CBI can't win votes for BJP: Akhilesh - Daily Pioneer

CAPSULE

SCHOOLS TO REMAINCLOSED TODAYLucknow: Basic Shiksha AdhikariAmarkant said that as per thedirectives of the DistrictMagistrate, schools from ClassI-XII of all boards would remainclosed because of the coldweather conditions.

KHAIRA QUITS AAP FORRENEGING ON IDEOLOGYChandigarh: AAP’s rebel MLAfrom Punjab Sukhpal SinghKhaira on Sunday resigned fromprimary membership of theparty, alleging the party has“totally deviated” from theideology and principles on whichit was formed.

3 POACHERS HELD INDUDHWA RESERVELakhimpur Kheri: Threepoachers were caught red-handed laying traps forherbivorous animals in forests ofMailani range in the buffer zoneof Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

SISTERS FOUND HANGINGFROM TREE IN SAMBHALSambhal: The bodies of twosisters were found hanging froma tree near Dhumnadipur inSambhal in UP.

PNS n LUCKNOW/DELHI

Aday after the CBI raided hisparty leaders and an IAS

officer, former Uttar PradeshChief Minister and SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh Yadav onSunday hit out at the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) for “showingits true colours”. Claiming thatthe CBI raids were politicallymotivated, he warned the BJPof tit-for-tat, saying the party isleaving a “culture”, which maybe used against it in the future.

“We have the formidablealliance while the BJP has theCBI and other agencies tohound its political rivals. Iwant to warn the BJP that infuture they could be the victimof the legacy of vendetta theywill leave behind,” he said.

“I am ready to answer allthe queries of the CBI. The BJPmust know that the CBI cannotwin them the Lok Sabha elec-tions as the investigatingagency does not vote for anyparty. The actual voters arefarmers, labourers, workers,traders and unemployed youthand they are waiting for thepolling day to teach the BJP alesson for betraying on pollpromises,” Yadav said whileaddressing the party cadre inthe State office of the party

Lucknow on Sunday.“The Samajwadi Party is

making efforts to win maxi-mum Lok Sabha seats. Thosewho want to stop us have theCBI with them. Once theCongress did CBI probe, and Iwas questioned. If the BJP isdoing all this, the CBI willquestion me, I will answer(them). But, the people areready to give an answer to theBJP,” he added.

“Now we have to tell theCBI as to how many seats wehave distributed in the gath-bandhan (alliance),” he said,adding, “I am happy that theBJP has shown its true colours.”

Rejecting Akhilesh’s accu-sation, the BJP demanded thatthe CBI investigate Akhilesh forhis alleged involvement in amining scam, claiming hisGovernment was “hand inglove” with the accused.

Rejecting the charge thatthe CBI’s searches on Saturdayin connection with the allegedscam was politically motivatedbecause of the alliance talksbetween the Samajwadi Partyand the BSP, UP GovernmentMinister Sidharth Nath Singhtold reporters the BJP has nothreat from them.

The two Opposition par-ties are fighting for survival, he

said, adding that those who are“langde-lulhe” (physicallyhandicapped) need “baisakhi”(crutches).

On formal announcementof seat-sharing with Mayawati’sBSP, Akhilesh said it is likely to

be announced within a week.However, he maintained sus-pense on accommodating theCongress in the alliance, whichalso includes Ajit Singh’s RLD.“You will come to know aboutit (alliance) in a week or so,”

Yadav said.The SP and the BSP have

decided to fight the upcomingnational elections together andhave already worked out aseat-sharing arrangement totake on the BJP, which alongwith its allies won 73 seats fromthe State in 2014. On possibil-ity of the Congress joining thealliance, Akhilesh said a deci-sion will be taken by him andMayawati.

The CBI carried outsearches at 14 locations onSaturday in connection with itsFIR against 11 persons, includ-ing IAS officer B Chandrakala,Samajwadi Party MLC RameshKumar Mishra, to probe illegalmining of minor minerals inHamirpur district during 2012-16. Minor minerals are sand,gravel, among others.

“The role of the thenMining Ministers concernedduring the relevant period maybe looked into during thecourse of investigation of thecase,” the FIR said.

Akhilesh, who was theChief Minister of the Statebetween 2012 and 2017, heldthe mining portfolio during2012-13 apparently bringinghis role under scanner, accord-ing to the FIR. He was suc-ceeded by Gayatri Prajapati,

who took charge as MiningMinister in 2013 and wasarrested in 2017 following acomplaint of rape by a womanresiding in Chitrakoot.

This is the third FIR per-taining to illegal mining caseswhich were registered onJanuary 2, 2019, nearly two-and-a-half year after it wasdirected by the Allahabad HighCourt to probe the issue.

The CBI was directed bythe High Court on July 28,2016 to probe illegal mining inthe State following which it hadregistered seven preliminaryenquiries out of which two per-taining to Shamli andKaushambi districts were con-verted into FIRs in 2017.

The searches of the agencytook place on a day the SP andBSP gave contours of an elec-toral alliance ahead of the 2019Lok Sabha elections.

SP spokesperson RajendraChowdhary said the timings ofthe raids raises questions aboutthe intentions of theGovernment. “The party wel-comes the CBI action but thetimings do raise questions.Especially since this is comingright after the news of SP-BSPalliance appeared in the media,”he said.

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Sunday set inmotion its preparation for

the forthcoming Lok Sabhapolls by appointing HomeMinister Rajnath Singh as thehead of the all-important man-ifesto committee. FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley will headthe publicity department andwill be assisted by RajyavarthanRathore, Piyush Goyal, AnilJain, and Mahesh Sharma.

BJP president Amit Shahannounced the formation of 17committees and their membersto prepare the party for theelectoral challenge.

The choice of Rajnath tohead the manifesto committeehas obviously been taken witha view to sending “right” mes-sage to the Uttar Pradesh elec-torate and underlines the keyrole the former UP ChiefMinister could play in theparty affairs in the comingdays. Over the years, Rajnathhas cultivated a pro-farmerimage and the BJP would hopeto encash it at a time whenthere is a great deal of unrest inthe agriculture sector.

Apart from Jaitley, UnionMinisters Nirmala Sitharaman,Ravi Shankar Prasad, PiyushGoyal and Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi, and former MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan, UP DeputyChief Ministers Keshav PrasadMaurya, his Bihar counterpartSushil Modi, party general sec-retaries Bhupender Yadav andRam Madhav, formerMaharashtra Chief MinisterNarayan Rane, formerJharkhand Chief MinisterArjun Munda are among theother members of the mani-festo committee. Yadav will bea key member of the commit-tee which will deal with mattersrelated to the ElectionCommission.

Union Minister NitinGadkari will head a panelwhich will reach out to socialorganisations while his Cabinetcolleague Sushma Swaraj willhead a group that will produceliterature for the polls. Sushmawill be assisted by Parbhat Jha,Mahesh Sharma, AnuragThakur, Amit Malviya, andSudhandshu Trivedi.

Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad will look after the mediawhile Shyam Jaju will beincharge of social media. UnionMinister Prakash Javadekar willlead the wing which will organ-ise meetings of intellectuals.

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress president RahulGandhi and Defence

Minister Nirmala Sitharamanon Sunday engaged in a bitterwar of words on the contro-versial Rafale deal with bothaccusing each other of lyingover the claims on award ofwork orders to state-ownedHindustan Aeronautic Limited(HAL). Citing a media report,Rahul alleged the DefenceMinister “lied” in Parliamentthat the Government ordersworth `1 lakh crore were pro-vided to HAL, promptingSitharaman to shoot back thatit was a matter of “shame” thatthe Congress president wasmisleading the country on theissue. She also tweeted detailsof contract awarded to HALsince 2014 when the BJP cameto power.

Rahul’s attack came after amedia report claimed that “not

a single rupee of the said `1lakh crore has come to HAL,since not a single order, asclaimed, has been signed tillnow”. The media report citedsenior HAL management offi-cials in order to back its claim.

The Defence Minister hitback at Rahul for his remarks,asking him to read “the com-plete report” to “which you arereferring”. “The LS recordshows,” Sitharaman did notclaim the orders were signed,saying. “they were in theworks.”

Sitharaman tweeted, quot-ing from the media report, toassert that she had not stated inParliament that the orders toHAL had been signed.

“When you tell one lie, youneed to keep spinning outmore lies to cover up the firstone. In her eagerness to defendthe PM’s Rafale lie, the RM(Raksha Mantri) lied toParliament. Tomorrow(Monday), RM must placebefore Parliament documentsshowing `1 lakh crore ofGovernment orders to HAL.Or resign,” Rahul tweeted.

Sitharaman’s office latertweeted, “Dear Shri@RahulGandhi, looks like youreally need to start from ABC.Someone like you who is hellbent on misleading the publicwill quote an article even beforereading it.”

Continued on Page 4

PNS n NEW DELHI

After backing the Congress’demand for a JPC probe

into the Rafale fighter jet deal,the NDA Government majorally Shiv Sena has again joinedthe Opposition ranks in oppos-ing the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill 2016.

Sena’s decision to opposethe Bill comes amid reportsthat the members of Congress,TMC, SP, and Left parties havegiven note of dissent to the finalreport of the JPC on theCitizenship Amendment Bill,which will be submitted in theLok Sabha on Monday. TheSena has taken the decisionafter the Asom Gana Parishad(AGP) appealed to it to opposethe legislation, party leaderSanjay Raut said in a statement.

“We are determined tooppose the CitizenshipAmendment Bill inParliament,” Raut said.

With the Lok Sabha pollsaround the corner, the ShivSena has adopted a moreaggressive posture against theBJP, with whom it has sharedan uneasy relationship overthe past four years.

The people of Assam, irre-spective of their caste, religionand creed oppose the pro-

posed legislation, Raut said.The Bill seeks to amend the

Citizenship Act 1955 to providecitizenship to illegal migrantsfrom Afghanistan, Bangladeshand Pakistan, who are ofHindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,Parsi or Christian origin.

The Assamese and otherindigenous groups in Assamfear that the passage of the Billwould make the State a dump-ing ground for fresh waves ofmigrants, specifically “HinduBangladeshis”.

They also feel that the Billwould make redundant theexercise of NRC, which liststhose who have come to Assambefore March 24, 1971, as man-dated by the Assam Accord.

The Opposition parties

said that they had objection tothe Bill which they allegedlinks religion to citizenship.“This is the basic objection. So,delink religion from citizenshipissue. This is against the spiritof our civilisation, culture andof our Constitution.Citizenship can’t be linked withState, religion, caste, creed andbe country specific. It should beuniversal,” said a dissentingmember note.

Continued on Page 4

CBI can’t win votes for BJP: Akhilesh

Raid culture will boomerang, warns SP chief, says SP-BSP tie-up announcement in a week

BJP chief forms

17 committees

for LS elections

Reach railway

stations early

for airport-like

security check

Now, Shiv Sena joins Opp

ranks on Citizenship Bill

PTI n NEW DELHI

Railways is planning to sealstations just like airports

and passengers would beadvised to arrive 15-20 minutesbefore scheduled departure oftrains to complete the processof security checks.

The security plan hasalready been put in motion atAllahabad, in anticipation ofthe Kumbh Mela, and atHoobly railway station inKarnataka with a blueprint for202 more stations ready forimplementation, RPF DirectorGeneral Arun Kumar told PTI.

“The plan is to seal the sta-tions. It is primarily aboutidentifying openings and todetermine how many can beclosed. There are areas whichwill be closed through perma-nent boundary walls, otherswill be manned by RPF per-sonnel and some will have col-lapsible gates,” he said.

Continued on Page 4

2 We have the formidable alliance, while the BJP has the CBI andother agencies to hound its political rivals. I want to warn the BJPthat in future they could be the victim of the legacy of vendettathey will leave behind, said the SP president

2 BJP’s Siddharth Nath Singh said instead of questioning the time ofthe raids, Akhilesh should answer why so much "loot" hadhappened under his Government. "If you loot public money, thenlaw will take its own course," he said, adding that the CBI isreporting to the Allahabad High Court, which had ordered a probein 2016

Rajnath to headmanifesto panel,Jaitley media

Show proof of work contracts toHAL or quit: Rahul to NirmalaApologise for

your canards or

resign from LS,

retorts Def Min

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WORLD 12

NOT MUCH HEADWAY IN TALKS ASSHUTDOWN DRAGS ON: TRUMP

OPINION 8

THE END OFCIVILITY

SPORTS 15

NISHIKORI WINSBRISBANE INT’L TITLE

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Over two dozens nabbed in

statewide exam racket

PNS n LUCKNOW

In a major crackdown againstcopy mafia active in Assistant

Teacher Recruitment Exam-2019, Special Task Force sleuthsnabbed over two dozen personsfrom different districts onSunday. In Lucknow, nine per-sons, including a UP policeconstable, principal of NationalInter College, four invigilatorsand two candidates, frominside the college campus inHazratganj on Sunday noon.The constable arrested in thisconnection was mastermindingthe racket while the principalwas assigned to help candidatesby providing them answersheets of the question paper.

Those arrested in Lucknowwere identified as Uma ShankerSingh (principal) of Gudamba,Arun Kumar Singh ofAshiyana, the woman, identi-fied as Shahnoor of GomtiNagar, Daya Shanker Joshi ofHasanganj, Ashok KumarMishra of Madiaon, VijayKumar Mishra of Hardoi, RamIkbal Shukla of Indira Nagar,

Khursheed Alam of Pratapgarhand Virkesh Yadav of Mau.Uma Shanker Singh is theprincipal of National InterCollege while Ram IkbalShukla was deployed as centreincharge. Shahnoor, DayaShanker Joshi, Ashok Kumar

Mishra and Vijay KumarMishra were deployed as invig-ilators in the exam.

Khursheed Alam andVirkesh Yadav were taking theexam and they were to behelped by the above named

Continued on Page 4

4 arrested in AllahabadPNS n LUCKNOW

In Allahabad, two solvers, their leader and a candidate werenabbed during the exam at Sahara Public Girls' Inter College

in Kareili locality and Saroj Vidhayashanker Inter College inJhunsi on Sunday.

Those nabbed were identified as Nagendra Singh ofKaushambi and his aides, identified as Rajesh Kumar Yadav ofPratapgarh and Manohar Kumar Shah of Bihar, and candidateSuresh Kumar Yadav of Pratapgarh. The cops recovered fiveAadhaar cards, 3 mobile sets, 2 ATM cards, 1 PAN card, ̀ 66,300,a car, a blank cheque and 2 voter identity cards.

Police got a tip-off about prime accused Nagendra Singh wasthe brain behind the gang and he had deputed solvers to takethe exam in place of candidates at the above named schools. Theteam nabbed Nagendra from Kareili and he owned up his crime.He disclosed the names of schools where solvers were taking

Continued on Page 4

city 02LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

PNS n LUCKNOW

Cold wave conditionsmarked by lower-than-nor-

mal temperature has bright-ened the prospect of a bumperwheat output this Rabi seasoneven though scanty rains couldaffect other crops, includingbarley, mustard and chickpea.

The standing wheatsaplings have gained as day andnight temperatures have plum-meted, with clear skies boost-ing the vegetative growth of thecrop. This season, thefavourable weather followstimely sowing of wheat andmarginal increase in acreage inUttar Pradesh at 1.23 crorehectares against a little over 97lakh hectares in 2017-18.

The hike in minimum sup-port price by the Centre forwheat has also added toincrease in the acreage ofwheat. The Centre has fixed thesupport price for wheat at`1,840 per quintal for 2018-19,against `1,735 in the previousyear.

“There has been a percep-tible drop in temperature inUttar Pradesh and its neigh-bouring states includingMadhya Pradesh and even inMaharashtra and this is high-ly favourable for the wheatcrop,” said an official of theAgriculture department,

adding that the prevailing tem-perature was conducive for arecord output of wheat in thecurrent year.

Despite the low tempera-ture, the frequency of foggyweather has come down con-siderably compared to recentyears. Fog is consideredfavourable for wheat crop as itlowers the day temperatureduring the vegetative phase ofthe crop. But the prevailingcondition of low temperaturesand clear skies is seen as evenmore conducive for a highyield, said the official, addingthat clear skies ensured betterphotosynthesis while the tem-perature was still low.

The official said the presentweather conditions werefavourable for wheat, but chick-

pea and vegetable crops hadbeen affected. He said fivecycles of irrigation wererequired for wheat, while otherRabi crops gained from lightshowers.

The Rabi season in thecountry is usually marked bylight rains in the plains andsnowfall in the hills. This sea-son, scanty rains have occurredso far in the wheat-growingareas of the state but the dryweather has limited impact onwheat, which is grown almostentirely on irrigated land.

The official said that as perthe assessment of the UPCouncil of AgriculturalResearch (UPCAR), isolatedand scattered rains and snowdue to western disturbancesforecast in northern states werelikely to ease the dry spell.

As per the latest wheatproduction data available withthe Agriculture department,wheat production in UP in2017-18 Rabi season was 3.57crore MT which is up byaround 7.50 lakh MT pro-duced during the previous year(2016-17). During the currentRabi season (2018-19), theproduction is likely to increaseby over 10 per cent. The pro-ductivity has gone up from35.38 quintal per hectare lastyear to 36.50 quintal perhectare in 2017-18.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Keeping all options openfor pre-poll alliance for

the Lok Sabha polls in UttarPradesh, the Apna Dal led byKrishna Patel, widow of theparty’s late founder SonelalPatel, announced that in the eraof gathbandhan politics, it wasalso in search a viable partnerto contest the parliamentaryelections.

The party is also notaverse to have alliance withBharatiya Janata Party. Theparty’s breakaway faction,Apna Dal (Sonelal), is an allyof the National DemocraticAlliance and her daughterAnurpiya Patel is a minister inthe Union government.

However, on a positivenote for Krishna Patel, partyMP from Pratapgarh, KunwarHaribansh Singh, who hadwon the Lok Sabha polls forthe party in 2014 along withAnupriya, was with the moth-er and not the daughter.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Sunday in pres-ence of her daughter PallaviPatel and Kunwar HaribanshSingh, Krishna Patel disclosedthat leaders of all political par-ties, including Samajwadi

Party, Bahujan Samaj Party,Congress and even BJP werein touch with her.

“We are not averse tojoining the BJP if they acceptour agenda of farmers, youths,and common people besidesannouncing a KisanCommission,” she said, addingthat they did not care if afterthe al l iance with BJPAnupriya Patel too would beaccommodated in the NDA.

“In 2014, the BJP tasted alandslide victory in UP due tosupport from Apna Dal and

hence the party should thinktwice on accommodating us inthe 2019 polls also,” Patelsaid.

She said everything aboutthe alliance would be clear bynext one month and if the tie-up did not materialise, theApna Dal would contestaround 30 Lok Sabha seats ineastern UP.

On reports of rift betweenthe BJP and Anupriya Patel’sApna Dal (Sonelal) andSuheldev Bharatiya SamajParty of Om Prakash Rajbhar,she said, “I do not want tocomment on it. But, as far asOP Rajbhar is concerned, hewas once associated withApna Dal and headed theyouth wing of the party.”

Patel also praised ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath andsaid, “The work done by YogiAdityanath in the nearly twoyears of the government hasbeen very good.”

Pallavi also supported hermother’s view an said theApna Dal would stick to itsagenda on which the partywas formed by her father in1996.

“We are the real ApnaDal and are fighting on theissues of farmers, youths and

poor. Besides, we are the onlypolitical party which is con-cerned for the Kurmi commu-nity,” Pallavi said.

Meanwhile, KunwarHaribansh Singh thankedPrime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister YogiAdityanath for announcing amedical college in Pratapgarh.

“I have written to UP CMto name the medical collegeon Sonelal Patel,” he said,announcing that the PMwould lay the foundationstone of the new medical col-lege in Pratapgarh very soon.

He also disclosed that onhis personal instance, heCentre as well as the UP gov-ernment had approved devel-opment projects worth over`9,000 crore.

The Apna Dal (Sonelal) isa breakaway faction of ApnaDal, which was founded in1995 by late Sonelal Patel. TheApna Dal (Sonelal) wasfounded by Jawahar Lal Patel,who was also founding mem-ber of the Apna Dal.

In October 2014, fissureswithin the Apna Dal becamepublic for the first time, as theparty’s then national generalsecretary Anupriya Patel wasremoved from her post.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Bharatiya Janata Party’sUttar Pradesh unit has

asked former chief ministerand Samajwadi Party nationalpresident Akhilesh Yadav toclear his stand on illegal min-ing carried out during hisregime, saying the CBI raidshave exposed how corrupt theprevious government was.

BJP state spokesman DrChandramohan told reportersduring a daily press briefingthat the CBI carried out raidsagainst officers who were post-ed at important positions dur-ing the Akhilesh Yadav regime.

“The raids raise a big ques-tion mark on the style of work-ing of Akhilesh Yadav and heshould clarify his stand,” theBJP state spokesman said hereon Sunday.

Chandramohan pointedout that the raids were carriedout by the CBI on the directives

of the Allahabad High Court.He said the mining minister inthe Akhilesh Yadav govern-ment was also reprimanded bythe court.

“This shows that theAkhilesh Yadav governmentwas neck-deep in corruptionand the mines were used to mintmoney for the ruling party,” theBJP state spokesman said.

When asked about thealliance between the SamajwadiParty and the Bahujan SamajParty, Chandramohan said thatit was a pact between corruptparties.

“People know that both theparties have expertise in mak-ing money and will be taughta lesson in the coming elec-tion,” he said.

“The next election will bebetween a clean party like BJPand an alliance of corrupt par-ties. It is no secret whom thepeople will support,” the BJPstate spokesman said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

With Chief MinisterYogi Adityanathstressing on meeting

the deadline of January 10 forsetting up gaushalas, the gov-ernment has decided to set upsocieties at the village level tolook after the maintenance ofthese cow shelters.

A senior official said thatsocieties would operate thegaushalas at the village andtehsil levels and their memberswould be selected by the dis-trict administration.

Nagar nigams, nagar pan-chayat and gram sabhas will justbe the controlling authorities.

“Special grazing groundswill be developed for the ani-mals where the stray cattlewill be kept. The anti-landgrabbing cell is working effi-ciently and has allotted over43,000 hectares of land to set upthese gaushalas,” the official

said.On November 6, 2017,

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathhad declared that the stategovernment would opengaushalas in all the 75 districtsof Uttar Pradesh. That day, theChief Minister had alsodeclared that his governmenthad saved cows from going toslaughterhouses and it wouldfind ways to rear and protectthe cattle.

In the 2018-19 budget, theUP government had allocated`360 crore for protection ofcow and construction ofgaushalas through differentdepartments. On July 5, 2018,the first instalment `81 crorewas sanctioned and the num-ber of districts having cowshelters came down from 75 to68. The government discardedseven districts of Bundelkhandnamely Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun,Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda andChitrakoot.

“Out of this ̀ 81 crore, ̀ 34crore will be used for construc-tion of cow shelters as eachgaushala will have an area of17,000 square feet,” stateAnimal Husbandry MinisterSP Singh Baghel said.

The cow shelters are beingconstructed under differentschemes also, the minister said.

“In Bundelkhand, we havegiven a special package to con-struct gaushalas while inMathura, the Chief Ministerhas laid the foundation stone ofMahamana Gau Gram scheme.The government is working ina phased manner to overcomethe problem,” Baghel said.

Under the Mahamana GauGram scheme, the gaushalas willaccommodate over 10,000 cows.

On January 1 this year, theUP government imposed a 2per cent cess on liquor and 0.5per cent additional tax on toll.This money will be used to con-struct cow shelters in villages.

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PNS n ALLAHABAD

The Devatva Yatra of KinnarAkhara was taken out with

great pomp and show fromRambhawan Crossing to makea royal entry into the KumbhMela Area here on Sunday.

The zeal and gusto shownby the members of the akharaduring the yatra made theatmosphere completely devo-tional. During the yatra, theprocession of Lord Mahakalwas first taken out and was fol-lowed by the akhara office-bearers in the ‘buggy’ whowere chanting Jai Mahakalthroughout the way.

Amongst them the Akharachief Lakshmi NarayanTripathi, riding a camel kept

shouting Jai Mahakal with asword in his hand.

During the yatra therewas also unique sight-seeing.Here ‘Mahakal Damru’ teamof Varanasi continued to bethe main attraction. It attract-ed the visitors by playing thebig damru and the city-dwellers were seen dancing toits tune.

The yatra reached theKumbh Mela Area through theOld Grand Trunk (GT) Road.

The Devatva Yatra hadbecome the centre of attrac-tion for the denizens. Flowerpetals were showered by thepeople from both sides of theroad to welcome the membersof the procession of KinnarAkhara.

Devatva Yatra of Kinnar Akhara

taken out with pomp & show

Transgender rights activist and Kinnar Akhada chief Acharya MahamandaleshwarLaxmi Narayan Tripathi and other Kinnar community people taking part in DevatvaYatra' during the peshwai ceremony for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on Sunday

Societies to look after

gaushalas in villages

BJP asks Akhilesh to clear stand on illegal mining

Present weather conditions

augur well for wheat crop

Apna Dal in talks with all parties for alliance

Apna Dal chief Krishna Patel addressesreporters in Lucknow Pioneer

Boat rides to bemade pleasurable,comfortable andsafe for pilgrims

Allahabad (PNS): In orderto ensure boat rides pleasur-able, comfortable and safe forthe pilgrims, the Kumbh Melaadministration has decided tooperate an additional 2,000hand-rowed boats besides theexisting 600 at the Sangam.

Kumbh Mela AdhikariVijay Kiran Anand said around600 boats were operating at theSangam at present but in viewof the expected arrival of a largenumber of pilgrims, the melaadministration had decided tooperate more boats during theKumbh, especially on the sixmain bathing days.

“As part of the plan, we willhave 2,000 additional boats,including 500 with cushionedseats, for the visitors,” headded.

Anand further said thatadditional boats would also bepressed into service if needed.These boats have been requisi-tioned through online tender.All these boats will be dulychecked by the officials con-cerned and certified for safeoperations.

He said that around 100-odd boats would also be keptin reserve to meet any contin-gency. These boats would alsohave essential safety gadgetslike life-saving jackets to dealwith any emergency.

3 poachers held in

Dudhwa reserve

Lakhimpur Khiri: Threepoachers were caught layingtraps for animals in forests ofMailani range in the buffer zoneof Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, offi-cials said on Sunday. “Thepoachers were caught red-hand-ed late on Saturday night whenthey were laying half a dozenkhabars (nets to trap spotteddeer, wild boars, etc). They werecaught on the spot. Some of theiraccomplices managed to escape,Dudhwa Tiger Reserve FieldDirector Ramesh Kumar Pandeysaid. PTI

Minor raped by stepfather and his cousin

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): A 16-year-old girl wasallegedly raped by her stepfather and his cousin,who also recorded a video of their act at Kandhlatown in Shamli district. According to Circle OfficerRajesh Kumar Tiwari, the incident took place onSaturday and the police had registered a caseagainst Waseem, the victim’s stepfather, and his

cousin Tanvir — both absconding — under var-ious sections of the Indian Penal Code and theProtection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.The victim’s mother said her daughter was rapedby the accused, who also recorded a video of theiract and threatened to make it viral if the girl nar-rated her ordeal to anyone.


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Cloudy weather followedby rains added to thechill in Lucknow on

Sunday. It was a sunny butwindy morning after which theskies turned cloudy in theafternoon. Rains followedamidst thundering clouds soonafterwards. Even though therain did not last long, the sunremained bleak and skies inter-mittently cloudy skies. Icywinds also made it difficult forpeople battling cold weatherconditions.

Met office director JPGupta said the rains occurredbecause of the presence ofwestern disturbance overJammu and Kashmir. He fore-cast clear skies on Monday.“The skies will be cloudy in thebeginning only to become clearlater on,” he said.

Lucknow recorded themaximum temperature at 21degree Celsius while the min-imum settled at 11.2 degreeCelsius, which was three notch-es above normal. As for state,the forecast is for rain andthundershowers at isolatedplaces in eastern UP and densefoggy conditions at isolatedplaces in western UP.

In view of the cold weath-er conditions, mayor SanyuktaBhatia distributed blanketsamong those in need during aprogramme organised by anNGO at Engineering Collegecrossing.

Incidentally, there was nodecrease in city’s pollution lev-els which pretty much dependon weather conditions as windshelp in dispersing the pollutionload. On January 6, Lucknow’sair quality index was very poorat 366. MunicipalCommissioner IndramaniTripathi said they had startednight sweeping exercise andnight sprinkling for the samereason. “At LMC level, we are

trying to minimise the dustwhich has increased because ofthe construction work. We aresprinkling water on the roadsand carrying out mechanisedsweeping. We have also toldLMRC officials to help checkthe pollution levels,” he said.

The burning of garbage

had been stopped to a largeextent but because of the cold,bonfires had been arranged at412 points in the city, he point-ed out. Scientist CM Nautiyalsaid that air pollution hadtaken serious dimensions overthe past few years. “Enhancedconstruction activities, burning

of fossil fuel and biomass haveaccelerated the aerosol content,with the component smallerthan 2.5 microns being themost serious. The ever-increas-ing number of vehicles has con-tributed in a big way to themenace. Hopefully, the launchof Metro services within a fewmonths will bring some relief,”he said.

“The present problem is astrange mix of meteorologicaland anthropogenic factors. Wemay not be able to controlnature’s vagaries, but we cancertainly regulate fossil fueland biomass burning. The useof ethanol at about 3% inpetrol is inadequate. Enhancedproduction of ethanol frombiomass is now possible.Higher availability of ethanolwill reduce fossil fuel burningand at the same time, it will beutilising the biomass beingwasted and prevent pollution,”he added. He said e-vehicleswould emerge in a big way andcompanies had stopped mak-ing fossil fuel-based cars com-pletely. “Hybrid cars are alsocoming up. With subsidy onsolar energy in India, peopleare going for e-vehicles,” headded.

Rains, icy winds add to chill

No improvementin Lucknow’s airquality index

(Top) People sitting around a bonfire to keep themselves warm in Lucknow onSunday. (Above) Kids covered with woollen caps and clothes Pioneer


A23-year old girl ended herlife in Aliganj on Saturday

night. In the suicide note whichshe reportedly wrote beforetaking the extreme step, the girlblamed her boyfriend for end-ing her life. Pankhuri Khannaof Sector A colony underAliganj police station was a pri-vate worker. Around 10 pm onSaturday, she went to her roomafter having dinner and closedthe door from inside. Around12 midnight, her parents wentto the room for some work andfound the doors closed frominside and so they peepedfrom the window.

They were shocked to seetheir daughter hanging fromthe ceiling fan. Thereafter, theyopened the door and informedthe police. Police said thatPankhuri tied a saree aroundher neck and hanged herselffrom the ceiling fan to end herlife. She left behind a suicide

note which read: “Nitesh kivajah se aj phir meri life usijagah aa kar khadi ho gayi hai.Usne mujhe dhoka diya hai.Phir se mujhe dhoka mila. Merainsaf karana.”

Aliganj SHO Farid Ahmedsaid that she was having anaffair with Nitesh, a resident ofModel House, and for somereasons both had a spat. “Thefamily alleged that Nitesh hadpromised to marry her in atemple but their families were

opposed to the alliance.Thereafter, they decided not totalk to each other. But, the girlwas emotionally attached tohim and owing to the frustra-tion, she took the extremestep,” the SHO said.

The father of the deceasedis employed with a printingpress company in Kapoorthalawhile her mother is an accoun-tant in a private company. Thebody has been sent for post-mortem. A 59-year-old man inPGI ended his life in depressionon Saturday night. Reportssaid the man, identified asArvind Pandey of VrindavanColony, was undergoing treat-ment for depression. OnSaturday night, he hanged him-self from the railing of a stair-case after tying a dhoti aroundhis neck. His son AnubhavPandey said that he saw himhanging in the morning andinformed the police. Policesaid the body was sent forautopsy.

Girl hangs self, blames boyfriendLucky escape for

passengers as

bus catches fire

Lucknow (PNS): Fifteenpassengers had a providentialescape when a bus ferryingthem caught fire at Lohiacrossing in Gomti Nagar onSunday night. The incidentoccurred around 7 pm whenthe bus was heading toKaiserbagh. When the busreached near Lohia crossing,some passengers noticedsmoke emanating from theengine. As the bus stopped, thepassengers started gettingdown. Soon, the bus went upin flames. A fire tender wassent to the place on distresscall and it doused the fire.Gomti Nagar SHO Triloki Singhsaid the fire broke out probablydue to overheating of busengine. He said no one wasreported injured in the mishap.


The city has been decked upfor the Swachhata

Survekshan- 2019 and for thefirst time LED lights in differ-ent colours have been put upalong the Gomti Nagar flyover,Lohia Path and on theChaudhary Charan SinghAirport route. MunicipalCommissioner IndramaniTripathi said that colouredLED lights had been installedfor the first time in the statecapital. “We have put up red,yellow, pink and purple lightsalong with tricoloured ones onmore than 4,000 poles. This hasbeen done to beautify the cityunder the SwachhataSurvekshan. We will be usingmore lights in other parts of thecity shortly till January 26,” hesaid.

He said that they were car-rying out the beautification inother parts of the city too. “Wehave begun painting of walls inArjunganj and we are makingpaintings under the visualtheme also to give a beautifullook to Lucknow,” he added.

As a prelude to encourag-ing cities to improve urban san-itation, the Minister forHousing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) had conducted a‘Swachhata Survekshan-2016’

survey for the rating of 73 citiesin January 2016 followed by‘Swachhata Survekshan-2017’conducted in January-February2017 ranking 434 cities and therecently-concluded SwachhataSurvekshan-2018 for ranking4,203 cities. In a bid to scale upthe coverage of the rankingexercise and encourage townsand cities to actively implementmission initiatives in a timelyand innovative manner, theMoHUA now proposes to con-duct its fourth survey to rankall the cities under theSwachhata Bharat Mission-Urban.

Officials said that theobjective of the survey was toencourage large-scale citizen

participation, ensure sustain-ability of initiatives takentowards garbage-free and opendefecation-free cities, providecredible outcomes which wouldbe validated by third partycertification, institutionalisethe existing systems throughonline processes and createawareness amongst all sectionsof the society about the impor-tance of working together formaking towns and cities a bet-ter place to live in.

“Additionally the surveyalso intends to foster a spirit ofhealthy competition amongtowns and cities to improvetheir service delivery to citizensfor creating cleaner cities,” itwas said.


The CMO office will conducta meeting on swine flu on

January 8. Dr SK Saxena saidthat H1N1 was a notified dis-eases, information for whichshould be immediately provid-ed to the CMO office. “This isimportant in light of the fact thatpatients can be provided effec-tive care and a proper manage-ment be in place to check thedisease. The meeting, to beheld at the CMO office, will wit-ness the participation of mem-bers of Indian MedicalAssociation, Private NursingHomes’ Association and mem-bers of Lucknow PathologyAssociation,” he said.

Head of the Microbiologydepartment of SGPGI Dr TNDhole will address the gather-ing about the diagnosis of H1NIand associated healthcare whileDr BP Singh of Research Centreon medical care of children suf-

fering from H1N1. As perexperts, some groups of peopleappear to be at higher risk ofmore complicated or severe ill-ness, including pregnantwomen, infants, and youngchildren (particularly under 2),people of any age with certainchronic health conditions(including asthma or lung dis-ease, heart disease, diabetes,kidney disease or some neuro-logical conditions), and peoplewith severely compromisedimmune systems. People aged65 or above are least likely to beinfected with the pandemicinfluenza, but those who do getsick are also at high risk ofdeveloping serious complica-tions, just as they are from sea-sonal flu.

Meeting on swine flu at

CMO office on Jan 8

Lucknow spruced up for

Swachhata Survekshan


Differently-abled peoplehave requested mayor

Sanyukta Bhatia to reschristen‘Langda Phatak’ and ‘Andhe KiChowki’, which are promi-nent landmarks in the city.The request was made at the

210th birth anniversary cele-brations of Louis Braille, whois the creator of Braille script.

A divyang, Ram Prakashrequested the mayor to changethe names of ‘Langda Phatak’and ‘Andhe Ki Chowki’ as theyhad a demoralising effect onthe differently-abled people.

The mayor said she wouldlook into the issue and tablea proposal in the next execu-tive meeting of LucknowMunicipal Corporation.

The occasion also wit-nessed the presence of Cabinetminister Ramapati Srivastava,who spoke on the variousschemes and projects beingrun by the state governmentfor welfare of the differently-abled. The mayor also felici-tated differently-abled stu-dents for their performance.“The differently-abled have aunique power with which theyknow what is happeningaround them. I have issueddirections for installation of aLouis Braille statue nearRajkiya Drishtibadhit InterCollege,” she said.

Mayor requested to change names of‘Langda Phatak’, ‘Andhe Ki Chowki’

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatiafelicitating differently-abled students



With the festival ofMakarsankranti round

the corner the chefs of the citysay that a wide varieties of thiswholesome dish can be servedon the occasion. Chefs statethat there are over 12-15 vari-eties of ‘khichdi’ which can besavoured and every culturehas a different dish.

Chef Balwinder Singh,while talking to The Pioneer,said that people could opt fora wide range of lentils in thepreparation of this meal of‘khichdi’. “To start with ‘khich-di’ is made of ‘moong’ dalwhich is light on the stomachand good for digestion at thetime when one is sick but onecan opt for the ‘arhar’ dal,‘sabut moong’ and the ‘urad’ dalfor preparing khichdi,” he said.The chef said that ‘haleem’and ‘khichda’ were also vari-

eties of khichdi which were anassortment of meats, vegetablesand wheat grains.

He pointed out that acrossthe country, every region hadan interesting depiction of‘khichdi.’ “Take for example theMarwari khichdi which ismade of green ‘moong’ dal anddry fruits while the Gujaratikhichdi which is slightly sweetand is made of ‘dhuli urad’ canbe savoured with a hot bowl of‘kadhi’. The Punjabis preparetheir khichdi with ‘sabutmoong dal’ and eat it withradish because it helps in diges-tion. The south Indians havetheir khichdi tempered withsouthern flavours,” he added.

He said that for the mod-ern folk, ‘khichdis’ were bestprepared with wheat, barleyand oats. “People who arehealth conscious always want toavoid rice which they do notthink is a healthy carbohydrate.

These people opt for ‘khichdis’which are made of wheat andbarley that is cooked along withany type of lentil,” he added.

The chef pointed out thatthese khichdis could be verydelicious and people should trythem out. “Take for instance

the khichdi which is made ofbarley and carries that specialflavour,” he added.

Pointing to the signifi-cance of having khichdi on theMakarsankranti day, Balwindersaid that it highlighted theaspect that two different prod-

ucts when brought togetherand cooked properly couldproduce a wonderful dish.

“‘Khichdi’ is made of riceand lentils which have differentproperties and have differenttimings for cooking but whenblended together can give thebest result.This is also symbol-ic of a happy joint family whenpeople of different thoughtprocesses with a varied range ofunderstanding can gel proper-ly it gives rise to one happyfamily,” he added. HomemakerShalini Dwivedi fromIndiranagar said that hot khich-di and tehri with sesame and‘gur laddoos’ is the ultimatedish on a cold and rainy after-noon. “‘Khichdi’ which is typ-ically and traditionally servedis the one made of ‘urad dal’. Itis served with four accompani-ments, ghee, papad, pickle andraita, which form the soul ofthe celebrations,” she said.


Central Institute ofSubtropical Horticulture

(CISH) has shown very encour-aging results in developing avertically- growing guava.“Guava is one of the mostimportant tropical fruits for ver-tical growing. Its canopy can beeasily maintained through‘espalier’ training system.Theyield and fruit quality are excel-lent. Guava varieties respond-ing to pruning can be easilyconverted into a tree shape.Espalier is a horticultural tech-nique for training the treegrowth. In temperate climateespalier is trained along withwall to get better sunlight. Theword espalier comes from theFrench language which meanssomething to rest your shoul-der on which a tree was trainedto grow. Establishing Espalierrequires an amalgamation ofboth science and art,” CISHdirector Shailendra Rajan said.

He further pointed out thatin Europe vertical gardening offruits had been a tradition anda well-accepted concept is inpractice for many centuries,particularly in grapes, applesand pears. “The principle is thevery same which is adapted indeciduous crops and CISHpresently demonstrated in sub-tropical fruits like guava. Withincreasing availability of struc-tures and containers the verti-cal farming system is beingadopted for growing vegetablesin urban areas but for tropicalfruits it is a starting. Under lim-ited land availability condi-tions vertical farming can be asuitable option for the produc-tion of fruits in urban and peri-urban areas. But there is a

need to identify varieties, stan-dardise structures and packageof practices for making it morepopular. A vertical farmingtechnique involves cultivatingfruit crops suitable for a verti-cal canopy rather than a hori-zontally-spread one. Apart fromtemperate fruits like apple,peach, cherry, vertical farmingtechniques have been success-fully demonstrated in guava,strawberry, grape, kiwi, custardapple, apple, plum etc,” he said.

He further added that thistechnology was being evaluat-ed in subtropical fruits likeguava and encouraging resultshad shown that vertical farm-ing could not merely be ahobby but it could be used forboosting commercial produc-tion of this type of guava.

“Guava branch bending

performed on the wire resultsin better fruit bud formation atthe lower portion of the tree.The trees trained on espalierarchitecture are compact andare close to the main trunk.Hence the effective croppingarea is more leading to largerproduction. Since most of theleaves are exposed to sunlightsufficient light interceptiontakes place. Attractive fruitappearance with a red fruit sur-face is a result of fruits beingexposed to sunlight. Guava inthis architecture bears 35 to 40fruits,” Rajan said.

This system for developingguava was made easy by KKSrivastava, principal scientist atCISH (Lucknow), as he exper-imented this technique onapples at CISH, Srinagar, aswell.


As a mark of good gesture,traders of the

Patrakarpuram market underthe banner of UP AdarshVyapar Mandal have decided tobuild a multi-level parking lotnear the sabzi mandi in GomtiNagar without seeking financialassistance from LucknowDevelopment Authority (LDA)or from any government agen-cies. This initiative has beentaken to sort out the most cru-cial problem of traffic congestion.

A Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) in thisregard will be signed onMonday. The LDA administra-tion has leased out the landmeasuring 30,000 square feet

for a period of 30 years. Tradershave come up with an idea ofhaving the mutli-level parkinglot due to frequent traffic con-gestion in and around area.

LDA Vice-Chairman PNSingh had suggested in July lastto convert pavements, base-ments of shops and in betweenthe space of dividers into theparking lot to make the trafficflow smooth. There was a fearamong traders that their busi-ness would suffer a great lossdue to traffic congestion.

The sale in the market hasdeclined by 10 per cent in thepast one year. Mandal generalsecretary Sanjay Gupta said itwas an initiative of the tradingcommunity for the bettermentof the traffic management andpublic interest.

The Vice-Chairman saidthe proposed project would notonly help traders save theirbusiness interest but also for theconvenience of general public.

Spelling out the pro-gramme, Gupta said the man-dal would employ drivers whotake away four-wheelers tothe parking lot of those whocome for shopping there andhand over the vehicles to themafter they finished their shop-ping. The drivers will issuethem a token after chargingthe money.

The Vice-Chairman saidtraders of other markets in thecity would be encouraged infuture to take such an initia-tive of having their parkinglots in case the proposed pro-ject yielded good results.

TORCH RUNA unique torch run, organ-

ised on Sunday, was flagged offby District Magistrate KaushalRaj Sharma by passing thebaton to the ambassadors whoran 50 kms across the city,propagating the the idea ofstaying healthy. It was a curtainraiser to the ‘Lucknow CityHalf Marathon’ which will beheld at 1090 crossing onFebruary 3. Key organiser IronMan Abhishek said themarathon was a symbol ofgood health, active lifestyleand better future.

NAGAR KIRTANA ‘Nagar Kirtan’ was organ-

ised in Lucknow on the occa-sion of Prakash Parv of GuruGobind Singh on Sunday. Theprocession was led by ‘PanjPyaras’ followed bya decked-up ‘palki’.The roads hadcrowds on both thesides to pay respectto ‘Guru GranthSahib’. The proces-sion movedt o w a r d sGurunanak mar-ket, Charbagh,

Basmandi, Lal Kuan,Hussainganj crossing, Hewittroad, Latouche road, Sri Ramroad, Aminabad and Hanumanmandir before culminating atNaka Gurudwara.

Traders to build parking

lot in Gomti Nagar

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFSCISH succeeds in developinga vertically-growing guava

KVPY FELLOWSHIPShivang Pandey, a student

of City Montessori School,Gomti Nagar Campus I, hasqualified the first stage ofKishore Vaigyanik ProtsahanYojana (KVPY Fellowship) ofthe Central government. He

will bef a c i n gthe inter-view inthe sec-o n dround tobe able toget thef e l l o w -s h i pw h i c h

carries an amount of Rs4,64,000. The fellowship isgiven to students for five yearsof higher studies. The fellow-ship scheme is an enterprisingproject of the government toencourage the undergraduatestudents to move ahead for aresearch career and it is coor-dinated by Indian ScienceCentre, Bengaluru.

WORLD UNITY SATSANGSpeaking at the World

Unity Satsang on Sunday,founder-director of CityMontessori School BhartiGandhi said all human beingsare the members of one fam-ily and the part of one God.

“It’s up to us to establish worldgovernment by stopping warsand maintain an atmosphereof peace and unity. Earlier, stu-dents of Mahanagar campuspresented educational-devo-tional items, leaving the audi-ence spell-bound.

Chef lists over a dozen khichdi varieties

MAKARSANKRANTI ROUND THE CORNER

Special court issues

NBWs against Azam,

son, three others

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Taking a serious note of thenon-appearance before the

court despite previous orders,the Special Court (MP andMLA) issued non-bailable war-rant (NBWs) againstSamajwadi Party leader AzamKhan, his son MohammadAbdullah Azam Khan (also anMLA), and three others inconnection with a case regis-tered against them inMoradabad in the year 2008.

Passing the above order,special judge Pawan KumarTiwari fixed January 21 as thenext date of hearing in the mat-ter. In a case registered at theThana Gate police station ofMoradabad on October 2,2008, it was alleged that whenthe police stopped a car with ablack film, Azam Khan, his sonand others created a ruckus andsquatted on the road.Therefore, this case was regis-tered against them allegingstopping police from discharg-ing its duties.

After investigation thepolice submitted a chargesheet

against them. The court tookcognizance of the chargesheetand issued summons againstthem. However, subsequentlythe matter was shifted toAllahabad following the settingup of a Special Court here todeal with cases pending againstthe elected state legislators andmembers of Parliament.

Meanwhile, the court dis-missed a bail applicationmoved by the dreaded mafiadon, Mukhtar Ansari, who isan MLA from Mau, seekingrelease in a case registeredagainst him under theGangsters Act.

Special judge PawanKumar Tiwari passed thisorder. A case under theGangsters Act was registeredagainst Mukhtar at the DakshinTola police station in Mau inthe year 2010. Subsequently asper the direction of the apexcourt the Special Court (MPand MLA) was set up atAllahabad to try cases againstelected legislators and membersof Parliament of the state.Therefore, this case was shift-ed here.

DM Kaushal Raj Sharma leading a torch run on Sunday Pioneer

NOW, SHIV...Members of the committee

from the Left and the TMC saidthat the committee had visitedGujarat, Rajasthan and Assamwhere they faced major oppo-sition to the Bill. “As membersof the joint committee onCitizenship Amendment Bill2016, we can state that there wasno consensus in the committeeon the final report. We had beenopposed to the Bill as it bringsout the ethnic divisions in theState of Assam,” another dissentnote said. The members havealso raised objections over theway the committee has func-tioned. They said that they hadgiven amendments to Clause 2of the Bill seeking to eliminatethe specific mention of sixminority communities and alsothe names of neighbouringcountries. This was to secularisethe Bill, the dissent note fromthe TMC said. “In Assam it ismore critical issue. During theAssam visit, the committee evenfaced demonstration. On behalfof the committee, we promisedto visit the State again, to talk tomore stakeholders about theissue and also assured them thatunless we meet again we won’tsubmit the report. Now, it’sembarrassing,” said a memberfrom the Left. The amend-ments were defeated in thecommittee in a vote by theshow of hands. The rulingparty mobilised all their mem-bers to defeat the amendments.“We are not happy about func-tioning of the commission.Since three years of its forma-tion, the sitting was occasion.During the session, the com-mittee sits for three times in aweek. Sometimes no meetingfor six months. So the chair-man used to put the commit-tee either in top gear or in neu-tral gear. It was not normal,” aLeft leader said. TheOpposition leaders have alsoalleged the Bill which seeks toamend the Citizenship Act of1955 with the aim of grantingcitizenship to minority commu-nities from Afghanistan,Bangladesh, and Pakistan -Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,Parsis, and Christians - after sixyears of residence in India,instead of 11, could end upexposing the ethnic divisions inthe State of Assam. “TheOpposition is united in oppos-ing the Bill. The report will be

submitted tomorrow and theneveryone will come to know,”said a source in Congress. Whilespeaking in Silchar, Assam onFriday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi reiterated theCentre’s commitment to passthe Citizenship AmendmentBill. “The Citizenship Bill is anatonement of the wrong thatwas done during India’sPartition. I hope this Bill ispassed soon in Parliament.India will safeguard all who hadbeen victims of the Partition,” hesaid.

SHOW PROOF...Her office also accused

Rahul of “lying” and said HALhas signed contracts worth`26,570.8 crore between 2014and 2018 and contracts worth`73,000 crore are in thepipeline. “Will @RahulGandhiapologise to the country fromthe floor of the House andresign?” her office tweeted.The Congress has been target-ing the Government allegingthat it denied HAL an offsetcontract under the Rafale fight-er jets deal with France, acharge the Government hasdenied. The BJP has accusedthe Congress of not supportingHAL during its rule and assert-ed that the Government isnow strengthening the defencepublic sector undertaking.Rahul had on Saturday accusedPrime Minister Narendra Modiof “weakening” HAL to help his“suit-boot” friend. Congress’chief spokesperson RandeepSurjewala said the DefenceMinister’s lies have beenexposed. “For the first time,HAL forced to take a loan of`1,000 crore to pay salaries!,” headded.

CBI CAN’T...Addressing a Press confer-

ence, Siddharth Nath Singhsaid instead of questioning thetime of the raids, Akhileshshould answer why so much“loot” had happened underhis Government. “If you lootpublic money, then law willtake its own course,” he said,adding that the CBI is report-ing to the Allahabad HighCourt, which had ordered aprobe in 2016. Singh allegedthat Akhilesh’s tenure as ChiefMinister between 2012 and 17was a story of loot of mineralsand that he presided over a

Government hand in glovewith the mining syndicate. Healso fired off many questions toAkhilesh, asking him whyChandrakala “violated” e-ten-der norms and why she wasmade the District Magistrate ofHamirpur. “The BJP demandthat the CBI should investigateAkhilesh Yadav,” Singh said,adding that he should be calledby the agency for probe.

REACH RAILWAY...“At each entry point, there

will be random security checks.However, unlike at airports,passengers need not come hoursin advance, but just 15-20 min-utes ahead of their departuretimes to ensure that they are notdelayed because of the securityprocess,” he said. Kumar saidthat while security will increase,presence of security personnelwill not. “If we are inventing intechnology, then manpowerrequirement will reduce,” hesaid. These steps are a part of asecurity plan under theIntegrated Security System (ISS)which was approved in 2016 tostrengthen surveillance mecha-nism at 202 railway stations. TheISS will comprise CCTV cam-eras, access control, personaland baggage screening systemand bomb detection and dispos-al system which together pro-vide multiple checking of pas-sengers and baggage from thepoint of entry in the stationpremises till boarding of train.The anticipated cost of the ISSproject stands at `385.06 crore.“The security plan envisages alayered security check wherepassengers will be scrutinisedeven before they enter the sta-tion premises to ease the pres-sure at stations during peakhours,” Kumar said. It will alsoinclude real-time face recogni-tion software which will alertthe RPF command centre of anyknown offenders. Passengerswill be checked randomly —every eighth or ninth passengerwill undergo the process on hisarrival at the station,” he said.

RAJNATH TO...He will be aided by

Meenakshi Lekhi, Sambit Patra,and Murlidhar Rao.Interestingly, Shah has also

formed a three-member “BikeRally Committee” featuringSanjiv Chaurasia, PradeepSingh Baghela and SaurabhChaudhary. A committee for“Mann ki baat” will be headedby Arun Singh. Jaitley’s choiceas head of the publicity depart-ment is reaffirmation of the factthat the Finance Minister is onethe most media friendly leaderin the BJP. Party’s all nationalspokespersons, which includeits media head Anil Baluni andhis deputy Sanjay Mayukh,will be part of its media com-mittee. In the run up to theelections, Shah has made a hostof appointments, including ofincharges and their associatesfor different States, to spear-head the party’s campaign.

OVER TWO DOZENS...invigilators, centre inchargeand the principal in the exam.Police recovered `1.9 lakh, 4mobile sets, police identitycard and an ATM from Arun,`2,000 and mobile phone fromUma Shankar Singh, an iden-tity card of Nagar NigamFinancial InstituteDevelopment Board, an ATMcard and `330 from Shahnoor.Similarly, the police recoveredATM cards, identity cards fromother invigilators and centreincharge. The gang was beingrun by Arunk Kumar Singhwho is a constable in UP policeand is presently posted inLucknow. He is a resident ofPratapgarh and was runningthe racket for a long time.Arun confessed to his crimeand disclosed that his elderbrother Ajay Kumar Singh,who is an officer in GroundWater department and postedin Meerut, had a ‘behind thecurtain role’ in running theracket. He disclosed that he wasin the malpractice for a longtime and was nabbed this time.To ensure a free and fair exam,the government had asked theDGP to launch a crackdownagainst the copy mafia.Subsequently, a team consistingof IG, STF, and SSP, STF,Lucknow worked on the case.On Sunday noon, the team wastipped off about a gang whichwas to help some candidates inthe exam following which

sleuths laid a trap around thecollege. The cops spotted a mansitting inside an SUV parkedoutside the gate and contactedtheir informer who identifiedthe man as Arun Kumar Singh.

On the revelation, the copsapprehended the man andinterrogated him later. Arundisclosed the names of hisaides who were in involved inthe crime and the sleuthsnabbed them from inside thecollege campus. It surfacedthat Ram Ikbal Shukla is ateacher at Dayanand InterCollege and was deployed ascentre incharge at the NationalInter College to conduct theexam. The other accusedShanoor is posted as inspectorin Nagar Nigam and wasdeployed as invigilator in theexam. Similarly, Daya ShankerJoshi, Ashok Kumar Mishra,Vijay Kumar Mishra wereteachers and had been hired asinvigilators in the exam.

FOUR ARRESTED...exam. On the revelation, thepolice raided the schoolpremises and nabbed thesolvers. It surfaced that RajeshKumar Yadav was taking examin place of Suresh Kumar Yadavat Saroj Vidhayshanker InterCollege. Suresh was foundstanding at the gate of the col-lege and he was nabbed too.The team later raided SaharaPublic Girls' Inter College andnabbed another solverManohar Kumar Shah whowas taking exam in place ofSantosh Kumar Singh ofAllahabad. Santosh could notbe nabbed. Nagendra disclosedthat he used to charge Rs 2.5lakh to Rs 3 lakh from a can-didate and he used to pay Rs50,000 to solvers. He disclosedthat he used to hire servicesfrom Bihar candidates whoeasily cracked the exams.Arrested candidate SureshKumar Yadav disclosed that hewas working as a Shiksha Mitraand was not confident to crackthe exam so he hired ‘services’from Nagendra. Suresh hadgiven `1 lakh as advance sumto Nagendra for the ‘service’.Meanwhile, in other raids con-ducted in different districts, theSTF teams nabbed one personfrom Agra, four fromMoradabad, 3 from Kanpur, 2from Azamgarh and one fromGonda on Sunday.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has set up ahigh-level committee to

assess the implementation ofClause 6 of the Assam Accord,which mainly insists for thereservation and safe guardingof ethnic Assam population.The major agenda of this moveis to assess the quantum of seatsto be reserved in the AssamAssembly and local bodies forthe Assamese people, besidesproviding other safeguards.

The high-level committee,to be headed by former Uniontourism secretary MPBezbaruah, was set up as perthe Clause 6 of the 1985 AssamAccord, the Home Ministrysaid. “The committee willassess the appropriate level ofreservation of seats in AssamLegislative Assembly and localbodies for the Assamese peo-ple.

“The committee will rec-ommend the appropriate levelof reservations in employmentunder the government ofAssam for the Assamese peo-ple,” the Home Ministry noti-fication said.

This was an electionpromise of the BJP in 2014.Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal wel-comed the constitution of thecommittee, saying the panelwill work to fulfil a long stand-ing demand of the people ofAssam to reserve seats in theassembly and local bodies forthe indigenous people. “It is avery significant decision whichcame 35 years after the AssamAccord was signed,” Sonowalsaid.

The notification said thepanel will also hold discussionswith various stakeholders,including social organisations,legal and constitutional experts,eminent persons from the field

of art, culture and literature,conservationists, economists,linguists and sociologists. It willsubmit its report within sixmonths from the date of noti-fication (January 5).

Besides, Bezbarauah, aretired IAS officer, the mem-bers of the panel are: formerIAS officer Subhash Das, NagenSaikia, former President,Assam Sahitya Sabha, DhirenBezbaruah, former editor ofThe Sentinel, MukundaRajbangshi, educationalist,Ramesh Borpatragohain, advo-cate general of Assam,Rongbong Terang, former pres-ident of the Assam SahityaSabha, and one representativeof the All Assam Students’Union. The joint secretary inthe Home Ministry will bemember secretary.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Common ServiceCentres (CSCs), under the

Ministry of Electronics andIT, are readying 15 lakh enu-merators for the 7th EconomicCensus to be conducted thisyear. The same workforce canalso be used for the populationcensus, which can be heldevery two years instead of 10years currently, said a seniorofficial government official.

A Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) betweenthe Ministry of Statistics &Programme Implementation(MoSPI) and CSC e-Governance Services India wassigned on Thursday.

Started in 1977, till dateonly six economic censuseshave been done due to massivework involving in-depth surveyand data compilation. TheCensus of India, which givesstatistical information related

to the entire population of thecountry, also faces these chal-lenges of extensive survey andvast amounts of data.

The Ministry of Statisticsand ProgrammeImplementation (MoSPI) hasroped in CSC e-GovernanceServices India Limited for con-ducting the economic census,which is conducted acrosshouseholds to match the pop-ulations census.

“We manage three lakhcommon service centres acrossthe country. Under the agree-ment with MoSPI, we will trainfive enumerators through each

CSC. This will create a force of15 lakh enumerators. Theywill conduct household levelsurvey using a mobile applica-tion which we have devel-oped,” said CSC e-GovernanceServices India CEO DineshTyagi. CSCs are involved indelivering government servicesto people in rural areas.

CSC e-GovernanceServices India expects to com-plete training of enumeratorsby mid-March and start thesurvey from April 1. The sameorganisation had earlier doneprojects like Aadhaar,Ayushman Bharat, and Ujjwala.

RAKESH K SINGH n NEW DELHI

In what is an ominous indi-cation for the already fragile

security situation in the Valley,the Islamic State Jammu &Kashmir (ISJK) has given a callto the people of the State to dis-sociate from the separatistHurriyat leader Syed Ali ShahGeelani by branding him as a“kafir” (infidel) for being MLAof the State Assembly and con-tinuing to draw pension fromthe Government.

The outfit has also dubbedthe chief of Hizbul MujahideenSyed Salahuddin as a “kafir”and warned that what is tocome in Kashmir will be moredevastating and bitter thanwhat is happening now.

The outfit’s in an opencommunication says, “Theflames ignited years ago inIraq have now scorched thebattleground in Kashmir, so tospread in the rest of Hind(India). What is happening inKashmir is just a glimpse.What is yet to come will bemore devastating and morebitter.”

It further said, “Any disbe-liever who wages war againstIslam and Muslims is to bekilled without any pity orremorse.”

“Undoubtedly, the death of

a single Muslim, no matter hisrole in the society, is more graveto the believer than the mas-sacre of every Kafir on earth.Keeping this mind, how canUmmah (Muslim community)forget the backstabbing ofPakistan when they attackedthe Laal Masjid and whenthousands of brothers and sis-ters were killed in Waziristan

and other tribal areas ofPakistan by the apostatePakistani regime in order toplease their masters inAmerica,” exhorts the outfit.

The outfit claims thatMuslims of Kashmir have been“relentlessly killed” by the cow-worshipping Hindus and theMurtadeen (apostasy) who allywith the “kuffar” (non believ-ers of Islam).

The ISIS has also arguedGeelani’s bid to seek resolutionof the Kashmir issue throughUN as an un-Islamic act as itterms the international body asa “taghut” (false God). Theinternational terror group hasalso cited Geelani’s support toShias as un-Islamic. The ISIShas also termed SyedSalahuddin of the HizbulMujahieen as a Kafir.

Intelligence sources said theISIS intends to target the seces-sionists and terrorist groups toconsolidate its base in the Stateand would subsequently targetGovernment infrastructure.

Counter terrorism expertDr Rituraj Mate told ThePioneer, “There has been aregime change in Pakistan andthe newer terror players in theregion are seeking support ofPakistan Government whichhas put in place a condition toreplace the Hurriyat leadershipfor getting its support. The ISISis seeking to grab the frustrat-ed terror cadres in J&K as theterrorists are demoralised dueto the highest levels of profes-sional results by the securityforces.”

“It is obligatory upon allMuslims in Kashmir that wemake disassociation from theseleaders and neither supportthem nor have any love sym-pathy for them unless theyrespect and return back toIslam, “ the magazine exhortsto the people of Jammu &Kashmir through an article.

Syed Ali Shah ShahGeelani was an MLA (Jammu& Kashmir Assembly) in thepast…The important functionof this Assembly is law making.So MLAs help in making lawsthat are implemented on peo-

ple of the land. “The right of ruling, com-

manding and prohibiting isfor none but Allah…and hemakes none to share in hisJudgment and Rule. Whoevermakes himself part of this leg-islative body (Assembly,Parliament etc) then hebecomes a “kafir”. This is sameas making god besides Allah,”claims the terror outfit.

According to the outfit,Geelani must admit that hecommitted “kufr” (disbelief inIslam) amd must repent pub-licly because act of “kufr” wascommitted publicly. This istrue for Hizbul Mujahideenchief Syed Salahuddin. Anotheract of Kufr by Geelani is seek-ing judgment from UnitedNations. It is well known thatUN is a “taghut” (false Godbecause it rules by man-madelaws that are against Shariahthus making itlsef partner withAllah’s right to legislate.

“Geelani has been heardsaying in Media that Shiaism isanother Madhab of Islam.Recently, he said this when hecondemned some brotherswho protested against Assad forkilling Muslims in Syria. Itwas around mid-2017. Thereare also incidents when hepraised Ayatollah Khomeiniand Iran,” it added.

RAHUL DATTA/MOHIT KANDHARI nNEW DELHI/JAMMU

Intelligence agencies have warnedabout a possible terror strike by

“fidayeen” (suicide) squads ofPakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) ahead of theday long visit of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to Jammu onJanuary 15. He is scheduled to visitborder district of Samba to lay thefoundation stone of AIIMS. Atleast two groups of JeM may try tosneak in through the InternationalBorder from Pakistan and thecounter-infiltration grid has beenfurther strengthened to thwartany attempt.

The “input” has rung alarmbells in the security establishmentas the terrorists are now trying tocome in through “non-tradition-al” routes like the InternationalBorder of Jammu and Punjab.The “traditional” routes includingthose in south and north of PirPanjal ranges have reported almostnil infiltration due to snow and theArmy not reducing its troopstrength on the Line of Control(LoC). The troop strength is gen-erally thinned out during wintermonths but this time around theArmy wants to maintain its tempoof operations by following a twin-pronged strategy.

Giving reasons for the alarmabout the new trend of militantsusing “non-traditional” routes,officials said all the parameters ofterrorism in Kashmir are showinga downward trend. These includemore than 270 terrorists neu-tralised last year, the highest ever,in the last ten years and reducednumber of infiltration bids. Itcame about through the twin-strat-egy of thwarting infiltration bidson the LoC and relentless opera-tions against militants in the hin-terland.

Despite these factors, thenumber of active terrorists rang-ing, 290-300, have not come downand it is a “definite cause of con-cern,” officials admitted. Thoughsuffering high attrition rate, theterrorist “tanzeems” (organisa-tions) have managed to shore upits fighter strength through infil-tration through non-traditionalroutes, foremost being interna-tional border in Jammu andPunjab, they said.

As regards the latest threat ofa strike by JeM cadres in Jammuregion ahead of the PrimeMinister’s visit, they said onegroup of three to four JeM terror-ists may try to infiltrate throughthe International Border in RSPura sector while the other teamof seven to eight may come inthrough Ramgarh sector in Samba.

Different intelligence agencieshave already alerted the multiagency command centre in thestate about the possibility of amajor terror strike on a vitalinstallation in the region.

Since the venue of the mainfunction to be attended by thePrime Minister is located close tothe International Border the secu-rity forces are not leaving anychance and have drafted a foolproof security plan to ensuresmooth conduct of the VVIP visit

in the area. Senior StateGovernment and police officers arestationed in the area to supervisethe ongoing arrangements.

Meanwhile, Border SecurityForce (BSF) is maintaining a tightvigil along the International bor-der after noticing suspected move-ment of heavily armed terroristsnear launching pads on the otherside of the border.

The International Border hascome into focus in terms of infil-tration after National InvestigationAgency (NIA) in December lastyear is learnt to have submitted acomprehensive report to the UnionHome Ministry, highlighting thefact that terrorist outfits, based inPakistan, are relying more onInternational Border.

The NIA report was based oninterrogation of over ground work-ers engaged in the task of ferryingthese infiltrators via JammuSrinagar National Highway intrucks headed towards Kashmirvalley. More than three dozen ter-rorists were transported by OverGround Workers (OGWs) or sym-pathisers through the same routebefore they came on the radar ofthe security forces during gun fightbetween hiding terrorists and thesecurity forces near Jhajjar Kotli onJammu-Srinagar NationalHighway last year.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress on Sunday target-ed the BJP Government at

the Centre over “growingemployment” in India andcited a think-tank report toclaim that over one crore jobswere lost last year. Referring toa report by the think-tank, theCentre for Monitoring IndianEconomy (CMIE), Congressspokesperson Manish Tewarialleged that the BJP-led NDAGovernment failed to fulfil itspromise of providing two crorejobs every year and the coun-try lost one crore jobs instead.

“During the 2014 elec-tions, Modi had promised‘Acche Din’ (good days), whichincluded (providing) two crorejobs every year. In five years,this sums up to 10 crore (jobs).But recently, a reputed think-tank, the Centre for MonitoringIndian Economy (CMIE),released a report on employ-ment. It states that more thanone crore people lost their jobsin just one year (2018),” he said.

The former UnionMinister said according to thereport, in December 2017,

40.79 crore people wereemployed. In 2018, it wasreduced to 39.07 crore. “Whichmeans more than one crorepeople lost their jobs. It isastonishing that more than 80per cent of those unemployedwere women and more than 90per cent belonged to ruralIndia,” Tewari said citing thereport.

He also claimed that India’sunemployment rate hasincreased to 7.4 per cent inDecember, 2018. “This is thehighest in a decade. Daily wagelabourers and small business-es suffered the most. These arethe same who were affected bydemonetisation,” the Congressleader said.

Tewari also alleged thatthe Modi Government hasfailed to understand that dis-tress in society and smoothfunctioning of economy donot go hand in hand.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Associated Journals Ltd(AJL), the publisher of

National Herald newspaper,has approached the DivisionBench of Delhi High Courtchallenging a single judge orderasking it to vacate its headquarters Herald House. OnDecember 21, Justice SunilGaur’s judgment directed thepublisher to vacate the officewithin two weeks, ratifyingthe Urban DevelopmentMinistry’s eviction notice citingseries of violations in the landallotment agreement.

AJL is headed by Congressleader Motilal Vora and thecompany was taken over by anew firm called Young Indian,controlled by Sonia Gandhiand Rahul Gandhi with 76 percent shares.

Advocate Sunil Fernandes,representing the AJL, said theappeal was filed on Saturdayevening and it is likely to comeup for hearing on January 9.The high court had dismissedthe AJL’s plea challenging theCentre’s order to vacate itspremises by holding that thepublisher of the NationalHerald has not provided anyinstances to support the seriousallegations of malafide leveledagainst the ruling dispensation.

It had said AJL will have tovacate the ITO premises with-in two weeks after which evic-tion proceedings under thePublic Premises (Eviction ofUnauthorized Occupants) Act,1971, would be initiated. TheCentre had ended its 56-year-old lease and asked the AJL tovacate the premises, sayingthat no printing or publishingactivity was going on.Government’s action came afterthe complaint filed by mainpetitioner and BJP leaderSubramanian Swamy pointing

out series of violations. “Considering the factual

nature, legal complexities andvoluminous issues raised in thewrit petition, it was indeedappropriate that the singlejudge ought to have issuedformal notice and asked therespondent to place their sayformally by way of ancounter/reply affidavit rathertaking documents across thebar and then proceedings to inlimine dismiss the writ peti-tion,” the appeal, filed throughPriyansha Indra Sharma, said.

“In doing so, the singlejudge has displayed an unwar-

ranted haste, uncalled for in thefacts and circumstances of thepresent case,” it added. In itsorder, the single judge hadsaid that AJL has been“hijacked” by Young Indian(YI), in which Congress chiefRahul Gandhi and his motherSonia Gandhi are shareholders.

The Centre and Land andDevelopment Office (L&DO)had said in their order that nopress has been functioning inthe premises for at least the past10 years and it was being usedonly for commercial purposesin violation of the lease deed.

In its plea, AJL has also saidthe digital versions of Englishnewspaper National Herald,Hindi’s Navjivan and Urdu’sQaumi Awaz have commencedfrom 2016-17. The weeklynewspaper ‘National Heraldon Sunday’ resumed onSeptember 24 last year and theplace of publication was theITO premises, AJL had said,adding that the Hindi weeklynewspaper Sunday Navjivanwas also being published sinceOctober this year from thesame premises.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Reaching out to the NEET-PG aspirants facing diffi-

culty in accessing examinationcentres at Jammu & Kashmirand Srinagar on Sunday due toinclement weather conditions,the National Board ofExamination (NBE) has decid-ed to hold a separate examina-tion for the affected candidates.

The date, time and venueshall be informed in duecourse, said a statement fromthe Union Health Ministry.

The NEET-PG was held onSunday for admissions to post-graduate medical courses incolleges across the country.The test this year was con-ducted by National Board ofExaminations (NBE), anautonomous organisation ofthe Health Ministry.

The NEET-PG 2019 was

held for over 1,48,000 candi-dates in 165 cities, the state-ment said.

The examination is beingconducted on computer basedplatform in one single session.

“The NBE had alsoarranged several centres inJammu & Kashmir, but somestudents could not make it forthe test due inclement weath-er.

“Due to inclement weath-er conditions in Jammu &Kashmir, some candidates fromSrinagar valley who had optedfor testing centre in Jammu orother cities were facing extremedifficulty in moving fromSrinagar to their designated testcentre due to complete block-age of air and road transport,”the statement said.

“The NBE is committed to

give an opportunity to suchaffected candidates to appear inNEET-PG 2019,” it said.

The NBE had taken up thismatter with health ministry,Medical Council of India andgovernment of Jammu andKashmir. After discussions “ithas been decided, being a forcemajeure situation, to hold aseparate examination for theseaffected candidates. The date,time and venue shall beinformed in due course”, thestatement added.

Normal life has beenthrown out of gear across theKashmir Valley due to thesnowfall which began onSaturday afternoon continuedtill Sunday morning. Thesnowfall blocked the roads anddisrupted the power supply.The snow bound roads dis-rupted the movement of peo-ple and transport.

Agencies warn of

JeM terror strike

PM MODI TO VISIT JAMMU ON JAN 15 Govt panel to assessrollout of clause 6 of Assam Accord

AJL files appeal in HC

against single judge order

NATIONAL HERALD CASE

Over 1 cr jobs lost

in ’18, claims Cong

referring to report

ISJK calls Geelani kafir for being MLA

MISSED PAPER DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Separate NEET-PG examfor Kashmir students

CSCs to train 15L enumerators

for 7th Economic Census

PTI n NEW DELHI

Hitting back at RahulGandhi for his “incompe-

tent” barb at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, the BJP saidSunday it was ridiculous for an“incompetent” person like himto give a certificate of compe-tence to others.

The party claimed that theCongress president hadachieved everything in life dueto his family and not becauseof competence.

In a scathing attack atGandhi, BJP leader and Unionminister Smriti Irani alsoaccused him of “hurting”Parliament’s and a woman min-ister’s (Nirmala Sitharaman)dignity by “winking” in the LokSabha as the defence ministerreplied to the Rafale debate onFriday.

“Rahul Gandhi neithercares for women’s norParliament’s dignity. We donot expect values from him butwe do hope that he maintainsthe dignity of Parliament,” Iranitold a press conference.

She was responding toquestions about Gandhi’s claimin a tweet Sunday thatSitharaman had “lied” in herreply and also about his anoth-er tweet, alleging that Modi isan “incompetent man”.

Taking a dig at theCongress president over hisattack on Sitharaman, Iranisaid he “slept” through herreply in the Lok Sabha andwoke up after 48 hours. He hasbeen so much hurt by the“truth” that he came up againwith a “pack of lies”, she added.

“I believe that while thedefence minister presented allfacts before Parliament, theCongress president hurtParliament’s dignity and awoman minister’s dignity withhis wink,” she said.

From court to Parliament,Gandhi’s every “lie” has beenexposed and his lies will con-tinue to unravel, sha claimed.

Responding to Gandhi’sincompetent barb at Modi, Iranisaid wryly, “The country has notfallen upon such bad days thata person who has achievedeverything in his life not due tohis competence but family, givecertificates of competence...This is itself ridiculous that anincompetent person like RahulGandhi give a certificate ofcompetence to anybody.”

No opposition partyaccepts Gandhi’s leadership,she said.

Rahul achieved

everything due

to family: BJP

The high-levelcommittee, to be

headed by former Uniontourism secretary MPBezbaruah, was set upas per the Clause 6 of

the 1985 Assam Accord,the Home Ministry said

AJL is headed byCongress leader

Motilal Vora and thecompany was takenover by a new firm

called Young Indian,controlled by SoniaGandhi and RahulGandhi with 76 %

shares

Counter terrorism expert DrRituraj Mate told The Pioneer,

“There has been a regimechange in Pakistan and thenewer terror players in the

region are seeking support ofPakistan Government whichhas put in place a condition

to replace the Hurriyatleadership for

getting its support

Normal life has beenthrown out of gear acrossthe Kashmir Valley due tothe snowfall which began

on Saturday afternooncontinued till

Sunday morning CSC e-Governance Services India expectsto complete training of enumerators by

mid-March and start the survey from April1. The same organisation had earlier

done projects like Aadhaar, Ayushman Bharat, and Ujjwala

Manish Tewari alsoalleged that the Modi

Government has failedto understand thatdistress in society


SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Hours after Bengal BJP pres-ident Dilip Ghosh saw in

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee a deserving PrimeMinisterial candidate, the senior saffron leaderretracted saying he had onlyexpressed his good wishes forher Prime Ministerial ambi-tions though in “she has no possibility of being aPrime Minister.”

On Saturday Ghosh whilewishing Mamata on her birth-day said she needed to remainfit as “Bengal’s fate dependsupon her success.” Deliberatingfurther on whether he saw inher a person fit to become thecountry’s Prime Minister,Ghosh said everyone wantedher to stay fit and work well as“if there is any Bengali who canbe a PM it is she.”

Earlier on a similar cir-cumstance “Jyoti Basu wasdeprived the opportunity tobecome the country’s firstBengali PM though finallyPranab Mukherjee was madethe first Bengali President. JyotiBabu was failed by his ownparty. But as a Bengali I have noproblem in her (Banerjee) beinga Prime Minister.”

Even as the TrinamoolCongress leadership, includinghis strongest critics, likeAnubrata Mandal and Kalyan

Banerjee publicly welcomedGhosh’s “capitulation” and said“the statement only projectedGhosh’s “healthy politicalmindset by dint of which heacknowledged the truth” ofTrinamool’s prowess, the BJPleader said he was only answer-ing to some specific questionsby the media.

“I was asked to commenton Banerjee’s chances of beingthe first Bengali PM and Ireplied that if any Bengali hadchances to be a Prime Ministerthen she is the one. This shouldbe taken in a good humorinstead of reaping politicalharvest out of it,” the State BJPpresident said adding “I saidshe is the fittest Bengali candi-date as of now. But in realitythere is no remote chance ofher being the PM.”

Reacting to Ghosh’s state-

ment senior Trinamool MPKalyan Banerjee said “whyonly Dilip Ghosh every onebelieves that Mamata Banerjeeby dint of her sheer hard workhas become the most able can-didate to become the PrimeMinister. Not only as a Bengalibut also as among t he entireIndian leadership she is themost deserving candidate.”

Meanwhile the State BJPleadership said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was likely toaddress the grand rally atBrigade Parade Ground inKolkata on January 29. Beforehim party president Amit Shahwas likely to address two rallies:one on January 16 at Siliguriand the other in Kolkata.

“We have got January 29 asa tentative date from the PrimeMinister’s office,” a senior BJPleader said in Kolkata.

Dilip Ghosh takes U-turn

Lakhimpur Khiri: Threepoachers were caught red-handed laying traps for her-bivorous animals in forests ofMailani range in the bufferzone of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve,officials said on Sunday.

“The poachers were caughtred-handed late on Saturdaynight when they were layinghalf a dozen ‘khabars’ (netsused to trap spotted deer, wildboars, etc). Three poacherswere caught on the spot. Someof their accomplices managedto escape, “ Field DirectorDudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR)Ramesh Kumar Pandey told PTI.

Pandey lauded the forestpatrolling team and said forestguard Mohd Umar and histeam would be felicitated fortheir commendable job.

PTI

DIDI’S PM PROSPECTS

Srinagar: In another jolt for thePeoples Democratic Party(PDP), senior leader and formerMinister Javaid Mustafa Mir hasresigned from the party.

Mir, who represented theChadoora Assembly con-stituency in central Kashmir’sBudgam district for three suc-cessive terms from 2002, said the resignation was his “personal decision”.

“I have resigned from thePDP. It is my personal decisionand I will not speak anythingmore on this at this moment,” hesaid on Saturday.

He did not divulge his futureplans. Mir was inducted asRevenue Minister in the MuftiMohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP Government in 2015.

However, he was droppedfrom the Cabinet whenMehbooba Mufti assumed officein April 2016 after her father’sdeath. This led to the growing dif-ferences between Mir and theparty leadership. He has beencritical of the PDP’s role in thecoalition Government ever since.

Mir was inducted into theCabinet again in December2017. The Mehbooba Mufti-ledPDP has been facing a rebellionsince BJP withdrew support tothe party in Jammu & Kashmir

in June last year.A section of PDP leaders

have revolted against MehboobaMufti’s leadership, accusing herof nepotism and favouritism.

Prominent among thosewho openly rebelled against thePDP chief were influential Shialeader Imran Ansari, his uncleAbid Ansari, former MLAsTangmarg Mohammad AbbasWani and Baramulla JavaidBeigh and MLCs Yasir Reshi andSaifuddin Bhat.

Several leaders have sinceleft the party with formerFinance Minister Haseeb Drabu,former Law Minister BasharatBukhari and Peer MohammadHussain being the notable ones.

Bukhari and Hussain joinedPDP’s arch rival NationalConference. Other middle andlower rung leaders have alsodeserted the party, monthsbefore the Assembly polls are duein Jammu & Kashmir. PTI

Senior PDP leaderJavaid Mustafa Mirresigns from party Amaravati: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Sundayaccused Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N ChandrababuNaidu of pushing the Stateinto “sunset” to see his “sonrise”, a mock reference to theState’s tagline “Sunrise AP”.

Addressing BJP workersin Andhra Pradesh throughvideo-conference, Modi alsoinvoked “Telugu pride”, alleg-ing that Naidu betrayed TeluguDesam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao by joining handswith the Congress.

“Telugu pride can only be restored when you (Naidu)put the interests of AP aboveyour political interests and lust for power,” the PrimeMinister said.

“A true tribute to NTR(the late NT Rama Rao) andwhat he stood for would be vot-ing out those who betrayedNTR’s values and sullied hismemory. NTR’s dream of aSwarna Andhra Pradesh willonly be realised when every cit-izen of AP enjoys the fruits ofdevelopment and not just onefamily,” Modi said.

Calling NTR a “true icon ofTelugu pride”, Modi recalledthat it was NTR who led a“Congress-mukt Bharat” move-ment by forming an anti-Congress National Front.

“Today, his own son-in-law

(Chandrababu Naidu) has benthis head before the Congress tosave his power. NTR was trueicon of Telugu pride. NTRnever forgave Congress forhurting Telugu pride and itsbetrayal of Telugu interests,” theprime minister said.

“Today, those in power inAP are so desperate to savetheir power that they betrayedTelugu interests and stabbedNTR in the back for the secondtime,” he said.

He also wondered howTelugu pride would be servedby neglecting people and sacrificing their interests for power.

“How is Telugu prideserved by lying and abusingModi day in and day out, justbecause you are worried that

you will lose power? How isTelugu pride served by day-dreaming about becomingprime minister when you havefailed as CM?” Modi said, hit-ting out at Naidu.

Accusing Naidu of being“fixated” with the rise of hisown son, Modi said the chiefminister did not realise how hispolicies and alleged corruptioncould lead to “sunset” for the State.

“To set the ‘son’, he is cre-ating an atmosphere for sunsetof the state. In only promotinghis son, he has forgotten aboutother sons and daughters ofAP,” the PM said.

The TDP walked out of theBJP-led NDA last year over theissue of financial assistancefor Andhra Pradesh. PTI

PM accuses Naidu of betrayingNTR’s values, promoting son

Three poachers

held in Dudhwa

Tiger Reserve

Motihari: A flying nut from awater pump on Sunday piercedthe skull of a five-year-old boyand reached close to his brain,but the doctors managed toremove it through a promptsurgery at a hospital in Bihar’sEast Champaran district.

The accident took placewhen the fan belt of the waterpump snapped, sending itsnuts and bolts flying and a nutpiercing the boy’s skull.

Chhabila Kumar, a residentof Kathriya village under theChouradano police station areaof the district, was brought tothe Chandra Hospital situatedhere, with blood smeared overhis face and a two-inch-longpiece of iron sticking out of his forehead presenting a

macabre sight.“A group of children were

playing close to the water pumpwhich was under repair.During trial of the machine, thefan belt snapped and its nutsand bolts flew into the air andone of these hit the boy,” the boy’s uncle Shravan Rai,who brought him to the hos-pital, said.

Chandra Suvash, anorthopaedic surgeon, who runsthe private hospital, said, “Testsconducted on the boy revealedthat the nut was barely scrap-ing his brain. He was fortunatethat a 20 mm washer attachedto the nut prevented it fromgoing deeper, which couldhave damaged his cerebralstructure.” PTI

Nut pierces 5-yr-old’sskull in E Champaran,removed surgically

Muzaffarpur: A 60-year-oldwoman was beaten to death onthe suspicion of practisingwitchcraft at a village in Bihar’sMuzaffarpur district onSunday, police said.

The deceased has beenidentified as Kusum Devi, wife of one Ram Vilas Thakurof Dargah village, DeputySuperintendent of Police(DySP) (East) Gaurav Pandey said.

Around half-a-dozenstrongmen of a particular fam-ily of the village caned the oldwoman to death after brandingher as a “witch”, he said.

The body has been sent toSri Krishna Medical Collegeand Hospital here for post-mortem. PTI

Shillong: Rescue operationsfor 15 miners trapped in aflooded illegal coal mine inMeghalaya’s East Jaintia Hillsdistrict for past 24 days hit aroadblock on Sunday as thetwo high-powered pumpsengaged in dewatering encountered technical glitches,officials said.

The high-powered pumpsof Kirloskar Brothers Ltd wererecently pressed into action todewater the main shaft, wherethe miners are trapped.

Another submersiblepump from Coal India Ltd(CIL) also faced a snag, affect-ing dewatering operations inthe nearby abandoned mines.

“Two pumps fromKirloskar Brothers and thesubmersible pump from CoalIndia encountered glitches andthe dewatering process in themain shaft was affected,” R

Susngi, spokesperson of theoperation said.

The two high-poweredpumps are undergoing repairwork, he said, adding the CILpump was replaced with a newone. The CIL is expected to putinto operation at least threemore pumps on Monday,Susngi added. However, littleheadway could be made inreducing the water levels in themain shaft and the nearbymines due to the malfunc-

tioning of the pumps and freshseepage, the official said.Rescue divers from the IndianNavy and the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) toocould not venture down togauge the water level inside themain shaft as it was beyond thesafe diving limit of 100 feet, thespokesperson said.

The current water level inthe main shaft is about 160 feet,while its total depth is around370 feet.

Rescue work is suspendeddaily at around 5 pm as nightfalls. The Kirloskar Brotherspumps could be used for justone hour on Saturday, he said.

At least 15 miners aretrapped in the illegal coal mine,whose owner has been arrest-ed, since December 13.

Meanwhile, the OppositionCongress Sunday alleged that the BJP-backed MeghalayaDemocratic AllianceGovernment allowed illegalcoal mining within six monthsof coming to power.

“The BJP and the NationalPeople’s Party (NPP) had bothpromised the people of thestate to open up coal mining,if they were elected to power.Actually, what they did wasopen up illegal coal miningwithin six months,” Leader ofOpposition Mukul Sangmatold reporters here. PTI

Rescue ops hit fresh roadblockDAY 25 OF MEGHALAYA MINE MISHAP

Ahmedabad: Nationals of 45countries and people from 13states within the country onSunday participated in a kite fes-tival in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

Gujarat Governor OP Kohliand state Chief Minister VijayRupani inaugurated the eventon the Sabarmati Riverfront.

Organisers said 151 partic-ipants included nationals of theUnited States, United Kingdom,Cambodia and Nepal.

Rupani, speaking at theevent, said the festival hadbecome an integral brand ofGujarat, adding that it washelping the poor who were

making these kites.Governor Kohli said the fes-

tival inspires healthy competi-tion and a spirit of brotherhoodamong different communities.

In Gujarat, kites are flownduring the Hindu festival ofMakar Sankranti which falls onJanuary 14.

Incidentally, most of thekites are made by Muslims.

This year, the Gujarat gov-ernment has also decided toorganise a kite festival atKevadia, the site of the Statue ofUnity, a memorial to SardarPatel and the also the world’stallest statue. PTI

Woman beatento death onsuspicion ofwitchcraft

Guwahati: The SabarimalaAction Committee, a group ofvarious Hindutva outfits, onSunday said defying theSupreme Court ruling on theLord Ayyappa temple does notamount to its contempt as the order was against tradi-tion and faith.

Constitutional and reli-gious moralities are differentand these should not be mixed and confused at all,SAC General Secretary ARMohan said.

“The Supreme Court rulingis against the tradition andreligious faith. Defying it can-not be termed as contempt ofthe court as 49 review petitionshave been filed and hearing willstart soon,” he said at a Press

conference.Mohan is in Assam to

gather information about diver-sified characteristics of places ofworships in the State to present them before theSupreme Court during hearingof the review petitions for theSabarimala case.

The Supreme Court onSeptember 29 lifted the ban onentry of girls and womenbetween 10 and 50 years of ageinto Sabarimala temple, theshrine of Lord Ayyappa, the“eternally celibate” deity.

Mohan alleged that theCPI(M)-led KeralaGovernment have been pushingwomen allied with various“ultra organisations”, especial-ly those having close links with

the Maoist ideology.“People who have no faith

in religion or in Lord Ayyappawere brought in to the templewith active support of theadministration and the police.The devotees who opposedthem were lathicharged andover 5,000 FIRs were lodgedagainst them,” Mohan said.

Kerala has been on boilsince January 2 following thevisit of two women of menstruating age into theSabarimala under police protection.

He claimed the StateGovernment has unleashed an“administrative terror” on inno-cent devotees, who are agitatingto protect their right to worshipin the traditional way. PTI

Defying SC ruling on Sabarimalanot contempt: Action Committee

Nationals from 45countries take partin Guj kite festival

People watch as colourful kites are seen flying in the sky during the International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad on Sunday PTI

Ahmedabad: The CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)has no say in grant of sanctionto prosecute retired police offi-cials who are accused in theIshrat Jahan alleged fakeencounter case, the agencytold a court here.

The agency told specialjudge for CBI cases JK Pandya that it had not yetreceived sanction from the Gujarat Government to prosecute retired police officials DG Vanzara and NK Amin.

When the court asked forthe reason for the delay, CBIlawyer RC Kodekar said it hadno say in the matter of grant ofsanction by the StateGovernment.

The matter will be nextheard on January 28.

While rejecting dischargeapplications of Vanzara andAmin in August 2018, thecourt had asked the CBI toinform if the State Government had given sanc-tion to prosecute them.

Vanzara, a former DeputyInspector General of Police,had sought discharge sayinghis case was similar to that offormer Gujarat in-chargedirector general of police PP Pandey.

Pandey was discharged inthe case in February last yearfor want of evidence.

Amin, who retired assuperintendent of police, hadsought discharge on the ground

that the encounter was genuine and testimonies ofwitnesses produced by the CBIwere not reliable.

Jahan, a 19-year-oldwoman from Mumbra nearMumbai, Javed Shaikh aliasPranesh Pillai, AmjadaliAkbarali Rana, and ZeeshanJohar were killed by the policein an alleged fake encounter onthe outskirts of Ahmedabad onJune 15, 2004.

The Gujarat Police hadthen claimed that the four hadlinks terrorists and had plottedto kill then Gujarat chief min-ister Narendra Modi.

The CBI, which probed thekilling on the high court’sorder, claimed that it was astaged encounter. PTI

CBI: Not in our hands toprosecute police officials

ISHRAT JAHAN ENCOUNTER CASE

Jammu: The cave shrine ofVaishno Devi located in theTrikuta hills of Jammu &Kashmir’s Reasi district receivedthe season’s first snowfall onSunday even as pilgrims con-tinued their journey to payobeisance.

Bhawan, Bhairon Ghati,Sanjichhat and Himkoti inTrikuta hills and the serpentineroute received a few inches ofsnow, shrine board officials said.

Despite the snowfall, over15,000 pilgrims are on their wayto the cave shrine, they said.

The helicopter and the pas-senger cable car service haveresumed after a brief halt, theyadded. Punjab TourismMinister Navjot Singh Sidhualso paid obeisance at the caveshrine. PTI

Vaishno Devi

shrine receives

season’s first

snowfall

Pilgrims enjoy a view of snow-capped mountains as seen from the Bhairo Temple at Katra Vaishno Devi in Jammu on Sunday PTI


TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Maharashtra NavnirmanSena (MNS) chief Raj

Thackeray is making the mostof his son Amit’s impendingwedding to reach out to polit-ical leaders of different hues inthe run-up to the Lok Sabhapolls.

A day after visitingThackerays’ residence“Matoshri” and handing overhis son’s wedding invitation tohis elder cousin and Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackeray,Raj called on NCP chiefSharad Pawar ostensibly toinvite the former for Amit’smarriage with fashionerdesigner Mitali Borude sched-uled for January 27.

The meeting between Rajand Pawar lasted for twohours, sparking speculation inthe media as to what mighthave transpired between themat the long meeting.

On his part, NCPspokesperson Nawab Malikplayed down the import ofmeeting between Raj andPawar, saying that it was “pure-

ly social and non-political”and that there was there wasno discussion on electionsduring the meeting.

Raj, who was fly to NewDelhi later on Sunday after-noon to meet Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi to extendinvitation, cancelled his visit tothe national capital at the lastminute, owing to someengagements. Informed partysources said that he wouldsoon visit New Delhi to meetRahul.

Raj, who has been a vocif-erous critic of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, has indirect-ly been disposed favourablytowards to Rahul. He hasreportedly been cosying up toPawar to be a part of“Mahaghatbhandan” inMaharashtra.

Sunday’s was third secondmeeting that Raj had Pawar inrecent months. On February21 last year, Raj had inter-viewed Pawar at a public func-tion organised in Pune byJagtik Marathi Academy.

Subsequently in the lastweek of October last year, Raj

and Pawar had travelledtogether in a commercial flightto Mumbai. While Pawar wasin Aurangabad to attend afelicitation ceremony of a for-mer legislator, Raj was return-ing from his week-longVidarbha tour.

The photograph of Pawarand Raj, sitting next to eachother in a Mumbai-boundflight having hearty conversa-tion, had sparked speculationin the media circles about thepossibility of an electoral tie-up between the NCP andMNS.

Informed sources in bothNCP and MNS said that Raj islobbying for his party beinggiven north-east Mumbai seatand he wants this seat from theNCP quota. He has also report-edly shown keenness in join-ing the “Mahaghatbandhan” inMaharashtra.

On its part, the NCP hasalready gone record sayingthat the Congress and NCPhave already reached a seatsharing arrangement for 40out of 48 Lok Sabha seats inthe State.

MNS chief meets Pawar:

Talks spark speculation

Srinagar/New Delhi: Failure tocurb infiltration from acrossthe Line of Control and puttinga check on recruitment of localyouths in terror groups remaina constant source of worry forsecurity agencies in militancy-hit Jammu & Kashmir, officialssaid on Sunday.

Analysing the trends of2018, it has been seen that infil-tration figures continue toremain unchanged as around140 terrorists successfullysneaked into the KashmirValley, majority of whom arebelieved to be of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group, theysaid.

Although around 110 ter-rorists were killed during infil-tration, the successful numberof cross overs continue toworry the security agencies.During recent meetings ofArmy and BSF officials, it hasbeen brought to the noticethat the counter infiltrationgrid needs to be furtherstrengthened as militants maytry and sneak in during thepeak winters as well.

"It is not only the Line ofControl, which stretches fromPoonch in Jammu to Kupwarain Kashmir, but also interna-tional border, which has been

exploited by the terror groups,"said a senior security official oncondition of anonymity.

The Army and the BSFhave been maintaining thatthey have been able to sub-stantially curb infiltration, buttheir assertions were negated bythe arrest of some of the ter-rorists during 2018 who spokeabout bringing in militantgroups successfully, the officialsaid.

According to the officialsin the know of the security sit-uation in the state, around 130foreign terrorists were stillactive in the Kashmir Valleywho were mainly tasked toimpart training to local youths,who were lured into the mili-tant ranks and files.

Besides infiltration, inabil-ity to check flow of local youthsto the militancy fold continues

to worry security agencies.While local recruitmentcrossed the 100 mark from fourdistricts of South Kashmir.

A careful analysis of SouthKashmir shows that 104 localmilitants from this area havebeen killed during the lastyear, showing that the area isdominated with more numbersof local militants.

The year gone by saw themaximum number of local ter-rorists killed in the regionwhich has accounted for over250 militant killings in last fiveyears.

Considered a highly polit-ically sensitive area of theValley, South Kashmir has vir-tually turned into a virtualbreeding ground for militantswith many youths joining theirrank and file or becomingtheir sympathisers. PTI

Infiltration, locals raising armsheadache for security forces

Bengaluru: Searches byIncome-Tax sleuths onKarnataka's 4 superstars and 3ace producers across the cityfrom January 3-5 resulted inseizure of undisclosed assetsvalued at `11 crore, including`2.85 crore in cash and 25.3 kggold jewellery, said the depart-ment on Sunday.

Incriminating evidencefound during the searchesresulted in the defaultersadmitting to `109 crore unac-counted income.

"As there are many issueson which evidence has beenfound but no admission made,the detection of concealedincome will be a much higherfigure," said the I-T depart-ment's investigation wing in astatement here.

The four sandalwood superstars are Shivaraj Kumar, hisyounger brother PunnethKumar, Sudeep and Yash. Thethree film producers areRockline Venkatesh, C.R.Manohar and B. VijayKiragandhur.

Super stars Shivaraj and

Puneeth are the sons ofKannada matinee idol andthespian Rajkumar.

The searches were con-ducted under Section 132 ofthe Income-Tax Act, 1961,after warrants were issued tothe actors and producers inadvance.

The three-day search oper-ation was carried out at 21premises and surveys wereconducted at 5 places by 180officials from the departmentin the southern State and adja-cent Goa.

In addition to the actorsand producers, official andresidential premises of filmproduction companies and filmfinanciers were also searchedduring the last three days. PTI

`11-crore illegalassets seized inK’taka I-T raids

Thiruvananthapuram: Traveladvisories issued by the US andthe UK asking their citizenstravelling Kerala to be vigilantin the backdrop of the violentprotests against women's entryto Sabarimala temple, was an"insult" to the southern State,Tourism MinisterKadakampally Surendran saidon Sunday.

"They have not said don'tgo. But said remain vigilant.That itself is insulting,"Surendran told reporters here.It would impact the touristarrivals to the state, he added.

The protests, being spear-headed by the BJP and the RSS,along with right wing outfits,has hit the tourism sector, theminister said.

The advisory issued by theUK has warned its citizens toremain vigilant and avoid largepublic gathering in the wake ofthe violent protests in Keralaover the issue of women enter-ing the Ayyappa temple inSabarimala. The Foreign andCommonwealth office (FCO),

which regularly updates itsadvice for travel to differentparts of the world, had onFriday said that any British cit-izen planning to travel to Keralashould monitor media reports.

According to mediareports, the United States hasalso issued a similar advisory.

Kerala has been rocked byviolent protests by right winggroups after two women ofchild bearing age trekked theholy hills and offered prayers atthe shrine on January 2.

Over 3,000 persons havebeen arrested till Friday nightin connection with the violence.

Kerala's 10 per cent of theGDP comes from the tourismsector and the industry is wor-ried that the frequent hartalsand protests would severelyimpact the state which is slow-ly recovering from the massivedevastation caused by theAugust floods.

The tourism sector hasbeen exempted from January 8-9 all India strike called by thecentral trade unions. PTI

Travel advisories by

US, UK ‘insult’ to

Kerala: Tourism MinTN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In a tragic incident, a 49-year-old mediaprofessional died on Sunday morning

after falling from the terrace of a seven-storey building where he lived at Goregaonin north Mumbai.

Adarsh Mishra, who resided in a sev-enth floor flat at Trimurti co-operativehousing Society at Siddharth Nagar local-ity, had gone for a morning walk, when theincident took place.

The footage of the CCTV footage putup at the society lobby showed that he felldown from the terrace of the building ataround 10.30 am.

Mishra was rushed to the nearbySiddharth Hospital where he was declareddead upon arrival.

Though the police are not suspectingany foul play, they have not ascertained asyet whether it was an accidental death ora suicide. The police have registered a caseof accidental death and are investigating thematter.

Sanjay Bhole, senior inspector attachedto the Goregaon police station, said that thefootage from the CCTV camera installedat the seventh floor of the building showedthat he was climbing up to the terrace witha handkerchief in his hand.

The police are also examining thefootage of the CCTV cameras installed inthe neighbouring buildings to ascertain the

exact cause of death.Mishra, who was till recently the vice

president of DNA newspaper, lived with hiswife and son in the seventh floor flat of theTrimurti building.

Mishra’s body was handed over to hisfamily after a port-mortem. Meanwhile, theinvestigations into the cause of his death arecontinuing.

Prior to joining DNA, Mishra hadworked with “The Indian Express”, “AnandBazar Patrika” and the Lokmat Group.

Mishra, who used to head the crucialnetwork development and Distributionfunctions at DNA, had recently become thedirector of the VIVA Institute ofManagement and Research, a private edu-cational institution.

Media professional dies afterfalling from building in Mumbai

Mumbai: In a veiled warning tothe Shiv Sena, BJP president AmitShah said on Sunday that if analliance happened, the party willensure victory for its allies, but ifit did not, the party will thrash itsformer allies in the coming LokSabha polls.

Shah's statement came imme-diately after Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis setthe BJP workers a target of win-ning 40 of the 48 Lok Sabha seatsin the State.

Shah and Fadnavis addressedBJP workers from Latur,Osmanabad, Hingoli and Nandeddistricts in Latur city on Sunday.

"Party workers should get ridof confusion about (prospects of)alliance (with the Shiv Sena). If theallies join us, we will ensure theirwin, or else will defeat them too("patak denge"). Party workersshould start preparations at everybooth," Shah said.

He compared the coming elec-tions to the third battle of Panipat,in which Maratha forces weredefeated by the army of Afghanruler Ahmed Shah Durrani(Abdali).

The BJP chief said after thisbattle, the country was "enslaved"

for 200 years. "If we win this elec-tion, our ideology will continue torule for next 50 years. We shouldput in extra efforts to win this elec-tion," Shah said.

"In 2014, the BJP won 73 seats(in Uttar Pradesh). This timeeven if SP and BSP join hands, wewill win 74 seats," he said.

Echoing Fadnavis, Shah said,"We should aim to win at least 40out of 48 seats (in Maharashtra)."

This is for the first time theBJP has taken an assertive stand inthe matter of alliance with the ShivSena.

The Sena has been regularly

hitting out at the BJP despitebeing part of the Government inthe state and the Centre. Its lead-ers have often said they wouldcontest the next polls on their own.

Speaking before Shah,Fadnavis said, "The party presidentwill decide what to do with theShiv Sena and the proposedalliance. But the BJP should aimto win 40 out of 48 Lok Sabha seatsin the state."

"The victory of 2019 will bebigger than 2014. Last time wewon 122 seats in (State) Assemblyand received 1.50 crore votes. Weneed two crore votes to attainpower on our own. The numberof people who have benefitedfrom the State Government's poli-cies is more than that."

Shah had reportedly told partyMPs from Maharashtra at a meet-ing in Delhi last Thursday thatthey should be ready to contest thecoming elections without analliance, though efforts to forge apre-poll tie-up with the Sena wereon.

The Sena and BJP had con-tested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls inalliance but split up at the time ofAssembly elections. The Sena joinedthe State Government later. PTI

If there is no tie-up, BJP willdefeat ex-allies: Shah in Maha

COOKING UP A WORLD RECORD! Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, with party leaders, prepares a grand 5,000 kg ‘samrastakhichdi’ during ‘Bhim Mahasamagam' event at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday. The khichdi was cooked in oneutensil, with rice and lentils collected from around three lakh Dalit households in Delhi, with an aim to setting a world record

Ranjan Dimri | Pioneer

Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamyon Sunday appointed 14Congress MLAs as heads toboards and corporations aftermuch delay.

He has also issued ordersappointing eight Congress leg-islators as parliamentary sec-retaries.

However, Kumaraswamyhas not made any appoint-ments to the posts of deputychairman of the planning com-mission, special representativein Delhi and political secretaryto the Chief Minister, to whichthe Congress had suggestednames of its legislators.

Out of the 19 boards andcorporations for which theCongress had recommended itsMLAs for posts of chairman,

the Chief Minister on Sundayissued orders of appointmentfor 14 of them.

According to coalitionarrangement, both parties haddecided to fill up posts ofchairpersons to 30 boards andcorporations of which 20 willbe for the Congress and 10 forthe ruling JD(S).

The JD(S) is yet to appointits legislators as heads to boardsand corporations and remain-ing one post of parliamentarysecretary.

The MLAs appointed ashead of boards and corpora-tions include, B KSangameshwar (KarnatakaLand Army Corporation), B ABasavaraj (Karnataka Soapsand Detergents Limited),Munirathna (Karnataka Skill

Development Corporation),Shivaram Hebbar (North WestKarnataka State RoadTransport Corporation),Lakshmi Hebbalkar (MysoreMinerals Ltd).

However, head posts forfew boards and corporationshave not been filled as recom-mended by the Congress,including Dr K Sudhakar forthe State Pollution ControlBoard and Venkataramanaiahfor the Karnataka RoadDevelopment Corporation Ltd(KRDCL).

JD(S) supremo H D DeveGowda and Kumaraswamy hadclarified that Sudhakar'sappointment was opposed asthe Supreme Court guidelineshad specified a certain qualifi-cation for the post. PTI

HDK appoints 14 Cong MLAsas heads of boards, corporations

Jammu: Under fire for boy-cotting the recently concludedcivic polls in Jammu & Kashmiron the issue of article 35A,National Conference chiefFarooq Abdullah on Sundaysaid his party will contest theupcoming Lok Sabha and theAssembly elections in the Stateand win them.

Abdullah appealed toPakistan to stop aiding andabetting terrorism and holdtalks with India to resolve thebilateral issues.

"It (Article 35A) is sub-judice. In Parliament andAssembly elections, we will(take part) and will win also,"Abdullah told reporters here.

The NC had boycotted therecently concluded panchayatand municipal polls in the State.

The party had announcedin September last that it wouldnot contest the municipal andpanchayat polls and even the2019 elections "until and unlessthe Government of India andthe State Government madeclear their position on Article35A and took effective steps toprotect Article 35A in and out-side the court". Article 35A,which gives special rights topeople in Jammu & Kashmirand bars outsiders from owningimmovable property, has beenchallenged in the SupremeCourt. PTI

Farooq announces

NC will contest LS,

Assembly elections

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralawas mostly peaceful on Sundayafter four days of widespreadviolence involving BJP-RSSand ruling CPI(M) workersfollowing the entry of twowomen of child-bearing ageinto the Sabarimala temple,with 1,869 cases being regis-tered so far and 5,769 peoplearrested.

Asserting that the StateGovernment had a constitu-tional duty to implement theSeptember 28 Supreme Courtorder allowing women of allages into the shrine to offerprayers, Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan said theywould not be cowed down bythreats of "constitutional con-

sequences" for Sabarimala vio-lence.

Vijayan asked the BJPnational leadership to instructits cadre in Kerala to stop cre-ating violence in the State.

"The State has a constitu-tional duty to implement theSupreme Court order. There isno violence other than theones created by the RSS, BJPand the Sangh Parivar. Andnow they are threatening thestate with constitutional con-sequences," Vijayan said in aFacebook post.

The Chief Minister's postcame on a day Union MinisterSmriti Irani alleged that theCPI(M)-led LDF Governmentwas arresting BJP workers for

raising their voice against theState.

BJP national spokersper-son Narasimha Rao hadwarned the State Governmenton Saturday, saying it wouldhave to face constitutionalconsequences.

Vijayan also alleged thatthe Sangh Parivar was trying toimplement the same methodsthat they tried in northernIndia.

"Sangh Parivar was tryingto implement the same meth-ods which they have tried onnorthern India. It's not going tosucceed in Kerala.

The State will deal with allkinds of attempts to createviolence and communal riots

with iron hands," Vijayan said.So far, 1,869 cases have

been registered and 5,769 per-sons arrested in connectionwith the violence. At least4,980 persons have been grant-ed bail, a statement from theState Police chief LoknathBehara said.

While in Palakkad, 283cases have been registered sofar and 764 persons arrested, inKannur district, where crudebombs were hurled at the houseof Thalassery MLA A MShamseer and BJP leader andMP V Muraleedharan, 225cases have been booked and394 arrested so far.

In Pathnamthitta district,where the Sabarimala temple is

located, 267 cases have beenregistered and 677 peoplearrested so far.

Meanwhile, the NairService Society (NSS), anorganisation of the forwardNair community, attacked theState Government over theentry of young women intothe Sabarimala temple, sayingit was making planned moveto impose atheism on thepeople.

However, some StateMinisters came down heavilyon the NSS saying it was voic-ing the RSS agenda.

UDF convenor BennyBehanan, however, protestedthe attack against the NSS bythe Ministers. PTI

Peaceful Sunday in Kerala, over 5,700 people arrested

Devotees arrive to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on Sunday PTI

WEDDING INVITE POLITICS

On the face of it, the new year,according to the WesternGregorian calendar, is a veryarbitrary date. It really has nosignificance, historically, in

any culture in the world. One could say,once upon a time before the imperfectionsof the calendar that humanity imposed onearth, the new year was the day after thewinter solstice, once the days finallystarted to get longer again. But vagariesof the earth’s rotation and our inability tofix the calendar for centuries, quite unlikeolder calendars based on lunar cycles thathave been cleaned up more frequently,have meant there cannot be a fixed date.But the arbitrariness of the date aside, wehave entered a new year and it’s extreme-ly significant year for India because thegeneral election of the 17th Lok Sabha willbe held this year.

Watching the Indian democracy inaction is a remarkable thing; it is anextremely well-tuned logistical exercisewith officials, paramilitary forces, politi-cians and journalists criss-crossing thelength and breadth of the country. It is atruly remarkable thing indeed to seeclose over half a billion humans cast theirfranchise. It is not perfect — not everyvote is equal with urban voters in citieslike Delhi and Mumbai underrepresent-ed as well as the fact that minorities andwomen are still poorly represented, bothas candidates and elected representa-tives. And, of course, there is persistentpolitical corruption, with the electorateseduced with outright bribes from cash toliquor. That said, for the large part, theIndian election process is relativelyuntainted and stands up to global stan-dards. Indeed, compared to the chaoticelectoral system in the United States, theIndian system is arguably far fairer.

That said, one thing that has alreadybecome very clear and will becomeincreasingly apparent to all and sundrysooner rather than later is that the 2019Lok Sabha election is going be to avicious one with half-baked rumoursand spurious allegations flying all over theplace. One reason is that there is no ‘wave’for or against any one politician in thiselection.

It will, however, be an election that pitsNarendra Modi and the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) against an united Opposition,solely because they are inimical to him.It will not be an election fought over cohe-sive economic and defence policies pre-sented by one side or the other, and thatis India’s tragedy. It will be an electionwhere the narrative will either be one ofsuccess or the ineptitude of one man, sofractured has our polity become.

One finds it difficult to imagine rightnow whether there will be much politicalstability in the aftermath of these elections,although India has for the large part avoid-

ed the chaos of what itendured in the late-80s andearly-90s.

But what is most worry-ing about the upcoming elec-tions will be the loss of anysense of proportion on socialmedia. The media in general,where individuals and thoseclaiming to be journalists,will pretty much act as surro-gates for one side or theother.

Sure, many of us hold apolitical view for one side orthe other and wish a partic-ular direction for our country,but we have reached a pointwhere a centrist and rationalapproach to politics in ourcountry, or for that matter inmost democracies, has gonefor a toss, replaced by partiesmoving closer to the fringe.

And much of that hasbeen due to the rise of uncon-trolled social media, and asthe story goes, once thePandora’s Box has beenopened, you cannot close it.And while this writer appre-ciates the reasoning that thereneeds to be an element ofcontrol, that argument cannotbe made unless there is arestriction on the freedom ofexpression.

That said, the internetand the relative anonymity it

affords, has given rise to alevel of hate speech thatshould be, in the opinion ofany rational person, unac-ceptable. Speech, that involvessexual threats against women,one’s advocating hate andviolence against a person orcommunities, has gotten outof hand online.

The conflation of theterm ‘freedom of speech’ withthe right to make threats hasled to this confusion alongwith the fact that internetintermediaries indulged insuch hate and violence-filledspeech in the name of spread-ing their reach, despite lawsacross the world that express-ly ban such speech.

In India, when a journal-ist indulges in satire online,and makes a video, as journal-ist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra did, orcriticises a politician, asManipuri journalistKishorechandra Wangkhemdid, the state can act veryquickly. But it has tread onhot coals when it comes toarresting those who openlyadvocate violence or evenspread pedophilia online.This makes one wonder ifsuch elements have protectionfrom the top.

There are enough lawsand safeguards to stop the

spread of hate speech, but thedrying up of the centrist posi-tion in politics has had oneunfortunate impact that peo-ple themselves have becomeextremely rude and uncivil toeach other.

The fact is that algo-rithms by social media siteskeep feeding them a stream ofviews that buttress their own.This has made people surpris-ingly inflexible. So, instead ofheated political debate, we getshouting matches. It hasbecome a case of ‘my way orthe highway’. People havebecome plain rude whensometimes listening to anoth-er voice or another opinionmight do them some good.

Of course, this is not aproblem unique to India, thisis a problem that is takingplace across the world. Manypeople worry about the rise ofmachines when robots con-trol manufacturing and trans-portation, but machines arealready pretty much deter-mining what information weare getting and how we areprocessing it. We have a prob-lem and if we do not dosomething to redress it soon,things are only going to gofrom bad to worse.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

Afeel-good image of a lioness

nursing and feeding a two-

month-old leopard cub, who got

separated from its mother, along with

her two new-borns in Gir made for a

touching act of compassion, showcas-

ing the maternal and protective instincts

of the animal world and restoring our

faith in the laws of the natural world to

take care of itself.

The lioness has been protecting the

cub for six days now, feeding it with

milk and taking care of it as that of her

own cubs who are three-month-olds.

While friendly interactions between species are relatively common, the

uniqueness of this alliance lies in the fact that the adoption happened

between two felines who are believed to be enemies. Lions and

leopards are not exactly friends and stay away from each other. In fact,

the pride of the lion, as it is known, lies in it being a predator — killing

any animal, including the leopards — to eliminate any future competi-

tion for food or to ensure that their own progeny survives to adulthood.

Social as they are by nature, the pride of their grouping, that can range

from a collation of two or more than 20 male or female related species,

lies in protecting their territory and offspring. Their relationship is such

that they can recognise any of their kind by sight or roar. So resilient

they are that they can distinguish their cubs from others, which once in

the king’s sight, is most likely to be killed. Females, on the other hand,

remain close to each other to do the most gruelling task: To give bir th

and nurse their cubs communally. It is this psychology primed in their

minds, to take care of baby cats, that helped the baby leopard find a shel-

ter among the lioness’ own cubs. Physically, the cubs can hardly be dis-

tinguished. The lioness has also been taking care to ensure that the big

alpha males do not prey on the cub as is their given behaviour. Though

cats are not offensive when their prey base is not an issue, constricted

and broken forest corridors and human depredations have resulted in

changes in their behaviour. Which is why the lioness’ act stands out in

a hostile wildlife climate.

A similar pairing was also witnessed in Tanzania two years back when

a five-year-old lioness, who had lost her own cubs, was seen nursing a

week-old leopard cub. Further, the King of the Jungle may not be the only

ones to form odd alliances. Similar has been the story between a dog

nursing a squirrel and that of a deformed dolphin being welcomed into

the whale family. The lion-leopard story also offers lessons in humani-

ty, especially in times when we are increasingly witnessing human-wildlife

conflict that has resulted in the disappearance of these rare species. We,

being humans, must also be empathetic towards protecting wild crea-

tures. There can be no better a legacy as remarkable as that of inter-

species coordination in protecting creation.

When the 16th Lok Sabha was

sworn in under just five years

ago, the India electorate had

delivered a stunning majority to the

Bharat iya Janata Par ty (BJP).

Opposition parties were shattered with

the principal one, the Indian National

Congress, reduced to just 44 seats.

However, five years later, Narendra

Modi, the Prime Minister of India, must

be wishing he could rewind back to that

time when he and his party were still

on the ascendancy and nobody could

stop them. Because when it comes to

getting crucial legislations passed,

Parliament has been in utter mess for

the past few years. Indeed, it has been a mess going back to the previ-

ous Government. India has been in almost total legislative lockdown with

Parliamentary debates few and far in between and the Prime Minister him-

self barely attends the House.

One cannot ignore the elephant in the room — that being the Rajya

Sabha, many of this Government’s landmark legislative ideas were thwart-

ed by the Opposition in the Upper House through a combination of obdu-

racy and sheer numbers. It should also be highlighted that the extreme-

ly aggressive attitude of several Ministers of the Modi’s Cabinet who, instead

of helping build a consensus, have at all opportunities played a blame-

game and whataboutery. And the media has played its part in this fail-

ure. In fact, Modi and his Cabinet’s dismal management of Parliament dur-

ing the term of this Lok Sabha should go down as his greatest failure. It

was almost as if no attempts were made to reach out to the members of

the Opposition, even for crucial Bills that should have seen bipartisan sup-

port, such as the amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, which have fall-

en between the cracks. This is likely the final full Session of the House

which might meet once again to pass an interim Budget before the 17th

Lok Sabha gets sworn in. It is also almost certain, barring a dramatic change

in the political pendulum, that India’s next Government will be headed by

a coalition, which might make managing the Cabinet and egos between

political leaders impossible alongside the ever-present threat of wanton

corruption. But it should also mean that legislative business should be a

bit easier. Who will lead that coalition in the next Lok Sabha, of course,

is a question that only the Indian electorate and no political commenta-

tor or opinion poll can answer. And the Indian electorate should now expect

their politicians to work and pass some crucial legislative decisions that

have been pending for years on end. If not, it will increasingly appear that

India, like several other major nations in the world such as the United

Kingdom and United States, will suffer from the curse of being a democ-

racy where politicians increasingly become more obstinate besides being

showmen and showwomen on television and social media rather than work

towards the common good. And part of that would be to work together,

as Indians and for Indians. We are all sick of the hashtags on social media.

The 17th Lok Sabha will have to ensure we move away from that.

Parliament pandemonium

The 16th Lok Sabha will be dissolved in a couple of months.It will not be remembered as a hard-working House

Real lionheart

The lion-leopard story shows there is no better legacy as that of inter-species coordination in protecting creation

Sabarimala row

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Have a little faith” (January 3).After the Supreme Court’s ruling,that allowed women of all ages toenter and pray at Sabarimala, twowomen from Kerala could make itto the holy temple with full policeprotection. This marked a newchapter in the history of women’semancipation. As the Governmentfaltered in dealing with the sensi-tive issue, violence marked the day,leading to loss of life and destruc-tion to properties. All in all, it is asad day for Kerala as the templeissue is being blown up due to theinept handling of the StateGovernment. It is imperative thatthe Government takes steps toresolve the matter amicably, on pri-ority, since temple visits by womenwill be a continuous process.

KR SrinivasanSecunderabad

Failing the test

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Have a little faith” (January3). Kerala is on the boil after twowomen gained entry into theSabarimala temple last week.The two women, Bindu and

Kanakadurga, must be feelingthat they have conquered theprotesters, against the entry ofwomen of menstrual age. Thesewomen are not repentant forbeing responsible for creatinglawlessness in the State.Meanwhile Kerala ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan hasbeen feeling a sense of satisfac-tion for obeying the Supreme

Court order in allowing thewomen with police escort.

If at all the Chief Ministerwould have made up his mind,it would not have been difficultto take legislative action to con-tinue to bar the women of men-strual age from entering theshrine. Neither the Congressnor the BJP would have opposedif Vijayan had really wanted to

respect the sentiments of thedevotees. The entry of these twowomen has triggered wide-spread protest, resulting in van-dalisation of public properties,blocking of traffic, destructionof flex boards, stoppage of busservices, closure of shops, attackon KSRTC buses, burning oftyres and stone-pelting amongothers.

The Kerala Government hasdemonstrated that it is insensi-tive to the possible repercussionsof Government-sponsored entryof restricted women. The ChiefMinister has miserably failed tomaintain law and order situa-tion. Moreover, what satisfactioncould these women get whenthey could not enter the templein the open but clandestinely?Their only triumph is that theycould successfully indulge in actof sacrilege by breaking an age-old tradition. Large-scale vio-lence has also not made theirhead bow in shame because oftheir eccentric behaviour.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

Unnecessary ruckus

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Have a little faith” (January3). What was the need for theGovernment to implement thecourt order in such an emotion-ally charged atmosphere? Itcould have asked for time.

ShubhamVia email

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N


facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionLUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

08

The end of civility

KUSHAN MITRA

The past few months have been an indication that the 2019 general election is going to be a

vicious one, fought as much on social media and messaging groups as much on the field

With appropriate policieswe can convert India intoa strong economicpower. I am not talkingpolitically, but in theinterest of democracy.

Union Minister—Nitin Gadkari

The Prime Minister hasgiven the people a rea-son to doubt him.Whenever an allegationis made, he should faceit in the House.

JD(S) chief —HD Deve Gowda

I don't think I will everlet myself feel like a star. The minute one does, others stopseeing you in afavourable light.

Actor—Sara Ali Khan

If a Prime Minister gov-erns the country for 10years and the peoplerespect him, I don't seehim as an accidentalPrime Minister.

Shiv Sena leader—Sanjay Raut

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Subdued Modi does not augur well for his party

This refers to the editorial, “The Modi view” (January3). The Narendra Modi Government appears to be star-ing down the barrel with the general election a few

months away. It is almost definite that coalition politics isall set to return. Citizens of this country are in a state ofpuzzle today. The Opposition is doing everything possibleto halt the Modi juggernaut and the BJP is hoping to pullit through against all odds. Under these circumstances, thePrime Minister’s recent interview was a highly anticipatedevent. Indian Prime Ministers hardly hold Press conferences,unlike some of our foreign counterparts. Modi has givena spate of television interviews ever since he took over.

Questions for the present interview may well have beengiven to the Prime Minister in advance but there’s no harmwith it because it is expected of the highest executive ofthe country to be ready with his answers when he appearsin full public view. He should not fumble while answering.Such an interview, therefore, cannot be termed as “script-ed”. But the answers were neither exhaustive nor convinc-

ing. Uncomfortable questions were parried by the PrimeMinister. The moot question is whether the PrimeMinister's subdued approach would hurt the BJP'sprospects in the hustings? The ‘2014 style’ oratory maynot appeal to the people now. So, what arsenal will the PrimeMinister pull out from his armoury is the point of interestto the BJP, the people and the Opposition.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

ONE FINDS ITDIFFICULT TO

IMAGINE RIGHTNOW WHETHERTHERE WILL BE

MUCH POLITICALSTABILITY IN THE

AFTERMATH OFTHESE

ELECTIONS,ALTHOUGH INDIA

HAS FOR THELARGE PART

AVOIDED THECHAOS OF WHAT

IT ENDURED INTHE LATE-80S

AND EARLY-90S

Send your feedback to:[email protected]

Independence for Taiwan wouldonly bring profound disaster toTaiwan,” said China’s President Xi

Jinping in Beijing on January 2, andhe ought to know. He is the one whowould make sure the disaster hap-pened. Speaking on the 40th anniver-sary of US diplomatic recognition ofthe Chinese People’s Republic, Xisaid that Taiwan was “sacred territo-ry” for Beijing. He would never toler-ate “separatist activities” there: “Wemake no promise to renounce the useof force and reserve the option of tak-ing all necessary means.”

Well now, that would be exciting,wouldn’t it? Start with Chinese air andmissile strikes on Taiwan, presumablyreciprocated by the Taiwanese forces.Probably no nukes, although China

does have them, but the first major seabattle since the Second World War, fol-lowed by a Chinese assault landing onTaiwan involving several hundredthousand troops. Quite a lot of deathand destruction, in fact.

No? That’s not what he meant?Okay, then, what did Xi mean by “allnecessary means”? Harsh words anda trade embargo? Then why not sayso? Is the Trump thing catching? Thereis a peculiar ambiguity to Beijing’s offi-cial statements on Taiwan. On the onehand, nobody in the communistregime is in a great rush to gatherTaiwan back into the fold. It will hap-pen eventually, they believe, and theycan wait. On the other, the regime’scredibility (such as it is) comes fromonly two sources: Its nationalist pos-turing and its ability to deliver risingliving standards. With the latter assetrapidly depreciating — the Chineseeconomy is heading south — nation-alism becomes more important, so abit of chest-beating is inevitable.

Many people will, therefore, dis-count Xi’s words as mere rhetoric thatthe Chinese communist leader was

obliged to use on a significant anniver-sary, but not a real threat to invade.After all, the deal made 40 years agopretty much ruled out the use of force.

The US agreed in 1979 that thereis only one China, and that it includesTaiwan. There just happened to be tworival Chinese Governments at thetime: The communist one in Beijingthat won the civil war in 1949 and hascontrolled mainland China ever since,and the previous nationalistGovernment that retreated to theisland of Taiwan when it lost the war.

Both of these Governments agreethat there is only one China. In prac-tice, the one in Taipei can never regaincontrol of the mainland, but it claimsto be the legitimate Government ofChina, not of Taiwan. Almost every-body else, including the United States,agrees that there is only ‘one China’and recognises the communist regimein Beijing as legitimate.

The 1979 deal assumed that thisconflict would be resolved peacefullyat some unspecified future time, andBeijing made some helpful comments

about how Taiwan could enjoy a spe-cial status if it reunited with the moth-erland: Democracy, a free Press, the ruleof law — the same promises made toHong Kong when Britain returned itto China in 1997. Then everybody set-tled down to wait for time to pass andthe generations to roll over. Beijingassumed that the Taiwanese wouldeventually see the light and rejoin themainland. The Taiwanese assumed thatcommunist rule on the mainlandwould eventually either mellow or justcollapse. Either way, we’ll all just get onwith our lives in the meantime. It wasa very sensible, moderate deal — butthose assumptions proved to be wrong.

Communist rule in China has notcollapsed, and Xi is the most power-ful and authoritarian leader since Mao.Taiwan has not grown resigned toreunion with the ‘motherland’; on thecontrary, a separatist Taiwanesenationalism has grown stronger withthe years. At the moment, in fact, theparty in power in Taipei is separatist,though it is careful not to say so explic-itly. It can never happen: China has 1.3billion people, Taiwan has 23 million.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen takespositions that appeal to the localnationalist/separatists, but she’s nevergoing to declare independence. XiJinping threatens bloody murder if shedeclares independence, but he knowsthat she will never actually do that.

What Xi is really trying to dowith his fierce talk is to reinforce theanxiety many Taiwan voters feelabout defying China too openly.They don’t want reunification butthey do want a quiet life. And hisstrategy is working: Tsai’s party lostbadly in the recent local elections,and may be voted out of power in thenational elections next year. It’s justa game, most of the time, and eachplayer plays his or her allotted rolesafe in the knowledge that the scripthas not changed for decades. The sta-tus quo is more secure than it looks.But let just one player deviate fromthe script, and everybody would sud-denly be in a new and very frighten-ing world. It probably won’t happen,but it could.

(The writer is an independent journalist)

Facilitating financial inclusion

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

THOSE WHO SAY THEY FEEL UNSAFE AND

THREATENED IN INDIA, SHOULD BE BOMBED. GIVE

ME A MINISTRY AND I WILL NOT SPARE ANY.

—BJP MLA

VIKRAM SAINI

RIGHT TO LIFE IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT IN THE

INDIAN CONSTITUTION. YOUR (SAINI’S) PERSONAL,

IDEOLOGICAL VIEW IS ILLEGAL.

—AIMIM CHIEF

ASADUDDIN OWAISI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

India has traditionally been anunder-banked country. Theexisting banking system doesn’twork for the poor and those inremotely located areas because

most transactions are conducted incash and ‘brick and mortar’ outletsmake services expensive. Banks, util-ity companies and other institutionspass along the costs of handling cashtransactions. And those, associatedwith storing, transporting and pro-cessing cash, pass it to their customers.It becomes hard for low-income cus-tomers to absorb the costs. The glob-al revolution in technology, along withrapid advances in digital payment sys-tems, is creating opportunities toconnect poor households with afford-able and reliable financial toolsthrough mobile phones and other dig-ital interfaces. In recent years, technol-ogy has helped close the financialinclusion gap. Digital finance is nowthe new mantra which India hasembraced enthusiastically, and withgood reason.

The most important and revolu-tionary technology-driven model forefficient last mile delivery of financialservices in our country is the businesscorrespondent model — an equivalentto the agent network in Kenya. Thebusiness correspondent model is typ-ically an agent or an extended arm ofthe bank — an important piece in thefinancial inclusion circle and a keytouchpoint. The model was intro-duced in 2006 by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) to allow banks to havethird-party, non-bank agents to extendtheir services right at the people’sdoorstep. Agents are a very importantresource for India’s transition to digi-tal-based financial inclusion. They actas a bridge between financial serviceproviders and last mile customers, notonly in a practical sense as transactionfacilitators, but through their humantouch and personal interface.

Being technology driven, the busi-ness correspondent model has playeda critical role in opening large num-ber of Jan Dhan accounts. Business cor-respondents are typically grassrootentrepreneurs who serve the cus-tomers on behalf of the bank. Sincethey belong to the same community,they have local knowledge, greaterunderstanding of the issues specific tothe rural poor and enjoy greateracceptability amongst them. Theyhave flexibility in operations, whichprovide a level of comfort to theirclientele and are, therefore, better ableto serve the population .They takebanking to the people rather thanmaking them visit the banks.Historically, the biggest problem forbanks has been the high costs associ-ated with serving low-income people.Since business correspondents work on

low-cost models and deliver almost atthe doorstep, access has becomeaffordable. Customers don’t have tospend money to travel to a bank ortake time away from work, whichwould mean loss of a day’s wage.

A study by Anjini Kochar, aStanford University scholar, pub-lished in the Journal of DevelopmentEconomics, highlighted the role ofbusiness correspondents as key driversof financial inclusion. Kochar showedhow business correspondents havehelped increase savings and otherfinancial outcomes of rural house-holds. Using data of approximately7,000 households in the south west-ern State of Karnataka, the writercompared savings data before andafter the launch of the business cor-respondent policy. She found thatbusiness correspondent coverage,increased annual household savings byroughly `15,500 on an average.Business correspondents, Kocharexplained, improve total householdsavings largely because their use ofmobile technology, through point ofservice devices, significantly reducedcosts incurred by rural households inaccessing financial services.

However, in India, the businesscorrespondent model remains rela-tively underdeveloped. The key pointis that the commissions of bankingcorrespondents are low and theGovernment is not willing to consid-er this issue. Recent research by theHelix Institute of Digital Financerevealed that in the business corre-spondent model, Indian agents earna median income of $52 per month,compared to agents in Kenya whoearn $192 per month.

Managing the agent network ismost critical for the success of thismodel. Agents conduct cash-in andcash-out (CICO) functions, enablingcustomers to convert cash into elec-tronic money and back again in con-venient locations. In the eyes of thecustomer, the agent is the face of thecompany. This means that the agentcan either build or destroy trust andcredibility. Many providers focus onbuilding agent networks as fast as pos-sible, without paying careful attentionto the agents’ business case and prof-itability. Experts suggest three keytenets in managing an agent network:(1) grow customer base and the net-work in tandem; (2) understand agenteconomics and risk — the businesscase for agents is not that simple and(3) enroll agents who have the rightskills and dedication, and prepare totrain and retrain.

For the financial inclusion indus-try to be able to capitalise fully on thebenefits of digital financial services, itis important that the accompanyingrisks are understood and adequatelyaddressed. New technology is not onlydelivering considerable benefits to thefinancial inclusion market, but alsocreating new risks. Though theserisks cannot be eliminated, they canbe mitigated. We need to keep in mindconcerns of security, affordabilityand safety of these new financial chan-nels. With many opportunities provid-ed by ground-breaking technologyand innovative business operations,also comes new risks which relates toimplementing digital financial servicesthat extend far beyond operationaland technical risks. Loss of privacy isthe most obvious risk. Indeed, despite

efforts to create all safeguards, it is allbut inevitable.

It is now becoming clear that busi-ness correspondents may not be ableto handle the entire range of bankingservices, particularly credit functions.It is only larger entities, with compe-tent manpower and proper logisticalsupport, that can handle the creditfunctions required for modern banks.Efforts must be made to train businesscorrespondents and enlarge theirresponsibilities in a graduated manner.When the business correspondentsreach a higher level of turnover, theycan be endowed with commensuratefinancial responsibilities. We alsoneed a graded system of certificationof business correspondents, from basicto advance training, so as to arm themwith equivalent financial tasks.

Some of the urgent reforms thatcan improve the efficacy of the busi-ness correspondent model are:

n Establish a Self-RegulatoryOrganisation (SRO) for business cor-respondents. The SRO would helpestablish standard rules and formulatea code of conduct to establish effec-tive monitoring and supervision. Itwould also act as the legitimatelyrecognised interface between BCNs,banks, the RBI and the Government.

n An independent agency shouldbe given the task of undertaking geotagging and GPS mapping of agentlocations to enable better monitoringand supervision of agent points.

n Reduce time required fortransactions to bring down incremen-tal costs for agents, thereby enhanc-ing viability of their operations. Thiscan be facilitated through StraightThrough-Processing by riding on

national digital infrastructure, havinga unified KYC, simplified processes,and workflow-based solutions.

n Enable agents to source cred-it with innovative risk-sharing mech-anisms and facilitate data analyticsbased digital credit models. This canboost revenue, make available invest-ments for upgrading technology andmake credit more inclusive.

n Improve compensation struc-tures to enhance agent viability. Itcould be a combination of time, fixedand variable compensation. The com-pensation can be linked with variousperformance benchmarks, includingcustomer ratings. The agents shouldalso be supported to build adjacentrevenue streams.

Business correspondents need to beadequately incentivised. They requirefixed investment and substantial upfrontcosts, scale is necessary to recoup theinvestment. Unit costs decrease as morevalue flows through the system\fixedcosts are hard for small providers toshoulder. We will need a larger force ofagents, educated, motivated and savvyenough to carry out businesses onbehalf of banks in the heartland of India.It is, therefore, imperative that wedesign a comprehensive policy thatcovers various aspects of their services.Considering the work required for on-boarding customers and orienting themto actively use digital services, their com-pensation appears to be hardly worth theeffort. On account of this, business cor-respondents tend to favour large anddensely populated villages.

(The writer is Member, NITIAayog’s National Committee onFinancial Literacy and Inclusion forWomen)

A well-rehearsed script in China and Taiwan

Opening of bank accounts may not ensure access to financial services in remote areas. Bankagents can provide last-mile connectivity, armed as they are with better financial technology

What Xi is really trying to do with his fierce talk is to reinforce the anxiety many Taiwan voters feel about defying

China too openly. They don’t want reunification but they do want a quiet life. And his strategy is working

Everyone experiences life. Over the years, every individual

has developed connect, some are cherishable others would

be better forgotten. We all believe we deserve better. The

list of experiential attribute, common to all human beings, can

be a lengthy one. What distinguishes one person from anoth-

er is his/her ability to interpret experiences and internalise the

learning for a more evolved self-conduct. The last two verbs

are also almost universal. Experimentally, one could ask any-

one if he/she interpreted his/her experiences. The answer would

be yes. Ask anyone if he/she learned from this exercise and

the answer would be yes. So be it.

For the sake of the narrative, one can move away from self

and focus on the other person. Love turns sour, colleagueship

in the place of work gets dented and community connects suf-

fer because deep within, one finds the other person to be defi-

cient. Some say it, some don’t. Those who speak about it are

almost universally labelled as plain spoken at the mildest and

abrasive at the worst. Almost everyone talks of desirability of

a feedback and yet, when it is provided, very few welcome it.

Results are there for all to see — there is almost a universal

disruption of bonds that once kept couples, families and com-

munities together. The fashionable thing is to talk of social safe-

ty nets, self-reliance, universal healthcare and the list can be

long. This is far more fundamental and far-reaching today than

the effect of disruptive technologies.

The fact of the matter is that greater the distance from one’s

given location and technology orientation, more glorious and

attractive it seems to the distant vision. Even though a friendly

doctor in the neighbourhood has disappeared in certain urban

environments, it is possible to dig out connect of some variety

with him, be it through school-day relationship of yesteryears.

Concurrently, there is a romanticised version of medical care

of the so-called industrialised West. Short-term stays in such

environment have one set of experiences but longer ones are

another matter altogether. Those, who are long-term residents

there, have imponderable waiting schedules before they can have

an appointment of specialist medical advice. The only step short

of that is emergency care. However, the space of medical needs,

between emergency care and needing specialist advice, is large.

When this is topped up with stringent pharmaceutical regula-

tions governing the sale of over-the-counter medicines (includ-

ing drugs and medical compositions which one knows to be

friendly to one’s body system), life can be a nightmare. This writer

is allergic to Kiwi. A decade ago on a visit to Melbourne, he devel-

oped high sensitivity on the skin. The narration of what happened

next would be seen as a criticism of Melbourne, Australia, or

one’s lack of planning and more. That is not intended, howev-

er, as they say, it’s another story. Nevertheless, it was a chal-

lenge to find a suitable antidote.

The theme of this writing is essentially, to keep things sim-

ple. One might ask: Is being truthful so difficult? Is taking care of

the assurances one gives, so elusive? Is honouring one’s word

so difficult? The answer to these questions may raise a whole

school of philosophy, much gyration and even ridicule. One is left

wondering: If by a process of evolution, certain parts of the world,

by definition, are only capable of dealing with each other with a

ruse of facades. When they converse among themselves, they

keep making statements which they know are not true, or hold

out assurances being fully aware of the infeasibility of whatever

they are proposing. The amazing part is that this is lauded by some

as ‘being diplomatic’. One fails to see how calculated inaccura-

cy and worse could pass off as diplomatic.

The message is as simple as the writing on the wall. If one

took oneself seriously, one would happily be simple, straightfor-

ward and honest. That would give him/her the capacity to receive

the truth, deliver with conviction and contribute to a sense of gross

happiness or at least help diminish disillusionment. Communication

would also be authentic. Perhaps, one deals with facades and

almost develops deftness in it because of the limited ability of indi-

viduals to receive the truth. A constant urge of wanting to come

across others better and more glorified than they actually are, is

destructive. Realistically, it’s easy to see how one can trip up one-

self, it’s equally plausible to be kind to oneself and accept the facts

of one’s life just as one accepts one’s height, place and year of

birth. These are things nothing to brag about or to be embarrassed

for. One way of alleviating pain is to keep things simple. There

can be no substitute for integrity of thought and delivery.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

Integrity of thought

and delivery

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

GWYNNE DYER

If only one takes oneself seriously, s/he would happilybe simple, straightforward and honest. It would also

give one the capacity to understand the truth

MOIN QAZI

F O R E I G N E Y E

Immediately after assumingthe presidency in Brazil, JairBolsonaro moved authorityover indigenous preservesto the Agriculture Ministryand ordered newmonitoring of internationalnon-governmentalorganisations. From here,environmental watchdogscould see their resourcesonly shrink. He cannotamend the forest code,eliminate indigenousprotections or pull out ofthe Paris agreementwithout the cooperation ofthe legislature.(Washington Post editorial)

BRAZIL’S NEWDONALD TRUMP


money 10LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

PTI n NEW DELHI

Terming Aadhaar as a “gamechanger”, Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley on Sunday saidsavings made through itsimplementation can fund threepublic welfare schemes of themagnitude of AyushmanBharat — the ambitious health-care programme to providefree hospitalisation to millionsof poor people.

He also attributed the suc-cessful implementation ofAadhaar to the decisive lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, saying theCongress-led UPA remained“half-hearted” towards itbecause of its own contradic-tions and indecision.

In a Facebook post titled‘Benefits of the Aadhaar —where it stands today’, Jaitleysaid its use in the delivery ofsubsidies has helped saved`90,000 crore in the last fewyears till March 2018 by elim-inating several duplicate, non-existent and fake beneficiaries.

The Digital DividendReport prepared by the WorldBank estimates that India cansave `77,000 crore every yearby the use of Aadhaar, he said.

“The savings throughAadhaar can fund threeschemes of the size ofAyushman Bharat...Aadhaar isa game changer,” Jaitley said.

Ayushman Bharat —Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaYojana aims to provide a cov-erage of `5 lakh per familyannually, benefiting more than

10.74 crore poor families forsecondary and tertiary carehospitalisation through a net-work of empanelled healthcareproviders.

Since its launch inSeptember, nearly 7 lakh poorpatients have been providedfree hospital treatment.

Jaitley said the UPA,because of its contradictionsand indecision, remained half-hearted about Aadhaar.

“Instead of taking credit forit, Congress lawyers challengedit in Court and appeared as theanti-technology, anti-Aadhaarfaces. A decisive Prime Ministermade it possible,” he said. Thetotal amount of subsidy trans-ferred through Aadhaar nowequals `1,69,868 crore.

“With the elimination ofmiddlemen the benefits godirectly to the bank accounts.This is a unique technologyimplemented only in India.The monies saved throughAadhaar is money fruitfullyemployed for the poor else-where,” Jaitley said.

Since The Aadhaar(Targeted Delivery of Financialand other Subsidies, Benefitsand Services) Bill was passed in2016, in the last 28 months over122 crore Aadhaar numbershave been issued. About 99 percent of the adult population ofIndia above the age of 18stands covered.

He said 22.80 crorePAHAL and Ujjwala benefi-ciaries are given cooking gassubsidies through direct bene-fit transfer (DBT) in their

Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Jaitley said 58.24 crore

ration card holders stand linkedand 10.33 crore MGNREGAcard holders get wage paymentthrough DBT in their bankaccounts. So do the 1.93 crorebeneficiaries of the nationalsocial assistance programme.

The Income TaxDepartment has already linked21 crore PAN card holderswith their Aadhaar numbers.

A total of 2,579 croreauthentications have beenundertaken till date. Everyday,2.7 crore authentications aredone. UIDAI has the capacityof 10 crore transactions to beauthenticated per day.

In most schemes, the directbenefit transfer takes place tothe beneficiaries’ 63.52 crorebank accounts that had beenlinked with the unique identi-ty as on December 15, 2018.The total number of subsidytransactions through Aadhaarare almost about 425 crore.

Jaitley said a senior minis-ter in the UPA Governmentblocked the idea of UniqueIdentity Number (UID) con-ceived by Nandan Nilekaniand it was a “divided house”.“The Prime Minister was inde-cisive. The enrolment contin-ued, though at a very moder-ate pace,” he said.

It was only a decisive PrimeMinister Narendra Modi whodecided to go ahead with theidea of Aadhaar after the for-mation of the NDAGovernment in May 2014, headded.

Aadhaar savings can

fund 3 schemes: Jaitley

PTI n NEW DELHI

Overseas investors pulledout over `83,000 crore

from the capital markets in2018, after pouring in a record`2 lakh crore in the precedingyear, on the back of rate hikesin the US, rise in global crudeprices and rupee depreciation.

Moreover, the flows areexpected to be range-bound in2019 as FPIs may continue witha cautious stance until there areconcrete signs of economicrecovery and certainty over theformation of a stableGovernment after the generalelections, said HimanshuSrivastava, a senior analyst atMorningstar Investment Adviser.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) made a net withdrawalof about ̀ 83,146 crore from theIndian markets in 2018. Thiscomprises `33,553 crore fromequities and ̀ 49,593 crore fromthe debt market, according todata available with depositories.

This was the worst year forIndian capital markets in termsof overseas investment since2002, the last year for whichsegregated FPI data for equityand debt markets are available.

“Rate hikes in the US andreshuffling of portfolio moneyacross the globe, rupee depre-ciation and crude rise were allcontributors for higher FPIpull out,” said Vidya Bala, headof mutual fund research atFundsIndia.Com.

“India also lost to emergingmarkets in terms of foreignmoney allocation given the lower

valuations in other markets at thebeginning of 2018. Added to this,the uncertainty on the domesticpolitical front, ahead of an elec-tion year, may also have con-tributed to FPIs staying on thesidelines,” she added.

Before 2018, FPIs were netbuyers of Indian equities for sixconsecutive years. They hadmade net inflows of over`51,000 crore in 2017, `20,500crore in 2016, ̀ 17,800 crore in2015, `97,000 crore in 2014,`1.13 lakh crore in 2013 and`1.28 lakh crore in 2012.

Prior to that, FPIs had pulledout money from the Indian stockmarket in 2011. Before that, FPIshad turned net sellers in 2008. Forthe debt market, FPIs made a netwithdrawal of over ̀ 43,600 crorein 2016, but it turned around ina big way in 2017 with a netinflow of `1.5 lakh crore.

Even in 2018, FPIs begunon a positive note by pumpingin money, but the trend gotreversed soon amid weak glob-al cues and introduction oflong-term capital gains tax onequity investments. After abrief recovery in March, thesell-off continued for mostpart of the year.

Bajaj Capital CEO RahulParikh said, “The year 2019 willbe the first year since 2008when globally, central bankswill withdraw liquidity worthabout $1 trillion. Add to thatthe escalating trade warbetween US and China and theBrexit conundrum, and youhave a near perfect recipe fora volatile 2019.”

FPI outflow at `83K crin 2018 on crude pricerise, rupee depreciation

PTI n MUMBAI

Asudden surge in crudeprices can upset the

nation’s key macro-stabilityparameters, as it can sharplyspike the current accountdeficit (CAD), inflation and thefiscal numbers, whittling thebenefits of higher growth,warns an RBI study.

Since the country is heav-ily dependent on oil imports Tothe tune of over 80 per cent formeeting its domestic demand,it remains susceptible to glob-al crude price shocks.

Besides CAD, rise in crudeprices can also impact inflationand fiscal deficit, says thereport.

The international crudeprices increased by around 12per cent between April andSeptember 2018.

The mid-year spike incrude prices happened mainlydue to spurt in demand, on theback of global growth revival,and partly due to geopoliticalrisks that led to supply-sideshocks.

However since mid-November 2018, the crudeprices have declined signifi-cantly but they remain volatile.

“An increase in crude priceworsens the CAD and thisadverse impact cannot be sig-nificantly contained through a

higher growth. So, a crudeprice shock will be followed byhigh CAD to GDP ratio,” saysthe latest issue of the MintStreet Memos titled ‘TheImpact of Crude Price Shockon CAD, Inflation and FiscalDeficit’ pencilled by in-houseeconomists at the central bank.

The finding shows that inthe worst case scenario, whencrude prices hit USD 85/barrel,the deficit on account of oil bal-loons to USD 106.4 billion,which is 3.61 per cent of theGDP.

“Every USD 10/barrelincrease in crude prices leadsto an additional USD 12.5 bil-lion deficit, which is roughly 43bps of the country’s GDP. So,every USD 10/barrel increasein crude price will shoot up theCAD/GDP ratio by 43 bps,” itsays.

The study says crude priceshock will increase inflation,if the price increase is passedon directly to the final con-sumers.

“Under the most conserv-ative estimate, we quantify thata USD 10/barrel increase incrude price at the price ofUSD 65/barrel will lead to a 49basis points increase in head-line inflation. A similar increaseat USD 55/barrel gives arounda 58 bps increase in headlineinflation,” it says.

Crude shocker can be

rude shocks for economy:

RBI economists

PTI n NEW DELHI

Rules for the e-commercesector should treat both

domestic and overseas playersequally to boost the fast-grow-ing industry, research andadvocacy firm CUTSInternational said Sunday.

It said the governmentshould frame a comprehensivenational e-commerce policyto provide a level playing fieldto domestic and foreign e-retail companies.

“The issue of creating alevel playing field betweendomestic and foreign players inretail sector is yet to beresolved, for which a compre-hensive National e-CommercePolicy is need of the hour,”CUTS International SecretaryGeneral Pradeep S Mehta saidin a statement.

The new guidelines forFDI in e-commerce sector arestricter for online retail firmshaving overseas investmentsproviding marketplace service,but there are no such restric-tions for local companies andit is creating an uneven playingfield, he said.

However, he added thatonline vendors’ concern of dis-criminatory treatment by pre-sent and upcoming domestic e-commerce platforms remainsto be addressed.

‘E-commercenorms should treatdomestic, foreignplayers alike’

PTI n MUMBAI

Domestic carriers inducted,for the first time, over

100 planes in 2018 with bud-get carrier IndiGo accountingfor nearly half of them, accord-ing to industry figures.

The nine major Indiancarriers together took deliver-ies of over 120 planes com-prising both twin and singleaisle as well as regional jets inthe just-concluded year asagainst 88 planes inducted in2017.

Significantly, domestic pas-senger traffic has been grow-ing at about 20 per cent formore than four years now andcapacity addition along withother factors has played a keyrole in this robust growth.

Majority of the planes

inducted by the carriers lastyear, according to availablefigures, were Airbus A320neos, with four carriers —IndiGo, GoAir, Air India andVistara - taking deliveries ofmore than 60 of these planesbesides other types of aircraft.

At present, these carrierstogether have over 660 planes.Budget carrier IndiGo has 206planes including A320 neos,while both Air India and JetAirways have 125 and 124 air-craft, respectively, in theirfleets.

IndiGo inducted a total of55 aircraft, including its firstlong-range A321 neo; Air Indiaand its subsidiaries took deliv-eries of 18 planes followed byGoAir 16 and SpiceJet 14 in2018.

While IndiGo and GoAir

A320 neos are powered byPratt &Whitney engines, AirIndia and Vistara have CFMengines in their A320 neoplanes.

Five carriers combined —IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet,GoAir, Vistara — have placedorders for around 1,115 planeswith global aircraft makerssince 2011.

“With a total of 1,055 air-craft on order, as many as 100planes consisting of wide-body,narrow-body and regional onesare to be delivered to Indiancarriers each year for the nextfive years,” Sydney-based avi-ation think-tank Centre forAsia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)had forecast in 2017.

However, its forecast hadnot included the Vistara orderof 60 planes in July last year.

Domestic airlines inducted100-plus aircraft in 2018

PTI n KOLKATA

RP SanjivG o e n k a

group flagshipcompany CESCLtd hasresponded tothe West BengalE l e c t r i c i t yR e g u l a t o r yC o m m i s s i o n(WBERC), clar-ifying that itsrecently demerged entities havenot received any “benefit” fromthe parent company.

The WBERC had inNovember last year askedCESC to submit an affidavitwith the commission in thisregard.

“CESC has responded tothe WBERC letter... The com-pany in its response said thatthe demerged entities have nottaken any benefit from its par-ent,” industry sources said.

The commission will eval-uate the power uti lity’sresponse, and if required,could conduct an independentaudit to verify its claims, theysaid.

According to the demerg-er scheme, the non-power busi-nesses and its subsidiaries havebeen transferred to two newentities — RP-SG Retail Ltd

and RP-SG Business ProcessServices Ltd. CESC will retainonly the power business.

The company had goneahead with a partial demerger,following a nod from theKolkata bench of the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), after the commissiondisapproved a power purchaseagreement (PPA) for the pro-posed generation and distrib-ution companies.

WBERC chairman R NSen, who retired in November2018, had said that if the sep-arated entities had benefitedfrom CESC, there would be aneed for a valuation exercise inthe interest of consumers.

Sen had also said that theNCLT nod does not qualify for“automatic approval” from theWBERC. The commission isyet to get a new chairman.

New entities got no

benefit from parent co:

CESC tells WBERC

PTI n NEW DELHI

With growth in direct taxcollections sluggish, the

CBDT has directed incometax department officials to“maximise” their efforts andconduct targeted surveys andfile court cases against thosewho wilfully evade taxes.

CBDT Chairman SushilChandra has shot off a letter toall Principal ChiefCommissioners of I-TDepartment, asking them topull up their socks as only threemonths are left for the currentfinancial year to close on March31.

“On review of the trends ofgrowth under different minorheads, it is noted that thegrowth in collection underregular assessment tax (recov-ery from arrear and currentdemand) is extremely low at 1.1per cent as compared to 15.6per cent growth during the cor-responding period last year.

“Most of the regions are, infact, showing negative growthunder regular assessment tax.This is a matter of seriousconcern and concerted effortsare now required to be made todrive up recovery from arrearand current demand,” theboard chief said.

The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) framespolicy for the I-T Departmentand supervises its work.

Talking about direct tax

collections, Chandra said thatby the end of December, 2018the growth rate has been 13.6per cent as against the target of14.7 per cent.

“The position of growth ingross collections is marginallybetter at 14.1 per cent but stillbelow achieving the budgetestimates of `11,50,000 crore,”he said.

The CBDT chief also sug-gested some “strategies” to beadopted and implemented toachieve the targets.

He asked the taxman toconduct “targeted recovery sur-veys in potential cases where highamount of recovery is likely”.

“Sale of attached propertiesin appropriate cases by taxrecovery officers to recoverconfirmed demand where nor-mal measures of recovery havenot yielded results” to be

deployed, undertaking actionto recover outstanding duesfrom companies and filingprosecution complaints incourts against those peoplewho are wilfully evading pay-ment of outstanding taxes.

The CBDT chief also askedtax officials to train their scan-ner on tax deducted at source(TDS) collections and launchprosecution against those whoare at “substantial default”.

It has also been asked to“verify advance tax payment”by those who sell propertiesand monitoring of dividenddistribution tax.

The taxman has also beenasked to timely complete reg-ular assessments (non time-barring) in cases wheredemand is likely to be raisedand collected during the cur-rent fiscal.

CBDT directs taxman to maximise collectionefforts as growth rate not satisfactory

PTI n NEW DELHI

Traders’ body CAIT Sunday urged theCommerce and Industry Ministry not

to allow private labels to be sold on e-com-merce marketplaces and desist fromextending the February 1 deadline forimplementation of the changes to FDI pol-icy for the e-commerce sector.

In a letter to the Secretary in theDepartment of Industrial Policy andPromotion Ramesh Abhishek, theConfederation of All India Traders (CAIT)requested him to make it explicitly clearwhether private labelling or branding isallowed under the foreign direct invest-ment (FDI) policy in the e-commerce sec-tor.

“It is submitted that if it (labelling) isallowed it will run contrary to the inten-tion of the Government to make e-com-merce free from evils and malpractice andto provide an equal level playing field withfair competition.

“Such e-commerce companies willcontinue their ulterior motives throughsuch loopholes as they are doing since lastmany years and small retailers will bekilled,” CAIT alleged.

The Government, earlier, had clarified

that private labels were not banned frombeing sold on e-commerce marketplaces.One of the big players, however, stated thatprivate labels are a small component of thebusiness and that the government needsto address the larger issues at hand.

Private labels — often sold at lowerprices — allow e-commerce companies tocontrol quality and even offers better mar-gins than big, established brands. Over thelast few years, e-commerce players haveintroduced private labels across a varietyof categories including apparel, homefurnishing and grocery.

Large e-commerce marketplaces couldapproach the government seeking exten-sion of the February 1 deadline as com-pliance with the recent changes wouldrequire at least 4-5 months at operationallevel, multiple sources said earlier.

However, in the letter to the DIPPSecretary, CAIT said it will stronglyoppose any such extension.

“The modus operandi of these e-com-merce companies for seeking extension isto keep delaying fair execution of the pol-icy and they may continue with their sin-ister designs of operating all kinds of mal-practices...,” it said.

“Therefore, it is strongly submitted notto fall prey under malicious agenda of suche-commerce companies and no extensionshould be allowed under any circum-stances,” the traders’ body claimed.The Government’s move to tighten normshas hit Amazon and Flipkart the hardestas the new regulations bar online mar-ketplaces with foreign investment to sellproducts of companies where they holdstakes as well as ban exclusive marketingarrangements.

Another provision states that theinventory of a vendor will be seen as con-trolled by a marketplace, if over 25 per centof the vendor’s purchases are from the mar-ketplace entity, including the latter’s whole-sale unit.

The move is aimed at ensuring that themarketplace entity or its related companiescannot control inventory under the FDIrules.

Traders’ body urges DIPP not to allow

sale of pvt labels on e-commerce sites

PTI n NEW DELHI

Public sector banks are in theprocess of closing or ratio-

nalising about 69 overseasoperations in the next fewmonths as part of their capitalconservation exercise.

Planned rationalisation ofoperations and examinationof a total of 216 overseas oper-ations of the public sectorbanks (PSBs) was undertakenlast year, sources said.

Following the review, asmany as 35 overseas operationswere closed while 69 are underprocess or being considered forrationalisation, sources said.

Unviable foreign opera-tions are being shut while mul-tiple branches in same cities ornearby places are being ratio-nalised with a view to achieveefficiency, sources said.

As on January 31, 2018, PSBshad about 165 overseas branch-es, besides subsidiaries, joint ven-tures and representative offices.

State Bank of India (SBI)has the largest number of over-seas branches (52) followed byBank of Baroda (50) and Bankof India (29).

The state-owned banks havethe largest number of branchesin the UK (32) followed by HongKong and the UAE (13 each)and Singapore (12).

As many as 41 brancheswere in losses in 2016-17. Thecountry’s largest lender SBI ledthe pack with nine of its over-seas branches in the red. It wasfollowed by Bank of India andBank of Baroda with eight andseven branches, respectively.

All PSBs such as AllahabadBank, Bank of Baroda, Bank ofIndia, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank,Indian Overseas Bank, PunjabNational Bank, State Bank ofIndia, and Union Bank of Indiathat have foreign branches havejointly taken the initiative toprepare a note in mutual con-sultation for rationalisation oftheir foreign branches.

PSU banks planrationalisation of another69 overseas offices

PTI n NEW DELHI

Top industrialist KekiMistry, who has become

the first person to hold aboard position at listed Indianfirms having market value ofover `17.5 lakh crore, believesthe upcoming national elec-tions would give a big boost tothe rural economy.

Mistry, vice chairman andCEO at financial sector con-glomerate HDFC Ltd, alsosaid a host of reforms initiat-ed in India over the pastdecade would lead to positiveoutcomes over the next yearsfor the economy.

“Historic trends haveshown that union electionsspur up rural economies andhelp local entrepreneurs. Theupcoming elections areexpected to help ruraldemand,” Mistry told on hisexpectations about opportu-nities before the Indian econ-omy in 2019 and beyond.

The general elections aredue in the next few monthsand there have been appre-hensions in some quarters thatthe performance of the Indianeconomy and the markets mayget impacted due to the uncer-tainties generally associatedwith the poll season.

Mistry also said the thruston housing by the govern-ment, the demand for housingfinance and the visible bene-fits of reforms, such as thosefrom the new regulatoryregime of RERA (Real Estate(Regulation andDevelopment) Act), would bepositive for the real estatesector, particularly affordablehousing.

Besides HDFC Ltd, 64-year-old Mistry is also on theboard of four other groupfirms — HDFC Bank, HDFCAsset Management CompanyLtd, HDFC Standard LifeInsurance Company Ltd andGruh Finance Ltd.

Rural economy to

get a big boost due

to elections: Mistry

funds 11LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

Scheme NAV 1Yr %Tata Digital India Fund-Reg(G) 13.81 23.89ICICI Pru Technology Fund(G) 55.77 18.06SBI Technology Opp 59.23 17.20Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Digital India 48.93 13.03Fund(G)Franklin India Technology 146.57 11.21Fund(G)SBI Banking & Financial 16.52 8.48Services Fund-Reg(G)Reliance US Equity Opp 13.31 6.67Fund(G)Axis Bluechip Fund(G) 26.78 6.40Axis Multicap Fund-Reg(G) 10.77 6.32Tata Index Fund-Sensex 87.63 5.89Plan(G)HDFC Index Fund-Sensex(G) 315.29 5.85ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G) 234.48 5.76Franklin India Feeder - Franklin 26.06 5.66U.S. Opportunities Fund(G)Reliance Index Fund - Sensex 17.56 5.34Plan(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-2(DP) 11.41 4.03IDFC Nifty Fund-Reg(G) 22.09 3.42HDFC Index Fund-NIFTY 97.16 3.2750 Plan(G)UTI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 69.66 3.22Tata Index Fund-Nifty Plan(G) 64.57 3.09Axis Midcap Fund(G) 35.36 3.03UTI Equity Fund-Reg(G) 134.44 3.02Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 18.73 2.94Fund-A(G)ICICI Pru US Bluechip Equity 23.60 2.92Fund(G)Reliance Pharma Fund(G) 148.12 2.87SBI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 91.86 2.77Canara Rob Bluechip Equity 23.17 2.75Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Index Fund - Nifty 17.91 2.44Plan(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Index Fund(G) 103.25 2.35SBI Magnum Equity ESG 97.54 2.18Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Equity Tax Saver 61.15 2.17Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Index Fund(G) 105.06 2.16

Franklin India Index Fund-NSE 84.84 2.15Nifty(G)IDBI Nifty Index Fund(G) 19.75 1.84Axis Long Term Equity Fund(G) 42.30 1.70Baroda Banking & Fin Serv 21.20 1.48Fund(G)Kotak India EQ Contra Fund(G) 49.20 1.17Canara Rob Consumer Trends 37.23 1.09Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Business Cycle 14.22 0.92Fund-2(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Real 17.47 0.70Estate Fund(G)Sundaram Select Focus(G) 166.53 0.57DHFL Pramerica Large Cap 11.85 0.55Fund-2-Reg(G)Tata Banking & Financial 17.10 0.47Services Fund-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Great Consumer 33.78 0.43Fund-Reg(G)JM Large Cap Fund(G) 64.50 0.33Edelweiss Large Cap Fund(G) 33.23 0.30Canara Rob Equity Diver 124.87 0.26Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram World Brand 13.03 0.07Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)Sundaram World Brand 13.19 0.04Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Banking & Fin Serv 60.99 -0.08Fund(G)ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund 357.79 -0.18(Tax Saving)(G)ICICI Pru Global Stable Equity 13.85 -0.22Fund(G)Kotak US Equity Fund(G) 14.76 -0.39Axis Focused 25 Fund(G) 26.33 -0.57Invesco India Financial 52.12 -0.95Services Fund(G)ICICI Pru India Recovery 16.85 -1.06Fund-4(G)Reliance Banking Fund(G) 264.94 -1.12ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G) 278.82 -1.23

HDFC Top 100 Fund(G) 460.75 -1.25Sundaram Large and Mid Cap 32.79 -1.28Fund(G)UTI Mastershare-Reg(G) 114.95 -1.30DSP Global Allocation 11.38 -1.31Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Largecap Fund(G) 26.74 -1.33UTI Dividend Yield Fund-Reg(G) 62.53 -1.42DSP US Flexible Equity 21.95 -1.54Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Large Cap Fund(G) 32.95 -1.59Invesco India Growth Opp 32.27 -1.62Fund(G)Kotak Standard Multicap 32.95 -1.71Fund(G)Mirae Asset India Equity 47.55 -1.77Fund-Reg(G)Parag Parikh Long Term Equity 23.08 -1.78Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-5(G) 14.96 -1.84UTI MNC Fund-Reg(G) 196.57 -1.89Aditya Birla SL India GenNext 79.19 -1.99Fund(G)ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G) 39.91 -2.18Invesco India Tax Plan(G) 48.40 -2.24Principal Focused Multicap 60.87 -2.62Fund(G)DHFL Pramerica Global Equity 15.32 -2.67Opp Fund(G)L&T India Large Cap 25.20 -3.22Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-1(DP) 10.59 -3.26Aditya Birla SL Banking & 27.08 -3.42Financial Services Fund-Reg(G)UTI Value Opp Fund-Reg(G) 57.64 -3.46Mirae Asset Tax Saver 16.46 -3.49Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Bluechip Fund(G) 217.69 -3.50Sundaram Fin Serv Opp 38.31 -3.50Fund(G)Reliance Multi Cap Fund(G) 94.78 -3.77IDBI Equity Advantage 25.98 -3.88Fund-Reg(G)Tata India Pharma & Healthcare 8.64 -3.89Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Focused Equity 28.63 -3.99Fund(G)

UTI India LifeStyle Fund-Reg(G) 25.17 -4.09Invesco India Contra Fund(G) 45.61 -4.22HDFC Growth Opp 108.12 -4.24Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Frontline 213.19 -4.29Equity Fund(G)DHFL Pramerica Large Cap 154.73 -4.43Fund(G)Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap 29.58 -4.45Fund-Reg(G)DSP Top 100 Equity 193.27 -4.46Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Taxshield(G) 538.15 -4.60Kotak Tax Saver Scheme(G) 40.97 -4.63SBI Consumption Opp 114.70 -4.64Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru R.I.G.H.T Fund(G) 41.45 -4.71Principal Nifty 100 Equal 69.24 -4.77Weight Fund(G)BNP Paribas Large Cap 82.45 -4.77Fund(G)Reliance Capital Builder 12.40 -4.79Fund-II-B(G)SBI Focused Equity 130.85 -4.85Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Equity Fund(G) 625.31 -4.88Tata Large Cap Fund(G) 203.72 -4.90Franklin India Bluechip Fund(G) 441.36 -5.04Motilal Oswal Focused 25 20.43 -5.04Fund-Reg(G)Baroda Large Cap Fund(G) 13.49 -5.20Tata India Consumer 17.16 -5.21Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Quant Fund(G) 24.06 -5.31Aditya Birla SL MNC Fund(G) 741.56 -5.35Reliance Japan Equity Fund(G) 11.63 -5.39Franklin India Equity Fund(G) 566.12 -5.44Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief '96(G) 30.44 -5.47Aditya Birla SL Focused Equity 55.68 -5.49Fund(G)SBI BlueChip Fund-Reg(G) 36.70 -5.60JM Tax Gain Fund(G) 15.79 -5.66

Sundaram LT Tax Adv 13.06 -5.71Fund-Sr I-Reg(G)IDFC Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 30.35 -5.73Sundaram LT Tax Adv 14.07 -5.73Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity Fund(G) 691.29 -5.78Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G) 191.08 -5.79ICICI Pru Value Fund-8(D) 10.20 -5.89ICICI Pru Value Discovery 139.29 -5.92Fund(G)Sundaram Value Fund-II-Reg(G) 15.35 -5.92IDBI Diversified Equity Fund(G) 20.50 -5.96ICICI Pru Value Fund-15(G) 10.37 -6.15Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G) 112.06 -6.22Franklin India Equity Advantage 76.93 -6.32Fund(G)Edelweiss Multi-Cap 13.79 -6.35Fund-Reg(G)JM Core 11 Fund(G) 8.32 -6.48Principal Dividend Yield Fund(G) 51.13 -6.59SBI Magnum Multicap 45.49 -6.64Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Capital Builder 282.86 -6.66Value Fund(G)Mirae Asset Emerging 49.60 -6.83Bluechip-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 17.42 -6.84Fund-B(G)IDBI India Top 100 Equity 22.63 -6.91Fund(G)UTI Banking and Financial 92.19 -6.92Services Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-3(D) 10.17 -6.95SBI Large & Midcap 211.19 -6.95Fund-Reg(G)L&T Equity Fund-Reg(G) 78.45 -6.96UTI LT Equity Fund 82.76 -6.97(Tax Saving)-Reg(G)JM Multicap Fund(G) 29.43 -6.99DSP Focus Fund-Reg(G) 21.53 -7.06DHFL Pramerica LT Equity 13.40 -7.20Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Midcap Fund(G) 47.67 -7.35Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 11.44 -7.44Global Equity Income Fund(G)Reliance Close Ended Equity 17.30 -7.53Fund-II-A(G)DHFL Pramerica Tax Plan(G) 29.06 -7.69ICICI Pru Value Fund-11(G) 11.81 -7.73IDFC Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 43.41 -7.79UTI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 83.17 -8.02Tata Ethical Fund(G) 153.49 -8.16ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap 309.98 -8.20Fund(G)DSP World Gold Fund-Reg(G) 11.00 -8.28DSP World Agriculture 14.79 -8.33Fund-Reg(G)DSP Equity Fund-Reg(G) 36.13 -8.36Franklin India Focused Equity 38.00 -8.56Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-9(G) 11.66 -8.62DSP Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 44.44 -8.63DHFL Pramerica Diversified 12.47 -8.78Equity Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-3(DP) 9.94 -8.94Aditya Birla SL CEF-Global 21.36 -8.98Agri-Reg(G)Motilal Oswal Multicap 35 24.67 -9.06Fund-Reg(G)L&T Long Term Advantage 49.17 -9.08Fund-I(G)Tata Equity P/E Fund(G) 128.66 -9.12UTI Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 60.09 -9.39Sundaram Rural and 40.59 -9.46Consumption Fund(G)Reliance Value Fund(G) 70.28 -9.51Edelweiss Emerging Markets 11.25 -9.58Opp Eq. Offshore Fund-Reg(G)SBI Tax Advantage 22.83 -9.62Fund-III-Reg(G)Tata India Tax Savings 16.77 -9.63Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Global Advt(G) 15.21 -9.63SBI Magnum TaxGain'93-Reg(G)136.41 -9.80Edelweiss Long Term Equity 43.95 -9.85Fund (Tax Savings)-Reg(G)Kotak World Gold Fund(G) 7.95 -9.89Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity 16.31 -10.02Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Long Term Equity 35.73 -10.04Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-4(G) 20.95 -10.05Franklin India Prima Fund(G) 921.37 -10.07ICICI Pru Value Fund-10(G) 11.21 -10.18Templeton India Equity Income 43.48 -10.18Fund(G)ICICI Pru Exports & Services 53.73 -10.21Fund(G)DSP Equity Opportunities 207.75 -10.22Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Emerg Equities 88.23 -10.24Fund-Reg(G)Principal Personal Tax saver 188.30 -10.49FundSBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 15.03 -10.50

I-Reg(G)HDFC Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 42.28 -10.51DSP World Energy Fund-Reg(G) 11.89 -10.58Franklin Build India Fund(G) 39.34 -10.61Principal Multi Cap Growth 137.13 -10.67Fund(G)SBI Healthcare Opp 118.20 -10.85Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Opportunities 69.05 -10.87Fund(G)IDFC Multi Cap Fund-Reg(G) 88.33 -11.07

ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 Index 24.52 -11.15Fund(G)L&T Tax Advt Fund-Reg(G) 52.07 -11.21DHFL Pramerica Euro Equity 11.99 -11.25Fund(G)Principal Tax Savings Fund 200.57 -11.26SBI Magnum Global 165.74 -11.37Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Consumption Fund(G) 62.80 -11.48DSP World Mining Fund-Reg(G) 7.49 -11.70DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 51.82 -11.70IDBI Nifty Junior Index Fund(G) 20.90 -11.70HDFC TaxSaver(G) 493.24 -12.09Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 9.70 -12.12Pan European Equity Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Diversified Equity(G) 95.40 -12.18SBI Tax advantage Fund-II(G) 33.62 -12.25IDFC Tax Advt(ELSS) 52.97 -12.28Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.27 -12.32Fund-IV-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Global 11.63 -12.33Commodities Fund(G)Edelweiss Eur Dynamic Equity 9.79 -12.46Off-shr Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities 52.85 -12.62Fund(G)Kotak Emerging Equity 36.82 -12.70Scheme(G)JM Value Fund(G) 29.51 -12.70Reliance Growth Fund(G) 1064.78-12.84Principal Emerging Bluechip 99.55 -12.91Fund(G)ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G) 94.09 -12.99BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund(G) 44.04 -13.27ICICI Pru Dividend Yield Equity 16.24 -13.39Fund(G)Motilal Oswal Midcap 30 24.13 -13.45Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Focused Equity 34.94 -13.79Fund-Reg(G)Templeton India Value Fund(G) 241.35 -13.95L&T India Value Fund-Reg(G) 34.04 -13.99Sundaram Select Small Cap 13.42 -14.04Series-IV-Reg(G)L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 131.51 -14.07Aditya Birla SL Equity 383.40 -14.33Advantage Fund(G)Reliance Focused Equity 44.36 -14.35Fund(G)L&T Large and Midcap 44.89 -14.37Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Multicap Fund(G) 45.61 -14.46Sundaram Select Small Cap 13.39 -14.61Series-III-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity 13.10 -14.71Fund-Reg(G)Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G) 130.15 -14.76Baroda ELSS 96(G) 41.98 -15.14UTI LT Adv Fund-V(G) 9.50 -15.24UTI LT Adv Fund-III(G) 13.19 -15.37UTI Focussed Equity Fund-I(G) 12.66 -15.50ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund(G) 48.58 -15.59SBI Contra Fund-Reg(G) 103.88 -15.85IDFC Sterling Value 49.79 -16.02Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G) 73.84 -16.08Baroda Mid-cap Fund(G) 8.76 -16.09IDBI Midcap Fund(G) 10.51 -16.19UTI Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 99.57 -16.40Invesco India Infrastructure 16.28 -16.47Fund(G)UTI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 49.71 -16.48L&T Emerging Businesses 24.53 -16.54Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Dividend 155.07 -16.54Yield Fund(G)Tata Infrastructure Fund(G) 52.79 -16.55Sundaram Mid Cap Fund(G) 456.97 -16.73

DHFL Pramerica Midcap Opp 17.50 -16.75Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G) 281.35 -16.87IDBI Small Cap Fund(G) 9.38 -17.06SBI LT Advantage 12.34 -17.07Fund-III-Reg(G)Kotak Global Emerging 14.00 -17.11Mkt Fund(G)Invesco India PSU Equity 16.66 -17.28Fund(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-IV(G) 10.27 -17.55

Tata Infrastructure Tax 23.14 -17.62Saving Fund(G)Edelweiss Mid Cap 25.43 -17.64Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.78 -17.68Fund-II-Reg(G)Franklin Asian Equity Fund(G) 18.77 -17.93Principal Global Opportunities 24.30 -17.97Fund(G)Franklin India Smaller 52.16 -18.05Cos Fund(G)Sundaram Select Micro 29.12 -18.08Cap-Series IV-Reg(G)Tata Resources & Energy 13.34 -18.12Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 30.60 -18.33Cap-Series III-Reg(G)DSP Natural Res & New 30.50 -18.33Energy Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Small Cap Fund(G) 39.44 -18.36L&T Business Cycle 14.59 -18.50Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Vision Fund(G) 506.03 -18.52DSP India T.I.G.E.R 85.49 -18.58Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Small Cap Fund(G) 68.57 -18.81BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G) 30.84 -18.83Sundaram Select Micro 30.76 -19.09Cap-Series I-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.43 -19.13Fund-I-Reg(G)SBI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 14.15 -19.33Sundaram Select Micro 30.73 -19.49Cap-Series II-Reg(G)SBI Magnum MidCap 70.40 -19.77Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Infrastructure 43.04 -19.91Fund-Reg(G)L&T Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 15.54 -20.06Kotak Infra & Eco 18.92 -20.89Reform Fund(G)UTI Transportation & Logistics 99.43 -21.84Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss Gr China Equity 21.81 -21.90Off-Shore Fund-Reg(G)SBI Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 49.93 -22.30Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) 53.97 -22.42Fund(G)SBI Magnum Comma 33.73 -23.02Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure 30.55 -23.41Fund(G)Sundaram Infra Advantage 30.50 -23.42Fund(G)ICICI Pru Smallcap Fund(G) 23.33 -23.76Aditya Birla SL Small Cap 34.14 -23.85Fund(G)Reliance Power & Infra Fund(G) 95.82 -24.27SBI PSU Fund-Reg(G) 9.78 -24.41Aditya Birla SL Pure Value 51.17 -25.45Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Emerging 13.95 -25.80Leaders Fund-3-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 13.17 -26.07Cap-Series X-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Emerging 14.45 -26.16Leaders Fund-4-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Emerging 12.61 -26.56Leaders Fund-7-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 8.68 -27.00Tax Adv Fund-Sr V-Reg(G)DSP Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 52.72 -27.17IDFC Infrastructure-Reg(G) 14.47 -27.85Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 10.36 -30.42Adv Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Sundaram Small Cap Fund(G) 79.68 -30.54Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 8.85 -30.63Adv Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G) 15.78 -30.99

world 12LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

TROTTINGTROTTINGGLOBE

HINDU TEMPLEVANDALISED IN B’DESHDhaka: A Hindu temple wasvandalised in clashes between two groups inBangladesh’s central Tangaildistrict, a media report saidSunday. The family of thetemple’s owner was alsoattacked by a group of eight tonine people in Batra village ofthe district Friday, DhakaTribune reported. Chitta Ranjanacquired the land and built atemple of lord Shiva over 20years ago, it said.

EX-MIN SENT TO JAILON GRAFT CHARGESDhaka: A Bangladesh court onSunday scrapped the bailformer Minister Nazmul Hudaand sent him to jail after hesurrendered before it in Taka 2.4crore graft case, in which hewas sentenced to four yearsimprisonment. Huda, who is Chairman of the Bangladesh National Alliance (BNA) — an ally ofPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina’sruling Awami League, wassentenced to seven-year jailterm by a lower court in thecase but the High Court lastyear, reduced his sentence tofour years.

AP n WASHINGTON

White House officials andcongressional aides

emerged from talks aimed atending a partial Governmentshutdown over PresidentDonald Trump’s demands forborder wall funding without abreakthrough on Saturday,though they planned to returnto the table the following day.

Trump tweeted: “Notmuch headway made today.”

Democrats agreed therehad been little movement, saying the White House did not budge on the demand for$5.6 billion and would notconsider re-opening the gov-ernment.

The White House saidfunding was not discussed in-depth, but the administrationwas clear they needed fundingfor a wall and that they want-ed to resolve the shutdown allat once.

Accusations flew after the more than two-hour ses-sion led by Vice PresidentMike Pence.

Acting chief of staff Mick

Mulvaney, in an interview airedon CNN, accused Democratsof being there to “stall.”

Democrats familiar withthe meeting said the WhiteHouse position was “unten-able.”

A White House officialalso said the meeting includeda briefing on border security byHomeland Security SecretaryKirstjen Nielsen.

Democrats sought writtendetails from the Department ofHomeland Security on theirbudget needs, which the WhiteHouse said it would provide.The group plans to meet againSunday.

With talks stalled, HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosiannounced Saturday thatHouse Democrats plan to startapproving individual bills toreopen shuttered departmentsstarting with Treasury to ensureAmericans receive their taxreturns.

“While President Trumpthreatens to keep the govern-ment shut down for ‘years’,Democrats are taking imme-diate further action to re-open

government, so that we canmeet the needs of theAmerican people, protect ourborders and respect our work-ers,” Pelosi said.

Trump, who did not attendthe discussions, spent themorning tweeting about bordersecurity.

Showing little empathy forthe hundreds of thousands offederal workers furloughed orworking without pay, Trumpdeclared — without citing evi-dence — that most areDemocrats.

He also asserted: “I want tostop the Shutdown as soon aswe are in agreement on StrongBorder Security! I am in theWhite House ready to go,where are the Dems?”

One Democrat, MarylandSen. Chris Van Hollen, said inhis party’s weekly radio addressthat the shutdown “is part of alarger pattern of a presidentwho puts his personal whimsand his effort to score politicalpoints before the needs of theAmerican people. ... He ispointing fingers at everyone buthimself.”

Not much headway in talks

as shutdown drags on: Don

AP n MEXICO CITY

President Andres ManuelLopez Obrador has

launched an ambitious plan tostimulate economic activity onthe Mexican side of the US-Mexico border despite recentUS Threats to close the borderentirely.

Mexico plans to slashincome and corporate taxes to20 per cent from 30 per cent for43 municipalities in six statesjust south of the US, while halv-ing to 8 per cent the value-added tax in the region.

Business leaders and unionrepresentatives have also agreedto double the minimum wagealong the border, to 176.2pesos a day, the equivalent ofUSD 9.07 at current exchangerates.

Lopez Obrador says theidea is to stimulate wage andjob growth via fiscal incentivesand productivity gains.President Donald Trump hasrepeatedly complained that lowwages in Mexico lure jobs fromthe US.

Mexico launchesplan to stimulateUS bordereconomy

AFP n KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s king has abdicat-ed, royal officials said

on Sunday, in a historic first forthe country that ended weeksof speculation about his futureafter he took medical leave.

Sultan Muhammad V’sdecision marks the first time aking has abdicated in theMuslim-majority country sinceit gained independence fromBritain in 1957.

It came after the king tookleave at the start of Novemberfor two months, during whichtime unconfirmed reports cir-culated that he had married aRussian former beauty queen.

A statement from thenational palace confirmed theresignation of the relativelyyouthful monarch, known forhis fondness for four-wheeldriving and other extremesports.

“His majesty tells the peo-ple of Malaysia to continue tobe united to maintain unity, tol-erance, and work together,”said the statement, signed bythe Comptroller of the Royal

Household, Wan AhmadDahlan Abdul Aziz.

It gave no reason for the49-year-old’s move.

But there had been a ques-tion mark over the reign of theking, who ascended to thethrone in December 2016,since he took a leave of absencefor medical treatment inNovember.

Reports then circulatedonline that he had married aformer Miss Moscow in Russia.Royal officials in Malaysia haveso far not commented on therumoured marriage, or givenany details about his healthcondition.

While their role is cere-monial, Malaysia’s Islamic roy-alty command great respect,especially from Muslim Malays,and criticising them is strictlyforbidden.

Speculation intensifiedabout the king’s future thisweek when the country’sIslamic royals reportedly helda special meeting.

Malaysia is a constitution-al monarchy, with a uniquearrangement where the throne

changes hands every five yearsbetween rulers of the nineMalaysian states headed bycenturies-old Islamic royalty.

The rotating monarchysystem has been in place sinceindependence from Britain in1957, and Sultan MuhammadV is the first monarch to haverenounced the throne. SultanMuhammad V studied at StCross College at Oxford andthe Oxford Centre for IslamicStudies, according to officialmedia.

He is known for a relaxedpublic persona, taking part inwalkathons to promote health,and has been photographedwearing a baseball cap back-wards. Portraits of the king andqueen adorn governmentbuildings throughout the coun-try. The king is also the sym-bolic head of Islam in thenation, as well as the nominalchief of the military.

Malaysia’s sultans trace alineage back to Malay sul-tanates of the 15th century. Theking is referred to as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or “He Who IsMade Lord”.

Malaysia king abdicatesafter tying Russian knot

AFP n KUNDUZ

At least 30 people were killedwhen a gold mine

collapsed in northeasternAfghanistan on Sunday, officials said, in the latesttragedy to strike the war-torncountry.

Another seven wereinjured in the incident inKohistan district ofBadakhshan province, districtgovernor Mohammad RustamRaghi told AFP.

Villagers had dug a 60-metre (200-feet) deep shaft ina river bed to search for gold.They were inside when thewalls fell in.

“The people were using an

excavator to dig a big hole inthe river when it collapsed,trapping dozens of workers,”Raghi said.

“At least 30 people havebeen killed and seven wound-ed.” It was not clear why theshaft collapsed, but the provin-cial governor’s spokesman NikMohammad Nazari told AFPthe miners were not profes-sionals.

“The villagers have beeninvolved in this business for decades with noGovernment control overthem,” Nazari said.

“We have sent a rescueteam to the area, but villagershave already started removingbodies from the site.” Defense

ministry helicopters have beendispatched to deliver cash tothe families of the victims andairlift the wounded to hospitals,said Hashmat Bahaduri,spokesman for the NationalDisaster ManagementAuthority.

Bahaduri confirmed thecasualty toll, but warned thefigures could change.

Families of the woundedwill receive 10,000 afghanis(about USD 130) in compen-sation, while those of the deadwill get 50,000 afghanis, he said.Badakhshan is a remote,mountainous province innortheast Afghanistan border-ing Tajikistan, China andPakistan.

At least 30 killed in Afghangold mine collapse: officials

PTI n DHAKA

Bangladesh on Sunday nameda council of ministers with

several new faces in the 47-member Cabinet of PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina whoseAwami League returned topower for a third consecutiveterm after its landslide victoryin the December 30 election.

Several veterans weredropped from the council ofministers amid speculationabout the inductions as majorportfolios like defence wereretained by Hasina herself.

Academic-turned-diplomatAbdul Momen, a new face inpolitics, was appointed the newForeign Minister. He previous-ly served as Bangladesh’s per-

manent envoy at the UN.Former planning minister

and businessman AHMMustafa Kamal became thefinance minister in the Cabinetwhich has 24 full ministerswith the rest being ministers ofstate. Several influential AwamiLeague figures including generalsecretary Obaidul Quader,Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal,Anisul Huq and AKMMozammel Haque retainedtheir positions in the ministriesof road transport and bridges,home, law, and liberation affairs.

But 25 former ministers,nine state ministers and twodeputy ministers — several ofthem regarded as AwamiLeague stalwarts were droppedfrom the new Cabinet.

Many new blood inHasina’s new Cabinet

AFP n PARIS

‘Yellow vest’ protestersreturned in force to the

streets of France this weekend,clashing with police in severalcities and smashing their wayinto a government ministry inParis with the help of a forklifttruck. The interior ministry putthe number of protesters whotook to the streets on Saturdayat 50,000, compared with32,000 on December 29 whenthe movement appeared to beweakening after holding aseries of weekly Saturdayprotests since mid-November.

Government spokesmanBenjamin Griveaux, who wasevacuated from his ministry incentral Paris when a handful ofprotesters in high-visibilityvests smashed down the largewooden door to the ministrycompound, denounced thebreak-in as an “unacceptableattack on the Republic”.

“Some yellow vest protest-ers and other people dressed inblack... got hold of a construc-tion vehicle which was in thestreet nearby and smashedopen the entrance gate to theministry,” he told AFP. Theybriefly entered the courtyard

where they smashed up twocars, broke some windows thenescaped, he added, sayingpolice were trying to identifythem from security footage.

President EmmanuelMacron did not specificallyrefer to the incident, but tweet-ed his condemnation of the“extreme violence” against “theRepublic, its guardians, its rep-resentatives and its symbols”.

Griveaux had on Fridaycriticised the yellow vest move-ment, describing those stillinvolved as “agitators” whowere seeking “to overthrowthe government”.

Police said some 3,500demonstrators turned up on theChamps-Elysees on Saturdaymorning. Some then made theirway south of the river to thewealthy area around BoulevardSt Germain, where they set lightto a car and several motorbikesand set up burning barricades,prompting police to fire tear gasto try and disperse them. Policesaid 35 people were arrested.

Demonstrators took to thestreets of several other citiesacross France, with up to 2,000people in Rouen northwest ofParis, where some set up burn-ing barricades.

AFP n BEIRUT

Two British soldiers were wounded Saturday in

eastern Syria by a missile firedby the ISIS, an NGO said.

The Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said the pair werepart of the the international anti-jihadist coalition, led by theUnited States.

“The two British soldierswere transported by helicopterto receive medical care,” theobservatory’s director RamiAbdel told AFP. A Kurdishfighter from the SyrianDemocratic Forces (SDF) diedin the attack in the village of Al-Shaafa in Deir Ezzor province,one of the last pockets of terri-tory still controlled by ISIS in the

Euphrates River valley.The SDF, a coalition domi-

nated by Kurdish fighters, hasspearheaded the fight againstISIS, supported by severalWestern countries including theUnited Kingdom. The interna-tional alliance seized the key ISholdout of Hajin in Decemberafter months of fighting that hasseen the jihadists launch viciouscounter-attacks.

ISIS, which once controlledswathes of Syria and Iraq, hasbeen pounded by multiple offen-sives. Since September, morethan 1,000 jihadists have beenkilled in the fighting comparedwith just under 600 SDF mem-bers while 15,000 people havefled Hajin, according to theObservatory.

2 British soldiers injuredin Syria by ISIS missile

Russia: Too early to consider

exchange of US spy suspect

PTI n LONDON

In a first, scientists have foundevidence that the mysterious

dark matter — believed tomake up most of the mass ofthe universe — can be heatedup and moved around, as aresult of star formation ingalaxies.

The findings, published inthe journal Monthly Notices ofthe Royal AstronomicalSociety, provide the first obser-vational evidence for the effectknown as ‘dark matter heating’,and give new clues as to whatmakes up dark matter.

Scientists from theUniversity of Surrey in theUK, Carnegie MellonUniversity in the US and ETHZurich in Switzerland set out tohunt for evidence for darkmatter at the centres of nearbydwarf galaxies.

Dwarf galaxies are small,faint galaxies that are typicallyfound orbiting larger galaxieslike our own Milky Way. Theymay hold clues that could helpus to better understand thenature of dark matter.

Dark matter is thought tomake up most of the mass ofthe universe. However since itdoes not interact with light inthe same way as normal mat-ter, it can only be observedthrough its gravitational effects.

The key to studying it mayhowever lie in how stars areformed in these galaxies.

When stars form, strongwinds can push gas and dustaway from the heart of thegalaxy. As a result, the galaxy’scentre has less mass, whichaffects how much gravity is feltby the remaining dark matter.

With less gravitationalattraction, the dark mattergains energy and migrates awayfrom the centre, an effect called‘dark matter heating’.

The team of astrophysicistsmeasured the amount of darkmatter at the centres of 16dwarf galaxies with very dif-ferent star formation histories.

They found that galaxiesthat stopped forming stars longago had higher dark matterdensities at their centres thanthose that are still formingstars today. This supports thetheory that the older galaxies

Scientists detectdark matter ‘onthe move’

AP n BELGRADE (SERBIA)

Thousands of people havebraved snow and freezing

temperatures in Serbia’s Capitalto turn up for the fifth week ofstreet protests against pop-ulist President AleksandarVucic.

The demonstratorsmarched through downtownBelgrade blowing whistles andbooing and jeering loudly asthey passed the Serbian pres-idency building on Saturday.

Some carried Serbian flagsand banners reading “We arethe people” or “Down with thethieves.”

The demonstrations start-ed after thugs beat up anopposition leader inNovember, putting pressureon Vucic.

Critics accuse the president of imposing an autocracy through strict con-trol over the media and pro-moting hate speech againstopponents. Vucic rejects beinglabelled as domineering andhas suggested he might call anearly election this year.

Thousands bravesnow to rallyagainst Serbiapopulist leader

AFP n JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said

that he would discuss Iranianambitions in neighbouringSyria when he meets on Sundayevening with US national secu-rity advisor John Bolton inJerusalem.

Bolton arrived in Israel onSaturday night for talks on thefuture of Syria in the wake ofPresident Donald Trump’s deci-sion to withdraw all US forcesthere.

The announcement hasconcerned Israel and other USallies in the region, and Trumphas since spoken of “slowly”sending troops home “over aperiod of time”.

“I will discuss with himefforts to stop Iranian aggres-sion in our region, the situationin Syria, following PresidentTrump’s decision, and the con-tinuation of the conversation Iheld with President Putin onFriday,” Netanyahu said at thestart of a cabinet meeting.

The phone call with Putinwas the first between the lead-ers since Trump’s surprise state-ment that he was pulling all

2,000 troops from Syria, declar-ing that the United States hadachieved its objective as theIslamic State group had been“knocked” out.

Netanyahu’s office said heand Putin “discussed the situ-ation in Syria and recent devel-opments and agreed on con-tinued coordination betweenthe (Israeli and Russian) mili-taries”.

“Our position is clear,”Netanyahu said on Sunday.“We continue at this time to actagainst the Iranian militarybuildup in Syria, and we areacting against anyone whoundermines or tries to under-mine Israel’s security.”

Israel has carried out hun-dreds of air strikes in neigh-

bouring Syria against what itsays are Iranian military targetsand deliveries of advancedweapons to Hezbollah, whichis backed by Tehran.

Israeli public radio saidthat Sunday evening’s meetingwould also includeWashington’s concerns overChinese commercial and tech-nological activity in the Jewishstate.

Netanyahu has beendelighted by Trump’s hard lineon Israel’s main enemy Iran andthe landmark move of the USembassy in Israel to Jerusalem,but the pullout from Syria hascaused concern.

At a meeting on Tuesday inBrazil, US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo told the Israelipremier that the Syria pulloutwould not affect US supportand protection of Israel.

“The counter-ISIS cam-paign continues, our efforts tocounter Iranian aggressioncontinue, and our commit-ment to Middle East stabilityand protection of Israel con-tinues in the same way beforethat decision was made,” hesaid using an acronym for theIslamic State group.

Netanyahu to talk post-USSyria with Trump adviser

‘discussed thesituation in Syria andrecent developments

and agreed oncontinued

coordinationbetween the (Israeli

and Russian)militaries’

AFP n CAIRO

Egypt’s president will inaugu-rate the country’s biggest

cathedral on Coptic ChristmasEve Sunday, a day after a dead-ly bomb blast near a church ina country where jihadists haverepeatedly targeted Christians.

There was no immediateclaim of responsibility forSaturday’s explosion on the east-ern edge of Cairo that killed apoliceman who was trying todefuse the device and woundedtwo other officers.

Coptic Christians, whoaccount for around 10 per centof Egypt’s population, have beenhit by a string of attacks by theIslamic State group in recentyears.

The bomb was hiddeninside a bag that was placed on

the rooftop of Al-Haq mosquenear the Virgin Mary church inthe Nasr City district of Cairo,religious officials and witnessessaid.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt,Shawki Allam, denounced “theterrorist operation that targeted...The church in the Ezzbat al-Haggan neighbourhood of NasrCity”, on his official Facebookpage.

He said “extremists” hadplanted “an explosive device onthe roof of Al-Haq mosque...Near the Virgin Mary church”.

Massad Saad, the son of theprayer leader at the mosque, toldAFP he was inside the buildingwhen other worshippers noticed“a man going up to the roof car-rying a bag” but when they fol-lowed him they found “twobags”.

“We informed the police,”Saad, a 35-year-old baker, saidin a phone interview.

There was no immediateconfirmation from officials.Government newspaper Al-Ahram reported Sunday that abomb had been placed in a bagon the roof of a building inEzzbat al-Haggan, but it did notmention the church or themosque.

On Sunday morning secu-rity forces were deployed aroundthe neighbourhood keepingjournalists at bay.

Security has been reinforcedin Cairo in recent weeks ahead ofCoptic Christmas which is cele-brated on January 7.

On Sunday eveningPresident Abdel Fattah al-Sisiwas due to inaugurate theCathedral of Nativity in Egypt’s

new administrative capital, 45kilometres east of Cairo.

Sisi often presents himself asa defender of Christians againstextremists but activists andsome analysts accuse the state ofdiscriminating against them andnot providing enough protec-tion.

On Sunday Sisi will join theCoptic pope, Tawadros II, in thecathedral which is touted as thelargest in the Middle East.

The president visited theCathedral of Nativity forChristmas Eve last year when itwas still under construction, andgave a short speech wishingCopts a merry Christmas andsaying the country would prevailover jihadists. His attendance onSunday will mark the cathedral’sofficial inauguration.

The president will also inau-

gurate on Sunday Al-Fattah al-Alim mosque in the new admin-istrative capital.

More than 100 Copts havebeen killed in jihadist attackssince December 2016.

IS claimed an assault inearly November in which sixCopts and one Anglican died inthe central province of Minya.

IS also killed more than 40people in twin church bombingsin April 2017, and an IS gunmanin December that year killednine people in an attack on achurch in a south Cairo suburb.

Hundreds of police and sol-diers have also been killed inattacks. Last week threeVietnamese tourists and theirEgyptian guide died when ahomemade bomb exploded ontheir bus on the outskirts ofCairo.

Egypt’s Sisi to inaugurate Coptic cathedral after bomb blast

AP n MOSCOW

Russia’s deputy foreign min-ister has brushed back sug-

gestions that an American beingheld in Moscow on suspicion ofspying could be exchanged fora Russian citizen.

The brother of Paul Whelan,however, tells The AssociatedPress that he can’t help butquestion whether the events areconnected.

“You look at what’s going onand you wonder if this is just alarge game of pieces beingmoved around,” David Whelantold the AP via Skype fromNewmarket, Ontario. “You start to wonder if all ofthese things are connected. But

at the same time, they could justbe arbitrary events.” PaulWhelan, a former U.S. Marinewho also holds Canadian, Britishand Irish citizenship, wasdetained in Moscow in lateDecember.

His arrest has led to specu-lation that Russia could be usinghim to bargain for a Russianwoman who has pleaded guiltyto acting as a foreign agent in theUnited States.

Russian Deputy ForeignMinister Sergei Ryabkov saidSaturday that discussing a pos-sible swap involving Whelan andMaria Butina would be prema-ture because Whelan hasn’t beenformally charged, according toRussian news agencies.

“As to the possibility ofexchanges of one sort of anoth-er, it’s impossible and incorrectto consider the question nowwhen an official charge hasn’teven been presented,” Ryabkovwas quoted as saying by statenews agency RIA-Novosti.“Charges will be presented in thenear future,” he said, accordingto the Interfax agency.

Some Russian news reportsearlier cited unnamed sources assaying Whelan had been indict-ed on espionage charges thatcarry a possible prison sen-tence of 20 years. Russian offi-cials haven’t given details ofWhelan’s suspected activitiesand he was initially identifiedonly as an American.

Demonstrators wearing yellow vests walk on the highway in Lyon, central France,on Saturday AP

‘Yellow vests’ storm French

ministry as protests turn violent

What does hope meanto you? Does havinghope help to motivateyou every day to getout of bed and go

about your daily routine? Hope givesus a reason to exist. Without hope, lifecan be dull and sad.

My favorite definition of hope is“To expect with confidence: trust”(Merriam Webster’s CollegiateDictionary, page 598, 2003). We mustbe aware of the signs of hope that weencounter daily.

Personally, hope motivates me todo more. I love the quote, “Be thechange you want to see in the world”(Mahatma Gandhi). I realise that bydoing the right thing, being kind andhelpful, I can help to change our worldtoday. Even though I am one personin a troubled community, I realize thatI can do something to give othershope. Hope energises me, makes mehappy, and makes my day better. Irealise that every day I need to dosomething to give others hope. It trulymakes the world a better place, despite

bad things that happen.My family gives me hope. The love

and comfort I have from them allowsme to be hopeful. I am blessed to havethem. My job as a teacher atHuntington Middle School gives mehope. The smiles, love and motivationfrom those who live in unfortunate sit-uations gives me hope that they willsucceed in life and be in a better placesomeday.

My church gives me hope.Whether I am helping or sitting in thepews during a Sunday service, Ialways get emotional when I hearpowerful music, witness the partici-pation of so many children, or hear ofways that faith has helped someonechange their life in a positive way.

It is critical for us to have hope.Hope allows us to have goals anddreams for ourselves. Without it, wemerely exist. As a world, we hope forpeace, of course, but we also hope forleaders who make good choices andwork together instead of against eachother. As a nation, we can hope forleaders who care about people, repre-

sent our country well, and makequality decisions.

As a community, our hope is thatdrug addicts recover, get educated,become good parents, get a job andcontribute to the community in a pos-itive way. As a teacher, my hope is thatI inspire as many students as possibleto actually want to succeed in life byfollowing rules, having dreams andgoals, and to make those dreams hap-pen. As a mother, my hope for mychildren is to be happy, to contributeto society in a positive way, and to helpand give when able to do so.

I feel like I am meant to do my jobas a teacher at HMS. Lately, I havecommented to some that this is whereI am meant to be to reach those stu-dents who need extra attention andcare. While I always feel like I can domore, I try my best every day to greeteach child by name, show them thatI care, and encourage them to try theirbest in order to have hope in their life.I truly love what I do and care aboutmy students as if they were my ownchildren. I believe that by showing

them that someone truly cares aboutthem, it can allow them to havehope.

Anyone can positively impactanother person’s life by being kind,smiling at them, being helpful andshowing that you care. Greeting peo-ple, offering to help others, showingrandom acts of kindness and volun-teering are all ways we can make theworld a better place and to be hope-ful. We need to be aware of those whoneed hope in their lives and do whatwe can to help foster that.

Our world today is full of crime,chaos, disasters and shocking news. Inorder for us to continue staying pos-itive, we must have hope. People alsoneed to be aware of how their atti-tudes, words and actions contribute tothe mess we are in. We have to beunderstanding, compassionate andmotivated to turn things around. Wecannot be part of the problem; wemust be part of the solution to turnthings around. Most of all, we needhope to make this world a better place.

—AP

GUT PROTECTS AGAINST ARSENIC POISONING

OBESITY CAN CUT SHORT YOUR DOG’S LIFE

Eating an egg daily can have abeneficial effect on the bloodmetabolite profile that is related toa lower risk of Type-2 diabetes, anew study shows.It showed that the blood samplesof men who ate more eggsincluded certain lipid moleculesthat positively correlated with the blood profile of men whoremained free of Type-2 diabetes. “The study explored potential compounds that couldexplain this association using non-targeted metabolomics,a technique that enables a broad profiling of chemicals in asample,” said lead author Stefania Noerman from theUniversity of Eastern Finland.High intake of eggs has traditionally been discouraged,mainly due to their high cholesterol content. However, eggs are also a rich source of many bioactivecompounds that can have beneficial effects on health. Thismeans that the health effects of consuming eggs aredifficult to determine based solely on their cholesterolcontent, the researchers said.

FOOD ADDITIVE BEHIND CELIAC DISEASE

A common food additive, used in sausages, cheese, bread,dairy, baked and other processed foods, could both causeand trigger celiac disease, warns a recent study.Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder, where glutentriggers the immune system to attack the gut. The study showed that celiac disease could be caused by abacterial enzyme named microbial transglutaminase, which isheavily used in the food processing industries to amelioratefood qualities and elongate products’ shelf life.“Microbial transglutaminase can glue together proteins, soit’s used to improvefood texture,palatability and shelf-life,” said AaronLerner, visitingprofessor at theAesku.Kipp Institute inGermany. “This enzyme functions like the transglutaminase producedby our body, which is known to be the target ofautoimmunity in celiac disease,” Lerner added.

If you thought that obesity affects onlyhumans, you may be wrong. It can alsoshorten lives of your canine friends, findsa research.The research, from the University ofLiverpool in the UK, reveals that thelifespan of overweight dogs was up totwo-and-half years shorter whencompared to ideal-weight dogs.“Owners are often unaware that their dogis overweight, and many may not realise the impact that it can haveon their health,” said Alex German, Professor at the university. “What they may not know is that if their beloved pet is too heavy,they are more likely to suffer from other problems such as jointdisease, breathing issues, and certain types of cancer, as well ashaving a poorer quality of life. These health and well-being issues cansignificantly impact how long they live,” he added.The study, published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine,examined more than 50,000 dogs across 12 of the most popular dogbreeds.

A large protein found in spinach may aid in thedevelopment of new medications for millions around theworld dealing with alcohol use disorders, chronic painand mood disorders, researchers said.The study, led by researchers from the Purdue University,discovered two peptides which are naturally metabolicproducts of Rubisco —a large protein found inmany plants like spinach— that may aid in thedevelopment of newmedications.“These disorders arecurrently not adequatelymanaged,” said Richardvan Rijn, AssistantProfessor at Purdue. “Better medications that take a more holistic approachand produce fewer side effects will be beneficial. Wediscovered that these peptides selectively activate theknown beneficial pathways without activating the ‘side-effect pathways’ of the receptor,” van Rijn added.

vivacity {mindspace} 13

SPINACH-PROTEIN MAY TREAT MOOD DISORDERS

Microbes in the human gutplay an important role inprotecting against arsenictoxicity, new researchsuggests.Arsenic toxicity is a problemthat affects an estimated 200million people worldwide whoare exposed to arsenic throughcontaminated food and drinking water.Long-term exposure to arsenic is associated with increasedrisk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, among others.“A better understanding of how the microbiome protectsagainst toxins like arsenic could benefit communities orvillages with contaminated water sources through probioticor other microbiome therapies, especially since it is notalways practical or possible to replace a water source,” saidone of the researchers Seth Walk from Montana StateUniversity in the US.The study, conducted in mice, described the essentiality ofgut microbiome for full protection against acute arsenictoxicity.

AN EGG A DAY MAY KEEP DIABETES AWAY

There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.— J.R.R. Tolkien

BUILD A BETTER

WORLD TOGETHER

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

We all dream of a better world where there is peace,happiness and harmony, don’t we? No one would

like degradation of environment, loss of human lives dueto wars, corrosion of human spirit by crime and corrup-tion, dehumanisation through poverty, economic andpolitical conditions, all of which drain human energy andmake life miserable.

On the contrary, all would like life to be characterisedby harmony and health, well-being and wealth. But thequestion is, what are those values? How can such a socio-politico-economic system be established which hasthose values? What will enhance human experience andenable men and women to have a lifestyle that can makethe society viable?

If we conduct a sur-vey among variousgroups of people on thisparticular subject, wewill find that their opin-ion would most proba-bly crystalise around 10or 15 major points. Theywould say that a betterworld is one in whichthe following exist onlyin milder forms or in alesser degree than wehave them in the pre-sent-day world. Themajor problems or caus-es of sufferings are wars,violence and cruelty inany form, poverty,unemployment andsocial, economic and political injustice, environmental pol-lution and ecological imbalance, corruption, crime,indiscipline and obscenity, disease, infirmity and highmortality rate, slavery, lack of freedom or deprivation ofhuman rights, hunger, malnutrition or starvation, wrongattitude towards the other sex and abuse of children, addic-tions, intoxications, tensions and lack of happiness, hatred,suspicion, fear, cut-throat competition, rivalry andabsence or lack of love and co-operation at various lev-els of society.

Post this survey, if we conduct another one askingevery segment of society about the efforts or improve-ments that they expect from the other segments to cre-ate a better world, a fair enough consensus on the follow-ing lines would emerge. People would say that they wantscientists to have an orientation of spirituality, religiousleaders to have scientific temper, doctors to treat not onlythe body but also the mind, education to have spiritualand moral development, women to be given proper socialstatus and men’s attitude and outlook towards them to bemore spiritualised. The youth and children should be givenmore love and they should respect their elders. The soci-ety should have a balance of love and law and it shouldbe based on the principles of justice, fairplay and equal-ity of opportunity.

Now these objectives can be fulfilled only if every seg-ment of society works a bit for the fulfillment of what othersegments expect of it. Each individual has to contributea bit of his time to work towards raising awareness of thepeople so as to realise the above goals. For this global taskis required the global co-operation. Hence, a new kindof bank to which each individual or institution can offerits contributions so as to build a better world is the needof the hour.

The society should be basedon the principles of justice,fairplay and equality, believesRAJYOGI BRAHMAKUMAR NIKUNJ JI

Lifestyle choices have a hugeimpact on your skin’shealth and appearance.

Amidst all the bad lifestylehabits, smoking is by far one ofthe most dangerous activities asit affects your internal as well asexternal health. It has beenincreasing the risk of becomingvictims of various fatal ailmentssuch as heart disease, lung can-cer, mouth cancer and more.Smoking also a disaster foryour skin and hair. With eachpuff of smoke, your skin is mov-ing closer towards prematureageing.

Many studies have claimedthat cigarette smoking causes anindividual’s skin to age fasterthan the exposure to sunlightdoes. The moment you inhalefrom a cigarette, you have beenintroduced to more than 4,000chemicals, including skin-dam-aging free radicals which enteryour body. These inhaled chem-icals damages the skin fibrob-lasts. These are the cells in con-nective tissue that form fibreslike collagen and elastin. Theseare precious fibres that give yourskin its youthful strength andelasticity. Once they weaken, theskin begins to wrinkle. It is dueto the lack of collagen andelastin that causes such damageto the skin. Several studies havereported that moderate smok-ers are almost twice more like-ly to wrinkle prematurely thannon-smokers, and on the otherhand, heavy smokers are almostthrice more likely to wrinkleprematurely.

Nicotine, which is presentin the cigarettes causes theblood vessels in the outermost

layers of your skin to narrow,weakening the blood flow toyour skin and hence resulting indry, dull, pale or blotchy skin.Not only this, you may developpremature lines and wrinkles onyour face as well. Another badimpact of smoking on yourbody is that it makes your bodyto produce fewer red bloodcells. Due to this your skin willstart to lose its healthy glow. Notonly this, it also decreases theability of skin to regenerateand repair wounds. Due to lim-ited transport of blood throughthe body, the supply of nutrientsrequired by the skin to regener-ate is also restrained. Anothertoxic component, CarbonMonoxide, present in cigarettereduces the flow of oxygenthrough the body, hence reduc-ing the supply of oxygen need-ed by damaged cells to regener-ate.

Even the physical act ofsmoking itself can lead to wrin-kles and fine lines on your face.Those ugly lines around themouth, which is commonamong the long-term smokersare because of the repetitivecompressing of the lips whileinhaling. It is proved thatwomen’s skin is more affectedby smoking than men’s skin.

One survey has a report on

premature ageing effect in bothsexes due to smoking. It isfound that smoking men pre-mature 2.3 times faster thannon-smoking men, and smok-ing women pre-mature morethan three times faster thannon-smoking women. In addi-tion to wrinkles and pre-

mature ageing, smoking alsoleads to an increase in an indi-vidual’s risk of gauntness andfacial discolouration.

TIPS TO REDUCE DAMAGEFROM CIGARETTE SMOKE

The best way to improveand help prevent further dam-

age to your skin and health isto quite smoking as it’s nevertoo late to do it. Even if you’vesmoked your whole life, it’spossible for you to stop now. Itwill not only improve your skinbut also your health and qual-ity of life. In addition to mul-tiple health benefits that comes

along with quitting smoking,you will notice that your bloodcirculation and skin tone beginto improve within a few weeksof quitting. You can also takethe assistance of external solu-tions to rectify the damagedone by smoking.

To reduce damage alreadydone, you can use a moisturis-er that contains Niacinamide,peptides and glycerine. Theseingredients can help toimprove damaged skin, refinethe skin cells and replenishingthe lost moisture.Niacianamide is a form ofVitamin B3. Peptides are pro-tein fragments that enable theskin to produce collagen. Useof peptides on the skin surfacecan be very effective and alsoslows down the ageing process.

You can increase yourantioxidant intake. Smokingdiminishes the quantityVitamin C in the body whichis an important antioxidantand protects against diseasessuch as cancer and heart dis-ease. Eat fruits rich in VitaminC like citrus fruits and melons.Vitamin E, another importantantioxidant will help protectthe skin from the skin damag-ing free radicals. Sources ofVitamin E are sunflower seeds,hazelnuts, almonds, sweetpotato to name a few.

Therefore, it is good newsthat the skin damage caused bysmoking is reversible and canbe treated. Quitting smokingand following a simple skincareroutine on a daily basis willhelp you regain your lostyouthful skin and a healthycomplexion.

Our world today is full of chaos,disasters and crime but it isimportant for us to stay positive

HOPE

POWERFUL

CAN BE A

FORCE

It’s never too late ARPITA DAS says that even if you’ve smoked for your entire adult life, it’spossible to stop now to improve your skin and quality of life

PEOPLE NEED TO BEAWARE OF HOWTHEIR ATTITUDE,

WORDS ANDACTIONS

CONTRIBUTE TO THEMESS WE ARE IN.WE HAVE TO BE

UNDERSTANDING,COMPASSIONATE

AND MOTIVATED TOTURN THINGS

AROUND

Actor AKSHAYE KHANNA, whoplays a crucial role in the movie, The Accidental Prime Minister,sees the reactions as a debate andnot a controversy.Asked about the response to thetrailer and the controversyaround it, Khanna said,“This is the first time thata film is made on a politi-cian of recent times,taking the realname, and (show-casing) all the realincidents that arevery much in thepublic domainand vividlyremembered by thepeople. Of course,people will havetheir opinion andthey must expressthem in all themediums. I do notthink these eventsas controversy. Weare living in ademocratic coun-try.”

Actor ARJUN KAPOOR is takinghorse riding lessons to prep forhis forthcoming period drama

Panipat andsays the processof learning hasbeen therapeuticand empower-ing.Arjun posted onsocial media,

“New year, new learnings... so thelast whole month of 2018 went inenjoying the company of an ani-mal, mother nature and sunris-es... as I gear up to restart shoot-ing for Panipat, I feel privilegedto be able to learn this beautifulart of becoming one with thismost glorious animal.”

Latin Grammy Award-winner J BALVIN, who reached globalpopularity with the number MiGente, says he wanted to create asong for everyone and at the sametime wanted to bring Latin cultureto a wider audience.Talking about MiGente which resonat-ed among many,Balvin said, “First-off, I will be forev-er grateful toWilly William,for creating abeat that Iinstantly con-nected with and Iknew would capti-vate the world.”The X hitmakeradded that he wantedto create “a song foreveryone. A songeveryone in the worldcould vibe with anddance to, and in theprocess bringing Latinmusic and Latin cultureto a wider audience.”

‘It’s a debate, nota controversy’

‘Want to create asong for everyone’

‘Alia (Bhatt) hasevolved as a personfar beyond her age.She is on her way togreatness. She wasreallybrilliant inRaazi. Ihave beenan admirerof herwork andcraft eversince Highway. I didsome ads with herbefore and she haslovely energy. Butafter working withher on, Gully Boy, Irealised what apowerhouse of talent she is.’—Ranveer Singh

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019vivacity 14

W E B B E DT E C H T A L K

Streaming TV may never again beas simple, or as affordable, as it isnow.Disney and WarnerMedia are each

launching their own streaming servicesin 2019 in a challenge to Netflix’s dom-inance. Netflix viewers will no longerbe able to watch hit movies such asBlack Panther or Moana, which willsoon reside on Disney’s subscriptionservice. WarnerMedia, a unit of AT&T,will also soon have its own service toshowcase its library of blockbuster filmsand HBO series.

Families will have to decidebetween paying more each month orlosing access to some of their favouritedramas, comedies, musicals and actionflicks.

“There’s definitely a lot of changecoming,” said Paul Verna at eMarketer,a digital research company. “People willhave more choices of what to stream,but at the same time the market isalready fragmented and intimidatingand it is only going to get more so.”

Media companies are seeking tocapitalise on the popularity and prof-itability of streaming. But by fragment-ing the market, they’re also narrowingthe once wide selection that fuelled therise of internet-based video.

Just as Netflix, Hulu and AmazonPrime tempted people to “cut thecord” by cancelling traditional cable TVpackages, the newer services are look-ing to dismember those more-inclusiveoptions.

Disney Plus is set to launch latenext year with new Marvel and StarWars programming, along with itslibrary of animated and live-actionfilms and shows. It hasn’t announcedpricing yet, but Disney CEO Bob Igersaid in an August call with analyststhat it will likely be less than Netflix,

which runs $8 to $14 a month, sinceits library will be smaller. AT&T plansa three-tier offering fromWarnerMedia, with a slate of new andlibrary content centered around theexisting HBO streaming app. No wordon pricing yet.

Individual channels, such as Fox,ESPN, CBS and Showtime, are also get-ting into the act. Research group TDGpredicts that every major TV networkwill launch a direct-to-consumerstreaming service in five years.

Netflix and others have investedheavily in original movies and TVshows to keep their customers loyal.Netflix, for instance, said that 45 mil-lion subscriber accounts worldwide

watched the Sandra Bullock-thrillerBird Box during its first seven days onthe service, the biggest first-week suc-cesses of any movie made for the com-pany’s nearly 12-year-old service.

That first-week audience impliesnearly a third of Netflix’s 137 millionsubscribers watched the movie fromDecember 21 through 27 — a holiday-season stretch when many peoplearen’t working and have more free time.

But Netflix, Hulu and others maysoon have to do without programmesand movies licensed from their soon-to-be rivals. In December, Netflix paid

a reported $100 million to continuelicensing Friends from WarnerMedia.

Why are media companies lookingto get in? Data and dollars. Sure, theyget money when they sell their pro-grammes to other services like Netflix.But starting their own service allowsnetworks and studios access to valuabledata about who is binging on theirshows.

For services with ad-based options,that data translates into more dollarsfrom advertisers. And services that relyonly on subscription revenues, mediacompanies can use the data to bettertailor their offerings for individualtastes, helping to draw in more sub-scribers.

“I think all media companies arecoming to grips with the reality thatyou better establish a relationshipdirectly with your audience,” saidAT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at ananalyst conference earlier this month.

The business model that some net-works and content companies are cur-rently using, distributing their TVshows and movies only by licensingthem to streaming platforms, is getting“disrupted aggressively” as more com-panies launch their own services, saidStephenson, whose company acquiredWarnerMedia in June.

Forrester analyst Jim Nail comparesthis moment to the “Cambrian explo-sion,” a historic era when plant and ani-

mal species rapidly multiplied after IceAge glaciers receded.

“Big brands like Disney have toevaluate: Are we only going to accessthis market by licensing our content toNetflix, Hulu and others?” he said. “Or,can we go direct to the consumer withour own service?”

But a multiplicity of streaming ser-vices could easily overwhelm or con-fuse consumers. To get a full slate ofprogramming, TV watchers may soonhave to subscribe to several servicesinstead of just one or two.

Among those options will be ser-vices like Netflix and Hulu that offer awide range of video from a variety ofsources; cable-like “skinny bundles”such as FuboTV, Sling and YouTube TVthat offer a variety of live channels; andchannel- or network-specific serviceslike Disney Plus.

Consider just AT&T’s plan tolaunch a three-tiered service this yearcentered on HBO. An entry-level bun-dle will offer mostly movies; a second,slightly more expensive tier will includeoriginal programming and newermovies. A third and still more expen-sive offering would add moreWarnerMedia entertainment such asFriends.

The cost of multiple streaming ser-vices could quickly approach the aver-age cost of a cable bill — not countingthe cost of internet service. That’saround $107 per month, according toLeichtman Research Group.

“It’s unlikely any of the servicesindividually can charge more than $10per month,” Forrester’s Nail said. “Thegreat unknown is how many individ-ual streaming services people are will-ing to sign up for.”

Companies are already trying totame this chaos by bundling multiplestreaming services together. AmazonPrime customers can add-on sub-scriptions to HBO, Showtime or Starz.Roku and Chromecast viewers canaccess their different services from acentral place; Roku said that it will startselling in-app access to Showtime,Starz and other channels as well simul-taneously.

How should consumers deal withall the coming change?

“Be patient,” said Michael Greeson,president of research group TDG.“We’re in a time of dramatic change forthe TV and video business. There’ll begreat benefits, and question marks andconsequences.”

—AP

Streaming gets complicated

Viewers will have to decide between paying more each month or losing

access to some of their favourite dramas and films online

TITANS Titans is a 11 episode live-action dramaseries that follows a group of young soon-to-be Super Heroes recruited from everycorner of the DC Universe. In this action-packed series, Dick Grayson emerges fromthe shadows to become the leader of a fear-less band of new heroes, including Starfire,Raven, Beast Boy and many others. It starsMinka Kelly, Teagan Croft, and AlanRitchson. The series is slated to release onJanuary 11 on Netflix.

SONI It is the story of a young eponymous police-woman in Delhi, and her superintendent,Kalpana, who have collectively taken on agrowing crisis of violent crimes againstwomen. However, their alliance suffers amajor setback when Soni is transferred outfor alleged misconduct on duty. A direc-torial debut for Ivan Ayr. Soni is out January18 on Netflix.

THE LAST LAUGHRetired talent manager Al reconnects withformer client Buddy, a comedian who gaveup performing decades ago, and urges himto go back out on the road.Starring Chevy Chase, Richard Dreyfuss,Andie MacDowell, the film is slated torelease on January 11 on Neflix.

She made an impact with herdebut film Kedarnath, and hersecond release Simmba is also ahit. But actress Sara Ali Khan,who has fan clubs all across

India doting on her, says she neither hastime to feel like a “star” not does she thinkshe will let herself feel like one in future.

Congratulations Sara, you seem tohave become quite a star?Arre kahaan? I am just running aroundtrying to cope with the workload. I don’thave time to feel like a star. I don’t thinkI’m a star yet. But I hope I get there someday. I don’t think I will ever let myself feellike a star. The minute you do, others stopseeing you in a favourable light.

Your grandmother Sharmila Tagoresays you have immense poise for some-one so young. Where does this self-con-fidence come from?I guess, it comes from being honest. Andthat’s the only way I can be. Let those whocan lie convincingly do it. I can’t. I startfumbling the minute I lie. Staying true tomyself suits me just fine.

What kind of reactions are you gettingfrom family and the media?The family cannot be expected to beobjective. They are expected to be niceto me in whatever I do. After all, I amtheir daughter. But the way the review-ers, critics and audience have reacted tome, is overwhelming. This is a momentI am not going to forget ever in my life.

Do you deserve all the love you are get-ting?Eighty per cent of it, I deserve. The other20 per cent I don’t know where it is com-ing from. And it’s making me feel verygrateful and emotional. I don’t have anyexperience in acting. All I had was myhonesty. And that was my only go-to.

Kedarnath was my first experience inwhat happens in front of the camera. Ofcourse, I had been on film sets before tosee my mother (Amrita Singh) shoot inKalyug and my father (Saif Ali Khan) inOmkara. But all I did was play around

with my parents’ co-stars’ make-up.Kedarnath was my first opportunity

to observe filmmaking and be part of theprocess. My only tool of working on thesets was my honesty. Of course, I alwayswanted to be an actor.

Posing as a child in front of the mirror?Wearing your mother’s clothes?All of that, all of that.

In that case why did you go to ColumbiaUniversity?To me, education was not a means to geta job. It was my way of widening my hori-zons. I didn’t think I was going to be prac-tising lawyer after attending Columbia.Education has made me a confident per-son. It doesn’t only teach you history and

geography, it gives you an insight into life.It gave me a heightened awareness of life,and that helped me become a better actor.

You were raised mostly by your moth-er. Not having your father around, wasthat a lacuna you felt?I was more than okay with that arrange-ment. I think, having two happy parentsin different homes is much more prefer-able than two unhappy parents in thesame home. I think I am the way that Iam because my mother didn’t let me feelany kind deprivation for even a second.I have a very hands-on mother. Once mybrother and I were born, she did noth-

ing but look after us.

So she never allowed you to miss thepresence of your father?My father was always a phone call awayfor both of us. I’ve never felt he was notthere for me. In many ways, I am glad myparents were not together. I know theywould have never been happy together.And if they were not happy, I would nothave been happy either.

Now Saif gives so much attention toTaimur which you never got. Do youfeel a pang of envy?Not at all. He’s my brother. I will tell yousomething. When my father was livingwith us, he was completely taken up byme. When he moved away, he was still ascaring. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do forme. Even when he doesn’t live with us,the thought that he would do anythingfor me makes me feel very special.

My father may not be there for me theway he is for Taimur. But that doesn’tmake me feel any less special.

Do you look forward to working withhim?God willing, we will work together soon.But for obvious reasons, it’s not somethingthat would happen over and over again.But if we get a script that justifies ourpresence, we will do it without a moment’sthought.

What did your brother Ibrahim thinkof Kedarnath and Simmba and you?He’s studying abroad and is the onlymember of the family who hasn’t seen myfilms.

Does he aspire to be an actor?He does. As I’ve discovered, it’s an easydream to have but a very difficult one toachieve. But I feel Ibrahim has the talent.Once he enacted a monologue for mymother and me. I was holding the sheetof paper on which his lines were written.I couldn’t look at the sheet as I was busylooking at his eyes. They were so emo-tive.

—IANS

Actress SARA ALI KHAN says education has made her a confident person while giving her

a heightened awareness of life

‘DON’T THINK I’M A STAR YET’

‘MY FATHER WAS ALWAYS APHONE CALL AWAY FOR ME ANDIBRAHIM. IN MANY WAYS, I AMGLAD MY PARENTS WERE NOT

TOGETHER. I KNOW THEY WOULDHAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPY.

AND THEN I WOULDN’T HAVEBEEN HAPPY EITHER’

‘The businessmodel that some

networks arecurrently using,distributing their

shows and moviesonly by licensing

them to streamingplatforms, is

getting ‘disruptedaggressively’ asmore companies

launch their own services’

sport 15LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

PTI n SYDNEY

Fickle weather on day fourprevented India fromclosing in on a big win in

the fourth Test but they werewell on course for their maid-en series victory in Australiaafter forcing the hosts to fol-low-on at home for the firsttime since 1988.

Bad light and intermittedrain led to substantial loss ofplay with only 25.2 oversbowled on day four.

Australia were placed at 6-0 in 4 overs after KuldeepYadav's five-wicket haul in hismaiden Test Down Underhelped India bowl the hometeam out for 300 in the firstinnings.

U m p i r e stook players offthe field witheight minutes remaining in thebelated afternoon session.Marcus Harris (2) and UsmanKhawaja (4) were the unbeat-en batsmen with Australia stilltrailing by 316 runs.

But play didn't resume atall once the scheduled teabreak was over, as bad lighthampered proceedings onceagain. The umpires waited fornearly an hour, coming out forinspection in between, beforemaking a decision at 5 pmlocal time.

The match officials wereready to wait until 6 pm forlight to improve, but a slightdrizzle put paid to the wait andthe day was called off at 5.20pm local time.

This was after Australiawere bowled out for 300 runs(104.5 overs) in their firstinnings and were asked to fol-low on, surrendering a lead of322 runs. Kuldeep Yadav took

5-99, making instant impact inhis first game of the series.

After the morning sessionwas washed out, play resumedat 1.50 pm local time with 230minutes lost to bad light and

rain since day three.India took the second new

ball immediately and madequick inroads. MohammedShami (2-58) bowled PatCummins (25) with a ball thatkept low on the sixth ball afterresumption of play.

At the other end, JaspritBumrah (1-62) set up PeterHandscomb (37) who playedon after a resilient inningsfacing 111 balls.

Yadav then trapped

Nathan Lyon (0) lbw asAustralia lost three wicketsfor 22 runs in the space of 44balls.

And he could have imme-diately completed his five-wicket haul, but HanumaVihari put down a skier fromJosh Hazlewood (21) at midon. In the process, Vihari hurthis left shoulder whilst fieldingand didn't take the field lateron in the session, with HardikPandya coming on as a substi-

PTI n SYDNEY

India bowling coach BharatArun on Sunday heaped

praise on wrist spinner KuldeepYadav, saying the chinaman isa much improved bowler thanwhat he was during the tour ofEngland.

"Kuldeep is a very skillfull bowler as he has proved it.He has had a very successfulstint in ODIs, and probably heis the number one bowler inthe one-day format. He isunique in the sense that veryfew chinaman bowlers aroundthe world at the moment. Also,he brings googly to the fore,"said Arun after a rain-hit dayfour.

"And what makes him evenmore special is his ability to usethe crease. He can bowl fromover and round the wicket, andhe can bowl closer to the wick-et and also from wide of thecrease. That gives him a lotvariety. And I think there is alot to come from that youngkid."

Arun said Kuldeep's per-formance in the ongoing Testcould not have come at a bet-

ter time."He didn't have a great

outing in England when heplayed, but this Test matchwould give him a lot of confi-dence. And considering a spin-ner and his age, I think he hasgot a lot of cricket left in him,"he said.

Talking about the decisionto go in with two spinners, hesaid, "Earlier we had played apractice game at Sydney andalso the T20 match. So we werequite aware of the conditionsthat existed and also we felt that

if at all we need to play twospinners that would be atSydney."

With Australia having tofight on day five for a draw, thebowlers have virtually assureda series' win for India, andArun credited an all-roundattack for the same.

"We do have a lot of respectfor their fast-bowling attackand I think they are probablyone of the best in the world. Butwe were more focused on whatwe could do, and we have alsocome to Australia previously sowe knew how the wicketswould be in Australia - verysimilar to the ones we got inSouth Africa.

"We drew upon all thoseexperiences and said that to besuccessful in Australia, we needto make sure that we took thecut and pull out of theAustralian batsmen, and thenfocus on our strengths. That'sexactly what we did.

"I don't think we are moti-vated just because we are on thewinning side. The onus of thisteam particularly is alwaysputting the team in front," hesaid.

PTI n SYDNEY

The series is virtually inIndia's pocket after

Australia were enforced a fol-low-on for the first time in 31years at home but batsmanPeter Handscomb on Sundaysaid they will try to salvagesome pride by saving the fourthTest on the final day.

Handscomb said the near-ly-washed out day four of thefourth Test at the SCG has givenhis side a great chance to drawthe match and restrict India'smargin of series win to 2-1.

"We will be coming outtomorrow and drawing thisgame, and then we will assesswhere we need to improve andget together as a team. We knowthat as a batting group we cantake some confidence out oftomorrow if we can last the day,showing the country and theworld that we are not far offfrom clicking as a really goodteam," said Handscomb afterthe fourth day's play.

Kuldeep Yadav had pickedhis second five-wicket haul inTest cricket and Handscombpraised him as well as JaspritBumrah as two toughestbowlers to face in this Indian

bowling attack."Obviously both are world

class bowlers in their own right.Bumrah coming in can crank itup to 150 km/h and is alwayspretty tough with his accuracy.He has not missed his mark toomuch and has been able toswing it both ways, which isquite impressive with thataction, and also adds to the facthow hard he is to pick," he said.

"Kuldeep has obviouslybeen very impressive as well. Hewas very accurate and hard toget on top of. With the pace thathe bowled, it was hard to getdown to the wicket and forcethrough the field. He was accu-rate and used the footmarkswell, giving it a good spin."

AFP n CAPE TOWN

South Africa beat Pakistan bynine wickets on the fourth

day of the second Test atNewlands on Sunday.

Pakistan claimed a wicketand forced Hashim Amla toretire hurt before South Africapassed their meagre target afterless than an hour’s play atNewlands. Set 41 to win, SouthAfrica reached 43 for the lossof one wicket from 9.5 overs.

The result ensured a sev-enth successive home serieswin for South Africa, who wonthe first Test in Centurion bysix wickets. The third and finalTest starts in Johannesburg onFriday.

Regular South Africanopening batsman AidenMarkram did not bat after suf-fering a severely bruised right

thigh when he fell heavily onthe boundary rope while field-ing on Saturday.

Theunis de Bruyn, openingin place of Markram, clippedMohammad Abbas to themidwicket boundary but didnot add to his score beforebeing caught off his glove bywicketkeeper and captainSarfraz Ahmed while attempt-ing to pull a bouncer fromAbbas. Mohammad Amireffectively conceded 10 runs inextras off two successive deliv-eries, with a wide and a no-ballwhich both flew over Sarfraz’shead. Hashim Amla was forcedto retire hurt on two afterbeing hit on the right upperarm by a ball from Amir whichlifted sharply off a good length.

Dean Elgar, who made 24not out, ended the match byhitting two fours off part-timebowler Azhar Ali.

PTI n SYDNEY

Normally not known to be generous withsuperlatives, the great Ian Chappell found

Cheteshwar Pujara "worthy of many privileges"in Virat Kohli's "kingdom" for his tenacity andtons of runs.

Pujara grafted his way to three centuries inthe ongoing Test series against Australia, play-ing a key role in India's dominance.

"Not only did Pujara single-handedly bringthe Australian bowlers to their knees, he alsopaved the way for his team-mates to deliver thekiller blows," Chappell wrote in a column for'ESPNcricinfo'.

While India are on the verge of complet-ing a maiden Test series win in Australia, theformer captain was not with praising Pujara.

"Kohli may be the king of Indian cricket butPujara has proven to be his loyal ally and wor-thy of many privileges in the kingdom. Manygood things have happened for India in thisseries, not the least of them being victory, andmost have emanated from the stubborn defi-ance of Pujara."

The eldest of the famous Chappell broth-ers, he added, "In scoring three centuries in aseries in Australia, he joined an illustrious com-patriot, the equally defiant Sunil Gavaskar, whoachieved a similar feat in 1977-78.

"In accumulating 521 runs in seven innings,Pujara was at the crease for a mammoth 1867minutes and was not tempted by a high per-centage of the 1258 balls he faced."

That the home team was entirely focussedon how to tackle Kohli prior to the series mayhave helped Pujara to play at ease.

"While the Australian cricket team waskeeping a wary eye on Virat Kohli, Pujara snuckup from behind and executed the perfect mug-ging. In addition to helping India win a seriesfor the first time in Australia, he frustrated atop-class opposition attack to the point of sub-mission.

"The fast bowlers were worn to a frazzle bythe end of the Indian first innings at the SCG,and India's lower order, who for much of theseries were the ducks in the shooting gallery,scored frequently and freely."

The series Down Under was a far cry fromthe tour of England where Pujara was droppedat the start of the series, which India lost 1-4.

"Pujara is the most effective blunter of anattack in a cricket world where currently blud-geoning is the favoured submission hold. If hedidn't invent the term 'bat time', Pujara is cer-tainly a disciple of the method.

"The prolonged standing ovation Pujarareceived (at SCG) even though he had just putthe nail in the coffin of an Australian side thatwas trying to rid itself of the ugly stain of CapeTown was testament to the esteem with whichthe Indian batsman is held.

"If they had a hall of fame for batting obdu-racy, Pujara would be voted in unanimously."

PTI n MUMBAI

Former India captain DilipVengsarkar and middle order bats-

man Praveen Amre on Sunday hailedthe Indian cricket team which is on thecusp of making history in Australia.

India are leading the four-Testrubber 2-1 and are well-poised tomake it 3-1 going into the final day ofthe series.

It will be the country's first-ever

Test series win in Australia since thebilateral contest began in 1948 whenLala Amarnath's team clashed withDon Bradman's mighty team DownUnder.

"This team has played superb andfantastic cricket and beating Australiain Australia is a great achievement,because Australia is a tough team inthose conditions," Vengsarkar said.

"This is a fantastic achievement byVirat Kohli's team. Australia has tough

conditions for touring teams but theway they (Indian team) have adaptedto these conditions is exemplary to saythe least. Every team is rated on howthey perform outside their own coun-try and this Indian team has made usproud and they have done so well,"Vengsarkar said.

The former India top-order bats-man, who had played in 116 Tests, alsoheaped praise on pacer JaspritBumrah. "Bumrah now is one of the

best (fast bowlers) in the world. He isa complete bowler," Vengsarkar noted.

Amre also hailed the Indian bowl-ing attack spearheaded by Bumrah.

"In every series, the first Test isimportant and the way we started, thatwas critical. Equally important wasAustralia to (make a) comeback andwin the match (second Test). I think,most important was the third Test, theway we played, that was outstanding,"Amre said.

PTI n SYDNEY

Former Australia captainRicky Ponting on Sunday

slammed the current team forshowing "no desperation" afterNathan Lyon decided againstreviewing his lbw decision onday four of the fourth Test.

Lyon was adjudged LBWafter being hit on the pad off aKuldeep Yadav delivery. Heasked non-striker MitchellStarc if he should opt for areview, but the duo decidedagainst it despite two reviewsremaining in their innings andonly two wickets left.

"That dismissal actuallysays a lot to me about themindset of this Australian teamat the moment. There's nodesperation there whatsoever,"

Ponting said on Channel Seven."Why wouldn't they have

had a look at that? They've stillgot the two reviews up theirsleeve. There had to be somesort of doubt in that," Pontingadded.

The former three-timeWorld Cup winning cricketeralso slammed pacer Starc, whowas at the non-stricker's end,for not intervening.

"Given out straight awayand Mitchell Starc just puts hishand out and says 'oh well, it'snot me, it's up to you to make(a call)".

"Well, unfortunately, whenyou're out there together it's apartnership. You've got to dowhatever you can to try andsave your mate. And there wasabsolutely none of that there,"

he added.Replays suggested the ball

would have probably struckLyon outside the line of offstump and he may have beenadjudged not out if DRS wastaken.

"And as it's shown alreadythat would have been given notout. Slack and not desperateenough. You can see whereMitchell Starc is standing at thenon-striker's end," he added.

"One, look how wide he'sstanding. There's no need to bethat wide in the first place.Nathan Lyon looks up, 'Ohwhat do you reckon?' 'Oh Idon't know mate. Yeah I don'tknow. But let's not bother look-ing. We've only got two(reviews) up our sleeve,"Ponting said.

India on course for historic series win

Australia need to bat throughout fifth day to avoid innings defeat after Kuldeep’s 5/99 restricts hosts for 300 runs in 1st innings

tute fielder.Hazlewood and Mitchell

Starc (29 not out) then added42 runs for the 10th wicket as

Australia reached 300 despiteanother pitiful batting display.

Yadav got his reward there-after with Hazlewood trapped

lbw on a close umpire's call,and the decision stayed in thewrist-spinner's favour despiteDRS.

Australia were then forcedto follow on for the first timein Test cricket since 2005 whenEngland had enforced thesame in Nottingham. On theirhome soil, this was the firstinstance of Australia followingon since 1988, again in Sydney,versus England.

Pat Cummins is bowled by Mohammed Shami for 25 runs on day 4 of the fourthTest match in Sydney AP

Kuldeep Yadav celebrates after wicket AP

Rishabh Pant reacts after Nathan Lyon plays a shot on day four of final Test ICC

Australia vs India

Live from 4:45am IST

SONY TEN 3 & SIX NETWORK

INDIA FORCE FOLLOW-ON AGAINST AUS

Lead Venue Season Result

322 Sydney 2018-19 Awaited

204 Sydney 1985-86 Draw

298 Mumbai 1979-80 Won

212 Delhi 1979-80 Draw

KULDEEP’S BEST BOWLING IN TESTS

Figures Opponent Venue Season Result

5-57 Windies Rajkot 2018-19 Won

5-99 Australia Sydney 2018-19 Awaited

4-40 Sri Lanka Pallekele 2017-18 Won

4-68 Australia Dharamsala 2016-17 Won

3-85 Windies Hyderabad 2018-19 Won

Faisel Features

You can expect lot morefrom Kuldeep: Arun

We will battle for

draw: Handscomb

South Africa win by 9 wickets to clinch series

‘Pujara is worthy of manyprivileges in Kohli's kingdom’

Vengsarkar hails India for dominant show

Ponting lashes out at Aus for

showing ‘no desperation'

Cheteshwar Pujara, left, and Virat Kohli leave the field AP

PRITHVI EMERGES CHAMP

Prithvi Singh of Study Hall edged past Pawan Batham and Ravi Shankar on tie-breaker towin the 2nd AD Pathak Memorial Open Chess Tournament at Excellia School on Sunday. KuldeepShankar, Shani Soni and Medhansh Saxena finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively with 5.5points each. DPS, Eldeco bagged the best school trophy while Excellia School and Stella Marissettled for second and third spot respectively. Excellia School chairman DS Pathak gave awaythe prizes to the winners.RESULTS: (U-7) Boy’s: 1-Aryan Sadhwani, 2-Shorya Paratp Singh, 3-Kushagra Kishore Singh;(Girl’s) Lekha Kishore Singh(U-9) Boy’s: 1-Sanyam Srivastava, 2-Meetansh Dixit, 3-Aadhyansh Saxena; (Girl’s): 1-Sanvi Agarwal(U-11) Boy’s: 1-Tejasva Singh, 2-Divyansh Pandey, 3-Lakshya Srivastava; (Girl’s) 1-Ridhima Nigam,2-Prisha Garg(U-15) 1-Aditya Pant, 2-Anshuman Nanda, 3-Adarsh Pal; (Girl’s) 1-Mayetri Gupta, 2-SimranSadhwani(U-19) 1-Shivansh Pandey, 2-Bhomik Pandey, 3-Ayush Sahu; (Girl’s) 1-Lavanya Yadav, 2-SmritiSingh.

AMC LIFT TROPHYAMC blanked State United 2-0 to lift the 20th Mansarovar Football Cup at La Martiniere ground

on Sunday. Kaushal and Bhomik scored the goals for the winner in the 45th and 67th minuterespectively.

LOCAL EVENTS

South African batsmen Hashim Amla shows South African Captain Faf du Plessis where the ball struck him on day four of thesecond cricket test match between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town on Sunday

sport 16LUCKNOW | MONDAY | JANUARY 7, 2019

PTI n ABU DHABI

Indian football's goalmachine Sunil Chhetristruck a brace to help the

country stunningly out-play Thailand 4-1 and

record its first vic-tory in the

A s i a nC u p

since1964 on a historic nighthere on Sunday.

Playing in his secondAsian Cup and 105thmatch, Chhetri scored inthe 27th (penalty) and 46thminutes for his 66th and67th goals to become thesecond highest interna-tional goal scorer amongactive players.

Midfielder AnirudhaThapa and second halfsubstitute JejeLalpekhlua then struckin the 68th and 80thminutes to completelyoutclass Thailand atthe Al NahyanStadium in front ofsizeable Indian sup-porters.

With his twostrikes, the 34-year-oldChhetri went past

Argentine superstar LionelMessi, who has so far scored65 goals from 128 matches.Portugal superstar CristianoRonaldo is the highest scor-er with 85 from 154 match-es.

Thailand captain andstriker Teerasil Dangda pulledone back for his side in the33rd minute of the Group Amatch. A draw in either of thetwo coming matches againstUAE and Bahrain could seeIndia through to the knockoutround.

Ranked 97th in the FIFA

charts, India went into thematch eyeing a win againsttheir 118th rankedopponents, but thescoreline and impres-sive show by the play-ers, especially in thesecond half, was unex-pected.

Thailand was the betterside in the first half with anoverwhelming 70 per cent pos-session and more shots ontarget.

But the complexion of thematch completely changed inthe second session with Indiascoring three goals in stunningfashion to take the match outof Thailand's reach. They sud-denly became a team whichcan stitch neat passes and buildgoal-scoring moves. Chhetri,who is the only one in the cur-rent squad to have played in the2011 edition, also become the

highest Indian scorer in theAsian Cup, surpassing Inder

Singh, who struck twicein the 1964 edition whenthe country had finishedrunners up.

Taking part in theirfourth Asian Cup, thiswas India's third win in

11 matches. The country won

two matches and lost one in the1964 edition in Israel, compet-ed by just four countries, then

lost three and drawn one in1984 and were beaten in alltheir three group matches in2011.

India gave the 21-year-oldPune City FC player AshiqueKuruniyan a start over thelikes of Jeje Lalpekhlua andBalwant Singh, and he didwell while playing at the holejust behind Chhetri.

He earned the penalty forIndia after a quick throw fromthe left flank. Ashique's shotdeflected from the Thai goal-keeper and hit defenderTheerathon Bunmathan's handand the Hong Kong refereepointed to the dreaded spot.Chhetri stepped up and sentthe Thai goalie the wrong wayto give India 1-0 up.

Thailand equalised withinsix minutes with captain andstriker Teerasil Dangda con-necting a quality free-kick to

head over Gurpreet and intothe India net.

But just a minute into thesecond session, India scored aworld-class goal throughChhetri and that began theturning of the match on itshead.

India's third goal showedhow much they have improvedin the passing system withthree players involved in thebuild-up. Halicharan Narzarysent a pint-point pass toUdanta who rounded up theThai goalkeeper and left theball for Thapa to chip over acouple of defenders on the topcorner of the net.

Lalpekhlua then scoredtwo minutes after coming intothe field. He was fed by a nicepass from Narzary again andhis chipped shot from the topof the box beat the goalkeeperall ends up.

WINNING START FOR INDIA

AFP n AL-AIN

Defending championsAustralia made their worst

ever start to an Asian Cup onSunday when they lost 1-0 toJordan in front of a partisancrowd in Al Ain.

Graham Arnold's youthfulside had expected victory intheir Group B opener but theywere undone by Anas Bani-Yaseen's powerful first-halfheader from a corner.

It leaves the injury-hitAussies with much to ponderahead of Friday's game againstPalestine, when they will needa win to get their title defenceon track.

The youthful Socceroos hadmore than 70 percent of first-half possession but rarelythreatened, while Jordan wereintent on harassing in midfieldand seeking chances on thebreak.

Their goal came from a cor-ner on 26 minutes, whendefender Bani-Yaseen escaped

Luongo's marking and poweredhis header into the top corner,prompting jubilation in thestrongly pro-Jordan crowd ofjust under 5,000.

Suddenly Australia wererocking and three minutes later,they were grateful for Ryan'sfinger-tip save as he pushedBaha Abdelrahman's free kickonto the bar.

In the second half, Arnoldbrought on Rhyan Grant andthen Chris Ikonomidis to finda way through Jordan's defence.

Celtic forward Tom Rogic'sstinging shot was kept out byShafi, before Ikonomidis'sattempt at a follow-up wassmothered by the defence.

With three minutes to go,Jamie Maclaren had a goalchalked off for offside and.With the last action of thegame, Shafi pulled off a superbdouble save to deny Ikonomidisand Jackson Irvine, capping adesperately disappointing dayfor the Aussies and a joyful onefor the Jordanians.

Jordan stun holders Aus

Anas Bani Yaseen, front, celebrates with teammates after scoring goal AP

India's player celebrate after scoring the opening goal during the AFC Asian Cup group A match against Thailand at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi AP

A DRAW IN EITHER

OF THE TWO

COMING MATCHES

AGAINST UAE AND

BAHRAIN COULD

SEE INDIA

THROUGH TO THE

KNOCKOUT ROUND

Chhetri’s brace, goal from Anirudha and Jeje help Blue Tigers crush Thailand 4-1 and register first Asian Cup win since 1964

CBI can't win votes for BJP: Akhilesh - Daily Pioneer

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