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16
A s Iran fired 22 missiles at Iraqi bases housing US and other coalition troops in Iraq on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump claimed that no Americans were harmed in the attacks as he offered to embrace peace along with the Iranian leader- ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also vowed that he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. “We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sus- tained at our military bases,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House Grand Foyer. His remarks came hours after Iran launched missiles tar- geting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces’ are stationed in Iraq, which Tehran said was a "slap in the face" of America. "All is well!" US President Trump tweeted earlier. "Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!, he added. According to Iranian state TV, the attacks were in revenge for the killing of the comman- der of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Qasem Soleimani, in a US drone strike on Friday, which was ordered by Trump. The Iranian state television claimed that "at least 80 terrorist US sol- diers" were killed in the strikes. Some 5,000 US soldiers are in Iraq as part of the internation- al coalition against the IS ter- ror group. In a direct message to the Iranian leaders and the people, Trump said the United States is "ready to embrace peace with all who seek it". "To the people and leaders of Iran, we want you to have a future and a great future, one that you deserve," Trump said. Howerver the US President vowed “as long as I'm President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon." Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister's office said it had received "an official verbal message" from Iran informing it that a missile attack on US forces stationed on Iraqi soil was imminent. However, hours later, Iraq's President Barham Saleh condemned Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi bases where US and other foreign troops are based, saying he feared "dan- gerous developments" in the region. "We denounce the Iranian missile bombing that hit mili- tary installations on Iraqi ter- ritory and renew our rejection of the repeated violation of state sovereignty and the transfor- mation of Iraq into a battlefield for warring sides," his office said in a statement. "We received an official verbal message from the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Iranian response to the assassination of Qasem Soleimani had begun or would begin shortly, and that the strike would be limited to where the US military was located in Iraq without speci- fying the locations," said Iraq PM’s office. The Iraq Prime Minister's office said it was simultane- ously contacted by the US, as the missiles slammed into the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq and Harir further north. Western powers have con- demned Iran's missile attack on the US bases in Iraq. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, "I condemn the Iranian missile attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq. NATO calls on Iran to refrain from violence." Meanwhile, Kuwait on Wednesday denied reports that the US had decided to with- draw its troops from the Gulf state, saying the Twitter account of its official news agency had been hacked. A Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, main- ly Iranians and Canadians. Search-and-rescue teams were combing through the smoking wreckage of the Boeing 737 flight from Tehran to Kiev but officials said there was no hope of finding anyone alive. The vast majority of the passengers on the Ukraine International Airlines flight were non-Ukrainians, includ- ing 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians, officials said. The crash occurred with tensions high in West Asia and shortly after Tehran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing US troops. But there was no immediate indi- cation of foul play and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "speculating" on the cause of the disaster. Meanwhile, Iran’s aviation authority said it would not hand over to Americans the recovered black boxes of the crashed aircraft. “We will not give the black boxes to the manufacturer (Boeing) and the Americans," Iran Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh said, quoted by Mehr news agency. “It's not yet clear which country the black box will go to for the investi- gation,” he added. The US aviation authority said it had banned US-regis- tered carriers from flying over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf, and airlines, including Lufthansa and Air France, suspended flights through Iraqi and Iranian airspace. G iven the simmering ten- sion between Iran and the US, India on Wednesday took a series of measures including issuing an advisory to its citi- zens to avoid non-essential travel to Iraq and rerouting the flight path of national carrier Air India. The Indian Navy is also on standby to evacuate Indians from the Middle-East in case of any exigency and a warship is already deployed in the Gulf of Oman. Issuing the travel advisory, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "In view of the prevailing situation in Iraq, Indian nation- als are advised to avoid all non- essential travel to Iraq until fur- ther notification." It also said Indian nation- als residing in Iraq are advised to be alert and may avoid trav- el within Iraq. "Our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate in Erbil will continue to function normally to provide all services to Indians residing in Iraq," the Ministry said. This came after tension increased between Iran and US following the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and Iran launching missile strikes against two US military bases in Iraq on Wednesday. The Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), meanwhile, asked the Indian airline com- panies to remain vigilant and take all precautions in airspace over Iran, Iraq, Gulf of Oman and waters of Persian Gulf, hours after a Ukrainian International airlines carrying 180 passengers crashed near Tehran in Iran. "We had held meetings with the concerned airlines and have sensitised them to remain vigilant and take all precautions," said a senior offi- cial of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday. The national carrier Air India would 'temporarily" reroute its flight to avoid Iran, the airlines spokesman Dhananjay Kumar said adding the rerouting will cover Air India and Air India Express. New Delhi: Iran Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni on Wednesday said it will welcome any peace initiative by India to de-escalate tensions with the US following the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. Detailed report on P5 I n the backdrop of protests on citizenship and NRC related issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be vis- iting Guwahati to inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 on Friday. For the past few days, many organisations including AASU had threat- ened to stage demonstration against the Prime Minister if he visited Assam to inaugurate the games. Assam BJP spokesman Dewan Dhruba Jyoti Maral first told media that the Prime Minister has cancelled the visit to the State. In the evening, the Sport Ministry officials con- firmed that the Khelo India will be inaugurated jointly by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijju and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. An invitation was sent to the PMO to invite Modi to inaugurate the Khelo India Youth Games but no confir- mation on it has been received, BJP State unit spokesman Rupam Goswami told PTI on Wednesday. "There is no talk about the Prime Minister coming to Guwahati to inaugurate Khelo India. Sending an invitation to the PM is a formality. We have not received any confirmation from the PMO to our invita- tion," he said when asked whether Modi has cancelled his visit to Assam, which is wit- nessing protests against the contentious Citizenship A m e n d m e n t Act. T here is no evidence of mur- der of children in Bihar's Muzaffarpur shelter home, the CBI on Wednesday told the Supreme Court. The probe agency told the apex court that two skeletons recovered from the premises were found to be of a woman and a man in foren- sic examination. A Bench head- ed by Chief Justice SA Bobde accepted the status report of the CBI and allowed two officers to be relieved from the investiga- tion team. Representing the CBI, Attorney General KK Venugopal told a Bench, also comprising Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, that inmates had given statements that mur- der of children had taken place and bodies were buried. "When the probe agency went to the spot where the alleged bodies were buried, two skeleton parts were recov- ered. On forensic investigation of the skeleton parts it was found to be of a woman and a man and the possibility of mur- der of minor was ruled out," Venugopal told the apex court. C lose on the heels of it los- ing power in Maharashtra, the BJP on Wednesday suffered a humiliating defeat in local body elections in the State, as the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) captured power in five out of six Zilla Parishads and walked away with majority Panchayat Samiti seats in five out of six districts where the polls were held. It what came as personal setback for former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the Amit Shah-led party lost power in the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis in his home district of Nagpur. The MVA, comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress captured power in the Zilla Parishads of Nagpur, Washim, Akola (all three in Vidarbha region), Nandurbar (in north Maharashtra) and Palghar (in coastal Konkan region), while the BJP managed to come to power in Dhule ZP in north Maharashtra. Detailed report on P7 T he Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed dis- satisfaction over the status report submitted by the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) with regard to the Puri Jagannath Temple reforms citing that the report is incomplete and needs revisit. The apex court further asked its Amicus Curiae to study the report and submit the findings, based on which the final report can be filed through an additional affidavit within two weeks. The next hearing in the case was extend- ed by four weeks. Notably, recently, the State Government had submitted a 100-page report on the 22- point directive given by the Supreme Court for reforms in the Jagannath Temple. A few of the matters such as security of the devotees, land of Lord Jagannath, property list, appointment of a fulltime Chief Administrator, price list of the Mahaprasad and putting it up at Ananda Bazaar were asked to be streamlined by the Supreme Court. In reaction, SJTA counsel Swetakant Mishra said that as per requisites of the Amicus Curiae, they would now com- ply with all necessary docu- ments. He said they are yet to avail information from some other States regarding landed properties of Lord Jagannath. C ulture Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi has again courted controversy, this time at the world-famous Bargarh Dhanu Yatra. He repeatedly mentioned the Dhanu Yatra as Bali Yatra (of Cuttack) on the dais in the presence of demon King Kansa on Tuesday evening. However, after the intervention of Kansa, he rectified himself. Moreover, the Minister said the State Government is plan- ning to accord the ‘State-level Mahostav’ status to the Dhanu Yatra. This sparked further controversy as Dhanu Yatra has been given the national festival status since 2014. The Minister’s “announcement”, therefore, carries less signifi- cance and shows his poor understanding about the Dhanu Yatra, said audience. In November last year, Panigrahi was in news after Opposition levelled an allega- tion against him saying that he toured Hyderabad with a female friend at the expense of the State exchequer. BHUBANESWAR: Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) State pres- ident and former Rajya Sabha member Rama Chandra Khuntia said that the Bharat Bandh was a total success in Odisha on Wednesday. “Industrial strike and Bharat Bandh held to press for fulfilment of a 12-point char- ter of demands and withdraw- al of the CAA and the NRC was a big success in Odisha. All industrial units and commer- cial establishments were closed. The strike called by all trade unions and supported by the Congress, the CPI, the CPI(M) and the SUCI evoked good response from general public,” said Dr Khuntia. I ndian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) State pres- ident Rama Chandra Khuntia severely condemned the Union Government’s decision on Wednesday to withdraw its stake from the Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL). “It is very disappointing that the Government of India decided to withdraw its stake from the NINL when 25 crore workers are on a nationwide strike against disinvestment from Central public sector undertakings. The INTUC and all other TUs have condemned the decision,” said Khuntia. He too said that all trade unions would hold demon- stration and dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi soon if the Union Government does- n’t withdraw the decision. However, Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan termed the Centre’s decision as historic and asserted that steel production and related busi- ness would be enhanced in Odisha. “The NINL’s steel pro- duction will be enhanced from 1.1 MT to 10 MT,” he told a Press conference in New Delhi. BJP State vice-president Samir Mohanty said the NINL disinvestment would create opportunities for reinvestment in the firm. Related report on Page 2 T he 24-hour Bhrat Bandh called by the central trade unions on Wednesday evoked mixed response across the State. Normal life was hit and roads wore deserted looks with transport vehicles staying off the roads and rail traffic getting partially affected. At most places, bus services were suspended till 5 pm. But Mo Buses plied in Bhubaneswar as usual. Shops and other business establishments remained closed in many parts of the State. As a precautionary measure, edu- cation institutions were shut by the administrations of several districts. However, Government offices remained open. Acting as per the Government’s direc- tive, employees of Lok Seva Bhawan, Kharavel Bhawan and Rajiv Bhawan reached offices before 9.30 am. Ministers and senior bureaucrats were no exception as they arrived by 9.30 am. The Commissionerate police arrested several Congress leaders, including PCC president Niranjan Patnaik, for staging protest. As per reports, 500 protes- tors and leaders of political par- ties were arrested in Bhubaneswar alone. Besides, police rounded up agitators across the State. The Commissionerate police had deployed 15 pla- toons of police force and strik- ing force. Agitators staged rail roko in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Baleswar, Brahampur, Sambalpur, Angul, Rourkela, Jajpur, Bangriposi and Paralakhemundi, due to which railway passengers had a har- r o w i n g experience. Banking services were affected as five unions of bank- ing staffs had joined the strike opposing the decision of the Centre on merger of banks.

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Page 1: ˆ./01 &’ ’ ( !#$% 6 !˚ 8 &-(0/%,38- 7˘/&3(˙)%/)%/-)1(8- / -( /,)/% 1 ... · 2020-01-08 · ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also

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As Iran fired 22 missiles atIraqi bases housing US

and other coalition troops inIraq on Wednesday, USPresident Donald Trumpclaimed that no Americanswere harmed in the attacks ashe offered to embrace peacealong with the Iranian leader-ship, in a significant move tode-escalate the tensions in WestAsia. Trump also vowed that hewill never allow Iran to have anuclear weapon.

“We suffered no casualties.All of our soldiers are safe andonly minimal damage was sus-tained at our military bases,”Trump said in an address to thenation from the White HouseGrand Foyer.

His remarks came hoursafter Iran launched missiles tar-geting at least two bases whereUS military and coalitionforces’ are stationed in Iraq,which Tehran said was a "slapin the face" of America.

"All is well!" US PresidentTrump tweeted earlier."Assessment of casualties &damages taking place now. Sofar, so good!, he added.

According to Iranian stateTV, the attacks were in revengefor the killing of the comman-der of Iran's powerfulRevolutionary Guards, GeneralQasem Soleimani, in a USdrone strike on Friday, whichwas ordered by Trump. TheIranian state television claimedthat "at least 80 terrorist US sol-

diers" were killed in the strikes.Some 5,000 US soldiers are inIraq as part of the internation-al coalition against the IS ter-ror group.

In a direct message to theIranian leaders and the people,Trump said the United States is"ready to embrace peace withall who seek it".

"To the people and leadersof Iran, we want you to have afuture and a great future, onethat you deserve," Trump said.

Howerver the US Presidentvowed “as long as I'm Presidentof the United States, Iran willnever be allowed to have anuclear weapon."

Earlier, Iraq’s PrimeMinister's office said it hadreceived "an official verbalmessage" from Iran informingit that a missile attack on USforces stationed on Iraqi soilwas imminent. However, hourslater, Iraq's President BarhamSaleh condemned Iran's missilestrikes on Iraqi bases where USand other foreign troops arebased, saying he feared "dan-gerous developments" in theregion.

"We denounce the Iranianmissile bombing that hit mili-tary installations on Iraqi ter-ritory and renew our rejectionof the repeated violation of statesovereignty and the transfor-mation of Iraq into a battlefieldfor warring sides," his officesaid in a statement.

"We received an officialverbal message from theIslamic Republic of Iran thatthe Iranian response to the

assassination of QasemSoleimani had begun or wouldbegin shortly, and that thestrike would be limited towhere the US military waslocated in Iraq without speci-fying the locations," said IraqPM’s office.

The Iraq Prime Minister'soffice said it was simultane-ously contacted by the US, asthe missiles slammed into theAin al-Asad base in westernIraq and Harir further north.

Western powers have con-demned Iran's missile attack onthe US bases in Iraq. NATOchief Jens Stoltenberg said, "Icondemn the Iranian missileattacks on US and coalitionforces in Iraq. NATO calls onIran to refrain from violence."

Meanwhile, Kuwait onWednesday denied reports thatthe US had decided to with-draw its troops from the Gulfstate, saying the Twitteraccount of its official newsagency had been hacked.

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AUkrainian airliner crashedshortly after take-off from

Tehran on Wednesday, killingall 176 people on board, main-ly Iranians and Canadians.

Search-and-rescue teamswere combing through thesmoking wreckage of theBoeing 737 flight from Tehranto Kiev but officials said therewas no hope of finding anyonealive.

The vast majority of thepassengers on the UkraineInternational Airlines flightwere non-Ukrainians, includ-ing 82 Iranians and 63Canadians, officials said.

The crash occurred withtensions high in West Asiaand shortly after Tehranlaunched missiles at bases in

Iraq housing US troops. Butthere was no immediate indi-cation of foul play andUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky warnedagainst "speculating" on thecause of the disaster.

Meanwhile, Iran’s aviationauthority said it would nothand over to Americans therecovered black boxes of thecrashed aircraft. “We will notgive the black boxes to themanufacturer (Boeing) and theAmericans," Iran Civil AviationOrganisation head AliAbedzadeh said, quoted byMehr news agency. “It's not yetclear which country the blackbox will go to for the investi-gation,” he added.

The US aviation authoritysaid it had banned US-regis-tered carriers from flying overIraq, Iran and the Gulf, and airlines, including Lufthansaand Air France, suspendedflights through Iraqi andIranian airspace.

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Given the simmering ten-sion between Iran and the

US, India on Wednesday tooka series of measures includingissuing an advisory to its citi-zens to avoid non-essentialtravel to Iraq and rerouting theflight path of national carrierAir India.

The Indian Navy is also onstandby to evacuate Indiansfrom the Middle-East in case ofany exigency and a warship isalready deployed in the Gulf ofOman.

Issuing the travel advisory,the Ministry of External Affairssaid, "In view of the prevailingsituation in Iraq, Indian nation-als are advised to avoid all non-

essential travel to Iraq until fur-ther notification."

It also said Indian nation-als residing in Iraq are advisedto be alert and may avoid trav-el within Iraq. "Our Embassy inBaghdad and Consulate inErbil will continue to functionnormally to provide all servicesto Indians residing in Iraq," theMinistry said.

This came after tensionincreased between Iran and USfollowing the killing of topIranian commander GeneralQassem Soleimani and Iranlaunching missile strikesagainst two US military basesin Iraq on Wednesday.

The Directorate of CivilAviation (DGCA), meanwhile,asked the Indian airline com-panies to remain vigilant and

take all precautions in airspaceover Iran, Iraq, Gulf of Omanand waters of Persian Gulf,hours after a UkrainianInternational airlines carrying180 passengers crashed nearTehran in Iran.

"We had held meetingswith the concerned airlinesand have sensitised them toremain vigilant and take allprecautions," said a senior offi-cial of the Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation (DGCA) onWednesday.

The national carrier AirIndia would 'temporarily"reroute its flight to avoid Iran,the airlines spokesmanDhananjay Kumar said addingthe rerouting will cover AirIndia and Air India Express.

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New Delhi: Iran Ambassador toIndia Ali Chegeni onWednesday said it will welcomeany peace initiative by India tode-escalate tensions with theUS following the killing ofIranian military commanderQasem Soleimani.

Detailed report on P5

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In the backdrop of protests oncitizenship and NRC related

issues, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will not be vis-iting Guwahati to inauguratethe Khelo India Youth Games2020 on Friday. For the past fewdays, many organisationsincluding AASU had threat-ened to stage demonstrationagainst the Prime Minister if hevisited Assam to inaugurate thegames.

Assam BJP spokesmanDewan Dhruba Jyoti Maralfirst told media that the PrimeMinister has cancelled the visitto the State. In the evening, theSport Ministry officials con-firmed that the Khelo India willbe inaugurated jointly byUnion Sports Minister KirenRijju and Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal.

An invitation was sent tothe PMO to invite Modi toinaugurate the Khelo IndiaYouth Games but no confir-mation on it has been received,

BJP State unit spokesmanRupam Goswami told PTI onWednesday.

"There is no talk about thePrime Minister coming toGuwahati to inaugurate KheloIndia. Sending an invitation tothe PM is a formality. We havenot received any confirmationfrom the PMO to our invita-tion," he said when askedwhether Modi has cancelled hisvisit to Assam, which is wit-nessing protests against thecontentious CitizenshipA m e n d m e n tAct.

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There is no evidence of mur-der of children in Bihar's

Muzaffarpur shelter home, theCBI on Wednesday told theSupreme Court. The probeagency told the apex court thattwo skeletons recovered fromthe premises were found to beof a woman and a man in foren-sic examination. A Bench head-ed by Chief Justice SA Bobdeaccepted the status report of the CBI and allowed two officers tobe relieved from the investiga-tion team. Representing theCBI, Attorney General KKVenugopal told a Bench, alsocomprising Justice B R Gavai andJustice Surya Kant, that inmateshad given statements that mur-der of children had taken placeand bodies were buried.

"When the probe agencywent to the spot where thealleged bodies were buried,two skeleton parts were recov-ered. On forensic investigationof the skeleton parts it wasfound to be of a woman and aman and the possibility of mur-der of minor was ruled out,"Venugopal told the apex court.

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Close on the heels of it los-ing power in Maharashtra,

the BJP on Wednesday suffereda humiliating defeat in localbody elections in the State, asthe ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) captured power in fiveout of six Zilla Parishads andwalked away with majorityPanchayat Samiti seats in fiveout of six districts where thepolls were held.

It what came as personalsetback for former ChiefMinister and senior BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis as the AmitShah-led party lost power inthe Zilla Parishad andPanchayat Samitis in his homedistrict of Nagpur.

The MVA, comprising theShiv Sena, NCP and Congresscaptured power in the ZillaParishads of Nagpur, Washim,Akola (all three in Vidarbharegion), Nandurbar (in northMaharashtra) and Palghar (incoastal Konkan region), whilethe BJP managed to come topower in Dhule ZP in northMaharashtra.

Detailed report on P7

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The Supreme Court onWednesday expressed dis-

satisfaction over the statusreport submitted by the ShreeJagannath TempleAdministration (SJTA) withregard to the Puri JagannathTemple reforms citing that thereport is incomplete and needs

revisit.The apex court further

asked its Amicus Curiae tostudy the report and submit thefindings, based on which thefinal report can be filedthrough an additional affidavitwithin two weeks. The nexthearing in the case was extend-ed by four weeks.

Notably, recently, the StateGovernment had submitted a100-page report on the 22-point directive given by theSupreme Court for reforms inthe Jagannath Temple.

A few of the matters such

as security of the devotees, landof Lord Jagannath, property list,appointment of a fulltime ChiefAdministrator, price list of theMahaprasad and putting it upat Ananda Bazaar were asked tobe streamlined by the SupremeCourt.

In reaction, SJTA counselSwetakant Mishra said that asper requisites of the AmicusCuriae, they would now com-ply with all necessary docu-ments. He said they are yet toavail information from someother States regarding landedproperties of Lord Jagannath.

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Culture Minister JyotiPrakash Panigrahi has

again courted controversy, thistime at the world-famousBargarh Dhanu Yatra.

He repeatedly mentionedthe Dhanu Yatra as Bali Yatra(of Cuttack) on the dais in thepresence of demon King Kansaon Tuesday evening. However,after the intervention of Kansa,he rectified himself.

Moreover, the Minister saidthe State Government is plan-ning to accord the ‘State-level

Mahostav’ status to the DhanuYatra. This sparked furthercontroversy as Dhanu Yatra hasbeen given the national festivalstatus since 2014. TheMinister’s “announcement”,therefore, carries less signifi-cance and shows his poorunderstanding about theDhanu Yatra, said audience.

In November last year,Panigrahi was in news afterOpposition levelled an allega-tion against him saying that hetoured Hyderabad with afemale friend at the expense ofthe State exchequer.

BHUBANESWAR: IndianNational Trade UnionCongress (INTUC) State pres-ident and former Rajya Sabhamember Rama ChandraKhuntia said that the BharatBandh was a total success inOdisha on Wednesday.

“Industrial strike andBharat Bandh held to press forfulfilment of a 12-point char-ter of demands and withdraw-al of the CAA and the NRC wasa big success in Odisha. Allindustrial units and commer-cial establishments were closed.The strike called by all tradeunions and supported by theCongress, the CPI, the CPI(M)and the SUCI evoked goodresponse from general public,”said Dr Khuntia.

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Indian National Trade UnionCongress (INTUC) State pres-

ident Rama Chandra Khuntiaseverely condemned the UnionGovernment’s decision onWednesday to withdraw itsstake from the Neelachal IspatNigam Limited (NINL).

“It is very disappointingthat the Government of Indiadecided to withdraw its stakefrom the NINL when 25 croreworkers are on a nationwidestrike against disinvestmentfrom Central public sectorundertakings. The INTUC andall other TUs have condemned

the decision,” said Khuntia.He too said that all trade

unions would hold demon-stration and dharna at JantarMantar in New Delhi soon ifthe Union Government does-n’t withdraw the decision.

However, Union SteelMinister Dharmendra Pradhantermed the Centre’s decision ashistoric and asserted that steelproduction and related busi-ness would be enhanced inOdisha. “The NINL’s steel pro-duction will be enhanced from1.1 MT to 10 MT,” he told aPress conference in New Delhi.

BJP State vice-presidentSamir Mohanty said the NINLdisinvestment would createopportunities for reinvestmentin the firm.

Related report on Page 2

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The 24-hour Bhrat Bandhcalled by the central trade

unions on Wednesday evokedmixed response across theState. Normal life was hit androads wore deserted looks withtransport vehicles staying offthe roads and rail traffic gettingpartially affected.

At most places, bus serviceswere suspended till 5 pm. ButMo Buses plied inBhubaneswar as usual.

Shops and other businessestablishments remained closedin many parts of the State. Asa precautionary measure, edu-cation institutions were shut bythe administrations of severaldistricts.

However, Governmentoffices remained open. Actingas per the Government’s direc-

tive, employees of Lok SevaBhawan, Kharavel Bhawan andRajiv Bhawan reached officesbefore 9.30 am. Ministers andsenior bureaucrats were noexception as they arrived by9.30 am.

The Commissioneratepolice arrested severalCongress leaders, includingPCC president NiranjanPatnaik, for staging protest.

As per reports, 500 protes-tors and leaders of political par-ties were arrested inBhubaneswar alone. Besides,police rounded up agitatorsacross the State.

The Commissioneratepolice had deployed 15 pla-toons of police force and strik-ing force.

Agitators staged rail rokoin Bhubaneswar, Cuttack,Bhadrak, Baleswar, Brahampur,Sambalpur, Angul, Rourkela,Jajpur, Bangriposi andParalakhemundi, due to whichrailway passengers had a har-r o w i n gexperience.

Banking services wereaffected as five unions of bank-ing staffs had joined the strikeopposing the decision of theCentre on merger of banks.

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The Union Government onWednesday decided in

favour of disinvestment ofequity shareholding in theKalingaagar-based NeelachalIspat Nigam Limited (NINL),which is in dire need of work-ing capital.

A meeting of the CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs chaired by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inNew Delhi gave its ‘in-princi-ple’ nod for a strategic disin-vestment of the equities in theNINL.

According to sources, theCabinet approved disinvest-ment of equity shares ofMinerals & Metals TradingCorporation Limited (MMTC)(49.78%), National MineralDevelopment Corporation(NMDC) (10.10%), MECON(0.68%) and Bharat HeavyElectricals Limited (BHEL)(0.68%) and two Odisha

Government PSUs, IndustrialPromotion and InvestmentCorporation of Odisha Limited(IPICOL) (12.00%) and OdishaMining Corporation (OMC)(20.47%) in the NINL to astrategic buyer, identifiedthrough a two-stage auctionprocedure.

The NINL is a joint venturecompany, in which four Central

PSUs, MMTC, NMDC, BHELand MECON and State PSUsIPICOL and OMC are share-holders.

The proposed strategic dis-investment in the NINL aimsat unlocking resources to beused to finance the social sec-tor and developmental pro-grammes of the Governmentbenefiting the public. It is also

expected that the successfulstrategic buyer may bring innew management, technologyand investment for growth ofthe company and may useinnovative methods for devel-opment of the business opera-tions of the company, whichmay generate more employ-m e n topportunities.

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On this day in 1915,Mahatma Gandhi had

returned from South Africa toIndia for good. In 2003, itdawned upon some sensiblenon-resident Indians thatmigrant Indians should have acommemoration day. Theychose ‘January 9' to be knownas the Prabasi Bharatiya Divas.Incidentally, South Africa cropsup in Indian discourses onlywhen Gandhiji figures in thetopic because he had livedthere from 1893 until 1915. ButIndians had first arrived therein 1860 to work as indenturedlabourers on the sugar planta-tions in Natal.

Gandhi had studied law tobecome a Barrister at InnerTemple in England between1888 and 1891. He startedpractising law at the BombayHigh Court but could notimpress clients at all. Then, heshifted to Rajkot and failedthere too. By this time, a fewadventurous Indians hadmigrated to South Africa andset up business ventures. Butonly a lucky few had met withsuccess. The most prominentamong them was AbdullahHaji Adam Jhaveri, who ran afirm, Dada Abdullah & Cowith his brother Abdul KarimJhaveri. The company was oneof the biggest South Africantrading firms operating 15

branches for dealing in import-ed goods from Germany, India,and England. It also owned afleet of steam ships.Incidentally, Dada Abdullahhad put his cousin Tayob HajiHkan Mahomed to manage thecompany's Transvaal branches.In 1890, Tayob bought out thefirm's Transvaal operationsand incorporated them as‘TayobHajee Abdulla & Co'.But he messed up businessoperations and defaulted heav-ily on payments, for which biglegal problems cropped upentangling Abdul Karim.

Dada Abdullah had heardof Gandhi as a British-trainedyoung lawyer in India. Heinvited Gandhi to be the com-pany lawyer for one full yearwith a salary of 105 pounds inaddition to comfortable stay,food and travel expenses.Gandhi found the offerextremely lucrative as his strug-gle in India was getting worsethan ever before. He acceptedthe offer instantly and arrivedin Durban aboard a ship.

For company work, DadaAbdullah organised a trip forGandhi to Pretoria by train infirst class. But the train author-ities threw him out of thecompartment because a whiteman was uncomfortable aboutan Indian sharing the samespace with him. This very inci-dent turned Gandhi stubbornabout fighting racial discrimi-nation and inequalities acrossSouth Africa. Gandhi resolvednever to return until the plightof non-whites changed inSouth Africa. After his contractwith the Abdullah companywas over, he worked as alawyer-cum-activist; and non-whites, particularly Indians,began to recognise him as amessiah. So, he spent 21 yearsof his most productive life in

South Africa to fight for rightsof the discriminated lot.

By May 1894, he hadorganised the Natal IndianCongress. In 1896, he came toIndia only to organise supportfrom some prominent Indianleaders and went back to SouthAfrica with 800 free-mindedIndians whose arrival wasvehemently resisted. Anenraged white mob attackedGandhi physically, but he exer-cised unusual self-restraint asif obeying a divine command-ment. His philosophy of win-ning the detractors with peace-ful restraint, thus, turned ahabit to subsequently becomea lethal, failsafe weapon.Fortunately then, the Britishgovernment put heavy pressureon the South African adminis-tration not to disfranchiseIndians arriving there. TheNatal Indian Congress by nowwas engaging in regular non-violent protests against theoppressive treatment of thewhite government. When theBoer War broke out in 1899,the humane Gandhi gathered1,100 Indians to establish‘Indian Ambulance Corps’ forthe British soldiers.

Gandhi suddenly felt hehad to start movements inIndia. Africa was on its ownnow. So in 1901, he returned toIndia with family and travelledextensively. He also opened alaw office in Bombay to startlife afresh. But South AfricanIndians broke down as theircrusader of justice was aban-doning them. They kept plead-ing with him not to leave themhalfway. So, he returned duti-fully to South Africa in 1902 tocomplete the mission he hadbegun.

By 1903, Gandhi was lead-ing a life of exemplary disci-pline and self-restraint. His

diet had become severely sim-ple; he was his own doctor; the‘Bhagwat Gita' had becomehis handbook of life; and hehad begun confrontinguntouchability issues fiercely.By 1906, after undergoingmany trials and tribulations ofself-abnegation and eventuallyBrahmacharya (celibacy), hehad become the most formi-dable force the South Africangovernment had ever feared toencounter. Except God, hefeared none.

Gandhi set up the PhoenixFarm near Durban, where hetrained his cadres onSatyagraha (peaceful restraint).Phoenix Farm is, therefore,known as the birthplace ofSatyagraha. Tolstoy Farm washis second unit whereSatyagraha was moulded into aunique weapon. He always saidEnglish artist John Ruskin'sbook ‘Unto This Last' hadgreatly inspired him to set upthese human-manufacture out-fits. In 1906, Gandhi organiseda real big Satyagraha to protestagainst the Transvaal Asiaticordinance constituted againstthe local Indians. Again, in1907, he held anotherSatyagraha against the BlackAct. In 1908, he was jailed forleading these movements. So in1909, after a three-month jailterm, he went to England toseek assistance of the Indiancommunity there. In 1907, heorganised yet another big non-violent protest against the com-pulsory registration of Asiatics,which was known as The BlackAct. In 1908, he had to go to jailfor two months. However, hewas released after a specialcompromise with Jan ChristianSmuts, the South African states-man, military leader andphilosopher, who was PrimeMinister of the Union of South

Africa from 1919 to 1924. Buthe was misunderstood andattacked by his own communi-ty for conniving with theenemy. Eventually, Smuts brokethe agreement and Gandhi re-launched his Satyagraha withbigger force and vigour. In1909, he was jailed for threemonths. After release, he sailedstraight for England for supportfor Indians.

In 1913, he campaignedagainst nullification of mar-riages not solemnised accord-ing to Christian rights. Then,he launched a huge Satyagrahaby leading 2,000 Indian minersacross the Transvaal border. Hewas put in jail. But in no time,they released him uncondi-tionally because he was alreadya colossal public figure whocould cause bigger trouble forthe administration. Gandhi's‘ahimsa’ (nonviolence) weaponhad triumphed. Even Smutshad said, “Gandhi is an inspi-ration for mankind.’

People have completelyforgotten Dada Abdullah with-out whose trust and supportGandhi would never havebecome a ‘Mahatma’. Abdullahdid not have any son to succeedhim. And his sole daughter wasmarried in India. Thus, uponhis death in 1912, the firmappears to have been dissolvedin South Africa. AB Moosa, afourth-generation descendantof the Abdullah family, takesgreat pride in the fact that hisancestors had been instru-mental in Gandhi's becominga great soul.

South Africa experimentsgave Gandhi the skills of peace-ful resistance, which laterhelped him lead India toIndependence. Gandhiji hasseverally confessed that he wasborn in India but made inSouth Africa.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

In a unique way to spend thetime during the Bharat

Bandh on Wednesday, passen-gers sang Bhajans at the BijuPatnaik International Airport(BPIA) in the morning.

The tourists from severalparts of Delhi performedKirtan devoted to LordJagannath and Lord Krishna.

About 700 tourists fromDelhi had visited Odisharecently. After darshan of LordJagannath in Puri, they were todepart by various air carriersfrom Bhubaneswar onWednesday.

“We have been sitting heresince 3 am without havingbreakfast and tea. However, wespent quality time by per-forming Bhajans and Kirtanwith other passengers, a touristfrom Paschim Vihar, Delhisaid.

Clapping their hands and

moving to the beats of songs,the passengers appeared happywith others even as the nation-wide strike disrupted normallife outside the airport. TheBhajans reverberated in theairport premises with the musicof Tannumai, a percussioninstrument.

“Those in politics areobserving the bandh. But weremained unaffected,” anotherpassenger said. “We will waitfor our flights. Till then, we willdo Satsang and chant Bhajans,”said the women tourists chant-ing ‘Radhe Radhe’.

The tourists termed thebandh as ‘inappropriate’. Theyappealed to the protestors notto hit the streets to createobstructions for common peo-ple. “Bandh is not a solution toan issue; rather it creates prob-lems for public,” said a womanpassenger.

% � � ��4�-(/,�-%

The Tata Steel has said itswholly-owned subsidiary

TS Alloys Limited has baggedthe Saruabil chromite miningblock in Odisha for 50 years.

In a regulatory filing, theTata Steel said a letter of intentas the successful bidder of theSaruabil chromite mining blockhas been issued by the StateGovernment to its subsidiary.

Chrome is used in themaking of ferrochrome which,in turn, is used to make stain-less steel. The Tata Steel has fer-roalloy plants in Bamnipal andJoda in Odisha. The TS Alloywas the highest bidder for theSaruabil chrome deposit, cur-rently held by Misrilall MineLtd, out of 12 companies in thefray, with a bid of 88.5% of thesale value of the mineral.

Reports said 12 companieswere in the fray for the miningblock. This is the first opera-tional mines, lapsing in 2020,to be successfully auctioned bythe State Government.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

The Commissionerate policeon Wednesday said action

would be taken as per lawagainst the persons who tookpart in motorcycle rallies with-out wearing helmets during theBharat Bandh.

Traffic DCP Sagarika Nathsaid, “Once we check theCCTV footages, we will iden-tify protesters rallying on two-

wheelers without wearing hel-met and challans will be issuedagainst them. It is usual processand it will take two to threedays’ time.”

Law is equal for everyoneand action would be takenagainst those taking law intotheir hands, she added.

Earlier in the day, Congressmembers were seen ridingmotorcycles without wearinghelmets at Sachivalaya Marg.Holding party flags and shout-ing slogans, the party workersrallied on the stretches withoutwearing helmets.

Earlier in January, the BijuYuva Janata Dal (BYJD) mem-bers had been fined for hel-metless riding during a bikerally here as part of the party’sfoundation day celebrations.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik inaugurated the

Adani-KISS Tribal ResidentialSchool at Bankishole, Baripadaon Wednesday.

Revenue and DisasterMinister Sudam Marndi, AdaniGroup chairman GautamAdani, Mayurbhanj MPBishweswar Tudu, Rajya Sabhamember Sarojini Hembram,MLA Prakash Soren, AdaniFoundation chairperson DrPriti Adani, Adani Ports andSEZ CEO Karan Adani andKISS and KIIT founder DrAchyuta Samanta were present.

Patnaik thanked KISSauthority and Adani Groupfor establishment of Adani-KISS tribal residential school inMayurbhanj district.

In his welcome address, DrSamanta said poor tribal stu-

dents of Mayurbhaj districtwould get quality education inthe Adani-KISS ResidentialSchool. In the first phase,15,000 students of Mayurbhanjdistrict would be enrolled fromClass I to XII. He said only can-

didates of Mayurbhanj wouldget employment in the Adani-KISS, which has come up on 50acres of land with all modernfacilities. On this occasion, a50-bed hospital in the Adani-KISS campus was inaugurated

by Dr Priti G Adani. The hos-pital, to be managed by theKIMS, would serve the stu-dents, staff of Adani-KISS aswell as the common people ofMayurbhanj district, said DrSamant.

% ��� ��-�-(1'6-)(-

Protesting theCAA, NRC

and NPR, minor-ity communitymembers underthe banner of theBahujan KrantiM o r c h a ,Kalahandi branchstaged a rally inBhawanipatna onWednesday.

Holding ban-nders and play-cards, Muslims community ofKalahandi shouted againstPrime Minister Narendra Modisaying “Modi Ki Tana SahiNahi Chalegi Nahi Chalegi(Modi’s dictatorship will not beallowed).

They also raised the slo-gans of rolling back ofCitizenship Amendment Actand demanded that theNational Register of Citizens

(NRC) should be implement-ed on the basis of DNA test.

Akbar Mahammad, anative of Bhawanipatna, saidthat the BJP led CentralGovernment divided theHindus and Muslims breakingpeace of the country. “We havebeen living here for the last sev-eral decades and with theamendments in the constitu-tion, the residents are feeling

unsafe,” he said.Mehboob Raja, a shop-

keeper said that while theCentre wanted to implementthe NRC through NPR, weasked them to implement it onthe DNA basis.

They submitted a memo-randum to the Collector,Kalahandi, which wasaddressed to the President.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Wednesday laid

foundation-stone for projectsworth Re 200 crore and inau-gurated Rs 50-crore projects forMayurbhanj district at a pro-gramme held at Baripada on

Wednesday.Besides, the Chief Minister

announced a grant of Rs 5 crorefro development of the ShreeJagannath Temple at Baripada.He said the Government wouldtake all steps for developmentof tourist spots at Khiching,Debakunda and other places.

These apart, he inaugurat-ed the Adani-KISS ResidentialSchool at Baripada.

Addressing a gathering,the Chief Minister said,“Education is empowerment

and the real transformation canbe possible through educa-tion. More than 6 lakh tribalstudents are studying in 6,500schools in the State. By theefforts of the Government,tribal students have achievedsuccesses in different sectors.”

He said the developmentprocess would continue inMayurbhanj district and itsplace in the State’s developmentmap would be brighter in com-ing days.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

Ayear after launch of theUjjwala Didi campaign by

the Centre for women empow-erment, the programme’s ben-efit is yet to be available out tothe intended women benefi-ciaries in Odisha.

As the Government has notinitiated any step for appoint-ment of Ujjwala Didis, a hugeamount of sanitary napkinsstored at various Sahaj JanSeva Kendras remain unsold.

The Government had pro-vided equipments wortharound Rs 3 lakh required formanufacturing sanitary nap-kins to four Jan Seva Kendrasat Jatni, Khordha andBhubaneswar last year. TheJan Seva Kendras had alsodeposited Rs 25 each as secu-rity for making of the napkinsinvolving a number of womenunder the scheme. However,nobody purchased the napkinsfrom the public service centres.

The users reportedly prefer

sanitary napkins of severalbrands available at markets. Butthe products manufactured bythe Sahaj Jan Seva Kendras arenot in demand due to lack ofUjjwala Didi campaign amongwomen.

The Government hasappointed women under thecampaign at panchayats. Butthe beneficiaries did not par-ticipate in the programmeactively, informed the scheme

coordinator in Khordha dis-trict. He, however, said initia-tive would be taken to addressthe issue it in future.

Notably, Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan hadlaunched Ujjwala Didi cam-paign in Khordha on February23, 2019. Under the pro-gramme, the beneficiaries wereto create awareness aboutwomen empowerment, sanita-tion and safety among women.

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The Union Government hasdecided to shift the Biju

Patnaik National Steel Institute(BPNSI) from Puri toKalinganagar in Jajpur district,where a steel hub is in the mak-ing.

With Union Petroleum andNatural Gas and Steel MinisterDharmendra Pradhan harpingon establishment of India’s firststeel hub in Kalinganagar, shift-ing of the BPNSI, which is runby the Ministry of Steel, wouldbe useful for the hub. For this,the Centre has requested theState Government to provide50 acres of land.

The BPNSI was set up in2002 for the development ofsteel sector with an emphasison the secondary steel sector.

The institute had adopted

a three-prongedapproach, namely‘Education andTraining, Researchand Developmentand Consultancy,to boost the steelsector.

Affiliated tothe AICTE, theinstitute is offeringA d v a n c e dCertificate Courseon iron and steelmanufacturing.The Ministry hasalso decided to setup set up a steelskill development centre(SSDC) under the administra-tive control of the BPNSI.

Sources said the Ministryof Steel is in contact with theState Government in thisregard. The BPNSI along withits SSDC would be able to gen-erate massive pool of skilledworkforce of young boys andgirls for the steel sector.

International organisationsimparting training in steel sec-tor would be roped in forSSDC to provide advanced

training to youths, who wouldbe required for steel industriesto be established in the steelhub at Kalinganagar.

With a target to produce300 million tonne of steel perannum (MTPA), the Ministryis taking all sorts of steps toimprove the capacity and boostthe downstream industries.

Under this backdrop, shift-ing of the BPSNI and setting upof SSDC woud go a long wayin serving the steel sector, saidofficials.

% ��� �4))-�>

The Commissionerate policeon Tuesday arrested a tele-

vision channel owner oncharges of duping an ex-Serviceman of the city.

The accused is Manoj Das,managing director (MD) ofKamyab TV.

He was apprehended by theMarkatnagar police underSections 420 and 34 of IPC fol-lowing complaint by formerArmy personnel BisweswarRout.

The complaint, a residentof CDA area in the city accusedDas of defrauding him of Rs 20lakh on the guise of providinghim a job at his television

channel.Reports said Das had taken

the money from Rout promis-ing him of a job in his televi-sion channel in February 2019.After Rout did not receive anyappointment letter from theorganisation, he lodged a com-plaint against Das and his asso-ciate Ashok Patnaik, who hadintroduced him with theaccused.

While Das was arrested bypolice, Patnaik is still at large.

During investigation,police came to know that theaccused has also duped twoothers of Rs 40 lakh.

Earlier, CBI had arrestedDas in connection of ArthaTatwa (AT) Group chit fundscam in 2014. He was lodged atthe Jharpada Special Jail inBhubaneswar for two years.After walking out of jail on bail,he had planned to revive hisTV channel, which was closedbriefly following his arrest.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

On the 15th anniversaryfunction on December 31

of the Vivekananda PathakMancha, Nuarampas, Keonjhar,a slew of events were organisedwith a motto of promotingOdia language and literatureamong children.

There was a gathering ofstudents, teachers, litterateursand language lovers on theoccasion where the tiny boysand girls displayed their liter-ary talent and walked awaywith trophies.

Mancha convenor ProfRabindra Kumar Nayak said hehad been doing this for the last15 years to ensure that Odialanguage and literature con-tinued to inspire children at atime when there have been lotsof efforts to save Odia language.

The jury members for

selecting best reader(studentwho read highest number ofbooks in Odia literature) wereProf Brajmohan Mishra andchildren litterateur Dr RamChandra Nayak. The best read-ers in junior and senior sectionswere Debasis Mishra andBibhudutta Patra. There was aquestion-answer session con-ducted by Prof BibhudattaPradhan while the best writersof the magazine 'Srujanjhar'were felicitated on the occasion.Srujanjhar editor Prof SushilSubhadeep Nayak was presentwhen the literary magazinewas unveiled by some distin-guished guests like satirist ArjyaYagnadatta, Umakanta Rout,Debapriya Priyadarshi Chakraand Chita Ranjan Nayak.

A special programme'Abasara Pare(after retirement)was held where three distin-guished retired teachers spokeabout their experiences.Akahaya Kumar Jena,

Pradymna Dhaland BaisnabCharan Nayakwere felicitated.

In the secondpart of the func-tion, a felicitationprogramme washeld where RamChandra Nayakpresided andAbhimanyu Sahu,Sanjaya KumarBarik, SaradaPrassana Jena,Ratnakar Raul,Pitambar Patra,Khageswar Jena,Pitambar Ayach,Rabindra KumarRout and BhabaniSankar Rout werepresent. Thehighest scorer of HSC exam for2019, Biswajit Swain ofBadarampas gram panchayatwas honoured with trophy.Besides, OJEE lateral entrytopper Bhabani Shankar

Behera was felicitated and pro-vided monetary assistance.This apart, the successful stu-dents in various competitionsheld by the Mancha earlier onDecember 15 were also given

trophies. Keshav Behera,Santosh Patnaik, SurendraNayak, Dhruba CharanMoharana, Subash Sahu andAmar Sethi coordinated theevent.

��8����8���8� � ��-�-(1'6-)(-

The tribal festival “Toki MaraParba” (sacrificing a young

girl), which is observed inevery 12 years in Kalahandi’stribal region, was held recent-ly. According to sources, afemale goat representing ayoung girl was sacrificed inhope of a good harvest along-with peace and harmony in thecommunity.

Around 50-60 years ago,tribals used to sacrifice a girl ofthe village Jani (village head),who believed that by sacrific-ing her, they would be show-ered with blessings of theDharni Penu (a local deity).

A lecturer, ParmeswarMund of Bhawanipatna whohas been researching on tribals,said the age -old tradition ofsacrificing a girl had beenchanged to a female goat beingsacrificed in the last fourdecades.

Earlier, the tribals believedthat since a mother took care ofher children, a girl, after being

sacrificed, would also save thefamily members from all theevils. “Gradually their beliefchanged who are now chosingto sacrifice a female goat insteadof a girl,” said Mund.

Recently in many tribalpockets of Kalampur, ThuamulRampur, Koksara andLanjigarh block of Kalahandi,the tribals observed the festival.

“We believe that the deity savesus from all the difficulties andsimultaneously hope for a goodharvest,” said Goutam MundaDisari, a local.

According to a custom,after sacrificing the femalegoat, tribals of Kondh andParja community take a pieceof meat which is buried in theirrespective farmland. "The trib-

als believe that unless the meatis buried, there would not begood harvesting,” saidLanjigarh MLA Pradeep Disariwho took part in the festival.

Apart from that, two daysafter concluding the "Toki MaraParba", tribals observed“Dhangdi Dola” whichinvolved a custom of choosinga bride of their own commu-nity.

The young boys and girlsdanced in a function where aboy chose a girl of his own wishand then he pulled the girl upto50-100 meters in front of thesociety. “Finally in the com-munity the bride and groomare announced as married,”said a local resident ofLanjigarh, Kailash Sahoo.

Mund said the custom ofpulling a girl on his own wishturning into marriage was tooan age-old ritual and the com-munity enjoyed a lot in theevent.

% ��� 64%1

One Hector Mishra underthe banner of ‘Voice of

People’ wrote to Puri CollectorBalwant Singh demanding aban on events beginning fromthe upcoming Monday atTalabania in Puri.

In his letter, Mishraopposed the permission fromthe administration given to agroup to gather over Talabaniafield as it violates the laws ofsweet water zones.

Since Talabania is strictlyprotected against any event orpublic activities as it comesunder sweet water zone, Mishra

stated a danger to groundwater tables due to rising uri-nary and defecation activitiesby a huge gathering of people.Besides, there is threat to thewildlife sanctuary remainingwithin 200-meter fromTalabania sweet water zone.

The letter reads, "The useof laud-speakers and excesssound bites from event willhamper the peace ofBalukhanda wildlife sanctu-ary situated closer to Talabania.Besides, the festival will affectstudies of students of KendriyaVidyalaya which is also close tothis place." Mishra alsoenclosed some legal documentsand criminal case pending inpolice station.

By laws, Talabania is pro-tected for drinking water sup-plies to city, Mishra wrote

opposing a permission togroup for celebration.

Reportedly, a festival isgoing to be organized onTalabania field with participa-tion of hundreds of thousandsof devotees from differentStates. Followers along withtheir gurus and clerics willcongregate at Talabania in largenumbers and hold functionsthere for two days. They arescheduled to hold a religiousrally in the pilgrim city tomark visit of their Guru to Purifor darshan of Lord Jagannath.

However, the contention isdespite a ban already in forcewith a case pending in courtagainst misuse of Talabaniafor public activities, how per-mission was given to a group toorganise the fair, the petition-er said.

% ��� %34%>/ -

AClass-III girl was allegedly rapedby an unidentified miscreant in

the Jhirapani police station areahere. The incident that occurred onSaturday night came to light afterfamily members of the victim lodgeda complaint with the Jhirapani policeon Tuesday.

Sources said the minor girl hadgone to Pump House Basti in Sector20 here to attend tuition classes onSaturday evening but did not return.

On Sunday morning, a fewmembers of a voluntary organisa-tionation found her crying nearKoel river and informed her familymembers.

She was later admitted toRourkela Government Hospital(RGH) in critical condition.

Acting on the complaint of thevictim’s family, police began aninvestigation into the incident andhave launched a hunt to nab theaccused.

��8����8���8��� ��-�-(16-)(-

Farmers of Kalahandi have allegedthat delay in procurement of paddy

by the authorities had forced them towait for their turn by sleeping at nightin the cold wave.

While the State Governmentclaims that paddy is procured within24 hours of date of purchase men-tioned in the token, farmers have beenshivering at the Dasigaon PACs for thelast 15 days.

Once a centralized token is gen-erated, farmers are issued the tokenswhere date of procurement is men-tioned. A farmer will have to bring hisproduce at the mandi on a particulardate which is purchased by the PACs,so go the norms.

The farmers alleged that despitereceiving tokens, paddy could not beprocured on the given date by theDasigon primary agriculture co-oper-

ative society (PACS).Owing to a shed in the mandi

of Dasigaon village, around 30-40farmers had been sleeping nearbytheir produce partly covered withpolythenes. They alleged theadministration focused on big farm-ers earlier and now lacked in liftingpaddy of small farmers.

A 60- year -old farmerDhanurjaya Naik said, “I hadbrought 50 bags of paddy at theDasigaon PACs which was to be lift-ed on December 24 but till today itcould not be purchased and I havebeen shivering in the cold withsleepless nights.”

Another farmerNrusinghaKhamari (55) alleged thathe had 95 bags of paddy which was tobe lifted 10 days ago but no millerswere seen." It is quite tough to sleepin the cold wave,” he said.

Govind Kumar, a farmer who had60 bags of paddy said without a shed,he was forced to keep the paddy underthe sky and he did not know how long

it would take to purchase his produce.In Kalahandi, the target of 25 lakh

quintal paddy procurement, at a costof Rs1 815 a quintal, was achieved inDecember for Kharif season. 74 PACSand 23 SHGs procured the paddy inthe district, said sources.

However, the State Governmenthad further instructed to purchaseanother 7.35 lakh quintal paddy in the

second phase.The civil supply officer of

Kalahandi, Siba Shankar Dora saidthat due to lack of the labourers, delaywas seen in various mandis. "Due tothe heavy load at the mandis, paddycould not be procured in time owingto the labour problem. However, all thepaddy will be procured," he said.

% � � 6-%- -�/�4(&1

The construction of theDambapur Irrigation

Project over theMahendratanya river inGajapati district is yet to becompleted due to the callousattitude of the StateGovernment, said ParalaSwabhiman Manch convenorDr Tirupathi Panigrahi after avisit to the site on Sunday.

The State Government hadlaid foundation stone for twoirrigation projects in 2008 atJalang canal and at Dambapurin Rayagada block over theriver.

But the project at Jalang

can be claimed as a dead pro-ject and the construction workat Dambapur is running at veryslow pace which might takeyears to complete, saidPanigrahi, adding that the pro-ject site at Dambapur is not sit-uated at the right place.

Instead of constructing theproject over the Julang Canal,

which is the base for the riverflow, why the Government isconstructing the dam atDambapur, a less water flowsite, and making people fool, hequestioned.

The Manch threatened thatif the Government fails to pro-vide water get to the farmersthey would resort agitation.

% ��� 6-%- ->�/�4(&1

People of different sections ofGajapati district have con-

gratulated Justice Sanju Panda,who hails fromParalakhemundi, for havingbeen appointed as Acting ChiefJustice of the Orissa High Court.Justice Panda was born in 1959in Paralakhemundi while his

father GH Panda was the localSDJM, pointed out seniorlawyer Ramanath Mishra.

On behalf of the GajapatiLawyers’ Association,Ramanath Mishra, HirachandPatnaik, Arunkant Parida,Satya Narayan Das, SwarupKumar Pal and Rajat KumarPatra have congratulated JusticePanda.

% ��� &�/(>-(-

More than 200 members ofTata BSL Industries

Shramik Union took out ahuge rally from its Dakhinakalioffice and demonstrated infront of Dhenkanal Collector’sOffice against cheating of thecompany and its labour con-

tractors Barsha and TSPL.Er Debashisha Hota led the

rally and demonstration.The agitators urged arrest

of the owners of contractorscompanies, alleging exploita-tions of labourers by them.

Also they demanded paymentof their retrenchment com-p e n s a t i o nimmediately.

Later, Collector BhumeshChandra Behera assured tofulfil their demands within 15days.

Hota alleged the authoritiesof the industries and their

labour contactors did not carethe notices of the DLOManabhanjan Pradhan andflouted laws.

"The DLO does not takeany strict action. Poor labour-ers could not afford to fight

their pending cases at the faraway tribunal by which theindustries and their labourcontactors get benefitted," Hotasaid.

He told that on July 31,Barsha Enterprisers retrenchednearly 300 poor labourers with-out giving proper notice tothem.

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The under-trial rape accused,who had managed to jump

the boundary wall of theChattrapur Sub-Jail and escapeson Tuesday, was nabbed bypolice within 24 hours.

The fugitive prisoner iden-tified as Kabiraj Behera wasspotted hiding near a bush inclose vicinity of the jail bypolice and was apprehended.While climbing the boundarywall Behera was injured andcould not go far.

So, he hid near a bush. Butthe jail and police officialswhile conducting a search wereable to trace him in theevening. The Chhatrapur JailSuperintendent SubhasmiteBiswal after lodging an FIRwith the Chhatrapur police,informed the BrahmapurRange Prisons DIG RagunathMajhi. Later, Chhatrapur PSIIC Priyas Ranjan Chhotray,SDPO Goutam Kishan andother police officials rushed tothe jail and carried out a probehow the prisoner was able toscale the 18-feet wall of the jailand escape.

% ��� �%-��-'64%

The BharatBandh was

s u c c e s s f u l l yobserved byactivists of thecentral tradeunions, theCongress and theLeft parties hereon Wednesday.

By itsimpact, train andbus services were disrupted andshops, hotels and bazaarsremained closed till afternoonas activists kept blocking roadsand staging picketing at dif-ferent places in the city.

Agitators alleged that theNDA Government at theCentre has failed in briningdevelopment during the last sixmonths. “Prices of essentialcommodities have skyrocketed.The country has been pushedto a weak economy. Whileunemployment problem hasbeen acute, employees are notgetting equal pay for equalwork. The Union Government

is planning to change labourlaws in favour of corporatehouses,” alleged actives ofINTUC, CITU, HSS, AITUC,AICCTU and all bank associ-ations.

They demanded that theGovernment take early stepsfor controlling pries of essen-tial commodities and providingminimum wage of Rs 21,000per month to workers. Theother demands include stop-ping of amendment of labourlaws in favour of corporatehouses, preventing of privati-zation of public sector under-takings and stopping of 100 per

cent FDI in retail markets.Besides central TUs and

political parties, members oflocal organisations like OdishaAdarsha Vidyalaya Class IVUnion and Brahmapur Mobileand Electronics Retailers’Association organised ralliesseparately.

Protestors were also seenholding banners with men-tions of slogans like “RejectCAB”, “Boycott NRC”, etc.

Adequate police personnelhad been deployed at impor-tant places to ensure that nountoward incident occurs dur-ing the bandh.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

The National Highway pro-jects in Odisha were

reviewed by Chief SecretaryAsit Tripathy here onWednesday.

Taking a project-wisereview, Tripathy wanted toknow about the problems andbottlenecks in process of imple-mentation and directed theexecuting agencies to com-plete the projects well beforethe scheduled time by enhanc-ing implementation capacity atthe ground level.

Presenting details of theprojects, Chief GeneralManager NHAI RamprasadPanda said no issue relating tothe projects was pending withthe State Government. Hementioned that presently 5,753km of NH roads were there inthe State out of which 1,912 kmwere under the charge of NHAIand 2,935 km under the chargeof Roads and BuildingsDepartment. Additional 906km roads in the State hadbeen declared as NH and theywould be soon entrusted eitherto the NHAI or to State for up-keeping, told Panda.

A review showed present-ly 22 number of upgrading pro-jects including 4-laning, 6-lan-ing, fly over and bridge projectswere under implementation inthe State. A target has been setto complete construction of 366

km of NH in the FY 2019-20with a total estimated cost ofaround Rs 20,000 crore. Out ofthis, so far 173 km has beencompleted with utilisation ofaround Rs 1,651 crore. TheChief Secretary directed toexpedite construction worksthrough constant monitoring ofthe contract agreements.

Four-laning of thePanikoili-Rimuli section of NH215 (New NH-20) figured inthe meeting. CGM Pandaappraised that there was 95 percent physical progress in thework out of the total length ofaround 166 km. 4-laning wascompleted in 152 km and 2 lan-ing was completed in 14 km.There was no issue pendingwith the State Government forprogress of the project.

The problems cropped upat the level of concessioner andthe lender. The balance workincluded around seven km ofcarriage way, three bridges, oneelephant under pass and aroundnine km of service roads, hetold. He added that the prob-lems would be resolved soonand the balance work would becompleted expeditiously.

Panda said, “A new megaNH project Raipur-Vishakhpatnam is in pipeline.Around 240 km of the projectwill run through the districts ofNabarangpur and Koraput.This will be a greenfield 6-laneproject."

% ��� �%-��-64%

Apublic grievance hearingcamp was organised at the

Ganjam DRDA Office inChhatrapur on Tuesday.District Collector Vijay AmrutaKulange heard the complaintsof people of different regions.

A total of 212 complaintswere heard in which 189 werepersonal matters. After assess-ing 23 cases for temporarysolution, 11 were given Rs 1,

11,000 from the Red CrossFund.

As many as 20 applicationswere sent for the Chief MinisterRelief Fund scheme. Amongothers, ADM Rabindra KumarSahu, Public Hearing OfficerSoubhagya Kumar Gauda,Chhatrapur Sub-CollectorPriyaranjan Prusty, BDOAmbika Prasad Dash, DistrictWelfare Officer ManoramaReddy, Bishnu Prasad andPushpa Paramita were present.

% ��� ��-�64-

The Bharat bandh call givenby different trade unions

disrupted normal life across thedistrict in Keonjhar onWednesday.

Participating in the bandh,hundreds of AITUC workerssat on the National Highwaywith red flags at different placeslike Keonjhar town, Barbil,Joda, Bhadrasahi,Bilaipada,Rimuli, Champua,Jhumpura, Ghatgaon and oth-ers places. Government officesincluding DM's offices ,courts,banks and educational institu-

tions were closed. Lorries weredetained on both sides of theNH and plying of buses wasstopped.

There was delay in move-ment of Keonjhar-Bhubaneswar and Puri-Bhubaneswar trains and trans-portations of minerals by trainwere affected to some extent.

The bandh was led byBidyadhar Mahanta, MaheswarRout, Kapil Mohanty, HariGhana, Hrudananda Patra,MD Badru, Bhabani Mahantaand Rangadhar Patra amongothers at different places of thedistrict.

% � � �- /,�-%

The Bharat Bandhcalled by the cen-

tral trade unions insupport of theCongress was near-total and peaceful inBaleswar.

Shops and busi-ness establishments,barring a few small-time shops, wereclosed and the roadsin the town woredeserted look. Besidesschools, colleges and educa-tional institutions, banks andinsurance offices were alsoclosed. A few ATM countersand some fuel outlets wereoperative.

Trains were stranded fortwo hours due to picketing at

different railwy stations andbuses and trucks were off theroads. Bus passengers had atough time to go their desti-nations as the there were hard-ly any cars on the roads. Auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshawswere also not seen.

Though remained open,Government offices witnessedvery thin attendance. Judicialworks were disrupted as Judgesand Magistrates had to returnon request of the agitators.Personnel of Defence unitsadvanced their reporting time.

% � � 6-%-&16

The Bharat Bandh called bythe trade union was par-

tially success at the Paradipindustrial areas.

The Paradip Port Trust(PPT) administrative buildingwas opened with high security.According to PPT sources, portoperations were normal andmovements of six ships weredone successfully from the port.The PPL and IFFCO fertiliser

plants continued their produc-tion, but export and import werehampered due to the strike.Train, bus and truck services weredisrupted, for which the importand export cargo were affected.

Shops, hotels and bazaars,banks, post offices and otheroffices remained closed. Tradeunion leaders and memberspicketed and blocked roads infront of the PPT gates, PPL,IFFCO and Oil Refinery pro-jects.

% ��� >/(&%-6-&-

Normal life was affectedpartially in Kendrapada

district on Wednesday due tothe Bharat Bandh held by dif-ferent trade unions, theCongress and the Left parties.

All the school and col-leges remain closed. Buseswere off the road and vehicu-lar traffic was affected partial-ly as activities staged roadblockades at several places on

the Cuttack-Chandabali roadand on the NH-5(A).

Government offices,including the districtCollector’s office, remainedclose as Congress andCommunity activists stagedagitations at main gates and didnot allow officers and employ-ees to enter offices. But most ofthe business establishmentswere opened in the townshiparea and emergency serviceswere not affected.

% ��� ��-�-(16-)(-

The Bharat Bandh called bythe trade unions was a suc-

cess in Bhawanipatna.Bandh supporters blocked

the roads at different spots,affecting the commuters forhours, and raised anti-Government slogans and crit-

icised the Central Governmentfor its policies. Passengers hadto wait for the entire day at thebus-stops as buses remained offthe roads due to the support ofthe district bus association tothe strike. Markets, businessestablishments, school and col-leges, post offices and banksalso remained shut.

% ��� �- -(01%

Normal life was affected inBalangir on Wednesday

due to the Bharat Bandhobserved by different tradeunions protesting against the“anti- people” and “anti-work-ers” policies of the NDAGovernment.

Shops, business establish-ments, banks, Post Offices andpetrol pumps were closed. Bothprivate and Government buseswere off the road.

The district Collectorateand Government offices wereclosed. The ADM had to returnhome as he was preventedfrom entering office by protes-tors.

“Common people havesupported our protest againstanti-people and anti-workerpolicies of the Narendra ModiGovernment. We demand allour 12 demands fulfilled at theearliest,” said Surulal Matari ofOSRU Balangir.

The activists also detaineda passenger train here for a fewminutes.

% ��� %34%>/ -

Afish-laden pickup van over-turned in the city on

Wednesday during the BharatBandh injuring two persons,including the driver.

Reports said some agitatorstried to stop the vehicle at BisraChhak here, following whichthe driver tried to swerve thevehicle towards a differentroute.

During the process, thedriver lost control over thewheels and the vehicle subse-

quently turnedturtle, as a resultof which theportion of theroad was lit-tered with fish-es.

On beinginformed, thePlant Site policerushed to thespot and reposi-tioned the pickup van with theuse of a crane. It is alleged thatseveral locals looted some ofthe fishes before the arrival of

police.The victims were rescued

by police and rushed to a hos-pital.

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Wednesday

inaugurated the Odisha MSMEInternational Trade Fair 2020 atthe IDCO Exhibition Groundhere on Wednesday.

“Odisha has been the cra-dle of entrepreneurship sincetimes immemorial. The brandstoday known as Kalinga andUtkal have a glorious ancientpast. The people from Odishaare known for their enterpris-

ing nature andhave made namefor themselves inhandicrafts, tex-tiles, food pro-cessing andi n f o r m a t i o ntechnology,” saidthe ChiefMinister. .

He urged upon young andtalented entrepreneurs to takeadvantage of the upcomingopportunities in Odisha and setup new enterprises.

More than 350 MSMEs,including 20 entrepreneursfrom Iran and 12 entrepreneursfrom Bangladesh, are partici-pating in this event.

4������� ���� ���4�� �������

% ��� ��4�-(/,�-%

Antardrishti a collaborationbetween Srjan- Guru

Kelucharan Mohapatra OdishiNrityabasa and GuruKelucharan Mohapatra OdishiResearch Centre, was held atthe Rabibdra Mandap here onWednesday to commemorateGuruji's 94th birth anniversary.

A tribute to the legendarydance maestro, the programmefeatured an amalgam of tradi-tional dance presentations fromthe Odishi repertoire performedby the solo dancers as choreo-graphed by Guruji himself, andcompositions in the neoclassicalstyle by Ratikant Mohapatrapresented by the Srjan ensemble.

The programme com-menced with an invocatorygroup presentation by the Srjanensemble, titled Antara Rama.This dance presentation, chore-ographed by RatikantMohapatra, set to the musiccomposition of late tabla mae-stro Pt. Nikhil Ghosh and thesupport music of Rupak KumarParida, was a befitting inau-gural piece.

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The HRD Ministry onWednesday made it clear to

the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumarthat he should not only bemore communicative with stu-dents but also take them intoconfidence.

Jagadesh was summonedto HRD Ministry where he metHRD Secretary Amit Khare.Jagadesh had “missed” impor-tant meetings at the HRDMinistry at the backdrop ofviolence in JNU.

Sources said that seniorHRD Ministry officials ques-tioned the V-C as to why he didnot inform the police as soonas the scuffle between two

groups was brought to hisnotice. He was told that nor-malcy should be restored at theearliest since the prestigiousuniversity is being discussedacross the world now as it hasinternational students as well,the sources maintained.

“The V-C was taken abackby the tough stand by theHRD Ministry and took timeto respond. In his reply he saidthat he did not presume thatthe clash between the twogroups could turn out to be soviolent that too so soon. Hecommitted for a safe universi-ty and a more responsiveadministration,” sources said.

The JNU V-C, who hasbeen severely criticised by stu-dents and faculty members fornot doing enough when theywere brutally attacked by a

masked mob on the campus onSunday evening, told the min-istry officials that efforts werebeing made to facilitate thesemester registration processfor “willing” students.

“Higher EducationSecretary Amit Khare and JointSecretary GC Hosur had ameeting with JNU VC at theministry on Wednesday aboutthe efforts being made torestore normalcy on campus.He informed the officials aboutefforts being made for facili-tating semester registration forwilling students and a con-ducive environment for theiracademic pursuits,” the min-

istry said in a press release.The VC later took to

Twitter to inform about themeeting at HRD Ministry. Heclarified that university hasnot made any suggestions totemporarily shut the varsityand efforts are being made torestore normalcy.

On Monday, a day after theviolence on JNU campus, JNURegistrar Pramod Kumar vis-ited the ministry and updatedthe top brass about the situa-tion besides submitting adetailed report on the sequenceof events that led to the vio-lence. The V-C did not attendthe meeting. On Tuesday, heurged students to “put the pastbehind” and return to studies.

The Left, that controlsJNUSU, and the ABVP haveblamed each other for the vio-

lence that continued for twohours. That night, the HRDministry sought an immediatereport from the registrar.CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechurysaid around 100 MPs will writea letter to President Ram NathKovind demanding sacking of

the JNU V-C. “Many MPs,around 100 of them, have beencontacted and they have decid-ed to write a letter to thePresident, who is the Visitor tothe University, demandingsacking of the VC,” Yechurysaid.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesdaysaid to mark the 75th anniversary of the

country in 2022, the parliament session will beheld in the new building. “To fulfil the dreamof ‘New India’, Indian Parliament will hold itssession in 2022, in new Parliament House tomark the 75th anniversary of its Independence,”Birla said, speaking at the 25th Conference ofSpeakers and Presiding Officers of theCommonwealth (CSPOC) in Ottawa in Canada.

Noting that the Parliament House Buildinghas completed 92 glorious years after it was madefunctional in 1927, Birla said in a statement

issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat that there is anurgent need to provide sufficient space and facil-ities for the Members of Parliament and the staffin Parliament House to fulfil the dream of ‘New India’.

The Speaker also made it clear that mem-bers and staff of parliament will be consultedbefore undertaking the renovation and recon-struction and that too, within the prescribed timelimit with minimal capital and without any inter-ference in the parliamentary work.

“Architecture of Parliament building sym-bolises the aspirations of the State and its peo-ple; it also epitomizes the character of the State,its traditions and cultural heritage,” Birla wasquoted as saying in the statement.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Wednesday asked theCentre to look into the possi-bility of deploying a separatecadre of CISF in certain courtsto check unruly incidents ofviolence.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde, perhapsreferring to the recent TisHazari court complex violence,said “had there been deploy-

ment of CISF, the Delhi inci-dent would not have takenplace”.

Lawyers and police per-sonnel had clashed at the TisHazari Court complex here inNovember last year in which afew advocates sustained bulletinjuries and several securitypersonnel were injured.

The bench, also compris-ing justice B R Gavai and Surya

Kant, told Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta that there shouldbe a separate cadre of theCentral Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) which will pro-vide security in certain courtsafter a decision by the ChiefJustice.

The Chief Justice said hehas written a letter to the gov-ernment in this regard.

“There can be a separatewing of CISF for security atcourts. There can be a separatecadre,” the CJI told Mehta andasked him to file his reply onthe issue.

Senior advocate SiddharthLuthra, appearing as amicus inthe matter, said there may beproblems for lawyers if theCISF personnel are deployedand it would be appropriate ifthe Bar Council of India’s viewis also taken in the matter.

The bench then issuednotice to the BCI seeking itsreply in two weeks.

The apex court was hear-ing a plea filed by onePradyuman Bisht seeking audioand video recording of courtproceedings in order to bringtransparency. PTI

New Delhi: Noting that min-ing results in complete elimi-nation of grass, the SupremeCourt on Wednesday directedthe Government to impose thecondition on lease holders thatthey will have to restore themined area by re-grassing itafter ceasing operations.

A Bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde asked theCentre to devise appropriatemethods to ensure complianceof this condition.

“We see no reason why thearea which has been minedshould not be restored so thatgrass and other vegetationincluding trees can grow in themining area for the benefit ofanimals.

“We are of the view thatthis can be achieved by direct-ing the Union of India toimpose a condition in the min-ing lease and a similar condi-tion in the environmentalclearance and the mining planto the effect that the mininglease holders shall, after ceas-ing mining operations, under-take re-grassing the miningarea and any other area whichmay have been disturbed dueto their mining activities andrestore the land to a conditionwhich is fit for growth of fod-der, flora, fauna etc,” the bench,also comprising Justices B RGavai and Surya Kant, said.

The court said this condi-tion shall be in addition to thoseimposed for achieving the samepurpose under the mine closureplan. “This condition shallnot be imposed in derogationof any conditions which arealready in force. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Wednesday sought aresponse from the Centre on aplea challenging the constitu-tional validity of some provi-sions of the Coal Mines(Special Provisions) Act onpayment of compensation toallottees post de-allocation ofblocks in 2014.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice S A Bobde and JusticesB R Gavai and Surya Kantissued a notice to Ministry ofCoal and Ministry of Law andJustice, seeking their responsein four weeks.

The top court was hearinga plea filed by apex mineralbody Federation of IndianMineral Industries (FIMI) chal-lenging the constitutional valid-ity of the provisions of the CoalMines (Special Provisions) Act,2015, and the Coal Mines(Special Provisions) Rules,2014, as they do not providefair and equitable compensa-tion in a time-bound manner

to the prior allottees of the coalblocks consequent to de-allo-cation in 2014.

“Issue directions that sec-tion 16 (1), 16 (2) of the CoalMines (Special Provisions) Act2015 are arbitrary, discrimina-tory, vague and unconstitu-tional to the extent they affectthe rights of the prior allotteesto get just, fair and adequate

compensation for the invest-ments in their respective coalblocks in a time bound man-ner,” the plea said.

The plea, filed throughadvocate V Shyamohan, said de-allocation of coal blocks was notthe fault of prior allottees and“no criminality whatsoever” isalleged against the majority ofthe prior allottees. PTI

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Iran on Wednesday said it will wel-come any peace initiative by India

to de-escalate tensions with the US fol-lowing the killing of Iranian militarycommander Qasem Soleimani.

Stating this, Iran Ambassador toIndia Ali Chegeni also said here hiscountry wants peace not war andhoped there will be no further esca-lation in hostilities between his coun-try and the US.

Taking note of the prevailing sit-uation in the Middle-East, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankar onSunday had a conversation with hisIranian counterpart Javad Zarif andUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,voicing India’s concerns over theescalation of tensions. India hasreached out to several stakeholders inthe region over the security situationprevailing in the Middle East.

Jaishankar also separately spoke toOmani Foreign Minister Yusuf Alawi,UAE Foreign Minister SheikhAbdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, aswell his Jordanian and Qatari coun-terparts Ayman Safadi and

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman AlThani respectively, on the tense situ-ation in the region.

The Iranian ambassador’s com-ments about India came hours afterIran launched over a dozen ballisticmissiles targeting at least two baseswhere US military and coalitionforces’ are stationed in Iraq. Tehransaid it was a “slap in the face” ofAmerica.

“India usually plays a very good

role in (maintaining) peace in theworld. India belongs to this region. Wewelcome all initiatives from all coun-tries, especially India as a good friendfor us, to not allow escalation (of ten-sions),” Chegeni told reporters after acondolence meeting for Soleimani atthe Iranian Embassy here.

“We are not for war, we are look-ing for peace and prosperity foreverybody in this region. We welcomeany Indian initiative or any project

that can help peace and prosperity inthis world,” he said.

Soleimani, the head of Iran’’s eliteal-Quds force and architect of itsregional security apparatus, was killedwhen a US drone fired missiles intoa convoy that was leaving the BaghdadInternational Airport early on Friday.The strike also killed the deputychief of Iraq’’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force.

Noting that India is a “goodfriend”, Chegeni said, “My minister(Javad Zarif) talked to Dr Jaishankar,they had a very good discussion.Recently we had the joint economiccommission in Tehran...We see avery good future for the relationship.We have no problem with India.” Hesaid Iran and India can jointly workfor peace in the world.

Asked if Indian officials havereached out to the Embassy with acondolence message, the Iranianenvoy said the embassy had openeda condolence book for two days andhe expects Indian officials to come butit is “up to the Indian side”.

“Usually we have good relationsand sympathy between the two coun-

tries,” he said. The Iran Embassy here

has been seeing a steady stream ofenvoys coming and expressing con-dolences on the death of Soliemani.

Talking about the US drone strikethat killed Soleimani, Chegeni said,“He was in a third country. So this isvery important for the world to notallow such an inhuman, illegal actwhich is against international rights.”

“He (Soleimani) was the one whoremoved the threat of ISIS from theworld. Why you should kill him. Thatmeans you are supporting terrorists.If Gen Soleimani didn’t act againstISIS, what would have happened toIndia, to Europe, and to all of theworld because ISIS was really anti-human,” he said.

The world owes a debt to “anti-terrorist hero” Soleimani, he said.“That is why my country today offi-cially retaliated based on the legitimaterights we have....We are not for war.We are not for escalation, but defend-ing is our right,” Chegeni said.

On the Iranian attack on US tar-gets in Iraq, Chegeni said his countryretaliated under its right to defend.

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Having burnt his mouthupon drinking hot water

served to him by a jawan, anenraged Deputy InspectorGeneral of CRPF allegedlythrew it on the subordinate’sface. The paramilitary has sinceordered an enquiry into the incident.

The purported incidenttook place on Tuesday at theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) Recruit TrainingCentre (RTC) in Bihar’s Rajgirdistrict.

DIG D K Tripathi, who wasstaying at the officers’ mess ofthe RTC for an official work,had ordered hot drinkingwater. Constable Amol Kharatwas on duty at the facility andhe served him the water in athermos flask, officials said.

The officer, posted at theCRPF group centre inMokamaghat in Bihar, is said tohave burnt his mouth upondrinking the hot water, follow-ing which he summonedKharat. An altercation ensuedbetween the two and the DIG“threw” hot water on thejawan’s face. The injured jawanhas been admitted to a local

hospital, they said.Officials said a prelimi-

nary enquiry by an InspectorGeneral of the CRPF has beenordered. The enquiry report,along with specific recom-mendations, is expected byJanuary 10 only after which theexact sequence of events andculpability could be estab-lished, they said.

An association of ex-para-military officials said the jawan“is being pressured to givestatement that the burn injurieswere due to spilling of boiledwater from the flask”.

“The constable is not beingallowed to speak to his familymembers and colleagues. Hismobile phone has beensnatched by senior officers,” theconfederation of ex-paramili-tary forces personnel welfareassociation said.

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The Congress onWednesday took a swipe at

the BJP asking if Bollywoodactor Deepika Padukoneshould visit the RSS head-quarters in Nagpur instead ofJNU. The Opposition party’sreaction came amid calls,including from some BJPfunctionaries, to boycottPadukone’s upcoming movie‘Chhapaak’ for her visit to theJawaharlal Nehru Universityon Tuesday to express soli-darity with the students whowere attacked by a mob.

“The ruling party hasreduced (itself) to indulging inpetty social media polls, fak-ing videos. Should she(Deepika Padukone) go toNagpur, the Sangh headquar-ters, to promote her movie?What do they want this coun-try to be?” Congressspokesperson Pawan Kherasaid, when asked about astrong reaction from a quarterof the BJP on the actor’s visitto the university.

Khera said the govern-ment is filing FIRs against stu-dents and youth instead ofhearing them out. “If someoneis showing concern to theprotesting youth, you raisequestions on him/her,” he said,alleging the ruling BJP claims

it is the world’s largest partybut it has a “small heart”.

“If there is unrest acrossuniversities, we expect thePrime Minister to go there, weexpect the Home Minister,the senior leader of the BJP togo and listen to the youth ofthis country, whichever cam-pus we are talking about,” hesaid in reference to protests byyouth and students on variouscampuses.

A four-member fact-find-ing team of the Congress alsovisited JNU to probe the attackon students and faculty mem-bers. The team comprising AllIndia Mahila Congress chiefSushmita Dev, party MP fromErnakulam Hibi Eden, formerNSUI president of JNU unitSyed Nasser Hussain and for-mer NSUI president and ex-president of Delhi UniversityStudents’ Union AmritaDhawan interacted with stu-dents on the issue. Statementsof students were video-graphed.

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New Delhi: A madrasa manag-ing committee of West Bengal onWednesday moved the SupremeCourt challenging it’s verdictupholding a law on the appoint-ment of teachers by a commis-sion for minority institutions.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde and also com-prising Justices B R Gavai andSurya Kant said it will hear theplea next week. Senior advocateSalman Khurshid, appearing forthe managing committee --Contai Rahamania High

Madrasah, told the court the caseneeds to be heard by a largerbench as the challenged verdictis in conflict with a similar judg-ment on minority rights givenearlier by a three-judge bench ofthe top court. He told the apex

court that the petitioner was thesame organisation on whoseplea the judgement of January 6was pronounced.

A two-judge bench had onJanuary 6 upheld a law framedby the West Bengal governmentin 2008 to constitute theMadrasah Service Commissionfor appointment of teachers inmadrassas, saying the selectionof teachers and their nominationby the panel was not violative ofthe rights of minority educa-tional institutions. PTI

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Jaipur: Rajasthan Deputy Chief MinisterSachin Pilot said on Wednesday that theCentre should take cognisance of the nationwide strike called by labour unions,saying every section of the country was dissatisfied due to a communicationgap.

“You (Centre) will not communicate, youwill not explain, you will not try to under-stand people, then what is the meaning ofdemocracy?” Pilot asked. “Winning an elec-tion does not mean that you have becomesupreme. We should keep our hearts, mindsand ears open, and listen to people.”

The State Congress president said thegovernment should leave its “ego” behind andhold a dialogue.

“Whatever is going in the JNU, the policeare going to different universities, peoplewearing uniforms are seen in colleges anduniversities — is not a good sign for anydemocracy for any country,” Pilot toldreporters in Jaipur.

According to Pilot, a shutdown occurswhen all options fail and there was a lack ofcommunication from the central govern-ment’s end.

“Every class is unhappy today, be it gov-ernment servants, middle class, poor or thestudents. The government should take cog-nisance f today’s strike,” Pilot said. PTI

Kota: A five-year-old girl childwas raped by a relative in a village in Bundi district onWednesday afternoon, policesaid.

The accused, aged around20 years, fled the spot when thefamily members of the minorvictim were alerted by hercries and rushed to rescue her,they said, adding that she wasbleeding profusely when found.

A case of rape was regis-tered against the accused, whois also a neighbour of theminor victim, under relevantsections of the IPC and thePOSCO Act, SHO at Karwarpolice station Hariram Jajundasaid.

The girl was playing out-side her room and her familymembers were working at anadjacent farm in the afternoonwhen the incident took place,he said.

The victim was taken to theBundi district hospital for amedical examination, the SHOsaid. PTI

Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Police chief DilbagSingh on Wednesday said enemies are looking todisrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the UnionTerritory and asked officers to remain vigilant.

He said peace had been achieved in Jammu &Kashmir after a lot of hard work and sacrifices bypolice and security forces.

The director general of police (DGP) made theremarks at security review meetings during his visitto the twin south Kashmir districts of Shopian andPulwama.

Accompanied by Inspector General of CRPF(Operations) Rajesh Kumar and Inspector Generalof Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, Singh took stockof the situation in the two districts.

“The safety and security of the people is ourprime concern. The enemies of peace are lookingfor chances to disrupt the peace,” Singh said.

He said the police, along with its sister agen-cies, have succeeded in creating a sense of securi-ty among the people. He directed the officers to bevigilant at all times and work dedicatedly for thewelfare of the people while taking due care of theirsecurity. PTI

Barabanki (UP): A 21-year-oldlaw student, who was alleged-ly gang-raped about fourmonths ago, has been foundhanging at her house in a vil-lage here, with her motherclaiming that she was underpressure from the two accused.

The body of the LLB stu-dent was found hanging fromthe roof of her room at the family’s home in theJahagirabad police station areahere on Tuesday morning,police said.

The victim’s mother hascomplained that she was underpressure from the two rapeaccused and committed sui-cide.

She alleged that Shivpaltanand Shivkumar, of Semrava vil-lage under Kothi police stationarea, had raped the victim fourmonths ago.

Since Shivkumar is a localheavyweight, the police initiallydid not lodge an FIR but laterit was registered on the orders

of a court, the mother of thevictim claimed, adding that noarrest has been made.

Superintendent of PoliceAkash Tomar said the father ofthe deceased had told the policein writing that his daughtercommitted suicide and he hadno suspicion on anyone.

“It has come to light dur-ing investigations that the two

accused had lodged a case offraud on the deceased and hermother for getting a vehiclefinanced and the motherframed them to avenge it.There are no evidence so far toprove the allegations of themother. Action will be taken incase anything emerges in fur-ther inquiry,” the SP added. PTI

Kolkata: Terming the appoint-ment of a Chief of Defence Staff(CDS) as a welcome move, for-mer Army chief General (retd)Shankar Roy Chowdhury onWednesday said it had notbeen done earlier owing to thethen political bosses’ fear of acoup.

He said the appointment ofa CDS was due for a long timeand the services wanted it to bethere in the country so that the

Army, Navy and Air Forcecome under one umbrella, “butthe problem was political.”

“The fear of a coup wasingrained among the earlierpolitical bosses if all the threeforces — Army, Navy and AirForce — were brought underone umbrella and that was theonly reason that a post ofCDS was not created,” RoyChowdhury told newspersonshere.

General Bipin Rawat, whoretired as the Army chief onDecember 31, has taken chargeas India’s first Chief of DefenceStaff the next day with a mandate to bring in convergence in the functioningof the Army, Navy and theIndian Air Force and bolsterthe country’s military prowess.

Gen (retd) RoyChowdhury said the military isalways subordinate to the civil

authorities in the country, butan “unsubstantiated” fear of acoup if the forces were broughtunder one head had preventedthe then political establishment from taking adecision on it.

“This is the single reasonwhy the country did not have aCDS so far,” the former Armychief said. He said the post ofCDS is important for the coor-dination of the three forces. PTI

Srinagar: The night tempera-ture in Kashmir stayed close tofreezing point on Wednesdaydue to recent snowfall, as sunshone on the Valley after threedays.Srinagar recorded a low ofminus 0.4 degrees Celsius lastnight, almost same as previousnight, an official of the METdepartment said.

The official said the ski-resort ofGulmarg in north Kashmir recordedthe low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsiuslast night, 1.6 notches down fromTuesday.

The night temperature atPahalgam resort, which also serves asone of the base camps for the annualAmarnath yatra in south Kashmir, set-tled at a low of minus 2.0 degreesCelsius – nearly two notches up fromminus 3.9 degrees Celsius Tuesday, hesaid.

The official said Qazigund – thegateway town to the Valley - in southKashmir recorded a low of minus 0.4degree Celsius.Kokernag town, also in

south, recorded a low of minus 4.0degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, innorth, registering a minimum ofminus 2.2 degree Celsius, the officialsaid.Kashmir is currently under thegrip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ - the 40-dayharshest period of winter when thechances of snowfall are most frequentand maximum and the temperaturedrops considerably.’

Chillai-Kalan’ began on December21 and ends on January 31, but thecold wave continues even after that inKashmir. The 40-day period is fol-lowed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). PTI

Mumbai: The nationwide strike seems to have failedto evoke much response in Maharashtra tillWednesday afternoon with transport and bankingservices remaining largely unaffected in many districts as well as in the country’s financial Capital.

No untoward incident was reported so far fromany region of the state. Suburban trains, which arecalled as the “lifeline of Mumbai” with a ridershipof more than 75 lakh commuters per day, publicbuses, taxis and autorickshaws are running normallyin the island city and suburbs.

Similarly, Metro and Monorail services are run-ning smoothly, officials said, adding that BEST-oper-ated bus services are also running as per schedule.

Private transport services like taxis and auto-rickshaws are also plying normally in Mumbai.

Film and TV shoots also remained unaffected.The Federation of Western India Cine

Employees (FWICE) said all its members were atwork as usual and nothing was hampered becauseof the strike. In Pune, transport services remainedunaffected.

“Buses operated by the Pune MahanagarParivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) are plyingnormally,” said Shankar Pawar, Director, PMPML.Educational institutes and commercial establish-ments in the city remained opened as usual.

Trade union leader Ajit Abhyankar claimed thatat least 15000 people affiliated to various Centraltrade unions, Bhartiya Kamgar Sena, posts, banks,and other government establishments participatedin a public rally outside the district collectorate inPune. PTI

Kolkata: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata BanerjeeWednesday said the CentralGovernment does not providefunds for the annualGangasagar Mela, which isheld in West Bengal, though itprovides lots of assistance toKumbh Mela.

“Gangasagar Mela is at parwith the Kumbh Mela. TheCentre provides funds forKumbh Mela but does notextend financial assistance forGangasagar.” Banerjee said. PTI

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Normal life was considerably hit in Bengal

even as sporadic violence andarson marked Wednesday’sgeneral strike sponsored byLeft and Congress trade unionsprompting both Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and the BJPto interpret the bandh as a des-perate attempt by a moribundLeft Front to catch limelightonce again.

Reports of violence pouredin from Barasat, in North 24Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah,Hooghly, Burdwan, Malda,South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri andother places police said adding170 strikers including CPI(M)Legislature Party leader SujanChakrabarty had been arrest-ed.

Violence reached itscrescendo at Sujapur in Maldadistrict where police foughtpitched battle with angry pro-testers opposing CAA andNRC. About eight vehiclesincluding a few belonging tothe police were torched alleged-ly by the protesters leading thecops to burst tear gas shells andfire rubber bullets injuring anumber of them.

Though life reverted tonear-normal by late noon theLeft and the Congress took out

long processions in parts ofKolkata demanding immediaterelease of its leaders. At ParkCircus Maidan (a minoritydominated area) hundreds ofMuslim women sat on indefi-nite dharna demanding with-drawal of the CitizenshipAmendment Act and NationalRegister for Citizens.

The strikers who had ini-tially targeted socio-economicissues as subject matter of thebandh in the final hours smart-ly included CAA and NRC towiden the scope of participation. The tacticseemed to partially pay offwith the strike witnessing morethan 50 percent success sourcesin the administration saidadding however that theGovernment offices in thewake of a strong circular fromthe State secretariat witnessednear-99 percent attendance.

While air servicesremained normal train ser-vices were substantially affect-ed authorities said addingabout 127 suburban trainsfrom Sealdah and 47 fromHowrah had to be cancelled.This, in addition to about theroute of a dozen express gettingchanged due to the impact ofthe strike.

Sources in the State elec-tricity boards reported lesser

consumption of power indi-cating partial success of thebandh. “Reports collected at 10am showed the power con-sumption level at 4012 MW,250 MW less than the normal,driving home the fact thatstrike had its impact despitecontradictory claims made bythe Government,” said one ofthe striking leaders adding“the power department stoppedreleasing further reports forobvious reasons.”

Even as the day peakedreports of violence came infrom various parts of the State.At Hridaypur in North 24Parganas crude bombs wererecovered from underneath alocal train. Buses and othervehicles were vandalised in

Burdwan, Durgapur, Howrahand Kolkata even as the driverswere seen driving their vehicleswith helmets on.

Traffic were blockaded bythe Left and Congress workersat Jadavpur and Rashbeharicrossing with their supportersthrowing burning tryres on theroads. The impact of the strikewas near complete at Raiganjand Durgapur, the home townof JNSU president Aishi Ghoshwhere the protesters were seenattacking bikers.

All banks and post officesremained closed causingimmense hardships to the peo-ple. Schools were however par-tially affected as the number ofattendance was thin.

Meanwhile the Chief

Minister attacked the Left forsacrificing its ideology. “CPIMhas no ideology. Plantingbombs on railway tracks isnothing but ‘gundagardi, shesaid. In the name of movement,commuters are being beaten upand stones are being pelted.This is ‘dadagiri’, not a move-ment. I condemn this. I will notallow such movements.

The Marxists are trying toget back their relevance butthey will never be able to dothat unless they change theirstyle of functioning. I think thecommunists of Kerala are farbetter than those in Bengal. Atleast they have a policy and actaccording to ideology. InBengal they are all ruffians.”

Attacking the hoodlumsBJP’s Dilip Ghosh said “theTrinamool Congress has helpedthe Left Front to make violencea success because they want theLeft to get some oxygen so asto divide the anti-TMC oppo-sition in Bengal. But peoplehave understood and will giveMamata Banerjee a befittingreply.”

The Left leaders includingpolitburo member Biman Bosecongratulated the people formaking the bandh a success“despite brutal attack by thepolice and the TMC goons onthe bandh supporters.”

% ��� >3 >-)-

Much the way they did it inUttar Pradesh — and only

with greater visibility — a sec-tion of Bengal police men dur-ing the Wednesday’s generalstrike were found vandalisingvehicles and torching themincluding the police vans atSujapur in Malda promptingOpposition Left Front andCongress to demand impartialinvestigation into the matter.

Visual footages that imme-diately went viral showing howthe policemen were smashingthe wind screens of cars parkedin a big field with rifle butts,pouring fuel and then settingablaze immediately drew large-

scale media attention. The inci-dent took place within metresof a spot where pro-bandhagitators were barricading thehigh way.

“Such heinous plans totorch the vehicles and thenhold the CPI(M) workers liablewere fortunately shot by thelocals... The incidents onlymake clear the real face of ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee.Her police is no different fromthe police of Yogi Adtiyanath…They did it in Lucknow toframe the anti-CAA rallyists,the Bengal Police did it inBengal,” senior CPI(M) leaderMd Salim said adding “in aState where not a leaf turnswithout the instruction of the

Chief Minister how could theytorch so many vehicles. It mustbe probed.”

President of the PradeshCongress which also co-spon-sored the general strikedemanded an “impartialinquiry to get to the core of theconspiracy.” Another Congressleader and former MinisterManoj Chakrabarty demanded“judicial probe into the incidentso that things become clear.”

Eye witnesses said how thepolice men were seen smashingthe windscreens with rifle buttsand stones. They were also seencarrying petrol cans to thevehicles, soaking them beforesetting them afire, sources said.

While there was no word

from the Chief Minister hersenior ministerial colleaguePartho Chatterjee said the “cul-prits will be brought to

book,” adding it would belooked into details to figure outwhether some Left miscreantswere doing the mischief in thegarb of police men or somecops were genuinelyinvolved.

“No one will be spared bycommitting violence… this isthe policy of our Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee,” he said evenas sources said the MaldaSuperintendant of Police hadbeen asked to probe the mat-ter. The SP however could notbe contacted till late in theevening.

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Patna: A woman was alleged-ly raped at gunpoint after beingkidnapped from the parking lotof a mall here on Monday,police officials said.

One person has beenarrested out of four personsnamed in the FIR.

“We have identified thefour accused persons who werethe (rape) victim’s acquain-tances. One man raped the girlwhile others were part of theconspiracy,” CitySuperintendent of Police(Central), Patna, Vinay Tiwary

told PTI.Asked whether it is a case

of gangrape, Tiwary said, “No,it is not gangrape. It is rape butothers were part of the con-spiracy.”

One person has beenarrested in connection with thecase while raids are being con-ducted to nab other culprits,the City SP said.

The woman is around 20years of age and is pursuingBBA through correspondence,he added.

The victim’s medical exam-

ination was conducted onTuesday, police sources said.

While talking to reporters,the rape survivor, who had cov-ered her face with a mask, saidshe was kidnapped by four menat gunpoint from GV Mall onthe busy Boring road intersec-tion around 7:30 pm onMonday while she was comingout of an eatery.

As she stepped out of theeatery, one of the four men,who raped her later, told her atgunpoint to sit in his car in theparking lot of the mall.

The four then allegedlytook her to a flat located nearP&M Mall in Pataliputracolony where one person rapedher while three others stoodwith a pistol, the rape survivorsaid.

The woman said the fourmade a video of the incidentand threatened to post it onsocial media.

The woman escaped fromtheir clutches and narrated theincident to her room mate andbrother over phone whoinformed the police. PTI

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Mumbai: A day after the meetingbetween BJP leader DevendraFadnavis and MNS chief RajThackeray fuelled speculation of a tie-up in Maharashtra, a senior BJPleader on Wednesday said “anythingcan happen in the future”.

Fadnavis, a former MaharashtraChief Minister, and Raj Thackeraymet in Prabhadevi here on Tuesday.The meeting lasted for nearly twohours, sources had said.

Asked about the Fadnavis-RajThackeray meet, which took place inthe backdrop of political realignmentin the state, Maharashtra BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar didnot provide any details, but pointedout that nobody had expected that theShiv Sena will join hands with the

Congress-NCP.It was a courtesy meeting

between the two leaders... there wasnothing political, but anything canhappen in the future.

“Nobody had predicted that theShiv Sena would go with theCongress-NCP. People would termsomeone talking on these lines ascrazy, but it happened, said the for-mer State BJP president who was a member of the Fadnaviscabinet. The Shiv Sena, a long-timeally of the BJP, walked out of the saf-fron alliance in November last yearand joined hands with the Congress-NCP combine to form the MahaVikas Aghadi government in theState.

The Maharashtra Navnirman

Sena (MNS), founded by RajThackeray in 2006, fared poorly in theOctober assembly polls winning justone seat.

Raj Thackeray is expected tohold a public rally on January 23,where he might announce a ‘key’decision, an MNS official had said onTuesday. It is being widely speculat-ed that Raj Thackeray, estrangedcousin of Chief Minister UddhavThackeray, may announce a shift tothe right amid changed political sce-nario in the state.

Raj Thackeray had become atrenchant critic of the BJP prior to the2019 Lok Sabha polls and had heldseveral rallies in the State where hecriticised the Modi Government ona range of issues. PTI

Jammu: Students under thebanner of the All IndiaStudents’ Federation (AISF)on Wednesday staged a peaceful demonstration hereagainst the recent attack on thestudents and professors at theJawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) in New Delhi.

The protesters, who werealso joined by some senior cit-izens, were carrying placardsthat read ‘Danda Mat Chalao-Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Don’tuse batons, save and educatethe daughter)’, ‘J&K in solidar-ity with JNU’ and ‘RemoveJNU Vice Chancellor’.

“We have assembled here

to register our protest againstthe vandalism unleashed on thestudents and faculty membersin the JNU by theG ov e r n m e nt - s u p p o r t e dgoons,” Jammu & KashmirAISF president S Kotwal toldreporters.

The protesters assembled atthe Exhibition Ground andlater dispersed off peacefully.

G M Sheikh, one of thesenior citizens present at theprotest, said people were con-cerned over the safety of theirwards in the aftermath of theattack. “We are standing withthe JNU students,” the Kashmirresident said. PTI

Jammu : Claiming a “deep-rooted conspiracy” was behindthe ongoing stir against theamended Citizenship Act, theJammu & Kashmir BJP allegedon Wednesday that the mainreason behind the protests is tocreate a “civic unrest” in thecountry.

Addressing a public meet-ing in R S Pura here, BJP stategeneral secretary(Organisation) Ashok Kaulasked prominent civil societymembers in the state to createawareness about the Act andhelp Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in his endeav-ours to strengthen the nation.

“The series of protests isnot an ordinary protest. Thereis actually a sinister effort toburn the nation in the name ofCAA. There is a deep-rootedconspiracy behind theseprotests, one by one, employ-ing various strategies to keepfuelling the fire and the ulti-mate link can be traced back tothe power hunger of theCongress, the Communists andtheir allies,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP’swomen wing took out a rally insupport of CAA from GoleMarket near Swarn Theatre toSatwari Chowk in the city. PTI

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Close on the heels of it losing power in

Maharashtra, the BJP onWednesday suffered ahumiliating defeat in localbody elections in the State, asthe ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) captured power in fiveout of six Zilla Parishads andwalked away with majorityPanchayat Samiti seats in fiveout of six districts where thepolls were held.

It what came as personalsetback for former ChiefMinister and senior BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis, the AmitShah-led party lose power inthe Zilla Parishad andPanchayat Samitis in his homedistrict of Nagpur.

The MVA, comprising theShiv Sena, NCP and Congress,captured power in the ZillaParishads of Nagpur, Washim,Akola (all three in Vidarbharegion), Nandurbar (in northMaharashtra) and Palghar (incoastal Konkan region), whilethe BJP managed to come topower in Dhule ZP in northMaharashtra.

In a repeat performance inthe Panchayat Samiti polls, theMVA won a maximum of 310seats out of a total 552 seats infive districts — Nagpur,Washim, Akola, Nandurbarand Palghar, while the BJPmanaged to maximum of 70out 112 seats in Dhule district.In five districts, the BJP secured124 seats, while the MVAbagged 32 seats in Dhule dis-trict.

The MVA put up animpressive performance in theZilla Parishads of Nagpur,Washim, Akola, Nandurbarand Palghar, where it won asmany as 165 seats out of total276 seats, as against 67 seatswon by the BJP. However, in

Dhule ZillaParishad, theBJP emerged asthe victor bywinning 39 outof 56 seats.

The ZP andP a n c h a y a tSamiti poll out-come has erodedthe stock ofFadnavis inVidarbha region

where the BJP has lost powerin all three Zilla Parishads –Nagpur, Washim and Akola –that went to polls. The BJP’sdefeat in Nagpur ZP polls hascome as an embarrassment forFadnavis, where the Congress—which is a constituent of theMVA — has by itself won amajority of 30 out of total 58seats in the local body.

The poll outcome hascome as a boost to State HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh of theNCP who hails from Katoltaluka in Nagpur, while seniorCongress minister K C Padviand BJP Girish Deshmukhshare credit for the poll per-formances in Nandurbar andDhule districts of north

Maharashtra. While the MVA — of

which the Congress is a part —has captured power in theNandurbar Zilla Parishad, theBJP has come to power inDhule ZP. The only regret forPadvi is that his wife HemlataPadvi was defeated in theNandurbar ZP polls by a can-didate of the Shiv Sena, whichis also a constituent of theMVA. There was no pre-pollbetween the MVA constituentsin the ward where HemlataPadvi contested.

The Opposition BJP maytake a solace for its defeat in thefact that is for the first time thatthe Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress have come togetherin the ZP and Panchayat Samitipolls and that too as a post-pollarrangement in a few of theZilla Parishad.

But, the BJP will have tolive with the home truth that aslong as the MVA is power inthe state, it will have to stayaway from power in a maxi-mum number of local bodies— including ZPs, PanchayatSamitis and municipal bodies— across the State

Srinagar: National Conference MPMohammad Akbar Lone on Wednesday saidhis party will not contest any election till thespecial status and statehood of Jammu &Kashmir is restored.

“The National Conference will not takepart in any election till the pre-August 5 posi-tion of Jammu & Kashmir is restored,” Lonetold reporters after a party meeting here.

Lone said he was hopeful of a favourableverdict on the petition regarding the restoration of the special status in the Supreme Court.

Asked about the new political front ledby former PDP leader Syed Altaf Bukhari,Lone said “such elements were used byGovernment of India from time to time since1953 to undermine people’s aspirations”.“Many of those who are part of this front werethe same people who brought down theFarooq Abdullah Government (in 1984) andformed a new Government. Everyone knowshow long that Government lasted. They willbe used and thrown away,” the Lok Sabhamember from Baramulla said.

He said the BJP might be able to take theiragenda to people of Kashmir, the leaders whoare part of the new front did not have any pub-lic standing. “They will be rejected by peo-ple,” he added. In response to a question,Lone said the hype around the domicile lawfor Jammu and Kashmir was of no value.

“We will not even spit on such a law. Ouragenda remains the same as that of (NCfounder) Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah,” hesaid. When asked why the NC members didnot resign from the Lok Sabha, Lone shotback, “What are we going to achieve by that?Will they (government) release our leaders?Will they grant us what we have beendemanding?” PTI

Chennai: The rulingAIADMK and principalOpposition DMK onWednesday accused each otherover the National EligibilityCum Entrance Test (NEET) inthe Assembly and theGovernment said it has filed afresh plea in the SupremeCourt challenging the exami-nation.

As soon as the questionhour ended, Leader ofOpposition M K Stalin saidNEET went against the tenets ofsocial justice and the interests ofrural students and accused theruling dispensation of “hugebetrayal” on the issue.

He sought to know aboutthe state filing a plea against thetest in the Apex Court just twodays before the last date (6 Jan,2020) to apply for NEET ended.

Health Minister CVijayabaskar retorted saying if atall it was a betrayal, the seeds forit were sowed by the DMK whenit was part of the Congress-ledCentre.

On 27 December 2010, thenotification for the test wasissued by the Union govern-ment, he said. Only after thenotification, the national testtook shape and the oppositionto it also had to be fought in theMadras High Court and later itwent as far as the SupremeCourt, he noted.

Also, bills were passed bythe Assembly seeking to exempt

Tamil Nadu from the test, headded.

The Minister said the gov-ernment was taking legal stepsand also handles the matterpolitically to oppose the test.

Asserting that the govern-ment continued to be firm in itspolicy of opposition to NEET, hesaid, “Now a petition has beenfiled in the Supreme Courtchallenging section 10 (d) of theIndian Medical Council Act.The main petition in the matterwas still pending in the topcourt.”

The NEET was behind con-ducted under section 10 (d) andthis section was inserted throughan amendment to the IMC Act.Tamil Nadu filed the fresh pleaafter the top court said duringthe case hearing last monththat the State had the freedomto challenge this provision, theMinister pointed out. He alsowanted the opposition to spec-ify if this move of the govern-ment was “right or not.” DMKdeputy leader Duraimurugancountered asking what the gov-ernment intended to achieve byfiling the fresh plea. PTI

Bengaluru: Amid speculation that he will beconsidered for Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, vet-eran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge onTuesday said it will depend on what the Congresshigh command decides and he was a disciplinedsoldier of the party.

“..Is it in my hands? It is in Congress party highcommand’s hand. It will depend on what highcommand decides,” Kharge said in response to aquestion.

Speaking to reporters here, he said “I havenever asked for anything. I have been working asthe disciplined soldier of the party.”

Four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka rep-resented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad ofthe Congress, Prabhakar Kore of the BJP and DKupendra Reddy of the JD(S) will fall vacant inJune.

Kharge, who was popularly known as “solil-lada Saradara,” (a leader without defeat), faced hisfirst electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades, against BJP’s Umesh Jadhav inGulbarga by 95,452 votes during the 2019 LokSabha polls.

A nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabhamember, Kharge had served as Congress’ floorleader in the previous Lok Sabha.

Also, there are reports about JD(S) lookingat sending its patriarch and former PrimeMinister H D Deve Gowda to the Uppper House.

The regional party will need Congress sup-port for this. Gowda was defeated in Tumkur con-stituency by hisBJPrival G S Basavaraj by over13,000 votes.

As the joint candidate of the then rulingCongress-JDS coalition, Gowda had chosen tocontest from Tumkur at the last minute, aftervacating Hassan-his home turf, to grandsonPrajwal Revanna (a current MP). PTI

� �����# ������ �4��-1

In twin developments, theMaharashtra Legislative

Assembly on Wednesday rati-fied the Constitution (126th)Amendment Bill seeking exten-sion of quota to SC/STs in LokSabha and State Assemblies byanother 10 years and passed aunanimous resolution urgingthe Centre to undertake acaste-based census to ascertainthe population of OtherBackward Classes (OBCs)across the country.

At a special one-day ses-sion of the State Assembly,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray moved aresolution seeking ratificationof the ConstitutionAmendment bill passed byParliament on December 11.Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis supportedthe resolution. The Houseadopted the resolution unani-mously.

The Assembly also unanimously adopted a resolution — moved suo motoby Speaker Nana Patole urgingthe Centre for a caste-basedCensus to find out the population of OBCs across thecountry.

Moving the resolution,

Speaker Patole said that therewas a need for collating data onOBC population so that OBCscould be given benefits ofdevelopment.

“The new Census will betaken up in 2021. There is needfor the data of OBC populationso that they can be given ben-efits of development.. Manydelegations of OBCs have metme seeking such an enumera-tion. The House can pass a res-olution seeking caste-basedCensusto find out the OBCpopulation,” Patole said.

Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar said the issue can be dis-cussed in the BusinessAdvisory Committee (BAC)first and then taken up in theBudget session beginning nextmonth.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Anil Parab also saidthat only the business finalisedby the BAC for the day be takenup by the House.

Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis of the BJPsaid the opposition would sup-port such resolution whenev-er it was taken up.

At this point, Patole sug-gested that the caste-basedCensus issue be taken atWednesday’s one-day special

session itself as postponingthe issue to the Budget Sessionwould be too late.

Food and Civil SuppliesMinister Chhagan Bhujbal ofNCP agreed with the chair andsaid the demand for a

caste-based Census was longpending.

After the Speaker read outthe resolution, the Assembly —which has total 288 members— adopted the resolution by avoice vote.

% ��� �4��-1

Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari

said on Wednesday that theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)Government was giving finaltouches to a relief package forfarmers whose short-termcrop loan arrears exceeding � 2 lakh.

Addressing a joint ses-sion of the MaharashtraAssembly and Council, theGovernor said that in an effortt oencourage the farmers whowere repaying their crop loanson time, the State Governmentwould announce new measures shortly.

The Governor’s statementcame less than a month afterChief Minister UddhavThackeray announced anunconditional waiver of loansup to � 2 lakh each forfarmers.

As per the “MahatmaJyotirao Phule Farmer LoanWaiver Scheme” announcedby the CM, farmers whoseloan is up to Rs two lakh takenbetween April 1, 2015, andMarch 31, 2019,and whichhas not been repaid till September 30, 2019, will be eligible for thewaiver.

Koshyari said the loanwaiver scheme covered theoutstanding crop loan amountupto � two lakh, whichincludes the principal amountand the interest, as onSeptember 30, 2019.

“The scheme covers short-termcrop loan and restruc-tured short-term croploanavailed during the periodfrom April1, 2015 to March31,2019. My Government willimplement this schemein atime-bound manner,” theGovernor said.

The Government wouldalso announce welfareschemes targetting rural aswell as urban populations.“The people from variouswalks of life will be benefitted,”he said.

Alluding to safety ofwomen, the Governor saidthat his Government was committed to implement var-ious security measuresfor the protection ofwomen.

“Prompt and stern actionwill betaken in respect ofoffences against women, andappropriate amendments willbe made in the laws for thatpurpose,” he said.

Paying homage to themartyrs of the ‘Sanyukta (unit-ed) Maharashtra’ movement,the governor underlined thatthe year 2020 marks 60 yearsof formation of MaharashtraState. “During the last 60years, Maharashtra made aremarkable progress in thefields of agriculture, industry,information technology, arts,sports, music, education andother fields of life. TheGovernment will organise var-ious programmes to celebratethese achievements,” theGovernor said.

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The previous decade was notewor-thy for a number of reasons, notleast of which was the sharp risein the number of Internet users —more than a billion people from

across the world joined the new Internetbandwagon in the last six years alone. Thishas had massive cultural implications,requiring the revision of legal, economic andtechnological frameworks. IntellectualProperty (IP) frameworks have receivedmuch importance in this era, especiallybecause they can impact areas beyond IP. Forinstance, copyright laws can have implica-tions beyond the digital content ecosystemand can extend to an array of areas such asfree speech, the flow and availability of infor-mation and the manner in which culturalproducts such as art, music, film and the likeare produced and exchanged.

Such cultural products in the creativeindustry play an important role in a coun-try’s economy. For instance, the Indian cre-ative industry (largely comprising the mediaand entertainment industry) is poised to beworth $31 billion by 2020 and is expectedto create over a million jobs by 2022.However, this industry has repeatedly high-lighted copyright piracy as a major issue thateats into its profits significantly. While thisis an issue that has practically been aroundsince the beginning of the copyright frame-work, technological advancements havemeant that it is now possible to make per-fect replicas at a scale almost instantaneous-ly and with much easier access.

One of the first steps to tackle piracy isto understand its underpinnings and toassess the factors that contribute to it. A fewstudies in this regard have been there in Indiaand they indicate that piracy is influencedby several factors — ranging from person-ality-based to social and cultural. However,the overall lack of information about vari-ous aspects of this issue is a problem. Thereis no recent academic literature on the dri-vers of piracy and more importantly, thereis a lack of reliable data on the total size ofthe cultural economy in our country.

This lack of information complicates pol-icy and law-making in this area. While thestandard legislative response has been to usestringent penalties for copyright infringementwithout accounting for differences in the kindsof infringement and infringers, this approachhas had limited success. Then there are alsoother challenges that relate to tackling digi-tal piracy. We have an overburdened judicialsystem, disparate enforcement mechanisms,a fragmentate supply chain and more gener-ally, the absence of a widespread understand-ing of “copyright.” Additionally, since “law andorder” is a State subject under theConstitution, enforcement relies on respec-tive police forces, making it difficult toimplement centralised and uniform enforce-ment strategies.

Other measures that have been effectivein controlling piracy include a reduction in

the “windowing period”between releases abroad and inIndia. This means lesser thetime taken for a new release tobe made accessible throughlegal platforms, the more likelyis it that users will consume suchcontent through legal means.

This can be effective whensuch content is easily availableon various over-the-top (OTT)platforms for content that ishighly anticipated. Anotherdevelopment that has beeninstrumental in reducing pira-cy rates has been the introduc-tion of online streaming services,making legal content easily avail-able at a reasonable price.However, the effect of the starkincrease in the number ofstreaming services, all with theirown catalogues and separatepricing plans, is yet to be seen.

Nevertheless, other techno-logical measures can be usefulin this regard. For instance, var-ious forms of water-markingtechniques have been used toidentify the source of piratedcontent, fingerprinting andrelated technologies have beenused by platforms such asYouTube and Facebook, whichhost user-generated content, tocombat infringement by helpingto identify and block the illegaluse of copyrighted content.

More recently, blockchaintechnology is also beginning tobe explored as a means to com-bat infringement, both as away to establish a chain of con-tact for content and to exposepiracy through the use ofBitcoin rewards to incentivise

the detection of pirated content.While these methods have vary-ing rates of success in combat-ing infringement, upgrades andinnovations in technology, espe-cially those that combine vari-ous existing methods, can beexpected to make them moreviable in the future.

The use of soft-lawapproaches along with public-private partnerships have alsobeen effective in targetting pira-cy, especially where they targetrevenue models of thoseindulging in large-scale piracy.For instance, infringing websitelists, which identify websites thathost pirated content, have beenused to reduce advertising, there-by disrupting revenues. Suchlists are usually prepared by lawenforcement or other arms of theGovernment in partnership withthe private sector. For instance,the UK’s Police IntellectualProperty Crime Unit partnerswith experts, companies and lawenforcement agencies in othercountries to counter crime on aninternational scale. It compiled anIWL as part of its “OperationCreative” initiative, which helpedreduce advertising on illegalwebsites.

More localised and country-specific lists are also being usedto target the revenue of websiteshosting pirated content. In India,the Maharashtra Cyber DigitalCrime Unit, which is a part ofthe State’s cyber police force,works on a model that relies oncollaboration with the privatesector. It has taken down hun-dreds of websites that host pirat-

ed content and has sent noticesto different brands and networksadvertising on such websites.

Piracy is, therefore, a com-plex issue with numerous driversand needs to be addressedthrough multiple strategies tar-getting different areas of theecosystem. In this context, areport by the Esya Centre titled,Trends in Copyright Infringementand Enforcement in India,explores the issue of copyrightpiracy and the challenges ineffectively countering it. It exam-ines legislative, judicial, policyand technological best prac-tices both from India and inter-nationally to inform next stepsin this regard.

What is clear is that in fram-ing responses to piracy that areeffective and time-sensitive, it isessential to have in place judi-cial safeguards to ensure that allinterventions are narrowly tai-lored and aimed only at address-ing piracy. This because of theimpact that these laws can haveon issues of free speech andaccess and because it is impor-tant to also account for fair deal-ing exceptions provided forunder copyright law. Ultimately,copyright forms a part of larg-er goals of increasing innova-tion, promoting research,progress in the arts and sciencesand providing fair wages to cre-ators of various kinds, amongothers. It is essential to situatecopyright in that larger contextand tailor remedies for infringe-ment within those bounds.

(The writer is a junior fellowat the Esya Centre)

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Sir — Qassem Soleimani wasreportedly Iran’s second-mostimportant man after Ayatollah AliKhameini and a larger motivebehind his killing cannot beruled out. It is an election year forUS President Donald Trump andthere are reports that he may haveordered the strike to boost hisprospects. The Osama bin Ladenoperation by former US PresidentBarack Obama could have beenuppermost in his mind.

But Laden was a non-Stateactor, a terrorist, while Soleimaniwas a key ally in America’s fightagainst the Islamic State (IS). Theattack is also being called a diver-sionary ploy by Trump to drivethe attention away from morepressing domestic issues like hisimpeachment. Global crude oilprices have already soared as aresult of the ongoing turbulencein the region. The impact will befelt worldwide, including in India.Additionally, New Delhi has thebothersome task of adopting a“please all” attitude not onlytowards the US and Iran but alsoother key players.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

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Sir — The Government hasbrought the country’s GrossDomestic Product (GDP)growth to its slowest in 11 years.This is a result of its fixated pol-itics and prescriptive economics.The Modi Government came to

power by building up suspicionover its predecessor’s sphere ofgovernance. Its demonetisationexercise was met with disap-proval and in the process, itknocked down the cornerstoneof our cash-centric economy.More than a flagging economy,it is the feckless efforts at its

repair that is of greater concern.The Government’s apathytowards economists and disre-gard of the autonomy of pivotalplanning and oversight institu-tions made things worse.Frenetic activities have beenthere but little progress wasseen. Unsettled socio-political

environs, induced by energeticpropagation of inconsequentialthemes, seem to have been thefinal nail in the coffin.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — The imbroglio at the JNUis not merely a “law and order”problem. It is a pitched politicaland ideological battle. Withclaims and counter-claims flyingthick and fast, every video accus-ing the ABVP is being counteredwith those incriminating Leftistopponents. But now reports saythat one of the attackers claimedto be a Leftist goon actuallybelonged to the ABVP. The jointsecretary of ABVP has admittedthat two persons, seen with rodsand sticks, belonged to it. The tit-for-tat response by the maskedwarriors has done the Modi-Shah duo no good. Meanwhile,we can only hope university cam-puses can remain places of learn-ing.

KS PadmanabhanChennai

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Page 9: ˆ./01 &’ ’ ( !#$% 6 !˚ 8 &-(0/%,38- 7˘/&3(˙)%/)%/-)1(8- / -( /,)/% 1 ... · 2020-01-08 · ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also

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In recent days, Australia’s Foreign MinisterMarise Payne announced efforts to strength-en Australia’s involvement in the Indian

Ocean Region (IOR) and the importance ofworking with India in defence and other activ-ities. Speaking at the 2019, Raisina Dialogue inDelhi — a geopolitical conference co-hosted bythe India — Payne said: “Our respective futuresare intertwined and heavily dependent on howwell we cooperate on the challenges and oppor-tunities in the Indian Ocean in the decadesahead.”

In terms of global political significance, theAtlantic Ocean can be viewed as the ocean of ourgrandparents and parents; the Pacific Ocean asour ocean and that of our children; and theIndian Ocean as the ocean of our children andgrandchildren. There is an obvious sense inwhich the region is the future. The average ageof people in the region’s countries is under 30,compared to 38 in the US and 46 in Japan. Thecountries bordering the Indian Ocean are hometo 2.5 billion people, which is one-third of theworld’s population.

Having heard the Australian Minister andread a few expert comments from Australianscholars of international affairs, it becomes clearthat Indo-Pacific in general and the Indian Oceanin particular is being viewed as the epicentre ofgeopolitics and India as the key player in thisregion. The need of economic partnershipamong the littorals is of utmost importance whilehaving a collaborated approach to addressgeopolitical risks. India, being the largest coun-try, has a logical role to play as a leader bring-ing the nations of IOR on multilateral platforms.

Multi-nation platforms: There are multi-nation platforms existing, which have mutualgrowth as their aim but their effectiveness is ques-tionable when compared to other oceanic plat-forms. For example, the Bay of Bengal Initiativefor Multi-Sectoral Technical and EconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC) was established bynations bordering the Bay of Bengal in 1997. Inmore than two decades, it is still gainingmomentum but cannot be compared with theAssociation of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN).

Australia, along with 21 other border states,is a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association(IORA) which seeks to promote sustainable eco-nomic growth, trade liberalisation and security.Australia’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper seeksto support IORA in areas such as maritime secu-rity and international law. It also aims atstrengthening its ties in the region such as withIndia and Indonesia —and also build new con-nections, particularly in Africa.

It brings out the Australian perspective whichis outreaching and focusses on multilateralcooperation with the stakeholders. The Indianperspective becomes clear from the ForeignSecretary’s words: “The challenges we all facetoday, and all of us know this, whether they bethe traditional security issues such as nuclear pro-liferation, armed conflict and so on, or newernon-traditional issues such as terrorism, migra-tion and refugee flows and environmentaldegradation — all of these, in our view, requiremore, and not less, multilateralism. India’svision of engagement in the Indo-Pacific region

will be based on the values of peace, sta-bility and prosperity on a free, open,prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacificwith the ASEAN regional bloc centralto the concept, which serves the long-term interests of all countries in theregion and of the world at large. OurPrime Minister’s articulation of thevision of SAGAR — ‘Security andGrowth for All in the Region’ will con-tinue to provide the basis for our mar-itime engagement.”

Cooperation is key to maritimesecurity: Maritime security is a majorchallenge for the poorer coastal andisland countries of the IOR. In partic-ular those that have large zones of mar-itime jurisdiction. There are 48 inde-pendent countries in the region, includ-ing hinterland and landlocked states ofEast Africa and South Asia. There are18 in Africa, 11 in the Middle East,seven in South Asia, six in SoutheastAsia, five island states and Australia.Managing maritime security is a chal-lenging endeavour. It requires cooper-ation between regional countries andbetween those with a stake in region-al security. Maritime security is nolonger the sole prerogative of navieswith more non-military agencies nowinvolved.

Maritime security is a priority forthe IORA, currently the main region-al organisation for economic and secu-rity cooperation. It recently committedits members to working on increasingcooperation among navies and othermaritime security forces in the region.The plan is to do this collaborativelywith the Indian Ocean NavalSymposium (IONS), a voluntary initia-tive by India to address shared maritimesecurity challenges and threats.

However IONS’ main focus hasbeen on naval cooperation and it has

been successful in terms of bringingnavies and coastal security forcestogether in the form of joint exercises.There is some scepticism about thesymposium’s ability to make a broad-er contribution to maritime security.

Defence cooperation: The ForeignMinister of Australia also pointed toincreasing defence activities in theIndian Ocean, noting that in 2014,Australia and India had conducted 11defence activities together, with the fig-ure reaching 38 in 2018. This shows thepositive approach from Australiancounterparts to build a strong securi-ty-oriented partnership with India.

In 2018, the Indian Air Force(IAF), for the first time, participatedwith fighter aircraft in Exercise PitchBlack that was conducted in Australia.During the transit to Australia, the IAFcontingent also had constructiveengagement with Indonesian andMalaysian air forces. In recent times theIAF has shown its capabilities of reach-ing anywhere within the IOR at anunimaginable short notice and also hasundertaken exercises across the baysaround, so as to make itself familiarwith the region. In its pan-India exer-cise Gagan Shakti-2018, special atten-tion was given to maritime air opera-tions. The operation was the largest-ever series of air exercises conducted bythe IAF. It crucially demonstrated an airoperational range with the help of air-to-air refuelling by the IL-78 FlightRefuelling Aircraft (FRA). The Su-30s,airborne from a base on the easterncoast, engaged multiple targets towardsthe western seaboard of India at dis-tances beyond 2,500 km and landed ata southern base, thus covering a totaldistance of 4,000 km in a single mission,which is less than average distancebetween India and many IOR countries.

Among other defence coopera-tions, the air forces of two nations canwork together by using the respectiveisland territories as regular refuellinghalts during ferries or conduct jointexercises with navies of friendly coun-tries around. For example the CocosKeeling Island and Christmas Island(Australian external territory) have8,000 and 7,000 feet runways respec-tively which are fit for operations by allkind of aircraft.

They are located south of Indonesiaand almost midway between Indiaand Australia. The distance betweenPort Blair and these islands is 2,675 kmand 2,833 km respectively. Similarly,Andaman and Nicobar Islands can beused by the Australian Air Force for thesame purpose. With these kinds ofpractices of using island runways andconducting joint exercises, theHumanitarian Assistance and DisasterRelief (HADR) operations in actualcontingencies will be conducted moreefficiently when time is a critical fac-tor and decision-making delays cannotbe afforded. The same is applicable forany other contingency which imposeschallenge to safety and security of IORcountries.

Security and growth for all throughmultilateralism is the only viable solu-tion against problems arising in today’sgeostrategic scenario because of unilat-eralism and trade wars. India’s activeand frequent friendly engagementswith IOR countries’ armed forces willboost the confidence of all the partic-ipants as well as the littoral countriesand will give stability to the maritimesecurity of the IOR. The IAF thus canprove itself to be an important tool infurthering the vision of SAGAR.

(The writer is a senior research fel-low at the India Foundation)

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The ongoing bush and forestfires in Australia are presentinga daunting challenge to the

authorities and are proving to be apainful and tragic end for the wildlifeaffected by the blaze. This country-wide catastrophe, mainly caused bydrought and extreme heat, has so farclaimed 24 lives, destroyed 18 millionacres of forest and bushland and hasalso consumed 1,200 homes.

However, the brunt of the fires hasbeen borne by the wildlife and approx-imately half a billion animal lives havebeen lost. Australia is not new to bushfires but this season’s blaze has beenanything but predictable and bearable,as the scale has hit astonishing levels.

The spectre of climate change inthe form of global warming is trans-forming the definition of natural dis-asters as rising temperatures, droughtsand strong winds become a lethalcombination of fanning even thesmallest of a bush fire into a country-wide inferno.

This is evident in Australia’s caseas well because this year saw the mid-December temperatures going as highas 42 degree Celsius in the midst ofwinds that were recording speeds of120 kmph.

Yet another aspect, which precip-itated this disaster in Australia was thefact that the country witnessed its dri-est spring season in the last 120 yearsand this rendered the bushland,forests and grasslands dry and fit fora blaze.

The 2019 Amazon forest fires, too,were an unfortunate occurrence asthey saw over 906,000 hectares ofprime forest land — that was rich inecology and wildlife — being burnt tocinder.

Here, too, the role of man cannotbe ruled out, as every year, the coun-tries bordering the forest areas of the

Amazon rain forest illegally slashand burn the woodland to clear landfor agriculture and habitation. Thesecountries are unable to take strictaction to stop this practice and as aresult, sometimes this clearing processgets out of hand and unfortunatelyresults in mega-disaster events.

Amazon forests, considered theworld’s largest terrestrial carbon sink,are now at peril, too, thanks to climatechange and anthropogenic activities.

According to the United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) Global Land Outlookreport, 70 per cent of the global forestsare at peril thanks to deforestation andman-made disasters such as forestfires. The report states that tropicaljungles are at the highest risk and toillustrate the point the report presentsa staggering fact that nearly 5.5 mil-lion hectares of rich forestland disap-peared annually between 2010-2015.

As the going gets tough for theworld’s “green assets”, it is being fur-ther predicted that the Amazon rainforests are now the most threatenedwith a projected loss of 48 millionhectares by 2030. The inability of

mankind to take care of nature andsafeguard the precious naturalresources is very unsettling.

India, too, has good forest wealthbut, some years ago, that also cameunder threat as hundreds of acres ofvaluable forests in Uttarakhand’sHimalayan foothills became a casual-ty of tremendous fires.

The callous selfishness of humanactions is leading to spiralling temper-atures, which in turn are making theflora and fauna’s survival difficult. Addto these woes are the afforestationefforts which are progressing at snail’space. All this means that we are com-promising those very carbon sinksthat can have a major role in climatechange mitigation.

In the wake of these global forestfire episodes, the world environmen-tal community must introspect to finda lasting solution to safeguard nature’sassets from these recurrent disasters.

In this regard, it becomes clearthat the global community lost a greatopportunity at the recently-conclud-ed UN Climate Change ConferenceCOP 25, to put in place systems andchecks that can play a pivotal role in

preserving the global green canopy.The forests are the last remaining

barriers between mankind and theconsequences of climate change. Theyneed to be treated as a national pri-ority and be accorded sufficient pro-tection. The strict and non-negotiablesegregation of habited areas andforests is probably the first steptowards forest conservation.

In addition to this, the forest pro-tection laws that are currently lax andimplemented even more poorly needto be overhauled so that woodlandprotection becomes a serious matter.

In India, too, the forest depart-ment is woefully understaffed and ill-trained to protect these preciousresources. All these aspects mustchange if India and the world want tokeep whatever forests are still left.

This must be done expeditiouslybefore it is too late to undo the dam-age, else man will have to pay a heavyprice for this indiscriminate andmindless pillage of natural wealth andfuture generations will pay for ourcrimes against nature.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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The Government onWednesday imposed

restrictions on imports ofrefined palm oil, a move whichcould discourage the inboundshipment of the commodityfrom Malaysia.

According to a notificationof the Directorate General ofForeign Trade (DGFT),“import policy” is amendedfrom “free to restricted” forrefined bleached deodorisedpalm oil and refined bleacheddeodorised palmolein.

Putting the commodity inrestricted category means animporter will require licence orpermission for the inboundshipment.

India, the world’s largestimporter of vegetable oils, buysnearly 15 million tonne annu-ally. Of this, palm oil compris-es 9 million tonne and the rest6 million tonne soybean andsunflower oil.

Indonesia and Malaysiaare the two countries whichsupply palm oil.

Malaysia produces 19 mil-

lion tonne of palm oil in a year,while Indonesia produces 43million tonne, the trade datashowed.

The move comes in thebackdrop of remarks byMalaysia on the new citizen-ship law and Kashmir issue.

On December 20 last year,Malaysian Prime MinisterMahathir bin Mohamad hadreportedly said, “I am sorry tosee that India, which claims tobe a secular state, is now tak-ing action to deprive someMuslims of their citizenship”.

“If we do that here, youknow what will happen. Therewill be chaos, there will beinstability and everyone willsuffer,” he had said.

Earlier, Mahathir had saidin the UN General Assemblythat India had “invaded andoccupied” Kashmir.

Further according toindustry source, the govern-ment has advised importers notto buy palm oil from Malaysia.

“We import 30 per cent ofthe palm oils from Malaysia,while 70 per cent fromIndonesia.

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Even as Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman pre-

pares to present the UnionBudget for the fiscal 2020-21next month, the National RealEstate Development Council(NAREDCO) on Wednesdaysought initiatives to incentiviserental housing in the country.

NAREDCO in a statementsaid that rental housing willplay a vital role in achieving thetarget of ‘Housing for All’ by2022, and recommended grantof tax incentives to boost thesegment.

Speaking to the mediahere, NAREDCO PresidentNiranjan Hiranandani referredto the concept of “notionalincome” from housing proper-ty held as stock-in-trade, whichattracts tax on unsold proper-ty after a certain time periodunder Section 23(5) of theIncome Tax Act.

Section 23(5) of the IT Actprovides that in respect ofunsold property, held as stock-in-trade and not let out, theannual value of the property forthe period up to two years fromthe end of the financial year inwhich completion certificate isreceived from competentauthority, will be taken as nil.Thereafter, it will be assessableas income from house proper-ty on the basis of its notional

rent.“This is an extremely ‘sub-

jective’ criteria, which willobviously be open for misuse,”the NAREDCO statement said.

“This provision is veryharsh and is creating genuinehardship to real estate devel-opers, who are already underpressure in the ongoing slug-gish market,” it said.

“The real estate industry isalready struggling with largeunsold inventories. Taxingnotional rent, after one yearfrom the end of the financialyear in which completion cer-tificate is received from com-petent authority, will lead tosevere financial implications forthe developer/industry.”

The realtors’ body alsosuggested to the governmentthat no rent should be taxed forthe period up to five years fromthe end of the financial year inwhich the certificate of com-pletion of construction of theproperty is obtained from thecompetent authority.

The self-regulatory body,

under the aegis of the Ministryof Housing and Urban Affairs,has urged the Finance Ministerto demand more measures toease the liquidity situation inthe long-subdued real estatesegment, including the one-time roll-over of loans given todevelopers.

“The industry has beendemanding restructuring ofloans or one time roll-over incase of the stressed assets at theoptions of banks. In such cases,the borrower will retain theasset classification of therestructured standard accountsas standard and the same willnot be treated as NPA,” it said.

It also said that interestrates on home loans should bebelow 7 per cent per annumand suggested that the stampduty rates should be reduced by50 per cent for all the real estatetransactions entered and agree-ments registered on or beforeMarch 31, 2020.

The organisation alsosought a relaxation in the def-inition of affordable housing.According to NAREDCO, the�45 lakh price cap for the clas-sification of a property asaffordable housing should bedone away with as it keeps mostof the projects in the NationalCapital Region (NCR) and theMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) out of the ambit of“affordable housing”.

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Civil aviation regulatorDirectorate General of

Civil Aviation has asked Indianairlines to remain vigilant andtake all precautionary mea-sures when flying over Iranianand Iraqi airspace.

The development comesafter US-Iran geopolitical ten-sions in the region escalated onWednesday.

“A meeting was held withall concerned airlines whichoperate flights over these air-spaces,” a senior DGCA officialtold IANS.

“We have sensitised themto remain vigilant and take allprecautions.”

At present only Air Indiauses the Iran-Iraq airspace foroperations to Europe and otherdestinations. Currently, noIndian airline flies directly toIran, however, Air India flies toNajaf in Iraq.

On its part, Air Indiadecided to reroute flights overIran.

“In light of the tensionswithin the Iranian airspace adecision to temporarily rerouteflights of Air India and AirIndia Express over flying Iranhas been taken,” a spokesper-son for the airline said.

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Indian steel industry onWednesday welcomed the

Government’s decision to pro-mulgate an ordinance to openup coal mining in the countryto non-coal companies.

In a statement, apex steelindustry body Indian SteelAssociation (ISA) said it hailsthe decision of the Cabinet toamend MMDR Act 1957 andCoal Mines (SpecialProvisions) Act 2015.

“This is a huge reformannounced by the Governmenton commercial mining in Coal.This change in Act will help thecountry to reduce its depen-dence on coal imports andhelp attract investments fromIndian and Global corporates,”it said.

The amendment, ISA said,will remove the end-userrestrictions besides allowingseamless transfer of environ-ment and forest clearance inoperational mines.

The step taken today was along pending reform which willmake the domestic steel indus-try more competitive on aglobal level, the association

said.JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan

Jindal said the move will go along way in reducing the coalimports.

“Huge reform announcedby the Government on com-mercial mining in coal. Thiswill go a long way in reducingthe coal imports which is overUSD 15 billion/year,” he said.In today’s time when the oilprices are very uncertain, Jindalsaid, the decision was pathbreaking in making India self-reliant. Continuity of all forestand environment clearancesfor iron-ore mines for a peri-od of two years is another greatreform, he added.

“This was a long pendingreform which will make theIndian Steel industry moreaggressive and competitive ona global level,” he said.

JSPL Chairman VRSharma termed the decision asa ‘game changer’ for the indus-try.

India has reserves foranother 300 years and the timeis ripe to use it. If it is notutilised now, it wont be able toutilised in future as developedcountries are against coal usage.

“They are spreading oninternational platforms thatusing coal is damaging theenvironment, which is incor-rect. Like we do at our Angulplant which is India’s first andlargest syngas-based DRI plantand coal gasification plant(CGP) for steel-making,” hesaid.

Coal can be converted intosyngas which can be used forproducing petrol, diesel andother petroleum products,which can reduce dependenceon crude oil imports, he added.

The Government onWednesday approved anOrdinance to amend a law inorder to ease rules for auc-tioning of coal mines andopening it for non-coal com-panies. The decision takenby the Cabinet, chaired byPrime Minister NarendraModi, will also do away withend-use restrictions of the min-ing blocks, Coal MinisterPralhad Joshi said. “ T h eCabinet has approved promul-gation of Mineral Laws(Amendment) Ordinance2020,” the minister said,addressing media after theCabinet meeting.

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Former Union FinanceMinister Yashwant Sinha

on Wednesday questioned esti-mation that the economy willgrow at 5 per cent in 2019-20,saying the figure is “imaginary”and raised doubt about theModi Government’s capabilityof tackling economic issues.

Talking to reporters, Sinhaalso demurred Prime MinisterNarendra Modi holding “pre-budget consultation”, saying itis “unprecedented” and askedwhat the latter’s FinanceMinister is doing.

India’s GDP growth is seendipping to an 11-year low of 5per cent in the current fiscal,mainly due to poor showing bymanufacturing and construc-tion sectors, Government datashowed on Tuesday.

“Even this 5 per centgrowth is imaginary. Becausethis does not include what hashappened, the damage whichwas caused as a result ofdemonetisation and GST onthe MSME and the informalsector,” Sinha told reportershere.

The former Union FinanceMinister said several econo-

mists are suggesting that Indiais experiencing negative growthif the factors caused by demon-etisation and GST are to bekept in mind.

The economic situation is“too bad”, he added. “You(reporter) talked about budget.The budget has lost all itsmeaning. The budget has lostits sanctity which was there atsome point of time,” he saidwhile replying to a query.”I havegrave doubts about the capa-bility of this Government totackle economic issues,” the for-mer BJP leader added.

Sinha said there is nomagic wand to correct thecourse of economy and addedthere is a need for sustainedeffort to put things on track.

“But frankly, I don’t expect

anything much from theGovernment either before orafter,” he said.

Sinha further said earlierbudgets were worked out in thefinance ministry and noted itwas “unprecedented” for theprime minister to hold pre-budget consultations.

“But where it (the budget)is being made today I don’tknow. But they have themouthpiece who will read outthe budget in the Lok Sabha,”he said.

Former Maharashtra ChiefMinister and Congress leaderPrithviraj Chavan, who accom-panied Sinha, said the plung-ing economic numbers are a“matter of grave concern”.

He said former ChiefEconomic Adviser ArvindSubramanian had last yeartalked about GDP growth ratesbeing inflated by 2.5 per cent.

“That is condition and it isnot 5 per cent, it is 2.5 per cent,”he said about the estimates.

Chavan accused the Modigovernment of not consultingexperts during crisis situationand said the issues of CAA andNRC are being raised to dis-tract people’s attention fromeconomic woes.

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Reliance Jio on Wednesdaylaunched voice and video

calling over Wi-Fi service thatwill allow customers to switchseamlessly from LTE to Wi-Fi-based calling when they are athome or office.

The company said Jio Wi-Fi calling - which works on thelargest ecosystem of handsets -will also allow users to makevideo calls over Wi-Fi. The ser-vice would be available forfree.

The announcement comesless than a month after rivalAirtel launched a similar ser-vice in Delhi-NCR.

Jio said it has been “testingthis service over past few monthsto provide a robust experienceto every customer at launch”.Customers can use any Wi-Finetwork for Jio Wi-Fi-calling.voice and video calls will seam-lessly switch over betweenVoLTE and Wi-Fi to provide anenhanced voice/video-callingexperience, it added.

“At this juncture, when anaverage Jio consumer uses over900 minutes of voice calls everymonth, and at a growing baseof consumers, the launch of JioWi-Fi Calling will furtherenhance every Jio consumer’svoice-calling experience.

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Deep discounting on goodsand services offered by

large online retailers hasemerged as a major area of con-cern in a study conducted byCCI, particularly in case ofmobile phones, and the fairtrade regulator will probe allcases of possible abuse of mar-ket dominance.

Releasing the findings ofthe study and its own obser-vations, the the CompetitionCommission of India (CCI)said marketplace platformsneed to adopt self-regulatorymeasures to address all areas ofconcern flagged in the studyand also bring out clear andtransparent policies on dis-counts.

The study, Market Studyon E-Commerce in India, wasinitiated by the regulator inApril 2019 with a view to bet-ter understand the functioningof e-commerce in India and itsimplications for markets andcompetition.

The study released onWednesday found that issueslike lack of platform neutrali-ty, unfair platform-to-businesscontract terms, exclusive con-tracts between online market-place platforms and sellers/ser-vice providers, platform priceparity restrictions and deep dis-counts among others maydirectly or indirectly have a

bearing on competition.While highlighting com-

petition issues, CCI said thatthe price points at which sell-ers sell the products on themarketplace platforms are inmany instances lower than thecost price for the brick andmortar retailers.

These retailers main-tain that they either have tomatch the online discounts ata significant loss or the onlinemarket would be foreclosed forthem.

This was pointed out to bea particularly pressing con-cern in the case of mobilephones, where online marketsconstitute around 40 per centof the total sales in the coun-try.

Making observation aboutthe goods category, the regula-tor said the issue raised by thesellers relates to online dis-counts on major goods plat-forms purportedly pushing theprices below cost and impair-ing the offline small retailers’ability to compete in certainproduct categories.

“The platforms deniedany involvement in pricing,”CCI said. It further added that“unfair pricing contravenes thecompetition law under Section4(2) of the Act when indulgedin by a dominant enterprise.”

Regarding services cate-gory, it said, “...Discounts areoffered by even the pure inter-

mediary platforms followingmarketplace model with nocontrol over the inventory soldthrough them”.

Discounts are purported-ly funded by platforms forconsumer on-boarding. It iscausing the service providers,i.E. Hotels and restaurants tolose control over the price oftheir products sold/distributedthrough online platforms,which also affects price andsales through other channels.

Discounting is a com-mon business strategy butwhere the design of the dis-counting schemes is misalignedwith the rational business prac-tices of the service providers,the use of such discounts as acompetitive strategy comesinto question.

CCI, with a view to reduceinformation asymmetry andpromote competition on themerits, has urged e-commerceplatforms to put in place cer-tain transparency measures.

It urged the platforms tobring out clear and transparentpolicies on discounts, includingthe basis of discount ratesfunded by platforms for dif-ferent products and suppliersand the implications of partic-ipation and non-participationin discount schemes.

Besides, it said the busi-ness users should be notifiedabout any proposed changes interms and conditions.

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Kerala is set to explore theprospects of a quantum

jump in its economy as theState Government is hostingfrom Thursday a two-day glob-al investors meet that will pre-sent 100 plus big-ticket projectswith feasibility.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan will inaugurate theASCEND 2020 GlobalInvestors Meet in this industrialcity, where 2,000 delegates willconverge with the aim of lend-ing pace to the Ease of DoingBusiness in the state.Organised by the statesDepartment of Industries,ASCEND 2020 at Lulu Bolgatty

International ConventionCentre will feature nine ses-sions including six panel dis-cussions, organisers said.

The 100-odd projects, rat-ified by KPMG as viable basedon a study by the professionalservices MNC, covers sectorssuch as petrochemicals, agro &food-processing, defence, lifesciences, aeropolis, tourism &hospitality, ports and harbour,fisheries, infrastructure, mobil-ity development, logistics andelectronic hardware. Of theprojects, 18 (each with invest-ment of above �100 crore)have been classified as mega.The other categories, in thedescending order, are large,medium and small.

The CM will declare the-meet at session to be presidedover by Industries Minister E PJayarajan and the inauguralday will see two panel discus-sions led by top industrialists.Kerala Rail DevelopmentCorporation Ltd (KRDCL) willshowcase the Semi High SpeedRail (SHSR) corridor projectbefore captains of industry andpolicy makers on the openingday of the meet. Billed as agame-changer in Keralas infra-structure and economic devel-opment, the �66405-croreT h i r u v a n a t h a p u r a m -Kasaragod rail corridor, namedas Silver Line, will be one of themajor projects to be showcasedat the two-day meet.

Silver Line is a project ofK-Rail, a joint venture of KeralaGovernment and the Ministryof Railways. It has been clearedby the state Cabinet and alsoreceived in-principle approvalof the Ministry of railwayswhich enables pre- investmentactivities. Organisers of theinvestors meet said there areinvestment opportunities inTransit Orient developments,Engineering-Procurement-Construction contracts worth�38,000 crore for civil, electri-cal system works and supplyand operation ofrail coachesamong others. Opportunityalso exist for any investor todirectly invest in the projectSPV, they said.

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The mutual fund industrysaw its asset base slip by 2

per cent to �26.54 lakh crore atDecember-end, primarily onaccount of outflow from debt-oriented schemes, includingliquid funds.

The 44-player industrylogged an all-time high assetsunder management (AUM) of�27.04 lakh crore atNovember-end, as comparedto �26.54 lakh crore by theend of last month, represent-ing a decline of 2 per cent,according to data from theAssociation of Mutual Fundsin India (Amfi).

Mutual fund houses wit-nessed an overall outflow of�61,810 crore last month ascompared to an inflow of

�54,419 crore in November.Fund managers attributed

the drop in the asset base tooutflow of �78,940 crore fromdebt-oriented schemes.

Among debt-orientedschemes, liquid funds, withinvestments in cash assetssuch as treasury bills, certifi-cates of deposit and commer-cial paper for shorter horizon,witnessed a pull-out of over�71,000 crore, the highestamong the fixed-income seg-ment last month.

Besides, overnight funds,which invest in securities witha maturity of one day, saw out-flows of over �8,800 crore.However, banking & PSUfunds, which have a high allo-cation to highest rated bonds,received funds to the tune of�4,770 crore.

“Fixed income categories,especially those having mod-ified duration or averagematurity less than a year wit-nessed net outflows duringthe month. However, this ison expected lines as these cat-egories typically witness netoutflows during the quarterend months on account ofadvance tax payment obliga-tion,” said HimanshuSrivastava, senior analystmanager (research) atMorningstar InvestmentAdviser India.

Naveen Kukreja, CEO atPaisabazaar.com, attributedthe decline in monthly assetbase to sel l-off in debtschemes.

Equity-oriented fundscontinued to attract invest-ments tracking the surge in

domestic markets inDecember. Such funds saw anet infusion of �4,432 crorelast month. In comparison,net flow of �933 crore wasseen in November and �6,015crore in October.

“The small cap and midcap indices are underper-forming currently. The indus-try has seen inflows in thelarge cap funds and it will con-tinue to be the biggest attrac-tion among equity funds,”Kukreja added.

Further, col lectionthrough systematic invest-ment plan (SIP) has surged toover �8,518 crore inDecember from �8,273 crorein the preceding month. Theasset base of SIP rose to an all-time high of �3.17 lakh crorefrom �3.12 lakh crore reflect-

ing positive sentiment in equities.

Amfi chief executive NSVenkatesh said,” Retailinvestors continue to reposetrust in mutual funds asreflected by continued flowsthrough SIPs, despite chal-lenging domestic economicscenario and global tradeissues and conflicts.

“Markets have rallied andindices scaled new peaks,which is reflective of resolu-tion coming through struc-tural policies like IBC andlowering of interest rates, asalso, expectation fromBudget,’’ he added.

Besides, gold exchange-traded funds saw an inflow of�27 crore in December, whilethe same was over �7 crore inNovember.

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The government onWednesday in-principle

approved strategic sale ofNeelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd(NINL) by allowing six PSUshareholders to sell their stakein the steel company.

A decision in this regardwas taken in the meeting of theCabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA),

headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Informationand Broadcasting MinisterPrakash Javadekar toldreporters.

NINL is a joint venturecompany, in which four centralPSUs — MMTC, NationalMineral DevelopmentCorporation (NMDC), BharatHeavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)and MECON — and twoOdisha government compa-

nies IPICOL and OdishaMining Corporation (OMC)are shareholders.

MMTC holds 49.78 percent share in NINL, followed byOMC (20.47 per cent), IPICOL(12 per cent), NMDC (10.10per cent), while MECON andBHEL hold 0.68 per cent each.

The strategic buyer forNINL will be identified througha two-stage auction procedure,said an official statement.

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Equity benchmarks clawedback most of their lostground to end modestly

lower on Wednesday as globalmarkets were whiplashed by afresh wave of volatility afterIran launched retaliatory strikesagainst US forces in Iraq.

After plunging nearly 400points in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex stabilised tofinally settle 51.73 points, or0.13 per cent, down at40,817.74.

Similarly, the broader Niftyshed 27.60 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish at 12,025.35.

World equities nosedivedwhile gold and US Treasuriesfirmed up on safe-havendemand after Iran fired morethan a dozen ballistic missiles attwo Iraqi bases with US per-sonnel in response to the killingof its top general QasemSoleimani.

Brent crude oil futures rosenearly 0.62 per cent to USD68.67 per barrel.

On the macroeconomicfront, advance GDP estimatessuggesting India’s economicgrowth may drop to an 11-yearlow of 5 per cent in the current

fiscal, also kept investors cau-tious, traders said.

L&T was the top loseramong Sensex constituents,shedding 2.19 per cent, followedby ONGC, Titan, Sun Pharma,Hero MotoCorp and Infosys.

On the other hand, BhartiAirtel, TCS, Ultratech Cement,Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bankspurted up to 2.74 per cent.

“Market is sensing someease in tension with the viewthat there will be no effect onequities in the long-term. Forthe short term, market willadapt a careful tactic given lim-ited room to grow due to pre-mium valuation and slowdownin economy.

“As soon as the situation set-tles, the market will shift itsfocus on Q3 results and Budget,”said said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

BSE capital goods, energy,industrials, oil and gas, metaland auto indices fell up to 1.42per cent, while telecom, basicmaterials, teck and IT rose upto 2.43 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices bucked theweak market trend, rising up to0.16 per cent.

In rest of Asia, Shanghai,Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoulmarkets ended up to 1.57 percent lower.

European bourses too start-

ed on a negative note.

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Meanwhile, the Indianrupee retrieved early losses tosettle 12 paise higher at 71.70against the US dollar, but over-all forex market sentimentsremained subdued amid furtherescalation in US-Iran tensions.

At the foreign bankexchange, the domestic unitopened significantly lower at72.05 per dollar as against theprevious day’s close of 71.82.During the day, it traded in therange of 72.07 and 71.69 to theUS currency.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’s strengthagainst a basket of six curren-cies, rose 0.12 per cent to 97.12.

“Rupee traded in range of71.87-72.11 a gap down open-ing on news of Iranian missileattacks on US base militarybases in Iran/Iraq to takerevenge on US was witnessedbut it seemed short lived asrupee started traded strongerafter gap down opening,” JateenTrivedi, Senior Research Analyst(Commodity & Currency) atLKP Securities, said.

Exporters seemed to par-ticipate in around the 72 levelsand the levels of 72-72.25 willkeep acting as a crucial barrierfor USD/INR pair whereas71.60-71.40 as supports, he said.

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Gold prices on Wednesdayclimbed by �485 to

�41,810 per 10 gram followingrise of geo-political uncertain-ty and weaker rupee, accordingto HDFC Securities.

Similarly, silver alsojumped by �855 to �49,530 perkg from �48,675 per kg onTuesday.

The yellow metal hadclosed at �41,325 per 10 gramin the previous trade.

Gold rose following rise ofgeo-political uncertainty andweaker rupee, HDFC Securitieshead, advisory (PCG) DevarshVakil said.

“Higher international goldprice and weaker rupee sup-ported domestic gold prices totrade higher,” he added.

In the international mar-ket, both gold and silver wit-nessed bullish trend and weretrading with gains at USD1,584 per ounce and USD18.43 per ounce, respectively.

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Script Open High Low LTPKOTAKBANK 1663.00 1663.00 1638.65 1655.45HDFCBANK 1250.00 1261.30 1240.00 1257.05AUBANK 792.95 845.95 792.95 835.25UBL 1275.00 1275.00 1241.00 1248.15HDFC 2399.00 2412.90 2384.75 2406.05FORTIS 132.40 136.00 131.25 133.55SBIN 312.70 321.40 311.00 319.85RELIANCE 1508.00 1534.45 1508.00 1513.95MARUTI 7073.85 7111.10 6986.15 7034.75IBULHSGFIN 301.30 312.90 297.65 309.95YESBANK 45.80 47.25 45.30 46.05ICICIBANK 515.50 527.00 515.00 525.85IDEA 5.95 6.58 5.75 6.51JINDALSTEL 165.90 176.25 164.25 174.75TRENT 526.30 535.00 525.85 531.65TATASTEEL 471.50 477.95 467.00 475.55INDUSINDBK 1441.00 1480.75 1439.40 1458.80TCS 2200.00 2259.95 2200.00 2255.05LT 1308.00 1308.00 1283.60 1291.35SUNPHARMA 446.00 446.60 438.90 440.10INFY 725.00 728.70 708.40 718.15TATAMOTORS 180.45 184.05 180.30 182.60LTI 1835.00 1862.00 1800.00 1806.80BHARTIARTL 435.40 460.40 435.40 458.95AXISBANK 717.60 725.60 709.30 724.70BAJFINANCE 3972.00 4061.60 3952.10 4049.70BANKBARODA 94.00 95.80 93.55 95.25ACC 1440.00 1477.00 1435.55 1463.75ADANIPORTS 376.20 387.60 376.20 385.65RBLBANK 340.25 348.50 334.70 345.95TITAN 1148.00 1155.00 1138.25 1143.30BPCL 450.80 464.00 448.80 459.95ULTRACEMCO 4250.00 4330.00 4191.95 4317.35NIITTECH 1656.00 1778.05 1653.15 1734.35VEDL 153.00 158.20 152.50 157.35HDFCAMC 3035.10 3108.00 3009.35 3099.50TVSMOTOR 441.00 449.55 438.80 448.35SAIL 45.00 47.05 44.85 46.85MCX 1272.75 1287.50 1240.25 1278.80HINDPETRO 234.50 243.20 234.50 241.55ZEEL 264.50 266.05 260.75 264.45JSWSTEEL 262.40 264.40 257.05 262.30JCHAC 1910.00 1911.35 1886.45 1896.40CANBK 203.90 209.30 200.60 207.85L&TFH 113.95 120.65 112.75 120.15EICHERMOT 20664.00 20664.00 19810.00 19892.75ADANIENT 202.00 203.45 194.65 201.55JAICORPLTD 103.10 112.40 103.10 108.40NMDC 126.35 127.25 118.25 121.85IOC 123.00 123.90 121.55 121.85PIIND 1391.75 1459.70 1391.75 1446.30CIPLA 465.80 469.85 463.40 464.55SPICEJET 100.00 100.00 97.00 99.25METROPOLIS 1404.45 1525.00 1401.50 1494.25PNB 61.10 61.55 60.15 60.85BEML 945.00 945.00 930.95 936.05GMRINFRA 22.95 24.70 22.85 24.15AMBUJACEM 197.70 204.50 195.65 201.65MGL 1040.90 1040.90 1027.70 1033.00NOCIL 110.35 117.40 109.10 113.80HONAUT 26693.70 26809.80 26500.00 26600.30OBEROIRLTY 513.90 522.55 508.00 512.65DLF 224.70 228.15 217.40 227.50HDFCLIFE 624.00 631.75 618.85 628.55COLPAL 1450.00 1454.25 1435.05 1450.75HINDUNILVR 1920.00 1937.45 1907.00 1929.30JUBLFOOD 1692.00 1733.00 1679.30 1725.70M&M 523.60 526.20 519.10 524.60MFSL 555.25 566.00 553.95 558.70BAJAJFINSV 9070.00 9165.30 8975.00 9144.60INDIGO 1330.00 1367.00 1322.65 1352.70GNFC 173.55 186.60 171.35 184.80APOLLOHOSP 1475.00 1479.20 1459.65 1474.40HINDALCO 206.80 208.55 204.50 207.30SHREECEM 21560.00 22680.00 21560.00 22445.95ADANIPOWER 61.00 61.00 58.05 59.85CONCOR 550.50 556.75 544.00 552.80GODREJPROP 953.00 960.00 946.85 951.90NCC 54.80 55.20 53.40 53.70BIOCON 283.50 286.00 279.35 283.10OMAXE 157.55 165.00 154.90 155.80COALINDIA 204.80 204.80 198.25 200.20ITC 234.80 235.80 233.85 234.20SUNTV 417.00 429.75 412.90 425.40INFIBEAM 54.00 56.70 52.40 53.60ADANIGAS 167.00 173.20 166.00 168.30BALKRISIND 967.35 1000.00 959.20 995.75ICICIGI 1332.15 1396.05 1332.15 1390.50LICHSGFIN 413.00 422.00 409.40 420.55HEROMOTOCO 2328.00 2345.85 2311.40 2318.45SUDARSCHEM 420.00 447.95 418.00 437.95UJJIVAN 328.05 333.20 327.00 331.00HCLTECH 585.00 593.15 578.05 585.65DMART 1799.95 1839.65 1785.80 1829.50ASHOKLEY 80.80 81.55 79.95 80.45HSCL 65.00 70.40 63.75 67.65DIXON 4220.00 4254.25 4095.00 4137.55DISHTV 12.20 12.50 11.91 12.42RNAM 337.05 342.00 330.45 331.70MOTHERSUMI 141.00 147.75 140.90 146.90CGCL 199.80 201.95 193.45 196.40IBREALEST 80.50 86.20 79.60 85.65TECHM 776.90 784.90 767.50 769.70HAVELLS 639.90 639.90 624.80 629.45ONGC 125.00 125.40 123.15 123.50CEATLTD 984.05 995.50 979.50 991.90HEIDELBERG 183.55 201.90 183.05 193.30

ESCORTS 606.00 615.20 601.20 613.35IDFCFIRSTB 43.00 43.55 42.65 43.15INFRATEL 238.20 238.20 233.55 236.50RAMCOCEM 788.95 811.40 777.15 808.55JUSTDIAL 548.00 574.80 543.30 568.05INDIACEM 76.40 79.50 74.60 77.45NAVINFLUOR 1045.00 1104.75 1033.95 1090.65MINDTREE 847.25 856.20 840.00 851.40RAJESHEXPO 677.50 684.30 672.00 680.25AVANTI 577.00 611.00 577.00 607.20PNBHOUSING 460.00 473.00 456.00 469.25GRAPHITE 290.00 295.40 288.70 292.00BHEL 42.60 43.35 42.45 43.15JUBILANT 526.80 572.00 524.15 542.60WIPRO 254.00 256.25 252.75 254.70SPARC 161.95 173.80 161.95 168.70PEL 1455.85 1484.75 1451.00 1473.55UPL 585.50 603.00 584.60 600.80ITI 100.00 103.75 99.00 100.65TATAMTRDVR 74.95 75.75 73.95 74.90RVNL 24.10 25.55 24.05 25.20CARERATING 599.40 606.30 588.35 592.70ISEC 390.00 415.00 384.65 406.60ASIANPAINT 1699.00 1737.30 1695.30 1730.85BBTC 1115.00 1144.80 1102.65 1109.05NESTLEIND 14249.95 14415.95 14120.20 14388.25FEDERALBNK 86.35 87.20 85.70 86.95NBCC 34.65 34.85 34.05 34.40MOTILALOFS 800.65 865.15 797.00 850.10ORIENTCEM 75.25 87.50 74.95 82.60TATAGLOBAL 314.50 317.20 311.40 316.45SRTRANSFIN 1106.00 1132.25 1099.80 1130.20STAR 372.65 382.00 369.20 381.05GODREJIND 435.00 443.00 435.00 441.60SCHNEIDER 69.95 82.00 69.60 82.00LAKSHVILAS 16.20 16.20 15.75 15.95BOMDYEING 77.40 80.00 77.20 78.35NTPC 120.40 120.80 117.65 119.95IPCALAB 1165.00 1207.35 1139.80 1197.85GRASIM 740.95 749.90 734.00 742.55HINDCOPPER 45.00 47.15 44.40 46.05BANDHANBNK 490.10 493.35 483.50 485.10HEG 1025.00 1039.00 1013.70 1022.50STRTECH 119.50 121.60 118.40 119.90MANAPPURAM 174.00 176.60 172.25 176.05SRF 3380.70 3473.00 3379.60 3467.50BAJAJ-AUTO 3030.00 3069.60 3005.00 3060.60MRF 65400.00 65400.00 64285.35 64907.45GUJGAS 250.00 261.90 249.00 259.70BATAINDIA 1699.95 1734.90 1689.00 1731.30AUROPHARMA 444.35 453.65 444.35 451.05PFC 115.20 116.50 113.65 116.00DRREDDY 2879.25 2903.35 2867.45 2897.50AMBER 1159.00 1228.50 1159.00 1184.75BALRAMCHIN 182.95 187.90 180.65 183.70DCAL 73.65 73.75 72.05 73.75MMTC 18.55 21.80 18.50 20.70NATIONALUM 43.70 44.75 43.35 44.55TATAPOWER 56.20 56.70 55.75 56.25POWERGRID 190.65 190.80 189.00 190.50BERGEPAINT 488.60 496.90 484.15 495.35GAIL 123.45 124.40 122.65 123.85GRANULES 122.00 132.00 121.80 130.40M&MFIN 320.70 325.80 315.50 324.95ADANITRANS 326.05 335.10 322.30 332.10ABCAPITAL 100.80 102.00 99.30 100.65SBILIFE 980.00 992.50 975.05 989.65APOLLOTYRE 159.00 162.75 159.00 162.35ICICIPRULI 475.00 483.00 472.90 482.05IDBI 35.80 35.80 34.75 35.30LUPIN 775.00 775.00 750.10 756.25PIDILITIND 1392.00 1406.95 1388.60 1403.70BEL 95.75 97.10 94.50 95.50ADANIGREEN 218.00 220.70 214.50 220.70WABAG 211.00 222.00 209.40 215.45WOCKPHARMA 238.00 243.90 237.35 240.35RECLTD 140.40 140.50 136.70 138.55EQUITAS 100.00 102.65 99.00 101.10PAGEIND 22667.20 23000.00 22491.05 22812.90FORCEMOT 1130.00 1150.00 1117.00 1123.60TORNTPOWER 283.90 290.95 283.00 289.60SWANENERGY 122.00 123.70 118.45 121.00SUNTECK 420.35 430.00 418.40 423.75SUZLON 3.55 3.55 3.24 3.24JINDALSAW 82.40 85.80 80.50 84.10POLYCAB 959.50 973.50 950.05 967.75BHARATFORG 480.75 489.90 476.00 488.10MEGH 56.90 61.00 56.80 58.00VENKYS 1680.10 1708.65 1674.00 1688.80DELTACORP 181.00 187.80 181.00 182.90IGL 413.00 419.15 407.45 417.80

JKLAKSHMI 308.00 328.75 304.50 313.50IRB 73.50 76.35 72.90 74.75AMARAJABAT 720.00 729.00 713.70 721.05LALPATHLAB 1540.00 1607.00 1530.00 1565.65FRETAIL 344.90 353.50 340.00 353.05TATACHEM 666.10 669.40 659.50 664.60TATAELXSI 820.00 826.20 812.50 820.75UNIONBANK 52.50 52.50 51.50 52.00SCI 58.50 59.00 58.15 58.50RCF 49.65 50.30 48.85 49.25MUTHOOTFIN 750.00 753.75 741.00 746.30LTTS 1500.00 1552.80 1499.15 1536.55JKCEMENT 1285.00 1313.90 1268.35 1274.75KEC 305.00 305.25 298.90 301.25RAYMOND 641.00 647.40 626.15 643.15KAJARIACER 524.00 557.50 524.00 551.25KEI 461.75 496.40 460.90 489.80RITES 304.90 309.90 298.30 307.60GODFRYPHLP 1299.80 1335.00 1289.75 1314.55DHFL 18.30 18.55 17.20 17.55GLENMARK 339.20 342.75 338.40 340.40RPOWER 3.04 3.09 2.97 2.97DCBBANK 183.00 192.55 181.65 189.20DEEPAKNI 364.55 383.05 364.55 379.50BANKINDIA 68.25 68.45 66.90 67.80VOLTAS 654.00 654.00 648.30 651.10PHILIPCARB 124.80 126.95 123.00 125.30EXIDEIND 181.50 182.15 179.65 180.75GODREJCP 711.40 713.30 701.40 711.90RATNAMANI 1111.00 1180.00 1111.00 1173.10IEX 160.00 172.50 154.00 166.20SIEMENS 1496.00 1496.00 1463.15 1473.75SUVEN 299.75 305.40 294.00 303.50QUESS 508.25 533.00 505.15 524.00WELCORP 148.00 153.50 146.85 151.10BOSCHLTD 14719.70 14719.70 14516.00 14538.35DABUR 450.00 457.60 446.15 456.75PCJEWELLER 23.50 23.70 23.30 23.45CUMMINSIND 573.30 582.30 566.00 578.40CASTROLIND 126.00 126.15 123.60 125.05MARICO 331.10 334.25 329.70 333.45BLISSGVS 150.00 155.00 147.45 151.10TORNTPHARM 1890.00 1890.00 1857.20 1864.75BRITANNIA 3020.00 3037.35 3001.15 3024.20CADILAHC 255.00 259.55 253.60 258.75MIDHANI 154.00 159.70 151.70 156.10EDELWEISS 114.90 116.20 111.65 114.05CHOLAFIN 293.40 296.45 290.25 294.65PVR 1854.00 1869.75 1839.00 1862.20HEXAWARE 331.85 336.10 331.20 334.00JKTYRE 73.65 74.85 73.10 74.25GHCL 181.05 198.10 181.05 194.25NESCO 651.40 684.60 651.40 679.00INDHOTEL 140.00 140.15 137.45 139.25ABBOTINDIA 12594.15 12823.50 12590.75 12715.65IIFL 154.60 159.30 149.15 151.15WHIRLPOOL 2228.55 2289.00 2220.00 2269.95NAUKRI 2540.00 2559.50 2525.45 2553.65FCONSUMER 25.00 26.25 24.30 24.95NIACL 145.95 146.70 142.80 144.50IBULISL 107.30 113.50 104.20 110.45MAHSEAMLES 397.65 438.30 397.65 414.80ALKEM 2090.00 2126.00 2069.95 2124.30EIDPARRY 226.00 229.00 224.60 225.00PETRONET 270.00 271.40 265.90 270.25DIVISLAB 1826.00 1844.55 1826.00 1834.45PRESTIGE 319.20 324.80 311.35 314.25GLAXO 1620.00 1644.00 1606.00 1625.60RAIN 101.10 104.20 100.25 102.35TATACOFFEE 91.00 91.35 88.60 89.20GSFC 73.20 75.25 73.05 74.60WELSPUNIND 48.65 52.00 48.45 48.85AKZOINDIA 1956.95 1972.90 1948.50 1966.00JSWENERGY 68.60 72.50 68.50 71.50GSPL 235.50 241.00 231.65 237.65ERIS 483.00 500.65 478.60 494.35IRCON 415.00 429.80 414.45 426.60PHOENIXLTD 850.00 870.00 845.00 858.15AJANTPHARM 1005.75 1027.95 950.00 1022.45PRSMJOHNSN 62.30 65.90 61.45 64.10GILLETTE 6550.25 6550.25 6437.40 6449.30HINDZINC 211.05 212.00 208.20 210.90RESPONIND 89.00 90.50 88.80 89.75ASHOKA 102.00 103.80 99.35 100.20OIL 155.00 155.65 152.90 154.90CESC 725.00 727.95 713.10 721.00MOIL 151.70 157.90 151.10 155.65SHANKARA 409.65 409.80 393.30 393.30NATCOPHARM 597.45 614.00 594.50 599.70ABFRL 231.90 237.00 228.85 235.95MINDAIND 358.50 362.35 355.35 361.70DBL 406.90 406.90 395.35 398.20INDIANB 99.10 99.10 97.50 98.15COROMANDEL 533.75 533.75 524.00 527.30CROMPTON 237.60 240.35 237.60 239.55RELINFRA 27.60 28.10 27.55 27.55KRBL 264.50 269.80 252.60 266.15ITDC 297.35 304.20 293.00 293.80DEEPAKFERT 100.40 101.60 97.50 99.00JISLJALEQS 9.00 9.00 8.59 8.59ASTERDM 161.60 161.60 157.15 160.20OFSS 2683.20 2760.00 2676.00 2747.40IDFC 36.35 36.95 35.90 36.20PGHL 4237.90 4305.60 4190.00 4253.60CHAMBLFERT 151.20 153.90 149.25 151.10COCHINSHIP 404.80 407.50 396.25 403.65ECLERX 668.00 677.25 660.90 667.55CANFINHOME 387.00 387.60 382.05 384.45

KANSAINER 501.40 514.50 495.55 512.05RADICO 311.40 316.90 306.90 315.60CENTRUM 25.70 26.10 23.45 24.15BIRLACORPN 617.00 645.00 617.00 633.30ATUL 4192.80 4228.30 4192.80 4203.90LAURUSLABS 388.25 399.00 385.15 388.15AAVAS 1956.75 1978.50 1930.00 1940.90PFIZER 4024.15 4056.00 4009.50 4022.00INTELLECT 150.80 151.60 147.10 149.85ORIENTBANK 50.80 51.15 50.25 50.60NH 345.00 352.25 333.00 346.15HFCL 17.05 17.50 17.05 17.30ALBK 18.30 18.40 18.00 18.05VIPIND 429.00 429.00 420.00 420.65JBCHEPHARM 429.00 439.50 429.00 437.75TEAMLEASE 2575.00 2661.95 2499.35 2592.00APLAPOLLO 1835.00 1845.00 1794.35 1820.40CUB 227.25 234.15 226.50 230.35DALBHARAT 790.90 822.00 786.00 805.45INOXLEISUR 370.00 378.00 368.10 373.60ENGINERSIN 97.50 98.50 97.15 97.30KTKBANK 72.00 72.50 72.00 72.15ESSELPRO 166.30 169.50 159.80 167.80VINATIORGA 1930.50 1938.65 1918.00 1923.55EMAMILTD 302.00 306.00 299.50 302.65MAXINDIA 76.65 79.05 76.55 78.25BDL 297.00 299.00 291.60 292.10AIAENG 1642.40 1711.15 1629.65 1640.80SOUTHBANK 10.06 10.25 10.06 10.16FSL 40.60 40.95 40.20 40.45GREAVESCOT 137.40 138.75 136.05 137.00ASTRAZEN 2528.50 2595.00 2502.35 2576.20HUDCO 37.05 37.95 37.00 37.35JAMNAAUTO 43.50 44.30 42.95 43.70LINDEINDIA 634.00 655.15 634.00 645.60GULFOILLUB 822.55 825.70 811.10 815.40GODREJAGRO 528.00 535.10 524.70 530.75GSKCONS 8405.00 8405.00 8309.60 8351.45CHENNPETRO 110.55 111.95 110.00 110.90GALAXYSURF 1475.00 1496.60 1474.20 1480.50ITDCEM 51.95 54.60 51.75 52.90SHK 111.00 114.10 110.10 110.55DCMSHRIRAM 384.00 390.40 381.55 382.10WESTLIFE 358.35 364.35 354.65 363.10CREDITACC 753.40 756.85 741.65 745.853MINDIA 21560.00 21588.45 21206.50 21257.95TRIDENT 6.45 6.55 6.42 6.47VBL 686.95 709.00 686.95 700.75VGUARD 211.00 211.50 207.35 209.15REPCOHOME 327.60 333.00 326.90 327.75FINEORG 1900.00 1958.35 1900.00 1913.55RALLIS 176.50 180.05 176.20 177.05PNCINFRA 182.00 194.20 182.00 193.00NLCINDIA 55.90 56.40 55.15 56.00AEGISLOG 185.00 195.25 181.70 192.90BAJAJCON 233.00 237.25 232.00 235.85KNRCON 255.00 255.00 251.30 253.25JSLHISAR 76.75 80.00 75.70 78.45PARAGMILK 138.00 138.00 135.35 136.05SONATSOFTW 310.20 311.00 305.50 306.85TCIEXP 713.85 730.25 709.80 728.20JMFINANCIL 91.25 94.30 90.15 92.50STARCEMENT 88.80 97.40 88.50 92.40SOBHA 400.00 400.00 391.80 397.50

BAYERCROP 3689.80 3797.20 3689.80 3771.70IFCI 6.60 6.65 6.55 6.61SOMANYCERA 219.40 219.50 215.00 216.20MASFIN 855.00 865.00 854.00 857.85RELAXO 630.00 630.00 616.80 627.45GICRE 240.00 242.80 238.00 238.45TV18BRDCST 21.25 21.55 21.10 21.40RELCAPITAL 13.22 13.30 13.22 13.22TIMETECHNO 53.30 53.40 51.05 52.20LUXIND 1322.90 1329.40 1305.80 1313.25LAXMIMACH 3318.90 3330.95 3305.75 3309.35GMDCLTD 62.40 63.05 61.05 62.45CHALET 322.45 331.80 322.15 326.85SYNGENE 308.00 310.50 305.95 308.65IOB 11.29 11.29 10.80 11.08LEMONTREE 59.00 59.00 58.10 58.25NHPC 23.75 23.95 23.70 23.85PGHH 10991.60 11016.00 10957.50 10987.50ZENSARTECH 181.65 190.80 181.65 183.60PTC 55.35 55.50 55.00 55.25JSL 37.80 38.30 37.40 37.95TATAMETALI 619.70 638.80 619.55 633.10

CRISIL 1818.30 1824.10 1781.40 1804.30SJVN 25.80 26.00 25.70 25.80GESHIP 300.60 305.00 300.00 303.30SUNDRMFAST 474.80 484.35 474.00 481.10BLUESTARCO 780.00 816.45 780.00 812.70TIMKEN 893.00 905.00 891.00 901.10PERSISTENT 675.00 686.10 670.00 683.30J&KBANK 29.05 29.35 28.50 29.10ADVENZYMES 162.05 167.85 162.00 166.80ASTRAL 1138.55 1154.50 1136.55 1139.90BAJAJELEC 359.85 362.15 352.30 357.60TEJASNET 86.00 87.85 85.10 86.30MAHINDCIE 168.05 172.25 166.60 169.75CORPBANK 24.05 24.45 23.60 24.00BAJAJHLDNG 3375.00 3427.20 3350.00 3412.35MINDACORP 97.80 101.45 97.25 99.15TTKPRESTIG 5707.25 5707.25 5605.00 5622.40APLLTD 552.00 564.65 549.45 552.00ZYDUSWELL 1410.50 1453.95 1410.00 1439.85MPHASIS 882.00 894.35 878.00 884.10IFBIND 688.25 709.20 687.80 705.95NBVENTURES 79.55 82.95 79.45 80.55THERMAX 1079.70 1091.45 1070.55 1081.35MAHSCOOTER 4378.65 4399.80 4330.20 4346.95CENTRALBK 17.80 17.95 17.65 17.70WABCOINDIA 6595.40 6640.00 6560.10 6598.00SUPREMEIND 1137.65 1152.35 1132.00 1147.85UFLEX 205.90 210.45 203.65 206.85UCOBANK 16.70 16.70 16.30 16.35BALMLAWRIE 122.00 123.20 121.00 121.80ENDURANCE 1029.70 1034.00 1015.00 1020.40CAPPL 295.00 295.00 287.50 291.00NETWORK18 24.15 24.25 23.75 24.25SYNDIBANK 27.00 27.00 26.00 26.40CYIENT 416.40 419.80 411.30 417.75HIMATSEIDE 122.75 126.00 122.70 124.35GPPL 88.50 90.10 86.70 88.35TAKE 99.55 104.00 99.55 102.20ALLCARGO 98.80 99.15 97.05 97.15INDOSTAR 190.00 200.15 188.90 189.95GARFIBRES 1216.45 1240.00 1201.00 1233.05ORIENTELEC 188.75 195.55 188.75 193.45SCHAEFFLER 4747.00 4747.00 4586.20 4643.00GICHSGFIN 154.00 155.30 153.00 154.30MAHLOG 410.35 416.00 397.00 402.35SANOFI 6780.00 6842.00 6752.00 6828.60HERITGFOOD 355.50 368.30 355.50 365.50GAYAPROJ 79.60 83.80 79.20 83.75LAOPALA 150.00 155.90 148.35 153.75FINCABLES 384.95 392.80 377.55 390.15CENTURYPLY 163.55 163.55 161.00 162.90INOXWIND 33.95 34.50 33.95 34.15MRPL 43.00 43.00 42.50 42.60GUJALKALI 411.25 419.55 409.95 414.15THYROCARE 522.75 523.80 516.40 521.75SOLARINDS 1106.90 1134.50 1100.00 1101.40TVSSRICHAK 1670.50 1689.20 1651.05 1662.50SIS 950.00 953.65 936.00 939.70FINOLEXIND 540.00 543.90 538.75 542.25ARVINDFASN 390.30 400.05 390.30 400.00MAHLIFE 402.50 403.50 393.00 400.15FDC 208.40 210.20 207.00 207.90TNPL 164.50 166.15 164.50 164.90DBCORP 133.50 135.05 131.00 133.60GDL 120.00 127.00 119.00 121.00SHOPERSTOP 368.95 378.55 368.90 377.10ANDHRABANK 16.45 16.45 16.00 16.10MAGMA 55.00 56.50 54.00 55.60DHANUKA 414.95 417.50 408.20 409.90NILKAMAL 1295.50 1295.50 1274.00 1288.30VARROC 444.25 445.00 433.00 435.70MAHABANK 12.19 12.40 12.19 12.25CHOLAHLDNG 505.50 508.00 501.30 505.35BASF 980.00 986.50 975.25 976.05UNITEDBNK 8.62 8.75 8.55 8.73TATAINVEST 800.00 802.20 794.00 799.60MHRIL 229.70 233.80 226.75 228.25REDINGTON 111.50 113.55 111.50 111.75HATHWAY 19.10 19.15 18.70 18.80GET&D 149.60 155.80 148.00 152.10HAL 731.00 745.70 731.00 734.40KPITTECH 85.85 87.15 85.85 86.15JYOTHYLAB 146.00 148.80 146.00 148.50KPRMILL 683.60 700.35 678.10 694.20SYMPHONY 1121.05 1133.80 1112.25 1128.60KALPATPOWR 415.05 420.70 408.30 417.05VRLLOG 263.75 265.00 259.00 260.55VMART 1677.15 1678.75 1659.60 1671.30JAGRAN* 62.15 62.85 62.00 62.50CCL 192.50 195.10 192.50 193.45CARBORUNIV 325.00 330.00 325.00 329.00SHRIRAMCIT 1355.00 1397.25 1347.60 1384.50TIINDIA 490.10 490.60 482.00 482.85VSTIND 4205.00 4210.00 4156.70 4169.60SKFINDIA 2120.00 2142.90 2119.80 2138.70CERA 2570.35 2605.10 2570.35 2585.55SUPRAJIT 201.30 203.20 198.75 200.55TCNSBRANDS 593.60 599.70 585.00 589.65BLUEDART 2207.00 2235.00 2207.00 2213.30EIHOTEL 140.85 141.50 139.00 139.75GRINDWELL 591.20 594.80 585.95 589.60GEPIL 703.00 706.00 699.20 699.35SHILPAMED 276.75 280.00 276.75 276.90TVTODAY 240.00 240.40 239.15 240.25SADBHAV 119.85 121.55 119.45 120.05VAIBHAVGBL 860.00 860.00 860.00 860.00FLFL 396.30 405.00 396.00 402.15SFL 1312.00 1323.00 1299.00 1311.50

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11939.10 12044.95 11929.60 12025.35 -27.60BHARTIARTL 442.60 460.75 440.35 458.90 13.80YESBANK 46.25 47.20 45.30 46.05 1.00TCS 2205.00 2260.00 2202.05 2253.35 47.50ULTRACEMCO 4224.85 4332.00 4183.80 4308.00 65.90BAJFINANCE 3950.00 4060.35 3950.00 4051.00 43.35UPL 585.75 603.00 584.60 601.00 5.95NESTLEIND 14191.60 14450.00 14120.35 14386.00 95.25BAJAJ-AUTO 3000.00 3073.40 3000.00 3057.00 19.05HINDUNILVR 1910.00 1936.05 1906.45 1932.00 11.30VEDL 153.25 158.20 152.45 156.90 0.90DRREDDY 2875.00 2905.00 2866.00 2900.00 15.80ICICIBANK 516.00 527.35 515.00 525.80 2.90BAJAJFINSV 8971.00 9166.85 8961.60 9144.00 48.35ASIANPAINT 1696.00 1736.00 1695.00 1732.60 8.20SBIN 312.10 321.50 311.00 319.35 0.95BPCL 450.00 464.40 448.55 461.85 0.85ADANIPORTS 379.00 387.60 378.25 385.40 0.60HCLTECH 583.00 593.00 578.00 585.00 0.75TATASTEEL 471.65 478.15 467.00 476.50 0.40GRASIM 735.40 749.90 733.60 742.70 0.40INDUSINDBK 1441.00 1481.60 1439.05 1461.75 0.10GAIL 123.10 124.50 122.75 124.20 -0.25WIPRO 254.00 256.15 252.55 254.60 -0.60AXISBANK 715.25 725.75 709.10 723.50 -2.25HDFCBANK 1246.95 1262.15 1240.05 1256.00 -4.60BRITANNIA 3020.00 3038.70 2995.00 3025.00 -11.60ITC 234.00 235.80 233.25 234.40 -0.95M&M 520.90 526.45 519.00 524.50 -2.15NTPC 119.70 120.75 117.55 120.00 -0.55MARUTI 7060.00 7116.65 6980.45 7035.00 -38.60POWERGRID 190.30 190.95 188.85 190.60 -1.10HDFC 2387.00 2413.00 2385.50 2400.00 -15.05INFRATEL 238.05 238.50 233.20 236.60 -1.65RELIANCE 1515.00 1534.45 1510.00 1514.00 -10.60HINDALCO 206.00 208.65 204.50 207.00 -1.85JSWSTEEL 261.40 264.50 257.00 262.70 -2.55TATAMOTORS 180.20 184.20 180.20 182.75 -1.95CIPLA 467.80 470.10 461.60 463.60 -5.00ZEEL 264.00 266.20 260.75 264.80 -2.95KOTAKBANK 1654.70 1661.45 1638.00 1651.65 -19.20TECHM 770.10 784.90 767.10 768.10 -9.00INFY 724.95 729.00 708.30 718.90 -9.00HEROMOTOCO2322.00 2345.05 2310.55 2318.90 -29.15TITAN 1145.00 1156.30 1138.00 1143.10 -16.85SUNPHARMA 442.95 446.50 439.00 439.10 -7.30ONGC 125.00 125.45 123.20 123.45 -2.30IOC 123.05 123.90 121.50 122.10 -2.45LT 1302.00 1308.70 1283.35 1291.50 -29.00COALINDIA 203.00 204.55 198.20 200.50 -5.20EICHERMOT 20700.00 20700.00 19800.10 19900.00 -903.80

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27739.05 28145.40 27738.40 28113.55 12.35IDEA 5.95 6.60 5.70 6.50 0.50OFSS 2694.25 2760.00 2670.00 2759.00 89.60L&TFH 112.50 120.80 112.50 120.00 3.75SHREECEM 21849.00 22691.65 21710.30 22400.05 436.90MCDOWELL-N 557.50 575.85 557.50 575.25 10.95MOTHERSUMI 141.00 147.85 140.65 147.05 2.30AMBUJACEM 196.00 204.60 195.65 201.70 2.70ICICIPRULI 471.00 483.35 471.00 482.95 6.25BAJAJHLDNG 3300.00 3445.00 3300.00 3435.00 38.35DMART 1793.00 1837.05 1785.10 1831.00 15.25DLF 217.30 228.30 217.30 227.10 1.60DABUR 449.80 457.95 446.60 456.65 3.15SRTRANSFIN 1100.00 1133.95 1096.25 1131.95 7.70IBULHSGFIN 300.00 313.00 297.35 310.15 1.95CADILAHC 256.60 259.60 253.05 258.30 1.25BERGEPAINT 482.25 496.85 482.25 496.50 2.10GODREJCP 704.25 713.95 701.35 711.00 2.40ACC 1435.00 1477.00 1435.00 1460.15 4.15PIDILITIND 1392.10 1407.30 1389.00 1403.60 3.90HDFCAMC 3025.20 3109.00 3002.25 3103.00 8.05HINDPETRO 235.00 243.35 235.00 242.70 0.55MARICO 332.00 334.60 329.30 333.15 0.50SBILIFE 978.00 992.30 975.20 986.00 1.10COLPAL 1432.00 1455.20 1432.00 1450.00 -0.35LUPIN 752.00 760.65 750.10 757.00 -0.55HDFCLIFE 622.00 631.80 618.50 629.30 -0.65ICICIGI 1379.00 1396.00 1375.00 1387.75 -2.05PETRONET 268.50 271.55 265.75 270.25 -0.70NHPC 23.70 23.95 23.65 23.85 -0.10AUROPHARMA 445.40 453.85 445.40 450.50 -1.90DIVISLAB 1822.00 1846.00 1822.00 1835.00 -8.90PAGEIND 22682.05 23000.00 22450.00 22720.00 -110.85PEL 1460.00 1484.85 1450.00 1473.35 -7.60CONCOR 552.00 556.60 543.85 552.85 -3.50BIOCON 282.00 286.15 279.10 282.30 -1.85INDIGO 1326.05 1368.00 1320.00 1355.25 -8.80SIEMENS 1470.55 1483.00 1463.10 1473.55 -11.60HINDZINC 211.00 212.20 209.50 210.90 -2.15PFC 114.10 116.60 113.60 115.70 -1.25BANKBARODA 94.00 95.80 93.50 95.10 -1.05PGHH 11088.00 11088.00 10950.00 10975.00 -124.30GICRE 239.20 243.00 238.00 238.95 -3.10UBL 1265.10 1267.00 1240.15 1250.00 -17.50PNB 61.00 61.60 60.15 60.85 -1.00HAVELLS 636.50 638.00 624.50 629.60 -10.80BANDHANBNK 485.55 493.70 483.10 484.60 -8.75ASHOKLEY 80.30 81.50 80.00 80.60 -1.50BOSCHLTD 14742.00 14745.20 14505.70 14530.00 -298.00NIACL 146.00 146.90 142.50 145.00 -3.30NMDC 127.40 127.40 118.10 121.60 -6.45

Page 12: ˆ./01 &’ ’ ( !#$% 6 !˚ 8 &-(0/%,38- 7˘/&3(˙)%/)%/-)1(8- / -( /,)/% 1 ... · 2020-01-08 · ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also

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Tehran: Iran's PresidentHassan Rouhani said theIslamic republic's response onWednesday to a US strike thatkilled one of its generals shows"we don't retreat in the face ofAmerica".

"If America has committeda crime... It should know thatit will receive a decisiveresponse," Rouhani said in atelevised address. "If they arewise, they won't take any otheraction at this juncture."

The remarks came hoursafter Iran fired a wave of mis-siles at Iraqi bases housing UStroops in retaliation for theassassination of QasemSoleimani.

But Rouhani said it wouldnot be enough if Iran's armedforces hit back for any otheraction taken by the UnitedStates. "In my view, Americamust receive the main responsefrom the nations of the region,"he said.

The president was repeat-ing a common refrain among

Iranian officials since the assas-sination that Soleimani's deathwill see US forces leave theregion.

"They cut off the hand ofour dear Soleimani. Therevenge for him is to cut offAmerica's feet from thisregion," Rouhani said.

"If America's feet is cut offfrom this region, and its handof aggression is cut off for good,this is the real and finalresponse of the nations of theregion to America," he added.

Soleimani, the head of theRevolutionary Guards' foreignoperations arm, the QudsForce, was killed last week in aUS drone strike near Baghdadinternational airport. AFP

Baghdad: Iraq's PresidentBarham Saleh on Wednesdaycondemned Iran's missilestrikes on Iraqi bases where USand other foreign troops arebased, saying he feared "dan-gerous developments" in theregion.

"We denounce the Iranianmissile bombing that hit mili-tary installations on Iraqi ter-ritory and renew our rejectionof the repeated violation of statesovereignty and the transfor-mation of Iraq into a battlefieldfor warring sides," his officesaid in a statement.

Iran launched the missilesearly Wednesday in response tothe killing of senior RevolutionGuards commander QasemSoleimani in a US drone strikein Iraq last week. AFP

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Baghdad: Iraq's PrimeMinister's office said onWednesday it had received "anofficial verbal message" fromIran informing it that a missileattack on US forces stationed onIraqi soil was imminent.

Iran launched 22 missiles atIraqi bases housing US andother coalition troops earlyWednesday in response to thekilling of senior RevolutionGuards commander QasemSoleimani in a US drone strikein Baghdad last week.

In its first statement hourslater, premier Adel AbdelMahdi's office said it had beenwarned.

"We received an officialverbal message from the IslamicRepublic of Iran that the Iranianresponse to the assassination of

Qasem Soleimani had begun orwould begin shortly, and thatthe strike would be limited towhere the US military waslocated in Iraq without specify-ing the locations," it said.

The prime minister's officesaid it was simultaneously con-tacted by the US, as the missilesslammed into the Ain al-Asadbase in western Iraq and Harirfurther north.

"We immediately warned

Iraqi military commanders totake the necessary precautions,"it said, adding that no Iraqiforces had been hurt in theattack.

"Iraq rejects any violation ofits sovereignty and attacks on itsterritory," the premier's officeadded, without specifically con-demning the missile strikes.

It said Abdel Mahdi was intalks with domestic and foreignpartners to prevent an "openwar." Secretary of State MikePompeo earlier said he hadspoken to Masrour Barzani,the prime minister of theautonomous Kurdish region innorthern Iraq.

But it remained unclear ifthere was any contact betweenPompeo or any other top USofficial and Abdel Mahdi. AFP

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Wednesday denied reports thatthe United States had decided towithdraw its troops from theGulf state, saying the Twitteraccount of its official newsagency had been hacked.

The state-run Kuwait NewsAgency tweeted that the Kuwaitidefence minister had beeninformed by the commander ofUS forces in the emirate oftheir intention to withdrawfrom the Arifjan base withinthree days.

The news, published in bothArabic and English, was delet-ed within minutes.

"The (Twitter) account ofKuwait News Agency washacked... The report about theintention of the US troops to pullout is untrue," Governmentspokesman Tareq al-Mazremsaid in a statement. KUNA also

said it had been hacked andnoted that the report was notpublished on its general wire.

The United States said onFriday that it was deploying upto 3,500 more troops to theMiddle East with reprisalsexpected after an Americandrone killed top Iranian gener-al Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

The Kuwait incident comesafter a US letter apparentlysignalling a pullout of forcesfrom Iraq caused alarm, beforethe White House and thePentagon said there were nosuch plans and that the letterwas merely a draft. Kuwait'sArifjan Base, which lies 70kilometres south of the capital,is the main US base in Kuwait.It houses several thousand UStroops and serves as a militarytransit point to Iraq andAfghanistan. AFP

Jerusalem: Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanayhuon Wednesday warned arch-enemy Iran that his countrywould inflict a "crushing blow"on Tehran if it is attacked fol-lowing the US killing a topIranian general.

Netanyahu's statementcame as Iran launched over adozen ballistic missiles target-ing at least two bases in Iraqwhere the US military andcoalition forces' are stationed,in revenge for the killing of thecommander of Iran's powerfulRevolutionary Guards, GeneralQasem Soleimani, in a USdrone strike on Friday, whichwas ordered by PresidentDonald Trump.

"We're standing steadfastagainst those who seek to killus. We're standing with deter-mination and withforce.Whoever tries to attack uswill suffer a crushing blow inreturn," Netanyahu said at aconference in Jerusalem's TheBegin Heritage Center.

Describing the assassinat-ed Iranian commander,

Soleimani, as "terrorist inchief ", the Israeli PrimeMinister congratulated USPresident Donald Trump foreliminating him by "actingswiftly, boldly and resolutely".

"Qassem Soleimani wasresponsible for the death ofcountless innocent people. Hedestabilised many countries.For decades, he sowed fear andmisery and anguish. And hewas planning much worse,"Netanyahu said.

"President Trump shouldbe congratulated for actingswiftly, boldly and resolutelyagainst this terrorist-in-chief,who was the architect and dri-ver of Iran's campaign of car-nage and terror throughout theMiddle East and throughoutthe world," he added.

The Israeli leader alsostressed that the region is splitbetween radical Islamists andthe moderate forces with the"State of Israel is the anchor ofstability in these stormy waters”.

"Many leaders in the MiddleEast agree with what I am say-ing," he emphasised. AFP

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Paris: Western powers onWednesday condemned Iran'smissile attack on Iraqi baseshousing US and other foreigntroops, urging an end to the esca-lating crisis.

Iran fired more than a dozenballistic missiles in the earlyhours of Wednesday, officials inWashington and Tehran said.

Iran said it was respondingto the US killing of top Iraniangeneral Qasem Soleimani lastweek, warning it would hit backeven harder if Washingtonresponded. "All is well!" USPresident Donald Trump's tweet-ed. "Assessment of casualties &damages taking place now. So far,so good!" He would be makinga statement on Wednesdaymorning, he added. - 'Refrainfrom further violence'.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenbergsaid: "I condemn the Iranianmissile attacks on US and coali-tion forces in Iraq. NATO callson Iran to refrain from furtherviolence." A NATO official saidnone of its troops in Iraq hadbeen hurt in the strikes. UK’s PMJohnson told parliament: "Iran

should not repeat these recklessand dangerous attacks but shouldinstead pursue urgent de-esca-lation." Earlier, Foreign SecretaryDominic Raab warned thatanother war in the Middle Eastwould only benefit the IslamicState group "and other terroristgroups".

The European Union's for-eign policy chief Josep Borrellsaid the attack was yet anotherexample of "escalation andincreased confrontation".

"It is in no-one's interest toturn up the spiral of violenceeven further," he added, warningthat the crisis was hampering thefight against Islamic State.

EU Foreign Ministers willhold emergency talks on the Irancrisis Friday to discuss what thebloc can do to reduce tensions.

French Foreign MinisterJean-Yves Le Drian said in astatement: "The priority is morethan ever for a de-escalation.

"France remains deter-mined to work to ease tensionsand is in contact with all theparties to encourage restraintand responsibility." AFP

;� ����� � ���������������������������#����� Beijing: China on Wednesday

urged restraint from all sidesafter Iran launched missiles atIraqi bases housing US andBritish troops, saying Beijingwould play a "responsible role"in helping to defuse tensionsIran fired more than a dozenballistic missiles overnight atIraqi bases housing coalitionforces, the first act of the Islamicrepublic's promised revenge forthe US killing of top generalQasem Soleimani last week.

"It is not in the interest ofany party that the situation in theMiddle East worsens further,"foreign ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang said at a regularpress briefing. "We call on theparties concerned to exerciserestraint," he said.

Geng said China would"play a responsible role in pro-moting a de-escalation of the sit-uation as soon as possible".

China, a permanent mem-ber of the UN Security Council,is a key partner of Iran and amajor buyer of the country's oil.

"China has always advocat-ed that all parties concernedshould properly resolve theirconflicts through dialogue,negotiation and other peacefulmeans," Geng said. AFP

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Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump claimed JohnBolton would "know nothing"about the Senate impeachmenttrial, a day after the formernational security advisor saidhe was ready to testify.

Trump has become thethird president in US history tobe impeached as the House ofRepresentatives formallycharged him with abuse ofpower and obstructing theCongress, setting up a Senatetrial that will decide whether heremains in office after threetumultuous years.

"It'll be up to the Senate. He

(Bolton) would know nothingabout what we're talking aboutbecause the Ukraine presidenthas said no pressure whatso-ever," Trump told reporters inresponse to a question.

He addressing reporters atthe Oval Office during a jointmedia appearance with visitingGreek Prime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis.

“Will you be OK if JohnBolton testifies?” Trump wasasked.

On Monday, Bolton hadsaid that he had concluded that,if the Senate issues a subpoenafor his testimony, he was pre-

pared to testify.Trump said, “That's going

to be up to the lawyers. It'll beup to the Senate, and we'll seehow they feel.”

“He (Bolton) would knownothing about what we're talk-ing about, because as you knowthe Ukrainian governmentcame out with a very strongstatement no pressure no any-thing and this from the boss,"he said.

"That's from the presidentof Ukraine. The foreign min-ister came out with a statementthat was equally as strong,"Trump said. PTI

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Jakarta: Indonesia hasdeployed fighter jets and war-ships to patrol islands near thedisputed South China Sea,the military said Wednesday,escalating tensions withBeijing after a diplomatic spatover "trespassing" Chinesevessels.

President Joko Widodoalso headed Wednesday tothe fishing-rich waters aroundthe Natuna islands, whichborder the South China Sea,most of which is claimed byChina despite competingclaims from other SoutheastAsian nations includingVietnam, the Philippines andMalaysia.

The Indonesian militarysaid it had deployed eight war-ships and four jet fighters aheadof Widodo's visit in an appar-ent bid to assert its sovereign-ty over the region. AFP

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2019 was the second hottestyear on record and ended

the hottest decade in history,the European Union's climatemonitoring service saidWednesday.

Data released by the Copernicus ClimateChange Service (C3S) showedthat worldwide temperatureslast year were second only to2016, in which temperatureswere boosted 0.12 degreesCelsius by an exceptionallystrong El Nino natural weath-er event.

The average temperature in2019 was only a few hun-dredths of a degree below the2016 level.

The five last years havebeen the hottest on record, andthe period of 2010-2019 wasthe hottest decade since recordsbegan, C3S said.

Melbourne: About 10,000camels are at risk of being shot and killed in a drought-ravaged region ofAustralia, after complaints thatthe thirsty animals are endan-gering local indigenous peopleas they desperately search forwater.

The slaughter will takeplace in the area of AnanguPitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara(APY) - a sparsely-populatedpart of South Australia whichis home to a number of indige-nous groups.

The cull will see be carriedout by professional shooters inhelicopters with Seven Newsreporting that 10,000 camelsare at risk.

"There is extreme pressureon remote Aboirignal com-munities in the APY landsand their pastoral [livestock]operations as the camels searchfor water," APY's general man-ager Richard King said in astatement. AFP

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He seems to be quite busy onhis phone. Completelyengrossed. As I break the

silence and begin the conversationby congratulating actor-producerAjay Devgn for his latest and100th film, Tanhaji: The UnsungWarrior , he interrupts me,“Actually, we never planned it to bemy 100th. It just happened bychance. During the shoot, werealised that it’s a century (laughs).”

Directed by Om Raut, the filmis set in the 17th century and isbased on the life of TanhajiMalusare, the military leader ofMaratha ruler ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj, who tookpart in the plan to recaptureKondhana fort near Punefrom the army of Mughalsheaded by UdayBhan.

Ajay took up this role ashe was fascinated byTanhaji. “He was not just awarrior, he was a son, abrother, a husband, aleader and a soldier whodid for his land and hispeople what he felt wasright. He fought againstthe enemy in one of thelongest standing bat-t les, the batt le ofSinhagad,” he says whileelaborating on the rea-sons why he felt it wasimportant to tell thisstory to people. Ajaypoints out that wehave a history of suchfighters whom weshould feel proudof. “He was animportant figure ofour history but mostIndians do not know about him, letalone the international audience.He is in textbooks but then whoknows the real story?” he adds.

This is why, he says, he hasconceptualised the idea of a fran-chise, Unsung Warriors, in whichmany such stories of courage willbe told. “This film made me wantto start a project like this where wecould tell stories of those whosestruggles and victories haven’tbeen rightly praised. We are work-ing on some scripts. We are meet-ing new people for the series.And they are not just kings, queensand rulers of the bygone era, theyare common, everyday people,who are struggling hard to makea difference in society but theirmusings are unrecognised orunheard. And it could be anyone,”says he.

Isn’t the industry shirking itscreative job by relying on toomany biopics, most of them fromhistory? Ajay asks a counterquestion, “When we are giftedwith a rich history, then whynot? Also, earlier, thereweren’t modern equipment ortechnology to support histori-cal story scripts. Today, there is

that animation and enhancementtechnology which bring out suchstories so beautifully. Period dra-mas like Mughal-e-Azam, Lagaanwere always being made. It is theway of relating the story andshooting has changed today. EvenTanhaji has been given such amaz-ing special effects which haven’tbeen used in any other filmbefore.”

When working on a periodfilm, one’s background research

has to be on point. All thefacts and figures need a

thorough check andaccuracy in order to

answer questionsraised by experts.Ajay says that theirresearch begana p p r o x i m a t e l y“four years ago,”where they notonly dug outinformation butalso spoke toscholars andresearchers toget their factsright. “But yes,there’s no per-sonal researchthat I did for mycharacter beyondwhat we, collec-t ively, weredoing,” adds he.

However, evenas one gives outthe correct infor-mation and data, a

film always need tohave an element ofentertainment. So

how did he strike thisbalance between fact and

fiction in Tanhaji? “Historyhas infinite possibilities of sto-rytelling. And when you’retelling the audience about aspecific chapter of history, youcannot just flood them withinformation. There needs tosome comedy and things needto be dramatised for fun.Having said that, we also haveto make sure the facts don’t getlost amid an attempt to enter-tain. That’s just how we haveworked here,” he says.

Ask Ajay, who is also pro-ducing the film, whether tak-ing on the mantle of a pro-ducer adds to him as anartiste, he says, “I wouldn’tsay that it is adding becauseI look at it as a product. I amcreating something for theaudience and that’s all thatmatters.”

His recent roles in Raid,Drishyam, Singham,

Golmaal and more are evi-dence that the actor hasnever shied away fromembracing versatility orexperimentation. Sowhat makes him under-

stand such different characters inorder to portray them better? Ajaydoesn’t follow method acting buthis approach seems to be a littlesimilar to that. “I don’t try to‘understand’ my character in any-way. I just react to it in a way thatmy character would have in thatparticular situation. In this film, Idid what Tanhaji would have doneduring that time. I am not AjayDevgn at that moment. I am mycharacter,” he says, more throughhis eyes than words, reminding oneof Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha (1998).

Well, many of such roles alsoshape or transform actors in a waysince they, after all, put themselvesin somebody else’s shoes. Ajaysomewhat agrees and says, “Yes,they do make you think at times andimpact you in some ways. Forinstance, after playing Singham, Ipaid more attention to traffic rulesand small details which we other-wise tend to ignore. Anotherinstance would be of when I hadplayed Bhagat Singh. I wonderedwhat kind of people were they whoexisted in that era and fought for thenation so bravely. We cannot evenimagine. His ideologies and sensi-bilities are very much relevant eventoday. So some roles can teach youthings.”

De De Pyaar De, Ajay’s last,opposite Rakul Preet Singh, in a wayrekindled the conversation aboutacceptance in the Indian society ofa couple who have a wide age gap.The actor eagerly replies, “I thinkthe film was very well received bythe Indian audience which itself isan evidence of the evolving society.The change is very much here. Weare following the West. Of course,not all things can be borrowed sinceour culture needs to be followedtoo.”

(The film releases on January10.) %������%����/�0!���

Elton John and Chris Hemsworth are among thecelebrities donating big bucks for relief efforts as

wildfires engulf Australia.Hemsworth, the Australian actor who plays Thor

in the Marvel film franchise, took to social media onMonday to share that he will donate $1 million andasked his millions of followers to show support as well.He added that “every penny counts.”

So far, the wildfires have scorched an area twice thesize of the US state of Maryland. The blazes have killed25 people and destroyed 2,000 homes. The fires, fueledby drought and the country’s hottest and driest yearon record, have been raging since September, monthsearlier than is typical for Australia’s annual wildfire sea-son.

John announced during his Farewell Yellow BrickRoad concert in Sydney, Australia, that he will alsodonate $1 million. The singer said he wanted to bringattention to the devastation that wildfires have caused,saying it has reached a “biblical scale.”

Hemsworth and John join a growing list ofcelebrities who have pledged to donate toward reliefefforts, including Nicole Kidman, Pink and KeithUrban.

“I am totally devastated watching what is happen-ing in Australia right now with the horrific bushfires,”Pink wrote in a recent social media post. “I am pledg-ing a donation of $500,000 directly to the local fire ser-vices that are battling so hard on the frontlines. My heartgoes out to our friends and family in Oz,” he added.

Metallica announced a donation on Tuesday nightof $750,000 to a firefighting agency and emergency ser-vices agency in Victoria.

An emotional Rose Byrne, who is Australian, spokeabout the crisis and the relief efforts on Tuesday nightat the New York premiere of her film Like a Boss.

“Really what people need is just donations becauseit’s all volunteer based, the firefighters and all the ruralservices and the wildlife services trying to rescue theanimals,” she said.

She added: “It’s devastating. It’s such a beautifulcountry. There’s always drought but this is the hottestyear on record and they need rain but a lot of rain, notjust a little bit which is what’s happening now. They needlike a downpour and it’s just getting hotter and out ofcontrol. A climate crisis is what it is.”

At the Golden Globes on Sunday, Phoebe Waller-Bridge said she would auction off her Globe outfit andhave the proceeds go to firefighter relief.

Russell Crowe wasn’t at the Globes to accept his tro-phy for best actor in a limited series or TV film for play-ing former Fox CEO Roger Ailes in the Showtimeminiseries The Loudest Voice. Instead, the actor was inAustralia trying to protect his home from the wildfires,sending a speech that Jennifer Aniston read.

“Make no mistake, the tragedy unfolding inAustralia is climate change-based,” Crowe’s statementsaid. “We need to act based on science, move our glob-al workforce to renewable energy and respect our plan-et for the unique and amazing place it is. That way, weall have a future.”

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Prosthetic limbs for humans are com-mon. But have you heard the same

for dogs? Well, a few grade X studentsof Shiv Nadar school have made inno-vative si licone-based prosthetic,ergonomically designed ones to com-fortably fit the limbs of amputee dogs.The components of the prosthesis areplastazote, silicon, medipop bandageand rubber.

The innovation was done underColloquium, an exhibition, where stu-dents follow a six-month long processto identify a probable real-world issue,strategise and then chart a tech-enabledsolution for it. The students who madethis project, Pawsitivity, are ArushiShah, Navya Aggarwal, Navya Jain,Shreeya Mittal, Sprihha Singh andUtpal Chauhan.

They were spurred on by a newsreport which said that around 1,000stray animals were injured in roadaccidents in four months. It also saidthat the animals lead miserable lives asthey mostly lie at one place and strug-gle to walk. The stray dogs usually gounnoticed and even if people noticethem they do not have the means to helpthem. In such a scenario, they realisedthat, a free of cost prosthetic limbswould help many dogs to live a normallife.

Ayushi Shah, a student of class 10says, “When we were asked to identifya societal problem and solve it, we ini-tially started researching about prosthet-ics for human disabilities. But soon werealised that while there are manysolutions available for humans, therearen’t many for animals. All our groupmembers are dog lovers and we decid-ed that we would take this up as ourmission to make amputee dogs selfreliant.”

It demanded a lot of research onpart of the students. Another student,Shreeya Mittal says that initially theystudied many solutions that were triedpreviously such as wheelchair for dogsand a fixed leg tied to the limbs. The stu-

dents visited Sophie Memorial AnimalRelief Trust in Noida to understand theon ground challenges faced by thedogs and the NGOs trying to help them.“After studying, analysing and under-standing the biology of front and hindlimbs of seven to 10 different dogs wewere able to define three categories:amputed paws, front limbs missingand hind limbs missing. Based on thiswe were able to design specific modelsthat would help each of the target areasdifferently. The kind of materials, theshape and design of our model were the

had to be decided and researched upon.So spring motion was used as a replace-ment for the hop motion for the frontlimbs since many dogs rely on the jointcloser to paws for movement. The kindof cladding and scaffolding neededdepended on the type of loss and otherissues specific to each dog,” says she.

Through this, the students aim tomake every dog in India self reliant asthis would meet their needs and restorethe ability to not just walk but run andlead a healthy normal life again.

Both the girls said that they deeply

believe that every member of our soci-ety wants to come forward and help inevery possible way. We just need to pro-vide them with a simple and easy-to-help mechanism. “We are currentlyworking on 3D printing these legs bycreating a model for it and using vari-ous cloning softwares. We are hopefulthat we will be able to turn this aroundinto a simple three step process wherepeople will be able to help dogs andother such animals using their phonesand our guidelines in the near future,”they added.

RIGHTS WARRIOR

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Human values are the essence of lit-erature”, opined the dignitaries at

the 17th Kadambini Literature Festivaland Patrika Hat. Gracing the occasionas a chief guest, former External AffairsMinister, Salman Khurshid, said,“Human values enjoy the uniformityacross the religions. But it differs whenpresented in diverse languages.”

“The inclination towards Englishhas been soared to such a level, it isenvisaged that not any of Indian lan-guages will be able to upkeep its exis-tence in the years to come,” said guestof honour, Rahul Dev, an eminent jour-nalist. In fact, India is a multi-lingualnation. “However, our excessive affin-ity towards English has thrown our ownlanguages into jeopardy,” added Dev.

He said, “There is a direct linkbetween language and literature.Anybody can create potent creationthough his/her own language and liter-ature. Remarkably, advanced nationslike China, Japan, Russia, Germany andSouth Korea are developing without themedium of English language. Theirtechnology and science have been pre-pared in their respective languages. Butit is surprising to observe that such trendis not followed in our nation. Thoughsuch exercises demand a little pain butwe will fetch long term dividends in sci-ence and technology. In this context, theeducational institutions have greaterroles to play. They should encouragetheir pupils to carry forward researchand create innovations in their own lan-

guages.”Gracing the occasion, Mridula

Garg said that literature is gradually los-ing it sheen, following the readers’ apa-thy. That’s why the reader base isdeclining day by day. Now, there is awidespread difference observed betweenthe ethical (moral) and corporal valuesin our nation. “While basic traits likecompassion, kindness, humility and tol-erance fall within the domain of moralvalues, only literature can uphold these.The rapid depreciation of human val-ues are taking its toll on its very survival.In such circumstances, we have to sus-tain our literature in order to upkeep ourmoral values at any cost,” added Garg.

Only literature can bring a changein the society, said Rajat Kapoor,renowned filmmaker, director andactor. Without money, a book can becreated but not a film. On this occasion,the prestigious National level NilimaraniSahitya Samman-2020 was conferredupon distinguished novelist AnuradahaRay. She was given �5 lakhs as cashaward along with a silver medal.

Professor Shantanu Acharya said,“Literature is nothing but visiting one’sinner self. It has no link with the soci-ety. As life is full of joy, therefore, itshould be drafted into literature in var-ious humorous forms.”

On this occasion, the latest editionof Kadambini, Kunikatha and theEnglish version of Iti Samanta’s novelShankuntalara Jhia (Shakuntala’sDaughter) were unveiled by the guests.

Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Statefor Youth Affairs and Sports, has

called upon the police forces to spe-cialise in one sport each so as to takethe country to new heights in the fieldof international games.

Gracing the closing ceremony of the4th All India Police Judo ClusterChampionship as the chief guest, Rijijudisclosed that India aims at being in thetop 10 positions of the 2028 Olympicgames in Los Angeles.

Rijiju, who is also the Minister ofState for Minority Affairs, said, “Ourgovernment has been working towardsmaking a vibrant sports culture in thecountry.” Making a reference to theKhelo India programme, Rijiju addedthat his ministry is trying to change thesporting mindset of the country byupdating the status of sports and games

as an extra curricular activity. Herevealed that the proposed new educa-tion policy will give centrestage tosports.

Speaking on the occasion, SurjitSingh Deswal, DG, CRPF, said that thepolice forces have a sizable contributionto the sports achievements of the coun-try. Describing Rijiju as a fitness icon,Deswal added that he is an inspirationfor the youths of our country.

The Judo Cluster games included —Judo, Taekwondo, Wushu andGymnastics. While CRPF bagged goldmedals in both Male and Female cate-gory in Judo and Taekwondo, it wongold in the Wushu (Male) andGymnastics, too. The gold in Wushu(Female) category went to SSB. Theother forces present in the medal tallyincluded — BSF, CISF, ITBP, AssamRifles, Punjab Police and Assam Police.CRPF topped the competition with 54medals, which included 24 gold, 19 sil-ver and 11 Bronze.

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The Institute of CostAccountants of India

organises a global summit onMission 5 Trillion – CMA asa Cryogenic Force. The sum-mit aligns with the nationalgoal set by PM NarendraModi to achieve USD 5Trillion economy by 2024. Itwill be held from January nineto 11 at Ashok hotel.

Som Parkash, UnionMinister of State forCommerce & Industry will bethe chief guest at the inaugur-al session. Anurag SinghThakur, Union Minister ofState for Finance & CorporateAffairs will be the chief guestof the technical session of theSummit and Piyush Goyal,

Union Minister for Railwaysand Commerce & Industrywill be the chief guest of thevaledictory session.

The summit has one ple-nary session on Mission 5Trillion – Strategies and sixtechnical sessions on Mission5 Trillion – Levers, drivingSDG thru’ CMA, drivingvalue creation thru’ gover-

nance, cost managementstrategies/ tools, designingcost effective sustainableproducts, global cost manage-ment practices, sector specif-ic CMA cryogenic roles.

A cultural evening willalso be held on the inaugura-tion day at BR AmbedkarAuditorium. Eminent speak-ers like Alan Johnson, deputy

president, IFAC, AlanHatfield, ACCA-UK, GrahamTerry from South Africa, ProfLuckmika Perera fromAustralia, Paul Sharman fromCanada and Daping Gaofrom China will be present.Apart from this manyrenowned speakers fromIndia will address the dele-gates. The participants willinclude CMDs and director(finance) of PSUs, corporateheads, CFOs, managementaccountants, senior manage-ment executives, corporatestalwarts, professionals, prac-titioners and academiciansfrom India and abroad.

It would discuss andchurn the best CMA prac-

tices which have been suc-cessfully adopted and testedin large business conglomer-ates in different parts ofworld. Transnational sharingof knowledge and its practi-cal application in given cir-cumstances would certainlypromote momentumrequired to propel the Indianeconomy to a high-gearedpath. More disruptive ideasand blue ocean businessstrategies coupled with ITdriven tools, AI & analyticalskills shall bring change in thecurrent economic spectrum.The road map will also helpvarious national missions ofMake-in-India, Start-up-India, etc.

On Monday, RajeshRanjan, DG, CISF

addressed the force per-sonnel of 340 units andf o r m a t i o n s(Sector/Zone/GroupHeadquarters/RegionalT r a i n i n gC e n t r e s / R e s e r v eBattalions). The objec-tive of the his webcastaddress was to reach outand connect with thelast force personneldeployed in far-flungareas of the country allacross.

In his address, hecongratulated the forcepersonnel for their self-less and dedicated ser-vice in securing the crit-ical infrastructures and

sensitive establishmentsof our country. He alsohighlighted the achieve-ments of the force duringthe last year. Today CISFis securing 347 unitswith two new inductionsat Nayra Energy,Jamnagar & Indian

Museum, Kolkata andtotal number of fire wingunits is 103 with two newunits at NPGCL,Aurangabad (Bihar) &PVUNL, Patratu(Jharkhand). It hasbecome a force of morethan 1,62,000 personnel.

Through the web-cast address, Ranjanemphasised that CISFwould observe the year2020 as the year of“mobility” to accomplishits objective of servingthe nation with utmostdedication and profes-sionalism.

He also urged theforce personnel to con-tinue focussing onWITT, that is, all mea-sures for welfare oftroops and their families,emphasis to create infra-structure and logistics,training with focus onphysical f itness andsports, leveraging mod-ern gadgetry and tech-nology.

The future of jobs is the biggestchallenge that we are facing today.And to overcome it, student-cen-

tric learning should be adopted, whichincludes teaching entrepreneurship.Professors should be mentors and theyshould also keep learning,” said ShobhaMishra Ghosh, Assistant SecretaryGeneral, FICCI.

She spoke to the students of MBA,BBA, BCA, Science and Humanities, andScience and Technology at the fourthedition of Dr Paarivendhar LectureSeries held at SRM Institute of Scienceand Technology, Kattankulathur. Sheaddressed the students on the topic,“Future Jobs in India and the Role ofUniversities.” Dr V Ponniah, Dean ofSRM, said, “In future, it will get difficultto judge jobs and hence this lecture willthrow some light on what to expect andhow to cope up with the change.”

In his presidential address, founder-chancellor of SRMIST, Dr TRPaarivendhar said, “The scope for thejob in the future is going to change. Suchlectures are useful than classroom teach-ing. Students must show more interestas it presents exposure and help to knowwhat is happening around. It could alsohelp in clearing campus interviews. Weare trying to nurture you with lots ofinformation so that you can face thisworld in several new ways. If you stoplearning, you stop living.”

Focussing on the purpose of educa-tion, Shobha said, “Apart from knowl-edge, employable skills, research andinnovation, it is far more important toevolve and be an empathetic humanbeing.” She added that our education sys-tem should contribute towards making

students a good human being. Thisimplies to thinkers and philosophers,entrepreneurs and professionals, scien-tists and researches.

“Everyone is talking about innova-tion. We should also see if this innova-tion is solving issues that we are facingtoday,” she questioned.

Talking about key global changes inthe present scenario, she highlighted theimpact of climate change, exponentialtechnologies, urbanisation, demograph-ic on the future jobs in India. We arenow in the fourth industrial revolutionand the change from the third to thefourth took place in a very short time.The transition to the fifth stage will bein less than three years, she emphasised.

“The effective working age of thepopulation is reducing. The use of

robots and cobots is gaining more pop-ularity thereby replacing people. Now indeveloped countries, people will spendmore time on leisure activity. This issomething that we need to pay attentionto as a developing nation. Soon cus-tomers are going to play a vital role inthe manufacturing sector. Hence havinga set of skills and upskilling is the needof the hour,” she said.

Speaking on how we are still laggingbehind in our education system, Shobhasaid, “Our education still remains in thesecond revolution stage. Only a hand-ful of countries have moved on to caterto the needs of the present time.Although India has advanced well interms of rapid urbanisation, technolo-gy adaptation, we still need to harnessour rural economy which contributes to

16 per cent of our GDP.”Highlighting the workforce matrix

2022, she elaborated that nine per centwould be deployed in new jobs that donot exist today, 37 per cent would be injobs that have radically changed skill setand 54 per cent will fall under theunchanged job category. These changeswill primarily be in IT/BPO, automobile,banking and insurance, textile andapparel, retail. Most jobs will end andgive way to 55 unique jobs roled acrosseight technologies such as VR, IoT, BigData Analytics, AI, Robotic ProcessAutomation, 3D Printing, cloud com-puting, social and mobile.

Talking about the new age pedagogy,she said, “The changing paradigm in oureducation has led to new age pedagogy.This leads to global classrooms, expe-

riential learning and addressing diverselearners. Universities should teach stu-dents to think and be aware of what ishappening around themselves. Thelearning in this 21st century is way dif-ferent and the management must adoptthem. Mentors should also take up dif-ferent calibers of teaching. Many insti-tutions are not adopting the latest tech-nologies. Faculty should not shy awayfrom learning from students. The cre-ative economy has transcended into sev-eral sectors including IT, therefore ouruniversities should also focus on liber-al education.”

Shobha concluded by saying,“Women’s participation should increase.No country in this world has developedwithout the participation of women inthe workforce.”

‘NO COUNTRY HAS DEVELOPED WITHOUT THE PARTICIPATION OFWOMEN’

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Naveen Patnaik, ChiefMinister of Odisha,

inaugurated the Adani-KISSTribal Residential School atBankishole, Baripada,Mayurbhanj, Odisha, yes-terday.

Addressing the gather-ing, Patnaik said, “Educationis empowerment and thereal transformation can bepossible only with the help ofeducation.” Patnaik thankedKISS authority and AdaniGroup for establishment ofschool.

Dr Priti Adani said,“Education is the most pow-erful tool for social transfor-mation. Adani foundation ishappy to strengthen the sce-nario in the far off tribalareas of Odisha by partner-ing with the prestigiousKalinga Institute of SocialSciences (KISS).”

In his welcome address,

Dr Achyuta Samanta, said,“Almost 28 years back, KISStook initiatives to includetribal community in themainstream. Now KISS is thelargest tribal institution andthe first tribal university inthe world. More than 30,000students are currently pursu-ing their education from KGto PG, while 20,000 students

completed their educationsuccessfully and are placed indifferent sectors. It is notimportant for KISS that60,000 students are gettingeducated rather it is impor-tant that it has created aware-ness among more than 60lakh tribal students ofOdisha and other states ofIndia.”

Dr Samanta said, “Manytribal organisations andintellectuals requested manytimes to open a branch inMayurbhanj district forunder privileged children.Today their requests havebeen fulfilled. The poor trib-al students of Mayurbhajdistrict will get quality edu-cation. It has been decidedthat only the candidates ofMayurbhanj will get employ-ment in Adani-KISS. Adani-KISS is fully equipped withall modern facilities. It hasbeen established on 50 acresof land with complete finan-cial support of Adani foun-dation.”

On this occasion, a 50-bed hospital in the campuswas also inaugurated by DrPriti G Adani. The hospitalwill serve the students, staffas well as the common peo-ple of Mayurbhanj district.

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Pep Guardiola warned Manchester City ofManchester United’s powers of recovery

after his side outclassed their city rivals 3-1 atOld Trafford to put one foot in the League Cupfinal.

The holders were rampant before the breakas Bernardo Silva’s wonder strike, RiyadMahrez’s cool finish and an own goal fromAndreas Pereira put City well on course for athird straight final.

United’s captain for the evening MarcusRashford restored some pride for the hosts toreduce the deficit 20 minutes from time, butthey face a huge task when the sides meet againfor the semi-final, second leg on January 29.

However, Guardiola remainswary after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’smen recovered from losing 2-0 athome to Paris Saint-Germain in lastseason’s Champions Leaguelast 16 to progress.

“It’s a good result, but itis not over because it isUnited,” Guardiola told SkySports.

“Last season is agood exampleagainst PSG.Hopefully in frontof our fans we canmake a good gameand reach the final.”

United haveshown their ability towin at the Etihad alreadythis season as they toreCity apart on thecounter-attack to shockthe Premier Leaguechampions on home soiljust a month ago.

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Liverpool star Sadio Manewas crowned on Tuesday as

Africa’s 2019 Player of the Yearfor the first time at an awardsgala in Egypt.

The 27-year old Senegalesestriker was up against hisLiverpool teammate MohamedSalah, the Egyptian who wonthe award the last two years,and Algerian Riyad Mahrez ofManchester City.

“I am really happy and atthe same time I am reallyproud to win this award,” saidMane at the ceremony organ-ised by the Confederation ofAfrican Football in theEgyptian Red Sea city ofHurghada.

“It's a big day for me.”

Mane became the secondstar from Senegal to be namedAfrican Player of the Year afterEl Hadji Diouf, who was thecontinent’s best player in 2001and 2002.

He scored 34 goals and pro-duced 12 assists in 61 appear-ances in 2019, according toCAF statistics.

Salah’s tally stood at 26goals and 10 assists in 55matches while Mahrez account-ed for 14 goals and 18 assists in48 games last year.

The key Senegalese playershared the 2018/19 PremierLeague Golden Boot awardwith Salah and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fromGabon.

“I would love to thank allthe Senegalese people. Theyhave been for me all the time,they push me,” said Mane,extending sincere gratitude topeople from his village Bambali.

The award for the youthcategory was given to Morocco’sAchraf Hakimi of BorussiaDortmund.

The CAF Team of the Yearfeatured Salah, Mane andAubameyang as well as Mahrezand Ajax duo Andre Onana andHakim Ziyech.

Paris Saint-Germain mid-fielder Idrissa Gueye wasincluded alongside Senegalteam-mate Kalidou Koulibaly,with Hakimi, Joel Matip andSerge Aurier also selected.

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Serena Williams and CarolineWozniacki prolonged their one-

time-only doubles partnership onWednesday when they won through tothe semifinals of the ASB Classic.

Playing in combination for thefirst time in their careers, Williams andWozniacki beat top-seededJohanna Larsson of Swedenand Caroline Dolehide of theUnited States 6-2, 6-1 afterbeating Nao Hibino andMakoto Ninomiya of Japan intheir opening match.

Williams was a drivingforce in their win on Wednesday, dom-inating the court, though she paid trib-

ute to Wozniacki who, she said, “nevermissed.” Wozniacki will play LaurenDavis in the second round of singlestoday while Williams will play fellowAmerican Christina McHale.

Eugenie Bouchard came into thetournament as a wild-card entry aftera difficult 2019 season and progressedto the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 win

over eighth-seeded CarolineGarcia.

World No 15 Petra Marcic,the No 2 seed, lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to France’s Alize Cornet, whofinished 2019 outside the top 50for the first time in eight years.Cornet sealed the match after 2

hours, 16 minutes with three consec-utive aces.

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World number one RafaelNadal steered Spain intothe ATP Cup quarter-

finals on Wednesday despite anuncharacteristically error-riddenperformance, with Argentina alsopowering through.

After six days of round robinplay at the inaugural team eventacross Sydney, Brisbane and Perth,eight teams are left standing fromthe 24 that started.

Australia, Serbia, Russia andBritain booked their spots inthe knockout phase onTuesday, with Spain —who won the revampedDavis Cup in Madrid inNovember — andArgentina rounding outthe six group winners.

Belgium and Canadajoined them as the two best-placed runners-up.

All the quarter-finals are inSydney with Australia facing Britainin the first encounter today, fol-lowed by Argentina against Russia.

Novak Djokovic’s Serbia takeon Canada tomorrow, while Spainare pitted against Belgium.

Nadal saw off the brave chal-lenge of Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka7-6 (7/4), 6-4, but the 19-timeGrand Slam winner made 36unforced errors.

“It was important the first set,and then in the second I had sometough moments but at the sametime I was able to manage well tohave a break at the right moment,so happy for the victory,” saidNadal, who is yet to drop a set.

He came on court after team-mate and world number 10 RobertoBautista Agut downed Go Soeda 6-2, 6-4 to secure the tie.

Djokovic was also a winner,continuing his unbeaten record atthe tournament as he warms up fora crack at an eighth AustralianOpen crown.

The superstar eased past Chile’sCristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 as Serbiawon their tie 2-1, with DusanLajovic also clinching his singlesmatch.

“I really am really happy withthe challenges that I’ve had in thelast six, seven days here, and hope-fully that can allow me to build my

form for Sydney and Melbournelater,” said world number twoDjokovic.

In other action, emergingPolish young gun Hubert Hurkaczupset world number four DominicThiem for his third win over a top30 player at the tournament afterbeating Diego Schwartzman andBorna Coric.

Poland’s 2-1 win over Austriaended Thiem’s team’s chances oftopping their group, leaving Croatiaand Argentina to battle it out tosecure an automatic quarter-finalplace.

Left-hander Guido Pella gotArgentina off to a strong start,defeating former world numberthree Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/1) 6-3,before a focused Schwartzmancrushed Coric 6-2, 6-2.

It was not all doom and gloomfor Croatia, who still had thechance to sneak into the last eightas one of the best runners-up.

After losing their two singles,they needed to win the doubles, butIvan Dodig and Nikola Mektic

blew the chance, allowing Canadato go through instead.

David Goffin’s Belgium, whowere not playing on Wednesday,also crept into the knockouts at the

expense of France and South Africa.Some US$15 million in prize

money and up to 750 singles and250 doubles ATP rankings pointsare at stake.

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World number one Rafael Nadalinsisted Wednesday he isn't

focused on matching Roger Federer'srecord Glam Slam haul at the AustralianOpen this month.

The 33-year-old last year won theFrench and US Open titles to move with-in one of his Swiss rival's record tally of20.

Federer has sat on top of the all-timelist since 2009 when he passed PeteSampras' benchmark of 14 after winninga five-set thriller over Andy Roddick atWimbledon.

A Nadal triumph in Melbournecould set the stage for him to set a newlandmark at Roland Garros, where he willstart hot favourite to add to his 12 FrenchOpen titles.

But the Spaniard downplayed thepotential historical implications aftersteering Spain into the ATP Cup quar-ter-finals.

"I honestly don't think much (aboutFederer's record)," Nadal said.

"My only goal is to keep playing good

tennis, keep enjoying this sport and beinghappy. And if that happens and I stayhealthy then the goal is to keep produc-ing chances in the events that I'm goingto play."

Nadal's immediate focus is leadingSpain's title charge at the inaugural ATPCup.

Unbeaten Spain qualified for theknockout stages in Sydney after sweep-ing Japan in Group B in Perth with Nadalyet to drop a set from his three match-es.

The 19-time Grand Slam winner,however, was pushed by in-form worldnumber 72 Yoshihito Nishioka beforeprevailing 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in two hours andseven minutes.

Nadal made 36 unforced errors andappeared weary at times in Spain's firstday session tie in Perth's warm condi-tions.

"It was the first experience with theheat here in Australia, so we played underheavy conditions and it was tough," hesaid. "I played against a player who hasstarted the season on fire, so it was animportant victory for me and the team."

�'������� It will be the firstoccasion in the last two decadeswhen any rider from India willfeature in the Equestrian eventat the upcoming TokyoOlympics as Fouaad Mirza,who had bagged a Silver in thelast Asian Games, will partici-pate in the showpiece eventlater this year. Fouaad is happythat he is the reason behindIndia getting a ticket to theTokyo games in the discipline.

Fouaad’s participation hadbeen confirmed in November2019, however, it was officiallyannounced after theInternational EquestrianFederation announced its rank-ings on Tuesday. In the rank-ings, Fouaad emerged as theleading point scorer in theAsia-Oceania zone and eventu-ally sealed a berth for India.

Speaking about his achieve-ment Fouaad said: “I’m happyto fetch a quota for my nationin this discipline and I amready to represent India there.It is a matter of great pride forme. Qualifying for theOlympics is a part of an entireprocess and so, many morethings are left to be accom-plished. Now, I have to partic-ipate in more qualificationevents and we will try to makesure that we reach Tokyo withfull preparation.”

Fouaad was under con-stant pressure to bag anOlympic quota after clinchinga silver in the discipline at the

Asian Games after 36 longyears. The 27-year-oldexpressed that he enjoys pres-sure situations and hardly caresfor such things.

“Olympics is always a majortournament for any player irre-spective of the sport he plays.Undoubtedly, there will be pres-sure but I feel it helps you getbetter and compels you to dobetter beside keeping youfocused. Pressure is somethingwhich motivates me and assoon as I wake up, it pushes meto train hard. Whenever I feeldown, it helps me coming outof negativity and so I like suchsituations,” he expressed.

Fouaad added that fromnow on his preparations will bea bit different depending on thequality at the event, specially thehorses he uses as in equestrianevents it matters a lot.

“Yes, the preparations willbe different for it (Olympics) asits standard is say two to threelevels higher than the AsianGames. It is quite difficult andso the training with the horseswill also be different. Currently,we are doing the normal win-ter practises and trying to keepthe horses fit and focusing toimprove their base fitness. Wewill train with new horses in themiddle of the season afterpreparing the new scheduleand will try to keep the horsesin their best possible conditionso that they can perform well,"he concluded. IANS

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Manchester United's demoralisingdefeat against Manchester City in

their League Cup semi-final laid baretheir desperate need for reinforcementsif they are to salvage anything fromtheir stuttering season.

United conceded three first-halfgoals in a match at Old Trafford for thefirst time since May 1997 on Tuesdayin their chastening 3-1 first-leg lossagainst Pep Guardiola's men.

Bernardo Silva's wonder strike,Riyad Mahrez's cool finish and an owngoal from Andreas Pereira put City wellon course for a third straight finalbefore Marcus Rashford gave the hostsfaint hope for the second leg onJanuary 29.

The defeat was another starkreminder that United are light yearsbehind the standards set by PremierLeague pacesetters Liverpool anddefending champions City.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaersaid there would be no easy solutionsas United attempt to claw their wayback to the top of English football.

"I've said before it is not going tobe a quick fix and the two teams youare talking about are probably two ofthe best teams in the world," he said.

"That's the task we have ahead ofus, it's something that we've started.You can see we are still a way off butwe've started something that neededdoing."

The problem is that the shoots ofrecovery are hard to decipher, withUnited short of technical quality andfight against City.

United have had some impressiveperformances this season — includinga 2-1 victory at City in the league lastmonth, wins against Chelsea and Spursand a draw at home against Liverpool.

But they have stumbled badlyagainst sides they would expect to beat,losing to Watford, Bournemouth,Newcastle and West Ham, and face atough battle to qualify for next season'sChampions League.

UNITED FLAWSThere are problems for Solskjaer to

solve all over the pitch.Rashford's recent form has helped

paper over United's lack of depth upfront after they opted not to replaceRomelu Lukaku, who left for InterMilan in August.

United's midfield looks desperate-ly short of creativity in the absence ofthe injured Paul Pogba and with JesseLingard struggling to find his bestform. Scott McTominay is also current-ly sidelined with a knee injury, depriv-ing the side of steel.

And despite boosting their defencewith the signings of Harry Maguire andAaron Wan-Bissaka in the summertransfer window at considerable cost,United do not look like a cohesive unitat the back.

Maguire's arrival has not had thesame galvanising impact that Virgil vanDijk's signing had at Liverpool, withUnited recording just three cleansheets in the Premier League this sea-son. Only Norwich and Tottenhamhave had fewer.

Solskjaer did not sound over-con-fident that the January transfer windowwould yield obvious solutions.

"We are a young team and with theinjuries we've had and illness it showsmore and that's something we are look-ing at," he said.

"If there is something there for usI've got the backing to do somethingbut if it is not the right thing we won'tdo anything."

Aston Villa midfielder JackGrealish and Leicester midfielderJames Maddison, as well asDortmund's Jadon Sancho, have allseen their names linked with a moveto Old Trafford.

The problem is that January is anotoriously difficult time to persuadeclubs to part with their best players.Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers hassaid nobody he wants to keep will beleaving the King Power Stadium thismonth.

Alongside the constant speculationover Pogba's future, Solskjaer may haveanother headache, with reports thatveteran defender Ashley Young hasopened talks over a move to InterMilan.

"We can't weaken ourselves. We'vegot to strengthen ourselves if anymovement is going to happen,"Solskjaer said.

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Superstars Roger Federer,Serena Williams and Rafael

Nadal will headline an exhibitionmatch ahead of the AustralianOpen to raise money for bush-fire relief, organisers said onWednesday.

Tennis Australia last weekannounced a fundraising exhibi-tion match at Melbourne’s RodLaver Arena — centre court atthe Australian Open — forJanuary 15, the week before theopening Grand Slam of the year.

The players were revealed onWednesday with Naomi Osaka,Caroline Wozniacki, NickKyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipasjoining Federer, Williams andNadal.

“For a period of about two-and-a-half hours we’re going tobe showcasing the game, but alsocoming together as a communi-ty to play our part in the reliefeffort,” said Tennis Australiachief Craig Tiley.

The devastation has seen ahost of sports stars pledge money,with more than Aus$1.2 million(US$820,000) raised so far froman initiative by tennis chiefs todonate Aus$100 for each aceserved during the Australiansummer.

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�����#� �� Five-time GrandSlam winner Maria Sharapovasaid it was “very special” after beinghanded an Australian Open wild-card on Wednesday as she attemptsto resurrect her career after aninjury-plagued 2019.

The 32-year-old, who wonthe tournament in 2008, hasslipped down the rankings to 147,outside automatic qualification.

But the Russian remains a bigname and she will line up atMelbourne Park for a 16th timesince her debut in 2003.

“To be in the draw of theAustralian Open is incredible,”Sharapova said.

“I’ve had wonderful experi-ences there, from holding thechampionship trophy to losingsome very tough finals as well —there’s been a lot of ups and downsin Australia.

“So to have another chance,another opportunity, to competeon all those courts is very special.”

She reached the fourth lastyear, upsetting defending champi-on Caroline Wozniacki in an epicthird round win. AFP

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Former world No 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion

Garbine Muguruza had a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win over American ShelbyRogers to advance to the quarter-finals of Shenzhen Open onWednesday.

Muguruza will play ZarinaDiyas in the quarterfinals afterthe Kazakhstan player defeatedAnna Blinkova 6-1, 6-7 (9), 6-4.

“My goal is to play asmany matches as I can, soI’m looking forward tomy next match and tokeep advancing in thetournament,” Muguruzasaid. “I’ve never played(Diyas) so I’m looking for-ward to facing a new opponent.”

Wednesday’s victory was thefirst time Muguruza has hadconsecutive wins at a WTA tour-nament since last year’s French

Open, where she advanced to thefourth round.

Fifth-seeded EkaterinaAlexandrova extendedher winning streak toseven matches when shedefeated 2014 finalist Peng

Shuai 7-6 (7), 6-1 in 83minutes.

She will now meet fourth-seeded Qiang Wang in the quar-terfinals after the Chinese play-er beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5).

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������ �� Madison Keys beatSamantha Stosur 7-5, 6-3 onWednesday to be among threeAmericans with second-roundwins at Brisbane International.

“Sam obviously has a greatserve and a great forehand andshe’s really tricky off of her slice,”Keys said. “So I’ve known that inthe past; I just felt like in the pastI wasn’t doing a great job at han-dling my side of the court.”

In earlier American victories,Alison Riske beat BarboraStrycova 6-3, 6-4 and DanielleCollins defeated Yulia Putintseva6-1, 6-0.

Australian world No 1Ashleigh Barty is just one winfrom the doubles final. She com-bined with Kiki Bertens to beatsecond-seeded Nicole Melicharand Yifan Xu 6-3, 6-2 in less thanan hour on Wednesday.

Barty will play AmericanJennifer Brady in the secondround in singles today. AFP

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Page 16: ˆ./01 &’ ’ ( !#$% 6 !˚ 8 &-(0/%,38- 7˘/&3(˙)%/)%/-)1(8- / -( /,)/% 1 ... · 2020-01-08 · ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also

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8#���� �#�%#�� H SPrannoy stunned worldnumber 10 KantaTsuneyama while ace Indianwomen shuttlers PV Sindhuand Saina Nehwal also sailedinto the second round of theMalaysia Masters, here onWednesday.

Prannoy, ranked 26th inthe world, took 34 minutesto send Tsuneyama packingwith a 21-9, 21-17 win in thefirst round match.

Prannoy, however, runsinto world number one andtop seed Japanese KentoMomota, who has been inred-hot form, in the sec-ond round today.

Momota defeatedanother Indian ParupalliKashyap 21-17, 21-16 in a43-minute first roundmatch.

World ChampionshipsBronze-medallist B SaiPraneeth and the seasonedKidambi Srikanth, though,bowed out of the men’s sin-

gles events.Reigning world champi-

on Sindhu, seeded sixth,took just 35 minutes to beatEvgeniya Kosetskaya ofRussia 21-15, 21-13 in the

women’s singles first roundthat lasted 35 minutes.

World number sixSindhu will face Aya Ohoriof Japan in the secondround.

The other Indian in thefray, London OlympicsBronze medallist Sainaneeded just 36 minutes toget the better of Belgium’sLianne Tan.

The unseeded Sainabrushed aside Tan 21-15, 21-17 in their first meetingagainst each other.

Both Sindhu and Sainahave struggled recently,making a series of earlyexits with the former failingto defend the World TourFinals crown last month.

Earlier, Praneeth madea first round exit after goingdown tamely to Denmark’sRasmus Gemke 11-21, 15-21 while Srikanth lost toChinese Taipei’s Chou TienChen 17-21, 5-21 in only 30minutes. PTI

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New Zealand pace spear-head Trent Boult and wick-

etkeeper batsman Tom Lathamare doubtful starters for thehome series against India afterthe duo suffered fractures in therecently-concluded Test seriesagainst Australia.

Boult was ruled out of thefinal Test after fracturing hisright hand and coach GaryStead said the pacer was “touch-and-go to be available” for theTwenty20 series against India.

“Boult has been resting hisbroken right-hand and willreturn to bowling later thisweek,” Stead said in a state-ment on Wednesday.

“He’ll be touch-and-goto be available for theIndian T20 series later thismonth and we’ll continue tomonitor him closely over thenext few weeks,” he added.

The 27-year-old Lathambroke his right little fingerwhile claiming the catch ofMarnus Labuschagne on dayfour of the third Test agaisnt

Australia in Sydney, ruling himout for days.

“An X-ray has confirmed afractured finger for TomLatham. He will require approx-imately four weeks of rehabili-tation after the fracture to hisright pinky finger,” New ZealandCricket said in a statement.

The Blackcapsare set to host Menin Blue for a five-match T20 seriesstarting in

Auckland onJanuary 24fo l l owe dby threeODIs andt w o

Tests.

��������' � Opening batsman Evin Lewisfell agonisingly short of a century as his unde-feated 99 helped West Indies to cruise to a five-wicket win over Ireland in the first one-dayinternational at Kensington Oval on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old left-hander made hisruns off 99 balls with 13 boundaries and twosixes.

After dismissing Ireland for just 180, theWest Indies reached their target with 100 ballsto spare.

For Lewis, it was his eighth ODI half-cen-tury but he made a gallant attempt to go towhat would have been a third century.

With the scores level, he launched BarryMcCarthy over extra cover but his hopes ofa six to end the game in style fell just inch-es short.

Earlier, West Indies fast bowler AlzarriJoseph picked up four wickets as Irelandstumbled to 180 all out in the 47th over.

“For me, it’s a really good start to theyear,” said man-of-the-match Joseph.

“It’s about putting in the hard work intraining and doing the yards.

“I kind of had an idea of how I wantedto bowl today, and I just kept it simple andbowled to my plans.”

Wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker wasIreland’s top scorer with 31 as the tourists col-lapsed following a solid start at KensingtonOval.

The three-match ODI series continuesat the same venue today and concludes inGrenada on January 12.

That will be followed by three Twenty20internationals in Grenada (January 15) andSt Kitts (January 18 and 19). AFP

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India skipper Virat Kohli retained histop spot among batsmen while

Cheteshwar Pujara and AjinkyaRahane slipped in the latest ICC Testrankings issued on Wednesday.

With 928 points, Kohli is wayahead of second-placed Australianmaestro Steve Smith (911).

Pujara was placed sixth, downone rung, with 791 points, whileRahane occupied the ninth spot afterslipping a couple of positions with 759points.

In bowling, India’s pace spearheadJasprit Bumrah, returning from aninjury layoff, remained static at sixthposition with 794 points, while spin-ner Ravichandran Ashwin (772 points)and seamer Mohammed Shami (771)were ninth and 10th respectively.

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne

grabbed a career-best third place. The25-year-old moved up one slot afterscores of 215 and 59 in the final Testagainst New Zealand.

He was the highest scorer in therecently-concluded series with 549runs, while his five previous Tests thatinclude two at home against Pakistan,have seen him amass 896 runs.

Australian speedster Pat Cumminswas at the top of the standings with 904points ahead of Neil Wagner (852) andWest Indies’ Jason Holder (830).

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starcequalled a career-best fifth positionthat he previously achieved in March2018.

He finished with 15 wickets in theseries that included four in Sydney.Spinner Nathan Lyon’s 10-wicket haulhas helped him advance five places tojoint-14th.

For New Zealand, all-rounder

Colin de Grandhomme was a notablegainer. He moved from 47th to 39thamong batsmen and from 36th to 34thamong bowlers. Matt Henry has movedup three places to 66th among bowlers.

England all-rounder Ben Stokeshas made it into the top 10 for batsmenfor the second time in his career afterscores of 47 and 72. He moved from15th to 10th, while his best was ninth,achieved in November last year.

Dom Sibley’s maiden Test centuryhas lifted him 87 places to 80th whilefast bowler James Anderson’s record28th five-wicket haul in the firstinnings sees him back in the top 10 forbowlers.

Opener Dean Elgar (up threeplaces to 19th) and Aiden Markram(up one place to 22nd) among batsmenand Anrich Nortje (up 34 places to62nd) are the notable gainers forSouth Africa.

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Having worked considerably onhis skill-sets, speedster ShardulThakur feels that he has become

a “better T20 bowler” compared towhat he was a couple of years back.

Thakur featured in his first T20I in22 months. The figures of 3/23 showedthat there has been a marked improve-ment in his death bowling since the2018 Nidahas T20 Trophy in Sri Lankawhere he was a batsman’s delight.

“I feel T20 is such a short format,there are always going to be ups anddowns. The more you play, the moreexperienced you get and you keeplearning. Whereas first-class and Testcricket are formats where you have timeto think about your game but in T20you don’t have that time,” Thakur saidfollowing India’s seven-wicket winagainst Sri Lanka.

Playing IPL regularly over thepast couple of seasons has been one ofthe reasons for his success, feelsThakur.

“So whenever you practice, youneed to add to your strengths and keepbettering your skills. Over a period oftime, while practising I have beendeveloping my skills and brushing it up.Playing last two-three years in the IPL,and domestic cricket, I have gotten bet-ter,” Thakur said.

Like all the young pacers, Thakuralso spoke about the contributionfrom Indian team’s bowling coachBharat Arun as it’s difficult to managesessions with a personal coach in aheavy duty cricket calendar.

“At this point, it is very difficult towork with a particular coach becauseI am in and out of the Indian team.Sometimes I play for Mumbai, thenChennai Super Kings. Now I am againwith the Indian team. But recently, ourbowling coach (India) Bharat Arun hasbeen really helpful,” said Thakur.

He picked all his wickets against SriLanka in the penultimate (19th) overand his plan was to keep things sim-ple.

“I just had to bowl as many dotballs (that) I could. Luckily, I got threewickets there. It is satisfying. I havebeen working hard for it. When it paysoff in an international game, it makesme really happy,” said the Mumbaipacer.

Sri Lanka could only manage 142for nine, which India chased downcomfortably. Thakur said it was abelow-par total considering the condi-tions.

“The pitch was very good. It wasabout 170-180 wicket. I don’t think itwas difficult to score runs on that pitch.There was no dew also today.”

He also praised fellow fast bowlerNavdeep Saini, who too impressed onTuesday

“He was really good in this game.The way he uses his bouncers and york-ers is creditable. He was also bowlingwith some gas,” added Thakur.

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Sri Lanka head coachMickey Arthur has indi-

cated that left-arm pacerIsuru Udana is unlikely tofeature in the third andfinal T20 against India inPune tomorrow after sus-taining a back injury dur-ing a warm-up session.

Sri Lanka missedUdana’s services whiledefending a meagre 143against India on Tuesdayafter the bowler injured hisback just before Sri Lanka

went out to bowl.“Look, I’m no doctor.

He was in a hell of a lot ofpain in the dressing room.What the diagnosis is Ihonestly don’t know. I justhope we can get him backfor the West Indies series,”Sri Lanka coach MickeyArthur said.

With Sri Lanka havinga packed calendar, Arthurdoesn’t want to risk Udana,who has been one of SriLanka’s best T20 bowlers inrecent times.

“We’ve got so much

cricket… the middle ofFebruary. I even think thatcould be a push. So, yeah,I just hope the best for him.It’s something in the back,”added the South Africa.

Sri Lanka did not pickthe experienced AngeloMathews for the secondgame in a row. Mathewshas made a T20 comebackafter 16 months. Asked ifhe could play the finalgame in Pune, Arthur said:“After the batting perfor-mance, everybody has achance of playing.”

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The All India ChessFederation on

Wednesday appointed for-mer Kolkata High CourtChief Justice JyotirmoyBhattacharya to probe thecorruption allegationsagainst Bengal ChessAssociation (BCA) officials.

Grandmaster DibyenduBarua had accused BCASecretary Atanu Lahiri ofengaging in corruption anddiverting funds meant forchess promotion to his com-pany Global Chess.

The Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) had also foundthat the fund Utilizationcertificate furnished byBengal Chess for the nation-al sub-junior chess champi-onship 2018 was forged.

The AICF has also filedan FIR in the case as per thedecision taken in GB meet-ing and has also requested

SAI to do a forensic check bya government agency onthe alleged fund Utilizationcertificate.

“AICF’s move came fol-lowing its General Bodymeeting (GBM) held inBhopal on December 28,” arelease said.

“The AICF generalbody had taken a strongnote of especially the secondfinding and a motion for athorough probe in the mat-ter was passed,” the releaseadded.

Barua had also accusedLahiri of banning severaltop players for criticising hishandling of the chess affairs.

AICF Secretary BharatSingh Chauhan welcomedthe appointment of theretired Kolkata High CourtChief Justice to conduct theinquiry.

“I welcome the develop-ment. It is going to be a fairinquiry,” Chauhan said.

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Indian captain Virat Kohli onTuesday hinted that Karnataka

pacer Prasidh Krishna, who turns outfor Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL,could be a “surprise package” goinginto the T20 World Cup.

On a day when his lead pacerJasprit Bumrah returned from a longinjury layoff, Kohli spoke about theoptions at his disposal as India gearedup for the mega event, to be held inAustralia later this year.

“I think there’ll be one player whowill be a surprise package. PrasidhKrishna is someone who has bowledreally well in domestic cricket,” Kohlisaid after India’s seven-wicket win.

Given that the skipper has men-tioned his name, the 23-year-oldcould be part of the team for theupcoming New Zealand tour.

For the uninitiated, besides hisexploits at the domestic circuit,Krishna showed composure while

bowling the Super Over in a high-stakes IPL game against Delhi Capitalslast year.

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Former India opener GautamGambhir reckons that Shikhar

Dhawan would be under pressure tokeep his place as opener in theIndian team since KL Rahul isdoing extremely well.

Dhawan, making a comeback tothe team after two months due to aknee injury, scratched his way to a30-ball-32 while Rahul struck a 32-ball 45 as India chased down a mod-est target of 143 in the second T20against Sri Lanka.

“Rahul is in unbelievable form.It amazes me every time I see Rahulbat, that, why didn’t he play the sameway in Test cricket. With the kind ofquality he posses, he is someone who

can get you a 50-ball 100 in Testcricket as well. The kind of shots hehas is superb,” Gambhir said duringa post-match show for host broad-casters Star Sports.

Gambhir indirectly suggestedthat Rahul is better suited to part-ner Rohit.

“Shikhar Dhawan looked rustybut it’s a good thing that he got someruns under his belt. It will help himwhen he walks out to bat in the nextgame. Had he got out early, the pres-sure would have been more,”Gambhir said.

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India opener KL Rahulfeels he has got “a lot

better” at reading thegame and building hisinnings, the secret to hisconsistent performance inthe white ball formats.

Rahul is enjoying agood run in limited overscricket having hit twohundreds and three halfcenturies in the ODIs andto top it up, three morefifty plus scores in T20s in

2019.“I’ve just been getting

runs and the reading ofthe game has gotten a lotbetter and knowing howto build my innings again,”Rahul said after India’svictory.

“I felt that was lackingand I always knew I hadthe game to get the runsand it was just a matter ofspending time in the mid-dle. Really happy to carryon the same way,” Rahuladded.

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