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Zurich/Bern: Swiss votersrejected by a wide margin onSunday a proposal to intro-duce a guaranteed basic in-come for everyone living inthe wealthy country after anuneasy debate about the fu-ture of work at a time of in-creasing automation. Swit-zerland is the first country tohold such a vote. Supportershad said introducing amonthly income of 2,500Swiss francs ($2,563) peradult and 625 francs ($640)per child under 18 no matterhow much they work wouldpromote human dignity andpublic service. Opponents,including the government,said it would cost too muchand weaken the eco nomy.

Projections by the GFS

polling outfit for Swiss bro-adcaster SRF showed nearlyfour out of five voters oppo-sed the bold social experi-ment launched by Basel cafeowner Daniel Haeni and alli-es in a vote under the Swisssystem of direct democracy.Based on a partial count of re-sults from 19 Swiss cantons(states), the gfs.bern pollinggroup calculated that 78% of voters opposed the measureagainst 22% in favour.

Haeni acknowledged de-feat but claimed a moral vic-tory. “As a businessman I ama realist and had reckonedwith 15% support, now it lo-oks like more than 20% ormaybe even 25%. I find thatfabulous and sensational,”he told SRF. “When I see themedia interest, from abroadas well, then I say we are set-ting a trend.”

Conservative Switzerlandis the first country to hold a

national referendum on anunconditional basic income,but others including Finland

are examining similar plansas societies ponder a world inwhich robots replace humansin the workforce.

Olivier, a 26-year-old car-penter who works on const-ruction sites and runs a smallbusiness where he designsand builds furniture, said hevoted “yes” to the initiative.“For me it would be a great op-portunity to put my focus onmy passion and not go to work

 just for a living,” he said.Champions of the plan

had painted just such a futurein a poster bigger than a soc-cer field asking “What would

you do if your income was se-cure?” They had also mar-ched as robots down Zurich’s

high street and had handedout free 10-franc notes. ABer nman who gave his name onlyas Stephan said he supportedthe idea as a “sustainable so-lution for society”.

A woman named Melea-nie said she reluctantly vo-ted “no”. “I find that it is a re-al danger that once people

 just get their basic needs co-vered society doesn’t feel re-sponsible anymore to look af-ter the ones who can’t reallyhandle the situation on theirown,” she said.

The Swiss governmenthad urged voters to reject the

campaign, saying the schemewould cost too much and un-dermine societal cohesion.

The plan included replacingin full or in part what peoplegot from social benefits.

The government estima-ted the proposal would havecost 208 billion Swiss francs ayear, significantly weakenedthe economy and discouragedpeople, especially low ear-ners, from working. Authori-ties have estimated an additio-nal 25 billion francs would beneeded annually to cover thecosts, requiring deep spen-ding cuts or steep tax hikes.

Critics slammed the initi-ative as “a Marxist dream”,warning of sky-high costs

and people quitting their jobs in droves, causing eco-nomic chaos. REUTERS

Switzerland Is World’s First Country To Hold Such A Referendum

Swiss vote for work, reject

‘money for nothing’ plan

TIMES GLOBAL* THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEWDELHI | MONDAY, JUNE6, 2016

LADY GAGA SAYS HER LIFE MAY BE GLAMOROUS,BUT LIVING WITH FAME IS ‘ISOLATING’

PAUL MCCARTNEY’S DIVERSION TACTIC: HE ACTSLIKE SOMEONE ELSE WHEN RECOGNISED IN PUBLIC

I HAVE NOT FAILED. I’VEJUST FOUND 10,000 WAYSTHAT WON’T WORK

—THOMAS EDISON

WHAT IS UBI?

A committee for UBI crowdfunded an8,000 sqm poster, world’s largest, inGeneva posing the question ‘What wouldyou do if your income were taken care of?’

It stands for‘universalbasicincome’,guaranteedfor everyoneliving inthe countrywhetherthey workor not

MONEY INVOLVED | Monthlyincome of 2,500 Swiss francs($2,563) per adult and 625 francsper child under 18

WHY SWITZERLAND?Has a system whereby referendumscan be called if more than 100,000eligible voters sign a petitioncalling for change in constitution

OTHERCOUNTRIESPLANNINGUBI | Finlandand theNetherlandshave suchprojects inthe pipeline

People cast their ballots in Bern

TRIVIA | Sir Thomas Morefirst made an argument for theconcept in his 1516 work ‘Utopia’

WHAT NAYSAYERSWERE SAYING | Governmentsays policy would cost too much (208 billionSwiss francs a year) and weaken the economy

➤ Will encourage ‘a lack of initiative andpersonal responsibility’ with young peoplenot feeling a need to find work; causewidescale immigration

WHAT SUPPORTERSWERE SAYING | As robotstake over jobs, states should pay citizens a basicincome unconditional of needs or requirements

➤ Will help eliminate poverty, liberate peoplestuck in dead-end workfare jobs

➤ Slash bureaucracy and create a leaner, moreself-sufficient welfare system

Dhaka:A Christian business-man was hacked to death inBangladesh on Sunday bymachete-wielding men near achurch in an attack claimedby the Islamic State, hours af-ter a top anti-terror police offi-cer’s wife was shot dead in theMuslim-majority nation thathas been witnessing brutal as-saults on minorities and secu-lar writers.

Sunil Gomes, 65, was mur-dered near a church in Banpa-ra village, home to one of theoldest Christian communitiesin Bangladesh, in northwes-tern Notore district.

The assailants fled imme-diately from the scene after

killing Gomes. His body wasrecovered from his groceryshop, police superintendentShyamal Mukherjee said overphone. “We are yet to know thedetails, but our policemen aregathering information aboutthe murder,” Mukherjee said.

But hours after the inci-dent, US-based Site Intelligen-ce Group quoted IS’s Amaqagency to report that the ter-ror group claimed responsibi-

against Jamaat-ul-Mujahide-en Bangladesh (JMB). Babul,posted at the police headquar-ters in Dhaka, has led severalraids on militant hideouts andinvestigated terror-related ca-ses as the additional deputycommissioner with the Detec-tive Branch in Chittagong.

He played a key role in nab-bing top militants and busting

their hideouts in the southerncoastal district. It was his in-vestigations which led to thebusting of a hideout of ban-ned JMB and arrest ofits mili-tary wing chief Mohamed Ja-ved in October last year. “Sin-ce Babul Aktar was in coun-ter-terrorism, we suspect thatmilitants are behind the mur-der of his wife,” detectivebranch deputy commissionerMoktar Ahmed said. PTI

lity for the murder.Gomes’s murder happe-

ned just hours after the wife of superintendent of police Ba-bul Aktar, who led drives aga-inst militants and drug car-tels, was stabbed and shot de-ad by three bike-borne assai-lants in front of her minor sonin Chittagong.

Mahmuda Aktar, 33, was

targeted at around 6.45am (lo-cal time) while she was on herway to drop her six-year-oldson to a nearby bus stop forschool. Home minister Asa-duzzaman Khan Kamal saidpolice suspect that religiousextremists were behind hermurder. Kamal, who was inthe port city, told reportersthat the Islamists likely havekilled Babul’s wife as he play-ed a key role in the campaign

Christian man, top cop’s wife killed in Bangladesh

The six-year-old son of Mahmuda Aktar, the wife of a top anti-terrorofficer Babul Aktar, mourns after she was shot dead in Chittagong onSunday. Babul Aktar had led drives against militants and drug cartels

AFP

IS Claims AttackNear Church On

Businessman

Los Angeles: An Indian-American professor has saidMainak Sarkar, who was be-hind the UCLA murder-suici-de, left little impression as astudent in his class and neverused to greet him when theypassed each other despite bothhailing from West Bengal.

Professor Ajit Mal was inhis University of California,Los Angeles, office Wednes-day getting ready to teach hisengineering class when IIT-Kharagpur alumni MainakSarkar shot and killed 39-year-old professor William Klug,who he had accused of stea-ling his computer code and gi-ving it to someone else.

Mal praised anotherUCLA professor ChristopherLynch for his quick actionthat kept the 38-year-oldUCLA gunman from escaping

and potentially shooting morepeople. Both Mal and Lynchwere quoted by the Los Ange-les Times as saying that Sar-kar’s allegation about Klughaving stolen his computercode was groundless.

Lynch said all UCLA emp-loyees and graduate studentssign over any intellectual pro-perty developed there to theuniversity and, if it is subse-quently licensed, includingroyalty agreements to sharein the profits.

Both men said that Sarkarhad enrolled in their classesseveral years earlier but leftlittle impression. Mal saidSarkar was quiet and reservedand would not even greet himwhen the two men passed eachother, which the professor fo-und somewhat odd since bothhail from West Bengal andspeak the same language. Malalso said it was likely thatKlug never knew of Sarkar's

animosity toward him. If hehad, Mal said, Klug would pro-bably have consulted him. PTI

Sarkar didnot impressin class: PIO

UCLA prof 

Singapore: China rebuffedUS pressure to curb its activi-ty in the South China Sea on

Sunday, restating its sovere-ignty over most of the dispu-ted territory and saying it“has no fear of trouble”.

On the last day of Asia’sbiggest security summit, Ad-miral Sun Jianguo said Chinawill not be bullied, includingover a pending internationalcourt ruling over its claims inthe vital trade route. “We donot make trouble, but we haveno fear of trouble,” Sun toldthe Shangri-La Dialogue inSingapore, where more than600 security, military and go-vernment delegates had gat-hered over three days.

“China will not bear theconsequences, nor will it al-low any infringement on itssovereignty and security in-terest, or stay indifferent to so-me countries creating chaosin the South China Sea.”

The waterway has becomea flashpoint between the Uni-

ted States, which increased its

focus on the Asia-Pacific un-der President Barack Oba-ma’s “pivot”, and China,which is projecting ever grea-ter economic, political and mi-litary power in the region.

The two have traded accu-sations of militarising the wa-terway as Beijing undertakeslarge-scale land reclamationand construction on disputedfeatures while Washingtonhas increased its patrols andexercises. On Saturday, top USofficials, including defence se-cretary Ash Carter, warnedChina of the risk of isolating

itself internationally. REUTERS

China says ‘has nofear of trouble’ inSouth China Sea

A May 5 photo shows China’sSouth Sea Fleet taking part in adrill in the Paracel Islands

AFP

Britain’s loneliest dog’, aStaffordshire bull terriercalled Freya, who has beenliving in an animal shelter forsix years and has been rejec-ted by 18,000 potential owners,has landed a role in the thenew ‘Transformers’ movie.‘Transformers’ director Micha-el Bay spotted Freya on Face-book and said that if the roledid not find the dog a home, hewould keep her.

Cloth with late pope’s bloodstolen from Cologne church:A cloth with a drop of bloodfrom the late Pope John Paul IIhas been stolen from CologneCathedral. German police said

a visitor noticed on Sundaythat the religious relic haddisappeared and alerted achurch usher. Cathedral’sprovost, Gerd Bachner, urgedthe thief to return the relic.

Emirati bizman pays $4.9mto be ‘number 1’ motorist:A car registration plate be-aring just the number ‘one’fetched $4.9 million at auctionin the United Arab Emirates,reports said on Sunday. Emira-ti businessman Arif Ahmedal-Zarouni’s bid was 18 timesthe reserve price, but is notthe highest sum that has beenpaid for a collector’s regi-stration plate in the UAE.

Turkey sinks Airbus jet toboost dive tourism: Turkishauthorities sunk an A300Airbus jet — with a wingspanof 44m and a length of 54m —

off a resort on the Aegean Seawith the aim of boosting divingtourism in the region, reportssaid on Sunday.

Fearing storm, Germanypulls plug on a rock fest:Authorities in western Germanypulled the plug on Rock am Ringfest because of a storm war-ning after 80 people wereinjured late on Friday. Organi-sers of the open-air festival saidon Sunday that they acceptedthe decision “out of responsibi-lity for the welfare” of theroughly 90,000 attendants.

7killed as Taliban gunmenraid Afghan courthouse:Taliban gunmen killed at leastseven people at a court comp-lex in Pul-i-Alam city on Sunday,in their third “revenge” attackfor last month’s execution of Taliban-linked prisoners.

AROUND THE WORLD

A helicopter flies above glowing embers as it makes a water drop run at the ‘Old Fire’, which burned in

Calabasas, California, on Saturday. Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze that has forced atleast 5,000 people to evacuate their homes. Calabasas area — a relatively affluent part of Los Angelescounty — is home to celebrities, including Jessica Simpson and Toni Braxton

‘UK’s loneliestdog’ lands role ina Hollywood film

Reuters

London: An internationalhunt has been launched foran Indian-origin man foundguilty of repeatedly raping asix-year-old child in the UK.

Paedophile Vijesh Koori-yil fled to India earlier thisweek, just a day before histrial was due to commencein Oxford on Tu esday.

The 29-year-old businessmanager boarded a plane toDelhi on Monday night andwas unanimously convictedof two rapes and sentencedin absentia to an extendedprison term of 18 years atOxford Crown Court on Fri-day, Daily Mirror reported.

Kooriyil, who hails fromKerala, had been chargedwith repeatedly raping theboy after trapping him in hisbedroom in Oxford in 2010and 2011. He had been per-mitted to keep his passportunder his bail conditions,which were unconditionalbecause he had no previouscautions or convictions.

Kooriyil was a student inOxford when he carried out

the abuse. PTI

UK launcheshunt for PIOpaedophile

Washington: Should DonaldTrump drop out of the US pre-sidential election because theAmerican electorate has a lar-ge number of Latinos, Mus-lims, Asians, and assorted peo-ple of “foreign-origin,” not tospeak of Caucasians who arenot of Trump’s own Germanicstock? Or should they be disqu-

alified from voting becausethey may be biased againstTrump? On Sunday, the mave-rick New York mogul and puta-tive Republican nominee ope-ned himself to this question bysuggesting he did not trust pe-ople of other ethnicities andreligion, even if they wereAmerican citizens, because of policies he has articulated thatmay be not be to the liking of people of that stock.

It all began with Trump’sstand against a US-born judgeof Mexican ethnicity. Last we-ek, Trump began questioningthe integrity of Gonzalo Curi-el who is hearing a lawsuit re-lating to Trump University.The background of the judge,who was born in Indiana toMexican immigrants, was re-levant because of his

considering he was appointedby Republicans (ArnoldSchwarzenegger and GeorgeBush), and he has a sterling re-cord of standing up to threats,including from a Mexicandrug cartel that he was prose-cuting, which ordered his as-sassination.

But Trump, who is accusedof being a draft-dodger, seemsto be rattled after Curiel last

week ordered

the unsealingof internal do-cuments from

the defunct Trump University.The documents show “playbo-oks” for the failed businessschool’s salespeople, inclu-ding scripts they followed tomanipulate customers into pa-ying up to $35,000 for classes.

In a CNN interview on Sun-day, he was asked more than 20times to explain why a judgecannot be fair and impartialsimply due to his ancestral li-neage. Trump insisted he wasright in asking the judge to re-cuse himself, and his stand didnot constitute racism.

CNN: If you are saying hecannot do his job because of hisrace, is that not the definitionof racism? TRUMP: No, I don’tthink so at all.

emigrated from Germany.Trump’s testy response: “I’mnot talking about tradition — I’m talking about commonsense, OK?”

Trump’s remarks have as-tonished both Democrats andRepublicans (who are also em-barrassed) in a country that isalmost entirely built on im-migration except for a smallNative American population,much of 

which was ex-terminated byEuropeansettlers. In fact, one of the mo-re memorable posters aboutimmigration shows a NativeAmerican (erroneously called“Indians”, because Columbuslost his way while looking forIndia) say, ostensibly to whiteAmericans: “So you are aga-inst immigration? Splendid!When do you leave?”

But Trump, whose looseand sometimes bizarre off-the-cuff remarks are starting torattle even Republicans, appa-rently sees no problem in cari-caturing or demonizing otherreligions and ethnicities de-spite his own foreign origins.

Trump’s vicious attack onJudge Curiel is particularlyembarrassing for the GOP

(Trump’s) stand against ille-gal immigration, Trump argu-ed. “I’m building a wall. It’s aninherent conflict of interest,”he insisted. On Sunday, Trumpexpanded this logic to includeMuslims, even if they are UScitizens or US born. Asked byCBS’ John Dickerson on ‘Facethe Nation’, if he’d have simi-lar concerns about a Muslim

 judge, Trump replied: “It’s pos-sible, yes. Yeah. That would bepossible, absolutely.”

“Isn’t there sort of a tradi-tion though in America thatwe don’t judge people by whotheir parents were and wherethey came from?” Dickersonpersisted, without mentioningthat Trump’s grandparents

 Trump’s ‘common sense’: Mexicanorigin, Muslim judges a concernChidanand.Rajghatta

@timesgroup.com

St. Petersburg: Criminalgangs in Russia, operatingthrough gay dating sites, havefound a lucrative new black-mail target — homosexualmen. A St. Petersburg econo-mist, one of their latest vic-tims, said several men burstinto the apartment where hewas meeting his date.

Claiming that his date wasunder age, they threatened tocall the police and to release avideo they had secretly filmedunless he paid up.

The gay rights group Vyk-hod, or Coming Out, said theyregistered 12 such attacks inSt. Petersburg in 2015 and at le-ast six more gay men have co-me to them so far this year.LGBT activists believe the re-

al number is far higher andsay the attacks have increasedin the past two years.

organisation that providesconsulting services for gays,has heard similar stories. “Inthe case of such setup dates,they (homosexuals) are afraidto disclose their status, to beaccused of paedophilia, andtherefore they are afraid to ap-peal to the police,” he added.

The activists said Russiancriminals have been embolde-ned by a 2013 law that made it acrime to expose children togay “propaganda,” part of aKremlin-backed effort to de-fend traditional family valuesand counter the influence of what it considers a decadentWest. Alexander Zhelezkin,who manages outreach pro-grams at Positive Dialogue, sa-id the law was what made him

decide to become a gay acti-vist. “Now, my coming out ismy defence,’’ he said.  AP

Since homosexuality findslittle acceptance in Russiansociety, many g ays keep theirsexual orientation hiddenfrom their families, friendsand co-workers.

This makes them easy ex-

tortion targets for criminals.Alexander Loza, a legal ad-

viser at Positive Dialogue, an

Russian crime gangs find neweasy targets for blackmail: Gays

A gay nightclub in St Petersburg.In the past two years, anincreasing number of gays havefallen victim to criminal gangsoperating through dating sites

AP

Manila: The Philippine pre-sident-elect has encouragedthe public to helphim in his waragainst crime,urging citizenswith guns to sho-ot and kill drugdealers who re-sist arrest and fight back intheir neighbourhoods.

In a nationally televised

speech on Saturd ay, RodrigoDuterte told a huge crowd inthe southern city of Davaothat Filipinos who help himbattle crime will be rewarded.

“Please feel free to call us,the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun — you havemy support,’’ Duterte said,warning of an extensive ille-gal drug trade that involveseven the country’s police.

If a drug dealer resists ar-rest or refuses to be brought toa police station and threatensa citizen with a gun or a knife,“you can kill him,” Duterte sa-id. “Shoot him and I’ ll give youa medal.” The 71-year-old Du-terte won the May 9 presiden-tial election on a bold promiseto end crime and corruptionwithin six months of the startof his presidency. AP

Philippineprez-elect urges

public to killdrug dealers

Sydney: A woman was fatallymauled by a huge shark — desc-ribed by witnesses as largerthan their boat — near the wes-tern Australian city of Perthon Sunday. The attack on thewoman off the northern Perthsuburb of Mindarie comes justtwo days after a surfer died af-ter having his leg bitten off by ashark along thesame coastline.

WesternAustralia state police said thewoman — reported to be a 60-year-old diver — had “signifi-cant injuries that are consis-tent with a shark attack”. Poli-ce inspector Danny Mulliganadded that three fishermenwho tried to help the womanand her partner described the

shark as being longer than the-ir 5.3-metre boat. He said thewoman’s diving partner felt

“something go past him” whenhe was in the water.

“When he surfaced he saw acommotion in the water andthen another boat arrived topull him out of the water, andthen it was noticed that the ladyhad suffered fatal injuries,”Mulligan said according to theAustralian Broadcasting Cor-

poration.“Given the

nature of theinjuries and the location of the incident, it is likely that alarge white shark greaterthan three metres in size is re-sponsible,” the state’s depart-ment of fisheries said.

The department added thatit had deployed “capture gear”

 — reported to be drum lines — 

to “fish for the s hark” after theattack, which happened a kilo-metre offshore. AFP

Shark ‘as big as a boat’kills Oz woman diver

2ND DEATH IN A WEEK

Courtsey: quickmeme.com

RACE TOWHITE HOUSE