CAPSULE

ARTICLE 370: SC TOHEAR PLEA IN APRILNew Delhi: The SC on Fridaysaid it will hear in April a pleachallenging the validity of Article370 of the Constitution, whichgives special status to J&K.

MODI DARES CONG TOMAKE ‘OUTSIDER’ CHIEFAmbikapur: PM Narendra Modion Friday dared the Congress tomake someone “from outsidethe family” as its chief for him tobelieve the late leader created atrue democratic system.

‘General consent’ accorded to Central agency to exercise its authority in States withdrawn

Andhra, Bengal clip CBI wingsNo clean chit to Verma;SC seeks reply in 3 days

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central VigilanceCommission (CVC) has

come out with “mixed” find-ings while dealing with allega-tion of corruption againstbenched CBI Director AlokVerma. Taking note of theCVC report, the SupremeCourt has given Verma time tillNovember 19 to respond tocertain “very uncomplimenta-ry findings” in the CVC report.

The SC Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoisaid there are some “very com-plimentary”, some “not so com-plimentary” and some “veryuncomplimentary” findings inthe “exhaustive” preliminaryenquiry report. The Benchincluded justices SK Kaul andKM Joseph.

The SC also directed that acopy of the CVC report alongwith annexure be given toVerma in a sealed cover and it“will be open for” him to file hisresponse to it “again in sealedcover” by 1 pm on November19. The apex court has fixedNovember 30 as the next datefor hearing in the matter.

“CVC has filed an exhaus-

tive report. The report hasbeen categorised in four partsand is very complimentary onsome charges, not so compli-mentary on some charges andvery uncomplimentary onsome charges. CVC report sayssome charges are required to beinvestigated and they needtime,” the CJI said and postedthe matter for hearing onTuesday.

Earlier, Verma hadapproached the apex courtchallenging the Centre’s deci-sion to divest him of his dutiesand sending him on leave fol-lowing his feud with his deputySpecial Director RakeshAsthana, who has levelled cor-ruption allegations against him.Asthana was also divested of hisduties and sent on leave.

The CVC’s enquiry againstVerma was conducted underthe supervision of former apexcourt judge Justice AK Patnaik

and the report was filed in thecourt on November 12 follow-ing a directive from the topcourt.

During the hearing onFriday, the Bench made it clearthat the confidentiality ofCVC’s report was necessary“keeping in mind the need topreserve and maintain thesanctity of the institution of theCBI and public confidence inthe said institution”.

The Bench had noted thata copy of the report and theannexure be also furnished ina sealed cover to the offices ofAttorney General KKVenugopal and SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, who isrepresenting the CVC.

The court turned downthe plea of senior advocateMukul Rohatgi, appearing forAsthana, to also give him acopy of the CVC report.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n AMARAVATI/NEWDELHI/KOLKATA

Setting the stage for a bitterconfrontation between the

Centre and States, AndhraPradesh and West BengalGovernments have withdrawnthe “general consent” accordedto the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) to exerciseits authority in the States.

First it was AndhraPradesh Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu whoseGovernment declared that theCBI cannot conduct raids orinvestigations in his State with-out permission. Hours laterWest Bengal counterpartMamata Banerjee followed suit.

Backing Andhra PradeshCM, Mamata said, “WhatChandrababu has done is right.The CBI receives instructionsfrom the BJP.”

“In exercise of the powersconferred by Section 6 of theDelhi Special PoliceEstablishment Act, 1946,Government hereby withdrawsthe general consent accorded(in GO Ms 109) to all the mem-bers of the Delhi Special Police

Establishment to exercise thepowers and jurisdiction underthe said Act in the State ofAndhra Pradesh,” the AndhraGovernment notification said.

Andhra Pradesh DeputyChief Minister (Home) NChina Rajappa justified theState Government’s action say-ing it was taken against thebackdrop of certain allegationsagainst the country’s premierinvestigating agency.

“We have trust in the CBIbut the recent allegationsagainst its top officials havemade us withdraw the generalconsent. Henceforth, the CBI

has to obtain the StateGovernment’s permission forinvestigating every case,”Rajappa told the media.

The general consent waswithdrawn on the advice oflawyers and intellectuals,Rajappa claimed.

Even the Government inKarnataka had withdrawn thegeneral consent for the CBI, hepointed out. Rajappa, howev-er, clarified the CBI could takeup investigation against CentralGovernment officials withoutthe State’s permission. “We willgrant necessary permissionwhenever the CBI makes a

request,” he added.On August 3 this year, the

AP Government issued theGO Ms No. 109 according“general consent” to all mem-bers of the Delhi Special PoliceEstablishment to exercise thepowers and jurisdiction in APagainst officials of the CentralGovernment, CentralGovernment undertakings andprivate persons for investigat-ing offences under variouslaws, including the Preventionof Corruption Act.

Reacting to the decisiontaken by Andhra and Bengal,the Congress on Friday said it

is a “dangerous trend” thatStates Governments “no longerhave faith” in the CBI.

“Unfortunately in the lastfour-and-a-half years, they(CBI and other agencies) havebeen treated like private armiesof Amit Shah or Modi and thatis why people doubt the abili-ty of the CBI to act indepen-dently,” Congress leader PawanKhera alleged.

The Congress leader saidthe recent goings-on in the CBIare a “very serious matter”and people should not lose faithin such premier agencies.

Ever since he snapped tieswith the NDA in March,Chandrababu had been accus-ing the Centre of misusing theCBI to target political oppo-nents. The recent raids byIncome Tax authorities onsome business establishmentsrun by those close to the rul-ing Telugu Desam Party in theState have left Chandrababured-faced. Subsequently, heannounced that hisGovernment would not pro-vide police cover to the IT offi-cials for conducting the raids.

Continued on Page 7

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

The Kochi International Airport wasliterally held to ransom for almost

13 hours on Friday by devotees of LordAyyappa who had gathered in largenumbers to prevent social activistTrupti Desai, who flew down to Kerala,from entering Sabarimala Temple.

The activist who reached the airportat 4.45 am could not come out of theterminal and was confined to thelounge till 6.50 pm when she told themedia that she would return to Pune bya late night flight.

The devotees sat in front of thearrival lounge and sang Ayyappa bha-jans non-stop till Trupti announced herdecision to return to Pune. “I’ll comeback soon unannounced and will sure-ly visit Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala.Today no one is willing to help me toproceed to Sabarimala or to check into

a hotel,” said Desai, who was accom-panied by six of her associates.

Meanwhile, hectic activities are onto resolve the stand-off between thedevotees and the Kerala Government asTravancore Devaswom Board decidedto approach the Supreme Court with astay petition. If the stay is granted, theKerala Government may get somebreathing space to implement theSeptember 28 verdict of the SC.

The prelude to the Mandala Puja(the 41-day festival when devoteesthrong the shrine after observingpenance) took place on Friday eveningat Sabarimala Temple. The evening sawThanthri (chief priest) KantararuRajeevaru and head priest (mel shan-thi) AV Unnikrishnan Nampoodiriopening the sanctum in the presence ofhundreds of devotees and performingthe traditional Puja.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NAGAPATTINAM/CHENNAI

Cyclone Gaja ripped throughNagapattinam early on Friday

uprooting trees and snapping powerlines leaving a trail of destruction incoastal districts besides claiming 13 livesand flooding standing crops. Thecyclonic storm crossed Tamil Nadu’scoast between Nagapattinam and near-by Vedaranyam in the wee hours ofFriday, bringing in heavy rain in thecoastal regions, according to a weath-er bulletin.

Winds gusting up to 120 kmphuprooted trees, snapped electric cablesand blew off roofing-sheets. Accordingto officials, ten men and three womendied and 28 head of cattle perished incyclone related incidents despite author-ities evacuating as many as 81,948 peo-ple to 471 relief centres in Cuddalore,Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram,Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Tiruvarurdistricts. The storm caused heavy dam-age to the 16th century Shrine Basilicaat Velankanni in Nagapattinam district.

Due to gusty winds, the rood crosson top of the church broke and fell,Church authorities said. The church is

built in accordance with Gothic archi-tecture. Authorities said the 75-feet tallstone statue of Jesus erected in front ofthe Morning Star Church in the town,sustained structural damage. Accordingto church officials, the hands of the stat-ue have suffered damage. The roof ofthe Museum of Offerings in the townhas also been damaged.

Expressing grief over the deaths,Chief Minister K Palaniswami sanc-tioned a solatium of ̀ 10 lakh to the kinof those who died and `25,000 to `1lakh for the injured.

The CM said he has ordered offi-cials to immediately determine theextent of damage to crops, fishingboats, houses, and cattle. “I haveordered relief efforts on a war-footing,”he said, adding Ministers are carryingout work in districts assigned to them.

The Centre has assured the TamilNadu Government of all assistance todeal with the situation arising out of thecyclonic storm ‘Gaja’. Home MinisterRajnath Singh also directed HomeSecretary Rajiv Gauba to monitor thesituation in Tamil Nadu and provide allhelp to the State administration.

Continued on Page 7

CVC files ‘mixed'

findings against

benched CBI boss

Gaja tramples 13to death in TN

Sabarimala opens,

Trupti packed off to

Pune amid protests

A view of the damage caused by cyclone Gaja after it hit Velankanni in Nagapattinam district of TamilNadu on Friday PTI

Devotees enter the Sabarimala Temple as it opens amid tight security in Sabarimala on Friday PTI

Jet Airways’ takeover talkspreliminary, claim TatasPTI n MUMBAI

Tata Sons on Friday con-firmed its interest in

acquiring the beleaguered JetAirways but said no concrete“proposal” has been made bythe group so far. The Tatas,which already run two carriers—the full-service Vistara in ajoint venture with Singapore

Airlines (SIA) and AirAsiaIndia in a similar arrangementwith Malaysian carrier Air Asia— have widely speculated to beplanning to acquire NareshGoyal-controlled airline withits Singaporean partner. “Wewould like to clarify that anysuch discussions (to acquire JetAirways) have been prelimi-nary,” Tata Sons said.

* The SC also directed that acopy of the CVC reportalong with annexure begiven to Verma in a sealedcover and it “will be openfor” him to file hisresponse to it “again insealed cover” by 1 pm onNovember 19.

* The apex court has fixedNovember 30 as the nextdate for hearing in thematter

2 Backing Chandrababu,Mamata said, “WhatChandrababu has done isright. The CBI receivesinstructions from the BJP.”

2 We have trust in the CBI butthe recent allegationsagainst its top officials havemade us withdraw thegeneral consent. Henceforth,the CBI has to obtain theState Government’spermission for investigatingevery case, said AP DeputyCM N China Rajappa

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LUCKNOW, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath handles a weapon during his visit to the UP Defence Expo-2018 in Kanpur on Friday. Stateindustrial development minister Satish Mahana and Chief Secretary Anoop C pandey are also seen in the picture Pioneer

Goyal facesprotests Lucknow: Union ministerPiyush Goyal faced protests byrailway employees here on Fridayover issues of restoring the oldpension scheme and regularisa-tion of the service of the appren-tices. The railway minister washere to attend the 70th annualgeneral meeting of the NorthernRailway Men’s Union.

In his address, Goyal said thegovernment was sensitively con-sidering various demands of therailway employees, like the prob-lems faced in the implementationof the National Pension Scheme(NPS) and regularisation of theapprentices. After his address,many gheraoed Goyal and raisedslogans against him.

Amidst chaos, the securitypersonnel escorted him to hisvehicle, after which he left forDelhi. See Page 7

UP govt committed toeconomic uplift: CMPNS n KANPUR

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, while address-

ing the concluding session ofUP-Dexpo 2018 on CSAground on Friday, said thestate government was com-mitted to the economic upliftof UP and thus to bring in eco-nomic development andinvestment the present gov-ernment had girded up itsloins to not only improve thelaw and order but set up a con-ducive and safe environment sothat investors could invest inthe state. He said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi wasalso eager to ensure the eco-

nomic development of UP andthus the state had been chosenfor the Defence Corridor. Headded that the work in thatdirection had already taken offand the bhoomi pujan wouldbe performed in January 2019.He said every effort would bemade to solve and settle issueslinked to the prestigious pro-ject.

He pointed out with theDefence Corridor in thepipeline the entire world waslooking to UP which was aboutto metamorphose into a devel-oped and progressive state. Hesaid top business houses wereeager to invest in the state. Heassured investors of security

and safety and added the gov-ernment was committed toproviding a conducive envi-ronment to entrepreneurs andsafeguard their financial inter-ests. He said Single WindowSystem had been introduced tofacilitate the quick establish-ment of the Defence Corridor.He declared that the corridorwould bring in financialprogress and there would begreat employment opportuni-ties.

He said the UP govern-ment had organised a UPSummit in February 2018 inwhich Rs 468,000 crore was rat-ified. He said Dexpo-2018

Continued on Page 7

PNS n LUCKNOW

Striking a strident anti-Dalitstance, six-time indepen-

dent MLA Raghuraj PratapSingh alias Raja Bhaiya onFriday said he would float anew party opposed to reserva-tion in promotions and the“draconian” provisions of theSC, ST (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act.

The former minister, whorepresents Kunda Assemblyconstituency, said the newparty would have ‘Jansatta’(people’s power) as its prefix.

He said the ElectionCommission had beenapproached for the registrationof the new party as “JansattaParty”, “Jansatta LoktantrikParty” or “Jansatta Dal”.

Addressing a press confer-ence on Friday, Raja Bhaiya

said he was also opposed toimmediate arrest in case of reg-

istration of FIRunder the SC, STAct. “No investiga-tion is requiredunder the SC, STAct before an arrestis made,” he said,adding that shouldchange and thearrest should bemade only afterinvestigation.

The MLA fromKunda said thereshould be no dis-crimination onbasis of caste in thedistribution ofcompensation andex gratia to the rapevictims. He saidrape was a heinouscrime and the vic-

tim, irrespective of caste andcreed, should be compensated

by the government.“Reservation in promotion

for Dalits is inappropriate.Promotions should be basedonly on merit and seniority aspeople join state governmentservices after passing toughcompetition,” Raja Bhaiya said,adding that the wards of IASand IPS officers should bebarred from reservation aseven the poor people weredenied the Antyodaya rationcards meant for those belowpoverty line as they movedupwards in the economic lad-der.

Justifying the formation ofa new political party, the inde-pendent MLA said there werealready many political outfitsand many more would comeup in future but his partywould focus on specific issues

Continued on Page 7

UP Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias RajaBhaiya announces the formation of a new political partyat a press conference, in Lucknow on Friday PTI

Raja Bhaiya announces contours of new party

city 02LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Victory or defeat, the out-come of the assembly elec-

tions in five states will furthercreate road blocks for theCongress in it’s efforts for amahagathbandhan (grandalliance) with other key oppo-sition parties in Uttar Pradesh.

The party’s local leaders arealready up in arms against anysuch move, saying the BahujanSamaj Party has always back-stabbed other parties for per-sonal gains while they havealready tasted worst-ever defeatby going with the SamajwadiParty in the last assembly elec-tions.

“Majority of the party lead-ers in Uttar Pradesh havealready made it clear to the highcommand that they wanted togo it alone in the coming par-liamentary elections in 2019,”said senior Congress leader RPSingh, who till recently waslooking after the organisation inUttar Pradesh Congress.

Reacting to the proposedalliance with the BSP or SP forparliamentary elections afterthe results of assembly polls infive states, Singh said that theyhad already made up theirmood to fight it alone, or in

alliance with two of threesmaller parties, and the resultswould have no impact.

“Victory or defeat is hard-ly going to make any impact onthe proposed grand alliance asBSP and SP both have alreadyentered into a secret pact withthe Bharatiya Janata Party bycontesting separately againstus”, Singh said, adding that theBSP and SP almost had no basein other states but still theyfielded their candidates onalmost all seats just to cuttheir vote share and help theBJP candidates.

Another senior leader andgeneral secretary in the UPCC,Siddarthpriya Srivastava, saidthat the Congress made a bigmistake by forging an alliancewith the SP in last assemblyelections.

“During last assembly elec-tions, we wanted a grandalliance against BJP in Biharbut while Mayawati kept her-self away from the beginning,the SP ditched us at the lastmoment as both SP and BSPwere guided by the BJP diktat,”Srivastava asserted, claimingthat the BJP used both SP andBSP more as a ‘vote katwa’party outside Uttar Pradesh,and the same formula had

been again applied by NarendraModi, Amit Shah and compa-ny in the present assemblyelections in five states to savethe BJP from certain defeat.

Replying on the affect ofgrand alliance on basis of theresults in the on-going assem-bly polls, Srivastava too sup-ported Singh’s view, claimingthat the victory would givethem further confidence ofgoing it alone than making anytruck with the two regionalparties from UP, and in casethey lost fight, then the bigquestion before them was howto ally with parties who wouldbe mainly responsible for theCongress defeat in the on-going elections.

He also claimed that in MPand Chhattisgarh, Congresstried to have an understandingwith BSP and SP but the twooutfits once again failed tomuster courage to go againstBJP so in UP also, both SP andBSP would take directions fromthe BJP before moving aheadwith the mahagathbandhan soit would be better for theCongress to teach both the par-ties a lesson by distancingthem much before the dates fornext parliamentary electionsare announced.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Shivpal Singh Yadav, chief ofthe fledgling Pragatisheel

Samajwadi Party (Lohia),lashed out at Samajwadi Partychief and his nephew AkhileshYadav, for dubbing his outfit asa B team of the BharatiyaJanata Party.

“The PSPL is a mainstreampolitical party committed to theplural and secular polity ofIndia and there is no questionof any link with the BJP,” ShivpalYadav said in Ferozabad onFriday. “Those who are afraid ofour strength are speaking inintemperate language about usas they are aware of their fate inthe coming 2019 Lok Sabhapolls,” Shivpal said withoutnaming his nephew.

“Why is he (Akhilesh)afraid when he is forming agrand alliance for the Lok Sabhapolls?” Shivpal asked, addingthat he was ready to join thegrand alliance but his partyshould be given the same num-ber of seats as given to SP.

Shivpal reiterated that hewas left with no option but topart company with the SP. “Iwas repeatedly insulted in theSP and later when I could nottolerate, Netaji (Mulayam SinghYadav) asked me to float a newpolitical party,” he said.

When asked why he wasnot resigning as SP MLA evenafter floating a new political out-

fit, Shivpal said “when timecomes everything will be done”.

“We have asked MulayamSingh Yadav to contest on ourparty ticket. If he does, then itis good otherwise we will leavethe seat from which Netaji willcontest and fight the remaining79 Lok Sabha seats in the state,”he said. When pointed out thatRaja Bhaiya had also

announced a new political partyon Friday, the PSPL foundersaid that he had not talked tothe MLA from Kunda (RajaBhaiya) yet. On the Ram tem-ple issue, Shivpal Yadav said thatall parties should wait for theSupreme Court verdict as thiswas the best solution of the dis-pute rather than trying othermeans.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Former MLA from Nanparain Bahraich, Dileep Verma,

whose wife Madhuri Verma isnow an MLA from the sameconstituency on BharatiyaJanata Party ticket, created aruckus in the district on Friday.

Verma first reportedly man-handled a tehsildar and misbe-haved with a deputy superinten-dent of police-rank officer andthen sat on dharna, demandingaction against the officers. Thetehsil staff also staged a massiveprotest, demanding arrest of theformer MLA.

Reports said that DileepVerma reached the tehsil onFriday morning and went tosub-divisional magistrateSiddharth Yadav’s chamber.On learning that the SDM wason leave, Verma entered the

room of tehsildar MadhusudanArya. After some argumentwith the tehsildar, Vermareportedly manhandled him,snatched the gun of the secu-rity guard and left the place,hurling abuses at the officer.

Verma later reachedKotwali police station where hemisbehaved with circle officerof Nanpara, Vijay Prakash,and also sat on dharna,demanding action against thegovernment officials. Healleged that it was the tehsildarwho assaulted and threatenedhim with dire consequences.

In the meantime, the tehsilstaff, after learning about theincident, came on road andstaged a demonstration,demanding registration of acase against Verma and hisarrest for manhandling twogovernment officers.

Reports said that seniorofficers reached the spot onlearning about the incidentand were making efforts topacify both the sides and makethem reach an agreement. Boththe sides were staging protestsat the time of filing the report.

Meanwhile, in a separateincident reported from Mau,leaders of PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia) cre-ated ruckus and reportedlytorched a police outpost whenthe cops refused to release amotorcycle.

Reports said that sub-inspector Rajan Maurya, post-ed at Dubari police outpostunder Madhuban police sta-tion, learnt that some youthswere gambling in the area. Herushed to the spot and nabbedthe youths and also seized atwo-wheeler. The youths were

later released but the copsrefused to release the motorcy-cle.

Subsequently, some seniorlocal leaders belonging toPragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia), including a close lieu-tenant of Samajwadi Partypatriarch Mulayam SinghYadav, called the police officersand requested them to releasethe motorcycle. When the copsrefused to oblige them, PSPLleaders gheraoed the police sta-tion and misbehaved with thesub-inspector. They laterattacked the cops and torchedthe police outpost and escaped.Interestingly, the local officersfirst tried to hush up the mat-ter but when the sub-inspectorraised the issue through media,a case was registered againstthe accused and efforts were onto nab them.

Varanasi (PTI): A 45-year-old gynaecologist, who was jailedfor allegedly killing her husband, was found dead at her nurs-ing home in Ordly Bazar here, police. Shilpi Rajput, a residentof Vindhyavasinii colony in Varanasi, left a suicide note, SP (City)Dinesh Singh said. “In preliminary investigation, the matterseemed to be of suicide due to an overdoze of drugs, though weare investigating the case from all the angles,” he said, addingthe body had been sent for post-mortem. She had been jailedfor her alleged involvement in her husband DP Singh’s killing.He was was shot dead in Varanasi in 2007.

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Aditya Yadav giving membership of the party to new members at PSPL office in Lucknow Pioneer

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal called on Governor Ram Naik at Raj Bhawan in Lucknow on Friday Pioneer

CM: UP govt committed to

empowerment of women

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that hisgovernment was commit-

ted to empowerment of womenbecause the Bharatiya JanataParty believed that a countrycould progress only if the womenwere educated and had socialsecurity.

“Our government has takenseveral measures to provide socialsecurity to women in the form of1090 Women Power Line and 181Women Helpline. Besides, anti-Romeo squad has been set up toinstil confidence among women,”Yogi said while addressing a func-tion here on Friday. He saidwomen were now holding impor-tant posts in the government andprivate sectors. “Lok SabhaSpeaker, Foreign Minister andDefence Minister of India arewomen. Girls have performedexceedingly well in the field ofsport. This is a welcome sign. Butmuch more is needed to be done

and this will be possible only ifthe women get full supportfrom society,” the Chief Ministersaid, adding that the need of thehour was to bring this positivechange in society.

“The governments at theCentre and in Uttar Pradesh areworking in tandem to bring aqualitative change in the lives ofthe fairer sex. The governmenthas launched Beti Bachao, BetiPadhao Scheme. Under theUjjwala Yojana, efforts havebeen made to safeguard thehealth of women by introduc-ing liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) in their lives. The biggestachievement is construction oftoilets,” the Chief Minister said.

He said the previous gov-ernments had damaged the sys-tem badly and he was trying tobring it back on rails.

The Chief Minister alsotalked about the government’sscheme to speed up paddy pur-chase. “This year, the govern-ment has announced MSP(minimum support price) of`1,770 per quintal for paddywith an additional `20 perquintal for cleaning. Similarly,the UP government hasannounced MSP for maize forthe first time. The target is topurchase one lakh metric tonnesof maize,” he said.

Yogi to lead BJP bike rally in VaranasiPNS n LUCKNOW

Senior leaders of BharatiyaJanata Party, including

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and party statepresident Mahendra NathPandey, will hit the road onSaturday by taking part in theKamal Sandesh Bike Rally tomake people aware of theachievements of the Centraland the UP governments.

The bike rally, beingorganised in the run-up tothe 2019 Lok Sabha polls,will be taken out in all the 80Lok Sabha constituencies inthe state with Yogi leadingthe campaign in Varanasi,the parliamentary con-stituency of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Deputy Chief MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya willjoin the bike ral ly atPrayagraj (Allahabad) andDeputy Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma in Lucknow.

Bharatiya Janata Partystate president MahendraNath Pandey will lead the rallyin his parliamentary con-stituency Chandauli and BJPgeneral secretary (organisa-tion) Sunil Bansal in Kannauj,the bastion of SamajwadiParty.

BJP state general secre-tary and MLA Pankaj Singh,who is son of Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh, will

lead the bike ral ly inGorakhpur, the native placeof Chief Minister YogiAdityanath.

The party leadership hasdirected the cadre and lead-ers to get at least five motor-cyclists from each pollingbooth. All the party leaders,including parliamentarians,legislators and office-bearers,have been directed to ensurefull participation in the rally,which will be a show ofstrength. There are about1,60,000 polling booths inthe 80 parliamentary and403 assembly constituenciesin 75 districts.

The Bharatiya JanataParty leaders will highlightthe flagship schemes likecrop loan waiver, Ujjwala,Saubhagya, Swachh BharatMission and others amongthe people. “We are expect-ing participation of one lakhparty workers and cadre inthis mass mobilisation pro-gramme, which aims at cre-ating awareness about thegood works being done bythe Central and the state gov-ernments,” senior leader andparty state spokespersonChandra Mohan said here onFriday.

“We are expecting atleast 10,000 bikes and over15,000 partymen in the rallyin every parliamentary con-stituency,” he said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh StateElectricity Regulatory

Commission has approved theproposal of UP PowerCorporation Limited to roll outthe plan for installation ofsmart meters. The power reg-ulator, however, has, as per theNational Tariff Policy 2016,imposed certain conditions onthe power utility in the inter-est of consumers.

The UPPCL had submittedthe roll-out plan for the smartmeters to the power regulatoron August 6. In the plan,UPPCL submitted that installa-tion of smart meter was anactivity under Ujwal DiscomsAssurance Yojana (UDAY) towhich the power utility was asignatory.

UPSERC secretary SanjaySrivastava said here on Fridaythat on scrutiny of the propos-al it was found that with theinstallation of smart meters, theAT&C losses would reduce andbilling efficiency would improve.He said the smart meter also hadthe facility of remote disconnec-tion of the supply of defaulterconsumers having dues.

Most importantly, he said,the consumer would be benefit-ed as the meter reading andbilling would be automated andthey would not bear the cost ofthe smart meter.

The power regulator, whileapproving the roll-out plan, hasput some conditions onUPPCL/discoms like — thesmart meters should conform tostandards set by the CentralElectricity Authority, the priva-cy of personal data of con-sumer shall be protected and thebilling efficiency with smartmeter consumers shall be notless than 98% and bill collectionefficiency shall not be less than95 per cent.

UPSERC nod to UPPCL’s smart meter plan

Ex-MLA manhandles tehsildar,misbehaves with police officer

PSPL committed to plural and

secular polity of India: Shivpal

UP Congress leadersagainst grand alliance

16 childreninjured asschool vanoverturns

Lucknow (PNS): As manyas 16 children were injured,four of them seriously, when avehicle carrying them to schooloverturned near Aaspur cross-ing in Etah on Friday morning.

The children of DK PublicSchool were travelling in a vanwhen the driver lost controlwhile trying to save a pedestri-an, police said. The children, allunder the age of 10, wereinjured. Four of them havebeen seriously injured andadmitted to a hospital.

A youth crossing the roadat that time was also injuredand admitted to the districthospital, police said.

At least 20 people wereinjured when a tractor-trolleyin which they were travellingoverturned on the Delhi-Dehradun national highwayin Muzaffarnagar.

The accident took placenear Rampur Tiraha on thehighway Thursday eveningwhen the people were return-ing home after attending apost-death ritual. The injuredwere mostly women, the policesaid.

Doctor kills self at nursing home

city 03LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

A30-year old woman sustained seriousinjuries when her brother in-law made an

attempt to kill her at her house located in IndiraNagar on Friday morning. She was identified asShaheen Bano, wife of Mohammad Aslam,whose elder brother Mohammad Sadiq wasdetained later in the evening for interrogation.Both of them live in the same locality.

The police said Sadiq was mentally derangedand attacked her in a fit but failed to produceany certificates issued by doctors proving hismental status. The immediate provocation wasthat both were engaged in an altercation on someissue at her house in the morning and heattacked her with a sharp-edged weapon. Aslamrushed her to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital withmultiple severe injuries. Her condition was stat-

ed to be out of danger and stable. The police weretrying to find out whether he was mentally sickor the family members were misguiding theinvestigating officer.

ARRESTEDThe police claimed to have worked out a

murder case in which a man had strangulatedhis wife and threw her body in a nearby nullahin Kakori areas. Her body was found onNovember 11.

The husband was identified as Ashok, a res-ident of the Kakori and a native of Hardoi.During the interrogation, the husband admit-ted he had strangulated his wife following anextra-martial relation with one of his neighbours.He was convinced about her illicit relations whenhe saw her in a compromising position inNovember first week.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Friday made

a surprise inspection of theReserve Police Lines. He wasaccompanied by DGP OPSingh.

The Chief Ministerinspected the premises of theresidential colony meant forofficers and other ranks, armand ammunition room, controlroom, stable, mess and kitchen.The Chief Minister expressedhis dissatisfaction with thepoor sanitary condition pre-vailing on the premises andalso was deeply concernedabout the arms and ammuni-tion room which was in badshape. He later offered jaggeryto horses at the stable.

He questioned the DGPhow police personnel comingfrom other places on officialduty were accommodated insuch rooms. The DGP told theChief Minister that a new bar-rack had been planned withinthe compound to accommo-date 200 personnel at one time.

Later, the Chief Ministervisited the proposed site of thenew barrack and inquiredabout its progress with theincharge and issued directivesthat it be completed at the ear-liest.

The Chief Minister agreedto the proposal of the DGP to

construct multi-storeyed hous-ing accommodation by demol-ishing the existing one toaccommodate more and morepersonnel and provide betterboarding and lodging facilitiesfor those coming here on emer-gency duty.

The Chief Minister alsovisited the mess for newly-recruited women constablesand asked whether they weresatisfied with the boarding andlodging and the quality of thefood available at the messkitchen. They expressed theirsatisfaction over the arrange-ments and other facilities avail-able there.

There was no official pro-gramme of the Chief Ministerto inspect the Reserve PoliceLines. He left the official resi-dence at 8.30 am for Kanpur toaddress the valedictory func-

tion of Defence Expo-2018.The fleet took a turn to ReservePolice Line located in trans-Gomti area instead of going toKanpur and reached there at 9am.

Panic gripped among offi-cials when they came to knowthat the Chief Minister hadreached there and they rushedto show their presence. Thefirst to reach was IG, LucknowRange, Sujit Pandey and SSPKalanidhi Naithani. Later, theDGP held a meeting with offi-cials and PWD engineers todiscuss the planning andprompt completion of the pro-posed barrack.

Principal Secretary, Home,Arvind Kumar, additionalDGP, Police headquarters andSSP were present at the meet-ing which concluded at 2.30pm.

PNS n LUCKNOW

“Lucknow Diaries”, thebook written by secre-

tary, Fertilisers, Parth SarthiSen Sharma was released onthe inaugural day of theLucknow Literature Festivalon Friday at the Indira GandhiPratishthan. Sen said that hisbook was a tale of fictionabout contemporary Lucknow

Talking to The Pioneer,the senior bureaucrat, whilesharing his views about con-temporary Lucknow, saidthat the city had changed fromthe time of nawabs and taluq-dars.

“But we find in literature,it is the same old Lucknowthough physically, geographi-cally, sociologically, culturallyand psychologically it is avastly changed place.Democracy, electoral politics,rise and decline of various

social classes all have madeLucknow, as well as India, avastly changed place. Mynovel tries to capture thiscontemporary Lucknow,” hesaid.

Regarding his growth as awriter, he said: “I have tried toweave multiple narrativesinstead of one as is in the caseof ‘Love side by side’. I think mywriting is more mature butultimately it is for the reader todecide.”

On whether being abureaucrat has helped him ornot as a writer, he said that itwas both.

“As a bureaucrat, it doesprovide you with a range ofexperiences that wouldn’t havebeen there in many, not all,professions but at the sametime it does impose somerestrictions on me, say choiceof subjects. It also makes find-ing time and mind space so

much more difficult,” headded.

Regarding upcomingbooks, he said: “I am trying towrite a novel that is set in thefuture, say India and theworld in 2048 and try to moveback and forth in time, toimagine and guess how theworld would turn out to be.Let’s see. It is at a very forma-tive stage.”

When asked whether abook based in Lucknow wouldinterest people from otherparts of the country, he said:“The book is physically set inLucknow but the story couldbe anywhere in contemporaryIndia. Like Sherlock Holmesstories are very firmly set inLondon but that doesn’t lessenits attraction to people acrossthe world even now. So no Ithink people from everywherecan relate to the novel and withits characters.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Talks on partition resound-ed at the sixth edition of

Literary Fest which kicked offon Friday at Indira GandhiPratishthan. The three-day festis being organised by theLucknow Expressions Society.

Mallika Ahluwalia, CEOand the curator of the world’sfirst museum on partition atAmritsar, while speaking atthe session, said that she got theidea of the museum because ofthe fact that the generationwhich had undergone so muchof trials and tribulations dur-ing this period was passingaway.

Mallika said people hadalso gifted personal objectsassociated with the partition forthis museum She said that shealso had a personal experienceassociated with the partitionbecause her family, which wassettled in Lahore, also experi-enced the same trauma whilemigrating to India.

“The museum has beenplaced in Amritsar because it isessentially dealing with peoplefrom Punjab. It has received agreat response with 2.5 lakhpeople who have already visit-ed the museum in the past 14months. There is also a separatesection that deals with thehealing part of the journey and

reconciling with the past,” shesaid.

She said that she wouldlove to interact with refugees ofLucknow and record theirstatements for the museum. “I would like the people ofLucknow to visit the museum,”she added. A book penned by

the author on the partition sto-ries of 21 people was alsoreleased on the occasion.

“During the mayhem ofthe 1947 partition, lakhs ofpeople lost their homes andlivelihood, while lakhs died. Itwas a time of catastrophic loss.Despite this, people found the

strength to look towards thefuture and focused on rebuild-ing their lives and the countrythey had migrated to. Thisbook captures stories ofresilience and sheer grit ofpeople caught in the vortex. Itcomprises life stories of 21extraordinary individuals whowere deeply affected by the par-tition, yet went on to achievegreatness in independentIndia,” she said.

Earlier in the day, presidentof Lucknow ExpressionsSociety Jaideep Narain Mathurdeclared the fest open and saidthat the three-day fest wouldcapture the creativity of somany people.

“People have penned vers-es on Atal and they will recitethem. Atal Bihari Vajpayeehimself said he could be knownas former Prime Minister butnot as former poet,” saidMathur. He added that thepurpose of the fest was tointroduce as many genres aspossible.

Key organiser KanakRekha Chauhan thankedLucknowites and said: “Forthe past five years, we at theLucknow Literature Festivalhave aimed to bring to you aconfluence of love, poetry andmusic and create a kaleido-scope of culture which believesin the unity of all communities.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani toldbudding managers at IIM-L that

there was a vast range of opportunitiesin the area of textiles which they couldexplore. In a question and answer ses-sion for Leaders Express as a part of IIM-L Manifest programme, Smriti was inher elements as she put across her viewson a range of questions and doled outmanagement tips for both their person-al and professional lives. Lacing heranswers with wit and humour, she han-dled questions with elan impressing thegathering with her ability to connectwith them with natural ease.

Talking about the textile industry,she said that India presented an explo-sion in terms of choices from tradition-al to technical. “The scope of textiles isvast with the intervention of technolo-

gy. Jute, which was earlier being used formaking bags, is being used for makingroad. Similarly, we are teaching farmersthat the silk worm can be used for var-ious other purposes apart from makingsilk sarees,” she said. She told buddingmanagers that the best way to maximisetheir possibilities was to go and look outfor themselves.

“The choice is entirely yourswhether you want to work in the area ofmedical textiles such as mass, scrubsand the vast range offered from thefishing net to the outer space or whetheryou wanted to go in for the convention-al textiles such as the handicrafts,” hesaid.

Referring to challenges which theywere facing in terms of the textileindustry, she said was that with the com-ing up of the artificial intelligence therewas a reduction in the cost of labour and

hence the requirement was to have alabour-friendly economy.

She told IIML students that theirsuccess depended on what they werelooking at whether they were challengesor the final destination.

Later, Smriti Irani visited Awadhiand Film Festival organised by FICCIFLO at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan onFriday. She said that the biggest challengebefore the Indian woman was language.Speaking on the occasion, she said: “Itis important to empower womenbecause when you empower a womanyou improve the Human DevelopmentIndex of the country. Development ofthe country cannot be measured by theGDP alone and has to be measured interms of the HDI. An empoweredwomen invests in health and educationand bring success in family and thus thecountry.”

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

IIM-Lucknow’s annual business andcultural fest, Manfest-Varchasva

2018, started on Friday with theinaugural ceremony. A book titled“Duryodhanisation” authored byNishant Uppal, Students’ Affairs chair-man of IIM-L, was launched on theoccasion.

The fest commenced with theenergetic street plays under thecanopy of ‘Halla Bol’. Other culturalevents included “The Joust”, a parlia-mentary debate competition thattalked about various social issuesthat included tax exemption, votingrights of prisoners, “Sur”, a solosinging competition and “Imperio”, adance competition.

Management events that tookplace on Friday were UPSRTC Pitstop,Markmania, Stratatel, Nashify andIT&EL .

UPSRTC Pitstop is an opportuni-ty to provide road safety incorporat-ing strategic decisions and marketingmarvels. A market research competi-tion that aimed at understandingcustomers’ buying behaviour was alsoheld. Nashify played with the trans-forming game theory. A case solvingworkshop was organised for studentswhich focused on solving real-life hur-dles faced by businesses and gave stu-dents a comprehensive and holisticunderstanding of case solvingmethodology.

Leader’ Express, a workshop thatincorporated talk show by AnkurWarikoo, CEO of Nearbuy, RichaSingh, CEO of Niine and AshwinSanghi, one of the best Indian authors,provided students across India aunique opportunity to hone their lead-ership skills, gain a fresh perspectivethrough interaction with leaders andlearn from IIM professors.

Ashwin Sanghi, a renownedIndian author, who has authoredbooks like “The Rozabel Line”,“Chanakya’s Chants”, shared with stu-dents his life story and motivated theaudience to be brave enough to takerisks, learn from failures and reach outto new heights.

Following the tradition of 30years, this edition of IIM-Lucknow’sManfest-Varchasva will continue tourge students through its numerouscompetitions, interactions and work-shops to move forward in the quest forinordinately great opportunities.

Manfest begins with book launch

Textiles has vast potential: Smriti

Book wrapping present Lucknow released

Lit fest gets off with talks on partition

Lucknow (PNS): TheShonar Bangla session at theLucknow Literature Fest onFriday at Indira GandhiPratishthan witnessed the par-ticipation of consultant AnjumKatyal from Kolkata. Talking to“The Pioneer”, she said that thesocial networking had broughtabout a change in the Banglalanguage which was not appre-ciated by purists.

“However, I am happy withthis change because a language as it evolves it absorbs sever-al words and which makes it more rich. See how theShakespearean language has grown to become the languagewhich it is today,” she said. Anjum added that the city of Kolkatawas steeped in arts. “The youngsters are culturally active andparticipate in all kinds of plays and cultural activities. Thereis a lot which has changed in terms of the literature writtentoday. Satyajit Ray had written an account of his times and theyoungsters, who are writing today, are penning somethingwhich is more edgy and non-sentimental. They are writing onsexuality, morality and politics,” she said. She said that Banglaremained a vibrant language even in the current time and bookfairs attracted a huge footfall and Bangla Sahitya wasimmensely popular.

‘Bangla a vibrant language’

Woman hurt in murder bid

Poor sanitation at RPL miffs CM

city 04LUKCNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Panic gripped Madiaon areaafter the outbreak of a big

fire at a bread-manufacturingunit located on the main mar-ket crossing near the country-made liquor shop on Fridaymorning. Chief fire serviceofficer AB Pandey said theshort circuit was the cause ofthe outbreak. No was injuredbut intense damage to theproperty and the entire bakerywas reported.

The bakery is known asGauri Foods and owned byBhupinder Agrawal. The peo-

ple were surprised to see thethick smoke emanating fromthe second floor of the build-ing housing the bakery andgradually spread to the thirdfloor. There was panic in theentire area. The locals left theirhouses and were seen runningto seek safer places. The shop-keepers also pulled down theirshutter.

The police were informedby some locals and theyreached the spot. Six fireengines were pressed into ser-vice to control the fire. The esti-mated loss of the property andother was stated to be several

lakh.Meanwhile, a fire was

broke out at a boutique locat-ed in Nagina market inGhazipur area on Friday after-noon. The boutique is beingrun by Mohammad Nisar, aresident of C block of IndiraNagar and a native ofBarabanki district. The chieffire officer said the cause of itsoutbreak was still not knownand investigation was inprogress. Three sewingmachines and garments wortha few thousand rupees weregutted. No one was reported tobe injured.

GPO to remain closeLUCKNOW (PNS): Due to the roll

out of the Core System Integration (CSI)at Lucknow GPO all the savings bank andbooking-related work will remain closedfrom November 17 to 19, the ChiefPostmaster, Yogendra Maurya, said in apress release.

IWAAFFF makes a deep impact on women, menPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The concluding day of the ‘InternationalWomen Artisans’ Awadh Festival and

Film Forum’ (IWAAFFF) at the IndiraGandhi Pratishthan began with a workshopby the Women & Girls Lead Global organ-ised by Smriti Minocha.

The film ‘Girl Connected’ a story offive girls of five different countries with onedream was screened. It showed how girlswere equally working to help others learnand evolve in the society and became equalbearers of power.

A panel discussion was held on thetopic “Creating global opportunities andimpetus for women entrepreneurs and arti-sans”. The discussion witnessed the par-ticipation of Cabinet minister RitaBahuguna Joshi, was moderated by AsmaHussain and attended by Jyoti Kapoor Das,Renuka Tandon, Ratna Sinhaa, KireetNadira Hamid, Jamshed Mistry-ICBC,Nisha Biswas –USIBC and ArchanaSomani.

Later in the evening , ‘Ek InquilabAur Aaya’, a movie about the women ofFarangi Mahal, was shown to the delegatesafter which Mehru Jaffer explained itsessence.

The day finally ended with the screen-ing of the Canadian film ‘The Sun atMidnight.’ This three-day-long event hada great impact not only on women but onthe men as well.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The 10th Integral Convocationwas organised by the Integral

University on Friday. The cere-mony began with the UniversityTarana which set the tone for this10th convocation.

Acting Vice-Chancellor AqilAhmad declared the convocationopen to the house full of digni-taries and students. Prof Ahmadhighlighted the various achieve-ments of the university in recentyears and reinforced the fact thatIntegral had always strived to bea centre of excellence. “IntegralUniversity has advanced a lot inacademic research and develop-ment activities. It has achieved avertical growth over a shortperiod of time”, the Vice-Chancellor said.

LMRC managing directorKumar Keshav, who talked aboutthe role of ethics in the life of astudent, said: “One must alwayslive with utmost integrity.” Hewished all outgoing studentsand teachers all success in lifeand told them to remain confi-dent all the time. He thankedProf SW Akhtar for his supportto the LMRC project.

Secretary, department ofAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare, and director generaland secretary of the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research(ICAR) Trilochan Mohapatraappreciated how the current andprevious Vice-Chancellors andoffice-bearers leading from thefront took the university tonewer heights. He appreciatedthe role of the Integral University

in the field of agriculture and sci-ence and talked about the impor-tance of agriculture and devel-opment of farmers for thegrowth of this University inparticular, and India in general.

“Integrated agricultureshould be integral to IntegralUniversity,” he said. He con-cluded by saying that ‘the stu-dents are like the small seeds ofthe big banyan tree, i.e., filled upwith potential’.

The registrar presented thedegrees to the recipients.The total number of degreesgiven were 1973 in which therewere 69 PhDs, 489 PGs, 1367UGs and 48 diplomas inPharmacy and 45 gold and sil-ver medals which were given tothe toppers.

Cabinet minister and guestof honour Mohsin Raza, in hisencouraging speech, asked stu-dents to bring a good name tothe university. “By the com-bined efforts of engineers,lawyers and doctors present atthe Integral University, ournation can truly progress,” hesaid. He talked about religiousunity and the importance ofpeace of mind in education.

The function concludedwith a formal inauguration of theIntegral Institute of AgriculturalScience and Technology bydirector general and secretary,department of AgriculturalResearch and Education (DARE)and the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR),Dr Mohapatra, in the presenceof Chancellor and founder ofIntegral University SW Akhtar.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Chief Justices, judges, legal lumi-naries and other eminent person-

alities from across the globe, who havegathered here to attend the ‘19thInternational Conference of ChiefJustices of the World' being organisedby City Montessori School, opined inunison at a press conference on Fridaythat the purpose of their being heretogether was to lay the foundation fora safe and secure future for over 2.4 bil-lion children of the world.

The Prime Ministers, Presidents,Governor-Generals, Speakers ofParliament, Ministers of Justice, Judgesof the International Court of Justice,heads of the world-renowned peace

organisations from 19 countries as wellas more than 370 Chief Justices,judges and legal luminaries from 71countries are participating in the con-ference.

These eminent personalities wereof the opinion that ‘rights for the safeand secure future of the world’s chil-dren’ was an issue which could onlybe attained by establishing unity,peace and harmony in the world.

The 19th International Conferenceof Chief Justices of the World organ-ised from November 16 to 20 hasbegun on Friday at CMS, Kanpur Roadauditorium. Earlier, on Friday morn-ing, the dignitaries from various coun-tries landed at Chaudhary CharanSingh Airport and were accorded a

warm welcome by CMS students andteachers. With showers of rose andmarigold petals and the music of theband, the legal stalwarts were greetedin Lucknow and given a rousingreception.

Expressing his deep gratitudetowards the dignitaries of variouscountries, founder director JagdishGandhi said that the massive partici-pation by eminent personalities spokehighly of their commitment to thecause of world unity and world peaceand clearly pointed out the fact thatthere was no alternative before theworld to save mankind from destruc-tion but to take immediate stepstowards creation of a new world orderbased on unity, peace and justice.

Panic in Madiaon

after fire outbreak

‘Creating a new world order for children’s safety is our mission’

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The Allahabad High Courton Friday allowed the peti-

tioners in the public interest lit-igation (PIL) challenging therenaming of Allahabad asPrayagraj to make amend-ments in their petition.

The bench, comprisingChief Justice Govind Mathurand Justice CD Singh, passedthe order on a PIL filed by theAllahabad Heritage Societyand 12 others. The bench alsosought the records of anotherPIL filed by Hari ShankarPandey which was pendingbefore its Lucknow bench onthe same issue and now the onepresided over by Chief Justicewill hear that PIL too. The

bench directed the petitionersto file the amended petitionalong with all necessary docu-ments on or before November

26.The petitioners had chal-

lenged the rechristening ofAllahabad to Prayagraj where-by an order of the governmentdated October 18 was ques-tioned. The order was chal-lenged because it was violativeof Article 14 of theConstitution of India.

The court fixed November30 as the next date of hearingin the case. Earlier, the samebench had dismissed anotherPIL filed by Sunita Sharmachallenging the renaming ofAllahabad as Prayagraj.However, it had granted liber-ty to the petitioner of that PILto file a representation beforethe state government whileraising her grievance.

CORRESPONDENT n SONEBHADRA

The Hindalco Rural Development Departmentalways remains awake to its social responsibil-

ities. In this sequence the Department organised adiabetes awareness and check-up camp in the audi-torium of Aditya Birla Rural Technology Park locat-ed in Myorpur on the occasion of World DiabetesDay.

In the camp Dr DP Saxena of the Hindalco RuralHospital told the people in great detail about thecauses of diabetes and its prevention and if they wereafflicted with it on what things they should pay atten-tion to keep it under control. He said that this wasa very serious disease and was the mother of manyailments.

He said that if one was afflicted with diabeteshe or she should get his or her blood sugarexamined regularly and pay special attention to the

medicines and food and drinks he or she was tak-ing.

He said that due to it the possibility of onebecoming susceptible to serious diseases of the liverand kidney besides heart attack increased.

He said that the regulated lifestyle and regularexercise reduced the possibility of diabetes and ifone’s mother or father was suffering from itone should be extra careful because it was heredi-tary. Such people should from the very beginningdo regular exercise and see to it that the sugar intakein their diet was minimum to reduce its possibili-ty.

In the camp 62 villagers took part out of which29 got themselves checked up for diabetes volun-tarily. In the camp the officials of the RuralDevelopment Department like Rajesh Singh, SanjayRunthala, Vikas, Rakesh, and Ajay Yadav remainedpresent.

PIL CHALLENGING RENAMING OF ALLAHABAD

People told about causes of diabetes & how to check it

HC allows petitioners to

make amendments

More good news for Kumbh Mela pilgrims

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The Railways has more good newsfor the pilgrims and tourists com-

ing to visit the Kumbh Mela scheduledto be organised in the city of Prayagrajfrom January 15 next year.

In view of the enormous rush ofpassengers expected to visit the city ofPrayagraj to participate in the KumbhMela the Ministry of Railways as a spe-cial case has decided to allow 15 days’advance booking of the unreservedrailway tickets from 12 stations lyingin the Prayagraj region and serving theKumbh Mela.

The stations from which thisadvance booking of unreserved tick-ets will be allowed are: AllahabadJunction, Allahabad City, Naini,Subedarganj, Prayag, Prayag Ghat,Daraganj, Phaphamau, Jhunsi,Vindhyachal, Allahabad Chheoki andback. The return tickets will be allowedto be booked up to 15 days in advanceexcluding the date of journey. Forexample if a passenger at Nagpur wish-

es to purchase a ticket to any stationin Allahabad Mela area and back,he/she can purchase it 15 days inadvance. No refund will, however, beallowed on such return tickets.

This facility will be extended to thepassengers during the mela periodonly and will be available for ticketspurchased on or after January 11, 2019,up to March 6, 2019. The date of jour-ney will be indicated on the ticket.

Speaking about the facility, GM ofNCR, Rajiv Chaudhry, said that theRailways was very sensitive to theneeds of the pilgrims, tourists andother regular passengers who would bevisiting the city of Prayagraj during theKumbh Mela. “We have made exten-sive arrangements both in terms ofadditional infrastructure and specialtrains for the benefit of pilgrims com-ing to Prayagraj during the KumbhMela and the facility of advance book-ing of unreserved tickets from 12 sta-tions of Prayagraj region will prove tobe a further boon to our esteemed pas-sengers in the Mela period,” he added.This move by the railways is a win-winsituation for both the passengers andit as on one hand, it will help the pas-sengers in getting tickets to their des-tinations much in advance of their

dates of journey and on the otherhand, it will decongest the bookingwindows of the railway stations inPrayagraj region during the Melaperiod, allowing more effective crowdcontrol.

ARRANGEMENTS REVIEWED

Senior police and administrativeofficials reviewed the arrangements inview of the forthcoming Kumbh 2019here on Friday. The officials concernedchalked out a plan for ensuringsmooth traffic on all routes during thediscussion held at Police Lines. TheDivisional Commissioner, AshishGoel, the ADG, SN Sabat, IG Range,Mohit Agarwal, the DM, Kumbh,Vijay Kiran Anand, the DM, Suhas LY,the SSP, Nitin Tiwari, and other seniorpolice officials attended the meetingand reviewed the plans for trafficemergency, route of shuttle buses,CNG/ auto/ e-rickshaw routes andmanagement of roadways and privatebus stations.

GM NCR Rajiv Chaudhry

INTEGRAL VARSITY CONVOCATION

Degrees presentedto students

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the inaugural of Uttarakhand Mahotsav on the banks of Gomti river Pioneer

nation 05LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a unique kind of project, theSurat railway station will be

developed into a world-classfacility 'multi modal transporthub' (MMTH). The Surat multi-modal transport hub will havea swanky railway station, amodular passenger friendlyconcourse, a bus terminal, widestation lobby, big ticketing hall,retail and offices space in thecommercial towers, seamlessboarding facilities and con-necting bridges among a host ofother facilities. In other words,railway station will have a air-port like facilities for passengers.

According to officials, theSurat multi-modal transporthub will aim at enabling seam-less transit - with simple con-nectivity between the railwaystation, bus terminal and other

transport modes in the city. Asper plan, the transport hub willalso be linked with the citymetro rail network, Bus RapidTransit System as well as sub-urban network. Interestingly,the Surat city railway stationwill be the third one in thecountry to get an internation-al-standard revamp, the firsttwo being Habib Ganj andGandhi Nagar railway stations.

" A special purpose vehicle(SPV) 'Surat IntegratedTransport DevelopmentCorporation (SITCO)', hasbeen formed by the Centre(Railways), Surat MuncipalCorporation and RoadTransport Corporation of thestate. The bid opening date hasnow been extended toDecember 7, .2018 based onthe request of bidders by theIndian Railway Stations

Development Corporation(IRSDC)," officials said.

Sources in the Railwayssaid that the project once com-pleted, will transform the faceof Surat. The total land area ofthe station will be 3,19,700 sqmand the built-up area 57,739sqm with the size of the con-course at 9,825 sqm. The areaunder commercial develop-ment would be around 5,07,054sqm. The station would be amulti-modal transport hubwith a bus terminal having abuilt-up area of 40,724 sqm.

"The built up area (BUA) ofthe proposed commercial devel-opment has been increased from5.06 lakh square meter to 8.40lakh square meter. The built uparea will exclude basements orany upper floors for satisfyingthe parking/ fire requirements asper local byelaws. The hub will

be built at a cost of around Rs5,000 crore.

"For the first time in thehistory of the country the cen-tral government, state govern-ment and the urban local bodyare coming together to make amulti-modal transport hub bypooling their lands. It will alsohave five road under-bridgesand a parking space for 900vehicles. It is expected to caterto around 3,49,684 passengersevery day",officials said. Thecommercial area at groundlevel increased from 3,54,864sq.m. to 7,84,596 sq.m. consid-ering the local demand at Surat.

While the Habib Ganj rail-way station work is expected tobe complete by December-endthis year, the Gandhi Nagar sta-tion will open in time for theVibrant Gujarat Summit inJanuary 2019.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Four days after the BJPreleased its first list for

Rajasthan, Congress lateThursday night gave green sig-nal to its first list of 152 candi-dates for the December 7Rajasthan Assembly elections,fielding former Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot from Sardarpuraand State party presidentSachin Pilot from Tonk seat.The Congress list was report-edly delayed over differenceson distribution of party tickets.

Former NationalCommission for Women chiefGirija Vyas will contest fromUdaipur, while senior partyleader C P Joshi will be partynominee from the Nathdwaraassembly seat. Leader ofOpposition in the RajasthanAssembly, Rameshwar Lal Dudi,is the Congress's candidate fromthe Nokha assembly seat. AICCSecretary Harish Chaudharywill contest the polls from theBaytoo seat. Former BJP MPHarish Meena, who had movedto the Congress on Wednesday,has been fielded from Deoli Uniara.

The party's central electioncommittee General SecretaryMukul Wasnik released the listafter hectic deliberations withsenior state leaders and the partyleadership. The notification forthe polls was issued on Monday

Cong releases

first list of 152

candidates for

Rajasthan

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Centre told the DelhiHigh Court on Friday that

the land where Teen MurtiEstate, which includesJawaharlal Nehru MemorialFund (JNMF), is situated,belonged to the Governmentsince the establishment of thenational Capital.

The Centre's responsecame on a petition filed byJNMF seeking to set aside theestate officer's October 15 evic-tion notice.

The Fund has been locatedat Teen Murti, once the resi-dence of India's first primeminister Jawaharlal Nehru, since1967. JNMF was set up in 1964.

Its offices are not part ofthe main building but occupya set of barracks on its easternside with a separate entry fromTeen Murti Marg.

Justice Anu Malhotra list-

ed the matter for further hear-ing on December 4 after senioradvocate Kapil Sibal, appearingfor JNMF, said they havereceived the Government'sresponse on Thursday andsought some time to file therejoinder.

The court, which had onNovember 1 stayed the pro-ceedings before the Directorateof Estates, said status quo bemaintained till the next date of

hearing. Additional Solicitor General

Maninder Acharya and CentralGovernment standing counselMonika Arora told the courtthat they have filed a prelimi-nary affidavit along with nec-essary documents.

The JNMF has denied theclaims that it was in illegal pos-session of the property.

The affidavit, filed by thedeputy director of estates atDirectorate of Estates, claimed that the JNMF hasfailed to produce any authori-ty which allows/ permits it touse the demised premises.

"Without prejudice, thecontention raised by the peti-tioner (JNMF) cannot betermed as a bonafide title dis-pute, as the CentralGovernment is the sole ownerof the demised premises andthe Teen Murti Estate, in itsentirety," it said.

Teen Murti Estate including JNMFbelongs to Govt, Centre tells HC

The court, whichhad on November 1

stayed theproceedings beforethe Directorate of

Estates, said statusquo be maintainedtill the next date

of hearing

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Friday

said that censorship on mediais not possible now because oftechnology. He said, if theemergency was ever to be re-imposed, it would collapse forthe simple reason that one ofthe strengths of the emergencywas Press censorship and tech-nology does not permit a presscensorship today.

Addressing National PressDay event in New Delhi onFriday, Jaitley said, the greatestchallenge before media is toretain its credibility. Reassertingthat nobody can now complainthat their free speech is in dan-ger due to multiple forums forreaders and viewers, the min-ister said technology has madethat putting pressures on mediais next to impossible due to thegrowth of social media

Media's credibility will beits own maker and if misused,it can also be its own breaker,he said. At the event, Jaitleygave away the National Awards

for Excellence in Journalism,presented by the Press Councilof India (PCI). National PressDay which is celebrated onNovember 16 every year, sym-bolises free and responsiblepress in India. The PressCouncil of India started work-ing as a watchdog on this day.

Veteran journalist andHindu publishing group chair-man N Ram was presented

with the prestigious Raja RamMohan Roy Award for his out-standing contribution to jour-nalism. Awards in other cate-gories were also presented.

In his address, Jaitley saidevery political viewpoint isable to find space in some sec-tion of the media or the other."With multiple (media) forumsnow available, nobody canseriously complain my speech

is in danger. Neither the view-er or the reader, nor the onewho wants to convey. You havealternatives available," he said.

He, however, cautionedthat the alternatives are some-times grossly abused, for per-sonalised grounds, collateralpurposes, political purposes, orfor lobbying.

"I think the worst that canhappen to free speech is that ifa doubt in the mind of a read-er or a viewer is created withregard to the integrity of thenews or the opinion that he isseeing," the finance minister.

In his remarks, Jaitley alsorecalled that in the 1950s anamendment was brought in bythe Jawaharlal NehruGovernment restricting freespeech if it adversely affectedthe country's relations with aforeign country.

He claimed that it wasbrought in because Nehru-Liaquat Ali pact became a sub-ject matter of political debate andDr Syama Prasad Mookerjeedecided to lead a campaignagainst it. "We have grown out

of that 1950-1952 phase... I don'tthink that is capable of happen-ing today," he said.

"If the Emergency was everto be re-imposed, because it isfashionable to say it is anotherEmergency. If the Emergencywas ever to be re-imposed, itwould collapse for the simplereason that one of the strengthsof the Emergency was press cen-sorship. And technology doesnot permit press censorship.

"You suddenly get access toinformation through variousinstruments that technologyhas provided," Jaitley said.

The finance minister saidhe has not been able to under-stand the criticism of those"who criticise the maximum"."Well your speech can't be indanger if you are criticisingseven days a week," he said.

Speaking on the occasion,Chairman Press Council ofIndia Justice ChandramouliKumar Prasad said, regulatingmedia is unacceptable andPress Council work relentless-ly to uphold the integrity andimpartiality of the media.

Can’t censor media due to tech: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addresses during the National Press Day celebrationsand Conferring of National Awards for Excellence in Journalism-2018 in New Delhion Friday PTI

AICC SECRETARY HARISH

CHAUDHARY WILL CONTEST

THE POLLS FROM THE BAYTOO

SEAT. FORMER BJP MP HARISH

MEENA, WHO HAD MOVED

TO THE CONGRESS ON

WEDNESDAY, HAS BEEN

FIELDED FROM DEOLI UNIARA

Surat to be ‘multi modal transport hub' soon

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress president RahulGandhi Friday alleged that

under the Modi Government"fast entry gates" of Ministries"open for those who possessfake degrees". Rahul alsoattacked the RSS alleging thatits "farjical (fake) strike" con-tinues on educational insti-tutes of the Delhi University.

Taking to Twitter, helaunched a tirade against PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, say-ing,"Shri chappan aur unkemantriyon ne chatron ko dikhayahai ki BJP mai mantrimandal kashighra dwar farzi degree dikhakar khulta hai. ('Mr 56' and hisMinisters have shown students

that under the BJP fast entrygates of Ministries open forthose who possess fake degrees)."

There was no immediatecomment from the PrimeMinister's Office or the BJP."The RSS' has an old traditionof attacking educational insti-tutions and helping those withfake degrees attain power.

"That is why the 'farjical

strikes' of RSS continue on DelhiUniversity," he tweeted in Hindi.

The Congress chief alsotweeted a picture of Modi,Union minister Smriti Irani andABVP's Delhi University presi-dent Ankiv Baisoya, alleging"Fake degree is in BJP's DNA".

Baisoya has stepped downfrom his post after reports ofhim possessing a fake degree.

The ABVP said ThursdayDUSU president Baisoya hasresigned from his post after itasked him to do so, and hasalso been suspended from thestudents outfit till an inquiryinto allegations that he gainedadmission to the DelhiUniversity on the basis of afake degree.

Fast entry gates of Ministries openfor persons with fake degrees: Rahul

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onFriday said that it will hear

in April a plea challenging thevalidity of Article 370 of theConstitution giving special sta-tus to Jammu & Kashmir. Thecourt deferred the hearing afterAttorney General K KVenugopal, appearing for theCentre sought adjournment onthe ground that the current sit-uation is very sensitive.

A bench of Justices D YChandrachud and M R Shahsaid it will hear the matter inthe first week of April 2019seemed to appreciate the con-cern raised by the AttorneyGeneral who said, "The polit-ical situation in the state is suchthat the matter should not beheard at this time."

Senior advocate RakeshDwivedi and advocate ShoebAlam, appearing for Jammuand Kashmir said that a letterhas been circulated seekingadjournment due to the ongo-

ing nine-phase Panchayat pollsin the state.

To this, the bench saidthat it can tag the matter alongwith a batch of pending peti-tions challenging Article 35A ofthe Constitution, under whichspecial rights and privileges aregranted to the "permanent res-idents" of the state.

The suggestion of thebench was opposed by thecounsels for the state sayingthat the two issues are differententirely and the plea should notbe tagged along with Article35A pending petitions. Thebench then posted the matterfor further hearing in firstweek of April, 2019.

On April 3, the apex courthad said that Article 370 of theConstitution is not a temporaryprovision. The court had saidthat in its earlier verdict of 2017in the SARFESI case, it has beenalready held that Article 370 was"not a temporary provision".

"The issue concerned iscovered by the judgement of this

court in the 2017 SARFAESImatter, where we have heldthat despite the headnote ofArticle 370, it is not a temporaryprovision," the court had said.

The court was hearing anappeal filed by petitioner KumariVijayalakshmi Jha, against theDelhi High Court's April 11,2017 order dismissing the pleaseeking a declaration that Article370 is temporary in nature.

The petitioner had claimedbefore the high court thatArticle 370 was a temporaryprovision that had lapsed withthe dissolution of theConstituent Assembly in 1957.

The petition had said thatthe continuance of the tempo-rary provision of Article 370even after dissolution ofConstituent Assembly of J&K,and that of J&K Constitutionwhich has never got the assentof the President of India orParliament or the governmentof India, "amounts to fraud onthe basic structure of ourConstitution".

SC to hear plea challengingvalidity of Article 370 in April

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

People with severe mentaldisorders (SMD) of biopo-

lar, moderate to severe depres-sion and other psychotic dis-orders not only have to battlewith their mental conditionsbut also non-communicableand communicable diseasessuch as diabetes and tubercu-losis cutting their life expectan-cy by 10-20 years when com-pared to general population.

Coming to the rescue ofthis hapless and helpless sector,the World Health Organisation(WHO) has issued for the firsttime "Guidelines on manage-ment of physical health con-ditions in adults with severemental disorders" that aims tohelp health workers to how tolookout and manage co-mor-bid physical and mental healthconditions among such patients.

The majority of these earlydeaths are due to physicalhealth conditions like diabetes,tuberculosis and cardiovascu-lar diseases. "As the physicalhealth of people with SMD iscommonly overlooked, notonly by themselves and peoplearound them, but also byhealth systems, they sufferfrom crucial physical healthdisparities and limited accessto health services.

"Many lives can be saved by

ensuring that people with SMDreceive treatment," the WHOsaid in a statement here recent-ly while releasing the guidelinesrecently for managing physicalhealth conditions of such peo-ple.

The recommendationshave come at a time when Indiais witnessing sharp increase inmental health disorders. Anestimated 150 million peopleacross India are in need ofmental health care interven-tions, both short and long-term, according to India's lat-est National Mental HealthSurvey 2015-16. The survey,which was carried out across 12states, found that the overallprevalence for current mentalhealth morbidity was 10.6 per-cent.

The WHO guidelinesinclude recommendations onhealthy lifestyle behaviorssuch as healthier diet, morephysical activity and tobaccocessation, psychosocial sup-

port and considering possibleinteractions between differentmedications prescribed formental and physical healthconditions.

"The majority of deathsamongst people with SMD areattributable to physical healthconditions, both non-commu-nicable and communicable,"said Graham Thornicroft,Chair of the guideline devel-opmental group and Professorof Community Psychiatry atKing's College London, andcolleagues wrote in the WHOexecutive summary.

"Unfortunately, such peo-ple often lack access to healthservices or receive poor quali-ty care, including promotion

and prevention, screening andtreatment. It is crucial toaddress the disparities in healthcare access and provision forpeople with such condition,"they said.

In India, poor awarenessabout the symptoms of mentalillness, stigma and the lack ofmental health services availablehas led to treatment gap, withinsufficient numbers of trainedmental health care profession-als. The survey by the NationalInstitute of Mental Health andNeuro-Sciences (NIMHANS)found that, depending on thestate, between 70 and 92 per-cent of those in need of men-tal health care failed to receiveany treatment.

WHO issues management guidelines

SEVERE MENTAL DISORDERS

o Overall, people with SMD have 1.53 times greater risk of

cardiovascular disease and 1.85 times greater risk of death due to

cardiovascular disease. People with SMD, particularly those who

have had multiple episodes of illness, also have higher rates of

diabetes mellitus, with 1.85 times greater risk than the general

population

o In India, there are just 0.3 psychiatrists, 0.07 psychologists and

0.07 social workers per 100,000 people in India. The ratio of

psychiatrists in developed nations is 6.6 per 100,000 and the

average number of mental hospitals globally is 0.04 per 100,000

while it's only 0.004 in India

Double whammy for peoplewith severe mental disorders

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

Delayed withdrawal of south-west monsoon and erratic

rainfalls across the countryimpacted the sowing of wheatand pulses crops in the ongoingseason of rabi crops. Accordingto Ministry of Agriculture'sdata, area sown to pulses has fall-en 18 per cent to 69.95 lakhhectare so far in the ongoing rabi(winter) season over the year-ago period due to less plantingin Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Sowing of wheat, the mainrabi crop, is also lagging behindmarginally at Rs 51.63 lakhhectare so far in the rabi sea-son of the 2018-19 crop yearcompared with 54.28 lakhhectare in the year-ago period.Sowing of rabi crops beginsfrom October and harvestingfrom March onwards.

According to the data, farm-ers in Karnataka have sownpulses in only 7.35 lakh hectareso far this season as against 12.98lakh hectare in the same periodlast season. Northern and southinterior parts of Karnataka arereeling under severe drought.These areas received deficientrains even during the kharif(summer) season. Sowing of rabicrops begins in November andcontinues till February.

In Maharashtra too, farmershave planted pulses in only 5.62lakh hectare so far this season asagainst 10.61 lakh hectare in theyear-ago period. However inMadhya Pradesh, pulses wascovered in 29.23 lakh hectare asagainst 30.9 lakh hectare in thesaid period. As many as pulsesacreage remained lower at 69.95lakh hectare so far this season asagainst 85.32 lakh hectare in thesame period last season.

In case of wheat, farmershave sown the crop in 51.63 lakhhectare so far this season asagainst 54.28 lakh hectare in thesame period last season. Areacoverage remained lower inPunjab at 14.68 lakh hectare asagainst 17.58 lakh hectare, whilein Haryana it stood at 5.54 lakhhectare as against 6.93 lakhhectare in the said period.

Erratic rainfallimpacts Rabicrop sowing

In Maharashtra,

farmers have planted

pulses in only 5.62

lakh hectare so far

this season as against

10.61 lakh hectare in

the year-ago period

PTI n GUWAHATI

The centuries-old idol ofGoddess Tara has gone

missing along with other valu-ables from the famous Shaktishrine Ugratara Temple inJorpukhuri area here, policesaid on Friday.

The idol, made of 'astad-hatu' (eight metals), was foundmissing when the priestopened the temple door onFriday morning. Other valu-ables including cash from thedonation box was also looted,they said.

The temple authoritiesinformed the Latasil policestation, which is located bare-ly 200 metres away from thetemple.

According to the CCTVfootage of the temple, fourpersons were seen looting andvandalising the sanctum sanc-torum of the temple and takingaway the idol.

A massive search operationhas been launched to nab the

culprits and investigations havealready begun, police said.

The Secretary of theTemple Committee, KailashSarmah, said that the idolwas in his family for centuriesand the authorities must takeurgent measures to ensurethat it was recovered at theearliest.

He said the idol datedback to to 1044 AD and thetemple is revered as one of the51 'Shaktipeeths ' in the country.

The present temple wasbuilt in 1725 AD during therule of Ahom King Siva Singh.

Ugratara temple idol,

valuables looted

ACCORDING TO THE CCTV

FOOTAGE OF THE TEMPLE,

FOUR PERSONS WERE

SEEN LOOTING AND

VANDALISING THE

SANCTUM SANCTORUM

OF THE TEMPLE AND

TAKING AWAY THE IDOL

PTI n AIZAWL

The Mizoram Governmenthas allocated C52.75 crore

towards expenses of theNovember 28 state legislativeassembly polls , f inancedepartment of f icials said Friday.

The officials said thefinance department hasreleased `32.5 crore to thestate election department.

Of the `52.75 crore elec-tion budget, `37.75 crore willbe disbursed to eight districtelection offices, while ̀ 4 crorewill go to the State electiondirectorate.

The officials said `11crore was the total estimatefor expenses to be incurred ondeployment of 40 companiesof Central Armed PoliceForce (CAPF), which wasregarded as on the higher side.

Mizoram Govt

allocates

`52.75 cr for

poll expenses

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore shows a victory sign after BJP senior leader Satish Poonia files his nominationpapers for Amer Assembly seat in Jaipur on Friday PTI

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018 nation 06

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Press Council of India Chairperson Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad present the ' Rural Journalism Award' to Chief Correspondent,Deshbandhu, Ruby Sarkar, during the National Press Day celebrations, in New Delhi on Friday PTI

CBI registers DA case against retired PNBofficial accused in Nirav Modi casePTI n NEW DELHI

The CBI has registered a dis-proportionate assets case

against retired deputy manag-er of Punjab National Bank(PNB) Gokulnath Shetty, a keyaccused in the Rs 11,400-crorescam involving Nirav Modi, forallegedly amassing wealth 200per cent more than his knownsources of income, officialssaid Friday.

The case was registered bythe CBI’s Anti CorruptionBranch in Mumbai againstShetty and his wife Ashalata forallegedly amassing a large num-ber of moveable and immove-able properties during the peri-od between April 1, 2011 andMay 31, 2017, the day heretired.

According to the CBI FIR,the couple had amassed dis-proportionate assets to thetune of Rs 2.63 crore during theperiod.

Shetty and his wifeAshalata, who is a clerk withIndian Bank, “had acquireddisproportionate assets to thetune of Rs 2.63 crore, which are238.44 per cent disproportion-ate to their known sources of

income”, the CBI FIR alleged.It also said that Ashalata

had “been found to have active-ly assisted her husband in theconcealment and acquisition ofassets raised from ill-gottenwealth and thereby has abettedthe offence of possession of dis-proportionate assets by a pub-lic servant”.

Shetty was arrested by theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) in February this yearafter the banking fraud involv-ing billionaire jewellers NiravModi and Mehul Choksi sur-faced.

The scam surfaced whencompanies of Nirav Modi andChoksi approached PNB’sBrady Road branch, Mumbai,in January this year seekingLetter of Understanding (LoU)for payments to suppliers. Theofficial handling the casesought 100 per cent cash guar-antee before any such lettercould be issued to which thecompany officials said no suchguarantee was sought in thepast.

The official checked therecords which did not showsuch an LoU to Modi orChoksi’s company which led to

suspicion.It is alleged that Shetty

had been bypassing PNB’s corebanking system and issuingLoUs fraudulently for sevenyears.

An LoU is a guaranteewhich is given by an issuingbank to Indian banks havingbranches abroad to grant ashort-term credit to the appli-cant. In case of default, thebank issuing the LoU has topay the liability to credit givingbank along with accruing inter-est. Shetty allegedly sent mes-sages of these LoUs using aninternational messaging systemfor banking systems calledSWIFT (Society for WorldwideInterbank FinancialTelecommunication), which isused to pass instructionsamong banks globally to trans-fer funds.

It is estimated that millionsof messages are sent daily usingthe SWIFT technology global-ly wherein every member bankcan send or receive messages offinancial transactions to anoth-er bank worldwide.

The PNB officials alleged-ly sent these messages to Indianbanks — Canara Bank, State

Bank of India, Bank of India,Axis Bank, Allahabad Bank —located in Antwerp, HongKong, Bahrain, Mauritius,Frankfurt without makingentries in the banking softwareabout the LoUs.

These LoUs and Letters ofCredits (LC) worth Rs 11,384crore were getting renewed orissued afresh for six years with-out the bank’s knowledge.

The Indian banks abroaddid not mind as their moneywas safe (under guarantee fromPNB) and increasing because ofthe accruing interest.

The party was spoiled inJanuary this year when the firstrenewal arose after the retire-ment of Shetty, the officialssaid.

An alarmed bank dug outall such LoUs and LCs showinga mammoth liability towardsother banks.

The conniving officer alsoissued Foreign Letters of Creditby entering a smaller amountin trade finance module ofCore Banking Solutions (CBS)system and generating the ref-erence number and a SWIFTmessage was sent for theamount, the bank alleged.

‘Fashion designer was killed by a man she helped get out of jail’PTI n NEW DELHI

She wound up a long con-versation with her sister,

saying she would call backafter watching “Bigg Boss” butthat was never to be. About anhour later, fashion designerMala Lakhani was killed,allegedly by her tailor who shehad helped get out of jail, hersister Aarti Sharma said onFriday.

Standing outside theSafdarjung Hospital mortuaryto claim the body of her 53-year-old sister, who was foundbrutally stabbed to death alongwith her domestic helpBahadur in her bungalow inupscale Vasant Kunj Enclave inthe early hours of Thursday,Aarti was inconsolable.

“I had spoken to her ataround 8.15 pm (onWednesday). I spoke to heragain and we ended up talkingtill 9.50 pm. She wanted tospeak to my daughter but latersaid she will call us after ‘BiggBoss’ gets over. But she nevercalled back,” Aarti told PTI.

Three men have beenarrested in connection with themurder — Mala’s master tailorRahul Anwar (24), his cousinRahmat (24) and his friendWasim (25).

It was ‘Meenu’, as Mala wasknown in her family, whohelped get Rahul out of jailwhen he was arrested formolestation, Aarti murmured,almost as if talking to herself.

Anwar was arrested in2017 for allegedly molesting aminor girl in Rangpuri Pahariarea, police said.

“She would always say thatAnwar is like my ‘bachcha’,”Aarti said.

It is hard to believe thatRahul stabbed her so brutallyand did not even spare her face,Aarti said, standing outsidethe hospital with her husbandRahul Sharma, the first personto see the bodies with multiplestab injuries in the workshop ofthe sprawling home.

The bodies of Mala, whoran a boutique called TulsiCreations in Green Park, and50-year-old Bahadur, a

Nepalese national, were foundwith at least 18 stab injurieseach. After the killings, alleged-ly following a long-standingdispute over unpaid dues, theaccused looted jewellery worthlakhs of rupees and ransackedthe house, police said, esti-mating that the incident tookplace between 10 pm and 11.30pm on Wednesday.

Around 2.45 am onThursday, the three men wentto the police station to confessto the crime.

“They had even inflictedstab injuries on her face and itwas hard to recognise her. Shewas very conscious about herappearance but look what theydid to her... Bahadur’sintestines were visible. Theworkshop where the murderstook place had blood splatteredall over the floor,” RahulSharma told PTI.

The Lakhani family —Mala’s two sisters Deepika andAarti and her brother Gope —were waiting at the mortuaryalong with a host of relativesand friends. Rahul Sharma said

Mala had even bought Anwara motorcycle so he could com-mute to work.

Aarti also ran a boutique.About a year ago, Anwar

visited her boutique to ask forwork and did not inform herthat he worked with her sister.

“I only learnt about itrecently when one of myemployees told me. I had nevermet Anwar in person before,”she said. She said she wasaware about the monetary dis-pute between her sister andAnwar and had discussed it indetail with Mala.

“Anwar wanted extramoney for every cloth hestitched. They wanted some Rs50 extra per piece for stitching.Since it was a meagre amount,we would have sorted it. Wehad never thought they wouldhatch a conspiracy to kill herover it. In fact, it was Anwarwho told police about Aarti andher boutique.

“That’s how police con-tacted me to inform me aboutthe incident,” she said.

The sisters had planned to

meet on Sunday but an unex-pected visit from a relativemeant that they could not.

“Meenu’s winter clotheshad been kept in a cupboard inthe storeroom where Bahadurused to sleep. The storeroomwas next to the workshopwhere the incident happened.

“She was opening thosecupboards on Wednesday totake out her things. Anwarmust have thought she had keptcash in those cupboards, whichis why they ransacked thatroom after killing Meenu andBahadur,” Aarti said.

Police informed the fami-ly that the three accusedallegedly searched Bahadur’sroom for money and wereexpecting to get Rs 30 lakh-40lakh but did not find any cash.

“I would speak to Meenu atleast four times in a day and wemet once a week,” she said.

The family would cautionLakhani against keeping somany people in her housesince she lived alone but shewould always say, “my home ismy mandir”.

Tribunal to review ban on2 Tripura militant groupsPTI n NEW DELHI

The Centre has set up a tri-bunal, headed by Delhi

High Court Judge JusticeSuresh Kait, for adjudicatingwhether or not two Tripura-based militant outfits should bedeclared banned organisationsunder the law.

The decision has beentaken by the Home Ministryexercising the powers con-ferred under the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act, anofficial notification said.

“...the central governmenthereby constitutes ‘TheUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Tribunal’ con-sisting of Hon’ble Shri JusticeSuresh Kait, Judge of DelhiHigh Court, for the purpose ofadjudicating whether or notthere is sufficient cause fordeclaring the NationalLiberation Front of Tripura(NLFT) and All Tripura TigerForce (ATTF) as unlawful asso-ciations,” it said.

J&K headed for Prez rule, assemblynot to be dissolved for now: MalikPTI n JAMMU

Jammu and Kashmir is head-ed for President’s rule but the

state assembly will not be dis-solved for now, GovernorSatyapal Malik said Friday.

His statement comes amidspeculation that efforts arebeing made behind the scenesto cobble together a coalitiongovernment by various partiesto succeed the PDP-BJP dis-pensation that collapsed inJune when the BJP withdrewsupport to the MehboobaMufti-led PDP.

However, the numbers fora government formation don’tseem to add up for now.

Malik himself is convincedthat a popular government willnot be possible. “I still do notsee any government forma-tion. No party has numbers so

far and there is a clear messagethat nothing illegal will beallowed,” he said.

However, he justified thedecision to keep the 87-mem-ber state assembly alive on theground, saying that at least theMLAs will be able to cater tothe daily needs of the people oftheir respective constituencies.

“I still don’t see any gov-ernment formation from thepresent assembly but I do notwish to deprive people of theirdevelopment. The MLAs cancontinue developing theirrespective constituencies andaddressing the problems of thepeople,” Malik told PTI.

Malik had reversed hispredecessor N N Vohra’s orderby restoring the ConstituencyDevelopment Fund (CDF) ofmembers of the LegislativeAssembly.

The fund had been put insuspended animation after thefall of the Mehbooba Muftigovernment on June 19. Malikalso authorised legislators toinaugurate projects and infra-structure related works in thestate. Asked whether the statewas heading for a presidentialrule, he said, “It is a normalcourse of action that after com-pletion of six months of gov-ernor’s rule, it will be followedby President’s rule.”

The state is under gover-nor’s rule which expires onDecember 19. Under theConstitution of Jammu andKashmir, there is no provisionfor extension of Governor’srule.

The state is under centralrule since June 19 after the BJPwithdrew support from thethen Mehbooba Mufti-led

coalition government.No party enjoys a majori-

ty in the 87-member Assembly,in which the PDP has 28MLAs, the BJP 25 and theNational Conference 15.

President’s rule can beimposed after the UnionCabinet, headed by the primeminister, makes a recommen-dation to the president to thiseffect following a report of thegovernor.

Under such circumstances,there is no need for the Centreto get parliamentary nod forextension of central rulebeyond December 19.

While the Governor’s rulein Jammu and Kashmir isimposed under Section 92 ofthe state’s Constitution,President’s rule is imposedunder Article 356 of the IndianConstitution.

Emission fiasco:

NGT directs

Volkswagen to

deposit ` 100 cr

PTI n NEW DELHI

The National GreenTribunal Friday directed

Volkswagen to deposit aninterim amount of Rs 100crore with the CPCB in acase related to allegationsagainst the German automajor for using ‘cheat device’in emission tests of its dieselvehicles.

A bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel also formed acommittee comprising offi-cials of the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests,Ministr y of HeavyIndustries, Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) andAutomotive ResearchAssociation of India to cal-culate the actual quantum ofthe environmental loss.

The green panel direct-ed the committee to submitthe report within a monthand asked the company andthe petitioner in the case toappear before the panelwithin seven days with theircontentions. The tribunalwas hearing pleas filed by aschool teacher Sa loniAilawadi and a few othersseeking ban on sale ofVolkswagen vehicles foralleged violation of emissionnorms. The automobile gianthad earlier submitted aroadmap before the tribunalto recall over 3.23 lakh vehi-cles in the country fittedwith a ‘defeat device’ meantto fudge emission tests.

A ‘cheat’ or ‘defeatdevice’ is a software in dieselengines to manipulate emis-sion tests by changing theperformance of the carsglobally.

Siaha (Mizoram): Alleging thatthe Congress Government hadnot done anything to bringabout development in Mizoram,Union Home Minister RajnathSingh on Friday said the BJP, ifvoted to power, would upgradethe road infrastructure in theState within six months.

Addressing an electionrally here, he said the conditionof roads in the North-easternState has gone from bad toworse under the Congress rule.

“The BJP, if elected topower, will build highways andmend roads in the State with-in six months. The poll-boundState probably has the worstroad infrastructure in the coun-try even after a decade ofCongress rule,” Singh said.

The Minister also assertedthat the Centre would ensurepassage of an amendment tothe Sixth Schedule of theConstitution, providing morepower to the autonomous dis-trict councils of Mizoram.

“If the two BJP nomineesin the Mara AutonomousDistrict Council (MADC) areelected to power, the BJP-ledNDA Government at theCentre will be able to push foran amendment to the SixthSchedule of the Constitution toensure more autonomy to thedistrict councils,” he said.

MADC, one of the threeautonomous district councilswithin the State, has its head-quarters in Siaha. PTI

Rajnath promisesroad facelift, morepower to tribalcouncils in Mizoram

KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR

The authorities in Jammu &Kashmir have put in elabo-

rate security and logistic arrange-ments to conduct the maidenphase of the elongated pan-chayat polls on Saturday. Asmany as 47 Panchayat blockscovering 21 blocks in Jammuprovince, 16 in Kashmir valleyand 10 blocks in Ladakh regionare going to polls in the firstphase.

According to the ChiefElectoral Officer, 427 candi-dates are in the fray for 536Sarpanch Halqas and 5951candidates for 4048 PanchWards in the State for whichvoting and counting is sched-uled to be held tomorrow.

The polling will take placebetween 8 in the morning till2 O’ clock.

The Panchayat polls onnon party basis will be held innine phases in 316 Blocks in4483 Pachayat Halqas com-prising of over 35 ThousandPanch Constituencies.

The polls have been sched-uled on November 17, 20, 24,27, 29 and December 01, 04, 08and 11.

Adequate security arrange-ments in villages and pollbound areas have been put inplace to ensure smooth andpeaceful panchayat polls inthe State.

The last Panchayat elec-tions in the State were held in2011 after a gap of 20 years andPanchayats completed theirterm in July 2016.

Instead of EVMs, ballotpapers will decide the fate of

Elaborate security

arrangements in J&K

ahead of Panchayat polls

over 4400 Sarpanches and over35 thousand Panches.

The Model Code ofConduct (MCC) imposed onSeptember 16 continues toremain in force.

The total number of elec-tors in the State is over 58Lakh 54 Thousand who areeligible to cast their votes inPanchayat Elections.

Over 29 Lakh 91Thousand voters are regis-tered in Kashmir Divisionwhileas 28 Lakh 63 Voters areregistered in Jammu Divisionif the State.

Election Commission hasdevised a scheme to enablemigrant Kashmiri Pandits tovote through Postal Ballot inPanchayat Elections.

The Commissionannounced poll schedulesdespite the decision of twomain political parties NationalConference and People'sDemocratic Party to stay awayfrom Municipal and Panchayatpolls.

National Conference wasthe first mainstream politicalparty that announced boycottof Municipal and Panchayatelections slated this year.

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018 nation 07

PNS n GANDHINAGAR

Demanding to hold theupcoming Lok Sabha polls

using ballot papers instead ofElectronic Voting Machines(EVMs), former Gujarat ChiefMinister Shankersinh Vaghelasaid that he would try his bestto ensure BJP’s defeat in the2019 general elections.

“There is need to use bal-lot papers till the doubts onEVMs in the minds of voterswould vanish. A mechanismhas to be developed to spreadawareness on EVMs and VVPTamong the voters across thecountry,” said Vaghela in aninteraction with media persons.

On Friday the formerUnion Minister popularlyknown as ‘Bapu’ in political andsocial circles had organisedmedia get together lunch at hispalatial residence on the out-skirts of Gandhinagar to markbeginning of Vikram Samvant2075 (Gujarati New Year).

Vaghela had resigned fromCongress in 2017 ahead ofassembly polls along with hisMLA son Mahendra, relativeBalwantsinh Rajput and other

11 MLAs belonging to hiscamp. In the subsequent devel-opment, his son and Rajputjoined BJP. However, Mahendraresigned from the saffronbrigade in October this year.

Coming down heavily onPrime Minister NarendraModi, the strong Kshtriyaleader said that Modi failed tokeep promises he had given topeople ahead of 2014 LokSabha polls. He went on to saythat Indian voters have decid-ed to defeat NDA.

“I have started efforts tounit anti-BJP political outfits.For the purpose I am visitingacross the nation and alreadyvisited nine states. My aimwould be to create a nationallevel political front to counterBJP,” said the veteran politicianclaiming that even if anti-BJPpolitical party would fight witheach other at local level, theywould get around 300 seats andform UPA type government atthe centre. He gave examples ofWest Bengal where MamataBanerjee’s political outfit wouldfight against communist partyat local level but BJP wouldn’tget anything there.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Continuing her tiradeagainst the BJP-led NDA

Government for “taking Indiatowards a political chaos,”Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Friday said the saf-fron Government had ensuredthat the key institutions of thecountry were destroyed.

In an apparent bid to catchthe bull by its horn the ChiefMinister also announcedcounter-Yatras in the wake ofBJP’s much publicised RathYatras beginning next month.The TMC Yatras will follow theroute of the BJP Yatras, she said.

The Narendra ModiGovernment was tearing downthe major institutions likeReserve Bank of India andCentral Bureau of InvestigationBanerjee said promising to doeverything to protect theseorganizations.

“They (Modi Government)are destroying all the key insti-tutions of the country,”Banerjee who had earlier beencritical of changing thePlanning Commission into NitiAyog said adding how theCentre was “trying to changethe way the RBI and the CBIfunction.”

The ruling outfit (readBJP) that was making “‘build-ing statues’ its poll agenda willitself become a statue after thecoming Lok Sabha elections,”Banerjee told a party meetingin Kolkata.

Dropping hints that theTrinamool Congress was plan-ning to take central stage inDelhi post 2019 general elec-tions, Banerjee said the way theBJP was trying to divide the

country and implementingregimes like the NationalRegister for Citizens wouldforce her party to “play a big-ger role in the coming days.

“We will not tolerate divi-sion in the society and perse-cution of innocent people inthe name of NRC,” Banerjeesaid giving a call for “BJPHatao Desh Bachao (save Indiaby driving away the BJP)”.

The Chief Minister whohad called a mega rally inJanuary to be held at the his-toric Brigade Parade Ground inKolkata where she had invitedall the anti-BJP parties said “allparties barring a few have con-firmed their desire to attend therally,” adding the same will actas the final nail in the BJP’s cof-fin.

Attacking the saffron out-fit for reintroducing the age-oldtactic of Rath Yatras to polar-ize the Hindu vote, Banerjeesaid, “the BJP is organizing theRath Yatra to divide the peoplebut we will organize similarYatras which will be called“Ekta Yatra (Unity Rally)” onthe same route that their Yatrafollows.”

The Trinamool Congress’Yatra “is aimed at uniting andnot dividing the communi-

ties,” Banerjee said.Incidentally the CPI(M)

which was locked in a battlewith the BJP for the secondplace in the State has alsoannounced rallies followingthe same path that the BJP’sYatra is like to take.

The BJP is scheduled totake out three Yatras inDecember. While the first Yatrawill start from Ganga Sagar(the southernmost tip ofBengal), the second one willcommence from Tarapeeth inBirbhum district. The thirdYatra will start from the north-ern most district o the StateCoochbehar bordering Assam.The BJP’s chariots will convergeat the Brigade Parade Groundin Kolkata on January 23 thebirth day of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose, the partysources said.

Enroute the Yatras willcover several thousand kilo-meters, during which 60 massmeetings will be held.

Top BJP leaders includingparty president Amit Shah,Assam Chief MinisterSarwananda Sonowal and hisUP counterpart YogiAdityanath will address theBJP rallies sources said.

“The Yatras will be takenout against TrinamoolCongress’ reign of terror, itsappeasement policy and itsaiding the continuing infiltra-tion through Bangladesh bor-der,” BJP State Rahul Sinha said.

However TMC MP andChief Minister’s nephew saidthe Rath Yatra would in fact bea “luxury tour of the State inair-conditioned vehicles by theBJP leaders.”

Mamata blames BJP fordestroying institutions

Ex-Guj CM Vaghelato work against BJPin Lok Sabha polls

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

The Shirdi police have bookedRajendra Jagtap, head of the

Saibaba Temple run by ShirdiSaibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST)for allegedly molesting a womandevotee from Rahata taluka inMaharashtra’s Ahmednagar.

Acting on a complaint by avictim woman, the Shirdipolice registered an offenceagainst Jagtap under sections354 (molestation), 323(Voluntarily causing hurt), 504(intentional insult with intentto provoke breach of the peace)and 506 (Punishment for crim-inal intimidation).

Following the victimwoman’s complaint, Jagtap hasabsconded from the pilgrimtown of Shirdi. “We are look-ing for Jagtap. He has beenmissing since yesterday. Wehope to find him soon,”Investigation Officer attachedto the Shirdi town police sta-tion B F Maghade said.

The victim woman, whoincidentally is a talukaCongress office bearer, said inher complaint that she alongwith her women friends hadgone to Saibaba temple fordarshan on Thursday night.

“At that time, Saibabapalanquin procession was on.At around 8.30 pm, the templeofficial (Jagtap) came close tome and my other friends. Hetouched and my friends mis-behaved with us and threw meout of the temple premises. Hethreatened me not to be seenon the temple premises onceagain in future,” the com-plainant said.

The victim woman, in hercomplaint, also claimed thatthis was not the fitst time thatJagtap was misbehaving withwomen inside the temple.

Shirdi templehead bookedfor molestation

PTI n MUMBAI

Senior BJP leader SudhirMungantiwar has said he is

upset at Shiv Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray’s criticismof him on tigress Avni's killing,and therefore is not willing toparticipate in alliance talkswith the latter.

Mungantiwar, the state'sForest minister, has been at thecentre of attacks from politi-cians like Thackeray and Unionminister Maneka Gandhi aswell as animal rights groups forthe killing of tigress Avni,allegedly a man-eater, onNovember 2 in Yavatmal.

Speaking to select media-persons recently, Mungantiwarclaimed when he called upThackeray to convey his dis-appointment over the latter'sremarks, the Sena chief toldhim that Union ministerManeka Gandhi had askedhim to do so.

"I told Uddhav ji I wasdeeply hurt by his remarks over

the Avni episode. I did notexpect this from him, especiallywhen I considered him a goodfriend. During the course of theconversation, he told meManeka ji had called him anda s k e dhim to oppose the killing of thetigress," Mungantiwar, whoalso holds charge of the stateFinance portfolio, said.

Mungantiwar further saidhe was in favour of an alliancewith the Sena at a time whennobody else in the party waswilling to do so, as they (partycolleagues) were irked withthe Sena's constant criticism ofthe BJP and the state govern-ment.

"Despite this, he indulgedin cheap criticism of theepisode. I am no more willingto hold alliance talks with himnow," Mungantiwar, who hasbeen instrumental in trying to get the Sena on boardfor the forthcoming elections,said.

Speaking about the anguish

Upset Mungantiwar unwilling to holdalliance talks with Uddhav

From Page 1Meanwhile, CBI spokesperson in Delhi, said

they have not yet received any such orders andwill respond legally to it.

Opposition parties in AP decried the moveand asserted the State Government did not havethe authority to bar the CBI. The principal oppo-sition YSR Congress alleged the controversialdecision was taken only because the ChiefMinister was scared of the CBI.

“Chandrababu should explain why he isblocking the CBI from the state,” YSRC PoliticalAffairs Committee member Ambati Rambabusaid. The ban order was issued at a time whenthe YSRC requested President Ram NathKovind and Union Home Minister RajnathSingh for a “third party investigation” into theattack on Leader of Opposition Y S JaganmohanReddy, he said.

Former Congress MP Undavalli ArunKumar, a trained lawyer, likened the State

Government order, barring the CBI, to a “tis-sue paper” and said it would damage AP’s image.“The State Government order is not valid. TheCBI can take up probe on the directions of thecourt. Only in matters related to the State doesthe agency require the Government’s permis-sion,” he said. CPI State Secretary KRamakrishna also questioned the StateGovernment’s authority in prohibiting thefunctioning of CBI. BJP spokesperson GVLNarasimha Rao also alleged the ChandrababuGovernment’s decision was a “clear malafideexercise of power” to ensure that its “corruption”was not exposed. It showed that the TeluguDesam Party (TDP), which was in power in theState and had formed an alliance with partieslike the Congress to take on the BJP, had manyskeletons in its cupboards, he alleged.

“A nervous and completely rattled Naidu istrying to save his Government,” Rao toldreporters in Delhi.

From Page 1“Spoke to CM Shri K Palaniswami regard-

ing the situation in the cyclone affected areas ofTamil Nadu. Assured all possible assistance fromthe Centre in mitigating the situation arising dueto cyclone. Asked the HS to monitor the situa-tion & provide all help to the State admin (sic),”Singh tweeted.

Besides loss of lives, 1,471 huts were partiallydamaged and 216 fully destroyed. A total of4,987 trees got uprooted in these districts.

Farmers’ leader PR Pandian told PTI lakhsof coconut trees, plantain and acres of paddycrop have been seriously affected due to the gustywinds. He demanded adequate compensation forthe farmers. State owned Tamil Nadu Generationand Distribution Corporation’s field assets,including 13,025 electricity poles, 13 local dis-tribution transformers, and 1,000 cables weredamaged in rain-related incidents.

The heavy rain in districts, includingTiruvarur and Thanjavur, and widespread rainin other parts, has come as a boon to the Statewhich was staring at a rainfall deficit during themonsoon season which commenced on October1. “Now the deficit stands at 23 per cent. Therainfall ranged between the lowest of 1 cm inseveral towns to the highest of 17 cm inTiruvarur district followed by 16 cm inThanjavur,” a Met official said.

According to weather office sources, 6 cmrain was reported in Nagapattinam districtwhich bore the brunt of the storm, while

Cuddalore district reported rainfall between 9cm and 12 cm.

“The system has now become a depressionand has entered land area of neighbouring Keralathrough Dindigul and Theni districts,” thesources said.

The CM said 216 medical camps have beenorganised to check spread of epidemics in storm-hit regions. As many as 7,000 electricity poleshad been dispatched to vulnerable districts inadvance for replacement, he said, adding stepshave been taken on a war-footing to restorepower supply.

Adequate precautionary measures weretaken by authorities to tackle the situation, hesaid. Power supply has been suspended sinceThursday evening in Nagapattinam district.Traffic remains disrupted in most parts ofNagapattinam and Karaikal districts.

A holiday has been declared for education-al institutions in regions, includingNagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts. RevenueMinister RB Udaya Kumar told reporters thatthe Government has tackled the cyclone situa-tion successfully.

“This was a challenging task...We are con-fident that we have faced it safely 100 per cent,”he said, adding all post-cyclone tasks likecleaning up storm affected areas has begun.

In a rare gesture, DMK president andOpposition leader MK Stalin lauded the StateDisaster Management Authority for its effortsto tackle the severe cyclonic storm.

From Page 1Later, the new head priest

VN Vasudevan Nampoodiriassumed the charges fromUnnikrishnan Nampoodiri.The new head priest wasadministered the sacred hymnby the Thanthri of the temple.

The temple was closedafter the evening Puja and willbe reopened on Saturday earlymorning at 3.30 by the newhead priest. VasudevanNampoodiri began his strictand strenuous regimen for thenext one year on Fridayevening. He has to stay in thetemple premises for the nextone year and is not allowed togo out anywhere from theshrine in the deep forests.

Nampoodiri’s day begins at 3am everyday and concludes by11 pm with the night Puja.

Devotees in large numbershave reached the foothills ofSabarimala by Friday evening.A heavy posse of policemen andwomen cops have beendeployed in and around theshrine. The Kerala Governmenthas taken all precautions tomaintain the law and order inthe shrine, which witnessedunprecedented protests bydevotees as a follow-up to theSeptember 28 SC verdict.

Meanwhile, the TDB dis-closed by Friday evening that itwould move a stay petition inthe SC on Monday asking fortime to implement theSeptember 28 verdict of theConstitution Bench that allowedentry of women into the temple.

From Page 1“At this stage, we are not

inclined to call upon either theUnion of India or any otherparty to submit anyresponse/reply to the saidreport of the CVC and the onlyresponse the court is permit-ting is that of the petitioner —Alok Kumar Verma...”.

Rohatgi said Asthana hasbeen facing a criminal case forcomplaining against Vermaand demanded the report, say-ing it was Asthana who hadfiled a complaint against theCBI Director to the CabinetSecretary, which was subse-quently sent to the CVC.

“This is not a case of secu-

rity of the nation. Why shouldthis report be kept in a sealedcover?” Rohatgi said.

To this, the Bench initial-ly questioned Asthana’s moveto lodge a complaint with theCabinet Secretary saying,“Under what authority in lawyou had filed a complaint to theCabinet Secretary?”

When Rohatgi said, “That(complaint) I can file”, theBench observed, “Anybody canfile a complaint”. Senior advo-cate Fali S Nariman, appearingfor Verma, told the court thatthe CBI Director would file hisresponse to CVC report assoon as possible by November19 as “the earlier it (issue) isresolved, the better it is”.

To this, the Bench toldNariman, “Once we will have

your (Verma) response, wewill take a decision”.

The Bench told seniorlawyer Dushyant Dave, appear-ing for NGO Common Causewhich has filed a separate pleaseeking a probe by a specialinvestigation team against CBIofficers, that the NGO has notfiled a list of policy decisionstaken by acting CBI director MNageswara Rao.

Dave had earlier claimedthat despite court’s order thatRao would not take policy deci-sions, the acting CBI Directorhas taken several such decisions.“We will presume that he (Rao)has not taken any major policydecision because you have notgiven us list of decisions takenby him,” the Bench told Dave,adding that Rao has already filed

in the court a list of decisionstaken by him from October 23till October 26.

When Dave said he wouldfile the list of decisions taken byRao, the court observed that “itwill be open for any party tosupplement the said list” andthe issue would be consideredon the next date of hearing.

The Bench also dealt withthe application filed byCongress leader MallikarjunKharge and CBI DSP AK Bassi,who has been transferred toPort Blair and said that theywould also be considered onNovember 20. On November 4,Kharge had moved the topcourt contending that divestingVerma of his statutory powersand functions is “completelyillegal and arbitrary”.

Gaja tramples 13 to death in TN

No clean chit...

Sabarimala... Andhra, Bengal...

DIP holds seminaron journalism

Goyal facesprotests by railemployees PNS n LUCKNOW

Railway Minister PiyushGoyal faced the ire of

railway employees here onFriday over after he refused toaccept the demands forrestoration of old pensionscheme and regularisation ofthe services of apprentices.

The railway employeesraised slogans against theminister and tried to stop hisfleet. Goyal’s office, howev-er, denied that any suchprotest took place.

Goyal was the chief guestat a function organised byNorthern Railway Men’sUnion (NRMU) on its 70thanniversar y at R ai lwayStadium here on Friday.

The problem star tedwhen Goyal refused to acceptthe demands raised by gen-eral secretary of All-IndiaNational Federat ion ofRailways Employees ShivGopal Mishra, who demand-ed restoration of the nation-al pension scheme, regulari-sation of the services ofapprentices and governmentjob for the dependents ofrailway employees who diedduring their service.

The Railway Minister,during his address, categori-cally refused to accept thedemands of the employees’union. He said that railwayemployees’ associat ionssometimes raised demands

which were not acceptable. The situation went out of

hand when Goyal said thatMishra had even incitedapprentices against the rail-way administration and thiswas not good. “People whohave done apprenticeship donot automatically qualify forjob in Railways. There is abinding by the court. Thecourt ruling says that equalopportunity should be givento all. Earlier, some peoplewere given jobs but they wereasked to leave even afterputting in 10 years’ of servicein the railways,” he added.

“We cannot jump the gunand give jobs to apprentices.During training, it was madeclear that those who completethe course would not auto-matically qualify for job. Butsome leaders have tried tomislead the apprentices,” theRailway Minister said.

He said this year theIndian Railway will give 1.25lakh jobs and it had reservedsome percentage of seats forthose who had completedapprenticeship from IndianRailway. But they wouldhave to appear in tests, headded.

Hearing this, the employ-ees started raising slogansagainst the minister, forcingGoyal to cut short his speech.Later, the security personnelescorted him to his vehicle,after which he left for Delhi.

UP GOVT COMMITTED TO ... From Page 1

would greatly benefit Kanpur-Bundelkhand region and thusthe segment was on the threshold of economic progress once theDefence Corridor became functional. He said this mega eventhad emerged to be one of the most remarkable events to chan-nelise efforts being made for making UP Defence Corridor aground reality. Later, Yogi also made a surprise visit to GallaMandi where he personally interacted with the farmers andassured them that they would not get less than what the supportprice had been fixed by the UP government. He warned the entryof middleman and directed officials and farmers to ensure theyeliminated the role of middlemen so that the benefits could beavailed by them. He warned officials of strict action in case therewas any victimisation of farmers. UP Industrial DevelopmentMinister Satish Mahana, Satya Dev Pachauri and all MPs andMLAs were present along with office-bearers of the party.

RAJA BHAIYA ANNOUNCES ...From Page 1

concerning the lives of the masses. “People are enthused overmy floating a new party,” he added.

Asked whether his party would forge alliance with other par-ties, Raja Bhaiya said: “This question should be posed to otherpolitical parties, whether they want to ally with us on the issueswe are focusing on.” He said the main agenda of his new partywould be to raise the issues related to disparity in the reserva-tion system vis-à-vis non-Dalits and issues concerning the youths.

Refusing to say anything when asked whether his party wouldcontest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 or he would go for an alliancein the elections, the Independent MLA clarified that the deci-sion on contesting the election would be taken after the ECI recog-nised his party. The MLA from Kunda, who completes his sil-ver jubilee in politics on November 25, has already announcedto hold a big rally in Lucknow on November 30. Asked aboutthe Ram temple in Ayodhya, Raja Bhaiya refused to make anycomment on the issue or on Yogi Adityanath government in UttarPradesh and the Narendra Modi at the Centre. He, however, said:“We will accept the verdict of the Supreme Court on this issue.”

Reverting to his main agenda, Raja Bhaiya said: “My party willfight for the cause of the non-Dalits who face discrimination at var-ious levels in government and its controlled institutions.”

the Anvi episode had causedhim, Mungantiwar said, "Iam not active on social mediaplatforms. However, when mydaughter showed me the mes-sages posted on Twitter andFacebook, I was deeply upset.People used abusive languageagainst me. I felt upset whenI saw my family in distressreading such messages."

When approached for aresponse, Menaka Gandhi,Union Minister for Womenand Child Development,refused to comment.

Thackeray has been vocalin his criticism of the killingof Avni and had termed thestate's government's decisionto set up a committee toprobe the killing as a "farce".

Thackeray had also said ifChief Minister DevendraFadnavis backed Mungantiwarsaying he could not be heldresponsible for the killing,why did Prime MinisterNarendra Modi take credit forthe surgical strike, when thePM had not himself conduct-ed it.

New Delhi: For the first time,Directorate of Information andPublicity (DIP) organised aseminar on the theme ofJournalism Ethics andChallenges in Digital Era toobserve National Press Day atMedia Hut on Friday. Severalmedia persons and officialsattended the event. Dr JayadevSarangi, Secretary (PR) wel-coming the participants said,“Social media has lent pace todissemination the news andviews and also made the spacemore participative and com-petitive. I hope that this mediawill be utilised more respon-sively and not for propaganda.”

Knowledge is power and in this ageof information technology, bigdata has become the real power.But how the power of big data isharnessed is crucial. Since the aim

of big data is to find connections and patternsin the vast amount of information collectedand then relate it to human behaviour, orunderstanding of complex systems, process-es or institutions, insights thus gleaned canlead to innovative ideas and solutions.

One such interesting innovation has beendeveloped in Guizhou, a mountainousprovince in the southwest of China. Here, bigdata analytics have been applied in the judi-ciary to create a ‘smart court’. The Judicial BigData Application Platform provides judgeswith case assistance, trial assistance and caseanalysis and has improved the efficiency ofthe judiciary. The “judicial intelligent robot”,helps to process and analyse the history ofcase data of courts at all levels and establish-es a large database to provide ‘intelligent’ assis-tance to the judges. At present, the GuizhouHigh Court is using this system to make bet-ter-informed decisions, say local officials.

But what makes this innovation reallynovel is its judicial big data public consulta-tion system. Here, the litigants can fill in thedetails of their case and the system analysesdata of similar cases and judgments to guidethem even before they come to the courtsabout their chances of winning or losing theircase. This kind of system could be extreme-ly useful for India where about 3.3 crore casesare pending in various courts in the coun-try. According to a Law Ministry data, of allthe pending cases, 60 per cent are more thantwo years old, while 40 per cent are more thanfive years old. In the Supreme Court, morethan 30 per cent of pending cases are morethan five years old. This is because the judi-ciary faces a shortage of over 6,000 judges,including over 5,000 in the lower courts. Nowonder there are 2,76,74,499 cases awaitingappeal in the district and subordinate courts.On an average, there are 19 judges per 10 lakhpeople. A scientific collection of data acrossall courts and its intelligent use can bringdown pendency and deliver speedy justice.At least then, justice delayed will not be jus-tice denied.

Big data has also been leveraged byGuizhou to achieve remarkable economicgrowth. Once considered industrially back-ward and poor because of its hilly topogra-phy, Guizhou has used big data technologyto leapfrog from the fringes to register thethird-fastest economic growth among China’s31 provinces in 2016. The number of big datarelated companies in Guizhou increased fromless than 1,000 in 2013 to over 8,900 in 2017and big data investment into Guizhou wasapproximately 35.28 billion yuan ($5.5 bil-lion) this year. Its swanky high rise buildingsand high tech infrastructure are a testimo-ny to its upward mobility. In fact, Guizhou’scapital city, Guiyang was ranked as the best

performing city in 2016 by theMilken Institute, a not for prof-it think tank which analysedGuiyang’s growth in jobs, wages,gross domestic product, andforeign direct investment.

Guizhou embarked uponits technology overdrive afterthe Chinese President XiJinping underlined big datatechnology as a priority in2014. Guizhou has now the sec-ond highest data centres inChina with over 70,000 servers.At the centre of this boom is theGui’an, a newly developed 1,795square kilometres suburb.Gui’an , which is just a hour’sdrive from Guiyang, housesover 200 influential national andinternational companies. A slewof incentives, including rent-freeoffice space, tax benefits, statesupport, lower costs and its nat-ural temperate cool weather,have encouraged Apple,Microsoft, Huawei, HyundaiMotor, Tencent, Qualcomm,Dell, IBM and Alibaba to set updata centres here.

India’s presence here is in theform of a training academy as apart of a strategic partnershipbetween NIIT and the Guizhouprovincial Government to trainstudents, professionals and gov-ernment employees in big data.Further, NASSCOM has estab-lished an IT corridor to facilitateIndian software companies setup office in Guizhou. Zeta-VTechnology Solutions, an Indianstart-up, has been funded byGuiyang Municipal Governmentto develop a Sino-Indian DigitalCollaborative OpportunitiesPlaza (SIDCOP) to connectIndian and Chinese companies.

In addition to creatingemployment opportunities, bigdata is contributing to Guizhou’seconomic growth by increasing

incomes and alleviation ofpoverty. State officials say that 6.7million rural people have beenlifted out of poverty over the pastfive years and the growth rate ofdisposable household income inthe province is the highest inChina. This, they say, has beenpossible by accumulating realtime information on the poorpopulation and using it to maketargeted interventions. So byusing big data, they track pop-ulations who are poor, their geo-graphical locations, and theirimmediate and necessary needsto be able to provide the rightsupport. One such way has beento create e-commerce platformsand use the data to help connectpeople from different provincesto sell their farm produce orhandicrafts online and increasetheir incomes.

In Guizhou’s Anshun city,the Pingba District People’sGovernment and Guizhou E-Commerce Cloud,(the govern-ment’s commerce departmentinitiative), launched the “E-

commerce Poverty AlleviationDistrict Managers in Action”campaign to help farmers selltheir rice to bigger markets out-side the district. Big data wasused to analyse consumer needs,forecast sales, manage the inven-tory and, help improve produc-tion efficiency. However, it wasnot just the excellent quality ofthe various varieties of Pingbarice that boosted sales.

Endorsement of its qualityby the local government addedextra value leading to the sale ofmore than 150,000 kilogramsonline in a period of threemonths. It is being sold to over100 cities located in 20 provincesand has boosted the incomes of191 poor households. Officialrecords state that Guizhou cur-rently has 6,949 e-commerce ser-vice stations reaching out to 80per cent of its towns and villages.In 2017, e-commerce platformshelped rural Guizhou securesales of agricultural produce tothe tune of 15.3 billion yuan($2.2 billion).

India too, has recentlylaunched an online platformfor its farmers. The NationalAgriculture Market (eNAM), isa single-window service thatintegrates agriculture markets ormandis online so that farmersand traders can view all agricul-ture produce market relatedinformation (buying and selling)and services. Farmers can bid forthe best price across markets in21 mandis in eight States. Butpoor internet connectivity andavailability and a lack of under-standing of digital media maythrow a spanner in the works forrural farmers.

Ensuring connectivity wasalso a challenge for Guizhouwhere 92.5 percent of its land iscovered in hills. The

Government’s active push toensure infrastructure has givenalmost 96 per cent of its villagesaccess to fiber-optic broadbandand 4G. Over 200 e-commercetraining sessions by Guizhou E-Commerce Cloud, whichreached out to over 100,000 peo-ple throughout the province,raised awareness of the power ofthis platform.

Additionally, the GuiyangBig Data ApplicationDemonstration Centre has beeninstituted to further understand-ing of big data usages. Also help-ing to show the practical use ofbig data is Duocaibao, a cloudbased mobile application devel-oped by Guizhou ColorfulTreasure, a web portal of theGuizhou government servicenetwork. The app is based on theneeds of the people as analysedby big data gathered by the net-work. Downloaded by 1.33 mil-lion people, this app is a handyone stop platform that inte-grates more than 100Government services includingreal estate registrations, socialsecurity applications, seekingappointments for marriage reg-istration, birth registration cer-tificate, driving license applica-tions etc. At the same time, it alsoallows citizens to make paymentsfor water, gas and electricity bills.

One of its most useful fea-tures, which should be adaptedin India, is for the senior citizens.They no longer need to physical-ly present themselves to gettheir pension or social security.All s/he needs to do now is usethe app to send his/her photo-graph to the relevant govern-ment department and the pen-sion will be transferred to his/heraccount.

(The writer is a senior jour-nalist)

Many of India’s top politicians have

emerged from the ranks of stu-

dent politics. Arun Jaitley and Lalu

Prasad Yadav were famously involved in

anti-Emergency politics in Delhi and Patna

Universities respectively, for example. But

as Indian politics has moved down the

path of nepotism and extreme positions,

only those who have a shrill voice stand

out nowadays. At the same time, what

is possibly worse is that student politi-

cians are entering the fray only to further

their own political careers in the ‘senior’

league later rather than look after the concerns and problems of students they

are ostensibly elected to represent. The problem has been particularly exac-

erbated in Delhi University where students union leaders rarely belong to cam-

pus colleges and are in the main postgraduate students in obscure depart-

ments. More often than not, they have not obtained their under-graduate degree

from Delhi University, most likely because they were not good enough to get

in. Some would obviously do anything to get admission in Delhi University, to

pursue politics rather than academics, naturally, and faking a degree is just

the tip of the iceberg. It is unlikely that Ankiv Baisoya was the first or will be

the last student to forge a marksheet but this was a huge failure both for the

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Delhi University. Both should

have vetted the candidate’s credentials far more carefully than they did. Either

that, or they were complicit in the fraud perpetuated.

Given the sheer size of Delhi University, even if one excludes the thousands

of students who take correspondence courses, it might be a better idea to divide

the students union into two separate entities — one for north campus colleges

and for all the others under the south campus umbrella. At the same time, Delhi

University as well as other universities must follow the Lyngdoh Committee rec-

ommendations to the letter albeit funding limits should be adjusted to account

for contemporary times what with social media and online campaigns ruling the

roost. In recent students union elections, much like in legislative elections, Whatsapp

messages, Facebook and Twitter have become campaign tools but fly under the

radar of university authorities. Student politics is important although much like

the real thing it has become twisted and a tool for enrichment and a forum for

virulence, even violence. Student leaders themselves should realise that the vast

majority of the student body in most universities is disillusioned with student pol-

itics and many want to do away with the headache of student body elections

altogether. This is not a good sign for democracy.

Yes, the cubs of Avni, the tigress who

was hunted in Maharashtra in a state-

sanctioned kill, are alive and well. They

are being kept in captivity and awaiting reha-

bilitation in a forest area conducive to their

growth. But relocating or translocating them

poses an even bigger challenge following

recent reports of a tiger kill from Odisha’s

Satkosia tiger reserve. The National Tiger

Control Authority (NTCA), in an attempt to

improve tiger density here, had assiduous-

ly worked on developing a prey base for

years and translocated a male and female

from Kanha and Bandhavgarh respectively, the first inter-state transfer experi-

ment. But the male has died, having fallen to poachers’ traps and the female is

currently being kept in captivity, fearing attacks by aggressive villagers who have

already proclaimed her a man-eater. The Avni killing was just the tip of the new

dynamic of the man-animal conflict, one where man is challenging prevailing

conservation efforts and legitimising his claim of ownership of the forests, reduc-

ing the arc of the wild habitat and throwing it into disarray. The male fell to poach-

ers’ traps in the core area, which is anyway constricted, just about capable of

sustaining no more than five tigers. Any addition and they could stray into buffer

zones. Wildlifers say that Satkosia has 102 villages in both core and buffer zones

with 50,000 cattle entering the park every day. They may have begun as encroach-

ers but are now an encashable demographic of settlers. Without making them

a stakeholder in conservation efforts of the tiger, keeping them invested as park

patrollers and monitors, generating a subsidiary tiger economy that ensures them

revenue, incentivising forest produce and enhancing the tiger gene pool that can

promote “sighting tourism,” the tiger will continue to be their enemy. Though

tiger density has increased through sustained efforts from 1972 — and there

are still viable tracts of pristine forests that can be turned into reserves by relo-

cating animals from overpopulated stretches — fact is forests are a state sub-

ject and an inter-state agreement on shared corridors needs to be ironed out

and coordinated if translocation is to succeed. Meanwhile relocation needs are

mounting as are funding operations. The entire process cannot be fast-tracked

but needs to be graded and spaced out to ensure tigers’ acceptance of a new

territory as their own household. Apart from peripheral villagers, a new tiger also

has to deal with resident cats or in the total absence of its kind, reconcile to being

a lone ranger and sync up with other relocated companions.

The tiger is a roamer and can cover long ranges for survival but natural tran-

sit corridors connecting forests are vanishing fast due to human encroachment

and development. Unused to being hemmed in from all sides, the tiger is hid-

ing out for survival and hitting out with desperate aggression when prodded by

human intervention. This is the reason why we are hearing about tigers charg-

ing at vehicles and intruders in areas where they have never displayed such behav-

iour for decades. This mutative behaviour needs to be addressed immediately.

And if three tiger cubs straying into rail tracks in Maharashtra were mowed down

by a running train in the wee hours, it only shows how wayward they have been

forced to become. Agreed that it may not be possible to realign existing roads

and rail tracks that cut through forests, but care must be taken to ensure that

newer transport corridors skirt the periphery of parks and reserves. Also bypass-

es, whether as an over or under passes can be created around existing railway

tracks to let the animals pass through. World over, park managers have noted

that over time, the wild animals re-programme themselves to use these pass-

es, thus preventing accidents and adjusting their migratory routes. One must see

the larger picture of evolution. The tiger sits on top of the food chain in the for-

est and by saving it and giving it a home, we are protecting all sub-species and

curating a biosphere that even includes grasslands and rivers.

Fight for survival

Unused to being hemmed in from all sides, the tiger is hittingout with aggression when prodded by human intervention

Decline and fall

The resignation of Ankiv Baisoya as Delhi University’s StudentUnion President highlights the mess student politics in India is in

True champion

Sir —Though India’s ace cueist,Pankaj Advani, in his 33years ofage, won his third straight IBSFbilliards crown in the 150-upformat (defeated Nay Thway Ooof Myanmar), taking his overalltally of world titles to a stagger-ing 20, the media mostlyremained silent. Why not? Likecountry’s politics, sports andgames coverage also dependsupon peoples pulse. As a brilliantsportsperson, Pankaj rightly said:“This win is extremely special forme. It’s a perfect 20 and I’m gladthat I’m still hungry for more. It’spleasing to be able to play at aquality level over the years andlooking to take this tally beyonda ‘score’.” It is an inspiration toevery sport enthusiast out there.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

I-T collections up

Sir — Delhi saw an all-time 45-per cent high growth in collectionof Income Tax leaving Mumbai farbehind with a growth rate of just4.6 per cent. The Income TaxDepartment should now con-

centrate on other parts of thecountry other than Mumbai andDelhi, where income tax collec-tion is lesser than it should be.Senior officers in different IncomeTax circles should be motivatedthrough incentives and propertraining so that tax collection wit-nesses an increased growth rate inevery city.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

Save the rhino

Sir — Recently, China revokedthe ban on the use of parts ofRhinoceros and tigers for med-icinal purposes. Their horns areused for water purifying purposeand as an aphrodisiac in someparts. Yemen makes daggers outof Rhino horns. Rhino poachinghas escalated in recent years

with few tribes hunting themdown. Interestingly, many for-mer poachers have been roped inas Rhino conservationists inManas. With their deep insightson the methods used for poach-ing, they are doing a great job inRhino conservation. There hasbeen a lot of celebrity endorse-ment in the conservation of rhi-noceros. Indian cricketer, RohitSharma, the brand ambassador

for World Wild Life Fund-IndiaRhino conservation, hasexpressed his confidence ingoing all the way to protect theRhinos. It’s time we give some-thing to the Nature instead ofjust taking from it.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

Grim picture

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Gaping hole” (November16). Delhi has become store-house of dreadful gases. TheNational Capital must improveits public transport system sothat people can switch fromtheir private vehicles to publicbuses.

The ultra-rich class mustmake economic use of theircars. The other Indian citiesmust start working on the pol-lution right from the outset.Delhi’s problem can be sum-marised by this saying, “mannow be silent otherwise naturewill silence you permanently.”

Gourang NaryaniUjjain

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

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op nionLUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

08

A vessel for success

SWAPNA MAJUMDAR

Given the aim of big data is to find connections and patterns in the vast amount of information

collected and then relate it to human behaviour, insights gleaned can lead to innovative ideas

UN has become guardianof the status quo due toits inaction in the face ofglobal challenges.

India's PermanentRepresentative to the UN—Syed Akbaruddin

South China Sea doesnot belong to any onenation. US will continueto sail and fly whereverinternational law allows.

US Vice President —Mike Pence

Most of the time, criticsare right about anartiste's work becausethey point out thingsthat s/he is unaware of.

Actor—Amitabh Bachchan

We will constitute aninquiry team to look intothe pervasive nature ofsexual harassment in AIRstations across India.

NCW chairperson—Rekha Sharma

S O U N D B I T E

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

No short-term solutions to fight pollution

This refers to the editorial, “Gaping hole”(November 16). Indeed it tells us the clear pic-ture of our attitude when we are happy to live in

very poor air quality. Bringing back odd-evenscheme, banning crackers, banning non-CNG vehi-cles in NCR are short-term solutions and will not helpus in the long run. It's sad that we look at this issueas a seasonal one rather than realising that we facethis all year around. The Union Government shouldbring States like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on thetable to discuss this critical issue.

One critical area which really needs a relook ispollution test of the vehicles. To be honest, all cer-tificates issued by the pollution testing outlets are justformalities, as even polluting vehicles are issued cer-tificates as a routine exercise. That practice has toend — random check and audit of these units arenon-negotiable. Last but not the least, despite Metro

being the backbone of the National Capital, we stillneed to go a long way to opt for a eco-friendly masspublic transport. Honestly, mere micro-climate man-agement won’t take us far enough. It needs to besomthing beyond that — a more comprehensiveaction plan.

Yvonne FernandoChennai

THE JUDICIAL BIGDATA APPLICATION

PLATFORM PROVIDESJUDGES WITH CASE

ANALYSIS AND TRIALASSISTANCE. IT HAS

IMPROVED THEEFFICIENCY OF THE

JUDICIARY

Even after over a century anda half, Rudyard Kipling’s GreatGame continues to be played,

only the turf and the players havechanged. The target, that is accessto and consolidation in IndianOcean remains the same, of coursewith different nuances.

In this context, our PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s forth-coming visit to Maldives to partic-ipate in the inauguration of the newpresidency is most welcome and astep in the right direction. But com-ing after over three years of the ear-lier cancelled visit of 2015, a lot ofground will now have to be coveredand without any further time tolose. After all, today, the IndianOcean is no longer India’s ocean.

It is worth recalling that afterbecoming the number one tradingpartner of Africa, in its policystatement, China in 2015 hademphasised that it would seize thestrategic initiative to effectivelysecure its overseas interests.Following this, we have seen heavyinvestments being made by Chinain our neighbourhood for the devel-opment of the Maritime Silk Routealong with CPEC.

Simultaneously, developmentof the ports by China at Djibouti,Gwadar and Hambantota virtuallycompletes a secure triangle aroundthe Arabian Sea and a strategicpositioning on the access routes toRed Sea and the Persian Gulf. Also,plans of the Chinese to developIhavandhoo as a deep sea port onan atoll in the Northern Maldiveshave since come to light. This loca-tion would virtually stand guard onthe seven degree channel, the mainnavigational route from China andSouth East Asia for Europe and Gulfand carrying about $18 trillion inthe terms of annual trade.

On top of this, very recently anagreement has been signed withMyanmar for construction of amulti-bil l ion dollar port atKyaukpyu , in the Rakhine state notfar from Bangladesh. ThisKyaukpyu special economic zonewill be ultimately l inked by

rail/road to Kunming and provideaccess to the Bay of Bengal on thesame pattern as Gwadar does to theArabian Sea.

However, the Chinese plan ofdeveloping Sonadia into a portwas cancelled by Bangladesh in2017. But now they are showing

their keenness on Payra port. Thisport in Bangladesh along withKyaukpyu in Myanmar would beimportant locations on the proposed Maritime Silk Route. Inthe given scenario, the great gameas of now, seems to be going theChinese way, as they can claimlegitimate access to the Bay ofBengal as also to the Arabian Sea oneither of our flanks. All these devel-opments have serious implicationsfor diplomacy in the neighbour-hood as well as our navy.

Though Arihant has happened atthe right time, future projections ofdefence acquisitions and indigenousproduction need to be scaled up. Ourmaritime strength is meagre as com-pared to the Chinese fleet. It is a his-torical fact borne out of the WorldWar II and our own 1971 (INSKhukri was sunk by submarine PNSHangool) that far more damage toenemy shipping is caused by sub-marines than any other vessel.

As such a fresh look in our pri-orities and strategy would be inorder. For instance, Japan has estab-

lished a maritime cordon againstsubmarines and deploys almost200, P-3 Orion and S-2 aircraftpatrols for detection of submarines.

Satellite technology is beingused these days to track enemyshipping and even the deeply sub-merged nuclear submarines. It isoften said that there is now hardlyany place left to hide the navalassets particularly the carriers.

In the given circumstances, it ishigh time that considering ourexpertise in space missions, wedevelop our own satellite basednaval surveillance systems and areable to detect the threats well inadvance for putting effectivecounter measures in place.

In the long run, it has to be leftto our diplomats and the politicalexecutive supported by armedforces to create a strong andfavourable geopolitical environ-ment in our neighbourhood and theIndian Ocean region.

(The writer is a retired DelhiPolice Commissioner and formerUttarakhand Governor)

MP poll: Opening for Congress

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

IT WAS DUE TO THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

CREATED BY NEHRU THAT EVEN A CHAI WALA COULD

BECOME INDIA'S PRIME MINISTER.

—CONGRESS LEADER

SHASHI THAROOR

I DARE THE CONGRESS TO MAKE SOMEONE FROM

OUTSIDE THE FAMILY ITS CHIEF FOR ME TO BELIEVE

NEHRU HAD CREATED A TRUE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM.

—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The door is ajar in Madhya Pradesh —for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)to exit and the Congress to enter thecorridors of power in Bhopal. That isthe impression we gathered after

travelling about 2,500 kilometres, touchinginterior areas of all the regions, starting clock-wise, from Malwa — both north and south,Madhya Bharath-Bhopal, Chambal-Gwalior,Bundelkhand, Bagelkhand and Mahakoshalbetween last week of October and the first weekof November.

We met farmers, farm labour, young peo-ple from both urban and rural areas, govern-ment employees, traders, female farm workersas well as home makers, professionals such asdoctors and lawyers, small businessmen, advo-cates, and students in campuses. In the process,inescapably, we also met persons who are affil-iated to major political parties. We have chosennot to meet political leaders or opinion mak-ers. We spoke to all these segments in all theregions of the State at length.

The method was not about administering ofa questionnaire to generate quantitative data andarrive at percentages of vote share and numberor seats of each party. It was about gathering ofqualitative data in contradistinction to quanti-tative data. The method adopted was to conducta series of rather long conversations with indi-viduals and small groups (not exceeding sixmembers) to understand their socio-econom-ic condition in order to grasp what issues weresalient for them and how their life experiencesin grappling with those issues was likely to influ-ence their voting choices.

It was to sniff the air, so to speak, and seewhich way the wind was blowing. The over-whelming sense that our team gathered was thatnot a single person among those we met wasindifferent to the upcoming election. They’refully aware of the power they wield with theirparticipation in it. Polling in this election, there-fore, is likely to be on the higher side.

Acute farm distress is evident from the con-versations in the countryside. ‘Bhavantar’, a StateGovernment’s scheme to give price support tofarmers is unlikely to yield any substantial div-idends to the ruling party. Deep resentmentagainst price rise across the State is palpable.Anger against demonetisation is likely to woundthe ruling establishment in the forthcomingAssembly elections. Lack of employment oppor-tunities has alienated the youth in both rural andurban areas.

In Malwa especially, the upper castes aredecidedly opting to desert the BJP because ofChief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s 2016‘mai ka lal’ remark on the SC/ST reservationsissue. Many rural women said they would waitfor their menfolk and other family members totell them whom to vote. Or perhaps they did notwant to reveal their minds to the strangers fromHyderabad.

Significantly, Hindu-Muslim issues, RamMandir, the so-called Rafale and Vyapam scamsdid not find any resonance with the voters.Professionals did mention about the NarendraModi Government’s attempts to weaken the con-stitutional institutions.

Words like ‘badlaav’ and ‘parivartan’ are spo-

ken in high decibels across the State,more prominently in the countryside.People who claimed to have voted forthe BJP last time said they wanted toshift to the Congress this time.However, Shivraj Singh Chouhanremains popular. Those who want tovote against the BJP, too, acknowl-edged his good work. He comesacross as a much popular leader andmore influential with the voter thanPrime Minister Narendra Modi inMadhya Pradesh. However, the pos-sibility of “Shivraj fatigue” neutralis-ing the impact of his popularity andletting farm distress, price rise, unem-ployment and demonetisation effectsto hurt the ruling party cannot beruled out.

There is still a significant chunkof undecided voters in the State. Agood number of them are likely to goalong with the tide that becomes evi-dent nearer the polling day. Themajority of the BJP voters said theywould vote in its favour to rewardChief Miniter Chouhan’s work and notbecause of the Prime Minister. Thosewho preferred the Congress wereunconcerned about the ChiefMinisterial face of the party. They areprepared to take anyone who theCongress decides as the Chief Ministerafter the elections.

Karyakartas of the saffron party,who participated in the conversationsare assertive about the BJP’s winningchances. The Congress workers, onthe other hand, are meek and lackconfidence about their party’s victo-ry. It is the common unattached pub-lic who are more emphatic about theCongress’ chances of forming theGovernment.

Those who wanted the BJP to win,do not think that an anti-incumbencycould cut so deep as to unseat the party.But they’re prepared to accept that theparty will return with much reducedstrength in the 230-strong House, andthe party’s candidates will win withreduced majorities in the constituen-cies. Even strong BJP supporters are notprepared to think that it will be an easyride this time for the party. Politicalheadwinds are strongly sensed by theBJP sympathisers and its cadre.

The Congress argument, if it hasone, is not yet part of the political con-versation among voters. Chouhan isat an advantage on this score as hiswork is known and talked about.Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, asa campaigner, is yet to make animpression in the State.

State Congress is organisational-ly an enfeebled entity as the party hasbeen out of office for three consecu-

tive terms. It is a divided house, unableto stitch together a narrative for theState or constituency, region specificvariants of the campaign theme. TheBJP is ahead on this score.

The large number of conversationswe had across the State in essencerevealed that the Madhya Pradeshelection is not a wrestling contestbetween an incumbent BJP and a chal-lenger Congress.

It is a spectacle of the two con-tenders with strong political head-winds in the form of anti-incumben-cy, farm distress, price rise, ill-effectsof demonetisation, erosion of uppercaste support, unemployment andconsequent youth apathy, and, “Shivrajfatigue.”

Neither Prime Minister Modi norCongress president Rahul Gandhiare likely to play more than a margin-al role in influencing the outcome ofthe Madhya Pradesh poll. TheCongress, our conversations across theState reveal, stands to benefit from thefailure of the BJP to contend with theheadwinds. And the headwinds arestrong at the moment in the State.

(The authors are ManagingDirector and Executive Director respec-tively of RightFOLIO, a Hyderabadbased Research and PolicyConsultancy)

The Great Game continues...

After an extensive tour of the State, the writers found that neither Narendra Modi nor Rahul Gandhiis likely to play more than a marginal role in influencing the outcome of the Madhya Pradesh election

Though Arihant has happened at the right time, future projections of defence acquisitions and indigenous production

need to be scaled up. Our maritime strength is meagre as compared to the Chinese fleet

STATE CONGRESS IS

ORGANISATIONALLYAN ENFEEBLEDENTITY AS THE

PARTY HAS BEENOUT OF OFFICE

FOR THREECONSECUTIVE

TERMS. IT IS ADIVIDED HOUSE,

UNABLE TO STITCHTOGETHER A

NARRATIVE FOR THE STATE OR

CONSTITUENCY,REGION SPECIFICVARIANTS OF THE

CAMPAIGN THEME.THE BJP IS AHEAD

ON THIS SCORE

In a recent statement, Shireen Mazari, the Minister of Human

Rights, equated her Government’s ‘agreement’ with the agitat-

ing leaders of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to former

British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain’s “policy of appease-

ment” towards Nazi Germany. According to the Merriam-Webster

Dictionary, the word ‘appease’ originated in the 14th century CE

and means ‘to pacify’. However, the word’s political context is entire-

ly a 20th-century construct. According to Frank McDonough’s

“Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War”,

the word ‘appeasement’ (in its political context) was first used by

Chamberlain’s critics to censure his ‘peace deal’ with German leader,

Adolf Hitler. In his 1983 essay for the Journal of Contemporary

History, Prof Anthony Adamthwaite wrote that the British

Government’s soft stance towards the increasingly belligerent Nazi

regime was explained as a way to avoid another war in Europe.

This was the reason given by the British regime even when news

about Nazi atrocities against opponents and its expansionist ambi-

tions began to come out of Germany. The perception that Germany

had been handed a humiliating deal in 1919 Treaty of Versailles

was also used by the British Government to draw support for

Chamberlain’s policy. Adamthwaite wrote that Chamberlain’s

Government imposed strict media restrictions to curb newspapers

from reporting criticism against Chamberlain’s policies, and even

news about Nazi expansionism was largely repressed.

In 1938, on his return from Germany, Chamberlain triumphant-

ly waved a piece of paper — “the Munich Agreement” — claim-

ing that this agreement will herald “peace in our time.” To critics,

this was an act of surrender by an imperial power in front an aggres-

sive fascist foe. On the other end, Hitler saw the agreement as

Britain’s inability to halt Nazi Germany’s territorial ambitions. Hitler

thus hastened his plans to invade various European nations and

eventually triggered the Second World War in which millions of lives

were lost. Adamthwaite wrote that even though Chamberlain’s crit-

ics had warned that his “policy of appeasement” would only embold-

en Hitler, he dismissed them as being ‘pro-war’.

In his book, Strategy and Diplomacy 1870-1945, British his-

torian, Paul Kennedy, offered a more sympathetic view of

Chamberlain’s policy. He wrote that there were limited choices at

the time for Britain and one of them was appeasement. Britain’s

economy had suffered during the global economic depression of

the 1930s. Despite being an imperial power, the British state and

Government(s) were feeling vulnerable. Yet, when in 1940 Winston

Churchill was elected Prime Minister, he immediately undid

Chamberlain’s policies. With some fiery rhetoric and carefully con-

structed alliances with the opposition Labour Party, the US and

the Soviet Union, he managed to militarily hold back the Nazi war

machine. Nazi Germany fell in 1945. After the war, appeasement

as a policy became anathema to Western states. Its opponents

suggested that whereas the idea of holding negotiations is agree-

able, appeasement should be divorced from it because it imme-

diately hands over the advantage to the other party.

This sentiment was found not only among the Western post-

war leadership. For example, Pakistan’s founder, M A Jinnah was

conscious of not giving too much leverage to India’s religious par-

ties — even those who backed his call for a separate Muslim-

majority state. To Jinnah, Islam was something dynamic, demo-

cratic and ‘modern’. The founders of Pakistan had their own idea

of Islam that was rooted in the scholarly works of ‘Muslim

Modernists’. There was no room in it to appease the idea of an

Islamic state held by radical religionists. Even five years after Jinnah’s

demise, the state of Pakistan unblinkingly crushed the first anti-

Ahmadiyya movement, headed by religious groups in 1953.

The Ayub Khan regime, too, refused to exhibit any such lenien-

cy. Ayub refused to budge when religious parties protested against

his Government’s take-over of mosques, shrines and seminaries

and the introduction of new family laws. The Islamic outfits decried

these as being “un-Islamic.” Ayub held his ground. The state, till

then, was confident and clear about what the founders had stood

for. But things in this context began to change after the 1971 East

Pakistan debacle. In 1974, while facing a 1953-like situation, ZA

Bhutto regime decided to agree to the demands of the agitators.

Bhutto believed the state of Pakistan was not strong enough to

withstand the consequences of the kind of operation undertaken

in 1953. But even though his ‘capitulation’ in 1974 did manage

to avoid what he feared, it turned out to be a short-term respite.

Just three years later in 1977, his Government was being attacked

by the same forces he had appeased. He tried to appease them

again but fell in a reactionary military coup.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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

Politics of

appeasement

NADEEM PARACHA

KK PAUL

State institutions may believe that a policy ofappeasement avoids conflict but in reality it

offers nothing more than a brief respite

FOREIGNEYE

It's not a bad thing if theSouth Pacific becomes aplace where China,Australia and the US seekways to reduce theirstrategic doubts about oneanother. Most importantly,China reaches out to theSouth Pacific with kindnessin pursuit of commoninterests.

(Global Times editorial)

NEW TREND IN REGIONALDEVELOPMENT

www.dailypioneer.com

PARAKALA

PRABHAKARKOTA

UMA DEVI

money 10LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

New Delhi (PTI): All telecom operators, except Reliance Jio,failed to meet call drop benchmark in drive test conducted by sec-tor regulator Trai on different highway and rail routes, says a report.According to a Trai report published on Thursday, while networkperformance of telcos differed on highways, none of them, exceptRJio, could meet call drop benchmark on the three rail routes cov-ered under the test. “Only RJio is meeting quality of service bench-mark of drop call rate ...,” the report said.

According to the quality of service rules, not more than 2 percent of total calls in a telecom circle on a network should automat-ically get disconnected. The highways between Asansol to Gaya,Digha to Asansol, Gaya to Danapur, Bengaluru to Murdeshwar,Raipur to Jagdalpur, Dehradun to Nainital, Mount Abu to Jaipurand Sri Nagar to Leh were covered in the test. Railway routesbetween Allahabad to Gorakhpur, Delhi to Mumbai and Jabalpurto Singrauli were covered. Either 3G or 2G network ofBharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL failed to meet calldrop benchmark on four highway routes and all the three rail routes.

Trai also named Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTL) network for notcomplying with service quality norms on select highways. The reportfound that TTL, which is in the process of merging mobile busi-ness with Airtel, failed to even complete call connection as perbenchmark between Bengaluru to Murdeshwar, Dehradun toNainital and Gaya to Danapur and on the three rail routes. Airtelcould not meet call connection rate or call setup success rate (CSSR)on Gaya to Danapur highway and the three rail routes.

Vodafone Idea network could not meet CSSR rate on Raipurto Jagdalpur highway and all the three rail routes. Some of thesetests were conducted before completion of their merger.

PTI n MUMBAI/NEW DELHI

Online fashion retailerMyntra on Friday said it

would completely integrate itssister company Jabong, whichwould continue to operate as aseparate brand.

Myntra chief executive offi-cer Ananth Narayanan wouldlead the Myntra-Jabong team,the company said in a release,dismissing speculations abouthis exit.

Flipkart had acquired onlinefashion portal Myntra in 2014and Myntra had acquiredJabong in 2016.

The company said sinceMyntra’s purchase of Jabong, thetwo brands had been steadilyintegrating key business func-tions and streamlining process-es. “As the next step in thisprocess, Myntra and Jabongwill now fully integrate all theremaining functions including

technology, marketing, catego-ry, revenue, finance and creativeteams,” it added.

The company said Myntra’sindependence as a businesswould be preserved and theteam would continue to operateindependently. “The closer inte-gration of Myntra and Jabong isa necessary step in our contin-uing development. By betteraligning our resources with ourlong-term plans, we can put thebest structure in place to serveour sellers and brand partnersand ultimately benefit our cus-tomers,” it added.

The development comesjust days after the resignation byFlipkart group chief executiveofficer and co-founder BinnyBansal following a probe into analleged “serious personal mis-conduct”. Bansal, however, hasdenied the allegations.

There were also somereports that Narayanan is likelyto step down after being askedto report to Flipkart chief exec-utive officer KalyanKrishnamurthy.

Clearing the air over recent

reports, Narayanan told PTI: “Icontinue to be here and I con-tinue to lead the business”.

Narayanan had joinedMyntra as the chief executive in2015, succeeding Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal.

Narayanan asserted thatwhile there would be “someredundancies” as a result of theintegration of the back-endfunctions of Myntra and Jabonglike technology, marketing,finance and creative, but “it’s lessthan 10 per cent of the overallMyntra and Jabong headcount”.

Narayanan, however,declined to quantify the numberof people impacted as a result ofthe integration process or thetotal headcount.

“The integration process isstill on. Our employees are valu-able but... reason we are doingit is eventually, this is the bestbusiness process to have in themarket and serve the customers,”he said.

US retail giant Walmarthad in August bought 77 percent stake in Flipkart for USD 16billion.

PTI n NEW DELHI

German luxury carmakerMercedes-Benz on Friday

launched new CLS model witha starting price of `84.70 lakh(ex-showroom, all India).

The third generation CLS ispowered by a new two-litre BSVI compliant diesel engine withpower of 180 kw, the companysaid in a statement.

“With the launch of the newCLS 300 d, Mercedes-Benz con-tinues its offensive with its 12thproduct launched in 2018,”Mercedes-Benz India vice-pres-ident (sales and marketing)Michael Jopp said.

“We have an exciting line-upfor 2019 as well and our prod-uct innovations will continue inthe coming months,” he furthersaid. Jopp said the company isconfident that the third gener-

ation CLS would offer “superi-or luxury and comfort” to itscustomers and will continue todelight them.

The new CLS has luxuryfeatures like Burmester sur-round sound system, whichincludes 13 high-performance

speakers precisely tailored to thevehicle interiors providing anacoustic experience, the compa-ny added.

The vehicle is also equippedwith smartphone integration,which supports android autoand Apple CarPlay, it added.

Myntra, Jabong to merge

Ananth Narayananstays CEO

All telcos, except Jio, fail Trai’s call drop test on select highway, rail routes

Mercedes-Benz launches new

CLS starting `84.7 lakh

M&M to hike Marazzo priceby up to `40,000 from Jan

New Delhi (PTI): Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday said itwould increase price of its newly-launched multi-purpose vehi-cle (MPV) Marazzo by `30,000 to `40,000 from January 1, 2019.

The Marazzo was launched in September with introductoryprices starting at ̀ 9.99 lakh and going up to ̀ 13.90 lakh, depend-ing on variants. “As mentioned at the launch, the price of Marazzowas an introductory one. Effective January 1, 2019, we will be tak-ing a price hike on the Marazzo, after a reasonable period of fourmonths from its launch,” Mahindra and Mahindra chief of salesand marketing (Automotive division} Veejay Ram Nakra said ina statement.

New Delhi (PTI): The gov-ernment will soon unveil a newindustrial policy which mayinclude a dedicated chapteron the importance of design, atop official said on Friday.

Highlighting the signifi-cance of design and innova-

tion in India’s economicprogress, Secretary of theDepartment of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP)Ramesh Abhishek alsoextended his “full support” tothe setting up of a NationalDesign Centre as early as pos-

sible. “We are also bringing out

a new industrial policy soonand we are proposing toinclude a substantial chapterand paragraphs on the impor-tance of design, and how itshould be taken forward,” he

said at a CII event here.DIPP, in August last year,

floated a draft industrial pol-icy with the aim to create jobsfor the next two decades, pro-mote foreign technologytransfer and attract USD 100billion foreign direct invest-

ment (FDI) annually.The proposed policy will

completely revamp theIndustrial Policy of 1991.

Among other things, thepolicy would endeavour toreduce regulations and bringnew industries in focus.

Govt to unveil new industrial policy soon: DIPP Secy

GVK Power and

Infra to raise

`8,000 crore

New Delhi (PTI): GVKPower and InfrastructureFriday said that it has gotshareholders’ approval to raiseup to `8,000 crore. The resolu-tion to raise the funds has beenpassed by the requisite major-ity, the firm stated in a BSE fil-ing on Friday.

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COALINDIA 263.45 0.4 0.15COCHINSHIP 380.5 -2.9 -0.76COFFEEDAY 276.3 -1.85 -0.67COLPAL 1147.8 23.85 2.12CONCOR 672.85 -8.65 -1.27COROMANDEL 421 0.75 0.18CORPBANK 27.8 0.1 0.36CRISIL 1505 10.35 0.69CROMPTON 205.05 1.75 0.86CUB 164.25 0.4 0.24CUMMINSIND 795 -21.45 -2.63CYIENT 654.15 -3.15 -0.48DABUR 394.55 5.65 1.45DALMIABHA 2246 6.5 0.29DBCORP 179 -0.1 -0.06DBL 481.2 -9.65 -1.97DCBBANK 154.95 -1.4 -0.9DCMSHRIRAM 407.6 -3.6 -0.88DEEPAKFERT 177.35 -5.5 -3.01DEEPAKNI 257.15 -7.2 -2.72DELTACORP 238.85 -0.15 -0.06DENABANK 16.65 0 0DHANUKA 442.2 20.55 4.87DHFL 225.4 -18.95 -7.76DISHTV 37.3 -0.7 -1.84DIVISLAB 1557 26.15 1.71DLF 169.45 -0.2 -0.12DMART 1384.4 -6.25 -0.45DRREDDY 2475.2 13.25 0.54ECLERX 1149 -7.85 -0.68EDELWEISS 169 1.55 0.93EICHERMOT 24718.8 842.05 3.53EIDPARRY 223.1 -6.8 -2.96EIHOTEL 163 -1.7 -1.03ELGIEQUIP 236.65 -9.2 -3.74EMAMILTD 464 5.25 1.14ENDURANCE 1150 -48.45 -4.04ENGINERSIN 115 -4.05 -3.4ENIL 614 -13.55 -2.16EQUITAS 109 -0.2 -0.18ERIS 609 -9.1 -1.47ESCORTS 663.6 -1.45 -0.22ESSELPRO 87.35 -0.05 -0.06EVEREADY 202.05 11 5.76EXIDEIND 246.3 -2.6 -1.04FCONSUMER 51.5 -0.2 -0.39FDC 189.35 -4.2 -2.17FEDERALBNK 79.8 1.35 1.72FINCABLES 488.25 0.1 0.02FINOLEXIND 515 1.8 0.35FLFL 381.5 -6.4 -1.65FORBESCO 2055 19.55 0.96FORCEMOT 1808.5 -7.35 -0.4FORTIS 146.35 2.7 1.88FRETAIL 534.25 5.1 0.96FSL 52.95 -1.25 -2.31GAIL 342 -6.05 -1.74GDL 165.4 7.55 4.78GEPIL 830 -19.5 -2.3GESHIP 280.95 -2.7 -0.95GET&D 233 6.5 2.87GHCL 217.65 -4.7 -2.11GICHSGFIN 249.4 -4.25 -1.68GICRE 310 -1.8 -0.58GILLETTE 6450.05 -39.85 -0.61GLAXO 1349.45 13.1 0.98GLENMARK 647.6 -16.85 -2.54GMDCLTD 86.85 -0.05 -0.06GMRINFRA 16.05 -0.1 -0.62GNFC 358.9 6.4 1.82GODFRYPHLP842.05 -25.1 -2.89GODREJAGRO 515 -3.9 -0.75GODREJCP 719.25 -0.55 -0.08GODREJIND 518.65 9.8 1.93GODREJPROP 631.5 -4.35 -0.68GPPL 97.55 -0.3 -0.31GRANULES 100.2 -2.1 -2.05GRAPHITE 972.5 -12.05 -1.22GRASIM 833.1 25.5 3.16GREAVESCOT 129.6 0.35 0.27GREENPLY 134.45 -1.45 -1.07GRINDWELL 489.55 -4.1 -0.83GRUH 305.65 3.85 1.28GSFC 105.6 -0.2 -0.19GSKCONS 7195 123.95 1.75GSPL 178.6 -0.9 -0.5GUJALKALI 573.75 -3.2 -0.55GUJFLUORO 893 -5.6 -0.62GUJGAS 625 3.05 0.49GULFOILLUB 755 -8.75 -1.15HAL 823.85 -14.3 -1.71HATSUN 613.1 -18.5 -2.93

HAVELLS 677 -8.75 -1.28HCC 13.88 -0.17 -1.21HCLTECH 1022.2 33.2 3.36HDFC 1883.2 31 1.67HDFCBANK 1998.9 24.85 1.26HDFCLIFE 392.7 -5.9 -1.48HDIL 22.05 -1 -4.34HEG 4216.85 105.95 2.58HEIDELBERG 147.4 -1.3 -0.87HERITGFOOD 509.4 -17.3 -3.28HEROMOTOCO2970 52.8 1.81HEXAWARE 308 -7.5 -2.38HFCL 19.95 -0.2 -0.99HIMATSEIDE 240.05 1.65 0.69HINDALCO 230.1 -3.3 -1.41HINDCOPPER 50.7 0.15 0.3HINDPETRO 243.2 -6.15 -2.47

HINDUNILVR1690.75 -14.85 -0.87HINDZINC 267.05 0.7 0.26HONAUT 21341.85 141.9 0.67HSCL 131 -0.3 -0.23HSIL 230 -11.55 -4.78HUDCO 44.1 -0.4 -0.9IBREALEST 83.35 -3.1 -3.59IBULHSGFIN 766.2 -38 -4.73IBVENTURES 454.35 -4.8 -1.05ICICIBANK 367.4 -2.2 -0.6ICICIGI 827 0.75 0.09ICICIPRULI 328.5 2.5 0.77ICIL 59.9 -0.05 -0.08IDBI 60.95 0.2 0.33IDEA 42.9 6.05 16.42IDFC 39.1 0.25 0.64IDFCBANK 36.45 -0.15 -0.41IEX 156.6 -0.8 -0.51IFBIND 912.15 -16.25 -1.75IFCI 14.22 0.33 2.38IGL 268.05 -3.8 -1.4IL&FSTRANS 19.15 -0.2 -1.03INDHOTEL 135.65 3.7 2.8INDIACEM 93.85 0.8 0.86INDIANB 228.9 3.55 1.58

INDIGO 1044.1 0.9 0.09INDUSINDBK 1497 -16.8 -1.11INFIBEAM 47.2 -5.35 -10.18INFRATEL 259.3 3.55 1.39INFY 650.45 -5.9 -0.9INOXLEISUR 214.8 0.05 0.02INOXWIND 82.75 -2.65 -3.1INTELLECT 240 -3.7 -1.52IOB 15 0.1 0.67IOC 143.4 -3.55 -2.42IPCALAB 755 1.9 0.25IRB 135.1 -7.75 -5.43ISGEC 5321 -131.45 -2.41ITC 276.25 1.8 0.66ITDC 306.2 -0.15 -0.05ITDCEM 111.55 -1.5 -1.33ITI 87.1 -2.5 -2.79J&KBANK 39.7 0.6 1.53JAGRAN 116.55 2.6 2.28JAICORPLTD 116.15 6.05 5.5JAMNAAUTO 71.15 -0.35 -0.49JBCHEPHARM309.15 1.1 0.36JCHAC 1778 -10 -0.56JETAIRWAYS 346.85 25.9 8.07JINDALSAW 83.65 -1.1 -1.3JINDALSTEL 175.2 -5.95 -3.28ZYDUSWELL 1130 24.2 2.19KRBL 338.85 -2.65 -0.78KSCL 519.35 0.2 0.04KTKBANK 108 1.15 1.08KWALITY 8.07 0.38 4.94L&TFH 132.45 -3.1 -2.29LAKSHVILAS 89.3 -1.15 -1.27LALPATHLAB 829 -32.85 -3.81LAOPALA 230.55 -1.3 -0.56LAURUSLABS 396.8 14.4 3.77LAXMIMACH* 6000 38.3 0.64LICHSGFIN 453.1 -13 -2.79LINDEINDIA 644.85 -8.05 -1.23LT 1396 -1.35 -0.1LTI 1640.2 5.3 0.32LTTS 1519.5 -36.15 -2.32LUPIN 863.45 10.85 1.27LUXIND 1539.3 -5.65 -0.37M&M 767.35 1.55 0.2M&MFIN 436.55 -7.05 -1.59MAGMA 109.75 -4.35 -3.81MAHABANK 13.66 -0.03 -0.22MAHINDCIE 257.85 -7.3 -2.75MAHLIFE 406.2 -1.55 -0.38MANAPPURAM 85.9 -1 -1.15MANPASAND 95.8 2 2.13MARICO 346.45 0.7 0.2MARUTI 7332.05 -150.8 -2.02MAXINDIA 72.7 -0.5 -0.68MCX 702.25 -10.65 -1.49MEGH 68.05 0 0MFSL 421 -7.85 -1.83MGL 843.3 -12.5 -1.46MHRIL 219.5 2.25 1.04MINDACORP 129.55 -2.5 -1.89MINDAIND 357.6 -6.6 -1.81MINDTREE 837.35 -1.3 -0.16MMTC 30.3 0.35 1.17MOIL 173.9 -1.2 -0.69MONSANTO 2501.05 -21.3 -0.84MOTHERSUMI149.15 6.1 4.26MOTILALOFS 645.1 -2.6 -0.4MPHASIS 953.45 4.9 0.52

MRF 65700 90.85 0.14MRPL 80.5 -0.4 -0.49MUTHOOTFIN460.4 -6 -1.29NATCOPHARM735.05 12.35 1.71NATIONALUM 66.1 -0.5 -0.75NAUKRI 1370 -6.65 -0.48NAVINFLUOR 673.7 6.25 0.94NAVKARCORP 61.8 -1.65 -2.6NAVNETEDUL 107.8 0.15 0.14NBCC 59.4 -1.05 -1.74NBVENTURES118.95 -0.65 -0.54NCC 87.8 -1.95 -2.17NESTLEIND10655.05 207.25 1.98NETWORK18 39.15 -0.4 -1.01NH 235.7 -4.4 -1.83NHPC 26.25 0.2 0.77NIACL 210.7 -10.4 -4.7NIITTECH 1128.85 -18.9 -1.65NILKAMAL 1551 -14.35 -0.92NLCINDIA 81.45 -0.15 -0.18NMDC 100.6 -6.5 -6.07NOCIL 166.5 -2.25 -1.33NTPC 154.05 0.15 0.1OBEROIRLTY 412.6 7.25 1.79OFSS 3566 83.6 2.4OIL 199.2 -4.05 -1.99OMAXE 210 -0.1 -0.05ONGC 156.55 -2.35 -1.48ORIENTBANK 91.65 3.7 4.21ORIENTCEM 83.35 0.15 0.18PAGEIND 25302 -393.7 -1.53PARAGMILK 244.35 1.65 0.68PCJEWELLER 74.35 -1.8 -2.36PEL 2356.1 66.3 2.9PERSISTENT 549.45 12.3 2.29PETRONET 216.9 3.55 1.66PFC 101.3 -6.35 -5.9PFIZER 2828.8 50.05 1.8PFS 17 -0.25 -1.45PGHH 9500 7.95 0.08PHILIPCARB 212.55 -2.4 -1.12PHOENIXLTD 609 6.4 1.06PIDILITIND 1109.05 2.85 0.26PIIND 828.05 -4.2 -0.5PNB 73.2 2.05 2.88PNBHOUSING 996 -4.25 -0.42PNCINFRA 149 3.85 2.65POWERGRID 187.95 0.75 0.4PRESTIGE 179.9 2.4 1.35PRSMJOHNSN 87.1 -0.4 -0.46PTC 80.9 -0.3 -0.37PVR 1423.7 16.7 1.19QUESS 765.5 -1.6 -0.21RADICO 437.6 -1.25 -0.28RAIN 151.3 -15.2 -9.13RAJESHEXPO 567 7.4 1.32RALLIS 165 1.6 0.98RAMCOCEM 620 -8.6 -1.37RATNAMANI 885.9 5.9 0.67RAYMOND 776.4 10 1.3RBLBANK 557.75 6.5 1.18RCF 59.65 -0.6 -1RCOM 13.56 0.12 0.89RECLTD 120.9 -5.25 -4.16REDINGTON 92.6 0.4 0.43RELAXO 804.05 16.95 2.15RELCAPITAL 237.75 -13.05 -5.2RELIANCE 1127.5 30.6 2.79RELINFRA 329.95 -22.35 -6.34REPCOHOME 397.8 -10.75 -2.63RNAM 168.65 -2.5 -1.46RNAVAL 13.39 -0.24 -1.76RPOWER 30.35 -0.75 -2.41SADBHAV 219.55 -1.85 -0.84SAIL 64.05 -0.6 -0.93SANOFI 6080 -60.35 -0.98SBILIFE 577.4 -2.15 -0.37SBIN 290.3 5 1.75SCHAEFFLER 5452 -82.15 -1.48SCHNEIDER 118 3.95 3.46SCI 45.15 -0.05 -0.11SFL 1390 4 0.29SHANKARA 840.05 -54.15 -6.06SHARDACROP 308 -6.65 -2.11SHILPAMED 390.3 16.3 4.36SHK 192 -0.8 -0.41SHOPERSTOP 494.6 -4.35 -0.87SHREECEM 15990 158.9 1SHRIRAMCIT 1643.3 29.4 1.82SIEMENS 978.5 45.65 4.89SIS 793 -12 -1.49SJVN 27.3 -0.1 -0.36

SKFINDIA 1864.95 -0.35 -0.02SOBHA 464 22 4.98SOLARINDS 995.5 -5.4 -0.54SOMANYCERA303.45 3.8 1.27SONATSOFTW 332.9 -2.3 -0.69SOUTHBANK 14.54 -0.16 -1.09SPARC 270.6 -1 -0.37SPICEJET 81.45 -1.5 -1.81SREINFRA 35.05 0.25 0.72SRF 2042.95 -12.1 -0.59SRTRANSFIN 1231.1 -29.5 -2.34STARCEMENT 99.1 -1.15 -1.15STRTECH 356.65 -7.25 -1.99SUDARSCHEM374.45 2.85 0.77SUNCLAYLTD 3605 -19.95 -0.55SUNDRMFAST 526 -6.7 -1.26SUNPHARMA 519.6 4.65 0.9SUNTECK 347.15 -0.5 -0.14SUNTV 607.85 11.45 1.92SUPPETRO 200 -3.15 -1.55SUPRAJIT 218 -2.4 -1.09SUPREMEIND 982.5 0.85 0.09SUVEN 247.45 -7.2 -2.83SUZLON 5.67 -0.01 -0.18SWANENERGY 106.1 5.15 5.1SYMPHONY 974.3 7 0.72SYNDIBANK 35.55 0.4 1.14SYNGENE 579 1.85 0.32TAKE 141.6 -14 -9TATACHEM 696.15 6.75 0.98TATACOFFEE 98.25 -0.3 -0.3TATACOMM 548.35 30.6 5.91TATAELXSI 963.45 -34.2 -3.43TATAGLOBAL 222 0.6 0.27TATAINVEST 823.05 18.65 2.32TATAMETALI 683 -16.75 -2.39TATAMOTORS 179.4 -0.55 -0.31TATAMTRDVR 98.8 0.4 0.41TATAPOWER 76.4 -0.2 -0.26TATASTEEL 574.1 -14.55 -2.47TCS 1882.25 16.75 0.9TEAMLEASE 2731.45 -66.75 -2.39TECHM 726.8 13.3 1.86TEJASNET 259.15 -4.55 -1.73TEXRAIL 64 -0.4 -0.62THERMAX 997.15 -20.85 -2.05THOMASCOOK 226 0.55 0.24THYROCARE 551.8 0.05 0.01TIFHL 490 11.7 2.45TIMETECHNO111.65 -3 -2.62TIMKEN 525 -0.6 -0.11TITAN 917.95 -3.15 -0.34TNPL 252.05 -5.95 -2.31TORNTPHARM1652.5 -19.65 -1.18TORNTPOWER 260 -6.2 -2.33TRENT 331.35 -0.95 -0.29TRIDENT 69.3 1.1 1.61TRITURBINE 115.5 -1.6 -1.37TTKPRESTIG 6870 127.3 1.89TV18BRDCST 36.8 0 0TVSMOTOR 551 0.85 0.15TVSSRICHAK 2617 -0.5 -0.02TVTODAY 381.3 -1.25 -0.33UBL 1312.25 0.9 0.07UCOBANK 19.3 0.15 0.78UFLEX 312 -4.55 -1.44UJJIVAN 229.25 -5.95 -2.53ULTRACEMCO 3945 37.25 0.95UNICHEMLAB 213 0.9 0.42UNIONBANK 82.55 1 1.23UPL 768 4.25 0.56VBL 806.75 7.9 0.99VEDL 206.7 -0.85 -0.41VENKYS 2439 175.5 7.75VGUARD 195.9 1.05 0.54VIJAYABANK 43.25 0.65 1.53VINATIORGA 1562 -1.3 -0.08VIPIND 461.7 -7.25 -1.55VMART 2251 64.85 2.97VOLTAS 551 -1.85 -0.33VTL 1052.95 -4.15 -0.39WABAG 289 -0.25 -0.09WABCOINDIA 6671 -129.25 -1.9WELCORP 154.05 6.55 4.44WELSPUNIND 62.65 0 0WHIRLPOOL1431.25 13.1 0.92WIPRO 324.3 0.35 0.11WOCKPHARMA 525 1.8 0.34YESBANK 191.3 -14.7 -7.14ZEEL 443.1 0.65 0.15ZENSARTECH 242 3.7 1.55ZYDUSWELL 1130 24.2 2.19

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10,644.00 10,695.15 10,631.15 10,682.20 65.50BHARTIARTL 302.90 336.80 302.00 332.10 27.70EICHERMOT 24,120.00 24,830.00 23,925.10 24,796.10 850.75HCLTECH 997.00 1,037.80 993.75 1,022.00 33.25BAJFINANCE 2,342.00 2,417.20 2,340.00 2,413.00 71.70RELIANCE 1,097.95 1,129.95 1,097.10 1,125.00 28.15GRASIM 816.00 837.70 810.00 829.00 20.30CIPLA 521.70 534.00 521.10 531.15 12.00SBIN 285.90 291.80 282.60 291.55 6.15BAJAJFINSV 5,640.00 5,730.00 5,612.70 5,710.00 112.90TECHM 714.70 732.30 711.00 727.95 13.05HDFC 1,861.00 1,892.90 1,850.00 1,884.05 30.45INFRATEL 257.80 262.25 256.00 259.40 4.00ULTRACEMCO 3,952.00 3,980.00 3,911.05 3,970.00 57.05HDFCBANK 1,981.00 2,013.00 1,980.00 2,002.80 27.65HEROMOTOCO 2,930.00 2,970.00 2,925.25 2,954.00 31.85UPL 762.00 774.65 757.85 771.45 7.80BAJAJ-AUTO 2,680.00 2,705.90 2,675.15 2,694.95 26.10SUNPHARMA 518.40 525.55 513.40 520.05 4.95ITC 275.80 278.30 275.25 277.00 2.50TCS 1,889.00 1,899.80 1,870.25 1,889.00 16.15KOTAKBANK 1,172.00 1,173.00 1,152.75 1,172.00 9.75WIPRO 323.50 330.40 323.50 325.60 2.45ZEEL 444.00 451.50 435.50 444.00 2.80DRREDDY 2,463.00 2,496.80 2,442.05 2,472.90 11.10ASIANPAINT 1,320.00 1,329.80 1,313.20 1,323.90 5.60ADANIPORTS 346.00 351.40 342.00 347.20 1.00M&M 767.65 776.50 759.75 768.20 1.70COALINDIA 264.00 265.80 261.30 263.50 0.35LT 1,402.75 1,414.00 1,391.50 1,400.00 1.50POWERGRID 187.00 190.00 186.20 187.30 0.20TATAMOTORS 180.90 181.85 177.85 180.25 0.05NTPC 153.20 155.50 153.00 153.60 -0.20TITAN 921.00 928.70 912.70 919.00 -1.80VEDL 208.00 209.00 205.55 206.80 -0.75INFY 659.90 662.50 644.20 652.00 -4.40BPCL 319.60 325.25 315.90 319.50 -2.35HINDUNILVR 1,704.90 1,718.00 1,683.30 1,693.00 -13.05ICICIBANK 370.10 375.30 365.55 366.95 -3.05INDUSINDBK 1,519.00 1,526.00 1,486.75 1,498.35 -13.80AXISBANK 626.60 636.70 616.55 617.55 -8.55GAIL 349.00 351.70 341.25 342.70 -4.85ONGC 158.00 158.00 152.80 156.00 -2.85MARUTI 7,500.00 7,544.05 7,302.55 7,340.00 -138.30HINDALCO 232.60 235.45 228.50 229.00 -4.60IOC 144.60 145.70 141.25 143.25 -3.40TATASTEEL 590.00 591.00 569.55 574.60 -14.75HINDPETRO 246.30 251.65 239.10 242.60 -6.50JSWSTEEL 344.10 344.25 332.20 335.50 -9.10IBULHSGFIN 808.40 816.70 755.10 765.00 -39.85YESBANK 201.75 201.75 187.80 192.50 -13.35

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27,307.80 27,435.15 27,207.20 27,359.35 104.7IDEA 37.00 43.90 36.20 42.35 5.45SIEMENS 936.00 986.20 920.50 979.85 47.00MOTHERSUMI 141.00 153.30 140.50 149.25 5.75BANDHANBNK 465.00 489.90 462.00 474.70 14.95PEL 2,313.45 2,369.80 2,286.75 2,361.20 71.40BANKBARODA 113.45 116.30 110.05 116.10 3.30OFSS 3,494.90 3,619.35 3,455.00 3,580.00 98.55SUNTV 596.60 615.50 584.00 613.10 16.50ABCAPITAL 110.75 114.00 110.75 113.45 3.05ABB 1,296.00 1,329.95 1,296.00 1,322.00 30.35BRITANNIA 5,833.00 5,990.00 5,790.00 5,944.65 126.50COLPAL 1,126.00 1,157.00 1,126.00 1,148.10 22.60DABUR 392.85 397.00 388.30 395.45 6.60ICICIPRULI 327.45 334.70 325.10 329.80 3.85PETRONET 213.00 217.05 212.15 215.60 2.35LUPIN 857.90 869.90 855.45 862.00 8.25NHPC 26.10 26.35 26.00 26.25 0.25PIDILITIND 1,109.00 1,122.25 1,101.05 1,118.00 9.75MCDOWELL-N 646.00 652.80 641.95 647.10 3.50MARICO 347.90 351.90 344.00 348.00 1.50INDIGO 1,043.00 1,070.00 1,028.00 1,046.85 2.90SHREECEM 15,955.00 16,300.00 15,620.10 15,900.00 41.60HINDZINC 268.45 273.30 265.10 267.15 0.45AUROPHARMA 779.00 792.50 773.00 781.45 0.85DMART 1,396.40 1,419.45 1,375.10 1,389.95 1.50PGHH 9,500.05 9,560.00 9,490.00 9,515.00 10.60AMBUJACEM 217.90 219.00 215.00 218.00 0.15GODREJCP 718.00 727.50 711.00 721.75 0.25ICICIGI 821.00 830.00 811.00 829.00 -0.15MRF 65,900.00 66,800.00 65,588.45 65,600.00 -184.85BHEL 67.00 67.05 65.65 66.65 -0.20DLF 170.15 171.60 164.80 169.30 -0.55SBILIFE 581.90 581.90 567.00 577.00 -2.05BIOCON 630.00 633.95 622.50 623.65 -2.50ASHOKLEY 106.55 107.50 105.05 105.60 -0.50ACC 1,516.80 1,528.00 1,492.20 1,504.10 -9.45GICRE 312.65 313.95 307.90 309.40 -2.40CADILAHC 359.30 364.45 351.60 356.35 -2.95SAIL 64.65 65.10 63.55 64.05 -0.60CONCOR 680.00 695.80 659.55 674.00 -8.65HAVELLS 687.10 687.45 664.30 676.60 -9.45HDFCLIFE 397.00 399.60 391.70 392.00 -5.80SRTRANSFIN 1,267.50 1,275.00 1,218.00 1,236.25 -24.25BOSCHLTD 19,365.00 19,365.00 18,551.00 18,850.00 -370.90L&TFH 136.00 136.75 131.20 132.80 -2.75OIL 201.30 202.05 194.00 199.10 -4.25LICHSGFIN 468.90 468.90 448.30 454.50 -11.50BEL 97.00 97.05 91.60 92.55 -4.15NIACL 219.25 219.60 208.20 210.00 -10.70NMDC 107.50 108.35 99.20 101.60 -5.65

world 11LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

GLOBE GLOBE TROTTINGTROTTING

Zayn Malik says he has stopped

identifying as a MuslimLondon: Pop star Zayn Malik has revealed he no

longer considers himself a Muslim because he doesnot “believe any of it”. In an interview with BritishVogue, the former One Direction star said while hehas a spiritual belief, he does not subscribe to thetenets of Islam.\ “I don’t believe you need to eat acertain meat that’s been prayed over a certain way,I don’t believe you need to read a prayer in a cer-tain language five times a day. I don’t believe any ofit. “I just believe if you’re a good person, everythingis going to go right for you,” Zayn said. The singeris the son of British-Pakistani father Yaser, and moth-er Trisha, who converted to Islam. Zaynsaid his personal rejection of religion was not a majorissue in his house, and that he still finds beauty inworld faiths. “I’ve never spoken publicly about whatmy religious beliefs are. I’m not professed to be aMuslim. I believe whatever people’s religious beliefsare is between them and whoever or whatever they’repractising. For me, I have a spiritual belief of thereis a god. Do I believe there’s a hell? No,” he added.

Hugh Grant to join Nicole Kidman

in HBO Series ‘The Undoing’

Los Angeles: Actor Hugh Grant is set to star opposite Nicole Kidman in the upcomingHBO limited series “The Undoing”. The six-episode series is based on Jean Hanff Korelitz’sbook “You Should Have Known”, report-ed Variety. The story revolves aroundGrace Sachs (Kidman), who is living theonly life she ever wanted for herself. She’sa successful therapist, has a devoted hus-band, Jonathan (Grant), and young sonwho attends an elite private school inNew York City. Overnight a chasmopens in her life: a violent death, a miss-ing husband, and, in the place of a manGrace thought she knew, only a chain ofterrible revelations. Left behind in thewake of a spreading and very public dis-aster, and horrified by the ways inwhich she has failed to heed her ownadvice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself. Grant’scharacter of Jonathan is described as an acclaimed pediatric oncologist, devoted hus-band to Grace and doting father, whose past undergoes scrutiny when he suddenly dis-appears, leading to a chain of terrible revelations.

May soldiers on amid ongoing Brexit rebellion

PTI n LONDON

British Prime Minister TheresaMay on Friday soldiered on with

a rare move of directly addressing thepublic’s questions over their Brexitconcerns amid an ongoing rebellionwithin her own Conservative Partyover a controversial European Union(EU) withdrawal agreement. A dayafter she was hit by a number of min-isterial resignations, including Brexitsecretary Dominic Raab who steppeddown over “fatal flaws” in the divorcedeal with the EU, there are reports thathis potential replacement may also bepondering stepping down from theCabinet.

Michael Gove, who is the currentenvironment secretary, was reportedlyasked to step in as the new Secretaryof State for Exiting the EU but he hasbeen reluctant. “I haven’t appointeda new Dexeu (Department for Exitingthe European Union) secretary yet andI will be making appointments to thegovernment in due course,” May saidduring her phone-in with London’sLBC radio, when asked about theissue. Confronted by some angrycallers over allowing the UK to belocked into following EU laws withthis agreement, she said, “We are notbeing locked in, we are taking controlof our laws, our borders, leaving thesingle market and we are ending free

movement. These are the things theBritish people were most concernedabout. That is what the people votedfor and that is what I am delivering”.

“I am doing my job. I am bring-ing back what I believe to be the bestdeal for Britain and MPs will then dotheir job, thinking about the impactof that on their constituents,” sheadded. The 62-year-old premierremains defiant despite the prospectof a no-confidence vote after JacobRees-Mogg, a leading Tory Brexiteer,piled on the pressure by submitting a

letter of no-confidence to the chair ofthe Conservative’s influential 1922Committee on Thursday.

His decision is expected tohave led to other Brexiteers to submitsimilar letters to Graham Brady, theChair of the committee of backbenchTory MPs. This could mean that a no-confidence vote in May’s leadershipcould be held within days, with partyrules dictating that it must be held “assoon as possible” if 15 per cent of theparliamentary party – meaning 48MPs – submit letters. According to

some reports, such a vote could beheld as soon as Monday if the 48-MPmark is crossed on Friday.

At a press conference in DowningStreet on Thursday evening, Maywas asked if she was ready to fight anyconfidence vote, and she replied,“Am I going to see this through? Yes”.

“I believe with every fibre of mybeing that the course I have set out isthe right one for our country and allour people,” she said. Meanwhile, theEU has already indicated that it wasnot willing to re-negotiate anotherdeal and is keen to press ahead withgetting the remaining 27 member-states to sign off on the current plan.The biggest sticking point in theover 500-page draft remains overwhat is termed as a Northern Irelandbackstop, which leaves the EU withthe option of keeping the whole of theUK within a common Customs Unionif a future trading relationship fails tobe thrashed out during the transitionperiod, set to run until December2021.

The current draft is a provision-al agreement until both sides can agreeon a final pact for their future trad-ing relationship and sets out com-mitments over citizens’ rights afterBrexit, the proposed 21-month tran-sition period, and a 39 billion-poundso-called “divorce bill” that the UK

would pay as a price to exit the eco-nomic bloc. European Council pres-ident Donald Tusk has confirmedNovember 25 as the date of an emer-gency summit where the remainingEU members are set to formallyapprove this deal.

The British premier then faces thetougher prospect of getting BritishMPs to approve this in Parliament,with Northern Ireland’s DemocraticUnionist Party (DUP), which props upher minority Tory government, threat-ening to vote down the deal.“Leadership is about taking the rightdecisions, not the easy ones,” May toldreporters when asked about thisconundrum. Britain had voted infavour of Brexit in a referendum inJune 2016, which led to the triggeringof Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty toset the clock on the country’s formalexit from the 28-member bloc byMarch 29, 2019.

The controversial withdrawalagreement is the result of months ofnegotiations on both sides and is cru-cial for the exit process to be com-pleted within the set time-frame. However, if an orderly exit arrange-ment cannot be finalised, Britainfaces the prospect of crashing out ofthe EU without any deal, whichwould open up a whole new set ofcomplications.

‘PM Modi-Xi summit in Wuhan removedmany misconceptionsbetween India, China’PTI n BEIJING

The Wuhan summit betweenPrime Minister Narendra

Modi and Chinese President XiJinping has removed several“misconceptions” between thetwo countries which wouldenable them to work togetheron many issues like globalisa-tion, India’s envoy here has said.In Wuhan, Modi and Xi spoketo each other for almost 10hours, which is characterised asa strategic communication byboth sides, AmbassadorGautam Bambawale said.

“Both leaders were verykeen to have this kind of (infor-mal) meeting. The reason whywe did an informal summit wasthat we wanted the two leadersto talk to each other for themaximum amount of time,” hesaid on the April 27-28 summit.“We removed several miscon-ceptions may have about eachother. I think a lot of thingsbring India and China can dotogether. There are only fewthings where we differ witheach other,” Bambawale toldthe state-run China GlobalTelevision Network onThursday.

He said both the countriesare beneficiaries of multilater-alism and India is a votary forglobalisation like China. Thetwo countries agree that theyare developing countries whoare focused on improving theliving standards of about 2.4billion people. “India andChina have similar view pointson global issues. We both want

to have an open system wheremultilateral system works,” hesaid, adding that both thecountries can work on manyissues like globalisation.

He said the issue thatdivides the two countries is theunresolved boundary ques-tion. “But even as we work forthe resolution of the boundaryproblem between us, we haveagreed that we will maintainpeace and tranquillity at ourborders and for the last 30 yearswe have succeeded in that,” hesaid. The India-China borderdispute covers the 3,488 kmlong Line of Actual Control(LAC). While China claimsArunachal Pradesh as SouthernTibet, India asserts that the dis-pute covered Aksai Chin areawhich was occupied by Chinaduring the 1962 war.

Bambawale is retiring laterthis month and will be suc-ceeded by India’s currentAmbassador to Myanmar,Vikram Misri. To a questionabout Japan and China decid-ing to undertake a joint projectin third countries, Bambawalesaid New Delhi and Beijing arealso trying out such a cooper-ation and pointed to the recentdecision to jointly train Afghandiplomats. “At the Wuhan sum-mit, Xi and Modi have agreedthat India and China will do ajoint project in Afghanistan.Here is yet another example oftwo Asian countries workingtogether to help another Asiancountry. So, I think the futureis bright as far as this aspect isconcerned,” he said.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves Downing Street in London on Friday. AP

PTI n COLOMBO

Rival Sri Lankan lawmakersthrew chilli powder and

furniture at each other anddisrupted the proceedings ofParliament for a second dayFriday, forcing Speaker KaruJayasuriya to summon policeinside the House and adjournthe session until Monday.The brawl occurred a dayafter the Speaker announcedthere is no prime minister orgovernment following a no-confidence motion againstdisputed prime ministerMahinda Rajapaksa.

Friday’s proceedings wereto repeat the floor test whichwas disrupted on Thursday.President MaithripalaSir isena, who instal ledRajapaksa as prime ministerlast month in a controversialmove, had agreed for a floortest with the leaders of oust-ed prime minister RanilWickremesinghe’s coalitionduring crisis talks last night.

The MPs supportingRajapaksa took over the seatof the Speaker, delaying theproceedings, officials said.They shouted slogans againstJayasuriya broke furniture.Some Rajapakse loyalists werealso seen throwing chilli pow-der at rival legislators andpolice, Colombo Gazettereported. The Speaker sum-moned police insideParliament chamber after 45minutes of disruption. One ofthe rioting MPs ArundikaFernando occupied the seat of

the Speaker with more MPssurrounding it . GaminiJayawickrema Perera, a seniorparliamentarian, was injuredin the melee.

The r iot ing UnitedPeople’s Freedom Alliance(UPFA) members demandedthe arrest of two legislators ofthe Wickremesinghe’s UnitedNational Party (UNP). Theycharged that two UNP legis-lators , Pal ithaThewarapperuma and RanjanRamanayake were carryingknives during the brawl whichtook place yesterday.

Yesterday, UPFA MP

Dilum Amunugama wasinjured in clashes inside thechamber. Police Friday pro-tected Jayasuriya from therioting MPs as he called theTamil National Alliance law-maker MA Sumanthiran topropose the suspension ofthe standing orders.Jayasuriya on the basis of avoice vote announced thatthe motion against Rajapaksawas defeated as physical vot-ing could not take place dueto the brawl.

The rioting MPs threwbooks at the police. Jayasuriyaimmediately suspended the

sittings until November 19and left the House surround-ed by police. PresidentSirisena said that he wouldnot ‘prorogue the Parliamentunder any circumstances.’

“I urge a l lParliamentarians to upholdprinciples of democracy par-liamentary traditions at alltimes. I will not prorogueParliament under any cir-cumstances,” the presidenttweeted.

The trouble erupted inParliament on Thursday whenthe Speaker agreed to arequest from ousted premier

Wickremesinghe’s UNP that avote be taken on a statementmade by Rajapaksa demand-ing fresh polls.

Jayasuriya al lowedRajapaksa to make a state-ment as a lawmaker afterstating that he does not recog-nise the claim of the Sri LankaFreedom Party (SLFP) leaderwho lost a no-confidencemotion on Wednesday.

Rajapaksa’s side has dis-puted the no-trust motion,saying proper procedure wasnot followed and accusedJayasuriya of bias towards hisown party. Parliament onWednesday passed the no-confidence motion againstRajapaksa after the SupremeCourt overturned the presi-dential decree to dissolve theHouse and hold snap polls onJanuary 5.

Amid raucous scenes,Parliament on Wednesday metfor the first time since October26, when Sirisena sacked pre-mier Wickremesinghe,installed Rajapaksa in his placeand suspended the House,plunging the island nationinto an unprecedentedConstitutional crisis. Thevote of no confidence againstRajapaksa has further com-plicated the political crisis. Itis not yet clear whetherRajapaksa will resign orwhether the oustedWickremesinghe, who has thesupport of 122 lawmakers inthe 225-member House, willreturn to power.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Papua New Guinea's Governor General BobDadae pose for photos before a meeting at Parliament Haus in Port Moresby, PapuaNew Guinea on Friday. AP

Lankan Parl disrupted again, adjourned till Monday

Lawmakers supporting disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa hold placards and shout slogans against Speaker KaruJayasuriya, as they occupy the speaker's seat inside parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday. AP

Rape case thongtriggers consentprotests in IrelandDublin (AFP): Protests haveflared across Ireland this weektriggering a viral campaignonline after a defence lawyershowed a 17-year-old girl’sthong or G-string in court asalleged proof of her consent ina rape case. The outrage hasincluded a female lawmakerbrandishing underwear in par-liament and women postingpictures of their thongs onlinewith the hashtag#ThisIsNotConsent. “It mightseem embarrassing to show apair of thongs in this incon-gruous setting,” said member ofparliament Ruth Coppinger —pulling the underwear from hersleeve against the objections ofthe speaker on Tuesday.

“But the reason I’m doingit — how do you think a rapevictim or a woman feels at theincongruous setting of herunderwear being shown in acourt?” She was referring to arape case in the republic’ssouthern city of Cork, where agirl’s underwear was shown tojurors. The 27-year-old defen-dant was acquitted, Irish mediareported. “A barrister actuallytold a jury to ‘look at the wayshe was dressed’, that she was‘open to meeting someone’because she was ‘wearing athong with a laced front’”,Coppinger added.

“Women in this countryare getting a little bit weary atthe routine victim-blaminggoing on in Irish courts.”

Washington: WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange has been chargedin the United States, the organ-isation said, in a developmentthat could have implications forRobert Mueller’s probe intoalleged Russian meddling in theUS presidential election.Prosecutors inadvertently dis-closed the existence of a sealedindictment in a court filing in anunrelated case, WikiLeaks saidThursday.

The exact nature of thecharges against Assange was notimmediately known. “SCOOP:US Department of Justice ‘acci-dentally’ reveals existence ofsealed charges (or a draft forthem) against WikiLeaks’ pub-lisher Julian Assange in apparentcut-and-paste error in an unre-lated case also at the EasternDistrict of Virginia,” Wikileakswrote on Twitter. The still-unsealed charges against Assangewere revealed by Assistant USAttorney Kellen Dwyer as hemade a filing in the unrelated

case and urged a judge to keepthat filing sealed. Dwyer wrote:“Due to the sophistication of thedefendant and the publicity sur-rounding the case, no otherprocedure is likely to keep con-fidential the fact that Assange hasbeen charged,” according to TheWashington Post.

The charges would “need toremain sealed until Assange isarrested,” Dwyer wrote. Federalprosecutors have been investi-gating Assange over WikiLeaks’2010 publication of a trove of USdiplomatic cables that proved anacute embarrassment to

Washington.But the charging of Assange

in the US could have implica-tions for special counsel RobertMueller’s probe into whetherDonald Trump’s election cam-paign team colluded with Russiato influence the 2016 presiden-tial vote, and whether Trumptried to obstruct the probe intothat.

In July, Mueller charged 12Russian spies with conspiring tohack Democratic NationalCommittee computers, stealingdata from the organisation andpublishing those files in an effortto sway the election. One of theindictments referred toWikiLeaks, described as“Organisation 1,” as the platformthe Russians used to release thestolen emails. US media werealerted late Thursday to theinadvertent disclosure, thanks toa tweet from Seamus Hughes,deputy director of the Programon Extremism at GeorgeWashington University.

Assange charged in US: WikiLeaks Toll of missing in Calif wildfireclimbs, Trump set to visit

Paradise (US) (AFP): Thenumber of people missing in oneof California’s deadliest wild-fires soared to more than 600 onThursday as the remains of sevenadditional victims were found byrescuers. The seven additionalvictims brings to 63 the numberof people who have died in theCamp Fire. Authorities said thelist of missing people had jumpedfrom 300 to 631 during the dayas investigators went back andreviewed emergency calls madewhen the so-called Camp Fire innorthern California erupted onNovember 8.

“I want you to understandthat the chaos we were dealingwith was extraordinary” whenthe fire broke out, Butte CountySheriff Kory Honea told jour-nalists, in explaining the stag-gering new toll of missing. Atleast three other people have diedin southern California in anoth-er blaze dubbed the Woolsey Fire,

which engulfed parts of Malibu,destroying the homes of severalcelebrities. President DonaldTrump is set to visit the westernstate on Saturday to meet withvictims of the wildfires, believedto be the deadliest and mostdestructive in the state’s history.

Many of the victims and thehundreds missing in the CampFire were elderly people wholived in the Butte County townof Paradise, in the foothills of theSierra Nevada mountains.

It is believed they wereunable to flee the fast-movingblaze or were trapped in their carsas they attempted to escape theinferno. Honea said the numberof those missing was likely tofluctuate as people call in toreport loved ones unaccountedfor or found alive.

“If you look at that list andsee your name, or the name of afriend or loved one, please call tolet us know,” he said.

People sensitive to caffeine’s bitterness drink more coffee: StudyPTI n WASHINGTON

People who are more sensi-tive to coffee’s bitter taste

actually drink more of thebrew, a study suggests. Thestudy, published in the journalScientific Reports, found thatthe sensitivity is caused by agenetic variant.

“You’d expect that peoplewho are particularly sensitiveto the bitter taste of caffeinewould drink less coffee,” saidMarilyn Cornelis, assistantprofessor at NorthwesternUniversity in the US. “Theopposite results of our study

suggest coffee consumersacquire a taste or an ability todetect caffeine due to thelearned positive reinforce-ment (ie stimulation) elicited

by caffeine,” Cornelis said.“People who have a

heightened ability to taste cof-fee’s bitterness — and partic-ularly the distinct bitterflavour of caffeine — learn toassociate good things withit,” she said. In the study pop-ulation, people who weremore sensitive to caffeine andwere drinking a lot of coffeeconsumed low amounts oftea.

The study also foundpeople sensitive to the bitterflavours of quinine and ofPROP, a synthetic taste relat-ed to the compounds in cru-

ciferous vegetables, avoidedcoffee.

For alcohol, a higher sen-sitivity to the bitterness ofPROP resulted in lower alco-hol consumption, particular-ly of red wine. “The findingssuggest our perception of bit-ter tastes, informed by ourgenetics, contributes to thepreference for coffee, tea andalcohol,” Cornelis said.

Scientists appliedMendelian randomisation, atechnique commonly used indisease epidemiology, to testthe causal relationshipbetween bitter taste and bev-

erage consumption in morethan 400,000 men and womenin the UK. The genetic vari-ants linked to caffeine, quinineand PROP perception werepreviously identified throughgenome-wide analysis of solu-tion taste-ratings collectedfrom Australian twins.

These genetic variantswere then tested for associa-tions with self-reported con-sumption of coffee, tea andalcohol in the current study.“Taste has been studied for along time, but we don’t knowthe full mechanics of it,”Cornelis said.

world 12LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

North Korea deports American citizen

AFP n PHNOM PENH

Two top leaders ofCambodia’s Khmer Rouge

regime were found guilty ofgenocide on Friday, in a land-mark ruling almost 40 yearsafter the fall of a brutal regimethat presided over the deaths ofa quarter of the population.The Khmer Rouge’s formerhead of state Khieu Samphan,87, and “Brother Number 2”Nuon Chea, 92, are the twomost senior living members ofthe ultra-Maoist group thatseized control of Cambodiafrom 1975-1979.

The reign of terror led by“Brother Number 1” Pol Potleft some two millionCambodians dead from over-work, starvation and mass exe-cutions but Friday’s ruling wasthe first to acknowledge agenocide. The defendants werepreviously handed life sen-tences in 2014 over the violentand forced evacuation ofPhnom Penh in April 1975. Butthe judgement at theExtraordinary Chambers inthe Courts of Cambodia(ECCC) also found Nuon Cheaguilty of genocide against theethnic Vietnamese and ChamMuslim minority group, amonga litany of other crimes.

“The chamber finds thatNuon Chea exercised ultimatedecision-making power withPol Pot and... therefore findsNuon Chea is responsible as asuperior for all the crimes,” pre-siding judge Nil Nonn said.“This includes the crime ofgenocide by killing members ofCham ethnic and religiousgroup.” Khieu Samphan wasalso found guilty of genocideagainst ethnic Vietnamese,though not against the Cham,he added.

Both parties were sen-tenced to “life in prison”, merg-ing the two sentences into a

single term, Nil Nonn said.Hundreds of people, includingdozens of Cham Muslims andBuddhist monks, were bussedto the tribunal located in theoutskirts of Phnom Penh toattend the hearing. The eventscovered by the verdict span thefour years of the Pol Pot regimeand include extensive crimesagainst humanity. “The ver-dict is essentially theNuremberg judgement for theECCC and thus carries verysignificant weight forCambodia, international crim-inal justice, and the annals ofhistory,” said David Scheffer,who served as the UN secretarygeneral’s special expert on theKhmer Rouge trials from 2012until last month.

The revolutionaries whotried to recreate Buddhist-majority Cambodia in linewith their vision of an agrari-an Marxist utopia attempted toabolish class and religious dis-tinctions by force. The verdictread out by Nil Nonn present-ed a society where minorities

were targeted and killed,Buddhist monks forciblydefrocked and groups of peo-ple executed, while men andwomen were coerced into mar-riages and forced to have sex toproduce children for theregime. The atrocities fell underthe additional list of charges,which the two men were foundguilty of as well.

Los Sat, a 72-year-oldCham Muslim man whoattended the verdict hearingwith his wife, said he had lost“too many” family membersunder the regime. “I am reallysatisfied with the sentences,” hesaid, beaming as he left thecourt. “They brought sufferingto my relatives.” Youk Chhang,head of the DocumentationCenter of Cambodia — aresearch organisation that pro-vided the court with evidence— said the verdict will “affirmthe collective humanity of thevictims and give recognition tothe horrible suffering”.

“It can provide a sense ofclosure to a horrible chapter in

Cambodian history,” he said.The hybrid court, which usesa mix of Cambodian and inter-national law, was created withUN backing in 2006 to trysenior Khmer Rouge leaders.Only three people have beenconvicted by the court, costingmore than USD 300 million.Former Khmer Rouge foreignminister Ieng Sary and hiswife died without facing justice,while Pol Pot passed away in1998. The number of allega-tions against Nuon Chea andKhieu Samphan was so vast thecourt split the trials into a seriesof smaller hearings in 2011.Many believe Friday’s decisionwill be the last for the tribunal,which has been marred byallegations of political inter-ference. Prime Minister HunSen — himself a former KhmerRouge cadre — has repeatedlywarned he would not allowmore investigations to pro-ceed, citing vague threats to sta-bility. Clair Duffy, a seniorteaching fellow at Australia’sBond University who moni-tored the tribunal for years, saidthe court’s “excessively high”bill compared to other tri-bunals was due to “persistentpolitical barriers to justiceerected by the Hun Sen gov-ernment”.

The court has launchedinvestigations into four moreKhmer Rouge cadres, thoughone was dismissed in February2017, highlighting the diffi-culties of bringing lower levelmembers of the brutal regimeto justice.

Craig Etcheson, who pre-viously served as an investiga-tor in the tribunal, said thatdespite the “expensive, slow,complex” process of the tri-bunal, the ECCC has providedsome form of symbolic justiceto the victims.“It is not enough,perhaps, but some justice is bet-ter than no justice,” he said.

Khmer Rouge leaders found guilty

of genocide in landmark ruling

‘India and China should

boost military exchanges’

PTI n BEIJING

India and China shouldboost military exchanges

and improve mutual trust andproperly manage and controlany “disparities”, Chinese StateCouncil lor and DefenceMinister Gen Wei Fenghe hassaid. Defence SecretarySanjay Mitra, who headed theIndian delegation at the ninthIndia-China Annual Defenceand Security Dialogue here onNovember 13, called on Weion Thursday.

At the dialogue, heldover a year after the 73-dayDoklam military standoff inthe Sikkim sector, top defenceofficials of India and Chinaagreed on the importance ofmaintaining peace in the bor-der areas while implementingthe consensus reachedbetween Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and PresidentXi Jinping at the Wuhan sum-mit in April. While meetingwith Mitra, Wei said Chinaand India see far more com-mon interests than divergen-cies between each other,stressing that the two coun-tries should boost militaryexchanges, improve mutualtrust in the security field andproperly manage and controlany “disparities”, state-runXinhua news agency reportedon Thursday. Mitra saidIndia’s relationship with China

is one of its most importantbilateral relationships, thereport said.

He hoped they will furtherdevelop relations between thetwo countries and two mili-taries. At the dialogue, bothsides agreed on enhancingdefence exchanges and inter-actions at different levelsbetween the two militaries, anIndian Embassy press releasesaid here on Thursday.

The dialogue was heldbetween the defence delega-tions headed by Mitra and LtGeneral Shao Yuanming,Deputy Chief of Joint StaffDepartment of the Central

Military Commission. At thetalks, Mitra was accompa-nied by senior officials of theministry of defence and theIndian Army, Navy and AirForce.

The defence dialogue washeld ahead of the 21st roundof border talks between theSpecial Representatives of thetwo countries in the Chinesecity of Dujiangyan onNovember 23-24.NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Dovaland Chinese State Councillorand Foreign Minister Wang Yiare the designated SpecialRepresentatives for the bordertalks.

File Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with China’s defenceminister, General Wei Fenghe, during a meeting in New Delhi on August 21, 2018.

AP n SEOUL

North Korea on Friday saidit will deport an American

citizen it detained for illegalentrance, an apparent conces-sion to the United States thatcame even as it announced thetest of a newly developed butunspecified “ultramodern”weapon that will be seen as apressuring tactic byWashington. The two whiplashannouncements, which seemedaimed at both appeasing andannoying Washington, suggestNorth Korea wants to keep alivedialogue with the United Stateseven as it struggles to express itsfrustration at stalled nucleardiplomacy. North Korea in thepast has held arrested Americancitizens for an extended periodbefore high-profile US figurestravelled to Pyongyang tosecure their freedom.

Last year, American uni-versity student Otto Warmbierdied days after he was releasedin a coma from North Koreaafter 17 months in captivity.

On Friday, the KoreanCentral News Agency saidAmerican national Bruce ByronLowrance was detained on Oct16 for illegally entering thecountry from China.

It said he told investigatorsthat he was under the “manip-ulation” of the US CentralIntelligence Agency.

It was not clear if the

North’s spelling of the man’sname was correct, and pastreports from Pyongyang havecontained incorrect spellings.

A short KCNA dispatchsaid North Korea decided todeport him but did not say whyand when.

The North’s decisionmatches its general push forengagement and diplomacywith the United States this yearafter a string of weapons testsin 2017, and a furious USresponse, had some fearingwar on the Korean Peninsula. InMay, North Korea releasedthree American detainees in a

goodwill gesture weeks ahead ofleader Kim Jong Un’s June 12summit with President DonaldTrump in Singapore.

The three Americansreturned home on a flight withUS Secretary of State MikePompeo. Weeks after the sum-mit, North Korea returned theremains of dozens of presumedUS soldiers killed during the1950-53 Korean War. TheUnited States, South Korea andothers have previously accusedNorth Korea of using foreigndetainees to wrest diplomaticconcessions. Some foreignershave said after their release that

their declarations of guilt hadbeen coerced while in NorthKorean custody.

Warmbier and other previ-ous American detainees in theNorth were imprisoned over avariety of alleged crimes,including subversion, anti-stateactivities and spying. EarlierFriday, KCNA said Kimobserved the successful test ofan unspecified “newly devel-oped ultramodern tacticalweapon,” though it didn’tdescribe what the weapon was.It didn’t appear to be a test of anuclear device or a long-rangemissile with the potential to tar-

‘UN member states guardians of status quo, need for rejuvenating, revitalising UNGA’PTI n UNITED NATIONS

The UN member states havebecome “guardians of the

status quo” due to their inactionand inertia in the face of starkglobal challenges like terrorismand climate change, India hassaid, calling on the internationalcommunity to catalyse its effortsto rejuvenate the world body asit is set to complete 75 years ofexistence.

Participating in the UNGeneral Assembly debate on‘Revitalisation of the Work ofthe General Assembly’, India’sPermanent Representative tothe UN Ambassador SyedAkbaruddin said that despitebeing faced with such chal-lenges, UN member states havetended to “muddle along, hold-ing meetings, taking someminor stabs at enhancing inter-national cooperation at themargins, becoming guardians ofthe status quo. “Today, there is

a proliferation of new transna-tional threats such as terrorismrequiring comprehensive coop-eration, accelerating techno-logical change requiring broadnorm setting, and worseningenvironmental degradationrequiring immediate climateaction. Our challenges havebecome stark,” Akbaruddin saidhere Thursday.

“Our inertia is considerable,even when it is clear that col-lective action is required. Westeer clear from action, pleadingconsensus is required forchange,” he said. Akbaruddincalled for nations to acknowl-edge that their collective recordas the General Assembly ismixed. “Just as generals toooften refight their last war, wediplomats are struggling toovercome our legacy issues,even as the variety and intrica-cy of new demands for inter-national cooperation has

expanded,” he said.Given that the world is

awash with new challenges,Akbaruddin said the 75thanniversary of the UN, to bemarked in less than two years,is an appropriate opportunityfor all nations to catalyse theirefforts to rejuvenate and revi-talise. The agenda for such revi-talisation needs to be broad andinclusive, as well as ?transfor-mative and imbued with theobjective of breathing new life.“…To effectively make a differ-ence, we need to undertake anew journey. A journey whichneeds to begin soon. TheGeneral Assembly, with its uni-versal membership, can be aprecious asset in this effort forchange,” he said. Noting that theprincipal purpose of the GeneralAssembly is not to usurp therole of sovereign states,Akbaruddin said other globalinstitution can match its repre-

sentative character and the cred-ibility that it derives from suchrepresentativeness.

“Decision-making in theGeneral Assembly is not a threatto sovereignty.

It is an expression of sover-eign equality and opportunityfor all to influence global prob-lem-solving,” he said.Emphasizing that proliferatingglobal problems demand newnarratives, the Indian envoysaid if the General Assembly isnot delivering all that is want-ed, the solution is not to give upon it. “Rather, we must make itdeliver results for today,” he said.Quoting Swami Vivekananda,Akbaruddin said people reapwhat they sow, Akbaruddinsaid the revitalization agenda isa challenge for diplomacy but itis a challenge worth taking up,“if we want to maximise theprospects for a peaceful & pros-perous 21st century.”

In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,Khieu Samphan, left, former Khmer Rouge head of state, stands at the dock in a courtroom during a hearing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh,Cambodia, Friday. AP

In this March 12, 2014, file photo, a North Korean soldier, center top, looks at the southern side as three South Korean soldiersguard at the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, South Korea. NorthKorea said on Friday. AP

... even as it boasts of new weapon

get the United States. A stringof such tests last year pushedalways uncomfortable ties onthe peninsula to unusually hightension before the North turnedto engagement and diplomacy.

Still, any mention ofweapons testing could influencethe direction of stalled diplo-matic efforts spearheaded byWashington and aimed at rid-ding the North of its nuclearweapons. Experts say theweapon test was likely anexpression of anger by NorthKorea at US-led internationalsanctions and ongoing small-scale military drills betweenSouth Korea and the UnitedStates.

It’s the first publicly knownfield inspection of a weaponstest by Kim since he observedthe testing of the Hwasong-15intercontinental ballistic missilein November of last year,according to South Korea’sUnification Ministry. “It’s NorthKorea-style coercive diploma-cy. North Korea is saying ‘If youdon’t listen to us, you will facepolitical burdens,’” said analystShin Beomchul of Seoul’s AsanInstitute for Policy Studies.Earlier this month, NorthKorea’s Foreign Ministrywarned it could bring back itspolicy of bolstering its nucleararsenal if it doesn’t receivesanctions relief. Shin said theweapon North Korea testedcould be a missile, artillery, ananti-air gun, a drone or otherhigh-tech conventionalweapons systems.

Satyarthi calls on Pope;seeks supportfor law againstchild abuseVatican City (PTI): Nobel PeaceLaureate Kailash Satyarthi onFriday called on Pope Francisand sought his support for a newlegally binding international lawagainst growing digital andonline forms of child sexualexploitation and abuse cases. Theextraterritorial jurisdiction forthe proposed law is absolutelyessential as online crimes tran-scend across borders, Satyarthisaid during his meeting with thehead of the Catholic churchhere. The Nobel laureate is meet-ing all stakeholders irrespectiveof caste, creed, religion, ethnic-ity, political affinity and nation-ality to garner support for themovement.

Satyarthi, who has beendemanding for a new conven-tion, has written to all the headsof states. This request has alsobeen submitted to the UNSecretary General and theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, anintergovernmental economicorganisation with 36 membercountries. The meeting betweenSatyarthi and the Pope tookplace in the backdrop of himsummoning the Presidents ofCatholic Bishops worldwide tothe Vatican in February 2019 todiscuss ways to protect childrenand prevent sexual abuse bypriests. The Pope’s response wasthat the meeting would definitelybe a “practical meeting andcome out with practical solu-tions”, Satyarthi quoted the Popeas saying. Satyarthi also soughtthe support of the Pope for hisongoing global efforts to endchild trafficking, slavery and allforms of violence against chil-dren to ensure peace, freedom,safety, health and education forthem.

Japan PM Abe lays wreath in

Australian city bombed in WWII

Sydney (AP): Shinzo Abebecame the first prime ministerof Japan to visit Darwin since thenorthern Australian city wasbombed by Japanese forces inWorld War II, as he and hisAustralian counterpart spokeFriday of strengthening defenceand other ties between theircountries.

Abe’s one-night stay wasdescribed by Australian PrimeMinister Scott Morrison as adeeply symbolic one. It was alsoanother chance for Japan andAustralia to present a unitedfront as regional partners in theAsia-Pacific amid ongoing con-cerns of spreading Chineseinfluence, including the coun-try’s building of islands in thedisputed South China Sea.“Australia and Japan also stand

united on the importance ofresolving disputes in the SouthChina Sea, peacefully and inaccordance with internationallaw, and we are strongly opposedto any actions that couldincrease tensions within theregion,” Morrison said., readingfrom a prepared statement aftermeeting Abe. He added that a

“stable and secure regional mar-itime ... order is central to bothAustralia and Japan’s visions forthe region, and is underpinnedby respect for international law.”

Morrison also said helooked forward to increasedcooperation with Japan to sup-port regional maritime safetyand security.

The leaders said they hopeto conclude early next year anagreement on increased defencelinks, including more joint mil-itary exercises. Abe said Japanand Australian would promotecooperation to strengthen therule of law at sea. They alsoagreed to promote cooperationin providing building assistancefor maritime security-relatedprojects in Southeast Asian andPacific island nations.

FB says it’s better at detecting rule violationsNew York (AP): Facebook saidit’s making progress on detect-ing hate speech, graphic vio-lence and other violations of itsrules, even before users see andreport them. Facebook saidthat during the April-to-September period, it doubledthe amount of hate speech itdetected proactively, comparedwith the previous six months.

The findings were spelledout Thursday in Facebook’ssecond semiannual report onenforcing community stan-dards. The reports come asFacebook grapples with chal-lenge after challenge, rangingfrom fake news to Facebook’srole in elections interference,hate speech and incitement toviolence in the US, Myanmar,India and elsewhere. The com-pany also said it disabled morethan 1.5 billion fake accountsin the latest six-month period,compared with 1.3 billion dur-ing the previous six months.

Facebook said most of the fakeaccounts it found were finan-cially motivated, rather thanaimed at misinformation. Thecompany has nearly 2.3billion users.

Facebook’sreport comes aday after TheNew YorkTimes pub-lished ane x t e n s i v ereport onh o wF a c e b o o kdeals with crisisafter crisis overthe past two years.The Times describedFacebook’s strategy as “delay,deny and deflect.” Facebooksaid Thursday it has cut tieswith a Washington public rela-tions firm, Definers, which theTimes said Facebook hired todiscredit opponents. FacebookCEO Mark Zuckerberg said

during a call with reporters thathe learned about the company’srelationship with Definers onlywhen he read the Times report.

On community guidelines,Facebook also released

metrics on issuessuch as child nudi-

ty and sexualexploitation, ter-rorist propagan-da, bullying andspam. While it is dis-closing how

many violationsit is catching, the

company said it can’talways reliably measure

how prevalent these thingsare on Facebook overall. Forinstance, while Facebook tookaction on 2 million instances ofbullying in the July-Septemberperiod, this does not meanthere were only 2 millioninstances of bullying duringthis time. Clifford Lampe, a

professor of information at theUniversity of Michigan, said it’sdifficult for people to agree onwhat constitutes bullying orhate speech — so that makes itdifficult, if not impossible, toteach artificial intelligence sys-tems how to detect them.Overall, though, Lampe saidFacebook is making progresson rooting out hate, fakeaccounts and other objection-able content, but added that itcould be doing more. “Some ofthis is tempered by (the factthat) they are a publicly trad-ed company,” he said.

“Their primary missionisn’t to be good for society. It’sto make money. There arebusiness concerns.” Facebookalso plans to set up an inde-pendent body by next year forpeople to appeal decisions toremove — or leave up — poststhat may violate its rules. Appeals are currently handledinternally.

Marvin Ochoa, center, of Honduras, waits in line for a meal behind his wife Diana Marylin Ochoa after they arrived with a CentralAmerica migrant caravan to Tijuana, Mexico on Thursday. Members of the migrant caravan started to meet some local resistanceas they continued to arrive by the hundreds in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, where a group of residents clashed withmigrants camped out by the U.S. border fence. AP

vivacity {48 hours} 13LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

ENCOUNTER 60 MINUTES GALLERIA 10 MINUTES

THE CELLAR 15 MINUTESTALKING POINT 10 MINUTES

In the tussle between man and thewild, animals have drawn the

short straw. With land encroach-ments in every part of the world,wildlife population is estimated todecline by two-third till 2020. Wehave already lost 60 per cent of thewildlife, according to a report.

People are aware of climatechange, of plastics’ harmful effectsbut not enough about wildlife loss,according to Jonathan Keeling, con-sulting executive producer of BBC’sPlanet Earth II. His work has takenhim to each of the seven continentsand his next, Seven Worlds will showthe challenges that wildlife is facing.Most of his shows are on view onSony BBC Earth in India.

The show is partially shot inMumbai, which is a city of 20 mil-lion people and also has the dens-est population of leopards any-where in the world. “It is a uniquesituation. No jungle, no otherplace but Mumbai has themost concentrated num-ber of leopards,” saidhe.

To shoot thesequence, theyused camerasthat didn’tneed

lights at night. Technology hasadvanced enough that miniaturecameras, that can be mounted onanimals, drones and buggies areused. The storytelling technique hasalso changed so that it’s emotionaland dramatic, with a protagonistand an antagonist, which is what ispulling younger crowds, he believes.

“Last year, when Blue Planet IIreleased, it had the highest viewingnumbers in the UK and soon ban-ning plastics was on the agenda forthe parliament and companies.People on the streets were talkingabout how plastic was damaging themarine life,” he said, adding that theyounger generation is now interest-ed in watching documentaries asmuch as sports events or pop real-ity shows, which he also enjoyswatching.

During his travels, he’s closelyobserved how human encroachment

is affecting animals and theirbehaviour. So, whileconservation has

become a hot topicin this space so isshowing thenew species andold with their

behaviour. “How a monkey would

behave with you depends on ifit’s being fed,” jokes Jonathan.“Some run and hide, some aremore relaxed with people. If you

go to a temple, there are monkeysbut they have seen humans forhundreds of years and their behav-iour is calm. There are places whereanimals encountered people butare much more shy. In Papua NewGuinea, my team looked for a newspecies in a volcanic crater in a jun-

gle, which hasn’t been explored in60,000 years. Local people haven’tgone there since it is a sacred place.I picked a Tree Kangaroo off abranch and held it and it was justrelaxed. We picked up a Cuscus,looked at it and put it back. It was-n’t bothered. We also found theworld’s biggest rodent, the Bosavirat, which was the highlight for me.And, it was super relaxed. It is acomplex relationship,” he said.

As more urban centres come upand humans move into animallandscape and dominate that withbuildings and roads, it’s hugelytransformed which is true for largeparts of Europe and Asia. In suchsituations, wildlife corridors areimportant which make space foranimals is important. “Forty yearsago we made the first global wildlifedocumentary called Life on Earth.Since that time we lost somewhereclose to 2/3 of the population of biganimals. We are the first generationthat has been able to observe theimpact through satellites and also onthe ground. Previous generationsweren’t aware but now we are. It’stime to do something,” he said.

They have also been able toreach a Chinese audience nowwhich translates to around 250 mil-lion people and the global scope, agegroup and sheer numbers have areally big impact.

While politicians debate global-ly if climate change is real or not andit’s impacts — the North and SouthPole are melting. And Jonathanwonders if the penguin populationcan adapt quickly enough for it tosurvive through this man made cri-sis.

Now 21, Sanjay Kandasamywas just 18 months old

when his father had to donatea part of his liver to him inNovember 1998.

In doing so, Sanjay and hisdoctors created history in theannals of Indian medicine asthe country’s first successfulliver transplant surgery,Indraprastha Apollo hospitalssaid in statement.

Not only has Sanjay doneexceedingly well, without hav-ing any other complicationssince the transplant, he is nowtraining to be a doctor himself.

Since it has been morethan 20 years that the trans-plant took place, he explainedhow the difficulty level of suchsurgeries have changed.

He said, “At that time, myfather donated his organ oth-erwise it wouldn’t have beenthat easy.” Being a medicalstudent himself, he added,“Today, the situation haschanged due to a better avail-ability of resources, technolo-gy, doctors and even donors,which have risen in numbers.The information has spreadmuch easily today.”

On the 20th anniversary ofthe operation that changed theface of medical sciences inIndia, the hospital showcasedthe evolution that liver trans-plants have gone through overthe last two decades.

Dr Preetha Reddy, vicechairperson of the ApolloHospitals Group, said liver dis-ease is a major cause for con-cern in the country with asmany as two lakh people dyingfrom it every year. Whilearound 1,800 liver transplantsare done annually, as many as20,000 people need a livertransplant at any given point.

“The fact is around 10lakh people are diagnosed withliver disease every year, mak-ing it the 10th most-commoncause of death in India as perthe WHO. While India hascome a long way since the firstoperation, there is still a huge

gap to be filled,” Dr Reddy said.Ace Indian cricketer,

Gautam Gambhir, a long-timeproponent of organ donationwas also present on the occa-sion.

“Every three minutes a per-son gets added to the list whoneed a transplant. Today, overtwo lakh Indians are on the listwhile less than 10 per cent geta transplant. We have to work asa nation to increase our organdonation rate. I have pledged myorgans in 2011 and encouragethe youth to raise awareness onorgan donation and becomedonors themselves. This needsto become a national move-ment,” he said.

Apollo Hospitals’ Groupmedical director and seniorpediatric gastroenterologist,Dr Anupam Sibal, said thatover the last 20 years theApollo Institutes of Transplanthas performed more than 3,200liver transplants in patientsfrom over 50 countries ofwhich 302 have been children.

“While there is still lack ininfrastructure for life-savingorgan donations and trans-plants, the numbers in thecountry are showing someimprovement in the country.Out of 301 hospitals equippedto handle the process, 250have registered with NationalOrgan and Tissue TransplantOrganisation (NOTTO), show-ing that in order to conduct anorgan transplant, there existsone fully equipped hospitalfor around 43 lakh people,” DrSibal said.

Sanjay, who is currentlypursuing his medical studies atthe Srilakshmi NarayanInstitute of Medical Sciences,Pondicherry, has been onimmuno suppressent medica-tion for 15 to 16 years. Heaspires to be a blood donorhimself. However, his suppres-sants medication wouldn’tallow him to donate. “I want tobe a donor, but unfortunatelyI can’t donate,” said Sanjay.

(With inputs from agency)

One of the primary cultures thatIndian students and young

professionals who live abroad bringback with them is their love of finewine. While everyone loves foodmade by their mother, qualitywines and spirits they have had aresought out on their return to Indiaas well. And in the third largestliquor market of the world, whereevery year almost 20 million peo-ple enter legal drinking age, it is theyoung that a Sicilian wine brand isvying for.

“It is my dream that we serveSicilian wine with Indian food. It isa misconception that Italian winecan only be paired with food fromthe region,” says Elena Bortoletto,export manager, Donnafugata.

It doesn’t hurt that the 1983 ori-gin company comes with an inter-esting history that involves runawayqueens. The name Donnafugatatranslates to fugitive woman or thewoman who fled. The town has acastle with the same name. And oneof the legends say that it refers toQueen Blanche of Navarre, widowof King Martin I of Aragon. Thelabels on the bottles are a work ofart by the famed Stefano Vitale,who had designed the cover forPaolo Coehlo’s The Alchemist.

It seems just like the drink,families that run wineries also getfiner with each generation. Thefifth-generation run family businesshas fresh and fruit wines that areaccessible but premium and makefor easy drinking. The bottles,which come with instructions, tell

clearly that the white wine goes bet-ter with fruits and cheese while thered is meant for meat. The Anthiliamade with peach and pear scents,is crisp and soft on the palate andis better served with fish or vegeta-bles while the Sedara has a balanceof red fruits and spicy flavours.

To ensure the wine quality, theyharvest grapes by handpickingthem for their Chardonnay, forwhich the fruits ripen the earliest.At their vineyard in the town ofRagusa they are harvested by night,when the temperatures are as lowas 18-20 degree Celsius instead ofthe peak of 45 degree Celsius in theday. No chemical fertiliser or pes-ticides go into the grapes. Theirfocus has been on sustainability aswell since harvesting at night saveselectricity needed to cool down thefruit if it is picked during the day.

Bortoletto adds that the mar-ket in Asia is opening to wine whileit was earlier dominated by spirits.

China has wine bars in Shanghaiand Beijing and with the openingof Wine & Spirit Education Trust,awareness has been percolating intothe urban people. She also addedthat tourism to Italy has been thekey to a growth in their market.

While an entry level wine isplaced around `700-1500, theDonnafugata is priced more than`3300, which is definitely not aninaccessible mark for the upwardmoving Indian. It has already madeinroads into key metros in thecountry and has been placed atwell-known places like the IndianAccent. But they agree that to reacha new market of amateur winedrinkers, dinners and workshopsthat lets one experience the wineand how it should be had is the key.

However, they are in no hurryto see results since the normal turn-around time to see profits is fiveyears. During that time, they hopeto triple their sales.

The transluscent paper still cov-ers the huge 149.5 x 105 cmpiece which rests against the

wall as it is yet to be hung up. Peoplehover around as “the pièce de résis-tance” as Gaurav Bhatia, managingdirector, India, Sotheby’s describesTyeb Mehta’s Durga MahisasuraMardini (1993), is to be unveiled. Heemphasises, “You are officially thefirst Indian journalist to see this,”

He then embarks on the storybehind the painting. “A Muslim, thecosmopolitan ethos of Bombay (nowMumbai), where he settled down,really appealed to the artist who wasborn in Kapadwanj, a small town inGujarat. But his faith was rudelyshaken when during the 1992-93 postBabri Masjid demolition riots, hereceived threats on account of his reli-gion. He left for Santiniketan toescape this madness. In the heat ofthe moment, when all this politicalupheaval was happening, he was asked to make a painting and he creat-ed a strong political statement withthis,” says Gaurav gesturing towardsthe painting. It reveals a blue back-drop and there are just three morecolours — saffron, white and green— and when the idea hits you in allits force, it makes for a goosebumpsmoment. “It is interesting to note thatTyeb, a Muslim, painted a HinduGoddess for the first time and thattoo in colours of the Indian flag toreiterate what the country was about,”emphasises Gaurav. The work ispainted with an economy of lines andis deeply symbolic as Goddess Durgarepresents enlightenment and hopeover darkness and ignorance.

“It is a positive painting where alarge part is painted blue like theAshoka chakra but the colour alsostands for hope and renewal. It is def-initely more relevant today,” saysGaurav, who has his roots inLucknow and takes pride in theGanga Jamuni tehzeeb with its inter-mingling of cultures, religion, foodand language.

He goes on to recount how hechanced upon this piece that has notbeen displayed by any gallery in Indiatill date. “I had gone to my father’sfriend’s place for a drink along withmy wife in December 2016. He hasan impressive art collection, most ofwhich is displayed on the groundfloor of his house. As we took thestairs for the first floor, I saw thispainting on a wall. When I was leav-ing, he told me that if I ever wantedanything, all I had to do was ask. Myprompt reply was, ‘The Tyeb Mehta’.It’s another story that my wife chid-ed me later for saying so. But with-in two days he called up and agreedto sell it. It was timely as we had juststarted putting Boundless:India,Sotheby’s inaugural auction in thecountry,” he says. The painting is apart of the display at the BikanerHouse and will feature in the auctionwhich will take place at the TajMahal Hotel in Mumbai onNovember 29. He says, “The artworks

are a visual commentary on SouthAsia that narrate the story of the rich-ness and sophistication of art anddesign from the Indian Subcontinent.The 50 artworks including paintings,sculpture, photography and designare made in and inspired by theIndian subcontinent. Interestingly,except for two, none of the workshave ever been displayed to the pub-lic.”

Gaurav says that there is a reasonSotheby, a brand which was estab-lished in 1742, decided to set up officein India two years back. “We have thefirst records in 1930s of an Indiantransacting with Sotheby’s when theMaharaja of Darbangha boughtMarie Antoinette’s jewels in London.So Indians have been doing businesswith Sotheby’s for almost a hundredyears. What further prompted themove was in the last five years werecorded that South Asians, which islargely Indians, had done transactionsworth over $250 million across allcategories including Impressionist art,Western art, jewellery watches andcars with us,” he says.

He also points out that while theartworks that Indians gravitatedtowards were mostly from the home

country a few clients have evenstarted buying Monets and Picassos.“Maybe not in terms of volume butin value, these are big. The numberspicking these works are small due toa mix of prohibitive pricing as wellas taste,” he adds.

But coming back to the auction,he says, “The ethos of the sale isIndia’s boundless treasures. We curat-ed this over two years so we literal-ly had the cream of the crop. Weselected 50 works which are superclean and each piece represents avisual vocabulary as well as thesophistication and elegance of India.”So, there are works by artist based inthe country and even those outsideit. He flips through the catalogue andpoints to an image Blue City, Jodhpurby Steve McCurry which was clickedin 2010. The intensity of the colourreminds one of his other iconicwork Afghan Girl which featuredSharbat Gula. The other one calledTaj Mahal and Train, Agra, 1983 toois up at the auction. The list of famousinternational artists don’t end there.There is also Henri Cartier Bresson’sstunning black and white image,Srinagar, Kashmir 1948. But perhapsit is the Brazilian Sebastiao Salgado’s

Churchgate Station, Western RailroadLine, Bombay, India 1955 which bestshowcases an outsider’s view of Indiawith its crowd, din and flurry ofmovement.

Gaurav recounts interesting talesbehind some of the art. An early workof Amrita Shergill Girl in Blue whereshe painted her cousin Babeet Kaurin 1934 is mounted on one wall.“Amrita’s mother said it wasn’t good.Babeet’s mother too didn’t like it asshe thought her daughter had beenpainted a bit too dark. Amrita keptit away and displayed the painting ather first show at Falleti’s Hotel inLahore. It was bought by CharlesFabri, a historian with whom Shergillis rumored to have had an affair andwas in his family for the last 80 years.This work is important because justafter this she painted her very famous,Three Girls. Stylistically the move-ment and fluidity in both the worksis same,” he says.

But interestingly, the story doesnot end there. When Sotheby’sacquired the painting six months ago,it was published in an English news-paper. What happened after that iswhat history is made of. “Sotheby’sgot a call from a lady saying that the

girl in the painting was her mother-in-law who was 94 years old and livedin Delhi,” says Gaurav. Needless to sayBabeet Kaur attended the preview atBikaner House yesterday.

There is also Francis NewtonSouza’s Untitled (St Paul’s Cathedral)1961, a piece in blue, white and blackthat makes use of his slashing tech-nique to perfection. “When you lookat the painting, it is beautiful but acloser look reveals a lot of violence.The artist grew up in Goa with strictCatholic parents and he almost start-ed rebelling against the church as theyput too much emphasis on religion,”explains Gaurav.

Moving from the master, in thecontemporary oeuvre, Gaurav ges-tures at a work by Arpita Singh whois considered one of the most impor-tant female artists of India. “Thisextraordinary work, Men Sitting,Men Standing is a political statementon the political chair revolving onlyamong them,” he says.

One cannot miss out on anoth-er contemporary artist Bharti Kherand Priti Paul’s Belladonna, an instal-lation which features a dressing tablewith lipsticks, shoes and a sari — allmade in steel. “This too is a politicalstatement about women’s perceptionof themselves in the society. Is it justmake up, hair, shoes and sari or heroutward appearance that make for awoman’s identity or is there more toher?” explains Gaurav.

The exhibition also has a lot ofsculptures as this was an importantart form even before the written wordexisted in India. “A terracotta headdone by G Ravinder Reddy is impor-tant because he usually makes thesein metallic gold. It is the first time thathe worked in this medium.”

Another striking sculpture isProdosh Das Gupta’s Egg Bird (1975).“It’s sophisticated and refined wherethe bird is protecting her egg and nur-turing it like a mother,” says Gauravwho earlier worked with LVMHMoët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

But what really caught the atten-tion was an interesting series of 20photographs by Nandini ValliMuthiah which show Vishnu onearth for a day. So he can be seen rid-ing a Cadillac to a wedding, visitinga house where he is treated as a god,going to a bar and finally reaching hishotel room where he can be seen dis-illusioned with what is going on onearth.

There are works by other artistslike Bhupen Kakkar’s water colours,Gulam Rasool Santosh’s take ontantra, Krishna Reddy’s print calledWhirlpool, the Aligarh artist ZareenaHashmi’s works which question theidea of home and displacement, ABala’s glamorous thumb print as wellas a series of photographs by MadanMahatta. The immersive walk cer-tainly encompasses what can becalled some of the best representationof art that looks at India.

The show is on till 1 pm onNovember 17.

GAURAV BHATIA, managing director Sotheby, walks SAIMI SATTAR through the organisation’s inaugural auction of

some artworks including a Tyeb Mehta and Amrita Shergill that are up for public viewing for the first time

As Boundless as India

C H I L L E D N O T S T I R R E DThe dwindling numbersELENA BORTOLETTO of Donnafugata talks about new

markets in Asia. By A SARKARWildlife filmmaker JONATHAN KEELING

tells ASMITA SARKAR about his adventures

and the impact of documentaries

SANJAY KANDASAMY had a liver

transplant when he was 18-months-old.

Today, he is a healthy medical student who

also aims to donate organs one day

A new life

S H O R T C I R C U I T S

Stree is a very unique movie andis backed with a strong socialmessage. The film garneredimmense love as it deliversshocks and laughs equally.Horror-comic genre is not verycommon in Indian cinema and itfeels amazing to be a part. Duringthe film shoot, I learned sewing,stitching and a new accent. Theexperience was enthralling.

Due to harsh winter in

Chandigarh, it is very difficult

for us to survive; forget about

animals. The temperature falls

to around eight degrees which

makes pets really uncomfort-

able. So, I thought to do some-

thing for them and got some

sweaters. I hope it helps them

survive winters.

RAJKUMMAR RAO NICK KNOWLES

If I date somebody, I'm not

going to take them to

London. I'm not going to go

to one of the 25 places

where there are photogra-

phers outside. I can quite

happily go Lewes in Sussex

or Wrexham, or anywhere

where there aren't paps

going around. It will be very

private.

VARUN SHARMA

vivacity {48 hours} 14LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018

Every time my father wrote apoem, we were the first hewould introduce it to. He’dask us to read it in the samegraph and tone with which hehad written and I felt that itwas extremely important andhas affected my work as aprofessional actor. Writers arethe most important ingredientin filmmaking.

SUBCULTURE 30 MINUTES STUDIO CHAT 20 MINUTES

EVENT 10 MINUTES

AMITABH BACHCHAN

Sailing on a giant cruiseship with arms open

in the air, the breezepassing through thehair, running aroundin an open field orjust dreaming about aprince on a whitehorse... all thesehave been a part ofthe fantastical worldthat the Hindi filmindustry has given tomany young women.

Actor ShwetaTripathi, who hasbecome one of theprominent names in theindustry, had alsodreamt of runningaround in an openfield wearing a yellowsuit while its dupattaflew in the air. Shesaid, “I didn’t knowabout anything likeIndie cinema, parallelcinema, or even thecontent of the films. Ijust knew that I wantedto be an actress and beon the stage, or in front ofthe camera.”

The actress, whomade her acting debutwith TV show, Kya MastHai Life, shared that shehas come a long waysince her role of ZeniaKhan, a geek but full-of-life and ever-excit-ed college student, totoday’s Golu Gupta inMirzapur.

“It was a very hyper activekind of a role where I would cribabout food or other petty littlethings. If I look at that, I would saythat I have come a really long way,”she says.

It was all because of workingunder various directors that sheunderstood the subtlety of rolesand acting. “I realised that therewas a lot more to acting and cin-ema than just being romantic orhappy or running around withexcitement. I explored the otherside of being an actress.”

Films like Masaan,Haraamkhor, Trishna star Shwetain some unconventional rolescompared to the ideal of of some-one glamourous, who is supposedto support an actor’s heroic image.Her roles rather take centrestagewith a fierce approach. How?

She says that it works bothways. “It’s not like you choosescripts rather sometimes theychoose you. I had also auditionedfor Fukrey once, but didn’t quitelike the role. Not like I didn’t wantto do any commercial films butsomehow all the scripts that I wasgetting, I didn’t want to do those.”

And then, “Haraamkhor,Masaan, and Mirzapur really excit-ed me. And that’s how I chosethem.” If the scripts “excite” her, shewould definitely take it up.

Actor Ali Fazal’s story is alsoquite similar. He talks about his role,Guddu Pandit, the kid who hasgrown up watching his lower mid-dle class family and aspired to belike them. “The family has alwayswanted their kid to be a ‘hero.’ Evenhis aspirations’ length is as short astransitioning from having a bicycleto having a Luna (scooty),” he says.If there is a problem with the cycleand he finds a jeep nearby, he wouldbe excited to see that and only thinkof having it and “looking like a hero”when his hair would flow in theopen jeep.

“Hum banayenge Mirzapur koAmrika (We’ll transform Mirzapurinto America.),” says Guddu Panditaka Ali Fazal of Mirzapur. That ishow Ali’s role adds various shadesof red to the show’s palette, whereeven though it is the 21st century“his aspirations are full of innocenceand non-materialistic.”

Shweta finds his role “endear-ing” as even though “he appears tobe the Hulk or Thor, he is very sim-ple in his own world.” She says, “Ifyou look at Fukrey’s chocolate boyand 3 Idiots’s sweet Joy to today’s

Guddu Pandit, it is a treat.”Among the huge star cast of the

show is Pankaj Tripathi, SheebaChaddha, Rasika Dugal, VikrantMassey, Divyendu Sharma, andShriya Pilgaonkar. Ali was the lastone to enter the stage. And, this lastminute entry has a unique run-and-return story that Ali tells us.

“I had put my feet in the West,and then I was back here when I gotMirzapur. I was stuck when I readthe script. But that wasn’t the partoffered to me and I made an excuseto escape from it. But after a fewdays, the role of Guddu Pandit cameto me and I immediately agreed,”laughs Ali.

He believes that the heart doesstick to something and there arecertain roles that “don’t leave you”until you make them happen.

While the actor had also pre-pared for a role in his forthcoming,Milan Talkies, he says, “I did eat alot. It took a lot of patience as I hadto shed around 10 kg weight for therole.”

While Shweta’s role of Golu, ayoung nerd, is a very tender andmild one. Ali describes it as “A TomHanks film — slow yet beautiful.”They both agree that there is a Goluin every girl as “she is the one liv-ing in this world of misogyny justlike we have been since ages, butthere’s more to her today, muchmore fierce and ahead of time,” saysAli.

Her apparent masturbationscene in the show has become thetalk of the town and she feels thatit is not anything that is “unusual”or even “bold,” rather somethingthat is real and “was hidden for along time. Now through suchscenes, the quietness around it willseem unusual. It should be normal.It’s not just a scene, rather a reali-ty. Men do it, women do it as well.”

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

From Gandhi’s friendship to criti-cal theories on postcolonial Indian

literature, the night was a rewardingone for readers and academicians.

The Indian Institute of AdvancedStudy, Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla,organised, The Fifth RabindranathTagore Memorial Lecture, which wasdelivered by Padma Shri professorRamesh Chandra Shah, a noted poet,novelist and critic on the rehabilita-tion of sacred.

Six books were launched duringthe lecture. In Gandhi’s Ark authoredby Shashi Joshi, the focus was onGandhi’s relationship with hisChristian friends with whom he dis-cussed religion and spirituality. Thecentral theme of the book reveals hisaffinity to Catholic Christianity andopenness to all the religious ideas,beliefs and practices while another

book, Postcolonial Indian LiteratureToward a Critical Framework bySatish C. Aikant takes a comprehen-sive view of Indian literatures from apostcolonial perspective.

Mahesh Champaklal’s Bhasa’sRamayan Plays From Page to Stage,meanwhile involved the analysis ofthe epic ascribed to Bhasa namely,Abhisheka Natakam and PratimaNatakam both in terms of languagein theatre. It tries to establish the inter-relation between both, the dramatictext composed by the playwright andthe performance text designed by thedirector for the production of the play.How the dramatic text is trans-formed into the performance textforms the subject of the book thusestablishing the relation between textand performance.

Dancing in the Sky of

Consciousness authored byAleksandra Wenta is an interdiscipli-nary attempt to look at variousdimensions of aesthetics of power inmedieval Cidambaram temple andbeyond. It weaves its discourse aroundthe figure of dancing Siva, to whomthe temple was dedicated. Incidentally,the god is one of the most powerfulicons in the history of world religions.The book tries to combine the fieldsof philosophy, history, aesthetics,performing arts, architecture, ritualand textual studies.

The last two books includedUrban Spaces in Modern India edit-ed by Partho Dutta and NarayaniGupta and Modernity and Changing

Social Fabric of Punjab and Haryanawhich is edited by Yogesh Snehi andLallan S Baghel.

In his lecture, professor Shahspoke about, “The Indian tradition ofAdvaita Vedanta emphasises onJivanmukti, the idea that moksha(freedom, liberation) is achievable inthis life in contrast to Indian philoso-phies that emphasises on moksha afterdeath.”

Ven. Geshe Dorji Damdulwho’s a Buddhist scholar, was themoderator of the lecture and hesummed it up when he said, “Wehave to admit that modern sciencehas changed the world but to get theinner freedom and peace of mind

we have to maintain a fine balancebetween modern science and phi-losophy. This balance helps us insetting our minds free from thematerialistic world. The philosophyof west and India tried to seek andexplore the ultimate reality andsame was also searched through therule and principals of Physics.Knowing the complete truth isvery important, for instance, onecould have tremendous cravingfor cheese cake, but when you’ll seecheese from a microscope andyou’ll see the bacteria in the cakeyour craving for the cake will goaway. This is the result knowing theultimate truth.”

The word festival brings cheerand when you add food to it,you get the undivided atten-

tion of all gourmets. And a foodtruck festival in the capital is tryingto do just that.

Skewers of meat and paneerbeing barbequed on hot coals whilecustomers line up with a chill beeror mocktail is a normal scene at thisthree-day annual market. TheJawahar Lal Nehru stadium hasbeen transformed into small kiosksthat smell of food and baked goods.

We started our food journey atHorn Ok Please with sushis anddimsums, which tried to stayauthentic to its Japanese origins,while an Italian food truck servedpastas and pizzas nearby and givenDelhi’s love for food from thisMediterranean country, a long lineof waiting people was certainly nota surprise.

The culture of food trucks is anorm in the US where young pro-fessionals step out of their offices tograb a bite for lunch and is catchingup in India and has added colourand variety to the Indian foodscene.

A food truck, Wheelys, offeredcoffee on wheels with a twist whereone got a chance to brew their owncoffee. You could choose a flavourand add your favourite topping likecrushed oreo, vanilla scoop, orwhipped cream. Owner AbhaySingh Luthra said that they haveover seven crore combination of cof-fee and toppings on offer.

“In my experience, when itcomes to food festivals, the audienceusually tries to explore disparate cui-sine and delicacies and that is whyI think keeping your menu com-pletely Indian does not work becauseit is easily available everywhere. It’svery difficult to judge the demandsof the public which is why we keeptrying out new thing,” said PulekAgrawaal, who runs Flip, which spe-cialises in a variety of cuisine. “I pre-

fer using the ingredients, spicesand even breads that are madeinhouse,” he said.

The concept of bringing foodfrom different parts of the countryunder one roof is not somethingunheard of. But the dishes laid outby vendors from more than 150eatries across the city can’t go unno-ticed. And the festival scored not just

on account of its rich traditional andcontemporary flavours, but alsodue to the pricing where some ofthem were priced as low as `40 perplate.

And then there were those whowere there for a cause. The KeshavSuri Foundation which aims to worktowards the upliftment of the mar-ginalised LGBTQ+ community, hadpainted their food truck in the rain-bow colours. This caught the atten-tion of the visitors and was a huge hit.

“This time we have Mexicandishes like, Crunchy fried avocadotaco, Mexican sliders, Mexican chick-en rice with brownie. I think food fes-tivals are a good way of promotingand marketing your new ventures.We have also set up a pop up of KittySu, our nightclub, in addition to thefood truck this time,” said PrernaThakur, assistant manager, market-ing and communication of The Lalit

group. This also a great trial space for

fusion food. The brave can ventureinto unchartered territory likeChinese choley or a fusion like Idli ital-iano chaat that caught our eye but weshied away from this unexpectedcombination. However, you can trythese at your own peril.

A drawback of festivals is that itoffers only the tried and testedbrands. A food blogger AnamikaKarmakar said, “If I’m attending afood fest, my focus is on trying andexploring things that are new and notavailable in the market. Why wouldI be heading for something which Ican get easily in the market.Obviously, I would be looking for dis-

parate delicacies which I haven’ttasted before. Like I would be reallyinteresed to try something which isfrom Kolkata or from some otherstate, which I cannot get in Delhi. Ithink these food festivals need tochange their concept in terms of get-ting cuisines across the globe and ifnot from across the globe thenatleast from various states of all thecountries.”

Apart from the cons, the festi-val is a really great way to enjoy awarm Sunday afternoon and an evenbetter way to spend your Saturdayevening grabbing few beers andplenty of scrumptious grub whilehanging out with friends.

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

MEALS ON WHEELS

In pursuit of knowledge

Six different books aimed at giving one a deeper insight

into disparate subjects were released recently

‘THE AUDIENCEUSUALLY TRIES

TO EXPLOREDISPARATE

CUISINE ANDDELICACIES AND

THAT IS WHY ACOMPLETELYINDIAN MENU

DOES NOT WORKBECAUSE IT IS

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Actors SHWETA TRIPATHI and ALIFAZAL get candid about their roles inMirzapur which shows the story of India’syouth. By CHAHAK MITTAL

Behind the lens

For Tripathi,learning and

understandingthe subtleties ofacting happenedon the job when

she worked with different

directors

The most important and dis-turbing issue that the filmFantastic Beasts: The Crimesof Grindelwald explores is thedangers of charismatic, manip-ulative leadership that aims todivide people. I figured that thisparticular period of the film tiesvery neatly with the events ofthose years in Europe leadingto World War II.

KATHERINE WATERSTON

As the mercury dips, the capital is warming up to food festivals and Horn OK Please has some

Indo-western fusions like Chinese choley and Idli Italiano chaat on its platter. By AYUSHI SHARMA

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018 sport 15

AFP n LONDON

Roger Federer gained sweet revenge overKevin Anderson at the ATP Finals onThursday but is putting thoughts of his

100th title to the back of his mind after both play-ers reached the last four.

The Swiss broke the giant South African'sserve four times in a comprehensive 6-4, 6-3 vic-tory at London's O2 Arena even thoughAnderson had not faced a single break point inhis two earlier round-robin victories.

Second seed Federer suffered a painful lossat the hands of Anderson in the Wimbledonquarter-finals this year after leading by two sets,his only defeat against him in five meetings beforeThursday's clash.

The six-time champion started the week withan uncharacteristically ragged display in astraight-sets defeat by Kei Nishikori but has beat-en Dominic Thiem and Anderson in straight setsand is looking more like his old self as the tour-nament progresses.

The victory over fourth-seed Anderson inthe Lleyton Hewitt Group takes Federer through

to the semi-finals for the 15th time in 16 attemptsat the season-ending finale and means he willlikely avoid a meeting in the last four against in-form Novak Djokovic.

"I'm happy that this is another week like this,"said Federer. "Didn't look like it maybe 72 hours

ago. But I was able to come back and play goodtennis.

"Personally I'm still not thinking of the num-ber 100. I won't let that get in my head, makeme go crazy because it should be something I'mexcited about and not something I should feel

extra pressure."As long as I think Novak is in the draw any-

how, he's playing so good again, it's never goingto be easy."

The first set was a topsy-turvy affair, withboth players quickly into their groove on servebefore a succession of breaks.

- Service breaks -Federer, buoyed by his customary vocal sup-

port, broke to lead 4-3, only to lose his momen-tum immediately as Anderson levelled.

The Swiss broke the South African in thenext game, sealing the break with a crisp back-hand volley at the net but was immediately introuble at 0-40 on his own serve before winningfive successive points to take the set.

The second set went with serve until the sev-enth game, when Federer produced an immac-ulate sliced backhand that landed on the line toearn a break.

Now playing withfreedom, the 37-year-oldbroke again to seal thevictory and guaranteethat he tops the group.

Alexander Zverev set up alast-four clash against RogerFederer in the ATP Finals afterseeing off John Isner 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 on Friday while NovakDjokovic will take on KevinAnderson.

Zverev played Americangiant John Isner at London's O2 Arena know-ing a win by any scoreline would take himthrough to the semi-finals of the season-endingtournament.

The turning point in the round-robinmatch came at the end of the 12th game, whenthe 21-year-old German saved a set point on hisown serve with an ace, going on to force a tie-break.

The players swapped mini breaks but thegiant Isner then faltered again on his own serveto hand the set to Zverev -- meaning he no longerhad any chance to qualify for the last four.

In the second set a single break of serve inthe eighth game proved decisive as Zverev servedout the match.

"I am unbelievably happy to be through tothe semi-finals," he told Sky Sports.

"John is such a tough opponent. The last twomatches for him against (Marin) Cilic and mecould have gone either way. The first set wasunbelievably tight. I am just happy to bethrough. I will prepare myself the best for tomor-row."

PTI n KOWLOON

Indian challenge endedat the Hong Kong Open

World Tour Super 500tournament afterKidambi Srikanth andSameer Verma lost theirrespective men's singlesquarterfinal matches hereon Friday.

Fourth seed Srikanthsuffered a 17-21 13-21loss to eighth seed KentaNishimoto for his firstloss to the Japanese infour meetings. The Indianhad beaten Nishimotothrice before this match.

Later, world no 18Sameer also failed to tamelocal hope Lee CheukYiu, who came throughthe qualifiers to seal hismaiden semi-final spotwith a 21-15 19-21 21-11win in a match that last anhour and 13 minutes here.

Srikanth couldn'tthreaten Nishimoto, wholead 12-7 at one stage inthe opening game. TheIndian did claw back andeven had a slender 14-13lead but the Japanesesoon left him behind withfour straight points beforepocketing the openinggame.

The Indian lookedclueless in the secondgame as he struggledright from the start evenas Nishimoto surged to 6-2 and then reeled off seven straightpoints to grab a massive 13-3 advantage, a deficit which the Indiancouldn't erase to bow out of the contest.

Later in the day, Sameer, who had reached the finals of theHong Kong Open in 2016, couldn't find a way to outwit an ath-letic Lee Cheuk Yiu, who was rewarded for his con-trol and precision.

Sameer had beaten Lee at the New ZealandOpen earlier this year but that didn't matter as Leeopened up a 4-0 lead in the opening game and con-solidated it to 12-3 at one stage.

Sameer managed to claw back to 15-16 but theHong Kong player reeled off the required five points to take theopening game. The Indian lagged again in the second game, beforehe managed to erase a 5-8 deficit and take a 14-11 lead.

In the third game, the duo split the initial 10 points beforeLee eked out a five-point advantage, reaching 11-6 at the break.

After changing the sides, Sameer couldn't break the run ofpoints, going wide and long. The local qualifier looked moreaggressive and seized the opportunities to continue his domi-nation.

Lee eventually sealed his place in the semifinals when Sameer'sreturn hit the net.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Veteran L Sarita Devi and rookieManisha Mouna gave India a fly-

ing start in the women's World BoxingChampionships with dominating vic-tories in their respective bouts here onFriday.

While Manisha punched aboveher weight to outclass veteranAmerican Christina Cruz in an unan-imous verdict in 554kg, 2006 editionGold medallist Sarita (60kg) had towork harder to emerge 4-0 winner onpoints against Diana Sandra Bruggerof Switzerland in their opening boutsat the K D Jadhav Stadium here.

Both Sarita and Manisha advancedto the prequarterfinals where they willface Kellie Herrington of Ireland andDina Zholaman of Kazakhstan respec-tively on Sunday.

Harrington had won a Silver in64kg in the 2016 WorldChampionships but she has gone oneweight category down in this tourna-

ment. She beat Troy Gartonof New Zealand on Friday.

Zholaman is the defend-ing world champion butManisha has beaten her in theSilesian Women's Boxingchampionship in Poland ear-lier this year.

The 20-year-old Manishafrom Haryana, who was making herdebut in the World Championships,was in complete control during the firstround bout against the Americanwho is almost twice her age.

The 36-year-old Cruz from NewYork was the last edition's Bronzemedallist besides winning the samecolour of medal in 2012 also.

Manisha, who had won a Gold inthe India Open and a Silver in thePoland event this year, was the clear

winner as she dominated all the threerounds. The five judges gave her aunanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26, 30-26, 29-28).

The 36-year-old Sarita faced atough fight from her experiencedSwiss opponent, who also has been inthe international circuit for morethan a decade, before winning 4-0 (28-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

The Manipuri boxer, who hasbeen competing in the WorldChampionships since the first editionin 2001, was clearly the better boxeras all the five judges gave points in herfavour.

In other bouts of the day, 2016World Championship and RioOlympics Bronze medallist MiraPotkonen of Finland beatCommonwealth Games Gold winnerAnja Stridsman of Australia in 60kg.

Another Rio Bronze winner in60kg, Anastasia Beliakova moved tothe pre-quarters with a unanimousverdict win over Elisa Williams.

PTI n AMMAN

India, despite missing their talismanicstriker Sunil Chhetri, will fancy their

chances when they take on hosts Jordan inan international football friendly here onSaturday.

The match at the Jordan capital is inpreparation for the AFCAsian Cup, scheduled to beheld in January-Februarynext year.

India are ranked 97thwhile Jordan are placed 112th in the FIFArankings.

Even though they will be withoutChhetri, the country's all-time leadingscorer, Stephen Constantine's men willtake confidence from their goalless stalematein their previous friendly against higher-ranked China, managed by World Cup-win-ing coach Marcello Lippi.

Chhetri's absence has been dubbed a"big blow" by coach Constantine, underwhom India enjoyed a dream 14-matchunbeaten run till it was broken byKyrgyzstan in Bishkek.

With only about two months to go forthe Asian Cup, the upcoming friendly pro-vides Constantine are the last opportunitiesto analyse his squad and ready his backupplans.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhuwill lead the backline which will have PritamKotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Narayan Das and

probably Subhasish Bose.India's defence impressed against Lippi's

China but Constantine will be banking onhis midfield and attack to have an influencein the match against a Jordan side whoseform has been patchy.

Jordan, who are ranked 15 spots belowIndia in the rankings, last won a match in

May when they defeatedCyprus 3-0. In their last fourgames, they have had twodraws and two defeats, cappingwith a 1-2 loss to Croatia in

October.For India, mid-fielder Jackichand Singh

and left back Nishu Kumar were onThursday included in the 22-membersquad for the away international FIFA fix-ture.

The likes of Udanta Singh, PronayHalder, Halicharan Narzary and AnirudhThapa are likely to control possession in themidfield against a Jordan side that will lookto hit on the counter in the absence of a fewattacking players.

In the absence of Chhetri, experiencedmen like Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singhwill need to take up the mantle up front.While the former has struggled in front ofgoal, the latter's form is encouraging.

Ahead of the match Constantine said,"We want to do well in the AFC Asian Cupand the clash against Jordan will aid us.Jordan are a good side and they have a num-ber of good players in their ranks."

AFP n LONDON

Wayne Rooney believes the future isbright for England as a youthful

Three Lions eased past the United States3-0 at Wembley on his international swan-song.

Jesse Lingard, Trent Alexander-Arnold and debutant Callum Wilsongrabbed the goals in a dominant Englanddisplay despite Gareth Southgate fieldinga very inexperienced side on Thursday.

Should England avenge their heart-breaking World Cup semi-final defeat byCroatia on Sunday at Wembley,Southgate's men can build on the progressmade by surpassing expectations inRussia this summer by qualifying for thesemi-finals of the inaugural NationsLeague. "It's my opinion that England arein very safe hands from what I've seen thisweek," said Rooney.

"The way they are being coached is

brilliant, it's a great group of young play-ers who have a bright future.

"They will go close to being the nextteam to bring a trophy back for England."

The decision to honour Rooney with afirst cap for two years divided opinion.

However, the biggest cheer of thenight was reserved for the introductionof England's greatest ever goalscorer justbefore the hour mark on his 120th inter-national appearance.

"It will live with me for a long time,"added Rooney.

"It is something which created debatebecause it was the first time somethinglike this happened, but it is the right thingto do for the players if you achieve andleave your mark on the England team."

England's former captain was alsohonoured before kick-off with a guard ofhonour and the presentation of a plaquebearing a golden Three Lions badge bycurrent skipper Harry Kane.

"I asked Harry Kane to present mewith the award because I believe he willbeat my goalscoring record and I look for-ward to presenting him with the trophy,"

added Rooney.Kane didn't get the chance to add to

his 19 international goals as Southgate pri-oritised keeping most of his key playersfresh for Croatia's visit on Sunday.

England quickly put the game to bedwith two goals in as many minutes mid-way through the first half as firstlyLingard received Dele Alli's pass beforecurling high into the far corner.

Sancho has quickly made a name forhimself at Borussia Dortmund and the 18-year-old built on his fine Bundesliga formby teeing up Alexander-Arnold to drill hisfirst international goal into the far corner.

Wilson did get his goal to cap a dreamdebut for the Bournemouth striker, whohas battled through the lower leagues andtwo cruciate ligament injuries in bothknees to make it to the international stage.

Wilson got ahead of his marker toturn Fabian Delph's cross in at the nearpost 13 minutes from time.

India vs Jordan

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Federer cruises past

BENGALURU: Saketh Myneni will square off withcompatriot Prajnesh Gunneswaran in an all-Indiasummit clash at the Bengaluru Open ATPChallenger tournament on Saturday.In Friday's first semi-final, Myneni beatKazakhastan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a thrilling three-setter tomake it to the title round of $ 150, 000event.In the second semi-final, Gunneswaranbreezed past Canadian Brayden Schnur 6-4, 6-1.World no 213 Myneni made an easy third setdifficult after racing to a 5-0 lead in the decider.He committed far too many unforced errors,

helping Aleksandr win four games on the trotbefore closing the match in the 10th game.Having lost the first set, Myneni was down 1-3

in the second set but held his serve and brokeAleksandr in sixth game to make it 3-3.In the ninth game, Myneni brought about acouple of first winners on his serves, racing

past his rival 5-4.Serving at 0-15, Aleksandr was stunned by aforehand winner by Myneni, who broke hisopponent to win the set and restored paritybefore winning the decider. PTI

Kidambi Srikanth prepares to return a shot against his opponent BWF/ File Picture

Rookie boxer Manisha Moun (blue) wins against the Christina Cruz in Women's 54kg last-16 PTI

Wayne Rooney battles for ball during his farewellmatch against United States AP

Indian players jog during training session ahead of AFC tune up clash against Jordan Indian Football Team

Srikanth, Sameer losein quarterfinals

MARKHAM: Young Indian shuttler LakshyaSen progressed to the quarterfinals of the BWFWorld Junior Championship after defeatingChinese Taipei's Chen Shiau Cheng in a men'ssingles event here.The 17-year-old from Almora, who hadclinched the Asian Junior Championships titlein July this year, saw off ninth seed Chen 15-21 21-17 21-14 in a match that lasted a littleunder an hour on Thursday.Fourth seeded Lakshya will take on Malaysia'sAidil Sholeh ALI Sadikin next for a place in thesemi-final, which will assure him of a medalin the tournament.Lakshya, who received a bye in the openinground, beat Mexico's Armando Gaitan andItalian Giovanni Toti in the earlier rounds instraight games.Men's doubles pair of Vishnu Vardhan GoudPanjala and Srikrishna Sai Kumar Podile alsoentered the quarters with a 21-11 21-17 winover Indonesian combination of Dwiki RafianRestu and Bernadus Bagas Kusuma Wardana.The Indian duo will face 10th seeded Koreanpair of Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang next.Other Indians in fray, Priyanshu Rajawat, AlapMishra and Kiran George lost in the thirdround of men's singles, while Malvika Bansodand Gayatri Gopichand were ousted in theopening and second rounds of the women'ssingles competition respectively.Eighth seed Purva Barve, who received a byein the first round, lost in the third round. PTI

LAKSHYA ENTERS Q/F OF

WORLD JR C'SHIP

SARITA, MANISHA GIVE INDIA FLYING START

CHHETRI-LESSINDIA FACE JORDAN

England beat USA on Rooney farewell

Myneni to meet Prajnes in Bengaluru final

Second seed Roger thrashes Anderson in lastgroup match to seal last four clash againstAlex Zverev; Djokovic will face Anderson inother semifinal today

Anderson

LUCKNOW (PNS): India Greendefeated India Blue by six wickets to liftthe Under-19 Challenger Trophy at AtalBihari Bajpai Ekana InternationalStadium on Friday.

Electing to bat, India Blue got offto a decent start with openers QamaranIqbal and Swastik Samal added 65 runsin 9.4 overs before Swastik was sentback by K Nithish Kumar Reddy. Thenskipper Pradosh Ranjan Paul came tothe crease and they both added 27 runsas Qamaran (63) was removed byAthrava Vinod Ankolekar.

After that no big parnerships happ-ned for the Blue team as they kept los-ing wicket at the regular intervals andultimately bundled out for 206 runs in47.3 overs.

In reply, India Green achieved thetarget in 43.4 overs for the loss of fourwickets with the help of the fineknocks by Arya Sethi (73) and NehalWadhera (51).

BRIEF SCORES:INDIA BLUE: 206 (Qamran Iqbal 63,Pradosh Ranjan Paul 63, Dhruv Chand12, Akash Raj 13; Anirudh 38/2,Nithish Reddy 25/3, Atharva 32/2, Ra

Choudhary 34/2)INDIA GREEN: 209 (Arya Sethi 73,SA Ahuja 26, Nehal Wadhera 51,Rishabh Chouhan 20; AS Sandhu 39/3,Pradosh 32/1)

ROWINGThe trials to select the Uttar Pradesh team,

for the 37th National Rowing Championship,will be held at Police Boat Club in Prayagraj onSunday. Interested may contact Sudhir Sharmaon 9839279037.

KIDS MARATHONLittle Millennium is organising the 4th Kids

Marathon at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium onNovember 18. Kids aged between 2-10 years maytake part in the event, which is being organisedto support the cause against child abuse and pro-mote healthy development of children.

ATHLETICS MEETLPS Gomti Nagar bagged 202 points to win

the Lucknow Public School Inter-BranchAthletics Meet at LPS Vrindavan on Friday. LPS,Virnadvan-II and LPS Sitapur finished secondand third respectievly. Hritik Goswami wasadjuged best athlete while Kajal Kumar won thebest athlete prize in girl’s category. SAI execu-tive director RAchana Govil gave away the prizes.

LOCAL EVENTS Indian Green lift U-19 Challenger Trophy

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | NOVEMBER 17, 2018 sport 16

PTI n NEW DELHI

Mike Hussey, who has a fair ideaabout the current crop of Indiaplayers, feels that all-rounder

Hardik Pandya's absence will "hurt" thevisitors in the upcoming Test seriesagainst Australia staring from December6 in Adelaide.

Pandya is undergoing rehabilitationafter suffering a lower-back injury dur-ing the Asia Cup in Dubai last September.

"I think Hardik is a wonderful talentand I am sure his game style would havebeen suited to the Australian conditions.Add to that, the balance he offers the teamwith his all-round abilities, yes I think hisabsence will hurt India," Hussey said.

India have a good chance of doingwell against a depleted Australia but 'MrCricket' is confident that the hometeam's seasoned bowling attack will testsome of the younger batsmen in the vis-iting team.

India are being dubbed as favouritesin many quarters primarily due to theabsence of Smith and Warner.

But India could face a different chal-lenge with the likes of Prithvi Shaw,Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari set toface Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, PatCummins and Nathan Lyon for the firsttime.

"I do think India have a good chanceas they have an excellent team with somevery good fast bowlers. However, I thinkAustralia's bowling attack is world classand will challenge the Indian team, par-ticularly the younger players in Australianconditions. Australia always play well athome and hence will be very hard to beat."

Virat Kohli remains the biggest threatto Australia having scored four hundredsduring the 2014-15 series and Husseyreckoned that the home team bowlersneed to be patient against the Indian skip-per.

"The Australians will prepare wellagainst Kohli, but it comes down to exe-cution. In my view the Aussies need to

be incredibly patient and disciplined forlong periods of time against a world classplayer like Kohli," said the 43-year-old,who has played 79 Tests and 185 ODIs for

Australia.India's 1-4 series defeat against

England will have no bearing on theAustralia series as the scoreline is not an

accurate representation of how well Indiacompeted, said the former left-hander.

"It's a completely new series in com-pletely different conditions. I think Indiaplayed some brilliant cricket in Englandbut unfortunately, the results didn't gotheir way," opined Hussey.

Unlike some of the experts who arestill not convinced about Tim Paine's lead-ership skills, the current Test captain hasHussey's vote of approval.

"I wouldn't underestimate Tim Paine,he is an excellent competitor and will be

up for the fight against India. Yes, he hasthe mental strength to lead this Australianside," he asserted.

The Indian bowling attack has beentop notch in all away series but Husseywants the Australian batsmen to look atthe upcoming series as an opportunity tocement their place in the side.

"The batting will be tested against anexcellent Indian attack but there are somegreat opportunities for Australian battersto cement a place in the team with somebig runs. So motivation will be high."

PTI n MOUNT MAUNGANUI

Senior pros Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane weredismissed cheaply but young guns Prithvi Shaw and

Hanuma Vihari warmed up nicely for the AustraliaTest series with half-centuries for India ‘A’ against NewZealand ‘A’ in the first unofficial 'Test'.

At stumps on the opening day, India A scored 340for five with Australia bound opener Shaw (62, 88balls), middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari (86, 150balls) and comeback man Parthiv Patel (79 batting,111 balls) utilised the opportunity to the fullest.However opener Vijay(28, 64 balls) and Testvie-captain Rahane(12, 19 balls) foundtheir defencesbreached by BlairTickner and DougBracewell respective-ly.

In-form Vihari,who made his Testdebut against Englandwith a half-century,was dismissed in thelast ball of the day.

Vihari hit eightboundaries during hisstay in the middle,while Patel has so farfound the fence 10 times.

Also scoring a half-century was Mayank Agarwal(65), who came in at No 3.

After the visitors opted to bat first, India A weregiven a fine start by Shaw and his senior partner Vijay.

The Mumbaikar then added exactly 50 runs forthe second wicket with Agarwal, before he was dis-missed by slow-left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom.

Vihari joined Agarwal in the middle and added73 runs for the third wicket till the Karnataka play-er was bowled by medium pacer Blair Tickner.

Shaw struck six boundaries and a six in his 88-ball stay, while Agarwal hit 10 fours and two sixes.

Skipper Rahane did not last long but the duo ofVihari and Patel put together a stand of 138 runs forthe sixth wicket to consolidate India A's position atthe Bay Oval.

Tickner was the most successful bowler for thehosts, finishing the day with 2/48 in 15 overs.

PTI n PROVIDENCE

India will face their biggest chal-lenge so far in the ICC Women's

World T20 when they lock hornswith a gifted Australian team in aninconsequential game here onSaturday.

Considered title contenders,both India and Australia stormedinto the semifinals of the show-piece with a game to spare.

Assured of a place in the last-four stage, the result of Saturday'smatch may not be of much sig-nificance, but India are aware thatbeating a superior side will helpthem take the confidence into theknockouts.

The two fancied teams wast-ed no time in switching into topgear in the Caribbean, havingconvincingly won all their threematches so far, and another victo-ry in the next round robin gamewould certainly be a huge moralebooster.

While India skipperHarmanpreet Kaur provided thebest possible start to the tourna-ment with her blazing centuryagainst New Zealand, the seasonedMithali Raj showed there is no sub-stitute for experience with two finehalf-centuries, the knocks comingin times when the team neededthem the most.

While Harmanpreet's scintil-lating innings, which contained asmany as eight sixes, will be remem-bered for years, Mithali got into theact in the much-awaited matchagainst arch-rivals Pakistan andcalmly saw the team through.

A downpour in the morningmade the conditions difficult forbatting against Ireland, but open-er Mithali battled her way to her17th T20I half-century helping herside put up a challenging total,

anchoring the innings tillthe 19th over.

The spinners then rattledthe Irish batswomen andensured an easy win forIndia.

India cruised into the semi-

finals with a 52-run defeat ofIreland at the ProvidenceStadium. The result meantthat Group B's top-two spotswere decided, with Australia

being the other semifinalist. It alsomeant New Zealand and Pakistan

were knocked out of the tourna-ment.

The Aussies, too, have been inexceptional form. They easily sawoff Pakistan in their first poolmatch by 52 runs, comprehensivelydefeated Ireland in their second bynine wickets and then beat NewZealand by 33 runs.

While Meg Lanning's side hasquite a few match-winners, thename that stands out at the

moment is opening batter andwicketkeeper Alyssa Healy.

Her form with the bat recent-ly has been very impressive and shehas scored more runs than any ofher teammates. Since the begin-ning of October, Alyssa has scoredsix half centuries in eight innings.

SQUADSIndia: Harmanpreet Kaur (cap-tain), Smriti Mandhana, MithaliRaj, Jemimah Rodrigues, VedaKrishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma,Taniya Bhatia, Poonam Yadav,Radha Yadav, Anuja Patil, EktaBisht, Dayalan Hemalatha, MansiJoshi, Pooja Vastrakar, ArundhatiReddyAustralia: Meg Lanning (cap-tain), Rachael Haynes, NicoleBolton, Ashleigh Gardner, AlyssaHealy, Delissa Kimmince, SophieMolineux, Beth Mooney, EllysePerry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani,Tayla Vlaeminck, GeorgiaWareham, Nicola Carey.

SHUBHANKAR CARDS 67 TO REMAIN TIED 20THDubai: A limping Shubhankar Sharma shrugged off aheel injury to card an impressive five-under 67 toremain tied 20th at the end of the second day in theDP World Tour Championships (telecast live onDSport) here on Friday. Sharma, who rose to as highas tied-fifth at one stage, dropped a double bogey onPar-5 14th, but recovered with birdies on 15th and18th as he was seven shots behind England's MattWallace (65). Meanwhile, Wallace, with whomShubhankar Sharma, played in the lead group of theHero Indian Open, which the Englishman won, was inthe pole position at 11-under after a sizzling seven-under.

GUKESH, SAVITHA WIN GOLD IN CADETSNew Delhi: International Master Gukesh D andSavitha Shri B won Gold medals in U-12 Open andgirls category respectively at the World Cadets ChessChampionship in Spain. The Championship, whichended at Galicia on Thursday, was held for the agegroups U-8, U-10 and U-12, girls and Open. Gukeshwith 10 wins and a loss comfortably won the title bya huge margin of 1.5 points. Savitha of Tamil Nadueffortlessly won the Gold in U-12 girls category with8 wins and 2 draws. Apart from this, India stoodsecond with two Gold medals for best performance,while China with two Golds and a Bronze and USAwith a Gold, a Silver and two Bronze medals took the1st and 3rd place respectively.

CHENNAI CITY FC BEAT AIZAWL 2-1Aizawl: Chennai City FC rode on twin strikes fromSandro Rodriguez to pip Aizawl FC 2-1 therebymaintaining their pole position in the I-Leaguefootball tournament on Friday. Liberian strikerAnsumanah Kromah's 72nd minute goal for the hostswas not good enough to prevent a secondconsecutive loss. The southerns now have 13 pointsfrom five games, seven points clear of second placedEast Bengal and third placed Churchill Brothers.Aizawl, who won the I-League two seasons back, findthemselves at the bottom of the table with threelosses and two draws from their five games so far.

BAYERN YOUTH CUP TO BEGIN FROM NOV 24New Delhi: The sixth edition of the FC Bayern YouthCup, an under-16 seven-a-side inter-school footballtournament, is set to kickstart from November 24across six cities in India. The FC Bayern Youth Cup —a joint initiative by adidas and Germen giants FCBayern — will see participation of over 2,000 kidsfrom schools across India. The city legs of thetournament spanning over a period of 14 weeks, willbe played in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata,Chennai and Srinagar. The final will take place inFebruary next year in Delhi. The winning team willrepresent 'Team India' in the FC Bayern Youth CupWorld Finals and get to train under the professionalsin Munich in May next year.

ARMAAN SLAMS 300 IN CK NAYUDU TROPHYMumbai: Young batsman Armaan Jaffer on Fridayslammed an unbeaten triple hundred for Mumbai intheir U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy match againstSaurashtra here. 20-year-old Armaan, who has playedthree first-class matches, slammed unbeaten 300 off367-balls, striking 26 boundaries and 10 sixes.Courtesy Armaan's knock, Mumbai declared their firstinnings at a mammoth 610/5 after bundling outSaurashtra for 175 in their first innings. In the secondouting Saurashtra are 157/4 at stumps on thepenultimate day of the four-day match. Saurashtratrail by 278 runs. The knock came at the right-time forArmaan as he had recently made a comeback aftersuffering from a knee injury which had kept him outfor an year. Armaan's uncle Wasim Jaffer is a formerIndia player. Armaan was part of India's Under-19team at the 2016 World Cup. He was also a part ofKings XI Punjab squad. Agencies

SINGLES

AFP n KANDY

Captain Joe Root smashed 124 andnewcomer Ben Foakes again hit

valuable tail end runs to put Englandin command of the second Test againstSri Lanka on Friday.

England reached 324 for nine — asecond innings lead of 278 — when badlight stopped play for the day at Kandy.

Foakes was batting on 51 alongsideJames Anderson on four.

Spinner Akila Danajanya, whoseaction is under investigation by theInternational Cricket Council, claimedsix wickets on the turning pitch.

He trapped Root lbw and thenbowled Sam Curran for nought with hisnext ball. Adil Rashid thwarted the hat-trick but soon fell to Dananjaya's guilefor two.

It was his third five wicket haul injust his fifth Test for Dananjaya, whomust rush off to Australia after the gamefor an ICC examination of his bowling.

He, however, could not stop Rootand Foakes swinging the game.

Root reached his 15th Test ton soonafter tea, making the sweep and reversesweep valuable weapons, as he hit 10fours and two sixes in his 146-ballknock.

Root said he enjoyed making theruns despite the pressure.

"That's what it should be. Youshouldn't feel pressurelike the pressure is toomuch for you, youshould enjoy the occa-sion and make the mostof the opportunity infront of you," he said after the day's play.

Root made an 82-run seventhwicket stand with Foakes, who reachedhis fifty with a six off Dilruwan Perera.The hit turned out to be the last ball ofthe day with dark clouds gathering andthunder heard in the distance.

As he did in his sparkling century

on his Test debut in the opening gameof the series, Foakes mixed caution andaggression to push up the Englandscore.

Earlier, left-hander Rory Burnsregistered his maiden Test half-centu-ry in just his second match. He was

trapped lbw offM a l i n d aPushpakumarafor 59.

Perera wast-ed little time in

sending nightwatchman Jack Leachback to the pavilion for one in the sec-ond over of the day.

Burns then put together 73 runs forthe second wicket with KeatonJennings, who made 26, to steady theinnings and help England overcometheir 46-run deficit.

AFP n ABU DHABI

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah led adouble-barrelled attack of

spin and pace to leave Pakistansitting comfortably on theopening day of the first Testagainst New Zealand on Friday.

Yasir led the varied attackwith 3/54 as New Zealand,who won the toss and batted ona grass-less Sheikh ZayedStadium pitch, were bowled outfor a below-par 153 in 66.3overs at the stroke of tea.

The day saw 12 wickets fallas Pakistan closed at 59/2, hav-ing lost both their openersImam-ul-Haq (six) andMohammad Hafeez (20) beforeHaris Sohail (22 not out) andAzhar Ali (10 not out) stoppedthe rot.

Pakistan need 94 more totake a lead and enforce a 1-0lead in the three-match series.

Imam was first to go as heedged Colin de Grandhomme'sdelivery to the slip while Hafeezmiscued a pull straight to short

mid-wicket — both caught byKane Williamson.

New Zealand skipperWilliamson, declared fit aftermissing last Sunday's third one-day international due to a groininjury, top-scored with 63before falling softly to mediumpacer Hasan Ali, who finishedwith 2-38.

Williamson's 112-ballknock had five boundaries andhe added 72 for the fourthwicket with Henry Nichollswho made 28 with four bound-aries.

In the same over Hasantrapped De Grandhomme for afirst-ball duck before Sohaildismissed Ish Sodhi (four) and

BJ Watling (four) — both weretrapped leg-before.

Mohammad Abbas, whohas figures of 2-13, hadremoved Nicholls, caughtbehind by Sarfraz soon afterlunch.

Pakistan dominated thefirst session as New Zealandwere 81-3 at lunch, with leg-spinner Yasir Shah taking thefirst of his two wickets in hisopening overs.

Yasir had derailed NewZealand's progress in the firstsession with the wickets ofopener Tom Latham (13) andRoss Taylor (two) in his firstspell.

New Zealand handed Testdebut to 30-year-old left-armspinner Ajaz Patel, leaving outexperienced pacer TimSouthee. The second Test is inDubai (November 24-28) andthird in Abu Dhabi (Dec 3-7).

AFP n BRISBANE

South African captain Faf duPlessis said on Friday the

Twenty20 World Cup inAustralia in two years' time willbe his last.

The 34-year-old, who hasled his country in two WorldT20 campaigns, in 2014 and2016, is keen to play a third butwill then step aside.

"The T20 World Cup in

2020 is something I'm reallylooking forward to. I thinkright now that will probably bethe last tournament for me," hesaid in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia onSaturday.

Du Plessis, who is skipper

across all three formats, madehis T20 debut in 2012 and hasplayed 41 times, scoring 1,237runs at an average of 35.34.

The 2020 World Cup takesplace between October 18 andNovember 15 across eightAustralian cities.

Sri Lanka vs England

Live from 10:00am IST

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‘Hardik's absence will hurt India’

Veteran Aussie Mike Hussey feels Pandya’s game was best suited for Australian conditions

Hardik Pandya returns to pavilion after clinching his maiden 5-wicket haul against England AP/File Photo

Australian batswoman attempts to play a shot against India BCCI Women/File Picture

Yasir Shah celebrates after dismissing Kiwi batsman in first innings AFP

Joe Root celebrates after completing his ton AP

MUMBAI: Eyeing a maiden Test series winDown Under, the Indian cricket team leftfor Australia on Friday for a gruelling tour,which will see them play four matches inwhites, three ODIs and as many T20Internationals.Various members of the team took toTweeter to share their feelings ahead oftheir departure with chinaman KuldeepYadav terming it an "exciting challenge"."Exciting challenges ahead. Off to Australiawith the boys #TeamIndia," tweetedKuldeep, who posted a picture with histeammates comprising youngwicketkeeper and batsman Rishabh Pant,Rohit Sharma and others.Pacer Jasprit Bumrah tweeted hispicture and wrote, "Off we go!#Australia #Travelbound"."Taking off to head down under,"wrote Krunal Pandya on the microblogging site as he posted snapswith team mates.At the pre-departure pressconference on Thursday, Kohliemphasised on the need for thebatsman to step up.Experts and former players areseeing this tour as India's best betto defeat Australia in Tests as thehosts will be without Steve Smithand David Warner. PTI

TEAM INDIA DEPARTS FOR AUSTRALIA

TOUR SCHEDULE

Date Match Venue

Nov 21 1st T20I The Gabba, Brisbane

Nov 23 2nd T20I MCG, Melbourne

Nov 25 3rd T20I SCG, Sydney

Dec 06- 10 1st Test Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Dec 14-18 2nd Test Perth Stadium, Perth

Dec 26-30 3rd Test MCG, Melbourne

Jan 03-07 4th Test SCG Sydney

Jan 12 1st ODI SCG, Sydney

Jan 15 2nd ODI Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Jan 18 3rd ODI MCG, Melbourne

HARDIK PANDYA STATISTICS

BATTING CAREER SUMMARY

M Runs HS Avg SR 100/50 4/6

Test 11 532 108 31.29 73.89 1/4 68/12

ODI 42 670 83 29.13 114.53 0/4 42/31

T20I 35 271 33 16.94 153.11 0/0 15/17

BOWLING CAREER SUMMARY

M Wkts BBI BBM Average Econ 5W

Test 11 17 5/28 6/50 31.06 3.38 1

ODI 42 40 3/31 3/31 40.95 5.56 0

T20I 35 33 4/38 4/38 23.97 8.0 0

Shaw shines whileVijay, Rahane failagainst NZ ‘A’

Already in semis, India face Aussies in World T20HEAD TO HEAD

Matches Ind Aus Tied N/R

14 3 11 0 0

MOST T20I RUNS FOR INDIA

Player Runs Average

Mithali Raj 2,232 37.20

Harmanpreet Kaur 1,820 29.35

Smriti Mandhana 896 20.83

Poonam Raut 719 27.65

Veda Krishnamurthy 657 19.32

India vs Australia

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STAR SPORTS 1

T20 STATISTICS

M Runs HS Avg SR 100/50 4/6

41 1237 119 35.34 134.02 1/7 114/40

Du Plessis to retire after T20 World Cup

Pak reign supreme on 12-wicket day

Pakistan vs New Zealand

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Root’s ton puts Eng on top