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As Saudi women take the wheel, NRI drivers may get the boot

Majority of the chauffeurs in Saudi Arabia are from India

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s historic decree on Wednesday that permits women to

drive is a huge social reform in conservative Saudi Arabia, but it threatens to snuff out the

livelihoods of tens of thousands of Pravasi ‘house drivers,’ particularly those from Kerala.

“When women are at the wheel, it means the majority of Saudi households will no longer need

chauffeurs to drive women to shops, workplaces, colleges and schools,” said Attakkoya

Pallikkandy, chairman of the Pravasi Coordination Committee. “Of course, the right to drive is a

great achievement for Saudi women, but from the Pravasi perspective it is a big blow.”

“At a time when hundreds of Indian workers are returning home every week in the wake of the

Saudi government’s aggressive nationalisation of the labour force, the new reform will accelerate

the job loss of drivers,” Mr. Pallikkandy said. Indians make up the largest expatriate community

in Saudi Arabia. “Generally, Saudi households prefer to employ Keralites as house drivers as

they are considered trustworthy and employable,” he noted.

Easiest visa

There are between five lakh and 14 lakh chauffeurs and taxi drivers in Saudi Arabia and majority

of them are from India.

Aboobacker Thayyil of Malappuram district, who worked in Jeddah, said the ‘house driver visa’

was one of the easiest and cheapest for the uneducated Gulf job aspirant, mainly from north

Kerala region. Though the salary was low and job change was tough, the attraction was the free

boarding and lodging.

Keeping alive a unique tradition

Telugu families celebrate Bommala Kolavu in Berhampur

Bommala Kolavu being displayed in a family in Berhampur on Thursday.LINGARAJ

PANDA

The unique tradition of Bommala Kolavu, or ritualistic display of dolls and figurines collected

over the years, during Navratri continues to this day among a few Telugu families living in

Berhampur.

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The families have been living here for generations. But every year during Navratri, some

families keep alive the tradition of Bommala Kolavu, which is part of the cultural tradition of

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Court of toys

Literally, Bommala Kolavu in Telugu means court of toys. The tradition also continues in Tamil

Nadu as Bomma Kolu and as Bombe Habba in Karnataka.

R. Srinivas, a Telugu resident of the city, said it was heartening to see the tradition survive

among a few families in Berhampur as it is fading even in Telugu linguistic States.

The family of M. Venkat Rao living in Braja Nagar here has been celebrating BommalaKolavu

for three generations. This year also the family has come up with a decorative display of dolls

and figurines from the third day of Navratri. The display will continue till Dussehra on

September 30. The highlight of the display is a clay idol of Sri Krishna, which the family claims

to be more than a century old.

Next generation

“We are continuing the tradition in our family as we want it to be passed on to the next

generation,” said M. Padmavati, wife of Mr. Rao. Their son M. Naveen Kumar has also spent

much time preserving this tradition

Thousands of animals sacrificed in Kalahandi

Defying a court ruling against animal sacrifice, thousands of devotees turned up to slaughter

animals and birds at Bhawanipatna, the district headquarter town of Odisha’s Kalahandi district,

on Thursday.

The occasion was the ‘Chhatar Vijay Yatra’ of Manikeswari, the presiding deity of

Bhawanipatna. Devotees began sacrificing animals from the small hours of Thursday. By

daybreak, the lanes and by-lanes within a four-kilometre radius of the temple had turned red with

blood. The animal sacrifice continued for over six hours.

Devotees from neighbouring States and different districts of Odisha had gathered at

Bhawanipatna to witness the procession of the deity along a four-kilometre stretch on National

Highway-26 between Jenakhal and the main gate of Manikeswari temple.

Awareness programme

As many as 14 platoons were deployed to maintain law and order keeping in view the sentiments

attached to the tradition. Instead of using force to stop the animal sacrifice, the district police

organised an awareness programme against animal sacrifice and tried to persuade the community

leaders against it.

Search for a highly potent anti-snake venom

Low potency of the present ASV requires larger quantities to be given to victims Madras

Crocodile Bank Trust is collecting venom from different regions in India There is only one

venom extraction centre in the country, in Tamil Nadu





For a remedy: Romulus Whitaker, the founder of Madras Snake Park and the Madras

Crocodile Bank Trust.shaju johnShaju John

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) is researching the venom of snakes from different

Indian regions in order to create a highly potent anti-snake venom (ASV). Last week, well-

known herpetologist Romulus Whitaker and his team were in Maharashtra to collect venom

samples from four snake species that cause the most number of snakebite deaths in India. The

team had earlier collected samples from Kerala and Punjab; permissions from the Forest

Departments of a few more States are being sought.

A highly potent ASV is crucial for two reasons. First, it will offer better relief for snakebite

victims. Second, it will reduce the quantity of ASV required for treatment — ASVs, produced

after an intensive and long process, are currently not highly effective. There is only one venom

extraction centre in the country, which functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce

and Industry in Tamil Nadu. Venom supplied to about half a dozen ASV-producing companies

comes from this region.

Also, “We now know that snake venom varies regionally even within the same species. The aim

of the ongoing research project is to determine the efficacy of the existing ASV against these

venoms collected from various parts of the country,” said Ajay Kartik, co-ordinator, Snakebite

Mitigation Project, MCBT. “This information could be used to upgrade the existing anti venom

to become more effective pan India.”

According to Mr. Kartik, small quantities of venom was collected from over 70 snakes in various

parts of Maharashtra such as Roha, Alibag, Mahad, Baramati, Sangli and Thane. “We collected

about 500 ml. from cobras and Russell’s vipers, and 50 ml. kraits and saw-scaled vipers, in total,

after obtaining permits from the Maharashtra Forest Department, with the cooperation of snake

rescuers across the State,” he added. The collected snake venom is stored at the Indian Institute

of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru. The study will begin after a few more States are covered and a

considerable sample size is gathered.

Tedious process

The tedious process of producing ASV involves injecting venom from four different species of

snakes into horses. A few weeks later, blood from the injected horses is collected and plasma

separated from it. While the remaining blood components are routed back to the horse, the

purified form of the plasma is the ASV. Most companies offer the ASV in a powder form for

better shelf life. From injecting the venom to the formation of the ASV, the process takes slightly

more than one year. One horse can produce up to 50 vials of ASV depending on the weight of

the animal.

“But due to the low potency of the ASV, at times we require more than 40 vials to neutralise the

venom in a snakebite patient,” said Mahad-based Dr. H.S. Bawaskar, an expert on snake and

scorpion bites.





He said that, at present, a Russell’s Viper bite victim requires about 40 vials of ASV; victims of

cobra and krait bites require 20 vials, while a Saw Scaled Viper bite victim requires about five

vials in Maharashtra.

“This is mainly because the venom of snakes in Maharashtra varies from the ones in Tamil

Nadu. If we have an effective ASV, we can reduce its usage by more than 50%,” said Dr.

Bawaskar, adding that the hospital stay of a victim also ranges from two days to a month,

depending on how soon treatment is sought and whether the organs have been affected with

venom. “A potent ASV will also help in the faster recovery of patients,” he added.

More in monsoon

Before administering an ASV, the physician injects about 10 ml. of distilled water into the vial

and then transfers it to a saline solution that is administered to the patient intravenously. During

the monsoon, Dr. Bawaskar sees 30-35 snakebite victims in a month; the number falls by 50% in

other months.

A 2011 study carried out by the Registrar General of India pegged annual deaths by snakebite to

nearly 50,000. But government records say that only about 1,200-1,300 people die of snakebites

every year. Besides mortality, snakebite survivors often have to live with severe morbidity,

including tissue damage and necrosis, amputations, and kidney failure

The activist and the intellectual

When the moral temperature of a society falls, as it has globally in recent times, activists will

arise

It is ironical that those who have always been an essential catalyst for a just society have also

been those who have been kept at its margins. Activists have become increasingly unpopular and

have become the targets of an upwardly mobile middle class. It is difficult to understand this

phenomenon: why would those who have a comfortable life get so angry and upset at those who

sacrifice their personal well-being for the good of others? The public and government reaction

against NGOs, the killing of social activists, the cynicism towards those who decide not to

follow the mainstream are all part of this larger trend, a symptom of the silent corporatisation of

society itself.

In the line of attack

Intellectuals, including artists and academics, also bear the brunt of this hatred. As many have

pointed out, it has never been as difficult as it is now to disagree about something without being

called names. These are symptoms of what our society is becoming. As a society, we lack a





culture of protest, whether in the public or in institutions. Disagreeing with a policy is always

misinterpreted as if it is an attack on individuals associated with that policy.

It is not easy being an activist, although it is somewhat easier being an intellectual. The activist is

in the middle of conflicts while the intellectual is in the midst of the world of ideas and

scholarship. Historically, this tension is powerfully manifested in the apparent opposition

between ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’. The stereotype is that activists ‘do’ while intellectuals ‘think’.

Like almost everything else, this is not an Either-Or situation. There are good arguments for

supporting the view that some intellectual activity, especially that which develops new

vocabulary and arguments for social change, helps activism. Similarly, major agents of social

change have often contributed to the creation of new perspectives on society which academics

have not been able to.

Nevertheless this tension persists. Activists working with a variety of marginalised groups often

believe that scholarship and ‘theory’ is of little use to them. Intellectuals, on their part, seem to

have got cocooned inside their academic spaces or other elite spaces with very little engagement

with the people and the situations that they write about. This has led to a rejection of intellectuals

by many activists, and a benign neglect of activists by the intellectuals.

However, there is an important difference between both these acts. There is something special to

the domain of activism which a knowledge-based intellectual activity does not have.

Being an activist

Becoming an intellectual is a long process and is often dependent on access to education as well

as resources of various kinds. A school student will not be considered an intellectual but she can

be an activist. She can join marches, shout slogans and write blogs. The opportunity to be an

activist is more easily available. There is something more democratic and egalitarian about

activism as compared to intellectualism, a feature which has often led to cynicism about

intellectuals.

The idea of an organic intellectual, drawing from Gramsci’s original use of this term, can be

understood as a mediation between these extremes. The history of activism in India has shown us

that some of the greatest activists have also been organic intellectuals. Nevertheless, this

invocation of the organic intellectual is itself a response to the specific privilege of being an

intellectual.

I believe that there is one significant difference between the activist and the intellectual. An

activist may or may not be a scholar. But what she does is far more important than the scholar

because her action is most fundamentally a moral action. On the other hand, an intellectual’s

action is most often an epistemic action, an action that is concerned with information and

knowledge.

An activist acts on behalf of, and with, others. In most cases, activists work with the dispossessed

and the marginalised. They can imagine a better world for those the larger society forgets about

and, in doing this, they sacrifice something. Their actions are not geared towards personal benefit

but for the benefit of communities and individuals with whom they can stand in solidarity. For an

intellectual’s action to become moral, it needs the intervention of activists.





All activism involves a sense of giving and giving-up something. While ‘normal’ individuals in a

society act in order to benefit themselves or their family, activists often act against their own

interests. Often the actions of the activist improves the well-being of others (who are not just

family and friends) more than that of the activist herself. And this is the real strength of an

activist. Her actions are not rationally utilitarian but morally robust, as powerfully exemplified

by countless activists who have worked with labour, women, the marginalised and the

dispossessed.

This is the important skill that differentiates an activist and the intellectual. When a student goes

on a protest, she is picking up an important skill — that of developing a moral sense of the

social, a sense of concern and respect for others who may or may not be in a situation like hers.

Her actions have the benefit of others as her good. And this sense, akin to the truth or soul force

as Gandhi would call it, is the most important quality of being an activist.

The intellectual does not possess this necessarily, although some intellectuals have a deep sense

of the moral. The history of intellectual labour has consistently removed the moral from the

accumulation of knowledge. This is best exemplified by science and the creation of scientific

knowledge decoupled from moral considerations. Academic intellectualism is clever, deep in

knowledge and understanding but less so in its moral force. Organic intellectualism can be seen

as an attempt to put back the moral within this pursuit of knowledge.

So when the larger society fails in its moral sense or when its intellectuals ignore moral action,

activists will arise to counter them. When the moral temperature of a society falls, as it has

globally in recent times, activists will arise. If this does not happen, the moral force of a society

gets depleted. It is only the activists who can make sure that the moral skills of a society do not

vanish. It is activists, who give up their personal, material comforts for the larger values of

dignity, respect and equality of individuals in a society, who can function as the moral compass

for others. Activists and intellectuals are essential to protecting the society from two of the

greatest dangers — power and profit. Getting rid of such people is to compromise our present as

well as the future of our society.

Expanding the common ground

James Mattis’ visit buttressed the growing India-U.S. convergence on regional and global

security issues





Hours after U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis landed in Kabul, he was welcomed with six

rockets landing near Kabul’s international airport, as if to remind Washington what’s at stake in

the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. This visit came weeks after the Trump administration

unveiled its South Asia strategy which in many ways marks a radical departure from the past by

putting Pakistan on notice and bringing India to the centre stage of Washington’s Afghanistan

policy.

This was reinforced by Gen. Mattis during his visit to India this week when he suggested India

and the U.S. would work together to fight terrorism. “There can be no tolerance of terrorist safe

havens,” he said. “As global leaders, India and the United States resolve to work together to

eradicate this scourge.” While announcing his new Afghanistan policy, U.S. President Donald

Trump had mentioned, “We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in

Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the U.S., and we want them to help

us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development.”

In line with this, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made it clear that while “there shall not

be boots from India on the ground in Afghanistan,” New Delhi will be stepping up its

development and capacity-building engagement with Afghanistan.

Wider role in Kabul

India has decided to take up 116 “high-impact community developmental projects” in 31

provinces of Afghanistan. India and Afghanistan have also agreed to “strengthen security

cooperation”, with New Delhi agreeing “to extend further assistance for the Afghan national

defence and security forces in fighting the scourge of terrorism, organised crime, trafficking of

narcotics and money laundering”. India will be training Afghan police officers along with

Afghan soldiers. This is aimed at sending out a message to Pakistan, which continues to assert

that India has “zero political and military role” in Afghanistan.

After handing over four attack helicopters to Kabul as part of its assistance package, India is

keen to expand the scope of its security cooperation with Afghanistan which had remained

limited in the past not only due to geographical constraints, but also due to Washington’s desire

to limit India’s security engagement in the country.

The U.S. is sending about 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan, most of which are preparing to

arrive in the coming weeks. “A lot is riding on this of course as we look toward how do we put

an end to this fighting and the threat of terrorism to the Afghan people,” Gen. Mattis said in

Kabul. “We are here to set the military and security conditions for that but recognise ultimately

the responsibility for the Afghan leadership to step up and fully own the war.”

The convergence between India and the U.S. on Pakistan has evolved at an extraordinary pace.

The Trump administration’s hard-line approach on Pakistan’s support for terrorism comes at a

time when New Delhi has led an active global campaign to marginalise Islamabad and bring its

role as a state sponsor of terror to the forefront of the global community. During Gen. Mattis’s

visit, Ms. Sitharaman reminded the U.S. that “the very same forces which did find safe haven in

Pakistan were the forces that hit New York as well as Mumbai”. Mr. Trump had made it clear

that Washington “can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations,

the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond”. The Xiamen BRICS

declaration earlier this month also listed Pakistan-based terror organisations for the first time. It

is not surprising, therefore, that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister has had to admit that terrorist Hafiz





Saeed and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are a “liability” for his country and for the South

Asian region.

Stronger ties with U.S.

The visit of Gen. Mattis also underscored the growing salience of defence ties in shaping the

trajectory of Indo-U.S. relations. Washington is no longer coy about selling sensitive military

technologies to India. China’s growing assertiveness in the wider Indo-Pacific is a shared

concern and this was reflected in the reiteration by the two countries of the critical importance of

freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce in the global commons.

Bilateral defence ties have been growing in recent years, “underpinned by a strategic

convergence”. As Gen. Mattis suggested, the U.S. is looking forward to “sharing some of our

most advanced defence technologies” with India “to further deepen the robust defence trade and

technology collaboration between our defence industries.”

The sale of 22 Sea Guardian Unmanned Aerial Systems, which was announced during Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. earlier this year, is high on the agenda. With this deal,

the Indian Navy will not only acquire the world’s most advanced maritime reconnaissance drone,

it will also lead to greater defence technology sharing.

As India and the U.S. expand military cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, new alignments are

emerging which have the potential to reshape the regional security architecture. In the past, India

had been reluctant to play an active role in East and Southeast Asia. Now as part of its ‘Act East’

policy, India’s engagement with the region has become more robust and Washington has been

encouraging India to shape the regional strategic realities more potently. At a time when regional

security in the wider Indo-Pacific has taken a turn for the worse, the U.S. is looking at India to

shore up its presence in the region. And India, driven by China’s growing profile around its

periphery, is keen to take up that challenge.

Gen. Mattis’s visit has highlighted the growing convergence between the U.S. and India on key

regional and global security issues. As the two nations move ahead with their ambitious plans,

the challenge will be to sustain the present momentum given the myriad distractions that

Washington and New Delhi have to contend with.

Hope in Darjeeling

The Union and West Bengal governments and the GJM must urgently begin tripartite talks

With a breakthrough ending the 104-day-long blockade in the Darjeeling hills, the Union and

West Bengal governments must move forthwith to consolidate the ‘truce’ and address the

setback to livelihoods and the local economy suffered over this period. The announcement on

ending the bandh came from Bimal Gurung of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which had led the

agitation. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s appeal to the protesters and his tentative offer

of talks brought about this turnaround, but it is his specific mention of the beleaguered Mr.

Gurung, who has been on the run from the West Bengal police, that made the difference. The

blockade had severely hit life in the hill districts, and it is clear that local support for the agitation

was waning. A section of the GJM, led by Binay Tamang, had shown an inclination to negotiate

with the State government. In a move to cash in on the differences within the GJM, Chief

Minister Mamata Banerjee had, a week ago, named Mr. Tamang the chairperson of a new board

of administrators to head the now-defunct Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, which had





been set up in 2012 as a semi-autonomous body with substantive powers. This followed

statements from Mr. Tamang asking for a pause in the stir pending talks between the State

government and rebel GJM members and allies. Mr. Gurung now found an opening in Mr.

Singh’s appeal. While the Minister did not commit to “tripartite talks” on the separate statehood

issue as demanded by the GJM, he promised discussions on other issues while impliedly

recognising the leadership of the official faction. That the blockade truly ended after Mr.

Gurung’s call suggests that the official faction of the GJM enjoys considerably more support in

the hills than the rebels.

The current impasse is a direct outcome of the failure to substantively devolve power to the GTA

as promised. While this summer’s agitation was sparked by grievances over Ms. Banerjee’s

initial statement about Bengali being made a compulsory language of study in the State, the stir

revived the demand for statehood. Put together, the maximalist position of the agitators, the

discomfort within the BJP government at the Centre on officially responding to such aspirations,

and Ms. Banerjee’s ploy of using the issue to sharpen a Bengali chauvinist appeal in the rest of

the State to gain more support for her Trinamool Congress, all contributed to the stalemate. Mr.

Singh’s appeal provided a face-saver to the GJM. The State government has suggested that it is

not averse to tripartite talks over some of the GJM’s demands, but it is not clear whether Ms.

Banerjee will agree to talk to Mr. Gurung. Talks involving the Centre, the State government and

the GJM are, however, essential. This is the best mechanism to discuss the empowerment of the

GTA, which is necessary to address the grievances of the residents of Darjeeling

Tokyo dreams

Shinzo Abe’s decision to call parliamentary elections early could prove to be a gamble

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has gambled his career by calling snap elections to the Lower House

of the Japanese Diet in late-October. The term of the House would have ordinarily lasted another

year, but he clearly senses a turn in the popular breeze in his favour. Whether the electorate will

vindicate his judgment, however, may well depend on the grit and tenacity of his challenger,

Tokyo’s first woman Governor, Yuriko Koike. The former television anchor achieved an

unprecedented feat last year by taking the city’s top job, trouncing the official nominee of Mr.

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party in a triangular race. Ever since, Ms. Koike, who had served

briefly as defence minister during Mr. Abe’s first term in 2006-07, has become accustomed to

thriving in a crisis. In a repeat of her growing penchant to take on a male-dominated

establishment, Ms. Koike floated a local party earlier this year, which spectacularly captured the

Tokyo city assembly in July. Now, following the surprise announcement of polls to the Lower

House of the Diet, she has launched the Party of Hope, drawing a number of parliamentarians

from across the spectrum, including the ruling camp. She has even pledged that her new party

would field candidates across the country. In fact, Ms. Koike has been quick to exploit Mr. Abe’s

decision to seek a fresh mandate more than a year in advance as merely a device to shore up

power.

But the Tokyo Governor, in turn, would also be mindful of criticism that she is abandoning her

current responsibilities with the plunge into national politics. This is especially so given the

coming Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, and any impression that she is abdicating the

preparatory work could be damaging. Meanwhile, the divided and demoralised opposition

Democratic Party, in the midst of a leadership crisis, could work to project Mr. Abe as a symbol

of relative stability especially at a time when the North Korean crisis shows no sign of abating.





His own personal ratings have also seen a remarkable revival, after allegations of his links to

controversial transactions in a land deal had led to a significant dip in opinion polls. The Prime

Minister still has his share of challenges to contend with. A new anti-conspiracy legislation to

combat terrorism was criticised for lack of public scrutiny and for incorporating intrusive

provisions on individual privacy and free speech. Even if he can win a re-election, regaining the

current two-thirds majority for his party is far from certain. Such a tally is critical for Mr. Abe to

legislate the controversial revision to Japan’s pacifist constitution, over which he has staked his

reputation. In substantial terms, though, voters may have little to choose between the

conservative nationalist stances advocated by Mr. Abe and Ms. Koike

Will Swachh Bharat Abhiyan be a success?

The mission for a clean India will not work without breaking the link between caste and

occupation

In the third year since its launch, the purpose of Swachh Bharat is still not clear. We have to

understand one thing: this entire campaign is to make India clean. But the people who actually

make the country swachh (clean), and have kept it swachh so far, have been left behind and

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to achieve this goal without their participation.

The caste link

To clean the country, you have to address the problems of those who have spent a lifetime

cleaning the country. You come out with your brooms and clean for a day. It is a photo

opportunity for most of you. But I want to ask, what of the remaining 364 days? Who will clean

your dirt? In India, there is an inexorable link between occupation and caste; the occupation of

manual scavenging is linked with caste. We have to break the link between caste and occupation

before we set out to achieve Swachh Bharat. It cannot be achieved by preaching ‘cleanliness is

next to godliness’. You have made certain communities from particular castes clean the country.

If that were not the case, why is it that for the last 4,000 years, the same communities are

cleaning the countryside? Without breaking the chain, those who make Bharat swachh will never

be a part of the campaign. You will be projecting an illusion and to promote that, you will

conceive of campaigns where the success of the illusion will depend on how well you promote it.

The Prime Minister has already missed the target before he set out to achieve the goal. He has to

come out openly and say that caste is the root cause of the problem he wishes to annihilate. He

has to say that despite the Constitution declaring the abolition of untouchability in Article 17, it

is still practised by perpetuating occupations such as scavenging. The cause has not been made

clear by the Prime Minister. Cleaning India is not a spiritual experience and he should not glorify

it. In the Indian context, manual scavenging is a misery, drudgery, so one cannot worship it. Can

a manual scavenger worship his occupation by cleaning someone’s faeces? One has to begin by





recasting society and its target, reconstructing society first by breaking the links between

occupation castes. Slogans like ‘Clean-up India’ are an illusion.

Shaming no solution

People are not using toilets because they neither have access nor the capacity to use one. You

cannot organise campaigns to shame them. If your priority is the poor, let them choose what they

want. The Constitution says the state cannot interfere in people’s lives. But by appointing

whistle-blowers who shame those who do not use toilets, the state is terrorising people.

Then, let us come to the toilets being constructed. Each toilet requires a septic tank. My question

is, who will clean the septic tank? Instead of modernising the sewer lines and septic tanks and

investing money and energy on smart techniques of sanitation, you are adding more problems to

the existing problem. You have no concern for those who are dying cleaning sewers. People who

have given up their lives in keeping Bharat clean, you have not spoken about their Right to Life.

All of this shows the insensitivity in setting this goal. The sewers are being cleaned by those very

people shamed in the campaign. Every month, there is news about people dying in manholes

after being ordered to clean them. Why hasn’t any thought gone into mechanised cleaning of

manholes in the city? Why is it the job of the most depressed man to clean up and lose his life in

the process?

The cleanliness mission will work because its success will have a liberating impact on

women

Swachhta (cleanliness) was an idea first articulated by Mahatma Gandhi, who said that sanitation

is even more important than political freedom. A mission as fundamentally transformative as

Swachh Bharat will not only result in intended physical outcomes but also a lifestyle and mindset

change.

The demand-driven performance in the last three years is anchored in the passion with which

Prime Minister Narendra Modi transformed this mission into a project of the people. He is the

first Prime Minister to have spoken of sanitation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, on August

15, 2014. In his scheme of things, sanitation is social transformation and is as, if not more,

important than economic transformation.

Mission on course

How are we faring on the toilet construction front? In the short span of three years, about 50

million toilets have been constructed in rural India, increasing the coverage from 39% to 69%

now; another 3.8 million have sprung up in cities and towns and another 1.4 million are presently

under construction. As against this, only 300,000 toilets were built during the 10-year period

between 2004 and 2014.

So far, 248,000 villages have been resurrected from the ignominy of open defecation; 203

districts, over one-third of the total, have banished open defecation. Five States have declared

themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF) in rural areas: Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala,

Uttarakhand and Haryana. About 1,200 of our cities and towns, about one-third of the total, have

already become ODF. More importantly, all ODF claims are scrutinised by third-party

independent verification.





One might cynically argue that building toilets is easier than putting them to use. This is valid

only up to a point. Credible surveys show that 85% of toilets built under this mission are being

used. Long-inculcated or forced habits take time to change, but they definitely will. The

alternative to not using toilets is to walk long distances either at night, as is the case mostly with

women and girl children, or at sunrise. This is more a forced option and a habit than a preferred

choice. Such habits must be made to vanish, and will for sure.

It’s about women

Prime Minister Modi’s mission will work for sure since its success will have the most liberating

impact on the women of our country. Surely no one can seriously believe that defecating in the

open is a safe and viable option for women.

All houses being built under the ‘Housing for All’ mission will have toilets and the title will vest

in the name of women, either individually or jointly. This is about women’s empowerment,

freeing them from domestic subjugation besides liberating them from humiliating open

defecation.

Proper integration of various components of the sanitation chain such as ensuring water supply,

seepage management, sewerage networks, prevention of manual scavenging and solid waste

management form the key for the Swachh Bharat Mission. Given the efforts underway to make

this chain work, the way forward is towards a Clean India.

Cynics and critics may point at something lacking here or there. They cannot, however, question

the need for Swachh Bharat. With such consensus and the evidence available so far, the Swachh

Bharat Abhiyan will work — the only alternative is neither affordable nor viable in an

aspirational India. The ongoing mass mobilisation campaign ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ highlights

sanitation as the real service to the nation. We owe a ‘Swachh Bharat’ to the Mahatma on the

occasion of his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.

The skewed importance given to rural areas ignores population explosion in the urban

areas

The key problem with the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is that the government is primarily

focussed on promotions and events of a repackaged scheme than its implementation.

The SBM was earlier known as the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan under the UPA government.

Moreover, duplicate entries, ghost beneficiaries and missing households were the first stumbling

blocks in SBM, as pointed out by researchers from the Accountability Initiative of the Centre for

Policy Research in a study conducted in December 2015. The study tracked beneficiaries across

7,500 households in 10 districts and five States. This made even the World Bank jittery, which is

why it downgraded the project and refused to release the first instalment of a $1.5 billion loan.

The overall ratings have gone down on three parameters in the World Bank report dated

February 2, 2017: progress towards achievement of programme development objectives from

‘satisfactory’ to ‘moderately satisfactory’; overall implementation progress from ‘satisfactory’ to

‘moderately unsatisfactory’; and overall risk rating from ‘nil’ to ‘substantial’.

Rural skew





For 2017-18, the government has allocated ₹13,948 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission-

Gramin (SBM-G) project; for the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) project, the allocation

was merely ₹2,300 crore. This has to be seen in the light of the 2011 Census, according to which

31.16% of the total population lives in urban areas. Also, the growth of population in urban areas

is at 32% and rural is 12% in a decade. The fact that the urban population is growing at a much

more rapid rate has been ignored by the government. As for the national capital, the only

instalment the Modi government released to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was in 2014-15;

no money has been given since then.

In urban areas, huge landfill sites running beyond capacity are the biggest problem.

Decentralisation, segregation of garbage at source, and encouraging community/household

treatment of waste is the only viable alternative. These alternatives have been successfully

implemented at various places including Alappuzha in Kerala. The Centre for Science and

Environment, in its survey of June 2016, assessed Alappuzha as the one of the leading cities in

terms of innovation and improvement of the SWM, but the government’s Swachh Survekshan

rated it poorly, which reflects the ill-conceived direction of SBM-U and its assessment

parameters. Moreover, such an erroneous approach by the government has a cascading effect as

government ratings motivate cities and their administration in the right or wrong direction.

Behavioural change

The components of the problem in urban areas are very different from those in rural areas. The

SBM has painted both with the same brush. It is only a publicity and construction spree. A case

study (Annual Status of Education Report) done in 2016 revealed that as many as 96.5% of rural

elementary government schools had toilets, but more than one in four toilets (27.79%) were

dysfunctional or locked. Under the SBM, no importance is being given to the upkeep,

maintenance and sustainability of these community infrastructures.

The focus of the SBM-G should be on behavioural change; the guidelines also require that 8% of

the funds be allocated for information, education and communication activities. But during 2016-

17, up to January 2017 only 1% of the total expenditure had been made on information,

education and communication. Where did the rest of the money go? Blown away in self-praise

ads by the Prime Minister?

An eye on the private eye

A Bill is pending on regulation of private detective agencies

Modern private detectives face complex challenges. Long gone are the likes of the ‘consultant

genius’ at 221B, Baker Street, London, who pursued a case because it was “art for art’s sake”, or

Philip Marlowe who could solve cases with his snappy repartees after downing a few pegs.

Economic growth and development have led to the establishment of a large number of private

detective agencies. The scale of their work makes them “business enterprises”. Their





professional expertise ranges from digging up dirt for divorce proceedings to background checks

on corporate entities, to tracking terrorism. The government feels that the sensitive nature of this

work requires some regulation.

The Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill has been pending in Parliament for the past

seven years. The statement of objects and reasons of the proposed law highlights the manner in

which the security scenario in India has been affected by international terrorism and extremism,

keeping the police and security agencies occupied primarily in facing these challenges.

The government notes that business establishments are increasingly reliant on private

investigators for gathering information and intelligence. Therefore, a large number of private

detective agencies have come up all over the country. While in most cases, these agencies have

helped in meeting the private investigation and vigilance needs of business establishments, there

has been growing concern over how these agencies function, as some of them conduct operations

without due verification of those employed as agents. Also not observed is due regard for the

protection of the rights of individuals who are spied upon.

The proposed law, the government says, would enforce proper norms for the functioning of

private detective agencies. It would make sure that agencies with “dubious reputation” close

down their businesses. In short, the government wants to regulate the functioning of private

detective agencies so that they are run within legal parameters and are accountable to a

regulatory authority.

The Bill provides for the constitution of a Central Board at the Central level and State Boards at

the State level for the purpose of granting licences to detective agencies. It also makes it

mandatory for private detective agencies to hold licenses to carry on their business.

Govt. studying report on online abuse

The Home Ministry has said it is examining an expert committee report that has recommended

measures to contain the growing menace of online abuse, particularly against women.

The report also deliberates on hate speeches and vitriolic messages on online platforms.

The panel was set up after the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information

Technology Act in 2014. The committee headed by T.K. Viswanathan, former Secretary General

of the Lok Sabha, submitted its report to the Home Ministry recently. “The Home Ministry has

received the report and it is currently being examined,” a Ministry spokesperson said.

Though the contents of the report have not been made public, an official said that it has

recommended measures to deal with growing incidents of abuse against women on social media

platforms.

The panel has recommended amending Section 78 of the Information Technology Act, which

mandates an officer not below the rank of an Inspector to investigate such cases of online misuse

VVPAT to be used in Gujarat polls

The Election Commission of India will use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) gadgets

with Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in all 50,128 voting booths in Gujarat, which goes to

the Assembly polls at the end of this year.





“This is the first time an entire assembly poll will be conducted using EVMs equipped with

VVPAT,” Chief Electoral Officer B.B. Swain told mediapersons in Gandhinagar on Thursday.

VVPAT machines, which will be attached to the EVMs, will allow voters to verify if their vote

has gone to the intended candidate. This would ensure transparency in the voting process, the

Chief Electoral Officer said.

The machine is being put to use in Gujarat following a petition filed by Reshma Patel, one of the

conveners of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti

There will be blood, if you ask on Facebook

Novel feature in social networking site makes it easier to connect to voluntary blood donors in

the time of need

A screengrab of the Facebook feature.

Social networking platform Facebook is all set to roll out a new feature that would make it faster

and easier for people, blood banks, and hospitals to connect to blood donors when needed. This

initiative is specifically designed for India, its second largest user base in the world.

Starting October 1, Facebook users in India can sign up to become willing blood donors. “All the

critical information, such as blood group and whether they have donated blood in the past, will

remain private and set to ‘only me’ by default. But people can choose to share their donor status

on their timelines,” Hema Budaraju, Product Manager, Health, Facebook said.

“In many countries, including India, there is a shortage of safe blood. Not enough people are

donating blood to meet the demand. In many cases, this leads to patients and their family being

responsible for finding donors,” she pointed out.

“So we spoke to blood banks, hospitals, health industry experts, and people who have used

Facebook to find blood donors, in order to get a complete understanding of the ecosystem and to

ensure that what we are designing will be useful to people in India.”

Over the next few weeks, the company will enable people and organisations to get in touch with

donors in an easier manner. “Individuals and organisations in need of blood will be able to create

a special post with information such as time, blood bank or hospital name, contact number, and

so on,” she explained.

Automatic notification

Once a request is created, Facebook will automatically notify blood donors who may be nearby.

Donors can then contact the requestor directly through WhatsApp, Messenger, or a phone call.





But the donor’s information will not be available to the requestor unless the donor herself

explicitly provides it, Ms. Budaraju said.

“Facebook is uniquely positioned to help since they are a large community of trusted

connections. People are more inclined to donate when there is a story behind the request. We

look forward to partnering with Facebook,” said Sonu Singh, Manager, Communications and

Operations, Rotary Blood Bank.

Wrong approach

Blood donation activists, however, pointed out that trying to create registries of voluntary blood

donors is the wrong approach to promote blood donation.

“This is the most incorrect method that anyone could adopt to promote blood donation. We don’t

need any registries of blood donors. What we need is a blood donor to simply walk in to any

hospital and donate blood, with or without any patient in need. By creating such databases, one is

only aggravating the shortfall,” said Vinay Shetty from Think Foundation in Mumbai, which

organises blood donation camps.

He said that a donor who is registered in a database keeps waiting to get a call for donation.

“Whereas ideally, a donor should not wait and simply walk in and donate after every three

months if he/she fits the donor criteria,” said Mr Shetty, adding that the need of the hour is to use

technology to connect “patients to the available blood” and “send reminders to donors after every

three months to donate” instead of creating databases.

According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, at the national level, there is a requirement

of 1.2 crore blood units per annum. But the country grapples with 10% to 20% shortage over all,

with some states showing a shortfall, and a few others collecting excess blood units

Centre to review flexi-fares on select trains, says Goyal

Around 700 trains set to run faster: Railway Minister

The Union government will review the flexi-fare system introduced in premium trains last year,

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

The Railways were also planning to reset its timetable by reducing the travel time for 600-700

trains through rescheduling and increasing speed, he said. “We are holding discussions to review

flexi-fare system in a way that passengers do not face inconvenience and the Railways are also

able to meet its revenues. There are chances of a few changes in the flexi-fare system,” Mr.

Goyal said at a press conference.

Minister of State Railways Manoj Sinha said the government was not considering any hike in the

rail fares at present.

The Railways introduced the flexi-fare scheme in September last year in Rajdhani, Duronto and

Shatabdi trains, under which 10% of the seats were sold at normal fare. The fare was increased

thereafter by 10% for every 10% of the berths sold. The highest fare was 50% more than the

normal price of the ticket.

The Railways had delayed the release of its timetable by a month to November 1 to redraft it

focussing on speed and efficiency. The Railways are also in discussions with the Indian Space

Research Organisation to use GPS technology to monitor trains for punctuality.





“My preliminary assessment is that travel time will be reduced on 600-700 trains when we

increase train speed and rewrite the timetable via organisation research keeping in mind

efficiency and better utilisation of rail assets,” Mr. Goyal said, adding that around 48 ordinary

mail or express trains would be upgraded to “superfast services.”

Maintenance work

The timetable would also be realigned keeping railway safety in mind so that stoppage of traffic

for maintenance work gets priority.

“We have ordered that whenever a safety team demands a traffic block, it should be immediately

given,” Mr. Goyal said.

This move holds importance in the light of derailment of the Utkal Express near the Khatauli

railway station in Uttar Pradesh that killed at least 21 people and injured more than 90 in August.

The preliminary investigation had found that the Khatauli station officials did not allow stoppage

of traffic for repairs and the maintenance team started working on the track without due

permission.

India signs MoU to train Afghan police

Chief Executive Abdullah meets PM

Close allies: Sushma Swaraj welcomes Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah

in New Delhi. PTI

India and Afghanistan exchanged a memorandum of understanding on Thursday, which will see

Afghan police forces trained in India for the first time. The agreement followed a meeting

between Afghanistan Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Prime Minister Narendra

Modi here.

“Prime Minister [Modi] reiterated India's commitment to extend full support to Afghanistan's

efforts for building a peaceful, united, prosperous, inclusive and democratic Afghanistan,” said a

statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

“The two leaders exchanged views on the security environment in Afghanistan and the extended

region, and, in this context, agreed to continue close coordination and cooperation,” the

statement added.

As The Hindu had reported last week, the MoU on Technical Cooperation on Police Training

and Development will see India expand its capacity building of Afghan troops to include

policemen and security forces, who are facing the brunt of Taliban attacks in the country, under a

UN Development Programme project.





Dr. Abdullah’s visit was delayed by a day due to a sustained rocket attack on Kabul airport even

as U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis landed there. The attacks also prevented Dr. Abdullah

from inaugurating the India-Afghanistan trade and investment exhibition in New Delhi,

sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development.

Dr. Abdullah, who is in India on a “working-visit”, also met with External Affairs Minister

Sushma Swaraj and President Ram Nath Kovind, and discussed deals under the Strategic

Partnership Council this month, which included an Indian commitment to 116 “New

Development Projects” as well as enhanced security cooperation

Japan to hold snap elections on Oct. 22

Oppn. to back Tokyo Governor’s party

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called a snap election as the main Opposition

Democratic Party threw its support behind a fledgling party led by ’s popular Governor, Yuriko

Koike, in the Oct. 22 vote.

Mr. Abe, a conservative who returned to power in 2012, hopes a boost in voter support in recent

months will help his Liberal Democratic Party-led (LDP) coalition maintain a simple majority. It

now holds a two-thirds “super” majority.

Ms. Koike’s new Party of Hope, formally launched on Wednesday, has upended the outlook for

the election after the former LDP member announced she would lead it herself.

Democratic Party executives said they would throw their “full support” behind Ms. Koike’s

group, not run any candidates of their own and allow their members to run under the Party of

Hope banner. The party has struggled to overcome rock-bottom ratings, defections and an image





tainted by its rocky stint in power from 2009 to 2012. “This will be a tough battle, but it’s all

about how we will protect Japan, and the lives and peaceful existence of the Japanese people,”

Mr. Abe told a group of lawmakers before the Cabinet formally set the date.

Political vacuum

A number of Opposition lawmakers boycotted the session to dissolve the lower house, in protest

against Mr. Abe’s calling the election and creating a potential political vacuum at a time when

tension with North Korea is high.

Ms. Koike, a media-savvy former Defence Minister whose name has often been floated to be

Japan’s first woman Prime Minister, said on Wednesday that she would not run for a seat herself,

but speculation that she will persists.

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed 18% of voters plan to vote for Koike’s Party of

Hope, compared to 29% for Mr. Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). An Asahi

newspaper poll showed 13% planned to vote for Ms. Koike’s party, versus 32% for the LDP.

Both surveys asked voters their preference for proportional representation districts where ballots

are cast for parties.

Mr. Abe’s personal ratings have risen to about 50% from about 30% in July, partly on the back

of his leadership during the current North Korea crisis.

But Opposition parties say he called the election to escape questioning in Parliament about

suspected cronyism scandals.

Ms. Koike, 65, defied the LDP to run successfully for Tokyo Governor last year and her novice

local party then crushed the LDP in a metropolitan assembly election in July

U.S. to cut refugee cap to 45,000

The U.S. will reduce the number of refugees it is prepared to welcome for resettlement to only

45,000 over the next year — just over half the figure for 2016, officials said on Wednesday.

The decision will disappoint refugee advocates and UN agencies, which are struggling to cope

with millions displaced by several major wars.

In the 2016 fiscal year, the U.S. accepted 84,995 refugees from around the world. This year it is

on course to take in around 50,000. The United States is still the world’s biggest destination for

refugees, but arrivals are well down from a high of more than 2,00,000 in 1980.

These are people selected abroad, vetted and admitted to the U.S., where they are ultimately

eligible for permanent resident status. So they are seen as not comparable to the millions of

refugees fleeing war and hardship and taken in in recent years by countries in the West Asia and

Europe.

And President U.S. Donald Trump has made no secret of his hostility to resettlement, having

ordered a moratorium on new arrivals and tougher background checks.

New security procedure

Officials said they plan to complete a review of security procedures for vetting new arrivals by

next month, but arrivals next year will be reduced.





“The security and safety of the American people is our chief concern,” a senior U.S. official told

reporters on a call to announce the new figure. “We need to ensure refugee resettlement

opportunities go to those who are eligible for such protection and who are not known to present a

risk to the safety or the security of our country.”

Those who are accepted for resettlement in the U.S. are selected by the United Nations refugee

agency from among the most vulnerable displaced people.

Widows with children, the elderly and the disabled are given priority and subjected to a thorough

screening process by U.S. security and intelligence agencies.

The process takes between 18 months and two years, and only then are the refugees assigned to

resettlement agencies working under contract with the State Department

FM urges CPSEs to spend ‘aggressively’

Increased capital expenditure by public sector enterprises can boost investment in economy:

Jaitley

Cash cows: As most PSUs have very low or no debt, they were asked to raise more debt and

rely less on reserves. PTI

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to

aggressively push capital expenditure and warned against any slackness as the government looks

to boost growth through increased public spending.

While reviewing the capital expenditure plans of important CPSEs, estimated at ₹3.85 lakh crore,

the minister also asked them to give “liberal dividends” to the government so that the money

could be used for funding physical-social infrastructure.

The meeting took place against the backdrop subdued private investments and sagging growth,

which slowed to a three-year low of 5.7% in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Heads of major CPSEs in sectors like petroleum, defence, power, road transport, railways, coal,

mines, steel and atomic energy have assured the government of raising capital expenditure by an

additional ₹25,000 crore, the finance ministry in a release.

“Finance Minister, while addressing the Secretaries and CMDs, stressed that the CPSEs may not

only complete their budgeted capital expenditure but should also look to aggressively push

capital expenditure in the interest of boosting investment in Indian economy,” it said.

Mr. Jaitley, while appreciating the commitments of the ministries and CPSEs, assured that the

government would make available adequate resources but “no slackness under any

circumstances would be acceptable“.





He indicated that the capital expenditure programme would again be reviewed at the end of

November/early December, the statement said. It added that in the discussions for raising capital

investments, it also came to attention that most public sector undertakings have very low or no

debt on their balance sheet which is reflected in their low debt to equity ratios.

‘Pay liberal dividends’

“CPSEs were, therefore, asked to raise more debt and not to rely entirely on cash and free

reserves for finding new investments and capital expenditure,” the release said.

The CPSEs which have free reserves and surplus cash “were asked to consider declaring liberal

dividends” so as to promote more productive use of such resources for financing much needed

physical and social infrastructure, the finance ministry’s statement said.

The CPSEs were also asked to release outstanding payments expeditiously to help improve the

liquidity in the market, besides raising more resources through innovative financing

arrangements like InvITs, and monetisation of assets.

After the meeting, Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) CMD M. V. Gowtama said: “Already year-on-

year capex has been increased by CPSEs. The government is ensuring we are on track... We have

already given ambitious projects, they [government] are reviewing it.”

Since private investment is low, public spending along with investment from CPSEs is expected

to drive economic activities and help perk up growth.

Centre denies terminating GE contract for diesel loco plant

Work on Bihar facility on track, one locomotive to be dispatched soon: Minister

Power saver: Electrification of the rail network is important to address the concerns of

climate change, says Goyal. PTI

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the project awarded to General Electric

(GE) to build diesel locomotives at Marhowrah in Bihar was on track, amid news reports that the

government was planning to end the contract. “The Marhowrah factory is being set up and I

think it’s on track. In fact, their South Asia and India head met me about five-six days back and

requested us to send people for inspection,” Mr. Goyal said at a press conference.

“One of their locomotives is about to be dispatched and will arrive here soon. So, the work on

the factory is going on. It’s on track as per the plans,” he added. GE had won a $2.5 billion

contract in November 2015 to supply 1,000 diesel locomotives to the Indian Railways.

Railways’ proposal





The Railways had reportedly proposed winding up the project, in a review meeting chaired by

Mr. Goyal earlier this month. “The government is firm on its commitment. Anyway, we already

are producing dual-mode engines in Varanasi. So, in future, even if we think on those lines, it’s

not a rocket science to convert diesel to electric plant,” Minister of State for Railways Manoj

Sinha said. Amid reports of government contemplating end of the Marhowrah plant contract, GE

had put out a statement this week saying any such move would put foreign investment at risk and

“undermine the government’s signature Make in India initiative.”

Mr. Goyal said that electrification of the rail network is important to address the concerns of

climate change. “In light of that, we had fruitful discussions with GE. I discussed with them how

their locomotives will be useful for us or how we can explore opportunities where some of these

could also be exported. Or if we can look at opportunities going forward where we can meet the

twin objectives of reducing pollution and saving cost.”

World Gold Council to form panel for establishing spot gold bourse in India

The committee will provide guidance in setting up the exchange

New order cometh: A physical exchange will enable jewellers and retailers to trade over a

regulated platform.REUTERS

The World Gold Council (WGC) plans to form a committee soon to help set up India’s first spot

gold exchange within 12 to 18 months, a senior official of the industry body said on Thursday.

Bringing in transparency

A dedicated exchange for physical gold is expected to pave the way for standard gold pricing

practices in India, apart from bringing in transparency into a market which sees large cash

transactions.

“We will be taking lead in forming the committee, which will have all the stakeholders,”

Somasundaram PR, managing director of the WGC’s Indian operations, told Reuters.

The committee, which is likely to be formed in the December quarter, will not set up the

exchange. It will provide guidance in setting up the exchange, he said, while releasing a WGC

report highlighting the need for a dedicated spot gold exchange in the country.

In 2015, Indian government had floated the idea of setting up a national gold exchange. India’s

push for an exchange follows the gold monetisation and sovereign bond schemes introduced in

last few years, designed to mobilise the country’s gold hoard and reduce imports of the precious

metal that weighs on the country’s trade deficit.





The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange

(NCDEX) currently offer gold futures contracts in India, but do not have a platform for physical

trade.

China model

A physical exchange would enable jewellers, retailers, refiners and banks to trade over a

regulated platform, the WGC report said. China, world’s top gold consumer, runs such a bourse

where gold, both domestically produced and imported, can be bought and sold.

Three-year-old takes charge as ‘living goddess’ in Nepal

Trishna Shakya will live in a palace and appear in public only on special occasions

Moving moment: Trishna Shakya carried by her father, Bijaya Ratna Shakya, as she

leaves her home and heads to Kumari House in Kathmandu. AFPAFP

A three-year-old girl was anointed the new “living goddess” of by Hindu priests on Thursday

and taken to a palace in the historic centre of the Nepali capital where she will remain until she

reaches puberty.

Wearing a red dress, Trishna Shakya was taken from her home to the ancient Durbar Square for a

short initiation ceremony.

Her father then carried her across the cobbled square — which still bears the scars of a powerful

earthquake that hit in 2015 — to the temple-palace where she will live under the care of

specially-appointed guardians.

Shakya was flanked by her family and men in red tunics on the short walk, the last time she will

be seen in public without the elaborate make-up of the Kumari, or living goddess, until puberty.

Mixed feelings

“I have mixed feelings. My daughter has become the Kumari and it is a good thing. But there is

also sadness because she will be separated from us,” said her father Bijaya Ratna Shakya.

Shakya leaves behind a twin brother, Krishna, who cried as his sister was taken from the family

home.

As the Kumari, Shakya is considered the embodiment of the Hindu goddess Taleju and will only

be allowed to leave the temple 13 times a year on special feast days.

At midnight, Hindu priests will perform an animal sacrifice, which the new Kumari will attend

as part of her initiation as a “living goddess”.





Historically, 108 buffalo, goats, chickens, ducks and eggs were slaughtered as part of the ritual

— a number considered auspicious — but the number has been scaled back under pressure from

animal rights activists.

The tradition of the Kumari, meaning princess in Sanskrit, comes from the Newar community

indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley.

It blends elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and the most important Kumaris represent each of

the three former royal kingdoms of the valley: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur.

The practice was once closely linked to the royal family, but has continued despite the end of

Nepal’s Hindu monarchy in 2008.

Selection criteria for aspiring Kumaris is strict and includes a number of specific physical

attributes such as an unblemished body, a chest like a lion and thighs like a deer.

Even if a girl fulfils all the physical requirements, she must then prove her bravery by not crying

at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo.

Practice receives flak

The tradition has drawn criticism from child rights activists who say the Kumaris are denied a

childhood and their isolation from society hinders their education and development.

In 2008, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled the living goddesses should be educated and they are now

taught inside the palace where they live and are allowed to sit their exams there. Many former

Kumaris have spoken about the struggles they face reintegrating into society after they are

dethroned.

The outgoing Kumari, Matine Shakya, 12, left the temple-palace via a side door shortly after the

younger girl arrived to take the throne.

Matine still wore the red Kumari makeup, which includes a ‘third-eye’ painted on her forehead,

and the ornate robes of the goddess.

The 12-year-old was carried on a sedan chair back to her family’s home, which she left aged

three in 2008 when she was anointed as the Kumari.

Fourth gravitational wave is detected

Advanced Virgo equipment in Italy records ripple through the fabric of space and time

Mysteries of the universe: A 3km-long arm that is part of the Virgo detector for gravitational

waves. AFPAFP





A fourth gravitational wave has been detected — this time with help from Italy-based equipment

— after two black holes collided, sending ripples through the fabric of space and time,

researchers said.

Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago as part of his theory of

general relativity, but the first hard evidence of their existence came only in 2015, when two U.S.

detectors found the first such signal.

The latest space-time ripples were detected on August 14 at 10:30 GMT when two giant black

holes with masses about 31 and 25 times the mass of the Sun merged about 1.8 billion light-years

away.

“The newly produced spinning black hole has about 53 times the mass of our Sun,” said a

statement from the international scientists at Virgo detector, located at the European

Gravitational Observatory (EGO) in Cascina, near Pisa, Italy.

“While this new event is of astrophysical relevance, its detection comes with an additional asset:

this is the first significant gravitational wave signal recorded by the Virgo detector.”

Recent upgrade

The Virgo detector — an underground L-shaped instrument that tracks gravitational waves using

the physics of laser light and space — recently underwent an upgrade, and while still less

sensitive than its U.S. counterparts, it was able to confirm the same signal.

Known as interferometers, these high-tech underground stations do not rely on light in the sky

like a telescope does, but instead sense vibrations in space and can pick up the “chirp” created by

a gravitational wave.

Previously, gravitational waves have been found using two U.S.-based detectors, known as the

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in Livingston,

Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington.

The first was found in September 2015 and announced to the public in early 2016.

“This is just the beginning of observations with the network enabled by Virgo and LIGO

working together,” said David Shoemaker, MIT’s spokesman for the LIGO Scientific

Collaboration

Low-cost test to pinpoint Zika virus

Can also detect dengue in blood

A new test that resembles a pregnancy indicator strip can help detect Zika and dengue viruses in

blood, according to a study which used serum samples from several countries including India.

The test developed by researchers, including those from the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) in the U.S., can accurately differentiate between the two mosquito-borne

viruses.

Serum samples

Researchers checked the accuracy of the test by testing blood serum samples taken from people

in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Mexico and Panama.





The paper-strip test contains antibodies that react to the presence of Zika or dengue virus, and

gold nanoparticles that respond to the antibody reaction.

“In the light of the problems with the Zika virus causing microcephaly and other defects in

babies born to infected mothers, it is important that a pregnant woman know if her fever is

caused by Zika virus or dengue virus,” said Lee Gehrke, a professor at MIT.

To use the test, a medical professional would dip the strip into a tube of either blood serum or

whole blood, said the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

“If it is a positive test, then we see a dot or a line on the test that results from the gold

nanoparticles that signal the antibodies recognising the viral protein,” said Mr. Gehrke.

Zika and dengue both belong to the same viral family, which are called flaviviruses. They are

two closely related viruses spread by the same mosquito.

The team developed the new test because current testing products sometimes cross-react between

Zika and dengue, providing a false positive for Zika when the patient actually has the other virus.

Currently, material costs are about $5 (₹320) per strip






































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