pitambara peeth and expressed grief over the death of the mother of sonu pandey. moreover, he...

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Awar-like situation per-sisted on the

International Border (IB) andthe Line of Control (LoC) onFriday as Pakistan indulged inrepeated ceasefire violations

and India hit back hard byshelling Pakistani positions.

Two civilians were killedin Jammu region in cross-bor-der shel l ing and f ir ingovernight even as the BorderSecurity Force claimed tohave ki l led 15 PakistanRangers over the last one

week. Three BSF personnel also

attained martyrdom duringthe same period while twoothers received injuries inthe heavy exchange of fire.

According to senior BSFauthorities, the sharp shoot-ers of the paramilitary forcehave caused extensive damageto forward observation postsand border outposts insidePakistani territory.

Continued on Page 4

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The confrontation betweenthe judiciary and the

Executive over delay in judicialappointments took a decisiveturn on Friday when the courtthreatened to summon theSecretaries of the PM's Officeand the Department of Justicefor "sitting" over the namescleared by the collegium. Rattledby the development, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi soughtone last opportunity, assuringthe court that he would consultthe Centre and report back byNovember 11.

The court came down hardon the Centre after it set theadoption of a newMemorandum of Procedure(MoP) as a precondition to pro-cessing the names of judges sentby the collegium. Observingthat the Executive's inactionwas "decimating the institution,"the Chief Justice of India said thathe expected more "positivity"from the Centre as several HighCourts were languishing insevere vacancy crisis.

The Bench referred to thecase of the Allahabad HighCourt and said the collegiumhad recommended 18 namesfor appointment as judges andthe Government chose eightand now wanted to appointonly two. The CJI even cited

Karnataka High Court as anexample where courtroomshad to be locked as there wereno judges to sit in them.

"You see, we cleared thefiles way back on February 4this year. Tell us what is theprogress," the Bench said,adding it can ask Secretaries of

the Law Ministry and the PMOto appear before it.

"You (AG) call them, I wantto hear them," the CJI, who didnot dictate it in the order,observed during the hearing.

The Attorney-General sub-mitted that the NationalJudicial Appointments

Commission (NJAC) judgmentmandated that there should bea fresh MoP and tried to referto the verdict. "If everythingcan be done without the MoP,why do you need the MoP inthe first place," Rohatgi said.

"Who said there is no MoPnow...Appointments are beingmade now as per the old sys-tem... Our tolerant approachdoes not seem to be working.If you go on like this, we willre-convene a five-judge Benchand say that the Governmentwill not be allowed to scuttlejudicial appointments till itframes a new MoP... Do youwant that," the Bench said.

"If you (Centre) insist thatthe MoP be put in place first,then you should have made itclear at the start. If you haveallowed 88 appointments to bemade, you can't insist now afterthe collegium has recommend-ed and the entire process ofIntelligence report is over," it said.

The matter came up in a setof PILs heard by a Bench ofChief Justice TS Thakur,Justices DY Chandrachud andLN Rao. "Nothing seems to behappening. You people are sit-ting over the files and you willnot allow it to be cleared. Wemade recommendations almostthree months ago. There are 14such names in addition to 19names that we recently cleared.

Continued on Page 4

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The State Government issuedorders transferring four

Indian Administrative Services(IAS) officers on Friday. SheopurCollector Pannalal Solanki hasbeen shifted to Mantralaya asAdditional Secretary andAlirajpur Collector ShekharVerma to Mantralaya as DeputySecretary. Additional Collector ofHarda Ganesh Shankar Mishrahas been posted as Collector inAlirajpur, while CEO ofHoshangabad district panchay-at Abhijit Agrawal has beenposted as Collector in Sheopur.

Official sources said thatthese postings are based on theassessment of officials' workingin the districts. In recent reviewmeetings, CM Chouhan hadindicated that those performingbetter would be rewarded andthose not working properlywould not be spared.

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Datia Mahotsav is beingorganized at Stadium

ground Datia from November4 to 6, 2016. On the first dayof the Mahotsav, performanceof famed singer of the coun-try Sunidhi Chouhan willtake place. Similarly, an AllIndia Kavi Sammelan on sec-ond day ie November 5 andqawwali programe will beorganised on third dayNovember 6.

Minister for PublicRelations, Water Resourcesand Parliamentary AffairsNarottam Mishra reached sta-dium ground and inspectedthe programme site. Mishrasaid that programme shouldbe organised at a grand level.

Complete all the arrange-ments within time limit.

Vice Chairman NagarPalika Yogesh Saxena,Representative of MandiChairman Jitu Kamriya, VipinGoswami beside Ms. GuddiSahu, Bhure Chowdhary,Brijmohan Sharma, RajuTyagi and PublicRepresentatives were presenton the occasion.

Minister Mishra visitedplaces and expressed condo-lences. He went in front ofPitambara Peeth andexpressed grief over the deathof the mother of SonuPandey. Moreover, he reachedBada Bazar and extendedcondolence on death of Smt.Mithi la Devi mother ofRamesh Gandi. Mishra also

visited the house of BabluJitendra Guvrele andexpressed grief.

The Minister visitedSayani Mohalla and expressedgrief over the untimely deathof the son of Munna Rain. Healso made announcement ofRs 10,000 as financial assis-tance to the family. Besides,Mishra expressed grief over

the sudden death of GopalRaikwar residing nearSundrani Petrol Pump andannounced a financial assis-tance of Rs 10,000 to thefamily.

Minister for PublicRelations, Water Resourcesand Parliamentary AffairsNarottam Mishra will takepart in various programmes

on October 29. He will pro-ceed in the morning fromDabra to Datia and will meetpeople at his residence.Mishra will hold meeting at10 am with the workers asregard to the Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan pro-posed visit on November 4.

He will take part inBhajan/Bhandara programmeon Hanuman Jayanti at Hatarpond of village Bajni in theafternoon. Moreover, afterthis, he will participate inpoor children honour pro-gramme in Industrial area.Beside all this programmes,Mishra will take part in var-ious programmes at DatiaCity. He will proceed fromDatia at night for night halt atDabra.

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Diwali was celebrated withfull zeal, enthusiasm and

religious fervour in CampionSchool, Arera Colony Bhopalby the Primary and the sec-ondary section students, beforegoes for the festival holidays.

Diwali was celebrated onThursday according to theschedule just a day before thebeginning of the Diwali holi-days. Various cultural pro-grammes and competitionswere organised on this occa-sion.

The programme beganwith the lighting of the Lampand Diyas done by Principal Fr.Athnas Lakra SJ, Vice PrincipalFr Ajay Kumar Kerketta SJ,

Superior Fr Christdhari KujurSJ, School Bursar Fr. SanjayKujur S.J., PrimaryHeadmistress Sr Mary MalarAC and others.

The children welcomedchief guests and all the fathers,brothers and sisters with abeautiful greeting song fol-lowed by presentation ofSaplings and bouquets. Afterthis a meaningful prayer ser-vice highlighting the messageof Diwali, invoking God’s bless-

ings and thanking him for hisassistance and guidance fol-lowed by prayer song and aBeautiful Deep dance. ABeautiful skit Ramayana’ waspresented by the primary stu-dents. Superior Fr ChristdhariKujur SJ enlightened the staffand student with the messageof Diwali saying the light with-in us must help to dispel thedarkness and spread love,warmth and kindness as well asin giving and sharing. PrincipalFr Athnas Lakra SJ saidthrough this programme stu-dents tried to convey in theirsmall way and taught us howthis pious festival can be cele-brated in other way than by justburning crackers and pollutingthe environment.

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Shiv Sena and other Hinduorganisations on Friday

opposed the screening ofKaran Johar's Pakistani-starredmovie 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' inthe state capital and otherplaces in the state. About twodozen Shiv Sena activistsraised slogans for about half-an-hour in front of a Cineplexin TT Nagar area here thismorning.

The activists were not

allowed to enter the premisesof the Talkies due to heavysecurity arrangements. Later,police dispersed the agitatingShiv Sena activists. InHoshangabad, about 40 ShivSena activists set ablaze aposter of the film in a cinemahall and took out a vehiclerally opposing the Pakistanstars while in Jabalpur alsoShiv Sena and other Hinduorganisations raised slogansbefore a multiplex.

A report from Gwalior

said that several activists ofHindu organisations tried toraise slogans before a cinemahall in the city but the policeremoved them. However, thescreening of the film was nothampered due to the agita-tions, the sources added. In theJohar's film besides RanbirKapoor, Aishwarya RaiBachchan and AnushkaSharma, Paksitani actor FawadKhan are cast. Pakistani actorsare being opposed in the coun-try owing to the present situ-

ation at Indo-Pak border.While talking to media

persons here on Friday, ShivSena Youth Front DistrictPresident Kuldeep Tiwari saidthat MP Shiv Sena do not sup-port the movie 'Ae Dil HaiMushkil' as Pakistani actorFawad Khan is starring in thisfilm. Shiv Sena Youth Frontwould protest against therelease of the movie. The own-ers of the cinema halls andmultiplexes should not screenthis movie, he added

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Art of storytelling plays animportant role to con-

nect children with the entireworld. In the ancient timesstory telling was the basicfoundation to educate chil-dren, wherein teachers used togive examples from the talesto make children understandlessons easily.

Moreover, tales and sto-ries were narrated by theelders in the families helpedchildren to memorize thingspermanently. Keeping inaccount the same, the schooleducation department hasgiven directives to the District

Education Officers to includestory telling art in the educa-tion process of class 1 and 2.

Several suggestions weregiven by the UnionGovernment to the state gov-ernments under the “PadheBharat-Badhe Bharat” pro-gramme to strengthen knowl-edge among the children. Incompliance to this, art of sto-rytelling is included in thecourse. Directives have beenissued by the CommissionerState Education Center in thisregard. The District EducationOfficers has been told toincorporate the art of story-telling in the activities ofBalsabha beside classroom

studies. It is mandatory for the

teacher to narrate story beforethe beginning of regular classin the government schools.Also, children should beencouraged to tell stories. TheDistrict Education Officershave also been told to invite

parents or the senior citizensthrough Principals of theschools to narrate stories inlocal language in the weeklyBalsabha.

Furthermore, storytellingcompetitions should be holdat school level and to ensureparticipation of children in

large numbers.Circular which has been

sent by the State EducationCenter states that stories are apowerful means to make chil-dren understand things easi-ly. It can be entertaining,inspirational and challeng-ing.

Stories can inspire chil-dren towards new ideas. Storytelling art can be used in anattractive manner to solveproblems of Math and Sciencebeside other subjects.

A case study of Morenaand Sagar districts which hasadopted the story tellingprocess has been sent with thecircular.

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Crime branch police onThursday nabbed two

vehicle-lifters and recoveredthree vehicles worth Rs 2 lakhfrom their possession fromRoyal Market area.

Acting on a tip off a manwith a white coloured scooternear Royal Market was detainedand when he was quizzed regard-ing the scooter he was not ableto provide documents. Initiallythe miscreant tried to escape butwas chased down by police.

The miscreant was identi-fied as Talib alias Salman Khana resident of Kamla ParkTalaiya area who confessedstealing of the scooter fromKotwali area around 4-5 daysand was using the stolen vehi-cle. He confessed stealing oftwo more motorbikes whichwas stolen from Piplani areaand was sold to Rohit Chouhan(20) of Khajuri area at Rs 2000while the other motorbike wasstolen from JK road area and hewould provide the vehiclewhich is parked at his house.

Based on the informationRohit was nabbed by the policeand recovered motorbike soldby Taliq. Police said that themiscreant was nabbed while hewas trying to sell the stolenscooter. The main accusedTalib work as labour whileRohit works with a tea stall inKhajuri area.

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Miscreants targeted a tem-ple at Income Tax colony

under Kamla Nagar policearea and escaped with a goldcrown worth Rs 3.37 lakh inthe wee hours on Friday.

According to the policethe complainant Ravindra Girifound that the gold crownworth Rs 3.37 lakh was bur-gled from the temple.

The complainant is priestwith Pitambar BaghlamukhiMandir which was targeted bymiscreant.

A complaint was lodgedwith the Kamla Nagar policeand in his complaint he stat-ed that he went to sleep ataround 12.30 in the nightand later found that the goldcrown was missing.

The complainant told thepolice that when he went to

answer nature’s call at around3.30 in the night door of hisroom was locked from outsidedue to which he back door toreach toilet. Before going tobed, he along with his sonoffered Puja and locked thedoors of the temple.

Police said that except thegold crown nothing was bur-gled from the temple whichsuggests that the miscreantwere aware of the gold crown.

The complainant lives inthe temple premises and ataround 5 am his mother-in-law found that the locks werebroken and crown was miss-ing from the temple and sheraised alarm the family cameto know that the crown wasburgled.

The police have registereda case under section 457 and380 of the IPC and have start-ed further investigation. The

nearby CCTV cameras wouldbe searched which could helpin the investigation.

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The patients of the JayaArog ya hospital of

Gwalior are being deprived ofproper treatment and medi-cines. The patients have topurchase the medicines andother items from outside.The patients are not even get-ting the free medicines.

The OPD of the hospitalis providing treatment to 700patients per day. Various testsare recommended to around400 patients, everyday, butaround 150 patients have topurchase the medicines fromoutside the hospital and var-ious patients have to com-plete their respective tests atvarious private pathologies.These pathology labs demanda lot of money in order tocomplete the tests.

The hospital administra-tion is unable to manage thepatients as around 350

patients are advised to getadmitted in the hospital,everyday.

JA Hospital is also unableto provide various normalmedicines, which are gener-ally recommended for thenormal fever or headache. Asthe hospital administration isrunning out of the variouscommon medicines such asbeplex forte, combiflam andparacetamol.

The patients are not evengetting the pathology reportsin time hence they are unableto receive proper treatmentfrom the doctors.

The patients have to go tothe private pathology labs asJA Hospital is not able toconduct the Thyroid,CPKVM (Heart Test), LDH(Kidney Test), Hepatitis E,Hepatitis B(Profile), HepatitisA tests. Doctors are givingvague treatment to thepatients.

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Capitalism and communal-ism are the failed models

while the ideas of PanditDeendayal Upadhyay are veryrelevant and successful. Weneed to get our ideology ofsanatan dharma back,” saidRashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh(RSS) Madhya Bharat Sah-Prant Sanghchalak AshokPandey.

While talking to the mediapersons here on Friday, Pandeytold that All India meeting ofthe executive board of the RSShave been conducted onOctober 25, 2016 atBhagyanagar (Hyderabad).Various proposals were pre-sented during the All IndiaMeeting regarding variousissues.

Pandey further told that aproposal was passed regardingvarious attacks on RSS workersand other common people inKerala. The communists arecontinuously attacking theworkers and the common peo-ple. The state government isalso supporting attackers bytaking no action against them.

Pandey alleged that theworkers of the MarxistCommunist Party had brutal-ly murdered CK Ramchandranof the Bharatiya MazdoorSangh (BMS) on July 11, 2016.Recently, Marxist workers havealso murdered K Ramit onOctober 12, 2016. Notably,Uttman, the father of K Ramitwas also brutally murdered bythe Marxist workers

14 years ago. Pandey said that a propos-

al was also passed during themeeting regarding the idea ofinclusive humanity ofUpadhyaya.

The proposal was crucial asthe whole world is sufferingfrom the problems such asglobal warming, financial cri-sis, terrorism etc. Sanghbelieves that the idea of inclu-

sive humanity is the only solu-tion of all the problems. Theideas of Upadhyay and sanatandharma could bring peace andharmony to the world.

While discussing the JNUissue, Pandey said that thecommunist ideology is mis-leading the youths of the coun-try. The Delhi governmentshould take action on theresponsible students.

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Madhya Pradesh Special TaskForce (MPSTF) has arrest-

ed a 50-year-old illegal weaponmanufacturer and unearthed anillegal manufacturing unit ofweapons at Jangalpura village inBhind district on October 26 andrecovered two guns and toolsand machinery for manufactur-ing of the guns.

According to the police, act-ing on a tip a man was nabbedinvolved in manufacturing andselling of illegal weapons fromJangalpura village while two ofhis accomplices managed toescape.

The miscreant was identifiedas Jumman Khan of Jangalpurawho is involved in manufactur-ing of weapons illegally for thepast 10-12 years. The two accom-plices were identified as Praveenand Kalli Baghel. Weldingmachine, drill machine, grindermachine, hollow pipes for mak-ing barrel, trigger, gun butt andother goods which are useful inmanufacturing weapons wererecovered from the spot.Inspector posted with GwaliorSTF Ejaz Ahmed received infor-mation that the accused wouldbe provide weapons to two sell-ers Praveen and Kalli and on thereceipt of the information ateam was formed and nabbedthe accused but the two buyersmanaged to escape. The accusedhad sold around 1000-1500 armsin the past few years.

It is seen as a major break-through as the accused is activein selling arms illegally and it ispossible that he had suppliedweapons to criminals and oth-

ers which could help in track-ing the criminal involved incrimes and use of weapons indifferent crimes in the past.More recovery of illegalweapons would be done in thefurther investigation.

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Banning import and sale ofChinese firecrackers has

had little or no effect ondomestically made crackers astraders across major citiesreport poor business owing toanti-cracker campaigns run byschools, resident welfare asso-ciations (RWAs) and others,noted an ASSOCHAM sur-vey-cum-analysis.

The Associated Chambersof Commerce and Industry ofIndia (ASSOCHAM) inter-acted with firecracker whole-salers, retailers, traders in dif-ferent parts of the country togauge the enthusiasm anddemand for f irecrackerstogether with impact of banon Chinese crackers across

India.“It is not just Chinese

firecrackers but multiple fac-tors like growing environ-mental awareness, rising costof living, growing tendencyamid people to save theirhard-earned money ratherthan spoiling it on burningcrackers, paucity of time, traf-fic congestions during festiveperiod and others havetogether dented this businessover the years,” said majorityof 250 firecracker traders.

Most of the traders saidthey have seen a sharp declineof about 20 per cent year-on-year from past five years andhave also almost halved theamount of crackers they usedto get in wake of poor sales.

“Banning Chinese fire-

crackers was a welcome movewhich was aimed at strength-ening the domestic industry,however growing criticism ofbursting firecrackers and allthe negative publici ty togeth-er with rising air and noisepollution have eventuallyfaded the growth of fire-cracker industry across India,”said DS Rawat, secretary gen-eral of ASSOCHAM whilereleasing the findings of thechamber’s survey-cum-analy-sis.

“About hundreds of unitsin Sivakasi have shut theirshop owing to intense cam-paigns and growing sales ofChina-made crackers over theyears, it is estimated thatabout 30,000 people have losttheir livelihood,” said Rawat.

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Himachal Pradesh was onFriday declared as the first

Open Defecation-Free (ODF)State amongst the Big StatesCategory giving a boost to the‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.

A proud Himachal ChiefMinister Virbhadra Singhdeclared the hill State as thefirst Big State to become com-pletely ODF in a function orga-nized at Hotel Peterhoff, here.

Union Rural DevelopmentMinister, Narendra SinghTomar, Union Health Minister,JP Nadda and Secretary,Ministry of Drinking Waterand Sanitation ParmeshvaranIyer were present on the occa-sion. The function was organ-ised by department of RuralDevelopment.

The Chief Minister con-gratulated the people of the

State who supplemented thecause of the Government in itsmission for achieving the feat.“It was not possible without thesupport of the people of theState”, said Virbhadra Singh.

Addressing the gathering,he said that though Sikkim wasthe first State to achieve the dis-tinction of becoming ODF, butit was in the small states cate-gory.

“We are lucky enough tobecome second State leavingKerala behind which was alsoin the race and I supposewould be declared ODF afterfour days on 1st Novemberwhile celebrating ‘Kerala Day”,said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister saidthat Himachal was and wouldfully co-operate with theCentral Government in imple-menting the centrally aideddevelopment programmes and

policies.Union Rural Development

Minister Narendra SinghTomar also lauded the effortsof the State Government spe-cially referring to ChiefMinister Virbhadra Singh’s ini-tiative and thought to makeHimachal ODF. “I hope thatHimachal will take lead in dis-posal of Solid and Liquid wastemanagement soon”, he said.Union Minister, JP Nadda con-gratulated the State for achiev-ing the feat six months beforethe stipulated target. He saidthat the Central Governmentwould be sharing the experi-ences of the HimachalGovernment and the sustain-able mechanism adopted bythem. He also wished to launcha joint programme with theState Government to mitigatewater borne diseases in near future.

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Shimla: The HimachalGovernment on Friday decidedto launch two campaigns—oneto identify eligible disabled per-son for social security pensionand second for early registrationof pregnancies to keep check onchild sex ratio. Officials said thishas been done after successfulimplementation of campaigns toclean the water resources, weed-ing out cannabis and making HPas open defecation State. The two

drives in social sector are beinglaunched on the direction of CMVirbhadra Singh. A meeting tochalk out strategies for imple-mentation of these campaigns inthe State was held under thechairmanship of Chief SecretaryVC Pharka on Friday which wasattended by the DeputyCommissioners and higher offi-cers of health, education, welfareand women and child develop-ment departments. SR

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Haryana Police has busted agang which used to take

women from Kurukshetra andthe nearby districts to UttarPradesh for getting the sexdetermination tests done.

Seven persons, includingthree members of the gang, twowomen who opted for sexdetermination and their hus-bands, have been arrested, saida spokesman of the PoliceDepartment.

The accused had beenidentified as Kewal Kishore, aresident of Daya Nagar, Karnal;Yogesh, a resident of UttarPradesh; Anil, resident ofRohtak, women Suman andMukesh, residents of KharakPandwa, and their husbandsRishipal and Satish.

The police received theinformation that some per-sons were coming toKurukshetra in a car and on amotorcycle after getting con-ducted sex determination test

done in UP. Acting swiftly onthe tip-off, the police, alongwith a team of the HealthDepartment, laid nakabandinear Ladwa and arrested the accused, said thespokesman.

During the interrogation,Kewal Kishore said that he,along with Yogesh, used to takepatients from Kurukshetra andthe nearby districts to a doctorin Saharanpur, UP, for con-ducting sex determinationtests, said he.

The police recovered eightMedical Termination ofPregnancy (MTP) kits fromKewal Kishore, two kits fromYogesh and impounded thecar and the motorcycle.

A case has been registeredagainst the accused underSection 420 and 120B and var-ious sections of MTP Act andPre-conception and Pre-NatalDiagnostic Techniques Act atpolice station, Ladwa. Othermembers of the gang wouldalso be arrested, he added.

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The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana Government

has decided to constituteHaryana Cadet Corps on thelines of the National CadetCorps.

Haryana Cadet Corps willprovide assistance in naturaland man-made disastersbesides making the youth apatriotic citizen. The StateGovernment has proposed toconstitute Haryana CadetCorps (HCC) next year, whichwill be celebrated as state’sgolden jubilee year.

“The HCC will be a vol-untary organisation which willrecruit cadets from high

schools, colleges and universi-ties all over the State,” said asenior official of HaryanaGovernment.

The official said that therecruitment will be started inall educational institutions toprovide opportunities to theyouth of the state for their all-round development with asense of duty and discipline,commitment, dedication, andmoral values. It is proposed thatthe cadets will be given basictraining in law and order main-tenance, traffic control, disas-ter management, first aid, pre-vention of drug trafficking etc.HCC also aims to inculcatesocial welfare spirit amongstudents and youths and to

provide service to society with-out bias to ensure that every-one who is needy gets help.

The senior official saidthat the HCC will also betrained in social marketing ofwelfare programmes,

Haryana Cadet corps isproposed to be constituted tobreak down the barrierbetween the people and thepolice force, to achieve bettercooperation and understandingof police duties by the public ingeneral, besides instilling agreater sense of discipline inyouth and a stronger sense ofcivic responsibility, said theofficial.

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Planning to celebrateHaryana’s golden jubilee

year in a big way, the StateGovernment has decided toconstruct a ‘Swarna Jayanti’monument.

Haryana would enter itsgolden jubilee year onNovember 1.

An architectural master-piece structure is proposed tobe constructed in the State tocommemorate HaryanaSwarna Jayanti as a part ofremembrance of historic timesand cultural heritage, said asenior official of HaryanaGovernment while talking toThe Pioneer.

On the occasion, PrimeMinister will announce 50projects to be implementedduring the swarna jayanti yearof Haryana.

The Government has ear-marked �1700 crore for theswarna jayanti year projects.

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Former Rajasthan ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot was

appointed as the head of theCongress screening committeefor Punjab Assembly polls onFriday.

Besides Gehlot, the screen-ing committee comprises AllIndia Congress Committee(AICC) secretary in-charge ofthe state Asha Kumari, PunjabCongress chief CaptAmarinder Singh, CLP leaderCharanjit Singh Channi, for-mer Indian Youth Congresschief Rajiv Satav and formerMP Meenakshi Natarajan.

The announcement wasmade by chief Congressspokesperson RandeepSurjewala, who said that partypresident Sonia Gandhi andvice-president Rahul Gandhihave approved the setting up ofthe committee.

The six-member screeningcommittee will scrutinize theparty candidates for the upcom-ing Assembly polls in the stateand the AICC ElectionCommittee will finalize the can-didates thereafter in consultationwith the party leadership.

Congress has been in polit-ical wilderness for 10 longyears in the state and is striv-ing to get power back from theruling Akali-BJP combine.

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In the ongoing drama of polit-ical fratricide in the Uttar

Pradesh ruling Yadav family,Chief Minister Akhilesh SinghYadav seems to have won thebattle of perception. A surveyconducted by C-Voter showedon Friday that the ChiefMinister has emerged strongerthan before in the last onemonth. The survey report sug-gests that voters overwhelm-ingly prefer Akhilesh to hisfather and founder-patriarch ofthe party Mulayam as the SP'sCM candidate for next year'sAssembly polls.

Citing C-Voter's findings,The Times of India's report onFriday said Akhilesh Yadav'spopularity has increased man-ifold in SP's traditional bastionsin the last one month.

The report said C-Voterconducted two surveys -- thefirst in September and the sec-ond in October -- since the bat-

tle royale between Shivpal,Mulayam and Akhilesh becamepublic. And a comparison of thetwo survey results suggests thatAkhilesh has the upper hand.

The survey was conductedon 12,221 people across all 403Uttar Pradesh Assembly con-stituencies. Up to 75.7% ofrespondents would like to seeAkhilesh, rather thanMulayam, as the State's nextChief Minister.

Survey report concludedthat Akhilesh Yadav enjoys awidespread support amongYadavs and Muslims --the SP'score vote-bank. When asked"Given a chance to pick either(the) son or (the) father, whowould you like to see as CM ofUttar Pradesh?", 61 per cent ofYadavs and 78.5 per cent ofMuslims prefer Akhilesh overhis father Mulayam.

Out of the nine category,

only 'Others SC (Dalits)' cate-gory preferred Mulayam overAkhilesh. In this category,Mulayam was picked by 58.4per cent, while the UP CM gotbacking of 33.8 per cent. Theresponses were analysedaccording to six demographicfactors - age group, occupation,monthly income, education,social group, and gender.

Mulayam's brother andState party president ShivpalYadav, on the other hand, does-

n't seem to pose any challengeto Akhilesh when it comes toperceived popularity. Up to83.1% of poll respondents thinkAkhilesh is more popular thanhis uncle, and 6.1% think theopposite.

Shivpal's perceived popu-larity has actually diminished- up to 6.9% of respondents inthe C-Voter's September pollsaid he was more popular thanhis nephew -- whereasAkhilesh's has increased by 6points, from 77.1%.

The survey suggests thatAkhilesh has succeeded in por-traying himself as a leader of'clean image' in a party that hasbeen accused of 'goonda raj'.Sixty-eight per cent of pollrespondents say Akhilesh istrying to change his party's'goonda' image, although only28.9% think he's succeeding.

In addition, more than 63%back Akhilesh's opposition to letpoliticians like DP Yadav andgangster-turned-politicianMukhtar Ansari join the SP.

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Chief Minister AkhileshYadav played 'good

Samaritan' to a rickshaw-puller,who helped Paytm's chief exec-utive officer Vijay ShekharSharma in making it to CM'sofficial residence on KalidasMarg on Thursday.

Rickshaw-puller Maniramhelped the Paytm's CEO reachthe CM's residence despite amassive traffic jam and wasrewarded with Rs 6,000, a newcycle-rickshaw and the promiseof a new home and alsoSamajwadi Pension for his wife.

Mani Ram happened to beclose to the CM's Kalidas Marghome when he was stopped by

a 'man in the kurta' he didn'tknow was the CEO of Paytm -- one of India's top mobile wal-let startups with over 122 mil-lion users.

"I took him there... at thegate, he had a word with thesecurity guards and they let usright through," Mani Ram said.After dropping Sharma at thedoorstep of his host AkhileshYadav, Mani Ram was about toturn back when the ChiefMinister called him.

"Akhilesh bhaiya asked mehow long I have been workinghere, how long I have beenpulling a rickshaw...where Iwas from..." said Mani Ram, anative of Rae Bareli. He told theCM that he wanted the most

were an auto-rickshaw and hisown home.

The CM called his aidesand handed him Rs. 6,000 asDiwali gift. "Take a new cycle-rickshaw for now. My peoplewill get in touch with you forthe rest," he reportedly toldMani Ram.

The CM later tweeted, "Atraffic jam forced Paytm CEOVijay Shekhar Sharma to visit uson a cycle rickshaw. LucknowMetro will help solve the traf-fic jams in city." The phototweeted by Akhilesh has beenwidely shared on social media.

The encounter with therickshaw-puller provided the44-year-old CM a break froman acrimonious family feudthat has pitted him against hisfather Mulayam Singh anduncle Shivpal Yadav monthsahead of the UP Assemblypolls.

Known for his penchant forelectronic gadgets like laptopand smartphones, Akhileshstepped up the doles as theAssembly polls draw close.

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The "no-toll" order imposedon the DND Flyway by the

Allahabad High Court willremain unchanged, said theSupreme Court on Friday.

The Bench headed byChief Justice TS Thakur indi-cated that until it received areport from the Comptrollerand Auditor General (CAG) onthe company's entitlement tocontinue collecting toll, it willnot alter the High Court's deci-sion. The apex court is expect-ed to pass its order onNovember 7, when the Courtreopens after Diwali break.

The Noida Toll CompanyLimited, operating the nine-kilometre long

Delhi-Noida Expressway,in its appeal questioned theHC's conclusion on the figureof over Rs 300 crore earned bythe company as profit over andabove the expense incurred asproject cost. The agreementprovided for the company tocollect 20 percent of projectcost as rate of return each yeartill 30 years or till such timethat the project cost is covered.

The company's lawyer,senior advocate AbhishekManu Singhvi, submitted thatin the past 15 years, never once

had the company achieved 20per cent rate of return on theproject cost. On the contrary,he brought statistics to showthat for 11 years between 2001-2012, the rate of return was - 6per cent which improved to 2per cent in 2013, 3 per cent in2014, 4 per cent in 2015, and 5per cent in 2016. Singhvi wasopen to an audit by any audi-tor of the Court's choice. Heeven proposed an audit by theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) to be submit-ted in three weeks.

The Bench consistentlyasked the company to show itsannual entitlement under theagreement in terms of money.But with no clear responsecoming from Singhvi, theBench observed, "Can you notdetermine your return over anine-kilometer long road. Thisis not a road to moon."

At the same time, theBench observed that this exer-cise is a specialised one. "Wewill pass an order on thereopening by providing for anarrangement that will consid-er all parameters. We will alsoconsider if CAG or somebodycan determine your entitle-ment under the agreement tocollect toll," said the Bench, alsocomprising Justices DYChandrachud and LN Rao.

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Imagine human excretafalling on you from airplanes

flying above! An ex-servicemanhas moved the National GreenTribunal alleging dumping ofhuman waste by aircraft overresidential areas near the IGIAirport here, which led theGreen panel to order an inspec-tion of his South Delhi house.

Lt Gen (Retd) SatwantSingh Dahiya has sought crim-inal proceedings against com-mercial airlines and levy ofhefty fines on them for endan-gering the health of residents,terming the act as violation ofthe Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan.

Noting the submissions ofthe petitioner, the Green paneldirected Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) todepute a senior environmentalengineer to inspect his houseand check the existence ofhuman excreta on the walls.

It also told the CPCB thatif excreta were found, samplesshould be collected for analy-sis and the report placed beforethe tribunal.

A Bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice Swatanter

Kumar also issued notices tothe Ministries of Environmentand Forests and Civil Aviationand CPCB, seeking their replieswithin two weeks.

Plane toilets store humanwaste in special tanks. Theseare normally disposed of by

ground crew once the planelands, but aviation officialsacknowledge that lavatory leakscan occur in the air at times.There have been instances,including in India, when peo-ple have been injured.

In his petition, Vasant

Enclave resident Dahiya hassought creation of a 24-hourhelpline for immediate report-ing of the incident and a

Continued on

monitoring mechanism tocheck that no aircraft drops"human soil or excreta" whilelanding.

"For past more than theweek in the early morning, wefound that walls and floors ofterrace of our house splatteredwith large patches of excretadumped by aircraft flying infront of Palam airport at night.This is the second time that hashappened. Last time it hadoccurred in early Octoberwhen we had spent Rs 50,000to get the entire exterior resur-faced with fresh paint.

"Diwali is only a few daysaway and being the festive sea-son having recently finishedfresh coating of the house exte-rior at considerable experi-ence to clean up the premises.We are again faced with havingour walls completed spatteredwith waste. We are retired peo-ple and cannot afford to havethis defacement everyday," saidthe plea.

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Concerned over the deteri-orating air quality in the

national Capital, the DelhiGovernment has decided toinstall air purification systemsat five major intersections inthe next two months as a pilotproject. The five locationswhere the systems will beinstalled are Sarai Kale Khan,Anand Vihar, Kashmiri Gate,ITO and IIT Delhi/AIIMS.

Delhi Transport MinisterSatyendra Jain on Friday said,"A mist fountain will also beinstalled at one major inter-section to purify the air. Wehave identified five major inter-sections in Delhi where com-prehensive air treatment sys-tems will be installed. If thepilot project is successful, it willbe expanded to other intersec-tions as well."

The Minister added thatthe air purification system hasbeen designed by the NationalEnvironmental EngineeringResearch Institute (NEERI)along with the Indian Instituteof Technology-Bombay.

"It is a modular system andcan be scaled, based on thespace available at the intersec-tions. It can even be installedon the central verge of theroad," Jain said.

Talking about the mistfountain that will come up at

one location Jain said, "Expertssay that it can have a bigimpact on pollution by arrest-ing the pollutants in the air.Recycled water can be used inthis fountain which will be sup-plied by Delhi Jal Board."

He added that theGovernment has set a target ofone-and-a-half to two monthsfor both the pilot projects. AGovernment statement saidthe purification systems willtackle carbon monoxide, nitro-gen oxides and hydrocarbonsin the air.

"The system has potentialto reduce carbon monoxideand particulate emission by 40per cent to 60 per cent in a 20to 30 metre radius during peakhours of traffic," the statementsaid.

The decision was taken atthe third meeting of the inter-Ministerial task force set up byDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal to tackle the issues ofair pollution and garbage dis-posal.

National Director ofNEERI Professor RakeshKumar, who was also present at

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From Page 1Meanwhile, two civilians,

Isma Rehman (50) ofMendhar in Poonch and a young boy Ajay Chandof Gigiryal in Chamb sectorlost their lives in the cross-border firing by Pakistan onFriday.

Addit ional DirectorGeneral (ADG) of BSF(Western Command) ArunKumar told reporters thatafter Indian sniper GurnamSingh was martyred afterbeing targeted by PakistanRangers last Friday, at least 15Pakistan Rangers, includingtheir frontier forces and othersecurity forces have beenkilled by the BSF in strongretaliation in the last oneweek.

"A lot of people have beeninjured and no less than onedozen civilians have beenkilled. From their announce-ments from the mosques andother inputs, we know thattheir hospitals are full ofinjured people. They havesuffered much more damagethan we have suffered," hesaid.

The ADG, BSF alsoclaimed that the intenseshelling from the Pakistaniside gives a fair idea thatPakistan Army regulars havetaken posit ion behindPakistan Rangers and weretargeting civilian pockets toinflict maximum damage onthe Indian side.

Unconfirmed reportsclaimed that Pakistan Armyhad assisted Border ActionTeam (BAT) to target some ofthe Indian forward postsalong the LoC in Keri area ofKhour in Akhnoor sectorwhile a similar attempt wasmade in BG sector of Poonchon Thursday. Neither theArmy authorit ies norMinistry of Defence PROconfirmed these reports.

From Page 1Who is the Secretary in the

PMO and Department ofJustice dealing with these files,we will call them here," thecourt said. The A-G respondedby saying that in December2015 the Supreme Court direct-ed the Government to frame anew MoP to which the SC hasnot agreed till date. "Despite it,we have cleared 88-odd names

for the High Court and four forthe SC. There should be nodeadlock but the direction ofthis court requires the MoP tobe in place," he said.

"We can understand ifsend back a name for recon-sideration. We can look into it.But you are sitting over thenames for months together.This is not done," said theBench.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will celebrate Diwali

on Sunday with ITBP person-nel at one of the remotest bor-der posts in Uttarakhand. Hewill celebrate the festival withITBP personnel at Mana, thelast village on Indian territoryalong the border with China.

National Security AdvisorAjit Doval will accompany thePrime Minister on his trip toMana, located at an altitude ofabout 10,000 feet, said officials.Modi is also expected to visitBadrinath, one of the holiesttemples of Hindus, which islocated nearby, they said.

Modi, who as PrimeMinister had celebrated hisfirst Diwali in 2014 with Armyin Siachen and second onelast year on the Punjab borderwith Pakistan, will spend timeon the border with China onthe upcoming festival of lights.

In the run up to Diwali, thePrime Minister has urged peo-ple to send their good wishes

to security forces personnel onDiwali, saying such messageswill boost their morale. A cam-paign in social media with thetagline — #Sandesh2Soldiers— through which people cansend their Diwali greetingsand messages to soldiers guard-ing the nation's frontiers isalready underway.

People are sending messagesunder the #Sandesh2Soldierscampaign on the Narendra ModiApp, through MyGov.In, andalso through All India Radio.

According to the PMO, over 10lakh messages have come — 7lakh on Facebook, Twitter andMyGov and about 3 lakh onNarendra Modi App.

Prominent people who havesent their wishes include ChiefMinisters, Union Ministers, filmstars, cricketers and othersportspersons. The list includesSalman Khan, Aamir Khan,Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher,Virat Kohli, Virendra Sehwag,Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singhand Sakshi Malik.

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Amid cross-border firing,Home Minister Rajnath

Singh on Friday said Pakistanwas indulging in a proxy warand has been trying to harmIndia by taking "cowardly" aidof terrorism. "The neighbour-ing country has been carryingout proxy war. But terrorism isnot a weapon of the brave butof cowards. Those who fightfrom behind are called cow-ards...They take the help of ter-rorism," he said.

Speaking at the 55th rais-ing day event of border guard-ing force Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP) at its camp herein Greater Noida, he said strictvigil by the force has resultedin 60 per cent less transgres-sions into the Indian territoryby the Chinese People'sLiberation Army this year.

Referring to the currenttensions between the twocountries, he said the neigh-bour has been trying to harmIndia and was attempting tobreak and "destabilise" it byresorting to terrorism. Singhsaid an "evil eye" is being caston India to thwart its progressas it is marching on as one of

the fastest growing economiesof the world.

Firing by both Indian andPakistani forces towards eachother's positions have beencontinuing leading to severaldeaths on both sides for thepast two days. Singh had ear-lier instructed border guardingforces not to fire towards theenemy first, but not to countbullets if they are fired upon.

Later, while taking ques-tions on the ceasefire violationsby Pakistan, he said, "Our sol-diers are responding to thembefittingly." To a question onthe espionage case involving adiplomat of the Pakistani HighCommission in India, he saidthe government is taking nec-essary action.

There have been severalincidents in the past in the icyheights of Himalayas whenITBP had noticed transgres-sion by the Chinese forcesand there had been con-frontations between the twosides. All such transgressionwere successfully foiled by theITBP personnel, Singh said.

Home Minister honouredsome ITBP personnel whoseaction led to foiling of PLA'sattempt to transgress Indianterritory at Chumar in Ladakh

two years ago. Singh said dueto the intensive vigil and brav-ery of Indian forces, no coun-try in the world can now castan evil eye on India and every-time he sees these men and

women he is filled with prideand confidence that the coun-try is safe.

He also appreciated thepersonnel of ITBP, posted inIndian missions in

Afghanistan, who had foiledterror attacks in Indian con-sulate in Mazar-e-Sharif andJalalabd early this year as wellas for undertaking effectiveanti-Naxal operations.

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The Defence Ministry willconduct a detailed review

of the parity of status issuebetween the Armed Forcesofficers and the civilian coun-terparts in the backdrop of theServices unhappy over a recentcircular by the Ministry report-edly downgrading their statusvis-à-vis civilians. DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar isalso likely to set up a panel forthe review as it is pending forlast many years.

This development onFriday came about a day afterthe Defence Ministry clarifiedon Thursday it had not downgraded the status of the ArmedForces officers. This clarifica-tion was in response to reportsthat the October 18 order of theMinistry had changed theequivalence factor in theArmed Forces Headquarterswhere civil and military officerswork together.

Hinting that Parrikar waskeen to address the issue which

had created a flutter amongstthe Services, sources said hereon Friday, the Ministry willtake a holistic view beforecoming to a final decision.They also hinted that Parrikarwill set up a three-membercommittee to advise the min-istry and resolve the rank par-ity issue.

The panel was likely to giveits opinion within ten days,they said adding the team will

review all the previous ordersin this regard issued 1992,2003, 2005 and a Cabinet deci-sion in 2009. The decision wastaken following a report by theGroup of Ministers(GOM) in2009 which laid down thenorms for parity in the ServicesHeadquarters.

Earlier, a Major Generalwas on a par with a JointSecretary. However, theOctober 18 circular said aMajor General will be equiva-lent to Principal Director in theServices Headquarters andsame equivalence was applica-ble to all the junior ranks be itthe Armed Forces or the civil-ians. This was viewed by theArmed Forces as downgradingof their status.

The Defence Ministry in itsjustification for the October 18circular said on Thursday "thepresent reiteration of rankequivalence is only for mattersof assigning duties and func-tional responsibilities." TheMinistry also referred to sim-ilar circulars issued in 1992,2003 and 2005.

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With mental stress becom-ing one of the important

reasons behind diabetes,Minister of State for PrimeMinister's Office, JitendraSingh, Department of AtomicEnergy and Department ofSpace on Friday called for aholistic management of thedisease through ayurveda,unani, naturopathy, yoga andlifestyle management.

He was speaking at a sem-inar on "Prevention andControl of Diabetes throughAyurveda" held here to markthe f irst ever NationalAyurveda Day on Friday.

"India has seen a surge inthe incidence of diabetes overthe last 15 years, especiallyamong the younger genera-tion," Jitendra Singh saidadding that the focus of the

Government should be onyouth and pregnant womenwith respect to diabetes con-trol and management.

The Minister furtherexplained since mental stresscould be one of the importantreasons behind diabetes, aholistic management of thedisease is required includingAyurveda, Unani,Naturopathy, Yoga and lifestylemanagement.

According to experts,mental stress-such as family orfinance problems-often leadsto raised blood glucose levelsfor people with type 2 diabetes;and physical stress-such as asports injury-raises levels forboth type 1 and type 2 dia-betecs. Taking steps to reducemental stress can benefit a per-son physically and emotional-ly, they say.

Minsiter of State forAYUSH (Independent

Charge), Shripad Yesso Naiklaunched the "MissionMadhumeh throughAyurveda" on the occasion."Ayurveda touches the entireway of life and therefore, weshould look towards it notonly for treatment purposesbut also for the promotion ofa healthy life. There was ademand to declare

Dhanwantari Jayanti asAyurveda Day for a long time,so the Government decided togo ahead and do the same," theAYUSH Minister said.

Secretary AYUSH, Ajit MSharan, said that 200 researchfellowships have been insti-tuted to create evidence basedresearch in traditional medi-cine including Ayurveda.Similarily, the Government iscollaborating with WHO todevelop benchmarks inAyurveda to make it accept-able to modern science and theworld at large.

Three renowned practi-tioners, academicians andresearchers of Ayurveda —Prof Premwati Tiwari, Parshuram Yashawant VaidyaKhadiwale and Vaidya PRKrishna Kumar were con-ferred the NationalDhanwantari Ayurvedaawards.

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The Congress on Fridayexpressed concern over the

Supreme Court's "cry of agony"and accused the Centre ofattempting to "demean" thejudiciary when the SupremeCourt said the Governmentcannot bring the judiciary to a"grinding halt" by not appoint-ing High Court judges.

AICC spokesman AbhishekSinghvi also said theGovernment is using theMemorandum of Procedure(MoP) as an "instrument ofblackmail". "The State of affairsis shocking. Overwhelmingmajority of our High Courtshave 50 per cent of sanctionedstrength... We have again hearda cry of agony from the judicia-ry as an institution," Singhvi saidat party briefing. Singhvi, him-self a senior lawyer, charged theGovernment with attempting to"demean, control...Or embarrassthe judiciary".

"It is sad that Memorandumof Procedure is being used by theGovernment as an instrument ofblackmail," he said accusing thePrime Minister's Office of act-ing as "File Hold Ministry" inJudicial appointments.

Condemning theGovernment over the attemptto "erode and undermineanother pillar of our democra-cy", he said "You (the Modi dis-pensation) can't have a SCjudgement undermined andobstructed by bargaining inthis manner on the MoP."

Noting that India has afamed judiciary, one that is wellrespected around the world, hewanted the Government torealise that its claim of good gov-ernance would come to a noughtif there are arrears of threecrore cases.

"We know thisGovernment's track record inshowing its intolerance fordissent. Eroding one pillar,free speech and even pressfreedom. We have seen its

attack on Institutions. We haveseen its scant regard on secu-larism," he said.

He said the NJAC judgmentfrom SC should have led to qui-etus. "Suggesting appointmentswill not be cleared on time,unless Judiciary agrees to thegovernment's MoP...This isunheard of."

Expressing deep anguish overthe delay in appointment ofjudges in High Court, theSupreme Court earlier in the daytold the Centre, "You cannotbring the entire institution (ofjudiciary) to a grinding halt. Ifthere is a problem with the nameof a person, please send it backand ask us to reconsider."

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According to reports,Police Scotland hassaid in a submissionto Lord Bonomy,who is reviewing

Scotland’s 2002 law on fox hunt-ing, that the latter is unworkableas too many loopholes andexceptions facilitate breaches. Ithas called for a tightening of thelaw. This move is commendable.The one by Britain’sConservative Government toremove the country’s 2004 banon the same nefarious activity, is deplorable.

Given the strong oppositionin the United Kingdom to whatused to be a large-scale massacreof foxes in the name of hunting,the Theresa May-ledGovernment’s efforts are unlike-ly to succeed. The very fact thatit is being made, however, showsBritain’s ruling party’s cosy rela-tionship with the country’s upperclass rural gentry, from ranks ofwhich the participants in this dis-graceful orgy are mainly drawn.Besides, it raises, once again, thebasic question: Whether hunting— except in specified cases ofpublic interest like killing ahuman-eating tiger — should bebanned. The search for an answermust begin with the recognitionthat for the first 2.5 million yearsof their existence, human beingslived by gathering plants andhunting animals.

As Yuval Noah Harari says inSapiens: A Brief History ofHumankind, things began tochange with the transition toagriculture “around 9,500 to 8,500BC in the hill country of south-eastern Turkey, western Iran andthe Levant”. Hunting was nolonger necessary to feedhumankind. As Harari furtherpoints out, “Even today, with allour advanced technologies, morethan 90 per cent of the caloriesthat feed humans comes from thehandful of plants that our ances-tors domesticated between 9,500and 3,500 BC —wheat, rice, maize(called corn in the US), potatoes,millet and barley”.

Major changes followed. Anoverwhelming majority of people,who were a part of tribal commu-nities and spent most of their timehunting, now began working inplanting, growing and harvestingcrops. Later, as barter and tradedeveloped, spread globally andbecame increasingly complex,they engaged in increasingly spe-cialised functions of buying, sell-ing, transporting, accounting andfinancing — the last one havingemerged as an independent area

of enterprise in the last couple of centuries.

A relatively small number ofpeople continued to hunt. Oldways of living and thinking diehard, however irrelevant theymay have become. In this case,they have remained particularlyingrained in the psyche becauseonce people’s lives depended ontheir ability to kill animals thatthreatened them or whose fleshwas needed as food. There was atendency then to view hunting asa form of heroic activity. Humans,armed with primitive weaponslike swords, spears, bows andarrows, enjoyed some but notoverwhelming advantage overanimals for procuring food or sav-ing themselves and/or their live-stock and crops from animals liketigers, bears or elephants, whowere more powerful than them-selves. It required courage toconfront them.

Hunting has now become anexercise in contemptible andunnecessary cowardice. It is notneeded any more for procuringfood, and is very rarely needed forprotection against animals. Also,a hunter now kills a defenceless,

and often unsuspecting, animalfrom a safe distance with a gun,often while perched on a machan(platform) on a tree or riding avehicle. In many cases, the haplessprey has been driven by peoplebeating drums and making otherkinds of noises, to a position to ahunter’s easy reach. In the case offox-hunting, the hapless victimsare chased and cornered by packsof dogs and shot from horseback.

The argument is that theheroism lies in traversing rough,forested terrains and braving theelements in search of prey. Buttrekkers do the same, and moun-taineers much more. They, how-ever, do not murder living beings.Why do hunters do it? The answerthat it is for excitement andadventure, for wanting to test one-self to the limits, raises two ques-tions. Does one have to kill to dothat? Why not other ways ofdoing it like rafting down turbu-lent rivers or crossing the Atlanticon a yacht. Why kill?

Hunting is an exercise insadism. Erich Fromm writes inFear of Freedom, “All the differentforms of sadism go back to oneessential impulse, namely, to have

complete mastery over anotherperson, to make him a helplessobject of our will, to become theabsolute ruler over him, tobecome his God, to deal with himas one pleases.” From Fromm’sstatement, it is a short step to thequestion: What greater form ofmastery can there be than controlover life and death? Murder is aform of exercising such mastery.So is hunting — a form of mur-der — and genocide, the killing ofan entire, community or class ofhuman beings or a linguisticgroup. A horrifying example ofthe latter is Hitler’s attempt toexterminate the Jews. It was alsoone of the most horrendous exer-cises of sadism in history.

Murder attracts severe pun-ishment in most countries.Genocides and their perpetratorsare among the most reviled peo-ple in history. Yet, the urge to killsurvives because it has been root-ed deep in the people’s psyche eversince they emerged as Homo sapi-ens. Legal and moral condemna-tion have compelled most peopleto suppress or sublimate thisurge. Some make animals theirtargets because the latter areexcluded from the moral universethat humans have created forthemselves and, therefore, theirmurder is generally not con-demned as strongly as the killingof people, nor is their large-scalemurder-of wolves in many parts,for example-which is genocide.

All this leaves one with thequestion: What makes a person asadist? The answer, according toFromm, is insecurity, a strong feel-ing of which tends to envelop aperson as he or she grows out ofthe secure world of his or hermother lived in during infancyand is assailed by the many dan-gers that the world holds forth.The right way to deal with thisfeeling is to relate to the worldthrough love and creative work.Not many can do that. Some tryto do it by becoming a sadist seek-ing to control and dominate or amasochist, who surrenders his orher autonomy and judgement toa superior entity — a person, anorganisation or an idea — andderiving a sense of security andreassurance as a part of a warmand inclusive whole.

Hunting, therefore, repre-sents a cowardly attempt toescape from a deep feeling ofinsecurity. It need not only to betreated as murder but con-demned and banned.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and an author)�

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “India’s long tryst with judi-cial backlogs” (October 28) byJoginder Singh. The practice ofbuying time by the warring par-ties in a legal battle is one of thefactors responsible for judicialbacklogs. Moreover, it is beyondthe capacity of the majority ofIndians to engage lawyers.

Legal aid cannot solve theproblem as most of the estab-lished lawyers fight shy of join-ing a legal aid team. The need ofthe hour is to start a system ofself-defence and to do awaywith the practice of lawyers’defence. Cross-examination canaptly be done by the judges. Itwill stop tilting the balance ofthe objective scale the otherway round by the subjective fac-tor such as quality of lawyers andthus establish equal protection ofthe laws.

Sujit DeKolkata

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Sir — Prime Minister NarendraModi’s assertion that the tripletalaq mechanism has ruined thelives of many Muslim women, is

true. But he must not politicisethe issue for vote banks. This isagainst the bona fide interest ofMuslim women.

Undoubtedly, the bizarresystem adversely affects the dig-nity of women and, therefore, acomprehensive revamping ofthe issue is inevitable. In a sec-ular democracy, an electedregime is obliged to exercise itsunassailable power to safeguardthe fundamental rights of thecitizens guaranteed in theConstitution, irrespective of religion/community/gender etcand no religion/ communitycan claim supremacy over the Constitution.

TKM Kumbalamchuvattil Muvattupuzha

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Blood is thicker than partyrank and file” (October 28) byKalyani Shankar. The BJP andcommunist parties deserve cred-it for not walking the path ofdynasty politics. Where isdemocracy when parties declareheir apparent? It is unfortunatethat DMK president MKarunanidhi fell for the siblings.

Vandemataram Via web

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Palace coup at Tatas” (October26). The ouster of Cyrus Mistrycould have been handled in a farmore mature manner than it wasdone. More so when the Tatagroup is known for its high stan-dards of ethics and integrity.

At this juncture, we cannotconfirm about the real reasonbehind Mistry’s exit, but the spec-ulation that is doing the rounds isthat Ratan Tata may not have likedMistry’s decision to sell some of thejewels in the group and the way thetelecom issue was handled.

Ratan Tata always believed increating an institution rather thana mere company. Having saidthat, during Mistry’s tenure, mar-ket capitalisation of the Tata grouprose manifold. Thus, shareholderswould like to know the truthbehind his ouster.

On the other hand, the biggestchallenge for Ratan Tata is to finda worthy successor to Mistrybecause, after his exit, most of thepotential candidates would be morethan cautious to take up the role.

Bal GovindNoida

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Ever since Pakistan startedfomenting trouble in

Kashmir and executed terrorattacks in metropolises acrossIndia, New Delhi has beenobserving strategic restraint.For nearly half his term inoffice, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi chose to do thesame. However, for the firsttime in the history of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism againstIndia, the pre-emptive surgicalstrikes across the LoC,approved by Modi broke thepsychological barrier in thepolitical and diplomatic corri-dors of New Delhi, and gaveIndian defence and foreignpolicy a realist turn.

Modi’s turn from strategicrestraint to strategic offencethus needs to be analysed in itstrue essence, away from theshameful political tug-of-warthat the strike has been sub-jected to. “Neighbourhood-first” became the primary focusof the Modi foreign policy.Invitation to SAARC leaders —especially Nawaz Sharif ’s pres-ence at Modi’s swearing-in cer-emony in 2014 generated hopesthat the two countries wouldengage in dialogue. But just asVajpayee was back-stabbed bySharif and General ParvezMusharraf in Kargil in 1999,Modi was betrayed with terrorattacks in Gurdaspur, Pathankotand Uri.

In an attempt to ease ten-sions between the two countries,Modi met Sharif on the sidelinesof the SCO meeting in Ufa inRussia in July, 2015, where theyagreed to tackle terrorismtogether. The two leaders alsomet in Paris on the sidelines ofthe COP21. This was followedby a hush-hush meetingbetween NSA Ajit Doval andGen (Retd) Nasir Janjua inBangkok. The high point cameon December 25, 2015, whenModi decided to airdrop inIslamabad to greet Sharif on hisbirthday. This honeymoon peri-od for the two leaders, ended ina tragedy with the attack on theIndian Air Force base inPathankot on January 2, 2016.

Much to the consternationof Indian security experts, Indiabent backwards and invitedPakistan’s special investigation

team (SIT) to India to investi-gate the Pathankot attack. Thiswas never done before. Asexpected, Pakistan washed itshands of the attack. The flip-flops in Modi’s Pakistan policywere visible and severely criti-cised by all parties. Modi hadinvested heavily in Sharif, but tono avail. The stage was set toenact part two of Modi foreignpolicy.

The Modi-Doval duo tooktheir diplomatic offensive deepinside Pakistan on the issue ofBalochistan. During hisIndependence Day speech,Modi set the ball rolling by cor-nering Islamabad diplomati-cally. The doctrine of “offense asdefence” is now operational.

Indian diplomacy had changedgears, but Pakistan continuedwith its unconventional meth-ods of fighting India. The Uriattack was the trigger that madeIndia go full throttle to cornerPakistan diplomatically.

On the one hand, atUNGA, India dubbed Pakistanas an ivy league of terrorism, onthe other, at Kozikode, Kerala,Modi invited Islamabad to joinIndia to fight poverty and pro-mote mutual economic growth.The signals emanating from thepolitical corridors in New Delhiwere mixed. Modi deceivedPakistan into believing onceagain that India will not act, butwasted no time in breakingIndia’s strategic restraint and hit-

ting back with a counter strikedeep inside PoK.

India has raised the stakesfor Pakistan. It has an edge overthe latter on the strategic esca-lation ladder and on the diplo-matic front. New Delhi alsosilenced Islamabad’s nuclearsaber-rattling. However, politi-cisation of the military opera-tion has showcased the ugliestside of Indian politics.

The “khoon ki dalali” com-ment by Congress leader RahulGandhi and demanding proofof the surgical strike depictedthe political bankruptcy andfrustration of the Opposition.On the other hand, a dualism isoperational from the BJP camp.Modi has not made any public

statement on the surgical strikesand has reportedly asked hisCabinet colleagues to avoidchest thumping on the issue. Healso avoided any reference to themilitary operation at hisDussehra speech in Lucknow.

Back in May 2014, Modihad started building hisGovernment’s foreign policyon Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s mantraof “shanti” (peace) and “shakti”(power). It was Pakistan whochose not to be part of Modi’sefforts. New Delhi was forced toadd deception and surprise ele-ments to its policy towardsIslamabad. Conveying thechange of approach of NewDelhi and India’s intent towardsPakistan was a must for Modi

to make an unequivocal decla-ration of India’s no-tolerancepolicy against terror. Electoralbenefit to BJP in upcomingUttar Pradesh elections is like-ly to be a natural, yet uninten-tional outcome. The 1971 warenhanced Indira Gandhi’simage, the 1999 Kargil conflict enhanced Vajpayee’simage so is the surgical strikelikely to benefit the BJP.

Unfortunately, prominentpolitical parties in UP havefailed to look at the nationalsecurity issue beyond modestelectoral gains. The PM per-formed his duties. Had he not,questions would have beenraised about his credibility andthe powerful mandate he was

given to govern the country. Inrun up to the UP elections,political bickering has justbegun. Electoral battle linesdrawn on religious issues in acommunally sensitive State likeUP will do more harm to India’snational security. AnotherHindu-Muslim riot underModi’s leadership would cer-tainly weaken his Government’sdiplomatic efforts.

Modi is performing hispart of rajdharma as PM, but isthe Opposition performing itsrajdharma?

(The author is ResearchFellow with Observer ResearchFoundation, Mumbai. Viewsexpressed are personal)

The protection of theGeographical Indication (GI) in

India comes under the purview ofthe Geographical Indications ofGoods (Registration and Protection)Act 1999, known as the GI Act.However, the Act came into force onSeptember 15, 2003. With the com-pletion of 13 years of operationali-sation of the GI Act, it has beenrealised that the Indian IntellectualProperty regime has encounteredenumerable challenges. But, it mustbe brought to the public notice thatthis Act has opened a vast array ofopportunities for the country aswell. Before, we discuss the Indianscenario, it would be really worthtracing the background of the glob-al GI. Indeed, the Indian Act wasmade to comply with the provisionsof the historic Trade Related Aspectsof Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPS) Agreement of the WorldTrade Organization (WTO), whichcame into being in 1995. Being a sig-natory to the TRIPS, India had torevamp its age-old IP regime.Moving on to a new GI protectionand registration process under theTRIPS was a mounting challenge foralmost all the developing nations,including India. It is interesting tonote that prior to the TRIPS, no seri-ous steps were ever taken to offeradequate protection to the GI. Article10 of the Paris Convention of 1889ensured prevention of direct or indi-rect use of false indication of thesource of goods or the identity of themanufacturer, producer or mer-chant. Further, the MadridAgreement of 1891 endorsed theprotection offered by the ParisConvention to the GI. The MadridAgreement stressed that specialqualities of a particular productmust have its source of origin. Therelevant source may be used todescribe and guarantee the quality ofthat particular product. The comingof the Lisbon Agreement of 1958could be called a trendsetter as it laterhelped in shaping the GI-related pro-visions of the TRIPS. The LisbonAgreement for the first time made itmandatory to protect theAppellations of Origin and theirinternational registration. It high-lighted that both natural and human

elements could be involved in ensur-ing qualities of particular goodswhen it originates from a specificplace. In fact, it initiated a proposalto include any such product whichwould qualify for getting protectionunder the GI, like handicrafts, pot-tery, art, textiles, etc. Thus, the cur-rent protection and registration ofthe GI has come a long way.

The GI is one of the most impor-tant types of geographical labelling.Article 22 of the TRIPS prohibits theuse of indications (words, phrases,images or symbols) that will mis-lead/deceive the public about thegeographical origins of goods. It alsoforbids any use of the GI that con-stitutes an act of unfair competitionas defined in Article 10 (b) of theParis Convention. Beyond this, thesame article highlights that regis-tration of the GI as trademarksshall be refused or invalidated at therequest of an interested party, if theiruse is likely to mislead the public tothe true place of origin. From this,it can precisely be said that underArticle 22, the protection of the GIrevolves around three main aspects:

a. Protection against the useof indications that can mislead thepublic or are deceptive

b. Protections against theuse of indications in a manner thatare acts of unfair competition

c. Refusal or invalidation oftrademarks that contain or consist ofindications, which may mislead thepublic

The most important part of theTRIPS GI provisions is that it man-dates a two-level system of protec-tion: first, the basic protection applic-able to all types of the GI in gener-al under Article 22, and second, addi-tional protection applicable only tothe GI denominating wines andspirits under Article 23. This pro-vides a higher set of protection onlyfor a specific category of goods.

How do we view GI in India? The GI is considered the “poor

man’s IP” in India. Most of the GIapplicants in India are farmers, arti-sans and craftsmen who belong tolowest rung of the socio-economicladder or at times, they represent anorganisation that desires to register

the GI. Else, the rest of the IP seg-ments have so far remained as theexclusive domains of the rich and theprivileged. The GI in developingnations demands full protection asthey have become vulnerable toopen exploitation by the free riders.Thus, the so-called wars between theSouth (developing nations) and theNorth (developed nations) are on,even in the protection of the GI.Though these ideological connota-tions hint Cold War era struggles,this plays a crucial role in shapingand re-shaping the global governanceof the IP as a whole, including the GI.In a country like India, the GI reg-istration offers the following bene-fits to the owner;

a. Full legal protection with-in the country

b. Prevents unauthorised useof already registered GIs by any oth-ers

c. Helps the registered own-ers apply for legal protection of theirGIs.

This Act provides the GI own-ers both protection and extension oftheir opportunities to the WTOmembers. This is very unique aboutthe TRIPS Agreement, which final-ly underlines the coming of the “one-size-fits-all” global IP governancesystem for the first time. Unlike the

GI protection and registration inother developing nations, the IndianAct is widely considered as compre-hensive in nature. The reason behindin making such a claim is that the Actencompasses the protection of allagricultural, natural and manufac-tured goods in India. Consideringthe wide variety of goods thatdeserve to be included in the GI, theAct is supposed to facilitate a largenumber of stakeholders to come for-ward for protection in future. Section11 of the Act states that any associ-ation of persons, producers, organ-isation or authority, established by orunder the law can apply for regis-tration of a GI in India. The periodof GI registration is ten years as ofnow in India, but it can be renewedfor another ten years. If a registeredGI fails to get renewal, it has to beremoved from the GI Registry, whichis located in Chennai. The GI Act isadministered by the ControllerGeneral of Patents, Designs andTrademarks, who is also known asthe Registrar of GI in India.

When it comes to the protectionof wines and spirits as mentioned inthe TRIPS Agreement, the IndianAct extends it to include goods ofnational interest on a case by casebasis. Another important aspect ofthe Indian Act is that it prohibits the

registration of the GIs as trademark.Basically, it is an attempt to stop any-one to appropriate anything availablein nature and register the same astrademark. Thus this part of the Actclearly shows its intent to prevent anykind of confusion that can be creat-ed by registering the GI of a partic-ular product as trademark. FurtherSection 24 of the Act absolutely pro-hibits the transfer of the ownershipof GI to any other person.

The benefits of the GI protectioncan be gauged from various studiesacross the world. A consumer surveyundertaken in the European Unionin 1999 by the WTO found that 40per cent of the consumers would paya premium of ten per cent for prod-ucts having definite origins. Anotherstudy conducted by the UnitedNations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD) in 2008 inIndia revealed that GI-registeredagricultural products can demand aprice premium of 10-15 per centwhereas for non-agricultural prod-ucts, it can fetch five to ten per cent.This shows how GI-originated goodscan be at a higher demand than thegoods not having its original source.It has been observed that in India themaximum number of GIs are regis-tered from the textile sector followedby horticulture. Rest of the goodscovered for GI registration are tea,incense sticks, metal mirror, essen-tial oil, soap, handicrafts, wet grinder,painting, etc. Thus, handicrafts, agri-cultural products, food, and finally,manufacturing items are being reg-istered under the GI Act in India.Though the first GI registered inIndia was in 2004, today, the trendis in the upward direction. TheSothern States like Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and TamilNadu take the lead in the GI regis-tration. However, the other States likeAssam, West Bengal, Uttarakhand,Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, UttarPradesh, etc, which are rich in var-ious types of GIs, are also makingtheir mark in this segment of IP reg-istration and protection. With thenew Act in place, the GI registrationis likely to take pace and it will haveserious positive impact on the localsof some of the specific regions of thecountry.

Nevertheless, the GI registrationand protection can definitely providerich benefits to the people of devel-oping nations like India. Such nationscan extend this benefit to their largesections of indigenous people whohave been practicing their traditionalknowledge for centuries withoutany protection. This also preventsany single individual to become thesole repository of indigenous knowl-edge. And now with registration thiskind of knowledge can easily comeunder collective rights of the com-munity. However, collective rightsmay create problems as it does leadto legal claims from various sources.Thus ascertaining the real owners ofthe GI always remains a dauntingtask, although the place of origin ofa particular good is well-known ingeneral. There are no ends of coun-terclaims in this arena. Anotherproblem is that there is no uniformitymaintained in regard to the regis-tration of GIs in the name ofGovernment or Government bodiesacross the country. This createsmore confusion than benefits orrather discouraging more people toregister GIs in India. It is also felt thatGIs may eventually exclude manypeople from enjoying the benefitswhich they have been doing for gen-erations without having any legalbarriers. With advanced nations likeAmerica, Japan, Australia, Canada,Germany, etc, vying for a moreexclusive protection of GIs and otherIPRs, even beyond the platform ofthe WTO, the developing countriesmay have to be happy with very lit-tle of what they can protect. Somerich firms with better bargainingpowers from the developed nationsmay likely to exploit the benefits ofthe GI. Then the very purpose of theGI i.e. “not to create monopoly”, willbe lost forever. Thus, theGovernment, along with variousother civil society organisations andthe non-governmental organisa-tions, must keep a close watch on theregistration of GIs. The post-regis-tration benefits must really flow tothe needy.

(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer)

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After the murder of its activistRudresh in Bengaluru

recently, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) hassought a ban on Popular Frontof India (PFI) and the SocialDemocratic Party of India(SDPI).

The Bengaluru police haveon Friday arrested four peoplefor their alleged involvement inthe murder of RSS MandalPrabhandak Rudresh who aresuspected to be part of theseorganisations. V Nagaraj, RSSKshetriya Sanghachalak incharge of three southern Statessaid in Bengaluru on Friday thatRSS will seek a ban on PFI andSDPI if the members of theseorganisations were foundinvolved in the murder ofRudresh. He said “If it is foundthe organisations like PFI andSDPI are behind the larger con-spiracy then we will seek the banof these organisations from thecentre.” He thanked Bengaluru

police for apprehending four sus-pects in Rudresh murder casewho was hacked to death in abroad daylight in a busy street inBengaluru on October 16.

The RSS zonal chief said itis an open secret that both PFIand SDPI have links with thedreaded Islamic State (IS) ter-rorist bloc and its sympathisers.He said RSS karyakarthas werenot involved in violence and iffound they should be punishedaccording to law.

Holding the Communistsresponsible for instigating thepolitical violence in Kerala, hesaid the Centre and the StateGovernment should urgentlytake action against the perpe-trators and ensure that rule of lawprevails. “Government recordsand various judicial and policereports clearly established thefact that the Communists start-ed violence in Kerala, not onlyagainst RSS but also againstthose who did not accept theirideology,” he added.

Kerala Chief Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan had recently tar-geted BJP and RSS for the vio-lence in the politically volatileKannur district of the State, say-ing the saffron party and its out-fits were “deliberately” causingbreach of peace in the district.

“Indulging in violence,brainwashing and hoodwinkingis the method of Communists,but they don’t know it does notwork anymore,” Nagaraj said.

He also asked the KeralaGovernment and the Centre totake appropriate action urgent-ly against the perpetrators of vio-lence and necessary measures toensure the rule of law in Kerala.

“Actually the law and orderis a State subject, but when thekillings are of terrorist dimen-sions in various States includingKerala, Tamil Nadu andKarnataka, we request theCentral Government also topitch in because it threatens theintegrity of the country," he said.

He reiterated RSS’s stand onGenetically-Modified crops ofcertain varieties and said theywill oppose it unless some trialstake place and an opinion isgiven thereafter.

“Unless some trials takeplace and an opinion is given, wewant to oppose it (GM crops)and should not be brought intothe country," he said.

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Nine traders from Assamhad been abducted by sus-

pected militants in Meghalaya’sSouth Garo Hills district onFriday.

South Garo HillsSuperintendent of Police,Anand Mishra confirmed thisand said that search is on to findout the abducted traders. TheSP rushed to the spot totake stock of the situ-ation and took upthe investigationimmediately.

Police saidthat somearmed mili-tants took thetraders at gunpoint fromBilkona area. “Wesuspect the hands ofAchik Songa An’pachakgipaKotok (ASAK) militants behindthe abduction,” said a seniorpolice official.

“According to locals, thetraders were travelling to a week-ly market in two small vehicles.The armed militants intercept-ed the two vehicles near Bilkonaarea and took them at gun pointtowards the jungle,” police saidadding that they had not beenseen since then.

It may be mentioned herethat another militant outfit,Garo National Liberation Army

(GNLA) had abducted eighttraders of Assam from SouthGaro Hills last month. Theeight traders abducted lastmonth were later released abouta week later and it is assumedthat the family members hadpaid ransom for securing therelease the eight persons.

The Garo hills region ofMeghalaya has been in news forlast several years for killing and

abduction carried out bymilitant outfits like the

ASAK and the GaroN a t i o n a lLiberation Army( G N L A ) .According toofficial records,between January,

2015 and October31, 2015 the insur-

gents of Garo Hillshave abducted a total of

87 persons for ransom includ-ing 25 civilians, 27 businessmen,25 employees of private Sector,five Government employees andfive teachers.

It is for these statistics thatthe Meghalaya High Court hasasked the Centre bring theGaro Hills region of Meghalayaunder the purview of ArmedForces Special Powers’ Act lastyear. The court has also direct-ed the Principal Secretary inthe office of the Prime Ministerto place this order before PMfor perusal and consideration.

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Aday after the Goa PoliceCrime Branch filed a

charge-sheet against “primeconspirator” Digambar Kamat,a former Goa Chief Ministerand senior Congress leader, inconnection with the multi-crore bribery Louis Berger case,Chief Minister LaxmikantParsekar on Friday said that thedevelopment, although delayed,was not politically motivated.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Parsekar also said, that thedelay in framing charges againstKamat in connection with thebribery case, which was regis-tered as a First InformationReport by the Crime Branch in2015, was due to desperatepetitioning to the judiciary byKamat to avoid arrest.

“I feel it is delayed, but notfor any political reason... He hasfiled cases right up to theSupreme Court to avoid arrest.That is why perhaps it hastaken time for the police to filethe charge-sheet. Law will takeits own course and time,"Parsekar said.

According to the charge-sheet filed by the police, Kamatwas heading a Congress-ledcoalition government, whenhe is alleged to have accepted apart of a $976,630 worth bribefrom Louis Berger officials, inorder to award the consultan-cy company, a contract to over-see the implementation of a Rs.1031 crore sewerage and drink-ing water augmentation projectfunded by a Japan-based inter-

national funding agency. According to the charge-

sheet filed by Crime Branch,Kamat is alleged to havereceived kickbacks to the tuneof �1.2 crore, a charge whichKamat has rejected on numer-ous occasions.

Former Public WorksDepartment minister ChurchillAlemao has already been arrest-ed and charge-sheeted by theCrime Branch in the same case,in which several senior officialsof the state government, topmanagement personnel ofLouis Berger, a hawala opera-tor and a close political aide ofKamat have also been arrested.

The former chief ministerhas been chargesheeted forcriminal conspiracy (120-b)201 (tampering with evidence)of the Indian Penal Code andother sections of the Preventionof Corruption Act, even as theEnforcement Directorate inGoa has also started a separateprobe into the Louis Bergerbribery case.

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The Tamil Nadu BJPannounced on Friday the

names of its candidates for theAssembly elections to be heldon November 19 from threeconstituencies in the State. Theimportant news is that the saf-fron party has decided to dumpIndian Jananayaka Katchi (IJK),its ally since the 2014 LokSabha election and to field itsown candidates from the threeconstituencies. While the BJPhad allocated Aravakurichiconstituency to the IJK in the2016 Assembly election, theparty decided to field its owncandidate at the constituencythis time.

Election fromAravakurichi and Thanjavurwere deferred by the ElectionCommission following seizureof big quantity of cash andother gifts meant for distribu-tion among the voters of theseconstituencies. The AIADMKand the DMK were vying withone another in distributingcash to bribe the voters in theconstituencies which forcedthe Election Commission toshow “yellow card” to both theparties and defer the polling.

The AIADMK candidatewho was elected fromThiruparankundram inMadurai district passed awayeven before he was sworn in asMLA necessitating a byelectionfrom the constituency. Both theAIADMK and the DMK had

declared the names of candi-dates for the constituencies.

While the BJP decided toretain MS Ramalingam, an oldwar horse who is a RSS man forThanjavur, it nominated SPrabha and R Srinivasan for thebouts from Aravakurichi andThiruparankundram.

The BJP’s decision to fieldits own candidates from thethree constituencies is seen asa move by the party leadershipto go it alone as IJK standstainted. Pachamuthu, thefounder of the IJK has beenarrested on charges of cheatingand criminal intimidation andis out on bail after an incarceration of two weeks inPuzhal jail.

“We are contesting theelection all alone and there areno allies for us,” said TamilissaiSounderarajan, state BJP chiefwho is the daughter of KumariAnanthan, former TNCC pres-ident. H Raja, national secre-tary of the BJP too said this wasa new beginning for the partyas it is testing its strength with-out any outside support.

In an interesting develop-ment, MK Azhagiri theestranged son of DMK presi-dent M Karunanidhi called onhim on Friday. The meetingbetween the elder son andKarunanidhi lasted for onehour. The 93-year-oldKarunanidhi has been advisedrest by the team of doctorsattending to him following adrug allergy, said a source inthe DMK.

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This Diwali would be differ-ent for the largest political

family of India. SamajwadiParty chief Mulayam SinghYadav and several other fami-ly members are likely to skipDiwali festivities this time attheir native Saifai in Etawah.This will happen for the firsttime in several decades.

The SP chief 's residence inEtawah was recently recon-structed after razing the oldbuilding. While the new build-ing has been decorated, it willmiss the occupants this year.

SP sources said thatMulayam Singh’s cousin andrecently expelled SP leaderRam Gopal Yadav along withhis son and Ferozabad MPAkshay Yadav and other fami-ly members reached Etawah onFriday and are expected to staythere for the next five days.

The CM was expected toreach Etawah on Friday but islikely to skip his home town ashe is busy in preparating for

Vikas Rath Yatra, proposed totake off from Lucknow onNovember 3. Shivpal Yadav,presently in Delhi for holdingtalks with leaders of differentparties like Rashtriya Lok Dal,Janata Dal (United) and othersfor cobbling up a grand alliancein UP, is also likely to stay awayfrom Etawah this Diwali.

A SP leader said thatShivpal has nothing much leftto celebrate during the festivalthis year after being recentlydismissed from the Cabinetwith his brother and SP chiefdeclining to bail him out.

The SP first family headedby patriarch Mulaym SinghYadav used to gather in Saifaievery year during Holi andDeepawali to celebrate the fes-tivals together for the last sev-eral decades. This time, it’s dif-ferent with ties betweenMulayam Singh and RamGopal Yadav touching a newlow following Ram Gopal'sexpulsion from the party.

So is the relation betweenShivpal and his nephew

Akhilesh Yadav, who not onlytraded charges on the partyforum but didnot mind engag-ing in a scuffle on the dais dur-ing party legislators' meet inLcnknow on October 24.

A close family associateand Pradhan of Saifai, DarshanSingh Yadav said that it isunfortunate that the familywould break the decades-oldtradition that started in 1989,when Mulayam became CM forthe first time.

Even after Akhilesh becameCM in 2012, the family used toreach Saifai a day before the fes-tivities and celebrated it togeth-er. Though Shivpal and RamGopal have their separate hous-es in Etawah, the celebrationshave always been together.

Another close family asso-ciate Dr Akshya Yadav of SaifaiMedical University said, “Thesituation is different this timeafter Ram Gopal was sackedfromthe party and Shivpal fromthe Government. Hence, thefamily is almost on the verge ofsplit.”

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Reiterating its commitmentto build the Ram temple at

Ayodhya, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) saidthat it fully supported the causebut a final call will be taken bysaints in Dharam Sansad.

“We have always supported the agitation of thesaints. If they lead the agitationfor construction of a Ram temple, the RSS will supportthem,” Prant SanghchalakPrabhu Narain told reporters inLucknow on Friday.

Narain said that it is theduty of the Government toremove the obstacles so thatsaints could decide on the construction in their DharamSansad.

Supporting the CentralGovernment move over tripletalaq issue, the RSS leader wasof a firm view that Muslimwomen should get justice. “It is unfortunate that there is gender disparity which has ledto such a controversy,” he said.

Narain said that RSS ismaking all out effort to createa caste-less society. “We havegiven stress to Mandir, Paaniand Samsan (temple, waterand cremation ground) forremoving obstacles likeuntouchability from our soci-ety,” Prabhu Narain said.

The RSS ideologue further said that the RSS wasgoing forward in three ways tobring Dalits in the mainstreamof the society by holding ‘Sahaj Bhoj’, ‘Sahbhagita’ and‘Sahajata’.

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Welcoming the AllahabadHigh Court’s decision of

asking the UP Government todeclare dengue as an epidemic in the State, BahujanSamaj Party chief Mayawatiagain announced that her partywould probe all financial irregularities of the SPGovernment.

“Now Akhilesh Yadavshould work and declare theState as dengue-hit and leavebehind his family dispute sothat the people do not sufferfurther. It is unfortunate thatthe HC had to intervene in theState Government's working toprovide relief to suffering peo-ple,” she said.

After being rapped by theHC recently, the CM haddirected officials to launch acampaign in every district tocheck the disease. Mayawatisaid while the SP Government

has admitted 113 deaths due todengue across UP, unofficialstatistics put the death toll at analarming 219 in Lucknowalone.

In a statement released onFriday, Mayawati said that thedecision to hike honorarium ofpradhans and distribution ofsteel plates and glass with theCM’s photo and SP’s symbol onthem, the SP was violatingnorms. It has been done toinfluence voters before the2017 Assembly polls.

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Goa’s first and only womanChief Minister Shashikala

Kakodkar on Friday, died in thestate capital, following pro-longed illness.

In 1973,Kakodkar waselected as thesecond CM ofGoa, Damanand Diu, whichwas then aUnion Territory. She assumedcharge of the State after herfather Dayanand Bandodkar,founder of the MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party, died in office.

Popularly known as Tai,Kakodkar was elected again asCM in 1977, before she wasreplaced by Pratapsing Rane ina coup in 1979. Kakodkar’s laststint in the State Governmentwas as Education Minister in1990, during which she barredprimary schools, where themedium of instruction was inEnglish, from availing of grantsfrom the State EducationMinistry. The impact of thedecision, continues to be felt inthe State even now, with themedium of instruction contro-versy issue, featuring as one ofthe key poll planks for theupcoming 2017 State LegislativeAssembly polls.

Speaking to The Pioneer,CM Laxmikant Parsekar saidthat Tai, was one of the mostfrank politicians he had everencountered and that he used toseek advice for her every nowand then vis a vis State affairs.

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Lucknow: Showing disdaintowards Transport MinisterGayatri Prajapati, Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav refused to attenda programme to launch LohiaRural buses of UP State RoadTransport Corporation.

The function was earlier tobe inaugurated by Akhilesh at 5Kalidas Marg–the official resi-dence of the Chief Minister.The Department of Informationhad even issued a statement onOctober 26 declaring that theCM would inaugurate LohiaRural Bus service. However onThursday evening, a

Government statement said thatthe CM’s programme at 5,Kalidas Marg has been can-celled.

In the absence of ChiefMinister, Transport MinisterPrajapati inaugurated the LohiaGramin Bus service and flaggedoff a fleet of 30 buses.

Putting up a brave face,Prajapati said that the CM wasbusy with his prior engagementand hence could not flag off thebuses. The Minister also inau-gurated three new bus stands andlaid the foundation of four otherstands in the State.

Yadav was actually attendinga function at a village inMohanlalganj when Parajapatifagged off the bus service. Butsources said that earlier theMohanlalganj programme wasslated at 10 and 5, Kalidas Margfunction was around 12 noon.“There was enough time for theCM to attend both the pro-grammes,” he said.

Sources said that the LohiaRural Bus service was a pet pro-ject of Chief Minister and he hadasked former Transport minis-ter Yasir Shah to launch thescheme. PNS

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In a setback to Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah led Congress

Government in Karnatakawhich is in a holy hurry to con-struct a steel flyover, theNational Green Tribunalordered an interim injunctionof four weeks on this contro-versial project.

The tribunal seeks the Stateto file a detailed environmentalimpact assessment before goingahead with the work. Whilestaying the construction, theSouthern Bench of the NGT inChennai also issued notices tothe Bengaluru DevelopmentAuthority and Karnataka StatePollution Control Board. Thepetition was filed by the CitizenAction Forum. The petitionerclaimed before a Bench com-prising Justice MS Nambiarand expert member PS Rao thatthe project would result in the

felling of 800 trees. TwoBengalureans who petitionedthe NGT are N Mukund fromCitizen Action Forum and VBalasubramanyam, formerAdditional Chief Secretary inthe State.

The �1,791 crore steel fly-over project betweenBasaveshwara circle and Hebaalto connect the airport road bythe Bengaluru DevelopmentAuthority (BDA) has beenmired with controversies. Theproject strongly backed byChief Minister Siddaramaiahand Bengaluru DevelopmentMinister KJ George has beenfacing stiff resistance.

The order of the GreenTribunal comes the day afterBengaluru DevelopmentAuthority issued a letter ofacceptance to the contractorindicating that work couldbegin next week. The BDAproposes to construct a 6.72

kilometre long 6 lane steel fly-over.

Union Minister forStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation, DVSadananda Gowda, said that theKarnataka government shouldclear doubts of the public,which has been divided over themassive project.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Bengaluru he said "theState Government should clearall the doubts instead of becom-ing impatient over the opposi-tion to the proposed steel fly-over. Minister for BengaluruDevelopment and TownPlanning KJ George hadarranged a meeting to explainto me about the steel flyover. Ihad asked him to clear thedoubts such as cost escalation,ecology issues, toll and the fateof the amount paid as VAT”.

“I don’t know why the StateGovernment is silent on around

�200 crore included as a VATin the project cost. It should tellthe people of Bengaluru theamount would be paid to thestate government by the con-tractor of the project,”Sadananda Gowda added.

NGOs and other civilianshave been protesting against theconstruction of the flyover asthey believe that it will beharmful to the environment.The citizens had met GovernorVajubhai Rudabhai Vala seek-ing cancellation of the tender toLarsen & Toubro, who havebeen given the contract to con-struct the flyover.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, aRajya Sabha MP fromKarnataka who is protesting theconstruction of steel flyover saidthe order of the Tribunal opensthe door to a detailed scrutinyof the environmental impact ofGovernment’s action on thesteel flyover project

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In a major decision West Bengal ChiefMinister on Friday decided to set up five

medical colleges and three nursing collegesto fight of the yawning gap between the num-bers of medical staff and rising number of

patients in the State. Alarmed by the increas-ing number of Bengal patients rushing toSouth India or Delhi for treatment the deci-sion was taken in a high-level of the Healthand Family Welfare Department chaired bythe Chief Minister.

“The Medical Council of India will be

approached for permission to set up the fivemedical colleges in the State” a senior offi-cial quoting CM said. Apart from setting upmedical colleges, the Government has alsodecided to raise the retirement age of theGovernment doctors from existing 65 years,sources said.

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The gradual decline ofMarxism or for that matter

Gandhism in Bengal seems tohave brought Mamata Banerjeeand Sangh face to face.

No wonder why the RSShas strongly condemnedMamata Banerjee Governmentfor its alleged mollycoddling ofthe minorities and creating acommunal atmosphere in thename of secularism.

Chief Minister has retort-ed asking the people to remainon high alert against conspir-acies being hatched to createcommunal disturbance in theState.

“We want the people toremain on alert and not fall inthe communal traps being laidby a group of people. TheGovernment will not toleratefanning of any communalproblem in the State,” Banerjeeis known to have told senior

Trinamool Congress andGovernment functionaries.

Though Chief Ministerwould not name any particularoutfit or group she was quot-ed saying “there is a conspira-cy being hatched to divide thepeople of Bengal. Some peopleare involved in this nefariousactivity to reap political divi-dends even at the cost of richheritage of Bengal.”

Incidentally the Sangh hasdecided to undertake a six-month programme to sensitizethe people against the growingmenace of minoritism so to say.The saffron group has ques-tioned a senior BengalMinister’s statement to aPakistan media saying his con-stituency was “mini Pakistan.”

The group has also ques-tioned Chief Minister’s decisionto send a “rank communalperson responsible for a num-ber of communal riots toRajyaSabha.”

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Clashes and protests contin-ued in Kashmir Valley on

Friday even as the authoritiesdisallowed senior separatistleader Mirwaiz Umar Farooqto pursue his challenge to holdFriday’s congregational middayprayers at Jamia Masjid in oldSrinagar. Amid tight securityarrangements, the authoritiesdisallowed assembly of peopleat the central mosque locatedin the core of old Srinagar andthe prayers were not held forthe 15th consecutive Friday.

Mirwaiz, who is underhouse arrest at his Nigeenmansion in the outskirts ofSrinagar attempted to marchtowards the Jamia Masjidwhere he delivers weekly politi-co-religious sermon, but wasdetained by the police. The sep-aratists had asked the people tobreak siege to offer the Fridayprayers. The issue is taking asensitive turn with every pass-ing week.

The authorities imposedcurfew in six police station

areas to prevent the massivegathering of people in the his-toric mosque. Source said thatprotest rallies were held at var-ious places across the Valleyafter the culmination of Fridayprayers.

The police and paramili-taries resorted to tear-smokeshelling when a large numberof protesters attacked themwith stones in Preng Kanganarea of Ganderbal district.Protests sparked in LariKangan after police arrested ayoungster for his alleged

involvement in stone pelting.Reports of clashes also pouredin from several pockets ofnorth Kashmir’s Bandiporadistrict, Sopore town andPalhalan village in Pattan area.

The normal life continuedto remain hit in the Valley onthe 112th consecutive day fol-lowing the death of HizbulMujahideen commanderBurhan Wani on July 8 thattriggered spontaneous protestsacross the Valley.

The separatists are spear-heading the protests through

weekly calendars, which governthe movement of the people.The educational institutionsand the public transport havebeen worst hit due to the shut-down.

A police spokesman saidthat the situation remainedunder control throughoutKashmir. “In view of JamiaMasjid Chalo call given bysome separatist organisationsrestrictions were imposed as aprecautionary measure in someparts of Srinagar.

“After the Friday prayerssome stone pelting incidentswere reported from Srinagar,Pulwama, Kulgam and Sopore.At these places miscreants afterFriday prayers assembled andpelted stones on Police andsecurity force deployments.They were chased away. InPulwama, miscreants lobbed apetrol bomb on police andsecurity force deployment inPirchoo area. However, no onewas injured in this incident.Police has taken cognizance ofthe incident,” police said in astatement.

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Barely a day after Kerala’s Additional Chief Secretary(Finance) KM Abraham IAS complained to Chief

Minister Pinarayi Vijayan about a raid held by theVigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) at hispremises in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. The bureauon Friday raided the apartments of Tom Jose, anotherAdditional Chief Secretary, in a similar case and report-edly initiated action to freeze his bank accounts.

The apartments of Tom Jose, presently heading the StateLabour Department, in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuramand the residence of his wife at Irinjalakuda, came underVigilance raid and evidences of his disproportionate assetswere said to have been seized. The Vigilance had onWednesday filed an FIR against Jose, State president of theIAS officers’ association, at the Special Vigilance Court atMuvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.

Both Abraham and Jose are alleging that the Vigilance’smove against them is part of score-settling by its DirectorJacob Thomas IPS and this has led to speculations that anintense war is on among the IAS-IPS officers of the Statebut CM on Friday reasserted that his Government had fulltrust in the VACB chief and that he was not doing anythingthat was not appropriate for his position. “The allegationagainst me had been thoroughly looked into by earlier andthe case had been settled over two years ago. What is hap-pening now is a deliberately orchestrated move to humil-iate and insult me before the society. For that they aredepending on a petition filed by a Thiruvananthapuram-based person with criminal track record,” Jose, known asa senior bureaucrat close to former CM Chandy, said.

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�0��3�Mining conglomer-ate Vedanta Ltd on Friday post-ed 17 per cent rise in consolidatednet profit to �1,251.13 crore forthe September quarter on betteroperating performance and saidit is open to the idea of ventur-ing into the steel business.

The company had postedconsolidated net profit of�1,068.95 crore in the year-agoperiod.

These numbers are aftertaxes, minority interest and sharein jointly-controlled entities andassociates.

"Higher net profit is pri-marily driven by operating per-formance. So volumes and costare getting us higher EBITDAhelped along by better prices,"Vedanta President Finance andGroup CFO G R Arun Kumartold reporters here.

"So it is really the operatingperformance, its driving it all,"Kumar said.

However, the total incomedeclined to �18,029.76 crore forthe second quarter of the currentfiscal, from �18,898.27 crore inthe year-ago period.

Replying to a query, VedantaLtd Chief Executive Officer TomAlbanese said, "There will be infuture increased steel demand inIndia. So we would keep our eyes

open for the opportunities foradditional value added busi-nesses."

He further said: "I think inthe first instance we would liketo make sure that our iron orebusiness is strong and then wewill make sure that our existingvalue added business stays strongand then with that strength wecan consider other opportunitiesas well."

About the ongoing stress inthe steel sector, he said: "We aretrying to look around the corner.We are trying to envision a timewhen urbanisation picks up inIndia, when you see more gov-ernment spending on infra-structure...When you see basi-cally Indian families demandinghigher quality housing, when

your see basically more manu-facturing capacity developing inIndia.

"What will future India looklike if you have 8-9 per cent GDPgrowth over the next 10 years.That is going to be a huge steelconsumer," he said. Vedantasaid revenues in the secondquarter of thecurrent financialyear, 2016-17, were 4 per centlower y-o-y, on account of loweroil and copper prices, lower vol-umes at Zinc and Cairn India,partially offset by ramp-ups involume from the Power business.

EBITDA was up 8 per centon account of higher metalprices, improved cost efficienciesat aluminium business, lower dis-count to Brent, ramp up of vol-umes in the power business,

partially offset by lower volumesfrom Zinc India as per the mineplans and lower oil prices, it said.

"Depreciation was at similarlevels y-o-y. Higher depreciationon account of capitalisation ofnew capacities at the aluminiumand power businesses, was par-tially offset by lower depreciationcharge at Cairn India due tolower volumes, and closure of theLisheen mine in Q3 FY2016," itsaid.

As on September 30, 2016,gross debt marginally increasedby �275 crore during the quarterunder review to �66,794 crore.Net debt reduced by �2,259crore to �11,961 crore on accountof positive free cash flow.

On the merger of VedantaLtd and Cairn India Ltd, the min-ing major said that it is expect-ed to be completed by the firstquarter next year.

It said: "Shareholders ofVedanta Resources Plc, VedantaLtd and Cairn India Ltd and thesecured and unsecured creditorsof Vedanta Ltd have approved theScheme with requisite majority.The Scheme is now subject to theapproval of the jurisdictionalHigh Courts and other regulatoryapprovals."

The company said that the itsboard declared an interim divi-

dend of �1.75 per share. Theboard is expected to announce adividend policy at Vedanta Ltdthis fiscal year following com-pletion of the merger with CairnIndia. On the outlook on alu-minum business, Albanese said:"Wesee more and more alu-minum being produced atChina...When that material isexported from China its damp-ens the overall aluminum mar-ket and particularly dampens alu-minum premium. That has hada negative effect on our business."

"For our purposes in thiscurrent market environment wewill continue to ramp up our ownsmelter potlines," he said.

He further said that the ris-ing capacity of the aluminumproduction in China is one of thechallenges in the sector that willkeep the market under stress forthe next few years.

On the ongoing mines auc-tions in India, Albanese said thatmany of the leases that are beingauctioned are very small.

"I use the term postagestamp and if lease is too small insize its generally not capable ofhaving a large operation, he said,adding that there have beencases "were we chose not to bidbecause the lease were postagestamp size". ��

)��<"��?��"��@A��"��"��3�Gold and jewellery sales

were up 30 per cent thisDhanteras, with jewellers acrossthe country recording brisk busi-ness on the auspicious day on theback of favourbale price and agood monsoon.

Dhanteras is considered to bean auspicious day for buyinggold, silver and other valuablesand is largely celebrated in Northand West India.

PN Gadgil JewellersManaging Director SaurabhGadgil told the news agency thatgood monsoon, pent up demandof the first half of this year whichwas affected by jewellers' strike,stable gold prices and long week-end were mainly responsible forthe positive consumer demand.

World Gold Council (WGC)MD Somasundaram PR said,"The physical demand is goodwith good footfalls, which is 30-50 per cent more than last yearduring this Dhanteras.

"Consumers are back in themarket and retailers are all gearedup to meet this demand. The levelof activity only shows that thingshave come back to normal in tradeas well as at the consumer level,"he said.

PC Jewellers MD BalramGarg said, "We are seeing 20 percent jump in volume and 30 percent in value terms. The growthis higher in value terms as priceshave gone up in the last one year."

This is a conservative esti-mate, but sales could cross thislevel, he added. P C Jewellers hasaround 70 retail outlets acrossthe country.

Waman Hari Pethe JewellersDirector Aditya Pethe said look-ing at the footfalls the sales thisyear during the festivals arelikely to be 20 per cent morethan last year.

"The sales have picked upsince the last 15 days and we areexpecting 20 per cent growthcompared to last year. �30,000-35,000 ticket size is pushingmore this year, especially for

wearable jewellery. Marriage jewellery are also in

demand as the season will beginfrom December and this yearthere are more dates than lastyear," he added.

Gold prices today fell by�110 to �30,590 per 10 grams inthe national capital. However theprices were 16.6 per cent higherthan �26,230 on Dhanteras day in2015. Silver traded at �42,700 perkg as compared with �35,410 perkg last year.

Kalyan Jewellers ExecutiveDirector Ramesh Kalyanaramansaid, "The advance booking forjewellery is up by 20-25 per centcompared to last year."

"Prices are lower when com-pared to last two months. Pricesare more or less stable now andalso demand has revived in viewof the good monsoon," he said.

MMTC-PAMP IndiaPresident (Marketing) VipinRaina said, "There was robustdemand for gold and silver coinsas also bars this time as prices areat favourable levels."

"People are buying for invest-ment purpose. We expect 15-20per cent increase in sales fromover the last year," he added. ��

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India's first InternationalFinancial Services Centre

(IFSC) Gujarat InternationalFinance Tec-City popularlyknown as GIFT City achieved amajor milestone as the totalbusiness transactions by theoperational units here crossed alandmark of US $ 1 billion.

Prime Minister NarendraModi conceptualized andlaunched the GIFT project whenhe was Gujarat Chief Minister. Inorder to develop and implementthe project, Gujarat Governmentthrough its undertaking GujaratUrban Development CompanyLimited (GUDCL) andInfrastructure Leasing &Financial Services Limited(IL&FS) have established a 50:50joint venture company, "GujaratInternational Finance Tec-CityCompany Limited" (GIFTCL).

On the auspicious day ofDhan Teras, New IndiaAssurance Co. Ltd began itsoperation from country's firstIFSC. To mark the occasion, AjayPandey, Group CEO andManaging Director of GIFT citysaid that GIFT already crossedthe US$ 1 billion mark and withthe arrival of New India

Assurance it would host theinternational transactions fromthe insurance segment too. TheNew India Assurance IFSCInsurance Office (IIO) will be thefirst insurance player at thisglobal financial hub.

It is a proud moment for usas the vision of the PrimeMinister of India of makingGIFT a hub for InternationalFinancial Services is getting ful-filled, said Pandey.

Talking at a function, UnionMinister of State for finance andcorporate affairs, Arjun RamMeghval said that seven banksare already operating from GIFTand the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) is taking liberal view toattract another seven banks thatare operating their internation-al businesses from Dubai.

The function was attendedby Gujarat's deputy ChiefMinister Nitin Patel, New IndiaAssurance Company's CMD GSrinivasan and others.

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Government is keeping a"close watch" on the devel-

opments relating to Tata-Mistry case, but does not wantto "interfere" at present as itwas an "internal matter" of aprivate group, Ministry ofState for Corporate AffairsArjun Ram Meghwal said onFriday.

Meghwal, who is also aMinister of State for Finance,further said the Governmenthas not received any repre-sentation from regulatoryauthorities like Sebi about thisissue and would "take note" asand when Sebi asks it to lookinto the matter in future.

Tata Sons, the main hold-ing company of over $100-bil-lion conglomerate, earlier thisweek ousted Cyrus Mistryfrom the position ofChairman, while recalling hispredecessor Ratan Tata as aninterim Chairman.

This was followed byMistry unleashing a scathingattack on the group and RatanTata through a letter written tothe board of Tata Sons, whichhit back a day later and refut-ed all the allegations.

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Baghdad: The US military says Iraqi forces have retaken 40 vil-lages from the Islamic State group near Mosul since a massiveoperation to drive the militants from the city began last week.

US Air Force Brig Gen Matthew C Isler said today that Iraqitroops are consolidating gains made east and south of the cityearlier this week, but insisted “momentum” was still on their side.

The fight to retake Mosul, which fell to IS in a matter of daysin the summer of 2014, is the largest military operation under-taken in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion. Isler says the US-led coalition has stepped up airstrikes against the militants, andis carrying out three times as many as it did during previous cam-paigns to drive IS from other Iraqi cities. AP

Aleppo: Syria’s rebel groupsincluding the powerful Ahrar al-Sham faction and former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-ShamFront fired waves of rocketsinto government- held westernAleppo, killing at least 15 civil-ians, a monitor said. S y r i a nopposition fighters launched amajor assault on governmentforces to break a months-longsiege of rebel-held neighbour-hoods of the battered city ofAleppo.

The rebels also targeted gov-ernment positions east of Aleppocity and in the coastal provinceof Latakia, including theHmeimim military base that isused by Russian forces allied withthe regime. The assault comesmore than three months into agovernment siege of easternAleppo, where over 250,000people live, and several weeksafter the army began an opera-

tion to retake the rebel east.Rebel groups “announce the

start of the battle to break thesiege of Aleppo,” said Abu YusefMuhajir, a military commanderand spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham. The assault “will end theregime occupation of westernAleppo and break the siege onthe people trapped inside,” hetold AFP. “The breaking of thesiege is inevitable,” said Yasser al-Yusef, a member of the politicaloffice of the Nureddine al-Zinkirebel group.

“We will protect the civiliansand schools and hospitals fromRussian attacks and bring ourpeople food and medicine,” hesaid. The Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights, a Britain- basedmonitor, said at least 15 civilians,including two children, hadbeen killed, and more than 100wounded in rebel fire on west-ern Aleppo. AFP

Geneva: Islamic State groupfighters slaughtered at least232 people in and aroundMosul this week as Iraqi troopsadvanced on the city, the UNrights office said today.

“Last Wednesday 232 civil-ians were reportedly shot todeath. Of these there were 190former Iraqi Security Forcesofficers,” rights office spokes-woman Ravina Shamdasanitold reporters in Geneva.

“These reports have beencorroborated to the extent pos-sible,” she added, stressing thatthe number of people killed inrecent days could be higher.

Shamdasani said the exe-cution-style killings came as ISwas pushing forward with itsstrategy of forcing people liv-ing near the northern Iraqi cityinto Mosul, the group’s last bas-tion in Iraq. AFP

Karachi: In a case of honourkilling, a couple was shot deadon the orders of a tribal courtin this Pakistani city for elop-ing to marry.

Azmat, 30, and Irfana, 18were killed in the Shah Latiftownship on the outskirts ofKarachi on Wednesday, a policeofficer said. They had elopedand got married a year back.

“The couple was living inBanaras colony in Orangitown after getting married.Apparently few days back theirfamilies located them andconvinced them everythingwill be forgiven and they justhave to appear before a Jirga tosettle the matter,” the StationHouse Officer (SHO) of thearea said. PTI

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APhilippine mayor accused ofdrug trafficking was killed

along with nine bodyguards ina shoot-out with police onFriday, authorities said, hoursafter President Rodrigo Dutertethreatened to intensify his crack-down on crime.

Samsudin Dimaukom, themayor of the southern town ofSaudi Ampatuan, was one ofmore than 150 local govern-ment officials, judges andpolice identified by Duterteearlier this year as beinginvolved in the illegal drugtrade.

Dhaka: Bangladesh has arrest-ed more than 900 fishermenand deployed the army topatrol its waterways after intro-ducing a temporary ban oncatching hilsa in an effort tosave the hugely popular fish.

Some 60 percent of theworld’s hilsa are caught inBangladesh, but indiscrimi-nate fishing has depleted much

of the stock, driving up pricesand putting the fish beyond thereach of the poor.

Anyone caught catchinghilsa faces at least a year in jailunder a 22-day ban that beganon October 12, the start of thebreeding season. Armed forceshave been deployed to patrol7,000 square kilometres ofrivers. PTI

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AUN General Assemblycommittee on Thursday

voted to launch negotiations ona new treaty banning nuclearweapons despite fierce opposi-tion from the world’s nuclearpowers.

A resolution presented byAustria, Ireland, Mexico,Nigeria, South Africa andBrazil was adopted by a voteof 123 to 38, with 16 absten-tions, following weeks of lob-bying by the nuclear powersfor ‘no’ votes.

Bogota: Colombian PresidentJuan Manuel Santos postponedpeace talks with the ELN rebelsjust hours before they were dueto open, insisting they firstrelease an ex-lawmaker beingheld hostage. Santos said heremained committed to mak-ing peace but would not budgefrom his demand for the ELNto first free former congress-man Odin Sanchez “safe andsound”. The Government’s toppeace negotiator, Juan CamiloRestrepo, later said an opera-tion was under way for the left-ist guerrillas to hand Sanchezover to the Red Cross. AFP

London: Britain’s former primeminister Tony Blair said onFriday there was nothing pre-venting a second Brexit referen-dum and warned that the break-up would be “very, very tough”as European leaders were in anunforgiving mood.

He called on fellow“Remain” supporters to“mobilise and to organise”against proponents of Brexit,writing in The New Europeannewspaper that “we’re the insur-gents now”. “There is absolutelyno reason why we should closeoff any options,” he later told BBCradio. “We are entitled to carryon scrutinising, and, yes, if nec-essary, to change our minds. Thisis not about an elite overruling

the people.“If it becomes clear that this

is either a deal that doesn’t makeit worth our while leaving; or,alternatively, a deal that is goingto be so serious in its implicationsthat people decide they don’twant to go, there’s got to be someway, either through parliament,or through an election; possiblythrough another referendum,” headded.

Blair, who was PM from1997 to 2007, called Brexit as“catastrophe”, and revealed thathe had recently held talks withFrench President FrancoisHollande that had highlightedthe challenges Britain faces inupcoming negotiations to set theterms of the break-up . AFP

Quetta: Four suspectedLashkar-e-Jhangvi militantslinked to a deadly attack on apolice academy in Pakistan thatleft over 60 people dead havebeen killed by security forcesduring a raid.

The militants were killed ina exchange of fire with police inthe Hazarganj area.

Police officials said that thefour are believed to be from the

LEJ which is suspected of car-rying out the terrorist attack onthe police training centre inQuetta on Monday night inwhich 61 people, includingpolice cadets, and two armymen,were killed.

Deputy Inspector Generalof police of Balochistan RazzaqCheema said that the anti-ter-rorism department’s officersraided a compound on the out-

skirts of Quetta on an intelli-gence tip-off.

“There was a heavyexchange of fire in which fourmilitants were killed and threepolice off icials injured,”Cheema said. He, however,declined to comment onwhether the killed terroristsbelonged to the LEJ and saidinvestigations were going on toverify their identities. PTI

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Melbourne: In a horrific inci-dent, a 29-year- old Indian-ori-gin bus driver was todayburned to death when a manpoured some flammable liquidon him in front of severalshocked passengers inAustralia’s Brisbane city, policesaid.

Manmeet Alisher, a well-known singer in the Punjabicommunity, was driving aBrisbane City Council buswhen he was targeted by theman who threw an “incendiarydevice” at him which sparkeda fire.

Alisher died on the spotwhile several passengers onboard the bus at the time man-

aged to escape through the reardoor, said police in Brisbane,the capital of Queensland.

Six persons were rushed toa nearby hospital for smokeinhalation and minor injuries,they said.

Police said there was “noapparent motive” includingterror or race related.

A 48-year-old man wastaken into custody over theincident.

Detectives from SouthBrisbane district and the statecrime command’s homicidegroup have commenced ahomicide investigation, PoliceCommissioner Ian Stewartsaid. PTI

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US Vice President Joe Bidenmay well be the top choice

of Hillary Clinton for the keypost of Secretary of Stateshould she win the WhiteHouse race, a media report saidon Friday, citing “a sourcefamiliar with the planning”said to be under way inClinton’s transition team.

A seasoned politician whohas been a Senator for 36 yearsincluding a stint as chairman ofthe influential Senate ForeignRelations Committee beforehis eight-year tenure as VicePresident, Biden is “at the topof the internal short list” beingprepared by her transitionteam, Politico reported.

“Neither Clinton, nor heraides have yet told Biden,” thereport said, citing the samesource as noting: “He’d begreat, and they are spending alot of time figuring out the bestway to try to persuade him todo it if she wins.”

There has been no officialreaction yet from the Clinton

campaign to the report.Biden could have been a

rival for Clinton in theDemocratic presidential pri-maries, but he put an end to allspeculation by announcing inOctober 2015 that he wouldnot be running, giving a furtherboost to Clinton’s bid.

Apart from Biden, theClinton team is reported tohave considered several othernames for the top diplomaticposition including formerUndersecretary of State WendySherman, former DeputySecretary of State Bill Burns,former Under Secretary ofState Nick Burns, and StrobeTalbott, the Deputy Secretary ofState during President BillClinton’s first term.

Clinton continues to beahead in most polls, but herlead has significantly reducedin recent days. It is now downto 4.5 per cent (45.1 to 40.6) inthe RealClearPolitics average of10 national polls. Also, sever-al battleground States are in thetoss-up category, but these arereckoned to pose a stiffer chal-lenge for Donald Trump.

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From a specialist batsman to someonewhose off-breaks are proving to be more thanhandy, Kedar Jadhav believes that the key tohis transformation is accepting challengesand knowing how to overcome it.

Jadhav has bowled 18 overs in four gamestaking six wickets for 73 runs at a decenteconomy rate of 4.05.

"It's all about taking this responsibilityand accepting the challenge that comes at youand then, coming out of the challenge suc-cessfully," Jadhav said on the eve of their fifthand final onedayer against New Zealand.

Jadhav, who's playing in place of an indis-posed Suresh Raina, bowled for the first timein international cricket when MS Dhoni gavehim the ball ahead of the regular spin duoof Axar Patel and Amit Mishra on a seam-ing Dharamsala track in the first one-dayer.

"Here, you need to contribute if the cap-tain is asking you to bowl (some) overs. Youdon't have to bowl (just) as a part-timebowler. You need to take the responsibilitywith the ball or bat," Jadhav said.

"I guess when you play for India, youhave to contribute in every possible way you

can. While playing in the IPL, I do that withwicketkeeping -- by contributing ratherthan batting," Jadhav said.

Jadhav said he varies his action accord-ing to the batsman so as to make it difficultto read.

"It's both - a bit of my action and the paceI vary according to the batsmen that makesit difficult (for them) to read I guess. Mahibhai asked me to bowl. Obviously Mahiwants a few bowlers from the top five or sixbatsmen to bowl at least 4-5 overs. If a bowlerhas a bad day, it helps (the team) you know."

Jadhav who got out for a duck in the

fourth ODI in Ranchi is yet to click as a bats-man and he said he's to learn quickly.Youngster Manish Pandey too is missingamong runs and Jadhav said they would haveto get into their act soon.

"Obviously, the opportunity has beenmissed, especially in the last game. But it'sstill early stages for Manish (Pandey) and me.We need to grab whatever opportunity isthrown at us. We need to learn quickly fromthe opportunities we have missed. That'swhat international cricket is all about -- deliv-ering when it matters most to the team."

An attacking middle-order batsman,Jadhav who came into the limelight with a29-ball-50 for Delhi Daredevils on his IPLdebut, also spoke about his favourite sweepshot.

"Sweep is a natural shot to me. It's mystrength. If a spinner is bowling to my padsin the middle overs and when you don'twanna take too many high-risk shots.

"That's the shot which you can take whenthe bowler tries to bowl outside the leg stumpor off stump. You can paddle it out becausewe have 4 fielders on the leg side and behindthe square, you have only one (fielder). If youpass that fielder, you get a sure-shot bound-ary. It's a good shot to play when the bowlers

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Having turned the tables after ashoddy show in the Test series,

New Zealand speedster TimSouthee is confident that the BlackCaps will be scripting history bywinning their first ever bilateralODI series in India. "I think theguys are pretty excited to do whatno other NZ side has ever donebefore -- come over here and win aone-day series. The excitement inthe group is very high," the NewZealand pacer said on the eve of theseries decider.

India-New Zealand bilateralrivalry dates back to 1988 when theDilip Vengsarkar-led team made aclean 4-0 sweep against John Wrightand Co. In 1995, Azharuddin'sIndian team won 3-2, and four yearslater a Tendulkar-led team producedan identical result. Their worstdefeat has been in 2010 whenGautam Gambhir led India to a 5-0 rout against Ross Taylor and Co.

"Everyone is really looking for-ward to tomorrow. It's been a longtour for some guys and it'll be niceto finish what's been a tough touron a high note," Southee added.

The biggest takeaway fromtheir 19-run Ranchi win was KaneWilliamson's assessment to read theconditions perfectly as the Kiwiskipper picked three spinners on asurface that surprisingly behavedslow. "I think it's just the commu-nication. From the batters spentsome town in the middle and whatthey find tough they feed thatinformation to the bowlers,"Southee explained the reason.

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Gautam Gambhir kept himself inthe hunt for a place in the Indian

team's first XI against England in thefirst Test starting November 9 by hit-ting patient 147 helping Delhi take asubstancial first innings lead in theRanji Trophy group B encounter hereon Friday.

After bowling out Odisha for 237in the first innings, Delhi rode on skip-per Gambhir's 39th first-class ton toreach 351 for seven at stumps on thesecond day thereby taking a 114-runlead.

Gambhir faced 232 balls hitting 18fours in the process. He showed a lotof patience, waiting for the loosedeliveries. He played some attractiveshots square of the wicket as well as in-front.

He used his feet to good effectagainst spin duo of left-arm slowbowler Dhiraj Singh and off-spinnerGobind Poddar.

The other significant contributorwas Rishabh Pant, who smashed his

way to a quickfire 60 off 56 balls com-prising six boundaries and two sixes.

Delhi 1st Innings 351/7 (GautamGambhir 147, Rishabh Pant 60, DhirajSingh 3/61, Dhiraj Singh 2/65).

�F�0��DHARAMSALA: Bengal main-

tained their stranglehold over Railwaysby extending their lead to 308 runsduring yet another day dominated by

seam bowlers in a Ranji Trophy groupA league encounter.

On a track where stroke-makinghas been difficult throughout, Railwaysmay find a 300-plus target pretty dif-ficult to chase down.

After 14 wickets fell on Day 1, thesecond day saw 15 wickets falling withRailways being skittled out for 105 intheir first innings conceding exactly100-run lead.

Ashok Dinda scalped 5 for 45 in14 overs which is now his 19th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. AmitKuila and Sayan Ghosh picked up 2and 3 wickets respectively.

Bengal in their second inningsfared marginally better as they endedthe proceedings at 208 for 9 withseamers Karan Thakur (3/39), DeepakBansal (3/40) and Amit Mishra (2/62)sharing the bulk of the spoils.

��MUMBAI: Seasoned batsman RobinUthappa slammed a strokefulunbeaten century along withyounger teammate Karun Nair andrallied Karnataka from a poor startagainst Assam on day two of theGroup B Ranji Trophy tie on Friday.The third wicket duo, who joinedforces at the fall of Mayank Agarwaland R Samarth with only 4 on theboard, compiled a 219-run stand toremain unbeaten at stumps in ateam total of 223/2, still 102 runsadrift of Assam's first innings tallyof 325 at Bandra’s local stadium.

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Opener Tamim Iqbal hit 104 but Bangladeshsquandered a chance to take control against

England on Friday on the opening day of the sec-ond test.

Bangladesh lost ninewickets for 49 runs to bebowled out for 220. Thehosts then bowled well torestrict England to 50-3before the rain brought apremature end to the day.

Offspinner Moeen Aliclaimed 5-57, his secondfive-wicket haul, to sparkthe collapse.

Iqbal lifted his sidefrom 1-1 by combining for a 170-run partnershipwith Mominul Haque, who made 66.

Ali, aided by fast bowlers Chris Woakes' 3-30and Ben Stokes' 2-13, stalled Bangladesh's progress.

At stumps, Joe Root was batting on 15, withAli on 2. Earlier, Ben Duckett hinted to a rousingstart by inviting Shakib for six in the second overbut he stunned Duckett just four balls later with asharp turn.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni's lead-ership as well as finishingskills will be put through a

stern test when an inconsistentIndia take on a rejuvenated

New Zealand in the series-deciding fifth and final

cricket ODI, here onSaturday.

With the serieslocked at 2-2, Dhoni andhis men will be eager toclinch the issue whilehistory beckons Kane

Williamson's men as theyhave a glorious opportuni-ty to taste their maidensuccess in a bilateral ODI

rubber.The only thing that can

play spoilsport is the cyclonethreat which can lead to completewashout.

While Dhoni's captaincy may notbe under immediate threat but aseries loss against New Zealand willcertainly raise questions about 'CaptainCool's' ability to marshall his resourcesafter his much-publicised admission ofbeing unable to rotate strike lowerdown the order.

Under Dhoni, India lost threeODI series -- 1-2 against Bangladeshin Bangladesh, 1-4 against AustraliaDown Under and 2-3 at home againstSouth Africa. The only ODI series vic-tory in the last 18 months has beenagainst a lowly Zimbabwe.

Away from home for four monthsspanning two continents, NewZealand's only success was a 2-0 winagainst a lowly Zimbabwe, followingwhich they drew South Africa 1-1before being whitewashed 0-3 byIndia in the Tests.

Their ODI campaign started off ona sour note in Dharamasala but somestrong batting performances by skip-per Kane Williamson and MartinGuptill in Delhi and Ranchi respec-tively have managed to catch India offguard and level the five-match series2-2.

That they have never won againstIndia in four bilateral contests since1988 will be a big motivation for theBlack Caps to buck the trend andreturn home with an act of redemp-tion.

Weather permitting, a tantalisingfinish is on the cards as India would

be equally hungry for success at the DrYS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCACricket Stadium, a venue where theyboast of a 4-1 record.

Their last win has been against SriLanka, a 5-0 whitewash way back inNovember-2014 and an under-fireDhoni would not want another seriesloss at the fag end of his career.

The world No.4 India have justthree more ODIs, against England,ahead of the coveted ChampionsTrophy in June next year and it wouldbe an opportunity for Dhoni to givethem a boost against a team which isranked a notch higher.

The over-reliance on Virat Kohlihas also been evident during theseries as Indian Test captain was theprime performer in both victories dur-ing the first four matches so far.

With their opening pair of RohitSharma and Ajinkya Rahane yet toprovide a much-needed solid start,India's batting is centred around theirno 1 batsman Kohli.

Consider this, India's both thewins of the series had Kohli anchor thechase be it the 85 not out in a low-scor-ing chase in Dharamsala, or his majes-tic unbeaten 154 that hunted downNew Zealand's challenging 285 inMohali.

Chasing a modest 261 in thefourth ODI in Ranchi, Rahanereturned to form with a half-centurywhile Kohli looked in full flow on aslow wicket but both failed to converttheir starts, and it was a familiar storyfor the inexperienced middle-order.

Failure or not, Indian fabled open-er Sharma has been a permanentmember of the line-up with Dhoniseeming to be in no mood to giveyoungsters the chance and MandeepSingh is seen warming the bench.

Sharma's last big knock came inAustralia, and it's been more than ninemonths he's yet to score a century ineither longer or shorter format. Hisscores in the ongoing series read 14,15, 13 and 11, something that is hurt-ing India's cause more than anythingelse.

It's high time that the world recordholder for ODI individual score of 264return to form in the most-importantmatch of the series, and at his moth-er's home town he would hope to makeit special.

It's the same venue where Dhonihad got instant stardom with his fiery123-ball 148 to take India to a huge

356/9 in their 58-run win over Pakistanin the first match of the venue.

The Dhoni special had come bat-ting at no 3. The Indian skipper maynot be like the old 'Dhoni' but havingpromoted to no 4 in Mohali where hescored a 91-ball 80 his intentions areright, if not his reflexes.

Following up with his brillianthalf-century, Dhoni disappointed hishome crowd with a 31-ball 11 beforebeing cleaned up by James Neesham,and missing the line completely.

In his heyday, he would have dis-patched it for six but Dhoni is strug-gling to get back to his old rhythm.

He has also made a stunning rev-elation of 'losing ability' to freelyrotate in the middle as to expect aDhoni special would be like expectinga youngster to finish a chase.

As for bowling, India have donereasonably well, especially the spin trioof Amit Mishra, Axar Patel and part-timer Kedar Jadhav who have ensuredthat they have not missed the regulars,R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

On pace front, India would hopethat Jasprit Bumrah who was indis-posed and was replaced by a lacklus-tre Dhawal Kulkarni returns to full fit-ness.

Opener Martin Guptill's return toform in Ranchi to go with the consis-tency of Tom Latham who has fivehalfcenturies from seven matches,combined Tests and ODIs, on the tourwill give New Zealand a massiveadvantage up front.

Skipper Williamson at number 3too has been consistent but it's theirmiddle order who has often fritteredaway good starts, be it in Ranchi wherethey were on course for 300 or in theprevious ODIs.

With conditions overcast, the lastthing India would want is a wash-out.Despite weakening, cyclone Kyantand has gone further down south,there's forecast of localised downpoursas both the teams will keep their fin-gers crossed.

The venue is slated to host itsmaiden Test in less than a month'stime, when India take on Englandfrom November 17.

As a matter of fact, around thesame time Visakhapatnam was ravagedby cyclone Hudhud and the scheduledlast One Day International herebetween India and West Indies wascancelled without a ball bowled onOctober 14, 2014.

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Life is hard. Whether it is trouble with family,friends, your workplace, or perhaps, the inabil-ity to even find employment - there are many

factors that contribute to making our lives that muchmore difficult to deal with. Fortunately, there are smallways to embrace the very precious things in our dailylives that we sometimes forget to enjoy.

Feel the present moment, find its significancein your life thanks to almighty for giving you such abeautiful moment. Always value simplicity as sim-pler the things are the less distracted we will be. Thismeans we need to de-clutter our environment andour minds. For some reason we seem to accumu-late physical, mental and emotional clutter. So we endup rushing from one demanding situation to anoth-er with no real feeling of enjoyment or accomplish-ment. To quiet our minds and restore a sense of orderto our lives we need to value simplicity.

There are almost endless opportunities to con-tribute to the lives of others. Any act of kindness isan act of generosity. Smile at strangers, hold the dooropen for the person behind you, listen while some-one else is talking, and be respectful. These simpleacts of kindness don't cost you anything, but they addenjoyment to your life and the lives of those aroundyou.

Focusing on gratitude will change your life onevery level. It is so easy to get caught up in selfish pur-suits and forget how much there is to be grateful for.Gratitude is the antidote for selfishness. If you takea minute every morning and every evening to reviewyour blessings, you will start to notice more and morethings to be grateful for. Of all the ways to get moreenjoyment out of every day, this is the simplest andthe most powerful. If you only put one thing fromthis list into action in your life, this should be it.

Life is an ever-changing experience and thatmeans that we need to re-evaluate our priorities ona regular basis. Make sure you know what is trulyimportant to you, and why. Give your top prioritiesfirst place in your life or they will get swallowed upby everything else. Everyone you know probably hasan opinion about what should be important to you.Keep in mind that this is your life and you need to

set your own priorities. Choose wisely and you toowill find enjoyment in your everyday life.

Other people will always be on hand to offer uptheir opinions and advice. Ultimately, however, it'swe, and we alone, that have to live with the conse-quences of our decisions.

Making time to relax and reconnect with our-selves leaves us better equipped to deal with morechallenging periods. It's all too easy to get sucked intopublic drama, online and offline. Trust that if some-thing important happens, you'll know about it.Otherwise, save yourself energy and spend your timeon something more worthwhile.

New places and cultures offer a different perspec-tive on the world and add a healthy dose of inspira-tion and possibility to our lives. Whenever you thinkof something you'd like to try, or a place you'd liketo visit, write it down and keep a collection. It keeps

the dream alive and stops it fizzling out as a forgot-ten thought.

Commit to trying a certain number of items fromyour wish list each year to make sure they don't juststay as wishes. It's experiences, not possessions, thatcreate memories and meaning.

It's easy to get to the end of a day and wonderwhere all the time went, so track how you spend yourtime in an average week. When we're conscious ofhow we're spending our hours, we can make the mostof the time we have on this planet.

We've never had so many opportunities to cre-ate a lifestyle that we truly love, yet many of us stilllive life on autopilot. Be deliberate in your life choic-es: remember that it's your life and no-one else's.

The more self-aware and self-accepting we are,the happier we are. Make time to read personal devel-opment books, journal, and focus on being compas-

sionate towards yourself. A key part of enjoying lifeis accepting that we're not going to feel 100% happy100% of the time. During the more challenging times,remember that life is one big cycle of ups and downs,and remember that all feelings pass.

Many of us find it challenging to enjoy a calm,"normal" life. Give yourself permission to enjoy adrama-free existence and focus on finding pleasurein your daily experiences.

Noticing how we feel and what's around us rightnow is an effective way of getting out of our heads,detaching from our worries, and returning to theexperience of what it's truly like to be alive.

Feel the wind on your face, the sun on your skin,and enjoy a good dose of Vitamin D and fresh air.

When we hold back our thoughts, opinions, anddesires out of fear of displeasing others, we're not beingtrue to ourselves. Speak up and feel uncomfortablein the short-term and you'll enjoy life more in thelong-term.Find enjoyment through a sense of purpose and make time to explore subjects that interestyou. After all, you never know where your interestmight lead!

When we can feel compassion for ourselves andcompassion for others, even difficult situationsbecome rewarding and, ultimately, more enjoyable.

You can find that skill again with just a little bitof practice. Think of your free time as time you canbe using to play. Do something goofy or engage insome funny child-like behavior. It's especially fun ifyou find another person who will do it along withyou.

Sit down and think about all the things you havegoing for you. Write them all down if you have to dothat. It's amazing how many things people have tobe appreciative about, but still fret over one or twothings they don't have.

Appreciate all you have in life; you always havemore than you think it's even better to go beyond thatand simply appreciate life itself. It's hard to enjoy eachday until you're thankful for what you have.

Life is too short to feel miserable on a day-to-daybasis. Everyone should be able to wake up and feeld for what the day has in store for them.

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“When I was a kid, Iwas a little con-scious because I

think people just look at you ina different way. They think thatshe is born with silver spoonand she has got everythingmade for her. This is not true atall. Sometimes it is a disadvan-tage because you always have toprove much more to peoplethan what I may have had, hadI not been from this back-ground,” said princess DiyaKumari of Jaipur.

But now she enjoys the sta-tus and is proud of what she is.

“I am not conscious any-more. I am really proud of myfamily and everything that Ihave today, I owe it to them. Iam proud of reinventing a royallegacy,” she said.

Diya is known for revivingthe textiles and she also man-ages the family heritage, whichincludes City Palace, Jaipur(her royal residence), JaigarhFort, Amber and two trusts,Maharaja Sawai Man Singh IIMuseum Trust, Jaipur and theJaigarh Public Charitable Trust.

“I was always interested intextile. We have a museumwherein we have many old tex-tiles and garments that arepassed on from generations. Wehave always been involved inrestoring and conserving them.So that is where my interest intextiles came from and Ithought if we contemporisedtraditional skills we could revivelost glory. We have a museumshop in city palace too. We workwith a lot of craftsmen. I alsohave a foundation where wework for women, we teach themdyeing techniques and embroi-deries and other things.”

Being the only child whohas been personally groomed byher grandmother Rajmata

Gayatri Devi, she is often com-pared with her for her fashionsense.

Talking about her style shesaid, “Personally I like to besimple. I don’t like complicat-ed dressing. I think you shouldbe comfortable and confidentin what you are wearing. That’swhere it all ends and begins.You need to be a good personand be connected to your soul.”

She feels that educationplays a vital role in transform-ing both individual lives andthe entire society and thereforeshe took initiative in establish-ing two prestigious education-al institutes in Jaipur, ThePalace School and MaharajaSawai Bhawani Singh School.She is also engaged in the man-agement of the three PalaceHotels.

“We have started two co-edschools which are upto 12thstandard. I am actively involvedin these but not as much now asI used to be because I am in pol-itics and keep busy with that aswell. I started it when my kidswere ready to go to school thattime. So it is over 15 years agoand I was looking for a school

for them and I thought wehave everything available here,why not start it here itself. Ithink it’s very important togive the right kind of educationand to at least do your bit.”

Diya mentioned that eversince she entered politics, bal-ancing time has been a constantchallenge.

“It’s not so easy to managetime and I don’t think I amdoing a great job with timemanagement. You have to bal-ance everything. I try to balancemy family, politics and every-thing. I try to spend as muchtime as I can with my kids. Myeldest son, Padmanabh, isstudying in England, while mydaughter Gauravi is at MayoCollege in Ajmer. Our youngestson, Lakshraj, is with us in

Jaipur. It’s a different day everyday. I wake up and go to officeat home for a couple of hours.And then I leave for my politi-cal office which is not in myhouse. After that I come forlunch, which is quite late butthat’s the time when my soncomes home. So I spend thattime with him. Then again I goback to office. And then whenI come back home, I don’t liketo socialise much but then weget a lot of guests. Jaipur beingsuch a popular tourist destina-tion, everyone keeps visiting.We get a lot of guests everyevening which is nice in a way.This is how heritag can be keptalive.”

Recently she inauguratedthe flagship store of KanwaraniJaykirti Singh.

Many gleamingpieces of jew-

ellery line the racks ata boutique store. Asthey took form, fromraw material to finely-finished understatedjewellery, these piecesleft behind a trail ofbroken stones - theresult of obsessive experimentation.“We tried a lot of new cuts, someworked, some didn’t, and quite a fewstones broke in the process. My stonecutters aren’t really fond of me,”smiles jewellery designer SangeetaDewan.

A chat with Sangeeta, the womanbehind the designing of Krnsa collec-tion under one of the India’s premierediamond boutique jewellery brandZoya, is punctuated with giggles andlaughter as she talks about her jour-ney so far.

Born in an army family, she spenther childhood traveling all over India.“The more I saw of India’s extraordi-nary culture, the more fascinated I waswith my country’s heritage. I believemy childhood has helped me devel-op my sense of style, aesthetics and anoverall openness to design. I captureinspiration from travel, stories, myths,legends, cultures around the world, art,sculpture etc, which strongly helps mein my design processes and philoso-phy. My designs tell a story to itspatrons; a story of its inspiration; itsjourney and its creation,” says thedesigner. Talking further about her lat-est collection for this festive season, sheadds, “The Krnsa collection is inspir-

ing in itself and has a lot ofpotential for great design ideasto develop. We have drawninspiration from Indian mythol-ogy and popular legends thatsurround this beloved deity. Thepicturesque images and ele-ments of the Crown ofKrishna - the peacock feath-er, the matki, the bansuri, floraof Gokul, his divine love forRadha, Govardhan Parvat,Sudarshan Chakra, Krishna’s chariotand the Geeta Updesh; all of whichserve as creative inspirations andmade us choose Krishna as the heartof our new collection.”

When asked if she always aspiredto be a jewellery designer, she musesand says, “I have always been passion-ate about art and craft, and my inter-est in precious jewellery took focus atthe end of my stint at NIFT (NationalInstitute of Fashion Technology). I lovethe technical and intricate detailingabout designing which drove me toenter the industry.” Her designs cele-brate the most adored incarnation ofVishnu that is Krishna. While her col-lection ranges from rock chic andfunky to traditional and include stuffthat can be worn for a party, a board-

room meeting, a wedding oreven for Diwali.

Each of her designerpieces has hand-paintedenamel strokes which are notonly delicate but artisticallycrafted to showcase theexquisite nature of the col-lection. “This unique fea-ture is well received by ourcustomers. The craft palette

features the technique ofpainting enamel along with champlevéenamel in its rich Indian avatar andpartaj engraving along with glitteringpolki in 24 carat kundan setting. Theelaborate and delicate enamel paint-ings have been first designed on atablet with a stylus before giving it tothe artist for final painting. Computeraided manufacturing, rapid prototyping, gold casting and modern dia-mond setting, are some of the othercontemporary techniques executed byour master craftsmen. We havefocused on the story of Krishna andshowcased it in an unique, abstractand contemporary forms,” she smiles.The collection witnesses a gamut ofvibrant colours such as turquoise, var-ied hues of blue and emerald greens,crafted in gorgeous enamel work

with exquisite polkis, diamonds andprecious stones.

Describing a statement pendantfrom her collection, she says candid-ly, “The pendant depicts a beautifulpainting of Krishna playing thebansuri. The back of the pendant isintricately engraved and a nano goldelement with the entire BhagwatGeeta is embedded in the center, mak-ing it a very distinctive combinationof ancient craft and modern technol-ogy blended together in a singletheme.”

She doesn’t have a favourite pieceof jewellery, she says, so I ask abouther favourite design moments. “All ofthem,” she says, looking as if the ques-tion was incomprehensible. Theremust have been a favourite design youadmire, I persist. She thinks a little andthen says, “The Arachne pendant frommy Greece collection. The reasonbeing its versatility, it can be worn withboth Indian and western ensembles.The pendant is inspired by the Greekgoddess Arachne and is made up of18 carat gold with special cut turquoisestones. It is an excellent way of mak-ing a stunning style statement and canbe adorned with formal as well asinformal looks.”

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Ritu Beri’s latest Khadi collec-tion celebrated India’s

national fabric, Khadi. It consist-ed of Indo-western silhouettesand reflects Indian charm witha fresh flavour. Beri tried to giveKhadi a global image, by givingthe fabric a modern twist, insteadof restricting it to the image ofyesteryears.

The silhouettes were a mix ofour rich tradition with a contem-porary look.

The collection is about easydressing - essentially an eclecticblend of ghagras, salwars, chogalike jackets and easy to wear tops.Interesting details and mix ofappliqué as well as unusualembroideries constituted thisversatile collection for today’swoman.

The color palette rangedfrom whites to pastels, metallicto blacks enabling the freedom tocreate one’s own chromatic world

of fantasy.Ritu Beri launched the exclu-

sive collection for men andwomen at her studio in SainikFarms, in the presence ofMeenakshi Lekhi.

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Steinerová takes two hours toget dressed up in a long frock,wears heavy ear studs and ties

up her hair on top before each per-formance. With this style, domi-nated by her music, she recreatesa period of swing music on stagewhile her friend pianist JiriRuzicka gives the desirablerhythm in jazz.

The musicians from CzechRepublic, renamed recently asCzechia, believe that their musicreflects the politics of the coun-try. “Of course it is connected tothe politics of our country. Swingmusic has its roots in the late1920s. So it is definitely connect-ed to politics. Many people noware just imaginative, especiallyconsidering the music that exist-ed decades ago. During theSecond World War, people werenot allowed to dance. Even some

songs were prohibited. Swing isthe music that existed in the coun-tries of the region at that timewhich were later liberated from theUnions or renamed. It is alsoinfluenced by pop music,”Steinerová says.

The musicians say that theylove the music of that time, whichhas evolved over the years, and isstill playing it. They presented amusical repertoire at the TajHotel in the capital city lately atIn the Swing of Things, a culturalcollaboration with the Embassy ofthe Czech Republic in India.

Steinerová really does magicon stage, taking too many thingsfrom the musical kitty, withoutlosing the tempo that charms theaudience at the same time. “Beinga swing musician is like handling10 jobs at a time. It is tough as youhave to sing, act and dance

together on stage. It is everythingtogether,” Steinerová laughs as sheenjoys the task.

A form of US music, swinguses a strong rhythm of doublebass and drums. “We used to playit with instrumentalists. Here inDelhi, me and Steinerová had tomanage alone,” says Ruzicka. Thequick-witted teases Steinerovásaying that it takes only five or sixseconds for him to get dressed upwhile she takes two hours.

The duo say that every timethey come out with somethingdifferent, which is possible forswing and jazz. When askedabout how they manage it,Ruzicka says, “It is a technique.We remain as ourselves for themoment. We do not think aboutwhat we had done yesterday orwhat we would play tomorrow.We do not think about anything

else. We are just focused.”“In pop or rock music, peo-

ple love to listen to the same songand in the same way, in Swing, wecan play a song in differentrhythms at a moment or duringdifferent moments of the song. It’sbetween us and the rhythm we feeland how we communicate whileon stage. We need to communicate,we need to play together,” he con-cludes.

From Ostrava, north-east ofthe Czech Republic, 30-year-oldKaterina has been serving as amusical actress, swing singer,lecturer of swing and tap dance atthe Zig Zag Tap and Swing DanceStudio in Prague. Her focus is onswing repertoire fromCzechoslovakia. She performs inCzech as well as in English.

The milestone of her journeywas the release of the vinyl record

album – “I love Peggy Lee” withRuzicka and other leading Czechjazz musician Svatoborem.“While we were doing the work,it was tedious. Now as it has beendone, it is a great pleasure towatch it,” she says.

Ruzicka’s entry to the musi-cal world was delayed. He was ateacher in an Elementary school.“But my passion for music beganin my teenage days and later Idecided to take it up as my job,”says the musician who is popularfor his soul-stirring harmonies.The musicians take full liberty ofthe kind of music they play andare super cool to invite the audi-ence to be in close contact withthem. “They can react, cry or doanything possible because we arecreating the right atmospherefor them,” they laugh as if enjoy-ing the moment in front of them.

Priyanka Chopra, who has attainedglobal acclaim after her titular role in

American crime series Quantico, recent-ly spilled the beans about the second sea-son of the series. Chopra plays the for-midable Alex Parish in the series whereshe fights the bad guys, speaks the lan-guage in their accent, and fits the bill ofthe half-Indian half-American with ease.Talking about the show, she revealed,“Alex and a very important characterfrom season one are going to be workingagainst each other and what happenswhen Alex and someone who is closestto her are at loggerheads. It will be veryinteresting to find out.”

The first season of the crime dramacame out last year and gained muchappreciation from the critics and view-ers alike. Priyanka spoke about Alex andRyan’s pairing and said that the couple isnow mature. “They are my favourite pair.They have had a relationship which is sosolid for a long time now that it doesn’tjust break because of a thing or two. In

the last season they were juvenile, theybroke like many times. This time youknow they are engaged and they are tak-ing their engaged relationship reallyseriously,” she added.

Chopra said, Alex in this season is

confused at the CIA. “She is at the farm.She is at Langley. This season is going tobe hard on Alex because she is so usedto being right. She is a right kind of per-son and she believes in black or white.Not in greys whereas the CIA is all aboutthe grey. It is all about deceit andimmorality and Alex is in a funk shecomes in here she doesn’t know what todo who to deal with as it is a vertical oflaw enforcement in a way and that’s whatshe always wanted to do. She wanted toprotect her country. So it is a very inter-esting place where you find Alex in thisseason,” said Priyanka.

The second installment of Quantico isout with quite a bang, Priyanka assured theaudience and said, “Wait till you see whatwe have in store for this time. Alex is in theCIA and the enemies we are going up againstare bad, like totally bad.”

Now, a lot of questions are bound tolinger but the makers seem to know whatthey want and hopefully they will clarify alldoubts in the upcoming episodes.

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JENNIFER WINGET: I would like to wishall my fans a very Happy Diwali. ThisDiwali, I urge everyone to spend time withtheir loved ones and also abstain frombursting crackers. Animals are extremelyscared of crackers and it also adds to a lotof pollution so please have a safe Diwali.

RITWIK DHANJANI:This festival of lightsalways brings out the fes-tive side in me.Decorating my home bylighting diyas and lights isa lot of fun. Wishingeveryone to stay safe andenjoy this festival to thefullest and request every-body to not burst crack-ers this Diwali.

SUPRIYA PILGAONKAR:Everything about Diwali isspecial for me, be it the firecrackers, the sweets or theentire family gettingtogether to pray for peaceand prosperity. I love it alland look forward to thiswonderful festival.

KUSHAL TANDON: Diwali is my mostfavourite festival out of all. It brings so muchlove, light, positivity, sweets and gifts. I alwayscelebrate Diwali in my home town with family. And let’s make it pollution free.

DEVOLEENA BHATTACHARJEE:This Diwali, I’ll go tofriends place and willdo Laxmi Puja withmother and familyfriends at home. I loveanimals, so I’ll enjoycracker free Diwali andhope all of you do thesame.

KUNAL JAISINGH:Diwali is family time forme. I will go to my dad’soffice and do puja, then willdo the same back home. Iwill also do party with myfriends, but will not burstcrackers as I care for envi-ronment and animals, anddon’t want to harm them.

IANS

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72"��"��5“Ithink rock genre is in

a better position nowthan ever. There were

not as many rocks bands, aswe have now, five years back,”said Saurav Debnath of TheHindu College CollectiveBand after performing at theongoing North East FestivalRock Battle. New to themusic landscape, the bandstarted in 2015 and has sixmembers. The band, in ashort span, has won manyaccolades at the college festi-vals they performed. Lately,the rock band performed atIIT Kanpur and came secondin the competition.

Apart from Saurav, whois a vocalist and play rhythmguitar, the band comprises ofShivish Soni as lead vocalist,Saurav Debnath on guitar,Dhruv Gautam on guitar,Ashrey Goel on the key-board, Suprakash Mazumdaron bass and Katyayan Rabha

on the drums. “We all cameto know each other in themusic club of our college.Some of us are studying phi-losophy while some are inpolitical science. Being indifferent streams, I believe itis music that got us closer,”said Saurav, who is also thevice-president of the musicclub.

Sharing about how theband was formed, Sauravsaid, “When we were in thefirst year of our college, someof us from the band use tohang out and go for musicconcerts and all. We also didjamming at times and grad-ually realised that we canmake up for a good group.Also, there were no bands inour college then, so it wasagain one of the reasons wedecided to form one. It wasin the second year of ourgraduation that we decided toperform as a band,” told

Saurav.Talking more about the

rock music culture in thecountry, he said, “When wetalk about rock music cultureat the college level, I think itis getting better by the day.However, the scene on themainstream music industry isstill a long way to travel.Compared to the rock way ofmusic in the West, we seevery little progress on ourside. But let us not deny thatthere is progress after all.” Healso shared about the musicthey music which is an amal-gamation of many inspira-tions. “All of us in the bandare inspired by some or theother musician. Each one ofus listens to a different bandor singer and get inspired. Sosame happens when we startcreating music. You can lis-ten to many artist and stillfind something of our own inthe music we produce,”

shared Saurav.Unlike other bands, The

Hindu College Collectivedoesn't indulge much into theseriousness of the industrytrends. They like to keep itsimple and enjoyable. “Wedon’t want to choose seriousthings for us. I think it will betoo early for us to do that. Weonly have plans for today notany for future till now. Theband wants to keep creatinggood soundtracks and winmore and more competi-tions. Maybe if you ask meone year from now, I mightthen sound a little more seri-ous,” he smiled.

On being asked whatthey plan to do if the bandwins the North East FestivalRock Battle, Saurav cracked,“If we win we get ticket forDubai, so probably we wouldfirst enjoy the country andthen enter into other compe-titions.”

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India are hopeful of producingthe magic to surmount the chal-lenge from resurgent South

Korea in the semifinals of thefourth Asian Champions Trophydespite ankle injury to ace custodi-an PR Sreejesh.

The other worry for India isdeep defender Surender Kumar'ssuspension.

Seeking to reclaim the title thatthey won in the inaugural edition in2011, fancied India were held to a1-1 draw by the young SouthKorean side, which has improvedwith every outing.

India topped the round-robinleague standings, but did not knowtheir semi-final opponents untilthe end of last league encounterbetween the Koreans and hostsMalaysia.

The Koreans led by a goal untilfour minutes from the hooter beforea penalty corner produced theMalaysian equaliser and got thehome side the second place in theleague standings.

"South Korea is a good side thathas improved its quality throughoutthis tournament. We saw yesterdaywhat they can do," said Indiancoach Roelant Oltmans.

"The Korean strength lies intheir defence. It will all depend onhow we can break past theirdefence," said Oltmans, hoping hisown defence would overcome theproblems confronting the team.

"I think Sreejesh will be able toplay. He's recovering from the ankleinjury, but even if he does not playin the semifinals, Akash Chikte is avery good reserve goalkeeper," thecoach said.

Oltmans praised Chikte for hisfine show in the last two matches,where he was fielded for the entireduration of the games as Sreejeshwas rested.

The coach said India had nochoice of a semi-final opponent.

"They are all strong teams. Itdoes not matter who we play in thesemi-finals. When we left India forKuantan, we saw these four teamsmaking the semifinals," saidOltmans. "Five minutes before theend of the last league match yester-day, my mind was preparing for asemifinal against Pakistan," saidthe coach, referring to the scenarioof an India-Pakistan semi-final hadthe Koreans won the game againstMalaysia.

"Now, I have to prepare for amatch against South Korea.Hopefully it would not be a 1-1 drawtomorrow," said Oltmans, referringto the only match in the round-robin league that India did not win.

Oltmans said India will have tolearn to play without Surender in thenext two games following his sus-pension for a dangerous foul duringthe last league outing againstMalaysia on Wednesday.

"In a short period of time thathe has been in the national squad,Surender has acquired a certainplace," said the coach. We'll have tomake some changes, but it will notaffect the game-plan."

India have benefitted from thesuccess of Rupinnder Pal Singh inconversing penalty corners in thistournament, where he is the tour-nament's highest scorer with 10strikes against his name.

Three players - Pakistan'sMuhaammad Aleem Bilal,Malaysian Faizal Saari and Kenta

Tanaka of Japan - are tied for thenext position, which is six goalsbehind Rupinder.

Paul Lissek, the German coachof the South Korean side, is all praisefor his young team after yesterday'smatch, where they gave Malaysia afright. "We've been consistentthroughout the tournament, butwere unlucky not to have scoredmore goals," said Lissek.

Hosts Malaysia are looking torepeat their winning show of thetournament's opening match againstdefending champions Pakistan.

"Tomorrow will be differentball game than the league fixture.This is the business end of the tour-nament," said Malaysian coachSteven van Huizen, adding that histeam was bracing for the challenge.

Winners of the 2012 and 2013titles, Pakistan started the tourna-ment with a 2-4 loss to Malaysia, buttheir coach Khawaja Junaid believesthat "the semi-final will be a men-tal battle."

"We have talented players whoare showing their mettle. The resultof the semifinal will depend uponconversing penalty corners, whichis the strength of both teams," saidJunaid.

��E��0�!��3� India's Junior MenHockey team beat the hosts Spain3-1 in their match at the 4-NationsInvitational tournament, here onThursday.

The result saw India top of thetable after the round-robin stages.For India, Parvinder Singh (5thmin) opened the scoring whileNilakanta Sharma (30th min) andArmaan Qureshi (41st min) addedto the tally.

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Indian ace Sania Mirza andSwitzerland's Martina Hingis entered

the semi-finals of the WTA Finals afterbeating Taiwanese combination of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung Jan Chan 7-6 (12-10) 7-5, here on Friday.

The Indo-Swiss pair will be pittedagainst the winner of the match betweentop seeds Caroline Garcia-KristinaMladenovic and Bethanie Mattek-Sands-Lucie Safarova.

It was a hard-fought two sets whereboth the teams held their service gametill they reached 5 games all. It was in the11th game of the first set that Sania andHingis were broken. But the joy of theiropponents was shortlived as they brokeback in the very next game to take thefirst set into a tie-breaker.

The tie-breaker was a hard foughtone as the Indo-Swiss pair saved threeset points. They dropped a couple of setpoints before converting the third toclinch the set within an hour.

The second set was also fought onan even keel till the 10th game afterwhich Sania-Hingis secured a crucialbreak and then held their serve to booka place in the last four.

This is the pair's first competitionsince they had split following an earlyexit at Montreal in July.

��0��!�� Defending champion Agnieszka

Radwanska took the final spot in thesemifinals of the WTA Finals, beatingKarolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3 on Friday.

Radwanska, who finished 2-1 in theround robin, will play top-seededAngelique Kerber in Saturday's semifi-nals. Kerber won the Australian Openand the US Open this season, andreached the Wimbledon final.

"I think I really have nothing to loseat the moment, especially (since) I'mgoing to play the best player of the sea-son," Radwanska said of the top-ranked

German. "She's played incredible tennisthis year."

Earlier, Svetlana Kuznetsova earnedfirst place in the White Group despitelosing to Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Kuznetsova will next play DominikaCibulkova, who reached the semifinalsdespite finishing 1-2.

Pliskova offered Radwanska toomany free points, making 29 unforcederrors to only eight for the Pole.

Radwanska initially trailed 4-2 in thefirst set, but she soon recovered to 4-4.

In the second set, Radwanska scoredthe final service break in the eighth gamewhen Pliskova netted two consecutiveoverheads.

Kuznetsova managed to win the firstset against Muguruza, but lookedfatigued after that. "Definitely, you don'twant to lose the match," said Kuznetsova,the last player to qualify for the season-ending tournament. "You try to fight.Sometimes the lack of energy just won'tlet you do that."

Earlier, Germany's Angelique Kerbercontinued her unbeaten run at theWTA Finals on Thursday, steamrollingrising American Madison Keys 6-3 6-3to charge into the semi-finals of the sea-son-ending championship .

Still on a high after winning the USOpen last month, the newly crownedworld number one made it three winson the trot at Singapore's Indoor Stadiumto finish at the top of the Red Groupstandings after the round-robin phase.

"It's a great feeling because it's thefirst time I'm in the semis at the WTAFinals. That was my first goal," Kerbersaid.

"It was important to go out there towin the match and win all three match-es, that gives me a lot more confidence."

Kerber was joined in the semis bySlovakia's Dominika Cibulkova, whoclaimed her first victory of the tourna-ment by defeating Simona Halep ofRomania 6-3 7-6 (7-5), to finish as thegroup runner-up.

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Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhusuffered another second round

defeat when she went down fightingagainst He Bingjiao ofChina in the women'ssingles competition atthe $300,000French OpenSuper Series bad-minton tourna-ment here onFriday.

Sixth seedSindhu, whohad beatenBingjiao atthe DenmarkOpen lastweek, couldnot get pasther rival thistime and lost20-22, 17-21to the Chinesein a 41-minutematch. In the men'ssingles, India's H S Prannoyalso failed to cross the second round ashe lost 19-21, 16-21 to fifth seed ChouTien Chen of Chinese Taipei in thematch that lasted 42 minutes.

Sindhu blew away a 12-8 and 20-18lead in the opening game as Bingjiao keptbreathing down her neck and sealed itafter reeling off four straight points.

In the second game, Bingjiao didnot give Sindhu much chance to makea comeback as she led from the front,moving to 11-6 at the break and then

surging to a 18-9 lead. Sindhu triedher bit and narrowed down the

gap to 17-19 before theChinese shut the door

on the Indian.In the

men's singlesmatch, Prannoy

was ahead at 8-5and 18-15 but he

faltered at the

final stages to allow Chou pocket theopening game. In the second game,Chou was more dominant as he openedup a 9-4 lead and even though theIndian caught up at 14-14, Chouzoomed ahead without much ado towin the match.

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Jose Mourinho does not doubt that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be a success atManchester United.

It just might take some time.Mkhitaryan, a $33.5 million signing from Borussia

Dortmund in July, has not played for United since being sub-stituted at halftime in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City in thePremier League on Sept. 10. He sustained a minor injury oninternational duty with Armenia in early October but has-n't even been in United's 18-man squad for recent games.

That's some fall in status for a playmaker who had23 goals and 32 assists for Dortmund last season, wasthe German league's player of the year, and was widelytouted as one of the shrewdest Premier League signingsof the offseason.

Mourinho said Friday that Mkhitaryan is notinjured, and was just struggling to adjust to theEnglish game.

"Some players find it very easy, whereas others needmore time. They need time to feel the intensity, the aggres-sion, the game without the ball and the competitiveness,"Mourinho said.

"The realities are often different, particularly in terms ofthe competitiveness. It doesn't matter who you are against, youhave to play at the highest level otherwise you will not be ableto do it. Micki needs time to become the top player he knowshe can be."

That is nothing new to Mourinho.He said the same happened with Willian at Chelsea and Angel

Di Maria at Real Madrid, in Mourinho's two previous coach-ing jobs.

"It happens with defenders, but it is often easier for them to adapt than attack-ers," Mourinho said. "In Micki's case, the process was interrupted by injury, whichdoes not help ... Being out for a month meant he has had to go through the processof getting match-fit, then once he has that he needs the competitive level to doit. We believe him and, sooner or later, there will be no problem."

Before that first start for United in the derby, Mkhitaryan appeared threetimes as a second-half substitute.

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The Spanish league is off toa tight race atop the

standings, with five teamsseparated by only threepoints. Yet, most of the talkentering the weekend isabout whether CristianoRonaldo will end his scoringslump.

Real Madrid leads theleague ahead of its match atAlaves on Saturday, but notthanks to Ronaldo's recentperformances. The forward isenduring his worst start to aseason since joining Madrid in2009, having scored only fourgoals in nine matches.

"When you're used to scor-ing almost 70 goals a season, it'salmost like an addiction forgoals," Madrid reserve for-ward Alvaro Morata said. "Forus, he is the most importantplayer in the team and I hopethat he scores lots of goals, buthe is not a machine. He is ahuman being. Even if he comesfrom another planet and is dif-ferent, he also has the right tomiss."

Ronaldo also scored fivegoals in two games withPortugal, against Andorra andthe Faeroe Islands in WorldCup qualifying, but that's noreprieve to the demandingMadrid fans.

He was jeered by the crowdat the Santiago BernabeuStadium after another disap-pointing performance in a 2-1win against Athletic Bilbao onSunday.

"The fans demand a lot ofplayers," Madrid coachZinedine Zidane said. "TheBernabeu is special and weknow it. Cristiano knows it and

he is used to it. The importantthing is to continue with ourwork."

Ronaldo has scored onlytwo goals in the Spanish league- in a 5-2 win against Osasunain September and a 6-1 rout atReal Betis two weeks ago. Healso scored two goals in theChampions League, one in a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmundand one in a 2-1 win over

Sporting Lisbon, when his free-kick goal started a late rally.

"Of course he wants toscore more," Madrid defenderMarcelo said. "He is a playerwho helps a lot and not onlywith goals, also with his workon the pitch."

The game against Osasunawas the first of the season forRonaldo. He hadn't playedsince injuring his left knee inthe final of the EuropeanChampionship, which Portugalwon. Ronaldo seems fit and hashad plenty of scoring chances,but has not been able to capi-talize on them - including onsome he usually converts.Zidane says he is not worriedand that it's just a matter oftime before he starts findingthe net again.

The 31-year-old was amongthe Madrid players rested in theteam's 7-1 win over CulturalLeonesa in the Copa del Rey onWednesday. He is set to returnto the lineup on Saturday, whenZidane's team tries to defend itsSpanish league lead against pro-moted Alaves.

Sevilla, one point behindMadrid, plays at Sporting Gijonon Saturday, while third-placeBarcelona hosts last-placeGranada in its 1,500th game atthe Camp Nou. Contrary toRonaldo, Barcelona's LionelMessi is enjoying one of thebest starts of his career with 14goals in 11 matches. He hasmore goals than Ronaldo,Gareth Bale and KarimBenzema combined.

Fourth-place Villarrealplays at Eibar on Sunday, andfifth-place Atletico Madrid,which led the league enteringthe last round, hosts Malaga onSaturday.

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