world c’ship semifinal 15 sport irked at cbi leaks, sc ... · nariman about the news arti-cles on...

CAPSULE

4 TERRORISTS KILLED,SOLDIER MARTYREDSrinagar: Four terrorists and asoldier were on Tuesday killed inan encounter between ultras andsecurity forces in Shopiandistrict of Jammu & Kashmir.

DEMO BITTER MEDICINEFOR CORRUPTION: MODIJhabua/Rewa: PM NarendraModi on Tuesday said he usedthe ‘bitter medicine’ ofdemonetisation to give “propertreatment to corruption system”in the country.

TRS MP QUITS PARTY,LIKELY TO JOIN CONG Hyderabad: Telangana RashtraSamithi Member of Parliament KVishweswar Reddy has quit theparty amid buzz that he isheading for the Congress.

BIHAR’S EX-MINISTERMANJU SURRENDERSBegusarai (Bihar): Former BiharMinister Manju Verma, who hadbeen evading arrest in an ArmsAct case lodged in the course ofprobe in the Muzaffarpur shelterhome scandal, on Tuesdaysurrendered before a local court.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onTuesday expressed serious

displeasure over the purportedleak of CBI Director AlokVerma’s reply to the CVC’sfindings against him over cor-ruption allegations as also thepublication of sensationalcharges levelled by the agency’sDIG Manish Kumar Sinha andtold their lawyers none of theparties “deserved” any hearing.

Making it clear that thecourt is not a “platform” wherepeople can come and express“whatever they want”, ananguished Bench headed byChief Justice Ranjan Gogoiheard the matter twice duringthe day and said it would nothear any party, including theCVC, and confine itself to thepurported leak and publicationof Sinha’s allegations in themedia.

The court was apparentlyirked over the publication ofcontents of Sinha’s petition innewspapers and Verma’s replyto a questionnaire to the CVCin a news portal. The court hadearlier directed all the partiesto maintain the practice ofsubmitting report and replies insealed cover in order to protectthe credibility of the institution

of the CBI.The Bench that included

Justices SK Kaul and KMJoseph vent its ire at the startof the hearing and remindedthe parties that its earlier orderasking them to maintain con-fidentiality of the CVC’s pre-liminary enquiry report andVerma’s response to it wasintended to ensure “respect”and the integrity of the CBI.

As soon as the hearingcommenced, the Benchreferred to an article publishedby a news portal and solicitedresponse from senior advocateFali S Nariman, representingVerma, by saying, “It is only foryou Mr Nariman and not as acounsel for Alok Verma. Wehave given this to you as youare one of the most respectedand senior members of theinstitution. Please help us.”

After going through thenews report, Nariman assertedit was totally “unauthorised”and he was very “disturbed andshocked” by the “leak”. He alsoquestioned the move by lawyerGopal Shankaranarayanan,who is also representingVerma, to mention the matterin the court on Monday to seekadditional time to file the replyon behalf of the CBI Director.

After providing the copy of

the news report to Nariman,the Bench adjourned the hear-ing to November 29 on Verma’splea challenging the Centre’sdecision to divest him of dutiesand sending him on forcedleave, saying, “We do not thinkany of you deserve any hear-ing”.

Nariman, however, re-entered the courtroom after afew minutes and mentioned thecase seeking re-hearing whichwas allowed.

When the hearing re-com-menced, Nariman told thecourt that the news article inquestion was published by theportal on November 17 and itwas related to Verma’s replygiven to the CVC during the

preliminary enquiry proceed-ings. The SC order asking theCBI chief to respond to the vig-ilance probe’s finding waspassed only the previous day,Nariman contended.

During the first round ofhearing of the day, Narimanwhile referring to the mediareport said, “This gives a newtwist to the word responsiblepress and freedom of press.”Nariman also said the newsportal and its journalists con-cerned be summoned by thecourt.

“How can this come? It’s aleak. I myself am shattered theway it has been done,” he said.

The Bench also referred toNariman about the news arti-

cles published based on theallegations levelled by CBI’sDIG Sinha in his separate pleachallenging his transfer toNagpur following the shake-upin the agency after Verma andhis deputy Rakesh Asthanawere benched.

“Yesterday, we had refusedthe mentioning (seeking urgentlisting of Sinha’s plea) and wehad expressed that highestdegree of confidentiality was tobe maintained. But here is a lit-igant who mentions it before usand then goes out to distributethe petition to everyone,”miffed Gogoi said.

“Our efforts to maintainthe respect of this institutionare not shared by these people.They are giving it to every-body,” the CJI added.

When Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, appearing forthe CVC, stood up to argue, theBench tersely told him, “Wewill not hear anything. Wewill not hear anybody.”

The Bench then toldNariman about the news arti-cles on Sinha’s plea and said,“This is yesterday’s article. Wewant to know what is going on.This court is not a platform forpeople to come and expresswhatever they want. This is aplace where people come for

adjudication of their legalrights. This is not a platformand we will set it right.”

When the matter was beingre-heard, Shankaranarayananreferred to the argumentsadvanced by Nariman and saidthat he wanted to “clear hisname” which has come underthe “cloud”.

Shankaranarayanan saidNariman has submitted that hewas not authorised to mentionthe matter and seek time for fil-ing Verma’s reply without theconsent of the senior lawyer.

“We are not prepared tohear Mr GopalShankaranarayanan. We areprepared to hear Mr Narimanonly. We want this place clear.As far as this court in con-cerned Mr Shankaranarayanan,nobody is under any cloud,” theCJI said.

Sinha on Monday draggedthe names of National SecurityAdviser Ajit Doval, UnionMinister Haribhai ParthibhaiChaudhary and CVC KVChowdary over allegedattempts to interfere in theprobe against CBI SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthana.

The Union Ministernamed by Sinha has termed theallegations as baseless andmalicious.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Citing health reasons,External Affairs Minister

Sushma Swaraj on Tuesdaymade a major announcementsaying she will not contestnext Lok Sabha polls.

The senior BJP leader toldreporters at Indore that she has“made up her mind” not tocontest the elections.

“It is the party whichdecides, but I have made up mymind not to contest the next(Lok Sabha) elections,” she saidin Indore. Sushma, 66, hasbeen elected to the current16th Lok Sabha from Vidisha,Madhya Pradesh. She repre-sented Vidisha in the 15th LokSabha as well.

Until 2014, Sushma wasone of the contenders for thePrime Ministerial post andeven skipped theParliamentary Party meetingwhen Narendra Modi’s namefor the Prime Minister’s postwas about to be announced bythe party ahead of the 2014elections. She was Leader ofOpposition in the 15th LokSabha in place of Lal KrishnaAdvani and retained this posi-tion till May 2014.

Though inducted asExternal Affairs Minister in

Modi’s Cabinet at the Centre,she was seen to be on the mar-gins in terms of decision mak-ing , with the PMO itself play-ing lead role in the matter offoreign affairs.

According to sources, if theparty puts its seal of approvalon Sushma’s decision to retirefrom the Lok Sabha contest, shemay still be brought toParliament through the RajyaSabha route.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal had a narrow

escape on Tuesday after a 40-year-old man threw chilli pow-der at him outside the ChiefMinister’s chamber on the thirdfloor of the high security DelhiSecretariat when the CM wasleaving for lunch.

The man, Anil Kumar, wasdetained, said police, addingthat he was later handed overto IP Estate police station ofCentral district. A case hasbeen filed against him.

Addressing the mediaimmediately after the incident,the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)leader termed the attack aspolitically motivated. DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodiasaid it would not be coweddown by these petty tactics bythe BJP.

Delhi BJP unit presidentManoj Tiwari said, “Such inci-dents cannot be tolerated orjustified by anybody and calledfor a high-level probe.”

Kumar was targeting thebespectacled CM’s eyes, offi-cials said. His spectacles brokebut his eyes seemed to havebeen spared any damage, theyadded.

Kumar, whose Aadhaarcard has been recovered,

brought the chilli powder to thesecretariat in packets of ‘khai-ni’ (chewing tobacco), theysaid. After throwing chilli pow-der at Kejriwal, Kumar threat-ened to shoot him after hecomes out of jail, an officialrecounted.

AAP’s national spokesper-son Raghav Chadha, who wasbehind Kejriwal when the inci-dent took place, tweeted, “Wasright behind CM@ArvindKejriwal at theSecretariat when he was sud-denly attacked on 3rd floorright outside his office.

Shocking lapse of security. IsDelhi Police’s incompetent toprotect an elected CM?

“While today just the CM’sglasses fell to the floor andbroke, an unacceptable securi-ty lapse nonetheless. Imagine ifattacker were to be wielding amore dangerous weapon. Whowere to have prevented atragedy from occurring?”Sisodia told reporters.

“Recently BJP Delhi chiefManoj Tiwari reached nearstage during the inaugurationof signature bridge.

Continued on Page 7

PRAVESH SHARMA n GURUGRAM

A19-year-old hardenedcriminal, who had raped

and murdered nine minor girlsin Delhi, Gurugram, Gwaliorand Jhansi, has been arrested bythe Gurugram Police after theyfound his involvement in thebrutal rape and murder of athree-year-old girl in GurugramSector 66 on November 11. Thegirl’s body was dumped inGurugram Sector 66.

The accused confessed toraping and killing three minorgirls in Gurugram, four inDelhi, one in Gwalior andJhansi each.

The accused identified as

19-year-old Sunil Kumar, acasual labourer, was hiding inhis native village in Jhansi dis-trict. Meticulous probe by a 15-member police team trackedhis movements and nabbedhim on Monday, said a seniorpolice official.

He was produced before alocal court on Tuesday and sentto eight days of police custody.

Kumar had lured the childwith sweets, took her to anempty room at a labourers’colony in Sector 66. The autop-sy report revealed that she wassubjected to brutality duringrape causing severe injuries toher private parts.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Justice delayed is justicedenied” goes the saying and

it was amply manifested onTuesday when a city court pro-nounced first ever “death sen-tence” in a 1984 anti-Sikh riotscase probed by a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT). ADelhi court awarded deathpenalty to Yashpal Singh forkilling two men during theriots. Additional Sessions JudgeAjay Pandey awarded life-term

to co-convict Naresh Sherawatin the case.

On November 1, 1984,Hardev Singh and Avtar Singhwere attacked and killed by amob in Mahipalpur in SouthDelhi. It is the first convictionin the cases reopened by theSIT of the Central Bureau ofInvestigation. The Delhi Policehad closed the case in 1994 forwant of evidence. However, aSIT reopened it.

The verdict was pro-nounced on Tuesday in Tihar

Jail after the local police moveda petition in the High Courtciting security reasons andpossibility of attack on theconvicts on the premises of theDelhi court, said police.

The SIT is investigatingnearly 60 cases related to theriots, while it has filed“untraced report” in 52 cases.While this is the first deathpenalty after the SIT wasformed, one Kishori was earli-er given the death penalty by atrial court in a related case.

PNS n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh recorded 72per cent polling on Tuesday

in the second and concludingphase for 72 Assembly seatsacross 19 districts amid alle-gations of EVM tampering andmalfunctioning in several areas.Amid higher turnout, BJP,Congress and JCC-BSP allianceclaimed victory ahead of resultson December 11.

The Election Commissionsaid that polling percentagecould go up to 76-78 per centas it was still in the process ofcompiling data. The EC reject-ed the allegations of wide-spread malfunctioning of thevoting machines and assertedthat faulty EVMs were prompt-ly replaced without any dis-ruption to the voting process.

Tuesday’s polling has sealedfate of nine Cabinet Ministersof Chhattisgarh’s BJPGovernment and four chief

ministerial contenders fromthe Congress. Chhattisgarh’sChief Electoral Officer SubratSahoo told reporters thatpolling was peaceful and fromfirst-time voters to centenari-ans, people from all walks of lifequeued up to cast their votes at19,336 polling booths.

Among the oldest of 1.54crore voters eligible to exercisetheir franchise were 106-year-old Samudri Patel fromBaikunthpur in Korea districtand 102-year-old Raj Kunwarfrom Boriyakala in Raipur district.

Continued on Page 7

Irked at CBI leaks, SC defers hearing

Publication of CBI DIG's affidavit, Verma's reply to CVC upsets court; hearing on Nov 29

*CJI heard the matter twice during the day and said it would not hearany party, including the CVC, and confine itself to the purported leakand publication of Sinha’s allegations in the media

*The SC had earlier directed all the parties to maintain the practice ofsubmitting report in sealed cover to protect the credibility of the CBI

Man throws chilli powderat Kejriwal, arrested

Serial child rapistconfesses to hiskilling spree

Court awards first death in1984 riots probed by SIT

Big B pays off

loans of 1,398

UP farmers

PTI n MUMBAI

Megastar AmitabhBachchan has claimed

that he has helped 1,398 farm-ers from Uttar Pradesh by pay-ing off their loans.

In a late night blog post onMonday, the 76-year-old actorrevealed he has personallyarranged for 70 selected farm-ers to travel to Mumbai andreceive their bank letters.

Bachchan had earlierhelped 350 farmers fromMaharashtra by paying offtheir loans.

“Gratitude leans across tothe desire of removing some ofthe burdens that farmers con-tinue to suffer from... It wasMaharashtra first, when over350 farmers loans were takencare of... Now it’s UP and 1,398of them that had outstandingsof loans have been done withan outlay of `4.05 crore.

“And the inner peace itgenerates when the desired iscompleted,” he wrote.

Sushma: Won’tfight elections

It is the party whichdecides, but I have

made up my mind notto contest the next

elections

72% turnout in Chhattisgarhpoll; Cong, BJP claim victory

Voters stand in a queue at a polling station to cast their votes for the 2nd phase ofAssembly elections in Raipur on Tuesday PTI

Police detain Anil Kumar, who threw chilli powder at Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal at Delhi Secretariat in New Delhi on Tuesday Ranjan Dimri | Pioneer

Serial rapist-killer Sunil Kumar in custody of the Gurugram police Pioneer photo

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Alternative energy unitto be set up in SitapurGovt to purchase 114 vehicles for `25 cr for VVIPs

PNS n LUCKNOW

To boost alternative andsolar energy, the state gov-

ernment gave its approval to setup a unit to generate alterna-tive energy in Sitapur andcleared 10 bids of 500 megawattsolar energy. Besides, the gov-ernment decided to launch anew nutrition scheme tocounter malnutrition in 20 dis-tricts. The approval was givenat the state Cabinet meetingchaired by Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Tuesday.

State governmentspokesperson and state HealthMinister Sidharthnath Singhsaid that Sunlight Fuel Limitedof Delhi would set up thealternative energy generationunit in Sitapur. It will produce1.75 lakh litres of green fuelannually by using 500 metrictonnes of sugarcane, farm andwheat wastes.

The unit will be set up at acost of ̀ 1550.87 crore in whichthe state government will pro-vide several sops to the select-ed unit including waiver ofstamp duty, 15 per cent subsidyon investment and GST waiv-er for 10 years.

In another decision, thegovernment cleared the namesof 10 companies for generating500 megawatt of solar power inthe state. Altogether 12 com-panies had made a bid for 750mw of solar power but the gov-ernment cleared 10 units. Theselected companies will supplypower to the government feed-er at the price between `3.17per unit and `3.23 per unitagainst the government's max-imum rate of Rs 3.25 per unit.

In the third decision, thegovernment announced set-ting up of MukhyamantriSuposhan Ghar in 10 districtsof the state to address theproblem of malnutritionamong children in the agegroup of 0-5 years.

The Niti Ayog had recent-ly expressed concern over mal-nutrition among the new-born.As per the latest NFHS report,the death due to malnourish-ment up to 5 years is 6 per centwhich is highest in the country.

In the first phase 28Mukhyamantri Suposhan Gharwill be established. The projectto be financed by the Centrewas approved by the stateCabinet. The project will belaunched from January 2019and will continue till March2020.

Singh said besidesMukhyamantri Suposhan Ghar,the anganwari sewika would begiven `50 each for referringbeneficiaries while the chiefsewika would get Rs 200 perchild after she gave a follow-upreport for 15 days after the dis-charge of the child and moth-er.

In yet another decision, thegovernment sanctioned `3.21crore to construct pilgrim facil-ities at three places in Prayagrajduring the coming KumbhMela. Rooms, toilets and otherfacilities will be made availableat Beni Madhav Temple atDaraganj, Panch Digamber andAni Akhara and BrahmchariAshram.

The government alsoapproved the demolition ofthe Commerce departmentbuilding at Pandit Deen Dayal

Upadhaya GorakhpurUniversity to set up GorakshPeeth Research Centre.

The government alsoapproved a rebate on the levyof `6.78 crore for a bank guar-antee of `2,703 crore to be usedby the 23 UP cooperative sugarmills to pay cane farmers theirdues during the current cruis-ing season.

In a major sops to theentertainment industry, thegovernment reimbursed thestate GST imposed on tickets ofmultiplexes and cinema hous-es in the state since July 2017.Singh said that the governmentwould reimburse 9 per centGST on tickets worth up to`100 and 14 per cent GST ontickets above `100 tickets. Thetotal GST on cinema tickets is18 per cent up to `100 in whichthe state GST share is nine percent while the total GST ontickets over `100 is 28 per centin which the state share is 14per cent.

The government also gave itsnod to purchase vehicles to beused for VVIP security in thestate, particularly in Gorakhpurand Ghaziabad. The govern-ment will purchase 114 vehiclesat the cost of `25 crore forVVIPs for their travel and secu-rity. As per proposal, 16 vehicles,including three bullet-proof andtwo jammers, will be purchasedat the cost of `6.3 crore and willbe used in Gorakhpur andGhaziabad. At least, 79 morevehicles will be purchased for dis-tricts. Besides, the state Estatedepartment will purchase 17luxury vehicles, including Innova,Scorpio and Honda cars, forVVIPs at the cost of ̀ 2.46 crore.

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Clerics demand ban on Rizvi's

film on Ayodhya temple

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The upcoming film ‘RamJanmabhoomi’ produced by

UP Shia Waqf Board chairmanWaseem Rizvi portraying policefiring on kar sewaks in Ayodhyain October/November 1990 hasriled clerics so much that Rizvihad been excommunicated fromShia community. On Monday,Rizvi released a poster and trail-er of the film which started 18months back and announcedthat the film would hit the the-atre screens in December.

Prominent Shia cleric andImam-e-Juma of LucknowMaulana Kalbe Jawwad onTuesday demanded the UP gov-ernment to ban the film. He saidthat Shia Muslims had alreadyexcommunicated Rizvi and bylaunching the controversial film,he stood expelled from thecommunity of Muslims.

Other clerics and leaders ofMuslim outfits, including SunniMuslims, also opposed the filmby Rizvi.

Maulana Jawwad said thatthe film trailer released in

Lucknow was itself very provoca-tive and the government mustimmediately act. In an afterthought, Jawwad said that theydid not expect the BJP govern-ment to act against Rizvi andhence they would approach thecourt and seek a ban on the film.Without naming any politicalparty, Jawwad said that the filmrelease would only spread hatredin society and immensely ben-efit a particular party. MaulanaJawwad also submitted a mem-orandum to the state govern-ment demanding a ban on the

film.Meanwhile, Imam of the

Aishgbagh Idgah Khalid Rashidsaid that the film trailer releasedon Monday was highly objec-tionable and it was a nefariousattempt to spread hatred in thesociety. He said that Islamicpractices like ‘'triple talaq’ and'halala’ had been portrayed in thenegative light. Rashid addedthat highly objectionable wordswere used about Islamic iconsand that was something unac-ceptable.

President of Shia Personal

Law Board Yasoob Abbas com-mented that the sole purpose ofthe film seemed to drive awedge between Hindus andMuslims. He said that suchnefarious attempts by irrespon-sible person should not beallowed. The cleric said that allattempts of fanning communaldiscord be resisted for maintain-ing social and communal har-mony.

President of Imam WelfareAssociation Imran HassanSiddiqui wrote to Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath demanding aban on the film saying that itaimed at promoting anarchy inthe society. “Rizvi has developeda habit of issuing provocativestatements against Islam, clericsand hurting the sentiments ofMuslims,” Siddiqui alleged.

Refusing to be identified, aMuslim leader of the BJP saidthat the film production byRizvi was his personal matterand the party had nothing to dowith it. He, however, said that ifanything was controversial in thefilm, the law of the land wouldtake its own course.

Shivpal demands use of ballots

not EVMs in 2019 LS election


Locked in a battle of attritionwith nephew and

Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, Pragtisheel SanajwadiParty president Shivpal Yadavannounced to organise a hugerally to demand the use of bal-lots instead of ElectronicVoting Machines in 2019 LokSabha poll. To be held at RamaBai Ambedkar maidan inLucknow on December 9, therally has been coined ‘SaveConstitution’ rally.

After poorly losing 2017UP Assembly poll, AkhileshYadav, along with BahujanSamaj Party, had alleged irreg-ularities through EVMs anddemanded that future elec-tions be conducted with ballotsonly.

Anxious to develop astrong organisational base forhis party ahead of 2019 LokSabha elections, Shivpal toldmediapersons in Lucknow thatthe 'Save Constitution' rallywould be organised with thehelp of Bahujan Mukti Partyand would break all previousrecords in terms of attendance.

He said that the PSP would leadthe campaign against EVMsfrom the front.

Rubbishing the perceptionof his party’s proximity with theBJP, Shivpal said that his partyPSP would not tie up with theBJP, either for Lok Sabha orAssembly elections.

Yadav stressed: “I haveclarified several times that weare with non-BJP parties and

aim at removing the BJP frompower. We are with anti-BJPforces and will remain withthem but would want 50 percent seats.”

Shivpal Yadav added thatthe PSP would contest the2019 Lok Sabha and 2022 UPAssembly elections in alliancewith Bahujan Mukti Party.

The PSP chief alleged thatthe BJP governments at the

Centre and in UP had failed intheir duty of maintaining lawand order and also in address-ing issues of youths and farm-ers. He added that educatedyouth were unemployed, whilewomen's safety was in a sham-bles. What is more, farmers,youths and unemployed peopleasking for their rights werebeing lathicharged. “The peo-ple are fed up with the govern-ments that ruled the state tilldate, including the BJP, and anew alternative will be createdfor the people through therally,” he said.

Expressing faith withSamajwadi Party (SP) founderMulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpalsaid that his party would cele-brate Mulayam’s birthday onNovember 22 in a grand man-ner .

On the occasion, BahujanMukti Party co-coordinatorVaaman Meshram said thatthe upcoming mega rally wouldprove to be historic. He alsosaid that the BJP was able toform the government over theBackward Class issue but noth-ing had been done to alleviategrievances of the people.

Pragtisheel Sanajwadi Party president Shivpal Yadav addressing a press conferenceon Tuesday Pioneer

Waseem Rizvi Kalbe Jawwad


In a stern warning to juniorministers, Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath asked them toreview government-fundeddevelopment schemes byinteracting with people at vil-lage level and keep him abreastof the feedback. Yogi had anhour-long meeting with min-isters of state at Lok Bhawanon Tuesday.

“Start interaction with vil-lagers or beneficiaries of vari-ous government schemes. Goto villages and see whetherschemes are implemented witheffectiveness or not. It is yourduty to see that schemes areimplemented as per designand keep me posted aboutthis,” Yogi told the congrega-tion.

It was the first time that theCM had a separate meetingwith junior ministers as

Cabinet ministers were notallowed. There were somecomplaints about work distri-bution in some ministries likeIrrigation, Power, PWD,Health and Agriculture andjunior ministers complainedthat they were not allowed towork by their seniors.

Yogi tried to sort out thematter but it was not clearwhether he had assured someministers to change their min-istries as asked but a highly-placed source said that Yogisaid that non-performing min-isters would be shown the

door. “This government haslaunched many welfareschemes. But this is a fact thatpeople at village level do notknow about them. There aremany people who are entitledfor government benefits but donot get them as there is no oneto tell them. Go and see howyour project is doing at the vil-lage level,” the CM counselled.

As the meeting with juniorministers continued for a con-siderable time, a Cabinetmeeting slated to start at 11 amwas delayed by almost 40 min-utes.

There were some complaints aboutwork distribution in some ministrieslike Irrigation, Power, PWD, Health

and Agriculture and junior ministerscomplained that they were not

allowed to work by their seniors

Yogi tells junior mins to apprise villagers of welfare schemes

CM's directives on early

payment of cane arrears


Chief Minister YogiAdityanath asked Cane

department to ensure thatarrears of cane farmers of the2017-18 crushing season becleared at the earliest by sugarmills. Yogi also directed officialsto speak with the sugar indus-try and ensure that the paymentof arrears was expedited.

During the last season, 119operational sugar mills pur-chased cane worth `35,463crore from farmers and, so far,the industry has paid only`28,633 crore to farmers. Thegovernment wanted that theremaining ̀ 6,830 crore be paidat the earliest.

For the payment of arrears,the state government had sanc-tioned a soft loan of ̀ 4,000 crorefor the sugar industry and, sofar, released ̀ 1,000 crore as thefirst instalment. Till date, banks

have received loan applicationsfrom 64 sugar mills seeking anadvance of `3,873 core.

Besides the soft loan, thestate government has providedfinancial assistance of `500crore against purchase of caneby sugar mills. Under this, thefirst instalment of ̀ 160 crore hasbeen released of which the pay-ment is underway. In the nextweek, the amount throughEscrow account will be trans-ferred to bank accounts of canefarmers.

Late Monday night, theChief Minister held a reviewmeeting of sugar mill opera-tions, cane purchase and pay-

ments. Seeking details on thesector, Yogi said that in the cur-rent year 121 sugar mills wereto be operationalised and ofthis 85 had started cane crush-ing while the remaining wouldbe operational by November25.

The Chief Minister saidthat the welfare of cane grow-ers and strengthening of thesugar industry topped his gov-ernment’s agenda and exploita-tion of farmers would not betolerated. He added that thestate government would extendall possible help to the sugarindustry for ensuring welfare offarmers.

FOR THE PAYMENT OF ARREARS, THE STATEGOVERNMENT HAD SANCTIONED A SOFT LOANOF `4,000 CRORE FOR THE SUGAR INDUSTRYAND, SO FAR, RELEASED `1,000 CRORE AS THEFIRST INSTALMENT

Resentment in

PPSA ranks


While the Provincial PoliceServices Association

(PPSA) is yet to react to the sus-pension of a deputy SP rank offi-cer, who was compulsory retiredon orders of Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, some others areup in arms alleging that the stategovernment as well as seniorofficers of the HomeDepartment are adopting dou-ble standard when it comes totake action against them.

"Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had ordered removalof additional director general ofpolice (Traffic) MK Bashal forfailing to maintain traffic, butwhen no action has takenagainst Bashal so far and he stillenjoy the same posting.However, the state governmenttook no time to place theGorakhpur Deputy SP SantoshSingh under suspension,” citeda senior PPS officer who couldnot be inducted into the elite IPS

cadre as he had crossed his agelimit.

On the directions of theCM, the state government onMonday placed deputy SPSantosh Singh under suspensionand attached him with the DGPoffice. An enquiry against Singh,posted as circle officer (Traffic)in Gorakhpur is also underwayjust to give him forced retire-ment as per the directions of theChief Minister.

DGP OP Singh on Mondayrecommended suspension ofSingh, a day after Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath ordered that theCO (Traffic) of Gorakhpur begiven compulsory retirement.Singh is accused of extortingmoney from vehicle drivers. Inthe probe, it was found thatSingh was taking the side ofVishwajeet Singh alias KalluSingh with whom the com-plainant's husband had a disputeover illegal extortion of moneyfrom a tempo travellers’ stand inGorakhpur.

Gram pradhan's husband shot dead


In a sensational broad day-light shooting in Rae Bareli,

the husband of a sitting grampradhan in Rae Bareli wassprayed with bullets undermysterious circumstances onTuesday morning. He wasbrought in a critical state toTrauma Centre here where besuccumbed to injuries. A casehas been registered in thisregard and further investiga-tions are on.

Brijesh Singh aka Rainku,husband of Manju Singh, sit-ting pradhan of RampurSidhauli in Bachrawa, hadgone for darshan atBhaveshwar Mandir on

Tuesday morning. When hewas coming out of the temple,some unknown miscreantsriding a motorcycle suddenlyopened fire burst in whichBrijesh was critically injuredand later succumbed toinjuries.

Local police claimed thatthe victim was having some oldenmity over which he waskilled. The body was sent forthe post-mortem and somesuspected were rounded by forinterrogation. The copsclaimed some old dispute

behind the killing.Meanwhile, in another

sensational incident, a 16-year-old girl was allegedlyraped by a youth when she hadgone to take water from a handpump at a village.

The incident took placeMonday and a case was regis-tered on a complaint by thegirl's brother, SHO, Bhopa,VP Singh said.

The youth, who also madea video of the act, was bookedunder relevant sections of theIndian Penal Code and the

Protection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

He is at large and a searchhas been launched to nab him.The complainant said his sis-ter was raped when she hadgone to take water from thehand pump at a neighbour'shouse, the officer said.

The youth abducted herand raped her in a room nearthe hand pump, according tothe complainant. Local policeclaimed to be investigatingthe matter but so far failed tomake any breakthrough.

QUICK TAKES

7 AWARDED DEATH FOR MURDERMuzaffarnagar: A sessions court here

Tuesday sentenced seven persons to death forkilling a man nearly nine years ago at Harsoliin the district after a clash between two groupsof people over an old dispute. District andSessions Judge Rajesh Bhardwaj sentenced theseven after convicting them on charges of mur-der, attempt to murder and rioting, armed withdeadly weapons. According to the prosecution,in the fight that took place between two groupsof people of the same community, one Naseemwas killed and several others were injured inFebruary 2010 after which the police had reg-istered a case under various penal offences. Theseven accused, who were given death sentence,are Sadiq, Shahid, Arshad, Rashid, Sarfaraz,Farukh and Mumtaz. They all have been in jailsince their arrests soon after the clash. A deathsentence given by a trial court has to be con-firmed by the high court of the state.

16-YR-OLD GIRL RAPED IN UPMuzaffarnagar: A 16-year-old girl was

allegedly raped by a youth when she had goneto take water from a hand pump at a villagehere, police said on Tuesday. The incident tookplace on Monday and a case was registered ona complaint from the girl's brother, StationHouse Officer, Bhopa, VP Singh said. Theyouth, who also made a video of the act, wasbooked under relevant sections of the IndianPenal Code and the Protection of Children from

Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said. He isat large and a search has been launched to nabhim, Singh said. The complainant said his sis-ter was raped when she had gone to take waterfrom the hand pump at a neighbour's house,the officer said. The youth abducted her andraped her in a room near the hand pump,according to the complainant.

DRY WEATHER IN UTTAR PRADESHLucknow: The weather was dry over Uttar

Pradesh, the Meteorological (MeT) departmentsaid on Tuesday. The day temperatures werebelow normal in the Gorakhpur and Bareillydivisions on Monday, it said. The night temper-atures were above normal in Jhansi and Agradivisions and were normal in the remainingdivisions of the state, the MeT said. The low-est minimum temperature in the state was 8.5degrees Celsius, recorded in Muzaffarnagar.

12 INJURED IN CLASH Muzaffarnagar: Two groups clashed with

sharp weapons and sticks here after a man'schickens entered his neighbour's house in anUttar Pradesh town, leaving 12 people injured,police said on Tuesday. The clash took placeon Monday evening in Bhojaheri town afterShehzad alleged that Mehrazuddin's chickenshad entered his house, Station House Officer,Bhopa, Brijesh Pratap, said. Their argument onthe issue turned violent and their supportersclashed with sharp weapons and lathis.

Boy’s kidnapping case worked out

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The Kydganj police arrestedtwo teenagers for kidnap-

ping a 12-year-old boy andseeking a ransom of `5 lakhfrom his father. SeniorSuperintendent of Police NitinTiwari informed mediaper-sons that Vaibhav (12), son ofcontractor Ashish Tiwari hadgone to play outside. When hedid not return home, his fam-ily members became anxiousand launched a searching fortracing his whereabouts but alltheir efforts ended in vain. Hisfather Ashish Tiwari receiveda call on his mobile phone inthe evening in which thecaller claimed that they hadkidnapped Vaibhav anddemanded a ransom of `5lakh for his safe release. Thefamily then approached theKydganj police and lodged anFIR against the unidentifiedcallers following which theboy was rescued late onMonday night.

The police team tracedtheir location to Handia andrescued Vaibhav and arrestedthe two accused, aged 17 and15 years. One of the accusedwas a class XII student at areputed school while the otherwas a class VII dropout. Thetwo lived in Vaibhav’s neigh-bourhood and often playedwith him. The accused saidthey had been planning toabduct Vaibhav for a while.The police recovered themobile phone which was pur-portedly used to call Vaibhav’sfather and a motorcycle fromthe possession of the accused,the SSP added.

Meanwhile, in order tobring down the crime graph,the Allahabad police havedecided to launch a driveagainst criminal and anti-

social elements in localitiesadjoining the Sangam area.According to the police, manylocalities near Sangam hadwitnessed shootouts and sen-sational crimes during the pastfew years. While Jhunsi in thetrans-Ganga area had wit-nessed many shootouts andmurders, Daraganj had alsobeen hit by violence and clash-es between different gangs inrecent years. Many petty crim-inals had also been involved insnatching and theft with pil-grims. Jhunsi inspectorJitendra Singh said that pastrecords of criminals of the areawould be scanned and theywould be arrested if foundinvolved in illegal activities.The help of the locals wouldalso be sought to identify mis-creants and investigate therivalries between differentgroups, he pointed out.Meanwhile inspector, DaraganjVinit Singh, said that verifica-tion process of tenants andmigrants in the Daraganj andlocalities around Sangam wasalso underway.

TWO NABBED

The Ghoorpur police

arrested two of the accusedwho were allegedly involvedin thrashing a 10-year-oldboy and then burying himalive in the sand atBaswar village on Mondayevening.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice (SSP) Nitin Tiwari saidthe accused were identified asDharmaraj Yadav and ShyamBabu.

They were nabbed fromtheir hideouts in Ghoorpur area.However, Abhishek Yadav,Kamlesh Yadav, Gokul, Mukesh

Yadav, Varun Singh and Rajusti l l at large, SSP added.Makhan Nishad of Baswar vil-lage of Ghoorpur alleged that hisson Sameer (10) and his friendTinku had gone to the fields onMonday evening.

Meanwhile, a tractor passedraising dust there.

When the boys asked thetractor driver to drive slowly itangered him and others on itand so much so that theyattacked Sameer and thereaftercrushed him under the tractor,the SSP added.



In an incident of road rage,a youth was shot dead infront of Jahaz Wali Kothi

near Raja Bazaar on Tuesdayafternoon. The daring murdertook place in an area which hastight security arrangements,including CCTV and dronesurveillance, in view of the 12thRabi-ul-Awwal (Barawafat)procession scheduled to betaken out on Wednesday. Irateover the incident, local resi-dents lambasted the Lucknowpolice for failure on law andorder front and demandedimmediate arrest of theassailants.

As per reports, Anas (21)of Janta Nagri under Wazirganjpolice station and his neigh-bour & friend Shariq went topurchase balloons for decorat-ing his house for 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal. Around 2 pm, whenthe duo reached near JahazWali Kothi (behind ImambaraGhufranma’ab), two motorcy-cle-borne youths brushed pastthe bike of Anas. As Anasdemanded an explanation fromthe duo, they picked a verbalspat with him and Shariq. Inthe meantime, the pillion-rider,who had his face covered witha handkerchief, whipped out apistol and shot at Anas.

“The attacker and the rider,who was wearing a helmet,sped off after pumping a bul-let into the right cheek ofAnas. As if it was not enough,the pillion-rider shot himagain,” Shariq told the police.The autopsy report confirmedthat Anas was shot twice. Hesaid the miscreants came frombehind and knocked the bike ofAnas. “I sought the help of

police when Anas slumpedand started bleeding profusely.We rushed Anas to the KGMUTrauma Center where he diedafter battling for his life for overtwo hours,” Shariq said.

ASP (West) Vikas Tripathisaid some commuters noteddown the registration numberof the miscreants’ bike. “Itseemed to be a fake registrationnumber. However, we are try-ing to trace the miscreants,” hesaid. “Though Shariq claimed

that it was a case of road rage,we have yet to verify the same.There may be some other rea-son like old enmity,” he added.

Doctors at the TraumaCentre said the bullet piercedthrough the jaw line and latergot embedded in the skull ofAnas. “The victim died due toexcessive bleeding,” theyopined. However, they addedthat autopsy would give a clearpicture about the cause ofdeath. “The X-ray report

showed the bullet’s movementinside victim’s skull,” sourcessaid. As the news spread, hugenumbers of locals mobbed theTrauma Centre and raised anti-police slogans.

Law Minister BrajeshPathak and clerics reached theTrauma Centre and tried topacify the mob, assuring themspeedy action. Senior policeofficials, including the SSP, alsoreached the place. Forces fromneighbouring police stations

were also deployed in the areato prevent trouble. The policehave yet to trace the motorcy-cle used by the miscreants.The aggrieved family haslodged a case against unidenti-fied miscreants suspecting therole of a local youth, whom theyidentified as Rizwan of Chowk,citing an old enmity. A policespokesman said that a case ofmurder had been registeredon the complaint of victim’sparents.


Tension gripped Itaunja onTuesday after some

unidentified miscreants dam-aged a statue of BabasahebBhimrao Ambedkar installedat Chaturabagh trisection. Thesupporters of the Dalit iconassembled at the trisection inhuge number and accusedpeople with anti-Dalit bent ofmind of having desecratedthe statue. They demandedimmediate arrest of the mis-creants.

As per reports, some vil-lagers spotted the damagedstatue of the Dalit icon earlyTuesday morning. Soon, thenews spread like wild fire withsupporters of Ambedkar fromneighbouring villages con-verging on the scene. By the

time the police reached thescene, the area around thestatute was surrounded byscores of people resorting tosloganeering against the policeand government.

In the meantime, localleaders of other parties,including former ministerNakul Dubey, also reachedthe scene and sided with theagitators. Additional policeforce was sent to the scene tobring the situation under con-trol. The district administra-tion officials also reached thescene. Later, the districtadministration and police bro-kered peace by mollifying theagitators and assuring themaction against the trouble-makers. A spokesman saidthat the police were trying toidentifying the miscreants.


It is very important forwomen, who form half of the

population, to be made awareof government schemes and ifthis is ensures, UP can emergeone of the best states in thecountry.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath expressed theseviews at the inaugural of NariSashaktikaran SankalpAbhiyaan at Smriti Upvan onTuesday. He said the pro-gramme was organised withthe purpose of entrusting thewomen with the responsibilityof taking government schemesto all the villages through var-ious organisations. On PrimeMinister Narendra Modiexpressing surprise that in aland where men are knownthrough the names of women,the latter have still not beenable to be a part of the main-stream. “The main reason forthis is that governmentschemes could not reach them.This is a cause of concern,” he

said. Yogi pointed out thatexcept for areas close toLucknow, women in 70 dis-tricts were not aware of theWoman Powerline. He saidthere was lack of awareness forthe women helpline 181 andrescue van for domestic vio-lence. “Some efforts have beenmade for spreading awarenessin this regard but if women inall the villages are made awarethrough dialogue, there is noreason why the graph of crimeagainst women will not comedown,” he added.

He pointed out that over1.70 lakh toilets had been con-structed across the state.“Toilets are not only meant formaintaining cleanliness buthave been termed ‘izzat ghar’ sothat the dignity of women canbe safeguarded,” the CM said.

Sharing his own experi-ences of controlling encephali-tis in Gorakhpur, Yogi said amass awareness programmewas carried out throughwomen on the importance ofmaintaining cleanliness.

“The impact was very pos-itive and the number of peoplegetting admitted to BRDCollege as well as deaths causedby encephalitis came downconsiderably,” he pointed out.

Yogi said that he wasimpressed by the account of ayoung girl when he visited askill development programmeat Indira Gandhi Pratishthan.

“The young girl said thatshe got married after gradua-tion and she lost her husbandsix months after marriage. Shesaid she had to face the tauntsof in-laws and was not able todecide what she could do aboutthe situation when she chancedupon this skill developmentcourse and after training, shegot a job. She is financiallyindependent now,” Yogi said.

He also announced a toll-free number for women. “I willbe personally monitoring thisso that when questions areraised about government’sinvolvement in welfare of thepeople, I have an answer,” headded.


The Traffic department announceddiversions for the 12th Rabi-ul-

Awwal procession which will be takenout at 10 am on Wednesday and willpass through Maulviganj, Rakabganj,Nadan Mahal road, Yahiaganj andNakkhas. The diversions will be imple-mented from 7 am till the time the pro-cession culminates.

Vehicles will not be able to movefrom Kamla Nehru crossing to Nakkhasthrough Victoria Street and will bediverted towards Akbari Gate. No vehi-cle will be allowed to move fromTudiaganj to Nakkhas and will bediverted towards Girdhara Singh InterCollege. Vehicles will not be allowed tomove from Tudiaganj tri-section toHaiderganj trisection and will be divert-ed towards Bulaki Adda.

Traffic will not be allowed to movefrom KGMU crossing to Rakabganjcrossing through Subhash crossing andwill be diverted towards City Station tri-section. No vehicle will be allowed tomove from Kaiserbagh bus stand,Gwynne road trisection, Nazirabad tri-section and Aminabad crossing towardsJhande Wala Park. This traffic will bediverted towards Sri Ram road. No traf-fic will be allowed from AishbaghEidgah and will be diverted from underthe overbridge to Motinagar and BhoosaMandi. Vehicles will not be allowed tomove from Rajendranagar crossing toAishbagh Eidgah and will be divertedtowards Motinagar. Vehicles comingfrom Eveready crossing will not beallowed to move towards Haiderganjand will be diverted towards Mawaiyya.

Youth shot dead in ‘road rage’ case


The attackers had a ‘brief talk’ for45-50 seconds with Anas after

which the pillion-rider, who had hisface covered with a hanky, shot himdead. It was revealed when the policescanned a CCTV footage.

“Anas and his friend reachedJahaz Wali Kothi first and the attack-ers were seen coming from behind.They stopped for some momentsand the pillion-rider and Anas wereseen talking in the footage. Later, theattackers moved away only to return.The attacker who was riding pillionhad a talk with Anas and he later shotat him before the duo sped off. Themiscreants are beyond recognition asthe youth driving the bike was wear-ing a helmet while his friend had hisface covered,” sources said.

“Rizwan, who has been named bythe parents of Anas, had a dispute withthe deceased over a girl. The familysuspected that Rizwan could well beinvolved in the murder. The police

have yet to track down Rizwan. BothAnas and Rizwan belong to samesect,” the sources said.

The incident had the cops puz-zled. As per sources, was highlyunlikely for an ordinary person toopen fire. “But if there is some hard-core criminal, the chances are high,”the sources opined. They said the pil-lion-rider had his face covered whilehis friend was wearing a helmet. “Bothseemed to have a clear intention ofkeeping their identities under wraps.This gives credence to the apprehen-sion that the miscreants wanted toeliminate Anas over some old enmi-ty and were waiting for him. It is alsopossible that the miscreants weregoing to commit some big crime inthe area and shot Anas to clear a hur-dle in their way,” the sources opined.The said Shariq was also on policeradar.

“The police have sought the calldetail records of Shariq to reach a con-clusion on his involvement in thecrime,” they disclosed.

Attackers had a brief talk with victim

Lucknow (PNS): “Why did they kill my son?They could have beaten him up or broken hislimbs,” Anas’s mother Tabassum said while cry-ing inconsolably. She passed out soon after doc-tors at the Trauma Centre informed her that Anaswas no more. Anas, who was one of the five sonsof his parents, worked at a meat shop in the local-ity. The family was about to decorate the houseand Anas had left the house informing his moth-er that he was going to Rakabganj to purchaseballoons. Anas’s father Mohammed Mashooqdoes menial jobs to make ends meet for the fam-ily while his brothers (Shanu, Shahrukh, Suhailand Umar) also do part-time jobs to help the fam-ily while their sister Shabbo helps her mother inhousehold chores. The incident exposed thepolice bandobast in the Old City where over 3,000cops, 14 companies of PAC jawans and six com-panies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) are deployedin view of Barawafat. Three officers of ASPO rankand several circle officers are monitoring the secu-rity arrangements while SHOs/inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and constables fromseveral police stations are camping in the area.

Despite heavy bandobast, the miscreantsmanaged to evade checking even though theywere carrying a pistol. Sensing the gravity of theincident, SSP Kalanidhi Naithani postponed apress conference which he was scheduled toaddress following the workout of a case in whicha Kakori resident, Amit Raat, was murdered andhis body dumped in a park on October 27.

Mother inconsolable

‘Women should be madeaware of govt schemes’

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a women empowerment programme on Tuesday Pioneer

Tension in Itaunja

after Ambedkar

statue damaged

Traffic diversions

for Barawafat

processionPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The district administration is ready toextend support to any initiative taken

up by the Archaeological Survey of Indiafor the restoration of Rumi Darwaza.District Magistrate Lucknow Kaushal RajSharma told The Pioneer that supportwould be extended to ASI if it approachedthe administration. Asked whether the dis-trict administration would enforce trafficdiversions required for restoration of theimposing monument, the DM said that ASIneeded to apprise them what was requiredto be done. A senior ASI official said theywould soon approach the district admin-istration in this regard. “We have sent aproposal to the DG, ASI, and as soon aswe get a nod, we will approach the admin-istration for traffic diversions,” he said.

The restoration work has been pend-ing for several years because traffic diver-sions could not be implemented behindTeele Wali Masjid. The diversions arerequired for constructing the scaffoldingbelow the structure. Incidentally, therestoration becomes important as RumiDarwaza is an iconic structure which rep-resents the essence of Lucknow’s culture.

The monument with its unique and fasci-nating structure is over 200 years’ old.Standing next to Asafi Imambara, RumiDarwaza has become the identity ofLucknow. Heritage lovers have raised thevoice in support of its restoration time andagain.

Dist admn ready to help ASI

in Rumi Darwaza restoration

Mystery shrouds

death of budding

engineer

Lucknow (PNS): A BTechfinal year student was founddead under mysterious cir-cumstances at his friend’s hos-tel room in Chinhat onTuesday morning. Policeclaimed that the student inject-ed some drug into his veins andhe died as his kept on deterio-rating thereafter. Pawan ofIndiranagar (sector 14) left hishouse around 4 pm onMonday, informing his fatherShivraj that he was going toparty with his friends.

“When he did not returnhome till late night, we contact-ed him and he told us that hewould stay in room number B-307 (Om Boys Hostel) alongwith his friend AbhishekDwivedi, who is also a BTechfinal year student. I reached theroom and found Pawan lyingdead,” he said.

SHO, Chinhat, AK Sahisaid Abhishek told the policethat Pawan had reached thehostel after administering him-self an injection of some drug.As per SHO, Pawan’s conditionstarted deteriorating after hereached Abhishek’s room.Abhishek called Pawan’s par-ents on Tuesday evening. Healso talked to Pawan’s sister andinformed her about his condi-tion. The SHO said the bodybore no injury marks. “Wehave sent the body for autop-sy and further investigationsare on,” he said. The familydenied that Pawan was a drugaddict. They said he might havebeen lured for the same by hisfriends.


Taking advantage of lax police patrollingin Darulshafa, where Abhijeet Yadav,

the son of UP Legislative Council’s chair-man was murdered a couple of weeks back,unidentified miscreants stole cash andvaluables from two shops in the localitysometime on Monday night. The miscre-ants broke into the shop of AshishKesarwani and decamped with Rs 8,000

and goods. They also targeted a shopowned by Raju and made off with Rs35,000 and valuables. Both the shops areat a stone’s throw from Darulshafa policeoutpost. After Yadav’s murder in his flat,the Hazratganj police had claimed thatsecurity in and around Darulshafa wouldbe beefed up and CCTV cameras lyingdefunct would be replaced. However, it sur-faced during probe that the CCTV cam-eras were still defunct.

Cash, goods stolen from 2 shops

On the occasion of World Heritage Day, specially-abled students taking part in a clay modelling workshop at Lucknow zoo onTuesday Pioneer


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Lucknow (PNS): TheCentral Institute for SubtropicalHorticulture (CISH), in partner-ship with the Directorate ofExtension, Ministry ofAgriculture, Cooperation andFarmers welfare (New Delhi),organised an 8-day model train-ing course on ‘Food and nutri-tional security of farm womenthrough horticulture-basedinterventions’ from November13. The course concluded onTuesday.

Twenty participants in thecapacities of district agricultureand horticulture officers, horti-


The 9th edition of theatrefestival ‘Repertwahr’ will

be held at UP Sangeet NatakAcademy from December 20to 24. Key organiser BhoopeshRai told mediapersons that forfive days, Lucknow wouldwitness more than 150 artistesfrom across the country.

He said that Repertwahr’s‘Lucknow Bula Raha Hai’campaign had made a beau-tiful and memorable connectwith Lucknowites nationwide.“It garnered a lot of attentionand appreciation last yearand this year too, Repertwahris inviting everyone associat-ed with Lucknow to comeback and be a part of the fes-tivities. With some fantastic

shows, mouth-watering deli-cacies, mesmerising ambi-ence and enchanting winterchill, the theatre festival is allset to capture the heart of res-idents,” Rai said.

The festivities will kick offwith a curtain raiser onDecember 7, 8 and 9. “Thecurtain raiser will also markthe soft launch of Lucknow’s

first performing arts cafe.The presentations are ticket-ed and open to public, butwith limited seating capacity,making it an exclusive gath-ering. The cafe has a quaint,open-air & rustic set-up, andit has been designed arounda 30-feet wide performancestage that is also going to serveas workshop and rehearsalarea during early morninghours,” he added.

‘Jab Khuli Kitab’, directedby Saurabh Shukla, will bestaged on December 20 while‘Gajab Kahani’ by MohitTakalkar on December 21,‘Item’ by Kshitij Date onDecember 22, ‘Shikhandi’ byFaezeh Jalali on December 23and ‘Hello Farmaish’ by YukiEllias on December 24.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The first national annualpitching event for finan-

cial sector start-ups wasorganised at IIM-Lucknow. Itwas the first such event aimedat financial sector start-ups,not just in UP but in theentire northern part of thecountry. Besides UP andNCR, the participants camefrom across the country,including from Bhopal,Chennai, Bengaluru,Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jaipur,Jammu, Bhubaneswar, Patialaand Chandigarh. The objec-tive was to build up a supportsystem for the start-ups. Theinitiative intends to promoteinnovations in the area offinancial inclusivity and tech-nology in financial solutionsfor rural areas, cashless solu-tions for inclusion, lending,risk management and com-

pliances, regulatory compli-ance, payment solutions,inclusive investment, retailssolutions and last mile ser-vices.

The jury and speakersconsisted of some notableinvestors and eminent indus-try players. As many as 25start-ups were shortlisted forpitching in the preliminaryrounds and the jury recom-mended nine for the finalround. The winners wereawarded prizes consisting ofcash, seed money and incu-bation support. WinnerRajendra Lora was awardedprizes worth Rs 5 lakh for hisstart-up ‘Pranam Kisan’.

The first runner-up wasMahindra who was awardedprizes worth Rs 4.5 lakh for‘Rurebanq’. Second runner-up Gokul Rajasekar wasgiven away prizes worth Rs 4lakh for ‘REAP’.

MOLESTATIONAn elderly shop owner

was accused of molesting a girlwho was there to purchasemilk and other items inJankipuram on Tuesday morn-ing. Police registered a case formolestation and also slappedprovisions of POCSO Act onthe accused, identified asAkhilesh Tripathi. A policespokesman said that the girlwas sent to the shop to pur-chase milk and other stuff. “Itwas early in the morning andthe accused was all alone at theshop. He lured the girl withchocolates and later molested

her. The girl complained to hermother, who lodged a policecomplaint. A case has beenregistered in this connection,”he said.

LOOTBike-borne unidentified

miscreants looted the goldchain of a woman, identified asSuman Mishra of MaharshiNagar in Madiaon on Tuesdaymorning. Suman, along withher friend Ruby, was going toa temple when she was target-ed by the miscreants. Her hus-band Sanjeev Mishra is ateacher.

culture supervisors, assistanthorticulture inspectors, subjectmatter specialists, technical offi-cers involved in extension activ-ities from state and Central gov-ernment departments took partin the programme. The partici-pants represented Uttarakhand,Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.A participant was from Nepal.

In the valedictory function,SIMA director RD Dwivedi wasthe chief guest. He, along withCISH director Shailendra Rajan,gave away certificates to the par-ticipants. Rajan appreciated theenthusiasm of the participantsand emphasised the need andopportunities for value additionand commodity-based organisa-tions for marketing of the hor-ticultural produce. “Our institutewill facilitate translating thehorticulture-based technologiesto farmers of their states throughthem so as to double theirincome,” Rajan said.

He added that the trainingcourse would not only providenew vistas of hopes and sustain-able livelihood options for farmwomen but also ensure food andnutritional security of farm fam-ilies on the whole. This trainingcourse was a capacity-buildingexercise to train extension per-sonel who will later train farmwomen in order to inculcateleadership qualities in themtowards food, nutritional andeconomic security in theirhouseholds.

8-day model training course

organised by CISH concludes

CITYBRIEFS

CRIMELINE

ALLAHABAD BANK’S MD & CEO MEETS CMManaging director and chief executive officer of Allahabad

Bank CH SS Mallikarjuna Rao completed his maiden visit toLucknow after assuming charge. Rao called on Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath and said Uttar Pradesh was the janma bhoomias well as karma bhoomi of the bank and he had special com-mitment for economic development of the state. He said he wasfeeling proud that the bank had completed 154 years of serviceto the nation and was one among the top-ranked public sectorbanks of the country today. Allahabad Bank has more than 3,200branches in the country. The bank attained a business of aboutRs 3,65,577 crore at close of last quarter, where deposits wereRs 2,10,199 crores and gross credit Rs 1,55,378 crore.

MAJ GEN SAPRA TAKES CHARGE Major General Arun Kumar Sapra has

taken over as the New Additional DirectorGeneral of NCC, Lucknow. An alumnus ofNDA (Khadakvasla, Pune) and CME(Pune), Maj Gen Sapra, besides havingdone the Indian Staff course fromWellington, has also attended theCommand and Staff Course in Bangladesh.He is a gold medalist in engineering anda post-graduate in structural engineeringfrom IIT-Kanpur. He has also acquired doctorate from DAVV(Indore). He was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 2016.

‘Repertwahr’ to kick

off on December 20

First pitching event

for financial sector

start-ups held at IIM

Students participating in the ‘Annual Sports and PT Display’ at St Francis’ College in Lucknow on Tuesday Pioneer

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Ahead of Kumbh Mela scheduled to beheld next year, Akbar Fort situated at

Sangam would get a new sculpture ofGoddess Saraswati making it another attrac-tion for tourists attending the Mega event.The new sculpture would be placed in theSaraswati Koop located inside the Fort. Thiswas said by the Kumbh Mela Adhikari VijayKiran Anand. Mela authorities had alreadycommenced hunting for an agency to con-ceptualize, design, construct and maintainthe sculpture which was estimated to bearound 10 to 12 feet, he added. The MelaAdhikari further said that the authority was

committed to promoting Kumbh and henceit had proposed beautification of the cityprior to the event. The beautification wouldprovide the pilgrims, devotees as well asguests visiting the Kumbh a richer experi-ence and also give the city an other touristattraction. According to Mela Adhikari theminimum life of the artwork would be sixyears and agency which got the projectwould have to keep this condition in mindwhile conceptualising and constructingthe sculpture. After it was made thePrayagraj Mela Authority would retain allthe rights of ownership, including thoseregarding its repair etc if any, when required,he added.

Akbar Fort to get new sculpture

of Goddess Saraswati: Official


Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority on Tuesday direct-

ed a prominent private develop-er to return the money with 18per cent interest to buyers whoare not interested in buying theflats located in the housing tow-ers coming up on SultanpurRoad. The buyers had depositedadvance amount seven yearsback. A fine of Rs 1,00,000 hasbeen imposed on the developerin question for his allegedunscrupulous practices.

The reason for this sternmeasure is that the developer hadassured buyers that they wouldbe handed over possession with-in six years but failed to keep itsword as the housing scheme isstill incomplete. Over 600 peo-ple had deposited the moneyfrom 2010 to 2012.

The project launched in 2010consists of nine towers compris-ing 900 flats. As per the brochureissued by the developer, the costof the flats ranged between Rs40-75 lakh while the cost of penthouse was Rs 80 lakh.

The project had evoked over-whelming response as largenumber of buyers came forwardto buy the flats and depositedadvanced sum, expecting that thepossession of the flats would behanded to them. However, theyare disgusted with the incompleteproject which is likely to takeanother two or three years. Thebuyers now want their moneyback. The decision was taken onthe initiative of PrincipalSecretary, Housing, Nitin Gokarnafter he gave an audience to thebuyers and heard their griev-ances. LDA Vice-Chairman PNSingh said the developer must toreturn the money to buyers withinterest. Labourers constructing a havan kund ahead of Kumbh Mela in Allahabad Pioneer


The participants of 19thInternational Conference

of Chief Justices of the Worldcalled upon all nations of theworld to get together for

safeguarding the future of theworld by unanimously releas-ing the resolution of the con-ference in the form of

Lucknow Declaration onTuesday. This conference,convened by City Montessori

School at CMS, Kanpur Roadauditorium, concluded withthe release of LucknowDeclaration at a press confer-ence held at Hotel ClarksAvadh. Expressing theirviews before media personsat a press conference, emi-nent participants said thattheir efforts would continuetill the establishment of a newworld order. Through theLucknow Declaration, theworld judiciary stressed uponthe pressing need to takeimmediate step for estab-lishing world unity and worldpeace so that global problemslike terrorism, weapons ofmass destruction, globalwarming and climate changecould be tackled to enable 2.5billion children and thefuture generations of theworld live in peace and security.

Global meet ends with call

to protect world’s future

LDA asks pvt developer toreturn money with interest

nation 05LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018

INSHORT

PCI FORMS PANEL TOPROBE SCRIBE MURDERNew Delhi: Four weeks after themurder of Jharkhand-basedjournalist Chandan Tiwary, thePress Council of India hasconstituted a fact-finding team tolook into the matter, the mediawatchdog said in a statement onTuesday. Condemning thegruesome attack, the PCI said itis "a cause of concern for allthose who believe in theindependence of press".

PAK ISSUES OVER 3,800VISAS TO SIKH PILGRIMSNew Delhi: Pakistan has issuedvisas to over 3,800 Sikh pilgrimsto participate in the birthdayanniversary celebrations of GuruNanak Dev there from Nov 21-30.

INDIA, BHUTAN DISCUSSSEVERAL ISSUESNew Delhi: Foreign SecretaryVijay Gokhale was on a three-dayvisit to Bhutan from Sunday,during which he told theBhutanese leaders that Indiaattaches the highest priority tofurther expand its cooperationwith Thimphu. According to theMinistry of External Affairs(MEA), both sides discussed aplethora of bilateral, regional andother issues of mutual interestsduring Gokhale's visit.

RAILWAY VARSITY WILLBE SMART CAMPUSNew Delhi: India's first RailwayUniversity in Vadodara, which willbe the third in the world afterRussia and China, will be a"smart campus" complementingthe transport-related education,multidisciplinary research andtraining programs. A Net-ZeroCampus, the project to bedesigned by CP KukrejaArchitects, will foster the conceptof energy efficiency for theUniversity. There would be adesignated area to accommodatesolar farms to meet the energydemands within the campus.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India and Russia on Tuesdayinked a 500-million-dollar

deal for construction of twostealth frigates in Goa for theNavy. Russia will providedesign, technology and somematerial to public sector GoaShipyard Limited (GSL)forconstruction of theseGrigorovich class ships.

Incidentally, the two coun-tries signed another one billiondollar deal some weeks back fortwo more stealth frigates of thesame class. Russia will buildthese ships at Yantar Shipyard,Kaliningrad and are expectedto be delivered to the IndianNavy by 2022-23. India andRussia had agreed in 2016 fora deal to build two frigates inIndia and two to be importedfrom Russia.

As regards the two frigatesto be built here, officials saidhere the agreement for theproject was signed betweenGSL and Russia's state-rundefence majorRosoboronexport under thegovernment-to-governmentframework for defence coop-eration. Construction of theships will begin in 2020 and thefirst one will be ready for

induction in 2026 while secondone will be ready by 2027.

In another development,Russia emerged as the lowestbidder for a 1.5 billion dollardeal for supplying very shortrange air defence systems tothe Indian Army. These mis-siles are shoulder fired to takedown aerial targets and theproposed deal envisages supplyof around 5,180 missiles andabout 800 launchers, officialssaid. The other two contendersin the race were France andSweden.

The firming up of theagreement to build two frigateshere came nearly six weeksafter India signed an agree-ment with Russia to buy abatch of S-400 air defencemissile systems at a cost of

around 5 billion dollars.India is going ahead with

mega defence deals with Russiadisregarding warnings by theUS of sanctions. The Trumpadministration has put sever-al Russian firms under sanc-tions under CounteringAmerica's

Adversaries ThroughSanctions Act (CAATSA). TheUS said countries engagedwith Russia's defence firms

may also face actions underCAATSA. India has been hop-ing to get a waiver from the USon the deals it was signing withRussia.

Russia is time tested strate-gic and defence partners ofIndia and is the largest weaponsupplier to the Indian forces.The defence and security coop-eration has been on an upswingbetween the two countries inthe last few years.

PNS n NEW DELHI

As many as 2,400 projectsworth `74,000 crore per-

taining to sewerage, drainageand water supply have beenapproved under the AtalMission for Rejuvenation andUrban Transformation(AMRUT). Under the scheme,10 railway stations includingTirupati, Delhi Sarai Rohilla,Nellore, Madgaon, Lucknow,Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane New,Ernakulam Jn. andPuducherry will also be devel-oped.

The AMRUT scheme waslaunched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in 2015 witha focus to establish infra-structure that could ensureadequate, robust sewage net-works and water supply forurban transformation byimplementing urban revivalprojects.

As per Ministry's data,963 projects worth `2008 crorehave been completed. "At least3,123 projects worth `50,350crore are under progress. "Thedetailed projects report (DPR)of 487 projects worth `7,999 cr

has been approved,"it said.Addressing the gathering

at the National Water,Sanitation and Hygiene(WASH) Innovation Summit,Union Housing and UrbanAffairs minister HardeepSingh Puri said underAMRUT, over 2,400 projectsworth `74,000 crore, targettedtowards ensuring an improvedwater supply, sewerage, anddrainage, have been approvedunder the state annual actionplans for 2015-2020.

"The Government is pro-viding various platforms to

display, promote and recogniseinnovations happening acrossthe nation," Puri said. Thesummit is organised by theNational Institute of UrbanAffairs (NIUA) in associationwith Elets TechnomediaPrivate Limited.

According to officials,Odisha has been ranked sec-ond among States in imple-mentation of the projectsunder the AMRUT. As per thenational level rating frame-work assessment up toOctober 26 2018, AndhraPradesh topped the list while

Madhya Pradesh was placedthird. "The majority of pro-jects under this scheme isrelated water supply and toimprove drainage system,"said officials.

The summit is being heldto create a platform for entre-preneurs, including startups,to showcase their innovativeproducts and solutions in thearea of water, sanitation andhygiene, and provide momen-tum to the innovation ecosys-tem, besides contributing toresolve the pressing issues inthe WASH sector.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Tuesdaysaid CBI DIG M K Sinha's

allegations of corruptionagainst senior Governmentofficials in his affidavit to theSupreme Court are the latestepisode of a crime thriller"Chowkidar is thief " playingout in Delhi. Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi again usedthe "chowkidar" jibe to attackPrime Minister Narendra Modiwhich he has been doing forpast many months.

"A crime thriller titled'Chowkidar is thief ' is playingout in Delhi. In the newepisode, a CBI DIG has levelledserious charges against aMinister, the NSA, LawSecretary and CabinetSecretary," the Congress pres-ident said on Twitter. "On theother hand, his partner fromGujarat is busy collectingcrores...," he added.

The party alleged thatPrime Minister as usual hasmaintained a 'Maun Vrat' onthe entire petition. "Officersare tired, trust is broken anddemocracy is crying," theCongress president said, a dayafter Sinha dragged the namesof several officials, includingNational Security Advisor AjitDoval, Union ministerHaribhai ParthibhaiChaudhary and CVC K VChowdhury, over allegedattempts to interfere in theprobe against CBI SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthana.Asthana has been divested ofhis duties and sent on leavealong with CBI director AlokVerma.

Congress spokesmanAbhishek Singhvi said that a

naïve Modi Government whichis a master in enforcing the'Gujarat Model' to deal withbureaucrats, senior officersand treat them as their pup-pets, did not realise their delib-erate denigration in under-mining the authority of CBI—would now reach the doorstepsof the Prime Minister.

"The turmoil created by adespotic Modi governmentwithin the CBI when reachedthe Supreme Court, has nowunleashed a 'CorruptionTsunami' which has hit the topmost powers of the country.The plank of anti-corruptionon which the Modi Sarkarcame to power lies in tatters.The prima facie inference ofManish Kumar Sinha's affidavitin the Supreme Court pointsout to a 'Corrupt Cabal' beingin-charge of premier institu-tions like - CBI, NSA, ED,RA&W & the PMO," Singhvi,also a Rajya Sabha member,said.

The party questioned whatthe PM has to say about aMinister of State for Personnel,Public Grievances andPensions, in-charge of thePMO, being involved to "settle"a matter for MOS HaribhaiChoudhary. It also asked who

was the person in the PMOwho "fixed things" for SamantGoel of RA&W, post whichCBI officers were transferred inthe Midnight Coup.

"There are only twoMinisters in the Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievancesand Pensions, one the PMhimself and then a Minister ofState, in either case this is cor-ruption of the highest degree asits at the doorsteps of the PMhimself. Ajit Doval in hiscapacity as NSA has not onlyinterfered in matters such asthe Rafale negotiations, but hasalmost derailed the integrity ofthe investigation in the CBI.Why is NSA Ajit Doval eveninvolved in this matter? Whatconstitutional or legal author-ity does he have," queriedSinghvi.

"The protracted silence ofthe current dispensation is aninsult to our democracy whichmandates a government to betransparent in its dealings.This silence of the BJP, brokenonly by outlandish blog postsor Press Conferences by theirUnion Ministers who are in noway connected to the matter athand, is an affront to the col-lective intelligence of thenation," Singvi said.

India, Russia ink $500-mn deal

CONSTRUCTION OF TWO STEALTH FRIGATES

PNS n NEW DELHI

Army Chief General BipinRawat will hold delega-

tion-level talks with his coun-terparts on military-relatedissues during his four-day visitto Vietnam starting November22. Incidentally, the ArmyChief 's visit to Vietnam comestwo days after President RamNath Kovind paid a three- dayvisit to that country.

During the bilateral visit,Rawat will also interact withsenior military hierarchy ofVietnam besides visiting keymilitary formations and estab-

lishments. The Army Chief is sched-

uled to meet and interact withDefence Minister General NgoXuan Lich and Deputy Chiefof General Staff SeniorLieutenant General PhamHong Huong, Deputy Chief ofthe General Staff during thevisit . Rawat will visitHeadquarters of an InfantryDivision near Hanoi andHeadquarters of 7 MilitaryRegion at Ho Chi Minh, offi-cials said here on Tuesday.

During the visit of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toVietnam in 2016 the relation-

ship between the two countrieswas upgraded to comprehen-sive strategic partnership.Defence cooperation hasincreased exponentially overthe last few years amongst allservices including exchangeprogrammes, training assis-tance and cooperation on var-ious service specific issues.

Rawat's visit will be yetanother milestone in givingimpetus to the strategic part-nership between India andVietnam and taking forwardthe military to military coop-eration to the next level, theysaid.

Army chief to visit Vietnam

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission(EC) on Wednesday reject-

ed the allegations of wide-spread malfunctioning of theelectronic voting machines(EVMs) and asserted that thefaulty machines were prompt-ly replaced without any dis-ruption to the voting process.

Earlier, on a day whenpolling for the second phasewas underway in 72 con-stituencies of the 90-memberAssembly, a Congress delega-tion led by PL Punia submitteda memorandum and video evi-dence to the poll panel.

The party demanded aprobe into the recovery of threeEVMs from Ved PrakashMishra, a Government highschool headmaster in Chrimiriin Korea district. "After seeingthe trends of the first phase ofpolling (November 12) and real-ising that people are determinedto bring the Congress to power,the ruling BJP is indulging inmalpractices," said Punia.

Rejecting the congress alle-gations, the EC spokespersonsaid that at the 19,336 pollingstations being used in secondphase using 25,640 Ballot Units(BUs), 19,336 Control Units(CUs) and 19,336 VVPATs,only 47 BUs, 37 CUs and 131VVPATs have needed replace-ment during the polls. "Given

sufficient reserves available,the said replacements werehandled swiftly by the localpolling personnel," ECspokesperson said.

Punia said the BJP "wary oflosing the polls, was trying toinfluence and affect the pollingprocess through electoral mal-practices". "Can any officerwhether he is on election dutyor not on election duty, can takeaway EVM machines, which isthe property of the ElectionCommission of India and keepit in his house. But it has hap-pened in Chhattisgarh," theCongress said in its complaint.

There were reports of EVMs

malfunctioned in several boothsacross Dhamtari, Jashpur,Raipur, Ambikapur and Korbaconstituencies, with theCongress accusing the state's rul-ing BJP of indulging in "electoralmalpractices" and "attempting todisrupt" the poll process.

"The recovery of EVMs isa matter of grave concern,especially when the EC hasmaintained that the integrity ofthe EVMs is beyond reproach."This points to a larger inten-tion to subvert the outcome ofthe ongoing State Assemblyelections in Chhattisgarh," saidPunia seeking the EC's inter-vention.

EC junks EVM tempering charges

New Delhi: A turnout of 71.93 percent voting was recorded till 6 pmin the second phase of Assemblyelections in Chhattisgarh onTuesday and polling remainedincident-free.Addressing a press conferencehere, Deputy ElectionCommissioner Umesh Sinha saidthe polling percentage is likely torise further as a number of peoplewere still in the queue for voting.He said the polling percentage forthis phase is slightly higher thanthat recorded during 2013 whichwas 71.13 per cent. Polling for asmany as 72 seats were conductedin the second phase.

Sinha said Tuesday's election waspeaceful and incident-free aselaborate security arrangementswere made. He added that anumber of old voters, includingthose over 100 years of age, alsoexercised their franchise and theCommission had madearrangements for them.The EC said with Tuesday's pollingpercentage the total averageturnout for Chhattisgarh has been74.17 per cent, which may go upfurther. During the first phase ofvoting on November 12 for 18seats in the Naxal-affected areasof the state, a total of 76.42 percent polling was recorded. PNS

71.93% polling in C’garh

Govt OK’s `74K cr for 2,400 sanitation projectsNew Delhi: "Writing is veryclear on the wall", the SupremeCourt warned the embattledreal estate firm Amrapali Groupon Tuesday over its repeatednon-compliance and "hood-winking" of the court's order.

The top court asked therealty firm to reveal byDecember 3 the details of all itsproperties in the name of direc-tors, their family members,relatives, Chief FinancialOfficers and statutory auditors

in India and abroad. It gave one last opportuni-

ty to Amrapali Group and itsdirectors and promoters tocomply with each and everydirection passed by the courtsince May last year.

A bench of Justices ArunMishra and U U Lalit said thatAmrapali Group will have todisclose each and every detailand activity including financialtransactions by which home-buyers' money was transferred.

"We make it very clearthat Amrapali Group shoulddisclose each and every activ-ity in clear terms it took since2008 onwards related to theconstruction of residential,commercial, personal, officialand financial where the moneywas transferred. If all the dis-closures are not made byAmrapali Group and its direc-tors then the writing is veryclear on the wall," the benchsaid. PTI

Writing very clear on wall, SC’sfinal warning to Amrapali Group

PNS n NEW DELHI

BJP president Amit Shah onTuesday hit-out at the

Pinarayi Vijayan Government'shandling of the situation inSabarimala as "disappointing"and charged it with treating pil-grims as "Gulag inmates" in theforced labour camps in the erst-while Soviet communist regime.

"If Pinarayi Vijayan thinkshe can rise against people'smovement to preserve

Sabarimala by arresting KSurendran, our Thrissur Districtpresident and 6 others, then heis mistaken. We stand firmlywith every Ayyappa devotee,who holds the Sabarimala tra-dition close to his heart," Shahsaid in a series of tweets.

The BJP president said hisparty will not let the LDF "crushpeople's faith with impunity".

"If several reports of flush-ing resting places for devoteesand them having to spend

nights next to pig droppings &dustbin are true, then PinarayiVijayan must realise that hecan't treat Ayyappa devoteeslike inmates of Gulag. We won'tlet LDF crush people's faithwith impunity", he said.

Gulag was a system offorced labour camps establishedduring Communist leaderJoseph Stalin's rule in the SovietUnion who ruled Soviet Unionafter the death of leader ofSoviet revolution V I Lenin.

Shah has been extendingopen support to devotees inKerala protesting the StateGovernment's move to imple-ment a Supreme Court orderlifting the bar on women ofmenstruating age from visitingthe temple. The LeftDemocratic Front (LDF) hasaccused the BJP of politicisingthe court order with the ChiefMinister asserting that it is thejob of a Government to imple-ment the apex court's order.

Vijayan Govt treating Ayyappa devotees as Gulag inmates: Shah

CBI officer's corruption chargescrime thriller episode: Rahul

New Delhi: Opposition leaderSharad Yadav on Tuesdayalleged that institutions like theCBI and RBI are losing theircredibility because of the NDAdispensation's "stubbornness"and "wrong intention".

He said it was "very unfor-

tunate" that people have start-ed saying that the high ups inthe key institutions on whichthey have confidence have beenwitnessing battles within andlevelling charges of corrup-tion, resulting in losing of theircredibility.

Institutions like CBI, RBI loosing credibilitybecause of NDA Govt: Sharad Yadav

New Delhi: The NIA onTuesday filed a chargesheetagainst Maulana Abdul RoufAsgar, deputy chief of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad ter-ror group and brother ofMaulana Masood Azhar, and13 others in connection with acase pertaining to the attack onan Army camp in Nagrota inJammu & Kashmir inNovember 2016, officials said.

The spokesman of the NIAsaid in a statement that thecharge sheet was filed undervarious sections of Ranbir PenalCode (substitute of IPC inJammu & Kashmir), UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act andthe Foreigners Act against theaccused.

"Investigation conductedby the NIA revealed that fourlocal Kashmiri JeM members,namely Mohd. Ashiq Babaalias Mohd. Ashaq, SyedMunir-Ul-Hassan Qadri, TariqAhmad Dar and Ashraf HamidKhandey (all arrested by NIA)had facilitated a group of threeheavily armed Pakistani ter-rorists and transported themfrom International Border inSamba-Kathua sector to HotelJagdamba in Jammu and sub-sequently to Nagrota in theirvehicles for the attack on theNovember 28, 2016 on Officers'

Mess Complex, 166 MediumRegiment of Indian Army inNagrota Cantonment (nearJammu)," the spokesman said.

The three Pakistani JeMterrorists — Khalid alias AbuHissam, Numan and Aadil,who were highly trained andequipped with AK-47 riflesand explosives carried out theattack in which seven Armypersonnel were killed and threewere injured. All the three ter-rorists were killed.

The NIA said the probeshowed that Maulana AbdulRouf Asgar, Deputy Chief ofJaish-e-Mohammad and broth-er of Jaish chief MaulanaMasood Azhar, was the mas-termind of the Nagrota attack.

"He worked out the plan ofFidyeen (suicide) attack andprovided training to abovethree Pakistani JeM terrorists.He also directed Mufti Asgar(launch commander of JeM inKashmir region) to providetraining, funds, equipment andmobile and other logistics tolocal JeM member Mohd.Ashiq Baba.

Mohd Ashiq Baba had vis-ited Pakistan many times andmet JeM terrorists Waseem(Operational commander ofJeM), Abu Talha alias Doctor(deputy commander in Jammu

region) and Qari Zarar (launchcommander of JeM for Jammuregion).

He was taken for a meetingwith Mufti Asgar atMuzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. On reach-ing there he was received byAbdullah alias Al Hijama andTariq Mir, both JeM terroristswho are close associates ofMufti Asgar.

"During meeting with topleadership of JeM comman-ders Mufti Asgar chalked outa detailed plan including themodus operandi to be adopt-ed for infiltration of JeM ter-rorists and he asked Ashiq toactivate local JeM network inJammu & Kashmir for Jehadicause. Ashiq Baba was giventraining at Manshera inPakistan and handed overmoney for arranging logisticsalong with a GPS enabledHuawei mobile phone forcommunication with JeMleaders in Pakistan," thespokesman said.

The NIA has collected evi-dence on the basis of disclosureof the accused, detailed socialmedia analysis, digital evidencethrough requests under MutualLegal Assistance Treaty andanalysis of data extracted fromthe seized digital devices. PTI

NIA files chargesheets against JeM deputychief, Masood's brother, 13 others

NAGROTA ARMY CAMP ATTACK CASE

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Pakistan Army on Tuesdayprovoked strong retalia-

tion from the Indian Armyafter it targeted its Poonchbased Brigade headquartersfor the second time in last onemonth.

Earlier, Brigade headquar-ters was targeted after a gap of21 years on October 23, 2018.

According to groundreports, "between 7.35 and 7.45am, at least two shells explod-ed in the close vicinity of theempty store inside brigadeheadquarters in Poonch".Pakistan army had earlier usedrecoilless gun with a calibre of105/106 mm shells to target thevital army installation onOctober 23.

Another shell landed inarmy area close to the Brigadeheadquarters spreading panicin the Poonch town.

The district administra-tion immediately ordered shutdown of educational institu-tions along the line of controlto prevent any loss of life incross border shelling. After abrief gap Indian army is learntto have retaliated strongly inDeegwar sector and reported-ly inflicted heavy damages onthe Pakistani side of the line ofcontrol. The exact nature ofdamages were not knownimmediately.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu confers Capital Foundation's Life Time Achievement Award on Dr MM Joshi in recognition of his outstanding contribution to publicservice during the 104th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Justice VR Krishna Iyer in New Delhi PTI

Indian Army

retaliates to

Pak attack

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 nation 06

PTI n PIPLANI

Calling the Madhya Pradeshassembly elections a “big

battle” against a formidableforce, senior Congress leaderKamal Nath has said he is“hungry” to bring his partyback in power in the state. TheCongress has been out ofpower in this vast state withabout 5 crore voters since 2003when it was ousted by the BJP.The grand-old party is makingits all-out efforts to wrest con-trol of the state from the BJPand has mounted an aggressivecampaign for the November 28elections for 230 assemblyseats. The BJP had won 165seats in the last state electionsin 2013 with 44.88 per centvotes, while the Congress hadgot only 58 seats with 42.67 percent votes.

Nath, the state Congresschief and a key campaigner forhis party, told PTI in an inter-view that he is a “party work-er who is hungry to bring theCongress back in power inMadhya Pradesh”. He, howev-er, evaded a direct reply to aquestion on whether he couldbe made the chief minister ifhis party wins the polls.

“(Congress president)Rahul Gandhiji will decidehow it will happen,” he saidduring his first campaign rallyin the Budhni assembly seat insupport of Congress candidateArun Yadav. Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan is theBJP candidate from Budhniand it has traditionally beenknown as a bastion of the saf-fron party leader who has beenheading the state governmentfor 13 years and is now eyeinghis fourth term. Yadav is Nath’spredecessor in the PradeshCongress Committee (PCC)chief post and the change ofguard was undertaken by theparty high-command in Delhionly a few months back.

Nath, a Member ofParliament (MP) from theChhindwara constituency ofthe state, also hit back at theBJP over the recent controver-

sy about the Congress party’smanifesto proposing a ban onholding RSS ‘shakhas’ in gov-ernment premises. While someBJP leaders have alleged thatthe Congress wants to ban theRSS, Nath said his party wasonly wanting to implement aprotocol that was also in oper-ation during the regimes of twoBJP CMs before Chouhan.

“They (BJP) are trying toincite people by telling lies. Ihave never said that we will banthe RSS. I have said we will dothat is as per central govern-ment rules and what was preva-lent in Ms Uma Bharti andBabulal Gaur’s time,” he said.

Chouhan had replacedGaur as the chief minister inNovember 2005, while it Bhartiwho was made the chief min-ister after the BJP stormed topower in Madhya Pradesh in2003 by ending the ten-yearrule of the then Congress chiefminister Digvijay Singh. TheCongress manifesto says that“the holding of RSS shakhas ingovernment premises would bebanned and the order regard-ing relaxation given to publicservants to attend them will berevoked”. The then Congressgovernment had banned RSSactivities in governmentpremises in Madhya Pradesh in1981. The ban was later revived

in 2000 by the then chief min-ister Digvijaya Singh underthe Civil Services ConductRule. Asked if it was a battlewhere everything of theCongress was at stake, Nathsaid, “There is nothing do ordie in politics but certainly thisis a big battle to expose thisgovernment who has cheatedevery section of society.”

The 72-year-old Congressheavyweight, who has beenelected to the Parliament ninetimes, said, “Today the questionis that who do the people trustand I think the people have losttheir trust in Shivraj SinghChouhan ji and Modiji (PrimeMinister Narendra Modi).”

Asked about his recentstatement that his constituen-cy of Chhindwara has seen bet-ter strides of development thanchief minister Chouhan’sassembly constituency, Nathsaid he was astounded by theunder-development in Budhni.

“The people of Budhniand people of Chhindwara arewitness to the great differencebetween Budhni andChhindwara. “In Chhindwara’sdevelopment and Budhni’sdevelopment there is a vast dif-ference and the neglect ofBudhni by the CM is not onlysurprising, it is shocking,” hesaid.

PTI n NEW DELHI

BJP president Amit Shah onTuesday slammed the

Pinarayi Vijayan government’shandling of the situation inSabarimala as “disappointing”and accused the Kerala gov-ernment of treating pilgrims as“Gulag inmates” and makingthem spend nights next to “pigdroppings”.

Asserting that his partystands firmly with everyAyyappa devotee who holds theSabarimala tradition close tohis heart, the BJP President saidhis party will not let the LDF“crush people’s faith withimpunity”. In a series of tweets,Shah said, “If several reports offlushing resting places for devo-tees and them having to spendnights next to pig droppingsand dustbin are true, thenPinarayi Vijayan must realizethat he can’t treat Ayyappadevotees like inmates of Gulag.We won’t let LDF crush people’sfaith with impunity,” the BJPchief said. Gulag was a systemof forced labour camps estab-lished during Joseph Stalin’srule in the Soviet Union.

Shah’s comments under-lined his party’s support todevotees protesting against thestate government’s move toimplement a Supreme Courtorder lifting the bar on womenof menstruating age from vis-

iting the temple. The LeftDemocratic Front (LDF) hasaccused the BJP of politicisingthe court order with the chiefminister asserting that it is thejob of a government to imple-ment the apex court’s order.

Shah said the way the wayPinarayi Vijayan’s governmentis handling the sensitive issueof Sabarimala is disappointingas the “Kerala police is treatingyoung girls, mothers and agedinhumanly, forcing them totake the arduous pilgrimage,without even basic facilities likefood, water, shelter and cleantoilets”. “If Pinarayi Vijayanthinks he can rise against peo-ple’s movement to preserveSabarimala by arresting KSurendran, BJP’s Thrissur dis-trict president and six others,then he is mistaken,” Shahsaid.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Tuesday dis-missed the Congress’ bid to

woo Hindu voters in MadhyaPradesh as a “gimmickry” thatwill not “hoodwink” people,asserting that it will come backto power on the back of ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan’s appeal and itsorganisational strength.

BJP vice-president VinaySahasrabuddhe, who is its in-charge for the poll-bound state,said the party will come closeto its “ambitious” target ofwinning 200 seats in the 230-member assembly. The partyhad won 165 seats, its highestever, in 2013 and many opin-ion polls now have suggestedthat the opposition Congress isputting up a strong fight.

Sahasrabuddhe, however,told reporters that developmentworks of the state governmentbesides Chouhan’s connectwith the masses and the party’sstrong organisational machin-ery will propel it to fourthstraight term at the helm.Asked about the Congress’ bidto woo Hindu voters bypromising to build cow shedsand also building the pathwhich lord Ram is believed tohave taken during his stay inforests, he claimed it reflectedof the opposition party’s “deeprooted guilty conscience forneglecting the nature of thecountry” all these years. “It isnot going to hoodwink people,”he said. If the Congress is seri-ous about the story of lordRam, the it should start fromsupporting building the Ram

temple in Ayodhya, where he isbelieved to have been born, theBJP leader said. His said hisparty’s main agenda in thestate is development and it isthe Congress which has madecow and the RSS a part of thediscourse by mentioning themin its manifesto. The Congresshas also promised that it willbar government employeesfrom attending RSS ‘shakhas’and also not let the Hindutvaorganisation, which is the BJP’sideological mentor, organis-ing its events in governmentpremises if the party is voted topower. The Congress has takenthe discourse to 1977 by talk-ing about “banning” the RSS, he said, adding that it isvery retrograde. MadhyaPradesh goes to polls onNovember 28.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The CBI case in theSupreme Court saw asharp exchange of words

on Tuesday between the twolawyers representing CBIDirector Alok Kumar Verma,with the senior counsel ques-tioning the move by his junioradvocate in mentioning thematter on Monday without hisconsent. Senior advocate Fali SNariman, appearing for Verma,told a bench headed by JusticeRanjan Gogoi that he was notaware that lawyer GopalShankaranarayanan, who isalso representing the CBIDirector, had mentioned thematter on Monday before thecourt seeking some more timeto file a reply on his behalfwithout his consent.

“Nobody had asked him(Shankaranarayanan) to do so.It was totally unauthorised. Iwas never informed. Nobodyasked him to mention the mat-ter. I am very disturbed,”Nariman told the bench, alsocomprising justices SK Kauland K M Joseph. The seniorcounsel further added that heand his junior had worked latein the night to prepare Verma’sresponse to the CVC’s findings

against him over the allegedcorruption charges against theCBI Director.

The bench, which wasmiffed over the purported leakof Verma’s confidentialresponse to Central VigilanceCommission’s (CVC) prelimi-nary inquiry report, adjournedthe matter for hearing onNovember 29. Later, Narimanagain mentioned the matterbefore the bench and request-ed that it should be re-heard.The bench allowed his requestand when the matter was taken

up for hearing,Shankaranarayanan said thatthe senior counsel had earliersubmitted that he was notauthorised to mention the mat-ter. “I need to clear my name,”Shankaranarayanan said.However, the CJI observed,“We are not prepared to hearMr Gopal Shankaranarayanan.We are prepared to hear MrNariman only. We want thisplace clear. As far as this courtin concerned MrShankaranarayanan, nobodyis under any cloud.” When

Shankaranarayanan tried toclarify and said, “I had the per-mission from the client(Verma) to mention the mat-ter,” Nariman maintained thathe, being the senior counsel,was not informed about thementioning on Monday.Nariman said that when asenior counsel is representinga client, he or she is the “in-charge” of the case and needsto be informed before anymentioning in the court.

“Please do not raise yourvoice,” Nariman said, “I amspeaking here with my 67 year’sof experience. I know what todo. Do not tell me what shouldI do”. Nariman further sug-gested that the issue be leftalone. On Monday, the apexcourt had asked Verma to filehis response “as quickly aspossible” during the day onfindings of the CVC’s prelim-inary probe report on allegedcorruption charges against him.Sankaranarayanan, who hadmentioned the matter, told thebench that they needed somemore time to file Verma’s reply.The bench is dealing withVerma’s plea challenging thegovernment’s decision to divesthim of duties and sending himon leave.

Verma’s lawyers enter into

exchange of words in SC

CBI vs CBI

Imphal (PTI): Angry overlow attendance of ministers andofficials at a government func-tion here, Manipur ChiefMinister N Biren Singh hassought resignation of the minis-ters and officials who have noconcern for the people. TheChief Minister made the state-ment at the ‘Quami Ekta Week’function organised at the premis-es of the Manipur Rifles onMonday, an official release said.The ministers and officialsshould resign if they do not dis-charge their duties for the wel-fare of the people with sincerityand dedication, he said.

The function, organised bythe state government, wasattended by a handful of minis-ters, legislators and officials, therelease said. All elected repre-sentatives and senior officialsneed to be the role model for thepublic and do exemplary workduring their service period, hesaid. He cautioned the authori-ty concerned to do the needfulto avoid low attendance at anystate level function in future andsaid nothing could be achievedwithout discipline. Recalling for-mer prime minister late IndiraGandhi for maintaining theunity and integrity of the coun-try, he said the present NDA gov-ernment under Narendra Modihad started giving recognition tounsung heroes of the battle forindependence of the country.

Manipur CM

asks insincere

mins to quit

Hungry to bring Cong back inpower in MP: Kamal Nath

Kerala govt’s handlingof Sabarimala issuedisappointing: Shah

‘BJP will form govt in MP’

PTI n JAMMU

Days after resigning fromthe BJP’s primary mem-

bership, Lok Sabha MPThupstan Chhewang has said“false” promises and unwisedecisions were the reasonbehind his decision, and notthe desire to pursue “spirituallife” as projected.

In a letter addressed toPrime Minister NarendraModi, the Ladakh MP revealedhis reason to quit the BJP andresign from the Lok Sabhaahead of the upcoming parlia-mentary elections. Chhewang’sresignation is yet to be accept-ed by the party and the Speaker.

“I have decided to keep myresignation from the party andthe Lok Sabha a low-key (affair)as my intentions were never toscore political points. However,I am constrained to give vent tomy feelings now in view of thepropaganda being indulged bythe state party president aboutmy writing (a) letter to theparty’s central leaders ‘for thepast around one year’ express-ing my willingness to quitactive politics and opting forspiritual isolation. This is farfrom truth,” Chhewang said inhis letter. Last Thursday, Jammuand Kashmir BJP presidentRavinder Raina had said the 71-year-old leader had resignedfrom the House and the partyto pursue a “spiritual life”, as hehad been suffering from health

issues. As a local representative,Chhewang said, his positionwas increasingly becomingmorally-and-politically unten-able, with the party and its cen-tral leaders exhibiting littleconcern for implementing itslast Lok Sabha election promisethat the demand of the Ladakhregion for a Union Territorystatus would be met within “sixmonths”.

“We exposed ourselves tothe charge of making falsepromises even on such senti-mental issues as the inclusionof the Bhoti language in theeighth schedule of the Indianconstitution. “I kept on writingto almost all party leaders –encroached at times even uponyour valuable time – and alsospoke in the national executivemeetings reminding all aboutour commitment to the region,”he said. Chhewang accusedthe leaders of never caring tologically explain the reasons forthe delay in executing the elec-

toral assurances, adding that allpleas fell on deaf ears. Some ofthe central party leaders andthe current state leadershipmade matters worse by repeat-edly rubbing salt into thewounds of Ladakh, he alleged.“I felt that I had no choice butto keep away from theirthoughtless actions in ourregion.” Chhewang said it wasstrange that the party decidedto contest all seats in the Kargilhill development council elec-tions, where it had no base,while diverting resources, ener-gy and attention from abouthalf-a-dozen seats where theparty had a winning chance.

Pointing out to the way thechief executive councilor of theLeh Hill development councilwas “unceremoniously”dropped, much to the angerand anguish of the party loyal-ists, the Ladakh MP said allthese measures had left thelocal workers in a state of dis-array. “These are examples ofthe total absence of applicationof mind with the 2019 parlia-mentary elections round thecorner.” “In 2014 and its after-math we had the privilege ofyou as the prime ministergoing around the country pro-jecting the first time BJP vic-tories in the Ladakh parlia-mentary constituency and theLeh hill council as signs of theincreasing reach of the party.What could you tell (the) peo-ple now?” he asked.

PTI n HYDERABAD

AIMIM President AsaduddinOwaisi has alleged that the

Congress candidate in Nirmal con-stituency in poll-bound Telanganaattempted to bribe him by offering Rs25 lakh to cancel his rally in supportof the TRS in the town, a chargedenied by the latter. Addressing a pub-lic meeting organised by his party inNirmal on Monday night, Owaisialleged that A Maheshwar Reddycalled a MIM leader on phone andoffered to pay Rs 25 lakh as bribe tostop him from holding the meeting.He also claimed to have recorded theconversation.

Rejecting the charge, Reddytermed it as baseless and false and said

he would quit politics if Owaisiproved it. MIM, which is on friend-ly terms with the TRS, has not field-ed its candidate in Nirmal Assemblyseat, and organised the meeting insupport of the ruling party candidatethough there was no formal electoraltie-up between the two parties for theDecember 7 Assembly elections. TheMIM is contesting eight seats — allin Hyderabad — while the TRS isgoing it alone in the polls to the 119-member assembly. Congress headinga ‘grand alliance’ of TDP, CPI and TJShas announced candidates for 94 seg-ments. “Now when this jalsa (meet-ing) is happening the Congress peo-ple tried to buy Asaduddin Owaisi.Maheshwar (Reddy) phoned a MIMleader telling him to stop Owaisi

Saheb, (and) will give Rs 25 lakh partyfund. I have the recording (of thatphone conversation),” Owaisi said atthe meeting. This Congress candidatewants to buy my party for Rs 25 lakh.“Ye log samajthe hain ham apnijamat ka sauda karenge” (these peo-ple think we do deal for our party) Rs25 lakh that is the sign of their arro-gance,” the Hyderabad MP alleged.Strongly refuting Owaisis allegations,Reddy dared Owaisi to prove thecharge with evidence. “Why shouldsomebody stop someone’s rally.Owaisi has already started cam-paigning for TRS party and now thisman says that he is being stopped withan offer of Rs 25 lakh. Why somebodywill offer him Rs 25 lakh and why hewill stop,” he told PTI.

Ladakh MP cites false promises,

unwise decisions for quitting BJP

BSP supremo Mayawati addresses a public gathering at BHEL Dussehra Ground inBhopal on Tuesday PTI

Owaisi hurls bribe charge, Cong

candidate rejects allegation

Cong vetoed move to include BSP for coalition in MP: AkhileshPTI n BHOPAL

Samajwadi Party Chief AkhileshYadav on Tuesday said his party

didn’t accept a Congress offer foran alliance in Madhya Pradeshassembly polls because the RahulGandhi-led party was not ready toinclude the BSP in the proposedcoalition.

Criticising the Congress,Yadav said its policies were respon-sible for the rise of the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP). He said that Congress would

have “won” more than 200 seatsout of 230 in the November 28elections in Madhya Pradesh hadit tied-up with the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP), the Samajwadi Party(SP) and the Gondwana GantantraParty (GGP).

BSP chief Mayawati had inOctober announced that her partywould contest Madhya Pradeshand Rajasthan assembly polls

alone and had accused theCongress of being “arrogant” andnot being interested in fighting theBJP. It was seen as a setback for theCongress which has been trying torally opposition forces to forge ananti-BJP front.

“The Congress doesn’t give usany importance. That party wasready to allot seats to SP in MadhyaPradesh elections. However, wetold them that the election is goingto be a big battle and we need to

include the BSP in the alliance, butthe Congress was not ready. So, ouralliance could not materialise,”Yadav told reporters at a pressconference on Tuesday after thelaunch of his party’s poll manifesto.

The SP chief ’s remarks come inthe backdrop of the arch-rivals SPand BSP coming together againstthe BJP in Uttar Pradesh bypollsearlier this year to wrest two impor-tant Lok Sabha seats — Gorakhpurand Phulpur — from the saffron

party. Yadav has been maintaining

that an alliance with the BSP will beformed in politically crucial UttarPradesh, which sends 80 MPs toLok Sabha, to defeat the BJP in the2019 general elections.

The former Uttar Pradesh chiefminister hit out at the Congress forfailing to form an alliance in thestate and said its policies were“responsible for the rise of the BJPin the country’s politics”.

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 nation 07

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

Ayyappa devotees en routeto Sabarimala shrine have

been asked by the police not torecite Ayyappa hymns anddevotional songs. They havebeen also asked to completethe trekking to the shrine andreturn to the base camp in sixhours whether they get thechance to worship or not at theSabarimala temple. This is thesum total of the series ofguidelies issued to the devoteesby the police since Tuesday.

The resentment againstthe Kerala Government hasspread to other south IndianStates by Tuesday because ofthe stringent restrictions.

The situation in Sabarimalaand nearby areas got aggravatedas Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan blamed the BJP and theRSS for the current unrest in

Sabarimala. “The RSS and BJPhas entrusted hundreds of crim-inal elements to foment troublesat Sabarimala. The persons whohave been arrested fromSabarimala during the last twodays are leaders of the BJP andRSS with criminal records,” saidthe Chief Minister while address-ing a specially convened mediameet at Thiruvananthapuram onTuesday.

The Police continued itscrackdown in devotees whorecite Ayyappa hymns anddevotional songs in the templepremises. Though the KeralaHigh Court had on Mondayexpressed its displeasure overthe cruelty committed on devo-tees, there was no let up in bru-talities by the cops on Tuesday.Monday night itself saw policethrowing out devotees whowere reciting hymns and didnot allow them to perform thecustomary Abhishekam (sacredoffering to the deity).

Hundreds of disappointedAyyappa bhakts includingwomen and children who hadthronged the shrine from all overthe country came out of the tem-ple premises sobbing uncon-trollably because of the policebrutality. Devotees on their wayto the temple have to sigh inpolice stations at Nilackel

/Pampa and are given a set ofprinted regulations and restric-tions as per the directives of theDirector General of Police . Asper the guidelines formulated bythe police ( a copy of which is inpossession of The Pioneer), devo-tees have to come back to thebase camp within six hours oftheir signing the register. Theyhave to perform the pilgrimagein silence and are not allowed torecite Ayyappa hymns. The pil-grims have been told not tospeak to the media.

“Those reciting hymns andAyyappa songs were taken by thepolice to closed toilets which

were overflowing with humanwaste and asked us to recite thehymns standing there,” saidJaganathan, a devotee fromTamil Nadu who had to sufferthe humiliation. Former ChiefMinister Oommen Chandi led adelegation of Congress leaders tothe Sannidhanam on Tuesdaychallenging the Section 144slapped by the police in the tem-ple premises.

“These restrictions is a ployto cover up the failures of theGovernment to provide basicamenities to the devotees. TheSeptember 28 Supreme Courtverdict which allowed the entry

of women of all ages to the shrinewas a result of the changes madeby the present Government inthe earlier affidavit submitted byus. The CPM is responsible forthe impasse in Sabarimala,” saidChandi while addressing a meet-ing at Pamba.

Though the police officialstold the former Chief Ministerthat he would not be allowed toaddress the meeting because ofSection 144, the Congress lead-ers reminded him about a ver-dict by the apex court thatbanned the imposition of Section144 in temple premises whichmade the police to make a hastyretreat.

K Ramkumar, senior lawyerand an authority on humanrights told The Pioneer that hewould move the High Court onWednesday challenging theSection 144 as well as the restric-tions slapped by the police.“Their actions will not standscrutiny in any court of law,” saidRamkumar.

T G Mohan Das, anotherlawyer, said that the High Courthad given directions to theGovernment that they should plybuses between Pampa andSabarimala at the rate of a busper minute, the Government byWednesday cancelled more than60 schedules.

Resentment on curbs against Kerala Govt

SABARIMALA ROW

o Kerala Police asks pilgrims

not to recite Ayyappa hymns,

devotional songs

o They have been also asked

to complete the trekking to the

shrine and return to the base

camp in six hours whether

they get the chance to

worship or not

Devotees at Sabarimala Sannidhanam in Sabarimala PTI

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Key Mamata Banerjee aidand Bengal Fire and

Emergency Services andHousing DepartmentMinister Sovan Chatterjeeon Tuesday resigned fromhis posts for personal reasons,sources at State secretariatNabanna said addingChatterjee was also likely toresign as Kolkata’s Mayor fol-lowing instructions from theChief Minister.

The resignation comesfollowing months of widen-ing distance between theTrinamool Congress chiefand the Minister who wasallegedly been so “pre-occu-pied” with his personal issuesthat he was unable to dis-charge his official responsi-bilities.

The ex-Minister-cum-Mayor who was entangled ina marital suit with his wifeRatna Chatterjee had earlierbeen relieved of his keyorganisational posts in theparty. He was divested fromthe post of TrinamoolCongress district president ofSouth 24 Parganas andKolkata.

The Minister who wason Tuesday seen beingrebuked by the ChiefMinister at a public pro-gramme of Fire Departmentand the State Assembly ten-

Mamata minister resigns citing personal reason

dered his resignation hourslater expressing his inabilityto discharge his responsibil-ity on account of personalgrounds.

Baner jee reportedlypulled up the Minister forfailing to discharge his dutiesproperly, sources said addingthe Minister subsequentlywent to the Chief Minister’scabin and offered to tenderhis resignation. He submit-ted his resignation withGautam Sanyal Principal sec-retary to the Chief Ministerwhich was summarily accept-ed and forwarded to theGovernor.

No official press releasewas released from either theGovernment or theTrinamool Congress party.

“He should immediatelygo and apologise before the

Chief Minister and get herpolitical career back or else heis doomed,” said his estrangedwife Ratna Chatterjee whohad earl ier charged theMayor with “extra-marital”affairs.

“Doom starts the daywhen a person gets entangledwith a woman outside hismarriage,” Ratna said.

Meanwhile, the State BJPleadership reacted in a guard-ed manner saying the saffronoutfit was not interested inaffairs of other parties. “Ourparty is not interested in theaffairs of any other outfit. Butif any dedicated worker ofsome other party wants tojoin us in our struggle againstthe misrule perpetrated bythis Government then one iswelcome to do so,” said asenior State BJP leader.

FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA

Tuesday was the day of muchawaited surrenders in Bihar.

First it was high-profile KumariManju Verma, a formerMinister, who surrendered in acourt at Manjhaul in Begusaraidistrict and then in Muzaffarpurthe highly-connected Madhuappeared before the CBI. Bothof them are somehow connect-ed to the infamous Muzaffarpurshelter home sex scandal.

Verma went missing whenCBI team laid hands on illegalammunitions at her ancestralhome in a Begusarai village.She had to resign from theNitish Kumar Cabinet in whichshe was Minister of SocialWelfare department after thename of her husbandChandeshwar Prasad Verma

cropped up in the shelter homecase. He allegedly was in con-tact with main accused BrajeshThakur and had been visitingthe shelter home.

Madhu, said to be a closeconfidante of Thakur, wentunderground soon after theFIR was lodged for then sexu-al exploitation of minor girls onMay 31. Thakur was arrestedand now lodged in Patiala jailbut she could not be traced foralmost six months.

A warrant had been issuedagainst Vermas for keepingammunition of differentbores, some of them notallowed to be used by civilians.Her husband surrendered inthe same court over a fort-night back. The MLA fromCheria Bariarpur was sent injudicial remand for ten days

and the hearing of the case forthe couple will be held onDecember 1.

The Supreme Court hadharshly admonished BiharGovernment, its DGP andChief Secretary for the failurein arresting her and evensummoned the two top offi-cials to explain the reasons.This had caused great embar-rassment for the NitishGovernment.

Despite its failure forwhich the apex court lashedout at Bihar police and admin-istration, the police tried totake credit for the surrender ofVerma. ADG (headquarters)SK Singhal claimed, “Due toconstant police pressure andraids she had to surrender asshe had no other option.” Hesaid raids were conducted at

several places in and outsideBihar. “Her movable assetsand bank accounts were seizedand immovable assets werealso going to be attached. Wemade all possible attempts toarrest her,” he added.

Manju Verma reached theManjhaul court in an auto andwearing a burqa to conceal heridentity. Aftrt surrender shecomplained of illness but thedoctors after tests found herhealthy. She did not speak tothe media people.

In Muzaffarpur Madhudenied having anything to dowith shelter home run bySeva Sankalp evam VikasSamiti and said she was asso-ciated only with the press runby Thakur. The CBI is bring-ing her to Patna for interro-gation. She said, “I was not

named in any case. But theCBI was inquiring about mefrom my children. When Icame to know through mediathat the agency wanted to askme I have come here.” She wasaccompanied by her lawyer.

Nothing could have beena worst time for Nitish Kumarfor the surrender of JD(U)MLA Manju Verma and herremand when the CM isunder bitter attack from RLSPchief and Union MinisterUpendra Kushwaha, who is onbrink of quitting the NDA.The RLSP leader is accusingNitish of working againstKushwaha caste and humili-ating it. Manju also belongs tosame caste. Her arrest mayfurther provide fodder toKushwaha to intensify his vit-riolic attack on his bête noire.

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Under pressure from differ-ent quarters to gather

details of exact number ofRohingyas — illegal immigrantsfrom Myanmar — settled in andaround different pockets ofJammu, the Jammu & Kashmirpolice has initiated special driveto collect their personal detailsin a proper format.

The drive was launched onthe directions of the CentralGovernment to gather 'bio-metrics' of Rohingyas ahead oftheir deportation to their nativecountry. According to the State

Home Department record, "atotal number of 6523Rohingyas are settled across 39different locations across fivedistricts of Jammu region".

Most of these settlementsare located close to the vitalsecurity installations in andaround Jammu. While collect-ing personal details of theseRohingyas the State police-men are facing lot of resistancefrom these immigrants onground zero.

"Majority of Rohingyas arenot willing to come forward toshare their personal details. Weare coming here for last two

three days to convince them toshare their personal details in aproper format but they arereluctant to do so" a senior policeofficer supervising the specialdrive told The Pioneer at onesuch location in Narwal Balaarea of Bhatindi on Tuesday.Sharing details of the specialdrive the police officer said, "weare gathering personal detailsof each and every family andtheir back ground".

"A comprehensive form isprepared to gather these details.We are also collecting picturesof each individual with theform for our records".

Bihar ex-Minister Manju Verma surrenders

Four terrorists, paratrooper,Hurriyat activist killed in J-K

Rohingyas resisting data collection

fearing deportation from Jammu

SUSHMA: WON’T...The senior BJP leader who

all along been a member of theBJP’s highest decision-mak-ing body, the ParliamentaryBoard, underwent a five-hourkidney transplant inDecember, 2016, at AIIMS,New Delhi. The organ washarvested from a living unre-lated donor. One of the highpoints of Swaraj rise in the BJPranks was her high-voltagecontest against Congresssupremo Sonia Gandhi in LokSabha polls in 1999 fromBellary in Karnataka. She alsoraked controversy by opposingSonia’s candidature as PrimeMinister and threatened toshave off her head if Soniabecame the PM. Swaraj beganher political career with AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishadin the 1970s. Her husband,Swaraj Kaushal, was closelyassociated with the socialistleader George Fernandes.Sushma became a part ofGeorge Fernandes’s legaldefence team in 1975. Sheactively participated inJayaprakash Narayan’s TotalRevolution Movement. Afterthe Emergency, she joined theBJP. Swaraj has also served asDelhi’s Chief Minister fromOctober 13 to December 3,1998 and was its first womanChief Minister. She has heldseveral important portfolios atthe Centre, including that of

Information and Broadcasting.A former Supreme Courtlawyer, Swaraj is serving as theMinister of External Affairssince May 26 ,2014. She is thesecond woman to hold theoffice after Indira Gandhi.

MAN THROWS...BJP in collusion with Delhi

Police is hatching a conspira-cy to attack the chief minister,”he told reporters.”We are notgoing to be cowed down byBJP’S petty tactics,” he added.AAP spokesperson SaurabhBhardwaj accused the BJP forthe attack. “The BJP is behindthe attack and the accused arebeing aided by the ModiGovernment,” he alleged.Officials close to Kejriwalaccused the Delhi Police ofbeing lax in providing himsecurity and alleged that thiswas the third attempt to harmhim in less than a month. TheAAP alleged that water bottleswere thrown at Kejriwal byTiwari at the inauguration cer-emony of Signature Bridgeearlier this month.

“Around the time ofDussehra, an unidentified manhad barged inside Kejriwal’sresidence and had tried toattack the CM,” Bhardwajadded. In a statement issuedlater, the Delhi Police said theman is a resident of Nairana inSouth-west Delhi. “There wasno security breach as the

accused had an authorisedentry and he was promptlypinned down by the DelhiPolice personnel who werestanding close to the CM”,said the Additional DCP.

SERIAL CHILD...Police said Sunil has con-

fessed to the crime. He said hemurdered the girl as she couldhave identified him. A team of15 police personnel led bysub-inspector (SI) Raj Kumarhad gone to Gwalior on Fridayafter a tip-off that accusedmight visit his relative’s house.On Sunday, police got CCTVfootage from Gwalior wherethe accused was seen havingdinner at a religious commu-nity kitchen near a temple onFriday. On Monday, theyreceived a tip-off from a per-son who claimed to have spot-ted Sunil having lunch at a reli-gious community kitchenaround 2 pm in Jhansi. Laterthe accused was arrested onMonday afternoon from a vil-lage in his native Jhansi district.

“Sunil used to eat at com-munity kitchens, sleep on theroads and did not use mobilephone, the police said, addingthat he also did not contact hisfamily over this period.

“We recovered somemoney from his possessionand we are investigating thesource of the money,” saidSumit Kuhar, Deputy

Commissioner of Police(Crime). “He was also involvedin five cases of rape and mur-der in which two he commit-ted in Gurugram and four inDelhi. He used to target minorgirls who came to communitykitchens without their par-ents.” A case under relevantsection of the Indian PenalCode, and POCSO Act hadbeen registered at Sector 65police station. Police hadlaunched a massive manhuntfor the accused with 70 teamscomprising 1,200 police per-sonnel round-the-clock oncombing operations and raidsin Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

72% TURNOUT...Chhattisgarh Chief

Minister Raman Singh who isheading the BJP Governmentin the mineral-rich State sinceDecember 2003, claimed thatthe BJP would formGovernment for the recordfourth successive term. “Votersare coming out in large num-bers from their houses to exer-cise their franchise to keep theBJP in power to spur growth inthe State,’’ Singh remarked atKawardha town after castinghis vote along with his spouseVeena Singh. The Congresswhich is desperate to return topower, too claimed that peoplevoted against BJP regime to getrid of corruption. A Congressdelegation led by Congress

national general secretary PLPunia met the EC in thenational Capital over thealleged “attempts to misuse andtamper with EVMs inChhattisgarh”. Punia said theBJP “wary of losing the polls,was trying to influence thepolling process through mal-practices”.

“People want a CongressGovernment. There are reportscoming in from majority ofareas about heavy pollingagainst the BJP Government,Congress is all set to form thenext Government,’’ remarkedCharandas Mahant after cast-ing his vote with family mem-bers in Korba. The formerUnion Minister Mahant is oneof the top contenders for thechief ministerial post if theCongress is voted to power.Meanwhile, the former ChiefMinister Ajit Jogi, who madethe 2018 polls a three-wayfight in Chhattisgarh after hav-ing an alliance with the BSP,announced that people havecast votes in bulk only to seehim as the next Chief Minister.“Don’t be in confusion theJCC-BSP alliance is going toproduce shocker for theCongress as well as for the BJPon December 11 when resultsto be announced’’ Jogi toldreporters. Chhattisgarh hastotal 90 Assembly seats andpolling for 18 seats was held onNovember 12.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR

Four local Hizbul Mujahideenterrorists and an Army para-

trooper were killed in a fiercegun-battle in Nadigam village ofsouth Kashmir’s Kulgam districtwhile a separatist worker wasshot dead by unknownassailants in Anantnag region.The violent incidents occurredon a day when polling was heldin several districts of the Valleyin the second phase of the pan-chayat elections.

A police spokesman saidthat security forces had “credibleinput” about the presence of mil-itants in Nadigam area of district

Shopian before a cordon andsearch operation was launched inthe predawn hours on Tuesday.

“As the search operationwas going on, the search partywas confronted with bulletsfired by the hiding militants.The fire was retaliated leadingto an encounter. In the initialexchange of fire one armyjawan identified as HC Vijay of23 Para sustained injuries andwas evacuated to the hospitalfor medical treatment where hesuccumbed,” police said.

During the encounter fourterrorists were shot dead andthe bodies were retrieved fromthe site of encounter.

There is no respite from Talibanassaults in the killing fields ofAfghanistan, from Kandahar inthe east to Farah in the west. Onthe battlefield, the Taliban has the

upper hand. The killing, in October, of themost powerful Afghan police chief inKandahar, Lt Gen Abdul Raziq, also themost formidable political voice in theTaliban heartland, while he was holding ameeting with the new US Field Commander,Gen Scott Miller, who miraculously escapedthe attack, reflects the ascendency of theTaliban. That Taliban suicide bomberscould penetrate the concentric rings of theUS and Afghan security around his strong-hold affirms their military superiority.

But it also reflects the worst ever secu-rity situation in Afghanistan, 17 years afterthe Taliban was ousted from Kabul. Today,they hold/control and have influence overnearly half the country’s space. The drubbingthe Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)are taking is unprecedented, averaging dailykillings of 62 to 80 ANSF. That they are hold-ing out under such attrition is remarkable.

When the Special Inspector General forAfghanistan Reconstruction in 2014 gave hisreport on the combat capability of ANSF, justbefore US troops ended their combat mis-sion, it gave ANSF sufficiency in capabili-ty to independently the withstand Talibanoffensive, but added that it would requireUS Air support and logistic assistance. Itruled out any strategic collapse. Then,Konduz, a provincial capital, fell in 2015 andsince then, district and provincial capitalshave been overrun by the Taliban. In theAugust attack on Ghazni, Pakistan-basedterrorists were involved, prompting AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani to call it Pakistan’sundeclared war against his country.

US President Donald Trump’s warningto Pakistan, repeated several times by USSecretary of State Mike Pompeo, and thefamous “last chance” missive by DefenceSecretary Jim Mattis, demonstrate the fail-ure of the US’ military strategy. It is a mir-acle that the ANSF is holding out despitedesertions. The US focus is, therefore, nowon reconciliation and kick-starting thepeace process after Taliban supremo MullahAkhtar Mansour, who let down the US ontalks, was droned down in an attack in 2016.

The Trump team stepped up the tempoof talks, and for the first time, engaged indirect talks with the Taliban’s Qatar officeat Doha at two levels: With US AssistantDeputy Secretary of State, Alice Wells in July;and with Special Envoy of the StateDepartment on Afghanistan, ZalmayKhalilzad, in October. The Taliban reject-ed outright talks with the KabulGovernment, which they call US stooges.

The Afghan-led and Afghan-ownedpeace process is only notional despiteoffering unconditional talks. The Taliban hasindicated it will continue talks with the US

on terms and conditions for afull and final withdrawal of for-eign forces from Afghanistan.

Surprisingly, Inter-ServicesPublic Relations (ISPR) MajGen Asif Ghafoor has said thatPakistan does not want foreignforces to leave Afghanistan tillpeace is restored. This is asharp contradiction of theTaliban’s stand, and one whichRawalpindi cites to prove thatthe Taliban is not under itsinfluence, leave alone control.

So far, the Americans havecalled the shots on dialoguewith the Taliban. Their diktathas prevailed with Kabul. Thismonth, Russians jumped in forthe second time this year witha conference to kick-start talks.Kabul had turned down Russia’searlier attempt to begin a dia-logue. Russians are keen thatthey have a key role in dousingthe fires in Afghanistan. Chinahas also dabbled in orchestrat-ing talks which will inevitablyend with too many cooks spoil-ing the broth.

The most visible change isin China’s policy towardsAfghanistan which until recent-ly, was circumscribed by fourNoes: No boots on the ground;No interference in Afghanistan’sinternal affairs; No criticism ofthe US; and No use of northerndistribution network. Policyshift is from development tosecurity.

China worries about accessfrom Afghanistan via theWakhan panhandle to itsXinjiang Province by Uighur(ETIM) militants. For the firsttime Beijing is training andequipping an Afghan Brigade to

be deployed in the mountainousreaches of Wakhan Corridorwith joint patrolling in the area.China has signed an MoU withAfghanistan to connect Kabulwith the China–PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC) aswell as some joint Afghanistan-Pakistan energy projects.

Kabul is extremely disap-pointed that the joint India-China project for Afghanistan ismerely training diplomatsinstead of being a big infrastruc-ture project. While Beijing ispound foolish in Pakistan and SriLanka, in Kabul, it is seen asbeing penny wise in holdingback its investments.

For Trump, hisAfghanistan-Pakistan strategy isin tatters. Still, Pompeo hopesthat the reset in US-Pakistanrelations will lead to Rawalpindicooperating in acting againstTaliban sanctuaries on its soil.

According to Afghanistanexpert Barnett Rubin, there arelimits to the use of US militaryforce against a nuclear-armedPakistan. He added that as longas the US and Nato troops aredeployed in Afghanistan, theKarachi-Kabul lifeline will ren-der Washington hostage toRawalpindi, especially after theUS sanctions against Russia andChina, which make the use ofthe northern distribution net-work untenable.

Pakistan Army Chief, GenQamar Bajwa is upset thatTrump is encouraging India toacquire strategic depth inAfghanistan at Pakistan’s cost.This had never happenedbefore because the US alwayslooked at Afghanistan through

Pakistan’s prism.The prevailing theory is

that the US will not leaveAfghanistan in order to moni-tor activities of Iran, Pakistan,Russia and China from itsstrategic bases in Afghanistan.The stalemate on the ground inwhich the Taliban has a clearupper hand, will prevail not theleast till after presidential elec-tions in Afghanistan in April2020. The campaigning seasonwill soon come to a close butalready, the Taliban has inflict-ed fatal damage on ANSF andthe reputation of US forces inpreventing wholesale attacksacross the country.

India has focussed so far oneconomic assistance and capac-ity-building with an investmentof two billion dollar, coupledwith a commitment to anotherone billion dollar. This hasearned it considerable goodwilland popularity in Kabul but notthe scale of influence thatPakistan enjoys with contiguousborders. It is time that New Delhiscales up its military assistance,including supply of militaryhardware and more specialisedtraining. India will not put bootson the ground — on whichTrump queried Modi — but itcan forward deploy at its AyneeAir base in Tajikistan, a full-fledged training centre as well asa field hospital. Both are urgent-ly needed by the ANSF with itsback to the wall.

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

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

Chandrababu Naidu’s nearly two-

hour meeting with his West Bengal

counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata

on Monday is significant not only because

the Trinamool Congress chief’s original

interlocutor in aid of a ‘federal front’ from

South India, Telangana Chief Minister K

Chandrashekhar Rao, is busy campaign-

ing for the Assembly election in that State

and not currently in the thick of Opposition

confabulations nationally, but also because

it is an attempt by regional leaders to

ensure that regardless of immediate pri-

orities in their respective States, there are

enough strong regional leaders wedded to the idea of a forming a mahagath-

bandhan (grand Opposition alliance) to unseat the BJP from power. But while

the focus is, naturally, on trying to ensure one-on-one contests against the

BJP in upwards of 350 Lok Sabha seats for the 2019 General Election first

mooted by Mamata-KCR at their meeting earlier this year, there is also, now

that we are approaching the business end of the election cycle, an effort to

shore up the alliance between all powerful regional parties so they can nego-

tiate as a single entity the terms on which this grouping will join forces with

the only pan-India political party in the Opposition’s ranks, the Congress. That

the Congress will have to play a major role in a putative mahagathbandhan is

not seriously questioned by any regional player, whatever the public postur-

ing. But, parties like the Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana

Rashtra Samithi, Aam Aadmi Party and the like do have genuine concerns about

Congress ambitions in their respective States.

The reason for this are not far too seek. Unlike, say, in States such as Tamil

Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where the DMK, Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj

Party alliance and the Rashtriya Janata Dal are the dominant players in the

Opposition space and the Congress seems to have accepted that its renew-

al will have to be a long-term project, to put it politely, with its immediate con-

cern being limited to ensuring that a handful of their frontline leaders contest-

ing the Lok Sabha poll from these States are assured support by the region-

al behemoths, in States such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi, for

example, it believes that its support base is still large enough for it not to have

to concede an overwhelming number of seats to the anti-BJP regional parties

dominant there. West Bengal, though, with Mamata’s ascendency seeming-

ly unstoppable, seems to have slipped from latter to the former category of

States for the Congress. Where the regional parties and the Congress are in

concord, however, is on the need to sharpen their line of attack on the ruling

dispensation which is trying to paint them as political opportunists out to oust

Narendra Modi at any cost. To that end, the Mamata-Naidu meet highlighting

the BJP’s alleged undermining of institutions and promotion of the politics of

division is likely to be the combined Opposition’s campaign template.

Acentury ago this month, an armistice

was declared between the Allied

Powers and the Central Powers, an

armistice that ended the first ‘war to end

all wars’. And a couple of days ago, an

armistice was declared between the

Union Finance Ministry and the tech-

nocrats at the helm of the Reserve Bank

of India (RBI). The distrust between New

Delhi and Mumbai has never been greater.

The Government is desperate for funds

after the crunch that recently hit the non-

banking financial company (NBFC) sec-

tor. The RBI, on its part, made it harder

and harder for small and medium com-

panies to access funds from banks as it sought to repair the damage after

years of ‘phone banking’ by previous regimes, wherein loans on favorable terms

were doled out to industrialists close to the powers-that-be. The problem is

that while the RBI is taking extreme measures to repair the damage to public

sector banks, the fact is that many Indian firms are still scrambling to access

working capital requirements.

The Government did have a point that the RBI was tightening the rules far

too much. But its threats to go nuclear, as it were, and use a provision of the

law that allowed the Government to effectively take over the RBI just because

the Government needed more money, would have been the last nail in the cof-

fin for the independence of India’s institutions. That would have been a com-

plete over-reaction. The fact that the RBI stood up to the Government is a sign

that it remains independent and the fact that it isn’t under the control of a pli-

ant Governor, who does the Government’s bidding right, is evident. Opposition

leaders, particularly Rahul Gandhi and P Chidambaram, were keen for the RBI

to show some ‘spine’ since more liquidity in the economy ahead of elections

can only be beneficial for the incumbent Government.

There is no doubt that this Government inherited an economy that had been

laid waste by years of bad loans and crony capitalism. The public banking sec-

tor remains in a state of disrepair, some banks are just slightly better off than

others. While the Narendra Modi Government has done some good things —

it chose not to use all the political capital at its disposal to make fundamental

changes to the Indian economy and instead chose to go down the curious

path of demonetisation does raise eyebrows. And the move two years ago

might have had a role to play in the current crisis, with the RBI unable to pay

the Government the dividend it thought would be coming its way because of

the costs imposed by demonetisation. However, this armistice is more in the

nature of a temporary truce, with contentious issues put on the back-burner

until the next Board meeting of the RBI in December. After all, the war to end

all wars did not stop Europe from erupting again two decades later dragging

the world down into a conflagration. What happens next remains to be seen.

But ahead of the election in 2019, the outcome of the December meeting and

the decisions of the committees that have been set up to look into the issues

of contention may yet lead to a nuclear winter for the Indian economy.

An armistice

The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance have declared a truce. The Government is the winner

Joining forces

The Mamata-Naidu meet is a step to building an Oppositionalliance that can take on BJP and engage with Congress

Never-ending debate

Sir — The Sabarimala row hasbecome a cause for concern.While the State is piling policeforces in and around the temple,political leaders on the otherside of the divide appear to be try-ing to gain political mileage.They are hell-bent to ensure thatthe situation becomes morevolatile. It appears to be a case ofwho will blink first. Adding tothis is the ‘call’ by certain socialactivists to visit the temple bysurprise. The Supreme Courtneeds to take cognizance of thesituation and ensure that theissue is settled soon.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

Exercise in futility

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Quota question” (November20). Bringing more castes into thereservation category will onlytake the development clock back-wards. Even as the previousregime in Maharashtra, headedby the Congress-NCP, brought inan order to extend reservation tothe Marathas and Muslims, it was

summarily rejected. It could notstand the scrutiny of the court.The present BJP-Shiv SenaGovernment, too, promisedquota to the Marathas for vote-bank. But this is an exercise infutility as it would meet the samefate as met by the previousregime. In fact, Marathas do notneed reservation because they area progressive community.

The Government, knowing it

well that quota over and abovecourt stipulated 50 per cent is notpermissible, has made grandioseannouncements to extend quota toMarathas. In doing so it has onlyopened a Pandora’s box with morecastes demanding quota for theircommunity. The Governmentshould create more jobs instead ofmaking false promises.

KR SrinivasanSecunderabad

Jeopardising merit

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Quota question” (November20). There should be no provisionof this unequal system namedreservations. Only meritocracy,based on academic qualifica-tions and performance, should beallowed to flourish in all sectorsof society.

Poverty is a burning issue inIndia. Those who are financial-ly not well-off miss opportuni-ties for higher education despitethe fact that they are no less infe-rior than their privileged coun-terparts in terms of quality ormerit. So, the cases of the under-privileged should be undertak-en with utmost compassion.

But poverty is not the solebastion of any particular demo-graphic group. Underprivilegedchildren should be facilitatedwith free education, coachingservices and study materials sothat they can be brought at parwith the privileged ones to com-pete with them.

Not only does meritocracygets assaulted through these dis-criminatory system, Indian soci-ety is also getting psychological-ly disintegrated, following themuscle-flexing between thereserved and the unreservedleading to a caste war. If a crucialsector like education gets tar-nished by caste factors, can unityever be achieved? The answer isknown to all.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

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

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op nionLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018

08

The Afghan quagmire

ASHOK K MEHTA

On the battlefield in Afghanistan, the Taliban has the upper hand. The stalemate will prevail at

least till the presidential elections. India would do well to scale up its military assistance

Court is not a platformfor people to expresswhatever they want, buta place to adjudicatelegal rights.

Chief Justice of India—Ranjan Gogoi

India attaches highestpriority to furtherexpanding its unique tiesof friendship and coop-eration with Bhutan.

Foreign Secretary—Vijay Gokhale

There is no point makingdocumentary films. Sorryto say, but nobody reactsto them. People like tosee a commercial film.

Actor—Akshay Kumar

Dissent is agreeable butnot disintegration. Debate,discuss, dissent; don’tdisrupt. This applies toparliamentarians also.

Vice President—M Venkaiah Naidu

S O U N D B I T E

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

Merit matters in quota debate

This refers to the editorial, “Quota question”(November 20). Undoubtedly, reservation is not anabsolute solution to uplift the downtrodden. The

fundamental reason for quota is indigence and this isa global phenomenon that exists in every human race,irrespective of religion, caste et al. Therefore,religion/caste wise segregation of citizens for prefer-ential treatment in Government jobs and admission topremier educational institutions, compromising theiracademic qualifications, is a brazen violation of the sec-ular clauses of the Constitution.

Employing mediocre personnel solely oncaste/religion related grounds and ignoring genuinemeritorious candidates will jeopardise the bonafidedevelopment of the country. Incidentally, political par-ties are primarily concerned about their unassailableascendancy. Security or progress of the people andthe country is only a secondary issue. This is an era

of competition, and in the global arena, India is boundto struggle against world giants of science and tech-nology. We cannot expect any form of compromisefrom the opponents. Unfortunately, our political intel-ligentsia, including the Opposition and apex judicialhighbrows, are well-aware of this blatant controver-sy and yet neglect such key issues or feign ignoranceostensibly for vested interests.

TKM KumbalamchuvattilMuvattupuzha

INDIA HASFOCUSSED SO

FAR ONECONOMIC

ASSISTANCE ANDCAPACITY-

BUILDING. THISHAS EARNED ITCONSIDERABLEGOODWILL ANDPOPULARITY INKABUL BUT NOT

THE SCALE OFINFLUENCE THAT

PAKISTANENJOYS WITHCONTIGUOUS

BORDERS

The most coveted digitalisationand hyper-globalisation havecome for severe criticism by the

UN. This phenomenon helps bigfirms, big countries and leads to con-centration of financial and economicpower. Worst sufferers are pooremerging economies. Trade wars andmonopolisation are creating mam-moths and distorting markets. Digitaltechnology is prying into smallereconomies and tearing them apart.Digitalisation leads to decline indemand for physical goods, ongoingdecline in their price, long-termdecline in the demand fixed capital for-mation as a share of GDP and joblessgrowth, said the UN Conference forTrade and Development (UNCTAD)in its 2018 report.

The global trade war is runningtowards a ‘deeper economic malaise’ at

a time when many countries are grow-ing below their potential, even as theBRICS nations are doing better, thanksto domestic demand. Among them,only Russia is doing better than othersbecause of rising oil prices. The US andChina have indulged in a bitter tradewar, with both the countries slappinghigher tariffs on each other’s imports.This year is unlikely to see a change ofgear, the report said. The USGovernment will gain $280 billion intariff revenues.

Digitisation affects productionthrough computer-aided design andany other 3-D software or artificialintelligence, which creates digital mod-els. Jobs are being outsourced to low-wage regions. This has caused stagna-tion of wages and hit job creation. Thereport said: The world economy isagain under stress. The immediate pres-sures are building around escalating tar-iffs and volatile financial flows butbehind these threats to global stabili-ty is a wider isis, accoe global financialcrisis, accos and volatile financialflows. Behind these threats to global sta-bility is a wider failure,rding to the

report, the five largest exporting firmson an average accounted for 30 per centof a country’s total exports and the 10largest exporting firms for 42 per cent.Since 2008, global debt has soared from$142 trillion to $250 trillion, which isthree times the combined income ofevery nation. Situation is worse thanexpected as global incomes failed tokeep pace with rising debt levels. Thesituation looks so familiar in theIndian conditions even though thecountry is yet to realise that digitalisa-tion is not the solution.

The report even quoted IMF’s 2018observation that said that available evi-dence suggests that the digital sector isstill less than 10 per cent of mosteconomies if measured by value addedincome or employment. It found thatthe ratio of global debt to GDP is one-third higher than before the 2008 crash.Situation is worse in the developedcountries that have borrowed heavilyin recent years from Western banks thatoffered cheap short-term loans.

It quotes anns anns another esti-mate of digital economy being just fiveper cent of the global output and three

per cent of the global employment. Thegrowing mountain of debt, more thanthree times the size of global output, issymbolic of that failure. “Private debthasded, especially in emerging marketsand developing countries, whose shareof global debt stock increased fromseven per cent in 2007 to 26 per centin 2017,” the report said.

Over the same period, the ratio ofdebts, racked up by non-financialbusinesses in the emerging markets,increased from 56 per cent in 2008 to105 per cent in 2017. While the pub-lic sector in advanced economies hasbeen obliged to borrow more since thecrisis, it is the rapid growth of privateindebtedness, particularly in the cor-porate sector, which needs to be mon-itored closely. The growing corporatedebt syndrome has almost bust into apolitical crisis. It also calls for a rethink-ing on the bankisation of society.

The UNCTAD said developingcountries will not be able to digitallyleapfrog on their own. “While manydeveloping countries are striving todevelop their national e-commercepolicies for linking their domestic

producers and consumers to the e-commerce platforms, there is a need torecongise the associated risks.” Thisreduces the domestic markets and pooreconomies lose out on valuable data.This forces flooding of goods frommighty powers and helps thrive uneth-ical corporates.

The UNCTAD was critical ofWhatsApp and Google. It cited how theEuropean Commission fined GoogleEuro 2.42 billion for abusing its mar-ket dominance as a search engine bydemoting shopping service of its com-petitors and denying European con-sumers a genuine choice of service andbenefits of innovation. Is India notfalling prey to Google and monopoli-sation of groups like Amazon?

The corporate rent seeking isleading to market concentration. TheUNCTAD wants a break-up of thelarge firms to prevent the concentra-tion. The US had applied the anti-trustlaw to break monopolies, including thegiant AT&T. The UN wants a check onnational data transfer and wants theWTO to restrict the Government’s out-flow of data of their producers and con-

sumers. It is propagating for a strongregulatory regime, lack of which is cre-ating global disparity. Gains from e-commerce for developing countries canbecome a reality only if they protectnational e-commerce platforms. Thiswill improve the domestic and inter-national market access of their produc-ers. A Chinese e-commerce platform,KiKUU, operates in six African coun-tries, selling only Chinese goods.

The UN does not support robot-ics and artificial intelligence. Robots areconcentrated in a few countries, includ-ing China, but does not invalidate therole of industrialisation as a develop-ment strategy. The use of computersand telecom is estimated to be less thanone per cent for most countriesbetween 2000-2014. Strong regulationsare needed in a digital world to createanti-trust laws. Vietnam, Indonesia andthe Philippines have introduced regu-lations, but they are not wide. This isleading to a global crisis in productiv-ity, market monopolies and high debt.A supposed game-changer is bestow-ing the world with untold difficulties.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

India begins galloping

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018

SABARIMALA IS BEING USED FOR POLITICAL GAINS BY

THE SANGH. THE CONGRESS HAS ALSO FALLEN FOR

IT. IDEOLOGY SHOULD BE FOUGHT IDEOLOGICALLY.

—KERALA CHIEF MINISTER

PINARAYI VIJAYAN

WE ARE NOT HERE TO DISRUPT PEACE. VIJAYAN

SHOULD NOT GENERALISE ALL PILGRIMS TO

SABARIMALA AS TROUBLE MAKERS.

—LEADER OF OPPOSITION

RAMESH CHENNITHALA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business(EODB) ranking, that saw India’s spec-tacular rise by 65 places from 142 in 2014to 77 in 2018, has been one of the high-est points of the Narendra Modi dispen-

sation. The ranking is further buttressed by theParis-based International Energy Agency (IEA),which in its 2018 report said that 100 per cent elec-trification of all villages in India is the biggest suc-cess story this year in terms of providing univer-sal energy access. Undoubtedly, India’s dramaticjump in global rankings in the last four years is amanifestation of holistic improvement on theground. For instance, till April 2014, under the erst-while Congress-led coalition, the average construc-tion rate of highways stood at barely 11.67 km perday. The current BJP-led regime, however, morethan doubled the rate to a solid 27 km per day infiscal 2017-18. The Modi Government built 9,829km the last fiscal; 8,231 km in 2016-17; 6,061 kmin l 2015-16; 4,410 km in 2014-15.

For 2018-19, the Ministry of Road Transportand Highways is set to achieve an ambitious tar-get of 45 km per day by building more than 16,400km of roads. It is worth noting that the first fouryears of the Modi dispensation saw 73 per cent morehighways being built, versus the last four years ofan inept Congress-led UPA-II. With close to 200road projects worth more than ̀ 1.5 lakh crore head-ing towards completion by mid-2019, the BJP-ledcoalition has given infrastructure push a whole newdimension. Again, 416 ongoing and residual pro-jects worth `3.26 lakh crore that are being imple-mented by the National Highways Authority ofIndia (NHAI) and are in various stages of comple-tion, will boost the GDP numbers dramatically inthe next few years. Around 28 ongoing projects inRajasthan worth `21,292 crore and 26 projects inMadhya Pradesh worth ̀ 16,245 crore stack up thenumbers.

The Indian cement industry expects a robustvolume growth of eight to nine per cent in the cur-rent fiscal, thanks to projects from the Railways, likethe mega station development initiative worth onelakh crore rupees, dedicated freight corridor pro-jects, Mumbai metro rail, Bullet Train project,among others. Work on the re-development of 400railway stations into world-class facilities at a costof ̀ 96,000 crore has already started with the com-missioning of work on Gomti Nagar Station; whilework on other stations, like Thane, Lucknow, Kota,Nellore, Ernakulam, Madgaon, Delhi Sarai Rohillaand Puducherry among others will be taken upsoon.

In May 2014, when the BJP dispensation tookcharge, highway projects worth over one lakh crorerupees were languishing for either want of fundsor failure to get regulatory clearances. Under theCongress regime, trust deficit, policy paralysis, costand time over-runs, flawed risk sharing practices,poor governance, stark misuse of funds and failedsupervision led to a complete collapse of public-pri-vate partnership (PPP), which relied largely on buildoperate transfer model.

True, while the old PPP model has not beenentirely discarded due to past contractual obliga-tions, in a clear and decisive break from past hack-neyed economic conventions, Modinomics large-ly opted for Engineering, Procurement andConstruction (EPC) model to fast-track infrastruc-

ture projects. EPC is a far more efficientmodel with better supervision, singlenodal point of responsibility, guaranteedprice, timeline, delivery schedules, high-er accountability and in the long run,more value for money.

Again, steps to revive commercialvehicle and truck segments, streamlin-ing the exit policy, easier land acquisitionnorms, as also the ‘hub and spoke’ modelof distribution, that is now being followedby more businesses in the consumption-driven sectors due to the new GST lawthat came into effect in July 2017, are fac-tors that have all combined to create a vir-tuous cycle that has fostered a blisteringpace of speedy project execution in thelast four years.

In October 2017, in what can gen-erate 142 million man days of employ-ment, the Modi Government approvedthe `6.92 lakh crore 83,677 km ultramega road and highways plan thatincludes 34,800 km of BharatmalaPariyojana, that will cover 500 districtsfrom the current 300, thereby aiming toraise the number of corridors to 50 fromthe current six, moving 80 per cent ofthe freight traffic to national highwaysfrom the 40 per cent currently, by con-necting 24 logistics parks, 66 inter-cor-ridors, 116 feeder routes and sevenNorth-East multi-modal waterway ports.

That Modinomics has walked thetalk in terms of unlocking India’s infra-structure potential can be guaged by thecommissioning of the country’s first evermulti-modal terminal on the Ganga riverin Varanasi as part of a larger plan tobuild multi-modal terminals in Sahibganjand Haldia too. November 12, 2018, willgo down in the history of India as a land-mark day that saw the country’s firstinland voyage after India gained indepen-dence in 1947. For the first time ever inpost-independent history, after 70 longyears, a container ship on India’s veryown inland vessel, MV RabindranathTagore, carrying 16 containers of

PepsiCo, successfully docked in theholy city of Kashi.

What a pity that the Congress, thatruled India for much of the last 70 years,left India’s rich 7,500 km coastline com-pletely underdeveloped, with the shareof goods transported via India’s inlandwaterways, at less than one per cent. Insharp contrast, the 1,390 km Ganga watercourse is only one of the 111 waterwaysspanning 20,276 km that the ModiGovernment is either planning to reviveor build.

Ditto goes for Sikkim that becamea State in 1975 but got its first airport, thePakyong airport spread over 201 acres,at a height of 4,500 km above the sealevel, only in 2018. Thanks to the visionof the current BJP-led Modi dispensation.To cut to the chase, it is undeniable thatthe spectacular push to India’s infrastruc-ture story under Prime MinisterNarendra Modi laid the foundation forIndia scaling 10 per cent GDP growth.

As a rule of thumb, to achieve 10 percent GDP growth, India’s tax-to-GDPratio would have to rise by at least anoth-er three to four per cent, public invest-ment to GDP would need to go up fromthe current 32 per cent to 40 per cent andinfrastructure investment ratio wouldneed to rise to eight per cent. Is this pos-sible? Of course, yes! Demonetisation hasnot only led to financialisation of savingsbut widened the tax base meaningfullyin the last four years, with the numberof tax filers going up by 80.53 per centfrom 3.8 crore to 6.86 crore between 2014and 2018. Equally, GST collections of`6.8 lakh crore between April-October2018, translating into a monthly run rateof a solid `97,143 crore, is great news.

Tax collections always see a dispro-portionate spike in the last quarter of everfiscal year and if the Government collects`6.2 lakh crore between November andMarch 2018, chances of which look verybright, on the back of a laudable `1.01lakh crore collected in October 2018

alone, the budgeted target of `13 lakhcrore for fiscal 2018-19 will be easily met.

For example, tax to GDP ratio at 11.9per cent in fiscal 2017-18 was the high-est ever since fiscal 2007-08. A target of12.1 per cent in fiscal 2018-19 may againwell be exceeded. In the next four to fiveyears, even at the current run rate, get-ting to a tax to GDP figure of 18-20 percent is pretty much par for the course,with the number of direct tax payers like-ly to double to almost 14 crore, maybemore. Speaking of public investment, get-ting to 40 per cent of GDP is possibleonly if more resources are made avail-able, which in turn mean banks have tobe willing to lend to investible projects.

The `2.11 lakh crore bank recapi-talisation plan announced last October,which includes `1.35 lakh crore ofrecapitalisation bonds, ̀ 18,000 crore ofbudgetary support and `58,000 crore ofshare sales, coupled with the pathbreak-ing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,will go a long way in recoveries andupgrades for the banking sector,besides, of course, boosting creditinflow into commercially viable infra-structure projects.

Last but not the least, recent mea-sures to empower India’s 36 million oddMSMEs, the backbone of Indian econ-omy, including a turnover based clas-sification, mandatory 25 per cent pro-curement by PSUs and Governmentagencies, in-principle approval for a onecrore rupee loan in flat 59 minutes, com-pulsory onboarding of CPSUs and cor-porates with a turnover in excess of ̀ 500crore, on the trade receivables and e-dis-counting system platform and, increasein interest rebate for MSMEs from threeper cent to five per cent, in both the preshipment and post shipment periods,are all measures which will set the stagefor a 10 per cent GDP growth for India,which is there for the taking.

(The writer is an economist and chiefspokesperson for the BJP, Mumbai)

How digitalisation tears economies apart

Reforms undertaken by the Modi regime have helped India improve its ease of doingbusiness rankings. Modinomics has unlocked our infrastructure potential

Digital technology is leading to a global crisis in productivity, market monopolies and higher debts. While the supposed

game-changer is boosting profits for big firms, it has hit poorer countries and deepened inequities

UNDER THECONGRESS, TRUST

DEFICIT, POLICYPARALYSIS, COST

AND TIME OVER-RUNS,

FLAWED RISKSHARING

PRACTICES, POORGOVERNANCE,

STARK MISUSE OFFUNDS AND FAILEDSUPERVISION LED

TO A COMPLETECOLLAPSE OF

PUBLIC-PRIVATEPARTNERSHIP,WHICH RELIED

LARGELY ON THEBUILD, OPERATE,

TRANSFER MODEL

More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle remarked, “One swal-

low does not a summer make.” Obviously, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi didn’t give this proverb the thought it

deserves; otherwise he would have been far more circumspect

before waxing eloquent about the successful deployment of India’s

nuclear ‘triad’ — the capability to launch nuclear weapons from

land, air and sea. For the uninitiated, if nuclear weapons were to

act as a deterrent against any adversary, the capability to launch

them from land, air and sea would be inescapable. However, given

the proliferation of surveillance devices, land-based missile sites

and air bases — from where suitably armed aircraft can operate

—are extremely vulnerable to being targeted in a pre-emptive attack.

This makes sub-surface capability vital as it is difficult to locate

or target. It, thus, provides the ideal platform to launch retaliatory

strikes, which in the parlance of “mutually assured destruction”,

are referred to as second strike capability.

Amongst various classes of submarines, nuclear-powered ones

are ideal platforms for this task as they are far more difficult to

detect than conventional diesel-electric ones. They are far more

silent and can remain submerged and at sea for a much longer

duration. The nuclear-powered and indigenously developed sub-

marine, INS Arihant, does, therefore, provide us with this capabil-

ity; though at a very nascent stage as only a handful of nations

have this capability. While there is much to be proud of, the truth

is that one submarine, equipped with a missile of limited range,

will have very marginal impact on our deterrence capability, some-

thing our adversaries, nuclear-armed states, are fully conversant

of. To be effective, as Admiral Arun Prakash, former Chief of Naval

Staff, had suggested, there is a need for three additional submarines

with far superior capabilities if we are to deploy one submarine

on deterrence patrol at all times. This is something that is present-

ly at least a decade away given the delays the ‘Advanced Technology

Vessel’ (ATV) project has faced over the years.

Add to that the necessity for a far more sophisticated and robust

command and control system, which if our higher defence man-

agement is any indication, has a long way to go. The very fact

that we have not yet been able to put in place joint theatre com-

mands or appoint a Chief of Defence Staff, not forgetting the dis-

astrous state of our civil-military relations, doesn’t do much for

our credibility. It is, therefore, inconceivable that the Prime Minister

was unaware of the implications of the induction of the INS Arihant.

Obviously, his reference to the subject was clearly aimed at a domes-

tic audience and an attempt to show himself off as a strong and

decisive leader. One cannot help but get the impression that this

is just another attempt to use the military to advance his and the

BJP’s political agenda, just as he had done earlier during the run-

up to the Uttar Pradesh State elections when he used the so-called

‘surgical strikes’ to his party’s advantage.

Any Government that wishes to emphasise its strength of pur-

pose or leadership against inimical actions by an adversary, has

the option to respond with conventional force, especially if it finds

itself under extreme public pressure due to an adverse political cli-

mate. Nuclear weapons, however, are a completely different ket-

tle of fish and cannot be treated to threaten an adversary, unlike

what Pakistan has been attempting to do over the years. Whatever

analysts may suggest, the use of nuclear weapons spells utter dis-

aster and implies a last desperate attempt to deliver a death blow

when faced with an existential crisis. The fact is that even our most

well-trained and elite units are unlikely to be able to continue fight-

ing cohesively if they suffer around 30 per cent casualties. What

to talk of the country’s condition having to deal with millions dead

in the event of a full-scale nuclear war? Nuclear weapons are the

last resort and should only be used in time of emergency, when

our very survival is at stake. It will certainly leave no winners.

The last thing we would need is our nuclear capabilities being

used to gain brownie points with a domestic audience. In any case,

the ATV Project commenced in the 1980s and can hardly be claimed

as an achievement of this Government, though mistruths in such

matters are hardly uncommon. More importantly, politicians in gen-

eral and this Government in particular, must understand that nuclear

weapons are not a panacea for tackling security challenges to our

sovereignty. Conventional military has to be given the necessary

support if it is to be successful in its mission. Unfortunately, this

Government, like the previous ones, has been grossly negligent

in this regard, primarily out of a lack of self-confidence to provide

governance and a unsubstantiated fear that a strong military may

push it aside and take control.

(The writer is a military veteran, a Consultant with the Observer

Research Foundation and Visiting Senior Fellow with The

Peninsula Foundation, Chennai)

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

Look beyond

politics on N-issue

DEEPAK SINHA

SHIVAJI SHANKAR

Nuclear weapons cannot be a panacea for tacklingsecurity challenges to India’s sovereignty

SANJU VERMA

FOREIGNEYE

By deliberately running thenegotiations so close to thewire, Theresa May haslimited everyone’s options,including her own. The keyto resolving her dilemmawould be movement by theEU on the issue of the Irishbackstop. Under the deal,the UK could be lockedindefinitely into a set ofarrangements without everbeing able to unilaterallywithdraw from them.

(The Telegraph editorial)

BREXIT: WHATNEXT FOR MAY?


LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 avenues 10

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Success is walking from failure

to failure with no loss of

enthusiasm

— Winston Churchill

MASTER IN PUBLIC HEALTH

The IIHMR University, incooperation with the JohnsHopkins University, Baltimore,USA, offers a degree in Masterof Public Health (MPH).

The three-fourths of termswill be taught in India, and oneterm at the Johns HopkinsBloomberg School of PublicHealth, USA. The MPH degreewill be awarded by the JohnsHopkins Bloomberg School ofPublic Health and will havesame and equal credentials asthat in the USA.

This two-year full-time pro-gramme will offer a total num-ber of 30 seats.

Eligibility: nBachelor’s degree with a back-ground in Mathematics andBiology. nValid GRE, MCAT, GMAT, orLSAT scores. (Scores are waivedoff for applicants who possess adegree beyond the baccalaure-ate level or MBBS, provided theyhave the requisite quantitativeskills)nA minimum of two years offull-time health-related workexperience is desirable for can-didates who do not have a med-ical degree/PhD.

Career opportunities:Students get placed as publichealth physicians, state/districtconsultant NHM, epidemiolo-gists/ surveillance medical offi-cers, oral health physicians,public health nutritionists,health economists/ health insur-ance consultants, senior/research officers in projects,data analysts in pharmaceuticalcompanies, National andInternational NGOs, monitoringand evaluation officers, healthmanagement information spe-cialists, and environmentalhealth scientists demonstrators(MPH college).

Fees structure: This MPHprogramme is highly subsidisedfor the students from low andmiddle-income countries ofWHO SEARO with a tuition feeof US $22,000 only. The fee also

includes travel to USA andlodge during their stay at theJohns Hopkins BloombergSchool of Public Health(JHSPH), Baltimore, USA.

AGRICULTURAL

TECHNOLOGIES

The University of Sheffield,UK, is inviting applications forMSc Sustainable AgriculturalTechnologies course staring inSeptember 2019. This 12-monthcourse is designed to give stu-dents a breadth of understand-ing of the agri-food system as awhole.

Students will learn about themajor issues in sustainable agri-culture and receive training inhow to apply cutting-edge tech-niques used in crop and soil sci-ence. Topics that students willcover include issues in globalfood security, the origins ofagriculture and agricultural ecol-ogy in a changing world.

The biggest part of thecourse is the individual researchproject. Here students will spendthree months over the summerin Sheffield’s P3 centre for trans-lational plant and soil biology,working with world-leadingresearchers. The centre is devel-oping tools to increase the sus-tainability of agricultural ecosys-tems and your project will con-tribute to the positive impactthat these tools have on globalfood security.

Eligibility: Sixty per cent orfirst class in biological science orrelated subject. Overall IELTSgrade of 6.5 with a minimum of6.0 in each component, orequivalent.

Fee: The fee for overseasstudents for 2019 entry is yet tobe confirmed. For 2018, it was£23, 450.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Sarthak EducationalTrust, a non-profit organ-

isation, in collaboration withthe Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, organ-ised the 5th NationalConference on Disability2018 in New Delhi.Supporting its theme ‘Act toEmpower, chief guestSecretary, Department ofEmpowerment of Personswith Disability, Ministry ofSocial Justice andEmpowerment, ShakuntalaGamlin, said: “Nearly 2.67crore children in the countryare in need of institutionalsupport for rehabilitation,inclusive education, skilldevelopment, reducing inten-sity of disability and optimi-sation of abilities. TheDepartment has taken sever-al steps and welfare measuresto empower the disable in thecountry and there is a need toscale up the efforts to enlargethe scope. We need to changeour attitude and perceptiontowards the most margin-alised section of society.”

Dr Jitender Aggarwal,founder-CEO of SarthakEducation Trust, said: “Tilldate, we have placed over14,000 PwDs with the sup-port from 1050 hiring part-

ners. As per 2011 census, thenumber of PwDs was nearlythree crore people in seventypes of disability and nowthe Government has added14 more types of disability.Hence, with 21 types of dis-ability, the number of PwDsis expected to go beyondeight crore and we need toscale up measures, schemesand efforts.”

Highlighting the role ofSarthak, Dr Aggarwal furthersaid that through skill devel-opment, 11,000 persons withdisability have been trainedtill date in its 15 centres.“Training is designed withdue consideration to indi-vidual’s disability, education-al qualification, and jobrequirements in mind. Underits inclusive education, theorganisation identified near-ly 425 disable students in 20Delhi Government schools ofWest Delhi. To bring them atpar with their fellow class-mate children were providedwith support in terms ofremedial classes and medicalrehabilitation through theright kind of therapy andstimulation. Sarthak encom-passes job fairs wherein, a sin-gle platform is provided topersons with disability andcompanies to aid the processof employment.”

Act to empower

nHow did Manipal University get thestatus of Institution of Eminence?

The Institutions of Eminencescheme which was announced by theMinistry of Human Resource andDevelopment in September 2016,aimed at selecting 10 institutions, eachin public and private sector, on the basisof their overall performance and otherfactors. More than 110 institutions hadapplied. The committee, headed by for-mer Chief Election CommissionerGopal Swami, asked us to make a pre-sentation with a looking forward visionof 15-year for the university in termsof academic, financial and expansion.Three universities were selected in theprivate and three in the public sector.So, that’s Manipal Academy of HigherEducation (MAHE) got the status.nWhat does this translate into?

There is a lot of liberty given to us.Universities will be deregulated fromUniversity Grants Commission (UGC)and they will also have the autonomyto create their own content for cur-riculum based on what is needed for theuniversity. They will have the freedomto hire international faculty and set-upscientific method of the fee structurethat is very open and transparent butnot governed by any agency of StateGovernment. They will also have theautonomy to take 30 per cent of theirstudents as international students.nHow will the students benefit?

One of the advantages is that it willmake a neet-blind admission processfor the student which means any stu-dent, who meets the merit criteria setby the university, is admitted into theprogramme irrespective of his ability orinability to pay the fees. There shouldbe a robust scholarship programme inplace to enable admitting every studentwho meets the criteria. Thus, any stu-dent, who wishes to join Manipal,money should not be a constraint.

Second, making the curriculumcontemporary. Earlier, the regulatorybody gave us a schedule that this sub-ject should be taught for this much oftime period and so, there was no waywe can innovate and go outside theframework of what is regulated. Butnow we can make the course contem-porary, value-creating and centeredaround recent happenings across theworld so that the students will be glob-ally employable.nEvery year, a large number of stu-dents go abroad for higher educa-tion...

Students need not have to go

abroad for any kind of education, be itschooling or higher education becausethere are enough opportunities here.Every year, institutes in India are get-ting better and new institutes are intro-duced. So it depends a lot on the mind-set of the people. Having said that, thefocus on research that is laid in abroadis much more than our country.

So, Indian universities have beenlagging behind in research which per-haps is a deterrent for serious studentswho are looking at masters and PhDand not just first degree and jobs. So,the students, who want to take theirdegrees in research, are the ones whoare likely to go abroad and we can seeit happening unless Indian universitiesinvest in research.nHow does MAHE plan to achievethe goals set up by the Center?

Our 15-year-old goals are welllaid out. We are looking at buildingthree more campuses — two in Indiaand one overseas. We are looking atconsolidating our research even more.Although we have set up the target ofpublications by our faculty to 500 by2028, I’m confident that we will be ableto do it by 2022.nWhat are the challenges faced byprivate universities in India?

The challenge is how to have theright faculty. The best of studentsdon’t become teachers, researchers oracademician. Instead they go for cor-porate jobs with high pay package. If wecorrect this, we can retain the skilled

people in teaching. Moreover, a goodresearcher is a good teacher, thoughthere are exceptions that non-researchers are good teachers andgood researchers are not good teach-ers. Teaching and research go hand-in-hand. nHow difficult is to retain a good fac-ulty?

For private universities, it is not thathard, especially for us because the kindof environment we create for ourteachers is perhaps unique, empower-ing and liberal. Our teachers are paidreasonably well. We have made theGovernment pay structure as a bench-mark but we don’t follow that pay scale.Our teachers get a quality life and

healthcare for their parents and edu-cation for their children in the campusitself which can’t be replicated anywhereelse, especially in Delhi and Bengaluruwhere it takes almost six hours a dayto come and go back from work buthere it is about three-five minutes.nWhat are the milestones in Indianeducation system?

A few things that the Governmenthas to change is to deregulate the uni-versities, now it’s six, they need to do20 and then 120. There are other insti-tutions that also deserve to be freed andliberated. Second, to try and get inter-national universities in India. This is aGovernment Bill that has not beenpassed in the last 10 years. So, no twosuccessive governments have failed todo this. There is a strong need to do thatbecause you bring in more universityopportunities at no cost of the countryand second, you also bring good prac-tices and import them into the coun-try so the quality of others with healthycompetition increases and so it willimprove the quality of education.nWhat is your take on the trend of theforeign exchange programme?

First, a student gets a passport ofhis own, this is a stamp of empower-ment which makes them a global citi-zen and give them the liberty to travelanywhere in the world. Secondly, theseprogrammes give the students anopportunity to study in abroad and bea part of a different culture. I don’t saywhether it is good or bad but all the stu-dents have been brought up in one setof principles and it is important forthem to experience cultural diversity.They get to study abroad and do aninternship in an overseas companywhich can subsequently.nWhat advice would you like to giveto the students who often get confusedin choosing a career?

This is something that has changedin the last 20 years. People are think-ing beyond medicine, engineering,law and a few others that their childwould pursue in future. There are somany opportunities in researching,science and humanities and all ofthem are equally important and theyall seem to come together. Now thereis no longer an oddity to see a studentgraduating in one specialisation, takinga masters degree in another speciali-sation and doing a PhD in third spe-cialisation. The interdisciplinaryapproach to learning has become anorm and this is what we wanted.

DR H VINOD BHAT, Vice-Chancellor, Manipal University, talks to MUSBA HASHMI about how the university got thestatus of Institution of Eminence, it's advantages and what are the milestones in Indian education system

‘RETAINING GOOD FACULTY

IS THE CHALLENGE’

The caste system of India had,long before the present sce-

narios, created a separate tribe oftraders and businessmen, a tribewhich earned profits from thepurchase, manufacture and saleof goods. The advent of time, thetransformation in governmentalstructures and further the shrink-age of the entire world into aglobal village have all played amonumental role in evolving thebusiness culture and enterprisesas they stand today.

As far as the Indian scenariois concerned, the post indepen-dence era has been one historicjourney. From a draconianlicensing system and regulatorymechanism to the NewEconomic Policy of 1991 to thealtering approach towards pro-viding maximum comfort tostakeholders, the governments,over the years with their variedviews and approaches, havepaved a unique business culturein the economy, one which isquite different from not only itsSouth-Asian counterparts butthe rest of the world as well. Andyet, India is emerging as one ofthe most sought after investmentand stable business destinations.

The recent report of theWorld Bank over the DoingBusiness Index and the 23 pointjump of the Indian economytherein speak voluminously ofthe enlarged vision and focussedapproach of the Government andits various Ministries andDepartments. From 142nd rankin 2014 to 77 in 2018, the

reforms over the past four yearshave metamorphosed the eco-nomic and business scenario ina way that there is a legal struc-ture in place, the regulatorymechanism is functioning and inorder, and yet none of them issuffocating.

While the doing businessindex covers the initiation ofbusiness to the resolution ofinsolvency and everything inbetween, the idiom ‘Well begunis half done’ is taken quite seri-ously. Single forms for companyincorporation PermanentAccount Number (PAN), TaxDeduction and CollectionAccount Number (TAN) andDocument IdentificationNumber (DIN) to online singlewindow for obtaining construc-tion permits come across assome of the biggest contributorstowards reducing the time taken,the cost involved and hence, theriding up in the global ladder ofachievement.

Talk of international businessand what matters or rather holdsutmost significance is the valueof time, timely deliveries andminimal procedural and transitlegalities. Reduced inspections, e-filing of documents, electronicsealing of containers have allplayed their part in simplifyinginternational trades and strength-ened bonds basing them ontrust and self-governance in the

business and corporate arena. That coupled with intro-

duction of laws like Goods andServices Tax (GST), continuousamendments in the CompanyLaw, pan-India coverage ofreforms, a hands-on approach tounderstand the World Bank ide-ologies and ways and areas ofimprovement have each playeda fetching part in remodelling theentire business culture and eth-nicity.

The words of Alvin Toffler,an American writer, futurist,and businessman, “The greatgrowling engine of change -Technology" find relevance andabsolute relativity if the ‘dramatic’change in the Indian ranking isto be studied, observed andpondered over. The elimination

of personal interface, online sin-gle windows, online registra-tions, mandatory e-payments,digital filings, have all made thedelivery of public service at thetouch of a few buttons andclicks.

Though the process of eas-ing of doing business seems likea completely Government andregulator-oriented activity, thehidden roles of professional bod-ies in providing realistic feed-back, the practical issues and dif-ficulties facing the corporates, thepossible corrective measures andtheir appropriate implementa-tion, can’t be left aside. If the roleof the Institute of CompanySecretaries of India(ICSI) is to bementioned, not only is ICSI, thenation’s GST partner, but is aconstant support in nationalreformative endeavours on avariety of fronts.

The ICSI Institute ofInsolvency Professionals (IIP)has been acting as the perfectground for developing and train-ing Insolvency Professionals cov-ering an area which has wit-nessed a 28 point improvementin the last two years on the index,that is, Resolving Insolvency.

The ICSI has been continu-ously striving to analyse andaddress the issues faced by cor-porates in incorporation as wellas post-incorporation relatedactivities. It is understandable

that any regulatory authority,while putting across a legislativestructure, requires the comfort ofthe fact that such laws, rules andregulations are adhered to andthe intended purpose of suchlaws is accomplished. And it is forthis impetus that the role andresponsibility of professionalslike Company Secretaries pur-suing the role of GovernanceProfessionals is heightened.

Understanding the trueintent of the lawmakers andpolicy framers, CompanySecretaries, along with otherprofessionals, not only have beenplaying but shall continue to pur-sue a noteworthy role instrengthening the nation and itsvarious pillars.

Irrefutably, with a target of50, as present by Prime Minister,Narendra Modi, the road yet tobe travelled further is equallylong and demanding. What mat-ters and is required for this 27point ascend is a combinedeffort from not just the lawmaking bodies or the profes-sional bodies alone but the cor-porates and businesses as well toplay their part and adhere to thelegal structure in true letter andspirit, thus strengthening thegovernance scenario and pavingway for a simplified legal gas-tronomy.

The writer is CS Makarand Lele,president ICSI

‘Rise in ease of doing business’

CS Makarand LelePresident ICSI

MUSBA HASHMI n NEW DELHI

The 26th convocation of ManipalAcademy of Higher Education (MAHE),at its campus, saw a total of 5,084 stu-

dents receiving their UG, PG, and PhDdegrees. The university also awarded DrTMA Pai Gold medals to 11 of its studentsfor excellence in their fields and their over-all performance throughout the year.

This three-day gala ceremony wasgraced by the chief guests Dr H SudarshanBallal, chairman, Manipal Health Enterpriseson day one; Prof Souvik Bhattacharya, VC,Birla Institute of Technology and SciencePilani, on day two and KrishnakumarNataraja, co-founder and executive chair-man, Mind Tree, Bengaluru, on day three.

While addressing the graduating stu-dents, Ballal said: “You, as the future gen-eration, need to tackle several issues thatare plaguing the country and make it a bet-ter world. We, as a society, has to change

and there should be unbiased education forall, irrespective of their gender or economicstatus. Nowadays, even the toddlers haveto go through interviews for admission, thissystem should be modified.”

It is payback time, he told the students,adding: “Please give back something to thesociety in return for what the society hasgiven you. One great idea is to give qual-ity education to the youngsters, who willbe our future. It would be a great idea toset up an endowment at the university tohelp the less privileged.”

2 6 T H C O N V O C A T I O N

FellowshipprogrammePNS n NEW DELHI

The Tata Trusts and SocialAlpha have launched its

fellowship programme— theSocial Alpha Entrepreneursfor Impact (E4i) Programmeand invites application byJanuary 6, 2019. The E4iprogramme is a 12-monthimmersive fellowship thatequips passionate ‘entrepre-neurs-in-the-making’ toleverage India’s deep sci-ence, innovation and entre-preneurship environment.

The first cohort of theE4i programme will focuson finding solutions acrossa few high priority areas likewater, sanitation, health,agriculture, energy and envi-ronment. From observingthe problems on-ground,validating and refining theirtheory of change, convertingprototypes into viable solu-tions, to developing prelim-inary business plans- final-ists will undergo a practicaland hands-on learning expe-rience encompassing all thestrategic ins-and-outs ofrunning an enterprise. Allthe finalists will be getting amonthly stipend of `60,000.To apply, log on tow w w. s o c i a l a l p h a c h a l -lenge.org.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cognizant has released a Future ofLearning report based on a global sur-

vey of 601 top business executives at lead-ing companies and 262 higher educationinstitutions. The research reveals the fol-lowing key trends, the impacts of whichwill soon ripple throughout businessesand across the higher education industry:nPreparing the workforce for futurejobs is a matter of survival for both busi-nesses and Higher EducationInstitutions (HEIs): Businesses andHEIs in India estimate that 50% and 52%of their total staff and students, respec-tively, will be prepared to handle newtypes of work driven by emerging digi-tal technologies in the next five years.However, a whopping 83% and 50% ofIndian HEIs and businesses are present-

ly unable to deliver.nBusinesses are beginning to bear theburden of learning: Skills have becomelike mobile apps that need frequentupgrades. While 42% of businesses inIndia currently update their learning con-tent on an annual or biannual basis, 65%of HEIs only update their curriculumevery two to six years. Globally, businessesare intent on speeding the pace of cur-riculum updates, with 75% planning tomove to a one- to five-month or evencontinuous refresh schedule in the nextfive years. In contrast, only 30% of HEIsplan to increase update frequency, fromtoday’s two- to six-year cycle to anannual one by 2023.

nThe work ahead means workingtogether. Preparing the current andfuture workforce for the work ahead can-not take place in a vacuum. Three-quar-ters of both businesses and HEIs global-ly view collaboration as critical to suc-cessfully managing the transformative anddisruptive impact of the new machine age.Both businesses and higher education inIndia seem less confident to prepare work-force and students to handle new workdriven by emerging digital technologies–only 60% of businesses see collaborationas critical compared to 75% of HEIs. nEmerging technologies such asAR/VR and AI will supercharge learn-ing by focusing on “how to learn” over

“what to learn”. New modes of educa-tion delivery will emerge, with Netflix-style, on-demand digital assets allowingfor anytime, anywhere self-learning. AI-driven learning platforms will personaliselearning, and AR/VR systems willbecome mainstream, with a 220%increase in the take-up of the technolo-gy by HEIs and businesses globally in thenext five years. It requires the following elements ofchange:nMore accurate skills identification toalign with actual workplace needs.nOverhauling the approach of curricu-lum and training to be more immersiveand personalised.nProvide an environment supportive ofself-learning, with access to multiple con-tent sources like open educationalresources.

Future of learningPNS n NEW DELHI

As part of its endeavour to invitesome of the most brilliant minds

in the areas of education andresearch, Vellore Institute ofTechnology (VIT) has recentlyappointed Dr Bruno D’ Aguanno asa visiting professor at the Centrefor Nanotechnology Research. Dr Aguanno will not only deliverlectures but also conduct jointresearch on nano devices, systemsand materials for thermal energystorage by collaborating withmembers of the centre. Thecollaboration will enrich scientificand technical cooperation andimplementation of joint researchactivities between VIT and leadingEuropean Universities and

Research Institutions.At present, Dr Aguanno is amember of the European EnergyResearch Alliance on CSP andEnergy Storage. He is also acoordinator for many research andindustrial projects and principalinvestigator of three active H2020research projects. A formerscientific director of CICEnergigune, the new energyresearch centre in Spain togenerate knowledge & developtechnology through research, DrAguanno is also an expert adviserof the Solar Energy ResearchCentre of the Southeast Universityat Nanjing, China.

Dr Bruno D’ Aguanno, visitingprofessor at the Centre forNanotechnology Research, VIT

Visiting faculty at VIT

Most of us spend our time and energyon achieving goals, isn't it? But eventhe same goal can be reached with

different costs by different people. It happensbecause all of us have different personaleffectiveness. Our effectiveness depends onour innate characteristics - talent andexperience accumulated in the process ofpersonal development. Talents first areneeded to be identified and then developed tobe used in a particular subject area (science,literature, sports, politics, etc.). Experienceincludes knowledge and skills that weacquire in the process of cognitive andpractical activities. Knowledge is required forsetting goals, defining an action plan to

achieve them and risk

assessment. Skills also determine whetherreal actions are performed in accordancewith the plan. If the same ability is usedmany times in the same situation, then itbecomes a habit that runs automatically,subconsciously. In this way you will makeyourself ever ready for success.

The seven mantras of success:Determination: It allows you to focus

only on achieving a specific goal withoutbeing distracted by less important things orspontaneous desires. It may be developedwith the help of self-discipline exercise.

Self-confidence: It appears in theprocess of personal development, as a resultof getting aware of yourself, your actions andtheir consequences. Self-confidence is

manifested in speech, appearance, dressing,gait, and physical condition. To develop it,you need to learn yourself and yourcapabilities, gain positive attitude and believethat by performing right actions andachieving the right goals you will certainlyreach success.

Persistence: It makes you keep movingforward regardless of emerging obstacles -problems, laziness, bad emotional state, etc.It reduces the costs of overcoming obstacles.It can also be developed with the help of self-discipline exercise.

Managing stress: It helps combat stressthat arises in daily life from the environmentand other people. Stress arises from theuncertainty in an unknown situation when alack of information creates the risk ofnegative consequences of your actions. Itincreases efficiency in the actively changingenvironment. It requires problem-solvingskills.

Problem-solving skills: They help copewith the problems encountered with a lack ofexperience. It increases efficiency byadopting new ways of achieving goals when

obtaining a new experience.Creativity: It allows you to find

extraordinary ways to carry out a specificaction that no one has tried to use. It canlead to a decrease or an increase of costs,but usually the speed of action is greatlyincreased when using creative tools. Itrequires the ability to generate ideas.

Generating ideas: It helps you achievegoals using new, original, unconventionalideas. The idea is a mental image of anobject formed by the human mind, which canbe changed before being implemented in thereal world. For generating ideas you can usea method of mental maps, which allows youto materialise, visualise and scrutinise allyour ideas, which in turn contributes to the

emergence of new ideas. The most important success skills are

your intrinsic desire to succeed; recognitionof the real talent inside you. Do you knowwho is hiding inside you, you always knewbut with the hard breeze of time and socialpressures you forgot the real talent whichyou have which each one is born with.Friends the only difference between successand failure is the status of the person insideyou. If you let him come out, nobody canstop you from being successful and bypracticing above mentioned tips you will bealways success ready.

The writer is Pallavi Prakash, Founder-CEOKnowledge Seed Learning Center & is a

Motivational/Corporate Trainer

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 avenues 11

M I N D I T

Newcastle University,UK, is offering scholar-ship support to excep-tional students from Indiafor 2019-20 entry includes13 50 per cent tuition feediscounts and two fulltuition fee discounts aswell as partial tuition feescholarships with a valueof £1,500 to £5,000.Scholarships are availableto applicants applying tostudy at undergraduateand Master’s level foralmost all subject areas.

This announcementbuilds on increased activi-ty in a range of areas,including partnershipwith universities andinstitutions like IIT-Delhiand IIT-Mumbai, researchcollaboration, corporateengagement, and alumnirelations.

In addition to thescholarships schemes theUniversity participates inthe Commonwealth andChevening Scholarshipsschemes which are alsoavailable to Indian appli-cants.

Interested applicantsare encouraged to checkthe application details andeligibility criteria throughthe below link:https://www.ncl.ac.uk/international/country/india/#feesandfunding

The University ofSheffield, UK is delightedto offer 50 InternationalUndergraduate MeritScholarships in 2019. Thescholarships are competi-tive awards worth 50% ofthe tuition fee for anundergraduate degreeprogramme starting inSeptember 2019. Thescholarship is available fornew international (non-EU) students who meetthe eligibility criteria.

You will be able toapply for a scholarship viaMuse for applicants. Youmust have received anoffer by 19 April 2019.

Eligibility: Your pro-gramme must be sched-uled to commence at theUniversity of Sheffield inSeptember 2019. Fortuition fee purposes youmust be self-funded andeligible to pay the over-seas tuition fee. You mustnot be a sponsored stu-dent.

For more terms andconditions visit:https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/international/enquiry/money/ugmerit

Application deadline:The last date to apply forscholarship applications is16:00 (UK time) on Friday26 April 2019.

Scholarship resultswill be announced by16:00 (UK time) on Friday31 May 2019.

Today, the popularity of a companydepends on the brand. It is an identityof the company and or their products in

the market. Brand Management process ofidentifying and managing marketing tech-niques for a particular service or product toincrease its market value, and popularityamong the customers. The work of a brandmanager is to plan, develop and direct themarketing efforts for a particular brand orproduct. Individuals wanting to make acareer as a brand manager must hold anMBA degree in Brand Management orMarketing Management. If you are quick onyour toes, result oriented, creative, ener-getic and organised, a career in this fieldcan take you places. A few colleges to studyBrand Management are:nFairfield Institute of Management andTechnology, New Delhi. Course: MBAProduct and Brand ManagementnVelankanni Institute of ManagementStudies, Nellore. Course: MBA Product andBrand ManagementnDoraha Institute of Management andTechnology, Ludhiana. Course: MBAProduct and Brand Managementn Indian School of Business Management,New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai andMumbai. Course: Advanced Diploma inBrand Managementn International Institute of RetailManagement, New Delhi. Course: PostGraduate Diploma in Brand Managementn Institute of Management Studies,Ghaziabad. Course: Post Graduate Diploma

in Brand Management

STUDY CENTRES BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT DELHIVERYLocation: Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai,HyderabadStipend: `6,000-`11,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16110Application deadline: November 29, 2018

FELLOWSHIP (SOCIAL LEADERSHIP) ATINDIA FELLOWLocation: Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad,BengaluruStipend: `15,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16111Application deadline:November, 25, 2018

DIGITAL MARKETING ATCREDENCLocation: DelhiStipend: `3,000-`7,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16112Application deadline: November 29,2018

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ATFFEVER CONSULTINGLocation: Noida, DelhiStipend: `15,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16113Application deadline: November 29, 2018

LAW/LEGAL AT GENNEXT PROFESSIONALSLocation: DelhiStipend: `4,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16114Application deadline: November 29, 2018

OPERATIONS AT TRELLLocation: BengaluruStipend: `4,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16115Application deadline: November 29, 2018

GRAPHIC DESIGN AT XBOOM UTILITIESLocation: Work From HomeStipend: `4,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16116Application deadline: November 30, 2018

The Old Students’ Association(OSA), Hindu College organised— The 6th Clash of the Titans

Invitational Debate. The alumni ofHindu College, Miranda House,Lady Shri Ram College, Sri RamCollege of Commerce, IndraprasthaCollege participated in this debate.The topic: Freedom of Speech is aLuxury India Cannot Afford.

Bollywood director Imtiaz Aliwas the guest of honour & JusticeManmohan, judge, Delhi High Courtwas the chief guest. The WinningTeam (the Best Team) Trophy wasawarded to the Hindu College teamcomprising of Saket Jha Saurabhand Rohit Hari Rajan. The bestSpeaker Awards went to RadhaKumar from Miranda House andSaket Jha Saurabh from HinduCollege.

The OSA of Hindu College wasestablished in 1958 and since thenit has been active in bringing theeminent alumni of the HinduCollege, Delhi on one platform.

The Indian Institute of Art andDesign (IIAD) organized aspecial creative workshop on

Origami — Japanese paper foldingart at their Okhla Campus. Studentsfrom Communication Design,Fashion Design and InteriorArchitecture & Design programmesparticipated in the workshop

conducted by theco-founder andDesign DirectorHexagramm Design,Ankon Mitra.

During the

workshop, the students went on tocreate an assortment of 3D objectsfrom textured paper. The majorlearning outcome was to helpstudents explore the innumerableavenues of incorporating the art ofOrigami to infinite design problemsthey might face as designers. Thistraditional technique of paperfolding not just unleashes thecreative aspect of an artist but isalso widely known to augmenthand-eye coordination, logicalreasoning, spatial skills andsynchronisation ability.

KIIT World School organised afancy dress competition for thepre nursery, nursery and

kindergarten students. The theme ofwas — Community Helpers. TheCompetition was not only for funbut also to develop confidence instudents by giving themopportunity to get on the stage andspeak in front of audience.

Children displayed their talentson the theme and dressed up asengineers, captains, policemen,teachers and farmers amongothers. Students explained their

character through poetry and skit. Ashort video was also shown to thestudents explaining the importanceof community helpers in their dailylife. Students were also introducedto the school helpers like securityguards, gardeners and house helperand were told them about theirimportance in daily life.

Rashmi Srivastava principal ofKIIT World School said: “This is agreat opportunity for the children toshow their talent and face stagefear. They also got to know aboutthe importance of community.”

The NIIT University(NU) has achieved100% placement

in BTech – CSE, ECE,Biotechnology andMTech — GIS, fiveyears in a row.

Owing to theexcellent performanceof NUtons during theirindustry practice, 56%

of the batch receivedpre-placement offersfrom theirorganisation. Thehighest domesticsalary offered this yearwas Rs 14.3 lakh perannum (LPA) while thehighest internationalsalary was Rs 26 LPA.The average CTC for

the batch was Rs 5.57LPA, which is a 20%increase from theprevious year.

With 519 industrypartners, NU isdedicated towardsbuilding strongindustry linkagesensuring bestconnectivity.

Currently in its 5th year sinceinception, Omega MedicalCoding Academy (OMCA) plans

to have an intake and training for1,500 students over the next sixmonths, across Chennai, Trichy andBengaluru. It was set-up to provide acertificate course in medical codingto life sciences graduates who arewilling to make a career in the field ofmedical coding. The 45-day course isconducted by certified instructorswho have rich industry knowledge.

Along with training in medicalcoding, the OMCA also providescounselling and placement supportto students to provide themseamless entry into the industry.

DEBATE BY OSAART AND DESIGN WORKSHOP ON ORIGAMI

FANCY DRESS COMPETITION

100% UG PLACEMENT AT NU

MEDICAL CODER TRAINING

IN BRIEF

Students who find it hard to find andpursue full-time internships can gofor virtual internships and add the

value of work experience to their resume.This not only make their resumes standout to the employers when they are apply-ing for full-time jobs in future but also,help with the application process whenthey decide to pursue higher education.To help understand about the internshipopportunities you can take up, below arefive popular profiles in which you canpursue a virtual internship.

Content writing: Content, beingan immense part of almost every busi-ness, is high in-demand. This brings aprofusion of opportunities for studentsin content writing. To do this internship,all you need to have are good researchand writing skills since as a contentwriter, you have to research on the con-cerned topics and write content in a cre-ative and comprehensive manner. Also,with billions of topics to write on, learn-ing opportunities are abundant in con-tent writing like in Abhipsa's case, she gotto learn about various interesting topicswhile writing articles on them.

Social media marketing: In the lastone decade, social media has seen a sig-nificant boon. People across demo-graphics are actively using various socialmedia platforms to communicate withtheir friends and family, to make newfriends and connections, and to conveytheir messages to the world. Scaling onthe same, businesses have found aneffectual way of marketing over time,called social media marketing. Thisopens up a considerable number ofexciting opportunities for the students.As a social media intern, you are expect-ed to think of creative and feasible ideasto market a company and engaging itscustomers over various social media han-dles including Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and Snapchat.

Graphic designing: In this era ofhigh competition between companies,customer experience is prioritised ratherhigh. And, since most of the companiesare serving through their online products,a substantial part of good customer expe-rience is through a quality user experi-ence of the product thus putting graph-

ic designers high in-demand. So, if youhave a knack for creativity, then you cando an internship in graphic designing. Asa graphic designer, you might get to workon different aspects of design like UIdesign, UX design, logo designing, andwebsite designing.

Programming: From the continuoustechnological advancement in differentareas like mobile technologies and webtechnologies, it is clearly evident that thefield of computer science and informa-tion technology is constantly on a rise.This provides the students who have aninterest and aptitude for coding with abunch of opportunities in diverse areasranging from software development andweb development to mobile app devel-opment.

Volunteering: There are severalNGOs aiming to help with a diversenumber of societal issues and make achange. Creating numerous volunteeringopportunities for students, these NGOsprovide them with a chance to give backto the society by working for environ-ment conservation, teaching the under-privileged, and helping the elderly.Volunteering internships can help youdevelop your soft skills, try your handson different tasks, and most important-ly, give you a sense of achievement whileyou give back to the society.

‘Go for virtual

internship’

Today, internship adds value to the CV. Ifyou can’t find a full-time internship,SARVESH AGRAWAL lists five virtualprofiles which can be pursued to makeresumes stand out

Sarvesh AgrawalFounder-CEO, Internshala

If you are a student who is gear-ing up to appear for Boardexams next year, chances are,

your school has organised pre-Board exams in December orJanuary. Most schools advise thatyou should take these pre-Boardexams extremely seriously, despitethe fact that these marks are notcounted anywhere in the future.

This is true as these exams areimportant. They provide a Boardexam like setting and help youmanage your stress and time. Pre-board exams also show you whereyou stand. Depending on yourmarks, you know whether youshould buck up, or continue at thesame pace. If you are someonewho hasn't started planning forthese exams, here is a strategy tohelp you.

Manage competitive examsand board exams: At this point,you have a fair idea whether youwill be attempting any competitiveexams or Olympiads. If you arekeen on scoring well in theseexams, you should start preparingthese subjects beforehand. Givethem more importance than oth-ers.

Focus on subjects that needpractice: If you are not studyingfor any competitive exam, youshould focus on subjects thatneed extensive practice. Theseusually include subjects withnumericals or diagrams likeMaths, Science, Accounts, andComputer Science. Use this excesstime to prepare each type ofnumerical and practice your dia-grams at length.

Use other interesting subjectsto your advantage: Don’t forgetthat you have other subjects tostudy as well. If you like studyingthe languages or enjoy SocialStudies, study these subjectsbetween the practice- heavy sub-jects. In short, if you have spentalmost six hours studying Maths,try giving yourself a break withEnglish or Hindi.

This also has a lot to do withthe fact that you’re using your leftbrain for calculations and yourright brain for languages and art.This saves you from overloadingyourself and feeling fatigue sinceyou have been studying just onesubject for days on end.

Study what is left: If you have

time till January for your pre-Boards, the second month is whenyou study what you have left of theother subjects like Languages,Environmental Studies and SocialStudies. Here’s what you need toknow and do:

Use the power of flashcards:For any memory-based subject,start with making notes and flash-cards of important dates, move-ments, and events. For example,you can create a timeline for theIndian freedom struggle on achart paper and put it up.

Don’t forget what you stud-ied earlier: Just like last month,introduce breaks in your scheduleby solving questions from subjectsthat you have already studied. Thiswill not only refresh your mindbut also give you a fair idea of howmuch you remember.

Keep calm and keep study-ing: This time can get very stress-ful for you. You probably havethree different sets of exams totake — pre-Board, Board andcompetitive.

Taking healthy breaks, con-tinuing your hobbies, and main-taining a good sleep cycle will help

you study with a fresh mind. Don’tfeel demotivated or intimidated,but just focus on giving it yourbest shot.

During your pre-boardexams: Ideally, you should havefinished your exam portion bynow. If you have, then spend thedays of your pre-boards solvingprevious years' question papersand mock tests. After solvingeach test, go back to your mistakesand make notes about where youhad gone wrong.

If you have not finishedyour exam portion, don’t fret:Remember that you still have timebefore the Boards. Before everypre-Board paper, try to read andunderstand the portion that youhaven’t studied yet, even if youdon’t memorise it 100 per cent.This will help you when you startstudying it for Boards.

Keep your mind calm, main-tain a healthy lifestyle, and alwaysbe motivated. Focus on your syl-labus and previous year questionpapers and put in as much effortas you can.

The writer is VP, Educational Content, Toppr.com

PRE-BOARDS PREP

For most schools, pre-Boards will either be by end December or beginning of 2019.

RAJSHEKHAR RATREY shares a few last minute tips for the students

PRE-BOARDEXAMS PROVIDE ABOARD LIKE SET-UP. THIS HELPS A

STUDENT TOMANAGE STRESSAND TIME. MOSTIMPORTANTLY, IT

SHOWS YOUWHERE YOU

STAND IN TERMSOF MARKS

money 12LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018

MARUTI RAMPS UP PRODUCTION OF VITARA BREZZANew Delhi: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)

Tuesday said it has ramped up the production of its compact SUV VitaraBrezza to reduce waiting period of the model. The company has increasedproduction of the vehicle by 10 per cent to 94,000 units during April-Octoberperiod of the current fiscal as compared with same period of 2017-18. “Withthe Suzuki Motor Gujarat plant operational at its full capacity of 2.5 lakh unitsannually in Gujarat, we are able to increase the output,” MSI senior execu-tive Director (Marketing and Sales) RS Kalsi said in a statement. At present,the model has a waiting period of four-six weeks. The auto major is confi-dent that with the reduced waiting period, it will be able to enhance the carbuying and ownership experience of its customers, he added. Last fiscal, MSIsold over 1.48 lakh units of Vitara Brezza. During the first seven months (April-October) of 2018-19, the company has clocked sales of around 95,000 unitsof the compact SUV. The company has sold over 3.57 lakh units of VitaraBrezza cumulatively since its launch in March 2016.

INDIA SLIPS TWO PLACES TO 53RD POSITION ON GLOBAL TALENTRANKING; SWITZERLAND ON TOP

New Delhi: India has slipped two places to rank 53rd on a global annu-al talent ranking released by IMD Business School Switzerland on Tuesday,while the top slot has been retained by the Alpine nation itself. WithinAsia, Singapore has topped the charts with a global 13th place on the listthat ranks 63 countries in developing, attracting and retaining talent. Chinais ranked lower at 39th “because of its difficulties in attracting foreign skilledworkers paired with a level of public expenditure in education that is belowthe average of other advanced economies”. Regarding India, the renownedbusiness school said its position has declined from 51st in 2017 to 53rdthis year. “On one hand, the country performs above the average in termsof the quality of its talent pool (Readiness factor, 30th position). On theother, the quality of its educational system and the lack of investments inpublic education heavily penalise the talent potential of the country(Investment and Development factor, 63rd),” it said. The rankings are basedon three factors: Investment and Development, Appeal, and Readiness.These factors include indicators that capture the resources invested in devel-oping local talent, the extent to which a country attracts and retains tal-ent, and the quality of skills available in the talent pool. While Switzerlandhas topped the global ranking for the fifth year in a row, it is followed byDenmark, Norway, Austria and the Netherlands in the top-five. At 6thplace, Canada is the only non-European nation in the top-ten, which alsoincludes Finland (7th), Sweden (8th), Luxembourg (9th), and Germany(10th). The Slovak Republic (59th), Colombia (60th), Mexico (61st),Mongolia (62nd), and Venezuela (63rd) are the last countries in the rank-ing. Among BRICS nations, Brazil is ranked 58th, South African 50th andRussia 46th.

BUSINESS CORNERSensex, Nifty snap 3-day

rally on global selloff

PTI n MUMBAI

Breaking its three-day risingstreak, the BSE Sensex

Tuesday fell over 300 points onheavy selling by market par-ticipants, in step with a glob-al selloff despite strengtheningrupee and easing crude prices.

Besides, profit-booking inrecent gainers too fuelled thedownward trend.

The 30-share Sensex, afterstarting off lower at 35,730.77,continued to slide as sellingpressure picked up momentumand hit a low of 35,416.18,before settling 300.37 points, or0.84 per cent, down at35,474.51. The index had risen633 points in the last two ses-sions on the back of increasedforeign fund inflows.

The 50-share NSE Niftytoo dropped by 107.20 points,or 1 per cent, to 10,656.20.Intra-day, it traded between10,640.85 and 10,740.85.

According to SunilSharma, Chief InvestmentOfficer, Sanctum WealthManagement, Europeanindices opened lower asinvestors continued to monitordevelopments on Brexit.

“Technology companieshad been leading the charge inthe US and concerns aboutslowing growth and regulato-ry overhang, along with con-cerns around energy sector

profitability, alongside risinginterest rates led to the sell offin the US,” he said.

Markets are reacting toslowing US economic growthand all eyes remain focused oncommentary out of the Fed, headded. Reflecting the bearishmood, all the sectoral indices,led by metal, teck and health-care, ended in the negativezone. Yes Bank shares saw thesharpest fall among Sensexcomponents, tumbling 6.10per cent after independentdirector RentalaChandrashekhar resigned fromthe board Monday.

Other big losers were TataSteel falling 3.21 per cent,Vedanta 2.89 per cent, NTPC2.42 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.09per cent, SBI 1.79 per cent,HDFC 1.31 per cent, ICICIBank 1.24 per cent and MarutiSuzuki 1.18 per cent

Also, ONGC fell 1.17 percent, RIL 0.95 per cent, SunPharma 0.95 per cent,PowerGrid 0.90 per cent, CoalIndia 0.83 per cent, Bajaj Auto0.71 per cent, Tata Motors0.54 per cent, Hero MotoCorp0.50 per cent, HUL 0.43 percent, Asian Paint 0.40 per cent,Axis Bank 0.37 per cent, L&T0.24 per cent and ITC 0.11 percent.

Stocks of software servicesexporters also bore the brunton stronger rupee, with TCS,

Infosys and Wipro falling up to2.59 per cent.

Sectorwise, the BSE metalindex dropped 2.82 per cent,followed by IT 1.74 per cent,teck 1.58 per cent, healthcare1.57 per cent, PSU 1.15 percent, consumer durables 1.08per cent, power 1 per cent, auto0.83 per cent, bankex 0.78 percent, FMCG 0.71 per cent,infrastructure 0.62 per cent,capital goods 0.37 per cent andoil & gas 0.35 per cent.

Broader markets, too,reflected a similar trend. TheBSE mid-cap index fell 0.92 percent while the small-cap shed0.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee con-tinued its rising spree for thesixth straight day, andstrengthened by another 20paise to trade at nearly three-month high of 71.47 againstthe dollar in late afternoontrade after the outcome fromMonday's RBI board's meetremoved uncertainty over agrowing rift over policy deci-sions between the governmentand the central bank.Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index plunged 2.13per cent, Hng Kong's HangSeng fell 2.01 per cent, Japan'sNikkei down 1.09 per cent andSingapore index down 1.24 percent. Korea's KOSPI andTaiwan index fell 0.86 per centeach.

RBI board decision ‘credit

negative': Moody's

PTI n NEW DELHI

Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesdaysaid RBI board's decision to extend

the timeline for banks to implementBasel 3 guidelines is “credit negative” forpublic sector lenders.

Also, the decision to restructurestressed micro, small and medium enter-prises (MSME) loans of up to Rs 25 crorealso has the potential for having nega-tive implications for the credit profilesof Indian banks, the US-based ratingagency said in a statement.

Amid growing tension between thegovernment and the central bank, theRBI board met Monday and discussedissues to boost funding to MSMEs andease capital pressure on banks.

At the nine-hour long marathonmeeting, the board advised that the RBIshould consider a scheme for restruc-turing of stressed standard assets ofMSME borrowers with aggregate cred-it facilities of up to `25 crore, subject tosuch conditions as are necessary forensuring financial stability.

“While more details are awaited, thisapproach has the potential for negativeimplications for the credit profiles ofIndian banks,” Moody's Investors ServiceVice President (Financial InstitutionsGroup) Srikanth Vadlamani said in astatement.

The RBI board, while deciding toretain the capital adequacy requirementfor banks at 9 per cent, agreed to extendthe transition period for implementingthe last tranche of 0.625 per cent underthe capital conservation buffer (CCB), byone year - up to March 31, 2020.

CCB currently stands at 1.875 percent and remaining 0.625 per cent was

to be met by March 2019, as per thedeadline fixed by the RBI.

“The decision to extend the timelinefor the full implementation of Basel 3guidelines by a year is a credit negativefor Indian public sector banks,”Vadlamani said.

It expects that all public sectorbanks would have a core equity tier 1(CET1) ratio of atleast 8 per cent by theend of March 2019, based on the gov-ernment's commitment that it wouldcapitalise all these banks to a level suf-ficient to meet the minimum regulato-ry capital norms. “With the regulatorytimelines now extended, it may be a casethat at least some of the rated public sec-tor banks' CET1 ratios over the next 12months would be lower than what wecurrently expect,” he said.

On restructuring of stressed MSMEloans, Moody's said the track record ofsuch asset classification, when seen overthe last few years in India, has shown thatthey have “largely been unsuccessful inaddressing the underlying stress”.

On the contrary, keeping stressedloans in the standard category has led toan underestimation of the extent ofunderlying asset quality issues by bankmanagements, and consequently theseverity of the actions that they need totake to address the issue, Vadlamaniadded. The RBI central board, headed byRBI governor Urjit Patel, comprises 18directors, including 4 RBI deputy gov-ernors. It also has two governmentnominees - Economic Affairs SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg and FinancialServices Secretary Rajiv Kumar - and 10independent directors including SGurumurthy and Tata Sons Chairman NChandrasekaran.

Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 20318.50 -95.60 -0.478KMILES 129.35 6.15 4.99AARTIIND 1493.00 43.50 3.00ABB 1339.60 -7.80 -0.58ABBOTINDIA 7617.35 32.45 0.43ABCAPITAL 112.95 -2.80 -2.42ABFRL 188.20 -2.60 -1.36ACC 1470.10 -31.75 -2.11ADANIPORTS 354.15 4.35 1.24ADANIPOWER 47.35 -0.10 -0.21ADANITRANS 235.70 3.50 1.51ADVENZYMES 184.20 -2.15 -1.15AEGISLOG 225.50 3.60 1.62AIAENG 1639.10 -27.75 -1.66AJANTPHARM 1110.70 -22.10 -1.95AKZOINDIA 1588.50 9.50 0.60ALBK 44.70 1.25 2.88ALKEM 1947.55 0.10 0.01ALLCARGO 108.00 -0.50 -0.46AMARAJABAT 727.10 -6.40 -0.87AMBUJACEM 215.10 -4.60 -2.09ANDHRABANK 28.45 -0.40 -1.39APARINDS 623.30 -2.50 -0.40APLAPOLLO 1292.75 9.80 0.76APLLTD 567.45 4.85 0.86APOLLOHOSP 1193.10 -32.65 -2.66APOLLOTYRE 225.25 -3.35 -1.47ARVIND 318.65 -1.45 -0.45ASAHIINDIA 266.05 -5.25 -1.94ASHOKA 125.45 -1.35 -1.06ASHOKLEY 107.30 -1.50 -1.38ASIANPAINT 1306.60 -5.30 -0.40ASTRAL 1040.05 10.55 1.02ATUL 3564.80 21.60 0.61AUBANK 587.20 -5.60 -0.94AUROPHARMA 778.40 -15.00 -1.89AVANTI 368.15 0.20 0.05AXISBANK 612.85 -2.30 -0.37BAJAJ-AUTO 2664.10 -18.95 -0.71BAJAJCORP 356.35 0.55 0.15BAJAJELEC 483.65 -4.10 -0.84BAJAJFINSV 5686.05 -42.70 -0.75BAJAJHLDNG 3029.10 -56.65 -1.84BAJFINANCE 2381.00 20.35 0.86BALKRISIND 955.35 -7.50 -0.78BALMLAWRIE 193.95 -1.15 -0.59BALRAMCHIN 106.35 -1.65 -1.53BANDHANBNK 462.80 -16.80 -3.50BANKBARODA 110.40 -5.05 -4.37BANKINDIA 85.80 -1.70 -1.94BASF 1563.15 9.00 0.58BATAINDIA 983.95 -12.55 -1.26BAYERCROP 4062.20 10.75 0.27BBTC 1331.80 -31.55 -2.31BEL 92.90 -1.05 -1.12BEML 755.40 25.95 3.56BERGEPAINT 312.85 -1.80 -0.57BHARATFIN 963.25 12.15 1.28BHARATFORG 577.60 -18.15 -3.05BHARTIARTL 331.75 -4.95 -1.47BHEL 67.30 -0.40 -0.59BIOCON 613.80 -15.50 -2.46BIRLACORPN 652.55 -13.80 -2.07BLISSGVS 162.00 -2.70 -1.64BLUEDART 3110.75 -1.90 -0.06BLUESTARCO 628.35 -34.90 -5.26BOMDYEING 109.00 -5.10 -4.47BOSCHLTD 18646.45 -115.65 -0.62BPCL 322.60 -0.20 -0.06BRITANNIA 5885.25 -107.80 -1.80CADILAHC 355.35 -9.30 -2.55CANBK 256.35 -4.70 -1.80CANFINHOME 256.95 -9.65 -3.62CAPF 481.20 -9.25 -1.89CAPPL 409.55 -14.20 -3.35CARBORUNIV 354.00 0.95 0.27CARERATING 1027.35 11.00 1.08CASTROLIND 152.80 3.65 2.45CCL 271.75 -0.70 -0.26CEATLTD 1245.25 -16.15 -1.28CENTRALBK 30.75 -0.70 -2.23CENTRUM 40.35 -1.95 -4.61CENTURYPLY 164.15 -1.30 -0.79CENTURYTEX 898.30 -12.55 -1.38CERA 2386.35 -33.40 -1.38CGPOWER 37.95 -0.45 -1.17CHAMBLFERT 142.85 -0.40 -0.28CHENNPETRO 261.85 -3.25 -1.23CHOLAFIN 1257.70 9.65 0.77CIPLA 521.30 -7.40 -1.40COALINDIA 261.40 -2.20 -0.83COCHINSHIP 381.05 -3.00 -0.78COFFEEDAY 263.00 -10.25 -3.75COLPAL 1156.85 6.70 0.58CONCOR 675.65 3.75 0.56COROMANDEL 400.35 -12.70 -3.07CORPBANK 27.50 -1.45 -5.01CRISIL 1503.10 -1.45 -0.10

CROMPTON 204.75 1.55 0.76CUB 167.05 0.90 0.54CUMMINSIND 784.40 -1.50 -0.19CYIENT 637.95 5.60 0.89DABUR 394.45 -13.05 -3.20DALMIABHA 2253.05 0.15 0.01DBCORP 178.60 -1.10 -0.61DBL 479.30 -8.35 -1.71DCBBANK 156.50 -1.80 -1.14DCMSHRIRAM 386.60 -17.40 -4.31DEEPAKFERT 166.85 -8.30 -4.74DEEPAKNI 261.80 6.60 2.59DELTACORP 240.70 1.35 0.56DENABANK 16.55 -0.55 -3.22DHANUKA 441.70 -8.40 -1.87DHFL 225.05 -7.10 -3.06DISHTV 37.85 -0.90 -2.32DIVISLAB 1532.25 -25.85 -1.66DLF 174.85 2.20 1.27DMART 1413.35 0.70 0.05DRREDDY 2450.25 -76.90 -3.04ECLERX 1099.70 -20.40 -1.82EDELWEISS 171.45 -5.30 -3.00EICHERMOT 24597.60 -286.15 -1.15EIDPARRY 227.70 -4.30 -1.85EIHOTEL 168.15 4.05 2.47ELGIEQUIP 232.10 -2.05 -0.88EMAMILTD 444.30 -11.35 -2.49ENDURANCE 1105.40 -18.95 -1.69

ENGINERSIN 116.95 0.70 0.60EQUITAS 108.50 -3.10 -2.78ERIS 612.65 0.15 0.02ESCORTS 659.70 -11.25 -1.68ESSELPRO 86.60 -1.65 -1.87EVEREADY 208.00 -0.25 -0.12EXIDEIND 238.70 -4.85 -1.99FCONSUMER 49.65 -0.80 -1.59FDC 189.75 -1.25 -0.65FEDERALBNK 79.70 -1.60 -1.97FINCABLES 471.35 -6.90 -1.44FINOLEXIND 520.10 5.50 1.07FLFL 383.45 0.50 0.13FORBESCO 2247.05 204.25 10.00FORCEMOT 1764.80 -32.35 -1.80FORTIS 147.30 -1.50 -1.01FRETAIL 519.55 -6.95 -1.32FSL 52.95 -1.80 -3.29GAIL 344.35 9.55 2.85GDL 155.85 -4.45 -2.78GEPIL 847.55 -10.50 -1.22GESHIP 287.50 5.85 2.08GET&D 223.40 -5.45 -2.38GHCL 214.80 -0.60 -0.28GICHSGFIN 240.35 -9.55 -3.82GICRE 306.60 -0.70 -0.23GILLETTE 6499.55 25.10 0.39GLAXO 1356.10 6.55 0.49GLENMARK 635.95 -10.40 -1.61GMDCLTD 86.65 -0.45 -0.52GMRINFRA 16.25 -0.20 -1.22GNFC 343.85 -9.85 -2.78GODFRYPHLP 852.70 -9.45 -1.10GODREJAGRO 509.20 -6.40 -1.24GODREJCP 710.10 -17.90 -2.46GODREJIND 525.75 2.35 0.45GODREJPROP 638.40 16.40 2.64GPPL 96.15 -1.30 -1.33GRANULES 98.00 -4.30 -4.20GRAPHITE 978.75 10.30 1.06GRASIM 840.05 -11.40 -1.34GREAVESCOT 127.65 0.30 0.24GREENPLY 131.70 -2.35 -1.75GRINDWELL 492.75 3.70 0.76GRUH 295.45 -1.50 -0.51GSFC 104.50 -3.15 -2.93GSKCONS 7157.45 14.25 0.20GSPL 182.25 0.80 0.44

GUJALKALI 556.90 -10.70 -1.89GUJFLUORO 884.65 -10.35 -1.16GUJGAS 616.70 -3.35 -0.54GULFOILLUB 762.65 3.80 0.50HAL 811.25 -6.90 -0.84HATSUN 620.65 -1.60 -0.26HAVELLS 677.95 -6.45 -0.94HCC 12.51 -0.54 -4.14HCLTECH 1011.50 -26.80 -2.58HDFC 1877.05 -21.30 -1.12HDFCBANK 2015.25 1.25 0.06HDFCLIFE 386.05 3.65 0.95HDIL 21.60 -0.55 -2.48HEG 4342.50 81.00 1.90HEIDELBERG 144.20 -2.35 -1.60HERITGFOOD 521.15 7.00 1.36HEROMOTOCO2958.35 -24.90 -0.83HEXAWARE 308.60 -4.10 -1.31HFCL 19.25 -0.55 -2.78HIMATSEIDE 233.75 -3.45 -1.45HINDALCO 222.40 -11.65 -4.98HINDCOPPER 51.30 0.45 0.88HINDPETRO 243.35 -1.15 -0.47HINDUNILVR 1693.55 -7.80 -0.46HINDZINC 263.70 -3.00 -1.12HONAUT 21499.95 -67.15 -0.31HSCL 138.15 1.60 1.17HSIL 224.60 -0.95 -0.42HUDCO 44.45 -0.40 -0.89IBREALEST 82.10 -2.35 -2.78IBULHSGFIN 707.40 -27.85 -3.79IBVENTURES 443.20 -3.85 -0.86ICICIBANK 358.00 -4.50 -1.24ICICIGI 827.15 -5.25 -0.63ICICIPRULI 322.05 -1.45 -0.45ICIL 60.45 -0.30 -0.49IDBI 60.25 -0.45 -0.74IDEA 42.30 -0.35 -0.82IDFC 38.30 -0.75 -1.92IDFCBANK 35.50 -0.60 -1.66IEX 155.00 -0.30 -0.19IFBIND 882.90 -26.80 -2.95IFCI 13.95 -0.37 -2.58IGL 265.35 -1.10 -0.41IL&FSTRANS 19.00 -0.45 -2.31INDHOTEL 134.30 -0.45 -0.33INDIACEM 92.05 -3.90 -4.06INDIANB 227.65 -1.55 -0.68INDIGO 1032.25 -8.95 -0.86INDUSINDBK 1558.35 20.60 1.34INFIBEAM 47.65 -0.95 -1.95INFRATEL 260.05 0.15 0.06INFY 641.10 -10.70 -1.64INOXLEISUR 213.75 -4.40 -2.02INOXWIND 82.15 -0.15 -0.18INTELLECT 230.75 -5.75 -2.43IOB 14.55 -0.70 -4.59IOC 139.10 -3.65 -2.56IPCALAB 744.10 -17.70 -2.32IRB 136.95 -1.80 -1.30ISGEC 5399.90 -12.95 -0.24ITC 283.60 -0.30 -0.11ITDC 303.90 -3.25 -1.06ITDCEM 109.05 -4.65 -4.09ITI 97.90 11.00 12.66J&KBANK 38.70 -1.00 -2.52JAGRAN 115.85 -0.70 -0.60JAICORPLTD 111.25 -3.00 -2.63JAMNAAUTO 70.45 -0.55 -0.77JBCHEPHARM 306.95 -3.15 -1.02JCHAC 1754.40 -29.45 -1.65JETAIRWAYS 310.10 -12.90 -3.99JINDALSAW 80.55 -2.30 -2.78JINDALSTEL 171.00 -9.30 -5.16JISLJALEQS 70.00 -4.30 -5.79ULTRACEMCO 3976.50 -57.10 -1.42UNICHEMLAB 211.00 -2.15 -1.01UNIONBANK 79.85 -1.75 -2.14UPL 759.75 -16.40 -2.11VBL 781.90 -0.25 -0.03VEDL 205.10 -6.10 -2.89VENKYS 2395.05 -16.10 -0.67VGUARD 193.40 -2.15 -1.10VIJAYABANK 42.70 -1.00 -2.29VINATIORGA 1490.90 -67.45 -4.33VIPIND 473.45 -8.05 -1.67VMART 2403.50 64.00 2.74VOLTAS 547.05 -15.35 -2.73VTL 1072.50 -11.00 -1.02WABAG 290.30 -0.45 -0.15WABCOINDIA 6825.90 -98.30 -1.42WELCORP 162.75 6.05 3.86WELSPUNIND 62.60 -0.05 -0.08WHIRLPOOL 1377.85 -30.75 -2.18WIPRO 321.70 -8.55 -2.59WOCKPHARMA 513.30 -13.10 -2.49YESBANK 192.55 -12.50 -6.10ZEEL 448.85 1.25 0.28ZENSARTECH 237.35 -3.70 -1.53ZYDUSWELL 1132.55 -17.70 -1.54

JKCEMENT 721.15 -4.75 -0.65JKIL 139.55 -0.15 -0.11JKLAKSHMI 266.60 -2.45 -0.91JKTYRE 103.30 -1.95 -1.85JMFINANCIL 85.80 -0.50 -0.58JPASSOCIAT 6.68 -0.33 -4.71JSL 43.40 -3.30 -7.07JSLHISAR 95.80 -2.45 -2.49JSWENERGY 69.40 -2.20 -3.07JSWSTEEL 328.40 -7.40 -2.20JUBILANT 730.60 -27.45 -3.62JUBLFOOD 1211.60 4.30 0.36JUSTDIAL 510.70 18.85 3.83JYOTHYLAB 186.65 -0.45 -0.24KAJARIACER 446.25 -0.15 -0.03KALPATPOWR 364.70 -4.10 -1.11KANSAINER 419.25 -0.80 -0.19KEC 277.65 -6.55 -2.30KEI 350.20 -0.75 -0.21KIOCL 162.35 -3.65 -2.20KNRCON 191.05 2.05 1.08KOTAKBANK 1173.40 -0.80 -0.07KPIT 205.75 -4.25 -2.02KPRMILL 590.30 -1.35 -0.23KRBL 331.85 -7.75 -2.28KSCL 513.90 1.55 0.30KTKBANK 104.05 -3.75 -3.48KWALITY 8.77 0.30 3.54L&TFH 131.20 -2.45 -1.83LAKSHVILAS 88.05 -1.40 -1.57LALPATHLAB 856.70 13.55 1.61LAOPALA 230.45 3.05 1.34LAURUSLABS 395.00 -4.30 -1.08LAXMIMACH* 5901.15 -29.85 -0.50LICHSGFIN 458.25 0.75 0.16LINDEINDIA 620.75 -4.40 -0.70LT 1412.70 -3.35 -0.24LTI 1584.50 -59.20 -3.60LTTS 1511.05 -31.45 -2.04LUPIN 848.75 -7.20 -0.84LUXIND 1510.95 -29.60 -1.92M&M 782.70 2.35 0.30M&MFIN 425.90 -9.80 -2.25MAGMA 113.75 3.25 2.94MAHABANK 14.18 -0.60 -4.06MAHINDCIE 254.10 -1.05 -0.41MAHLIFE 406.40 -0.50 -0.12MANAPPURAM 84.65 -0.70 -0.82MANPASAND 95.25 -1.35 -1.40MARICO 351.25 -1.00 -0.28MARUTI 7332.15 -85.45 -1.15MAXINDIA 68.35 -3.25 -4.54MCX 706.40 -8.70 -1.22MEGH 67.40 -0.60 -0.88MFSL 429.70 -7.35 -1.68MGL 862.85 13.20 1.55MHRIL 216.40 -1.90 -0.87MINDACORP 130.85 1.90 1.47MINDAIND 322.20 -22.10 -6.42MINDTREE 833.95 -12.30 -1.45MMTC 30.75 0.55 1.82MOIL 171.20 -2.80 -1.61MONSANTO 2481.60 -19.85 -0.79MOTHERSUMI 152.75 -0.05 -0.03MOTILALOFS 634.30 -8.20 -1.28MPHASIS 925.20 -23.15 -2.44MRF 65804.20 -307.30 -0.46MRPL 77.00 -3.00 -3.75MUTHOOTFIN 452.20 -8.95 -1.94NATCOPHARM* 732.60 -12.65 -1.70NATIONALUM 65.55 -2.25 -3.32NAUKRI 1400.15 14.75 1.06NAVINFLUOR 682.85 2.25 0.33NAVKARCORP 62.05 -0.70 -1.12NAVNETEDUL 108.05 -0.75 -0.69NBCC 59.35 -0.30 -0.50NBVENTURES 121.20 -0.50 -0.41NCC 85.55 -3.15 -3.55NESTLEIND 10249.00 -110.60 -1.07NETWORK18 39.20 -0.45 -1.13NH 227.55 -5.80 -2.49NHPC 26.05 -0.10 -0.38NIACL 203.40 -0.95 -0.46NIITTECH 1109.05 -24.10 -2.13NILKAMAL 1528.55 -10.95 -0.71NLCINDIA 81.10 -0.30 -0.37NMDC 99.50 -1.40 -1.39NOCIL 166.25 -2.60 -1.54NTPC 149.35 -3.70 -2.42OBEROIRLTY 419.15 -3.85 -0.91OFSS 3445.90 -46.10 -1.32OIL 202.40 1.35 0.67OMAXE 209.95 0.10 0.05ONGC 152.60 -1.80 -1.17ORIENTBANK 87.25 -2.15 -2.40ORIENTCEM 82.85 -3.30 -3.83PAGEIND 27547.85 1065.60 4.02PARAGMILK 245.70 -5.90 -2.34PCJEWELLER 76.90 -0.25 -0.32PEL 2281.90 -77.10 -3.27

PERSISTENT 551.05 -6.70 -1.20PETRONET 215.20 -0.10 -0.05PFC 102.40 0.10 0.10PFIZER 2820.50 -21.95 -0.77PFS 16.60 -0.30 -1.78PGHH 9475.00 53.60 0.57PHILIPCARB 206.70 -5.30 -2.50PHOENIXLTD 608.40 -18.30 -2.92PIDILITIND 1127.55 5.55 0.49PIIND 835.35 6.15 0.74PNB 71.30 -2.10 -2.86PNBHOUSING 993.95 21.65 2.23PNCINFRA 154.45 2.70 1.78POWERGRID 188.00 -1.70 -0.90PRESTIGE 174.05 -4.75 -2.66PRSMJOHNSN 85.80 -1.35 -1.55PTC 80.25 -2.25 -2.73PVR 1403.70 -24.85 -1.74QUESS 761.20 -5.90 -0.77RADICO 423.10 -16.20 -3.69RAIN 152.65 -2.10 -1.36RAJESHEXPO 570.25 -1.20 -0.21RALLIS 167.20 0.10 0.06RAMCOCEM 627.40 2.50 0.40RATNAMANI 882.95 -6.75 -0.76RAYMOND 788.50 5.40 0.69RBLBANK 554.35 -1.15 -0.21RCF 58.70 -0.75 -1.26RCOM 13.55 -0.55 -3.90

RECLTD 122.50 -1.85 -1.49REDINGTON 91.30 -1.30 -1.40RELAXO 781.05 -3.05 -0.39RELCAPITAL 241.20 -2.05 -0.84RELIANCE 1138.65 -10.95 -0.95RELINFRA 355.80 2.95 0.84REPCOHOME 396.95 4.00 1.02RNAM 166.90 -2.60 -1.53RNAVAL 13.47 -0.22 -1.61RPOWER 30.50 -0.90 -2.87SADBHAV 208.80 -7.50 -3.47SAIL 62.35 -1.95 -3.03SANOFI 6102.55 40.85 0.67SBILIFE 564.95 -0.10 -0.02SBIN 283.05 -5.15 -1.79SCHAEFFLER 5480.95 -16.70 -0.30SCHNEIDER 113.40 -4.30 -3.65SCI 44.45 -0.40 -0.89SFL 1427.55 -5.90 -0.41SHANKARA 843.55 -5.40 -0.64SHARDACROP 307.80 -1.85 -0.60SHILPAMED 377.95 -7.15 -1.86SHK 192.75 -1.00 -0.52SHOPERSTOP 500.05 -0.50 -0.10SHREECEM 15875.70 -76.95 -0.48SHRIRAMCIT 1605.15 5.05 0.32SIEMENS 934.90 -5.50 -0.58SIS 780.90 -13.65 -1.72SJVN 27.50 -0.05 -0.18SKFINDIA 1858.80 -16.05 -0.86SOBHA 475.00 12.35 2.67SOLARINDS 999.05 -0.65 -0.07SOMANYCERA 298.75 -7.95 -2.59SONATSOFTW 319.40 -5.60 -1.72SOUTHBANK 14.34 -0.24 -1.65SPARC 273.60 -2.00 -0.73SPICEJET 78.20 -1.65 -2.07SREINFRA 32.95 -1.50 -4.35SRF 2081.30 -13.25 -0.63SRTRANSFIN 1193.90 -27.10 -2.22STARCEMENT 96.60 -3.30 -3.30STRTECH 340.95 -7.25 -2.08SUDARSCHEM 362.65 -14.10 -3.74SUNCLAYLTD 3530.00 -45.00 -1.26SUNDRMFAST 524.15 1.20 0.23SUNPHARMA 525.50 -5.05 -0.95

SUNTECK 359.90 1.35 0.38SUNTV 609.00 -7.55 -1.22SUPPETRO 199.70 -1.35 -0.67SUPRAJIT 214.90 -2.70 -1.24SUPREMEIND 967.45 -15.90 -1.62SUVEN 245.15 -2.15 -0.87SUZLON 5.43 0.00 0.00SWANENERGY 104.30 -3.60 -3.34SYMPHONY 1011.55 1.50 0.15SYNDIBANK 35.30 -0.75 -2.08SYNGENE 565.75 -1.85 -0.33TAKE 138.90 -3.55 -2.49TATACHEM 693.60 -9.15 -1.30TATACOFFEE 98.15 0.10 0.10TATACOMM 531.45 -5.75 -1.07TATAELXSI 988.95 4.30 0.44TATAGLOBAL 216.10 -7.90 -3.53TATAINVEST 869.40 3.05 0.35TATAMETALI 666.20 -17.10 -2.50TATAMOTORS 183.30 -1.00 -0.54TATAMTRDVR 99.95 -1.45 -1.43TATAPOWER 78.05 1.00 1.30TATASTEEL 563.50 -18.70 -3.21TCS 1877.75 -24.30 -1.28TEAMLEASE 2799.00 1.25 0.04TECHM 709.35 -21.15 -2.90TEJASNET 247.70 -12.90 -4.95TEXRAIL 63.60 -0.75 -1.17THERMAX 983.10 -10.60 -1.07

THOMASCOOK 223.85 -4.25 -1.86THYROCARE 549.30 -1.45 -0.26TIFHL 476.50 -3.25 -0.68TIMETECHNO 113.50 -2.40 -2.07TIMKEN 522.40 -2.65 -0.50TITAN 915.35 -5.35 -0.58TNPL 246.85 -4.65 -1.85TORNTPHARM 1643.55 -25.60 -1.53TORNTPOWER 257.60 -2.55 -0.98TRENT 326.30 -5.30 -1.60TRIDENT 66.55 -1.55 -2.28TRITURBINE 115.70 0.05 0.04TTKPRESTIG 6813.40 -80.55 -1.17TV18BRDCST 36.80 -0.15 -0.41TVSMOTOR 537.85 -17.20 -3.10TVSSRICHAK 2611.00 -12.10 -0.46TVTODAY 379.45 -3.10 -0.81UBL 1290.75 -21.75 -1.66UCOBANK 19.25 -0.60 -3.02UFLEX 301.95 -8.40 -2.71UJJIVAN 217.25 -13.70 -5.93ULTRACEMCO 3976.50 -57.10 -1.42UNICHEMLAB 211.00 -2.15 -1.01UNIONBANK 79.85 -1.75 -2.14UPL 759.75 -16.40 -2.11VBL 781.90 -0.25 -0.03VEDL 205.10 -6.10 -2.89VENKYS 2395.05 -16.10 -0.67VGUARD 193.40 -2.15 -1.10VIJAYABANK 42.70 -1.00 -2.29VINATIORGA 1490.90 -67.45 -4.33VIPIND 473.45 -8.05 -1.67VMART 2403.50 64.00 2.74VOLTAS 547.05 -15.35 -2.73VTL 1072.50 -11.00 -1.02WABAG 290.30 -0.45 -0.15WABCOINDIA 6825.90 -98.30 -1.42WELCORP 162.75 6.05 3.86WELSPUNIND 62.60 -0.05 -0.08WHIRLPOOL 1377.85 -30.75 -2.18WIPRO 321.70 -8.55 -2.59WOCKPHARMA 513.30 -13.10 -2.49YESBANK 192.55 -12.50 -6.10ZEEL 448.85 1.25 0.28ZENSARTECH 237.35 -3.70 -1.53ZYDUSWELL 1132.55 -17.70 -1.54

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10740.10 10740.85 10640.85 10656.20 -107.20GAIL 338.05 346.00 337.70 344.05 9.35ADANIPORTS 349.85 357.55 347.00 355.50 4.95INDUSINDBK 1535.00 1569.90 1528.35 1552.85 14.90BAJFINANCE 2365.00 2392.95 2345.75 2374.00 13.05ZEEL 444.80 451.95 440.75 449.00 2.20M&M 780.00 792.40 773.35 782.00 0.65HDFCBANK 2013.00 2019.60 1999.05 2012.75 -1.15INFRATEL 260.00 261.25 257.90 259.30 -0.65BPCL 325.20 329.95 321.10 322.00 -0.95ITC 285.00 286.65 281.80 283.50 -1.00TITAN 919.00 925.20 908.85 917.30 -3.25ASIANPAINT 1317.00 1331.05 1304.70 1307.25 -4.90HINDUNILVR 1701.00 1709.90 1685.05 1695.00 -6.40HINDPETRO 246.00 252.50 241.60 243.25 -1.05LT 1410.25 1423.10 1407.70 1410.80 -6.40TATAMOTORS 184.05 188.30 183.20 183.75 -0.85BAJAJ-AUTO 2679.65 2679.65 2655.00 2666.30 -13.35KOTAKBANK 1170.00 1178.30 1162.15 1169.20 -6.05HEROMOTOCO2988.90 2994.95 2941.00 2963.50 -17.15BAJAJFINSV 5715.00 5764.70 5648.00 5675.10 -50.85POWERGRID 191.10 191.10 187.50 187.90 -1.80ONGC 154.55 155.80 152.65 153.00 -1.55AXISBANK 614.70 619.60 609.55 609.95 -6.35HDFC 1890.00 1904.00 1872.05 1878.80 -20.55COALINDIA 264.00 265.60 261.00 261.20 -2.95RELIANCE 1145.00 1155.90 1130.00 1137.00 -13.00TCS 1902.00 1902.00 1874.20 1880.00 -22.45MARUTI 7411.65 7444.50 7311.65 7323.60 -88.05SUNPHARMA 530.00 532.60 521.30 524.70 -6.85EICHERMOT 24897.10 25350.00 24450.55 24550.00 -347.10GRASIM 847.70 863.00 832.30 837.50 -11.90ICICIBANK 362.00 365.45 354.60 357.15 -5.25CIPLA 528.00 529.85 518.65 520.10 -8.15ULTRACEMCO 4033.00 4046.50 3960.00 3966.25 -65.70INFY 651.70 656.00 640.10 640.60 -11.10UPL 771.00 772.80 747.00 760.50 -14.70SBIN 285.90 288.55 282.50 282.60 -5.55BHARTIARTL 333.10 339.45 328.30 329.85 -7.00IOC 143.80 144.90 138.00 139.00 -3.55JSWSTEEL 334.00 334.25 327.00 328.25 -8.40NTPC 152.40 153.10 148.50 148.90 -4.05HCLTECH 1035.00 1035.00 1003.30 1011.65 -28.45TECHM 732.50 732.50 704.05 711.60 -20.95VEDL 210.25 210.90 200.00 205.10 -6.25TATASTEEL 577.00 578.00 562.00 563.25 -19.15WIPRO 330.90 330.90 320.10 321.90 -10.95DRREDDY 2520.10 2520.10 2437.55 2438.25 -90.35IBULHSGFIN 725.55 743.90 700.00 706.00 -27.80HINDALCO 233.85 233.85 220.40 220.60 -13.85YESBANK 198.00 199.75 191.00 192.50 -12.30

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 5027440.25 27508.45 27120.75 27163.15 -345.15OIL 200.00 204.50 199.50 202.50 1.80DLF 169.90 175.65 169.90 174.20 1.45COLPAL 1150.00 1170.60 1149.85 1158.95 8.30HDFCLIFE 382.00 388.70 380.05 385.30 1.30SHREECEM 15950.00 16149.15 15775.90 15901.00 9.20PGHH 9461.00 9489.95 9402.15 9485.00 1.35NHPC 26.10 26.25 26.00 26.10 0.00CONCOR 669.15 685.90 667.00 673.55 0.00GICRE 307.85 309.20 305.65 307.00 -0.05MOTHERSUMI 152.00 155.00 150.00 152.80 -0.10PIDILITIND 1120.00 1133.00 1115.00 1121.25 -1.35MARICO 353.00 354.20 349.40 351.70 -0.85NIACL 205.00 208.00 202.15 202.90 -0.60BOSCHLTD 18790.00 18950.00 18505.10 18633.60 -73.25PETRONET 216.00 219.00 214.30 215.00 -0.85DMART 1412.00 1437.40 1397.65 1404.85 -7.70MRF 66200.00 66330.00 65713.20 65800.00 -390.30LICHSGFIN 454.60 466.50 452.30 455.00 -2.75SBILIFE 572.00 572.00 562.00 565.00 -3.75ICICIGI 836.00 839.75 822.05 830.00 -5.70SIEMENS 945.80 945.80 925.15 934.90 -6.75INDIGO 1036.50 1058.00 1027.15 1035.00 -7.65ICICIPRULI 325.00 326.90 319.10 320.90 -2.35ABB 1348.00 1350.00 1336.90 1340.00 -10.70LUPIN 854.55 861.45 843.00 848.60 -6.90BHEL 67.90 68.05 66.95 67.40 -0.60IDEA 42.00 43.85 41.10 42.30 -0.40ASHOKLEY 108.90 110.25 106.85 107.60 -1.20HINDZINC 266.00 268.50 262.90 263.30 -2.95BEL 93.95 96.00 92.30 92.80 -1.10HAVELLS 683.90 685.50 675.05 676.10 -8.40NMDC 101.00 101.40 98.55 99.50 -1.30OFSS 3499.00 3499.00 3426.00 3442.90 -46.60SUNTV 614.40 623.50 606.50 607.10 -9.95AUROPHARMA 791.00 792.65 777.00 778.50 -14.25BRITANNIA 5970.00 6005.90 5840.85 5880.00 -109.55L&TFH 132.10 134.00 130.20 131.30 -2.45ACC 1491.00 1498.30 1467.30 1470.00 -31.65CADILAHC 361.80 364.05 352.05 355.20 -8.85AMBUJACEM 219.25 219.25 214.05 214.75 -5.65GODREJCP 728.35 728.35 705.10 707.00 -21.35ABCAPITAL 115.65 115.75 112.30 112.75 -3.40BIOCON 625.00 637.85 610.25 611.50 -18.55SRTRANSFIN 1229.50 1229.50 1182.00 1184.00 -36.40SAIL 64.25 64.25 62.15 62.35 -1.95PEL 2332.05 2374.40 2266.85 2283.25 -78.00DABUR 406.00 406.45 393.10 394.20 -14.30BANDHANBNK 475.25 475.25 460.00 460.80 -17.40MCDOWELL-N 651.00 652.00 623.25 624.75 -26.20BANKBARODA 113.20 115.60 109.25 110.00 -5.35

world 13LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018

AFP n WASHINGTON

Afederal judge onMonday put a tempo-rary halt to a Trump

administration order denyingthe possibility of asylum topeople who enter the US ille-gally. President Donald Trumpissued the proclamation earli-er this month as a matter ofwhat he called national secu-rity as a caravan of thousandsof Central American migrantsmade its way through Mexicotoward the US border.

US District Judge Jon Tigarin San Francisco issued a tem-porary restraining orderagainst the Trump proclama-tion, thus granting a requestfrom human rights groupswho had sued shortly after theorder was announced. Underthe proclamation, Trump saidonly people who enter the USat official checkpoints - asopposed to sneaking across theborder - can apply for asylum.Judge Tigar wrote that theImmigration and NationalityAct of 1965 states that any for-eigner who arrives in the US,“whether or not at a designat-ed port of arrival,” may applyfor asylum.

“The rule barring asylumfor immigrants who enter thecountry outside a port of entryirreconcilably conflicts with

the INA and the expressedintent of Congress,” Tigarwrote. “Whatever the scope ofthe President’s authority, hemay not rewrite the immigra-tion laws to impose a conditionthat Congress has expresslyforbidden,” Tigar added. Thejudge’s restraining orderremains in effect until thecourt decides on the case.

Trump’s administrationhas argued that he has theexecutive power to curb immi-gration in the name of nation-al security — a power heinvoked right after takingoffice last year with a contro-versial ban on travelers fromseveral mostly Muslim coun-tries. The final version of the

order was upheld by the USSupreme Court on June 26after a protracted legal battle.When the new policy wasannounced by the Departmentof Homeland Security onNovember 8, a senior admin-istration official said it wouldaddress what he called the“historically unparalleled abuseof our immigration system”along the border with Mexico.

Administration officialssay anyone who manages to getacross can request asylum andsubsequently often vanishwhile their case sits in the courtsystem. “The vast majority ofthese applications eventuallyturn out to be non-meritori-ous,” a senior administration

official said, asking not to beidentified. Less than 10 percent of cases result in asylumbeing granted, the govern-ment says. Human rights cam-paigners and other critics ofthe Trump crackdown say thatby restricting asylum seekers toborder crossing points - whichare already under enormouspressure - the government iseffectively shutting the door onpeople who may truly be flee-ing for their lives. “The gov-ernment cannot abdicate itsresponsibility towardsmigrants fleeing harm,” theNew York ImmigrationCoalition advocacy group said.But the administration officialargued that “what we’reattempting to do is trying tofunnel credible fear claims, orasylum claims, through theports of entry where we arebetter resourced.”

That way, he said, courtswill “handle those claims in anexpeditious and efficient man-ner, so that those who doactually require an asylumprotection get those protec-tions.” In 2018, border patrolsregistered more than 400,000illegal border crossers, home-land security said. And in thelast five years, the number ofthose requesting asylum hasincreased by 2,000 percent, itsaid.

PTI n WASHINGTON

The US has made it clear toPakistani leaders that it

expects them to constructive-ly address the problem of mil-itant safe havens in the coun-try, the White House said afterPresident Donald Trump andPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan faced off over the issuethat has impacted bilateral ties.

Trump on Sunday accusedPakistan of not doing “a damnthing” for the US. He citedOsama bin Laden and theTaliban resurgence in neigh-bouring Afghanistan as exam-ples of how Pakistan would“take our money and do noth-ing for us”. Khan reacted angri-ly by saying that his countryhad suffered enough by fight-ing terrorism on behalf of theUnited States. “Now we will dowhat is best for our people andour interests,” the cricketer-turned politician said onTwitter.

The White House defend-ed Trump’s decision to suspendsecurity assistance to Pakistan.“The (Trump) Administrationhas been clear to Pakistanileaders that it expects them toconstructively address theproblem of militant safe havensin Pakistan,” an official fromthe National Security Council,the White House, told PTI.“Because Pakistan failed toaddress the problem, theAdministration suspendedsecurity assistance,” the officialsaid, requesting anonymity.

“We remain hopeful thatPakistan will realise it is in itsown interest to cooperate withthe US strategy in Afghanistan,”said the official respondingKhan accusing PresidentTrump of false assertion in hiscountry’s fight against terror.The US and others have longcomplained that Pakistan pro-vides a safe haven to militantnetworks, allowing them tocarry out cross-border attacksin Afghanistan, a charge thatIslamabad denies.

Trump while announcinghis new South Asia policy inAugust last year accusedPakistan of failing to do enoughagainst terrorist groups insidethe country. The relationshipbetween the US and Pakistanhas always been tenuous, buttensions have increased sinceTrump’s election. In Januarythis year, the US governmentannounced it was cutting

almost all security aid to thecountry. In September, theTrump administration can-celled USD 300 million in mil-itary aid to Islamabad for itsfailure to act against terrorgroups like the HaqqaniNetwork and Taliban active onits soil.

Trump in his latest tiradeagainst Islamabad alleged thatPakistan knew that bin Laden,the Al Qaeda leader, was livingin a mansion on the outskirtsof its garrison city ofAbbottabad and all the aidbeing given to Pakistan, whichis USD 1.3 billion per annum,was a waste. Trump’s latestcriticism has further deterio-rated the US-Pak relationship.

Senator Rand Paul, whohas for the last several yearssought to cut all assistance toPakistan, supported Trump’sdecision. “I agree completely.That’s why we should pushhard on Pakistan to let perse-cuted Christian Asia Bibi findasylum in America,” he saidretweeting Trump’s posts. Bibiwas recently released from aPakistani jail after her blas-phemy conviction was over-turned. “During my time inCongress, I have introducedlegislation to directly go afterPakistan’s foreign aid and turnup the pressure on them torelease Asia Bibi and stop per-secuting religious minorities,”he said.

Chicago (AP): MercyHospital has identified twomembers of its staff killed in ashooting that left four dead,also including the gunmanand a police officer. Emergencyroom physician, 38-year-oldTamera O’Neal, was describedas a fascinating, hardworkingperson. Hospital officials saidthat O’Neal never worked onSunday because of her religiousbeliefs. Police say O’Neal wasconfronted in the hospitalparking lot by the gunman,with whom she had been in adomestic relationship.Witnesses say the man shot herand she fell to the ground. Thegunman then stood over herand shot her again.

Hospital officials say 25-year-old pharmaceutical assis-tant Dayna Less, who was intraining to become a pharma-cist, was also killed. Accordingto police Superintendent EddieJohnson, the woman was shotas she stepped from an eleva-tor. She was a recent PurdueUniversity graduate. Also killedwas 28-year-old Chicago PoliceOfficer Samuel Jimenez, thefather of three children.Chicago Police SuperintendentEddie Johnson says the fourdead in the shooting at MercyHospital include two hospitalemployees, a Chicago policeofficer and the suspected gunman.

AP n CANBERRA

Three men inspired by theIslamic State group were

charged on Tuesday with plan-ning a mass-casualty attack inAustralia’s second-largest city,police said. The Australian cit-izens of Turkish descent —Hanifi Halis, 21, and brothersSamed Eriklioglu, 26, andErtunc Eriklioglu, 30 — werearrested in pre-dawn raids ontheir Melbourne homes, policesaid. All had their passportscancelled this year on suspicionthat they intended to fightwith extremists overseas.

The trio communicatedwith encrypted messages,which made it difficult forpolice to determine when andwhere the attack was to takeplace, Victoria Police ChiefCommissioner Graham Ashtonsaid. “Whilst a specific location

was not finalized, there was aview toward a crowded place,”where they could kill more vic-tims, Ashton said. HomeAffairs Minister Peter Duttonreacted by calling onParliament to pass by nextmonth draft cybersecurity lawsthat would force global tech-nology companies such asFacebook and Google to helppolice unscramble encryptedmessages sent by criminals.Rights advocates have raisedprivacy concerns. “The prob-lem that we have now is thatthe messages being swappedbetween terror cells and peopleinvolved in terrorist activity aswell as other significant crim-inals, they are doing it onlinethrough these messaging appsand the police don’t have theability to get across that tech-nology. That is the significantissue,” Dutton told reporters.

PTI n WASHINGTON

Though the White Houselost the legal fight with the

CNN over the suspension ofthe press credentials of its jour-nalist Jim Acosta, it has usedthe opportunity to rein-in themedia from raising more thanone question to PresidentDonald Trump or senior offi-cials at future press confer-ences. The White House onMonday restored the press cre-dentials of CNN’s chief WhiteHouse correspondent Acosta,less than two weeks after with-drawing them over a testyexchange with PresidentTrump during a news confer-ence on November 7.

The Trump administra-tion’s decision came after ajudge ordered that Acostacould continue reporting at theWhite House. Following thedecision, CNN said it waswithdrawing its lawsuit againstthe White House. Reacting tothe decision restoring his pass,Acosta said he was looking for-ward to returning to the WhiteHouse. “Thanks to everybodyfor their support. As I said lastFriday... let’s get back to work,”he tweeted.

But the White House alsoissued “rules governing futurepress conferences”. The newrules are for reporters coveringthe news conferences of eitherPresident Trump or senioradministration officials. “Thisafternoon we have notified JimAcosta and CNN that his hardpass has been restored. We havealso notified him of certainrules that will govern WhiteHouse press conferences goingforward,” White House PressSecretary Sarah Sanders said.

As per the new WhiteHouse guidelines, a reportercan ask a single question and

permission for a follow up willbe subject to the discretion ofthe individual holding the newsconference. Any violation ofthe rule might result in revo-cation of the press credentials,Sanders said, as she announcedrestoration of full media accessto Acosta. Listing out the threenew rules, Sanders said a jour-nalist will ask a single questionand then yield the floor to otherjournalists. Secondly, at thediscretion of the President orother White House officialtaking questions, a follow-upquestion or questions may bepermitted. Finally, “yieldingthe floor” includes, whenapplicable, physically surren-dering the microphone toWhite House staff for use bythe next questioner, Sanderssaid. “Failure to abide by any ofrules may result in suspensionor revocation of the journalist’shard pass,” she warned.

The White HouseCorrespondents Association(WHCA) welcomed the deci-sion of the Trump administra-tion and asserted that a free andindependent news mediaplayed a vital role in the healthof a republic. “The WhiteHouse did the right thing inrestoring Jim Acosta’s hardpass,” Olivier Knox, WHCAPresident said. “The WhiteHouse Correspondents’Association had no role incrafting any procedures forfuture press conferences,” hesaid. “For as long as there havebeen White House press con-ferences, White Housereporters have asked follow-upquestions. We fully expect thistradition will continue. Wewill continue to make the casethat a free and independentnews media plays a vital role inthe health of our republic,”Knox said.

PTI n ISLAMABAD

It would be “good” for PervezMusharraf if he returns to

Pakistan to face the high trea-son trial, the Islamabad HighCourt has observed as itdirected his lawyer to submitthe former military dictator’stravel itinerary at the nexthearing. General Musharraf,75, who has been living inDubai since 2016, is facing thetreason case for suspendingthe Constitution in 2007. Theformer military ruler left forDubai in March 2016 for med-ical treatment and has notreturned since.

The former Army chiefhas been declared an abscon-der due to his persistent fail-ure to appear before a special

trial court set up to try him inthe case. A two-judge divisionbench heard the petition filedby Musharraf against the con-stitution of a judicial com-mission by the special courtfor recording his statement.The Islamabad High Court(IHC) division bench, whichresumed hearing of the case onMonday, told the counsel tovisit Musharraf in Dubai andconvince him to face the trialand bring the former leaderback if possible, Dawn news-paper reported.

“It would be good for GenMusharraf if he comes backand faces trial,” the benchsaid. It directed the counsel toconsult Musharraf and submithis travel itinerary at the nexthearing, the report said. The

bench also assuredMusharraf ’s lawyer SalmanSafdar that foolproof securitywould be provided to the for-mer president if he returned.The court adjourned furtherhearing till the second week ofDecember.

Pakistan’s Supreme Courtin September assuredMusharraf that high-levelsecurity will be provided tohim if he returns to the coun-try to face the trial in the trea-son case. The former presidentwas indicted in March 2014 ontreason charges for suspendingthe Constitution and imposingemergency which led to theconfinement of a number ofsuperior court judges in theirhouses and sacking of over 100judges.

PTI n UNITED NATIONS

India and 15 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for almost

80 per cent of the malaria cases report-ed globally last year, according to aWHO report which notes that a whop-ping 1.25 billion people in India wereat the risk of contracting the mosqui-to-borne disease.

The World Health Organization’s(WHO) 2018 World malaria report,however, in an encouraging note saidthat India was the only country to reportprogress in reducing its malaria casesin 2017 as compared with 2016. It saidfive countries to account for nearly halfof all malaria cases worldwide wereNigeria (25 per cent), DemocraticRepublic of the Congo (11 per cent),Mozambique (5 per cent), India andUganda (4 per cent) both. In all, 15countries in sub-Saharan Africa andIndia carried almost 80 per cent of theglobal malaria burden. In India, 1.25 bil-lion people in the population were at

risk of malaria, the report said. It saidthat targets to reduce global rates ofinfections and deaths from malaria werenot being met. The study reveals thatwhile new cases fell steadily up until2016, the number rose from 217 to 219million in 2017: the targets set by theWHO Global technical strategy formalaria 2016–2030 call for a drop inmalaria case incidence and death ratesof at least 40 per cent by 2020. The 10highest burden countries in Africareported increases in cases of malariain 2017 compared with 2016. Of these,Nigeria, Madagascar and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo hadthe highest estimated increases, allgreater than half a million cases.

In contrast, India reported threemillion fewer cases in the same period,a 24 decrease compared with 2016.However, cases in the African countriesrose by 3.5 million compared with theprevious year. Nearly 80 per cent ofglobal malaria deaths in 2017 were con-centrated in 17 countries in the WHO

African Region and India, the reportsaid. Seven of these countries account-ed for 53 per cent of all global malariadeaths: Nigeria (19 per cent),Democratic Republic of the Congo (11per cent), Burkina Faso (6 per cent),Tanzania (5 per cent), Sierra Leone (4per cent), Niger (4 per cent) and India(4 per cent). The report noted that whileIndia “had made impressive gains andwas on track” to meet the Global tech-nical strategy for malaria 2016–2030targets, it still accounted for 4 pert centof the global burden of malaria mor-bidity and 52 per cent of deaths outsideof the WHO African Region. India wasamong the countries that detected high

treatment failure rates and respondedby changing their treatment policies, itsaid. The report added that India andIndonesia were on track to achieve a20–40 per cent reduction in case inci-dence by 2020.

The WHO, the main UnitedNations health agency, and its partnershave launched a country-led ‘high bur-den to high impact’ response plan – tocoincide with the release of the report– with the aim of scaling up prevention,treatment and investment to protectvulnerable people, and get reductionsin malaria deaths and disease back ontrack. The plan builds on the principlethat no one should die from a diseasethat can be easily prevented and diag-nosed, and that is entirely curable withavailable treatments. “The world facesa new reality: as progress stagnates, weare at risk of squandering years of toil,investment and success in reducing thenumber of people suffering from thedisease,” WHO Director General TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Judge bars Trump from denying

asylum to illegal immigrants

Pharmaceutical

assistant, doc

among 4 dead in

US hosp shooting

WH: Pakistan failed to acton militant safe havens

Islamabad (PTI): Pakistansummoned a senior US diplo-mat here on Tuesday andlodged a strong protest overPresident Donald Trump’s“baseless allegations” on har-bouring al-Qaeda chief Osamabin Laden, saying it was a“closed chapter of history” andcould seriously underminebilateral ties.

Trump on Sunday, and infollow up tweets, defended hisadministration’s decision tostop hundreds of millions ofdollars in military aid toPakistan for not doing enoughto curb terrorism and criticisedIslamabad for offering a hide-out to slain al-Qaeda chief binLaden in the garrison city ofAbbottabad. “We give PakistanUSD 1.3 billion a year... (binLaden) lived in Pakistan, we’resupporting Pakistan, we’re giv-ing them USD 1.3 billion a year— which we don’t give themanymore, by the way, I endedit because they don’t do any-thing for us, they don’t do adamn thing for us,” thePresident told Fox News.

“The Foreign Secretary(Tehmina Janjua) called in theUnited States charge d’affairesPaul Jones to register a strongprotest on the unwarrantedand unsubstantiated allega-tions made against Pakistan,”Foreign Office spokesmanMuhammad Faisal said.

“Conveying her Government’sdisappointment on the recenttweets and comments by theUS President, the US charged’affaires was told that suchbaseless rhetoric aboutPakistan was totally unaccept-able,” he said in a statement.

Faisal said Janjua rejectedthe insinuations about binLaden and reminded Jonesthat it was Pakistan’s intelli-gence cooperation that pro-vided the initial evidence totrace the whereabouts of theslain al-Qaeda leader. Janjuatold Jones that no other coun-try had paid a heavier pricethan Pakistan in the fightagainst terrorism, he said. “TheUS leadership had acknowl-edged on multiple occasionsthat Pakistan’s cooperation hadhelped in decimating the coreAl-Qaeda leadership and erad-icating the threat of terrorismfrom the region,” the foreignsecretary told the US diplomat.

She said the US must notforget that scores of top AlQaeda leaders were killed orcaptured because of Pakistan’sactive cooperation. “Pakistan’scontinued support to theefforts of international com-munity in Afghanistan throughGround/ Air and Sea lines ofcommunication was unques-tionably critical to the successof this Mission in Afghanistan,”Janjua said.

Pak summons US envoy,

lodges protest over

President’s remarks

WH curbs on reportersafter Trump’s tiff withCNN correspondent

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex talks to from left Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen of the group "Take That" as shearrives with Britain's Prince Harry to attend the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in central London AP

3 men charged withplanning mass killingin Australian city

AP n WASHINGTON

Ivanka Trump, the president’sdaughter and a top White

House adviser, sent hundreds ofemails about government busi-ness from a personal emailaccount last year, TheWashington Post reported onMonday. The emails were sentto White House aides, Cabinetmembers and Ivanka Trump’sassistants, many in violation ofpublic records rules, the papersaid. President Donald Trumpmercilessly criticised his 2016Democratic rival, HillaryClinton, for using a privateemail server during her time assecretary of state, labelling her“Crooked Hillary” and sayingshe belonged in jail.

The White House did notimmediately respond to ques-tions about the email use, but aspokesman for Ivanka Trump’slawyer, Abbe Lowell, didn’t dis-

pute the report. “While transi-tioning into government... MsTrump sometimes used herprivate account, almost alwaysfor logistics and schedulingconcerning her family,” saidthe spokesman, PeterMirijanian. Mirijanian stressedthat no classified informationwas transmitted in the messages,

that no emails were deleted andthat the emails have since been“retained” in conformity withrecords laws. “When concernswere raised in the press 14months ago, Ms Trumpreviewed and verified her emailuse with White House Counseland explained the issue to con-gressional leaders,” he said. The

discovery was prompted bypublic records requests from theliberal watchdog groupAmerican Oversight.

The group’s executivedirector, Austin Evers, said ina statement that “The presi-dent’s family is not above thelaw,” and he called on Congressto investigate. “For more thantwo years, President Trumpand senior leaders in Congresshave made it very clear thatthey view the use of personalemail servers for governmentbusiness to be a serious offensethat demands investigation andeven prosecution, and weexpect the same standard willbe applied in this case,” he said.The emails the group uncov-ered include correspondencebetween Ivanka Trump andSmall Business AdministratorLinda McMahon andEducation Secretary BetsyDeVos.

Ivanka Trump used personal email

for government work, says report

IHC: Will be good for Musharraf

to return to Pak to face trial

India, 15 African countries account for 80% malaria cases

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 sport 14

PTI n BRISBANE

An Australia in turmoil both onand off the field has made Indiathe firm favourites in the com-

pelling rivalry's latest battle whichbegins with a T20 International serieshere on Wednesday.

In a bid to assert themselves asfavourites for the Test series, which startsDecember 6 in Adelaide, India would behoping to dominate the three T20Is.

The touring side has won its previ-ous seven T20I series dating back toNovember 2017, and its last defeat in theformat was against West Indies in Julylast year.

Not to mention, on their last visithere, the Men in Blue won the T20Iseries 3-0. So, they will be riding highon a wave of confidence and eager tomake an early mark on this trip.

Australian cricket, in contrast, hasbeen dogged by structural reform in thewake of the ball-tampering saga in SouthAfrica in March and it has resulted inturbulence on the field as well.

Only on Tuesday, Cricket Australiaruled out reducing the bans of SteveSmith, David Warner and CameronBancroft in reply to a plea submissionfrom the Australian Cricketers'Association (ACA).

In the absence of Smith and Warner,Australia's results have fallen off a cliff.

Since the ban, they are yet to win aT20I series against an opposition of notesince March.

They lost to England in a one-offgame in June, then lost to Pakistan inthe T20I tri-series final in Zimbabwe,lost 3-0 to Pakistan again in the bilat-eral series in the UAE, and then lost toSouth Africa in a rain-curtailed one-offmatch on Saturday.

It remains to be seen whether beingon home turf would raise the spirits forthe once invincible Aussies.

The one significant change forIndia ahead of this series is the returnof skipper Virat Kohli, who was restedfor the three-match contest againstWest Indies at home.

While it undoubtedly strengthensthe visitors, all eyes will be on how theAaron Finch-led Australian side deals

with the best batsman in world cricketat the moment.

While there are calls from all quar-ters for Australian cricket to keep acheck on aggression and play the gamein right spirit, Kohli has always garneredattention whenever he has visited here.

On his early trips Down Under, hehas never quite been the Australian fans'favourite.

But starting 2014, his battingexploits have taken centre-stage. Hescored 199 runs in three innings dur-ing that 2016 T20I series' whitewash.

South African skipper Faf du Plessishas professed a "silent treatment" toKohli and it remains to be seen if theAustralian cricketers and the public canignore him at all.

Kohli's return to the side means that

one front-line batsman will have tomake way.

In England, the skipper batted atnumber four, allowing KL Rahul to batat number three in light of his stupen-dous form in the 2018 Indian PremierLeague.

Rahul's current form though isnothing to write home about. He man-aged only 16, 26 not out and 17 againstthe West Indies in the recent T20I seriesbut has been retained.

Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant,both of whom have proven to be moreconsistent and explosive in recent timescompared to Rahul, have also beenincluded in the final 12.

The team has instead left outManish Pandey, continuing his run oflimited opportunities of late.

Pant will don the keeping gloves,something that was amply clear duringthe net session as well. He practisedglove-work under the watchful eyes ofcoach Ravi Shastri, while Karthik onlydid some out-fielding.

The bigger concern for India is tofind a balance in their bowling attack inHardik Pandya's absence.

With ample bounce anticipated onthe Gabba pitch, three pacers —Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrahand Khaleel Ahmed — are certainstarters.

Washington Sundar, who played the

last T20I against West Indies, hasexpectedly made way for Bumrah.

The spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav andYuzvendra Chahal have been retainedin the final 12 but remains to be seen ifboth make the playing XI onWednesday.

Krunal Pandya was the all-rounderagainst West Indies, and is expected tocontinue playing after making the final12.

Australia are also considering field-ing a spinner, after taking the fieldagainst South Africa with a full-paceattack on Saturday.

Glenn Maxwell was the lone spin-ner then, but it is understood that thehosts will alter their plans keeping inmind the conditions and bigger dimen-sions of the ground here.

Starting off with the aggressiveshortest format is Australia's best bet toupset India's plans for this summer ofcricket, wherein unlike their prior tripshere, the visitors are already consideredthe better side in all departments.

TEAMS:India (Final 12): Virat Kohli, ShikharDhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul,Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, KrunalPandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, KuldeepYadav, Jasprit Bumrah, BhuvneshwarKumar, Khaleel Ahmed.Australia: Aaron Finch, Ashton Agar,Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey,Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, BenMcDermott, Glenn Maxwell, D'ArcyShort, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis,Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

RANJI TROPHY

PTI n BRISBANE

India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said his team hasnever been the one to start "anything" but will stand up

for itself if the line is crossed by the opposition, while defin-ing aggression ahead of the much-anticipated Australiatour's opening game.

"Aggression depends on how the situation is on field.If the opposition is aggressive towards you then you counterit. India is not a team that starts anything but we alwaysdraw a line of self-respect. If that line is crossed we standup to that," Kohli said.

Ahead of a long summer of cricket, India will startas favourites against a weakened Australian side that ismissing Steve Smith and David Warner desperately.

Kohli said that he expected Australia to challenge ontheir homesoil nevertheless.

"We all saw what happened. I don't know exactly whathappened before those decisions were taken, but some-one in Cricket Australia did make those decisions and hon-estly it is not my place to comment on it.

"Missing out on two of their best batsmen is not anideal thing for any team. There is no denying the quali-ty they have in their sides and still have world-class crick-eters.

"This Australian team still has the quality to make animpact despite missing their two best batsmen. We willhave to be at our best to beat Australia in Australia," hesaid.

When asked about the kind of atmosphere he isexpecting, the skipper said his team will not take anythingfor granted "regardless of any situation".

"You can never underestimate any side, and we havecome here to compete against the whole Australian team.We haven't played Australia after everything that has hap-pened so I cannot really say what the atmosphere is goingto be on the ground like.

"We are not thinking about this is the last opportu-nity to win here. I don't think that's the right mind set tohave. Our limited overs form has been good so we wantto continue that..." "We don't want to be a team that winsodd Tests here or there."

APTI n BRISBANE

Skipper Aaron Finch on Tuesdayreckoned the T20 Internationals

will be Australia's best chance to chal-lenge an upbeat India in the absenceof leading batsmen Steve Smith andDavid Warner.

The three T20 Internationals willopen what will be a string of big-tick-et clashes between the two rivals.

Finch said that the shortest formatallows the hosts to be aggressive andmore competitive against a strongIndian side.

"Although we lost to Pakistan inthe UAE, we are a very good T20 side.I think we played some good cricketin Zimbabwe and before that in thetri-series against New Zealand andEngland last year. We are very confi-dent in this format," Finch said.

"India have been in great form inall formats over a long time now. Butit is going to be a great opportunityfor us to come out, play aggressivelyand express ourselves. We can take thegame on and really try to take it toIndia."

"T20s are fast-paced short gamesobviously. At times it can take one bitof brilliance with bat or ball, or evenin the field, and it can change the

dynamics of the match or even thewhole series.

"So it is a great advantage to beable to start off against India in thisformat. They have been so dominantin this format that people forgetwhere they are playing at times," headded.

Australia fielded an all-pace attackin their one-off T20I against South

Africa on Saturday. That is expectedto change with a lone spinner to cometo the playing eleven.

"That will be in the calculations.With the size of this ground and howgood our spinners have bowled here,while they haven't been huge wicket-takers, they have bowled well. We haveoptions in Ashton Agar and AdamZampa.

PTI n BRISBANE

Steve Smith and David Warner will notbe available for Australia's upcoming

Test series against India after the year-long ball-tampering bans on them wereupheld by Cricket Australia on Tuesdayafter a review.

In recent days, owing in no smallmeasure to the Australian team's pooron-field performances, there was a clam-our for the bans to be reduced, whichmight have made them available for thefour-Test series against India startingDecember 6 in Adelaide.

It would have allowed the two play-ers, as well as batsman Cameron Bancroft,who was given a nine-month ban, toreturn to competitive cricket earlierthan stipulated.

"The Cricket Australia Board hascarefully considered all elements of theACA submission and has determinedthat it is not appropriate to make anychanges to the sanctions handed downto the three players," interim chairmanEarl Eddings said in a statement.

The Australian Cricketers'Association (ACA) even made a sub-mission favouring a reduction in the bans,

to which Cricket Australia responded innegative.

The Australian Cricketers'Association asked for a rethink on thesuspension of the trio following theLongstaff review.

The ACA said that the review pro-vided new and compelling evidencethat CA - and not just the playersinvolved - contributed to the atmospherethat prompted the events of the CapeTown Test in March.

Smith and Warner are eight monthsinto their one-year bans, while Bancroftwill be eligible to return in December.

AFP n DHAKA

West Indies captain KraiggBrathwaite says he expects

Bangladesh to put up a tough fight onhome turf when they kick off a two-Test series in Chittagong on Thursday.

The visitors start the series asfavourites having thumped Bangladeshin back-to-back Tests during their tourof the Caribbean in July.

But Brathwaite exercised cautionahead of this week's series opener, say-ing Bangladesh could exploit theirhome advantage against the visitingside.

"There will be few challenges, wehave to expect that," he told reportersafter a two-day warm-up match inChittagong on Monday ended in adraw.

"It won't be so easy. Obviously theyare very good at home. But we areready for the challenges."

Bangladesh have upstaged Testgiants England and Australia on homesoil in the past two years, but thenstruggled against weaker sides SriLanka and Zimbabwe in 2018.

They managed a series drawagainst Test minnows Zimbabwe lastweek after their spinners salvaged a218-run win in the second match after

a shock 151-run defeat in the opener.Brathwaite, who is standing in for

Jason Holder, acknowledged the threatposed by Bangladesh seamers, whowill reap the return of star all-rounderand skipper Shakib Al Hasan frominjury.

"(We are) expecting (a) slowertype of pitch. Normal surfaces here,let's see now what happens," saidBrathwaite.

The opening batsman was happywith preparations for the tour, despiteit following quick on the heels of athrashing from India.

"We have come from India, andthat I think was very good prepara-tions for us before the first Test,"Brathwaite said.

"Quite similar conditions, so thatwill be good.”

India vs Australia

Live from 1:20pm IST

SONY SIX & SIX HD

RAJ 256/8 AGAINST UPNEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh pacers Ankit Rajpootand Shivam Mavi took three wickets each to limitServices on 256/8 on the opening day of the EliteGroup C Ranji Trophy match at Airforce Complexground, Palam, New Delhi on Tuesday.Electing to bat, Services batsmen looked inahurry as half of the team returned to thepavalion with just 105 runs on baord in the 46thover. After that wicket-keeper Devender Lohchab(76*) added some useful runs with VikasHathwala (36) and Nitin Tanwar (39) to stretchthe score to 256 at stumps. UP would be lookingto wipe off the tail as soon as possible and takethe first innings lead on the second day itself.

BOWLERS HELP TN DOMINATE ANDHRAOngole: A four-wicket haul by medium-pacer MMohammed and two late strikes by spinner R SaiKishore helped Tamil Nadu reduce Andhra to 198for 8 at stumps on the opening day of the GroupB match. Sent into bat by the visiting team,Andhra lost the openers early as Mohammedand comeback man T Natarajan struck in the fifthand sixth overs. Jyothisaikrishna (58) and RickyBhui (22) strung together a partnership of 40runs for the third wicket to revive Andhra.However, Mohammed removed Bhui and captainB Sumanth (1) to peg back the home team.Jyothisaikrishna and Girinath Reddy (69 batting)were involved in a half century partnershipbefore Mohammed got the wicket of the former.Natarajan sent back Shiv Charan Singh for theaddition of one run to leave Andhra at 142 for 6.Reddy then added 53 runs with ShoaibMohammed Khan (26) to lend respectability tothe score. Lanky Left-arm spinner Sai Kishorecastled Khan and K V Shashikanth (0) off

successive deliveries to hand the advantage toTamil Nadu. He will look to complete a hat trickwhen he comes on to bowl again on Wednesday.

SIDDHARTH'S 104 BOOSTS KARNATAKABelagavi: Rookie Krishnamurthy Siddharth hithis maiden first class hundred, an unbeaten 104,to guide Karnataka to 263 for 4 against Mumbaion day one of the Elite Group A match. In theabsence of mainstays Karun Nair and ManishPandey, 25-year-old Siddharth stood up andshouldered the responsibility to help Karnatakarecover after the loss of their openers. In his184-ball stay at the wicket so far, the batsmanhas struck 13 boundaries and two sixes. Electingto bat, the hosts lost both their openers DegaNischal (27) and Shishir Bhavane (5) cheaply toMumbai's right-arm medium pacer ShivamDubey, who grabbed all four wickets that fell toend the day with fine figures of 4 for 32Karnataka were struggling at 2 for 59 when one-down Mir Kaunain Abbas (64) and Siddharth(104 not out) rallied the innings.

BHATIA, RAWAT TONS RESCUE UKBhubaneswar: Rajat Bhatia and Saurabh Rawatled Uttarakhand's rearguard action with fightingcenturies, taking their team to 290/5 againstSikkim in a top of the table Plate Group match.Bhatia made 121 off 156 balls (15x4, 1x6) beforebecoming Ishwar Chaudhary's (3/81) thirdvictim of the day. Rawat remained unbeaten on115 off 246 balls with the help of seven foursand three sixes as he along with the skippershared 208 runs together to revive their inningsfrom 38/4 in 12.5 overs. Opting to field at theiradopted home venue, KIIT Stadium, Sikkim gotthe early breakthrough with Chaudharydismissing Uttarakhand opener Karanveer

Kaushal (4) in the fifth over. Bipul Sharma (1/67)then accounted for the experienced VineetSaxena (19) followed by the wickets of KartikJoshi (8) and Vaibhav Singh (5) as theUttarakhand found themselves in a spot ofbother in their first away match of the season.

JHARKHAND SKITTLE RAJASTHAN Ranchi: Speedster Varun Aaron grabbed a five-wicket haul as Jharkhand bundled out Rajasthanfor 100 on the opening day of their Elite Group Cgame. In response, Jharkhand were 92 for 5 atstumps, trailing Rajasthan by eight runs. AfterJharkhand opted to field, 29-year-old Aaron, anIndia discard, wreaked havoc as he returned withexceptional figures of 5-22 in 12 overs. Aaronhad powered Jharkhand to a nine-wicket win intheir last game against Haryana at Rohtak, whenhe bagged 6-32 in the second outing. The right-arm fast bowler continued his brilliant form andwas ably supported by medium pacers AjayYadav (3-35) and Rahul Shukla (1-22). SpinnerAnukul Roy (1-8) also played his part toperfection. Jharkhand also lost their four wicketsearly, but then Ishank Jaggi (44 batting) andVirat Singh (18) steadied the ship.

KERALA TAKE DAY ONE HONOURSKolkata: Bengal batsmen cut a sorry figure onhome turf to be bowled out for 147, giving Keralaan upperhand in their Elite Group B match at theEden Gardens. Young Basil Thampi returnedwith career-best first class figures of 4 for 57 asKerala's three-pronged pace attack shared ninewickets between them to dismiss the hosts in56.2 overs after deciding to bowl on a greenishwicket. Seven of Bengal batsmen failed to get todouble digits scores and capped five ducks.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The T20 series is starting from Wednesday, butIndian team management has decided to send

its batting coach Sanjay Bangar to Sydney to helpTest specialists prepare for the five-day rubber start-ing December 6.

India will be playing their opening T20 matchin Brisbane on Wednesday but Bangar will be help-ing out the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari,who will be having their net session in Sydney forthe next five days.

"Our batting coach Bangar has reached Sydneywith one of our throwdown expert Nuwan and alogistics manager. The Test specialists have alsoarrived from New Zealand. They will train underBangar ahead of the first class match on November28," a BCCI official privy to development said.

The decision was taken primarily becauseamong the ones who are not playing the T20s, thereis one teenage opener (Prithvi Shaw), one rookiemiddle order batsman (Hanuma Vihari).

"Both Prithvi and Hanuma are on their first tourof Australia. Till November 25, they would be train-ing under Bangar along with Ajinkya Rahane, MuraliVijay and Parthiv Patel," said the official.

"Ravi (Shastri) is there and with seniors like Virat(Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma) around, it's only bet-ter that Sanjay helps the first timers with inputs aboutAustralian conditions."

However, pace duo of Mohammed Shami andIshant Sharma are expected to arrive after a few daysand the Test team members will be facing netbowlers from New South Wales grade cricket.

India start as favourites against Aussies

Filled up with confidence after mauling World champions, Men in Blue eye another series win

‘We don't startanything but will standup for self-respect’

Indian players bat during nets session ahead of first T20 against Australia in Gabba BCCI

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his Australian counterpart Aaron Finch pose with the trophy ahead of 1st T20

Aaron Finch plays a shot against India during the second T20 clash in January 2016 PTI/FilePicture

PERFORMANCE IN TWENTY-20 CRICKET

Team P W L T N/R Success%

India 107 68 36 1 2 64.95

Australia 111 57 51 2 1 52.70

Ind v Aus 15 10 5 - - 66.66

Faisel Features

BRISBANE: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said histeam made some "radical mistakes" during the disappointingtour of England and will look to ensure they are not repeatedin the assignment against Australia.India have been battling the tag of poor travellers and the 1-4Test series loss to England earlier this year only added to thatreputation. Reflecting on the performance in England, Kohlisaid, "Our mistakes in England were very radical. The qualityof cricket was very high but our mistakes were as radical andthat's why we lost the games."The explosive batsman said that India would look to showthemselves to be better at dealing with setbacks during theAustralia series."...We are focussing on cutting down our mistakes, and if asituation goes bad for us, then how to plug that situation assoon as possible and also come out of that situation as ateam. "We played good exciting cricket last time but we didn'twin games, we definitely want to change that and definitelyevery team should be looking to win Tests and series as awhole, and we believe that we have the quality to do so."But it will boil down to how we think in each match andmoments in every game on this tour," he added. PTI

‘Radical mistakes will be cut down’

‘T20s our best chance of upsetting India’ CA UPHOLD BANS

ON SMITH, WARNER

Brathwaite ready forB'desh challenge

Bangar sent to Sydneyto help Test specialists

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018 sport 15

PTI n NEW DELHI

The celebrated Mary Kom on Tuesday becamethe most successful pugilist in the Women'sWorld Championships history by assuring her-

self a seventh medal while three more Indians reachedthe semifinals to be assured of their maiden medalshere.

The 35-year-old Mary, a mother of three,defeated China's Wu Yu 5-0 in the light flyweight(48kg) category quarterfinals to enter the last-fourstage and be assured of at least a Bronze.

Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Sonia Chahal (57kg)and Simranjit Kaur (64kg), part of India's youngbrigade in the boxing team, also reached the semi-finals to be assured of medals in their debut WorldChampinshiips.

The 21-year-old Borgohain, an AsianChamprionships Bronze medallist last year, beat Scott

Kaye Frances of Australia in the quarterfinalsin a unanimous decision while Sonia, also

21, was a 4-1 split decision winneragainst Maecela Yeni Castenada of

Colombia.Simranjit, 23, had a difficult

fight against Amy SaraBroadhurst of Ireland buteventually won the quarter-

final bout 3-1. In fact, thePunjab boxer lost the

first and third roundswhile winning the

second. She, how-ever, won in overall

points which read27-29, 28-28, 29-27, 30-26, 29-27.

E i g h tIndians took the

field on Tuesdaybut four of them lost

their bouts.Pinki Rani lost her 51kg

quarterfinal bout against Pang Chol Miof North Korea in a unanimous decision whileManisha Maun was beaten by top seed and lastedition's Silver winner Stoyka Petrova of Bulgariain a 4-1 decision in 54kg.

Kachari Bhagyabati (81kg) lost 3-2 on splitdecision against Jessica Sinisterra ofColumbia. The Indian was leading in the firstround but the Columbian fought back to dobetter in the next two to clinch the bout.

Seema Poonia (+81kg) was the lastIndian to take the ring but she was no

match for her formidable opponent from China, YangXiaoli, who was the defending champion as well as2014 Gold winner.

With less number of boxers competing in theweight category, Seema was directly competing at thequarterfinals in her first bout of the tournament butshe lost in a unanimous decision.

With four medals assured, India's performanceis set to be the best in recent times. The country'sbest performance ever was the eight medals, includ-ing four Gold, it won in 2006.

After that, India won four medals in 2008, twoin 2010, one in 2012, two in 2014 and one in 2016.

Mary Kom entered the event with a remarkabletally of five Gold medals and a Silver to her credit.She last won a world championship medal in 2010— a Gold in the 48kg category.

"It was a tough bout. Not very tough but not veryeasy also. There are a lot of good Chinese boxers whokeep coming. I have faced a lot of them but this oppo-nent I have not faced earlier," the diminutive starboxer said after her bout.

"But once I got her game I thought out what todo and I had not much of a problem after that," she

added.The Olympic Bronze-medallist next faces North

Korea's Kim Hyang Mi in the semi-final onThursday. The Indian had beaten her in the AsianChampionships last year.

"So, I am confident of winning but not over-confident," she said.

In a bout which saw little action, Mary Kom wasthe better boxer with clean punches. More impor-tantly, the local favourite rarely allowed Wu to get aclean shot at her. The five judges ruled in her favourwith the elaborate scoreline reading 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27.

Mary Kom was tied with Irish legend Katie Tayloron the number of medals won before this edition.

But with Tuesday's win, the Manipuri becamethe most successful boxer in the marquee tourna-ment. Taylor now plies her trade in the profession-al circuit.

Borgohain from Assam produced a dominatingperformance to beat her Australian opponent, whowon a Silver in the 81kg catergory in the 2016 edi-tion but competing in the 69kg here.

Scott also won a Bronze in the Gold Coast

Commonwealth Games in 69kg."It was a tough fight but I think I handled my

opponent well. I am happy to be assured of a medalin my first World Championships," Borgohain said.

"I want to win a Gold and that is my target. Iwill not be satisfied less than a Gold," she added.

Borgohain next faces Chen Nien-Chin of Taipeiin the semifinals on Thurdsay.

"I had faced her once earlier and I lost. But atthat time I was younger and inexperienced. But Iam confident I can beat her this time," she added.

Sonia began with a solid first round but seemedto be in the backfoot in the second. With coachRafaelle Bergamasco yelling at the ringside, she wenton an attacking mode in the final round and clinchedthe bout.

"Rafaelle sir told me you are leading and whyyou are stepping back. He told me to attack in thethird round which I did and won the bout. A medalis assured but I want to win the Gold," she said.

Sonia next faces Son Hwa Jo of North Korea inthe semifinals on Friday while Simranjit takes onDan Hou of China in the last four stage on the sameday.

PTI n KARACHI

Pakistan have "learnt"their lessons from the

2014 Champions Trophycontroversy and are pre-pared to handle the crowdpressure in the hockeyWorld Cup in India, saidcaptain MuhammadRizwan senior.

Four years ago, somePakistani players had goneoverboard with their cele-brations after their semifinalwin over India in theChampions Trophy, trig-gering a major controversy.

"It was not a pleasantexperience, we have learntfrom that," Pakistan skippersaid.

"We have discussed thatincident and it is behind usnow. This time we know weneed to be totally focused onour game and nothing else.

"If we can beat India in

India great, but our mainobjective is doing well in theWorld Cup not about justone match."

The World Cup willbegin in Bhubaneswar fromNovember 28 and Rizwansaid his team is well pre-pared to handle the pres-sures during the prestigioustournament.

"We have trained hardfor this mega event andsince it is in India we havebeen having talks and dis-

cussions and have mentallyprepared ourselves to giveour best under any pressuresituation in India," Rizwansaid on Monday.

He said his players candeal with the crowd pres-sures. "Obviously we knowthe Indian crowds will gen-erally not be supporting usin matches. In the end it isall about hockey and bothteams will want to win andthat should produce a goodcontest," he said.

PTI n PANAJI

Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan SinghRathore on Tuesday said India will be amongst

the top medal-winning nations in the 2028Olympics.

The minister also said that 2018 has turned outto be the best year for India in terms of sportingachievements.

"I have tremendous hope and belief in theIndian youth and their ability to dominate theworld. We have begun the process. The wheels areturning," said the former Olympic Silver medal-list.

"The 2020 (Tokyo) Olympics is very close. Wewill do our level best there. We will exactly knoweven before entering the playing arena, how manymedals we will win.

"My target is Olympics of 2024 and 2028. Theway we are progressing now, India would beamongst the top medal winners at the 2028Olympics," said Rathore.

The 2024 Summer Olympics is scheduled tobe held in Paris and the 2028 quadrennial gameswill be held in Los Angeles.

He said Indian players have left their mark on

various sporting events in the present year."Every single international

competition...Commonwealth Games, AsianGames, Para Asian Games, Youth OlympicGames...In each of these games, India has creat-ed history by winning the largest ever number ofmedals.

"In the Para-Asian Games, our medal tallymore than doubled from 30 to 72. In the YouthOlympics, we went 400-500 per cent up from twomedals to 13. All this is happening because theyouth have tremendous potential," he said.

According to Rathore, sports has become a full-fledged career for youngsters, many of whom havewon Commonwealth and Asian Games medals,and are aspiring Olympic medallists.

"They (athletes) have sponsors, they haveendorsements. Many corporate (houses) are nowgetting into sports. The mega push has been givenby the government itself in terms of 'Khelo India'as well as the 'Target Olympic Podium Scheme(TOPS)," he said.

AFP n AMSTERDAM

Virgil van Dijk sent the Netherlands intothe Nations League semi-finals after

completing a dramatic comeback from twogoals down with a 91st-minute equaliserthat saw the Dutch snatch 2-2 draw awayto Germany on Monday.

The Dutch advance from the toughthree-team Group A1 at the expense ofworld champions France after scoringtwice in the final six minutes inGelsenkirchen as Germany were punishedfor not being clinical enough in the secondhalf.

Liverpool defender Van Dijk firedhome to complete the Dutch fight back afterQuincy Promes pulled one back on 85 min-utes following Timo Werner and LeroySane's first-half goals for Germany.

"It was very difficult for us, the Germanswere sharper and faster in the first half,"admitted Dutch coach Ronald Koeman.

"We fought to come back in the secondhalf and pressed.

"They had their chances to finish it off,but the fight and belief we showed wasenough for the point."

The draw was enough to send theDutch into the Nations League knockout

stages as Group One winners, with Francesecond, while bottom side Germany werealready relegated to the 'B' league ahead ofMonday's clash.

Koeman's side showed plenty of heartagainst the Germans, who were 2-0 up afterjust 20 minutes.

"I'm certainly disappointed with theresult, but over the whole season I've seenmore positives than negative," said Germanyhead coach Joachim Loew.

"We were punished and that's bitter.

Thomas Mueller reached the milestoneof 100 Germany appearances as a second-half replacement, but Van Dijk dampenedany celebrations for the hosts.

Germany needed just nine minutes toland the first blow in the clash of theEuropean heavyweights.

There was little on when Gnabry's passfound Werner on the edge of the area, butthe 22-year-old showed ice-cold finishingby hitting the bottom corner of the net pastJasper Cillessen.

Werner ended his barren run of eightinternationals without a goal and Saneadded the second, with the help of a deflec-tion, 11 minutes later to seemingly floor theDutch.

Again, there was little on when ToniKroos floated in a long pass to Sane, whostumbled slightly, but managed to win theball and fired home a shot which clippedthe boot of a defender as it sailed pastCillessen.

The Dutch scored from their first realattack when Promes curled his shot homeon 85 minutes after sustained pressure fromthe hosts. The scene was set for Van Dijkto complete the fairytale comeback whenhe produced a thumping finish to delighttravelling fans just before the final whistle.

AFP n BARCELONA

Luis Suarez, a three-time biter ofopposition players, on Monday

said that Barcelona teammateOusmane Dembele should be "moreresponsible" after he reportedlymissed training following a marathonnocturnal video gaming session.

Dembele was dropped by theSpanish champions for last week'sshock 4-3 home defeat to Real Betisfollowing what coach ErnestoValverde called a "sporting assess-ment".

But sports daily As reports thatthe Catalans are worried not only thathe might be addicted to gaming, butalso that it might ruin his career at theclub.

And Suarez, no stranger to disci-plinary issues himself, says that the21-year-old France international,signed for an initial fee of 105 millioneuros, needs to follow the more vir-tuous example set by some of hisBarca colleagues.

"Ousmane knows that football isa privilege for every player, maybe heshould concentrate more and bemore responsible regarding certainthings," the Uruguay striker toldreporters ahead of his country's clashwith France at the Stade de France onTuesday.

"There are examples of profes-sionalism at Barca that he can drawinspiration from. He'll continue tolearn, with that self-confidence thatwill enable him to succeed atBarcelona."

MARY’S PUNCHES PERFECT Five-time champion enters semifinal

to become most successful women

boxer in World Championship; three

other Indians also make into last four

Lovlina Borgohain in action against Kaye Scott during the quarterfinals at AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships PTI

Luis Suarez celebrates with Ousmane Dembeleafter scoring against Real Madrid AP

NEW DELHI: Former Gold-medallist StanimiraPetrova had her world championship accredita-tion revoked by the International BoxingAssociation (AIBA) on Tuesday after the worldbody ruled that her allegation of corruption byjudges was not backed by evidence.

The Bulgarian, a 54kg Gold-medallist in the2014 edition, accused the judges of corruptionafter losing her 57kg world championship pre-quarterfinal bout to India's Sonia Chahal onMonday. Sonia won the bout in a 3-2 split deci-sion.

AIBA's decision to revoke Petrova's accred-itation came a day after her coach Petar YosifovLesov, a former flyweight Olympic Gold-medal-list, was barred from the corner for throwing awater bottle inside the ring after the bout.

Loss of accreditation will deny Petrova accessto the competition area.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the AIBAsaid that by her conduct, Petrova has disrespect-ed her opponent, the judges, the referee, the eventorganisers and the world body itself.

It said the incident will also be forwarded toAIBA Disciplinary Commission for a review.

"Ms Petrova has made false and misleadingstatements regarding the AIBA officials. So,AIBA has decided to extend the removal of theaccreditation to the Bulgarian boxer StanimiraPetrova (57kg) due to her unacceptable andunsportsmanlike conduct," AIBA ExecutiveDirector Tom Virgets said.

"She has shown inappropriate behaviour at theconclusion of her event. Her actions are reflec-tive of her coach who disrespects and tries to dam-age the credibility of the sport," he added.Virgets said any allegation should be supportedby proof, which wasn't done by Petrova. PTI

AIBA WITHDRAWS FORMER

WORLD CHAMP’S ACCREDITATION

‘India will be amongtop medal winnersat 2028 Olympics’

Van Dijk fires Dutch into semisDembele should be moreresponsible: Suarez

We're prepared to handle

pressure in India: Rizwan

PNS n LUCKNOW

Amolika Singh of Uttar Pradeshqualified for the main draw of Syed

Modi International BadmintonChampionships HSBC World TourSuper 300 in the women’s singles cat-egory. Shruti Mishra qualified for twoevents, she managed a main drawsberth in mixed doubles and women’sdoubles event partnering AbhyanshSingh and Samriddhi Singh respec-tively.

Tournament favourite SainaNehwal will launch her campaign onWednesday against Kate Foo Konewhile top Indian male shuttlers will alsoplay their respective first rounds in theafternoon.

Sports and Youth Welfare MinisterChetan Chauhan inaugurated thechampionship.

On this occasion, Minority AffairsMinister Mohsin Raza, BBD Groupchairperson Alka Das, UP BadmintonAssociation chairman Viraj Sagar Das,UPBA president Navneet Sehgal, direc-tor (sports) RP Singh, UP Badminton

Association secretary Arun Kakkar,organising secretary Sudharma Singh,organising committee members RamKumar Singh and Ashok Singh were

also present.On the occasion renowned Kathak

dancer Manjari Chaturvedi gave ascintillating performance.

Modi b’minton get off to a flying start

Saina to launch campaign today

Sports Minister Chetan Chauhan inaugurating the Syed Modi Badminton Championship in Lucknow

16LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 21, 2018the pioneer

world c’ship semifinal 15 sport irked at cbi leaks, sc ... · nariman about the news arti-cles on...

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