NEW DELHI: Even as the investigations by premier agencies into the Rs. 6800 crore loan default case of Winsome Diamonds and Forever Diamonds have hit a dead end, in a new twist to the case, questions have been raised over the role of some Independent Directors of the company and over the authenticity of the due diligence report authorised by the banks.

The investigating agencies had rested most of its case on the statements given by one of the Independent Directors and also on Kroll report which now has come under dispute both during investigations and in the court of law. In a related development, Diamond Intelligence Briefing (DIB) termed as world’s most authoritative, staunchly independent and widely quoted international diamond industry resource, and which was instrumental in breaking the story of investigations into synthetic diamond sales involving the above-mentioned company, has in its November 7, 2017 issue stated that it was misled into doing the story by one of the company’s Directors who pasted the “slighting’’ epitaph on them. They have accused certain vested interests and the Director of drawing DIB into overall fraudulent and corporate rivalry schemes in mindboggling scenarios. 

In fact, the investigating agencies had built up their case against J. R. Mehta in the loan default issue based on the Kroll report and statements of some Directors of Winsome Diamonds and Forever Diamonds. Sources in the know of things said the Kroll report has been found to be a non-professional job and was based on hearsay and pre-decided notions. The investigating agencies are apprehensive that the Kroll report and the testimony of the Independent Directors as well as Executive Directors will not stand water in the court of law and the case will fall through. 

Interestingly, the focus has now turned on the testimony of the directors and how there could wrong doing on their part and their attempts to nail Mr. Mehta in order to cover up their own wrong doings and the involvement of some bank officials is not ruled out in the matter.

In 2015, the two companies – Winsome Diamonds and Forever Diamonds — had filed cases in the Sharjah Federal Court arguing that the companies had suffered a business loss of $1 billion (Rs. 6,500 crore) due to non-payment from 13 UAE-based entities. The Sharjah court had ruled in favour of Winsome Diamonds and Forever Diamonds. In May 2017, UAE’s Appellate Court upheld the Sharjah court’s verdict.

In fact, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had send a Letter Rogatory to United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking information on the two companies and Mr. Mehta. However, there has been no formal response from UAE till date to the LR but officials said that after the ruling by the UAE’s courts, it is unlikely that UAE will cooperate in this case. Letters Rogatory is a formal communication in writing sent by a Court, in which action is pending, to a foreign court or Judge requesting the testimony of a witness residing within the jurisdiction of that foreign court. Interestingly, for UAE authorities to take action in the case, the crime has to be committed on its soil which has not been the case. The two government agencies are dependent on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government for information about these two firms and as well as the 13 dealing firms who were connected in the main trading business.

Officials said with new facts coming up in the case, the premier investigating agencies and the consortium of banks will have to start looking at the role of the directors within the company as they are based out of India and can be subjected to scrutiny and investigations. However, the last word has not been said in the case but the Rs. 6800 crore loan recovery remains out of reach of the banks for now.

Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies have been in the news a lot if recent times, often for the wrong reasons but also because of the massive appreciation Bitcoin has been clocking up. To top it off, real estate has now been dragged into the bitcoin controversy, with a handful of projects in some parts of the US and Dubai actually inviting investments via the Bitcoin route. With the ongoing slump in sales, is it possible that developers in India will offer such an option to prospective buyers as well? Let us take a closer look at this.

We should begin by understanding that the viability of any currency as a means with which to transact in real estate in India obviously depends on whether or not the RBI and Government recognize that currency as valid tender in the country. So far, that is not the case with bitcoin. While the RBI was toying with the notion of launching an Indian crypto-currency, it apparently does not see much benefit in doing so. This is quite understandable.

The market needs transparency – not more opacity

The Indian real estate market is currently in the process of transiting from being an opaque and largely unregulated market to a more governed and transparent one. This process has been kick-started by several policies and reformative regulations like the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Authority or RERA Act, the unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Benami Property Bill. As part of this process of increasing transparency and accountability for real estate and its related transactions, cash flows in and out of the sector need to trackable and accounted for at every level.

This is definitely not possible with money in the form of a currency whose origins and antecedents can, almost by definition, not be established in the majority of cases. The notion of crypto-currencies like bitcoin becoming legal tender for real estate transactions in India must first and foremost be considered in light of this fact.

No significant benefits, massive challenges

For the sake of an argument, let us assume that bitcoin transactions became acceptable in Indian real estate. Would this in any way affect the sector in a significant manner – for instance, would ROI on real estate be positively or negatively influenced? To arrive at an answer to this question, we must first consider that the value of real estate is determined by factors such as size, location, and most importantly local market rates – which, in India, are determined in rupees. This is how real estate is bought and sold in the country.

Hypothetically, If the RBI were to accept bitcoin as legal tender for real estate transactions at some point, it would be to the extent of allowing the rupee value of a property to be paid for in that currency. Remember, this would only happen if the RBI were able to establish the source of these funds to its complete satisfaction. Then consider that bitcoin has become such a popular mode of payment for crime-related transactions precisely because its sources cannot be traced if the person/s transacting in it do not want them to be traced.

Even if real estate deals transactions via bitcoin were to become legal in India, it would at best be extremely challenging – and there would be little or no real benefit to either seller or buyer. First of all, the Government levies statutory taxes on every real estate transaction and requires the payment of these dues to be clearly mentioned in Indian rupees for such transactions to be considered legal.

Likewise, market rates and property prices in India are calculated in rupees per square foot. From an ROI perspective, the currency used in transacting with it does not have any bearing on this value – and for a crypto-currency to become acceptable tender for buying a selling property in India, all these calculations would need to find a parallel monetary avatar that is acceptable to all stakeholders.

Difficult to swallow, harder to digest

Apart from the increased regulation in the real estate industry, the Indian banking and finance sector is extremely conservative and would find it very difficult to accept a currency which cannot be fully traced or regulated. Even if it did find a way to accept it, such a currency would also need to be comprehensible and acceptable to Indian end-users and investors. The currency would first need to be sanctified and accepted by various financial institutions – which is far from the case now. In fact, bitcoin has garnered itself a rather unsavoury reputation in financial circles which would make its adoption in India even more difficult.

Moreover, there is the question of safety of investment – a question which brings the Benami Property Act has now brought centre-stage once more. At the current time, any service or commodity purchased in a form of currency which is not accepted as legal tender in India represents a risk to both buyer and seller. Both end-users and investors want their real estate assets to be legal in every way so that ownership and resale do not become a problem for them. This, perhaps, is the strongest argument against bitcoin in Indian real estate transactions for now.

In short, crypto-currencies like bitcoin are very unlikely to take off in Indian real estate in the foreseeable future.

(Views are personal)

One may say that diabetes is rapidly becoming a global epidemic which spares neither adults nor young children and adolescents. The cause for concern is the need for lifetime medications and/or insulin to manage symptoms and prevent complications. Also, the emotional and financial burden posed by various forms of diabetes (Type 1, Type 2, Gestational Diabetes and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) raises the need for development of newer definitive therapeutic modalities.

Today, being Children’s day and World Diabetes Day, we share information on one of the forms of diabetes that affects young individuals and by far is the most challenging to manage considering the early age of onset of the condition.

Type 1 diabetes is becoming one of the most common illnesses in younger individuals. India is home to close to 97,000 children with type 1 diabetes. Although this type constitutes only 5-10% of the total population, it has serious short and long term consequences. The condition results due to pancreatic beta cell destruction which causes absolute insulin deficiency. Genetic and environmental factors as well as disorder of immune mechanism are thought to be the cause of type 1 diabetes. Treatment involves use of insulin/oral medicines, dose of which is adjusted based on regular blood glucose monitoring. Also, continuous monitoring of the general condition of the patient is of paramount importance so as to assess development of complications. Diabetes is associated with microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and macrovascular (cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease) complications.

Dr. Pradeep Mahajan says “You carry your own repairing kits in your body”. He believes in the power of cellular therapy to address the root cause of many conditions rather than palliative management of symptoms. The rationale behind use of cellular therapy for diabetes is that, stem cells have tremendous regenerative capacity and the flexibility to grow into different types of cells. Progenitor cells in the human body are capable of differentiating in vivo to produce beta cells—the islet cells that manufacture insulin—as well as pancreatic islet cells. Cell-based approach to insulin replacement has been shown to ultimately improve glucose control in patients with type 1 diabetes. Furthermore, mesenchymal stem cells have immunomodulatory property that aids in restoring immune homeostasis/balance in the body.

Patients and their families are generally unaware of this recent form of therapy for diabetes. It is therefore mandatory, that the patient is explained about his/her disease condition and what benefits may be achieved through cellular therapy. At StemRx, during the patients’ first visit, a detailed case history is taken. When the patient consents for treatment, he/she is directed to undergo hematological and radiological investigations specific to his/her health condition. This is followed by a second round of consultation during which reports of investigations and treatment protocol for the patient are discussed in detail.

Cellular therapy protocol at StemRx involves harvesting cells from the patients’ own body (autologous stem cells) from bone marrow, fat tissue and peripheral blood. These sources are rich in mesenchymal stem cells and have the advantage of availability of cells and ease of harvest. After activation the cells are transplanted into the appropriate site in the patients’ body. Hospitalization is advised for 48 hours after the procedure to monitor the general condition of the patient and to allow for homing of cells. Since the source of cells is from the patients’ own body, treatment is safe and is not associated with any adverse events.

Lifestyle and diet are two other factors that play a major role in prognosis of diabetes. Food is a major concern for parents as children in particular tend to have specific tastes and can be quite demanding. This poses even greater difficulty when the child is diabetic. Meal planning can get tricky, but should be consistent, flexible, and supply the necessary nutrients. The aim of diet planning is to satisfy the child’s appetite along with balancing sugar and promoting normal growth and development.  The patient discusses the diet followed by them with our in-house dietician. Based on the requirements, modifications may be advised to achieve a balanced diet, specific for the patient. A diet that is high in fiber, low in saturated fat and sugar is generally advised to diabetic patients.

Another important factor, physical activity has been shown to improve lipoprotein profile, cardiovascular health and reduce blood pressure. Prevention of long-term complications arising due to diabetes may be possible through physical exercise. However, it should be ensured that hypoglycemia be avoided, which occurs immediately or after prolonged intensive workout. Children in particular are more prone to variability in blood glucose levels. Therefore, we advise moderate intensity leisure activities, recreational sports as well as physiotherapy exercises depending on the overall status of the patient. The goal is to teach patients to incorporate exercise in their daily lives, in addition to diet management as a means to improve/maintain insulin sensitivity post treatment.

Results of cellular therapy are generally observed after 1-2 sessions of cellular therapy. Reduction in blood glucose levels are noticed along with improvement in general health of patients. However, changes in the patients’ ongoing insulin doses/oral hypoglycemic drugs are made only after a steady state of blood glucose is achieved. Accordingly, dosage is adjusted and ultimately discontinuation of medications/insulin may be advised.

Cellular therapy addresses the root cause of diabetes, ie: beta-cell destruction and insulin resistance.  Therefore, results achieved, although gradual are permanent. The number of sessions of cellular therapy required differs with each individual, based on age, diabetic status and presence of co-morbid conditions as well as lifestyle. Additionally, patient compliance with respect to following diet and allied therapies is equally important to achieve optimum benefit from therapy.

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that there is a declining trend in the levels of Particulate Matter at present, indicating an improvement in air quality due to the efforts made by implementing agencies. “There has been a decline in PM10 values – from 712.1 to 566.6 micrograms and decline in PM2.5 levels from 480 to 385.7 micrograms at 2.00 p.m today”, the Minister said. He added that with the present trend, it is expected that the decline in Particulate Matter levels will continue and air quality is likely to fall back in the Severe category. 

Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that the present air quality in Delhi NCR has been in the Severe Plus category and emergency conditions due to adverse weather conditions because of western disturbances, stubble burning and high levels of relative humidity. 

The Minister said that initially the conditions started on November 7, 2017 at 6.00 a.m and declined to severe category (concentration less than 500 micrograms/m3 for PM10 and less than 300 micrograms/m3 for PM2.5) on November 11 at 3.00 p.m. Later, the level has gone up again because of adverse weather conditions, which is further improving now.

New Delhi: Learning from its part mistakes and experiences, the Government has begun to address the challenges faced by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects through optimal policy formulations and designing suitable organisational structures.

Under the new structural changes undertaken by the government of the day, developing pilot PPPs which can be scaled up in various sectors such as waste to energy, health and education are now being promoted. The need of the hour is that PPP projects be weighed on the basis of innovation and sustainability to foster competition, thereby bringing efficiency.  This was the view of the experts at the CUTS-CIRC 5^th Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development organised with CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition under the theme “Fostering Innovation for Sustainable Development: Revisiting Intellectual Property Rights, Competition from the lens of Optimal Regulation’’.

The experts including the former Planning Commission member, Arum Maira and former Finance Secretary and Chairman, CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC), Dr. Arvind Mayaram deliberated at length with international delegates on the challenges faced by PPP projects.  This included dearth of organisational capacity in States to handle PPP projects, poor policy and design loopholes. Despite such hurdles, PPPs are gaining momentum in India in terms of quantum of investments and number of projects, through innovations in technology, project structures and financing options, such as municipal bonds.

Experts talked about the need of PPP in developing countries, especially in India. Paucity of funds, and the inability of States to borrow more from financial institutions has prompted the Government to look aggressively towards private finance through innovative community sensitive PPP structures. The idea being to not only create physical assets, but also to improve service level delivery through design innovation.

Similarly, experts at another session at the conference debated about the interface between competition and IPR and the need to strike the right balance among these two sets of seemingly conflicting policies at various levels. Developing countries should consider their levels of development as well as priorities while building their IP protection regime, at the same time using competition policy as a complementary instrument to promote and protect public interests. This should then be translated into appropriate policy formulation, implementation and enforcement to promote both innovation and consumer welfare, it was felt.

The need for considering the merits of government interventions and regulations, for adapting and modernising existing regulations, and for building the institutional capacities of regulators were also brought forward.

This is in response to the rapid changes of the markets and the emergence of new business models such as multisided platforms, fintech, and other disruptive technologies, as evidenced in sectors such as ICT, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, transport and e-commerce. Devising an optimal regulatory framework would bring clarity and certainty to stakeholders, promote investment and trade while also ensuring consumer interests are protected and promoted., the key speakers felt.

The conference also highlighted the growing policy uncertainty, need of data for effective policy formulation, its impacts and the need for improved mechanisms to redesign the existing regulations. The challenges due to lack of organisational capacities to tackle policy and regulatory uncertainty were also emphasised by the speakers.

They deliberated upon the need of relevant quality data in research, how disruptions are making the past data redundant, and the importance of more dialogue between the policy makers and researchers. It was emphasised that policy uncertainty deters investment and good policies outlive governments. The importance of greater interaction between researchers, policy makers, users and civil society in better policy making was stressed upon.

NEW DELHI : As Indian consumer continues to struggle with the quality of internet services and access across the country and an estimated 900 million are still without internet access the Government on Monday will launch the second and final phase of its flagship BharatNet project aimed at providing high speed broadband internet connectivity to all panchayats in rural India by March 2019.

The project aims to connect 1.5 lakh panchayats through 10 lakh Km of additional optical fibre and give bandwidth to telecom players at nearly 75 percent cheaper price for broadband and wi fi services in rural areas.

Interestingly, as India boasts of world’s top IT companies, tech entrepreneurs and digital startups, yet internet access to its people has been a dream. India is still home to nearly 900 million people who do not have access to the internet. In 2015, only 22% of adults in India had access to the Internet, according to the Pew Research Centre. Similarly, urban India with an estimated population of 444 million already has 269 million (60%) using the internet. Rural India, with an estimated population of 906 million as per 2011 census, has only 163 million (17%) internet users. It is precisely this chunk of the population that the Modi Government is planning to reach out to through its BharatNet scheme.

India was ranked 89th globally in connection speeds with an average speed of 6.5Mbps, marking an 87 per cent year-on-year change. In addition, a 4Mbps broadband adoption of 42 percent in the first quarter of 2017 with an 81 per cent year-on-year increase was also noted. The global average connection speed was 7.2Mbps this quarter, with peak connections across the world averaging at 44.6Mbps. This was stated in a report released by Akamai Technologies, the world’s largest cloud delivery platform recently.

The Government has sought the help of the leading telecom companies for this flagship programme and has made a provision of Rs. 3,600 crore subsidy for private telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio through viability gap funding. This would be used for setting up Wi-Fi in rural areas as part of the second phase of the BharatNet project. 

The government is all set to complete the first phase of the BharatNet project by the end of 2017 – which will give fibre connectivity to 1 lakh gram panchayats at an investment of Rs. 11,200 crore. “We expect telecom operators to provide at least 2 megabit per second speed to rural households,” Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan stated.

The Union Communications Minister, Manoj Sinha, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Human Resource Development Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched the project today.

The Telecom Ministry will sign agreements with seven states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand — which will roll out the project on their own with partial funding from the Central Government.

The total project cost of BharatNet is around Rs. 45,000 crore, of which Rs. 11,200 crore have been used for the first phase.

Ms. Sundrarajan said around Rs. 4.5 lakh crore value can be added to the national gross domestic product on completion of BharatNet phase 2 as a study has suggested that every 10 percent usage of Internet in India drives up GDP by 3.3 percent.

BSNL will roll out optical fibre in yet to be covered locations of eight states — Assam, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim that were not covered under the first phase of BharatNet. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has been awarded contract for three states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Odisha.

It is understood that the broadband services rates will be low because of intensive competition in the sector and the government is offering bandwidth under the project to telecom operators at 75 percent lower rate than they currently buy it. “India at present has 38,000 wifi hotspots. 

Under BharatNet phase 2, around 6-7 lakh wifi hotspots will be added with 2-5 hot spots in each panchayat. Some of the wifi hot spots may not be commercially viable initially. The viability gap funding of around Rs. 3,600 crore to telecom operators will be provided by the government,’’ she added.

Mortal remains of two Indian soldiers of 39 Garhwal Rifles were laid to rest at Military Cemetery at Laventie, France. A delegation comprising of Commandant and Subedar Major of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, two bagpipers from the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Pipe Band and Colonel Nitin Negi, grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, Victoria Cross, attended the ceremony.

On the occasion, homage was also paid to the soldiers of Indian Meerut Division at Nueve Chapelle War Memorial by laying wreaths on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army by Brigadier Indrajit Chatterjee, Commandant and Subedar Major Trilok Singh Negi, SM of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre. The Commandant expressed his gratitude to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the excellent care and maintenance of the War Memorial dedicated to Indian soldiers in France and Flanders. He also thanked the Government of France for the conduct of the solemn ceremony.

On 20^th September 2016, during an excavation work on southern side of the village of Richebourg near Laventie Military Cemetery, approximately 230 Kms away from Paris, two human remains were found and identified to be of soldiers of 39^th Royal Garhwal Rifles. The office of Commonwealth War Graves Commission in consultation with the French Government and Indian Embassy in France decided to hold ceremony to rest them along with their comrades at Laventie Military Cemetery, with full military honours during the annual memorial service that is held to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were martyred in action in France and Belgium. In a symbolic gesture, the soil from the graves of these soldiers will be brought back to their homeland.

During World War-I, the Garhwal Brigade comprising of 1^st/39^th and 2^nd/39^th Royal Garhwal showed unparalleled bravery in treacherous trenches of France and Flanders. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with British soldiers, the Garhwal Brigade earned six Battle Honours and two Victoria Cross in France and Flanders Theatre.

t by the Kauffman Foundation analyzed its venture-capital portfolio and concluded that 62 out of 100 funds failed to exceed the returns offered by the public market.

Most venture-capital firms don’t head abroad with the sole aim of searching for copycats, however a lot of their investments end up that way.

Introducing Clone Models to new Markets

After all, backing tested concepts mitigates the risks in new businesses and means organizations are probably going to grow quickly, because the original company has worked out all the bends. Often the originator of the business does not have the expertise to enter new developing markets so fast, so copycats can get there first.

They can likewise gain an edge by tailoring organizations to local habits. Flipkart, an e-commerce website in India founded by two former Amazon employees, had raised funds from Tiger Global, a New York-based hedge fund that has some expertise in this sort of investing, and Accel Partners, a venture-capital firm. Honestly, the idea worked because around then individuals scarcely used credit cards in India and to make it mainstream they needed to present something like cash on delivery.

There are diverse approaches to play the copycat game. Rocket Internet, started by the Samwer brothers—Alexander, Marc and Oliver—in Germany, is a cloning factory that copies American and European organizations, hiring entrepreneurs to run them and exporting these new companies to emerging markets as fast as possible so they are the first entrants. More traditional venture capitalists are setting up offices and specifically backing local entrepreneurs. American venture capitalists often like to acquire a local partner to give more reliable mentorship to these entrepreneurs and give exhortation on the best way to navigate the domestic market.

How long can they ignore the competition?

Copycats can without much of a stretch lose share when the original company enters the local market. Snapdeal and Flipkart, once the Amazon of India, got “pummeled” when Amazon entered the market. With innovation, you have a global benefit, but with copycat innovation you have geographical limits.

It’ll not be long before emerging markets spawn their own innovations that can be trotted out on a global scale. That would be closer to the spirit of venture capital, which is supposed to ferret out and fund new ideas, not imitations.

(Views are personal. The writer is Gurgaon-based Digital Marketer and an aspiring entrepreneur. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gauravsangwani/)

Aligarh : Soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, became famous for its connection with genetically modified crops like Bt cotton and Bt brinjal. But it has its use in agriculture beyond GM crops. A group of Indian scientists have found new strains of Bt which they say can be used to develop biopesticides in future.

Researchers from Aligarh Muslim University and New Delhi-based National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology have identified new strains of Bt from soil samples collected in Northwestern Himalayas. 

Bt is an important soil organism which produces protein crystals toxic to many insects. These proteins become active in the gut of pests under alkaline conditions and form pores in their cell lining. Subsequently, insects lose their cellular constituents, stop feeding and ultimately die. GM crops exploit these traits by incorporating such bacterial genes. However, over a period of time pests become resistant to toxic genes. Crystal proteins of Bt can be added directly to soil instead of chemical pesticides, but in this case too their prolonged use may allow pest to develop resistance. 

Therefore, scientists are on a lookout for different strains of bacteria that contain unique insecticidal genes. In their search for a novel strain of Bt, researchers focused on Northwestern Himalayas. They gathered 207 soil samples from ten different locations and cultured the bacteria in lab. The crystal proteins produced were then tested for toxicity against cotton bollworm.

Two proteins – Cry and Cyt- have the strongest insecticidal action against this moth. So, scientists checked bacterial DNA for the presence of seven different classes of Cry genes and two classes of Cyt genes. Almost two-thirds of the Bt strains tested positive for either gene. Researchers then isolated bacterial proteins and fed them to the cotton bollworm larva. Eating leaves coated with these proteins stopped larval feeding in 30% of cases. Scientists noticed that strains most successful in this endeavour expressed both Cry and Cyt genes.

Based on these results, four potential strains that can be used to develop broad range biopesticides have been identified. One that particularly stands out is Bacillus thuringiensis JK 12 which is required in the least quantity to stop larval feeding.“In future, all these four potentially toxic strains shall be tested against other lepidopteran pests and we will determine their applicability as broad-host-range biopesticides”, Showkat Ahmad Lone, the lead author of the study, told India Science Wire. 

However, Dr. Raj K Bhatnagar, Professor Emeritus at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, who is not connected with the study, pointed out that such studies fall short on characterising the gene or the protein. “In the present study, there is no comparison of toxicity with known strains,” he added.

Because these proteins are non-toxic to humans and do not affect soil productivity they offer several advantages over conventional pesticides, Dr Bhatnaghar felt.

The research team included Showkat Ahmad Lone (Aligarh Muslim University), Abdul Malik (Aligarh Muslim University) and Jasdeep Chatrath Padaria (National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology). The study has been published recently in journal Biotechnology Reports. 

Directed: Abrar Alvi/ Produced; Guru Dutt/Story: Bimal Mitra/Screenplay: Bimal Mitra and Abrar Alvi/ Cinematography: VK Murthy/ Editing: YG Chawhan/ Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni/ Music: Hemanta Mukherjee/ Playback: Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt and Hemanta Mukherjee/ Art Direction: Biren Naug/ Costumes: Bhanu Athaiya/ Starring: Meena Kumari, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, Dhoomal, Minoo Mumtaz, Sapru, Jawahar Kaul, Nazir Hussain, Harindranath Chattopadhyay and Pratima Devi

In his short life span of 39 years, Guru Dutt wrote four films, produced seven and directed another eight. A luke warm success at the box-office, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, an adaptation of Bengali author Bimal Mitra’s tale is considered to have been directed by Guru Dutt’s protégé and best friend, screenwriter Abrar Alvi. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is still regarded as one of Guru Dutt’s and Bollywood’s most artistic films. An enduring saga of decaying feudalism with a parallel sub plot of the downward-spiral of a zamindar’s neglected wife, loaded with unforgettable performances, lilting music, Bhanu Athaiya’s costumes, Biren Naug’s Art Direction and VK Murthy’s cinematography have made this film an unforgettable gem.

The controversy about who actually helmed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam remains alive to this day. Guru Dutt never discounted Abrar Alvi’s role in the film and it was Alvi who won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film. Abrar Alvi never denied that Guru Dutt did direct the songs in the film, but not the entire film. The film’s editor Y.G. Chawan always maintained that it was Abrar Alvi who sat with him during editing.

According to Waheeda Rehman Guru Dutt wanted bulk dates from Shashi Kapoor as Bhootnath because a huge set had been erected and he had acquired Meena Kumari’s dates. Shashi Kapoor, a rising busy star in those dayscouldn’t spare the required dates. The next choice Biswajeet whose Hindi film debut it would have been didn’t want to be tied to an exclusive contract. Guru Dutt donned the mantle himself . 

Nargis and then legendary celebrity portraiture and glamour photographer Jitendra Arya’s wife Chhaya were considered for the role of Chhoti Bahu. Waheeda Rehman wanted to play Bibi and was refused by Guru Dutt because she didn’t look mature enough. She backed down only after she did a photo-session with V.K.Murthy and Guru Dutt in Chhoti Bahu’s attire and saw the result for herself. 

However when the director on board Abrar Alvi asked Waheeda Rehman to play Jaba, Guru Dutt was livid upon her assent! This time he felt she had become a big star to take on a secondary character that was not even mentioned in the titles like Rehman, Meena Kumari and Guru Dutt himself. 

Waheeda Rehman did not share a single frame with Meena Kumari in the film and her consistent pleading to Abrar Alvi and Guru Dutt to incorporate one scene was denied citing the fact that the novel did not have such a scene. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was Waheeda Rehman’s last film with Guru Dutt an enviable collaboration which included Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool and Chaudhvi Ka Chand. 

Meena Kumari portrayal of Chhoti Bahu is perhaps one of the greatest performance ever seen on the Indian Screen. Meena Kumari to Guru Dutt’s request if she would be interested in playing the lead role of Chhoti Bahu turned it down as she had her hands full with pending commitments. Guru Dutt extremely desperate completed the entire film by 1962 leaving aside the role of Chhoti Bahu. 

Meena Kumari settled for forty-five days of non-stop shooting and a fee with 25 per cent raise , writes veteran journalist late Vinod Mehta in Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography. Meena Kumari won the Filmfare Best Actress award in 1963 for her performance as Chhoti Bahu. That year, she was the only actress up for Best Actress with two other nominations apart from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam – Aarti and Main Chup Rahungi.

Guru Dutt had also wanted SD Burman and Sahir Ludhianvi for the music and lyrics but SD Burman was unwell and Sahir declined the offer. In walked Hemant Kumar and Shakeel Badayuni on their second project after the mega hit Bees Saal Baad released earler that very year. Hemant Kumar’s baton had Geeta Dutt rendering – Koi door se awaaz de chale aao, Piya aiso jiya and Na jao saiyan for Chhoti Bahu. His melancholic background music and that behind Chhoti Bahu evoked looming tragedy. 

Geeta Dutt didn’t playback for Waheeda in this film although in Pyaasa she sang for both Mala and Waheeda. Guru Dutt had Asha Bhosle’s voice for Waheeda and Geeta sang for Meena Kumari. Amazingly Waheeda Rehman was was not happy with the rushes of the song Bhanwara bada naadan hai and had Guru Dutt reshot the song, it was only this ditty from the film which went up to number thirteen on the annual list of Binaca Geetmala in 1962.

A rebel like Guru Dutt could not ignore irate reactions of the audience to the original last scene which showed Chhoti Bahu resting her head in Bhootnath’s lap as they travel in a carriage. The scene was reshot to show a conversation between the two characters. Alvi and Guru Dutt removed the song Sahil ki Taraf and replaced it with dialogue exchange between Chhoti Bahu and Bhoothnath in the doomed carriage. An additional scene with paralyzed Rehman repenting his debauchery was also shot but never used. Hemant Kumar went on to recycle the tune for Sahil ki Taraf for the song Ya dil ki suno from Anupama (1966).

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam went on to win Filmfare Awards for Best Film, Director, Actress and Photography. Hemant Kumar against all odds lost Filmfare for Best Music to Shankar-Jaikishen for Professor (1962). The film won the President’s Silver Medal and the ‘Film of the Year’ Award from the Bengal Film Journalist Association and was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in June 1963 and was India’s fourth official entry to the Oscars that year and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The depiction of old age zamindari finally collapsing under the weight of British colonialism and the opulent and decadent lifestyle of the havelis form the majestic backdrop against which the most interesting aspect of the film is presented to the viewers, the ambiguity that shrouds the relationship between Chhoti Bahu and Bhoothnath is mesmerising. The moot question hammering at the back of minds and which keeps us riveted to the screen is whether the Ghulam physically desires Chhoti Bahu and whether she considers him more than an attendant? 

The chemistry between the Bibi and Ghulam is so crackling that you forget that Meena Kumari appears on screen after nearly 45 minutes of the film is over and that Guru Dutt and Meena Kumari had only eight scenes together! This is the celluloid magic of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam from which even younger masters like Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia have drawn from!

(The writer is a Filmy Buff)