NEW DELHI 19 JUNE 2022 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  twitter.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in THE GREAT INDIAN JOB RACE PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE Breaking Bread by the Brahmaputra EXCLUSIVE VOICES Art’s Youngest Millionaire Wend Your Way, One Step at a Time Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Bibek Debroy & Kishore Desai Anuja Chandramouli From Discards to Designer Decor Ravi Shankar Sathya Saran Anand Neelakantan Sumeet Bhasin Loneliness as a Companion AMMA SPEAKS ‘I WAS NEVER A BIG COMICS FAN’ Overcoming Our Desires Firm Centre to go ahead with Agnipath Makes new concessions even as protests spread to more states, including BJP-ruled Karnataka CHANDAN NANDY & M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi AROMA LAVENDER FARMING IN J&K Due to higher profits, lavender crop is attracting more farmers in Jammu & Kashmir where cultivation is happening in 20 districts | P5 Will work for withdrawal of ‘directionless’ scheme: Sonia UNDETERRED by the violent protests against the Agnipath scheme, the Centre on Saturday indicated it will go ahead with the recruitment as it announced a slew of new concessions for Agniveer aspirants. While the Union home ministry announced that 10% vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles would be reserved for Agniveers, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a similar proposal for the new recruits once they complete their four-year tenure in the armed forces. The newly announced reservation will be applicable for the Indian Coast Guard, defence civilian posts and all 16 defence public sector undertakings. The reservation for Agniveers will be in addition to existing quota for ex-servicemen. In a statement, the defence ministry said “necessary age relaxation provision will also be made” to effect this change. The fresh announcements follow the government’s onetime relaxation in the upper age limit for joining the armed forces this year, raising it from 21 to 23, in view of the freeze in recruitment drive in the past two years due to the pandemic. According to the Agnipath scheme announced on June 14, those between 17.5 and 21 years of age can apply to be Agniveers for four years. Congress president Sonia Gandhi termed the Agnipath scheme as “directionless”, and said her party will work for its withdrawal. She also appealed to the youths to adopt non-violent means to fight for their demands. “It is unfortunate that the government has announced a new armed forces’ recruitment policy, which is completely directionless and it has done so while ignoring your voices,” she said. Vehicles set on fire in Masaurhi during the Bihar bandh on Saturday | PTI The MHA also decided to give three years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment to CAPFs and Assam Rifles. For the first batch of Agniveers, the age relaxation will be for five years beyond the prescribed upper age limit. In addition to the two ministries, the states of Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam have announced preference to Agniveers in state police recruitment. “The state police forces will greatly benefit from the training and discipline inculcated to Agniveers by the armed forces and their capabilities in tackling insurgency, Naxalism and natural disasters will be hugely augmented,” said the government in a press release. According to the government, several corporate houses and industry bodies have welcomed the new and transformative recruitment process for the armed forces. Apart from customised certificates, a bachelor’s programme by the Indira Gandhi National Open University has also been planned for the Agniveers. Meanwhile, protests continued unabated on Saturday. While the situation remained tense in Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala also reported protests against the short-term recruitment scheme for the armed forces. Unlike the past two days, there was no major violence on Saturday though there were reports of stone throwing in some parts of Karnataka. Cong ress leader Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rollback the Agnipath scheme, while AAP MP Raghav Chadha wrote to Rajnath Singh calling for a similar step. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urged the PM to put the drive on hold in the interest of the country . Punjab singers, netas rush for bulletproofing cars H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh POST Moose Wala killing, many Punjabi actors, singers and politicians are turning to bulletproof their vehicles, which can cost anything upward of `10 lakh. These vehicles can withstand rapid fire of AK-47 and other weapons. This apart, their flat tyres can run up to 50km at more than 50kmph. At least three firms that can bulletproof vehicles have reported a growing number of such requests. A factory owner requesting his identity be kept confidential told this newspaper that in the last few days, around 100 queries have come from actors and singers belonging to the Punjabi film industry. An unspecified number of people from Bollywood and UP besides lesserknown political leaders too LEVELS OF BULLETPROOFING THERE ARE FOUR CATEGORIES Level 1 & 2 can sustain attacks from small firearms Level 3 can withstand firing from AK-47s, SLRs and other sophisticated weapons Level 4 protects against armourpiercing weapons have enquired about armoring their vehicles. Businesspersons who deal in cash and jewellers are also on the list. “We cannot reveal the names of these people due to security reasons. We hope these inquiries will turn into orders,’’ he said. Before the singer’s killing, this factory owner used to get around half-a-dozen inquiries per month out of which a couple of orders were received. “The cost of bulletproofing a vehicle starts from `10 lakh and goes up to `25 lakh depending upon what one wants to get fitted and the type of vehicle. Generally Land Cruiser, Toyota Fortuner, Mahindra Scorpio, Ford Endeavour and Range Rover are bulletproofed,’’ he said. He said a bulletproof glass of 30 mm to 40 mm costs upwards of `7 lakh, while bulletproof tyres cost between `2 and `5 lakh, as these are imported from Germany The armoured . steel imported from Australia, Austria and the UK costs $7 per kg. A vehicle would need around one ton of this type of steel to bulletproof it. Sources said changes are made in windshields, window- panes, side, top and bottom steel-sheets that are replaced with bulletproof windows made with layers of dense ballistic glass and opaque armour made of hardened ballistic steel, ballistic nylon among other materials. Such equipment substantially increases the vehicle’s weight. It takes at least a month to bulletproof a vehicle. “One has to take a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the state police. Only big SUVs can be bulletproofed,’’ said an official from another firm. “The customers prefer ‘level 3’ bulletproofing that can ensure protection against AK-series weapons,’’ said an industry insider. A leading personality from the Punjabi entertainment industry said he has enquired about getting his SUV bulletproofed amid rising threats for extortion. Railways cancels 369 trains due to protests The Railways cancelled 369 trains on Saturday due to the agitation against the Centre’s recently announced Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces, officials said. These include 210 mail/express and 159 local passenger trains. The Railways has also partially cancelled two mail/express trains, thus the total number of trains affected during the day is 371, the officials said. R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi Some people are spreading misunderstanding. Maybe, there could be some confusion among the people as it is a new scheme Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Bitcoin sinks below $20K, first in 2 yrs It fell to less than $19,000 on Saturday as the selloff continued SOME LOSE ACCESS TO THEIR INVESTMENTS 70% DOWN FROM THE PEAK VALUE OF $68,000 With a 6% fall on Saturday, the most popular cryptocurrency has fallen below the important threshold of $20,000. The last time bitcoin was at that price level was in December 2020. Almost a year later, its price went up to an all-time high of $68,000. Not just bitcoin, other major cryptocurrencies have also seen a sharp fall in their value in recent times. Ether, bitcoin’s main rival, has fallen by a whopping 72 per cent this year alone Tagore & Gibran come closer a century after their meeting LEGENDARY Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran and Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore had a friendship that was based on understanding each other’s words without having to talk directly The two . bards met many times between 1916 to 1921. Nearly a century after their last physical meeting, an exhibition on the life and works of Tagore was inaugurated on June 11 at Khalil Gibran Museum in Bsharri, Lebanon, by Ambassador of India Dr Suhel Ajaz Khan. The exhibition has been titled ‘Gibran Hosts Tagore’. It is the first exhibition on Tagore to have been organised in Lebanon. Dr Khan mentioned about the connect between the two lit- erary giants. “Gibran would have loved Tagore to visit Bsharri, a town that he loved so much, where he was born and decided to rest eternally Happy . , today Tagore made to Bsharri”. He termed the exhibition as “meeting of the two giants after over a century”. Comparing Gibran and Tagore, the Ambassador said, “Both of them were from “East” and yet they chose to address their Western audience in their own language, English. Both of them were from the countries under foreign occupation at that time; Lebanon under Ottoman rule while India under British rule. Both of them had seen suffer- ing and pain of their people, especially due to famines, in Lebanon and in Bengal from where Tagore came. Yet they decided to give their people a messa g e of hope, peace, freedom and enlightenment”. Khan also added that both of them had profound impact on each other and, “In an unknowing manner, they complemented and completed each other.” “It was as though Gibran hosted Tagore. Both Gibran and Tagore represent Lebanon and India to the world and give a message of pluralism, diversity tolerance and the values of , freedom, justice, and testimony to the truth,’’ said Khan. Amongst the exhibits was a Both Gibran and Tagore give a message of pluralism, diversity, tolerance and the values of freedom, justice, and testimony to the truth — Dr Suhel Ajaz Khan, India’s ambassador to Lebanon painting of Tagore that Gibran had made himself. Gibran had a strong connect with India. Amongst the things on display was a book philosopher J Krishnamurti had presented to him and also a book on Gibran written by Osho. “It is no secret that Gibran, after listening to Tagore one evening in New York, took the pencil and left him a souvenir that his museum still embraces, and said: Although Tagore’s face was tired that evening, it remains what he represents, the Greatest Living,’’ said head of Gibran National Committee Joseph Feninos. Like many of Tagore’s works have been translated into languages like Arabic and Turkish, Gibran’s most celebrated The Prophet has been translated into Hindi and Malayalam. NATIONAL Conference chief and former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday declined the invite to be the Opposition’s candidate for President, dealing a blow to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s efforts to propose a consensus name. Thanking Mamata for the offer, Abdullah said he wants to remain in active politics as he has a lot more to contribute to the country “I withdraw my name from . consideration as a possible joint opposition candidate for the President of India. I believe that Jammu and Kashmir is passing through a critical juncture and my efforts are required to help navigate these uncertain times,” he said. Earlier, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, too, had declined the offer to be the Opposition’s consensus candidate for President. Apart from Pawar and Abdullah, Mamata-led Opposition meet on June 15 had also suggested for mer West Bengal gover nor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as the third choice. According to sources, both Pawar and Abdullah rejected the invite due to the Opposition’s weak electoral strength for Presidential polls. “Now, Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the only name in the race but he is yet say yes or no,” remarked a senior Congress leader. The next meeting of Opposition parties on Presidential polls may take place on June 20 or 21 in Mumbai or Delhi. “The final decision may come at this meeting. But, Abdullah’s refusal to be the joint consensus candidate has given a jolt to Didi’s effort to put a united face against the NDA,” said an opposition leader. The meltdown has led some crypto exchanges to halt trading and even pause withdrawals, leaving investors cut off from their funds LITERARY GIANTS Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Farooq bows out of President election race Taliban fighters guard the site of explosion in Kabul | PTI TWO DIE IN KABUL GURUDWARA ATTACK EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE A pencil sketch of Tagore made by Gibran after the latter listened to the former’s speech in New York AT least two people were killed and many others injured in a blast that targeted a Sikh gurudwara in Kabul on Saturday There were around 30 Afghan Hindus . and Sikhs inside the gurdwara for morning prayers, when the attack took place. “The cowardly attack on Gurudwara Karte Parwan should be condemned in the strongest terms by all. We have been closely monitoring developments since the news of the attack was received. Our first and foremost concern is for the welfare of the community External ,” Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar said. The spokesperson of Afghan Ministry of Interior, Abdul Nafay Takor, said that of the two dead one has been identified as Sikh devotee and the second was a security guard. Pakistan also has condemned the attack. “Strongly condemns terrorist attack on gurudwara in Kabul. We are concerned about the recent spate of terrorist attacks on places of worship in Afghanistan. Yesterday terrorists targeted the Imam Sahib Mosque in Kunduz. These acts of terrorism targeting religious places are utterly repugnant,’’ said Pakistan foreign ministry .