.
The investigations that led to
Chintan's arrest have revealed that he had
allegedly met absconding accused
Vidyadhar on two occasions in the runup to the murder of Hema and her lawyer
on December 11. One of the meetings
that Chintan had with Vidyadhar was in
the home city of Jaipur, where the two had
allegedly hatched the conspiracy to bump
off Hema.
The investigations have revealed that
the ghastly crime was committed at
Vidyadhar's warehouse at Kandivli, where
Hema had come along with her lawyer
Bhambani on the evening of December
11 to strike a deal with the absconding
accused.
Sadhu Rajbhar and other perpetrators
used kerchief soaked in chloroform
which was readily available at the warehouse to render the two unconscious.
Later, they allegedly tied the two and
gagged them to death on the same night.
The investigators attributed the presence of chloroform at the warehouse to
the fact that Rajbhars would use this
chemical to clean the moulds of fabricated
installations they would make for Hema
and her husband Chintan. After killing
Hema and her lawyer Bhambani, the perpetrators used card boxes available at the
warehouse to pack the two bodies and
transported them in a tempo. The boxes
were dumped into an open drain in
Laljipada locality at Kandivli (west) in
north Mumbai.
Rescuers use rope to rescue a leopard that fell into a well
in Guwahati on Saturday
AP
2 BSF jawans martyred in Maoist ambush
Raipur: Two BSF jawans were
killed and four others injured
today in a gun-battle with naxals in Kanker district of
Chhattishgarh, the second
attack in as many days by the
Left wing extremists.
The encounter occurred
around 2:30 am when the
Naxals attacked a squad of
BSF and district force which
was undertaking a special operation in the interior forests of
Bande police station area of the
district, Kanker Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP)
Jayant Vaishnav told PTI.
"Two constables—Rakesh
Why such uproar Visitors throng riverbed to be part of history
when DDA cleared
tances from the parking lot to and we were conf us e d come from Maharashtra to
about the direction," said participate in the mega culthe main venue.
tural event, too faced troubles
Besides, the missing sign Chauhan.
a few alleged
project, asks AOL Despite
Poor lighting too added to reach their bus at the
shortcomings at the Art boards for the directions
of Living (AOL)'s World towards parking areas from to the problem, said a visitor. parking lot.
SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI
SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI
he Art of Living has questioned that why there was
such a hullabaloo as the Delhi
Development Authority
(DDA) had given it permission to hold "World Cultural
Festival" on Yamuna riverbed
with a few riders.
Talking to The Pioneer,
Radhika Hoon , official
spokesperson of Art of Living
(AOL), said a team of AOL
had visited the riverbank in
November 2015 to find out
whether cultural festival at
large scale could be organised
on the vacant land.
"The team of AOL met
DDA officials and explained
the conditions and asked for
permission," said Hoon,
adding that the Authority had
given permission with a condition that levelling of ground
and cleanliness should be
taken care of by AOL.
The spokesperson said
AOL is not doing anything
wrong and they have been
directed by the NGT to compensate Rs 5 crore to protect
environment purposes. "The
NGT has not asked us to pay
fine. It was not a fine for
destroying riverbed of
Yamuna but it is an amount to
be used to protect environment", Hoon said. " The
money would be used for
development biodiversity
park at the riverbed," Hoon
said.
T
Culture Festival (WCF)
b eing held at Yamuna
riverbed, the three-day mega
event that began on Friday
witnessed a huge turnout on
Saturday.
A few visitors lamented
hard times at the venue as
they had to walk long dis-
the venue made things a bit
difficult for them.
One of t he visitors,
Sidharth Chauhan, said he
faced trouble to reach parking area from the venue as
there were no sign board.
"The parking venue is too
far from the main site
A few people were seen using
mobile phone lights to make
their way to the parking lot.
Sujoy Mohpatra, a visitor
from Mumbai, said due to
rain there was puddle and
walking on mud turned out
to be difficult.
A few framers, who had
Sigodha Dhavde, who
was leading his troop towards
the main road, said it took
thirty minutes to reach the
bus. "We are new to the city
and we do not know where
we were going. We asked at
least ten people to reach near
our bus," said Dhavde.
Artistes from Thailand perform at World
Culture Festival in New Delhi on Saturday AP
Nehra and Vijay Kumar—
belonging to 122nd battalion of
BSF succumbed to their
injuries while being airlifted to
Raipur. Four other injured
have been shifted to Raipur and
admitted at Ramkrishna Care
Hospital," the DSP said.
A joint squad of BSF's
117th and 122nd battalion
along with district force had
launched the operation from
Chhotebethiya camp of BSF in
Pakhanjore region, located
around 300 kms away from the
state capital.
When the security forces
reached near a river in the
An inured BSF jawan being treated at a
hospital in Raipur on Saturday
PTI
dense forest of Becha village,
Naxals opened indiscriminate
fire on them leaving the six
jawans injured, the DSP said,
adding two of them succumbed
to injuries.
The encounter lasted an
hour and later the Naxals fled
into the dense forests, he
added.
Additional forces have
been sent to the area, he said.
The attack came a day
after a CRPF jawan was killed
and four others, including two
Deputy Commandants, were
injured in an IED blast in
Naxal-hit Sukma district. PTI
Javadekar favours car shed
location at Aarey colony
TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI
mid continuing protests by
the Shiv Sena and MNS
A
against the move to locate the
Mumbai Metro III car shed at
Aarey Colony in north Mumbai,
Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar on Saturday
favoured the car shed location
at Aarey Colony itself, by saying
there were sustainable solutions available to address the
issue.
“The technology is now
available to replant grown up
trees through mechanized
uprooting and replanting them
at an alternative site. Delhi
Metro is a standing example in
this regard, where for every one
tree cut, five more trees were
planted,” Javdekar said, while
delivering his keynote address
at the 11th National Convention
on Sustainable Development
Goals held here.
Treading cautiously on the
politically sensitive issue,
Javdekar stressed on the need
for replanting the grown up
trees elsewhere or planting more
number of trees in place of the
350 trees to be felled during the
course of metro car shed development at Aarey colony.
Javdekar’s statement came a
day after Maharashtra chief
minister Devendra Fadnavis
dropped strong hints that the
Government will go ahead with
the Mumbai Metro III car shed
at Aarey Colony.
However, Javdekar’s statement favouring the location of
Mumbai Metro III car shed at
Aarey Colony resulted in instant
protest from Maharashtra’s
Industry Minister Subhash
Desai of the Shiv Sena, who was
also present at the convention
on the sustainable development.
Talking to media persons
after the convention, Desai reiterated his party’s opposition to
the location of metro car shed
at Aarey Colony, saying that
there was a need for the
Mumbai
Metro
Rail
Corporation which had on
March 6 decided to locate car
shed in the wooded area of
Aarey Colony.
“The location of the metro
car shed at Aarey colony will not
bring about any development in
the area chosen for the purpose,
but massive tree felling would
harm the environment in the
area. The car shed can easily
be shifted to some other location,” Desai said, as he opposed
to the ruling BJP’s keenness to
locate the car shed at Aarey
colony. Javdekar had to deal
with the metro car shed location
issue once again when he
addressed a news conference at
the State BJP headquarters later
in the day.
When a media person drew
the minister’s attention to the
Shiv Sena’s objection to locating
the metro car shed at Aarey
colony, Javdekar chose to stay
clear of any controversy. “The
metro car shed issue is a state
subject and comes under the
purview of the Urban
Development department.
Aarey Colony is not forest land.
It is non-forest land, and hence
Environment Ministry is not in
the picture,” he said.
Javadekar said in his
keynote address he had said that
sustainable solutions were possible, and cited the Delhi Metro
as being an example of how sustainable development could be
done without compromising
with the environment.
“In my address, I said that
since I moved to New Delhi in
2003, I have seen the Delhi
Metro project grow from one
station to 200 stations, and 20
lakh commuters use it today,
significantly reducing vehicular
pollution. Some trees had to be
cut, but for each tree five more
trees of the same species were
replanted,” Javdekar said.
Javdekar said that the BJPled NDA government was
committed to sustainable development, and his ministry had
cleared nearly all big infrastructure projects planned in
Mumbai including the
Chhatrapati Shivaji statue, the
Coastal Road, the Mumbai
Transharbour Link project.
Giving details of how his
ministry had simplified the
process for environmental clearances, Javdekar said that earlier it would take 12 to 13 months
to formalise the terms of references for industrial regions.
“Now we have standardised the
terms of reference for 39 industrial regions, and hence they are
now issued within one month.
world 07
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Trump cancels Chicago rally amid clashes
Says he has no
regrets over issues
raised by him
S RAJAGOPALAN n WASHINGTON
epublican front-runner Donald
Trump abruptly cancelled a big
R
campaign rally in Chicago just minutes
before he was to address on Friday night
as protesters and supporters packing the
venue clashed repeatedly, triggering
fears that the situation could get out of
hand. In what was a dramatic escalation of protests seen at his rallies for the
past many weeks over his shrill rhetoric
targeting illegal immigrants and
Muslims, Trump decided to “postpone” the event after meeting with law
enforcement officials.
Several hundreds of protesters
thronging the venue - Chicago Pavilion
at University of Illinois - broke into “We
dumped Trump!” chants, while supporters kept up the refrain” “We want
Trump!” In the ensuing disturbances,
at least two police officers were injured.
Kidnapped Pak
Guv’s son not
rescued by
security forces
ISLAMABAD: The kidnapped
son of slain Pakistani governor
Salman Taseer was not released
after a rescue operation by security forces and it remains unclear
as to why he was freed by militants after nearly five years of
captivity, a probe said today.
Shahbaz Taseer, 33, was
flown to Lahore from Quetta in
a special aircraft from the
restive Balochistan province
on Tuesday. Interior minister
Nisar Ali Khan had set up a
committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the
freedom of Shahbaz, who was
set free this week and several
security agencies claimed their
involvement in a “successful
operation” to release him from
kidnappers.
“The facts and evidence
show that Shahbaz Taseer was
not released through an operation by security forces but set
free by the captors,” interior
ministry said.
PTI
Five persons were taken into custody.
It was not immediately clear how
the protest-induced cancellation of the
event would play out at other Trump
rallies and more importantly atTuesday’s
primaries in five large States including
Illinois, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina
and Missouri.
Rejecting the criticism that his own
rhetoric has been sparking disruptions
at his rallies, Trump blamed the protesters for not allowing him to exercise
his freedom of speech. “These were
he UN Security Council
today approved its firstT
ever resolution tackling the
escalating problem of sexual
abuse by UN peacekeepers
who act as predators when
sent to protect vulnerable civilians in some of the world’s most
volatile areas.
The United Nations has
been in the spotlight for months
over allegations of child rape
and other sexual abuses by its
peacekeepers, especially those
based in Central African
Republic and Congo. The UN
says there were 69 allegations of
sexual abuse and exploitation by
peacekeepers in 2015, with an
additional 25 allegations so far
this year.
The resolution was
approved by a vote of 14-0 with
PTI n WASHINGTON
S President Barack Obama
has mocked the Republican
leadership for being “shocked”
over the campaign narrative of
its frontrunner Donald Trump as
he blamed it for creating the
environment that led to the
controversial leader’s rise.
“We’ve got a debate inside the
other party that is fantasy and
schoolyard taunts and selling
stuff like it’s the Home Shopping
Network,” Obama said during a
public meeting in Austin, Texas
referring to the election campaign
and rhetoric of the Republican
presidential candidates.
“Then you’ve got the Republican
establishment — they’re very
exercised: We’re shocked that
somebody would be saying
these things. We’re shocked
that somebody is fanning antiimmigrant sentiment or antiMuslim sentiment.”
U
Tamil prisoners end Over 100 killed in
hunger strike in Lanka Yemen clashes
PTI n COLOMBO
IANS n SANAA
amil political prisoners,
who were on a hunger
T
strike in Sri Lanka in protest
ver 100 people were killed in
clashes in Yemen’s Taiz city after
O
security forces broke a rebel siege of the
against their prolonged incarceration, ended their protest
after they were assured of
speedy trials.
The 13 former LTTE
cadres launched the hunger
strike on February 23 demanding the government to expedite
the cases against them or
release them. They suspended
their fast after Prisons Reforms
and Rehabilitation Minister
DM Swaminathan assured
them of speedy trials.
Prison Commissioner
General Nissan Danasinghe
informed them that the
Minister has given an assurance
that he would discuss the issue
with the Attorney General’s
Department officials.
Prisons
spokesman
Thushara Upuldeniya has told
Colombo Page that the 13
city, officials said on Saturday.
“We announce that our forces on
Friday night broke the rebel siege on
southwestern areas of Taiz after beating the Shia Houthi rebels and their
allies loyal to former president Ali
Abdullah Saleh,” read a statement by
the army and resistance unit.
More than 100 fighters were killed
from both sides, most of them Houthi
rebels who were hit by Saudi-led air
strikes, Xinhua quoted medical officials
as saying. The clashes began three days
ago and the forces managed to retake
Almisrakh and Alakroudh districts of
Taiz, recapturing the old airport and the
35th military brigade camp during the
fighting on Friday and overnight,
according to officials. “Now roads were
secured and opened for humanitarian
aid to enter the city,” the army statement
added.
Government officials said the next
round of battles would take place in the
UN adopts resolution
tackling sexual
abuse by troops
AP n UNITED NATIONS
very, very bad protesters. These were
bad dudes. They were rough, tough
guys,” he told CNN.
Speaking to MSNBC, Trump said:
“You have so much anger in the country. I mean it’s just anger in the country.
I don’t think it’s directed at me or anything. It’s just directed at what’s going on
for years and it’s sort of both sides.”
Trump’s rivals, however, blamed it
all on his “incendiary comments”. Even
while condemning the disruptions, other
Republican hopefuls Marco Rubio, Ted
Cruz and John Kasich held Trump’s tone
and tenor to blame for the happenings
at his rallies. Cruz went on to say that
Trump “affirmatively encourages violence”.
Some of the protesters held up signs
pledging support to Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. After
cancellation of the Trump event,
Sanders himself tweeted: “We do things
a little different in this campaign: We
bring people TOGETHER.”
In a subsequent address at a high
school in Illinois, Sanders said: “We’re
not going to let Donald Trump or anyone else divide us.” As he put it, “the
American people are not going to
accept a president who insults Mexicans,
who insults Muslims”.
Democratic front-runner Hillary
Clinton also slammed Trump over his
“divisive rhetoric” and said it “should be
of grave concern to us all”. “We all have
our differences, and we know many
people across the country feel angry. We
need to address that anger together,” she
said in a statement, adding that candidates “should use our words and deeds
to bring Americans together”.
Obama mocks
Republican party
for ‘shock’ over
Trump’s campaign
Egypt abstaining after a lastminute amendment it proposed that would have weakened the text was defeated.
The US-drafted resolution
endorses Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s plan for reform,
including his decision to repatriate military or police units
“where there is credible evidence of widespread or systemic
sexual exploitation and abuse.”
It also asks Ban to replace
contingents where allegations
are not properly investigated,
perpetrators are not held
accountable or the secretarygeneral is not informed on the
progress of investigations.
The Egyptian amendment
would have required that all
three conditions are met before
a military or police unit is sent
home, not just one of them as
now required.
prison inmates had their midday meal yesterday as usual.
Four inmates who had fell
ill due to hunger strike were
admitted to the Prison hospital. Meanwhile, the students at
the University of Jaffna on
Friday have reportedly
launched a one day hunger
strike to protest the ongoing
imprisonment of Tamil prisoners.
Hundreds of ethnic Tamils
have been lodged in jails without trial since 2009, when Sri
Lanka’s militar y crushed
Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels
in a decade- long conflict for
control of the island’s northern
Jaffna peninsula.
ISIS chemical
attacks kill child,
wound 600
AP n BAGHDAD
officials say the Islamic
State group has launched
Itworaqi
chemical attacks, killing a
three-year-old girl and wounding some 600 people near the
northern city of Kirkuk.
Security and hospital officials say the latest attack took
place early today in the small
town of Taza, which was struck
by a barrage of rockets carrying
chemicals three days earlier.
Helmi Hamdi, a nurse at the
Taza hospital, says the wounded are suffering from infected
burns, suffocation and dehydration. Eight people were transferred to Baghdad for treatment.
The security officials spoke
on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to brief reporters. US and
Iraqi officials said US special
forces captured the head of the
IS unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last
month in northern Iraq.
city where the republican palace, central security camp and Taiz
International Airport are still under
rebel control. There was no immediate
official comment from the Houthi
group, but pro-rebel activists said it was
a “tactical withdrawal”.
Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city
located between the rebel-held capital
Sanaa and the port city of Aden, is now
the temporary capital after Saudibacked loyal forces recaptured it in July
2015.
Paris attackers feature in
ISIS recruitment files
PTI n BERLIN
ames of three of
the Paris attackers
N
figure in massive documents leak from the
Islamic State militant
group, media reports
said today.
Samy Amimour,
Foued MohamedAggad and Omar Ismail
Mostefai - believed to
have carried out the
worst attack in Paris at
the Bataclan theatre
during a concert by a
rock band in November
- are among 22,000 ISIS
recruits worldwide whose identities
have been revealed in the recent leak.
As many as 90 people were killed
using guns and suicide vests in the
Bataclan attack during a concert by
Eagles of Death Metal, whose singer
and guitarist Jesse Hughes yesterday
apologised for alleging that the club’s
security guards were involved, saying
he was struggling with trauma.
He said in a statement that “my
suggestions that anyone affiliated with
the Bataclan played a role in the events
of November 13 are unfounded and
baseless — and I take full responsibility for them”.
Despite border closures, Syrians determined to reach Europe
AP n PIRAEUS
lutching an English phrase
book, Mohammed Sawadi is
preparing to head north. The 23year-old university student traveled from Damascus with his two
cousins. They knew Greece’s borders were closed before leaving
home but say nothing will stop
them getting to northern Europe.
“We made a vow: We will get
to Europe, and we will stay together,” said Sawadi, wearing a Batman
T-shirt and holding a map of central Athens.
The three cousins crossed
Turkey before reaching the Greek
island of Chios and taking a ferry
to Piraeus, the country’s largest
mainland port, near Athens.
Sawadi wants to join his brother
in Germany and eventually settle
in The Netherlands.
European leaders are determined that they won’t make it out
of Greece any time soon.
The country’s borders were
sealed off to migrants and refugees
a week ago and NATO expanded
patrols in the eastern Aegean Sea
C
- and waited for signs that the
number of arrivals was beginning
to slow.
It’s not yet clear if that is happening: From an average of 2,000
arrivals per day at Greek islands
facing Turkey so far this year, the
numbers have become more
uneven.
The daily number stayed
below 1,000 most of the past
week, but spiked to 3,340 on
Wednesday, according to data
from the United Nations refugee
agency UNHCR. About half of
those arriving are from Syria,
with the rest mostly from
Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It’s too soon to draw a conclusion from that data. We’ll need
to see what happens in the next
few days,” Public Order Minister
Nikos Toskas told private Skai television Saturday. “I think the flow
of migrants and refugees will
eventually slow down, but it won’t
happen in a day.”
Since the borders closed, the
number of migrants and refugees
stranded in Greece has climbed to
above 42,000. And the European
Union’s commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, a
conservative Greek politician,
revealed this week that emergency plans are being made to help
the country cope with 100,000.
About a third of those stranded in Greece are camped out in
harsh conditions at the
Macedonian border, where no
one has crossed in the past week.
“Arrivals could remain high
for as long as war and destitution
affects refugees’ lives. The EU’s
decision to encourage the closure
of the Balkan migration route
doesn’t mean people will stop
trying to reach northern Europe,”
said Apostolis Fotiadis, an Athensbased migration researcher and
author of the book “Border
Merchants: Europe’s New
Architecture of Surveillance.”
“(Migrants) will just go under-
Hollande seeks
clarification on
migrant deal
Paris: French President
Francois Hollande is urging
more “clarification and transparency” in European Union
discussions with Turkey about
a complex deal to ease the
migrant crisis.
European leaders are holding a summit next week to
finalise a plan to send migrants
back to Turkey, and in exchange
European countries would take
in Syrian war refugees currently in Turkey.
AP
ground, taking greater risks to
their own life and boosting crime
in Balkan economies,” he said.
In Piraeus, Sawadi and his
cousins studied a map of Athens
to locate the central bus station for
their trip north. About 2,000 people camped out at the port are also
mulling their options.
N Korea warns South
AP n SEOUL
orth Korea on Saturday said its military is ready to pre-emptively attack and “liberate” the South in its latest outburst
N
against the annual joint military drills by the United States and
South Korea. In a statement carried through state media, the
General Staff of the North’s Korean People’s Army said its frontline units are prepared to strike first if they see signs that American
and South Korean troops involved in the drills were attempting
to invade the North. The KPA said it will counter the drills by
the United States and South Korea it says are aimed at advancing into Pyongyang with plans to “liberate the whole of South
Korea including Seoul” and also that it is capable of executing
“ultra-precision blitzkrieg” strikes against enemy targets.
films & tv 08
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
SHOW TIME
WITH MEENAKSHI RAO
This one is an achiever
Too much
to explain
Recipe for
migraine
TRIPLE 9
*ing: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck
Anthony Mackie & Kate Winslet
Rated: 5/10
rime, mafia, dirty cops and a 999
(officer down) call plan — this one
C
has it all alongside a stunning starcast
RACE
*ing: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis,
Eli Goree, Shanice Banton
Rated: 8/10
n those 10 seconds, it is not about
Black or White. It is only about fast
or slow,” Jesse Owens says. But the
era in which he competed as an athlete
at the highest level was only about
Black and White. America was entirely
racist and so was the rest of the world.
And yet, a Black man from the Bronx
did the impossible. This story of
achievement could not have been
better told than through this brilliant
movie by Stephen Hopkins, restraint at
all levels being its most major feat.
When Jesse Owens ran the track,
the World War II was impending,
thanks to Hitler’s pogrom. The Berlin
Olympics were in doldrums with the
American Olympic Association largely
wanting to boycott the games in
protest against Hitler’s anti-semitic
policies.
Back home on home turf too, the
problem was that America’s best athlete
— Owens — was Black, and a largely
racist America was queasy about that
too. In fact, so racist that despite the
fact that Jesse Owens created a record
by taking four Gold medals at the
Berlin Games, he was never
acknowledged by the White House —
till 10 years after his death in 1980.
That’s when he got an American Hero
I
Award posthumously for holding a
record that none in the world could
break for 25 years after the Berlin
Olympics.
A film on such true events of
racism and grit in the face of all odds,
cannot but be good. It’s another matter
that director Hopkins has used his
acumen to depict the complex
undertones of colour issues, political
chicanery and Nazi high-handedness
on one side and the pure spirit of sport
on the other, and married the two
together seamlessly.
Those times were complex and in
between races and their preps,
Hopkins skillfully shows up the
simmering political games, the frozen
face of Nazi regime, the Jew issues, the
Black problems and all the niggles
Owens face off the track, like the Black
community asking him to boycott the
Berlin Games in solidarity with the
Black people.
Stephan James as Jesse gives a great
performance, bringing out all the
nuances of Owen’s frustration, his
determination, his doubts and his
searing pace with incredible restraint.
Biopics make for engaging viewing
and this one is no different. In an ode
to Owens, it sports incredible pace
despite being slow and somewhat silent
on what really powered Owens’ track
dreams or why, at all, he got on to the
tracks in the first place — all the way
from Cleveland to Ohio.
and yet, it fails to bring out the bigness
of the occasion.
It is a complex crime-thriller which
is slow and so extremely American
(despite the Russian goons holding the
strings of the story) that sometimes it
gets too much to understand what’s
exactly going on.
A Russian mafiosi is behind bars
and two dirty cops are engaged by his
wife to carry out a heist in a bank to
bring out a box that could help in the
release of the gangster. Then there’s
another plan and another job that this
gangster’s pretty able wife (a bony Kate
Winslet is very hard to recognise) helms
pretty well.
So a mafiosi’s thoroughly insensitive
and ruthless wife, a joint-smoking
detective, a good cop, bad cops and a
kidnapped (is he really kidnapped?) son
of a bad cop make for this film which
may have the pace but very little to keep
you constantly on the ball.
Wish it had come with some
explanations, some more sequences that
would have helped the narrative and a
little bit more light on the screen. Sadly,
it’s not so and that’s where the audience
lose the plot — despite the crescendo
that is built up at the climax of this
longish film.
Only for diehard action enthusiasts.
‘Scary to be in the
acting profession today’
After 14 years of acting in Bollywood, AMRITA RAO makes her
foray into TV with Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai. She talks to
SANGEETA YADAV about being compared to her sister Preetika
Rao and why she is taking up only a few acting projects
n Your sister Preetika Rao shot to fame
after making her debut on TV with
Beintehaa. Did you take any tips
from her for your TV debut?
Yes I did! The working style on
TV is very difficult as compared to
Bollywood. The challenge on TV is
not only to emote and act or give your
100 per cent but to get used to the
grueling work schedule. It’s close to live
action. Bollywood is more comfortable.
We take our time. There are no
deadlines. Sometimes there
are delays but that’s not so
much of an issue.
n Do you fear being
compared with your
sister on the small
screen?
I have never been
scared of being
compared with my
sister. Preetika is
doing something
very different on
TV. It will be nice
for the audience to
see both of us, perhaps
around the same time doing
different shows on TV.
n You went through a
rigourous training for this
show. Your view of
today’s music scene?
Today’s songs don’t
have the charm of old
numbers. Songs like Hawa
ke jhonke aaj mausamo se
rooth gaye from Lootera
movie are rarely composed.
We’ve left that melody
somewhere. But I want it to
come back. That’s why music
composers known for
composing melodious songs
like Anu Malik, Shaan and
others have reduced their
work.
n What do you find
challenging on TV?
Unlike films, where you
have a captive audience, TV
lets you reach out to the
masses. Amid a lot of
distraction, you have to
grab the attention of
viewers so that they sit
at that particular time,
watch the entire show
and become loyal
viewers. That can
happen only if you
connect with the
audience. That’s the
real challenge.
n Do you think with advanced technology the
struggle of an actor has become lesser?
Not at all! There is more struggle
today in terms of acting than when I
made my debut in 2002. It is
becoming very difficult to make a
career as an actor. It’s scary to be in
an acting profession right now.
Everything is commercial-driven
and the present trend is flavour of the
month and flavour of the season.
Everybody wants a new face and they
will get work only if the film is a box
office success. Otherwise, the
newcomer will not be able to
make a mark. Film hit hui toh
kaam milega, warna pehle
break ke baad shayad kabhi
kaam nahi milega. It’s very
scary for a debutant. If the
newcomer fails to impress
movie reviewers, it is
devastating.
n You are not on social
media...
Social media is a
self-imposed pressure
and distraction which is
killing everybody. I don’t
want to get into it.
n What is the reason for
taking up very few movie
projects?
Nothing interesting
came my way. There is no
financial pressure on me
to take up something and
be unhappy. I think 100
times before I say yes to
a project and I address all
my apprehensions before
I jump into any project
being offered to me. I’m
a committed actor and
once I give a nod to a
project, I surrender to the
director.
n Did you ever get
swayed by praises and
glamour?
I didn’t allow myself
to get swayed because, in
my career, I have not
done two things very
consciously.
First,
promoting political
events however good the money
is. Second, dance performances.
Apart from the award shows, I
don’t perform at any event.
These days any opportunity is
taken up to mint money. I’m an
actress and I want to perform
in front of the camera and not
get associated with any brand,
appear for store openings or
even walk the ramp.
TERAA SURROOR
*ing: Himesh Reshammiya, Farah
Karimaee, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir
Bedi
Rated: 3/10
he ‘lethal love story’ between
Raghu (Himesh Reshammiya) and
his lady love, Tara (Farah Karimaee,
who looks suspiciously like a combo of
Nargis Fakhri and Katrina Kaif) forms
the main plot of the movie. Lethal,
because there is someone called
Anirudh Brahman who is out to
detroy their lives by plotting to send
Tara to Irish prison.
Teraa Surroor lacks not just a good
story and a good script, but it is
shocking that Reshammiya, who is
originally a music director, chose to
remix and reproduce half his older
songs for this film. The supporting cast
includes the likes of Kabir Bedi,
Naseeruddin Shah and Shekhar Kapur
but even they fail to save the film from
its inevitable doom. The only thing
worth looking at are the beautiful
landscapes of Ireland (a lot of money
has definitely been spent in casting
and production).
Anyone in their right mind would
go to watch Reshammiya pull this
stone-faced chest-baring performance
(his shirt/vest tears apart when a gun
is pointed at him and he maintains the
same expression throughout the film)
only for some of the laughable
dialogues and sequences in this
otherwise extremely boring film. The
suspense revealed in the end about
Raghu’s real profession and who
Anirudh is (alas we know why he plays
10 different kinds of instruments) is
not even worth waiting for.
You really won’t figure out what’s
happening and why.
T
A heartbreak
called Lance
THE PROGRAM
*ing: Ben Foster, Chris O'Dowd,
Guillaume Canet, Jesse Plemons,
Lee Pace
Rated: 7/10
his week it is all about Hollywood
waxing eloquent on sporting icons
— one, an African-American achiever
in times that were definitely anti-Black,
and another, a White American idol
who fought cancer to become a cycling
icon. One was never acknowledged by
his Government despite being a clean
winner of four Olympic Golds and the
other, so feted by America that it was
unimaginable, till he falls from grace
due to systemic doping despite never
testing positive to enhancement drugs.
So, one is heart-warming and the
other heartbreaking. The Program
shows up the biggest cheating plan in
the world of sport through fallen idol
Lance Armstrong who won the Tour de
France a record seven times. For
decades he ran the biggest, most
audacious and organised doping
programme to have ever tainted the
sport of cycling. He almost got away, till
he got greedy and decided to return to
the track after walking into the sunset.
It is a precise and to-the-point story
of this fraud. Armstrong broke many
hearts all over the world and what was
most painful about that? The fact that
he never cared. This movie shows us
how much he didn’t and Ben Foster is
fantastic on the cycle doing just that.
T
‘I have a phobia of
saas-bahu drama’
In her second TV outing,
NIKITA DUTTA is starring in yet
another love story, Ek Dooje Ke Vaste on
Sony. She tells PRAKRITI ROY about
the show & switching from films to TV
n Tell us about your character Suman.
She is an extremely independent girl who
stays in a joint family with her maternal side of
the family since her parents passed away. She has
a catering business and two main goals in life
— to repay her parents’ `20 lakh debt and to
make up with her childhood friend, Shravan,
with whom she had fought long back.
n Do you relate to Suman’s character?
The producers felt that I would fit the role
well as I have a few things in common with her.
Suman’s character is easily relatable for me.
However, she behaves according to the situation
she is facing while I tend to be loud mostly.
n How is the love story on this show different
from all the others on TV?
First of all, this story has a childhood
connection; the protagonists have a history. They
did not just meet and fall in love. Also, the two
characters undergo a role reversal of sorts. As
children, it was the girl who was dominating but
now, it’s the guy throwing around his arrogance.
n You started off with a film (Lekar Hum
Deewana Dil) but then switched to TV. Why
and how is each different from the other?
I feel it is all about what you love doing. If
you love acting, then it doesn’t matter if it is films
or TV. However, TV is very
different from films. Initially
I had trouble adjusting to the
hectic schedule, but now
I’ve adapted. Films are made
so patiently while TV keeps
you on your toes and
makes you alert.
n Aren’t you worried
that like most
serials,
the
content will
s t a r t
faltering
soon?
In terms of
content, I have a
phobia towards saas-bahu
dramas. So you will never
see me in a role like that.
If that happens to this
show,
it
means
something better is in
store for me.
TV's star-crossed lovers
Balaji Telefilms has launched its latest show on Colors, Kasam…Tere Pyaar Ki, a
love story that goes beyond this life and onto the next. To tell you what all the
show has in store for you, PRAKRITI ROY reports from Mumbai
kta Kapoor is set to woo TV audiences
again with her new show on Colors,
Kasam…Tere Pyaar Ki. For the lead
characters, Ssharad Malhotra (of Maharana
Pratap fame) and Kratika Sengar (of Jhansi Ki
Rani fame) have been cast as Rishi and Tanu,
the star-crossed lovers whose love goes
beyond lifetimes.
The love story is about the impudent Rishi
and romantic Tanu, childhood friends who fall
head-over-heels in love, only to be ripped apart
by destiny. However, their love goes beyond
this life and Tanu is born again to enter his
life once more. The tragedy alters their life,
turning Rishi into a hard, cynical man.
Talking about his character, Ssharad said:
“Rishi doesn’t believe in love. He is a casanova
who just uses girls. How he falls in love with
Tanu is something for the audience to see. This
role is very different from the other two shows
I’ve done, but I hope the audience loves me
as Rishi also.”
Kratika added: “Kasam…Tere Pyaar Ki is
all about the power of love; its ability to shine
through in the toughest situations and
extending into eternity. For us, the show has
been a journey of passion as we delve into our
hearts to showcase the powerful sentiments
felt by Rishi and Tanushree. I hope that the
viewers feel the love that we’re trying to portray
on screen and support us wholeheartedly.”
Interestingly, both the lead actors earlier
came in historic shows where they played
significant characters like Maharana Pratap
and Rani Jhansi. “This show happened very
quickly after the previous one, so I’ve still not
absorbed the character and got into it. It’s a big leap
from playing Rani Jhansi and I spend a good 15
minutes in discussion with my director before each
scene,” Kratika says. Adding to this, Ssharad said: “This
is my 10th year in the industry and this is only my
third show. I am extremely picky about my roles and
pick only interesting ones, including the role of Rishi.”
The story of the show is being deemed as not a
regular love story. Ssharad says that he will be
portraying a lot of different shades, unlike a onedimentional TV hero. And producer Ekta Kapoor says
E
THE LOVE STORY IS ABOUT THE
IMPUDENT RISHI AND ROMANTIC
TANU, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS
WHO FALL HEAD-OVER-HEELS IN
LOVE, ONLY TO BE RIPPED
APART BY DESTINY
that she has tried to add a lot of spunk to Tanu’s
character, giving it shades of grey, as much as the
medium of TV permits.
The cast also includes actors like Vijay Kashyap
as Raj Singh Bedi (Rishi’s father), Vibbha Chibber as
Rano Bedi (Rishi’s mother), Vishnu Sharma as
Virender Khurana (Tanushree’s father), Jyoti Gabba
as Sharda Khurana (Tanushree’s mother) and many
more.
The show went on air on March 7, 2016, and airs
every Monday to Friday at 10 pm.
TELLYTALE
MOVIE PREMIERE
Matt Scudder
(Liam Neeson),
formerly part of the
New York City
Police Department,
now works as an
unlicensed private
detective. His latest
client is a drug
trafficker (Dan
Stevens) whose
wife was kidnapped
and brutally
murdered and as
Scudder delves
deeper, he finds
that the crime's sequence is the modus
operandi of the perpetrators. Before they
can strike again and destroy other lives,
Scudder races through the back streets of
New York to catch the killers, blurring the
lines between lawful and criminal as he
goes.
Directed by Scott Frank and starring
Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens and David
Harbour, watch the TV premiere of the
movie — A Walk Among The Tombstones
on March 13, 2016 at 1pm and 9pm on
HBO Channel.
NEW SHOW
Star Plus launched one of its grand
romantic sagas, Dahleez, amidst music,
a popular name in the Bengali film industry
as Swadheenta and Harshad Arora the
heart-throb of television as Adarsh in a
never-seen-before love story.
QUANTICO SEASON 1 RETURNS
dance and soulful entertainment. The show
explores the worlds of two interesting
personalities — Swadheenta
Ramakrishnan, an aspiring lawyer from a
South-Indian middle-class household and
Adarsh Sinha, an idealistic IAS officer from
a powerful and influential family.
Premiering on March 14 at 10:30 pm, the
channel brings together Tridha Choudhury,
The gripping show — Quantico — full
of drama and action that made Priyanka
Chopra a beloved Hollywood star overnight
is all set to continue its first season on TV.
Before the show went for a break, Alex
Parrish had still not been able to unravel
the suspense of who was behind the Grand
Central Station bombing. Fans of the show
are eagerly waiting for these cliffhangers to
be resolved. Quantico has got a go-ahead
for a second season as well.
The show goes back on air on March
12, 2016 on Star World, Star World HD
and Star World Premiere HD.
special 09
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
PERILOUS CHILDHOOD
The safety of children has always been a cause of a great concern and the recent drowning of a six-year-old boy in Delhi’s
Ryan International School has further highlighted the problem. PRAKRITI ROY delves into the issue in a bid to find out why
our children are not entirely safe when left in the care of a school or a day-care centre
n January, 2012: A British headmaster
of Trio World School in Bangalore
arrested for sending vulgar messages to
one of his boy students.
n June, 2014: Owner of Chandraprabha
Charitable Trust in Maharashtra arrested for raping five minors in his boarding school.
n July 14, 2014: Seven-year-old girl
raped in Bangalore’s Vibgyor High
School.
n November 17, 2015: Three-year-old
nursery student dies in school after getting head stuck in rickety elevator.
n November, 2015: Three male teachers
arrested for sexually abusing a Class IV
girl for over a year.
n January 12, 2016: A 65-year-old man
arrested for raping a four-year-old girl for
four months at his daughter-in-law’s
crèche in Ghaziabad’s Crossing Republic
Housing Society.
n January 14, 2016: Eight-year-old
schoolgirl of Millennium National
School in Pune drowns during swimming practice.
n January 30, 2016: Six-year-old
Divyansh drowns in a water tank in
Delhi’s Ryan International School.
n February 6, 2016: Seventh grader in
Ranchi’s Sapphire International School
found murdered after being subjected to
sexual assault by his teacher.
ach of these instances show up
the perils that our children face
in schools, a place where parents send their children to get
an education in safe custody of
school authorities.
However, a string of cases show that
the safety and protection of children in
schools, day-care centres and crèches is
not something that is given much importance in the larger course of things. The
recent case of Divyansh drowning in
Ryan International School, Delhi,
prompted the Education Minister to
order an inquiry into the safety procedures followed by schools in Delhi-NCR.
More often than not, these initiatives are
fuelled by incidents such as Ryan and fizzle out soon after.
Komal Ganotra, CRY spokesperson,
who has been associated with protection
and welfare of children for many years
talks of the root of this problem in India:
“Safety is not just a physical notion. What
is absent in India is the entire concept of
protection and safety. It is usually visualised as physical safety, but that is just
one aspect.” She says, the threat to protection is in multiple ways and all of these
have to be addressed. Ownership from
the Education Department is urgently
needed.
Ganotra feels that there are many
things that need to be taken care of to
better address the issue of children’s safety. First is the infrastructure, people and
E
processes; protection has to be across all
areas but safety norms are not comprehensive to address all areas. Second, the
protocol of intervening is absent — there
is actually no system. Third is the
redress mechanism which has been put
out but not respected in spirit.
There is, in fact, a Child Care and
Protection Act in India. It has a number
of rules like ‘it is the duty of every licensee
to ensure that every child in his home
receives at all times careful and humane
treatment and suitable education’. But this
is limited only to places like orphanages
which are licensed properly by the
Ministry. For the protection of children
in schools and day-cares, it is up to the
police to draft safety regulations like the
ones done by Gurgaon Police. But what
remains a consistent challenge is the
implementation.
Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP-South Delhi) Prem Nath, who was
handling the Ryan International drowning case, tells you: “The Delhi Education
Act (1973) has under its ambit regulations related to buildings, structures,
amenities etc. It also specifies the responsibility of the principal, teachers and
other staff (like gardeners). Auditing is
done by the Department of Education.
There are no guidelines that the police
have made for schools.”
There are many reasons for the lax
implementation. Ganotra says: “In the
policy agenda, children are not very significant. They are not given their due
importance. Moreover, under the
Education Department, schooling technically begins from six years of age. So
the children younger than that are just
sidelined. All the norms are developed
for schools which take children over the
age of six. And there is hardly any monitoring by the Education Department.”
Good surveillance is the biggest
challenge in these matters and that is
what co-founder of Footprints Childcare,
Purvesh Sharma, wants to focus on. A
graduate from IIT, Sharma left his engineering job and went into the childcare
industry when he realised the vacuum in
this space after having a son of his own.
He went to the US for training and now
runs all his centres in NCR region
along international guidelines.
“Safety is the prime concern; it’s the
most important thing for the child and
his parents,” he says. “There are
Government rules and regulations but we
follow the international guidelines. We
keep in mind things like space that each
child needs, adult to child ratio. We have
installed CCTVs everywhere and the live
feed is broadcasted to parents. We also
have an app so that parents can get realtime updates about their child. Our staff
is very well-trained and knows that they
are on camera all the time. They are
screened for past criminal and medical
records and we have tied up with agencies for this screening,” Sharma says.
Moreover, a crucial factor for many parents, all the centres are run completely
by female staff.
Ganotra feels that the crèches and
day-care centres are actually a much bigger problem as they do not come under
any Ministry. She opines that day-care
centres are much more scary than the
THE DROWNING OF
DIVYANSH WHICH
TRIGGERED ALL THE DEBATE
ON CHILDREN’S SAFETY
STILL REMAINS UNSOLVED.
DCP PREM NATH TELLS YOU
THAT FIVE PERSONS HAVE
BEEN ARRESTED ON
CHARGES OF NEGLIGENCE
BUT THE CASE IS STILL
UNDER INVESTIGATION.
ACTIVIST GANOTRA FEELS
THAT WHILE THE INCREASING
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS
WHERE CHILDREN ARE
HARMED ARE TRAGIC, THEY
ARE PUSHING TOWARDS A
POSITIVE CHANGE
P O N D E R
hildline conducted a survey
called National Study on Child
Protection Mechanism. As per
them, “Child protection is about protecting children from or against any
perceived or real danger to their life,
their personhood and childhood. It is
about reducing their vulnerability to
any kind of harm — social, psychological and emotional. It must ensure
that no child falls out of the security
and safety net and those who do,
receive necessary care and protection
and are brought back into the safety
net.”
Here are some key findings of the
survey for public service education
schools:
● 28% schools did not have separate
toilets for boys and girls.
● Only 4% of the schools provide filtered water to children. 77%
schools provide non-filtered water
C
●
●
●
●
●
●
to the children. 19% of schools did
not provide any water facility for
the children.
14% of the schools surveyed didn’t have even the most basic facility of a first-aid box to deal with
a medical emergency.
Less than 2% of schools had
school counsellors.
Only 12% of the respondents (the
principal) have undergone any
training in child rights and child
protection.
10% schools reported having a
child protection policy. 1% schools
have a sexual harassment policy.
3% of schools reported having
grievance committees for issues
relating to SC/ST and human
rights issues, 2% for gender discrimination and 4% for issues
related to corporal punishment.
The percentage of schools that
school system. Schools at least have proper registration, parent-teacher associations and so on. “Crèches do not have any
process of registration or a standard of
running. The risk factor is much more
in these places,” she tells you.
The private schools which offer preschooling come under the Education
Department while the Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) scheme is
run by the anganwadis and comes under
the Ministry of Women and Child
Development (MWCD). Since there are
two different Ministries, there tends to
be a gap in convergence and that is where
implementation becomes a problem.
Crèches and play-schools are not
owned and governed in terms of any
standards. There are basically no guidelines for them and they are not under any
ministry. But these are the ones that are
maximum in number, according to
Ganotra. Since they have no database, no
standards and no monitoring mechanisms, disasters are bound to happen.
Sharma feels that the Government
should pitch in with much stricter implementation and regulations than what
exists right now. Without any regulations,
people are doing things as per themselves
and thus, the children are at risk.
In a situation like this, it becomes
very difficult for parents to entrust their
child in the care of someone else while
they are away at work. “An entire set of
systems needs to be integrated; it isn’t
merely a one-time measure. A risk audit
must be done to assess the risks.
Guidelines for so many things are not
there — floors, wires, child-adult ratio,
P O I N T S
●
●
●
●
make available a complaint book
or a complaint box for children is
as low as 20% and 21% respectively.
64% schools said they take no
measures to ensure safety of children outside school premises.
Only 5% of schools have no corporal punishment meted out to
children. 33% of schools resort to
beating and 12% to humiliating
children in front of their peers as
a form of punishment
Of the 36% of schools that reported abuse, 21% of schools took follow-up action against the abuse.
Display of awareness material on
child protection issues in schools
— child labour 16%, child marriage 8%, child sexual abuse 5%.
The survey concludes: “The findings of this study corroborated a com-
monly held perception that children
in the country are accorded the least
priority in planning and implementation of public services or amenities.
It was learned that other than those
spaces directly charged with the protection of children, almost all spaces
exhibited a low level of sensitivity to
children and low levels of preparedness for child protection. The study
is not a situation assessment of children, but an assessment of the presence of systems, mechanisms and
processes of child protection in these
spaces. It recommends the coming
together of a national child protection
network that would work towards
sharing, collating and developing
tools and knowledge in the domain of
child protection. It extends an opportunity to all to take forward the initiative of making spaces accessible and
safe for children.”
child-space ratio. Children are not educated on how to deal with and report
abuse, or that they should be suspicious
of certain things. Schools are not
equipped to deal with many problems
and the staff lacks training.
“It is not just the teachers who need
to be considered. Everyone, right from
the taxi or bus driver, maids, caretaker,
maintenance people, should be assessed.
What usually happens is that the issue of
safety is taken up with only the top management but these are the people who are
actually constantly in touch with your
children,” Ganotra suggests.
The DCP tells you that the Delhi
Police has a standing order for all the
schools in South Delhi that potential victims of sexual harassment must be educated. A woman constable, along with an
NGO, imparts this training under the
Nirbheek scheme. “Children are encouraged to report crimes against them by
anonymously dropping notes in the
Nirbheekta box. We have even registered
cases through this,” says Nath.
However, with players like Footprints
in the industry, the situation has become
better a tiny bit as they follow regulation
and guidelines. The parents who go to
these places are also much more aware
of issues of their child’s safety and they
tend to ask a ton of questions before
enrolling their child somewhere. The best
way to choose an institute for your child
would be to ask the right questions and
go by other parents’ recommendations.
Questions about systems of training, safety procedures, safety reporting to parents,
how aware are teachers and maids, bus
driver credentials, measures that teachers take must be asked. The existing
guidelines are mostly superficial so one
has to go deeper to understand the workings of an individual institute.
The Government policies do not take
much cognizance of the age group
below six years. In fact, even the New
Education Policy, open for discussion on
the MyGov website, doesn’t address this
age group. This is because, in India, most
people don’t realise that the first five years
are the most important.
Apart from this, everything takes
more time in India because of the system that exists. Protection is a nascent
concept in India, and thus is it given a
backseat because India struggles with so
many other areas that need investment
that children are not getting the priority they should.
Divyansh’s drowning, which triggered all the debate on children’s safety,
still remains unsolved. Nath tells you that
five people have been arrested on charges
of negligence but the case is still under
investigation. Ganotra feels that while the
increasing number of incidents where
children are harmed are tragic, they are
pushing towards a positive change.
10
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
MOEEN AND I ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER VERY
WELL. I HOPE WE TWO CAN GROW AS
SPINNERS AND BE A GOOD BOWLING PAIR
SOON
ENGLAND LEG-SPINNER
—ADIL RASHID
There have only been three
tied matches in the ICC World
Twenty20; two of them
involving New Zealand
DATELINE KOLKATA
PTI
leared by their government after days of
uncertainty over their participation, the
C
Pakistani contingent arrived in India to take
part in the World Twenty20 cricket tournament
as they landed here after a long flight.
The 27-member Pakistan cricket contingent
arrived in the city from Abu Dhabi, finally ending days of suspension over their participation
in the mega event.
The Pakistan contingent comprising 15
players, 12 officials and support staff reached
the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International
Airport at 7:55 pm amid tight security after the
Pakistan government finally gave their Cricket
Board the green signal to fly to India.
Hundreds of fans gathered at the airport to
welcome the Pakistan team as Shahid Afridi
and his players came out of the airport. The
Pakistani skipper reciprocated the warm gestures, waving at the crowd before leading his
"We will take one match at a time and we
are not thinking right now about the match
against India on March 19. First we have to play
Bangladesh and get past them. They are a very
improved side now and have been hard to beat
at home," he said.
The Pakistan contingent includes manager Intikhab Alam, the experienced former Test
captain and a high profile security manager.
The Pakistan team, due to the delay in their
departure for India, missed out on a warm-up
match but Waqar said the practice game
against Sri Lanka will help them get ready for
the round matches.
The squad has also left for India under a
cloud of the inquiry committee formed by the
PCB holding its first meeting on Friday to begin
a probe to find out the reasons for the team's
disappointing show in the recent Asia Cup in
Bangladesh.
Pakistan's senior batsman Younis Khan,
who is a member of the inquiry committee,
decided to skip the meeting but Test captain
Misbah-ul-Haq made his presence felt.
teammates into two buses as they went straight
to the team hotel.
It took about an hour for the Pakistan players to clear their immigration formalities
before they finally came out of the airport to
the loud cheers of the fans gathered there.
Some fans were also heard shouting 'Three
cheers for India'.
There were tight security arrangements for
the Pakistani contingent with hundreds of security personnel from CISF and black commandos maintaining a vigil as the players landed
at the airport.
The Pakistan contingent includes manager Intikhab Alam, the experienced former Test
captain and a high profile security manager.
Due to the delay in their arrival, the
Pakistan team has missed out on a warm-up
match against Bengal which was scheduled for
Friday. They will now play a practice game
against Sri Lanka here on Monday.
Waqar said that he had told the players to
only focus on cricket and leave security issues
to the boards and experts.
T R O P H Y H U N T E R S
Can give real shake: Smith
Variation is
key: Hazlewood A
WOODPECKER
THE MOST DANGEROUS T20
BATSMAN IS DE VILLIERS. HE IS A
BATTER WHO CAN DOMINATE THE
BOWLERS. HE PLAYS HIS SHOTS
AND CAN ALSO LAST TILL THE
VERY END. HE IS FANTASTIC
COMPARISON TO MCGRATH IS A
GREAT COMPLIMENT. BUT I AM
NOT CLOSE TO HIM. I HAVE
SPOKEN TO HIM A FEW TIMES
HERE AND THERE. BUT OUR
GENERATION GREW UP WATCHING
THE LIKES OF MCGRATH WITH THE
BALL. I REALLY LIKED HIM AS A
YOUNGSTER
DATELINE KOLKATA
PTI
ustralian pacer Josh Hazlewood
says he is working on variations
and trying to bowl from close to the
stumps to come good in Indian conditions.
Asked whether his propensity to maintain a probing line
outside the off stump would
succeed in Indian conditions,
the 25-year-old New South
Wales player said: "I think,
variations are ok."
Hazelwood said the T20
format was always challenging
for a bowler. "Definitely T20 is
harder. One needs to come out
harder not only to contain but
to take wickets as well. That is
tough".
Hazlewood named South
African AB de Villiers as the most
dangerous T20 batsman.
"The most dangerous T20 batsman is de Villiers. He is a batter who
can dominate the bowlers. He plays
his shots and can also last till the very
end. He is fantastic."
On comparisons between him
and Australian pace legend Glenn
Mcgrath, he said: "Comparison to
McGrath is a great compliment. But I
am not close to him."
Hazlewood said he has not worked
much with his more illustrious predecessor save for a year at the MRF Pace
Academy in India.
OTHERSPORT
A
DATELINE KOLKATA
AUSSIEBIGGAMES
PTI
March 18: vs New Zealand, Mohali
March 25: vs Pakistan, Mohali
March 27: vs India, Mohali
ustralia skipper Steve Smith
on Saturday stressed the
importance of winning the
ICC WT20, the one trophy missing from the glittering cabinet of
the record five-time world champions who're no 1 in Test and ODI
format.
"It's the one trophy that eluded us. We want to win every tournament and series that we play in.
We are pretty settled. We have got
15 guys who can give this tournament a real shake," Smith said.
"We played good in South
Africa to win that series there.
Guys have stepped up and we're in
good form. It's going to take us
squad mentality to do well in this
tournament," the Aussie skipper
said in a press conference on
Saturday.
Australia lost in New Zealand
1-2 in an ODI series before winning the Tests 2-0 and they travelled for the World T20 build-up
to South Africa where they won 21.
"It's just about being positive.
We've got a good squad together.
We know what to expect. It's
about going out there and making
sure we can execute our skills. If we
do that well hopefully we will win
a lot of other games."
Asked if they do not take the
T20 format seriously, Smith said:
"I would not say that's the case.
We've pretty packed schedules. We
play a lot of cricket. Sometimes,
you don't see a lot of Test and ODI
players in this format.
"But we certainly play a lot of
T20 cricket. We know how to play
the game and if we do to the best
of our ability we will be a tough
side to beat," he said at the pretournament news conference.
The team is full of allrounders, and the 26-year-old
said they would be an asset to
them in the demanding format.
"A lot of our all-rounders are
bowling extremely well at the
There's little margin for error in this
format. Their batsmen have a lot of
confidence right through from Dhawan
and (Rohit) Sharma to Kohli, Raina and
then there's Dhoni coming in. I think
that stems from the captain. Having
played under Dhoni in Chennai, he just
fills you with a lot of confidence. I am
assuming that what he is doing with
youngsters
— Aussie all-rounder John Hastings
Anand defies odds to beat Topalov
Santina make winning start
PTI n MOSCOW
PTI n INDIAN WELLS (USA)
efying expectations, his position
and odds, five-time world chamD
pion Viswanathan Anand won a
nerve wracking contest against
Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the
first round of Candidates to go in to
early lead here.
With the two of the three games
ending in draws, Anand is likely to
emerge as the sole winner on day one
of the biggest event of the year and
can now look up to remaining event
with immense confidence after being
written off by the pundits.
While luck might have played a
pivotal role in Anand's conquest,
Topalov went on missing some very
refined tactics in the game that
might probably be known as the
clincher for the future generation.
Anand started off well in his pet
Ruy Lopez and just when things were
looking good for the Indian ace,
Topalov came up with a superb
pawn sacrifice that was in fact taboo.
Anand went for pawn grabbing
which was not correct according to
computers but Topalov missed a
super-tactic that involved a Bishop
sacrifice in the middle game.
As it happened, Topalov could
never come back in the game post the
fiasco. The Bulgarian watched as
Anand penetrated in the base rank
with his rooks and completed the formalities in familiar fashion. The
game lasted 45 moves. In other
games, all-American and all-Russian
duel ended in draws without much
ado.
Mirza and Martina Hingis saw
off the challenge of Australian team
Sof ania
Casey Dellacqua and Samantha
Stosur to move to the second round.
The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair
defeated their rivals 6-3, 7-5 in just 68
minutes in their opening round of the
$6,844,139 hard court event.
Sania and Martina saved four of
the six breakpoints they faced in the
match and broke their rivals five times
in the tight contest.
Sania Mirza (left) and Martina Hingis
The Netherlands vs Ireland
DHARAMSALA
LIVE Star Sports 3 pm
THEMATCHAFTER
Afghans thrash
Zim to qualify
for Super10
fghanistan on Saturday romped into the main round of
the ICC World T20 after crushing Zimbabwe by a whopA
ping 59 runs in their final Group B qualifying contest, here
on Saturday. In a do-or-die match, the Afghans outplayed
Zimbabwe in all departments by first scoring a challenging
186/6 in 20 overs and then bowling out opposition for 127
in 19.4 overs. Afghanistan cruised through all their three
qualifiers, having won
Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shenwari
their first two games
AP
against Scotland and
Hong
Kong.
Afghanistan are
clubbed
with
England, Sri Lanka,
West Indies and South
Africa for the Super 10
and they will open their
campaign against Sri
Lanka at the Eden Gardens
in Kolkata on March 17.
The Afghans turned their
match against Zimbabwe on its
head in the last 10 overs of
their innings with
Mohammed Nabi (52 off 32
balls) and Samiullah
Shenwari (43 off 37 balls) adding 98 runs for the fifth wicket. Nabi’s innings had four boundaries and two sixes while
Shenwari hit a six and a four. In the back-10, Afghanistan
scored a massive 113 runs after the first 10 overs produced
73 for the loss of four wickets. Opener Mohammed Shahzad
also did a great job by going after the bowling.
World T20 likely
to be a haven
for batsmen
DATELINE NEW DELHI
AP
igh scores are expected in
the World Twenty20 as
H
India continues its practice of
producing batsmen-friendly
pitches for limited overs
games, unlike the traditional
turning pitches used for test
cricket.
India has recently produced some very benign
pitches, including in last year's
five-game home one-day
series where South Africa
piled up 438-4 at Mumbai in
the decider.
Former Pakistan captain
Rashid Latif believes only the
best spin bowlers will be able
to make an impact.
"There will be more batting-friendly pitches because
it's a Twenty20 format and the
ball won't get much old,"
Latif told The Associated
Press. "Only spinners like
(Ravichandran) Ashwin,
(Shahid) Afridi and
(Ravindra) Jadeja could trouble the opposition, and that
too because they have loads of
Dhoni is an inspiration
— Aussie quick Mitchell Marsh
MUST-WIN: Bangladesh will take on Oman in a mustwin game, where winner takes it all. Both the teams are on
3 points after winning a match each and the other match
being washed away at the scenic venue on Friday.
UNDERDOGS: Oman will go into the clash as underdogs, considering the recent exploits of Bangladesh who are
fresh from their second place finish in Asia Cup. But, considering Oman’s giant-killing act in the first match against
Ireland, they won't mind the underdog tag much and will
infact relish it as all pressure will be on Bangladesh.
DANGERMAN: Tamim Iqbal will be the man Oman will
be wary of. The Tigers' pinch-hitter was at his best against
Holland with an unbeaten 83 and followed it with 47 off 26
balls in the washout game against Ireland.
PTI
F I R I N G S Q U A D
Certainly we have to go past India, they
are playing well, they know the conditions
well, won the 50-over World Cup here a
few years ago.... There are some players in
our dressing room who have the
experience of playing in India. Several of
them have had individual successes in
India at some point of time. We are high on
confidence of doing well in India, where
the conditions can be challenging
Bangladesh vs Oman
DHARAMSALA
Live Star Sports 7:30 pm
DATELINE NAGPUR
moment which helps as well. We
can have the power at the back end.
"All our all-rounders are very
powerful with the bat. That's what
you need in T20 cricket. They're
doing a good job for us hopefully
they will continue to do good job
for us." India being the number one
of side and starting as overwhelming favourites, Smith said it had
not eased their pressure.
"We are playing in a World
Cup and playing International
cricket is always about pressure.
It's about taking each game at a
time and try to win every game. It's
important to start the tournament really well. We're looking
forward to the games that
coming up." Boasting an impressive record against India, Smith
hoped that he strikes form once
again.
"It just happens sometimes you
get on a bit of a roll against some
opposition. It's hard to stop. It will
be nice to come back and hit that
roll once again."
“It's nice to score a few in the
last game there. It's nice to spend
a bit of time in the middle. I think
it's the kind what needed. Hope I
EVERYTHING TO PROVE: Australian skipper Steve Smith, who has a job at hand as he
will take that form into this tourenters the 6th T20 World Cup without a trophy to boast of, speaks to the media at an open
nament,” Smith who scored a
session at Kolkata on Saturday
AP
match-winning 44 in their final
T20I win over South Africa said.
WORDSMITH
Meanwhile, in a separate
session, Australian medium
Mitchell Marsh was all
IT'S THE ONE TROPHY
IT'S ABOUT GOING pacer
praise for India's young pacer
THAT HAS ELUDED US. OUT THERE AND
Jasprit Bumrah. “He is a good
I saw him two years ago.
WE WANT TO WIN
MAKING SURE WE bowler.
He bowls with a good change of
EVERY TOURNAMENT
CAN EXECUTE OUR pace,” he said. Asked about his
as a finisher in the T20 forAND SERIES THAT WE
SKILLS. IF WE DO role
mat, Marsh said, "I try to hit as
PLAY IN. WE HAVE GOT THAT WELL
many balls as I can. It's about
being flexible. You can't get 30 of
15 GUYS WHO CAN GIVE HOPEFULLY WE
ten balls every match. I try and
THIS TOURNAMENT A
keep it simple. I have preparedWILL WIN A LOT
the flat kind of wickets we
REAL SHAKE
OF OTHER GAMES for
will encounter here,” he added.
We have to go past India
TODAYINACTION
MATCH 2
Pak team arrives in tight cordon of security
AP
They next face local girl Vania King
and Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva, who
beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld
and Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova
4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
Twenty20 experience behind
them. Otherwise, I don't see
spinners getting huge turn."
South Africa allrounder
David Miller feels the pitches won't get a chance to provide aid to spin.
"It's only a match of three
hours duration and so it
(pitch) is not going to break
up," Miller said. "We have to
assess it quickly and react to
that."
South Africa allrounder
Jean-Paul Duminy though is
fancying his prospects at the
World Twenty20 with his
handy spin bowling and as
one of the better players of
slow bowling on surfaces like
in India.
"Indian pitches are going
to give me a lot of opportunities," Duminy said ahead of
the World Twenty20
"Hopefully, I can make them
count. But generally guys
have gained experience to
play this game in different
conditions in different ways."
11
[
INDIA FALL 4 SHORT
[
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
NARINE’S ABSENCE IS A BIG
LOSS FOR US AND ANY TEAM.
HIS FOUR OVERS IS CRUCIAL.
HE IS SOMEONE WHO CAN’T
REALLY BE REPLACED. THE
TEAM WILL MISS HIM BADLY
— DWAYNE BRAVO
Sri Lanka are the only side
to progress through to the
semifinals in each of the
last four tournaments
WALLMOUNT
DATELINE MUMBAI
Depth is India’s
strength: Dravid
PTI
ndia made a brave effort to overhaul South
Africa’s tall score of 196 for 8 but finally fell
short by four runs to lose their World Twenty20
warm-up cricket game at the Wankhede Stadium
here on Saturday.
Chasing the 197-run target set by the Proteas,
India recovered from a poor start through a partnership of 94 runs between left-handers Shikhar
Dhawan (73) and Suresh Raina (41).
After both Dhawan and Raina left the field,
retiring voluntarily, skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (30 not out off 16 balls) and Yuvraj Singh
(16 not out off 8) whittled down the target from
43 in 18 balls to 14 in the last over before India
ended up at 192 for 3, to lose their first game after
eight successive wins.
Earlier, left-handed batsmen Quinton de
Kock (56) and Jean Paul Duminy (67) flourished
with attractive knocks for South Africa.
India made a dismal start to the stiff run-chase
by losing their two in-form top order batsmen
Rohit Sharma (10) and Virat Kohli (1) cheaply
inside three overs with only 16 runs on the card.
Sharma, who had cracked an unbeaten 98 in
the 45-run win over the West Indies in the team’s
opening warm-up game in Kolkata two days ago,
hit a flat-six with a step-out slash off Dale Steyn
but then was trapped plumb in front by Kyle
Abbott in the second over.
Kohli tried to slog Steyn and edged to keeper de Kock to leave India in dire straights.
Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane (11) revived the
innings with a brief stand of 32 before the latter
was dismissed by Imran Tahir with a googly in the
over after power play ended.
This brought together two left handers to the
crease and Dhawan, now more assured, and Raina
staged a fine rescue act by adding 94 runs to keep
the Indian run-rate on par with their rivals’.
Raina pulled and glided Chris Morris for successive hits to the fence and then smashed spinner Aaron Phangiso over the mid wicket fence.
Soon after, Dhawan completed his half ton off
the 35th ball he faced, and then came the very productive 13th over from David Wiese as Raina hit
him for a six and four. At the end of the 13th over,
India were 121 for 3 and after the 15th, the hosts
needed 60 runs for victory.
I
PNS n NEW DELHI
ormer India captain Rahul Dravid believes the team’s
biggest positive going into the T20 World Cup is their
F
strength in depth. Dravid, who was in Mumbai for the
Laureus Sport for Good programme ‘Magic Bus’ in his
capacity as a member of its World Sports Academy, said
due to the presence of the likes of Hardik Pandya and
Pawan Negi, India have a deep battling line-up which
will help the team massively in the World T20. Excerpts:
nWhat do you make about the Indian team for the
World T20?
I think the good thing about this Indian team and
this T20 World Cup is they have good all around depth
at the moment. With players like Hardik Pandya and
Pawan Negi, it just shows that they have got sort of batting right down to No 8, 9. This is a pretty formidable
side at the moment and I think the all around
ability of this team is what excites me.
nWhat are India’s chances….
I think India would make the top
four, but after that, it’s just a question of
who has a better day in the semifinal
and final
KNOCK IN VAIN: India’s Shikhar Dhawan in action during a warm-up match against South Africa at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday
When India were 142 for 3 after 16 overs, both
the batsmen retired to the pavilion after adding
94 runs in 59 balls to leave skipper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh to take the side past
the finish line.
Requiring 43 in 18 balls, Dhoni hit Steyn for
a six and a four in successive balls and two 2s to
bring down the target by 15 runs in the 18th over
at the end of which India needed 28 runs.
But Yuvraj could not get going full tilt in the
19th and India fell short of the target after needing six off the last ball.
Earlier opting to bat first, the Proteas lost two
early wickets before de Kock, who made a quick-
fire half century in 33 balls before retiring, and
Duminy feasted well on the Indian offerings.
Watched by a huge crowd of over 25,000, India
did well in the first four overs by sending back
opener Hashim Amla and captain Faf du Plessis
with 33 on the board.
But a very expensive fifth over from Bumrah,
in which he conceded 20 runs inclusive of four
fours, followed by the 12 runs conceded in the next
by Harbhajan Singh set the hosts back quite a bit.
At the end of the first six-over power play, the
Proteas had hit their way to 67 for two.
De Kock and Duminy then put on 77 runs for
the third wicket, quite comfortably and at a brisk
PTI
rate to get the innings back on track.
Hardik Pandya grabbed three wickets for 33
runs, including two in one over, while Bumrah
(2 for 51) and Shami (2 for 37) were the other
wicket takers. India, who open their World T20
campaign in Nagpur on March 15 with the
Super 10 clash against New Zealand, did
not field R Ashwin and Ashish Nehra on
Saturday.
Brief scores
South Africa: 196/8 (JP Duminy 67, Q de Kock
56 retired hurt; H Pandya 3/36) beat India: 192/3
(S Dhawan 73 retired hurt, SK Raina 41
retired hurt; KJ Abbott 1/32) by four runs.
nWhat direction do you think
Indian cricket is going?
I think it is a very exciting time
for Indian cricket at the moment.
The results in One Day and T20Is
have been really good over the last
couple of years and it has been reflected in the ranking, as well.
nWhat do you make about the present
generation of players?
There are a lot of good, young, exciting players coming through. There’s a
good crop of players coming through. I
think it’s going to be an exciting 24
months for the Indian team.
nWhat is the next challenge for India?
THEMATCHAFTER
POMS PUT KIWIS IN THE COLD
IANS n MUMBAI
ngland produced an impressive
all-round performance to outclass
New Zealand by six wickets in
their warm-up match ahead of the
World Twenty20 tournament at the
Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday.
Batting first, skipper Kane
Williamson struck a quick fire half-century as New Zealand posted 169/8. In
reply, openers Jason Roy (55) and Alex
Hales (44) used their skills to good effect
as England chased down the total with
ease, scoring 170/4 in 19.2 overs.
Chasing a target of 170, England got
off to a flying start with openers Roy and
Hales smashing the Kiwi bowlers to all
parts of the ground to pile up 53 runs
in the powerplay.
But after striking seven fours and two
sixes, Roy had to head back to the pavilion as he was caught by Trent Boult off
the bowling of Mitchell Santner to have
England at 77/1 in 8.2 overs.
Incoming batsman Joe Root (12)
too fell in the space of four overs to hand
New Zealand a slight advantage.
With Hales looking good to bring
up his half-century, off-spinner Nathan
McCullum got him caught and bowled
in the 16th over followed by Eoin
Morgan (20) in the 18th over to take the
pressure away from the Kiwis.
But incoming hard-hitting batsmen
Jos Buttler (24 not out) and Ben Stokes
(8 not out) took their team over the line.
Mitchell Santner (2/24) and Nathan
McCullum (2/25) were the pick of the
CLINICALLYENGLISH
E
CHASING A TARGET OF 170,
ENGLAND GOT OFF TO A
FLYING START WITH
OPENERS ROY AND HALES
SMASHING THE KIWI
BOWLERS TO ALL PARTS OF
THE GROUND TO PILE UP 53
RUNS IN THE POWERPLAY
ON RIGHT FOOT: England’s Alex Hales bats against New Zealand in Mumbai on Saturday
Kiwi bowlers.
Earlier, opting to bat, New Zealand’s
hard-hitting opener Martin Guptill (16)
gave the team a good start but unfortunately threw his wicket away as he
caught by Chris Jordan at mid-on off the
bowling off Reece Topley in the second
over itself. New Zealand were 19/1 then.
Leading from the front, his opening partner and skipper Kane
Williamson (63) held on striking nine
boundaries and one six to help his team
cross the 50-run mark. Williamson was
well supported by Henry Nicholls (14).
Despite the fall of Guptill,
Williamson scored at a good pace to
AP
bring up his half-century in just 26 balls.
But as both the batsmen was looking set to pile up some useful runs, offspinner Moeen Ali got the much needed breakthrough dismissing Nicholls in
the eighth over.
Incoming batsman Luke Ronchi
(13) along with his skipper helped the
team cross the 100-run mark in the 10th
over itself. The Kiwis suffered a double
blow when set batsmen Rochi and
Williamson were dismissed in the 11th
and 13th overs respectively to have New
Zealand at 110/4.
From there on, the middle and
lower order batsmen (Mitchell Santner
10, Nathan McCullum 2, Grant Elliott
14, Mitchell Mcclenaghan 1) departed
in quick succession as a disciplined
English bowling line-up held New
Zealand to less than 170 in 20 overs.
Ross Taylor (19) and Tim Southee (11)
remained unbeaten.
Off-spinner Rashid (3-15) and
seamer Reece Topley (2-39) were the
pick of the bowlers for England.
Brief scores
Ne w Z ealand: 169/8 (Kane
Williamson 63; Adil Rashid 3/15)
lost to England: 170/4 (Jason Roy 55;
Mitchell Santner 2/24, Nathan
McCullum 2/25) by six wickets.
FROMTHEPAVILION
ith Feroz Shah Kotla
ground set to lose 2000
W
vantage seats in the Old Pavilion
Move to save 2000 old pavilion seats
stand due to lack of clearance
from Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), the ICC has
appealed to justice Mukul
Mudgal to let them utilise the
area for spectators and branding
during World T20. The area in
the Old Pavilion stand area falls
under ASI and DDCA need to
have clearance from them to
offer it to spectators.
ICC Chief Executive Dave
Richardson met DDCA’s observer Mudgal on Friday along with
select DDCA officials to discuss
the issue.
The ICC wants those seats to
be opened for public as there is
no specific order from the Delhi
High Court which had directed
the appropriate authority to
decide on the issue.
“The ICC is very concerned
about the curtailment of another
2000 seats. Now there is a suggestion to put the entire premium
seats covered with black clothing.
This is something the ICC is not
very happy with,” a senior DDCA
official present during the meeting told on Saturday.
“ICC argument is that since
a lot of down the ground shots
will be hit, black clothing will
PTI n NEW DELHI
make both broadcasters and
sponsors wary. It is considered to
be an eye sore,” the official said.
Asked what’s the way out, the
source informed that ICC will
request Justice Mudgal to consider keeping the seats open for
spectators as well as branding.
“They will request Justice
Mudgal as only he can take a call
in this regard. ICC’s concern is
that a black out of that area will
send wrong signals to the sponsors. Also another argument is
that the media centre is also located in the Old Pavilion and if that
area can be used, let us utilise this
area also,” the source informed.
“Another option is to get
clearance from ASI before men’s
matches are hosted at the
ground,” he added.
The men’s main matches
will start from March 23 while
women matches are scheduled to
begin from 15.
“Look, to be fair, even India
versus Pakistan women’s match
won’t attract much crowd. It is
the men’s matches where the
problem will arise. In case India
plays the semi-final at Delhi, you
can imagine what the situation
will be,” said the official.
The next challenge, really for this team, is
to start performing and get results overseas. But
things are beginning to turn with the win in Sri
Lanka, and hopefully that you they can go beyond the
subcontinent and produce those results.”
‘India should focus
on Cup, not Pak’
PTI n KOLKATA
laying down the hype over the potentially
high-voltage India-Pakistan World T20
P
match to be played here on March 19, World Cup
winner Gautam Gambhir on Saturday said that
the team’s focus should be on winning the title.
“This is all created by media to get TRPs and
stuff like that. It’s not ‘the’ match. The bigger thing
is that whoever is playing in the World Cup will
look to win the trophy. India-Pakistan is just
another match,” Gambhir
said at an interactive session on Saturday.
“People make it a hype
but if you ask any sportsman they don’t see it’s ‘the’
game. The bigger aim is to
win the World Cup. I
would expect people to
support India, that’s very
natural. The most important thing that people
should enjoy good cricket.”
He said that the job would be tougher for
India from a ‘Group of death’ also featuring
Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. “It will be
pretty tough for India with the kind of group
they’re in. They need really have to get their A
team forward if they want to go all the way.”
NEWSFLASH
Sale of Indo-Pak match starts
KOLKATA: The online registration for the much
awaited World T20 clash between India and Pakistan
scheduled at the Eden Gardens on March 19, began
on Sunday. Interested fans in India and abroad will
now be able to register by completing an online registration form available on the website for 48 hours
only. Winners of the lucky draw will be given an
opportunity to buy tickets for the match. The match
which was earlier to be held in Dharamshala, was shifted to Kolkata due to security concerns.
PTI
Sunny to undergo tests?
CHENNAI: Bangladesh off-spinner Arafat Sunny,
who was reported for suspect action during a World T20
match against The Netherlands last Wednesday, would
undergo tests to assess his bowling actions at the ICCaccredited Biomechanics Laboratory here on Saturday.
According to sources, the ICC had informed the Sri
Ramachandran Arthroscopy and Sports Sciences
Centre (SRASSC) here that Sunny would be reaching
on Saturday night. After tests are done, the findings and
report will be sent to the ICC in two days time. PTI
backpack 12
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | MARCH 13, 2016
Tune in to the future
From popular singles getting featured in Bollywood movies, to multiple composers creating amazing music, there is enough room for innovation
in the industry today. ANKIT TIWARI and ARKO MUKHERJEE tell SANGEETA YADAV what to watch out for in the coming years
rom a demo singer to being
officially a playback singer,
director and lyricist Arko
Mukherjee got his break with his
song Saathi re in the movie Kapoor
& Sons. He tells you that this song
is special because of its soothing
melody. “This song is very special as
it is an integral part of the film.
Director Shakun Batra decided not
to reveal the video until the film is
out. People used to joke about me
by calling me ‘the famous demo
singer’. Then came the news that
Karan Johar wanted to use my
voice. That was such a big surprise
and a turning point for me,”
Mukherjee says.
However this lyricst-composer
who has some hit compositions to
his credit like Abhi abhi, Yeh jism hai
toh kya and Maula from Jism 2,
Allah waariyan from Yaariyan, Aaj
phir tumpe pyaar aaya hai from Hate
Story 2 etc tells you that before he
forayed into singing Hindi songs he
sang English songs.
He has a list of firsts as well. For
the first time he gave his voice to the
composition of Manoj Muntashir
who wrote Galiyan for the film Ek
Villain movie. “I’m not a trained
playback singer, and come from
a western music background.
Hence, my voice is different
from a trained playback
singer’s,” he says.
Looking at the trend of
multiple composers and
music directors working
together on a movie
F
Talktime
EKTA KAPOOR
Often called the Queen of Television, EKTA
KAPOOR is gradually making it big in Bollywood
too. Speaking to PRAKRITI ROY at the launch of
her new show, she talks about her upcoming work
and how she deals with all the pressure. Excerpts
'TV can’t change till
the audience does’
n What is this new show, Kasam...Tere Pyaar Ki,
about?
It is a love story where there is tragedy after
happy ending and then happy ending after tragedy.
It is continuous love story between star-crossed
lovers who are probably not meant to stay together but still remain attached in some way or the other.
The universe supports their relationship.
n How do you juggle between TV and films?
After TV films, I am entering into the digital
space as well. My attempt has always been to give
something new. My conscious effort over the last
five years is to have at least one show each year which
is associated with an NGO or has a thought process
behind it, trying to break down a social stigma. Like
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain was about older people finding love, Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh was about second
chances after marriage, Ye Hai Mohabbatein is about
a woman who cannot have children. I don’t do these
shows for TRP, but for a social message through
entertainment.
n Why is there such a big gap in the content of
your movies and TV shows?
I feel it’s an eclectic mix, right? Moreover, TV
audience is not ready for all kinds of content. I wish
Ajeeb Dastan…. had worked. When we researched
for that show, we found out that the Indian woman
doesn’t want that second chance in life even if her
husband cheated on her. TV can’t change till the
audiences don’t change. For instance, women are still
portrayed in a particular mould, there are no grey
women characters. As makers, we have to keep in
mind that we go into a million homes where there
are 10 people watching one TV. Imagine how much
the content has to be diluted. You can experiment
with films.
n What are your plans with your digital initiative,
ALT?
I can’t really reveal the strategy but I can tell you
that it will be great storytelling. It will also be a great
chance for the writers who often confine their creativity to reach out to the lowest common denominator. There will be original content that will give
a chance to new writers and new thought processes.
n Are you planning to do any episodic shows like
your early comedy Hum Paanch?
I don’t think TV is ready for episodics, especially comedy. It worked back then but time has
changed a lot. Today, the audience wants to see
drama on TV. I will do on digital for sure, but comedy is something that is really hard work.
n What are the movies you have lined up for this
year?
There is Flying Jatt, XXX, Azhar, Great Grand
Masti and Half Girlfriend.
n Is there anything you have learnt in all your
years in this industry?
Yes, definitely. I’ve learnt the philosophy of my
life — if you don’t have fun in the process, you
shouldn’t do that work because the outcome is not
in your hands. Whatever is the outcome, I always
hope that I have the ability to move ahead in life.
H
A still from Kapoor & Sons
album, Mukherjee opines that it has
given rise to a happy union and coexistence of singers in the music
industry. “Be it Amaal Malik, Ankit
Tiwari or Jeet Ganguly, more than
the rival composers, we are friends
who believe in helping each other to
improve over time. We are
happy for each other
and it’s a very positive
vibe that we share.
It’s high time for collaborations of two
different styles in a
song,” Mukherjee
says, who is all set with
his next playback song
for the movie Baar Baar
Dekho which is yet to be
released.
Though music
industry has evolved
manifold, there are a
few problems that
need to be ironed out,
he points out. “First is
related to
Arko Mukherjee
t is an acknowledged fact that disabled
people in India are under a lot of duress,
Iespecially
in public life. Most of them who
want to attain higher education find that
there is no proper infrastructure for special assistance and they are often left to
their own resources. And the condition
of an artist who is disabled is that much
worse.
To help at least some disabled people, a few students have come up with an
initiative called IOTA — ‘I Ought To
Acknowledge’. “We came up with this
social start-up when we thought that it’s
just a niche market. But once we interacted with some of these disabled people,
we got to know the real problems they
face,” Pranidhi Rawat, a third-year student
of Economics at Sri Ram College of
Commerce and co-founder of IOTA, tells
you.
Because these artists find it difficult
to display their paintings at eminent galleries, IOTA has decided to help them
hold an exhibition. To raise funds for the
same, they have started a crowdfunding
campaign. “We saw how much people like
him are struggling and thought of organising an exhibition for now, and helping
as much as possible in the long run,”
Pranidhi says.
The person who inspired the initiative, Neelesh Ganesh, is 24 years-old and
suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, an
acute form of autism. His mother, Shanti
Ganesh, tells you: “He wasn’t even able to
draw a circle till he was in Class X, but
still joined the art class. By Class XII, his
teacher actually paid `5,000 for a Buddha
he painted.” Now, he is desperate to get a
college level degree in fine arts, but there
are no inclusive colleges available where
a person like him can learn properly.”
His mother also tells you that he
IT’S CHAO TIME
The place where Oriental meets Italian perfectly, ChaoBella is a must-visit to
experience the best of fusion food, says SUNDAY PIONEER
rowne Plaza Hotel, which is
in the commercial district of
Okhla Phase 1, is not exactly a
place one would think of going
for enjoying a meal. But one may
need to rethink, considering
that it offers a combination of
East meets West with fire roasted pizzas and pastas rubbing
shoulders with steaming
momose. One is told that the
hotel’s restaurant ChaoBella is a
trendsetter and has become the
USP of their property.
Once the dishes are placed
before you, it takes you on a culinary experience. The restaurant
has been laying out a live kitchen
with cosy seating every Sunday
and not just in winter. Despite
the hotel’s out of the way posi-
C
tioning, many come here for the
brunching option on Sundays.
One thing that stands out is that
the food is made with heart and
is very delicious.
Those who don’t want to
experiment too much can stick
to the usual chicken corn soup,
e shot to fame with his
debut song Sunn raha
hai na tu from the movie
Aashiqui 2 and went on to give
chartbuster hits like Galiyan
from Ek Villain, Tu hai ki nahi
from Roy and Dil cheez tujhe
dedi from Airlift. Ankit Tiwari
is definitely is basking in all the
fame and is ready with is next
song Alfazon ki tarah from the
movie Rocky Handsome which
is already a hit. This music director, singer and composer is all set
to foray in singles and working A still from Rocky Handsome
on his next two big projects —
Baaghi featuring Tiger Shroff
IN HOLLYWOOD, IF A SINGLE
and Shraddha Kapoor and
Rustom featuring Akshay
BECOMES
A HIT AND IS LIKED BY
Kumar.
MUSIC PRODUCERS, THEN THEY
“I try to surprise the
audience with new eleUSE IT IN THEIR FILM AS WELL.
ments be it in lyrics or
THE SAME IS HAPPENING IN
use of instruments.
Alfazon... is a very difINDIA
BUT IT IS IN ITS NASCENT
ferent song written by
STAGE
Abhendra Kumar
Upadhyay with
whom I worked
the song by trend and change in the Indian
in Roy. In this
Badshah
and music, there is one thing that
song, there are
Indeep Bakshi titled never goes off demand and that
some alaaps
Saturday saturday is melodies. “Melodies are like
which I sung for
for
Humpty daal chawal, there is a demand
the first time and
Sharma
Ki for it everyday. You will never
really difficult to
forget and get bored of listening
Dulhania.
get it right. Only if
“This is the to the songs of Aashiqui 2 and
one is trained in
new wave and an Ek Villain and classic melodies
Indian classical
extension of the of Nadeem Shravan, Kishore
singing, can they hit
Hollywood trend Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar,”
the right chord,”
in the Indian Tiwari says.
Tiwari says.
Talking about bringing an
music
scene.
Now that the rage
Music is one of the innovation in his songs, Tiwari
of singles is here, the
main pillars of says: “In our industry, you hear
next big thing is music
it and learn. The way industry
Bollywood
directors buying the royalmovies.
In is evolving, if a singer has that
ty of the singles to be used
Hollywood, a sin- intellect, he will automatically
in the movies. Kar gayi chull
gle is made and if adapt to the changing trend. If
from the movie Kapoor &
it becomes a hit and I feel the need to go through the
Sons became a hit as soon as
is liked by the music training to bring something
it was launched. Dharma
producers, then they use it new for my song, I would defiProduction bought the
in their film as well. The nitely go for it. I’m still a student.
royalty of this song
same is happening in It takes hard work to produce
sung by Fazilpuria and
India Though this trend quality songs for you to stand
Badshah to be featured
is at its nascent stage in out in the crowd. Just believe in
on Alia Bhatt and
India, it will become big yourself and give it your best;
Sidharth Malhotra.
one day you will set a new
soon,” Tiwari tells you.
Earlier also Dharma
With the evolving trend,” Tiwari tells you.
Productions had bought Ankit Tiwari
but those with a more adventurous palate can ask the chef to
recommend his signature dish.
The crispy lamb with fresh
snow peas and crunchy watercress is a good way to start your
meal. The Propia pizza — one
can choose any four toppings
like artichoke, bell pepper, olive,
asparagus, mushrooms and zucchini — is just the right mix of
crispiness and cheesiness. In
between the soup and the pizza
go for the steaming dimsums.
The chicken stuffing is succulent, delicately spiced and
tantalisingly cozy in the paper
thin wrappings, making these
the unrivalled showstoppers of
this Sunday brunch, in their
steamy variety. The prawn won-
the royalty. Even after getting the
Copyright Act amended in 2012,
nothing much has been done to
establish a proper system for royalty collection. A country like the UK
doesn’t produce one-tenth of the
music that we do. But their singers
collect 500 times more royalty than
us. They have a process in place. In
our country, collection of royalty is
just on paper. There are bodies
which are trying to change this and
one hopes that this will be resolved
soon,” he says.
The second, he says, is the substandard music that is being created in India due to advancement in
technology. “Technology has given
exposure to amazing sound. But
there is a lot of substandard material online. Earlier there was less
music and quality control. But now
there are all kinds of softwares and
access to sounds. Anybody can
become a composer today. They
have forgotten that it is the melody
and writing that makes for a great
song,” he says, adding that one
genre that has come of age is
Bollywood Dance Music (BDM).
“All kinds of music has always been
there. It’s only dance music that
changes with new beat and sound,”
Mukherjee says.
Artists & their different strokes
Students’ start-up IOTA is doing what many of us only think about — helping those in need.
PRAKRITI ROY speaks to the founders and the disabled artists they support to know the state of affairs
Sreekant Dubey
Vipul Mittal
Neelesh Ganesh
addresses his communication problems
through his paintings. He paints on a lot
of different themes like music, a series on
Radha-Krishna, or anything that interests
him. Apart from that, he also has a keen
interest in music and has been learning
keyboards for the past two years. He
dreams of having a solo exhibition one
day.
Another painter with IOTA is
Sreekant Dubey. In a tragic accident, when
he was 14 years-old, Sreekant lost his right
tons, the chicken momos and
the asparagus dimsums are all
distinct in taste and flavour.
Absolutely fresh, very scantily
clad in their paper thin wrapping, authentically accompanied by an array of momo
condiments, they are the dish to
be with at ChaoBella and its
heady Proseco bubbly.
Now, there are dimsums
and dimsums. I was sold out on
the good old Laguna momos
from the sinewy bylane of the
Chanakyapuri shopping complex despite these being offered
universally at most Oriental
restaurants. But the ones at
ChaoBella, outdo them by a yard
and that’s quite an achievement
in itself.
But it’s the pan fried Seabass
fillet — delicately proportioned
and decoratively presented —
that rules the roost in the mains.
To end this meal go for the
Classico tiramisu and warm
chocolate cake fondant with ice
cream.
arm when an electric pole fell on him.
After that, he had to learn to use his left
hand for doing everything and painting
was a far cry. Now he proudly says: “After
studying fine arts at university level, I have
now developed my own signature style.
I make figurative paintings.” Before the
accident, he wanted to join the Army.
Now, at 47, Sreekant paints for four-five
hours every day and has been doing so
for the past 21-22 years.
The popular saying ‘love has no lan-
‘WORKING
WITH STEPHEN
guage’ is truly embodied by deaf and mute
artist Vipul Mittal and his wife, Parul
Mittal. They have been married for eight
years now but they still communicate
through a combination of gestures, signs
and facial expressions. “Vipul is very
observant and he understands from my
expressions what I want to say. If it is
something very important, I just write it
down for him,” says Parul.
She says that the fact that he is hearing impaired did not deter her at all.
Rather, she thought that she could be his
voice. Now, she works as a promoter for
artists and wants their exploitation to end.
Vipul did his Masters in Fine Arts
from Delhi College of Arts. But he was
never given extra attention and was
wholly dependent on his mother. “The
galleries exploit people like him,” Parul
says. However, he still managed to get
group shows at places like India Habitat
Centre. Vipul’s paintings often carry
metaphors. He draws inspiration from
everyday life and playing with numbers
is his specialty. Being unable to explain
what he observes, he paints it instead.
Artists like these are often treated as
beggars by buyers looking to make profit from their hard work. It is true that
many are working towards creating sensitivity but a greater push is required for
the same.
There are other artists on IOTA’s roster too — Sheela Sharma, a foot artist; CV
Surendran who is confined to a wheelchair because of a neuromuscular disease;
Amita Dutta, a deaf artist; and Shivraj
Singh, a sculptor affected by polio.
Pranidhi says that in this first phase
for IOTA, they focussed on getting artists
who have already been working for a
while and have made a name for themselves in a niche market. After this, they
want to take the artists’ work online. In
the long run, Pranidhi hopes that she can
work full time on IOTA rather than just
alongside her corporate job.
FREARS TRUMPED ANY UNEASE’
BEN FOSTER, who plays Lance Armstrong in the movie The Program which released this week, talks about how grinding it was
to play the character & how he lost 30 pounds in six weeks. Excerpts from an interview
n You’ve portrayed real people
before, like William Burroughs...
It’s different playing someone
who’s living, whose story is going
to continue — it’s not done yet. This
is such a complicated study, and I
knew very little about, but working
with Stephen Frears trumped any hesitation
I might have had for The Program.
n It’s interesting that you hadn’t really followed his career and that you knew him
just as a cheat...
I find him an incredibly complicated,
empathetic character. If you can get past the
surface level concepts of good and bad or
a cheat, if you just look at his narrative, this
is a young guy with incredible talent and he
faces cancer at a very young age. And he
faces that potential death sentence and I do
believe it changes you.
n What do you have to say about his
Livestrong Foundation?
With full sincerity in his heart,
he started this foundation because
at his core, he believes in human
potential. His foundation is an
enormous empire; it raised half a
billion dollars in cancer research.
Sitting on a powder-keg, a time of
massive doping; you have to go down 18 riders (in the Tour standings) to find a clean
rider. The lives that he destroyed in terms
of business, those were people who were
threatening his empire, and that empire was
actually saving lives.
n There was a scene where Lance realising his dream and a cyclists tells him he
has absolutely no chance because everyone else in the field is cheating. To have
his eyes opened that way, I’m sure that was
a very formulative moment for him...
It has to be. But you can’t just take drugs
and win the Tour de France. It doesn’t work
that simply. It’s nutrition and the organisa-
tion of the team — he just did it better.
n What was your life as Lance?
It was a physical grind. I don’t think
there’s a sport on the planet that’s as psychologically brutal as it is physically. There’s
something so self-flagulating about the
sport. There’s almost a religious quality to
it. It’s a thrill for someone of my temperament, a subject which I can tear into, where
there’s no bottom. It was a living story. It certainly fed my appetite.
n There is a scene where Lance is told he
is bulky. How much weight did you lose?
I had to lose 30 pounds in six weeks with
cannibalising diets. It’s a level of starvation
and cardio where your body starts eating
itself. We didn’t shoot in sequence, much to
my frustration. They’re like: ‘We need you
really strong (at the beginning) and then
we’re going to need you riddled with cancer, and then put on some weight again. You
figure it out’.