)huqdqghv qr pruh - daily pioneer

16
I n a significant move ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Centre on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking mod- ification of its 2003 order to allow it to return to original owners the 67.390 acres of “non-disputed” acquired land around the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure in Ayodhya. The 0.313 acres plot, on which dis- puted structure stood before it was demolished by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992, was within the 2.77 acre plot. The Government had acquired 67.703 acre, including the 2.77 acre, through a legis- lation in 1993 but the Supreme Court had ordered a status quo in 2003 on the entire land in Ayodhya where the 16th Century mosque stood before it was demolished in 1992. The Babri Masjid stood on 0.313 acres of these 67 acres, which constitutes the disputed land. The application filed by the BJP-led NDA Government on Tuesday claimed that only 0.313 acre land on which the disputed structure stood before the demolition was disputed portion of the land. The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) is the owner of as much as 42 acre of the acquired non-disputed land. The organ- isation is a trust that was formed to promote and over- see the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. “The applicant (Centre) is filing this application seeking permission of this court to permit the applicant to fulfill the duty to revert/restore/hand over the excess/superfluous land acquired under the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993,” the plea said. It sought modification of the apex court order of March 31, 2003, by which the Central Government was directed to maintain the “status quo” with regard to entire land, including the non-disputed acquired plots. The Modi Government in its 33-page application said that modification would enable it to determine “the exact extent of land required from out of the superfluous/excess land to ensure that the successful party in the dispute pending regard- ing the “disputed land” can have proper access to and enjoyment of rights in the dis- puted land”. The petition comes the day the Supreme Court was supposed to begin the long- anticipated hearing on the Ayodhya title dispute case, but the court cancelled the hearing due to the unavailability of one of the judges on the five-judge Constitution Bench. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, this writ petition is being seen as the BJP-led Government’s move to reaffirm its commit- ment towards building a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Centre’s petition comes at a time when the newly formed Constitution Bench is set to hear the title dis- pute. This Bench initially com- prised Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, NV Ramana, UU Lalit and DY Chandrachud, and was scheduled to hear the mat- ter on January 10. However, Justice UU Lalit recused him- self from the case. This was after Senior Advocate Rajiv Dhavan, who represents the Sunni Waqf Board, pointed out that Justice Lalit had represented former UP CM Kalyan Singh, in a con- tempt of court case 24 years ago. V eteran socialist George Fernandes, who was the Defence Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, passed away on Tuesday fol- lowing a prolonged illness at 88. Fernandes was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which had forced him out of the public eye for last many years, and had recently con- tracted swine flu and he died died at his residence here. He was India’s Defence Minister in the NDA Government headed by Vajpayee when India fought the Kargil war in 1999. It was dur- ing his tenure that India con- ducted nuclear test at Pokhran in 1998. He was the Industry Minister under the Jan Sangh Government which had defeat- ed former Prime Minster Indira Gandhi in 1977. The doctors declared Fernandes dead at his home already before he could be moved to a private hospital. “Fernandes was attended to at his home by a Max Healthcare team, which found him unre- sponsive and declared him dead at 06:42 am Tuesday,” the hospital said in a statement. Fernandes, who was born to a Christian family in Mangalore, Karnataka, burst into national limelight when as a firebrand trade unionist in Mumbai he organised a Railways strike in 1974 that brought the country to a standstill. Ironically, he became the Railways Minister in 1989 under VP Singh’s National Front coalition Government, comprising mostly Left leaning parties. Despite being a staunch critic of the RSS, Fernandes joined the BJP-led NDA Government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and 1999, in which he was appointed the Defense Minister. It was also during his tenure that India conducted nuclear test at Pokhran in 1998. He was also the Industries Minister under the Janata Party government which had defeat- ed former Prime Minster Indira Gandhi in 1977. Soon he was at loggerheads with indus- trialists and demanded that Coca-Cola and IBM comply with foreign ownership regu- lations, which forced them to shut down their operations and quit India. He faded away from pub- lic consciousness after unsuc- cessfully fighting the 2009 Parliamentary elections, ending a political career that had begun with him defeating vet- eran Congress MP SK Patil from Bombay South in the 1967 Lok Sabha Elections. He subsequently represent- ed Muzzafarpur and Nalanda constituencies in Bihar, and was also a Rajya Sabha member in 2009-2010. A wave of sorrow swept across Bihar, which Fernandes had virtually adopted as his second home and political ‘karmabhoomi’, representing its various constituencies in Parliament for a period span- ning over four decades. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has declared a two-day State mourning. Fernandes had played a critical role in the anti- Emergency movement of the Opposition parties that ousted Indira Gandhi in 1977. During the 1975-77 Emergency, when civil liberties were severely cur- tailed and opposition throttled, Fernandes was arrested in the so-called Baroda Dynamite case. Fernandes found refuge in Tamil Nadu during the Emergency and worked form a house there. Fernandes made good friends with late M Karunanidhi and after Karunanidhi opposed the emergency his DMK Government was dismissed on January 31, 1976. When Karunanidhi was arrested in 2001 during the AIADMK regime, Fernandes, who was then the convener of the National Democratic Alliance, had visited the DMK patriarch at the Central Prison here and then Union Minister Murasoli Maran at a hospital. Related reports on P5 A dding a new leaf to the his- tory of governance in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath Government held its Cabinet meeting in the Kumbh Mela area on Tuesday and took several decisions to beautify the Sangam city and install statues of saints related to Lord Ram, besides con- structing the world’s longest Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Prayagraj. The Government also approved the much-hyped Bundelkhand Expressway and the Gorakhpur Link Expressway to connect with the Purvanchal Expressway. The Cabinet meet- ing started after around 30 Ministers took a holy dip in the Sangam and had darshan of the century-old Akshay Vat and Saraswati Koop. Yogi, who himself briefed the media about the Cabinet decisions, said that it was decided to approve the 600- kilometre Ganga Expressway connecting Meerut, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj. He said it would be a four- lane access control greenfield expressway which could be expanded to six lanes. The Chief Minister said the pro- posed Ganga Expressway would be laid out on 6,556 hectare land and would have eight rail overbridges and 18 flyovers costing around Rs 36,000 crore. Earlier in 2007, the then Mayawati Government had launched a 1,047-km access controlled eight-lane Ganga Expressway running along the Ganga. The expressway was slated to connect Greater Noida to Ballia, connecting major cities like Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Kanpur, Kannauj, Hardoi, Farrukhabad, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Bulandshahr, etc. But, the Allahabad High Court had stayed its construc- tion as there was no environ- mental clearance for the pro- ject at that time. The Cabinet also approved the much-hyped 297 km-long Bundelkhand Expressway. S tating that Odisha has not developed during 50 years of Congress rule and 19 BJD regime, BJP national president Amit Shah on Tuesday called upon people to bring in a BJP Government in the 2019 elec- tions. He described the Congress and the BJD as “two sides of a coin”. He also said that it is time for the State to have an Odia- speaking Chief Minister after a long period. He said this while eulogising the role of Utkalgaurav Madhusudan Das in promoting Odia language and creating the State of Odisha on linguistic basis. Earlier to his address at a largely-attended meeting of BJP leaders and workers of four districts, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur, at Salepur, Shah had visited Madhubabu’s ancestral house at nearby Satyabhamapur and garlanded his statue there. Shah alleged that though the Modi Government at the Centre has provided assistance of Rs 5.13 lakh crore to Odisha during the last four years, the BJD Government has failed to utilise the funds for the State’s development and the money has been siphoned for other purposes breeding corruption. “Even when the Centre has made provisions for toilets for each and every family, peo- ple of Odisha are still deprived of the benefits, because the one who is ruling the State fears that it would increase the popular- ity of PM Modi,” he said. Odisha is rich in natural resources and youths, but the State has not seen development because it is being ruled by a Government which cannot even safeguard the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath in Puri Shreemandir, said Shah. Earlier, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the remote of Odisha is in the hands of the mining mafia. The remote of Bhubaneswar and Delhi should be in hands of Modi. He said the Modi Government is committed to the development of the poor and downtrodden. T he Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued notices to two leaders of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in connection with the multi- crore Seashore chit fund scam in the State. The CBI sent the notices to former Law Minister and Nayagarh MLA Arun Sahu and former Health Minister and Mahakalapada MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak for examination in connection with the ongoing probe into the Seashore chit fund scam, news agency ANI reported. CBI sources said that while one of them was asked to depose on Monday, the other would appear on Wednesday. The Seashore Group is one of the 44 chit fund companies in the State which have come under the CBI and Enforcement Directorate lens following an order of the Supreme Court to investigate their finances and transac- tions. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Orissa High Court granted advance bail to Baleswar BJD MP Rabindra Jena asking the lower court to fix the terms and conditions in an event of his arrest. Anticipating arrest in the backdrop of searches conduct- ed by the CBI in his houses at Baeswar and New Delhi, Jena, who is booked by the CBI for his alleged complicities with the Seashore chit fund company, had approached the High Court last year seeking antici- patory bail. Justice Debabrata Dash allowed Jena’s prayer, making an observation that the trial court, where he will be pro- duced in event of his arrest, shall release him on bail after imposing conditions as it may deem fit. T o accelerate growth of handicrafts sector, the State Cabinet, which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday, approved the Odisha Handicrafts Policy-2019. The policy aims to empower handicraft artisans and make them lead partners in development, to focus on the welfare of artisans, to maximize their income, to enhance Odisha's share of exports of handicraft goods, to revive languishing crafts, to preserve craft heritage. The Cabinet okayed 11 other proposals of different departments. The State Cabinet approved the proposal for enactment of a separate legis- lation for establishment of ASBM University by up-grad- ing Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar in the State. The conferment of University status to ASBM will broaden the horizon of Education in Odisha and give an impetus to multi-discipli- nary teaching and research. The proposal for execu- tion of the Rural Piped Water Supply Projects in Bhadrak district out of State Plan RIDF funding was approved. By this project, 6,16,838 people of 526 villages under 84 GPs of four blocks will be provided with safe drinking water. The Cabinet approved the lowest tender of the Megha Engineering Infrastructure Ltd, Hyderabad amounting to Rs 754 crore. The work is targeted for completion with- in a period of 24 months. It okayed execution such a project in the mining affect- ed areas of Keonjhar District out of OMBADC and DMF funding. About 4,13,919 peo- ple of 589 villages under 89 GPs of four blocks will be pro- vided with safe drinking water. The lowest tender of Rs 979.82 crore of the Larsen and Toubro Ltd was approved. The work is targeted to be completed in 24 months. The Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department’s another proposal for execu- tion of two individual Rural Piped Water Supply Projects in the mining affected areas of Angul district out of DMF funding was also accepted. By this project, 3,40,197 people of 388 villages under 64 GPs of three blocks will be provided with safe drinking water. The NCC Ltd was given the work at Rs 701,86,17,500. Besides, the two individ- ual such projects will come up in Khorda and Dhenkanal districts out of State Plan "BASUDHA" funding. By this project, 2,82,951 people of 390 villages of 44 GPs under three blocks of the two dis- tricts will be provided with safe drinking water. The JMC Projects and JWIL (JV) were awarded the work at Rs 315.20 crore. The Cabinet also approved two other such pro- jects for Mayurbhanj district. The project to come up with OMBADC funding would benefit 1,61,722 people of 330 villages of 29 GPs under two blocks of the district. The Larsen and Toubro Ltd was awarded the work at Rs 430 and given 24 months for com- pletion. A proposal for Odisha Children’s and Women’s Welfare Services (Amendment) Rules, 2018 was approved. As per the rules, 47 per cent the total cadre strength of Junior Grade Service will be filled by direct recruitment, three per cent by promotion from among LVLWs and 50 per cent by selection from among AWWs. The outlay of the Swasthya Sahay was increased from Rs 6,622.82 lakh Rs 51,741.78 lakh due to inclu- sion of new activities under ASHA Kalyan Yojana and other programmes. To reduce IMR and MMR, the “Shishu Abong Matru Mrutyuhara Purna Nirakarana Abhiyan - SAMMPurNA has been implemented in the State since 2015-16 with priority focus on 15 high burden districts hav- ing initial budgetary alloca- tion of Rs 21,141.69 lakh for the period of 2015-16 to 2019- 20 which has been enhanced to Rs 39,829.59 lakhs, due to inclusion of various new interventions. Under the Nidan, Sahaya and Free Healthcare Services, the five years revised estimated cost for pro- vision of free diagnostic, dial- ysis, including free health- care services for all types of patients has been enhanced to Rs 75,750.75 lakh, due to requirement of additional fund of Rs 7191.19 lakhs towards provisioning of addi- tional requirement for waiving OPD & IPD, OT, ICU etc. Under KALIA Scheme, it was also decided that Kharif assistance will be paid on Akhaya Trutiya and the Rabi assistance on Nuakhai, every year. Framing of the “Odisha Secretariat Data Entry Operators (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Rules, 2019” was approved. As per the rules, changes in service, eligibility criteria, constitution of selection committee, prepa- ration of select list for pro- motion, reservation of vacan- cies were proposed in the Odisha Secretariat Data Entry Operators (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2008.

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In a significant move ahead ofthe Lok Sabha polls, the

Centre on Tuesday moved theSupreme Court seeking mod-ification of its 2003 order toallow it to return to originalowners the 67.390 acres of“non-disputed” acquired landaround the disputed RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidstructure in Ayodhya. The0.313 acres plot, on which dis-puted structure stood before itwas demolished by kar sevakson December 6, 1992, waswithin the 2.77 acre plot.

The Government hadacquired 67.703 acre, includingthe 2.77 acre, through a legis-lation in 1993 but the SupremeCourt had ordered a status quoin 2003 on the entire land inAyodhya where the 16thCentury mosque stood before it was demolished in1992. The Babri Masjid stoodon 0.313 acres of these 67acres, which constitutes thedisputed land.

The application filed by theBJP-led NDA Government onTuesday claimed that only0.313 acre land on which thedisputed structure stood beforethe demolition was disputedportion of the land.

The Ram JanmabhoomiNyas (RJN) is the owner of asmuch as 42 acre of the acquirednon-disputed land. The organ-isation is a trust that wasformed to promote and over-

see the construction of a Ramtemple in Ayodhya.

“The applicant (Centre) isfiling this application seekingpermission of this court topermit the applicant to fulfillthe duty to revert/restore/handover the excess/superfluousland acquired under theAcquisition of Certain Areas ofAyodhya Act, 1993,” the plea

said. It sought modification ofthe apex court order of March31, 2003, by which the CentralGovernment was directed tomaintain the “status quo” withregard to entire land, includingthe non-disputed acquiredplots. The Modi Governmentin its 33-page application saidthat modification would enableit to determine “the exact extent

of land required from out of thesuperfluous/excess land toensure that the successful partyin the dispute pending regard-ing the “disputed land” canhave proper access to andenjoyment of rights in the dis-puted land”.

The petition comes theday the Supreme Court wassupposed to begin the long-anticipated hearing on theAyodhya title dispute case, butthe court cancelled the hearingdue to the unavailability of oneof the judges on the five-judgeConstitution Bench. Ahead ofthe Lok Sabha elections, thiswrit petition is being seen asthe BJP-led Government’smove to reaffirm its commit-ment towards building a Ramtemple in Ayodhya.

The Centre’s petitioncomes at a time when thenewly formed ConstitutionBench is set to hear the title dis-pute. This Bench initially com-prised Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi and Justices SABobde, NV Ramana, UU Lalitand DY Chandrachud, andwas scheduled to hear the mat-ter on January 10. However,Justice UU Lalit recused him-self from the case.

This was after SeniorAdvocate Rajiv Dhavan, whorepresents the Sunni WaqfBoard, pointed out that JusticeLalit had represented formerUP CM Kalyan Singh, in a con-tempt of court case 24 yearsago.

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Veteran socialist GeorgeFernandes, who was the

Defence Minister in the AtalBihari Vajpayee Government,passed away on Tuesday fol-lowing a prolonged illness at88. Fernandes was sufferingfrom Alzheimer’s disease,which had forced him out ofthe public eye for last manyyears, and had recently con-tracted swine flu and he dieddied at his residence here.

He was India’s DefenceMinister in the NDAGovernment headed byVajpayee when India fought theKargil war in 1999. It was dur-ing his tenure that India con-ducted nuclear test at Pokhranin 1998. He was the IndustryMinister under the Jan SanghGovernment which had defeat-ed former Prime MinsterIndira Gandhi in 1977.

The doctors declaredFernandes dead at his homealready before he could bemoved to a private hospital.“Fernandes was attended to athis home by a Max Healthcareteam, which found him unre-sponsive and declared himdead at 06:42 am Tuesday,” thehospital said in a statement.

Fernandes, who was bornto a Christian family inMangalore, Karnataka, burstinto national limelightwhen as a firebrand tradeunionist in Mumbai heorganised a Railways

strike in 1974 that brought thecountry to a standstill.Ironically, he became the

Railways Minister in 1989under VP Singh’s NationalFront coalition Government,comprising mostly Left leaningparties.

Despite being a staunchcritic of the RSS, Fernandesjoined the BJP-led NDAGovernment under PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayeein 1998 and 1999, in which hewas appointed the DefenseMinister. It was also during histenure that India conductednuclear test at Pokhran in1998.

He was also the IndustriesMinister under the Janata Partygovernment which had defeat-ed former Prime MinsterIndira Gandhi in 1977. Soon hewas at loggerheads with indus-trialists and demanded thatCoca-Cola and IBM complywith foreign ownership regu-lations, which forced them toshut down their operationsand quit India.

He faded away from pub-lic consciousness after unsuc-cessfully fighting the 2009Parliamentary elections, endinga political career that hadbegun with him defeating vet-eran Congress MP SK Patilfrom Bombay South in the1967 Lok Sabha Elections. He

subsequently represent-ed Muzzafarpur and

Nalanda constituencies in

Bihar, and was also a RajyaSabha member in 2009-2010.

A wave of sorrow sweptacross Bihar, which Fernandeshad virtually adopted as hissecond home and political‘karmabhoomi’, representingits various constituencies inParliament for a period span-ning over four decades. BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumarhas declared a two-day Statemourning.

Fernandes had played acritical role in the anti-Emergency movement of theOpposition parties that oustedIndira Gandhi in 1977. Duringthe 1975-77 Emergency, whencivil liberties were severely cur-tailed and opposition throttled,Fernandes was arrested in theso-called Baroda Dynamite case.

Fernandes found refuge inTamil Nadu during theEmergency and worked form ahouse there.

Fernandes made goodfriends with late MKarunanidhi and afterKarunanidhi opposed theemergency his DMKGovernment was dismissed onJanuary 31, 1976. WhenKarunanidhi was arrested in2001 during the AIADMKregime, Fernandes, who wasthen the convener of theNational Democratic Alliance,had visited the DMK patriarchat the Central Prison here andthen Union Minister MurasoliMaran at a hospital.

Related reports on P5

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Adding a new leaf to the his-tory of governance in

Uttar Pradesh, the YogiAdityanath Government heldits Cabinet meeting in theKumbh Mela area on Tuesdayand took several decisions tobeautify the Sangam city andinstall statues of saints relatedto Lord Ram, besides con-structing the world’s longestGanga Expressway fromMeerut to Prayagraj.

The Government alsoapproved the much-hypedBundelkhand Expressway and the Gorakhpur Link Expressway to connectwith the PurvanchalExpressway. The Cabinet meet-ing started after around 30Ministers took a holy dip in theSangam and had darshan ofthe century-old Akshay Vatand Saraswati Koop.

Yogi, who himself briefedthe media about the Cabinetdecisions, said that it wasdecided to approve the 600-kilometre Ganga Expresswayconnecting Meerut, Amroha,Bulandshahr, Budaun,Shahjahanpur, Kannauj,

Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarhand Prayagraj.

He said it would be a four-lane access control greenfieldexpressway which could beexpanded to six lanes. TheChief Minister said the pro-posed Ganga Expresswaywould be laid out on 6,556hectare land and would haveeight rail overbridges and 18flyovers costing around Rs36,000 crore.

Earlier in 2007, the thenMayawati Government hadlaunched a 1,047-km accesscontrolled eight-lane GangaExpressway running along theGanga. The expressway wasslated to connect GreaterNoida to Ballia, connectingmajor cities like Varanasi,Mirzapur, Allahabad,Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Unnao,Kanpur, Kannauj, Hardoi,Farrukhabad, Shahjahanpur,Budaun, Bulandshahr, etc.

But, the Allahabad HighCourt had stayed its construc-tion as there was no environ-mental clearance for the pro-ject at that time.

The Cabinet also approvedthe much-hyped 297 km-longBundelkhand Expressway.

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Stating that Odisha has notdeveloped during 50 years of

Congress rule and 19 BJDregime, BJP national presidentAmit Shah on Tuesday calledupon people to bring in a BJPGovernment in the 2019 elec-tions. He described theCongress and the BJD as “twosides of a coin”.

He also said that it is timefor the State to have an Odia-speaking Chief Minister after along period. He said this whileeulogising the role ofUtkalgaurav Madhusudan Dasin promoting Odia languageand creating the State of Odishaon linguistic basis.

Earlier to his address at alargely-attended meeting ofBJP leaders and workers of fourdistricts, Cuttack, Kendrapada,

Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur, atSalepur, Shah had visitedMadhubabu’s ancestral house atnearby Satyabhamapur andgarlanded his statue there.

Shah alleged that thoughthe Modi Government at theCentre has provided assistanceof Rs 5.13 lakh crore to Odishaduring the last four years, theBJD Government has failed toutilise the funds for the State’sdevelopment and the moneyhas been siphoned for otherpurposes breeding corruption.

“Even when the Centrehas made provisions for toiletsfor each and every family, peo-ple of Odisha are still deprivedof the benefits, because the onewho is ruling the State fears that

it would increase the popular-ity of PM Modi,” he said.

Odisha is rich in naturalresources and youths, but theState has not seen developmentbecause it is being ruled by aGovernment which cannoteven safeguard the RatnaBhandar of Lord Jagannath inPuri Shreemandir, said Shah.

Earlier, Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said theremote of Odisha is in thehands of the mining mafia. Theremote of Bhubaneswar andDelhi should be in hands ofModi.

He said the ModiGovernment is committed tothe development of the poorand downtrodden.

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The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) has

issued notices to two leaders ofthe ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD)in connection with the multi-crore Seashore chit fund scamin the State.

The CBI sent the notices toformer Law Minister andNayagarh MLA Arun Sahuand former Health Ministerand Mahakalapada MLAAtanu Sabyasachi Nayak forexamination in connectionwith the ongoing probe into theSeashore chit fund scam, newsagency ANI reported.

CBI sources said that whileone of them was asked todepose on Monday, the other

would appear on Wednesday.The Seashore Group is one

of the 44 chit fund companiesin the State which have comeunder the CBI andEnforcement Directorate lensfollowing an order of theSupreme Court to investigatetheir finances and transac-tions.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, theOrissa High Court grantedadvance bail to Baleswar BJDMP Rabindra Jena asking thelower court to fix the terms andconditions in an event of hisarrest.

Anticipating arrest in thebackdrop of searches conduct-ed by the CBI in his houses atBaeswar and New Delhi, Jena,who is booked by the CBI forhis alleged complicities with theSeashore chit fund company,had approached the HighCourt last year seeking antici-patory bail.

Justice Debabrata Dashallowed Jena’s prayer, makingan observation that the trialcourt, where he will be pro-duced in event of his arrest,shall release him on bail afterimposing conditions as it maydeem fit.

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To accelerate growth ofhandicrafts sector, the

State Cabinet, which metunder the Chairmanship ofChief Minister NaveenPatnaik here on Tuesday,approved the OdishaHandicrafts Policy-2019.

The policy aims toempower handicraft artisansand make them lead partnersin development, to focus onthe welfare of artisans, tomaximize their income, toenhance Odisha's share of

exports of handicraft goods, torevive languishing crafts, topreserve craft heritage.

The Cabinet okayed 11other proposals of differentdepartments.

The State Cabinetapproved the proposal forenactment of a separate legis-lation for establishment ofASBM University by up-grad-ing Asian School of BusinessManagement, Bhubaneswarin the State.

The conferment ofUniversity status to ASBMwill broaden the horizon of

Education in Odisha and givean impetus to multi-discipli-nary teaching and research.

The proposal for execu-tion of the Rural Piped WaterSupply Projects in Bhadrakdistrict out of State Plan RIDFfunding was approved. Bythis project, 6,16,838 people of526 villages under 84 GPs offour blocks will be providedwith safe drinking water. TheCabinet approved the lowesttender of the MeghaEngineering InfrastructureLtd, Hyderabad amountingto Rs 754 crore. The work istargeted for completion with-in a period of 24 months.

It okayed execution sucha project in the mining affect-ed areas of Keonjhar Districtout of OMBADC and DMFfunding. About 4,13,919 peo-ple of 589 villages under 89GPs of four blocks will be pro-

vided with safe drinkingwater. The lowest tender of Rs979.82 crore of the Larsen andToubro Ltd was approved.The work is targeted to becompleted in 24 months.

The Panchayati Raj andDrinking Water Department’sanother proposal for execu-tion of two individual RuralPiped Water Supply Projects

in the mining affected areas ofAngul district out of DMFfunding was also accepted. Bythis project, 3,40,197 people of388 villages under 64 GPs ofthree blocks will be providedwith safe drinking water. TheNCC Ltd was given the workat Rs 701,86,17,500.

Besides, the two individ-ual such projects will come upin Khorda and Dhenkanaldistricts out of State Plan"BASUDHA" funding. By thisproject, 2,82,951 people of390 villages of 44 GPs underthree blocks of the two dis-tricts will be provided withsafe drinking water. The JMCProjects and JWIL (JV) wereawarded the work at Rs 315.20crore.

The Cabinet alsoapproved two other such pro-jects for Mayurbhanj district.The project to come up with

OMBADC funding wouldbenefit 1,61,722 people of 330villages of 29 GPs under twoblocks of the district. TheLarsen and Toubro Ltd wasawarded the work at Rs 430and given 24 months for com-pletion.

A proposal for OdishaChildren’s and Women’sWelfare Ser vices(Amendment) Rules, 2018was approved. As per therules, 47 per cent the totalcadre strength of Junior GradeService will be filled by directrecruitment, three per cent bypromotion from amongLVLWs and 50 per cent byselection from among AWWs.

The outlay of theSwasthya Sahay was increasedfrom Rs 6,622.82 lakh Rs51,741.78 lakh due to inclu-sion of new activities underASHA Kalyan Yojana and

other programmes.To reduce IMR and

MMR, the “Shishu AbongMatru Mrutyuhara PurnaNirakarana Abhiyan -SAMMPurNA has beenimplemented in the State since2015-16 with priority focus on15 high burden districts hav-ing initial budgetary alloca-tion of Rs 21,141.69 lakh forthe period of 2015-16 to 2019-20 which has been enhancedto Rs 39,829.59 lakhs, due toinclusion of various newinterventions.

Under the Nidan, Sahayaand Free Healthcare

Services, the five yearsrevised estimated cost for pro-vision of free diagnostic, dial-ysis, including free health-care services for all types ofpatients has been enhanced toRs 75,750.75 lakh, due torequirement of additional

fund of Rs 7191.19 lakhstowards provisioning of addi-tional requirement for waivingOPD & IPD, OT, ICU etc.

Under KALIA Scheme, itwas also decided that Kharifassistance will be paid onAkhaya Trutiya and the Rabiassistance on Nuakhai, everyyear.

Framing of the “OdishaSecretariat Data Entr yOperators (Method ofRecruitment and Conditionsof Service) Amendment Rules,2019” was approved. As perthe rules, changes in service,eligibility criteria, constitutionof selection committee, prepa-ration of select list for pro-motion, reservation of vacan-cies were proposed in theOdisha Secretariat Data EntryOperators (Method ofRecruitment and Conditionsof Service) Rules, 2008.

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While the State FinanceDepartment is all eager

to list up proposals and alloca-tions for an interim Budget, itsfinalisation only depends onthe Union Government Budgetproposals.

Whether there will be aVote-on-Account or a full-fledged Budget, that would beknown only after it is present-ed in the Parliament onFebruary 1 by Interim FinanceMinister Piyush Goyal, whichis being watched with batedbreath.

As of now, Finance

Minister Shashi BhushanBehera has held several roundsof talks with senior officialsregarding proposed InterimBudget to be presented onFebruary 7 in the StateAssembly.

According to officials anInterim Budget would be pre-sented as the tenure of the pre-sent Government is ending onJune 11. The Budget would bepresented for a period of threemonths (April-May-June) afterwhich the next Governmentwill present a full-fledgedBudget in July.

Now, senior officials of theState Government are waitingfor the fiscal proposals of theUnion Government to finalisethe State’s Interim Budget,which would be known only onFebruary 1.

Sources said BJP nationalleaders are taking a view that

Vote On Account should belike any full-fledged Budget andsops should be there for farm-ers and weaker sections as wellas the middleclass people, aselections are ahead.

After February 1, the StateGovernment would also decideits next course of action,whether or not to go for anInterim Budget with sops forvarious sections like women,weaker section, farmers andother core group of voters.

It is expected that a meet-ing of the Council of Ministerswould be convened afterFebruary 1 to give final shapeto the Interim Budget.

If Union Governmentannounces sops for variousgroups in its proposals, then theState Government will beadopting similar lines to reachout to the masses throughsops, said a political analyst.

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Ne w l y -appointed All

India CongressC o m m i t t e e(AICC) generalsecretary PriyankaGandhi is likelyto visit Koraputdistrict inFebruary.

The date ofher visit to the State would soonbe finalised, said Congressleader and Opposition ChiefWhip in the Assembly TaraPrasad Bahinipati, who is MLAof Jeypore in Koraput district.

Speaking to reporters,Bahinipati said, “The date ofPriyanka Gandhi’s visit is goingto be finalised soon. She willattend a public meeting inKoraput on the day. I hadrequested AICC president

Rahul Gandhi and held discus-sion with party Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh aboutPriyanka Gandhi’s visit.”

In another political devel-opment, BJP national presidentAmit Shah, who visited theState on January 29, is alsoscheduled will come to Puri onFebruary 3 to attend a nation-al-level tribal convention, saidBJP Odisha in-charge ArunSingh.

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Corruption is a systemicdisease and the existing

social relationships permit it togrow and flourish. It takes dif-ferent forms and is imbibed asa part of the prevalent culture.The disease having crept intothe system, it is very difficult touproot it unless there is asocial movement to eradicatesuch rampant distortions in oursociological framework. Manyhave dreamt of India free ofcorruption. Newer mechanismslike Lokpal, etc., are yet to beimplemented though quite afew years have elapsed. Thisshows our sincerity in eradica-tion of corruption and in bring-ing in a new era. In the inter-national scenario, our positionis not flattering. Several lawsclaiming to be having sufficientteeth have been brought intothe statute books. Even thejuristic attitude in the anti-cor-ruption cases appears to becoloured in some ways. It islaughable when warrants forsearch and seizure are handedout for the asking. EveryIndian’s house is not treated ashis own castle. Search andseizure are not treated as mea-sures of last resort. A media

report then circulated statingthat household goods and carsworth lakhs have been seized.There is no car below rupeesone lakh available in the Indianmarket. Therefore, havingproperties worth lakhs, may befinanced by loans, cannot, persay, disclose corruption. It ismore hype than the truth.

One common option tounderstand corruption is toemploy a cultural perspective.It is attributed to something likenational character. For instance,it seems suggestive that all theleast corrupt nationals, with theexception of Singapore, areEuropean or are European-settler states. Even Singaporehas a highly ‘Europeanised’structure. Another commonexplanation is basically histor-ical: For instance, one can referto the top-down power struc-tures of feudal or colonialregimes in places like Morocco,China and India until just a fewdecades ago. The cultural ethosand historical precedence playa role. After all, both abiding bythe law and lawlessness have adominant effect: if you followthe law, other people aroundyou are more likely to do so; ifyou break the law, other peo-ple around you are also morelikely to do so. A history ofunresponsive authoritarianismmight increase the tendency tobreak laws if one can get awaywith it because the citizen hasnothing invested in the statusquo. Only fear upholds the law;and the moment the citizen can

get away with it, he or shebreaks the law. This can alsolead to a greater tendencytowards corruption.

T r a n s p a r e n c yInternational, a global anti-corruption coalition, rankedIndia 81 out of 180 countries inits corruption index of 2017.The least corrupt nations NewZealand, Denmark, Finland,Norway, Switzerland,Singapore, Sweden, Canada,Luxembourg, the Netherlandsand the UK appear just aboveIndia. In the list are China,Serbia, Suriname, Trinidad andTobago, and Ghana (less cor-rupt). And below India areMorocco, Turkey, Argentina,Benin, and Kosovo (as corruptor more corrupt). 81 out 180might not seem too bad espe-cially to skeptical Indians, butit is misleading: often the samerank is occupied by as many asthree countries (for instance,rank 71). As such, in terms of

numbers, India is placed in thebottom third of the list if notthe last quarter. This should notsurprise skeptical Indians.However, ranking the corrup-tion level of a country is less ofa science and more of an art. Itis an art that naturally occludesthe advantages, which othersmight see in terms of invisiblecorruption of the rich FirstWorld nations, where polityand economy, Parliament andcorporation often have long-established uncontrovertedrelationships. This does notmean that nations like Ghana,India, Morocco and Turkeydo not have considerably morecorruption than nations NewZealand and Denmark. What itmeans is that the ranking gameis not sufficient to understandcorruption at the global,national and local levels.

Culture and history aremisleading as primary explana-tions. Far more important isanother factor that few peopletalk about. If you look at Indiaand the countries around it onthe index and at the top 10(least corrupt) countries, yourealise that the former groupcontains nations with hugesocioeconomic inequalities andthe latter contains nations witha high degree of social and eco-nomic justice. In that sense,Singapore belongs to theEuropean and European-settlercountries ranked as the 10least corrupt nations. In short,corruption is directly propor-tionate to the socioeconomic

gap in a nation. Cultural andhistorical factors add to this orsubtract from this, but thegreater the socioeconomic dis-parities, the greater the incen-tive towards corruption.

This happens in manyways, both among the richand poor. For instance, incountry where, say, Rs.10,000is nothing for the rich, it is easyfor the rich to offer a bribe ofthat sum. But it, in the samecountry, Rs.10,000 is what apoor man may earn in anentire month, it is difficult forhim to refuse a bribe of thatamount. This leads to the grad-ual erosion of morality andethics on both sides. Somefind it easy to spend money toget things done; others find itdifficult to refuse to accept thatmoney. On both sides, therebuilds up a disrespect for thesystem and for each other. Thesystem itself is seen as thor-oughly corrupt because of suchindividual acts of corruption.This further ‘justifies’ the cor-ruption on both sides.Moreover, the poor look at theaffluence of the rich as basical-ly a consequence of corruption,which is by no means the caseall the time. The rich look at thevulnerability of the poor as thesequence of a corrupt morali-ty, which is again by no meansthe case all the time. Such anexus saps the entire social fab-ric of a country, also creatingapathy towards a demand forgreater transparency in thecorridors of power. This further

leads to the spread of corrup-tion. If we in India want to cutdown on corruption, we haveto start working far more seri-ously on reducing the huge(and some say, widening)chasm between the rich and thepoor.

According to a report ofOxfam, one per cent of Indiansown 51 per cent of the incomeand wealth of the society. Sucha disparity in income levels,coupled with conspicuous con-sumption on the part of thesuper-rich, bring to the fore thedistorted position of the socialstructure. Money becomes thecommon denominator for buy-ing the services, unethicallyand illegally. The system breedswithin itself the maladies thatcome to the forefront a fewmonths later. As Harold Laskionce said, “Charity is a pricethat the rich must pay to main-tain their position in relation tothe poor.” This scenario has notbeen altered despite the anti-corruption tirades. The youthpower is the biggest loser in thebargain. They must rise to theoccasion and not be corruptedby the elders but stand erect fora corruption-free India and atransparent India.

(The writer, a SeniorAdvocate, is a former All IndiaService officer, a former diplo-mat, a former editor, a formerPresident of Orissa High CourtBar Association and a formerAdvocate General of [email protected])

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The life of a four-year-old girlwould have been saved if

the ambulance in which shewas being moved could havereached a hospital here ontime.

The girl, a resident of SatyaNagar Housing Board Colony,was being rushed to the near-by Nilachal Hospital by herfamily members after she wasrescued from a water tank onMonday. But she lost her life onthe way after the ambulance gotstuck in a traffic jam onJanpath.

The ambulance wasstranded near the Big Bazaar-

Malisahi road, followingwhich the driver took anoth-

er route via Hotel SwastiGrand to avoid the congestion.However, the situation turnedeven worse as vehicular move-ment on Janpath had come tostandstill due to rallies stagedat Lower PMG by severalorganisations. The girl’s help-less family members pleadedwith the crowd with foldedhands to clear the blockade.But the girl died by the timethe ambulance reached thehospital.

Surprisingly, when asked,the Kharavel Nagar police saidthey did not receive any suchreport.

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With resignations of itstwo MLAs recently, the

Congress is facing the threatof losing its status as themain opposition party in theStated Assembly.

There are now only 13 mem-bers left in the 147-seat

House, two less than therequired strength for theOpposition recognition. As perRules of the House, a partyneeds to have at least 10 percent of the total Assemblystrength to be considered as themain opposition.

Notably, Jharsuguda MLANaba Kishore Das, who hasjoined the BJD, formallyresigned from the Assembly onMonday. Last week,Sundargarh Congress MLAJogesh Singh had also resignedafter being suspended from theparty for alleged anti-partyactivities.

In November 2018,Koraput MLA KrishnaChandra Sagaria had alsoresigned as a Congress MLA.

Around the same time,however, George Tirkey, thelone Samata Kranti Dal MLAhas joined the Congress.

The Congress had faced ajolt last year when its three-time MLA Subal Sahu passedaway in August. His wife RitaSahu won the seat in the sub-sequent bye-poll on a BJDticket.

Altogether, 16 CongressMLAs were elected to theAssembly in the 2014 polls, butthe party, at present, is left withjust 13 lawmakers.

The House is scheduled tomeet for its Budget Session onFebruary 4 when the Speaker islikely to take a call on the sta-

tus of the party.However, Leader of

Opposition and veteranCongress leader NarasinghaMishra said the Speaker's deci-sion would not have any effecton him. "If the Congress losesthe status of the oppositionparty, the State Governmentwill take away the vehicle allot-ted to me and the two staffsengaged at my official resi-dence. So what? I used to crit-icise the Government when Iwas not the Leader ofOpposition and will continueto do so," he said.

A senior BJD leader, whenasked about the situation, saidit is unlikely that the Speakerwould change the status of theCongress as the main opposi-tion party, given the fact that itis the last session of theAssembly before the elections.The polls are due in April-Mayas the term of the Assembly willend on June 11.

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The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has

asked the Union Ministry ofTribal Affairs to submit a reportin six weeks on the progress forinclusion of some communitiesof Koraput and Sundargarhdistricts in the ScheduledTribes (ST) list of Odisha.

The NHRC passed theorder based on a petition andsubsequent submissions filedby Supreme Court lawyer andrights activist RadhakantaTripathy.

Earlier, the NHRC askedthe Registrar General of India(RGI), to expedite action inrespect of recommendation ofthe Tribes Advisory Council,Odisha, for inclusion ofPutiya, Putia,Dulia, Dhulia,Putiya Paik,Dulia Paik, DhuliaPaik communities of Koraputdistrict and Bhuiyar, Bhuihar,Bhuinyar, Bhuinhar communi-ties of Sundargarh district inthe Scheduled Tribes list ofOdisha.

In Odisha, the peoplebelonging to these communi-ties are being denied basic

necessities, like education, foodand shelter due to the fact thatthey have not been included inthe list of Scheduled Tribes bythe Government of Odisha,stated Tripathy in the petition.

P u t i y a ,Putia,Dulia,Dhulia, PutiyaPaik,Dulia Paik,Dhulia Paik, assub-tribe of Kotia (ST) incaste hierarchy have not fig-ured in the STs, SCs, OBCs orSEBCs list of Odisha from2003. As a result of which over20,000 Putiya people living inthe undivided Koraput districtare deprived of getting anybenefits in terms of reserva-tion, education, health, liveli-hood and employment. TheState Government had recom-mended the Centre to includethe community in the ST list,Tripathy contended.

He requested the commis-sion to intervene into the mat-ter to protect the human rightsof the poor people belonging tothese communities by includ-ing them in the ScheduledTribes list and provide thembenefits of social schemes bythe Government of Odisha inthe State.

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Jittery over the recent inci-dents of unruly behaviour by

hooligans in cinema halls of thecity, the Commissioneratepolice have pulled up theirsocks to curb such hooligan-ism. DCP Anup Sahu saidCCTVs would be installed infilm halls to keep a eye on themischief mongers. Discussionswould be held with the cinemahall owners in the connection.Besides, security would betightened.

It might be mentioned herethree girl students of a city-based university were alleged-

ly thrashed by a youth near atheatre in Kharavel Nagar areain the city on Monday eveningover a trivial matter. Theaccused, who was identified asSujan Das of Dum Duma wasdetained and later arrested aftera complaint was lodged by thevictims at the Kharvel Nagarpolice station. On the otherhand, the youth feigned igno-rance about the matter sayingthat he did not attack anybody.

Sources said the youth waslivid with rage after the girl’sscooter brushed against hismotorcycle in the premises ofKeshari Talkies. He allegedlytook out his belt and assaulted

the three girl students.This is the second such

instance in the vicinity of a cin-ema hall in a span of three days.On Sunday, a journalist of avernacular daily was hospi-talised after being attacked bya group of youths insideMaharaja Cinema nearAcharya Vihar in the city foropposing lewd remarks onsome women by thegroup.Later, three Law stu-dents were arrested by theSaheed Nagar police after a del-egation of scribes met DGP RPSharma. Earlier, cops weredragging their feet to arrest theaccused.

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The Manav AdhikarSurakhya Manch Ghanta

Yatra (cymbal beating rally)demanding permanent solu-tion to the problems of theMKCG Medical CollegeHospital and the City Hospitalhere entered its 79th phase onMonday. The Manch submit-ted a memorandum to

Brahmapur Sub-Collectoraddressed to the districtCollector to identify the mid-dlemen, who are also workingfor senior doctors, in the hos-pital and take strict actionagainst them.

Manch coordinator AbaniKumar Gaya said it is hightime that the hospital is to bemade free from the middle-men as people from across the

State are fac-ing problemsdue to them.

He alsosaid that evenif lakhs ofrupees arespent to install

CCTVs in the hospitalpremises but yet the hospitaladministration has failed tocurb the menace of the mid-dlemen in the campus. Gayaalso mentioned that if thedistrict administration doesnot take any steps towardsthis, the menace would ham-per the State Government’shealth schemes beneficiariesto avail it.

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Every Indian girl who is 18years old has the freedom of

choice in matters of love andmarriage. But parents who arestill caste and status-mindedwith the help of police are tor-turing the lovers in the mostinhuman way, lamentedFreethought Party of India

(FPI) here.It alleged that the Rambha

police authorities have beenharassing Anil Kumar Behera(28) of Bandar Sahi andAmisha Mahapatra ( 22) ofPanibandha, who did love mar-riage recently at AMOFOIthanks to pressure reportedlyexerted on police by Amisha’sparents.

An Indigo car, bearingregistration No. OD-07-G-9192 of Anil was seized by theRambha police on January 22.His elder brother Amar SekharBehera was illegally confinedin the Rambha police stationand was asked to stay inside

there the wholenight ofJanuary 22.

The FPIappealed to theDGP of Odishaand the SP ofGanjam districtto give neces-sary protectionand honour tothe AMOFOIcouple.

N o t a b l y,while Anil isfrom SC com-m u n i t y ,Amisha is fromOBC.

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The Utkal Sammilani hassaid that the glory of the

Bharat Ratna would have beenheightened if legendary BijuPatnaik had been conferredwith this highest civilian awardthis year.

Sammilani Mancheswarbranch president DillipDashsharma in a statementsaid that Bijubabu was a greatfreedom fighter and an inter-

national-level leader. For his actof bravery in Indonesia andRussia, he was awarded as'Bhoomi Putra', the highestIndonesian award, and Russianaward, he added.

He also said that Bijubabuwas the first Indian to get twonational awards of two coun-tries. The Bharat Ratna selec-tors committed an injusticefor not selecting Bijubabu forthe highest award, Dashsharmaadded.

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The BJD, Jagatsinghpur hasstrongly resented cut in

SC and ST students’ stipendand delay in payment of theamount by the UnionGovernment.

Speaking to reporters hereon Sunday, the party’s State SCand ST cell convener BishnuDas said the BJP-led NDAGovernment at the Center hascurtailed stipend amount ofDalit students soon after itassumed power in 2014 and,ironically, SC and ST childrenhave not received stipendamount for the last two years.Nearly, two lakh Dalit stu-dents studying in colleges, pro-fessional courses and otherhigher education institutions

have suffered immensely due tothe Union Government’s neg-ligence, he said.

“In spite of the StateGovernment’s repeated

reminders, the UnionGovernment has not respond-ed and, thus, we have plannedto undertake a signature driveamong the SCs/STs studentsacross the State. A memo-randum with signatureswould be sent to thePresident,” he said.

Among others, BJD districtpresident Amarendra Das,BCJD district president BijayaShankar Das, BJD block pre-sient Manoj Bhoi, Minati Das,Dolagovinda Das,Madhusudan Sahoo, Dipti Dasand Saroj Biswal were present.

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Even as the Centre and Statehave launched several

schemes for orphan childrenand are trying to rehabilitatethem in society, lack of prop-er implementation of theschemes is found in Boudh dis-trict.

The story of a 14- year -oldGirl who is battling against allodds to sustain her family andeducate her two brothers afterthe death of their parentsspeaks volume about theadministrative apathy.

Namita of Partala village ofDapla panchayat underKantakaal block in Boudh dis-trict and her two brothers,

Sushil, a mentally retarded andSushanta, are leading a miser-able life after death of their wid-owed mother in Decemberlast.

Two years back onNovember 20, 2016, Namita’sfather Sushil Mendili had died,who was a labourer and main-tained his family out of hismeager earning. On December10, her mother too passedaway making her three childrenorphan. Life turned worse forthe three kids, who have verylittle of exposure to the outsideworld.

No help is forthcomingfrom the relatives. What theyhave is a thatched mud house.No other Government benefitshave come their way. “We can-not pay bribes to the officials toget Government benefits. So,we get nothing,” Namitalamented.

Meanwhile, the locals havesympathized with the plight of

the three and urged the admin-istration to extend basic facil-

ities to enable them to lead anormal life.

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The Maoists again madetheir presence felt in

Malkangiri district after agroup of armed rebels alleged-ly torched a bus nearMundaguda of the Mathiliarea here late on Mondaynight.

Reports said a group of 20to 25 armed ultras interceptedthe bus travelling fromMahupadar to Motu nearMundaguda area and asked thepassengers to get down fromthe vehicle. Later, they set

ablaze the bus by pouringdiesel.

The Maoists also roughedup the bus staffs and snatchedtheir mobile phones. However,the passengers were allowed toleave the spot unhurt, sourcessaid.

This is first major inci-dent during the ‘PratibadaSaptaha’ observed by theMaoists. The security per-sonnel have launched a searchoperation in the area to tracethe ultras. However, the inci-dent has triggered panic inthe area.

In Nuapada, Maoists havealso put up posters at someGovernment buses in Bodenarea asking people to observeBharat Bandh on January 31.The banner stated that it wasput up by Odisha State MaoistCommittee.

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Tension prevailed in Jajupurdistrict’s Dharmasala area

following a CRPF Jawan, whowas found severely injuredunder mysterious conditionsin front of his house inNalakula village on Sundaynight, succumbed to hisinjuries in the SCB MedicalCollege Hospital on Tuesdaymorning.

Alleging that the Jawan,Soumya Ranjan Parida, hadbeen assaulted by miscreants,enraged locals blocked theBaruan-Balichandrapur roadby keeping the body on theroad, demanding immediatearrest of the culprits.

According to reports,Parida was on a vacation for thelast three months. On January27, he had gone to attend awedding reception with hisfriends. Late in the night, hewas found lying on the road infront of his house with criticalinjuries.

His family members firstrushed him to a hospital hereand later shifted him to SCBHospital as his condition fur-ther deteriorated.

However, the Jawan diedwhile undergoing treatment atthe hospital. His family mem-bers alleged that he has beenkilled by some miscreants.

Meanwhile, police havedetained a person and areinterrogating him in connec-tion with death of Parida. Thedetainee was identified as SarojParida (26), a friend of Soumya,of Bhagabanpur village.

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The Burla police ofSambalpur district on

Tuesday took Dhrubaraj Suna,husband of Sambalpur albumactor Simran Singh, on a two-day remand in connection withher death.

The Sambalpur Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate(SDJM) allowed the police totake the accused on remand forfurther interrogation.

Earlier on January 17, theBurla police had put up a

‘Latka’ at the house of Simran’sin-laws at Belpahra in Balangirdistrict after they didn’t appearbefore police despite beingserved with notice in thisregard.

It may be recalled thatSimran had been found deadunder a bridge of Mahanadiriver near Goira Matha underthe Burla police limits inSambalpur on January 3.Alleging that Simran has beenkilled, her family memberssuspected her husband’sinvolvement in the murder.

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In a rare scene, the BlockDevelopment Officer (BDO)

of Chandahandi in Nabarangpurdistrict covered polythene sheetson paddy bags in order to savethem from rains.

According to reports, BDODebendra Prasad Bal alongwith his collogue SubhranshuMallick brought polythenesheets from the nearest marketand covered the paddy bagslying at Muzariguda, Potipani, Chandahandi and Koilimunda mandis to save the grain from

Sunday rains. Farmers alsohelped them in their effort.

BDO Bal was also seen atroad mishap sites and helpingvictims in recent past. Earlier,Bal had carried a mentally-chal-lenged woman, who was roam-ing on the road to a hospital, inhis own vehicle. He also tookthe woman to his Governmentquarter after treatment andprovided her food and shelterfor some days. Later, thewoman was handed over to herfamily after she was cured.

There are also reports thatthe BDO goes to houses ofelderly persons who are unableto come to offices and givesthem their pension money.For this humanitarian works,he has earned good name andfame in the locality.

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AClass-XI student of the StMary’s School at Barbil

was stabbed with a knife by amiscreant near a bus-stand forresisting a mobile phonesnatching bid on Tuesday.

The student, identified asOsh Nanda, a resident of Ward-10 of the Joda Municipality, wasadmitted to the Tata SteelHospital at Joda as he sustainedinjuries in his back and ear.

The student said, “While Iwas waiting for my school bus,a person came and asked formy mobile phone to make a

call. After he cut the call, Iasked him to give me myphone back, but he, instead,started running. When I caughthold of him and screamed forhelp, he stabbed me.”

However, no police com-plaint had been lodged till lastreports came in.

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Hemananda Biswal is notonly a senior Congress

leader but also was interimChief Minister twice in 1989and 1999. But the veteranleader whodefeated BJP’s JualOram from Sundargarh LokSabha seat in 2009 despitebeing a native of Jharsugudadistrict looks not to be veryactive these days. On the con-trary, it is talked that Biswal isplanning to promote his

daughter in politics and is eye-ing her nomination fromSundargarh LS seat in comingpolls.

It may be noted here thatafter becoming the Lok Sabhamember in 2009, Biswal wasthe Chairman of ParliamentaryLabour Committee. Despitethis he could not convince theGovernment to establish theproposed ESIC MedicalCollege in Sundargarh districtas this is not only a labour den-sity district but also backwardfrom health services point ofview.

Besides, though he was anMP of ruling party when UPAwas in power in the Centre,Biswal could not bring a singleproject to the district for which

he suffered a debacle in 2014election.

Not only that, after losingthe election, he grew contro-versial in the party in differenttimes. For a time, even his incli-

nation towards the BJD wastalked about. Besides, it wasalleged that he was attendingvarious socio cultural pro-grammes at Rourkela involvinga particular group of people ofCongress without any coordi-nation with the DCC chiefand other members. That iswhy it was alleged that he waspromoting groupism in theparty unit. Even it is said thathe had played a role for theappointment of Rabi Ray asDCC president.

Biswal is now holding theposition of chairman, PCCDisciplinary Committee.Jogesh Singh who recentlyresigned as Sundargarh MLAafter being suspended fromCongress alleged that Biswal islooking forwardto his daugh-ter’s nomination from theSundargarh LS seat in the com-ing elections.

Even Biswal was averse tothe joining of BiramitrapurMLA George Tirkey inCongress and so far he is also

not comfortable with Tirkey.Tirkey joined Congress with aneye on the SundragarhParliament seat for 2019, whichis known to everybody.

Recently, during the visit ofAICC Secretary Mastan Vali toSundargarh, Biswal had clari-fied that there was no problemin promoting his daughter for2019 elections. Even a questionregarding extending support toTirkey if he gets party ticket,Biswal very casually said, “Whois George? I don’t know.”

So from this, it is clear thatBiswal is keenly interested forhis daughter’s nomination fromSundargarh LS seat and if shedoes not get ticket how farBiswal will cooperate in partyworks only time will say.

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Overseas Odias living in theUnited Arab Emirates

(UAE) have welcomed a recentdecision to resume flight ser-vices from the VSS Airport atJharsuguda under the thirdphase of Ude Deshka AamNagrik (UDAN) scheme.

The non-resident Odias(NROs) have said that themove to connect theJharsuguda airport with sixcities like Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Hyderabad,Bhubaneswar and Raipur willdefinitely boost the economicdevelopment of the region,apart from providing a newimpetus to tourism, trade andcommerce. Educational insti-tutions like IIM Sambalpur,VSSUT Burla and VIMSAR

Burla will benefit immenselywith better placements etc.Such connectivity will also bea boon for overseas Odias orig-inating from western part ofOdisha and shall cut downtravel time to their home townsdrastically.

The NROs stated that they

would meet the senior officialsof the management of the twoairlines like Alliance Air andSpicejet which have baggedmost of the routes and urgethem to kick-start operations assoon as possible.

NROs also spoke to VSSAirport Director SK Chauhan

and congratulatedhim on the develop-ment. According toC h a u h a n ,Jharsuguda airport isready to welcomethese new flights. Heinformed that awardletters to successfulcarriers have beenissued and airlineshave been told tostart early operations.He expects that someof the airlines maycommence opera-tions when summerschedules of the air-

lines come into play.The NROs have also

resolved to step up efforts inensuring a direct flight fromDubai to Bhubaneswar.Currently Bhubaneswar is con-nected to two internationaldestinations such as KualaLumpur and Bangkok.

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The Balliguda police onTuesday arrested two per-

sons for allegedly murdering aman and raping his wife inKandhamal district. Thearrested duo Arjun Bagh andRujit Behera is also accused ofraping another woman, awidow, on the same day. Theincidents took place duringlate night on January 26 andcame to the fore after themother of the deceased manlodged a police complaint inthis regard on Mondayevening.

The two accused thrashedthe man to death with a wood-en plank after an argumentwith him. They later allegedlyraped his wife before fleeingfrom the spot. Moments after,the duo baged into the house ofthe widow in the locality andallegedly raped her too.

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As the elections nearing, thepolitical scenario in

Begunia block of Khordha dis-dtrict seems to be gettingwarmer by the day.

On Monday, two groups ofthe BJD organised politicalgatherings at two differentplaces under the block on theplea of a protest meeting and a“Mahashanti Yajna”, respec-tively. This has been a subjectof discussion among local peo-ple now.

While supporters of thelocal MLA held a protest meet-

ing in the Begunia MiniStadium in protest against theransacking of the police stationby some rivals of the MLA aweek back, former Ministerand Rajya Sabha MemberPrashant Nanda’s son Rushabhalong with thousands of hissupporters from about 40 grampanchayats attended the“Mahashanti Yajna” atBrahmeswar Peeth inLakhanpur village.

MLA supporters had come

in a rally from Sarua to reachthe mini stadium. Among oth-ers, BYJD Begunia presidentBibhuti Mohanty, BYJDBolgarh president RabindraNatha Subuddhi, Bolgarh blockpresident Gopal Behera attend-ed.

Those who attendedRushabh’s meeting includedPrabhat Kumar Maharaj, for-mer Sarpanch ChaitanyaJaysingh, Krushna ChandraRanabijuli, Hemant Sundray,Surendra Behera,Sangramkeshari Mishra, DillipMahabhoi and JalandharMohanty.

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Thousands of retired employ-ees and teachers under the

banner of the RetiredEmployees’ and Teachers’ Forumwould hold a demonstrationhere on February 5 against theState Government’s callous atti-tude in fulfilling their variousdemands.

Forum president SaratChandra Dash informed thiswhile addressing a Press meethere on Tuesday. Dash said theState Government is floutingthe direction of the SeventhPay Fitment Committee toresolve their problems andfailed to fulfil their demandsthrough discussions even afterdirection.

He also said that even if 70,000 retired employees andteachers have written to ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik tofulfil their demands, theGovernment is turning a deafear to the demands.

Even if the CentralGovernment has decided toprovide a minimum of Rs9,000 as pension to the retiredstaffs and teachers, the StateGovernment is giving Rs 8,300,which is ridiculous, Dashadded. Among others, forumgeneral secretary LokanathRath, Durga Charan Nayak,Surjyamani Tripathy,Biswanath Panda, Ajay KumarSahu, Ajay Kumar Nayak andShyam Sundar Khadanga werepresent at the Press conference.

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Acontroversy has eruptedover the venue of the Chief

Minister Naveen Patnaik’s pro-gramme in the city while oppo-sition Congress described it asviolation rules for a politicalmeeting.

The CM is scheduled toattend a youth convention ofthe region in the VeerSurendra Sai stadium here onFebruary 1. Patnaik willaddress a gathering of over30,000 youths inside the sta-dium. He will also lay thefoundation stones of variousprojects and inaugurate several

completed projects of the dis-trict from the venue. The dis-trict administration is organ-ising it.

Meanwhile, DistrictCongress Committee (DCC)president Aswini Guru in astatement strongly criticizedthe ruling BJD for using thestadium for political meeting.The District AthleticAssociation (DAA) is an inde-pendent body and the districtadministration neitherinformed nor had taken its per-mission before organising theshow. The administration hastotally damaged the stadiumground by fitting pillars forshed and security cover, Gurusaid.

Massive preparations areon for the CM’s programme onthat day. Patnaik will arrive inJamadar pali airstrip at around12.30 pm and take a helicopter

to the venue. Along with theCM, several Ministers, MPs,MLAs and party leaders fromdifferent districts will attend theconvention.

During the one- hour stay,Patnaik will lay the foundationstones for a nurses hostel atBurla , a students’ hostel ofVIMSAR, a drug researchcentre at Sambalpur, theBhutapada- Dhankauda road,a bridge over Dhobijorbetween Nari Seva Sadan andJail chowk, a road over bridgenear Hirakud, while he willinaugurate a rope way con-nected between Jawahar gar-den and Gandhi Minar inHirakud dam, an administra-tive building of SambalpurDistrict HeadquartersHospital and 300-bed hostel ofGangadhar Meher JuniorCollege, the official sourcessaid.

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The BJP Kishan MorchaKamakhyanagar unit

organised a Gram Sabha andgheraoed the Panchayat officeat Badasuanlo, protesting fig-uring of names of BJD BlockChairman, a ZP member andseveral Sarpanchs in KALIA

beneficiary list.Morcha’s Dhenkanal and

Sambalpur Lok Sabha PravariEr Debashisha Hota led theprotest. More than 1,000 peo-ple participated in the GramSabha.

Er Hota questioned thetransparency of the list andasked where are the names ofthe poor farmers in the list whoshould be the deserving bene-ficiaries.

He al leged that theNaveen Patnaik Governmenthas launched the KALIAscheme for the benefit of

party functionaries and sup-porters.

He also charged that theCM was misusing the welfareand RMC funds to win theelections befooling the farmers.

The beneficiary list includ-ed top BJD leaders like BhubanBlock

Chairman DharmanandaBaral, former Zilla ParisadVice Chairman of DhenkanalMayadhar Panda, MinesMinister and KamakhyanagarMLA Prafulla Mallick’s closeaids of Baligorada SaratChandra Swain and former

headmaster Baikuntha Parida,Dhalapada Sarpanch LiliSahoo’s husband Abhimanyu,among others.

There is no relief for farm-ers even after complaining inthe toll free number, he told. Allfarmers are well aware aboutthese irregularities by the BJDpeople in their respective vil-lages, he added.

Thousands of farmerswould gherao BJD leader andBhuban block ChairmanDharmananda Baral's houseat Jamunakote village onJanuary 31, Hota threatened

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Aheadmaster of aGovernment school of

Sundargarh district was placedunder suspension on Tuesday

allegedly for leaving theNational Flag to fly throughoutnight on the Republic Day.

He was identified as Kumar

Singh Purti, headmaster ofKanika Cluster BandabahalPrimary School in Hemgiriblock. On the Republic Daymorning, the flag hoisting inthe school premises had beendone in presence of headmas-ter Purti but the flag was not

lowered and was not kept aftersunset that day. The flagremained with the bar through-out night in darkness and flewin night. On Sunday morning,villagers lowered the flag andinformed Hemgiri BEOSurendra Sahu about the laps-

es.On Monday, BEO Sahu

went to the school and con-ducted an inquiry.

Notably, the Flag Codestates that the flag can fly innight hours but that area mustbe properly illuminated.

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Asniffer dog played a keyrole in tracing bodies of

five persons of a family from anabandoned well under theKoira police station ofSundargarh district four daysago that helped the policecrack the sensational murdercase of a woman and her fourminor children over sorcerysuspicion.

Six persons in the casewere arrested and forwarded tocourt.

The crime occurred onFriday at Indupur village andon Saturday afternoon, a sci-entific team along with sniffer

dog “Sandy” from the Rourkelapolice had gone to the spot totrace the bodies.

Sandy was engaged to tracethe bodies, which immediate-ly dragged his master towardsthe abandoned well and policesaw broken bangles and hairnear the well. When the coverof the well was taken out, thebodies were traced inside welland later with the help ofpump set, water was dried andthe bodies were brought out.

During investigation,police came to know aboutprevious enmity of DebraMunda and his wife SumiMunda with Mangri Mundaand had been accusing Mangriof practicing black magic.According to police, duringinterrogation, Debra told thathis daughter had died onemonth ago due to some ail-ment and his another daugh-ter fell ill and when he and his

wife Sumi approached tantricBudram Munda, he told themthat Mangri was performingblack magic on his familyand Mangri’s children arewitches. After hearing this,Debra along with her threebrother-in-laws (wife Sumi’sbrothers) identified as RajuMunda, Salu Munda andDagam Munda had plannedto kill Mangri and her chil-dren. Debra's co-brother,Motu Munda and Motu's wifeGurbari and another SunilMunda had also conspiredwith Debra to finish Mangriand her children.

On January 24 night, Raju,Salu, Dagam and Sunil hadreached the house of Mangri ina motor cycle and forciblyentered into Mangri’s house bybreaking open the door andkilled Mangri and her four chil-dren and dumped their bodiesin an abandoned well.

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Police on Tuesday recoveredbodies of two infants from

the backside of a hotel nearPitapalli under the Khordhapolice station on NationalHighway (NH)-16.

The reason behind thedeath of the infants was yet to

be ascertained.The police sent the bodies

for postmortem and startedinvestigation.

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The Vigilance police onTuesday caught Khordha

district’s Balipatna Fire StationOfficer Prafulla Kumar Beherared-handed for demanding andaccepting illegal gratification ofRs 5,000.

He was caught takingbribe from complainant SayedSahir Ualla (truck owner) ofBengabati village in the dis-trict for issuance of fire cer-tificate against his truck,which was damaged by fire inDecember 2018 near

Athantara petrol pump byunknown persons.

His residential house atBadagada in Bhubaneswarand house at his village underNischintakoili police stationin Cuttack were searched. Hewas arrested and forwarded tocourt.

Similarly, Khordha dis-trict’s Balipatna block GramPanchayat Technical Assistant(GPTA) Kshyanaprava Muliawas caught taking bribe of Rs10,000 from complainantBikram Behera of Ambadihavillage in the district for pass-ing of bills for final payment inconnection with constructionof Anganwadi Centre atMahadeba Sahi in the villageexecuted by Behera.

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An employee of a newspaperwas murdered by some

miscreants in the town late onMonday night. The deceasedwas identified as PratapMohapatra.

Mohapatra, a resident ofJagatsinghpur district wasworking as the circulation exec-utive of a vernacular daily.While returning from office,some miscreants attackedMohapatra with sharp weaponskilling him on the spot.

Preliminary investigation

stated the miscreants attackedhim in an attempt to loot.

After receiving informa-tion, police reached the spotand sent the body for post-mortem. Besides, the cops havedetained three persons in con-nection with the incident.

“Three persons have beendetained in connection withthe incident. Of them, involve-ment of two persons is estab-lished from the primary inter-rogation. Mainly they attackedhim with an attempt to loothim,” said Balangir K SivaSubramani.

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One afternoon in the sum-mer of 2003, George

Fernandes called me to see himat the Defence Ministry officein South block. The topic of thediscussion was his escalatingdifferences with Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar.But the discussion somehowmeandered all way to his child-hood and the remarkable jour-ney of his life.

Fernandes was in an emo-tional state due to the growingbickering in the Janata Dal (U)and at one point tears brimmedin his eyes when he startedrecalling how he had tried tobuild the party which was nowtreating him as a pariah.

Somehow that opened the

floodgate of memory in him.Among the many milestones,he recalled, I’d never forget atransformative one when land-ed in Mumbai (then Bombay)in late 1950s after leaving hishome for good and spent thefirst night on a pavement.“Someone kicked me late atnight and demanded me to payfor occupying the pavement. Itwas the time I realised thateven the streets were not freefor the homelesss poor. Thatincident changed my life for-ever,” he had said.

This was sometimes afterhe had left the seminary atMangalore where he wasundergoing training to becomeCatholic priest.

He went on to become aunion leader in Mumbai and,

was a Member of Parliamentfrom South Bombay.

During around two hoursof his journey down the mem-ory lane, George talked atlength about his great escapadeduring the Emergency, hisnumerous adventure duringthose “dark days”, and his asso-ciates of those difficult periods.

A photograph ofFernandes, with his shock ofunkempt hair, raising a mana-cled hand in defiance remainsone of the most enduringimages of those times.

He recalled how one nightwhen he was travelling fromRanchi to Patna by car, thegun-wielding Maoists stoppedhis vehicle, but no sooner theyidentified him, they escortedhim all the way to safety zone.

“None will harm you, if theyknow you love them,” he said.The sentence that still rings inmy ear.

I’d be visiting him resi-dence Krishna Menon Margfrequently when UPA I waspower at the Centre. Evenwhen the ruling alliance lookedformidable and everythingseemed going smoothly for it,George never gave up hope thatit could be brought down anyday. He would be forever intouch with leaders outside andwithin the UPA to engulf theruling alliance in crisis. “I’mnow old and still I don’t give uphope. If others have the samespirit, this Government will fallunder the weight of its cor-ruption and bickering inweeks,” he would say.

An avid book lover, Georgewould receive a copy of everyinteresting book that was pub-lished in India from one of hisacquaintances. I visited himonce at midnight to conveysomething urgent at the requestof one of his party colleagues.My pretext was that I’d left myglasses at his place when I vis-ited him during the day. Evenat that hour, I found him lostin some tome of history. WhenI conveyed him the missive, heimmediately reacted and issuednecessary instruction to denyparty ticket to someone whohad supposedly met UPAchairpersons Sonia Gandhiduring the day. That averted amajor crisis within the JD(U).

George was pained the wayhe was treated by his party col-

leagues when he was removedfrom any decision-makingposition in the party. He wouldoften recall how he dreamt tomake JD(U) a mass move-ment. When the crisis withinthe party peaked one day hetalked about his bond with SPchief Mulayam Singh Yadav andsaid if forced to move out of hisown party he would always bewelcomed by “neta ji”.

One of India’s most fire-brand union leaders whoremained a socialist activisteven in his several stints asUnion Minister, George was arebel from youth and agitatedfor better facilities and food forstudents in the seminary.

Fernandes life was also abundle of contradiction andirony. As union leader he organ-

ised India’s biggest railwaystrikes and later becameRailway Minister. A committedsocialist he became the IndustryMinister and was locked in abitter acrimony with DhirubhaiAmbani. As Industry Ministerhe also forced Coca-Cola andIBM to leave India in 1977. Hedisliked the RSS and laterembraced the BJP. The biggestof all ironies was the fact whileno one ever questioned hispersonal honesty, he had toresign as Defence Minister dueto corruption charges againstassociates.

A man who supportedevery type if agitation andstruggle, George was simplic-ity personified. His official res-idence was open to everyoneanytime. Dressed mostly in a

crumpled kurta pajama andslippers, he would look no dif-ferent from one of those hun-dreds of visitors who wouldmeet him every day to seekhelp and solace.

A man who created aninternational furore by hisfamous remark that China wasIndia’s number one enemy,Fernandes will be fondlyremembered by the Army jawans as a DefenceMinister who truly cared forthem-he visited Siachen morethan 30 times.

A fighter to the core,Ferandes will always remind usof the memorable quote fromHemingway’s THE OLD MANAND THE SEA — Man can bedestroyed but not defeated.

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Condolences poured inTuesday for former Union

Minister George Fernandesfrom leaders of the politicalspectrum who credited the vet-eran socialist for strengtheningthe workers’ movement anddescribed him as a “fiery” leader.

Fernandes, 88, who servedas Defence Minister in AtalBihari Vajpayee Government,died in the national Capital onTuesday following a prolongedillness. Fernandes was sufferingfrom Alzheimer’s disease, whichhad forced him out of the pub-lic eye several years ago, and hadrecently contracted swine flu.

Leaders cutting acrossparty lines also hailedFernandes as a fearless andupright politician who foughtfor protecting democracy andraised his voice for the rights ofthe poor and marginalised.

Fernandes “epitomisedsimple living and high think-ing”, President Ram NathKovind said who was joined byVice-President M VenkaiahNaidu, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, and otherleaders in condoling the demiseof Fernandes.

Recalling Fernandes’ con-tribution, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said he was asimple, humble, frank and fear-less leader who never deviatedfrom his political ideology andresisted the Emergency toothand nail.

“Distressed to learn of thepassing of Shri GeorgeFernandes, who served India inmany capacities, including asDefence Minister. He epito-mised simple living and highthinking. And was a championof democracy, during theEmergency and beyond. We

will all miss him,” PresidentKovind said.

Describing Fernandes as a“fighter” for the working class,Vice President Naidu said hewas “an upright politician, anable administrator, a great par-liamentarian and above all wasa good human being”.

In a series of tweets, Modisaid, “George Sahab represent-ed the best of India’s politicalleadership. Frank and fearless,forthright and farsighted, hemade a valuable contribution toour country. He was among themost effective voices for rightsof the poor and marginalised.”

“When we think ofFernandes, we remember mostnotably the fiery trade unionleader who fought for justice,the leader who could humblethe mightiest of politicians atthe hustings,” he said.

“A visionary railway min-ister and a great DefenceMinister who made India safeand strong,” the PM said.

Former president PranabMukherjee said he was painedby the demise of his long timefriend in the Opposition andcolleague in Parliament.

Former PM ManmohanSingh, in a letter to Fernandes’wife Leila Kabir Fernandes,said “in his death our countryhas lost a versatile personalitywho with his unparalleled effi-ciency excelled as a mass leaderand gave paramount impor-tance to the well-being of thedown-trodden people of ourcountry”.

Congress President RahulGandhi also condoled thedemise of Fernandes.

Veteran BJP leader LKAdvani recalled his long asso-ciation with Fernandes anddescribed him as a fearlessand forthright leader who

always fought for justice.He “took up the cause for

the poor and was a very effec-tive parliamentarian,” Advanisaid in a statement.

Rajya Sabha DeputyChairman Harivansh, in hiscondolence message, saidFernandes was an indefatigablefighter all his life for freedomof expression, thought, justiceand liberty for all. “His life andworks shall always remain aforceful inspiration for thepeople even after his demise,”Harivansh said.

NCP chief Sharad Pawarpaid tributes to his “friend”,recalling Fernandes’ fiery ora-tory and contribution as Union Minister and tradeunion leader.

West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeesaid Fernandes was a muchadmired trade union leader.

Odisha Chief Ministerand BJD leader NaveenPatnaik said it is a great loss forthe country, politically as wellas intellectually.

Union Minister RamVilas Paswan said Fernandes“held kept aloft the beacon ofdemocracy in the darkest hourof the Emergency”.

Other CMs, including KPalaniswami (Tamil Nadu) , NChandrababu Naidu (AndhraPradesh), K ChandrasekharRao (Telangana), AmarinderSingh (Punjab) and AshokGehlot (Rajasthan) also con-doled the death of Fernandes.

The CPI paid tributes toFernandes, recalling his con-tributions as a trade unionist.

Condolences also pouredin from all quarters in Bihar,with Chief Minister NitishKumar, a long-time associateof Fernandes, declaring a two-day state mourning.

Jailed RJD supremo LaluPrasad tweeted, “Extremelysaddened to hear about the demise of socialist leader,freedom fighter and formerDefence Minister Shri George Fernandes”.

Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister and BJP leaderSushil Modi tweeted, “A greatfighter and symbol of anti-Congressism...As convenor ofNDA played an important rolein Ataljis government. Nobodycan match George. RIP”.

Former Chief Ministers ofJammu & Kashmir MehboobaMufti and Omar Abdullahalso paid tributes to Fernandes.

“Rest in peace GeorgeFernandes Sahib. You were atireless crusader fighting for thevoiceless, the marginalised &for those that needed someonein their corner. You called aspade a spade & did sounabashedly. You were alwaysa friend & well wisher of thepeople of J&K. God speed,”Omar tweeted.

“Today we mourn the lossof a titan. He represented an eraof leaders who were true states-men and not just politicians,”Mehbooba said.

New Delhi: Sporting a turbanand a beard, George Fernandeshad assumed the guise of a Sikhman to evade arrest duringEmergency and recited the Gitato inmates while being impris-oned in Tihar Jail in that era,according to a colleague of theveteran socialist leader whowas arrested along with him.

Tributes have been pouringin from all quarters, includingthose who had worked withhim. “Police were on the look-out for us. We not only wentinto hiding, but continued tooperate. To escape arrest,George had assumed the avatarof a Sikh man, with a turbanand a beard, and had grownlong hair. He used to call him-self Khushwant Singh after thenoted author,” Vijay Narain, inlate 70s, told PTI.

Narain and others alongwith Fernandes were arrested

on June 10, 1976 in Kolkata andtried in the infamous BarodaDynamite case, in which theywere also charged with wagingwar against the State to over-throw the Government.

Mourning his death, JayaJaitly, a long-time associate ofFernandes, also recalled the“Sikh avatar” that he hadassumed during the Emergencyera. Very few politicians likehim are now in today’s time,she said.

After remaining in dis-guise and operating out ofhideouts, Fernandes, Narainand their other colleagues werearrested from St Paul’s Churchin Kolkata.

“At the St Paul’s Church,George had a typewriter, acyclostyle machine and he con-tinued to write correspondenceswhich I would go and deliver atRailway Mail Service counters

at various stations,” Varanasi-born Narain had earlier said.

“George had a charismat-ic personality and during hisprison days, he would reciteGita to inmates in the morningand we all read books from thelibrary at Tihar,” he said.

Fernandes and his col-leagues were transported invans from Tihar Jail to TeesHazari court, and Narain said,“200 policemen would escortus during this transit.”

Fernandes in handcuffsraising his hand in defiancebecame one of the most endur-ing images of the Emergencyera. “Oh, that photograph wastaken in the court premiseswhile George was being pro-duced there for the trial.”

Emergency was in effectfrom June 25, 1975 until itswithdrawal in March 1977.

PTI

Bengaluru: Plum cakes from citys famed Koshys Mechanised Bakerywas George Fernandes Christmas goodies to jawans posted at for-ward areas, during his tenure as the Defence Minister. He used toorder cakes from us and send it to jawans posted at the border areas.For some years he did this, I dont exactly remember now for howmany years... We have sent, Koshys head Prem Koshy said.

He said, yes, but what I know is he followed this practice, dur-ing his tenure as Defence Minister, it was plum cakes....” RecallingFernandes visit to Koshys bakery and restaurant, Prem said, GeorgeSir, used to find this place peaceful and calm.” Fernandes used tolike the smell of bakery, he said, adding there are quite a lot of mem-ories about his visit. He used to enjoy from cakes to every thing.

New Delhi: After being allo-cated the railways portfolio in1989 in the VP SinghGovernment, George Fernandesrefused to go to Rail Bhavan toattend office for three days.Reason: He had led the biggestrailway strike in Asia in 1974and headed railway unions andnow how could he be sittingacross them at the table.

This anecdote was sharedby his close aide Jaya Jaitly inher book “Life Among theScorpions”, published in 2017.

Then after he joined office,the guard at the ministry’sentrance did not let him in andtold him to get an entrance slipmade at the reception first.

She also mentioned sever-al other interesting facts aboutFernandes — his love for HarryPotter books, he never owneda comb, and devouring eco-nomic surveys and carryingthem wherever he went.

On the VP Singh Ministry,Jaitly wrote, “In late 1989, as theNational Front Government setitself up, the walls of power cameup alongside. VP Singh, with histypical caginess, kept even hisclosest colleagues on tenter-hooks, informing them thatthey would become Ministersonly half an hour before theywere expected to be sworn in.”

Everyone seemed to bewaiting anxiously for anadvance indication from Singhbut that did not happen.“George Sahib nonchalantlywent upstairs for an afternoonnap and had no time to changeinto a fresh kurta when he waswoken up and told to reachRashtrapati Bhavan in 20 min-utes. His colleagues and I sat inthe office downstairs in his tinyapartment at Hauz Khas,amazed at the lack of dignity inthe way this was done.Everyone felt ridiculous,” shewrote. PTI

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New Delhi: George Fernandeswas a political stalwart and oneof the most firebrand unionleaders in the country, but hisheart melted in front of dogs,many of whom gave him com-pany even in times of his dete-riorating health.

His close aide Jaya Jaitly

Tuesday said Fernandes was sofond of dogs he would carry“treats in his pockets” for them.

“He loved pets, especiallydogs and he had many of themwho gave him company,” shesaid. However, they have alldied, Jaitly said.

“People know him as a fire-

brand union leader and for hisfiery oratory skills, but inside hisheart he also had feelings for petdogs and he loved them a lot.In fact, every time he would flyin an airline, the staff would givehim chocolates and he wouldkeep them in his pockets for petdogs,” Jaitly added. PTI

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Ahmedabad: Former GujaratChief Minister ShankarsinhVaghela was on Tuesdayinducted into the NationalistCongress Party (NCP) here inthe presence of its chief SharadPawar and made the party’snational general secretary.

Pawar said NCP will useVaghela’s political experienceand mass following in Gujaratas well as for the party’s nation-al development.

“When democracy isunder threat in India under BJPrule, I have decided to join theNCP to fight against BJP andstrengthen the hands of anti-BJP forces,” Vaghela said afterjoining Pawar’s party.

When queried whetherhe would fight the forthcom-ing Lok Sabha polls, Vaghelasaid it was for his party todecide.

Speaking on the occasion,Pawar said, “I have askedVaghela to not only concentrateon Gujarat but also contributetowards national developmentof NCP. He will be nationalgeneral secretary of the party.In Gujarat we want to strength-en anti-BJP forces and bybringing in Vaghela, we havetried to do that.”

His entry into the NCP canlead to a three-corner fight ona few Lok Sabha seats in

Gujarat in case the Congressand the NCP fail to reach analliance against the ruling BJP,political observers said.

All 26 Lok Sabha seats inGujarat are currently in the

BJP’s kitty.The NCP and Congress

had fought 2017 Assemblypolls separately with the formermanaging to win just one seatin the 182-member House.

The 78-year-old Kshatriyastrongman had left theCongress before the 2017Gujarat Assembly elections,after he and a few of his sup-porter MLAs voted againstAhmed Patel, the Congresscandidate for the Rajya Sabha,and backed BJP nomineeBalwantsinh Rajput.

Vaghela, however, did notjoin the ruling BJP and put upIndependent candidates in theState Assembly elections heldin December 2017, all of whomlost.

The former Gujarat ChiefMinister recently toured vari-ous places, including Delhi,declaring that he would workfor the defeat of the BJP-ledGovernment at the Centre.

Vaghela started his careerwith the BJP, but in 1996 engi-neered a split in the saffronparty after he was denied chiefministership a year earlier infavour of Keshubhai Patel.

Vaghela, in 1996, becamethe State’s Chief Minister withoutside support from theCongress.

He also served as UnionTextile Minister in theManmohan Singh Governmentat the Centre as well as GujaratCongress president and leaderof Opposition in the StateAssembly. PTI

Kolkata: The Calcutta HighCourt on Tuesday refused per-mission to a woman to termi-nate her 26-week-old preg-nancy on the ground of possi-ble abnormality since the foe-tus has already developed mostof its organs and that the moth-er’s life is not at risk.

A medical board at theState-run SSKM Hospital has ina report to the court said theprognosis of the baby is likelyto be better if it is deliverednear term, i.e., the full term ofpregnancy.

Refusing permission to ter-minate the pregnancy, JusticeTapabrata Chakraborty notedthat the report said it does notappear that the petitioner’s lifewill be in danger if her preg-nancy is continued.

The medical board said testreports have suggested thatthe foetus is suffering fromDown Syndrome, along withproblems in the oesophagus,heart and abdomen.

Down Syndrome is agenetic disorder that involvesbirth defects, intellectual dis-abilities and characteristic facialfeatures and it often involvesheart defects, visual and hear-ing impairments and otherhealth problems.

The severity of all theseproblems varies greatly amongaffected individuals.

Passing the order, JusticeChakraborty observed that therights of the foetus need to beconsidered vis a vis the mentaltrauma the woman will sufferin giving birth to a child with

abnormality.The woman had moved the

high court on January 22 afterseveral tests indicated theseabnormalities in the foetusand doctors whom she con-sulted had advised terminationof pregnancy, her lawyers KallolBasu and Apalak Basu said.

According to theTermination of Pregnancy Act1971, permission of high courtis required to abort a pregnancywhich is 20 weeks or more old.

The woman’s lawyers sub-mitted that there is a meagrechance of a healthy baby beingborn.

The couple already has achild born in 2004.

While the husband worksin a private firm, the woman isa housewife.

The lawyers submitted thatthe couple will be financiallyconstrained given the cost ofnurturing the baby if it is bornwith deformities.

Opposing the prayer,Additional Advocate GeneralAbhratosh Majumdar submit-ted that it is not advisable toterminate the pregnancy atthis stage since there is everypossibility that the baby willsurvive. PTI

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The indefinite agitation bythe Government employ-

ees and teachers of TamilNadu, demanding pay hikeand reversion to the old stylepension, entered the 8th dayon Tuesday with both theGovernment and the strikingemployees standing adamanton their decision.

The striking employeesblatantly refused the plea byMadras High Court judge NKirubakaran to call off the agi-tation, thus playing with thefuture of thousands of schoolstudents of the State. OnTuesday, employees of the StateSecretariat, the nerve centre ofthe State administration, joinedthe agitation called by theJoint Action Council of TamilNadu Teachers Organisation-

Government EmployeesOrganisation (JACTTO-GEO)literally crippling the func-tioning of schools as well asGovernment offices in theState.

Though the director ofSchool Education had issuedan ultimatum to the teachers to

report for duty by 9 am onTuesday, the striking teachersrefused to budge and theGovernment has decided to goahead with recruitment oftemporary staff to counter theagitation.

“Teachers are not mereworkmen. They are like Godly

figures. I studied in aGovernment school andnamed my Class 1 teacherduring my oath-taking cere-mony. Such is the stature ofteachers. How can they go onstrike? Will they accept ifteachers of their children inprivate schools go on strike?”asked Justice Kirubakaranwhile hearing a PIL challeng-ing the legality of the strike bythe teachers and Governmentemployees.

M Anbarasu, leader of thestriking employees and teach-ers said that the ir charter ofdemands include revocation ofthe new pension scheme, pay-ment of arrears, and the redres-sal of anomalies in the regu-larisation of service of someemployees and in pay. “Though we had submitted thedemands on February 10,2016, the Government hasbeen dragging its feet andbuying time,” said Anbarasu.He said the union leaders andemployees have nothing to dowith the disruption in thefunctioning of the schools.“We have been forced to strikenow by the Government,” saidthe leader.

Interestingly, D Jayakumar,Minister for Personnel andAdministrative Reforms, saidin a statement that the teach-ers and employees of Tamiol

Nadu Government draw morsalary than their counterpartsin the private sector. “If theGovernment is to meet theirdemands, there won’t be anymoney left for public welfare,”said Jayakumar in a statement.He said that the Tamil NaduGovernment spends 71 percent of its revenue on salariesand pension. “On an averagehe head master of a govern-ment school in the State drawsa monthly salary of �1,03,320/- while his beginningsalary itself is �68,280/- permonth. The starting salary ofa supervisory grade employeein the Government service is�44,280/- per month,” saidJayakumar.

Though the oppositionDMK has declared its sup-port to th striking employeesand the teachers, party supre-mo M K Stalin has beencareful in using the words.While asking Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswamy tohold talks with the agitatingemployees and teachers toresolve the issue, the DMKleader assured them that hewould fulfil all their “just”demands through talks oncehis party comes to power.“We will also cancel all theillegal actions taken by theAIADMK Government ,”Stalin said in a statement.

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Kanthi (WB): BJP presidentAmit Shah mocked theappointment of PriyankaGandhi Vadra as a Congressgeneral secretary on Tuesdayand said a Government run bya dynasty could not serve thepeople, but could only providea “majboor” (helpless)Government.

The Congress had broughtthe “third G” into the fray afterthe “two Gs — Sonia G andRahul G” to indulge in morecorruption, he told a publicrally here in East Midnaporedistrict of West Bengal.

Referring to the 2G scamthat dogged the Congress-ledUPA-2 regime, Shah said theOpposition party wanted toindulge in more corruptionnow with the induction of the“third G — Priyanka G”.

“I am here to tell you thatduring the 10 years of theUPA rule under (then PrimeMinister) Manmohan Singh,there were only two Gs —Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi. We had then wit-nessed the 2G scam of �12 lakhcrore. Now, if the third G joinsthe 2Gs, what will be the

amount of the scam?“The Congress has made a

long-term plan of indulging incorruption by joining the 2Gsand the third G,” he said.

Shah’s comments came inthe backdrop of PriyankaGandhi Vadra being appoint-ed the All India CongressCommittee (AICC) generalsecretary for Uttar PradeshEast by her brother andCongress president Rahul

Gandhi last week.Stating that the Congress

and the ruling TrinamoolCongress (TMC) in WestBengal were both sides of thesame coin as both parties wererun by dynasties, the BJP chiefsaid like Rahul Gandhi wasthere to take over his party’sreins from his mother SoniaGandhi, in West Bengal, ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee hadher nephew Abhishek Banerjeeto take charge of the TMC afterher.

“Dynasties cannot servethe country well. The dynastssay the country needs a maj-boor (helpless) Government,but the BJP says it needs a maj-boot (strong) Government.Only Narendra Modi and theBJP can provide a mazbootGovernment at the Centre,” hesaid.

Asking the people whetherthe country needed a “leader”or a “dealer”, Shah said only thesaffron party could provide aGovernment headed by aleader and the Oppositionwanted to throw up aGovernment led by “dealersand brokers”. PTI

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Panaji: The Goa Governmenthas set up a special court forspeedy trial in cases related toillegal mining in the coastal Stateafter receiving several policecomplaints in this connection.

The special court has beenset up under a provision of theMines and Minerals(Development and Regulations)Act, according to a circularissued by the Directorate ofMines and Geology here lastweek. Additional District andSessions Judge Edgar Fernandeshas been appointed as judge ofthe special court, mines andgeology director PrasannaAcharya said in the circular.

The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) of Goa Police hasbeen probing various cases ofillegal mining in the state.

The SIT had last yearquizzed Congress MLA andformer Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat for his allegedinvolvement in a mining scam.

The Justice MB ShahCommission had earlier probedthe mining sector in Goa and itsreport in 2012 had pegged thealleged irregularities at around�35,000 crore in the State. PTI

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��������"�����+������*"�� �� �������Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath onTuesday welcomed the CentralGovernment’s plea seeking theSupreme Court’s permission toreturn the 67 acre of acquiredland around the disputed RamJanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid siteto its original owners.

“We welcome this initiativeof the Central Government.We should get permission tostart work on the undisputedpiece of land,” the Chief Ministersaid in Allahabad.

State Government’sspokesperson Siddharth NathSingh said the UnionGovernment is working on all aspects within the ambit of Constitution to fulfil thelong-pending aspirations ofthe people.

Accusingthe Congressof trying todelay the res-olution of them a t t e rbeyond theu p c o m i n g2019 generale l e c t i o n s ,Singh said the entire countrywants the Ram temple to bebuilt at the earliest as it is a mat-ter of faith for all.

Ruling out any pressurefrom the Dharam Sansad or dueto the upcoming Lok Sabhapolls, Singh said the legal pro-cedure is being followed as thehearing on the temple issue is setto start now in the SupremeCourt. Asked if the temple con-struction could start before the

polls, he said, “I can merely saythat Government wants thetemple be built at the earliest asthe issue is connected with thepeople.”

The Centre moved theSupreme Court on Tuesdayseeking its permission to returnthe 67-acre acquired landaround the disputed RamJanambhoomi Babri Masjid siteto original owners.

In a fresh plea to the court,the Centre said it had acquired67 acre of land around the 2.77acre of disputed RamJanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

The plea has said the RamJanambhoomi Nyas (a trust topromote the construction ofRam Temple) had sought returnof excess land acquired in 1991to its original owners. PTI

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Welcoming Government’smove asking Supreme

Court to restore 42 acre ofundisputed land at Ayodhya tothe original owners, the BJP onTuesday said that it was “veryimportant” decision towardschanging the status quo of1994 and creating a betterunderstanding of the Ayodhyaissue.

Senior BJP leader PrakashJavadekar said the BJP-ledGovernment wants the con-struction of Ram Temple atAyodhya following the legalprocess. “The Government’s

application in the court is alsoa part of this legal process..’, hesaid.

Addressing a press con-ference here, he said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasalso said that people wantRame temple and theGovernment would take stepsafter due legal process.

He said the BJP is confi-dent that the Supreme Courtwould accept the applicationand restore 42 acre of the 67acre undisputed land to theRam Janambhoomi Nyas, theorginal owner of the land.Javadekar said this wouldhave no impact on the .03

acre disputed land at Ayodhyawhere status quo would con-tinue.

Attacking the Congressfor its alleged ambivalent standon the Ayodhya issue, he saidthe Opposition party wasalways seeking to delay theconstruction of the temple atAyodhya by causing delay inthe legal process.

The BJP leader saidCongress does not believe inRam or ‘Ram Setu’ andreferred to the Congress affi-davit in the court which he saidthe Opposition party had ques-tioned the existence of “RamSetu”.

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After National Herald build-ing, the Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs(HUA) has cancelled the landlease of “Link House” (alsoknown as Patriot House) atBahadur Shah Zafar (BSZ)Marg occupied by United IndiaPeriodicals Private Limited(UIPPL).

Top sources in the HUAsaid that Land andDevelopment Department ofthe HUA Ministry has issuednotice for cancellation of landlease after the occupant foundviolating land lease conditions.The violations are identical inmost of the buildings on BSZ

Marg. If the premises were notused for printing press, it isamount to the misuse of theallotted land and the Land andDevelopment Department hasthe right to take it back.

This is the second buildingon the BSZ Marg which faceseviction notice by the HUAMinistry after the Herald build-ing. UIPPL was the publisherof daily newspaper known as“Patriot” and Link magazine.The printing and distributionof daily newspaper and maga-zine was stopped in June, 1996due to lock-out in the compa-ny on account of recurring loss-es.

According to HUA, UIPPLwas allotted 0.50 acre plot atBSZ Marg (plot number 3) forthe construction of a buildingfor bonafide purpose of pressin 1959.

“At that time, Aruna AsafAli was the Director of the

UIPPL and the premises“Patriot House” was known as“Link House”. In 1961, theallottee was allowed to use2/3rd of total built up area forgeneral office use, commercialor otherwise. This was subjectto condition that 1/3rd of thetotal built up area will be usedfor press. Subsequently, thePerpetual Lease in respect ofthe above allotment was signedon 04.08.1962,” the HUAMinistry’s note said.

“Further, inspections ofthe premises revealed a largenumber of misuses as well asunauthorised construction onleased land. Though the inspec-tion reports mention usage ofbasement as store as well as

currency chest of Central Bankof India, these reports do notalk about existence of anyworking printing press. Onthe basis of complaints receivedregarding misuse of the leasedproperty, a three member com-mittee inspected the premiseson February 23, 2018 andfound that no portion of thebuilding is being used as a Pressby the Lessee,” it said.

Accordingly, a show causenotice was issued on April 4,2018 to UIPPL why evictionprocess should not be takenagainst them for violation ofthe lease conditions.

Sources said that the replyreceived from UIPPL has beenexamined and it has been

observed that the very purposeof allotment of land whichwas meant for functioning ofpress has been defeated as oneof the important terms/condi-tions of lease agreement viz.utilisation of one/third portionof the premises for the purposeof the Press has been found vio-lated. Further, the unauthorisedconstruction which has beennoticed during the last inspec-tion, is also a violation of leasedeed.

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Guwahati: Ten political partiesof the North-East, most ofwhich are members of the BJP-led North East DemocraticAlliance (NEDA), along withthe saffron party’s key ally inBihar, the JD(U), on Tuesdayunanimously decided to joint-ly oppose the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill.

At a meeting of the parties,it was also decided that a dele-gation comprising representa-tives of all the outfits would meetPresident Ram Nath Kovindand Prime Minister NarendraModi to apprise them of theiropposition to the Bill that soughtto provide Indian citizenship tothose Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,Jains, Parsees and Christians,who fled religious persecution inBangladesh, Pakistan andAfghanistan and entered Indiabefore December 31, 2014, aftersix years of residence in thecountry.

Meghalaya Chief Minister

Conrad K Sangma, on whoseinitiative the meeting wascalled, and his Mizoram coun-terpart Zoramthanga alsoattended the meeting.

The Asom Gana Parishad(AGP), which has pulled out ofthe Sarbananda Sonowal-ledBJP Government in Assamover the issue, was also associ-

ated with the convening of themeeting.

The 10 political partiesthat participated in the meet-ing from across the North-Eastwere — the Mizo NationalFront (MNF), the UnitedDemocratic Party (UDP), theAGP, the Naga People’s Front(NPF), the National People’s

Party (NPP), the NationalDemocratic Progressive Party(NDPP), the Hill State People’sDemocratic Party (HSPDP),the People’s Democratic Front(PDF), the Indigenous People’sFront of Tripura (IPFT) and theKhnam.

The Janata Dal (United)was represented at the meetingby its North-East in-charge,NSN Lotha.

“The meeting was a natur-al process, considering theopposition of the north-eaststates to the Bill and it was notpolitically motivated,” Sangmatold reporters here after themeeting.

“Most political parties inthe region are protesting againstthe bill in their respective statesand so, we decided to cometogether and discuss measuresto protect our people and theregion,” he added.

On being asked about con-tinuing in the NEDA, Sangma

said it was premature to discusspolitical issues and they would“take a call if the situation aris-es. As of now, we have not comehere to discuss politics but toaddress a very sentimental issuewhich concerns the people ofthe region”.

He pointed out that NEDAconvenor and Assam FinanceMinister Himanta Biswa Sarmawas aware of the meeting,adding, “We are communicat-ing with all as the primaryresponsibility of political partiesis towards the people and theregion.”

Asked whether a newregional alliance was in the off-ing in the north-east, Sangmasaid, “We will take a decision atan appropriate time.”

He also refused to com-ment on whether the bill wouldbe a defining factor in theupcoming Lok Sabha polls,saying, “It is premature to com-ment on it.” PTI

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BSP president Mayawati onTuesday took a swipe at

Congress President RahulGandhi for his promise ofproviding minimum incomeon coming to power and won-dered if it was another crueljoke like the promises of “garibihatao” or “achchhe din”.

The BSP leader advisedRahul Gandhi to first imple-ment schemes relating topoverty alleviation and othersrelated to welfare of people inCongress-ruled States espe-cially in Rajasthan, Punjab,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh so that peoplehave faith that they can beimplemented properly at thenational level.

“The promise of Congressjust before the Lok Sabha elec-tions of guaranteeing mini-mum income has led to sur-prise and created doubtsamong countrymen,” BSP pres-ident Mayawati said in a partyrelease issued here.

Is this promise anothercruel joke like the Congress’promise of “garibi hatao” orthat of the present BJPGovernment of depositing �15to 20 lakhs in the account of allpoor or “achchhe din” whichhave only proved to be hollowpromises, Mayawati wondered.

The record of both BJPand Congress is not goodwhen it comes to electionpromises, she said and addedthat even if such promiseshave been implemented they

have proved to be a mere eye-wash.

People can see results of“garibi hatao” slogan of formerPrime Minister Indira Gandhifor themselves, she said, addingboth the Congress and BJPshould not make any promisewhich they cannot fulfil.

People have tested both theCongress and BJP in the past72 years and therefore it is theappeal of the BSP that theybelieve the party which worksmore than making tall clamsand promises, she said.

Rahul Gandhi had onMonday said his party wouldensure minimum incomeguarantee for every poor in thecountry if it returns to powerafter Lok Sabha polls due inApril-May.

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In a significant initiative takenin the election year, the BJP-

led saffron allianceGovernment on Tuesday decid-ed to bring the Chief Ministerunder the purview ofLokayukta of Maharashtra andeffect necessary changes in theexisting law to make the exist-

ing law broad-based and ensuretransparency in the process ofappointment of Lokayukta andUpa-Lokayukta.

At a weekly meetingpresided over by Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis, the StateCabinet decided approved theproposal to amend theMaharashtra Lokayukta andUpa-Lokayuktas Act 1971 after

incorporating some new pro-visions in the UnionGovernment’s Lokpal andLokayuktas Act, 2013.

Having vetted the propos-al brought before it after incor-porating the new provisions inthe Centre’s Lokpal andLokayuktas Act, 2013, the StateCabinet decided to amend theMaharashtra Lokayukta andUpa-Lokayuktas Act 1971 so asto strengthen the office ofLokayukta and empower theperson holding the office to

investigate the allegations of theChief Minister.

The State Cabinet alsodecided to expand the purviewof the Maharashtra Lokayuktaand Upa-Lokayuktas Act 1971and make the process ofappointment of Lokayukta andUpa-Lokayukta transparent.

Among other things, theapproved proposal has recom-mended the setting up of aselection committee under thechairmanship of the ChiefMinister.

�.��& -��++�������������$�� �+�!��%�� �Mumbai: Shiv Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray has askedparty MPs to focus on their con-stituencies and take up strong-ly farmers’ problems while leav-ing the issue of alliance with theBJP to him.

Shiv Sena’s commitment isto the people of the State,Thackeray’s close aide HarshalPradhan said on Tuesday quot-ing the party chief.

Thackeray had met Sena

MPs and MLAs at his resi-dence ‘Matoshree’ in suburbanBandra here on Monday.

“The Sena will fight thiselection with all its strength. Allthe sitting MPs should focus onissues related to their con-stituencies and if they don’t feelconfident of winning again,they should make way for oth-ers,” Pradhan said quotingThackeray.

“The issue of alliance with

the BJP should be left to me,” hequoted the Sena president as say-ing.

He said Thackeray asked theMPs to work on the ground andreview the crop insurance pay-ments and waiver of loans tofarmers.

Pradhan also said thatThackeray has not received anycommunication from the BJPabout discussion on allianceprospects.

“Last year, BJP presidentAmit Shah visited Matoshree tomeet Uddhavji and decided tokeep in touch. However, afterthat there has been no commu-nication from the BJP,” he added.

The Sena had last yearannounced to go solo in futureelections.

The party had on Mondaysaid it would always be the “bigbrother” in an alliance with theBJP in Maharashtra. PTI

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Top BJP leadership on Tuesday mountedscathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee

Government while their cadres did the samephysically on multiple Trinamool Congressaddresses. Many shops and houses were van-dalised in parts of East Midnapore moments afterparty president Amit Shah left the rally groundsaying, “there will be no TMC Government bythe mid-noon of the counting day.” He was refer-ring to the coming general elections.

Both Shah and his party colleague BiplabDeb said BJP was a necessity in Bengal if the Statewere to be restored to its lost glory when it ledIndia politically, culturally and economically.

While the Tripura Chief Minister comparedhis Bengal counterpart with blind KingDhritarashtra from a rally at Arambagh inHooghly, accusing her of being blind to the “syn-dicate raj and terror raj” in her State, Shah linkedthe failure of the Bengal Government to com-pensate the chit fund depositors to the Ponzimasterminds’ purchasing her paintings for fan-tastic amounts. Alleging that every fifth person

in the State was poor with noaccess to food he said the TMCwas trying to suppress hungerwith violence.

“If the communists giftedpoverty to Bengal the Trinamooladded syndicate raj and violenceto it,” Shah said calling for achange of Government in theState “so that the much cher-ished Sonar Bangla (goldenBengal) can be restored here.”

He said that Banerjee wasrebranding all the Centralschemes to sell them in the Stateas her own creation he said“while the Centre introducedSwachchha Bharat, she imple-mented it as Nirmal Bangla,while the Centre brought BetiBachao, Beti Padhao sherenamed it as Kanyashri, whilethe Centre started AyushmanBharat she replicated it asSwasthya Saathi,” complaininghow the State Government wasblocking Ayushman Bharat (ahealt insurance scheme) fromentering the State.

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Adeeply poignant moment of the70th Republic Day parade was thespellbinding citation of LanceNaik Nazir Ahmad Wani for theaward of the Ashok Chakra, the

highest ‘peacetime gallantry award’, which isa terrible misnomer in war-ravaged Kashmir.A terrorist-turned-soldier, Wani is the firstKashmiri to bag this medal for conspicuousvalour. Having won two Sena Medals earli-er, he is the bravest son of the soil. An equal-ly poignant moment was captured in the high-ly emotive picture of Wani’s CommandingOfficer of Rashtriya Rifles battalion clutch-ing his father, consoling him. Kashmiri sol-diers and terrorists gunning for each other isnot a new normal in the Valley. The stunningirony of this epic encounter is that very few,if any, Kashmiris are celebrating his martyr-dom for fear of reprisals. Only a handfulattended his funeral in Kulgam; whereas whenanother Wani, Kashmir’s poster boy, BurhanWani, was killed in 2016 by the security forces,crowds of sympathisers, fellow terroristsand overground workers were among anunprecedented 30,000 (by one account) and150,000 (by another estimate) mourners. Suchis the striking chasm in commemorating trau-ma and tragedy in Kashmir.

Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya PalMalik was right. It is not the militants that haveto be killed but militancy. Military comman-ders in the State have for long been agonisedover this dilemma — body count but alsosecuring the support of the people.Unfortunately, local support is diminishing,converting to public disrupting militaryoperations to enable the terrorists escape. Andwhen they are killed, it is the same civilianswho publicly glorify their martyrdom. But noKashmiri leader — no one — had a word ofpraise for soldier Wani’s bravery and sacrifice.

When terrorist Wani was beingdescribed as a cat with nine lives, he was alsobeing paired with the academic hotshot,UPSC topper Shah Faesal — two Kashmirison divergent paths to stardom. While Faesalhas abandoned the civil service for politics,for reasons he has principally attributed to“the environment of siege in Kashmir”, hehas said a lot more: Like “the roots of con-flict are deeper than mere radicalisation”;“Kashmir is not a development issue” (evenas the Governor was promising 40 new col-leges and five medical colleges); “Hurriyatis a stakeholder and without its participation,a peace process is unrealistic”…Faesal hasbeen more blunt in admitting he quit hisGovernment job to protest the unabatedkillings in Kashmir, subversion of theCentral Bureau of Investigation, ReserveBank of India and National InvestigationAgency; and marginalisation of Muslims. Wewill see if he becomes a topper in politics.

Another Wani, journalist KhurshidWani, who writes for The Pioneer, declared2018 annus horribilis. On Republic Day, henoted: “Transition of power four times, high-est levels of violence in a decade, lowest eco-

nomic activity and unendingpolitical uncertainty markedone of the most tumultuousyears in the recent history ofJammu & Kashmir”.

For the security forces,though, there was cause to cele-brate. With the elimination ofthree remaining terrorists,Baramulla became the first of 13police districts in Kashmir tobecome militant-free. The lasttime a district was declared ‘mil-itant-free’ was Kulgam in 2008but that was short-lived. SrinagarCorps Commander, Lt Gen AnilBhatt, who was awarded UYSMon Republic Day, hailed theRamzan ceasefire, the holding oflocal elections and the extendingduration of an incident-freeAmarnath Yatra as outstandingachievements of 2018. Further,accounting for 257 terrorists at anattrition rate of 1:8 (soldiers:ter-rorist), capturing 54 terrorists andkilling 26 terrorist leaders arehighest military successes since2010. Army Chief Gen BipinRawat is pleased with the strongcounter-infiltration grid; though140 infiltrators got through whilenearly 100 were killed. Rawatasked: “Will Faesal ask misguid-ed youth to give up the gun”? Intit-for-tat killings, the advantagewas claimed by Lt Gen RanbirSingh, Army Commander inJammu & Kashmir and the men-tor of surgical strikes. Revenge forPakistan taking out our soldierswith sniper fire has been takenwith interest, he said.

The military continues with

its mission of ridding the Valleyof terrorists — bringing down thethreat from the present 300 ter-rorists to zero and declaring theValley terrorist-free while simul-taneously regaining local supportto bring back normalcy.Alienation and Islamist radical-isation are galloping ahead with-out any effective steps to arresttheir momentum and rollback. Aformer BSF intelligence chief, SSGuleria, has said Salafism backedby Pakistan has sounded thedeath knell of Kashmiriyat, whichis being eroded by a fanaticIslam, and Wahabi preachersare systematically propagating theSalafi ideology among villageyouth on Fridays and encourag-ing students to hate non-Muslims. The Hurriyat, Jamaat-e-Islami, Ahl-i-Hadith and othersimilar organisations have spreadextremist ideologies in the Valley.Guleria has recommended there-opening of cinemas, bars andliquor shops as well as stagingconcerts, playing IPL matchesand restructuring the madrasacurriculum. It is time to target theinstigators/abettors of violenceand hatred.

The overall picture at thebeginning of 2019 is bleak andchilly as the weather in theValley. Every couple of years, sayin a decade, the clock moves a fullcircle. Security forces do whatthey are best at: Putting the lid onviolence and reducing the terror-ist population to a manageablelevel. In other words, creatingconditions conducive to resum-

ing a political process with allstakeholders, including theHurriyat. Non-initiation of dia-logue is immense disservice tothe security forces, who ultimate-ly carry the can. The momentumof internal dialogue has to bebacked up with reviving thetalks process with Pakistan.Ideally, the two have to operatein tandem. Pakistan Army Chief,Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa hasreportedly sent feelers for talks toGen Rawat, who is ready to takea leap of faith. After the Centralelections and elections in Jammu & Kashmir, both strandsof the Kashmir dialogue can bestarted sometime in mid-2019.The start of a peace process inAfghanistan shows there is nomilitary solution.

Radha Kumar noted in herbook, Paradise at War: “For thesake of Kashmiris, we must hopethat a peace agreement is arrivedat, sooner than later. The state ofconflict in which they’ve had tolive for the past 30 years with onlybrief interregnums of peace isintolerable…”. A young Kashmiriarchitect told Kumar recently: “Íjust want to be left alone in myKashmir.” Given the 70 years ofIndia-Pakistan conflict overKashmir, that might be too muchto ask. But that should not be,Kumar concludes.

(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff, cur-rently the revamped IntegratedDefence Staff)

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Rahul pledges basic incomefor the poor” (January 29).Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’sguarantee of a minimum incomefor the poor can be a game-changer if indeed it is executedwith the active participation ofthe Government. The move, ifimplemented, is bound toimprove the quality of educationand the overall all healthcarescenario and will bring downout-of-pocket expenditure.Besides, it will also give privateplayers a run for their money.

The Government can rescueboth the education and healthsector from the grip of privatehijackers. It is, perhaps, a betteroption to guarantee minimumincome to the poor than provid-ing them with other forms ofconcessions like loans waiversand insurance schemes.

India is a welfare state. Butthe idea of ‘welfare’ is heldhostage as a large chunk of edu-cational and health services isallowed to be propelled by prof-it motives of the market force.

Sujit DeKolkata

�����������Sir — This refers to the report,“Writer Gita Mehta declinesPadma Shri citing election year”(January 27). It is a well-knownfact that the Padma Awards areannounced on the eve of theRepublic Day every year. It wassheer coincidence that this year,the awards were declared a fewmonths before the general elec-

tion and the Assembly elec-tions in Odisha are to be heldsimultaneously. It, therefore,seems highly improper and evenundignified for Gita Mehta tohave declined the award on thebasis of its timing being close tothe elections.

Mehta must be aware that herbrother, Naveen Patnaik, ChiefMinister of Odisha, is favourablydisposed towards Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and, therefore, tothink that the Padma Award hasanything to do with influencinghis brother, appears senseless.

Patnaik rightly sidestepped hissister’s remarks saying that she hasall the right to decline the awardand at the same time congratulat-ed all those from his State who werehonoured with the award.

M RatanVia email

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Unpleasant home truths” (January29) by A Surya Prakash.Undoubtedly, the Congress usedthe highest civilian honour as apolitical tool but the NDAGovernment has fared no better.To rest the debate on this, a com-mittee should be formed thatshould be given the responsibilityto discuss and shortlist the namesof the nominees. Otherwise, thecurrent method will only lead tothe erosion of credibility.

ShivanshVia email

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Sir — Novak Djokovic’s win at theAustralian Open has once againopened the debate as to who is thegreatest male tennis player of alltime. However, the trio of RogerFederer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovichas undoubtedly crafted a goldenera in men’s tennis.

ShubhamVia email

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Think of all problems that havecome to beset urban India suchas lack of jobs, amenities and

demonetisation. It will only unravela pattern of systematic apathy. This isevidenced by the lack of budgetarysupport, especially to the marginalisedin Indian cities. A curious disconnecthas set between the NDA’s urbanmanifesto and its near and medium-term spending for this lot. For a coali-tion, whose poll planks were focussedon spectacular urban themes, likeSmart Cities and Bullet Trains, thisdisconnect represents an anomaly.

However, this phenomenon isnot new. The Standing Committeeon Urban Development, in its reporton Demands for Grants (2018-19),tabled in March 2018, had suggest-ed that the Ministry of Housing and

Urban Affairs should move towardshigher budgetary allocation, consid-ering its key role in implementingmost flagship schemes of the NDA.The total outlay for the Ministry in2018-19 stood at only 1.71 per centof the total outlay of over �24.42 lakhcrore — a decrease in share from 1.88per cent in 2017-18. The Committeenoted that the Ministry’s average out-lay had nearly stagnated at 1.59 percent from 2014-15. This despite theGovernment’s increasing emphasison urban issues.

Fading magic: One of the key pol-icy pitches of the NDA Governmentwas the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojanaor the Housing for All scheme thatpromised to build close to 12 millionhouses by 2022. It aimed to rehabili-tate slum dwellers in situ by utilisingthe land as a resource, promoting andbuilding affordable housing throughprivate-public partnerships and facil-itating targeted subsidies for individ-ual house construction.

However, the Medium-termExpenditure Framework Statement,which provides insights on the UnionGovernment’s finances for different

ministries/departments and schemesfor the next two years, shows thatmost of these targets are likely to fallshort because of below par expendi-ture estimates for this flagship scheme.The 2018-19 budgeted estimate forurban housing expenditure stood at�6,505 crore, a marginal increase from�6,042 crore in 2017-18 revised esti-mates. The figure is projected toincrease slightly to �6,955 crore in2019-20, as per the statement.

This poor allocation for urbanhousing assumes special importancedue to the burgeoning of slums inmegacities and larger towns, not to for-get the uninhabitable living conditionsin these informal settlements. Out ofthe 5.49 million houses to be built inthe last three years, only 15 per centhave been completed, while theremaining are either in the planningstage and/or under construction.

It has already been acknowl-edged by a Parliamentary OversightCommittee on PMAY-U that out ofa total project cost of �2.04 lakh crore(�2.04 trillion) and total centralshare of �57,699 crore (�576.99 bil-lion), as low as �26,162 crore (�261.2

billion) has been sanctioned forrelease as against the �57,699 crore(�576.99 billion) required for fulfill-ing PMAY targets. In its report, theCommittee noted that “all is not wellwith the implementation of thescheme and the progress of PMAYhas been disappointing”. In itsdefence, however, the Governmentpointed out that it has set up aNational Urban Housing Fund(NUHF) worth over �60,000 crore inFebruary 2018. The body aims tofacilitate the required funds over thenext three years (ie till 2022) and pro-vide for any shortfall that may arise.The terms of the fund, where andhow it will generate money from andthe reporting and monitoring mech-anism, are still unclear.

Progress of NULM: At a timewhen urban services, particularly forvulnerable groups, are languishing,allocation to the DeendayalAntyodaya Yojana — National UrbanLivelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)scheme was reduced by 11.17 percent at �310 crore in 2018-19 over�349 crore in 2017-18. A year-wiseanalysis suggests that Budget alloca-

tion for NULM showed a downwardtrend post 2014-2015 with the high-est Budget cut in 2015-16.

However, the Government tooksome ‘innovative’ steps, like planningfor the development of “model shel-ters” for urban homeless in severalStates, which were likely to provideseveral facilities like RO water, play-ground and television to occupants.But with a decline in budgetary allo-cation since 2015-16, the target ofsetting up 1,331 shelters before 2019seems unlikely to be achieved.

Where the two meet: In the lastone year, the NDA Government hasbeen hit by twin salvos: On the onehand, farmers protests and strikeshave brought the issue of long-termagrarian distress to the doorsteps ofthe urban masses. On the other, theurban electorate seems to be retreat-ing from its usual support for the BJP,largely due the lack of jobs, demon-etisation and the hasty rollout of theGoods and Services Tax (GST).

As the BJP Government is goingall out to woo the farming and theagrarian communities after sustain-ing heavy losses in the Hindi heart-

land States of Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, it ismost likely that in the interimBudget to be presented on February1, it will give priority to the rejuve-nation of rural demand and increasetheir income. But a blinkeredapproach may not do well to assuagerural distress. The Government mustaddress the systemic malaise and thelack of budgetary allocation for theunderprivileged in urban centres.

It is almost clear by now that therural and urban are not separatetopographical categories. The social,economic and political linkagesbetween both centres are vital toenrich the Indian economy. Poorbudgetary allocation for flagshipurban schemes will exacerbate bothurban destitution and rural distress.Course correction on urban agendawill not only have spillover effects onrural migration patterns and farmerincomes but holds the potential to re-think rural problems differently.

(The writer is with the Centre forBudget and GovernanceAccountability, Delhi. Views expressedhere are personal)

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We all know that technology,especially the internet, is themajor disruptive force that ischanging everything and turn-ing every model, known and

unknown, on its head. At a basic level, it is con-necting the average citizen to information anddata and empowering him/her in an unprece-dented way — in both good and bad ways. Thisputs all institutions under pressure to changeand adapt — and more so Parliaments and par-liamentary representatives.

India is the world’s largest democracy at70 years. It is vibrant democracy and is alsoleading the charge on technology. So, it’sinevitable that we use technology to furthertransform legislatures and make them moreeffective, responsive, transparent and accountable.

We must bypass the temptation to makethis transformation a debate only about whatthe latest cutting-edge technology is, butrather about focussing on the following out-comes of:

i) Increased efficiency, capacity and capa-bility for MPs — in responding to citizens, leg-islation and executive oversight,

i i) Increased participation of the citizen and,

iii) Increased trust, transparency, respon-siveness of Parliament as an institution.

To make Parliament an effective institutionto deliver good governance, we must focus onthe following:

1) First, enabling representatives and cit-izens — making the public representative anagent of technology and innovation rather thanconforming to the conventional image of thepublic representative as a laggard in innovation.

That approach starts with every public rep-resentative being technology-enabled withtools and training. Digitally enablingParliament is only fully effective if citizens arealso online. So, while India is one of the world’slargest connected countries, it still has one ofthe largest unconnected citizenry. In the lastfour years or so, we have rapidly grown toabout 400 million internet-connected citizens,and hopefully by 2022, which would be our75th Independence year, we will have close toa billion Indians connected to the internet and,therefore, connected to their representative,government and legislature — seeking outinformation, services and accountability.

2) So, flowing from that, transforming theconnect between representative and con-stituents and creating visibility and reportingof a MP’s work in Parliament become the sec-ond part of our strategy. Every member has aportal with all his work updated, for his or herconstituents to see and critique. This has amajor impact on quality of debates and inter-ventions and indeed in the interaction betweenconstituent and the parliamentarian.

3) The third goal is of Parliament as aninstitution. The cynicism about politics andParliaments among the youth is a global prob-lem and indeed a big risk as future generationsare increasingly tuning out of democracy and

politics and more so for us because of ourunique and large youth demographic. Gettingthem to believe and trust politics andParliament is important for our democracy.

We have already created parliamentaryportals and search engines that have digitisedthe archives and current work of Parliamentand parliamentarians — and make them eas-ily available. The future would be to includepublic e-consultation of legislations directlythrough the Parliament portal and platformand thereby address the issue of representa-tion and participation. We must take these por-tals and platforms out to the youth in a waythat they tune into politics and find Parliamentan institution they can relate to.

4) The fourth is Parliament as an institu-tion for oversight of the executive where par-liamentary questions (PQs) are being digitisedand made available. In a country where legis-latures — Centre and State — have to deliverimportant goals on poverty, security and othersocial services — debates and oversights thatare based on data and facts are very importantto review the performance of the executive.While Budget documents and other financialdata are already on online databases, we mustalso publish social security and spending pro-gramme data and performance online.

We must create a web-based GeographicInformation System (GIS), which provides up-to-date information about sites of importantprojects funded and spearheaded by the exec-utive. This enables MPs to sharpen their over-sight roles.

We need to create a dedicated socialmedia portfolio to optimise citizen participa-tion in following up on executive commitmentsand evaluating progress. WhatsApp, Instagram

and YouTube, for example, can be a portal forcitizens to give reports on actual conditionsand progress made, thus holding the executiveto account.

In the future, we should enable Parliamentplatform gatewaying and interfacing with theMyGov governance platform, which is the waytechnology is being embedded and transform-ing decades-old way of governance in India.

The present Government, led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, fully recognises therisks of technology to democracy and securi-ty, risks that range from fake news impactingdemocratic process to content that enablessecurity problems to the issue of personal lib-erty arising out of data privacy inadequacies.These issues are being carefully worked on —using a combination of legislation and creat-ing capacities within regulators— including themost important issue of citizen awareness inmainstream politics and democracy.

The Modi Government believes technol-ogy is the way to empower the citizen andtransform Parliament and democracy for thefuture. It’s not a choice but an absolute needto remain relevant. The Indian Parliament isfirm in its commitment to realise this. All par-liamentarians should support each other forthis transformation of our parliamentaryinstitutions by digitally enabling them.

We must ensure this transformation andenabling process as not being restricted to theParliament alone, but to move this model, oncesuccessful, into the two other tiers of ourdemocracy — state legislatures and legislatorsand city/ village councils and councillors —that is over 700,000 mini and micro legislatureswith elected representatives.

(The writer is a Member of Parliament)

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Adversely impacted by thenational carrier Air India’s

recent switch to single ticket-ing platform, travel agentindustry bodies have written toCentral Vigilance Commission(CVC) to reverse the retro-grade move and bring respite tolakhs of small travel operatorshit hard by airline’s decision.

In a missive shot off toCVC, Travel Agents Associationof India (TAAI) and TravelAgents Federation of India(TAFI) have pointed out thatAir India’s decision to go exclu-sive with Travelport, a globaldistribution system (GDS) withless than 20 per cent marketshare, is an ‘illegal’ decisiontaken without a transparentpublic auction of GDS rights.

Last month, in a movewith far-reaching effect ontravel industry and passengersalike, Air India ended its thir-ty-year-old relationship withworld’s largest GDS player anddata provider Amadeus. Theexclusive rights were surpris-ingly given to Travelport, whichis the subsidiary of Interglobe,company that also operatesAir India’s rival carrier IndiGo.The letter says that “the con-nection between Travelportand IndiGo Airlines, a com-petitor of Air India, is alsoextremely relevant in terms offair competition and businesspractices between airlines.”

Travel agents argue thatthe immediate impact will befelt by passengers whose AirIndia tickets are booked through

agents/travel portals usingAmadeus computerised reser-vation network. GDS is a com-puter network and reservationtool that holds real-time data onairline inventory, fares, avail-ability and other such details,and passes it on to travel agentsto allow them to make book-ings. GDS accounts for 80% ofbookings for service carrierssuch as Air India and being onmultiple GDS or ticketing plat-forms ensures better reach anddistribution. The letter mentionsthat, “ the non-Travelport book-ings comprise of approximate-ly �6000 crore of Air India rev-enue and therefore an exclusivecontract awarded by Air Indiato Travelport would severelyreduce Air India revenue.”

Air India inventory wasavailable on all the three GDS.On June 4, Air India’s agree-ment with Amadeus expiredand the airline pulled out itsinventory after a six-monthnotice period. In the past onemonth, petitions in publicinterest were filed in three dif-ferent high courts against AirIndia’s decision to makeTravelport its exclusive GDSprovider. Unfortunately, evenafter Mumbai High Courtruled in favour of travel indus-try and directed Air India to getback on Amadeus, the move isyet to be seen in reality.

The letter also points outthat, “the illegal appointment ofTravelport by Air India as itsexclusive GDS partner wasdone without following themandatory procedure of a pub-lic auction”.

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The Indianrupee on

T u e s d a yended flat at71.11 againstthe US dollar,with focusshifting to theFed policymeet and USChina tradetalks.

The forexmarket senti-ment gotr e v i v e dtowards thefag-end trade offseting earlylosses amid increased selling ofthe greenback by exporters.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange, the rupee openedon a weak note at 71.19 thenfell further to 71.22 against theUS dollar. The local unit, how-ever, erased the initial gainsand settled for the day at�71.11, up by just 1 paisaover its previous close.

On Monday, the rupeehad settled 7 paise higher at71.10 against the US dollar.

“Indian rupee consolidatesin a narrow range ahead of theFederal Reserve Monetary pol-icy and US China trade talksoutcome. FOMC likely to hold

rate unchanged at 2.50 percent,” HDFC Securities HeadPCG & Capital MarketStrategy V K Sharma said.

Sharma further said thegovernment will table theinterim Budget Friday andrupee is likely to react nega-tively in the short term, if gov-ernment gives the populistbudget. Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back’s strength against a bas-ket of six currencies, was trad-ing largely unchanged at 95.74.

Foreign funds sold sharesworth �354.36 crore from thecapital markets on a net basis,while the domestic institu-tional investors bought shares

worth �81.27 crore Tuesday,provisional data showed.

The benchmark BSESensex on Tuesday ended64.20 points lower at 35,592,while the NSE Nifty also edgedlower by over 9 points to closeat 10,652 on mixed cues fromglobal markets amid freshconcerns over ongoing US-China trade tiff.

The Financial BenchmarkIndia Private Ltd (FBIL) set thereference rate for therupee/dollar at 71.0942 and forrupee/euro at 81.3180. The ref-erence rate for rupee/Britishpound was fixed at 93.5453and for rupee/100 Japaneseyen at 65.05.

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Shares of Jet Airways fell over two per cent in the afternoontrade Tuesday amid the crisis-hit airline deciding to seek share-

holders’ approval for conversion of loans into shares.The full-service carrier, which is looking to raise funds to

tide over financial woes, would hold a meeting of the shareholderson February 21 and has sought nod from them for various pro-posals.

Shares of Jet Airways dropped 2.36 per cent to �239.60 apiecein the afternoon trade on the BSE.

After opening at �245.50, the scrip touched a high of �251.35before shedding the gains.

The airline would seek shareholders’ approval for conver-sion loan into shares or convertible instruments or other secu-rities, according to a regulatory filing made on Monday.

The extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders is tobe held on February 21.

The airline would seek nod to “convert the whole or part ofthe outstanding under loans, extended / to be extended by thelenders, into shares, or convertible instruments or other secu-rities, of the company...”, according to the notice of the meetingsubmitted to the stock exchanges.

The conversion would be done as per the terms contained inthe respective loan documents between the company and its lenders.It would also be subject to all requisite regulatory approvals.

Besides, Jet Airways would seek shareholders’ approval tonegotiate and finalise the terms and conditions with the lendersfor raising further loans from time to time as well as provide thelenders with a right to convert such loans into shares, or con-vertible instruments or other securities.

Further, loans would be within the overall existing borrow-ing limit of �25,000 crore.

Among others, the airline has decided to increase its autho-rised share capital to �2,200 crore from �200 crore, accordingto the notice.

Approval from the shareholders has also been sought for alter-ation in the company’s Articles of Association to provide rightsfor lenders to appoint people as nominee directors or as observerson the board.

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Crisis-ridden Jet Airwayswas Tuesday forced to

ground three of its Boeing 737planes due to non-payment oflease rentals, leading to can-cellation of around 20 domes-tic flights, according to sources.

With three more planestaken out of operations, thenumber of aircraft on grounddue to non-payment of leaserentals by the carrier now standat six in the last two days, thesource added.

“Jet Airways has defaultedon aircraft lease rentals and ithas been forced to ground threemore narrow-body Boeing 737planes,” a source in the know ofthe development told.

Due to the fresh groundingof the planes, the airline, whichis negotiating with its partnerEtihad for additional cash infu-sion, has cancelled as many as19 flights to/from Delhi,Chennai, Mumbai, Pune,Hyderabad, Port Blair andBengaluru, the source added.

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The US has charged Chinesetelecom giant Huawei with

a series of crimes includingstealing trade secrets, a movethat can escalate hostilitiesbetween the world’s biggesteconomic powers and compli-cate efforts to negotiate an endto their bruising trade war.

The charges were unveiledahead of crucial trade talksbetween American andChinese officials on January 30and 31. The charges are likelyto raise tensions between Chinaand the US.

However, the White HouseMonday denied that there wasany link between the two.

The Justice Departmenton Monday unsealed two cases

against Huawei that detail aslew of allegations. One indict-ment accuses Huawei of tryingto steal trade secrets from T-Mobile (TMUS), and ofpromising bonuses to employ-ees who collected confidentialinformation on competitors.

A second indictmentclaims the company worked toskirt US sanctions on Iran.

China decried the “politi-cal manipulations” behind theUS case against Huawei.

“For some time, the US hasused state power to discreditand crack down on specificChinese companies in anattempt to strangle the enter-prises’ legitimate and legaloperations,” China’s ForeignMinistry said in a statement.

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Honor, a smartphone e-brand under the Huawei

Group, on Mondayannounced the launch ofHonor View20, its latest flag-ship with eight world’s-firsttechnologies on Amazon.in.Making a significant leap inthe smartphone industry,Honor View20 leads the mar-ket with its disruptive tech-nologies and features. Pricedat �37,999, the 6GB +128GBvariant will be available intwo colors Midnight Blackand Sapphire Blue and the8GB+256GB variant will beavailable in Phantom Bluecolor at �45999 onAmazon.in.

The a l l new HonorView20 features e ightworld’s-first technologiesnamely — 48MP AI Camera,All-View Display (World’sfirst in-screen front camera

design) Kirin 980 AI chipsetwith Dual NPU manufac-tured by 7nm process, A76-cortex based CPU, Mali-G76GPU, 1.4Gbps cat21. Modemand S oC Support ing2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM.

Speaking at the launchoccasion, Allen Wang, VicePresident, Huawei India,said, “Strengthening ourportfolio of top-notch smart-phones, we are delighted tolaunch the Honor View20 inIndia on Amazon.in. Weunderstand users’ sentimentsand their requirement ofsmartphone that outperformstheir expectations. Packedwith eight worlds’ first evertechnological advancements,the Honor View20 bespeaksof our commitment to deliv-er premium and powerpacked smartphones. We arepositive that the smartphonewill be a great success inIndia.”

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India Inc expected to raisetheir hiring budgets by 34 per

cent and volumes by 31 percent in 2019, according to areport.

“The average hiring vol-umes are expected to rise by 31per cent in 2019, compared to25 per cent last year,” accord-ing to Mercer-Mettl’s 2ndAnnual ‘State of TalentAcquisition 2019’.

In addition, the reportrevealed that companies thatwere surveyed are expected toraise their hiring budgets by atleast 34 per cent compared to20 per cent of companies in2018.

The report is based on asurvey of over 900 recruit-ment decision-makers includ-ing VPs, SVPs, EVPs, C-suiteexecutives, directors, managers

and HR executives from acrossthe country.

The report noted that tech-nology will be a critical driverfor achieving better outcomes,as well as for adapting to thegrowing changes in the jobmarket and the hiring land-scape.

These outcomes are limit-ed not just to recruiting an ade-quate number of professionalsand retaining them but alsomanaging their human capitalefficiently.

According to the report,technology is employed exten-sively in sourcing (88 per cent)candidates, while it is used theleast when-boarding (49 percent), candidates.

In addition, a lack of bud-get (33 per cent) is the biggestobstacle to implementing tech-nology in the talent acquisitionprocess.

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Markets regulator Sebi onTuesday imposed a penal-

ty totalling �64 lakh on fourentities for engaging in 'non-genuine' transactions, whichcreated misleading impressionof trading in the BSE's stockoptions segment.

Individually, the marketswatchdog levied a fine of �21lakh on Nouvelle AdvisoryServices, �18 lakh onMammon Concast, �15 lakhon Mani Heart Care and �10lakh on GCK Stock, Sebi saidin four separate orders.

The orders are in line withSebi's announcement in April2018 to take action in a phased

manner against 14,720 entitiesfor fraudulent trade in illiquidstock options segment. SinceOctober, the regulator passedmore than 50 orders againstsuch entities.

The Securities andExchange Board of India (Sebi)conducted an investigation intothe trading activity in illiquidstock options on the BSE fromApril 2014 to September 2015after observing large-scalereversal of trades in the bourse'sstock options segment.

According to Sebi, thesetrades executed by the entitieswere non-genuine in natureand created an impression ofgenuine trading volumes inrespective contracts.

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Equity benchmarks Sensexand Nifty logged their third

straight session of losses onTuesday as jittery investorsbraced for key events like USFed policy, Union Budget andUS-China trade talks.

After gyrating over 350points, the BSE Sensex ended64.20 points lower at 35,592.While, the NSE Nifty edgedlower by over 9 points to closeat 10,652.

The 30-share Sensex haslost over 600 points in the lastthree sessions.

Meanwhile, global shareswere positive with key Asianbourses witnessing mixed trad-ing activities and Europe open-ing higher.

On the global front, thefocus will be on the US FederalReserve’s policy meeting onThursday and developmentsaround the Brexit deal.

Back home, investors arekeenly awaiting the upcominginterim Union Budget onFebruary 1 amid expectationsof some populist announce-ments, which analysts believemay derail the governmentfrom fiscal consolidation path.

“Market opened on a neg-ative note due to uncertaintiessurrounding the global marketand upcoming US Fed policy.

However, towards the closing,market managed to recoupsome of the losses supportedby strengthening rupee andshort-covering ahead of F&Oexpiry. Market is not com-pletely out of the wood asvolatility may extend in thecoming days due to interimbudget and election-led uncer-tainty,” said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch, Geojit FinancialServices Ltd.

Among the Sensex pack,Yes Bank, L&T, HDFC, RIL,HDFC Bank, PowerGrid andCoal India were the biggestlosers — falling up to 2.43%.

Other laggards were KotakBank, ONGC, Mahindra andMahindra, SBI, Tata Steel andInfosys.

Among the top gainerswere Sun Pharma, rallying2.61%. It was followed by BajajFinance, TCS, Asian Paints,ITC, HCL Tech — rising up to2.61%.

During the day, the 30-share Sensex touched an intra-day high of 35,734.14 anddipped to a low of 35,375.51. Itfinally settled with a loss of64.20 points, or 0.18%, at35,592.50. While, the broaderNSE Nifty settled 9.35 points,or 0.09%, down at 10,652.20.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) pur-chased shares worth a net of

�223.44 crore Monday, anddomestic institutional investors(DIIs) were net buyers to thetune of �92.32 crore, provi-sional data available with BSEshowed.

The rupee, meanwhile, wastrading flat against US dollar at71.09. The crude benchmarkBrent futures rose 1.05 percent to USD 60.44 per barrel.

According to analysts,global investor sentimentturned jittery after the UScharged Chinese telecom giantHuawei with a series of crimesincluding stealing trade secrets,a move that can escalate hos-tilities between the world’sbiggest economic powers andcomplicate efforts to negotiatean end to their bruising tradewar.

However, the White Houseon Monday denied that therewas any link between the two.

Elsewhere in Asia, HongKong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.16per cent and ShanghaiComposite Index shed 0.10%,while Korea’s Kospi rebounded0.28% and Japan’s Nikkei wasup 0.07%. In the eurozone,Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.01%,while Paris CAC 40 rose0.42%in late morning deals.While, London’s FTSE jumped1.12%. On Wall Street, DowJones Industrial Average ended0.84% lower on Monday.

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Housing finance company HDFC Ltd on Tuesdayreported a net profit of �2,113.80 crore on the standalonebasis for the third quarter ended December 2018. Thecompany had posted a net profit of �5,300 crore in theOctober-December quarter of the last financial year. Theprofit numbers for the quarter ended December 31, 2018are not comparable with that of the quarter endedDecember 31, 2017, HDFC Ltd said in a statement. Inthe quarter ended December 31, 2017, the company hadsold shares in the initial public offer of HDFC LifeInsurance Company Limited for a consideration of �5,250crore. Total income rose to �10,569 crore during theDecember quarter against �8,824 crore in the year-agoperiod. As per National Housing Bank (NHB) norms,the gross non-performing assets stood at 1.22 per centof the total assets (�4,731 crore) at the end of quarter. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.9 per cent, of whichTier I capital was 17.2 per cent and Tier II capital was1.7 per cent, it said. As per the regulatory norms, the min-imum requirement for the capital adequacy ratio and TierI capital is 12 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, it said.During the nine months ended December 2018, the com-pany’s profit after tax before other comprehensiveincome was �6,771 crore compared to �8,703 crore inthe corresponding period of the previous year.

4�*�9����?2������ ��������+AB�Software services major HCL Technologies on

Tuesday posted a 19 per cent increase in consolidatednet profit to �2,611 crore for the December 2018 quar-ter. The company had registered a net profit of �2,194crore in the year-ago period, according to a companystatement. Its revenue grew 22.6 per cent to �15,699crore, compared with �12,808 crore in the December2017 quarter. In dollar terms, the net profit rose 7 percent to USD 364 million for the December 2018 quar-ter, while revenue was higher 10.8 per cent to USD 2.2billion as compared to the year-ago period. The com-pany has maintained its FY19 revenue guidancebetween 9.5-11.5 per cent in constant currency basis.HCL Technologies board has declared an interim div-idend of �2 per share for FY19. The company added13,191 people (gross) during the quarter to take its totalheadcount to 1,32,328 at the end of the December 2018quarter.

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Drug firm Strides Pharma Science on Tuesdayreported a consolidated net profit of �296.43 crore for thequarter ended on December 31, 2018. The company hadposted a net profit of �88.11 crore for the correspondingperiod of the previous fiscal, Strides Pharma Science saidin a filing to BSE. Consolidated revenue from operationsof the company stood at �794.50 crore for the quarterunder consideration against �748.79 crore for the sameperiod a year ago. While the profit from the continuingoperations was �24.61 crore for the third quarter this fis-cal, it was �47.34 crore for the same period year ago. Theprofit from discontinued operations for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2018 stood at �271.82 crore. It was �40.77crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

0��� ���?2������ ��������D,B�Farm equipment and engineering major Escorts on

Monday reported a 52.34 per cent increase in standalonenet profit at �140.11 crore for the third quarter endedDecember 2018. The company had posted a net profitof �91.97 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.Its total income rose to �1,679.47 crore, up 38.42 per cent,during the third quarter as against �1,213.23 crore in theyear-ago period. Tractor sales rose 36 per cent to 25,743units during the third quarter of the current fiscal.

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Bajaj Finance Ltd on Tuesday reported 54 per centjump in consolidated net profit at �1,060 crore — the high-est ever quarterly profit — for the third quarter endedDecember, 2018. The company had posted a net profitof �690 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.The consolidated results of the company include theresults of its wholly owned subsidiaries Bajaj HousingFinance Ltd and Bajaj Financial Securities Ltd, it said ina release. Total income during the December quarter of2018 was up by 48 per cent at �4,995 crore from �3,374crore in the same quarter a year ago, it said. Company’sgross non-performing assets (NPAs) and net NPAs as ofDecember 31, 2018 stood at 1.55 per cent and 0.62 percent respectively, Bajaj Finance said. PTI|New Delhi

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New Delhi (PTI): Drug firm StridesPharma Science on Tuesday said it had decid-ed to exit its investment in ArrowPharmaceuticals for AUD 394 million (over�2,000 crore).

The company’s step-down subsidiaryStrides Pharma Global Pte Ltd has approved thesale of its entire Australian business to theArrow-Apotex merged entity, Strides PharmaScience said in a filing to the BSE. “Strides willreceive AUD 300 million as upfront payment atthe closure of the transaction, while the balanceAUD 94 million to be deferred through a securedinstrument,” it added.

In a separate filing, the company said itsstep-down subsidiary Strides Pharma Inc hadentered into an arrangement to acquire 100 percent stake in US-based generics companyVensun Pharmaceuticals Inc. Founded in 2011,Vensun follows an asset-light partner-drivenbusiness model to develop products for the USgenerics markets, Strides Pharma Science said.

In another filing, the company said its boardof directors and its step-down subsidiary StridesPharma Global Pte Ltd, Singapore, had approvedto convert their 50:50 JVs with Vivimed to 100per cent ownership. “Consequently, Strideswill acquire balance 50 per cent stake inVivimed Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, India and its stepdown subsidiary, Strides Pharma Global Pte,Singapore, will acquire the balance 50 per centstake in Strides Vivimed Pte Ltd, Singapore toown and operate the erstwhile joint venture com-panies fully,” it added.

The company also said its step-down sub-sidiary Strides Pharma Canada Inc has enteredinto an arrangement to acquire 80 per cent stakein Pharmapar Inc for a consideration of CAD4 million.

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 12.10 12.57 12.02 12.13DHFL 183.80 183.80 164.50 170.05ZEEL 371.70 388.00 362.60 377.70YESBANK 207.20 209.40 195.85 202.60IBULHSGFIN 691.00 745.00 650.10 699.15SUZLON 4.95 5.04 4.92 5.00GRAPHITE 490.00 498.75 459.30 467.45STAR 500.30 542.70 480.65 492.20BAJFINANCE 2469.90 2569.95 2380.00 2511.90HEG 2090.00 2110.00 1974.60 1974.60BANKINDIA 85.00 99.00 85.00 97.90DISHTV 24.00 24.70 21.00 21.80JPASSOCIAT 6.55 6.64 6.40 6.46ADANIPOWER 40.40 44.00 40.00 43.20RELIANCE 1230.00 1231.90 1201.60 1210.90SUNPHARMA 411.55 424.70 406.10 422.30ESCORTS 670.30 670.30 630.55 643.85LT 1302.00 1307.20 1268.00 1278.10JETAIRWAYS 245.50 251.35 237.60 242.75MARUTI 6495.00 6612.30 6442.05 6523.30ADANIPORTS 339.00 355.00 327.50 347.95ICICIBANK 344.85 350.50 341.60 346.90ITC 276.00 279.00 274.65 278.55CEATLTD 1122.00 1166.55 1084.30 1117.60STRTECH 262.00 263.20 240.00 250.30TCS 1956.00 1989.80 1937.30 1983.15AXISBANK 659.35 671.00 650.00 660.80ORIENTBANK 90.00 97.25 90.00 94.80HDFCBANK 2084.00 2084.00 2053.80 2058.10SBIN 282.00 286.00 276.60 280.75ASHOKLEY 83.35 84.90 81.60 82.25M&M 678.00 678.00 662.00 670.55INDUSINDBK 1445.00 1471.15 1433.15 1465.20BANKBARODA 109.20 115.00 108.90 113.85TATASTEEL 444.50 452.05 442.10 444.75BEML 815.00 815.00 775.00 791.00HDFC 1949.05 1949.05 1896.00 1918.80IBVENTURES 315.10 349.00 285.00 319.20CANBK 242.00 253.60 240.00 246.45PEL 2169.00 2210.00 2076.50 2125.50EQUITAS 116.65 123.15 113.25 115.90IDEA 31.00 32.50 30.10 30.70WELCORP 106.90 113.00 106.90 108.65INFY 728.20 730.35 716.55 727.35RELCAPITAL 198.00 202.65 196.25 198.80PERSISTENT 583.00 594.95 572.50 582.25MOTHERSUMI 146.00 146.20 138.00 142.25JISLJALEQS 57.95 58.95 57.40 58.15BAJAJFINSV 6011.05 6285.00 5956.65 6229.45AUROPHARMA 758.00 772.50 743.55 760.85ASIANPAINT 1380.00 1400.00 1373.05 1392.50IBREALEST 76.90 77.40 68.80 73.65ULTRACEMCO 3358.00 3504.25 3358.00 3408.15JINDALSTEL 132.00 133.65 128.50 129.75INDIACEM 79.00 84.20 78.15 83.55BIOCON 648.25 654.30 644.00 649.40INDHOTEL 136.85 137.50 132.35 133.95TATAMOTORS 171.60 174.80 170.95 173.45RELINFRA 257.70 268.20 255.10 265.80JUBLFOOD 1199.75 1220.50 1180.55 1195.70CHENNPETRO 232.10 249.35 229.00 243.80SRTRANSFIN 1059.60 1059.60 996.90 1028.10WOCKPHARMA 444.95 456.85 437.15 449.65JSWENERGY 65.20 66.00 63.50 64.25PNB 76.10 78.50 75.60 77.35TATAPOWER 68.75 72.30 68.45 71.00EICHERMOT 19950.00 19950.00 18811.05 18883.90PHILIPCARB 158.80 160.85 152.15 155.90HINDUNILVR 1748.00 1759.75 1725.00 1751.50LINDEINDIA 501.00 523.00 490.10 508.85HCLTECH 976.10 995.00 962.00 988.10NAUKRI 1670.00 1749.85 1657.45 1700.90REPCOHOME 398.70 409.45 372.20 395.00INFRATEL 286.25 299.50 284.20 296.65SPARC 166.05 169.20 161.30 161.95L&TFH 127.55 132.30 127.15 130.90JUSTDIAL 458.80 478.20 454.70 476.50MINDTREE 880.00 907.00 865.80 902.10MPHASIS 937.50 978.15 935.05 970.65NCC 78.80 82.25 78.00 81.40INFIBEAM 39.20 40.05 38.60 39.05PCJEWELLER 73.40 75.20 72.85 73.95SWANENERGY 98.75 99.70 97.65 97.85INDIANB 220.00 229.30 217.40 225.65BPCL 348.00 353.25 340.50 344.95RBLBANK 563.70 563.70 542.10 551.55SPICEJET 80.45 81.40 80.00 80.20KSCL 586.50 588.25 566.45 573.15UNIONBANK 78.30 81.35 77.90 80.40JSLHISAR 78.90 82.40 76.50 79.25VEDL 191.50 193.80 189.45 192.85KOTAKBANK 1261.50 1273.00 1246.00 1250.95INDIGO 1172.00 1199.70 1163.80 1184.30ONGC 141.95 143.40 140.20 141.20IRB 146.95 150.10 145.25 148.60LICHSGFIN 444.70 459.45 440.00 453.35COALINDIA 226.00 226.00 221.65 222.75ITI 99.50 102.60 96.00 100.05M&MFIN 404.00 407.65 394.35 399.25AVANTI 328.00 328.00 306.50 309.70DLF 163.55 168.00 161.90 164.95GAIL 331.25 331.25 320.00 324.60RAMCOCEM 566.00 591.50 553.55 575.05KEC 242.20 242.30 233.40 237.00IOC 138.00 139.40 136.70 137.50GNFC 318.00 325.90 315.90 318.15HEROMOTOCO 2605.00 2650.00 2572.65 2632.15ABFRL 201.25 204.55 200.10 202.20

RECLTD 119.40 124.25 119.05 122.50GUJFLUORO 834.60 864.90 832.80 850.70DELTACORP 229.00 230.70 223.50 225.50SUNTV 527.00 541.15 521.70 532.45HSCL 114.55 116.70 111.10 114.45WIPRO 355.65 359.75 353.25 358.60INTELLECT 191.95 193.60 185.05 191.70BANDHANBNK 417.10 417.10 403.95 410.60ABCAPITAL 83.50 83.50 81.75 82.70BEL 80.00 82.45 79.45 81.85NIITTECH 1309.00 1313.80 1288.90 1301.45BHEL 63.50 65.25 63.00 64.50GRUH 221.00 221.00 211.10 215.25CADILAHC 334.00 334.00 319.75 322.10NBCC 55.80 58.40 55.50 58.05CIPLA 490.00 508.45 483.75 504.45DMART 1378.95 1388.90 1359.65 1382.60BOMDYEING 106.95 109.30 103.00 106.90AJANTPHARM 1044.10 1143.20 1044.10 1093.70IDFCFIRSTB 45.60 46.45 45.40 46.10TECHM 735.00 741.75 722.00 731.85RADICO 413.20 413.60 403.85 405.20PFIZER 2800.00 2939.00 2785.70 2919.90UBL 1395.00 1453.60 1378.00 1437.30ALBK 42.00 44.50 41.70 44.00FORCEMOT 1382.00 1399.95 1300.00 1344.80ICICIGI 822.35 842.90 814.20 833.40CYIENT 587.95 590.00 571.10 584.50TVSMOTOR 478.00 503.00 478.00 496.05HINDPETRO 239.80 242.25 234.20 235.70CHAMBLFERT 159.20 166.55 159.20 165.15

MGL 898.35 924.30 896.05 920.25EDELWEISS 155.00 157.05 151.35 155.35KANSAINER 437.10 445.55 415.10 432.25FEDERALBNK 84.25 86.95 84.25 86.45CENTURYTEX 814.00 824.00 787.55 795.80BBTC 1187.45 1213.65 1169.80 1209.25TATAGLOBAL 208.85 210.30 202.90 205.80GRASIM 721.00 744.00 721.00 732.60DEEPAKFERT 114.80 117.35 113.15 114.10UJJIVAN 268.10 283.00 268.10 276.70ADANITRANS 207.80 217.00 205.35 214.50BLISSGVS 148.80 152.10 145.50 147.40BHARTIARTL 309.00 309.70 301.65 307.10EIHOTEL 179.10 182.95 176.70 180.60BHARATFORG 470.00 488.40 463.70 484.50VIPIND 465.10 469.20 448.10 454.85TITAN 957.95 970.20 945.00 966.50PARAGMILK 211.00 213.95 207.10 209.85COLPAL 1266.00 1277.05 1254.80 1262.40BAJAJ-AUTO 2593.00 2595.45 2523.90 2566.90ICICIPRULI 287.30 295.30 287.30 293.10JINDALSAW 79.60 83.70 79.60 82.30JSWSTEEL 270.00 273.00 265.30 270.65HDFCLIFE 365.00 366.25 358.00 361.05LUPIN 866.00 874.75 855.45 862.95GODREJCP 760.00 771.45 738.20 757.30HINDZINC 251.00 259.90 249.50 259.30LTTS 1708.00 1719.45 1674.40 1689.80APOLLOTYRE 207.50 208.45 200.10 203.90DRREDDY 2624.20 2682.75 2603.60 2661.60CGPOWER 35.75 37.55 35.75 36.95UPL 758.55 767.80 747.00 760.65DABUR 427.35 427.35 418.20 424.25MUTHOOTFIN 508.05 517.70 491.60 496.40BALKRISIND 810.25 817.20 800.00 812.95JAICORPLTD 97.00 98.85 95.20 97.85KEI 348.15 358.00 340.00 345.55SAIL 46.00 46.75 45.60 46.20MANPASAND 72.15 79.15 72.15 77.05RCF 59.55 61.85 59.55 61.15TATAINVEST 806.05 834.05 806.05 818.05IDBI 52.75 56.50 52.75 56.20HINDALCO 199.90 200.50 197.50 199.55WELSPUNIND 58.60 59.25 56.50 58.70PNBHOUSING 904.00 927.70 884.00 920.00CUMMINSIND 806.65 815.85 781.85 787.70MANAPPURAM 95.20 95.45 90.05 91.15RPOWER 26.75 27.20 26.55 26.70TATAELXSI 876.55 890.75 872.00 885.95VENKYS 2113.90 2113.90 2002.35 2046.65GRANULES 89.10 90.00 87.50 88.40FCONSUMER 39.75 40.65 38.90 39.20TV18BRDCST 32.25 33.85 31.95 33.35NOCIL 139.70 146.70 138.80 143.75CROMPTON 223.75 223.75 211.05 214.25SUVEN 186.00 194.00 184.45 192.75GSFC 94.10 95.95 93.20 94.30AMBUJACEM 199.00 205.00 198.35 200.90WESTLIFE 376.20 379.00 364.00 367.85

NTPC 139.40 139.50 137.50 138.55RAYMOND 743.00 768.00 739.00 762.70IFCI 13.90 14.20 13.73 13.90ATUL 3316.00 3488.00 3273.00 3441.10NATIONALUM 60.00 61.15 59.55 60.05FSL 47.00 47.75 45.85 47.35EXIDEIND 220.00 222.25 215.90 217.40APOLLOHOSP 1255.00 1305.00 1251.85 1299.50GODREJPROP 743.25 756.00 742.90 751.85PFC 101.20 102.35 99.70 100.50ACC 1354.60 1376.20 1348.00 1360.25BATAINDIA 1096.40 1111.50 1093.55 1103.50HAVELLS 699.00 704.60 689.00 701.45OIL 171.15 173.60 169.70 170.45RAIN 110.95 113.15 106.30 112.60FRETAIL 437.50 439.00 423.05 434.65PTC 79.05 81.60 78.15 78.85IBULISL 285.00 299.00 282.50 288.55SOUTHBANK 13.10 13.55 13.05 13.35GREAVESCOT 116.45 119.95 116.00 119.50TATACHEM 660.00 671.95 658.00 667.35KRBL 327.40 327.40 309.00 310.75PETRONET 219.15 225.10 218.10 222.40CANFINHOME 241.55 252.10 240.20 248.40RAJESHEXPO 593.95 614.00 578.00 600.90HFCL 21.40 21.90 21.00 21.25GHCL 244.80 248.45 243.00 244.85BAJAJELEC 430.10 432.45 417.90 426.45ISEC 201.00 201.55 195.00 199.30CASTROLIND 160.00 162.40 158.45 161.20SIEMENS 1000.00 1018.80 981.65 1013.15AARTIIND 1570.95 1570.95 1520.00 1547.80CUB 189.45 192.75 185.70 192.25CHOLAFIN 1118.50 1132.75 1095.60 1107.90TORNTPOWER 245.00 247.40 242.90 246.25NAVINFLUOR 621.10 631.80 605.00 621.20JUBILANT 708.55 720.00 703.00 712.55IDFC 40.00 40.20 38.90 39.15CONCOR 635.00 649.25 628.95 643.30NMDC 90.75 92.15 90.70 91.85LEMONTREE 65.85 73.30 65.00 69.05KAJARIACER 533.00 542.35 526.15 533.35SHANKARA 405.20 406.10 389.80 393.90ABB 1249.00 1267.95 1224.25 1256.80ADANIGREEN 33.35 35.70 32.55 34.80MFSL 399.70 415.00 392.10 410.15TRIDENT 64.15 66.30 63.70 65.35POWERGRID 186.90 187.50 183.80 186.15DCMSHRIRAM 301.50 314.25 285.05 304.85MARICO 366.00 367.95 358.15 366.00TATAMTRDVR 89.40 91.00 88.80 90.45JMFINANCIL 75.00 79.15 75.00 77.50WHIRLPOOL 1465.05 1489.50 1447.70 1465.80VGUARD 200.25 203.25 195.15 199.80GODREJIND 511.95 513.60 496.00 509.70JSL 26.65 26.80 26.10 26.65RALLIS 163.00 164.60 161.50 162.70SYNDIBANK 35.50 35.80 33.45 35.45WABAG 290.00 302.50 290.00 294.30VOLTAS 532.25 546.00 529.00 541.75SREINFRA 30.00 30.60 28.00 30.10OMAXE 212.50 212.50 211.15 211.25MEGH 52.00 52.50 51.70 51.95J&KBANK 39.50 40.35 39.05 40.25GMRINFRA 15.25 15.75 15.25 15.55DIVISLAB 1465.20 1511.60 1462.55 1501.95HINDCOPPER 46.90 46.90 44.85 45.75SUPREMEIND 991.95 1028.00 991.95 1011.10GODFRYPHLP 917.00 938.00 904.75 931.50APLLTD 584.25 601.00 584.25 597.45CAPPL 349.90 350.95 304.75 322.10DEEPAKNI 212.15 213.00 207.00 208.45PIDILITIND 1100.60 1119.00 1093.95 1107.65FORTIS 135.15 135.85 135.00 135.45PAGEIND 22554.55 22940.25 22388.55 22822.50PVR 1580.00 1613.70 1574.40 1608.00AMARAJABAT 737.45 757.00 735.75 749.70HEXAWARE 318.40 323.70 316.05 321.85JKTYRE 93.50 93.95 92.00 92.85IGL 274.00 274.35 268.00 271.30JYOTHYLAB 176.50 182.00 175.00 180.20CENTURYPLY 162.05 167.80 161.15 165.05NESTLEIND 11383.00 11450.00 11308.20 11407.10ENGINERSIN 113.50 115.80 112.70 114.95SUNTECK 333.25 333.25 327.65 329.10MCX 707.05 712.75 703.70 708.95LTI 1720.00 1733.30 1705.00 1715.15ESSELPRO 102.00 110.00 102.00 108.00TORNTPHARM 1836.90 1890.00 1836.90 1875.65DBL 330.00 332.00 326.15 328.45GLENMARK 631.80 649.95 624.00 644.10AUBANK 594.90 598.85 588.40 593.45MRPL 67.30 68.60 67.25 68.05GICHSGFIN 227.90 229.15 223.25 225.50TIMETECHNO 94.00 98.25 94.00 95.65MINDAIND 285.00 288.50 277.55 284.10KTKBANK 116.50 118.85 115.05 117.90VBL 790.00 804.30 779.80 790.40COROMANDEL 436.05 446.00 435.25 442.90GODREJAGRO 490.05 493.65 484.00 485.40EIDPARRY 199.60 207.95 198.35 203.95EMAMILTD 406.00 406.80 396.00 403.15GSPL 177.10 177.80 175.00 176.50TAKE 140.00 141.40 135.85 136.90NHPC 24.65 24.80 24.20 24.55SHOPERSTOP 525.25 529.65 506.20 509.60DCAL 211.60 211.60 201.85 205.60HUDCO 40.95 41.85 40.60 41.55QUESS 651.80 655.00 637.50 641.10

NATCOPHARM* 670.00 671.00 660.00 665.50LALPATHLAB 1000.05 1030.00 990.85 1025.20COCHINSHIP 359.00 361.80 357.30 358.70JAMNAAUTO 53.50 54.55 53.00 53.35DCBBANK 175.00 177.40 172.75 174.65SUNDRMFAST 509.95 515.55 501.00 502.95NETWORK18 36.20 39.00 36.20 36.90SRF 2009.45 2030.50 1990.65 2022.00VIJAYABANK 43.05 45.25 42.70 44.70MAHINDCIE 230.00 231.30 228.00 228.90JBCHEPHARM 309.50 309.50 299.70 300.95BRITANNIA 3190.00 3192.00 3155.00 3180.75LUXIND 1201.20 1246.15 1183.50 1209.25BERGEPAINT 312.35 316.60 310.35 312.55THOMASCOOK 213.75 215.40 211.00 214.90TATACOFFEE 90.70 91.15 90.10 90.40SBILIFE 606.90 616.95 596.05 605.05MRF 62355.70 62672.65 61520.05 61974.55VINATIORGA 1574.75 1585.00 1544.40 1552.95COFFEEDAY 271.00 271.90 267.00 269.10NAVKARCORP 45.00 45.75 43.40 43.80TATACOMM 498.00 503.75 492.55 497.95MINDACORP 154.00 154.00 137.05 138.95MMTC 26.30 26.60 26.10 26.20KPRMILL 551.00 551.00 522.00 535.00ADVENZYMES 154.00 158.95 150.05 156.95CENTRUM 32.00 32.00 30.50 31.55MOTILALOFS 645.00 647.75 631.85 635.85IPCALAB 775.05 782.20 770.00 775.70DBCORP 170.15 171.50 166.60 167.45MOIL 156.15 157.30 155.00 155.40BHARATFIN 948.00 948.00 906.45 924.40CARERATING 982.00 1016.45 972.30 1011.65FDC 158.70 170.00 158.25 165.45HAL 731.05 735.15 725.55 726.70SHREECEM 14909.95 15528.50 14843.55 15410.20SONATSOFTW 312.20 318.70 312.20 316.40BAJAJCON 360.00 360.00 348.60 351.90AIAENG 1611.40 1649.00 1590.00 1610.60UCOBANK 18.75 19.50 18.30 18.95JKCEMENT 694.40 708.90 685.15 707.30TATAMETALI 591.00 609.25 590.05 599.50BOSCHLTD 18262.40 18262.40 17955.15 18137.15PRSMJOHNSN 74.30 75.45 73.10 73.25GUJGAS 124.25 128.00 123.65 127.25TIINDIA 332.10 346.00 330.15 340.25BAJAJHLDNG 2809.10 2852.00 2809.10 2842.65GESHIP 283.30 286.00 280.50 282.05DENABANK 12.75 12.75 12.40 12.70TRENT 345.00 351.05 340.25 342.65GICRE 241.90 245.95 241.30 242.50ASTRAL 1099.35 1107.70 1053.90 1091.85ALKEM 1861.70 1899.90 1842.30 1876.25NILKAMAL 1269.90 1269.90 1241.00 1248.10OBEROIRLTY 444.85 449.95 442.60 443.95FLFL 413.55 442.20 409.90 419.80SYNGENE 563.00 571.60 552.65 560.85CARBORUNIV 354.00 355.25 349.55 352.85BASF 1352.00 1376.15 1333.00 1346.00SOBHA 481.65 482.85 467.05 470.20PIIND 846.30 869.10 846.00 851.15ZENSARTECH 222.10 224.85 220.90 221.60CERA 2486.30 2567.65 2419.95 2508.55SCHNEIDER 88.00 89.40 87.70 88.50MERCK 3108.00 3128.00 3077.80 3114.60GREENPLY 128.30 131.50 128.20 130.20ANDHRABANK 26.00 26.60 25.70 26.00SYMPHONY 1151.45 1178.75 1142.35 1169.25ASHOKA 118.00 122.60 118.00 121.15SCHAEFFLER 5217.60 5398.00 5200.00 5269.55LAKSHVILAS 69.00 70.00 67.65 68.75WABCOINDIA 6300.00 6302.15 6112.30 6272.90NIACL 174.00 179.00 168.00 176.20SUPRAJIT 201.55 202.10 186.00 192.80UFLEX 246.65 250.05 246.00 249.05APLAPOLLO 1078.85 1091.35 1078.85 1086.20JKLAKSHMI 298.10 301.00 296.00 297.15PRESTIGE 207.80 209.40 199.05 203.35GILLETTE 6467.90 6514.70 6445.00 6468.80CENTRALBK 31.00 31.40 30.55 31.30BIRLACORPN 495.00 495.30 485.00 488.60MAHLIFE 415.95 419.70 390.10 398.30GET&D 286.55 297.00 282.65 294.55ITDCEM 116.05 119.15 116.05 116.95FORBESCO 2000.00 2029.00 1945.00 1949.95GLAXO 1381.80 1420.00 1379.60 1405.30MAHABANK 13.69 14.00 13.40 13.84NESCO 445.00 457.80 445.00 447.40HEIDELBERG 142.85 148.00 142.60 143.25SADBHAV 190.60 195.30 190.60 193.60IOB 13.26 13.60 13.05 13.52FINCABLES 424.20 424.25 415.00 419.45LAURUSLABS 363.00 364.00 354.00 358.20BDL 260.00 260.00 255.00 256.20LAXMIMACH 5329.00 5354.35 5280.65 5302.85BAYERCROP 4262.05 4365.00 4250.00 4340.60HSIL 229.70 238.90 229.00 232.45GRINDWELL 526.25 552.00 526.25 546.15BALMLAWRIE 185.35 188.00 185.00 185.20GPPL 85.70 88.50 85.70 87.65MAGMA 99.65 101.10 96.50 97.80SCI 40.55 41.05 40.30 40.70ORIENTCEM 71.30 71.30 68.00 70.25SHK 160.05 162.00 157.20 158.20EVEREADY 209.25 212.10 207.65 211.30GUJALKALI 482.45 484.00 479.00 481.10NLCINDIA 68.95 68.95 66.50 67.25MHRIL 205.00 205.95 202.05 205.60THERMAX 1121.15 1121.15 1100.00 1109.80

MAHLOG 488.00 505.00 476.90 497.25KNRCON 202.75 206.70 202.75 205.60GALAXYSURF 1105.40 1170.00 1077.30 1129.35PGHH 9902.00 9958.95 9811.00 9872.30OFSS 3726.20 3750.00 3700.00 3741.00TTKPRESTIG 7660.15 7704.45 7619.10 7674.95CORPBANK 25.25 26.75 25.25 26.35FINOLEXIND 520.10 535.90 518.70 524.75SUDARSCHEM 313.50 316.40 310.00 312.70TEAMLEASE 2602.30 2602.30 2511.00 2547.70NBVENTURES 108.75 109.35 108.00 108.65ERIS 676.00 679.60 662.05 669.20GDL 100.00 100.00 96.50 97.25RNAM 141.05 141.65 139.70 140.25TVTODAY 351.20 353.00 345.20 351.35NAVNETEDUL 106.50 110.35 105.10 109.70INOXWIND 69.90 70.00 67.05 67.95HERITGFOOD 481.65 481.65 471.65 474.35ALLCARGO 105.00 106.00 103.50 104.75PNCINFRA 143.95 145.60 142.15 143.30KIOCL 130.50 141.30 130.35 135.20INDOSTAR 324.05 325.70 318.00 318.20SJVN 25.75 25.90 25.65 25.80KALPATPOWR 365.15 365.15 356.50 361.35SUNCLAYLTD 2939.00 2939.00 2803.00 2899.70TEJASNET 179.75 180.70 176.05 179.55REDINGTON 74.00 74.30 72.00 73.40SHARDACROP 306.20 313.05 305.00 311.70TVSSRICHAK 2350.00 2354.05 2265.00 2305.80IEX 159.25 159.80 158.00 158.10MAXINDIA 84.60 86.00 84.60 85.80AEGISLOG 190.70 192.40 186.65 189.25INOXLEISUR 247.50 251.70 238.65 249.05ELGIEQUIP 236.70 243.95 236.70 239.05CCL 269.10 272.00 266.85 270.50SKFINDIA 1930.00 1930.00 1920.00 1926.25HIMATSEIDE 205.40 211.00 205.00 206.25RATNAMANI 880.10 895.00 873.00 886.45STARCEMENT 92.00 93.30 90.10 91.00MONSANTO 2550.00 2583.00 2549.10 2570.15JCHAC 1718.50 1779.00 1701.25 1751.65GMDCLTD 85.00 86.55 84.70 85.85SOLARINDS 992.60 1001.95 980.00 986.40ENDURANCE 1117.95 1136.10 1105.80 1129.00GSKCONS 7189.35 7275.00 7189.30 7266.50PHOENIXLTD 603.00 603.00 595.05 597.65SUPPETRO 204.90 204.90 182.20 185.75ECLERX 1044.50 1055.00 1035.10 1039.05ASTRAZEN 1582.00 1609.10 1582.00 1595.75SOMANYCERA 332.00 339.50 321.00 337.10VMART 2343.70 2380.00 2343.70 2361.15ABBOTINDIA 8129.05 8144.00 7977.65 8021.85DHANUKA 405.00 409.95 401.55 408.35ASTERDM 157.00 157.00 155.00 155.20SANOFI 6300.00 6387.80 6300.00 6349.85BLUESTARCO 600.55 608.25 600.00 600.00LAOPALA 207.00 210.60 205.00 208.10ITDC 276.95 283.05 276.95 278.40IFBIND 798.85 801.65 784.00 788.10JAGRAN 101.30 104.30 100.60 103.95GEPIL 804.00 809.90 800.00 803.50APARINDS 629.95 662.00 616.15 620.60TIMKEN 533.00 539.00 528.20 537.35SHRIRAMCIT 1732.45 1758.25 1709.00 1716.05ZYDUSWELL 1307.00 1307.00 1286.70 1291.75GULFOILLUB 840.00 880.40 840.00 869.95CRISIL 1633.00 1665.00 1633.00 1658.05BLUEDART 2966.00 3075.95 2940.00 3026.80GAYAPROJ 166.65 170.00 166.65 169.40SIS 758.20 770.00 754.85 765.90HONAUT 21500.00 21531.00 21188.05 21233.50TNPL 231.50 232.45 230.50 231.50ISGEC 4735.00 4847.90 4735.00 4782.65NH 195.00 195.00 186.35 189.75THYROCARE 540.10 544.00 540.10 543.05HATSUN 692.95 692.95 673.00 679.75ASAHIINDIA 255.15 255.30 255.15 255.253MINDIA 20218.75 20232.00 20045.00 20083.05VTL 1051.10 1064.80 1045.00 1057.60AKZOINDIA 1726.00 1737.50 1725.00 1730.20SHILPAMED 379.75 382.45 376.15 380.80TRITURBINE 106.20 106.90 105.05 106.00RELAXO 726.80 737.00 726.80 735.25TIFHL 448.00 448.65 446.00 447.05SFL 1265.00 1290.00 1265.00 1290.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10653.70 10690.35 10583.65 10652.20 -9.35ADANIPORTS 330.00 354.60 327.60 345.50 19.40BAJFINANCE 2468.00 2570.10 2371.65 2567.95 109.45BAJAJFINSV 6015.00 6295.00 5951.00 6295.00 244.10INFRATEL 284.95 298.90 283.40 298.00 10.70IBULHSGFIN 689.90 750.00 650.00 721.55 22.25SUNPHARMA 410.50 424.75 406.25 422.10 10.35AXISBANK 658.50 671.00 649.55 669.35 13.05ICICIBANK 342.95 350.10 341.35 350.00 6.45CIPLA 489.10 507.55 483.75 501.00 8.85ZEEL 369.90 388.50 362.75 379.20 5.90TCS 1962.00 1989.05 1936.65 1983.35 28.35WIPRO 356.00 360.80 353.05 359.25 5.10JSWSTEEL 267.55 273.00 265.25 271.40 3.65ULTRACEMCO 3375.00 3509.90 3370.00 3420.00 45.55DRREDDY 2616.00 2684.00 2603.00 2660.00 35.25ITC 275.30 279.00 274.75 278.30 3.55INDUSINDBK 1446.00 1466.00 1430.25 1462.00 18.30HCLTECH 978.00 994.85 961.10 989.60 11.80TATAMOTORS 172.35 174.90 170.90 174.00 1.70HEROMOTOCO 2601.05 2656.85 2574.30 2623.00 24.40ASIANPAINT 1377.00 1400.00 1373.20 1392.00 12.50HINDUNILVR 1745.00 1763.85 1726.10 1758.00 15.00TITAN 955.20 970.00 945.00 966.30 7.65VEDL 191.50 193.85 189.40 192.65 1.15BHARTIARTL 305.00 309.65 301.70 306.95 1.80GRASIM 722.00 743.60 722.00 736.00 3.20UPL 757.50 767.45 747.05 762.40 2.35INFY 725.50 732.85 716.50 730.05 2.10NTPC 138.60 139.40 137.40 138.90 0.30MARUTI 6480.00 6619.15 6447.40 6520.00 8.95BAJAJ-AUTO 2563.00 2597.15 2522.45 2568.10 2.55SBIN 281.00 286.00 276.55 281.45 -0.15HINDALCO 199.10 200.70 197.45 199.60 -0.40TATASTEEL 444.00 452.15 441.35 444.70 -1.00TECHM 735.20 742.40 721.40 733.50 -1.65M&M 671.95 676.90 661.60 670.50 -2.55ONGC 142.30 143.70 140.10 140.80 -0.85IOC 138.00 139.55 136.50 137.10 -0.95KOTAKBANK 1260.00 1273.00 1248.00 1251.50 -8.95HDFC 1943.70 1949.90 1893.30 1928.50 -18.40YESBANK 207.00 209.45 195.70 205.50 -2.00COALINDIA 225.40 225.85 221.15 223.00 -2.20BPCL 348.10 353.45 340.70 344.90 -3.80RELIANCE 1231.00 1231.65 1201.35 1214.90 -14.65HDFCBANK 2078.25 2083.00 2053.00 2059.40 -24.75POWERGRID 186.80 187.80 183.65 185.40 -2.40HINDPETRO 240.00 242.50 234.10 235.95 -3.25LT 1304.00 1308.80 1268.20 1281.10 -19.35GAIL 331.00 331.10 319.65 324.00 -9.20EICHERMOT 19999.00 20000.00 18800.00 18825.00 -1162.40

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26309.55 26491.20 26162.50 26398.80 26.70BANKBARODA 109.50 115.05 108.85 114.90 5.75HINDZINC 252.00 260.40 250.05 259.00 7.90BEL 79.95 82.40 79.60 82.15 2.45SHREECEM 15030.00 15525.00 14855.00 15487.85 460.45PETRONET 218.60 226.00 218.05 224.95 5.95L&TFH 128.00 132.20 127.15 131.85 3.40ICICIGI 817.85 845.00 814.05 837.95 20.10SIEMENS 982.00 1016.45 982.00 1014.05 22.60MCDOWELL-N 542.80 556.45 540.60 556.00 11.90NIACL 173.90 178.70 172.15 177.75 3.70LICHSGFIN 443.65 458.45 440.90 456.00 9.30INDIGO 1170.00 1198.90 1165.30 1194.00 22.70ABB 1238.05 1264.00 1222.05 1255.00 19.85SBILIFE 600.10 617.95 595.70 608.80 9.55ICICIPRULI 290.90 297.40 288.55 295.00 3.65AMBUJACEM 198.70 204.75 198.30 202.25 2.50BHEL 63.20 65.35 63.20 64.50 0.75NMDC 91.20 92.45 90.70 92.25 1.05AUROPHARMA 750.00 771.90 744.05 763.05 7.45DLF 163.00 168.20 162.05 165.50 1.45DMART 1375.10 1390.05 1358.20 1384.00 11.25SAIL 45.90 46.80 45.55 46.50 0.35OFSS 3720.05 3752.60 3699.75 3752.60 25.45CONCOR 642.00 649.00 628.50 646.00 3.05HAVELLS 698.00 704.20 688.55 702.00 3.30NHPC 24.45 24.80 24.15 24.65 0.10COLPAL 1265.00 1277.50 1254.05 1269.00 4.90ACC 1357.20 1376.20 1347.50 1360.90 3.65MARICO 363.65 367.75 358.00 366.00 0.85GICRE 243.20 245.95 241.55 244.50 0.30PIDILITIND 1100.65 1119.90 1091.25 1103.00 1.00SUNTV 529.10 541.70 521.00 532.85 0.50IDEA 31.05 32.55 30.05 30.95 -0.10BIOCON 648.00 654.75 644.00 647.00 -2.05LUPIN 863.70 875.00 855.00 862.40 -2.85PGHH 9940.00 9963.60 9850.00 9875.25 -33.55ASHOKLEY 83.00 83.60 81.65 82.60 -0.40OIL 171.10 173.75 169.65 170.70 -1.00BOSCHLTD 18284.00 18284.25 17922.80 18135.70 -126.70BRITANNIA 3197.00 3197.00 3152.50 3178.40 -25.05ABCAPITAL 83.40 83.55 81.60 83.20 -0.65MRF 62830.00 62830.00 61500.00 62063.00 -496.95DABUR 425.00 426.15 417.60 423.15 -4.25GODREJCP 755.00 772.50 735.00 750.00 -9.25PEL 2160.00 2210.00 2076.35 2140.00 -30.50HDFCLIFE 366.45 366.50 357.70 361.05 -6.25BANDHANBNK 415.00 416.00 403.00 410.00 -7.70MOTHERSUMI 144.95 146.45 138.00 142.25 -3.05SRTRANSFIN 1055.00 1055.95 995.00 1025.00 -30.70CADILAHC 331.00 332.90 318.55 322.00 -12.35

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Suman Kumari has becomethe first Hindu woman to be

appointed as a civil judge inMuslim-majority Pakistan.

Suman, who hails fromQambar-Shahdadkot in Sindhprovince, will serve in hernative district.

She passed her LLB exam-ination from Hyderabad anddid her masters in law fromKarachi’s Szabist University.

“I have entered the field oflaw because I know that in thebackward areas of Sindh poorpeople need a lot of advice andassistance in legal matters,” shetold PTI over telephone.

“My father and my familysupported me a lot as in ourcommunity it is not easy forwomen to enter such fields,”she said.

Her father, Dr PawanKumar Bodan, wants his

daughter to provide free legalassistance to the poor peoplespecially from the Hindu com-munity.

“Suman has opted for achallenging profession, but Iam sure she will go placesthrough hard work and hon-esty,” the father said.

Bodan is an eye specialist.Suman’s elder sister is a soft-ware engineer and another sis-ter is a chartered accountant.

Suman, who is a fan ofsingers Lata Mangeshkar andAtif Aslam, said it was impor-

tant for the Hindu communi-ty to realise that they needed toeducate their children and putthem in responsible positions.

This is not the first timethat a person from the Hinducommunity has been appoint-ed as a judge. The first judgefrom the Hindu communitywas Justice Rana Bhagwandas,who served as the acting chiefjustice of Pakistan for briefperiods between 2005 and2007.

Hindus make up nearly 2per cent of Pakistan’s totalpopulation and Hinduismremains the second largest reli-gion in Pakistan after Islam.

Last year, Hindu womanMahesh Kumar Malani becamethe first non-Muslim to beelected on a general seat in theNational Assembly while aThari woman, Krishna Kumari,was also elected in Pakistan’sSenate elections.

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May will seek “legal

changes” to the Brexit deal sheagreed with EU leaders only lastmonth to try to secure the sup-port of MPs, her spokesman saidon Tuesday.

She will hold talks withunnamed officials or leadersfrom the bloc throughoutTuesday, he said, as the clockticks down to Britain’s exit fromthe European Union on March29. Brussels has repeatedly saidit will not reopen the withdrawalagreement that May herselfnegotiated over nearly two years,but the spokesman said it wasclear it would never be accept-ed by the British parliament.

“We have to have a dealwhich can carry the support ofparliament and that’s going torequire some changes to thewithdrawal agreement,” he said.

The House of Commons,which rejected May’s deal by ahuge margin earlier this month,

will from 1900 GMT Tuesdayvote on a series of amendmentsdesigned to show the primeminister exactly what they want.

May’s spokesman said shebacked an amendment thatcalled for the removal of a con-troversial “backstop” arrange-ment in her deal to keep openthe border with Ireland afterBrexit, in favour of “alternativearrangements to avoid a hardborder”.

She told her cabinet that “towin the support of the House ofCommons, legal changes to thebackstop will be required”, herspokesman said.

He was questioned abouthow this strategy might work,given how often the EU has saidit will not reopen the Brexitagreement.

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Donald Trump will deliverthe State of the Union

Address on February 5 after itwas delayed due to aGovernment shutdown overthe US president’s demand forfunding for a wall along the bor-der with Mexico.

The traditional annualspeech by President Trump wasinitially scheduled for Januarybut had to be postponedbecause of the largest govern-ment shutdown due to differ-ences between the White Houseand the Opposition Democratson the issue of the wall.

Trump is demanding USD5.7 billion to build his borderwall while Democrats wereholding firm at USD 1.3 billionfor border security measures.

Speaker Nancy Pelosirefused to pass the necessary

resolutions in Congress to allowfor a State of the Union Addressand told the president that heneeded to first allow the feder-al government to fully re-open.

Pelosi cited security con-cerns because governmentworkers were not being paidduring the shutdown.

Trump considered movingthe address to another locationbut ultimately decided to wait todeliver it after the shutdown wasover.

The 35-day Governmentshutdown – the longest in UShistory – ended Friday whenTrump and congressional leaders struck a deal to reopenthe Government throughFebruary 15.

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Iran’s senior security officialsays his country has no plans

to increase range of its missilesystems.

Tuesday’s report on stateTV quotes the secretary ofIran’s top security body, AliShamkhani, as saying that Iran“has no intention of increasingthe range of our missiles.”

In 2017, Iran’sRevolutionary Guard chief,Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari,said the country’s supremeleader had limited the range ofits ballistic missiles to 2,000kilometres.

The West is suspicious thatIran’s missile program is capa-ble of delivering nuclearweapons. Iran denies thecharge.

French Foreign MinisterJean-Yves Le Drian said onFriday his country is ready toimpose further sanctions onIran if no progress is made intalks to limit its ballistic missileprogramme.

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Pakistan’s Supreme Court onTuesday rejected a review

petition against its decision toacquit Christian woman AasiaBibi who was on death row foreight years on charges of blas-phemy, in a major setback tohardline Islamists who haddemanded her execution.

Bibi, a 47-year-old motherof four, who is now in protec-tive custody, was convicted in2010 after being accused ofinsulting Islam in a row withher neighbours. She alwaysmaintained her innocence, butspent most of the past eightyears in solitary confinement.

The apex court’s decisionin October last to overturn herconviction sparked nationwideviolent protests and deaththreats from hardline Islamistgroups. The protests subsidedwhen the government allowedthe protesters to file a reviewpetition against Bibi’s acquittal.

A three-member bench,headed by Chief Justice AsifSaeed Khosa, on Tuesday dis-missed the review petition filedby local prayer leader QariMuhammad Salaam as the pleafailed to point out any flaw inthe verdict of the court thatacquitted Bibi.

During the hearing,Salaam’s lawyer said that thematter of Bibi’s acquittal is amatter concerning the Muslimclergy and religious scholarsshould also be called to presenttheir point of view.

“How is this a matter ofreligion?” the chief justiceasked. “Has the verdict notbeen given on merit?”

“The verdict was given onthe basis of testimonies; doesIslam say that one should bepunished even if they are foundnot guilty?” he asked.

“Tell us where we failed totake into account testimony orwhere we misread the testi-monies,” Justice Khosa asked.

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NASA’s Parker Solar Probehas begun its second orbit

of the Sun and is on track for itsclosest approach to our star, theUS space agency said.

Just 161 days after itslaunch, the Parker probe com-pleted its first orbit of the Sunon January 19.

The spacecraft has nowbegun the second of 24 plannedorbits, on track for its secondperihelion, or closest approachto the Sun, on April 4.

Parker Solar Probe enteredfull operational status onJanuary 1, with all systemsonline and operating asdesigned.

The spacecraft has beendelivering data from its instru-ments to Earth via the DeepSpace Network, and to datemore than 17 gigabits of science

data has been downloaded. The full dataset from the

first orbit will be downloaded byApril. “It’s been an illuminating and fascinatingfirst orbit,” said Andy Driesman,of the Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory(APL), which manages the mis-sion for NASA.

“We’ve learned a lot about how the spacecraft oper-ates and reacts to the solar environment, and I’m proud tosay the team’s projections havebeen very accurate,” said Driesman, who is theParker Solar Probe ProjectManager. “We’ve always saidthat we don’t know what toexpect until we look at thedata,” said Project ScientistNour Raouafi, also of APL.

“The data we have received hints at many newthings that we’ve not seen before

and at potential new discoveries. Parker Solar Probe is delivering on the mis-sion’s promise of revealing themysteries of our Sun,” saidRaouafi.

In preparation for the nextencounter in April, the space-craft’s solid state recorder isbeing emptied of files that havealready been delivered to Earth.

In addition, the spacecraftis receiving updated positionaland navigation information andis being loaded with a new auto-mated command sequence,which contains about onemonth’s worth of instructions.

The closest approach inApril will bring the spacecraft toa distance of about 15 millionmiles from the Sun -- just overhalf the previous close solarapproach record of about 27million miles set by Helios 2 in1976.

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The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it

had filed a complaint to the World Trade Organisationafter Qatar banned UAE goods,the latest escalation in hostili-ties between the Gulf neigh-bours.

An official statement carried by the s t a t e - r u nWAM news agency said Qatarwas in “flagrant violation” ofWTO rules, after Doha hadalready sought WTO arbitra-tion over a blockade imposedby the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt inJune 2017.

The UAE and its allieshave accused Doha of sup-porting both Islamist extrem-ists and Shiite Iran, SaudiArabia’s main rival. Qatardenies the accusations.

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According to the India Skills Report, 2018, theeconomic participation of women in theworkforce has decreased from 32 per cent in

2016 to 23 per cent in 2018. Typically, the low-leveljobs opted by women are now being automated andfewer women seem to be entering high-growthemployment areas, as reported by WEF’s TheGlobal Gender Gap Report, 2018. JobsForHer con-ducted an online survey for women restarters and38 per cent of them cited childcare as one of thebiggest challenges to restarting their careers.

With the Indian Government’s 400 crore pro-posal this year to reimburse employers for seven ofthe 26 weeks of extended maternity leave, we hope

to see an increase in female participation in theworkforce. Outdated skill sets are yet another rea-son women are keeping out of the workforce. Thirty-four per cent of the women on our survey mentionedreskilling as a necessity for their career restart, pro-gression and job role changes. We hope to see bud-get 2019 focus on skills development programs forwomen, a focus on reducing or eliminating hiringbiases, family leave policies that include both par-ents, diversity and inclusion initiatives, equal paypolicies to close the gender pay gap, recruiting moresenior women leaders and board members and com-pulsory anti-harassment training to ensure saferworking environments for all women.

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Pearson India has released the findings of itsfirst-ever Pearson Study of Adult Learners at

understanding adult learner behaviour and inter-est in non-degree programmes and certificates.The survey was conducted across six countries —Australia, India, Malaysia, the United ArabEmirates, and the United Kingdom aged 18 – 65years. The survey revealed that Indians were theleast price sensitive while choosing a course.

The survey divulges that most of the Indianlearners are keen on short courses, of which 23per cent of learners prefer qualification awardedby a professional body. It highlights that 27 percent of Indian learners are already pursuing short-term courses while 28 per cent of Indian adultlearners plan to take-up single subject short term-course with one-time fee.

With reference to the adoption and demandfor degrees, 46 per cent of Indian learners plan

to do post graduate and 39 per cent are current-ly pursuing BA degree courses.

�/��������4����4������While India is making a headway in digiti-

sation of education, blended learning is gainingpace with the Indian learners and professionals.Though 32 per cent of adult learners prefer com-plete online courses, the demand for blendedlearning is growing substantially as 49% of adultlearners prefer a “blended” option.

During the survey, participants stressedupon the importance of social, emotional, andexperiential learning to succeed in the job mar-ket and highlighted that they should be includ-ed in a hybrid/blended learning model. Changinginformation consumption patterns are also

reflected in the choice of course format, with 22%of learners selecting online courses with the videolecture format. Though the rise of e-learning hashelped encourage students to take on moreresponsibility for acquisition of knowledge, 32%of learners across India still prefer teacher-ledlearning followed by self-directed learning at 26%.

/�-���-�����-��3��-������3�-���The survey findings show that career improve-

ment and knowledge are two prevailing motiva-tions for Indian learners to continue education.56% of Indians take courses to improve job/careerpossibilities, closely followed by 55% Indians whotake courses as a gateway to gain knowledge. Withthe growth of technology and digitisation, jobs arealso getting highly specialised. Evolving market

dynamics and technology trends have also pro-pelled 44% of learners to complete a course toadvance their professional qualification.Additionally, 38% of the learners pursue thesecourses to get equipped with knowledge and skillsthat will be beneficial in day-to-day life.

�-���-������Cost, time, and concerns about life balance thebiggest barriers to adult learning. Interestingly,Indian learners are less price conscious, yet moreconcerned about course credibility�Only 36% Indian learners, consider price as aconstraint, 47% of the learners prefer balancingcourses with other commitments�27% of the Indian learners find difficulty inchoosing a credible course from the availableoptions— Information Technology (45%) is themost common area of study among Indianlearners followed by Management & Commerce(39%) and Society and Culture (37%).

Over 6,000 former students ofVIT, Vellore and their families

got together at their alma mater meetand discussed several issues.Organised by the VIT AlumniAssociation, one of the highlights wasthe participation of TT SrinivasaRaghavan, MD, Sundaram Finance,who also handed over awards to thebest functioning chapters of VITAlumni Association, both withinIndia and abroad.

Captain SM Kannan, welcomedthe gathering at the inaugural func-tion held at Anna Auditorium. VicePresidents Sankar Viswanathan, DrSekar Viswanathan and GV Selvamwere among those who took part onthe occasion. On behalf of the VITAlumni Association, a financialassistance of �2 lakh was extended to20 students belonging to poor fam-ilies.

Dr G Viswanathan, founder andchancellor of VIT, presided over the

function and dedicated the newlydesigned website of VIT AlumniAssociation. In his address, DrViswanathan said that through oneform or another, former students ofVIT were extending their contribu-tion to the well being of the societyall over the world. He recalled thatwhen VIT was functioning earlier as

Vellore Engineering College, theTVS Group had extended a financialassistance of �3 lakh which was avery huge amount.

Former students of VIT wereexcelling in various walks of life.Noting that Maheswari, IPS, who hadrecently received the President’smedal for meritorious service, was a

former student of VIT, DrViswanathan said that he was veryhappy with this honour. He saideveryone had to pledge their com-mitment towards the welfare andupliftment of India. He said that ifquality higher education was impart-ed to all young women and men,India would achieve the developednation status rapidly.

Further, former students ofChennai and Vellore campuses ofVIT contributed �1.6 lakh toUniversal Higher Education Trustand this was received by Dr.Viswanathan, who is also presidentof the Trust. The Trust providesfinancial assistance to several womenand men to help them pursue collegeeducation. Among others who werepresent on the occasion includedExecutive Director Dr. SandhyaPentareddy, Vice Chancellor Dr.Anand A.Samuel and Pro ViceChancellor Dr. S.Narayanan.

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India’s largest spelling compe-tition for school students,

Classmate Spell Bee is backwith Season 11. The competitionprovides a platform for thecountry’s best spellers to identi-fy their strengths & achieverecognition for their uniquespelling skills.

The competition will travelto more than 1,000 schoolsacross 30 cities and will reach outto more than 6,50,000 studentsfrom standards five to nine.Students from around India canalso participate online atwww.classmatespellbee.in. Thetop 16 participants of the com-petition also get to showcasetheir skills on national TV onThe Discovery Channel,Discovery Kids and DiscoveryTamil.

Specialised content was cre-ated for students through learn-ing modules, tests, interactiveblogs and contests. The focus thisyear is to create a holistic educa-tive experience for participantsusing versatile mobile app & webbased learning & practice solu-

tions.The National Champion of

Classmate Spell Bee Season 11will win a grand prize of ̀ 2 lakh,apart from the opportunity towitness the prestigious ScrippsNational Spelling Bee in 2019with a parent in WashingtonDC, USA in an all-expenses paidtrip. The four semi-finalists willwin a cash prize of �50,000 each.The grand prize for the winnerand semi-finalists have beenspecifically designed byClassmate to help encourage andenable students to follow theirheart’s true calling.

The initial phase of thecompetition will comprise of anon-ground exercise where chil-dren will be given spelling testsin schools. Top scorers from theschool level will battle it out inthe gruelling city finale roundand the best performing stu-dents will make it to the semi-finals. The top 10 students fromeach city will then appear for anonline test which will choose thebest 16 spellers. These studentswill then battle it out in thegrand finale to win the title ofClassmate Spell Bee Champion.

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India’s vast young population is one of its biggest assets butkeeping in line with the recent disruptions in the education

sector, there is a pressing need to skill our youth so that theyare equipped with the right skill-sets that complement thecountry’s growth story. Creating digital content, VFX, anima-tion will continue to grow and thus more training and skillingto supplement jobs in this field shall grow.

Growing adoption of newage technologies such as artificialintelligence, machine learning, augmented reality and data sci-ence have set the stage for new jobs which might not be verycommon today. To leverage this opportunity in the near future,Government should prioritise re-skilling and up-skilling of notjust the existing workforce but also the students in India’sschools and colleges. This would need sufficient funds, morepush from the government for vocational training and effectiveexecution at the ground level of the initiatives in order to max-imise the results.

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������-�=4������The budgetary allocation

for education in 2018 stood at3.5 per cent of the entire bud-get, with a special focus on digi-tised classrooms, ICT-enabledlearning, and quality teachertraining programmes.However, the overall improve-ment of the education sectorrequires more prioritised atten-tion and funding.

The prerequisite for qual-ity education becoming avail-able to all is the free and easyaccess to quality e-learningresources. This can be initiat-ed by the government throughtechnologies such as artificialintelligence, virtual and aug-mented reality and cloud com-puting. It is also important toensure that internet access pro-vided to rural areas is func-tional so that students fromthose parts can use it for effec-tive self-learning.

Training teachers on thelatest pedagogies andInformation andCommunication Technology(ICT) is the need of the houras they are expected to employinnovative teaching methodsand make use of digital tools inthe classrooms. However, thereis a dearth of 11 lakh ade-quately qualified teachers in theK–12 segments. Even thoughthe Government is trying totackle the situation with ini-tiatives such as TeacherProfessional Developmentcourses on the digital plat-form Diksha, this issue alsoneeds prioritising in theupcoming budget. We alsohope that the Governmentprovides the infrastructuralsupport for a system of educa-tion that is on a par with glob-al standards, and help Indianstudents face the challenges oftomorrow.

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Two key steps need to be made —Education needs more funding by

the government, and it must be tax-free. The budget reserved for educa-tion reforms has been constantlydeclining over the last five years.

In fact, education has been oneof the least valued sectors, at 3.7 percent of the total budget. This num-ber is quite low when compared toother developing countries thatspend over seven per cent of the totalbudget on education, despite higherliteracy rates.

Currently, ed-tech is taxed at 18per cent GST which limits afford-ability to high-income groups.Education is not a luxury. In fact,online learning is the only way tocater to individual needs at a fractionof the cost.

This should be made tax-free tolower after-school education costs forstudents.

The budget should be used todigitise schools at a mass level so thatevery student can access qualityeducation.

It should also be used to up skillteachers and close the gap betweenthe education system and currentemployer demands.L�M��.����)�%� .#�&C/�:���+����#�,��

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As expected, we will have 735 mil-lion internet users by 2021, so

the Edtech sector has a more signifi-cant opportunity to penetrate mil-lions of students both in urban andrural areas seeking education. Forthe next year, we are expectinggrowth in the Ed-tech sector interms of reaching students throughdistance learning and reducing thecost of education. In the overseas

education industry, we are expectingcollaboration opportunities betweenpublic and private sector institutionsin India by introducing policies formore expansion in infrastructure,

funds availability, private investment,easily accessible quality education,which will be bringing thousands ofaspirant students from abroad toIndian institutes for education. Notonly this will contribute to our GDPbut will also help us rank among thetop study destinations and haveinstitutes ranking top in the list oftop 100.

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The Government needs to identify moreopportunities for better teacher training and

for R&D in higher educational institutes inBudget 2019. More funds allocation for train-ing the teachers is the need of the hour, espe-cially with various professional skills as they playa major role in shaping the students’ future.

The budget must also look at ways toimprove the basic infrastructure of schools, alongwith setting up of infrastructure for ICT to helpthe students in receiving engaging and power-ful learning content. Also, there is a strong needof passing on the benefits of various studentschemes directly to them under DBT (DirectBenefit Transfer). This will plug leaks and willresult in more efficiency and effectiveness in theprocess.

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The University ofSheffield, UK is offeringInternational PostgraduateTaught Scholarship 2019 tointernational (non-EU) stu-dents to study a taught mas-ters programme inSeptember 2019. The schol-arship 2019 is worth 10% ofyour tuition fee. No addition-al scholarship application isrequired, if you meet the eli-gibility and award criteriabelow the scholarship will beapplied as a tuition fee dis-count.

You must accept youroffer from the University ofSheffield before 16:00 (UKtime) on June 14, 2019 toreceive this award.

Eligibility: Your taughtmaster’s programme must bescheduled to commence atthe University of Sheffield inSeptember 2019. Subject tomeeting the eligibility andaward criteria the scholarshipwill be awarded automatical-ly. You must be self-fundedand classified as overseas fortuition fee purposes. If youare studying a two-yearMasters programme thescholarship will be availablein the second year of yourstudies subject to successfulcompletion of first year.

The scholarship is notapplicable to any years inindustry or study abroadyears that are compulsory or

optional elementsof your course.

For more information:https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/international/enquiry/money/pgtinternational

University of Bristolinvites applications for FullTuition Chancellor’sScholarship in UK, 2019.50% tuition fees scholarshipis awarded to applicants witha very good academic trackrecord starting a postgradu-ate course. Students of allnationalities are eligible toapply for this scholarship.

Eligibility: Haveachieved the equivalent of aBritish 1st in an undergradu-ate degree; Hold an uncondi-tional offer or a conditionaloffer where IELTS or equiva-lent English language is theonly condition; Be a new stu-dent to UWE Bristol with noprevious UK study; Beclassed as overseas for feespurposes; Not be a sponsoredstudent or in receipt ofanother scholarship/awardand provide official tran-scripts at the time of applica-tion. English languagerequirements: Applicantsmust hold an unconditionaloffer or a conditional offerwhere IELTS or equivalentEnglish language is the onlycondition.

How to apply: Achievedthe equivalent of a Britishfirst in an UG degree will beinvited to apply via UWEWelcome portal.

Application deadline:April 28, 2019.

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Arecent research titled The Voiceof the Employer on the Effects andOpportunities of Professional

Development pointed out that univer-sities and colleges must now worktowards giving students the very skillsthat are required for jobs and long termsuccess in an industry rather thanfocusing only on generic aspects. Skillsare more important than credentials.Even if students have the right degreebut lack the right skills, then theirdegree is of little practical use.

How does such training benefitcolleges: A university or a college thatresponds to industry needs appropri-ately will not only attract, success dri-ven students to apply but will alsoattract corporate companies who arelooking for professionally trained fresh-er to join their workforce. The sameresearch paper brings to our notice that95% of corporations now financiallysupport training with their own spend-ing that a whopping $172 billion. Butthis spending is done via internaltraining programmes or third partytraining partners. Universities and col-leges have been missing out on this crit-ical revenue system since employers feelthat their programmes are not indus-try relevant. The report also pointed outthat just 16% of employers feel thatthere is adequate availability of pro-grammes and universities that tailor tothe needs and just 9% of corporatecompanies are presently engaged inpartnerships.

This presents a great opportunityfor higher education institutions andgraduates. Most employers in the ITindustry believe that universities andcolleges should work closely with theindustry so as to train as per theirneeds. With the rapid change in tech-nologies, it is crucial to ensure that thetraining is contemporary and relevant.But can educational institutions moveat the speed of the industry perpetu-ally?

Institutions will require close con-sultations with businesses prior tolaunching specific training programmes. Institutions will need to offer cours-es that are tailored to the real job world,the easiest way being by partnering withcompanies who offer specific skilling

programmes with respect to makingthe job aspirants employable and as aresult, billable from the first day atwork.

The train-hire-deploy model israpidly replacing the hire-train-deploymodel. It is also known as the talent-on-demand model. In this model, thecandidates will be put through a rig-orous training programme and berecruited at the end of it based on per-formance in assessment. The advantageof this model also includes preparationwith respect to specific job role, betteralignment to company culture andimportantly, an outcome-based train-ing model.. This is why it makes all themore sense for institutions to partnerwith tech evangelists in order to makecashable employees out of their pass-ing out students.

Benefits to corporate: The com-panies get trained workforce that havehands-on experience in the technolo-gies that they work with, hire themright off the campus, fresh out of thetraining, and such a work-force displaysproductivity from day 1 at job that savescompanies huge resources.

The bottom-line: Transitioninghigher education to be more industry-oriented and skill-based can be com-plex. But tailoring programmes thataddress multiple issues, aligning to thecurrent and future industry needs canmake up a critical piece of this complexpuzzle.

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International Disability Day justwent by. It was celebrated witha motivational spirit. But the

society still has problems in bring-ing differently-abled into themainstream. Most of them faceobstruction like accessing educa-tion, college, and employment.According to the 2011 Census, 45per cent differently-abled are une-ducated. Even if they do manageto study, doors to higher educationare difficult to open.

This is because people withphysical disabilities or long-termillnesses that predominantly posethe challenge of accessibility, theyface mobility issues to reach class-rooms or other locations for edu-cation. For those with sensory dis-abilities related to vision or hear-ing impairment, it is a challenge touse common classroom tools andstudy materials. Those with cog-nitive impairment require learningin a different manner. While thesechallenges are real and cumber-some, digital education and tech-nology can bring a completely newexperience.

Special aids and appliances areessential for differently-abled, andsuch aids are provided under var-ious welfare schemes made by theMinistry of Social Justice and

Empowerment. Availability ofdevices like digital classrooms,computers with screen readingsoftware, Internet, scanners, low-vision aids, mobility devices andhearing devices in the instituteswould enrich the educationalexperiences for such people.

Therefore, colleges are encour-aged to maintain such devicesand provide the facility of moder-ator for differently-abled students.While there are many streamsavailable to pursue for making abetter career for persons with dis-ability, one should choose the pathon a smarter way. Let’s lookoutsome lucrative digital educationoptions for differently abled.

Digital Marketing: TheInternet has created a buzz andimpact on marketing approachworldwide. Many businesses aredigital today and even small shopowners have started using virtualmarket with digital and socialmedia presence. Students havinga physical disability can see a lucra-tive career as a digital marketerpost 10+2. Digital and socialmedia professional develops dig-ital tactics, generate potential leadsand bring the awareness of theproduct/campaigns on socialmedia. This kind of courses brings

skills and expertise and opensentries in multiple sectors.

Mobile repairing: A CiscoReport estimates that smartphoneusers are expected to double by2022 and may reach to 829 millionusers. Refurbished smartphonemarket which is currently unor-ganised and driven by local brickand mortar retailers is also mak-ing its space online. Many com-panies are capturing the refur-bished smartphone market inIndia which is estimated to reach$12-15 billion by 2020. Followingthis demand, the trained human

resource will be required by theonline retail giants. Most of suchskills can be learned online andcan be practiced as a freelancer bysetting-up own start-ups.

Online finance and account-ing course: Financial Accounting,Indirect Tax or GST, and DirectTax or Income Tax, TDS andother services have brought in thenew market opportunities throughthe digital world. Commerce grad-uate always feel left out as most ofthem would look for post-gradu-ation due to non-availability ofopportunities. Technology hasmade its way in this sector byenabling proper bookkeeping andtax filing with beta technology.Fintech companies are hiring mul-tiple talents to work to providesemi-consulting and data man-agement of various online clients.

Web development: Small star-tups and new entrepreneurial ven-tures are increasing in the devel-oping economy where businessesrequire having the digital presencefor the more business benefits.This course involves scripting lan-guage and like HTML, CSS, andJavaScript to build an attractive,effective and responsive website.Also, an experienced person canwork as a freelancer from home.

This course requires creativityskills and passion for the webdevelopment for the better job andown start-up.

Data science course: Themarketsandmarkets.com datashows that the advanced analyticsmarket will be worth $29.53 billionby 2019 which require a 360-degree overview of business ana-lytics and concepts like data explo-ration, data visualisation,Regression analysis, and predictiveanalytics for having insights aboutthe data science. This kind ofcourse helps in generating thecareer opportunities as well as theentrepreneurial journey.

IoT and AI Skills: New tech-nology brings new challenges infront of mentors. They continu-ously guide students towards theapproach, they should be adoptingwhen faced problems at work.

Wealth management: WealthManagement adviser and manag-er deals with wealth management,private banking, family offices, andfinancial advisory services as oureconomy are sharing the interestwith the global market. That iswhy the financial sector is risingrapidly.

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Opener Smriti Mandhana ledthe chase for India with famil-iar panache after a feisty bowl-

ing performance that steered the sideto a series-clinching eight-wickettriumph over New Zealand Womenin the second one-dayer onTuesday.

Opting to field, India producedan excellent effort to bowl out NewZealand for a paltry 161 in 44.2 oversbefore player of the match Mandhana(90 not out) and skipper Mithali Raj(63 not out) stitched a 151-rununbroken third-wicket stand to guidethe team to an easy win.

The duo resurrected the Indianrun chase from 15 for 2 after the earlyloss of opener Jemimah Rodrigues (0)and Deepti Sharma (8).

"It feels great but I think ourbowlers deserved the player of thematch award more than me. I willgive it away to our bowlers, they dida great job to restrict New Zealand on

a good wicket," Mandhana said in thepost-match presentation.

The 22-year-old Mandhana hasbeen in excellent form in recent timesand Tuesday's half century was hereighth in the last 10 ODI innings. Shehit 105 in the first match of the ongo-ing series.

On Tuesday, she took just 82deliveries in her unbeaten knock of90.

Raj, on the other hand, faced 111deliveries in her sedate knock 63. But,she was a perfect counterfoil to theaggressive Mandhana.

Raj completed the run chase instyle with a six as India reached to 166for 2 in 35.2 overs.

"I am happy with the way theteam is shaping up. I have alwaysenjoyed batting in challenging con-ditions. It wasn't easy, it requiredpatience here. Smriti is in good formand somebody had to give her sup-port," Raj said.

India have now taken an unas-

sailable 2-0 lead in the three-matchcontest, which is part of the ICCWomen's Championship series. Thevisiting side beat New Zealand in thefirst one-dayer by nine wickets at thesame venue on January 24. The thirdand final match of the series isscheduled to be held in Hamilton onFebruary 1.

It was a fitting revenge for theIndian team, which had lost the homeleg of the ICC Women'sChampionship series 1-2 to NewZealand during the last cycle that ranfrom 2014-2016.

New Zealand are ranked secondin the ICC Women's Championshiptable and are guaranteed a direct entryinto the 50-over World Cup being thehosts.

Just like the first match, Indiaopted to field and shot New Zealandout for a paltry 161 with senior pacerJhulan Goswami grabbing 3 wicketsfor 23 to lead the Indian bowlingcharge.

The spin trio of Ekta Bisht,Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma,who had tormented New Zealand inIndia's nine-wicket win in the firstODI, took two wickets each to stiflethe Kiwi innings yet again.

New Zealand captain AmySatterthwaite top-scored with a 71 off87 balls before she became Yadav'sfirst victim in the 34th over. But shegot little support from her other team-mates.

"Frustrated to be honest, notputting enough runs on the board.Just comes down to that really," shesaid after the match.

New Zealand made a disastrousstart with opener Suzie Bates beingdismissed for a nought off the fourthball.

The home side were 62 for 5 inthe 21st over and despite a spiritedeffort from Satterthwaite, they wereall out for 161 in 44.2 overs, failingto bat through their full quota of oversfor the second time in a row.

�-��■ �86��

Former champions India will squFre off against South Africain their opening match of the men's T20 World Cup to be held

in Australia next year, the International Cricket Council (ICC)announced on Tuesday.

India's opening match will take place in Perth on October 24while the tournament will get underway from October 18 withqualifying rounds in South Geelong, according to the fixtures.

India, who lost in the semifinals to eventual winners WestIndies in the previous edition in 2016, face a qualifying team intheir next Super 12 match in Melbourne on October 29. India wonthe event's inaugural edition in 2007.

The men's competition, from October 18 to November 15, willfeature several qualifying matches before hosts Australia take onworld's top-ranked Pakistan in the first match of the tournament-proper on October 24 under lights at the Sydney CricketGround.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: "Whenever wehost an event in Australia we know we can guarantee the one bil-lion cricket fans around the world a great show.

"The world's best players. Outstanding venues. Noisy, pas-sionate, knowledgeable fans. Exciting cricket. This is the perfectcombination for a T20 World Cup and in 2020 we go one step fur-ther with two T20 World Cups in one year."

Defending champions West Indies play their first Super 12group stage match against New Zealand on October 25 inMelbourne.

Australia, Pakistan, the West Indies, New Zealand and twoqualifiers make up Group 1 of the Super 12 stage. India,England, South Africa and Afghanistan and two qualifiers makeup the other group.

The first semi-final will take place at the SCG on November11, with Adelaide Oval hosting the second semi-final the followingnight.

The final will be played at the MCG on November 15.The tournament will be held in eight Australian cities and 13

venues.ICC T20 World Cup Australia 2020 Local Organising

Committee CEO Nick Hockley said: "We're so excited to be ableto let fans all around Australia and the world know when and wheretheir teams will play, so they can start planning now.

������������-����The Indian women's cricket team will open its campaign at

next year's Twenty20 Word Cup against defending championAustralia on February 21 in Sydney.

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup will take place inAustralia from February 21 to March 8 next year and the sport'sworld governing body released the fixtures for the big event onTuesday.

The warm-up matches will take place from February 15 to 20in Adelaide and Brisbane, before the tournament takes place acrossSydney, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne.

After the clash against the home side, the Indian women willtravel to Perth to take on a yet-to-be-decided qualifier on February24, followed by a clash against New Zealand on February 27 inMelbourne.

At the same venue, the Indians will wind up their round-robinengagements with a match against Sri Lanka.

The semifinals are scheduled to be held on March 5 in Sydneywhile the summit clash has been kept for March 8 in Melbourne.

�-��■ :��:�+��

India's number one singles play-er Prajnesh Gunneswaran on

Tuesday said beating formidablesides is a possibility in the new DavisCup format as he looks forward tocash in on his stupendous form inthe Qualifier match against Italy.

Best of three set matches wouldbe played inside two days as 24teams will lock horns around theworld on Friday and Saturday intheir bid for the World GroupFinals in Madrid in November.

"Honestly, the change in formatwould not really matter to me. It'sa bit more physical if we play five

sets and in best of three anythingcan happen. It's in two days and notthree days so I don't really see toomuch of a difference," Prajnesh toldreporters at the Calcutta SouthClub.

Prajnesh on Monday jumpedseven places in the world rankingto be on a career- high rank of 102as he attempts to build on a suc-cessful 2018 where he won twoChallenger titles in four finals andalso upset now world number 27Denis Shapovalov on grass at theStuttgart Open.

"I've had enough tournamentsand over the last couple of years andI've had a very good run in the last

six months and I'm looking forwardto using the momentum and tryingto do as well as possible here," hesaid.

"I'm just going to approach itlike every other match. I focus, pre-pare for my match and then I try toexecute my game plan and don'tworry too much about the situationor what's on the line and all of that."

Aiming to break into top-100,Prajnesh said: "I am playing a fewChallengers, first one in China andthen there are two in Bangkok so Iwill be playing those."

India have chosen grass keep-ing in mind of the Italians strongadvantage over clay or hard courts.But the fact remains that grass is nota familiar surface for both theIndia and Italy sides.

The hosts checked in about aweek prior to get acclimatised to theconditions and Ali said, "In termsof having settled in and gotten morepractice on grass, we would be a lotmore comfortable."

"But we are playing against ateam that has three top 60 playersin the world. So we are still verymuch the underdogs here.

"Our players need to go outthere and play their A game to havea chance of upsetting a strongteam again, like Italy, so everymatch is going to be very tough forus, regardless of who's playing forthem," he said.

�-��■ =�8�+�=�8����8�

Indian captain Mithali Raj onTuesday said that they are tar-

geting a clean sweep and therewon't be any let up in the team'sintensity after the series-clinchingwin in the second women's ODIagainst New Zealand here.

India have dominated NewZealand so far in the series andwon the second game by eightruns. The third and final ODI willbe played on Friday.

"We definitely want to make it3-0. At the same time, we will tryand give some of the youngsters anopportunity," said Mithali.

"Initially, a lot of people askedme if the spinners can turn thematch around on these wickets.The spinners have been doingwell from word go and Smriti(Mandhana) has been amongst

runs and so has been Jemimah(Rodrigues)."

The fact that star batswomanHarmanpreet Kaur is yet to get ahit in the middle sums up India'srampaging run.

"Batting has not been tested. Ina way it is a good thing becausewhoever is getting the opportuni-ty is making the most of it,"Mithali said.

On Twenty 20 skipperHarmanpreet not getting to bat yet,Mithali said: "As and when the bat-ters get the opportunity, we playaccording to the situation. Yes anybatter would like to get in there andscore runs.

"It gives a lot of confidence get-ting into the next game but boththe games were on the low scoringside and whoever has got oppor-tunity has got runs."

Mandhana starred in both the

games, scoring 105 and an unbeat-en 90.

Mithali scored an unbeaten 63off 111 balls as India chased down162 in 35.2 overs.

Asked about her role in thebatting department, Mithali added:"As long as I am getting runs, Iwould be more than happy to playthe supporting role or whatever theteam's demands are."

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Kloppbelieves Manchester City will

provide relentless opposition in therace for the Premier League title thisseason.

Klopp's table-toppers lead sec-ond-placed reigning champions Cityby four points heading into thisweek's matches.

But this week, for the first timesince December 15, City will play aleague match before title rivalsLiverpool, with Pep Guardiola's menin action away to Newcastle onTuesday -- 24 hours before the Redsface Leicester at Anfield.

It is a pattern that will be repeat-ed for the next two rounds of leaguematches but an unconcerned Kloppsaid Tuesday: "For me, no difference.If we win the game, we are not inter-

ested in other results."How can we change the

approach?"," the German, looking toguide Liverpool to their first domes-tic championship title since 1990,added.

- 'Do your own work' -"I said it a few times, I expect City

to win every game," he explained. "Itmakes sense that you think like this.

"I expect City to beat Newcastle,but I will still watch it because we playNewcastle as well.

"I can only speak for myself, butI don't sit in front of the TV and think(damn) when they score or whatev-er.

"I really believe that you have todo your own work, your own job ifyou want to have something.

"Don't be concentrated on otherteams, it doesn't help. I expect to beone point up before the game tomor-

row, and that doesn't bother me."Meanwhile Klopp was hopeful

Virgil Van Dijk would be fit to facethe Foxes.

The influential centre-back hasbeen ill since Liverpool returnedfrom a training camp in Dubai lastweek.

But he was back on the pitchwith the squad at Melwood, theMerseyside club's training ground,on Tuesday.

Van Dijk has not missed aPremier League match since the fix-ture away to Huddersfield year ago.The Dutch international is widelyseen as the reason for the majorimprovement in Liverpool's defencethat has seen them concede a mere13 league goals -- the lowest total inthe division -- so far this season.

He has also been on the pitch forall-but 35 minutes of league action

this season, having exited with a ribinjury against Southampton earlierin the campaign.

"Virg was a little bit ill but hetrained yesterday. He will traintoday and then we will see," saidKlopp.

Liverpool have problems atright-back, with James Milner serv-ing a one-match suspension, whileTrent Alexander-Arnold (knee) andJoe Gomez (leg) are injured.

Klopp could field midfielderFabinho, a right-back for Brazil, butthe player only returned to trainingon Tuesday following illness, withyoungster Rafael Camacho anotheralternative.

"You have to wait until tomor-row. We will play with a right-back,or a wing-back," said Klopp. "I can-not answer. I have no clue what weare doing, to be honest!"

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Saina Nehwal is mentally thetoughest shuttler in the countryand the ability to overcome

injuries is the key to her longevity,believes former coach Vimal Kumar.

Saina, who had suffered a shininjury late last year, won the IndonesiaMasters last Sunday after the with-drawal of Carolina Marin from thesummit clash due to a leg injury.

Her former coach Vimal has alsobacked the Indian ace to win the cov-eted All England Championship inMarch.

"She is definitely mentally thetoughest, even I will give her edge overthe men's players, she is much tougherthan all of them," Vimal, who hadcoached Saina from 2014 to 2017, saidon Tuesday.

"She doesn't think too muchonce she is on court, no matter if shehas some pain, she will go all out andmake it difficult for her opponents,"said the former India coach, underwhom Saina attained the World No1 ranking in 2015.

With Marin suffering a tornanterior cruciate ligament (ACL) —the ligament that stabilizes the knee— and World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying also

recuperating from a wrist injury,Vimal feels Indian duo of Saina andP V Sindhu will have a great chanceto end India's wait for an All Englandtitle.

"It (Indonesia win) will give Sainaa lot of confidence and can help herin All England Championship, she cantarget that," he said.

"Carolina also might need 5-6months to recover if the injury is seri-ous, so the All England will be wideopen. Carolina and Tai Tzu Ying werefavourites. So now Saina and Sindhuwill have big chance to win the title."

Saina, who will turn 29 in March,is currently the oldest player in the topten and Vimal said it is important forthe Indian to train smart to stay at thetop of her game.

"She has had her share of injuries.I was there with her at the Olympics,she was preparing well and sudden-ly it came up. But subsequently, theway she came back, have to give hercredit.

"Now it is a question of trainingsmart. She has a couple of years at thetop and with the Olympics coming up,she would want to do well... I don'twant to go that far now but she canimmediately think of doing well at theAll England."

Saina had aggravated her kneeinjury at the Rio Olympics and need-ed surgery and rigorous physiother-apy to return to the sport.

The London Olympics Bronzemedallist returned to win the MalaysiaMasters in 2017, her last BWF titlebefore she ended the two year wait byclinching the Indonesia Masters lastweek.

"It is a creditable performancefrom. I saw a few matches, I don'tknow if she had the stamina to playat a good pace like Tai Tzu Ying andCarolina Marin as she was carrying abit of injury.

"I don't think she was in rightshape but because of mental tough-ness she pulled through quite a fewmatches," said Vimal.

�����=��)��*+��

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says tro-phies are more important for

Manchester United than a top-fourfinish as he targets success in twocup competitions over the secondhalf of the season.

A run of eight successive vic-tories to start his caretaker reign atthe club has transformed a cam-paign that appeared to be headingnowhere under his predecessor JoseMourinho.

United are still in the FA Cupand Champions League, whilevastly improved league form nowhas the Reds looking at a potentialbest-case scenario of finishingthird in the Premier League.

Tottenham's MauricioPochettino, still in the frame tobecome United's eventual long-term manager, has claimed a top-four finish and Champions Leaguefootball is his club's primary targetand not silverware.

But Solskjaer, who won manytrophies at Old Trafford as a play-er under Alex Ferguson, has otheraims.

"I am not here to discuss whatPochettino says and what othermanagers say but we are aboutwinning trophies, of course we are,"said Solskjaer.

"And we can't win the leaguethis year, we are still in the cup, weare going to try to win the FA Cupof course. I think every managerwants to win every game so I don'tthink that is the point he was mak-ing.

"If you win trophies that's a fan-tastic day for everyone in the club,it's just the best time of your life,that day when you win because younever know when the next one is

going to come."

3��/������4���Despite Solskjaer's hunger for

silverware, the realities of modernfootball mean the importance ofqualifying for the ChampionsLeague cannot be underestimated.

"That's not the dream though,to be top four," he said. "We're ManUnited, you should always aim towin the league. We can't do that thisyear but we've just got to look for-ward to that again because we haveto get back to that.

"We've got the ChampionsLeague, we've got FA Cup, we can'tjust say 'top four and that's it'. We'vegot to look at 'can we win some-thing this year?' and I go into everysingle game as United managerthinking we can win this game."

Solskjaer is still looking forBrazilian midfielder Fred, a 68 mil-lion summer signing fromShakhtar Donetsk by Mourinho, tostart justifying his price tag. Fredhas started just two games underSolskjaer, completing about anhour on both occasions, althoughhis manager said he could seeimprovements.

"I don't think it's my challengeto incorporate players, it's about theplayers being ready when they getthe chance and Fred's been work-ing really hard in training," he said.

"He's a good lad, same withPereira, he's working really hard,you've got Scott McTominay.

"And when they get thechance, because they will, we wantto see improvement. We knowthere's a very, very good playerthere with Fred so hopefully he'lladjust to the English game becausethere's no doubt there's talent,absolutely no doubt."

����■ =����

Cristiano Ronaldo locks hornsagain with Colombian ace Duvan

Zapata as Juventus travel to Atalantaon Wednesday with a Coppa Italiasemi-final berth at stake.

Juventus have won the last foureditions of the competition — sealinga record 18th last season by beatingAC Milanin thefinal.

B u ttheir patht o w a r d sa n o t h e rtitle afterlifting theI t a l i a nSuper Cupthis monthcould behamperedby quarter-final opponents Atalanta.

Zapata scored a double againstJuventus as the side from Bergamoheld the champions to a 2-2 draw inSerie A on December 26.

The league leaders had travelledto Bergamo with Ronaldo on thebench but were forced to call on thePortuguese star after a Zapata bracethreatened their unbeaten run thisseason.

Both Ronaldo and Zapata are inform having scored 15 goals in SerieA so far, and are vying for top scorer.

Ronaldo slotted in the penalty thatgave Juventus a hard-fought 2-1 win

over Lazio on Sunday.In Bergamo, Zapata missed a

penalty but less than a minute laterscored the equaliser as his side camefrom three goals down to hold Roma3-3.

It was the 27-year-oldColombian's 14th goal in the last eightleague games.

He also scored in the CoppaItalia last 16 tiea g a i n s tCagliari.

Ronaldo,33, has scoredin his last eightaway games,along with thewinner in theItalian SuperCup final anda ChampionsLeague goalfor a total of 17for Juventus.

But Juventus looked sluggish foran hour on Sunday with second halfsubstitutes Joao Cancelo andFederico Bernardeschi saving the dayin Rome.

"Those who come off the benchare essential," said MassimilianoAllegri.

"I was sad to leave Bernardeschiout initially, but we have a big gamecoming up against Atalanta."

Juventus will be without defend-er Leonardo Bonucci who sprainedhis ankle at the weekend, but MiralemPjanic, Sami Khedira and MarioMandzukic are all back training.

�-���=8�)�

The Indian women's hockeyteam put up a spirited display

to stun World Cup bronze medal-lists Spain 5-2 in its third match ofthe tour here on Tuesday.

Young striker from Mizoram,Lalremsiami (17th, 58th minutes)starred with a brace, while NehaGoyal (21st), Navneet Kaur (32nd),Rani Rampal (51st) maintainedIndia's lead after the initial setbackin the first quarter.

By virtue of this win, India

have managed to level the series at1-1. After having lost the touropener 2-3, India held Spain to a1-1 draw in the second game.

But it was Spain, who scoredthe first goal in the seventh minutethrough Berta Bonastre.

A determined India, however,made a quick recovery with strik-er Lalremsiami's fine goal in the17th minute and then struck againfour minutes later through Nehato take a 2-1 lead.

Navneet struck a splendidthird goal for India in the 32nd

minute. Though Bonastre scoredher second goal of the match in the35th minute to narrow downIndia's lead to 3-2, the visitors kepttheir nose ahead with strikes at theright time.

Skipper Rani found the net inthe 51st minute and then youngstriker Lalremsiami scored her sec-ond goal of the day just two min-utes from full time to hand Indiaa convincing 5-2 victory.

"I am pleased with the per-formance. We are working to bemore steady in our performance

and we are improving match-by-match. This is a process and weneed to keep repeating such per-formances to grow further," saidIndia's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne.

"I am giving constant feedbackon individual performances andbehaviours. Overall, we are pro-gressing well and beating a WorldCup medal winning side in itshome ground is a big confidenceboost for this young team," headded.

India will play their fourthmatch against Spain on Thursday.

����■ ���8��

Australian Open finalist PetraKvitova hailed the end of her

Grand Slam bad luck — and of a two-year transition following a knifeattack that almost ended her career.

Having played only two GrandSlam quarter-finals since herWimbledon triumph in 2014, Kvitovajoked last year that she might as wellquit playing at the top four events.

This year's Australian Openoffered a different picture of the left-handed Czech who did not lose a sin-gle set on her way to the final in whichshe lost to Japan's Naomi Osaka inthree sets on Saturday.

"I'm glad it was only a joke, thatit didn't happen," the 28-year-old, whoalso won Wimbledon in 2011, toldreporters in Prague.

"I guess it's a compensation forlast year which wasn't the best whenit comes to Grand Slams," addedKvitova, who in 2018 reached the last-32 phase at the French and US Open,bowing out of the Australian Openand Wimbledon at the first hurdle.

"I wasn't too happy after the lossbut now the positive things prevail,"said the new world number two.

"I felt very well throughout thosethree weeks I played in Australia."

Kvitova started the year poorly atBrisbane where she lost in the last 16,but she took the top honours atSydney a week later — at a tourna-ment where she initially was notexpecting to play.

63�L�����4��.�Besides the on-court battles,

Kvitova is fighting memories of anattack at her Czech home by a knife-wielding burglar in December 2016,which left deep scars on her lefthand.

She identified the man and is will-ing to give her testimony in court inearly February on the condition shedoes not meet the suspect.

"Petra takes this as an inevitablething. She knows it's necessary to putan end to the whole affair," herspokesman Karel Tejkal toldreporters.

Kvitova herself declined to speakabout the attack that required a com-plicated surgery and saw her sinkfrom sixth to sixteenth in the world.

"Such questions make me a bitangry but I can't do anything aboutit. But it will be over some day." "Iguess this trophy is a chequered flagon those two years," Kvitova said,looking at the silver plate she won atMelbourne.

One of those to ask her was for-mer world number one Jim Courier

— on court, following her quarter-final win against the home crowd'sfavourite Ashleigh Barty.

"I suppose he didn't want to makeme cry — but he did," Kvitova said.

"The interview was pretty tough— but he's a nice guy."

��3�/������Sympathy poured in from the

Australian audience and from fellowplayers.

"Simona Halep sent me threenice messages — after the Sydneywin, after the quarter-final withAshleigh Barty and after the final,"said Kvitova.

"It's great to have such good rela-tionships even when you're at the topof the rankings."

If Kvitova had won atMelbourne, she would have replacedHalep as the world number one —an honour that went to Osakainstead.

"We didn't talk about the rank-ings with Simona," chuckled Kvitova,adding it was not her top priority.

"I'm trying to improve as thegames go and I think the rankingswill reflect that," she said.

Next, the 'Czech Lioness' faces adefence of last year's titles from StPetersburg this week and Doha afortnight later.

"I'll enjoy St Petersburg, I'mtravelling with my friend. It's awonderful tournament and I'm look-ing forward to it," she said.

Asked if she was concernedabout her health which has oftenbeen an issue in the past, she said:"I know it will be cold at StPetersburg but I'll wear a winter jack-et and a woollen cap!"

����■ =��6�8���

Andy Murray has undergone hipresurfacing surgery in London,

the British tennis great told hisInstagram followers on Tuesday.

The two-time Wimbledonchampion had been weighing upthe pros and cons of the operation,which involves putting a metal plateinto the joint, in one last bid to pro-long a career plagued by injury.

The 31-year-old doubleOlympic gold medallist had previ-ously said ahead of this month'sAustralian Open earlier that heintended to retire following the2019 edition of Wimbledon.

"I underwent a hip resurfacingsurgery in London yesterday(Monday) morning... feeling a bitbattered and bruised just now buthopefully that will be the end of my

hip pain," Murray said onInstagram.

There are no guarantees thatthe operation will allow Murray toplay top-flight tennis again but itshould enable him to live a pain-free life off the court.

At the Australian Open,Murray showed his competitivespirit and talent were undimmed ina five-set defeat by RobertoBautista-Agut.

That match led Murray to sayhe would do all he could to pro-long his career but Monday'soperation may mean he is not fitin time for Wimbledon, where hehad thought of making his farewellto tennis.

Monday's operation was thesecond time Murray had under-gone surgery in the past 12 monthsafter a first operation failed to ease

the pain in his hip.Ahead of this latest bout of

surgery, Murray spoke to US dou-bles specialist Bob Bryan, who hasjust returned to the game follow-ing the same procedure last year.

Bryan urged Murray to havesimilar surgery, although thegreater physical demands of sin-gles compared to doubles, meanthere is no guarantee this opera-tion could help the British tennisgreat to regain a place among theworld's top players.

Dr Edwin Su, who operatedon Bryan, though, told Britain'sMail on Sunday: "I think it wouldabsolutely be able to help him.Ideally, it is with no pain. Most ofthe time, right away from the timethey wake up from the surgery,patients say that the pain is gone."

Su, however, added: "What isunknown in elite athletes iswhether they can return tosport...Singles is much more stren-uous than doubles. It's unchartedterritory.

Meanwhile Bryan, 40, said ofMurray's position: "I just representan option for him. That guy doeseverything you can possibly do asfar as training and rehab."

Murray made a long-awaitedcomeback at Queen's last year butthen pulled out of Wimbledon.

He underwent an extensiverehabilitation period inPhiladelphia, followed by pre-season training in Miami mightprove the answer, but theAustralian Open showed he wasstill suffering significant painwhile on court.

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