Kushwaha joins UPA, Paswan wavers - Daily Pioneer

CAPSULE

TRAIN 18 PELTED WITHSTONES DURING TRIAL New Delhi: The Railways’ fastesttrain — Train 18, which isscheduled to be flagged off byPrime Minister Narendra Modion December 29 — was peltedwith stones on Thursday duringa trial run between Delhi andAgra, a senior official said.

HC CONFIRMS DEATH FORTECHIE’S RAPE-MURDERMumbai: The Bombay HighCourt on Thursday confirmed thedeath penalty awarded by alower court to ChandrabhanSudam Sanap, convicted for the2014 rape-cum-murder of anAndhra Pradesh techie, EstherAnuhya in Mumbai.

LALU GRANTED INTERIMBAIL IN IRCTC SCAM New Delhi: A Delhi court onThursday granted interim bail tillJanuary 19 to RJD presidentLalu Prasad in two IRCTC scamcases filed by the CBI and theED.

DELHI’S AIR QUALITY‘VERY POOR’: OFFICIALSNew Delhi: Delhi’s air qualitywas recorded in the “very poor”category on Thursday, withsome regions in the nationalcapital expected to witnessfurther deterioration inconditions by Friday.

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA n NEW DELHI

Bihar politics on Thursday“heated” up as former

Union Minister UpendraKushwaha joined the Statemahagathbhandhan and BJPchief Amit Shah and FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley called onNDA partner and CabinetMinister Ram Vilas Paswanafter his son Chirag made“threatening” noises leadingto speculation that Paswanmay be planning to dump theNDA.

After the Congress won thethree Hindi heartland States ofMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Chhattisgarh, Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi hasfocused his attention onstrengthening the Bihar maha-gatbandhan. Rahul was per-sonally involved in persuadingKuswaha to walk out of theNDA. On Thursday, Rahulmet with RJD leader TejashviYadav, Kuswaha and formerBihar Chief Minister Jitan RamManjhi.

The announcement ofKushwaha joining the maha-gathbandhan of Oppositionparties in Bihar came at apress conference at the partyheadquarters here in the pres-ence of senior Congress leaderAhmed Patel, AICC Biharincharge Shaktisinh Gohil,Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Yadav,and Jitan Ram Manjhi, whoheads the Hindustani AwamMorcha (Secular).

Welcoming Kushwaha intothe grand alliance, the leaderssaid they will “together throwthe BJP out of power” and willwork towards mitigating theplight of the people of Biharand the country.

Kushwaha said the mainreason behind his quitting theNDA was the failure of theModi Government to fulfil thepromises made to the people ofBihar, besides the “insult” hesuffered within the NDA. Hesaid an “aakrosh march” will betaken out in Patna on February2 in which various like-mind-ed parties would participate.Kushwaha lauded Rahul forcoming to the aid of farmersand youths and said theCongress president does whathe says.

RJD leader Tejashwi said“this is a union of hearts andnot of parties” and asserted thatthe weather in the country ischanging.

Even before the NDAcould recover from the setbackof losing Kuswaha, Paswan hasadded to its worry. His son hasmade a series of tweets cau-tioning the BJP of conse-quences if the issues with allieswere not resolved soon. Chiraghas also raised a question markover the plight of farmers andissue of unemployment andalso criticised the raking up ofRam temple issue.

Incidentally, during thelast 24 hours every time he wasasked if the LJP can walk out ofthe NDA, Chirag didn’t dismissthe possibility and merely said,“It’s too early to reach any con-clusion.”

Against this backdrop, theBJP leadership reached out tothe sulking ally with AmitShah and Jaitley holding talkswith Paswan and Chirag in thepresence of Bihar Congressincharge Bhupendra Yadav.

Sources said that BJP hasoffered six seats to Paswan, oneless than the LJP contested in

the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. It’sobvious that with such an offer,Paswan could have beenexpected to dispel any doubtabout his differences with theNDA. His silence after meetingShah and Jaitley shows that heis keeping his options open.

In an interview, Chiragindicated his complete dis-comfort with the BJP by stat-ing that seat sharing is not theissue but he is unhappy overfactors like plight of farmers,

unemployment, and price hike.Earlier, Chirag had written

a letter to the Prime Ministerand Jaitley, asking about thebenefits of demonetisation.Recently, Ram Vilas Paswansaid while the Congress raisedissues of farmers and unem-ployment, we (NDA) stayedtangled in religion and temples.

Sources said Nitish Kumarhas backed Paswan and will bein Delhi to convey the BJP lead-ership to “honour the com-

mitment to Ram Vilas Paswan”as losing him would effective-ly mean conceding Bihar to theOpposition coalition.

“Joint efforts and collectivestrength of existing and poten-tial NDA allies is key to the suc-cess in upcoming 2019 elec-tions. All key constituents ofthe coalition must worktowards this,” tweeted PrashantKishor, the Bihar CM’s closeaide and strategist about theNitish Kumar Delhi mission.

More than the number ofseats, it is the question of“winnability” with the NDAthat may be haunting Paswan.The upper castes are reported-ly unhappy with the Dalitleader for taking strident standagainst diluting the SC/STPrevention of Atrocities Act. Inthis scenario, Paswan will bemore comfortable with theRJD if he wants to retain hisstrengthen of six MPs in theLok Sabha.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The GST council meeting onDecember 22 is likely to

reduce tax slabs for a host ofitems, including cement, tyres,air conditioners, constructionand farm equipment, as well ascertain electronics devices.

These items are placed in28 per cent tax segment. Afterrevision, they would figure in18 per cent bracket, sourcessaid. Thirty-four goods are atpresent in the highest taxbracket of 28 per cent.

Coming against the back-drop of the BJP’s loss in thethree Hindi heartland States ofRajasthan, Madhya Pradeshand Chhattisgarh, the move isseen as a part of theGovernment plan to incen-tivise consumption andincrease demand in key sectorsof economy ahead of the LokSabha polls.

On Tuesday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadsaid 99 per cent goods and ser-vices will be brought under 18per cent or less GST slab andthe highest tax slab will berestricted to a few select items,such as luxury and sin goods.

“We are of the opinion ofmaking GST as smooth as

possible for the enterprises. Inearlier days, the GST wasframed according to the exist-ing VAT or excise tax structuresexercised in those respectiveStates. (With) the discussionsheld from time to time, the taxsystem is getting improved,”Modi said.

Meanwhile, BengalFinance Minister Amit Mitraquestioned Modi’s unilateralreduction of GST sidesteppingGST Council of State FinanceMinisters.

Congress president RahulGandhi took a swipe at Modifor finally realisng the need torationalise the GST regime.“The Congress has finally jolt-ed Narendra Ji from his deepslumber on Gabbar Singh Tax.Though still drowsy, he nowwants to implement what hehad earlier called the Congressparty’s, ‘Grand Stupid Thought’.Better late than never NarendraJi!” a tweet from him read.

Last year, during Gujaratelection campaign, Modi hadtaken a pot-shot at Rahul, say-ing, “a recently emerged econ-omist” was propagating a“Grand Stupid Thought” bysuggesting the GST rate shouldbe capped at 18 per cent.

Continued on Page 7

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

The BJP on Thursdayclaimed “moral victory”

after the Calcutta High Courtlifted Bengal Government’s banon its rath yatras.

The yatras will now takeplace in three legs onDecember 22, 24 and 26 withBJP president Amit Shah inau-gurating each of the threeyatras from Coochbehar,Kakdwip and Birbhum.

Prime Minister NarendraModi is scheduled to addressrallies in the midst of the yatrasthat would converge and cul-minate at Brigade ParadeGround in Kolkata.

Though the court ordertended to come as a shot in thearm of the saffron outfit,experts wonder why the Stateadministration, regardless of itsapprehensions of communaltension in the yatra trails, didnot “even make an endeavourthat the rally can be allowed byimposing reasonable restrictions.”

The court said, “When theyatras are not for any unlawfulpurpose, it cannot be com-

pletely stopped unless there isany breach of law. The restric-tions should be just and rea-sonable.”

When the State cited intel-ligence reports apprehendingcommunal tension, the courtsaid, “The threat to publicpeace and tranquility should bereal instead of imaginary.”

The judge also wonderedas to why it took the

Government two months toprepare intelligence reports —preferring all this while to lookright through the letters beingsent to it by the outfit seekingpermission for the yatras —when the BJP had sent its firstletter on October 6.

The initial celebrations inthe saffron quarters apart, theBJP leadership also had to comeout vouching for a peacefulyatra as the court made it liablealongside the Government forany material loss.

“We give a public under-taking that the yatras will bepeaceful and there will be nodisturbance and communaltension that the Governmenthas repeatedly tried to impressupon the judiciary,” saidJayprakash Majumdar, a leaderof the Bengal unit of the BJP.

Earlier the StateGovernment had, following acourt ordered meeting with theBJP leaders on December 16,denied permission to the BJPrath yatras. However, theMamata Banerjee Governmenthad no objection to rallies byShah and Modi.

Continued on Page 7

AP n LONDON

Thousands of passengerswere delayed, diverted or

stuck on planes on Thursday asthe only runway at Britain’sGatwick Airport remainedclosed for the second day afterdrones were spotted over theairfield.

The airport south ofLondon — Britain’s second-busiest by passenger numbers— closed its runway onWednesday evening after twodrones were spotted. Itreopened briefly about 3 am onThursday, but shut 45 minuteslater after further sightings.

The airport said all incom-ing and outgoing flights weresuspended. Passengers wereadvised to check the status oftheir flights before heading tothe airport, where many slepton floors or formed long linesat information desks.

A police helicopter hoverednear the airfield as officershunted the drone operators.

Continued on Page 7

SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI

Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport (IGIA) in Delhi has

fastened its belt so that air ser-vices are not hit by low visibil-ity caused by fog and mist.

A dedicated team will workround the clock to provide alltechnical support to pilots andAir Traffic Control (ATC) unit,according to the DelhiInternational Airport Limited(DIAL), which runs the IGIA.

The DIAL said it is ready tobeat low visibility by installingflight information display sys-tem and Master AntennaTelevision screens on all ter-minals (T1, T2, T3) on forma-tion desks; development ofcrash fire tender at criticalposition at the IGIA — thebusiest airport in the countryhandling 1,300 flight move-

ments. According to civil aviation

experts, during foggy days, theairport capacity reduces by 40per cent of the normal in termsof flight movement per hour.

Dr Rajendra KumarJenamani, director incharge ofIGIA Meteorological depart-ment, said, “Currently, there arearound 74 flight movementsevery hour. Dense fog situationis expected in the last week ofDecember and there are likelyto be three to four spells ofdense fog in the coming weeks.”

DIAL Chief ExecutiveOfficer Videh Kumar Jaipuriarsaid the airport is betterequipped compared to last yearto deal with fog situation.

In terms of dealing withsudden jump in passengers atthe terminals, DIAL hasplugged the gaps that were

there last year, he added.The passenger facility

response time would beupgraded, he said. The IGIA iswell equipped to handle aircraftoperations safely during poorvisibility. For this, the low vis-ibility procedures for handlingair traffic during fog have beenpromulgated for all air trafficcontrollers at IGIA, he said.

There are 139 parkingstands equipped with aero-nautical ground lighting (AGL)system which helps aircraft tooperate in CAT IIIB conditions.In addition, there are 89 park-ing stands available undermanual guidance.

CAT IIIB refers to flightoperations when the runwayvisibility range is 175 metresbut not less than 50 metres.

Operations are closed if therunway visibility ranges drops

below 50 metres.“As pilot has limited view

from the cockpit ‘Follow me’service is provided to facilitate

aircraft movement. Trainedprofessionals are deputed for‘follow me’ service. These vehi-cles are equipped with GPS

based navigational system andtaxiway guidance lights suit-able for low visibility opera-tion,” said the GMR official.

Good news for Delhi fliers! IGIA can see through fog

Kushwaha joins UPA, Paswan wavers

Amit Shah, Jaitley meet Ram Vilas after Chirag’s veiled threat to quit NDA

Cement, tyres,

ACs, building

materials likely

to get cheaper

BJP claims victory after HCnod for saffron rath in Bengal

Drones shut

London’s

Gatwick

Airport

GST meetingon PM pledgeto slash rates

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha, with other Mahagathbandhan leaders, speaks after joining the grand alliance during a Press conference atAICC headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday PTI

r Tow crane readily deployedfor ensuring smooth trafficflow

r Additional Traffic Marshalsdeployed for smooth flowof traffic

r Adequate lighting providedin the car parking

r Airport Patrol Vehicles fittedwith radio sets and beacons

r The complete airport roadnetwork is distinctly andclearly painted with retroreflective paints with glassbeads for better visibility

r All the signage have retroreflective tapes of highquality which gives betterdirectional control for thedriver

r The road edges have roadstuds which reflect andemit lights

r All U-turns have adequatechevrons and road studsto give a distinct clarityof the edges

r The LUX levels of allelectrical poles aremaintained for betterroad visibility

r Reflective tapes are fixedon all electrical poles

r There are go slow LEDbarriers on requiredbarriers

r No vehicles allowed topark on the roadsthrough 24x7 patrollingby the bikers

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WORLD 11

TRUMP: DON’T WANT TO BEPOLICEMAN OF MIDDLE EAST

OPINION 8

LESSONS INAGITPROP

SPORT 15

REAL MADRID ENTERCLUB WC FINAL

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Late City Vol. 154 Issue 341*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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Established 1864

RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18

LUCKNOW, FRIDAY DECEMBER 21, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

GOOD TO BE A

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AYUSHMANN

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PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

said that efficient implementa-tion of centrally-sponsoredschemes like Swachh Bharat,Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana,and Saubhagya scheme forproviding free-electricity con-nections to the poor andAyushman Bharat health insur-ance scheme had given a clearimage makeover to the stateand the once laggard state hademerged as the favoured desti-nation for the investors.

The CM said the govern-ment was looking forward topresent the 2019-20 budget inFebruary next year so that UPcould take yet another leap onthe path of development.

“Ensuring that the benefitsof welfare schemes reach theintended beneficiary withoutany discrimination whatsoev-er is the prerequisite for chang-ing the perception about UPand making it the preferreddestination for the investors inthe country,” the CM said in theVidhan Sabha on Thursday inhis address ahead of the pas-

sage of the second supplemen-tary grants amounting to Rs8,054 crore.

Yogi reiterated his resolvethat his government wouldensure that the benefits of allgovernment schemes reachedall sections of society withoutdiscrimination on the basis of

caste and religion as was thepractice during the previousSamajwadi Party regime.

He said with the passage ofthe second supplementarygrants by the assembly, UP hadbecome the number one stateof India in terms of the size of

Continued on Page 7

UP a favoured destination

for investors, says Yogi

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addresses the Assembly on supplementary budgetduring the Winter Session in Lucknow on Thursday PTI

city 02LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh governmenton Thursday said that the

grievances of farmers regardingloan waiver scheme were beinglooked into. AgricultureMinister Surya Pratap Shahisaid in the Vidhan Sabha onThursday that complaints werebeing received from farmersand they were being disposedof. He said that 600 complaintswere received in December.

Yogi Adityanath govern-ment had in March 2017announced to waive crop loansof farmers and had made a pro-vision of `36,000 crore in the2017-18 budget for this.

The issue was raised duringZero Hour by Congress mem-ber Ajay Kumar. He remindedthe minister that the BJP in itselection manifesto in 2017 hadpromised to provide interest-freeloan to farmers. He said the BJPelection manifesto for 2017assembly elections had promisedto waive crop loans of up to onelakh rupees with cut out date of

March 31, 2016. “We are not likePunjab where the governmentannounces to waive the loan offarmers to the tune of `10,000crore but a paltry provision of`1,700 crore is made in the bud-get,” the minister said. He saidduring the Congress rule in UP,the farmers were charged 18 percent interest and in case ofdefault they were charged com-pound interest. The AgricultureMinister charged that the farm-ers were in distress as during theCongress-led UPA governmentand the long spells of SamajwadiParty and Bahujan Samaj Partyrule the agriculture sector wasignored. He said the indebted-ness of the farmers was the resultof the policies of the Congress,SP and BSP. The minister saidthe BJP government was com-mitted to redressing the griev-ances of the farmers in a time-bound manner.

Earlier, during the QuestionHour, the Agriculture Minister inreply to a question said the UPgovernment would provide 10,000solar pumps of different capacities

to farmers from December 25, thebirth anniversary of former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Hesaid the pumps would be given tothe farmers on first come firstserve basis.

Shahi said the pumps wouldbe given under the Centrally-sponsored scheme in which theshare of the Central governmentwas 60 per cent while rest isamount was borne by the stategovernment. The minister saidthe interests of the farmers wasthe top agenda of the state gov-ernment so subsidy was alsogiven to the beneficiaries underthe scheme. He said the gov-ernment would give benefit of atleast `15,000 to farmers on thepurchase of the solar pumps.

Replying to another ques-tion, the Agriculture Ministersaid there was no shortage of fer-tilisers like NPK, DAP andphosphate in the state.

He said annually 21.69 lakhMT of DAP, NPK and phos-phate fertiliser wasdistributed/sold by theAgriculture department through

a network of primary agriculturecooperative societies and seedand fertiliser stores of the depart-ment. He said the governmenthad launched an awarenesscampaign for the farmers tobring down the use of chemicalfertilisers and motivate them toswitch over to organic fertiliser.He said the farmers were beingadvised to use fertiliser as per thereport of the soil health card.

In reply to a question onprocurement of agriculturecommodities, the minister saidthat besides wheat and paddy,the government was directlypurchasing pulses, oilseeds andmaize from farmers. He saidduring 2017-18 35 lakh MT ofpulses was procured from farm-ers and a payment of Rs 200crore was made for it.

He said during the currentfiscal (2018-19), for the purchaseof maize, procurement centreshad been opened in districtsunder Agra and Aligarh divi-sion. He said pulses were beingpurchased from farmers in 18districts of the state.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Bharatiya Janata Party’smember in Legislative

Council, Bukkal Nawab, onThursday sparked a new con-troversy by calling LordHanuman a Muslim.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had in a recent elec-tion rally described LordHanuman as a forest dweller anda Dalit.

“Lord Hanuman belongs toall, and as far as I think,Hanumanji was actually aMuslim,” Bukkal Nawab, whohad left the Samajwadi Party tojoin the BJP after the YogiAdityanath government came topower, told a select group ofmedia persons. He argued thatthe deity’s name was very simi-lar to the names among Muslimsand many of them were namedafter him.

“Hamara manana haiHanuman ji Musalman the.Isliye Musalmanon ke andar jonaam rakha jata hai... Rehman,Ramzan, Farman, Zishan,Qurban... jitne bhi naam rakheyjaate hain, woh karib karib unhipar rakhe jaate hain,” he said.

Nawab, 64, who publiclyoffered prayers at a Hanumantemple last year, is the latestpolitical figure to have spokenon Lord Hanuman’s identity.

While campaigning duringthe recent assembly election,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathhad reportedly said, “Hanumanwas a forest dweller, deprivedand a Dalit. Bajrang Bali workedto connect all Indian communi-ties together, from north tosouth and east to west.”

On December 4, formerBJP MP Savitribai Phule hadtaken exception to the mannerin which the deity was depicted.

“Lord Hanuman was a Dalitand a slave of ‘manuwadis’. Hewas a Dalit and a human. He dideverything for Lord Ram, thenwhy was he given a tail and ablackened face?” she asked.

A Jain priest in Bhopal hasclaimed Lord Hanuman wasneither a Dalit nor a tribal, buta Jain.

Bukkal Nawab had given uphis Legislative Council seat topave the way for a BJP ministerto become a legislator within thestipulated six-month period andcontinue in the government.After openly supporting theconstruction of a Ram temple atthe disputed site in Ayodhya, theprominent Shia politician lastyear donated a 30-kg brass bellat a famous Hanuman temple.He offered prayers there,prompting the Samajwadi Partyto comment: “It is nothing buta publicity stunt. He is hoppingfrom one temple to another tohog media limelight.”

When the BJP returned thefavour and gave him ticket inLegislative Council biennialelections, he said, “My wish hasbeen fulfilled by LordHanuman.”

During the 2017 UP assem-bly election campaign, BukkalNawab had caused a stir by say-ing he would be happy to see aRam temple come up at the dis-puted site in Ayodhya and hewould help in the cause by car-rying the first brick for thetemple at Ayodhya. He alsopromised to contribute Rs 15crore towards the temple’s con-struction and a ‘mukut’ (crown)for Lord Ram.

Reacting to Bukkal Nawab’sstatement, Sharad Sharma ofVishwa Hindu Parishad saidthat the MLC’s claim on deitypointed that the Muslims wereforced to adopt the religion andthey should now return to theiroriginal religion.

He said that probablyBukkal Nawab wanted to senda message among members ofhis community that their ances-tors were followers of LordHanuman so after coming underthe deity’s umbrella, they couldachieve happiness and success.

Uttar Pradesh Congressgeneral secretary Vinod Mishrasaid that such absurd statementby BJP leaders was not knew.“First Deputy Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma said thatGoddess Sita was the first testtube baby, later Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath called LordHanuman a Dalit, and now hisjunior colleague, Bukkal Nawab,has described Lord Hanuman asa Muslim,”he said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Congress members in theUttar Pradesh assembly

staged a noisy walkout over“demolition” of temples andbuildings for the KashiVishwanath corridor inVaranasi and recovery of hun-dreds of Shivalings from thedebris.

The Congress membersled by their leader Ajay KumarLalu trouped into the Well ofthe House when it assembledon Thursday, demanding res-ignation of Yogi Adityanathgovernment for “playing withthe sentiments of 125 crore‘Sanatan Dharma’ followers”.

“This government swearsby the name of bhagwan (god)and in Shiv ki nagri the govern-ment is demolishing templesand throwing away Shivalings.What kind of devotion is this,”Lalu asked as Speaker HridayaNarayan Dikshit asked him togo to his seat.

The Congress LegislatureParty leader said that theauthorities in Varanasi werethrowing away the Shivalingsand other idols in the name ofmaking Kashi Vishwanath cor-ridor. He said the Congresswould not tolerate this.

The Speaker tried to paci-fy the Congress members butthey did not budge. Later, whenthe government refused to sayanything, the Congress mem-bers staged a noisy walkout.

In the Vidhan Parishadalso the Congress membersraised the issue of demolitionof temples in Varanasi forKashi Vishwanath corridor andthrowing away of Shivalings .

They were joined by someother opposition MLCs.

Leader of Congress in theVidhan Parishad, DeepakSingh said that demolition ofstatues of Hindu deitiesamounted to "playing with thesentiments of 125 crore'Sanatan Dharma' followers".

He alleged that in Varanasi,a number of temples weredemolished in the name ofKashi Vishwanath corridor andstatues of Lord Shiva were"thrown" out.

The Congress leader alsosaid that Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi should expressregret for this.

Singh also sought to knowfrom the government as to howmany temples were demol-ished for the KVT corridorscheme.

Samajwadi Party memberShatrudra Prakash said that 50Shivslings were dismantled.

Responding to the mem-bers' concern, Religious AffairsMinister Laxmi NarayanChaudhary said, "Demolishingtemple is not our job. Our workis to construct them. Under theproject, during demolition ofhouses, 40 temples have cometo the fore where people arepaying obeisance. No templehas been razed.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Thursday

said his government hadextended financial assistance inall the cases recommended bythe elected representatives andthis proved that it did not dis-criminate on any ground.

Yogi said the recommenda-tion made by the elected repre-sentatives, irrespective of theirpolitical affiliation, for help tothe poor and the needy wereaccepted and assistance wasgiven from the Chief Minister’sRelief Fund.

The CM said in the VidhanSabha on Thursday that BJPMLA from Firozabad, ManishAsija, had made the maximumnumber of recommendations forassistance to the poor people andRs 3.62 crore was sanctionedfrom the CM’s Relief Fund.

“Special financial assistancefrom the CM’s Relief Fund wasgiven on the recommendationsof 375 MLAs from differentpolitical parties in 11,336 cases.Assembly Speaker HridayNaryan Dikshit had also sentrecommendation for 45 persons

and they were given financialassistance,” the CM said.

Yogi specifically mentionedhis Cabinet colleague OmPrakash Rajbhar, who is presi-dent of Suheldeo BharatiyaSamaj Party. He said Rajbharhad made 175 recommenda-tions and each and every recom-mendation was honoured andthe persons recommended wereprovided financial assistance.On utilisation of budgetaryprovisions, the Chief Ministersaid all departments were work-ing hard and he was confidentthat the outlays provided in the2018-19 budget would beutilised by the end of March 31,2019.He also mentioned theeffective measures taken by hisgovernment for curbing annu-al menace of diseases likeencephalitis, dengue andchikungunya. He said inGorakhpur, every year 400-500cases of encephalitis werereported and 100-150 patientsdied of the disease. He said aftera concerted drive launched bythe government, the number ofencephalitis patients in 2018 hadcame down to 86 and only sixcausalities were reported.

Lucknow (PNS): A minor girl, who was burnt by two motor-cycle-borne miscreants after she raised resisted their molesta-tion attempt in Agra last Monday afternoon, finally succumbedto her burn injuries in New Delhi in the wee hours of Thursday.

Agitated with the death, the local residents staged a demon-stration and blocked road in Agra while her cousin, Yogesh con-sumed pointed to commit suicide reportedly under depression.

Reports said that Anjali, who was shifted from Agra to a hos-pital in New Delhi after her condition deteriorated, succumbedto her injuries on Thursday. She failed to reveal the names of themiscreants who attacked her. As soon as the information reachedher village, her family members and local residents came on roadand staged a huge road block to register their protest. Theydemanded immediate arrest of the culprits and action againstpolicemen, whose negligence led to the incident. Local officersreached the spot and somehow pacified the agitators.

Sources said that Anjali’s cousin, Yogesh, also consumed poi-son after learning about her death. He was rushed to hospitalwhere doctors said his condition was critical. Anjali was injuredin a sensational incident that took place in broad daylight in Agralast Tuesday. Harendra, a native of Lalau hamlet of Malpura in Agra,claimed that his 14-year-old daughter Anjali, a class 10 student atAP Inter College in Naumeel area, was returning home from herschool on Monday afternoon when two motorcycle-borne youths,both wearing helmets, started teasing her. When Anjali resisted,the youths stopped before her house and before she could under-stand what was happening, they took out kerosene and sprinkledit over her clothes and set her on fire. Later, a passer-by dousedthe fire. The police later shifted her to hospital.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Congress continued to targetthe Central government

on corruption in Rafale fight-er aircraft deal, alleging thatPrime Minister Narendra Modifirst weakened all the constitu-tional bodies and now he wastrying to misguide the SupremeCourt to get out `clean’ fromthe said deal.

“For the last four years,Narendra Modi made con-centrated efforts to weakenall the constitutional bodieslike CAG, CBI, ElectionCommission of India, ReserveBank of India etc. and now heis trying to misguide even theapex court by furnishing dis-torted facts just to come outclean of rampant corruption inRafale fighter Aircraft deal,”charged senior Congress leaderManpreet Singh Badal, who isalso Finance Minister inCongress- led government inPunjab.

He said that instead ofanswering queries put up byCongress president Rahul

Gandhi or accepting ofdemand for JPC probe intoRafale deal, the Central gov-ernment was using officialmachinery to come out cleanand the affidavit in the apexcourt was a glaring example ofthis.

“We wanted to know whenall specifications of the Rafalefighter aircraft remained sameas is 2012, then how the Modigovernment purchased it for`1670 crore instead of previousprice of `560 crore,” said Badalwhile attacking Narendra Modigovernment.

“We also want to knowhow and who influenced theMaintenance Offset Contractin favour of Anil Ambani-ledReliance group, which wasjust 13-day-old company, inplace of HAL which haddecades of expertise in thefield”, further questioned Badalwhile claiming that they wouldcontinue to demand a probeinto the entire Rafale deal toexpose Modi and show thatCongress was not making anyfabricated charges.

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Shahi: Govt looking into farmers’

grievances on loan waiver

Aid given on recommendations of all lawmakers, says Yogi

Lord Hanuman a Muslim,

says Bukkal Nawab

He said the governmenthad initiated a project to givea grand look to temples.

Leader of the House,Deputy Chief Minister DineshSharma, said instead of appre-ciating the good work done fordevelopment of temples, theopposition was trying to createhurdles by raising this issue.

The opposition alsodemanded the Chief Minister'sresignation over an incident inAgra where a girl was alleged-ly burnt alive on December 18by some people and for theBulandshahr incident.

The Council was lateradjourned sine-die.

Walkout over ‘demolition’ of temples in Varanasi

Minor girl set on fire

in Agra succumbs

to burn injuries

Congress leader targets

Centre on Rafale issue

UPSMMSS BACKS STRIKE CALL

Lucknow (PNS): Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mill Mazdoor SanghSamiti (UPSMMSS) has extended support to the call of two-daystrike January 8 January 9 given by trade unions. Giving infor-mation, UPSMMSS member Prem Nath Rai said the decisionwas taken in a convention held at the office of Communist Partyof India (Marxist) on Vidhan Sabha Marg here on Wednesday.Members of central trade unions and associations will go on massstrike on January 8 and January 9.


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ahotelier got a threat let-ter allegedly by a jailedmafia, Sunil Rathi, who

asked him to cough up Rs 5lakh to save his life, in Ghazipurpolice station area onWednesday night. Police sat onthe case in a bid to keep theirslate clean and registered a caseafter the news leaked to media.

As per reports, Ajeet SinghSolanki of Indira Nagar ownsseveral restaurants and hotels inVibhuti Khand under GomtiNagar police station. OnWednesday night, someunidentified miscreantsdropped a letter at his bunga-low in the locality. WhenSolanki read the letter, heimmediately sought police’shelp.

Instead of launching aprobe, the police sat on thecase. However, when the newsreached to some mediaper-sons and they started question-ing higher officers, the policeregistered a case of extortion.

A sum of Rs 5 lakh wasdemanded from Solanki andthe miscreant threatened to killhim if he failed to cough up thecash. The letter also bore thename of mafia Sunil Rathi, whois cooling his heels in Fatehgarhjail.

As the news broke, theGhazipur police came underpressure and a case under sec-tion 384 of IPC was registeredin this connection. GhazipurSHO Rakesh Singh said thepolice were scanning footagesof the CCTV cameras installed

in the area. “The letter appearsto be fake and may have beendropped to harass the business-man due to some rivalry,” thesaid, adding that investiga-tions into the case were on. Hedenied that the letter was sentby Rathi.

However, ASP, trans-Gomti, Harendra Kumar saidthe letter was sent to the hote-lier by Rathi. He said theGhazipur police had beenasked to expedite the case.The ASP denied that the hote-lier got a threat call.

Sources said it was thethird such incident reported inGhazipur. Earlier, a doctor hadgot a similar letter some daysback. The doctor was asked toreach a mall in the locality withcash. However, no one wasfound there when a policeteam in civvies reached thescene.

“Businessmen and indus-trialists in Ghazipur are on theradar of miscreants who keepharassing them off and on. The

police have failed to crack anyof the cases,” the sources said.

They said the spurt in suchincidents had left the business-men in the locality panic-stricken. “We are having sleep-

less nights even as police startprobing such cases only toshelve them later. We will soonbe meeting senior officials inthis regard,” leaders of a traders’association said.

Lucknow (PNS): A BA-Igirl student ended her lifeallegedly after she was dumpedby a youth she was in love with,in Indira Nagar underGhazipur police station onThursday afternoon. Policedetained the youth after allega-tions surfaced against him.However, an FIR is yet to beregistered in this connection.

As per reports, the girl,identified as Zeenat Raza (17),was found hanging in a roomat her house in Lavkush Nagararound 12:30 pm. After thefamily came to know aboutthis, they rushed her to a hos-pital where she was declaredbrought dead.

As the news reached thepolice, a team, led by sub-inspector Satish Kumar Yadav,reached the scene for investiga-

tion of the case. “The father ofthe girl has alleged that Zeenatwas in a love with a youth wholives opposite his house. OnThursday, Zeenat came toknow that the youth’s marriagewas settled with some other girland she took the extreme step,”Ghazipur SHO Rakesh Singhsaid. He said the policedetained the youth after girl’sfamily named him. “The girl’sfather is yet to give a complaint.If we receive a complaint, a caseof abetment to suicide will beregistered against the youth,”the SHO said, adding that thebody was sent for autopsy andfurther investigations were on.

“The girl was hanging fromthe ceiling with a rope tiedaround her neck. No suicidenote was recovered from thehouse,” the SHO said.


Two persons, including a dif-ferently-abled, were killed in

separate road mishaps inBakshi-Ka-Talab and Banthra.In BKT, the differently-abledman, identified as Munna Lal(50) of Itaunja, died after anoverspeeding vehicle knockedhim down on NH 24 in the areaon Wednesday night.

He had visited the house ofa relative for a function inBargadi village of the area.Around 9:30 pm, he left for hishouse and was hit by the vehi-cle when he crossed Asti villageand reached NH 24. “MunnaLal was hit by a loader. Thepolice are yet to find out the reg-

istration number of the vehicle,”a police spokesman said, addingthat Munna Lal died on thespot. “He had multiple fracturesbesides head injuries. He wasfound dead when the policereached the scene. Doctors atthe hospital declared himbrought dead,” the spokesmansaid, adding that a case for caus-ing death due to negligence was

registered against the unidenti-fied loader driver.

In Banthra, a man, identi-fied as Siyaram, was killed in amishap near his house earlyThursday morning. Reportssaid Siyaram left the house toattend nature’s call around 4 am.“He was crossing the road onthe outer fringe of his villagewhen an unidentified vehicleknocked him down,” the policesaid. Siyaram remained unat-tended for hours. When he didnot return home, his wife ReenaDevi went out to search for himand found him lying on the roadin a pool of blood. “Siyaram wasrushed to KGMU TraumaCentre but he died on the way,”the police said.


The Uttar Pradesh StateRoad Transport

Corporation (UPSRTC) onThursday showcased its futureplans for the 21 bus stationswhich it was planning to con-struct on the PPP model in 21cities across the state in theBuilders’ Conclave held in thecity on Thursday. TransportMinister Swatantra Dev Singh,while addressing the builders,invited them to participate inthe development process ofthe state and assured themfull government support.

At the conclave theUPSRTC officials told the 30developers who had come fromdifferent parts of the countrythat 21 bus stations wereplanned at Ghaziabad in anarea measuring 36,500 squaremetres, at Ghaziabad city in anarea measuring 10,036 squaremetres, at Cantonment inVaranasi in an area measuring23,876 square metres, at CivilLines in Prayagraj in an areameasuring 18,000 squaremetres, at Gomti Nagar inLucknow in an area of 58800square metres, at Charbagh inLucknow an area measuring6,784 square metres, atGorakhpur in an area measur-ing 20,000 square metres, atIdgah in Agra in an area mea-suring 8,000 square metres, atAgra Fort in Agra in an areameasuring 4,046 square metres,

at Central Bus Station inKanpur in an area measuring45,400 square metres, atBhainsali in Meerut in an areameasuring 45,400 squaremetres, at Sohrab Gate atMeerut in an area measuring1,75,800 square metres, atBareilly in an area measuring29,000 square metres, atFaizabad in an area measuring10,530 square metres, atMathura in an area measuring6,790 square metres, at RaeBareli in an area measuring10,885 square metres, inBulandshahr in an area mea-suring 10,300 square metresand at Garh Mukteshwar in anarea measuring 52,000 squaremetres. The officials told thedevelopers that a substantialpart of the project would bededicated on the DBFOT(design, build, finance, operate

and transfer) model. Chairmanof UPSRTC Sanjeev Saran saidthey were carrying forth ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath’svision. “We will set up a singlewindow which will take upqueries round the clock fromthe builders and a dedicatedcell will look into the issues,” headded

Principal Secretary,Transport, Aradhana Shuklasaid that the developers wouldget a concession period of 60years, including that of con-struction. She told them thatthey would not have to gothrough any tedious process ofapprovals because the landwhich was the most importantpart of the project belonged tothe UPSRTC. She said that theCorporation was all set tochange the face of bus travelwith a new feel and a new look.


The Meteorological depart-ment will soon be giving

agro met forecast for farmersuptill block level in the state.Met director JP Gupta said thata pilot project for it was goingon at two Krishi VigyanKendras and would now beextended up to 10 centresshortly. The Meteorologicaldepartment organised a state-level review meeting on KrishiMausam Seva at a city hotel onThursday. It was attended byofficials of different govern-ment departments, whichincluded the Agriculture andFisheries departments, andrepresentatives from the agri-cultural universities.

Talking to The Pioneer,Gupta said that earlier, theywere passing the meteorolog-ical forecasts for the farmersof seven agro-climatic zones in

the state to the Indian Councilof Agriculture Research(ICAR) institutes of UP whichpassed it to the farmersthrough several means. Hesaid that direct informationfrom the Meteorologicaldepartment was available on itsweb portal.

“However, we now plan totake it to the block levelthrough Krishi VigyanKendras with informationwhich was specific to the soilof the area. We will start with10 centres in the state and thenslowly take it across to allcentres. The work is underprocess,” he added. Gupta saidthat the farmers of paddy,wheat, sugarcane and cottonbenefited immensely from theforecast.

He said that they wouldalso try to ensure that the fore-cast could be made earlier sothat the farmers could remain

well prepared. “We are makinga forecast five days in advanceon Tuesdays and Fridays andwe plan to extend them so thatwe can give it 7-10 days earli-er,” he said.

Talking about the experi-ence sharing of farmers, he saidthat many of them sharedincidents when the meteoro-logical forecast had provedbeneficial for them. “Some ofthe farmers here said that theyhad detected an insect on theircrops and they were planningto spray a pesticide on it andwhen they came to know thatthe weather forecast was ofrains they did not spray pesti-cides on their plants and therains washed the insects away,”he added.

Gupta said that he wouldtake a feedback from the farm-ers who had come to attend thereview meeting and incorpo-rate it in their services.

Lucknow (PNS): All gov-ernment banks in the city willbe closed for five days betweenDecember 21 and 26. Mediaincharge of United Forum ofBank Union Anil Tewari toldThe Pioneer that bank officerswould hold a strike onDecember 21 over salary hikeand merger of banks.

December 22 will be the lastSaturday of the month when thegovernment ranks will remainclosed, followed by December23 (Sunday). The banks will re-open on December 24, fol-lowed by Christmas holiday.“On December 26, there will beanother strike on the sameissue,” he said.

Hotelier gets threat letter from

jailed mafia; `5L demanded


ADalit man was attackedallegedly for disobeying

his upper caste rivals inMadiaon on Thursday morn-ing. However, the Aliganj cir-cle officer claimed that thebrawl erupted over a drink ses-sion. As per reports, the vic-tim, identified as DheerajRawat of Kamlabad, was rest-ing at his house when his rivalsRajendra, Manoj and Sarjureached there and attackedhim with sticks. “It was around11:30 am when I was restingon a cot. They appeared fromnowhere and all of them werewielding sticks. They startedabusing me without anyprovocation while usingcasteist slurs and later attackedme. I cried for help afterwhich neighbours started con-verging on the scene,” Dheerajstated in his FIR.

He said he somehowmanaged to escape to save hislife. “Later, I called the policecontrol room but the cops didnot reach in time. This helpedthe miscreants walk off,”

Dheeraj said, demandingpolice security. The villagerssaid Dheeraj had refused toobey the diktats of the personsin question on several occa-sions. However, Aliganj CODeepak Kumar said it was agroup clash during a drinksession and later, Dheerajlodged an FIR against hisrivals. The CO failed toexplain why the complaintclaimed that he was resting inhis house when attacked. Hesaid investigations wereunderway and the police weresearching for the accused. Inreply to a question, the COclaimed that the brawl hadnothing to do with Dheeraj’scaste.

However, sources said thatMadiaon remained on top interms of clashes over castethrough the year. “As many as1,360 such cases have beenreported at the police stationthis year. Most of the cases arerelated to either clashes orproperty dispute. A number ofstation officers have beenshunted due to their failure incurbing such cases,” they said.

Dalit man abused,

attacked with sticks

INSTEAD OF LAUNCHING

A PROBE, THE POLICE

SAT ON THE CASE.

HOWEVER, WHEN THE

NEWS REACHED TO

SOME MEDIAPERSONS

AND THEY STARTED

QUESTIONING HIGHER

OFFICERS, THE POLICE

REGISTERED A

CASE OF EXTORTION

Children dressed as Santa Claus take par in ‘Christmas Carnival’ at St Joseph Inter College on Thursday

Agro met forecasts for

farmers on the anvil

Differently-abled man among

two killed in road mishaps

UPSRTC showcases future plans for 21 bus stations

Minor girl hangs self

Transport Minister Swatantra Dev Singh and others at the inauguration of Builders’Conclave in Lucknow on Thursday

The state-level review meeting on Krishi Mausam Seva at a city hotel on Thursday Pioneer

Lucknow: Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh will beon a three-day visit to his LokSabha constituency Lucknowfrom December 23 duringwhich he will attend variousprogrammes including thebirth anniversary celebrationsof former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee.

On the first day of his visit,Singh will attend the 114thfoundation day of King George’sMedical University at ScientificConvention Centre after whichhe will participate in the ‘UttarPradesh Gaurav Samman’, an

awards ceremony, at GomtiNagar in the state capital, as peran official release here. On thesame day, he will attend the clos-ing ceremony of ‘Yuva Kumbh’at Manyavar Kanshiram Smarak

Sthal, Ashiyana. On the secondday of his visit, Singh will attenda programme at the statue ofAwanti Bai near the BJP officeand will later attend a KaviSammelan ‘Ek Sham Atal KeNaam’, it said. On the last day ofthe visit, Singh will be presentat the birth anniversary pro-gramme of Vajpayee at KudiyaGhat in Chowk area of old city.Born on December 25, 1924 inGwalior, Madhya Pradesh,Vajpayee represented Lucknowin the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and14th Lok Sabha from 1991 to2009. PTI

Rajnath to attend ABV’s birthanniversary events in city

Govt banks to be

closed for 5 days



Acity-level science fair wasinaugurated by Som Nath

Chandel, deputy director gen-eral of Geological Survey ofIndia (NR), Lucknow, at theRegional Science City here onWednesday. On the occasiona large number of guests, stu-dents and teachers were pre-sent. At this city-level ScienceFair more than 90 projects areon display, including 46 indi-vidual projects and 45 teamones. The projects displayed atthe Science Fair are highlight-ing the global problems andconcerns like energy, transport,food, agriculture, eco bill boardetc. Some students have alsodisplayed projects on mecha-nism of working of sewagetreatment plants and hydro-ponic techniques.

Chandel viewed the vari-ous projects on display, showedinterest in them and interact-ed with the participants. Hewas very happy on comingacross all the projects whichwere presented at the science

fair based on different streamsof science. Observing the ded-ication and style of the studentspresented through their mod-els, he said that these childrenwould contribute to the devel-opment of Lucknow and thecountry as well. He advised thestudents to continue working,keep on learning and keep oninventing because the govern-ment was providing such sup-port to promote science in thecountry. He concluded bysaying that we get wonderfulopportunities to use each and

every moment which came ourway and it would help us tobecome famous in every aspectof life. He also said that the stu-dents should take every subjectas a challenge and should notgive up till they achieved theirgoal.

Education officer, RegionalScience City, Ram Kumar wel-comed the guests and said thatthe main objective of organis-ing this Science Fair was to pro-vide a platform to the youngscientist to present their effi-ciency through creativity.

Lucknow (PNS): The statemonitoring committee ofNational Green Tribunal(NGT) has warned theLucknow DevelopmentAuthority administration ofimposing penalty if the poorsanitation conditions in its res-idential colonies and commer-cial complexes are notimproved within a fortnight.

A notice has been servedon the LDA administrationseeking explanation as to whythe unhygienic conditions pre-vail in the premises of its prop-erties. The NGT panel alsorecommended a stern actionagainst those found throwinggarbage in the open or at pub-lic places. At present, there is noprovision for safe garbage dis-posal in any of the establish-ments. The existing sanitationconditions of residentialcolonies and commercial com-plexes are in a poor shape andgarbage can be seen scatteredall over.

Interestingly, the LDAadministration had tied upwith LMC to keep the buildingsin hygienic conditions in early

90’s. But the civic authoritieswithdrew its sanitary staff threeyears ago citing shortage ofstaff. Justice DP Singh alsorapped LDA Vice-ChairmanPN Singh and MunicipalCommissioner IndramaniTripathi for not taking anyinitiative to improve the poorhygienic conditions. The LDAV-C failed to reply when askedabout arrangements to keep theproperties clean. Justice Singhwas also miffed with the expla-nation of the MunicipalCommissioner as he cited staffshortage for withdrawal of thesanitation staff. He said it wasthe duty of the LDA adminis-tration to maintain hygiene inand around its buildings andsaid garbage bins must beplaced outside every houseand staff deployed for its dis-posal. He said the expensesmust be borne by the LDA.

Officer on special duty RKShukla said the LDA adminis-tration had planned cleanlinessdrives from January 1 and res-idents would also be madeaware about safe disposal ofgarbage.

ANNUAL MOTHERS’ DAY & GRANDPARENTS’ DAY

City Montessori School,Aliganj Campus I, put upthe a show of talent at the‘Annual Mothers’ Day andGrandparents’ Day’, held atGomti Nagar Campus IIauditorium on Thursday.Parents were thrilled towatch the educational-cul-tural programmes of theirwards as they not only

showcased their talents inmusic and dance but alsodisplayed their innovativeand creative skills. A largenumber of parents andgrandparents attended theprogramme to boost themorale of their wards.Mothers presented a danceitem. The programme por-trayed the philosophy ofimparting broader andbolder education. Earlier,

the chief guest on the occa-sion was head of the Centrefor Advance Research,KGMU, Dr ShailendraKumar Saxena, who for-mally inaugurated the event.Addressing the gathering,he said it was good to knowthat CMS teachers are con-scious about moral, charac-ter-building and spiritualdevelopment of the students.


The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment in association with

Central government and WorldBank held a workshop here onThursday on business environ-ment reforms across the north-ern states. Officials from Jammu& Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana,Uttarakhand and HimachalPradesh participated in the day-long workshop on ‘BusinessReform Action Plan-2019(BRAP-2019) ImplementationGuidelines and FeedbackMethodology” for north Indianregion. There were 80 recommendations under theBRAP-2019.

The speakers said thatground level feedback of userswould be the main criteria ofranking under BRAP-2019 andfeedback would be taken on allthe implemented reforms. Theimplementation deadline isFebruary 28, 2019. Addressingthe participants, Chief Secretaryand Infrastructure andIndustrial DevelopmentCommissioner (IIDC) AnupChandra Pandey said that the

state government was makingconcerted efforts to ease doingbusiness environment (EODB)in Uttar Pradesh by continuous-ly strengthening the single win-dow clearance portal – NiveshMitra. He said that in additionto 70 services of 20 departments,the government was in theprocess of integrating newindustrial services to the onlineportal. “Additionally, we holdregular interactions with indus-trialists to resolve their issues ina time-bound manner,” headded. Pandey said that tremen-dous response of the investors tonew measures and investment-friendly policies was a testimo-ny to state government’s success-ful efforts in this direction.

World Bank representativeHarsh Jhanjaria said thatimproving the business climatewas a dynamic and evolvingprocess. He said that India wit-nessed significant improvementin actual implementation of theWorld Bank recommendationsduring the last three years. Hesaid that 17 states had imple-mented over 90 per cent reformsin the year 2017-18. It may be

noted that from a ranking of 142in the year 2014, India jumpedto 77th position in world rank-ing for EODB, the highest jumpby any country in such a shortperiod. Now India ranks firstamongst the South Asian coun-tries. Highlighting the fact thatUttar Pradesh secured ‘AchieverState’ category with 92.89 percent score in implementation ofbusiness reform points, PrincipalSecretary (Infrastructure &Industrial Development) RajeshKumar Singh said that UdyogBandhu had been taking thebusiness reforms to ground levelthrough training workshops atdivision level for awarenessamongst government officialsand entrepreneurs. Such work-shops have been held in 14 divi-sions of the state so far. Earlier,welcoming the participants,Secretary (Infrastructure &Industrial Development) andExecutive Director, UdyogBandhu, Santosh Yadav saidthat sharing of experience of allstates in implementation ofbusiness reform action planwould contribute positively inachieving the set targets.

FOUNDER’S DAYAvadh Girls’ PG College celebrated its

Founder’s Day on Thursday. Chief Secretary AnupChandra Pandey was the chief guest on the occa-sion. The programme started with Ganesh van-dana by Reshu Ojha, Vaishnavi Tripathi, AmishaSrivastava, Anam and Suman. The annual col-lege magazine, ‘The Avadhite 2017-18’ was alsounveiled. The Chief Secretary congratulated thealumnae who were felicitated on the occasion.

PRADHIKARAN DIWASPradhikaran Diwas was observed at

Lucknow Development Authority on Thursday.It was presided over by Vice-Chairman PNSingh. Over 50 people who bought LDA prop-erties but were not satisfied with deals and otherlegal problems or harassed by the staff turnedup and raised the issue with the Vice-Chairman.Ten cases regarding monthly installments were

disposed of while the rest referred to officialsconcerned for quick disposal. Senior officials andengineers heard the grievances. The LDA Vice-Chairman directed the officials concerned to dis-pose of the complaints at the earliest.

GANGANAMAThe 6th Annual Wajid Ali Shah Festival,

‘Ganganama’, will be organised at DilkushaPalace on December 22. Executive director andsecretary of Rumi Foundation Muzaffar Ali toldmediapersons on Thursday that ‘Ganganama’would be presented on December 22. “This edi-tion is designed to celebrate the story, myth andhistory of the revered river in its full splendor.Last year, we decided to integrate a powerfulmessage of environment and ecology to keep airand water clean and protect our trees. While UPTourism is supporting the festival, it is being sus-tained by institutional assistance,” Ali said.

90 projects on display at

city-level science fair

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

NGT raps LDA over

unhygienic conditions

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Ameeting was held in theNorth Central Railway

headquarters between its GMand the Passenger ServicesCommittee (PSC) of theRailway Board. It was presidedover by the GM of NCR, RajivChaudhary. The PSC washeaded by its Chairman,Ramesh Chandra Ratn. Themeeting began with GM ofNCR extending a welcome tothe Chairman and members ofthe PSC.

After the welcome a pre-sentation on the preparationsof the Indian Railways for theensuing Kumbh Mela-2019scheduled to be organised inPrayagraj from January nextyear was given to the PSC byADRM (OP), Anil KumarDwivedi. In the presentationit was said that a total of 1,762special trains were proposed tobe run during the entire dura-tion of the Kumbh Mela (972outwards and 790 inwards). Adetailed overview about theinfrastructure enhancementworks done by the railways inthe Prayagraj district at a costof `700 crore was also given tothe PSC.

The PSC appreciated theinfrastructural works done by

the railways and also thedetailed plans which had beendrawn up for running the spe-cial trains and for ensuring theeasy availability of tickets, par-ticularly the unreserved ones tothe passengers and devoteescoming to Prayagraj during theKumbh Mela period.

Under the technologicalinitiatives the PSC wasinformed about the recently-

launched Rail Kumbh Seva2019 mobile application aswell as the UTS on mobile app.Both the apps drew greatappreciation from the PSCwhich suggested that maxi-mum publicity should begiven to them.

The PSC suggested thewidespread use of pamphletsand stickers to create aware-ness about the Rail Kumbh

Seva App and UTS on mobileapp. The PSC also appreciat-ed the initiative of computersimulation of crowd move-ment at the railway stationswhich had been done by theNCR for better planning andpreparedness for tackling theproblem during the KumbhMela. Speaking about themedical facilities the GM ofNCR told the PSC that 30

additional railway doctorshad been requisitioned fromother zonal railways whowould be used round theclock and their presence in allthe passenger enclosureswould be ensured. This infor-mation was welcomed by thePSC. The Chairman of PSCappreciated the preparationsmade by the railways for theproper management of theKumbh Mela and the coordi-nation and cooperationextended to it by the officersand staff of NCR during theirstay in Prayagraj and inspec-tions of the railway stationslocated in the district. ThePSC suggested that sloganson cleanliness and ‘NamamiGange’ should be given andpopularised by the Railways.The meeting ended with thePSC expressing their confi-dence in the ability of theRailways and conveying itsgood wishes to GM of NCRand his team of officers foreffective and rewarding man-agement of Kumbh Mela-2019. The PHODs of NCRand DRM Allahabad werepresent at the meeting. Thevote of thanks was proposedby the ADRM (OP),Allahabad, Anil KumarDwivedi.

1,762 spl trains to be run during Kumbh Mela

NCR GM and PSC chairman with others Pioneer

UP’s focus on EODB: CS

Pradhikaran Diwas byLDA on Thursday


Sitting BJP lawmaker fromBulandshahr has written an

open letter to 83 retired bureau-crats who have demanded res-ignation of Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, saying that the let-ter was politically motivatedand they were not aware of theground reality which led to vio-lence in Bulandshahr.

In his three-page letterreleased to the media onThursday, ruling party MLAfrom Anoopshahar inBulandshahr district, SanjaySharma said that allegations lev-eled by the retired bureaucratsagainst the Chief Minister were“unfortunate” and politically“motivated” and the languageused against the CM was anattempt to spread communalhatred. Talking to The Pioneeron Thursday, the MLA said thathe was hurt by the baseless alle-gations by former bureaucratswho include retired officersfrom IAS, IPS and other civilservices, who through a letteraccused the CM of incitingcommunal hatred.

“The 83 retired bureau-crats have claimed that theCM is biased towards a partic-ular community but the fact isthat this government had given

permission to the same com-munity to organise a big 3-dayfestival and ensured its success-ful completion. If the govern-ment was biased towards thatcommunity, it would not havegiven permission to the organ-isers,” Sharma said in his letter.He said the bureaucrats wereconcerned about Bulandshahrbut no one took pains to visitthat region. “They say two peo-ple died in the violence but aresilent on slaughtering of 21cows. I congratulate the ChiefMinister for protecting cows.And as far as bureaucrats’ claimthat wrong persons were arrest-ed, the administration rectified

its fault,” Sharma said.In their letter, the bureau-

crats had claimed that the mobviolence in Bulandshahr onDecember 3 was instigated andengineered with maliciousintent and led to the cold-blooded murder of a police offi-cer. They said, “Ample video-graphed evidence exists to showthat those engaged in violenceand their leaders, as well asthose who egged them on, areallowed to roam scot-free while,at the same time, alleged cowkillers, against whom not ashred of evidence exists, aretaken into custody, just becausethey are Muslims. Three of themain accused in the mob vio-lence leading to the death of thepolice officer flaunt their affil-iations to the Sangh Parivar,” thebureaucrats said, demandingresignation of the ChiefMinister “for his failure toabide by the Constitution”.

Hitting out at the bureau-crats the BJP MLA said thatBulandshahr violence was anact of sudden provocationdue to killing of gaumata.“And the demand for CM’sresignation is senselessbecause this is the governmentelected by people and onlypeople have the right todethrone it,” Sharma said.

BJP MLA slams retired babus

for seeking CM’s resignation

BJP MLA from

Anoopshahar in

Bulandshahr Sanjay

Sharma said that

allegations leveled

by retired babus

against the CM were

unfortunate and

politically motivated

and the language

was an attempt

to spread

communal hatred

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018 nation 05

IN SHORT

DROP CHARGES AGAINSTSCRIBE: MEDIA BODYNew Delhi: Journalist bodieshave called for dropping ofcharges against an Imphal-basedjournalist who was recentlysentenced to one year indetention for criticising the BJP-led governments at the Centreand in Manipur on social media.The District Magistrate of ImphalWest had ordered detention of Kishorechand Wangkhem, a 39-year-old journalist who works fora TV channel, on November 27allegedly after he uploadedvideos criticising the BJP-ledgovernments in Manipur and theCentre for observing RaniJhansi’s birth anniversary, aManipur government order said.

PREZ ON 4-DAY SOUTHERNSOJOURN FROM TODAY New Delhi: President Ram NathKovind will be reachingSecunderabad on Friday for afour-day southern sojournduring which he will inaugurate aCentre of Excellence for SickleCell Anaemia and other geneticblood disorders at a medicalinstitute. During his visit, he willstay at the Rashtrapati Nilayam,a single-storied building locatedat Bolarum which serves asPresidential Retreat.

PM MODI TO ANNOUNCEPROJECTS FOR ODISHANew Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will announceprojects worth over `14,500crore for Odisha during his visitto the state on December 24,BJP leader and PetroleumMinister Dharmendra Pradhansaid on Thursday. The projectsare related to higher education,health, road and highways andculture, he said. “These projectswill bring unprecedenteddevelopment to the state and Iam thankful for the PrimeMinister’s gift to the State,”Pradhan said.

SHRINGLA NEW INDIANAMBASSADOR TO USNew Delhi: Seasoned diplomatHarsh Vardhan Shringla was onThursday appointed as the nextAmbassador of India to the US, considered a high-profile postingwhere he will face the task of engaging with the Trumpadministration on a number ofkey issues including the H1Bvisa.

PTI n NEW DELHI

With regional and interna-tional role of India and

China evolving, there areexpectations from the twocountries to lead Asia andusher in an Asian century,External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj said onThursday.

Sushma made the assertionin her message that was readout at the the inaugural sessionof the third India-China Think-Tanks Forum being hosted bythe Indian Council of WorldAffairs (ICWA) fromDecember 20-21 here.

Her remarks came ahead ofChinese Foreign MinisterChinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi’s visit to India toattend the first meeting of theHigh Level Mechanism onPeople-to-People Exchanges.

Talking about the visit at amedia briefing, Ministry ofExternal Affairs SpokespersonRaveesh Kumar said this wasthe first such meeting that willbe co-chaired by Swaraj andWang and the decision toestablish the forum was takenat the Wuhan summit betweenPrime Minister Modi andPresident Xi Jinping.

There will be a bilateralmeeting between the ExternalAffairs Minister and herChinese counterpart afterwhich they will deliver theirstatements. The openingremarks at the inaugural ses-sion of the India-China Think-Tanks Forum were delivered byAmbassador T.C.A. Raghavan,

DG, ICWA, and Gao Peiyong,Vice President, ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences.

Messages from the Indianand Chinese Foreign ministerswere also read out at the startof this year’s edition themed“Civilization Connect towardsan Asian Century”.

“Through quality deliber-ations in its last two editions,this forum has established itselfas a useful framework for reg-ular and continuous discus-sions between our academicsand scholars, and has enabledthem to provide structuredadvice and recommendationsto governments of both sides,”Swaraj said in her messageread out by Pranay Verma,Joint Secretary, MEA.

“As our relations our deep-ening and our regional andinternational role evolving,there are expectations fromour two countries to lead Asiaand usher in an Asian century,”the minister said.

Chinese Foreign MinisterWang, in his message read outby the Chinese AmbassadorLuo Zhaohui, said the thinktank forum has helped in deep-ening mutual understandingand enhancing mutual trustbetween the two countries.

Ambassador Luo said fol-lowing the Wuhan summit,relations were on the righttrack.

Expectations fromIndia, China tolead Asia: Sushma

PNS n NEW DELHI

On the lines of Union PublicService Commission’s

(UPSC) examination for IASand IPS, the Niti Aayog hascome up with an idea for a pan-India exam to select cadre forthe lower judiciary to attractyoung and bright law gradu-ates.

At present, various highcourts and state service com-missions hold exams to recruitjudicial officers. The Aayog alsocome up with an idea to reducethe upper age limit for entryinto the civil services from 30years to 27 for general catego-ry candidates in a phased man-ner.

The Government has in thepast proposed an all-India judi-cial service. But nine highcourts have opposed the pro-posal to have an all-India ser-vice for lower judiciary. Eightothers have sought changes inthe proposed framework andonly two have supported theidea.

In its report on Strategy forNew India @75 which definesobjectives for 2022-23, theAayog suggested that an all-India judicial services exami-nation on a ranking basis canbe considered to maintain highstandards in the judiciary. “Theselection process may beentrusted to the UPSC for acadre of lower judiciary judges,Indian Legal Service (bothcentre and states), prosecu-tors, legal advisors, and legaldraftsmen. This will attractyoung and bright law graduatesand help build a new cadre thatcan enhance accountability inthe governance system,” thereport claimed. The reportsuggested introduction of anadministrative cadre in thejudicial system to streamlineprocesses. There are 24 highcourts in the country.

A performance index forjudges should be consideredand a separate state-wise index

for “ease of getting justice”should be prepared. To main-tain judicial independence, thecadre should report to theChief Justice in each HighCourt.

The idea was first mootedin the 1960s. Seeking to over-come the divergence of views,the government had recentlysuggested to the SupremeCourt various options, includ-ing an NEET-like examina-tion to recruit judges to thelower judiciary.

National Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET) is con-ducted for admission to med-ical colleges. Joint EntranceExamination (JEE Main) isconducted for admission toengineering colleges.

There were vacancies of4,452 judges in subordinatecourts in the country as per thefigures released on December31, 2015. While the sanctionedstrength is 20,502, the actualnumber of judges and judicialofficers in subordinate courts is16,050.

The Aayog has also sug-gested that the upper age limitfor entry into the civil servicesbe brought down to 27 yearsfrom the present 30 years forgeneral category candidates.“The upper age limit for thecivil services should be broughtdown to 27 years for the gen-eral category in a phased man-ner by 2022-23,” it said.

It also said the existing 60-plus separate civil services atthe Central and State levelneed to be reduced throughrationalisation and harmoni-sation of services.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Parliament was adjournedfor the day on Thursday

after the Lok Sabha somehowpassed two Bills. But RajyaSabha failed to transact anybusiness amid ruckus by theOpposition over various issues.

Both Houses have beenwitnessing pandemonium overthe Rafale fighter jet deal andCauvery river issue, amongother matters.

The two Bills passed byLok Sabha were the ConsumerProtection Bill, 2018 and theNational Trust for Welfare ofPersons with Autism, CerebralPalsy, Mental Retardation andMultiple Disabilities(Amendment) Bill, 2018.

In the Rajya Sabha, slogan-shouting members of Tamilparties — AIADMK andDMK— trooped into the wellof the House over the Cauveryissue as soon as the House metfor the day. Congress membersheld placards and shouted slo-gans demanded probe by theJoint Parliamentary Committee(JPC) into the purchase ofRafale jets from France.

The BJP members coun-tered Congress members withslogans demanding an apologyfrom Congress President RahulGandhi following the SupremeCourt clean chit to the Rafaledeal.

Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu said all issuescan be discussed and membersshould allow the House tofunction.

However, sensing themood he adjourned the Housefor the day minutes after itassembled.

In the Lok Sabha, the pro-

ceedings were adjourned in themorning amid sparringbetween members from TamilNadu and Karnataka over theissue of proposal to build a dam

on the Cauvery River.Congress demanded JPC

probe into the Rafale deal,Tamil Nadu and Karnatakaentered the well holding plac-

ards over the Cauvery issue.TDP MPs demanded spe-

cial category status for AndhraPradesh and setting up of asteel plant in the state.

The lower house managedto pass two bills and Congressagreed to discuss Triple talaqon December 27 . Soon afterSpeaker Sumitra MahajanSpeaker Sumitra Mahajanadjourned the House for theday.

Earlier in day , not happyover MPs holding placardsinside Lok Sabha and creatingruckus, Speaker told leaders ofall parties that the image of theHouse is taking a big hit andhas called a meeting of theRules Committee to look intothe matter, sources saidThursday.

The Lok Sabha proceed-

ings were disrupted for the sev-enth consecutive working dayon Thursday amid sparringbetween members of variousparties and a ruckus beingcreated by various leaders.

In a meeting with leadersof all parties, including theCongress leader in the HouseMallikarjun Kharge and UnionParliamentary Affairs MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar,Mahajan conveyed her dis-pleasure over continuous dis-ruptions in functioning of theLower House of Parliament,Lok Sabha sources said.

The Speaker told the lead-ers that the image of the houseis taking a hit and it is beingseen as a place where onlyruckus happens, where nothingcan be asked or listened, thesources said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The controversial triple talaqBill that was introduced

afresh in the Lok Sabha onMonday would be taken up fordiscussion on December 27 asCongress, which had earlier inthe Rajya Sabha opposed someof its “harsh” provisions , alsoagreed to participate in thedebate in the lower house.

In the new Bill, a magis-trate can grant bail after con-sulting the affected wife. Theoffense would still be non-bail-able and Muslim men accusedof triple talaq would not beable to get bail from the police.

As the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights onMarriage) Bill, 2018, was takenup for consideration, Leader ofthe Congress in the House,Mallikarjun Kharge, suggested

it be taken up for discussionnext week.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Narendra SinghTomar sought an assurancefrom the Opposition that itwould allow discussion on thebill without disruption on thatday.

“I request you to take thebill on December 27. We are allgoing to participate. Our partyand other political parties areready to discuss (the Bill),”Kharge said.

To this, Law Minister ManiShankar Prasad said, “AsKhargeje ji has made an openpromise, we have no problemsin having a discussion onDecember 27. I urge that thisdebate be held in a sanguineand peaceful manner.”

The fresh Bill to make thepractice of triple talaq among

Muslims a penal offence wasintroduced in the Lok Sabha onMonday to replace an ordi-nance issued in September.

Under the proposed law,giving instant triple talaq willbe illegal and void and willattract a jail term of threeyears for the husband.

The fresh Bill willsupercede an earlier Bill passedin the Lok Sabha and pendingin the Rajya Sabha as theCongress and opposition par-ties are opposed to its ‘harsh’provisions. The earlier Bill wasapproved by the lower housewhere BJP has the majority.

Amidst opposition by theCongress in the upper house,the Government had clearedsome amendments, includingintroduction of a provision ofbail, to make it more accept-able.

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

With traditional farmingturning to be non-remu-

nerative due to monkey, wildanimal and stray cattle menaceas well as uncertain weatherconditions, farmers of HillStates like Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Jammu &Kashmir are drawing towardsthe fragrance of bright wildmarigold flowers like neverbefore. This, with the help ofscientists from the CSIR-Institute of HimalayanBioresource Technology(IHBT), Palampur, who havedeveloped ‘Him Gold’, a high-quality new variety of the wildmarigold flower, Taget Minuta.

For, the marigold cropoffers a suitable substitute as itremains unaffected by thesesbiotic and abiotic factors. The

farmers from the region havealready produced 3.5 tonnes ofessential oils, a natural oilextracted from the flower injust two years since the devel-opment of the ‘Him Gold’.

In India, a total 4 tonnes ofessential oils is produced to caterthe demand of high growth per-fumery, pharmaceutical, foodflavouring and agricultureindustries among a few others.

Dr Sanjay Kumar, DirectorCSIR-IHBT, Palampur said thatagro and process technologypackage of the crop has alsobeen developed and transferredto the farmers to help themextract maximum from theproduction. The farmers canmeet the growing demand as atpresent requirement of wildmarigold oil in India is met withimports from France, Brazil,Kenya and Australia. It has

high demand, guaranteed buy-ers and lucrative prices, he said.

The price of Tagetes oilvaries from `7,000 to`10,000/kg. Farmers can obtainnet returns of 1.2 to 1.5 lakhsper hectare by growing thiscrop and producing essential oilwith in a period of 5-6 months

Dr Rakesh Kumar,Principal Scientist associatedwith the project added that thefarmers, rural women andunemployed youth were impart-ed awareness cum training pro-grammes on cultivation andprocessing of the essential oil.

“A good number of farm-ers have already taken up thecultivation and more are show-ing interest,” said Dr RakeshKumar. So far, an area of about214 hectares has been boughtunder wild marigold cultiva-tion by more than 600 farmers

in the hilly region. The crop issuitable for cultivation in theplains as well as on the hills asa mono-crop or inter-crop inorchards/forest/medicinal/aromatic plants, he added.

The efforts are already get-ting recognition. Vineet Sood,an entrepreneur and farmerfrom Kullu district of HimachalPradesh who has adopted thefarming of this crop under theguidance of the CSIR-IHBTclinched Ultra InternationalICONIC Farmer Award forimpactful contribution madetowards cultivation and popu-larization of Tagetes minutacrop in the district atInternational Congress ofEssential Oil held in Bengaluruin August 2018.

This is just the beginning.The market is huge consider-ing that this essential oil has

extensive range of uses such asanti-inflammatory, antifungaland antibacterial, owing towhich it is useful for curingwounds, eczema, diaper rash,skin treatment, the treatment ofpsoriasis, as well as for betterskin. Also, it has almost noside-effects as compared tomost of the conventional drugsand medicines, said the experts.Increase in the demand for nat-ural personal care productsand pleasing aromatic cleaningagents is another driver of themarigold essential oil market.

According to reports,worldwide, production of theessential oil of T Minuta isaround 20-22 tonnes perannum with South Africa lead-ing the race by producingabout 6.5 tonnes of essentialoil/year followed by India (4t/ha) and Zimbabwe (2 t/ha).

PNS n NEW DELHI

The ED has filed achargesheet against five top

Maoist leaders of Bihar forlaundering extortion moneyto the tune of over `3.5 crore.The chargehseeted Maoistsinclude Pradumn Sharma (in-charge of Magadh Zone ofCPI Maoists), Sandeep Yadav(leader of CPI Maoists), BinayYadav (top commander andactive member of BiharRegional Committee of CPIMaoist), Musafir Sahni andAnil Ram (both top maoistleaders of north Bihar) underPMLA Act.

The ED has chargesheetedPradumn Sharma and othersand attached immovable prop-erties with registered value of`2.85 crore including JCB,SUVs and buses. The presentmarket value of these immov-able properties is of severalcrore rupees, the ED said.

The agency has attachedproperties worth `68 lakh ofSharma, assets worth `86 lakhof Sandeep Yadav, ̀ 54.14 lakhof Musafir Sahni and assets of

`77 lakh of Anil Ram andBinay Yadav.

The ED probe has furtherrevealed that Sharma had laun-dered extortion money of `2crore layered through severalbank accounts which was ulti-mately invested in immovableproperties in the name of hisfamily members. A part ofextortion money was used foradmission of Sharma’s niece ina prominent medical collegewhere the annual fees was tothe tune of `24 lakh.

Binay Yadav has also been

found laundering extortionmoney to the tune of `1.5crore using several bankaccounts and the launderedmoney was ultimately used foracquiring movable and immov-able properties, the agencysaid.

Musafir Sahni has alsolaundered extortion moneyand the same was invested in 11plots of land in Vaishali in thename of his family members.Anil Ram had used extortionmoney in the acquisition of siximmovable properties andtruck in benami names.

LS adjourns after passing two Bills

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National Trust forWelfare of Persons with

Autism, Cerebral Palsy, MentalRetardation and MultipleDisabilities (Amendment) Bill,2018 was passed by the LokSabha on Thursday. The Billhas been already passed by theRajya Sabha. Now it will go forPresident’s approval.

Under the Act, theChairperson and members ofthe Board of the NationalTrust can hold office for a termof three years from the date oftheir appointment or untiltheir successors are appointed,whichever is longer.

The Bill amends this pro-vision to fix the tenure of the

Chairperson and members ofthe Board to three years.Further, the Bill states that thecentral government will initi-ate the process for appoint-ment of the Chairperson orany member of the Board, atleast six months prior to theexpiry of his tenure.

The Act states that if theChairperson or members ofthe Board resign, they will con-tinue in office until theappointment of their successoris made by the central gov-ernment.

The Bill amends this toallow the Chairperson ormembers of the Board to holdoffice till their resignation isaccepted by the CentralGovernment.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Consumer ProtectionBill 2018, which will

replace the ConsumerProtection Act, 1986, aims atstrengthening the rights ofconsumers and providing amechanism for redressal oftheir complaints regardingdefects in goods and defi-ciency in services was passedby the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Consumer AffairsMinister Ram Vilas Paswansaid the legislation had notbeen amended since last threedecades and needed changesfor strengthening the rights of

the consumers.The Bill, among other

things, proposes setting up ofthe Consumer DisputesRedressal Commission andforums at the District, Stateand National levels for adju-dicating consumer complaints.It will have the power to set upa Central ConsumerProtection Authority to pro-mote, protect and enforce con-sumer rights as a class.Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) saidthe Bill gives excess power tothe bureaucracy and shouldhave sunset provisions underwhich the Bill can come toParliament for amendments.

Consumer protection

Bill 2018 passed

Autism Bill OK’d

Lok Sabha to take up triple talaqBill for discussion on Dec 27

PTI n NEW DELHI

Russian President VladimirPutin’s special envoy Zamir

Kabulov on Thursday heldtalks with Foreign SecretaryVijay Gokhale and other offi-cials of the External AffairsMinistry on ways to bringpeace and stability in war-rav-aged Afghanistan.

External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson Raveesh Kumarsaid both sides reiterated theirsupport for an Afghan-led andAfghan-owned inclusive peaceand reconciliation process.

In the meetings, the

Russian side briefed on theirefforts to support Afghan peaceprocess through Moscow for-mat of talks.

Kumar said it was agreed tomaintain regular bilateral con-sultations and coordinationincluding in the context ofinternational fora with theshared objective to promotepeace, security, stability, unityand prosperity in Afghanistan.

“It was agreed to hold thenext round of consultations inMoscow in 2019,” he said.

Kabulov held delegation-level talks with Joint Secretary(Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran

division) Deepak Mittal. Helater met Gokhale. India hasbeen actively involved in recon-struction activities inAfghanistan. Last month, Indiaattended in a “non-official”capacity a conference underMoscow format of talks whichwas hosted by Russia and par-ticipated by the Taliban as wellas representatives from sever-al countries including Pakistan,China and Iran.

India made it clear that itsparticipation was in sync withits Afghan policy and assertedthat attending the meeting wasnot talking to the Taliban at all.

Hill farmers drawing towards fragrance of bright wild marigold flowers

MEA holds talks with Putin's special

envoy over Afghan peace process

Niti Aayog for all-Indiatest to select judgesfor lower courts

The chargehseetedMaoists include

Pradumn Sharma (In-charge of Magadh Zone

of CPI Maoists),Sandeep Yadav (Leaderof CPI Maoists), BinayYadav (top commanderand active member of

Bihar RegionalCommittee of CPI

Maoist), Musafir Sahniand Anil Ram

The Aayog has alsosuggested that the

upper age limit for entryinto the civil services be

brought down to 27years from the present30 years for generalcategory candidates

ED chargesheets 5

top Maoist leaders


KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

The probe into the missingtemple idols in Tamil Nadu

(numbering more than 5,000idols) took a new turn over thelast two days as a team of policeofficials gave a complaint toState Police chief TK Rajendranagainst AG Ponn Manickavel,special officer heading thewing, alleging harassment bythe latter.

A team of 12 idol wingofficials called on the SPC andsubmitted the petition againstPonn Manickavel. Later theyspoke to the media, a hithertounheard practice in TamilNadu Police. Manickavelremained incommunicado.

The petitioners said thatthe Special Officer was forcingthem to book cases and inves-tigate them without necessaryevidence. “Officers who donot follow his instructions arebeing scolded and intimidatedby the special officer,” said oneof the officials.

But devotees are of theview that this petition has beensubmitted with the intention tosabotage the probe into the

stolen idols.“Somebody in the

Government does not like theprobe to reach the logical con-clusion and the booking of cul-prits. No police officer woulddare to submit a petitionagainst his superior withoutsupport for the departmentofficials as well as politicians,”said Jebamani Mohanraj, a for-mer CBI official who hadprobed the Rajiv Gandhi assas-sination case.

He pointed out that PonnManickavel was appointed asofficer on special duty by theMadras High Court on the dayof his superannuation fromservice. “The court had full

trust in Manickavel and thatwas why he was given exten-sion of service. There were nocomplaints against Manickavel

for the 35 years he served thepolice department. Perhaps theauthorities and those who wereagainst him might have felt thatonce he retires from service, theprobe into the missing idols toowould come to an end,” saidMohanraj.

The missing temple idolsare worth thousands of croresand many officials of the HinduReligious & CharitableDepartment were under thescanner of the Idol Wing. Allmajor political parties in theState had staged protestdemonstration against PonnManickavel for arresting ofHR&CE officials.

“More than 7,000 antique

and ancient idols have beenmissing from the temples andthe HRCE officials are silentabout the same,” said Rama

Gopalan, leader, Hindu Front,an umbrella organisations ofvarious Hindutwa outfits inTamil Nadu.

Manickavel had retrievedthe ancient bronze idols ofRaja Raja Chola I and his royalconsort Lokama Devi whichwent missing from ThanjavurBig Temple more than 50 yearsago. These idols are valuedmore than `150 crore in inter-national market.

A former police chief saidthat the move againstManickavel smacked of a kindof cover up. “We have to findout the reason behind the dis-appearance of these templeidols. There is every chance of

a major conspiracy behind thetheft of these idols. The motivecould be to shut down the tem-ples. Once the idols go missing,the temples too get shut down,”he said.

Mohanraj said the phonecalls made and received by theofficers should be probed. “It isinteresting to note that com-plaints against Manickavelwere made after it was knownthat the Madras High Courthad quashed the governmentorder transferring the idol theftcase to the CBI and Manickavelwas given an extension,” hesaid.

Rangarajan Narasimhan, avedic scholar based in Tiruchy,said that Manickavel was run-ning a race with one of his legstied. “He is not getting any helpfrom he government r the gov-ernment lawyer while arrestingthe suspects. The idl missingcases has both the DMK andthe AIADMK leaders asaccused,” said Narasimhan.

The mystery behind themissing idols and the vanishingtemple lands (50,000 acres havedisappeared) are becoming curi-ous by the days and has snow-balled into a major scam.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In an apparent effort to keepthe beleaguered farmers in

good humour in the run-up tothe 2019 Lok Sabha polls, theBJP-led saffron allianceGovernment on Thursdayannounced an ex-gratia pay-ment of `200 per quintal to allthose onion growers who wereforced to dispose of their pro-duce in a distress sale duringthe last one and a half months.

At the weekly State Cabinetmeeting chaired by ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis,the Maharashtra Governmentdecided to make an ex gratiapayment to onion who wereforced their produce at “verylow prices”, at the rate of `200per quintal with upper limit of200 quintals per onion farmerfor all the onion purchased by

the State Agricultural MarketingCommittee from November 12018 to December 15, 2018.

“At its Cabinet meetingheld earlier in the day, the StateCabinet approved `150 crore asa relief to the onion growers

who were forced to sell theirproduce to the state and districtAgriculture MarkingCommittees at very low prices.An ex gratia payment will bemade to the beneficiary farm-ers will at the rate of `200 per

quintal with upper limit of200 quintals per onion farmerfor all the onion sold fromNovember 1 2018 to December15, 2018,” Maharashtra’sPrincipal Secretary(Agricultural Marketing)

Anoop Kumar said.Onion is a cash crop in

Maharashtra, where crop isharvested during Kharif, lateKharif and Rabi seasons. Giventhe bountiful crop this year,there was a glut of stocks ofonion at arriving at the variousdistrict and State agriculturalmarketing committee officesduring the month ofNovember. The stocks thatarrived at the various market-ing committees accounted forthe 41.23 lakh quintals. “TheState Government will make anex-gratia payment to 75 Lakhquintals (41.23 lakh quintalsproduced till November 18and 33.73 Lakh quintals pro-duced till December 15. Theex-gratia payments will becredited directly to the bankaccounts of the beneficiaryfarmers,” Kumar said.

PTI n ZERO (ARUNACHAL)

Union Minister NitinGadkari on Thursday

inaugurated and laid founda-tion stones for national high-ways projects worth `9,533crore in Arunachal Pradesh.These infrastructure projectswill transform the picture ofStates in the North-easternregion of the country by way ofdevelopment, job creation,tourism and employment forthe youth, the Road Transportand Highways Minister said.

“Gadkari inaugurated/laythe foundation for nationalhighways projects worth ̀ 9,533crore at separate events inRoing and Ziro in ArunachalPradesh on Thursday,” theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways said in a state-ment.

The Minister was accom-panied by the State ChiefMinister Pema Khandu andUnion Minister of State forHome Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

Complementing the agen-

cies involved for timely com-pletion of the projects despiteobstacles like land acquisitionand forest and environmentclearances, Gadkari said theseprojects will ensure 24X7 con-nectivity between places andsave travel time between Assamand Arunachal Pradesh.

The Minister stated thatroad network in ArunachalPradesh has increased from1,804 km to 2,885 km in the

last four years since 2014, anda sum of ̀ 28,000 crore is beingspent on construction of high-ways in the state.

In Roing, Gadkari inaugu-rated bridges across Dibangand Lohit River System, includ-ing approach road betweenChowkham-Digaru.

“The total length of thisproject is 30.95 km and cost`1,508.30 crore. The Ministeralso inaugurated the recentlytwo-laned, 25.14 kmMahadevpur to Buri Dihingsection of NH-52 B, con-structed at a cost of `136.60crore and 22.23 km Bordumsa-

Namchik section of NH-52 Bconstructed at a cost of ̀ 189.91crore,” the statement said.

The Minister laid the foun-dation for about 96.47 km ofnational highways projectscosting `2,114.82 crore inRoing.

These include two-laningof the 74.86 km Roing-HunliSection of Hunli-Anini Road(NH-313) at a cost of ̀ 1,718.59crore; two-laning of the11.31km Hayuliang-HawaiRoad section of NH-113 at`256.66 crore and the 10.3 kmHunli-Anini section of NH-313at a cost of `139.37 crore.

PTI n MUMBAI

Back home after six years ina Pakistani jail, software

engineer Hamid Nihal Ansarion Thursday said he wants tomove on, instead of ‘reopeningold wounds’ about the pain heendured during this period.

Ansari, 33, who reachedMumbai to a cheering welcomeby friends and relatives, said hewants to get a job and then finda suitable match for himself(pehle naukri phir chhokri).

“I don’t want to recall whathappened with me (while inPakistan). I want to look at thefuture,” he said.

Ansari was arrested inPakistan in 2012 for allegedlyentering that country fromAfghanistan reportedly to meeta woman he had befriendedonline. Pakistan slapped espi-onage charges against him. Hewas repatriated on Tuesdayand handed over to India at theWagah-Attari border.

Ansari and his parents

landed here Thursday morningfrom Delhi by an Air Indiaflight. Relatives, friends andwell-wishers greeted andcheered for him as he came outof the airport.

The family then left for theirresidence in suburban Versova.When they reached home, theywere greeted by a large numberof neighbours who were waitingto catch his glimpse.

Speaking to media per-sons at the airport, Ansari

said, “I made some mistakesbut now I want to look aheadto the future.”

“I can’t describe my feelingsof the moment I crossed theborder and touched the Indiansoil and caught a glimpse of myparents, who were waiting onthe Indian side,” he said.

“I then realised how muchthey must have suffered for me.I wanted to meet them imme-diately, but could not as I wason the Pakistani side for some

time,” Ansari said.Asked about an eye injury

he apparently suffered duringinterrogation at the Pakistaniprison, Ansari said the inter-rogation process cannot beavoided.

“During the interrogation,the retina of my eye got rup-tured. But, they admitted me toa government hospital and itwas treated...they compensat-ed for it (treatment),” he said.

Ansari attributed analleged attack on him inPeshawar prison to a “misun-derstanding” which escalated.

On his plans, the softwareengineer said first there will bea celebration with the family. “Ihave to find a job and after thatI also have to find a woman toget married,” he said.

Ansari was imprisoned inthe Peshawar jail after beingsentenced by a military courton December 15, 2015.

According to officialsources, India issued 96 notesverbales to Pakistan seekingconsular access to Ansari. The

decision to release him wastaken due to relentless pressurefrom New Delhi, they said.

Shortly before he reachedIndia, his mother Fauzia hadtold reporters that the prayersof the family and of all thosewho wished for his safe returnwere answered. His fatherNihal had said it was a newdawn for them.

Ansari and his family havethanked External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj andher ministry for persisting withthe case and taking it up withIslamabad.

His jail term ended onDecember 15 but he was notable to leave for India as hislegal documents were notready. On Thursday, thePeshawar High Court gavePakistan government a month’stime to complete his repatria-tion process.

Ansari had an emotionalinteraction with Swaraj onWednesday as he narrated thedifficult phase he had to endurethrough in Pakistan.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

In a major blow to protectionof Western Ghats, Karnataka

Government has rejected therecommendations of KKasturirangan Committeereport.

This is the second time theState Government has rejectedthe report based on recom-mendations made by a sub-committee. Informing this inthe ongoing Winter Session ofthe Karnataka Council atBelagavi, State’s Forest MinisterR Shankar has said that hewould request the State Cabinetto reject the report as it ham-pered the livelihoods of thou-sands of people living in theWestern Ghats region inKarnataka. He also said ifimplemented it will hinderdevelopment.

Forest Minister Shankarsaid, “The sub-committee head-ed by me has decided to rejectthe recommendations of thereport. The report will be placedbefore the Cabinet soon. We willurge the Government to conveyto the Centre that the State does

not want to implement thereport. Though Karnataka hasrejected the report earlier, theCentre has not accepted thesame. It has sent us a fourthnotification.” He was replying toa question by the CongressMLC Ivan D’souza who haddemanded that the Governmentmake its stand clear on this issue.

The KasturiranganCommittee has recommendedthat 20,668 sq km spread across11 districts in the WesternGhats cradling 1,592 villages bedeclared as Ecological SensitiveAreas (ESA). When the Centresought Karnataka to demarcate

the ESA through its first twonotifications, the state govern-ment had requested theMinistry of Environment andForests (MoEF) to excludepopulated areas, farmlands andplantations from being declaredas ESAs.

The previousSiddaramaiah-led CongressGovernment had also rejectedthe same in 2017.

The lawmakers from thisregion have been opposing theimplementation of theKasturirangan Report and thestate government has acceptedtheir demand.

TN missing idols probe gets murkier

Police officials gave a complaintto State Police chief TK

Rajendran against AG PonnManickavel, special officerheading the wing, allegingharassment by the latterAG Ponn Manickavel

K’taka rejects Kasturiranganreport on Western Ghats

Gadkari opens big-ticket

NH projects in Arunachal

THESE PROJECTSWILL SAVE TRAVEL

TIME BETWEENASSAM, ARUNACHAL

Buddhist devotees from Thailand take part in a procession at Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya on Thursday PTI

Back from Pak Ansari says won't reopen ‘old wounds'

Relief for Maharashtra onion growers


PNS n KOLKATA

Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee too has

chosen not to speak beforehandon the issue of DMK leader MKStalin’s projecting Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi as theprime ministerial candidate ofthe projected grand alliance ofthe anti-BJP parties.

Suggesting that the timewas not ripe to make a choiceor entertain such discussions,the Chief Minister said, “I amnot alone. We are all workingtogether. So whatever all thepolitical parties who have cometogether decide we will acceptthat. Now is not the right time.Let us hope for the day whenthere will be a good change.”

She was responding onThursday to a question onwhether she too felt like Stalinthat Gandhi was the rightchoice for the top job.

Incidentally the TrinamoolCongress leaders have oftenprojected Mamata herself as aprime ministerial candidateconsidering his track record asan administrator and a mes-senger of development.


More than 12 years after the“fake” encounters of noto-

rious criminals SohrabuddinShaikh and Tusliram Prajapatiand the rape-murder of KausarBi, a special CBI court willdeliver its verdict in the com-bined politically significantcase on Friday.

At the hearing held onDecember 7, AdditionalSessions Judge SJ Sharma, whopresides over a special CBIcourt, had fixed 21 Decemberas the date of judgement.

Two days ahead of the cru-cial verdict, Azam Khan — a keywitness and associate ofSohrabuddin and Tulsiram —had filed a plea before the spe-cial CBI court saying that his tes-timony was “incomplete” andsought to be re-examined on theground that he faced “unrelent-ing torture” for 20 days and was,hence, scared to name IPS offi-cers and politicians during hisdeposition before the specialCBI court last month.

During his depositionbefore the special CBI court,

Khan had on November 3 thatSohrabuddin had told him thatformer Gujarat IPS officer D GVanzara had given a contract tokill Haren Pandya, senior BJPleader and former GujaratHome Minister in 2003.

Pandya, it may be recalled,was shot dead in Ahmedabadon March 26, 2003. While thetrial court had held 12 accusedguilty, the Gujarat High Courthad acquitted all in 2011. Theappeal filed against the acquit-tal by the Gujarat governmentand CBI is pending before theSupreme Court.

Special Judge Sharma isexpected to hear Azam Khan’splea on Friday morning beforedelivering the verdict in theSohrabuddin Shaikh andTusliram Prajapati “fake”encounter case.

Sohrabuddin was alleged-ly killed in a fake encounter on26 November, 2005, whileTulsiram too was eliminated insimilar fashion on 28December, 2006. And sinceKausar Bi was witness to theabduction of Sohrabuddin andpossibly Tulsiram, she was

allegedly raped and murdered. Both encounters of

Sohrabuddin and Tulsiramwere carried out by the ATS ofthe Gujarat police.

The alleged fake encoun-ters of notorious gangstersSohrabuddin and Tulsiram anddisappearance of the former'swife Kausar Bi during 2005-06had resulted in a major politi-cal fallout involving the BJP-ruled Gujarat.

The Prosecution’s case wasthat Sohrabuddin had connec-tions with Lashkar-e-Tayyebaand was conspiring to assassi-nate an “important politicalleader”, presumably then chiefminister and current PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

Initially, there were in all 38accused in the case. Of them,16 has been discharged — 15by the special CBI court andone by the Bombay HighCourt.

The accused discharged inthe case include BJP’s currentnational President and thenGujarat Minister of State forHome Amit Shah, RajasthanHome Minister Gulab Chandra

Kataria and high-profileDeputy Inspector General DGVanzara, who headed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) andknown for several encounters,Superintendent of PoliceDinesh MN andSuperintendent of PoliceRajkumar Pandian.

All the IPS officers, arrest-ed for the twin encounters,have been discharged.

In all, 22 accused weretried during the trial. Theyincluded two DeputySuperintendents of Police,Senior Inspectors, Inspector,Sub-Inspectors, Assistant Sub-Inspectors, Head Constablesand Constables of Gujarat andRajasthan.

During the course of thetrial, 210 witnesses were exam-ined, of which 92 turned hostile.

When the court recordedtheir statement under Section313 of the Code of CriminalProcedure, all the accused hadclaimed innocence and saidthey were arrested because ofthe rivalry among top policeofficials and other factors stem-ming then prevailing political

situation in Gujarat. On the last day of final

arguments in the case, CBIcounsel B P Raju admittedthat there had been "lacunae"in the central agency's investi-gation as they took over thecase five years after the allegedincidents.

"The Sohrabuddinencounter took place in 2005,while the Tulsiram encounterhappened in 2006. We came inpicture in 2010," Raju told thecourt.

So much so that some keywitnesses turned hostile duringthe trial, weakening the CBI'scase.

On his part, the Judgeobserved: "I don't blame CID.I don't blame CBI. There arestatements and witnesses. Ifthey come here and say some-thing else, it's not your fault.You did your job.....both sidesdid their job well....your workis over, my work starts now."

The CBI, however, main-tained that they have enoughmaterial to prove that both theencounters were genuine.However, the defence counsels

in the case stated that theProsecution had failed to provethe case beyond reasonabledoubt.

During the last phase of thetrial, a prosecution witnessAzam Khan, who too is acriminal under custody, toldthe court that Sohrabuddinmight have had a role in themurder of the then Minister ofState for Home Haren Pandya,who he claimed had been killedon March 26, 2003, at theinstance of Vanzara.

It may be recalled thatSohrabuddin, a “dreaded crim-inal”, and his wife Kausar Biwere killed in an alleged fakeencounter in November 2004by the Gujarat Police nearGandhinagar in Gujarat. Thecase assumed considerablepublic importance owing to thealleged involvement of some ofthe high-profile politicians andIPS officers in it.

An aide Tulsiram Prajapati,who was the prime witness tothe killings, was arrested by thepolice but was later killed in anencounter in December 2006after the law-enforcers claimed

he tried to escape from custody.Later, the police had

named 33 persons as accusedin the case. Shah, who wasGujarat home minister at therelevant time in 2005, the thenhome minister of Rajasthanand several Gujarat IPS officers,lower police officials from bothstates besides Andhra Pradesh,were among the accused.

Several police officers fromGujarat were among the 33accused in the "fake" encoun-ters of Sohrabuddin Shaikh,Kausar Bi in November 2005and Prajapati in December2006.

The alleged Sohrabuddinfake encounter case was trans-ferred to Mumbai in September2012 at CBI's request for fairtrial. In 2013, the SupremeCourt had clubbed TulsiramPrajapati's encounter killingcase with that of Sohrabuddin.

In December, 2014, SpecialCBI Judge MB Gosavi inMumbai discharged Shah and16 other co-accused, citingeither lack of sanction for pros-ecution or insufficient evi-dence against them.


The Bombay High Court onThursday confirmed the death

penalty awarded by a specialwomen’s court in October 2015 toconvict Chandrabhan SudamSanap alias Chaukya (29) for rap-ing, killing and dumping a severe-ly burnt and decomposed body of23-year-old software engineerEsther Anuhya from AndhraPradesh, in January 2014.

Upholding the verdict given bya special women’s court in Mumbaithree years ago, a HC Bench com-prising Justice Ranjit More andJustice Bharati Dangre observedthat the case fell in the “rarest ofrare” category and the crime had“shocked the conscience of society.”

The HC Bench noted thatnow 32-year-old convict had notseen any “remorse” for his ghast-ly act and said that it did not seepossibility of the convict reform-ing, and “such a person remains amenace to society.”

It may be recalled that onOctober 30, 2015, a specialwomen’s court in Mumbai hadhanded out death sentence tothen 29-year-old vagabond and

history-sheeter from Nashik con-victed Chandrabhan Sudam, avagabond from Nashik, for raping,killing and dumping a severelyburnt and decomposed body of23-year-old software engineerEsther Anuhya from AndhraPradesh, in January 2014

Pronouncing sentence onSanap, Additional Sessions JudgeVrushali Joshi had said:

"The case falls under the cat-egory of the rarest of rare, hencethe accused is awarded death sen-tence..For the charge of murder,the convict shall be hanged by hisneck till he is dead"

The Judge had sentencedSanap to life imprisonment undercharges of rape under the IPC sec-tion 376 A (committing rape andinflicting injury causing death).She handed out ten years impris-onment under 376 (2) (m) (com-mission of persistent sexualassault).

Additional Sessions JudgeVrushali Joshi, who presides overa special women's court, had ear-lier convicted Sanap under sec-tions 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and201 (causing disappearance ofevidence of offence) of the Indian

Penal Code (IPC).On May 27, 2014, the Mumbai

crime branch police had filed a542-page charge- sheet before thespecial women’s court. The charge-sheet comprised statements of 76witnesses.

On its part, the Prosecutionhad built a water tight case againstthe accused. He had been chargedon eight counts including murder,rape and destruction of evidence.

Employed with TataConsultancy Services (TCS),Anuhya – a native ofMachilipattnam in AndhraPradesh had disappeared fromLTT shortly after arriving at theterminus by theVishakhapattnam-LTT Expressfrom Vijayawada on January 5,2014. Anuhya had then returnedto Mumbai from her native townafter celebrating Christmas withher family members. However, shenever reached the YWCA hostelat Andheri in north-west Mumbai.

Anuhya’s severely burnt anddecomposed body was recovered11 days later on January 16 froma marshy land at Bhandup adjoin-ing the Eastern Express Highwayin north-east Mumbai.

The investigations by thecrime branch sleuths of theMumbai police revealed thatSanap – pretending to be a taxidriver – approached Anuhya whenshe landed in LTT fromVijayawada on January 5. Sanapreportedly offered to agreed todrop the victim girl at her Andherihostel for Rs 300.

However, when she came outof the platform, she was told thathe had a motorbike (owned actu-ally by his friend NandkishoreSahu) and he would drop her ather hostel.

However, later he took herfrom the Eastern Express Highwayto the service road and then thebushes in Bhandup, where heallegedly “forced upon her”. Whenthe victim girl resisted heavily, hebanged her head on the groundtwo to three times and then stran-gulated her. He took her trolleyand haversack away, but forgot totake the cellphone.

Later, he narrated the incidentto Sahu, who is his close friend andtook his bike again to the spot tolook for the cellphone. However,he could not get it and attemptedto burn the corpse. After this, be

fled to Nashik.Sanap was arrested after his

description matched with a manseen walking along with the vic-tim woman captured on theCCTV footage at the LTT inMumbai on January 5, 2014.

An alcoholic and a womanis-er, Sanap –who is married thrice— was seen wearing the sameclothes — white T-shirt and bluejeans he was last seen in theCCTV footage at the LokmanyaTilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbaiwhile exiting with Anuhya onJanuary 5, 2014, when the inves-tigators accosted him.

Given to easy life, Sanap wasleading the life of a vagabond inMumbai. Operating from theRailway stations in Mumbai,Sanap would cheat gullible peoplearriving in the city. He was alsoreportedly into lifting mobile andbags, particularly from the railwaypremises. He was wanted foroffences in Itarsi, Nashik Road andManmad in north Maharashtra.He was also notified as a pro-claimed offender in a case byGamdevi police station inMumbai. During the interrogation,Sanap confessed to the crime.

SOHARBUDDINTULSIRAM‘FAKE’ENCOUNTERCASE

Special CBI court to deliver verdict today

Didi says ‘nocomment’ onRahul PMship

Andhra techie rape-murder: HC upholds lower court’s capital punishment verdict

DRONES SHUT...Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick's chief oper-

ating officer, said that roughly 10,000 peo-ple had been affected by the shutdown byThursday morning, including 2,000 whoseplanes were unable to take off fromGatwick, 2,000 stuck at their points of ori-gin and 6,000 diverted to other airports inBritain, as well as Paris and Amsterdam.

Those numbers are expected to risesharply. More than 100,000 passengers hadbeen scheduled to pass through Gatwick onThursday on 760 arriving and departingflights. Woodroofe said at least one droneremained in the area Thursday morning."As I stand here, there is a drone on my air-field as we speak," Woodroofe told SkyNews. A police helicopter was hovering nearthe airfield as officers from two nearbyforces hunted the drone operators. "Thepolice advice is that it would be dangerousto seek to shoot the drone down becauseof what may happen to the stray bullets,"Woodroofe said. Any problem at Gatwickcauses a ripple effect throughout Britain andcontinental Europe, particularly during aholiday period when air traffic control sys-tems are under strain. Passengers com-plained on Twitter that their Gatwick-bound flights had landed at LondonHeathrow, Manchester, Birmingham andother cities. Luke McComiskie, who land-ed in Manchester — more than 160 miles(260 kilometers) from London — said thesituation "was just chaos, and they had onlytwo coaches (buses) and taxis charging peo-ple 600 pounds (USD 760) to get toGatwick." Gatwick, about 30 miles (45kilometres) south of London, sees morethan 43 million passengers a year to short-and long-haul destinations and serves as amajor hub for the budget carrier easyJet.

Gatwick normally operates throughoutthe night but the number of flights isrestricted because of noise limitations.The airport website says it usually handles18 to 20 flights overnight during the win-ter months. Gatwick briefly closed its run-way last year when a drone was spotted inthe area. Pilots have reported numerousnear-misses with drones in recent years inBritain, and aviation authorities havewarned there is a growing risk that a midaircollision could cause a major disaster.

Strong sales of small consumer droneshave led to repeated warnings about a pos-sible threat to commercial aviation.

Flying a drone near an airport carriesa maximum penalty of five years inprison. Christopher Lister, whose flightfrom Kiev, Ukraine, to Gatwick wasdiverted to Birmingham in centralEngland, said the scale of the disruptionwas "a little bit scary." "We feel grateful it's

not a worse story this morning about anaircraft (that has) come down," he told theBBC.

GST MEETING...“Under their Grand Stupid Thoughts,

they want basic necessities of the poor tobe taxed at 18 per cent. At the same timethey want cigarettes and alcohol to becheaper. What logic is this?” Modi had said.

In the Saturday GST council meeting,the items which are likely to be retainedin the 28 per cent slab, include aerateddrinks, cigarette, bidi, tobacco products, panmasala, smoking pipes, automobiles, air-crafts, yachts, revolvers and pistols, gam-bling lottery. The GST has five tax slabs of0 per cent, 8, 12, 18 and 28 per cent withdaily essential items attracting nil tax ratesand luxury, sin and some white goods at thehighest tax slab. In anticipation of a GSTcut, there has been noticeable buying inshares of cement, tyre, and housing sectorcompanies during the last two days.

The Government hopes that reducingGST on cement from 28 to 18 per cent willgive much-needed fillip to housing and con-struction sectors. Both these sectors, whichare major employment creators, have beenlanguishing and witnessed huge job losses.

A GST rate cut on cement to 18 per centis likely to cost about Rs 20,000 crore annu-ally to the exchequer. “Cement is an areawhere huge instances of evasion were tak-ing place. If tax rates come down more peo-ple will buy it from the formal channel andwould also boost housing sector as well,” theofficial added. The GST Council is also like-ly to slash tax rates on automobile tyres to18 from 28 per cent currently. “A 28 per centtax on automobile tyre impacts commonman because ultimately he has to shell outthe tax. The overall focus on December 22Council meet will be to lessen the GST bur-den on common man,” an official told PTI.

In the first eight months (April-November) of the current fiscal, theGovernment has mopped up over Rs 7.76lakh crore from GST. The 2018-19 budgethad estimated annual GST collection at Rs13.48 lakh crore, which means a monthlytarget of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.

BJP CLAIMS...Apart from apprehending communal

tension the Government had also submit-ted before the Court that the scale of theYatra was so huge that it would be impos-sible for it to make adequate security ban-dobast. Senior counsel SK Kapoor repre-senting the BJP however countered sayingeven the in the worst days of the British Rajwhen Mahatma Gandhi took out DandiMarch none stopped him. Even as the BJP

leaders rejoiced its “moral victory” sayingthe very court order was an example show-ing how the Government was throttlingdemocracy in Bengal “which is why we wereforced to take out this Save DemocracyYatra.” Congratulating the Bengal BJP postCourt verdict Union Minister Arun Jaitleytweeted, “Had the NDA Governmentstopped any Opposition pogramme itwould have been called an 'undeclaredemergency',” wondering why human rightsactivists were silent on denial of a right toa political party to organise its programme.

BJP leader Kailash Vijaybargiya wel-comed the verdict saying “this decision isa slap on the face of tyranny. We haven'tdecided anything but I can assure that PM(Narendra Modi) and the party chief (AmitShah) will join the yatra.” Union MinisterBabul Supryio said, “This verdict is a vic-tory against Mamata's dirty politics.” BengalMinister and senior TMC leader ParthoChatterjee however said the Governmentwould go through the order before con-sidering any further action.

UP A FAVOURED DESTINATION...budget, which was now Rs 4.70 lakhcrore. “It was often said in national semi-nar circuit and among experts of develop-ment that India would surge ahead if thecentrally-sponsored schemes for the poorare successfully implemented across thestates. I can say with pride that with thesupport of all stakeholders, Uttar Pradeshhas performed well and achieved the tar-gets and this has brought positive changesin the lives of the teeming millions of poorpeople of the state,” Yogi said. “UP hasmade a big leap in the implementation ofthe sanitation programme. Against the ear-lier 44 per cent coverage in the state andnational average of 96 per cent, UP hasachieved 100 per cent sanitation coveragewhere as many as 2.49 crore families havebeen provided toilets as per the baselinesurvey. Around 44 lakh families not cov-ered in the baseline survey would also becovered by the sanitation programme,” hesaid. “Excellent team work has ensured thesuccess of the Prime Minister’s housingscheme both in rural and urban areas. Thedeserving poor families from the Dalit anddeprived sections of society have so farbeen provided 8.81 lakh housing units andone lakh more will be provided houses bythe end of the current 2018-19 fiscal. Forthe urban areas, 7.25 lakh housing unitshave been sanctioned and one lakh fami-lies have been provided houses,” the CMsaid. On the availability of power andinvestment-friendly atmosphere, the CMsaid the government had ensured powersupply to all parts of the state without dis-

crimination and now, be it Etawah orLucknow, all were getting round-the-clockpower supply. He said the availability ofpower had also added to agricultural pro-ductivity as farmers were now using cheappower for agricultural operations.

“Security, peace, stable policy regimeand freedom from the web of bureaucrat-ic red tape are the prerequisites for investor-friendly environment and we have ensuredthis and also implemented ease of doingbusiness (EODB),” the CM said and added,“The budget size has now equalled the totalinvestment proposals signed during the UPInvestors’ Summit and this is a good signthat UP is changing.”

In his hour-long speech in the assem-bly, the CM said under Deen Dayal JyotiYojana over 92 lakh families in 1.12 lakhhelmets of villages had been provided freeelectricity connections so far. The CM saidthis was the flagship scheme of the Centreand doubts were raised about its success,but the UP government ensured its success.

Listing the measures taken for the wel-fare of farmers and for doubling theirincome, the CM rebutted the oppositioncharges that his government was ignoringthe interests of the farming community. Hesaid so far the state government hadensured payment of over Rs 44,000 lakh tosugarcane farmers, and this amount wasmore than the annual budget of severalstates. He said under the Ayushman Bharatscheme, 1.18 crore families or six crore peo-ple had been covered and they would getfree medical treatment worth Rs 5 lakh ina year. Drawing the attention of the Housetowards the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, CMsaid the total mela area had been expend-ed to 3,200 hectares from 1,700 hectaresand for the first time in 450 years, the pil-grims would have the rare opportunity tohave ‘darshan’ of the Akshayvat tree insidethe fort on the bank of the Ganga river.

Speaking in the Vidhan Parishad, theCM highlighted the development in thestate during the present BJP regime whileattacking the opposition for corruption.

“In the investment field, duringgroundbreaking ceremony, we broughtinvestment of over Rs 60,000 crore,” theCM. Hitting out at the corruption rampantduring previous regimes, the CM high-lighted the irregularities in the GomtiRiverfront project. The CM said his gov-ernment had provided a safe atmospherein the state as a result of which business-men were keen to invest in UP while peo-ple were living freely. He said if there wasany debate on Purvanchal Expressway inthe House, he would expose how the pre-vious government wanted to mint hugemoney from it.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Man drags traffic cop on car's bonnet

Gurugram (PNS): A 32-year-oldman, who tried to run over aGurugram Traffic Police constable andtried to throw his weight around, hasbeen booked on serious charges ofattempt to murder. The accused wasstopped by a traffic police constableon Wednesday for driving on thewrong side of the road in Gurugram.But instead of stopping he tried todrive away and in the process, draggedthe traffic police personnel on the

bonnet of his car at a distance of 200meters. “The entire act was recordedby fellow policemen and the video evi-dence exposed his bluff .The accusedidentified as Karan Kathpalia, a resi-dent of Delhi’s Dwarka, was laterarrested and his car was seized. Theincident occurred which was appar-ently recorded by a witness, took placenear the Signature Tower Chowk inthe city on Wednesday” said a policeofficial.

When LK Advani picked upand ran with the RamTemple movement as apolitical project to head-line the Indic impulse

that had been airbrushed from post-colo-nial historiography, it was a major ideo-logical intervention in national discoursealbeit one that could have done withoutthe unacceptable lumpen violence whichaccompanied it. Of course, there is nodenying that it helped the party hehelmed at the time, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP), electorally; whether more ascause or effect is a debate for elsewhere.

What the BJP’s current leadershipneeds to understand, however, is thatwithout context we do not exist. So, to tryand re-heat what it apparently thinks isthe key trigger issue for the party’s coreconstituency — a Ram temple at Ayodhya(and for many also at disputed sites inMathura and Kashi) — and serve it up intime for the 2019 general election is like-ly to end as a damp squib. Because in themain, as this article will argue, the BJP isno longer seen even by its so-called coresupport base as the primary vehiclewhich will bring these demands tofruition. That does not mean these issuesare not important for millions of Indiansbut simply that the RSS and its affiliates,which have been agitating for and provid-ing the theoretical framework withinwhich these demands gained currencyover the decades, today have the organ-isational heft, intellectual tools and agit-prop ability to press their case indepen-dent of the BJP and with whicheveradministration that governs India.

It was Advani’s advent on the scenewhich, many conveniently forget, took theagitation for a Ram temple at Ayodhyaand through it the project to promote acivic nationalism contextualised in anIndic civilisational tradition out of itscrude, exclusivist provenance and madeIndia pause and think about our nation-state’s trajectory post-1947. From RajivGandhi to AB Vajpayee and MurliManohar Joshi, Narasimha Rao to GeorgeFernandes, the leading political figures oftheir times, not to mention the intelli-gentsia, all grappled with this political-theoretical riposte to an emerging andvery worrying — at least to most inde-pendent-minded, responsible citizenswho did not subscribe to a doctrinaireMarxist, neo-Islamist or effete-liberalworldview — differential citizenshipmodel premised on a negation of thenotion of an Indian exceptionalism sig-nalled by the overturning of the ShahBano judgment and made their peacewith it in different ways.

The impact of this engagement can beseen in contemporary India — from thetemple-hopping spree of Congress pres-

ident Rahul Gandhi during therecent Assembly polls cam-paign to the interventions bysecular intellectuals on thezeitgeist of the Hindu/Indictradition and the acceptanceby sober thinkers of the CentreRight that lumpen violenceneeded to be quelled far morerigorously than it eventuallywas. But today the boot is onthe other foot. Some of thesuccessors of Vajpayee, Advaniand Joshi in the BJP are unfor-tunately the rabble-rousersthemselves while the SanghParivar has started throwingup many more thinkers ofsome ability, confidence andsophistication than it did inthe past while its affiliateshave acquired the organisa-tional strength to demon-strate, agitate and protest tobuild pressure on issues closeto their heart on all politicalparties (sans those which seekto de-legitimise it ideological-ly like the Communist parties).

Against the backdrop ofsuch a landscape, the BJP, as apolitical party which was votedinto power with a brute major-ity in 2014 under the leader-ship of Narendra Modi, ishighly susceptible to thecharge that it wants to rake upthe emotive Ram temple issuefor electoral gain just beforethe Lok Sabha poll. The feed-back from the ground is if thatis indeed what is tried, thecharge will stick; if not whol-ly then at least very substan-

tially. This is, naturally, not tosuggest that as a political partythe BJP does not have the rightto lend its support to theagenda of its choice just as, say,the CPI-M has an unalienableright to demand the redistri-bution of wealth. All politicalparties also have to functionwithin the parameters of theConstitution. It follows, there-fore, that the BJP should havebeen working from the day itcame to power four-and-a-halfyears to pass relevant legisla-tion, including via joint sit-tings of Parliament if requiredgiven its lack of numbers inthe Rajya Sabha, on this trac-tion-generating issue for theparty faithful.

But it chose, in its wisdom,to go for the low-hanging fruitsuch as supporting anti-cowslaughter agitations whichsoon descended to randomvigilantism and led to agrotesque, violent and entire-ly unacceptable killing ofhuman beings whom mobs setupon because they were sus-pected of being involved incow smuggling/slaughter.Crucially, this issue was notsomething that needed to beput on the statute book as mostStates of the Union already hadpretty stringent laws to dealwith illegal cow/progenyslaughter. If the argument wasthat these laws were not beingimplemented rigorously, andthere is some truth to that,then (recognised) socio-cultur-

al organisations working in thefield needed to petition respec-tive State Governments withtheir concerns and build pub-lic pressure for stringent appli-cation of the law.

Why a ruling politicalparty elected to administer thecountry effectively thought itappropriate to wade into thisissue, especially when its cre-dentials as an upholder ofpolicies for cow protection asprescribed in the Constitutionwere not in doubt, remainsinexplicable.

Now, with the electionsclose, any attempt by the partyleadership to try and play onthe issues it could have but didnot take up will be subject tothe law of diminishingreturns. The BJP ought toresolve it will make the correc-tions required in its policyimplementation architectureand go to the people askingfor a renewed mandate on itsperformance, hoping for thebest. The electorate, while itmay overwhelmingly supportthe Ram temple as a matter offaith, is showing welcomesigns from a governance-accountability perspective ofvoting on development. If theRam temple and develop-ment-governance are positedas binaries, the BJP’s so-calledcore issue is likely to gettrumped even among thenon-card holding simpatico.

In any case, the Ram tem-ple is far too important and

sensitive an issue for political-electoral theatre. There needs,ideally, to be omnibus legisla-tion for temples at Ayodhya,Mathura and Kashi as part ofan inclusive, non-denomina-tional national project on thelines of the reconstruction ofSomnath with the participationof as many Indians as possibleregardless of ethnicity, jaatiand mode of worship. That isunlikely though not impossi-ble in the few months leftbefore the General Election. Tobe blunt, however, a Vajpayeemay have managed it but thecurrent dispensation does nothave a leader of that calibre.But then a Vajpayee also could-n’t get a decisive mandate likeModi did, so the ironies of his-tory continue apace.

In the interim, socio-cul-tural organisations, faith-based outfits and advocacygroups working on the groundand through the legal systemon the Ayodhya issue are bestplaced to take ownership of itand work on having a clearroadmap on dealing withwhichever party comes topower at Centre to ensure itsimplementation. If it’s the BJP,it should be asked to learnfrom its mistakes; if it’s theOpposition, it should be askednot to repeat them. Is theCongress listening?

(The writer is a seniorjournalist, a media consultantand commentator on contem-porary affairs.)

The Gir lion is living on the edge with

a widely fragmented habitat and

human encroachment, the latest

news of a pride of three being mowed down

by a goods train in Gujarat’s Amroli dis-

trict prompting a debate on whether infra-

structural development factors in the wel-

fare of the wild enough. The accident hap-

pened in the midnight hour with neither the

train driver nor the lions, three in all, able

to figure out how dangerously close they

were to each other. Although investigations

are on to determine if the goods train dri-

ver was complying with speed limits set for transiting wildlife corridors or if the

forest trackers were doing their job of monitoring animal movement, fact is we

need to strongly pursue an accident prevention scheme for wildlife along our

rail tracks. The existing infrastructure has been in long use, and though it bifur-

cates forest corridors which animals use to disperse into new territories, any

future accident prevention module has to work around this reality. Cases of ele-

phants, tigers, leopards and other species being run over by trains are not new,

our elephant deaths along tracks being the highest in the world. And we have

been attempting to control them through several measures like the installation

of warning signs for train drivers in sensitive stretches, night patrols along tracks

and introducing staff to assist with elephant crossings since 2002. This was also

replicated in Assam in 2008 with some success. But with the railway networks

spreading and high speed corridors soon to become a reality, a unified railway

policy needs to be worked out on a predictive model. Even the West is besieged

by similar issues of track accidents and has tried out or proposed several reme-

dial measures. Some have mooted the idea of reflectors to warn incoming ani-

mals of a possible impact zone, others have talked about some fencing in stretch-

es or erecting olfactory barriers that involves spraying a foam of predator scents,

including that of man, on vegetation and structures nearer the track. Poland, in

fact, introduced a “key stimuli proxy”, a device emitting acoustic signals of nat-

ural sounds which aggravate the fear factor in animals, deterring them from

approaching the tracks or straying off their habitat. But the problem with artifi-

cial control is that animals, and particularly an intelligent one like the lion, can

evolve and mutate once they sense a mechanised pattern. A far cheaper option

then, as many wildlife experts have suggested, would be to build overpasses

or underpasses where tracks cut through wildlife habitats, allowing the animals

the right of way safely.

We have somewhat reconciled ourselves into believing that humans cannot

have territorial curbs but animals must be squeezed in their shrinking ranges and

be forced to adapt. This lopsided policy has resulted in Gir lions spilling out of

their ranges and almost cohabiting with villagers, letting go of their feline aggres-

sion for a tamer behavioural adjustment. More lions will stray in the absence of

a transit to an alternative home. With the latest incident, the number of lions,

including cubs, having died in and around the Gir forest since September has

reached 35. While some of them have died of natural causes, many others fell

prey to Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), protozoa infections and territorial fights

necessitating isolation. Our national pride is indeed struggling to roar.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took to

Twitter yesterday morning to pat him-

self on the back for the successful

signing of the files pertaining to farm loan

waivers. But for the last few days, irritat-

ed urbane users of social media platforms

have been making mostly tasteless jokes

about them. Of course, that belies the fact

that tax-paying classes are increasingly

becoming angry at subsidising the Indian

farmer. A truly smart politician, who can

notice the increasing urbanisation of India,

should celebrate the city-dweller now instead of the villager. But that is another

story. Many have argued that a farm loan waiver is bad economics and good

politics. The populism might work for now but it compounds bad economics

because it does not solve the real crisis.

Indian politicians have celebrated farmers but have enabled policies, and worse

still, encouraged crop patterns that have led to the fiscal ruination of farmers

across the country. Loan waivers might make for great headlines but almost every

State Government is acutely aware of their financial position. It was only recent-

ly proven in Karnataka that the small text in any waiver has so many terms and

conditions applying to them that few of the really impoverished benefit. And even

if they do, loan waivers, instead of being the smartly designed financial literacy

programmes, mean that farmers eventually end up in debt again a few years

later. Some are pushed towards middlemen because banks refuse to finance

them after the write-offs. They might only be outside the formal financial sys-

tem. And it is the farmers who have declined, not farming. Indian food produc-

tion is touching record highs which, coupled with better cold-chains and trans-

portation infrastructure, has meant that India, a nation that not so long ago import-

ed food, now produces a lot more than it needs. And supply and demand is

basic economics after all; if the supply is more than the demand, prices will fall.

But try explaining that to a farmer who gets a rupee per kilogram for his onion

crop. The only sustainable way out of this crisis for millions of Indian farmers

is to get them out of tilling the soil into the factories. This will boost economic

production and also address severe under-employment problem in the country.

Unfortunately, while Indian politicians were dithering and succumbing to farm-

ing lobbies that wanted to plant sugarcane in water-scarce Marathwada and in

the Cauvery catchment zone, or growing Basmati in water scarce Haryana, they

must remember that 40 years ago to the week our eastern neighbour pretty much

decided that farming was an unsustainable way of keeping its economy going.

China got its people out of the land into the factories and its growth in those four

decades has been incredible. It has lifted half a billion people, almost all farm-

ers and farm workers, out of extreme poverty. Of course, there has been a price

that China and its people have paid — the price of free speech and the demo-

cratic process. What that also means, however, is that India has missed the bus

of rapid industrial growth. There might be another one coming though, but for

that, we need to put the money on the ground investing in human capital, such

as in children of these farmers, putting them in better schools and colleges. Farm

loan waivers solve nothing, they will keep farmers poor and keep the

povertarian politicians and elitists in power. It is not a price worth paying.

There is no doubt that Indian farming is in crisis but loanwrite-offs are nothing except shoving good money after bad

Kamal must apologise

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Kamal Nath’s faux pas”(December 20). It is not for thefirst time that a politician hasexpressed his displeasure towardsmigrants from Uttar Pradesh andBihar. People from both theseStates have been targeted in thepast, too. It was only a few monthsback we saw the exodus of thou-sands of workers from Gujaratafter a worker was accused of rap-ing a minor girl there.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal Nath, who him-self has been born and brought upin Uttar Pradesh, should nothave made such controversialremarks. It’s an open secret nowthat workers from these twoStates contribute significantly tomany of State economies likeDelhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradeshand even some southern States.

Though Congress chief RahulGandhi has distanced himselffrom Nath’s controversial state-ment, both Gandhi and Nathshould apologise to the people ofUttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Bal Govind Noida

Furthering prospects

Sir — As per reports, the BJP iswanting to give ticket to actorMadhuri Dixit for the 2019 elec-tion; though the party hasdenied it. We all know thatfilms and politics are very differ-ent areas. They are poles apart.

However, in recent times, itis seen that artists are joining

politics, though that does notessentially mean that an actor isa politician unless the person hasa political career or links, direct-ly or indirectly, to promote him-self or herself.

Few film stars are somewhatsuccessful in politics, but theirnumbers are exceptionally low.The phenomenon of artists-turned-politicians in south India

is not new. One example is thatof Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. He has the advan-tage of a huge fan following andthey love and worship him likea god. His entry will be benefi-cial to any political party. Can Ms Dixit have the sameeffect?

Mahesh KapasiVia email

Strengthening ties

Sir — It was pleasing to learn thatIndia is going to give an amountof $1.4 billion as financial assis-tance to Maldives. It is highlyappreciated step taken by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for aneighbouring country. Such heart-touching moves show India’s gen-erosity and humanity.

MFU TandviNew Delhi

Justice, finally

Sir — Sajjan Kumar’s convictionmust have brought relief notonly to the families of the victimsbut also to every member of theSikh community. No amount ofpraise would be sufficient forJagdish Kaur, who fought arelentless and brave battle for jus-tice. Looking ahead, there is aneed to set up special fast-trackcourts to deal with such horren-dous cases of mass murders,lynchings and mob violence.

A MohanChennai

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

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op nionLUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

08

Lessons in agitprop

ISHAN JOSHI

The movement for a Ram temple, a so-called core issue for the BJP, is best

led by socio-cultural organisations and not a political party

What is extremely inter-esting to note is thatwhile we speak aboutIndia, many Indians aretold that being patriotic isnot cool.

Union Minister—Smriti Irani

When you are puttingtogether an IPL team, youwill be looking at the young-sters. I had an idea that Iwould be unpicked in thefirst round of IPL auction.

Indian Cricketer—Yuvraj Singh

In many areas, we have wit-nessed that the death of acow had more significancethan that of a police officer.I don't see the situationimproving anytime soon.

Actor— Naseeruddin Shah

Information is the bestremedy against theCongress. They will dotheir best to misleadpeople, but it is in ourhands to expose them.

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

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

The BJP has been defeated but has not retired

The three former BJP Chief Ministers — Shivraj SinghChouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh — wereknown for their administrative and management skills.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode to power witha thumping majority in 2014, he had a problem of plen-ty with the MPs. Many were either first time legislatorsor with no administrative experience. As a result, Modihad little choice but to induct many greenhorns into hisCabinet. Leaders like Manohar Parrikar had to be broughtin from Goa to head the Defence Ministry. Then, there wererumours about Chouhan being brought to the Centre totake charge of a crucial Ministry. However, the partydeemed it fit to ask Chouhan to stay in Madhya Pradesh.

Shifting one or all of these leaders would havemeant finding substitute Chief Ministers, which wouldbe a herculean task. Now, the question is: Will theseleaders languish in their States, sitting in the Opposition,with the general elections breathing down their necks?Whether or not a couple of them will be brought to the

Centre as Ministers is a moot question. The three lead-ers should be asked to campaign extensively in theirrespective States and the party should bank on theirorganisational skills. They may just be able to encasha bit of ‘sympathy factor’ as well.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

Gir lions at risk

With high speed corridors soon to become a reality, atrack policy for animal accident prevention is needed

A demon called waiver

Afghan peace a chimera at best

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

THE CONGRESS MANAGED TO WAKE ASSAM AND

GUJARAT CHIEF MINISTERS FROM THEIR DEEP SLUMBER.

WE WILL WAKE UP THE PRIME MINISTER TOO.

—CONGRESS CHIEF

RAHUL GANDHI

THERE'S NO NEED TO WAKE UP OR SLEEP. THE

SCHEMES WERE ANNOUNCED A YEAR BACK AND IT'S

NOT DEBT WAIVER, RATHER A SUBSIDY SCHEME.

—ASSAM FINANCE MINISTER

HIMANTA BISWA SARMA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

This year saw all major stakeholders inAfghanistan making tremendousefforts to bring peace to the war-rav-aged country, albeit for diverse reasons.The next presidential election is sched-

uled for April 2019 and President Ashraf Ghanihas already announced that he will seek re-elec-tion. While he may have taken some tough deci-sions that may have earned him respect amongthe political circles, there have been letdowns, too,both on political and security fronts. This is thereason why he has been more determined to bringpeace to Afghanistan. And if he succeeds, it willbe a major achievement for him and his countryas well. In February, Ghani offered the Talibanunconditional peace talks. The Taliban, too, hon-oured the same and for three days, there was peaceduring Eid, after 17 years of incessant fighting.

The US, which is fighting its longest war inAfghanistan, appointed Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzadas the Special Representative for AfghanistanReconciliation in the US Department of State, to bro-ker peace between the Government and the Taliban.In November, a two-day conference was held inGeneva to discuss developments in Afghanistan.Russia, which was forcibly evicted from Afghanistanabout 30 years ago and wanted to show its influencein the region, organised a meeting in Moscow onNovember 9, in which representatives from 12 coun-tries discussed the Afghan peace process. Althoughno tangible decision was taken, the participation bythe Taliban, representatives of the AfghanGovernment, China, Iran, Pakistan and India wasa great achievement.

Iran, China and Russia, too, want peace inAfghanistan as the Islamic State’s (IS) influence is onthe rise. Iran is worried because the IS is a Sunni Salafiterrorist organisation that does not consider ShiaMuslims as true believers. It believes the terror organ-isation will make all efforts to trouble the Shia regimeover there. China, on the other hand, is already fac-ing an uprising by Uyghur Muslims in the XinjiangUyghur Autonomous Region and does not want IScontrol in Afghanistan as it will render wholeheart-ed assistance to Uyghur terrorist outfits.

The IS is becoming strong in northernAfghanistan, which is near to Uzbekistan, Tajikistanand Turkmenistan. These countries share a closerelationship with Russia. Second, Russia also hasa sizeable Muslim population and, hence, escalat-ing IS influence in Afghanistan would be detrimen-tal for Russia.

As regards Pakistan, which always claims thatIndia has no role to play in Afghanistan, and has alsoalleged that we have been using Afghanistan as a baseto instigate terrorist activities in the restive provinceof Balochistan, it has already acknowledged that Indiahas stakes in Afghanistan and its cooperation is nec-essary for the peace process in the war-torn coun-try. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Foreign Ministerof Pakistan, speaking in the National Assembly onDecember 10, said, “India also has stakes inAfghanistan and its cooperation will be needed.” Healso accepted the fact that Pakistan alone cannot bringpeace in Afghanistan.

It is a well-known fact that Pakistan has been fac-ing isolation, globally and is also passing through aneconomic crisis. Its all-weather friend China hasrefused to extend financial assistance and theInternational Monetary Fund has put stringent con-

ditions to bail out Islamabad from the eco-nomic catastrophe. The US, which has inthe past bailed out Pakistan from econom-ic calamity, has also suspended all finan-cial assistance to Islamabad.

The above mentioned factors are aproof why Pakistan wants to show to theworld that it wants peace with India and,therefore, it has offered India to startpeaceful negotiations and has also accept-ed our role in Afghanistan.

Islamabad is also happy to receive aletter from US President Donald Trumpto assist the peace process in Afghanistan.Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khanalso met Khalilzad on December 5 inIslamabad. In the meeting, Khalilzadrequested Khan to make good use of hisoffice so that the Taliban can construc-tively participate in the peace negotia-tions. Khan promised to help and accept-ed that reconciliation is the only way out.Pakistan Army chief General QamarJaved Bajwa, too, wants to have cordialrelations with the US.

There are also reports that a four-member Taliban delegation from itspolitical office in Qatar also met Khalilzadand several Pakistani officials inIslamabad. The military-controlled InterServices Intelligence (ISI), which has aclose relationship with the top Talibanleadership, is also using its influence overthem to win confidence of the US officials.

Pakistan released Abdul GhaniBaradar, a senior Taliban leader, from theprison in order to support peace talks andbring an end to years of fighting. Khalilzadwill visit eight countries, which includesAfghanistan, Russia and the United ArabEmirates, to restore peace in the country.

Representatives of the Taliban reiter-ated their past stand that they do not con-

sider the present Afghan Government asa legitimate one and, hence, they want tonegotiate with the US. The Taliban, too,maintained that their fight will continueuntil all foreign troops and bases areremoved from Afghanistan. Taliban rep-resentatives accepted that their participa-tion in the conference helped reinforcetheir international position.

India, which follows the policy thatpeace talks must be led by the AfghanGovernment, also amended its strategy inview of the changes in regional and inter-national arena. Two non-official Indianrepresentatives attended the multi-nation-al conference in Moscow where they satwith representatives from the Taliban.

It is by now clear that all key playersclaim that they want to restore peace inAfghanistan but chances of peace areremote as interested parties are not work-ing cohesively. Their interests are polesapart and clash with each other on sev-eral occasions. Khalilzad met Taliban rep-resentatives in Qatar and discussed sev-eral important issues, including withdraw-al of US troops without representativesfrom the Afghan Government. The USwants peace in Afghanistan but does notwant to withdraw completely as in thatcase, Russia, China and Iran will enhancetheir domination in the country.

On similar lines, Russia wants toincrease its influence in Afghanistanafter 30 years of its unceremonious evic-tion. Moscow wants to contain the IS andalso hurt Washington as the latter did 30years ago. Saudi Arabia has been pump-ing money to needle Iran, while the lat-ter is busy strengthening Shia outfits.Besides, external forces, like the drug-mafia, also want insurgency to continueas security forces are more involved in

fighting the Taliban and the IS. By sidelining the Afghan

Government, the US and Russia havehighlighted the incapability and weaknessof Kabul. This has been damaging thepeace process in Afghanistan. Not onlydoes this marginalise a lawfully-electedGovernment but gives more legitimacy tothe Taliban. In fact, Afghanistan needs astrong Government that has the supportof all external powers. Only then can itcounter the Taliban and peace can berestored in the country.

On the other hand, the Taliban is notin a hurry to participate in the peaceprocess. US airstrikes are proving counter-productive and the Taliban is getting sym-pathy of the general public. Some, includ-ing Khalilzad, have suggested that thepresidential elections be postponed. Butthis is no solution to peace. Elections mustbe held and whosoever assumes powermust lead the negotiations and peaceshould be restored under his command.

On the one hand, the Talibanremains highly trained, armed andsheltered by Pakistan and sometimeseven by Russia. It can attack several loca-tions simultaneously. On the other, theAfghan Government is quite slow-moving in responding to the attacks bythe Taliban. This mitigates the credibil-ity of the Government. Friendly coun-tries must help strengthen the AfghanNational Defence and Security Forces(ANDSF) as the force remains ill-trained, ill-equipped, less motivatedand is also poorly-paid. High desertionrate in the ANDSF speaks volumes aboutthe weaknesses of the force.

(The writer is member of the UnitedServices Institute of India and the Institutefor Defence Studies and Analyses)

A quiet revolution in the making

Multiple stakeholders have attempted to bring peace in Afghanistan but self-interest fails them.Unless they work cohesively, they cannot tame the Taliban which has been flexible in its demands

Traditionally, a woman’s identity has been determined through her husband but this image is now up for a change. Today, women are not

just being seen or heard but also have an identity of their own. This assertion must, however, be tempered with sound Government policies

INDIA, WHICHFOLLOWS THEPOLICY THATPEACE TALKS

MUST BE LED BYTHE AFGHAN

GOVERNMENT,ALSO AMENDED

ITS STRATEGY INVIEW OF THE

CHANGES IN THEREGIONAL AND

INTERNATIONALARENA. TWO

NON-OFFICIALINDIAN

DELEGATESATTENDED THE

MULTI-NATIONALCONFERENCE IN

MOSCOW WHERETHEY SAT WITH

THE TALIBAN

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

Building an

inclusive India

NAVNEET ANAND

The lack of opportunities makes crime preventionmore challenging. India needs YUVA-like initiatives

to put its youth to productive purposes

FOREIGNEYE

Sajid Javid may be rightthat capital substitution(automation, machinery,artificial intelligence) andsome of the localunemployed might make upsome of the shortagescaused by stricterimmigration rules, but theywill be nowhere nearenough. Wages and costswill be inflated, adding tothe economy’s problemspost-Brexit. “Global Britain”will be less competitive as aresult of this approach.(The Independent editorial)

NEW IMMIGRATIONPOLICY LACKS CLARITY


JAI KUMAR VERMA

Youth empowerment is the key to building an inclusive and

vibrant India. In this backdrop, the YUVA initiative of the Delhi

Police comes with a lot of promises, including long-term

impact for the creation of a cohesive society. Youth are often vul-

nerable to bad practices when they drop out of schools. If they

are left unattended, many of them can become a burden on soci-

ety. And, therefore, there is a compelling need to make mean-

ingful interventions so as to ensure they do not fall into the web

of crime in any form or social dormancy. It is here that the role

of positive initiatives, like YUVA, assumes significance.

In 2014, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge,

the focus of his Government was on empowering the youth

in more ways than one. Gradually, initiatives became institu-

tionalised with an aim to enable them become employers and

not only employees. One such scheme, the Pradhan Mantri

Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), is dedicated to skill the youth

of our country so that they become financially self-reliant.

The idea of YUVA is to achieve the goals set by the

Government under its National Skill Development Mission. Given

the magnitude of the challenge, the only viable option to pro-

vide jobs to all is to equip our youth with relevant skills, com-

mensurate with the education they have gained. A number of

Union Government schemes, such as Startup India, Make in

India, Standup India and MUDRA Yojana, among others, seek

to achieve the goal of building an inclusive India where there

is no exclusion or discrimination in sharing opportunities among

all. In the process, the importance of skill development and

innovation factors in so significantly. The Government of India

is precisely replicating what other countries, like China, South

Korea, and Japan did decades back to make every hand of

some gainful use. The rest is history today. Needless to say,

we are late but a beginning has to be made.

As a stakeholder in building a new India, the Delhi Police is

more than eager to play a pro-active role. YUVA is a fine case

in point. This scheme is committed to equip the vulnerable youth,

especially from the under-privileged sections of society, with skills

and provide them gainful employment. The idea is to ‘catch them

young’ and divert their energies towards productive avenues. This

will, thus, save youth from getting caught in the world of crime.

The programme leverages the opportunities of skill development

available under the PMKVY. Not only does it seek to provide pro-

fessional skill, but goes a step ahead to secure their placement,

enabling them to carve a niche for themselves in the real world.

Though only over a year old, YUVA has made remarkable

contribution in changing the life of many youth who were finan-

cially distressed and, thus, were prone to delinquency. It is a glob-

ally proven fact that lack of opportunities makes the task of crime

prevention even more challenging. Therefore, YUVA-type initia-

tives have a bigger role to play for the long-term objective of crime

prevention. They help integrate those marginalised sections, who

in the absence of right opportunities at a critical time in their lives,

evince high vulnerability to jump the fence and delve into the dele-

terious morass of crime and wrongdoing. “It is a matter of pride

for the Delhi Police that YUVA — undertaken as a mission by

us so far to train and skill youth who are financially distressed

and, hence, prone to criminality — has successfully complet-

ed a landmark year and envisages bigger horizons in its second

year,” said the Delhi Police Commissioner, Amulya Patnaik.

“The thought behind YUVA is to design a mechanism to bring

together the youth of the capital, both boys and girls, from under-

privileged sections of the society for skill development. This will

lead to better employment opportunities so that they become role

model for others,” said Devesh Chandra Srivastava, Joint

Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police. Boys and girls, who have

passed out from YUVA centres, have become role models for

others with the larger objective of peaceful, harmonious living

and better securing the national capital. The process of identi-

fying young trainees — 17 to 25 years-old — and watching them

grow into successful corporate executives as well as entrepre-

neurs has been a wonderful experience for all stakeholders, includ-

ing the Delhi Police, which deeply believes in contributing to the

care and concern for the disadvantaged sections of society.

It is worth stating here that at YUVA centres, the National

Skill Development Corporation provides skill training to the youth,

while the Confederation of Indian Industry gives job-related train-

ing through its sector skill councils that are connected to the indus-

try and thereby provide job opportunities.

(The writer is a strategic communications professional)

Last month, something signifi-cant happened in small villagesin Hazaribagh district of

Jharkhand. Over 33 applicationsunder the Right To Information(RTI) Act were filed seeking infor-mation from panchayats and blockdevelopment offices. While the fil-ing of RTI applications may not seemextraordinary in itself, the fact thatthese were filed by the margin-alised, mostly uneducated, singlewomen living in remote villages,makes it remarkable.

They didn’t stop at just filing theRTI applications. The women fol-lowed up on their application withthe relevant authorities to ensurereplies were given. Armed with theofficial information gathered, they

took action against all those who haddenied them their right to food(under the Public DistributionScheme), land registration, electric-ity and pension under some pretextor the other. Such has been theirimpact that in one village, the PDSdealer informed the women firstwhen rations arrived at his shop sothat no one was left out.

This quiet revolution was possi-ble because of collectivisation of thewomen. Not just in Jharkhand, sin-gle women in many States are nolonger willing to accept injustice. Ina patriarchal society, where the iden-tity and value of a woman is deter-mined through her husband, womenthemselves are re-negotiating theirroles and becoming catalysts ofchange. They are not just being seenor heard but are also being recognisedas an independent, original voice.

This has largely been possibledue to platforms like the Ekal NariShakti Sangathan (ENSS) or theNational Forum for Single Women’sRights, which has empoweredoppressed women across the coun-

try to stand up for their rights.What began as a small groupformed in Rajasthan in 1999 byGinny Srivastava, the passionate 65-year-old co-founder of the Udaipur-based Astha Sansthan, a non-gov-ernmental organisation focussed onempowering the marginalised peo-ple, has now expanded to 11 Statesand has a membership of about 1.3lakh single women.

According to the 2011 Census,there were over five crore singlewomen in India. This means thataround 8.6 per cent of the totalfemale population of the countrycomprises widows, divorced, sepa-rated, unmarried older women,abandoned and deserted women. Inthe 2001 Census, this figure wasover three crore. There was a 29.6per cent increase in the populationof single women between 2001and 2011. This is much higher thanthe percentage growth of femalepopulation at 18.3 per cent.

In fact, single women outnum-ber the population of countries likeCanada, South Africa, Saudi Arabia

and even Australia. The 2011Census indicated that Maharashtrahas the highest number of singlewomen (54,21,416) followed byWest Bengal (45,43,978), MadhyaPradesh (24,75,189) and Gujarat(23,71,130).

Wherever single women havecome together, they have benefitted.In Jharkhand, the single women’sgroup trained by Jagori, the not forprofit advocating for gender equal-ity and justice, showed that giventhe information and training, theycan become agents of change.Recently, collectives of singlewomen in Gujarat ensured landrights for 127 landless individuals.In Rajasthan, the ENSS worked toensure safe drinking water and toi-lets in schools in remote locations.

While the ENSS managed toopen new doors for single women,Government policies have notalways been inclusive. Policies relat-ed to pension, for example, have notalways guaranteed delivery of thisimportant entitlement to everywidow. For instance, in India, if a

widow’s economic status changesand she moves above the povertyline, she is no longer eligible for thepension.

Also, under the Indira GandhiNational Widow Pension Scheme,only widows between 40-59 years,who live below the poverty line, areentitled to receive a paltry sum.After they attain the age of 60, theyqualify for pension under the IndiraGandhi National Old Age PensionScheme.

With 4.2 crore of the five croresingle women being widows, ENSSsought a monthly pension of at least`3,000 for all single women whoseincomes are below the taxationlimit and those who do not receivepension from any other source.They want this remuneration notjust for widows of all ages but alsofor unmarried, divorced, separatedand abandoned women, irrespec-tive of their age. Surely, thesedemands are not unreasonable.

The Government could alsoadapt some good practices from itsneighbours. In Nepal, for example,

not only is pension given to all wid-ows, irrespective of age, a SingleWomen Emergency Fund has beeninstituted. Further, as a 2014research study on the policies andprogrammes for widows/singlewomen in India, Nepal and SriLanka by UN Women found thatthe Nepal Government’s policy ofgiving land on lease to groups ofwidows/single women to buildshelter homes, that also provideslivelihood skills, has helped themre-integrate with their communi-ties. In Kathmandu, one such homehas a catering service whichemploys over 100 single women,who prepare packed meals onorders. If Nepal, which is ranked149 out of 189 countries in the lat-est human development ranking,can do it why can’t India, consid-ering it’s ranked far higher at 130?Our country must stand by its sin-gle women. All India needs is gen-der-sensitive planning and commit-ted implementation.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

SWAPNA MAJUMDAR

money 10LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

PTI n KOLKATA

The Securities and ExchangeBoard of India on Thursday

said it was planning a sandboxpolicy to support technologydevelopments in financial mar-kets. The sandbox policy willallow companies to test productsin a closed environment, a par-ticular geography or among a setof users, before they are allowedroll out commercially meetingall regulations.

The capital market regula-tor was also examining whetherany change in law was requiredin terms of its dispensation, hesaid. “We will come out with a

policy on sandbox soon,” SEBIchairman Ajay Tyagi saidresponding to a question aboutthe regulator’s view on cryptoassets. Indian regulations donot accept cyrptocurrency as avalid currency. The regulator hasalso set up a committee to lookinto the concept of a regulatorysandbox in the country.

Tyagi said this would enablethe tech companies to work oninnovations without regulatorychanges. He said there had beenhuge technology interventionsin capital markets in the past andit would continue.

Tyagi also said SEBI wouldissue a directive soon on terms

and conditions for mutual fundsto separate their distressed debtassets, a process widely knownas ‘side pocketing’. The SEBI hasagreed in principle to the pro-posal put forward by the mutu-al funds industry, he added.

SEBI will ensure adequatesafeguards for investors andlook into it so that fund man-agers do not misuse it.

“We will come out with acircular that will put terms andconditions to safeguard theinvestors and not misused by theMFs,” Tyagi said on the sidelinesof a Indian Institute ofManagement-Calcutta (IIM-C)event here.

‘Side pocketing’ is a mech-anism to separate distressed,illiquid and hard-to-value assetsfrom other more liquid assets ina portfolio. It prevents the dis-tressed assets from damaging thereturns generated from moreliquid and better-performingassets. Currently, in the case ofcredit events, the existinginvestors potentially lose all thevalue. Any further recoveryaccrues to the investors in thescheme only at the time ofrecovery. With side pocketing,the investors who take the hitwhen the credit event happens,get the full upside of futurerecovery.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Equity mutual fund schemesregistered a net inflow of

`8,414 crore in November,making it the lowest in threemonths, mainly due to avolatile market.

With this, the total inflowin equities has reached over`82,200 crore during the cur-rent financial year so far (April-November), according to datafrom the Association of MutualFunds in India (Amfi).

According to the data,equity and equity-linked savingschemes saw an inflow of

`8,414 crore in November,much lower than `12,622 croreregistered in the precedingmonth.

In September, suchschemes had witnessed aninflow of `11,172 crore and`8,375 crore in August.

“We appreciate the matu-rity shown by retail investors instaying invested in the markets,in spite of the volatility over thelast few months,” Amfi chiefexecutive NS Venkatesh said.

“As India becomes thefastest-growing economy andwith inflation rates slowingdown, equities are expected to

perform better in the nearfuture,” he added.

The Systematic InvestmentPlan (SIP) contribution con-tinues to be the same at ̀ 7,985crore in November as com-pared to last month.

Overall, the mutual fundindustry saw a net infusion of`1.4 lakh crore last month.

Liquid funds attracted`1.36 lakh crore, goldexchange-traded funds saw anet inflow of `10 crore afterwitnessing a pull-out in the pastseveral months. In contrast,income funds saw a withdraw-al of `6,518 crore.

New Delhi (PTI): HondaMotorcycle & Scooter India(HMSI) on Thursday said ithad crossed 40 million cumu-lative sales milestone acrossglobal markets in a span of 18years.

While the first 20 millioncustomers were added in 14years, the company added thelatest 20 million customers injust four years.

“Since the very start,Honda is led by a challengingspirit bringing joy to millionsof customers with high quali-ty innovative products,” HMSIpresident and CEO MinoruKato said in a statement.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Amid concerns beingraised by budding entre-preneurs on angel tax, the

Commerce and IndustryMinistry said on Thursday thatstartups need to seek the exemp-tion from an inter-ministerialboard set up for the purpose.

Ramesh Abhishek,Secretary in the department ofindustrial policy and promo-tion (DIPP), said that the min-istry was already taking up thematter with the department ofrevenue.

Several startups have againraised concerns on taxation ofangel funds under Section 56 ofthe Income Tax Act, which pro-vides for taxation of fundsreceived by an entity.

He said that the purpose ofSection 56(2)(viib) of IncomeTax Act was to prevent moneylaundering, and investmentsmade by AIF (alternate invest-ment funds) were exemptedfrom this provision.

“For HNIs and other typeof individual investors, therewas no mechanism earlier. So,the DIPP and Income TaxDepartment put in place amechanism and set up an inter-ministerial board.

“People who would likeinvestments to be exemptedfrom this particular provision

under the law, have to apply,” hetold reporters here. The secre-tary said the department want-ed more and more startups toapply for tax exemption.

“If specific issues and prob-lems are pointed out to us bystartups, we will take that upwith the concerned depart-ment,” the secretary said.

The board, which was setup in 2016, has so far exempt-ed 94 startups from income tax.However, since revision ofinvestment norms in April thisyear, only two startups havehave got exemption.

“We have a mechanismfor exempting genuine invest-ments in startups. So, peopleshould use that mechanism.Everything is online, they

should take advantage,” he said.When asked about the tax

notices being served recently,the secretary said the depart-ment would like to see detailsof those notices.

Startups have to qualify oncertain parameters such as ̀ 25crore turnover to get exemptionfrom income tax.

“Registration with theDIPP is as per the eligibility cri-teria... but that does not qual-ify any startup to get anyexemption from any provi-sion. To get exemption, there isa separate mechanism,”Abhsihek said.

Over 14,000 startups haveregistered so far but all do notget exemption from income tax.

Earlier, when budding

entrepreneurs raised concernsover angel tax issues, in April,the government gave relief tostartups by allowing them toavail tax concession if totalinvestment, including fundingfrom angel investors, does notexceed `10 crore.

As per a notification, anangel investor picking up stakesin a startup should have aminimum net worth of `2crore or should have an aver-age returned income of over`25 lakh in the preceding threefinancial years.

Section 56 of the IncomeTax Act provides that where aclosely held company issues itsshares at a price more than itsfair market value, the amountreceived in excess of the fairmarket value will be charged totax the company as incomefrom other sources.

They also enjoy income taxbenefit for three out of sevenconsecutive assessment years.

An angel investor is theone who funds a startup whenit is taking baby steps to estab-lish itself in the competitivemarket. Normally, about 300-400 startups get angel funding inan year.

The government launchedthe Startup India initiative inJanuary 2016 to build a strongecosystem for nurturing inno-vation and entrepreneurship.

Startups required to seek tax exemptionfrom inter-ministerial board: DIPP secy

New e-commerce policy on the anvil

New Delhi (PTI): The Commerce and Industry Ministry isdrafting a new e-commerce policy to boost the fast-growing onlineretail sector, a government official said on Thursday. “We are inthe process of drafting the new e-commerce policy,” Secretary inthe department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) RameshAbhishek told reporters here. The government has also set up agroup of secretaries to look into the issues of the sector. The exer-cise started after concerns were raised on some proposals of thedraft e-commerce policy, which was prepared by the departmentof commerce after consultations with several stakeholders, includ-ing industry chambers. That draft policy had suggested severalsteps to promote the growth of the sector. It had stated that onlineretail firms may have to store user data exclusively in India inview of security and privacy concerns.

Net equity mutual fund inflow

hit 3-month low in November

HMSI crosses 40 mncumulative salesmilestone

SEBI plans sandbox policy for tech companies

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.25 14.68 14.06 14.41IBULHSGFIN 830.80 875.00 829.55 845.85YESBANK 179.00 187.55 178.00 186.65SUZLON 5.48 5.58 5.36 5.53DHFL 224.70 242.20 223.05 238.15BEML 848.15 920.65 842.05 913.90INFY 662.70 671.45 657.00 666.85UJJIVAN 253.00 280.15 251.55 277.00AXISBANK 638.00 646.45 629.40 633.00LT 1431.75 1450.80 1423.30 1449.20SBIN 299.40 301.50 293.00 293.85RELIANCE 1124.00 1131.95 1116.50 1127.25JETAIRWAYS 245.00 254.00 243.00 252.35TATAMOTORS 173.60 177.30 171.90 175.95NCC 90.40 90.95 88.00 89.15NATIONALUM 63.85 63.85 60.10 61.85SPICEJET 84.80 86.50 83.20 84.75BANKINDIA 97.35 100.20 95.70 97.50SUNPHARMA 423.00 431.15 422.00 429.25VEDL 205.00 205.10 201.50 202.65ICICIBANK 363.80 365.60 361.30 362.25PCJEWELLER 83.85 86.10 83.10 84.40IBREALEST 89.90 93.85 89.35 91.85MARUTI 7830.55 7917.75 7772.95 7808.95HINDPETRO 235.90 245.70 233.05 244.20RCF 62.75 68.25 62.70 67.00BEL 86.35 90.90 85.50 90.30RELCAPITAL 216.90 222.00 216.15 219.40IOC 145.90 148.20 144.85 147.80ONGC 148.25 150.80 147.50 148.65PNB 76.50 78.10 75.65 76.05ASIANPAINT 1392.00 1431.50 1389.80 1425.30JKTYRE 105.95 110.70 105.95 109.00L&TFH 154.95 158.00 153.80 157.15ICICIGI 882.80 882.80 836.50 866.00BALKRISIND 937.95 966.70 935.00 941.10CGPOWER 41.50 41.50 39.90 40.15JAICORPLTD 113.75 117.70 112.75 113.75M&M 781.50 797.50 778.70 795.35NAVKARCORP 51.15 59.00 49.75 58.25FEDERALBNK 94.50 96.30 93.60 95.45ASHOKLEY 107.50 108.85 105.80 106.50PFC 96.60 100.00 95.90 98.55ESCORTS 674.00 695.00 668.55 692.40BAJFINANCE 2570.00 2609.00 2535.00 2591.50M&MFIN 462.80 477.20 460.10 473.85CANBK 271.95 277.50 266.15 268.10RELINFRA 295.00 303.70 292.05 302.60INFIBEAM 48.00 49.65 47.30 48.35BANDHANBNK 557.00 557.00 532.35 537.70IDFCBANK 42.70 44.05 42.30 43.85BIOCON 635.00 649.75 634.20 637.65DLF 191.85 193.85 186.80 189.90TCS 1965.00 1975.45 1947.00 1956.35TATASTEEL 520.80 526.90 520.00 523.45BANKBARODA 115.40 116.90 113.85 114.85IFCI 14.55 15.25 14.30 14.55JISLJALEQS 66.40 69.70 66.05 68.80HINDUNILVR 1838.00 1854.30 1821.80 1835.60KOTAKBANK 1229.00 1239.50 1216.70 1236.00EQUITAS 118.60 126.00 118.55 124.80APOLLOTYRE 241.90 244.90 238.45 239.80HEG 3956.05 3989.75 3911.00 3921.55CONCOR 672.20 679.05 656.00 665.95HINDALCO 223.80 224.90 220.05 223.65INDIACEM 96.95 99.75 95.65 97.20CAPF 590.90 605.95 581.00 603.25RECLTD 107.50 110.75 106.35 109.20BOMDYEING 112.60 115.80 111.55 113.20DMART 1646.00 1655.00 1625.00 1642.80GRAPHITE 838.65 855.25 825.00 828.80CANFINHOME 285.00 293.30 283.45 288.75ZEEL 464.00 470.00 457.65 462.50HDIL 24.50 25.65 24.30 25.05JUBLFOOD 1338.70 1370.60 1290.00 1354.00DABUR 453.00 455.75 440.00 443.50REPCOHOME 367.25 394.00 366.00 384.00UNIONBANK 82.15 84.50 81.60 82.45LICHSGFIN 481.70 496.80 480.70 489.55ORIENTBANK 93.00 95.80 91.20 93.65JINDALSTEL 165.05 168.60 164.65 167.40HDFC 1977.00 1982.30 1944.40 1982.30JAMNAAUTO 62.60 68.00 62.00 66.35HDFCBANK 2118.00 2137.95 2102.75 2133.95BPCL 358.90 371.70 356.20 371.00FORCEMOT 1636.65 1678.80 1626.65 1639.90SUNTECK 360.50 361.95 350.00 356.95ITC 280.55 284.25 280.55 282.20BHEL 70.10 70.95 69.40 70.50COALINDIA 249.50 254.00 248.10 251.00BHARTIARTL 316.00 321.20 314.25 316.15CIPLA 524.05 526.35 516.30 519.85AUROPHARMA 731.45 736.00 722.25 726.30TATAPOWER 77.10 80.65 76.55 80.10CUB 182.75 187.25 182.10 184.55STRTECH 301.00 304.90 296.50 297.55JKIL 140.00 144.55 136.20 136.90JPASSOCIAT 7.24 7.60 7.15 7.43GRUH 298.50 318.95 298.50 317.15GSFC 111.60 114.55 110.50 112.45NBCC 57.95 59.05 57.40 58.20JSWSTEEL 309.00 310.55 306.55 309.00CEATLTD 1347.00 1373.00 1346.00 1351.00IDFC 42.50 44.90 41.40 44.25LTI 1681.00 1726.40 1681.00 1713.65FSL 50.05 50.80 49.45 49.75NATCOPHARM* 702.20 707.00 683.00 684.35

BHARATFORG 519.80 530.90 514.20 521.70ADANIPORTS 375.55 377.00 369.20 376.70SYNDIBANK 37.50 38.55 36.75 37.25GRASIM 850.00 856.00 828.55 830.90MARICO 397.00 397.00 379.35 382.00ALBK 49.25 49.80 45.55 46.45DELTACORP 254.85 256.70 252.00 255.05GNFC 352.55 369.00 349.00 363.45ENGINERSIN 122.45 125.55 121.80 124.45HCC 11.80 12.06 11.68 11.81INDUSINDBK 1609.00 1620.00 1593.80 1615.10BRITANNIA 3219.00 3235.00 3160.00 3170.05IDEA 37.50 38.45 37.35 38.15SREINFRA 36.05 37.60 35.25 36.30LUPIN 841.90 859.90 841.60 855.00SOUTHBANK 15.70 16.00 15.50 15.70MUTHOOTFIN 503.90 511.35 499.15 500.10GREAVESCOT 127.10 129.10 120.45 121.75IBVENTURES 401.15 410.00 397.50 398.75MANAPPURAM 92.00 93.35 90.15 91.65KPIT 228.80 232.85 225.45 228.00WOCKPHARMA 522.00 528.50 513.50 517.35PEL 2246.00 2312.20 2246.00 2290.20INDIGO 1152.00 1162.00 1141.50 1151.45SRTRANSFIN 1271.85 1290.75 1255.00 1266.70HEROMOTOCO 3295.45 3382.70 3270.15 3372.00ACC 1528.05 1562.00 1528.05 1535.95EXIDEIND 269.90 273.50 267.80 270.90EDELWEISS 200.00 202.90 196.20 200.05TECHM 708.95 716.90 703.00 706.00TATAMTRDVR 95.50 96.85 94.35 96.45MMTC 29.25 30.60 29.20 29.90UPL 755.00 773.45 746.75 769.85JMFINANCIL 92.50 94.35 91.65 92.90WIPRO 337.90 340.00 332.25 333.55RPOWER 28.30 28.30 27.55 28.10CARERATING 984.95 991.70 963.00 969.30ITI 94.90 95.80 93.50 94.20ICICIPRULI 316.00 325.20 315.25 323.80BAJAJ-AUTO 2861.95 2899.00 2831.40 2890.00CENTRALBK 33.10 35.80 32.80 34.35

ULTRACEMCO 4050.00 4130.25 4015.00 4047.30AVANTI 418.50 418.50 407.45 408.65UBL 1379.50 1386.50 1351.05 1368.90POWERGRID 197.90 199.00 195.00 198.15HCLTECH 954.80 965.50 947.00 963.00SIEMENS 1014.05 1027.05 991.65 997.10PNBHOUSING 975.00 994.80 933.00 970.50TORNTPOWER 267.00 270.55 263.50 264.35KAJARIACER 477.00 493.50 477.00 483.70AMBUJACEM 226.80 229.45 223.90 225.10NTPC 149.40 149.55 146.80 149.10DEEPAKNI 229.00 231.70 224.00 224.95IEX 166.00 170.95 164.10 167.05HFCL 21.85 22.40 21.45 21.55VIJAYABANK 48.40 49.00 47.50 48.55DEEPAKFERT 150.20 159.00 149.30 154.90MOTHERSUMI 171.50 173.80 168.90 170.35SAIL 54.45 54.65 53.20 53.35MRPL 74.45 78.50 74.10 77.75ADANIPOWER 52.70 52.70 51.60 51.95PETRONET 225.00 225.10 220.70 222.50JUSTDIAL 489.40 497.15 488.45 493.55KTKBANK 110.35 113.25 110.15 111.45NIITTECH 1124.75 1150.60 1120.20 1128.75SHANKARA 568.50 576.00 561.00 566.35NAVINFLUOR 738.00 759.50 728.15 746.60RBLBANK 577.25 586.75 577.25 579.00TEXRAIL 58.65 61.35 58.60 60.15TITAN 929.00 932.90 920.95 926.40BAJAJFINSV 6389.70 6440.40 6299.25 6428.70VOLTAS 570.00 581.00 565.00 577.00BATAINDIA 1112.90 1116.00 1102.15 1105.758KMILES 164.00 164.00 154.10 155.05DRREDDY 2614.95 2634.05 2593.30 2631.80ABB 1334.00 1342.80 1298.10 1311.05AJANTPHARM 1106.45 1159.00 1106.45 1154.65RAYMOND 846.30 870.80 846.30 858.45CADILAHC 342.85 346.00 342.00 344.75EICHERMOT 23838.00 24234.00 23719.40 24200.00TATACHEM 709.85 725.90 706.30 720.00MAHABANK 15.00 15.45 14.78 15.02HEXAWARE 328.00 331.70 320.50 322.40MINDTREE 870.00 874.00 839.95 852.25BALRAMCHIN 105.00 106.00 103.75 105.40INDIANB 248.05 253.70 245.15 246.70TAKE 138.10 148.70 138.10 148.20ABCAPITAL 99.30 100.60 99.25 99.60TVSMOTOR 582.00 584.70 569.40 578.35DIVISLAB 1499.00 1523.70 1499.00 1510.85PVR 1547.45 1591.15 1539.65 1572.95

HINDCOPPER 49.55 52.00 49.55 50.80KEC 312.00 312.05 305.00 305.05VENKYS 2470.00 2509.95 2439.55 2467.70BBTC 1349.00 1368.00 1335.10 1336.00KSCL 578.75 601.75 578.75 594.00IRB 162.00 166.10 160.95 164.50PHILIPCARB 207.65 208.50 205.50 206.00DCBBANK 164.00 169.00 161.35 167.65OIL 178.90 182.25 178.85 179.25LTTS 1610.05 1664.80 1610.05 1637.85PIDILITIND 1193.75 1201.90 1182.85 1186.35NOCIL 169.85 172.60 168.10 168.90ABFRL 202.75 205.25 200.00 202.95ISEC 266.80 273.90 265.40 271.55RAIN 137.55 144.00 137.55 139.00TATACOMM 543.95 557.20 541.85 549.15TV18BRDCST 37.45 38.15 36.15 36.65SUNTV 599.85 607.00 590.25 596.50GODFRYPHLP 900.55 927.90 891.20 897.95INDHOTEL 147.00 148.90 145.00 146.40SHARDACROP 328.00 333.00 307.20 316.35JUBILANT 710.00 723.25 709.65 711.65DBL 424.30 438.35 424.30 433.30OMAXE 215.00 215.50 214.30 215.00CUMMINSIND 816.80 832.00 814.00 829.50RALLIS 175.55 181.35 175.55 178.70JINDALSAW 85.45 87.25 85.30 86.00CHENNPETRO 281.70 290.15 276.60 288.35PARAGMILK 252.65 257.00 250.55 252.65PFIZER 2911.35 2958.00 2859.90 2872.55KEI 385.95 388.50 372.00 375.50TIMETECHNO 102.00 107.65 101.00 102.85NAUKRI 1572.55 1582.45 1547.00 1562.75CORPBANK 29.40 30.20 29.30 29.50BLISSGVS 146.75 152.00 145.30 147.95HDFCLIFE 386.10 390.75 384.25 386.60COLPAL 1330.00 1335.20 1324.75 1329.10CASTROLIND 155.00 156.45 152.50 155.15KWALITY 8.60 8.85 8.44 8.80BAJAJELEC 508.00 522.50 508.00 515.85JSL 32.70 33.45 32.70 33.00NMDC 96.95 98.10 95.65 97.40HUDCO 44.25 45.35 44.05 44.75GODREJCP 836.90 836.90 811.25 828.00BERGEPAINT 339.05 344.45 338.00 341.00CENTURYTEX 938.00 947.75 930.00 946.95HSCL 137.90 138.05 133.50 133.90MEGH 62.90 63.85 62.05 62.55ZENSARTECH 239.20 242.95 228.95 229.00QUESS 687.70 690.30 669.95 676.65GODREJPROP 680.40 701.00 677.00 688.60FRETAIL 540.15 548.80 530.00 546.10TATAELXSI 1006.00 1019.95 1003.05 1012.00GAIL 353.25 357.75 352.00 354.65RADICO 420.05 422.95 412.45 416.20HAVELLS 698.50 707.85 697.60 704.40HINDZINC 283.00 283.00 275.60 278.60GMRINFRA 16.35 16.50 16.20 16.35MANPASAND 85.25 87.15 85.00 85.45VIPIND 518.00 526.80 516.05 520.95PIIND 811.05 838.85 810.60 838.85CYIENT 628.65 638.55 613.35 621.65VGUARD 225.80 226.90 222.45 224.70RNAVAL 14.00 14.74 14.00 14.47ALLCARGO 108.45 115.00 107.95 113.75APOLLOHOSP 1222.00 1278.00 1222.00 1269.95PFS 18.00 18.05 17.00 17.20TATAMETALI 650.75 664.95 640.00 655.40PTC 87.00 89.65 87.00 88.95CHOLAFIN 1275.00 1294.60 1257.40 1264.20SPARC 208.85 211.00 208.10 208.10CHAMBLFERT 146.20 151.55 145.70 147.25PAGEIND 24981.00 25272.20 24616.25 24900.00NESTLEIND 11099.00 11408.80 11099.00 11206.60HSIL 219.00 233.85 219.00 233.75FORTIS 137.60 137.60 135.00 135.25TORNTPHARM 1778.90 1810.00 1761.60 1801.40NHPC 26.00 26.20 25.95 26.20SRF 2226.00 2275.00 2224.45 2267.00MCX 731.95 736.25 726.15 729.95GLENMARK 677.00 690.00 677.00 686.20IGL 265.00 265.10 261.70 263.80INTELLECT 240.00 243.45 238.10 240.75IDBI 62.00 62.10 61.20 61.65SBILIFE 582.00 595.00 577.00 593.15WELCORP 147.45 152.60 146.50 151.45TRENT 350.00 355.00 347.05 350.00DENABANK 17.20 17.25 16.75 16.90MAXINDIA 85.10 87.20 84.20 86.80LAXMIMACH* 5785.10 5825.00 5755.00 5776.75AMARAJABAT 754.90 755.00 740.65 743.00SCI 44.00 45.00 43.90 44.30BOSCHLTD 19485.00 19750.00 19210.00 19600.00APLLTD 606.65 621.35 592.85 597.70WHIRLPOOL 1396.05 1402.80 1380.00 1385.00TATAGLOBAL 210.05 213.30 209.00 210.15ASHOKA 133.15 134.20 130.05 130.80INOXWIND 77.80 80.00 76.45 76.85DISHTV 38.45 39.10 37.75 38.85GLAXO 1468.00 1485.00 1453.70 1460.00MFSL 438.30 447.00 436.40 441.25MRF 69199.00 69883.55 68728.50 69200.00SWANENERGY 100.85 102.25 100.20 101.00FINCABLES 460.00 463.25 450.00 454.90COROMANDEL 449.95 454.30 443.10 446.00OFSS 3651.20 3737.95 3627.80 3670.00IPCALAB 800.00 807.10 781.70 784.15UCOBANK 20.80 20.90 20.35 20.55

FCONSUMER 47.50 47.70 46.90 47.00JYOTHYLAB 199.00 201.50 196.80 200.95SHK 172.95 175.10 171.85 173.80THOMASCOOK 239.95 242.50 237.00 240.00SUVEN 227.05 231.70 227.05 228.95WELSPUNIND 61.70 62.45 59.90 60.50ITDCEM 115.50 118.10 114.45 115.40NLCINDIA 68.90 69.80 68.05 68.15AUBANK 638.50 641.00 632.20 634.50GUJFLUORO 907.95 913.00 898.10 901.70MINDACORP 138.90 145.85 138.90 140.10PRSMJOHNSN 91.90 93.90 90.00 91.30JSWENERGY 70.25 71.55 70.25 70.65TATAINVEST 882.90 888.55 878.05 883.75GRANULES 91.20 92.10 90.00 90.60J&KBANK 37.10 37.45 36.90 37.10TATACOFFEE 95.35 95.50 93.55 93.70BALMLAWRIE 200.80 206.05 200.80 203.50MGL 893.20 896.50 884.40 888.00INFRATEL 260.65 263.65 258.45 261.00WABAG 276.65 282.50 269.05 278.10KANSAINER 481.95 490.10 480.00 490.10RAMCOCEM 665.95 671.50 651.40 653.00AARTIIND 1443.25 1467.75 1441.00 1441.05UNICHEMLAB 191.05 191.80 188.90 190.30NILKAMAL 1553.95 1592.00 1552.45 1572.00ANDHRABANK 29.35 29.80 29.25 29.45GESHIP 347.90 348.85 338.60 340.90MOTILALOFS 638.80 647.50 633.00 642.45HEIDELBERG 157.75 160.45 157.70 159.20COCHINSHIP 389.25 393.80 386.75 390.00GICRE 275.75 278.20 272.75 276.00VINATIORGA 1667.95 1698.30 1651.20 1657.30OBEROIRLTY 485.00 485.00 475.00 475.65SYMPHONY 1235.00 1235.00 1192.80 1218.35TRIDENT 65.65 67.00 65.65 66.05MINDAIND 330.40 332.50 327.45 328.55MPHASIS 987.20 995.55 982.00 984.50SKFINDIA 1900.00 1914.35 1870.00 1906.20CROMPTON 227.45 229.30 222.20 225.80BIRLACORPN 620.55 636.35 620.00 627.90ALKEM 1863.00 1880.00 1844.00 1860.20ADANITRANS 219.00 225.00 215.60 216.30CENTRUM 38.95 39.60 38.80 39.00GICHSGFIN 253.85 261.00 253.85 258.70EIHOTEL 193.60 199.00 189.25 197.25KALPATPOWR 383.00 388.60 378.05 382.90EMAMILTD 431.00 431.80 422.50 425.00GREENPLY 136.00 140.45 136.00 138.40GODREJIND 537.55 543.00 536.75 539.15SYNGENE 569.00 574.10 563.35 568.60CENTURYPLY 182.75 186.05 181.65 183.60GODREJAGRO 507.05 520.00 507.00 511.90SONATSOFTW 307.50 312.65 305.00 305.00JSLHISAR 90.70 91.90 88.50 89.85GUJGAS 679.00 694.95 679.00 685.15MHRIL 199.00 202.30 198.20 199.10VBL 700.00 730.10 699.00 722.50JAGRAN 121.40 121.40 117.45 120.30MAGMA 114.25 114.60 109.60 111.05BHARATFIN 1014.10 1025.90 1013.80 1021.25NIACL 190.05 192.60 189.50 190.80SHOPERSTOP 496.90 510.00 495.95 507.30BAJAJCORP 365.25 379.00 362.65 375.80GULFOILLUB 795.80 834.90 794.00 814.00UFLEX 274.70 279.00 274.55 274.55GUJALKALI 546.00 552.00 546.00 547.25CRISIL 1633.75 1645.70 1590.00 1612.10GDL 137.20 137.50 135.10 135.10HIMATSEIDE 207.00 211.40 204.80 206.70KNRCON 197.25 201.25 197.25 199.60TEJASNET 220.25 222.05 212.40 215.85RNAM 168.00 168.95 163.95 165.50DBCORP 176.00 181.35 175.25 178.10MOIL 179.45 180.05 176.30 177.15BAJAJHLDNG 2943.95 2965.55 2934.10 2959.10SADBHAV 205.00 210.00 204.50 207.75GMDCLTD 89.25 92.40 89.25 90.10PRESTIGE 207.20 214.00 207.00 210.95IOB 15.00 15.25 14.90 15.00PERSISTENT 616.00 616.85 607.95 608.35NETWORK18 38.40 39.65 38.40 39.25RAJESHEXPO 570.00 572.70 568.00 571.30SANOFI 6260.00 6282.00 6100.00 6100.00INOXLEISUR 227.55 236.00 227.55 236.00JKLAKSHMI 285.10 289.10 280.00 287.20SUPREMEIND 1134.40 1141.95 1112.45 1115.00

DCMSHRIRAM 355.95 361.00 352.15 353.40GRINDWELL 556.90 560.00 546.50 550.15LALPATHLAB 955.00 959.75 940.00 944.85GSPL 176.30 180.00 176.30 177.35GPPL 103.00 104.60 102.00 102.65IL&FSTRANS 12.50 12.70 12.30 12.70ASTRAL 1070.95 1084.95 1066.10 1084.95GSKCONS 7874.45 7882.65 7762.65 7826.10HAL 780.15 796.10 780.10 786.00SOLARINDS 1001.05 1054.85 1001.05 1021.50ITDC 312.00 319.35 308.60 309.55TEAMLEASE 2871.00 2978.95 2829.45 2894.15GHCL 239.45 246.30 239.45 242.95THERMAX 1129.55 1141.70 1110.00 1110.15MAHINDCIE 248.90 249.95 248.00 248.00BAYERCROP 4264.65 4291.00 4162.60 4166.65SHILPAMED 388.00 399.30 385.50 388.65BLUESTARCO 652.00 652.00 639.30 640.05ICIL 57.60 57.70 57.10 57.45LAKSHVILAS 86.85 87.70 86.10 87.40SUDARSCHEM 348.70 353.00 346.00 351.00BLUEDART 3058.05 3185.00 2963.00 3152.40GET&D 261.25 265.20 259.85 262.80ELGIEQUIP 262.70 267.90 262.00 267.50SHREECEM 17297.30 17580.90 17297.30 17472.95EIDPARRY 209.00 211.10 207.00 207.95ZYDUSWELL 1407.15 1417.65 1389.55 1391.00SOBHA 484.05 485.00 474.40 476.50FORBESCO 2562.00 2600.00 2476.00 2496.05SJVN 25.20 25.45 25.10 25.40REDINGTON 86.60 88.50 86.00 87.15TVTODAY 370.50 376.90 366.60 370.00EVEREADY 189.70 190.60 189.00 189.00LINDEINDIA 676.15 679.10 670.70 672.90TVSSRICHAK 2605.95 2628.60 2580.00 2580.00SCHNEIDER 103.50 104.75 103.20 103.60ASTERDM 153.25 155.90 151.00 152.00TIMKEN 575.05 589.60 575.00 588.00ADVENZYMES 177.00 179.00 177.00 177.60ASAHIINDIA 260.40 261.80 255.65 258.05COFFEEDAY 270.15 281.80 266.60 275.60PGHH 9886.15 9975.00 9886.15 9963.10ABBOTINDIA 7474.00 7521.20 7444.00 7444.00FDC 181.50 182.00 177.10 179.05DHANUKA 449.15 456.00 446.00 448.20AEGISLOG 188.25 190.20 188.00 190.00ECLERX 1091.60 1120.90 1083.40 1105.75BASF 1593.45 1603.50 1577.50 1580.65STARCEMENT 106.90 107.75 103.00 104.70SUNDRMFAST 527.10 529.00 525.00 525.00THYROCARE 555.95 556.70 549.95 551.00TIFHL 518.40 522.90 497.00 504.70HERITGFOOD 525.90 527.35 520.00 526.95NAVNETEDUL 108.30 110.25 108.30 109.85JKCEMENT 752.00 758.85 737.50 753.00ATUL 3500.00 3500.00 3460.00 3470.00KRBL 288.75 292.50 288.75 289.00PNCINFRA 134.55 138.00 134.55 137.85CARBORUNIV 362.75 362.75 355.45 359.50FLFL 400.35 409.00 398.00 398.00VMART 2722.00 2758.45 2672.25 2685.40WABCOINDIA 6857.55 6970.40 6767.05 6850.00ESSELPRO 107.55 108.60 106.05 108.25NBVENTURES 120.00 121.00 119.45 119.85ORIENTCEM 85.00 87.15 83.55 84.95ENDURANCE 1175.55 1188.75 1161.00 1167.15CAPPL 386.25 393.40 383.00 385.00NH 202.00 204.85 201.00 203.65APLAPOLLO 1199.05 1206.90 1178.10 1180.00SOMANYCERA 320.00 332.65 320.00 326.853MINDIA 22918.00 22918.00 22534.15 22655.00PHOENIXLTD 600.00 600.40 594.45 596.00SCHAEFFLER 5453.90 5525.00 5453.90 5520.00ERIS 665.00 686.00 665.00 686.00TTKPRESTIG 7570.90 7578.25 7461.95 7480.05APARINDS 654.95 658.95 640.00 651.00MAHLIFE 391.00 396.00 391.00 392.95AKZOINDIA 1651.00 1651.00 1605.00 1620.00CERA 2400.00 2470.00 2380.85 2444.00LAURUSLABS 388.00 388.00 383.40 384.25JBCHEPHARM 301.70 304.00 298.95 302.05AIAENG 1627.45 1640.25 1622.50 1622.50RELAXO 738.90 740.00 729.00 729.00GEPIL 818.05 826.50 810.05 810.60FINOLEXIND 533.00 540.00 533.00 538.95SUPRAJIT 229.00 229.00 222.00 222.00VTL 1110.90 1110.90 1074.45 1075.00KPRMILL 576.50 577.95 572.05 575.00SIS 763.05 776.75 760.65 760.80TRITURBINE 121.15 122.65 121.05 121.50ENIL 603.00 620.85 592.05 615.00LAOPALA 219.50 222.30 216.45 221.15GILLETTE 6472.25 6506.10 6472.25 6490.00TNPL 257.60 260.95 255.65 255.75CCL 272.40 273.20 271.50 272.10MONSANTO 2681.45 2681.45 2613.00 2619.00LUXIND 1466.60 1475.40 1441.05 1455.00ISGEC 5196.30 5196.30 5112.00 5112.00SUPPETRO 212.05 214.60 210.00 213.40HONAUT 22999.95 22999.95 22746.25 22858.10JCHAC 1793.35 1830.00 1780.10 1780.10SFL 1490.00 1529.00 1446.00 1460.05SHRIRAMCIT 1585.00 1605.00 1573.95 1573.95KIOCL 155.35 155.40 152.00 152.00IFBIND 860.35 860.35 843.05 853.75RATNAMANI 914.00 920.00 914.00 915.00SUNCLAYLTD 3500.00 3518.05 3481.05 3481.05HATSUN 623.00 624.00 621.00 621.00

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10885.20 10962.55 10880.05 10951.70 -15.60YESBANK 179.00 187.60 178.00 186.80 7.25HINDPETRO 234.30 246.00 233.00 244.30 8.15BPCL 357.00 371.90 356.10 370.50 8.75UPL 752.00 774.20 746.85 772.00 16.30HEROMOTOCO 3295.95 3380.00 3268.45 3372.30 67.10ASIANPAINT 1389.90 1431.55 1389.05 1428.50 28.25M&M 779.70 797.00 778.50 794.95 12.30IOC 145.55 148.25 144.90 148.00 2.05SUNPHARMA 422.00 431.00 421.60 429.50 5.70TATAMOTORS 173.00 177.30 171.75 176.15 2.25BAJAJ-AUTO 2855.00 2900.00 2832.00 2897.00 34.00LT 1430.60 1453.00 1423.25 1450.10 15.35IBULHSGFIN 830.00 875.00 828.50 848.15 8.50KOTAKBANK 1219.80 1239.40 1215.60 1237.00 11.35EICHERMOT 23800.00 24178.00 23700.10 24146.00 190.30HDFCBANK 2112.55 2140.45 2102.65 2138.00 14.55DRREDDY 2607.70 2633.95 2592.00 2625.95 12.20HCLTECH 948.30 964.70 948.00 961.50 4.35INDUSINDBK 1606.10 1621.75 1593.30 1617.80 5.15INFY 660.00 671.55 656.40 666.90 2.05ONGC 147.95 150.75 147.40 148.45 0.20BAJAJFINSV 6330.05 6421.00 6302.15 6410.00 4.55TECHM 702.00 717.00 702.00 709.80 0.35ADANIPORTS 374.20 376.85 369.00 376.00 0.15BAJFINANCE 2560.00 2609.90 2531.60 2594.00 -2.90ITC 281.00 284.40 281.00 283.10 -0.35COALINDIA 248.60 254.50 248.00 250.70 -0.30NTPC 148.60 149.95 146.65 149.50 -0.30HDFC 1970.00 1982.00 1943.05 1977.00 -4.70ULTRACEMCO 4075.00 4134.00 4003.30 4073.00 -11.55TITAN 928.00 933.00 922.20 925.00 -4.20POWERGRID 197.05 198.95 194.90 198.05 -0.95INFRATEL 262.00 263.95 257.95 262.00 -1.45RELIANCE 1121.00 1132.50 1116.15 1129.90 -6.90JSWSTEEL 309.00 310.80 306.20 309.00 -2.00HINDUNILVR 1839.00 1854.90 1821.00 1833.00 -11.80TCS 1953.80 1974.90 1946.00 1955.00 -13.45ZEEL 465.50 469.80 456.85 461.50 -3.65TATASTEEL 520.00 527.00 520.00 523.15 -4.25CIPLA 523.70 526.00 515.40 520.40 -4.35ICICIBANK 363.05 365.50 361.15 362.80 -3.70GAIL 354.30 358.00 351.60 354.05 -4.45HINDALCO 222.80 225.00 219.75 224.25 -2.90AXISBANK 636.95 646.90 629.00 633.30 -8.35MARUTI 7850.00 7919.00 7763.65 7812.30 -123.70VEDL 205.00 205.00 201.50 203.10 -3.75WIPRO 336.25 340.00 332.35 333.50 -7.20BHARTIARTL 317.00 321.55 314.00 315.85 -6.85SBIN 298.35 301.65 293.15 294.00 -6.70GRASIM 847.60 856.05 826.30 828.50 -26.40

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28438.65 28639.30 28320.75 28405.50 -158.75BEL 85.85 90.95 85.40 90.45 3.80ICICIPRULI 314.50 325.35 314.45 323.00 7.50SBILIFE 580.60 596.00 575.65 593.00 9.95IDEA 37.35 38.45 37.25 38.30 0.55LUPIN 840.00 859.70 839.50 853.80 11.80L&TFH 154.25 158.15 153.60 157.45 1.85BHEL 69.80 71.00 69.25 70.70 0.60BIOCON 635.00 650.40 633.35 638.75 4.25PEL 2254.00 2313.00 2245.10 2292.25 14.30PGHH 9942.00 10000.00 9775.00 10000.00 57.00CADILAHC 342.50 345.80 342.00 345.00 1.95LICHSGFIN 483.25 496.90 480.30 487.95 2.30NMDC 96.50 98.20 95.60 97.70 0.45SUNTV 595.00 607.00 593.00 599.00 2.10NHPC 26.10 26.20 25.95 26.15 0.05OFSS 3645.05 3741.35 3623.25 3679.00 6.30INDIGO 1151.45 1162.00 1141.25 1153.25 1.80SHREECEM 17448.00 17549.95 17259.60 17521.50 25.65COLPAL 1329.55 1335.00 1322.70 1332.00 1.85GICRE 274.90 279.55 272.55 275.40 0.30OIL 178.90 182.35 178.25 178.90 0.15BOSCHLTD 19500.00 19762.00 19199.95 19631.00 7.00HAVELLS 698.00 708.00 696.10 705.00 -0.05ICICIGI 875.00 882.00 835.35 869.00 -1.00HDFCLIFE 386.80 390.55 385.70 386.90 -0.65MRF 68750.00 69900.00 68750.00 69050.00 -276.95ACC 1538.30 1562.00 1528.85 1536.75 -7.15ABCAPITAL 100.00 100.50 99.10 99.45 -0.50SRTRANSFIN 1265.00 1291.25 1252.30 1268.00 -7.05BANKBARODA 115.40 116.85 113.80 114.95 -0.65CONCOR 673.00 678.85 656.70 664.60 -3.90DMART 1646.00 1657.00 1625.05 1640.00 -10.60MOTHERSUMI 171.00 173.75 168.70 170.90 -1.15MCDOWELL-N 640.00 649.00 633.55 638.00 -4.40DLF 192.80 193.70 186.70 190.00 -1.50NIACL 192.00 193.35 189.05 190.50 -1.55AMBUJACEM 225.95 229.50 223.45 225.15 -2.10PIDILITIND 1195.00 1202.00 1181.80 1188.15 -12.85GODREJCP 830.00 836.00 810.45 828.10 -9.05ASHOKLEY 107.35 108.90 105.85 106.50 -1.20AUROPHARMA 727.00 736.00 721.10 726.00 -8.35HINDZINC 282.50 282.50 275.10 277.95 -4.35PETRONET 224.80 225.45 220.70 222.35 -3.55BRITANNIA 3207.70 3234.75 3160.15 3174.00 -54.85SAIL 54.15 54.65 53.25 53.55 -0.95ABB 1344.80 1345.45 1296.40 1310.60 -23.50SIEMENS 1014.70 1026.40 990.40 994.50 -24.70DABUR 452.75 454.00 440.10 444.90 -11.90MARICO 392.95 396.60 379.50 380.25 -13.95BANDHANBNK 553.90 553.90 532.00 536.00 -20.40

world 11LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

US slaps sanctions on Russian

spies for nerve agent use

PTI n WASHINGTON

The US has slapped freshsanctions on 12 Russian

individuals and entities for theiralleged interference in the 2016presidential election and thebrazen use of a military-gradenerve agent in an assassinationattempt inside America’s closestally. They were involved in awide range of malign activities,including attempts to interferein the 2016 US elections, cyber-enabled attempts to undermineinternational organisations andthe brazen use of a chemicalweapon in an assassinationattempt abroad, the StateDepartment said.

Several of these people wererelated to ‘Project Lakhta’, abroad Russian effort whichincludes the Internet ResearchAgency that has sought to inter-fere in political and electoral sys-tems worldwide, it said.

As a result of this action,any person determined toknowingly engage in a signifi-cant transaction with any ofthese persons will be subject tothe Countering America’sAdversaries Through SanctionsAct (CAATSA) Section 231sanctions, the State Departmentsaid.

In addition, the Treasury

Department designated severalmembers of Russia’s MainIntelligence Directorate (GRU)and individuals and entitiesrelated to ‘Project Lakhta’,including the 12 persons addedto the List of Specified Persons(LSP).

Treasury also designatedVictor Boyarkin for havingacted or purported to act for oron behalf of Oleg Deripaska.According to the StateDepartment, the sanctions andlistings undertaken are one partof an aggressive stand againstthe irresponsible acts directedby the Government of theRussian Federation.“Russianintelligence services’ cyber oper-ations continue to seek toundermine democratic elec-

tions and delegitimise interna-tional organisations,” it alleged.Additionally, it is clear thatRussian intelligence operativesused a military grade nerveagent to carry out an assassina-tion attempt inside the bordersof America’s closest ally, a vio-lation of Russia’s obligationsunder the Chemical WeaponsConvention, the StateDepartment charged.

“We will not tolerateattempts to interfere in ourdemocratic process, and wewill side with our allies andpartners against Russian sub-version and destabilisation. “Wewill continue to work with ourallies and partners to take col-lective action in response to irre-sponsible and malicious acts

supported by Russia and itsintelligence agencies,” it added.Former Russian spy SergeiSkripal was poisoned with amilitary-grade nerve agent inthe UK in March, leading to amajor diplomatic standoff withRussia.

The 66-year-old formerRussian double agent and hisdaughter Yulia, 33, were foundunconscious on a shoppingcentre bench in the Salisburytown on March 4.

They were hospitalised incritical condition after he wasfound poisoned and spentweeks in critical condition.Earlier this month, SpecialCounsel Rober Muller, who isprobing the allegations ofRussian interference into the2016 presidential election andcollusion with the Trump cam-paign, filed two separate courtpapers, none of which directlyanswered the question of directinvolvement of PresidentDonald Trump in the allegedRussian interference. Trumphas repeatedly said that hiscampaign never colluded withthe Russians. So far, more than30 people have been charged orpleaded guilty in Mueller’sinvestigation which Trump callsa “witch hunt”.

Putin says West trying to ‘holdback’ powerful RussiaAFP n MOSCOW

President Vladimir Putinon Thursday said the West

was threatened by an increas-ingly powerful Russia, as hepromised further economicgrowth during an end-of-year press conference. Theannual event comes aftermonths of increasing discon-tent at home and tensionsabroad, from a stand-off withUkraine to deteriorating tieswith Washington.

Asked about Westernsanctions against Russia,Putin said these were “con-nected with the growth ofRussia’s power.” “A powerfulplayer appears who needs tobe reckoned with. Untilrecently it was thought therewas no longer such a country,”he said from behind a largewooden desk to an audienceof hundreds of journalists.

The president dismissedspy scandals — such as thepoisoning of former doubleagent Sergei Skripal and hisdaughter in England — asinvented to damage Russia’sstanding.

“If there hadn’t been theSkripals, they would havethought up something else,”he said. Domestic concernsalso loomed large after thelongtime leader’s approval

rating fell following a deeplyunpopular pension reformthis year.

He began the press con-ference, as usual, by reelingoff economic growth figures.“The main thing is that weneed to get into a new eco-nomic league. We could verywell take the fifth place interms of size of economy.And I think we’ll do that,” hesaid. Russia is currentlyranked 12th in the worldpecking order by theInternational Monetary Fund,which lists the United Statesfirst, followed by China,Japan, Germany and Britain.

Putin said the economygrew 1.7 per cent over the first10 months of the year, rough-ly in line with predictions,while unemployment wasdown. Full-year growth isestimated at 1.8 per cent.

“After a long break, asmall growth in real incomeshas nonetheless been record-ed,” he added. But heappeared to damn his primeminister, former presidentDmitry Medvedev, with faintpraise, saying that he was“generally” happy with thework of his government.Putin was re-elected to afourth term in March withnearly 77 percent of the vote,

but recent polls have seen hissupport drop below 50 per-cent.

His previous term in theKremlin was defined by adecline in living standards formany Russians, despite whatwere perceived as foreign pol-icy wins.

During the wide-rangingquestion and answer session,Putin praised US PresidentDonald Trump’s decision topull troops out of Syria, butcondemned his withdrawalfrom a Cold War arms agree-ment. He warned of a “col-lapse of the international arms(control) system” followingWashington’s announcementit would drop theIntermediate-Range NuclearForces agreement.

Earlier the president saidMoscow would develop newmissiles in response to themove. Putin also addressedthe recent escalation of ten-sions with Ukraine followinga naval confrontation in theKerch Strait off Crimea andRussia’s arrest of severalUkrainian sailors. He repeat-ed Kremlin claims thatUkrainian actions in the straitwere a “provocation” andaimed at boosting PresidentPetro Poroshenko’s chances inan unpredictable election next

year. The Kremlin demandsquestions be sent in advance,but reporters every year go togreat lengths to encourage thepresident to call on them.

This year one journalistwas dressed as a Russianfairytale character, the snowmaiden, while another cameholding a tambourine.Organisers, however, put asize limit on the placardsmedia representatives tradi-tionally hold up to attractPutin’s attention.

The president began thetradition of such end-of-yearpress events in 2001, but withtime they have evolved intomarathon events. Since 2004,all December press confer-ences have surpassed threehours. His record was in 2008,when questions and answerswent on for four hours and 40minutes.

The appearance wasshown live on several TVstations, with some channelstrailing the event with a day-long countdown clock. AsRussia has become increas-ingly centralised under Putin,questions at the conferencehave begun to resemble lob-bying attempts to resolve spe-cific problems, from fixingroads to freeing political pris-oners.

PTI n WASHINGTON

The US Senate has approveda legislation to temporari-

ly fund the government in aneffort to avoid a partial shut-down just before Christmasafter President Donald Trumpbacked away from his demandfor USD 5 billion for a con-troversial border wall withMexico to prevent illegalimmigration. Senators onWednesday passed the mea-sure, which would keep gov-ernment running to 8February. The House ofRepresentatives needs to passsimilar bill to avoid a governmentshutdown this weekend. House,in which the Republicans cur-rently has a majority, is expectedto pass the bill, but unlikely toinclude funding for the borderwall. Unless the issue isresolved, more than 800,000federal workers would facefurloughs or be forced to workwithout pay, disrupting gov-ernment operations daysbefore Christmas. DemocraticLeader and Speaker-designate,Nancy Pelosi, said her partywould support the bill to avertgovernment shutdown.

The House is likely to passthe bill on Thursday, before itheads to the President DonaldTrump to sign it into law.Trump said in an Oval Officemeeting with top congres-sional Democratic leaders last

week that he would be “proud”to shut down part of the gov-ernment in service of forcingCongress to give him the fullUSD 5 billion he wants for aborder wall.The administra-tion appeared to soften itsstance on Tuesday when WhiteHouse press secretary SarahSanders said on Fox News, “Atthe end of the day we don’twant to shut down the gov-ernment.” The border wall wascentral to Trump’s presidentialcampaign.

“The American peopleknow the president’s wall isineffective, expensive, and onlyserves as a political bone to hismost conservative supporters– certainly not worth a gov-ernment shutdown,” SenatorChuck Schumer, SenateMinority Leader, said.

“It’s good that Republicansin the Senate finally realisedthat they should not shut downthe government over a wallthat does not have enough sup-port to pass the House orSenate and is not supported bya majority of the country,”Schumer said.

“It is unfortunate thatTrump’s demand for a borderwall from sea to shining sea hasheld up seven appropriationsbills that have been debatedand passed out of committeeon a bipartisan basis,” saidSenator Dick Durbin.

US Senate passes bill to avert shutdown

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference on CapitolHill in Washington on Tuesday. AP/File

PTI nWASHINGTON

President Donald Trump’sdecision to withdraw US

troops from Syria is consistentwith his policy that the mainobjective of American forces inthe war-torn country was todestroy the ISIS and not toresolve the civil war, the WhiteHouse has said as it defendedthe move criticised by many as“premature’. The WhiteHouse’s assertion came afterTrump claimed the US has“defeated” the Islamic Stategroup in Syria. A White Houseofficial announced Wednesdaythat the US has started with-drawing American troops fromthe country.

The decision, a sharp rever-sal from previously stated USpolicy, surprised foreign alliesand lawmakers. Many analystsbelieve that a withdrawal ofground forces will please USenemies by clearing the way inSyria for the Assad regime,Russia and Iran.

The Wall Street Journaldescribed it as an abrupt deci-sion by the Trump administra-tion. Currently, there are about2,000 US forces in Syria. “Wehave defeated ISIS in Syria, myonly reason for being there dur-

ing the Trump Presidency,”Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders saidthat “victories over ISIS inSyria do not signal the end ofthe Global Coalition or itscampaign”. “We have startedreturning United States troopshome as we transition to thenext phase of this campaign,”

she added. “The United Statesand our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defendAmerican interests whenevernecessary, and we will contin-ue to work together to denyradical Islamist terrorists’ ter-ritory, funding, support andmany means of infiltrating ourborders.” A senior administra-tion official, who spoke on

condition of anonymity, toldreporters in a conference callthat Trump, over the past twoyears, has clearly declared thatthe US is not going into Syriato resolve the civil war. Whatwe were going in to do was todestroy the territorial caliphate,which he referred to as ‘ISIS inSyria’, very specifically,” theofficial said.

America’s central bank raises lending rates for 4th

time this yearPTI nWASHINGTON

The US Federal Reserve hasincreased the key short-term

interest rates for the fourth-timethis year, defying PresidentDonald Trump who has repeat-edly attacked the central bank foreven considering such a move.According to Federal ReserveChairman Jerome Powell, theworld’s largest economy contin-ued to strengthen this year,roughly in line with expectations.

“Today we raised our targetrange for the short-term interestrates by another quarter of a per-centage point,” Powell toldreporters here. “After today’saction, the target range for thefederal funds rate is 2.25 per centto 2.5 per cent, putting it at thelower end of the range of esti-mates of the longer run normalrate provided by the committee,”

he said Wednesday.The quarter-point increase

will mean higher borrowingcosts for many consumers andbusinesses. The Fed’s move, inspite of warnings from PresidentTrump, seems certain to angerhim. Wall Street shares fellsharply after the announcementby the central bank.

In a tweet on Tuesday,Trump urged the Fed not to“make yet another mistake”.

“I hope the people over at theFed will read today’s Wall StreetJournal Editorial before theymake yet another mistake. Also,don’t let the market become anymore illiquid than it already is.Stop with the 50 B’s. Feel themarket, don’t just go by mean-ingless numbers. Good luck!” thepresident said on Twitter. Afterthe Fed’s announcement, Powellsaid Trump’s tweets and state-

ments would have no bearing onthe central bank’s policymaking.

Over the next year, if eventsplay out broadly as expected, thefederal funds rate will be in arange in which judgments of peo-ple both inside and outside theFed will sometimes differ regard-ing whether the stance of policyis mild-modestly accommoda-tive, neutral or modestly restric-tive, Powell said.

When rates are in this range,he said Federal Open MarketCommittee (FOMC) makes pol-icy in light of the array of diverseviews on the committee. A com-mittee within the Federal ReserveSystem, FOMC is charged underthe United States law with over-seeing the nation’s open marketoperations. “Moving forward,my colleagues and I will bewatching the economy closely forindications that the stance of pol-

icy is appropriate to sustain theexpansion with a strong labourmarket and inflation near two percent,” Powell said.

Observing that neither thepace nor the ultimate destinationof any further rate increases ispredetermined, Powell said theFed will adjust monetary policyas best it can to keep the expan-sion on track, the labour marketstrong and inflation near two percent. “We know that our policydecisions affect all-Americanfamilies and businesses, and we’llcontinue to make our decisionsobjectively and based solely onthe best information and analy-sis,” he said. Powell said that threeyears ago the committee came tothe view that the best way toachieve Fed’s mandate was togradually move interest ratesback to levels that are more nor-mal in a healthy economy.

“Today we raised our targetrange for the short-term interestrates by another quarter of a per-centage point. As I’ve mentioned,most of my colleagues expect theeconomy to continue to performwell in the coming year.

“Many FOMC participantshad expected that economicconditions would likely call forabout three more rate increasesin 2019. We have brought thatdown a bit and now think it ismore likely that the economy willgrow in a way that will call fortwo interest rate increases overthe course of next year,” theFederal Reserve Chairman said.Powell emphasised that Fed’spolicy decisions are not on a pre-set course and will change if theincoming data materiallychanged the outlook. And givenrecent developments, the state-ment notes that we will contin-

ue to monitor global economicand financial developments andassess their implications for theeconomic outlook.

Since September, he said, theUS economy has continued toperform well, roughly in line withits expectations. The economyhas been adding jobs at a pacethat will continue bringing theunemployment rate down overtime, he said. “Wages have movedup for workers across a widerange of occupations, a welcomedevelopment.

Inflation has remained lowand stable and is ending the yeara bit more subdued than mosthad expected. Although someAmerican families and commu-nities continue to struggle, andsome longer-term economicproblems remain, the strongeconomy is benefiting manyAmericans,” Powell added.

Trump: US does not want to be‘policeman of the Middle East’

Ivan Arostica, president of Chile's Constitutional Court (TC), is kicked by a protester as he leaves the court, which listened toarguments in favor and against conditional freedom for those convicted of human rights crimes in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday,Dec. 19, 2018. Protesters fear a ruling in favor could benefit the prisoners of Punta Peuco, a prison for state agents convicted ofmurder during the dictatorship of Augustus Pinochet (1973-1990). AP

WH: US presence in Syria was to destroy IS, not to end civil war

In this Sept. 10, 2018, photo released by the U.S. Marines, Marines with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment,fire mortars from an undisclosed location in Syria. The United States’ main ally in Syria on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, rejectedPresident Donald Trump’s claim that Islamic State militants have been defeated and warned that the withdrawal of American troopswould lead to a resurgence of the extremist group. AP/file

Washington (AFP): TheUnited States does not want tobe the “Policeman” of theMiddle East, US PresidentDonald Trump tweetedThursday, as he defended hiscontroversial decision to pullUS forces out of Syria. “Doesthe USA want to be thePoliceman of the Middle East,getting NOTHING but spend-ing precious lives and trillionsof dollars protecting otherswho, in almost all cases, do notappreciate what we are doing?Do we want to be there forev-er? Time for others to finallyfight....,” he tweeted.

Trump added:“Russia, Iran, Syria & manyothers are not happy about theU.S. leaving, despite what theFake News says, because nowthey will have to fight ISIS andothers, who they hate, withoutus.

“I am building by farthe most powerful military inthe world. ISIS hits us they aredoomed!” The US presidentfaced intense opposition to his

abrupt announcementWednesday that Islamic Statehad been defeated in theregion, and that he was order-ing the 2,000 US troops in Syriato exit the country.

Trump’s decisionruns counter to long-estab-lished US policy for Syria andthe region. It blindsided law-makers, the Pentagon andinternational allies alike.

“Getting out of Syriawas no surprise,” Trump wrotein an earlier tweet. “I’ve beencampaigning on it for years,and six months ago, when Ivery publicly wanted to do it,I agreed to stay longer.

“Russia, Iran, Syria &others are the local enemy ofISIS. We were doing therework. Time to come home &rebuild. #MAGA” The US with-drawal could have majorgeopolitical ramifications, andplunges into uncertainty thefate of US-backed Kurdishfighters who have been tacklingIslamic State jihadists, thou-sands of whom are thought to

‘Jinnah House in Mumbai belongs to Pak’PTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan asserted onThursday that Jinnah House

in Mumbai belonged to it andany attempt by India to take thebuilding under its control willnot be accepted, days afterExternal Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj said her min-istry is in the process of gettingthe bungalow transferred in itsname.

The sea-facing bungalowon Malabar Hill in Mumbai wasdesigned by architect ClaudeBatley in European style andPakistan’s founder MohammadAli Jinnah lived there in the late1930s. Pakistan had demandedin recent years that the propertyshould be handed over to it forhousing its Mumbai consulate.

“We have a claim over it (JinnahHouse) and we do not acceptthat anyone tries to take custodyof it. They (Indians) havealready accepted that it belongsto Pakistan. We have record ofit. They (Indians) have accept-ed that it belong to Pakistan,”

Foreign Office spokespersonMohammad Faisal toldreporters here.

Asked if Pakistan wouldconsider to hand overKartarpur land to India in aswap deal, Faisal said:“Absolutely not…It is gesture

for Sikh minority communitymade on their request to pro-vide a visa free corridor to facil-itate visit to a religious shrine.”

He said the decisionto open the Kartarpur corridorwas taken at the state-to-statelevel and the Indian govern-ment was fully involved in it.

In a letter to Mumbai cityBJP legislator Mangal PrabhatLodha, Swaraj said PrimeMinister’s Office has instruct-ed to renovate and refurbishJinnah House to develop it onthe pattern of facilities availablein Hyderabad House in Delhi.“Accordingly, approval of thePMO was sought for transfer ofthe property from ICCR(Indian Council for CulturalRelations) to our ministry.

PMO has now accorded neces-sary approvals,” Swaraj said inher letter.

The letter, dated December5, further said, “We are in theprocess of transferring the own-ership in our name.” Jinnah’sdaughter Dina Wadia had inAugust 2007 approached theBombay High Court claimingthat being the sole legal heir ofJinnah, she should get the pos-session of the house. After herdeath, her son and WadiaGroup chairman Nusli NevilleWadia is carrying on the liti-gation. Commenting on therelease of Indian prisonerHamid Nihal Ansari, Faisalsaid Ansari “illegally enteredPakistan and was arrested forspying and convicted”.

world 12LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

UK’s post-Brexit visa strategy

to benefit Indian professionals

PTI n LONDON

The UK government hasunveiled its post-Brexit visas

and immigration strategy thatremoves any cap on highly-skilled migrants, a proposalwhich is expected to benefitIndian students and profes-sionals. The strategy, set out inan immigration White Paper,was tabled in the House ofCommons on Wednesday byUK Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

It removes any cap on high-ly-skilled migrants from any-where in the world andimproves the post-study workoffering for international stu-dents. The proposals, set to bephased in from December 2021after the proposed transitionperiod for Britain’s exit from theEuropean Union (EU), claim tolevel the country’s immigrationplaying field with the end of freemovement for people fromwithin the 28-member eco-nomic bloc.

“As we leave the EuropeanUnion, free movement willend…This will be a systemwhere it is workers’ skills thatmatter, not which country theycome from,” British PrimeMinister Theresa May said inher foreword to the strategy.“We are taking a skills-basedapproach to ensure we canattract the brightest and bestmigrants to the UK,” addedJavid, who made a reference tohis own Pakistani origins as the“son of immigrant parents”.

Under the new proposals,an annual cap of 20,700 on thenumber of skilled work visas

issued will be removed, likely tobenefit doctors and IT profes-sionals from India, among oth-ers. There will also be a new 12-month visa route for workers atany skill level for a temporaryperiod to allow businesses tohire the staff they need on atime-bound basis.

“People arriving on thisroute will not be able to bringfamily members with them,won’t accrue rights to settle inthe UK and will have a 12-month cooling off period oncetheir visa expires,” the UKHome Office said.

The onerous requirementfor labour market tests byemployers wanting to sponsoran overseas skilled worker arealso to be done away with. Theplans were broadly welcomed bythe Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII), which said theWhite Paper recognises thevalue offered by skilled workersfrom countries like India.

“Indian Industry has longcalled for a fair, transparent andskills-based immigration sys-tem, and today’s proposals gosome way to achieving thesegoals,” said Jim Bligh, of TataConsultancy Services (TCS)and Chair of CII’s UK IndiaBusiness Forum.

“Tackling the UK’s skillsgaps, particularly in digital andtechnology, must remain a keyfocus for government and it iswelcome that this paper recog-nises the value that skilledworkers from overseas can bringto helping improve the UK’sskills base,” he said.

Under changes proposed toattract international studentsto the UK, the governmentsaid it would “improve the cur-rent offer” to those who havecompleted a degree who want tostay on in the UK to work afterthey have completed their stud-ies by offering six months’ post-study leave to all Master’s stu-dents and Bachelor’s studentsstudying at an institution withdegree-awarding powers. This isaimed at giving them moretime to find permanent skilledwork and to work temporarilyduring that period.

“We will also allow for stu-dents studying at Bachelor’slevel or above to be able to applyto switch into the skilled work-ers route up to three monthsbefore the end of their course inthe UK, and from outside of theUK for two years after theirgraduation,” the White Papernotes. Universities UKInternational, the representativegroup for the country’s highereducation institutions whichhas been campaigning for a bet-ter post-study offer, said the pro-posals recognise the importantcontributions made by interna-tional students to the UK.

“Allowing graduates to stayon for longer to find work in theUK sends the message thatinternational students are wel-come here, and we value theskills they bring. These changeswill have a real, positive impacton the students who come hereto study and their opportunitiesafter graduating,” said VivienneStern, Director of Universities

UK International.However, the group added

that it will continue to campaignfor a longer two-year post-study work visa.

As part of some of themore contentious aspects ofthe new immigration WhitePaper, the government will holda consultation on a minimumsalary requirement of 30,000pounds for skilled migrantsseeking five-year visas and low-skilled workers may be able toapply for short-term visas of upto a year.

The document forms thebasis for the Immigration andSocial Security Coordination(EU Withdrawal) Bill, to bepublished on Thursday, whichends free movement for EUnationals and creates the legalframework for a future UKborders and immigration sys-tem after Brexit. It also createsparity in the way migrants canaccess the country’s benefitssystem, which will apply equal-ly to both EU and non-EUnationals.

The new system will beimplemented in a phasedapproach from 2021, followingan extensive 12-month pro-gramme of engagement withbusinesses, stakeholders andthe public, the Home Officesaid. While it does not make aspecific reference to the rulingConservative Party’s manifestopledge to bring immigrationdown to the tens of thousandsannually, the governmentstressed that the target remainsin place.

Putin slams West’s ‘disrespect’of voters over Trump, BrexitMoscow (AFP): Russia’sVladimir Putin on Thursdayaccused the political estab-lishment in the West ofignoring the will of voters byrejecting Donald Trump’spresidential win and theBrexit referendum. “Theydon’t want to recognise

(Trump’s) victory. That’s dis-respect of voters,” Putin said.

“It’s the same in Britain:Brexit happened, butnobody wants to implementit.

They don’t recognisevote results, democratic pro-cedures are diminished.”

Sri Lanka President appointsCabinet after political crisisPTI n COLOMBO

Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena on

Thursday named a 30-memberCabinet while rejecting someof Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe’s nomineesand retained control over thesecurity forces and police,indicating that the power tus-sle between them is far fromover.

The new Cabinet wasappointed after an unexpecteddelay of three days sinceWickremesinghe was swornin as Prime Minister onDecember 16 following weeksof political crisis that led togovernment dysfunction. TheCabinet formation delayed asPresident Sirisena did notagree with some nomineesfrom the list submitted byPrime MinisterWickremsinghe.

Sirisena rejectedWickremesinghe’s nomineesfor Cabinet positions fromthose who had defected fromhis Sri Lanka Freedom Party

(SLFP). At least three seniorSLFP leaders had defected toWickremesinghe’s UnitedNational Party (UNP) duringthe political crisis. ThePresident has not appointed alaw and order minister, a cru-cial post for investigating cor-ruption allegations against for-mer president MahindaRajapaksa and his family.Sirisena, who holds theDefence and MahaweliDevelopment andEnvironment Ministry portfo-lios, has retained his controlover the police, which is inves-tigating an alleged plot to killhim.

The plot widened the gulfbetween Sirisena andWickremesinghe. On October26, Sirisena sacked prime min-ister Wickremesinghe andinstalled Rajapaksa in his place,triggering an unprecedentedconstitutional crisis. Sirisenaalso dissolved the 225-memberParliament and called for asnap election on January 5. Hepublicly vowed not to reinstate

Wickremesinghe. However, Wickremesinghe

was re-appointed as primeminister by Sirisena followinga Supreme Court order, endingthe 51-day political standoff inthe country. Wickremesingheholds portfolios of NationalPolicies, Economic Affairs,Resettlement & Rehabilitation,Northern ProvinceDevelopment, VocationalTraining & Skills Development& Youth Affairs.

Thilak Janaka Marapanawas sworn-in as the Ministerof Foreign Affairs. Sirisena’sdecision to keep the Law andOrder Ministry has been dis-puted by the UNP, whichclaimed that the president wasonly constitutionally allowed tobe the defence minister inaddition to the subject of envi-ronment.

Analysts said that Cabinetappointments indicate thatSirisena and Wickremesinghewere still at loggerheads andthe country’s worst politicalcrisis is far from over.

In this Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, left, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attenda special session held to mark the country's seventieth anniversary of the first parliament of democracy, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka's president on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, appointed 28 lawmakers and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Cabinetministers after weeks of political crisis led to government dysfunction. Wickremesinghe's reinstatement as prime minister earlierthis week and the appointment of a new Cabinet will result in Sri Lanka's government resuming functions that have beenobstructed since October, but continued acrimony between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe means the crisis is far from over.

Indian-originstudents amongTime’s 25 mostinfluential teens of year 2018Houston (PTI): Three Indian-ori-gin students have been namedamong the 25 most influentialteens of 2018 by Time magazinefor making a mark across numer-ous fields. Indian-AmericanKavya Kopparapu, Rishab Jain,and British-Indian Amika Georgeare among the group who havebecome inspirations for young-sters across the world due to theirspectacular achievements throughtheir work and passion.

Rishabh, an eighth grader,who has developed an algorithmthat can possibly be a cure to pan-creatic cancer. Kavya Kopparapuis a freshman at the HarvardUniversity. She developed a deep-learning computer system that canscan slides of tissue from braincancer patients looking for dif-ferences in density, colour, textureand cellular alignment that areunique to that particular person’scase.

She developed the systemafter learning how the survival rateof glioblastoma, an aggressivebrain cancer, has not improvedfrom the past 30 years. Accordingto Time magazine, her goal is “todevelop targeted therapies that arealso unique to the person.”

Amika George’s goal is toconvince policymakers to end“period poverty,” as she calls it, byfunding the distribution of men-strual products to girls andwomen who cannot afford them.“It really upsets me,” she tells themagazine of learning that manygirls in the UK were routinelymissing school during their peri-ods because they could not affordto buy menstrual products. “Thegovernment knew this was hap-pening on their watch, but theywere refusing to find a solution,”she said. She launched the#FreePeriods campaign as aresponse, gathering nearly 200,000signatures on her petition to helperadicate period poverty; themovement eventually garneredthe support of over a dozen UKpolicymakers, galvanising thegovernment to allocate funds tothe issue for the first time.

Third Canadian held forworking in China illegallyAFP n BEIJING

Athird Canadian detainedin China is being held for

working illegally in the country,the foreign ministry saidThursday, in a case whichappears unrelated to previousdetentions that have sparkeddiplomatic tensions. TheCanadian, a woman namedSarah McIver, faces “adminis-trative penalties”, said Chineseforeign ministry spokeswomanHua Chunying at a press brief-ing in Beijing, without specify-ing what the penalties entail.

Canada’s National Postnewspaper identified McIveras a teacher from Alberta whohad been working at a school inChina. Citing an unidentifiedsource, it said she was expect-ed to be returned to her coun-try before the New Year. Itcomes after former Canadiandiplomat Michael Kovrig andChina-based business consul-tant Michael Spavor weredetained on national securitygrounds in suspected retaliationover Canada’s arrest of a topChinese telecom executive.

Hua said that McIver’s caseis different from the previoustwo detentions, which werecarried out by China’s statesecurity apparatus. McIver isbeing held by a local publicsecurity bureau, she added.

Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau also suggestedon Wednesday that McIver’scase was separate, saying Ottawawas “looking into the details”but that it “doesn’t seem to fit thepattern set by the previous two.”Kovrig and Spavor were bothdetained on December 10 andaccused of engaging in activities

“that endanger China’s nation-al security”. McIver’s case comesagainst a backdrop of escalatingtensions between China andCanada, which arrested Huaweichief financial officer MengWangzhou on December 1.Ottawa has repeatedly saidMeng’s arrest was not politicalbut rather part of a judicialprocess in keeping with anextradition treaty withWashington.

Meng was released on baillast week in Vancouver pendingher US extradition hearing onfraud charges related to sanc-tions-breaking business dealingswith Iran. Canadian officialshave been granted consularaccess to both Kovrig andSpavor. Hua said Thursday thatCanada and China are main-taining “unimpeded consularcommunication” on McIver’scase.

McIver, described by thosewho know her as “bubbly” and“approachable”, was detainedby authorities due to visa com-plications, the National Postreported. She had previouslytravelled abroad to teach inSouth Korea and Malaysia, andarrangements are being madefor her return to Canada, said

the Canadian newspaper.The Chinese foreign min-

istry said it could not confirmwhether or not McIver washeading home soon. Trudeau isfacing pressure at home to senda stronger message to Beijing inresponse to the spate of deten-tions in China. Ottawa is stilltrying to “figure out why” thetwo other Canadians, Kovrigand Spavor, are being investi-gated and is “trying to work withChina to demonstrate that thisnot acceptable”, Trudeau toldToronto’s Citytv last week.

Bob Rae, who briefly ledCanada’s Liberal Party (2011-2013) before handing the reinsto Trudeau, urged the govern-ment to develop a “robust, prin-cipled and effective response” toBeijing’s actions.

“This looks too much likehostage taking,” he said onTwitter. Observers say Canadais increasingly looking like col-lateral damage in a simmeringUS-China trade war, withBeijing at the same time work-ing to ease trade tensions withWashington.

China’s state-owned grainstockpiler said Wednesday it hasresumed buying US soybeans.Last week, China said it wouldsuspend extra tariffs on US-made cars and auto parts forthree months from January 1.The move followed an accordbetween Xi and US PresidentDonald Trump — reached onthe sidelines of the G20 summitin Buenos Aires on December1, the very day Meng was arrest-ed — to hold off on new tariffsset to take effect in the new yearand instead start negotiations ontrade concerns.

PTI n WASHINGTON

Barack Obama, donning aSanta Claus hat and a

bulging sack slung over hisshoulder, made a surprise visitto a children’s hospital hereand delivered gifts to youngpatients ahead of Christmas.The former US president vis-ited the young patients at theChildren’s National Hospital inWashington on Wednesday.

First on his list was agroup of patients 4 and upwho were making snowflakesin one of the hospital’s play-rooms, The Washington Postreported.The 57-year-oldhanded out jigsaw puzzles HotWheels sets, remote-controlcars, and glittery nail polish,among other goodies collect-ed by Obama and his staffers.

“I just want to say thankyou to all of you guys,” Obamatold the hospital staff, whogreeted him with rapturouscheers, in a video he shared on

his Twitter account. “We’vehad the chance to talk to someof the wonderful kids andtheir families,” he said in thevideo, which has gone viralwith over 242,000 likes.

“As the dad of two girls, Ican only imagine in that situ-ation to have nurses and staffand doctors and people whoare caring for them, and look-

ing after them... that’s themost important thing there is,”he said.

The 44th US presidentalso dropped by individualpatient rooms for one-on-onevisits with children and theirparents. He gifted one 12-year-old patient who was ner-vous about heading to highschool next year a piece of

advice: “Even the cool kidsdon’t have it all figured out.”“Thank you @BarackObamafor making our patients’ day somuch brighter.

Your surprise warmedour hallways and put smiles oneveryone’s faces! Our patientsloved your company…andyour gifts!” the Children’sNational Hospital tweeted. “Iknow they will be talkingabout it for years to come,” saidKurt Newman, chief executiveand president of Children’sNational Health System.

“At such a busy time ofyear, when no one wants to bein the hospital, his naturalwarmth lifted the spirits ofthose kids, their parents and ofeach staff member he metalong the way,” the Post quot-ed Newman as saying.

Before leaving, Obamathanked the staff for workingduring the holidays andrecorded a video message to be

played on the hospital’s inter-nal TV system for those hewas not able to visit during thetrip.

“Merry Christmas andhappy holidays to the extra-ordinary kids, families, andstaff at Children’s National.And thanks for humouring meas your stand-in Santa,”Obama tweeted later. Only ahandful of the Children’sNational staff knew that thepresident was coming to town,but word spread quickly dur-ing the 90-minute visit.

By the time he was head-ed for the door, a crowd hadgathered at a nearby nursingstation.

The group of doctors, res-idents and nurses cheered forObama before busting into animpromptu rendition of “WeWish You a Merry Christmas.”Obama, who demitted officein 2017 after serving twoterms, lives in Washington.

Obama dons a Santa hat, hands out gifts to sick children

PTI n BOSTON

Facebook users wouldrequire an average of more

than USD 1,000 to deactivatetheir account for one year,according to a study.

The study, published inthe journal PLOS ONE,assessed Facebook’s value toits users, in contrast to itsmarket value or its contribu-tion to gross domestic prod-uct. Researchers from TuftsUniversity in the US used aseries of auctions in which

people were actually paid toclose their accounts for as lit-tle as one day or as long asone year.

Facebook, with morethan two billion global users,is among the social mediawebsites that provide accessat no cost. The researchersfound that Facebook userswould require an average ofmore than USD 1,000 todeactivate their account forone year. “Social media, andthe internet more broadly,

have changed the way welive and the way we keep intouch with friends and fam-ily, but it’s hard to find evi-dence that the internet hasmade us richer or more pro-ductive at work,” said JayCorrigan, a professor atKenyon College in the US.

“We know people mustderive tremendous valuefrom Facebook or theywouldn’t spend millions ofhours on the site every day.The challenge is how to put

a dollar value on a servicepeople don’t pay for,”Corr igan said. Theresearchers ran three actualauctions, including two sam-ples of college students, acommunity sample, and anonline sample.

Winners were paid uponproof that their membershipwas deactivated for the setperiod of time.

“Auction participantsfaced real financial conse-quences, so had an incentive

to seriously consider whatcompensation they wouldwant to close their accountsfor a set period of time and tobid truthfully,” said Sean BCash, a professor at TuftsUniversity.

“Students placed a high-er value on Facebook thancommunity members.

A number of participantsrefused to bid at all, suggest-ing that deact ivat ingFacebook for a year was nota welcome possibility,” Cash

said. The study contrasts thecompany’s market capitalisa-tion with the value placed onit by its users, researcherssaid. For example, based ona market valuation of aboutUSD 420 billion, and about 2.2billion users, the market valueof Facebook would be approx-imately USD 190 per user, orless than one-fourth of theannual average value ofFacebook access from any ofthe auction samples,researchers said.

Muslim Pakistan says outcry over Chinadetention camps ‘sensationalised’Islamabad (AFP): Pakistan onThursday defended its close allyChina against a growing outcryover Muslims who are beingdetained by Chinese authorities,saying the issue was being “sen-sationalised” by foreign media.

Numerous extrajudicialdetention centres have been setup in China’s vast, troubledXinjiang region, holding asmany as one million ethnicUighurs and other Muslimminorities, according to esti-mates cited by a UN panel.Among them are believed to bedozens of women who marriedmen from neighbouring Gilgit-

Baltistan region in Pakistan,where people regularly cross theborder into China for trade.

“Some faction of foreignmedia are trying to sensation-alise the matter by spreadingfalse information,” MohammadFaisal, spokesman for Pakistan’sministry of foreign affairs, toldreporters at a weekly pressbriefing in Islamabad onThursday. “As per Chineseauthorities, out of 44 women,six are already in Pakistan.Four have been convicted onvarious charges, three are underinvestigations, eight are undergoing voluntary training.

Twenty-three women are freeand living in Xinjiang of theirown free will,” he added.

In recent years, Pakistanhas heavily pushed its rela-tionship with China, laudingthe tens of billions of invest-ment dollars that Beijing ispouring into the country as a“game changer”.

Beijing has also upgradedthe treacherous mountain roadconnecting Gilgit-Baltistan toXinjiang. But China has haddifficulty reconciling its desirefor development with fears thatUighur separatists will importviolence from Pakistan.

Kumbuka, a critically endangered Western Lowland Gorilla, finds brussel sprouts ina giant advent calendar placed in his enclosure at London Zoo on Thursday. AP

FB users need USD 1,000 to deactivate account for one year: Study

When a chefchristened thegodfather ofChinese cui-sine has curat-

ed the menu at a restaurant, onecan be assured of food that ishigh on flavours. Chef Jack AwYong, who has successfullyopened many distinguishedrestaurants across the world,has also put together the menuof The China Kitchen, where Idined recently. With the launchof this restaurant, chef Jack aimsto bring an authentic Chineseexperiences to its patrons.

After serving exceptionaland authentic food from Chinafor over a decade, TCK atHyatt Regency decided toamplify the premium diningexperience beyond the hotelpremises.

The Chinese culinary trailof TCK by China Kitchen isdelightfully eclectic and satisfy-ing with a spread that consistsof everything from delicatepumpkin dumpling to the boldflavours of Beijing roasted duck,from the rustic heartiness ofsalad with avocado, mushroomand cress to the sinful indul-gence of the Chinese harvest,Sichuan spicy string beans withtruffle oil wrap with crepes,bean paste and garlic chilli.

As we stepped inside, we

saw that the restaurant embod-ied the traditional elements ofa Chinese house with a verycontemporary and opulentdecor. It is shaped like a C withsections that were partitionedoff which were ideal for groups.Its design is based on the con-cept of ‘dining around thekitchen’ and this created a con-stant buzz around the cookingarea. While taking a shortround of the restaurant, I cameto know that the kitchen had aPeking duck oven, a dumplingand noodle station, a steameralong with three woks andoffered a wide selection of teasfrom China.

Situated on the groundfloor of DLF Cyberhub, therestaurant can easily host up to80 guests.

First on the menu wasTCK salad with avocado, mush-rooms and cress which didnot really set my senses alight.One can never go wrong withthe roasted Beijing duck, whichis one of their specialities.Shipped all the way from thecity from which it gets itsname, it made its way to thetable directly from the woodburning oven and was servedwith crepes, classic condimentsand sauces. It was sliced by thechef in front of us while mak-ing sure that each of the slices

had anequal amount

of skin and meat. Theducks, bred specially for

the dish, are slaughtered after 65days and seasoned before beingroasted in a oven.

It offered a perfect balanceof flavours. From skin toinnards everything was skew-ered and grilled and doused indifferent sauces and accompa-niments. The skin was crispyand delectable, the meat softand tender — a combinationwhich melted in the mouth.

They even have a mockduck roll to give vegetarians ataste of what the real McCoytastes like. The roll was stuffedwith string beans, garlic and alittle bit of plum sauce.

As an accompaniment tothe dish, we were served witha mocktail that tasted likeflavoured soda with some redcurrants floating in it. Themocktails are a speciality.

All those who think thatthe Chinese cuisine is all aboutnoodles, manchurian, sauteedvegetables or pok choy, will getan insight into the diversity ofChinese food here. In fact, Irealised that to believe other-wise would do injustice to a cui-sine that is as incredibly varied

as it is delec-table.

T h eChef alsopointed

out thatcalling Chinese

cuisine bland is a littleunfair as it offers an interest-

ing combination of sauces andtraditional spices to add to theoverall taste and aroma. It alsohelps that Indians are well-trav-elled and have developed ataste for the authentic variety.

The team here consists ofthree expat chefs headed byChef Zhang Hong Sheng whopresented a stunning array ofa diverse spread of culinaryclassics such as Gongbaochicken, braised tofu andbroccoli, and spicy mapo tofuamongst others.

Additionally, there is aninteractive stage at TCK wherebartenders and chefs createmagical desserts and cocktails.All these elements make therestaurant a popular venue torelax and indulge in a trueChinese dining experiencethat is an amalgamation of avibrant ambience and cul-ture.

To bring the meal to anapt end, there was a selectionof specially curated desserts.You could indulge your sweettooth with a classic tiramisu,or a mango pudding in amini cup and a Chocolatecigar which was crispy outsideand creamy inside. After all nomeal is complete withoutsome soul sinful indulgences.

Authentic flavours make for adiverse spread at TCK, says AYUSHI SHARMA

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018 vivacity {food} 13

Bo Tai brings in aNew Year’s eve

dinner by offering amodern form of Thaicuisine for the firsttime in India, exudinga smart and casualvibe clubbed withserendipity. With anarray of food dishesand cocktails preparedby its masterchefs, itoffers a wonderfulspread. Date:December 31 Price: Starts from `15,000 all inclusive per couple fordrinks Venue: Bo Tai, Mehrauli Road, Near Qutub Minar.

Pizza Express brings Santa and hiselves to deliver happiness through a

medley of meals and fun-filled activitiesoffering gourmet seasonal ingredientslike turkey, cranberries, smoky barbequechicken, etc. There are also Christmas-themed drinks including Mulled wine,Hot chocolate with cinnamon dust. Date:Till January 6 Time: 11.30 am to 11.30pm Price (for two): `1,500 plus taxesVenue: All PizzaExpress outlets in Delhi,NCR.

Smoke House Deli celebratesChristmas with some truly special

winter delicacies. They have Trufflescented broccoli and Hazelnut soup,Lamb meatball soup, classics like theslow cooked lamb with specialmustard sourdough sandwich, and thedelectable Rum-soaked Christmascake. Price: `450 onwards Venue: Smoke House Deli across VasantKunj, Khan Market, Connaught Place and Saket.

PRUNE CHOCOLATE

CUP

WHAT YOU NEED

● Flour: 2 cups

● Egg, beaten, large: 1

● Butter: 6 tbsp (90g), cutinto cubes

● Boiling water: 1 ¼ cups

● Dark brown sugar: 1/3cups

● Baking powder: 1 tsp

● Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

● Chopped Del Montepitted prunes: 1 cup

● Chopped dark chocolate:1/2 cup

METHOD

● Grease a nine inch roundcake tin with butter andline the base withparchment paper.

● Preheat your oven to 170degree celsius.

● In a medium bowl,combine prunes, butterand boiling water, mixwell. Let it stand at roomtemperature until it coolsdown.

● Sift flour, baking powder,baking soda and salt in alarge bowl. Stir sugar inthe mix.

● Once the date and water

mixture reaches roomtemperature, stir in thebeaten egg but make surethat the water is not hotelse it will get poached.

● Stir wet ingredients into theflour mixture and mix withspatula until the flour ismoistened and no lumpsremain in the batter.

● Add the chocolate and mixwell.

● Pour batter into theprepared tin. Bake forabout an hour or until thetoothpick inserted in thecentre comes out clean.

● Cool the cake on a wirerack at room temperaturebefore covering with thechocolate ganache orserve it minus anyaccompaniment.

Courtesy: Del Monte

R E C I P E S

BERRY MERRY

CHRISTMAS

WHAT YOU NEED

● Be Pure coconut water: 1/2cups

● Soda water: 1/2 cups

● Frozen/fresh raspberries: 2tbsp

● White rum: 30 oz

● Lime juice: 2 tsp

● Mint leaves: 2

● Agave syrup: 1 tsp

● Ice

METHOD

● Combine coconut water,white rum, raspberries,lime and mint.

● Pour over ice and shake.

● Top with soda water.

Courtesy: Be Coconut India.

PEACH PLUM ROSE TARTS

WHAT YOU NEED

● Sweet Pastry Dough

● Butter, softened: 100 gm

● Icing sugar: 80 gm

● Egg yolks: 3

● Refined flour: 200 gm

Fruits:

● Plums, large, thinly sliced: 2

● Peaches, large, thinly sliced: 2

● Apricot jam: 1/4 cup

● Confectioner’s sugar for dusting(optional)

METHOD

● Cream the butter and sugar togetherin a bowl until well combined, thenbeat in the egg yolks, one at a timeuntil fully incorporated into themixture.

● Mix in the flour until the mixturecomes together as a ball of dough.

● Tip the pastry out onto a flouredwork surface and knead briefly untilsmooth.

● Wrap the pastry in cling film andchill for 30 minutes.

● Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

● Place the fruit slices in a microwavesafe bowl, and add two tablespoonsof water, cover the bowl with plasticwrap and microwave for about threeminutes.

● The slices should be soft andmalleable and let the fruits cool inthe fridge or freezer.

● Roll out the pastry and cut it intoabout 10-12 strips, each 1.5 inch by6 inch (the longer the strips, themore intricate the rose will look).

● Once the fruits are room temperatureor colder, take a strip of the pastry(refrigerate the remaining strips)and brush it with about 1/2teaspoon of jam on the entiresurface.

● Start arranging the fruit slices on thetop half of the dough. The fruit slice

should be placed in a manner sothat the flesh half is on the doughand the skin is on the outsidemaking each slice look like theshape of a rainbow.

● Arrange the remaining slicesoverlapping and in the samemanner. Do not over stack thepastry, but make sure the slicesalways overlap.

● When the entire half of the surface ofthe pastry strip is covered with fruitslices in length, take the bottom halfof the pastry and fold it it over thetop half where the fruit is arranged,pressing slightly to make sure thatthe pastry sticks to the fruit.

● Take the short edge of the longpastry strip and start rolling it overas if you’re making a cylinder. Pressthe edges of the pastry together toseal it well and you’ve got a roseshape with the skin side of the fruitslices curling out. Place the rose tartin a standard size muffin pan cavityor tart moulds.

● Refrigerate the tart while you workon the rest.

● Bake the tarts at 180 degrees C for15-20 minutes until the pastry isgolden and the fruits are tender.

● Serve Peach Plum Rose Tarts dustedwith confectioner’s sugar.

Courtesy: Chef Prajit, The Ashok.

Beer Cafe presents ‘Make a BeeryWish.’ Write your wish on a piece of

paper and drop it in a jar. The jars willhave tags on them with the instructionsfor the guests to read and make theirwish. You can write a beery wish (a freebeer, pasta, Hoegaarden glass and soon) and drop it in the jar. A few luckywinners will have their wishes cometrue. Date: December 23 to 31 Venue:The Beer Cafe, all outlets.

gorge us

It had been long since I went on a date nightwith someone I barely knew. This time Idecided to make it a dinner date since there

is nothing better than food to fuel conversations.If we go by what Paul Prudhomme had said —‘you don’t need a silver fork to eat good food’— this would definitely be justified.

As we made our way inside the CibamorBistro at H Block in Connaught Place, we werewelcomed by a huge glass wall that gave us aglimpse of the interiors. There was a goldenstaircase to our right starting from the mainarena. The chaise lounges and chairs let us sinkin comfortably whereas the wooden walls in off-white defined the warmth and charming ambi-ence. There were yellow lamps on the ceilingshaped like a deciduous winter tree.

The server recommended that we beginwith Nacho Macho, which as is implicit in thename, is a dish of nachos with veggies like olives,tomatoes, refried beans, bell peppers toppedwith melted peri-peri cheese. As we bit into thecrunchy starter, served with the in-house salsadip, guacamole and sour cream, there was a blastof complex and diverse flavours in our mouths.I could vouch for it — nachos have never tast-ed better. This was certainly several steps up theusual ‘cheese baked nachos’.

Next up were the Rosemary TruffleParmesan Fries. Ever heard of potato wedgesfried in rosemary oil? Well, the needle-like rose-mary leaves, even though they are such a tinyelement, make up for a great lemon-pine-likeflavour. We applauded the chef, AbhishekKumar, for serving the fries that faultlessly bal-anced the Parmesan dust and rosemary oilflavours.

The next in line were the Habanero ChickenWings. Glazed in the hot chilli pepper, the chick-en wings were screaming a red alert on the spicequotient. However, to balance the heat, the dishwas served with house mint and goat cheese dipwhich had an unripened and moist texture likethat of ricotta cheese. Anyone who loves spicesshould definitely pile up their plate with this one.They’d forget KFC!

Moving on to the main course, we had thespeciality of the house called Mezze Cibamor.The dish comprised cracked white pita bread,sweet potato hummus and beetroot falafel andthe combination made it appear like Indian “cut-lets” and was served with fresh tabbouleh saladon the side. Even though I have never been fondof hummus, the dish hit the right chord with itspresentation and its flavourful appeal.

The food had stolen the show till this timeso we ventured into the drinks menu and decid-ed to sample some as well. We ordered the spe-cial beer cocktails from the ‘Beer Mixx’ section.There was Beer Punch replete with the citrusflavours of pineapple, orange, infused with spicesand bitter cream. The second was Tom Terrific,that had one of my favourite flavours of lemon-grass, smoked spicy tomato and lemon juice ina stout beer. I can say without any qualms, thatin this chic diner, these fruity concoctions werea proof that happiness can be served in a glass.

Next in line were Cibamor’s speciality andwhat I termed as P-cube, Penne Pollo Piccante.Piccante is a hot pepper sauce in Mexican cui-sine which brings together flavours of chillitomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and garliccloves. At first glance it might appear like anArrabiata penne pasta, but it’s light orange colour

differentiates it from what could be called a con-ventional ‘red sauce pasta.’ The dish seemed likeperfection on my plate.

While I was still gorging on the delicacies,the chef presented three special dips that areexclusive to their menu. The first was theJalapeno dip with crushed mint and spices. Thesecond was the tomato salsa dip. The third, thatbecame our personal favourite, was the mangocrunch that was spicy with a tinge of mangoflavour. You won’t be going back to the home-ly mango or aam chutney after having this forit is indeed one-of-its-kind.

Most people believe that a meal is incom-plete without desserts. Even though we werestuffed, going by the meal, we were more thanwilling to stretch it a wee bit more.

And this too, didn’t disappoint. We orderedpancakes which the chef had customised to ourtaste. We had the Cinnamon Pancake thatbrought two highly varied syrups —caramel andjaggery — in one plate. While half of the pan-cake tasted of caramel, the other half satisfiedour tastebuds craving for jaggery.

The satiating meal where the chef hadstirred up a culinary storm made sure that Iwould go back to gorge on numerous delicacies.

Cibamor Bistro rustles up a culinary storm with its many first-of-its-kind food trails, says CHAHAK MITTAL

A binge date

CHINA FLAVOURS OF

THE FOODOFFERED A

DEEP INSIGHTINTO THE

DIVERSITY OFCHINESE

CUISINE. TOBELIEVE

OTHERWISEWOULD DO

INJUSTICE TO ACUISINE THATIS INCREDIBLYVARIED ANDDELECTABLE

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

Actor AYUSHMANN

KHURRANA says it is goodto have children at a youngage.The actor opened up abouthis equation with his chil-dren when he shot for thechat show FamouslyFilmfare Season 2.Asked how it is to be ahands-on parent,Ayushmann said: “Today, Ihad to wear glassesbecause I got up early inthe morning for a shoot. Itwas also her sports dayand I was all readyand geared up to winthat 100 meter racewith fellow par-ents as I wasone of theyoungest outthere. I wasreally excited,but sadly thatdidn't happen.Even though I'veunder-slepttoday, it isalright. It isgood to be ayoung father, ayoung parent.”

‘I hate being

stereotyped’

Filmmaker JAMES WAN hasbeen fighting against labelsfor long and is not afraid tochallenge himself to defyperceptions. The filmmakersays he hates being stereo-typed, and doesn't need anylabel to define his craft.“I hate being labelled. I hatebeing stereotyped intowhatever pigeonhole peo-ple like to put me into,”Wan said. “So every time peoplestart to (do that), Istart moving on.When they labelledme with toomuch of thiswork, I went tosomething else. Ikeep doing itbecause, at the endof the day, I just seemyself as a filmmak-er. I don't think thereneeds to be anotherlabel in front of the'filmmaker' label,”added Wan whilepromoting his latestfilm Aquaman.

vivacity 14

‘It’s good to be a

young parent’

KUSHAN MITRA

Some years ago if someonehad suggested that a festi-val celebrating Urdu, a

language which most felt wasdead or dying, would havefootfalls that would rise 10times in four years, it wouldhave invited large guffaws. ButSanjiv Saraf, founder, Jashn-e-Rekhta, has accomplished justthat. From 18,000 people whoturned up at the IndiaInternational Centre in 2015,the numbers have swollen to1.7 lakh plus this year, necessi-tating a change of venue twicesince it started. From the IndiraGandhi National Centre forArts, it has now moved to theDhyanchand National Stadium.“By the looks of it, we wouldhave to shift again becausethis is not large enough to holdthe audience,” announced Sarafas the festival drew to a closewith a final performance of Sufinaghma by Nooran sisters whobelted out the popular numbersin the film, Highway.

And not surprisingly. Forthe past two-three years, asDecember approaches,Delhizens eagerly tick theircultural calendar for the newmust-visit. At the Jashn-e-Rekhta, a multi-faceted festivalthat celebrates Urdu, one had tojust walk across the four differ-ent venues to witness pro-grammes that spanned theentire spectrum of a discussionon Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s threeloves to a really modern take onghazals which were fused withHindi film music by ShrutiPathak or even a baitbaazicompetition which is akin to anantakshari except for the factthat the songs are replaced bycouplets of popular Urdupoets.

An IIT-Kharagpur alum-nus, Saraf set up Polyplex,a global business venturefrom scratch in the 80s.Today, it is the world’sfourth-largest producerof thin polyester film andhas manufacturing facil-ities in India, Thailandand Turkey. But morethan that, he is now posi-

tioned and known forbeing the patron of Urdu. Hesaid, “Who says the languageis dead? It lives in the heartsof crores of its lovers.”

Saraf was sitting inside anenclosure at the venue whilethe strains of Naghma-e-Khusro by Ustad IqbalAhmed wafted in, setting the

tone of the conversation. Yearafter year, the festival sees thebiggest of names lining up forits different events. When onewonders how such a bedazzlingconstellation of celebritiesmakes it way every year toJashn-e-Rekhta, Saraf said, “Itis their love for Urdu whichmakes them come for the fes-tival as they realise that some-one is serving the language withgreat intensity and selflessness.There is, of course, an emotion-al connect with the languagethat they have.”

However, it was not the fes-tival that Saraf initially startedout with, rather it was a web-site that aimed at helping thosewho wanted to learn Urdu, justlike he did. He recalled, “Myinterest in Urdu in the begin-ning was triggered by old Hindifilm songs which were in Urduand had lyrics that everyoneloved. I started from there.Then in college, when you fellin love and broke your heart,respite was to be found inUrdu poetry.” It helped that hisfather loved to listen to ghaz-als of Mehndi Hassan, GhulamAli, Iqbal Bano, Farida Khanamand more.

However, his life took theusual trajectory of college edu-cation and earning a livingwhere he went to Gwalior,Bengal and later Odisha as “itwas essential to tick all theboxes for the sake of society andfor my own self.” But the loveof the language was still sub-consciously alive in him. “Irealised that work can be a wayto earn money but there was aneed to nourish the soul aswell,” he said and decided tolearn to read and write Urdu atthe age of 53 with a properUstad who came to teach himat home. “I realised there aremany people who are not awareof the Urdu script and aredeprived of its beautiful wealthof tradition,” he said. Theresponse was tremendous andthe audience started multiply-ing manifold. “Initially therewere two people in the Rekhtawebsite team and now there are90, who are in the technical,

editorial as well as in otherdepartments,” he said. The pro-ject has expanded to includereaching out to schools, pre-serving old books and more.

And then he decided to dosomething more. “We thoughtthat a website is two-dimen-sional as one can just readUrdu. There is no other lan-guage in the world which lendsitself to so many different per-forming artforms such asdrama, ghazal sarayi, dastangoi,sufi singing, qawaali, baitbaazior marsiya.” This led to the birthof the festival.

When it was conceptu-alised, no clear format wasfixed for Jashn-e-Rekhta. “Wewere clear that we should pre-sent the different genres ofUrdu. We paid attention toinclude elements that wereboth popular as well as tradi-tional which would run paral-lel. It should not be just enter-tainment but include intellec-tual discussions as well,” he said.Now four events happen simul-taneously at the same venue.

“This year, youngsters

came in large numbers at theNaubahar mushaira. I wasamazed by the number ofyoung poets and their calibre.This has become a sort of tigerthat I am riding which I can’tget off aur baithe rehne me hibarkat hai (It is a blessing toremain astride the tiger),” saidSaraf who credited his team forits success.

He also attributes the suc-cess of the festival to the lan-guage which he believes is amagnet. “We have just dustedand exposed Urdu to people bybringing it to the centrestage.The youngsters have a veryshort attention span. If some-thing does not grip them in thefirst 15 seconds, then theyabandon it. We’ve engagedthem across social media onFacebook, Instagram, Pinterestto create a buzz and made Urdulook cool. The youth in turnshare the events on socialmedia which in turn multipliesthe reach,” he added.

The success of Jashn-e-Rekhta has clearly defied thosewho want to compartmen-

talise the language within thebox of religion. Saraf said,“Language has none. If theybelieve that, then there can beno bigger misunderstanding.But the unfortunate part is thatthe Britishers divided theHindustani language whichrepresented the composite cul-ture. The Persianised versionwas called Urdu and theSanskritised one was referred toas Hindi. Even now commonconversations are pepperedwith Urdu words. We say subhashaam not pratah kaal andsandhya kaal or for that matterhum kisi ka intezaar karten hainprateeksha nahin. There arethousands of words which weuse without even realising thatthey are from Urdu.”

He also goes on to pointthat the songs and dialogues inHindi films are all in Urdu.“One might say Hindi, but ifyou start to assess and countthem there are only some songswhich are actually in Hindi.There have been so many trans-lations of Gita, Ramayana,Mahabharata in Urdu, whichwere an attempt to showcasethe syncretic culture, writingsand books so that they reacheveryone and not be restrictedby religions,” he said.

Saraf, like most people,believes that a lot needs to bedone to further popularise thelanguage. “Though this is agovernment-related decisionand a political issue but mypersonal opinion is that if weare giving the option ofGerman or French, then weshould definitely have Urdu asan option too. The grammar isthe same as Hindi. InAmerican colleges the twolanguages are taught together,”he argued. Coming to thescript, for Saraf it is an emotivesubject. “First people shouldlearn to speak and understandand it is only later that ifsomeone wants to learn thescript, they can do that. No onetold me to learn it and I did nothave to appear for an exam nordid I have an atmosphere athome. But it was dil da mamla(a matter of the heart).”

Nissan finds itself in thenews for all the wrongreasons. It has been

alleged by the company thattheir erstwhile Chief Executiveand current Chairman CarlosGhosn under-declared hisincome when he headed thecompany and used companyfunds to lead a lavish lifestyle,acquiring prime propertiesacross the world on companydosh. The allegations are for theprosecutors to prove but this iscertainly a fall from grace for aman once considered a Japanesebusiness icon, possibly the only“gaijin” (foreigner/white man) tobe considered such. His rescueof Nissan, achieved with somevery tough decisions to shut fac-tories and lay off employees, islegendary. The decisions hetook were very difficult and “un-Japanese” but Nissan still sur-vives and in partnership withRenault and Mitsubishi a.k.a“The Alliance”, they remain aglobal leader in the automotivespace.

Now, it is far from appropri-ate to comment on what thefuture holds for Mr Ghosnother than a massively publi-cised legal case, which will def-initely be one of the top trialsever in the Japanese legal systemthat will be closely watched bymillions in Japan and across theworld, including all of us motorindustry observers and writers.However, the future for Nissanis a bit clearer across the worldwhere they have the rather suc-cessful “Leaf” small electric car,which is trying to prove that acost-effective small electric carcan be made. But making a fewgood cars across the world hasnot really helped them much inIndia. Nissan does not even sellthe current generation of theMicra in India anymore as it ismore than four-metres long,their extended-wheelbase Sunnysedan sank without a tracethanks to the sub-four metresedan market dominating andthe Terrano was a Duster tryingon some new make-up. There isthe GT-R, which is a phenom-enal car but there is no point inhaving a “halo” product inshowrooms if you do not havemuch to sell.

Now, however, there is theNissan Kicks. The Kicks is theNissan version of the RenaultCaptur, which shares the sameM0 platform with the newDuster but unlike say the oldDuster and Terrano, which wereidentical twins with differenthairstyles, the Captur and Kicksappear more like fraternal twins.And that is important simplybecause the Captur did notexactly set the sales chartsablaze. First things first, theKicks looks much sharper thanthe Renault, with better definedlines and more solid implemen-tation of the “floating roof” con-cept. It looks more SUV-ish andthat is important since it is goingup against the mighty HyundaiCreta which prints profits for theKorean carmaker.

The Creta is popularbecause people believe it pro-vides a great value-for-moneyproposition, good service thanksto Hyundai’s network and servesa purpose. Personally, I prefersedans more and the Verna is amuch better car to drive, but thatis another topic for another col-umn. I also believe that Hyundaiis well aware of the demand forthe Creta and the car hasbecome quite expensive towardsthe top of the range, the range-topping diesel costs close to 18lakhs ex-showroom.

So with a mountain toclimb against the Creta, howdoes the Kicks do? Well, itstarts off well. The tried-and-

tested K9K diesel engine with110PS of power has beenaround since the Duster firstlanded in India. Like the Captur,the engine in the Kicks is matedto a six-speed manual transmis-sion and the power delivery isvery smooth. While there is dis-cernible turbo-lag if you try andaccelerate from very low enginespeeds, the car’s pick-up on sixthgear between 50-80 is praise-worthy. We were testing theKicks on the relatively straightand flat roads between Bhuj andthe Rann of Kutch and really didnot get a chance to throw the cararound any corners becausethere were no sharp ones.However, the road was unevenin some stretches, so one mustadmit that the ride was excellent.

The interiors are equallynice, the eight-inch floatinginfotainment system very sim-ilar to those on some Audi’s andBMW’s was brilliant, the screenresolution, contrast and colourlevels were superb. This is nocheap LED screen that somemanufacturers fit on their cars,this is top-quality and unlike theGerman luxury cars this was atouchscreen. The dual-tone fin-ish on the interiors was nice anddid not feel forced in anyway,although the faux carbon-fibrefinish was a bit much in myopinion.

Now there were some neg-atives. Some are things you willlearn to live with if you buy thecar such as the fact that thephone and audio controls arebehind the steering wheel, andthe controls on the steeringwheel are just for the cruise con-trol and speed limiter. Also,there was an issue controllingApple Carplay from the(behind) steering controls andI had to revert to the touch-screen. But then there are thesmall issues that can be a bit irri-tating, rear legroom is not thatgreat if you are a large adult andcan be a problem on long-dis-tance drives. That said, theCreta has a similar problem.

The big issue for methough, and many of my motor-ing journalist peers also com-mented on, was the driver’sfootwell. The fact is that theKicks was likely designed for aleft-hand drive market and as aresult of that the tunnel of thecentral control unit seems slight-ly biased to the right. As a result,there is no space for a deadpedal on the car, which giventhat this is a manual, is partic-ularly irritating and you findyourself struggling to find some-where to rest your left foot. Theirony, which is why I made theleft-hand drive comment earli-er, is that the passenger-sidefootwell is extremely large, wellmaybe not spread-eagle largebut large.

On top of that, Nissan is notentering the market with anautomatic variant at launch,which is a clear negative in myopinion. The market in India,particularly the urban buyer, israpidly shifting to automatictransmission cars and the lackof one will be a problem forNissan, especially if they want togive the Creta, which has auto-matics available in both petroland diesel variants. An automat-ic will also mean a place to restyour left foot, which should bethe prime reason the carmakerbrings one along.

How will this car do? Willit finally establish Nissan as astrong presence in India? Thatremains to be seen, it will not betough to undercut the expensiveCreta but displacing it from theminds of buyers might take awhile, and a big service network.Nissan’s future in India, howev-er, rests on the Kicks.

What elements does yourperformance explore?What does The Bhagwad:Ganga Dhyayati signi-

fy?The central theme of The Bhagwad isabout the pessimistic thoughts of mindthat pollute the environment throughour actions. If mankind showed concernand sensitivity for fellow human beings,respect for life of all beings and was notconcerned about just the ‘self ’, or ‘me,’we would not see pollution of watersthrough garbage waste and industrialcontaminants. Thus, the acts revolvearound the theme of addressing theissues of unconcern and disrespect forfellow beings.

We have expressed this through themulling of Ma Ganga (mother ofBhishma Pitamah) over pollution of herpristine waters arising out of humanweaknesses constantly exhibited sincethe periods of the Ramayana and theMahabharata. The ballet was based onselect verses from the Bhagwad Gita andexpanded through episodes from theMahabharata. Set in five acts, wesought to explore the practice of virtuesof abstention from greed, non-egoism,

of eschewing pride, anger and desire forrevenge, for they spell disaster in thelong run as has been exhorted in theHoly Bhagwad Gita.

Who came up with the concept?The concept was first mooted by myNDC colleague Rear Admiral Dr SKulshreshtha (retd.) and it found res-onance within me. This began theprocess of germination and we foundthat the Bhagwad Gita has been exhort-ing us to become better human beingsby addressing the voices within us.Hence, it became an important peg inthe development of the idea. This ledus to the unexplored episodes of theMahabharata that reflected the importof the selected verses of the BhagwadGita.

How do you think your dance hasevolved since the time you started?Perhaps, it was the environment ofsocial concern and social sensitivity athome that I grew up in that has alwaysreflected in my works. My first everdance production on the issue of envi-ronment was Dishantar way back in1982-83. Many dance productions on

various other social issues such asfemale foeticide, incest, women andchild issues and social ills of variouskinds have been recurring themes in myproductions since then. Hence, TheBhagwad: Ma Ganga Dhyayati wasanother feature of expression of the con-tinuing thread of social concern.

I have always felt that dance is avery potent medium of communicationas it touches the heart instantly. We as

artistes are also accountable to societyas has been exhorted in the openingchapters of the Natyashastra. Verses 17and 18 of the Chapter one of theNatyashastra state that the fifth Veda,namely the science of classical perform-ing arts, was created by Brahma so thatthrough semi-historical tales or itihas,dance will help convey the ideas ofdharma.

How do you think an interest in clas-sical art forms and traditional dancescan be instilled in the current gener-ation?Let us not blame the young generationfor not taking interest in classical artsor in knowing our heritage. As parents,we should introspect as to whether wehave taken steps to inculcate withinthem an awareness and appreciation ofthese genres or have we left themexposed to the crass materialism of thecommercial culture present all over theglobe. In my experience, I have foundthat the young generation, whenexposed to classical performing arts,has responded to it whole-heartedlywith many among them becoming avidfollowers in the long run. Also manyof them have even left lucrative jobs topursue classical arts further whilemany others are multi-tasking with twoparallel professions. These instancesshow an interest and an inner hungerwithin many to learn something thathas depth and is lasting.

What does it take to show a storythrough a dance performance?Classical dance is always about tellinga story. The term Kathak itself meansa story-teller. Communication is a partof life, both verbally and non verbally,using gestures and emotions. Dance justhappens to be the right vehicle.

Cinema is another form of com-munication and stage arts yet anoth-er. Both are audio visual media butboth have their own space. The impactof a classical dance performance is per-sonal and instantaneous whose mem-ory and experience (‘rasa’) resonateswithin a person for all time to come.It can only be recalled in memory asthe fragrance is an everlasting one inthat person’s memory. This makes itvery precious and very personal.Cinema on the other hand can beviewed time and again to re-live theexperience. The two genres are verydifferent.

Kicking it

up a notch

The Hyundai Creta is in a segment ofits own. But can the newly launchedNissan Kicks give it a run for itsmoney? We drive it and find out

A matter of the heartIt was SANJIV SARAF’s love for Urdu which has powered the initiation of Jashn-e-Rekhta, the biggest festival which celebrates the language, discovers SAIMI SATTAR

A CLEAR PASSAGE

Kathak dancer SHOVANA NARAYAN talks about how she has used the dance to weave a narrativeon protecting the environment and to save the Ganga through her latest act. By CHAHAK MITTAL

‘WE FOUND THAT THEBHAGWAD GITA HAS

BEEN EXHORTING USTO BECOME BETTERHUMAN BEINGS BYADDRESSING THE

VOICES WITHIN US.HENCE, IT BECAME AN

IMPORTANT PEG INTHE DEVELOPMENT

OF THE PERFORMANCE’

House party

on New Year

A new survey has revealedthat six out of every 10 peo-ple preferred partying at

home or friend’s home duringNew Year’s Eve, with a significant-ly higher number of people plan-ning to travel within India and goon long drives during New Year’sEve. The study also showed that73 per cent prefer shopping andbooking online.

The national survey was con-ducted by Velocity MR among asample size of 2,010 respondentsand covered prominent Indiancities including Delhi, Kolkata,Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad,Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Altogether 61 per cent of therespondents plan to party at theirhomes or a friend’s home.Vacation within India and longdrives also seem to be most pre-ferred with 36 per cent of therespondents choosing it. Whileforeign trips and long drives arethe least favoured by the respon-dents less than 25 years of age, onan average people are ready tospend up to ̀ 40,000 on vacation.Respondents, who are planningfor a local trip or resort/homes-tay, are willing to choose either 4-star or 3-star hotels on their ownor going through online plat-forms. Online food delivery,restaurants and hotels have ahuge demand, as more than 55per cent of the respondents pre-fer ordering in on new year’s eve.When it comes to food, cakes,pastries, cookies, chocolates andmain course Indian meals are themost preferable.

sport 15LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018

AFP n MUNICH

Alate goal from Franck Riberyfired Bayern Munich to a

nervy 1-0 win over RB Leipzig onWednesday, which saw theBundesliga champions move towithin six points of league leadersBorussia Dortmund.

For long periods onWednesday, it looked as if Bayernwould squander the opportunitygiven to them by Dortmund'sshock defeat by FortunaDuesseldorf on Tuesday.

Both sides came within inch-es of taking the lead in the firsthalf. Robert Lewandowski wasdenied by a fine save from PeterGulacsi at one end, while DayotUpamecano thundered a headeragainst the crossbar at the other.

Niklas Suele and JoshuaKimmich both missed chancesfrom close range in the second

half. Two red cards for RenatoSanches and Stefan Ilsankercrowned a scrappy game late on,but not before Ribery had finallyswept in an 83rd-minute winnerto breathe new life into the titlerace.

"Ribery took the goal brilliant-ly," Bayern's Thomas Mueller toldSky. "He just popped up exactlywhen and where we needed him.Thanks, Franck!"

Bayern remain in third, butare now five points ahead offourth-placed Leipzig. EintrachtFrankfurt, meanwhile, remain hoton Leipzig's tail despite beingheld to a 2-2 draw at local rivalsMainz.

Robin Quaison fired Mainzahead on ten minutes before LukaJovic pulled Frankfurt level on thehalf-hour mark.

Quaison restored the lead justfive minutes later, turning in a dip-

ping cross from Jean-Paul Boetius.Not to be outdone, Jovic headedin a second equaliser momentsbefore half-time.

SCHALKE SLIP DEEPEarlier on Wednesday, Schalke

were plunged further into crisis asthey lost 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusenin a cagey clash between theBundesliga's two underperformingteams.

Defeat leaves Schalke just apoint above the relegation play-offplace, having won just one of theirlast six league games.

Leverkusen opened the scoringon 26 minutes when Leon Baileystruck a curling shot against thepost and Aleksandar Dragovicprodded in the rebound. Alariodoubled the lead less than tenminutes later, swivelling on the edgeof the box to send a low volleyunderneath Ralf Faehrmann.

AFP n ABU DHABI

Gareth Bale hit an 11-minute hat-trick onWednesday as Real

Madrid strolled into the ClubWorld Cup final by beatingKashima Antlers 3-1 in AbuDhabi.

Bale scored in the 44th,53rd and 55th minutes at theZayed Sports City Stadium toput Madrid within touchingdistance of a record fourthsuccess in this competition,and their third triumph in arow.

Real are currently tiedwith their La Liga rivalsBarcelona, having each won itthree times before, but itwould be a major surprise ifthe European champions werenot hoisting the trophy againon Saturday, when they facehosts Al Ain in the final.

Bale had missed the 1-0victory over Rayo Vallecano

last weekend with an ankleproblem but he was in irre-sistible form, albeit against

limited opposition.The Welshman joins

Lionel Messi and Cristiano

Ronaldo as the only player toscore in three separate ClubWorld Cup tournaments while

his treble, coming either sideof half-time, is the fastest inthe history of the competition.

"Bale ate everything today,the floodlights, the stands,the nets," coach Santiago Solarisaid. "He has shown what aplayer he is and what he cando. So let him rest and eat thenets again on Saturday."

Kashima Antlers, fromJapan's J1 League, qualifiedafter winning the AsianChampions League last monthbut, despite a lively start anda late consolation from ShomaDoi, they were clearly secondbest.

Bale now has 10 goals in21 games for Real Madrid thisseason while victory will alsocome as a relief to Solari.

Madrid's front two weretying Antlers in knots and twominutes before half-time, Balestruck. A neat one-two withMarcelo on the edge of thearea set him in behind and

Bale guided the bouncing ballinto the far corner.

Benzema had a shotcleared off the line at thestart of the second half butMadrid did not have long towait. Bale scored twice in asmany minutes as first, he cap-italised on a poor backpassfrom Shuto Yamamoto andthen drove into the far cornerafter Marcelo had, again, teedhim up.

Three clear, Madrid werehome and dry, and Baledeparted on the hour, replacedby Marco Asensio whileCasemiro, recovered from anankle injury, came on to makehis first appearance sinceNovember 12.

Antlers pulled one goalback with 13 minutes left asDoi drove in after YasushiEndo headed down. Initiallyruled offside, VAR showedEndo was level but a come-back never looked likely.

AP n LONDON

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli wasstruck on the head by a bottle at

Arsenal while helping his team seal aplace in the League Cup semifinalswith a 2-0 victory in the north Londonderby on Wednesday.

The plastic bottle was hurled fromthe stands at the Emirates Stadiumabout 12 minutes after Alli audacious-ly lobbed goalkeeper Petr Cech asTottenham won at their rivals for thefirst time since 2010.

"It made the goal a little bit sweet-er and the win," said Alli, who respond-ed by using his fingers to signalTottenham's 2-0 lead to the Arsenalfans.

Having also ousted West Ham inthe previous round, another Londonteam stands in the way of Tottenhamreaching the final. There will be a two-legged meeting in January with

Chelsea, who beat Bournemouth 1-0on Wednesday via Eden Hazard'sgoal.

Holder Manchester City is drawnto play third-tier side Burton.

For Tottenham manager MauricioPochettino, the lack of trophy is theonly blot on a reign that began in 2014.But the progress he has made withmeager spending compared with therest of the Premier League's top fourhas made the Argentine a prime tar-get as Jose Mourinho's long-term suc-cessor at Manchester United.

Both goals were set up by a com-patriot of Pochettino, with goalkeep-er Paulo Gazzaniga launching highballs. The first in the 20th minutereached Alli who picked out SonHeung-Min to slot past Cech asArsenal had nothing to show for itsopening command of the quarterfinal.

Having been rested from kickoff,Harry Kane made a swift impact

from the bench by setting up the sec-ond goal. Gazzaniga sent the ball in the59th minute to Kane, who held it upon the halfway before directing a cross-field pass to Alli for the exquisite dinkover Cech.

Winning at Arsenal allowedTottenham to exact quick revenge fora loss in their Premier League meet-ing almost three weeks ago.

Coupled with the loss on Sundayto Southampton, Arsenal has nowendured back-to-back defeats after a22-match unbeaten run.

While one route for silverwareended in Unai Emery's first season atArsenal, Tottenham remains in con-tention on four fronts - like City andChelsea. Tottenham's FA Cup runstarts in January in the third round atTranmere, there is a ChampionsLeague last-16 meeting with BorussiaDortmund and Pochettino's side isthird in the Premier League.

On Thursday, Arsenal said thatthey have identified an "image" of thespectator who threw a bottle that hitAlli in Spurs' victory over their bitterNorth London rivals.

The England midfielder — was hiton the head as he took a throw-in on73 minutes.

Arsenal said in a statement onThursday the whole club had "beenembarrassed by the incident" and"behaviour of this type has no place atEmirates Stadium".

The Gunners had looked at theCCTV footage and had ascertained theoffender had left after the incident andthey had "identified an image of thesuspect".

Arsenal added once they hadconfirmed the identity of the fan theywould pass on the offender's details topolice so they could initiate legal pro-ceedings and added the supporter facesa lengthy club ban.

AFP n PARIS

Marseille's miserable run ofform continued with a

penalty shoot-out defeat byStrasbourg in the FrenchLeague Cup last 16, whileMonaco reached the quarter-finals to ease some of thepressure on Thierry Henry.

After this latest setback atthe Stade Velodrome onWednesday, Rudi Garcia's OMhave lost eight of their last 11matches, after finishing bot-tom of their Europa Leaguegroup with just one point andslipping to sixth in Ligue 1.

"We're eliminated, that'swhat we'll remember, but wedidn't deserve it," bemoanedcoach Garcia.

Jonas Martin gaveStrasbourg an 18th-minutelead from the penalty spot, andDimitri Payet missed a spot-kick for Marseille midwaythrough the second half.

Luiz Gustavo levelled forthe hosts with 10 minutesremaining to force penaltiesafter a 1-1 draw, but Payet

missed again and Marseille'slatest tournament exit wasconfirmed when Adil Ramifailed to convert their fourtheffort.

"Dimitri Payet... In theperiod we're in, we need play-ers who dare to try, who takeresponsibility," added Garcia.

"He does everything toliven up the team's game."

Monaco are rooted in theLigue 1 bottom two and star-ing a serious relegation battlein the face after a catastroph-ic season so far, but the prin-cipality outfit did at least claimtheir third win in 23 matchesby edging out Lorient 1-0.

Despite a lengthy delayafter the match was suspend-ed in the 15th minute due toheavy rain in Monaco, 18-year-old Guilian Bianconescored a 70th-minute winnerfor the home side.

Lyon also booked theirspot in the quarters, survivinga late Amiens comeback towin 3-2 with Moussa Dembeleand Bertrand Traore on thescoresheet.

BALE’S treble seals final berth

Gareth nets three to help Real Madrid enter Club WC summit clash

Real Madrid players celebrate after scoring a goal against Kashima Antlers AP

Monaco enter League Cupsemis, Lyon crashed out

Ribery’s winner see off Leipzig Dele Alli scripts Spurs victory

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2018 sport 16

PTI n MUMBAI

Former opener W V Raman was onThursday preferred over celebratedSouth African Gary Kirsten for the post

of India's women's cricket coach despite dis-sension among the administrators over theselection process.

The 53-year-old Raman is currently a bat-ting consultant at the National CricketAcademy in Bengaluru. His first assignmentis the tour of New Zealand beginning nextmonth.

"Kirsten was the top choice for the BCCIad-hoc selection committee but Raman gotthe job as the South African was not keen ongiving up his plum job with IPL franchiseRoyal Challengers Bangalore. He could notbe convinced on choosing between IPL andnational team," a BCCI official said.

The selection committee comprised for-mer captain Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwadand Shantha Rangaswamy.

The panel recommended three names —Kirsten, Raman and Venkatesh Prasad (inorder of preference) — to the Board, a reli-able source said. Eventually, the BCCI pickedRaman for the job.

The appointment was made despite theCommittee of Administrators (COA) beingdivided on the issue with Diana Edulji ask-ing chairman Vinod Rai to put the selectionprocess on hold. BCCI treasurer AnirudhChaudhry too questioned the process beingfollowed as it had Rai's approval and notEdulji's.

Raman, who played 11 Tests and 27 ODIs,is now one of the most qualified coaches inthe country. He has coached big RanjiTrophy teams like Tamil Nadu and Bengal,and has also had a stint with the India U-19team.

From his playing days, Raman is bestremembered for being the first Indian to scorea century in South Africa during the 1992-93 tour.

Besides Kirsten, Raman and Prasad, theother shortlisted candidates out of the 28applicants who were interviewed wereManoj Prabhakar, Trent Johnston, DimitriMascarenhas, Brad Hogg and KalpanaVenkatachar.

Kirsten was interviewed via Skypewith four others while one interview wasconducted over the phone. Raman, ManojPrabhakar and incumbent Ramesh Powarappeared in person.

Kirsten, who had guided India's men'steam to the 2011 World Cup triumph, wasthe number one choice but needed to stepdown from his RCB role to avoid a poten-tial conflict of interest. BCCI CEO RahulJohri even spoke to Kirsten and RCB offi-cials but could not reach an agreement.

"Gary's contention was how can coach-ing a women's national team be a conflictof interest while being in charge of a men'sIPL team. He could not be convinced onthat. Having said that, Raman is a goodchoice as the team needs a batting coach atthe moment. Prasad was number three inthe pecking order," said the BCCI official.

The ad-hoc panel too made it clear toKirsten that he would have to part ways withRCB to take up the national team role.

"Practically, there is no conflict ofinterest but if you go by the book but itwould have opened pandora's box.

Tomorrow, Ravi Shastri (India men's coach)would demand that he be allowed to do IPLcommentary and Rahul Dravid (India Acoach) might request that he should beallowed to mentor an IPL franchise," theofficial added.

Kirsten had been head coach of theIndian team for three years from 2008 to2011. He then coached South Africa from2011 to 2013. He is currently the RCB headcoach in the Indian Premier League.

The BCCI invited fresh applications forthe job after Powar's brief stint as interimcoach ended last month, in rather contro-versial circumstances.

The Supreme Court-appointed COAhas been divided over the coach selectionprocess ever since fresh applications wereinvited.

While Edulji wanted Powar to contin-ue at least till the New Zealand tour start-ing next month, Rai instructed the BCCItop brass to invite fresh applications.

Powar's controversial interim tenureended on November 30 after a bitter fall-out with ODI captain and senior playerMithali Raj over selection issues during theWorld Cup.

Powar decided to re-apply after T20captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputySmriti Mandhana came out in strong sup-port of the former India spinner.

JAIPUR, DELHI PLAY THRILLING TIEPAnchkula: Jaipur Pink Panthers ended theirhome leg with a 37- 37 tie against Dabang Delhi inVivo Pro Kabaddi Season 6. Dabang Delhi wouldfeel disappointed as they were in control for mostof the match but lost their composure in the lastfive minutes. Deepak Hooda scored 8 points forJaipur while Sandeep Dhull got a high five.Chandran Ranjit (11 points) and Pawan Kadian (9points) were among the top scorers for DabangDelhi. With less than five minutes to go Jaipur wastrailing by five points when Ajinkya Pawar made atwo-point raid to reduce the gap to three. In the38th minute Jaipur inflicted an all out as theytrailed 35-36 but Deepak Hooda leveled the matchin the next minute with a successful raid.

JAYANT TRADED TO MI FROM DELHIMumbai: Off-spinner Jayant Yadav will play forMumbai Indians in the 2019 Indian Premier Leagueafter being traded by Delhi Capitals. The 28-year-old was part of the Delhi franchise since 2015,playing in just 10 IPL matches. He has representedIndia in four Tests and and an ODI with his lastinternational appearance coming in February 2017.The trading window remains open until 30 days tothe start of the 2019 Season. Yadav plays forHaryana in domestic cricket and recentlyrepresented India in the Emerging Teams Cup inColombo.

2019 WC TROPHY REACHES DELHI New Delhi: The ICC 2019 World Cup trophyarrived in Delhi on Thursday as part of its globaltour. The coveted trophy is on a month-long tour ofIndia that commenced on November 30 and willculminate on December 26. It will be displayed innine cities across India. Former India all-rounderMadan Lal welcomed the trophy in Delhi. The ICCtrophy is travelling not only to countries taking partin the tournament but for the first time ever, it willgo beyond traditional cricket nations to places likeNepal, USA and Germany. Starting its journey fromthe United Arab Emirates (UAE), the trophy tourwill cover Oman, the USA, the West Indies, SriLanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, NewZealand, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda,Nigeria, France, Belgium, the Netherlands andGermany before arriving in England and Wales onFebruary 19.

RASHID FIRES 62 AT TATA OPEN JAmshedpur: Delhi's Rashid Khan dominated theopening day with a sensational nine-under 62 totake a one-stroke lead in the 17th TATA Open, thePGTI's season finale on Thursday. Rashid, whowon the PGTI's last event in Mumbai, carriedforward his form into the year-ending Rs 1 croreevent with an outstanding run of 10 birdies thatcame at the expense of just one bogey at the par-71 Golmuri Golf Course. Om Prakash Chouhan ofMhow, the 2014 champion, and Lucknow'sSanjeev Kumar struck sizzling 63s to be placed tiedsecond. Delhi's Tapy Ghai and Noida's AmardipMalik produced scores of 64 to occupy tied fourth.

NBA TO STAGE 2 GAMES IN MUMBAI Mumbai: The National Basketball Association(NBA) on Thursday announced the Indiana Pacersand the Sacramento Kings will play in two pre-season games in Mumbai in October 2019,marking the first matches the popular US-basedleague stages in India. The NBA India Games 2019would take place October 4 and October 5 at theNSCI Dome in Worli, announced NBA DeputyCommissioner Mark Tatum and NBA IndiaManaging Director Yannick Colaco here. In additionto the games, the league and its partners wouldconduct interactive fan activities, Jr NBA youthbasketball programming and NBA Carescommunity outreach events.

GOKULAM FACE ARROWS IN I-LEAGUE Cuttack: Gokulam Kerala FC will hope to keeptheir title hopes alive when they clash with IndianArrows in a must-win game of the I-League hereon Friday. Gokulam lost their way a bit in recentencounters after showing some initial spark,picking up two draws at home and suffering aheavy away defeat against Quess East Bengal(QEB). They are currently eighth on the table with10 points from eight games and need a win and aconvincing one at that, to boost confidence andresurrect title aspirations. The Arrows havesuffered five losses in their seven games and arelanguishing in the 10th place on the points table.However, they remain a threat to a side not at theirbest, especially after holding former championsAizawl to a draw in their last game. Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n PERTH

Former Australia captainAllan Border defended

Virat Kohli's aggression, sayingcricket needs characters like theIndian skipper who exude pas-sion on the field.

"There's not many charac-ters in our game at themoment. The professional erahas sort of beaten that out to acertain degree," Border said onFox Cricket's podcast — TheFollow-on.

Kohli has received severecriticism from the likes ofMike Hussey, Mitchell Johnsonand Sanjay Manjrekar for hisaggressive celebrations in theongoing Test series in Australia.

The Indian skipper wasalso involved in a series of heat-ed exchanges with hisAustralian counterpart TimPaine, which prompted umpireChris Gafaney to interveneduring the second Test here.

"I haven't seen anyone sortof carry on so much as a cap-tain when his side takes awicket. It's really over the topbut it's good in a way. You cansee some passion about whathe's trying to do," Border said.

Border added that per-haps Kohli's aggression stemsfrom the desire to cement hislegacy with an away seriesvictory.

"He's so keen to win awayfrom home and really deservethat number one ranking …that's your KPIs (key perfor-mance indicators) as a captainI suppose," he said.

Under Kohli, India suf-fered two back-to-back awayseries defeats against SouthAfrica and England this year.

"To drive the team to benumber one, which he hasachieved, but to win awayfrom home is one of those

important things you notice asa captain."

Border also opined that asthe leader, Kohli feels the needto manifest the passion anddrive.

"I think he's feeling thatpinch. If you look at thisIndian side he's probably theonly one that has the charac-ter to get really animated," hesaid.

"The rest of the Indianboys are very good cricketersbut seem to me a quiet bunchand maybe Kohli feels as skip-per he needs to lead from thefront and really show somepassion and drive. I think it justcomes naturally to him," headded.

‘EXCITABLE CHARACTER’An "excitable character"

who wants to win at all times,that's how former Australiancoach Darren Lehmanndescribed Virat Kohli and saidthere was nothing wrong withthe Indian captain's on-fieldconduct.

Lehmann said Kohli isentertaining to watch.

"Virat Kohli is very pas-sionate. So that's what you getfrom him on the field andthat's what he will always giveyou. He is an excitable char-acter. He enjoys his chal-lengers, and he wants to win,"Lehmann said.

"Not only for himself, hewants his country to win. Itwas good to see out there andI thought it was good banter,"he said.

Lehmann made light ofKohli's confrontation withPaine.

"Neither Kohli nor TimPaine crossed the line. It wasgood banter, and it came acrossas a bit of fun on the stumpmics," he said.

PTI n DUBAI

India skipper Virat Kohli main-tained his top spot, while young

wicketkeeper batsman RishabhPant and pacer Jasprit Bumrahattained their career-best posi-tions in the latest ICC Test rank-ings.

Kohli gained 14 points toreach 934 points after a valiantfirst-innings knock of 123 in thesecond Test at Perth whichAustralia won by 146 runs to levelthe four-match series.

The India captain has thusincreased his lead over NewZealand skipper Kane Williamsonfrom seven to 19 points.

Pant gained 11 places to securethe 48th spot while India vice-cap-tain Ajinkya Rahane moved up twoplaces to progress into the top-15.

In the bowlers list, Bumrahachieved a career-high ranking of28 while fellow teammateMohammad Shami moved twoplaces to 24th.

Second-ranked Williamsontoo has something to cheer aboutafter scoring 91 in the drawn first

of two Tests against Sri Lanka. Hehas reached a personal best of 915points, the joint-25th highest everand equal with ICC Hall of FamerGeorge Headley of the West Indies.

New Zealand opener TomLatham is another major gainerafter an outstanding Test perfor-mance of 264 not out that not only

won him the Man of the Matchaward but has also lifted him 15slots to a career-best 22nd position.

Fast bowler Tim Southee isanother one to gain from theteam. His eight wickets in thematch helped him to gain four slotsto reach 11th position.

There were more movements

owing to performances in Perthwith man of the match NathanLyon's eight wickets helped himgrab a career-best seventh place, aposition he had also previouslyattained in October last year.

Josh Hazlewood (up twoplaces to ninth) and Mitchell Starc(up one place to 15th) are theother Australia bowlers to moveup.

Among their batsmen, UsmanKhawaja (up one place to 12th),captain Tim Paine (up nine placesto 46th) and Travis Head (up 16places to 63rd) are the ones tomove up the ladder after usefulcontributions against the world'stop-ranked Test side.

For Sri Lanka, former captainAngelo Mathews (83 and 120 notout) and Kusal Mendis (141 notout) have been rewarded aftertheir match-saving efforts.

Mathews gained eight slots toreach 16th place while Mendis hasmoved up two slots to take 18thposition. Among their bowlers,Lahiru Kumara has gained fiveslots to reach 43rd place after fin-ishing with four wickets.

AFP n DHAKA

Bangladesh's Cricket Board saidon Thursday it has

barred former Australiancaptain Steve Smith from theforthcoming Bangladesh PremierLeague Twenty20 tournament fol-lowing an objection raised bysome franchises.

Smith, serving a one-year banfrom international cricket andAustralia's domestic SheffieldShield and Big Bash League, hadsigned for Comilla Victorians toplay in the next edition of the BPLstarting on January 5.

He was expected to join theteam in mid-January for the sec-

ond phase of the BPL as a replace-ment for Pakistani cricketerShoaib Malik.

"The rule of the tournament is

that if a franchise takes a replace-ment, his name should be in thelist of initial players' draft. ButSmith's name was not there,"said Bangladesh Cricket Boardchief Nizamuddin Chowdhury.

"Some franchises raisedobjection about it. So we have tobar him from playing the BPL,"he said.

Australia's ex-vice captainDavid Warner will however playin the BPL — which concludeson February 8, 2019 — havingsigned for the Sylhet Sixers asone of their two pre-draft sign-ings.

Smith and Warner werehanded a year-long internation-

al bans for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal that rockedAustralian cricket in March. TheBPL was expected to be Smith'sthird T20 league outing — afterCanada's Global T20 and theCaribbean Premier League —since the ban was imposed.

He also recently signed forthe Pakistan Super League,which will be played in Februaryand March.

The BPL, which started in2011, was hit by allegations ofmatch-fixing in its early years.

After a suspension, the tour-nament resumed in 2015 and hassince been staged without seri-ous controversy.

AP n DHAKA

Captain Shakib Al Hasanproduced a career-best 5-

21 for Bangladesh to beat theWest Indies by 36 runs and leveltheir three-match Twenty20

series 1-1 on Thursday.Shakib also provided vital late

runs when Bangladesh batted first,his 26-ball 42 studded with fivefours and one six lifting them to amore-than-competitive 211-4 andtheir second highest T20 total in theday-night match.

West Indies was in the chase at98-3 in the 11th over until Shakibtook three wickets in eight deliver-ies with his left-arm spin. West

Indies was all out for 175 in 19.2overs.

"Always, it is special to con-tribute in the team's victory, whetherit is in batting or bowling," Shakibsaid. "Having said that, five wicketsdon't matter, what matters is that wewon an important game."

After losing the first T20 byeight wickets, Bangladesh kept aliveits ambition of winning all threeseries formats following its 2-0 winin the tests and 2-1 win in the one-day internationals.

The series-deciding third T20is on Saturday.

Opener Liton Das launchedBangladesh by smashing 60 off 34balls, his second half-century laced

with six fours and four sixes afterWest Indies captain CarlosBrathwaite opted to bowl first,keeping the dew factor in mind.

Das kept the scoreboard tickingover following the dismissal ofsenior opener Tamim Iqbal, whostruggled with his timing, for 15.

Bangladesh was set back whenWest Indies fast bowlers SheldonCottrell and Oshane Thomas var-ied their pace to claim three wick-ets for 10 runs, reducing Bangladeshto 120-4.

But Shakib and Mahmudullah,who was 43 not out, added an unde-feated 91 off 42 balls for the fifthwicket to ensure the rapid start pro-vided by Das wasn't wasted.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan andBollywood actor Suniel Shetty have joined hands

to launch Ferit Cricket Bash (FCB), the country's firstnationwide cricket league for amateur cricketers.

FCB will feature 16 teams representing variousregions of the country. Registration is open for play-ers who are 15+ years, and the best performers willbe selected, subject to an intensive 22-city talentsearch.

The league aims at discovering the most talent-ed and passionate amateur cricketers from across thecountry.

After two intense selection rounds involving sev-eral thousand aspiring cricketers across multiple citiesin India, the final 224 players will be divided into 16teams.

These teams, which will be mentored by inter-nationally renowned cricketers and leading coachesfrom across India, will then compete with each otherin an exciting 15-over a side format.

Each shortlisted player will receive a participa-tion fee of `1 lakh along with exciting cash rewardsfor the winning teams.

The top 14 performers of FCB will be given aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent the FCBAll Stars Team and participate in a local club leveltournament in Australia.

Raman to coach Indian Eves

Former Indian OpenerWoorkeri pips Powar,

Kirsten and Venkatesh to emerge as

preferred choice for Indian women’s job

CAREER STATISTICS

Competition Tests ODIs FC List A

Matches 11 27 132 87

Runs scored 448 617 7939 2892

Average 24.88 23.73 45.62 35.26

100s/50s -/4 1/3 19/36 4/18

Top score 96 114 313 117*

Wickets 2 2 85 18

Catches 6/- 2/- 91/- 22/-

Virat Kohli celebrates with Shami after the pacer dismissed Australian player AP

Zaheer Khan along with Praveen Kumar and M Muralitharan Pankaj Kumar

Steve Smith in a file picture AFP

Border defends Kohliafter criticism barrage

Virat consolidates top

position

Zaheer launchesFerit Cricket Bash

Shakib's show levels series

Smith barred from B'desh T20 league

Kushwaha joins UPA, Paswan wavers - Daily Pioneer

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