TheIndian EXPRESS LATE CITY, 18 PAGES, KOLKATA `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) ● WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE #METOO LIST GROWS; EX-EDITOR ADHIKARI QUITS THINK TANK, TOI EDITOR SENT ON LEAVE, BS REPORTER QUITS Six women speak up, accuse Minister M J Akbar of sexual harassment when he was Editor Akbar in Nigeria with a trade team, doesn’t respond to allegations KRISHN KAUSHIK & SOMYA LAKHANI 8 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 THE EDITORIAL PAGE Feet of clay By HARISH DAMODARAN AT LEAST six women journalists have come on record to accuse Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour when he worked as a newspaper editor. Akbar, on a visit to Nigeria with a trade delegation, did not BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ALAKA SAHANI Union MoS (External Affairs) M J Akbar respond to an email, calls and WhatsAppmessagessenttohim seeking his comment. He is the first political public figure to feature in the growing list of men — CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Tara writer accuses actor Alok Nath of raping her MUMBAI, OCTOBER 9 ■ MORE REPORTS, P 10 ■ LAW EXPLAINED, P 12 WRITER-PRODUCERVintaNanda TuesdayaccusedactorAlokNath ofsexuallyassaultingheronmultipleoccasions19yearsagowhen theyworkedtogetheronthesets of the 1993 TV show Tara. Nanda detailedtheaccountonFacebook Monday in which she referred to Nath as “the most sanskaari (cul- After audio clips of ‘plot’ to target TMC, Mukul Roy says phone tapped DAYS AFTER two audio clips of hispurportedconversationwith BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya were circulated on social media, BJP leader Mukul Roy said on Tuesday that he had filed a case in the Delhi High Court alleging that his phone was being tapped. “I have filed a case stating that my phone is being tapped... Let the administration and police answer the court,” he told The Indian Express. “My phone is being tapped by the Kolkata Police. I am aware that some audio clip is doing the rounds. My rights and privacy are being breached,” said Roy. Asked if the audio clips were authentic, Roy said, “First let them (police) say why they are tapping my phone. Then I will talk about the conversation.” Vijayvargiya,whoistheparty in-charge for West Bengal, however,claimedthattheaudioclips were fake. “It’s a bogus record- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SBI bailout offer for NBFCs: will buy assets worth Rs 45,000 cr ECONOMY ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU MUMBAI, OCTOBER 9 STATE BANK of India (SBI) on Tuesday offered to bail out the liquidity-starved non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), hit byaseriesof debtrepaymentdefaults by crisis-ridden IL&FS and itssubsidiaries,withitsproposal to buy good quality assets worth Rs 45,000 crore from NBFCs. SBI, which earlier planned to purchaseassetsworthRs15,000 crore, has decided to buy additional assets of up to Rs 30,000 crore. “SBI steps up target for purchase of good quality portfolio of assets from NBFCs, as it believes that there is good opportunity to expand its loan portfolio at attractive rates. The bankislookingforopportunities both in priority and non-priority sectors,” SBI said. ● RUPEE PLUNGES TO NEW RECORD LOW OF 74.39 AGAINST DOLLAR, PAGE 13 CHENNAI, OCTOBER 9 Migrants wait to board a train at the railway station in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Javed Raja Migrants flee, Congress MLA Thakor faces heat and questions PARIMAL DABHI GANDHINAGAR, OCTOBER 9 THE SPATE of attacks in Gujarat against migrant workers from north India — a fresh wave was reported Tuesday — has pushed Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor and his party into a corner, with fingers being pointed at the alleged role played by the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena (GKTS), an organisation he heads, in in- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 stigating the violence. A video clip purportedly showing Thakor allegedly incitingpeopleinnorthGujarattoact against migrants has added fuel to the allegations against the Radhanpur MLA and the GKTS. “I have never asked anyone to drive away or attack migrants. Also, it is an old video,” Thakor said. But he admitted that “there could be some instances” (of GKTS members being involved in the attacks). “I am not denyingit.Theywillfacepunishment. However, that does not mean thattheentireorganisationisresponsible for it. This is a conspiracy to finish me and my organisation. After the fast, I will go to Bihar and instill faith in its people,” he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 11 Delhi school divided: Hindu and Muslim students assigned to separate sections SUKRITA BARUAH NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 “SBI had initially planned for a growth of Rs 15,000 cr through portfolio purchase during the current year which is now being enhanced. As per the bank’s internal assessment, there may be anopportunitytobuyadditional portfolio in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 crore,” the bank said, According to the bank, this is a good commercial opportunity for it to increase the loan portfolioasNBFCassetsareavailableat attractive rates. It will benefit both SBI and the NBFC sector, ASECTIONof teachersemployed by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has alleged that a primary school in Wazirabad is segregating Hindu and Muslim students in different sections. Attendance records of the North MCD Boys’ School, Wazirabad village, Gali Number 9, accessed and analysed by The Indian Express, as of October 9, show the section-wise break up of students: ■ Class IA: 36 Hindus, IB: 36 Muslims ■ IIA: 47 Hindus, IIB: 26 Muslims and 15 Hindus, IIC: 40 Muslims ■ IIIA: 40 Hindus, IIIB: 23 Hindus and 11 Muslims, IIIC: 40 Muslims, IIID: 14 Hindus and 23 Muslims ■ IVA: 40 Hindus, IVB: 19 Hindus and 13 Muslims, IVC: 35 Muslims, IVD: 11 Hindus and 24 Muslims ■ VA: 45 Hindus, VB: 49 Hindus, VC: 39 Muslims and 2 Hindus, VD: 47 Muslims MCD schools offer education only till Class V and according to the Right To Education Act, each section should ideally have 30 students at the primary level. C B Singh Sehrawat, the teacher put in-charge of the school on July 2 after the principal was transferred, denied de- liberately segregating the students on the basis of religion. “Reshuffling of sections is standard procedure which happens in all schools. This was a management decision to try and do the best we can to see that there is peace, discipline and a good learning environment in the school. Children fought sometimes.” Asked if the fights were on the basis of religion, he said, “Of course children this young don’t know about religion, but they squabble over things. Some children are vegetarian, so there may be differences, and so on. We need to look after the interestsof allteachersandstudents.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ● PAGE ONE ANCHOR ATHLETE CAN’T MISS COLLEGE, SO INDIA’S ROMANIAN COACH WILL GO TO HIM ANDREW AMSAN NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 INTHEfirstsuchmoveof itskind, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI)hasdecidedtorelocateanationalcampcoachtoanathlete’s hometown in Kerala to facilitate training and ease the teenage long-jump prodigy’s concern about “college attendance”. At a recent AFI meeting, it was decided that national jump coach Bedros Bedrosian, a Romanian, will move to SreeshankarMurali’shometown in Palakkad to focus on him and another long jumper Neena Varakil. Since the facilities in Palakkad are inadequate, the federationisindiscussionstoset Sreeshankar set a new national record of 8.20 m recently up a facility for the youngsters. “We decided during our CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ARUN JANARDHANAN My rights and privacy breached: Mukul Roy ing. They have created this just to defame BJP leaders. They are trying to put pressure to frame us, and some police officials are also involved in this,” he alleged. In the first audio clip, which started doing the rounds of social media about a week back, Roy purportedly asks Vijayvargiya to talk to BJP president Amit Shah and get CBI to keep a watch on “four IPS officers” and “scare” them. “Jo char IPS hain, unpe CBI ko thoda nazar dalna hoga. Isme agar ek baar dhyan denge, toh yeh IPS log dar jayenge (CBI should keep a watch on these four IPS officers. If we focus on this, these IPS officers will get scared),” Roy purportedly tells Vijayvargiya. tured) person”, before naming him the next day. Speaking to ABP News, Nath said: “Neither I am denying this Nakkeeran editor held, freed after court order RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, OCTOBER 9 ‘Neither denying nor agreeing’ committee meeting that Sreeshankar’sstudiesshouldnot be affected. We see him as a potential medal winner at the Tokyo Olympics (2020) and decidedtoassignBedrosiantohim. He will be travelling to Sreeshankar’s hometown, and we are in talks for setting up facilitiesforthemtotrain.Thiswill ensure his studies don’t get affected and he trains regularly. We have done well at the Asian level but it’s not enough. We need to compete at the world level,” AFI president Adille Sumariwalla told The Indian Express. The AFI has also decided to rope in more coaches, including Bedros’s replacement, for the various national camps. “We are in the process of signing up coaches from Cuba and New Zealand to enable our athletes to continue their evolution as topclass competitors. We are sure we will have them in place before the end of the first camp after the Asian Games,” Sumariwalla said. Sreeshankar gave up an engineering course and opted for a B.Sc in Maths at Palakkad’s Victoria College to focus on jumps. “I am really glad that the federation is willing to set up a facility in Palakkad for us. I am happy that Bedros sir will be coming to monitor us but I will continue to train directly under myfather,”Sreeshankar,19,said. Sreeshankar’s father Murali was an international triple jumperwhilemotherKSBijimol CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HOURSAFTERjournalistRGopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly Nakkeeran, was arrested for a series of reports which allegedly had damaging references to TamilNaduGovernorBanwarilal Purohit,thecourtorderedhisrelease on Tuesday. Gopal was arrested under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — “assaulting President, Governor etc with intent to compel or restrain the exR Gopal ercise of any lawful power”. He was produced before the 13th Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate Gopinath, who refused to grant his remand and questionedthevalidityof theIPC section. According to the FIR filed by Chennai Police, 35 Nakkeeran workers have been booked under Section 124 IPC, including editor in-charge Kovai Lenin, chief deputy editor Aaraavayal, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2ND SAIL ACCIDENT IN 4 YRS 9workersare killed,14hurt inblastatSAIL Bhilaiplant DIPANKAR GHOSE BHILAI, OCTOBER 9 IN A MAJOR industrial accident, nine workers were killed and 14 others injured following a blast inagaspipelineduringa“scheduled maintenance job” at SAIL’s flagship Bhilai Steel Plant Tuesday morning, officials said. According to Chhattisgarh Police,thedeathtollcouldriseas the condition of some of the injured are “very serious”. Police said search and rescue operations ended by late afternoon, and that a fire triggered by the blast has been contained. “In an unfortunate incident ataround10.30amtodayinSAIL BhilaiSteelPlant,therewasafire in gas pipe line of Coke Oven Battery Complex 11 during a scheduled maintenance job. Some persons working at the site sustained burn injuries. Injured persons were immediately rushed to the BSP Hospital for medical care and aid. The blast triggered a fire at the Bhilai Steel Plant on Tuesday. PTI Meanwhile, the fire has been controlled,” said a statement issued by SAIL’s Corporate Affairs Division. “Sofar,ninepersonshavelost theirlivesand14areundergoing medicaltreatment.Allresources have been mobilised to provide adequate care to the injured. SAIL collective stands by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2