@a...2018/12/04  · mantri awas yojna (pmay). against the target of con-structing one crore rural...

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A police inspector and a youth were killed on Monday as cow vigilantes run riot alleging illegal cow slaugh- ter and torched a police post in Bulandshahr and clashed with police. The violence erupted soon after the recovery of the body parts of a cow and a calf in a nearby jungle. Protesters from Mahaw village in the district and nearby areas gath- ered outside the Chingarwathi Police Chowki and set it ablaze. They clashed with policemen and pelted stones and set sev- eral vehicles on fire. "Police inspector Subodh Kumar died in hospital during treatment after being hit by a blunt object, probably stone," ADG Law and Order Anand Kumar said in Lucknow. Inspector Subodh Kumar was posted at the Siana Police Station. Police also said a 20- year-old youth, identified as Sumit, died of gunshot wounds during the clash. As tension prevailed in the area following the violence that lasted nearly three hours, the Uttar Pradesh Government deployed additional police, including over 1,000 personnel of anti-riot forces, and ordered multiple probes — by SIT, ADG-Intelligence — and a magisterial enquiry. Giving details of the inci- dent, ADG Kumar said, "This morning, carcasses of the cows were found dumped in a forest area outside the village. Activists of right-wing organ- isations soon gathered at the spot and alleged that people of a community were indulging in cow slaughter." Angry villagers and mem- bers of various Hindu groups brought the animal remains in tractor-trolley to the Chingarwathi Police Chowki and demanded action against the culprits. They raised slo- gans against the police admin- istration and blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh State Highway. Bulandshahr District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha, Sub-divisional Magistrate Avinash Kumar Maurya and other senior officials tried to reason with the protesters but they refused to budge. The pro- testers soon turned violent, pelting stones on policemen and indulging in arson, he said, adding that police had to open fire in self-defence. Expressing concern over the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed ADG (Intelligence) SB Shirodkar to rush to Bulandshahr and sub- mit the detailed findings with- in the next 48 hours for neces- sary action against those found guilty. Amid reports that the cop was lynched, the ADG said the exact reason for his death will be known after a post- mortem and the enquiry by the ADG-intelligence, who has been asked to submit a report in 48 hours. The ADG said security has been bolstered in the area with 500 personnel of Rapid Action Force and 600 person- nel of Provincial Armed Constabulary. Meanwhile, mobile footage from the area, shot by onlook- ers, showed young men attack- ing policemen with stones. The violence started around 10 am in Siana area in the district where a major three-day con- gregation of Tablighi Jamaat had concluded this afternoon. The policemen warned against attempts to spread any misleading information, saying the incident was not related in any way to the congregation. "The incident occurred 40-50 km from the congregation site. Some miscreants were behind the violence and action is being taken against them in accor- dance with law," the Bulandshahr Police tweeted in the evening. T he Centre has woefully failed to meet the target of house construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). Against the target of con- structing one crore rural dwellings by March 31, 2019, only 60 lakh houses have been built so far since the scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 20, 2016. According to the data avail- able with the Union Rural Development Ministry, the Government has to build 40,30,815 dwelling units in next four months to achieve the target of providing 99,55,801 houses in the rural areas by March 31, 2019. The States have fixed the lower target at 99,38,101 dwelling units in the rural areas. From the time of the incep- tion of the scheme, around 59,24,986 houses have been constructed till November 30, 2018. In the first phase under the PMAY-G, the target is to complete one crore houses by March 31, 2019. The Government is eyeing to con- struct a total 2.95 crore safe and secure pucca houses for the rural population by 2022. A senior official from the Ministry exuded confidence that the States will be able to help faster completion of qual- ity houses under the PMAY-G. He said the main bottleneck has been removed by payment of assis- tance directly into the benefi- ciary account through the IT- DBT platform from a single nodal account maintained at the state level. Also, he said to ensure transparency geo-tagging of the constructed houses has been done. He said there is no short- age of funds under the scheme. The official said performance of many States in PMAY (G) has started picking up now, and it is hoped that those laggard States like Bihar and Odisha would equal some of the other better performing states. Since some Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) houses were still incomplete, the Rural Development Ministry was given a target of 1.02 crore houses, which included com- pletion of two lakh incomplete IAY houses. This was broken up in 51 lakh houses in 2017- 18 and 51 lakh houses in 2018- 19, said the official. Table on P4 A fter former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian slammed demonetisation as a “draconian shock,” former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat has said note-ban had little impact on the use of black money in elections. Two days after his retire- ment, Rawat said demonetisa- tion didn’t reduce the use of black money in elections, and in fact in some States more seizures were reported com- pared to previous years. “After demonetisation it was thought that misuse of money during the election will be brought down. But it could- n’t be proved on basis of the data of the seizures. Compared to previous elections, there were more seizures in the same States,” he told a news agency. The ex-CEC also said polit- ical class and their financiers seem to have no dearth of money. “Money used in this manner is generally black money. As far as black money used in the election is con- cerned, there was no check on it,” Rawat said. Reacting to Rawat’s state- ment, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweet- ed, “One more slap on the face of Modi Sarkar on demoneti- sation”. “Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat just now gave a break- ing statement. He has said, ‘Demonetisation had no impact on black money, a record amount of money was seized during the polls,’” he tweeted. On November 8, 2016, the Centre had declared 500 and 1,000 notes as non-legal ten- der and introduced new 500 and 2,000 notes. Since then, various Opposition parties have been highly critical of the Centre’s move. Continued on Page 4 A t a time when China has already launched its third aircraft carrier and India is solely dependent on its lone carrier, INS Vikramaditya, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Monday made a strong pitch for a second indigenously built aircraft car- rier. The first carrier INS Vikrant is now under con- struction at Cochin Shipyard and likely to go for seat trials next year. Against the backdrop of growing maritime prowess of China which is now flexing its muscles in the Indian Ocean region, the Navy Chief said while a second carrier is urgently needed, India needs at least three battle carrier groups for sea control. The carrier groups include the aircraft carrier playing the pivot while the frigates and destroyers flanking it to cover wide sweeps of the ocean. Vikramaditya was pro- cured from Russia about six years back and refitted accord- ing to Indian requirements. Lanba said with three carriers, India can easily guard its area of interest mainly Indian Ocean as two carriers at all times will be available for operations while the third is undergoing maintenance. While the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) will take another two years to be oper- ational, Lanba said the Naval headquarters has drawn up plans for the second aircraft carrier. It will weigh about 65,000 tonnes and will be con- ventionally powered. Giving the timelines for the second proposed ship, he said if the nod from the Defence Ministry comes through it will take at least another decade before the second ship is ready for operations. “Case for a second IAC has received necessary impetus though it is still a decade away. Construction would be spread over 7-10 years. We will see the start of construction in three years,” Lanba said addressing the annual Press conference ahead of the Navy Day on December 4. India’s first indigenous car- rier, Vikrant, weighing 40,000 tonnes, is in third and advanced stage of construction in Kochi. It works on a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) mecha- nism similar to that in the pre- sent carrier INS Vikramaditya, with an angular ski-jump. On the presence of Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean, strategically important for India, the Navy Chief said six to eight Chinese warships, including submarines, are there in the region from time to time every year. In fact, one Chinese sub- marine was in this region for a month in October this year and the Indian Navy detected as soon as it entered the Indian Ocean. Lanba also said while the balance of power is in favour of the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean, China has similar advantage in the South China Sea. His observations come against the backdrop of China having dispute with several nations located in the rim of the South China Sea. On the possibility of a two front war, he said the Navy does not have two fronts and said, “Indian Ocean is the only front.” He also said China plans to have at least four aircraft car- riers in the next five to seven years besides having inked a pact with Pakistan to supply eight submarines to it. Lanba admitted submarines always pose a challenge though adding India has maritime superiori- ty over Pakistan Navy. Having last month announced induction of women sailors or jawans into the Navy, he stressed that his force is gender neutral. Lanba said all the new warships have facilities for the women unlike the older platforms. He said the Navy, at pre- sent, does not have training ships with these facilities and therefore women officers are not trained for sea going roles. On the pending issue of appointing a Permanent Chief of Staff Committee (PCoSC) who will act as a single point military adviser to the Government, Lanba said the three services have “finally agreed on a permanent chief of staff committee” and the rules and responsibilities have been sent to the Defence Ministry for approval . T he National Green Tribunal on Monday asked the Delhi Government to deposit 25 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for its failure to curb the problem of pollution in the city. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government to furnish a per- formance guarantee of 25 crore with the apex pollution monitoring body to ensure that there is no further lapse in this regard. It said despite its clear directions, there is hardly any action for compliance of orders of the tribunal and pollution continues unabated in blatant violation of law and under the nose of the authorities “who have hardly done anything concrete except furnishing excuses and helplessness”. The green panel said even after more than four-and-a-half years, the complaint of the aggrieved parties is that the pollution caused by the unreg- ulated handling of plastic con- tinues to remain unabated. The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Mundka village resident Satish Kumar and Tikri- Kalan native Mahavir Singh alleging pollution caused by burning of plastic, leather, rub- ber, motor engine oil and other waste materials and continuous operation of illegal industrial units dealing with such articles on agricultural lands in Mundka and Neelwal villages. The tri- bunal had earlier directed the Delhi Chief Secretary to coor- dinate with municipal authori- ties concerned, police and other officers responsible for compli- ance of orders of this tribunal already passed referred to ensure compliance at the ground-level forthwith. Continued on Page 4 N ine girls, including a minor, reportedly went missing from Sanskar Ashram Girls Home in Dilshad Garden post Saturday midnight, but the authorities of the shelter home claimed that they do not have any information on how and when these girls went missing. A complaint has been regis- tered at GTB Enclave police station. Sources said earlier com- plaints had pointed the finger at the functioning of the shel- ter home, including accusing the superintendent of the home of subjecting a girl with special needs to severe abuse and cor- poral punishment. Taking a dim view of the sordid incident, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday ordered the imme- diate suspension of Northeast District officer of the Department of Women & Child Development (WCD) and the superintendent of Sankar Ashram Girls (SAG) home. “An FIR has been regis- tered regarding the disappear- ance of a minor girl from SAG home and missing reports have been lodged for the eight major girls. We are investigating the matter and all efforts are being made to locate them,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Meghna Yadav said. “The Department of Women and Child Development has failed in its duty to provide a safe and secure environment for minor girls who were placed under protection of the State,” Sisodia said. Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson (DCW) Swati Maliwal had written to the Minister concerned informing them of the lapse in security measures at the girls’ home in Dilshad Garden and asked for immediate inter- vention. Continued on Page 4 T he Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a plot of land allotted by then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) at Panchkula in con- nection with a money laun- dering case. Plot No C-17, Sector-6, Panchkula of AJL was attached under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on December 1, the ED said in a statement on Monday. The CBI had filed an FIR against Hooda and others for fraudulent allotment of the land to AJL in 2005. As a sequel to CBI FIR, a case was regis- tered by the ED under PMLA in 2016. Continued on Page 4 Jammu: A mob set blaze a truck alleging that cows and buf- faloes were being illegally trans- ported in the vehicle and tried to block Jammu-Pathankot highway in Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir on Monday, prompting the police to use batons and fire teargas shells to disperse the violent protesters, officials said. Tension prevailed in Hiranagar area after the inci- dent in village Pathwal and additional police personnel have been deployed there. A group of people stopped the truck car- rying eight cows and buffaloes in the village around 10.50 am and set ablaze the vehicle after “rescuing” the animals, an offi- cial said. PTI Detailed report on P7

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Page 1: @A...2018/12/04  · Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). Against the target of con-structing one crore rural dwellings by March 31, 2019, only 60 lakh houses have been built so far since the

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Apolice inspector and ayouth were killed on

Monday as cow vigilantes runriot alleging illegal cow slaugh-ter and torched a police post inBulandshahr and clashed withpolice. The violence eruptedsoon after the recovery of thebody parts of a cow and a calfin a nearby jungle. Protestersfrom Mahaw village in thedistrict and nearby areas gath-ered outside the ChingarwathiPolice Chowki and set it ablaze.They clashed with policemenand pelted stones and set sev-eral vehicles on fire.

"Police inspector SubodhKumar died in hospital duringtreatment after being hit by ablunt object, probably stone,"ADG Law and Order AnandKumar said in Lucknow.Inspector Subodh Kumar wasposted at the Siana PoliceStation. Police also said a 20-year-old youth, identified asSumit, died of gunshot woundsduring the clash.

As tension prevailed in thearea following the violencethat lasted nearly three hours,the Uttar Pradesh Governmentdeployed additional police,including over 1,000 personnelof anti-riot forces, and orderedmultiple probes — by SIT,ADG-Intelligence — and a

magisterial enquiry.Giving details of the inci-

dent, ADG Kumar said, "Thismorning, carcasses of the cowswere found dumped in a forestarea outside the village.Activists of right-wing organ-isations soon gathered at thespot and alleged that people ofa community were indulging incow slaughter."

Angry villagers and mem-bers of various Hindu groupsbrought the animal remains intractor-trolley to theChingarwathi Police Chowkiand demanded action againstthe culprits. They raised slo-gans against the police admin-istration and blocked theBulandshahr-Garh StateHighway.

Bulandshahr DistrictMagistrate Anuj Kumar Jha,Sub-divisional MagistrateAvinash Kumar Maurya and

other senior officials tried toreason with the protesters butthey refused to budge. The pro-testers soon turned violent,pelting stones on policemenand indulging in arson, hesaid, adding that police had toopen fire in self-defence.

Expressing concern overthe incident, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath directed ADG(Intelligence) SB Shirodkar torush to Bulandshahr and sub-mit the detailed findings with-in the next 48 hours for neces-sary action against those foundguilty. Amid reports that thecop was lynched, the ADG saidthe exact reason for his deathwill be known after a post-mortem and the enquiry by theADG-intelligence, who hasbeen asked to submit a reportin 48 hours.

The ADG said securityhas been bolstered in the area

with 500 personnel of RapidAction Force and 600 person-nel of Provincial ArmedConstabulary.

Meanwhile, mobile footagefrom the area, shot by onlook-ers, showed young men attack-ing policemen with stones.The violence started around 10am in Siana area in the districtwhere a major three-day con-gregation of Tablighi Jamaathad concluded this afternoon.

The policemen warnedagainst attempts to spread anymisleading information, sayingthe incident was not related inany way to the congregation."The incident occurred 40-50km from the congregation site.Some miscreants were behindthe violence and action is beingtaken against them in accor-dance with law," theBulandshahr Police tweeted inthe evening.

���������� ���������������� ������&��� �3)/3��4

The Centre has woefully failedto meet the target of house

construction under the PradhanMantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).

Against the target of con-structing one crore ruraldwellings by March 31, 2019,only 60 lakh houses have beenbuilt so far since the schemewas launched by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onNovember 20, 2016.

According to the data avail-able with the Union RuralDevelopment Ministry, theGovernment has to build40,30,815 dwelling units innext four months to achieve thetarget of providing 99,55,801houses in the rural areas byMarch 31, 2019. The Stateshave fixed the lower target at99,38,101 dwelling units in therural areas.

From the time of the incep-tion of the scheme, around59,24,986 houses have beenconstructed till November 30,2018. In the first phase underthe PMAY-G, the target is tocomplete one crore houses byMarch 31, 2019. TheGovernment is eyeing to con-struct a total 2.95 crore safe andsecure pucca houses for therural population by 2022.

A senior official from theMinistry exuded confidencethat the States will be able tohelp faster completion of qual-

ity houses under the PMAY-G. He said the main

bottleneck has been removed by payment of assis-tance directly into the benefi-ciary account through the IT-DBT platform from a singlenodal account maintained atthe state level.

Also, he said to ensuretransparency geo-tagging ofthe constructed houses hasbeen done.

He said there is no short-age of funds under the scheme.The official said performanceof many States in PMAY (G)

has started picking up now, andit is hoped that those laggardStates like Bihar and Odishawould equal some of the otherbetter performing states.

Since some Indira AwaasYojana (IAY) houses were stillincomplete, the RuralDevelopment Ministry wasgiven a target of 1.02 crorehouses, which included com-pletion of two lakh incompleteIAY houses. This was brokenup in 51 lakh houses in 2017-18 and 51 lakh houses in 2018-19, said the official.

Table on P4

����� �3)/3��4

After former ChiefEconomic Advisor Arvind

Subramanian slammeddemonetisation as a “draconianshock,” former Chief ElectionCommissioner OP Rawat hassaid note-ban had little impacton the use of black money inelections.

Two days after his retire-ment, Rawat said demonetisa-tion didn’t reduce the use ofblack money in elections, andin fact in some States moreseizures were reported com-pared to previous years.

“After demonetisation itwas thought that misuse ofmoney during the election willbe brought down. But it could-n’t be proved on basis of thedata of the seizures. Comparedto previous elections, therewere more seizures in the sameStates,” he told a news agency.

The ex-CEC also said polit-ical class and their financiersseem to have no dearth ofmoney. “Money used in thismanner is generally blackmoney. As far as black moneyused in the election is con-

cerned, there was no check onit,” Rawat said.

Reacting to Rawat’s state-ment, senior Congress leaderAbhishek Manu Singhvi tweet-ed, “One more slap on the faceof Modi Sarkar on demoneti-sation”. “Outgoing ChiefElection Commissioner OPRawat just now gave a break-ing statement. He has said,‘Demonetisation had no impacton black money, a recordamount of money was seizedduring the polls,’” he tweeted.

On November 8, 2016, theCentre had declared �500 and�1,000 notes as non-legal ten-der and introduced new �500and �2,000 notes. Since then,various Opposition partieshave been highly critical of theCentre’s move.

Continued on Page 4

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At a time when China hasalready launched its third

aircraft carrier and India issolely dependent on its lonecarrier, INS Vikramaditya,Navy Chief Admiral SunilLanba on Monday made astrong pitch for a secondindigenously built aircraft car-rier. The first carrier INSVikrant is now under con-struction at Cochin Shipyardand likely to go for seat trialsnext year.

Against the backdrop ofgrowing maritime prowess ofChina which is now flexing itsmuscles in the Indian Oceanregion, the Navy Chief saidwhile a second carrier isurgently needed, India needs atleast three battle carrier groups

for sea control. The carrier groups include

the aircraft carrier playing thepivot while the frigates anddestroyers flanking it to coverwide sweeps of the ocean.

Vikramaditya was pro-cured from Russia about sixyears back and refitted accord-ing to Indian requirements.Lanba said with three carriers,India can easily guard its areaof interest mainly Indian Oceanas two carriers at all times willbe available for operationswhile the third is undergoingmaintenance.

While the first indigenousaircraft carrier (IAC) will takeanother two years to be oper-ational, Lanba said the Navalheadquarters has drawn upplans for the second aircraftcarrier. It will weigh about

65,000 tonnes and will be con-ventionally powered.

Giving the timelines for thesecond proposed ship, he saidif the nod from the DefenceMinistry comes through it willtake at least another decadebefore the second ship is readyfor operations.

“Case for a second IAC hasreceived necessary impetusthough it is still a decade away.Construction would be spreadover 7-10 years. We will see thestart of construction in threeyears,” Lanba said addressingthe annual Press conferenceahead of the Navy Day onDecember 4.

India’s first indigenous car-rier, Vikrant, weighing 40,000tonnes, is in third andadvanced stage of constructionin Kochi. It works on a ShortTake-Off But ArrestedRecovery (STOBAR) mecha-nism similar to that in the pre-sent carrier INS Vikramaditya,with an angular ski-jump.

On the presence of Chinesewarships in the Indian Ocean,strategically important forIndia, the Navy Chief said sixto eight Chinese warships,including submarines, are therein the region from time to timeevery year.

In fact, one Chinese sub-marine was in this region for amonth in October this year andthe Indian Navy detected assoon as it entered the IndianOcean.

Lanba also said while thebalance of power is in favour ofthe Indian Navy in the IndianOcean, China has similaradvantage in the South ChinaSea. His observations comeagainst the backdrop of Chinahaving dispute with severalnations located in the rim ofthe South China Sea.

On the possibility of a twofront war, he said the Navy doesnot have two fronts and said,“Indian Ocean is the onlyfront.”

He also said China plans tohave at least four aircraft car-riers in the next five to sevenyears besides having inked apact with Pakistan to supplyeight submarines to it. Lanbaadmitted submarines alwayspose a challenge though addingIndia has maritime superiori-ty over Pakistan Navy.

Having last monthannounced induction ofwomen sailors or jawans intothe Navy, he stressed that hisforce is gender neutral. Lanbasaid all the new warships havefacilities for the women unlikethe older platforms.

He said the Navy, at pre-sent, does not have trainingships with these facilities andtherefore women officers arenot trained for sea going roles.

On the pending issue ofappointing a Permanent Chiefof Staff Committee (PCoSC)who will act as a single pointmilitary adviser to theGovernment, Lanba said the

three services have “finallyagreed on a permanent chiefof staff committee” and the

rules and responsibilities havebeen sent to the DefenceMinistry for approval .

�� ���������� �3)/3��4

The National Green Tribunalon Monday asked the Delhi

Government to deposit �25crore with the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) for itsfailure to curb the problem ofpollution in the city.

A Bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel also asked theAam Aadmi Party (AAP)Government to furnish a per-formance guarantee of �25crore with the apex pollutionmonitoring body to ensurethat there is no further lapse inthis regard.

It said despite its cleardirections, there is hardly anyaction for compliance of ordersof the tribunal and pollutioncontinues unabated in blatantviolation of law and under thenose of the authorities “whohave hardly done anythingconcrete except furnishingexcuses and helplessness”.

The green panel said evenafter more than four-and-a-halfyears, the complaint of theaggrieved parties is that thepollution caused by the unreg-ulated handling of plastic con-tinues to remain unabated.

The tribunal was hearingpleas filed by Mundka villageresident Satish Kumar and Tikri-Kalan native Mahavir Singhalleging pollution caused byburning of plastic, leather, rub-ber, motor engine oil and otherwaste materials and continuousoperation of illegal industrialunits dealing with such articleson agricultural lands in Mundkaand Neelwal villages. The tri-bunal had earlier directed theDelhi Chief Secretary to coor-dinate with municipal authori-ties concerned, police and otherofficers responsible for compli-ance of orders of this tribunalalready passed referred toensure compliance at theground-level forthwith.

Continued on Page 4

�� ���������� �3)/3��4

Nine girls, including aminor, reportedly went

missing from Sanskar AshramGirls Home in Dilshad Gardenpost Saturday midnight, but theauthorities of the shelter homeclaimed that they do not haveany information on how andwhen these girls went missing.A complaint has been regis-tered at GTB Enclave policestation.

Sources said earlier com-plaints had pointed the fingerat the functioning of the shel-ter home, including accusingthe superintendent of the homeof subjecting a girl with specialneeds to severe abuse and cor-poral punishment.

Taking a dim view of thesordid incident, Delhi Deputy

Chief Minister Manish Sisodiaon Monday ordered the imme-diate suspension of NortheastDistrict officer of theDepartment of Women &Child Development (WCD)and the superintendent ofSankar Ashram Girls (SAG)home.

“An FIR has been regis-tered regarding the disappear-ance of a minor girl from SAGhome and missing reports have

been lodged for the eight majorgirls. We are investigating thematter and all efforts are beingmade to locate them,” DeputyCommissioner of Police(Shahdara) Meghna Yadav said.

“The Department ofWomen and ChildDevelopment has failed in itsduty to provide a safe andsecure environment for minorgirls who were placed underprotection of the State,” Sisodiasaid.

Delhi Commission forWomen Chairperson (DCW)Swati Maliwal had written tothe Minister concernedinforming them of the lapse in security measures at the girls’home in Dilshad Garden and asked for immediate inter-vention.

Continued on Page 4

����� �3)/3��4

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached a plot of land allottedby then Haryana ChiefMinister Bhupinder SinghHooda to Associated JournalsLtd (AJL) at Panchkula in con-nection with a money laun-dering case.

Plot No C-17, Sector-6,Panchkula of AJL was attachedunder provisions of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act on December1, the ED said in a statement onMonday. The CBI had filed anFIR against Hooda and othersfor fraudulent allotment of theland to AJL in 2005. As a sequelto CBI FIR, a case was regis-tered by the ED under PMLAin 2016.

Continued on Page 4

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Jammu: A mob set blaze atruck alleging that cows and buf-faloes were being illegally trans-ported in the vehicle and triedto block Jammu-Pathankothighway in Kathua district ofJammu & Kashmir on Monday,prompting the police to usebatons and fire teargas shells todisperse the violent protesters,officials said. Tension prevailedin Hiranagar area after the inci-dent in village Pathwal andadditional police personnel havebeen deployed there. A groupof people stopped the truck car-rying eight cows and buffaloesin the village around 10.50 amand set ablaze the vehicle after“rescuing” the animals, an offi-cial said. PTI

Detailed report on P7

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With winter setting in, theGurugram Traffic Police

has fastened its belt to rein indrunken driving. It has got 18alcohol breath analysers,installed with audio-videocameras to catch the violatorsof traffic norms and recordanti-social activities and behav-ior in the city.

Police personnel would bedeployed on important stretch-es of Gurugram like MG Road,Sohna Road, Golf Course Roadand Golf Course ExtensionRoad to catch anti-social ele-

ments and those indulging indrunken driving.

As of now around 18inbuilt video cameras, alcoholmeters have been distributed totraffic police and patrollingteams while policing theupscale areas like South City,Sushant Lok, DLF and onMehrauli-Gurugram Road.This stretch has more than 32pubs and bars.

The video cameras have atwo-inch front facing colouredscreen and people can clearlysee that they are being record-ed. The device can recordvideos for several hours withdate and time facility.

"The traffic personnel havealready begin using alcoholbreath analyzer with inbuiltcamera to record traffic viola-tors misconduct as it came toour notice that some anti-social elements are caught bythe traffic police under the

influence of alcoholand later they allegethat the cops havemisbehaved withthem,"Commissionerof police KK Raosaid.

Fu r t h e r m ore ,MG Road is notori-ous as a hub for anti-social elements and

criminals after sunset. Illegalactivities, misbehaviour withpolicemen and drunken behav-iour are common at the busycommercial hub after 11 pm.

These cameras are expect-ed to enhance road safety forboth the traffic police and theresidents of Gurugram. "Thedevice will further improvetransparency and help trafficpolicemen in reviewing therecording on the spot andshow traffic violation to peo-ple as a part of educating peo-ple and raising awareness.Also, the recording of the spotwill be crucial evidence againstthe offenders. The concernpolicemen could show therecording before the court,"Rao said.A traffic policeman said thatvideo cameras attached to thealcohol meters will help trafficpersonnel to capture images,audio-video recording of thei n c i d e n t s ."Several timesthe offendersused to mis-treat withpolice person-nel under thei n f l u e n c ewhen wecaught themin case ofdrunk anddrive. Eventhey file falsecompliant toour seniorofficials. Nowwe can defendour role infront of thesenior offi-

cials," a traffic official on the condition of anonymity, said.

In the previous year, thedistrict police had employed100 body-worn video cam-

eras. These are small and highdefinition video camerasattached to the policeman'suniform to capture images andrecord audio of traffic viola-tions, the official added.

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A35-year-old fruit sellerdied while another person

is battling for his life after avehicle hit them near Sector 9of Dwarka late on Sundaynight. Police have found alogo of Mercedes car from thecrime spot.

The deceased has beenidentified as Sarvesh and theinjured as Inder. They werereturning with their cars froma local weekly market whenthe mishap happened atGanpati Chowk in Dwarka'sSector 9. Police wereinformed by one of thepassersby who was crossingthe area as he noticed twomen lying on road.

"A police control room(PCR) call was receivedregarding the incident at

around 11:54 pm on Sundayfollowing which a teamrushed to the spot. The duowere taken to Deen DayalUpadhyay hospital whereSarvesh was declared broughtdead while Inder, who suf-fered critical injuries, is stillundergoing treatment," said asenior police official.

"A case under section279,337,304A of Indian Penal

Code (IPC) has beenregistered at Dwarkasouth police station.The CCTV footage ofthe area is beingscanned to identifythe car and theaccused," said thesenior police official.

"The offendingvehicle remains stillunknown though wesuspect a Mercedes

car is involved. The logo of aMercedes car was found at thespot which could not confirmthe make and model of thevehicle. We suspect it to beinvolved in the hit-and-runincident. There are no eyewitnesses so far. Relatives ofthe deceased and injured havebeen informed," said thepolice official investigatingthe case.

NEW DELHI: East DelhiMunicipal Corporation(EDMC) has constituted a fivemember committee to investi-gate the matter of alleged casteistremark made by the members ofruling Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP) against councillors ofAam Aadmi Party.

Turning down allegations,EDMC Mayor Bipin BihariSingh said that no suchremarks were made during thespecial house proceeding heldon 29 November, 2018.

The Mayor said that thehouse meeting was called todiscuss the issue of environ-ment and sanitation but unfor-tunately it was adjourned due tothe indecent behavior of oppo-sition members. He said that hechecked the video footage of themeeting multiple times to knowthe veracity of the allegation andfound nothing such incidentmade by AAP councillors.

He informed that the policecomplaints have been made byboth the parties in this context.The committee will file its reportwithin a week and action would be taken on the basis ofits findings. SR

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In an incident that sent shock-waves in Gurugram's sector

49, a 47-year-old businessmandied on Monday after he fellfrom the balcony of his ninth-floor apartment, a posh resi-dential complex located onSohna Road in Gurugram.

Police suspect that the inci-dent is a case of accidentaldeath, but they are conductingfurther investigations. Policesaid he did not leave behindany suicide note.

According to police, thedeceased has been identifiedas Naresh Hasija, who origi-nally hailed from the neigh-bouring Sonipat district andcurrently lived in a flat on theninth floor of Park View City-2 with his wife and two chil-dren. He was involved in atrading business and was alsorunning an ice cream parlourin the Kingdom of Dreams,said police.

"The incident appears tohave occurred around 3 am.

His wife has said the familywent to sleep at the usual timeon Sunday night, but she waswoken up around 3 am by asecurity guard who informedher that her husband had beenfound dead on the ground.

Later the matter wasreported to police," saidAssistant Commissioner ofpolice (ACP) Shamsher Singh,the spokesperson of Gurugrampolice.

"The reasons behind thedeath Naresh are beinginvestigated. His family mem-bers are also being ques-tioned to ascertain whether hewas facing any financial prob-lem. No suicide note wasfound in the house, andHasija's family also claimedthat he was not under duress.As of now, it appears to be anaccidental death.

The body has been hand-ed over to the deceased's fam-ily after an autopsy was con-ducted. No case has beenregistered, however investi-gations are underway, theACP said.

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Reiterating its allegation ofmass deletion of names of

voters in Delhi, the AamAadmi Party said on Mondaythat it will soon start a "door-to-door" programme to urgepeople to ensure that theirnames, if deleted, are added tothe voters' list.

AAP leader Atishiclaimed the names of nearly30 lakh voters were deletedand a majority of thembelonged to traders, minori-ties and Purvanchali com-munities settled in the city."AAP workers will contactpeople door to door to gettheir names added in the vot-ers' list," she said.

The Election Commissionhad conducted an an inquiryinto the allegation and previ-ously dismissed the AAP alle-gation as "baseless".

Atishi, who is AAP'sincharge of East Delhi LokSabha seat, also claimed thatnames of over four lakh voters

were deleted in the con-stituency.

The AAP leader allegedthat the BJP was getting thenames deleted "fearing a back-lash against its rule at the Centre".

The issue of deletion ofnames of voters was raisedfirst by AAP chief and DelhiChief Minister ArvindKejriwal, who had met thenChief Election CommissionerOP Rawat last month.

Kejriwal had claimed over10 lakh voters were removedfrom electoral rolls sinceassembly elections in Delhi in 2015.

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In a major breakthrough, theDelhi Police have busted an

illegal arms manufacturingfactory from Karawal Nagararea in Northeast Delhi andarrested a 41-year-old gun-runner who was involved inmanufacturing and supply ofcountry made arms to crim-inals in Delhi and its periph-eral areas.

The accused had setup anillegal arms manufacturingunit in his house, sometimesback and it went undetectedbefore Crime Branchswooped upon him.

Police have also recoveredarms manufacturing materi-al, two semi-automatic pistols,three country made pistolsalong with 16 live cartridgesand six spare magazines fromhis premises. Police team laterarrested one receiver of theseillegal arms after the accuseddivulged his name.

The accused has beenidentified as Iqbal a residentof Shakti Vihar at KarwalNagar area and a native ofBulandshar in Uttar Pradesh(UP).

"On November 27, wehad received a tipoff regard-ing the accused that he wouldbe coming to supply carbinenear Ram Prastha CrossingBus stand, towards ISBT,Anand Vihar following whicha trap was laid and accusedwas apprehended," said Dr G Ram Gopal Naik,Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime Branch.

"During interrogation, theaccused revealed that hisfather Bundu Khan was man-ufacturing illegal arms at hishouse and he learnt the tech-nique from him. He startedrepairing of the arms of thecriminals and gradually start-ed manufacturing of thecountr y made pistols .Weapons made by him werein demand as he was techni-cally sound in manufacturingof weapons. Gradually, hestarted manufacturing semi-automatic pistols and car-

bines by obtaining raw mate-rial from local market andthen assembling them at hishouse," said the DCP.

"Iqbal has supplied morethan 25 carbines, 50 semiautomatic pistols and morethan 100 country made pistolsto various criminals in Delhiand UP.

He was selling semiauto-matic carbine for �1 lakh to�1.5 Lakh, semi-automaticpistol for �30,000 to �40,000

and country made pistolswere sold for �5,000 each.

On his instance onereceiver identified as RajKartik was also arrested," saidthe DCP adding that Kartik was a member of agang run by his distant rela-t ive Shakti Naidu, who along with his accompliceswas arrested earl ier in connection with a dacoity of�8 crore near Moolchand flyover.

NEW DELHI: CentralIndustrial Security Force (CISF)on Monday apprehended a 22-year-old man at a Delhi Metrostation for allegedly carrying acountry-made pistol in his bag.According to a senior CISF offi-cial, the accused is identified as

Amit, a residentof Sonipat districtin Haryana.

"On Sundayevening at GTBNagar metro sta-tion X-Raymachine detect-ed a baggage inwhich there was aweapon. The mancarrying that bagwas apprehendedon the spot," said

the senior CISF official."Theman was handed over to localpolice by the CISF personnel forfurther investigation," the CISFofficial added.

Carr ying arms andammunition in the DelhiMetro is banned by law. SR

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NEW DELHI: The DelhiTransport Department and theDelhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) on Monday launchedthe updated version of the'Common Mobility Card',which will be known as 'ONE'card with the tagline 'OneDelhi, One Ride.'

The new 'One' waslaunched at Rajghat Bus Depotby the Transport MinisterKailash Gahlot along with theDMRC Managing DirectorMangu Singh, Varsha Joshi,Secretary cum TransportCommissioner, Manoj Kumar,Managing Director of DelhiTransport Corporation (DTC)and Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairperson of Delhi Dialogueand Development Commission(DDC). Besides, the inaugur-al event saw many other seniorofficials from the transportdepartment and DMRC.

Depicting the logos of all thethree transport operators in the

city — DMRC, DTC andGovernment, the newly designedmobility cards will have a back-ground of cubic grid in brightshades of red and yellow. It willalso have a circular unit withsketches of Metro trains, DTCbuses, auto rickshaws and Delhi'smonuments around it.

"For majority of the peopleto switch over to public trans-

port, they need to see andexperience Delhi's metro andbuses in the same light - as partof a well-integrated and seam-less public transport system.

“With the launch ofCommon Mobility Card inAugust this year, extending the10 per cent discount of fares onusage of card in buses, and nowthe re-branding of the Metro

card as ONE card, we wish totell the people of Delhi thattheir Government is committedto providing them a seamless,high-quality travel experiencein Delhi's public transport sys-tem," said the TransportMinister.

Further, the Minister alsosaid the Government is alsoplanning to launch a commonmobile application throughwhich commuters can planmulti-modal trips includingbuses and metro from any pointto any point in Delhi. 'With thecommon app, a passenger cansee the live locations of Delhi'sbuses," said Gahlot.

The ONE card will beavailable at various Delhi metrostation and DTC depots/buspass counters from December4 onwards. The existing Metrosmartcards will continue tostay valid but any new card orreplacement will be throughONE card. SR

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Dengue has claimed threemore lives in Delhi taking

the toll to four this year in thenation's Capital. The caseshaven't seen any decline asfresh 551 cases of the vectorborne disease were reported incity last week. Doctors blamedprolonged rainy season andlate winter arrival to be thecause behind the sudden spurtin dengue related cases.

According to the weeklyreport released by South DelhiMunicipal Corporation (SDMC)on Monday, dengue has claimedfour lives so far. While two werereported in September, the othertwo were reported in of October.

"As per the latest infor-mation, Aman Tiwari (13)and Sanskriti (21) who wereadmitted in Mata ChananDevi Hospital died inOctober. Gagan (23), admit-ted to Sir Ganga RamHospital died in September,"said a senior official ofMunicipal Corporation ofDelhi (MCD).

Earlier, Harshita (13), aresident of Wazirabad area ofNorth Delhi also died ofdengue in Hindu RaoHospital in September.

With all this already hap-pening, doctors in the citysuggest prolonged rainy sea-son and late winter arrival tobe reasons behind it.

"The winter has not comein full swing yet. Due to rel-atively high temperatures orglobal warming, there hasbeen a shift in the pattern andnow we see the cases through-out the year," said Dr AtulKakar, Vice Chairman,Department of Medicine, Sir

Ganga Ram Hospital.The number cases of the

vector borne disease this year ishigher than the cases last year,pointing it out Dr VikasMaurya, senior doctor, FortisHospital, Shalimar Bagh said,"This year we had prolongedrainy season and the wintersaren't here yet. November washotter this year. In fact, evennow the afternoons are warmenough to provide the mosqui-toes a proper breeding ground."

Also, whenever there is anoutbreak, the tail is a littlelonger, added Dr Kakar.

Last year, in the month ofNovember, the cases ofdengue that belonged only tothe National Capital were 816while this year, more than1,000 cases of dengue werereported in November, sug-gested the weekly report.

Highlighting the numberof cases recorded last week, asenior official said, "Around551 fresh cases of denguewere reported last week out ofwhich 251 belonged to Delhiwhile 249 were acquired from

the other States. In 51 cases,address was not given by thehospitals."

Apart from that, 13 freshcases of malaria including 6acquired from the other Statesand 13 fresh cases of chikun-gunya including 5 acquiredfrom the other States havealso been recorded.

Amidst this, the corpora-tion has sprayed around27,22,579 houses. Around2,31,523 places were foundpositive for mosquito breed-ing out of which 1,84,853places were given legalnotices. The prosecution hasbeen launched in 25,923 cases so far.

With more than 10,547,most of the prosecutions werelaunched in areas comingunder SDMC. In North civicbody, only 6,768 prosecu-tions were launched and inEast civic body, around 8,608prosecutions were launched.With 10,547 cases, the high-est number of prosecutionswas launched in South Delhi.

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The Delhi Governmentinformed the Supreme

Court on Monday that it has"in-principle" agreed to theRegional Rapid Transit System(RRTS) — a rail corridorbetween Delhi-Meerut andDelhi-Panipat — but funding itwas a problem.

It told a bench of JusticesMadan B Lokur and DeepakGupta that it would file an affi-davit before the court withinthree weeks, listing the issuespertaining to the RRTS.

In August, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal hadurged the Centre to bearDelhi's share of cost of the pro-posed 82.15-km rapid transitproject between Delhi,Ghaziabad and Meerut, citinginadequate finances.

During the hearing onMonday, advocate Aparajita

Singh, assisting the top court asamicus curiae in the matter,said the Delhi Governmentwas "sitting" over importantissues including RRTS, whichis aimed at de-congesting theNational Capital.

Additional Solicitor General(ASG) ANS Nadkarni, appear-ing for the Centre, also told thebench that Uttar Pradesh andHaryana have agreed to RRTSbut Delhi Government was notresponding.

Advocate Wasim A Qadri,appearing for the DelhiGovernment, said "In-princi-ple, Delhi Government agreesto it (RRTS). The only problemis funds. We will file a detailedaffidavit."

He also said that initiallythe proposal was to have anunderground station at SaraiKale Khan here but it is beingstated now it would be elevat-ed and this too was a problem.

The amicus also told thebench that there was a proposalto augment 602 metro coach-es but Delhi Government was"sitting" over this file also.Qadri said he would file an affi-davit on this issue as well.

The amicus then raised theissue that States of Haryana,Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthanhave to issue notification onapproved fuel to be used byindustries because the apex courthas banned the use of petcoke.

The bench asked the threeStates to file affidavit withintwo weeks regarding notifica-

tion on approved fuel.The court also dealt with

the issue of hologram-based,colour-coded stickers for vehi-cles that would indicate the fuelbeing used by them.

The amicus flagged theissue that there was only onevendor in a State for issuinghigh security registration plate(HSRP) for vehicles and it wasa "monopoly" of the vendor.

On the issue of hologram-based, colour-coded stickers forvehicles, the ASG told thebench that Union Law Ministrywas expected to take a decisionon the issue within a day as theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) hasreplied to the queries posed bythem on the issue.

The bench said it wouldtake up the matter related tohologram-based, colour-codedstickers for vehicles next week.

The apex court had on

August 13 accepted the pro-posal of MoRTH to have holo-gram-based, colour-codedstickers for vehicles plying inDelhi-National Capital Region(NCR) which would indicatethe nature of fuel used in them.

MoRTH had said thathologram-based light bluecolour sticker would be usedin vehicles using petrol andCNG fuel, while an orangesticker would be put ondiesel-run vehicles.

During the hearing onFriday, the bench had alsodealt with the issue of on-boarddiagnostic (OBD) scanners tocheck pollution from vehicles.

OBD is an automotiveterm referring to a vehicle'sself-diagnostic and reportingcapability. OBD II is designedto inform a car owner aboutany malfunction, includingproblems with brake or withthe emission control system.

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Taking action against vio-lators of laid-down munic-

ipal norms, the South DelhiMunicipal Corporation(SDMC) has slapped a fine onseven construction compa-nies and recovered �3.5 lakhin penalty. The zonal officialsof civic body also took actionagainst burning of leaves andgarbage, throwing of usedplates, plastic cups, pattalls etcand issued 180 challans on Sunday.

A senior SDMC officialsaid that the action was takenagainst such companies forcausing dust pollution, makingthe city air worse to breathe.He further informed that eachcompany was fined with an

amount of �50,000. The com-panies are Shapoorji Pallonji,L&T ConstructionTransportation andInfrastructure, DMRC (SaraiKale Khan and Okhla),Spencer ISP Network (Okhla)among others. The BuildingDepartment has stated that theaction will also be continuedin the coming days, he said.

SDMC Commissioner DrPuneet Kumar Goel had issuedclear directions to the zonalDeputy Commissioners, con-cerned Sub Inspector, AssistantSub Inspector to issue challanunder mandated by NationalGreen Tribunal in order to savethe city from becoming dirtyand mound of garbage at dif-ferent places.

The official further

informed that the concerneddepartment has been asked toconcentrate on social func-tions like bhandaras inside andoutside religious places, mar-riages and birthday parties andother events to keep the sur-rounding clean.

He said the SDMC hadtaken a serious note of the fre-quent incidents of throwingused plates, pattals, donas,spoons and left over eatables inopen and around venues of thesocial functions.

“We will keep an eye onsocial functions in communi-ty centres under the jurisdic-tion of corporation and takeaction against those foundspreading garbage/waste, usedplates etc. and left over eata-bles”, he added.

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Kathmandu: Nepal neitherused the China card againstIndia nor the India card againstChina, and wants to developgood relations with its neigh-bours on the basis of self-respect and sovereignty, a for-mer Nepalese Prime Ministerhas said here.

It is not possible that Nepal'srelations are good with oneneighbouring country and badwith another, veteran politi-cian Madhav Kumar Nepal saidwhile defending the growingrelations between Nepal andChina.

His comments came amidChina's foray into the land-locked Himalayan nation whereBeijing has been investing heav-ily for the last few years toenhance connectivity and infra-structure.

Nepal neither used theChina card against India northe India card against China,said Madhav, who served asthe country's prime ministerfrom May, 2009 to February,2011.

He also highlighted theimportance of strong relationsbetween India and Nepal.

"Nepal and India enjoygood relations. We have tostrive continuously to makethese relations more warm andmore close," the 65-year-oldformer Prime Minister toldPTI.

One should not considerNepal as its satellite and neverinterfere in its internal affairs,Madhav said.

"Nepal-India relationsshould be like the one which cre-ates a win-win situation forboth of them. Nepal can neverthink against India's interests.

What would it gain by doing so?India is a big neighbouringcountry of Nepal with which wehave ancient and emotional ties.

"Today, trade has becomean important aspect of theworld affairs and Nepal wants togo ahead on the path of progressand looks to make its economystronger," Madhav said.

He said that India is a bigcountry which can be a sourcefor investments in Nepal.

Nepal wants concession inits trade with India, he said.

When Prime MinisterNerandra Modi addressedNepal's Parliament during hisvisit to the country in 2014, ithad a positive impact on thepeople. The relations betweenthe two countries got a positivedirection after his address butthat did not last long and theblockade on the issue of Madhesis negatively impact-ed the bilateral relations,Madhav said.

There is a need to moveahead instead of deliberating onsuch issues, he said.

Madhav believes that afterModi's last visit to Nepal in May,things are getting on the trackand there is a need for the twocountries' leadership to contin-ue working on this direction.

"If Nepal enhances its rela-tions with China in the areas oftrade and connectivity, rail,roads and air, then how come it is a disadvantage to India?" he asked.

The former prime ministersaid that a direct rail linebetween India and Nepal willbenefit Nepal as its businessmenhave to use Kolkata's port toimport goods from China'sGuangzhou city and often payextra taxes.

"India can help Nepal in thehydropower sector. There is agreat scope of tourism in Nepaland India can help it in developing its infrastructure," he said.

He also expressed concernover delay in completing Indianprojects and urged the Government to pay atten-tion to it. PTI

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New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday granted the GujaratGovernment a week to fileresponse to the final report of anapex court-appointed commit-tee which monitored the probeinto alleged fake encounterkillings in Gujarat between 2002and 2006.

The report was submitted ina sealed cover to the court inFebruary this year by the mon-itoring committee, headed byformer apex court judge JusticeH S Bedi.

The top court has beenhearing two PILs on the matterwhich were filed in 2007 by vet-eran journalist B G Verghese andpoet and lyricist Javed Akhtar,seeking a direction for a probeby an independent agency or theCBI so that the "truth maycome out". Verghese passedaway on December 30, 2014.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi referred tohuge pendency of cases, includ-ing old death penalty matters inthe apex court and said: "Whydo we hear all these matters.Now the final report has alreadybeen filed in these cases."

It also said it has sought areport from the apex court reg-istry on pendency of mattersrequired to be heard by larger

constitution benches of five,seven and nine judges and "thenumbers are huge".

"Tell us, what we shoulddo?," the bench posed to lawyerPrashant Bhushan.

"Of course, they are impor-tant matters, but this is alsoimportant," Bhushan replied.

The bench, also comprisingjustices S K Kaul and K MJoseph, was apprised byBhushan that the apex court-appointed monitoring commit-tee had supervised the probe ofthe Special Task Force (STF) intothe encounter killings and hasrecently submitted its finalreport in the registry.

Bhushan said that both thepetitions may now be accordedfinal hearings. Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, appearing for theState Government, said the statebe given either one or twoweeks time to file its response tothe report of the monitoringcommittee and the PILs may belisted for hearing after X'Masbreak. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt Monday refused toentertain a fresh plea seekingimposition of lifetime ban onlawmakers following their con-viction in criminal cases.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi dismissedthe petition filed by NGO 'LokPrahari' through its GeneralSecretary S N Shukla, saying that

it was already seized of a simi-lar petition on the same issue.

"We are already examiningthe same thing in a petitionfiled by Ashwini KumarUpadhyay," said the bench,also comprising Justices S KKaul and K M Joseph. The SCdismissed the petition as it wasalready scheduled to hear asimilar PIL filed by lawyer. PTI

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New Delhi: The Centreinformed the Supreme CourtMonday that the report of itspanel on alleged "faulty" hipimplants, madeby the US-basedpharma majorJohnson andJohnson, isready and will be filed within aweek.

The apex court on October5 had asked the Centre to file itsresponse to the PIL allegingthat "faulty" and "deadly" hipimplants have been fitted into thebodies of 4,525 Indian patients.

It had also asked the UnionMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare to apprise it withintwo months about the actions,if any, taken after an expertcommittee had allegedly foundthe pharma firms guilty of"medical negligence".

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranajn Gogoi andJustices S K Kaul and K M

Joseph has now asked theCentre to file its response with-in a week.

"Counsel appearing for theUnion of Indiastates that thereport of theCommittee head-ed by Dr Arun

Agarwal, Professor of ENT,Maulana Azad Medical College,is ready and will be filed with-in a week. List the matter afterthe report is received by theRegistry. Let a copy of the saidreport be given to each of thecontesting parties," the benchsaid in its order.

Earlier, senior lawyerSalman Khurshid and advocateVivek Narayan Sharma hadreferred to the fact that the cen-tral government had in 2017 setup a committee headed byAgarwal to look into the after-math of the disaster caused bythe faulty hip implant producedand distributed by the US firm,

its Indian subsidiary and DePuyOrthopaedics INC collectively.

"The Committee has foundJohnson and Johnson guilty ofmedical negligence, however, tilldate nothing has been done todiscover vast number of patientswho had undergone hip trans-plant," said the plea filed by oneArun Kumar Goenka, whosemother had died followingfaulty hip implant surgeries.

The court, taking note ofthe PIL, had sought the assis-tance of one of the AdditionalSolicitor Generals and had list-ed the matter after two months.

The plea has sought a direc-tion to the Centre and CentralDrugs Standard ControlOrganisation for taking effectivemeasures to save lives of thosewho have undergone "DePuyASR hip implant surgeries andwould be unknowingly living alife in hell, if alive or may bedead, due to the negligent actsof respondents." PTI

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Beijing: China on Mondayreacted cautiously to the tri-lateral meet between India,Japan and the US on the side-lines of the just-concluded G20summit, saying Beijing wasokay to such a set-up if it didnot disturb peace in the region.

Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, JapanesePrime Minister Shinzo Abeand US President DonaldTrump had a meeting inArgentina's Buenos Aires, anevent which came against thebackdrop of China's risinginfluence.

The three countries arepart of the so-called Quad, thefourth member being Australia.

Modi, Abe and Trumpappealed for an open and inclu-

sive Indo-Pacific region wherethe Chinese presence hassteadily grown.

Responding to the meetingbetween the three leaders,Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Geng Shuangsaid: "We remain open to nor-mal cooperation among rele-vant parties.

"We hope such cooperationwill promote mutual trust andcooperation in this region andplay a constructive role in pro-moting the development ofpeace and prosperity in theregion," he added.

The first such trilateralwas an extension of Japan andUS bilateral and was dubbed as"JAI" — an acronym for Japan,America and India. IANS

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From Page 1It had asked the Chief

Secretary to hold a joint meet-ing with the persons consideredresponsible for compliance andtill the orders remain un-com-plied, continue to hold suchmeetings at least once a month.

“It will be open to theChief Secretary to seek feed-back from concerned inhabi-tants about the ground situa-tion,” the NGT had said.

From Page 1In September this year, Rawat had said the prevailing law

is inadequate to tackle the menace of black money in elections.He had stated that the current laws were not of much help forthem to ensure a complete check of his abuse and that is why“State funding” of polls was not possible in India at present.”Rawat’s reaction came days after former Chief Economic AdvisorArvind Subramanian said note bandi was a massive, dracon-ian, monetary shock that accelerated economic slide to 6.8 percent in seven quarters after it against the 8 per cent recordedprior to the notes ban. This was the first time the economisthas openly spoken about the move. Before this, he never open-ly supported the exercise. In his memoir, titled “Of Counsel:The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy”, he has signalledthat he was sceptical of the decision. In his book, the formerCEA has also hinted that he was not consulted before takingthe decision. Nearly all the demonetised notes came back toRBI according to RBI’s annual report for 2017-18. UnionAgriculture Ministry had recently told the ParliamentaryStanding Committee on Finance that there was no impact ondemonetisation on farmers and agriculture sector.

From Page 1“It is to be noted that these

nine girls were transferredfrom a shelter home in Dwarkato Sanskar Ashram on May 4,2018, on the order of ChildWelfare Committee (CWC)-VII. These girls were victims ofhuman trafficking and com-mercial sexual exploitation andthe possibility of the traffickersand brothel owners kidnappingthese girls in connivance withthe shelter home authoritiesneed to be investigated indetail,” Maliwal stated in theofficial release.

The commission acknowl-edged that they had earlierreceived a detailed complaintfrom the CWC-VII in DilshadGarden regarding irregularitiesin the functioning of theSanskar Ashram. It was statedthat a girl with special needswas subjected to severe abuseand corporal punishment bythe superintendent of the homeand the Chairperson andMembers of CWC had to inter-vene. However, no action was

taken by the either theDepartment of Women andChild Development or theDelhi Police on the said com-plaints.

Maliwal said they are writ-ing to the Delhi Police recom-mending investigation to betransferred to Crime Branch ofthe Delhi Police so that urgentand immediate action is takento trace the girls.

DCW spokespersonsrevealed that the commissionhad received several complaintsalleging the superintendent ofSanskar Ashram Girls Home ofbrutally hitting other girlsresiding in the home as well.

“Since cruelty to children isa cognizable offence underSection 75 of the JuvenileJustice Act, 2015, the commis-sion issued a notice to theDepartment of Women andChild Development and DelhiPolice enquiring reasons fornon-registration of FIR as pre-scribed under Rule 54(2) of theJuvenile Justice Rules, 2016 onthe complaints,” it said.

From Page 1The CBI has now filed the

charge sheet in the competentcourt on December 1.

The ED probe in thePMLA case has revealed thatthe plot number C-17, Sector6, Panchkula was originallyallotted to the AJL in 1982 fol-lowing a request from the com-pany to start ‘Nav-Jivan’ news-paper. As the AJL did notcomply with the terms andconditions of the allotment, theEstate Officer, HUDA,Panchkula vide order datedOctober 30, 1992 ordered toresume the said plot on theground that the allottee i.e. AJLviolated the requisite termsand conditions of the allotmentletter by not starting the con-struction and completing the

same within stipulated period,the ED said.

Against the order of theEstate Officer, the AJL filed anappeal before the ChiefAdministrator, HUDA and theAppellate Authority dismissedthe appeal on January 3. 1995.Against this order, the AJL pre-ferred revision applicationbefore the Commissioner andSecretary to GovernmentHaryana, Town and CountryPlanning Department, Haryana,(TCP) who also dismissed thesame on October 10, 1996.

After the dismissal of therevision petition, the resump-tion order attained finality.Thereafter, AJL tried to get theplot restored during the tenureof Bansi Lal the then CM ofHaryana. The request of theAJL was declined by Bansi Lal,the agency further said.

Hooda became the CM ofHaryana on March 5, 2005 andCongress treasurer and AJL

functionary Moti Lal Vora videhis letter dated April 7, 2005requested Hooda to re-allot thesaid plot to AJL. Hooda theninitiated the process of allottingback the said plot to AJL.During the course of thisprocess, the land department ofHaryana opined that the saidplot cannot be re-allotted toAJL as the resumption of theplot by HUDA had attainedfinality. The officers of theHUDA and TCP also advisedthe then CM that the request ofAJL could not be accepted.

However, Hooda allegedlymisused his official position byallotting the said plot to the AJLafresh in the guise of re allot-ment at the rates prevalent in1982 plus interest (i.e. at therate of Rs 91 per sq mt) despitethe fact that the cancellation ofallotment of the plot to AJL ear-lier had already attained final-ity and it could not be re-allot-ted legally.

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Lahore: Pakistan has estab-lished an immigration centre atthe Kartarpur border followingthe groundbreaking of the land-mark corridor for Sikh pilgrims.

The corridor will connectSikh faith's founder Guru NanakDev's final resting place inPakistan's Kartarpur to the DeraBaba Nanak shrine in Punjab'sGurdaspur district in India, ful-filling a long-pending demandof the Sikh community.

Since the border crossingcould be an easy target for "ter-rorists, human traffickers anddrug dealers", a strong mecha-nism was required to keep thesituation under control on bothsides of the border, FederalInvestigation Agency (FIA)Deputy Director (Punjab)Mufakhar Adeel said. "The FIAhas set up an immigration officeat Kartarpur border in Narowal(some 120 kms from Lahore) inconnection with the opening ofKartarpur corridor," Adeel toldDawn news. PTI

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Thank you Holy Spirit for all

Blessings Celine.

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Thank you Holy Spirit for all

Blessings Celine.

PD(8234)C

◆ ◆THANKSGIVING

Page 5: @A...2018/12/04  · Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). Against the target of con-structing one crore rural dwellings by March 31, 2019, only 60 lakh houses have been built so far since the

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Five Left parties, in a jointstatement on Monday, said

they will observe December 6as 'Defend the Constitutionand Secularism Day'.December 6, 2018, marks the26th anniversary of the demo-lition of the Babri Masjid inAyodhya and also the 62nddeath anniversary of B RAmbedkar, the architect of theConstitution of India.

The statement issued joint-ly by the CPI(M), CPI, AllIndia Forward Bloc, RSP,CPI(ML)-Liberation andSUCI(Communist), calledupon their all units to work outprogrammes of holding jointdemonstrations, dharnas andmeetings on December 6. Theysaid the RSS-led outfits havebegun a campaign demandingthat Centre passes a legislationor ordinance to facilitate thebuilding of the Ram temple atthe disputed site at Ayodhya.

"This campaign is designedto subserve the communalagenda of the Sangh brigadeand nullify the provisions relat-ing to secularism in the IndianConstitution," the Left partiessaid in the statement.

"In the current situation, itis essential to observe this day(December 6) in defence ofsecularism and democracy,"they said, adding, "the Sanghbrigade cannot be allowed tosubvert the Constitutional pro-visions in the name of faith."

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The Navy is now lookinginto a contract with the

Reliance Group for delay indelivery schedule of patrolboats. The Navy has alsoencashed the bank guarantee asa punitive action, Navy chiefAdmiral Sunil Lanba said hereon Monday.

Clarifying that the contractfor five offshore patrol vesselswas not cancelled, the Navychief said Reliance NavalEngineering Limited (RNEL) isundergoing corporate debtrestructuring and they arebeing taken to court by theirbanker IDBI.

He also said no preferentialtreatment was meted out toReliance and no fresh tendershave been issued to the com-pany. The deal was inked in2011 for �2,500 crore for patrolvessels for surveillance of thecountry's vast exclusive eco-nomic zone besides anti-pira-cy patrols, fleet support oper-ations, maritime security of off-shore assets and protection ofsea lanes. The first ship was tobe delivered in early 2015 but

the delays led to the launchingof two ships only in 2017.Each ship weighs about 2,000tonnes as per specifications.

This was the first projectgiven to the private sector.The ships are to be armed with76mm super rapid gun mountsystem along with two 30mmAK630 guns which providemedium range and short rangeoffensive and defensive capa-bilities.

The project never reallytook off as Pipavav Defenceand Offshore Engineeringwhich inked the deal got intoa debt and was subsequentlytaken over by Reliance Group.As per the deal, the fist vesselwas to be delivered in 2015.

Pipavav Shipyard is locat-ed in Gujarat. Fielding repeat-ed queries on the issue, theNavy chief said no tendershave been issued to Reliance.

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Congress on Monday askedPunjab Minister Navjot Singh

Sidhu to speak ‘cautiously’ regard-ing senior party leader and ChiefMinister Captain Amarinder Singh.

Sources said Sidhu has beenconveyed by the party that he can-not defy or speak against his bossAmarinder Singh prompting him torespond by calling the Punjab ChiefMinister a "fatherly figure".Captainis your boss, Congress tells Sidhu.

"You don't want to wash dirtylinen in public. He (CaptainAmarinder Singh) is a fatherly fig-ure, I love him, I respect him, I will

sort it out myself," Sidhu saidwhen asked by media in the midstof election campaign in Rajasthan.

Sources said the comment fol-lowed the Congress’ stern cautionto the former Indian skipper. Theoutspoken cricketer-turned-politi-cian has been told categorically thatCaptain Amarinder Singh's writ isimportant and he should not speakagainst him.

Differences within the partycadre escalated as Sidhu insisted ontravelling to Pakistan for theground-breaking ceremony of the

Kartarpur corridor, in what becamehis second trip across the border.Earlier he attended cricket legendImran Khan's oath-taking asPakistani Prime Minister.Amarinder Singh had said that hehad tried to talk Sidhu out of it, buthad been told that he had made acommitment.

The issues has come to the foreafter Amarinder Singh declinedPakistan's invitation to attend theKartarpur ceremony, citingIslamabad's continued support toterrorism in India and laterexpressed his unhappiness overSidhu's visit. Sidhu, however, latersaid that Amarinder Singh is like afather figure and added that this isnot the first time he has gone with-out informing.

Offering open support to theCaptain, Ludhiana MP RavneetSingh Bittu and Food and CivilSupplies Minister Bharat BhushanAshu have put up hoardings acrossLudhiana that read, 'Punjab da cap-

tain, sadda captain'.According to Bittu the hoard-

ings that has images of Amarinder,Bittu and Ashu are meant to "clearmisunderstanding" in minds ofpeople like Sidhu who have for-gotten that "the people of Punjabelected Amarinder Singh as thecaptain of Punjab. Addressing aPress conference in poll-boundHyderabad last week, Sidhu hadsaid Congress president RahulGandhi was his captain and CaptAmarinder Singh was "an armycaptain".

On being asked why he choseto ignore the advice of his captainto visit Pakistan, Sidhu said, "Whichcaptain you are talking about.Oh… Captain Amarinder Singh.He is Army Captain. My captain isRahul Gandhi. Captain's captain isalso Rahul Gandhi."

Miffed over Sidhu's commentson Amarinder, a fellow CabinetMinister in Punjab, sought his res-ignation from the State Cabinet.

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Congress on Monday re-launchedattack on Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley and the BJP for lettingfugitive jeweller Nirav Modi flee fromIndia.

Reacting to certain media reportswhich stated that the Income Taxdepartment had red-flagged severalissues over Nirav and his uncle,Mehul Choksi, months before thePNB scam came to light, Congresssaid the Modi Government wasdirectly responsible for this "loot".

In a statement issued by the partychief spokesman Randeep Surjewala,it alleged that the CentralGovernment had information aboutdiamantaire Nirav Modi's plans to fleethe country eight months in advance.

"Information that Nirav Modi isabout to flee the country after fraudof �23,000 crore was there with the(Prime Minister Narendra) ModiGovernment through an Income Taxdepartment report eight months

before he ran away. The report wasnot shared with the Serious FraudInvestigation Office, Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence, Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) or police. IfModi ji and Jaitley ji knew aboutNirav Modi and Mehul Choksi thenhow did they run away?" Surjewalaasked.

Raising questions against asenior bureaucrat, Surjewala allegedthat the said official was given twoextensions while he kept sitting onthe report of the fugitives.

"From June 2017 when this reportcame till May 2018, by when all thesefugitives had run away, SushilChandra was Chairman of the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes (CBDT) underwhich the IT department works.What was his role in helping Niravand Choksi running away?" Surjewalamentioned at a Press conference inpoll bound Rajasthan.

Punjab Minister Navjot SinghSidhu's too fired a fresh salvo at theBJP stating that the party gave "threeModis to the nation— Nirav Modi,Lalit Modi and the one sitting inAmbani's lap Narendra Modi."

Earlier in the day, seniorCongress leader Mallikarjun Khargehad claimed that the abscondingfugitives swindled money from bankswith the "blessings" of the currentGovernment at the Centre.

Questioning the intent of theCentre in dealing with the default-ers, the Congress further stated thatdespite the Opposition has raised theissue several times in Parliament, theGovernment didn't respond to it.

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—Navjot Singh Sidhu

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The Election Commission(EC) may hold Assembly

polls in Andhra Pradesh,Odisha, Sikkim and ArunachalPradesh along with Lok Sabhaelections next year. The terms ofthe four Assemblies will end inMay and June, 2019.

Sources said there is a pos-sibility of holding elections tothe Jammu & KashmirAssembly, dissolved this monthbefore it completed its tenure,along with the general elections.

They pointed out that byholding Assembly elections inAndhra Pradesh, Odisha,Sikkim and Arunachal Pradeshalong with the Lok Sabha polls,the EC will be following prece-dents.

Since the Jammu &Kashmir Assembly has beendissolved, the EC is bound to

hold fresh polls there within sixmonths.

"The upper limit ends inMay. We may hold elections inJammu & Kashmir along withthe Lok Sabha polls. But it canbe held before that also. We'll seein the coming days," sourcessaid. The Jammu & KashmirAssembly's six-year term was toend on March 16, 2021. Theother Atate Assemblies and theLok Sabha have a five-yearterm. Sources in theGovernment, meanwhile, point-ed out that when security forcesare deployed for the Lok Sabhapolls in the State, it would beconvenient for election author-ities to hold the Assembly pollssimultaneously.

While the term of theSikkim Assembly ends on May27, 2019, the terms of AndhraPradesh, Odisha and ArunachalPradesh Assemblies end on

June 18, June 11 and June 1respectively. "When arrange-ments are in place for the LokSabha polls and the terms of theAssemblies are ending duringthe same period, it is but naturalthat all polls are held together,"sources said.

Another EC official said ifMaharashtra and HaryanaAssembly elections too areclubbed with polls in the fourstates and the Lok Sabha, thenthere would not be any otherelection in 2019.

"Hypothetically speaking,the two States have BJPGovernments. If a call is takenby the party to seek dissolutionof the two Assemblies sixmonths before the schedule,then elections can be clubbedwith that of the Lok Sabha andthe four States," he said. Theterms of the two Assemblieswould end in November, 2019.

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The Adjudicating Authorityunder Prevention of Money

Laundering Act (PMLA) hasconfirmed EnforcementDirectorate's attachment ofproperties, worth �177 crore,owned by Rotomac Global PvtLtd and its Directors.

The CBI has registered acase against industrialistVikram Kothari, promoter ofRotomac Pens, for allegedlyswindling �3,695-crore bankloans.

Kothari and his familymembers had allegedly cheat-ed a consortium of banks led byBank of Baroda to the tune of�3,695 crore including theinterest component since 2008onwards. The principal amountis �2,919 crore. The CBI hadbooked Kothari, his wifeSadhna and son Rahul undervarious sections of the Indian

Penal Code and Prevention ofCorruption Act.

Acting on the CBI's FIR,the ED had registered a moneylaundering case against Kothariand his family members underthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

The accused and theircompany — Rotomac GlobalPvt Ltd — allegedly cheated�3,695 crore after creating sev-eral front companies.

"They cheated the banks bysiphoning of bank loans cred-ited to Rotomac Global Pvt Ltd.The credit sanctioned and dis-bursed to the company was uti-lized for purposes other than

intended purpose for whichloan was given," the CBIspokesperson had said afterregistration of the case earlierthis year.

The accused had takenloan for exporting wheat froma Singapore-based companyBargadia Brothers Pvt Ltd butthe amount was diverted toRotomac. The accused direc-tors allegedly created severalfictitious and front companiesfor carrying out transactionsand submitted forged docu-ments to induce banks for get-ting loans.

Treating assets worth �177crore as "proceeds of crime",the ED had earlier attached theproperties under PMLA. Theadjudicating authority onMonday conformed the attach-ment by ED against the firmRotomac and its promoterVikram Kothari and his fami-ly members.

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Congress on Monday saidJustice Kurian Joseph's

remarks, after demitting office,have proved its allegationsagainst the Government of inter-ference in the highest levels ofjudiciary, and demanded sepa-rate parliamentary and judicialenquiries into the matter.

The Opposition party madethe allegation of interference cit-ing the retired Supreme Courtjudge's sensational claim afterdemitting office that the previ-ous Chief Justice of India DipakMisra was working under someinfluence of an "external source".Justice Joseph, however, refusedto elaborate on who the externalsource was and the cases wherethere was a bias and adminis-tration of justice affected.

Congress spokesperson

Abhishek Manu Singhviclaimed the grave apprehen-sions of his party over "inter-ference" in the highest levels ofthe judiciary have been provedby Justice Joseph's remarks."No less than a Supreme Courtjudge who demitted office acouple of days ago... Hasexpressly articulated the gravethreat to India's highest judicialinstitution," Singhvi said at aPress conference.

"Justice Joseph has in clearand unequivocal terms talked ofthe arbitrary bench selection,external influences, by implica-tion remote controls, and polit-ical biases injected into the sys-tem by the Government ofIndia, by the ruling party," healleged. There was no immedi-ate reaction from theGovernment or the BJP to theallegations.

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As many as 70 per cent of theCongress candidates in the

upcoming December 7Telangana Assembly electionsare facing criminal cases, thehighest among major politicalparties. A study by theAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR) and TelanganaElection Watch (TES) on scruti-ny of all the candidate affidavitsfor this year and the previous(2014) elections found that theCongress also bears theignominy of having 45 per cent,or 37 of its 99 contestants, fac-ing serious criminal cases likeassault, murder and kidnapping.

The report, released onMonday, also showed that ITMinister (and son of ChiefMinister K Chandrashekhar

Rao) KT Rama Rao's incomeshot up from �7 crore to �41crore, an increase by 424 percent since 2014.

The candidate with thehighest declared assets in theupcoming polls is former mem-ber of parliament and presentmember of legislative councilKomatireddy Rajgopal Reddyfrom the Congress.

According to report, the

caretaker Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao-ledTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) has 44 (37 per cent) outof 119 candidates facing seriouscriminal charges and theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has26 (22 per cent) of 118 candi-dates who are facing seriouscriminal cases in the upcomingpolls.

In total, of the 1,777 con-

testants, 21 per cent face crim-inal cases, said the report. Ofthese, 192 (11 per cent) candi-dates have assets valued at �5crore and above, while 120 (11per cent) have assets valuedbetween �1 crore and �5 crore,and 25 per cent or 438 candi-dates have assets of �1 crore andabove.

Given the high number ofhigh-value asset holders, theaverage assets per candidate inthe Telangana Assembly elec-tions are about �3.29 crore.

The ADR report says party-wise data also showed that the86 (73 per cent) candidatesfrom the Bharatiya Janata Party,79 (80 per cent) of the 99 con-testing candidates from theCongress and 107 (92 per cent)of the candidates from the TRShave assets worth over �1 crore.

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In a fresh salvo fired at the BJPfor calling Hindu God

Hanuman a Dalit Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onSunday said the remark wasmade to insult the Dalit com-munity who had been exploit-ed and oppressed for genera-tions.

Banerjee who was address-ing a crowd at Keshiyari inWest Midnapore district said“comparing Dalits to Hanumanamounts to belittling the com-munity,” adding “today they callyou Hanuman, tomorrow theywill call you rats or cats or evendogs.”

The BJP had no job but tomake tall promises, do nothingand create division among thepeople to garner votes, theChief Minister said wonderingwhether renaming of heritagecities and making statues wereenough to solve the problemsthat the people of the countrysuffered from.

“They have no work savesetting one community afterthe other,” Banerjee said. “Theonly work they have beendoing is changing the names ofheritage cities and stations,” sheadded saying the main reasonbehind the BJP’s divisive poli-cy was to polarise votes before

the elections.“In Bengal the BJP has no

place,” the Chief Minister saidadding the BJP was getting itsstrength from the erstwhilesupporters of CPI(M).

“The CPI(M) had ravagedBengal for three decades. Nowafter they were uprooted fromthis place their notorious crim-inals have now joined the

BJP to create disturbance inthe State. But we will allownone of them to become suc-cessful in their nefariousdesigns.”

Attacking the saffron out-fit for “ruining the once well-regarded institutions like RBIand CBI,” the Chief Ministersaid “today these institutionsare being forced to function asorgans of the BJP.”

Instead helping the StateGovernments to function prop-erly for the development of thepeople the saffron outfit hadbeen using the

Central agencies to brow-beat them into submission.“But don’t worry in a fewmonths time there will be noBJP Government in the Centre.They will be thrown out ofpower. We will make that hap-pen. If we can throw theCPI(M) out of power then wecan also drive the BJP away,”she said.

Saying how herGovernment had been workingfor the betterment of the peo-ple Banerjee wondered the BJPGovernments had implement-ed schemes like Kanyashree,Rupashree for young girls,Sabuj Saathi whereby the

State Government distrib-uted bicycles to the studentsand providing �2 per kg rice tomore than 8 crore people.

Wondering whether theneighbouring JharkhandGovernment had implementedsuch programmes or whetherthe Government up there inDelhi had introduced Alchiki— the language spoken by thetribal people like MundasOraons etc Banerjee said, “Wehave introduced

Alchki language, we havetaken care of the tribal people,provided them with jobs andmany other developmentalschemes.”

Attacking the fake sadhusshe said, “I adore the sadhus ofRamakrishna Mission andother religious orders whowear saffron attire but I do notadore the saffron-wallas thatcreate division among the com-munities for narrow politicalgains,” Banerjee said and pre-saged “the Rath Yatra they areembarking on in Bengal will bean utter failure.”

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The strained relationsbetween the ruling saffron

alliance partners eased quite abit on Monday, as Shiv Senachief Uddhav Thackeray andMaharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis of the BJPnot only shared a public plat-form but also praised eachother profusely on the issues ofthe enactment of Marathareservation law and the for-mer’s recent visit to Ayodhya.

In a development that ignit-ed the speculation that the theBJP's long-standing electoralally Shiv Sena might reconsid-er its much-publicised stand ofgoing it alone in all polls infuture, Uddhav and Fadnaviscame together at an officialfunction organised to performa bhoomi puja for variousdevelopment works undertak-en in the vicinity of theBhanjara community-managedSant Sevalal temple at Washimin eastern Maharashtra.

At a function where StateChild Welfare Minister andlate senior BJP leader Gopinath

Munde’s daughter PankajaMunde was also present,Fadnavis set the ball rolling byheaping praise on Uddhav’srecent visit to Ayodhya and saidthat the Sena president couldnow expect blessings fromLord Rama.

Uddhav was also all praisefor Fadnavis for coming out theMaratha reservation bill andensuring its passage in both theHouses of the MaharashtraLegislature.

What was more signifi-cant was that ignoring the pro-tocol, Chief Minister Fadnavisand Uddhav travelled in theformer’s official car to thevenue of the function.

In his speech at the func-tion, Fadnavis said that theMaharashtra government wascommitted to solving all theissues of Bhanjara communitymembers. He announced thatthe state government would setup a memorial of internation-al standard for Sant SevalalMaharaj and would soon makean allocation of �100 crore forthe purpose.

“Every community has aright to live honourably. TheBhanjara community is knownfor its struggles. If we give edu-cational facilities to this com-munity, it will prove to be a pil-lar for the country. Sant SevalalMahajar belonged to not justthe country but the entireworld,” Uddhav said.

More than the import ofthe function, what has assumedpolitical significance is thecoming together of Fadnavisand Uddhav on a public plat-form in the run-up to the LokSabha polls.

Notwithstanding the factthat they are the ruling coali-tion partners in the State andthat the Sena is a constituent ofthe National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) at the Centre,Monday’s development shouldbe seen in the context of thecontinued strains in the rela-tions between the two saffronparties during the last four andfour and a half years.

The relations between thetwo parties reached a flashpoint on January 23 this year,when the Shiv Sena decided atits national executive commit-tee meeting that it would haveno electoral tie-up with the BJPand would contest the forth-coming Lok Sabha and StateAssembly polls on its ownstrength. Uddhav and Senaleaders have for the past fouryears never lost any opportunityto have a dig at the BJP andPrime Minister Narendra Modion issues of public importance.

On its part, the BJP has allalong held out an olive branchto the Sena leadership. OnJune 18 last year, BJP nationalpresident Amit Shah met ShivSena chief Uddhav Thackerayand sought the Sena’s support

for his party’s nominee in theimpending presidential polls.

On his part, Fadnavis madeit a point to keep the Sena lead-ership in good humour. In oneof the recent instances, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) – underthe advice from theMaharashtra Government –handed over the documents ofthe bungalow of MumbaiMayor at Shivaji Park in north-central Mumbai totheBalasaheb ThackerayMemorial Public Trust(BTMPT) for the construc-tion of a memorial for lateThackeray.

Built in 1928 in an areaspread over four acres of land,the mayor’s bungalow was pro-posed in 2016 as a site for lateThackeray’s memorial. The bun-galow plot admeasuring 11,500sq metre, has been given to theBTMPT at a nominal lease of �1per annum for 30 years.

In the second recentinstance of largesse given to theShiv Sena, Fadnavis appointedtwo Sena men—Vijay Nahata,Uday Samant and VinodGhosalkar — as the chairmen ofthe two crucial State-run bodies— Mumbai Slum ImprovementBoard, Maharashtra HousingArea Development Authorityand Mumbai Repair Boardrespectively.

With the possibility of RamMandir being built at Ayodhya

in the near future becomingbrighter, the signals emanatingfrom “Matoshri”, the Mumbairesidence of Thackerays, sug-gest that the Sena president issoftening his towards the BJP.This is notwithstanding hispublic criticism of the BJP andModi for the delay in the con-struction of the Ram temple atAyodhya. Uddhav realises thatif there is progress in the RamMandir construction frontahead of the Lok Sabha polls,the move is bound to benefitthe ruling BJP to a large extentand also the Shiv Sena, if it con-tinues to be in alliance with theAmit Shah-led party.

Secondly the Marathareservation law enacted by theDevendra Fadnavis-ledGovernment has changed thedynamics of the relationsbetween the BJP and Shiv Sena.Uddhav knows full well that itwould be politically suicidal forthe Sena to severe its electoralties with the BJP at this stage.For, if it does, the Sena wouldlose out on the political divi-dends that it would gain in theforthcoming Lok Sabha andState Assembly polls.

With the stage having beenset for reconciliation between thetwo parties, it remains to be seenas to when the Shiv Sena willmake amends and announce itsdecision to contest the forth-coming Lok Sabha and StateAssembly polls as an alliance.

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Aprominent Congress leaderin Kerala, who is also a for-

mer president of theTravancore Devaswam Boardthat administers the SabarimalaTemple has called for urgentintervention by the Centre toresolve the impasse prevailingin the State as a result of theSupreme Court verdict allow-ing women of all ages entry inthe holy shrine.

Prayar Gopalakrishnan,who was a Congress legislatorduring 2001-2006, pointed outthat the Centre has every rightas per the Constitution to pro-mulgate an ordinance to sortout the law and order situationin Sabarimala . “The CPI-M ledKerala Government has failedmiserably to tackle the situa-tion. It has aggravated theintensity of the problem byunleashing police over the hap-less devotees. It is time for theCentre’s intervention in thisissue,” said Gopalakrishnanwhile speaking to The Pioneer.

“Article 28 of the IndianConstitution makes it clearthat the Centre has the power

to enact a legislation underSection 246(2) which deal withissues related to places of wor-ship. As per documents inpossession of the DevaswamBoard itself, the shrine’s nameis Sree Ayyappa SwamyTemple. The CPI-M govern-ment got the name changed toSastha Temple as part of a deeprooted conspiracy and todestroy the uniqueness of thetemple,” said Gopalakrishnan.He also pointed out that thetemples come under theSeventh Schedule of theConstitution and falls underthe concurrent list which

makes the Centre more pow-erful in enacting the suitablelaw/ordinance.

Chief Minister PonarayiVijayan who addressed themedia on Monday blamed theESS, BJP and the Congress forvitiating the atmosphere inSabarimala even as police con-tinued the crack down ondevotees reciting Ayyappahymns at the shrine. Thoughthe High Court of Kerala hadordered the State Governmentto call back the police forcefrom Sabarimala, there hasbeen no let up in the numberof cops deployed at the shrine,according to RoshyRaveendran, a tour operator atKochi airport organising pil-grimage to Sabarimala.“Business is down as there issharp fall in the arrival of pil-grims to Sabarimala,” saidRaveendran.

The Nair Service Society(NSS), an organisation repre-senting the Nair community inthe government and which hasmaintain “equidistant” fromboth the Congress and the CPI-M has come out on Mondaylambasting the Pinarayi Vijayangovernment in the Sabarimalaissue. “The police deployed atSabarimala views the devoteesas if they are terrorists. TheAyyappa devotees deserve afair treatment,” said the editor-ial in the magazine “Service”, theNSS mouthpiece.

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Despite health insuranceprogrammes like

Ayushman Bharat which offerfinancial protection to 10.74crore deprived rural families,India is lagging far behinddeveloped countries in healthcare, according to M VenkaiahNaidu, Vice President.

The Vice-President decriedthe shortage of trained doctorsand dearth of medical collegesin the country. He made thisobservations while inaugurat-ing modern facilities in a cor-porate hospital in Chennai onMonday. According to Naidu,the inadequate number ofphysicians available per 10,000people in India was an area ofconcern when compared todeveloped countries.

“While the number ofphysicians available is 20 per10,000 population in developedcountries , it is only six in India.As against the World HealthOrganisation norm of one doc-tor per 1,000, there is one doc-tor per 1,700 population inIndia,” pointed out Naidu.

He said that in order toreach the target set by theWHO, a high level committeeof the erstwhile PlanningCommission (known now asNITI Ayog) has recommendedthe setting up of 187 moremedical colleges by 2022.

The Vice-President alsopointed out that 62.58 per centof the population in the coun-try meet medical and hospi-talisation expenses on theirown. He attributed this to thelow penetration of medicalinsurance and shortage of doc-tors.

“One of the biggest chal-lenges in building a compre-hensive healthcare system is theexistence of huge disparitybetween urban and rural areas.No doubt, healthcare has beenaccorded utmost priority bysuccessive governments sinceIndependence. But many chal-lenges on this front continue tobe formidable. They includelow public spend, low doctor-patient ratio, low patient-bedratio, rising out-of-pocketexpenditure, dearth of medicalcolleges and trained doctors,inadequate infrastructure inrural areas, lack of penetrationof health insurance and inad-equate disease surveillance andpreventive mechanisms,” saidNaidu.

He had called for a law thatmakes rural practice manda-tory for all doctors. “Doctorsshould set up practices in ruralareas. The Centre and Stategovernments must make a rulethat whichever doctor, whograduates or completes postgraduation , after working forsometime, they must also work

in the rural areas before theyget their first promotion,”Naidu said on Sunday whileinaugurating another corporatehospital in the city. He alsocalled for wider health insur-ance coverage in the country.

The statistics disclosed bythe Vice-President substanti-ates the scenario in India’shealth sector explained by GViswanathan, chancellor, VITUniversity in 2012. “We require12 lakh doctors and 36 lakhnurses to satisfy WHO norms.To fulfill the WHO norms wemay take decades if we expandin the snail speed,”Viswanathan had said duringthe convocation ceremony ofVIT.

Dr GR Raveendranath,general secretary, DoctorsAssociation for Social Equality(DASE), a frontal organisa-tion of the CPI, has been sug-gesting that it is possible toincrease the number of medicalcolleges in the country withoutany hassle. “All we have to dois to convert the GeneralHospitals in the district head-quarters into medical colleges.It is a win-win situation for allstake holders because the infra-structure is already there. Theup-gradation of the hospitalsinto medical colleges willincrease the facilities withoutmuch costs,” said DrRaveendranath.

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As a precautionary measure,the Maharashtra

Government on Monday fileda caveat in the Supreme Courtseeking a hearing in the eventof anyone challenging the newMaharashtra Reservation Actgranting 16 per cent reserva-tions to Marathas in educa-tion and jobs.

The move came three daysafter Maharashtra Governor CVidyasagar Rao signed theMaratha reservation bill facil-itating its enactment. The billhad earlier been passed unan-imously by both the Houses ofMaharashtra on November29.

The caveat, f i led byAdvocate NishantKatneswarkar on behalf of theMaharashtra Government inthe apex court, reads thus: “Noorder be passed in the matterwithout notice to theMaharashtra government. Thecaveator (Maharashtra gov-ernment) was the authorisedparty who issued theMaharashtra Act.”

Earlier on November 30, asocial worker Vinod Patil,who had field a petitionopposing the reservations toMarathas, had filed a caveat atthe Bombay High Court. Thatcaveat had read thus: “Nointerim reliefs, stay, injunction,order of any nature be passedwithout due notice under sec-tion 148A (right to lodge acaveat) of the Civil ProcedureCode as he is likely to movecourt by filing a petition seek-ing to challenge the orderpassed on November 29, 2018passed by the MaharashtraState by providing 16% reser-vation to the Maratha com-munity.”

A caveat is a legal processin which a party that files itbefore the concerned court,

will be given a hearing and thecourt can’t pass any orderwithout hearing its side.

There is an apprehensionamong the ruling, Oppositionparties and Maratha commu-nity members that the highcourt or Supreme Court maytake cognisance of the peti-tions challenging the newMaratha reservation law –better known as theMaharashtra State (of seats foradmission in educational insti-tutions in the state and forappointments in the publicservices and posts under thestate) for Socially andEducationally BackwardClasses (SEBC) Act, 2018.

The apprehensionemanates from the fact that byenacting a law granting 16 percent reservations to Marathas,the Maharashtra Governmenthas exceeded the 50 per centcap on reservations imposedby the Supreme Court and inthe process followed the suitof the Tamil NaduGovernment.

Currently Maharashtrahas 52 per cent reservations injobs and educational institu-tions. Of the total 52 per centreservations, SCs and ST com-munities account for 13 and 7per cent, respectively, whileOBCs have 19 per cent percent reservations, Together,Special Backward Class andNomadic Tribes account for 13per cent.

The Marathas, who havenow been accorded 16 per centreservations in education andgovernment jobs, account fornearly 33 per cent of the total11.25 crore population ofMaharashtra.

Once the MaharashtraState SEBC Act comes intoforce, then the total reserva-tions in the State will go up to68 per cent — next only toTamil Nadu that has 69 percent.

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Amassive fire ripped throughthe thick forests of Aarey

Colony that falls inside theSanjay Gandhi National Park(SGNP) precincts at Goregaon(East) in north-Mumbai late onMonday evening.

The fire, which broke out at6.30 pm, was raging well beyond10 pm. At least 10 fire engineshad rushed to the spot to extin-guish the blaze. Teams of theForest Department, MumbaiFire Brigade and other agenciesare battling the blaze amidstapprehension that the blazemight badly affect the rich theflora and fauna in the region.

There were no immediatereports as to whether there areany human or animal causali-ties in the fire. The cause of firewas not immediately known

The fire, which was firstnoticed near the hills ofHabalpada, which is in vicin-ity of the famed Film City, and

quickly spread to an estimatedfour km area.

Spread over 103 sq km, theSNGP is home to a number ofendangered species of floraand fauna and harboursapproximately 800 species offlowering plants, 274 species ofbirds, 35 species of mammals,78 species of reptiles, snakesand amphibians and 170species of butterflies.

The SNGP is also home toa number of endangeredspecies of flora and fauna andharbours approximately 800species of flowering plants.

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Amob set blaze a truck alleg-ing that cows and buf-

faloes were being illegally trans-ported in the vehicle and triedto block Jammu-Pathankothighway in Kathua district ofJammu and Kashmir onMonday, prompting the policeto use batons and fire teargasshells to disperse the violentprotesters, officials said here.

Tension prevailed inHiranagar area after the inci-dent in village Pathwal andadditional police personnelhave been deployed there.

A group of people stoppedthe truck carrying eight cowsand buffaloes in the villagearound 1050 hrs and set ablazethe vehicle after “rescuing” theanimals, an official said.

According to police, thedriver and the conductor of thevehicle abandoned it on notic-ing the mob and escaped.

It was not immediatelyclear whether the animals werebeing transported legally ornot, but the protesters blockedthe main road demanding sternaction against the personsaccusing them of bovine smug-gling, the officials said.

A large contingent of policewas rushed to the village torestore order but the protestersrefused to disperse and alsotried to block the Jammu-Pathnakot highway nearDayalachak, after which thecops fired teargas shells andused batons to disperse them,an official said, adding two per-sons suffered minor injuries inthe violence.

“The situation in the areais tense but under control,” theofficial said adding the trafficon the highway was going onsmoothly.

A case was registered in thisconnection and further inves-tigation is on, the officials said.

Kathua is about 80 kmfrom Jammu.

Meanwhile, police in near-by Samba district arrested twoalleged bovine smugglers andrescued 16 animals which werebeing transported illegally, apolice spokesman said.

Amandeep Singh, a resi-dent of Jammu, was arrestedafter police recovered 16 ani-mals from his truck which wascoming from Kathua side atNonath on the highway, he said.

The spokesman said a caseunder relevant sections of lawwas registered against thearrested driver for transportinganimals without permission.

In another such incident,he said police rescued threebovines from a Jammu-boundvehicle at Gujjar Basti Tandaduring checking.

The driver, Abdul Majid,was arrested and a case wasregistered against him, thespokesman said.

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Less than two weeks afterorganising Dharma Sabha

to mobilise support for the con-struction of Ram temple atAyodhya, the Vishwa HinduParishad is now gearing up toobserve Shaurya Diwas onDecember 6, the day of demoli-tion of Babri mosque, whichMuslim outfits observe as ‘Yaum-e-Gham’ (Day of Sorrow).

The year 2018 marks thecompletion of 26 years of thedemolition of Babri mosque.This will be followed by GitaJayanti celebrations markingthe advent of Hindu sacred textBhagavad Gita on December18. “Shaurya Diwas will be tra-ditionally celebrated. InAyodhya, VHP, along with var-ious Hindu outfits, will holdreligious functions, including a‘hawan’, so that a grand Ramtemple is built in Ayodhya,”VHP spokesperson SharadSharma said in Ayodhya.“Special prayers will be offeredto Goddess Saraswati so thatshe can help people, speciallypoliticians, in removingobstructions in the path of Ramtemple construction,” he said.

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Five pilgrims were killed andsix other seriously injured

when a speeding truck collid-ed with a tractor-trolley onShivpuri road in Sipri Bazararea of Jhansi early Mondaymorning. The deceased wereidentified as Karan Singh Yadav(45), Hari Singh Yadav (40),Parmanand Kushwaha (60) ofPajanpura (Madhya Pradesh),Meva Vanshkar (50) of SesaPoonch and GayadeenVanshkar (60) of Asati(Madhya Pradesh).

The ill-fated pilgrims wereon their way to visit Ratangarh

Mata temple when they metwith the accident. Nearly, 20people were on board the trol-ley when it collided with thetruck after which the trolleyturned turtle. A grand fair isorganised at the temple everyMonday which is attended bypilgrims from far and near.Meanwhile, in Ghazipur, twopersons were killed in separateincidents in the city in the last24 hours. Nanki Devi (71) andKawaldhari Ram (46) werekilled in Saidpur and Nandganjareas respectively on Sunday.While Nanki was hit by anSUV while crossing the road,Ram was hit by a tractor.

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The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has

taken suo motu cognisance ofmedia reports that a woman,who was a victim of molesta-tion, was torched by her tor-mentors after she tried to lodgea complaint but was turnedaway from a police station inSitapur last Saturday.

In her recorded statementbefore a magistrate at the hos-pital, the victim with 60 percent burns named two accusedand narrated the inaction of thelocal police personnel.

The commission observedthat the contents of mediareports, if true, amounted togross violation of human rights

of the victim as the public ser-vants appeared to have failed inexecuting their duty in safe-guarding the victim fromrowdy elements.

The NHRC felt that the vic-tim appeared to have fallenprey to police personnel’s apa-thy and sheer negligence. Thepolice personnel who, instead ofdoing their duty to register anFIR and take legal action againstthe named accused, apparentlyturned her away in a flippantmanner. Had timely action beentaken, the woman could besaved from the brutal attack bymiscreants, who seeminglygathered more courage to attackher due to inaction by thepolice personnel.

Accordingly, the commis-

sion issued notices to the ChiefSecretary and DGP calling for adetailed report including actiontaken against delinquent policeofficials. The Commission alsoasked the officers to apprise it ofthe present condition of the vic-tim and the status of medicaltreatment being provided toher. The response was expectedwithin four weeks.

On December 1, a 26-year-old woman was set ablazeby two men in order to preventher from lodging an FIRagainst them over an incidentof molestation in Sitapur. Thevictim was admitted to the dis-trict hospital with 55-60 percent burns. A day before, onNovember 29, the woman, whois married, was molested by

two brothers — Ramu (32) andRajesh (28). When the victimwent to lodge a complaint withthe local police station, she wasshooed away by cops. Whileshe was on her way home, themolesters caught her, sprinkledkerosene on her and torchedher to prevent her from pur-suing the case.

The victim’s family chargedthat for two days, her complaintwas not accepted by the policeat the outpost and also atTambore police station. Later,three cops, including Tamborestation house officer (SHO)Om Prakash Saroj and outpostincharge Manoj Kumar weresuspended by SP PrabhakarChaudhary. The namedaccused were later arrested.

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Two recent judicial pronounce-ments, including the judg-ment of a Delhi court award-ing capital punishment to oneaccused and life imprison-

ment to another for their role in the bar-baric killing of two Sikhs during the anti-Sikh pogrom unleashed by the CongressParty in 1984, is the first signal that evenif 34 years have gone by, at least some ofthe perpetrators of that ghastly violenceagainst a religious minority will bebrought to book.

The Narendra Modi Government’sdetermination to bring the culpritsinvolved in this macabre drama after theassassination of Indira Gandhi; its deci-sion to constitute a Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) for the purpose; and theSupreme Court’s sustained focus on thefailure of the law and order machineryhave begun yielding results.

In the first case, a murderous mob ledby a Congress leader torched shopsowned by Sikhs in the Mahipalpur areain New Delhi and brutally assaulted andkilled Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh,both in their 20s. That very day an FIRwas registered against the leader of theCongress Party, but a Sessions Courtacquitted him two years later. A secondFIR was registered in 1993 after the tes-timony of Hardev Singh’s elder brotherbefore the Ranganatha MishraCommission of Inquiry. But within a year,the Delhi Police filed a closure reportclaiming the accused were untraceable,despite the testimonies of family mem-bers and eye-witnesses. The success inthis case became possible because of theGovernment’s decision to form a SIT inFebruary, 2015 to re-investigate suchcases. The family is now determined tobring the Congress leader to book.

In the second case, the Delhi HighCourt upheld the conviction and sentenceawarded to 70 people, all part of a mur-derous mob that lynched 95 Sikhs in themost heinous manner in the Trilokpuriarea. The assault was so gruesome that 22of these bodies remained unidentified.Shockingly, all the accused in this case ofmass murder were awarded just five yearsof imprisonment by the trial court andmany of them were on bail. The trial courtdelivered its verdict in August, 1996 andthe cases lingered on. Stranger still, thethen Government did not appeal to theHigh Court seeking higher punishmentgiven the brutality that these personsindulged in.

The matter came before the HighCourt only because the persons convict-ed appealed against their conviction andsentence. While rejecting the appeal, theHigh Court had some harsh words to sayabout the attitude of the prosecution in thiscase. It said the police force and the civil

administration did not taketimely or effective action toprevent the riotous conditionsfrom spiralling out of hand.

The Justice NanavatiCommission of Inquiry, whichinvestigated the riots thatbroke out after the assassina-tion of Indira Gandhi onOctober 31, 1984, did a farmore thorough job than manyprevious enquiries which werebasically whitewash jobs. Itestablished that in all 2,732Sikhs were killed in those riots— 2,146 in Delhi and 586 insome other towns in the north-ern region. Apart from theselarge scale murders, Sikhs suf-fered loss of homes and prop-erty in an unprecedented scale.This commission found con-siderable evidence of the directinvolvement of Congress lead-ers and workers and the com-plicity of the law enforcementagencies in the riots in Delhi.

The NanavatiCommission has documentedthe gross failure of the policeas follows: The police regis-tered only 587 FIRs against themobsters and even amongthem, declared 241 cases as“untraced.” Another 253 casesended in acquittals. Further, 11FIRs were quashed and inanother 11 cases, the accusedwere discharged. TheCommission was told that onecase was pending investigationand 42 cases were pendingtrial. Describing the horren-dous aftermath of IndiraGandhi’s assassination, thecommission said mobs wereinstigated to take revengeagainst the Sikhs and they

were transported in the state-owned Delhi TransportCorporation buses to localitieswhere Sikhs were in largenumbers. The mobsters weresupplied weapons and inflam-mable materials like keroseneand petrol and they carried allthis in DTC buses to specifiedlocations. Then the savageassaults began.

The commission said ithad received some materialwhich indicated that RajivGandhi, who had becomePrime Minister soon after hismother’s assassination, hadtold one of this officials that“the Sikhs should be taught alesson.” The commission,however, did not pursue thisbecause of lack of evidence butit indicted the Government forthe complicity of the policeand administration with therioters and for the inordinatedelay in calling in the Army.Even former President ZailSingh threw up his handshelplessly. He told a delegationof eminent Sikhs that he “did not have the power” tointervene.

In the light of all this evi-dence, the Narendra ModiGovernment’s efforts areindeed commendable. TheGovernment first constituteda committee headed by JusticeGP Mathur in December, 2014to recommend measures toensure justice for the victimsof 1984. On the recommenda-tion of this committee, theGovernment set up the SpecialInvestigation Team inFebruary, 2015 to re-examinethe closed cases.

In the meanwhile, theSupreme Court also steppedin to enquire about the delayin prosecution in many cases.It constituted a supervisorypanel of judges to examinethe work of the SIT and ear-lier this year decided to set upa three-member committeeheaded by a retired HighCourt Judge to re-investigate186 cases in which investiga-tions were closed.

Reports from Germanyindicate that even though 73years have gone by since theend of Wolrd War II, efforts arecurrently on to hunt downNazis who were involved in theextermination of Jews. Specialefforts are on to track downthree members of a Nazimobile death squad calledEinsatzgruppen whichindulged in shooting mas-sacres and killed over onemillion civilians. The suspectsare over 90 years old.

Such ruthless determina-tion and honesty of purposewill be needed to track downand prosecute those who mur-dered thousands of Sikhs in1984 and indulged in suchunprecedented violence. Everycase that was closed underCongress pressure must bere-opened and the politicalleaders who led the mobsmust be brought to book.Only then will we be able torestore the faith of an aggriev-ed community in ourConstitution and our democ-ratic way of life.

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati. The viewsexpressed here are personal)

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Sir — Nelson Mandela once said:“It always seems impossible untilit is done.” This quote fits best forlast Friday’s (November 30) state-ment by Army Chief GeneralBipin Rawat regarding the role ofwomen in the Indian Army, point-ing out that they are still ill-suitedas far as their combat roles are con-cerned. This, considering that alarge number of women comefrom the rural areas where associ-ating with the opposite gender isstill not ubiquitous.

Though in a country likeIndia, the concept of‘Westernisation’ is still a matter oflong debates, I think it is the lackof opportunities and awarenesswhich prohibits the Indian womento join the Army and other defenceservices, and not the propagandaof the Western culture. To increasethe pace of development, it is quiteobligatory for the Government toeradicate such stereotypes fromsociety and promote the involve-ment of more and more women inthe Indian Army. One must notneed to be great to start, butshould start to be great.

Tushar AnandBihar

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Forewarned is forearmed”(November 29). According tothe official data of the Ministryof Water Resources, the averageannual per capita availability ofwater in India has come downdrastically. It is sad to learn thatwe have not yet learnt how to har-

ness the abundant water that wereceive during different times ofthe year. It is even sad to learnthat the commercial establish-ments recklessly pump groundwater out in a large quantity.

In the light of this grim sce-nario, what we need to do is storewater naturally by constructingartificial ponds. Also afforesta-tion along the banks of waterbodies, like rivers, ponds, lakes,

et al, can help retain waterthroughout the year irrespectiveof unfavorable seasons. It is alsopertinent to note that there is agrowing trend to concretise oursprawling courtyard, which inturn prevents rain water fromseeping through the soil. A largeamount of water is lost this way.So, let’s use water wisely.

TK NandananKochi

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Sir — The denouements of the G-20 summit have set up hopes forthe betterment of the globaleconomy. Consensus regardingthe trade war betweenWashington and Beijing weresaid to be brought up in 90 days.The leaders of these nations needto work in compliance with thestandards of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) to attain ahealthy global economy.However, the final outcomes stillremain suspicious due to protec-tionist policies of the Republicanleader of the US, having alreadyseen a laggard deal for denucleari-sation of weapons of massdestruction with North Korea.

On the other hand, the G-20summit has proved to be a newopening for India. JAI, termed byPrime Minister Modi as theacronym for Japan, America andIndia, agreed upon trilateral deals.This may prove to be the wheelof fortune for the country.

N NagarajanVia email

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Page 9: @A...2018/12/04  · Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). Against the target of con-structing one crore rural dwellings by March 31, 2019, only 60 lakh houses have been built so far since the

Five of the world’s largest democ-racies now have populistGovernments, claimed The

Guardian last week, and proceeded toname four: The United States, India,Brazil and the Philippines. Which isthe fifth? At various points it name-checks Turkey, Italy and the UnitedKingdom, but it never becomes clearwhich. (And by the way, India’sPrime Minister Narendra Modi is nota populist. He’s just a nationalist.)

It’s embarrassing when a respect-ed global newspaper launches a majorinvestigative series and can’t really nailthe subject down. Neither can thepeople it interviews: Hillary Clinton,for example, admits the she was“absolutely dumbfounded” by howDonald Trump ate her lunch every

day during the 2016 presidentialcampaign. She still doesn’t get it.

“We got caught in a kind of tran-sition period so what I had seen workin the past...was no longer as appeal-ing or digestible to the people or thePress. I was trying to be in a positionwhere I could answer all the hardquestions, but...I never got them. Iwas waiting for them; I never gotthem. Yet I was running against a guywho did not even pretend to careabout policy.”

Yes, Trump is a classic populist,but why did he beat her two years agowhen he wouldn’t even have got thenomination ten years ago? She does-n’t seem to have a clue about that, andneither do other recent leaders ofCentre-Left parties interviewed byThe Guardian like Britain’s TonyBlair and Italy’s Matteo Renzi. So letus try to enlighten them.

Populism is not an ideology. It’sjust a political technique, equally avail-able to right-wingers, left-wingers, andthose (like Trump) with no coherentideology at all.

In this era, populism seems to

partner best with right-wing nation-alist ideologies like those of JairBolsonaro in Brazil, Viktor Orban inHungary and the Brexiteers inEngland but even now there arepopulist left-wing parties like Syrizain Greece and Podemos in Spain.

How does this tool work? Itclaims to be on the side of ‘ordinarypeople’ and against a ‘corrupt elite’ thatexploits and despises them. It’s lighton policy and heavy on emotion, par-ticularly the emotions of fear and

hatred. It usually scapegoats minori-ties and/or foreigners, and it onlyworks really well when people areangry about something.

We know that a politically signif-icant number of people is angrynow, because populism is workingvery well indeed, but people likeDonald Trump can’t take the credit.

In politics, as in ecology, everyniche is always filled. There arealways dictators-in-waiting, would-bemartyrs, and everything in between,

but they only get a chance to shine ifthe political situation creates anopening for their particular kind ofpolitics. So what is creating thatopening now?

The anger is about the fact thatthe jobs are disappearing, and what’skilling them is automation. Theassembly-line jobs went first, becausethey are so easy to automate. That’swhat turned the old industrial heart-land of the United States into the ‘RustBelt’. What’s going fast now are theretail jobs, killed by Amazon and itsrivals: Computers again.

The next big chunk to go willprobably be the driving jobs, as soonas self-driving vehicles are approvedfor public use.

And so on, one or two sectors ata time, until by 2033 (according to thefamous 2013 prediction by Oxfordeconomist Carl Benedikt Frey) 47 percent of US jobs will be lost to automa-tion. And of course it won’t stop there.

Why don’t clever politicians likeHillary Clinton get that? Perhapsbecause they half-believe the fantasystatistics on employment put out by

Governments, like the official 3.7 percent unemployment rate in the UnitedStates. A more plausible figure isAmerican Enterprise Institute schol-ar Nicholas Eberstadt’s finding in 2016that 17.5 per cent of American menof prime working age were not work-ing.

That’s three-quarters of the wayto peak US unemployment in theGreat Depression of the 1930s, but itgoes unnoticed because today’s unem-ployed are not starving and they arenot rioting. You can thank the welfarestates that were built in every devel-oped country after the Second WorldWar for that, but they are still veryangry people — and they do vote. Alot of them vote for populists.

Populism thrives when a lot ofpeople are angry or desperate or both.Donald Trump and people like himare not the problem. They are symp-toms (and beneficiaries) of the prob-lem — yet they dare not name it,because they have no idea what to doabout automation.

(The writer is an independentjournalist)

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If the landmark Vineet Narain judgment ofthe Supreme Court in the 1997 Jain hawalacase is anything to go by, then it built enoughjurisprudence to insulate the CBI (CentralBureau of Investigation) from political

interference and even made it impossible for politi-cians in the government to remove the CBI direc-tor for two years, ensuring he had freedom to carryout time-bound investigations. What happened onthe ground after this judgment was that the CBI,which had worked under the Home Ministry ear-lier, was brought under the direct control of thePrime Minister’s Office. The agency now worksunder the Department of Personnel and Training(DoPT) which reports directly to the PMO. In thatsense, this esteemed office is quite aware of theCBI’s functioning and could access informationif it wanted to. This was evident during the coalscam investigations when PMO officials werecaught vetting sealed CBI reports meant for theSupreme Court, which forced the judges todescribe the apex agency as a “caged parrot.” Frommy 11-year experience as a journalist and havingfollowed CBI’s involvement in the 2G scam, I mustsay Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn’texert overarching control over it or stem the tideof misuse.

When Modi came to power in May 2014, thethen CBI Director Ranjit Sinha had the most taint-ed record but was in the saddle serving out histerm. He was appointed on the recommendationof the then RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. Suchwas his reputation that the Patna High Court evendisqualified him from the fodder scam probe inthe mid-1990s. Frankly, till his retirement inDecember 2014, Modi took no action againstRanjit Sinha, who even appointed an IRS officeras DIG in the CBI’s anti-corruption wing in Delhiduring the power transition in May 2014. Thisofficer was caught for torturing a civil servantworking in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs fortaking a bribe and forcing him and his entire fam-ily to commit suicide. The concerned IRS officer,Sanjiv Gautam, was then a private Secretary to apowerful UPA Minister and it is a million dollarquestion how Sinha took him as DIG in the CBIjust days before Modi became the Prime Minister.But then the Indian bureaucracy is known to playsmart with appointments during power transi-tions, keeping them absolutely legitimate andwithin rules.

Sinha was even called out by Supreme Court’s2G and coal scam benches for meeting many ofthe accused, including corporates, at his home andwas under the scanner of a court-dictated probe.This was a golden chance for Modi to act, cleansethe country’s top probe agency once and for all andget a transparent process going. But the PrimeMinister remained silent, one which unfortunate-ly amounted to being a safe passage for Sinha.Why? None has an answer.

The next CBI Director was selected inDecember 2014, as per the Lokpal Act, by a high-powered committee comprising the PrimeMinister, the Chief Justice of India and theOpposition Leader in the Lok Sabha. The PrimeMinister selected Ranjit Sinha’s protégé AnilSinha as per existing seniority norms, a decisionagreed to by the other members on the panel. TillDecember 2016, Anil Sinha dragged his feet on

major corruption scandals like Aircel-Maxis, AgustaWestland, Robert Vadra’sland acquisitions and the NationalHerald-related cases, which were majorcampaign planks of the BJP when it wasin the Opposition.

His tenure was marked by contro-versial raids at two sitting ChiefMinisters’ offices, namely Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kerjiwal andHimachal Pradesh Chief Minister VirBhadra Singh. In both instances, thePrime Minister was not in Delhi,travelling abroad during one andaddressing naval officers on a warshipin the high seas during the other. Hadthe CBI Director got clearance fromthe Prime Minister to conduct the raidin sitting Chief Ministers’ offices? Ordid someone in the Cabinet direct himto do so once the Prime Minister wasout of reach?

Anil Sinha even shunted a CBI JointDirector Ashok Tewari for summoningformer Finance Minister PChidambaram in December 2014 withregard to the Aircel-Maxis scam. Howcan an officer be shunted out fordoing his duty? Have we then becomethe mythical “deep state?” That is theonly answer.

In fact, proof that Modi was awareof the CBI’s wrongdoings lies in the factthat he himself brought Gujarat cadreIPS officers, namely Rakesh Asthana,YC Modi and AK Sharma.

Even Enforcement Directorate’syoung officer Rajeshwar Singh washounded by the system for raidingChidambaram’s home in December2015 and exposing his family’s assets in14 countries and 21 foreign bankaccounts. One would have expectedAshok Tewari and Rajeshwar Singh tobe heroes in the Modi regime for tak-ing bold action against his political rival

Chidambaram. But the underbelly ofLutyens’ Delhi is difficult to grasp.

I must bring out two incidents ofCBI’s sheer lethargy and tardiness forpolitical “give and take.” The first con-cerns a trial court judge overseeing thecoal scam cases, Bharat Prashar, whosummoned former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, holding him respon-sible for allocation of coal mines. TheCongress even conducted a protestmarch against this. Meanwhile, Singhapproached a non-relevant SupremeCourt Bench and obtained a stay on thesummons when he should have ideal-ly sought redress in the Coal ScamBench. It was CBI’s duty to tell the courtabout this anomaly. However, it keptquiet and the trial court convicted poorHarish Chandra Gupta, then CoalSecretary, who was also not inclined toreveal the truth and became anapprover. The endgame? Both the IASlobby and politicians shed crocodiletears for a while, leading to recasting ofthe Prevention of Corruption Act. TheCBI was rendered toothless. Again. Thesecond case that emasculated the CBIfurther was the Delhi High Courtstaying the prosecution of SoniaGandhi’s former private secretaryVincent George in January 2015. Tilldate, the CBI has not challenged thisdecision in the Supreme Court, thoughthe Delhi High Court has terminatedthe magistrate son of the concernedHigh Court judge, who was caught forpossessing unaccounted cash.

Now let us come to the current con-troversy. After the exit of Anil Sinha,Modi used his might, bypassed the nextsenior candidate RK Dutta and appoint-ed trusted lieutenant Rakesh Asthana asCBI’s Acting Director in December2016. Asthana was too junior to hold thepost of CBI chief and later, the

Prime Minister himself selected non-controversial Delhi PoliceCommissioner Alok Verma as the newDirector in January 2017. He hadselected him as Delhi PoliceCommissioner, too, in 2015.

However, post the appointmentsModi perhaps could not sense the duelthat had started between his trustedofficers in the CBI. Rakesh Asthana, YCModi and AK Sharma had already start-ed bickering with each other and PMOofficials reportedly took sides in thismud-slinging instead of sorting outissues. Meanwhile YC Modi was shunt-ed out to the National InvestigativeAgency (NIA). The tussle continued asAsthana was not at all in a mood to obeythe new CBI Director, who decided totake on Asthana by fixing the latter’s cul-pability in the Sterling Diary bribes. Thistime, Central Vigilance CommissionerKV Chowdhary looked the other way.And the PMO, in an unprecedentedmanner, issued a midnight orderapproving the promotion of RakeshAsthana as Special Director in October2017. This was the real breaking pointbetween the CBI Director and his realsuperior, the Prime Minister. Now thatthe Supreme Court is seized of the mat-ter, let us wait for its verdict.

Will the Supreme Court deliver thejudgment before the retirement of AlokVerma on February 2? If justice isdelayed, then it would give credence towhat is generally assumed, that bigwigsprotect each other and no matter whatthe regime, the bureaucracy’s shenani-gans can always hold a system hostageto its priorities and ego. There is afamous Latin judicial term, “Fiat justi-tia ruat caelum, which means “Let jus-tice be done though the heavens fall.”

(The writer is Special Correspondentof The Pioneer)

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The country’s manufacturingsector activity improved in

November and touched an 11-month high as new order flowsencouraged companies to liftproduction amid strongdemand conditions, a month-ly survey said on Monday.

The Nikkei IndiaManufacturing PurchasingManagers’ Index strengthenedfrom 53.1 in October to 54.0 inNovember, signalling thestrongest improvement in thehealth of the sector in almostone year.

This is the 16th consecutivemonth that the manufacturingPMI remained above the 50-point mark. In PMI parlance,a print above 50 means expan-sion, while a score below thatdenotes contraction.

Manufacturers increasedproduction at the second-quickest pace since October

2016, buoyed by strongerdemand conditions and greatersales.

“The Indian manufactur-ing sector continued to recov-er from ground lost in August,with November seeing theheadline PMI climb to an 11-month high,” said Pollyanna DeLima, Principal Economist atIHS Markit and author of thereport.

The expansion in total neworders was supported bygreater sales to internationalmarkets as producers report-edly received bulk orders fromclients in key export destina-tions.

“Signs of rising confi-dence in the upturn were alsoprovided by the trend foremployment, which continuedto grow at one of the quickestrates seen in six years,” Limaadded.

On the employment front,goods producers created jobs in

November. Though theincrease in employment soft-ened slightly since October, butwas among the fastest seen insix years, the survey noted.

Going ahead, businesssentiment improved fromOctober’s 20-month low, withIndian manufacturers fore-casting better market condi-tions in the coming 12months.

Lima further noted that therelatively weak demand envi-ronment seen earlier in the yearshowed signs of abating, asclients are placing more workorders regardless of rise inoutput prices.

“Manufacturers furtherdrew down their finishedgoods stocks to meet demand.This, coupled with improvedbusiness sentiment, shouldensure that production con-tinues to rise at a robust clip aswe head towards 2019,” Limaadded.

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Anglo-Dutch FMCG giantUnilever Monday said it

will acquire health food port-folio, including popular brandsHorlicks and Boost, fromGlaxoSmithKline in India andover 20 other markets for 3.1billion pounds (about �27,750crore).

As part of the transaction,Unilever’s Indian arm,Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL)will acquire GlaxoSmithKlineConsumer Healthcare Ltd (GSKCH India) via an all-equitymerger, valuing the total busi-ness of the latter at �31,700 crore.

GSK CH India is the mar-ket leader in the health fooddrinks (HFD) category, withpopular brands such asHorlicks and Boost.

Announcing the deal thatalso covers “Bangladesh and 20other predominantly Asianmarkets”, Unilever said thetransaction consists of an all-equity merger of HUL with thepublicly-listed GSK ConsumerHealthcare India and acquisi-tion of 82 per cent stake in GSKBangladesh Ltd.

It also includes acquisi-tion of certain other commer-cial operations and assets out-side India, it added.

HUL said its board hasgiven nod for the all-equitymerger of GSK CH India,under which with 4.39 sharesof HUL will be allotted forevery share in GSK CH India.

“The iconic Horlicks brandhas a deep heritage, credibilityand resonance around theworld. The acquisition is trans-formative for our Foods andRefreshment business, allowing

us to enter the Health FoodsDrinks category, furtherstrengthening our position inhealth and wellness,” UnileverPresident, Food & Refreshment,Nitin Paranjpe said.

Hindustan UnileverChairman and CEO SanjivMehta said with the strategicmerger the company will beexpanding its portfolio through“great brands into a new cate-gory catering to the nutrition-al needs of our consumers”.

“The turnover of our foodsand refreshments (F&R) busi-ness will now exceed �10,000crore and we will become oneof the largest F&R businesses inthe country,” Mehta said.

HUL CFO Srinivas Pathaksaid at present the company’sF&R business is at around�2,400 crore.

“We expect this business togrow in double digit over themedium term. This would bea significant opportunity,” hesaid in a concall.

Stating that “Horlicks hasmade a significant contributionto GSK and to the health of con-sumers across India for manydecades”, GSK CEO EmmaWalmsley said: “We believeUnilever is well placed to max-imise its future potential”.

She further said that pro-ceeds from this transactionwill be used to support thegroup’s strategic priorities,including investing in ourpharmaceutical business.

GSK said India remainedan important market for it andthe company will continue toinvest in growth opportunitiesfor its OTC and Oral Healthbrands there, which includeCrocin, Eno and Sensodyne.

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The country has more than18 lakh registered compa-

nies but only 62 per cent ofthem were actively functioningat the end of October, accord-ing to official data.

The majority of activecompanies were engaged inbusiness services.

With more than 6.46 lakhcompanies shuttered and manyothers undergoing various reg-ulatory processes, includingliquidation, the total number ofactive entities stood at 11.16lakh during the period.

Latest data from the cor-porate affairs ministry showedthat there were a little over18.10 lakh registered compa-nies at the end of October.

In terms of total registeredcompanies, nearly 62 per centof them were active last month.

Entities are required to getregistered under theCompanies Act, which isimplemented by the ministry,to function as companies.

Among the total number ofregistered companies, 6.46 lakhentities were shut down and39,736 companies were in theprocess of being deregistered.

“Out of the 6,46,882 closed

companies, 10,574 companieswere liquidated/ dissolved;6,00,048 companies weredeclared defunct...,” the min-istry said in its information bul-letin for the month of October.

As many as 9,565 compa-nies were converted toLimited Liability Partnerships(LLPs).

Out of the 11.16 lakh activecompanies, the ministry said, alittle over 11.09 lakh entitieswere limited by shares.

“Out of the companieslimited by shares, 64,547 werepublic, 1,044,806 were privateincluding 19,555 one personcompanies. Among the publiclimited companies, 6,960 werelisted,” it added.

At October end,Maharashtra had the highestnumber of registered compa-nies (3.59 lakh), followed byDelhi (3.26 lakh), and WestBengal (1.98 lakh).

In terms of economic activ-ities, 3.57 lakh active compa-nies were engaged in businessservices while 2.23 lakh firmswere into manufacturing.

Business services includesinformation technology,research & development andother business activities such aslaw, audit and accounts.

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Equity benchmarks contin-ued their rising streak for

the sixth straight session onMonday despite headwinds inform of rising crude, slidingrupee and weak GDP numbers.

The benchmark Sensexafter opening on a higher notein early trade turned choppy asthe day progressed, surren-dering strong initial gains. The30-share gauge ended with amarginal gain of 47 points at36,241.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty edged up by 7 points to10,883.75.

The overall subdued trendon the domestic bourses was aresult of weakening rupee,which depreciated by a massive73 paise to 70.31 (intra-day)against the US dollar as con-cerns related to higher crude oilimpacting India’s currentaccount deficit resurfaced.

Brent crude, the interna-tional benchmark, was trading3.80 per cent higher at $61.72per barrel.

Moreover, India’sSeptember quarter GDPgrowth slowing to 7.1 per centfrom 8.2 per cent in the April-June period of the ongoing fis-cal made investors cautious.

However, investors acrossthe world heaved a sigh ofrelief, reflecting on globalbourses, after the two domi-nating economies the US andChina seemed to have called atemporary truce in their ongo-ing trade tariff tiff, whichshooked the global markets inrecent months.

“Market swung betweengains and losses as positive sen-timent from the US-China

trade truce was offset byrebound in oil prices and weakINR. The concern on OPEC’sproduction cut and slowgrowth in Q2 GDP impactedsentiment. While global mar-kets stay positive due to ease intrade tensions,” Vinod Nair,Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services Ltd, said.

Besides, investors are look-ing ahead to the outcome ofRBI’s monetary policy thisweek, which is expected to bestatus quo but a likely cut ininflation forecast and mea-sures towards improving liq-uidity will support the market,analysts said.

The 30-share Sensex set-tled 46.70 points, or 0.13 percent, higher at 36,241, while thebroader NSE Nifty edged up by7 points, or 0.06 per cent, fin-ish at 10,883.75.

Top gainers include YesBank, HUL, Vedanta, NTPC,Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports,PowerGrid and Tata Motors,rising up to 5 per cent.

On the other hand, SunPharma emerged as the toploser with over 7 per cent fall,capping gains of both indices.The pharma major’s scrip nose-dived on reports that market

regulator Sebi may reopen aninsider trading case against thefirm and probe alleged lapses bysome of its promoters.

Other losers includeM&M, ITC, Hero MotoCorp,Reliance, Asian Paints, L&T,HDFC and Kotak Bank, fallingup to 3.79 per cent.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth �332.62 croreFriday, while domestic institu-tional investors (DIIs) werenet buyers to the tune of�1,489.65 crore, provisionaldata available with the BSEshowed.

The rupee, meanwhile,depreciated by 73 paise to70.31 against the US dollar atthe interbank foreign exchangeamid strengthening of the USdollar.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi rose 1.67 per cent, Japan’sNikkei gained 1 per cent andHong Kong’s Hang Seng rose2.55 per cent. While ShanghaiComposite Index slipped 2.57per cent.

In Europe, Frankfurt’sDAX was up 2.61 per cent andParis’ CAC 40 rose 2.05 percent. London’s FTSE too gained2.32 per cent.

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Zebronics India Pvt. Ltd, anIndian IT peripherals,

sound system, mobile/lifestyleaccessories and surveillanceproducts, launched ‘Zeb-Peace’wireless earphones.

Zeb-peace earphones arewireless, operates like a standalone wireless headset with nowires involved. The companyhas designed them like the cres-cent which are splash proof andlightweight just 4 grams each.

The earpods are designedwith precision for a secure,

comfortable and snug fit. Sowhile you’re lifting weights, run-ning a mile or just taking a walkthe earpods will not fall off.They’re designed precisely sothat you can focus on what’smore important to you.

Speaking on the newlaunch, Pradeep Doshi, Director— Zebronics says,”Everyone isjoining the wireless revolution,but with our Zeb-peace we’retaking it up a notch with voiceassistance for Android and iOSdevices. Remain entertainedwith our true wireless earphonethat will offer you peace ofmind minus the wired tangles”.

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The Income Tax Departmenthas mopped up over half

the kitty of the targeted directtax revenue for this fiscal — atmore than �6.63 lakh crore —riding at a record “high growthrate of last seven years” that wasalso propelled by demonetisa-tion, a latest report of theCBDT has said.

The report of the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes (CBDT),the policy-making body for theI-T Department, on the“impact of demonetisation”states that the 2016 exercise ofinvalidating the two high-value

currencies of �1,000 and �500has “thrown up a large trancheof data and credible informa-tion based on which enforce-ment actions, including searchand survey, are being con-ducted by the tax departmentwith great degree of successagainst tax evaders”.

The report said the depart-ment has till now (updated tillNovember 15) made a grosscollection of �6.63 lakh crore inthe direct taxes kitty this fiscal,which is 16.4 per cent higherthan the gross collections forthe corresponding period oflast year. This, the report said,was a “positive impact of

demonetisation.” The direct taxes revenue

collection target for the 2018-19 financial year is �11.5lakh crore and the taxman isleft with four months toachieve the target by the clos-ing of the fiscal on March 31next year.

The report added thatthere has been a “sustainedincrease in the number ofincome tax returns (ITRs) filedin the last four financial yearsas compared to 3.79 crore ITRsfiled in 2013-14 fiscal and thenumber of ITRs filed during2017-18 fiscal has increased by81 per cent to 6.87 crore”.

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Moody’s Investors Serviceon Monday said it has a

stable outlook on the Indianbanking system for the next 12-18 months as economic growthprospects remain healthy amidweak, but stabilising, assetquality.

The stable outlook is basedon six parameters — operatingenvironment, asset quality, cap-ital, funding and liquidity, prof-itability and efficiency, andgovernment support — all ofwhich Moody’s believe are sta-ble.

The environment will staystable, supported by robusteconomic growth, Moody’ssaid in a statement.

The agency expects thereal gross domestic product(GDP) in India to grow 7.2 percent in the year ending March2019 and 7.4 per cent in the fol-lowing year, driven by invest-ment growth and strong con-sumption.

“Our outlook for theIndian banking system is sta-ble, underpinned by healthyeconomic growth, and weakbut stabilizing asset quality,”Moody’s Vice President andSenior Credit Officer SrikanthVadlamani said.

However, liquidity con-straints at non-bank financeinstitutions (NBFIs) —increasingly importantproviders of credit for theeconomy — will prove a dragon growth. Rising interestrates also represent a risk,Moody’s said.

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A40-year-old woman had been complaining of pain in her heelsfor over a year. She used to wake up with the stabbing sharp

pain at the bottom of centre of her heels. The pain usually returnedafter long periods of standing or after she moved from a seated posi-tion. The lady had shown it to a few surgeons who prescribed herpainkillers. With the help of analgesics the pain subsided, but onlyfor a while. After examining her condition, it was found out thatthe lady had a high arched foot and tight calf muscles which wasthe main cause of pain in her heels condition as plantar fasciitis.

The lady’s high arch tissues of the sole were under constanttension due to plantar fasciitis and the tension only increased asshe walked. In such cases, patients are recommended to performstretching exercises of plantar fasciitis and the calf. Also to wearsupportive shoe wear for arch support.

After about a week’s time the patient returned back fairly happyand satisfied. There was no pain in her foot for the first time inover 13-14 months. And, within a month, the lady was totally pain-free and the best part, she was not on any analgesic or any kind ofmedication. Thus, the diagnosis of the cause or abnormality of plan-tar fasciitis is more important than diagnosing plantar fasciitis itself.

So, if your first few steps out of bed in the morning cause severepain in the heel of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis.

�������������!����� �� ��The plantar fascia is the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot.

It connects the heel bone to the toes and creates the arch of thefoot. When this tissue becomes swollen or inflamed, it is called plan-tar fasciitis. Classically, it is worse in the morning with the first fewsteps and at the beginning of any sporting activity. Though it iscommon in runners and dancers, plantar fasciitis can affect men

and women alike between 40-60years. Also, people with very flatfeet or very high arches are moreprone to plantar fasciitis.

�����������&������Several structural causes can

contribute to plantar fasciitis.These may include a misalignedand weak first toe; weak intrinsicfoot muscles; tight, shortenedcalf muscles and tight plantar fas-cia. Other contributing factorsmay include like increasedmechanical stress from runningor dancing; obesity; occupationsthat keep people on their feet. Forinstance, factory workers and

teachers and poor walking and running mechanics.Ignoring plantar fasciitis may result in chronic heel pain. It can

even change the way you walk. The common symptoms of plan-tar fasciitis are stabbing or sharp pain and stiffness in the bottomof the heel, although some experience pain at the bottom mid-footarea. Plantar fasciitis usually affects just one foot, but it can affectboth feet. Pain is usually worse in the morning when you take yourfirst steps out of bed. One also experiences pain while climbingstairs or performing any sport activity.

������Stretching is the best treatment for plantar fasciitis. It may help

to try to keep weight off your foot until the initial inflammationgoes away. You can also apply ice to the sore area for 20-30 min-utes several times a day to relieve your symptoms. Home exercis-es to stretch your Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are the main-stay of treatment and reduce the chance of recurrence.

If your condition has developed recently, anti-inflammatory/analgesic medication (in tablet form), coupled with heel pads maybe all that is necessary to relieve pain and reduce inflammation.In case there’s no relief in pain or your condition, speak to yourankle and foot doctor. Surgery is rarely required for plantar fasci-itis. It would be considered treatment if the pain is still incapaci-tating after at least 12 months of treatment. However, during recov-ery, loss of excess weight, good shoes and sedentary activities—all help the injury to heal.

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������� Also known as groundnut, peanuts are high inmagnesium; Vitamin E, copper, phosphorus, potassium, zinc,

calcium, and arginine and many others. It is believed to lessenthe risk of cardiovascular disease. Antioxidants, on the hand,help to protect the body from oxidative stress, which occurs incases of various cancers and diseases.

Peanuts have been shown to be an extremely high source ofplant protein and medical practitioners have advised that it shouldbe incorporated in the diet for children,vegetarians, and protein deficient peo-ple.

Peanuts provide our body withessential Vitamins, which helps inregulating metabolism,converting fat and car-bohydrates into energy,and facilitating bone andtissue formation. Being arich source of foliate, studies have shown that it reduces the inci-dence of birth defects and anaemia related conditions. Eating nutshas been associated with plenty of health benefits — from increasedcognitive function to protection from alzheimers and lower riskof mortality and developing chronic diseases like respiratory dis-ease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes and cancer.

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As per a recentstudy, people withacute critical ill-

ness and no prior kidneydisease have an increasedrisk of kidney complicationsand related mortality. Those who hadexperienced acute kidney illness were atan increased risk of renal complications,developing chronic kidney disease andthen end-stage kidney disease, with sep-ticemia and septic shock being thestrongest risk factors. It is imperative toget kidney functions checked in a timelymanner, especially in those with some pre-existing health conditions. � Some rules to avoid or delay reachingthe point of reaching kidney failure�Keep fit and active, as it helps reduceyour blood pressure.�High blood pressure is likely to causekidney damage when associated withother factors like diabetes, high choles-terol and cardiovascular diseases.�Keep your blood sugar in controls.�Eat healthy and keep your weight incheck as this can help prevent diabetes,heart disease and other conditionsassociated with chronic kidney disease. �The recommended sodium intake is5-6 g of salt per day (around a tea-spoon).�Consuming plenty of fluid helps thekidneys clear sodium, urea and toxinsfrom the body which, in turn, results ina “significantly lower risk” of develop-ing chronic kidney disease.

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While most of us sham-poo our hair on a reg-ular basis during

summer months, one tends todo so less frequently duringwinters. This, sometimes, leadsto oily scalp and hair, leavingthe hair looking dirty,dull and stringy.There are alsochances of get-ting dandruff.Fret not. Hereare a few sim-ple ways tokeep the hairhealthy all theyear round.

Nimbu orlemon is probablythe best ways to get ridof grease from the scalp as thefruit is acidic in nature. To useSqueeze the juice of two lemonsand mix it with a cup of water.Apply this on the hair and scalp.Let it sit for 10 minutes and

wash off with lukewarm water.We all drink tea. Try using

it to get rid of an oily scalp.Steep two tea bags of green teain hot water. Let it cool anddilute it with a cup of coldwater. Rinse hair with this

solution. Let it stay for15 minutes and

then wash it off. Prepare a

hair condi-tioner usingaloe vera.Take the gelfrom the aloevera and add it

with a table-spoon of apple

cider vinegar andone tablespoon of

lemon juice. Apply it as a con-ditioner.

Mix an egg yolk with fewdrops of lime. Apply it to wethair and rinse it thoroughly forthe instant results.

Maintaining glossy hair that isoil-free is easy to achieve onceyou know how to go about it.

ROSHANI DEVI shares homeremedies that one can follow for

gorgeous tresses

The WHO defines health as: “Notjust the absence of disease, but astate of complete physical, mental

and social well-being.” This means thatthe conditions, in which we live, learn,work and grow old, or the socialcontexts of health and diseasealso influence our health andwell-being. These social fac-tors are called the socialdeterminants of health.

Social gradient has beenidentified as one of the 10social determinants of health,which also include stress, early life,social exclusion, work, unemployment,social support, addiction, food andtransport. The gradient is measured byvariables like income, education, occu-pation or housing.

The quality of housing is becomingincreasingly important to public health.To reiterate the significance of housing

in health and well-being, the WHOreleased new guidelines.

Healthy housing is not just thephysical structure, which protects fromextremes of temperature, injury haz-

ards, animals/pests and providesadequate sanitation and illumi-

nation, it also means a feelingof home, which providessecurity, privacy and a senseof belonging.

The new guidelines takeinto account the major health

risks associated with poor hous-ing conditions in four areas:�Inadequate living space (crowd-

ing)�Low & high indoor temperatures�Injury hazards in the home�Accessibility of housing for people

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AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a syn-drome that is caused by HIV (human immunodeficien-cy virus). The disease alters the immune system, mak-

ing people defenceless against infections and diseases. Thissusceptibility worsens if the syndrome progresses. Themed as Know Your Status, World AIDS Day 2018 laysemphasis on the importance of knowing one’s HIV status inorder to fight against the disease.

�Exposure to body fluid: Exposure to HIVcan be controlled by taking precautionsto reduce the risk of exposure to cont-aminated blood. Frequent and thoroughwashing of the skin immediately aftercoming into contact with blood orother bodily fluids can reduce thechance of infection.

� Drug injection and needle sharing:Intravenous drug use is an important fac-tor in HIV transmission in many coun-tries. Sharing needles can expose usersto HIV and other viruses, such ashepatitis C. Only use a clean, unused,

unshared needle.�Unprotected sex: Having sex without a

condom can put a person at risk of con-tracting HIV and other sexually trans-mitted infections (STIs).

�Pregnancy: HIV-infected mothers canpass the virus through their breast milk.However, if the mother is taking the cor-rect medications, the risk of transmittingthe virus is greatly reduced.

�Safe transfusion of blood: The NAT test-ed blood from repeat voluntary donorsis the safest blood to prevent its trans-mission. — ��� ������� ����

� Blood transmission:People who inject drugs, shar-ing and reusing syringes con-taminated with HIV-infectedblood are prone to come inthe contact of this virus.�Sexual transmission:When a person comes incontact with infected sexu-al fluids (rectal, genital, ororal mucous membranes).This happens due to unpro-tected physical intimacy.�Perinatal transmission: Amother can transmit HIV toher child during childbirth,pregnancy, and also throughbreastfeeding.

“Early diagnosis theinfection can reduce risk ofmother-to-child transmis-sion (MTCT). In absence oftreatment, HIV damages thefighting cells in the body

which makes the body proneto various infections anddangerous diseases like can-cer. Most cases of HIV infec-tions in young children ariseas a result of MTCT. It ishighly recommended for allpregnant women in everypregnancy to go throughscreening for HIV infec-tions and other serioustransmissible diseases. Also,it should be repeated after 28weeks. Appropriate antena-tal interventions such asantiretroviral therapy (ART),caesarean delivery andavoidance of postnatalbreastfeeding can be includ-ed in order to reduce the riskof MTCT up to 25 to 30% toless than one percent,” saysDr Archana Dhawan Bajaj,IVF expert, Gynecologistand Obstetrician, NurtureIVF Centre.

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Arecent study by Healthians has foundthat HIV testing in Delhi NCR has

grown over 122 per cent. Dr ChirantanBose, senior VP lab operations,Healthians, says: “We’ve witnessed over122 per cent growth in people opting forHIV testing in the past two years. Thereis greater awareness in the masses regard-ing HIV diseases and testing for the sameis a routine that sexually active individ-uals follow every six months.”

Interestingly, a marked increase inHIV testing in 25-34 age group is seen,followed by 35-44 age group. This is anindicator of behavioural tendencies as wellas awareness amongst this age group.Another crucial area of awareness is thatof pregnant female population.

According to UNAIDS:� India has the third largest HIV epidem-

ic in the world, with 2.1 million peopleliving with HIV.� In 2017, HIV prevalence among adults(aged 15-49) was an estimated 0.2 percent. New infections increased to 88,000from 80,000 & AIDS-related deathsincreased to 69,000 from 62,000� 79 per cent of people living with HIVwere aware of their status, of whom 56 percent were on antiretroviral treatment(ART).�The HIV epidemic in India is driven bysexual transmission, which accounted for86 per cent of new infections in 2017-2018�The three States with the highest HIVprevalence are— Manipur, Mizoram andNagaland� Since 2010, new HIV infections havedecreased by 46 per cent and AIDS-relat-ed deaths have decreased by 22 per cent.

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Diagnosis is made through a blood test that screensspecifically for the virus. If HIV has been found, the

test result is ‘positive’. The blood is re-tested several timesbefore a positive result is given.After infection with HIV, it cantake from 3 weeks to 6 monthsfor the virus to show up in test-ing. If a person has beenexposed to the virus, it is cru-cial that they get tested as soonas possible. The earlier HIV isdetected, the more likely thetreatment will be successful.Being diagnosed with HIV can be distressing, and feel-ings of anxiety or depression are common. Seek medicalhelp immediately.

HIV is a retrovirus whichinfects the vital organs

and cells of the humanimmune system. The rate ofvirus progression varieswidely between individualsand depends on many fac-

tors. These factors includethe age of the individual, thebody's ability to defendagainst HIV, access tohealthcare, the presence ofother infections, the individ-ual's genetic inheritance,resistance to certain strainsof HIV, and more.

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Most people often think more about tak-ing care of their eyes and protecting themfrom the sunlight in summers, our eyes

can just as easily get affected by various factorsin winters too.

Whether you’re working in the office, or areon a vacation in winter or just cozying up by thefire, it is essential to take good care of your visionby following some guidelines:�Keep your eyes lubricated: Dry winter air cancause your eyes to be more sensitive. The use offire or heaters in closed areas leads to drying outthe moisture in the air leading to irritation andincreased dryness in your eyes. You should try toavoid sitting too close to the heaters and use lubri-cating eye drops to keep the eyes moist.�Wear sunglasses for UV protection: It is a com-mon notion that sun rays cause damage to eyesin summer and in winters not much eye care isrequired. On the contrary, ultraviolet rays can enteryour eyes from above and are also reflected off thesnow into your eyes leading to double theamount of UV exposure than normal and can alsolead to inflammation of cornea. Excessive UVexposure can also lead to formation of cataracts.

Wearing UV protective sunglasses and a hatwhen outdoors also protects your eyes from directcontact with dry and cold air. Children should bemade to wear goggles with straps for full protec-tion from cold air & flying debris getting in theireyes while running or playing.�Viral keratitis: It is a condition where inflam-mation occurs in the eye’s cornea. Researches haveindicated that recurrence of viral keratitis is morecommon in winter months suggesting that lowtemperature can be one of the risk factors of recur-ring viral keratitis. To avoid or prevent keratitis,you should not touch your eyes frequently or with

unwashed hands and if you are a contact lens userthen use daily disposable contact lenses and a goodlens solution.�Skin moisturising: The cold days of winter bringuncomfortable dryness and itchiness to the skinof the face and particularly the eyelids. In somecases, it may lead to cracked, flaked skin and skininflammation. Sitting indoors with heaters andhumidifies on also increases this tendency of theskin to dry.

As weather changes, you should also changeyour skin routine and keep your skin well mois-turised with an oil based moisturizer suited foryour skin condition. The oil based moisturiser cre-ates a protective layer on your skin and retainsmore moisture than your regular moisturiser. Youcan use a lotion with moisturising properties aswell as high SPF for additional UV protection too.

Smog formation due to air pollution and fogin winters causes the dust and harmful particu-late matter to enter our eyes making them dry andcausing redness and irritation. Frequent blinkingand keeping the eyes moist by using lubricatingeye drops is a good way to relieve the symptoms.�Stay warm and keep well: During winters, ourimmune system is down and it can lead to fre-quent falling ill like common cold and fever. Keepyourself and your family warm and well coveredin proper woollens. It is essential to cover yourhead and ears to avoid catching cold or getting aheadache or earache.

Take care of your eyes and enjoy the winterchill.

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ASri Lankan court onMonday issued an interim

order restraining formerstrongman Mahinda Rajapaksaand members of his purportedgovernment from functioningas the Prime Minister, Cabinetand deputy Ministers till thecase is heard on December 12.

The Court of Appeal gaveits order after 122 MPs filed apetition challenging the formerPresident and hisGovernment's continuation inoffice, Colombo Telegraphreported.

"The court considered thearguments of both sides andsays that irreversible damagecould be caused if persons notentitled to do so sit as Prime

Minister and the Cabinet ofMinisters," lawyers arguing thecase said.

The court also issuednotices to the 49 GovernmentMinisters and Rajapaksa toappear before the court onDecember 12 for the hearing.

Sri Lanka has beenembroiled in a political crisissince October 26 whenPresident Maithripala Sirisenasacked Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe and replacedhim with Rajapaksa.

Since his appointment,Rajapaksa and his Governmentfaced two no-confidencemotions.

Sirisena had rejected theresults of the two votes, sayingthey were not conducted in alegal manner and has request-

ed Parliament to call for a voteagain on December 5.

Rajapaksa, meanwhile,called for a snap parliamentaryelection and said it was the onlyway to solve the ongoing polit-ical instability.

In a special statement

released by his office, Rajapaksainvited all those who respect-ed democracy to give a carefulthought to holding a parlia-mentary election, as this wouldbe the only way to end the pre-sent crisis, Xinhua news agencyreported.

Rajapaksa's party, the SriLanka Podujana Peramuna,organised a mass activity inColombo on Monday after-noon with hundreds of peoplecalling for a snap parliamentarypoll. The former President andhis party have boycottedParliament sessions sinceNovember, saying that SpeakerKaru Jayasuriya was acting infavour of Wickremesinghe andhis party.

They also said they wouldcontinue to boycott sessionsuntil they were recognised asthe Government.

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Abuja: Nigerian PresidentMuhammadu Buhari hasdenied rumours about hisdeath and being replaced by aSudanese impostor.

"It's the real me, I assureyou. I will soon celebrate my76th birthday and I will still gostrong," Buhari told Nigeriansin Poland on Sunday, where hewas attending a conference,when asked about the lookalikenamed Jubril. Buhari, who isrunning for re-election inFebruary, has been beset by illhealth since taking office in2015. IANS

Katowice (Poland): Nations most threatened by rising sea lev-els and devastating droughts will use a UN summit in Polandon Monday to urge richer countries to pay their fair share in theclimate change fight.

The presidents of at-risk states such as Fiji, Nigeria and Nepalare expected at COP24 talks, which aim to flesh out the promis-es agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

But host Poland -- heavily reliant on energy from coal -- willpush its own agenda: a "just transition" from fossil fuels that crit-ics say could allow it to continue polluting for decades.

The Paris deal saw nations agree to limit global temperaturerises to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and under1.5C if possible.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries now have two weeks ofnegotiations to finalise how those goals work in practice, evenas science suggests the pace of climate change is rapidly out-stripping mankind's response. AFP

Islamabad: Pakistan said onMonday that US PresidentDonald Trump has written aletter to Prime Minister ImranKhan seeking Islamabad's assis-tance in the Afghan peaceprocess.

In the letter, Trump askedPakistan to play its role inAfghan peace talks aimed atcatalyzing an end to the 17-yearinvasion of Afghanistan by UStroops, said the Ministry ofForeign Affairs in a statement.

According to the ministry,Trump recognized that the warcame at a significant cost for his

country as well as for Pakistan,and underlined that both coun-tries should explore ways towork together.

"The US decision is wel-comed. Pakistan reiterates itscommitment to play a facilita-tion role in good faith," said thestatement.

The Pakistani PrimeMinister confirmed he receiveda letter from Trump earlier inthe day. He said that Islamabadhad been apologetic in its rela-tions with the US but his gov-ernment has dealt with thecountry on equal terms. IANS

Washington: China has agreed to cuttariffs on cars it imports from the US,President Donald Trump has said, afterhe negotiated a truce in the trade warwith Beijing. The announcement boost-ed the financial markets.

"China has agreed to reduce andremove tariffs on cars coming intoChina from the US. Currently the tar-iff is 40 per cent," Trump tweeted onSunday.

The outcome of the Trump-Xi meet-ing boosted financial markets in AsiaPacific on Monday. The benchmarkShanghai Composite index led the waywith a rise of 2.57 per cent while HongKong was up 2.45 per cent and Tokyoclosed 1 per cent better off. Australia'sbenchmark ASX200 index finished theday up 1.84 per cent.

The increases paved the way forsharp rises on European and USexchanges later in the day with futurestrade seeing the FTSE100 opening up by1.6 per cent and the Dow Jones indus-trial average on Wall Street expected toleap 2 per cent.

But Trump didn't give details aboutthe car tariffs or when the changewould happen and what the new tarifflevel would be, CNN reported. Therewas no immediate response from theChinese government on cutting cartariffs. IANS

Seoul: South Korea's president says USPresident Donald Trump told him he hasa "very friendly view" of North Koreanleader Kim Jong Un and wants to granthis wishes if he denuclearises.

North Korea has sought securityguarantees from the US and relief frominternational sanctions.

President Moon Jae-in's office quot-ed Moon as saying that Trump askedhim to convey those messages to theNorth Korean leader if he visits Seoulthis year as he promised. Moon spoketo reporters on Saturday aboard his pres-idential plane en route to New Zealandfrom Argentina, where he met Trump onthe sidelines of a Group of 20 Nationssummit. AP

Baikonur (Kazakhstan): Russian,American and Canadian astronauts willblast off Monday for the first mannedSoyuz mission since a frightening failedlaunch in October, with the three feelingconfident despite the risks.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko,Anne McClain of NASA and DavidSaint-Jacques of the Canadian SpaceAgency will launch at 1131 GMT aboarda Soyuz from Baikonur in Kazakhstan fora six-and-a-half month mission on theInternational Space Station. It will be thefirst manned launch for the Soviet-eraSoyuz since October 11, when a rocket car-rying Russia's Aleksey Ovchinin and USastronaut Nick Hague failed just minutesafter blast-off, forcing the pair to make anemergency landing. AP

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Paris: The French Governmenthas no plans currently toimpose a state of emergencyover the "yellow vest" protestswhich caused chaos anddestruction in Paris over theweekend, junior interiorMinister Laurent Nunez saidMonday.

"It's one option amongothers, but for now it's not onthe table," Nunez told RTLradio, after calls by severalpolice unions for expandedpowers to contain the demon-strations.

States of emergency wereimposed after nationwide riotsin 2005 by youths in poorsuburbs, and after the jihadistattacks in Paris in November2015.

Many of the provisions,including expanded ID checksand restrictions on public gath-erings, were incorporated intoa new security law pushedthrough by PresidentEmmanuel Macron when theemergency measures were lift-ed last year.

Some of the "yellow vest"demonstrators have alreadycalled for a third round ofprotests in Paris on Saturday,despite the violence over theweekend when dozens of vehi-

cles were burned and shopsvandalised.

Asked about the possibili-ty that the next protest wouldbe banned, Nunez said: "We'dhave to be capable of stoppingit, because these are deter-mined people who would comeanyway."

He claimed that some oflast Saturday's protesters "clear-ly intended to kill", citing theseizure of hammers and steelmarbles among some of the 412people arrested, and the near-lynching of a police officer nearthe Arc de Triomphe warmemorial.

The government is holdingcrisis talks Monday with lead-ers of other political parties onhow to respond to the grassrootprotests, which erupted lastmonth after months of sim-mering anger across much ofthe country over fuel taxincreases. AFP

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Actress and former MissWorld Priyanka Chopramarried American singer

Nick Jonas in a traditional Hinduceremony. After three days ofwedding celebrations whichincluded a colourful mehendi cer-emony, a friendly cricket matchand a power-packed desi musicalevening.

Priyanka looked breathtakingin her traditional red Indian wed-ding outfit, a source said.

“Nick did a beautiful job fol-lowing the customs of a Hinduceremony. It was lovely seeinghow they honoured both of theirheritages,” the insider added.

From their roka ceremony inAugust to their wedding, Nick hasembraced Indian traditionswhole-heartedly. Priyanka alsoensured an occasion likeThanksgiving Day was celebratedlike it’s meant to be with Nick’sfamily.

“One of the most specialthings that our relationship hasgiven us is a merging of familieswho love and respect each others’faiths and cultures.

“And so, planning our wed-ding with an amalgamation ofboth was so amazing,” Priyankaand Nick wrote on their respec-tive social media handles,when they shared glimpses oftheir mehendi revelry.

Their wedding celebra-tions were in tune with the

majestic venue — the royalUmaid Bhawan Palace, situatedatop a hill in this ‘Blue City’ in

Rajasthan.The duo first exchanged vows

in a Christian ceremony officiat-ed by the groom’s father onDecember 1. They wore custom-made Ralph Lauren ensembles —a good fit as the two stars hadshared the spotlight for the firsttime as guests of the designer atthe 2017 Met Gala.

Marking their union herewas the Jodhpur sky lit up with

fireworks. However, Priyanka waswidely trolled for it as aroundDiwali, she had urged people notto burst firecrackers due to thehealth hazards it leads to. As aresult, she was called out for her‘double standards’.

Nevertheless, their fans were

swooning over some of the tidbitsthey shared of the ‘#NickYanka’pre-wedding ceremonies.

At the mehendi ceremony,the actress sported a breathtakingmulti-hued folksy Abu JaniSandeep Khosla lehenga, chan-nelling the desi look in every

which way, while Nick sported anaqua kurta by the same designers.

As for the sangeet, a video andphotographs shared by Priyankasuggest it was no less than aBollywood awards night completewith a stage, elaborate light set-upand props as well as energetic per-formances.

Priyanka’s cousin and actressParineeti Chopra, who performedon stage, welcomed Nick warm-ly to her family and is all praise forher jiju (brother-in-law).

“The job of us bridesmaidswas to make sure the bride washappy and comfortable at alltimes. But we did not have toworry about it because Nickpromised to do it all his life.

“Welcome to the family Nickjiju! I am so so happy that theJonas and Chopra family is nowunited,” she wrote.

The couple first began talkingin 2016 via social media and met

in person for the first time at aparty for the Academy Awards in2017.

Priyanka made a transition toAmerican showbiz as the lead incrime drama Quantico, eventual-ly landing a role in the Baywatchfilm.

The couple was later alsocalled out against the use of ele-phants and horses at their wed-ding. After a section of socialmedia users cracked down on theuse of firecrackers at the weddingcelebrations in Jodhpur, animalrights organisation PETA hasraised a concern about the use ofa horse and elephant at their nup-tials.

“Dear Priyanka Chopra andNick Jonas, elephants for weddingslive in chains and horses are con-trolled with whips, spiked bits.People are rejecting elephant ridesand having horse-free weddings.Congratulations, but we regret itwas not a happy day for animals,”PETA India posted on Twitter onMonday, a day after the twocelebrities got married.

Nick is said to have arrived ona horseback for the wedding.

The post by People for EthicalTreatment of Animals (PETA)was backed by a video titled Band,Baaja, Brutality, and showcasedwhat horses go through whenthey are used at weddings.

According to PETA India CEOManilal Valliyate, “Priyanka hasbeen ill served by not being advisedof the firestorm that would becaused by participating in animalabuse.”

“It doesn't make a person lookbig or glamorous to promote cru-elty to animals who has no choicebut to serve. It makes them looksmall. Overwhelmingly, these daysPETA is delighted to see so manycelebrities feel passionately aboutprotecting animals,” Valliyate said.

The duo has scheduled areception in New Delhi today.

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The joy of unwrapping alarge box with barehands while in yourpajamas is a moment ofindescribable excite-

ment. Whether it’s a birthday,anniversary, Christmas or wedding,we look forward to seeing howmuch thought our loved ones putinto making us feel special. Whilematerial gifts undoubtedly bringjoy to the recipient, at the sametime they can be limiting. Thus,millennials are moving away fromthis dilemma and are instead opt-ing to gift experiences rather thanphysical things. Anything fromtravel packages to a balloon ridewith a romantic dinner or a mealin the sky has become acceptableoptions.

Riddhi Gupta had a special giftfor her parents — a package for theChar Dham pilgrimage, completewith flight tickets, hotel stay, tem-ple visits and local sightseeing thatthey could do at their convenience.“This year, we could not celebratethe festival together. So, this was theideal gift for them as they wantedto take this trip since so long,” saidthe Hyderabad-based homemaker.

“Our research indicate thatgifting an experience is far moresocially connecting than givingmaterial gifts. Our guests nowseek unique personalised experi-ences, which are specially curatedas per their requirements,” saidAshok Reddy, founder and CEO ofGrabOn.

“Users prefer gifting e-giftvouchers and cards because of theconvenience of usage and ease ofredemption. The freedom tochoose their own gifts without set-tling down for one explains theoverall preference of gift cards,” he

added. These gift cards can be usedas presents for Christmas or may befor several other occasions. GrabOnalone has has documented a 90 percent increase in transactions dur-ing the festive season, startingwith Dussehra and continuing toDiwali.

The idea of giving a trip as agift is a good one, for peopleacross all generations. Whetheryou’re gifting a parent or a spouseor a friend, gathering novel expe-riences are more important to themillennial generation.

The consumer behaviour studyby the company revealed experien-tial gifts, be it travel, shopping,entertainment or dining, bringspeople a lot closer than tradition-al gift baskets or hampers. This maybe one of the factors why more andmore people are inclined towardsgifting e-gift cards and vouchers totheir loved ones.

“Recently gift vouchers arebeing used by couples and individ-uals as a gifting option. Earlier peo-ple would want to give out proba-bly a shirt or something very per-sonal, to show that they have putin an extra effort. But 30 per centof people tend to return those gifts,while 50-60 per cent might notreturn it but they end up beingunhappy for sure,” said ArvindPrabhakar, CEO of GyFTR.com.

“This dissatisfaction led to anew idea of giving vouchers andpeople easily go up to �5,000 andmore. In the next couple of years,50 per cent of the people would def-initely move to voucher and e-giftcards,” he predicts.

Vouchers have been around fora while, either as something whichis given to business partners or asan incentive or as part of compen-sation, but the new trend of givingthese have come to be a mainstay.

Whether it wasabout focusing onthe mental condi-

tioning that creates genderinequality in Parched orbringing to notice how tech-nology is creating a gener-ation gap with her latestproject Rajma Chawal, film-maker Leena Yadav treats allher movies as opinionpieces on topics that matterto a progressive mind.

As many women arefinding a voice against patri-archy, Yadav says responsi-ble action is required to con-tinue the change.

Asked about the con-stant transformation in thesociety around genderequality, Yadav said,“Actually, Parched has comefrom the place of socialconditioning of men andwomen rather than talkingabout the gender equality.The way we are conditionedbased on our gender is caus-ing the discrimination. Whois the first teacher of achild? It is his/her mother.Some of the biggest gate-keepers of patriarchy arewomen.”

“It is equally difficult fora man to live in the societywith a certain mind condi-tioning when he realises heis infertile. One of the rea-sons why the character ofManoj in Parched is so vio-lent is that he realised thathe is infertile.

“Imagine the struggleand frustration they gothrough because they aretaught masculinity in a cer-tain way. Same things hap-pen to women as well... somind conditioning is thevillain to blame,” explainedYadav.

She considers thechanging scenario in thefilm industry, especially theinflux of female filmmakers

and technicians, as a posi-tive sign.

Talking about how menare getting sensitised cour-tesy the #MeTooMovement, she said, “Sinceshaming the victim is notthere anymore, it’s great tosee how so many womenwho suffered for ages arefinding their voice. It ispositive. But we have to bevery responsible in thistransformation, otherwisethe whole movement can bederailed.”

Her film RajmaChawal, an Old Delhi-setdrama starring RishiKapoor, released on Netflixon November 30.

“My husband (cine-matographer Aseem Bajaj)who is also the producer ofthe film told me that nomatter what we do, we prac-tically cannot reach out to190 countries at one go if afilm releases in the the-atres. And as filmmakers,our aim is to reach out tothe maximum number ofpeople.

“So it is only wise toaccept the reality that peo-ple prefer to watch films onOTT platforms like Netflixrather than going to the the-atres.”

The film also featuresAnirudh Tanwar andAmyra Dastur.

As the film is set inDelhi and revolves aroundthe generation gap betweentwo people, the city playedan important role in thenarration.

“You see, the city itselfhas its own generation gapbetween old Delhi and NewDelhi. So after hearing thestory, when we decided todevelop the script, we usedthe generational gap in amanner that fits the mode ofthe narration. Very interest-ingly, Chandni Chowk is aplace that embraces peopleand celebrates inclusive-ness.

“Though the place wascrowded and I was con-cerned about the shootlogistically, the locals andmy team were so good thatwe ended up making thefilm together,” she added.

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Farrokh Bulsara, better known asFreddie Mercury, seems to be theflavour of the season. Close on theheels of a movie, BohemianRhapsody, named after his iconic

song, which is also UK’s third best-selling sin-gle of all time, comes the play Queen of Rock,which celebrates the artist of Indian origin.“I had no idea that the film was going to comeout. I decided to do this in December 2017because I love the music of Freddie Mercuryand am also doing musicals. It is indeed astrange coincidence that the music and playcame out at the same time,” says director RituRae Chandra.

The play is based on a simple story abouta group of Bohemians who struggle torestore the free exchange of thought, fashionand live music in an era of uniformity. Themusical act shows how the real world hastransformed into a virtual one, where every-one is the same in terms of mindset, actionsand dressing. “The rock music-based musi-cal act features songs from Freddie Mercuryin his signature four-octave vocal rangethough they are not the original tracks but aresung live,” says Ritu. These include iconicnumbers like Bohemian Rhapsody, We WillRock You, I want To Break Free, We are theChampions.

It is only for one particular place that shehas used the original track by Freddie’s band,Queen. “When we change the sets on stage,there is a long black-out. So we chose to playHeadlong,” she says. Another interesting ele-ment is the use of the voice of a person, whoknew Freddie, through an old radio record-ing. But this is not the only thing that createsthe impression of an old world. There are AV,lighting and props, the barbed wires hangingall around that take the audience back to abygone era,” says Ritu.

This recreation, however, is also a com-mentary on the present times. “There is somuch pressure nowadays, so we included thesong, Under Pressure. The story comments onhow the present generation is moving towardsa digital world. Even music is being createdthrough digital means as we are losing the feelof the real world. It is a contrast between whathappened in the 60s and what is happeningnow. The songs revolve around the story,” saysRitu adding, “The cyber children are losingtouch with reality. Everything can be accessedinstantly at the click of a button.”

Ritu believes that the music is iconic, ever-green and resonates even today. “TheBohemian Rhapsody has these lines, ‘Is this thereal life? Is this just a fantasy? Caught in a land-slide. No escape from reality.’ These could be

written for contemporary time,” she says.Despite the current popularity of his

songs even after Freddie’s demise in 1991, Ritubelieves that the singer did not get his due.“His big break was when he sang BohemianRhapsody in 1985 at Live Aid and he diedsoon after. What he sang could not berepeated as the kind of voice and the rangeis difficult to replicate. Even his dedication isof a different level. For one year he was work-ing only on Bohemian Rhapsody. We don’thave that kind of situation any more. Thingshave changed and evolved,” she says.

Given the range that the singer-song-writer was capable of, it was naturally a chal-lenge to find someone who could imitate himin his entirety. “The main challenge was thathis voice quality and range could not be repli-cated. I was clear that the person was play-ing Freddie and it was not really him. So otherpeople sing the sopranos, other medleys oralto backstage while the actors lip sync,” shesays.

“During the audition I found some real-ly talented people who amazed and over-whelmed me. There is a team of 35 artistsincluding dancers and actors,” adds Ritu.

But this is not the first time that the direc-tor is staging a musical. An earlier produc-tion, Mamma Mia, was based on the SwedishGroup, Abba. “The audience connects withmusic deeply which sets the pace. I like to usethat kind of music which has a universalappeal. People can relate to such kind ofmusic. However as compared to Abba, Queenturned out to be tougher because their songsare layered,” she says.

Ritu has had a chequered theatricalcareer spanning over 18 years, out of whichfor 15 she did non-commercial theatre,which too was unplanned. “It was a fluke.My children were in primary school whenthe teacher asked me to do something dur-ing the Reading Week. We staged a storyfrom the Karadi Tales about a crow and afox. I do not have formal training but I wasworking for 15 years before I decided to gobig. There is nothing like learning on thejob,” she says.

She directed a play for the children of theBlind School called Khushi, Ek Ehsaas. “I had50 visually-impaired children on stage andthe story was based on the teachings of theDalai Lama. There were 10 main points. Iwent into it thinking that even though theyare visually-impaired, they are still kids. Andthey proved me right. They had the same atti-tude, desires and wishes that any teenagerhas,” she says.

But what about the future? “I am so tiredas we had been doing this for a year. I mayrepeat Queen of Rock or Mamma Mia outsideDelhi but I have not really planned it as yet,”she says as she quickly makes her way insidethe green room to add the finishing touchesto her labour of love.

What happens at the border?What kind of boundariesdo soldiers have to push

and cross? How fictitious are thestories from these borders?

Answering all such questionsabout the plight of soldiers stayingat borders and serving the country,the Dutch dance company,Vloeistof, brought an intimate pub-lic space performance, We are wait-ing at the border, conceptualised byDutch choreographer Yuri Bongersand Swiss choreographer AnjaReinhardt.

The public arena of theMeghdoot Theatre at the SangeetNatak Akademi was occupied by per-formers Rex Clemensia, UlrikeDoszmann, Keanu Sinnaeve andAnja Reinhardt. As the four of themheld a large sheet of glass that coveredtheir faces and bodies, they gradual-ly moved towards the front with itafter a set interval of a few seconds.When the squad reached the end ofthe boundary, the stage in this case,they seemed to be trapped behind the

sheet, slightly crawling out for a gaspof breath. Moving towards the endwhile holding the sheet impliedpushing of the zones that were beingcreated around them and breakingthrough. The artists talked abouthow their dance images are inspired

by the everyday life and an under-standing of the human space.“Neither a dance idiom itself is thestarting point, nor the aestheticform. We use dance to activelyinvolve the spectators and encour-age them to reflect on the reality in

which they find themselves on adaily basis. It is inspired by the beau-ty of the everyday lives reflecting onhuman behaviour in an urban andmodern setting, bringing out funny,absurd and poetic elements,” saidone of the performers. The nextsequence commenced when thethree of them trap the fourth per-son between four different opaqueglass sheets, where the captive’smovements depicted the emotionsof a trapped and helpless person.

Why not in an enclosed spacethough? What is the purpose behindshowcasing a performance betweena group of audience? They believedthat the question of “how we relateto the space and especially how weperceive it — is fundamental. Thisis to challenge the audience’s percep-tion of space by using body as amedium.” As the audience stood cir-cling the four dancers, they steppedamid the crowd to perform certainactions and dance movements.Vloeistof ’s idea was to develop aform in which the spectatorsbecome directly involved and theircollective experiences contributeto the overall content of the perfor-mance. The audience’s reactions andinteractions are a part of the expe-rience.

The following performance ofThe Dutch Double Bill broughttogether three Kathak dancers fromBengaluru, Hari, Chethna and

Sirisha Irudaya Raj for a setpiececalled Ayush. Conceptualised andchoreographed by the artistic direc-tor of the Korzo Theatre in TheHague, Netherlands, Leo Spreksel,the act was an amalgamation ofWestern dramaturgy and Kathakvocabulary, brilliantly combiningthe two elements in one perfor-mance. The dancers began with tap-ping on their respective podiums atthe stage. The taps synchronisedwith the beats of the music. Withintense expressions, the perfor-mance profoundly made one diveand ponder about how one thingleads to the other. While talkingabout what Ayush signified, the triorevealed that the experimentaldance work was inspired by the phi-losophy of Ayurveda, based on thethree doshas of the body — pitta,vata and kapha, and “their constantbalance and imbalance, strengthsand weaknesses — exposed, res-onated and aligned.”

The initial performance’s themecontrasted with the theme of Ayushas it also talked about shattering theglasses and zones that a human cre-ates for self. It broke through theself-inflicted governance that wecreate over our mental and physi-cal processes giving away evidencethat life need not be confined.“More than any determined bound-aries, we need to be free of our ownlimits,” said one of the three dancers.

The world of art knows noprejudice or boundaries.As the best artists from

across the globe congregated atthe opening ceremony of the12th edition of DelhiInternational Arts Festival(DIAF) at Purana Qila, it wit-nessed performances fromKorea, China and Sri Lankahitherto unseen in India.

Aruna Vasudeva, who isalso known as the mother ofAsian cinema and one of thedirectors of DIAF said, “TheIndian art and cultural industryis evolving and spreading at avery fast pace reaching to a glob-al audience. One can see a lot ofIndian performances across theworld and numerous foreignerslearning Indian art forms today.I find all of this very exciting.People get to see such disparateart forms under one umbrella.”

She believes that this is justthe beginning of the biggest andlargest cultural equity. “I mustsay, this opening ceremony ofDIAF is absolutely surprising.The fact that there are four per-formances — from India, Korea,China and Sri Lanka — is a visu-al feast. Four entirely differentnations performing together,and that too in India. Couldanything be more breathtaking?DIAF has a lot to offer to artconnoisseurs in Delhi,” sheadded.

The opening performance atthe festival presented Indiantabla player, Akram Khan,which Vasudeva saw as “anexciting rhythmic ensemble.”There was yet another first-of-its-kind element that grabbedeyeballs and applause — Koreandance performance. AfterKorea’s division into North andSouth segments, their danceand art forms also got diversi-fied. Today, both the dancestyles have their respective char-acteristics, which they collabo-rated to perform together for thefirst time sharing a single stage— unlocking a historical mile-stone at the ceremony. It repre-sented the beginning of diplo-matic ties between the twoKorean countries, creating abeautiful symphony and syn-chronisation for viewers. Theact’s depiction of the confluenceof cultures undoubtedly left animpact among the audience.

Director of the KoreanCultural Centre India, Kim KumPyoung said, “It’s the first timetwo borders are collaboratingwith each other for an interna-tional arts fiesta. This inter-Korean peace process has gotinternational interest and high-lights this year. We would like tolead the interests to South andNorth Koreas’ cultures and artswith similarities and distinctivecharacteristics.”

The Korean group preparedover 12 performances whichincluded their traditional songsand dances. The first perfor-mance was a tri-coloured fandance that used a two-metre-

long colourful cloth-like fan,creating wave-like patterns anda domino effect across the stage.The splendid and dynamic sightleft the audience amazed and thetheatre was filled with claps.

It was followed by Teapyung,a unique form of Korean folkdance that was performed forthe peaceful reign (Taepyeong)of the king and the nation.Then there was Pansori, a rep-resentative style of music wheretwo people were involved —gosu, who leads the rhythmand sets the melody andsorykkun, the singer who sharesdescriptive stories on variousfacets of life. They had a musi-cal conversation with each otherby weaving the two aspects intoone.

Another performanceincluded Jeanggang dance, rep-resenting North Korea.Performers wore steel braceletsand danced to the rhythm ofmerry tunes.

The performers also pre-sented Chukwon dance. Thisextravagant style is performedduring happy occasions, andduring the visit of the foreignenvoys.

Apart from Korean perfor-mances, the opening ceremonyalso witnessed the mesmerisingperformances like the tradi-tional folk dance by dancersfrom Sri Lanka. The ChineseDrum Opera from Shanghaimade creative use of folk as acultural strategy for nationalintegration.

This was just the beginning.From the most traditional to themost contemporary expressionsof art forms, DIAF offers all,while maintaining the unique-ness and diversity of India’sartistic and cultural traditions.

(The festival is on tillDecember 10.)

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Indian batsman CheteshwarPujara is expecting a strong show-ing from R Ashwin in the upcom-

ing Test series against Australia as hefeels the senior off-spinner has addedto his bag of tricks with a few tech-nical adjustments.

India will take on Australia in afour-Test series, starting here onDecember 6.

Ashwin has struggled onAustralian soil, taking 21 wickets atan average of 54.71 in six Tests — arecord that is underwhelming whencompared to his overall Test statis-tics of 336 wickets at 25.44.

However, Pujara backed histeammate saying his stint in countycricket has helped him regain con-fidence. Ashwin played forWorcestershire earlier this year withdecent results.

"I always say he is a cleverbowler, he reads the batsmen reallywell...I think he has made a lot ofchanges. I can't describe what itis...But he has made some adjust-ments which has helped him," Pujarasaid.

"He also has played some coun-

ty cricket, enough cricket in England,which is obviously overseas, differ-ent conditions, not much help forspinners.

"So when he plays in Australia,he knows what he has to do, he alsohas played a series in 2014-15, so heis very confident now and whateveradjustment he had to make, he hasalready done."

On to the subject of Indian bat-ting and its over-reliance on an in-form Virat Kohli, Pujara insistedthere is no extra pressure on the line-up despite losses to England andSouth Africa.

"It's always about batting as aunit. When you go out there youwant to perform to best of your abil-ity rather than thinking whetherthere is extra pressure or not," he said.

"We have some goals as a battingunit...I don't think there is any pres-sure on the batting unit. Most of ourbatters are experienced enough. Sowe trust our preparation and abili-ty."

On the individual goals for theseries, Pujara said experience ofplaying the last series againstAustralia in 2016-17 will help his bat-ting.

"When you have faced somebowlers in the past, you know whatare their strengths and weaknesses.So it will help me in this series," hesaid.

"But it will be a fresh start andI don't want to focus too much onwhat I have done in the past. I amconfident but at the same time Iwould also like to respect the oppo-sition."

Pujara said that India's currentpace attack is among the best tocome out of the country and the richbench strength was probably due tothe Indian Premier League.

"Even when it comes to benchstrength, if a couple of our fastbowlers are injured, they will havesome back up. When it comes to fastbowling this is probably one of thebest attacks we have in many years.

"It could be the IPL which hashelped produce good fastbowlers and is benefitting theIndian test team at themoment."

Pujara said the teamwas motivated as ever to win anoverseas Test series, particularlyfor the first time on Australian soil.

"We have been playing goodcricket outside India now and this isa very good opportunity for the teamto perform well," he said.

"Being the number one Testteam, we always look to win each andevery series, and this is no different.We would like to perform well andstart off well. We definitely want towin this series but will take one Testat a time."

In the practice game in Sydneylast week, Cricket Australia XI scored544 runs against India's bowlingattack but Pujara said it was not amatter of concern.

"Conceding 500 runs in a warm-up game doesn't mean anything. Itwasn't a Test match so we are notworried about it. Our bowlers knowwhat they have to do," he said.

"They know what line andlengths to bowl in Australia, and

��� #/3�#4/3

The Indian batting line-up is the bestin the world but not untameable if

talismanic skipper Virat Kohli is kept incheck, feels Australia vice-captain andpacer Josh Hazlewood.

Kohli had scored 692 runs, includ-ing four hundreds, during India's pre-vious Test tour of Australia andHazlewood said the run-machine willonce again take centrestage when therivalry renews from December 6 here.

"I see the Indian line up as the bestin the world, if not right up there, led byVirat and I think they feed a lot off himand how he goes about things,"Hazlewood said.

"They've played a lot at home sincewe played them last in Australia. Theytoured England and South Africa, andit was only Virat who stood out. A lot ofthe other haven't scored too many of theruns," he added.

The bowler said his team has beenmaking plans for Kohli and a few"options" will be in place.

"I think we'll obviously have a chatabout him before the game starts. We'llcome up with a couple of options. It'sabout what conditions suit, with a play-er of that caliber you need a few options,"Hazlewood told reporters.

But sledging the marauding batsmandoes not figure in those options.

"Virat obviously thrives on that sortof stuff. It gets him going and he prob-ably plays his best cricket when he's doingthat. It's up to the individual - if it's abowler or a fielder. I am usually prettyquiet when I am bowling."

Speaking specifically about the firstTest, Hazlewood said early break-throughs will hold the key.

"If we can make some early inroadsin this first Test, it's always crucial andthe first innings. If we can get on top of

them early, hopefully that will filterthrough the rest of the Test."

India have been touted as favouritesagainst Australia in the absence of thebanned batting duo of Steve Smith andDavid Warner but Hazlewood said itwould be an even contest.

"I think it's pretty even. They're obvi-ously number one Test team in the worldbut we play some good cricket at home.So I think it's very even heading this," hesaid.

"With our bowling attack we're veryconfident and based on last year, we hadquite a good template there and itworked pretty well (in the Ashes). So we'llbe looking to replicate that and test itagainst one of the best batting orders inthe world."

Hazlewood added that the fitness oftheir three-pronged pace attack, also con-sisting of Mitchell Starc and PatCummins, will probably determine thecourse of this series.

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Virat Kohli can be "rattled" and Australiashould try to get under his skin rather

than sitting back and be bullied by the Indiancaptain, said former skipper Ricky Ponting.

India will take on Australia in the four-Test series beginning here Thursday and for-mer Australia batsman Dean Jones hasadvised against provoking Kohli.

The India skipper has mellowed downsince the previous tour Down Under but whenasked if he will be baiting Australia on thefield, Ponting said: "Well, he might. I don'tnecessarily believe that he is someone youshouldn't try to get under his skin. I have seenhim rattled.

"Mitchell Johnson definitely rattled hima few times with some good hostile bowlingand some good hostile body language aroundhim. So, I would not sit back and let anyonebully," Ponting told cricket.Com.Au.

"The way we go about playing cricket,especially at home, it is about good strongbody language. That is the way Australianshave always played their best."

Ponting, under whom Australia domi-nated world cricket, said it would be "rubbish"if the current side doesn't play with an aggres-sive mindset.

"Yes, Australian teams of the past havealways had few words to say but it was alwayson the back of some good hostile bowling, youcan't do without it. It is rubbish otherwise.

"You have to able to impose yourself onthe game in a way other than using yourmouth. You got to use your actions and skills."

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The Indian cricket team's No 1 Testranking will be at stake in the four-

match series against Australia but the sidecan hold on to the position if it managesto draw even just one game.

Australia is currently ranked fifth onthe table.

"A 4-0 series win for Australia willmove them into No 1 position in Testrankings; India need to draw one Test toretain top spot," the ICC said in a state-ment.

There is no change to the top-20 bat-ting list, which is headed by Indian cap-tain Virat Kohli. Banned Australianbatsman Steve Smith and KaneWilliamson of New Zealand are secondand third, respectively.

In the rankings for bowlers, RavindraJadeja is the best-placed Indian at fifth,while R Ashwin was also unchanged atseventh.

The four-Test series starts inAdelaide on Thursday. India is on 116points, while Australia is on 102 pointsin the ICC rankings.

"This difference of 14 points meansIndia are expected to win the series com-

fortably and their failure to do so willresult in the Asian side losing points," theICC stated.

If India win the series 4-0, they willmove to 120 points while Australia willdrop to 97 points.

However, if the series result isreversed, then Australia will move tonumero uno position on 110 points andIndia will slip to third on 108 points

(0.065 behind England).For India to successfully defend the

top ranking, they will have to draw at leastone Test.

A 3-0 series result in Australia'sfavour will mean that Kohli's men willbe on 109 points and the home side willbe on 108 points. A 3-1 series win forAustralia means they will finish on 107points and India will end on 111 points.

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Dead serious" about bringingthe Olympics to India in

2032, the IOA has submitted aformal expression of interest to bid for the event andis set to approach the government for support.

IOA president Narinder Batra told the visitingInternational Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bachearlier this year that India would consider bidding forthe 2032 Games. Bach had welcomed the move.

The IOA has already submitted a formal expres-sion of interest to the IOC to bid for the 2032 Olympic.

Following that, IOA Secretary General RajeevMehta had a meeting with the three-member bid com-mittee of the IOC headed by Jacqueline Barrett,Associate Director Olympic Games/OlympicCandidatures, during the body's Board meeting inTokyo earlier this month.

"We are dead serious about this bid for the 2032Olympics. So, we have already submitted to the IOCthe letter expressing our interest in hosting 2032Olympic Games. I had a meeting with the BidCommittee of the IOC. They welcomed the move andsaid that India should have hosted an Olympic Gamesmuch earlier," Mehta said.

New Delhi and Mumbai are the top two venues inthe minds of the IOA top brass but other cities are alsonot ruled out.

This is the first time that the IOA has officially sub-mitted its expression of interest to host an OlympicGames to the IOC.

"At the first stage, a country expresses its interestto bid for the Olympics and at a later stage the proposedhost city or cities is mentioned in the bid. India has notbid or expressed interest to host Olympic Games ear-lier," he added.

The bid process for the 2032 Olympics will startin 2022 and a host city will be announced in 2025.

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Argentina's almost ensured theirspot in the World Cup quarter-

finals with a 3-0 win over NewZealand at the Kalinga hockey stadi-um here on Monday.

A win against France (onThursday), the lowest-ranked team inthe tournament, will seal the Olympicchampions' quarter-final spot. OnMonday, they were in control of thematch except for the first 10 minutes.

New Zealand had the upper handin the first 10 minutes of the start. Butonce settled in, the Argentines' pos-session improved, they attacked moreand shot at the goal five times.Employing full-press, they invadedNew Zealand's penalty circle ninetimes but 'keeper Richard Joyce andthe Kiwi defence regiment guardedtheir net amid high tension.

But with a three-second specta-cle - wherein, Agustin Mazzilli, fromthe right, tomahawked the ball fluid-ly into the net after Gonzalo Peillat,from the opposite flank, slingshottedit to him - Argentina led 1-0, sevenminutes short of the second quarter'send. Mazzilli, in Argentina's previousmatch against Spain, had equalisedtwice.

The Kiwi 'keeper was troubledagain, within five minutes of the thirdquarter, when the dangerous Peillatattempted to double Argentina's leadwith his drag-flick in his team's sec-ond penalty corner. But Joyce was

upto the task.The wait for a sec-

ond goal, however, did-n't prolong much forthe Olympic champions.In the 41st minute, Lucas Vila dou-bled the lead with an emphatic finishfrom the goalmouth. The forward tus-sled with Blair Tarrant on the edge ofthe circle and smashed it to the righttop corner.

The Kiwis let slip a chance in thelast minute of the penultimate quar-ter. Jared Panchia, in the goalmouth,struggled to trap a cross that wasdirected to him from the left.Argentina hammered the final nail on

the coffin with five min-utes to end when LucazMartinez converted histeam's third penalty cor-ner.

While in the first game, Skipperand goalkeeper Quico Cortes ledfrom the front with a superb penaltystroke save to help three-time medal-list Spain eke out a hard-fought 1-1draw against lowly France in their sec-ond Pool A match.

The draw kept both the teams inthe hunt for the knock-out round withone point apiece from two games.

It was France who stunned theSpaniards in the sixth minute when

Timothee Clement scored from a fieldeffort.

But Spain came back stronglyafter the change of ends and restoredparity in the 48th minute throughAlvaro Iglesias' field strike.

France had a golden opportuni-ty to register their first major upset ofthe tournament but the Spain skipperCortes came to his side's rescue.

In the last 10 minutes, Francewere awarded a penalty stroke becauseof obstruction in front of the goal bya Spain defender after they went forvideo referral but Cortes made a bril-liant save flying to his right to keepHugo Genestet's try at bay.

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most of them have played herein 2014-15. As a bowling unitwe are very confident and thebowlers will stick to theirbasics."

India did not train onMonday, with the exception ofAshwin and Rohit Sharma who

showed up to practice."The trainer and physio

have been monitoring theworkload so depending on thatwe thought it is best to take abreak and train for the next twodays and be fresh for the Testmatch."

Page 16: @A...2018/12/04  · Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY). Against the target of con-structing one crore rural dwellings by March 31, 2019, only 60 lakh houses have been built so far since the

Today, the Indian Navy, a unifiedthree-dimensional force, hasstrengthened itself as a formida-

ble, multi-dimensional and networkedforce that protect India’s naval interests,efficiently safeguards its seaward fron-tiers and defeats any threats to thenational security in the maritime bor-ders.

The Indian Navy is fully geared upwith the state-of-the-art weapon systemsto ensure the sovereignty of the nationby defeating any security challengeswhich may emerge in the foreseeablefuture. The Indian Navy, to add morefirepower to its operational capabilities,has equipped all its frontline warshipswith the world’s leading supersoniccruise missile—BRAHMOS.

The Indian Navy, which startedarming its frontline surface warfareships with BRAHMOS as a ‘prime strikeweapon’ from 2005 onwards, hasdeployed the missile in both land-attackand anti-ship configurations, to carryout littoral as well as surface warfaremissions. The BRAHMOS supersoniccruise missile has thereby establisheditself as a unique weapon system. Itsspeed, precision and devastating powerin destroying the target, has made theweapon unparalleled in the global arena.

The advanced weapon system hasgrown from strength to strength overthe years and has added new capabilitiesto meet the divergent war scenarios.With its versatility, potentiality andstriking capability, it has maintained aleading edge over the world’s other mis-siles and weapons. The BRAHMOS iscapable of flying at a top speed of Mach3 and is extremely lethal in strikingdown an enemy target in no time. Thesupersonic speed of the missile alsomakes it difficult for interception by theenemy’s air defence system.

Similarly, the Indian Army hasraised several BRAHMOS regimentswith the weapon’s land-attack versionwhich has been developed in Block-I,Block-II and Block-III configurations,having distinct features for divergentconflict scenarios. The most gloriousfeat for the world-class BRAHMOS pro-gramme was achieved in 2017, when thecruise missile was successfully test-firedfrom the Indian Air Force’s Su-30MKIfighter aircraft against a sea based target

in the Bay of Bengal. By arming all thethree wings of the Indian Armed Forces,the BRAHMOS has completed the tacti-cal cruise missile triad.

The Indian Navy was thefirst to an place order forBRAHMOS. The missile sys-tem is inducted in a majority of theexisting naval platforms and will bedeployed in other future surface ships.They are capable of both maritime strikeand land attack. The missile is capableof hitting sea based targets beyond radarhorizons. It can be launched in eitherinclined or vertical configurations basedon the type of the ship. Therefore, all themodern Indian Navy ships have beenequipped with BRAHMOS. The missilehas also showcased its underwaterlaunch capabilities, following its test fir-

ing in vertical configuration from a sub-merged platform in the Bay of Bengal,off the coast of Visakhapatnam. Themissile is now ready to arm the newgeneration submarines.

The BRAHMOS has also achievedhistoric milestones in the ‘Make InIndia’ programme by successfullylaunching the BRAHMOS missile withmajor sub-systems such as indigenousseeker, critical indigenous components,fuel management system and other non-

metallic airframe components; provingthe competency of the missile life exten-sion technologies developed for the firsttime in India by test-firing with theadvanced features.

The supersonic cruise missile,developed jointly by India’s DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) and Russia’sNPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM), is aunique example of the partnershipbetween both the friendly nations incritical areas of research and develop-ment. It is the untiring efforts and com-petent leadership of the entire team of

BrahMos, including

the consortium of more than 206 Indianindustries and multiple Russian indus-tries, R&D labs and academic institu-tions of both the countries, which havemade significant contribution in design,development and production, leading tothe induction of BRAHMOS in theIndian Armed Forces. More than 20,000specialists, engineers and technicians, inmore than 200 large and medium indus-tries, are currently associated withBrahMos as a great strength and a forcemultiplier.

Today, with numerous launchesfrom various platforms, each achievingtechnological prowess with continuousupgrades, BRAHMOS is a system parexcellence. BrahMos is supplying themissile system to all the three pillars ofIndian Armed Forces and undertakingcontinuous performance improvements,upgradations and newer versions.

BrahMos has proved to the worldthat a joint venture of advanced technol-ogy can lead to a high performanceproduct in the shortest possible timewith far-reaching dividends.

BrahMos Aerospace felicitates theIndian Navy onthis Navy Day.

The Naval OperationalDemonstrations 2018, recently held

in Kochi, showcased the entire spec-trum of naval operational capabilitiesof the Indian Navy. The event, held infront of the Rajendra maiden andSubhash park on Sunday, was hosted bythe Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla,AVSM, NM, VSM, Flag OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, SouthernNaval Command and was graced bythe Governor of Kerala, Justice (Retd)P Sathasivam, as the chief guest. Theevent was attended by various digni-taries including the Mayor of Kochi,Soumini Jain, the District Collector of

Ernakulam, K Mohammed Y Safirulla,and was also witnessed by thousands ofresidents of Kochi from the MarineDrive and Subhash Park water front.

Eight ships, nine helicopters andthree Dornier aircraft along with theMarine Commandos participated inthe Operational Demonstrations,which took place after a gap of twoyears. The event was cancelled last year,due to the involvement of the Navy inSearch and Rescue and Disaster Reliefefforts in the aftermath of the CycloneOckhi. This year too, the Navy hadbeen at the forefront of relief effortsduring the recent Kerala floods.

Consequently, the demonstration of itsrescue and lift capabilities in particulartouched a chord with the spectators.

The display, which lasted for morethan an hour, included a demonstrationof landing a Seaking helicopter on amoving warship, firing of weapons,special operations by the marine com-mandos from air and water, simulationof visit, board, search and seizure oper-ations and Helobatics by the AdvancedLight Helicopter. The INS Ranvijay, oneof the older Destroyers of the IndianNavy with its sleek silhouette, providedthe perfect backdrop to the entireevent.

The Navy Chief AdmiralSunil Lanba, informed

that the government hasgiven a green signal to theexpansion and upgradationplan of the Indian Navy with56 new ships and six sub-marines, including anadvanced class—the Project75I. He further revealed thatthe second Scorpene classsubmarine, Khanderi, hasundergone the requisite tri-als and will be commis-sioned soon while theremaining Scorpene sub-marines are undergoing pre-induction trials.

“The government hasgiven its approval to having56 ships and submarines.Some of these will replacethe existing fleet and willinclude new ships like fleetships, submarines and minesweepers. The constructionof these new ships and sub-marines would be spreadacross a decade and it would

be in addition to the 32 shipsand submarines under con-struction, as of now,” saidLanba.

In the backdrop of aconstant Chinese militarythreat in the Indian OceanRegion, the Indian Navy isalso pushing for a third air-craft carrier, whose con-struction will start in thenext three years. “We areworking on the IAC-2 at thenaval headquarters. We aredeciding on the form and fit.It will be a conventional car-rier, CATOBAR and will be

65,000 tons. We are havingdiscussions with the defenceministry for requisite fundsand it will take seven to 10years to construct. We arehopeful that this process willgo forward and we will beable to start the constructionof the aircraft carrier withinthree years,” he said.

The navy is also pro-gressing with three heli-copter projects, including111 Naval Utility Helicoptersunder the StrategicPartnership (SP) model andtwo cases of Multi Role

Helicopters-24 from the USunder the Foreign MilitarySales route and 123 moreunder the SP model.Boosting its other capabili-ties in the Indian OceanRegion, a naval air station atthe north Andaman andNicobar Islands has beenestablished for better con-nectivity to the region andimproving surveillance capa-bilities. The navy also con-ducted 20 exercises withpartner nations in the regionthis year to enhance interop-erability, informed Lanba.

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