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T he ambitious project to repopulate Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve by translocating big cats from outside the State has gone haywire after one of the relocated tigers died, most probably due to poaching, while the other, a Royal Bengal tigress, has been kept in captivity fol- lowing public outrage that it killed two people. Unhappy at the State Government’s failure to protect the big cats and sensitise the community towards wildlife, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has now kept the translocation plan in abeyance till the “environment becomes conducive for the big cats” in the tiger reserve spread over four districts — Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh. NTCA ADG Anup Nayak told The Pioneer, “Following the mishappening at the reserve we are reviewing the safety situation in the tiger reserve. We cannot allow the big cats to be translocated from other States and meet the fatal end. “The death of the male tiger shows that sufficient steps were not taken to protect the animal. Also, the State Government must answer why the tigress had strayed outside the forest even though she was under constant observation of the forest officials.” The tigress had to be tran- quillised and kept in a zoo after the villagers in the vicinity alleged that she had mauled locals and their cattle. Nayak said there are reports that the move to bring the big cats has met with vio- lent protests from members of local communities on the out- skirts of the reserve as they apprehend their safety and that of their livestock. The body of MB2, the male big cat which was shifted from Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha tiger reserve in June this year, was found in Raiguda range on Hindol-Narsinghpur border — the core area of Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Angul district a few days ago. Nayak said the exact reason of radio-collared MB2’s death is yet to be ascertained, but pre- liminary report suggests that it could have died of infections after it was caught in a snare trap laid by poachers. The body was found by officials who were searching for MB2 after there were no signals from his radio collar for days. The tiger’s death came just a few weeks after the tigress which was brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve in MP in August was tranquilised and kept under observation in an enclosure. This was after vil- lagers in the vicinity of the reserve alleged that she had killed two persons. The tigers’ fate has put a question mark on the NTCA plan to translocate three pairs of tigers from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha. This was the first ever inter-state tiger translo- cation in India. So far the tigers have been shifted from one reserve to another within the State itself, like for instance in Rajasthan where big cats were translocated from Ranthambore tiger reserve to Sariska tiger reserve. Odisha has three tiger reserve — Satkosia, Sunabeda and Simplipal. According to the 2016 tiger census, Odisha has 40 Royal Bengal Tigers — 13 males, 24 females and three calves. The relocation is part of a tiger recovery programme to shore up the floundering pop- ulation of tigers in Satkosia where tigers vanished due to biotic pressure. Conservationist Biswajit Mohanty, who had been opposing the relocation plan since beginning, feel it is bound to happen as though the poor prey base in Satkosia has shown a recovery in the core area, it is not enough to sustain a significant tiger population. A nnoyed over unpaid dues, three men allegedly killed a fashion designer and her domestic help in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Enclave locality on Wednesday night. After mur- dering her and her servant, they ransacked the entire house and looted cash and jewellery, and fled the spot. However, they themselves went to Vasant Kunh South police station and surrendered. They reportedly told the police, they feared that the police will trouble their family if they ran away. It was around 2.45 am between the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday when the three men approached the police station and confessed to their crime as to how they had committed the twin murders and bodies were lying in a flat of Vasant Enclave, following which officials rushed to the spot to verify the details. Police recovered the bod- ies of 53-year-old Maya Lakhani, who ran a boutique called Tulsi Creations in Green Park, and her domestic help, 50-year-old Bahadur, a Nepalese national, with multi- ple stab wounds in the bunga- low early on Thursday. The bodies were lying in a pool of blood. “The accused looted jew- ellery and ransacked the house after killing the two, estimating that the incident took place between 10 pm and 11.30 pm on Wednesday,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South west district Devendra Arya said. Identified as Rahul Anwar (24), the master tailor who worked with Lakhani, his cousin Rahmat (24) and his friend Wasim (25) have been arrested in connection with the killings, the DCP said. The tailor, with the help of two of his relatives, killed Lakhani as she had not cleared his dues. When she cried for help, her servant came to help her who was also stabbed. “One of the accused Rahul Anwar was working as a tailor at deceased fashion designer’s workshop and was staying in her home for the last three years. He committed the crime with two of his relatives in an attempt to loot,” Joint CP Ajay Chaudhary said. A case has been registered and the three accused have been arrested, the DCP added. W eeks after senior BJP leaders demanded an Assam-like National Register for Citizens in Bengal and in the wake of an intensified political campaign by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee highlighting the anti-Bengali venom that laces the NRC regime, the State BJP unit has asked its national leadership to tone down the NRC rhetoric - -- at least till the next year’s gen- eral elections, sources say. According to inside sources, the State BJP has writ- ten to party president Amit Shah to go slow on NRC as the idea was creating large-scale apprehensions among the peo- ple. In fact, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday clearly said the State leadership was more in favour of the Citizenship Bill than the NRC. “I think once the Citizenship Bill is tabled and enacted the NRC will not be required because that will pro- vide enough evidence of a per- son’s citizenship credentials,” Ghosh said. A head of a fresh round of agitation threatened by the Maratha Kranti Morcha from November 25 to demand reser- vations for their community members, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday indicated that his Government would come out with a formal announcement about reservations for Marathas in Government jobs and edu- cational institutions on December 1. “I request all of you to pre- pare yourselves for celebra- tions on December 1,” Fadnavis said, while addressing a public rally at Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra. Fadnavis’ announcement came hours after Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) mem- ber-secretary DD Deshmukh submitted the Commission’s voluminous report on the socio-economic status of the Marathas to State Chief Secretary DK Jain. On August 7, the Bombay High Court had set November 15 as deadline for MSBCC to submit its report to it. Detailed report on P7 T he politics of statue has infected Karnataka as the JD(S)-Congress coalition Government is mulling a pro- posal to build 125-feel high statue of Mother Cauvery at world famous Brindavan Gardens, adjoining the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) that too will be developed on the lines of Disney land. The whopping 1,200 crore project includes increas- ing the height of the KRS dam to around a 12-storey building, while the Goddess Cauvery will stand atop a museum complex on the “amusement park” spread in 300-400 acres. However, the State Government will not spend any money on the public-private partnership project and the cost would be borne by the construction company. According to Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar, the proposal was tabled in the Assembly during the Budget Session and was passed in the Budget Bill. On Wednesday Shivakumar along with Tourism Minister SaRa Mahesh held a meeting with officials from the water resources and the tourism departments to discuss the blueprint. A certain fixed amount will be paid to the Government on yearly basis as revenue generated from the earning from tourists. Shivakumar said, “It is not a statue per say, it is an amuse- ment park. We want to show- case the heritage and culture of Mysore to rest of the country. It is still in planning stage and features can be changed.” The BJP criticised the Government for calling it an amusement park. BJP Spokesperson S Prakash said, “We welcome the statue, but one can’t call it an amusement park. It’s an insult to Goddess Cauvery. Congress attacked BJP over statue of Unity, now their duplicity is seen, hypocrisy is in their DNA.” At present, the Government earns 6 crore from the KRS dam annually. After development, the income may rise up to 300 crore, and the State Government share will be 30 crore a year. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in his first-ever Budget presented on July 5 had proposed to bring back the grandeur of Brindavan Gardens and KRS dam by developing it on the model of America’s Disneyland with public-private participation. Global industrialists are eager to invest in the project, Kumaraswamy, who also holds Finance portfolio, had said in his Budget speech, while pro- viding 5 crore to prepare the detailed project report. T he orphaned cubs of a man-eating tiger killed in a State-sanctioned hunt have been spotted in a forest in Maharashtra and could be rescued and reha- bilitated, officials said on Thursday. The mother was shot dead in early November after being accused of killing more than a dozen villagers, capping off one of the country’s most high- profile tiger hunts and anger- ing conservation activists. The months-long search deployed 200 hunters using paragliders, infrared cameras, sharpshooters on elephant back, and even Calvin Klein fragrance to lure the big cat. Maharashtra forestry department’s AK Mishra said the cubs are “healthy and are surviving”. T hree tiger cubs were found killed after being hit by a train in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district on Thursday, officials said. Chief Conservator of Forests SV Ramarao said while two cubs were found dead in the morning, another dead tiger cub was found half a kilo- metre away in the evening. The cubs, around six months old, were apparently hit by Balharshah-Gondia train between Chandrapur and Nagbhid stations around 7.30 am, said Rishikesh Ranjan, general manager of the State-run F o r e s t Development Corporation of Maharashtra. Pug marks of a tigress, which could be the cub’s moth- er, were found in the vicinity, said Ramarao. C ongress-led Punjab Government is set to run its social security and welfare schemes from the pocket of its residents. The State Government has announced imposition of surcharge on the registration of new vehicles to fund its social welfare schemes like old age pension and health insurance. Eyeing 300 annual rev- enue, the Government has imposed one per cent sur- charge on the registration of vehicles, besides 10 per cent surcharge on the value of goods to be carried by transportation vehicles. One percent surcharge has been imposed on the value of motor vehicles and it will lead to a collection of about 200 crore revenue, said the Government official, adding that 10 per cent surcharge has been levied on the transporta- tion vehicles wherein tax will be imposed on the value of goods which are going to be transported, which would gen- erate 100 crore revenue. Imposition of new taxes came over seven months after the State Assembly passed the Punjab Social Security Bill. At the time, the State Finance Minister Manpreet Badal had clarified that the Bill authorise the Government to levy the tax, if needed be, on the fuel, liquor, vehicle registration, and elec- tricity bills under Punjab Value Added Tax, 2005; Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1924; Punjab Electricity (Duty) Act, 2005; Punjab tax on Lotteries Act, 2005; and Companies Act 2013. The Act says “Social Security Surcharge” may be imposed not exceeding Rs two per on sale of petrol and/or diesel which are subject to VAT 1evied under the Punjab VAT Act, 2005. Besides, sur- charge not exceeding one per- cent of value of vehicles regis- tered in the State of Punjab, which are subject to payment of tax under the Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1924 may be levied. It added, “Social Security Surcharge not exceeding 10 percent of Motor Vehicle Tax on transportation vehicles in the state of Punjab which are subject to such tax under the Punjab Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1924; a Social Security Surcharge at the rate of five percent of monthly electricity bill, provided that the minimum liability of the con- sumer shall not be less than 25 per month and the maxi- mum liability of the consumer shall not exceed 10,000 per month”. The official said that th eState Government would ini- tially be spending collection from surcharges on meeting expenditure on account of old age pension and health insur- ance scheme. Punjab is annu- ally spending about 1,500 crore on paying pension. Continued on Page 4 T he report card prepared by Congress national presi- dent Rahul Gandhi after exam- ination of the performance of Punjab Cabinet Ministers is expected to bring about star- tling results including the pos- sible replacement of a Minister allegedly involved in a #MeToo controversy. Available information sug- gests that Rahul Gandhi has suggested the ouster of Charanjit Singh Channi after holding a viva voce session with the party’s Punjab leadership on Thursday afternoon, includ- ing Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the State party chief Sunil Jakhar. Channi, who was given prominence within the party being a dalit leader, is expected to be replaced by another Dalit MLA Raj Kumar Verka. With this, a major reshuffle of the ministries is also on the cards. However, the decision on finding Jakhar’s replacement as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president has been put on hold for now. The expected reshuffle comes at a time when the Congress party is getting into the parliamentary poll mode. Sources informed The Pioneer that detailed discussion on the performance of every Minister was held during the meeting, which was also attend- ed by the party’s state affairs sec- retary in-charges Asha Kumari and Harish Chaudhary. It has been learnt that con- sidering Congress’ tough stand in MeToo allegations against the Union Minister MJ Akbar, Channi may be asked to go, despite Capt Amarinder’s assur- ance that the matter has been resolved to the “officer’s satis- faction”. The issue of ongoing issues in the Education Department — teachers’ regularisation and history book row — was also emerged during discussion, but the Chief Minister said to have defended the Minister in- charge OP Soni. Performance of two female Ministers — Razia Sultana and Aruna Chaudhary — was also deliberated upon, and it has been learnt that the two would be given new ministries. Continued on Page 4

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Page 1: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2019. 3. 4. · from his radio collar for days. ... highlighting the anti-Bengali venom that laces the NRC regime,

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The ambitious project torepopulate Odisha’s Satkosia

Tiger Reserve by translocatingbig cats from outside the Statehas gone haywire after one ofthe relocated tigers died, mostprobably due to poaching, whilethe other, a Royal Bengal tigress,has been kept in captivity fol-lowing public outrage that itkilled two people.

Unhappy at the StateGovernment’s failure to protectthe big cats and sensitise thecommunity towards wildlife,the National TigerConservation Authority(NTCA) has now kept thetranslocation plan in abeyancetill the “environment becomesconducive for the big cats” inthe tiger reserve spread overfour districts — Angul,Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh.

NTCA ADG Anup Nayaktold The Pioneer, “Followingthe mishappening at thereserve we are reviewing thesafety situation in the tigerreserve. We cannot allow thebig cats to be translocatedfrom other States and meet thefatal end.

“The death of the maletiger shows that sufficient stepswere not taken to protect theanimal. Also, the StateGovernment must answer whythe tigress had strayed outsidethe forest even though she wasunder constant observation ofthe forest officials.”

The tigress had to be tran-quillised and kept in a zoo afterthe villagers in the vicinityalleged that she had mauled

locals and their cattle.Nayak said there are

reports that the move to bringthe big cats has met with vio-lent protests from members oflocal communities on the out-skirts of the reserve as theyapprehend their safety and thatof their livestock.

The body of MB2, themale big cat which was shiftedfrom Madhya Pradesh’s Kanhatiger reserve in June this year,was found in Raiguda range onHindol-Narsinghpur border —the core area of Satkosia TigerReserve (STR) in Angul districta few days ago.

Nayak said the exact reasonof radio-collared MB2’s deathis yet to be ascertained, but pre-liminary report suggests that itcould have died of infectionsafter it was caught in a snaretrap laid by poachers.

The body was found byofficials who were searching forMB2 after there were no signalsfrom his radio collar for days.The tiger’s death came just afew weeks after the tigresswhich was brought fromBandhavgarh Tiger reserve inMP in August was tranquilisedand kept under observation inan enclosure. This was after vil-lagers in the vicinity of thereserve alleged that she hadkilled two persons.

The tigers’ fate has put aquestion mark on the NTCAplan to translocate three pairsof tigers from Madhya Pradeshto Odisha. This was the firstever inter-state tiger translo-cation in India. So far thetigers have been shifted fromone reserve to another within

the State itself, like for instancein Rajasthan where big catswere translocated fromRanthambore tiger reserve toSariska tiger reserve.

Odisha has three tigerreserve — Satkosia, Sunabedaand Simplipal. According to the2016 tiger census, Odisha has40 Royal Bengal Tigers — 13males, 24 females and threecalves. The relocation is part ofa tiger recovery programme toshore up the floundering pop-ulation of tigers in Satkosiawhere tigers vanished due tobiotic pressure.

Conservationist BiswajitMohanty, who had been opposing the relocation plan since beginning, feel it isbound to happen as though thepoor prey base in Satkosia has shown a recovery in thecore area, it is not enough to sustain a significant tigerpopulation.

�� ����������� 1�2'�34"

Annoyed over unpaid dues,three men allegedly killed

a fashion designer and herdomestic help in South Delhi’sVasant Kunj Enclave locality onWednesday night. After mur-dering her and her servant,they ransacked the entire houseand looted cash and jewellery,and fled the spot. However,they themselves went to VasantKunh South police station andsurrendered. They reportedlytold the police, they fearedthat the police will troubletheir family if they ran away.

It was around 2.45 ambetween the intervening nightof Wednesday and Thursdaywhen the three menapproached the police stationand confessed to their crime asto how they had committed thetwin murders and bodies werelying in a flat of Vasant Enclave,following which officialsrushed to the spot to verify thedetails.

Police recovered the bod-ies of 53-year-old MayaLakhani, who ran a boutiquecalled Tulsi Creations in GreenPark, and her domestic help,50-year-old Bahadur, aNepalese national, with multi-ple stab wounds in the bunga-low early on Thursday. The

bodies were lying in a pool ofblood.

“The accused looted jew-ellery and ransacked the houseafter killing the two, estimatingthat the incident took placebetween 10 pm and 11.30 pmon Wednesday,” DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP)South west district DevendraArya said. Identified as RahulAnwar (24), the master tailor

who worked with Lakhani, hiscousin Rahmat (24) and hisfriend Wasim (25) have beenarrested in connection with thekillings, the DCP said.

The tailor, with the help oftwo of his relatives, killedLakhani as she had not clearedhis dues. When she cried forhelp, her servant came to helpher who was also stabbed.

“One of the accused Rahul

Anwar was working as a tailorat deceased fashion designer’sworkshop and was staying inher home for the last threeyears. He committed the crimewith two of his relatives in anattempt to loot,” Joint CP AjayChaudhary said.

A case has been registered and the threeaccused have been arrested, theDCP added.

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Weeks after senior BJPleaders demanded an

Assam-like National Registerfor Citizens in Bengal and inthe wake of an intensifiedpolitical campaign by ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeehighlighting the anti-Bengalivenom that laces the NRCregime, the State BJP unit hasasked its national leadership totone down the NRC rhetoric --- at least till the next year’s gen-eral elections, sources say.

According to insidesources, the State BJP has writ-ten to party president AmitShah to go slow on NRC as theidea was creating large-scaleapprehensions among the peo-ple. In fact, State BJP president

Dilip Ghosh on Thursdayclearly said the State leadershipwas more in favour of theCitizenship Bill than the NRC.

“I think once theCitizenship Bill is tabled andenacted the NRC will not berequired because that will pro-vide enough evidence of a per-son’s citizenship credentials,”Ghosh said.

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Ahead of a fresh round ofagitation threatened by the

Maratha Kranti Morcha fromNovember 25 to demand reser-vations for their communitymembers, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis onThursday indicated that hisGovernment would come outwith a formal announcementabout reservations for Marathasin Government jobs and edu-cational institutions onDecember 1.

“I request all of you to pre-pare yourselves for celebra-tions on December 1,” Fadnavissaid, while addressing a publicrally at Ahmednagar in westernMaharashtra.

Fadnavis’ announcementcame hours after MaharashtraState Backward ClassCommission (MSBCC) mem-ber-secretary DD Deshmukhsubmitted the Commission’svoluminous report on thesocio-economic status of theMarathas to State ChiefSecretary DK Jain.

On August 7, the BombayHigh Court had set November15 as deadline for MSBCC tosubmit its report to it.

Detailed report on P7

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The politics of statue hasinfected Karnataka as the

JD(S)-Congress coalitionGovernment is mulling a pro-posal to build 125-feel highstatue of Mother Cauvery atworld famous BrindavanGardens, adjoining the KrishnaRaja Sagara (KRS) that too willbe developed on the lines ofDisney land.

The whopping �1,200crore project includes increas-ing the height of the KRS damto around a 12-storey building,while the Goddess Cauvery willstand atop a museum complexon the “amusement park”spread in 300-400 acres.

However, the StateGovernment will not spend anymoney on the public-privatepartnership project and thecost would be borne by theconstruction company.

According to WaterResources Minister DKShivakumar, the proposal wastabled in the Assembly duringthe Budget Session and waspassed in the Budget Bill. OnWednesday Shivakumar alongwith Tourism Minister SaRaMahesh held a meeting withofficials from the waterresources and the tourismdepartments to discuss theblueprint. A certain fixedamount will be paid to theGovernment on yearly basis as

revenue generated from theearning from tourists.

Shivakumar said, “It is nota statue per say, it is an amuse-ment park. We want to show-case the heritage and culture of

Mysore to rest of the country.It is still in planning stage andfeatures can be changed.”

The BJP criticised theGovernment for calling it anamusement park. BJP

Spokesperson S Prakash said,“We welcome the statue, butone can’t call it an amusementpark. It’s an insult to GoddessCauvery. Congress attackedBJP over statue of Unity, now

their duplicity is seen,hypocrisy is in their DNA.”

At present, theGovernment earns �6 crorefrom the KRS dam annually.After development, the incomemay rise up to �300 crore, andthe State Government sharewill be �30 crore a year.

Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy in his first-everBudget presented on July 5 hadproposed to bring back thegrandeur of BrindavanGardens and KRS dam bydeveloping it on the model ofAmerica’s Disneyland withpublic-private participation.Global industrialists are eagerto invest in the project,Kumaraswamy, who also holdsFinance portfolio, had said inhis Budget speech, while pro-viding �5 crore to prepare thedetailed project report.

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The orphaned cubs of aman-eating tiger killed in a

State-sanctioned hunt havebeen spotted ina forest inMaharashtra

and could be rescued and reha-bilitated, officials said onThursday.

The mother was shot deadin early November after beingaccused of killing more than a

dozen villagers, capping offone of the country’s most high-profile tiger hunts and anger-ing conservation activists.

The months-long searchdeployed 200 hunters usingparagliders, infrared cameras,sharpshooters on elephantback, and even Calvin Kleinfragrance to lure the big cat.

Maharashtra forestrydepartment’s AK Mishra saidthe cubs are “healthy and aresurviving”.

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Three tiger cubs were foundkilled after being hit by a

train in Maharashtra’sChandrapur district onThursday, officials said.

Chief Conservator ofForests SV Ramarao said whiletwo cubs were found dead inthe morning, another deadtiger cub was found half a kilo-metre away in the evening.

The cubs, around six

months old, were apparently hitby Balharshah-Gondia trainbetween Chandrapur andNagbhid stations around 7.30am, said Rishikesh Ranjan,general managerof the State-runF o r e s tDevelopment Corporation ofMaharashtra.

Pug marks of a tigress,which could be the cub’s moth-er, were found in the vicinity,said Ramarao.

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Congress-led PunjabGovernment is set to run

its social security and welfareschemes from the pocket of itsresidents. The StateGovernment has announcedimposition of surcharge on theregistration of new vehicles tofund its social welfare schemeslike old age pension and healthinsurance.

Eyeing �300 annual rev-enue, the Government hasimposed one per cent sur-charge on the registration ofvehicles, besides 10 per centsurcharge on the value of goodsto be carried by transportationvehicles.

One percent surcharge hasbeen imposed on the value ofmotor vehicles and it will leadto a collection of about �200crore revenue, said theGovernment official, addingthat 10 per cent surcharge hasbeen levied on the transporta-tion vehicles wherein tax willbe imposed on the value ofgoods which are going to betransported, which would gen-erate �100 crore revenue.

Imposition of new taxescame over seven months afterthe State Assembly passed thePunjab Social Security Bill. Atthe time, the State FinanceMinister Manpreet Badal hadclarified that the Bill authorisethe Government to levy the tax,if needed be, on the fuel, liquor,vehicle registration, and elec-tricity bills under Punjab ValueAdded Tax, 2005; Punjab

Motor Vehicles Taxation Act,1924; Punjab Electricity (Duty)Act, 2005; Punjab tax onLotteries Act, 2005; andCompanies Act 2013.

The Act says “SocialSecurity Surcharge” may beimposed not exceeding Rs twoper on sale of petrol and/ordiesel which are subject toVAT 1evied under the PunjabVAT Act, 2005. Besides, sur-charge not exceeding one per-cent of value of vehicles regis-tered in the State of Punjab,which are subject to paymentof tax under the Punjab MotorVehicles Taxation Act, 1924may be levied.

It added, “Social SecuritySurcharge not exceeding 10percent of Motor Vehicle Taxon transportation vehicles inthe state of Punjab which aresubject to such tax under thePunjab Motor VehiclesTaxation Act, 1924; a SocialSecurity Surcharge at the rateof five percent of monthlyelectricity bill, provided that theminimum liability of the con-sumer shall not be less than �25 per month and the maxi-mum liability of the consumershall not exceed �10,000 permonth”.

The official said that theState Government would ini-tially be spending collectionfrom surcharges on meetingexpenditure on account of oldage pension and health insur-ance scheme. Punjab is annu-ally spending about �1,500crore on paying pension.

Continued on Page 4

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The report card prepared byCongress national presi-

dent Rahul Gandhi after exam-ination of the performance ofPunjab Cabinet Ministers isexpected to bring about star-tling results including the pos-sible replacement of a Ministerallegedly involved in a #MeToocontroversy.

Available information sug-gests that Rahul Gandhi hassuggested the ouster ofCharanjit Singh Channi afterholding a viva voce session withthe party’s Punjab leadership onThursday afternoon, includ-ing Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh and the Stateparty chief Sunil Jakhar.

Channi, who was givenprominence within the partybeing a dalit leader, is expectedto be replaced by another DalitMLA Raj Kumar Verka. Withthis, a major reshuffle of theministries is also on the cards.

However, the decision onfinding Jakhar’s replacementas the Punjab Pradesh CongressCommittee (PPCC) presidenthas been put on hold for now.

The expected reshuffle

comes at a time when theCongress party is getting intothe parliamentary poll mode.

Sources informed ThePioneer that detailed discussionon the performance of everyMinister was held during themeeting, which was also attend-ed by the party’s state affairs sec-retary in-charges Asha Kumariand Harish Chaudhary.

It has been learnt that con-sidering Congress’ tough standin MeToo allegations against theUnion Minister MJ Akbar,Channi may be asked to go,despite Capt Amarinder’s assur-ance that the matter has beenresolved to the “officer’s satis-faction”.

The issue of ongoing issuesin the Education Department— teachers’ regularisation andhistory book row — was alsoemerged during discussion, butthe Chief Minister said to havedefended the Minister in-charge OP Soni.

Performance of two femaleMinisters — Razia Sultana andAruna Chaudhary — was alsodeliberated upon, and it hasbeen learnt that the two wouldbe given new ministries.

Continued on Page 4

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Himachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur

on Thursday flagged off a“Startup Yatra” asserting thatthe State’s Startup programmeis aimed at turning its educat-ed youths into job providersfrom job seekers.

Flagging off the ‘StartupYatra’ van from his official res-idence Oak Over, Thakur saidthe State Government wouldprovide all possible helps toyouths to develop entrepre-neurship under this scheme.

This scheme is a gift ofPrime Minister NarendraModi to the youths of thecountry which envisages var-ious incentives for entrepre-neurs to help them succeed intheir ventures, he added.

Thakur said this schemewould provide an opportuni-ty to the youths to turn theirinnovative ideas into reality.

The Yatra will have halts atvarious educational institu-tions of Shimla, Solan,Sirmour, Hamirpur, Kangra,Chamba, Kullu and Mandidistricts before its culminationat IIT, Mandi on November 30,he added.

This scheme would alsoprovide for creation of incu-bation centres in the hostinstitutes of the State to createbuilding capacities and devel-op networking by establishingnecessary infrastructure andgenerating awareness, headded.

IIT Mandi, NITHamirpur, Agriculture

University, Palampur, Science,Technology and EnvironmentCouncil, HorticultureUniversity Nauni, BirTechnology Park, HPUniversity, CSIR Palampurand JPUIT Vaknaghat havebeen selected for having incu-bation centres, he added.

Thakur said the basicobjective of this scheme is tocreate self-employment andemployment, upgrading theskills of entrepreneurs andhelp them set up their unitsunder professional guidance.

The scheme also aims athelp entrepreneurs select viable projects in manufac-turing and service sectors and

train them to set up startupsand run them professionally,he added.

The key focus areas of thescheme will be technology-driven innovation sector, ruralinfrastructure and facilities,arts, crafts, water and sanita-tion, renewable energy, healthcare, clean technology, agri-culture, horticulture and relat-ed areas, food processing,retail, tourism and hospitality,mobile, IT and bio-technolo-gy, he added.

Participating in the State’sStartup Yatra programme, theHimachal Pradesh Universitytoo would hold a functionFriday to mark the occasion.

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Himachal Pradesh’s touristresort Manali and Shimla’s

nearby tourist destinations Kufriand Narkanda were onThursday enveloped by a blan-ket of snow, giving the resort andits neighbouring areas a pic-turesque look.

The residents of Shimlashivered as icy winds broughtdown the minimum tempera-ture to 3.3 degree Celsius. Theday’s temperature fell by over 2degrees from Wednesday’s 16.2degrees.

This was the season’s firstsnowfall that froze Manali, Kufri,Narkanda and Kharapathar.According to the Met office here,Shimla recorded 15.5 mm ofrain.

Manali recorded a mini-mum temperature of minus 1.2degrees Celsius as the hills over-looking it also experienced mod-erate spells of snow, ManmohanSingh, Director of the meteoro-logical office here, told IANS.

He said the picturesqueKalpa, some 250 km from here,experienced 7 cm of snow.

“High-altitude areas of

Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba, Kulluand Kinnaur districts have beenexperiencing snow since earlyThursday,” he added.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spitidistrict was the coldest at minus3.3.degrees Celsius while it wasminus 0.8 degrees in Kalpa and8.8 degrees in Dharamsala.

As news of the snowfallflashed across the plains, touristsstarted arriving at Manali andthe nearby hills — and in Kufri,just 15 km uphill from Shimla,and Narkanda.

The mountain peaks viewedfrom Shimla and theDhauladhar peaks overlookingTibetan Buddhist leader DalaiLama’s official palace inMcLeodganj near Dharamsalaare covered by a white blanket.

The other hill destinationsof Dharamsala, Nahan, Chamba,Dalhousie and Mandi got rains.

The Met Office said westerndisturbance — a storm systemoriginating from theMediterranean-Caspian Searegion and moving across theAfghanistan-Pakistan region —receded in the region, with a lesschance of precipitation nowonwards.

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Punjab’s Social Justice,Empowerment and

Minority Minister Sadhu SinghDharamsot on Thursdaytermed the sit-in staged byShiromani Akali Dal a cheappolitical stunt to capturemedia’s attention.

“The same party, in whoseregime administrative discrep-ancies have been committed inthe post matric scholarship, isnow posing themselves as thesympathiser of dalits,” saidDharamsot.

He said that the CongressGovernment has decided toconduct audit of the amountreleased in the name of schol-arship by the SAD-BJPGovernment in order to bringforth the bungling committedby them, and “in the audit ofamount released by the privateeducational institutes, up tillnow amount of �460 crore hasbeen found objectionable”.

Refuting SAD’s allegationsof not releasing scholarshipamount, Dharamsot said thatin reality, the CongressGovernment has released �203crore under the Post MatricScholarship in the past twoyears. Dharamsot said that thePost Matric Scholarship of �1,663.47 crore is pending withthe Centre for 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 that is �719.52crore for 2016-17, �567.55crore for 2017-18, and �376.40crore for 2018-19.

“The Central Governmenthas released �327.39 crore in2018-19 which is due for thefinancial year 2015-16,” headded.

The Minister further addedthat there are 3606 education-al institutes in Punjab, out ofthese, audit report of 2,059 —including 1,898 private and161 Government — educa-tional institutes have beenreceived so far.

“Out of 1,898 private edu-cations institutes, scholarshipamount to 920 institutes can-not be disbursed as the auditreports of these institutes isshady. Scholarship amount of�88 crore to the remaining 978education institutes has alreadybeen released. TheGovernment has also sanc-tioned �171 crore for 302 tech-nical institutes and the bills torelease the payment are beingdeposit in the treasury soon,”he detailed.

Further the Minister addedthat the Centre has released Rs115.73 crore for 2017-18,meant for Post MatricScholarship of 3.94 lakh stu-dents, and was released to2000 Government and privateinstitutes, the report of whichhas already been submitted tothe Centre.

Taking on the SAD-BJP,the Minister said that Akalileaders have no right to stagedemonstrations as the pendingamount of their tenure 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 has beenreleased by the CongressGovernment.

He also made it clear thatthe instructions for transac-tions with regard to the fees areissued by the CentralGovernment and the StateGovernment and various edu-cational institutions have towork in accordance with that.

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Former Haryana ChiefMinister and senior Congress

leader Bhupinder Singh Hoodaon Thursday asked his partyworkers to gear up for next year’spolls to oust the Manohar LalKhattar Government in the statefrom power.

Hooda while addressing ameeting of party workers herealso asked them to be present inlarge number at the seventhphase of his ‘Jankranti Yatra’,which will start from Barwala inHisar, on November 25.

“Polls (Lok Sabha) areround-the-corner and it shouldnot come as a surprise if they(ruling BJP Government) decideto go for holding the VidhanSabha polls along with the LokSabha elections next year,” hesaid.

Haryana assembly polls arescheduled to be held in October2019.

The two-time former ChiefMinister also accused the rulingBJP of not keeping its promisesmade to the people in Haryana.

“The State Government hasfailed to fulfill its promisesdashing hopes of the public. Ithas failed on all fronts and nowpeople are eager to bring theCongress back to power,” Hoodasaid.

When asked to comment onrecent developments in theINLD and the Chautala family,the senior Congress leader saidhe had always maintained thatthe main opposition party is theBJP’s “B team”. I don’t want tocomment on their family andinternal matters, he said.

“However, the struggle forpower in the INLD hasunmasked their true face. It isclear that they only want to grabpower and do not care aboutpeople’s issues,” he added.

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Accusing the Congress-ledPunjab Government for

being totally lax on handlingthe law and order situation inthe State, SAD MLA and for-mer Minister Bikram SinghMajithia on Thursday said thatthe high alert by the “intelli-gence agencies” in Punjab area direct indicator that the darkdays of militancy are hoveringon the State and radical ele-ments were targeting, to desta-bilise the State.

Majithia said: “The StateGovernment has absolutelyignored the Home Minister’sstatements on declining lawand order situation in the state,but had become even obliviousto the warning of the Army

Chief that the situation inPunjab was fragile.

He further regretted thatdeclining law and order situa-tion would relapse into andark era of militancy.

Dubbing the Congress forduping State’s electorate bymaking false promises,Majithia regretted that theinstability in the state was themain deterrent for non-invest-ment in Punjab by private sec-tor leading to economic reper-cussions.

At the same time, he alsoreminded that it was SADwhich in a decade had strivedto work for the betterment ofthe state and had controlledmilitancy with a “firm hand”never compromising on thestate’s interests.

Chandigarh: SAD MP fromBathinda and the Union FoodProcessing Industries MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal onThursday said that the convic-tion of two accused responsi-ble for “butchering” two Sikhsin 1984 anti-Sikh riots on thebasis of SIT investigation hadpaved the way for similar con-victions against Congress lead-ers Jagdish Tytler and SajjanKumar and “a final closure tothe Congress-sponsored bar-barity against the Sikh com-munity”.

Welcoming the convictionof two persons who killed twoyoung Sikhs in Mahipalpurvillage in South Delhi in 1984in the aftermath of assassina-tion of the then Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi, Harsimrat saidthat this was a direct result ofaffirmative action taken by theNDA Government to bringthe guilty to book. PNS

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Trouble seems to be mount-ing for the former Chief

Minister and senior Congressleader Bhupinder Singh Hooda,as Haryana Governor SN Aryahas sanctioned to prosecutehim in the Associated JournalsLtd (AJL) case on illegal re-allotment of land to the pro-moters of an English daily,National Herald.

The Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment had handed overthe case of “illegal” re-allotmentof a plot to AJL to the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI).

The decision to hand overthe probe to the CBI into theAJL case was taken after receiv-ing the report of HaryanaVigilance Bureau (SVB) whichhad in May 2016 registered acase of cheating and corruptionagainst former Chief Ministerand then HUDA chairman,Hooda.

Giving details, seniorHaryana Minister Anil Vij onThursday said that the CBIwould soon file charge sheet inthe court against former ChiefMinister in National Heraldcase.

For this, Haryana

Governor had given approvalto CBI, he said.

Vij said that after com-pleting the investigations onthis matter, the CBI had askedfor approval from the Governorfor prosecuting Hooda.

However, the two-time for-mer CM Bhupinder SinghHooda on Thursday reiteratedthat he was a victim of “polit-ical vendetta” and has done nowrong in the case involvingallotment of a plot of land toAJL.

“I have been maintainingthat I am a victim of politicalvendetta,” Hooda said while

talking to the mediapersons onthe sidelines of a Congressworkers' meeting.

He said, “I have been say-ing this earlier too that politi-cal vendetta was beingunleashed against me. Thiscase was part of that vendettaand witch-hunt. Nothingwrong has been done duringmy tenure (as CM) and in thiscase too, the rules were fol-lowed.”

Reacting to Hooda’s state-ment, Haryana Minister AnilVij said that the former CMhad allotted land to Congresson throw away prices in

National Herald case whichcaused a huge financial loss tothe state.

It has been alleged thatHooda-led Congress regimehad bend rules to give 3,360square metres land inPanchkula’s Sector 6. Theresumed plot was allegedly re-alloted to AJL at a price lowerthan the prevailing marketrate, allegedly in contraventionof rules.

Vij said that central agen-cies are investigating this mat-ter so there should not be anypolitical resentment.

The AJL is linked to UPA

chairperson Sonia Gandhi andPresident Rahul Gandhi asThe National Herald newspa-per is the legacy of the firstPrime Minister JawaharlalNehru.

Notably, the case of cheat-ing, corruption and criminalconspiracy, registered by theHaryana Vigilance Bureauagainst Hooda and AJL foralleged irregularities in allot-ment of a plot of land inPanchkula to the firm hadbeen taken over by the CBI lastyear.

Registered against formerCM Hooda in his ex-officio

capacity as Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority chair-man, the FIR also namedHUDA’s former chief adminis-trator amongst others.

The CBI FIR, quoting theHaryana Government’s com-plaint, said the AJL filed anappeal against the HUDA’sdecision before HUDA admin-istrator, who dismissed theappeal on July 26, 1995.

AJL subsequently chal-lenged the HUDA administra-tor's decision before theHaryana's Town and CountryPlanning Commissioner whotoo set aside the appeal, the CBI

FIR said.The FIR further alleged

that abusing his official posi-tion as HUDA chairman andcontravening HUDA’s policies,the then Chief Minister Hoodawent against the advise ren-dered to him by the officialsand ordered re-allotment of theplot to AJL at original rates plusinterest on August 28, 2005.

The investigation carriedout by the Haryana police afterthe BJP government came topower concluded that allot-ment was made in an "arbitrarymanner" and in complete vio-lation of the HUDA Act.

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Even as the SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT),

probing the 2015 sacrilege andrelated firing cases, is set tointerrogate former ChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badalat his Chandigarh residence onFriday, the Akali patriarch onThursday demanded theremoval of Punjab Police IGKunwar Vijay Pratap Singhfrom the SIT for “demonstrat-ing unprofessional conduct,disobedience of the law of theland, his malice and his polit-ical leanings”.

Kunwar Vijay had issuedthe summons to Badal, alongwith the SAD presidentSukhbir Badal and Bollywoodactor Akshay Kumar to appearbefore it at Amritsar circuithouse on separate dates.

However, consideringBadal’s old age, the SIT hasissued fresh summons to theformer Chief Minister givinghim reprieve to give his “placeof convenience” for interroga-tion, in case he did not wish toappear before it at Amritsar.

Even as the SAD main-tained that the five-time ChiefMinister would fully cooperatewith the SIT, the party insist-ed on removing Kunwar Vijayfrom the SIT as member,

besides initiating “appropriatedisciplinary proceedings”against him under the relevantprovisions of law and conductrules for “his utterances andactions unbecoming of thehigh office he occupies”.

ADGP Prabodh Kumarunderlined that section 160 ofthe Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC) mandatesno male person above 65 yearsof age shall be required toattend at any place other thanthe place in which such maleperson resides.

“In compliance thereof, Ishall keep myself available toyou on the said date and timeat one of my place of residence,mentioned in the notice datedNovember 12, 2018, that isMLAs Flat No. 35, Sector 4,Chandigarh,” he stated in thereply while reiterating his com-mitment “to co-operate withany independent, impartialand fair investigation as a per-son who has held law in thehighest esteem all my life”.

As per the initial summon orders, issued byKunwar Vijay on November 11,Badal, his son and the thenDeputy Chief Minister SukhbirBadal have been asked toappear before the SIT atAmritsar Circuit House onNovember 16, and November

19 respectively. Besides the Badal father-

son duo, similar summonswere also issued to theBollywood actor AkshayKumar to appear before theSIT, set up by the PunjabGovernment under the chair-manship of ADGP PrabodhKumar, on November 21.

Demanding Kunwar Vijay’sremoval from SIT, the SAD hasalso written to the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh and Chief SecretaryKaran Avtar Singh.

“The utterly unwarranted,unprofessional and biasedutterances of Kunwar VijayPratap Singh before the mediahave revealed a shockingdegree of personal prejudiceand malice in the officer,putting a serious question markover his credibility, profes-sional competence, impartial-ity and integrity,” said SADleader Daljit Singh Cheemaadding that this would com-pletely defeat the purpose of afree and fair inquiry.

He said that in the interestof the people of Punjab, havingfaith in the fairness and cred-ibility of the probe, it isabsolutely imperative that Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singhbe removed from the SIT asmember.

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Four persons, who hadsnatched an SUV from its

driver at gunpoint nearMadhopur in Punjab’sPathankot district, continue toevade police.

The incident took placeTuesday night when the driverstopped the car after one of thepassengers complained of vom-iting.

We are on the job to nabthem, a senior Punjab Policeofficial said on Thursday.

Several teams have beenformed to crack the case, policesaid, adding that personnel inborder districts of Pathankot,Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar(Rural) and Tarn Taran havebeen asked to remain alertand maintain vigil. The instruc-

tions were issued as in 2016,terrorists, who had launchedattacks on the Pathankot Airbase, had snatched a PunjabPolice officer’s car to get to theair base.

The suspects, who werespeaking in Punjabi, hadbooked the car from theJammu taxi stand. The PunjabPolice is coordinating with theJammu and Kashmir Police totrace the suspects.

Several checkpoints havebeen set up in border areas andon highways, and vehicles arealso being thoroughly checked,police said. Photos of the sus-pects procured from CCTVfootage have also been given tothe checkpoints, the policeofficial said. Terror angle couldnot be ruled out till they arecaught, the official said.

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Haryana Government hasdecided to impart techni-

cal skills to girls to increase theirparticipation in automotivesector and enhance theiremployability.

Two Letters ofUnderstanding (LoU) havebeen signed between HaryanaSkill Development andIndustrial TrainingDepartment, Hero MotoCorpLimited and United NationsDevelopment Programme(UNDP) in the presence of Skill Development andIndustrial Training Minister,Vipul Goel here on Thursdayfor this.

On behalf of the HaryanaGovernment, the LoU weresigned by Director General,Skill Development and Ind-ustrial Training Department,TL. Satyaprakash whereas onbehalf of Hero MotoCorpLimited, CSR Advisor, RajeshMukhija and on behalf ofUNDP, State Project Head,Kanta Singh signed the LoU.

Goel said that this LoUaims to impart technical skills

to young girls studying inGovernment IndustrialTraining Institute, Ambala andencourage their participation intraditionally male dominatedautomotive sector, through aone-year long auto-mechanicscourse in the state.

This course would enhancetheir employability and theywould also be able to set uptheir own ventures. Similarly,the other LoU aims to providea platform for girls to learn rid-ing skills to enable them to bemobile, through setting up ofadditional two-wheeler ridingtraining centres by HeroMotoCorp Limited at 10Government IndustrialTraining Institutes for women,he said.

Speaking on the occasion,Additional Chief Secretary, SkillDevelopment and IndustrialTraining Department, TCGupta said that these 10Government Industrial TrainingInstitutes for women includedare located at Bhiwani, Kaithal,Charkhi Dadri, Dumerkhan,Jind, Ferozepur Jhirka,Kurukshetra, Kalka at Bitna,Tohana and Bahadurgarh.

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Aday after his expulsionfrom the Indian National

Lok Dal, party chief OmParkash Chautala’s elder sonAjay Chautala on Thursdaysaid that a conspiracy has beenhatched by a few people to ousthim and his sons from theparty.

“A conspiracy has beenhatched under the directions ofAbhay Chautala and a letter toexpel me was typed inChandigarh’s party office,” Ajayalleged while talking to themediapersons on Thursday inNew Delhi.

Abhay Chautala, who isLeader of opposition inHaryana Assembly and party’sMLA from Ellenabad, isyounger brother of AjayChautala.

Ajay was expelled fromthe party and also removedfrom the post of INLD secre-tary general on Wednesday.

INLD Haryana presidentAshok Arora had released a let-ter issued by OP Chautala for

expulsion of Ajay from theparty.

Earlier, Ajay’s sons, HisarMP Dushyant Chautala andDigvijay Chautala were alsoexpelled from the primarymembership of INLD onNovember 2 by their grandfa-ther OP Chautala.

Raising questions on theletter released by Ashok Arora,Ajay Chautala said that the let-ter does not bear the signatureof party chief OP Chautala andit is a fake letter.

Reacting to the allegations,Abhay’s camp on Thursdayreleased a letter bearing signa-ture of OP Chautala related tothe expulsion of Ajay Chautala.

A statement released by theparty stated, “The party has putan end to the doubts raised onthe letter released by AshokArora related to expulsion ofAjay Chautala. A letter withsignature of OP Chautala hasbeen released. Besides, theSuperintendent of Tihar Jail hasalso attested the letter.”

On his strategy followinghis expulsion, Ajay, a formerMP said that the party stateexecutive committee meetingwill be held on November 17 atJind. Party leaders and workerswill decide the next course atthe meeting, he said.

Commenting on the meet-ing of party leaders called byAbhay Chautala on the sameday in Chandigarh, Ajayexpressed confidence that theparty leaders will still attend hismeeting in Jind.

When asked whether hewill be announcing expulsionof leaders from the INLD atJind, he said that no suchaction will be taken as we arein favor of uniting the party.

Two factions, each headedby Ajay and his younger broth-er Abhay are currently squab-bling over the control on theINLD. Both the camps areattempting to muster maxi-mum support for their November 17 meetingconvened as a show of strength to claim control overthe INLD.

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The Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment in Haryana

on Thursday gave nod to theHaryana Police (Appointmentof Chairperson and Members ofComplaint Authorities) Rules2018, setting up of fruit andvegetable market on HMT landat Pinjore, providing guaranteeof �625.93 crore for sanction ofCash Credit (CC) limit of �250crore to UHBVN among otheragendas.

The Cabinet which metunder the chairmanship ofChief Minister Manohar Lalalso issued an ordinance tochange the name of StateUniversity of Performing andVisual Arts at Rohtak to PanditLakhmi Chand State Universityof Performing and Visual Arts.

The State Governmentapproved the Haryana Police(Appointment of Chairpersonand Members of ComplaintAuthorities) Rules 2018, underwhich a committee presidedover by the Chief Secretary willbe constituted to recommendthe names of chairman andmembers of the State PoliceComplaint Authority or DistrictPolice Complaint Authority,said an official spokesman.

The other members of thecommittee will be AdvocateGeneral, Haryana andAdditional Chief Secretary,Home. The Secretary/SpecialSecretary will be the membersecretary of the Committee.

Notably, the State PoliceComplaints Authority, a statu-tory body constituted to lookinto complaints of serious mis-conduct by police personnel,had been lying defunct for thepast four years.

The government has notappointed chairman of theauthority ever since the post’sfirst incumbent HS Rana com-pleted his three-year term in theyear 2013.

Every year, the authorityreceives hundreds of complaintsagainst police personnel. It wasconstituted by the StateGovernment on August 16,2010, under the Haryana PoliceAct, 2007.

The government’sspokesperson said that thecommittee under the Chief

Secretary will now invite appli-cations for appointment ofchairperson and members ofthe Complaint Authorities fromthe persons of eminence havingwide knowledge and experienceof at least 20 years in case ofstate authority and ten years incase of district authority in thefield of public life, academic,law, administration and gover-nance, criminal administrationand social work.

The committee will thenrecommend the names of thecandidates to the StateGovernment, he added.

APPLE, FRUIT, VEG-ETABLE MARKET AT HMTLAND

In another decision, thecabinet approved the setting upof Apple, Fruit and VegetableMarket on HMT land at Pinjore(Panchkula) in 78.33 acres.

“This market will havestate-of-the-art facility like sort-ing, grading, packaging, con-trolled atmosphere, cold-stores,logistic and allied services. Themarket will be able to tap thetransition and distributionpotential of the apple trade atthe gateway of Himachal that isPinjore and create an ultra-modern facility for the growers,traders and buyers enablingthem to prefer this destinationfor sale and distribution,” thespokesman said.

CHANGE IN UNIVERSI-TY'S NAME

The cabinet has issued anordinance to change the nameof State University ofPerforming and Visual Arts atRohtak to Pandit LakhmiChand State University ofPerforming and Visual Arts.The government has decided tochange the name of theUniversity in the name ofPandit Lakhmi Chand, arenowned poet of Haryana,who was honoured posthu-mously as Surya Kavi by theState Government.

Motor Vehicles Rules, 1993amended. The StateGovernment approved amend-ment in Haryana MotorVehicles Rules, 1993 so as todelegate the powers of issuingLearners’ driving Licence andtest of competence for perma-nent driving licence. The pow-

ers will be delegated to theRegistrar of all Universities,Directors of Medical Colleges,Principals of GovernmentColleges, Government AidedColleges, Government Collegeof Education, GovernmentPolytechnics, GovernmentITIs, Government NursingColleges, GovernmentPharmacy Colleges,G o v e r n m e n tAyurvedic/Homopathic/UnaniColleges and Directors ofUniversity Institute ofEngineering and Technology.

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From Page 1While the total cost of

annual premium of healthinsurance scheme — PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojna(PMJAY) - Ayushman Bharat— is pegged at around Rs 850crore and state's share isworked out at Rs 350 crore.

The Punjab Cabinet hadalready given its in-principle

approval to the implementationof the PMJAY while extendingthe central scheme to coverover 42 lakh families.

A trust to manage socialsecurity funds under the chair-manship of Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh has been setup. “All the collection from sur-charges will be managed by thetrust,” the official said.

From Page 1Capt Amarinder has

expressed satisfaction with theperformance of Bharat BhushanAshu, Vijay Inder Singla,Manpreet Badal, TripatRajinder Singh Bajwa, among acouple of others. No informa-tion regarding Navjot SinghSidhu’s performance has beenshared by the sources.

During the hours-longmeeting, the list regarding thenames of the MLAs to beaccommodated in the boardsand corporations was alsoshared with Rahul Gandhi. Ithas been learnt that in the firstround, the party would appoint10 MLAs as heads of these gov-ernment Boards andCorporations.

PPCC president Jakhar,after the meeting, said thatdiscussion of state leaders cam-paigning in the three, out offive, poll-bound states ofRajasthan, Chhattisgarh, andMadhya Pradesh, was also held.Other than Chief Minister CaptAmarinder, Manpreet Badal,and Sidhu would be cam-paigning in these states.

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The State Government onThursday released its

‘Biotech Policy 2018’ thatshowcased the immensepotentials and opportunities inthe biotechnology sector toattract domestic and interna-tional investors at the Make inOdisha Conclave here.

“Development in thebiotechnology sector will bebased on three key pillars -innovation, entrepreneurshipand investment. We will formpublic-private partnerships,bio incubation centers andbiotech finishing schools.

We will collaborate withvarious international organi-sations to provide cutting- edge technology in the sector. In the policy, we have pro-

vided attractive incentives forstakeholders to invest inOdisha. By collaborativeefforts between Governmentof Odisha and private stake-holders, we aim to makeOdisha a top biotech invest-ment destination in the coun-try,” said Science andBiotechnology Minister Badri

Narayan Patra releasing thepolicy.

In his speech, ChiefSecretary AP Padhi alsoassured that the StateGovernment would provide anessential platform to stake-holders who want to invest inthe biotechnology sector inOdisha. He said a centre ofexcellence would be set tosupport the biotechnology sec-tor in the State.

Padmabhushan Prof GPadmanabhan, Senior Science

and Innovation Advisor o f theBiotechnology IndustryResearch Assistance Council(BIRAC), suggested six sig-nificant steps to make Odishaa biotechnology hub.

He suggested for adoptionof needleless delivery of vac-cine, concentrate on develop-ment of Nanobodies, biomassconversion, eliminating malar-ia through biological route,gene editing and syntheticbiology.

Dr Krishna Ella, Founderof Bharat Biotech, said thatOdisha's Biotech Policy Is bestin the country. He expressedhis intention reaching �500crore investment by the BharatBiotech.

There was an interestingpanel discussion on the topic'Odisha in thebiotech/medtech realm', whichsaw participation from variouseminent speakers like ILSDirector Dr Ajaya Parida andPATH Impact Lab Director DrSP Dash, among others.

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The BJP on Thursdaydemanded an impartial

probe into irregularities in selec-tion of ‘Daru’ (holy wooden logsfor making idols) of the PuriShreemandir Trinity as allegedby Bishwakarma KrushnaMaoharana on Wednesday.

“After BishwakarmaKrushna Moharana publicly

stated that Darus were selectedfor money, the StateGovernment’s wrong doingshave come to the fore.

It is not only a religiousassault, but financial and crim-inal conspiracy against LordJagannath,” alleged BJPspokesperson Pitambar Acharyaat a Press meet here.

Stating that the BJD, duringits last 18 years of rule, has

pushed Lord Jagannath intodifferent controversies, Acharyasaid irregularities inNabakalebar and BrahmaParivartan and the incident ofmissing of Ratna Bhandar keyshave hurt 4.5 crore Odia people.

“The Chief Minister hadconstituted three commissionsto probe different issues of theShreemandir and failed in eachcase.

Now, a serious allegationhas come to the fore with aBishwarma servitor revealingthat there was monetary dealbehind selection of Darus.

If his allegation is true,then culprits should come to thefore.

Hence, the issue should beprobed by an impartial probecommittee,” demandedAcharya.

Meanwhile, Congress ChiefWhip Tara Prasad Bahinipatidemanded that the issue beprobed by a sitting judge.

He alleged that a RajyaSabha member of the BJD isinvolved in the ‘Daru’ selectionirregularities and Law MinisterArun Sahoo in the BrahmaParibartan fiasco.

OPCC chief NiranjanPatnaik also took to Twitter andcame down heavily on the rul-ing-BJD. “Revelations by‘Mukhya Biswakarma’ of theDebadalana Chariot on BrahmaParibartan fiasco are appalling...BJD has insulted the faith ofcrores of Lord Jagannath devo-tees,” tweeted Patnaik.

Commenting on the matter, BJD vice-president DebiPrasad Mishra said “They(Opposition) are levelling allegations only for the sake ofmaking allegation.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik distributed land

records (RoRs) to slum dwellersof eight districts under the JagaMission at a special programmeheld in Puri on Thursday. TheCM handed over the RoRs toslum dwellers of the districtsincluding Puri, Baleswar andKendrapada. Sources said landpattas would be provided to

highest 6,500 slums in Puridistrict. In Kendrapadra, 187slums out of 594 beneficiarieswere provided with the landrecords on Thursday. The pro-gramme aims at providingproperty rights to around 18lakh urban slum residents in allmunicipalities and NACs inthe State. The State Governmenthas allocated Rs 100 crore forthe programme during the2018-19 financial year.

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Adelegation of PradeshCongress Committee

(PCC) met the State ElectionCommissioner and demandedthat cases against ChiefMinister Trivendra SinghRawat, Cabinet MinisterMadan Kaushik and MussoorieMLA Ganesh Joshi should beregistered for violating themodel code of conductenforced in the State for elec-tions to urban local bodies.

The Congress delegation

led by chairman of its discipli-nary committee, PramodKumar Singh met the state elec-tion commissioner ( SEC),Chandra Shekhar Bhat andsubmitted a memorandum tohim. The Congress leaders saidthat in a case of open violationof model code of conduct, theMussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshiis distributing cash to the vot-ers to influence them.

A video of the BJP MLAdistributing money to thewomen on the occasion ofChhath has gone viral on socialmedia.

Similarly the congress del-egation pointed out that thesenior cabinet minister andgovernment spokespersonMadan Kaushik is trying tomislead people by making falseclaims that the High Court (HC) has ordered a stay onencroachment done on Nazulland.

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Ateam from the UnitedNations Development

Programme (UNDP) held ameeting with Chief SecretaryUtpal Kumar Singh and otherState officials here on Thursday.

During the meeting, thechief secretary sought cooperation from UNDP per-taining to technical supportand skilled human resourcesfor the schemes implementedin the state in the field ofwaste management, sustain-able development partnership,livelihood, solar and wind power, micro-hydel project, health and drinking water. Singh said thatthe state has adequate sources of income availablebut to increase them, there is

need for technical assistancefrom UNDP. He sought utili-sation of UNDP's experience inthe state regarding the work done by it in differentcountries in the area of climatechange.

UNDP consultant Jacob JSimonsen talked about pro-viding technical support toUttarakhand in the field oftourism, climate change, dis-aster management, aromaticplants, small scale industries,self-help groups, branding ofproducts, livelihood securityand other aspects.

Additional country direc-tor of UNDP, Rakesh Kumarsaid that in the field of climatechange, necessary efforts will bemade by UNDP in coordina-tion with the ForestDepartment.

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In a move to regulate realestate sector and to protect

homebuyers from fraudsterreal estate developers, as manyas 33,750 projects and 26,018property agents have been reg-istered under the Real EstateRegulatory Authority ( RERA)in the country. Maharashtratops the list of States with18,392 projects registered.

It is followed by UttarPradesh with 2,514 projects,Haryana, 1,214, Punjab, 602and Uttrakhand, 221. Delhihas 23 projects registered.

As per the Housing andUrban Affairs Ministry’s datathere are 3,873 projects regis-tered by northern States, whichis approximately 11 per cent oftotal 33,750 projects got regis-tered pan India. If UttarPradesh is excluded, the per-centage of ‘projects registration’of rest of northern States will be4.03 per cent.

Besides projects,Maharashtra also tops in the listof registering of property devel-opers/agents. It has registered17,188 property agents underthe RERA followed by UttarPradesh of 2121 agents, Punjabof 1,267 agents, Haryana of 494agents, Uttrakhand of 204,Delhi of 65 and Chandigarh of60.

Meanwhile, speaking at a

workshop on RERA — a newera of transparency andaccountability in Real Estate —2 years of implementation andWay Ahead”, the UnionHousing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA) Minister HardeepSingh Puri on Thursday cate-gorically stated that theGovernment will not amendany provision of RERA andwarned States against tweakingrules of the centre’s real estatelaw, asserting that it will lead to“harsh consequences”. RERA,which protects the interest ofhome buyers, was enacted byParliament and States weregiven powers to notify theirrespective rules and appointregulatory authorities.

As per the Ministry’s datathere are 28 States and UnionTerritories (UTs) have notifiedexcept the six north easternStates and West Bengal. “There

are 27 States that have estab-lished the Authority, out ofwhich 14 States are interim. Allthe States of northern regionhave established permanentRegulatory Authorities exceptHimachal Pradesh, Delhi andChandigarh,” an official ofMoHUA said.

In a related development,Delhi has finally got a full-timereal estate regulator underRERA with Lt Governor AnilBaijal appointing retired IASofficer Vijay S Madan to thepost. Until now, the DelhiDevelopment Authority (DDA)vice-chairman was the interimregulator under the Real EstateRegulatory Act (RERA), 2016.

Puri also pointed out thattill the year 2016, there was noregulator for real estate andconstruction sector, which isthe largest employer after agri-culture and housing. He said,

in a landmark move, theCentral Government, in theform of RERA, gave the realestate sector its first regulatorw.e.f. from 1st May, 2016.

Puri also said that the “fullbenefit” of the Real EstateRegulatory Act (RERA) will berealised only when the its pro-vision is implemented in letterand spirit. “We will not tweakRERA,” Puri told reporters onthe sidelines of a workshop onthe real estate law, organised byhis Ministry amid growingdemands from builders tochange rules.

Puri said the States whichhave made its own rules bytweaking provisions of theRERA, will have to “fall in line,otherwise, the consequence isvery harsh”.

There are some States whohave watered down the provi-sions of central legislation.Asked about several home-buyers not being deliveredtheir houses by developers ontime, the Union Minister said,“We will not hesitate fromnaming and shaming (of thosedevelopers not delivering flatson time).” At the workshop,attended by associations ofhome-buyers, builders, banksand other stakeholders, Purisaid Uttar Pradesh, Haryanaand Punjab need to take suit-able action so that their rulesare line with the RERA.

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Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) of Mizoram SB

Shashank was removed onThursday by the ElectionCommission, days before theState goes to polls, followingwidespread protests againsthim. Ashish Kundra, a 1996batch IAS officer will be thenew chief electoral officer(CEO) of the State.

The order came after somecivil society groups in Mizoramdemanded Shashank’s ousterover a row on allowing Bru vot-ers lodged in Tripura reliefcamps to exercise their fran-chise from there. The protest-ers had asked Shashank to quitby November 5 and leave thestate after the principal secre-tary (home), LalninmawiaChuaungo, was removed fol-lowing the chief electoral offi-cer’s complaint against him.

“The Election Commissionof India in consultation withthe Government of Mizoramhereby nominates AshishKundra as the chief electoralofficer for the state of Mizoramwith immediate effect,” a noti-fication issued by the EC said.Mizoram goes to the polls onNovember 28. The EC in itsorder further stated thatShashank shall be attached

with the Commission withimmediate effect and until fur-ther orders.

The EC’s move was wel-comed by the civil societiesthat had spearheaded a move-ment to seek the poll officer’souster. “We welcome anybodyas state CEO, except Shashank,who was working against theinterests of the Mizo people bymaking an all-out effort to reg-ister Bru voters in the Tripurarelief camps without followingestablished procedures,”Vanlalruata, chairman of theNGO, CoordinationCommittee said.

Shashank had accusedChuaungo of interfering withthe revision of electoral rollsof Bru refugees fromMizoram, who have been liv-ing in relief camps in Tripurasince ethnic violence drovethem away in 1997. MostMizos, including the StateGovernment, are opposed tothe Election Commission’sproposal for allowing Brus tovote at their camps and wantthem to return to Mizoram forthat.

The protests had forced theElection Commission (EC) tosend a senior official for talkswith the apex body leading thestir while accepting the “broadcontours” of its resolution on

the CEO and Bru refugeessubmitted to a poll panel del-egation.

After thousands of peoplegathered outside Shashank’soffice in Aizawl on Tuesday toseek his removal ahead of theNovember 28 assembly polls,an EC team comprisingJharkhand CEOLalbiakthanga Khiangte, ECdirector Nikhil Kumar and ECsecretary S.B. Joshi held talkswith the Mizoram NGOCoordination Committee, anumbrella organization of non-government organisations andcivil society groups. . After thevisits, the poll panel had askedthe Mizoram government tosuggest names for the CEO’spost.

Shawshank reportedlysought the deployment of addi-tional Central Armed PoliceForces (CAPF) in the state.This did not go down well withthe committee.

Earlier this month, ChiefMinister Lal Thanhawla wroteto Prime Minister NarendraModi on the issue. “... As peo-ple have lost faith in him(Shashank), the only solutionfor the smooth conduct of theAssembly elections 2018 wouldbe removal of CEO S BShashank from office forth-with,” he said.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt is scheduled to hear onFriday CBI director AlokVerma’s plea challenging theGovernment’s order divest-ing him of his duties andsending him on leave in viewof allegations of corruptionagainst him.

A three-judge bench,headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi, is also likely toconsider the report of theCentral VigilanceCommission (CVC), placedbefore it in a sealed cover, withregard to the probe into theallegations of corruptionagainst Verma.

The bench is also likely toconsider the report of actingCBI director M NageswaraRao also filed in a sealedcover in the court with regardto the decisions taken by himfrom October 23-26.

Besides the plea filed byVerma, the court is also seizedof the PIL filed by NGOCommon Cause, which hassought a probe by specialinvestigation team against CBIofficers.

The court has issuednotices to the Centre, CBI,CVC, special CBI directorRakesh Asthana, Verma andRao asking them to respond toit by November 12. PTI

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The publisher of the NationalHerald newspaper, who

was ordered by the Centre, tovacate its headquarters at‘Herald House’ building byNovember 15, got a last minutebreather on Thursday with theDelhi High Court directingstatus quo till November 22.However, the court did not staythe eviction notice, issued byUrban Development Ministry,which started eviction pro-ceedings in the morning.Meanwhile, the Governor gaveCBI sanction to prosecute for-mer Haryana Chief MinisterBhupinder Hooda for thealleged illegalities in the allot-ment of land in Panchkula forthe National Herald newspaper.

In its petition in Delhi HC,the Associated Journal Limited(AJL), publisher of NationalHerald alleged that the pro-ceedings by the UrbanDevelopment Ministry werebeing initiated for the purpos-es of “scuttling the voices of dis-sent” and the voice of thelargest Opposition party in thecountry, a reference to theCongress.

Without naming the BJP,the AJL’s lawyer and Congressleader Abhishek Singhvi furtheralleged that the order issuedunder pressure and directivesfrom the ruling party at theCentre is vitiated by malafides,bias and had “oblique politicalmotives”. Singhvi said that theGovernment’s actions werepurely politically motivated andbased on BJP MP SubramanianSwamy’s petition.

Singhvi pointed out that theCentre has started evictionproceedings in the HeraldHouse and argued that it isunfair when the matter is seizedwith the court. This was refut-ed by Solicitor General TusharMehta and the court askedSinghvi to ask his clients to ver-ify the submission. After a fewminutes, Singhvi on instruc-tions told the court that he hasphotographs of the two officialsand said that their names were— Gopal Rastogi and K RRana.

While Mehta said the mat-ter would be looked into,Justice Sunil Gaur said, “they(L&DO) cannot take posses-sion like this. They have to pro-ceed under the Public Premises

(Eviction of UnauthorizedOccupants) Act, 1971”. LaterMehta gave an oral assuranceit will maintain status quo tillNovember 22.

Former Haryana ChiefMinister Bhupinder SinghHooda said that he was a vic-tim of “political vendetta” andhas done no wrong in the caseinvolving allotment of a plot ofland in Panchkula to AJL.Hooda made the remarks onmedia persons’ query onreports that Haryana GovernorSatyadev Narayan Arya gavesanction to prosecute him inthe AJL case.

“I have been maintainingthat I am a victim of politicalvendetta,” Hooda told reporterson the sidelines of a Congressworkers’ meeting. The case ofcheating, corruption and crim-inal conspiracy, registered

by the Haryana VigilanceBureau against Hooda and AJLfor irregularities in allotment ofa plot of land in Panchkula tothe firm had been taken overby the CBI last year. Congressveteran leader Motilal Vora isalso made as an accused in theCBI case along with HaryanaGovernment officials.

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In an effort to give a boost toIndian defence industry and

maintain operational pre-paredness of the armed forces,defence procurement has beensimplified and is happeningspeedily but with “due diligenceintact, Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said hereon Thursday. However, thedomestic manufacturers haveto convince the armed forces ofthe quality, purpose, usefulnessand the relevance of their prod-uct, she said.

Making this point, the

Minister said she cannot com-pel armed forces to buy equip-ment from them and it was upto the domestic companies toconvince the forces that theirproduct was “good enough.”Addressing the Indian DefenceConclave 2018 organised by theDefence Innovators andIndustry Association, she said“the armed forces who actual-

ly use the equipment should beconvinced.

It is not necessary that thearmed forces will have to bebound by me or forced by meor compelled by me to buy it(from an Indian company)... Icannot say that to them.”

The Minister also laudedher predecessors ManoharParikkar and Arun Jaitley, say-

ing they had not only simpli-fied defence procedure butalso ensured transparency.Steps were taken to make theprocurement procedure lesscumbersome, she noted.“Procurement has simplified.Procurement is happening withdue diligence intact, but it ishappening speedily,” theDefence Minister said.

Her comments come in thebackdrop of the controversyover the �58,000 crore Rafaledeal with the Opposition, pri-marily the Congress, allegingcorruption and demandingthat the price details be madepublic. The Government hasvehemently denied the chargesof corruption and said anydisclosure of price would beviolation of the secrecy clauseand would give an advantage toadversaries.

Sitharaman also urgeddefence manufacturers to get

out of the mindset of looking atthe India market alone. “I appealto you all to get out of thatmindset. There are several othercountries which are buying(defence equipment) that do nothave the capacity to produce.They never had a history ofattempting to produce defencecomponents. Look at marketsoutside. Make in India is not justfor making in India,” she said.

The Minister assured thegathering that the Governmentwill make sure the industry getsevery possible help to exporttheir products. To encouragedomestic defence manufactur-ers, she said, several items havebeen removed from the list thatwas earlier reserved for ord-nance factories and defencepublic sector undertakings.She also said the government’s‘Make in India’ project is notjust on paper and that ordershave been placed.

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The rebel candidates deniedtickets in Madhya Pradesh

and Rajasthan may impactresults of many constituenciesin two States as the BJP hasexpelled 64 of them in MP andworking overtime to seekwithdrawal of as many of themfrom the electoral fray.

After inducting severalfresh faces in Madhya Pradeshto fight anti-incumbency inthe Assembly polls, the BJP isfacing problem of dissidentsand has so far expelled 64 of itsrebel, including formerMinisters Sartaj Singh, RamKrishan Kusmaria and formerGwalior mayor SameekshaPandey. A total of 2,932 can-didates filed nominations outof which 578 were rejected and538 withdrew their papers forthe November 28 poll in theState.

Kusmaria has been an MPthrice and has also served as aMinister in the Shivraj SinghGovernment between 2008and 2013. The BJP had sent itscentral leader Prabhat Jha tosalvage the situation but hecould not succeed in hisefforts.

For the Congress, XavierMeena, a former Minister from

Jhabu is a key dissident inMadhya Pradesh. Congresshas been able to restrict therebel numbers by succeedingto have a chunk of them with-draw their nominations.

In Rajasthan, ahead of theDecember 7 Assembly elec-tions, the BJP’s Nagaur MLAHabibur Rahman rejoined theCongress after a decade. BJP’sDausa MP Harish ChandraMeena , former DG police, alsoJoined the Congress. Meenahad joined the BJP in 2014.Meena joined the Congress inthe presence of formerRajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot,whose father Rajesh Pilot heldthe Dausa constituency.

Meena’s elder brotherNamo Narayan Meena is asenior Congress leader whowas defeated by Harish Meenafrom Dausa.

BJP is locked in a toughelectoral battle with theCongress in both the states anddeployed all its key leaders ledby Prime Minister NarenddraModi and party presidentAmit Shah to override theincumbency factor. It is esti-mated that at least 30 to 40seats in MP could be a touchand go affair on account of‘rebel’ candidates presence.

,2$��)�����67����������������������#$�����"���������Chennai: The Madras High

Court has directed the UnionHome Ministry to sanction pen-sion for the widow of a freedomfighter and slammed it for a delayof over three decades in consid-ering the woman’s application.

Justice R Suresh Kumar saidthe attitude on the part of offi-cials responsible for keeping theapplication pending for morethan three decades is to be dep-recated. Had the application ofthe petitioner decided in 1973and disposed of either way, thepetitioner would have been in aposition either to get the fruits ofthe freedom fighter family pen-sion or would have protestedover the issue in the matterknown to law, the judge said. Thematter relates to L KathayeeAmmal, the widow of freedomfighter Lakshmana Thevar, whohas been made to wait for 30years for the pension.

Ammal’s application hasbeen kept pending by the cen-tral government and the courtwants to register its displeasureagainst all those responsible,the judge said in his order. Thepetitioner’s husband was an ex-Indian National Army person-nel who joined the INA inMalaysia and was captured bythe British. After WWII, thepetitioner’s husband applied tothe Tamil Nadu and CentralGovernments seeking freedomfighters’ pension, but before theapplication was considered, hedied in 1969. PTI

���� 1�2'�34"

To increase agricultural pro-duce trade in Asia and the

Pacific countries, India hosteda two-day meet of the generalassembly of Network forDevelopment of AgriculturalCooperatives in Asia and Pacific(NEDAC) to chalk out a strat-egy for regional trade. NEDACalso adopted a new constitutionon Thursday.

While inaugurating theassembly Parshottam K Rupala,Union Minister of State forAgriculture and FarmersWelfare and Panchayatiraj, said,“Realising the need to enhancethe farmers income to addressagrarian distress and promotesfarmers welfare Prime Ministerhas embarked on a mission fordoubling farmers income by2022.” He further said that thecooperatives have exhibited bet-ter performance and are livingsuccess stories to enhance pro-

duction and better returns toproduce from market throughcollective action. He added thatthe India is determined toimprove productivity of agri-culture products and useresources effectively andimprove trade for farmers.

To establish marketing link-ages among cooperatives in theASEAN countries fro possiblebusiness undertaking of theiragricultural products, SundeepKumar Nayak, ManagingDirector of NationalCooperative DevelopmentCorporation said India hashosted the event with an objec-tive to increase trade betweencooperatives of two or multiplecountries. “Through this, wewill be able stimulate the capa-bilities and training humanresources at all levels and accel-erate development through amore efficient utilisation ofhuman, physical and financialresources available,” Nayak said.

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While Sikkim has alreadytaken lead in becoming

the first Open Defecation Free(ODF) in the country, theother States from the Northeastregion have committed to makethe region ODF by Decemberend this year.

This was decided at aregional review meeting of theNorth Eastern States —Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkimheld in Guwahati in Assamrecently.

The workshop compriseddiscussions on sustaining ODFstatus, solid and liquid wastemanagement (SLWM), andrural water supply. Teams fromKey aspects of sustainability

such as geo-tagging, verifica-tion of ODF villages, conver-sion of dysfunctional toilets,IEC expenditure, Swachhagrahiengagement were reviewed.

Speaking on the occasion,ParameswaranIyer, Secretary,Ministry of Drinking Waterand Sanitation emphasized theimportance of the joint effort

being made by the Centraland State SBM teams towardssustaining gains made underthe program so far.

He spoke about the impor-tance of continued focus onbehavior change communica-tion and periodic verificationsto ensure that the safe sanita-tion habits and practices devel-

oped over the past few years aresustained in the future as well.

The teams from the ODFStates of the region spoke aboutefforts to sustain their ODF sta-tus. Sikkim highlighted thesolid and liquid waste man-agement initiatives beingundertaken in the first ODFState of the country.

Non-ODF States commit-ted to declaring themselves asODF by December 2018.Assam shared highlights of“Mission Sambhav”, underwhich more than one lakh pitdigging activities were initiat-ed on a single day during theSwachhata Hi Seva fortnight.

Akshay Rout, DirectorGeneral, Special Projects fromthe Ministry pointed to thecriticality of the sustainabilityphase of SBM and the necessi-

ty for the managers for regularmonitoring.

V Radha, Joint Secretaryfrom the Ministry spoke aboutthe need to increase the cover-age of household water supplyconnections by taking upcommunity-managed, low costschemes.

Since its launch in October2014, the Swchch BharatMission, the world’s largestsanitation program, haschanged the behaviour of hun-dreds of millions of people withrespect to toilet access andusage. About 300 million peo-ple have stopped defecating inthe open since the Missionbegan, down from 550 millionat the beginning of the pro-gramme to about 200 milliontoday, according to theGovernment data.

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Page 6: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2019. 3. 4. · from his radio collar for days. ... highlighting the anti-Bengali venom that laces the NRC regime,

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The State BJP has written toparty president Amit Shah

to go slow on NRC as the ideawas creating large-scale appre-hensions among the people. Infact, State BJP president DilipGhosh on Thursday clearlysaid the State leadership wasmore in favour of theCitizenship Bill than the NRC.This came in the wake ofMamata Banerjee stepping upattacks on the BJP.

"I think once theCitizenship Bill is tabled andenacted, the NRC will not berequired because that will pro-vide enough evidence of a per-son's citizenship credentials,"Ghosh said.

Incidentally, senior BJPleader and party's observer forBengal Kailash Vijayvargiyahad earlier said that "the NRCwill definitely be conducted inBengal if the BJP comes topower here as it is also facingsevere infiltration issues."

Ghosh's statements camealmost in tandem withrenewed attack from Mamatawho called the BJP a party ofriot mongers that was moreinvolved in creating religiousand linguistic divide amongthe people so as to capturepower in Bengal.

Criticising the ChiefMinister for "backing the infil-trators" he wanted to "askMamata Banerjee why she issiding with the infiltrators".Attacking the TrinamoolCongress leaders for playingvote bank politics, he said,

"Unfortunately some peopleare more concerned aboutindulging in appeasementpolicies and vote bank politicsthan the progress of the nation."

Meanwhile, once againupping the ante on the BJP fordividing the people alongreligious and linguistic linesMamata told a congregationof Matua community (a largenumber of whom migratedfrom Bangladesh to Bengaland even Assam) in North 24Parganas how the BJP wasthrowing out the Bengalisout of Assam and Biharisfrom Gujarat andMaharashtra besides creat-ing a division within theMatua society.

Bengal has about a lakhMatua voters in North 24Parganas and Nadia.

"They are unnecessarilyharassing a great majority ofpeople who are Indian citizens.They are threatening to throwthese citizens out of the coun-try though they have genuineidentity cards, caste certifi-cates or similar documents,"Mamata said, attacking theBJP, and assured "you all not toget scared as no one can snatchyour citizenship."

Mamata was addressingthe Matua community — atThakurnagar in North 24Parganas — on the 100thbirth anniversary of the com-munity's religious headBinapani Devi.

Aware that the BJP wastrying to take out a slice ofMatua vote by offering ticketsto some of Binapani Devi'sfamily members, Mamata saidnone had done so much for thecommunity as herGovernment did.

"Now we will set up aMatua University in the nameof the Matua religious headG u r u c h a n d - H a r i c h a n dThakur," Mamata said addingthe Government would alsoconstruct two huge gatesidentifying the Matua headquarters.

Incidentally PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadalso promised a great deal forthe Matuas during his pre-elec-toral campaign in 2014 but"they have done nothing foryou save giving lip service,"Mamata said.

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Two terrorists, who werearrested from Poonch dis-

trict of Jammu & Kashmir,were part of Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) module and had come tothe town to ferry weapons tothe Kashmir Valley, a seniorpolice officer said on Thursday.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice, Poonch, Rajiv Pandeysaid a special investigation team(SIT) headed by a sub-divi-sional police officer (SDPO)was formed to probe the case.

Auqib Ahmad Bhat andShabir Ahmad Dar, both hail-ing from Pulwama district ofsouth Kashmir, were arrestedduring a joint operation bypolice and the Army inMendhar area of the borderdistrict on Wednesday.

Two AK-56 rifles, twomagazines, 60 rounds and fourhand-grenades were seizedfrom their possession.

"Prima facie, it was estab-lished that they were part ofLeT module and were assignedthe task to shift weapons fromPoonch to the Kashmir Valley,"the SSP told reporters.

Presenting the arrested per-sons before the media persons,he said preliminary investiga-tions revealed that they werenot in the district to carry outany terror activity. "They areassociates of terrorists and theironly motive was to shift theweapons from Poonch toKashmir," Pandey said.

However, he said PoonchPolice was in touch with itscounterparts in the KashmirValley to probe the arrestedpersons' involvement in terrorism.

The SSP said policereceived specific informationabout movement of some sus-pected persons and according-ly established checking pointswhich led to the arrest of theduo from Jaran Wali Gali and

the recovery of the weapons,including four hand grenades,which were kept in a speciallybuilt cavity in the vehicle attheir disclosure.

"A case was registeredagainst them and a specialinvestigation team headed bySDPO Mendhar Neeraj Padyarhas been formed to probe thecase thoroughly," he said.

The SSP said from wherethe weapons had come was yetto be ascertained.

He said security agenciesare on high alert in the districtand have not lowered their guard.

"The combing operation isgoing on in rural and forestarea. We are conducting oper-ation in every inch of Mendharsub-division and elsewhere,"Pandey said.

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Chennai: Cyclone 'Gaja' inten-sified into a severe cyclonicstorm on Thursday and isexpected to cross the southTamil Nadu coast by late thisevening or night, with theGovernment machinery put onhigh alert in vulnerable districts.

The storm which lay overthe south-west Bay about 285km from here and 225 km eastof Karaikal in neighbouringPuducherry, was very likely tocross the coast betweenCuddalore and Pamban aroundNagapattinam by this eveningor night after weakening into acyclone, the Met office said.

At the time of landfall,wind speed of 80-90 kmphgusting up to 100 kmph andheavy rain were likely along theregion, it said.

The Tamil Nadu StateDisaster ManagementAuthority, in a tweet, said as perthe latest updates #GajaCycloneis likely to have landfallbetween 8 pm and 11 pmtonight in all probability inNagapattinam district, about300 km from here.

There was no significantrainfall so far Thursday in mostof the districts expected to beaffected by the cyclone. Chennaiwitnessed sporadic spells of rain.

So far, 1,313 people havealready been shifted to relief cen-

tre in Nagapattinam districtand efforts are on to evacuate allthose living in low lying areas torelief centres in the vulnerabledistricts, the government said.

A holiday has beendeclared for educational insti-tutions in seven districts,including Nagapattinam,Tiruvarur, Cuddalore andRamanathapuram, and thegovernment has advised privatefirms, and establishments tosend back their employeesearly so that they could reachtheir homes before 4 pm.

As the sea was rough,police have been advised tointensify efforts to bar peoplefrom going near the beaches towitness the cyclone or clickselfies.

Four teams each of NationalDisaster Response Force per-sonnel have been deployed inNagapattinam district whiletwo teams of the state disasterresponse force in Cuddalore dis-trict, officials said.

The State disaster man-agement authority has releasedan animated video aimed atcreating awareness on the do'sand don'ts during cyclone.The government hasannounced helpline numbers1070 (state-level) and 1077(districts) for those who mayneed assistance. PTI

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National Conference leaderOmar Abdullah has hint-

ed his party would participatein Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir if freshelections to the State legisla-ture are announced in the near future.

"You got the control of ahandful of towns & citiesbecause NC & PDP stayedaway (and the Congress didsuch a poor job of putting upa fight). Do you really think wewill give you a walkover in theAssembly polls?" Abdullahwrote on his Twitter handle onWednesday.

He was responding to BJPnational general secretary RamMadhav, who had asked theNational Conference and thePeople's Democratic Party ifthey would participate inAssembly polls if held in the near future.

"On one hand, they (NCand PDP) say they will nottake part in elections to safe-guard Article 35A, on theother, they demand dissolu-tion of assembly and freshelections. Tomorrow if assem-bly elections are held, will youwill fight or go by your boy-cott?" Madhav said at a func-tion in Kathua on Tuesday night.NC and PDP did not partic-ipate in urban local bodieselections held in the State lastmonth after a gap of nearly 13years due to the legal chal-lenge to Article 35-A of the Constitution, which guar-antees exclusive residencyrights to people of the Stateonly, before the SupremeCourt.

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Page 7: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2019. 3. 4. · from his radio collar for days. ... highlighting the anti-Bengali venom that laces the NRC regime,

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The Governor’s administra-tion in Jammu & Kashmir on

Thursday relaxed restrictionson the movement of separatistleader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to

travel to his native village innorth Kashmir’s Sopore. Geelanihas been held under house arrestsince 2015 since he returnedfrom New Delhi after spendingwinter months there.

His close aide Masarat AlamBhat who was arrested afterGeelani’s arrival in Srinagarwas charged under the PublicSafety Act (PSA) for the 37thtime.

Geelani, 89, heads a factionof Hurriyat Conference andconstitutes three-member JointResistance Leadership (JRL)that leads separatist campaignin the embattled State. Aspokesman of his party saidthat Geelani traveled to Dooruvillage of Sopore, 55 kilometers

from here, to meet his eldestdaughter whose husband diedafter a prolonged illness onTuesday. Geelani has beenunder house arrest since 2015.A contingent of police andparamilitaries guard his housein Hyderpora locality ofuptown Srinagar and mostlyprevent visitors to enter thepremises. Geelani has not beenallowed to offer Friday con-gregational prayers in a localmosque for the past five years,the spokesman said.

Geelani was allowed tomove out of his residence a dayafter his close aide and MulsimLeague chief Masarat AlamBhat was booked under PSA forthe 37 the time consecutively.Bhat was arrested in April 2015,just 40 days after his releasefrom 5-year imprisonment. Hewas arrested on charges of rais-

ing anti-India and pro-Pakistanslogans on Geelani’s in a publicrally on Geelani’s arrival fromNew Delhi.

The PSA is a law that allowsthe authorities to detain a per-son for a period of six monthswithout bail.

Meanwhile, the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)extended the judicial remand ofthe chairperson of all-womenorganization Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) Aasiya Andrabiand her two associates, NahidaNasreen and Sofi Fehmeeda tillDecember 4.

“Judicial custody of trio hasbeen extended till December 4,2018,” said family sources.Andrabi and her associates havebeen arrested in July and held oncharges of fomenting separatismand receiving funding fromoverseas.

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In the run-up to the ninth edi-tion of Vibrant Gujarat

Global Summit (VGGS) to beheld in January 2019, theGujarat Government is hostinga roadshow in New Delhi onFriday.

The roadshow at the nation-al Capital for the GujaratGovernment’s flagship biennialevent for attracting investmentswould be attended by ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani and othersenior officials. The roadshowon Friday would be first out ofsix to be held at Delhi. Duringthe event, the Rupani and oth-ers would meet leaders of tradeand industries in the Capital andshowcase investment opportu-nities in Gujarat.

In order to promote theevent senior-level delegationshave already visited across theglobe and organised 24 road-shows in different countries.The Summit will be held fromJan 18-20 next year. GujaratGovernment will hold suchroad shows in Mumbai, Pune,Bangalore, Kolkata andHyderabad.

During the road shows, theState Government would show-case Dholera Special Investment

Region known as Dholera SIR –a Greenfield city being developedin the proximity of Ahmedabadwith all state-of-the-art ameni-ties to attract big ticket invest-ments. Unlike previous summitswhere the State Government

emphasised on manufacturingsector, this time focus is on tradeand service sectors. VGGS wasconceptualised by former ChiefMinister, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. First VGGSwas organised in 2003.

��������������� 6 ��"

Ahead of a fresh round ofagitation threatened by the

Maratha Kranti Morcha fromNovember 25 to press for reser-vations for their community,Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis onThursday indicated that hisGovernment would come outwith a formal announcementabout reservations to Marathasin Government jobs and edu-cation on December 1.

“We have received a reportfrom the Maharashtra StateBackward Class Commission(MSBCC) on the socio-eco-nomic status of the Marathas.I request all of you to prepareyourselves for celebrations onDecember 1,” Fadnavis said,while addressing a public rallyat Ahmednagar in westernMaharashtra.

Fadnavis’ announcementcame hours after MSSBCmember-secretary DDDeshmukh submitted the

Commission’s voluminousreport on the socio-economicstatus of Marathas to StateChief Secretary DK Jain.

On August 7, the BombayHigh Court, which is hearinga bunch of public interest liti-gations seeking reservationand directions to the MSBCChad set November 15 as dead-line for MSBCC to submit itsreport to it.

Confirming the receipt ofthe report on Marathas fromthe MSBCC, Jain said: "Wehave received a report from theMSSBC on the economic,social and economic status ofthe Maratha community. Wewill study the report and tableit before the State Cabinet fora decision to be made on thebasis of recommendationsmade in the report”.

The MSBCC, headed byJustice (Retd) NG Gaikwad,had over the past few monthshad held a series of public hear-ings and perused more thantwo lakh documents, letters,affidavits placed before it.

Official sources said thatthe chief minister would makea formal announcement aboutreservations to Marathas dur-ing the winter session of theMaharashtra Legislature begin-ning on November 19.

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

Sources said that theMSBCC had in its report rec-ommended reservations toMarathas without disturbingthe quota already set aside forthe OBCs.

Marathas, who have beenagitating under the aegis ofMaratha Kranti Morcha, forreservations in jobs and edu-cations across the state for thepast two years, account formore than 30 per cent ofMaharashtra's nearly 11.25crore population.

Reacting to the chief min-ister’s announcement about thestate government’s plans tocome out with reservations forMarathas, former ChiefMinister and MaharashtraCongress chief Ashok Chavansaid: “We fully support Marathareservation. The Governmentshould take immediate action toguarantee Maratha reservation”.

Slamming the BJP-ShivSena alliance Government fordelaying the implementation ofreservations to various com-munities, Chavan said: “TheCongress had granted Marathareservation in 2014, but theBJP-Sena Government failed toprotect this reservation incourt. More than 40 peoplehave lost their lives in this agi-tation. If the Government hadtaken action earlier, these 40lives could have been saved.There is no need to delay thisdecision further”.

"We have given 16 per centreservation to the Marathas. Itis to be seen how much theBJP-Sena Government willprovide for," former ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavansaid. Leader of the Oppositionin the State Legislative CouncilDhananjay Munde of the NCPasked the State Government toannounce reservations beforethe start the winter session ofthe Maharashtra Legislature.

It may be recalled that onNovember 14, 2014, theBombay High Court hadstayed an ordinance promul-gated by the previousCongress-led Governmentahead of the October 2014State Assembly polls extending16 per cent reservations to

Marathas and five per cent toMuslims, saying that they werenot in conformity with the lawlaid down by the SupremeCourt in three cases.

However, a HC bench,headed by the then ChiefJustice Mohit Shah, had sub-sequently allowed reservationsto Muslims in educational insti-tutions, on the ground at thattheir educational achievementswere "abysmally low" and thatthere was a need to draw theminto the "mainstream of secu-lar education".

On its part, the BJP-led saf-fron alliance Government –which came to power after theOctober 2014 Assembly polls --subsequently moved the apexcourt challenging the staygranted by the high court on anordinance promulgated by theprevious Congress-led DFGovernment.

However, the SupremeCourt rejected the StateGovernment’s petition.

The matter came back tothe high court after advocateVikas Patil filed an interven-tion petition in the SupremeCourt on the issue.

The apex court directedthe high court to hear thebunch of petitions pendingbefore it.

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Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani on

Thursday flagged off the EktaRath Yatra Phase II fromAhmedabad to spread theknowledge about the contri-butions of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel in uniting 562 erstwhileprincely States in India post-Independence.

Speaking on the occasion,Rupani said the world’s talleststatue, the Statue of Unity, hasbeen built to spread the mes-sage. About 25,000 people arevisiting the site of the statuedaily. It has emerged as a pil-grims centre. Had there beenno Sardar Patel, we would haveto apply for visa for goingfrom Somnath temple to Girlion sanctuary (Junagadh).

Sardar Patel had also recon-structed the Somnath temple.

He called upon the peopleto rise above regional, commu-nal, religious and linguisticparochialism and imbibe theideals shown by Sardar Patel asthe most befitting tribute to theIron Man of India.

Rupani said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadrevived the stories of sacrificesand valour of illustrious sons ofIndia like Mahatma Gandhiand Sardar Patel, Dr Ambedkar,Veer Savarkar, Shyamji KrishnaVerma. In phase-1, 59 EktaRaths had fanned out across thestate to cover 171 talukas in 33districts from October 20 to 29last. Nearly 16-lakh peoplejoined these Yatras.

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The Pune police on Thursdayfinally filed the first

chargesheet before a specialcourt in Pune against 10 per-sons in the Bhima-Koregaonriots case, accusing them,among other things, of con-spiring to kill Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and overthrowthe democratically electedGovernment in the country.

In their chargesheet filedbefore a Special UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act(UAPA) Court in Pune tenweeks after the same courtextended a 90-day deadlinefor filing the chargesheet byanother 90 days, the Punepolice named Sudhir P.

Dhawale, Rona J. Wilson,Surendra P. Gadling, ShomaSen, Mahesh S. Raut as amongthe 10 persons. They werearrested from various parts ofthe country on June 6.

The five other accusednamed in their 20-pagechargesheet as the abscondingaccused by the Pune police areM alias Milind Teltumbde fromYavatmal, Prakash alias NavinAlias Ritupan Goswami fromAssam, Manglu, Dipu andKishan Prashant Bose, all owingallegiance to the banned CPI(Maoists). The chargesheetstated that these five accusedhad gone “underground” invarious parts of the country.

The ten accused named inthe first chargesheet in the

Bhima-Koregaon case havecharged under various relevantsections of the UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act(UAPA), 117 ( abetting com-mission of offence), 120-b (conspiracy) read with 34 (com-mon intention), 121, 121 (A)(Waging or attempting to wagea war, or abetting waging ofwar, against the Government ofIndia) 124A (sedition), 153–A (wantonly giving provoca-tion with intent to cause riot..)and 505 1b (statements con-ducing public mischief) ofIndian Penal Code (IPC)

The chargesheet stated thatthe five arrested activists —Dhawale, Wilson, Gadling,Shoma Sen and S. Raut –were

linked to the CPI (Maoists)which carried out subversiveactivities through under-groundmeans. Human and civil rightsorganisations like IndianAssociation of People’s Lawyers(IAPL), Anuradha GhandiMemorial Committee (AGMC),Kabir Kala Manch, all of whichset up legally, were supportingthe outlawed CPI (Maoists)

According to thechargesheet, accused numbertwo Rona J. Wilson had col-luded with Shoma Sena andPrashanto Bose, secretary of theoutlawed CPI (Maoist)’s EasternRegional Bureau, along withother underground activistshatched a conspiracy to kill thePrime Minister of India.

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Page 8: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2019. 3. 4. · from his radio collar for days. ... highlighting the anti-Bengali venom that laces the NRC regime,

US President Donald Trump isa Presbyterian Protestant,with a self-confessed affinityto the rites of the HolyCommunion to ‘feel cleansed’.

He follows a long tradition of WhiteAnglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) asPresidents of the US which was broken bythe ‘half-WASP’ Barack Obama and theRoman Catholic, JF Kennedy in recenttimes. Given the mass immigration ofmulti-cultural and multi-religious popu-lace, the US had become a melting pot ofthe most diverse, inclusive and ‘accepting’profundities.

The constitutional segregation of theChurch and the State notwithstanding, reli-gious identity has played a part in the func-tioning of participative democracy in theUS. The relevance of ‘moral values’amongst candidates, a euphemism for reli-giosity amongst the 71 per cent Christianpopulation, is unmistakable, especiallyduring electioneering. The ethno-cultur-al-religious pattern of the polity hasveered and demarcated certain preferencesalong political party lines — yet the fateof the six per cent minorities (Muslims,Hindus, Jews, et al) along with that of theself-declared 23 per cent population withno-religious-affiliation had remained pro-gressively ‘inclusive’ till recent times. By2017, the second biggest democracy (afterIndia), had slipped from being rated as a‘full democracy’ to a ‘flawed democracy’as per the Global Democracy Index.

While even the likes of the widelyaccepted and transformational, BarackObama, had to reassert and reiterate his‘practicing Christian faith and status’, thesocietal and governance discourse hadremained essentially civil and ‘accepting’.While the world was witnessing religiousextremism, Obama made assuaging state-ments like, “empowered by faith, consis-tently, prayerfully, we need to find our wayback to civility. That begins with steppingout of our comfort zones in an effort tobridge divisions.” However, the advent ofDonald Trump on the US center-stage hadregressed the narrative, and early signs ofthe same were visible in run-up to thePresidential elections with the inelegantallusions made in the name of the fallenUS soldier, Captain Humayun Khan.

Soon the electoral success of DonaldTrump was marked by his signing of theExecutive Order 13769 (titled Protectingthe Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entryinto the United States) that was infamous-ly known as the ‘Muslim ban’.

The spirit behind Trump’s actions mil-itated against the Immigration andNationality Act of the US which stated,“No person shall receive any preference orpriority or be discriminated against in theissuance of an immigrant visa because ofthe person’s race, sex, nationality, place of

birth, or place of residence.”The pettiness extended to var-ious symbolic acts like thedoing away of the Eid-celebra-tion Iftar dinner at the WhiteHouse, a tradition that wasstarted in 1996 by theDemocrat, Bill Clinton butduly retained by Trump’s fel-low-Republican, George WBush, for eight years of hisPresidentship.

Donald Trump’s ignora-mus status along with per-ceived notions and stereo-types of people of certain reli-gious denominations isunprecedented in recent times.During a Republican fundrais-er by people of Indian-originpreceding the elections, that hehad stated incredulously, “I ama big fan of Hindu and I am abig fan of India. Big, big fan.”Shockingly, the still-to-be-elected President of the USAhad earlier admitted that hewasn’t aware that India alsohad a large population ofMuslims, Christians, Sikhs,Buddhists et al.

The existence of over 260proud Indians (approximate-ly 20 per cent of minority-faiths amongst the 1.3 billionIndians) had escaped theknowledge of the man whowas poised to hold the mostpowerful office in the world.

Today, Donald Trump isstill holding sway with acuteignorance intact, as he tweet-ed post the Diwali celebrationsat the White House, “Today,we gathered for Diwali, a hol-iday observed by Buddhists,

Sikhs, and Jains throughoutthe United States and aroundthe world. Hundreds of mil-lions of people have gatheredwith family and friends tolight the diya and to mark thebeginning of a New Year.”

Expectedly, the embar-rassing omission of the‘Hindus’ in the Diwali tweetwas roasted and his spin-doc-tors went on the overdrive toattribute the mistake to a lame‘out of sequence’ posting issue,and then proceeded to deletethe initial tweet and re-tweeta more correct, “It was mygreat honour to host a celebra-tion of Diwali, the Hindu fes-tival of lights, in the RooseveltRoom at the @WhiteHousethis afternoon. Very, very spe-cial people!”

Donald Trump’s ignoranceand whimsically flippantbehaviour should be a warningto those who get carried awayby any specific rant of his,which might resonate tem-porarily with the sensibilitiesof the person or a nation, atthat moment. Even thoughIndia and Indians are notamongst his pet-peeves(Pakistan certainly is), yetIndia has not been spared hisboorish and churlish insinua-tions and sarcasm. The osten-sible ‘good friend’ of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadmocked his Indian accent,routinely accused India as the‘tariff king’ and true to thepatent falsehood threatenedwith reciprocal tariff on the‘thousands and thousands’ of

Indian motorcycles gettingexported to the US. Today,even strategic allies, likeCanada, Mexico, NATOnations et al, are insulted withimpunity, as was recently wit-nessed with Trump’s undigni-fied, personalised and factual-ly-incorrect attack on FrenchPresident Emmanuel, whileon French soil, as the Francewas in the midst of observingthe somber anniversary of theworst terrorist attack in France.

Religious extremism is aglobal reality and all major reli-gions are complicit in fanningsentiments. The onus is on thepolitical leadership to breakthe monopoly of the suprema-cist and revisionist forces bysegregating religiosity fromgovernance — especially in thebig democracies like the US,which ought to be a lodestar,for those suffering under intol-erance, bigotry or dictatorship.

Truth has been a majorcasualty in modern-day con-versations, and the Trumpsaga exemplifies the globalimplications of power mixedwith ignorance, bravado andstereotypes. The US in partic-ular, and the world at largeneeds statesmen who speak thelanguage of inclusivity, probityand progress without pander-ing to the subliminal dark-instincts that are easy to rouse,but dangerously difficult tocontrol once unleashed.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

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Sir — Supreme Court’s refusal tostay women’s entr y intoSabarimala temple has come asa good news for those whobelieve in gender equality. Itmeans the law of the land as ofnow allows women of all ages toenter the temple. At least, nowthe die-hard protesters shouldnot prevent women from visit-ing the temple. They are mostlikely to be disappointed if theypin their hopes on the SupremeCourt’s nod for an open courthearing of a raft of review peti-tions.

The Court is least likely tooverturn the judgement pro-nounced with so much reason-ing and conviction. When theconstitutionally guaranteed rightand ‘public opinion’ conflict,the choice for the apex court isobvious. The young women whoregistered online for darshan atSabarimala should not beblocked on their way to the tem-ple during the two month-longMandala-Makaravilakku season.The joy of worship should not bedenied on the ground of gender.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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Sir— There can be no secondopinion that the BJPGovernment is in a sticky wick-et as far as the Rafale deal is con-cerned. At the outset, the state-ment made in such a hurry bythe CEO of Dassault, EricTrappier, defending the IndianGovernment, particularly on a

day when the matter was beingtaken up by the apex court fordiscussion, raises many ques-tions.

All along, the Governmentwas refusing to announce thepurchase price of the Rafalejets saying it would lead to asecurity breach as the neigh-bouring enemy states would beable to find out the capabilitiesof the Rafale jets once the price

is made public. Now, it has come to light

that most of the security normsincluding obtention of guaran-tees by the French Governmenthave been given the go-ahead bythe Indian Government.

Doesn’t all these tantamountto the dilution of security tocover thousands of crores of taxpayers’ money?

While all this would lead

even a novice to confirm that theRafale deal is shrouded withmany mysteries and unansweredquestions, there can be no doubtthat the judges would haveunderstood the murky dealmuch better and would delivera fair judgement.

Shalini GeraldChennai

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Sir — Whatever said and done,Dassault’s CEO Eric Trappier’shurried statement refuting thecharge that he was covering upfor the Narendra ModiGovernment appears to be well-orchestrated, that too, particu-larly when it had been voiced onthe day when the SupremeCourt was slated to hear thealleged Rafale scam case.

The Dassault’s CEO seemsto be well-tutored to defend thedeal and save the NarendraModi Government. This is alsoinevitable for Dassault lest theylose such a big deal.

Anna Mary YvonneChennai

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The Ministry of ExternalAffairs was ordered recentlyby the court to renew the

passport of an Indian citizen who’dbeen in Canada on a work permit.His passport renewal had beenheld up for two years, putting hisjob and his residence status inCanada at risk, apparently becausethe Ministry suspected that hemight in someway be involved inacts against “the public interest.”That is the code language for say-ing that the man might have terrorist links or be involved inhawala type transactions. The lat-ter possibility can be eliminated inthe blink of an eye — the manwould not be working as a lorry dri-ver if he was making money from

hawala transactions.So is he a terrorist? Does he

have — or did he have — terroristlinks? There are only three possibleanswers: The first is that he is athreat to the security of the nation.But if the man has terrorist links,two years is indeed an inordinate-ly long time to investigate that.Indeed, one has to ask the muchmore serious question: Are some ofour officials really so incompetentas to fail to come to a conclusionafter two years of investigatingsuch a serious matter?

Shouldn’t the officials be pro-ceeded against for dealing with thesecurity of the nation in such a cav-alier manner?

The second is that the man wasthought to be a threat, but he isn’t.If so, why did the officials not onlydeclined to renew his passport forso long, but also offered in courtwhat they clearly thought was agood reason for refusing renewal?Further, why did they ask the courtfor permission to continue avoid-ing renewal of his passport? The

third is that the man was never wasa threat. If so, what we have is acommon and simple matter ofbribe-seeking — a bribe which theman refused (for whatever reason)to pay.

Perhaps the bribe demandedwas so large as to offend him suf-

ficiently to cause him to pursue anexpensive and long-winded case incourt. I simply don’t know as I amnot acquainted with the person inquestion and have no means of con-tacting him.

What I do know is that use ofthe law to harass ordinary citizens

in our country; it is so common asif it is almost normal. We hardlygive it a thought when we see a dri-ver stop by the police on the high-way. We know he was not beenspeeding. We also know that he hadbeen stopped officially for a ‘licencecheck’. But in reality, he was a of anunfortunately lottery daily bribecollection by the policemen.

We hardly bother when we hearthat a slum-dweller’s family has hadtheir jhuggi pulled down. After all,aren’t jhuggis illegal anyway? A hugeseries of bribes need to be paid toallow any jhuggi settlement to comeinto existence and continue to thrive.For the slums to be cleared out, clear-ly, a rather bigger set of bribes hasnow come into play —perhaps fromsome construction company. Evenso, rather than reacting with outrage,many middle- and upper-class peo-ple merely dismiss the matter: “Goodriddance to jhuggis.”

However, we do react, even ifsubconsciously, when we are our-selves asked for a ‘consideration’ inorder to have something done,

whether that is the admission of achild in a school, a relative in a hos-pital, an application for a job, or theprovision of a properly due serviceby an official.

Can anything be done to stopthis kind of extortion? In the caseof the example quoted at the begin-ning of this article, the Ministry didnot dispute that the denial of thepassport had put his residential sta-tus in Canada in jeopardy anddenied him two whole years ofwork and earnings.

Harassment of citizens by offi-cials will stop only when courtsdecide not to merely restore therights of citizens, as in this case, butalso demand damages be paid bythe ministry, department or agen-cies involved to the citizen or citi-zens concerned.

(The writer is IndependentBoard Member, Board Consultant;Keynote Speaker Executive Director,Relational Analytics Ltd, Cambridge,UK; and Honorary Chairman,Career Innovation Company,Oxford, UK)

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Remembering the legendary Indianwriter, Nirmal Verma, necessarilyencourages one to revisit some of hisliterary works which turn out to becompletely mesmerising. Indeed, it is

akin to doing a literary pilgrimage. Such a pil-grimage is particularly significant for the fact thathe appears to never ever lose sight of the sanc-tity of his native roots, cultural moorings andindigenous traditions even in the face of anaggressive onslaught of various forms of all-encompassing but counterproductive westernmodernity. As a matter of fact, he is one of thoseultimate littérateurs who relentlessly put colo-nial modernity to thorough scrutiny in most ofhis creative works in order to explore the ideaof India in its entirety.

The irreconcilable incompatibility betweenIndian way of conceptualising, planning andstrategising about the vagaries of human life andthe unavoidable pulls and pressures of Westernmodernity is so effectively embodied in differentessays written in Hindi and compiled in such col-lections as Shabda Aur Smriti, Kala¯ ka¯ jokhima,Dhalaan Se Utarte Hue, Bharat Aur Europe :Pratishruti Ke Kshetra, Kala, Smriti, Akanksha,Shatavdi ke Dhalte Varahon Mein, Adi, Ant aurAarambha.

In the very first collection, the figure ofGandhi appears time and again. Emphasising there-awakening of nationalist consciousness embed-ded in the persona of Gandhi, Verma tries to makean assessment about the idea of India in connec-tion with its relationship with Europe. What hefinds out is the fact that the best of indigenousthoughts and sensitivities don’t carry the kind ofruptures which we witness in the form of deep-rooted alienation of modern life. The second col-lection, Kala¯ ka¯ jokhima talks about the role ofart in the making of modern world, whereas thethird collection, Dhalaan Se Utarte Hue mentionscertain kinds of fissures and contradictionswhich expose the hollowness of so-called mod-ern civilisation.

In the fourth collection, Bharat aur Europe,Verma looks at basic assumptions behind the intel-lectual and philosophical traditions of India andEurope respectively. He is basically pre-occupiedwith the task of evaluating what India and Indiansfound and lost when they came in contact withEuropean culture and civilisation. The ways inwhich we have been dissociated with our own tra-ditions, and the manner in which we have madecertain attempts to keep those invaluable tradi-tions intact, are some of the major concerns ofthe essayist. All the issues and concerns areaddressed with a definite objective to fore-ground the essential indianness of we, the peo-ple of India.

The indianness of post-colonial Indian mindis his genuine concern. And it governs hisengagement in myriad ways with the questionsof politics, religion, culture, literature, history, sec-ularism and Marxism. He does not construct anytheoritical premise or rigid conceptual frameworkto make sense of the issues revolving around thealready cited questions of contemporary India. Hisfocus is on exposing those tendencies, sometimessubtle and surreptitious, that make us think andfeel that West is the way forward to look for the

resolution of all those problems we facetoday.

The deep imprints of colonialmindset, which generated an evident-ly infectious impact on our thoughtprocess, and made us in turn sub-servient to the Western ways of think-ing, evoke sharp responses fromVerma. He indeed wishes to get rid ofthose prejudices and assumptions thathave been responsible for puttingchains on our own style of thinking,behaving and living life with our ownterms. Efforts to erase the traces of cul-tural and intellectual colonisationdefine and decide the quality of dis-cussions and deliberations about East-West encounter in his essays.

For his first collection of short-sto-ries, Parinde, Verma was declared to bethe harbinger of a new literary trendcalled ‘Nai Kahani’ in Hindi literature.It opened up several opportunities toexpress his yearning for a liberating, ful-filling and satisfying existence, whichwas extremely difficult to find in a mod-ern set-up. The kind of irreparable griefcaused by the partition of a newly inde-pendent nation state aggravated furtherby disillusionment with the ideals andaspirations created during the freedomstruggle and subsequent deepening ofcolonial temperament in various waysand numerous places of postcolonialIndia triggered the creative expressionsof an entire generation of writers, ofwhom, Verma proved to be the majorvoice. Abandoning old narrative tech-niques and already exhausted subjectsof short story writing, he went on todelve deeper into the complexity of con-temporary realities with new sensibil-ities and even newer idioms producinghighly captivating content in anenabling form.

His succeeding collections of short-stories such as Jalti Jhadi, PichhliGarmiyon Mein, Beech Bahas Mein,Kavve Aur Kala Pani, which broughthim Sahitya Academy Award and thelast one, Sukha, are marked by a con-

necting thread which so evocativelyinvokes the issues of alienation anddepression primarily caused by theimperatives of modernity. Deeply dis-turbing experiences of the emergentmiddle class which suffer rather mis-erably in some ways because of theirillusion about the nature of modern lifegenerate radically different indigenoussensibilities than seen before in theworks of Verma.

European experiences led to thetransformation of Nirmal Verma’smindset in a huge way. But they did notsucceed in making him think and feelthat his own culture and civilisation areinferior to those of Europe. Instead, hedoes not forget to tell us that we havelegitimate reasons to harbour seriousmisgivings about the adequacy andeffectiveness of the idea of progressembedded in the notion of Westernmodernity that wrecked havoc onhumanity through the two world warsalongside creating irrevocable rup-tures in human relations as is amplyclear from the hollowness betweenman-woman relationships and increas-ingly entrenched sense of alienation,destructive self-centeredness, self-exile,frustrations and disappointments soinseparably interlinked with modernlife and experiences of humankind. Themoral of the story is that the socio-polit-ical and cultural manifestations ofmodernity have been categorically putinto the bar of judgement.

Whether they are essays, shortstories or novels written by Verma, hedoes not seem to subscribe to any par-ticular ideological persuasion whichessentially obstructs the articulation ofthe nuanced perception of the existingcomplex realities in the outside world.In the very first novel, Ve Din, memo-ry plays a central role in a modernmilieu. The image of scattered, disin-tegrating, self-obsessed Europe in theaftermath of the Second World War isthoroughly scrutinised by an almostentirely Indian perspective. The second

novel, Lal Teen Ki Chat, reflects theacute loneliness of the protagonist, Kayawho is totally caught in a cynicalworld full of isolation. Such explana-tions of loneliness and isolation areaimed at presenting a scathing critiqueof what is often called the modern life.

The third novel, Ek Chithda Sukh,is an attempt to find an answer to thequestion of what is happiness. Thedesire for happiness leads one to therealisation that it is indeed an illusion.It is an endless wait as we never everget to have a real sense of happiness inmodern world order. The fourth novel,Raat ka Reporter, revolves around theself-centeredness of a journalist whodeal with those circumstances whichled the masses to severe kinds of dis-appointment with modern forms ofdemocracy and development. Thefifth novel, Antim Aranya, chooses todiscuss the recurrent theme of loneli-ness along with issues of death anddepression. It offers us an innovativeapproach to look at the relationshipbetween life and death and also theconditions which lie in between so asto undermine the supremacy of mate-rial possessions and underline theprimacy of spiritual fulfillment.

In his travelogues, diary-writingand even selections of nine prominentworks of world literature for theirtranslations into Hindi, he exhibitstremendous consistency in terms ofdoing a stringent critique of theWestern modernity. And India alwaysremains at the core of his creative pur-suit. So, he keeps searching consistent-ly for the civilisational roots of thenation, its encounter with colonialmodernity and the consequent distor-tions of our collective consciousnesswith a view to highlight the need to dis-cover first and then recover and fore-ground our own autonomous andindigenous modernity.

(The writer is Assistant professor ofEnglish at Rajdhani College, DelhiUniversity)

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Jawa, a Czechbrand that won

its way into thehearts of Indianmotorcyclists inthe 1960’s until theadvent of Japanesecommuter four-stroke motorcycleskilled the brand.But thanks toClassic Legend Limited, Indianswill be able to enjoy the Jawabrand again. Launching threenew products, the Jawa, Jawa 42and factory-custom ‘Perak’ thebrand hopes to make a big bangwhen their products hit theIndian roads in early 2019.

However, the rebirth of thebrand does not mean the motor-cycle will feature ancient tech-nology, instead a modern 293ccliquid-cooled engine will do dutyon the Jawa and Jawa 42 pro-ducing 27 horsepower. The Perakwill have a higher displacement334cc version of the same enginewith 30 horsepower. The motor-cycles will be priced at between�1.55 lakh to �1.89 lakh.

Speaking at the launch,Anand Mahindra, Chairman,Mahindra Group and aninvestor in Classic Legendssaid that it was rare to get theopportunity to resurrect a leg-end. Incidentally, MahindraTwo-Wheelers is the contractmanufacturer for ClassicLegends.

Anupam Thareja, Founder,Classic Legends believes thatthe Jawa brand will appeal toyoung millennials as well. “Anidea how much people areanticipating this brand is theresponse we got for dealerships.We have signed on 105 dealer-ships in 71 cities across India.

There are already some 70Classic Jawa clubs in Indiaengaging 40,000 people. I thinkthere is a great opportunity inthis market.”

Classic Legends is alsobullish about other brands,Thareja revealed that talkswere on revive the Yezdi brandas well and the company alsohas the brand rights to BSA, theclassic British brand.“Obviously we are going afternostalgia but are main appealto customers will be our hon-esty and authenticity.”

However, with RoyalEnfield launching their new650cc twin-cylinder motorcy-cles earlier this week to ravereviews and at an aggressiveprice point below Rs 3 lakh,Classic Legends has a problemon its hands even before thefirst production motorcyclesleave the line. However, thecompany’s management feelsthat there is enough space fortwo players and brands in theIndian market.

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The FinanceMinistry on

Thursday said it isplanning to comeout with a share saleoffer of two recentlylisted insurancecompanies — GICand New IndiaAssurance.

S t a t e - o w n e dreinsurer GeneralI n s u r a n c eCorporation of India(GIC) was listed onthe bourses inOctober last year,while New IndiaAssurance CompanyLtd made its stockmarket debut in Novemberlast year.

The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM)Thursday invited expression ofinterest (EoI) from merchantbankers and selling brokersfor managing the offer for sale(OFS) of GIC and New IndiaAssurance.

Merchant bankers, whocan bid singly or as a consor-tium, can apply for assisting the

Government in the stake saleprocess by December 7, 2018,said the EoI floated by DIPAM.

General insurer New IndiaAssurance had raised �9,600crore in the initial public offer(IPO) and had priced its sharesat �770-800 a piece.

At 1515 hours, shares ofNew India Assurance weretrading at �220.20 apiece, up0.30 per cent over last close onthe BSE.

Reinsurance company GIC

has fixed the price band at�855-912 for its IPO last year,through which it raised �11,370crore.

Shares of GIC were tradingat �309.75, down 0.21 per centover previous close on theBSE.

So far in current fiscal, theGovernment has raised over�15,200 crore through PSUstake sale. The budgeted dis-investment target for the fiscalis �80,000 crore.

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Loss-making national carri-er Air India plans to mop

up �700-800 crore by sellingover 70 residential and com-mercial properties spreadacross the country, a senior air-line official said on Thursday.

This fresh bid is a part ofthe airline’s real estate assetsmonetisation plan approvedby the then UPA Governmentin 2012. As per the plan, AirIndia had to the garner fundsto the tune of �5,000 crorebetween April 2014 and March2021, with an annual target of�500 crore from FY13 onwards.

The properties, which arespread over 16 cities pan India,will be e-auctioned through thestate-run auctioneer MSTC.

“We are expecting to raiseabout �700-800 crore by e-auc-tioning of these over 70 prop-erties, which comprises bothresidential as well as commer-cial. Some of these propertiesare those which we put up onthe block earlier but could notget a buyer,” the official said.

Last month, Air India had put14 properties on sale, in cities suchas Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,Bengaluru, Pune and Amritsar.

Air India’s debt burdenstands around �55,000 crore,besides huge accumulated loss-es. According to its auditedaccounts, the airline’s total loss-es stood at �47,145.62 crore in2016-17.

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Haier — a Home Appliances& Consumer Electronics

maker — opened a first of itskind experience store in LajpatNagar, New Delhi. Spreadacross 3,000 sq. ft. area, thisexperience store showcasesadvanced products from Haierto help consumersmake theirlifestyles future-ready.

Its U+ smart living oper-ating system gives a sneakpeek into a connected worldwhere home appliancesaresynced and interconnectedwith each other.

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�������Overwhelmed withthe response for the first trancheof highway projects under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model,union minister for roads andhighways Nitin Gadkari Thursdaysaid he expects the second trancheto fetch over �10,000 crore.

The maiden bundle of nine

highway projects under TOTwas a huge success, which wasover subscribed and hadfetched NHAI �9,681 crore.

“We are positive that thesecond round will also get asimilar response. I personallyexpect it to fetch �10,000 crore,more than what we got for the

first tranche,” Gadkari toldreporters here. The ministerwas in the megapolis here toattend the road show organisedby the ministry and NHAI toattract investors for the secondtranche of highway projects of586 km under toll-operate-transfer (TOT) basis. PTI

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India’s exports rose by 17.86per cent to $26.98 billion in

October mainly due to the lowbase effect even as trade deficitwidened to $17.13 billion,according to the CommerceMinistry data.

The exports on monthlybasis were down compared to$27.95 billion in September.

Imports during Octoberalso rose by 17.62 per cent to$44.11 billion, leading towidening of trade deficit to$17.13 billion.

The deficit widened despitea steep decline of 42.9 per centin gold imports to $1.68 billionduring the month underreview.

The trade gap was $14.61billion in October 2017.

Exporters attributed closeto 18 per cent growth inexports in October to afavourable base effect, as theforeign shipments in the com-parable month of the previousfiscal were quite low at $22.89billion.

The Federation of IndiaExport Organisations (FIEO)said that exports in October lastyear were even lower than thatof September this year.

Base effect is responsiblefor the high growth in October,it said.

Sharing similar views,Engineering Export PromotionCouncil of India (EEPC) saidthat high growth in Octoberhas come about on the back ofa favourable base effect.

FIEO President GaneshGupta demanded for aug-menting the flow of credit asthe sharp decline does notaugur well for the sector.

The sectors which record-ed healthy growth in Octoberincludes petroleum (49.3 percent), engineering (8.87 percent), chemicals (34 per cent),pharma (13 per cent), andgems and jewellery sector (5.5per cent).

On the other hand, exportsof several agri commoditiesrecorded negative growth andthat includes coffee, rice, tobac-co, cashew and oil seeds.

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Telecom companies havecompleted installation of

5 lakh mobile towers in thecountry till date with a totalinvestment of �10.44 lakhcrore, industry body COAIsaid Thursday.

“COAI...Congratulatedthe telecom industry on thelandmark achievement ofinstalling 5 lakh mobile tow-ers, taking the total BTScount to over 20 Lakh,” theindustry body said in a state-ment.

A mobile tower can houseseveral base stations (BTS) ofdifferent telecom serviceproviders.

“The telecom industryhas been closely working withthe government in building awell-entrenched communi-cation infrastructure and tilldate, the industry has invest-ed �10.44 lakh crore to thisend,”the statement said.

According to the datashared by the industry body,the sharp growth in expan-sion of mobile tower wasfuelled by 4G BTSs.

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New Delhi (PTI): The gov-ernment is planning to soonmake hallmarking mandatoryfor gold jewellery sold in thecountry, Food and ConsumersAffairs Minister Ram VilasPaswan said on Thursday.

The hallmarking of gold,which is voluntary in nature atpresent, is a purity certificationof the precious metal. TheBureau of Indian Standards(BIS), under the ConsumerAffairs Ministry, is the adminis-trative authority of hallmarking.“BIS has set standards for hall-marking of gold jewellery inthree grades of 14 carat, 18 caratand 22 carat. We are going tomake it mandatory soon,”Paswan said at a BIS eventorganised to commemorateWorld Standards Day with atheme on ‘Global Standards andthe fourth Industrial Revolution’.He, however, did not specify thedate of implementation of themandatory gold hallmarking,but stressed on the need toadopt the standards in the inter-est of consumers. India has over220 BIS-recognised assaying andhallmarking centres, maximumof them are located in TamilNadu, followed by Kerala. Asfourth industrial revolutionwould be of smart technologies,Paswan said the BIS had a chal-lenge to speed up setting of stan-dards to ensure the country didnot lag behind in this area.

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Anil Ambani-led RelianceInfrastructure (RInfra) has

posted a 49 per cent decline inits consolidated net profit to�277.19 crore for the quarterended September 2018.

The company had posted aconsolidated net profit of�543.8 crore in the year-agoperiod, RInfra said in a filingto the BSE. on Wednesday.

However, the company’sconsolidated income increasedto �7,207.3 crore in the July-September quarter, over�5,898.7 crore in the year-agoperiod.

RInfra is a leading infra-structure company, developingprojects through various spe-cial purpose vehicles (SPVs) inseveral high growth sectorssuch as power, roads and metrorail in the infrastructure spaceand the defence sector.

RInfra through its SPVshas executed a portfolio ofinfrastructure projects such asa metro rail project in Mumbaion build, own, operate andtransfer (BOOT) basis; elevenroad projects with total lengthof about 1,000 kms on thebuild-operate-transfer (BOT)basis.

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Top bankers on Thursdaysaid the current liquidity

crunch was not a systemicproblem and non-bankingfinancial companies (NBFCs)were meeting payment obliga-tions.

“All (NBFCs) of them havebeen able to meet their commit-ment as far as roll overs are con-cerned,” SBI Chairman RajnishKumar said on the sidelines ofan event organised here.

Speaking on liquidity posi-tion in the banking system,National Bank For AgricultureAnd Rural Development(Nabard) Chairman HKBhanwala said the conditionwas improving as interest rateswere seen declining.

“So as such there is no bigproblem... Issue arose onaccount of some of entitieswhich had borrowed short andcreated long assets. So, it maybe specific problem. It does notseem to be a systemic problem,”Bhanwala said.

Fears of liquidity crunchgripped the market followinga series of defaults by groupcompanies of IL&FS in thepast two months. These led toconcerns that non-bankinglenders would be unable tomeet their commitments formarket borrowings, impairing

growth. Bhanwala further said that

various banks were supportingNBFCs, including Nabardwhich had an exposure ofaround �15,000 crore.

“(Our) total assets are�4.80 lakh crore. Of this, the�15,000 crore exposure toNBFCs is small. Nothing is atrisk. I haven’t seen any default.Everybody is meeting the com-mitments to Nabard,”Bhanwala said.

On capital infusion fromthe government, he saidNabard had already received�2,000 crore and it may notrequire more funds this year.

On the financial inclusion,the SBI Chairman said themassive Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana (PMJDY) andother social security schemeslaunched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had changedthe complexities.

“...when we started this(PMJDY) programme andover this period of time, morethan 300 million financialaccounts have been opened. Itis unparallel in the world.And all these accounts start-ed with zero balance but todaymore than 85 per cent of theaccounts are having balance inthe accounts. With SBI, we arehaving an average balance of�1,800 in these accounts,”Kumar said.

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The BSE benchmarkSensex ended 119 pointshigher on Thursday and

the broader Nifty went past the10,600 mark on positiveinvestor sentiment amid eas-ing crude oil prices and firmrupee.

The 30-share index openeda shade higher at 35,145.75points, hovered in the range of35,402 and 35,118.42, beforeending the session at 35,260.54,with a gain of 118.55 points, or0.34% over its previous close.

The gauge had shed 2.50points on Wednesday in ahighly volatile session.

The NSE Nifty also closed40.40 points, or 0.38% higherat 10,616.70 after shuttlingbetween 10,646.50 and10,557.50.

The appreciation in rupee,firming trend in other Asianmarkets and a higher openingof European equities too influ-enced market mood here.

Traders said falling crudeprices in the global market wasa big boost for the economy asit lightens the country’s importbill burden, eases inflationand current account deficitconcerns.

Global crude oil priceshave fallen nearly 30% to USD

65 per barrel from over USD 86in early October. Brent crudefell 0.47% to USD 65.81 perbarrel.

Meanwhile, the rupeestrengthened further by 44paise to trade at 71.87 againstthe dollar in late afternoontrade in the forex market.

However, profit-bookingat higher levels by speculatorsat the fag-end of the sessiontrimmed some of the day’sgains, traders added.

According to analysts, adrop in US 10-year bondyield, followed by gradualpick up in foreign institution-al investor (FII) inflow todomestic market and slide inoil prices eased the concernsof liquidity.

FIIs bought shares worth anet of �277.38 crore, whiledomestic institutional investors(DIIs) sold shares to the tuneof �272.34 crore on Wednesday,provisional data showed.

Uncertainty over the US-China trade deal and nextFederal Reserve policy, whichis likely to see hike inDecember, may add volatilityin the near term, the analystsadded.

Shares of Jet Airwaysclimbed 24.52% amid reportsthat Tata Group was in talks tobuy a controlling take in the

cash-strapped airline.Adani Ports took the top

position among Sensex con-stituents by surging 4.19%, fol-lowed by Kotak Bank rising2.61%.

Other big gainers includedAxis Bank advancing 2.11%,Hero MotoCorp 1.95%, TataMotors 1.78%, Maruti Suzuki1.50%, Vedanta Ltd 1.37%,Power Grid 1.18%, L&T 0.97%,Bharti Airtel 0.85%, ICICIBank 0.82%, HDFC Bank0.80%, and HDFC 0.75%.

SBI, Infosys, RIL andIndusInd Bank, too, finishedwith gains of up to 0.56%.

Shares of private lender, YesBank emerged worst performerby plunging 7.42% after itsnon-executive chairman AshokChawla resigned with immedi-ate effect.

The bank also said thatindependent director VasantGujarathi had tendered hisresignation with immediateeffect due to personal commit-ments.

Other laggards wereNTPC, ONGC, Sun Pharma,Coal India, TCS, HUL, ITC,M&M, Asian Paint, Bajaj Auto,Wipro and Tata Steel falling byup to 2.16%.

Shares of GrasimIndustries tumbled 7.91% fol-lowing the Adiya Birla Group

firm’s announcement of �1,300crore consolidated loss in theSeptember quarter.

Shares of state-run oil mar-keting companies such asHPCL, BPCL and IOC contin-ued to show a bullish trend andsurged up to 2.28% on fallingglobal crude oil prices.

Among the sectoralindices, BSE consumerdurables index gained the mostby rising 1.60%, followed byrealty index 1.58%, bankex0.79%, metal 0.66%, capitalgoods 0.66%, auto 0.54%,healthcare 0.32%, infrastruc-ture 0.19% and PSU index0.10%.

However, FMCG, power,oil & gas, teck and IT indicesended in the negative zone.

The broader markets, too,displayed a firm trend with themid-cap index rising 0.68%and small-cap index gaining0.40%.

Globally, most of otherAsian markets ended higher.Shanghai’s Composite Indexrose 1.36%, Hong Kong’s HangSeng was up 1.67% whileTaiwan index gained 0.35%.Japan’s Nikkei, however, shed0.20%.

In Europe, Paris CAC 40was up 0.49%, Frankfurt’s DAXgained 0.48%, while London’sFTSE was up 0.40%.

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Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 20685.45 -48.1 -0.238KMILES 111.8 5.3 4.98AARTIIND 1427 10.6 0.75ABB 1286.05 0.1 0.01ABBOTINDIA 7650 48.2 0.63ABCAPITAL 110.15 3 2.8ABFRL 189.25 -0.7 -0.37ACC 1511.05 35.6 2.41ADANIPORTS 345.3 13.9 4.19ADANIPOWER 48.65 -0.45 -0.92ADANITRANS 209.4 18.85 9.89ADVENZYMES 185.4 -0.7 -0.38AEGISLOG 221.95 3.95 1.81AIAENG 1641.5 -46.55 -2.76AJANTPHARM 1083.3 14 1.31AKZOINDIA 1579.95 -0.55 -0.03ALBK 42.25 3.5 9.03ALKEM 1941.95 13.6 0.71ALLCARGO 106.05 -2.2 -2.03AMARAJABAT 738.9 2.45 0.33AMBUJACEM 217.1 5.95 2.82ANDHRABANK 28.2 -0.3 -1.05APARINDS 624.95 8.35 1.35APLAPOLLO 1278.85 24.7 1.97APLLTD 582.4 -2.25 -0.38APOLLOHOSP 1265.65 99.5 8.53APOLLOTYRE 229.8 6.65 2.98ARVIND 310.45 -2.15 -0.69ASAHIINDIA 276.95 -5.05 -1.79ASHOKA 124.7 -3.65 -2.84ASHOKLEY 106.35 -0.25 -0.23ASIANPAINT 1312.25 -7.65 -0.58ASTRAL 1040 19.4 1.9ATUL 3534.9 86.8 2.52AUBANK 584.65 6.85 1.19AUROPHARMA 780.2 -2.5 -0.32AVANTI 367.25 -0.9 -0.24AXISBANK 625.65 12.9 2.11BAJAJ-AUTO 2670 -11.7 -0.44BAJAJCORP 357.45 4.45 1.26BAJAJELEC 492.8 -7.7 -1.54BAJAJFINSV 5597.4 20.6 0.37

BAJAJHLDNG 2990 61.25 2.09BAJFINANCE 2339.4 46.7 2.04BALKRISIND 964.05 1.95 0.2BALMLAWRIE 196.8 -2.45 -1.23BALRAMCHIN 112.75 0.15 0.13BANDHANBNK 460 28 6.48BANKBARODA 113 0.35 0.31BANKINDIA 84.3 2 2.43BASF 1553.25 -41.75 -2.62BATAINDIA 997 -1.15 -0.12BAYERCROP 3990 32.35 0.82BBTC 1356.4 -22.2 -1.61BEL 96.55 0.6 0.63BEML 724.75 15.95 2.25BERGEPAINT 317.1 -2.95 -0.92BHARATFIN 939.7 -2.65 -0.28BHARATFORG 589.25 3.55 0.61BHARTIARTL 303.8 2.55 0.85BHEL 66.8 0.6 0.91BIOCON 628.4 3.55 0.57BIRLACORPN 659.1 52.45 8.65BLISSGVS 169.25 -1.55 -0.91BLUEDART 3051.8 75.2 2.53BLUESTARCO 590 14.05 2.44BOMDYEING 120.1 -3.05 -2.48BOSCHLTD 19200 -25.25 -0.13BPCL 321.3 4.75 1.5BRITANNIA 5821 41.85 0.72CADILAHC 359.75 -10.5 -2.84CANBK 255.75 3.05 1.21CANFINHOME 281 3.3 1.19CAPF 497.9 15.6 3.23

CAPPL 430 -0.05 -0.01CARBORUNIV 351.05 -5.35 -1.5CARERATING 1010 -21.25 -2.06CASTROLIND 149.85 -0.95 -0.63CCL 274.9 4.45 1.65CEATLTD 1254.65 10.45 0.84CENTRALBK 30.6 -0.25 -0.81CENTRUM 41.95 2.95 7.56CENTURYPLY 166.75 -0.9 -0.54CENTURYTEX 904.75 13.3 1.49CERA 2442.75 28.65 1.19CGPOWER 35 1.25 3.7CHAMBLFERT 142.55 1.1 0.78CHENNPETRO 272 -0.15 -0.06CHOLAFIN 1294.55 14.05 1.1CIPLA 519 -1.1 -0.21COALINDIA 263.05 -2.55 -0.96COCHINSHIP 383.4 1.9 0.5COFFEEDAY 278.15 -15.75 -5.36COLPAL 1124.05 12.25 1.1CONCOR 683.95 17.8 2.67COROMANDEL 420 -3.5 -0.83CORPBANK 27.5 -0.25 -0.9CRISIL 1495.45 -7.25 -0.48CROMPTON 203 -2.85 -1.38CUB 163.85 -0.15 -0.09CUMMINSIND 816.45 26.6 3.37CYIENT 652 -7.15 -1.08DABUR 388.9 10.15 2.68DALMIABHA 2260 136.5 6.43DBCORP 179.1 5.3 3.05DBL 490.85 19.7 4.18DCBBANK 156.35 -0.65 -0.41DCMSHRIRAM 410.4 -5.65 -1.36DEEPAKFERT 182.95 -13.85 -7.04DEEPAKNI 264.35 -2.45 -0.92DELTACORP 239 -2.3 -0.95DENABANK 16.65 0 0DHANUKA 419 8.45 2.06DHFL 244.35 5.6 2.35DISHTV 38 -1.15 -2.94DIVISLAB 1527.85 23.55 1.57DLF 169.65 6.75 4.14DMART 1390.65 8.15 0.59

DRREDDY 2461 13.05 0.53ECLERX 1156.85 78 7.23EDELWEISS 167.45 -0.9 -0.53EICHERMOT 23876.75 608.8 2.62EIDPARRY 229.5 -6.15 -2.61EIHOTEL 164.7 1.25 0.76ELGIEQUIP 245.95 -0.95 -0.38EMAMILTD 458.75 22.45 5.15ENDURANCE 1190 -28.95 -2.37ENGINERSIN 119.4 2.55 2.18ENIL 625 -5 -0.79EQUITAS 109.2 -1.8 -1.62ERIS 620 7.3 1.19ESCORTS 665.05 10.6 1.62ESSELPRO 87.4 -0.45 -0.51EVEREADY 190.8 -2.95 -1.52EXIDEIND 248.9 -2.5 -0.99FCONSUMER 51.7 -0.35 -0.67FDC 192.9 -4 -2.03FEDERALBNK 78.65 0.15 0.19FINCABLES 488.15 -25.95 -5.05FINOLEXIND 510.05 1.3 0.26FLFL 393 8.7 2.26FORBESCO 2020.55 -17.25 -0.85FORCEMOT 1815.85 -9.45 -0.52FORTIS 143.65 2.95 2.1FRETAIL 529.15 1.6 0.3FSL 54.2 -1.25 -2.25GAIL 348.05 -4.35 -1.23GDL 156 -2.05 -1.3GEPIL 854 31.35 3.81GESHIP 284.1 1.05 0.37

GET&D 226 -2.7 -1.18GHCL 221.75 -2.2 -0.98GICHSGFIN 253.65 -3.2 -1.25GICRE 310 -0.4 -0.13GILLETTE 6525.3 -36.4 -0.55GLAXO 1330 -32.8 -2.41GLENMARK 664.25 9.25 1.41GMDCLTD 86.75 0.55 0.64GMRINFRA 16.15 -0.05 -0.31GNFC 352.5 -9.85 -2.72GODFRYPHLP 872.1 45.75 5.54GODREJAGRO 518.5 -3.45 -0.66GODREJCP 719.8 7.5 1.05GODREJIND 508.85 8.75 1.75GODREJPROP 635.85 28.9 4.76GPPL 98 -0.8 -0.81GRANULES 101.95 -1.55 -1.5GRAPHITE 984.55 5.25 0.54GRASIM 807.6 -69.35 -7.91GREAVESCOT 129.25 7.25 5.94GREENPLY 135.9 -3.25 -2.34GRINDWELL 493.65 8.45 1.74GRUH 303.7 2.15 0.71GSFC 106.3 -1.15 -1.07GSKCONS 7000 -226.85 -3.14GSPL 179.5 -3.1 -1.7GUJALKALI 579 -2.75 -0.47GUJFLUORO 898.3 -30.75 -3.31GUJGAS 620.05 -6.35 -1.01GULFOILLUB 763.75 -18.7 -2.39HAL 836.4 -17.1 -2HATSUN 638 18.3 2.95HAVELLS 689 15.95 2.37HCC 14 0.08 0.57HCLTECH 989 -7.4 -0.74HDFC 1852.2 13.75 0.75HDFCBANK 1974.05 15.6 0.8HDFCLIFE 398.6 -1.95 -0.49HDIL 23.05 0.45 1.99HEG 4110.9 -5.35 -0.13HEIDELBERG 148.7 -1.55 -1.03HERITGFOOD 526 0.15 0.03HEROMOTOCO 2917.2 62.8 2.2HEXAWARE 315.5 -1.55 -0.49HFCL 20.15 -0.2 -0.98HIMATSEIDE 238.4 -9.45 -3.81HINDALCO 233.4 3.65 1.59HINDCOPPER 50.55 -0.75 -1.46HINDPETRO 249.35 5.55 2.28HINDUNILVR 1705.6 -12.6 -0.73HINDZINC 266.35 1.85 0.7HONAUT 21388 809.4 3.93HSCL 131.3 -0.7 -0.53HSIL 241.55 -7.2 -2.89HUDCO 44.3 -0.55 -1.23IBREALEST 86.45 -4.3 -4.74IBULHSGFIN 804.2 -34.75 -4.14IBVENTURES 459.15 11.3 2.52ICICIBANK 369.6 3 0.82ICICIGI 825 1.15 0.14ICICIPRULI 326 -10.9 -3.24ICIL 59.75 -1.5 -2.45IDBI 60.75 0.25 0.41IDEA 36.85 -4.6 -11.1IDFC 38.85 0.5 1.3IDFCBANK 36.6 0.9 2.52IEX 156.05 -1.05 -0.67IFBIND 935 34.2 3.8IFCI 14 0.17 1.23IGL 271.85 1.5 0.55IL&FSTRANS 19.35 -0.65 -3.25INDHOTEL 131.65 0.9 0.69INDIACEM 93.05 2.55 2.82INDIANB 225.35 -0.55 -0.24INDIGO 1043.2 -5.4 -0.51INDUSINDBK 1513.8 0.45 0.03INFIBEAM 52.55 -0.75 -1.41INFRATEL 255.75 -4.75 -1.82INFY 656.35 2.9 0.44INOXLEISUR 213.95 -8.1 -3.65INOXWIND 84.25 0.05 0.06INTELLECT 243.7 -7.1 -2.83IOB 14.95 0.35 2.4IOC 146.95 1.55 1.07IPCALAB 753.1 6.1 0.82IRB 142.85 4 2.88ISGEC 5452.45 41.55 0.77ITC 274.45 -2 -0.72ITDC 306.35 -0.95 -0.31ITDCEM 112 -2.75 -2.4ITI 89.6 -1.95 -2.13J&KBANK 39.2 -0.45 -1.13JAGRAN 114 1.9 1.69JAICORPLTD 110.1 -5.75 -4.96JAMNAAUTO 71.5 -2.15 -2.92JBCHEPHARM 307 -3.15 -1.02JCHAC 1788 19.25 1.09JETAIRWAYS 320.95 63.2 24.52JINDALSAW 84.75 0.75 0.89JINDALSTEL 181.15 5.15 2.93

ZYDUSWELL 1105.8 -29.45 -2.59KRBL 341.5 3.7 1.1KSCL 513.55 -3.8 -0.73KTKBANK 106.9 0.1 0.09KWALITY 7.69 -0.4 -4.94L&TFH 135.55 1.85 1.38LAKSHVILAS 90.3 0.45 0.5LALPATHLAB 854.15 -1.25 -0.15LAOPALA 233.5 6.9 3.05LAURUSLABS 382.4 10 2.69LAXMIMACH* 5970 -35.6 -0.59LICHSGFIN 466.1 12.15 2.68LINDEINDIA 652.9 6.45 1LT 1397.35 13.4 0.97LTI 1634.9 -33.6 -2.01LTTS 1555 -12.7 -0.81LUPIN 852.6 11.3 1.34LUXIND 1531.8 -5.85 -0.38M&M 765.8 -4.6 -0.6M&MFIN 443.6 10.4 2.4MAGMA 114.1 0.4 0.35MAHABANK 13.69 0.09 0.66MAHINDCIE 265.15 2.55 0.97MAHLIFE 407.4 -3.4 -0.83MANAPPURAM 86.9 1.85 2.18MANPASAND 93.8 -0.75 -0.79MARICO 345.75 -1.95 -0.56MARUTI 7482.85 110.5 1.5MAXINDIA 72.5 -0.15 -0.21MCX 712.9 17.7 2.55MEGH 68.05 1 1.49MFSL 427.5 34.4 8.75MGL 856 14.45 1.72MHRIL 218 -2.1 -0.95MINDACORP 131.6 0.1 0.08MINDAIND 364.2 7.9 2.22MINDTREE 837 -10.4 -1.23MMTC 29.95 -0.65 -2.12MOIL 175.1 0.85 0.49MONSANTO 2545 -3.8 -0.15MOTHERSUMI 143.05 -10.55 -6.87MOTILALOFS 647.7 -4.1 -0.63MPHASIS 949 -5.15 -0.54MRF 65609.15 186.2 0.28MRPL 80.9 -0.9 -1.1MUTHOOTFIN 464.65 2.9 0.63NATCOPHARM 722.7 -0.1 -0.01NATIONALUM 66.6 -0.15 -0.22NAUKRI 1368.6 -1.7 -0.12NAVINFLUOR 666.55 6.15 0.93NAVKARCORP 63.3 1.8 2.93NAVNETEDUL 107.65 -3.15 -2.84NBCC 60.45 -5.1 -7.78NBVENTURES 119.6 1.85 1.57NCC 89.75 2.4 2.75NESTLEIND 10447 61.05 0.59NETWORK18 39.65 -1 -2.46NH 240.05 -8.35 -3.36NHPC 26.05 -1.05 -3.87NIACL 220.85 1.3 0.59NIITTECH 1147.75 2.45 0.21NILKAMAL 1565.35 -15.5 -0.98NLCINDIA 81.55 -0.1 -0.12NMDC 107.1 -0.6 -0.56NOCIL 168.75 -1.95 -1.14NTPC 153.9 -3.4 -2.16OBEROIRLTY 404 7.95 2.01OFSS 3475 25.4 0.74OIL 203.45 0.75 0.37OMAXE 209.8 -0.3 -0.14ONGC 158.9 -1.85 -1.15ORIENTBANK 87.95 2.4 2.81ORIENTCEM 83 -2.25 -2.64PAGEIND 25695.7 -2151.4 -7.73PARAGMILK 241.5 -3.75 -1.53PCJEWELLER 76.15 -10.4 -12.02

PEL 2289.8 1.2 0.05PERSISTENT 537.15 -9.2 -1.68PETRONET 213.35 -2.65 -1.23PFC 107.65 4 3.86PFIZER 2790 -9.75 -0.35PFS 17.25 0.35 2.07PGHH 9470.05 -60.35 -0.63PHILIPCARB 214.95 1.85 0.87PHOENIXLTD 602 1.05 0.17PIDILITIND 1106.2 14.75 1.35PIIND 835.7 4.05 0.49PNB 71.15 0.35 0.49PNBHOUSING 1004.75 20.75 2.11PNCINFRA 145.15 -1.8 -1.22POWERGRID 188.2 2.2 1.18PRESTIGE 177.5 -2.75 -1.53PRSMJOHNSN 87.3 0.45 0.52PTC 81.2 2.55 3.24PVR 1401.7 -14.2 -1QUESS 771.15 3.95 0.51RADICO 438.85 -5.85 -1.32RAIN 167 -1.85 -1.1RAJESHEXPO 559 -2.8 -0.5RALLIS 163.4 -8.05 -4.7RAMCOCEM 624.1 11.45 1.87RATNAMANI 880 10.55 1.21RAYMOND 766.4 1.45 0.19RBLBANK 550 1.7 0.31RCF 60.25 -0.9 -1.47RCOM 13.44 -0.24 -1.75RECLTD 126.15 1.6 1.28REDINGTON 91.5 -1.7 -1.82RELAXO 782.2 -17.95 -2.24RELCAPITAL 250.8 -1.4 -0.56RELIANCE 1096.9 0.8 0.07RELINFRA 351.7 1.05 0.3REPCOHOME 407 0.6 0.15RNAM 171.15 4.75 2.85RNAVAL 13.63 -0.23 -1.66RPOWER 31.1 0.6 1.97SADBHAV 221.8 -2.2 -0.98SAIL 64.65 0.4 0.62SANOFI 6150 50.1 0.82SBILIFE 580 -3 -0.51SBIN 285.3 1.6 0.56SCHAEFFLER 5535 17.8 0.32SCHNEIDER 114.05 4.05 3.68SCI 45.2 -0.95 -2.06SFL 1386 -8 -0.57SHANKARA 894.2 -38.55 -4.13SHARDACROP 312.5 -9.25 -2.87SHILPAMED 374 -5.15 -1.36SHK 191 -0.5 -0.26SHOPERSTOP 498.95 -2.3 -0.46SHREECEM 15888 621.15 4.07SHRIRAMCIT 1610.8 45.05 2.88SIEMENS 932.85 45.25 5.1SIS 802.3 -12.7 -1.56SJVN 27.4 -0.6 -2.14SKFINDIA 1867 9.8 0.53SOBHA 442 -6.35 -1.42SOLARINDS 1000.9 -23.2 -2.27SOMANYCERA 309.75 2.75 0.9SONATSOFTW 335.2 -0.15 -0.04SOUTHBANK 14.74 -0.14 -0.94SPARC 271.6 -3.15 -1.15SPICEJET 82.95 -0.75 -0.9SREINFRA 34.8 -0.5 -1.42SRF 2055.05 9.2 0.45SRTRANSFIN 1260.6 20.65 1.67STARCEMENT 100.25 1.15 1.16STRTECH 363.9 0.6 0.17SUDARSCHEM 371.6 18.3 5.18SUNCLAYLTD 3650 85.35 2.39SUNDRMFAST 532.7 5.4 1.02SUNPHARMA 514.95 -5.4 -1.04

SUNTECK 349 8.3 2.44SUNTV 596.4 -17.45 -2.84SUPPETRO 202.35 -7.7 -3.67SUPRAJIT 218 -2.45 -1.11SUPREMEIND 981 -0.45 -0.05SUVEN 254.65 6.9 2.79SUZLON 5.68 -0.13 -2.24SWANENERGY 101.55 -1.5 -1.46SYMPHONY 971.55 -9.35 -0.95SYNDIBANK 35.15 0.75 2.18SYNGENE 575.3 -3.6 -0.62TAKE 155.6 -3.45 -2.17TATACHEM 691.95 -7.55 -1.08TATACOFFEE 98.55 -0.3 -0.3TATACOMM 514.95 -10.1 -1.92TATAELXSI 997.65 3.45 0.35TATAGLOBAL 221.4 3.45 1.58TATAINVEST 805.05 4.15 0.52TATAMETALI 703 16.65 2.43TATAMOTORS 179.95 3.15 1.78TATAMTRDVR 98.4 1.35 1.39TATAPOWER 76.6 -1.3 -1.67TATASTEEL 588.65 -0.3 -0.05TCS 1865.5 -15.05 -0.8TEAMLEASE 2790 0.25 0.01TECHM 713.5 13.35 1.91TEJASNET 262.1 -1 -0.38TEXRAIL 64.4 -1.1 -1.68THERMAX 1018 -16.25 -1.57THOMASCOOK 225.6 6.65 3.04THYROCARE 551.6 -3.05 -0.55TIFHL 478.3 5.75 1.22TIMETECHNO 114.05 -7.75 -6.36TIMKEN 524.8 8.7 1.69TITAN 921.1 28.9 3.24TNPL 257.05 -6.2 -2.36TORNTPHARM 1672.15 25.3 1.54TORNTPOWER 266.2 0.45 0.17TRENT 332.4 -1.15 -0.34TRIDENT 68.2 -0.45 -0.66TRITURBINE 116.3 3.05 2.69TTKPRESTIG 6750 -123.25 -1.79TV18BRDCST 37 0.5 1.37TVSMOTOR 549.55 -5.3 -0.96TVSSRICHAK 2611 -2.85 -0.11TVTODAY 382.75 10.2 2.74UBL 1311.35 11.2 0.86UCOBANK 19.15 -0.5 -2.54UFLEX 316.55 5.3 1.7UJJIVAN 235.2 17.7 8.14ULTRACEMCO 3895 -23.7 -0.6UNICHEMLAB 211.45 -3.35 -1.56UNIONBANK 81.55 1 1.24UPL 765 5.05 0.66VBL 796.25 3.65 0.46VEDL 207.55 3.35 1.64VENKYS 2263.5 -45.4 -1.97VGUARD 194.85 1.95 1.01VIJAYABANK 42.8 0.4 0.94VINATIORGA 1564.9 55.65 3.69VIPIND 468.95 23.75 5.33VMART 2186.15 -42.5 -1.91VOLTAS 552.8 10.4 1.92VTL 1053 -12.2 -1.15WABAG 289.25 -0.75 -0.26WABCOINDIA 6825 199.85 3.02WELCORP 147.5 5.15 3.62WELSPUNIND 62.5 -0.45 -0.71WHIRLPOOL 1414.7 -13.1 -0.92WIPRO 323.95 -0.75 -0.23WOCKPHARMA 523.2 -5.2 -0.98YESBANK 206 -16.5 -7.42ZEEL 442.45 8.2 1.89ZENSARTECH 237 -10.2 -4.13ZYDUSWELL 1105.8 -29.45 -2.59

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SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10,580.60 10,646.50 10,557.50 10,616.70 40.4ADANIPORTS 334 347.85 330 346.2 14.2TITAN 892.25 924 889 921.55 29.35EICHERMOT 23,400.00 24,041.95 23,291.50 23,920.00 679.9KOTAKBANK 1,139.00 1,166.00 1,132.00 1,161.15 31.25HEROMOTOCO 2,872.00 2,934.90 2,856.20 2,919.70 72.15HINDPETRO 244 250.9 238.6 249 5.3BPCL 315.5 323.45 308.5 322.5 6.55BAJFINANCE 2,287.00 2,348.00 2,285.10 2,339.00 45.05AXISBANK 613.25 632.5 610.75 623.95 11.25TECHM 702 721.9 697.35 713.05 12.8TATAMOTORS 178 182.7 177.5 179.8 3VEDL 205.3 209.65 202.75 207.1 3JSWSTEEL 340 345.9 338.05 343.8 4.2MARUTI 7,378.90 7,515.10 7,333.55 7,459.60 90.55HINDALCO 229.5 234.8 225.3 232.3 2.8LT 1,388.00 1,408.00 1,386.10 1,399.95 15.25ZEEL 438.2 444.6 433.2 440 4.8ICICIBANK 366.1 374.9 362.1 369.75 3.15HDFCBANK 1,961.90 1,977.30 1,931.20 1,973.10 15.35UPL 761.95 769.95 756 766 5.75IOC 146 148.7 142.75 146.35 0.95BAJAJFINSV 5,578.90 5,685.00 5,578.90 5,609.00 31.35HDFC 1,837.00 1,858.00 1,824.20 1,849.00 9.85SBIN 283.85 287.05 281.15 285 1.4DRREDDY 2,456.80 2,497.95 2,449.95 2,460.00 10.75CIPLA 521.9 525 514.45 521.8 2.25INFY 654 666 646.7 655.65 2.45POWERGRID 186 188.5 185.55 186.6 0.65BHARTIARTL 301.3 306.7 298 301.8 0.5INDUSINDBK 1,515.00 1,533.25 1,498.00 1,511.00 -2.55TCS 1,864.00 1,899.00 1,857.60 1,877.00 -3.65M&M 774 775.8 755 767.5 -2.1RELIANCE 1,096.95 1,103.00 1,086.50 1,094.70 -3.25TATASTEEL 590.3 596.9 581.45 587.2 -1.9ASIANPAINT 1,320.00 1,331.85 1,313.40 1,315.95 -4.6ULTRACEMCO 3,927.80 3,933.80 3,830.05 3,903.00 -14.05BAJAJ-AUTO 2,681.00 2,699.00 2,661.10 2,663.55 -12.95ITC 276.85 279.25 273.5 274.4 -2.05SUNPHARMA 522 528 508.1 516.15 -3.95COALINDIA 265.75 266.5 262.1 263.65 -2.1HCLTECH 999.9 1,029.00 981.8 988.65 -8.45HINDUNILVR 1,717.75 1,728.40 1,696.65 1,700.95 -14.55WIPRO 324.15 330.5 321.65 321.7 -2.85GAIL 350.7 354.4 344 347.5 -5.05ONGC 161.4 162 158.1 158.45 -2.55INFRATEL 261.95 261.95 254 254.8 -5.25NTPC 157.95 159.15 153.4 153.55 -3.8IBULHSGFIN 839.95 846.55 784 803 -36.3YESBANK 215 217.95 202.25 205.9 -16.5GRASIM 855 855 795.2 806.1 -70.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27,154.80 27,298.70 26,964.85 27,254.65 105.35BANDHANBNK 430 463.95 430 463.5 29.9SIEMENS 889.75 942 869 935.2 49.4DLF 163.8 171.3 162.4 168.9 6.25SHREECEM 15,389.90 15,950.00 15,100.00 15,864.00 570.5ABCAPITAL 107.4 111.15 107.4 110.6 3.3LICHSGFIN 454.95 469 444.15 467 13.3ACC 1,478.00 1,518.00 1,451.75 1,516.80 42.9AMBUJACEM 211.4 219 208.2 217 5.8CONCOR 665 685 665 685 17.7DABUR 382.5 389.85 375.3 388.6 9.75HAVELLS 672.8 688.5 672 687.1 14.5SRTRANSFIN 1,240.00 1,265.05 1,211.00 1,261.95 22.6LUPIN 841 855 840.2 852.5 12.25COLPAL 1,113.20 1,132.10 1,110.50 1,127.00 15.25BHEL 66.1 67.7 65.1 66.85 0.8BEL 95.7 97.45 94.05 96.7 0.9L&TFH 133.9 136.35 131.85 135.1 1.25PIDILITIND 1,088.70 1,114.00 1,076.95 1,106.55 10.2HINDZINC 262.3 267.7 262.3 267 2.4OFSS 3,440.00 3,501.95 3,439.05 3,480.00 30.25BRITANNIA 5,794.00 5,828.00 5,732.05 5,812.10 41.35SAIL 64.15 65.1 63.55 64.6 0.45GICRE 308.05 313.6 307.65 311.8 2.05GODREJCP 715 725.5 703.3 717 4.25DMART 1,387.00 1,397.00 1,377.50 1,387.00 6.3MRF 65,999.00 66,333.00 65,200.00 65,850.00 304.05BIOCON 625 631.5 620.6 627 2.45PEL 2,280.10 2,305.00 2,262.10 2,295.00 6.05OIL 203.75 205.5 202.1 203.5 0.5ICICIGI 829.95 830 818.6 830 1.85BOSCHLTD 19,280.00 19,393.65 19,080.00 19,221.85 27.05PGHH 9,453.05 9,520.00 9,453.05 9,505.00 7.25ABB 1,295.95 1,314.90 1,285.00 1,287.90 0.25BANKBARODA 112.9 114.45 111.15 112.55 -0.2SBILIFE 584 584 576.55 581.9 -1.1ASHOKLEY 107.5 108.05 105.5 106.25 -0.25NIACL 220.15 222.25 218.45 220 -0.8INDIGO 1,039.00 1,057.90 1,035.60 1,043.40 -5.05MCDOWELL-N 650 653.1 633.05 644 -3.95MARICO 350.5 351.1 340.9 345.6 -2.2AUROPHARMA 782 792.4 776.6 778 -5.1NMDC 107.55 108.5 106.15 107.25 -0.85HDFCLIFE 402.7 402.7 395.15 397.45 -4PETRONET 215 216.55 212.5 213.3 -2.55SUNTV 613.75 618.55 594.75 597 -16.75ICICIPRULI 339 339 325 325.95 -10.65CADILAHC 371.35 371.5 357.95 359.35 -11.85NHPC 26.1 26.45 25.85 26 -1.1MOTHERSUMI 154 156.35 140.8 142.25 -10.9IDEA 40.15 40.5 36.25 37 -4.4

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JETAIRWAYS 24.52ADANITRANS 9.89ALBK 9.03MFSL 8.75BIRLACORPN 8.65

PCJEWELLER -12.02IDEA -11.10GRASIM -7.91NBCC -7.78PAGEIND -7.73

ADANIPORTS 4.28TITAN 3.29EICHERMOT 2.93KOTAKBANK 2.77HEROMOTOCO 2.53

GRASIM -8.02YESBANK -7.42IBULHSGFIN -4.33NTPC -2.41INFRATEL -2.02

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Five Saudi officials face thedeath penalty for the mur-

der of journalist JamalKhashoggi who was dismem-bered inside the kingdom’sIstanbul consulate, but CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salmanwas not involved, the prosecu-tor said on Thursday.

The announcement fol-lows growing international out-cry over the killing ofKhashoggi, a Washington Postcolumnist and critic of theSaudi rulers who was last seenentering the consulate onOctober 2 to obtain paperworkfor his marriage.

Khashoggi died after beingdrugged and then dismem-bered, a spokesman for thepublic prosecutor’s office saidin the first Saudi confirmationof how he was killed.

The journalist’s body partswere then handed over to anagent outside the consulategrounds, the spokesman said.

He denied PrinceMohammed had any knowl-edge of the murder.

The deputy chief of SaudiArabia’s intelligence, General

Ahmed al-Assiri, gave theorder to repatriate Khashoggi— and “the head of the nego-tiating team” that flew to theIstanbul consulate had orderedhis murder, the spokesmansaid.

After repeated denials,Saudi Arabia finally admittedin mid-October that Khashoggihad been murdered at thecompound, but blamed it on a“rogue” operation.

The prosecutor hasrequested the death penalty forthe five who “are charged withordering and committing thecrime and for the appropriatesentences for the other indict-ed individuals,” an officialstatement published by statenews agency SPA said.

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Turkey on Thursday saidthe Saudi statement over

the murder of journalist JamalKhashoggi was “insufficient”and insisted that the killing was“premeditated.”

“We find all those stepspositive but insufficient,”Foreign Minister MevlutCavusoglu said in a televisedspeech.

His comments came short-ly after Saudi Arabia admittedthat 59-year-old Khashoggiwas drugged and dismemberedinside the kingdom’s Istanbulconsulate last month.

Riyadh’s public prosecutorsaid the journalist’s body partswere then handed over to anagent outside the consulategrounds and that five Saudiofficials were facing the deathpenalty over the murder.

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Sri Lankan lawmakers onThursday exchanged blows

and threw objects at each other,leaving at least one of thembleeding, as MPs loyal toPresident Maithripala Sirisenasurrounded the Speaker in hischair after Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa, who losta floor test, demanded freshelections to resolve the ragingpolitical turmoil.

Trouble erupted whenSpeaker Karu Jayasuriya agreedto a request from ousted pre-mier Ranil Wickremesinghe’sUnited National Party (UNP)that a vote be taken on a state-ment made by Rajapaksademanding fresh polls.

Jayasuriya had allowedRajapaksa to make a statementas a member of parliamentafter stating that he does notrecognise the claim of the SriLanka Freedom Party (SLFP)leader who lost a no-confidencemotion on Wednesday.

“I was the president andpremier, so this PrimeMinister’s post is not impor-tant,” Rajapaksa said.

“I urge all 225 members tojoin me in calling for a fresh elec-tion. We want a general election,”he said, adding that a fresh elec-tion was the best way to resolvethe crisis. UNP legislatorLakshman Kiriella urgedJayasuriya to take a vote byname, showing the loss of con-fidence over Rajapaksa’s remarks.

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China said on Thursday that15 foreign ambassadors

exceeded their diplomatic rolesby issuing a letter expressingconcern about the incarcera-tion of hundreds of thousandsof members of the country’sMuslim minorities in re-edu-cation camps.

Foreign Ministry spokes-woman Hua Chunying toldreporters at a daily briefing thatit would be “problematic” if thediplomats were attempting toput pressure on local authori-ties in the northwestern regionof Xinjiang, where the deten-tions have taken place.

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Astronomers have discov-ered a frozen ‘super Earth’

orbiting the closest solitarystar to the Sun, a breakthroughthat could shine light on ourplanet’s nearest planetaryneighbours.

The potentially rocky plan-et, known as Barnard’s star b,is a ‘super-Earth’ and orbitsaround its host star once every233 days, said researchers fromQueen Mary University ofLondon in the UK.

The findings, published inthe journal Nature, show theplanet lies at a distant regionfrom the star known as the‘snow line’.

This is well beyond thehabitable zone in which liquidwater, and possibly life, couldexist, researchers said. Theplanet’s surface temperature isestimated to be around minus170 degrees Celsius, meaningit is likely to be a frozen worldwhich is uninviting to Earth-like life, they said. However, ifthe planet has a substantialatmosphere the temperaturecould be higher and conditionspotentially more hospitable.

“Barnard’s star is an infa-mous object amongastronomers and exoplanet sci-entists, as it was one of the firststars where planets were ini-tially claimed but later provento be incorrect.

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Embattled British PrimeMinister Theresa May's

leadership was in jeopardy andfaced a possible vote of no con-fidence after Brexit SecretaryDominic Raab, Indian-originminister Shailesh Vara and twoother ministers resignedThursday from her dividedCabinet over UK's "half-baked"divorce deal with the EuropeanUnion.

Minutes after Vara steppeddown as Northern Ireland min-

ister, Prime Minister May washit by a bigger blow as herBrexit Secretary Dominic Raabresigned from the Cabinet say-ing he "cannot in good con-science" support the draft of the

withdrawal agreement with the28-member bloc.

Hours after a spate of res-ignations, prominent BrexiteerJacob Rees-Mogg directly chal-lenged May in the House ofCommons. He later submitteda letter of no confidence in herleadership of the ConservativeParty.

Vara, Conservative PartyMP for North-WestCambridgeshire, who has beena minister in the NorthernIreland Office since January,said,

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Last week there was a horrendous acci-dent in Delhi where an allegedly

drunk driver hit the kerb, crossed themedian and smashed into another car,killing one and grievously injuringanother. Now, while the blame for thisaccident, prima facie should lie with thedriver who smashed through the kerb,especially if the allegations of beingdrunk are true, there is another factor inplay over here. That is the poor designof the road median in India. The fact thatIndian city planners feel that a one-footkerb is enough to stop a speedingmotorcycle let alone a car is one that iswrong. Far from stopping the vehicles,the kerb design makes most accidentsworse by often launching the vehicle intooncoming traffic at a height.

Whenever one travels to the devel-oped world, you see the pavements onthe side of the road are at short heights.And on the median, even if it has treesor other beautification, there is thestandard metal barrier protecting vehi-cles from going over into the other lane,in most cases by absorbing the energyof the impact. In India, roads are poor-ly designed, often by the whims of localpoliticians. While the construction ofIndian highways has improved marked-ly in the past few years, a recent studysaid that a large chunk of the Delhi-Jaipurhighway, one of India’s best, was unsafe.But newly-constructed roads despite

their flaws are better than older ones. TheEastern Peripheral Expressway aroundDelhi had gaps in barriers and slow-mov-ing traffic but after access control thingshave improved.

Construction does not mean thatduring construction things improve,often they get worse The state of theDelhi-Panipat highway currently underconstruction is downright dangerous.And even in cities like Delhi, poor plan-ning and the desperate need for jugaadsolutions have made road constructionsites dangerous. The stretch under RTRFlyover on Outer Ring Road, itself thebest example of poor planning, is oftenclosed at night with traffic diverted ontothe oncoming lane with no lights, warn-ing or traffic dividers. Not even plasticones. And this is a stretch where heavycommercial vehicles regularly operate atnight. Accidents and deaths areinevitable.

It is mighty easy to blame the dri-ver in cases like that. And shoddypolice work condemns the drivers to be“inebriated” even if they’re not. The lackof proper metal barriers and dividers andthe absence even of low-cost solutionslike wire-barriers have made thingsquite difficult for the Indian drivermaking them take the blame in instancesthat they should not. It is high time thatauthorities realised that roads share analarmingly high proportion of the blame.

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At a time when food seems to dominate our feedsas a lifestyle imagery, a Korean show has combined

a pop-up idea with a live act to birth a new mediumof entertainment. Cookin’ Nanta, a non-verbal come-dy from Korea that makes use of kitchen tools as musi-cal instruments, sort of like stomping with knives, hadthe city in thrall recently. So it was a story of cooks whohave to cram for a big wedding after their mean man-ager (Yohan Hwang) asks them to prepare a grand ban-quet at a few hours notice. To add to the frenzy, themanager’s mischievous nephew (Junghwan Hyun) joinsthe kitchen to learn how to cook, thereby messing upeveryone’s synchronisation. They chop together, strik-ing the cutting boards with knives and use salt shak-ers as maracas to produce rhythmic and percussivesounds.

The result is an interactive and entertaining fam-ily show. Explains Changhwan Ko, who played the headchef, “The show is full of acrobatics, magic tricks andcomedy. That is why it’s fun to watch. Nanta means tostrike relentlessly, which connects to the story of theperformance, where cheerful rhythms combine themodern beats and Korean folk music (samul nori).”

As the show has been running for more than 20years, its overbearing manager says, “The original storyand episodes still continue to this day. But over the yearswe have incorporated several slight changes on direct-ing. We have opted for the non-verbal format so thatit is easily understood by the contemporary audienceand enjoyed by the people of any age group.”

Asked how a non-verbal play was written, read andcomprehended, he told us, “The non-verbal play is writ-ten as usual plays or musical performances. But we thenconvert them according to the ease of emotional expres-sions since they don’t have lines. In order to present acharacter’s emotions through multiple expressions andmovements, the acting is mostly physical and exagger-ated. This brings in a comic element. The audience caneasily understand, relate themselves to the situation-al context and enjoy the performance in that way.”

The artists start practicing at least six months beforewith drums, knives, fire and pots before presenting achoreographed flow. Practice is the only key to suc-cess. The perfection in rhythm and synchronisationis the result of their hard work. The show has been run-ning in South Korea since 1997 and has toured in over314 cities of 28 countries across the globe. It even hada year-long run in Broadway, a prestigious claim foran Asian production with no dialogue.

It wasn’t that Indians weren’taware of Lake Como in Italy.But what Isha Ambani’s

engagement and Ranveer-Deepika’s wedding at villas therehave done is to make it the nextaspirational benchmark on oursocial calendar.

“After Ranveer and Deepika’swedding, Indians are discoveringLake Como in Italy as a ceremo-nial destination. The place wasalready quite popular among eliteIndians and this wedding will giveit a fillip. As November marks theend of the season at Lake Como,we are already receiving inquiriesfor the fresh season starting fromMarch 2019 and also for the wed-dings and engagements in 2020-21. Going by the trend, the placewill soon become a favourite for

weddings, unions and vacationswith the unique spectacular villasand historical hotels, sophisticat-ed atmosphere, delicious foodoptions and proximity to interna-tional airports,” says Karan Anand,Head, Relationships, Cox & Kings.

The interest in Italy as anevent destination has been gath-ering pace, especially after thewedding of cricketer Virat Kohliand actor Anushka Sharma inTuscany last year. As ManmeetAhluwalia, Marketing Head,Brand Expedia, enunciates, “Italyhas been a popular destinationamong Indian travellers and con-tinues to attract them with tempt-ing food, awesome architecture,diverse scenery and amazing art.The privacy of its mansions andvillas has made it a preferred des-

tination for honeymooners andpeople travelling with their fam-ily and friends from India. Wehave also seen a year-on-yearincrease of 35-40 per cent inbookings from India. Destinationslike Rome, Venice, Florence,Naples and Milan have tradition-ally been popular among trav-ellers. However, celebrities choos-ing Tuscany, Lake Como, LakeIseo and Amalfi Coast as theirwedding destinations are alsolikely to increase the tourist foot-fall in these destinations in thefuture.”

Of all destinations, LakeComo has acquired exclusivity byvirtue of its history, cultural soireesand more recently as a holidayhideaway of Hollywood biggieslike George Clooney and RobertDe Niro. And then there were theBond films with wide anglesequences choreographed on thelake with azure waters that isfringed by woods of the thickestgreen, fairytale castles, rollingestates and the sun-kissed hills.Once the retreat of the Milanesearistocracy, famous artistes,philosophers, scientists and writ-ers made it their home away fromtheir homes in the city. TheRomantic poets sought inspirationand revival in its salubrious climes. English poet PBShelley, who lived by Lake Comofor many months while attempt-ing recovery from consumption,then described it as the “mostbeautiful lake I have ever seen.”American novelist Mark Twaincalled it a “heaven of quiet rest.”

The landscape, the tranquili-ty, the connection to heritage andthe natural elegance continue inboutique properties and water-front homes, which have drawnsolace-seeking Hollywood celebri-ties. And it is this little cul de sacof medieval repose with wisteriawraps that has made Lake Comoa glamorous destination. Theestate owners have only uppedexpectations by customising com-forts, services, boat rides and even arranging spectacles. From May to October,the estates see a wedding everyweekend — English, American,Russian and Indian among them— and command a steep locationfee. Ranveer and Deepika report-edly spent �1 crore for their fourday jamboree on security and �4crore on private yacht services.

It is one thing to read about Shivajiin a comic strip and visualise him

within laid down references and con-texts. But when a storyteller describesthe valour of the Maratha warrior andthe way his sword cut through theenemies like lightning, you embed apicture of him in your mind forever.That’s why folk ballads likeMaharashtra’s Powada can popu-larise history and weave fantasy fromour mythic traditions.

While the stories have been toldover the years, it is only now that thecontent is being re-interpreted by afresh breed of storytellers who havestiff competition from digital contentand are trying their best to wean awayan audience that hardly has any timeto look up from their phone evenwhile they are eating. Kathakaar,India’s only oral storytelling festival,which involves raconteurs from allover the world, has been plodding onfor the past eight years and its latestedition is being held at the IndiraGandhi Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)from November 16-18. The three-dayevent, organised by IGNCA in collab-oration with Nivesh, will witnessimmersive storytelling sessionsfocussing on India’s rare art forms aswell as native tales from Africa, theUK, Greece, Poland, Russia and Iran.

Shaguna Gahilote, festival co-director, says, “At a time when evenadults find it difficult to leave theirphone, we ask the parents to bringtheir children minus the phone in theevening session. Once the storytellerstarts telling a tale, you should see theexpressions on their faces. Both chil-dren and adults are so involved. Theconnection that you make with peo-ple, if you can tell a story well, is amaz-ing. They are looking at the performerbut they are lost as they are visualis-ing the story. It is playing on theirimagination and they are building onit. If you start storytelling in school,you build on communication andimprove it.”

Interestingly, the festival over theyears has seen the audience span fromages eight to 80. And Shaguna saysthat in the long run this would ulti-mately revive and encourage readinghabits among children. “We startedthe festival in 2010 around the sametime as the Right to Education wasintroduced where in every annexureit was mentioned that all schoolsshould have a library with books andnewspapers. As part of UNESCO, wehad been building libraries in under-privileged schools but not all childrenwould run up and grab the books.Some would, out of curiosity butwould not read them. Someone hadto read out the books to them to make

it interesting.” It was this realisationthat led to a lot of brain-stormingwhere she realised that there was nowritten word at one point of time. “Weheard so many stories that were real-ly ancient. These were oral stories thatare told all over the world whether itis Russia, Africa or Europe,” sheadds.

So along with her sister, shedecided to get on board people whocould tell stories well. “Of course, weneeded very good storytellers to getthe audience involved. And then youcould tell them that if you want to findthe story again, you can read it in thatbook. We knew that children are morelikely to go back to books in this man-ner rather than when they are pres-surised to do so. A book becomesalmost like a box where they can pullout these stories. It is getting childrento read and if they read well, they willdo maths and science better and whenthat happens, they are more likely tostay in school. It is a full circle and sto-rytelling is at the beginning of it,” saysShaguna.

However, while initially the storytellers’ festival started with the aim topreserve the old folk tales, somewherealong the line it also became a cele-bration of storytelling. “There are so

many varied formats and forms inIndia. There is drama and perfor-mance. This gives the Indian story-tellers an equal platform with theinternational ones as well. It alsoboosts their confidence as there is anewer audience coming in. Moreover,the next generation is more likely topick it up and take storytelling fur-ther,” says she.

When the Gahilote sisters startedout, it was initially difficult to get audi-ence even though parents are alwayslooking for activities to do with chil-dren. “We started with an audience of250 people. It has grown slowly overeight years by word-of-mouth public-ity and now we see footfalls of up to10,000 plus for three days,” she says.

Getting the right people to tell thestories lies at the heart of the festival.“We are looking at brilliant perform-ers. A lot of people tell you or writeto you saying that they do storytelling,including publishers, who say that mywriter also has that skill. But oftenthey are just reading from a book. sto-rytelling is no less a performance art.It is a stand-up, theatre, singing, play-ing a musical instrument all rolledinto one to hold the audience,” shesays.

Variety is of the essence. “We look

for different stories that have not beentold. Sometimes we get storytellerswho tell Indian tales that are an adap-tation. We get puppeteers from Keralaand also the Pandhwanis.” One of thehighlights of the festival will includeSadhguru, founder of IshaFoundation, turning into a storytellerduring a session with singer-song-writer and musician Mohit Chauhanwho is also the patron of the festival.

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and actorPankaj Tripathi will share theirfavourite tales and journey into theworld of films and storytelling. Notedtheatre artist Danish Hussain will pre-sent an adaptation of Qissa Urdu KiAakhri Kitaab Ka, originally writtenby Pakistani poet Ibn-e-Insha.Shaguna herself will dramatise thestory of Mahatma Gandhi to mark150 years of the Indian independenceleader’s birth anniversary.International storytellers includeGodfrey Duncan, the man behind thestorytelling revival in UK, MichalMalinowski, who has helped keep theart alive in Poland and XantheGresham, an Oxford University alum-nus. They will narrate tales fromAfrica, Iran, Poland, Greece andIndia. Indian storytellers include thePhad storytellers from Rajasthan,Pandavani by the powerhouse RituVerma and more.

However, the festival tries tobreak out of the mould of the “moralof the story”. As Shaguna says, “Goodfolk tales or Panchatantra storieshave social messaging in the end. Butwhen every thing has a message, noone will like it. There are hidden mes-sages and the audience is intelligentenough to decode it.”

So while relating a popular talefrom England about a boy who goesshopping alone as his mother isunwell, Shaguna does not state theunderlying message. “While select-ing a pup, he picks a three-legged oneand when the salesperson says that it’suseless, he raises his trouser to reveala wooden leg. He says that he wouldunderstand the pup better. There isempathy involved but I never use theword. I do not have to ingrain it.”

Of course, the storytelling forchildren and adults is a bit different.“Sometimes completely different talesare told in the evening. If there is anentirely adult audience, you can evendo a very sensuous telling of the storywhich is never done in the morningsession. Or maybe the same tale is toldto both while obliterating gory detailsfor children. Vikram Betal is a niceeasy tale for a child but may be whentelling it to an adult, it can be relat-ed how he bled to death or how hewas killed,” she says.

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The sitar played throughout the night at theIndus Express in Taj Vivanta Dwarka while

I gorged on some authentic Kashmiri cuisine.In wazwan, a traditional Kashmiri platter with36 dishes, it is the goshtaba that usually is thecentrepiece but this evening it was the Roganjoshthat stole the show. The chicken was wiped cleanoff the bone by those sitting at the table. Thefirst time that I had a goshtaba was in 2016, froma tin can that I bought at a general store inJammu. It was no DIY goshtaba but the entirecooked dish in a can. The freshness was ques-tionable but that was my first tryst with the cui-sine of Kashmir. The sour taste of the curd basedgravy was miles apart from the Lucknawi andDelhi food that I had eaten thus far.

Along the way, I have eaten mutton kebabsand rogan josh at a Kashmiri friend’s house butnothing quite as exquisite as the one that ChefSewa Singh from Vivanta Dal View, Srinagar hadprepared.

The mutton seekh, butt haakh saag, rajma,rogan josh and goshtaba along with a flavouredGucchi pulao and missi roti from the wazwanmade me feel that I was at a wedding in Kashmir.

The evening began with saffron milk whichwas followed by a lightly flavoured lamb and avegetable shorba. For the lamb, he used stockmade with lamb bones and for the vegetable onea vegetable-based stock with the same spiceswere used. It made sure that the original flavourof the ingredients remain intact while they mixit with subtle spices.

In comparison, the Dilli ka khana andLucknawi food at The Imperial, which is alsodoing a food festival much like Taj VivantaDwarka, brought out stronger flavours. TheKashmiri food had a light spice paletteand the Delhi and Lucknowkebabs and qorma weremore accented in com-parison.

“Dilli food repre-sents the confluenceof many cultures andthe flavours are moredominating andinspired by the cuisineof neighbouring regions,whereas, Lucknawi food issteeped in tradition and the recipesare passed down from generations. They con-verge in terms of spices and traditions whichhave been carried through the years,” said thechefs, Ved Prakash and Mirza Munnawar Baig.

At the Imperial, there were multiple kebabsmade in the Awadhi style, like Dahi ke kebabas well as Chakundar aur ramdana ki tikki, abeetroot and quinoa pattie shallow fried whichstole the show. The non-vegetarian options likethe Kakori kebab and the Sufiyan Murgh kiashrafiyan melted in the mouth as did the Dilli6 ka mutton qorma. The qorma, which is lambsimmered in its own juices with yoghurt andspices, was enough to transport one to the 19thcentury Delhi darbar. Chef Ved proudly said thatDilli 6 is the origin point of the capital’s cuisineas the newer part of the city is too heterogenousto have a food identity and culture.

Mirza added that the Lucknawi chickenbiryani is an aromatic and mouth watering dishwith succulent chicken in layers of fluffy rice,fragrant spices and caramelised onions. It hasbeen an integral part of the Indian Mughlai culi-

nary tradition and the chef tried his best toretain the authentic taste.

It should include browned onions, cilantro,yogurt, saffron and more, said Chef Mirza. “Ifyou take a fistful of good biryani and throw iton a plate, the rice should scatter as fluffy grainsand not clump together. The meat or chickenshould be well done, moist with thick juices andtraditionally with bone which is unlike theIndian pulao which is prepared with all theingredients together in one dish along with theadded liquids. Therefore, the mouthfeel andtaste are expected to be quite different,” said ChefMirza.

Chef Prakash and Mirza of Lucknow,ended the afternoon soiree with a cook out dur-ing which the former made fresh Shahi tukda’s,a famed dessert from Old Delhi. Triangular cutbread was first fried and then immersed in

chashni to be dressed in khoya and dryfruits. The resultant product

was a hot and succulentpiece of bread that is a

delight for sweet lovers.In comparison, thechef from Lucknow,Mirza, had no dessertto offer.

At Vivanta, Singhoffered three — a phirni,

a fig ice cream and ahalwa — each appealing to

different kind of dessert lovers. Ifyou want a mildly sweet end to the meal, optfor the phirni which was decorated with saffronbut if you want a rich explosion of taste in yourmouth go for the halwa. And the fig ice creamhas a fresh and captivating taste that will leaveyou asking for more. Like a hospitable host, wewere topped up with kahwa, a lightly flavouredtea with saffron and dry fruits. The Taj Vivantais offering The Valley Beckons menu tillNovember 25 during dinner while The Clashof The Titans at Daniell’s tavern at The Imperialwill begin on November 17 and go on till the24.

Why choose the onset of winter for a festi-val like this? The chefs said that this is the per-fect time to enjoy Lucknowi and Dilli food becauseof the spice levels in the food keeps us warm inthis season. It is also quite nutritious because ofthe bone stock used in the meat dishes.

And the reason why The Imperial chose toput the two cousin cuisines together was to makesure that people can identify certain dishes with-in a particular cuisine as they have the same roots.

Fueled with passion and skill, ChefGarima Arora, who started herown restaurant GAA in Bangkok,

a dinner-only fine dining restaurantserving world cuisine, has become thefirst Indian woman to receive a Michelinstar.

The coveted recognition in theculinary world came as a surprise to heron October 30. And more than twoweeks down the line, it is yet to sink in.

Garima’s story is a classic tale ofwhat resilience and willingness to tra-verse boundaries for dreams can lead to.She was in her early twenties and freshout of journalism school, when shedecided that if she wanted to pursue herdream of becoming a chef it made senseto start early since the professionrequires long hours and physicalstrength. Between mid-2000s to now,she’s covered the entire arc from study-ing at Le Cordon Bleu to working inGordon Ramsay’s kitchen to starting herown restaurant after a few months atChef Gaggan Anand’s restaurant Gagganin Bangkok.

And this is just on the professionalfront. On the personal, she also navigatesthe challenge of a long-distance marriageas her husband works and lives inMumbai while she’s in Bangkok. No onecan dispute that her dreams are madeof hard work and sacrifices. “My dad hasalways been a huge influence in my life.From him, I learnt that cooking wasactually fun. As a youngster I spent a lotof time with him in the kitchen and Ithink that stayed with me,” she said.

But cooking in Paris at Le CordonBleu gave her a worldview that a homekitchen obviously did not provide.“Leaving India you have so many thingsdifferent. Just in terms of ingredients,flavour combination that we don’t have,that was something innovative for me.I studied classic French food and thatgives you a very different perspective oncooking,” she said.

When asked what the name of herrestaurant meant, she replied like a proudmama that it was derived from her name.Opening a restaurant in Bangkok wasunplanned in a way, she said. She wasoffered a job at the Gaggan Anand groupand after a few months their investorsasked if she would want to open her ownrestaurant. “It was by chance that Imoved here. I was supposed to go toIndia but I am happy here which is whyI stayed back,” she said. A truly globalindividual, her life has taken her acrossthe world and back.

Her restaurant serves two menus,the vegetarian one with 10 items and thenon-vegetarian one with 14. “The ideais to find and explore the connectionbetween India and Thailand throughflavours and techniques. The smallermeal lasts about two hours and the longone lasts for around 2.5 hours,” she said.The evening begins with smaller dish-es and then goes on to the main ones.“We look for unique ingredients. Wework with the indigenous parts ofThailand and the North Eastern part ofIndia, that is our primary concentration.So many ingredients get lost because

nobody knows how to use them. We liketo give the guest from any city flavoursthat they have never tasted before.During the meal it is possible that youare eating ingredients or flavour com-binations for the very first time in yourlife. This is our signature. We do a straw-berry and caviar dish mixed with a herblike lemon and pudina (mint) that isfound only in the northern part ofThailand. The guests are alwaysextremely surprised by the combinationbut it is one of our hot-selling dishes,”she said. They also have a large collec-tion of wines and as the meal progress-es so does the wine pairing with thefood. When asked if she thought of herrestaurant as a follower of the school ofthought of slow food, she said that whileshe wasn’t sure about categorising it, hermenu definitely made for thoughtful anddeliberate eating.

After the #MeToo movement inHollywood, multiple stories from thehospitality sector in the West havecome to the fore. When asked aboutpolicies at her restaurant, Chef Garimasaid that they were very strict aboutworkplace safety. Staff members areencouraged to report incidents of harass-ment by peers or guests that take placeright away. “I take this very seriously.Any sort of misbehaviour within thestaff or even from the guest towards mystaff, is never accepted. And my staff hasclear instructions that the minute it hap-pens, they should let us know so thatwe can take immediate action. Wedon’t wait,” she said, adding that 50 percent or more of her staff are women.

She believes that women need tostop pulling each other down and thenthey can help each other up. “If we don’tsupport each other and don’t pave theway for the next generation what’s thepoint of it all,” she said.

Did she face any harassmentbecause of her ethnicity or gender? Shedoesn’t deny facing difficulties but saidthat she doesn’t know if her gender orbeing brown had anything to do with it.“I have worked with amazing chefs whohave been particular about protectingtheir staff and taking care of them. I havenot directly had any bad experiences butthat’s not to say it doesn’t happen,” shesaid.

The chef, who has two homes —one in Mumbai and one in Bangkok —understood what made the latter city, aswell as that part of the world, so specialwhile working there. She says that thewarm hospitality and the friendships shehas built have left a beautiful mark onher. Her biggest takeaway from Ramsay’skitchen was humility and learning tokeep her head down and working,which is what you need to do in thebeginning of your career, she believes.“Sometimes youngsters don’t under-stand that you have to put in the hoursand go through the grind,” she said.

In an industry where there are noholidays and you’re cooking when oth-ers are partying, there is no way to sur-vive it if you think of it as drudgery. “Ifyou come into work and look at theclock to see when you’re going to gethome you won’t last a month. It’s justsomething you do and it’s not just work,”she said.

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Atough road awaits veteran L Sarita Devi and rookieManisha Moun as they open India's campaign at the

AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships here onFriday.

The 36-year-old Sarita, who got a first round bye in60kg category, faces Diana Sandra Brugger of Swizerlandin the second round.

Brugger had defeated Huswatun Hasanah ofIndonesia in the first round as the 10th edition of thechampionships began at the K D Jhadav Stadium hereon Thursday.

Sarita, who won a Gold in the 2006 edition held here,has come into the tournament after winning a bronze eachin the India Open and Silesian Women's Boxing cham-pionship in Gliwice, Polandthis year. Her opponentBrugger, on the other hand,does not have a formi-dable reputation.

But, it will not be aneasy outing for theManipuri as her oppo-nent has been an expe-rienced campaigner havingtaken part in WorldChampionships since 2008.

Sarita, seeded fourth inthe tournament, would besearching for her secondGold at home but to do thatshe will have to beat the likesof defending world champi-on Yang Wenlu of China andRio Olympics Bronze medal-list Anastasia Beliakova ofRussia.

On the other hand, the20-year old Manisha (54kg)faces 2016 World Championships Bronze medallistChristina Cruz of the United States in her first round bout.

Cruz is also a Bronze medallist at the 2012 WorldChampionships but Manisha was not perturbed by heropponent's reputation.

Manisha won a Silver in the Senior Nationals and aGold in the India Open this year. She also won a Silverin the Silesian Women's Boxing championship in Polandwhere she defeated reigning world champion DinaZholaman of Kazakhstan.

India's 69kg contestant Lovlina Borgohain also facesa tough opponent in her first bout on November 18.

Borgahain, who got a first round bye, will either face2014 World Championships Gold medallist AtheynaBylon of Panama or Yulia Stoiko of Ukraine.

� ��� 351'51

Dominic Thiem still has achance to reach the semifinals

at the ATP Finals after beating KeiNishikori 6-1, 6-4 Thursday.

Thiem, who lost both of his pre-vious matches at the season-endingtournament, needed to win instraight sets to have any chanceof advancing.

Six-time champion RogerFederer, however,needs only to winone set in the latematch against KevinAnderson toadvance alongsidethe South African. IfAnderson wins instraight sets, second place will bedecided by who has won a high-er percentage of games.

Thiem broke twice in thefirst set against Nishikori, whowon only one game in his pre-vious match againstAnderson.

Earlier on Wednesdaylate night, Marin Cilic keepshis hope alive of makinginto the semifinals of sea-son ending ATP Finalsafter former US Openchamp Croat beat JohnIsner 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 in ednes-day's sec-ond match.

The Croatianfifth seed had lost nine of his previ-ous 10 matches at the Finals, and he

looked in danger ofanother letdown

when he droppedthe first setagainst Isner.

But Cilic,whose only

other Finalsv i c t o r yc a m eagainst Kei

Nishikori in2016, had

other ideas as heroared back totake the finaltwo sets.

"I started tofeel the ball real-ly well in the sec-

ond set. I wasplaying great ten-

nis towards theend," Cilic said.

Cilic's revivalkeeps him in witha chance of qual-ifying for thes e m i - f i n a l s ,while Americaneighth seedIsner still hasan outsidechance ofa d v a n c i n gdespite losinghis first two

matches.

���� 1�2'�34"

Mid-fielder Jackichand Singhand left back Nishu Kumar

were were on Thursday includ-ed in India's 22-member squadfor the forthcoming away inter-national FIFA friendly againstJordan slated to be held onNovember 17.

Nishu and Jackichand werethe only two changes Nationalcoach Stephen Constantine madein his squad from the team thatplayed a goal-less draw againstChina in the last internationalfriendly in October.

Constantine emphasised thatthe forthcoming friendly againstJordan will "aid India's prepara-tion" for the 2019 AFC AsianCup in UAE.

"We want to do well in AFCAsian Cup and the clash againstJordan will aid us. Jordan are agood side and they have a num-ber of good players in theirranks," he said.

Jordan, who are ranked 112in the latest FIFA rankings, lost1-2 to FIFA World Cup 2018finalists Croatia in their lastfriendly fixture.

Winger Halicharan Narzary,who has been a pivotal memberof the Indian team said the teamwill definitely miss star strikerSunil Chhetri, who has beenruled out for the tie because of anankle injury.

"Undoubtedly, we are goingto miss Sunil bhai but we can't

just sit back and cry over it. We'lltry our level best to churn out apositive result in Amman," hesaid.

"The match against Chinawas massive for us. Jordan won'tbe anything lesser, if not bigger.We have to keep our heads downand keep working to get some-thing positive out of this tie."

%���Goalkeepers: Gurpreet SinghSandhu, Amrinder Singh.Defenders: Pritam Kotal, NishuKumar, Sandesh Jhingan, AnasEdathodika, Salam RanjanSingh, Subhasish Bose, NarayanDas, Jerry Lalrinzuala.Mid-fielders: Udanta Singh,Jackichand Singh, PronayHalder, Anirudh Thapa, VinitRai, Germanpreet Singh,Halicharan Narzary, AshiqueKuruniyan.Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua,Sumeet Passi, Balwant Singh,Manvir Singh.

���� �46��1��2�8

India's hockey captain Manpreet Singhsaid his team is focused on toping its

pool and make the quarterfinals of themen's World Cup starting here onNovember 28.

With less than two weeks to go forthe prestigious World Cup which willwitness 16 top teams battle for suprema-cy at the iconic Kalinga Stadium, Indiaare busy making final preparations totheir campaign.

"There is no doubt we want to winevery match in the Pool Stage, earn thethree points from each match, and topthe Pool to make the Quarter Final. Thatis our first hurdle," said Manpreet.

"It's the World Cup and every teamwill come with an intention of winningand we do not want to take any teamlightly, be it South Africa, Canada orWorld No 3 Belgium."

Grouped in Pool C, India will faceSouth Africa on November 28, beforetaking on Belgium on December 2 fol-lowed by their last group match againstCanada on December 8.

While the Indian team has not facedSouth Africa in a major tournament inover two years, Manpreet said that a winin their first match will set them on theright course.

"Though we haven't played them inany major tournament, we played apractice match against South Africa dur-ing the Gold Coast CommonwealthGames. That match gave us an idea ofhow they play," he said.

"Though we won we don't want to

go by the past result. We play them inour first match and it's always good toget off to a winning start in any tour-nament," added the 26-year-old Captain.

While India have defeated Belgiumrecently at FIH Champions Trophy inBreda and last year's Hockey WorldLeague Final, Canada have posed Indiasome serious threat in their past cam-paigns at major InternationalTournaments.

The team had drawn 2-2 againstCanada in the round robin league at theRio Olympics and in the 2017 HockeyWorld League Semi Final in London,India had lost 3-2 in the 5th-6th placeplay-off to Canada.

"It was a forgettable outing for us butI believe we have improved as a teamin the past two years and we have learntfrom every tournament. If we play ourbest hockey, who we are playing shouldnot matter," he said.

"Even against Belgium, if we are ableto score early then the pressure will beon them. For now, our team is focusedon winning the three points from eachmatch in Pool C."

���� #523551

Olympic medallist shuttler PVSindhu suffered an unexpect-ed loss in the second round but

Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Vermaadvanced to the quarterfinals to keepIndia's flag flying at the Hong KongOpen World Tour Super 500 tourna-ment here on Thursday.

World No 4 Sindhu, who wasseeded third here, was shown the doorby Hyun Ji Sung of Korea 24-26, 20-22 in fighting 59 minute duel.

With Sindhu's exit, India's chal-lenge ended in the women's singlesafter Saina Nehwal had made a firstround exit.

But India's men's singles shuttlershad a good day in office with Srikanthand Sameer progressing to the lasteight round, albeit with contrastingresults.

Fourth seeded Srikanth, who hadclaimed a Silver medal at this year'sCommonwealth Games, had to digdeep in his reservoir to outwit fellowIndian H S Prannoy 18-21, 30-29, 21-18 in a thrilling match, clocking anhour and seven minutes.

Srikanth will now face Japan'sKenta Nishimoto in the last eightmatch.

Sameer, however, qualified forthe quarterfinals after his formidableopponent, Olympic champion ChenLong pulled out of the competitiondue to injury. He will face local hopeLee Cheuk Yiu on Friday.

Sindhu’s loss, however, was amajor upset despite not being a one-sided affair. The Indian had recoveredfrom 13-18 down in the first game tomake it 19-19, before the two playerstraded points till 24-24. Sung eventu-ally won two straight points after thatto take the lead in the match.

In the second game again, Sindhufought back from 15-19 to make it 20-20 but could not force the match to gointo a decider, as Sung wrapped it up22-20.

However, mixed doubles pairing of

���� 1�2'�34"

Double Olympic medallist wrestler SushilKumar and India's first Asian Games

Gold medallist heptathlete Swapna Barman wereon Thursday dropped from the latest TargetOlympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) which wasrevised keeping in mind the 2020 TokyoOlympics.

Sushil, who won Bronze and Silver medalsrespectively in 2008 Beijing and 2012 LondonOlympics in 66kg freestyle category, crashed outin his first qualification bout at this year's JakartaAsian Games in the 74kg and the latest resultdidn't go in his favour.

Besides Sushil, another big name to havebeen dropped from the latest TOPS list, whichwas reviewed last in July 18 before the AsianGames, is Swapna, who created a flutter inJakarta by becoming India's first Gold medal-list in heptathlon.

Keeping an eye on 2020 and 2024 Olympics,the government's Mission Olympic Cell onThursday reviewed three sporting disciplines —athletics, wrestling and weightlifting.

In athletics, the number has been reducedfrom 31 to just 10, which includes two new facesin triple jumper Arpinder Singh and steeple-chaser Avinash Sable, who will be supported tillthe 2019 World Championships.

Besides, star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra,Seema Punia, Mohammad Anas, Hima Das,

Ayyasamy Dharun, Jinson Johnson andSreeshankar Murali are other athletes who haveretained their places in the new TOPS list.

In the revised 10-men wrestling list,Utkarsh Kale (men's 57kg freestyle), DeepakPunia (men's 86kg freestyle), Divya Kakran(women's 68kg freestyle) and Sajan (men'sgreco-roman 66kg) are the four new entrants,which also has star grapplers like Sakshi Malik,Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat among others.

In weightlifting, the criteria for inclusionwas set at medal probable for women lifters andtop 10 for men's and on that basis Ragala VenkatRahul (men's 96kg) was included in the list whileworld champion Mirabai Chanu (women's49kg) was retained in the pruned chart.

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy andAshwini Ponnappa lost 17-21,11-21 to Chinese Taipei's LeeYang and Hsu Ya Ching tobow out of the tournament.

Men's doubles pair of BSumeeth Reddy and Manu Attrialso failed to clear the secondround hurdle, losing to ChineseTaipei combination of Jhe-Huei

Lee and Yang Lee 16-21, 15-21.Earlier, the match between

the two trainees of the PulellaGopichand Academy turned out

to be a pulsating contest as formerworld no 1 Srikanth did the catchup act with Prannoy enjoying theearly spoils.

Prannoy, who had defeatedSrikanth at the Senior Nationalfinal last year, moved neck-and-neck till 9-9 before the formerjumped to a 14-10 lead.

Srikanth clawed back at 15-15before Prannoy again movedahead to secure the opening game.

The second game was acliffhanger as the duo played outof their skin, giving nothing away.After a close-battle, Srikanthgrabbed a slender 11-10 lead at thebreak, which evaporated soon asPrannoy took a 15-12 lead.

Srikanth again drew parity at16-16 and moved to 19-17.However, Prannoy took two pointsto make it 19-19.

After that, there was nothingto separate the two as both kepttaking points alternatively beforeSrikanth managed to grab theupper limit of 30 points first topocket the game and roar backinto the contest.

In the decider, Srikanth con-tinued his momentum surging toa 11-4 lead at the interval. Prannoycaught up at 16-16 before Srikanthagain moved ahead to seal the con-test.

Elsewhere world numberJapanese Kento Momota beatcountrymen Tsuneyama 17-21,21-17, 21-16, while Olympicchampion Spanish Carolina Marinwins 21-14, 21-8, women’s top seedChinese Taipei Tai TY triumphs17-21, 21-16, 21-9.

����������One Indonesian shuttler went

through to the quarterfinal of theHong Kong Open badmintontournament and two women'sdoubles pairs also won their sec-ond round matches on Thursday.

Jonatan Christie defeated hiscompatriot Anthony SinisukaGinting in the Hong KongColiseum, 21-15, 25-23 in 54minutes, and will face either KentoMomota or Kanta Tsuneyama inthe quarterfinal.

In the women's doubles pairs,Indonesian Greysia Polii/ApriyaniRahayu and Riski AmeliaPradipta/Della Destiara wentthrough to the quarterfinals of thetournament.

Greysia/Apriyani defeatedSouth Korea's Baek Ha Na/KinHye Rin 21-15, 21-18, andRiski/Della beat Thailand'sJ o n g k o l p h a nKititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai19-21, 21-9, 21-10.

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India coach Ravi Shastri on Thursdaysaid that there won't be any more"chopping and changing" with the

ODI side with just 13 matches remain-ing before the opening World Cup gameagainst South Africa on June 5.

Shastri indicated that from now on,they will be playing around those 15 play-ers, who are going to board the UKbound flight.

"We will try to play (those) 15, whowill go to the World Cup. Chopping andchanging is over now. The grace periodis over now," Shastri made it clear dur-ing the pre-departure press conferenceahead of the Australian tour.

"Now it is the time to really getfocussed and play as a unit and thenhopefully not have too many injuries, sothat we don't have to look elsewhere andtake it from there.

"We don't have too many games now.We have 13 games, so we will look to playthe best team at all times," he added.

The 13 games include three-matchaway series against Australia followed byfive-match series against New Zealandand then a return five-match seriesagainst Australia at home early next year.

India will play a four-match Testseries beginning on December 6 atAdelaide and Shastri said that the visitorswill have to learn from their experiencein South Africa and England to challengeAustralia.

"I see a lot of progress across all for-mats and I say that inspite of the (series)scoreline in England. When you look atactual performances in conditions thatare foreign to us, we are more thanhappy," he said.

The coach is hopeful that playershave learnt from their mistakes of pre-vious tours.

"It is a learning process. If we learnfrom the mistakes that we made in SouthAfrica and England, it will hold us ingood stead in Australia.

"Test cricket obviously is different, itis the last series that we play before theWorld Cup. So the focus will be entire-ly on the series."

�������������������� ���Indian captain Virat Kohli on

Thursday staunchly supported RaviShastri, saying the growing perception ofhead coach being a "yes" man to the skip-per "is the most bizarre thing he has everheard".

"That is the most bizarre thing I haveheard. In Indian cricket, I don't thinkthere is anyone else who has said no tome more than him honestly. He is oneguy I can speak to and can get an hon-est opinion. I have made more changes

to my game listening to him than any-one else in the past," said Kohli before theteam's departure.

The 30-year-old spoke on a range ofissues facing the team ahead of thesquad's departure to Australia where itwill play three T20s, four Tests and threeODIs starting November 21.

Kohli went on to say that not onlyhim, other players have also learntimmensely from Shastri.

"His contribution ever since westarted building this team is making peo-ple believe that they belong there. We allwent through a tough time in 2014 (theEngland tour) and for me to able to come

out of that, and Shikhar (Dhawan) in the2015 World Cup, he can vouch for that.He (Ravi bhai) knows how to get the bestout of the players," said Kohli.

Batting let the team down in SouthAfrica and England, leading to a back-to-back series defeats. With Australiawithout the suspended Steve Smith andDavid Warner, India have a good chanceof recording a maiden series win inAustralia. But Kohli is not looking too farahead.

"There is a lot of room for improve-ment. That is something we realise as ateam also. We understand what we needto work on so it is up to the individualsto take ownership of that," said Kohli,referring to the batting especially.

"There were lot of things we dis-cussed after England, on what wentwrong. We felt there was not a lot that wedid wrong but whatever was not rightwent extreme. We played good cricket butthe mistakes were also very extreme.

On the contrary, the bowlers did wellin the last two away tours but Kohli saidall departments must fire in unison toachieve a series win.

"From the last time we went there (toAustralia), fitness levels of the bowlers aresurely up, which is the most importantfactor in Australia. The pitches can getboring at times, the Kookaburra doesn'tdo much. So, it is about maintaining thepace with which you start your day."

He cited the example of SouthAfrica, who are one of the few teams towin a Test series in Australia in recenttimes.

"That is why South Africa havedone well. They had Morkel, Kallis, DaleSteyn and now Kagiso Rabada. They haverelentlessly bowled in the right areas toget those wickets. Our guys are surelycapable too to do a similar kind of job butI don't want to focus on that. The bats-men need to step up as well.

"We have spoken as team afterEngland on putting up a complete per-formance. Everyone is keen to correctthose things. People have to take moreownership especially the batsmen. Thewhole combination has to come togeth-er to win series and not just one Test."

���� 1�2'�34"

Former Australia captain SteveWaugh is "not sure" if the current

Indian team led by Virat Kohli is anybetter than some of the sides that heplayed against during his internationalcareer.

Waugh spoke in reference toIndia coach Ravi Shastri's commentsthat this is "the best Indian side in thelast 15 years".

"Look I have played against somegreat Indian sides and I am not surethat the current side is better than theones we played against," Waugh toldESPN Cricinfo.

The 53-year-old said such com-ments could have been avoided as itputs pressure on the team.

"I am not really sure but probablynot a great thing to say as it puts extrapressure on the team. Once theystart losing, they will get a lot of crit-icism for that. Look, it's good that RaviShastri believes in his side but com-ments like these could be kept to him-

self," Waugh said.The former skipper known for his

mental disintegration tactic feels thatAustralia despite recent problemswould be hard to beat in their ownden.

"Australia will be hard to beat inAustralia. We have a bowling attackas good as any team in world cricketand we can take wickets. It's our bat-ting if we score 350 runs in first

innings, I think we will be very hardto beat. And someone will alwayscome and do well and that's the natureof the sport.

"I am still pretty confident that wecan win in Australia but it's going tobe a close series though," Waugh saidabout the Test series startingDecember 6.

Like everyone else, he praisedVirat Kohli for his supreme consis-tency comparing him with BrianLara and Sachin Tendulkar.

"He is a great player and he lovesthese big moments. He is likeTendulkar and Lara. They wait forthese and that's where they want toshow their best. He will be the dan-german straightaway but they havesome pretty good batsmen," Waughsaid.

"Actually, India have quite arounded team and they will see thisas a significant chance. They wouldhave prepared for this tour for a longtime. I think it is going to be reallyclose series," he added.

� ��� ��6'4��"

Pakistan skipper SarfrazAhmed is confident leg-

spinner Yasir Shah and medi-um pacer Mohammad Abbascan combine to tame "tough"New Zealand in the first Teststarting in Abu Dhabi onFriday.

The fast-rising Abbas took17 wickets in a two-match Testseries, including a ten-wickethaul at Sheikh Zayed Stadiumin Abu Dhabi, as Pakistan beatAustralia 1-0 last month.

Abbas, who made his debutlast year, has 59 wickets fromhis first 10 Tests and will bebacked by the spin duo ofYasir and Bilal Asif.

Sarfraz said heexpects more fromYasir, who managedjust eight wicketsagainst Australia.

"Yes, our bowling attack isgood," said Sarfraz onThursday.

"Abbas has been bowlingsuperbly while Yasir didn'tlook as great as we had expect-ed, but in this series I expectmore from Yasir."

Yasir has been a matchwinner on the neutral venuesof United Arab Emirates(UAE).

He took 15 wickets in the

1-1 series drawagainst NewZealand in theUAE in 2014.

But Pakistan have not beatenNew Zealand in a Test seriessince 2011, and Sarfraz is nottaking them lightly.

"New Zealand are a goodside and gave us tough timesboth in the Twenty20s and one-day internationals," said Sarfrazof the preceding series.

Abbas is likely to share thenew ball with Hasan Ali withYasir and Asif assisted byMohammad Hafeez in spin.

New Zealand skipper Kane

Williamson, who returns to thesquad after missing the thirdone-day with a groin strain,hopes his team adapt fast.

"Obviously, coming intoPakistan's home series there isa lot of work to do in terms ofthe overseas sides adapting tothe conditions as best as theycan," said Williamson.

"I think it's important thatwe adapt with this inexperi-enced side that we have comehere with and look to learn aswe can and do that quicklybecause we want to be playingour best cricket under theseconditions."

� ��� '4�#�

Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylorfought valiantly with his second

century of the Test but Bangladeshwon the final match by 218 runs toend the series at 1-1 on Thursday.

Needing a mammoth 443 towin, Zimbabwe were bowled out inthe second session on the fifth dayin Dhaka with Taylor remainingunbeaten on 106.

Taylor's knock of patience andcontrolled aggression came from 167balls and featured ten fours. He hadhit 110 in Zimbabwe's first essay of304.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan wasthe wrecker-in-chief on the final dayas he returned bowling figures of 5-38 -- his fifth five-wicket haul inTests.

Mehidy denied Zimbabwe anychance of repeating their clinicalperformance of the first match inSylhet that they won by 151 runs.

Taijul Islam added two morewickets to his five in the first inningsand finished the series with a careerbest haul of 18 scalps in two match-es. He was named the player of theseries.

The home side declared thefirst innings on 522 for seven withMushfiqur Rahim hitting an unbeat-en 219 -- the first time a wicket-keeper hit two double tons in Testcricket.

The visitors' hopes of securinga draw rested on the pairing ofTaylor and Peter Moor, whose 139-run sixth wicket stand in the first

innings took the visitors past the 300mark.

But once Moor departed after a79-ball vigil for a paltry 13 runs,smartly caught at short leg by Imruloff Mehidy, the Zimbabwe battingfell flat.

Resuming at 76 for 2, Zimbabwelost another key man Sean Williamsfor 13 after pace bowler MustafizurRahman provided Bangladesh withthe day's first breakthrough.

Spinner Taijul dismissedSikandar Raza for 12 by taking asharp return catch to reduceZimbabwe to 120 for 4.

But Taylor and Moor saw theirside through to the lunch break withan unbeaten 41-run stand for thefifth wicket.

Bangladesh declared their sec-ond innings on 224 for six at the teabreak Wednesday after skipperMahmudullah Riyad completed hissecond century in eight years.

The victory was Bangladesh'sfirst this year and it came after eightinnings in which the Test minnowscould not cross the 200 run mark.

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Sri Lanka fought backadmirably against

England thanks to a back-to-the-wall 85 by RoshenSilva to earn a first-inningslead of 46 runs in the sec-ond test on Thursday.

However, Silva's failureto ground his bat and runshort conceded a rare fivepenalty runs to England.

Sri Lanka was all out for336 in reply to England's285, boosted to 290 with thepenalty runs at PallekeleInternational Stadium.

England faced just oneover before stumps on daytwo and promoted Leach toopen the innings. Thenightwatchman negotiatedsix deliveries from DilruwanPerera without furtherdrama on a day wheremomentum swung bothways.

At 165-6 and still 120runs behind England's first-innings total, the SriLankans were under pres-sure. But Silva put up a mag-nificent show, teaming withthe tail to push the hosts infront. However, the SriLankans will still have to batlast on a pitch that hasplenty to offer for spinbowlers.

Silva, in for injured cap-tain Dinesh Chandimal,

was on 6 when AngeloMathews fell for 20, andfrom there he stitched somevaluable partnerships withthe lower order to post acompetitive total, SriLanka's highest in the series.

Silva and NiroshanDickwella put on 46 runs forthe seventh wicket but thestand that handed Sri Lankathe initiative back was the

ninth worth 56 runsbetween Silva and AkilaDananjaya (31). The SriLankans were givingEngland a taste of its ownmedicine, after Englandadded 60 runs for the lastwicket.

Suranga Lakmal andSilva added 28 runs for thelast wicket. Silva was the lastman dismissed when heattempted to loft Rashid tothe boundary but failed toclear mid-on.

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Putting country first, Cricket Australiawill not allow its players, picked in the

World Cup squad, to take part in the lastfew weeks of the 2019 Indian PremierLeague (IPL) so that they prepare well forthe big-ticket event.

The lucrative IPL Twenty20 tourna-ment is likely to start early than the sched-uled time to give the players enough timeto rest and prepare for the ODI World Cup,starting in England on May 30.

Advancing the IPL dates to Marchmeans it will clash with the last part ofAustralia's domestic season as well astheir ODI series against Pakistan.

The final round of the Sheffield Shieldis scheduled from March 20 to 23, while thePakistan ODI series, though not confirmed,has been pencilled in for March 15-29.

Cricket Australia has made it clear thatWorld Cup remains the priority for thedefending champions and the players will

have to complete their Sheffield Shield com-mitments and national duties to getapproval to play in the IPL.

Cricket Australia also said the 15players selected in the World Cup squad willhave to attend a pre-tournament camp inearly May, which means they could miss thefinal 2-3 weeks of the IPL.

Fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who hasalready been released from the KKR squad,has said said that he will not put himselfavailable for the 2019 IPL auction.

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