14 viva rbi autonomy essential: govt...2018/11/01 · rbi governor, on issues that it considers...

PNS n NEW DELHI

After speculative reports sur-faced on Wednesday

morning that RBI GovernorUrjit Patel may step down if theGovernment tried to arm-twistthe Central bank by issuingdirective under Section 7 of theRBI Act, the Finance Ministryon Wednesday took a promptdamage control exercise saying“autonomy of the Central bankis essential.”

But the twist in the tail isthe Ministry’s assertion that theRBI’s functioning must beguided by public interest andneeds of the economy.

“The autonomy for theCentral bank, within the frame-work of the RBI Act, is anessential and accepted gover-nance requirement.Governments in India havenurtured and respected this,”the Ministry said in a briefstatement.

The Finance Ministryissued the statement after theequity market tanked onreports of Patel’s likely resig-nation and the Governmentfaced scathing criticism fromseveral quarters for trying tobulldoze the Central bank to

follow its political agenda. The Ministry’s statement

calmed down the stock marketwhich staged a smart recoveryand the benchmark sensexclosed nearly 500 points up.

Later in the day, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley refused tobe drawn into the row over hisMinistry using a never-usedprovision under Section 7 ofthe RBI Act that gives it powerto issue directions to theCentral bank on matters ofpublic interest, saying discus-sions and consultations withthe Central bank have never

been disclosed.At a news conference, the

Minister said he would not sayanything more than what aPress statement issued by hisMinistry on the RBI row saidin the morning.

On Tuesday, Jaitley hadslammed the RBI for indis-criminate lending, but onWednesday he sounded muchmore reconciliatory.

Despite indication fromthe Government that it wouldcontinue to engage the RBI andrespect its autonomy, there aretelltale signs that the conflictbetween the Finance Ministryand the Central bank is farfrom resolved.

The RBI and the ModiGovernment are at logger-heads amid a standoff betweenthe Ministry and the RBI overthe Central bank’s handling ofweak public sector banks, tightliquidity in the market andways of resolving bad loans inthe power sector, unconfirmedreports claimed.

News agency PTI quotedsources saying that theGovernment has sent at leastthree letters on different issuesunder Section 7(1) of the RBIAct that gives it powers to issue

any direction to the Centralbank Governor on matters ofpublic interest.

They, however, insistedthat the Government has nottaken any action of issuing anyspecific direction and has onlyinitiated consultations with theCentral bank on unresolvedissues.

Without making any ref-erence to the letters, theMinistry statement said, “Boththe Government and theCentral bank, in their func-tioning, have to be guided bypublic interest and the require-ments of the Indian economy.”

“For the purpose, extensiveconsultations on several issuestake place between the gov-ernment and the RBI from timeto time. This is equally true ofall other regulators,” it said.

The Government, it said,has never made public thesubject matter of those con-sultations. “Only the final deci-sions taken are communicated.The Government, throughthese consultations, places itsassessment on issues and sug-gests possible solutions. TheGovernment will continue todo so.”

Sources said the Finance

Ministry wrote three separateletters in the past few weeks tothe RBI on issues ranging fromPrompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework to liquiditymanagement and sought con-sultation under Section 7 of theRBI Act.

The Government wantsRBI to carve out exemption forpower companies under thePCA framework that outlinestriggers for declaring a loanaccount as stressed or NPA,said sources, adding the secondletter pertained to use of RBI’scapital reserves for providingliquidity to the market and athird letter was for relaxingconstraints on banks for loansto small and medium enter-prises.

Section 7 of the RBI Actempowers the Government toissue directions to the Centralbank, after consultation withRBI Governor, on issues that itconsiders serious and of pub-lic interest. This section hasnever been invoked before.Sources said Section 7 has twoparts — consultation and thenissuing a direction to RBI fortaking some action in publicinterest.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Rafale deal controversytook an interesting turn

when the Supreme Court onThursday asked the Centre forpricing details of the 36 fight-er jets India will purchase fromFrance. The Governmentstrongly objected to this sayingthe pricing aspect was classi-fied, but the court remainedunimpressed and asked theCentre to put its objection onaffidavit and also bring detailsof the decision-making processof the deal in the public domainwithin ten days.

The court further pushedthe Centre to the corner by ask-ing it details of how Rafalemanufacturer Dassault choseAnil Ambani’s Reliance Groupto partner with it in Indiaunder the offset obligation.

The court’s directive hasserious ramifications becauseon the last date of hearing onOctober 10 the judges hadrefused to entertain the peti-tioners’ plea for asking theGovernment to disclose thepricing details. Then the courthad asked the Government toshare just the decision-makingprocess of the fighter jet acqui-

sition. The court had then saidit would not go into “pricing orsuitability” of the fighter jets.

On Thursday, the courtnoted that following its October10 order, the Government hasplaced before it a note givingdetails of the steps taken in thedecision-making process lead-ing to the procurement of 36Rafale jets.

However, the court gave noindication as to what prompt-ed it to seek details about pric-ing and offset aspects after itwent through the Government’snote on decision-making

process involved in the Rafaledeal.

The Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoidirected that the Centre mustbring details of the decision-making process of the deal inthe public domain, except thosethat are confidential and havestrategic importance. Theinformation must be shared bythe Government within 10days and the petitioners couldrespond to it in the next sevendays, the Bench said and post-ed the matter for November 14.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI

India improved its ranking onthe World Bank’s “ease of

doing business” report for thesecond straight year, jumping23 places to the 77th positionon the back of reforms relatedto insolvency, taxation andother areas.

India was ranked 100th inthe World Bank’s DoingBusiness report last year.

The ranking comes as ashot in the arm for theNarendra Modi Governmentwhich faces strong dissentingvoices from opposition partiesahead of the general electionsnext year.

In its annual “DoingBusiness” 2019 report, WorldBank said India improved itsrank on six out of the 10 para-meters relating to starting anddoing business in a country.

These parameters includeease of starting a business,construction permits, gettingelectricity, getting credit, pay-ing taxes, trade across borders,enforcing contracts and resolv-ing insolvency.

India was ranked at the142nd position among 190nations when the Modi gov-

ernment came to power in2014. It rose to the 100th spotin the last ranking from 131strank in the previous year.NewZealand tops the list of 190countries in ease of doing busi-ness, followed by Singapore,Denmark, and Hong Kong.

The United States is placedeight and China has beenranked 46th. NeighbouringPakistan is placed at 136.

World Bank put Indiaamong the top 10 economies tomake the most improvements.

Observing that the twoeconomies with the largestpopulations, China and India,demonstrated impressivereform agendas, the WorldBank said the India alsofocused on streamlining busi-ness processes.

India, it said, made startinga business easier by integratingmultiple application forms intoa general incorporation form.“India also replaced the value-added tax with the GST forwhich the registration processis faster,” it said. Also, “Indiamade paying taxes easier byreplacing many indirect taxeswith a single indirect tax, theGST, for the entire country.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

In an effort to provide safetyon roads for general com-

muters and also to preventmisuse of vehicles, the Centreon Wednesday directed that allnew vehicles registered forpublic use from New Yearshould have tracking devicesand emergency buttons.

“All new public servicevehicles except auto rickshawsand eRickshaws, registered onand after January 1, 2019, willhave to be equipped withVehicle Location Tracking(VLT) with emergency but-tons,” the Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways saidin a statement. The move hasbeen taken keeping in mindsafety of women commuters.

The notice said fixing ofVLT and emergency buttonshave been made mandatory vianotification. “The VLT devicemanufacturers would assist inproviding the back end servicesfor monitoring. This regulationis being brought in to ensuresafety of passengers especiallywomen,” the Ministry said.

In case of older public ser-vice vehicles, those registered

up to December 31 2018, therespective State/UTGovernments will notify thedate by which these vehicleshave to install Vehicle LocationTracking Device and PanicButtons. The Ministry has alsosent an advisory to the States inthis regard.

It has notified the opera-tional procedure for imple-mentation of VLT-cum-Emergency buttons.“Command and ControlCentres will be set up by theState or VLT manufacturers orany other agency authorised bythe State Government, andthese centres will provide inter-face to various stakeholderssuch as state emergencyresponse centre, the TransportDepartment or RegionalTransport Offices, Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highwaysand its designated agencies,device manufacturers and their

authorised dealers, testingagencies besides permit hold-ers, etc...” the statement said.

These centres will also pro-vide feed to the VAHAN database or the relevant data baseof the state with regard to theover speeding, device healthstatus. The details of each VLTdevice will be uploaded on theVAHAN database by the man-ufacturer, using its securedauthenticated access, said theGovernment, adding that themanufacturers or their autho-rised dealers will install theVLT devices in public servicevehicles and register the devicesalong with details of vehicle onthe corresponding back-endsystems in real-time.

The public service vehicleowners have to ensure that theVLT devices installed in theirvehicles are in working condi-tion and regularly sendrequired data to the corre-sponding backend systemthrough cellular connectivity, itsaid. The manufacturers willget their devices tested forconformity of production everyyear after the first certificationfrom the the testing agencies,it added.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High Court onWednesday set aside a trial

court judgment that hadacquitted 16 Provincial ArmedConstabulary (PAC) men inthe infamous 1987 Hashimpuramassacre case and sentencedthem to ‘life imprisonment’.

Coming down heavily onall the accused police person-nel (now retired), a Bench ofJustices S Muralidhar andVinod Goel said the “mas-sacre of 42 persons of a minor-ity community in Hashimpurawas targeted killing of unarmedand defenceless persons.Families had to wait 31 yearsfor justice.”

The HC convicted 16 for-mer PAC personnel for murderand kidnapping, criminal con-spiracy and destruction of evi-dence under the Indian PenalCode (IPC).

A chargesheet was filedagainst C-Company’s 19 per-sonnel, including PlatoonCommander Surender PalSingh but Crime Branch,Criminal InvestigationDepartment (CB-CID) of UttarPradesh police had in its report

indicted 66 personnel of thePAC for the killings.

Out of the 19 accused,three persons — Om PrakashSharma, Kush Kumar Singhand Surender Pal Singh —died during the pendency ofthe trial.

The HC on Wednesdayconvicted the remaining 16former PAC personnel andsentenced them to life term.Those convicted are: SureshChand Sharma, Niranjan Lal,

Kamal Singh, Ram Bir Singh,Sami Ullah, Mahesh PrasadSingh, Jai Pal Singh, RamDhiyan, Arun Kumar, LilaDhar Lohni, Hamir Singh,Kunwar Pal Singh, Buda Singh,Budhi Singh, Mohkam Singhand Basant Ballabh.

The HC’s verdict came onpleas challenging a trial court’sdecision to acquit the 16 formerpolicemen of charges of mur-der and other crimes in thecase.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In an unexpected develop-ment, veteran actor Anupam

Kher has resigned as chairmanof the Pune-based Film andTelevision Institute of India(FTII), citing his preoccupationwith international profession-al TV assignments.

Kher (63), who had onTuesday sent his resignationletter to Union Minister forInformation & BroadcastingRajyavardhan Singh Rathore,announced his resignation onhis Twitter handle onWednesday.

“It has been an honour, aprivilege & a great learningexperience to be the Chairmanof the prestigious@FTIIOfficial. But because ofmy international assignments Iwon’t have much time to devoteat the institute. Hence decided to send myresignation. Thank you,” theactor tweeted.

Kher thanked the FTIIstaff, teachers and students fortheir appreciation during mytenure as chairman.

Detailed report on P6

NAYAN DAVE n KEVADIYACOLONY (NARMADA)

Unveiling “Statue of Unity”,the tallest statue of the

world at Kevadiya in Narmadadistrict on Wednesday, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi stat-ed that the statue of SardarVallabhbhai Patel would bethe a befitting answer to thosewho question unity and exis-tence of India.

Addressing a large gather-ing against the backdrop oflofty and magnificent statue ofIndia’s first Home Minister,the PM said it is the responsi-bility of every Indian to ensureevery possible effort is made todefeat the divisive elementstrying to damage unity andsovereignty of the nation.

“Sardar had worked forthe unity of our nation. He hadgiven responsibility to coun-

trymen to keep India’s unity,diversity and sovereignty intact.We all need to be vigilant andunited as a society in order tocounter divisive forces,” saidModi, adding that Indians needto adopt the mantra of “EkBharat, Shresth Bharat” to nul-lify anti-national elements.

He also trained his guns onhis political rivals who criticisedhim for spending huge amountto construct the statue sayingthat paying tribute to greathero like Sardar is not a crime.Modi said his Government iscommitted to recognise con-tributions of other historical fig-ures, including ChhatrapatiShivaji, Shubhash ChandraBose, Baba Saheb Ambedkar toname a few. The PM went onto say that he doesn’t under-stand why his efforts of appre-ciating icons are seen as polit-ical move by his rivals.

“At the time ofIndependence there were peo-ple who thought that immense-ly diverse India wouldn’tremain united. However,Sardar Patel proved themwrong by merging 565 prince-ly states in the modern dayIndia. In fact diversity hasbecome biggest strength of thenation and now we are march-ing ahead to become econom-ic and military superpower,”Modi said.

Praising Sardar’s vision toforce erstwhile princely states —Junagadh and Hyderabad —tosurrender to India’s sovereign-ty, Modi said because of Sardarwe didn’t require visas to offerprayer at Somnath temple or towatch Asiatic Lions or even vis-iting Charminar in Hyderabad.

The State Government isexpecting daily visit by 15,000tourists to the statue.

RBI autonomy essential: Govt

But Central bank’s functioning must be guided by public interest: Finance Ministry

16 PAC men get life forHashimpura massacre

PM: Statue of Unity answer tothose questioning India’s unity

Anupam Kher

resigns as FTII

chairperson for

TV job abroad

In U-turn, SC seeksRafale pricing details

India leaps 23 points to 77th in ‘ease of biz’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli, Chief Minister Vijay

Rupani, at the dedication of the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya Colony in Narmada district on Wednesday PIB

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressesa Press conference in New Delhi onWednesday PTI

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan with former Union Minister Arun Shourie after ahearing on the Rafale deal at Supreme Court in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

People celebrate with sweets after Delhi High Court verdict on the 1987Hashimpura massacre case in Meerut on Wednesday PTI

Vehicle tracking, emergency buttonsmust for public transport from Jan 1

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LUCKNOW, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

PNS n VARANASI

Two persons died, while twoothers were injured after a

few youths opened fired at thestaff in a garment shop in amall in Varanasi over a disputerelated to discount on gar-ments on Wednesday after-noon.

The incident occurred atthe JHV shopping mall in thehigh-security Cantonment areaof Varanasi. The suspects,alleged to be students of theKashi Vidyapeeth University,have been identified.

The three suspects enteredthe branded apparel store andone of them, identified as AlokUpadhyay, inquired aboutsalesman named Prashant. Thesuspect then got involved in abrawl with the other staff butwas soon overpowered.

A country-made pistol hewas carrying was also snatchedaway, said a witness. Policespokesman Vivek Tripathi saidafter finding their friend over-powered, the other two youths

Continued on Page 7

Two killed inVaranasishoppingmall shooting

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Yogi's call to emulate Patel

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Remembering SardarVallabhbhai Patel on his

137 birth anniversary, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidthat if Dr BR Ambedkar was thefather of Indian Constitution,Sardar Patel was the architect ofIndian Republic.

At a function in Lucknowon Wednesday, Yogi andGovernor Ram Naik paid floraltributes to Sardar Patel andflagged off ‘Run for Unity’.Governor Ram Naik thenadministered oath of serving thenation for unity and integrity, tothe assemble youth and audi-ence.

The Chief Minister saidthat people taking oath of coun-try's unity and integrity shouldfollow the path shown by SardarPatel and work to serve thenation. Both dignitaries gar-landed the statue of Iron manSardar Patel at Hazratganj andinaugurated a photo exhibitionon Patel. They also took a saluteat an impressive parade present-ed by school children and secu-rity personnel outside VidhanBhawan.

In his address, theGovernor said: “Sardar Patel wasa symbol of unity of the coun-try. The world's tallest statue of

unity, inaugurated in Gujarat byPrime Minister Narendra Modion Wednesday, was construct-ed from scrap iron and othermaterials collected from allover the country. We can proud-ly claim that UP has contributedin its construction too.”

Naik said that it was a

well-known fact that severalsmaller states were not ready tojoin the country afterIndependence, but it was onlySardar Patel’s effort that madeit possible and later Indiaemerged as a powerful nationof the world.

The march-past started

from Vidhan Bhawan culminat-ed at Sikanderbagh while ‘Runfor Unity’ began from VidhanBhawan and culminated at KDSingh ‘Babu’ Stadium.

City BJP secretary PushkarShukla said that party leadersand legislators also participat-ed in the ‘Run for Unity’.

Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagging off ‘Run for Unity’ from Vidhan Bhawan on the occasion of thebirth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on Wednesday Pioneer

SP eyeing Kurmi votebank


With an eye on the domi-nant OBC community's

Kurmi votebank ahead of 2019Lok Sabha elections,Samajwadi Party onWednesday organised a func-tion to celebrate the 143rdbirth anniversary of SardarPatel across the state onWednesday. The SP mobilisedits Kurmi leaders to addressmeetings in districts with sig-nificant concentration ofKurmi population.

The heightened activity in

the SP to protect its Kurmivotebank is also prompted bythe mega event of unveiling ofthe statue of Sardar Patel byPrime Minister NarendraModi in Gujarat onWednesday.

State SP president NareshUttam presided over a functionin Allahabad, also attended byPhulpur MP Nagendra Patel,who won the Phulpur bypoll inMarch this year.

The SP also sent its nation-al vice-president KironmoyNanda to Ambedkar Nagarwhere former Cabinet minis-

ter and Kurmi leaderRammurti Verma organised ahuge meeting to commemo-rate Patel's birth anniversary.

Addressing a meeting atLucknow party office, SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav lashed out atthe BJP for using the nationalicon to meet its narrow polit-ical ends. "The BJP has put upthe statue of Sardar Patel, thetallest in the world, but theyshould also learn to conductthemselves as per the ideals ofthe 'Iron Man', and stop pur-suing divisive politics aimed atpolarisation of voters on com-

munal lines. Patel played adecisive role in shaping thepresent map of India and itssecular polity," said Akhilesh.

Demanding that currencynote series be printed carryingpictures of Sardar Patel andother great leaders, Akhileshsaid: "We will do something bigto commemorate the memoryof Sardar Patel."

The SP also celebrated thebirth anniversary of socialistideologue Acharya NarendraDev on Wednesday. Akhileshvisited the samadhi and paidfloral tributes.

PATEL’S BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

Maya slams BJP over Patel statue


Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati slammed the

Bharatiya Janata Party andUnion government for tryingto sully the image of a tallleader like Sardar Patel andnaming ‘Statue of Unity’, whichwas inaugurated in Gujarat onWednesday, a ‘foreign name’.

“Like Dr Ambedkar, SardarPatel was one who worked forthe unity and integrity of India.But in the mad race to reappolitical mileage, the BJP inau-gurated his statue and drapedthe great leader in a cloak ofregionalism,” she said.

“The people of the countryare also wondering if all this isnot politics. If the BJP really

loved Patel, why they had notput up a statue earlier inGujarat where they were inpower for a long time," the BSPchief asked.

Paying tributes to the IronMan, Mayawati said that SardarPatel was a total Indian andalways promoted the coun-try’s culture.

“Naming his statue in

English as ‘Statue of Unity’ isvery unfortunate. Besides, thestatue was carved out in a for-eign country which violates theideology of Sardar too,” shesaid. The BSP chief demand-ed that the BJP and RSS shouldseek unconditional apologyfrom the country for targetingstatues of Dalit icons set up inLucknow and across UP.

Yogi govt to bring in law

for disposal of waste


Giving a fillip to SwachhBharat campaign, the Yogi

government is set to bring outa legislation stipulating spotfines for those littering streetsor public places and alsoimpose 'user fees' to be paid bywaste generators like house-holds and markets. This fee willbe paid to Nagar Nigam forwaste collection.

A senior official told 'ThePioneer' in Lucknow onWednesday that the new legis-lation would be extension ofSolid Waste Management Rules2016 announced by the Uniongovernment. “The rulesemphasises on keeping citiesclean. No one will be allowedto spit or litter roads. Wastegenerators – both domesticand institutional – will have topay user fees to local authori-ties that collect garbage. Thequantum of user fees and fineswill be decided by local bodies,”the official said.

The rules say that streetfood vendors, housing soci-eties, political rallies and evenwedding organisers should takesteps for appropriate disposal ofwastes they generate. "No per-son should throw burn or burysolid waste generated by himon streets, open public spaces,or in drain, or water bodies,"the rules say.

The rules require manufac-turers or brand owners of dia-pers and sanitary napkins toprovide pouches or wrappersfor the disposal of such prod-ucts. The new rules call onurban development depart-ments to identify suitable sitesfor recycling and disposing ofwaste. They also nudge states toensure that housing, commer-cial and institutional areasexceeding 5,000 square metresearmark a spot within theirpremises for segregation andstorage of solid waste.

Incidentally, some of theserules already exist but these areseldom enforced. One of the

clauses of Solid WasteManagement Rules 2016 speaksabout the segregation of wasteinto bio-degradable and non-biodegradable content. Thisproject was started in Lucknowalmost three years back as a pilotproject in which segregatedwaste was collected. Slowly thisproject died its natural death.

“Rules are fine but it needsto be implemented in letter andspirit. In UP, 9 out of 10 peo-ple spit on roads or six out of10 throw sachet of masala onsidewalks. Can anyone askthem to dispose them in dust-bins,” Dr SP Pandey of PtGovind Ballabh Institute ofStudies in Rural Developmentsaid. “This is a huge challengefor district and local authoritiesto implement them. There is alaw banning smoking in pub-lic places but you can see peo-ple smoking everywhere andeven at bus stands and railwaystations. How many of theseoffenders are arrested?” heasked.

UP Cong in dilemmaover change of guard PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Delay in replacing Raj Babbaras the state Congress chief

might adversely affect the grandold party’s prospect in 2019Lok Sabha polls especially inUttar Pradesh. This is the com-mon refrain among leaders inthe state Congress headquartersin Lucknow.

Only last Friday, Babbarled party workers and leaders togherao the office of the CentralBureau of Investigation onNawal Kishore Road (Lucknow)as per party chief RahulGandhi's call. Even on thatoccasion, almost all senior lead-ers preferred to stay away.Ironically, even UP inchargeGhulam Nabi Azad also pre-ferred to abstain himself fromthe majority of shows in thestate. “All MLAs, senior leadersand former or sitting RajyaSabha MPs from the state, allkept themselves away from theprotest outside CBI office, leav-ing Babbar to lead the stir withlocal leaders. Actually, they are

sceptical that their proximity toBabbar might jeopardise theirprospects when a new incum-bent takes over in UP Congress,”explained the leader.

“The delay in taking a callon Babbar by the party brass isalso adversely affecting Congressprospects in 2019 Lok Sabha pollas just not MLAs, former min-isters, sitting or ex-MPs and evenmembers of Babbar’s core teamignored his call,” said a formerstate Congress chief.

Those who were promiscu-ous by their absence during thestir outside Lucknow CBI head-quarters were UP MahilaCongress (Central zone) chief,Youth Congress president,National Students’ Union ofIndia, Minority Cell, SC & STCell, Media Cell and Lawyers'Cell.

Even district and city chiefsof the Congress in Lucknowremained absent in severalprotests against rising crime. TheCongress leader felt that theparty brass should end the con-fusion over Babbar soon.

UP notification to acquire Jewar landPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

With the issue of notifica-tion for land acquisition

for the first phase, the UP gov-ernment cleared the decks forthe construction of an airportat Jewar in Gautam BuddhNagar (Noida).

The proceedings for acqui-sition were completed byNoida district administrationon October 17 and a proposalwas submitted to Civil Aviationdepartment of the state gov-ernment. A total of 5,000hectares of land is to beacquired for Greenfield airportestimated at Rs 15,000 and Rs20,000 crore.

For the first phase, 1,334hectare land is required. Forthis, 1,239 hectare land belong-ing to farmers from six villageswill be acquired by the govern-ment and due compensationwould be paid. The remaining94 hectares in the region isalready owned by the govern-ment.

"Under sub-section (1) ofsection 11 of Right to FairCompensation andTransparency in LandAcquisition, Rehabilitation and

Resettlement Act, 2013, the UPgovernment is satisfied that atotal 1,239 hectares of land isrequired in six villages of Jewartehsil of Gautam Buddh Nagarfor public purpose, namely, the

development of NoidaInternational GreenfieldAirport, Jewar through CivilAviation department, UttarPradesh,” the official letterread.

UP diploma engineers on

warpath against bosses


Efforts of some senior PublicWorks Department officers

in promoting some junior engi-neers (JE) as assistant engineers(AE) by keeping the HighCourt in the dark was foiledafter the intervention of theSupreme Court.

Interestingly, the apexcourt also gave adverse remarksagainst PWD officials for ‘con-niving’ to facilitate illegal pro-motions.

Members of Uttar PradeshDiploma Engineers’ Sangh(PWD), who took the matter tothe apex court, have nowdemanded stern action againsterrant officers and threatenedto move court again if UP gov-ernment fails to act.

Detailing the sinistersequence of events, president ofUP Diploma Engineers' Sangh(PWD) Hari Kishore Tewarisaid that in 2003, PWD officialsrecruited 27 JEs with bachelor'sdegree even as the posts wereto be filled by diploma engi-neers. He said that theirprotests were ignored by seniorofficers on the premise thatwhen they were getting morequalified men, why they shouldcompromise.

Tewari alleged that themalafide recruitment of officerswith bachelor’s degree stoodexposed after an year of the JEs'appointment. Top PWD offi-cials went to the extent of cre-ating vacancy for posts of assis-tant engineers and tried topromote these JEs within a yearof their joining, throwing allrules to the wind," he added.

"Knowing that our demandfor justice will not be met, wefinally moved the High Courtbut the top officers managed toget a favourable order. Later, wewent to the Supreme Court in

2009, which later ordered theprocess as 'illegal’ and directedthe UP government to imme-diately revert all promoted AEsto JE rank after which the JEswere reverted," he said.

Tewari claimed that recent-ly aggrieved officers againapproached the High Courtclaiming that they were entitledto promotion but were denied.The court sought a reply fromPWD officials but to benefitJEs, they concealed informa-tion on the previous apex courtorder. In the dark about the SCorder, the High Court orderedpromotion of all officers to AErank.

“Upon learning about thedevelopment, we again went tothe apex court and put relevantinputs about PWD officersmisguiding the High Court. Inthe light of the facts, the ApexCourt cancelled the processand passed adverse remarksagainst PWD officers termingthe move as ‘malafide’. Wehave now written to the stategovernment and urged thatofficers involved in illegal pro-motion be sacked after depart-mental probe. If the govern-ment does not set up a probeto punish the guilty, we will beforced to agitate till necessaryaction was taken against thecorrupt,” he said.

Members of Uttar Pradesh DiplomaEngineers’ Sangh (PWD) have now

demanded stern action against errantofficers and threatened to move court

again if UP government fails to act

Liquor supply fall a dampener


Lovers of Bacchus, who loveto clink glasses with kin and

friends on Diwali, may be in forserious disappointment thisyear. The supply of somebrands of Indian Made ForeignLiquor (IMFL), beer and evenpopular brands of countryliquor has nosedived in themarket.

Even as the Excise depart-ment is working on a war-foot-ing to stabilise the supply, offi-cials suspect that the demand-supply chasm may remainunbridged till the festivitiesend.

With the festive seasondawning and with Diwali roundthe corner, Excise departmentofficials were upbeat about ahuge windfall with demand forpopular brands of IMFL,including newly-inducted GlenFiddich, heading north.“During festivals, the demandincreases by 25 per cent of theexisting supply. In Lucknow, thedemand of IMFL is about 18lakh bottles per month whilethat of beer is 22 lakh cans/bot-tles per month. In Diwali, thedemand shoots up. It is boom

time for the department," dis-trict excise officer JanardanYadav said on Wednesday.

When asked about theprobable shortage of IMFLand beer, Yadav said that he didnot think so. “We hope that wewill be able to address thedemand issue on time. Wehave written to distilleries toprovide adequate supplies tomodel shops, bar-cum-restau-rant in the festive season. Ourofficials are in contact with dis-tillers and we are trying ourbest to ensure proper supply,"he said.

But contradicting hisclaim, sources said that thedemand of IMFL and beer hadincreased manifold as com-pared to last year. “Thedemand and supply gap inIMFL was wide even duringSeptember. In October too,there is shortage of popularbrands like Signature, BlendersPride, Antiquity and others.Supply of beer normalisedduring last month,” they said.

They claimed that therewas a huge rush of business-men at different distilleries ofUP. “One can see a long queueof trucks parked outside distil-

leries, waiting for their chanceto load the bottles," they said.

On the other hand, supplyof desi liquor is hugely affect-ed this season. "In the marketthere is a huge demand ofRadico-made country liquorbottles (each of Rs 75). TheRampur distillery is unable tomeet the demand. Trucks areparked outside the distillery forweeks and goods are yet to beloaded," the sources said.

The crisis of the particularcountry liquor is so acute thatLucknow Liquor Associationpetitioned senior excise offi-cials and even the ExciseMinister to ensure adequatesupply at government-allot-ted shops. “The festivals are aseason when a licensee earnsprofit. We are unable to meetthe demand and consumers donot purchase other brands ofcountry liquor, an office bear-ers of the Association said.

Meanwhile, the DEO saidthat the demand of countryliquor was 16.5 lakh litres permonth in Lucknow. “We admitthat there is a shortage ofRadico-made liquor. But wehave written to officials to getit addressed,” he said.

HC defers hearing on PIL challenging rechristening of AllahabadAllahabad: The Allahabad

High Court on Wednesdaydeferred till November 13 thehearing on a public interest lit-igation (PIL) challenging therecent notification of the stategovernment whereby the nameof Allahabad was changed toPrayagraj.

In the PIL, Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath and the UrbanDevelopment Minister SureshKhanna had been maderespondents. The otherrespondents were the ChiefSecretary, Advocate General,Chairman of the Board ofRevenue etc.

Hearing the PIL filed by alawyer Sunita Sharma, a divi-

sion bench, comprising JusticesAP Shahi and Ajit Kumar,directed the counsel appearingfor the petitioners and theAdditional Advocate General,appearing for the state govern-ment, to prepare the case onlegal issue with regard to thechanging of the name of a dis-trict.



Even as the 24-hour deadlinegiven by Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath ended, theLucknow drew a blank vis-à-visthe gas agency cashier murderand loot case on Wednesday.

The CM had directed thepolice to crack the case in 24hours on Tuesday evening. Hehad also sought fixing ofresponsibility of constables at‘Dial 100’, beat constables, sta-tion house officers (SHOs) andcircle officers (COs) concerned.

The self-proclaimed tech-savvy Lucknow police failed tomake any significant headwayinto the case on Wednesday.However, the police claimed tohave found the route throughwhich the miscreants fled afterexecuting the crime.

SSP Kalanidhi Naithnaisaid the miscreants chose theroute via Ram Manohar LohiyaHospital alongside a timbershop to reach Faizabad Roadafter executing the crime.

“The miscreants reachedthe crime scene from FaizabadRoad and fled via the sameroute. Based on this finding,teams have been sent toBarabanki, Faizabad, Gonda,Bahraich and other districts,”he said.

The SSP said the cops hadbeen asked to work in syncwith the teams of neighbouringdistricts to nab arrest the mis-creants. “The ASP (LucknowNorth) has been asked toremain in contact with thecops of neighbouring districts,”he added.

Police department sourcesdisclosed that the probingteams suspected that the mis-creants dropped their bike onthe way to dodge the cops andsped off in a four-wheeler.

“An alert was soundedsoon after the incident wasreported in Vibhuti Khand onMonday morning and the copsof neighbouring districts wereasked to keep a tab on toll taxplazas and routes in their areas.A CCTV footage has shownthe miscreants fleeing and theywent missing after reachingFaizabad Road,” the sourcessaid.

They said the police hadidentified some of the miscre-ants who could have played a


An employee of Food Safetyand Standards Authority of

India (FSSAI) at KendriyaBhawan accused former director(enforcement) and a section offi-cer of Health and Family WelfareMinistry of sexual harassmentand molestation. The complainthas been lodged at Aliganj policestation six years after she wasallegedly subjected to molestationand a departmental probe hasbeen initiated.

“We have registered a casefor molestation, threatening,sexual harassment at work placeand other counts against formerED (FSSAI) SS Ghronkotra andsection officer Sunil Kumar

Bhadauria. “The alleged incidenttook place in 2012 and victim’smother had lodged a complaintwith the department. An inter-nal inquiry was conducted byFSSAI and the report was hand-ed over to the police on Tuesday,”a police spokesman said. As perthe complainant, she faced sex-ual harassment when she wasposted as technical officer atFSSAI on 9th floor of KendriyaBhawan in Aliganj. She allegedthat Ghronkotra had a nefariousdesign and created an intimidat-ing atmosphere even as heforced me to meet him in hischamber. “Ghronkotra used tokeep a close eye on me and inter-vene irritatingly whenever hesaw me talking to my colleagues.

When he did not succeed in hisnefarious design, he started bul-lying me. Section officerBhadauria sided withGhronkotra and forced me tomeet the latter in private on sev-eral occasions. On one occasion,Ghronkotra forced me to visithis hotel room and tried to forcehimself on me. Luckily, I man-aged to save myself,” she statedin the the complaint.

She also alleged thatGhronkotra would share withher jokes laden with innuendos.“I was promoted during myposting in Lucknow andGhronkotra told me that he hadpaved the way of my promotion.He would openly tell me that hewanted me to throw a big party

in which he would enjoy withme in private,” she wrote in thecomplaint. She lambasted FSSAIauthorities on delaying the probeinto the complaint against theduo. “I was transferred toGuwahati when the issue cameto light to suppress my voice.They also delayed the probewhich further delayed the actionagainst Ghronkotra andBhadauria,” she alleged. Thepolice spokesman said that theAliganj police had been asked toget her statement recorded withthe police. “After victim’s state-ment is recorded, the police willshow a notice to the accused toget their statements recordedand an action will be initiatedaccordingly,” he added.


Director of Indian Instituteof Management, Lucknow,

(IIM-L) Dr Ajit Prasad (61)passed away on Wednesdayafternoon at SGPGI where hehad been admitted after suffer-ing a massive heart attack. Heis survived by wife RashmiPrasad and a daughter.

Dr Prasad’s body wasbrought to his residence late inthe evening where IIM-L staffand students paid their lastrespects to the departed soul. Acondolence meeting will beheld on IIM-L campus onThursday morning while thecremation will take place atBaikunth Dham in the after-noon. Prasad breathed his last

at around 3:30 pm in the postoperative care of ICU onWednesday. He was admittedto the SGPGI in an uncon-scious state on October 13after he suffering a massiveheart attack while returningfrom a programme.

Doctors had said that hiscondition was critical as partsof his brain were also impact-ed. He had been on the venti-lator ever since. Prasad hadjoined IIM-L as director onNovember 2 in 2015 for atenure of five years. He had arich experience both in govern-ment and corporate sectors.Before joining IIM-L, he wasthe professor of strategy in wellknown B-school of Mumbai.

A native of Patna, he stud-ied at St Stephens College andDelhi School of Economicsand completed PhD fromPatna University before doingMSc in Social Policy fromLondon School of Economics.His area of specialisation wasmanagement, corporate gover-nance, planning and CSR.

Six years later, sexual harassment

plaint haunts ex-FSSAI director


Private partners from acrossthe country will be invited

to develop the prestigioustownship which is coming upon Mohaan Road. The pro-posed project was conceivedby Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority and the land mea-suring 765 acres had beenacquired.

It was planned to provideresidents a place of decent liv-ing as the city has reached asaturation point leaving noscope for new colonies todevelop.

It is said the LDA admin-istration cannot develop thetownship single-handedly.Besides, it also lacks profes-sional skills and resources.

LDA Vice-Chairman PNSingh said the LDA adminis-tration would contact notedreal estate companies with thehelp of a New Delhi-basedconsultancy firm. Singh addedthe rounds of discussionwould start from Monday andthe process would be complet-ed within a fortnight. Then thetenders would be floated onthe all-India basis, he dis-closed.

Meanwhile, in a bid totrace missing properties and

land, the LucknowDevelopment Authority(LDA) administration is tak-ing the assistance of a privatepartner in locating places fromMonday. The officials of aPune-based firm reached itshead office situated in GomtiNagar on Monday and initiat-ed the work. They collecteddocuments to make in-depthstudy of the city’s topograph-ic so that they could identifyplaces grabbed by unautho-rised persons.

The team had a toughtask as there were no completedocuments of missing proper-ties available in the recordroom. Its estimated cost is stat-ed to be Rs 1,500 crore.

LDA officer on specialduty (OSD) Rakesh Kumarsaid that perhaps it was for thefirst time LDA had engagedthe firm specialised in recov-ering missing properties andelectronic surveillance wouldbe used in the job. He addedthe LDA administration hadsought the permission of thestate government. The samewas cleared on the conditionthat the money thus releasedwould be monitored andaudited by the Accountdepartment so that the samewas not misused.

Private partners todevelop LDA projecton Mohaan Road

IIM-L director

passes away

at SGPGI

He was admitted tothe SGPGI on Oct 13in an unconsciousstate after sufferinga massive heart attack

role in the murder and loot,and hoped that the case wouldbe worked out soon.

“Out of these, two miscre-ants of Eastern UP are the mostprobable suspects. The cops arecollecting other details andhideouts. The teams are keep-ing a tab on some of the resi-dential colonies of Chinhat,those alongside Chinhat-DewaRoad and also those alongsidethe road leading to Barabanki,”the sources said.

Meanwhile, the probe intothe Vibhuti Khand caseexposed the network ofinformers being in a disarray.

“Of late, the Lucknow havebeen relying too much on sur-veillance and CCTV footageswhile the ground workers havenot been so effective. Thepolice also have no dossiers or

details of the miscreants whodid their time in jail for in dif-ferent cases and were releasedon bail. This has made the copsface a lot of hindrance in crack-ing the cases,” the sources said.

“In the loot and murderoutside Axis Bank inHazratganj, the police depend-ed on CCTV cameras. Luckily,some residents of KrishnaNagar tipped off the policeabout the location of the sus-pect in their locality and thecops cracked the case,” theypointed out.

The police are trying tofind out the man who provid-ed the miscreants initial detailsabout Singh’s visit to Bank ofIndia to deposit cash and whoworked for the miscreants inproviding details about moneythat the victim had with him.

Despite CM ultimatum,

police draw a blank

VIBHUTI KHAND MURDER AND LOOT


Agroup of miscreants thrashed aBTech student and opened fire after

he refused to pay them extortionmoney in Gudamba. However, the stu-dent ducked for cover and the bulletmissed the target.

As per reports, Arsh Siddiqui ofBijnaur district is pursuing BTech fromIntegral University. He alleged that oneGhazi Imam of the locality used to bullythe engineering students and forcedthem to cough up extortion money.

“A few weeks back, he asked me tocough up Rs 50,000 or be ready for direconsequences. As I refused to pay themoney to him, it led to a verbal spatbetween us,” he told the police. OnTuesday evening, Arsh and his friends— Anurag and Wajid — went to a mar-ket near Sahara Estate when Ghazi andhis men surrounded them.

“Ghazi and his aides singled me outand asked me why I refused to paythem. When I confronted them, theystarted beating me. They opened firebut I ducked for cover,” the victim toldthe police. He alleged that Ghazi and hismen had asked him to cough up themoney or be ready to die. A case wasregistered in this connection and thepolice launched a manhunt for theaccused.

BTech student

thrashed over

refusing to pay

extortion money


An employee of Green Gas Company Limited suffered burnswhen he was fixing a leak in the PNG pipeline in Ashiyana

on Wednesday afternoon. Reports said Jitendra Yadav (30)reached the site in sector J of Ashiyana following a complaint.He and his colleagues dug out the land alongside the road to findout leakage in the supply pipeline. After having detected the same,Jitendra was cutting the pipe when sparks flew and it resultedin a fire. Jitendra suffered burns on his chest, face and hands.The employees accompanying him got scared and fled the scene.Locals dialled the fire-fighters and a fire tender was rushed tothe scene. Admitted to Lok Bandhu Hospital, Jitendra was saidto be under observation.

Employee suffers burns

while fixing PNG leak


TRIBUTES PAID TO BEGUM AKHTAR

Sanatkada organised anevening of thumri, dadra andghazal to pay tributes to BegumAkhtar on at her mazaar onWednesday. In keeping with atradition dating back to 2013,the mazaar once again filledwith music lovers and admir-

ers of Begum Akhtar. SingerKoyel Dasgupta Naha She sang‘Zara dhire se bolo, koi sunlege...’ ‘Wo jo hum mein tummein qarar tha...’ and ‘Ab chha-lakte hue saghar na dekhe jate...’.Vice-Chancellor of BhatkhandeMusic Institute Shruti SadolikarKatkar had come come upwith the idea of this annual

tribute to Begum Akhtar, giv-ing the first musical perfor-mance at the mazaar in 2013.

QUIZ CONTESTBTech (Civil) student

Nandita Shukla won the essaycompetition and diploma stu-dent Anand Mishra came uptrumps in the quiz contestheld under VigilanceAwareness Week organisedunder the joint aegis of ShreeRamswaroop MemorialUniversity and Union Bank ofIndia (Chandganj branch) onWednesday. The winners werehonoured by SRMU Vice-Chancellor AK Singh.

LECTUREHead of the department of

Cosmetics and Perfumery, VGVaze College (Mumbai)Renuka Thergaonkar onTuesday delivered a lecture on

‘Science behind Aromatherapy’at Central Institute ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP). She said that aro-matic oils, being fragrant innature as well as therapeutic,were used in aromatherapy.The essential oils extractedfrom plants are used forimproving physical, emotion-al and spiritual well-being ofhumans. She showcased theadvantages of rosemary andgeranium oil based on theresearch work done by her ather institute. She said rosemaryoil helped in reducing stresslevels and geranium oil ininducing sleep, when taken inappropriate doses.

ANNUAL DAYEstablished in 1965, Indian

Institute of Toxicology Research(IITR) will celebrate its 53rdAnnual Day on Wednesday.Scientists said that living up toits motto of ‘Safety toEnvironment and Health andService to Industry’, the institutehad rendered yeomen service inthe areas of human health andenvironment, assessing theimpact of industrial and envi-ronmental chemicals on theecosystem and environmentalmonitoring of pollutants in air,water and soil. The celebrationswill begin with the 22nd SHZaidi Oration to be delivered bydirector of CSIR-Institute ofGenomics and IntegrativeBiology (Delhi) AnuragAgrawal. The celebrations willculminate with the Annual Dayfunction to be attended byGovernor Ram Naik.


Almost four years sincePrime Minister Modi

promised a clean Ganga, theriver continues to run pollut-ed and people living in citiesalong the river may be drink-ing what is, at best, partiallytreated sewage, not Gangajal,according to an assessment ofthe river. The governmenthad claimed that Ganga willbe clean in 2019 but the dead-line has now been extended to2020. The assessment, done bya ‘Down To Earth’, a fortnight-ly magazine. The assessmentwas issued on Tuesday.Addressing mediapersons,managing editor of the mag-azine Richard Mahapatra said:“The Namami Gange cam-paign was launched withmuch fanfare and had aimedhigh, but it has had little toshow in terms of achieve-ment. Till August 31, only alittle more than a quarter ofthe total number of projectssanctioned under it had beencompleted.”

The magazine has repro-duced a mapping of the Ganga

river water quality done byCentral Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB). Only five outof the 70-odd monitoring sta-tions on the river have waterfit for drinking and only sevenhave water fit for bathing.

Efficient and effectivetreatment of sewage is at thecentre of any clean-up plansfor the river. As per theNamami Gange targets,sewage treatment plants(STPs) with over 2,000 millionlitre a day (MLD) capacity hadto be rehabilitated — of this,a mere 328 MLD have beencovered. Another area of con-cern is data on sewage gener-ation. STPs are designed onthe basis of the amount ofsewage a city generates – butestimations of sewage gener-ation have been found to beinaccurate. Except duringmonsoons, water flow in theGanga has remained a majorconcern. Experts say the waterlevel in the river is goingdown at an alarming rate – ifthe flow in the river can bemaintained, it can take care ofthe problem of 60-80 per centof organic pollutants in the

river. A staggering 99.33 percent villages on the banks ofthe Ganga have been declaredopen defecation free (ODF) bythe government under theSwachh Bharat Mission.Millions of toilets have beenconstructed – 2.7 million inover 4,000 villages. The objec-tive was to reduce the fecalcoliform levels in the Ganga.But in May, against the stan-dard of 2,500 per 100 ml, fecalcoliform in the river rangedfrom 2,500 to 2,40,000 per 100ml.

The clean-up programmeis dogged by delays, which isleading to tremendous costescalations. According to theNational Mission CleanGanga, projects worth Rs22,323 crore have been sanc-tioned but only 23 per cent ofthe sanctioned amount hadbeen utilised til l April.Mahapatra said: “The presentgovernment and all the agen-cies that it has created toclean the Ganga have a distinct advantage: of learningfrom the failures and mistakesof the past 30 years. But willthey?”


The IITR report showsAliganj to be the nosiest in

day time and Indiranagar dur-ing the night among residentialareas. As for commercial areas,Charbagh is the nosiest in daytime and Chowk in night.

Aliganj recorded the high-est day time sound levels at 71.9dB and Indiranagar the highestnight time sound levels at 60.3decibels. Charbagh recordedthe highest of 77.9 dB in daytime and Chowk the highest of72.4 in night.

Head of EnvironmentDivision SC Burman saidAliganj and Indiranagar wit-nessed the movement of lorriesand heavy traffic, which causedpollution. Noise levels duringday and night time were in therange of 66.3-71.9 dB and 55.1-60.3 dB respectively in residen-tial area, which were above thepermissible limits (day time

55.0 dB and night time45.0 dB).

The corresponding val-ues of commercial area rangedbetween 70.2 dB to 79.3 dB (daytime) and 59.1 dB to 72.4 dB(night time), exceeding thelimits (day time 65.0 andnight time 55.0 dB).

In industrial areas, the daytime value (76.4 dB) and nighttime value (72.3 dB) wereslightly higher than the per-missible limits of 75.0 dBand 70.0 dB, respectively.

In residential areas, the dayand night time noise levelswere recorded between 66.3 dBto 71.9 dB and 55.1 dB to60.3 dB, respectively. All thevalues were higher than theprescribed limits of 55 dB and45 dB for day and night times,respectively. In commercialand heavy traffic areas, theday and night time noiselevels were recorded between71.5 dB and 79.3 & 59.1 dB and

72.4 dB, respectively. Noiselevels at all the commercial sitesduring days and nights werefound above the prescribedlimit of 65 dB and 55 dB,respectively.

In industrial areaAmausi, the day and nighttime noise levels wererecorded at 76.4 dB and 72.3dB, respectively. Noise levels atthe industrial location in dayand night were found to beabove the prescribed limitof 75.0 dB and 70.0 dB(A),respectively. In residential areas,two locations showed slightlyincreasing trend over the pre-vious year whereas the othertwo showed a decreasingtrend. In commercial-cum-traffic areas, noise level wasslightly on the lower side at allthe locations compared to theprevious year except Aminabadand Charbagh. In Amausi, thenoise level was higher thanthat the previous year.

NATIONAL UNITY DAYSKD Academy celebrated

the birth anniversary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel at all thefive branches on Wednesday.Children celebrated the day asNational Unity Day and tookpart in several activities.Students of all branches tookout a prabhat pheri to sparedthe massage of a unity.Founder-director ManishSingh, while addressing thestudents, said: “India is a landof diversity and our rich cultureis a testimony to the differentkinds of people existing togeth-er. Sardar Patel was instrumen-tal in holding Indians togeth-er despite all the differences”.

Lucknow (PNS): IITR hasreleased its recommendationsregarding the air and soundpollution levels scene in thecity. SC Burman said majorroads of the city should bewidened as far as possible.

“There should be suitablemodification on crossings forsmooth traffic flow, encroach-ment be removed and footpathfor pedestrians be restored.There should be provision ofparking facilities by privateoperators on vacant privateland. There should also be anincrease in the parking chargeson hourly basis to discouragethe use of personal vehicles incongested areas. Besides, sub-sidised public mass transportmust be strengthened to

minimise the use of personalvehicles and there should be animprovement in traffic man-agement,” he suggested.

He said there should bepublic awareness programmeson air pollution and its healtheffects, reduction of automobilepollution by proper mainte-nance of vehicles and drivingskills. He advocated systemat-ic development of residentialcomplexes on the periphery ofcity with all facilities to reducecrowd from central areas, andalso suggested provision of busstands on all the highways toreduce traffic load in the city.

“There must be a ban onburning of dry leaves, tyres orany other type of solid waste,and arrangements for proper

disposal must be in place. Asmany saplings should be plant-ed as possible in parks, openspaces and roadside areas.There should be more CNGfilling stations across the cityand battery-operated or hybridvehicles must be promoted,” hesaid.

He said composition andconcentration of air pollu-tants was an important cri-teria variable with time andspace. “In ambient air, thereare several compounds andit is difficult to study a singlecompound and its effects.There may be cumulative andchronic exposure for longerperiods with low concentra-tions of multiple compounds,”he added.


Indian Institute ofToxicological Research(IITR) released its Post

Monsoon Ambient Air QualityReport on Wednesday. Head ofEnvironmental Division SCBurman said the study revealedthat in air pollution levels,Indiranagar was the most pol-luted in residential areas andCharbagh in commercial areas.

The maximum 24-hourmean concentration of PM2.5was observed in Indiranagar(107.8 μg/m3) andCharbagh (116.8 μg/m3). Atall the locations, the mean val-ues of PM2.5 were above theprescribed National AmbientAir Quality Standard (NAAQS)of 60 μg/m3 for industrial,residential, rural and otherareas. The study was car-ried out from September toOctober to investigate the sta-tus of air quality by monitoringand assessment of air pollu-

tants and noise level at nineareas in Lucknow. Burmansaid that a matter of concernalso was the finding of highPM10 and PM 2.5 at Chowk.

“Our Chowk monitoringpoint was within the campus ofKGMU and the level of PM10was found to be 206.4 μg percubic metre and PM 2.5 was102.2 μg per cubic metre whichwas a matter of concernbecause it was a sensitive areawhere patients were residing,”he said. The resultsrevealed that 24-hour PM2.5level was found to be inthe range 55.2-157.7 μg/m3with an average of 105.2 μg/m3,whereas the 24-hour concen-tration of PM10 to be in therange of 101.2-291.4 μg/m3with an average of 213.8 μg/m3.The average values of PM10and PM2.5, irrespective of thelocations, were found to beabove the permissible limit.

In residential areas,Aliganj, Vikasnagar,


The installation of last can-tilever pier cap of North-

South corridor (phase 1-A)marked the completion ofsub-structural constructionof viaduct and all the elevat-ed Metro stations betweenKD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium andMunshipulia. Managing direc-tor of LMRC Kumar Keshavsaid: “The final phase of con-struction was completed with-in the target deadline only dueto the extreme hard work,dedication, commitment andperseverance of the LMRCteam and contractual agenciesM/s GC and M/s L&Tassigned for this project.”

The sub-structure con-sists of piles, pile cap, pier andpier cap. A total number of2,321 piles were erected dur-ing the construction phasewhich included 541 pile capsas well. Twenty-one steelspans of different types andsizes were constructed in thisproject like the 60m steelspan (near the Nishatganj fly-over) and 45m steel spans(one besides Hotel ClarkAvadh and 4 in Indiranagar, inclose proximity to HAL).Apart from this there are 541piers, 262 pier caps and 39cantilever pier caps whichhave been erected successful-ly. The most remarkableachievement was the erectionof curved U-girders near theIT Crossing for the first timeby the LMRC. The erection ofI-girders near the Polytechnic

Crossing was also difficultdue to the traffic congestionthere.

LMRC faced major chal-lenges during the sub-struc-tural project work like theconstruction of piles and pilecaps in the Gomti riverbed forthe cantilever span.“Especially during the mon-soon the level of the riverincreased considerably forwhich the IrrigationDepartment had to be con-sulted to monitor, control andcheck the water level for thesmooth functioning of the

construction phase. The erec-tion work of the 60 m specialsteel span at the Nishatganjflyover and near the railwaytrack proved to be a dauntingtask considering the fact thatthere was a very narrow spacefor crane movement. The trainmovement was also not hin-dered during the erection andinstallation work. The prob-lem of movement of FormTravellers for casting had to beovercome due to the S-curveat the cantilever section (CLC)despite all odds. The align-ment procedure was quite

tough for which an addition-al surveyor was hired,” said asenior LMRC official. “Thepublic cooperation and sup-port of locals during the con-struction phase cannot beignored in terms of frequenttraffic diversions at that time.No permanent demolition ofany structure was done duringthe construction on similarlines of priority corridor.LMRC will restore all thetemporary dismantling beingdone during the working ofthe final phase of this project,”he added.

Indiranagar, Charbagh most polluted

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS


The IITR assessment of thepost-monsoon ambient air

quality states that air pollutionis a serious threat to humanhealth. Head of EnvironmentDivision SC Burman said it wasthe need of the hour to lookinto the air quality of Lucknow.

“Vehicular traffic is themain source of particulateair pollution in Lucknow.Continuous emission of pollu-tants from vehicles adverselyaffects the ambient air qualityas well as the health of humanbeings. Particulate matter,when inhaled, penetratesbeyond the larynx. Small par-ticles penetrate deeply into thelungs and can cause respirato-ry disease such as emphysemaand bronchitis, and aggravateexisting heart disease. Ultra fineparticles ranging from 0.001 to0.1 micron in diameter are ableto penetrate deep into thelungs and to the alveolar sacs

where gaseous exchangeoccurs,” Burman explained. Hesaid these particles increasedthe rates of blood flow and vas-cular permeability to whiteblood cells, elevating clot-ting activity, constriction ofthe airways and fever induc-tion.

Higher levels of air pollu-tants, including metals, haveadverse effects on humanand environmental health.Air pollution creates severalhealth problems, includingpremature death, aggravatedasthma, acute respiratorysymptoms and decreased lungfunction in the form of short-ness of breath and chronicbronchitis etc. Particulate mat-ter is also a major cause ofvisibility impairment. Increasein particulate matter concen-tration is associated withincreased mortality, increasedhospitalisation for respiratoryand cardiovascular diseases,increased respiratory symp-

toms and decreased lung functions.

“It is a known fact thatair-borne particles (PM 10and PM 2.5) at elevatedlevel increase mortality andmorbidity in people exposed tothem. The exact mechanism ofPMs toxicity is yet to be known.The degree of effectivenessdepends on the physicochem-ical,” Burman said.

He added that elevatednoise levels of ambient airmight have adverse healtheffects. “Noise leads to bothtemporary and permanenthearing loss. Noise can rangefrom the bursting of theeardrum to permanent hearingloss, cardiac, cardiovascularchanges, stress, fatigue, dizzi-ness and lack of concentration.Continuous noise causes anincrease in cholesterol level,resulting in constriction ofblood vessels making prone toheart attack and stress,” headded.

A serious threat to human health

IITR study finds Aliganj,

Indiranagar the noisiest

Indiranagar and Gomtinagar,the 24 hours average concen-trations of PM2.5 were in therange of 96.8 to 107.8 μg/m3with an average of 103.2μg/m3. In commercialareas, Charbagh, Alambagh,Aminabad and Chowk, theaverage concentrations ofPM2.5 were in the range of91.7 to 116.8 μg/m3 with anaverage of 104.8 μg/m3respectively. In an industrialarea (Amausi), the averageconcentration of PM2.5 was

107.7 μg/m3. In case of PM10level, Alambagh recorded 224.8μg/cubic metres in the com-mercial areas. In residentialareas, Aliganj, Vikasnagar,Indiranagar and GomtiNagar, the 24-hour averageconcentrations of PM10 werein the range of 196.5-226.8μg/m3 with an average of208.2 μg/m3.

In commercial areasCharbagh, Alambagh,Aminabad and Chowk, theaverage concentrations of

PM10 were in the range of189.0-224.8μg/m3 with anaverage of 210.0 μg/m3. InAmausi, the average concentra-tion of PM10 was 223.3μg/m3.

The sources of air pollu-tion, he said, in urban areasinclude tailpipe emissions fromvehicles, open air burning ofmunicipal wastes, exhaustfumes from generator sets,roadside soil resuspension,operations of industrialunits etc.

Stress on smooth traffic flow, e-vehicles

Last cantilever pier cap installed NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR

Ganga continues to remain polluted

‘Expression 2018’, the three-day literary and cultural programme, ended at StFrancis’ College on Wednesday. Principal Alwyn Moras congratulated the winnersand thanked the participating teams for making the event a success.

COFAS-2018The four-day internation-

al computer olympiad, COFAS-2018, organised by CityMontessori School (RajendraNagar Campus III), was inau-gurated at Kanpur Road audi-torium on Wednesday. Thechief guest on this occasion wasHealth Minister Sidharth NathSingh, who inaugurated theevent by lighting a lamp. Theparticipating teams fromNepal, Jordan and variousstates of India introducedthemselves in style amidst scin-tillating educational-culturalitems presented by CMS stu-dents. Over 700 students fromNepal, Jordan and various partsof India will be flaunting theircomputer skills through vari-ous interesting contests in the

next three days. Addressing thegathering of young scientists

from India and abroad, Singhsaid that computer and scienceshould be adopted by all thefields of knowledge so thatIndia could keep pace with therest of the world. He exhortedthe young scientists to usetheir knowledge for the bene-fit of humans and said that theyoung scientists should grabthe opportunity of upgradingtheir knowledge in events likeCOFAS.

Tributes being paid to Begum Akhtar at her mazaar

Vigilance Awareness Week at Shree Ramswaroop Memorial University

nation 05LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

PNS n NEW DELHI

The three-day Navy Commanders'conference commenced here on

Wednesday with focus on the top brassbrainstorming on the themes of'Optimisation' and 'EmergingTechnologies.' The commanders willalso take stock of operational prepared-ness of the naval fleet to meet any chal-lenges in the strategically importantIndian Ocean Region(IOR).

Having adopted mission baseddeployment over the past one year, theconference will deliberate upon combatreadiness of units and optimisation ofresources including manpower to meetthe growing list of missions and tasks thatthe Navy is expected to perform, navyofficials said here.

The conference will have dedicatedbrainstorming sessions to discuss andconceptualise new ideas and concepts, aswell as critically examine organisation-al structures and processes to meetdeveloping challenges and threats tomaritime security. Commanders wouldalso look at utilising emerging tech-

nologies such as Big-Data Analyticsand Artificial Intelligence (AI) toimprove the overall efficiency and effec-tiveness.

India is a maritime nation and itsgrowth is inexplicably linked to the seas.Under the overall vision of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi of 'Security andGrowth for All in the Region' (SAGAR),the Indian Navy has been at the forefrontof providing an environment of stabili-ty and peace in the IOR. As the premierNavy in the region, the Indian Navyaspires to remain the 'Net SecurityProvider' in the Indian Ocean throughcollaboration and cooperation with like-minded and friendly nations.

The Indian Navy has witnessed anunprecedented growth in its opera-tional tasking over the past decade inconsonance with India's rising maritimeinterests. The Navy has adopted the'Mission-based Deployment' philoso-phy and the 'Maintenance-to-Operations'transition cycle over the past year to address the need to be present and to respond to emerging situations in the IOR.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress MP Shashi Tharooron Wednesday sent a legal

notice to Union Minister RaviShankar Prasad over the latter'sstatement, 'Shashi Tharoor whois accused in a murder case hasattempted to disrespect LordShiva'. Prasad had remarked thison Tharoor while he demand-ed an apology from him forcomparing Prime MinisterNarendra Modi with a scorpionsitting on a Shiv Linga.

Tharoor has sought anunconditional apology fromPrasad within 48 hours for hisremarks, which he called falseand defamatory. In his legalnotice, he alleged that Prasad

had deliberately lied to the pub-lic with "culpable maliciousintention" to defame him. Thenotice called upon the UnionMinister to delete the tweetalong with the video clip of thepress conference.

The legal notice said Prasadwas aware that Tharoor had nei-ther been chargesheeted formurder nor is he an accused ina murder case. "The scandalousand false and defamatory state-ments you have publishedagainst Dr Shashi Tharoor areexplicitly intended to harm thereputation of Tharoor and tomalign him before the public byintentionally giving your falseand untrue statements the colourof your office," the notice read.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With Congress presidentRahul Gandhi unrelent-

ing in his attacks as the cam-paign for Assembly elections infive States is underway and theLok Sabha polls are less than sixmonths away, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdaytook him on saying he keepsrepeating things like a stuckgramophone but people wouldnot accept his "childish" claimsand "lies" against theGovernment as they make"fun" of such remarks.

Stressing on his develop-ment plank during a videointeraction with BJP workers,Modo asked them to go to peo-ple with a three-point agenda— development, fast develop-ment and development for all.

To a question from aworker as to how they shouldrespond to opposition leaders'"abuses" like calling him ascorpion — an apparent refer-ence to Congress leader ShashiTharoor's recent remarks, Modisaid they were offering himwhat they had.

The Prime Minister said,he was glad that he was of anyuse to them as it allows themto vent their anger and spendtheir time "happily" with theirfamily members in evening.

Citing an anonymous RSS

functionary's comments to ajournalist, Tharoor had saidthat Modi was like a scorpionsitting on a Shivlinga which canneither be removed from handnor hit with a chappal.

Modi mocked Rahul whena party worker asked him as tohow they should respond to theCongress president's commentsin his rallies that there shouldbe mobile manufacturing fac-tories in those areas.

"There used to be gramo-phone records earlier. At times,it would get stuck and playsame words again and again.There are some people like it.One thing occupies their mindand they keep repeating it.

You should enjoy it. Don'tget tensed," he told BJP work-ers.

These people don't knowthat time had changed and itwas no longer easy to fool peo-ple, Modi said, adding thatnobody accepts such childish

remarks. People make fun of it,he said.

India had become a lead-ing manufacturer of mobileswith over 100 factories pro-ducing them now under hisGovernment compared to onlytwo that existed when he cameto power in 2014, Modi said.

He wondered if mobilewas invented after he becameprime minister as he attackedthe previous government.

Modi also targeted Rahulwithout naming him over hisrecent criticism of the centralgovernment on the issue ofOROP (One Rank OnePension) for ex-servicemen.

Congress Governmentswere in power for decades andsoldiers kept demandingOROP, he said, adding thatthey were not even heard.

Since his Government hasimplemented it so his rivalswere concerned over ex-ser-vicemen's "love" for him andrepeating "lies after lies", hesaid. Modi claimed that "lies" ofCongress leaders against theBJP and its Governments oncertain issues indicated his dis-pensation's success as hereferred to his "digital India"campaign which, he added,had made lives easier for croresof people by letting them availof Government benefits sittingat home.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Air pollution in the nation-al Capital region will dete-

riorate sharply fromNovember 3 because not onlyemissions from field fires inPunjab and Haryana havewitnessed a significant rise butalso since there will be devel-opment of western distur-bance system over north Indiaand the north-westerly windswill lead the smoke to Delhi.

The Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) hasdirected the State pollutioncontrol bodies of Punjab,Haryana and Delhi to startcriminal prosecution againstagencies or individuals whodo not comply with directivesto check air pollution.

However, even as a thickhaze continues to envelopDelhi, the air quality

improved slightly onWednesday, bringing downpollution levels due to windspeed in the morning.

The Supreme Courtappointed EnvironmentPollution (Prevention andControl) Authority (EPCA)on Wednesday said that airpollution could lead to a spikein pollution in the coming 10days due to increase in stub-ble burning in Punjab andHaryana.

"This is because there is awestern disturbance system inthe north of India which isbringing moisture, and acyclonic system on the easternside which is suppressingwinds. Besides this, there isincreased burning of paddystraw in Punjab and Haryana,as is evident in imagesreleased by the NASA in US;the direction of the wind is

now from the northwest. Allthis, combined with Delhi-NCR's own pollution sources,could lead to a spike in pol-lution in the coming 10 days,"the EPCA said.

CPCB Chairperson S PSingh Parihar has also issueddirections to constructionagencies, municipal corpora-tions and land owning indus-tries to comply with the direc-tions of the NGT and theCPCB and ensure correctiveactions within 48 hours incases of air polluting activitiesas reported by the CPCBinspection teams.

India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) has pre-dicted isolated rainfall overparts of Punjab and Haryanain the next two days and sub-sequent increase in windspeed, which is likely toreduce pollution levels. Delhi,

however, is likely to remaindry.

The current weather con-ditions have also favouredreduction of pollution fromstubble burning in northernstates, as low wind speed hasimpeded the transport of pol-lutants from fields in northernstates towards Delhi.

NASA satellite picturesshow a thick haze over thenorthern region, with firedetection being reportedacross states. Officials ofPunjab and Haryana highlightthat the number of such inci-dents is lower than last year.

EPCA Chairman, BhureLal had sounded an alarm onrising air pollution levels onTuesday, calling for stringentaction, including restrictionson private vehicles in Delhi, ifair quality plunges to severe oremergency levels.

People won’t accept RaGa’s lies: PM

PNS n NEW DELHI

The day Prime MinisterNarendra Modi unveiled

the 'Statue of Unity' of SardarVallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat,Congress president RahulGandhi on Wednesday accusedthe Government of "treason",saying there was a "systematicdestruction" of institutions thatPatel had helped build.

His party colleague andformer Union Minister ShashiTharoor wondered why notthere is a bigger statue ofMahatma Gandhi as Patel washis disciple.

Taking a swipe at Modi, theCongress chief tweeted, "Ironicthat a statue of Sardar Patel isbeing inaugurated, but everyinstitution he helped build isbeing smashed." "The systematicdestruction of India's institu-

tions is nothing short of trea-son," he said.

In another tweet, Rahulsaid Patel was a patriot, whofought for a independent, unit-ed and secular India. "A manwith a steely will, tempered bycompassion, he was aCongressman to the core, whohad no tolerance for bigotry orcommunalism. On his birthanniversary, I salute this greatson of India," he tweeted.

For his part, Tharoor said:"The biggest one is inParliament. But this is a 182metre statue for his disciple.Why is there such a big statue fora disciple of Gandhiji in thecountry where there is no stat-ue of that size for the Mahatma?"

"Patel, a very simple person,was known as the disciple ofGandhiji," Tharoor said. "I amasking a question...Is it right to

erect such an imposing statue ofPatel, a man of simplicity and atrue Gandhian, who movedalong with poor peasants," hesaid. Tharoor said BJP had noanswer to the query why theydid not erect a bigger statue ofthe Mahatma.

The reason is that they donot believe in MahatmaGandhi's principles of non-vio-lence, he alleged. He also allegedthat BJP was trying to "hijack"the legacy of freedom fightersand national heroes like Patel asthey have no leaders of theirown in history to celebrate.

He said Patel was aCongress leader and BJP shouldnot be allowed to adopt him."Patel had worked along withGandhiji and strengthened theCongress party. We shouldremember him always,"Tharoor said.

Says there isdestruction ofinstitutions thatPatel had build

Rahul accuses Govt of treason

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid controversies involvingthe CBI and the RBI,

President Ram Nath Kovindon Wednesday asked those intop positions in financial insti-tutions and the Government toact like "ethical leaders" as theirwork and conduct affect the livesof common people.

Kovind's assertion assumessignificance as the CBI isembroiled in a controversyinvolving its two top officials,while there is mounting tensionbetween the Arun Jaitley-ledFinance Ministry and the cen-tral bank. The President wasaddressing the VigilanceAwareness Week 2018 functionorganised by the CentralVigilance Commission here.The theme of this year's event is'Eradicate Corruption - Build aNew India'.

The president said there isa serious effort to curb and pun-ish those involved in economicoffences, and to give habitualoffenders a sense of fear of thelaw.

Citing different legislativemeasures and the introductionof the Fugitive EconomicOffenders Bill in Parliament,President Kovind said such ini-tiatives give confidence to hon-est citizens and taxpayers.

Addressing the gathering,he said those present in the audi-torium hold top positions instate-run banks, insurance com-panies and other financial insti-tutions, and the Government.

"It is important that youunderstand the actual meaningof integrity, transparency andhonesty. In the broad meaningof integrity both dedication towork and institutional disci-pline is included.

"Your conduct , inspiresother people of your organisa-tion. Your work and ethical val-

ues, effects lives of lakhs andcrores of citizens. In true sense,your role is of ethical leaders,"the president said.

"The confidence of our peo-ple that decisions and actions arebeing undertaken with trans-parency, accountability and fair-ness must continuously beenhanced.

"Unnecessary delays in deci-sion making too hurt the cred-ibility of any institution," he said,adding that technology and theinternet can be of great use inthis regard.

President Kovind said like"prevention is better than cure"is considered effective in thehealth sector, in the same way"preventive vigilance is betterthat the punitive vigilance" canprove to be an effective policy inchecking corruption.

Talking about benefits of useof technology to check graft, hesaid Rs. 3.65 lakh crore has beendelivered to beneficiaries of 431different schemes using directbenefit transfers in the pastfour years.

"In addition, I have beentold that direct benefit transferand other governance reformshave led to removal of duplicateor fake beneficiaries, as also toplugging of leakages. As a resultof these, estimated savingsamounting to approximatelyRs. 90,000 crore have been madein the period ending March2018," President Kovind said.

He said from extendingbanking facilities to previouslyun-banked sections of our peo-ple to implementing the Goodsand Services Tax, variousendeavours have been made toboost the formal economy.

"Adoption of digital systemshas also helped contain corrup-tion. In this manner, loop-holesfor corruption and misuse ofpublic money are beingaddressed," the president said.

Act like ethicalleaders: Prez totop officials

CBI, RBI ROW

President Ram Nath Kovind with MoS PMO Jitender Singh and Central VigilanceCommissioner KV Chowdary during the Vigilance Awareness Week - 2018function at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

3-day Navy commanders'

conference to deliberate on

combat readiness of units PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi court on Wednesdaygranted bail to CBI DSP

Devender Kumar in the allegedbribery case against benchedagency's Special Director RakeshAsthana even as CBI Additional SPSS Gurm moved the Delhi HighCourt seeking to be heard inAsthana's petition to quash the FIRagainst him. Asthana's plea is slat-ed to be heard on Thursday.

Special CBI Judge SantoshSnehi Mann granted relief to Kumarand asked him to furnish a personalbond of `50,000 and a surety of likeamount.

The relief was granted to Kumaras the CBI did not oppose his bailapplication. In his bail application,Kumar had termed his custody "ille-gal" and prayed the court to set himfree.

Kumar also assured the courtthat he was ready to abide by theconditions imposed by the courtwhile granting him bail.

Kumar and Asthana havealready challenged the legality of the

FIR filed against them.Besides Asthana and Kumar,

two private persons — ManojPrasad and Somesh Prasad — havealso been named as accused in thecase.

Kumar had claimed that he wasfalsely implicated in the case andthat he was a victim of rivalryamong the senior officers of theCBI.

He had said he was investigat-ing a case against meat exporterMoin Qureshi, in which the com-plainant in the present case —Sathish Babu Sana — was a suspect

and the names of some past andpresent senior CBI officers had sur-faced.

The FIR was lodged on thebasis of a written complaint fromSana on October 15, wherein it wasalleged that Kumar, being the IO inthe case against Qureshi, wasrepeatedly calling the complainantto the CBI office to harass him andcompel him to pay a bribe of `5crore for getting a clean chit in thecase.

Meanwhile, CBI Additional SPS S Gurm told the Delhi High Courton Wednesday that there was "rea-sonable" apprehension that theagency would not effectively con-test the petition filed by SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthana seekingthe quashing of an FIR against himin a bribery case.

Gurm has also dragged thename of RAW Special DirectorSamant Goel in the bribery caseagainst Asthana.

Gurm, who was transferredfrom Delhi to Jabalpur, has soughtto be made a party in the petitionfiled by Asthana.

Kumar had claimed

that he was falsely

implicated in the

case and that he

was a victim of

rivalry among the

senior officers of

the CBI

New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Wednesday clarified thatonly "green crackers" will besold in the Delhi-NCR regionduring this Diwali and other fes-tivals.

It, however, allowed thefirecrackers which have alreadybeen produced to be sold inother parts of the country thisDiwali and other festivals andoccasions.

A bench of Justices A KSikri and Ashok Bhushan saidon the occasion of Gurpurab,which is in November, fireworksshall be allowed for one hour inthe morning between 4 am to 5am and one hour in the eveningbetween 9 pm to 10 pm.

In its October 23 order, thecourt had ruled that bursting offirecrackers on Diwali and other

festivals would be allowed from8 pm to 10 pm.

"In direction No. (ii) wheresale of crackers other thanreduced emission is banned, itis clarified that this sale isbanned in Delhi and NCR...Inother areas, the crackers whichhave already been producedwould be allowed to be sold forthis Diwali and other festivalsand occasions," the bench said.

The bench said with regardto Tamil Nadu, Puducherryand other southern states, thecourt had already passed theorder on October 30, by whichit had granted liberty to theauthorities of the states con-cerned to change the timings forbursting of firecrackers, but theduration should not exceed twohours a day.

The court highlighted thatits pan-India directions pertainsto community fire cracking,two hours duration for burstingof crackers, public awarenesscampaign.

"In addition, the directionregarding production of crack-ers with reduced emission andrestraining e-commerce web-sites for selling firecrackers alsoapplies throughout India," thebench said and added that allpan-India directions will beenforced by police authorities.

The bench said the pro-duction of crackers withreduced emission (improvedcrackers and green crackers) ispermitted and it would alsomean that barium salts in themanufacture of firecrackers willnot be used. PTI

New Delhi: Continuing with its firmstance on traceability, theGovernment on Wednesday statedthat it has not sought decryption ofWhatsApp messages but insteadwants the location and identity ofthose misusing the platform to spreadfake news that provokes violence.

IT Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad, who met WhatsApp VicePresident Chris Daniels, also assert-ed that the "institutional integrity"of the platform be maintainedahead of elections.

"On the issue of traceability, Iemphasised that when we talk oftraceability, we don't talk of decrypt-ing messages," Prasad said. "Weinsist rather on location and iden-tification of the sender of WhatsAppmessages when such messages leadto provocation of violence, heinousoffences and other serious crimes,"

he said. The minister added that hehas been assured by the WhatsAppleadership team that they will lookinto the matter and revert.

The Facebook-owned companyhas been under pressure for monthsnow to put in place a mechanism tocurb fake messages on its platform.

Following multiple incidentsof mob lynching across the coun-try, the government had slappedWhatsApp with two notices, withthe second one warning that it willtreat the messaging platform as anabettor of rumour propagation andlegal consequences will follow ifadequate checks are not put in place.

Prasad had met Daniels inAugust this year too, and apart fromthe traceability request, he had askedWhatsApp to set up a local corporateentity and appoint a grievance offi-cer to address complaints. PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday direct-ed the Amrapali Group to disclose the names of all thecompanies with which it had any kind of transactionsafter forensic auditors pointed out that there may be aweb of more than 200-250 such firms where home buy-ers money was transferred.

The two forensic auditors, appointed by the courtto look into the affairs of Amrapali Group said besides47 sister companies, they stumbled upon 31 companieswhose names were never disclosed by the embattled realestate firm. The court was also told that there may bea case of the Foreign Exchange Management Act(FEMA), as large amount of money was transferred toa multinational company based in Mauritius.

It questioned Amarapali Group CFO ChanderWadhwa as to how a group company paid his IncomeTax amounting to `2 crore, when he was earning only`50,000 per month. A bench of Justices Arun Mishraand U U Lalit said money of innocent buyers could notbe misused like this and asked the Mauritius-based JPMorgan company to file its account statement withregard to the transaction with the Amrapali Group. PTI

New Delhi: First Lady ofSouth Korea Kim Jung-sookwill visit India fromNovember 4-7 during whichshe will participate in festivi-ties in the religious city ofAyodhya.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) said she will bethe chief guest at the'Deepotsav' event being organ-ised by the Uttar PradeshGovernment on November 6.

The Korean First Lady, tobe accompanied by a high-level delegation, will alsoattend the ground-breakingceremony of the QueenSuriratna (Heo Hwang-ok)memorial in Ayodhya.

"The First Lady's participa-

tion in the festivities in Ayodhyawill showcase our close civili-sational links as well as theongoing deepening engagementbetween our two countries,"an MEA statement said.

According to Korean leg-ends, Princess Suriratna fromAyodhya had travelled toKorea and married King KimSuro and became Queen HeoHwang-ok some 2000 yearsago.

"India and Republic ofKorea share a special strategicpartnership. Moon Jae-in,President of Republic of Koreahad visited India in July 2018.His visit had imparted newstrength to our evolving part-nership," the MEA said.

An MoU regarding theQueen Suriratna MemorialProject was signed to facilitateupgrade and expansion of theexisting monument com-

memorating PrincessSuriratna (Queen HurHwang-ok).

The legendary Princessof Ayodhya went to Korea in48 AD and married KingKim-Suro. A large number ofKoreans trace their ancestry tothis legendary princess.

Preeti Saran, Secretary(East) in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs, said there arealso plans to build a monu-ment commemorating theprincess.

"Since last year, the UttarPradesh Government startedorganising Deepotsav. TheUP Government also invitedthe Korean Government toparticipate as a partner coun-try. President Moon said thathe will send a high-level cul-tural delegation to partici-pate in the Deepotsav," Saransaid. PTI

Only green crackers for Delhi-NCRthis Diwali, other festivals: SC

Tharoor sends legalnotice to Union MinPrasad, seeks apology

Will attend festivitiesin Ayodhya

S Korean First Lady to visit India next week

NCR’s air to deteriorate from Nov 3 due to stubble fire Want location, identity of thosespreading fake news: Govt

Web of 200-250 firmswhere Amrapali divertedfunds, SC seeks details

CBI DSP arrested in briberycase against Asthana gets bail

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018 nation 06

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Foot soldiers of the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) have

launched a massive ‘anti-tun-nel’ drive to prevent infiltrationof heavily armed infiltratorsthrough the cross border tun-nel along the Internationalborder across Jammu frontier.

The anti-tunnel drive iscurrently going on across threedistricts of Jammu, Samba andKathua and expected to covermost vulnerable stretches torule out the possibility of pres-ence of any cross border tunnel.

For this special drive, theBSF has deployed its trainedman power along with range ofequipment to detect presence ofunderground tunnel in the area.

In the past, the PakistanRangers have attempted topush infiltrators through crossborder tunnel across Sambaand Hiranagar sectors ofJammu frontier.

Inspector General of BSF,Jammu frontier, Ram Awtartold The Pioneer, “a massiveanti-tunnel drive is being car-ried out on ground zero acrossJammu frontier to rule out thepossibility of presence of anycross border tunnel in the area”.

He said, “Ever sinceinstances of use of cross bordertunnel have come to light BSFhas adopted this practice of car-rying out routine searches inthe area”.

“The ongoing drive is alsopart of the ongoing routineexercise. We have deployedour men and machinery on theground zero to check everyinch of our territory. We can-not lower our guard, we are onhigh alert 24x7 to prevent anykind of infiltration bid fromacross the International

Border,” he added.The entire security grid in

the region was alarmed in thesecond week of September2018, following arrest ofMohammad Iqbal ofPakharpora, Budgam and RiazAhmad of Hajin, Pulwama.

The duo was picked up bythe State police from anencounter site near Jhajjar Kotlion September 12, 2018.

During their interrogationRiaz Ahmad, truck driver andhis accomplice Mohd Iqbal,had revealed that they had been

helping infiltrators to reachKashmir Valley via Jammu afterpicking them from near theInternational border. Accordingto them at least four to fivebatches of infiltrators were fer-ried in trucks to Kashmir Valleyvia the same route.

Even the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)which is carrying out the probein the case had recently visitedforward border areas acrossHiranagar sector and searchedhouses of some of the local vil-lagers to track down the possi-ble route of infiltration used bythe heavily armed infiltrators.

A senior BSF officer super-vising the ongoing drive toldreporters on ground zero, “We

perform anti-tunnel drive totimely detect presence of anysmall or big cross border tun-nel in the area”.

The BSF officer said duringthe anti-tunnel drive we exer-cise extra caution to ensure ourjawans are not targeted by thePakistan Rangers using ‘snipers’.

The BSF officer said threatis always there but morale of ourjawans remain high. A BSFhead constable Narendra Kumarwas abducted and tortured bythe Pakistan Rangers before hewas killed on September 18,2018. His dead body with telltale signs of torture was recov-ered by the BSF from the for-ward area of Ramgarh sector inSamba sector.


In an unexpected develop-ment, veteran actor Anupam

Kher has resigned as chairmanof the Pune-based Film andTelevision Institute of India(FTII), citing his preoccupationwith international profession-al assignments.

Kher (63) who had onTuesday sent his resignationletter to Union Minister forInformation & BroadcastingRajyavardhan Singh Rathore,announced his resignation onhis Twitter handle onWednesday.

“It has been an honour, aprivilege & a great learningexperience to be the Chairmanof the prestigious@FTIIOfficial. But because ofmy international assignments Iwon’t have much time to devoteat the institute. Hence decidedto send my resignation. Thankyou,” the actor tweeted.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kherhad stated in his resignation let-ter: “The decision has notcome without considerablethought of the responsibilitiesexpected of me vis-a-vis thetime I have at my disposal toexecute them. At the timewhen I was officiallyapproached by former I&BMinister Smriti Irani to beappointed as the chairman, Idid share with her that I wasdue to be stationed in the USnearly six months for an inter-national show”.

“The latest news now isthat the show has been given afurther extension of fourmonths. This translates into mebeing stationed in the US fornearly nine months between2018 and 2019 and then asimilar period of minimum of

three years more. Given theassignment it would not be fairto me, the students and man-agement team, for me to holda position of such responsibil-ity, without being activelyinvolved in the operations,”Kher added.

He went onto request theI&B Ministry to accept hisresignation and in the noticeperiod scout for someone suit-able to take over the chargefrom him.

Kher thanked the FTIIstaff, teachers and students fortheir appreciation during mytenure as chairman. “As anindividual you can always reachout to me,” he added.

It may be recalled onOctober 11 last year, Kher —who has featured in more than500 films and acted in 100-oddplays — had replaced Televisionactor Gajendra Chauhan as theFTII chairman. Earlier,Chauhan’s appointment hadresulted unrest among the stu-dents in the Pune-based filminstitute in June 2015.

FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA

Unmistakably annoyed overthe BJP and the JD(U)

announcing their seat sharingwithout taking him into confi-dence and angry over beingside-lined in the NDA, UnionMinister and RLSP chiefUpendra Kushwaha onWednesday claimed that ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar didn’twant to continue in the officeafter 2020. What he didn’t saythat he was a claimant for thatoffice after 2020 Assembly polls.

Addressing a meeting of hisparty here Kushwaha, who aday earlier had a meeting withsome BJP leaders in New Delhi,claimed that Nitish himselfhad expressed desire not to con-tinue after completing 15 yearsin office. Nitish became ChiefMinister of NDA in 2005 whenKushwaha was in his companyand enjoying confidence.

Kushwaha said, “Nitish jitold me that he did not want tocontinue and said there wouldbe vacancy in 2020.” He said itwas a truth and not a politicalgimmick. “I am not asking forhis resignation. But if he doesnot want to continue nobodycan force him to carry on. Thepeople of Bihar will decide whowill be the CM,” he added.

It is an open secret thatKushwaha has his eyes on CM’schair despite the fact that hecommanded strength of threeMPs, now only two after ArunKumar deserted him, and justtwo MLAs. His condition ofprojecting him as CM byMahagathbandhan has alreadybeen turned down by the RJD.

He was also unhappy thathis party was not accommo-dated in the Nitish Cabinetwhen he realigned with the BJPand formed the Government.The LJP got its representationwith the inclusion of PashupatiKumar Paras, who was alsomade an MLC but RLSP wassimply ignored.

Kushwaha said he did not

want a berth in the NitishCabinet but a reply from theNDA why his party was leftout. “I am ready for sacrifice assuggested by the BJP but I wantto know why RLSP was ignoredand no leader of NDA said any-thing,” he asked.

In this pretext it is still verydifficult to predict which wayKushwaha would go.

He had met Tejashwi Yadavon Friday last though he clar-ified later that it was not he butYadav who came to meet him.

ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI

Estonian Ambassador toIndia Riho Kruuv called on

Assam Governor Prof JagdishMukhi in Raj Bhavan onWednesday and expressed hisdesire to export the famedAssam tea directly to Estonia.

Kruuv, who is on a tour ofAssam and Northeast IndiaStates, also discussed with theGovernor a gamut of issues,including information tech-nology, tourism etc.

Hailing the sprawling teagardens in Assam and theirproducts the taste of which issecond to none, the EstonianAmbassador desired thatAssam tea should directly beexported to Estonia. He alsosaid bilateral relations betweenEstonia and Assam can beexpanded in the areas of infor-mation technology and saidthat Estonia can put its exper-tise for the promotion andexpansion of IT and IT enabledservices in Assam.

The Estonian Ambassadoralso expressed his desire to seethe oil reserves in Assam andoffered to enter into bilateralagreement with Assam toexpand the parameters of bilat-eral relations in oil sector as well.

Prof Mukhi drew theEstonian Ambassador’s atten-tion that the sectors including

food processing, tourism etchave vast potentials and Estoniacan convince its companies toinvest in these sectors for themutual benefits of both Assamand Estonia.

The Estonian envoy alsoseemed to be awestruck seeingthe pristine tourism and saidthat the State’s tourism can be

extensively used to facilitatepeople to people contactbetween India and Estonia.Prof Mukhi also acknowledgedthe Estonian envoy’s gesture ofvisiting Assam as he said thatboth the geographical entitiesshould keep working tostrengthen bilateral relationsfor the mutual benefits.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN nCHENNAI

Stage is set for crucial by-elec-tions from 20 Assembly

constituencies in Tamil Nadu,the results of which could sus-tain or mar the EdappadiPalaniswami-led AIADMKGovernment.

Speaking to reporters atMadurai on Wednesday,Amma Makkal MunnetraKatchi leader TTV Dhinakaransaid the 18 MLAs who weredisqualified by the Speakerunder the provisions of theanti-defection law would con-test the by-polls as and whenthe Election Commission ofIndia hold them.

Last week the Madras HighCourt had upheld the Speaker’sdecision to disqualify all the 18MLAs who had met the thenGovernor C Vidhyasagar Raoin August 2017 and handedover letters withdrawing theirsupport to the PalaniswamiGovernment. The thenGovernor had forwarded theletters to the Speaker who by anexecutive order disqualifiedthe MLAs after the due process.

The MLAs, owing alle-giance to Dhinakaran and VKSasikala, the jailed aide of for-mer Chief Minister JJayalalithaa had challenged theSpeaker’s order in the MadrasHigh Court which dismissedtheir petition by a 2-1 verdict.

Though there were reportsthat the disqualified legislatorswould approach the SupremeCourt challenging the HighCourt verdict, Dhinakaran setat rest all such speculations andannounced that they wouldface the bypolls.

The Tamil Nadu LegislativeAssembly has a total strengthof 234 but 20 seats have fallenvacant due to the disqualifica-tion and demise of two MLAs,including M Karunanidhi, the

DMK chief.As on Wednesday, the

AIADMK has the support of116 MLAs while the OppositionDMK has an effective strengthof 97. If the DMK counts thesupport of Dhinakaran, thestrength of the Oppositionwould go up to 97. There arereports that four MLAs from theAIADMK are ready to crossover to the Dhinakaran campwhich would bring down thenumbers in Palaniswami’s campto 112. The DMK camp wouldget strengthened by these fourlegislators.

If the AIADMK fails to winat least six seats in the bypolls,the Government is certain tocome down in a vote of confi-dence.

For Palaniswami to breatheeasy, the AIADMK should havethe support of a minimum of130 legislators in the Housewhich means the ruling partyshould pocket 18 of the 20 seatsat stake. Tamil Nadu’s politicalobservers point out that this isthe first time in the State’s his-tory a ruling party is facing aprecarious position like thepresent one.

A potter prepares earthen lamps ahead of Diwali festival, in Mirzapur, on Wednesday PTI

PTI n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan handed

over keys of 192 flats, built forfamilies of fishermen, whosehomes were destroyed due tofloods in various villages inThiruvananthapuram district.

The ‘Prathiksha’ (Hope)apartment complex, built atnearby Muttathara, will reha-bilitate the families who wererendered homeless by ea erosionand rough seas in Valiyathura,Cheriyathura and other fishingvillages here. The first-of-its-kind project has been con-structed by the stateGovernment under MissionLIFE (Livelihood Inclusion andFinancial Empowerment) whichenvisages a comprehensivehousing scheme for all the land-less and homeless in the State.

Each flat has two bed-rooms, a hall, a kitchen and alavatory. The complex also hasamenities like a library, com-munity hall and sanitationfacilities, constructed at a costof `2.5 crore.

It will also help relocatefishing families living in areasclose to the sea. Situated on 3.5acres, these 24 units of eightflats each were constructed ata cost of `20 crore.

“The apartment complexin Muttathara is the best flatcomplex so far constructed forfisherfolk”, Vijayan said in atweet. The fishing families ren-dered homeless in the 2016 seaerosion at Veliyathur and thosewho had lost their homes inrough seas since 2012 andwere forced to live in schoolsturned into relief camps arebeneficiaries of the project.

The foundation stone forthe complex was laid by thechief minister last year.Fisheries minister J Mercykutty,presided over the function.

Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Governor SatyaPal Malik on Wednesday said terrorism inKashmir cannot be wiped out by killing ter-rorists but by bringing them back to themainstream.

Talking of Pakistan’s role in fanning ter-rorism in the State, the Governor said theneighbouring country wants J&K to remaindisturbed, but its designs keep failing as theydid recently during the recent municipalpolls.

“Terrorism cannot be wiped out bykilling militants. More of them will keepjoining terror groups. They will keep attack-ing police and security forces which will, inturn, fire bullets, not bouquets. And they willdie in the process,” he said. “We do not wantthem to die. We want them to leave the gunculture and come back to the mainstream,”he added.

Malik made the remarks while talkingto reporters on the sidelines of a PowerDepartment function. PTI

BSF starts massive ‘anti-tunnel’ drive

Adviser to Governor K Vijay Kumar, incharge Home department, along with seniorBSF officers of Jammu frontier toured border areas to review prevailing securitysituation BSF

zy The anti-tunnel drive is currently going on across three districts ofJammu, Samba and Kathua and expected to cover most vulnerablestretches to rule out the possibility of presence of any cross bordertunnel

zy In the past, the Pakistan Rangers have attempted to push infiltratorsthrough cross border tunnel across Samba and Hiranagar sectors ofJammu frontier

zy The entire security grid in the region was alarmed in the second weekof September 2018, following arrest of Mohammad Iqbal ofPakharpora, Budgam and Riaz Ahmad of Hajin, Pulwama

zy The BSF officer said during the anti-tunnel drive we exercise extracaution to ensure our jawans are not targeted by the Pakistan Rangersusing ‘snipers’

Anupam Kher resigns as FTII chairmanActor cites his preoccupation with

international professional assignments

It has been an honour, aprivilege & a great learningexperience to be theChairman of the prestigious@FTIIOfficial. But because ofmy international assignmentsI won’t have much time todevote at the institute. Hencedecided to send myresignation. Thank you

Flats for

fishermen

displaced by

Kerala floods

Bypolls’ results to decidePalaniswami’s fate

Kushwaha’s

attempt to corner

Nitish, NDA

Nitish ji told me he did notwant to continue and saidthere would be vacancy in2020...He said it was a truthand not a political gimmick...Iam not asking for hisresignation. But if he does notwant to continue nobody canforce him to carry on. Thepeople of Bihar will decidewho will be the CMUPENDRA KUSHWAHA

Terrorism cannot bewiped out by killingterrorists: J&K Guv

Estonia Ambassador expresses

desire to import Assam tea

o Estonian Ambassador also expressed his desire to see the oilreserves in Assam and offered to enter into bilateral agreement withAssam to expand the parameters of bilateral relations in oil sectoras well

o Estonian envoy also seemed to be awestruck seeing the pristinetourism and said that the State’s tourism can be extensively used tofacilitate people to people contact between India and Estonia


Mounting pressure on the Narendra Modi

Government on the issue ofRam Mandir, RSS Joint GeneralSecretary Manmohan Vaidya onWednesday said the Centreshould enact a law to acquire theland and hand it over for theconstruction of Ram temple atAyodhya.

Following up on RSS chiefchief Mohan Bhag wat’sVijayadashami rally exhortationto the Modi Government “toclear the path for construction ofa grand temple through appro-priate and requisite law”, Vaidyarooted strongly for early con-struction of Ram Mandir atAyodhya

“Ram temple is a matter ofnational pride and glory. Just likeSardar Patel got Somnath temple

rebuilt, the government shouldacquire the land and hand overit for Ram temple construction.The Government should makelaw for that,” Vaidya said. Vaidyarecalled as to how the Somnathtemple came to be re-constuct-ed in 1951 during the tenure offormer Deputy Prime Ministerand Home Minister SardarVallabhbhai Patel. “It was a mat-ter of national pride,” he said.

Talking to mediapersonsafter Bhagwat inaugurated athree-day All India workingcommittee meeting at RambhauMhalgi Prabodhini at Uttan inthe neighbouring Thane dis-trict, Vaidya reminded the Modidispensation about the “promise”made in 1994 to the SupremeCourt that it would be on theside of the Hindu community ifany evidence was found of a pre-existing temple before it was

razed to build the Babri Masjid.The Congress had said all

parties should abide by the courtverdict. The BJP too has main-tained that it would respect theverdict of the court.

“ The court has said amosque is not mandatory fornamaz and the prayers can beperformed on the streets as well.Besides, namaz is not accepted ifit is performed on a forciblyacquired land. The court has alsosaid that this (acquiring of land)was not a religious deed,” Vaidyasaid.

“Now, we have the evi-dence... Also, this issue has longbeen pending in the court with-out a decision. The issue is nowonly that of acquiring the landand handing it over for the con-struction of the temple. TheGovernment should make a lawfor that,” Vaidya said.

The RSS leader said the issuewas no more limited to Hindusand Muslims or a temple or amosque, but about the restora-tion of the pride of the country.“The Government should nowfulfill the promise made in 1994,”he added. Vaidya’s remarks cametwo days after the SupremeCourt noted that an appropriatebench would start hearing thematters relating to the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dis-pute from January 2019. Thedelay in the start of hearing hastriggered demands within theRSS and ruling BJP for a law foran early construction of thetemple on the disputed site.

Responding to repeatedquestions on Ram janmabhoo-mi-Babri masjid issue, Vaidyasaid, “Our position is knownnow The sarsanghchalak (RSSchief) has already said. Nothing

needs to be added”.Addressing the RSS cadres at

the RSS headquarters in Nagpuron the occasion ofVijayadashami on October 18,Bhagwat had charged that therewas “an obvious game-plan” of afew elements to stall the judg-ment on the Ram Mandir issueby presenting various newerinterventions in the judicialprocess. He, however, stressedthat the construction of Ramtemple was necessary from theself-esteem point of view.

“It (Ram temple) will alsopave the way for an atmosphereof goodwill and oneness in thecountry. This matter of nation-al interest is being obstructed bysome fundamentalist elementsand forces that play communalpolitics for selfish gains. Despitesuch machinations, the decisionregarding ownership of the land

should be expedited, and theGovernment should clear thepath for construction of thegrand temple through appropri-ate and requisite law,” Bhagwathad said.

Meanwhile, referring to theunveiling of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel’s statue by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in Gujarat ear-lier in the day, Vaidya -- duringhis interaction with the media -- hit out at the Congress, forpoliticising the issue.

“The country is proud ofSardar Patel’sachievements....The Congresshas the habit of criticising every-thing, but they cannot prove any-thing. This is an issue of nation-al pride. Sardar Patel had playeda big role in uniting the countryafter Independence and there-fore, he was known as the IronMan,” Vaidya said.

Enact law for Ram temple: RSS to Centre

nation 07LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

IN U-TURN...Attorney General KK

Venugopal raised objectionson the apex court order seek-ing the pricing details of thefighter jet purchase. He said thatthese details come underOfficial Secrets Act and noteven shared with Parliament. “Ifpricing is something exclusiveand you are not sharing it withus, please file an affidavit andsay so,” the Bench told AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal in itsoral observations.

The top court was hearingfour petitions, including one byadvocate Prashant Bhushanand former Union MinistersArun Shourie and YashwantSinha, who are seeking a courtmonitored CBI investigationin the procurement of the fight-er jets. “That you will have towait,” the CJI said, adding, “LetCBI put its house in orderfirst.” The Bench, also compris-ing Justices UU Lalit and KMJoseph, said the “core of infor-mation” that can be brought inthe public domain should beshared with the “petitioner andpetitioners in person”. In itsorder, the SC observed thatnone of the petitioners hasquestioned the suitability of theRafale jets, their equipmentand their utility to the IndianAir Force. “What has beenquestioned is the bonafide ofthe decision-making processand the price/cost at which thesame is to be procured,” theBench said. At this stage, theBench said, the court did notwant to record any finding orview on the documents placedbefore it. It also observed thatinformation regarding induc-tion of the Indian offset partnerbe given to the court and thepetitioners. When a counselappearing for AAP Rajya Sabhamember Sanjay Singh told theBench he has also filed a peti-tion in this matter, the courtasked, “What is his interest? Wedon’t have to entertain so manypetitions.” Shourie was present

in the court during the hearing. India signed an agreement

with France for the purchase of36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of theupgrading process of the IndianAir Force. The Rafale fighter isa twin-engine Medium MultiRole Combat Aircraft(MMRCA) manufactured byFrench aerospace companyDassault Aviation.

In August 2007, the IndianAir Force advanced a proposalto buy 126 fighter aircraft andfloated a tender. Following this,an invitation was sent to vari-ous aviation companies to par-ticipate in the bidding process.

The public interest litiga-tions (PILs) against the Rafaledeal were initially filed bylawyers ML Sharma and VineetDhanda. Later, two other peti-tions were filed, one by Sinha,Shourie and Bhushan, andanother by AAP’s Sanjay Singh.The two former UnionMinisters and Bhushan havesought registration of an FIRand have alleged “criminal mis-conduct” by high public func-tionaries. The trio has alsosought a direction to the CBI toinvestigate the offences men-tioned in their complaint in a“time-bound” manner andperiodic status reports to theapex court.

In 2007, they claimed, ten-ders were issued by the Ministryof Defence for the purchase of126 fighter jets. It was specifiedin the Request for Proposal that18 of these aircraft would bepurchased from abroad in a ‘fly-away’ condition. The remaining108 were to be manufactured inIndia in the HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL)factory with transfer of technol-ogy from the foreign vendor.

The plea alleges that thenew deal gives undue benefit toReliance Aerospace Limited(RAL) and the escalation ofprice of airplanes is to accountfor collateral considerations. Ithas also sought direction to the

Centre to cease and desist frominfluencing or intimidating inany way the officials that wouldinvestigate the offences men-tioned in the complaint and nottransfer the CBI officials taskedwith investigation.

INDIA LEAPS...India also made paying

taxes less costly by reducing thecorporate income tax rate andthe employees’ provident fundsscheme rate paid by the employ-er,” the World Bank said.

Stating that a well-designedinsolvency framework is a vitaldeterminant of debt recovery,it said the establishment of debtrecovery tribunals in India“reduced non-performingloans by 28 per cent and low-ered interest rates on largerloans, suggesting that fasterprocessing of debt recoverycases cut the cost of credit.”

Further, India reduced thetime and cost of export andimport through various initia-tives, including the implemen-tation of electronic sealing ofcontainers, the upgrading ofport infrastructure and allow-ing electronic submission ofsupporting documents withdigital signatures, it said.

World Bank said India hasfurther streamlined the processof obtaining a building permitand made it faster and lessexpensive to obtain a con-struction permit. It alsoimproved building quality con-trol by introducing decennialliability and insurance.

A Commerce and IndustryMinistry statement in NewDelhi said: “India’s leap of 23ranks in the ease of doingbusiness ranking is significantconsidering that last year Indiahas improved its ranking by 30places, a rare feat for any largecountry of the size of India.”

RBI AUTONOMY...Right now only consulta-

tions are on, which may ormay not result in any direction

being issued, sources said.Former Finance Minister

and senior Congress leader PChidambaram warned of“more bad news” if indeed theGovernment were to invokeSection 7 of the RBI Act. If themove was indeed true, itshowed that the Governmentwas ‘desperate’ and was hidingfacts about the economy, hesaid, adding that the previousUPA Government did notinvoke Section 7 prior to lib-eralisation of the economy in1991, the Asian financial cri-sis of 1997 or the period afterthe recession in 2008.

TWO KILLED...tried to rescue him and firedshots at the salesman and in theair. About 15 rounds were firedand 13 empty shells were recov-ered from the site. Two per-sons, Gopi Kanaujia and SunilKumar, died of bullet injuries,while Vishal Singh (26), a res-ident from Gorai area inSewapuri, and ChandanSharma (31), a resident of GhaiGhat, were admitted to hospi-tal in Maldahiya and were saidto be stable. “They also firedshots indiscriminately in themall, after exiting the store,”said one of the witnesses. Whileinitially police said that the fir-ing was triggered by a disputeover discount, a police state-ment in the evening hinted ata personal enmity. As per thepolice, the main accused AlokUpadhyay had a dispute withone of the salesmen Prashantover his friendship with afemale staff at the store. Thewitness also said that theaccused had once alreadyassaulted the salesman out-side the mall. InspectorGeneral, Varanasi, Vijay SinghMeena, said the CCTV footageof the mall was being exam-ined. The police are investigat-ing how the three suspectsmanaged to bring in weaponsinto the mall as frisking is doneat the entry.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

MJ Akbar, who resigned asUnion Minister amid sexu-

al harassment allegations raised inthe #MeToo campaign in India,testified in Delhi Patiala Housecourt on Wednesday in thedefamation case he has filedagainst journalist Priya Ramani.Akbar wasn't present when aDelhi court took up his case onOctober 18, a day after his exitfrom the Government.

Akbar appeared beforeAdditional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Samar Vishal andrecorded his statement to sup-port the defamation complaintfiled by him against Ramani onOctober 15. "I have filed a crim-inal defamation complaintagainst Priya Ramani for series oftweets that she tweeted on socialmedia. The first one that came tomy notice was on my return froman official tour from Africa. Theoffending portion is the text ofher tweet," Akbar said before thecourt. Akbar cited a number oftweets by Ramani from October10 to 13 and an article publishedin Vogue in 2017. "Indeed there

was an immediate damagebecause of the scurrilous natureof these concocted and false alle-gations. I was attacked in my per-sonal capacity about alleged andfabricated non-events allegedlydone two decades ago," Akbarsaid in his statement.

"I chose in that environmentto seek justice in my personalcapacity without the appurte-nance of office. This is why Ioffered my resignation asMinister of State, Government ofIndia. My reputation has beentarnished in the eyes of generalpublic and those who are nearand dear and known to me,"Akbar said. Akbar, who hadresigned from the UnionCouncil of Ministers on October17, has concluded the recordingof his statement. The court hasfixed November 12 for furtherhearing of the case when thestatements of witnesses namedby Akbar will be recorded.Section 500 of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) provides for the sen-tence for the offence of defamationand an accused may be awardedtwo-year jail term or fine or bothin the event of conviction.

Akbar testifies in defamation

case against scribe Priya

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Why no bigger statue for Gandhi, asks Opp

PTI n THIRUVANTHAPURAM / NEW DELHI

As Prime MinisterNarendra Modi inaugu-

rated the world’s tallest statueto celebrate Vallabhbhai Patel,opposition parties Wednesdayquestioned the BJP as to whythere was no bigger statue forMahatma Gandhi and alsoaccused the ruling party of try-ing to “hijack” the legacy ofIndependence heroes likeSardar Patel.

Congress president RahulGandhi took a swipe at Modi,saying it is “ironic” that a stat-ue of Sardar Patel is beinginaugurated, but every institu-tion he helped build is beingdestgroyed while BSP chiefMayawati demanded an apol-ogy from the BJP and the RSSwho flayed her over the stat-ues of Dalit leaders her gov-ernment had installed in UttarPradesh.

Gandhi also alleged thatthe “systematic destruction” ofIndia’s institutions is nothingshort of “treason”.

Modi after unveiling the

182-metre structure in hishome state of Gujarat onPatel’s 143rd birth anniversaryaddressed the criticism of thedecision to build the monu-ment, questioning whetherany crime had been commit-ted by constructing suchmemorials for national heroeslike Patel.

“We are criticised forpraising the contributions ofnational heroes like SardarPatel. We are made to feel asif we have committed a seriouscrime,” he said. He then poseda question to the audience,“You tell me, is it a crime toremember our nationalheroes?”. To this, the audiencereplied in the negative.Congress leader ShashiTharoor said there was nosuch gigantic statue ofMahatma Gandhi in the coun-try and wanted to know whyBJP had not built a bigger stat-ue for him.

“The biggest one is inParliament... But this is a 182-metre statue for his disciple.Why is there such a big statuefor a disciple of Gandhiji in the

country where there is nostatue of that size for theMahatma?” he asked whileaddressing a function at thedistrict congress committeeoff ice inThiruvananthapuram. CPIgeneral secretary SuravaramSudhakar Reddy also echoedTharoor’s sentiments. “Patel, avery simple person, wasknown as the disciple ofGandhiji,” Tharoor said. “I amasking a question... Is it rightto erect such an imposingstatue of Patel, a man of sim-plicity and a true Gandhian,who moved along with poorpeasants,” he said.

Tharoor said BJP had noanswer to the query why theydid not erect a bigger statue ofthe Mahatma.

The reason is that they donot believe in MahatmaGandhi’s principles of non-violence, he alleged.

He also alleged that BJPwas trying to “hijack” thelegacy of freedom fighters andnational heroes like Patel asthey have no leaders of theirown in history to celebrate.

He said Patel was aCongress leader and BJPshould not be allowed to adopthim. Gandhi said Patel was apatriot, who fought for a inde-pendent, united and secularIndia. “A man with a steelywill, tempered by compas-sion, he was a Congressman tothe core, who had no tolerancefor bigotry or communal-ism...,” he tweeted. Mayawatiaccused the Bharatiya JanataParty(BJP) and its govern-ment at the Centre of confin-ing Patel to a region, sayingthis is an example of BJP’s“narrow-mindedness”. “Allthose in the BJP, the RSS andcompany need to apologise,especially to the people of theBahujan Samaj, for termingthe statues installed by thethen BSP government to hon-our icons like Baba SahebAmbedkar and others aswasteful expenditure,” she saidin a statement released inLucknow. “The people of thecountry are also wondering ifall this is not politics, and if theBJP really had this love forPatel why had they not put up

such a massive statue earlier inGujarat where they are inpower for a long time,” thechief of Bahujan SamajParty(BSP) said. Congressleader in the Lok SabhaMallikarjun Kharge slammedBJP for using the statue ofSardar Patel for their “vestedinterests.”

BJP remembering Patelwas an “election gimmick”,Kharge told reporters atHubballi in Karnataka.

The Congress leader said,“Every year BJP remembers adifferent freedom fighter—sometimes they rememberPatel, sometimes Gandhi forSwachch Bharat Abhiyan andsometimes they remember DrBR Ambedkar and SubhasChandra Bose. These are alltheir election stunts. Theynever had respect for thosewho fought for the freedom ofIndia.” “Jawaharlal Nehru wasthe Prime Minister while Patelwas Home Minister. Naturallycredit goes to the prime min-ister. It is not good to projectsomebody to underminesomebody else,” Kharge said.

Reddy, the CPI chief,demanded to know why abigger statue of MahatmaGandhi was not built by theBJP. He said while there wasno objection over the monu-ment built for Patel, what wassurprising was why a biggerstatue for the father of thenation, who was also born inGujarat, was not thought of.

“They (BJP) do not like his(Gandhi’s) secularism, that iswhy they have not taken up(build his statue). Instead,they have gone for Patel, whohad rightist ideas,” the CPIgeneral secretary alleged.

Reddy also charged theBJP with trying to “appropri-ate” the legacy of Patel.

“We have no objection toSardar Patel’s statue. With alldue respect to him (Patel), wefeel Mahatma Gandhi is thetallest leader of Indian poli-tics...Indian people...he is thefather of the nation,” he toldPTI in Hyderabad. “MahatmaGandhi’s statue should havebeen bigger, he is leader of thehighest stature than anybodyelse,” he said.

Befitting tribute, says familyPTI n KEVADIA

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’sfamily members on

Wednesday hailed the ‘Statueof Unity’ as a “befitting tribute”to the ‘Iron Man of India’, say-ing it would help the youngergeneration know about hislife and it should have beendone much earlier by the pre-vious governments. “Congressdidn’t do anything like this forSardar Patel. The statue is abefitting tribute to his contri-bution to the nation,” saidDhirubhai Patel, grandson ofSardar’s elder brotherSomabhai Patel.

Dhirubhai, 91, was a spe-cial invitee to the ceremonywhere Prime MinisterNarendra Modi unveiledSardar Patel’s 182-metre stat-ue, the world’s tallest, inNarmada district this morningon the occasion of the leader’s143rd birth anniversary.

Besides Dhirubhai, wholives in Vadodara with hisfamily, the event was attendedby 35 other members ofVallabhbhai Patel’s extendedfamily. Sardar Patel, the firstHome Minister ofIndependent India, is credited

with merging 550 princelystates into the Union of India.He had used force to annexprincely states of Junagadhruled by Nawab andHyderabad ruled by Nizam,both of whom had wished notto merge their respective stateswith Union of India.

80-year-old BhupendraPatel, another senior memberof the family, said the statuewould remind the youngergeneration about contribu-tions made by Sardar.

“They will draw inspira-tion from Sardar Patel,” saidBhupendra, who lives inVallabh Vidyanagar in Ananddistrict. He refused to com-ment when asked whether theprevious governments did lit-tle for Sardar as being claimedby leaders of the rulingBharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Dhirubhai’s son-in-lawShailesh Patel, a Mumbai-based businessman, was moreforthcoming. “This (statue)was long overdue. They shouldhave done it much earlier.The statue will spread themessage of the strength ofunity and of the role played bySardar to unite the nation,” hesaid.

PTI n KEVADIA

Standing on Sadhu Bet, anislet near Sardar Sarovar

Dam, the ‘Statue Of Unity’ inNarmada district of Gujarat isexpected to be a major touristattraction. It was inauguratedby Prime Minister NarendraModi Wednesday.

Believed to be the world’stallest monument, it is expect-ed to attract around 10,000tourists daily, a state govern-ment official said.

At 182 metres, the statueof India’s first home ministerSardar Vallabhbhai Patel istwice as tall as the Statue ofLiberty in the US. Built withcement, steel and an outerbronze cladding, the statue,which has cost Rs 2,989 crore,has several attractions fortourists. The nearest majortown is Vadodara, 100 kmaway. A visitor can take a liftinstalled inside the statuewhich runs at a speed of 4metres per second to reach aviewers gallery at a height of135 metres. The gallery willoffer scenic vistas of the river

Narmada, the dam and thesurrounding Satpura range ofhills, a state tourism depart-ment official said.A museumand exhibition hall have beenconstructed inside the gigan-tic structure, depicting thelife and times of India’s `IronMan’.

The tourism departmenthas also constructed a guesthouse, ‘Sreshtha BharatBhavan’, where tourists canstay. There will be charges forvisitors: Rs 120 per personfor viewing the statue fromoutside, Rs 350 for visitingthe viewers gallery at 135metres. Two Tent Cities witha total of 250 tents along twolakes near the dam, equippedwith modern facilities, arealso being touted as a majorattraction, where one cancamp in a natural environ-ment. Spread across 70,000square metres, the Tent Citieswill run on green energy, saidthe official. A 17-kilometrelong ‘Valley of Flowers’ isbeing developed along thebanks of the river near the statue.

Statue expectedto attract 10,000tourists daily

Air pollution has been grabbingheadlines. It has become a rou-tine exercise for this public healthemergency to appear every win-ter. This year, however, there’s

something new: The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) organised the first-everglobal conference on air pollution andhealth in Geneva from October 30 toNovember 1, 2018. Its central theme was toimprove air quality, combat climate changeand save lives. Representatives of the Healthand Environment Ministry, other nationaldepartments and inter-governmental agen-cies, health professionals and other sectors,including transport and energy, among oth-ers from countries all over the world were apart of this conference. Research profession-als, academicians and civil society membersalso participated. The conference attemptedto bring together global, national and localpartners to share knowledge and mobiliseaction for cleaner air and better health.

On October 29, the WHO released areport titled, ‘Air pollution and child health:Prescribing clean air’, which estimated thatin 2016 over half a million children under fiveyears of age died from respiratory tract infec-tions caused by breathing polluted air. Air pol-lution is one of the leading threats to childhealth. Around 93 per cent of children belowthe age of 18 years live in areas with air pol-lution levels well above WHO’s prescribed airquality standards.

Another WHO report estimated thatevery year, the world witnesses close to 70million premature deaths due to air pollu-tion. It also reported that nine in 10 peo-ple breathe polluted air across the globe.According to a Greenpeace report,‘Airpocalypse II’, of the 280 cities in Indiawhere air quality monitoring data is avail-able, 80 per cent have breached the NationalAir Quality Standards (NAQI).

In 2016, WHO reported that worldwide,ambient air pollution accounts for 29 per centof all deaths and disease from lung cancer;17 per cent of all deaths and disease fromacute lower respiratory infection; 24 per centof all deaths from stroke; and 25 per cent ofall deaths and disease from heart disease.Impacts of air pollution are more severely feltby women, children, older people and thepoor. Toxic air quality makes a pronouncedimpact on unborn babies when pregnantwomen are exposed to air pollution, signif-icantly increasing the risk of low birthweight. In China and India, people lose anaverage of four life-years to air pollution.Moreover, air pollution has also been foundto potentially affect the mental health of peo-ple living in areas with poor air quality.

Climate change and air pollution arelinked. Action for one will help tackle both.The Paris Climate Agreement made onething clear, climate change is a seriousthreat to health and development of people.It is, therefore, imperative that we address this

public health issue and takeaction against climate change.Diseases caused by air pollutionwill significantly reduce if glob-al temperature rise is main-tained below two degrees Celsiusas part of global climate action.Fossil fuel burning in energy andtransport sector is a major sourceof toxic gases, particulate matterand carbon emissions.

Steps to curb fossil fuelemissions will not only reduceair pollution, but also curbemissions of short-lived climatepollutants as well as long-livedCO2, impact of which has beensevere on water and other nat-ural resources, agriculture, localweather and health. UNIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change report onceagain confirmed that the threatof climate change is intensifyingand it can collectively be dealtwith by adopting the right ener-gy transition strategy.

Adopting clean energy is acrucial step towards clean air.Unlike what the premonitionssuggest, combating air pollu-tion is not difficult because themeasure to deal with it is asclear as the impact it has hadon the environment and thepeople. Governments mustbring about a significantchange in their energy, trans-port, waste, and industrialsector. Adoption of renew-able sources and phasing outfossil fuels, like coal and diesel,can make a huge difference.

Replacing coal-fired thermalpower plants with clean andrenewable energy solutions cansave many lives. To do so, we

must start by immediately stop-ping new investments in ‘dirty’coal. By adopting renewableenergy, India can also increase itseconomy. According to a reportreleased by the World ResearchInstitute, meeting India’s ambi-tious target of generating 175GW of wind and solar power by2022 may generate, employ-ment in construction, projectcommissioning and design, busi-ness development, and opera-tions and maintenance.

The Government needs toaccept that coal-fired powerplants are responsible for morethan 1, 00,000 premature deathsper year and it must urgently acton it. If our Government is trulyconcerned, it will have to switchfrom dirty energy sources, likecoal, to future energy sources,like solar and wind. Similarly, inareas where the biggest cause ofair pollution is the transport sec-tor, India should implementrapid action plans towards dis-couraging private modes oftransportation and incentivise orimprove infrastructure for pub-lic transportation.

Comprehensive plans tomove away from combustionengine vehicles, particularlydiesel, to electric-powered pub-lic transport systems run onenergy produced by renewablesources within cities will ensureclean air for all citizens. Shouldwe learn from China? China hasannounced its second clean airprogramme while India is stillwaiting for its first. Until adecade ago, cities in China werethe world’s most polluted ones.In 2013, China implemented the

five-year ‘clean air action plan’,which led to a 33 per cent fall inPM2.5 levels in 74 key cities by2017. Stricter emission stan-dards and reduction of emissionsfrom coal-fired power plants andother industries, made a majorimpact in helping China see clearskies. Earlier this year in July,China announced its secondclean air programme.

Having been pushed andpressured by public and media,the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change hadreleased a draft National CleanAir Programme in April.However, there are no signs ofthe programme being notifiedeven after months of the draftrelease. In December 2015, theMinistry of Environment hadnotified all the coal-fired thermalpower plants to comply with therevised emission norms withintwo years, of which, the powerplants took no notice for years,eventually missing the deadline.Instead of taking strict action, theMinistry eased the deadline forimplementation of emissionsstandards for thermal powerplants by another five years.

In the scenario explainedabove, the world’s first glob-al conference on air pollutionand health organised byWHO is a lot more importantfor India. This global actiongives hope. I, along with mil-lions of people in India, willbe waiting for strong actionand steps taken by ourGovernment to ensure cleanand breathable air for all.

(The writer is senior commu-nication campaigner, Greenpeace)

The Narendra Modi Government just

cannot seem to catch a break when

it comes to dealing with statutory

bodies and officers. And opinion is divid-

ed on whose fault that is. After a revolt

in the Central Bureau of Investigation, it

now appears that the Government and

the Reserve Bank of India are at logger-

heads. This is because the Government

is reported to have invoked Article 7 of

the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act which

allows the Government in some manner

to supercede the autonomy of India’s

central bank. Of course, the conspiracy

theorists are out in force on their web-

sites — allegations are rife that the Government has taken this step at the

behest of friendly industrialists who are being forced to borrow money at

higher rates; by invoking Section 7, the Government can ‘force’ the RBI to

order Indian banks to loosen their purse-strings.

There is an argument to be made that while the RBI has been extra strict

with banks, especially public sector banks, in a crackdown on Non-Performing

Assets (NPA), this has followed a period of over-lenient central bank super-

vision loans to all and sundry. As a result, now all financial institutions whether

in the public or private sector have had the fear of God instilled in them when

it comes to disbursing loans as they are petrified of possible NPAs. This,

in turn, has virtually brought economic activity in India to a standstill.

According to media reports, Section 7 has been invoked three times already

over the past few weeks at least in part to reclassify the massive NPAs plagu-

ing India’s power sector. Invoking Section 7 is, for better or for worse, a

vote of no-confidence in the RBI Governor. It is not as if the RBI and the

Government cannot work together. But when the Government compels the

RBI to act in a certain way, there are few options in front of the RBI Governor.

Urjit Patel was widely thought to have expressed his displeasure at

Government interference through a media interview given by his deputy V

Acharya. His position seems to be untenable and the odds are that Patel

may have no option but to resign. But that’s not a done deal, yet. After all,

we are in an election year and the Government would not want another once-

hallowed institution to be seen to be imploding on its watch. But there is

also a view emerging in Government that it has no option but to demolish

the ‘deep state’ established by the ‘Congress System’ if it is to fulfil what

it thinks is its mandate from the people of India.

All the talk through the year by

Governments, NGOs and the com-

mon or garden variety of citizens

has come to naught. For, air pollution is

not only back this year in the National

Capital Region but back with a severity

that many had hoped would not be as

bad as that of previous years given the

national and international opprobrium

heaped upon Delhi. No such luck. But

even as the Capital faces a health emer-

gency with air pollution at “severe” lev-

els on Tuesday and advisories by the

Centre-run System of Air Quality

Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)

asking Delhiites, especially children and the elderly, to “stay home”, came

a shocker from the chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment

Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), Bhure Lal, who said

that a ban on the plying of all private vehicles is being contemplated if the

air pollution levels worsen.

Surely, that is a solution as bad if not worse than the problem it has been

mooted to tackle. Not only is this suggestion coming from a person hold-

ing a position of great authority and responsibility worrisome, if implement-

ed it would lead to a complete shutdown and cause a loss to the economy

of hundreds of crores of rupees each day. Studies have shown that Delhi

depends heavily on private vehicles to commute and the public transport

infrastructure is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of commuters. In

fact, Delhi has more vehicles plying on its roads than Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai

and Bengaluru combined. The alarmist comment from Bhure Lal, which comes

at a time when there is an ongoing strike by Delhi Transport Corporation bus

drivers and conductors which highlights the shortage of buses in the city

that needs over 11,000 buses but has only about 5,400, is spectacularly ill-

timed. Additionally, there is the up-and-down ridership on the Metro primar-

ily due to exponentially rising fares, the lack of systemic monitoring of auto-

rickshaws plying in Delhi which, especially for women commuters, throw

up daily safety and security challenges, and the fact that cluster services

managed by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System are in a sham-

bles. For anyone with a grip on reality to endorse a possible ban on private

vehicles plying in the Capital against this backdrop would amount to advo-

cating a virtual meltdown of the nation’s political, administrative and com-

mercial centre. An unedifying admixture of urban chaos and commercial cat-

aclysm will be visited upon the Capital if such a ban is implemented.

Having said that, however, there is a reason why such a suggestion is

being aired and even has some takers. As the EPCA has informed the apex

court, commercial vehicles are a major source of air pollution in Delhi with

very high carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. There are about

seven lakh vehicles registered each year in Delhi and no restrictions apply

on the number of vehicles an individual may purchase. Vehicular exhaust,

especially when combined with a drop of wind speeds as we are current-

ly experiencing, means that the contribution of such emissions to air pol-

lution in Delhi could rise to about 30 per cent of the total (including sec-

ondary particles). Obviously, there are many who are sick of this situation

and feel drastic measures are required to shock the system, even at great

economic cost. This is a debate which is going to get more heated as pol-

lution levels, as they are unfortunately certain to, rise over the next two months

across North India.

Cure worse than disease

As if the severe air pollution level in the Capital wasn’tenough, a ban on all private vehicles is now being considered

Banking troubles

Is the Government on a collision course with theReserve Bank of India once again?

Save the lions

Sir —This refers to the article“Behind the big cat deaths”(October 29). The deaths of bigcats due to Canine DistemperVirus (CDV), peste-des-petits-ruminants virus and Babesiaprotozoa are alarming.Thespeed at which the GujaratForest Department tackled thedeath of 26 Asiatic lions in Giris commendable and has set anexample of how the animalsshould be taken care of.

Manzar ImamDelhi

A visionary

Sir — This refers to the article,“Sardar Patel: A man for allcrises” (October 31) by SureshPrabhu. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi rightly said,“India will forever be indebtedto Sardar Patel for his tirelessefforts to unite the Nation.” The182-metre tall Statue of Unity atNarmada Dam is a fitting trib-ute and recognition of his con-tribution to the Indian nation.

Though Patel did not livelong after Independence to fur-ther shape India’s destiny, he will

be best remembered for his pre-Independence role. The nationwill always be indebted to lead-ers like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patelfor integrating small States intoone nation.

According to contemporaryhistorians, he was a man ofstrong conviction and moralcharacter who played key role inachieving cohesion and trustamongst different castes and

communities. Sardar Patel in hiswords had once said, “EveryIndian should forget he is aRajput, Jat or Sikh. He is onlyIndia he has all the rights butwith certain duties.”

In all probability, India’sgeography and its history wouldhave been dangerously differentwithout a man like him and hisextraordinary contribution. Herightly had earned the title of

‘Iron Man’. Despite his failing health

and age, Sardar Patel never lostthe sight of the larger purpose ofcreating a united India. Indianever recognised his contribu-tion; he was only awardedposthumously the Bharat Ratnain 1991, 41 years of death in1950.

Ramesh G Jethwani Bengaluru

Late recognition

Sir — This refers to the article,“Sardar Patel: A man for allcrises” (October 31) by SureshPrabhu. Hats off to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi who inaugurated the Statue of Unityon October 31, on the 143rdbirth anniversary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel. It is pertinentthat much before becoming thePrime Minister, Narendra Modiannounced the Statue of Unityproject in October 2010,although the formal work on itscommenced three years later onOctober 31, 2013. So, this hasbeen completed in a span of five years.

The Congress, which hasprimarily been under the lead-ership of Nehru-Gandhi family,and which has also devoteditself to glorify the members ofthe so-called first and royalfamily, didn’t accord due recog-nition to Patel whenever itremained in power at theCentre.

Hemant KumarVia email

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

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op nionLUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

08

India struggles to breathe

AVINASH KUMAR

Air pollution is a public health emergency. India cannot bear the cost of

Governmental apathy and inaction on the smog that is killing us

The Modi Government’sboat of corruption willno longer sail becausethe Supreme Courtwants to know the truthof Rafale.

Congress spokesperson—Randeep Surjewala

We need to keep in mindthe lessons that we havelearnt over the last halfcentury of peacekeepingactivities in order to face21st century challenges.

Indian UN official—Sandeep K Bayyapu

It (portrayal of women incinema) has not changed.It will not change till thetime society changes andit will take time to changesocial attitudes.

Actor—Neena Gupta

The confidence of peoplethat decisions andactions are being under-taken with transparency,accountability and fair-ness must be enhanced.

President—Ram Nath Kovind

S O U N D B I T E

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

Pressure is mounting on Ayodhya issue

This refers to the editorial, “Title suit, it is” (October31). In December 2017, the Supreme Courtrejected requests by appellant parties belonging

to the minority community to defer the hearing in theRam Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute casetill after July 15, 2019 — that is post next generalelection. it was hoped that soon the case would bedecided by the court. At that time, Congress leaderKapil Sibal, representing the appellants, had arguedthat the dispute was not just any other civil suit butprobably the most important case in the history ofIndia which would “decide the future of the polity”.

The apex court has now deferred the case tillJanuary 2019 and said that a new Bench will take upthe case and fix the date of hearing. Obviously, theverdict may come only after the 2019 general elec-tion. Thus, the demand of Kapil Sibal stands met andthe Ayodhya case will hang fire.

Nevertheless, decision on the case needs to betaken on a priority basis by the apex court as the tem-ple supporters are restive and pressure for startingconstruction of the temple is mounting. This may cre-ate an undesirable situation. Also, the adjournmentof the issue till January next year has led to demandsfor an Ordinance.

MC Joshi Lucknow

COMPREHENSIVEPLANS TO MOVE

AWAY FROMCOMBUSTION

ENGINE VEHICLES TO

ELECTRIC-POWEREDPUBLIC TRANSPORT

RUN ON ENERGYPRODUCED BY

RENEWABLESOURCES WITHIN

CITIES WILLENSURE CLEAN AIR

FOR ALL CITIZENS

Anthropogenic activities aregradually taking a steady tollon biodiversity and the pace

of destruction has picked up over thepast few decades. Extreme weatherconditions, triggered by climatechange, are now challenging the oncestrong wildlife ecosystem. Our plan-et needs a variety of plant and ani-mal life in order to ensure that theenvironment and the nature have asustainable lifecycle.

However, this very biodiversityis now severely threatened. A newstudy by the World Wildlife Fund(WWF) has revealed that globalwildlife populations have fallen by 60per cent in the past four decades dueto accelerating pollution, deforesta-tion, climate change and other

human-made factors. The 2018Living Planet report prepared by theWWF, highlighted that more than4,000 mammal, bird, fish, reptile andamphibian species declined between1970 and 2014. The report observedthat various anthropogenic factorsare to be blamed for the decline inanimal populations.

The African elephants inTanzania declined by 60 per cent injust five years between 2009 and 2014due to ivory poaching; whereasdeforestation in Borneo, to createtimber and palm oil plantations, ledto the loss of 100,000 orangutansbetween 1999 and 2015. Similarly,the number of polar bears is alsoexpected to decline by 30 per cent by2050 as Arctic ice continues to melt.

The bad news keeps gettingworse. The WWF further revealedthat eight million tonnes of plasticsis entering the oceans, annually.This toxic plastic is finding its wayto the stomachs of seabirds.According to WWF estimates, near-ly 90 per cent of seabirds have plas-tics in their stomachs, compared to

five per cent in 1960. Given the con-cerning situation, the WWF hascalled for the drafting of an interna-tional treaty, on the lines of the 2015Paris Agreement, to protect globalwildlife. The WWF has urged the196-member nations of theConvention on Biological Diversity(CBD) to consider a range of targetsat the CBD’s upcoming meeting inEgypt in late November. The WWFhas also called for a deal to be struckat the 75th United Nations GeneralAssembly in 2020. But is it alreadytoo late? Only time will tell.

But time is surely running out forwildlife in India. Recent deaths ofseven elephants in Odisha’sDhenkanal district due to electrocu-tion have once again brought to forethe fact that India can no longerneglect its wildlife. The tragic inci-dent displays human apathy andscant disregard towards these beau-tiful animals and the precious bio-diversity in India.

The ‘man first’ attitude hasspelt doom for wildlife elsewhere inthe world and more so in India.

Nothing else can explain why Indiadoes not have a solution to risinginstances of man-animal conflict.The recent Odisha elephant deathsare also an example of how Indiahas collectively failed to protect itswildlife diversity.

Had the authorities in Odishataken adequate measures, the Statewould not have lost 179 elephants toelectrocution since 2009. This colos-sal wildlife loss has surprisingly notbeen registered on any quarter with-in the successive Government estab-lishments. Elephants have to makedo without healthy corridors to passthrough and, therefore, have to tra-verse through human-occupied landsin the process raiding crops and get-ting mobbed or even electrocuted.

Corridors are crucial to wildlifesurvivability as they are essentiallyhabitat patches or links that connecttwo source or sink habitats. Sourcehabitats are those that provide goodfood and shelter for a viable popu-lation to thrive. Sink habitats are sub-optimal habitats that allow for smallpopulations to thrive. Since there is

often movement of animals acrosssink and source habitats, corridorsconnecting them are crucial, and thatis what is largely missing in the for-est reserves across India. The majorreason why wildlife corridors areessential is because they allow theflow of healthy genes to take place,thereby ensuring a flourishing bio-diversity.

Without forest corridors, oursmall protected areas will only endup being islands of conservation withunviable populations that will behighly prone to extinction. It is alsoworth remembering that any tigercorridor that is active today mightbecome inactive if the source forestsof such tigers suffer or decline.Those that have been inactive foryears may reactivate if the health ofthe source forests improves.

The key is to protect the habitatof such forest corridors to maintaintheir sanctity and existence. And thatis where India is failing. The rapiddevelopment of linear projects suchas road, railways and canals, and for-est fires usually caused by humans for

Non-Timber Forest Produce(NTFP), fragmentation due to ille-gal timber and firewood collection,diversion of forests for mining anda growing human population puttingpressure on pinch points in corridors,are some of the main threats facedby tiger corridors in India.

India needs wildlife and associ-ated environmental biodiversity tothrive as this alone can counter therising pollution levels and deteriorat-ing ecology. The Government mustaccord priority to wildlife and ensurethat the designated corridors thatenable wildlife to safely migrate aregiven a Government protected sta-tus. This will keep these corridorsfrom disappearing. Yet another ini-tiative the Government must under-take is to stop developmental activ-ities that are not backed by a plan-ning and biodiversity impact report.A healthy environmental biodiversi-ty is incomplete without a robustwildlife ecosystem. Hence, the samemust be protected and preserved.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

Kashmir: On the boil again

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

THE RBI LOOKED THE OTHER WAY WHEN BANKS GAVE

LOANS INDISCRIMINATELY DURING 2008 TO 2014.

THEY KEPT PUSHING TRUTH UNDER THE CARPET.

—UNION FINANCE MINISTER

ARUN JAITLEY

PRESENT GOVERNMENT HAS IGNITED FIRE THROUGH

ITS REPEATED INTERFERENCE. TAKING CHARGE OF

INDIA’S MONETARY POLICY IS NOT IN ITS DOMAIN.

—CONGRESS LEADER

ANAND SHARMA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Kashmir Valley is once again on the boil.The reason is simple. Continued spell ofpeace and normalcy does not suit the nar-rative of the separatists as well as theregional parties. Of late, they all are on

the common page and are working together for theirmutual benefit as they feel that their future is threat-ened. ‘Boycott politics’, which so far was the sole pre-serve of the terrorists, has now been embraced bythe regional parties as well. Peaceful conduct of urbanlocal bodies’ elections despite the best efforts of theregional parties to subvert them has sent shock wavesacross their spine and left them dumbfounded.Feeling the loss of turf beneath their feet, they werelooking for an opportunity to reverse the trend andput Kashmir once again on the boil. The Kulgam inci-dent was seized by them as an opportunity thoughit was totally unjustified. The said incident, the State’sDirector General of Police said, was unfortunate butwas a case of deliberate negligence by those whorushed to the ground zero even before the area wassanitised by the local police. But the self-seeker lead-ers of Kashmir lost no time in projecting ‘civiliandeaths’ as ‘civilian killings’ to add fuel to fire and alsoprovide fodder to anti-national forces to drum it ashuman rights violation.

How can civilian deaths due to utter self-negli-gence be termed as civilian killings blaming the secu-rity forces for the same? To the contrary, the secu-rity forces’ personnel put their own lives in dangerto prevent collateral (collateral) damage. Rather thanappreciating the security forces for their concern, theKashmiri leaders lost no time in portraying them asvillains and speaking in tandem with pro-Pakistaniand separatist forces operating in the Valley. It wasalso not surprising that no time was lost by thedummy Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan,in raising his voice. He tweeted: “Strongly condemnthe new cycle of killings of innocent Kashmiris inIOK by Indian security forces. It is time India realisedit must move to resolve the Kashmir disputethrough dialogue in accordance with the UNSC res-olutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.”

No Kashmiri leader, however, condemnedPakistan for unleashing terror, leading to bloodshedand regular killing of innocent Kashmiris. Pakistan,which has the worst human rights track record inthe world, is the darling of the Valley leaders ignor-ing the fact that their own brethren in PakistanOccupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) cry hoarse 24x7against the worst kind of state-sponsored violenceunleashed on them. Sadly, people in Kashmir, mis-guided by the vested elements, have stopped to dis-tinguish between the destroyer and the saviour.

Soon another non-issue was also grabbed by thediscarded Kashmiri leaders in a bid to further spoilthe atmosphere. The issue pertained to an adviso-ry issued by the education department to “consid-er purchasing a sufficient number of copies each ofUrdu version of Shrimad Bhagwad-Gita and KoshurRamayana, authored by Shri Sarwanand Premi formaking these available in schools/colleges andpublic libraries of the State”. A good-intentioned cir-cular was converted into a communal issue whenOmar Abdullah, former Jammu & Kashmir ChiefMinister, tweeted: “Why just the Gita and theRamayana? If religious texts are to be placed inschools, colleges and Government libraries (and I’mnot convinced that they need/should be) then whyis it being done selectively? Why are other religions

being ignored?” The tendency of theKashmiri leaders to give a communaltouch to those decisions of theGovernment which they perceive to beanti-Kashmiri, irrespective of the senti-ments of the rest of the populace, is notnew. This includes major issues like citi-zenship to West Pakistan refugees, the dig-nified return of Kashmiri Pandit commu-nity, issuance of Dogra certificate, extra-dition of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis,demand of CBI investigation for Rasanarape and murder case, the establishmentof sainik colonies in Kashmir and discrim-ination against Jammu and Ladakh.

Urdu, which once used to be linguafranca, of late, is being portrayed as thelanguage exclusively of Muslims. This ten-dency is very harmful and will damage thesocial fabric in the State because it alsohappens to be the official language of theState. The Urdu version of the Hindu holyscriptures which enjoyed universal accep-tance as magnum opus of behavioural andspiritual knowledge was not necessarilymeant to be read by Muslims only but alsoby Hindus and Sikhs who preferredUrdu as their first language. In any case,the circular did not mention anythingabout not buying other religious bookswhose Urdu version is also available.

Unfortunately, the administrationbuckled under the pressure and cancelledthe circular thus strengthening the handsof the communal forces. It would havebeen better had the administration stuckto its decision and delivered another bigblow to the already sullied Kashmiri lead-ers who were sulking after the adminis-tration refused to fall prey to their time-tested formula of ‘blackmail politics’ andwent ahead to conduct the local bodies’and panchayat elections.

The advocates of Kashmir being a‘political issue’ are neither realists nor ide-alists. They live in a utopian world and sell

false hopes and dreams to innocentKashmiris. They use the Kashmiris as can-non fodder for their own political gains.They fully realise that neither azadi norgreater autonomy or self-rule will ever seethe light of the day. Yet, they keep feed-ing these narratives to the Kashmiris. Thisalienates them from the rest of thenation. While they continue to fill theircoffers with money and provide luxuri-ous life and modern education to theirkith and kin, the common Kashmiri ispushed towards a ‘gun culture’ and radi-cal madrasa education.

While the disillusioned Kashmirislook up to these leaders for their brightfuture, they keep pushing them into gul-lies of darkness through bundles of falsepromises. The day these power brokersalso start speaking the truth and acceptthe reality of Jammu & Kashmir being anintegral part of India as enshrined in theState’s Constitution, and convince theKashmiris that all forms of struggleagainst the might of the nation are futile,the problems will cease to exist. It wouldbe naive to expect that it would happenovernight but a sustained effort to changethe mindset would be needed.

Kashmir today is a victim of radical-isation and numerous socio-economicissues. The vibrant multi-ethnic, multi-lin-guistic and multi-cultural Kashmiri soci-ety has turned into a monolith. The rootcause for this is the greed for power. Thezenith of this greed was the rigged elec-tions in the State in 1987. Disenchantedand disgruntled by petty political gamesplayed to remain in power, the youthrevolted. Pakistan, which always casts anevil eye on peaceful Kashmir, lost noopportunity to fish in the troubled watersand launched the so-called religious mil-itancy in Kashmir. It soon turned into afull-fledged Pakistan-sponsored proxy-war with cross-border terrorism as its

main weapon. With the introduction ofWahabi Islam, bewildered youth, fed upwith repeated ‘Vada Khilafi’ (brokenpromises), got attracted towards religion.Gradually, the Kashmiri society is shed-ding Sufism and getting radicalised underthe growing influence of Wahabism.

Pakistan ever since has not changedits stance and in fact, upped the ante inorder to relocate the terrorists from itsown soil into Kashmir with the hope ofwinning over the Kashmiris by helpingthem in their “struggle”. Unfortunately,the regional parties also use the Pakistancard to boost their political fortunes inthe quagmire of Kashmiri politics,which unfortunately have also been rad-icalised with a very few nationalistvoices still surviving. The terrorism inKashmir is no more confined to thoseseeking azadi.

One has to admit that terrorism inKashmir today is driven by the ambitionof creating Nizam-e-Mustafa or an exclu-sive Muslim state governed by Sharia.Regional parties have remained ambigu-ous on the subject thus adding to the con-fusion in the minds of the youth and ruralsociety in Kashmir. By remaining ambiva-lent, the regional parties want to retain theoption of running with the hare and hunt-ing with the hounds.

If these parties remain embedded inthe past, surrender the present to radical-isation and continue to ignore the futureof Kashmiri awam, nothing fruitful canhappen. The regional parties and theirleaders have to shed their negativity as self-seekers. They need to emerge as genuinevoices of the Kashmiris who are fed up of‘senseless violence’ and are yearning forpeace. The parties need to become thetorch-bearers of change in Kashmir.

(The author is a Jammu-based polit-ical commentator and strategic analyst. Theviews expressed are entirely personal)

Disappearing global biodiversity

Regional parties in Kashmir need to emerge as genuine voices of the people who are fed up ofsenseless violence and are yearning for peace. They need to become the torch-bearers of change

Time is surely running out for wildlife in India. The Government must prioritise wildlife preservation and ensure

that the designated corridors which enable wildlife to safely migrate are given protected status

KASHMIR TODAY ISA VICTIM OF

RADICALISATIONAND NUMEROUS

SOCIO-ECONOMICISSUES. THE

VIBRANT MULTI-ETHNIC, MULTI-

LINGUISTIC ANDMULTI-CULTURAL

KASHMIRI SOCIETYHAS TURNED INTOA MONOLITH. THEROOT CAUSE FOR

THIS IS THE GREEDFOR POWER. ONE

HAS TO ADMITTHAT TERRORISM

IN KASHMIR TODAYIS DRIVEN BY THE

AMBITION OFCREATING AN

EXCLUSIVEMUSLIM STATEGOVERNED BY

SHARIA. REGIONALPARTIES HAVE

REMAINEDAMBIGUOUS ON

THE SUBJECT THUSADDING TO THE

CONFUSION IN THEMINDS OF THE

YOUTH

According to the report of the World Wildlife Fund’s conser-

vation group, titled Living Planet, human activity had wiped

out, between 1970 and 2014, 60 per cent of all animals with

backbones — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

Referring to such activity, the WWF International’s director-gen-

eral, Marco Lambertini, has said that hunting, shrinking habitat,

pollution, illegal trade and climate change, had been too much for

them to overcome.

The report is alarming but not surprising. The subject of mass

extinctions has been causing concern for quite some time. A report

by Ian Johnston in The Independent of the United Kingdom in 2017,

cited scientists writing in a special edition of the magazine, Nature,

that humans were causing the sixth mass extinction of life on earth.

Earlier, Elizabeth Kolbert had written in The Sixth Extinction: An

Unnatural History (first published in 2014), “Very, very occasion-

ally in the distant past, the planet has undergone change so wrench-

ing that the diversity of life has plummeted. Five of these ancient

events were catastrophic enough that they’re put in their own cat-

egory: The so-called Big Five. In what seems like a fantastic coin-

cidence, but is probably no coincidence at all, the history of these

events is recovered just as people come to realize that they are

causing another one.”

It has become increasingly clear since the book came out that

the Sixth Extinction may be around the corner. The causes are well-

known. Seabed mining is destroying unique ecosystems besides

taking pollution to the deep sea. Rivers bring toxic industrial waste

from hinterlands. Oil spills pollute hundreds of square miles.

Increasing carbon emission is making sea water acidic and hence

inhospitable to marine life. Global warming has worsened mat-

ters. Besides the consumption of plastic bags, container ships are

killing a growing number of whales through accidents. Japan’s

murderous whaling expeditions, undertaken in defiance of inter-

national judicial pronouncements, governmental protests and pub-

lic condemnation, are killing hundreds of whales.

Concern over the large-scale extermination of species under

way has not sent the alarm bells ringing the way these should have

been perhaps because it has so far not manifestly affected human

beings. It, however, would not be so for long.

The future of humans themselves is at stake. Population increase

is an important cause of accelerating human activity. Referring to

the soaring increase in global population under way, Desmond Morris

predicts in The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal,

that time will come when “the densities we are now experiencing

in our major cities would exist in every corner of the globe. The con-

sequences of all this for all forms of wild animals is obvious. The

effect it would have on our own species is equally depressing.”

Morris adds shortly thereafter, “Long before our populations

reach the levels envisaged above we shall have broken so many

of the rules that govern our biological nature, that we shall have

collapsed as a dominant species….Many exciting species have

become extinct in the past and we are no exception.” Those dis-

missing Morris’ prediction as alarmist often argue that the human

mind, which accounts not only for the survival of the species but

its dominance over nature through technology, will find a way of

preventing this. Such confidence would be laughable. Technology

would remain a formulation on paper if the environment in which

it has to be applied disappears.

More important, the devising and application of technologies

to cope with the challenges threatening human existence, would

require serious application of the mind and prolonged, serious think-

ing. The most devastating effect of the disappearance of species

will be felt on the human mind which, as Paul Shepard writes in

Thinking Animals: Animals and the Development of Human

Intelligence, is at the centre of humanity’s pride in its independence

“from animals and animality.” He further states “that the mind and

its organ, the brain, are in reality that part of us most dependent

on the survival of animals. We are connected to animals not mere-

ly in the convenience of figures of speech — a zoological equiv-

alent of ‘flowery speech’ — but by sinews that link speech to ratio-

nality, insight, intuition, and consciousness.” Stating that people

everywhere have “a profound, inescapable need for animals” which

“are used in the growth and development of the human person,

in those most priceless qualities which we lump together as ‘mind.’

It is the role of animal images and forms in the shaping of per-

sonality, identity, and social consciousness. Animals are among

the first inhabitants of the mind’s eye. They are basic to the devel-

opment of speech and thought.”

The results of a slow-down in the evolution of the mind will

be disastrous. It is the home of reason and consciousness which

have enabled us to achieve what we have and will now determine

whether we survive.

(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)

analysis 09

The Sixth Extinction?

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

KOTA SRIRAJ

ANIL GUPTA

FOREIGNEYE

Angela Merkel has done theright thing by announcingthat she would step off thepolitical stage when herterm as Germany'schancellor ends in 2021.Her poll rankings havefallen, and 13-plus yearsare more than enough forany political leader. And thebest leaders are those whoknow when it's time to exit.(New York Times editorial)

IN MERKEL, EUROPELOSES A LEADER


The results of a slow-down in the evolutionof the mind will be disastrous

F I R S T C O L U M N

money 10LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

B U S I N E S S C O R N E RINDIA NEEDS TO CREATE 100 MN NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES INNEXT DECADE: REPORT

New Delhi: India needs to create around 100 million new employmentopportunities over the coming decade as it looks to encash its demograph-ic surge as rise in employment can help accelerate the country's growth poten-tial and make it inclusive, says a report. PwC's Strategy& report, 'Nagarik:Inclusive growth through large-scale employment generation', highlightedpractical ways of raising employment across the country over the comingdecade and noted how connecting local resources of the country's smallerdistricts to markets can lead to large scale employment generation. “...overthe coming decade, we need to create employment opportunities equivalentto the population of five Australias. This is one of the most critical agendaitems facing the country which, if tackled with foresight and energy, can helpaccelerate our growth and make it inclusive,” the report noted. As per thereport, India will need to increase its labour force participation rate (LFPR)by providing greater opportunities to its working population especially women.“Reaching the global LFPR average of 63.5 per cent in line with the increasein working age population will be critical,” it noted. “Generating gainfulemployment, especially in India's smaller districts, where majority of Indiaresides, allows inclusive growth. Using local capabilities, local entrepreneursand market connects is the sustainable way forward,” said ShyamalMukherjee, Chairman, PwC in India. The report noted that using a five-pronged approach, the platform called Nagarik, offers insights and solutionsfor all-round employment generation, including marginal employment. Theplatform offers integrated solutions for augmenting jobs creation in agriculture,agro-processing, MSMEs and tourism.

LIC SEEKS CCI NOD FOR IDBI BANK DEALNew Delhi: Insurance behemoth LIC has sought the Competition

Commission’s nod for its acquisition of majority stake in state-owned IDBIBank. A listed entity, IDBI Bank is grappling with mounting toxic loans withgross non-performing assets rising to about about `57,807 crore at the endof the June quarter. During the three months ended June, the lender’s net lossstood at `2,410 crore. The bank has a market capitalisation of over `24,794crore. According to a notice submitted by the Life Insurance Corporation ofIndia (LIC) to the CCI: “The proposed combination relates to the acquisitionof a controlling stake to the extent of 51 per cent shareholding and manage-ment control rights in IDBI through preferential issue and open offer.” Mergersand acquisitions beyond a certain threshold require approval of theCompetition Commission of India (CCI). Earlier this month, IDBI Bank hadsaid that LIC's open offer to purchase shares from the minority shareholdersof the state-owned bank will kick-start from December 3. The open offer, atRs 61.73 per equity share, will close on December 14. LIC has offered to acquire2,04,15,12,929 equity shares, representing 26 per cent of the fully paid-up equi-ty capital of IDBI Bank under the open offer in accordance with Sebi regu-lations.

WhatsApp focused

on security, privacy

PTI n NEW DELHI

WhatsApp Vice President ChrisDaniels Wednesday said the com-

pany is focused on values like securityand privacy to ensure that its productremains a utility that helps users com-municate in everyday life.

The Facebook-owned company,which has been asked by the Indian gov-ernment to put in place a mechanismto clamp down fake messages on its plat-form, also announced its partnershipwith Invest India to help entrepreneursand small and medium enterprisesexpand their businesses.

“...we keep the company focussed onfour values -- simplicity, quality, secu-rity and privacy. Everything we do in thecompany focusses on those values anddelivering that value to users andensuring that our product remains autility that they can use to communi-cate in everyday life,” Daniels saidhere.

Out of WhatsApp user base of 1.3billion people, more than 200 millionpeople are in India -- the single largestmarket for the popular messaging plat-form. The government has been push-ing WhatsApp to find a technologysolution to trace origin of 'sinister' mes-sages, a move that it believes can helpcurb horrific crimes like mob-lynchingemanating from fake news.

WhatsApp, however, had rejectedIndia’s demand for a solution to trackthe origin of messages on its platform,saying building traceability will under-mine end-to-end encryption and affectprivacy protection for users.

Emphasising that people use its plat-form for all kinds of “sensitive con-versations”, the US-based firm had saidit is focussing on educating peopleabout misinformation. Speaking aboutthe startup ecosystem in India, Danielssaid companies like Ola, Flipkart,Zomato and Makemytrip are makinga huge impact on the Indian economy.

“We are extremely impressed bythe entrepreneurial tradition in Indiaas well as by companies that we seecoming out...We believe in people, webelieve in creativity, we believe inentrepreneurship,” he said. The part-nership with Invest India will helpWhatsApp in driving awareness aboutits business tools in around 15 statesimpacting over 60,000 businesses inthe coming months through toolssuch as Startup India ‘Yatra’ pro-gramme and other in-person trainingevents.

WhatsApp wil l invest USD250,000 as seed funding to the top 5winners of the ‘WhatsApp StartUpChallenge’ and an additional USD250,000 will be directed to a select fewfrom the entrepreneurial communityto promote their WhatsApp businessnumber on Facebook and drive dis-covery of their businesses. “India addsover 3 new startups a day, ranking itamongst the top startup nations in theworld... Through this partnershipwith WhatsApp, we aim to support theinnovative startups in India and to cre-ate solutions not only for India but theentire world,” Deepak Bagla, CEO andMD at Invest India, said.

Financial markets facing

trust deficit: S&P

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s financial markets are facing a 'trustdeficit' and disruptions due to defaults by a

major non-banking finance company whichcould put a strain on weaker firms, S&P GlobalRatings said Wednesday.

Spreads have widened, and short-term bor-rowing costs have spiked since InfrastructureLeasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), an infra-structure development and finance companywith a high domestic rating, defaulted on loanrepayments in August and September. Corporategovernance concerns are adding to risk aversion.

“India’s financial markets are facing a trustdeficit. The disruption could put a strain onweaker companies as well as finance companies,”S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Geeta Chughsaid. In its report titled ‘A look at whether IndiaInc can handle the liquidity crunch in debt cap-ital markets’, S&P said rated Indian companiesare relatively well-positioned to withstand thestress in India's debt capital markets that ensuedafter a major default.

“While liquidity stress has begun to gradu-ally ease, we expect tougher conditions couldlinger for months. Indian companies including

nonbank finance companies (NBFCs) are vul-nerable to spiking interest rates because they haveincreased reliance on short-term debt, after yearsof relatively good financing conditions forshorter-dated paper,” S&P said.

Rated Indian companies are better positionedbecause they tend to have manageable short-termobligations and good liquidity.

Nevertheless, costlier or restricted financingcould delay some growth plans and hurt prof-itability. “Bank asset quality could come underpressure because of the IL&FS default. On theother hand, banks will benefit from more risk-based pricing and reduced competitive intensi-ty,” S&P said. IL&FS is one of India’s leading infra-structure development and finance companies,was highly rated domestically, and has institu-tional shareholders including the State Bank ofIndia and Life Insurance Corp of India. Its defaulthas disrupted debt capital markets, and led toparticular concerns on NBFCs.

“NBFCs and housing finance companies arethe most exposed to liquidity challenges becausethey borrow heavily from mutual funds and havesignificant reliance on short term borrowings,”S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Deepali Seth-Chhabria said.

Investor wealth surges `Rs 1.92L cr New Delhi: Investor wealth soared ̀ 1.92 lakh

crore Wednesday following a sharp rebound in thebroader market where the BSE benchmark indexrallied 550.92 points.

The 30-share Sensex zoomed 550.92 points or1.63 per cent to close at 34,442.05. In intra-day, theindex had fallen by 303.89 points to 33,587.24.Investor sentiment turned positive after the FinanceMinistry issued a statement to dampen concerns

over a spat between the government and the RBI.The market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listedcompanies surged `1,92,961.33 crore to`1,38,45,109.37 crore. “After a volatile start, mar-ket sharply rebounded led by clarity over the inde-pendence of RBI by the Govt. Rupee pared somelosses while strong global cues and stock specificactions made the market positive,” said Vinod Nair,Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 19850 -362.85 -1.88KMILES 67.05 -7.4 -9.94AARTIIND 1290 27.2 2.15ABB 1280 70.75 5.85ABBOTINDIA 7607 472.15 6.62ABCAPITAL 104.35 3.55 3.52ABFRL 179.95 -0.6 -0.33ACC 1373.2 25.8 1.91ADANIPORTS 319.1 -2.75 -0.85ADANIPOWER 46.05 1.35 3.02ADANITRANS 165 1.75 1.07ADVENZYMES 190.35 12.65 7.12AEGISLOG 214.05 -13.4 -5.89AIAENG 1728.25 8 0.47AJANTPHARM 1057.75 47.2 4.67AKZOINDIA 1523.25 10.5 0.69ALBK 44.2 2.4 5.74ALKEM 1905.05 -15.8 -0.82ALLCARGO 102 0.95 0.94AMARAJABAT 744.35 -8.55 -1.14AMBUJACEM 197.1 4.6 2.39ANDHRABANK 29.05 1.4 5.06APARINDS 551 -10.6 -1.89APLAPOLLO 1206 -5.7 -0.47APLLTD 591.25 -3.4 -0.57APOLLOHOSP 1145.9 -21.9 -1.88APOLLOTYRE 218.35 3.55 1.65ARVIND 342.3 -3.05 -0.88ASAHIINDIA 280.65 -5.9 -2.06ASHOKA 112.75 2.15 1.94ASHOKLEY 114.7 -0.5 -0.43ASIANPAINT 1227.25 29.8 2.49ASTRAL 975.05 69.2 7.64ATUL 3316 37.95 1.16AUBANK 567 19.2 3.5AUROPHARMA 790.3 21.45 2.79AVANTI 397.8 -0.8 -0.2AXISBANK 581.9 19.3 3.43BAJAJ-AUTO 2594 39.7 1.55BAJAJCORP 353.4 1.05 0.3

BAJAJELEC 485 11.9 2.52BAJAJFINSV 5400.3 3.95 0.07BAJAJHLDNG 2780 63 2.32BAJFINANCE 2374.7 16.4 0.7BALKRISIND 1092.65 22.3 2.08BALMLAWRIE 194.5 0 0BALRAMCHIN 106.85 -2.45 -2.24BANDHANBNK 390.9 5.4 1.4BANKBARODA 110.8 0.8 0.73BANKINDIA 86 1.7 2.02BASF 1660 1.7 0.1BATAINDIA 974.5 33.25 3.53BAYERCROP 3870.75 -25.7 -0.66BBTC 1294.1 87.25 7.23BEL 92.65 3.2 3.58BEML 585.1 -0.4 -0.07BERGEPAINT 280.05 -4.65 -1.63BHARATFIN 876.1 38.35 4.58BHARATFORG 586.3 17.25 3.03BHARTIARTL 290.8 -1.05 -0.36BHEL 68.85 -0.2 -0.29BIOCON 658.75 18.5 2.89BIRLACORPN 570.85 -3 -0.52BLISSGVS 168.05 1.3 0.78BLUEDART 2805.95 6.35 0.23BLUESTARCO 574 19.5 3.52BOMDYEING 104.55 9.5 9.99BOSCHLTD 19775 118.4 0.6BPCL 274.7 8.05 3.02BRITANNIA 5650 201.45 3.7CADILAHC 358.8 10 2.87CANBK 261.95 5.65 2.2CANFINHOME 274.85 9.65 3.64CAPF 467.8 0.2 0.04CAPPL 419.95 15.95 3.95CARBORUNIV 365 2.95 0.81CARERATING 1074 -16.65 -1.53CASTROLIND 147.95 1.15 0.78CCL 253.5 17 7.19CEATLTD 1140 11.1 0.98CENTRALBK 31.9 0.35 1.11CENTRUM 40.5 0.45 1.12CENTURYPLY 175.05 1.3 0.75CENTURYTEX 817.6 5.8 0.71CERA 2545 169.5 7.14CGPOWER 35.4 -0.15 -0.42

CHAMBLFERT 144.3 -0.5 -0.35CHENNPETRO 258.55 6.35 2.52CHOLAFIN 1280 34.05 2.73CIPLA 627.9 17.6 2.88COALINDIA 266.15 -9.75 -3.53COCHINSHIP 387.5 6.35 1.67COFFEEDAY 260.15 -0.55 -0.21COLPAL 1116.9 13.6 1.23CONCOR 630.9 7.9 1.27COROMANDEL 420 7.9 1.92CORPBANK 26.6 0.8 3.1CRISIL 1453.9 44.65 3.17CROMPTON 213.9 8.55 4.16CUB 171.5 0.5 0.29CUMMINSIND 747.95 73.95 10.97CYIENT 620.15 -1 -0.16DABUR 385.4 -9.5 -2.41DALMIABHA 2105 -8.05 -0.38DBCORP 165.75 1.3 0.79DBL 431.4 28.5 7.07DCBBANK 158.9 -0.1 -0.06DCMSHRIRAM 409.65 0 0DEEPAKFERT 197.35 -3.4 -1.69DEEPAKNI 247.7 6.1 2.52DELTACORP 236.6 1.3 0.55DENABANK 16 0.1 0.63DHANUKA 366 -4.5 -1.21DHFL 225 17.6 8.49DISHTV 43.65 0 0DIVISLAB 1480 -7.3 -0.49DLF 164.85 2.95 1.82DMART 1338.65 64.05 5.03DRREDDY 2540.7 -57 -2.19ECLERX 1065.3 15.3 1.46EDELWEISS 162.05 7.7 4.99EICHERMOT 21829.1 802.4 3.82EIDPARRY 222 -4.55 -2.01EIHOTEL 161 -4.2 -2.54ELGIEQUIP 251.85 -7.6 -2.93EMAMILTD 398 -5.95 -1.47ENDURANCE 1209.5 6.4 0.53ENGINERSIN 116.15 2 1.75

ENIL 665.75 -1.95 -0.29EQUITAS 107.85 4.65 4.51ERIS 680.45 2.2 0.32ESCORTS 625.9 21.5 3.56ESSELPRO 88 0.6 0.69EVEREADY 179.95 -0.1 -0.06EXIDEIND 265.4 4.65 1.78FCONSUMER 42.45 0.1 0.24FDC 200 -1.7 -0.84FEDERALBNK 82.7 -0.25 -0.3FINCABLES 496.85 1.95 0.39FINOLEXIND 549.95 -3.35 -0.61FLFL 368 1.65 0.45FORBESCO 2019.95 -35.95 -1.75FORCEMOT 1729.25 4.6 0.27FORTIS 139.8 5.9 4.41FRETAIL 488.6 -7.65 -1.54FSL 61.1 -0.05 -0.08GAIL 374.35 14.9 4.15GDL 132.2 -5.35 -3.89GEPIL 827.05 18 2.22GESHIP 309.55 0.75 0.24GET&D 230.7 -3 -1.28GHCL 227.75 20.6 9.94GICHSGFIN 256 7.7 3.1GICRE 318.55 -4.85 -1.5GILLETTE 6600 97.15 1.49GLAXO 1418.6 40.3 2.92GLENMARK 622.85 18.8 3.11GMDCLTD 86.1 -0.05 -0.06GMRINFRA 16.8 0.35 2.13GNFC 333.35 4.1 1.25GODFRYPHLP 770.15 -3.6 -0.47GODREJAGRO 522 0.7 0.13GODREJCP 724.45 10.6 1.48GODREJIND 469.05 7.85 1.7GODREJPROP 595 -8.05 -1.33GPPL 100.3 -1.2 -1.18GRANULES 97.85 0.85 0.88GRAPHITE 953.05 -13.3 -1.38GRASIM 831.25 25.55 3.17GREAVESCOT 116.2 0.05 0.04GREENPLY 137.8 5.65 4.28GRINDWELL 495 13.1 2.72GRUH 287.5 10.95 3.96GSFC 104.6 1.8 1.75

GSKCONS 7000 86.2 1.25GSPL 178 2.9 1.66GUJALKALI 537.7 1.1 0.2GUJFLUORO 885 5.75 0.65GUJGAS 622.6 11.05 1.81GULFOILLUB 710 8 1.14HAL 759.9 7.7 1.02HATSUN 615 7.75 1.28HAVELLS 642.4 10.05 1.59HCC 12.3 0.19 1.57HCLTECH 1050.8 46.2 4.6HDFC 1769.55 96.75 5.78HDFCBANK 1911.85 -2.05 -0.11HDFCLIFE 371.3 1.9 0.51HDIL 20.2 0.25 1.25HEG 4264.1 11.35 0.27HEIDELBERG 142 -2.2 -1.53HERITGFOOD 548.4 54.9 11.12HEROMOTOCO 2765.2 -9.15 -0.33HEXAWARE 334.55 9.55 2.94HFCL 21.2 0.15 0.71HIMATSEIDE 235.05 -0.6 -0.25HINDALCO 220.55 -3.15 -1.41HINDCOPPER 49.25 0.45 0.92HINDPETRO 224.1 3.75 1.7HINDUNILVR 1617.85 25.6 1.61HINDZINC 264.2 -2.85 -1.07HONAUT 19801.3 387.85 2HSCL 124.85 0.2 0.16HSIL 238.05 12.85 5.71HUDCO 43.55 0.45 1.04IBREALEST 74.95 2.9 4.02IBULHSGFIN 834.45 65.25 8.48IBVENTURES 430.75 16.6 4.01ICICIBANK 355.1 9.2 2.66ICICIGI 799.05 -2.85 -0.36ICICIPRULI 331.5 7.15 2.2ICIL 67.3 1.25 1.89IDBI 59.3 -0.4 -0.67IDEA 38.6 -0.35 -0.9IDFC 36.85 0.75 2.08IDFCBANK 34.7 0.05 0.14IEX 158.75 -8.3 -4.97IFBIND 888 5.45 0.62IFCI 13.83 0.22 1.62IGL 269.5 17.4 6.9IL&FSTRANS 19.8 0.4 2.06INDHOTEL 128.65 1.55 1.22INDIACEM 89.6 1.3 1.47INDIANB 252.5 -4.3 -1.67INDIGO 887.45 6 0.68INDUSINDBK 1424.45 60.95 4.47INFIBEAM 32.25 0.75 2.38INFRATEL 268.85 3.8 1.43INFY 686.25 26.5 4.02INOXLEISUR 222.05 4 1.83INOXWIND 83.9 3.05 3.77INTELLECT 250.8 -6.35 -2.47IOB 15.04 0.31 2.1IOC 138.05 1.55 1.14IPCALAB 670.1 13.7 2.09IRB 139.45 13.2 10.46ISGEC 5400.1 -18 -0.33ITC 279.8 0.8 0.29ITDC 295.65 1.85 0.63ITDCEM 115.7 0.6 0.52ITI 78.45 2.55 3.36J&KBANK 42.85 -0.25 -0.58JAGRAN 112 -1.6 -1.41JAICORPLTD 103.4 1.25 1.22JAMNAAUTO 71.75 2.3 3.31JBCHEPHARM 306.8 8.85 2.97JCHAC 1681.05 92.8 5.84JETAIRWAYS 222.3 -13.45 -5.71JINDALSAW 85 2.75 3.34

JINDALSTEL 171.4 1.05 0.62JISLJALEQS 71.1 0.65 0.92JKCEMENT 671 0.45 0.07JKIL 125 2.55 2.08JKLAKSHMI 267 0.35 0.13JKTYRE 103.65 -2.25 -2.12JMFINANCIL 75.7 3.7 5.14JPASSOCIAT 6.4 0.17 2.73JSL 52.45 -1.35 -2.51JSLHISAR 97.55 -2.55 -2.55JSWENERGY 64.85 -1.45 -2.19JSWSTEEL 338.45 2.55 0.76JUBILANT 661.5 10.85 1.67JUBLFOOD 1083 19.1 1.8JUSTDIAL 503.2 -4.35 -0.86JYOTHYLAB 186.75 1.4 0.76KAJARIACER 394.45 8.65 2.24KALPATPOWR 323.05 14.6 4.73KANSAINER 379 10.7 2.91KEC 282.3 10.2 3.75KEI 306 9.65 3.26KIOCL 158.95 2.25 1.44KNRCON 179.6 2.85 1.61KOTAKBANK 1118 -6.75 -0.6KPIT 220.05 5.45 2.54KPRMILL 596 -16 -2.61KRBL 341 -3.55 -1.03KSCL 492.7 1.05 0.21KTKBANK 103.3 1.2 1.18KWALITY 6.39 -0.33 -4.91L&TFH 127.6 3.75 3.03LAKSHVILAS 88.85 -1.85 -2.04LALPATHLAB 880 -0.4 -0.05LAOPALA 223.35 4.3 1.96LAURUSLABS 342 -1.95 -0.57LAXMIMACH 5784 151.85 2.7LICHSGFIN 409.8 3.6 0.89LINDEINDIA 441 28.8 6.99LT 1298.35 26.85 2.11LTI 1752 71.7 4.27LTTS 1698.4 20.2 1.2LUPIN 888.95 12.45 1.42LUXIND 1525 19.55 1.3M&M 763.35 18.15 2.44M&MFIN 404.9 10.05 2.55MAGMA 105 -2.25 -2.1MAHABANK 13.53 -0.42 -3.01MAHINDCIE 264.65 -0.15 -0.06MAHLIFE 408.5 3.3 0.81MANAPPURAM 79.7 3.85 5.08MANPASAND 87.05 -4.55 -4.97MARICO 319.75 7.2 2.3MARUTI 6608.95 -88.9 -1.33MAXINDIA 68.65 -0.4 -0.58MCX 698 -14.9 -2.09MEGH 72.35 -0.45 -0.62MFSL 377.45 10.9 2.97MGL 835.75 14.25 1.73MHRIL 214.35 -0.9 -0.42MINDACORP 120.85 3 2.55MINDAIND 308.55 -6.3 -2MINDTREE 852.55 66.3 8.43MMTC 28.4 0.45 1.61MOIL 177.95 3.55 2.04MONSANTO 2565 -8.6 -0.33MOTHERSUMI 162.8 0.9 0.56MOTILALOFS 619.1 -13.45 -2.13MPHASIS 986.7 31.45 3.29MRF 64500 430.2 0.67MRPL 81.9 1.7 2.12MUTHOOTFIN 408.5 12.15 3.07NATCOPHARM 753 14.75 2NATIONALUM 68.2 -0.85 -1.23NAUKRI 1562.55 -19.95 -1.26NAVINFLUOR 650.95 -35.95 -5.23

NAVKARCORP 66.75 -0.85 -1.26NAVNETEDUL 110.15 2.55 2.37NBCC 55.2 1.75 3.27NBVENTURES 115.8 2.6 2.3NCC 74.95 0.35 0.47NESTLEIND 10122.1 409.55 4.22NETWORK18 41.15 0.05 0.12NH 225.85 0.25 0.11NHPC 24.25 0.2 0.83NIACL 217.95 0.65 0.3NIITTECH 1228.55 20.4 1.69NILKAMAL 1590 -29.7 -1.83NLCINDIA 81 -1.25 -1.52NMDC 108.95 -0.3 -0.27NOCIL 155.05 -2.95 -1.87NTPC 160.05 0.3 0.19OBEROIRLTY 424.3 0.75 0.18OFSS 3631.5 110 3.12OIL 196.35 -0.15 -0.08OMAXE 212.5 -0.05 -0.02ONGC 153.15 0.2 0.13ORIENTBANK 80.25 3.3 4.29ORIENTCEM 86.6 4.4 5.35PAGEIND 29351.05 249.15 0.86PARAGMILK 259.4 1.4 0.54PCJEWELLER 58.5 4.4 8.13PEL 2172.15 161.15 8.01PERSISTENT 564.9 10.25 1.85PETRONET 226.5 9.15 4.21PFC 95.5 4.05 4.43PFIZER 2919.5 74.4 2.62PFS 15.26 0.41 2.76PGHH 9399.95 -79.7 -0.84PHILIPCARB 227.3 4.6 2.07PHOENIXLTD 560 7.45 1.35PIDILITIND 954.85 18.65 1.99PIIND 773.7 16.55 2.19PNB 73.75 1.3 1.79PNBHOUSING 802.5 71.3 9.75PNCINFRA 138 4.4 3.29POWERGRID 185.7 -1.1 -0.59PRESTIGE 194 2.55 1.33

PRSMJOHNSN 87 0.65 0.75PTC 76.8 0.95 1.25PVR 1356 19.35 1.45QUESS 743 38.95 5.53RADICO 392.9 4.5 1.16RAIN 184.15 -8.65 -4.49RAJESHEXPO 569.2 0.25 0.04RALLIS 171 2.45 1.45RAMCOCEM 598.9 -4.1 -0.68RATNAMANI 815 -17.75 -2.13RAYMOND 751.75 4.95 0.66RBLBANK 521.1 -4.9 -0.93RCF 59.65 0.9 1.53RCOM 12.33 0.67 5.75RECLTD 116.15 4.35 3.89REDINGTON 82.8 -0.25 -0.3RELAXO 791.7 29.05 3.81RELCAPITAL 241.85 6.3 2.67RELIANCE 1061.4 4.25 0.4RELINFRA 358.4 8.65 2.47REPCOHOME 364.15 20.2 5.87RNAM 166.95 7.15 4.47RNAVAL 12.98 0.7 5.7RPOWER 30.2 0.45 1.51SADBHAV 208.45 11.45 5.81SAIL 64.45 -0.85 -1.3SANOFI 5784.95 35.7 0.62SBILIFE 563.4 3.1 0.55SBIN 280.5 7.35 2.69SCHAEFFLER 5099 169.5 3.44SCHNEIDER 112 3.45 3.18SCI 44.05 0.3 0.69SFL 1500 -15 -0.99SHANKARA 1106.7 26.95 2.5SHARDACROP 321.45 -8.85 -2.68SHILPAMED 387.15 3.4 0.89SHK 169.9 0.55 0.32SHOPERSTOP 490 1.5 0.31SHREECEM 13896.05 360.3 2.66SHRIRAMCIT 1674 50.55 3.11SIEMENS 929.05 24.45 2.7SIS 849.6 0.35 0.04SJVN 28 -0.15 -0.53SKFINDIA 1799.9 24.45 1.38SOBHA 446.85 -0.8 -0.18SOLARINDS 1000 30.6 3.16

SOMANYCERA 344.95 6.95 2.06SONATSOFTW 308.2 22.2 7.76SOUTHBANK 14.55 0.2 1.39SPARC 296.55 -3.1 -1.03SPICEJET 72.65 0.4 0.55SREINFRA 32.95 1 3.13SRF 1921.9 51.3 2.74SRTRANSFIN 1161.45 37.15 3.3STARCEMENT 101.25 -3.55 -3.39STRTECH 380.4 10.65 2.88SUDARSCHEM 375 -3.6 -0.95SUNCLAYLTD 3532 -40.85 -1.14SUNDRMFAST 535 3.9 0.73SUNPHARMA 579.15 17.5 3.12SUNTECK 324 -6 -1.82SUNTV 651.55 0.95 0.15SUPPETRO 225.3 -7 -3.01SUPRAJIT 232.25 2.4 1.04SUPREMEIND 988.95 -2.7 -0.27SUVEN 242.25 6.35 2.69SUZLON 6.21 -0.01 -0.16SWANENERGY 98.25 -0.35 -0.35SYMPHONY 910 21.75 2.45SYNDIBANK 34.75 -0.3 -0.86SYNGENE 572.85 3.35 0.59TAKE 163.55 8.35 5.38TATACHEM 685.45 4.25 0.62TATACOFFEE 95.5 -0.55 -0.57TATACOMM 490.55 19.95 4.24TATAELXSI 1033.35 24.3 2.41TATAGLOBAL 216.65 -10.25 -4.52TATAINVEST 683 15.65 2.35TATAMETALI 647 8.2 1.28TATAMOTORS 178.65 1.35 0.76TATAMTRDVR 97.4 0.6 0.62TATAPOWER 76 -1.55 -2TATASTEEL 552.4 -12.7 -2.25TCS 1937.6 42.2 2.23TEAMLEASE 2600 66.45 2.62TECHM 744.15 60.5 8.85TEJASNET 252.35 2.75 1.1TEXRAIL 61.6 1 1.65

THERMAX 1000 9.35 0.94THOMASCOOK 208.2 3.55 1.73THYROCARE 562.8 3.9 0.7TIFHL 488 5.8 1.2TIMETECHNO 112.6 1.65 1.49TIMKEN 518.6 6.9 1.35TITAN 844.05 14.4 1.74TNPL 256.8 1.25 0.49TORNTPHARM 1655.05 -0.85 -0.05TORNTPOWER 256.85 29.45 12.95TRENT 322.6 -1.55 -0.48TRIDENT 64.4 0.85 1.34TRITURBINE 101.85 -0.3 -0.29TTKPRESTIG 6601.3 73.85 1.13TV18BRDCST 37.35 0.1 0.27TVSMOTOR 545.05 6.6 1.23TVSSRICHAK 2410 18.85 0.79TVTODAY 406.6 19.4 5.01UBL 1225.5 51.6 4.4UCOBANK 19.1 1.3 7.3UFLEX 282.5 1.95 0.7UJJIVAN 212.45 11.9 5.93ULTRACEMCO 3465 7.1 0.21UNICHEMLAB 217.4 -1.65 -0.75UNIONBANK 76.65 0.95 1.25UPL 674.15 37.1 5.82VBL 818 12.15 1.51VEDL 211.25 0.1 0.05VENKYS 2496.95 14.8 0.6VGUARD 187.3 4.85 2.66VIJAYABANK 44.05 -0.4 -0.9VINATIORGA 1550.15 114.6 7.98VIPIND 441.55 7.8 1.8VMART 2372.75 32.5 1.39VOLTAS 539 21.3 4.11VTL 999.2 -4.65 -0.46WABAG 251.25 0.4 0.16WABCOINDIA 6385 72.55 1.15WELCORP 135.6 4.4 3.35WELSPUNIND 58.85 -0.35 -0.59WHIRLPOOL 1379.2 47.25 3.55WIPRO 331.5 3.25 0.99WOCKPHARMA 494.45 3.95 0.81YESBANK 188.05 6 3.3ZEEL 451.7 7.45 1.68ZENSARTECH 256.2 4.9 1.95ZYDUSWELL 1176 19.65 1.7

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGETECHM 695 748.8 672.45 743.95 58.85IBULHSGFIN 771.7 841.4 769.05 832 62.85HDFC 1,678.00 1,774.50 1,677.10 1,767.20 95.3HCLTECH 1,005.30 1,065.70 1,002.00 1,062.00 57.15UPL 639 677.2 637 671.6 34.8INDUSINDBK 1,355.00 1,436.20 1,333.15 1,420.50 56.2GAIL 362.85 376.4 358.25 375.05 14.8INFY 663.9 692.95 663.05 685.95 26.35YESBANK 185 189.5 179.65 188.35 6.3EICHERMOT 21,200.00 21,990.00 20,701.15 21,712.00 685.85GRASIM 805.9 838.9 787 831 26.25SUNPHARMA 562.55 582 560.45 579.15 17.1AXISBANK 568.3 586 558 579.5 16.8BPCL 266.35 276.45 264.1 274 7.65ASIANPAINT 1,205.60 1,234.95 1,183.85 1,230.30 34SBIN 275 282.75 268.6 280.75 7.6M&M 749 769.1 735.15 764.5 18.2CIPLA 612 631.75 606.3 624.85 14.5ICICIBANK 345.5 356.55 342.3 353.4 7.7TCS 1,900.00 1,943.90 1,875.45 1,934.60 39.8LT 1,266.00 1,304.00 1,249.20 1,295.00 23.75HINDUNILVR 1,593.00 1,624.00 1,561.95 1,617.00 23.95HINDPETRO 220 225.15 219 223.2 3.25BAJAJ-AUTO 2,550.00 2,614.00 2,486.15 2,592.80 36.55WIPRO 328.2 333.75 322.1 332 4.5TITAN 837.5 847.9 818.5 841.7 11.2IOC 137 138.95 135.05 137.9 1.6ZEEL 444.55 454.95 431.05 449.25 4.8JSWSTEEL 336.95 341.9 326.5 338.8 3TATAMOTORS 178.3 180 173.45 178.65 1.4BAJFINANCE 2,367.80 2,392.00 2,306.90 2,368.10 11.75ULTRACEMCO 3,470.00 3,519.90 3,374.00 3,475.10 11.45INFRATEL 265 271 259.4 267 0.8NTPC 160 160.9 155.25 159.75 0.35RELIANCE 1,059.00 1,065.85 1,047.00 1,058.20 1.2ONGC 154 155 151.4 153.1 0.15ITC 279.55 281 272.85 278.9 -0.05POWERGRID 185.1 186.75 178.8 186 -0.15BAJAJFINSV 5,413.00 5,436.00 5,241.00 5,381.50 -9.65VEDL 211.45 213.85 207 210.55 -0.65HDFCBANK 1,902.05 1,917.90 1,885.00 1,906.00 -6.75BHARTIARTL 292.9 295 278.9 291.35 -1.25KOTAKBANK 1,129.10 1,135.00 1,107.00 1,117.10 -6.7HEROMOTOCO 2,784.50 2,820.00 2,712.85 2,753.00 -20.9ADANIPORTS 324.6 324.95 313.25 318.45 -4.15MARUTI 6,760.00 6,760.00 6,500.00 6,600.00 -97HINDALCO 224 224.35 216.2 220.1 -3.8DRREDDY 2,438.95 2,554.40 2,423.05 2,542.00 -52.3TATASTEEL 554.95 557.8 529.35 553 -11.5COALINDIA 265 267.9 263.8 266 -9.85

SE 500B

VITAL STATS

GOLD SILVERMumbai 33636 41200Delhi 33208 41200Kolkata 33529 41200

BSE: SENSEX

Open

High

Low

Current value

Previous close

Change (Pts)

Change (%)

73.99

94.10

83.92

0.65

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGEPEL 2,016.00 2,186.50 2,012.40 2,151.20 137.35ABB 1,247.60 1,288.45 1,215.00 1,280.00 71.8DMART 1,279.00 1,353.90 1,263.05 1,342.80 69.2PETRONET 217.95 227 217.9 226.9 9.3ABCAPITAL 100.7 105.4 99.25 104.75 3.9BEL 89 93.4 89 92.9 3.05CADILAHC 349 361 349 360 11.75AUROPHARMA 770 796.8 770 796.5 26BRITANNIA 5,467.00 5,666.05 5,439.05 5,622.15 174.25MCDOWELL-N 563.95 581 553.1 579 16.75SRTRANSFIN 1,127.65 1,170.00 1,072.00 1,152.00 32.25OFSS 3,527.00 3,635.25 3,491.10 3,621.10 99.45BIOCON 643.95 662 632.1 657 17.3SIEMENS 912.1 938 892.05 931.7 24.25PIDILITIND 938 963.9 915.6 960 24.4L&TFH 125.65 128.65 123.2 127.25 3.1MARICO 316 325.3 311.2 320.1 7.35ICICIPRULI 327.75 334.5 323.1 332.55 7.65AMBUJACEM 193 198.7 188.35 196.65 4.2NHPC 24 24.55 23.8 24.55 0.5ACC 1,349.00 1,383.45 1,322.55 1,370.35 25.45HAVELLS 637.6 649.5 633.75 645.5 11GODREJCP 714 727.8 704 725 11.15BANDHANBNK 389.95 395.6 386.8 390.5 5.9COLPAL 1,101.00 1,121.85 1,097.50 1,117.00 16.6CONCOR 638 655 605 632.15 8.8DLF 163.8 165.8 157.8 164 2.15HDFCLIFE 370.65 374.8 365.1 374 4.2SBILIFE 558.5 567 547.05 565 6.1LICHSGFIN 409.15 412.65 393.3 410.2 4.3ICICIGI 792.05 808.9 792.05 807 6.45MOTHERSUMI 163 163.9 155.65 163 1.3MRF 64,342.00 64,900.00 63,684.00 64,698.00 388.85INDIGO 884 896.85 871.6 887 4.6LUPIN 879.6 914.9 867.55 880 3.35BANKBARODA 114.7 114.75 109.85 110.35 0.35OIL 196.15 198.6 194 196.95 0.35NIACL 220.9 221 215 217.7 0SHREECEM 13,390.00 14,534.80 13,100.00 13,510.00 -4.2SUNTV 655.4 661.6 630 651 -0.45BOSCHLTD 19,700.00 19,880.50 19,125.00 19,710.00 -28.8BHEL 69.25 69.5 67.6 68.85 -0.3ASHOKLEY 115 115.9 112.2 114.4 -0.6NMDC 108.75 110.45 106.75 108.85 -0.65IDEA 39.05 39.3 37.5 38.7 -0.3PGHH 9,491.80 9,643.00 9,333.30 9,360.00 -131.1SAIL 65.75 66 63.3 64.4 -0.95GICRE 321.6 323.7 317.3 318.8 -4.9HINDZINC 268 270.45 261.2 262.35 -4.8DABUR 398 401.75 379.5 384.55 -11.8

33963.09

34463.38

33587.24

34442.05

33891.13

550.92

1.63

BSE: GAINERS

TORNTPOWER 256.85 (12.95)

CUMMINSIND 747.95 (10.97)

IRB 139.45 (10.46)

GHCL 227.75 (9.94)

PNBHOUSING 802.50 (9.75)

Current (Chng %)NSE: GAINERS

TECHM 743.95 (8.59)

IBULHSGFIN\ 832.00 (8.17)

HDFC 1,767.20 (5.70)

HCLTECH 1,062.00 (5.69)

UPL 671.60 (5.46)

Current (Chng %)BSE: LOSERS

TATASTEELPP 100.85 (9.19)

AEGISLOG 214.05 (5.89)

JETAIRWAYS 222.30 (5.71)

NAVINFLUOR 650.95 (5.23)

IEX 158.75 (4.97)

Current (Chng %)NSE: LOSERS

COALINDIA 266.00 (3.57)

TATASTEEL 553.00 (2.04)

DRREDDY 2,542.00 (2.02)

HINDALCO 220.10 (1.70)

MARUTI 6,600.00 (1.45)

Current (Chng %)

SENSEX NIFTY

world 11LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

GLOBE GLOBE TROTTINGTROTTINGIrina Shayk fears Bradley Cooper

will dump her for Lady Gaga?

Los Angeles: One of the tabloids claims Irina Shayk fears Bradley Cooper will dump her forLady Gaga. The premise is completely absurd. GossipCop can debunk it. A headline in the latest issue ofNW reads, “Bradley Comes Clean: I’m In Love WithGaga.” The headline is based on Cooper saying in aninterview with Variety in August that he “fell in lovewith [Gaga’s] face and eyes” when she auditioned forA Star Is Born. The actor obviously wasn’t saying hefell in love with the singer in a romantic way, but ratherthat he knew she was perfect for the role.Unfortunately, NW is trying to make it seem as if theco-stars are developing a romance in real life. Theunreliable magazine says Shayk, who shares a babydaughter with Cooper, is “concerned that he may pullthe pin on their relationship to try and woo Gaga offscreen.” An alleged insider tells the magazine,“Bradley’s feelings for Gaga have driven a wedgebetween him and Irina. This is a woman he’s literal-ly infatuated with, however much he denies it and says they’re just good friends.” The supposedsource continues, “Bradley’s mesmerized by Gaga – she has him totally under her spell. He justmelts in her company. It’s very tough on Irina, who probably feels like she’s losing him.” Thequestionable tipster goes on to say that Cooper and Shayk have been arguing a lot lately overhis close bond with his co-star, while everyone involved in the production of A Star Is Born“assumed” that him and Gaga were “falling in love” on set. The magazine’s account of the sit-uation is both false and ridiculous. For starters, Gaga is engaged to talent agent Christian Carino.

Priyanka wears Marchesa gown for bridal

shower to support Georgina Chapman

New York: Actor Priyanka Chopra said she intention-ally chose to wear a Marchesa gown to her bridal show-er to support longtime friend and designer GeorginaChapman, who divorced disgraced producer HarveyWeinstein after he was accused of sexual harassment bymultiple women. The 36-year-old actor, who is tying theknot with American Singer Nick Jonas in December thisyear, told Women’s Wear Daily that Chapman shouldnot suffer for the fault of her ex-husband. Chopra calledthe decision to wear the gown as “women supportingwomen”. “Georgina’s a friend of mine, and she has been.And it’s not her fault. And I don’t think it’s right to takeit out on a self-made woman what somebody in her lifedid. “That’s the wrong attitude. I’ve known her for years,and that was a beautiful gown, and deserved to be wornby a bride-to-be. And it made me feel like a princess.It was the right choice,” Chopra added.

Trump criticised for his decision

to end birthright citizenship

PTI nWASHINGTON

President Donald Trump’sdecision to end birthright cit-

izenship — the process by whichbabies born in the country auto-matically become citizens - tonon-US citizens has triggeredwidespread criticism, even fromhis own party, ahead of the cru-cial mid-term elections nextTuesday.

In his latest hardline immi-gration rhetoric, Trump has saidthe birthright citizenship “has toend” and he would do it with anexecutive order. Under the cur-rent laws, anyone born in the USirrespective of the nationality ofparents, automatically becomesan American citizen.

“You cannot end thebirthright citizenship with anexecutive order,” said RepublicanCongressman Paul Ryan,Speaker of the US House ofRepresentatives. “We didn’t likeit when (former PresidentBarack) Obama tried changingimmigration laws via executiveaction, and obviously as conser-vatives, we believe in theConstitution,” Ryan told a radiostation in Lexington, Kentucky.Trump told “Axios on HBO” thathe intended to sign an executiveorder that would end “birthrightcitizenship” to children born inthe US to mothers who are in the

country illegally — setting thestage for a challenge to the 14thAmendment of the Constitution.“It was always told to me that youneeded a constitutional amend-ment, one amendment. Youdon’t have to do it. Number one.Number two, you can definite-ly do it with an act of Congress.But now they are saying, I can doit just with an executive order,”Trump said.

Such a practice to give citi-zenship to anyone born in the USis “ridiculous”, Trump said. Hesaid that we are the only coun-try in the world where a personcomes in and has a baby, and thebaby is essentially a citizen of theUS for 85 years with all of thosebenefits. “It’s ridiculous. It’sridiculous. And it has to end”.

Trump said that the effort to endthis practice was in the process.“We are in the process. It’ll hap-pen with an executive order.That’s what you’re talking about.”

According to Axios, Trumpsaid that he has run the idea ofending birthright citizenship byhis counsel and plans to proceedwith the highly-controversialmove, which certainly will facelegal challenges.

The Trump administrationhas said it is planning to “revise”the definition of employmentand specialty occupations underthe H-1B visas by January, amove which will have an adverseimpact on Indian IT companiesin the US and small and medi-um-sized contractual firmsmostly owned by Indian-Americans. The technologycompanies depend on H-1Bvisas to hire tens of thousands ofemployees each year from coun-tries like India and China.

The administration is alsoabandoning the Obama-era ruleof granting work permits to H-4 visa holders - who are spous-es of professionals holding H-1Bvisas, a move that could impacttens of thousands of Indians.Republican Senator ChuckGrassley, Chairman of the pow-erful Senate JudiciaryCommittee, said Trump’s move

to end birthright citizenshipwould require a constitutionalamendment to make necessarychanges on who all can acquirecitizenship. “I am not a lawyer,but it seems to me it would takea constitutional amendment tochange that as opposed to anexecutive order,” Grassley told alocal news channel in Iowa. Thereaction from Democrats wasswift, with some accusing Trumpof using the issue to rile up hissupporters ahead of mid-termpolls, with control of the Houseand Senate on the line. “Even aswe cope with bombers and massmurderers triggered by lies aboutrefugees and immigrants, Trumpkeeps going back to his comfortzone, the foundation of his pres-idency: Hating on brown peo-ple,” said DemocraticRepresentative Luis Gutierrez.He added that the president’smove seemed timed to motivatehis political base to go to thepolls, the Washington Timesreported. House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi, said Trump’sremarks did not surprise her.“This is just more of the same ofwhat he’s been saying,” she said,referring to Trump’s remarks onthe migrant caravan making itsway toward the US throughMexico and the separation ofmigrant families.

US Prez visitsPittsburghsynagogueshooting victimsWashington (PTI): USPresident Donald Trump hasvisited the Pittsburgh syna-gogue where 11 people werekilled in an anti-Semitic attackand met the widow of one of thevictims and three law enforce-ment personnel who wereinjured in the mass shootingthat shook the nation. Theshooter, Robert GregoryBowers, armed with an assaultrifle and at least three handguns,shouted anti-Semitic slurs andopened fire inside a Pittsburghsynagogue on Saturday, killing11 people, in what is believed tobe the deadliest attack on Jewsin the US history.

First Lady Melania Trumpaccompanied the President. Hisdaughter Ivanka Trump andson-in-law Jarred Kushner alsotravelled with them when theyvisited the ‘Tree of Life’ syna-gogue in Pittsburg where themass shooting took place. At thesynagogue, the President metwith Rabbi Myers. While insidethe synagogue, the first couplelit candles in honour of each ofthose killed, the White Housesaid. They were in the vestibulebut did not enter the crimescene area.

The rabbi walked throughthe history of the temple andwalked the President and thefirst lady through a lot of thedetail of what happened on theday. The rabbi talked a lotabout the bravery of the lawenforcement. The President wasincredibly impressed by therabbi, an absolutely incredibleman, White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders toldreporters. “The President wasvery moved by the visit and histime with the rabbi and calledit very humbling and very sad,”she said.

At the hospital, Trump metwith three members of the lawenforcement agencies and doc-tors, including one of the firstresponders who’d been shotseven times and was there withhis family. “The President wasincredibly moved... also howsupportive all of the law enforce-ment members were for oneanother,” Sanders said. Trumpthen spent about an hour withthe widow of Dr RichardGodfrey.

“She said that she wanted tomeet the President to let himknow that people wanted himthere. He spent about an hourtalking with her,” Sanders said.

According to the PressSecretary, Trump “said it was agreat honour to be in Pittsburghwith the first lady, to be withsuch incredible people who hadshown such bravery”.

Sanders said the stones andflowers Mr Trump and MrsTrump placed at the memorialwere from one of the WhiteHouse gardens.

India: Right to self-determination can’t beabused to undermine territorial integrityPTI n UNITED NATIONS

India has slammed Pakistanfor raising the Kashmir issue

at a UN General Assembly ses-sion, saying it has becomeIslamabad’s habit to misuseany forum for “narrow politicalgains” and insisting that theright to self-determination can-not be abused to undermine anation’s territorial integrity.First Secretary in India’sPermanent Mission to the UNPaulomi Tripathi was respond-ing to Pakistani envoy MaleehaLodhi’s remarks at the sessionthat the struggle of theKashmiri people for their rightto self-determination has beensuppressed for decades.

Lodhi said that theKashmir issue will remain on“the UN agenda until theKashmiri people are allowed toexercise their will, according tothe agreed method prescribedby the Security Council - aplebiscite under the auspices ofthe United Nations.” “We rejectthe unwarranted referencemade by one delegation to theState of Jammu and Kashmirwhich is an integral part ofIndia,” Tripathi said at a UNGA

Third Committee sessionTuesday on Elimination ofRacism, Xenophobia and Rightof People to Self-determination.

She said that it has becomePakistan’s habit to misuse anyforum for narrow politicalgains. “In reality, it is the peo-ple of India as well as of ourregion and beyond, have to suf-fer most egregious violation ofhuman rights inflicted by ter-rorism emanating from beyondour borders,” she said.

“The right to self-determi-nation cannot be abused andmisrepresented with the aim ofundermining the sovereigntyand territorial integrity of aMember State,” Tripathi said.She asserted that self-determi-nation has long been recognisedas the right of peoples of non-self-governing colonies andtrust territories to indepen-dence and self-government.Pointing that there are still 17non-self governing territorieswhich are in various stages ofdecolonisation, Tripathi saidthe international communitymust step up efforts to reach theconclusion of this long-drawnprocess. She described

Palestine as the “unfinishedtask” in the realisation of theright of people to self-determi-nation, saying India is com-mitted to the cause of the peo-ple of Palestine and the coun-try has substantially scaled upbilateral development partner-ships and increased contribu-tion to the UN Relief andWorks Agency for PalestineRefugees in the Near East(UNRWA).

On the issue of racism,Tripathi said despite effortsmade in combating racism,racial discrimination, xeno-phobia and related intolerance,these pernicious ills continue topersist in different forms andmanifestations. “Rise of exclu-sionist ideologies inciting dis-crimination and violencethreaten to subvert the glob-alised economic order andsocial cohesion,” she said stress-ing that there is need for com-prehensive legal and adminis-trative responses to counteremerging challenges.

She voiced India’s concernover the alarming rise in use ofdigital space for disseminationof racist and xenophobic mate-

rial as well as for recruitment,networking and fundraising bygroups espousing these ide-ologies. “We must acknowl-edge that racial equality andfreedom of expression neednot be pursued in a zero-summanner,” she said adding thatprivate entities including con-ventional and social media andcivil society need to developand observe codes of conductthat embody commitment toracial equality and non-dis-crimination. Immunitiesenjoyed by the social mediaplatforms for contents by users,must be counterbalanced withresponsible content moderationand norms for removing objec-tionable contents on voluntarybasis, Tripathi said.

She further said that com-plementary domestic actionand international cooperationis necessary to effectively imple-ment the Convention onElimination of All Forms ofRacial Discrimination and theDurban Declaration andProgramme of Action to real-ize inclusive growth envisagedin 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment.

PTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s Supreme CourtWednesday overturned the

conviction of a Christianwoman who was on death rowfor eight years for blasphemy,a landmark verdict thatsparked nationwide protests,death threats from hardlinegroups and cheers from humanrights advocates. Asia Bibi, a47-year-old mother of four,was convicted in 2010 afterbeing accused of insultingIslam in a row with her neigh-bours. She always maintainedher innocence, but has spentmost of the past eight years insolitary confinement. The apexcourt, in a three-memberbench led by chief justice SaqibNisar, issued the verdict onWednesday morning, threeweeks after they had reachedthe decision.

The delay followed threatsby blasphemy campaigners tohold protests. “Keeping inmind the evidence producedby the prosecution against thealleged blasphemy committedby the appellant, the prosecu-tion has categorically failed toprove its case beyond reason-able doubt,” Nisar said.

He said Bibi could walkfree from jail in Sheikupura,near Lahore, immediately ifnot wanted in connection withany other case. Bibi was the

first woman who was givendeath sentence under the blas-phemy laws. According to offi-cials, Bibi might be flown outof Pakistan due to threat to herlife.

It is not clear where shewill go as several countries,including Canada, have offeredasylum to her. The timing ofher release has not been shareddue to security reasons. Shewas kept in Sheikhupura jailnear Lahore. Her case hasbeen deeply divisive inPakistan where there is strongsupport for the controversialblasphemy laws The blasphe-my laws were promulgated byformer military dictator ZiaulHaq in 1980s. A person con-

victed under these laws isgiven death sentence. “Herconviction is set aside and sheis to be relieved forthwith if notrequired in other charges,”said Nisar while reading outthe judgement.

“Tolerance is the basicprinciple of Islam,” the topjudge read out, noting that thereligion condemns injusticeand oppression. There wastight security in the capital,Islamabad. Angry Protestserupted in Pakistan followingthe verdict.

The protestors blocked ahighway linking the capitalIslamabad with garrison city ofRawalpindi and the old airport,Islamabad police said.

Pak SC overturns blasphemy death sentence of Christian woman

Supporters of a Pakistani religious group chant slogans while block a main road ata protest after a court decision, in Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday. AP

Pak, China relations a ‘modelof state-to-state ties’: QureshiPTI n ISLAMABAD

Ahead of Prime MinisterImran Khan’s first visit to

China, Pakistan ForeignMinister Shah MahmoodQureshi on Wednesday said therelations between the twonations is a “model of state-to-state ties” and the CPEC pro-jects have given an importantsocio-economic developmentdimension to their friendship.

Khan, accompanied byQureshi, will lead a delegationfrom November 2-5 to Chinafor talks with President XiJinping amid anxieties inBeijing over his government’sapproach to deal with the USD60 billion China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)following reports aboutIslamabad downsizing certainprojects.

Khan’s trip to Beijing comesahead of a visit to Islamabad byInternational Monetary Fundofficials on November 7 for for-mal discussions on a bailoutpackage for the cash-strappedcountry. Qureshi chaired apreparatory meeting for Khan’svisit via video conference withthe Ambassador of Pakistan inBeijing, Masood Khalid. “The

two countries are close friends,good neighbours and develop-ment partners.

The bilateral relationshiphas withstood the test of times.Regardless of domestic or inter-national changes, this closefriendship has served as amodel of state-to-state rela-tions for other countries,” hesaid. Highlighting thatPakistan and China are “all-weather strategic cooperativepartners”, the foreign ministersaid the bilateral ties have beenfurther strengthened, particu-larly in the economic field, bythe launch of the CPEC.

Underscoring that theambitious infrastructure projecthas added another importantsocio-economic development

dimension to the bilateral rela-tionship, Qureshi said, “Theleadership of both countries hasexpressed strong desire andcommitment to the successfulimplementation of the CPEC.”

Beijing touts CPEC as theflagship infrastructure pro-gramme in its vast Belt andRoad (BRI) Initiative.

The CPEC connectsChina’s Xinjiang province withGwadar, a port city inBalochistan, through a rail,road and pipeline network.India is opposed to the CPECas it traverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Qureshisaid, “Pakistan considers theCPEC as an engine for growth;a catalyst for economic devel-opment, and a platform forsocio-economic uplift of thepeople of Pakistan.” The IMFhad said it would closely scru-tinise the CPEC projects andthe US is opposed to the use ofIMF money to service theChinese loans. An assessmentby the State Bank of Pakistanand the Finance Ministryshowed that Pakistan neededUSD 11.7 billion to service itsexternal debt in the current fis-cal year 2018-19.

Af army helicopter crashes, killing all 25 on boardAP n KABUL

An Afghan army helicoptercrashed Wednesday in bad

weather in the western Farahprovince, killing all 25 peopleon board, including the deputycorps commander of the west-ern zone, a provincialspokesman said. MohammadNaser Mehri, spokesman forthe Farah governor, said thehelicopter crashed around 9:10a.m. (0440 GMT), shortly aftertaking off from the moun-tainous Anar Dara districtheading toward the nearbyHerat province.On board werethe corps commander, Gen.Naimudullah Khalil, and twomembers of the Farah provin-cial council, its chairman,Farid Bakhtawar, and JamilaAmini, one of only twowomen on the nine-membercouncil.

Wednesday’s was the sec-ond army helicopter crash inas many months in Farah. InSeptember, five crew membersdied when their helicoptercrashed. Investigators blamed

the crash on a technical failure,without elaborating. Elsewherein Afghanistan, a suicidebomber struck outside thecountry’s largest prison onthe edge of the capital, Kabul,killing seven people, includingprison workers and securitypersonnel, said InteriorMinistry spokesman NajibDanish. The attacker target-ed a bus carrying prison work-

ers, he said. The sprawlingPul-e-Charkhi prison houseshundreds of inmates, includ-ing scores of Taliban insur-gents.Abadullah Karimi, aprison official, said the attackoccurred near the prison gatewhere visitors were waiting topass a rigorous security checkbefore entering.

No one has claimedresponsibility for the attack.

Security forces stand guard near the site of a suicide attack on prison employees'vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday. AP

Los Angeles (PTI): Scientistshave discovered four new tech-niques to expose internet users’browsing histories, which couldbe used by hackers to learnwhich websites they have vis-ited. The techniques fall intothe category of “history sniff-ing” attacks, a concept datingback to the early 2000s.

However, the attacksdemonstrated by theresearchers from the University

of California - San Diego in theUS can profile or ‘fingerprint’

a user’s online activity in a mat-ter of seconds, and work acrossrecent versions of major webbrowsers. All of the attacks theresearchers developed workedon Google Chrome.

Two of the attacks alsoworked on a range of otherbrowsers, from Mozilla Firefoxto Microsoft Edge, as well var-ious security-focused researchbrowsers.

The only browser which

proved immune to all of theattacks is the Tor Browser,which doesn’t keep a record ofbrowsing history in the firstplace, researchers said.

“My hope is that the sever-ity of some of our publishedattacks will push browser ven-dors to revisit how they handlehistory data, and I’m happy tosee folks from Mozilla, Google,and the broader World WideWeb Consortium (W3C) com-

munity already engage in this,”said Deian Stefan, an assistantprofessor at UC San Diego.Most internet users are by nowfamiliar with “phishing;” cyber-criminals build fake websiteswhich mimic, say, banks, totrick them into entering theirlogin details, researchers said.

The more the phisher canlearn about their potential vic-tim, the more likely the con isto succeed, they said.

‘New ways that expose your browsing history to hackers’

‘Too early to speculate’ onreason for Indian couple’stragic death: Park officialNew York (PTI): How a youngIndian techie couple, who regu-larly shared their travel adven-tures with thousands of socialmedia followers, plunged to theirdeaths from a cliff in California’sYosemite National Park maytake several weeks and it was “tooearly to speculate,” a park officialsaid.

Vishnu Viswanath, 29, andhis wife, Meenakshi Moorthy, 30,living and working in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, were the twowho died last week in a fall fromTaft Point, a scenic overlooklocated 3,500 feet above theYosemite Valley. Some US mediareports said the couple, both ITprofessionals, from Kerala mayhave plunged to their deathswhile taking selfies at the dan-gerous spot. But Jamie Richards,a spokeswoman for YosemiteNational Park, said investigatorsstill do not know how theyplunged to their deaths lastWednesday from the iconic over-look high above Yosemite Valley.

She said the investigation isexpected to take several weeks,The Mercury News reported.“We still don’t have any clear ideaexactly what happened,” Richardssaid. “We are still trying to pieceit together.”

Two people who knew thecouple, however, believe theymay have been trying to take aphoto, The Washington Postreported. “It’s clearly a very trag-ic circumstance and as the inves-tigation progresses we will havea better idea of possibly what hap-pened,” Richards told KFSN tele-vision station, noting that it is“too early to speculate.”

world 12LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

UN envoy meets Sri LankanPrez, discusses political crisisPTI n COLOMBO

Amidst the political turmoil inSri Lanka, a top UN envoy

here met President MaithripalaSirisena Wednesday and dis-cussed the prevailing political cri-sis, days after he sacked PrimeMinister Ranil Wickremesingheand replaced him with formerstrongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.

United Nations ResidentCoordinator Hanaa Singer metSirisena days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterresexpressed “great concern” overthe deepening political crisisand called on the country’s gov-ernment to respect democraticvalues and constitutional provi-sions and process. The President’soffice said that during the meet-ing, Sirisena assured Singer thatthe government has taken all thesteps in accordance with theConstitution, the ColomboGazette reported.

Sirisena said that the coun-try is executing its functionswithin a democratic frameworkand appreciated the assistancegiven by the UN. Expressing herviews, Singer said that the UN isready to provide every possibleassistance to Sri Lanka in thefuture as well. On Tuesday, shemet Parliament Speaker KaruJayasuriya and conveyedGuterres’ message for the need torespect democratic values andconstitutional provisions in thecountry, amid ongoing politicalcrisis.

Meanwhile, ReportersWithout Borders (RSF), in astatement, urged the Sri Lankanauthorities to respect journalists’safety and editorial indepen-dence after supporters ofRajapaksa invaded state mediaoutlets on October 26 in order toseize control of them. Journalistshave found themselves at the cen-tre of the political power strug-gle that began when PresidentSirisena fired prime ministerWickramasinghe and replacedhim with Rajapaksa, who earneda prominent position on theRSF’s list of the world’s biggestpress freedom predators during

two terms as president, from2005 to 2015, it said.

“Just minutes after Rajapaksawas sworn in as prime minister,supporters of his party, Sri LankaPodujana Peramuna (SLPP), ledby former information ministerKeheliya Rambukwella, invadedthe newsrooms of various statemedia.

“Helped by union leaderslinked to the SLPP, they took con-trol of the two public service TVchannels, Rupavahini and ITN,the radio stations that are part ofthe Sri Lanka BroadcastingCorporation, and the Lake Housepress group,” it added. In a dra-matic turn of events last Friday,Sirisena replacedWickremesinghe with formerpresident Rajapaksa. He alsosuspended Parliament untilNovember 16, which expertssaid was meant to buy time toengineer crossovers fromWickremesinghe’s side toRajapaksa in the 225 memberparliament to reach the 113working majority mark.Rajapaksa has so far managed torope in five more lawmakers tobolster his strength to 101. OnTuesday, angry protests rockedSri Lanka’s capital as thousandsof demonstrators gathered for arally organised by deposed primeminister Wickremesinghe’s partyagainst what it said was a “coup”by President Sirisena, even as theopposing sides were engaged in

efforts to secure their numbers inParliament to end the country’spolitical crisis.

Sirisena is under increasingpolitical and diplomatic pressureto reconvene Parliament andresolve the Constitutional crisis.Wickramasinghe, who is refusingto accept his dismissal, arguesthat he cannot legally be dis-missed until he loses the supportof Parliament.

Attorney General refuses toadvise parliamentary speaker

Sri Lanka’s Attorney GeneralJayantha Jayasuriya Wednesdayrefused to give an opinion to par-liamentary speaker KaruJayasuriya on the current politi-cal impasse over the sacking ofPrime Minister RanilWickremesinghe, saying it wouldbe “deemed inappropriate”. Thespeaker, seeking the AG’s opin-ion, asked five questions includ-ing the one on the validity ofPresident Maithripala Sirisenadismissing Wickremesinghe asthe premier. The AttorneyGeneral (AG) wrote to the speak-er: “Having regard to the role ofthe Attorney General under theConstitution, I am of the viewthat expressing an opinion on thesaid questions would be deemedinappropriate”.

President Sirisena replacedWickremesinghe with formerpresident Mahinda Rajapaksain a dramatic turn of events lastFriday. Sirisena also suspended

Parliament until November 16,which experts said was meant tobuy time to engineer crossoversfrom Wickremesinghe’s side toRajapaksa in the 225 memberparliament to reach the 113working majority mark.Rajapaksa has so far managed torope in five more lawmakers tobolster his strength to 101. Moreleaders may to join Rajapaksa’sside, Udaya Gammanpila, aRajapaksa loyalist, said, addingthat “we are keeping ministerialpositions vacant for them”.

So far only 12 of the Cabinetpositions out of 30 have beenfilled. On Tuesday, angry protestsrocked Sri Lanka’s capital asthousands of demonstrators gath-ered for a rally organised bydeposed prime ministerWickremesinghe’s party againstwhat it said was a “coup” byPresident Sirisena, even as theopposing sides were engaged inefforts to secure their numbers inParliament to end the country’spolitical crisis.

Wickremesinghe’s positionwas bolstered by a statement inthe British House of Parliamentwhere Hugo Swire, a formerdeputy foreign minister in chargeof South Asia, said they contin-ue to treat him as the legitimateprime minister.

New prime ministerRajapaksa assumed dutiesWednesday as the Minister ofFinance and Economic Affairs.

“When I left office in 2015,our growth was six per cent plus,but during the last three years and10 months, the growth rate hasreduced to three per cent. “Wehave to protect our local indus-tries and stop foreign influenceon the economy,” Rajapaksa saidas he called for simplifying taxes,echoing the criticism of hightaxes during the Wickremesinghegovernment. The country’s mainTamil party Tamil NationalAlliance (TNA), after a meetingwith Rajapaksa, said they werenot treating Rajapaksa as the law-fully-elected prime minister.

“We met him on hisrequest as a fellow member of

Indonesia military chief ‘strongly

believes’ crashed jet found

Jakarta: The smashed fuselageof a crashed Indonesian jetlin-er may have been found, thecountry’s military chief saidWednesday, two days after thedeadly accident feared to havekilled 189 people. HadiTjahjanto said authorities wereconfident sonar technologyhad pinpointed the location ofthe Boeing 737-MAX planethat plunged into the sea onMonday.

“We strongly believe we’vedetermined the coordinates ofthe JT 610 fuselage,” he toldreporters in Jakarta. “However,it has not yet been confirmedthat it is part of the fuselage.” Authorities have been search-ing for the downed jet’s locationin water some 30-40 meters(100-130 feet) deep in the hopeof also finding flight datarecorders crucial to crash inves-tigations. Dozens of diverswere taking part in the recov-ery effort along with heli-copters and ships, but author-ities have all but ruled out find-

ing any survivors. Boeing offi-cials are expected to meet withLion Air on Wednesday, afterIndonesia ordered an inspec-tion of the US plane maker’s737-MAX jets.

The doomed plane, whichwent into service just a fewmonths ago, was en route toPangkal Pinang city when itcrashed into the Java Sea offIndonesia’s northern coastmoments after it had asked toreturn to Jakarta on Monday.The pilot and co-pilot hadmore than 11,000 hours flyingtime between them and hadundergone recent medicalcheckups and drug testing, thecarrier said. Aviation expertssay it is too early to determinewhat caused the accident.

But Lion’s admission thatthe plane had an unspecifiedtechnical issue on a previousflight — as well as the plane’sabrupt nosedive just 12 minutesafter takeoff — have raisedquestions about whether it hadany faults specific to the newly

released model. “The biggerpicture here is that you’ve gota lot of American carriers fly-ing the same aircraft,” StephenWright, aviation expert at theUniversity of Leeds, told AFP.“Is there (a problem) that couldaffect other aircraft?”

The accident has also res-urrected concerns aboutIndonesia’s patchy air safetyrecord which led to a now-lift-ed ban on its planes enteringUS and European airspace.Lion’s co-founder Rusdi Kirana,now Indonesia’s ambassador toMalaysia, said he had met withpassengers’ families and calledthe crisis “exhausting and sad-dening for everybody”. In a2015 interview, Kirana saidthat “my airline is the worst inthe world, but you don’t havea choice”. Founded in 1999, thebudget carrier capitalised on aboom in Indonesia’s aviationindustry, but has been plaguedby safety woes and complaintsover unreliable scheduling andpoor service. AFP

UN chiefnames newenvoy to SyriaWashington (AFP): A seasonedNorwegian diplomat who helpedoversee talks leading to the Oslopeace accords has been namedas the next special envoy to Syria.In a letter seen Tuesday by AFP,United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres toldthe Security Council that hewishes to give the job to GeirPedersen.

Pedersen is a veteran diplo-mat, who in 1993 was a memberof the Norwegian team to thesecret negotiations that led to thesigning of the Oslo accordsbetween Israel and thePalestinians. He has held sever-al posts in the region, includingas UN envoy to south Lebanonin 2005 and then as specialcoordinator for the whole ofLebanon from 2007 to 2008.

Pedersen also spent severalyears as Norway’s representativeto the Palestinian Authority. Heis currently Norway’s ambas-sador to China and has previ-ously served as its envoy to theUN.

The Syria conflict, whichbegan with anti-governmentstreet protests in 2011, hasclaimed more than 360,000 livesand drawn in foreign powers andvarious jihadist groups. “I ampleased to inform you of myintention to announce theappointment of Mr Geir OPedersen as my Special Envoy forSyria. In taking this decision, Ihave consulted broadly, includ-ing with the government of theSyrian Arab Republic,” Guterressaid in the letter. “Mr Pedersenwill support the Syrian parties byfacilitating an inclusive and cred-ible political solution that meetsthe democratic aspirations of theSyrian people.” He also thankedStaffan de Mistura, the outgoingenvoy, “for his more than fouryears of concerted efforts andcontributions to search for peacein Syria.” Yahya Aridi, thespokesman for Syria’s mainopposition negotiating body,said the change of envoys wouldhave little impact on the fate ofhis country if no internationalwill and consensus emergedabout a political roadmap.

Kuwait City (PTI): ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma SwarajWednesday called on Kuwait’stop leadership, including AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and discussed arange of issues to boost eco-nomic and security cooperation,besides raising the concerns ofthe Indian community. Swarajarrived on Tuesday in Kuwaitfrom Doha where she met Emirof Qatar Sheikh Tamim BinHamad Al-Thani on Mondayand discussed ways to move for-ward on the roadmap set by thetop leaders of the two countries.

“EAM Sushma Swaraj calledon the Amir of Kuwait SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Hailed the role of Kuwaitin the region. Noted the positivedevelopments in bilateral tiesand raised issues of concern tothe Indian community,” ExternalAffairs Ministry SpokespersonRaveesh Kumar tweeted. “EAM

Sushma Swaraj called on PrimeMinister of Kuwait Sheikh JabarAl Mubarak Al Hamad AlSabah. Discussed issues of bilat-eral concern and exploredavenues for enhancing and fur-ther strengthening economicand investment cooperation,”Kumar said in another tweet.Swaraj also met her counterpartSheikh Sabah Khalid Al-HamadAl-Sabah and discussed ways to

strengthen bilateral relation-ship.

“EAM Sushma Swaraj heldtalks with Dy PM and FMSheikh Sabah Khalid Al-HamadAl-Sabah. Discussed avenuesto further strengthen bilateralrelationship, investments andsecurity cooperation,” Kumarsaid. The meetings with Amirand the Prime Minister fol-lowed Swaraj’s interaction withthe Indian community inKuwait. The Indian communi-ty in Kuwait is apprehensive ofthe changes in Kuwaiti govern-ment’s new labour policies. TheIndian embassy Wednesdayannounced that it will organisea meeting on November 2 for allIndian engineers who have beenaffected by the changes inKuwait Government’s policies,amid reports that thousands ofIndian engineers may facedeportation due to the newlabour policies.

‘India one of WB’s top reformers’

PTI n WASHINGTON

India, which jumped morethan 50 spots in the ease of

doing business ranking injust two years, has emergedas one of the top reformers,World Bank officials saidWednesday, but cautionedthat entering the top 50bracket is tough as the nextset of reforms is difficult. Inthe coming years, India couldvery well improve its rankingfurther given that the impactof some of the ongoingreforms has not been fullyrealised or captured yet, theysaid. At the same time, theycautioned that entering thetop 50 bracket – a goal set byPrime Minister NarendraModi in 2014 – is a tough nutto crack, even though at thispoint of time, it no longerseems to be impossible forIndia.

“India is one of our topreformers, one of our top 10performers. It was also on thetop 10 list last year.. two yearsin a row, which is sometimesvery difficult to do,” ShantaDevarajan, the World Bank’sS enior Director forDevelopment Economics andActing Chief Economist, toldPTI in an interview.

“Being one of the topperformers two years in arow is a rare event ,”Devarajan said as he praisedPrime Minister Modi for tak-ing personal interest inundertaking reforms and ini-tiating measures aimed atimproving the ease of doingbusiness in India. Devarajan’sremarks came as the WorldBank in its latest DoingBusiness 2019 report saidthat India has improved its

ranking in ease of doingbusiness from 131 two yearsago and 100 last year to 77this year. Achieving a rank-ing of 77 from 131 in twoyears is a “considerableimprovement” for India, saidRita R amalho, S eniorManager of the World Bank’sGlobal Indicators Group.

But entering the top 50ranking is very difficult, shesaid. “Actually, it is muchharder, the closer you get tonumber one ranking. Thebetter the rank, the harder itis to improve,” she said.

“But I was actually some-what surprised of how the bigthe improvement this year ithas been for India. So, younever know, India may beable to get it and get bigenough improvement toreach the 50 ranking,”Ramalho said. Enteringthe top 50 ranking is a “rea-sonable” goal, Devarajansaid, but noted that the nextset of reforms is difficultand at times politically com-plicated. As per the latestWorld Bank report, there aresome areas where India islagging far behind the glob-al rankings, the officialspointed out. For instance,India is placed at 137th whenit comes to starting a busi-ness. India takes 1,445 dayson an average to resolve acommercial dispute. In highincome economies, it is 582days.

“This is something thathas not changed. Probablyone of the more challengingreforms in India is to get thejudic iar y on board toimprove that part,” Ramalhosaid. India is also lagging

behind when it comes toregistration of propertieswhere it is ranked 166 among190 countries. “So, I thinkthose are probably the onesthat are pulling India down(the ranking) and are prob-ably harder to actually solve,”Ramalho said. The averagetime to transfer properties inMumbai is 80 days while inadvanced countries the aver-

age time period is 20 days.Ramalho said such mas-

sive improvement in India’sranking in few years meansthat for a domestic entrepre-neur now it is easier, lesscumbersome to do business.Ramalho said the new rank-ing is reflective of the reformannounced in the previousyears, but was implementedlast year like the Goods and

Services Tax (GST). “It’s a multi-year reform

process that we’re seeing,” sheadded. “Part of the GST iscounted in the report, but wewould expect that they’ll stillbe an improvement in theirpaying taxes indicator due tothat.

The full impact of theGST would only be felt nextyear,” she said.

India certainly not a ‘tariff king’, says WB official on Trump’s remarksPTI n WASHINGTON

The World Bank does notagree with US President

Donald Trump’s claim thatIndia is a “tariff king” andfeels that the Indian taxationsystem and economy ismuch more liberalised thanit was a few decades ago, atop official of the interna-tional financial institutionsaid Wednesday.

E ar l ier this month,Trump described India as a“tariff king” as he reiteratedhis allegations that NewDelhi has a high tariff rateon various American goods.

“That (India being a tar-iff king) certainly is notwhat we find in our data,”Shanta Devarajan, theWorld Bank’s S eniorDirector for DevelopmentEconomics and Act ingChief Economist, told PTIin an interview when askedabout Trump’s statement.

“India has some tariffs,but by no means it’s not (tar-iff ) king,” said Devarajan,

who earlier was chief econ-omist for South Asia at theWorld Bank. Even in SouthAsia India did not have thehighest tariffs, he said refer-ring to the experience hehad in his previous capaci-ty in the World Bank. “Andthey (tariffs in India) havecome down quite a bit sincethen,” he said. Liberalisation

of the Indian economy isshowing results , hesaid.“Tariffs were very highin 1991, when they liber-alised and they found thatactual ly the economyboomed.

That has helped to buildpolitical support for fur-ther reforms,” Devarajansaid.

AP/ AFP n ISTANBUL/PARIS

Saudi journalist JamalKhashoggi was strangled as

soon as he entered the SaudiConsulate in Istanbul as part ofa premeditated killing, and hisbody was dismembered beforebeing disposed of, a top Turkishprosecutor said Wednesday.

A statement from chiefIstanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan’soffice also said that discussionswith Saudi chief prosecutorSaud al-Mojeb have yielded no“concrete results” despite “good-willed efforts” by Turkey touncover the truth.

The statement is the firstpublic confirmation by a Turkishofficial that Khashoggi wasstrangled and dismemberedafter he entered the SaudiConsulate on Oct. 2 to collectpaperwork needed to marryhis Turkish fiancee. Theannouncement came as SaudiArabia’s chief prosecutor, Saudal-Mojeb, ended a three-dayvisit to Istanbul during which heheld talks with Fidan and otherTurkish officials.

Turkey is seeking the extra-dition of 18 Saudi suspectsdetained in Saudi Arabia overthe killing of Khashoggi. It is alsopressing Saudi Arabia for infor-mation concerning Khashoggi’sremains, which still haven’t beenfound, as well as who orderedthe journalist’s slaying. TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdoganhas also called on Riyadh to dis-close the identity of an allegedlocal collaborator said to havebeen involved in disposing ofKhashoggi’s body. Khashoggi, a59-year-old columnist for TheWashington Post, vanished afterentering the consulate in

Istanbul to pick up paperworkfor his upcoming marriage to hisfiancee, who was waiting for himoutside. A critic of the Saudiroyal family, Khashoggi hadbeen living in exile in the UnitedStates. Turkey alleges a Saudi hitsquad from Saudi Arabia —including a member of SaudiCrown Prince Mohammed binSalman’s entourage during atrip to the United States— trav-eled to Istanbul to kill the jour-nalist and then tried to cover itup. Under mounting pressure,Saudi Arabia changed its narra-tive about Khashoggi’s killingseveral times, eventually admit-ting that Khashoggi died insidethe consulate and only recentlyacknowledging that Turkish evi-dence shows his killing waspremeditated.Saudi Arabia hasnot commented on the prose-cutor’s visit.

France casts doubt onSaudi Khashoggi probe

France’s foreign ministercast doubt on Saudi Arabia’sinvestigation into the death ofdissident journalist JamalKhashoggi on Wednesday, say-ing “not enough” was beingdone to find those responsiblefor his murder. The comments

appear to signal France uppingthe pressure on Saudi authori-ties, having so far declined toopenly criticise the Riyadhregime over a death that hasbadly strained relations betweenthe Middle East kingdom andthe West.

“This crime has to be pun-ished and the perpetrators iden-tified. The truth needs to comeout. And today, even thoughSaudi authorities have admittedthat there was a murder, it’s notenough. The truth has not beenrevealed,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL.

“The investigations need tocontinue. We will continue to bedemanding.” He added that“depending on the results thatwill be announced (of theTurkish and Saudi investiga-tions), we will implement thenecessary sanctions againstthose guilty”.

“We don’t rule out any-thing on the sanctions, in coor-dination with our Europeanpartners,” he said. Saudi Arabia’schief public prosecutor is inIstanbul - where Khashoggi waskilled on October 2 after enter-ing the Saudi consulate - to meetwith Turkish authorities as partof his country’s investigation.

The case has brought nearunprecedented internationalscrutiny of Saudi Arabia and itspowerful Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman, whomKhashoggi had criticised. ButTurkish officials have told localmedia that the Saudi prosecutorhas refused to share informationand appears “primarily inter-ested in finding out what evi-dence the Turkish authoritieshad against the perpetrators”.

Prosecutor: Khashoggi wasstrangled, dismembered

Young men more likely to die in summer: StudyLondon (PTI): Young men liv-ing in the US are more likely todie in the summer months, astudy claims. The trend is just oneof several highlighted in an analy-sis spanning nearly four decades,which will help inform publichealth strategies to reduce deathsnow and in the future, accordingto the study published in the jour-nal eLife.

“It is well established thatdeath rates vary throughout theyear, but there is limited infor-mation on how this seasonality

varies by local climate and how ithas changed over time for differ-ent diseases and at different ages,”said Robbie Parks from ImperialCollege London in the UK.

The study used data on85,854,176 deaths in the USbetween 1980 and 2016 from thevital registration. It was analysedusing a technique called waveletanalysis, where death rates arestudied through a kind of ‘mov-ing window’ over time, revealingchanges. Using this approach, theresearch team identified several

distinct seasonal patterns in rela-tion to age and gender.

Deaths from overall mor-tality (any cause of death) in menaged 45 years and older andwomen aged 35 years and olderpeaked in December, January orFebruary, and were lowest in Juneto August, the study found.Deaths from heart and lung dis-eases were highest in January andFebruary and lowest in July andAugust regardless of age whiledeaths in children younger thanfive were highest in February and

lowest in August, researcherssaid.

By contrast, deaths fromoverall mortality peaked in Juneand July for males aged betweenfive and 34 years old while deathsfrom injuries were highest in thesummer for both men andwomen younger than 45 yearsold, they said. Over the 37 years,the per-cent differences in sea-sonal death rates changed little forpeople aged 45 and older.

However, there was amarked decline in the per-cent

difference between summer andwinter deaths in younger peopleof both sexes, especially in boys.

The researchers also sawmore than a 25 per cent declinebetween summer and winterdeaths in males in the five-to-14and 15-to-24-year-old age groups,mainly due to injury death ratesthroughout the year becomingmore similar.

These seasonal trends wereindependent of geography, whichis noteworthy considering the dif-ferences in temperature across theregions studied. For example, inmen and women aged 65-74years old, deaths from all causes

peaked in February in the north-east and southeast regions of theUS, even though the average tem-peratures for those regions weredifferent by more than 13 degreesCelsius. Moreover, in people agedover 45, there was little variationin the seasonal peaks of deathsacross regions, despite the largedifferences in temperaturebetween the summer and wintermonths.

“We have identified distinctseasonal patterns relating to age,sex and disease, including high-er summer deaths in young men,”said Majid Ezzati, a professor atImperial College London.

Sushma Swaraj holds talks with Amir, PM of Kuwait, raises Indian community’s concerns

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018usp 13

The conference—‘Stroke Recognition,Management and Prevention’, recent-ly held in New Delhi, saw over 300

attendees of which 200 stroke survivorsand their caregivers marked their presence.The prominent political figure of India, LalKrishna Advani, graced the conference aschief guest. He commented that awarenessof the growing incidences of strokes needsto be brought about in the villages of thecountry and has to be supplemented withproper healthcare facilities and services inthe remotest areas.

The public awareness talk aimed tobring to light the role of a caregiver whoplays an instrumental role in facilitating therehabilitation of a stroke survivor and get-ting their life back on track. According toestimates, in every two seconds, a personis affected by a stroke somewhere in theworld and in every six seconds, onestroke-related death occurs worldwide. Asestimated, one in six persons in the worldwill suffer a stroke in their lifetime whicheventually means that as many as 17 mil-lion strokes would occur annually acrossthe world, of which five million people willnot survive. If figures are to be believed,then 1.4 million strokes occur annually inIndia alone.

The conference identified that incountries with higher income, the inci-dence of strokes has been on a decline dueto widely available preventive care.However, in a developing country likeIndia, stroke incidence is increasingbecause of poor preventive strategies.Though treatment for this disorder is avail-able, it is limited to metro cities and super-specialty hospitals.

According to the senior consultant ofNeurology at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals,

Dr Vinit Suri, who is also the president ofthe Indian Stroke Association, people areunaware of the symptoms of a stroke and theknow-how of emergency treatment whichcan make a difference. “Taking the patientto the hospital within the ‘golden hour’ peri-od—within four and a half hours—isextremely important as they can receivethrombolytics or ‘clot buster’ drugs ontime, which opens the blocked vessel andhelps them recover faster,” he said. He fur-ther identified that most of the casesreceived by the Apollo Hospitals are with-in two hours of the occurrence of the strokesince many time the patients do not realisethat they have had a stroke. Those who areadmitted after the golden hour are recom-mended rehabilitatory measures, a closemonitoring of blood pressure, sugar levelsand are set up on a healthy diet regime.

Identifying the symptoms for the ben-efit of all, Suri said that weakness, numb-ness or paralysis in face, arms or legs,slurred speech or difficulty in understand-ing others, dizziness and sudden severeheadaches, are some of the commonsymptoms. The nine preventive strategiesthat the hospital recommends are—controlof blood pressure, control of diabetes, con-trolled cholesterol levels, regular exercise,no smoking and tobacco consumption,reduction of body weight, a healthy diet,avoid alcohol or drinking in moderationand also controlling cardiac disease, espe-cially atrial fibrillation, which is an irreg-ular and often rapid heart rate that canincrease the risk of a stroke, heart failureand other heart-related complications.The mnemonic, ‘BEFAST’ can help peopleremember the symptoms.

DON’T STROKE OUT

Steadily increasing theirtourism market share, theSultanate of Oman is market-

ing its new tourism products in theIndian market. In the past, travelbetween the two countries hasbeen limited to employment butover the past few years, the desti-nation has witnessed a steadyincrease in leisure travellers. Thefact that in 2017 alone, Omanreceived 321,161 Indian arrivals,registering a growth of seven percent, is a testimony to the increasedpopularity of Oman in India.Further, from January to June thisyear, the country has alreadyrecorded a 15 per cent growth inIndian arrivals as compared to thesame period last year, informed,Lubaina Sheerazi, the India repre-sentative of the Ministry ofTourism, Oman.

“We recognise and acknowl-edge the demand from India andother potential markets. As part ofthe Sultanate’s National TourismStrategy 2040, the Ministry ofTourism seeks to introduce the sec-tor’s latest developments, services,projects and facilities of the tourismindustry,” said Her ExcellencyMaitha Saif Al Mahrouqi, theundersecretary of the OmanTourism Ministry.

Oman is introducing variousincentives to ease travel between thetwo countries. The destination hasannounced a ‘short-term touristvisa’ which would allow the Indian

travellers to visit Oman for aperiod of 10 days for five

Omani Riyal or `940.Also, the newly-

built Salalah Airport and therevamped, state-of-the-art, MuscatInternational Airport, will expandthe capacity from 12 million to 20million passengers, further facilitat-ing travel.

One of the most importantbrand-building activities for Omanhas been its association withBollywood. Film shootings at thedestination have given way to col-laborations to promote it as a loca-tion of interest and increase itsappeal among Indian travellers.Other focused areas of Omaninclude promotion of destinationweddings and corporate travelincluding the meetings, incentives,conferences, and exhibitions(MICE) travel. The country hasseen an increase in business tourismwith the launch of the OmanConvention and Exhibition Centrein Muscat.

Sheerazi commented, “Beingonly three hours away and havingexcellent air connectivity with var-ious cities in India also makesOman a preferable wedding desti-nation.” It is important to note thatOman Air caters to 11 cities in Indiawith over 161 flights a week.

Oman is tapping into everysegment of tourism. New itinerariesfor different kinds of travellersinclude a visit to Nizwa (the oldcapital) for the culturally inclinedtravellers; guided tours to the Razal Jinz Turtle Reserve for thewildlife enthusiasts and a host ofadventure sports, both soft andhard, at various locations across thecountry for those who wish toquench their adrenaline.

POWERGRID CONVENES VENDORS' MEET The CMD of POWERGRID along with the CVO and DeputyCVO, interacted and engaged with the vendors at the‘Vendors’ Meet’ on October 25 at the the Corporate Centerin Gurugram, which was organised as a part of theVigilance Awareness Week under the aegis of the CentralVigilance Commission. The theme for this year is ‘EradicateCorruption-Build a New India’.

In commemoration of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the Northern Railway observedRashtriya Ekta Diwas with all major railway stations marking special events on the occasion. TheMinister for Railways Piyush Goyal, paid floral tributes to the glorious leader and led thecommemorative Run for Unity, which commenced from the precincts of Saloon Siding, New DelhiStation situate adjoining the State Entry Road

NEED FOR INFORMEDVOTING ADDRESSED The District Election Officer, DrPooja Joshi, inaugurated theElectoral Literacy Club at theJesus and Mary College in NewDelhi which saw 500-600attendees. Vijay Dev, the chiefelectoral officer, Delhi, graced theevent as the chief guest whileMadan Lal, a well knowncricketer, was the guest ofhonour. Other dignitaries presentincluded J P Agrawal, thedirector (higher education) andCapt Parminder Sehgal, theprogramme coordinator of NSS.The initiative has been introducedby the Systematic VotersEducation and ElectoralParticipation (SVEEP), division ofthe ECI, in a move to developelectoral engagement and ethicalballot decisions among citizens.

The Punjab National Bank (PNB) observed the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas onOctober 31 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar VallabhBhai Patel. A pledge and ‘Run for Unity' was organised in the spirit ofthe event at PNB HQ in Dwarka and at all its offices in India.

The President ofIndia Ram NathKovind, paying

his floral tributesin the memory of

Sardar Patel athis statue on hisbirth anniversary

at Patel Chowk inNew Delhi on

October 31. TheVice President of

India, VenkaiahNaidu and Union

Home Minister,Rajnath Singhhad also paid

their floraltributes.

HANDICRAFTS GROW DESPITERESTRICTION ON SHEESHAMThe Dalbergia Spp has been enlisted in theAppendix-II of the CITES in 2016 resultingin the issuance of CITES permit by Wild LifeCrime Control Bureau (WCCB)orcomparable document in lieu of CITESpermit i.e. Vriksh Shipment Certificate byEPCH for exports of wooden handicraftsitems made from Dalbergia sissoo andDalbergia latifolia. The issuance ofcertificates include establishing of the chainof custody and legality of the procuredwood by the exporters.

In a recent event organised byOMAM (Organisation Method

Analytics Management), titled—‘Building India’s first Centre ofExcellence in InnovationAcceleration’, over 50 eminentbusiness leaders from variousindustries marked their presenceand discussed 20 disrupting emerg-ing technologies and how India isprogressing with them. The eventwas graced by the managing direc-tor of OMAM, Sunit J Bahadur,while the CEO of VajraSoft Inc,Kameshwar Eranki, was thekeynote speaker. The event delib-erated on how OMAM can meetthe spoken and unspoken needs ofthe industries by going the extramile to discover and implementdisrupting technology tools ininnovation. Discussions on how

companies can increase the rev-enue by focusing on innovationdevelopment by using disruptingtechnologies i.e. Machine Learning,Big Data, Data Analytic, AI, AR,VR, and other similar technologiesand how they are changing the day-to-day life of humans and increas-ing the efficiency, were some keytake away for the attendees.

Keeping up with the pioneer-ing legacy, the organisation has, inprinciple, agreed to creating an eco-system of imagination and systemsand processes for enabling itslandfall. It has tied-up with one ofthe innovation and global IP lead-ers based in the Silicon Valley, andtogether they shall establish India’sfirst Centre of Excellence inInnovation Acceleration. This willgive impetus to innovation plat-

forms. OMAM is building a com-plete knowledge managementinfrastructure, includingIncubation and AccelerationCentre with the latest technologies,such as Artificial Intelligence,machine learning, internet ofthings and so on. The proposedCentre of Excellence will be anintegral part of this super-structure.The CoE will consist of globalresearch and development, consult-ing and advisory, global IP regis-trations, international technologytransfers, innovation IP training toskill human capital and intelligenceanalytics amongst a host of otherfields which aim to influence a larg-er innovation eco-system forenabling the country’s and interna-tional innovation and IP pro-grams.

The Forum for All India Judicial Services (FAIJS) organised a national conferencein New Delhi, demanding the creation of the ‘All India Judicial Services (AIJS)’. TheUnion Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, was the chief guest. Thechairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste Ram Shankar Katheria,the former Minister of State for Human Resource Development Dr Sanjay Paswan,the president of Supreme Court Bar Association Vikas Singh, and the formerJustice Allahabad High Court Shobha Dixit, were some of the prominent speakers.The event was attended by over 600 lawyers and other dignitaries.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) hasbestowed the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) with a Certificate of Excellencefor Internationalisation of Education for its achievements in the area of highereducation.

In line with the ongoing trauma wherewomen have come out in the open with their

stories of harassment at workplace and athome, Malika Davar, a 28-year old girl, whohas lived all her life in New Delhi, butrecently moved to Amsterdam, pens herthoughts on a scary habit that women havedeveloped in the country regarding their safe-ty and security.

She states, “It is amazing and dreadful howyour past can catch up with your present andhow so many feelings are anchored deep withso many instances, no matter how small theymight be. The feeling of footsteps behind you

or a shadow fol-lowing you inthe dark; andthe need to paceyour steps toreach that well-lit part of thestreet, or quick-ly entering youra p a r t m e n tbuilding, staywith you evenin an entirelydifferent sce-nario.”

She elabo-rates that herway of defense,

which later developed into a habit was to cre-ate a safe distance between herself and herprobable, self-assumed and accused assaulterto reach her doorstep with a prayer and shiv-ering hands. She comments, “Taking a step inthe doorway and gathering any courage leftin me to turn back, while preparing to bangthe front door of the building on my follow-ers face, only to hear the steps come closer,walk past my door and eventually fade awaybecame a constant habit. Such a usual thingbecomes a potential threat for a woman andmakes you feel wary of every stranger, everygood intention or every small talk initiated bythe opposite gender.”

However, when gestured with an air kissby a boy in Reeperbahn, Hamburg, Malikanarrates, “My reaction was of extreme angerfollowed by finding my voice and managingto shout out only to realise that I’m not alone.I was immediately mad at my husband for not‘standing up’ for me to ‘protect’ me. However,all this faded away the moment I realised thatnothing, as bad I as thought really happened.”She claims that this is her idea of real freedom;the freedom from fear.

An authenticArabian experience

‘Umangotsava-2018’, the Inter-Regional Cultural Festival and HandcraftsExhibition, 2018, was organised at the Exhibition and Convention CenterAuditorium in Jaipur by the Northern Region Transmission System-1. Thefestival was inaugurated by I S Jha, the CMD of POWERGRID. TheHandicraft Exhibition was inaugurated by Usha Jha, the president of thePOWERGRID Shristi Mahila Samaj in Jaipur.

NTPC OBSERVES VIGILANCE WEEK IN DELHIAt the inauguration of the Vigilance Awareness Week, the CentralVigilance Commissioner, K V Chowdary, addressed the NTPC employeeson October 29 at the SCOPE, Complex, New Delhi and said that the publicsector undertakings (PSUs) are primarily commercial organisationscompeting with the non-government organisations, nevertheless PSUsare expected to work as a model organisation. Gurdeep Singh, CMD andRajit Punhani, CVO, NTPC, and other senior officials of CVC and NTPCwere present on the occasion.

C O R P O R A T E B R I E F S

Dr M Ravi Kanth, the CMD of HUDCO, administered theIntegrity pledge to HUDCO officials to observe the VigilanceAwareness Week. During the week, several activities will beorganised to create awareness, promote probity in public life,and achieve a corruption-free society.

Scary Habits

With India as a top source market for theSultanate of Oman, the destination is goingall out to promote its latest offerings for thediscerning Indian travellers

Innovation and technology key to growth

To address the rapidly increasing incidence compounded with the lack of awareness among the commonpopulace in identifying the symptoms, the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals came forward with an educative talkon this disorder on the occasion of World Stroke Day

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018

Actress RANI MUKHERJEE’scomeback film Hichki has crossedover `200 crore worldwide, over-taking PK to become the fifthhighest grossing Indian film inChina. The film recently opened inChina on October 12 becoming ablockbuster there by earning`127.8 crore. The total col-lections now stand at`205.5 crore worldwide.“The success of a filmshould always bemeasured by thenumber of people ithas touched andmoved. A good filmappeals to everyone,devoid of its lan-guage and I’mproud that Hichki isthat film from Indiawhich is making usproud,” said Rani.Rani was presentedwith the BestActress award atthe Indian FilmFestival ofMelbourne (IFFM)for the film.

‘We (me andPatralekhaa) both

really appre-ciate beingable to doour favouritethings, fromwatching afilm to enjoy-ing a cup ofcoffee

together, in a stun-ning home, a hopskip, jump from theMandovi River. Iloved riding aroundtown on a scooter. Itwas a memorabletrip away from work.’—Rajkummar Rao

Singer JUSTIN BIEBER’sInstagram stories showed that hehas shaved his head. Thenew look comes just afew months afterBieber vowed to nevercut his hair and growthem till toes. In May,Bieber shook histhen-long blonde hairback and forthtowards the cameraon Instagram, cap-tioning the video“Long hair don't careand my stash is gor-geous.” In the fol-lowing selfie, thepop star gave viewers agood look at just howmuch he has let hisflowing hair grow out,and even teased that heintends to keep thelength coming. “I'mgoing to grow myhair down to mytoes,” he wrote onthe photograph.

Actress PRIYANKA CHOPRA saysthat actress Kerry Washingtonhas always been an inspiration toher. Priyanka and her fiance NickJonas on Saturday attendedWashington'shighly acclaimedbroadway playtitled AmericanSon. Washingtonposted on Twitterthanking the cou-ple for their pres-ence. Priyankareplied, “You wereincredible Kerryand so was the team of AmericanSon. Thank you so much for hav-ing us and your amazing advice.You have always been an inspira-tion. Good luck and love always.”

Rani’s Hichki

overtakes PK

Bieber shaveshis head

vivacity 14

From television to smartphones, wehave come a long way since the

1990s. But one thing that has remainedconstant is the CID series, for over 20years. It isn’t just the show that hasruled the hearts, but also inspiredinnumerable memes that ruled the

internet since they went viral. CIDbecame a household term and

almost a substitute for the copsor the police. Saying ‘CID kobulaao (Call the CID.)’ wascommonplace.

It recently aired its lastepisode after being thelongest running show on the

Indian television on October27. There are children from the

90s who still reminisce binge-watching the show for the whole

day.Actor Rajeev Khandelwal,

who was a part of the show’sanniversary edition in 2006, star-ring in five episodes as ACP

Prithiviraj, shared, “The show hasbeen one of the original Indiandrama which went on to become acult series. I am sure it will leave thefollowers and the makers a bit emo-tional after such a long and success-

ful run. I too have an emotional con-nect with the show as I was invited tobe a part of one of its anniversary cel-ebrations and replace the irreplaceableACP Pradyuman for five specialepisodes. I want to congratulate all theactors of CID and dear BP Singh (sir)

for doing what nobody else could —having a cult status for almost twodecades.”

The show’s genre of suspense andcuriosity isn’t the sole reason for its

enormous audience, but also its veryoriginality as it was one of the firstshows on Indian television that hadcrime and punishment at its centre. Itwas a medium for youngsters andeven adults to know about how apolice department functions.

The most common response froma group of adults between the age of 22-30 years, who probably were kids whenthe show first aired, said that CID wasone of the premiere ways that theylearned about how an investigationtakes place. The concept of ‘police’ and

serving in such investigation bureausbecame a dream for many young menand women.

From “Daya darwaza tod do,” to“Kuch toh gadbad hai,” and “Pata lagaoki yeh khoon kisne kiya hai,” became notonly some entertaining trolls, ratherphrases used in the common conver-sations.

Not just the audience, but as wellfor the stars, who have been a part ofthe show, the show has been a greatlearning and memorable experience.

Actor Dayanand Shetty, common-

ly known as Daya, who is famous forbreaking uncountable doors at theshow, said that he has been grateful forthe show and all the experiences it hasgiven to him. He said, “When it cameto an end, of course we felt sad. Gettingassociated with so many talented peo-ple, we saw so many things, had somany experiences, worked with suchgreat artists that it was an honour.People like Shivaji Satam, AdityaSrivastava, Narendra Gupta, our Pankajji, Tarika, and all the other people whohave been associated with us in all these21 years, we have definitely learntsomething form each one of them. Nowthat the show isn’t there anymore, wefeel sad but we thank our fans becauseof whom we could last for so long. Thepeople born in the 90s or the young-sters during the time have spent theirweekends watching the show. It hasreally impacted their minds in a greatway. Even today they want to keepwatching the show.”

There is a message that the showhas always been trying to give to itsviewers. Both, actor Shivaji Satam akaACP Pradyuman and Daya, agreed tothe same, “We gave out the message thattruth always wins and there is no placefor crime in our society. No matter howmuch you plan before committing acrime, you will be caught eventually. It’slike a ramleela, all the buraayi and crimeis killed from the society just likeRaavan.”

Actress Jayati Bhatia, who has beena part of the show for three episodes, alsohas deep and great memories from theshow, as she called the show “a history.”

She said, “I wish this news wasn’ttrue. All the aspiring actors who hadcome to Mumbai during the late 90s,have been a part of CID. It was a sav-ing grace to new actors because it cameas a platform to exhibit our talent. It wasa great place to learn under BP Singhsir. He actually used to make the dia-logues rehearse in exactly the same waythey are written. You needed to be real-ly focussed and prepared becausethere were many long scenes donetogether because he used to handle thecamera himself. If you were not wellprepared , he would really actuallyscold you as he was strict. But I wouldalways get a pat on my back, thankful-ly. (Laughs)”

She called it “an excellent team.”She added, “I have done three episodesof CID and Daya still remembersabout those episodes. And not justthose, he remembers every episodedone by guest actors. I would reallymiss the golden memories from CID.It is history. They can surely take abreak, but we just don’t want to lose it.”

Aweek before Diwali, thegreen lawns of the BlindRelief Association get

completely transformed into acolourful pop-up baazar which

is a must-do and a must-be-seen-at event for most people from thecapital. The event, which has beenorganised regularly for 30 yearsranks high up on every Delhiitessocial calendar.

This time around, the shop-pers’ paradise has over 250 stallswhere local vendors exhibit and sella wide variety of attractive crafts.While the biggest draws are thehandmade candles, diyas andpaper mache items made through-out the year by the blind studentsand trainees of the association, itis some of the more unusual thingsthat grabbed eyeballs.

Buddha-like terracotta statueswith a definite African influence,planters that look like octopusses

and other garden gnomes caughtour eye. Traditional decor also lit-tered the place as there were mul-ticoloured Rajasthani door hang-ings and candle stands in theshape of geometric boxes thatcould be used to hold tea lights.The mela is also high on creativi-ty with small boutiques putting uptheir creations for sale for the fes-tive season while fine artists putprints and paintings. Modern arttechniques were fused with tradi-tional motifs like the Ganesha andthe twist created pop cultureposters also made it to the tables.

And there were some notablesthat caught the eye. The Rose Cafein Saket had a picnic basket withseparate compartments for every-thing and elegant-looking candleholders straight out of a HarryPotter set!

Giving a green touch to Diwaliwas the Sturdy Recycled Furniture

which stays true to its name.There were also seats made ofbamboo, covered with a goldenthread, which is again recycled.There were also, pans made of tree-bark as well as wall hangings andlamps made of wood.

At the venue, colourful quiltsin cotton and wool and artificialflowers were available side by side.The Blind School also worked hardon handmade cards, envelopes,files, diyas, candles. The event is acelebration of artisans, artists,abled and differently-abled, andtheir skills, which are infinite.

Of course, charity is a crowd-puller, but then so is quality. Thecolourful candles in disparateshapes and sizes are made of pureparaffin wax, so they don’t emitblack smoke.

For those is search of diyas,puja thalis, idols of gods, handcrafted items, gift bags and greet-

ings cards, home furnishings, eth-nic wear and even jewellery this iscertainly the place to head to.

However, special attractionwas a massage center where onecan experience a relaxing massageperformed by the visually chal-lenged masseurs who are trainedat the Association.

This year, the visually impairedtrainees also managed two stationsby themselves, one was, DIY—Doit Yourself and the other Story-telling. In DIY’s the trainees havemade the paper-mache crafts, thatwere ready to sale immediately andin story-telling the trainees inteams narrated and enacted storiesfor the visitors.

The Blind Relief Association’sDiwali Mela is all an all a noblecause plus it brings the Associationcloser to the society and makespeople aware of the capabilities andachievements of the visually chal-lenged. The earnings from theBaazar go towards financing theAssociation’s diverse services forthe visually impaired.

There are enough items thatmake you want them all, the melais back with a bang to create aDiwali which is bigger and brighter.

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

DIWALI

MELA

HAPPINESS IS...A

To pick up knick knacks for thefestival of light, lamps, diyas and

more, the Blind School Lawns arethe place to head to. By TEAM VIVA

THE EVENT IS ACELEBRATION OF

ARTISANS, ARTISTS,ABLED AND

DIFFERENTLY-ABLED,AND THEIR SKILLS,

WHICH AREINFINITE.

HANDMADE CARDS,ENVELOPES, FILES,

DIYAS, CANDLES AREON OFFER

As CID aired its last, we reminisce how the show has been a

cult series for more than two decades. By CHAHAK MITTAL

20 years of crime watch

Adecade ago, Madhur Bhandarkar’sFashion showed the dark side of the

fashion industry, an aspect of it high-lighting the exchange of sexual favoursfor work. It’s rampant in the fashionworld, say Indian male models, admit-ting that in many cases people “com-promise” to get work as emergingmodels seek “instant success”.

Model Kawaljit Singh Anand’sopen accusation aimed at designer VijayArora opened up the #MeToo discus-sion about harassment that male mod-els face. Kabir Duhan Singh, now a pop-ular actor in the southern film indus-try and who is soon going to make hisBollywood debut, says nobody cantouch anyone without permission. Hesaid during his time, he did not getwork for almost a year because he wasnot open to socialise with designers attheir places. “I think it is on us how wepresent ourselves in front of others. Iused to see models getting drunk withdesigners and dancing with them withtheir hands going everywhere. So, if youare giving them such liberty, they willtake advantage of it, and the same goesfor Bollywood,” Kabir said. He says onehas to create a boundary. “The currentcrop in the modelling industry is veryopen and they want to achieve successin a short period,” he added.

Born and brought up in Faridabad,Kabir moved to Mumbai in 2011 andtook up modelling as a career. His act-ing career started with Telugu film Jil,which won him positive reviews.

He says focussing on work and hav-ing faith in your talent would give youwork.

Amit Ranjan, another establishedname in the industry, now has a pro-duction house by the name of A.R.Productions that organises fashionevents. He says he always knew abouthow the fashion industry works evenbefore he entered it in 2007.

“I think in the fashion industry,male models are exploited a lot becausethey get less money compared tofemale models. They are moulded bydesigners who groom them. Theyfunction on the concept of ‘I will takecare of you, if you take care of me’. That’swhy nobody takes anyone’s namebecause it is mutual,” Amit. “There aremany leading designers,” he said, “whoget messages from boys who are readyto do everything. So obviously, theother person will take advantage of that.These boys seek instant success so Iwon’t blame one party,” Amit said,adding that he wanted to tell the boysthat they should believe in themselves.

He also said that such modelsshould not use the raging #MeToomovement for publicity.

Designer Varija Bajaj says that shehas been sitting back and observingeverything that is happening.

“Yes, it does exist in the fashionindustry and it is not just about menagainst women, but also about menagainst men, especially in designing fra-ternity, and women against women,” shesaid.

“I think the way this movement(#MeToo) has come forward, I reallyapplaud all the people who have comeforward. It takes a lot of courage to talkabout it,” Varija said.

Designer Samant Chauhan saysmodels should always carefully chosewhom they are contacting and wherethey are going for casting. If they gothrough an agency, they should knowwhat kind of people they are meeting.

“I get many calls that they (mod-els) want to meet me. I tell them to sendpictures. Maybe I can keep or I can con-nect them to people whom I know.There is no requirement to come andmeet. It’s not that only designers are tak-ing advantage,” Chauhan said. He saidthe whole idea of the #MeToo move-ment is to encourage people to talkabout it.

Model Karan Sharma, who startedhis modelling career with a fashion galain 2010 in Delhi, says the city is the hubof sexual exploitation “because most ofthe designers think they are Gods.”

“(The models feel), it’s big shamefor them if they don’t get work. I wantto say that you don’t need to go todesigners or party with them. If you aregood, you will get work. I was very surethat I have to do this and I have to doit the right way,” Karan said.

—IANS

Fashion world’s

reckoning

Male models reveal the dark secrets in theirindustry after Bollywood’s #MeToo moment

‘TRUTH ALWAYS WINSAND THERE IS NO

PLACE FOR CRIME INOUR SOCIETY. NO

MATTER HOW MUCHYOU PLAN, YOU WILL

BE CAUGHT’

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018 sport 15

AP n PARIS

Novak Djokovic began hisbid for a record-extend-ing fifth Paris Masters

title with a 7-5, 6-1 win againstJoao Sousa in the second roundon Tuesday, and lent a helpinghand to a spectator in theprocess.

Serving for the match at 5-1, Djokovic handed a towel to aman in the crowd who seemedunwell and who wiped his fore-head with it.

"It seemed he was sweatingand he seemed dizzy, so he justneeded help," Djokovic said. "Ijust gave him the towel . "Djokovic revealed he also wasnot feeling very well out oncourt.

"I wasn't," he said. "I don'twant to get into details but Ithink it's a minor thing."

The second-ranked Serb setup match point with an ace andsealed victory on his third matchpoint when Sousa returned asecond serve long.

The US Open championwon four of the last five tour-naments he has entered, includ-ing Wimbledon, the US Openand most recently the ShanghaiMasters.

Djokovic is seeking toreclaim the top ranking fromRafael Nadal at a tournamentNadal has never won. Djokovicnext faces Damir Dzumhur.

Fifth-seeded Marin Cilic,the Australian Open runner-up,won his second-round match 6-3, 6-4 against Phi l ippKohlschreiber of Germany.

Dzumhur upset 14th-seededStefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-3, whilebig-hitt ing Russian KarenKhachanov also advanced tothe third round. He led 6-2, 2-0 against Matthew Ebden whenthe Australian retired.

Returning from a right kneeinjury , Nadal faces Spanishcountryman Fernando Verdascoon Wednesday, with 20-time

Grand Slam champion RogerFederer also in second-roundaction against Milos Raonic.Federer leads the big-servingCanadian 11-3 overall.

Federer's last appearance atthe Paris indoor event was athird-round loss to big-servingJohn Isner in 2015. There weredoubts Federer would play aftera grueling past week which sawhim clinch his ninth victory atthe Swiss Indoors and 99thoverall.

"I feel good," Federer told anews conference. "I feel like Irecovered well from last week."

The 37-year-old Federer isselective of when he plays inorder to keep his body as fresh

as possible, and he skipped theentire clay-court season for thesecond straight year.

With the season-ending ATPFinals in London starting Nov.11, he is playing three straighttournaments. But the third-ranked Federer feels comfortablewith it.

"I feel like it's better for meto play matches rather thanpractice," Federer said.

"As long as I don't feel likeI'm taking a chance on myhealth prior to London, that'sthe key as well."

Federer showed fightingqualities last week in Basel,where he was twice taken tothree sets and went an earlybreak down in three of his lastfour matches.

"I was a bit bumpy. But I washappy how I was fighting, howI was trying to figure it out in adifferent manner," he said.

"Last week was special towin the way I did it, in a differ-

ent manner."Federer moved within

10 titles of Jimmy Connorsall-time singles record. Heis caut ious about hischances of success in Paris,where his only tournamentvictory came in 2011.

The Australian Openchampion is drawn in thesame half as Djokovic; Cilicand big-serving KevinAnderson, who upsetFederer in the Wimbledonquarterfinals this year.

"I rarely play two orthree tournaments in a rownow. So star t ing onWednesday and winning

five matches in a row with thiscaliber (of players) is very diffi-cult," Federer said.

"If I get close to the last fourthat would also be great." Infirst-round play Tuesday, therewere wins for Mikhai lKukushkin, Gilles Simon, DaniilMedvedev, Marton Fucsovics,Raonic and Verdasco.

AFP n PRAGUE

Petra Kvitova and KarolinaPliskova will lead the Czech

Republic against defending cham-pions the United States in the FedCup final in Prague on November10-11, the team captain saidWednesday.

The world number seven andeight, respectively, will team upwith 31st-ranked Kater inaSiniakova, the world number one indoubles, and 33rd-ranked BarboraStrycova, who is fifth in doubles.

"I'm really excited, I appreciatehaving the strongest team I couldput together," said captain PetrPala, quoted by the CTK news

agency.The final pitting the two most

successful nations in Fed Cup his-tory — the USA with 18 trophiesand the Czech Republic with 10including f ive as the formerCzechoslovakia — will be played onthe hardcourt of the sold-out15,000-capacity O2 Arena.

Holders the USA beat Belarusin Minsk last year after seeing offthe Czechs in the semi-final.

Led by Kvitova and Pliskova,the Czechs have won five of the lastseven editions including all threefinals they have played on Prague'shardcourt.

"We are good at the finals, weare not so good against theAmericans. We have never lost inthe O2 Arena, but we have neverbeaten the Americans (in thefinal)," Pala said.

In this year's semi-finals, theCzechs beat Germany in Stuttgartwhile the United States edgedFrance in Aix-en-Provence.

PTI n PUNE

World number six Kevin Andersonhas confirmed his presence in the

second edition of the Tata OpenMaharashtra in 2019.

The Wimbledon runner-up is expect-ed to be a top draw at the ATP 250 eventto be played at the Mhalunge BalewadiStadium.

The 32-year old just became the firstSouth African in over two decades toqualify for the season-ending ATP TourFinals after beating Japan's Kei Nishikoriin the finals of Vienna Open on Sunday.

On the back of his fifth ATP title,Anderson rose to World No 6 joiningRafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, JuanMartin del Potro, Roger Federer andAlexander Zverev in qualifying for theelite event.

Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director,Tata Open Maharashtra was ecstatic afterbringing back the in-form South Africanfor the event.

"I happened to meet Kevin duringWimbledon and he expressed his will-ingness to come back to Pune as he washappy about how our event was con-ducted overall. We are delighted to havehim back and will be one our star attrac-tions for this year's tournament," saidSutar. Last edition, the South African wasone of the top players to have descendedin Pune along with Marin Cilic, SimonGilles among others.

In 2018, Anderson peaked at hiscareer-high ranking of No 5 on July 16,becoming the highest-ranked SouthAfrican in ATP Rankings history.

He also advanced to his secondGrand Slam final at Wimbledon where helost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.Enroute to the finals, Anderson beat JohnIsner 26-24 in the semis in the fifth set tobecome part of 2nd-longest Grand Slammatch ever.

But the highlight was his quarter-finals win over No 2 Roger Federerwhere he rallied from two sets down andsaved one match point for his biggestcareer win.

He also made it to the finals of 2018Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado porHSBC Open (ATP 500) losing to JuanMartin Del Potro. A couple of weeksbefore that, he won the New York Open(ATP 250) beating Sam Querrey in thefinals.

DJOKOVIC BEATS

SOUSA AT PARIS MASTERS

Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning hisfirst round match at ATP Paris Masters;(right) Alexander Zverev returns a shotduring his game AP

Petra Kvitova returns a shot AP/ File Picture

DJOKOVIC IS SEEKING TORECLAIM THE TOP RANKING FROMRAFAEL NADAL AT A TOURNAMENT

NADAL HAS NEVER WON.DJOKOVIC NEXT FACES DAMIR

DZUMHUR

Kevin Andersonto participate in2019 Tata Open

Kvitova, Pliskovato lead Czechs inFed Cup final

PTI n NEW DELHI

Arecord 37 teams, including sevendebutants from the northeast, par-

ticipating in the Ranji Trophy beginningThursday pose a massive logisticalchallenge for a cricket board goingthrough administrative chaos.

The new teams — Manipur,Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram,Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Nagaland,Meghalaya , Bihar and Puducherry —did feature in the recently held 50-overVijay Hazare Trophy but playing red-ball cricket will be a tougher challenge.

The nine teams will compete againsteach other in the plate group, just likethey did in Vijay Hazare Trophy whereBihar, who returned to domestic crick-et after 18 years, and Uttarakhand, gavea good account of themselves. Most ofthese teams will rely on their outstationplayers this season.

While the nine teams aim to findtheir footing, domestic stars will be inaction across Group A, B and C. Testregular Cheteshwar Pujara is expectedto play Saurashtra's opener againstChattisgarh while spinnerRavichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijayhave been named in the Tamil Nadusquad for their first game againstMadhya Pradesh.

With teams already announced forthe four-Test series in Australia and theA tour of New Zealand, exemplary per-formances in Ranji Trophy are unlike-

ly to be rewarded. Group A seems to bethe toughest of all in the presence recordchampions Mumbai, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Railways,Chattisgarh, Vidarbha and Gujarat.

While Gujarat won their maidentitle last season, Vidharbha were thewinners the season before. Ahead ofanother season, it would be too early tospeculate if there will be a first-timewinner of Ranji Trophy.

CANBERRA: South Africa's tour of Australiastarted poorly with a four-wicket loss toPrime Minister's XI that had just threeplayers with international experience. TheSouth Africans lost a wicket on the first ballof the match Wednesday and were all outfor 173 after winning the toss and electingto bat.

Ex-Australia test batsman GeorgeBailey helped the PM's XI reach the vic-tory target within 37 overs.

South Africa lost two wickets in thefirst over to Jason Behrendorff (3-35), andnever really recovered in their only warm-up match ahead of three one-day interna-tionals against Australia.

Opener Aiden Markram top-scoredwith 47, allrounder David Miller hit 45 andfast bowler Kagiso Rabada finished 28 notout.

PM's XI legspinner Usman Qadir, theson of Pakistan test great Abdul Qadir,claimed 3-28.

The score was the lowest in a com-pleted innings in a 50-over match againsta PM's XI in 12 years, and South Africabecame the first visiting team to lose thefixture since 2013. Josh Phillippe led thescoring for the hosts with 57 and Bailey wasunbeaten on 51 when the PM's XI reached174-6. AP

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Asian Champions Trophywas an ideal preparation for

the World Cup and the Indiacamp will be the last chance forprobables to prove their mettlebefore the squad is finalised, saidcoach Harendra Singh.

Hockey India onWednesday named a 34-mem-ber core group for the finalnational camp before the season-ending men's World Cup, to beheld in Bhubaneswar fromNovember 28 to December 16.

The 23-day camp will beginon Thursday at the KalingaStadium and the 34 campers willreport to chief coach Harendra.

The camp will giveHarendra chance to work withthe core group and pick his final18-member squad.

"Our campaign at the 5thMen's Hero Asian ChampionsTrophy Muscat 2018 served as

good preparation for the teambefore the World Cup, but nowis the most critical time for us aswe look to reinvigorate ourspirits and work on the areaswhich need improvement,"Harendra said.

"The camp will give all the34 core group players the chanceto work hard and show whatedge they can provide to the

team," he said."It is now time for all the

core group players to step up andshow what they can bring to thetable." Having returned jointwinners along with Pakistanfrom the recently-concludedAsian Champions Trophy inMuscat, the team will undergointense training sessions underHarendra. The 34-member core

group includes three goalkeep-ers — PR Sreejesh, Suraj andKrishan Pathak while defendersHarmanpreet , Gurinder , VarunKumar, Kothajit Singh ,Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas,Jarmanpreet , Pardeep Singh,Suman Beck and Mandeep Mor,have been called up for thecamp. Among midfielders,Manpreet, Chinglensana, Sumit,Simranjeet, Nilakanta Sharma,Hardik Singh, Lalit Upadhyay,Vivek Sagar, Yashdeep andVishal Antil have all been select-ed. Akashdeep, Gurjant,Mandeep, Dilpreet, SumitKumar, Gursahibjit andShilanand Lakra will fight it outfor slots in the forwardline.

Ace striker Ramandeep,who underwent a knee surgeryafter sustaining an injury duringCT, along with seasoned defend-ers Rupinder Pal Singh andBirendra Lakra, have also beenincluded in the camp.

Cheteshwar Pujara bats during nets session BCCI

Will Ranji produce another

1st-time champion?

‘National camp last chance to earn WC berths’

Proteas begin Australia tour with 4-wicket loss to PM XI

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 1, 2018 sport 16


India go into the final ODIThursday eyeing another homeseries triumph against the West

Indies, a far cry from the dominantforce it was when the city last host-ed a 50-over international threedecades ago.

A victory in the fifth andpenultimate One-day Internationalwill ensure India maintain theirunbeaten run since the reverseagainst South Africa in 2015.

Leading 2-1 in the five-matchseries that also witnessed a tie, thehosts faced unexpected resistancein the past few days, including suf-fering a shock defeat, since the timethe West Indians set foot in thecountry a little more than a monthago.

The weather is expected toplay a part with showers predicted.

Virat Kohli's men bouncedback from the loss in the thirdmatch at Pune to record a massive224-run win at Mumbai.

The home team will hope tocarry the momentum into theseries decider in the Southern city.

The last ODI played here wasalso between the two teams and waswon by the visiting side, then aneminent force in world cricket.Jason Holder's men will look to seekinspiration from their illustriouspredecessors and level the series.

With the series being the firstin the run-up to the 50-oversWorld Cup in England in June nextyear, the two sides are more or lessaiming to zero in on the combina-tion for the showpiece.

While Kohli and Rohit Sharmahave been in superlative form,scoring three and two centuriesrespectively, Ambati Rayudu,backed by the skipper, has also beenamong the runs.

The rest of the batsmen haven'tquite had the impact they wouldhave liked to. The flamboyantShikhar Dhawan has not capi-talised on the starts while veteranMahendra Singh Dhoni has foundruns hard to come by. Left out ofthe T20 squad for the upcomingseries in Australia, the Jharkhandstumper will hope to make a con-tribution in front of the stumps, too,even though his work with the biggloves has been stupendous.

Dhoni stands on the cusp of amilestone, needing one run toreach the 10,000 mark in Indiacolours (he has scored 124 runs forAsia XI).

The return of Jasprit Bumrahhas added value to the Indianteam and he proved his worth in thetwo games he has played while theyoung Khaleel Ahmed showed he'slearning with an impressive spell atthe Brabourne Stadium.

Kohli will expect the experi-enced Bhuvneshwar Kumar to raisehis level of play in the series finaleafter moderate returns. The seam-er has been recalled following a rest.

The spinners have done thedamage with most of the Caribbeanbatsmen struggling to cope withKuldeep Yadav, while YuzvendraChahal was benched for the fourthODI in favour of Ravindra Jadeja.

The visitors, on the other hand,have blown hot and cold in the one-dayers after being routed in theTests.

Shimron Hetmyer and ShaiHope have impressed the most,having logged a century each whileunderlining their abilities. CaptainHolder has shown he can handlethe Indian spinners pretty well butthe other batsmen have not covered

themselves with glory.Holder will be hoping that the

team improves collectively tosnatch a win and deny India aseries triumph. It is easier said thandone but the young West Indiessquad has shown they have the tal-ent but not the requisite tempera-ment.

The participation of off-spin-ner Ashley Nurse, who has been aconsistent performer, is in doubtafter he suffered an injury duringthe Mumbai game. His absencecould affect the hopes of theWindies in the all-important game.

SQUADSIndia: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma,Shikhar Dhawan, AmbatiRayudu, Rishabh Pant, MSDhoni, Kedar Jadhav, RavindraJadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, YuzvendraChahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed,Umesh Yadav, Lokesh Rahul,Manish Pandey.

West Indies: Jason Holder,Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris,Devendra Bishoo, ChanderpaulHemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, ShaiHope (wicketkeeper), AlzarriJoseph, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse,Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell,Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels,Oshane Thomas.


Amonth into one of their most ardu-ous tours in recent years, West

Indies fielding coach Nic PothasWednesday said the visiting team is inIndia not just to compete, but also learnfrom their fancied opponents.

"They're a great team to learnfrom. We don't just play against India,we learn from them too. These are greatopportunities when you come andplay against teams of this quality,"Pothas said on the eve of the fifth andfinal ODI against India here.

Asked if they have any specialplans to counter Indian captain ViratKohli and Rohit Sharma, Pothas said thefocus is not just on the in-form duo.

"Look, if I had special plans, whichI do, I'm certainly not going to put themout in the media. But having said that,they're world-class cricketers. You can'tgo without mentioning guys likeShikhar Dhawan. Rayudu is in form.Lots of fantastic players - that's what youget with such a strong team.

Trailing 1-2 in the series, he said theyoung West Indies team is getting bet-ter all the time.

"It is a very young team. Not justfrom an international point of view buta volume of 50-over cricket point ofview. I think like anything, when youplay at this level, whatever sport it mightbe, it's always going to come down toexecution over a long period of time.

"Our guys are learning all the timeand they're having to learn at interna-tional level, which is never easy. Butthey're getting better all the time andimportantly they're open to that learn-ing. We're very positive," he said at thepre-match press conference.

Pothas said it was important for theteam to execute plans over longer peri-ods if they are to beat teams like Indiaand England.

"We've seen that we can execute forshort periods of time. The challenge isalways going to be to execute over a 100overs. If you're going to beat India orEngland or Australia, Pakistan, you'vegot to execute for a 100 overs."

Pothas, a former South Africaninternational himself, said the presentWest Indies team was a good fieldingunit. "We put in a lot of detail of whatto do in any of our skills. These guys,the last time I checked, they're humanbeings not robots. So we're going tomake errors under pressure. That's thenature of the game. "The thing is to haveselective amnesia and come backstronger. I thought we fielded pretty wellin the last game."

Pothas said a tour of India providesone a chance to judge oneself.

"It's a possibility. Travelling to Indiais always a wonderful tour. It's a greattour to judge yourself as a player andas a coach. It's a great place to let your-self know where exactly you're at withyour cricket," he said.


India's bowling coach BharatArun on Wednesday said

the team's fast-bowlingstrength has never been more"exciting" with new findKhaleel Ahmed being the lat-est addition to the stocks.

"We have a very good fastbowling quartet. And also, thebench strength is very exciting,"Arun said ahead of the fifth andfinal one-dayer against the WestIndies here on Thursday.

Jasprit Bumrah, UmeshYadav, Bhuvneswar Kumaralong with Khaleel make up thepace battery currently in oper-ation against the West Indies.Arun praised Khaleel, callingthe 20-year-old a brightprospect.

"Khaleel looks a veryexciting prospect. He issharp and has the skills todo well in internationalcricket. He is a very excit-ing prospect," he toldreporters here. Khaleeltook 3 for 13 in thefourth ODI inMumbai to triggerthe West Indies'collapse in pur-suit of a mam-moth 378 forvictory.

A r u n ,without nam-ing specificplayers, saidthe benchstrength inIndian fastbowling ismaking it easierfor the teammanagement torotate bowlers andbalance their work-load.

"When we start-ed off, the onus wasnot only on creatinga force to reckon withpace bowling unitfor the Indianteam, also weneeded verygood bench strength. To sustainfast bowling over a long periodof time, you need to rotatethese bowlers. The team man-agement had to monitor theworkload," he explained.

"When we played against

South Africa, I think it was thefirst time in the history of Indiancricket we went into a matchwithout a single spinner. Wehappened to win that Test matchas well. This augurs really wellfor Indian cricket," he addedreferring to the tour earlier thisyear.

The bowling coach alsodefended the under-fireMahendra Singh Dhoni, sayinghe is one of the legends ofIndian cricket and would comegood.

"He is one of the legendsof Indian cricket. His

striking ability is foreveryone to see. Hehas done it many atimes before. He is

extremely experi-enced and I'm suregiven the opportu-

nities, he will comegood," Arunadded.

Asked if per-formance would

be given prece-dence over the 'Yo-

Yo' fitness test in thelight of AmbatiRayudu's show in theODI series against

West Indies, he said itwas mandatory to

prove fitness."Fitness, with the

kind of schedule that wehave, is an important part

of our focus. And the markthat we have kept for peopleto pass is not every tough. Andanyone who is there in theteam has to pass the fitness

test," he said.The Indian team had

an optional trainingsession ahead ofThursday's fixture

with only a handfulof players taking

part. Youngs o u t h p a w

Rishabh Pantdelighted thesmall group of

fans who gath-ered to watch the

session with some big hitting.The others who practicedwere Rayudu, K L Rahul,Yuzvendra Chahal and UmeshYadav.

The West Indies, on theother hand, opted not to train.

India vs West Indies

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India eye another home series triumphAfter beating Windies by record margin in fourth ODI, Men in Blue look to maintain perfect record

West Indies players celebrate after winning third ODI against India at Pune PTI/File Picture

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after dismissing West Indian batsman PTI/ File Picture

INDIA-WEST INDIES IN INDIA:Played India Windies Tied

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