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Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop being welcomed
by Sushma Swaraj prior to a meeting in New Delhi on
Tuesday. Bishop is on an official visit to India. AFP
WEDNESDAY
15 APRIL
2015
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FROM TERROR FIGHTING IN SCOTLAND YARD TO COMBATING TRASH IN KOLKATA
SUBHRA PRASANTA DAS
subhra@thestatesman.net
Kolkata, 14 April
Modi's Swachh Bharat
campaign resonates even
in distant London. A for-
mer officer of the anti-ter-
rorism squad of Scotland
Yard, Mr Anthony Khat-
chaturian, has become a
beacon of hope for
Kolkata's rag-pickers.
They will be employed to
process and convert
municipal solid waste
(MSW) into compost.
“From Terror to
Trash” is how he explains
his transition from a cop
of the anti-terrorism
squad to an activist who
has taken up the ambi-
tious task of freeing India
from garbage.
“In the first phase of
our project we will
employ around 60 rag-
pickers. We will give them
quite a decent income,
uniform, shoes and lunch.
It will be a standard three
to eight hours shift and
five days a week,” said Mr
Khatchaturian, project
director of Dridh
Sankalp, a Jharkhand-
based NGO operating in
several Indian cities.
Speaking about the
plight of rag-pickers, he
said their social and eco-
nomic condition is one
reason why he took up the
project and the only way
out for them is their eco-
nomic uplift, and with
this project the NGO is
trying to do exactly that.
Plans are in place to pro-
vide their children with
education so that they
don't have to live the same
life their parents did,
added the activist with a
determination to make
India garbage-free.
Garbage management
in India faces the problem
of poor user cooperation
and segregation of
garbage, laments Mr
Khatchaturian.
Describing the model,
he said, “I will be giving
incentives to the house-
holds, corporates, mar-
kets for giving me their
waste.” The dumping
ground at Dhapa is not
enough for all the waste.
Sixty per cent of MSW is
organic and it is this
organic waste that the
activist is collecting to
convert it into compost. In
a way the load that is
going to Dhapa dumping
ground is reduced to a
great extent, said Mr
Khatchaturian.
This nutrient-rich
waste that is processed by
bacteria, instead of earth-
worms, eliminate
pathogens and bad odour.
The finished product
helps in increased yield of
various crops.
“The compost product
that is being produced has
been put on trial on a 10
hectare land in Punjab for
the production of wheat.
The yield, after using our
compost, is 6.5 tons per
year compared to an
international average of
2.5 tons of wheat per year
and Indian average of 2.4
tons of wheat,” said Dr
Manju Kumari, deputy
project director, Dridh
Sankalp. The compost
will then be sold to inter-
ested farmers.
Dr Kumari elaborated
the compost made from
organic waste is a living
product and it will contin-
uously improve soil quali-
ty. Quality of the soil has
degraded over the years
due to the continuous
usage of urea, pesticide
and has done enough
damage to human health
as well, said Dr Kumari.
The waste will be collect-
ed from local markets,
restaurants, private resi-
dences and corporate
houses. “We urge the cor-
porate houses to give us
their waste and supply
the bins and they will be
in line with the Prime
Minister's Swachh Bharat
programme.”
Mr Khatchaturian said
he wants to work through-
out the week, but red tape
is creating obstacles. He
is from the Armenian
family of philanthropists
of Kolkata who con-
tributed to the construc-
tion of heritage struc-
tures like Victoria Memo-
rial and Freemasons Hall.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, 14 April
Stating that the Aam
AadmiPartyhasfailedto
provide an alternative
for the common man,
rebel leader Yogendra
Yadav urged the youth
present at the ‘Swaraj
Samvad’inGurgaontoday
to join an agitation for
alternative politics, but
they stopped short of
announcingthecreation
of a new political outfit.
Over1000supporters
and volunteers of AAP
turned up at the meeting
organised by Yadav and
Prashant Bhushan but
partyleadersandpromi-
nentactivistsstayedaway.
Yadav said the volun-
teers should be ready for
a six-month agitation
which will open up
options. On the warning
fromtheAAPleadership
that party members
attendingthemeetwould
face action, Yadav
responded by saying, “A
party based on the prin-
ciples of democracy
shouldnotbeafraidof an
open discussion.” Yadav
and Prashant Bhushan
are likely to be removed
from the primary mem-
bership of AAP in the
near future.
The duo had
announcedtheirdecision
of holding the ‘Swaraj
Samvad’ to discuss their
future course of action
after expulsion from
AAP's top decision mak-
ing bodies, triggering
speculation that they
would float a new party.
“It's a day of new
beginning. AAP consti-
tution gives an ordinary
member of the party the
freedom of expression
which no other party
gives and if the workers
are using that freedom I
am sure the party would
respect it. I am not sure
if the party has changed
its own constitution,”
Yadav said.
Attheconvention,key
leaders who were seen
onstageincludedthefour
expelled members from
AAP's National Execu-
tive, Yadav, Bhushan,
Anand Kumar and Ajit
Jha,aswellasTimarpur
MLAPankajPushkarand
several Lok Sabha can-
didates from various
states who contested on
AAP tickets. “Our party
is new. Different people
havedifferentopinionson
discipline. I believe that
today's meeting is in line
with the ideals of our
party,” Pushkar said.
A number of senior
leadersdidnotturnup for
themeeting.Eventhough
MP Dharamvira Gandhi
hadprofessedsupportfor
Yadav and Bhushan, he
was not present for the
meeting. Medha Patkar
andArunaRoywerealso
conspicuous by their
absence. Aruna Roy and
DrGandhileftamessage
for the volunteers.
ChristinaSamy,oneof the
members of the Nation-
al Executive, was also
supposed to attend the
meet but did not turn up.
VeteranjournalistKuldip
Nayyar also sent a mes-
sagethat“insulting”peo-
ple like Bhushan and
Yadav was a big mistake.
Admiral L Ramdas
whowasrecentlyremoved
from the post of party's
internal Lokpal, sent a
message that was played
out from the stage. He
said a samvad cannot be
seen as an “anti-party
activity”andthatpeople
mustbeallowedtospeak
in a democracy.
“I don't belong to any
particularfactionof AAP.
For me there is just one
AAP...the party's princi-
ple and image has been
hurt most in the strong
armtacticsthathavebeen
used and we have miser-
ably failed as a party
whichwasformedonthe
principles of swaraj,”
Ramdas’ audio message
said.Heapologisedfornot
beingpresentatthemeet-
ing.
Volunteers from all
over the country turned
up and gave their sug-
gestions.Thereseemedto
be a consensus among
themthatthepartyshould
takebackYogendraYadav
and Prashant Bhushan.
Fromsomecorners,there
were also demands that
Arvind Kejriwal be
removedfromthepostof
national convener.
“There should be no
compromise on the prin-
ciple of Swaraj and they
should take back Yogen-
dra Yadav and Prashant
Bhushan,” said N
Ramesh, AAP supporter
from Bangalore.
The AAP Political
AffairsCommittee(PAC)
will meet tomorrow
amidst indications of
strongactionagainstrebel
leadersPrashantBhushan
and Yogendra Yadav for
organising the Swaraj
Samvad convention at
Gurgaon.
NIRENDRA DEV
nirendelhi@thestatesman.net
New Delhi, 14 April
The reshuffle in the BJP
tobeannouncedbyparty
presidentAmitShahsoon
and the likely changes in
theUnionCabineteffect-
ed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi could
spring a few surprises
even as most decisions
would hinge on electoral
prospects and the caste
factor.
“Theywillallbeprag-
maticdecisions.Allstake-
holders are being con-
sulted; pros & cons will
be weighed before any
announcement,” a party
insider said here.
ThebuzzinBJPcircles
is that two former stal-
warts, B S Yeddyurappa
andSanjayJoshi,couldbe
“rehabilitated” in the
party organisation.
Known as a prominent
member of the onetime
anti-Modi camp, Sanjay
JoshiisanRSSchoicewho
is to likely to be rehabil-
itated, Yeddyurappa,
forced to quit as Kar-
natakaCMandalsofrom
thepartyforabrief spell
overcorruptioncharges,
is understood to have
moved closer to the Amit
Shah-NarendraModiduo.
However,partysources
said ensuring Sanjay
Joshi's entry in the BJP
organisationiseasiersaid
than done as the PM dis-
likes the former general
secretary.
BJP sources said the
party's electoral strate-
gyandprospectsinstates
like Bihar and West Ben-
gal will figure promi-
nently in the minds of
Shah and Modi.
In Bihar, respecting
thedominantcastefactor,
AshwiniChaubey,party's
BrahminMPfromBuxar,
could find a ministerial
berth.TheModiministry
already has ministers
from various caste rep-
resentations such as
Radha Mohan Singh and
Rajiv Pratap Rudy (both
Rajput), Ravi Shankar
Prasad (Kayastha), Ram
VilasPaswan(Dalit),Giri-
raj Singh (Bhumihar),
RamKripalYadav(Yadav)
andUpendraKhushwaha
(Khushwaha). So as a
Brahmin, Chaubey's
chances seem bright,
sources said.
The formula for Yed-
dyurappa's return to
prominence was report-
edlyworkedoutduringthe
BJP national executive
meetinBengaluru.“There
wasoverwhelmingaccept-
ancethatasamassleader
Yeddyurappa matters in
Karnataka and it is his
return into BJP that
helped the saffron party
gain ground in the 2014
Lok Sabha polls after the
May 2013 assembly elec-
tion defeat,” the insider
said.
It is also being specu-
latedthattherejigtheBJP
president would effect
would aim at improving
hisandPM'srelationship
with some powerful BJP
chief ministers like
Vasundhara Raje
(Rajasthan) and Shivraj
SinghChouhan(Madhya
Pradesh).
Theannouncementof
the new BJP national
executive in March by
Amit Shah was seen as a
step that had “strength-
ened the stature of
VasundharaRajeonhome
turf as well as in nation-
al level”.
Raje's loyalists like
state minister Rajendra
Rathore, state BJP chief
Ashok Parnami, former
Rajasthan BJP chief
Mahesh Sharma as well
as Gulab Kataria, Arjun
Meghwal (MP) and Ram-
das Agarwal are among
the new Rajasthan lead-
ers in the national exec-
utive. Amit Shah is sim-
ilarly trying to resolve a
latent cold war between
the central leadership
and MP Chief Minister
Chouhan,sourcesadded.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Berlin, 14 April
PrimeMinisterNarendraModi
todayaskedwhyIndia,whichhas
“peaceinitsDNA”andistheland
of MahatmaGandhiandGautam
Buddha,hadtowaitfor70years
for a permanent seat in the UN
Security Council.
Underlining that the United
Nations will complete 70 years
of its formation this year, the
PrimeMinistersaidthetimehas
come that India “should get jus-
tice”bygivingitapermanentseat
in the UNSC.
“I want to draw the attention
of the world that the United
Nations will complete 70 years
of itsformationthisyearandwe
are marking the 100th anniver-
sary of World War I. The world
shouldknowthatinthewar,over
75,000Indiansoldiersweremar-
tyred and over 14 lakh soldiers
from India had participated,
even though India had no inter-
est in it,” Modi said during his
joint media interaction with
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
He said India is among the
countries that has contributed
themosttopeacekeepingforces
and its contribution has been
praised world-over.
He said India's history is tes-
timonytothefactthatithasnever
indulged in aggression and
attacked any country.
“If that country does not get
the Security Council member-
ship,hastowaitfor70years,peace
is in whose DNA...there should
be justice to that country.
Alotof timehaspassed,”Modi
said.
Earlier, Modi in his initial
remarks said India and Ger-
many are two countries that
have earned the right to be per-
manent members of the UNSC.
“Ourmembershipwillalsobe
beneficial to the world. We both
wouldliketoseetangibleprogress
in the United Nations Security
Councilreformsduringthe70th
Anniversary year of the United
Nations,” he said.
India has been pitching for a
permanent seat in the expand-
ed membership of the UNSC,
arguing that the existing body
does not truly reflect the con-
temporary world realities.
Prime Minister Modi today
announcedthatamechanismwill
beestablishedtofacilitateinvest-
mentandbusinessfromGermany
as the two countries agreed to
broadenbilateraleconomiccoop-
eration.
Modi made the announce-
ment after talks here with Ger-
manChancellorAngelaMerkel.
Meanwhile, Air India One, a
Boeing 747-400 aircraft that car-
ried Prime Minister Narendra
Modi from Delhi to Berlin after
halts in Paris, Toulouse and
Hannover, developed engine
problemsandhadtobereplaced
by another plane.
The standby plane, kept in
readiness in Mumbai, left early
thismorningforBerlinandwas
used for flying the Prime Min-
isterandhisentouragetoOttawa
in Canada on the last leg of his
three-nation tour, Air India
sources said.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, 14 April
Amid the raging, fierce
publicdebateonNetneu-
trality, especially on the
Web and social media,
and snowballing public
outrageagainstanybidto
monopoliseorundermine
the Internet and dis-
criminate against its
users, the e-commerce
major Flipkart today
walked out of its pro-
posed partnership with
the telecom giant Airtel
overitscontroversialplat-
formAirtelZerothatwas
alleged to be compro-
mising net neutrality.
Joining the growing
publicchorusagainstany
attempt to undermine a
freeandnon-discrimina-
tory Internet, the Con-
gresspartytodaycameout
to strongly support net
neutrality, asking the
Narendra Modi govern-
ment to immediately use
itspowersand“issuepol-
icy directions” to deci-
sively uphold this vital
principle in overwhelm-
ing public interest.
The Congress also
threatenedstreetprotests
if net neutrality is com-
promisedinanymanner.
Reelingundermassive
public pressure ~ with
consumers even report-
edlydowngradingitsapp
to a single-star or even
deleting it ~ Flipkart
madeaU-turnoveritspro-
posed tie-up with Airtel
Zero barely days after its
co-founderSachinBansal
had openly backed this
platform. “We will be
walking away from the
ongoingdiscussionswith
Airtel for their platform
Airtel Zero. We will be
committing ourselves to
thelargercauseof netneu-
tralityinIndia.Wewillbe
internallydiscussingover
the next few days, the
details of actions we will
taketosupportthecause,”
aFlipkartstatementsaid.
“We will be working
towardsensuringthatthe
spiritof netneutralityis
upheldandappliedequal-
ly to all companies in
India irrespective of the
size or the service being
offered and there is
absolutely no discrimi-
nationwhatsoever,”Flip-
kart said.
Holding that Flipkart
existsbecauseof theInter-
net, the company's state-
mentstated:“Afterreview-
ing implications of zero
ratingdeeply,wereached
the conclusion that it
doesn’t meet our stan-
dardsof netneutralityand
violates the principles
that we stand for.”
Airtel subsequently
came out with its own
statement, claiming that
it “fully” supported net
neutrality. “There have
been some misconcep-
tions about our toll free
data platform ~ Airtel
Zero. It is a not a tariff
propositionbutisanopen
marketing platform,” its
statement said.
Net neutrality is the
principle that Internet
Service Providers (ISPs)
or Telecom Service
Providers (TSPs) should
treat all traffic on their
networks equally so that
allusersareabletoaccess
all websites at the same
speed and cost and no
website or application is
given preferential treat-
ment on the basis of pay-
ment.
ACTIONAGAINSTYADAVANDBHUSANLIKELYFORHOLDINGMEET
YeddyandJoshimay
berehabilitated
duringreshuffle
Netneutralitydebate
rages,Flipkartwalks
outof Airtelpact
ModibatsforIndiaandGermanyin UNSC
Swachh Bharat, courtesy rag-pickers
SMRITI IRANI
IN THE
DOLDRUMS?
Stock markets were closed
on Tuesday on account of
Ambedkar Jayanti
AAPREBELSFORM
‘SWARAJSAMVAD’
Mr Anthony Khatchaturian (centre), with his team. sns
YogendraYadavandPrashantBhushan,theorganisersoftherebels’meeting.