'Truth will win in the end,' tweets Lalu after conviction

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SUNDAYmillenniumpostVOL. 3, ISSUE 347 | Sunday, 24 December, 2017 | Kolkata | Pages 16 | Rs 3.00PUBLISHED FROM DELHI & KOLKATA

RNI NO.: WBENG/2015/65962

NO HALF TRUTHS

BORN IN POVERTY & IN A ‘LOW’ CASTE, LALUJI SHOOK THE ESTABLISHMENT; THAT WAS THE ‘SCAM’ & HE IS PAYING THE PRICE: TEJASHWI

‘Truth will win in the end,’ tweets Lalu after conviction

PRITESH BASU

KOLKATA: Stating that music is a unifying force across the world, Chief Minister Mamata Baner-jee said at the inaugural cer-emony of Bangla Sangeet Mela that “Ekatai Sampriti” (unity is harmony) would be the theme of the state’s tableau in the Republic Day parade in Kolkata after the Centre has rejected it.

Speaking at the inaugural programme of the Bangla San-geet Mela and Biswa Bangla Lok-sanskriti Utsav at Uttirnya, the Chief Minister once again raised the issue of rejection of the Ben-gal tableau from Republic Day parade in Delhi.

She said, “Let them reject

the tableau with Ekatai Sampriti theme from the Republic Day parade in Delhi. There will be a tableau on the same theme in the January 26 parade at Kolkata and it will be the first one.” She main-tained that she still feels that cul-ture is harmony and music is the unifying force across the world.

She maintained, “The Cen-tre has rejected the proposal of the state’s tableau with a theme of Ekatai Sampriti… We wanted to depict harmony in culture (through the tableau). It seems it was not acceptable to them… But I would like to say that a civilisation lives alive through its culture.”

At the inaugural ceremony of the Kolkata Christmas festi-

val at Allen Park in Park Street, the Chief Minister had raised the question of whether “the reason for rejecting Bengal’s tableau was its theme of Ekatai Sampriti?” and further said that the state wanted to show that it is only harmony that can ensure peace. She also suspect that politics is behind the Centre’s attitude as the state’s tab-leau was rejected despite being appreciated when presented before the expert committee.

Addressing the gathering at which many well known sing-ers and musicians were present, Banerjee said, “Music has played a major role in many revolutions across the globe. Many good things have also taken place just because of music and it is music

that led to major renaissance.”Stating that music is another

form of harmony and without music our life is incomplete, the Chief Minister urged the people to bring a revolution through music as it is a force that can unify the country and the entire world. It may be mentioned that the Mamata Banerjee government provides a stipend of Rs 1,000 to 1.94 lakh folk artists and it has helped restore certain forms of folk art that was gradually becom-ing extinct.

In this connection, Baner-jee said, “Earlier there were 1 lakh beneficiaries of Lokprasar Prakalpa. This year another 94,000 have been brought under the project.”

R-Day tableau scrapped by Centre to figure in Bengal’s own parade: CM

DHIRENDRA KUMAR

NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, who was hopeful of a ‘2G-like acquittal’, was convicted in yet another fodder case by a special CBI court in Ranchi on Satur-day. The quantum of punish-ment in the case, which relates to embezzling of more than Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar Trea-sury between 1991 and 1994, will be announced on January 3, 2018.

Besides Lalu, 15 others were pronounced guilty in the case while six were acquitted, includ-ing former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra. According to RJD lead-ers, the party will challenge the special CBI court order in the High Court.

Immediately after the pro-nouncement of the verdict, Lalu Prasad and the other convicts were taken into custody and sent to Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi. Earlier, when CBI Judge Shivpal Singh asked Lalu about his well-

being on entering the court, the RJD leader replied with folded hands, “I am fine sir.”

Soon after the announce-ment of the verdict, the social-ist leader attacked the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP), which is in power both at the Centre and in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, saying that the ‘sly’ BJP is playing a dirty game to cover up its own scams and jum-lebaji by spoiling public per-ceptions about leaders of the Opposition parties to get votes.

Comparing himself with South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and anti-caste movement messiah Dr B R Ambedkar, Lalu, in a series of tweets, said, “Had people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb Ambedkar failed in their efforts, history would have treated them as vil-lains. They still are villains for the biased, racist and casteist minds. No one should expect any different treatment.”

“The truth is standing against people who have made false promises. In the war of truth, Lalu is not alone as the whole Bihar is with him,” he added. Countering Lalu’s charges, senior BJP leader and

Union Minister JP Nadda said, “Instead of accepting the ver-dict, Lalu is politicising the issue… just to deviate by level-ing allegations of conspiracy on the BJP. The alliance between the Congress and RJD is an alli-ance of corruption, connivance and cheating the people of India. It is clear from the verdict of the court.”

Defending his father and appealing to party members to maintain peace, RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said, “Laluji was born in poverty and in a ‘low’ caste. He shook the foundations of the established forces with his firepower. That was, in reality, the biggest ‘scam’, the consequences of which are being borne by him.” Comment-ing on the verdict, senior Con-gress leader Manish Tewari said, “If these allegations are being investigated, why is it that the Srijan scam is not being inves-tigated? Why are there different strokes for different folks?”

CITY PAGE 3AFTER RECENT ILLEGAL BUILDING COLLAPSES, KMC TALKS TOUGH

BEACON PAGE 9REGHU: THE SENTIMENT OF SENTIENCE

NATION PAGE 4NIRMALA HOLDS TALKS WITH RUSSIAN Dy PM TO BOOST DEFENCE TIES

Bus veers off bridge & falls into Banas river; 33 dead

Driver dead; cops probing if he was a minor

OUR CORRESPONDENT

JAIPUR: At least 33 people, includ-ing four children, were killed and seven others injured on Saturday when a bus plunged into the Banas river after veering off a 100- foot bridge in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madho-pur district, police said. The incident took place early in the morning in Soorwal police station area when the bus, carrying about 45 passengers, was on its way to Lalsot from Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, they said.

The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle and it plunged into the river after breaking the railing of the bridge, the police said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and said his thoughts were with the families of the deceased. “State government is closely monitoring the situation, including rescue operations and pro-

viding all possible assistance to those affected,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

Soorwal police station SHO Anoop Singh said of the 33 people killed, seven are women and four children. The injured were rushed to hospitals. The bus driver was also killed in the incident, a police officer had said earlier.

He said that 19 bodies were handed over to the kin of victims after post-mortem and autopsy of 14 bodies was yet to be conducted. One body is still unidentified, he added. On reports that the bus driver was a minor, the SHO said it was yet to be ascertained.

Passengers were from Rajasthan and other states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam. Several of them were going to offer prayers at a temple in Malarna Chour in the district, the SP said.

KATHMANDU: About 200 “Kung fu nuns” kicked off a month-long journey from Nepal through India on Sat-urday, swapping their flowing maroon robes for lycra leg-gings to raise awareness about human trafficking and gender equality. The Buddhist nuns are trained in martial arts and frequently organise pilgrim-ages and cycling trips to pro-mote gender equality.

“We are starting our fifth cycle yatra (pilgrimage) today and our main mission is about increasing aware-ness about female empower-ment, the environment and human trafficking,” said nun Yeshe Lhamo. Nepal has seen an upswing in the number of cases of trafficking since a dev-astating earthquake in 2015 left thousands homeless. The country’s human rights com-mission estimated that there were about 23,200 cases of traf-ficking or attempted traffick-ing last year.

The nuns said they came across several cases of traf-ficking while volunteering in relief efforts for earthquake victims. AFP

21 century ‘Kung fu nuns’ in bikes swap robes for lycra leggings

INDIAN TROOPS RETALIATE STRONGLY & EFFECTIVELY

Pak violates truce on LoC, kills Army major and three soldiers

Ultras weaker as J&K youth shun violence: CRPF

JAMMU: Pakistani troops opened fire on an Indian Army patrol, killing a major and three soldiers along the Line of Con-trol (LoC) in Keri sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Saturday, officials said. The latest violation of the ceasefire agreement took place at a time CM Mehbooba Mufti was camping in Rajouri dis-trict headquarters to address people’s grievances, they said. A Defence spokesman said that Pakistani troops targeted the Army patrol at Brat Galla in Keri sector at around 12:15 am.

“We suffered three fatal casualties including one offi-cer in the incident. Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh were griev-

ously injured during the cease-fire violation and succumbed to their injuries. Two other per-sonnel also sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment,” the spokesman said.

SSP of Rajouri Yougal Man-har added that one of the two injured personnel died later. The Army, in a statement, said that Indian troops retaliated

“strongly and effectively” to the “unprovoked” firing.

Major Ambadas (32) belonged to Bhandara district in Maharashtra and is survived by wife Avoli Moharkar, while Lance Naik Gurmail Singh (34) belonged to Amritsar district in Punjab and is survived by wife kuljit Kaur and a daugh-ter. Sepoy Pargat Singh (30) belonged to Karnal district in Haryana and is survived by wife Ramanpreet Kaur and a son, the Army said.

“Major Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail and Sepoy Par-gat were brave and sincere sol-diers. The nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” the Army statement said. MPOST

SRINAGAR: The trend of youth shunning vio-lence is a setback to terrorist organisations in Kash-mir, a top CRPF officer said here on Saturday while calling the amnesty given to first-time stone-pelters a “large-hearted” approach. “This (return of youth to mainstream) is a good trend. The forces always

wanted to wean the youth off violence. Off late, we have had success. Several people, including a foot-baller, shunned the path of violence and returned home. It is a good step and an opportunity for the youth to rectify mistakes and return to the main-stream,” CRPF I-G Ravideep Sahi said. MPOST

Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas

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NEW DELHI: The En-forcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Rash-triya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti and her hus-band in a money launder-ing case. ED counsel Nitesh Rana filed the charge sheet before the court of Special Judge N K Malhotra.

The probe agency had earlier at-tached a Delhi farmhouse in connection with its money laundering probe against Bharti and her husband, Shailesh Kumar. The farmhouse, located at 26, Palam Farms in south Delhi’s Bijwasan area, was attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It belongs to Bharti and Kumar and is “held in the name of Ms Mishail Pack-ers and Printers Private Limited”, the central probe agency said. “It was pur-

chased using INR 1.2 crore involved in money launder-ing in the year 2008-09,” the ED alleged.

The agency had also conducted raids at this location and few others in July as part of its probe against two brothers,

Surendra Kumar Jain and Virendra Jain, and others who have been al-leged to have laundered several crore rupees using shell companies. The Jain brothers were arrested by the ED under the PMLA.

It had also arrested a chartered accountant, Rajesh Agrawal, who mediated and provided a cash amount of “Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd as share premium”. One of the firms that the arrested duo dealt with was Mishail Printers and Packers Private Ltd.

ED chargesheets daughter Misa & her hubby

Lalu Prasad is now prisoner no 3,351 at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Jail. He has been allotted a 10x12 ft room and allowed to watch only Doordarshan on TV set provided to him. He has been given a wooden bed with mattress, pillow, bedsheet, mosquito net and one table & chair

MAMATA BANERJEE LAUNCHES STAR-STUDDED BANGLA SANGEET MELA AND BISWA BANGLA LOKSANSKRITI UTSAV

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mp

Weekend BreakKOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

-Walt Whitman

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you

MAINAK BANERJEE

When political discon-tent seethes in, Ben-gal has always been vocal. Theatre as a

media has always raised its con-cern. It attains its high resistant node when communalism disrupts the secular thought process of the society. Religious fanaticism has raised its ugly head time and again in Indian vote bank politics to gain mileage in the number game and to dominate the poor, underprivileged class of the country. There have been strong divisive forces in power at national level spreading venom in the mind of the commoners to cre-ate polarisation. The Godhra car-nage rattled the nation way back in 2002 resulting in communal vio-lence. Pained by the shameless inci-dent, the iconic playwright, Bratya Basu wrote ‘Sateroi July’ in 2004. He acknowledged that he was inspired by John Wexley’s, ‘They shall not die’ and Utpal Dutta’s ‘Manusher Adhikare’ in writing the play. The-atre group, Ganakrishti, first staged the production which was some-how discontinued after a few shows. The play has come back roaring on stage after almost ten years with a larger perspective in terms of the contemporary political situation in India. ‘Thealovers’, the 35 year old theatre group from Bengal, headed by thespian Bhargonath Bhattacha-rya is producing the play. Bhargo-nath thinks the play has greater relevance now as the fundamen-tal rights of the citizens are being

curbed by the non-secular political forces in power.

The play, ‘Sateroi July’ is set in post-Godhra Gujarat where the state administration is seen to be exploit-ing the minority communities on the basis of religious biasness by practising and nurturing ‘Hindutva’ in the ‘laboratory’ of Gujarat. The play starts with an innocent group of Muslim youngsters being implicated falsely on July 17 in a gang rape case by Hindu fundamentalists in vil-lage Erol in the Panchmahal dis-trict of Gujarat. The incident takes an ugly turn with the intervention of a local political leader Keshub-hai Patel when he uses his power to produce false witnesses to prove the innocents guilty. The major part of the play is a nerve-wrecking court room drama where the protagonist Rakesh Chatterjee, the lawyer repre-senting the accused, gradually tears open the nexus behind the orga-nized crime being committed by

the majority com-munity to seal the fate of the margin-alized in their ambi-tion to create a Hindu nation. Pankaj Parekh, the public prosecutor, on the other hand, is seen to be quite popular in the majoritarian political circle and is even being favoured by the judge, Deepak Patel. In his act of accusing Asif Mirza of rape, Pankaj stereotypes Muslims of being rough, rude, ferocious, born criminals; they are represented as polygamous who target the timid, defenseless, vul-nerable, honest and pious Hindu women to convert them to Islam. As the play progresses the hypocrisy in Hindu politics stands exposed. Hindus, who claim to be religiously superior to Muslims, do not even bother to use prostitutes, the typi-fied ‘immoral’ class of the society, as their instruments to achieve their larger objective. The dominant class of the society exploits them to satiate their sexual pleasure when needed and scandalize them when not in need. Here Rakesh refutes the logic used by Pankaj by countering the stereotypes about Indian Muslims. He argues about the commonalities between both the communities who have historically stayed together. The play goes through intense argu-ments between the two lawyers fighting for opposing ideologies. Basu has painted the character of Rakesh with angst, empathy, right-fulness and emotions who demands equal justice for all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. In the end, when the accused, Asif Mirza, an

innocent, promising Muslim stu-dent is sentenced to death, despite the circumstantial evidence going in his favour, Rakesh does not hesi-tate to term the courtroom proceed-ings a farce and mockery of Indian judiciary and promises to appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgment.

Bratya Basu looks emphatic, flamboyant and a perfect picture of a qualified and passionate legal counsel of Bengal. He moves from one corner to the other of the court-room and enlivens the proceedings with his unflawed delivery and diction. His versatility in acting reaches another level as he justi-fiably pitches his acting on a high level at times reflecting the char-acter’s involvement in getting fair justice for the accused. Biplab Ban-dyopadhyay, on the other hand is impressive and pushy which goes well with the character. His on stage exuberance catches the attention of the audience as he speaks out the mind of the majority in the court-room drawing accolades. Bhargo-nath Bhattacharjee in his role as Justice Deepak Patel does his best to deliver a predisposed judgment. Abir Ghosh as Asif Mirza shows promise in acting. The large con-tingent of 36 actors contributes well to make the performance stimu-

lating. The frequent appearance of Hindu fundamentalists with their band adds the required octane to the sensitive drama. The stage setup is innovative with the judge perched on the top of a highly placed ped-estal in the audience, symbolizing the God’s eye view. Debasish Dutta, the young director and the stage designer deserves kudos for his concept. He admits to experiment-ing by presenting the case in front of the ‘Honourable’ audience who then interestingly become the jury of the trial. The lighting by Saumen Chakraborty and sound creation by Dishari Chakraborty impacts well with the high pitch drama.

The term ‘Hindutva’ is now spreading its tentacles ostentatiously with the emergence of social rhet-oric of ‘Ghar-wapsi’, ‘Go-Raksha’, ‘Love-jihad’ to create a fear psy-chosis among the minority com-munities in India. With the rapidly changing language of politics Bratya sees communalism as a disease that erupts from human mind, not from religion. According to him, it gains favour in the minds of middle class people out of frustration, as they try to find fault in their neighbors in a bid to pinpoint an opponent. In time of rising intolerance, the play raises hope of strengthening bonds between two communities in India.

The time has come to

raise our voice…

The iconic playwright Bratya Basu, who wrote ‘Sateroi July’ in 2004, thinks that the play has greater relevance now as the fundamental rights of the citizens are being curbed by the non-secular political forces in power

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Giving a rare glimpse of how far the Indian fashion industry has

travelled in this quarter of a century, Ashish Soni cel-ebrated his 25 years in the industry at an intimate eve-ning on December 16 at The Lodhi, New Delhi. Titled, “Welcome to my World”, the evening saw Ashish deliver unique insights into the designer’s world of design and his personal fashion signature.

On display were a compi-lation of the designer’s pop-ular runway shows which helped in popularising the brand to its name today, there were also three focused exhibits revolving around Ashish’s personal favou-rites from his creations over the years. Another interest-ing aspect of the evening was the documentary film about Ashish’s journey in the industry and also a futuristic interactive audiovisual pre-sentation powered by artifi-cial intelligence. 

Ashish’s friends and fam-

ily from the industry were present to mark this huge milestone with him and were seen celebrating with him. Some of the guests were JJ Valaya, Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma, Nikhil Mehra, Rajesh Pratap, Payal Pratap, Vikram Chandra, Yuvraj Singh, Renuka Chowdhury, Robert Vadra, and Bindu Vadera to name a few.

Taking inspiration from the technologically driven dynamic world that we live in, Ashish has approached this presentation of his world as futuristic as possible yet at the same time maintain-ing strong key sensibilities of the brand.

“‘Welcome to My World’ is an effort to take stock of the immense body of work and the present, past achieve-ments. As a special twist, it merges my creative inner world with future technolo-gies,” said the designer.

World of futuristic FASHION

Ashish Soni

Kunappa Reddy Arunkumar, Yuvraj Singh and JJ Valaya

“MILLENNIUM POST”, Printed & Published by Jaiyendra Kumar Sharma on behalf of Front Row Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Aaj Kaal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., BP-7, Sector-V, Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata - 700 091 and published from Tivoli Court 1A, Ballygunge Circular Road, Block-A, Flat-94, 1st Floor, Kolkata-700 019. Editor: Durbar Ganguly, Executive Editor: Arya Rudra. Email: [email protected], [email protected]. For marketing, contact: 9836292306, 9830532306. For editorial, call: 9836072100

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only.

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Movies this week

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STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

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FUKREY RETURNS

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11:10 PM

AMAZON OBHIJAAN

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

At St Paul’s Cathedral, preparations for Christmas begin well in advance. Hundreds throng the place during this time of the year to offer prayers and soak in the very spirit of the festival. The Kolkata Christmas Festival has already begun with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurating it at the start of the weekend. Even before the official start of the festival, people had taken up the better part of Park Street, the one-stop destination in Kolkata during Christmas, and cops are bound to have a tough time controlling the traffic as well as the revellers PIC/AMIT DATTA

- Mamata Banerjee

A captivating rendition by Sandhyadi, ‘ghoom ghoom chand, jhikimiki tara, ei madhabi raat’ enthralled the entire audienceCity

mp| 3millennium post | KOLKATA |SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017

After recent spate of illegal building collapses, KMC talks tough

Minister inaugurates child-friendly corner at Poush Mela

Zoo tickets to be made available online from Jan 1

GTA constitutes block-level development committees in 8 blocks

Dacoits loot gold, cash worth crores in broad daylight heist

DM’s nod must for payments above Rs 25K

SOUMITRA NANDI

KOLKATA: The building department of Kolkata Munici-pal Corporation (KMC) has taken a tough stand against any illegal construction in the city. The move on the part of the civic body has come after it has been brought to their notice that a number of buildings that had collapsed recently was due to illegal structures that were built for expansion.

A senior official in the building department said in less than three months, the civic body has pulled down illegal constructions of more than 50 such buildings where the owners had undertaken such construction keeping KMC in the dark.

In a number of cases of razing of illegal structures, the KMC had applied Section 408 of KMC Building Rules 2009 which empowers the civic body to demolish such structures without slapping any notice to owners. “If we believe that any

illegal construction is of imme-diate concern for society and the public, Section 408 can be applied but the matter needs to be passed in the Member Mayor-in-Council’s (MMiC) meeting,” an official said.

Mayor Sovan Chatterjee has himself led from the front in pulling down an illegal con-struction by applying Sec-tion 408 of the Building Rules at Parnasree Pally under ward 130. The construction was undertaken in a five-storeyed building by a lady who is learnt to be close to the Mayor’s wife.

Chatterjee chaired the MMiC meeting on Thursday that passed the order under Section 408 and gave directions to Director General Building for razing the unauthorised construction. Another building at 21/1, Mandeville Gardens in Gariahat, was also pulled down.

“We have been usually fol-lowing Section 401 of the KMC Building Rules 2009. We slap a notice to the owner who is involved in such illegal con-

struction and then conduct a hearing and accordingly pro-ceed for action. This is a time consuming process. However, soon after the departure of the monsoon season, the Mayor had instructed us to take a tough stand. This has resulted

in pulling down more than 50 such buildings with ille-gal construction in less than three months’ time,” a senior official of the building depart-ment said. It may be mentioned that the building that collapsed at 60 Pathuriaghata Street on

November 21 was having an unauthorised construction in the form of an illegal structure on the terrace.

The additional construction without consulting a structural engineer had paved the way for the collapse.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja on Sat-urday inaugurated a child-friendly corner at the venue of Poush Mela in Santiniketan. Senior officials of her department including district offi-cials were present.

“The initiative of such a child-friendly corner had begun from last year. But this year, we have given it a total overhaul. Apart from a num-ber of playthings, there will be a giant drawing board where children can draw anything as per their wish, a cultural stage where kids can per-form activities of their choice. There are facilities for parents to take rest and relax too,” P Mohan Gandhi, Dis-trict Magistrate, Birbhum, said.

It may be mentioned that the child-friendly corner will also impart lessons on child rights, health and institutional rights of kids.

The 123rd Poush Mela kicked off with the morning prayer at Baitalik and Chhatim tala. It will be held for six days this year. Poush Mela this year has around 1,400 stalls up from 372 last year when the fair was a three day event.

“Special care has been taken to prevent air pollution. The mela ground will be watered at regular intervals. There is a complete ban on the use of plastic,” said Swapan Kumar Datta, acting Vice-Chancellor of Visva Bharati said.

The district police have given spe-cial emphasis on security with many foreign tourists turning up. There are as many as seven watch towers,

18 CCTV cameras, 10 police booths and eight gates. There is also a police control room and a separate stall for lodging complaints.

Cultural presentations includ-ing baul songs, Chhau dance, mask dance, frog dance, Fakir songs and kirtans are the highlights of the mela.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Those who are fed up with the long queues outside the Alipore Zoological Garden may find this to be a big reason to rejoice. The entry tickets will be available online from the next month as the zoo authorities are plan-ning to overhaul its ticketing system.

Kolkatans would no longer require to stand in queues at the ticket coun-ters outside the Alipore zoo as one can have his/her ticket at the click of a mouse once the new system is put in place. Online ticketing system will not only be beneficial for the visitors but it would help the zoo authorities to man-age the crowd as well, particularly in the winter season when it sees a huge surge of visitors.

It often becomes difficult for the zoo authorities also to manage the crowd especially during the winter

season when it becomes a favourite destination, particularly for children. Basking in the sun during this time of the year is a common picture inside the zoo premises. During Christmas and New Year, the zoo witnesses record footfall.

According to the authorities, soft-ware testing has been going on and if everything goes as per plan, the sys-tem will be introduced from early next month. The price of the ticket will remain unchanged even after the

new system is introduced. The entry fees for children is Rs 10 while for the others it stands at Rs 30.

Unlike the current system in which the tickets are sold across the counter and are valid for the day, the online tickets will have no validity deadline till it is produced at the gate.

Visitors will be required to produce a printed copy of the tickets with the QR code or display it on the cellphone for it to be read by the scanner.

When contacted, Alipore Zoologi-cal Garden director AK Samanta said that discussion has taken place with senior BSNL officials regarding the same.

If it is approved, the new ticket-ing system can be introduced any day. However, there is a plan to start the new system from January 1. The visi-tors can book their tickets by visiting the zoo’s website, the director said.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: A gang of armed miscreants stormed into a branch office of a non-bank-ing financial corporation and looted gold worth Rs 8 crore and hard cash of around Rs 4 lakh.

The incident took place at the Court More area on Burn-pur Road in Asansol in broad daylight on Saturday. A gang of 6-7 miscreants entered the office at around 9.15 am when there were no security personnel.

It was learnt that the secu-rity personnel of the non-banking financial corporation came to join their duties late as a result of which some staff members opened the branch office on their own. Just after few minutes of opening the branch, the miscreants, bran-dishing arms, stormed into the office.

Local residents have alleged that a police outpost is situated within a few yards of the office but the police arrived quite late. The fear-stricken staff members also dialed 100 helplessly but it was of no use as their repeated phone calls went unanswered.

The miscreants beat up some of the staff members who were not prompt enough to hand over the keys of the main vault. The armed mis-creants also threatened of dire consequences if any of the employees raised an alarm or tried to inform the police. The accused then opened the vault and looted the gold and cash within nearly half-an-hour.

Police said that some of the miscreants were wearing monkey caps while others had their helmets on. The miscre-ants parked their motorcycles outside the office.

CCTV footages are being examined that are installed out-side the branch office to look for clues. There was no CCTV inside, as has been learnt from the police.

When Ghoom ghoom chand left one and all in tears

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Ghoom ghoom chand, jhikimiki tara, ei madhabi raat... Sandhya Mukhopadhyay’s eternal number reverberated amid pin-drop silence at the inaugural programme of Bangla Sangeet Mela at Uttirno Open Air Theatre on Saturday.

The song, a masterpiece by itself, sung by the veteran singer, despite her poor health, was so overwhelming that Abhijit and Jeet Ganguly, who received the special awards, refrained from their own performances. For them and all those present at the event, it was so touching that nothing would match up to the maudlin classic.

A Facebook post from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee maintained: “…A captivating rendition by Sandhyadi, “ghoom ghoom chand, jhikimik tara, ei madhabi raat” enthralled the entire audience.”

It not only evoked huge applause but brought the audi-ence to tears. The sheer romance of the number brought back memories of yesteryears for many sitting at the auditorium. The marriage of the impeccable

lyrics and the melody of the song left one-and-all spell-bound even after so many years of its compilation.

Mukhopadhyay couldn’t turn down the request of the Chief Minister and sang the song after saying that she was still recovering from cough and cold and apprehended that she might not be able to give her best. But as soon as she started singing, the audience and those on the dais stared at her with rapt attention. In her 80s, the magic of her voice carried away those present there to a different world. When the song ended, it took all of them a moment to realise that it was over. All the singers, who were on the dais including

Jeet Ganguly and Abhijit gath-ered around her and touched her feet to seek blessings. They requested the Chief Minister to organise another programme as a mark of respect to Sandhya Mukhopadhyay since it would not be possible for them to main-tain the brilliance and the mood with which the veteran had sung the song.

Rabindra Sangeet exponent Dwijen Mukhopadhyay who was also on the dais, supported the others. Finally, the programme ended with all the artistes and recipients of “Sangeet Mahasam-man” and “Sangeet Samman” signing Aguner Parash Mani in chorus as a mark of respect to Sandhya Mukhopadhyay.

Eminent music artistes including Rabindra Sangeet singer from Bangladesh Rezwana Choudhury Bannya, Swapan Basu, Pandit Subhankar Banner-jee and Tarun Bhattacharya were awarded “Sangeet Mahasam-man” and “Sangeet Samman” was conferred to artistes includ-ing Imon Chakraborty, Parimal Bhattacharya, Mayarani Pod-dar, Swapan Sen, Nimai Soren, Durbadal Chatterjee and Amit Banerjee.

Bidhannagar Police unearth fake admission racket, 3 arrested

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar City Police unearthed a nation-wide racket that would cheat aspirants with false promises of providing admissions to medi-cal colleges and arrested three persons in this connection. The trio were apprehended on Fri-day night from an apartment at Chinar Park on the basis of a case that was initiated at Bid-hannagar Cyber Crime Police station on November 3. The total cheated amount across the country would run into a few crores.

The arrested persons — Ranjan Kumar Panda, San-jay Kumar Dash and Rajesh Kumar Dash — all hail from Jajpur, Odisha.

Many gadgets, forged docu-ments and bank-related docu-ments have been seized from their possession.

According to a senior offi-cial of the Cyber Crime Police, one Naveen Chandra, a resi-dent of Patna had come in con-tact with one of the accused, Rajesh, at the office of a private educational council situated at Salt Lake Sector V.

Rajesh had lured Naveen

with false promises of mak-ing arrangements for his son’s admission at KIMS Medical College in Bengaluru.

Naveen had paid more than Rs 11 lakh to Rajesh in two monthly installments in August and September respec-tively but after a month, it was found that the office of the edu-cation council was fake.

According to the inves-tigators, there are a num-ber of medical aspirants who have been duped in a similar manner.

All of those who have been cheated have paid at least Rs 11 lakh to the gang.

Police further informed that among the trio nabbed, Ranjan is a B. Com, Sanjay a BA while Rajesh has a diploma of Fitter and all the three are very well conversed in English.

“We have every reason to believe that there are more people involved in the racket. We will definitely grill them for more leads,” a senior official of Bidhannagar City Police’s detective department said.

CM gives approval to rename Creek Lane to Dr R Ahmed SaraniKOLKATA: Accepting the request of the Bengal chapter of the Indian Dental Association (IDA) to rename Creek Lane, situated adjacent to the old building of R Ahmed Dental College after Dr R Ahmed, the father of Indian dentistry, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given her nod for the same. Sources in the IDA, Bengal chapter, said the Chief Minister has given her approval and the same will be effective from December 24 which will be observed as National Dentist Day to commemorate 127 birth anniversary of Padma Bhushan Dr R Ahmed. IDA has expressed its gratitude towards the Chief Minister for approv-ing the renaming of Creek Lane as Dr R Ahmed Sarani. The National Dentist Day will be observed through various programmes organised by the IDA, Bengal chapter, in association with IDA Kol-kata city branch. OUR CORRESPONDENT

OUR CORRESPONDENT

DARJEELING: The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) constituted the block-level devel-opment committees in eight blocks respectively under the GTA, with 11 members each, including the Chair-man and Vice-Chairman.

“We released an order on Fri-day regarding the constitution of the committees. Schemes are not being implemented properly in the block levels. Hence the formation of the committees that will act as supervisory bodies was absolutely necessary,” stated Binay Tamang, Chairman, GTA Board of Admin-istrators (BOA). Two locals will be incorporated in the board to be nom-inated by the GTA BOA.

BDOs will be the conveners of the respective committees. Other mem-bers will include the block medical officer of health, block disaster man-agement officer, block youth officer, SI Primary and Secondary, CDPO, block livestock officer and block assistant director of agriculture.

“The committee will formulate annual action plan; identify ben-eficiaries; monitor and supervise and provide utilisation certificates as well. The committee will meet fort-nightly and will prepare reports to be submitted to the GTA,” added Tamang.

Incidentally, with the nomina-tion of the GTA BOA, the GTA has started working in close coordina-tion with the state government shun-ning the policy of locking horns with the state at every opportunity.

A meeting was convened on Fri-

day by the GTA at the GTA Secre-tariat in Darjeeling attended by the DMs, SDOs and BDOs of the Dar-jeeling and Kalimpong districts.

Incidentally, though the BDOs report to the DM representing the state government, with the formation of the block level development com-mittees, the BDOs will be reporting to the GTA through the committees.

The GTA in Friday’s meeting has also requested that the mid-day meal scheme should be implemented through the Principal Secretary, GTA. Until now, the DM used to issue lifting orders for food grains under the mid-day meal scheme for schools in GTA areas also.

“As Education and Food Supplies departments have been transferred to the GTA by the state, we want the GTA to implement the mid-day meal scheme,” added Tamang.

The GTA also held a meeting with Manoj Agarwal, Principal Sec-retary, Food Supplies Department; government of West Bengal.

“We discussed on different issues including increasing the number of MR shops, raising the PDS and kero-sene oil quota, review and increase of the number of Below Poverty Level beneficiaries, digitisation of PDS cards, appointment of food inspec-tors and a separate district food controller office in Kalimpong (as it is a separate district now),” stated Tamang.

There are 8.71 lakh card hold-ers in the Hills out of which only 4,000 people have been incorporated in the BPL category. Around 9,000 tonnes of foodgrains is distributed each month in the Hills.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The state Pan-chayat and Rural Development department has made it manda-tory that gram panchayats need to take approval of the District Magistrates for making pay-ments above Rs 25,000 of the fund allotted under Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) Grant and Performance Based Grant (PBG).

It may be mentioned that each gram panchayat has received around Rs 1.5 crore on an average under these grants and the step to make the District Magistrate’s approval manda-tory was taken after it was found that there were “weak monitor-ing of activities that are taking place at the gram panchayats resulting in increasing griev-ances of citizens...”

It has been mentioned that gram panchayats will have to send details of planned proj-ects and its cost to the Block Development Officers who they will do the initial verification through a gram panchayat level-monitoring committee and then send the report to the DM for final approval of payment.

Those arrested — Ranjan Kumar Panda, Sanjay Kumar Dash & Rajesh Kumar Dash all hail from Jajpur, Odisha

mp

Nation Hamid Ansari

Govt should implement basic principles of Constitution

4| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

PM’s Gujarat model debunked during polls: Rahul Gandhi

Sitharaman holds talks with Russian Dy PM to

boost defence ties If BJP had a

film franchise it would be called Lie Hard: Rahul

ICA/T 6541(3 )/2017

OUR CORRESPONDENT

AHMEDABAD: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who on Saturday met party leaders here to discuss assembly election results, claimed Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s much talked- about Gujarat development model was debunked dur-ing the polls.

The Congress chief held zone-wise “introspection meetings” here to ascer-tain reasons for the party’s defeat.

“You fought very well. We managed to ‘gherao’ the BJP, as you could see that they were not able to give reply to our ques-tions,” Gandhi told party workers.

“Modiji, in the end, spoke about him-self, about (former prime minister) Man-mohan Singh. But all earlier talk about development and Modi model was debunked by Congress workers and the people of Gujarat,” he said.

The entire country was asking what happened to the Gujarat model. Modiji would not be able to talk about it in the future, Gandhi said.

“The question asked three or four months ago was can the Congress fight elections, nobody was talking about us winning it. The Gujarat Congress has shown the entire country that if it fights in one voice on the basis of its ideology, it won’t get defeated,” he said.

“We lost in the elections, but we won. That is the reality. We won because they (the BJP) fought with anger, they had all the equipment, money, chief ministers of different states (to campaign), indus-trialists, but we had truth,” the Congress chief said.

At one time the BJP said the Congress would get only 15- 20 seats, he said, add-ing the “new leadership” in the Assem-

bly would bring the Congress to power in Gujarat in 2022.

Gandhi alleged Modi and the BJP ran a campaign of “lies and defamation” over the last two decades and it was the “main rea-son” for the Congress’s defeat in the polls.

“My main challenge was to make the Congress accept that it was going to win the elections. You believed 70 per cent of it, and you saw the results,” he said.

“Now, the Gujarat Congress has regained confidence. You know that the Congress can win elections. Now see the kind of results we will get in the Lok Sabha and next Assembly (polls). It will be a good result, and in the next Assembly we will form the government,” Gandhi said.

“The BJP said it will get 150 seats (in 2017 polls)... We will get 135 seats (in 2022 Gujarat polls),” he said.

Action will be taken against “5-10 per cent” renegade party workers while those who worked with devotion will be rewarded, the Congress chief said.

“You have to show the people of Guja-rat that Congress MLAs fight for people’s issues and never backtrack. Whatever we had said about the Gujarat government during the election is true and the fight has not ended yet,” Gandhi said.

“The BJP will run the government of five-ten industrialists and will work to snatch lands from farmers. It is our duty to protect the people of Gujarat, its farmers and youths...We will give a fight to the BJP at every level,” the Congress president said.

Gandhi met newly elected Congress MLAs, defeated candidates and district unit presidents to elicit their views on the results.

RUDRAPUR (UTTARA-KHAND): Three labourers, including a father-daughter duo, were killed when a heap of earth collapsed on them while they were mining in a field in Udham Singh Nagar district, police said on Saturday.

Two other labourers were injured when the incident occurred in the field in Sultan-pur Patti in Bajpur in Kosi river area of the district yesterday, a senior police official said.

Layers of earth were removed with great difficulty by other workmen to pull out the labourers, Additional Super-intendent of Police, Kashipur, Jagdish Chandra said.

"While three of them died on way to the hospital, two labourers who suffered seri-ous injuries are still battling for their lives at a hospital in Kashi-pur," the ASP said. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BHOPAL: A court here on Sat-urday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for raping a 19-year-old woman near the Habibganj railway station in the city in October.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Savita Dubey awarded the sentence to Golu alias Bihari Chadhar (25), Amar alias Ghuntu (24), Rajesh Chetram alias Raju (26) and Ramesh Mehra alias Raju (45).

"They will remain behind bars for the rest of their lives," the court said.

The sentence was awarded under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 376D (gangrape).

The woman was raped near the railway station when she was returning home after attending a coaching class on October 31.

The survivor, daughter of a police couple, had to make rounds of different police sta-tions to get her complaint reg-istered as the police initially refused to lodge an FIR, citing a jurisdiction issue.

After a public outrage over the delay in the registration of the FIR, five police personnel were suspended, while three others, including two IPS offi-cers, were transferred.

A special investigation team (SIT) was set up by the Mad-hya Pradesh police to probe the crime.

NEW DELHI: After accusing the BJP of having an "architec-ture and foundation based on lies", Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at the ruling party say-ing if it had a film franchise it would be called "Lie Hard".

"If BJP had a film franchise it would be called Lie Hard," he said on Twitter, while rhym-ing it with Hollywood action blockbuster "Die Hard".

His attack on the BJP came a day after he accused the rul-ing dispensation of having its structure and foundation based on lies. He was speaking at the meeting of Congress's highest decision-making body, its Working Committee.

Gandhi has been using one-liner laced with satire to target the BJP in recent months. Gan-dhi also used three taglines on Twitter along with his remark.

The new Congress chief 's attack came after the BJP tar-geted him for watching the film "Star Wars" on the day elec-tion results for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were announced and his party lost the elections. MPOST

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Defence Min-ister Nirmala Sitharaman and Russian Deputy Prime Min-ister Dmitry Rogozin on Sat-urday held wide-ranging talks with a focus on further boost-ing the bilateral defence and security ties through joint man-ufacture and co-development of key military platforms and weapon systems.

Official sources said various aspects of the defence relation-ship between the two countries were discussed threadbare dur-ing the delegation-level talks with an aim to enhance the cooperation further.

Sitharaman apprised Rogozin about various policy initiatives taken by the govern-ment to encourage the domes-tic defence industry and added that Russian companies can take advantage of the reform measures and share defence

technologies for manufactur-ing of military equipment and platforms.

In a major step towards defence indigenisation, the Indian government had in May unveiled a "strategic partner-ship" model under which select private firms would be engaged along with foreign entities to build military platforms such as fighter jets, submarines and battle tanks. Russia has been one of major suppliers of arms and ammunition to India.

However, it has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of criti-cal spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time affect-ing maintenance of military systems procured from that country. India has been con-veying to Moscow the need for having a robust and reliable after-sales support mechanism with regards to serviceability of Russian-origin equipment.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SHIRDI (MAHA): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday wondered why should anybody have a prob-lem with singing "Vande Mata-ram", meaning salutations to the mother, a song that inspired millions during the country's freedom movement.

"Mother is not the photo but our motherland. 'Vande Mataram' is saluting the mother. Why should anyone have a problem with this," Naidu said at an event in this temple town in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

"Irrespective of our caste, creed and religion, we are one nation, one people and one country," Naidu said, after inaugurating the Global Sai Temple Trust Summit organ-ised by the Shri Saibaba Sans-than, Shirdi, for trustees and

representatives of Saibaba tem-ples in India and abroad.

Naidu also rejected as "irrelevant" the issue whether Saibaba, the 20th century saint, was a Hindu or Muslim, say-ing: "he (Saibaba) was a uni-versal teacher who blended the core principles of Hinduism and Sufism".

Saibaba's teachings of ser-

vice to mankind and living in peace and harmony with oth-ers need to be imbibed by all and that would be the real trib-ute to him, Naidu said. "Serv-ing the mankind is serving God. Saibaba is an embodi-ment of this culture," he said.

An official statement quoted Naidu as saying that being an Indian national

amounts to being spiritual, as it is all about seeking a larger identity rising above narrow and divisive considerations.

"India is a larger collective and to be known as Indian is going beyond the identity based on birth, caste, region or religion and coming together for a larger cause," he said.

He said nationality and nationalism are instruments of larger unity and integration, uniting the people, thereby going beyond primary identi-ties. This unifying principle of nationalism should not be mis-understood. To feel, think and act as an Indian or 'Bharatiya' involves overcoming one's pri-mary and divisive identities, he added. "So, in my view, to be an Indian is being spiritual, as it elevates us to a higher level of identity and shared expe-rience, purpose and actions," Naidu said.

DHIRENDRA KUMAR

NEW DELHI: In a big boost to the Ministry of Ayush and herbal products manufactur-ers, the sector has registered a decent growth in the export of herbal products in the last 3 years. According to the lat-est report, the ministry has exported herbal products to the tune of $1,329.26 million in the last 3 financial years starting from 2014-15 to 2017-18 (upto September).

In a written reply to a ques-tion in Lok Sabha on Friday, Minister of State (I/C) for Ayush Shripad Yesso Naik said that the country exported 92,059.21 tonne of Ayush and herbal products with price value of $354.68 million in the financial year 2014-15.

The sector improved fur-ther in the financial year 2015-16 as the export figures of herbal products rose to 95,883.49 tonne and brought foreign exchange to the tune of $364 million, which is an increase of $9.32 million from the previous year.

The sector witnessed a huge jump of $37.68 million in the financial year 2016-17 after exporting 83,357.97 tonne of herbal products and fetching

$401.68 million in comparison to previous year. “The Ayush and herbal products worth $208.90 million has already been exported in the financial year 2017-18 upto Septem-ber 2017. The total volume of herbal products exported upto September stands at 42,270.03 tonne,” the minister said.

Earlier in December, the Ayush Ministry in collabora-tion with Commerce Ministry and traders’ body had organ-ised Arogya-2017 to provide a global recognition of herbal products of the country.

During a roundtable meet-ing with traders, ayurvedic drug maker KK Sharma, who represents AIMIL Pharma-ceuticals, had highlighted the issue of unavailability of qual-ity raw materials for manufac-turing of ayurvedic medicines and herbal products. The min-ister had assured all necessary support to promote herbal sector citing that the segment has potential to create employ-ment opportunities for 26 mil-lion. According to Naik, the ministry offers incentives to Ayush industry under its cen-tral sector scheme for inter-national cooperation to get market authorisation and reg-istration for their products.

India exported herbal products worth $1,326 mn in three years, says govt

Why should Vande Mataram rendition bother anybody, asks Venkaiah Naidu

Four get life imprisonment

in Bhopal gangrape case

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The number of deep tube wells in the country saw surge from 1.46 million to 2.6 million between 2006-07 and 2013-14, according to the fifth minor irrigation Census carried out by the Union Water Resources Ministry.

Majority of the total deep tube wells, which irrigate 12.68 million hectares of land, are located in states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Hary-ana, Madhya Pradesh, Maha-rashtra and Karnataka and are dominantly owned by farmers, the report said.

Forty per cent, largest chunk, of these tube wells have

a depth range of 70-90 metres, while 26 per cent are in the range of 90-110 metres, said the Census, carried out with 2013-14 as reference year and released recently.

In tube well, pipe is bored underground. As per the def-inition, the report said, deep tube wells are more than 70 meters deep. "There are total of 2.6 million deep tube wells in 661 districts of the country irri-gating 12.68 million ha of land.

Deep tube wells have grown rapidly from 0.1 million in 1987 to 0.5 million in 2000-01, 1.45 million in 2006-07 and more than 2.6 million in 2013-14," the Census carried out.

The report said 98.5 per cent of the deep tube wells are

owned privately. 81 per cent of the private owners are individ-ual farmers, while 19 per cent are owned by group of farmers.

Among the farmers, mar-ginal and small peasants own 50 per cent of the deep tube wells. "As per the social status of the farmers owning deep tube wells, about 50.2 per cent schemes belong to others fol-lowed by other backward castes (38.6 per cent), scheduled caste (at 6.7 per cent) and scheduled tribe (4.5 per cent)," the report said.

About 62 per cent of indi-vidually owned deep tube wells are financed by a single source, while remaining 38 per cent are having more than one source of finance, it said.

Father-daughter duo among three miners killed in

Uttarakhand

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: In the 105-year history, the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) has decided to postpone the science congress, which is the largest congregation of Indian scientists.

According to an official release, the event has been postponed on the request of Osmania University (OU), Hyderabad as the university informed ISCA on December 19 that in view of certain issues in the campus, they were not in a position to host the 105th Annual Session of the Indian Science Congress, which was scheduled to be held during 3-7 January 2018.

“The postponement of the Science Congress has no

relation to the Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi’s visit to the event, for which all prep-arations from ISCA’s side and PMO were being made as had been planned. Thus associating the postponement of the 105th Annual Session of the Science Congress to the PM’s visit is incorrect,” the release said.

The decision on future course of action would be taken during a key meeting on December 27, the statement said.

The choice of venue of a science congress is usually decided a year in advance and preparations are a massive logistical exercise that involves coordinating the visit of sev-eral Nobel Laureates, heads of Indian science academies and thousands of students.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi offering prayers at the Somnath Temple, Gujarat, on Saturday

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu addresses the audience at the Second Global Sai Temple Summit, in Shirdi on Saturday

Number of deep tube wells rose by 1.1 mn in 7 yrs in India

Science Congress postponed not due to PM’s visit: Govt

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in New Delhi on Saturday

NEW DELHI: With the Guja-rat poll verdict indicating farm distress had put the ruling BJP on a weak wicket in rural areas, the government’s next budget is likely to be more farmer-cen-tric focussing on getting them remunerative prices through market reforms and support-ing them through robust credit facilities and by increasing the crop insurance footprint.

Since agrarian crisis will

be one of the key issues in the assembly polls in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan next year and the general election in 2019, the upcoming budget will provide the government an opportunity to announce its intent.

“We had a good crop year in 2016-17, but farmers had to face problem in getting remunerative prices of their produce. This is something which we need to

address and the budget is likely to focus on this aspect”, said a senior official who has been part of a team to extend agriculture ministry’s input for budget to the finance ministry.

The Centre has already taken several measures to address the issue but will now attempt to strengthen it by tak-ing actions like devising more systematic procurement method and expanding the network of

e-NAM (e-National Agricul-ture Market) from 585 in 2018 to over 1,000 by 2020. The idea will be to bring more and more regulated market on e-NAM platform so that the farmers can get better price of their pro-duce without being exploited by commission agents and cartel of traders. “The NITI Aayog and the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council too are work-ing on it. Though agriculture

is the subject where the states have to be on board for success of many schemes, the govern-ment’s focus in the budget is likely to be on allocating more fund for centrally-sponsored schemes”, said the official.

The funds for expand-ing e-NAM’s footprints, cold chain, irrigation infrastructure, micro-irrigation and crop insur-ance scheme are expected to be increased. AGENCIES

Eye on 2019 LS polls: Govt’s budget to be more farmer-centric

| 5

mpmillennium post |KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017

Business Open to improvements in Aadhaar-based privacy framework

Arun Jaitley

Centre to file review petition against SC order on MRP issue

Infosys completes Rs 13,000 cr buyback

Note ban: ED’s supp chargesheet names Rohit Tandon as accused

Money laundering: ED attaches Gagan

Dhawan’s asset

The Executive Engineer(E), DCED, CPWD, 20-Sub-hash Road, Dehradun-248001 invites Percentage rate bid on behalf of President of India from Approved and eligible registered contractors in Composite Category in appro-priate class in CPWD for the following work:-1. NIT No. 160/DCED/2017-18. Name of Work:- C/o “A” Type School Building & Resi-dential Staff qtrs. i/c Development work for Kendriya Vidyalaya at Pauri Garhwai (Uttarakhand). (SH : Bound-ary wall Lighting). Estimated Cost: Rs. 10,19,219/- Ear-nest Money Rs. 20,384/- and Period of Completion: 12 Months, Last Time & date of submission of bid: 29-12-2017 at 3:00 PM. & the same shall be opened on the same day at 3.30 PM The tender forms and other details can be obtained from the website.

www.tenderwizard.com / CPWD or www.cpwd.gov.in,

CENTRAL PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTPRESS NOTICE

NOTICE INVITING e-TENDERS

KOLKATA: Prabhat Kumar Sinha on Saturday took charge as the chairman-cum-manag-ing director (CMD) of North-ern Coalfields Limited (NCL).

Sinha was working as director (technical) in South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), and succeeded Tapas Kumar Nag, who superan-nuated in September this year, the company said in a statement.

"With a diversified expe-rience of more than 35 years in opencast and underground coal mining, the mining mas-ter degree holder from Indian School of Mines started his Carrier from SECL, the com-pany said.

It was under his leadership that during the financial year 2010-11, Jayant Open Cast Project (OCP) of NCL, had registered the highest ever sin-gle day coal production of 2.5 million tonne.

It also happens to be world record of coal production by any coal mining project in a given day. PTI

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against an order allowing hotels and restaurants to charge higher price than the MRP on mineral water, Consumer Affiars Min-ister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Saturday. "In relation with the recent Supreme Court judge-ment on MRP issue, we are filing a review petition before the apex court to reconsider its judgement," Paswan told reporters here.

Earlier this month, the apex court had said that the govern-ment cannot enforce sale of mineral water on their MRPs in hotels and restaurants as the Standards of Weights and Mea-sures Act, 1976 does not apply.

Allowing the appeals filed by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), the Supreme Court had set aside the previ-ous order passed by Delhi High Court.

The FHRAI had contended that providing mineral water to its customers was a transac-tion consisting predominantly

of a service and not of a sale of drinking water.

"We are, therefore, of the view that neither the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 read with the enactment of 1985, or the Legal Metrol-ogy Act, 2009, would apply so as to interdict the sale of min-eral water in hotels and restau-rants at prices which are above the MRP," the Supreme Court had said in its order passed on December 12, 2017.

Paswan has always been vocal against dual MRPs on products and favouring cer-

tain mandatory labelling requirements.

He approved amendments to the Legal Metrology (Pack-aged Commodities) Rules, 2011, that will come into effect from January 1, 2018. The amended rules, among oth-ers, prohibit dual MRPs on products.

Paswan, on several occa-sions in the past, also spoke against unfair imposition of service charge on food bill and had even sought explanation from hotels and restaurants' bodies. PTI

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment has allowed companies, till March 2018, to paste price stickers on unsold packaged products to reflect new MRP post GST, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Saturday.

After Goods and Services Tax (GST) became effective from July 1, companies were asked to use stickers on unsold packaged commodities to display new maximum retail price (MRP) till September, which was later extended till December.

When rates of about 200 items were cut in mid-Novem-ber, the ministry permitted to paste additional stickers under the Legal Metrology (Pack-aged Commodities) Rules, 2011.

"In case of GST, we allowed companies to paste stickers on unsold packaged products till

December. In last GST coun-cil meeting, GST rates have been reduced for about 200 items. So, we have decided to extend the December deadline to March 2018," Paswan told reporters here.

Last month, the ministry had allowed to "affix an addi-tional sticker or stamping or online printing for declaring the reduced MRP on the pre-packaged commodity".

As many as 178 items of daily use have been shifted from the top tax bracket of 28 per cent to 18 per cent, while a uniform 5 per cent tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air- conditioned and non-AC.

To ensure GST cuts are passed on to consumers, Pas-wan had recently directed state legal metrology officers to check if companies are past-ing the new MRP stickers. PTI

GST: Govt allows companies to paste MRP stickers till March

MUMBAI: India's first low-cost carrier Air Deccan, which ceased operations after being acquired by erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines in 2008, took off wings again as a commuter airline with its maiden flight taking off for Jalgaon from here on Saturday.

The flight, DN 1320, took off for Jalgaon, around 400 km from here in North Maharash-tra, from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here this afternoon.

"It's a sense of great begin-ning. A sense of being fortunate that Air Deccan is taking off again," Air Deccan chairman Capt G R Gopinath said.

There was a dream of taking flying to every possible corner of the country, which did not come to fruition because of Air Deccan's merger with the King-fisher Airlines in 2008, he said.

"Now I have the opportunity

to relaunch operations across the country," said the pioneer of low-cost aviation in India. The flight was inaugurated by Maharashtra PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil along with Gopinath. However, the maiden flight was marred by delay. The aircraft took off at around 2.55 pm instead of the scheduled departure of 1.20 pm. It landed at the Jalgaon airport at 4 pm where it was given a traditional water cannon salute.

Air Deccan's strategic part-ners Shaishav Shah of Ahmed-abad-based GSEC Ltd and Himanshu Shah of Monarch Networth Capital as well as senior DGCA officials were on-board the inaugural flight.

Air Deccan received the scheduled commuter operator (SCO) permit from regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday. PTI

Air Deccan takes wings again, flies to Jalgaon

NEW DELHI: IT services major Infosys on Saturday said it has completed its Rs 13,000 crore buyback programme that saw participation from Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Rohan Murty and LIC among others.

The buyback scheme -- a first in the company's over three decade history -- com-menced on November 30 and closed on December 14.

"(A total of) 11,30,43,478 equity shares were bought back under the Buyback at a price of Rs 1,150 per equity share. The total amount utilised in the Buyback is Rs 13,000 crore excluding transaction costs..." Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

The programme saw par-ticipation from Life Insurance Corporation of India, Sin-gapore government, Sudha Gopalakrishnan (wife of co-founder S Gopalakrishnan) and Rohan Murty (son of co-founder NR Narayana Mur-thy's son) among others.

The filing showed that of all the equity shares tendered in the buyback, 5.41 per cent were by LIC and 2.18 per cent by Singapore government.

Similarly, 15 lakh shares

of Sudha Gopalakrishnan and 13.92 lakh shares held by Murty were accepted under the buyback.

As of September this year, Sudha Gopalakrishnan held the largest share in individual capacity among promoters group members with 2.14 per cent shareholding.

The founders and families classified as promoters group held 29.28 crore shares, or 12.75 per cent, in Infosys at the end of September 2017.

After the buyback, the pro-moter group now holds 12.90 per cent share, as per the filing.

The buyback had been a

long-standing demand by some of the founders and high-pro-file former executives, who have been pushing Infosys to return surplus capital to shareholders.

Share buybacks typically improve earnings per share and return surplus cash to share-holders, while supporting share price during period of sluggish market condition. Earlier this year, its larger rival Tata Con-sultancy Services completed a Rs 16,000-crore mega buy-back offer. Other competitors like Cognizant, Wipro and Mindtree had also made simi-lar announcements. PTI

Prabhat Kumar Sinha takes over

as NCL CMD

PANAJI: Another major U-turn by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, this time on the Mahadeyi water dis-pute, has put the BJP-led coali-tion government in a spot, with critics accusing him of putting the state's natural resources at stake, merely to boost BJP's chances in the upcoming Kar-nataka polls.

Parrikar, after a meeting with party president Amit Shah and senior party colleague from Karnataka, B.S. Yeddy-urappa in New Delhi earlier this week, agreed "on humani-tarian grounds" to consider the southern state's need for drink-ing water, even as the matter is being heard by a Tribunal.

But his current intention of "resolving" the dispute is in sharp contrast to his own state-ments earlier, unequivocally opposing diversion of water for any purpose to Karnataka.

Soon after becoming Chief Minister in 2012, Parrikar had asserted that he would not lis-ten to his party's Central lead-ership, if they press him to sacrifice Goa's interests on the dispute.

Goa and Karnataka are currently battling out a dis-pute over the latter's contro-

versial Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across the waters of the Mahadeyi river at a central tri-bunal. Mahadeyi, known as the Mandovi in Goa, is known as a lifeline in the northern Karna-taka, where it originates, passes through Maharashtra briefly and drains into the Arabian Sea at Panaji.

While the river traverses 28.8 km in Karnataka, it runs through a length of 81.2 km in Goa. Karnataka plans to con-struct seven dams on the river, aimed at diverting 7.56 TMC water into its water-starved Malaprabha basin in North Karnataka.

At a meeting of the National Water Resources Council in

2012, Parrikar had said diver-sion of the Mahadeyi water by Karnataka, would be opposed at all forums. The Chief Min-ister however now insists that he is not under pressure from the party's central leadership and has blamed the Congress of trying to unnecessarily rake up the issue.

"The Congress is unneces-sarily making a hue and cry over the issue. Their govern-ments have in the past gave written submissions to the courts saying that there was no problem with diverting the Mhadei water," Parrikar told reporters on Friday, adding that a letter written by him to Yed-dyurappa on the contentious

issue had taken care of Goa's interests.

Yeddyurappa, the BJP's first Chief Minister in south India, is expected to lead the party's campaign in the region, when the state goes to poll next year. BJP sources said that the party was looking to lever-age the Mhadei issue in north Karnataka constituencies, espe-cially in districts like Belgaum, Bagalkot, etc.

"A promise to end the Mha-dei dispute and provision of drinking water will be a big plus during poll campaign in Karnataka. BJP leaders from Goa like Parrikarji are also expected to join the election campaign there and the prom-ise of diversion of drinking water will be an attractive poll promise," a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.

The Congress has now accused Parrikar and BJP of letting down Goa's interests. "CM's stand that in principle, Goa will not oppose reason-able and justified quantum of drinking water to Karnataka from Mhadei on humanitarian grounds is unrealistic and will be harmful for the state," Goa Congress president Shantaram Naik said. AGENCIES

Natural resources: Parrikar makes U-turn on Mahadeyi row

PANAJI: The Goa unit of the Shiv Sena has accused Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of compromising Goa's interests on the Mahadeyi river.

The Sena's accusations come after Parrikar recently wrote to BJP’s Karnataka chief B Yeddyurappa expressing willing-ness to have bilateral talks to release Mahadeyi river water to Karnataka for drinking purposes.

"We condemn Parrikar's move to allow the water from River Mahadeyi to be diverted by Karnataka government. The move is clearly chalked out for the sake of winning upcoming elections (in Karnataka)," Sena’s Goa spokesman Rakhi Prabhudessai Naik said in a statement issued here.

"Parrikar should not have agreed to sell the interest of Goa for his party s victory in Karnataka," she added.

"He (Parrikar) has made a mockery of the Goan peo-ple who have high respect for his statesmanship. Parri-kar should not forget that he is Goan first, and then a BJP leader," she said.

The party also expressed surprise over the silence of the Goa Forward Party, the BJP's ally, on the issue.

She said that the Sena expected GFP leader Vijai Sarde-sai to not bend to the greed of power at the cost of Goans.

She added that the Sena always kept the interests of a state above party politics and its stand against its own gov-ernment in Maharashtra was an example.

Parrikar s statement about being ready for bilateral talks with Karnataka to release water came after he met BJP presi-dent Amit Shah in Delhi. PTI

CM is compromising Goa’s interests: Sena

NEW DELHI: The Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) on Sat-urday attached a plot worth Rs 1. 17 crore in connection with its probe against Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan in a Rs 5,000 crore money laundering case involv-ing a Gujarat-based pharma company.

The agency said it has issued a provisional order, under the sections of the Pre-vention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), attaching 336 sq mtrs of a plot located in DLF city phase-III in Gurgaon, near here.

The ED said it found the asset involved in money laun-dering and purchased out of the proceeds of crime of the alleged defraud of bank loans in this case.

"The facts of the case reveal that the said amount involved in money launder-ing was layered through vari-ous inter-bank transfers and thereafter integrated and then utilised by the afore-cited per-son (Dhawan) to acquire the said immovable property and rights therein attempting to show the same as untainted property which is likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in a manner which may frustrate the proceed-

ings under the Act (PMLA)," it said.

The agency had arrested Dhawan on November 1 on these charges and he is also under the scanner of the ED for his alleged links with some top politicians.

The ED had alleged that Dhawan had facilitated the directors of Gujarat-based pharma firm Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL) in the purchase of several properties and helped in misuse and diversion of the credit facilities of several bank totalling Rs 5,000 crore.

"Rs 1.5 crore was received by the accused from the SBL group. Prior to that, the amount of bank loans was rotated in various group com-panies of SBL group," the ED had claimed.

The trial court had on November 14 issued non-bailable warrants against two other persons –SBL directors Nitin and Chetan Sandesara.

The agency had told the court that Sandesara might have left the country.

The firm and Dhawan were also being probed by the ED for allegedly bribing senior Income Tax department offi-cials in an earlier criminal complaint. PTI

NEW DELHI: The Enforce-ment Directorate on Saturday filed a supplementary charge sheet before a Delhi court against lawyer Rohit Tandon in connection with the Preven-tion of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case involving Kolk-ata-based businessman Paras Mal Lodha.

The prosecution complaint (charge sheet) was filed before Additional Sessions Judge A K Kuhar by ED Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana who said the court has now kept it for consideration on February 2, 2018.

This is the first time that Tandon's name has appeared as an accused in the mat-ter involving Lodha who was chargesheeted earlier this year for alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore old currency into new notes.

Lodha has been accused of conspiring along with Tandon and indulging in converting old demonetised notes into new currency on commission basis which constitutes the offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In its charge sheet filed in February, the ED had alleged that the new currency, which was entrusted to banks and government officials and was supposed to be delivered to public/bank account holders, appeared to have been misap-propriated by Lodha and oth-

ers for their monetary gains, thereby "cheating public at large" and causing monetary loss to the government.

While Lodha was arrested on December 21, 2016, in con-nection with alleged conver-sion of over Rs 25 crore old currency into new notes, Tan-don is in custody since last year in connection with a similar case lodged by the ED.

The charge sheet filed ear-lier, said Lodha had commit-ted offences, including those under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) and 120B

(criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The agency had told the court that Lodha was involved in the offence of money laun-dering which "frustrated" demonetisation policy of the government posing "serious threat" to financial health of the country.

Tandon was arrested by the ED after a raid in con-nection with a black money probe which led to the alleged seizure of Rs 13.6 crore from his law firm. He was alleged to be involved in illegal con-version of nearly Rs 60 crore demonetised currency. PTI

AARDVARK MISSING AFTER FIRE AT LONDON ZOOLONDON: A fire broke out at London Zoo, engulfing a cafe and shop near an animal petting area, and leaving one aardvark missing. Several staff were treated for smoke inhalation and shock following the blaze, which broke out in the Animal Adventure section shortly after 6:00 am, the zoo said. “Duty staff that live on site at the zoo were on the scene immediately, and started moving animals to safety,” it said.

10,000 KILLED IN 1989 TIANANMEN CRACKDOWN: BRITISH ARCHIVE BEIJING: At least 10,000 people were killed in the Chinese army’s crackdown on pro-democracy protest-ers in Tiananmen Square in June 1989, according to a newly released British secret diplomatic cable that gives gruesome details of the bloodshed in Beijing. “Minimum estimate of civilian dead 10,000,” the then British ambassador Alan Donald said in a telegram to London. The document, made public more than 28 years after the event.

EX-MARINE HELD OVER SAN FRANCISCO CHRISTMAS ATTACK PLOT: FBI LOS ANGELES: Federal agents arrested a former US Marine for allegedly plotting a Christmas attack in San Francisco inspired by the IS jihadist group, according to court documents. Tow truck driver Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, was planning to target the city’s busy Pier 39 tourist spot, according to an affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Christopher McKinney.

BRIEFSWORLD

6| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017 | millenniumpost

mp

WorldUN Security Council puts new sanctions

on North KoreaUNITED NATIONS: With China’s backing, the UN Secu-rity Council today slapped new sanctions on North Korea that will restrict oil supplies vital for Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programmes.

The council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolu-tion that also orders the repatri-ation of North Korean workers abroad and earning revenue for Kim Jong-Un’s regime.

It is the third raft of sanc-tions imposed on North Korea this year and comes as the United States and North Korea are showing no signs they are willing to engage in talks to end the crisis on the Korean pen-insula. The resolution bans the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to North Korea, puts a cap on crude deliveries and orders the repa-triation of all North Korean nationals working abroad by the end of 2019. The mea-sures are in response to North Korea’s test of an intercontinen-tal ballistic missile (ICBM) on November 28 that marked an advance in Pyongyang’s drive to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike.

President Donald Trump has threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacks the United States while North Korea insists the world

must now accept that it is a nuclear power.

Trump asked Chinese Pres-ident Xi Jinping last month to cut off oil to North Korea, a move that would cripple its des-perately struggling economy.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have been sent to Rus-sia and China to earn revenue for Pyongyang, working in what UN rights officials have described as “slave-like con-ditions.” Crude oil supplies were capped at four million barrels per year and a ceiling of 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum products, includ-ing diesel and kerosene, was set for next year. That will reduce the flow of fuel from a previous ceiling set by the council of two million barrels a year.

Donald Trump on Friday hailed the adoption of new sanctions targeting North Korea over its nuclear program, saying the international com-munity was pushing for peace with the isolated regime.

“The UN Security Coun-cil just voted 15-0 in favor of additional Sanctions on North Korea. The World wants Peace, not Death!” Trump tweeted. The resolution drew criticism from Russia for the time the 13 other council nations had to consider the text, and last-min-ute changes to the text. AGENCIES

Pak govt asks court to deny clearance to Saeed’s party

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has requested a court here not to consider Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-backed Milli Mus-lim League’s plea seeking its registration as a political party, saying the group would breed violence and extremism in politics.

Saeed earlier this month had confirmed that his organ-isation Jammat-ud-Dawah (JuD) would contest the 2018 general elections under the banner of the Milli Muslim League (MML).

The MML had challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order on October 11 that had declined its registra-tion as a political party.

The interior ministry, in its written reply submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the MML’s petition, said that it opposed the group’s reg-istration as a political party as the group was an offshoot of proscribed entities.

Dawn newspaper reported that the government requested the court not to consider the MML’s plea and dismiss the petition.

The ministry formed its opinion on the basis of a security agency’s report which expressed apprehensions that

the registration of the MML as a political party “would breed violence and extremism in politics”. According to the ministry’s reply to the court, the MML is the offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD).

According to Political

Parties Order (PPO) 2002, organisations which act in the manner prejudicial to funda-mental rights, undermine the integrity of Pakistan, promote sectarian, regional or provin-cial hatred, bear a name as a militant group and impart any military or paramilitary

training to its members, do not qualify for registration as political party.

In it reply to the court, the interior ministry said a secu-rity agency had opined that “it is difficult to believe that the MML will tread its own path, completely at variance

with its mother (LeT and JuD) organisations.”

The agency “recommended that since registration of such groups would breed violence and extremism in politics, such groups be avoided,” it said.

According to the reply, the LeT, JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) are facing UN sanctions, therefore, the interior ministry “furnished comments to the ECP that the registration of the MML, an offshoot of the same network of JuD/FIF (which apparent in MML as well), was not supported”.

The JuD chief walked free on November 24 after the Pakistan government decided against detaining him fur-ther in any other case. He was under detention since January this year.

The MML had contested a bypoll in September for NA-120, a National Assembly seat that had fallen vacant fol-lowing disqualification of for-mer Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sheikh Yaqub, MML candi-date, had secured 6,000 votes. Yaqub was placed in 2012 on a US Treasury sanctions list of those designated as leaders of terrorist organisations. AGENCIES

US government official Henrietta Fore appointed UNICEF head

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Antonio Guterres has appointed former senior US government official Henrietta H Fore as the new executive director of UNICEF, the world body said.

Fore, 69, has worked to champion economic develop-ment, education and health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief for the most vul-nerable in the international and developing world.

She was the first woman to be appointed Administrator of the US Agency for Interna-tional Development and Direc-tor of US Foreign Assistance in the Department of State, she held these positions between 2006 and 2009.

From 1989 to 1993, she was working as the USAID Assis-tant Administrator for Asia and for Private Enterprise.

Currently CEO of Holsman International, a manufacturing and investment company, Fore also served as Undersecretary of State for Management, the Chief Operating Officer for the US Department of State. AGENCIES

US appeals court rules against US President’s travel banWASHINGTON: A federal appeals court has ruled against US President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban, say-ing that it “exceeds the scope of his delegated authority,” but that it was ulti-mately for the Supreme Court to decide.

The three-judge panel with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled on Friday that Trump had again exceeded his lawful authority in issuing the latest ban and that he had not made a legally sufficient finding that entry of those blocked would be “detrimental to the interests of the US”, the New York Times reported.

The ruling, however, is of little immediate consequence, as the judges said they would put it on hold pending consideration by the apex court, which allowed the ban to take effect.

In a statementthe US, Justice Department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam said: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has already allowed the government to implement the proclamation and keep all Ameri-cans safe while this matter is litigated. We continue to believe that the order should be allowed to take effect in its entirety.”

Trump’s September ban blocks various travellers from eight coun-tries, six of them predominantly Mus-lim, from entering the US. Two federal judges had earlier blocked its imple-mentation, at least in part, although the Supreme Court this month allowed it to fully take effect while the legal battle ran its course through the courts.

The administration said the restric-tions would be in effect until those countries proved to the US that they had adequate screening.

But the appeals court said that the

ban was, in effect, an indefinite one, and that Congress did not give the President the authority to stop immigration from any country indefinitely.

Neal Katyal, who argued the case before the Ninth Circuit court for the state of Hawaii, hailed the decision. “We are very pleased the Court of Appeals recognised that the President’s latest travel ban is flatly illegal,” he said, “and that his order defies the law Congress has laid down”.

The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is considering a separate chal-lenge to the ban. AGENCIES

Prez Trump signs tax reform Bill, says fulfilled Christmas promise

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Saturday signed into law $1.5 trillion tax Bill, the most sweeping overhaul in over 30 years, days after the Republican plan was adopted by Congress in a major politi-cal victory for the US President.

The tax reform Bill was passed by the House of Rep-resentatives on Wednesday for the second time by 224 to 201 votes to clear the technical snag in the passage of the package, which was passed by the Sen-ate and House earlier.

Trump signed the sweeping tax overhaul which represents the most drastic changes to the US tax code since 1986 into law in his Oval Office of the White House before leaving for Flor-ida on his Christmas vacation.

Trump told reporters that he was rushing through the signing of the bill to fulfil his promise to his fellow country-men that he would do it before Christmas.

“I didn’t want you folks to say I wasn’t keeping my promise. ... we did a rush job today and it wasn’t fancy... we expected a formal ceremony in two weeks,” Trump said.

The passage of the bill by the Senate and House of Rep-

resentatives is considered to be the first major legislative victory for President Donald Trump, after coming to power.

Early this week, the Repub-lican-majority Congress passed the tax reform bill, which was Trump’s key election promise.

The bill among other things reduces income tax of individ-uals, drops down the business tax to 21 percent.

Trump called the tax pack-age the “biggest tax cuts and reform in our country”.

The President said New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft said that because of the tax bill he was building “a tre-mendous paper mill.”

He called it “a bill for the middle class and a bill for jobs”.

“Corporations are literally going wild,” he said.

The Democrats were highly critical of the tax reform bill.

“The American people have been robbed of the substantive and exhaustive debate in Con-gress they deserve on a $1.5 trillion bill that will shake up our entire economy and cripple our nation’s spending power for decades to come,” Senator Tom Carper had said. Indian-Amer-ican Congressman Raja Krish-namoorthi said the Republican tax Bill would add nearly $1.5 trillion to the national debt while raising taxes on working families, and destabilise health care system by leaving 13 mil-lion more Americans without insurance. AGENCIES

Golden Gate Park meadow renamed

after Robin Williams

LOS ANGELES: A meadow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has been named after veteran comedian and actor Robin Williams.

The name of Golden Gate Park’s Sharon Meadow was officially changed to Robin Williams Meadow by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission.

The announcement was made by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Com-mission on their official website.

“After Robin Williams

death, the Department was approached by Debbi Durst and Maggie Lynch, who rep-resent a range community members, elected officials and people working in comedy, to name the area known as Sha-ron Meadow in Golden Gate Park in honour of Robin Wil-liams,” the release said.

The grassy stretch in Golden Gate Park was the site of an annual Comedy Day that counted Williams among its regular supporters. Williams was found dead at his Califor-nia home in 2014. AGENCIES

TRUMP’S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT WASHINGTON: A fe-male singer has accused a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump of re-peatedly slapping her behind during a party at Washington’s Trump International Hotel in November, according to US website Politico. Politico said Lewan-dowski did not respond to multiple requests for comment. AGENCIES

White House said in ‘Year One of Making America Great Again’

President Trump has used an America First foreign policy to restore respect for the United States throughout the world and to advance our interests

The Executive Engineer(E), DCED, CPWD, 20-Sub-hash Road, Dehradun-248001 invites Percentage rate bid on behalf of President of India from Approved and eligible registered contractors in Composite Category in appro-priate class in CPWD for the following work:-1. NIT No. 159/DCED/2017-18. Name of Work:- RMO Pumps set, DG Set, Security/light of CPWD Residential Bldg. & Guest Housse Dehra-dun. (SH:- Routine maintenance of El & Fans and street light). Estimated Cost: Rs. 11,07,456/- Earnest Money Rs. 22,149/- and Period of Completion: 12 Months, Last Time & date of submission of bid: 29-12-2017 at 3:00 PM. & the same shall be opened on the same day at 3:30 PM The tender forms and other details call be obtained from the website

www.tenderwizard.com / CPWD or www.cpwd.gov.in,

CENTRAL PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTPRESS NOTICE

NOTICE INVITING e-TENDERS

Virat Kohli

The ICC U-19 World Cup was a very important milestone in my career. It helped us get a good platform to make our careers

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Sportmillennium post | KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017 | 7

Barca batter Real 3-0 in one-sided El Clásico

MADRID: Barcelona struck a major blow in the LaLiga title race with a 3-0 win over Real Madrid in Saturday’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Second-half goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal gave the Catalans a club-record third win in a row in a league match at the home of their fierce rivals and saw them move nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table. Zinedine Zidane’s reigning champions, who had Dani Carvajal sent off for a deliberate handball just before Messi’s strike from the penalty spot, are now 14 points adrift of the leaders and, despite having played a game less, their title hopes appear to have been dealt a crushing blow.

Madrid trounced Barca in the Supercopa de Espana in August but the latter have gone unbeaten since that two-legged tie in all competitions, and they seemed happy to frustrate the home side in the first half in the knowledge that the onus was on Madrid to chase the win.

The hosts, who surprisingly matched Barca’s four-man mid-field by starting Mateo Kovacic, saw Cristiano Ronaldo – passed fit after an injury scare this week – and Karim Benzema come closest to breaking the dead-lock before Suarez struck nine minutes after half-time at the end of a slick move.

Zidane prepared to bring on attacking reinforcements but the game was taken out of his hands when Carvajal was sent off and Messi swept home from the spot for his 17th LaLiga goal against Madrid, more than any other player in history has managed.

Substitute Gareth Bale nearly halved the deficit but Vidal squeezed in a third in injury time, leaving Madrid – along with Atletico, losers to Espanyol on Friday – staring at what looks to be an insur-mountable task of hauling in the leaders in 2018.

The Santiago Bernabeu roared its approval as the home side started strongly, and Ron-aldo headed the ball into the

net inside two minutes only for a correctly raised offside flag to cut short the celebrations.

Barca appeared content to allow Madrid a greater share of possession as they main-tained a more rigid shape and it kept both the home players and crowd frustrated, as the game entered something of a walking pace.

There was a sudden explo-sion into life half an hour in, though, as Keylor Navas made a brilliant save to tip over Pau-linho’s shot following Messi’s sublime pass, before Ronaldo drove down the other end and forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen to save well at the near post.

With the game at last com-ing to life, Paulinho was again denied when Navas kept out his header, while Benzema glanced Marcelo’s cross off the base of the right-hand post, with Ter Stegen beaten.

If Madrid began the first half better, it was Barca who came out flying for the second

period – and, unlike the home side, they made their dominant spell count. Ivan Rakitic was allowed to burst right through the heart of the Madrid mid-field and play the ball out wide to Sergi Roberto, whose first-time cross was finished with aplomb by Suarez as he arrived unmarked from the left.

Frustrations were grow-ing rapidly for the home side and particularly with Suarez, who was booed resoundingly for his reaction to a Casemiro challenge before he was caught round the face by a stray arm from Sergio Ramos, which earned the Madrid captain a booking. Zidane was prepar-ing to make some changes but, in the 63rd minute, the match was put beyond the champi-ons. Suarez missed two golden opportunities to score, denied first by Navas and then the post, and as Paulinho tried to prod home the rebound, Carvajal blocked his attempt with a clear raised arm.

The ball was eventually put into the net but, rather than allow the goal to stand, referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez brought it back for a penalty and sent off Carvajal, before Messi swept the spot-kick high past Navas. Marco Asen-sio and Bale were at last intro-duced and nearly combined to give Madrid a lifeline, with the Welshman just denied by Ter Stegen after Asensio had found space. Ramos then had a shot blocked and just failed to turn a Ronaldo cross home.

But Ernesto Valverde’s side made absolutely sure of what could prove to be a pivotal win in injury time, as Messi teed up Vidal on the edge of the area and his low shot squirmed through Navas’ grasp and into the net. Madrid’s title hopes look to have all but evaporated, while Barca will finish 2017 at least eight points clear at the top, depending on whether Valen-cia can beat Villarreal later on Saturday. AGENCIES

Pune City take down FC Goa 2-0GOA: FC Pune City picked an important victory away from home as they downed FC Goa 0-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sta-dium, Goa.

Emiliano Alfaro and Jona-tan Lucca scored a goal each in the second half which helped the Orange and Purple bri-gade to move to the third spot on the ISL table. Both FC Goa and FC Pune City started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Sergio Lobera made no changes from the squad which got the better of Delhi Dynamos last week; as for the visitors, Issac Van-malsawma was replaced by Ashique Kuruniyan.

The home side had a couple of early chances when Brandon Fernandes’ shot from the edge of the box had to be kept out by Pune City goalkeeper Vishal Kaith after Mandar Rao Des-sai’s attempt from Coro’s pass was blocked en-route goal as both the moves were initiated by Ahmed Jahouh.

If Coro missed an opportu-nity to score in the 12th min-ute, being stuck in an acute angle, Emiliano Alfaro’s miss in the 19th minute was crim-inal as he couldn’t put the ball to rest after the build-up with Marcelinho and getting ahead of Mohammed Ali but only to tap wide in front of an open net. Diego Carlos called Laxmikant Kattimani into action around the half-hour mark, getting past Seri-ton Fernandes, but the Goan goalkeeper parried with a bit uncertainty lucky not to have an opponent in front of him to take advantage of the rebound.

Meanwhile, Adil Khan and Gurtej Singh had a role to play in containing the Gaurs’ con-stant threats in their half. The latter did well to restrict Coro getting in a good position after Lanzarote had pressurised Sar-thak Golui to lost control of the ball as the first half ended 0-0.

Pune’s goals followed. Marcelinho’s delicious ball for Alfaro was finished with aplomb by the Uruguayan forward in the 71st minute to break the deadlock, fol-lowed by a former FC Goa player to find his name on the score-sheet in the 84th minute.

Alfaro could have sand-wiched the two goals with another of his own as he rushed into the box before releasing a shot from distance. AGENCIES

T20 series: Formidable India eye whitewash against SL

MUMBAI: With the series already in their pocket, India will look to give some of the bench players a chance but there will be no let-up in the intensity as they eye a complete whitewash against Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I here on Sunday.

For the islanders, it has been a forgetful year, and the two recent defeats against India have just added to their misery.

While the hosts thrashed Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the first match at Cuttack, they outclassed them by 88 runs in Indore to seal the series. The visitors also lost the ODIs 1-2 and drew a blank in the Test series held earlier.

On the other hand, India have been cruising across all formats and would surely look

to end a successful year with another thumping win ahead of a tough tour of South Africa where they play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20s.

The constant one-sided results may not be an ideal preparation for India for the upcoming tour, but the posi-tive thing is that in absence of seniors including inspirational captain Virat Kohli, the young-sters have taken responsibil-ity and delivered in the T20s and ODIs.

Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, who equalled David Miller’s record of the fastest ever T20 century during his 43 -ball 118-run innings in Indore, is in peak form and he would love to continue his good run at his home ground.

Be it K L Rahul, Shreyas

Iyer, Manish Pandey or the experienced campaigner Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- all have chipped in when needed and coach Ravi Shastri would expect them to fire big time on Sunday.

Especially Rahul, who already has two fifties to his credit, would surely want to add one more to his kitty and make a strong statement before the team’s upcoming tour.

Iyer, the local boy, scored in the opening game, but he needs to stay at the wicket and convert his starts to big knocks. India has promoted Dhoni up the order on Friday and the for-mer captain justified the team’s decision by scoring at a brisk pace. The same can be expected in Mumbai if the openers give a flying start. AGENCIES

I don’t know when I will captain India again, says Rohit

INDORE: Rohit Sharma wants to savour every moment of his brief stint as India captain, wondering when he would again get a chance to walk out with the team sheet in future.

Rohit’s brief tenure as stand-in captain will come to an end with the final T20 International against Sri Lanka tomorrow as Virat Kohli will be back in the hot seat for the South Africa tour after a month-long break.

“Since I am leading the side for the first time, there was pressure and there will be pres-sure when we play next match in Mumbai. I don’t know when will I captain the side again, so every minute spent on ground is important for me,” a pragmatic Rohit said after

hitting the record equalling 35- ball hundred in the sec-ond T20 International against Sri Lanka.

He has led Mumbai Indians to IPL treble but this stint has made Rohit realise how tough it is to captain the national team with te burden of expec-tations from billions of people.

“There is lot of pressure, especially after first match in Dharamsala. We were in such a position that we were on the verge of getting all out on our lowest score,” he said.

“I thought a lot about my captaincy and team and that it is very difficult. We are repre-senting 140 crore people and there is lot of pressure of that,” he said. AGENCIES

Delhi ISL match postponed due to Khelo India School Games

NEW DELHI: Delhi Dyna-mos’ Indian Super League match against Mumbai City FC on February 4 has been re-scheduled on February 27 as the Jawaharlal Nehru Sta-dium will not be available due to Khelo India School Games beginning January 31.

Interestingly, a new venue has been added to the league as Jamshedpur FC play a match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhu-baneswar on February 25.

The home venue of Jam-shedpur FC has been criti-cised for its poor playing pitch but sources said that the Orissa government has requested the Tata Steel-owned side to play one match in Bhubaneswar.

Jamshedpur’s match against Bengaluru FC which was ear-lier scheduled to be played at JRD Tata Stadium on Febru-ary 25 will now be played on the same day at Kalinga Sta-dium in Bhubaneswar. In other changes in the fixture announced today, a few of Ben-galuru FC’s matches have been re-scheduled to accommodate their AFC Cup fixture on Janu-ary 30. Bengaluru FC’s match against Chennaiyin FC, origi-nally scheduled on January 31, has been postponed by six days to February 6. AGENCIES

Nadal pulls out of opener in Abu DhabiMADRID: World number one Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from his planned season opener at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi due to lingering fitness concerns just three weeks ahead of the Australian Open.

Nadal, 31, was forced to pull out of the 2017 season- ending ATP Masters last month due to a knee injury after an exhaust-ing season in which he won the French and US Opens.

“It was a tough 2017 and I need to take my calendar in a different way in order to be ready,” Nadal told the Mubadala World Tennis Championships website. “For this reason, I have sadly announced to the organ-isers and now to you fans that aI won’t play this time in Abu Dhabi.” Spanish sports daily

AS reported that Nadal had to halt his planned training sched-ule in his native Mallorca this week to seek medical attention in Barcelona due to the niggling knee injury.

Nadal still plans on going for a 17th Grand Slam of his career in Melbourne next month. He will be replaced by compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut for the six-man event over three days from December 28-30. AGENCIES

Nadal still plans on going for a 17th Grand Slam of his career in Melbourne next month

Lightning Boult destroys Windies as New Zealand clinch seriesCHRISTCHURCH: A career best 7/ 34 by Trent Boult destroyed the West Indies as the Kiwis wrapped up their ODI series with a game to spare. Boult had three for six after his first three overs as the West Indies fell apart at the start of their innings after being set an im-posing 326-run target. The tourists struggled through to 121 before Boult finished off the tail to give New Zealand victory by 204 runs to go with their five-wicket win in the first ODI on Wednesday. When Boult had finished off the West Indies top order, Lochie Ferguson plucked out the middle with three wickets in 10 deliveries, including Mohammed and Rovman Powell with successive balls. AGENCIES

Saina misses PBL meeting with Sindhu due to ankle niggle

GUWAHATI: Awadhe War-riors’ star attraction Sania Nehwal was ruled out of the third Premier Badminton League opener against Chennai Smashers on Saturday as she had not fully recovered from an ankle niggle on the right leg.

Awadhe coach Anup Srid-har, however, was hopeful Saina will turn out at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi for their second match

against North East Warriors on December 30.

Sridhar, who along with Siyadath Ullah are part of the Awadhe coaching setup, said in a statement: “Saina is recov-ering from a small ankle issue which she had developed few weeks back. She is recover-ing well and we are expecting her to be fully fit for the next match.”

Saina’s absence on the inau-gural day’s match of the PBL meant her high-voltage clash with arch-rival and Chennai Smashers’ P V Sindhu could not take place. But their meet-ing cannot be ruled out com-pletely as both teams can still face off in the semi-final or final.

Sindhu will be facing Sai Uttejitha Rao of Awadhe War-riors in the last match of the tie which also happens to be a trump match for the Chennai Smashers team. AGENCIES

Kedar, Shardul make comeback for ODI series in South Africa

MUMBAI: Middle-order bats-man Kedar Jadhav and speed-ster Shardul Thakur made a comeback into the 17- member Indian ODI squad for the six-match series in South Africa in February.

The two seasoned spin-ners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, were once again ignored as the selectors decided to persist with the young wrist-spinning duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzven-dra Chahal along with left-arm orthodox Axar Patel.

While Virat Kohli comes back as the captain, pace-man Mohammed Shami also

figured in the ODI squad, in which most of the current lim-ited overs regulars were auto-matic picks.

Shreyas Iyer has been rewarded for his good show against Sri Lanka in the ODIs, with his maiden overseas tour with the senior team.

Maharashtra batsman Jadhav, who is also a handy off- spinner is back after a ham-string injury ruled him out of the Sri Lanka ODIs. Mumbai speedster Shardul has replaced Siddharth Kaul, who did not get to play a match during the Sri Lanka series. AGENCIES

Everton hold Chelsea 0-0

Chelsea failed to make the most of their superiority as

they were held to a 0-0 draw at Everton in the EPL on Saturday, with the hosts extending their unbeaten run to seven across all competitions.

Antonio Conte’s men were looking to open a six-point gap ahead of fourth-placed Liver-pool after their entertaining 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Fri-day, but ultimately Chelsea could not successfully break down Sam Allardyce’s stubborn Everton.

For all of their first-half dominance, Chelsea did not cre-ate as many clear-cut chances as Conte would have hoped, with Jordan Pickford only troubled sporadically. AGENCIES

KEDAR JADHAV SHARDUL THAKUR

millenniumpost NO H ALF TR U THS

millenniumpost.in

I, Vivek Kumar Singh S/o Shri Ram Vinod Singh, R/o G-3, Plot No. 174, Niti Khand-I, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad U.P. at present New Delhi declare that in my passport No. F-2254872 my father’s name wrongly or by mistake written as Ram Binod Singh instead of Ram Vinod Singh. That my father’s correct name is Ram Vinod Singh. That Ram Binod Singh and Ram Vinod Singh is the same and one peron.

CHANGE OF NAME

mp8| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

In retrospect

Remember how this song in the film Home Alone packed our minds with courage and enthusiasm as little Kevin ran back home on a mission

to save his house? The melodious tune of ‘Carol of the Bells’ plays at the back of our head as the merriment in the Christmas air diffuses like the smoke of opium nullifying all negativities spreading an eternal smile on our faces, bring-ing back childhood memories. Christmas announces its very omnipotent presence with chills of winter giving you pleasurable goose-bumps, and the fresh aroma of delectable dishes filling the air.

Not a fan of Christmas celebrations? Perhaps the news of the tallest Christmas tree in the country could inspire you to liven up during this time of the year and feel the joy. A 56-year-old bachelor has been tending to the largest pine conifer in India for over 45 years. And fulfilling the dying wishes of his sister and father, Douglas Saldanha hads spent Rs 100,000 on the tree for decorations this Christmas. Boasting of love and care, the tree has been adorned by over 10,000 twinkling colourful fairy lights, cherubic angels, bells, streamers and festoons, tiny crosses, and a beaming

Santa Claus waving from the ‘cotton snow.’ Standing at a staggering 65 feet, the tree has entered the record books as India’s tallest, fully decorated, natural growing Christmas tree blooming in a tiny garden in Adarsh Nagar, a private residential society in south Mumbai’s Worli neighbourhood, reports IANS.

Most party plans fail to materialise and as a backup, you must have a plan B. As little bells jingle away, and you ponder over how to spend your day, here are some ideas to guide you through the merry week till New Years.

PARTYThe quintessential Christmas celebration

in Kolkata mostly surround strolling under the fairy-light clad Park Street, gorging onto the fin-est cakes from Flury’s and Nahoums, visiting churches, and partying at nightclubs. Which is pretty much the scene elsewhere across Indian cities. Party hubs and discs, around town, have amazing offers during Christmas and New Year’s, inviting in more party animals than ever. In case you aren’t a fan of EDM or choose not to drink alcohol, you may as well look out for some live concerts. With a diverse cultural background, India boasts of superb musicians ready to give you a lovely evening experience with your friends.

You have a full proof plan on hand, but in the last moment someone backs out, fol-lowing which some other members of your gang drop out as well, leaving you alone, sad and left out. How familiar does it sound? Well, we’ve all faced this situation many times, and to help you cope with a similar dysfunctional plan, here are some other ways to enable you to enjoy the holiday or keep busy with something nice and sweet.

MOVIE MARATHONIf you are one of those unfortunate souls, to

not have access to a series of leaves, spend your only off-day watching some of the best films on X-mas. Get a large bowl of popcorn, some fizzy drinks, and you’re set for the day! Movies like It’s a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Home Alone: Lost in New York, Elf, Miracle on the 34th Street, The Holiday, and Holiday Inn could be pretty good choices to make your day. If you run out of popcorn order some pizza and start the ball rolling again, call some friends over and have a pyjama party movie marathon, in the com-fort of your home and the beloved company of friends.

TRIPS AND TOURSAre you the fortunate one to have a stack

of unused leaves form work? You may choose to use up the off days, and plan a short trip to the mountains, the forests, or the beach if you need the warmth and sunshine. With the snow embellishing our very beloved Himalayas in the northwest, it is the perfect time to pay a visit to Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand for a snow fight, a warm campfire, an enthralling jungle safari or simply a relaxing week in the lap of nature. If the old world charm seems inviting to you, visiting the forts of Rajasthan for a lux-urious stay is advisable.

With several homestays propping up like mushrooms across some less travelled areas in the mountains and trekking trails, you can definitely spend a few days with the local families and learn from their way of life. Those with an unquenching adrenaline rush must take the opportunity to go hiking in the forests or try their hands in the adventure sports at disposal. While trekking through the snow is a heavenly experience, skiing in the snow-

clad Gulmarg and Auli can be a one-of-a-lifetime affair. Those with a lust for the waters can plunge deep into the blue for snorkelling, and scuba diving in the Andamans, or Lakshwadeep Islands. Some other fun activities might be hot air ballooning and paragliding, but those with vertigo must stay avoid heights, and lay low with terrestrial adventure sports.

Those with the boon of year ender holidays may also venture abroad to exotic destinations like Iceland, Finland, Maldives, Cambodia, Bolivia, Greece, and the Dominican Repub-lic. You can thank us once you post your new #wanderlust photographs on Instagram!

AWAKEN YOUR AESTHETIC SENSEIn case you like to decorate and redeco-

rate your place, Christmas is the perfect time of the year when you can create a theme and put together your grey cells to throw a massive surprise for your family or friends if you have guests coming over. Seating off with some fairy lights, one can conjure up some of the most beautiful interior scenes. With some colours, flowers, little bells and DIY material, you could create an ensemble of the perfect Christmas set-ting at home. You can let your imagination flow with the flowers by planning to create some-thing other than the traditional wreath. Grab some stationery and some old showpieces and construct something new and fashionable to go with your Christmas theme. If there are kids in the family, get them together with some DIY projects of streamers and festoons.

BINGE EATINGFinally, the fact that we gain weight in the

holiday season is quite well known now, there-fore without much ado, you could gorge on a variety of your favourite dishes. Needless to say that there are endless exquisite and mouth-watering delicacies lined up in front of our eyes across the winter to woo the mind and shush the brain with their inviting aroma and beauti-ful features. Worries about gaining a few kilos are often flushed out of sight, with the flick of one’s hand as they indulge in a juicy turkey, or roasted goose, eggnog, chocolate dipped strawberries, numerous cakes, puddings, and all other sinful desserts.

Awaken the chef in you and fill your home with the fulfilling fragrance of your favourite food. Or simply plan a brunch or dinner with your loved ones and visit the places offering some of the best buffets during winter. What’s winter without some bone-chilling ice cream? Summer isn’t always the best time to suck onto a dripping cone of cornetto or a melted bowl of gooey cold dessert; the best time of the year to experience and rejoice the splendidness of this marvellous dessert is undeniably winter. Once you’re done with your sumptuous meal, lose yourself in a handsome cold serving, while you simply sit and admire the Christmas

tree or binge watch your favourite show online.

All for a beaming

CHRISTMAS

Most party plans fail to materialise and as a backup you must have a plan B. As little bells jingle away, and you ponder on how to spend

your day, here are some ideas to guide you through the merry week till New Year’s, writes Lahari Basu

Hark how the bells,Sweet silver bells,All seem to say,

Throw cares awayChristmas is here,

Bringing good cheer,To young and old,Meek and the bold.

Ding dong ding dongThat is their songWith joyful ring

All carolling.One seems to hear

Words of good cheerFrom everywhere

Filling the air.Oh how they pound,Raising the sound,O’er hill and dale,Telling their tale.Gaily they ring

While people singSongs of good cheer,Christmas is here.

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas,

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

mp9| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

Beacon

The artist Agnes Martin once wrote: “The best things in life happen to you when you’re alone.”

How does one introduce a sculptor who moved from the chemistry of minerals and clay to bronzes and built his own oeuvre out of the magic of comforting solitude? G Reghu’s lingua franca and aesthetics have been moulded by two defining encounters: his early contact with Elizabeth and Laurie Baker with their Gandhian philosophy of working with indigenous materials and the abstract guru J Swaminathan at the Bharat Bhavan who, in his persona of a ‘tribal’ artist, voiced the cause of the dispossessed and the call to develop an empathy.

VITALITY OF GRAMMARG Reghu’s show Sentient Beings at Art Heritage

in Delhi is about how comforting and favourable solitude is for creating art that is based on the language of originality. It speaks about the magic of alchemy when an artist creates and explores and experiments with the compositional ethos and steers away from production. It speaks about the strength and vitality of grammar and the satiety an artist gets when he creates to satisfy his own aesthetic urges.

At the Shridharani running for a month this exhibition of men, women, children, and a few cows sitting placidly on the floors is about the language of expression that distils and emits an array of associations that are born in the web of time and space and experience.

“My works in clay have always been created out of the many reckonings that happen in a wood-fired kiln above 1200 degrees Centigrade,” says Reghu. “When I work with clay it has such precious and giving properties, I feel it is the beauty of its birth into different expressionist characters that takes on its domain and features – 80 per cent of what you see in clay is its own property. My hand in these creations is only 20 per cent. Yes, for me, expression is the most important facet of a human being. It

cuts across barriers, it knows no divisions, it has a universal appeal.”

Reghu’s show is about inner voices and glances and hidden embers in probing looks that speak to us about the amalgam of angst within. Reghu has been a guru himself at Bharat Bhavan having trained and guided ceramic artists into finding their own journeys. These works echo the words of Wendell Berry who stated: “One’s inner voices become audible [and] in consequence, one responds more clearly to other lives.”

FERTILE SOLITUDER Reghu goes one step beyond to give us works

that are born of fertile solitude. This journey is about the ceramic tradition of sculpture – it has a hallmark of fluidity. The surface of Reghu’s work in its muted organic earth colours has a matte finish. The work is shaped by an artist who is intimate with the tactile processes of using his hands: patting mud walls, throwing the clay on the potter’s wheel: or even dexterously kneading dough and handling food. The medium and method reflect familiarity with a rural lifestyle. Using the processes of hollow-modelling, slabbing, folding, coiling and pinching, he creates a cast of characters doing different things. There is harmony in these works.

Reghu creates a racial type that mingles with Dravidian and African facial features – bulging eyes, thick lips, cabbage ears – evocative of an ancient

civilization and its wisdom. His ‘people’ exude features of civilisations that stem back and forth through the vignettes of the past and the present.

“I have always preferred rural themes, they have originated from places that I have visited, like Wynadu in Kerala and Bastar which both lie in the tribal belt. Sometimes I use locally available clay, and the colour is natural. Glaze has a glossy tone, which I feel is not as good as the natural colour you get after you burn it in a wood kiln. There’s a technical way to handle natural colour, and it involves burning the clay and letting the smoke and ash act upon it. My works have long been the result of that ash and gradient of firing and that is why you can see the smoke adding its own texture to the works,” explains Reghu.

“I have remained away from the commercial scene, I create for myself, I have grown to love the romance of firing the kilns -- yes its like creating ancient structures, born from the womb, fed with fire, and the challenges of altering and controlling the fire, and the sense of doing something as old as time. I have always loved the incidental and the accidental when the clay figures emerge unexpectedly smoky from the ashes like archaeological finds; images from history. Clay has infinite properties, whereas in bronze its all technique.”

In his bronzes which are just as stunning Reghu portrays a mapping that harks back to archaic looking surfaces; that cock an eye on the modernity

of the subject and the ancient processes that have come before – everything seems to connect present moments with timelines of history.

AVANT-GARDE HEADSA particularly captivating set are the heads,

while their rounded features are similar it is their mouths that draw your gaze. The philosophical undertones of such unprepared moments are what makes each head a masterpiece. It is in the handling of the composition that Reghu elevates his heads from an ordinary mundane slice of time, to one that embodies the ethos of the human spirit.

While some heads are evocative his bronze heads are minimal and deeply archetypal – somehow there is an insignia of timelessness in their rootedness and the beauty of their gravitas is that they are free of the shackles of society, culture and space. Reghu’s heads and humans could belong to any race anywhere, they also imply the universal inevitability of the power of human existence that defines our very being.

The women and children are haunting comrades growing in the paths of existential angst. These works are gripping not merely because of the choice of such subjects but because of its simplicity and undistracted sense of focus. Reghu employs boundless expressionistic devices in modelling and moulding that deconstruct his forms and bring his subject to the edges of avant-garde abstraction.

Reghu is particularly drawn to humble rural dwellers and exploits their expressive potential as subjects for portraiture. These nomadic characters represent freedom and naïveté, and are for Reghu a relic of sorts as he contemplates them as his choreography of characters born in the play of clay.

Each of his portraits is marked by an emotional immediacy that is unique both within his oeuvre and the spectrum of modern art. 

By no means are these sculptural entities beautiful but they are filled with an animation that entices, they live every breath of movement that is desired by the hands of their creator and even the grotesque becomes amiable, even lovable... the mud finish colours glow with a richness and reflect a resplendent repertoire, almost as if the artist, laying aside his sculptural tools for a moment, were relaxing in the light of the sun and letting its energy-driven rays flood into the core of his works.

REGHU –THE SENTIMENT

OF SENTIENCEReghu’s show is about

inner voices and glances and hidden embers in probing looks that speak to us about the amalgam of

angst within, writes Uma Nair

Reghu’s heads and humans could belong to any race anywhere, they also imply the universal inevitability of the power of human existence that defines our very being

Inland10| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

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A narrow lane from the main road reaches the Bhalaswa slum in north Delhi. The lane flooded with stinking drain water had Farida Bibi, a 37-year-old woman

standing in front of her burnt house, the remains of which were submerged in the filthy water. Farida touches the broken door of the house letting old memories take over for a while. She comes to visit her old house every day as now she has shifted to the next lane staying in a rented house. Her house was burnt in the fire a year ago on the day of Diwali in due to a short circuit owing to the stagnant water on the floor which soaked inside the electric lines of the house.

This is a story of Bhalswa Diary urban slum. It is a slum with zero drainage system. Bhalaswa Diary is adjacent to the biggest landfill of Delhi under the same name.

OCCUPATION OF PEOPLE: The life of people in this slum is based on

the landfill. Most of the residents are rag pickers working in the landfill. According to media reports, from near ITO and Nizamuddin, Dakshinpuri and Rohini, and eight other prime locations in the Capital, slum dwellers have evicted nearly 12 years ago and dropped off at Bhalswa. They were promised resettlement at a location that would have all modern amenities, but to their dismay, the dispossessed found the promised land was only a myth.

The land on which the Bhalswa Resettlement Colony was propped up stood on a slush-ridden wasteland and precariously bordered a landfill that poisoned the groundwater they would eventually drink with no other option.

The people here are mostly migrants from the villages of neighbouring states and refugees from Bengal. The slum also has a good number of manual scavengers.

DRAINAGE PROBLEMSThe drainage system in the slum

is a major problem. “When we came here the place had some open drains. In monsoon the garbage from the landfill comes to the slum thereafter the drains are all chocked,” said Nazma, a member of Bhalswa Lok Shakti Manch (BLSM). The whole place stays submerged under the overflowing drain water throughout the year.

The landfill continued to grow as the city has very less place to dump garbage. During the monsoon, the Bhalswa landfill acts like a sponge, rainwater gets soaked within the garbage dump and releases a highly

toxic water which flows to the village and gets stagnant there causing high contamination of the groundwater. “Every year nearly 50-100 people die due to Dengue, Chikungunya and other water-borne diseases,” said Nazma.

The members of BLSM have approached the civic agencies and the government but very less has been done. “We have cleared the drains ourselves and also made new drains by hiring machines and people. But, nothing worked properly as we do not know the civic plans and the random attempts worsened the situation,” she said.

The residents explained that the non-communication between the Delhi government and the civic agencies have made the situation worse. “Constructing drains come under the corportation but the construction of roads come under the Delhi government. The local counsellor and the MLA are not ready to sit together even after many requests,” said Nazma. Both the officials were unavailable for comments. 

PROBLEM OF DRINKING WATERThe contamination of groundwater leads to the

crisis of drinking water. The residents said that the water of Delhi Jal Board which is supplied here twice a day is very poor in quality. The tube-wells do not work properly and the water is highly polluted. “The water which we get here is red and yellow in colour. We cannot drink this water, so we use it for domestic purposes,” said Keshav Singh, a resident.

Most of the slum dwellers buy packaged drinking water which costs nearly Rs 20 per container. In the winter the crisis of water increases as the DJB water supply becomes irregular. “Water supply has become really bad, as in the evening the Jal Board water does not come regularly. Every year this happens in the winter,” said Nazma Begum, adding that water tankers do not come regularly in the winter and come twice a week only after repeated requests to DJB.

While DJB officials refused to comment on the issue, officials of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) said that the problem is more than a year old. A survey conducted in 2012 by Bhalswa Lok Shakti Manch (BLSM), noted the leachate from Bhalaswa landfill was found to be high in concentration of chlorides, as well as DOC, COD.

“The study was undertaken to determine the likely concentrations of principal contaminants in the groundwater over a period of time due to the discharge of such contaminants from landfill leachates to the underlying groundwater. The observed concentration of chlorides in the groundwater within 75m of the radius of landfill facility was found to be in consonance with the simulated concentration of chloride in groundwater considering one-dimensional transport model, with the finite mass of contaminant source,” observed the survey. Urgent attention, therefore, needs to be paid to the groundwater supply from this region.

The research also noted that high concentrations of other heavy metals (nickel, copper, zinc) were observed, which is hazardous for health. The major anthropogenic source of iron

and other iron-containing alloys in groundwater is steel industry waste, which is dumped in the landfill without prior treatment. The steel industry generally dumps their effluents in nearby landfills that contain high concentrations of iron; over time, the iron seeps into groundwater from landfills with rainwater in monsoon.

The BLM members have submitted all reports to the government and the concerned agencies but they have not received much response.

DELHI GOVERNMENT’S PLANSThe AAP-led Delhi government has taken

various initiatives on different occasions but not much has happened yet. The Delhi government along with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Trust (DUSIB) have built up two public toilets at the place but that has not solved the problem of the residence.

According to reports, an RTI query revealed that over Rs 5 crore was sanctioned for this work. The residents have also pitched in, since then, by not dumping waste on the streets. But the paving is a work in progress. Just last year, residents here had to wade through knee-deep water for over a month after levels in surrounding water-bodies swelled during the rains and overran the colony.

However, the Delhi government will finish development of all the unauthorised colonies in the Capital within two years, asserted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a program after inaugurating the development works in west Delhi’s Mundka area.

“Unauthorised colonies are our priority now. I promise that we will finish development of all these colonies within two years,” said Kejriwal.

He added that the government will first make proper roads in every unauthorised colony. “The next time when I visit your colony I will walk through proper roads and this is my promise,” he said. The Chief Minister also slammed the erstwhile Congress government, alleging that they have failed to give proper facilities to slum-dwellers.

Meanwhile, the officials of DUSIB said that the government has plans to start work in the area soon and they have categorised the development works in phase basis. The first phase of works in the targeted slums have already started and the others will also start soon, said the officials.

Amid the blames and counter blames, promises and the reality, Farida Bibi still hopes that she will build up her house and the roads flooded with the stinking waters will be repaired. The slum beside the landfill is waiting for the government and civic agencies to help them live a life with a cleaner surrounding and safe drinking water.

Story of a flawed urban system

The life of people in this slum is based on the landfill. Most of the residents are rag pickers working in the landfill

Amid the blames and counter blames, promises and the reality, the residents still hope that the roads flooded with the stinking waters will be repaired

The steel industry generally dumps their effluents in nearby landfills that contain high concentrations of iron; over time, the iron seeps into groundwater from landfills with rainwater in monsoon

The non-commu-nication between the Delhi gov-ernment and the civic agencies have made the situation worse

The landfill continued to grow as the city has very less place to dump garbage

Bhalswa slum beside a landfill is waiting for the government and civic agencies to help them live a life with a cleaner surrounding and safe drinking water, writes Sayantan Ghosh

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Read| 11millennium post | KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017

THE SHOONYAM QUOTIENT Author: Mickey MehtaPublisher: Penguin Random House IndiaPrice: `299

Discover your mind and body in a different way as Mickey Mehta makes you introspect about the differ-ent facets of your life, from breathing to sleeping. The unique and inspiring catch-phrases and deep philo-sophical thoughts encapsu-lated in this book will make you energized, fulfilled and peaceful.

A COLUMN OF FIREAuthor: Ken FollettPublisher: Pan Macmillan UKPrice: `499

Young Will Willard is com-ing home to Kingsbridge at Christmas as A Column of Fire opens. The year 1558 will turn Will’s life upside-down and change Europe for ever. Will Willard hunts the slippery, enigmatic Jean Langlais, not knowing that the false name hides a child-hood classmate who knows him all too well.

ODYSSEY OF COURAGEAuthor: Habil KhorakiwalaPublisher: Rupa Publica-tions India Price: `595

Odyssey of Courage is more than just the story. It offers invaluable insights into the making of a knowledge-based Indian multinational. Policymakers, business executives, students of management and public policy will relate to Kho-rakiwala’s experiences in ‘learning by doing’, taking risks and handling crises.

LOVE HER WILD Author: AtticusPublisher: HeadlinePrice: `759

Love Her Wild is a collec-tion of new and beloved poems from Atticus, the young writer who has captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of avid followers on his Instagram account @atticuspoetry In Love Her Wild, Atticus captures what is both raw and relatable about the smallest and the grandest moments in life.

FRESH OFF THE SHELF

MADHUPRITI MITRA

It is said that ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,’ and the same applies to women

as well! Food being the ingredient which unifies everything in life, without it, life is like a curry without salt. Likewise, Bisma Tirmizi in her novel ‘Feast- With a taste of Amir Khusro’, has portrayed the tales of a thirteen-year-old girl Ayesha’s cog-itative journey through her eternal love for regional food.

“The tide is low, it is the end of November and the sea is pushed way back, the waves roll at a dis-tance. The sun hides behind a stub-born cloud and I yell ‘Move Cloud’ and to my chagrin, the sun inter-venes and say, no need to look out for me child, I look after myself, much like you. No one can stop me from shinning, no one can stop my light” – an extract from the second chapter reveals a deep conversation between the dreamy protagonist the sun. The novel traces the bond between authentic cuisines, tradi-tions, and the memories of Ayesha which happens to surpass culinary romance and venture into a philo-sophical panorama of life.

In ‘Feast: With a Taste of Amir Khusro’, the protagonist has com-pared her life to Dum Biryani, Fried palla fish, Namkeen ghost and her never-ending list of foods which inspired her; and with each pass-ing day, her philosophical desire for culinary romance develop onto the next level. Sandwiched between two brothers, the protagonist rel-ishes the life in Karachi with her parents and Dadi, who refers to her obeseness as ‘baby fat.’ The novel comprises the fas-cinating journey of Ayesha and her uni-versal love for food lacing up with some authentic mouth-watering recipes of Murgh Mussallam and Roghan Josh, that have been car-ried out by genera-tions since the time of the Mughals. It also recounts the different places and their magnum opus, embracing the par-

agon of culture and tradition in Pakistan. “The massive cemetery is dotted with shrines, tombs, and the scenic path is a treasure trove of ancient historic handiwork... It is a perfect union of Persian and Arab influence and the traditions of the Indus-Aryan Sanatan Dharma. The confluence is depicted in much of the craftwork here,” describes Ayesha on her visit to a cemetery in Sindh.

Apart from the cultural phi-losophy, the author has outlined the morals of our society towards an individual through the novel where an obese food lover is forced to think of shedding the extra kilos from her body to get into perfect shape. “What changed in my rela-tionship with myself, my family and society that made me want to find under layers of flesh? So many questions but not enough answers, some were simple where some were not.” “I have never heard food and its relationship with people being so described. It makes our relationship with each other, and particularly with those, we love, almost tangible and alive. Should I go to Italy on a food tour or just in Pakistan and understand my relationship with food through the people that sur-rounds me?”

As time passes, Ayesha meets Faiz and soon wedding bells start to ring for them. “Each song was more romantic than the last... But my forever favourite wedding song was the bittersweet ‘Ambwa Tale’ by Amir Khusro. It’s a centuries-old ballad laced in the welcome of the bridal palanquin, set under the shade of the large mango tree in the porch of the bride’s father’s home.”

One of the most heart-warming poetry the author has penned in the novel has given below:

Some call it kis-met, some call it fate,

Some call it Sam-sara, it’s the sweet-est bait,

The stories of passion are as old as time,

Feast an enchant-ing vessel, delightfully sublime.

Price: `295Publisher: Rupa Publications India

WITH LOVE, from Pakistani cuisine

Not all wars end when the fighting does is a les-son that we still have to learn. The First World

War was supposed, despite all the upheaval it caused and immense destruction it left across three con-tinents, to be the “war to end all wars” and “make the world safe for democracy”. It didn’t – as subse-quent history shows.

It was however not only the rise of extremist ideologies like com-munism or fascism, and the Sec-ond World War, whose origins can be traced to the consequences of World War I. For its shadows extend longer – the Cold War, decades of (continuing) violent instability in the Middle East, ethnic strife, and much of the 20th century’s sub-sequent course – all these owe to the happenings in its immediate aftermath.

And though some of the hap-penings are known, a much greater part remain obscure. They also have never been treated in a collective and systematic matter, as well as what lessons they have for us – even a century later, and this is what his-torian Robert Gerwarth deals with here.

Beginning from the port city of Smyrna in September 1922, as Turk-ish troops retook it from the Greeks and exacted a bloody toll while

British and French naval forces just stood there (as young Ernest Hemingway and others reported), his disturbing narrative chronicles war, revolutions and other violence across Europe and Asia, including those that began even before the war ended, to show how toxic leg-acies are born. To say that World

War I was followed by a period of peace, save the occasional aberration, as held by many including the likes of Winston Churchill, would only be true for the victors – and not even all of them, says Gerwarth, a Professor of Modern History at the University College Dublin.

But for others, especially the defeated powers and the varied people in their territory, it was far worse, he contends. German soldier and writer Ernst Junger, whom he cites at the beginning, put it best: “This war is not the end but the beginning of vio-lence. It is the forge in which the world will be hammered into new borders and new com-munities. New molds want to be filled with blood...”

Between 1917 and 1920 – half of the period he covers, Ger-warth says that Europe “experienced no fewer than twenty-seven violent transfers of political power, many of them accompanied by latent or open civil war”. And, as he shows, a lot of the violence included pogroms, mass expulsions and other attacks against ethnic, religious and linguis-

tic minorities as large, mul-ticultural land empires disin-tegrated mess-ily in defeat – and by the vic-tors’ designs.

Dealing with Europe’s violent transition from world war to cha-otic “peace”, he wanted to move “beyond the more familiar histories” of the Western Front to focus on people liv-ing in those countries that were on the los-ing side – the Habsburg, Romanov, Hohenzollern and Ottoman empires (and their successor states), as well as Bulgaria. 

But “any history of the van-quished also has to include Greece and Italy”, for both nations, though on the winning side at the war’s end, didn’t get what they wanted. In particular, this includes a most perceptive account of the rise of Benito Mussolini – the Italian

socialist-turns-fascist leader’s approach will seem eerily familiar even now.

While also dealing with the other areas – free Finland, messily reborn Poland, Spain – Gerwarth however does not only seek to to merely nar-rate the turmoil, in all its horrors, in areas other than Russia, and its revolutions and destructive civil war, or Germany, where commu-nism’s spectre led to much brutal-ity in a most well-ordered country. The real lessons he brings out are

the victors’ (chiefly Britain, France,

and even the US) short-sighted, punitive policies towards their enemies, even when they had new democratic regimes, but especially their hypocrisy in dealing with Europeans and Asians differently (especially allies Japan). Above all, he warns of a trend to create and reward differences rather than united co-existence – with rights for all sections, and that mere mili-tary victory, or war termination, is meaningless without skillful peace-making. Those are the lessons that resonate even now. IANS

World War I’s forgotten VIOLENT AFTERMATH AND TOXIC LEGACY

Gerwarth warns of a trend to create and reward differences rather than united co-existence – with rights for all sections, and

that mere military victory, or war termination, is meaningless without skillful peace-making, writes Vikas Datta

Price: `699Publisher: Penguin Random House UK

MAYABHUSHAN NAGVENKAR

Enid Blyton knew her mysteries. She also knew her muf-fins and meringues. In ‘Jolly Good Food’,

Allegra McEvedy – chef, author and also co-founder of healthy fast food chain Leon – decodes the quint-essential and mouth-water-ing treats littered in Blyton’s classic mystery series like the ‘Famous Five’ and ‘Secret Seven’ and brings them alive in the form of a recipe book interspersed with excerpts from the writer’s novels, where the protag-onists pack their wholesome hampers or gorge on piping hot muffins or slosh down homemade lemonade all in the midst of solving mysteries and unearthing secrets in Britain’s suburbs or the countryside.

Neatly packed in 133 pages, complete with sketches and images, the hardbound book spells out more than 40 recipes, which break down the sumptuous food and drink that Blyton’s immortal characters have gorged on as fuel for their curious minds,

keen on cracking the next puzzle. Predict-ably, it’s all about traditional British snacks, which face a serious challenge from other world cuisines as well as those from the European continent. While Blyton’s books were elaborate and descriptive about the adventures and curiosities of the young, the mention of snacks, food and beverages, though inevitable, were limited to the fin-ished product and the joys of consuming

it. McEvedy attempts to fill this gap of sorts by conveying to fans of Blyton and good food about what goes into making treats like scones, apple tea, jam tarts and quiches.

The recipes are spread across six parts. Each part is dedicated to treats men-tioned in six novels (or series) namely, ‘The Naughtiest Girl in School’, ‘The Secret Seven’, ‘Famous Five’, ‘The Faraway Tree’, ‘The Secret Island’ and ‘Malory Towers’

with beautiful illustrations by Mark Beech.The six novels are some of the most

popular works of Blyton, whose 600 books and over 500 short stories have been published in nearly 500 million cop-ies, devoured by children and adults over generations and across continents.

The book’s third section opens with a passage, ‘Five Get Into Trouble’, where Julian, Dick, George, Anne and their pet dog Timmy stop at a store in a village called Manlington-Tovey and where Blyton’s technique of weaving food into fiction is best explained. The Five need a cooler and just as the doctor ordered, the store sells ice creams, lemonade, orangeade, lime juice, grapefruit juice and ginger beer. Timmy, at the insistence of his keeper George, also has an icicle as his share of refreshment.

In her recipes for this section, McEvedy includes a detailed recipe for ginger beer just the way the Famous Five love it. A few paragraphs later, Anne wonders whether a cow munching grass in the countryside isn’t tired of eating tasteless grass, when there’s egg and lettuce sandwiches, choco-late eclairs, boiled eggs and ginger beer that can be had. In response, George fantasises

about the spread which her mother has laid out for lunch and includes egg and sardine sandwiches and some more ginger beer. Later, Timmy’s taking off after a rabbit in a meadow makes the Famous Five lust for a mouthwatering rabbit’s pie.

Blyton’s infusion of food in this short passage is complete with George offering Timmy raw meat sandwiches which has been packed as picnic lunch.

Blyton’s books will always be remem-bered by all who read them for instilling a sense of curiosity and innocence to the spirit of adventure. McEvedy’s interven-tion will now add to this experience the next time you read a Blyton. The taste of adventure may well make our mouth water even more. IANS

Enid Blyton’s adventures get even more mouth-watering

Price: `799Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books

12| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

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THE KINGDOM OF YOREPanauti: Trip to

Today’s modern lifestyle is suck-ing the lifeblood out of us. This is where taking a break and travelling slowly lets you

rejuvenate your soul and health. The fresh green countryside of Nepal’s hin-terlands is one of the perfect settings to do so. Although many head to Nepal to scour for the tallest peak to climb, I am in search of Nepal’s model for rural tour-ism, Panauti. Not only is Panauti sur-passing records in hospitality in recent times, but also empowering women of the local community like never before. Panauti is at an hour’s drive away from the nearest International Airport at Kathmandu. The best time to visit is from September to March.

Panauti is considered to be one of the oldest architectural heritages in Nepal. Along with Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, it was one of the strong-holds of the Malla kings. The kingdoms of yore are still preserved in the rem-nants of the pagoda-styled temples. The slow pace of life at Panauti allows you to pause back and reflect. But one thing that did not allow this beautiful village to become a tourism hotspot was the rampant poverty.

MISSIONAll changed at the turn of the mil-

lennia, starting from the year 2002, the quaint village of Panauti has been turned into a series of community home stays which allows you to immerse yourself in the culture of Nepal totally. Meeting with the force behind this project I took a tour around the village under his guidance. “As everyone from the village was look-ing for jobs, I started working as a guide for foreign tourists. One day, it struck me that I should come back, educate the women of my village and let them do the talking.”

VISIONThat is where the ladies of Panauti

took it upon themselves to enrich them-selves. Not only did they educate them-selves to converse in English, they also opened up their homes and converted them into home stays. The Panauti Com-munity homestay is a project run by the housewives and women of the commu-nity. What started as a single homestay has now evolved into a complex of fif-teen. These small houses are built in a typical Newari style with small doors and beautiful thatched roofs, and exqui-site wood carvings on the upper walls. There are many essences of Nepali cul-ture within these walls, complete from the traditional Thangki art to an authen-tic Nepali meal.

HOMESTAYWe are welcomed with a tradi-

tional Tharo dance which encompasses twirling movements which enthralled us throughout. These homestays have been built by the people from the local community. The rooms are tradition-ally designed and services are in accor-dance with the local culture. The best part of these homestays is that guests can live with the villagers as family mem-bers, sharing food and other cultural interactions. It indeed gives a feeling of home away from home. The food served to guests is fresh and organic, usually sourced from their backyard gardens.

FESTIVALS AT PANAUTIPanauti is also known for its fes-

tivals which celebrate the Newari culture.

The month-long Makar Mela is held once every twelve years at the sacred confluence of three rivers: Rishi, Pun-yamati and Lilawati. But it’s the next festival that fascinates me the most, Ach-chya Triyitya. Newari girls aged seven to thirteen are symbolically married off to a Wood Apple(Bel). The Bel Vivah ren-der the women immune to becoming a widow ever as they will always be mar-ried to the fruit which is Lord Shiva’s reincarnation. “I was married off to the Bel at the age of eight years” my host Amy tells me as we both sit down for some girl gossip over cooking a delecta-ble chicken curry and some Aloo Paran-thas (potato stuffed bread).

ACTIVITIES IN AND AROUND THE HOMESTAY

Mornings are the best time to take a stroll around the village and enjoy the sun rising in the Kathmandu valley while listening to the chirping of endangered birds. Not only that, you can also engage with the locals in daily activities like cow milking, cattle grazing, firewood and grass collection from the woods or learn the traditional farming methods. If you wish to prolong your stay a little longer, you can volunteer to teach in one of the local schools or assist the women with ideas on health and education.

The economic and the social signif-icance of these home-stays goes way beyond just the 20-25 dollars they charge per night. It also allows the

females to build up other areas of income for the visiting tourists. One of the pri-mary ways they do that is by becoming a tour guide and taking you around the broken down Terracotta temples which are so characteristic of Nepal. There are also these small bakeries where the ladies of this community churn out some won-derful little doughnuts. I sit down at one of these bakeries and bite into the sweet deep-fried dough as I watch the Sun go down on the horizon. When you’re visiting Nepal, do plan on visiting Pan-auti instead of the

common hotspots of Kathmandu and Pokhara. I had come here looking for a destination, I am leaving with a lesson in woman empowerment.

Although many head to Nepal to scour for the tallest peak to climb, Nepal’s

model for rural tourism, Panauti, at an hour’s drive

away from the nearest airport in Kathmandu will win your heart, writes Snigdha

Bhowmick

PHOTOS: SNIGDHA BHOWMICK

Candid TalkSTORIES IN A FRAME

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Trending| 13millennium post | KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017

As the 'City of Joy' decks up in the Christmas merriment, Park Street and Esplanade, the celebratory nucleus of the city brims over with happiness and bright colours. But the festive aura is livened up by those who work hard to make others smile, selling little festive kick-knacks across the city. May they have a Happy Christmas as well!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Favourite singer:I have always been one with an international mind, so I love Mariah Carey.Favourite song:'Earth' by Michael Jackson. It moves my heart every time I hear it.Idea of an ideal weekend:My ideal weekend is fighting for social causes and making people happy.Your dream destination:I have traveled all over, so there is no place as such.How would you rate yourself as a singer?The highest rating I would give myself as a singer is that I have led the most respectable life being a celebrity. I have kept the respect of womanhood at the highest despite of going to the level of highest international achievement.Three qualities you admire in yourself:Humility, love and honesty.Five things you cannot do without?Love of the people, ability to help people, ability to sing and reach to the level where I can spread happiness and lastly ability to change the world.Favourite book:Right now Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's book that's on the stand.

Hema Sardesai; singer

PICS: SOUTIPTA GHOSH

Finish the proverb:

You can't make an omelet without __________ a few

eggs.

BRAIN DRAINSUDOKU WORD SEARCH

chuc

kles

LONDON OR GERMANYJacob got a job in a wealthy landlord's house. One day the landlord was boasting about his possessions to a visitor he called Jacob to bring his 1000-year-old flower vase. The visitor was stunned as Jacob brought the vase to show him. The landlord later told Jacob, "Jacob, you should have asked me, which flower vase to bring, the London vase or the German vase. It would have made me proud!' Jacob understood his employer's wish. It was in the evening, and the visitor was going through an old family album of the landlord. The landlord, quickly asked Jacob to bring his father's photographs. Jacob asked, "Which father sir? The London one or the one from Germany?"

SEND YOUR ORIGINAL SNAPS ALONG WITH YOUR NAME AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE STORY BEHIND THEM TO [email protected]. IF WE LIKE THEM, WE'LL PUBLISH THEM!

ACROSSAGAIN,AHEADALMOST, ALREADYALSO, ALWAYSANYWHEREAPART, AWAYBACKBEFORE BEHIND, BELOWBRISKLYDOWNEARLYEASILYFAST, FIRSTFOREVERFORWARDGENTLY, GREATLY HENCE, HIGHHOMEWARDHOWEVERLITTLE, LONG

LOUDLYMONTHLYNEARBY, NEVERNOWHEREOFTEN, ONCEPRESENTLYQUICKLYQUIETLYQUITE, RARELYRATHER, REALLYSHORT, SLOWLYSOFTLY SOMETIMESSOMEWHERESOON, THENTHERE, TODAYTOMORROWUPWARDWEEKLY, WISELYYESTERDAY

Strawberry – 250 gmDouble Cream(Whipped) – 400 ml

Meringue Disc – 80 gmRaspberry Sauce – 100 ml

Pistachio – 10 gm

INGREDIENTS:Unsalted butter 250 gmBrown sugar 250 gmEggs 6 Flour 300 gm Ginger powder 10 gmBaking powder 12 gmBlueberry filling 300 gmRum old monk 60 mlIcing sugar

METHOD :Preheat oven to 180°C In a mixing bowl, cream the butter until soft. Then gradually beat in the brown sugar. Beat in the egg a little at a time. Fold in the remaining flour, baking powder, ginger powder, then stir in the blueberry filling. Spoon the mixture into prepared tin and spread level. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes.Sprinkle rum over hot cakes. Leave to cool on to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle icing sugar and serve.

(Courtesy: Neeraj Tyagi, Executive Chef at Shangri-La's – Eros Hotel, New Delhi)

INGREDIENTS2 cups flour, sifted Preheat the oven to 200°CSift the flour together with baking powder and 3 tsp baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil saltAdd oil and milk. Knead lightlyRoll into approximately 12" × 10" rectangle 2/3 cup milk 1 cup chicken, chopped and cooked 1 cup spring onions, chopped

FOR THE FILLING: 1/2 cup green or red pepper, chopped Combine the chicken, spring onions, pepper, celery, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and English mustard powder to taste 1/4 cup celery, chopped 1 tsp lemon juice1/2- 3/4 cup mayonnaise 1 egg yolk Moisten with mayonnaise White sauce Cheese Brush with a mixture of beaten egg yolk and 1 tsp milk Salt, black pepper and English mustard powder to taste Bake at 200°C for about 20-25 minutes

Method :1) Chop strawberries into quarter.2) Whip double cream3) Break meringues into small

abstracts.4) Decorate martini glass with

chocolate piping .5) Pipe double cream ,put

chopped strawberries ,meringue,cover it with sauce .

6) Repeat the same sequence once again .

7) Garnish it with chopped pistachio. (Courtesy: Chef Vivek Chauhan- Pastry Chef, The Imperial)

ETON MESS

Ginger and Blueberry Tea Cake

Place the filling down the centre length of the pastry, make diagonal cuts in the remaining pastry and then braid the strips Serve hot with cheese sauce or a mixed green salad NOTE: For a vegetarian version, omit the chicken and substitute with cooked corn kernels or cooked chickpeas. (Courtesy: Nirmal Khanna)

This loaf is fantastic for a tasty Christmas meal, served cold with a green salad or hot with a béchamel (white) sauce and steamed vegetables. Serves 6 people

CHICKEN BRAIDED LOAF

mp

COURTESY: www.horoscope.com

You

shar

e you

r bir

thda

y with

Born on December 24, 1956, Anil Kapoor is majorly a Bollywood actor and producer; he has also appeared in international films and television series. His career has spanned almost 40 years as an actor, and as a producer since 2005. Kapoor is often credited as one of the most versatile and uncoventional actors of Indian cinema. He has won many awards in his career, including two National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards in different acting catego-ries. Kapoor earned his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in ‘Tezaab’ (1988) and later again for his performance in ‘Beta’ (1992). He has also starred in many other critically and commercially successful films: ‘Meri Jung’ (1985), ‘Karma’ (1986), ‘Mr India’ (1987) and ‘Virasat’ (1997), ‘Taal’ (1999), ‘Pukar’ (2000), and ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ (2015) for which he won his third Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Kapoor’s first role in an international film was in Danny Boyle’s Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. He turns 60 today!

ANIL KAPOOR

If you’ve been thinking of getting away from it all, the coming week could see you jetting off

to sunnier climes. A desire for a break can encourage you to go away for a weekend or longer trip. As Saturn edges into Capricorn on December 19, it might prompt you to consider taking a course or class. You’ll be serious about gaining new knowledge and adopting beliefs.

Taurus (April 21–May 21)

The focus shifts to career and planning. Even though the holiday week is almost here, your thoughts may

be elsewhere. This is the time to jot down inspired ideas that can help you achieve key ambitions in 2018. This phase could be made even more intense because sobering Saturn enters Capricorn and this same zone on December 19, which can see you becoming even more ambitious.

Aries (Mar 21–April 20)

As the focus shifts to your partnership sector this week, interactions could become more frequent.

You may find yourself needing to negoti-ate with others concerning ideas or key opportunities. With three planets moving into Capricorn and this same sector your relationships may take on a more de-tached focus, and you may become very aware of your loyalties.

Cancer (June 22–July 22)

You may have things to do at work, but in essence you’ve already decided to chill and en-

joy the pleasures of the coming holidays. A fresh focus on your sector of relaxation and creativity suggests that you may be busy having a ball. Romance could be high on your agenda, too. Saturn enters this sector, moving from your home sector to your recreational zone.

Virgo (Aug 24– Sept 23)

Though you’re very exu-berant and charismatic, you might be eager to work behind the scenes to

get everything organised for the holidays. There’s much to do, and you’ll be at the center of the action. This focus deepens as Saturn moves into Capricorn and your zone of work, health, and lifestyle this week, along with the sun and luscious Venus. You might be questioning your job.

Leo (July 23–Aug 23)

You’ll be busy keeping in touch, socializing, and enjoying holiday get-togethers, giving you a

chance to reconnect with friends old and new. This week could see the focus shift dramatically, putting the emphasis on interactions and setting purposeful goals that involve networking. The big-gest news may be that Saturn leaves your money sector and enters this zone.

Scorpio (Oct 24–Nov 22)

It’s to your action sta-tions this week, as the focus on your family sector suggests you’ll

be busy organizing, entertaining, and making everything as perfect as pos-sible for your guests. With Mars in your money zone, don’t forget to pamper yourself with a spa session or an evening out. Saturn makes a break this week, moving into your domestic zone.

Libra (Sept 24– Oct 23)

It’s a big week! Saturn moves into your sign on Tuesday, which means you’ll take your goals

and plans more seriously from here on out. And it’s likely you’ll achieve a lot more in the process. But there are also two more planets entering this sector, the sun and luscious Venus. Over the com-ing week, you may find yourself at the center of any holiday activities.

Capricorn ( Dec 22– Jan 20)

There are a number of shifts taking place this week as three planets enter Capricorn and your

sector of personal finances and values. Perhaps the most important is sobering Saturn. Over the next couple of years or so, you’ll become more serious about mak-ing money and using your resources wisely. You could also decide to pare back on unnecessary expenses.

Sagittarius ( Nov 23–Dec 21)

Things sparkle for you so-cially, with a very exciting week ahead. You’ll be in your element enjoying

parties, holiday kisses, and time spent with good friends. Saturn leaves your career sector for your social zone. The pressure is off, bringing with it a sense of relief. You’ll be able to look back over the past year or so with pride at all you’ve achieved.

Pisces (Feb 19 –March 20)

Although Mars in Scorpio inclines you to look after your health, you’re also eager to get your finances

in order. It’s time to get up to speed with your money goals. The big news is that Sat-urn moves into Capricorn and your sector of shared resources on December 19. You might decide to become more responsible about your financial affairs and determine to get your money to work harder for you.

Gemini (May 22– June 21)

You’re fired up and raring to go as Mars encourages you to go full throttle regarding your goals

and ambitions. But this may conflict with subtler promptings enticing you to relax. The movement of three planets into your spiritual sector suggests that it’s time to relax and refuel. Saturn enters this zone on Tuesday, ushering in a long period of spiritual seeking and meditation.

Aquarius (Jan 21–Feb 18)

14| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

Insight

Should there be a ban on animals in circuses?

The Central Zoo Authority has put a ban on all animals in circuses. So if you see any circuses with animals, inform the local administration. Thelocal wildlife depart-ment will try to get out of any action ( you know why ) by saying that the animals performing are  not “Indian”. That means a hippo or large cockatoos .

Or they will say that a horse or dogs do not come under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. These are just excuses to hide a bribe . The circus has probably taken per-mission to perform from the DFO himself. However , it is now irrelevant whether it is a dog or a foreign animal.

The circus has been banned from ani-mals altogether and the DFO is an agent of the CZA and he has to take action for confiscation.

What is fish food made of? The food for  aquarium freshwater fishes is:Dry food : It includes flakes, pellets

and sticks. Flakes and sticks are often low in fibre and can cause constipation, therefore the food should be supplemented with vegetables.

Freeze dried: blood worms and krill Frozen- zooplankton, fish, whitebait, squid, clams, mussels and prawns.  Live foods- earthworms, river shrimp and large insects.

Q.How does one recognise pure ghee?A. To check the purity of ghee at home:Method 1: Put a spoon of ghee on your

palm, if it starts to melt itself that is pure. Normally, pure ghee melts on the body temperature.

Method 2: Put a spoon of ghee and

heat it. If it melts quickly and appear dark brownish color, that is pure ghee. Within a few seconds, the ghee will be melted. If it takes a longer time to melt and appear light yellow in color, it is impure.

Apart from food for humans and other species are fish of any consequence to the planet? I mean, if they were to be reduced as we are doing by catching millions every day, what would be the consequence?

  A. Every day humans breathe out millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. All our fac-tories and process create more millions of carbon dioxide. If this carbon dioxide built up in the air then we would be dead very soon. As it is , from the amount it has built up we have now warmed the planet so that our weather is now unpredictable – which has its impact on food availability and prices and on the spread of disease. So what slows down this build of carbon dioxide . Two things : trees and fish ( not the oceans but the fish in them) The more trees you cut the hotter and drier it gets. The more fish you remove the less carbon dioxide they can remove.

Deep sea fish around UK and Ireland

remove  and store more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Accord-ing to a new study by the University of

Southampton this natural carbon capture and storage scheme saves millions of lives. Fish living in deep waters on the continen-tal slope play an important role carrying carbon from the surface to the seafloor.

But, as fishing, energy extraction and mining extend into deeper waters, these seldom seen fishes who provide a valu-able service to all of us are going to disap-pear  making the carbon dioxide built up even more intense. Soon it will be difficult for anyone to breathe.

(Views expressed and information provided are personal; Send your ques-

tions to [email protected])

Some things fishy

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, MP & Union Cabinet Minister, also an eminent animal rights activist and environmentalist answers Millennium Post readers queries related to animal welfare issues

Heads

tails

You’ve sung them in school and you will sing them again. You’ve heard them played in shopping malls,

churches and holiday parties. You know all their words by heart. But do you know how some of the world’s best-known Christmas carols were created? 

Silent NightThe legend behind one of the most

popular Christmas carols in the world plays out as a sort of Christmas mira-cle. The story goes that Father Joseph Mohr of Oberndorf, Austria, was determined to have music at his Christmas Eve service, even though the organ at his beloved St Nicholas Church was broken. So, he penned a poem and asked his friend Franz Gruber to compose a score for it that would not demand an organ. The truth; however, is a little less dramatic. 

In 1816, the Catholic priest wrote the poem “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” while stationed at a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria. When he transferred to St. Nicholas’s two years later, he did ask Gruber to help him write guitar music for the poem, which the two performed—backed by a choir—on Christmas Eve of 1818. “Silent Night” was translated into English more than 40 years later by Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, who is responsible for the version Americans favour. The song has been translated into 142 languages to date. 

Have Yourself A Merry Little ChristmasThis carol is at once hopeful and

mournful. The lyrics of “Have Your-self A Merry Little Christmas” were penned by Hugh Martin for a scene in the 1944 musical “Meet Me In St Louis”. Judy Garland sings the bit-tersweet song to her little sister, try-ing to cheer her up as both lament their family’s move away from their hometown. But Garland and direc-tor Vincente Minnelli weren’t happy with Martin’s early, much more maud-lin drafts. These included lines that Martin would later describe as ‘’hys-terically lugubrious,” like ‘’Have your-self a merry little Christmas/It may be your last.... Faithful friends who were dear to us/Will be near to us no more.’’

Martin initially refused to revise the lyrics, but a blue talking to from actor Tom Drake set him straight. Ultimately, Martin gave the song a more hopeful leaning, first for the

movie then again in 1957 at the request of Frank Sinatra. For Ol’ Blue Eyes, he changed “We’ll have to mud-dle through somehow” to the more jolly “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.” The song has since become a standard, in both forms.

Jingle BellsThough one of the most popular

non-religious Yuletide tunes, “Jingle Bells” was not originally conceived for Christmas time at all. Penned by James Lord Pierpont in 1850s Savan-nah, Georgia, the song originally titled “The One Horse Open Sleigh” was intended to celebrate Thanksgiv-ing. The local Unitarian church where he’d later play the song on the organ boasts historical markers declaring it the birthplace of “Jingle Bells.” How-ever, some sources insist Pierpont was belting the memorable melody

as early as 1850, when he still lived in Medford, Massachusetts. Debate still rages about the true birthplace of the song.

“Jingle Bells” was renamed in 1857 when its lyrics and notes were first published. Decades passed before it rose to prominence. Yet it made his-tory on December 16, 1965, becom-ing the first song broadcast in space. The crew of Gemini 6 followed reports of seeing Santa Claus with an improvised version of “Jingle Bells,” which included bells and a harmon-ica that they had snuck onboard. Mis-sion control responded to the surprise serenade with, “You’re too much, 6.”

Good King WenceslasThis unconventional but beloved

carol dates back to 1853 when Eng-lish hymn writer John Mason Neale first penned its lyrics. Set to the tune of the 14th-century carol “The Time Is Near For Flowering,” “Good King Wenceslas” focuses on the journey of a kind man who set out in terrible weather on the post-Christmas holi-day of Saint Stephen’s Day to provide aid to poor neighbours.

This titular “king” was a real man, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, who ruled from 924 to 935, when he was assassinated by his own brother, Boleslav the Cruel. Unlike his nefari-ously nicknamed sibling, Wenceslaus was adored by his subjects. His great acts of charity led to him posthu-mously being declared a king, and an eventual upgrade to sainthood. He is now the patron saint of the Czech Republic.

Carols all the way...

Heartof the

Matter

You’ve heard them play

in shopping malls, churches

and holiday parties. But do you know how

carols were created? 

Game Onmp

| 15millennium post | KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017

Playing at home territory is a big advantage for any cricket team. More so if one talks about the mighty Australians playing Down

Under. Having won the first three of the five Tests in the ongoing Ashes series, the Kangaroos, led by their stand-out batsman captain Steven Smith, made short work of their English guests. The hosts domi-nated proceedings in all three games, giv-ing little reason to rejoice for the touring ‘Barmy Army’ group of fans. England did not put up much of a fight in their Ashes defence campaign, allowing the Aussies to run amok. All that’s left now for the Eng-lish team is pride. And they would well go into the fourth Test, to begin on Boxing Day, with all guns blazing.

The first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane began on a positive note for the English. Opener Alastair Cook was dismissed cheaply, but his partner at the other end Mark Stoneman held on to his bat for much longer. With James Vince’s arrival to the crease, Stoneman stitched a crucial 126-run partnership for the second wicket, which steadied England’s rocking ship on for some time after tea on the first day. Stone-man was dismissed for 53, played over 159 deliveries, giving Vince to set himself for a longer knock, who went on to score 83. Skipper Joe Root did not trouble the scor-ers much, but his successor Dawid Malan played a handy 56. England raked up a decent 302 on the board, after the Aussie pace duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cum-mins took three a piece to rip apart the English lineup.

Australia’s first innings began shakily, as opener Cameron Bancroft was dismissed for a measly 5 runs. His successor Usman Khawaja failed to do much either, getting out for 11. David Warner went for 26 after he mistimed a pull straight into Malan’s hands off a short of a length delivery by English seamer Jake Ball. But this was to be the beginning of the Steven Smith show. Playing a slow, yet torturing innings, the Aussie skipper entered the crease with his

team at 30 for 2 on Day Two. The end of his magnificent unbeaten 141, off 326 balls, came only after Australia were all out for 338 in the late hours of Day Three.

Ending Day Three at 33 for 2, opener Stoneman and Root put up some resis-tance, scoring 27 and 51, respectively. But after Root’s dismissal left England at 113-5, all was downhill. Moeen Ali (40) and Jonny Bairstow (42) scored some useful runs, but that was barely enough as England ended its second innings at 195. Once again, pace spearhead Starc was the pick of the bowl-ers, scalping three once again, and was ably assisted by Josh Hazlewood, who picked up three for himself. All that was left for Aus-tralia to win the first test was to chase down 170 – which they did with considerable ease. Making up for their paltry dismissal

in the first innings, Bancroft and Warner ended the game on their own, with Austra-lia losing not even a single wicket. While the younger Bancroft hit a calm 82-run knock over 182 balls, the older and more brutish Warner played a quicker 87 off 119 balls, to give Australia a comfortable lead.

The second Test at Adelaide began with Australia batting first and dominating the proceedings throughout the first two days. Four of the five top-order batsmen made decent contributions, but Shaun Marsh was to steal the show from the beginning of Day Two. As Australia started the day at 209 for 4, the 34-year-old played a dogged inning of 126 off 231 balls, with wicketkeeper-

batsman Tim Paine (57) and Cummins (44) giving him able support. The fifth Test ton of the talented left-hander’s 26-match long career propelled Australia to 442 for 8, after which skipper Steve Smith declared the innings.

England’s first innings reply to Austra-lia’s mammoth total was rather tame, with the entire side bundling out for just 227 in 76.1 overs. The Aussie bowling quartet of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and off-spin-ner Nathan Lyon fired on all cylinders, with Lyon scalping four on a surface where the ball was coming nicely on to the batsman. All-rounder Craig Overton was the high-est scorer with 41 runs, while the rest of

the top order failed miserably.It came as a surprise to many that the

usually attacking Aussie skipper Smith refrained from subjecting England to a fol-low-on. And Australia’s subsequent second innings batting performance seemed to have backfired for him too. A fiery spell by James Anderson, England’s highest wicket-taker in Test matches, sent the Aussie bats-man back to the dressing room just as soon as they left it. With a brilliant fifer that cut short Australia’s innings to just 138 all out, Anderson pulled England right back into Test.

With its bowling lineup producing an exceptional performance, now all that was left for England was to chase down a mam-moth total of 354 in their second innings to draw the series level. That, however, was not to be. Beginning their target chase after Tea, England seemed to have got off to a good start, with Cook and Stoneman put-ting up a 53-run partnership. However, Cook’s bad run of form continued and he went for just 16. A run later, Stone-man (36) followed his opening partner to the dressing room. England did man-

age to finish Day Four at 176 for the loss of four wickets, with Starc scalping two of those. At the beginning of Day Five, Eng-land once again succumbed to the sus-tained bowling pressure. Skipper Root was caught behind off a peach of a delivery by Hazlewood for a patiently made 67; that was the end of it. The tail was soon eas-ily swiped away, thanks to tight spells by Lyon (2 for 45) and Hazlewood (2 for 49), and Starc’s express deliveries. With three wickets, including that of a resilient Bair-stow (36), Starc finished the game with five wickets and another memorable win for the Aussies.

Being a do-or-die game, the third Test at Perth was expected to be one where Eng-land would go all guns blazing. The way they began the first innings looked that way too. Cook, once again, failed to deliver for his team, but Stoneman chipped in with a hand 56. Centurions Malan and Bairstow were the real heroes for their team, as they scored 140 and 119, respectively. However, with the pair’s dismissal, England’s batting lost steam, and their innings ended at 403 in 115.1 overs.

Not many would have expected how good Australia’s reply would be – it was massive. After the openers went cheaply and Khawaja returned making only a fifty, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh made life hell for the English team for the next two-and-a-half days. The 28-year-old Aussie skipper sent the English bowlers to the cleaners during his magnificent 239, while the younger Marsh sibling scored a scin-tillating 181, with 29 boundaries. The pair was eventually dismissed, but not before their triple-century stand demolished the English team’s morale. The Aussies finally declared after scoring a mammoth 662 for 9.

Trailing by 259 definitely gave the Eng-lish batting lineup the jitters, as they failed to show any spirit when they began their second innings on Day Four. Hazlewood ripped apart the batting lineup with no dif-ficulties whatsoever. Only Vince and Malan scored a respectable amount of runs, while the rest of the team fell like ten pins. Ending their innings with only 218 on the board, England gave Australia not just the game, but the coveted urn as well.

England’s Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow Aussie skipper celebrates Joe Root’s dismissal Dawid Malan ducks a bouncer

Australian phoenix rising from

THE ASHES

With Australia having won

the first three of the five Tests in

the ongoing Ashes series, all that’s

left now for England is pride to

play for in the fourth Test,

writes SRIDHAR VENKATESH

Not many would have expected the massive reply from Australia. After the openers went cheaply and Khawaja returned making only a fifty, Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh made life hell for the English team for the next two-and-a-half days. The Aussie skipper sent the English bowlers to the cleaners during his magnificent 239, while Marsh sibling scored a scintillating 181, with 29 boundaries

Australian captain Steven Smith

16| KOLKATA|SUNDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2017|millenniumpost

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- Alfred Hitchcock

If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a clear idea of what was going on.Film

It’s that time of the year when you look back at the hits you experienced and the misses you survived. For the Hindi film industry, 2017 was something of a revelation, which showed that the audience is taking a hard look at content

2017 RewindFAIL PASS

ICA - 2652(14)/2017

The year 2017 cemented a tru-ism that filmmakers know but sometimes ignore – that con-tent and content alone wins

at the box office. It’s that time of the year when you look back at the hits you experienced and the misses you sur-vived. For the Hindi film industry, 2017 was something of a revelation, which showed that the audience is taking a hard look at content and accepting or rejecting movies based purely on that criteria – and nothing else.MUKESH BHATT, PRODUCER

The year 2017 has been an inter-esting year, where a lot of content-driven films have worked, and a lot of star-studded films didn’t work. Another interesting factor was that all masala films with good content worked this year. So the audience has made it very clear that they will only watch good movies, movies which give them entertainment.RAKESH ROSHAN

2017 was a learning experience as every year but with a lot of innovations and social media we have to be very careful to guard our projects from all unforeseen obstacles to sail smoothly. Think twice before you leap as films are most vulnerable to any situations.

According to me films are good or bad. Hits and flops are destiny.BONEY KAPOOR, PRODUCER

Well, 2017 had a good mix of con-tent and entertainment and films like Hindi Medium did well. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Bareilly Ki Barfi, MOM and all these films did well. At the same time, you had Judwaa 2 and  Golmaal Again!!!,  which did extremely well. So it was a good mix of content-oriented films. The other thing is that female protagonists were able to draw people to the box office and these success stories are gradually being accepted.

I am sure these strengths will con-tinue into 2018 and perhaps we will have a better ratio of successes as there are some very interesting films lined up, like PadMan and Tiger Zinda Hai. There will be a lot of surprises in 2018.BHUSHAN KUMAR MD, T-SERIES

It’s been a year of ups and downs for the industry. It was a year when small-budget or content-driven films worked at the box office as well as with the critics. For us, films like Hindi Medium and Tumhari Sulu worked wonders and, similarly, it was a year when films like  Bareilly Ki Barfi,

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Newton, Toi-let: Ek Prem Katha, etc. notched up good numbers at the box office due to word-of-mouth. There were also films like Golmaal Again!!! and Judwaa 2 that received audience’s applause.

But this was a year that saw a dif-ferent side of our audience preferences, and the films lined up for release in 2018 reflect this change in audience choices. We ourselves have a mixed bag of films like BLACKMAIL, Sonu Ke Titoo Ki Sweety, Kedarnath, Batti Gul Meter Chalu, Fanne Khan, the Saina Nehwal biopic, Raid, an untitled film with Deepika Padukone and Irrfan, Ajay Devgn’s untitled film, and many more.JAYANTILAL GADA, PRODUCER

The year 2017 has been very inter-esting as all genres of films have worked. From Judwaa 2 and Golmaal Again!!! to Newton, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and many more, they did good business. Another interesting factor is that Diwali is a very special period for the film business but it’s been a while since films have put in a good perfor-mance during this festival.

But, this year, both films Golmaal Again!!! and Secret Superstar secured a good amount of footfalls in theatres.

Last week’s  Fukrey Returns  is also doing well. So, all in all, 2017 has been a decent year.ABBAS-MUSTAN, FILMMAKERS

In 2017, there were films which did not work and there were films which were hits. Now FukreyReturns is creating a mass entertainment. Films like Tum-hari Sulu, Raees and MOM, and a few other commercial movies, became part of the success stories because of their unique stories. In 2018, we have many big movies lined up. Let’s judge them only after they release and see how the public reacts to a particular movie.

On the industry side the biggest standouts this year have been franchise films and content driven films. Fran-chise films such as Badrinath Ki Dulha-nia, Fukrey Returns, Golmaal Again!!!, Baahubali 2, Judwaa 2 and Jolly LLB 2 have done phenomenally well, and have dominated at the box office. One can say that the lines between niche and mainstream audiences are blur-ring, and this success instills the confi-dence to try out novel, offbeat content. VIJAY SINGH – FOX STAR STUDIOS

Fox Star Studios continued its suc-cessful streak of 2016 in 2017, with three blockbusters, making us the only

studio in the industry with a record of three back-to-back 100-crore films in the year. While Jolly LLB 2, directed by Subhash Kapur, was developed along with our internal creative team, Badri-nath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2 are part of the strategic alliances with our creative partners, Dharma Productions and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertain-ment, respectively. KALAPI NAGADA – CINEKORN

Apart from Baahubali: The Con-clusion, 2017 has seen only a few blockbusters like  Golmaal Again!!! and Judwaa 2, collecting ‘204 crore and ‘132 crore, respectively in the domestic market. These numbers hint that the box office is in great need of another blockbuster this year.

A bigger cause of worry is that this year, even popular stars couldn’t bring audiences to cinemas includ-ing Salman Khan in Tubelight, Shah Rukh Khan in Jab Harry Met Sejal, Ajay Devgn in Baadshaho and Ranbir Kapoor in Jagga Jasoos. The year 2018 has a good line-up of releases, with Akshay Kumar’s PadMan, Mogul, 2.0, Gold and Crack, Salman Khan’s Race 3, and Ranbir Kapoor’s Sanjay Dutt biopic. Here’s hoping they bring in the expected numbers at the box office! BOI