India Today - 20 March 2017

154 Pages·2017·42.23 MB·English

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DIGITAL EDITION
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FInal Sex Cover.indd 1 08/03/17 5:16 pm
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Ashish Bagga
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa
EDITORS: Kaveree Bamzai (Special Projects), Ajit Kumar Jha (Research) S ex is not just about sex. The believe that love is more important than
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh atti tude towards it reflects sex; in 2016, 63 per cent men told us
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: Damayanti Datta, S. Sahaya Ranjit, the way women are regarded, they wouldn’t marry a woman if she was
Sandeep Unnithan
permeates into culture, the arts and, sexually experienced, compared to 77
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop
Mumbai: M.G. Arun Hyderabad: Amarnath K. Menon Chandigarh: Asit Jolly above all, indicates how liberal a soci- per cent in 2004. Casual sex, detached
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Jaipur: Rohit Parihar
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee ety we are. We found out the hard way from emotion, is becoming more
Mumbai: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna: Amitabh Srivastava when, in 2003, india today decided popular than ever: 41 per cent men are
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha
Kolkata: Romita Sengupta; Bhopal: Rahul Noronha; to track sexual mores in modern India. fine with one-night stands, as are 29 per
Thiruvananthapuram: Jeemon Jacob; BeiJing: Ananth Krishnan
ASSISTANT EDITOR: pune: Aditi S. Pai It caused quite a stir. The survey, of cent women. Over 26 per cent have slept
CHIEF COPY EDITOR: Aditya Mohan Wig
what women want, took the nation by with someone other than their partners.
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
Rajwant Singh Rawat (Principal Photographer), storm, with the team being bombarded This year’s sex survey, anchored by
Kekhriezhazo Miachie-O (Senior Photographer), Chandra Deep
Kumar (Photographer); Mumbai: Mandar Suresh Deodhar by letters, threats and calls. Yet the Executive Editor Damayanti Datta,
(Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer);
ahmedabad: Shailesh B Raval (Principal Photographer); issue was an instant sell-out on the takes you through the seismic shift
Kolkata: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer);
Chennai: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) newsstands, prompting us to make it behind closed doors. It clearly indicates
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher),
an annual ritual, lifting the veil on an how modern technology—internet
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Assistant Photo Researcher) important aspect of life. Between then porn to Snapchat to apps—is chang-
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director); and now, we have held 15 surveys: men ing bedroom dynamics: foreplay is
Jyoti K. Singh, Anirban Ghosh (Art Director),
Vikas Verma, Rahul Sharma, Vipin Gupta (Associate Art Director); and women, singletons and couples, down and (almost) out, with a lot more
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer)
at work or on the campus, teenagers couples taking to porn surfing instead.
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production),
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator), or 60-somethings, across small towns Over 32 per cent men manage to spare
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator)
or metro cities. Statistics reveal a barely five minutes or less for lovemak-
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Manoj Sharma
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) massive change in perception, practice ing on average. Oral sex tops the list
IMPACT TEAM and preference. Although marked by of sexual activities and fantasies. The
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West)
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), inconsistencies and cross-currents, bouquet of acrobatics in the bedroom
Upendra Singh (Bangalore), Velu Subramaniam (Chennai),
Kaushiky Chakraborty (East) the guarded conservatism of the early is expanding with astonishing speed.
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra
Assistant General Manager: Garima Prashar (Marketing) 2000s is clearly giving way to a lifestyle Yet this increasingly progres-
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager where pleasure is paramount. The sive process, painfully slow though it
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales)
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations) modern marriage is more fun, but per- is, is not mirrored in the attitude of
Manish Kumar Srivastava, Regional Sales Manager (North)
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (West) haps the shelf life of the all-or-nothing those who believe they are in charge
Arokia Raj L., Regional Sales Manager (South)
institution is reaching its sell-by date. of our morals. So we have a ridiculous
To celebrate the 15th year of the situation when films can be denied
India Today Sex Survey, we look at how certification for being “lady oriented”
Volume XLII Number 12; For the week things have changed (or not) in the na- and using abusive words (as in the case
March 14-20, 2017, published on every Friday
tion’s inti mate life, to recognise the new of Lipstick Under My Burkha) or for
l Editorial Office Living Media India Ltd., India Today Group Mediaplex,
FC-8, Sector-16A, Film City, Noida - 201301; Phone: [phone] normal, the naked truth. In the past 15 depicting reality (as in Udta Punjab).
l Subs criptions: For assistance contact Customer Care India Today Group, B-45,
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from Rest of India (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); Fax: [phone]; questions to over 50,000 of you. And spaces and on social media indicate
Mumbai: 022-66063411/3412, Kolkata: 033-40525327, Chennai: 044-24303200;
e-mail: [email protected] from the evasive ‘Don’t Know/ Can’t Say’ that sexual violence is always a clear
l Sales: Direct all trade enquiries to General Manager (Sales), Living Media India
Limited, B-45, Sector 57, Noida-201301 (UP) of the early 2000s, you have emerged and present danger. Some attitudes re-
l Regd. Office: K-9 Conn aught Circus, New Delhi-110001
l Impact Offices: 1201, 12th Floor, Tower 2 A, One Indiabulls Centre, (Jupiter boldly—to tell us about your deepest de- main no matter the level of education.
Mills), S.B. Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400013; Phone: [phone];
Fax: [phone] l E-1, Ground Floor, Videocon Towers, Jhandewalan Extn, mands and desi res, fantasies and fears. In particular, the Indian man has yet
New Delhi l Guna Complex, 5th Floor, Main Building, No.443, Anna Salai,
Chennai-600018; Phone: [phone] l 201-204 Richmond T owers, 2nd Floor, Thanks to you, we are perhaps closer to to evolve into someone who accepts the
12, Richmond Road, Bangalore-560025; Phones: 22212448, 22213037,
22218343; Fax: [phone]; l 52, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, 4th Floor, understanding the continuing meta- Indian woman as his equal, treats her
Kolkata-700071; Phones: 22825398; F ax: 22827254; l 6-3-885/7/B, S omajiguda,
Hyderabad-500082; Phone: [phone], morphosis of the Indian sexual psyche. with respect and understanding. What
23410982, 23411498; Fax: [phone] l 39/1045, Karakkatt Road, Kochi 682016;
Phones: 2377057, 2377058 ; Fax: [phone] l 2/C, “Suryarath Bldg”, 2nd Floor, This year’s survey puts those happens in our bedrooms spills over
Behind White House, Panchwati, Office C.G. Road, Ahmedabad-380006; Phone:
26560393, 26560929; Fax: [phone] l Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All changes in context, as it studies a total on to the streets sooner rather than
rights reserved througho ut the world. R eproduction in any m anner is p rohibited.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of Living Media of 4,050 men and women between later. It is best that it is acknowledged,
India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited,
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana) ages 19 and 60, across 19 cities. The understood and celebrated.
and at A-9, Ind ustrial Complex, Maraimalai N agar, District
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught statistics across the pages reveal a pat-
Circus, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Aroon Purie.
l in dia today does not take the res ponsibility for returning unsolicited tern, through a landscape of flip-flops
publication material.
and contradictions: in our 2013 survey,
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only we learnt that more men than women (Aroon Purie)
MARCH 20, 2017 INDIA TODAY 1
UPFRONT LEISURE
IINN SSIIDD EE
THE SIEGE OF SURENDER MOHAN PATHAK:
LUCKNOW PG 3 PAPERBACK WRITER PG 63
GLASSHOUSE: VELINGKAR’S THE EROTIC AFTERLIVES
RETURN TO ROOTS PG 7 OF MATA HARI PG 65
STATES
17
31
DIDI’S
CCUURREE--AALLLL
CANDID BBeennggaall CCMM MMaammaattaa
BBaanneerrjjeeee ppuusshheess aa
CONFESSIONS
bbiillll ttoo ccrraacckk ddoowwnn
on rapacious
Fifteen pprriivvaattee hhoossppiittaallss
years of
the India
Today Sex
Survey...
mapping
the journey
from 2003
till the
present
CHINA
28
FLEXING ITS MISSILE
MUSCLE
Both India and China are beefing up their
nuclear capabilities but unwilling to talk
about it, leading to mistrust between the
two countries
Cover photograph by BANDEEP SINGH
From the‘Shringar’ series
BANDEEP SINGH
Page: 96-97
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INDIA’S H1B HINDU HEADACHE
UPF RON T
WORRIES FOR BJP IN ASSAM
PG 4 PG 6
TIBET: THE GDP: WHAT’S
LAST LAMA? IN A NUMBER?
PG 14 PG 15
DEADLY MIX
ISIS
Assorted material and an
ISIS flag recovered from
THE LONE WOLF
Saifullah in Lucknow
OF LUCKNOW
By Sandeep Unnithan
The ISIS Caliphate has started crumbling just three years over 2,000 people, a majority of them through self-radicalised
after its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, stunned the world recruits. One such blast, on a coach of the Bhopal-Ujjain
with his declaration of a state spanning the territories it passenger train in Madhya Pradesh on March 7, injured eight
had captured in Syria and Iraq till June 2014. The Iraqi army, passengers. It is believed to be the first ISIS-inspired attack
backed by an international coalition, has now nearly evicted in India. The blast was carried out by what police are calling
the violent Islamist group from its last Iraqi bastion, Mosul. the Kanpur-Lucknow module of the ISIS. Three persons were
But ISIS’s unique ability to recruit, radicalise and call for picked up by the Madhya Pradesh police on the day of the
attacks over the internet remains the single biggest cause for blast. It led the Uttar Pradesh police to a flat in Thakurganj
concern—over 140 attacks in 29 countries, which have killed on the outskirts of Lucknow, where, after a 12-hour standoff,
Upfront-1-3-Mar20.indd 6 3/8/2017 7:32:18 PM
UPFRONT
the sole occupant, Mohammed Saifullah, was found
dead and police recovered an ISIS flag, pistols,
rail way maps and equipment for making crude pipe
bombs rigged to mobile phones, the type of device
suspected in the MP train bombing.
Police say Saifullah was an active member of
the banned group and are hunting for his other Y
T
R
associates, still believed to be on the run. While the O
B
police could not confirm whether any of the suspects RA
K
had travelled to ISIS-held territories, it would be A
H
C
no surprise if they had not. With travel to the areas Y
O
under its control becoming increasingly difficult, the M
N
group has begun asking potential recruits to carry TA
y
out terror attacks in their own countries. n b
o
ISIS has repeatedly aimed its slickly crafted pro- ati
paganda videos at Indian Muslims. In one release str
u
early last year, the group warned of attacks in India. Ill
Around two dozen Indians have managed to travel
to ISIS-controlled territories in the past three years. H1B VISA
Of these, six died in combat in Syria. Over 50 people
INDIAN TECHIES
have been arrested by various state police organisa-
tions across the country for attempting to travel to
ISIS-held territories and the National Investiga- LIVE IN FEAR OF
tion Agency (NIA) is probing multiple such cases of
online radicalisation. BEING SHUT OUT
These numbers are
ISIS has
alarming but still minuscule
begun to ask By Venkatesha Babu
for a country with the world’s
its online third largest Muslim popula-
recruits to tion. For comparison, at least From April, the premium processing of H1B visas, the
carry out 200 Maldivians from the permits that enable skilled foreigners to be employed
attacks in tiny Indian Ocean islands in the United States, will be suspended for six months.
their own are thought to have travelled Thousands of Indian nationals, particularly in the $150 bil-
to ISIS-held territories. It’s a lion Indian information technology industry, will likely be
countries
statistic that must baffle the affected by the move.
revanchist terrorist outfit, Shares of prominent tech firms such as Wipro and Info-
which sees India as part of its ‘Khorasan province’. sys took the expected beating. As they did in January, when
In an interview to the group’s online magazine, a bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives to
Dabiq, last April, Sheikh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, the increase the minimum annual salary to qualify for an H1B
‘Amir of Bengal’, admitted the group was still weak visa from $60,000 (Rs 40 lakh) to at least $130,000 (Rs 87
in the subcontinent and lacked capabilities but was lakh). Indian firms have long been
“sharpening its knives for the struggle”. The Bhopal accused of using H1Bs to hire In-
blast is clearly an attempt to establish its presence. 155,000 dian workers for less than it would
Even so, for India, the self-radicalised ISIS ter- cost to hire an American.
rorists are not yet in the same league of threats as, Each year, 85,000 H1B visas
Jobs directly created
say, from Pakistan-based groups like the Lash kar- are made available, including
by Indian IT firms in
e-Toiba. This is not only because they lack access the US till 2015 20,000 reserved for workers with
to military-grade weapons, explosives and army advanced degrees. Except dur-
instructors, but also tacit support from state actors. ing downturns, such as in 2008,
17,000
Where ISIS scores, apparently, is in the numbers of there are more applications than
dedicated footsoldiers it commands. The group’s visas available, so employees and
poisonous trans-border appeal and the possibility of H1B visas received by companies take their chances in
it dispatching trained fighters to carry out Paris- Indian companies, 20% a lottery. The suspension of the
style attacks on Indian soil should give security of the total available premium process, which permits
agencies sleepless nights. n firms to pay a $1,225 (Rs 82,000)
4 INDIA TODAY MARCH 20, 2017
INDEX
Diaspora Dreams
Data from the Washington-based Pew Research Center
shows that India is the largest contributor of migrants in
the world. El Dorado, for most Indian migrants, is the US
or the UAE. India also accepts millions of migrants. Ours is
the 12th largest immigrant population of the world
15.6 5.2
million million
People born in India who People born in other countries
make their homes in other who live in India. Compared
countries. Compared with with 46.6 million in the US,
12.3 million Mexicans and 12 million in Germany, and
9.5 million Chinese 980,000 in China
3.2 3.5
fee to expedite applications, is ostensibly to clear a
backlog. Last year, Indian workers accounted for 70
per cent of the 85,000 available H1B visas, with Indian million million
firms receiving 17,000 visas, or 20 per cent of the total. People born in Bangladesh Indian-born people living in
In February, Narayana Murthy, co-founder of who live in India. The vast the UAE, about 33% of the
majority of migrants in population. 940,000 migrants
Infosys, called on Indian companies to not take the “soft
India are from to the UAE come from
option” and become “true multinational[s]” by hiring
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, the second highest
locals. US president Donald Trump’s campaign prom- Nepal and Sri Lanka contributor
ises to protect American jobs had already made Indian
firms jittery about potential legislation.
$69 3
R. Chandrashekhar, president of Nasscom, lob-
byists for the Indian IT industry, asserts that most
commentary on the H1B issue operates from faulty billion per cent
premises. “There are three wrong notions,” he says, that
Money sent by Average proportion of a coun-
need to be corrected. “First, Indian IT does not take NRIs back to India, try’s population that migrates.
away American jobs. In fact, Indian IT companies have the highest of any Despite the largest numbers,
created 155,000 jobs directly, and 411,000 jobs in sup- country India falls below this average—
less than 2% leave the country
port services, a number that grows at 10 per cent every
year. Second, Indian IT companies provide services to 75
per cent of the Fortune 500, making American com-
panies globally competitive. Third, the US government PULLQUOTE
itself admits to a shortage of talent in STEM (Science,
“When you’re 16 or 17, you’re
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas.” The
shortfall in talent for STEM jobs is estimated at 2.4 mil- hormonally challenged. To protect
lion people and, Chandrashekhar points out, “unemploy-
you from your outbursts, a lakshman
ment among STEM graduates is under 2 per cent”.
rekha is drawn... for your own safety.”
Still, the decision to suspend premium processing
came on the heels of a US visit by the foreign secretary,
S. Jaishankar, in which a “forceful presentation” on MANEKA GANDHI, minister for women
the H1B issue was apparently “met with a degree of and child development, assuring young
understanding”. The message is clear—H1B reform is women of the government’s commitment
to draconian college hostel curfews.
imminent. Indian IT companies, as Narayana Murthy
Security for college-going girls, the
has said, must now prepare for life without the import-
minister expounded, was a simple matter
ed, low-cost know-how that gave them their competitive of keeping girls and boys apart. Ah, those
advantage in the first place. n crazy college days.
MARCH 20, 2017 INDIA TODAY 5
MY WAY CM Sonowal (in white) at a
Shivaratri celebration in Guwahati
Fridays in Pakistan and Bangladesh,
not in India,” he said. In February, CM
Sonowal tweeted the government’s
decision to make Sanskrit compulsory
up to the 8th standard. Even
ministers in his own cabinet sided
with the Opposition in opposing the
decision. Sarma now says “practical
difficulties” mean the order will not
be implemented. Sonowal, when
contacted, insisted that “the decision
PTI [had] not yet been discarded”.
The mixed message is typical of a
ASSAM
confused government, caught between
its commitment to Hindutva and the
A Hindu Headache
priorities of the Assamese people. n
for the BJP
FORM-IV
1. Place of publication : New Delhi
By Kaushik Deka 2. Periodicity of publication : Weekly
3. Printer’s name : Manoj Sharma
Nationality : Indian
T ensions are running high in As- BJP won 60 of the 89 assembly seats
Address : A-3/723,
sam after the March 6 ransack- it contested last year, a commanding Silver City, Sector-93,
Noida-201 301,
ing of an All Assam Students performance in a state in which 35 per Uttar Pradesh
Union (AASU) office in Silapathar, a cent of the population is Muslim. 4. Publisher’s name : Manoj Sharma
town in the state’s Dhemaji district. Since the Sonowal government took Nationality : Indian
Three people were reported injured in oath on May 24 last year, it has been Address : A-3/723,
Silver City, Sector-93,
the attack, perpetrated by an obscure brazen about its ‘Hindu first’ agenda. Noida-201 301,
Uttar Pradesh
group, the Nikhil Bharat Bangali State finance minister Himanta Biswa
Udb astu Samanvay Samiti (NBBUS), Sarma argued that the Citizenship 5. Editor’s name : Aroon Purie
Nationality : Indian
seeking citizenship for Hindu refugees Amendment Bill (2016), which seeks
Address : 6, Palam Marg,
from Bangladesh. AASU led a six-year to naturalise (non-Muslim) minorities Vasant Vihar,
movement against illegal immigration persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh New Delhi-110 057.
into the state, resulting in the 1985 and Afghanistan, was necessary beca- 6. Names and addresses : Owner:
of individuals who own the M/s Living Media
Assam Accord, which, broadly, granted use Assamese people needed the supp- newspaper and partners India Limited,
citizenship rights only to those who had ort of their Hindu Bengali brothers to or shareholders holding K-9,
more than one per cent Connaught Circus,
moved to the state before 1971. ward off the Muslim threat. In Decem- of the total capital New Delhi-110 001.
AASU is deeply influential, with ber, RSS volunteers sparked anger by
Shareholders holding more than one per cent of the
key players in the Assam govern- shouting “Hindu-Hindu, bhai-bhai” total capital of the owner company:
m ent, including the chief minister, and “Bharat mata ki jai” from the top 1. Mr. Aroon Purie, 6, Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar,
Sarban anda Sonowal, being former of the 18th century Kareng Ghar, an New Delhi-110 057.
2. M rs. Rekha Purie, 6, Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar,
members or leaders. But, as a critic Ahom palace and protected monument. New Delhi-110 057.
of all immigration to Assam from Earlier, 3. M r. Ankoor Purie, 6, Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi-110 057.
Bangladesh, whether Hindu or Muslim, Sarma now Sarma, as edu- 4. M rs. Koel Purie Rinchet, 6, Palam Marg,
Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110 057.
it found itself in the crosshairs of says “practi- c ation minister, 5. M rs. Kalli Purie Bhandal, 6, Palam Marg,
NBBUS, allegedly associated with the ordered state- Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110 057.
cal difficul-
6. W orld Media Private Limited, K-9, Connaught
RSS and virulently opposed to the recognised mad-
ties” mean Circus, New Delhi-110 001.
idea of citizenship as outlined in the rassas to remain 7. IGH Holdings Private Limited, 1st Floor, Industry
the Sanskrit House, 159 Churchgate Reclamation,
Accord. It is the association with the open on Fridays. Mumbai- 400 020.
order won’t
RSS that makes it so uncomfortable “Madrassas
for the BJP-led NDA government. The be enforced are closed on gI,i vMeann aobj oSvhea ramrea , threuree btoy dtheec labrees tt hoaft mthye pkanrotwiclueldagres
and belief.
Sd/-
Manoj Sharma
6 INDIA TODAY MARCH 20, 2017 Dt: 01.03.17 Signature of publisher
UPFRONT
GLASSHOUSE
Ghar Wapsi for
Velingkar
Turn
It up
When he dissolved his rebel Goa RSS and ret-
urned to his old outfit on March 6, Subhash
Velingkar said he had no regrets. “I wanted to teach the Andhra Pradesh CM
BJP a lesson. My job is done,” he said. He announced that N. Chandrababu Nai-
he would be an ordinary worker from now on, following du has got slick German-
the instructions of his “seniors”. The RSS office, situated made wi-fi microphones
within a kilometre of Velingkar’s house in Panaji, was full installed at the newly
of emotion at his “ghar wapsi”. While RSS Goa chief Lax- inaugurated state legislative
man Behre welcomed Velingkar’s return, the extent of assembly building at the in-
the damage he has caused to the BJP will only be known terim government complex
on March 11 when the assembly election results come out. at Velagapudi in Amaravati.
Velingkar’s immediate need now will be to buy a light But there’s a catch. They can
brown ‘full pant’, part of the new RSS uniform intro- only be activated after the
duced after his rebellion. His next task will be organising speaker gives the nod. So
the varsh pratipada utsav (new year festival), which falls much for free speech.
on Gudi Padva, March 28. Goa’s pracharaks will be
hoping it’s a good one for the Sangh Parivar.
Off Script
MILIND UTTAM SHELTE
Out of Line
Kerala finance minister
Thomas Isaac’s recent
Veteran Maharashtra Con- media outreach attempt has
gressman Manikrao Thakre led to some embarrassment for
recently attended a meeting at the Pinarayi Vijayan govern-
Opposition leader Rad- ment. Isaac’s aides sent out
hakrishna Vikhe Patil’s key highlights of his speech
residence in Mumbai to to the media even before the
chart strategy ahead of Budget presentation was over
the March 6 assembly on March 3. Unfortunately,
session. But he clearly it included budget highlights
forgot that as deputy nnoott pprreesseenntteedd iinn tthhee mmiinniisstteerr’’ss
chairman of the state leg- ssppeeeecchh.. TThhee OOppppoossii--
Rail Bridges
islative council, it was unethical ttiioonn wwaass ssoooonn uupp
of him to attend. Quizzed by the iinn pprrootteesstt,, cciittiinngg
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has spoken of
media, a sheepish Thakre prom- bbrreeaacchh ooff pprriivvii--
floating bonds to augment the resource-hungry
ised to be careful in the future. lleeggee.. CCMM PPiinnaarraayyii
ministry. But he’s also especially proud of a different
VViijjaayyaann hhaass ggiivveenn
kind of bond he’s built with junior railway employees
aassssuurraanncceess tthhaatt
who get to visit his official residence on Delhi’s Akbar
iitt wwiillll nnoott hhaapp--
10,000 Road. Prabhu told audiences at a Business Today event
ppeenn aaggaaiinn,, bbuutt
in Mumbai that the idea came from a staff member’s
tthhee CCoonnggrreessss--
comment that his spartan lifestyle was not too different
lleedd OOppppoossii--
from hers. Since then, Rail Bhavan staff have been
LITRES frequently hosted at Prabhu’s residence. ttiioonn iiss bbaayyiinngg
amount of illegal liquor confiscated ffoorr IIssaaaacc’’ss
in Bihar, ahead of the state’s first blood.
post-prohibition Holi festival —Sandeep Unnithan with Amarnath K. Menon,
Kiran D. Tare, Jeemon Jacob and Amitabh Srivastava L
LI
E
V
A
M
R
U
N
A
M
UUPPFFRROONNTT
GST CHATTER
THE NEW The week in social media
@ShougatDasgupta
NORMAL
Can an App Stop Trolls?
In response to the much
publicised rape threats
against 20-year-old student
Gurmehar Kaur by Twitter
trolls supporting the right-
wing ABVP, the govern-
ment will launch an app by
the end of this month that
women can use to report
online abuse. Details are
tthhiinn oonn hhooww tthhee aapppp,, ddeessccrriibbeedd aass aa ‘‘ppaanniicc bbuuttttoonn’’ wwiitthh aa
‘shouting’ feature, will work, but it will reportedly be called
‘I Am Trolled’. It recalls, presumably unintentionally, the
title of Swati Chaturvedi’s recent book, I Am A Troll, about
BJP-sanctioned trolls (some of whom are followed by the
prime minister) routinely using rape threats and sexual in-
TI timidation. In July last year, Maneka Gandhi asked women
P
to respond to her directly if they were being trolled. She
GAMECHANGER: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley heard mostly from men, asking why they didn’t have a
similar recourse. For the government, confronting trolls
means taking on some of its most ardent supporters. n
On March 4, the GST council provisionally approved
two of four pieces of legislation to enable the new tax
#SadandLonely
regime—the central and integrated aspects of the GST
New research from the University of Pittsburgh recon-
(CGST and IGST). The remaining two (SGST and UTGST) will
firms what is surely by now a truism—an established
be cleared at the next council meeting on March 16, clearing the
prejudice isolates people as much as it brings them
decks for the tabling of the bill in the budget session. “Subject to
together. The study claims, using a sample size of 1,800
Parliament approving the bills,” said finance minister and GST people between the ages of 19 and 32, that there is a link
council head Arun Jaitley, “July 1, 2017 optimistically looks like between prolonged usage of social media platforms such
the possible date for GST implementation.” That optimism was as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and feelings of jeal-
not universal: J&K finance minister Haseeb Drabu, for instance, ous inadequacy. Scrolling through carefully curated feeds,
said that some “minor editorial changes” were still required in the seeing the irritating hashtag ‘blessed’, and being privy to
CGST and IGST drafts, which, according to him, as quoted in the glamour and material advantages of other people’s
lives must be hard to bear. Except everyone appears to be
some reports, might push the GST rollout to September 1.
engaged in their own form of one-upmanship. n
The process of building a consensus with the states has come
at the cost of simplicity, which was to be the defining feature of
GST. For one, the process has weakened a central principle: that Uber Imploding?
the GST be a simplified tax administration that does away with
A video of the Uber CEO berating a driver—who blamed
the cascading effect of indirect taxes. At the same meeting, West the company for him losing $97,000 (Rs 65 lakh)—for not
Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra said as many as 26 changes taking responsibility—went viral last week. It has capped
sought by the states had been included into the two draft laws, a period in which the company has faced driver strikes in
but sought to put a positive spin on it by describing it as “showing India, been accused of sexism, misogyny, stealing trade
the federalist character of India”. Satya Poddar, Tax Partner at EY secrets, and using a secret programme to evade the
India, took the view that a conciliatory approach also meant that attentions of law
enforcement in
GST, in its present shape, has not managed to limit the cascad-
various countries.
ing effect enough. To make it worse, nearly half of all consumer
Once envied, Uber
goods will remain outside the purview of GST, while the other
staff now confess
half will be assessed in a multiple-tier rate structure. Rates for
that family mem-
taxes on services are in multiple slabs as well. The next meeting bers and friends
will decide which commodities/ services fall into which tier. n are urging them to
—Shweta Punj find other jobs. n
8 INDIA TODAY MARCH 20, 2017
Upfront 5-7-Mar20.indd 16 3/8/2017 6:05:24 PM