Is Iphone X the reason for the failure of Iphone 8?

- Rohan Agarwal (rohannvrs@gmail.com)

Apple launched its upgraded Iphone 8 and 8 plus on 12 September, in the newly constructed Steve Jobs theatre, along with IPhone 8 and 8 plus apple introduced world with technologically advanced Iphone X, which would be available in market from early November.

However, the real issue that apple faced since 8’s launch was, the sales of the newly launched Iphone. Every year Apple would launch a new Iphone and that new phone would break records of sales of the obsolete versions being sold in market. But this time Iphone 7 and 7 plus didn’t follow the tradition and are still customer favourites, forcing Apple to slow down production of Iphone 8 and 8 plus.

Experts in the field of gadgets see two major reasons for the reduced sales of the new Iphone:

Customers are waiting for Iphone X to arrive in market, as X is technologically superior to any phone present in the market. With infinity display to dual back camera , Iphone X has been designed to revolutionise the smart phone market and Apple’s loyal customer base is still waiting for the flagship phone to be out for sale.

Almost similar functions of 7 and 8, has forced customers to opt for the cheaper option available and that is iphone 7, although Apple has made changes to the design and configuration of the handset but the changes seem to be negligible for customers. 

After the response that Apple has received for Iphone8, it must be praying for a better response for Iphone X or else this could bring Dusk to Apple.

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GOOD AND SIMPLE TAX : ARUN JAITELY; Economy Slows Down as per latest reports

- Ishita Gupta (ishgupta.97@gmail.com)

As the calendar changed to 1st July, India welcomed a new tax regime in the form of GST (Goods and Service Tax). The new tax regime was introduced by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the parliament. However the unified form of tax policy may have not suited Indian population atleast by now. Decline in GDP and the response by the general public indicate the negative effects that GST has brought with it. 

The disruption caused by implementation of G.S.T. was confined to the informal sector of the economy and it has largely bottomed out in July. Its effect will now taper off , “said Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, speaking to a national daily. Past no less than 100 days since GST kicked in, from 1st July ,2017 an ambitious shift to a modern, transparent and technology driven indirect tax system, is yet to settle down. 

Total tax collection in India (Direct & Indirect) currently stands at Rs 14.6 Lakh Crores, of which 34% comprises Indirect tax, a relatively higher share of Total tax in comparison with the developed countries, which consequently formed the premise of new GST regime, having tax slabs for Goods and Services under the brackets of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, comprehending 17 central, state and local (Direct & Indirect)taxes, thereby minimising the cascading effect of taxation.

While Indian Economy has been struggling to recover from a shock Demonetisation, which came about 8 Months after the central government cancelled old currency, the government seemed positive over GST implementation, until the transition witnessed inevitable shocks. 

India’s GDP growth significantly slowed to 5.7% in June quarter, slowest in 3 years, according to sources. Attributing on lower GDP growth to a leading national daily, Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley expressed hope that the Indian Economy will grow at 7%. “ Since it was announced that GST would come into operation from July 1, most manufacturers were de-stocking during the April-June period. As a result trading went up because sales were taking place but it was stocks which were being sold. No new manufacturing happened, said the union finance minister.

While large businesses have their own IT systems and resources to meet the requirements of GST, the Informal sector of the economy, comprising Small and Medium Enterprises, bore the brunt of mutation, struggling to cope up in the first two monthly tax-filing cycles. Technical glitches, including tax payment not getting reflected in their wallets at the time of filing returns, absence of certain software utilities and non responsiveness of GSTN website led federal tax body to extend various deadlines. “Lack of awareness and education about GST affects compliance of traders in smaller towns. More than 60% of traders do not have computers which makes it a challenge for them”, said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General CAIT, speaking to a national daily.

However, after receiving complaints from various sources and observing the response towards the new tax regime, 22nd GST council meeting decided to bring some changes to simplify procedure of filing tax return and also lowered tax rates for 27 commodities.

The latest world economic outlook report, released ahead of the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank in Washington, puts China at 6.8% slightly ahead of India at 6.7% in terms of growth rate of the year 2017, attributing it to demonetisation and GST. According to the World Bank, GST is expected to disrupt economic activity in early 2018, but has momentum to pick-up.

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Am I Safe While Travelling Alone in New Delhi?

- Shreya Sabharwal

For someone, who is born and brought up in Delhi NCR, Delhi might be a safe place to travel alone. However recent incidents have tarnished the image of national capital, locally as well as globally. Living in Delhi since so long, I used to think that Delhi was a relatively safe place for women. Many incidents occurred which were crime against women but most of them were unnoticed. Due to so much increase in the crime , now I am so worried about the security of women especially in Delhi. I can’t even imagine to stay out of my home after 10 pm even if I am with others. Day in and out there are so many cases which highlight the brutal attacks on women. You don’t even  need to look at the statistics collected by the National Crime Records Bureau to reveal that women in Delhi face high levels of violence. Just  a random check of the daily newspaper is enough to support this.

Women in Delhi run the daily risk and fear harassment attack, assault, rape and murder both within homes and outside. Having travelled in a public transport especially in local buses and sharing autos. I too had my share of unwanted activities such as being whistled at and being touched at various places. But now the crimes of the unspeakable horrors leave me disappointed and scared. Either its the Delhi Gang rape of a 23-year old student by 6 men who then beat the woman with iron rods, robbed her belongings, stripped off her clothing and dumped her dying on the road or its the recent Bengaluru Mass Molestation case, where goons had gathered on the bustling MG Road and Brigade Road , they groped and molested women in full glare of policemen who were deployed in the area.

These crimes against women shock me and shuns my idea of travelling in Delhi. People say travelling alone at night is very unsafe because if you are travelling alone then you are are more vulnerable and will not be physically competent.. But if one thinks and takes these cases in account then what about Jyoti Singh, the Delhi Gang rape victim who was travelling with her friend and the recent Bengaluru Mass Molestation Case took place in front of the eyes of a number if policemen.

It sends chills down my spine when I think of such violence against women and  makes it difficult for me to combat with my urge to travel alone. Yes, I travel alone a couple of times and I’m tempted to say that I’m lucky nothing terrible has happened with me but the statement just annoys me because it shouldn’t come down to luck. As a woman, I shouldn’t have to hope and pray that a man doesn’t decide to harm me. I believe its soul searching time now for the entire nation. Delhi might have taken the lead as the “Rape Capital ” of India, but the problem of women safety encompasses the entire nation.

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Fight to get back Freedom of expression in University

- Rohan Agarwal (rohannvrs@gmail.com)

India is considered as a young nation, not because of the years that we got independence from the Britishers, but because of the younger work force available in the country. History has been evident, that every big achievement whether pre or post independence achieved by Indians, was always possible because of the young minds and energy flowing in the blood of young India.

May be it struggle for independence or struggle during emergency period it was younger generation, which decided to take on the monarchs. However, it seems that today’s government had either bunked their history lectures or they don’t believe in history books. Because the kind of mission that BJP ruled central government has decided to take on, would definitely result into massive revolt across the country.

May it be Jawaharlal Nehru University or Ramjas College or even Banaras Hindu University, government’s constant attempt to constraint the thoughts and liberty of university going student is no where justified. The verbal attack that JNU students have been facing after the BJP government came into power clearly showcases its mentality to hold every thought that goes against government or its irrational decisions.

BHU being the latest to suffer, a peaceful protest by students was dealt as a riot like situation by the University administration. No one could provide justification for physical assault that University students went through during the lathicharge.

However, one can understand the fact that Uttar Pradesh doesn’t get enough chances to showcase their bravery and use Lathis on ‘Bahubalis’ supported by the politicians in UP, so a chance to use wooden sticks on innocent students was like an opportunity of lifetime for the policemen.

Attack on the liberty of thoughts and Freedom of speech, especially on the University level, is an sign of an upcoming monarchy, which would do whatever is needed, to attract blind followers and subtract the ones with different opinions.

Moreover, now these servants of monarch have found an unique way to take down, different sets of ideologies. The weapon called ‘Patriotism’ has now made quest to suppress easier for the government. Anything that doesn’t suites government’s agenda will now be termed as anti-national and the opponent losses his struggle to freedom to expression and faces a new struggle to prove his love for his country.



So, next time when you are speaking anything against the PRADHAN SEWAK or his party or his government, make sure you had learnt the national anthem and national song by heart, so that you can prove your love for nation in front of the sold media and its agents.

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India's Demographic Divide May Just Lead To Creating Its Very Own White Walker Army

- Anshuman Sharma (anshumansharma@mail.harvard.edu)

White Walkers are ice zombies in the series Game of Thrones, who relentlessly march on the orders of their Night King to destroy the human species. They don't seem to have much of a brain of their own, and their actions are dictated solely by order of the Night King. Since they primarily live in the frigid northern region, other kingdoms don't seem to believe in their existence and are busy fighting their own battles.

In popular culture, the threat from White Walkers is often compared to climate change, and how difficult it has been to convince all countries that the threat of climate change is real and humanity must unite to tackle this challenge.In India though we may face a similar albeit a much eminent threat that might come from people around us. A lot has been written about India's demographic dividend. Demographic dividend implies that India will benefit from its large young population as she will have a lot of workers who contribute to the GDP and grow the economy in the process. It seemed to have been true so far, as after 1991 a lot of Indians got jobs with their IT education and lifted their families out of poverty. During this time India's GDP also grew six-fold.

However, we have recently seen a slowdown in our growth, especially in the informal sector. We already have about 12 million jobseekers every year, and demonetisation and the implementation of GST haven't helped the unemployment situation either. What makes the situation more worrying is machine learning and automation of jobs which might imply that the lucrative IT sector of yesteryears has limited jobs available in the years to come.

IT specialisations which offer jobs in the coming decades may require highly skilled engineers or programmers something that, except in a few premium institutes, education may lag in providing as educational institutions often follow what market develops. This could create a gulf between a few highly skilled employable youth, and their relatively low-skilled unemployed peers. This gulf will inadvertently translate into inequality between their earning potentials.

Experts touted inequality as one of the reasons why people voted in favour of seemingly adverse political decisions, for Trump in the United States, Brexit in the United Kingdom, and the rise of Right-wing parties in France and Germany. People who did not seem to have benefited from the globalisation of the past three decades chose a more conservative, nationalist, and direct talking politician who appealed to the racial, ethnic or economic insecurities.Deficiency of either rational or logical inference in that politician did not seem to deter their choice. When socio-political and economic systems fail to deliver social security and opportunity to its citizens, people tend to opt for extremist ideologues in search for someone who imposes their identity or even seek acknowledgement of their existence.

In developing countries like India, public goods like affordable health care and quality education are expected from the government. Research shows that out of pocket expenditure on health is one of the biggest reasons why people cannot get out of poverty and lack of quality education is what prevents them from accessing opportunities to climb the socioeconomic ladder. In our politics, these issues seldom become election issues.

Except for caste and religious consolidation, nothing much really mobilises the masses, especially in state elections. While our politicians keep reminding us of our caste and religious identities, we are on the verge of facing a large number of poor, unemployed youth turning our dividend into a demographic nightmare. A scenario where we have more employment seeking youth than we can manage.

If unemployment remains high in future and individuals are stressed, they could seek 'safe havens' under the tutelage of 'godmen'. When people find themselves entrapped in health and/or financial burden arising from information asymmetry about those issues or their inability to pay, they turn to godmen in search of 'miracles'. Low education and a vastly unscientific attitude in our country offer a large audience to these 'godmen'. In return, they offer followers a new-found sense of belonging to a community in times of personal stress. Compounded with a recall and confirmation biases, the 'godmen' instil a blind faith in themselves. When these godmen are questioned, the followers march to protect their safe havens against critical thinking of the outside world.

What we saw during the trial of Gurmeet Ram Rahim of Dera Sacha Sauda was a manifestation of a similar scenario with a unique scale and urgency. It did not seem to matter to his followers that their leader was found guilty of rape. They marched against the judiciary's decision as if blind faith in a personality had dazed them away from critical thinking. They were not very different from the White Walkers in Game of Thrones who march on the orders of their king and cannot figure out for themselves either the reason or purpose of their incessant killings.

India has thousands of 'Gurmeets', big and small. Each time a godman is questioned, his followers may march against our institutions. While politicians focus on reminding us of our identities, a large section of our population may march against our institutions like those ice zombies controlled by their Night King. The only difference is that there are many Night Kings in India, their followers may not be white, but they sure can walk.

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PADMAVATI TRAILER: BREAKING HEARTS AND RECORDS

-Navnee Gulati (gnavnee@gmail.com)

Trailer of, one of the most awaited movies of the year Padmavati was released on 9th of October at 13:03. Director and co producer of the movie Sanjay Leela Bhansali explained the timings of the release. The incident is said to have happened in 1303 so the timing was scheduled accordingly. 

Known to have been obsessed with the desire to make Padmavati (played by Deepika Padukone) his queen, Khilji (Ranveer Singh)laid siege to Chittor Fort in 1303. Once it became clear that the Mughals would emerge victorious, the women of Mewar jumped into the funeral pyre of their husbands committing jauhar - a preferred alternative to being captured by enemy soldiers. Trailer has only two dialogues, but they pack a punch and how! Kapoor as the fierce and courageous Rajput ruler looks incredible. His presence leaves a strong impact. There is a sense of honesty in his voice and intensity in his eyes. Padukone's title character - Padmavati, looks magnificent. She displays the perfect blend of emotions, sincerity and grace. Of course, the menacing Khilji aka Singh leaves us awestruck. His dark, brooding eyes and ferocious avatar is stuff that nightmares are made of. However, with no dialogue, Khilji leaves you curious.Twitter has been set on fire since the trailer arrived.The helmer of India's biggest spectacle 'Baahubali: The Conclusion', Rajamouli, praised the trailer.He wrote, "Insanely beautiful !!!Each frame etched to perfection by the master craftsman. #PadmavatiTrailer."The director also gave a shout out to Ranveer Singh for his portrayal of 'Alauddin Khilji'.

We are definitely waiting to see more of these characters and their impressive performance. Honestly, December 1 seems too far away!

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Kher to head FTII, STUDENTS OBJECT

- Rohan Agarwal (rohannvrs@gmail.com)

Ace actor and Anupam Kher has been appointed as the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), after former chairman Gajendra Chauhan’s tenure ended in March this year . Kher, 62, an award-winning actor, is seen as an die heart Modi supporter and his wife and actor, Kirron Kher, is also a BJP MP from Chandigarh.

Anupam Kher is a recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, along many national and international awards. The Saransh actor has acted in over 500 films throughut his career. 

‘Will Be A Learning Experience To Head FTII’- Anupam Kher

Alumnus of National School of Drama Kher, has been chairman of of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) . He has also headed the national school of drama.

“I feel deeply humbled & honoured to be apportioned (sic) as the Chairman of iconic FTII. I will perform my duties to the best of my abilities,” Kher said in a message posted on Twitter.

However, Kher’s appointment may not have come as happy news for the students bosdy of FTII as, Rohit Kumar, general secretary of the FTII students’ body, said while Kher’s professional credentials cannot be questioned, they do not see any difference between his appointment and that of Chauhan, as the primary qualification seems to be their proximity to BJP or RSS. He also pointed out that 

There’s a possible “conflict of interest”, as Kher runs his own acting school.

The tenure of the previous FTII Society headed by Chauhan ended on March 3. Chauhan, who was appointed in June 2015 for a three-year term with retrospective effect from March 2014, could assume the office only in January 2016 due to vociferous protests by the students. Kher was among those who criticised Chauhan’s appointment, arguing that FTII needed somebody “well-qualified and with a great body of work” and that Chauhan was not qualified either as producer, director or an actor for the job.

Last month, Chauhan had hit back at Kher, claiming that FTII had seen “improvement in some aspects” during his tenure. “The CAG report is out appreciating work done at FTII during my chairmanship. What is your take now Mr Kher @AnupamPkher?,” Chauhan had tweeted on September 17.

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Kangana Ranaut: Controversy QUEEN

- Rohan Agarwal (rohannvrs@gmail.com)

Ever since her debut, Kangana Ranaut has been in news headlines sometimes for her achievements and most of the times for the controversies. Multiple times national award winner Kangana has been in loggerheads with some of industries top stars but this time may be she is in a bigger trouble than ever.

During a television interview Kangana alleged she has been victim of physical abuse by Aditya Pancholi and accused Hrithik Roshan of trying to destroy her career. However, her will to promote her movie ‘Simran’ blinded her to tarnish someone’s public image without any concrete evidence.

All this started in March 2016 interview by Kangana in which she referred to Hrithik as a "silly ex", but didn't name him. A war of words erupted between the two, with a flurry of legal notices being sent to each other.

Hrithik asserted that Kangana was interacting with an impostor posing to be him, even as she claimed that the two had exchanged emails of a personal nature over seven years. The case, a rare kiss-and-yell showdown in Bollywood between two leading stars, was taken over by the cyber crime cell, but nothing has been proved conclusively yet.

However, Kangana’s quest to promote Simran, could have been directed towards the movie and not towards her personal life. Kangana too must have realised it now. After Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab dragged the ‘Queen’ to court with civil and criminal defamation law suits.Moreover, Hrithik's open letter and Television interviews with two leading Television news channels prompted bollywood to boycott the actress.

Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel also lash out at Hrithik and Aditya Pancholi on Twitter. Rangoli, who also acts as Kangana's business manager, accused Hrithik of launching a "malicious" PR campaign and employing "brainless trolls" and also released the snapshot of a personal email allegedly exchanged between the two stars. But her efforts have only doubled trouble for the Kangana.

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Constitution guarantees Right to Privacy as Fundamental Right: Supreme Court

- Ishita Gupta (ishgupta.97@gmail.com)

A much awaited decision, challenging the Central government’s move, making Aadhaar mandatory for availing various social schemes, was ruled by a Nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar. Though orders made it clear that the ‘right is not absolute and is subjected to reasonable restrictions. Landmark judgement of the Supreme Court which came on august 24, 2017 ruled that, “Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the constitution”. .

As a consequence of K.K. Venugopal’s, India’s Attorney general Argument with the formal attorney general Mukul Rohtagi over subjecting privacy as a fundamental right during the initial July, 2017 hearings, kicked off the nine-judge bench which examined whether privacy could be examined as a fundamental right. “The right of privacy may at best be common right law, but not a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution, said K.K. Venugopal during the hearing. To this Justice Bobde noted, “This submission is difficult to accept. Privacy has the nature of being both a common law right as well as a fundamental right. 

The judges rejected the government’s stance that privacy was already protected by various statutes, and that it does not require elevation to a fundamental right status. According to media reports, Justice Kaul said: ‘It is a right which protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both State and Non-State actors and allows the individual to make autonomous life choices. Let the right of privacy, an inherent right, be unequivocally a fundamental right embedded in Part III of the constitution of India, but subject to the restrictions specified, relatable to that part”.

While the Supreme Court’s judgement was limited to the issue of right to privacy, the matter of whether Aadhaar violates the right to privacy has to be dealt by the five- judge bench, hearing the petitions since 2015. On the issue of collecting data without consent, as Aadhaar becomes mandatory, Justice SA Bobde said that “ the non- consensual revelation of personal information, including health records, finances, place of residence, location etc. , efface one’s sense of personal and financial security”.

However, the judges also mentioned limitations to privacy, aligning with the justification for Aadhaar. Justice Chandrachud ruled, “Creating regimes for data protection requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and legitimate concerns of the state. Encouraging innovation, spread of knowledge and dissipation of social welfare benefits, are some of the state’s legitimate concerns”, he said.

Though the government has not said that Aadhaar is a tool for national security, it has persistently claimed that it has helped save public money which could have effused from social welfare schemes. Also, the data collected through Aadhaar can help in research and create better policy, it added, according to sources.

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Murder In Ryan School :WHO KILLED PRADYUMAN?

- Megha Mittal (meghamittal666@gmail.com)

An eight year student of Ryan International School (Gurugram) was found lying dead, in the school’s washroom. Pradhuman Thakur, a class II student, was found murdered in the toilet on September 8.

A bus conductor of the school was arrested for the alleged murder. The police had also arrested two other persons attached to the school management under various charges of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Founders of Ryan International School Augustine F Pinto, his wife Grace and their son Ryan were granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in connection to the murder of seven-year-old student inside the Gurugram campus on September 8.

Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to give bail in the first place but on September 28 granted bail till October 7. Maharashtra government also opposed the plea considering the seriousness of the crime.

Barun Thakur, father of the 7-year-old victim, who had opposed grant of relief, said that he would move to supreme court if CBI doesn’t look into the matter. Ryan Pinto was given a notice by Gurugram police which sought the reasons of the lapses in the school system which caused such brutality.

Defence lawyer for the founders of Ryan International school argued that court should allow relief till September 18, for the applicants to approach the appropriate court. However, the court rejected the pleas, with reasons to be recorded separately.

The plea filed by the suspects stated that the incident was unfortunate but the management cannot be held responsible for this, as sought by protesting parents. It sought to protect the reputation of school saying that this has happened for the first time in past 40 years. Despite, taking all necessary steps for security and well being of students as required under law.



Report submitted by fact finding committee said that the windows of the toilet where the boy was killed had no grilles and people could easily access it from outside. It also pointed out that there was no separate provision for toilets washroom for drivers and conductors/cleaners... despite the school engaging around 35 buses for transportation of students and staff.

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FIGURE SKATING CHAMPION HOPES TO WIN GOLD IN OLYMPIC FOR INDIA

-Rohan Agarwal (rohannvrs@gmail.com)

In a country where cricket is treated as a religion, 18-year-old Nishchay Luthra opted for a lesser known sport in the country 'figure skating'. Luthra has won over 100 medals internationally and nationally. He is currently undergoing training in Florida for the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2018 to be held in South Korea.

Neelam Kanta, a head constable with the Delhi Police has undergone endless struggles to make her son Nishchay reach this level in the sport. Kanta is reeling under a debt of around Rs 20 lakhs for which she has mortgaged her residence in Kalkaji as well.

"The only property we owned is the house we live in but have mortaged it for his career," said Sanjeev Luthra, Nishchay's father.

Nishchay began his career at the age of four when children are not even sure off what they want from their lives. From waking up at 3 am, to falling on ice multiple times, and recovering from injuries, his first pat on the back was a gold medal in Shimla in 2011 at the National Ice-Skating championship. He also won several other zonal and state level competitions by 2016.

The young lad has since then travelled to Hong Kong and the Philippines and won three medals in the Asian Junior Figure Skating challenge.

Nishchay's desire for a gold medal at the Olympics made him quit the reality show "India's Got Talent" mid way. "Nishchay decided to quit the reality show which could have earned him a lot so that he could keep his training on track and win medals for India at the Olympics. Ultimately my son wanted to bring a gold medal for India in Olympics," said Sanjeev

However, Nishchay's passion for the sport has now been put to halt because of financial constraints. Unlike Cricket and football, figure skating is an expensive sport to play.

"Union government funded us Rs. 10 lakh back in 2015 for his training but the sport needs much more for world class training. It would take more than 2 lakhs just to buy the desired shoes and blades for competitions like Winter Olympics. Moreover even after financial constraints we decided to train Nishchay in America but for last two months the institute has kept the training on hault, as we cannot pay for rest of the training" told Neelam who is presently serving as Head constable in the Delhi police's PCR unit.

Nishchay require more than four lakh rupees to train for one month in America. The crowd funding site Milap is gathering fund for the training of the boy, however the amount gathered by now is just around two lakh.

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Delhi Metro: PRICE HIKE, SPIKE POCKETS

-Mridul Jain (mridul11jain@gmail.com)

Delhi Metro has become the lifeline of the city .

As part of the 4th fare fixation committee, fares have been revised for the 2nd time in an year of the Delhi Metro .

Fares have been increased by Rs.10 on all slabs so what costed earlier Rs.20 which now pinch by Rs.30 .

Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM has demanded an audit of the DMRC and this request has been accepted by the Centre.

Centre has argued that the metro would run into losses if fares are not increased and it will share a same fate as the DTC buses. Mounting losses often cripple the ability of such service providers to invest in infrastructure, and even to meet basic safety requirements.Mounting losses in turn often cripple the ability of such service providers to invest in infrastructure, and even to meet basic safety requirements.According to DMRC executive director, corporate communications, Anuj Dayal, “Staff costs, the cost of energy and the cost of repair and maintenance have been increasing manifold,”

Kejriwal has countered this arguement by saying that Delhi Government is ready to share the losses , as it hold a share of 50% in DMRC in collaboration with the central government . Metro connects the heart of the city to its fringes and a daily wage labourer will lose one-fourth of his savings if he’s travelling more than 32 kms.

Scholars have argued for regular indexation to incorporate rising input costs while pricing services such as public transport.Fare hike should be done on a regular basis to effectively shift the burden .Also , there has been a significant delay of 8 months ( from October 2016 to May 2017) in presenting the recommendations of the Fare Revision Committee (FRC) before the board . According to officials, the recommendations made by the Fare Fixation Committee were repeatedly turned down by Metro board of directors, comprising officials from Delhi government, Union Urban Development Ministry, Union Railways Ministry and others.  In fact, increasing the fare twice in one year is in violation of Section 37 of the Metro Act, which clearly states that the fare cannot be increased more than once a year.On the other side, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, said the Metro Railways (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002, does not allow the government to put on hold the proposed hike in Delhi Metro fares.The DMRC during the discussions has asserted that “The FFC’s recommendations are binding on the Metro rail administrations as per provisions of Section 37 of the Metro Act. Neither the Central government nor the state government or even the board of the company has legal power to change the recommendations made by the FFC.”

DMRC data has showed that there are certain pockets where drop in ridership has been registered which means that people have found the hike sharp enough to limit their daily travel or look for travel alternatives.On the other side of spectrum , ridership doubled at the stations nearest to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the U-17 FIFA WORLD CUP held in India from 06-28 October 2017 . This has been an hike after seven years and DMRC has pointed out that it will decrease the prices once Phase III gets completed .It has also widened the off-peak time window, and increased the discount rates to 20 per cent from the earlier 10 per cent.

In other countries , Metros have resorted to capping the maximum price and others have frozen the fares for senior citizens and people with disabilities .

A 2013 UN Habitat report shows that as populations of Indian cities rise, the average commute tends to rise correspondingly.This is a result of redirecting growth to the outskirts of cities. While it has helped reduce traffic congestion at the core, this has also resulted in very high dependence on motorized transport. The rich have responded by increasing use of cars and cabs. The non-rich are either travelling in virtual death traps or struggling to save their meagre earnings from growing expenses of public transport.

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NEYMAR JR. Becomes The Most Expensive Footballer of all time

-Shivang Goel (shivanggoel997@gmail.com)

Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., a 25-year-old talented Brazilian footballer, is popularly known as Neymar. He is widely regarded as the third best player in the world after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and he's now the most expensive player too.

His $267m (approx. Rs 1,680 crore) switch in the 2017 summer transfer window from Barcelona to Paris St. German made him the most expensive footballer of all time. He broke the world record transfer fee set by Paul Pogba who was transferred to Manchester United from Juventus for a sum not less than $126m (approx. Rs 800 crore).

The figure is surely a monstrous one and it is technically more than the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the two islands, Tuvalu and Nauru.

The Neymar’s transfer in Indian prospective can understood by the fact that with this amount they can buy four IPL teams , Mumbai Indians ($78m), Kolkata Knight Riders ($77m), Royal Challengers Bangalore ($67m) and Sunrisers Hyderabad ($41m).

Transfer values have grown exponentially in the last decade. As the television viewership grows, these fees will continue to rise as well.

Barcelona left no brick unturned in their efforts to block the Neymar deal despite of that PSG matched the release clause in Brazilian forward’s contract, a clause traditionally set at a level so high as to prevent any interests from any rival clubs.

Financial Fair Play was introduced by Uefa seven years ago in 2010 to stop clubs involved in European competition from spending more than they earn.

Many coaches from top clubs publicly objected the transfer value and urged Uefa to step in to investigate the deal before it was finally penned down.

Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool FC coach was quoted saying “I always thought financial fair play was meant to prevent something like this, but it seems like financial fair play is more of a recommendation than an actual rule,’’

His concerns were quite valid given Barcelona’s interest in Liverpool’s attacking midfielder Coutinho.

Paris St. German is by no means alone; many other European football giants make a mockery of financial fair play. The temptation to bring in big names is simply too significant, not only due to the sporting success but the marketing opportunities that come with them.

It is believed that Manchester United earned the amount from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s endorsements in the first week of his free transfer was equivalent to the transfer fee paid by them to Juventus.

Racking up transfer deficits such as in the case of Neymar is punishable by various sanctions, including the exclusion from various competitions.

PSG club president and Qatari billionaire Nasser Al-Khelaifi believes his club won't have an issue turning a profit out of this deal in a long run, he said "When you consider Neymar as a brand, maybe it won't seem so expensive. I'm sure we'll make more money than we've paid," referring to new sponsorship opportunities, Neymar’s brand value and the money they can fetch from championship victories.

Well, whatever happens, either Neymar achieve his ambitions to win Ballon d’or or emerge as the number one footballer, clubs billionaire owners will continue to throw in the money on players perhaps they will continue to try to determine what counts as a fair price.

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PV Sindhu bags silver

- Shivang Goel (shivanggoel997@gmail.com)

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu’s daring effort to become India’s first ever World Champion ended in a heart wrenching defeat in a nail biting final against Nozomi Okuhara.

22-year-old star became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal in 2016.

At Rio 2016, Sindhu defeated Nozomi for a place in the final and Japanese had to settle for a bronze while Sindhu ended with silver.

But this time it was the other way around, the match lasted an incredible one hour and 50 minutes, and at the end, it was Nozomi Okuhara who emerged victorious and clinched the match 21-19, 20-22, 22-20 to take gold at the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow.

While both the players looked out of breath and struggled to move during the match, Sindhu got a bit more tired than the Japanese and that led to the end result.

The two players were so tired that they kept biding time after each rally, even the chair umpire had trouble keeping them on the court. Sindhu even picked up a yellow card for her offence.

Sindhu was very tired in the final round and Japanse cracked her down and outpaced her to win the decider 22-20 and become the 2017 World Champion.

Sindhu now has three World Championships medals. She had won two bronze medals at the previous two editions of the World Badmintion Championship and a silver medal which she won at the Rio Olympics where she had lost to Carolina Marin in the final.

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India Creates History, Hosts FIFA U-17 World Cup

- Shivang Goel (shivanggoel997@gmail.com)

India is hosting its first global football tournament, the 2017 Fifa Under-17 World Cup. It is a landmark occasion which promises to boost the status of football in this country and also enhance the global profile of Indian sport.

It will signal the end of a long wait too. In the 77 football world cups held so far including men’s and women’s events across senior and age-group football, over 87 years India has neither hosted nor participated in one. All this changed on 6th October, when this year’s edition of the biennial Under-17 World Cup will kicked off simultaneously with matches in New Delhi and Mumbai, two of the six host cities chosen for the tournament.

When the Fifa executive committee chose India as the host nation in 2013, the country broadly had two tasks at hand. The first was to prepare itself as host of the event. Barring a few minor hiccups, India’s preparations have been smooth and, with Fifa playing a key guiding role.

The second was to ready a competitive national team, which would go down in history as India’s first-ever to play in a football world cup. As the host, India directly entered the 24-nation event with the other teams qualifying from their respective continental competitions. Naturally, this task was for India to figure out on its own. And, unsurprisingly, in a country where youth football has perpetually been stuck in its planning stages, this hasn’t been a smooth ride.

The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) approach to fielding a national team for the World Cup has been peculiar, albeit necessary, when you factor in the absence of a structured youth system in the country. It has involved recruiting foreign coaches, scouting young talent over multiple phases and flying this selected group of players around the globe for “exposure trips” in search of better-quality opponents and year-round competitive games, which are currently unavailable in India.

India’s opening and second match was a pleasant surprise for their own country, which were impressed by the Colts’ impressive skills. Luis Norton de Matos’ side not only drew the interest of the cricket-crazy nation but also attracted eyeballs from two of the biggest clubs in world – Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. There have also been reports that Turkish giants Galatasaray attended India’s match against Ghana, eyeing a potential spot for inclusion within their Youth Academy setup.

A number of players have done remarkably well in the ongoing tournament. From keeper Dheeraj Singh to captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam, the side has made news for showing grit against big teams. Among others, Komal Thatal, Jeakson Singh, Aniket Jadhav and Anwar Ali have become known names through the tournament.

Indian football history was created on Monday night at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi as midfielder Jeakson Thounaojam netted India’s first goal in a FIFA World Cup. Trailing 1-0 to Colombia in the second half, India won a corner that Jeakson headed home. His short-lived equaliser sent the home crowd into raptures. Few minutes before, nobody knew about a lad called Jeakson. After the match, the entire country talked about him. And why wouldn’t they? He gave the country devoid of football love and attention some hope. Hope that India will one day be a football giant, a football power to reckon with.

Indian colts had the skills but were too light-weight to buckle under pressure. Let’s take the example of Komal Thatal in the match against USA. He displayed sublime skills but the ball was always snatched from him by the mightier opponents. And even de Matos realises this weakness. “You cannot be a good gymnast if you are very tall or you cannot be an excellent basketball player if you are of 160 metres. For certain positions, height and size does matter,” he had said.

There was a lot of confusion among the fans as well as the media when the FIFA U-17 World Cup refused to sell more tickets saying that the stadium was sold out but there were clearly thousands of empty seats. After reports suggested that the government bought tickets to avoid an embarrassing situation, the Local Organising Committee released a statement saying, “A ticket is sold for a particular match day and not for either of the games. A good

example for this would be the match days one and two at the New Delhi venue even though tickets were sold out for the opening fixtures (5.00 pm kick-off) on both days, the stands were sparsely filled. The second game (8.00 pm kick-off) which featured the hosts, however, had more people attending it making the stands seem more filled.” Another reason given for not selling every seat ticket was security concerns as FIFA rules state that any person sitting in the stadium should be able to reach a safe space in eight minutes.

This is a golden opportunity for the Indian players, who will go on to take part in the tournament, to rub shoulders with the future Messis and Ronaldos of this world. With that being the case, the AIFF should ensure that they give the young kids the best facilities and coaching available in the next two-three years so that they can make the most of this chance.

The AIFF for a long time has ignored youth development, not realizing the importance of a flourishing youth system. If India has aspirations of competing with the best going into the future, focusing on the development of young players and giving them the right facilities to thrive is a must. Hopefully, the AIFF has come to its senses and will put youth development into prime focus going forward.

There is no lack of passion for the game in India, as evidenced by the fact that most young people in the cities nowadays follow the English Premier League fervently. If the AIFF can work towards attaining world class facilities for the players and fans alike come 2017, it will go a long way in ensuring that the Indian fans are receptive towards the Under-17 World Cup due to be hosted in 3 years’ time.

Indian football has been in the doldrums for many years, but this wasn’t always the case. India had qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup but the governing body AIFF decided against going to the World Cup due to being unable to bear the cost of travel, lack of practice time and valuing Olympics over the FIFA World Cup. Indian football was at the peak of its powers in the 1950s and early 1960s, but went into decline soon after winning the Asian games gold medal in 1962.

It would be fantastic if Indian football could restore the glory days by tasting the kind of success it achieved in the 1950s and 60s. One can only hope that India hosting the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup is just the beginning of the long overdue revival of football in this country.

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VIRAT KOHLI: THE BRAND AMBASSADOR OF SUCCESS

-Neha Rajput (rajputneha989@gmail.com)

The series between India and New Zealand is now more or less evenly poised as the mighty Kiwis showed a great intent and did the unexpected here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday and managed to upset the hosts in the first of three ODIs. Many Indian fans back home slept with a huge disappointment as the result went in New Zealand’s favor as their triumph was led by Ross Taylor and Tom Latham but on the other hand we saw yet another scintillating ton from Virat Kohli who is in the golden form of his career played a knock of 125, which demolished the blackcaps at one point but eventually landed up on losing side.  

For a player like kohli who enjoys scoring a hundred in almost every series or tournament he plays, this series is more like an opportunity to increase his century count. It was somewhere expected that the volcano would erupt and erupt badly. This is what the Kiwi bowlers experienced the other day at the Wankhede which seemed like KOHLI’S Den, when they were getting thrashed by him all over the place.

Nowadays hitting tons is just one of the things which Kohli loves to do and seeing the present scenario, it’s like peanuts to him. But what was worth watching was Kohli’s subtle celebration after getting his 31st hundred with just pumping his fists and raising his bat in delight. This gave us the clear view that the Virat Era has begun as he became the 2nd highest ton maker and now is just behind master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

When it comes to captaincy, Kohli enjoys winning percent of 75.86 as captain in ODIs – 22 wins, seven losses and one no-result match out of 30 contested. Among the Indian captains with at least seven matches, his success percent is the highest.

With such records and performances, it is very safe to say that Virat Kohli is indeed the “Brand Ambassador” of success. It is also said that records are meant to be broken- seeing the current golden form of Kohli, the statement seems to be realistic as we are now heading into “Virat Era!”

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TENNIS: WHERE UNEXPECTED IS THE NEW EXPECTED

-Neha Rajput (rajputneha989@gmail.com)

In one’s life some things are meant to happen and perhaps Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal at the US Open was simply not among them. The 37 times career clashes will still not include a match-up in New York after the ghosts of the 2009 final seemed to revisit Federer as he was beaten 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 by Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarter finals.

The Argentinean would surely have built on the victory against the Swiss from eight years ago with all the wrist injuries and even the biggest fan of the Swiss would struggle not to have enough pleasure for him after this. After defeating the big dog, Del Potro locked horns with Nadal after bludgeoning Federer with his serve and forehand and summoning up a little more composure on the biggest points. Former world number 1, Federer, had four set points in the third-set tiebreak, but could not put him away.

Afterwards in the end Del Potro thanked the vociferous support for him on the Arthur Ashe Stadium which, while outnumbered, provided at least as much noise as that of his ever popular opponent. He managed to ignore his missed first serves being clapped on occasions.

Later in a press conference he said, “I think it's my home court too. It makes me very happy every time I play here. I think I played my best match of the tournament, I hit my forehand as hard as I can and I deserved to win in the end.”

Before featuring in another semi final, Del Potro added, “I can't believe I'm playing another semi-final after the injuries and surgeries, especially here in New York.”

In a press conference, Federer denied that the prospect of facing Nadal had played on his mind but admitted that his level of tennis had not been high enough in the past 10 days to win the tournament: 'I know before going into the tournament, I wasn't in a safe place. I might have to depend on my opponent and I don't like that feeling,' he said.

When asked to describe the loss against his opponent, Federer said, 'It's hard to explain what happened in the tiebreak. He was better in the big points. In some ways I'm actually happy I made the quarters, so I'm not disappointed, because it's been a good run this year already. Unfortunately I ran into a guy who was better than me today.'  

The defeat was somewhere expected because the former world number 1 was already struggling in the tournament. The match against Youzhny was more like a nightmare for Federer as he was two sets down and was on the verge of an unexpected exit. But tennis now is more like a sport where the unexpected is the new expected. To prove this statement right the fans of this sport first witnessed the shocking exit of Nadal from the Wimbledon earlier this year and now Federer becoming the prey.

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WHY INDIA SHOULD BE ON THE TOP LIST FOR BACKPACKING?

- Shreya Sabharwal (shreyasabharwal27@gmail.com)

There are many reasons why people choose to go backpacking across India. It is not just budget travellers who decide to do it but rather people in search of an adventure and an experience. Backpacking in any country allows you to see past the superficial layers that exist in the brochures and to see into the soul of a country, past the luxuries and comfortable tour buses!  India is a wild place to go backpacking and the sheer size and population of the country means that you can travel for months and barely even scratch the surface of what the country has to offer.

It is possible to go on a luxury tour in India and have a great time but you will never discover the real India. To go beyond your own boundaries and discover the lesser known places and more importantly, to discover the lesser known experiences which tell you so much about a country and about yourself.

The reward for those who take the back roads and are prepared to rough it is an experience that is impossible to forget even if you wanted to, what you get is a real experience, an up close and personal view of India and her people.

India is not a tourist attraction, rather a thriving country with some of the oldest and richest cultures in the world. Simply to spectate from a air conditioned taxi is a great experience in itself but to immerse yourself fully in this amazing country can truly open your soul. Backpacking in India is greatly different from travelling in other countries, starting with the amount it costs.

India is probably one of the cheapest places to travel in the world. You can find lodgings from as little as  ₤0.70 a night and decent meals for half that. For some weeks when I was in India I was spending less than ₤50 a week for everything including beer, travel, accommodation and sightseeing, you would be lucky to spend as little as that on a night out in England. Despite often being late, the transportation system in India is fantastic and you can easily get to very remote parts of the country very easily and very cheaply.

Another highlight of backpacking across India is the opportunity of meeting other people from all walks of life. It is very easy to meet people from all corners of the globe and I found that people are often happier to meet and talk in India than in other countries. Other highlights of backpacking across India include the amazing food, fascinating culture, the architecture, the people and simply for the unbelievable experience of just being in India!!

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