www.economictimes.

com | New Delhi | 28 pages | `10

March 13-19, 2016

www.economictimes.com | New Delhi | 28 pages | `10

March 13-19, 2016

Assam
12
SEAT
6 How Banks
S
APRIL 4, 11 Can Still

Its Recover
`9,000 crore
from Vijay Mallya p.03

Election The Two Views

from JNU p.17

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p.18

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23MAY 16

The BJP may have little to lose Kerala

in three of the four states that go to 140 SEATS
MAY 16
polls in April-May, but for a united Opposition
in New Delhi there's plenty at stake p.04-10
 02
MARCH 13-19, 2016
SEBI to Restrict
Wilful Defaulters
Bengaluru: The Securities and Ex-
change Board of India (Sebi) will re-
strict wilful defaulters be they
promoters, compa-
nies or directors
from accessing the
capital markets for
raising funds from
public and from tak-
ing board positions
in listed companies. The capital
market regulator also cleared a pro-
posal to tweak the definition of
control under the takeover code.
The Sebi board, which met in New
Delhi on Saturday, tightened rules
for wilful defaulters by barring them
from making a public issue of equi-
ty, debt or non-convertible redeem-
able preference shares. A wilful de-
faulter may also not be allowed to
take control over other listed enti-
ties. It will be a deterrent to pro-
moters who try to game the system.
This strengthens the banking sys-
tems position in dealing with such
cases, said Ananth Venkat, head,
corporate & institutional banking,
Standard Chartered Bank India.
Our Bureau
BSE IPO Gets Nod
of Mkt Regulator
Mumbai: Asias oldest bourse, the
BSE, is set to launch its initial public
offer (IPO) in the next six-nine
months. After nearly
two years of waiting,
Sebi announced on
Saturday that it has
given a go-ahead for
the exchange IPO.
The BSE had yet again
written to Sebi on January 22, seek-
ing its permission for the IPO. Sebis
announcement regarding the IPO ap-
proval came after its board meeting
on Saturday. BSE will take six-nine
months to file its offer documents,
said Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO,
BSE. The IPO would be an offer for
sale by existing shareholders. Chau-
han said notices will be sent to share-
holders by merchant bankers, seek-
ing their consent on the number of
shares and the price at which they
have to be sold. Brokers whom ET
spoke to said BSE could be valued at
over `4,000 crore. Our Bureau
RBI Governor Keeps Rate Cut Hopes Afloat
New Delhi: Reserve Bank governor Raghuram
Rajan has said the latest industrial growth
numbers were disappointing and, though the
economy was recovering, the process is
volatile, raising hopes that the central
bank may cut rates in its review early
next month.
The government has stayed with
the fiscal consolidation roadmap,
delivering on one of the crucial in-
puts that will have a bearing on mon-
whats news
Modi Taunts China on
Exchange Tactics, Trade
T
aking a jibe at China,
prime minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday said In-
dias rapid economic growth in
Asia is very distinct as we have
never tried to gain in trade at the
expense of our partners. We
do not follow beggar thy neigh-
bour macro-economic poli-
cies, he said while speaking at
the Advancing Asia conference,
jointly organised by the IMF and
the government.
We have never undervalued
our exchange rate. We add to
world and Asian demand by
running current account defi-
cits, said Modi, adding that In-
dia is a source of demand to its
trading partners. He vowed to
continue reform-to-transform
process as he called the country
a haven of macroeconomic sta-
bility and a beacon of hope, dy-
namism and opportunity amid
global problems.
India has shown that a large,
diverse country can be managed
in a way that can promote eco-
nomic growth and maintain so-
cial stability, PM said.
Calling India the rare bright
spot amid global gloom, IMF
chief Christine Lagarde urged
for further reforms in the Asian
economies, outlining six priori-
ties for the region to counter
challenges posed by the fragile
global environment.
Lagarde said some of the
broad areas for action include a
supportive monetary policy,
consistent with price and exter-
nal stability objectives; growth-
friendly fiscal measures and
macro-prudential measures to
safeguard financial stability.
Chief economic advisor
Arvind Subramanian said: Chi-
na needs to become a current
account deficit country to partly
facilitate trade-led model of
growth for other countries, not
just India.
Modi said the IMFs impend-
Rajan Wants a New System to
Assess Central Banks
New Delhi: Raghuram Rajan called for global central banks to adopt a system
for assessing the wider impact of their policies. He proposed that a group of
academics should analyse the spillover effects of monetary policies
and assign green, orange and red grades to indicate which should be
ing quota reforms will give more
say to countries like India in the
decision-making process. I am
very happy that the IMF has de-
cided to finalise the next round
of quota changes by October
2017, he said.
Pointing out that the current
IMF quotas did not reflect the
global economic reality, Modi
said India always had great faith
in multilateralism. All of us
need to pursue policies that pro-
vide a stable macro economy,
enhance growth and further in-
clusion, PM added.
Under the IMF quota reforms,
over 6% of quota shares would
shift to emerging markets and
developing countries. It would
also mark the shift in shares
from over-represented to un-
der-represented IMF members.
India and IMF signed a pact
on Saturday to set up an IMF
training and technical assis-
tance centre in Delhi for the
South Asian region towards ca-
pacity development and train-
ing of officials on macro-eco-
nomic and financial issues in
India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mal-
dives, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Our Bureau/New Delhi
used and which avoided. The system could be adopted along the
lines of the Bretton Woods currency agreement or through the
International Monetary Fund, Rajan said.
Modi and Lagarde at the Advancing
Asia conference in New Delhi
Modi, Nitish
Share Stage
Patna: Months after they
traded barbs during the Bi-
har election campaign, PM
Narendra Modi and CM Nit-
ish Kumar came together on
a stage, underlining the
need for better coordination
between the state and the
Centre to ensure proper de-
velopment of Bihar. Modi
was dedicating to the nation
the Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-
road bridge in Hajipur.
He intervened to calm an
audience that was chanting
Modi, Modi when Nitish
was speaking. Modi appreci-
ated Bihars cooperation in
the rural electrification
work. They agreed that Bi-
hars development is neces-
sary to ensure the progress
of the country. Our Bureau
the central banks board meeting in Delhi. Ra-
Reuters
Ghulam Nabis
RSS-ISIS Remark
Kicks Up a Row
New Delhi: Congress leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad sought to draw a parallel
between the RSS and the terrorist
outfit ISIS, evoking sharp responses
from the Sangh Parivar, which de-
manded an apology. So, we oppose
organisations like ISIS, the way we
oppose RSS. If those among us in Is-
lam too do wrong things, they are no
way less than RSS, he said at an
event organised by Jamiat Ulama-i-
Hind. Hitting back, an RSS spokes-
person said such a comparison
showed the intellectual bankrupt-
cy of Congress and its unwilling-
ness to deal with fundamentalist and
cruel forces like ISIS. RSS will con-
sider legal action, he said. Agencies
Dont Overstate
Bad Loan Issue: FM
New Delhi: Amid outrage over Vijay
Mallyas massive default on loans, fi-
nance minister Arun Jaitley cau-
tioned against overstating the bad
loans crisis in the banking system,
lest it hampers the entire lending op-
erations and growth. We dont want
to create a situation where we over-
state the crisis and, in the process,
the whole activity of lending for
growth itself starts suffering because
people become extraordinarily de-
fensive. We dont want to reach that
situation, Jaitley said. Agencies
Ex-PM Gowda Bats
For Vijay Mallya
Bengaluru: Former prime minister
HD Deve Gowda on Saturday de-
fended liquor baron Vijay Mallya,
saying there was no reason to target
an international businessman like
him. He is a son of the soil, he is
not running away from the coun-
try, Gowda was quoted by news
agency ANI. Mallya is facing legal
proceedings for alleged loan de-
faults by his Kingfisher group to the
tune of over `9,000 crore. Disgrun-
tled employees, whose salaries
have been held up for years, have
written to PM Modi, seeking his di-
rect intervention. Agencies
etary policy. We are in recovery. Thats broad-
ly what we said before and, by and large, we
would stick to that. There is volatility in this
recovery process. So, its not a strong (and)
sustained recovery where all the signals are
exactly in the same direction, Rajan said after
jan said industrial growth numbers released
on Friday were certainly somewhat disap-
pointing, within the overall broad direction
of strengthening growth. Our Bureau

Kingfishing
Expedition
The bird may have
flown for now, but
heres how the
banks can still
recover the `9,000
crore Vijay Mallya
owes them
:: Deepak Narang
E
xperience is the name every-
one gives to their mistakes,
said Oscar Wilde. Bankers in In-
dia today are an experienced lot
and need to thank Vijay Mallya for
this learning. They need to pon-
der, in a consortium meeting,
when, how and where they went
wrong, how they gave Mallya the op-
portunity to travel abroad, and how
they failed to take drastic action for re-
covery.
Its not that money cant be recov-
ered or that Mallya cant be made to
come back to India, but the issue is of a
debacle in terms of bankers strategy.
In this tussle, banks have conceded
round one to Mallya.
Lessons for Banks
First and foremost, laws need to be
amended to empower the presiding of-
ficers (PO) at debt recovery tribunals
(DRT) to impound the passports of de-
faulters, with some safeguard. Wilful
default needs to be considered a serious
crime. The process of taking possession
of secured assets should also be entrust-
ed to the POs of DRTs instead of empow-
ering the district magistrate or chief
metropolitan magistrate to do so.
As for the takeaways for banks, there
are many: One, forensic audit in one
form or the other should be made a part
of annual review of accounts. Also, a
chartered accountant other than that of
the borrower company should certify at
quarterly intervals that there is no di-
version of funds and the borrower has
brought in his contribution for the pro-
ject as per approved schedule.
Two, the end use of funds for loans
The author
disbursed should be ensured by the
is a former
bank. Also, no project loan should be
executive sanctioned unless its cash flow can be
director of monitored.
United Bank Debt should be converted to equity
of India. He
now teaches only if banks get a controlling stake as
at Amity is stipulated for strategic debt restruc-
University and turing schemes. Of course, intangibles
National Insti-
tute of Bank such as brands as collateral should not
Management be accepted.
in the news 03
MARCH 13-19, 2016
parties not related to the borrowers business
to prevent diversion of funds.
Recovering from Mallya
KFA is a classic case of closing the stable door
after the horse has bolted. Now we face the
question of the recovery of public money of
nearly `9,000 crore. Here is what can be done.
Mallya must have given his personal guar-
antee in 2010 when the restructuring was
done. If that is so, his personal assets can be
identified and the DRT can be requested to
attach them even before the judgment, if not
done already.
Winding up of United Breweries (Holdings)
Ltd can yield recovery, as some amount has
been ordered to be kept aside by the high
court when the petition was admitted; but re-
covery from his assets that are outside India
will be a long haul and his extradition may
have interesting legal issues coming up for
consideration.
It is also time now to recover `192 crore
along with accrued interest from Airbus In-
dustrie against which a case was filed in DRT
Bengaluru. The advance payment for pur-
chase of aircraft by KFA was given to Air-
bus but the purchase order was subse-
quently cancelled.
Pre-delivery payment (PDP) advance
was give by three banks, UBI, Oriental
Bank of Commerce (OBC) and Corporation
Bank on the basis of an agreement between
KFA, Airbus and OBC (OBC was acting as the
leader on behalf of three banks). When the air-
craft have not been delivered, the advance
payment given to Airbus ought to be refund-
ed. Airbus attempted to wriggle out of this
contract by pleading in DRT Bengaluru that
it had no jurisdiction in the matter. The PO of
DRT attached this sum lying with Airbus by
pronouncing that the contract was signed in
India between banks, KFA and Airbus for pur-
chase of aircraft, to be delivered in India, and
ZAHID money was paid by banks in India.
Likewise recovery from personal assets of
Mallya should be aggressively pursued. It is im-
Last but not least, high-value debit op- certain timely realisation of book portant that the public should not lose confi-
erations in the account (outflows) must debts. Here, we can compare sales re- dence in the capability of public sector banks
be verified to see if the payments are re- alisation with the turnover in the ac- to recover from the high and mighty. 
lated to the business activities of the bor- count and enquire into reasons for
rower. Similarly, credit operations (in- poor turnover. One such reason may
flows) should be checked be that the borrower
to ensure that the sale pro- has opened a current
ceeds are being routed If Mallya has account with another
through the account. given his bank where the sales
proceeds are depos-
Monitor the Gateways
personal ited. In the case of
The Reserve Bank of India guarantee, Kingfisher Airlines
is managing the payment then his personal (KFA), the company
gateways through which assets can be had opened accounts
all transactions of RTGS/ with two private sec-
NEFT (which enable in-
identified and tor banks outside the
ter-bank fund transfers) the DRT can consortium. This fact
are routed. Technically, it be requested was relied upon by
is feasible to obtain de- to attach them United Bank of India
tails of all transactions ( U B I ) t o d e c l a re
that can be related to di- Mallya and other di-
version of funds, or transfer to own rectors as wilful defaulters for the first
and connected concerns from the sys- time.
tem, and fix the liability on the borrow- Similarly, banks should get hold of a
ers and prosecute the directors for list of major suppliers of raw materials
money laundering and wilful default. to ensure the end use of bank funds.
In addition, banks should obtain a We should be able to detect those
list of debtors of the borrowers to as- cheques that are drawn in favour of
04 cover story
MARCH 13-19, 2016

State of the Nation:

New Season Begins
The BJP has nothing to lose except in Assam among
the four states and a UT going to polls in April-May.
But for the United Opposition in New Delhi,
there is a lot at stake. Heres why
ment despite the BJPs
numerical might in Lok
Sabha, this round of state
polls means a lot. A helluva lot.
For starters, the Congress is
staring at a real possibility of losing
one of the only two big states it
rules. All the three opinion polls con-
ducted in Kerala in the last one month
show the Oommen Chandy govern-
ment is on its way out. The party itself
Assam doesnt hope much from Assam where
it has to battle a 15-year-old anti-incum-
126
SEATS
bency. Gaurav Gogoi, he of the Rahul
Gandhi brigade, bravely commented that in
APRIL 4, 11 Assam 2016 it will be 15 years of his father
Tarun Gogois rule versus two years of Narendra Modi
government. But as we explain in the following pages, it
seems Gogoi Sr will have to bow out and the Congress
best-case scenario would be a hung assembly where the
West
Bengal BJP will have to face the embarrassing possibility of
courting Badruddin Ajmals All India United Democratic
294
SEATS
Front to come to power in Guwahati.

Advantage Amma & Didi

APRIL 4, 11, 17, 21, For the Left too, it is a battle for national relevance. The
25, 30, MAY 5 CPM has been punching above its weight in both Houses
of Parliament. To carry on with the same gumption, the
party will have to not only wrest Kerala but also put up a
decent show in West Bengal. Thats easier said than done
:: Praveen S Thampi in Kolkata where Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool
nother year, another round of state as- Congress (TMC) seem poised to come back to power for

A
sembly elections. However, the BJP can another five years with as big a victory as in 2011.
breathe easy this time, after the humili- The political curiosity in Bengal is the Cong-CPM alli-
ating losses in Delhi and Bihar. It is ad- ance that was unthinkable only a few years ago. Add to
vantage BJP right at the outset. It has that the X-factor in the BJP that made the party mysteri-
nothing to lose, could, with luck, form ously scale itself down after a lot of bombast a year ago.
the government in Assam, open its account in Kerala The poll season then kicks off with clear advantage to
and, in Tamil Nadu, and a proto-ally trounce an alliance the two strong women of Indian politics: the Amma and
of which the Congress is a part. the Didi. In Tamil Nadu, which often is a world of its own
For the Congress, it would be an when it comes to politics, the Opposi-
uphill task to retain either Assam or tion is a divided house. While Jay-
Kerala, and avoid being left with Kar-
For the Congress, it alalithaas doles, ranging from idlis to
nataka as the lone major state under would be an uphill laptops, have created a constituency
its control. task to retain either of her own, the principal opposition
For the Left, two of the three states Assam or Kerala, DMK is yet to offer a compelling reason
where it has a major presence are at and avoid being left why it must be brought back to power.
stake. Today, Tripura is the lone state with Karnataka as For BJP watchers, the irony is that
over which the red star shines. After the lone major state the party might earn more seats from
splitting the anti-BJP votes in Bihar by Kerala than from Bengal where it once
going it alone, the Left is now rediscov-
under its control challenged Mamata. All opinion polls
ering a friend in the enemy of the ene- and field reports indicate that the BJP
my, and hoping to have an understanding with the Con- could open its tally in Kerala for the first time in history
gress in Bengal, even while taking it on, with full dialecti- and could even get three-five seats in the 140-member
cal might, as the principal opponent in Kerala. assembly. Cut to Bengal: the party would be happy to
Kerala Tamil
Nadu This alignment of political fortunes explains the se- hold on to the single seat it had won in a bypoll after the
rene calm prevailing over 11 Ashoka Road, as compared 2014 general elections where it netted a 17% vote share.
140
SEATS 234 with the feverish activity in the BJP HQ during the polls And what do these elections mean for changing the
SEATS for Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar and Oppositions ability to dominate the Rajya Sabha? Pre-
MAY 16 MAY 16 even Jammu and Kashmir. cious little. Whoever wins in Kerala, Bengal or Tamil
But life is more hectic on the other side of the political Nadu, no seats will accrue to the BJP. A few additional
divide. For the grand Opposition that has so far been seats in Assam will not, by itself, tilt the balance in the
able to match every move of the Narendra Modi govern- Upper House.

T A M I L N A D U
Amma Superior
With anti-incumbency not expected to play a big role and Vijayakanth not
joining the DMK alliance, the Tamil Nadu election is Jayalalithaas to lose
:: G Seetharaman l Chennai
F
ew regional political scions have had to
wait as long in the wings to become chief
minister as 63-year-old Muthuvel Karuna-
nidhi Stalin has. He was a deputy chief
minister in Tamil Nadu, running the show
during his father M Karunanidhis regime,
and was declared heir apparent, but has
never held the coveted title. The upcoming
assembly poll, on May 16, is no different,
with the alliance led by their party, the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), de-
claring Karunanidhi, who turns 92 in June,
as its chief ministerial candidate.
Stalin may not have the top job, at least
not initially, if the alliance wins he will be
deputy CM but this election, more than
any in the past, will be a reflection of his po-
litical chops and popularity among the
masses. Between September last year and
February, Stalin visited all 234 constituen-
cies as part of his Namakku Naame (We for
Ourselves) initiative. The primary objective
of the roadshow, during which Stalin
swapped his traditional veshti for trousers
to meet youngsters, was to highlight his and
the DMKs approachability compared with
chief minister J Jayalalithaas, who heads the
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhag-
am (AIADMK), the arch-rival of the DMK.
One of the criticisms of Jayalalithaa has
been her aloofness from the people and her
partys attempt to score political points
even during the recent floods in the state.
When she went to her own constituency
RK Nagar (in Chennai) after the floods, she
was there for only half an hour and ad-
dressed people as Vaakaala perumakkale
(Dear voters). She is anti-people, says KS
Radhakrishnan, a DMK spokesperson.
The Floods and After
The Jayalalithaa government got a lot of flak
for its initial handling of the floods in No-
vember-December in five districts Chen-
nai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Tuticorin
and Thiruvallur which killed around 470
people and displaced thousands. Relief ma-
terial came with Jayalalithaa stickers on
them and the party held an ostentatious
meeting in Chennai after the floods. The
government partly restored its reputation
through its rehabilitation efforts.
The governments handling of the floods
and Jayalalithaas conviction by a special
court in Bengaluru in the disproportionate
assets case are among the few specific
charges being bandied about by AIADMKs
opponents. She was disqualified as chief
minister and was in jail for 21 days before
being acquitted by the Karnataka High
Court. There is no issue with an emotional
appeal, like the 2G spectrum scam of 2011.
Jayalalithaas opponents talk of sycophan-
cy, corruption and lack of inner-party de-
mocracy in the AIADMK because there is no
other significant issue, says Maalan V
Narayanan, consultant editor with Puthiya
Thalaimurai, a Tamil weekly. The last time
an incumbent party won the Tamil Nadu as-
sembly polls was in 1984.
cover story 05
MARCH 13-19, 2016
Freebie Ride
Jayalalithaa, 68, is riding high on a host of
welfare schemes, which her party is sure to
talk up during the campaign. The free rice
scheme (20 kg a month to each ration-card
holder) has helped in tackling poverty to an
extent, says Narayanan. Other govern-
ment schemes offer free kits for newborns;
gold for women to make mangalsutra; lap-
2011 vs 2016 CM Candidates tops and bicycles for students; fans, mixer-
(Seats won in the 2011 elections
in the Fray grinders and televisions for households.
against early projections for May 16 polls) The AIADMK defied expectations and won
37 of 39 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,
thanks in part to some of these schemes.
Total: 234 *Projected
An issue that seemed to unite all opposi-
tion parties last year was the call for prohibi-
**Seats Seats
2011 2016 tion, but it has lost steam. The AIADMK is
expected to field more female candidates to
take the edge off the demands for prohibi-
J Jayalalithaa tion. The government is the sole seller of al-
AIADMK
cohol and earns a lot from it alcohol sales
In this early projection,
AIADMK+ falls two seats will reportedly account for about `30,000
short of a simple crore in tax revenue in 2015-16, nearly a
majority third of the states total tax receipts.
The 73-day gap between the announce-
ment of poll dates and polling has sent par-
203 AIADMK+ # 116 ties into a tizzy since they have to be pru-
dent about when to name their candidates
M Karunanidhi Vijayakanth and when to start campaigning, to keep
DMK DMDK
their expenditure under control and avoid
fatigue among voters. We have to see if the
long gap has an impact on the campaign
crystallising around the governments wel-
fare schemes, says an AIADMK source.
In 2011, Jayalalithaa was able to trounce
DMK not just because of the 2G scam, which
saw Karunanidhis daughter Kanimozhi
and the partys A Raja, who was Union tele-
DMK+ ## 101 com minister, going to jail. She ensured that
the anti-DMK votes were not split, by joining
hands with actor Vijayakanths Desiya Mur-
Level of Anti-incumbency pokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). The
RAT
E HIG DMDK, founded in 2005, had hoped to
DE H
emerge as an alternative to both the DMK
MO
31 Others 17 and the AIADMK and fought its first three
elections alone, getting over 10% of votes in
VE
LOW
the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2011 assem-
RY
*Source: India TV-CVoter pre-poll survey bly polls, the DMDK won 29 of the 41 seats it
HIGH
** The 2011 figures show results of pre-poll contested, with about 8% of the votes.
alliances. #In 2011, AIADMK+ included DMDK, which
With the AIADMK getting a simple major-
won 29 seats; in 2016, DMDK is part of Others
##
ity, the DMDK sat in the opposition and Vi-
The DMK alliance includes Congress
jayakanth became the leader of the Opposi-
Methodology of pre-poll survey: Random stratified sample of 14,353 tion, which was a humiliating blow to Karu-
interviews covering all assembly segments in poll-bound states in February nanidhi; DMK had won just 23 seats. Things
have since been going downhill for Vijaya-
kanth. Thanks to the rising influence of his
wife Premlatha and her brother LK Sud-
heesh, the party has lost nine MLAs since
2012, all of whom have joined the AIADMK.
With his constant lashing-out at Jay-
alalithaa since 2011, Vijayakanth effectively
ruled out an alliance with her this time.
However, in the past few months, he was
sought by different political groups: the
DMK; a BJP-led coalition, which has so far
failed to convince any major party to join it;
the Peoples Welfare Alliance, which has
Vaikos Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (MDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthai-
gal Katchi and the Communist parties.
The DMDK, according to sources, had
demanded that Vijayakanth be named the
CM candidate of the BJP alliance, which the
national party turned down. The Pattali
Makkal Katchi, which is projecting former
Union health minister Anbumani Rama-
doss as its CM candidate, also demanded
the same of the BJP.
Earlier this week, Karunanidhi said that
The election office of Chennai whitewashed Jayalalithaas paintings on the walls, he was confident of the DMDK joining its
in compliance with the election model code of conduct
 06 cover story
MARCH 13-19, 2016

W E S T B E N G A L
2011 vs 2016

Strange Combo (Seats won in 2011 against

projections for forthcoming polls)

Challenges Didi Seats

Total: 294 *Projected
Seats

Mamata Banerjee reigns supreme 2011 2016

after five years in power. Can the
Students at My Vote My Responsibility, an CPM-Congress non-alliance unseat her?
election-awareness campaign in Chennai,
ahead of the assembly polls

alliance, which includes its old ally, the Con- :: Madhuparna Das l Kolkata

W
gress. However, Vijayakanth said at a rally in hen the talk of the town is the strange smirk. She immediately pointed to far-
Chennai on March 10 that his party would
fight it alone, which means that he would split
coming together of two Opposition par-
ties struggling for survival in Didis Ben-
flung Kerala where the Left and the
Congress are at each others throats in
184 TMC 156
the anti-AIADMK votes, which is precisely gal, you may think the outcome is a no- the state election that coincides with
what the DMK wanted to avoid. brainer in favour of the Iron Lady of West Bengals. What is the point of
Kolkata. But the Left and the Congress holding election in Kerala? The Con-
Who is the Ally? believe there is enough anti-incumben- gress and the CPM can divide the seats
Some say the DMDK is essential to the DMKs cy in the state after five years of Mamata between them evenly. I really do not
defeating the AIADMK. According to an opin-
ion poll by CVoter and India TV, the AIADMK
Banerjees rule, which they can reap by
holding hands.
understand the moral ground of their
alliance in Bengal,
INC 13
alliance, which includes some small parties, When Congress lead- when in Kerala they are
will win 116 seats and the DMK-Congress com- ers walked into the CPM For the first fighting each other,
bine 101. The DMDK could have added some
heft to the DMK alliance, since it is believed to
headquarters on Al-
imuddin Street, Kolka-
time, TMC is said Mamata. For good
measure, she added
42
going it alone in
have a 5% vote share. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu ta, as part of the talks to that she would go to
has never had a coalition government. (DMDK forge some sort of a
assembly polls, Kerala and expose
leaders were not available for comment. ) combined front in the having tasted the real face of the Con-
People of Tamil Nadu do not vote for some- imminent polls to the success in the
2014 Lok Sabha
gress and the CPM. 62 Left 114
one, they vote against someone. The anger state assembly, barriers
against Jayalalithaa is very palpable and the that stood for decades elections when it Didi in the Saddle **BJP
DMK has lost all self-confidence. They were were breached literal- junked partner As things stand in West 4
desperate for an alliance with the DMDK, says ly and metaphorically. Bengal, Mamata seems
6 Others 7
Congress
Ramadoss. He adds that the DMDKs not join- The outcome for West poised to come back to *Source: India TV-CVoter pre-poll survey
ing the DMK alliance is an advantage for his Bengal, on May 22, will power for another five ** The BJP entered the West Bengal assembly,
party, which released a draft manifesto as early depend a lot on how the alliance years with as big a victory as in 2011. For winning a bypoll in September 2014
as September last year. shapes up and, if at all, takes root. the first time, the Trinamool Congress
A DMK-Congress alliance is more than For starters, everyone is trying to (TMC) is going it alone, having tasted
enough to win the poll, says EVKS Elangovan, explain away this beast. Announcing success in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls
president of the Congress state unit. But we the first list of Left candidates last when it junked partner Congress. It CM Candidates
thought like-minded parties should join to week, CPM veteran Biman Bose ruled bagged 34 seats and reduced the Left to in the Fray
make it formidable. On the other side of the out any joint campaign with Congress just two; the Congress won four and the
political battle, there is speculation that the BJP and even any jote ba ghont (alliance BJP two.
might join the AIADMK combine. or ganging up). For Amit Shahs BJP, good news will
L Ganesan, a member of BJP national execu- Mamata, although wary about the be hard to come by from Bengal. The
Mamata
Banerjee
tive, says the central leadership took charge of potential harm from a united opposi- 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw a surge for the TMC
alliance negotiations about two weeks ago. But tion, reacted with her trademark party in the state and it looked ready for She is banking on
work has already begun in all constituencies. development as the
Both DMK and AIADMK will benefit from the main poll plank
fact that two cases are unlikely to conclude in
the Supreme Court before polls: the Enforce-
ment Directorates case related to a financial
transaction between the DMK-run Kalaignar * Surjya
TV and DB Group in the 2G scam, and the dis- Kanta
proportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa. Mishra
CPM
As alliances are close to being finalised, so-
cial media and messaging platforms like
*CPM doesnt officially declare CM candidates
WhatsApp are expected to play a big role. It
before polls. Mishra, as party secretary,
was evident in the DMKs advertisement tar-
is frontrunner
geting Jayalalithaa for not meeting the people,
and the AIADMKs counter about Karunani-
dhis absence in the assembly. Level of Anti-incumbency
Being the only state among the four large E
RAT HIG
poll-bound ones Assam, Kerala and West DE H
MO
Bengal being the rest where the two main na-
tional parties are marginal players, Tamil Nadu
VE

is sure to be an exciting political stage in the

LOW

RY

next two months. What make the scenario

HIGH

even more interesting are two factors: a weak

anti-incumbency and whether Vijayakanth
can play spoiler and hurt the DMKs chances. Mamata Banerjee takes part in a procession on Womens Day in Kolkata, kick-starting
her campaign rallies for the forthcoming assembly election in West Bengal
 cover story 07
MARCH 13-19, 2016

a takeoff with a huge Bengali Hindu refugee
vote bank. The BJP had planned to enter the
eastern gateway via Bihar, but that was not to
be. In West Bengal, meanwhile, the party
seemed to be winning new ground in Birb-
hum and Burdwan. But the inadequacies of
leadership and internal squabbles frittered
away a golden opportunity. If Shamik Bhat-
tacharya the only BJP MLA in the assembly
manages to hold on to his seat in Basirhat
(South), it would be a tremendous feat.
The Mamata government has been bank-
ing on development as its main plank for this
election. Stressing on the development pro-
jects she has taken up in the state, the chief
minister never tires of narrating the efforts
her government has been making to pull the
state out of debt burden.
Apart from the revenue model that she has
implemented, Mamata has also been pro-
jecting two success stories: in Junglemahal,
the Maoist bastion where a peace deal was
The Classroom
Wars of Bengal
The states universities are
in ferment as student
unrest dovetails into
an assembly election
:: Ishani Duttagupta
struck, and Darjeeling, which was hit for a
long time by violence associated with the
Gorkhaland movement.
Lack of investment and industry has been
a major stumbling block. A deep sea port,
coal block in Pachami and the MSME sector
have been some consolation.
Didi is confident, so is her party. What,
then, is left for the non-alliance between
allow the police on campus. JU has al-
ways stood for freedom of expression and
autonomy and we will solve the problem
through discussions. That has always been
JUs tradition, Das had said.
Wheres the problem, then? Capturing
pioneer institutions is the primary agenda
the Left and the Congress? According to po-
litical observers, their electoral understand-
ing might increase the vote share for the op-
position. In 2011, the TMC could secure 184
seats. The TMC-Congress alliance got 226,
with Congress getting 42, while the Left
Front wound up with 62.
Explaining the political situation, Biswa-
nath Chakraborty, a professor and political tures of the two parties are poles apart, they
SUBHA JIT PAL
withdrawing permission to the alumni as-
sociation to hold a seminar on Freedom
of Expression and Students Politics. I few ego tussles sim-
was approached by the alumni associa-
tion, seeking permission to hold the event,
but they had not mentioned that it was
open to all and thats why we had to call it
analyst, says, To form a formidable opposi-
tion, the Congress and the CPM needed to
be united in some form. If there is seat ad-
justment between these two parties, the
joint figure can reach 100 or maybe more. If
they fight a lone battle, they will end up be-
low 30.
Even though, the ideologies and struc-
needed an alliance to get the status of the op-
position. We know that the CPM was not able
to form booth committees in many districts
as their cadres had joined the TMC out of po-
litical compulsion, adds Chakraborty.
Meanwhile, the first casualty of an alliance
between Congress and CPM would be the
greater Left unity that Left Front chairman
Biman Bose has advocated. The CPI(ML) and
SUCI (C) have now decided to come out of
the Left unity in Bengal.
Opposition Gambit
The CPM has already announced its candi-
dates in 116 seats and the list looks bold.
Chakraborty points out that the party has
fielded 68 young faces as candidates, which
is close to 60%. This means that the party
has a future plan,
he says. The con- The CPM list
tours of the Left-
Congress deal have
leaves enough
to be worked out, space for the
but party leaders say Congress to
there are likely to be focus on its
strongholds in
ply because of the north Bengal.
enormity of the chal- TMC hopes
lenge in front of
them. The CPM list
for a walkover
for Mamata in

M
intu Paul is a 22-year-old, final- of the RSS-BJP so that they can preach
year student of electronics and communalism wrapped in violence, said
telecommunication engineering Arumita Mitra, a student leader at JU, who
in Jadavpur University ( JU). Besides his spearheaded the recent agitation and is a
classes and exams, there is something else member of the All India Students Associa-
that is keeping Paul busy these days. As a tion, the student wing of CPI(ML). This
student coordinator for the JU placement has to be fought by students. At the other
cell, he is working with placement officers end of the political spectrum, the Akhil
of the university and companies looking Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP),
to recruit on campus. Our placements BJPs student wing, alleged that activism
improved last year and this year we hope on the JU campus was fuelled by anti-na-
to do even better. Although tional elements. There were
there were student agita- anti-national slogans and
tions on campus recently, The VC of posters on campus. It is
none of the companies Presidency shocking that the state gov-
who recruit our students University says ernment is quiet on this issue
and hold campus inter- too much activism and the university has not yet
views have given us any could lead to taken any steps to book the
negative feedback so far, violence on its culprits, said Kishore Bur-
says Paul, who got a job of-
fer from Pricewaterhouse-
heritage campus manStudent of the state ABVP unit.
unrest that
Coopers in the last place- spread across the country in
ment season. the wake of the suicide of Hyderabad Uni-
Like him, Samita Bhattacharyya, who versitys Rohith Vemula and the arrests at
heads the training and placement cell, JNU is palpable on Bengal campuses too.
doesnt see either the recent student agita- With the state election due in less than a
tion or the upcoming state election as a month, political activism is set to peak.
cause for concern. Our students are our What we are seeing on many campuses
biggest asset. After last year, which saw a across India are attacks by the govern-
record in terms of the number of place- ment on freedom and democratic student
ments and salaries offered, recruiters are movements. In most cases, like in JU, inde-
coming back to the campus for more. pendent student bodies are reacting to
JU is one of the few varsities in India such crackdowns. Such protests are likely
with science, engineering and arts facul- to intensify in the coming months, said
ties on the same campus, with a student Kunal Chattopadhyay, professor of com-
strength of over 9,000. Despite protests parative literature in JU.
and slogans, some of which were said to Not too far away, on College Street, the
have been anti-national, vice-chancellor heart of Kolkatas academic district, an-
Suranjan Das did not resort to first infor- other vice-chancellor, Anuradha Lohia of
mation reports against students nor did he Presidency University, faced criticism for
off, Lohia told ET Magazine in an exclu-
sive interview. She feels that while healthy
and democratic discussions among the
student community have been the
strength of Presidency over the years, too
much of activism could lead to violence
and disruption of academic activities on
the prestigious and heritage campus.
About 100 km from Kolkata, the state
government-run Burdwan University (BU)
saw clashes between the Left-backed Stu-
dents Federation of India and the non-
teaching staff backed by the ruling Trina-
mool Congress. The bone of contention:
irregularities in the publication of BUs
results. I deeply regret the violence on
campus and take moral responsibility for
it, BU vice-chancellor Smriti Kumar
Sarkar told ET Magazine. We are under
intense pressure to hold exams of over
50,000 candidates before the elections in
April so that results can be published by
June and students can apply for jobs as
well as admissions to other institutions.
At Visva Bharati, vice-chancellor Sush-
anta Duttagupta was dismissed last month
by President Pranab Mukherjee after he
was found guilty of misconduct and finan-
cial irregularities by an HRD ministry pan-
el. Duttagupta alleges that he was unfairly
targeted by some sections of the staff and
campus residents because he was an out-
sider. Provincialism and nepotism have
hit the standards of what was Ra-
bindranath Tagores dream of a global hub
of academic excellence. With so much po-
litical interference in the academic and
administrative matters of Visva Bharati,
things will only get worse in the months to
come, he rued.
leaves enough space
for the Congress to south Bengal
focus on its strong-
holds in north Bengal. The CPM leaders
would have you believe that with the Con-
gress on board, north Bengal will ditch Didi.
The battle then is going to be in south Ben-
gal where, the TMC believes, Mamata will
have a walkover.
While we have to wait two more months
to find out who ditched whom, the Elec-
tion Commission is looking at one certain-
ty: a violence-ridden poll, considering
West Bengals recent history. Following
complaints of poll violence from the oppo-
sition parties, the EC has started sending
Central forces to the state. They have initi-
ated area domination and route march in
districts as part of confidence-building
measures. According to a senior officer of
the CRPF, till the first phase of elections,
close to 400 companies would be de-
ployed in the state. For six phases of polls,
around 800 companies will be there.
Polls in Bengal whether municipal, pan-
chayat or general election have always
been marred by violence. Mamata has al-
ready come out with what looks like a veiled
warning. Recently, she said quite candidly
that the Central forces would not be in the
state forever; and that once the elections
are over, she herself and her administration
would be in charge. Abdur Rezzak Mollah, a
rebel CPM leader who joined the TMC re-
cently, said in a public meeting soon after:
Will you be able to have a peaceful sleep
ever, after the Central forces are withdrawn
from the state? Only we will be there to pro-
vide security then.
The Left, and their non-ally Congress,
hope they too will be around post May 22.
 08 cover story
MARCH 13-19, 2016
K E R A L A
Will Lotus Bloom in Red Kerala?
All signs point to a win for the Left front, thanks to a Congress-led
government mired in scandals. But the million-dollar question is
whether the BJP will finally make it to the Kerala assembly
:: S Sanandakumar | Kochi
J
ust what do you do when you have a lead-
er who is more popular than the party it-
self? Celebrate him or sideline him? Well,
thats the nature of the conundrum that
the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
faces as it enters the poll season where
every survey, every pundit predicts that
the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF)
will trump the ruling Congress-led Unit-
ed Democratic Front (UDF).
VS Achuthanandan, better known as
VS, is the name thats both the bane and
the boon of the CPM. The 92-year-old out-
spoken leader the only living founding
member of the CPM continues to be the
most popular politician in the state al-
though the partys Kerala unit would rath-
er have him lead the campaign than be the
chief ministerial candidate himself.
It is on this wedge that the Congress
and a scandal-ridden
chief minister, Oommen
In a rare Chandy, rest their hopes.
intervention, That the internal contra-
the CPM dictions of the CPM will
ultimately let the anti-in-
politburo has cumbency wave wither
decided away. That there could be
that both a repeat of the 2011 elec-
Achuthanandan tion, when the outgoing
and Vijayan LDF government, led by
will contest. VS, was almost voted
A CM will be back to power, but the
party lost barely due to
chosen its reluctance to project
post polls old man VS as the CM
candidate.
Cut to 2016, and there
is a palpable sense of dj vu, but the
CPM central leadership has moved in
right on time to douse the faction fire. In
a rare intervention, the CPM politburo
has decided that both VS and his antith-
esis Pinarayi Vijayan who enjoys a
brute majority in the state party unit
should contest the polls. A CM will be
chosen post polls.
Rajashekharan, as a surprise state head,
the BJP feels it is all set to open its ac-
count in Kerala assembly.
Not only has it altered the bipolar po-
litical structure of the state, dominated
by the LDF and the UDF, it has also
prompted the coalitions to adopt more
aggressive postures in a do-or-die battle
for political supremacy in Kerala 2016.
Kummanam, while taking over the
leadership of the party from V Muraleed-
haran, had said that his goal is not just to
open the BJPs account in the state as-
sembly. The aim is to capture power in
the state this time, he said.
The BJPs confidence stems from the
18% vote share that it got in the local body
polls in the state in 2015. It shows a steady
increase from 6.1% in the 2011 assembly
polls and 10.83% in
the 2014 general
elec tion. Apar t Pre-poll
from a pro-BJP surveys do not
mood created by give more than
the Narendra Modi five-six seats
government at the to NDA. But
Centre, the party even if BJP
also had an elec-
toral understand-
manages to get
CM Candidates one member
2011 vs 2016 ing with Vellappal-
(The 2011 assembly poll win against in the Fray ly Natesan, the into the
general secretary assembly, it
early projections for May 16 elections)
Oommen
of the SNDP Yo- will be historic
gam, for the local
Chandy
Total: 140 *Projected
UDF
Congress has to fight
body polls. The
SNDP represents the Ezhava, the largest
Seats Seats Hindu community, and has traditionally
the enemy within
2011 2016 too, as factional feud been a source of strength for the CPM. Vel-
becomes bitter lappallys new party, the Bharat Dharma
Jana Sena (BDJS), is now part of the NDA.
The BJP pins its hopes on the capital
district of Thiruvananthapuram from
72 UDF (Congress +) 49 Pinarayi
Vijayan*
where five of its top leaders, including
Kummanam and Muraleedharan, would
LDF contest. O Rajagopal, who lost to Shashi
Tharoor by a whisker from the Thiru-
vananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency
in 2014, will also contest from the dis-
trict. Pre-poll surveys by different agen-
VS cies do not give more than five-six seats
Achuthanandan* for the NDA. But even if the BJP manages
LDF to get one member into the assembly, it
would have breached a psychological
barrier.
*The politburo has asked both Vijayan and VS
68 89
Playing a Tired Hand
to contest polls; will decide on CM afterwards
LDF (CPM +) Chandy came to power in 2011 with a
wafer-thin majority of two seats which
Level of Anti-incumbency has gone up to four after bypoll victories.
E
RAT HIG The deft politician who has perfected the
DE H
MO
art of playing his rivals inter- and intra-
party against each other would have
been holding strong had it not been for
VE
LOW
1
RY
BJP the unceasing waves of scams, a few of
HIGH
them directly connected to the chief min-
* Source: India TV-CVoter pre-poll survey; isters office. After the solar scam
Others are projected to win 1 seat in 2016
where a couple duped investors and con-
sumers of crores of rupees, promising
them solar panels, Chandy had to sack
three of his key CMO staffers besides his
BJPs Kerala Model need historys help to justify the anti-in- gunman. The resignation of finance min-
Kerala is not a state kind to its politicians. cumbency wave. ister KM Mani in the bar-bribery case, the
It doesnt vote back an incumbent to However, whats keeping both the adverse comments made by the Thrissur
power these days. But Chandys five-year fronts awake is the dramatic rise of the Vigilance Court against Chandy and ex-
tenure, which saw a wave of scams and BJP in the recent panchayat polls. With a cise minister K Babu in the bar-bribery
controversies from Day One, doesnt veteran Hindutva hardliner, Kummanam case will haunt the UDF.
 cover story 09
MARCH 13-19, 2016

A S S A M

15-year Itch?
As pre-poll rainbow alliances and potential post-poll
equations are hammered out, the anti-incumbent voter
may well decide the verdict in the northeastern state

:: Shantanu Nandan Sharma | Guwahati

O
n the evening of Shivratri, Himanta Biswa went on a rampage in protest against the alli-
Sarma, a former Congress rebel who is now ance with AGP, targeting mainly Sarma who,
convener of the Bharatiya they believed, was the man
Janata Partys (BJP) election behind the party strategy of
management panel for As- The rainbow alliance leaving 24 winning seats to
sam, organised a family
puja at his Uday Path resi-
is a big gamble for the theAngry AGP.
grassroots workers
dence in Guwahati. A terse BJP. The issue of tore posters and banners as
instruction was left at the immigrants may work local news channels covered
With CM Oommen Chandy on an inauguration spree before the code of
conduct kicked in, critics began to refer to him as Inauguration Chandy
bungalows gate not to let in lower Assam, the events live, with some
anyone in even as party but not quite in agitators threatening a mass
workers, ticket seekers and upper Assam resignation. They believe
those protesting the tie-up Sarma was the mastermind
However, Chandys accessibility and his public outreach between the Asom Gana who convinced Ram Mad-
programmes where he would dole out money to the poor Parishad (AGP) and the BJP queued up outside hav, national general secretary in-charge of As-
and the needy the Opposition says this is feudal in nature to meet him. As the priest chanted mantras, sam, to engineer this pact, without taking on
had kept him largely popular. Chandy is also betting on Sarma was checking email and the latest news board the local leaders and workers. Some pro-
the mega projects that he has been implementing in the on his iPad and taking calls that he considered testers dubbed Ram Madhav Rabon, the As-
state like the Kochi metro rail project, unavoidable. samese pronunciation of Ravan.
the Kannur airport project, the Earlier in the day, thousands of BJP workers
Vizhinjam international container Chandy has Dividing the Muslims
terminal and the Smart City project in perfected the Says Sarma: The main concern in Assam is that
Kochi. In fact, there has been such a Bangladeshi Muslims comprise 32% of the total
surge of inaugurations in the past one
art of playing 2011 vs 2016 population of Assam (Muslims as a whole make
month, just before the election code his rivals (The 2011 assembly win against early up 35% of the population, the remaining being
of conduct kicked in, that his critics against each projections for elections on April 4, 11) the Assamese Muslims who have been in the
refer to the CM disparagingly as In- other. He state for about 800 years). They entered the
auguration Chandy.
Not all party colleagues of Chandy
would have
been holding
Total: 126 *Projected
Seats
state illegally and later managed to get voting
rights. To counter that, we have a rainbow alli-
Seats
share his optimism on the poll out- strong had it ance not just with the AGP, but with tribal com-
2011 2016
come. The factional feud in Con- munities of Bodo, Tiwa and Rabha. Its the fight
gress is bitter, said a Congress leader
not been for of 32 versus 68.
on condition of anonymity. The A the scams Sarma is explaining the rationale behind cob-
group, with Chandy as its leader, bling up an alliance that risks alienating a large
would try to prevent the I group, chunk of local BJP leaders and workers who
which has home minister Ramesh Chennithala as its leader,
from gaining an upper hand, he said. Moreover, they feel
that the sharp fall in the prices of key commodities like rub- 78 Congress 44
ber, cardamom, etc, would affect the prospects of the party CM Candidates
adversely. in the Fray
The Congress biggest ally, the Indian Union Muslim
League (IUML), has gone ahead and announced its 20 can-
didates. That they didnt wait to discuss it within the UDF Tarun Gogoi
has already become a controversy, with the Catholic Church Congress
expressing its displeasure with one of the constituencies Congress strategy is
where the IUML is fielding its candidate.
Congress leader Pandalam Sudhakaran said that despite
BJP & Allies 57 to rope in BJP
dissidents and resist
communal
all this, senior party leaders are confident about coming polarisation
back to power. Our reading is that we have an upper hand
5 BJP
as of now, he said. If there are no last-minute setbacks, we
are sure of coming back to power, he said.
The decision of the Election Commission to hold the elec-
10 AGP Sarbananda
Sonowal
tion in Kerala on May 16 has given the parties ample time to BJP
prepare. One problem that the candidates are likely to face
is the shortage of adequate resources to see them through
the long campaign period. One Congress leader said that he
18 AIUDF 19
may not contest this time because he does not have enough Level of Anti-incumbency
funds. Earlier the bar owners used to give election dona- 15 Others 6 DE
RAT
E HIG
H
tions. This time they will spend to defeat us, he said. MO
The 2016 election can be historic in many ways. For the
BJP in Kerala, a victory in even a single seat is enough to cre- * Source: India TV-CVoter pre-poll survey; The
VE
LOW

ate history. For Oommen Chandy, a victory will help break survey was conducted before the AGP-BJP tie-up.
RY

the trend of the two coalitions winning alternate elections. The AGP is part of Others here. The full impact of
HIGH

For the Left, if it fails to win Kerala, it will cease to be a na- AGP+BJP alliance, CVoter says, will be known only
tional player. in the next survey.
10 cover story
MARCH 13-19, 2016

No Party Will AIUDFs The Problem of

Form a Govt
Without
Our Support
BADRUDDIN AJMAL
president, AIUDF
On why a Bihar-type pre-poll alliance didnt work out:
CP Joshi (Congress general secretary in charge of Assam)
was influenced by Himanta Biswa Sarma on this. Joshi mis-
guided Rahul Gandhi about this alliance. Nitish Kumar had
initiated the alliance talks. He called up Rahul. Prashant
Kishor (poll strategist and Nitishs aide) then met Rahul. But
Joshi played a game and misled Rahul. The AGP
initially wanted to ally with the Congress. And I wont be
surprised if the AGP becomes the first party to leave the
BJP and join the Congress after the polls.
On allegations of a tacit understanding between the AIUDF
and the Congress:
We are equidistant from the Congress and the BJP. The BJP
says the Congress has an understanding with the AIUDF,
and the Congress says the BJP has an understanding with the
AIUDF. The reality is both these parties are worried of the
meteoric rise of the AIUDF.
On his role as kingmaker:
We will be contesting in about 60 seats. I can say this for
sure: no party can expect to form the next government
without our support. But we will never give support to the
BJP because of ideological reasons.
Base is Illegal
Muslim
Migrants
HIMANTA BISWA SARMA
convener, BJP election management
committee, Assam
On the rationale for an AGP-BJP alliance:
The main concern in Assam today is that Bangla-
deshi Muslims comprise 32% of the total popula-
tion of the state. They entered the state illegally
and managed to get voting rights later. They have
enjoyed economic and social rights here. But
with Badruddin Ajmal forming a communal par-
ty, some of them began dreaming of taking over
Assam politically. To counter that, we have a
rainbow alliance not just with the AGP, but with
the tribal communities of Bodo, Tiwa and Rab-
ha. Its the fight of 32 (percentage of Bangladeshi
Muslims) versus 68.
On having a secret pact with the AIUDF:
The Congress and the AIUDF are together, but
they are not announcing it openly because the
Congress fears they will lose the mainstream vot-
ers. A post-poll alliance between the Congress
and the AIUDF is a foregone conclusion. There is
no question of the BJP aligning with the AIUDF
even after the elections. The AIUDFs base is ille-
gal Muslim migrants.
Dissidence is More
in the BJP Now
GAURAV GOGOI
Congress MP, AICC spokesman
On the AGP-BJP alliance:
The AGP-BJP pact does not have an ideological basis. It
is guided by vested interests. It may be an alliance
formed in Delhi, but at the grassroots, the party work-
ers of the AGP and the BJP are burning each others of-
fices, posters, etc. People of Assam are already seeing a
trailer of what is in store in case the AGP and the BJP
jointly run a government.
On dissidence in the Congress:
For two years, there was internal dissidence in the Con-
gress which, like a virus, weakened our organisation at
the grassroots. Now, the Congress is a united house, and
all of us have been working in sync. The problem is
more in the BJP now. All their senior leaders who spent
decades building the party in Assam have been side-
lined. And who is at the forefront? The people who
joined a few years ago.
On Rahul Gandhis poll plan:
Rahul Gandhi is focusing not just on taking part in big
rallies, but on reaching out to various communities
such as teachers, women, intellectuals, journalists
and spiritual leaders across Assam. His three pady-
atras in the state got an unprecedented response. The
BJP is imitating it now. Their CM candidate has been
participating in mini padyatras.

have opposed to leaving their seats to AGP, the
regional party that ruled Assam twice (1985-
1990 and 1996-2001), but drew a blank in the
2014 parliamentary elections.
For the BJP, this rainbow alliance is a big
gamble. Whipping up the emotive issue of
Bangladeshi immigrants may work in lower
Assam (middle and western Assam) and also
in Barak Valley, where Muslims make up 46%
and 37% of the population respectively.
These are also the regions where local resi-
dents claim to have been victimised by illegal
migrants. But the same formula is unlikely to
yield any dividend in upper Assam where the
Muslim vote percentage is quite negligible,
an area where the party had swept during the
Lok Sabha poll.
If the opinion polls aired by a local Assa-
mese TV channel are any indication, the Con-
gress will be the single largest party, short of a
majority. However, an opinion poll conducted
by CVoter put the combine of the BJP-Bodo-
land Peoples Front (BPF) ahead of the Con-
gress; this poll, though, did not take into ac-
count the AGP joining the alliance.
Ideology vs Numbers
Though the 32 versus 68 formula sounds
good in theory, the impact of the BJP-AGP tie-
up cant be explained by pure mathematics.
After all, the AGP, which was formed in 1985
by student leaders participating in an anti-
foreigners agitation (1979-1985), is also a sym-
bol of Assamese chauvinistic forces, some-
thing that alienates Hindu Bengalis who have
a sizeable population in urban areas across
the state. Also, the AGP had steadfastly op-
posed the BJPs move to give refugee status to
Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. The tie-up
led the Congress to concentrate more on this
segment, which had solidly backed the BJP in
the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
Within the AGP, a section of senior leaders
including two-time Assam chief minister
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta The AIUDF Angle 60-odd seats, could be the kingmaker. Its
was not very happy with
As a disciplined After the Nitish-Lalu for- spokesman Champak Kalita says the party
what was labelled in some soldier of the party, mula worked in Bihar to would choose the bad over the worse,
quarters as a surrender I accepted the defeat the BJP, a similar ex- indicating that it would prefer the Congress
to BJP. AGP-BJP pact in the periment was planned for to the BJP in any post-poll calculation.
According to a party in- Assam. Badruddin Ajmal, a If the Lok Sabha votes in 2014 were to
sider who did not want to be
greater interest of businessman, religious translate into assembly segments, the AI-
named, Mahanta went to dislodging the leader and politician, had a UDF would win 24 seats, but now its popu-
Delhi last week for a health Congress from sitting with Bihar CM Nitish larity has waned because of a strong anti-in-
check-up in Apollo hospital, power Kumar to work out a simi- cumbency wave against its MLAs (of its 18
and when a colleague sug- lar model for anti-BJP po- legislators, two have joined the Congress)
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
gested that he accompany senior AGP leader litical forces in Assam. and due to Ajmals inability to clear the air
him to BJP president Amit Nitish Kumar initiated on whether he has any tacit pact with the
Shahs residence, he obliged. Shah reportedly the alliance talks. He called up Rahul Gandhi. Congress or the BJP.
agreed to the 24 seats for the time being, and Prashant Kishor (poll strategist and Nitishs
more seats could be negotiated; the negotia- aide) then met Rahul. But (Congress general Walks, Talks & Big Rallies
tions, however, did not materialise. Yes, at a secretary in charge of Assam) CP Joshi played The BJP has already issued a list of 88 candi-
personal level, I did not want a tie-up with a game and misled Rahul, claims Ajmal, dates, the most notable being the MP from
the BJP. But as a disciplined soldier of the chairman of the All India United Democratic Jorhat, Kamakhya Prashad Tasa, and the
party, I accepted the pact in the greater in- Front (AIUDF) which, in its 11 years of exist- chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda So-
terest of dislodging the Congress from pow- ence, has become a political force to reckon nowal in Majuli, a 421 sq km river island off
er, says Mahanta. with in Assam. the Brahmaputra that falls in Lakhimpur
For almost three months, the AGP had In a scenario where neither the BJP nor Lok Sabha seat, which Sonowal represents.
kept the door open to an alliance with the the Congress can form a government of its For the Congress, the strategy now is to
BJP or the Congress. own, the AIUDF, which is likely to contest in rope in BJP dissidents former president of
the All Assam Students Union and BJP lead-
er Sankar Prasad Rai, among others, joined
the Congress on Tuesday and somehow
resist polarisation along a religious line.
When Rahul participated in a padyatra in
Sibsagar early this month, the local leader-
ship made it a point to highlight his visits to
Muslim areas as well as to Shiva Dol, a tem-
ple built by an Ahom king.
Padyatras are so successful that every dis-
trict Congress committee wants Rahul to do
one in their district, says AICC spokesman
and MP Gaurav Gogoi, indicating that Rahuls
campaign in the coming days will be a mix of
walks and big rallies.
The big question, of course, is whether Ra-
hul Gandhi can walk the talk and resist a
15-year-long anti-incumbency in the north-
eastern state. 

It Happened
in Haryana
A two-day global summit culminated in an
MoU-signing spree, although the violent Jat
agitation for reservation may cast a shadow on
those deals translating into actual investments
:: Prerna Katiyar
A
few Sundays ago, a slogan such
as Happening Haryana would
have invited humour of the
darkest kind. After all, thats
when a protest for reservations
by the Jat community of the
state for inclusion in the Other
Backward Classes category
turned violent, culminating in
the death of at least 30 people
and an economic loss that was
pegged at `35,000 crore.
Time is said to be a good heal-
er, but there are ways to provide
a soothing touch of the shotgun
type, too. Less than a month af-
ter the agitation began, it was
time for a two-day Global Inves-
tors Summit earlier this week
which, of course, would have
been in the works much before
the latest burst of reservation
protests began in Haryana. We
have worked for one and a half
years to make this event a suc-
cess, said Haryana chief minis-
ter Manohar Lal Khattar.
Money Talks
Firmly behind the states BJP-run
government was a bevy of 13
Cabinet heavyweights, including
finance minister Arun Jaitley, de-
fence minister Manohar Parri-
kar, minister for road, transport,
highways and shipping Nitin
Gadkari and ministers of state
Piyush Goyal (who has inde-
pendent charge of power) and
Jayant Sinha (finance).
Against the investment targets
of `4.25 lakh crore set by the
state, deals worth `5.8 lakh crore
were signed, as per state govern-
ment data. Some 359 memoran-
da of understanding were signed
during the two-day extravaganza
at a plush hotel in Gurgaon. The
conversion rate of such pledges
into real investments in Haryana
was 19% in 2014, as per a study by
Friedrich Naumann and Cato In-
stitutes. The CM is working to-
wards (by way of an industrial
push) the larger goal of poverty
eradication, said Gadkari.
Haryana health minister Anil
Days of
agitation Lives lost FIRs filed
10 30 2,012 `35,000 crore
Vij brushed aside the Jat agita-
tion, telling ET Magazine that it
was just an incident, and that
investors do not care for such
protests; minister of state for
defence Rao Inderjit Singh as-
sured the corporate honchos
present that the environment
of the state here on will be peace-
ful and no such agitation will
happen in the future; and Khat-
tar reckoned the timing was just
right. I do not think the Jat agita-
tions would have a negative im-
pact on our business focus. The
experiments that we did in the
last few months are now bearing
fruit, he told ET Magazine.
For good measure, spiritual gu-
rus too lent their weight at the
event. Ramdev of yoga and noo-
dles fame exuded that if the po-
litical responsibility of any mis-
hap lies with the CM, I will take
the naitik (ethical) responsibility
should anything happen in fu-
ture. Art of Living founder Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar felt that the people
of Haryana have a lot of resil-
ience. Start investing in the state
for your own as well as the coun-
trys benefit.
However, for the not so meta-
physical, show-me-the-infra-
structure-and-I-will-show-you-
Estimated
economic loss
the-money captains of industry,
law and order is a box thats
among the first to be ticked when
venturing into uncharted territo-
ry. Any investor looks for securi-
ty, and law and order; recent
events have cast a shadow on
that. Im sure that the chief minis-
ter will do whatever he can to
maintain social harmony and law
and order, said a cautious
Anand Mahindra, chairman and
managing director, Mahindra &
Mahindra, in a video message at
the summit.
Conditions Apply
The dichotomy of Haryana is best
captured by two sets of data.
One, Haryana has a middling
rank in the 2015 World Bank Ease
of Doing Business Index; at 14th,
it is ahead of states like Delhi,
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and
Kerala. But it ranks higher on an-
other unenviable front: fourth in
the rate of total cognizable crimes
committed in 2014, the latest year
for which data is available.
With memories and trauma of
the inter-caste agitation that
turned violent over 10 days still
fresh, the timing of the summit
did raise some eyebrows. This
was not the right time for a busi-
in focus 11
MARCH 13-19, 2016
Days of Total MoUs Deals signed Conversion
summit signed worth rate in 2014*
2 359 `5.8 lakh crore 19%
*Source: Friedrich Naumann and Cato Institutes
ness summit. It is time for rap-
The timing
prochement towards all the com-
is just right munities, said social scientist
for the Shiv Visvanathan.
global But if the states are in a hurry,
investors its with good reason. Says RC
summit. Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Su-
I do not think the Jat zuki, which has two factories in
agitation has had a Haryana, one each in Gurgaon
negative impact on our and Manesar: In the coming
business focus days, India is likely to see a big
Manohar Lal Khattar wave of investment. At this time
chief minister, Haryana of competitive federalism, it is a
question of which state does
This was what, how, how much and when
not the right to create the right conditions for
time for a investment, he told ET Maga-
business zine. Clearly, time is of essence in
summit. It these competitive climes, evi-
is time for denced by at least eight similar
rapprochement towards summits (in West Bengal, Uttar
all the communities hit Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Andhra
by the strife Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
and Himachal Pradesh) in the
Shiv Visvanathan past seven months, each tom-
social scientist
tomming the number of multi-
million dollar MoUs in the bag.
In India the
gap between Perform or Perish
whats put Shantanu Prakash, managing di-
down on rector, Educomp, feels new in-
paper and dustries in Gurgaon are hardly
what worried about Jat agitations. Be-
translates into action is ing part of the hi-tech industry,
huge. I hope Haryana can we barely have to deal with Jats
close the gap between issues. Perhaps those in the man-
policy and reality ufacturing space might have to
worry on this front.
RC Bhargava
chairman, Maruti Suzuki Marutis Bhargava spells out
that concern subtly but succinct-
ly. Many promises are made in
We have such summits. But ultimately
been potential investors will look for
deepening real conditions on the ground
our roots in here I am not talking about sub-
Haryana. sidies. In India the gap between
Were very whats put down on paper and
excited about this next what translates into action is
phase of growth huge. I hope Haryana is one of
Pawan Munjal the states that can close the gap
CMD, Hero MotoCorp between policy and reality. 
12 centrespread centrespread 13
MARCH 13-19, 2016 MARCH 13-19, 2016

If someone did a Donald

onal
on ald
d Tr
Trump Anil Ambani was often th the
he be
bett
better
tter
er
in India, it was Zee TV
TV rubhai A
known son of Dhirubhai mban
mb
Ambani,ani,i,
promoter Subhash CChandra,
hand
ha n ra, helming Reliance Industrie ies'
Industries's'
who produced a desiesi av
aavatar
atar ell as prom
fund-raising as well omot otio
iona
promotional nall The serial entrepreneur and head of Virgin Group was advised by
What Mallya and Sahara Group's Subrata Roy tried as team of BBCs The Apprentice
enti
en t ce, activities. When thee Reliance
ce eempire
mpir
mp iree sp
spli
split,
lit,
t, his mentor to make a fool out of himself to promote his brand. He
owners on the Formula One circuit, Gautam Singhania is called Business Baazigar
azigar. media and entertainment
men entt was
was a largergee part
larg
la part did that with elan, from posing naked to riding elephants (both
doing as a driver in the Ferrari Challenge. In 2015, he won a Chandra also tried to do a Kerry of Anil Ambanis visible
ible
ib le eempire
mpir
mp iree with
with not at the same time, though). Read on to find out what he did
race and finished on the podium 10 times. The man who reoriented Packer by starting thee Indian an ad agency, film production
rodu
ro ductctio
ionn when he lost a bet with Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes
the Raymond Group into one fully focused on clothing and dress Cricket League, ropingg in Kapil and distribution companies.
mpa pani
nies
es..
material seems to have taken his love for fast cars up a notch. Dev when he lost the rights to However, the Anil Ambani
mba banini
Singhania also owns boats, yachts and airplanes. One of his yachts telecast cricket in India
ia of today is a different
nt When he started
was used by Liz Hurley for her wedding with Arun Nayar man, who looks and aacts ctss
ct his campaign for
older and is busy building
ilildi
ding
ng the Republican
businesses in key sectors
ctors
ct nomination to
like defence become the
president of
the US, many
thought it was
another stunt
Many names do not quite make the cut, even though they have bigger stables and larger cars and spend to promote his
more on their pastimes than any. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani famously gifted his wife Nita brands. It has
A scion of the Modi family, Lalit Modis turned a little more serious now. From television to trophy
an Airbus 320 for her 50th birthday. Ajay Piramals collection of race horses can beat most other as
:: Suman Layak own business interests are much lesser wives, Trump has done much more and stayed in the news
can Cyrus Poonawallas collection of cars. As a sportsman, Naveen Jindal probably can match
the exploits of Singhania. And who can forget LN Mittal hiring Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
known than his exploits iin promoting

V
ijay Mallya may no longer be
the king of good times, but
a flamboyant lifestyle and
extravagant hobbies don't always have
to correlate with loans that go bad
and ventures that go bust. Globally,
billionaires like Richard Branson and
Larry Ellison have made as much news
for kite-surfing with models (Branson)
and their fast cars, jets and yachts
(Ellison) as for their adventures and
a few misadventures with business.
Back home, flashing one's wealth
may still invite disapproving nods, but
here aree a few
few
alists who
industrialists who
don't mindin
nd revving
revving
and Saif Ali Khan to dance at the wedding of his daughter Vanisha? The latest on the list would Twenty20 cricket. He is ththe man who
include newly anointed chief executive of SoftBanks global operations Nikesh Arora. The former brought Fashion TV to India,
Ind and was
the first distributor of ES
ESPN. He also The founder of Oracle
Google honcho's wedding with Thapar scion Ayesha had Hollywood celebrities like Ashton Kutcher
among the guests. However, for these gentlemen, glamour will always be the sideshow launched a lottery in Kerala called Sixo in has been chastised by his
2002. His claim to fame was, of course, the accountants for stretching his
credit limits to buy luxury
IPL, of which he was the commissioner
com and
cars, yachts and mansions. For
successfully took the second IPL to South
Africa when elections were held in India
his fourth marriage, Ellison
had Apple founder Steve Jobs
rubbed too many
in 2009. In the end he rub as the photographer. Ellison
Indian heavyweights the wrong way once sued his neighbours
for three trees that were
blocking his view
Manu Chhabria,
Rajan Pillai and Russi The richest man in China, Alibaba founder
Mody were serious
businessmen who
Jack Ma once donned a leather jacket and a
"Arun" who? you may well ask till Mohican wig to sing Elton Johns Can you
could give film stars
Son of a cashew trader, Pillai went on He was probably the most feel the love tonight for his employees.
you remember him not as the man
a run for their money
on the newsmaking
to become a 'biscuit baron'. Life in the charismatic person ever to head with business interests in textiles
His personal interests include traditional
The liquor and electronics medicine, poker and history and insists
quotient. The world baron, his younger brother
fast lane got going when he married a steel plant, and could possibly and computers but as the beau of Liz on giving each employee a nick-name from
jet-setting socialite Nina PIllai till have been as successful in any Hurley whom he met in 2002 and
has lost some colour
since their demise
Kishore confessed, would
he got caught in a bruising battle for other industry. He learned to fly married in 2007. However, the media
a martial arts serial

up theirr hot rods

ro
ods feel uncomfortable if the
Britannia Industries with Nusli Wadia, a airplanes after he crossed 50 and frenzy ended when they broke up.
media did not discuss him;
whhilee, or
once in a while, hacks who met him remember
battle he lost. It was all downhill from was as famous for his business The only ripple created by Nayar last
there, culminating in charges of fraud, leadership of Tata Steel as for his year was
ear w when
as w hen
he n he ggot
ot engaged
eng
ngag
aged
ed to a
gging the
just hogging the the meets less for his gyaan and
and his untimely death in Tihar Jail 16-egg omlettes Hurleyy llookalike
urley ookalike The founder of Malaysian
more for his colourful language
ht, even
limelight, even airline AirAsia, also owns
English football club Queens
dictate
as they dictate Park Rangers and is also
strategyy from
from their
their founder of the Caterham
Formula One team. Richard
rooms on
corner rooms on Branson, who owns an F1
most daysays team, once lost a bet with
Fernandes and as part of the
deal served as a stewardess
on an AirAsia flight in 2013
I L L U ST R AT I O N S : S U N E E S H K

From bringing back Tipu Sultans sword to India to Subrata Roy, co-owner of Vijay Mallyas Formula One
getting elected to the Rajya Sabha to owning cricket, venture Force One, has been trying hard to sell the stake; it's
The Russian billionaire and
football and Formula One teams, there seems to be little not easy since he is in jail, and trying to rustle up `10,000
owner of private investment
Mallya has not done to court glamour, alongside business crore to get bail by disposing assets. Roy built his fortune on
company Millhouse LLC is
success. His multiple business interests and glamorous a small-savings business and branched out in many directions, better known as the owner
promotion techniques also got him the sobriquet of the "Richard assiduously cultivating Bollywood stars and often inviting them of the English football
Branson of India. The launch of Kingfisher Airlines reinforced to sit on his company boards. He also sponsored the Indian cricket Club Chelsea. Abramovich
that image just for a while, though but what fared better team for almost two decades after ITC withdrew, and briefly often makes news outside
than the airline was the kittenish Kingfisher calendar, now in its owned an IPL team too. His last project, a book titled Life Mantras, business often in politics.
fourteenth year. The airline went belly up in 10 years is sombrely touted as the first of the Thoughts from Tihar trilogy For instance, it was revealed
that he had gifted a $35
million yacht to Russian
president Vladimir Putin
12 centrespread centrespread 13
MARCH 13-19, 2016 MARCH 13-19, 2016

If someone did a Donald

onal
on ald
d Tr
Trump Anil Ambani was often th the
he be
bett
better
tter
er
in India, it was Zee TV
TV rubhai A
known son of Dhirubhai mban
mb
Ambani,ani,i,
promoter Subhash CChandra,
hand
ha n ra, helming Reliance Industrie ies'
Industries's'
who produced a desiesi av
aavatar
atar ell as prom
fund-raising as well omot otio
iona
promotional nall The serial entrepreneur and head of Virgin Group was advised by
What Mallya and Sahara Group's Subrata Roy tried as team of BBCs The Apprentice
enti
en t ce, activities. When thee Reliance
ce eempire
mpir
mp iree sp
spli
split,
lit,
t, his mentor to make a fool out of himself to promote his brand. He
owners on the Formula One circuit, Gautam Singhania is called Business Baazigar
azigar. media and entertainment
men entt was
was a largergee part
larg
la part did that with elan, from posing naked to riding elephants (both
doing as a driver in the Ferrari Challenge. In 2015, he won a Chandra also tried to do a Kerry of Anil Ambanis visible
ible
ib le eempire
mpir
mp iree with
with not at the same time, though). Read on to find out what he did
race and finished on the podium 10 times. The man who reoriented Packer by starting thee Indian an ad agency, film production
rodu
ro ductctio
ionn when he lost a bet with Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes
the Raymond Group into one fully focused on clothing and dress Cricket League, ropingg in Kapil and distribution companies.
mpa pani
nies
es..
material seems to have taken his love for fast cars up a notch. Dev when he lost the rights to However, the Anil Ambani
mba banini
Singhania also owns boats, yachts and airplanes. One of his yachts telecast cricket in India
ia of today is a different
nt When he started
was used by Liz Hurley for her wedding with Arun Nayar man, who looks and aacts ctss
ct his campaign for
older and is busy building
ilildi
ding
ng the Republican
businesses in key sectors
ctors
ct nomination to
like defence become the
president of
the US, many
thought it was
another stunt
Many names do not quite make the cut, even though they have bigger stables and larger cars and spend to promote his
more on their pastimes than any. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani famously gifted his wife Nita brands. It has
A scion of the Modi family, Lalit Modis turned a little more serious now. From television to trophy
an Airbus 320 for her 50th birthday. Ajay Piramals collection of race horses can beat most other as
:: Suman Layak own business interests are much lesser wives, Trump has done much more and stayed in the news
can Cyrus Poonawallas collection of cars. As a sportsman, Naveen Jindal probably can match
the exploits of Singhania. And who can forget LN Mittal hiring Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
known than his exploits iin promoting

V
ijay Mallya may no longer be
the king of good times, but
a flamboyant lifestyle and
extravagant hobbies don't always have
to correlate with loans that go bad
and ventures that go bust. Globally,
billionaires like Richard Branson and
Larry Ellison have made as much news
for kite-surfing with models (Branson)
and their fast cars, jets and yachts
(Ellison) as for their adventures and
a few misadventures with business.
Back home, flashing one's wealth
may still invite disapproving nods, but
here aree a few
few
alists who
industrialists who
don't mindin
nd revving
revving
and Saif Ali Khan to dance at the wedding of his daughter Vanisha? The latest on the list would Twenty20 cricket. He is ththe man who
include newly anointed chief executive of SoftBanks global operations Nikesh Arora. The former brought Fashion TV to India,
Ind and was
the first distributor of ES
ESPN. He also The founder of Oracle
Google honcho's wedding with Thapar scion Ayesha had Hollywood celebrities like Ashton Kutcher
among the guests. However, for these gentlemen, glamour will always be the sideshow launched a lottery in Kerala called Sixo in has been chastised by his
2002. His claim to fame was, of course, the accountants for stretching his
credit limits to buy luxury
IPL, of which he was the commissioner
com and
cars, yachts and mansions. For
successfully took the second IPL to South
Africa when elections were held in India
his fourth marriage, Ellison
had Apple founder Steve Jobs
rubbed too many
in 2009. In the end he rub as the photographer. Ellison
Indian heavyweights the wrong way once sued his neighbours
for three trees that were
blocking his view
Manu Chhabria,
Rajan Pillai and Russi The richest man in China, Alibaba founder
Mody were serious
businessmen who
Jack Ma once donned a leather jacket and a
"Arun" who? you may well ask till Mohican wig to sing Elton Johns Can you
could give film stars
Son of a cashew trader, Pillai went on He was probably the most feel the love tonight for his employees.
you remember him not as the man
a run for their money
on the newsmaking
to become a 'biscuit baron'. Life in the charismatic person ever to head with business interests in textiles
His personal interests include traditional
The liquor and electronics medicine, poker and history and insists
quotient. The world baron, his younger brother
fast lane got going when he married a steel plant, and could possibly and computers but as the beau of Liz on giving each employee a nick-name from
jet-setting socialite Nina PIllai till have been as successful in any Hurley whom he met in 2002 and
has lost some colour
since their demise
Kishore confessed, would
he got caught in a bruising battle for other industry. He learned to fly married in 2007. However, the media
a martial arts serial

up theirr hot rods

ro
ods feel uncomfortable if the
Britannia Industries with Nusli Wadia, a airplanes after he crossed 50 and frenzy ended when they broke up.
media did not discuss him;
whhilee, or
once in a while, hacks who met him remember
battle he lost. It was all downhill from was as famous for his business The only ripple created by Nayar last
there, culminating in charges of fraud, leadership of Tata Steel as for his year was
ear w when
as w hen
he n he ggot
ot engaged
eng
ngag
aged
ed to a
gging the
just hogging the the meets less for his gyaan and
and his untimely death in Tihar Jail 16-egg omlettes Hurleyy llookalike
urley ookalike The founder of Malaysian
more for his colourful language
ht, even
limelight, even airline AirAsia, also owns
English football club Queens
dictate
as they dictate Park Rangers and is also
strategyy from
from their
their founder of the Caterham
Formula One team. Richard
rooms on
corner rooms on Branson, who owns an F1
most daysays team, once lost a bet with
Fernandes and as part of the
deal served as a stewardess
on an AirAsia flight in 2013
I L L U ST R AT I O N S : S U N E E S H K

From bringing back Tipu Sultans sword to India to Subrata Roy, co-owner of Vijay Mallyas Formula One
getting elected to the Rajya Sabha to owning cricket, venture Force One, has been trying hard to sell the stake; it's
The Russian billionaire and
football and Formula One teams, there seems to be little not easy since he is in jail, and trying to rustle up `10,000
owner of private investment
Mallya has not done to court glamour, alongside business crore to get bail by disposing assets. Roy built his fortune on
company Millhouse LLC is
success. His multiple business interests and glamorous a small-savings business and branched out in many directions, better known as the owner
promotion techniques also got him the sobriquet of the "Richard assiduously cultivating Bollywood stars and often inviting them of the English football
Branson of India. The launch of Kingfisher Airlines reinforced to sit on his company boards. He also sponsored the Indian cricket Club Chelsea. Abramovich
that image just for a while, though but what fared better team for almost two decades after ITC withdrew, and briefly often makes news outside
than the airline was the kittenish Kingfisher calendar, now in its owned an IPL team too. His last project, a book titled Life Mantras, business often in politics.
fourteenth year. The airline went belly up in 10 years is sombrely touted as the first of the Thoughts from Tihar trilogy For instance, it was revealed
that he had gifted a $35
million yacht to Russian
president Vladimir Putin
14 big story
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Made to By going niche in their offerings

and positioning, a bunch of online

Measure
fashion startups is standing out in
an over-cluttered market and
avoiding direct confrontation with
their mass-market counterparts

Aashray Thatai,
Ashish Gurnani
cofounders, PostFold,
started in November 2015
PHOTOS: ASHWANI NAGPAL
OFFERING
:: Joyshree Baruah & Rajiv Singh CLOTHES THAT WORK IN

S
uit up! From desk to dinner.
Sounds like a hoot? Maybe not.
At least for Ashish Gurnani
and Aashray Thatai, cofound-
ers of PostFold, it does not.
Dressing up can take extra ef-
fort and fishing for clothes that
qualify as office wear that also
work well for a casual dinner
can be an uphill task for some.
While niche
can never
become
mainstream
in terms of
turnover and top
line, it does
enjoy a higher
margin advantage
Ankur Bisen
senior vice-president,
retail & consumer products,
Technopak Advisors
This is where PostFold comes
to the rescue. Offering versatile
cotton wear to suit this need of
both men and women, the
brainchild of Gurnani and
Thatai might just be on to a
good thing.
Working Wonders
In Indias bourgeoning and
crowded ecommerce sector, it
helps to stand out with a differ-
entiated product, promise and
its positioning. A bunch of fash-
ion startups reckon they can dif-
ferentiate themselves from the
clutter and the me-toos by fo-
cusing on specific consumer
groups. These startups are
not only carving a niche for
themselves but also
coming up strong
in a sector domi-
nated by the big
horizontal
marketplaces.
The four-month-young Post-
Fold is keen to focus on afford-
able fashion. We saw a gap in
the market of work clothing for
young professionals, says
24-year-old Gurnani.
In an effort to merge niche
luxury fashion and affordable
fashion, the duo came up with a
business model where they man-
ufacture and style apparel using
high-quality fabrics and keep
fixed costs low even as they cu-
rate clothes with experienced
stylists who suggest an attire
range from desk to dinner.
Our focus is on building the
perfect product as opposed to
building 10,000 unthoughtful
styles for everybody, says Gur-
nani. PostFold claims it is one
of only two retailers in India li-
censed to use Supima cotton, a
world-class cotton brand in the
BOTH FORMAL US. You cant be something to
WORKSPACES AS WELL everybody but you have to be
AS AFTER HOURS everything for somebody,
says Gurnani, adding that tar-
USP geting helps in consolidating
Uses superior Supima marketing efforts and commu-
cotton; is one of the two nicating to the right audience.
retailers in India PostFold also focuses on
authorised to sell Supima what it calls mood-based
clothing for a Sunday brunch
Offers mood-based or a Saturday night shindig, or a
clothing lines for Sunday weekday board meeting. The
brunch, Saturday night, fashion industry is extremely
travelling and crowded but it allows players
the like like us to find our space, says
Thatai.
Niche marketing is a targeted
You cant be marketing plan that focuses on
something to one particular section of the
everybody but market that has high potential
you have to be to connect with a product or a
service. Instead of casting a
everything to wide net in mass-media and
somebody large-event marketing, niche
marketing zeroes in on strategi-
Ashish Gurnani

cally selected venues and media
platforms that have high concen-
trations of these targeted con-
sumers.
When a marketplace grows,
verticals get a chance to enter.
The consumer base is ever grow-
ing, so targeting a particular gen-
re is an uphill task but this is
where the niche players have to
score. While niche will break
even faster, one must know the
art of precisely targeting the con-
sumers. Otherwise the cost of
consumer acquisition will take a
toll, says Jabong cofounder
Praveen Sinha.
Handpicked Threads
By definition, we are niche only
by way of our curation, our hand-
picked designs, says Vishakha
Singh, founder of Red Polka, a
Mumbai-based online fashion
and lifestyle curation portal. She
says that consumers want to dis-
cover great designs with easy
access to designers and with a
smooth flow of transaction. How-
ever, the creations often tend to
go undiscovered or under-appre-
B H A R AT C H A N DA
big story 15
MARCH 13-19, 2016
(R-L) Shyam Sukhramani,
Rajesh Jaju,
Himanshu Shani,
Mia Morikawa,
cofounders, Korra,
started in November 2012
OFFERING
ORGANIC JEANS FROM
RECYCLED MATERIALS
USP
Each pair of jeans is sewn
by one tailor from
beginning to finish, who
signs off on the pair and
uniquely numbers it
Denim at its purest and
structural best is used in
manufacturing all the
ciated in horizontal marketplac- apparels
es. Red Polka endeavours to
identify these designers and in-
troduce them to the mainstream Our company values inclusiveness and shares
market.
Etsy Inc, headquartered in ownership with all employees Shyam Sukhramani
Brooklyn, New York, and Ama-
zons Handmade are great exam-
ples of marketplaces that focus million. Sensing the potential, week, month on month with our
on handmade craft products. In Amazon launched Handmade growing base, says Singh, add-
2015, Etsy had gross merchan- last year, and invites artisans ing that the strategy to list behav-
dise sales of nearly $2.4 billion onto the platform to sell unique, iours, which helps shoppers
and revenues of roughly $273 handcrafted goods. bookmark their designs and de-
Vishakha Singh Along similar lines, Red Polka fine shelf life of products, is con-
founder, Red Polka, provides a platform for sellers to tributing to building the brands
started in January 2015 showcase designs to their target credibility.
audiences. Currently focusing on Red Polka recently launched
OFFERING woman shoppers and their shop- its upgraded website in line with
HANDPICKED DESIGNS OF ping behaviour, Singh claims that international standards to pro-
DESIGNERS WHO TILL NOW Red Polkas niche lies in hand- vide personalised curation.
HAVE BEEN OPERATING picking and curating designers When we launched last year, we
FROM THEIR HOMES OR A who otherwise remain be- went live with a simple website
SINGLE STUDIO hind the scene. This is that enabled shoppers to surf
based on the shop- and check out curated prod-
pers interest, on the ucts. With this new website, we
USP
aesthetic sense of de- aim to personalise curation for
Is the only signers and the gap in every shopper so that they dis-
ecommerce- the transaction chain. cover exactly what they are
enabling portal Singh, a former mar- looking for.
where brands pay keting professional in Singh, who focus-
a fee to register the media indus- es on shopper be-
try, says, Fash- haviour, believes
Discovered more ion works on in the adage, Jo
than 150 designer While niche
desire; it is not dikhta hai, wo
brands like Vivaat, will break even
a need-based bikta hai (What
Little Pixie, Queen faster, one must know
category. But a the art of precisely is seen is
of Hearts, Indian
womans need targeting the consumers. s o l d ) . Fo r
August, Flora by
Fauna i s w i n d o w- Otherwise the cost of Singh, who al-
shopping and consumer acquisition will ways wanted
we give her take a toll to support de-
the opportu- signers who
The reason nity to come Praveen Sinha have a great
for us to target back to discover cofounder, Jabong design sense
and buy more. but were limited
a very This creates value in their marketing
particular for the brands. When it reach, this is her way of
section of the began operations last year, the not only enabling but also show-
market was a portal started with three brands, casing #MakeinIndia.
which paid for listing and show-
gap in the casing their products; a year later Organic Jeans
market of it has over 150 paid brands, in- In an industry driven by image
work clothing cluding the likes of Vivaat, Little and style, an idea that is setting a
that young Pixie and Indian August. trend is sustainable fashion cre-
Another strong metric that the ation of sustainable, environ-
professionals company boasts is the repeat- ment-friendly products. Reduc-
could shopper traffic. We see 30% re- tion of carbon footprint and safety
relate to peat traffic day on day, week on of consumers are juxtaposed with
16 big story
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Indian
consumers
The Online Nidhi Agarwal are discerning
Records founder, Kaaryah, when it comes
started in September, 2013 to making a
purchase
OFFERING
high designs and style. Adding choice of of New York, Milan, Paris and Los
green credentials or shall we say, WOMENS NON-CASUAL WEAR clothes is no Angeles to bring exclusive and up-
indigo-blue credentials, to his WITH BEST POSSIBLE FITS to-the-minute designs for the fash-
brand, Shyam Sukhramani found-
longer ion lovers in India, says Mary
ed Korra in 2013. Sewn by a single restricted to Turner, chief executive, Koovs.
tailor, Korra jeans use organic cot- visual With the objective of providing
Fashion ecommerce in India is ton threads, recycled raw materi- appeal or its customers with a curated and
expected to see a turnover of als and naturally dyed, indigo sel- impulse on-trend collection, the online ap-

$35 billion vedge denim, which is woven using

old-fashioned techniques.
parel seller introduces 400-500
styles per month under its private
by 2020 However, it was an early realisa- label which is designed in London
Every third online shopping tion for Sukhramani that to be by a team of designers who have
search is fashion-related and the successful, one needs to demon- worked with international high-
queries on fashion are growing at strate that the ideas, the methods street retailers such as Ware-
and the approach are doable. house, River Island and Topshop.
66%
year-on-year
Hence, adhering to sustainable The unique selling point of Gur-
fashion, he and his team started gaon-headquartered Koovs is that
what they call a company born it is a marketplace that offers cap-
Current online consumers tot
out of perfection and honed to sule collections created through
up to 40 million.
perfection. collaborations with high-profile
Expected to reach
We wanted to build a company British designers such as Henry
100bymillion
2016;
where employees and consumers
are the only raison detre, says
Holland, Mawi Keivom, Giles Dea-
con and Patrick Cox. Koovs also
250 million by 2020 Sukhramani, who previously has an office in London.
Source: Google India Research worked with Levi Strauss and These capsule collections allow
Company for 17 years, spanning the customers to buy global, high-
According to
Forrester across India, Hong Kong and the fashion designers at affordable
Consumer company headquarters in San prices. While we work as a style
Research Francisco, California. shopper and take on the tedious
2014, online The global jeans market is task of curating the styles for the
purchasing pegged at $60 billion annually and convenience of our customers,
will see a the customised jeans category USP we want to be the undisputed
26-31% increase
globally could be worth $3 billion Claims to be the only brand for the style-conscious
in apparel,
footwear, by 2020, predicts Sukhramani. apparel brand globally to youth. Anything stylish, you will
baby-care For a brand that has sustainabili- cater to 18 different sizes find it at Koovs, gushes Turner.
and skincare ty and environment protection at
products its core, growth has been decently Has functional product Booming Big
by 2017 innovations such as Experts believe that by 2020, In-
anti-gap buttons, folding dia is expected to generate online
trouser length retail revenues of $100 billion of
Mary Turner which $35 billion will come from
chief executive, Koovs, fashion ecommerce. In niche mar-
started in September 2012 kets, it is important for emerging
organic and paced, with 40% of its sation aspect, Kaaryah allows one players to create and invent edgy
consumer traffic and 20% of its or- to shop by shape and arrive at the designs. Without established sales
OFFERING
We want to be ders coming from outside the coun- best possible fit. We have cho- strategies and supportive plat-
AFFORDABLE WESTERN the undisputed try. We have executed 1,000 or- sen to be something significant forms, the creations of emerging
FASHION ders till date and shipped to more for someone rath- designers get ripped
brand for the than 18 countries, says 46-year-old er than be every- off by bigger brands,
style-conscious Sukhramani adding that the com- thing for every- Niche which boast stronger
USP
youth. Anything pany intends to build a `150 crore one. This focus marketing teams and can offer
The Koovs label is designed in stylish, you will brand in three to five years. h a s t r a n sl a t e d lower price points for
London by a team of designers into tapping an zeroes in on t h e m a s s m a rke t .
who have worked with find it at Koovs For All Sizes opportunity that strategically While niche can nev-
international high-street Riding high on the niche pitch is will grow no less er become mainstream
retailers such as Warehouse, Gurgaon-based Kaaryah, which is than 20% year on selected venues in terms of turnover
River Island and Topshop committed to being a brand where year for the next and media and top line, it does en-
the focus is on a particular con- five years, says joy a higher margin ad-
Introduces 400-500 styles per sumer group and it works towards Kaaryah founder platforms that vantage. Its a tradeoff
month under the private label alleviating their unmet needs. In- Nidhi Agarwal. have high that a niche player
dian consumers today are ex- makes between scale
tremely discerning when it comes London Calling concentrations and higher margin,
to making a purchase. The in- T h e n t h e re s of targeted says Ankur Bisen, sen-
creasing levels of awareness about Ko ovs , wh i c h ior vice-president, re-
ones body type and what works claims to be a one- consumers tail and consumer
best for them has led to more and stop online fash- products, Technopak
more demand for personalisation. ion destination for all wardrobe Advisors.
Understanding this need and spot- needs, with an inventory inspired The inimitable French fashion
ting the white space, Kaaryah by international runways, celeb- designer Coco Chanel had said
came up with the idea of offering rity looks and on-trend street that in order to be irreplaceable
18 size variants an industry style. Indian youth is tuned into one must always be different.
benchmark, which has enabled the global style trends. Our design Thats a mantra a clutch of fashion
the brand to cater to diverse audi- team is based in London, the startups have embraced with una-
ence/consumer segments. world capital for design, and takes bashed zeal in an otherwise over-
Also, building on the personali- their inspiration from the runways flowing fashion zone. 

The Views from JNU
Two professors at the university thats in the spotlight for the right or wrong
reasons depending which side you are on give their side of the story
Its a Battle Between Two
Kinds of Intolerances
:: Makarand Paranjape
I A
was invited by the JNU Teachers Asso-
ciation ( JNUTA) for a teach-in a lec-
ture series. This is how I was dragged
into the issue.
In the association, after these students
were arrested, many mails were passed back
and forth. What had clearly emerged was
that there was more than one position.
Though the majority position was that the
association should join the students, there
was another section that wanted a condem-
nation by JNUTA of the sloganeering that
took place on February 9, in which Afzal
Guru was commemorated and glorified.
JNUTA passed a resolution (10 days later) in
which there were some general comments
to the effect that we stand by the Constitu-
tion. They did not condemn this event.
On that very day, on the morning of Feb-
ruary 19, I was invited to speak at a panel
called Freedom of Expression at the Sahi-
tya Akademi. From February 9 to 19, JNU
had been in the news every day. There was
widespread expectation that I would speak
on the issue.
Addressing Prejudices
I spoke on literature. The function of lit-
erature is not to escalate intolerances but
to act as a mediating force. We have to
question whether this was a battle be-
tween intolerance and tolerance as it has
been put out in the media. In my opinion,
its actually a battle between two different
kinds of intolerances.
While I stand with my association and
members of JNU community, I regret the ar-
rest of the students; the charges are serious.
I hope no witch-hunt is conducted. Prima
facie, I am not sure whether shouting slo-
gans constitutes sedition.
But look at the other side. The association
is yet to condemn the event that was con-
ducted under a false pretext. I did not even
know the media was there but the Press
Trust of India reported this. Once this was
covered, some teachers started targeting
me. I wrote a letter to the JNUTA president.
All I wanted to say was that the whole of JNU
cannot be painted in one colour. This is why
I said that if you think JNU is a democratic
space, it is more likely a Left hegemonic
space. But I also said that it is not a Left dicta-
torial or a Left totalitarian space as yet. I have
had many experiences here where they try
to marginalise you, silence you, if you disa-
gree. The students are also brainwashed.
To me it is really a question of not thinking
critically, which is what we should be doing.
If you look around JNU, take a look at the
posters. You will see they are stuck in some
other time, in some other space. There isnt
really a spirit of debate or inquiry but the
point counterpoint
same old shibboleths are being repeated
over and over. There was over-politicisation
of the discourse. We need to revitalise and
reintellectualise our academic ecosystem,
which has been reduced to bipolar and stul-
tifying politics devoid of critical thought.
I was not speaking from an apolitical
space. In fact, there are no apolitical spac-
es. I would like them to be more political
and more interrogative. If you think poli-
tics means joining a party or becoming
cannon fodder, it is not very enlightening.
For me, party politics and its encroach-
ment into the campus are reducing the
space for critical debate and inquiry.
Manufacturing Dissent
I dont think the battle for who is going to
rule India is to be fought in universities. Even
if Kanhaiya Kumar represents a party, he
also represents all students of JNU. If a sec-
tion of students is objecting to an event he
took part in, he should reach out to them and
not attack them. Why has the university be-
come a site for pitched battles because of
their sponsors outside? Which are the major
political parties? Should Indian students be
used for this?
I dont think these students wanted to
overthrow the government. Its just an anti-
establishment rhetoric. I call it manufactur-
ing dissent. But what legitimates your posi-
tion? Have you even got the support of 8,000
students of JNU before you make such state-
ments to denigrate the entire system? If you
dont have faith in this, then you are more
like a Maoist. Here, its like we are continu-
ously in a state of emergency.
(As told to KP Narayana Kumar)
(Paranjape is a professor at the
Centre for English Studies, School of
Language, Literature, and Culture
Studies, JNU)
MARCH 13-19, 2016
We Want to Defend the
Idea of the University
:: Ayesha Kidwai
ny kind of censorship, particularly
one produced by an appeal to a na-
tionalism that holds that the peo-
ple in power are the ones who are
going to define what the nation is, does not
serve the needs of the nation.
We are a society where we have illitera-
cy, social and economic inequality and
social injustice and, at the very minimum,
every part of the system we live in must be
committed to redressing these imbalanc-
es. At the very least, people who are fortu-
nate enough to access higher education
must ask how they can address these ine-
qualities of access in whatever sphere they
are in. If you study or teach in a university,
you should be able to ask: What is the goal
of this system?
For someone like Kanhaiya Kumar, com-
ing from a family where his mother, an an-
ganwadi worker who earns `3,000 a
month, it is perfectly legitimate to ask how
this system must be altered to transform
the lives of thousands like him.
JNU is a university whose students over-
whelmingly (nearly 60%) come from
smaller towns and rural areas. These stu-
dents recognise the fact that education has
a transformative value in society and raise
political questions about the states vision
of its role, but they do not do so at the cost
of academic excellence. This is evident in
the fact that JNU has been ranked as the
No. 1 university in the country by the Na-
tional Assessment and Accreditation
Council would it have received a score of
3.91 out of 4 if there was no serious aca-
demics happening here?
Our Right to Question
What has happened in JNU is that there is a
tremendous attack on our right to question
everything. There is a lot of focus on the
completely unwarranted sedition charges,
but there are also charges of criminal con-
spiracy, in which attempts are being made
17
to implicate teachers. In the Patiala House
court, teachers were beaten up after being
asked, What do you teach students anti-
nationalism? But thats not what we teach
here. Rather, we teach students to critically
attend to their own experiences, and to use
the knowledge produced globally to make
sense of their own experience.
I am not saying that only the Left does this
or that this is a Left hegemonic space. In
fact, in student elections, the Akhil Bharati-
ya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) wins a huge
number of votes, and there is free and fair
debate across positions. To call it such is also
to imply that students are judged by their po-
litical (or religious or caste) affiliations,
which is simply not true. The suggestion that
we should have compulsory attendance in
classes is borne of a logic that is unaccepta-
ble academic excellence cannot be pro-
duced by policing students.
I want to emphasise that JNU teachers
stand for academic excellence, and that our
university community tries to create a
space where it is possible to ask new ques-
tions rigorously. You cant ask these ques-
tions if we are told that the answer to any
question has to be Hindi, Hindu Hindu-
stan. If you cannot critique voices outside
the classroom, you cannot critique inside
the classroom. Universities cannot be co-
erced into saying that the states version of
the truth is the only truth.
Thinking Through the Argument
All that students learn from their teachers
(and carry forward into their lives outside
the classroom) is how to construct an argu-
ment, but we do not dictate to them their
politics and what they must say. Student
politics, as far as I am concerned, is not a
problem for the university, if it is peaceful.
Rather it mostly produces an introspection
and awareness that is a resource we draw
upon in our classrooms.
At the same time, as teachers we do have
the right to protest when, through external
or internal pressure, the university space re-
produces caste, gender discrimination and
violence. Rohith Vemula died not because
he was a Dalit but because he was discrimi-
nated against as a Dalit by the university hier-
archy. It closes the possibility of the univer-
sity as a space that can liberate anybody
from their circumstances.
(As told to KP Narayana Kumar)
(Kidwai is a professor at the
Centre for Linguistics, School of
Language, Literature and
Culture Studies, JNU)
18 special report
MARCH 13-19, 2016

A flamboyance of
flamingos at the
Nal Sarovar Bird
Sanctuary, Gujarat

Protected

A Bird In Hand...
areas have
risen in
number but
their total size
has fallen

Before it adds more protected areas, the government

should ensure the existing ones are managed better Total No. of Protected Areas

2000 2010 2016

:: G Seetharaman | Solapur
578 669 730

T
he grasslands of the Great Indian Bustard Blackbucks at the Great
Sanctuary at Nannaj near Solapur in Indian Bustard Sanctuary
south-eastern Maharashtra are a sight to at Nannaj near Solapur,
Maharashtra. But you cant
behold in the hour before sunset. The dy- Total Area under Protected Areas (sq km)*
spot any bustard there
ing daylight brings out the beauty of dry
grass. Golden and silky, the undulating
grass takes your attention away from the
2000
1,55,476
lack of wildlife, if only for a while.
Besides a few blackbucks and raptors,
the grasslands are largely undisturbed, at
2010
1,64,063
least to the naked eye. Visitors ability to
spot wildlife may not necessarily be a good
barometer of healthy fauna populations in
2016
1,60,897
a protected area (PA), but at this sanctuary
*Excludes marine protected areas
it might well be the case. Only five of the
Source: Wildlife Institute of India
sanctuarys flagship species, the great In-

Animals need space. There are

You can cram people only five
bustards left
into multistorey Protected areas Globally Globally at the Great
apartments but you account for

15.4% 3.4%
Indian
cant do that
with animals 4.9%
of Indias total
of the terrestrial and inland water
area is covered under protected areas,
of the ocean area is
under protected areas,
Bustard
Sanctuary

Ravi Chellam compared to the Convention on

wildlife conservationist land area Biological Diversitys Aichi compared with the
and executive director of Biodiversity Target of 17% by 2020 2020 target of 10%
Greenpeace India

dian bustard or Ardeotis nigriceps, are left
in the region, a fifth of the population a
decade ago, and a tenth of the population
two-and-a-half decades back.
There isnt one bird to be seen when we
drive through the sanctuary. The bustards
come to the sanctuary mostly during the
summer and monsoon breeding seasons,
between March and August. A bird, which
can be as tall as 4 ft and weigh up to 15 kg,
the Indian bustard is found in arid and
semi-arid landscapes and, according to
some estimates, less than 200-250 of them
are left in India, more than half of which
are in Rajasthan, where it is the state bird,
and the rest in Maharashtra, Andhra
 special report 19
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Very Good Good Fair Poor

(Mean Score Above 75%) ( )
(60-74)% ( )
(41-59%) ( p to 40%))
(up

Indias
protected
areas could
be better
managed 18 42 62 3
*Total Protected Areas assessed by Wildlife Institute India on management effectiveness 125
*

Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya under

un PAs, compared with the Convention
Pradesh and Gujarat. There were as Protected on Biological Diversitys Aichi Biodiversity
many as 1,260 in 1969. I saw 22 areas in Target of 17% by 2020, and 3.4% of the
birds together in 2004, says Shiv- south India global ocean area is under PAs, compared
kumar More, a member of the field perform to
t the 2020 target of 10%.
staff at the sanctuary. better than
in other The Best, the Worst
T
Trees Drove the Bustard Away regions T
Though the number of protected areas in
The great Indian bustard was IIndia has risen 25% since 2000, their man-
named an endangered species by South agement
a is nothing to write home about.
the International Union for Conser- Proof
P of that can be found in a study by WII
vation of Nature in 1994 and then as
critically endangered in 2011. It is
**
65.1 looking
lo
125
at the management effectiveness of
12 wildlife sanctuaries and national parks
also on Schedule I of the Wildlife Northeast across
ac the country between 2006 and 2014.
(Protection) Act, 1972, which The
Th study slotted the PAs in four rating cat-
means it is among the species en- 63.9 egories;
eg only 18 figured in the top category
joying the highest protection. and
an about half of them were in the second-
Among the primary reasons for its East low category (see Protected Areas Could
lowest
decline in the area is the increasing be Better Managed).
shift in land use from dryland crops 60.8 A family of wild hogs in The Gir National Park in Gujarat was rated
like jowar (sorghum) and toor dal Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve the highest with a
(pigeon pea), which the bird feeds West mean score of
on, to water-intensive crops like
grapes, whose fields are usually
58.9 activities inside their boundaries.
93.33%, and the Nakti
Dam Wildlife Sanctu-
fenced, making it inaccessible to India has 730 of them, including ary in Bihar and the
North
bustards. national parks, wildlife sanctuar- Karera Wildlife Sanc-
Other reasons could be the for- 55.3 ies, conservation and community t u ar y i n M ad hya
est departments attempt to grow **Mean score got by reserves. A national park is more Pradesh the lowest,
trees when the bustard needs protected areas in restricted than a wildlife sanctu- with a score of 33.33%.
each region in a study
wide, open grasslands and the of their management ary, and community and conser- The latter is in the pro-
declining population of black- effectiveness, vation reserves are buffer zones cess of being denotified
conducted in three
bucks, whose grazing is crucial to phases between of PAs or corridors between PAs. as a sanctuary as the
the health of grasslands. Bilal Ha- 2006 and 2014 These PAs, not including marine great Indian bustard, its
bib, a scientist with the Wildlife Source: Wildlife ones, account for nearly 5% of In- main species, has not
Institute of India
Institute of India (WII), says a key dias land area. National parks been spotted there in
impediment to the movement of black- and wildlife sanctuaries comprise the core years.
bucks are trenches around the sanctuary, areas of tiger reserves. Globally, 15.4% of the Given the falling num-
which are built to prevent the entry of cattle terrestrial and inland water area is covered Brown-roofed turtles bers
b of Indian bustards
in Kaziranga National
for grazing. Park, Assam
and
a other birds like Indi-
Till now very little was known about an
a coursers, it did not
where the bustards went when they were not come as a shock when the
at Nannaj, says Habib. Last April, transmit- Each protected area Nannaj sanctuary was ranked the lowest
ters were fitted on two bustards, one of will have to look at the habitat among the seven PAs evaluated by WII in Ma-
which has since died. Habib, who is part of requirements of the species harashtra.
the Maharashtra government project, says there wetlands or grasslands, or The sanctuary, which was assessed in
the other bird has travelled as far as Latur, Conservation dense forests instead of 2012-13, scored 47.5%, the second lowest af-
cannot be limited following the same practices, like
about 200 km north. Research on the habi- ter Karera, in the western region. Due to the
to protected areas planting trees as part of
tats at the sanctuary and its wildlife has so far invasion of the grassland by woodlands, the
since most of our afforestation, everywhere
been scant. area has lost its uniqueness, and the grass-
biodiversity is outside Focus not
These are symptomatic of the failings of these areas and even just on a few land is present in patches, as a result of which
Indias PAs, so called because they have legal wildlife within protected mammals like tigers the uniformity and integrity of the habitat
provisions backing them and limit human areas move in and out of them and elephants, but also on have been destroyed. The situation is aggra-
the smaller species vated by the presence of agricultural lands,
Way and flora, villages, towns, roads and a railway line,
Forward for to stop the which are spread across the entire sanctu-
Conservation decline ary, says the report.
Human presence in
protected areas
in India in biodiversity
should not be Lions Share for Tigers
assumed to have a PAs are the centrepiece of the governments
negative influence on biodiversity conservation efforts. Naturally,
biodiversity, as the draft of the third National Wildlife Action
Make Plan, for 2017-31, begins by talking about the
indigenous indigenous
communities have need to strengthen the existing PAs as well as
communities part
been essential to expanding the PA network. Even within pro-
several of the governance tected areas, tiger reserves now 48 get
ecosystems of protected areas what many believe is disproportionate finan-
and even cial support. For instance, in this years
conservation in Budget, Project Tiger was allocated `295
other areas crore, three times the figure for the develop-
20 special report
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Protected areas
globally have a
mixed record on
ment of wildlife habitats; Project Elephant biodiversity
got `25 crore.
Ravi Chellam, a wildlife conservationist,
Between 1970 and 2010
says PAs are only a part of conservation ef-
forts, given that most of Indias biodiversity is population of population
outside these areas. The average size of pro- birds in of
tected areas in India is less than 300 sq km, protected areas mammals
which by itself cant hold any significantly increased increased
large populations of large mammals. They
need space. You can cram people into multi-
storey apartments, but you cant do that with
animals, says Chellam.
57% 10%
Dipankar Ghose, director, species and Amphibians and
landscape programme, World Wildlife Fund
for Nature, India, says reserved forests,
which are not PAs, do not have a wildlife man-
74%
reptiles, however,
declined

agement plan: Unless they are buffer areas Asiatic lions of India
of tiger reserves, they do not get funding for Nearly 40% of the 130 monitored
wildlife management. Since PAs are only ad- countries show declining
ministrative boundaries and wildlife have to wildlife populations in Indigenous Government
move in and out of them freely, reserved for- protected areas communities
63.2 56.8
ests are as important to conservation efforts Source: Zoological Society of London
across the
as PAs, which is central to the landscape con- world Not reported
servation approach. For instance, the manage a
larger part of
34.4 32.3
Ramnagar forest division, which
adjoins the Corbett Tiger Re- naj to realise that planting trees protected Shared 1990 (%) 2014 (%)
serve, has a tiger density of 15 there was antithetical to their areas now 0.7 6
per 100 sq km, higher than efforts to save bustards. Sunil than in 1990 Private
some tiger reserves Corbett Limaye, the chief conservator 0.2 0.3
has nearly 18 but it does not of forests (for wildlife) in
enjoy the same legal protec- Pune, under whose jurisdic-
tion or financial backing. tion the sanctuary falls, says Indigenous
While non-PAs are in dire the forest department is now communities Source: International
straits, most PAs themselves
are not considerably better Unless they are sanctuary.
clearing trees in patches in the 1.5 4.6 Union for Conservation
of Nature

off. Most protected areas are buffer areas of The other area where the
created on the basis of one or tiger reserves, sanctuary management has tems can be protected only in isolation from of those running them. In the US, they have
two large mammals or birds. learned its lessons is the area humans has become outdated, many be- the National Park Service and the (US Fish
They tend to disprivilege
reserved forests under its control. The sanctu- lieve conservation in India, which accounts and) Wildlife Service, while here wildlife is a
small species, says Ashish do not get ary, when it was notified in for 8% of the worlds biodiversity, is still ex- subset of the forest department, says Vanak.
Kothari, cofounder of envi- funding for 1979, was spread over an area clusionist. You dont assume human activity The director of the tiger reserve quoted ear-
ronmental action group wildlife of more than 7,800 sq km. has a negative influence (on biodiversity). lier, however, believes there is no alternative
Kalpavriksh. Statistics bear Eight years later, the area rose There is a history of communities managing to the forest department for managing wild-
him out. According to the Zoo-
management to 8,500 sq km, which includ- forests where there have been conservation life and that the department officials are ade-
logical Society of London, be- Dipankar Ghose, ed private land on which there attempts, says Kothari. quately trained to do so.
director, Species and
tween 1970 and 2010, popula- Landscapes Programme,
were several restrictions, in- Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, indige- Many wildlife managers have lost the feel
tions of birds and mammals in WWF India cluding their sale. The wis- nous communities get to manage forest re- for the resource they are managing. Civil en-
PAs worldwide increased by dom then was to declare a sources and also use their knowledge to pro- gineering dominates wildlife management
57% and 10%, respectively, but amphibians sanctuary wherever the great Indian bustard tect the biodiversity of the region. If the im- budgets and actions. They should not keep
and reptiles declined 74%. went. But that antagonised the villagers who plementation of the landmark legislation has building more and more roads and bridges
are crucial to conservation, says Limaye. been underwhelming as a whole, within PAs and watchtowers and rest houses in our PAs,
Animals + People Last year, the Maharashtra government de- it is even worse, with people in says Chellam.
Habib says adaptive management is essential cided that some private parcels of land very few PAs having got their com- Economic development is in-
The average
to PAs. Abi Tamim Vanak, a fellow at the should be acquired and the total area of the munity forest rights. size of extricably linked to conserva-
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the sanctuary should be limited to under 370 sq You cant separate wildlife and protected tion in a country like India. Envi-
Environment, agrees: Grasslands are a natu- km. We believe the locals will now cooper- people in India. It is often said that areas in India ronmental activists were recent-
is less than
ral ecosystem but we dont recognise them as ate more with us, says Limaye. local people are a disturbance (to 300 sq km, ly up in arms over the
natural habitats. It took a while for officials While the fortress approach to conserva- wildlife), but after relocating local which by Maharashtra forest depart-
at the Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Nan- tion which rests on the idea that ecosys- communities we are willing to al- itself cant ments decision to reportedly set
hold any
low petrol and diesel vehicles, significantly aside 58 hectares of forest land, a
which are polluting, and give high- large fifth of it in the Sanjay Gandhi Na-
paying tourists access to protect- populations tional Park, for a rail line for the
ed areas, says Chellam, who took
of large Delhi Mumbai Freight Corridor
mammals
charge in January as executive di- project. Ghose believes India
rector of Greenpeace India. should look to other countries to
find solutions to such problems: Malaysia
Elitist Tag has built elevated highways through wildlife
The director of a tiger reserve, requesting corridors. It does increase the cost of the pro-
anonymity, says, till recently, conservation in ject, but it is to protect natural capital, which
India unfortunately had an elitist tag: These is irreplaceable.
causes were picked up by people belonging While PAs are certainly crucial to protect-
to a certain social class and people who end- ing certain endangered species and to fore-
ed up facing the aftereffects of the project stall the adverse impact of development on
were left out of the debate. Countries like ecologically sensitive areas, they cannot be
Australia, Nepal and some in Latin America managed in isolation from the considerably
have had successes with engaging indigenous larger habitats outside. Moreover, expanding
communities in conservation. the PA network may not be of much use if the
Elephants at the Jim Corbett The other problem with the management existing ones do not serve the purpose for
National Park in Uttarakhand
of PAs is the qualification, or the lack thereof, which they were created. 
 special report 21
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Conflict Zones
The proposed freight corridor through the Sanjay Gandhi National
Park in Mumbai poses a threat to wildlife. Here are five more
places where people cross animals paths with disastrous results
:: Rahul Sachitanand
WHERE: Sanjay Gandhi National
Park, Mumbai
THE PROBLEM: The path for the proposed
Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor is
contentiously routed through it
THE EFFECT: Some 12,000 trees are
expected to be cut for this corridor
WHATS UNDER THREAT: Around 40 types
of mammals, including leopards
and deer, 274 species of birds
and 78 species of reptiles
SGNP, the largest
CAUSE FOR CONCERN:
tropical forest globally to be
surrounded by a city, is a green
lung for Mumbai
WHERE: Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve,
Uttarakhand
THE PROBLEM: Encroachment and popula-
tion explosion in surrounding villages,
resulting in shrinking tiger habitat
THE EFFECT: Growing conflict between
tigers and humans. A couple of years
ago, a tiger T24, killed two humans
and was relocated. Villagers living in
and around the park are at constant
odds with tigers, since the predators
attack them and their livestock
WHATS UNDER THREAT: Tiger, jackal, bear
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Indias oldest tiger
reserve, Corbett is at the forefront in
keeping the big cats numbers from
falling

WHERE: Kaziranga National Park, Assam

THE PROBLEM: The park is the largest settlement for the Indian
rhinoceros. Along with an increase in its numbers, the one-horned
rhinos habitat is under constant strain due National Highway 36
passing through it. In December 2015, the National Green
Tribunal pulled up the state government for failing to check
such developments
THE EFFECT: Growing conflicts with humans in expanding
settlements abutting the park, and poachers out
for their horns
WHATS UNDER THREAT: The one-horned rhino, elephants and
different types of deer
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Kaziranga is the last stand to save the Indian rhino.
With Assam ranking third on the number of lives lost to human-
animal conflict in India, the trouble may only get worse WHERE: Bandipur National Park,
Karnataka
THE PROBLEM: Encroachment of elephant
paths and other habitat due to a growth
WHERE: Tadoba Andhari National Park, Madhya Pradesh in the number of tourists and increase in
human habitation in surrounding villages
THE PROBLEM: This wildlife reserve is home to over a dozen types of
snakes. As human habitation has expanded in the periphery of THE EFFECT: Increasingly, elephants
Tadoba, conflicts with snakes are bound to rise. The park is home to have run-ins with humans, both on
three poisonous snakes krait, Russells viper and cobra and several highways that run through the
other non-lethal varieties too park and during guided safaris
through it
THE EFFECT: Snake bites result in a large number of fatalities as
more and more people encroach on their habitat WHATS UNDER THREAT: Elephant, tiger, gaur,
wild boar, antelope
WHATS UNDER THREAT: Many snake species are threatened, but the big four
Russels viper, Indian krait, spectacled cobra and saw-scaled viper CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Rogue elephant herds
are the most dangerous have not just attacked humans, but also
destroyed standing crops. Forest
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: A study published by the American Society of Tropical officers and guards are spending
Medicine and Hygiene in 2011 said that 46,000 people die from snake disproportionate amount of time dealing
bite annually in India with them, than in managing the park

WHERE: Kutch Sanctuary,
Gujarat
THE PROBLEM: It is one of the last
remaining habitats of the great
Indian bustard. But growing popu-
lation, depleting grasslands, mas-
sive industrialisation and
commissioning of high-power
transmission lines have contribut-
ed to decline in its numbers
THE EFFECT: There are barely a
couple of hundred of these
birds alive, with few signs of
its numbers rising
WHATS UNDER THREAT: The great Indian
bustard
CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Rajasthan, Gujarat
and Maharashtra cannot decide
on an action plan to save the bird.
Growing conflict may soon drive
it to extinction
 22 food & drink
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Different
Cups of Tea
Offbeat food ventures are sprouting everywhere.
Here are five of them experimenting with new ideas
:: Anoothi Vishal
Opening a restaurant may come up pretty high on the list of the secret (or not so secret) ambitions
of many millennials. It is not an ambition without travails and tears. These may be fewer if you
choose not to open a restaurant but get into one of the offbeat food businesses. The opportunities
are more, risks lower. And while you do need to sweat it out, the rewards are many.
One good thing about living in India now when interest in food as entertainment is at an all-
time high is the potential to innovate and monetise that passion. Many exciting innovations in
food are not happening in restaurants, but in the offbeat retail space. It is a market ruled by
content, even if there are many stories of startups that refused to start. The failure rate of these
new businesses is perhaps as high as that of restaurants. At least half of these were led by pipe
dreams of funding. We only have to look at the dubious examples of many food-tech startups, now
flailing. Yet, with a younger demographic raring to try out new things at lower price points
new food formats are the Next Big Thing. Heres my pick of five:

Green is the New Black

for the raw and the healthy while he
Salad Days was on the US West Coast, and Gang-
Madan (L) and Gangwani

Started by: Varun Madan wani in Scandinavia. The two decided

and Kunal Gangwani
Whats Special: Offers salads
as a meal in Gurgaon, banks
on the health quotient
without a background in food to
open Salad Days, a delivery-only ven-
ture in Gurgaon.
That was two years ago. There was a
gap in the market for a product that of-
At `240-400 per salad, it is small funding
fun from Japan. On
not exactly your cheap p dab
dab- expansion to more areas
the anvil is e
bawala lunch. But Madan and Gangwani, in the Capital, beyond south Delhi, a re-
28, seem to have tapped into an aspira- tail outlet and backward integration
tional-meets-convenience need. We with local farming communities.

V
arun Madan and Kunal Gangwani
played for the same band at Xavier
School of Management, Jamshed-
pur. They jammed well but little did they
realise that they would also, one day, toss
up vinaigrette and greens.
The writer
We both met up again when we
looks at wanted to start something of our own,
restaurant says Madan, 32. Both zeroed in on sal-
trends, food ads which form such a vital part of eve-
history and
culinary ryday meals in the world, but were lack-
cultures ing in India. Madan developed a taste
fered salads as a complete meal. Equal-
ly, there was the perception that this
would not work because it is not like
biryani that Indians are used to eating
salads are side dishes in our homes,
says Madan. But they took the plunge.
With its smartly packaged offerings,
Salad Days has been quite a success in
Gurgaon. From a lean operation, it now
has three kitchens. Marketing has been
through social media and the customers
are not limited to offices.
have high repeats and customers who
have spent `1 lakh a year on just salads for
themselves, says Madan.
Operations have been the toughest
part. Sourcing ingredients they largely
use imported fruit and veggies to main-
tain consistency, get cheese and vinegars
from Parma and Modena because the
taste really is different, and pick herbs
grown in their own garden and main-
taining supply chains are a task.
Last year, the business attracted a
The Salad Days duo are determined
about not tossing it away. We dont un-
derstand this bubble of food tech start-
ups. Funding has become the goal of
entrepreneurs. But people mess up the
balance of growth in the quest to ex-
pand, says Madan. This one should be
more wholesome.
Viability Quotient: Salad Day oper-
ates on a net profit margin of 13%; op-
erations need to be streamlined to up it
to the industry range of 15-20%.

Truck It In
Eggjactly and
Sushi House Mafia
Started by: Vikrant Misra, Lvanika Parti
Whats Special: These food trucks serve
waffles, milkshakes and fries in the NCR

Lvanika Parti (L) and Vikrant Mishra

F
ood trucks have been trendy all over America
for the past five years, serving up interesting,
quirky menus at about $20 a meal. For Vikrant
Misra, 33, who started one of the first food trucks in
India two years ago, the inspiration was simpler. A
former retail executive at Provogue, he and his busi-
ness partner Lvanika Parti were scouting for a caf
location in Gurgaon, but soon realised that the in-
vestments required were too high as was the risk.
 food & drink 23
MARCH 13-19, 2016

Instead of a security deposit of `15-20
lakh for a location that may or may not
work, I thought it was better to invest the
same in a moveable restaurant that I could
take to different places even if one location
does not work, he says.
No one had any idea, though, about how
to make a food truck. Misra ended up con-
verting a bank van.
There are, however, some grey areas in
legalities when it comes to food trucks.
Theres no policy regarding licensing al-
though the National Restaurant Association
of India is canvassing for one. Eggjactly and
Sushi House Mafia, Misras two trucks
which he drives himself are GPS-enabled
and move around the NCR (people can track
these through live social media posts). The
food they serve is mostly American-style
eggs, waffles, milkshakes, fries to appeal
to young, corporate, aspirational clients.
All the food is made fresh, in front of you.
Getting the food out fast was a challenge,
though. We had to shut down operations
for 10 days till the staff learnt how to cook
and dish out food in five-seven minutes,
says Misra.
Viability Quotient: Profit margins are
higher and investment lower than in restau-
rant retail. But you have to man the van in all
kinds of terrain and weather. Also, there are
too many variables and no clear govern-
ment policy yet.
Little Big Fry
Bombay Local
Started by: Insia Lacewalla,
Paresh Chhabria
Whats Special: It is a food festival in
Mumbai that celebrates local food
producers, home cooks, bakers
Lacewalla (above)
and Chhabria
Butter Chicken on the Beach
Goila
Butterchicken
Started by: Saransh Goila
Whats Special: Delivers to
Mumbai homes the not-so-rich
butter chicken that made Goila
famous on social media and TV
W
hen Insia Lacewalla started
Small Fry in Mumbai two years
ago, Maximum City was going
through a local food resurgence. There
were scores of food producers doing
high-quality local chocolate, artisanal
cheese, home-baked desserts, snacks
and more. Lacewalla with a back-
ground in finance and stints at many dif-
ferent things, from fashion shows to
films, to the handling of food and bever-
age for NH7 Weekenders decided to try
her hand at a passion project.
I wanted food to be at the centre-
stage, says 29-year-old Lacewalla. So
the Bombay Local food festival came
up, putting local food producers,
home cooks, caterers, bakers,
cheese-makers on the map. We
had beer on tap, up-and-coming
musicians jamming that was the
vibe, she says.
The market for food fes-
tivals is highly competi-
tive now. It is also more
commercial with estab-
lished restaurants paying
organisers huge stall fees. That is the
business model, plus sponsorships.
Lacewalla and her business partner
Paresh Chhabria, 27, however, remain
true to the spirit of the original enter-
prise. They do not want sponsors to
tamper with the small, artisanal for-
mat. Stall fee remains at `15,000-
20,000; and `150-200 is the entry fee
for customers.
About 60 stalls, tightly curated, are put
up for one day, from 7 pm to midnight,
every quarter at the Khar Gymkhana.
And every one sells out. The producers
are happy and so are we. It is a closely
bonded community, says Lacewalla.
Content is the key.
From the time they put up their pilot
with desserts 13 home bakers under a
roof for a five-hour sale and were sold
out in half that time, they have not
looked back.
Viability Quotient: Profit margin is
50-60% for each local market they set
up. The events are less commercial and
thus have lower revenues. Partners run
other consulting businesses.
quick service restaurant or a takea-
way with an investment of `15-20
lakh, I decided to do a delivery be-
cause you can leverage social media
for it at the same cost. For every `30
spent on social media I hope to get at
least one customer who will order. I
plan to spend `50,000 a month,
which should hopefully ensure 1,000

S
aransh Goila is a well-known
name on television having
hosted two food-based shows
and on social media. So funding
should not have been a problem
when he wanted to start his own
real venture. It wasnt. Except
that 28-year-old Goila wanted no
investor interference in what he de-
scribes as a pilot for Goila Butter-
chicken. It is his delivery-only start-
up that plays on the dish he is best
associated with, thanks to his but-
ter chicken pop-ups that have be-
come popular on Twitter.
From butter chicken rolls to a
Goila smokes the butter chicken
range of kulchas (chicken rezala,
mattar-paneer- mango, gongura -
pork) that you can eat alongside the
BC, the menu is short and cool and
designed for young consumers who
want higher quality food than the
neighbourhood takeaway.
Goila and his business partner
Vivek Sahni, also a chef, have invest-
ed personal funds of about `10 lakh
each in the project. And they seem to
have done their math. Instead of a
customers per month, says Goila,
who has a substantial following on
Twitter and Facebook.
The kitchen is in Andheri, Mum-
bai, for now; Goila wants to go to Ben-
galuru and Kolkata this year, for
which he will seek investors.
This will be an interesting experi-
ment where a chef is leveraging both
his cooking skills and social media
presence for a business venture.
Viability Quotient: According to
some calculations, to be profitable,
Goila needs 100 people eating every
day (dishes are priced in the `250-
300 bracket). Will they bite?

C
ommeat started by 34-year- But it is an idea whose time has come.

Come Eat
old Ruchika (last name withheld The Commeat website documents
on request) is short for com- recipes of different home cooks, who
munity eating. The idea is simple but are chosen with care, and posts short

With Us fills a big gap: creating an online com-

munity of credible home cooks, who
videos of them. A bank of recipes is just
one of the aims. Small pilots, where
can open up their homes to travellers dinners for six-eight people are sold as
Commeat and guests looking for authentic ex- intimate, at-home experiences, have
Started by: Ruchika periences. been initiated.
Whats Special: An online community of Leveraging social media to bring the Viability Quotient: It is not mone-
home cooks who open up their homes to dining table the centre of social in- tised yet, but linking travellers to
travellers and guests teractions in older times, as Ruchika home-food experiences is a business to
says back in fashion is a bit ironical. look forward to.
Commeat wants to bring community eating back in fashion
 24 travel guide
MARCH 13-19, 2016
Lager
Than Life
in Dublin
On St Patricks Day, the
craziness in the Irish capital
ratchets up many notches and
the city revolves around beer,
bright green and the parade
:: Anita Rao-Kashi
A
ll around me there was loud, foot-tapping
music, swirling crowds dressed in out-
landish clothes, guffaws and bonhomie,
pageantry, strong whiffs of beer and a sea
of bright green. St Patricks Day in Dublin
is a crazy, overwhelming experience and I
was revelling in it.
Dublin on most days is a charming city
that loves to tip over into the realm of
crazy fun. With a staggering 800 pubs,
its not difficult to imagine why. But on
March 17, St Patricks Day, the craziness
ratchets up several hundred notches
and everything revolves around the
grand parade.
Painting the Town Green
Perched on a vantage point near Parnell
Square one St Patricks Day, I could see
the swelling crowds all around me. They
were standing on barricaded pave-
ments, hanging out of windows and
spilling over from balconies. There was a
palpable sense of anticipation and sup-
pressed excitement. The overriding col-
our was green, be it suits, kilts, top hats,
disco caps, painted faces, bobbling hair
bands, even hair. People had pinned
bunches of shamrock on their dresses
and hats, and there was an air of festivity
everywhere.
As I waited for the parade to begin, an
Irish friend explained that it had not al-
ways been this colourful and noisy.
March 17 was designated St Patricks
The author is Day to commemorate the death of the
a Bengaluru- 5th century Romano-British Christian
based travel
and food missionary St Patrick who was responsi-
writer ble for large-scale conversions of the lo-
St Patricks Day is celebrated
on March 17 and is
probably the best time
to be in the Irish capital
How to Reach: There are no direct
flights to Dublin from India, but the
most convenient way to travel is via
a transit stop at Dubai, Abu Dhabi,
Doha or Frankfurt
Where to Stay: Dublin has plenty of
options across budgets, but if you
want to be in the thick of things then
the Morrison by Hilton on Ormand
Quay is centrally located. If you
prefer a quieter neighbourhood,
then Clyde Court Hotel on
Landsdowne Road is calm with
lovely, spacious rooms
Where to Drink: Do visit the
Guinness Storehouse, an
interactive museum with plenty of
drinking and eating. Other places
to try include the Long Hall, the
Stags Head, the Brazen Head,
ODonaghues, The Cobblestone,
Porterhouse Bar, Dawson Lounge
and Kehoes. In addition, try Irish
coffee, a potent combination of hot
coffee, whiskey and sugar
The parade
winds its way
through Dublins
streets with
short skits and
street acts,
cheerleaders,
bands, girls
twirling batons,
acrobats on
giant stilts and
dancers in
elaborate
costumes
cal Irish to Christianity. He is considered
the patron saint of Ireland.
Though St Patricks Day is believed to
have been commemorated as far back as
the ninth and tenth centuries, it was only
in 1903 that a parade was introduced.
Ever since, it has become more a cultural
celebration than a strictly religious one.
Over the last two decades, it has be-
come St Patricks festival and is celebrat-
ed over five days with a plethora of
events. Over half a million people de-
scend on Dublin, swilling copious
amounts of beer. However, the highlight
continues to be the iconic parade through
Dublins streets.
Double the Fun
The city had been preparing for this for
days. Stalls had sprung up on pavements
near Trinity College and in the centre of
the town, selling green sashes, top hats
and head bands with bobbing lepre-
chauns and shamrock leaves. Many of
the prominent buildings, including the
Dublin Castle, were bathed in green
light. Pubs and bars were bursting at the
seams with bands playing Irish pub
songs such as Rocky road to Dublin,
Whiskey in the jar and Galway girl. side, everything was calm and serene, in
On the morning of March 17, the whole
city was up, bright-
e ye d a n d b u shy-
tailed, the excesses of
the previous night not-
withstanding. A couple
of hours before the pa-
rade began, I wandered
the streets that were fast fill-
ing with parade-goers. More eye-
catching were the participants.
Bands and platoons were
practising,
people putting final touches on brightly
coloured floats and performers were pol-
ishing their acts.
As the clock worked its way past nine in
the morning and I went back to my van-
tage point, the parade began with the
grand marshal in an adorable vintage car.
He was soon followed by marching
school bands, martial bands, a platoon of
smartly uniformed men on horses, elab-
orate floats depicting various themes,
short skits and street acts, cheerleaders,
girls twirling batons, costumed acrobats
on giant stilts, dancers and more. For
over an hour and a half, for a mile and a
half, the parade wound its way through
some of Dublins central streets. It ended
with a flourish, just like it began, with
scores of men, women and children on
colourful bicycles propagating health
and exercise.
Once the parade passed by, people
spilled on to the streets, singing loudly
and dancing wildly to music wafting
from various sources. It was as if people
had picked up from where they had left
the previous night. Temple Bar, Dublins
most colourful and lively area filled with
pubs, was teeming with people, a sea of
green. The iconic Book of Kells and the
Long Room inside Trinity College were
open to the public and I wandered
around, a bit overwhelmed to be in the
same room once used by the likes of
Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar
Wilde, Samuel Beckett and Bram Stoker.
On a Quiet Note
In the evening, I headed to St Patricks Ca-
thedral, a massive 12th century church
considered to be the largest in Ireland. It
stood amid sprawling lawns: a dark edifice
with an eye-catching, 43 metre spire. In-
contrast to the revelry outside. There
were innumerable sculptures and burial
stones, including that of Swift,
the Door of Reconciliation,
stained glass details and a mas-
sive organ. In the relative si-
lence, the church bell began
pealing, a deep sound
that celebrated the pa-
tron saint as much as eve-
rything else. It seemed an
appropriate note to end
St Patricks Day. 
 A WEEKLY DOSE OF QUICK, QUIRKY AND TRENDY INFORMATION
alfresco 25
MARCH 13-19, 2016

IMPERFECTLY PERFECT

Unforced Error
Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, the highest-paid woman in sports, failed a drug test
Some of the classics that we read today
are unfinished works of literature. Here
are five such pieces that were never
completed:
at the Australian Open this year due to a substance she has been taking for 10 years. The The Canterbury Tales
The English classic, written
five-time grand slam champion has been provisionally suspended from March 12 in the 14th century by
Geoffrey Chaucer, has
Here are a few other sports personalities who accounts from different
were entangled in dope scandals: pilgrims on their way to
Canterbury Cathedral.
However, before his death
Tyson Gay in 1400, Chaucer was
only able to finish 24 of the 124 tales
In July 2013, Gay tested positive for a
he had planned to write
Shane Warne banned anabolic steroid, following
which he withdrew from consideration
In February 2003, the ace
Australian spinner was for the World Championships in Kubla Khan
Moscow. The United States Anti- The poem has no ending.
charged with using a banned
Doping Agency suspended the Samuel Taylor Coleridge
diuretic to enhance
former World double sprint said that the idea came to
performance, and faced a
champion for a year and him in a dream but he was
two-year ban from cricket if
stripped him of his silver not able to finish it as his
found guilty. In the end,
medal from the 2012 vision vanished because its
Warne was found guilty of
Summer Olympics composition was interrupted by a
breaching the Australian
person from Porlock
Cricket Boards drug code
and a one-year ban was
imposed on him The Mystery of
Edwin Drood
Diego Charles Dickens final novel,
Maradona which was to depict a tale of
Martina The Argentine footballer mystery and murder,
reached only the sixth of 12
Hingis surprised everyone when
he failed a drug test for planned instalments before
Hingis tested the author died. Portions of the text
five different variants of
positive for were shown to Queen Victoria,
ephedrine and was sent
cocaine during but the ending was never revealed
home from the 1994
the 2007
World Cup. Maradona
Wimbledon. She
played only two
was banned for Weir of Hermiston
games at the
two years, after This unfinished romance by
tournament in the
which Hingis Robert Louis Stevenson is
US, scoring one goal
quit the sport, set at the time of the
against Greece,
but made a Napoleonic Wars. It was
before FIFA sent
return to cut short by Stevensons
him packing
playing doubles sudden death in 1894 from
in 2013 a cerebral haemorrhage

Lance Armstrong The Diary of a

In 2013, the seven-time Tour de
France champion confessed to using
Marion Jones performance-enhancing drugs,
The five-time Olympic medallist admitting that he cheated to win all
had been saddled with doping his Tour de France titles. Following
allegations for years. In 2006, his confession, the International
Jones tested positive for Olympic Committee ordered the
erythropoietin. She acknowledged return of the bronze medal he won
using steroids as she prepared for at the 2000 Sydney Games and
the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The declared the race results void. He
International Olympic Committee was stripped of all the Tour de France
stripped her of the medals titles he won from 1999 to 2005
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT, WASHINGTON POST, THESPORTSTER.COM
Young Girl
The Diary of a Young Girl
starts when Anne Frank is 12,
just before her family goes
into hiding in order to avoid
capture by the Nazis who
were at the time occupying
the Netherlands. The diary ends
abruptly when her family is
apprehended in 1944 and sent to the
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
where Anne died of typhus
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

WEEKLY VECTOR
Jailhouse Rock
The US has the largest number of prisoners worldwide with over 2 million people in prison.
SOURCE: STATISTA, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PRISON STUDIES

Here are the top countries with the highest incarcerated criminals:

22,17,000 16,49,804 6,46,319 6,07,731 4,18,536 3,15,969 2,55,138

US CHINA RUSSIA BRAZIL INDIA THAILAND MEXICO
 26
Talkt...
Abou
YES. REST IN PEACE MR MARTIN.
Okay but this Mr Martin is not
dead, you know.
WELL, IM SURE HE IS.
For crying out loud, do not kill a
healthy 67-year-old man. He is, in
fact, looking forward to the sixth
season of Game of Thrones.
DUH! WHAT?
Yes, George RR Martin is alive and
kicking. The one that you are
talking about is the Fifth
Beatle George Martin, who
passed away last week.
AH! SANS THE RR. I SEE
THAT NOW.
You should. Martins fans
on social media went
berserk after mistaking
the author of A Song of Ice
and Fire series better known
as Game of Thrones with the
90-year-old producer.
GET
Targus
USB 3.0
Travel
Dock
Get it for: `9,999
PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by Balraj Arora at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002 and printed by him at (A) The Times of India Press, 13 & 15/1, Site IV, Industrial Area, Sahibabad, UP (B) Elegant Offset Printers, Shed No. D2-31, Thivim Industrial Estate, Karas-
wada, Mapusa Goa - 403526. EDITOR: Brian Carvalho (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved.
RNI No.: DELENG/2012/48648. MADE IN NEW DELHI VOLUME 05 NO. 11. AIR CHARGE: Raipur, Ahmedabad, Srinagar, Leh & via `2.00 PRICE IN NEPAL: NEP `15.00 except on Saturday & Sunday: NEP `25.00.
feel smart
MARCH 13-19, 2016
GEORGE RR MARTIN
PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS MAKING HEADLINES
SO DID I.
The panic was very
visible. Martins longevity
has long been a concern
among Game of Thrones fans,
who fear the 67-year-old might die
DO B R OWS E L I ST E N
L
aptops are getting sleeker but the
unfortunate trade-off is limited
ports. The VGA port has all but
disappeared from new laptops, USB
ports are fewer in number and smaller
machines may even have mini versions of
HDMI (which require adapter cables).
Targus has something called the
Travel Dock that you can use in such a
scenario. Its not really a "dock", but
more like an extension for your ports.
It's about the size and weight of a 5-inch
smartphone and twice as thick. It has a
brushed metal lid and solid
polyc arb o n a te co n struc tio n . I t
connects to your laptop using a built-in
USB 3.0 cable and offers HDMI out,
VGA out, Gigabit Ethernet and
additional USB 3.0 and micro USB
ports. This means you can comfortably
connect additional peripherals like
hard drives, printers while outputting
Stack
Game for iOS
Get it for: Free
R
emember Ketchapp?
They were the
developers behind the
much-loved (and much-
before finishing the seven-part imitated) game 2048.
series. Now, they're back with a
new game called Stack.
AT LEAST IT IS HEARTWARMING As is evident from the
TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE CARE name, it requires you to
SO DEEPLY. stack up blocks as high as
Yes. However, in his blog post possible. But there's a
Dead Not Yet, quoting Mark twist: you start with a
Twain, Martin said, 'I insist that the large block as a base and
rumours of my death have been a similar size block
greatly exaggerated.' swings to and fro in midair above it. Tap the
screen to make the block fall on the base if
WELL, FANS MUST BE RELIEVED
you don't time it just right, the blocks won't
NOW.
stack perfectly and your blocks will
Indeed. They responded to
become smaller in size. The next block is
Martins blog post with sighs of
P L AY
automatically the smaller size and you
relief and some friendly advice
have to be more careful with placement.
on 'taking vitamins' and 'getting
If you perfectly stack 10 blocks, the size
enough rest'.
of the base block increases a little. It
AND IM STILL ANXIOUS TO SEE sounds simple, but it's difficult to
IF JON SNOW IS ALIVE OR DEAD. perfectly stack blocks as they become
That remains to be seen. For now, smaller. The colourful graphics and
we can say that George RR Martin animation effects are top-notch. The only
has taken a page out of his own issue is that you'll be interrupted by full-
book and returned from the dead. screen ads in the free version. You can remove
these ads permanently with an in-app
SPOILER ALERT!!! purchase of `150. Karan Bajaj
Well, at least it is better than getting
thousands of obits when you are still
alive, isnt it?
OneSafe
App for iOS
Get it for: Free
READ P L AY Y oull never be able to
memorise all your
passwords and its never
a good idea to keep the
same password for
video to a larger screen and projector at multiple services. Thats
the same time. The HDMI supports a why a password manager
maximum resolution of 2560 x 1440 can be really useful to
while VGA supports a maximum output
of 2048 x 1152 pixels.
store all the data you want
to keep away from prying eyes. On OneSafe,
Typically, external power is not
required since it is USB-powered. In
some cases, you might need to plug in a
you can store online passwords, internet
banking logins, credit and debit cards, all
power source using the micro USB port
kinds of IDs, private phone numbers,
loyalty cards, passports, wi-fi passwords,
D OW N LOA D
(you can use any phone charger) this is
software licences basically anything.
required for some high-power
The first time, it takes you through a
peripherals like hard drives in case your
setup. You can choose to store the
computers USB port cant supply
information on the device itself or on
enough power. Its listed as being
compatible with Windows 10, Windows Dropbox, iCloud, etc. Each time you open
8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Linux the app, it will ask for authentication. You
Ubuntu, Mac OS X (v10.8, v10.9, v10.10) can use a PIN, TRI-PIN, password or
and Android v5 (micro USB adapter pattern. On an iPhone with TouchID, you
required to plug into a phone or tablet). can ask the app to use that as
You might be wondering how it works authentication. To prevent you from
though its not exactly plug and play. getting locked out of your own phone, it
You will need to download the additional will ask you to set two security questions.
DisplayLink software from the Targus If you forget your access password, the
website to enable all the functionality (or information is as good as gone, since the
the DisplayLink Desktop app for Android app uses 256-bit encryption. From then on, you
from the Google Play Store). can keep adding stuff you want secured and set
If youre always on the move and the app to have regular backups. It can backup
n e e d t o u s e yo u r l a p t o p f o r your data to Dropbox, iCloud or CloudKit or
presentations and the like, this is a you could just take a backup file and email it.
handy item to throw in the bag. This is one app that takes your security and
Hitesh Raj Bhagat
privacy very seriously. Hitesh Raj Bhagat