16
T raders of Connaught Place are their wit’s end. They contemplated that the “illogi- cal” decision of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to not allow entry of four-wheel- ers into the inner and middle circles Connaught Place for three months starting February will hit their businesses hard once the plan to decongest the most frequented place in the heart of the national Capital is implemented. The Pioneer spoke to traders and their association to get an insight into their worries. Their primary concern is that the NDMC’s move in “the name of reviving” the area will only promote mall culture and kill their businesses. Traders were unanimous in calling civic agency’s plan to make the area vehicle free zone as an ill- conceived decision that is fraught will miseries for them. The slowdown in the sales post demonetisation has already hit them hard and in the event of this Car Bandi, they fear to lose their only source of livelihood. Atul Bhargava, the presi- dent of New Delhi Traders’ Association (NDTA), said this is a ridiculous move that will take away the interest of traders here. “Connaught Place is a commercial hub which cannot be turned in to a tourist desti- nation. We have already lost our business, firstly due to construction of Metro station at Rajiv Chowk and thereafter re-development of this area prior to Common Wealth Games (CWG). This unprecedented move sounds death knell for all of us,” Bhargava said. A couple of weeks back, NDMC had a meeting regarding the decision where traders have opposed to the deci- sion, he said, adding that over 500 members, including representatives from major establishments in CP, have signed a memorandum stating that they are against the move. “We are soon going to have a meeting with all stake- holders regarding this, and if need be, we will announce future course of action, including protest till this draconian decision of the NDMC is withdrawn”, said Bhargava. Criticising the logic to reduce pollution by the move, many traders were unanimous in con- demning this ill- advised decision. They said closing vehicle movement in inner and middle circles will choke outer circle even more as it had happened on June 2 (Yoga Day) when traffic jams at CP from Mandi House, India Gate, Gole market, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Minto road resulting in 80 per cent loss in businesses. Manoj Aggarwal, former president of NDTA said as per the NDMC plan, people who are coming to CP will have to park their vehicles at any of the three multilevel parking lots and take a battery-operated vehicle to reach inner circle. “But will people who visit the area in luxury vehicles sit in e-rickshaws to reach inner circle? They will prefer to visit malls instead. What about those families and people who come out for drive late in the evening, to eat and some ice- cream? They will avoid the idea of visiting Connaught Place altogether once these restric- tions are put into place,” lamented Aggrawal. Paramjeet Kaur, a trader and former vice-president of NDTA, said, “The parking area was already reduced substan- tially during the CWG rede- velopment project. Palika park- ing is usually full by 11 am while Baba Kharag Singh Marg parking is too far from the mar- ket. No one will park their vehi- cle on Hanuman Road, Shivaji Stadium, KG Marg and then walk to CP for shopping,” “Why don’t they experi- ment at other market places such as Chandni Chowk, Kashmiri Gate, Sadar Bazar, and Karol Bagh? These areas need pedestrianisation but why to target CP?” she asked. What concerns the traders’ association is the loss of business as vehicle restrictions will result in drastic reduction in footfall. “Our business has been already impacted by demonetisation. Continued on Page 4 T he Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were in the news on Thursday for all the wrong rea- sons. In two separate incidents involving the paramilitary forces, a CISF personnel opened fire on his colleagues in Aurangabad district of Bihar following a dispute over leave killing four people and a CRPF jawan posted a video on the social media complaining about pay disparity with the Army despite facing similar hardships. Responding to these inci- dents, the Government said it was working to ensure better service conditions for the per- sonnel of the paramilitary forces. The fratricide took place on the campus of Nabinagar Power Generating Company, a joint venture of NTPC and the Bihar Government, when the CISF jawan Balbir, upset over a dispute over leave, allegedly opened fire at his colleagues from his service rifle. Balbir who hails from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, had reportedly come back after a two-month Yoga course and wanted to go on leave. According to reports, Balbir allegedly used his INSAS rifle to shoot his colleagues who had assembled for the shift change. After the first round of firing he was overpowered by other CISF personnel present there. Balbir has been arrested by the police and the CISF has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident. While two of his colleagues died on the spot, two others died on the way to hospital. The four CISF personnel killed by Balbir have been identified as Bachcha Sharma, N Mishra, Arvind Kumar and GS Ram. Continued on Page 4 T aking a dim view of the ongoing strike by sanitation workers of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) over non-payment of dues, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday came down on the Government and said salaries of sanitation workers should be paid on time. NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, upbraided the Delhi Government and the corporations over the garbage strewn around the city and observed that the “public was suffering due to the tussle between the Government and the civic bodies.” A Bench headed by Justice Kumar sought a detailed report from the Delhi Government and the civic bodies by Friday with all records regarding fund allocation for the payment of dues to sanitation workers. “The salaries of employees should be paid on time without delay and default...Let everybody wake up now. Enough is enough! Tomorrow all the officers should be present and file appropriate answers duly supported by records,” the Bench said. The Bench also asked the Delhi Government to place on record the order of the Delhi High Court which asked the authorities to remove the garbage in the trans-Yamuna area. The Aam Aadmi Party Government and the three Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies have been at log- gerheads over release of funds. While the corporations have been crying over denial of their rightful claims over funds, the Delhi Government blamed them for the mismanagement of funds. Speaking to The Pioneer Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said, “We have released funds in excess to the munici- pal corporations. Out sincerity should be judged from the fact that we have not deducted a penny as interest. During the Sheila Dikshit Government, they used to release funds to the three corporations only after deducting interest components, but we have sanctioned funds to them on zero interest”. Continued on Page 4 New Delhi: Over two months of Tata Sons board battle in which former Chairman Cyrus Mistry was sacked unceremo- niously, $103-billion Tata Group appointed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chief N Chandrasekaran as its new Executive Chairman of the conglomerate on Thursday. On his appointment, Chandrasekaran said, “I am humbled and honoured to be chosen to lead a truly great insti- tution that occupies a unique position in the hearts of people in India and the world. I am proud to have been part of the Tata family for over 30 years and assuming this position is a great privilege. I want to thank the Tata Sons Board and Ratan N Tata for their confidence in me to lead this trusted institution that has a rich heritage.” PNS Detailed report on P10 W hile the Bullet Train may still take time to become reality, the Centre is now focus- ing on running trains at the speed of 160 kmph between Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi- Kolkata over the next two years. Since there is no separate Rail Budget this year, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may announce this mega pro- ject in the Union Budget. The estimated cost of the project is 22,000 crore. At present only Gatiman Express can attain the speed of 160 kms, covering the 188 km distance between Delhi and Agra in one hour 40 minutes. The new trains on Delhi- Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata tracks will be second such sets of fast train introduced by the Narendra Modi Government. Nine 160kmph corridors are already scheduled for intro- duction by 2019 for which fea- sible study is being conducted. Presently, Kolkata Rajdhani takes over 19 hours at an aver- age speed of less than 90 km to cover 1,500 km, and Mumbai Rajdhani takes 16 hours to cover a distance of about 1,400 km at an average of 88 kmph. It is expected that trav- el time will be reduced by 4-5 hours when the new trains are introduced. The Railways presently does not have any classified high-speed rail (HSR) corri- dors, which support opera- tional speeds in the excess of 200 km/h. The nine proposed semi-high-speed corridors (160kmps speed) are Delhi- Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur- Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru- Chennai, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Hyderabad and Nagpur-Secunderabad. “The Indian Railways aims to increase the speed of passenger trains to 160-200 km/h on dedicated conven- tional tracks. Continued on Page 4 T he Cabinet Secretariat has clipped the Home Ministry’s powers to grant security clearances for setting up or expanding existing busi- ness venture by forming an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC). The IMC will comprise officials of Finance, Corporate, Commerce Ministries and Niti Ayog and will have powers to veto Home Ministry’s opinions. The Order dated December 7 blamed the Home Ministry for hampering the “Ease of Doing Business” and coming in the way of inflow of investments by flagging secu- rity concerns against the pro- moters, companies and projects involved. “Though many of the issues highlighted by the MHA/secu- rity agencies may be important, they may not be so vital as to necessitate stoppage of the said investment or project. However, the Ministry/Department or the State Government con- cerned is not able to or willing to take full responsibility in this regard. They are also not inclined to either allow or dis- allow the investment or project in the light of such observations of security agencies. Result is that many sizeable investments and projects having huge poten- tial for creation of employ- ment and rejuvenation of the economy are getting held up. This also clearly goes against the spirit of the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ on which Government has been working seriously for last 2 years,” said the two-page Order. “In view of the above situ- ation, it is necessary that there is a mechanism to take a holis- tic view of the observations made by security agencies on economic, corporate of crimi- nal proceedings involving the proponent company or its directors,” it added. As per the Order, the IMC will review the remarks of the MHA or security agencies and if the persons or companies are not threat to national security, the projects will be given clear- ance. “Once this committee has seen the observations made by the MHA or the security agen- cies indicating that the invest- ment/projects, its activities and/or directors are not a threat to national security, it will proceed to look into other observations. “If other remarks or obser- vations of the MHA or securi- ty agencies have been found to be inconsequential or irrelevant with regard to any other national or public interest, then the committee would record the same and recommend the investment/project,” said the Order, providing escape route to those persons or companies facing cases of economic offences or under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The MHA and other Ministries were engaged in a bitter tussle two years ago over proposal to grant security clear- ance to Sun TV, when its own- ers Maran brothers were chargesheeted by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate for bribing and corruption in Aircel-Maxis scam and for set- ting up illegal telephone exchange. A series of letters between then I&B Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were exchanged on this subject, both holding contradictory posi- tions on the subject. Later, the Home Ministry toned down its objections. Earlier, the I&B Ministry had shut many TV channels on adverse report given by the MHA, but the powerful South India’s media tycoons got the clearance for renewal of TV channel licences and attending auction of FM radios among other things despite serious case against the promoters. T he national Capital contin- ued to reel under a cold wave on Thursday as Delhi experienced the coldest morn- ing this season with mercury dropping further to 2 degrees Celsius at various places from Wednesday’s 4 degrees Celsius. At the Safdarjung obser- vatory, the temperature stood at 3.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average, while at Lodhi Road the temperature recorded was at 2 degrees Celsius, said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official. The temperature at Safdarjung is considered the official reading for the city. The temperatures record- ed at various places were 4.4 degrees at Palam, 4.9 degrees at Aya Nagar and 5.5 degrees Celsius at Delhi Ridge obser- vatory, said the official. Continued on Page 4 T he stage is set for a show- down between the Supreme Court and the Tamil Nadu Government after the former rejected a plea urging it to pass judgement on allowing Jallikattu, the bull taming sport banned by the SC, before the harvest festi- val of Pongal on Saturday. Even as the TN Government has said that it would go ahead with Jallikattu, a Bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi told a group of lawyers, who requested for the verdict, that it was unfair to ask the Bench to pass an order. The apex court, however, said that the draft of the judge- ment had been prepared but it was not possible to deliver it before Saturday when Jallikattu is to be organised. The uncertainty associated with the conducting of Jallikattu has led to an ugly sit- uation with all leading political parties in TN coming out in the open against the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre. Thousands of youths, including college students across the State protested on Thursday shouting slogans against the Narendra Modi Government and the BJP for its indifference towards the ban on the popular sport. Continued on Page 4

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�����������)� �* ����)������� 09:��9)15

Traders of Connaught Placeare their wit’s end. They

contemplated that the “illogi-cal” decision of the New DelhiMunicipal Council (NDMC) tonot allow entry of four-wheel-ers into the inner and middlecircles Connaught Place forthree months starting Februarywill hit their businesses hardonce the plan to decongest themost frequented place in theheart of the national Capital isimplemented.

The Pioneer spoke totraders and their association toget an insight into their worries.Their primary concern is thatthe NDMC’s move in “thename of reviving” the area will

only promote mall culture andkill their businesses. Traderswere unanimous in callingcivic agency’s plan to make thearea vehicle free zone as an ill-conceived decision that isfraught will miseries for them.The slowdown in the salespost demonetisation hasalready hit them hard and inthe event of this Car Bandi,they fear to lose their onlysource of livelihood.

Atul Bhargava, the presi-dent of New Delhi Traders’Association (NDTA), said thisis a ridiculous move that willtake away the interest of tradershere. “Connaught Place is acommercial hub which cannotbe turned in to a tourist desti-nation. We have already lostour business, firstly due to

construction of Metro stationat Rajiv Chowk and thereafterre-development of this areaprior to Common WealthGames (CWG). Thisunprecedented movesounds death knell forall of us,” Bhargava said.

A couple of weeksback, NDMC had ameeting regarding thedecision where tradershave opposed to the deci-sion, he said, adding thatover 500 members, includingrepresentatives from majorestablishments in CP, havesigned a memorandum statingthat they are against the move.

“We are soon going tohave a meeting with all stake-holders regarding this, and ifneed be, we will announce

future course of action, including protest tillthis draconian decision of the

NDMC is withdrawn”, saidBhargava.

Criticising the logic toreduce pollution by the

move, many traders wereunanimous in con-demning this ill-advised decision. Theysaid closing vehiclemovement in innerand middle circles willchoke outer circle even

more as it had happenedon June 2 (Yoga Day)

when traffic jams at CPfrom Mandi House, India

Gate, Gole market, BabaKharak Singh Marg and Mintoroad resulting in 80 per centloss in businesses.

Manoj Aggarwal, formerpresident of NDTA said as perthe NDMC plan, people who

are coming to CP will have topark their vehicles at any of thethree multilevel parking lotsand take a battery-operatedvehicle to reach inner circle.

“But will people who visitthe area in luxury vehicles sitin e-rickshaws to reach innercircle? They will prefer to visitmalls instead. What aboutthose families and people whocome out for drive late in theevening, to eat and some ice-cream? They will avoid the ideaof visiting Connaught Placealtogether once these restric-tions are put into place,”lamented Aggrawal.

Paramjeet Kaur, a traderand former vice-president ofNDTA, said, “The parking areawas already reduced substan-tially during the CWG rede-

velopment project. Palika park-ing is usually full by 11 amwhile Baba Kharag Singh Margparking is too far from the mar-ket. No one will park their vehi-cle on Hanuman Road, ShivajiStadium, KG Marg and thenwalk to CP for shopping,”

“Why don’t they experi-ment at other market placessuch as Chandni Chowk,Kashmiri Gate, Sadar Bazar,and Karol Bagh? These areasneed pedestrianisation but whyto target CP?” she asked.

What concerns the traders’association is the loss of businessas vehicle restrictions will resultin drastic reduction in footfall.

“Our business has been already impacted bydemonetisation.

Continued on Page 4

�� �� 09:��9)15

The Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) and

Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) were in the news onThursday for all the wrong rea-sons. In two separate incidentsinvolving the paramilitaryforces, a CISF personnelopened fire on his colleagues inAurangabad district of Biharfollowing a dispute over leavekilling four people and a CRPFjawan posted a video on thesocial media complainingabout pay disparity with theArmy despite facing similarhardships.

Responding to these inci-dents, the Government said itwas working to ensure betterservice conditions for the per-sonnel of the paramilitaryforces.

The fratricide took placeon the campus of NabinagarPower Generating Company, ajoint venture of NTPC and theBihar Government, when theCISF jawan Balbir, upset overa dispute over leave, allegedlyopened fire at his colleaguesfrom his service rifle. Balbirwho hails from Aligarh inUttar Pradesh, had reportedlycome back after a two-monthYoga course and wanted to go

on leave.According to reports,

Balbir allegedly used his INSASrifle to shoot his colleagueswho had assembled for the shiftchange. After the first round offiring he was overpowered byother CISF personnel presentthere. Balbir has been arrestedby the police and the CISF has

ordered a Court of Inquiry intothe incident.

While two of his colleaguesdied on the spot, two othersdied on the way to hospital.The four CISF personnel killedby Balbir have been identifiedas Bachcha Sharma, N Mishra,Arvind Kumar and GS Ram.

Continued on Page 4

�����������)� ��� 09:��9)15

Taking a dim view of theongoing strike by sanitation

workers of East Delhi MunicipalCorporation (EDMC) overnon-payment of dues, theNational Green Tribunal (NGT)on Thursday came down on theGovernment and said salaries ofsanitation workers should bepaid on time.

NGT Chairperson JusticeSwatanter Kumar, upbraidedthe Delhi Government and thecorporations over the garbagestrewn around the city andobserved that the “public wassuffering due to the tusslebetween the Government andthe civic bodies.”

A Bench headed by JusticeKumar sought a detailed reportfrom the Delhi Governmentand the civic bodies by Fridaywith all records regarding fundallocation for the payment ofdues to sanitation workers.

“The salaries of employeesshould be paid on time without

delay and default...Let everybodywake up now. Enough is enough!Tomorrow all the officers shouldbe present and file appropriateanswers duly supported byrecords,” the Bench said.

The Bench also asked theDelhi Government to place onrecord the order of the DelhiHigh Court which asked theauthorities to remove the garbagein the trans-Yamuna area.

The Aam Aadmi PartyGovernment and the threeBharatiya Janata Party-ruledcivic bodies have been at log-gerheads over release of funds.While the corporations havebeen crying over denial of theirrightful claims over funds, theDelhi Government blamed themfor the mismanagement of funds.

Speaking to The PioneerDeputy Chief Minister andFinance Minister ManishSisodia said, “We have releasedfunds in excess to the munici-pal corporations. Out sincerityshould be judged from the factthat we have not deducted apenny as interest. During theSheila Dikshit Government,they used to release funds to thethree corporations only afterdeducting interest components,but we have sanctioned funds tothem on zero interest”.

Continued on Page 4

New Delhi: Over two monthsof Tata Sons board battle inwhich former Chairman CyrusMistry was sacked unceremo-niously, $103-billion TataGroup appointed TataConsultancy Services (TCS)chief N Chandrasekaran as itsnew Executive Chairman of theconglomerate on Thursday.

On his appointment,Chandrasekaran said, “I amhumbled and honoured to bechosen to lead a truly great insti-tution that occupies a uniqueposition in the hearts of peoplein India and the world. I amproud to have been part of theTata family for over 30 years andassuming this position is a greatprivilege. I want to thank theTata Sons Board and Ratan NTata for their confidence in meto lead this trusted institutionthat has a rich heritage.” PNS

Detailed report on P10

���)�)���� ����09:��9)15

While the Bullet Train maystill take time to become

reality, the Centre is now focus-ing on running trains at thespeed of 160 kmph betweenDelhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata over the next twoyears. Since there is no separateRail Budget this year, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleymay announce this mega pro-ject in the Union Budget. Theestimated cost of the project is�22,000 crore.

At present only GatimanExpress can attain the speed of160 kms, covering the 188 kmdistance between Delhi and

Agra in one hour 40 minutes.The new trains on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkatatracks will be second such setsof fast train introduced by theNarendra Modi Government.Nine 160kmph corridors arealready scheduled for intro-duction by 2019 for which fea-sible study is being conducted.

Presently, Kolkata Rajdhanitakes over 19 hours at an aver-age speed of less than 90 km tocover 1,500 km, and Mumbai

Rajdhani takes 16 hours tocover a distance of about 1,400km at an average of 88 kmph. It is expected that trav-el time will be reduced by 4-5hours when the new trains areintroduced.

The Railways presentlydoes not have any classifiedhigh-speed rail (HSR) corri-dors, which support opera-tional speeds in the excess of200 km/h. The nine proposedsemi-high-speed corridors

(160kmps speed) are Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh,Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa,M u m b a i - A h m e d a b a d ,Chennai-Hyderabad andNagpur-Secunderabad.

“The Indian Railways aims to increase the speed ofpassenger trains to 160-200km/h on dedicated conven-tional tracks.

Continued on Page 4

�����)�� ������ 09:��9)15

The Cabinet Secretariat hasclipped the Home

Ministry’s powers to grantsecurity clearances for settingup or expanding existing busi-ness venture by forming anInter-Ministerial Committee(IMC). The IMC will compriseofficials of Finance, Corporate,Commerce Ministries and NitiAyog and will have powers toveto Home Ministry’s opinions.

The Order datedDecember 7 blamed the HomeMinistry for hampering the“Ease of Doing Business” andcoming in the way of inflow ofinvestments by flagging secu-rity concerns against the pro-moters, companies and projectsinvolved.

“Though many of the issueshighlighted by the MHA/secu-rity agencies may be important,they may not be so vital as tonecessitate stoppage of the saidinvestment or project. However,the Ministry/Department orthe State Government con-cerned is not able to or willing

to take full responsibility in thisregard. They are also notinclined to either allow or dis-allow the investment or projectin the light of such observationsof security agencies. Result isthat many sizeable investments

and projects having huge poten-tial for creation of employ-ment and rejuvenation of theeconomy are getting held up.This also clearly goes against thespirit of the ‘Ease of DoingBusiness’ on which

Government has been workingseriously for last 2 years,” saidthe two-page Order.

“In view of the above situ-ation, it is necessary that thereis a mechanism to take a holis-tic view of the observations

made by security agencies oneconomic, corporate of crimi-nal proceedings involving theproponent company or itsdirectors,” it added.

As per the Order, the IMCwill review the remarks of theMHA or security agencies andif the persons or companies arenot threat to national security,the projects will be given clear-ance. “Once this committee hasseen the observations made bythe MHA or the security agen-cies indicating that the invest-ment/projects, its activitiesand/or directors are not athreat to national security, itwill proceed to look into otherobservations.

“If other remarks or obser-vations of the MHA or securi-ty agencies have been found tobe inconsequential or irrelevantwith regard to any othernational or public interest, thenthe committee would recordthe same and recommend theinvestment/project,” said theOrder, providing escape routeto those persons or companiesfacing cases of economic

offences or under thePrevention of Corruption Act.

The MHA and otherMinistries were engaged in abitter tussle two years ago overproposal to grant security clear-ance to Sun TV, when its own-ers Maran brothers werechargesheeted by the CBI andEnforcement Directorate forbribing and corruption inAircel-Maxis scam and for set-ting up illegal telephoneexchange. A series of lettersbetween then I&B MinisterArun Jaitley and HomeMinister Rajnath Singh wereexchanged on this subject, bothholding contradictory posi-tions on the subject. Later, theHome Ministry toned down itsobjections. Earlier, the I&BMinistry had shut many TVchannels on adverse reportgiven by the MHA, but thepowerful South India’s mediatycoons got the clearance forrenewal of TV channel licencesand attending auction of FMradios among other thingsdespite serious case againstthe promoters.

������������� 09:��9)15��

The national Capital contin-ued to reel under a cold

wave on Thursday as Delhiexperienced the coldest morn-ing this season with mercury

dropping further to 2 degreesCelsius at various places fromWednesday’s 4 degrees Celsius.

At the Safdarjung obser-vatory, the temperature stoodat 3.4 degrees Celsius, fournotches below the season’saverage, while at Lodhi Roadthe temperature recorded wasat 2 degrees Celsius, said anIndia MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) official.

The temperature atSafdarjung is considered theofficial reading for the city.

The temperatures record-ed at various places were 4.4degrees at Palam, 4.9 degrees atAya Nagar and 5.5 degreesCelsius at Delhi Ridge obser-vatory, said the official.

Continued on Page 4

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The stage is set for a show-down between the Supreme

Court and the Tamil NaduGovernment after the formerrejected a plea urging it to passjudgement on allowing Jallikattu,the bull taming sport banned bythe SC, before the harvest festi-val of Pongal on Saturday.

Even as the TNGovernment has said that itwould go ahead with Jallikattu,a Bench comprising justicesDipak Misra and R Banumathitold a group of lawyers, whorequested for the verdict, thatit was unfair to ask the Benchto pass an order.

The apex court, however,

said that the draft of the judge-ment had been prepared but itwas not possible to deliver itbefore Saturday when Jallikattuis to be organised.

The uncertainty associatedwith the conducting ofJallikattu has led to an ugly sit-uation with all leading politicalparties in TN coming out in theopen against the BJP-led NDAGovernment at the Centre.

Thousands of youths,including college studentsacross the State protested onThursday shouting slogansagainst the Narendra ModiGovernment and the BJP for itsindifference towards the ban onthe popular sport.

Continued on Page 4

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The National Youth Daywhich marks the 154th birth

anniversary of SwamiVivekananda who is known asthe ‘cyclonic monk of India’ wascelebrated on Thursday withmuch enthusiasm and patrioticfervour by different social organ-isations of the city. Plays, rallies,quiz contests marked the daywith students reciting the famedChicago speech of the monkwhich forced the world to takenote of the spiritual greatnessinherent in the ancient land.

In Dev SanskritiVishwavidyalaya, students tookout a march holding placardswith messages given by thesaint. The day was celebrated inthe form of ‘Yuva ChetnaDiwas’. Volunteers took out atorch march that would cover

400 districts across the country.Hundreds of youths pledged towalk the path as shown bySwamiji and adopt the strengthand the eternal values of life thesaint embodies. The head ofGayatri Parivar Dr PranavPandya exhorted the youths tomake their character strong onlines preached by the saint. Heannounced that to mark theYuva Chetna Year, four videochariots would be launched,which would traverse the lengthand breadth of the countryspreading message of the saints.

Volunteers of Divya PremSewa Mission also arrangedtalks on the life and message ofSwami Vivekananda. One- act -play staged by artistes of a the-atre group headed by NarendraAhuja on transformation of theseer Vivekananda from “Billu”(his nick name) at Phonics Group

of Institutions won wide appre-ciation. It was conceptualised byProfessor Satyendra Mittal fromcivil engineering department ofIIT Roorkee. The president ofBharat Vikas Parishad, AviralGanga Sangeeta Singh quotedwidely from Complete Works ofSwami Vivekananda.

The play started with theparamount question asked byVivekananda to his mentorRamakrishna Paramhansa,“Have you seen God?” leavingthe 150- odd- people who hadgathered at the auditorium ofPhonics College in Imlikheravillage in Roorkee under spell.

An elderly couple fromRoorkee, Prem Mohan and hiswife won the ‘Senior CoupleAward’ from the patron of theBharat Vikas Parishad for itsoutstanding contribution tothe society.

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Anti- encroachment drive tomark the observance of

road safety week continued atfull throttle on Thursday, thethird day of the road safetyweek.

In the lead were the dis-trict administration andHaridwar municipal corpora-tion officials with local police-men in tow.

The mechanical excavatorwas put into use to remove theencroachments impeding traf-fic flow on the NationalHighway in Haridwar. Thedrive continued despiteresentment of a section of thelocal traders and the roadsidevendors. However, soon theprotest petered out with the

authorities showing determi-nation to carry on.

During the drive led bypolice circle officer, traffic,Manisha Joshi and city mag-istrate Jaibharat Singh, noticeswere slapped on hotels androadside dhabas, asking theowners to keep their electric-ity generators inside thepremises.

A day before, anti-encroachment drive was car-ried out at railway stationand bus stands. Actions weretaken against many who werefound on the wrong side of thelaw.

Speaking to The Pioneer,CO traffic Manisha Joshi said,“Anti-encroachment drive wascarried out on both the sidesof the highway on Thursday.

The people were asked tokeep three feet of space fromthe main road free of anyencumbrance. The drivewould continue throughoutthe week.”

It is pertinent to mentionhere that as in other towns ofthe state, the number of resi-dential and commercialencroachments has risen con-siderably in Haridwar. Withslums and encroachmentsbeing purportedly supportedby politicians and other influ-ential persons, Haridwar hasundergone drastic changeespecially after state formationdue to encroachments. Itremains to be seen whetherthe public space freed fromencroachment by the author-ities remains so for long.

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Working out and creating atourist circuit encom-

passing the journeys of SwamiVivekananda in Uttarakhandregion was long overdue andnow that it has been done afew years after the Swami’s150th birth anniversary, it isindeed welcome.

It has been developed bythe Kumaon Mandal VikasNigam as Vivekananda spenttime in the KumaonHimalayas and was extreme-ly fond of the region. Placesaround Almora, Nainital andChampawat are part of thiscircuit.

Although the tourist cir-cuit will specially attract peo-ple from West Bengal, peoplefrom all over the countryand abroad are expected totake up this fascinating itin-erary.

The almost 500-kmlong circuit for the touristswill start from Kathgodam.The first stop will be atKanchi temple, Kakrighatwhere Vivekananda meditat-

ed under a peepal tree. Theitinerary will then go toAlmora district and includevisits to Ramkrishna Ashram,Vivekananda Memorial ,house of Badrinath Shahwhere the Swami stayed,Kasar Devi temple, ChitaiGolu Devta temple andJageshwar temple complex inAlmora.

The Mayavati Ashram inChampawat which was estab-lished by Vivekananda in

1899 as well as the numeroustemples which he visited(Hingla Devi temple,Baleshwar temple andPurnagiri temple) will be partof the circuit.

Located twenty twokilometres from Champawatand nine km from Lohaghatamid an old tea estate,Mayawati shot into promi-nence after the AdvaitaAshram was established here.The ashram attracts spiritu-alists from India and abroad.It has a press of its own andthe first editions of SwamiVivekananda's works werepublished from Mayavati,besides Prabuddha Bharata,the monthly journal. TheAshram provides boardingand lodging to visitors.Itattracts the spiritual mindedfrom all over India andabroad. There is also a libraryand a small museum atMayawati.

Whenever we think ofSwami Vivekananda, his lovefor the Himalayas and theUttarakhand region comes tomind . Uttarakhand has spe-cial connection with the

memories of the great SwamiVivekananda whose 154thJayanti is being celebrated allover the country as well asabroad on Thursday.

The RamakrishnaMission Ashram at Kishenpurin the Doon valley held grandcelebrations.

Uttarakhand, speciallyAlmora and Dehra Dun, haveseveral memories of the greatVivekananda who visited bothplaces several times. TheRamakrishna MissionAshram (Mathh Branch)inthe Doon valley , situated inpicturesque surroundings,was started in 1916, exactly ahundred years ago.

The Mission centre wasstarted in 1974.The Mathhcentre has a library with 4560books. It has daily worship,weekly discourses in and out-side the ashram, and celebra-tion of Janamashtami, DurgaPuja, Kali Puja, and

observance of the birthanniversaries of Sr iRamakrishna, Holy MotherSarada Devi, SwamiVivekananda and other spir-itual luminaries. It is involved

in many charitable activities.Swamiji had always been

attracted by the Himalayas.During his tour of the SwissAlps, the idea to found anAshram in similar conditionsin India took shape.

Swami Vivekanandamade several visits to Almora.After the passing away of hisGuru, Sri Ramakrishna,Swami Vivekenanda trav-elled throughout India teach-ing Vedanta, and in 1890 hehad walked from Nainital toAlmora.

He spent several daysmeditating in a cave on a hillclose to the Kasaar Devi tem-ple. Following the demise ofhis mentor Sri Ramkrishna,the young Narendra (later tobe known as SwamiVivekananda) ,while scalingthe wilderness of Kumaon, isbelieved to have said that hehad seen the macrocosm in amicrocosm.

On his arrival at Almora,Swami Vivekananda receivedan Address of Welcome fromthe citizens of Almora, towhich he made the followingreply: "This is the land of

dreams of our forefathers, inwhich was born Pârvati, theMother of India. This is theholy land where every ardentsoul in India wants to come atthe end of its life, and to closethe last chapter of its mortalcareer. This is the land which,since my very childhood, Ihave been dreaming of pass-ing my life in, and as all of youare aware, I have attemptedagain and again to live here;and although the time was notripe, and I had work to do andwas whirled outside of thisholy place, yet it is the hopeof my life to end my dayssomewhere in this Father ofMountains where Rishis lived,where phi losophy wasborn..Inhabitants of this holyland, accept my gratitude forthe kind praise that has fall-en from you for my littlework in the West…..”(Extractfrom: "The Complete Worksof SwamiV i v e k a n a n d a " / Vo l u m e3/Lectures from Colombo toAlmora ).

The great Swami passedaway on July 4, 1902 at the ageof 39.

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Being the future of thenation, the youth are also

responsible to a considerableextent for the development ofthe nation. At the same timethere is also a need for takingthe youth energy towards theright direction, saidUttarakhand GovernorKrishan Kant Paul. He wasspeaking at the national youthday programme organised tomark the 154 birth anniver-sary of Swami Vivekananda atthe Ramkrishna MissionAshram in Dehradun onThursday.

Addressing the gatheringon the occasion, the Governorsaid that the aim of societyshould be to facilitate thedevelopment of such respon-sible and honest characterwhich is based on the foun-dation of a rich history andcan develop a meaningfulview of the future. He said thecelebrating Vivekananda’sbirth anniversary as thenational youth day is very aptas he has emerged as a source

of inspiration for the youth.Paul said, “Swamiji was

the architect of a spiritualbridge connecting the East tothe West on the foundations of

Vedanta.He used to say thatinternally, the youth shouldhave strong will power, theinner strength of internalclearness and courage to

enable them face all types ofchallenges and resolve allproblems. He used to sayoften that out thinking shouldalways be high and best in

order to achieve the supreme.”Regarding primary education,the governor threw light uponVivekananda’s view, statingthat he used to consider edu-cation to be the means ofrebuilding society. Educationis futile if it cannot help inalleviating the travails of thepublic or develop characterwhile instilling a sense of ser-vice, the Swami used to say.Paul further said that NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose hadwritten in his autobiography,influenced by Vivekananda’sthoughts that Vivekananda’stour of India had created awave of self confidence amongthe masses. In order to tack-le the various types of chal-lenges in the current times,the youth will have to comeforward with the power ofpositivity.

Quoting Vivekananda, theGovernor exhorted the youthto take all responsibilities ontheir shoulders without fearand with determination whiletelling them to view them-selves as the makers of theirown destiny.

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Considering the sizeablenumber of serving and ex-

servicemen in the State, theSainik Samaj Party will field itscandidates in the Assemblyelection, said its presidentBalveer Singh Parmar onThursday. Singh alleged thatboth the national parties- BJPand Congress- had failed on thedevelopment front. He averredthat his parity will fight formaking a permanent capital ofthe State apart from raisingissues pertaining to commonpeople’s interests like road,electricity, drinking water, edu-cation, health and employ-

ment. He said that his party will

field its candidates in about 40assembly constituencies. In thefirst phase, names of six can-didates have been declared.Shiv Kumar will contest fromYamunotri, Seetaram Ranakotifrom Devprayag, Usha Negifrom Narendranagar, NarayanThapa from Sahaspur, PallaviKukreti from Khanpur, OSPanwar from Laksar.

He said that his party hadfielded candidates in the pre-vious assembly election too.None of them won but did bet-ter than many of the 34 par-ties that were in the contest interms of votes.

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Making it clear that theywould weigh the worth of

the candidates in the poll fraycarefully while voting instead ofbeing influenced by the shrillpropaganda blitz of the politi-cal parties, some youths ofDehradun who attended YuvaMatdata Mahotsav at ParadeGround said that they wouldopt for those candidates whowould work towards eradicat-ing corruption and generatingemployment opportunities forthe youth.

To motivate the youths toexercise their right of franchiseduring the upcoming VidhanSabha election, the districtadministration hosted YuvaMatdata Mahotsav at theHandloom Expo venue onParade Ground on Thursday.

Cantt resident Arpita, aprivate college student, said thatshe was yet to receive her votercard despite having submittedthe required form after dulyfilling it up. “In case I chanceto vote I would vote with muchdiscretion without being caught

in the game of political bluster.My vote would be cast for thecandidate who, I think, wouldusher in real development. Histrack record is more importantthan the party he or shebelongs to,” she said.

Ritesh Bhatt, another stu-dent of the same university,

affirmed that he would vote forthe party that is committed toeradicating corruption andgenerating employment oppor-tunities for the youth.

The nodal officer ofSystematic Voters' Educationand Electoral Participation(SVEEP), Shikhar Saxena saidthat the programme was organ-ised to mark the National YuvaDiwas. Activities, includingplays, debate and folk danceswere held in course of theprogramme, he added.

Yuva Mahotsav was alsoheld at various governmentschools and colleges inChamoli and other districts ofthe state. In Chamoli, studentsof Gopeshwar GovernmentCollege were informed aboutthe election process and impor-tance of casting votes in a par-ticipatory democracy by theelection officials. The partici-pants took oath to take part inthe democratic engagement.The officials stressed that thestudents and the youth shouldcast votes according to the callof their conscience withoutany fear. The students wereasked to motivate their parentsand other family members tooto exercise their franchise dur-ing the election slated onFebruary 15.

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����������� � ��While the political leaders are engaged in preparing the can-

didates’ lists the Babus are enjoying their time, waxingeloquent on the probable outcome of the Assembly polls duein five states. Some of them have turned psephologists, pre-dicting with animated confidence over the tally of seats the elec-tions would throw up. Some are predicting doom for the rul-ing party in Uttarakhand. Babus being Babus, they do not taketime to forget the benefits they have milked from their prox-imity to the high and the mighty when the latter’s chips aredown. As is their wont, they are now looking forward to theinstallation of a new government and the largesse they areexpected to get from the new dispensation. One of them whois supposed to be close to the present dispensation is being heardeulogizing the Opposition leaders while hurling abuses on thosewho are presently running the show in the state. A common-er is bound to feel aghast at the no-holds-barred debates thatare presently going on in the blessed Babudom, a little over amonth left for the great democratic engagement in the state.

�� �� �����������Aformer bureaucrat, who has decided to throw his hat in the

electoral ring from a particular assembly constituency ofthe state, has been hogging the limelight for some days. As heis yet to get response from either of the two principal parties-Congress and BJP-the indomitable Babu is steeling his nervesto contest as an independent.

Known for his sterling quality of pulling out a rabbit fromhis hat while his political mentors were literally scratching theirheads in quest of solutions to vexed problems, the former Babuis presently trying all tricks in the book to keep his electorateunder a magic spell.

Duopoly reigning in the state with a sharply polarized elec-torate, it is difficult to say whether he would successfully cut

his teeth in the electoral politics if he remains in the reckon-ing as an independent candidate. He is sitting in his office inthe constituency from 9 am to 6 pm, trying hard to endearhimself to the people that matters now.

However, corruption charges tagged to him when he was lead-ing the Babudom continues to cling to him like the proverbial alba-tross. It is to be seen whether the Babu would conjure up magi-cal tricks enough to cajole the people, he is now courting, into gloss-ing over graft charges and helping him slay the two parties whoare set to deny him nomination by his magical ‘Brahmastra’.

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Various organisational andcircumstantial factors con-

tinue to prevent the municipalcorporation of Dehradun fromeffectively discharging its task ofmaintaining the desired level ofcivic sanitation.

Now, considering theVidhan Sabha 2017 elections,skeptics opine that there mightbe a possibility of the corpora-tion’s task getting affected bythe shifting and focusing ofgovernmental resources andfocus on the polls.

The sanitation employeesengaged in door to door collec-tion of garbage are on strikedemanding timely payment oftheir wages and clearing theirdues. The corporation officialshave taken action to overcomethe impediments and managethe sanitation work but the levelof civic sanitation in the provi-sional State capital has remaineda major problem in the city.

Observers point out thatthough the MCD and stateadministration do need to workefficiently for civic sanitation butthe core aspect of the whole

problem- the public which gen-erates the garbage – has not beenaddressed by the authorities sofar. The people and various com-mercial and other organisationswhich generate more than 300metric tones of solid municipalwaste in Dehradun on a dailybasis have not even beenaddressed as stakeholders alsoresponsible for tackling thegarbage problem. On conditionof anonymity, an official blamesthe public for not doing its bittowards maintaining the desiredlevel of civic sanitation in the city.

He said, “Even in a place likethe Defence Colony which alsohas offices of various govern-ment departments and bodiesfunctioning from rented premis-es, the people seem unaffectedby the heap of garbage festeringin the open at a stone’s throwfrom the railway level crossing.For some time now, there havebeen complaints about thegarbage from the DefenceColony being dumped illegallyin various spots just outside thecolony’s boundary. It is not as ifall the colony residents are irre-sponsible but if civic senseappears so low in such a locali-

ty, one can only imagine what itmust be in other areas,” said theofficial. There is provision in thelaw for penalising people for lit-tering or dumping garbage ille-gally in the open but the cor-poration seldom exercises itsofficial powers in this regard.

“There have been cases of‘well-educated’ people dumpinggarbage in neighbouring vacantplots. Some commercial insti-tutions are also known to bedoing the same but when itcomes to penalising such per-sons or organisation, influentiallinks and political interferenceprevents the corporation fromtaking the necessary action,” headded.

The MCD has also beenfacing impediments in com-pleting the establishment of itswaste treatment plant andtrenching ground atShishambada. Official red-tapism, alleged political motivesand protest by a segment ofpeople against the trenchingground at Shishambada havekept this much needed facilityfrom being established andmade fully operational asplanned.

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Dissident Congress leaderswho switched to Bharatiya

Janata Party are now understress as it is learnt from BJPinsiders that the party’s topbrass has decided against pro-viding all of them with ticketsfor the February 15 election.

Sources say that the saffronparty’s high command incourse of the crucial electioncommittee meeting held inDelhi has made it amply clearthat they would deny tickets toa few of them to pre-empt thegroup from emerging as apressure group within the stateBJP in future. Notably, nineturncoat Congress MLAs-Vijay Bahuguna, Harak SinghRawat, Subodh Uniyal, PranavSingh 'Champion', ShailendraMohan Singhal, Amrita Rawat,Pradeep Batra, Umesh SharmaKau and Shaila Rani Rawatturned rebels against the chiefminister Harish Rawat justbefore the crucial debate and apossible voting on the appro-priation bill on March 18,

2016. Later, they en masse

joined BJP with litigation con-tinuing in the apex court overtheir disqualification fromthe Assembly by the Speaker.

“There is little doubt thatthey bargained hard for tick-ets with the party’s nationalleadership before their switchto the BJP camp. However,things on the ground are dif-ficult now with the old hors-es of BJP remaining stronglydisinclined to yield the seatsthe dissidents-turned BJPleaders have their eyes on.They are leaving no stone

unturned to keep them at bayfrom the electoral contest asthey are sure that those whocontested against the dissi-dents and were defeated standa fair chance of winning theseats on their own, given thewave supposedly blowing forthe Opposition party,” said anobserver.

A BJP insider says that theparty top brass has logic indefence of its decision tokeep a few of the dissidentsaway from the electoral con-test. “They have reasons of bewary of the group comprisingthe new entrants, given the

fact that they are yet to mergepsychologically in the BJPcamp, choosing to retain itsseparate identity. In case allthe nine win elections andBJP is in a position to formthe next government, postelection, they would call theshots over the formation ofthe government. And it wouldbe difficult for the high com-mand to brush them over,given their numerical clout inthe House, post election. Thiswould be an unpalatable sce-nario for the party’s top lead-ership,” the insider said.

Things were clear fromthe way the state election com-

mittee was constituted. Two ofthe nine leaders-former CMVijay Bahuguna and formercabinet ministers Harak SinghRawat -were inducted in it.Both played their bit in help-ing the party reach out to theelectorate during the month-long Parivartan Yatra.“Particularly, Harak SinghRawat was unleashed on theCM Harish Rawat, his swornenemy. But the party highcommand is resolved to keepthem under leash lest theymake bold to exercise vetopower to challenge the highcommand in the coming days,”said the BJP insider.

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The BJP State unit has lodgedpolice complaint against the

unidentified people who hadallegedly circulated a list of 32candidates bearing signature ofBJP’s president Amit Shah beforethe Dehradun senior superin-tendent of police on Thursday.

The complaint is sup-posed to be a warning that theywould no longer brook suchpranks on the part of a sectionof the social media, engaged insuch hostile activities, said asenior State BJP leader.

Political analysts say thatBJP which has stormed topower at the Centre by usingsocial media as tools seems tobe running upset with a sec-tion of such media now play-

ing a malicious game againstthe party in the run-up to thecrucial State elections.

Coincidentally, the fakelist was circulated on the daythe party officially closed theState BJP media whatsappgroup and launched whatsappbroadcast group to dissemi-nate news feed to the media.

A few days ago, somebodyhad circulated a list of 52 BJPcandidates and BJP leaders hadto call a Press conference to denyit. Alarmed over their names fig-uring nowhere in the circulatedlist, many ticket seekers madefrantic calls at the numbers oftheir political mentors.

On condition of anonymi-ty, a BJP leader said thatCongress- hired poll strategistPrashant Kishor might have

been behind the circulation ofthe spurious list to misguidethe BJP leaders and the cadres.

On the top of things,another fake list was circulat-ed on Wednesday, containingnames of 32 BJP candidateswritten on the letter head ofBJP’s national president AmitShah, sending those whosenames were missing in a tizzy.

The party having wound uptheir whatsapp group whichfacilitates a two-way communi-cation and introduced one- waywhatsapp broadcast group, thepeople can approach BJP lead-ers individually. However, acommunication gap may ariseand with election inching clos-er, any kind of communicationgap might dent into the party’spoll strategy, said an observer.

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Atotal of four helicopters willbe deployed on election

duty for the snow-coveredareas of Garhwal region duringthe Vidhan Sabha election2017. Garhwal CommissionerVinod Sharma said this whileco-chairing a meeting alongwith Garhwal range deputyinspector general of policePushpak Jyoti, of the districtmagistrates and police officers inthe region regarding arrange-ments for facilitating a peaceful,fair and systematic VidhanSabha election 2017.

Addressing officials in themeeting Sharma said that it is theresponsibility of the Governmentto ensure that the election is con-ducted in an impartial mannerwith transparency.

Sharma said that four heli-copters will be deployed in theareas which experience snowfallduring the election procedure.Of these four helicopters, twowill be based in Dehradun whileone helicopter each will bebased in Pauri and Uttarkashi.

Monitoring various aspectsof the electoral process andmachinery, the Garhwal com-missioner stressed that the elec-tion control room at ditrictheadquarter should remainopen 24 hours a day and thecomplaints received should beresolved in the prescribed time.Instructing officials on aspectsof work discipline. He alsodirected the police to provide allrequired information to the

election observers who will bevisiting all the assembly con-stituencies from January 19

The Garhwal commission-er further directed the officialsto strictly implement the modelcode of conduct and avoid invit-ing political leaders to state andnational celebrations in additionto which the officers should notbe publicising the achievementsof the government in accordancewith the code.

Addressing officials in themeeting, the Garhwal rangeDIG Pushpak Jyoti said that theelection is akin to a festival ofdemocracy in which the involve-ment of everyone is necessary. Ifthere is any type of disturbanceor rioting on the day of polling,the returning officer and nodalofficer can contact the senior

superintendent of police con-cerned. Police force will be sentto the place as per the demandmade by the authorities con-

cerned, added the DIG. The dis-trict magistrates of Pauri,Rudraprayag and Chamoli alongwith sub divisional magistrates

and additional district magis-trates from different ditricts ofGarhwal were also amongthose present in the meeting.

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Additional district magistrateHarbeer Singh and super-

intendent of police (Rural)Shweta Chowbey inspected var-ious sensitive and ultra- sensitivepolling stations in Rishikesharea on Thursday. Accompaniedby local administrative andpolice officers, both inspectedaround 20 polling centres andaround 25 polling stations spread

over Doiwala, Bhaniyawala,Telipura and some other placesin Rishikesh. The police officerswere directed to take preventmeasures to ensure peacefulAssembly election.

ADM Singh said that theadministrative officers have beendirected to try all means tokeep things under control as faras the sensitive and ultra- sensi-tive polling booths are con-cerned, adding that police must

act in accordance with therecords of the past elections.

Moreover, in Vikasnagar,circle officer Pankaj Gairola con-ducted physical inspection of thesensitive polling booths at Kalsiarea. He said that action undersections 107/116 of CrPC hasbeen taken against 40 people inKalsi area while 38 weapons havebeen seized. Action is also beingtaken against illegal miningactivities in the area, he added.

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Election commission hasserved a notice to Pooran

Singh Fartyal, a Bharatiya JanataParty leader from Champawatdistrict on Thursday, charginghim with violation of the modelcode of conduct. As per a pressnote, Fartyal had conductedpublic meeting without seekingpermission from the returning

officer concerned. Moreover, sofar, six notices have been servedto leaders of different politicalparties for pasting pamphlets orputting banners at governmentbuildings as a part of their elec-tion campaign in Champawatdistrict since the MCC kicked inon January 4. Acting on thecomplaint of Congress leaderGopal Kholiya, BJP leader fromAlmora, Lalit Singh Latwal was

issued notice by the electioncommission for collecting elec-tion campaign related materialswithout seeking permissionfrom returning officer con-cerned. In Tehri district, 18notices have been served toleaders of various political par-ties for pasting pamphlets orputting up banners at publicproperty as part of their electioncampaign.

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The use, sale or stocking ofany type of disposable

plates, cups or packing mate-rial made of plastic or poly-styrene (thermocol) has beenbanned with immediate effectin the entire state ofUttarakhand. In observanceof orders passed by the HighCourt of Uttarakhand inNainital, in the writ petition-Lalit Miglani versusUttarakhand state and others,the chief secretary has issueda government order datedJanuary 11, 2017, directingthat the prohibition beenforced stringently. In orderto raise public awarenessregarding this, notices will bepasted on all commercial insti-tutions, bus stations, hotels,dhabas, Dharmshala, Ashram,guest houses, schools and allGovernment offices. In addi-tion to this, the message will beconveyed to the public through

the means of loudspeakersand street plays which will alsoelicit the cooperation of thepublic in ensuring effective

observance of the prohibition.In the Government orderissued by the office of thechief secretary, it has also beenstated that in case of violationof the above stated prohibitiona penalty amounting to � 5,000will be imposed on the indi-vidual concerned. For the

effective implementation ofthe prohibition, the municipalcommissioner, executive offi-cer will be responsible in thecity area, chief executive offi-cer of district council will beresponsible in the rural areasand the divisional forest offi-cer concerned will be respon-sible for the same in the forestareas.

While welcoming thedevelopment, skeptics pointout that polythene bags and thedisposable dishes and cups inquestion had been bannedacross the state during 2012under the tenure of VijayBahuguna as the chief minis-ter. Affected by various factorsincluding lack of clarity, weakpolitical will and citizensunaware of their civic respon-sibilities, the polythene ban hasso far remained a grey areawith the use of the proscribeditems made from polytheneand polystyrene rising consis-tently across the state.

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In a vote of no confidenceagainst its Ministers in

Punjab Government, the firstlist of 17 BJP candidates forFebruary 4 Punjab polls, sawthe names of all four Ministersmissing.

With elections just a fewdays away, the saffron partyfailed to arrive on consensus onthe names on six seats, includ-ing four belonging to the stateCabinet Ministers.

The party retained five ofits sitting MLAs, including twofemale legislators. Besides, theparty also stuck to the sevencandidates it fielded during2012 state assembly polls.

The list has the stamp ofstate BJP chief and UnionMinister Vijay Sampla.

The party has also pickedRajinder Mohan Singh Chhinafor the bypoll to Amritsar LokSabha seat, that fall vacant fol-lowing the resignation ofCongress leader CaptAmarinder Singh.

As the party is likely todrop two ministers — MadanMohan Mittal and Chunni LalBhagat — from the list of can-

didates for being 75-plus, theparty has given a chance to fivegreenhorns, handpicked bySampla, to try their luck in thecrucial 2017 polls.

BJP has set a strict age-limitcriteria proposed by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modiwherein leaders above 75 yearsof age should not be give partyticket. The formula was adopt-ed during Maharashtra polls.

Knowing the same, bothMittal and Bhagat have beenproposing that their seats —Anandpur Sahib and JalandharWest — be transferred to theirsons.

Sources have informed ThePioneer that former ministerand Jalandhar Central MLAManoranjan Kalia is reluctantto contest fearing strong anti-incumbency against the rulingregime. The party has kept theseat pending, as of now.

To combat the anti-incum-bency, a section of senior BJPleaders have recommendedfielding new faces, while anoth-er section, led by UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitley,is in favour of giving these lead-ers another chance.

Considering Sampla’s dif-

ferences with Phagwara MLASom Parkash, the BJP’s CentralElection Committee has put onhold the decision on his seat.While some of the leaders sup-port Parkash’s candidature,Sampla wanted to field a newface.

Other than that, the seats

of four cabinet ministers —Mittal from Anandpur Sahib,Bhagat from Jalandhar West,Anil Joshi from AmritsarNorth, and Surjit Kumar Jyanifrom Fazilka — have also beenput on one side.

Former Ministers TikshanSud and Arunesh Shakir have

again been fielded fromHoshiarpur and Mukerian,respectively, after unsuccess-fully contesting 2012 polls.Party’s national general secre-tary Tarun Chugh has onceagain given ticket fromAmritsar Central.

BJP has fielded SukhpalSingh Nannu from FerozepurUrban — a seat party’s formerstate unit chief Kamal Sharmawanted to contest. It has beenlearnt that Sharma backed outfrom race in the wake of hisnot-so-good relations withSampla. Both Chugh andNannu had lost 2012 elections.

Besides, the party has onceagain lay its bet on 2012 losers,including Parveen Bansal fromLudhiana North, Rakesh Gillfrom Amritsar West, and BDDhupar from Dinanagar.

Among the five MLAs,who will seek their re-election,include Sukhjeet Kaur Shahifrom Dasuya, Ashwani Sharmafrom Pathankot, PunjabVidhan Sabha’s deputy speak-er Dinesh Singh Babbu fromSujanpur, Seema Kumari fromBhoa and KD Bhandari fromJalandhar North.

Entering the electoral field

for the first time are KamalChetli from Ludhiana West,Gurdev Sharma from LudhianaCentral, Arun Narang fromAbohar, Rajesh Honey fromAmritsar East, and Harjit SinghGrewal from Rajpura.

After former MP NavjotSingh Sidhu, Grewal hasemerged as party’s Sikh face inthe state. Close to RashtriyaSwayamsewak Sangh (RSS),Grewal had been fielded fromRajpura — represented byparty’s deep-rooted leader andformer MLA Raj Khurana whodied recently of long illness.

After exit of Dr NavjotKaur Sidhu, the party has field-ed a councillor Rajesh Honey.Congress is expected to fieldAmritsar’s former MP NavjotSingh Sidhu, if not his wife.

Out of the 117 seats in thePunjab Assembly, the BJP willcontest 23 while its ally,Shiromani Akali Dal, will fightin the remaining 94 seats. TheSAD-BJP alliance is facinganti-incumbency sentimentsin the state where ArvindKejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Partyhas emerged as a significantplayer. Punjab will go to pollson February 4.

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Congress is yet to announce17 more candidates with

Punjab Assembly polls justabout 22 days away. OnThursday, the party announced23 more names taking the totalnumber of candidates to 100,for 117-member PunjabVidhan Sabha polls, scheduledfor February 4.

Congress’ third list, on thesecond day of filing nomina-tions, comes with “Akali touch”.The party fielded SAD MPSher Singh Ghubaya’s sonDavinder Ghubaya, whorecently joined Congress, fromFazilka.

A former close associate ofBains brothers of Ludhiana,Kamaljit Singh Kanwal, hasalso secured a nomination fromAtam Nagar against SimarjeetBains despite opposition fromlocal Congress leaders ofLudhiana.

The announcement ofKarwal’s candidature hasreportedly led to local AtamNagar leaders led by KK Bawaprotesting outside Congressheadquarters in Delhi.

Among SAD turncoatMLAs, Rajwinder Kaur Baghikehas bagged Nihalsinghwalareserved seat.

Deepender Dhillon, a for-mer Akali who fought againstPunjab Congress chiefAmarinder Singh’s wife PreneetKaur in Patiala Lok Sabha con-test, has been named partynominee from Dera Bassi.Before joining SAD, he wasconsidered Preneet’s right handman.

Sticking to ‘one family, oneticket’ rule, the party has decid-ed on five seats. Congress hasfielded Rajinder Singh, son offormer minister and MLA LalSingh, from Samana. The partyhas put on hold the announce-ment of candidate on Lal Singh’sseat, Sanaur, who has all alongbeen pushing for his son’s can-didature.

Applying the same rule, theparty has fielded Major SinghBhaini, son of former MLAGurdeep Bhaini, from Dakhaassembly segment, replacing JassiKhangura who lost 2012 polls.

Congress chose Amit Vijand Arun Dogra fromPathankot and Dasuya — seatstheir fathers, Anil Vij andRamesh Chandar Dogra, had

unsuccessfully contested during2012 polls.

Congress’ Jalandhar MPChaudhary Santokh Singhfailed to secure a ticket for hisson, but for his wife KaramjitKaur, who has been fieldedfrom Phillaur assembly seg-ment as the party decidingagainst fielding former Cabinetminister and Akali ‘turncoat’MLA Sarwan Singh Phillaur,being backed by the state partychief Capt Amarinder Singh.

Sitting MLA RakeshPandey has been retained atLudhiana North, while formerMP Mohinder Kaypee has beenrehabilitated to Adampurreserve seat.

Ludhiana-based hotelierJassi Khangura’s relativeBhupender Sidhu has beenfielded from Ludhiana South,while Dera Sacha Sauda chiefGurmeet Ram Rahim’s relativeHarminder Jassi has been givenparty ticket from Maur—amove expecte to give a big boostto the party in malwa regionwith Dera having stronghold.

Declining the claims offormer Union Minister SantoshChoudhry and her family, theparty has fielded local districtpresident Pawan Adhia as itscandidate from Sham Chaurasi.Harpartap Ajnala will fightfrom Anjala while JoginderSingh has been fielded fromBhoa.

The party has once againkept in abeyance the contro-versial seats, includingJalandhar cantonment fromwhere both turncoat MLA andOlympian Pargat Singh andformer MLA Jagbir Brar arestaking their claims.

It has also withheldannouncement of candidate onLudhiana East assembly con-stituency seat, from where CaptAmarinder is backing the can-didature of former UnionMinister Manish Tewari butwas strongly opposed by theLudhiana MP Ravneet SinghBittu.

Capt Amarinder hasalready made it clear that theparty has left Amritsar East seatfor the Sidhu couple and it isbetween them to decide whowill contest the polls. But, theongoing suspense on cricketer-turned-politician Navjot SinghSidhu’s officially coming onboard has, it seems, upset theCongress plans.

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Ahead of the February 4Assembly polls in Punjab,

a blame game has begunamong major political partiesover the issue of issuing state-ments which incites violence.

A day after Akali MP andUnion Minister HarsimratKaur Badal warned AamAadmi party workers againstinciting violence followingthe throwing of shoe at chiefminister Parkash Singh Badal,Punjab Congress and AamAadmi Party condemned herstatement and urged theElection Commission to takeserious note of such state-ments.

Punjab Congress presi-dent Captain AmarinderSingh warned the SAD as wellas the AAP against incitingviolence, saying any suchmove would not only backfireon them but would also causeirrevocable damage to the

state.Urging restraint in the

run-up to the assembly polls,Captain Amarinder also urgedthe EC to take serious note ofsuch statements and initiatestern action to crack down onall disruptive elements to pre-vent the Punjab elections fromspiraling into a vortex of vio-lence. Both SAD and AAPhave been engaged in violentskirmishes over the past fewdays, triggering apprehensionof escalation and spread ofviolence in the state as theAssembly polls draw closer, healleged.

Harsimrat had onWednesday warned the AAPsaying if Badal told SADworkers to turn violent, AAPsupporters will not stay alive.The Chief Minister’s daughter-in-law, Harsimrat had madethe statement after a shoewas hurled at Parkash SinghBadal at an event in Lambi.

On the other hand, Aam

Aadmi Party has demandedremoval of Union MinisterHarsimrat from the cabinetand registration of case againsther under section 506 of IPCand relevant sections ofPeoples Representatives Actfor inciting violence in the pollbound Punjab and also for tar-geting AAP volunteers.

AAP leaders HS Phoolka,party candidate from Dakhaand Navkiran Singh,Chairman of Human RightsWing said, “They don’tindulge in any kind of vio-lence nor support such act andneither they are scared of thethreats, Harsimrat is issuing.Her statement reflected fearand frustration of imminentdefeat in the elections.”

AAP leaders have sub-mitted a complaint and copyof video of Harsimrat to theEC and demanded to recom-mend to Prime Minister toimmediately remove her fromcabinet.

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Akali Dal president SukhbirSingh Badal on Thursday

alleged that the recent incidentsaimed at inciting violence hereand at Lambi were part of aconspiracy hatched by the AAPin alliance with radical organ-isations.

The recent disturbances inPunjab have occurred shortlyafter AAP convener ArvindKejriwal (Delhi Chief Minister)held meetings with radical ele-ments, he claimed after filinghis nomination papers here.

On Wednesday, a shoe washurled at Punjab Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal by a rela-tive of a radical Sikh leader at hishome constituency, Lambi, anda group of people threw stonesat the cavalcade of Sukhbir in hisconstituency, Jalalabad, a fewdays ago.

Union Food ProcessingMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badal,who accompanied him, alsofiled her nomination as a cov-ering candidate for the SADpresident.

Sukhbir claimed Kejriwalhad recently held meetings withthe three self-styled "jathedars"supported by radical elements

besides radical ideologueMokhan Singh. Singh headsthe United Akali Dal (UAD), aseparatist body, that has earliertried to incite violence inPunjab, he said.

Kejriwal also held a break-fast meeting with Babbar KhalsaInternational (BKI) frontalorganisation Akhand KirtaniJatha spokesperson R P Singhthree days back, the SAD pres-ident claimed.

"He has also met radicalSikh leader Amrik Singh Ajnalawhose brother attacked CMParkash Singh Badal yesterday.All this proves that the recentincidents of violence were part

of a larger strategy to createtrouble in Punjab," he said.

AAP leader BhagwantMann, recently, openly askedpeople to throw stones at thesenior SAD leadership and evenadmitted this in a televisioninterview, he claimed, adding ithad been brought to the noticeof the Election Commission.

Sukhbir said all these actswere the result of extreme frus-tration on the part of AAP. "Theparty realises that the ground isslipping beneath its feet and thatthe people are rejecting its anti-Punjab agenda. It is because ofthis that the party is now resort-ing to such acts," he alleged.

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From Page 1

Sisodia accused the BJP-run civic bodies of being neckdeep in corruption. “The AAPGovernment had released Rs119 crore to the EDMC onMonday. Enough funds havebeen given to the municipalbodies, but one doesn’t knowwhere that money is beingflushed out,” Sisodia said.

“In 2012-13, Rs 399 crorewas given as fund to EDMC, Rs416 crore in 2013-14 and Rs 441crore in 2014-15. We hadreleased Rs 702 crore undernon-Plan head in 2015-16, andin 2016-17, we have released Rs609 crore so far. Also, till 2015these funds were released withRs 60-70 crore of loan adjust-ment. We gave EDMC fundswithout deducting even a sin-gle penny but where did themoney go,” he added.

Meanwhile, according toSouth Delhi MunicipalCorporation, it has receivedonly Rs 864.10 against Rs1009.91 in financial year 2015-16 and a total amount Rs 816.32crore was due from 2012. Whilethe North MunicipalCorporation claimed that ithad received Rs 892.92 against

Rs 1131.80 in 2015-16 and thetotal due amount was Rs 854.65crore from 2012 to 2016. Cash-strapped EDMC data showsthat it received Rs 571.24against Rs 777.26 in 2015-16.

However, EDMC officialssaid that the corporation hadnot received its due.

In a joint Press conferenceon Thursday all the threeMayors alleged that the corpo-rations were not given the Rs2,380 crore as per the recom-mendations of the third FinanceCommission.

EDMC officials maintainedthat there was no scope forsalaries for employees in thefunds that had been allotted tothem. “Our monthly expendi-ture is around Rs 130 crore andrevenue is Rs 30 crore annual-ly. We face revenue deficit everyyear and in these circumstanceswe cannot pay them regularly.

Senior officials of all threecorporations said that the rec-ommendation of the FourthDelhi Finance Commission(DFC) should be implemented.They said that according to itthe share would be increased to12 per cent as against 4 per centrecommended by the ThirdDFC.

From Page 1

Things were looking betterwith the increase in the cash flowand winter sales in many shopsbut this decision has come as boltfrom the blue to all of us and hasleft us utterly confused. How willwe sustain businesses that maydrop by 80 per per cent? If theyexperiment with CP like this, ourbusiness will be gone forever,”said Vikram Badhwar, a trader at

CP’s Inner Circle. In a causticcriticism, a manager of Levisstore in D block, who did notwish to be named, said, “If carbandi is implemented, our cus-tomers will shift their attentionto malls which will result in thereduction of footfall and storesin CP will start closing down.Our only benefit then will be thatour rent will reduce but in gen-eral our business will be ruinedbeyond redemption.”

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Since January 7, the mer-cury has been dipping steadilyand has dropped more than 10degrees in just five days as thecold wave engulfed severalregions of north India.

The weather office also saidthe cold wave like situation willcontinue in Delhi at least tillSunday and the minimum andmaximum temperatures mayincrease after January 15.

The maximum tempera-ture of the day was likely tohover around 17 degrees Celsius.Humidity at 8.30 am was 100 percent with the visibility recordedup to 800 metres.

Wednesday’s maximumtemperature was recorded 17.2degrees Celsius while the min-imum settled at 4 degreesCelsius, both three notchesbelow the season’s average.

A total of 26 trains wererunning late due to the densefog in adjoining areas of Delhiand other parts of NorthernIndia.

“Eight trains had to berescheduled while seven trainshave been cancelled due to thefog,” said an official statement

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From Page 1

“This is a spontaneousprotest by students. There wereno leaders to lead them but theyouth took to the streets ontheir own.

This is a strange phenom-enon as this is the first time inrecent history a demonstrationof this kind is happening in theState,” said G K Nagaraj, pres-ident, Kongunadu JananayagaKatchi.

Earlier, the apex court hadobserved that the country can-not “import a RomanGladiator-type of sport” as it isagainst the culture of compas-sion towards animals.

The court in its 2014 judge-ment had said that bulls couldnot be used as performing ani-mals, either for Jallikattu eventsor for bullock-cart races in theStates of Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra or elsewhere inthe country, and had bannedtheir use across the country.

The apex court had alsodismissed the review petitionagainst its 2014 verdict. The SChad also earlier declared TNRegulation of Jallikattu Act,2009 as constitutionally void,being violative or Article 254(1)of the Constitution.

From Page 1

It intends to improve theirexisting conventional lines tohandle speeds of up to 160km/h, with a goal of speedsabove 200 km/h on new trackswith improved technology. Inthe near future, only two iden-tified corridors from Delhi toMumbai and Kolkata are prac-tically possible and it will beready in two-year time. Theaverage time of Rajdhani andother capable Express trains onboth the routes will save up tothree hours,” said a Railwaysofficial.

The two important corri-dors require only certain tech-nological enhancement liketrack strengthening, modernsignaling, train protectionwarning system and fencing atimportant stretches. This isbeing given priority nowbecause Bullet Train, even ifeverything goes on track, willtake another five years, whileother nine proposed high speedcorridors will also take time.

During the trial-run,Spain’s Talgo trains, whichclocked an average speed of117.5 kmph, can reach a peakspeed of 150 kmph on Delhi-Mumbai route, observing laid-

down speed cautions and halt-ing at the usual stoppages justas the Mumbai Rajdhani.

In other major decision, theRailway Ministry has advancedthe 10-year deadline to threeyears for providing safe coach-es by altering and retrofittingthe existing old train coaches ofless than 20 years following aseries of derailments leading tohuman loss recently.

This means the country’sfirst Integral Coach Factory(ICF) Kapurthala in Punjabwill have to discontinue themanufacturing of its stereotyp-ical model Coaches. “Duringthe next three years, all these53,000 coaches will be con-verted into LHB (LinkedHofmann Busch) type coaches,which are fare safer in case ofaccidents or derailments.

“The ICF will stop manu-facturing the present coachesand thereafter only LHB typecoaches will be made atKapurthala,” said a seniorRailway official.

A day after the tragic derail-ment of Indore-Patna Expressnear Kanpur, the Railwaysdecided not to run new trainson certain over-saturated routesbefore decongesting the sectionwith capacity augmentation.

From Page 1In the second incident, a

video of a CRPF Constable JeetSingh went viral in which hehas demanded pay and bene-fits for paramilitary personnelat par with the Indian Army.This comes just days afteranother video of a BorderSecurity Force (BSF) jawan TejBahadur Yadav complainingabout the bad quality of thefood served to the force wentviral on the social media.

While saying that this wasan old video, the CRPF onThursday said it had alreadytaken cognizance of the issuesraised by the jawan. Jeet Singh

had raised these issues whenthe One-Rank, One-Pensionprotests were taking place lastyear.

“This is an old video. Thejawan has service-related griev-ances and is seeking parity inpay and other benefits. AnInspector-General rank officerof the force has already got intouch with him. We have madeit clear that if the troops are fac-ing any problems we willaddress them immediately,”said CRPF Director General KDurga Prasad.

He added, “You alwayswant a better life than what youhave. That is what he is asking.

He has no complaints from theforce. The CRPF has broughtall these issues to the knowl-edge of the 7th PayCommission.”

Meanwhile talking to themedia, Minister of State forHome Affairs Kiren Rijiju saidGovernment was taking stepsto improve the conditions ofjawans in paramilitary forces.“Several things have come tolight and we are taking themseriously. It is the responsibil-ity of the Government to workfor the welfare of the jawans,who are its priority. We are tak-ing steps to ensure better con-ditions,” he said.

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In a bid to check transmissionof Tuberculosis (TB) in the

State, the Haryana Governmenthas decided to launch a screen-ing campaign.

The state HealthDepartment will carry outscreening of persons sufferingfrom related symptoms in dis-tricts Kaithal, Karnal and Nuhin first phase of active TB casefinding campaign.

This campaign will belaunched under the RevisedNational Tuberculosis ControlProgramme (RNTCP) fromJanuary 16 to 30, said Health

Minister Anil Vij on Thursday.He said that the

Department had constitutedtrained teams in all districts toselect persons showing possi-ble symptoms of the disease.These symptoms included per-sistent cough, fever, weightloss, blood in mucus, pain inchest and other such symp-toms, living in identified andmapped target groups such asthose living in slums and vil-lages and hamlets that are dif-ficult to reach, prison inmates,those living in old age homes,orphanages, construction siteworkers and weaving and glassindustrial workers.

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Haj quota for Indians hasincreased by 34,500, “the

biggest hike in 28 years”, afterUnion Minister of State forMinority Affairs MukhtarAbbas Naqvi signed an agree-ment at Jeddah this week.

The increase would takethe number of Indian Haj trav-elers from India to 1,70,520 in2017 in comparison to 1,36,020who went for the pilgrimage in2016.

The decision was takenduring signing of annual Hajagreement between India andSaudi Arabia by Naqvi and Hajand Umrah Minister ofKingdom of Saudi Arabia DrMohammad Saleh bin TaherBenten Wednesday.

Naqvi expressed happinessover increased quota for Indianby 34,500. “It is the biggestincrease after 1988 in the quotaof Haj pilgrims from India”, hesaid. About 99,903 people wentto Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Hajfrom 21 embarkation pointsacross India through HajCommittee of India during

Haj 2016. Apart from this,about 36,000 Haj pilgrims hadproceeded for Haj through theprivate tour operators.

Haj application process hasalready started in India from2nd January 2017. The last datefor submitting applications is24th January, 2017. Haj usuallycommences from July-Aguust.

In his meeting with DrBenten, Naqvi discussedissues relating to the IndianHaj pilgrims and Haj pilgrim-age. Besides Haj quota fromIndia, transport and accom-modation facilities for pilgrims

and their safety during theirstay in Saudi Arabia also fig-ured during the discussion.

Hoping that the relationsbetween the two countrieswould rise to “ a higher level”,Naqvi said “Haj pilgrimage isone of the strongest pillars ofIndia-Saudi Arabia ties.” TheMinister was confident that theforthcoming Haj would be “safe, comfortable and smooth”.

In this reference, he point-ed to the visit of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toSaudi Arabia April last yearwhich , he said “added new

dimensions to the vibrant rela-tionship.”

It is for the first time thatHaj application process in Indiahas been made digital or onlinewith the launch of “HajCommittee of India MobileApp” on January 2nd , 2017 .

According to Naqvi, theGovernment of India has beenencouraging online applica-tions for Haj 2017 so that peo-ple can get an opportunity forthe pilgrimage with completetransparency and comfort. LastDecember, a new website ofHaj was also launched inHindi, Urdu and English lan-guages which will provide thenecessary information on Haj. The website gives detailedinformation regarding IndianGovernment’s Ministry ofMinority Affairs, HajDepartment, Haj pilgrimage,rules and regulations on Haj,Haj Committee of India andprivate tour operators.

The website also has “Do’sand Don’ts” during Haj pil-grimage and also a film inform-ing about various aspects of thepilgrimage.

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The Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) on Thursday

“censured” BJP MP SakshiMaharaj on his controversialremarks indirectly blamingMuslims for the populationgrowth and warned him that itwould take stern action againsthim using all powers availableto it if he violates the modelcode again.

Issuing the warning, theCommission said, “You mayalso take a note that in case ofany violation of MCC in future,the Commission shall takestern actions against you, usingall powers available to it.”

The poll watchdog said itdid not find the MP’s reply sat-isfactory, “because in theCommission’s considered view,supported by observations ofthe Supreme Court, any state-ment to the effect of promot-ing enmity between differentclasses of society in connectionwith election on the grounds ofreligion made during elec-tioneering or otherwise is

violative of Model Code ofConduct”.

“Now, therefore, theElection Commission hereby,censures you for violat-ing...MCC and the SupremeCourt decision...And expectsthat you, being a reputed polit-ical leader/MP, shall be morecircumspect in your publicutterances during electiontime. “You may also take a notethat in case of any violation ofMCC in future, theCommission shall take sternactions against you, using allpowers available to it,” theorder said.

Standing by his remarks,Sakshi Maharaj had told theCommission that the state-ment was not made in a pub-lic or an election meeting butat a saints’ conclave and hencecould not be considered viola-tive of the Model Code.

At a ‘sant sammelan’ inMeerut last week, SakshiMaharaj had said there areproblems in the countrybecause of the growth of pop-ulation. “Hindus are notresponsible for that. Thoseresponsible are the ones whotalk of four wives and 40 children.”

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The Supreme Court onThursday asked the

Government to set up a statu-tory mechanism for redressal ofcomplaints against contents ofprivate TV channels and radiostations and accord due pub-licity to the measures to enablecitizens approach it with theirgrievances.

A bench, comprising ChiefJustice J S Khehar and JusticeD Y Chandrachud, howeverrefrained from commentingon the submission of NewsBroadcasters Association andAssociation of Radio Operators

for India that self-regulatorymechanism has worked effec-tively for electronic media andradio channels.

Referring to section 22 ofthe Cable Television Networks(Regulation) Act, the benchasked the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcastingto constitute a body under theprovision to deal with citizens'complaints against televisionchannels and radio stationsregarding their alleged objec-tionable contents.

"We cannot ask them(Centre) to monitor the contentof the channels. How can we dothat? You can approach us or

the authority concerned aftertelecast or airing of objection-able contents only," the benchobserved at the outset whenlawyers Prashant Bhushan andKamini Jaiswal sought estab-lishment of an independentregulatory authority to governbroadcast media.

"If something happens andyou find them obnoxious, thenwe will certainly deal withthem. Generally speaking, wecannot interfere with it and docontent regulation," it said.

It also said the issue per-tained to the right of mediaenshrined under Article19(1)(a) of the Constitution on

freedom of speech and expres-sion.

The court asked theMinistry to use the powerunder section 22 of the CableTelevision Networks(Regulation) Act to set up themechanism and rules to "for-malise the complaint redressalmechanism" and accord "ade-quate publicity" to it so as toenable the public approach itwith their complaints.

It asked the Centre todevise procedures with regardto the time limit for filing anddeciding complaints and filingof appeals by the aggrived par-ties, among other things.

�������� ������ 09:��9)15

In spite of the constitutionalprovision and rising number

of people with disability in thecountry, many States are yet toset up a separate departmentfor implementation of welfareschemes for the sector. Theyhave either appointed a fulltimecommissioner or handed overadditional charge to officers todo the job.

Just four States — UttarPradesh, Odisha, Tamil Naduand Karnataka — have so farcreated the separate depart-ments. People with disability inthe country constitute morethan 2.21 per cent of the total population.

Taking serious note of thenegligence by the States, a par-liamentary panel recently said

that "no country or society canever progress ignoring theneeds and aspirations of morethan 2.70 crore persons withdisabilities". It has asked theUnion Social Justice andEmpowerment Ministry toimpress upon the state gov-ernments and UT administra-tions to have separate disabil-ity department to address theconcerns, problems of the dif-ferently-abled.

The setting up of the sep-arate department becomes allthe more important as theCentre is in the process offraming rules for the newRights of Persons withDisabilities (RPwDs) Act, 2016,which was notified late lastyear. It has many landmarkprovisions which would deliv-er results only if States have

dedicated department for theirimplementation.

A senior official from theDepartment of the People withDisabilities (PwDs) under theMinistry said that theStates/UTs which have not yetappointed independentCommissioner for PwDs havebeen asked to do so on prior-ity basis. They were alsorequested to provide adequatesupport staff to theCommissioner for PwDs toenable him to discharge hisfunctions effectively."

Besides many benefits, theAct also provides for setting upconstitution of district levelcommittees by the StateGovernments to address localconcerns of PwDs as well asspecial courts for speedy trial.The Act makes the discrimi-nation, assault or insult to thedisabled punishable withimprisonment for a term,which shall not be less than sixmonths but which may extendto five years and with fine.

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The suspense over cricketer-turned-politician Navjot

Singh Sidhu joining theCongress continues despite hissecond round of talks withCongress vice-president RahulGandhi on Thursday. Sidhu issaid to have pressed for some“significant” role in the partyand particularly in poll-boundPunjab. The former BJP MPfrom Punjab has conveyed tothe Congress leadership that he“risked” his political careerand even resigned as the RajyaSabha member anticipating a“larger” role due to his “cleanimage” in the State.

AICC sources, however,maintained that Sidhu is expect-ed to join the party anytimesoon and is likely to play a cru-cial role in Punjab which goesto poll on February 4. Sidhu'swife Navjot Kaur has alreadyjoined Congress, along withPargat Singh, a former Akali Dallegislator who had joined handswith Sidhu to form the outfitAwaaz-E Punjab.

The party also released alist of 23 candidates whichinclude leaders who switchedover to the party from Akali

Dal. The total number of can-didates announced by the partyhas gone up to 100 out of total117 seats.

The meeting between theRahul and Sidhu lasted foraround half-an-hour duringwhich the modalities of hisjoining as well as his future rolein the party were discussed.This is the second meetingbetween the two who had ear-lier met in early December.Sources said Sidhu is likely tocontest from the Amritsar Eastassembly constituency which isat present represented by hiswife Navjot Kaur, who has alsosaid this a few days ago.

There are talks of himvying for the Deputy ChiefMinister's position, but PunjabCongress chief AmarinderSingh has denied this sayingSidhu will be joining the

Congress unconditionally.Singh had, however, said thedecision on deputy chief min-ister would be taken by partypresident Sonia Gandhi andvice president Rahul Gandhi atan "appropriate time".

The Punjab list was clearedlast night by the CentralElection Committee of theparty headed by Sonia Gandhi.Rajwinder Kaur Bhagikay, whowas a sitting MLA from AkaliDal and joined Congress fewdays ago, has been given tick-et from Nihal Singhwala con-stituency while former LokSabha MP Mohinder SinghKay Pee has been fielded fromAdampur seat.

Deepinder Singh Dhillon,who had unsuccessfully con-tested against Punjab Congresschief Amarinder Singh's wifePreneet Kaur in the 2014 LokSabha polls as a Akali nominee,has been given ticket fromDara Bassi seat.

Akali leader Kamaljit SinghKarwal, who switched alle-giance to Congress from AkaliDal, will fight the polls fromAtam Nagar seat whileHarminder Singh Jassi, a rela-tive of Dera Sacha Sauda chiefGurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,

has been fielded from the Maurseat. Devinder Gubaya, son ofAkali sitting MP from Firozpur,Sher Singh Gubaya, has beengiven ticket from Fazilka seat.

Former CPI leader NathuRam, who also switched over toCongress, will contest fromBalluana while Karamjit KaurChaudhary, wife of Lok SabhaMP from Jalandhar SantokhSingh Cahudhary has beenfielded from Phillaur seat.

Former Minister JoginderSingh Mann will contest fromprestigious Phagwara seat andfive-time MLA Rakesh Pandeywill fight the polls fromLudhiana North constituency.Rajinder Singh, son of formerMinister Lal Singh, has beengiven ticket from Samana con-stituency. The candidature forSanour seat, where Lal Singh isa sitting MLA, has not beenannounced. The party hadannounced that only one mem-ber from a family will get tick-et and that there will be nocompromise on it. Congresshad announced the first list 61candidates on December 15and and second list of 16 nom-inees on December 23. Hecticlobbying is underway for theremaining 17 seats.

�� �� 09:��9)15

Photographs of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi

on hoardings at petrol pumpsin poll-bound Goa and on cer-tificates issued by oil companiesin Uttarakhand are violative ofthe Model Code, the ElectionCommission has maintained.

In a letter to CabinetSecretary PK Sinha, the ElectionCommission said it had receivedcomplaints about hoardings withphotographs of the PrimeMinister being displayed at petrolpumps in poll-bound Goa. It alsoreferred to a news story in aHindi daily that certificates withthe photos of the Prime Ministerwere being distributed by oilcompanies to LPG consumerswho have surrendered gas sub-sidy in Uttarakhand.

The Commission has askedthe Cabinet Secretary to ensurecompliance of its instructionsduring elections.

“This is not permissibleunder Model Code of Conductand Election Commissioninstructions” (issued afterschedule for Assembly polls toUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,

Goa, Punjab and Manipur wasannounced on January 4), theletter said. The Commissionhas requested Sinha to ensurethat its instructions “arebrought to the notice of all con-cerned for strict compliance inletter and spirit.”

The ECI had earlier sent anotification to all states toclear the photos of Politicalleaders from Hoardings beforethe polls. It said that the pollmachinery in the five poll-bound states has to clear orcover the political leader's pho-tos on all the Hoardings andadvertisements.

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The EC has prohibited tele-cast of election-related

issues by TV and other mediaduring the prescribed period of48 hours before polling in con-stituencies in the five stateswhere assembly elections arescheduled. Violation of thismay entail 2 years’ imprison-ment and fine or both.

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Aday after External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj

ordered Amazon to withdrawsale of doormats with Indianflag in Canada, the companywithdrew the items from itswebsite and issued an apology.

In a letter to Swaraj, vice-president and CountryManager of Amazon IndiaAmit Agarwal wrote: “I amwriting in connection withthe products that carried theIndian flag, as referred to inyour tweet... Amazon India iscommitted to respectingIndian laws and customs. Tothe extent that these itemsoffered by a third-party sellerin Canada offended Indiansensibilities, Amazon regretsthe same. At no time did weintend or mean to offendIndian sentiments.”

In his letter, Agarwal alsoexplained that a third-partyseller, not Amazon, had listedthese products for sale inCanada. “These products werenot available in India. Afterlearning of the products’ list-ing, we immediately removedthem from the Canadian web-

site and implemented mea-sures to ensure that theseproducts could not be sold onany of our other marketplacesor websites,” he said. Agarwalalso offered to meet Swaraj todiscuss the issue and Amazon’sbroader relationship withIndia.

Agarwal added thatAmazon remains committed toIndia, which was evident byCEO Jeff Bezos’ announce-ment last year of company’splans to invest $5 billion inIndia. “We value immenselyour relationship with the

Indian Government, the coun-try’s entrepreneurs and inno-vators, an most importantlyour Indian customers andemployees,” Agarwal said.

Following a complaint onWednesday about AmazonCanada selling doormatsdepicting Indian flag on its site,Swaraj asked the company toimmediately withdraw theproducts and tender an uncon-ditional apology, or face visaban for its officials. TheMinister had also asked theIndian Embassy to take up thematter with Amazon Canada.

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Upset over MahatmaGandhi’s picture missing

on the calendar of the Khadi andVillage Industries Commssion, asection of its workers here stageda protest on Thursday, andsought to know as to why theimage of the father of the nationwas left out, while featuringPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a brief protest, dozens ofworkers associated with KVICwho gathered at SuburbanVile-Parle, said they were rais-

ing the issuesince Gandhihad been thedriving forcebehind theKhadi move-ment.

“We are notagainst inclusionof Modiji’s pic-ture on the dairies and calendars,but pained not to find Gandhiji’spicture. We simply want toknow why Gandhiji has notbeen given the space here ? IsGandhi ji no more relavant for

Khadi industry?” said one ofthem.

The protestors alsodemanded reprinting of thecalendars with Gandhi's picturebeing featured on them.

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Defying age, new IAF chiefBirender Singh Dhanoa on

Thursday flew a Mig-21 soloduring a visit to Utarlai forwardairbase in Rajasthan. Rare for asenior officer to fly a fighter jetdue to inherent risks involved,he undertook the sortie fornearly 30 minutes and toucheddown in a smooth manner.

Having assumed charge ofthe IAF on December 31 lastyear, Dhanoa flew the planeduring his first visit to the for-ward operational base.Normally, senior officers refrainfrom combat flying solo due tovarious factors brought aboutby age, officials said Dhanoawas found flying fit to under-take the sortie.

Incidentally, Dhanoa, whostarted his career 40 years backby flying MIG-21s, the oldestfighter planes in the IAF inven-tory, had flown the same typeof aircraft during Kargil oper-ations in 1999 and carried outmany night strike missions inthe difficult and dangerousmountainous terrain. He was

awarded Yudh Sewa medal forthese gallant acts.

He is also the first IAF chiefto fly solo since then top bossAY Tipnis under took similarsolo sorties in a MIG-21 atBareilly airbase more than 15years back. At that time, IAFwas facing flak for flying MIG-21s which had seen a spate ofmishaps.

Then Defence MinisterGeorge Fernandes also flew ina two-seater MIG-21 at Ambalaairbase in those days in a bid to

allay apprehensions about thesafety record of MIG-21s.President APJ Abdul Kalamand Pratibha Patil also flew ina twin-seater SU-30, the front-line fighter jet of IAF.

Dhanoa flew the MIG-21on Thursday during his firstvisit to a forward operationalairbase since taking over as IAFchief, officials said here. He willbe there till Saturday to takestock of operational readinessof the IAF in the western sec-tor facing Pakistan.

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After Rose Valley comesNarada. There was more

embarrassment for the MamataBanerjee Government with theCalcutta High Court onThursday questioning the Stateas to why the investigationinto the Narada sting andbribery case would not behanded over to the CBI.

The ruling TrinamoolCongress was currently underimmense pressure after theCBI arrested senior partyleader and MP SudipBandopadhya in the RoseValley chit fund case.

In what could give addi-tional goose bumps to at leasta dozen of Trinamool MPs andMinisters-already smartingunder the chit fund pressure-acting Chief Justice NishitaMatre asked Trinamool MPand senior counsel KalyanBanerjee as to why the case

should not be handed over tothe CBI throwing out the pleaof advocate’s plea that the Statepolice was capable enough toprobe the case.

A sting video tape aired inMarch 2016 showed a galaxy ofTMC leaders including MPsSougato Roy, Aparupa Poddar,Prasun Banerjee, Kakoli GhoshDastidar, Sultan Ahmed andMinisters Subroto Mukherjee,Firhad Hakim, SovanChatterjee, Subhendu Adhikaryapart from a senior IPS officeraccepting bundles of cash fromNarada journalist MathewSammuel who presented him-self as a prospective investorseeking favours.

While Banerjee pointedout that the timing of thevideo referred to 2014 where-as it was aired just before the2016 Assembly elections prov-ing conspiracy angle the Courtsaid it was more concernedabout the content of the footage

than character or intent of theperson who shot it.

Hence the Court said a CBIinvestigation was more necessarythan the anything else to ascer-tain the truth of the matter. Thegenuineness of the footage hadalready been ascertained by theChandigarh-based forensic lab-oratory vide a HC order.

Meanwhile the Rose Valleycase tended to take a new turnwith the investigators havingcome to know about a newmethod through which theTrinamool leaders includingministers and MPs extortedfavours from jailed chit fundMoghul Gautam Kundu.

Sources said a jailed MPand some of Ministers-whohad met Kundu several timesin 2013-14 at a five star facili-ty off the EM Bypass in Kolkata-had told him that it wasincreasingly becoming diffi-cult for them to handle somuch of cash taken from him.Hence he was requested topay them in gold.

Kundu bad by that timeinvested hugely in jewellerybusiness in the name of hisdaughter. The gold outlets setup then were still doing busi-ness.

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The Kolkata Police onThursday refused to give

permission to RSS for holdinga rally at the celebrated BrigadeParade Ground in Kolkata,sources said.

The rally to be addressedby RSS chief Mohan Bhagwatwas to be held on January 14.

While the police refusedpermission on ground that thetime would coincide with theMakar Sankranti Mela, RSSsources found “narrow politics”behind the denial of permis-sion. The organisation is plan-ning to move the High Court,sources said.

Meanwhile, in a similardevelopment the TrinamoolCongress ruled AsansolMunicipal Corporation onThursday got a resoundingrebuff in the High Court whenits decision to not allow SansadMela to be organised by MPBabul Supriyo at the localRailway Stadium was set aside.

A Division Bench of theCourt on Thursday threw outthe AMC order allowing theBJP MP to hold his function.

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The uncertainty associatedwith the conducting of

Jallikattu, the rural sport of bulltaming, has led to an ugly situ-ation with all leading politicalparties in Tamil Nadu comingout in the open against the BJP-led NDA Government at theCentre. The Congress and theDMK have succeeded in direct-ing the ire of the masses towardsthe BJP-led Government at theCentre though the SupremeCourt ban on Jallikattu wasbased on the affidavit submittedby the UPA Government led byManmohan Singh.

Thousands of youth includ-ing college students across theState came out in the open onThursday shouting slogansagainst the Narendra Modi gov-ernment and the BJP for its indif-ference towards the ban onJallikattu. “This is a sponta-neous arising of students. Therewere no leaders to lead them butthe youth took to the streets ontheir own. This is a strangephenomenon as this is the firsttime in recent history a demon-stration of this kind is happen-

ing in the State,” said GK Nagaraj,president, KongunaduJananayaga Katchi, who is aprominent educationist in southwest Tamil Nadu.

Tamil nationalist parties likethe DMK, MDMK, DMDK,PMK and the Tamil separatistentities like Dravida Kazhakamled by K Veeramani and NaamTamizhar led by Seeman Francishave seen this as an ideal oppor-tunity to arouse anti-Hindi sen-timents all over Tamil Nadu. MKStalin, the DMK working pres-ident, had exhorted his cadre tostage protests all over TamilNadu to oppose the move by theBJP to saffronise Tamil Nadu bynot allowing the Jallikattu to hap-pen in the State.

“The common man is notaware of the fact that Jallikkattuwas banned by the SupremeCourt following the affidavit

prepared and submitted duringthe tenure of the Congress at theCentre. The DMK and theCongress have succeeded in cre-ating an impression that the banon Jallikkattu is a handiwork ofthe Modi government,” saidNagaraj. He also pointed out thatthere is a possibility of a Centre-State stand off in the name ofJallikattu.

Though Jayanthi Natarajan,the former Union Minister forenvironment during the UPAregime squarely had blamedJayarama Ramesh, her successorin the Ministry for the ban onJallikkattu, the people of TamilNadu are yet to understand it.The media in Tamil Nadu playeddown the statement byNatarajan.

There was expectationamong the people that the banon Jallikattu may be lifted in the

last hours to Pongal (which fallson Saturday) and preparationswere underway all over TamilNadu for conducting the tradi-tional sport. But the announce-ment by the apex court that itwould not be able to take up thematter before Pongal dampenedthe spirit of the people.

“Whether there is court banor not, we will have Jallikattu onall days during the Pongal fes-tivities,” said a group of farmersat Tirupur, a south west district.Villages in Madurai and Torupurare ready with the infrastructureto host the sport. “Whoeverprepared the affidavit that wasgiven to the SC has done it withulterior motives. Either they areignorant about the true sport orthey want to finish off the Indiannative bulls,” said Jayakumarwho owns half-a-dozenKangeyam bulls.

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AShillong court onThursday sent arrested

Meghalaya MLA JuliusDorphang for 14 days’ judicialcustody. The rebel-turned-politician, Dorphang had rapeda 14-year-old girl in a guesthouse in December. The vic-tim, who had filed an FIR onDecember 16, had accused atleast eight people of sexuallyexploiting her.

The independentLegislator, had gone into hid-ing after the FIR was filed bythe victim and he was arrestedfrom the Inter State BusTerminus (ISBT) in Guwahationly last week and taken intopolice custody.

“The accused had admittedhis involvement in the sexualassault to the girl. He is coop-erating with us and there is noneed for further interrogation.His police custody ended todayand so we produced him in thecourt today and the courtremanded him in 14 days judi-cial custody,” saidSuperintendent of PoliceShillong (City) Vivek Syiem onThursday said.

It may be mentioned herethat the Meghalaya capital hadwitnessed noisy protests in thepast few days over the issue ofsexual assault to the minor girland demanding exemplarypunishment to those involvedin the crime. Some NGOs andsocial organisation had alsoaccused the police of trying toshield the independent MLAand protested opposing bail tothe arrested legislator.

Dorphang is the founder-chairman of banned rebel out-fit Hynniewtrep NationalLiberation Council (HNLC).He surrendered and came overground in 2007 following dif-ferences with other leaders ofthe outfit.

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The majestic “Khanderi” slidgracefully into the Arabian

Sea on Thursday, thus markingthe launch of second of theIndian Navy’s Scorpene-classstealth submarine and paving theway for her sea trials.

Minister of State for DefenceSubhash Bhamre “launched”Khanderi into the sea in the pres-ence of Chief of the Naval StaffAdmiral Sunil Lanba and a hostof other dignitaries at a ceremo-ny held at the Mazagon DockShipyard Limited (MDL) here.

Khanderi is the second of sixKalvari-class submarines built bythe MDL in collaboration withMessrs DCNS of France. She isexpected to be delivered to theIndian Navy by the end of thisyear. She has been christenedafter her illustrious predecessor,an erstwhile ‘Foxtrot’ class sub-marine decommissioned in1989, which is as per the tradi-tions of Indian Navy.

The first of the Kalvari-class submarine is currentlyundergoing sea trials and likelyto be commissioned into Navyby mid 2017. These submarines,post induction, would form thecore of Navy’s conventionalSubmarine Arm.

Speaking on the occasion,Bhamre said that Project 75

Kalvari was a key milestone inself reliance and indigenisationfor the country.

Admiral Lanba, during hisaddress, said that the fact thatSubmarine ‘Khanderi’ comparedwith the best in the world and itslaunch spoke highly of the expe-rience and expertise the country’sshipbuilders have gained over theyears. “Since the Indian Navy cel-ebrates Golden Jubilee of the sub-

marine arm in 2017, the induc-tion of Project 75 submarineswill mark the beginning of a newchapter in our submarine capa-bilities,” he said.

Khanderi’s launch alsomarks a critical milestone eventfor the Shipyard which earlier hasdelivered two Shishumar classsubmarines in the 90’s and hasnow strengthened its position asa submarine building yard forIndian Navy.

Started as a small dry dockfacility for East India Company,MDL has established itself as aforefront Defence Public SectorUndertaking, with indigenousconstruction of several shipsand submarines for Navy such asP 15B destroyers and P 17A classstealth Frigates being the latest.

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Aftermath of the allegedmolestation on the new

year’s eve, the concert ofFrench DJ David Guetta’sscheduled in Bengaluru forThursday night, has beencalled off with the organisersciting “law and order situation”.He was on a four-city tourwhich was expected to beginfrom Bengaluru and thenmove to Mumbai, Hyderabadand New Delhi.

“Due to the present law andorder situation in Bengaluru fol-lowing the events that tran-spired around new year’s eve,the authorities have recom-mended against holding theDavid Guetta concert scheduledtoday in the city,” Karan Singh,CEO, Sunburn, said in a state-ment. “We at Sunburn tried ourvery best to make it happen butthe authorities understandablyare not prepared to take anychances. Hence, today’s concertunfortunately stands cancelled,”he added.

But the police said theyhave suggested that the event

be rescheduled, not because oflaw and order fears, butbecause permission for theevent was sought too late bythe organisers and a local elec-tion was already being held inthe area on Thursday.

Bengaluru ruralSuperintendent Of Police AmitSingh said, “A big event hap-pened here, in the same district.I don’t have enough force tohandle 20,000 people. Keepingthe elections in mind we havenot given permission. If you

organise such a big event, alllogistical arrangements shouldbe looked into and authoritiesshould be spoken with as well.”

However organisers saidGuetta’s other shows inMumbai, New Delhi andHyderabad would go on asscheduled. Bengaluru wasDavid Guetta’s first stop on hisfour-city tour. He performs inMumbai on Friday, inHyderabad on Saturday and inDelhi suburb Noida onSunday.

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Goa's two major politicalparties, the ruling BJP and

the Congress, on Thursdayreleased their first list of can-didates for the February 4Assembly elections.

While the Congress list of27 candidates includes namesof four Chief Ministers and sev-eral fresh faces as candidates,the BJP list of 29 candidatesincludes the names of 19 sittingMLAs including Chief MinisterLaxmikant Parsekar anddeputy Chief Minister FrancisD'Souza and six CabinetMinisters.

The Congress candidate listissued by All Indian CongressCommittee general secretaryMadhusudan Mistry's includesthe names of Pratapsingh Rane(Poriem), Ravi Naik (Ponda),Digambar Kamat (Margao) andLuizinho Faleiro (Navelim) allof whom have served as ChiefMinisters of the State over thelast two decades.

Incidentally, Kamat was oneof the main accused in the LouisBerger scam and was chief min-ister when the controversial ten-der to build sewerage and watersupply infrastructure was award-ed to the international consul-tancy company.

The Congress also appearsto have gone back on its own

promise not to promote 'familyraaj' by giving tickets to the hus-band-wife duo of ChandrakantKavlekar (Quepem) and SavitriKavlekar (Sanguem) and thefather-son duo of PratapsinghRane (Poriem) and VishwajitRane (Valpoi).

Out of the list of 27 candi-dates, the Congress list alsoincludes 11 candidates, who areeither contesting State

Assembly polls or are contest-ing on the Congress ticket forthe first time.

Party sources said, that theremaining seats would beannounced soon and would bedependent on the alliance talkswith regional parties like GoaForward and United Goans.“The rest of the names will bereleased in a few days,” partysources said.

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With all eyes on theElection Commission of

India verdict over the split inthe 25-year-old SamajwadiParty over its traditional elec-tion symbol of ‘cycle,’ both fac-tions have their contingencyplan ready. The Akhilesh Yadavfaction want ‘motorcycle’ assymbol while Mulayam Singhsupporters have approachedLok Dal to allow them to use itstraditional symbol of ‘farmerploughing the filed (hal jottakisan).

Both factions have filedpetitions claiming themselves tobe the real Samajwadi Party.Both are asking for ‘cycle’ astheir election symbol. MulayamSingh is camping in Delhi whilehis cousin Ram Gopal Yadav isholding fort on behalf ofAkhilesh Yadav. Sources saidthat the Chief Minister couldrush to Delhi anytime, ifrequired.

The Election Commissionhas called both factions to

appear before it at 11.30 am onFriday for hearing, after whichit will pronounce its verdict onthe symbol.

Sources claimed that

Mulayam Singh has approachedPresident of Lok Dal SunilSingh through Amar Singhand has shown interest in con-testing polls on the traditional

symbol of ‘hal jotta kisan’.Sunil Singh had admitted

that some leaders close toMulayam Singh hadapproached him. “ I am inter-ested in giving my symbol toMulayam as he is an old fol-lower of Charan Singh andwas even elected to theAssembly for the first time onthis symbol,” he said.

Singh earned the status ofrightful representative of LokDal and was authorised to usethe symbol by ElectionCommission after a long legalbattle with Charan Singh’s sonAjit Singh. The latter had torechristian his party asRashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) withthe election symbol of ‘hand-pump’.

Onthe other hand, theAkhilesh camp does not lookthat perturbed any more andare not ready to lose their sleepover this. They have made uptheir mind to settle for ‘motor-cycle’ – the free symbol avail-able with Election Commissionas the new election symbol of

their outfit. “We want ‘cycle’ asthe election symbol. By anychance if we are unable to getit, then we will opt for ‘motor-cycle’ as it will help us tell vot-ers about our progress fromcycle to motorcycle,” a senior SP(Akhilesh group) leader said.

“We know there can besome problem in getting cycleas election symbol and the ECcan freeze this traditional sym-bol. We have done our home-work. We are told that ‘motor-cycle’ is free and available,” thesenior SP leader said.

The blue print of the cam-paign has already been pre-pared which revolves aroundprogress from ̀ cycle’ to ‘motor-cycle’. “Is it not routine in everyhousehold ? We start with cycleand then switch over to motor-cycle when we progress in life,”he said.

So how to convey to voters– a good section of them illit-erate – about the change insymbol of Samajwadi Party ?Here too, the Akhilesh camphas its plan ready.

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Even as speculation of a‘pact’ between Congress

and Samajwadi Party (AkhileshYadav group) is rife, workersand senior leaders preparingthe ground to fight theAssembly poll are annoyed inboth parties, especially inCongress.

Only the sitting Legislatorshave a ‘smile’ on their faces asthey perceive it as an ‘opportu-nity’ to ride safely to the UPAssembly with each other’s help.“I was not upset with the spec-ulation of a Congress-SP pact.What worries me more is thathow we will face the public whenwe go together after publicly crit-icising Akhilesh Yadav and hisGovernment for lawlessness,underdevelopment and the pre-sent mess in UP,” quipped asenior Congress leader seeking

ticket from Lucknow. “I was surprised that senior

Congress leaders convenientlyforgot our successful campaign‘27 Saal-UP Behal’, in which wecriticised the BJP, BSP alongwith the ruling SP holdingthem responsible for pushingthe State towards backward-ness,” said the leader.

“We may manage to getsome more seats in theAssembly elections, butthetruck will do more damage tothe party in the long run anddemotivate the workers,” heopined.

Interestingly, some youthsleaders who were upbeat afterRahul Gandhi assured of pro-moting the youngsters in theelections, are now depressedand were even started criticis-ing the party think tankthrough a newly fomed‘Whatsapp’ group.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)has announced three candi-

dates of the total five for the bi-ennial elections to Graduate andTeachers constituencies for UPLegislative Council to be heldnext month.

State BJP spokespersonChandramohan released thenames of three candidates afterapproval by State presidentKeshav Prasad Maurya.

The candidates are JaipalSingh Vasyth from Bareilly-Moradabad Graduate seat, ArunPathak from Kanpur Graduateseat and Devendra Pratap Singhfrom Gorakhpur-FaizabadGraduate seat. The election forthe Council seats will be held onFebruary 3 and the counting willbe held on February 6.

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KChandrasekhar Rao com-mission is coming under

pressure to release the report ofBhaskara Rao commissionwhich had probed the policefiring on the people outsideHyderabad’s Mecca masjid fol-lowing a bomb blast in 2007.

The firing with automaticweapons on the protestingworshippers had left 5 peopledead and scores of othersinjured on May 18, 2007.Though the commission hadsubmitted its report to theGovernment long ago it was yetto be made public.

The issue has come intosharp focus with the govern-ment rejecting a query underRight to Information Act filedby a Hyderabad based activistSQ Masood seeking the copy ofthe report. The activist hadasked for the report for acad-emic purpose but the govern-ment refused to part with it.

When the activist chal-lenged it before the ChiefInformation Commissioner thestate government officials failedto turn up for the hearing of thecase by CIC despite a noticebeing issued to the Generaladministration department.

Now Majlis e IttehadulMuslimeen (MIM) has comeout strongly demanding thatthe report be tabled in the cur-rent session of Telangana leg-islative assembly.

“What is the need of theGovernment to treat it as anofficial secret,” asked the MIMpresident and Hyderabadmember of ParliamentAsaduddin Owaisi. He urgedthe government to table thecommission's report as well asthe Action Taken Report onJanuary 17 when the Assemblysession resumes after the festi-val holiday. Asad also vent hisfrustration over the silence ofthe Government throughTwitter. “Why is it being keptin wraps as some sort of Statesecret,” he wondered.

The State was underCongress rule when the bombblast in the Mecca Masjid andsubsequent police firing outsidethe mosque took place in May18, 2007.

Pointing out that the TRSwas not in power at the time ofthe incident Owaisi said thatthe purpose of the setting upthe commission would fail ifpeople are not informed aboutthe conclusions of the com-mission.

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The frenzy of Telugu filmbuffs reached a crescendo

in both Andhra Pradesh andTelangana and other Telugucommunities abroad with theblockbusters of the two superstars Chiranjeevi andNandamuri Balakrishna hittingthe screens on two consecutivedays.

A day after Chiranjeevi’scomeback movie “Qaidi No150”, 150th film of his careercreated a record of sorts by hit-ting 1000 screens and lappedup by his enthusiastic fanseverywhere, Balakrishna’s100th film, a historic saga"Gautamiputra Satakarani" wasreleased on equal number ofscreens.

In what was turned into ano hold barred fight for one-upmanship between the twocamps the crazy fans turnedevery big theatre featuring thefilm of their favourite hero intovenue of a massive celebrationssigning, dancing and burstingthe crackers.

As this was Chiranjeevi's

first first film after a long gapof ten years, it was an undoubt-edly a big festival time for hisfans and admirers and the ini-tial box office reports show theMega star has not disappoint-ed them.

Shankar Dada Zindabadwas his last film ten years agoafter which he made a forayinto politics launching PrajaRajyam Party in 2009 but itended in failure. After a listlesspolitical career in which hemerged his party in Congressbecame member of RajyaSabha and also a JuniorMinister in UPA II Chiranjeevidecided to comeback where hebelongs to.

In what is being billed as a“clash of titans of Tollywood”on the happy occasion ofSankranthi festival Balakrishnachose the story of 7thSatavahana king to portray apowerful character in his typ-ical style on a epic scale withwar and romance thrown in.

Chiranjeevi’s comebackmovie is like many other typi-cal Masala movie in his Megastyle of the past.

GANDHINAGAR: With over25,500 MoUs across all majorsectors during the past threedays, the eighth edition ofVibrant Gujarat concluded onThursday evening amid ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani claimthat success of the event wouldestablish Gujarat as gateway toIndian economy.

Though Gujarat is goingfor assembly polls in 2017, theChief Minister indirectlyexpressed confidence over vic-tory of his party indirectly byinviting all the delegates presentat the valedictory function for theninth edition of Vibrant Gujaratto be organised in January 2019.CM Rupani said that the flagshipbiennial event of Gujarat gov-ernment would be organizedcontinuously in coming years.

“Delegates came from acrossthe globe to attend VibrantGujarat would go back to theirrespective countries as brandambassador of the State. Afterseeing the reality of the state, theywould definitely speak well aboutGujarat and India,” he said.

Talking about the success of

PM’s pet project GujaratInternational Finance Tec-City(GIFT City), he claimed that theestablishments to be set up atGIFT City would generate 10lakh jobs in future.

“Today is 154th birthanniversary of SwamiVivekananda and it is being cel-ebrated as National Youth Day.I am hopeful that VibrantGujarat would create lakhs ofnew employment opportuni-

ties,” said Union Minister ofDefense Manohar Parikar at thefunction.Gujarat’s Deputy ChiefMinister Nitin Patel gave sectorwise figures of MoUs andinformed that of the total 25,578MoUs signed during the pastthree days as many as 52 MoUswere amounting �4000 andabove. According to Patel com-pared to last edition of VibrantGujarat, this time 2,500 moreMoUs were signed. PNS

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Stressing on to increase con-vergence of interest between

United States and India oneconomic, defense and region-al issues would lead the dawnof a new era in US-India bilat-eral ties, said the United States’ambassador to India RichardVerma on the sidelines ofVibrant Gujarat Summit 2017.

As one of the partner coun-tries for the eighth edition ofVibrant Summit, USA sent thelargest non-Indian delegationcomprised of Government offi-cials and executives representing

over 100 US companies. Theofficial US Government delega-tion to Vibrant Gujarat was ledby US Assistant Secretary ofState for South and CentralAsian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswaland US Ambassador to IndiaRichard Verma.

The US business delegationwas led by John Chambers,Executive Chairman of CiscoSystems and Chairman of theUS-India Business Council,and included a number ofother American CEOs whotravelled from the UnitedStates. This is the second timethat the United States has

served as a Partner Country forVibrant Gujarat, a level of parUS Government’s commitmentto engage through such eventswith the Government, businesscommunity, and people ofGujarat and of India as a whole.

At the US CountrySeminar at the event a memo-randum of understandingsigned between Amazon Indiaand the Government of Gujaratunder which tribal entrepre-neurs would be educated,trained and enabled to direct-ly sell their products toAmazon customers in Indiaand across the globe.

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JD(U) national presidentNitish Kumar has planned

for the expansion of his partyout of Bihar in order to makeit a national party.

The core committee meet-ing of the party called onJanuary 23 is likely to discusshow to realize this plan andchart out strategies for con-testing polls in other States.

The meeting called byChief Minister Nitish Kumarassumes significance as itwould be held after the jointmeeting of the grand alliancepartners the same day wherethe RJD and Congress leadersare expected to raise certainimportant issues on which theyhave differences with theJD(U).

The most importantamong them would be demon-etisation issue which has beensupported by Nitish but vehe-mently opposed by other twoconstituents of the BiharGovernment.

Nitish and former JD(U)president Sharad Yadav aresupposed to share their viewson note ban experienced dur-ing the Nishchay Yatra by theCM and coordination withother parties on the same issueby Yadav respectively.

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Culture, tradition andadherence to some ofour time-tested valueshave to become anessential part of Indian

life and economic behaviour. Weshould adopt some of the mostdesirable traits of Western cultureand civilisation, but we must shunsome of its more pernicious andundesirable characteristics, such asthe obsession with consumingmore and more.

What is of deep concern is thegrowing power of the large corpo-ration on decision-making at everylevel on Governments all over theworld, including those in thiscountry, and their huge influenceon human behaviour. Equally ofconcern is the power of advertis-ing, which reaches our homesthrough television and radio andincreasingly everywhere, now thatwe carry our telephones with us.Advertising was largely responsiblefor the increase in tobacco con-sumption during the 20th century.Hollywood in particular had a veryimportant part to play in creatingiconic images of stars who appearedin movies seldom without a ciga-rette or cigar between their lips.

The relevant question to answertoday, or at least to be debated, iswhether India should abandon itscultural roots and time-tested val-ues while adopting the Westernobsession with consumerism or weshun the appeal of “voluptuous con-sumption” (a term that formerPresident of India, KR Narayananused in his inaugural address at TheEnergy and Resources Institute’s sil-ver jubilee conference in 2000).Those who reach upper middleclass status or higher in India aredriven by a fixation to consume atthe same levels as their counterpartsin the developed world.

However, the richest of the rich,particularly in the US, have estab-lished a remarkable record of pri-vate philanthropy, where so manybillionaires have given away theirentire riches for the benefit of soci-ety. Have any of our billionairesshown even a fraction of thatbenevolence by genuinely con-tributing towards good causes?Have they emulated the remarkablerecord of innovation and thinkingout-of-the-box that has createdunprecedented economic success inthe developed countries?

If one looks at our record ofpatenting and innovation, we arelight years apart from the capacityand achievement attained in theWestern world. There are someislands of excellence such as ourspace programme which continueto demonstrate the inherent capa-

bilities of Indian society, but thisreality is sadly accompanied byinnumerable examples of institu-tions which may have reachedgreat heights through hard workand perseverance but destroyedovernight through bureaucraticcontrols and approaches.

It takes years of blood andsweat to build an institution ofexcellence, but an extremely shortperiod of time to bring it to a levelof ridiculous mediocrity throughbureaucratic management. Theresult is that even our knowledgeorganisations widely follow culturesderived from bureaucratic systems.They gather large numbers ofpeons and clerks, distorting what isreferred to as the teeth to tail ratio.

After 70 years of indepen-dence, India still exhibits a colonialmindset and a fascination for val-ues and preferences prevalent in thedeveloped world. But we have stillnot created a culture of innovationand efficiency which is the hallmarkof Western society, and which ifgenuinely imbibed by us, wouldhelp the average person on the streetand help alleviate widespreadpoverty. This is perhaps an appro-priate moment for us to introspecton the totally alien lifestyles and val-ues which we have adopted by emu-lating the West, while shutting our

eyes to its strengths. In the US, for instance, one sel-

dom finds the destructive envy thatis so common in India towardsthose who excel in society despiteall odds. Typically, even when twopersons in those societies dislikeeach other, one seldom finds hur-dles and obstacles being placed inthe path of achieving benefits to anorganisation or society, and thusensuring that if a job had to be doneeveryone facilitates it even if the per-son responsible is unpopular.

And, in the developed worldthere are often distinct differenceswhich reflect differences in values,ethics and a concern for environ-mental protection. Why shouldwe not emphasise the way of life inthe Nordic countries rather thanNorth America or other opulentsocieties which consume and wasteon a large scale?

In this world of instant com-munication and particularly inpopulous countries like India, weunderestimate the extent to whichour actions could have an impacton the rest of the world. If India pur-sued a more culture and traditionbased pattern of development, thatwould clearly provide a powerfulmodel for the rest of the world tofollow. In essence, in today’s world,it is inevitable that there is a con-

vergence between developed anddeveloping economic systems.There is already a powerful sectionof thinkers and economists who areemphasising what is labelled as thephilosophy of degrowth.

A more appropriate term, andcertainly more appealing, would beto regard the transformationrequired as redevelopment.Essentially, the desired transforma-tion that the world needs is reallymore about substitution than reduc-tion. Fossil fuels would give way torenewable forms of energy; metalsand minerals would be replaced bybio based materials; and even dietswould move towards much loweramounts of animal protein, revers-ing the increasing trends whichhave been pushed in recent decadesby advertising the ‘virtues’ of exces-sive consumption of meat.

At the pain of repetition, itwould be necessary to remind our-selves of what Mahatma Gandhisaid when he was asked whether hewould not want India to reach thesame level of prosperity as Britain.He responded by stating that Britainhad reached its level of so-calledprosperity by using half theresources of this planet, therefore,“how many planets would a coun-try like India require?”

It is time that we created a trulysustainable pattern of growth, anda meritocracy which displaces thecancer of bureaucratic systems thatare common through different lev-els of Government, the public sec-tor and knowledge organisations,including research institutions.Comparisons with China are oftennot valid, but I know intimately howChinese institutions have evolvedover the last four decades.

In the early 1980s, Chineseuniversities and centres of researchwere way behind ours, particular-ly since they had suffered the rav-ages of the cultural revolution.Today, China has some of the bestinstitutions in the world, and theirrecord of innovation and technol-ogy development is second tonone, and that too in a communistsociety. But centralised systems arenot allowed to suffocate the localautonomy of institutions that areagents of change. Our annual sci-ence congress emphasises Indiantraditions in science, we havefailed to create a scientific cultureto suit today’s challenges, withoutwhich our claims of greatnesswould remain hollow.

(This is the second and finalpart of a two-part series on over-consumerism)

(The writer is a formerchair-man, Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, 2002-2015)�

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Sir — It is normal for a person toseek power and wealth. If wealthcomes first, then his next quest isfor power. If power comes first,wealth follows naturally. I ruminateon this subject of power and pelfafter listening to Barack Obama’sfarewell speech as the outgoing USPresident. Obama came from alower middle class family with thedisadvantage of being bi-racial,and made it to the highest office asthe US President.

In contrast, incomingPresident Donald Trump is a bil-lionaire, and arrogant, which is adeadly combination. For Trump,humility is anathema; in contrast,Obama is a great humanist.Coming back to Obama’s farewellspeech, he made himself moreloveable after the speech thanwhen he was in the White House.

K Ravi Bhubaneswar

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Sir — Outgoing US PresidentBarack Obama will be rememberedas a great statesman in world’s his-tory. What he has represented andhow he has borne himself in officemust be seen as more significant

and striking than what he hasdone or achieved during his eight-year stint in the White House.Obama’s public image is not differ-ent from the real person. He hasembodied the essential goodness ofhuman nature in his public life andpersonal life alike.

An impressively tall, lankyblack American President sportinga disarming smile, exuding ebul-lience and talking sense in his sten-torian voice like Nelson Mandela’s,Obama has been a world leader. Nowonder, thousands braved theharsh winter in Chicago to hear himdeliver the farewell speech and mil-lions were glued to the TV to hearhim one last time as President.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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Sir — There has been much hulla-baloo over a series of videos post-ed by a Border Security Forcejawan Tej Bahadur Yadav about thetroops going hungry due to mal-practices. The jawan has requestedthat this video be shared by every-one so that it gets media attention.

This message, he said, shouldbe heard in newsrooms across thecountry as a message of grief.Martyrdom is not the only timeto respect or pay tribute to a

jawan. The many sacrifices hemakes before that should benoted. But it’s a pity that the mediaspeaks about the soldier only atthe time of his martyrdom.

Politics aside, if a soldier has toimplore the Prime Minister for basicdaily meals, perhaps the meal plansneed a little re-looking. This isn’tasking for much. Coupled withunforgiving weather conditions,an empty stomach isn’t pleasant.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

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Sir — The National Flag is sym-bolic of one’s respect for thenation. However, there has been anew trend to sell flags, made ofpaper and plastic, as independenceday or Republic Day approaches.With a sense of national pride,people buy such flags but the verynext day, we find these flags beingtrampled on roads, in dustbins andelsewhere. By allowing this to hap-pen, people forget that they areinsulting the National Flag. Thisdisrespect towards our flag mustcome to an end.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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The Constitution of India is aliving document. Since its adoption by the ConstituentAssembly on November 26,1949, the text of the

Constitution has been amended severaltimes by the Parliament. AlthoughParliament represents the popular willof the people, yet when it comes to win-ning public trust, the judiciary enjoysmore credibility over the executive orthe legislature.

One reason could be that for an average citizen, accessing courts to redressgrievances is more prompt and convenientthan to approach the concerned electedrepresentative. Second, judicial process follows the principles of natural justicewhere no citizen can be denied justicewithout being heard. And lastly, the judiciary’s task to fiercely defend the constitutional ideals of the Preamble anduphold the Fundamental Rights of citizens, gives it a high moral place in thehearts and minds of citizens. When everything fails, there is hope that thejudiciary will never fail its citizens.

It is this hope that has led the judi-ciary to attain an important place in the development of law in the country. Butthere is a flip side to it too. Judiciary’spowers are restricted by the concept ofseparation of powers. Though the judiciary, executive and legislature oper-ate in separate compartments, yet func-tionally, the Supreme Court and HighCourts have got extraordinary powers bywhich they can nullify decisions of theexecutive and quash laws passed byParliament. This power of judicial reviewhas led the judiciary to hold an overarch-ing presence over the remaining organs,giving it some sort of a superiority,which the Constitution did not envisage.

This has come to mould even the pub-lic opinion. For instance, the SupremeCourt recently assured to ease inconve-nience faced by public due to demonetisa-tion of �500 and �1,000 currency notes. Atthe end, when the matter was decided, nointerim orders were passed. But the judgeswere not accused of letting down the public. Perhaps, nobody will. Since in theabsence of a Lokpal, on which the Centrehas been dragging its feet, the judiciary isseen as the lone sentinel to punish corrup-tion in public life. This is amply evidentthrough the court-monitored investiga-tions into the recent 2G spectrum scamand Coalgate. But the question one mustask is: Has the judiciary lived up to thetrust placed by the public.

In October 2015, the Supreme Courtstruck down The National JudicialAppointments Commission Act that waspassed by both Houses of Parliament andratified by about 20 State Assemblies. Inone stroke, the new system was out and

the old, existing collegium system wasrevived. The judges did admit that thecollegium system was opaque and needed reform. It allowed the Centre toamend the procedure under collegiumsystem. When the Centre insisted onmaking appointments as per theamended procedure, the SupremeCourt in a PIL threatened to summonthe Prime Minister’s Office official rais-ing this objection. By a judicial order ina PIL, the Supreme Court has refusedto honour the verdict pronounced byits Constitution Bench. By their ownact, the judiciary has caused furthersuspicion over a closed-door mecha-nism to select judges.

While talking of transparency, thejudiciary undertook an exercise toreform the richest cricket body of theworld, the Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) by making itsfunds accountable in the interest ofthe game. The court constituted aCommittee of three judges headed byformer CJI RM Lodha, who interactedwith veterans and experts of the gameand proposed a slew of reforms. It wasimplemented by way of a Court order.Since BCCI President Anurag Thakurand Secretary Ajay Shirke refused tocomply, they were thrown out byanother judicial order. A panel ofadministrators will now run theBoard, the names of which are to beproposed by two senior lawyers —Anil Divan and Gopal Subramanium.Following the court’s verdict, Thakurreplied, “If the Supreme Court feelsthat the BCCI will do better underretired judges, I wish them good luck.”One needs to ask whether judgesshould become administrators.

Explaining the boundary of judicialreview, a five-judge Constitution Benchin the famous Bachan Singh vs State ofPunjab case, decided on August 16,1982, said: “The primary function ofthe courts is to interpret and apply thelaws according to the will of those whomade them and not to transgress intothe legislative domain of policy-mak-ing.” It quoted Lord Devlin of the Houseof Lords, as saying, “Judges are thekeepers of the law and the keepers ofthese boundaries cannot, also, beamong out-riders.”

There is a growing feeling that judicial activism is gradually taking theshape of judicial adventurism. Take forinstance, a recent diktat of the SupremeCourt asking cinema halls in the coun-try to play the national anthem beforescreening of a movie. By the same order,the courts declared that all present in thehall should stand up. All this was anexercise in constitutional patriotism.

So what if a citizen fails to stand up.Is he to be treated as a criminal? Is theidea of patriotism to be practiced insidea cinema hall alone? When the SupremeCourt, as the final arbiter of justice, failsto think of these questions, and decidesto enforce a law that the majority fails torelate with, there is a danger of a dis-connect, that is certain to impact thepublic trust reposed in the judiciary. �

The Constitution ofIndia accepts the doctrine of ‘separation

of powers’. The basic grammar of this doctrinesuggests that one organ ofGovernment should not control or interfere with theexercise of its functions byanother organ. ‘Separation ofpowers’ ensures that thethree independent branches(judiciary, legislature andexecutive) follow a constitu-tional culture founded onnorms of mutual respect.

Unfortunately, immedi-ately after the advent of independent India, institu-tional conflicts arosebetween the three organsand gradually mutual disregard amongst branchesincreased. Due to the failureof successive Governments,both at the Centre and inStates, and in the conflict oncustodianship of theConstitution, the Supreme

Court was forced to eventually stretch its ambit toworks assigned to otherbranches. Three conceptsemerged here: Judicialactivism, judicial overreachand judicial self-restraint.

The Supreme Court initially adopted an activistapproach in the field ofproperty laws in view of a‘social revolution’. Duringand around Emergency(1975-77), two major eventshappened. First, two dramatic supersessions happened in view of form-ing a ‘committed judiciary’.Second, the 42ndConstitution Amendmentwas passed with a clear agenda of eroding judicialpower. To save its indepen-dence and to perform it’sduties to constitutional sat-isfaction, the SupremeCourt had to strengthen theactivist approach.

It was realised that

dependency on theGovernment was not healthyfor its existence and theSupreme Court decided toallow a citizen to knock itsdoors directly in form ofPublic Interest Litigation(PIL). A sense of securitydeveloped and independenceof judiciary was given in thehands of ‘primacy’ of Chief

Justice of India at the verythreshold of appointing ajudge to constitutional courts.

After the initial applaud,the apex court has, for quitesome time, been heavily criticised for judicial over-reach for stepping into fieldswherein its expertise did notlay. TR Andhyarujina calledit a ‘disturbing trend’ and

Soli Sorabjee termed it ‘judi-cial authoritarianism’. To balance judicial activism andjudicial overreach, judicialself-restraint was suggestedas to where and upto whatextent should the apex courtextend its powers.

Judicial activism can bedivided into positive andnegative. Positive activism isprogressive in nature anduses principled interferencewhile negative activism isreactionary and unwarranted.While I agree that judicial activism must beexercised delicately, I stronglyassert that to cure defects inthe largely defective system,positive judicial activismmust be saved and respected.

Positive judicial activismis necessary since it reinforces the strength ofdemocracy and reaffirms thefaith of the people in the ruleof law. The judiciary hasplayed a pro-active role in

ensuring that India developsas a strong democratic repub-lic. Timely interventions invarious matters, ranging fromcorporate frauds running intocrores to undertrials lan-guishing in jails, the judiciaryhas stepped out of the robe toprotect the rights of citizens.

The argument that judiciary is subordinate tolegislative wisdom as an actis passed after extensivedebates by parliamentarianswho represent the ‘direct will’of the subjects and judiciarybeing the ‘indirect will’ has alimited role, is incorrect. As amatter of fact, the SupremeCourt has multiple timesdeclined to participate inpurely political questions andpolicy matters not involvingdecision of a core legal issue.

The Supreme Court didnot come out of its comfortzone to massage its ego. It hadto boldly take the step ofassuming wide reviewing

powers to assist the state ineffective governance. Thisremarkable shift in the work-ing pattern has been a cau-tionary exercise and judges atthe highest level workedmeticulously to make surejustice is seem to be done. Inits adopted wider role, theapex court propounded theenvironmental law, labour lawand human rights jurispru-dence as we know today.

Judicial activism is a system of checks and bal-ances. Had the SupremeCourt not intervened legiti-mately and even supplantedthe Constitution vide variousdoctrinal supplements, jus-tice would have become adistant dream by now, wealthwould have concentrated infew hands and feudal set upwould have prevailed.Judiciary must be given itsdue credit. Judicial activism,the positive one must be, andI repeat — must besavedl. �

My Lords, this isjudicial adventurism

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No less than sixteen politicalparties have over the past

few days attempted to scuttle thepresentation of the Budget onthe 1st of February as decided bythe Government of India. Thisproposition has found reso-nance far beyond the politicalspectrum with eminent jurists aswell as former ElectionCommissioners claiming thischallenge as valid. However, asthis article will attempt to sug-gest - all such criticism, shouldit be challenged in law wouldcement its status as a frivolityattempted to mask the possibledebate on issues of relevance forthe poll-bound states.

In order to answer the ques-tion of the validity of theGovernment’s move to bring for-ward the Budget it is essential toprimarily understand the natureof the Budget itself.

As noted by theConstitution itself, specifically inArticle 112, the AnnualFinancial Statement has the pri-mary objective to reveal com-prehensive information to show-case the financial position of theGovernment and enable theParliament to debate the impactof such a program on the nation’seconomy. It is common knowl-edge that the Rajya Sabha has asubordinate role with respect tofinancial matters but what isoften overlooked is the prima-cy given to the Executive in ourConstitutional scheme. In morespecific terms, the Governmentmust table all financial propos-als and the Legislature itselfwould have no power to increasesuch proposals. As exemplifiedin Article 113(3) of ourConstitution, if such anamendment of increase were tobe passed, it would be tanta-mount to a vote of no confi-dence.

Furthermore, the primacyof the Government’s role inbudgetary procedures is furthercemented by the scheme of theannual financial statement itself.The estimates of expenditureincluded in the Budget have toshow separately the sumsrequired to meet expenditure:(1) which the Constitution hascharged on the ConsolidatedFund; and (2) the sums from theConsolidated Fund requiredmeeting other expenditure. Eventhough the expenditure con-tained in the first category canbe discussed in both Houses, thesame cannot be submitted to avote, thereby remaining theexclusive domain of theGovernment. Thus, ourConstitutional scheme itselfgives the Executive widespreadif not absolute powers in the callfor finances. This position is per-fectly summed up in Sir ErskineMay on Parliamentary Practiceas: “The Crown demandsmoney, the Commons grant itand the Lords assent to thegrant.”

This brings us to the ques-tion of “When?” Criticism hasbeen leveled at the identifieddate on two points: firstly, on theissue of procedure as to the abil-ity of the Government to tablea Budget that would adequate-ly represent the position of thepreceding year and second onthe propriety of the Governmenttaking such an action threedays before Uttar Pradesh goesto polls.

The first criticism suffersfrom a logical gap as to what theBudget is in fact meant for in thefirst instance and the absolutediscretion of the FinanceMinister to make this decisionin the second. Taking the first,as per the Constitution itself, thefinancial statement is prospec-tive, that is, estimate of receiptsand expenditure are always ofthe coming year. Similarly, Rule213 of the Rules of the House ofPeople makes it very clear thatthere is no bar on the presenta-tion of more than one Budget ina year. This entails that if theGovernment so feels, it has dis-cretion to table an InterimBudget when all information isnot at its disposal. In fact, asnoted in the treatises onConstitutional Law by DD Basu,during election years it is com-mon for the Budget to be pre-sented twice a year, even as avote on account is obtained inthe first set of Budget prior to theGeneral Election. This presen-tation before the Lok Sabhaelections is not an inviolable cus-tom and was done in the veryrecent past by the previousGovernment’s presentation ofthe Interim Budget in February2014. In terms of state electionstoo, the Election Commission in2013 allowed for the UnionMinistry of Agriculture toannounce a new MinimumSupport Price, despite electionsin Karnataka. An argument tosay that the Budget should notbe presented before an electionwould be tantamount to arguingby extension, in an electionyear there shouldn’t be a Budgetpresentation at all, which wouldcreate an absurdity.

Additionally, the primaryrole of the Finance Minister inmaking such a decision is estab-lished by clause 2 of Article 112of the Constitution itself. Theclause specifically provides thatthe Finance Minister may pre-sent the Budget in any form helikes subject only to two condi-tions that he must show sepa-rately the sums charged and notcharged on the ConsolidatedFund as well as the expenditureon revenue account. The day forthe presentation of the Budgethas not been specified by anyprovision but on the contraryRule 204 of the Lok Sabha pro-vides for such presentation onany day as the President, boundby the Council of Ministers, maydirect. In this light, the onlybody of individuals mandated toinfluence such a decision is the

Estimates Committee of theHouse, which may guide theMinister by making “sugges-tions”. Thus, constitutionally thedecision of presentation is notone of information availablebut rests with the appropriate-ness to be decided by theFinance Minister.

Finally, the meat of the crit-icism directed at the date ofBudget presentation is the ques-tion of propriety of such amove. In civilized societies pro-priety is judged on the legalityof such actions. Although judg-ing the propriety of actionsbefore they have taken place issuspect, the law as it stands bothin terms of the Representationof Peoples Act as well as theModel Code of Conduct allowfor the presentation of theBudget as scheduled. In 2013,the Supreme Court in S.Subramaniam Balaji declaredthat promises made by a politi-cal party could not constitute ascorrupt practice, more so if theModel Code of Conduct doesnot include such practice. Withrespect to Model Code, the pro-vision cited to criticize theBudget date is as follows -“Ministers and other authoritiesshall not announce any financialgrants in any form or promisesthereof”. This provision cannotcover the Budget on multiplegrounds. Firstly, it is not pro-vided in the Constitution as towho will present the Statementin the two houses, therefore, theBudget itself goes beyond indi-viduals. Secondly, the Codelooks to outlaw the announce-ment of financial grants specif-ically; the Budget on the otherhand is not a financial grant butan all-encompassing statementof a nation’s future economic sta-tus. Thus, most importantly,the Code is applicable to the pollbound states, which entails thata Constitutional mandate of thepresentation of the Budget hasa national character to it. This initself makes it fall outside thescope of the ElectionCommission’s purview.

Any question on the date ofpresentation would not onlyquestion constitutional integri-ty but also more importantlybring into doubt such nationalcharacter of the democratic set-up. Therefore, the Opposition tothe bringing forward the date ofthe Budget is a red herring in thenational political spheres. Therecan be no doubt the move islegal and mandated, the onlyquestion remains whether thevoter in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goabelieves so and much like thepropriety of the Budget that is aquestion which the majorityshall leave to the future.

(The author is a student ofthe West Bengal NationalUniversity of Juridical Sciences,Kolkata and the IndianRepresentative at the WorldAssembly of Youth.)

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Over two months of TataSons board battle in

which former ChairmanCyrus Mistry was sackedunceremoniously, $103-bil-lion Tata Group appointedTata Consultancy Services orTCS chief N Chandrasekaranas its new ExecutiveChairman of the conglomer-ate on Thursday.

On his appointment,Chandrasekaran said, “I amhumbled and honoured to bechosen to lead a truly greatinstitution that occupies aunique position in the heartsof people in India and theworld. I am proud to havebeen part of the Tata familyfor over 30 years and assum-ing this position is a greatprivilege. I want to thank theTata Sons Board and Ratan NTata for their confidence inme to lead this trusted insti-tution that has a rich her-itage.”

“At the Tata group, we areat an inflection point. I amaware that this role comeswith huge responsibilities. Itwill be my endeavour to helpprogress the group with theethos, ethics and values thatthe Tata group has been builton,” he added.

C h a n d r a s e k a r a n ’ sappointment as Tata SonsChairman comes at a timewhen the company is fightinga legal battle at the NationalCompany Law Tribunal withMistry, who has challengedhis ouster. On Wednesday,Mistry family-owned twoinvestment firms had filed acontempt application atNCLT against move by TataSons to remove him as direc-tor and sought an order torestrain the company fromgoing ahead with its plannedEGM on February 6 called toremove him.

The 54-year-oldChandrasekaran will takecharge at the helm of Tata

Sons, the main holding com-pany of the salt-to-softwareconglomerate from February21.

Announcing his appoint-ment, Tata Sons board said instatement: “The Board ofDirectors of Tata Sons, at itsmeeting on Thursday,appointed N Chandrasekaranas Executive Chairman. Thisis as per the unanimous rec-ommendation of the SelectionCommittee.”

“Mr Chandrasekaran hasdemonstrated exemplaryleadership as the ChiefExecutive Off icer andManaging Director of TataConsultancy Services. Webelieve he will now inspire theentire Tata group to realise itspotential acting as leaders intheir respective businesses,always in keeping with ourvalue system and ethics andadhering with the practices ofthe Tata group which havestood it in good stead,” addedthe statement.

Chandrasekaran, who ispopularly known as Chandra,was chosen to step into theshoes of interim ChairmanRatan Tata, who took over onOctober 24 last year after theremoval of Mistr y. Theannouncement did not men-tion Chandrasekaran’s tenureat the top. It also had no wordon what role the group wouldgive to Ratan Tata, who wasmade interim chairman afterMistry’s ouster.

At TCS, Chandrasekaranwould be succeeded by RajeshGopinathan, currently thecompany’s chief financial offi-cer. Announcing his appoint-ment, Tata Sons board said,“Mr Chandrasekaran hasdemonstrated exemplary lead-ership as the Chief ExecutiveOff icer and ManagingDirector of Tata ConsultancyServices. We believe he willnow inspire the entire Tatagroup to realise its potentialacting as leaders in theirrespective businesses, always

in keeping with our valuesystem and ethics and adher-ing with the practices of theTata group which have stoodit in good stead.”

Chandrasekaran was theCEO and MD of TCS, thecash-cow for the group, since2009. A Tata lifer, he hadjoined the company in 1987.He was appointed as aDirector on the board of TataSons on October 25, 2016, justa day after Mistry’s removal.

The decision to appointChandrasekaran followed afive-member search commit-tee comprising Ratan Tata,TVS Group head VenuSrinivasan, Amit Chandra ofBain Capital, former diplomatRonen Sen and Lord KumarBhattacharya zeroing in onChandrasekaran. The searchpanel was given four monthsto find the new head of thepromoter company of themajor operating firms of theconglomerate, but the decisionhas been reached even before

that.In one of the biggest board

room battles in history ofIndia Inc, Tata Sons board hadremoved Mistry as Chairmanciting loss of faith in his lead-ership and for the good of thefuture of the group, while hispredecessor Ratan Tata wasbrought back as an interimChairman.

Mistry, on the other hand,had alleged that Tata andother trustees of the TataTrusts ran alternate powercentre and he was reduced toa ‘lame duck Chairman’.Chandrasekaran had joinedTCS after completing Mastersin Computer Applicationsfrom Regional EngineeringCollege, Trichy, Tamil Nadu.

Under his leadership, TCSgenerated consolidated rev-enues of $16.5 billion in 2015-16. The company remains themost valuable company inIndia as of 2015-16 with amarket capitalisation of over$70 billion.

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In order to boost financial inclu-sion in the competitive conven-

tional banking system, AirtelPayment Bank will offer at a muchhigher and the lucrative interest rateof 7.25 per cent per annum as com-pared to 3-4 per cent offered byother conventional banks, be it pri-vate or public sector banks in thecountry, to its savings bank accountholders. Besides, the payment bankalso offers personal accidental insur-ance of �1 lakh with every savingsbank account and free talk-timeequaling the amount deposited inthe payments bank-saving account.

The Airtel Payments Bank - thefirst payments bank of the country- was officially launched onThursday at an event in the capital.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inau-gurated the launch of AirtelPayments Bank owned by BhartiEnterprises, which is being rolled outacross the country with an invest-ment of �3,000 crore. “As more andmore telecom companies enterinto the fray, I think we will hope-fully, see competition not onlyamongst telecom companies whichwe read a lot about these days, butprobably see a competition betweenconventional and new mode ofbanking,” Jaitley said at the launch.

Airtel Payments Bank offers allthese services and just like any tra-ditional bank and it will offer allAirtel customers with an interest rateof 7.25 per cent per annum, whichis much higher than any other con-ventional banks. We also offer per-sonal accidental insurance of �1 lakhwith every savings account and free

talk-time equaling the amountdeposited in the payments bank-saving account,” Bharti EnterprisesChairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said,adding that just as mobile telepho-ny leapfrogged traditional telecomnetworks to take affordable telecomservices deep into the country.

Mittal added that Bharti holds80 per cent stake in the paymentsbank, while the rest is held by KotakMahindra Bank. “We have invest-ed around �1,000 crore. We arelooking at total investment of�3,000 crore over a period of time.We will look at getting some moreequity partners but there is noimmediate plan as of now,” Mittaladded.

Airtel Payments Bank aims totake digital banking services to theunbanked over their mobile phonesin a quick and efficient manner.With this payment bank, we are

starting another important chapterin our journey, with the potential totruly transform lives and con-tribute to financial inclusion in thecountry,” Mittal said.

However, Airtel PaymentsBank Managing Director and CEOShashi Arora said that the bank willlook at reaching out to customersacross 6 lakh retail outlets in a year.Our payment bank would be fullydigital and paperless banking andcustomers would be able access ser-vices over their mobile phones,including all feature or basic mobilephones. Savings accounts areopened using Aadhaar based e-KYC. This requires no documentsat all, only the customer’s Aadhaarnumber is needed,” Arora added.

According to Airtel, now theAirtel Payments Bank is officiallylive across all 29 states, with over250,000 Airtel retail stores which

will function as digital paymentbanking centres across the country.Earlier in November, Airtel hadlaunched a pilot payments bankprogram in Rajasthan, across10,000 Airtel retail outlets in thestate.

“In December, Airtel extend-ed its footprint to south India byrolling out pilot services in AndhraPradesh and Telangana. The launchin Delhi is aimed at spreading ser-vices in the nearby states of Delhisuch as UP and Haryana, eventu-ally leading to a pan-India roll-out,”Mittal added.

The new Airtel PaymentsBank is different from the AirtelMoney wallet, which was alreadyavailable. “The Airtel PaymentsBank is not just a wallet, whichmeans that it allows you to trans-act more easily with other banks,and also Airtel pays an interest onthe money you deposit, which itcould not do with the Airtel Moneywallet. Users of Airtel Money willbe given the option of transferringtheir balance from the wallet intotheir Airtel payments bankaccounts,” Airtel said.

Airtel Payments Bank alsoplans to develop a nationwidemerchant ecosystem of over 3million partners that will includesmall kirana stores, small shops andrestaurants etc.

“These merchant partners willaccept digital payments for goodsand services from Airtel PaymentsBank customers over mobilephones. The payment bank will notcharge any processing fee frommerchants and this facility wouldbe totally free for the customers aswell as the merchants,” it added.

����� 09:��9)15

Sahara group chiefSubrata Roy could be in

for serious trouble again,with the Supreme Court onThursday toughening itsstand and refusing to extendtime beyond February 6 forhim to deposit �600 crore,saying he would have to goto jail in case of a default.

“This court has given somuch indulgence to you.This is the worst. If youdon’t pay the amount, youwill have to go back to jail,”the newly constitutedbench, comprising JusticesDipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoiand AK Sikri, said the newbench scrutinised therepeated extension of Roy’sparole and said too muchindulgence has been givento him, more than any otherlitigant by the court.

“Parole is granted for aspecific purpose and limit-ed period. You (Roy) weregiven parole for performingthe last rites of your moth-er. But you have been out fornine months. The specificpurpose is over and this iscontinuing,” it said.

The bench asked SEBIcounsel Arvind Dattarwhat would happen if theSahara chief does not paythe amount to the marketregulator. Dattar said therewere 87 plus propertieswhich would be attached,a receiver could beappointed and the proper-ties sold through auction,if the company fails to paythe amount.

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Despite demonetisation andconsequent cash crunch

Industrial production grew at a13-month high of 5.7 per cent inNovember while retail inflationremained subdued at multi-yearlow of 3.41 per cent in December,Government data showed onThursday.

The industrial output duringNovember, when the govern-ment announced demonetisa-tion of high value currency notesof �500 and �1000 effective from9th of the month, showed over-all improvement in manufactur-ing, mining and electricity sectors,according to the figures releasedby the Central Statistics Office(CSO).

As regards the retail inflationmeasured in terms of ConsumerPrice Index (CPI), it slipped to amulti-year low of 3.41 per cent inDecember reflecting cash crunch.This is the lowest level at leastsince January 2014.

CPI-based inflation stood at3.63 per cent in November 2016as per data released by the gov-ernment. A year ago, inDecember 2015, retail inflationwas at 5.61 per cent.

“Given the reduction in lend-ing rates announced by severalbanks, we hope to see an increasein both consumption and invest-ment which will hopefully havea positive impact on manufac-turing growth in coming months.We look forward to an accom-modative monetary policy stancefrom RBI to sustain momentum,”industry body FICCI said whilecommenting on twin macro eco-nomic data released today.

According to the IIP data,the highest level of industrialproduction growth was record-ed in October, 2015, at 9.9 percent.

Following demonetisationof �1,000 and �500 notesannounced on November 8,2016, it was feared that cashcrunch will hit all the sectors.

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Country’s largest softwareexporter on Thursday beat

the street estimates by announc-ing a 10.9 per cent rise inDecember quarter net profit at�6,778 crore on the back ofgrowth in digital and tradition-al financial sectors, but flaggedissues surrounding the H1-Bvisas in the US as a key headwindgoing forward.

The Tata Group’s crownjewel had reported a net profit of�6,110 crore under the Ind-ASaccounting system for the cor-responding period last fiscal.

Revenue rose to �29,735crore, up 8.7 per cent over theyear-ago period and 1.5 percent from the precedingSeptember quarter. The net prof-it growth is up 2.9 per cent on asequential basis.

In the wake of a new Billbeing introduced to regulatevisas in the US, which con-tributes over 65 per cent of its

revenues, amid a fear of a rise inprotectionist tendencies in theDonald Trump regime, manag-ing director and chief executiveN Chandrasekaran acknowl-edged visas as a potential head-wind.

Exuding confidence ofmaintaining pre-tax margins--which came in at 26 per cent forthe reporting quarter --in the 26-28 per cent target band, heexplained that the problem isboth on account of the fees forevery visa and also the numberof visas which companies canget.

Expecting such a move inthe future, TCS has applied foronly 4,000 visas in 2016 whichis far less than 14,000 in the pre-vious year and was granted onlya third of those applied for, hesaid, stressing that it has beenable to protect margins in targetrange despite that.

On the Trump presidency,he said the US presents a “mixedbag” with positives like a rise in

GDP and also the president-elect’s focus on pushing localmanufacturing, but the visa-related issues are the headwinds.

The results came on a daywhen its chief NChandrasekaran was madechairman of the group holdingcompany Tata Sons. He will besucceeded by Rajesh Gopinathanas TCS CEO.

Angel Broking termed thenumbers as “slightly better thanexpected, on the sales and EBITfront, another brokerage EmkayGlobal said the net is above itsestimate but the overall numbersare in line with operational per-formances supported by highersales. The net income jump isaided by forex gains.

The market too lapped upthe TCS stocks announced afterthe market hours. The TCScounter jumped 0.9 per cent onthe BSE at �2,343.30 after touch-ing �2,359.75, while the bench-mark Sensex closed up 0.4 percent.

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NEW DELHI: Paving the wayfor �3,050 crore cumulativepenal action on telecom opera-tors Bharti Airtel, Vodafone andIdea Cellular, the AttorneyGeneral is learnt to have opinedthat the Department of Telecomhas power to impose penalty ongrounds of poor quality of ser-vice. “AG has opined that DoTcan impose penalty on telecomoperators for violating quality ofservice rules,” a source told PTI.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Bharti Airtel ChairmanSunil Bharti Mittal said, “Wehave taken a position that thesepenalties have been completelydone in haste. We have writtento TRAI, we have written toDoT. What I understand, DoThas set up a committee to lookinto this recommendation ofTRAI. We are all waiting for theoutcome of that.” The TRAI hadrecommended imposing �1,050

crore penalty each on Airtel andVodafone and �950 crore onIdea for violating quality of ser-vice rules. TRAI, in its recom-mendation to DoT, said it hasfound the trio non-compliantwith licence conditions and ser-vice quality norms, given thehigh rate of call failures and con-gestion at interconnect points forReliance Jio.

Following TRAI’s recom-mendation, the TelecomDepartment sought AG’s opin-ion on the matter last week,sources pointed out. The DoTwas awaiting AG’s opinionbefore proceeding on the penal-ty suggestion of TRAI. Whilegiving its recommendation toDoT, TRAI had noted thatdenial of interconnection by thethree operators to Reliance Jio‘appears to be with the ulteriormotive to stifle competitionand is anti-consumer’. PTI

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Donald Trump says the top US spy calledhim to “denounce” allegations that Russian

intelligence have compromising informationabout the president-elect.

Trump tweeted that the unverified claimswere “false and fictitious”. Director of NationalIntelligence James Clapper said on Wednesdayevening that the intelligence community hadmade no judgment on whether they were reli-able. Clapper also said he had rejected Trump’ssuggestion that US intelligence was responsi-ble for leaking the claims.

The spymaster said both men had agreedthe security breach was “extremely corrosiveand damaging to our national security”.

Clapper said he had also assured the pres-ident-elect the intelligence community “standsready to serve his administration”.

Intelligence agencies considered the claimsrelevant enough to brief both Trump andPresident Barack Obama last week.

In his first news conference as president-elect on Wednesday, Trump said it would bea “tremendous blot” on the reputation of USintelligence agencies if they had been respon-sible for the leak from the briefing.

“That’s something that Nazi Germanywould have done,” he said.

Trump also robustly denied the claims tojournalists at Trump Tower in New York,describing them as “fake news” and “crap”.

The 35-page dossier of allegations —which was circulating in political and mediacircles before November’s presidential election— was published in full on Buzzfeed onTuesday evening. It claims Russia has damag-ing information about the president-elect’s busi-ness interests, and footage of him using pros-titutes at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow.

Russia also strongly denied the allegationsas “pulp fiction”.

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The head of the US Office of GovernmentEthics (OGE) slammed President-elect

Donald Trumps plan to separate himself fromhis business, calling it “wholly inadequate” inresolving potential conflicts of interest.

“The plan the President-elect hasannounced doesn’t meet the standards that thebest of his nominees are meeting and that every President in the last four decades have met,”OGE Director Walter Shaub said on Wednesdayduring a speech at the Brookings Institution inWashington. “Stepping back from running hisbusiness is meaningless from a conflict of inter-est perspective,” he said.

New York: In his first media conference asPresident-elect, Donald Trump, without nam-ing any country in particular, laid bare his viewson the US pharmaceutical sector, as well as onthe loss of American jobs in manufacturing,both of which are issues with potential to hitIndian business interests.

Nine days before he is to be sworn as the45th US President, Trump spoke of his plans tostem the flow of manufacturing from Americaand took aim at the pharmaceutical sector.

“We’ve got to get our drug industry back,”he said. “Our drug industry has been disastrous.They’re leaving left and right. They supply ourdrugs, but they don’t make them here, to a largeextent,” he said at the chaotic news conferenceon Wednesday in the lobby of Trump Tower inManhattan, attended by some 250 journalistsfrom the world over. IANS

Hong Kong: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretaryof State has set the stage for a potential showdown with Chinaover the South China Sea, saying that China should be deniedaccess to the artificial islands it has built in the disputed waters.

Rex told his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that China’sactivity in the waters, which see $5 trillion in ship borne tradea year, was “extremely worrisome,” CNN reported. Chinaresponded saying that countries in the region have come to con-sensus which the countries outside the region should respect.

The comments during his day-long testimony before theSenate Foreign Affairs Committee look set to inflame tensionswith China, which claims much of the South China Sea as anintegral part of its territory. IANS

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Washington: South Asian com-munity in the US bore thebrunt of a spike in hate violenceand xenophobic politicalrhetoric during the presidentialelection similar to levels seen theyear following the 9/11 terrorattack, according to a report.

The report “Power, Painand Potential” released by SouthAsian Americans LeadingTogether (SAALT), a leadingnational South Asian Americanadvocacy organisation, saidfrom November 15, 2015 toNovember 15, 2016 (betweenthe Paris attacks and the weekafter the Presidential elections),SAALT documented 207 inci-dents of hate violence and xeno-phobic political rhetoric aimedat South Asian communities.

As many as 140 incidentsof hate violence and 67instances of xenophobic polit-ical rhetoric have been report-ed in the US against the SouthAsian community during the2016 election cycle, it said.

GENEVA: Foreign ministers ofBritain, Greece and Turkeymet in Geneva on Thursday inan attempt to thrash out a secu-rity deal for a reunited Cyprus,a conflict rooted in Britain’scolonial past and Greek andTurkish rivalry.

For the first time indecades, the three countrieswere to tackle a 1960 treatywhich allows intervention inCyprus, a pretext used by atleast one of them to interveneon the island in the past.

The conference is beingchaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, inhis first major involvement ina deep rooted conflict which has been on the UN’sagenda for more than half a century.

European Commissionpresident Jean-Claude Junckerwas also in attendance.

Agencies

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Islamabad: Pakistan cautionedmembers of MTCR that intro-duction of “destabilising sys-tems” like “missile defenceprogrammes” and “inter-con-tinental ballistic missiles” inSouth Asia pose a “risk” toregional stability, in an appar-ent reference to India.

Pakistan’s “serious con-cerns” over the introduction ofsuch systems in South Asiawere expressed to a delegationof Missile Technology ControlRegime (MTCR), a 35-memberelite grouping that includesIndia and controls export inhigh-end missile technologies,a Foreign Office (FO) statementsaid. “Pakistan highlighted therisks posed to regional peaceand stability due to the intro-duction of destabilising systemssuch as missile defence pro-grammes and inter-continentalballistic missiles,” the FO state-ment said. PTI

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Jerusalem: Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahucalled this weekend’s MiddleEast peace conference in Paris“rigged” today, with his gov-ernment refusing to play anyrole in the meeting.

“It’s a rigged conference,rigged by the Palestinians withFrench auspices to adopt addi-tional anti-Israel stances,”Netanyahu said while meetingNorwegian Foreign MinisterBorge Brende. “This pushespeace backwards. It’s not goingto obligate us. It’s a relic of thepast. It’s a last gasp of the pastbefore the future sets in.”

Sunday’s conference to beattended by some 70 nations isaimed at exploring ways torestart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Israelrejects the conference and callsfor bilateral talks.

London: A hijab-clad Britishwoman eating at a London fishand chips shop was allegedlyattacked by a fellow diner whotried to rip off her headscarf andaccused her of “killing people”, amedia report has said.

The incident prompted anti-racism campaigners to stage avigil after the assault whichtook place last week in therestaurant close toHammersmith Town Hall inWest London. The man told thewoman, who was having dinner,she “should not be here” and hadher hijab grabbed at, The Sunquoted an anti-racism organi-sation Stand Up to Racism assaying. The victim, visiting fromManchester, was reportedly eat-ing with friends when she wasattacked by a fellow diner whoalso accused her of “killing peo-ple”, the report said.

Dhaka: Bangladesh askedMyanmar to ensure quick returnof normalcy in its Buddhist-dominated Rakhine state so thatit can repatriate thousands ofMuslim refugees who havecrossed the border to evade per-secution amid Army crackdown.

“We have asked Naypyidawto find out the real cause of themassive exodus of their minor-ity ethnic people (Rohingyas)to Bangladesh to address theproblem at its roots so theycould return home at the ear-liest,” Foreign Minister A HMahmood Ali told a mediabriefing at his office.

He said the exodus ofRohingyas from Rakhine statewas damaging “stability, eco-nomic development, andtourism” in Bangladesh’s south-eastern Chittagong region,especially in its sea resort townof Cox’s Bazar.

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The US Army is planning touse biodegradable bullets

loaded with special seeds thatsprout into plants which caneliminate ammunition debrisand contaminants, reducing soilpollution in training grounds.

Spent shells litter US Armytraining facilities around theworld as there is no efficient wayto clean them up.

The shells, which contain

metal and other chemicals, canrust and pollute soils andgroundwater.

The US Department ofDefense (DoD) are solicitingproposals for biodegradable bul-lets loaded with seeds to growenvironmentally beneficialplants that eliminate ammuni-tion debris and contaminants.

According to the request forproposal, the US Army Corps ofEngineers’ Cold RegionsResearch and Engineering

Laboratory has already devel-oped and tested seeds that canbe embedded into a biodegrad-able composite.

They have been bioengi-neered to only germinate afterthey have been in the groundfor several months, ‘Seeker’reported. Proposals are beingsolicited until February 8, afterwhich the chosen contractorswill produce the biodegradablebullets as part of a three-phaseprocess.

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Ford took their own sweet timeto launch a Mustang in a right-

hand drive version. A really longtime. Fifty-two years and six gen-erations. But when they launcheda right-hand drive model, theydidn’t take very long to launch thecar in India. And once theybrought their most iconic car toIndia, they decided that it deservedto see a bit of this vast country. Sofor the last month or so, Ford Indiahas been taking a Mustang GTaround the Golden Quadrilateraland giving several motoring jour-nalists such as myself, 300-400 kmlong stretches to gallop down ahighway.

Ford India had penned medown for a stretch during the third- south-to-east leg of the trip. Thisleg deviated a bit from the classicquadrilateral route by going viaHyderabad, but given a choice ofseveral legs I chose the leg betweenVisakhapatam and Bhubaneswar.This stretch of road down nation-al highway 16 while not exactly onthe coast did allow for access toseveral beaches on the Bay ofBengal. India’s eastern coastline isthe more neglected coastline fortourists, and after this drive andseeing some of the wonderfulbeaches in Andhra and Odisha, forthe life of me I cannot figure outwhy, because the beaches we sawat Bheemli outside Visakhapatnamand Gopalpur-On-Sea in Odishahad stunning stretches of sand andsurf.

But I wasn’t in this wonderfulpart of India to get my feet wet inthe Bay of Bengal, which was apity. However, the reason I washere more than made up for thatdisappointment as I was going tobe driving the Mustang GT. I haddriven this car soon at its launchevent at the Buddh InternationalCircuit, and despite misgivingsabout an American muscle car ona racetrack, this is a highly capa-ble sportscar. It may lack theagility of a modern Europeansportscar, but the Mustang GT cango plenty fast and it was surpris-ingly good around the bendsbecause Ford has developed awhole new independent rear sus-pension for this car. This isn’tEuropean, but this is no red-neckAmerican musclecar, this is anAmerican muscle-car marriedinto New England aristocracy.

But then again, with a five-litr-er V8 motor under that long snoutwhich mashed petrol and air to givefour hundred brake horsepower,this is a car designed to go fast (thatsaid, the Indian variant is slightlydetuned down from 435 horsepow-er on the American-spec MustangGT). And while it has beencivilised, it is a bit tail heavy, andbecause Indian highways oftendemand rapid changes of directionas you try and sneak in betweentwo trucks, this is not a car youshould ever drive with just onehand on the steering. In fact, ifthere is one thing the Mustang canadopt, it could be the high-gripsuede finish on Mercedes-AMGsteerings. A couple of times, whilefitting in between twenty-ton Tatas,there was the sensation that the tailwanted to go out, but thanks to theelectronic aids and a light right foot,nothing ever got out of hand.

For the most part, NH16 is arelatively straight road with sever-al wide-sweeping turns, with onlya couple of ghat stretches thrownin. Thus the Mustang GT was inits natural habitat, with ‘Sports+’drive mode selected which keptthe revs up coupled with ‘Sports’steering, which made the steeringa bit heavier. You could at timesfloor the accelerator. It isn’t just thesheer acceleration that stuns youwhen you do that, it is the wall ofnoise from the huge V8 engine.Again, the noise isn’t like thehigh-pitched noise from anEuropean sportscar, this is athroaty baritone, you can feel the

power in front of you. But the best thing about a

road trip in a nice car is not justthe car, it is the road itself. Andwhat a road! National Highway 16between these two growing citiesis in immaculate condition, it isa four-lane road throughout,mainly with a asphalt top with ashort stretch of concrete. Thereare quite a few toll booths which,sadly are quite slow, although itdid give me an opportunity tocatch up on social media whilewaiting. But some of the bestsights on this road are actuallyslightly off the highway.

Beginning with the INSKursura museum on theRamakrishna Mission beach inVisakhapatnam. Commissionedin 1969, this Kalvari-class boatwas India’s fourth-ever submarineand served the Indian Navy for 31years and is unique as the onlysubmarine museum in this part ofthe world. Unfortunately, ourearly start meant that we couldnot visit the ship, but we carriedon down the coast road, avoidingthe main highway as weapproached the small fishing vil-lage of Bheemli a half-hour out-side Vizag. The roads to this vil-lage with its beautiful beachoffered stunning vistas of the Bayof Bengal from the ghats, the red,iron-rich earth of the Deccanmerging with the blue of the seawith strips of yellow sand andgreen palm trees in between.

After Bheemli, we joined thehighway and despite the massivejam of trucks at the Andhra-Odisha border which was anadvertisement for why this coun-try needs the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) we soon reached thetown of Bhramapur where we tooka right turn to Gopalpur-On-Sea.This is one of the most beautifulbeaches in India, as tourism to theeastern coast is several orders ofmagnitude lesser than that to thewest coast, Gopalpur does not feellike a tourist trap. And unlikeKonark-Puri, there is no immedi-ate religious or archaeologicalreason to visit either, just a won-derful stretch of sand. There isonly one major five-star hotel, thelovely Mayfair resort, which wasformerly an Oberoi property, andthe property retains that colonialcharm. The small centre is onlythree hours away fromBhubaneswar, and really, this is abeach you must visit.

Back on the highway, passingthrough some village marketswhere the day’s catch and driedfish were being sold, the road toBhubaneswar was relatively unre-markable. Well, other than the fewidiots who tried to make danger-ous maneuvers to overtake the car.Yet, the drive passed smoothly andas the sun set and Odisha’s capi-tal beckoned, traffic settled downinto its chaotic rhythm as in mostIndian cities. The Ford MustangGT is a great highway cruiser, well,more of a battlecruiser really, butit can move around cities fairlycomfortably as well.

After a whole day spent dri-ving this American icon, yourealised that it did not feel veryout of place in India. Sure, itreturned just 6.5 km per litre, butthat is more due to the constantacceleration and braking, when Idrove the car gently, it easily aver-aged 8.5 km per litre.

Befitting a car wearing a ‘GT’(Grand Tourer) badge, it wascomfortable, the music systemsounded great although this par-ticular car lacked navigation.Newer cars, however, will havenavigation pre-installed. So whileit costs Rs 65 lakh (ex-showroom)if you do end up buying one ofthese things, don’t keep it in agarage and drive it inside a city,take it on the open road. Like theMustang itself, this car demandsthe open road.

Not long ago, if you were toask what EDM was, most

people wouldn’t have a clue, butthere’s one man who’s beencoaching the entire world on thebreakout of a genre that’s beenflourishing in clubs for decades.From his early work at the smallclubs in Paris to being one of themost prominent artistes in theindustry, the Frenchman DavidGuetta, unquestionably changedthe game for many DJs and pro-ducers. For years he has beensoaring over the lines oncedrawn between dance and otherstyles of music. David Guetta willbe performing in Delhi thisSunday.

As one of the most powerfulambassadors between electron-ic and pop music, what was theturning point?

I started DJing in the Broad Clubin Paris. It was the beginning ofsomething beautiful. Shortlyafter that, I hosted my own clubnights. It all evolved naturally.From France, I went to the UK,where the scene was even biggerand then to Ibiza. But I alwaysloved producing music, andwhen my songs got picked up bymainstream names, thingschanged fast. But I still love whatI do as much as I did years ago.Music is my life.

You used to take your DJ equip-

ment to Ibiza and throw partieswhen you were 14-years-old.Describe that experience.

My love of Ibiza comes from myupbringing. And representingIbiza from the very early dayshas helped me a lot in my DJcareer and it’s still a key point ofmy career. Before I had thesehits, I was that guy, the Ibiza DJ.I think the hippy heritage ofIbiza left something that is veryunique, I love the fact there’s ahippy heritage. I love that theunderground scene is still verystrong and I love the fact thatthere’s still so many differenttypes of music in Ibiza and thatpeople are so open-minded.

Your roots were in vinyl as aclub DJ in Paris and then pro-moter; how has house musicdeveloped from where youstarted to where you are now?

The EDM scene has grown sorapidly that I don’t dare predictwhat will be next. I never expect-ed it to explode like it did in the

first place so the way I thinkabout it, the sky is the limit fordance music. When I started, alldance music was underground.If you were going to play house,you had to be undergroundbecause it wasn’t the type ofmusic that was crossing over. Myevolution also came with theevolution of the scene in gener-al.

What genres and sounds are youinspired by currently?

I’ve been listening to all differentkinds of music lately. Recently alot of new music has been releasedin the electronic music sceneand there are some really cooltracks! Other than that I try to lis-ten to as many genres as possiblebecause you never know whereinspiration might come from.

What do you look forward tomost when performing in Indiaas you have a huge fan base here?

I love the dedication of the Indiancrowd and how they embrace the

dance music culture. I’m alwayslooking forward to rekindling myrelationship with Indian fans.

What other new developmentsare we going to expect fromyou in 2017?

I would love to release a newalbum. I’m working on newmusic, so that will definitely bereleased in 2017.

Words of encouragement forthe aspiring DJ’s and produc-ers.

Talent is what everything else isbased upon. Authenticity needstalent. And true creativity alsomeans taking a leap of faith -being unafraid of failure. Onceread a quote by Salvador Dali:‘Have no fear of perfection,you’ll never reach it!’ Wellthat’s what creativity is about:it’s about daring, being authen-tic to yourself, trying newthings. There will be failuresalong the way, but if you neverdare you can never be truly cre-ative.

That’s what I have alwaystried to do with my music:bring unexpected combina-tions together, like when I firstbrought urban and electrosounds together.And that’s what I admire the most from other artists or talents.

That people love to talk andknow about other people isamply proved by the success of

wax museums around the world andthe crazy visitors who love to see

replicas of celebrities cast in wax andget unlimited fan moments of posingfor pictures without so much as awrinkle on their skin or an upturnednose. Little wonder then that selfie-crazy India is all set to join the band-

wagon with the 23rd edition ofMadame Tussauds opening inDelhi this June.

The first museum willcome up at Delhi’s ConnaughtPlace at the heritage buildingRegal Cinema, which oncehoused the famous StandardSweets. In the first look ofthe museum, lifelike waxfigures of AmitabhBachchan, Lady Gaga andMarie Tussaud wereunveiled. The museumwill open with 50 figuresof which, 60 per cent of

the figures will be localcelebrities and rest global.

“Generally, we workon a 40:60 model, wherein 40per cent figures are local andthe rest are international, butIndian market is different, sowe are working on a different

model,” said Anshul Jain,General Manager, and Director,Merlin Entertainments IndiaPrivate Limited.

While the presence of manywax-form Indian celebrities isexpected at the museum, Jainsaid that some new names mightadd in the list as per the responseof the public. “The wax attrac-tion will provide an immersiveand exhilarating experience ofthe glittering world ofrenowned celebrities and per-sonalities of the likes of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Godof Cricket Sachin Tendulkar toglamourous divas like KimKardashian to the Indian audi-ence. However, there might beadd-ons as per the publicresponse.” “Madame Tussaudshas always had a significantappeal for the Indian con-

sumers. This is ever sincethe wax structure

of Amitabh Bachchan was launchedin the London museum in 2000,” saidMarcel Kloos, Director NewOpenings Europe & EmergingMarkets. Why did they choose Delhiand not Mumbai or any other city?“The establishment is not just for thesake of entertainment but it also rep-resents important personalities fromdifferent walks of life. So it was notnecessary to open up at some enter-tainment hub or anything. And sinceit is the capital city, what place elsecould be better?” he chuckled. Eachwax figure is created with the exper-tise of over 20 international and localartists working at a time to ensure anauthentic visitor experience worth inan excess of �1.5 crores each.Looking to tap into the growingIndian market, the company plans toinvest as much as 50 million poundsover the next decade in India.

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It is with a reason why Café Knosh atThe Leela Ambience Convention Hotel

is called so as one could ‘nosh’ at any timeof the day as its doors are always opento its guests. Apart from its sprawlingopen verandas and sit-outs, the place hasbeen rousing taste buds with its lavishbuffet, last we heard. And that’s exactlywhat we had come to dine on.Thesmorgasbord comprised MiddleEastern, Chinese, Indian and Europeandelicacies.

As we tucked into vegetable augratin, we were informed that the menuof the buffet changes every day. Comingback to the continental fare which weexpected to be served warm with crispbreads drowned in white sauce andmelted cheese had us disappointed withevery single bite. The bread was missingand it was more of a tasteless puddingflooding with veggies.

Moving ahead, we gave the braisedchicken with thyme a go. Pot chickenmeal is cooked in a flavourful garlic andmustard sauce with potatoes and veg-etables. To our surprise, the flavour ofgarlic was missing and it clearly didn’tmatch our expectation. About cottage

cheese steak wrapped in tomato sauce,the cuisine didn’t add the spicy touchwhich is the known signature of the dish.

Next thing which we thought wouldwork well were the salads. They werespread out invitingly on a separate

counter and soon ourplates were piled

high with chicken and potato, fresh let-tuce and orange salad and the likes. Wecould have just had the salads and behappy.

And yes, we did have plenty of spaceleft for desserts. We started with aMiddle Eastern festive favouriteMahalabia - a rich, creamy, rose water

flavoured milk pudding. Though itappeared tempting, garnished withcrushed pistachios and almonds, it wasmore a sort of thick cream with light top-pings of dry fruits.

At the end, the chef suggested moongdal ka halwa and we crossed our fingers.The delicacy is suitable for any time ofthe day or year.

Every spoonful of this Rajasthanidessert with an additional flavour of car-damom assured us that it took a longtime and lots of patience for the chef tosauté the dal, and probably required a lit-tle extra ghee too. However, the outcomewas worth every bite of extra effort theyhad put into it.

Iremember in my first days as amigrant to the city, Chor Bizarre wasthe only diner that dared to

unabashedly roll out Kashmiri foodalong with perennial north Indianfavourites and include regional cuisinein its rulebook. Apart from the five-starlexicon that is. Since then it has col-lected original recipes from across thecountry and presented them for theurban palate by keeping a balance thatbelies its suffix (“bizarre”). Then camethe food revolution, the multi-cuisineexperiments that made Italian,Mexican, Chinese, Japanese andLebanese a rage. Till we ultimately gotcomfortable with our own food, albeitin a global platter and bite-sized ele-gance. With the buzz of fusion, tech-nique, plating and contemporaryidioms, Chor Bizarre seemed to be con-tent with its island existence at HotelBroadway on Aruna Asaf Ali Road.Serving core Indian food that is cookedslow and according to tradition. Till itdecided to open its doors in centralDelhi at the refurbished Bikaner House,signalling a culture revival of sorts.

And truth be told, familiarity iscomfort when it comes to this new out-let which has kept food simple, bal-anced, mild and uncomplicated, thekind that you crave for and would notmind repeating but would not perhapsfind in a crowd of excess. Added to itis the colonial decor, which plays on theknick-knack and odd-ends eclecti-cism of a chor bazaar. So no two chairsare alike here. And the 46-cover spread,across two rooms, has intricate tarkashior wood inlaid tables and a queen-sizedfour poster bed that has been coveredwith stained glass panels at the top andconverted into a private table of six.These are the visual throwbacks of ChorBizarre’s brand signature.

The trouble with long-standing

familiarity and loyalty is that you pret-ty much expect status quo. But the day’schef Karan Bansal does manage to playto your tastebuds without using anynew-fangled technique or forced inno-vation. And even if some are staples, he’sdone some clever twist of relish to makeyou want to pick them up. Like thepapad platter and dahi batata, the lat-ter holding good with a mouthful ofcurd bursting from a turgid snack thatdoesn’t give away messy. The youngchef lets us in on the trick that keeps ittogether — he keeps the base layer ofthe flour balls slightly heavy, layeringit with crunchy and granular sev to holdthe moisture of the spiced curd whichis filled in just before a serving. Buttwo vegetarian snacks must bementioned for that lip-smack-ing kick. One is thePalak Patta Chaat,crispy spinach leaveslightly dusted withchickpea flour anddeep fried. The leafygoodness and bite are

rounded off with the usual yoghurt-tamarind seasoning. The winnerthough has to be the Khumb KiGalawat, minced mushroom medal-lions with herbs that are pan-roasted,a new addition to the menu. It’s just gin-ger, garlic and spices but the melt-in-the-mouth fullness and explosion offlavours show what a mushroom canbecome with an absorptive saturation.It doesn’t make you miss the originalmeat version. And that’s quite some-thing. For chef Bansal, preparation isan exercise in patience, reducing 2 kgof mushroom to 400 gm just by evap-orating the water. The yam patties withfigs and whole spices sweeten theflavour range.

But why would carnivores botherto delve deep into vegetarian platterswhen there is quite a bit to be devouredon the other side? The char-grilled gar-lic prawns are a must-have, lemony anddone to a perfect consistency and tex-ture, not too rubbery or soggy but lus-cious and turgid. Of course, when itcomes to kebabs, there’s no going pastthe regular tikkas and botis that are donewith just the right degree of spices andporosity with no great flourish. But withthese things, customers generally likethe uncomplicated flavours. The prawnkoliwada is a new addition to the ChorBizarre menu with dollops of tomatochutney. And frankly, it is the relish and

garnish that work here ratherthan the batter-fried deli-

cacy. The main menu

keeps it extremelyfamiliar with the

Chicken Tikka Masala,its trademark dal and a mix of

paranthas (the ulte tawa variantcould be a tad softer). But when at

Chor Bizarre, go for its USP, thewazwan experience. The chef is offer-

ing a mini Tarami (platter meant to beshared by four originally but individ-ualised here) that begins with a whiffof appetising aromas with the lid beinglifted off. There’s the haaq (spinach)and naadru (lotus stem stew) , thelatter particularly delicate and subtle.But it is the Tabak Maas, that flakes offeasily from the ribs, and the Gosht AlooBukhara Korma or mutton in plumgravy that are the clear winners. Thesweet and tangy plums give a zest to thegravy which goes very well with thespicy mutton and gives a wholesome-ness that is not gooeylicious but ratherfull-bodied. That’s the thing about theTarami, the flavours are balanced andrich but none of the dishes betrayssameness. Rather each maitains itsintegrity and distinctness. Be it therogan josh with heat from plain spicesor the gushtaba (minced meatballsslow-cooked in curd and spices), theyare perfect examples of how a tradi-tional cooking medium like mustard oilcan lend differing flavours to the foodwith a rounded finish. Both keep itauthentic within the limits of bite-sizedacceptability. You can top a meal offwith the paan kulfi with rose faluda, atad to sweet if you ask us. Just go forthe semolina Kashmiri phirni for keep-ing the memory of the flavours aliveinstead of drowning it.

The new restaurant is being man-aged by old hands Pratik Sinha, generalmanager, Hotel Broadway, and by cor-porate chef Rajiv Malhotra. They haveresearched for four months to add newdishes to complement and enhance theoriginal menu while understanding thechanging Delhi palate. When you arelooking for good old Indian, the wayyou know and understand it, on a busyday, this is the place to be. And on win-ter nights, you could do with its oldworld, oaked warmth.

You must have hosted a party for your friends at your placeon several occasions and showed-off your culinary skills.Kudos! But that has just become a passé as Aqua Grill

in Aerocity allows and encourages you to indulge in the con-cept of live-cooking.

The newly-opened restaurant with its poolside view andserene sparkling waters, starlit sky, fragrance of fresh barbe-qued food all together makes for a beautiful evening. The restau-rant allows the guests to participate in the cooking by wear-ing an apron, gloves and even marinate or rub their choice ofmeat and choose the methods of cooking.

Aqua Grill is a place with smoky barbeque from aroundthe world. The menu deliciously incorporates Indian, American,European, Asian, Arabic, Spanish and Mexican grill. One canhence relish everything, from succulent sea food to appetis-ing American, magnificent Indian cuisines grilled to perfec-tion.

We started off withBarbequed Pork

Spare Ribs andPaneer KaliMirch Korma.The pork ribs

were juicy andtender, spiced with

in-house red sea salt. Thespare ribs were soaked in Teriyaki. Taste of soy andWorcestershire sauce in the Teriyaki marinade made the ribsall the more tempting. Presented in a very simple manner, withveggies on the side, the paneer dish again stood out. The softchunks of paneer had major taste of black pepper but to anextent that it didn’t ruin our flavour.

Next on our table was Galouti Kebab and Murgh ke parchey.The delicate minced meat kebabs were a treat to our taste buds.As it happens that the kebabs are so soft that they lose theirstructure while being served, however, the galouti kebabs herewere finely shaped and the taste of green papaya paste andgaram masala was clearly evident. The chicken dish tasted aver-age. Better take on the chicken was possible. The chicken chunkswere succulent but lacked spices, making the dish plain sim-ple.

All in all the place, with serene ambience and aromatic bar-beques, made up for a good visit and even better meal.

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Lionel Messi came through forBarcelona again, scoring with aperfectly struck free kick to give

the defending champions a 3-1 winover Athletic Bilbao and a spot in thequarterfinals of the Copa del Rey onWednesday.

Messi fired a remarkable lowstrike into the right corner in the 78thminute at Camp Nou to help theCatalan club reverse a 2-1 first-leg lossand advance 4-3 on aggregate.

It was Messi's third decisive freekick goal in the last three Barcelonamatches. In addition to scoring in thefirst leg against Athletic, the Argentinaplaymaker saved Barcelona from a lossin the Spanish league on Sunday byfinding the net with a 90th-minute freekick at Villarreal .

Neymar scored in the second half— ending a goal drought of nearlythree months — after setting up a bril-liant scissor kick goal by Luis Suarezin the first half. Athletic scored a goalthat could have taken the game intoextra time with a firm header by EnricSaborit in the 51st, making it 2-1 onthe night.

But Messi's strike from the edge ofthe area kept his team alive in Spain'ssecond-most important club compe-tition after the league.

Just like he did against Villarreal,Messi caught the goalkeeper wrong-footed by sending his shot away fromthe wall. His left-foot strike barely leftthe ground before dropping into thebottom corner. The ball hit the postbefore crossing the line.

It was Messi's 26th freekick goal for Barcelona,tying Ronald Koeman'srecord for the club. Itwas also the first timeMessi had netted freekick goals in threeconsecutive matches.

Neymar endedan 11-game scorelessstreak - his worstsince joiningBarcelona three yearsago - by converting a48th-minute penaltykick. It was the first goalfor the Brazil striker since agame against Manchester Cityin the group stage of theChampions League in October.

He almost added another after get-ting past several defenders with beau-tiful moves inside the area in the 80th,but his close-range shot struck the post.

Neymar had helped Barcelona open

the scoring in the 35th with a perfectcross for Suarez's remarkable volley fromthe right side of the area. The Uruguaystriker timed his shot perfectly, sendinga low drive into the far corner for his300th goal with Barcelona.

The team's attacking trio of Suarez,Messi and Neymar have scored 302goals in total since they started play-ing together.

Barcelona is seeking its thirdstraight Copa title, and 28th overall.

"Our team played well, we had thecalm to create our scoring opportuni-ties," Luis Enrique said. "They scoredwith the only chance they had."

On Tuesday, Atletico Madridbecame the first team to reach thequarterfinals despite a 3-2 home lossto Las Palmas. Diego Simeone's teamadvanced 4-3 on aggregate after a 2-0first leg win in the Canary Islands.

Elsewhere, in the matchupbetween the second-division clubsleft in the competition, Alcorconadvanced thanks to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Cordoba after a0-0 draw in the first leg, while RealSociedad drew 1-1 at Villarreal toadvance 4-2 on aggregate.

Alaves held on to a 1-1 home drawagainst Deportivo La Coruna toadvance on away goals after a 3-3aggregate score, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003-2004.

!������������������������ ������� The contest for theLaureus World Sportsman of the Yearaward promises to be one of the mostcompetitive ever with the likes of UsainBolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and AndyMurray contesting for top honours.

The nominees for the WorldSportsman of the Year award alsoinclude 5k and 10k Olympic champi-on Mo Farah, basketball duo StephenCurry and LeBron James, besidesBolt, already a three-time Laureus win-ner, Ronaldo and Murray, following aballot by the world's media. Ronaldois involved in three nominations —both individually and through histeams Portugal and Real Madrid.

A glittering collection of theworld's greatest Olympic andParalympic stars from Rio de Janeirohave also been nominated for the pres-tigious awards in various categories.

Olympians fill all six nominationplaces for the Laureus WorldSportswoman of the Year award, includ-ing Americans Simone Biles, KatieLedecky and Allyson Felix, Germanworld tennis No1 Angelique Kerber,Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompsonand British cyclist Laura Kenny.

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Liverpool endured more cup frustration when Southamptonwon the first leg of their League Cup semifinal 1-0 on

Wednesday.Nathan Redmond capitalised on a mistake by Ragnar

Klavan to score the only goal in the 20th minute andSouthampton could rue not building a stronger lead to taketo Anfield in two weeks' time.

"I should have had four today, on another day they mightgo in," Redmond told broadcaster Sky Sports. "I'll take thosemistakes and try to put it right in training and the next game."

Liverpool was struggling against a Premier League rival -unlike on Sunday, when fourth-tier side Plymouth drew 0-0at Anfield in the FA Cup to force a replay.

Liverpool is competing for silverware on three frontsdomestically in Juergen Klopp's first full season in charge, withLiverpool second in the Premier League and pursuing a firstEnglish title since 1990. Klopp guided Liverpool to the finallast year but lost to Manchester City.

This week's difficulties in the cups have come ahead of oneof the biggest games of the club's season on Sunday againstnorthwest rival Manchester United in the league.

Southampton, which ended a four-match winless run, isin the last four of a major competition for the first time since2003. The hosts looked to be in for a bleak night, being forcedto defend deeply in the opening stages and failing to find anyreal attacking outlets.

Jay Rodriguez was looking overwhelmed as Saints' focalpoint yet there was a flash of life in the 19th minute as Redmondcollected a cross from the right and got away a shot that goal-keeper Loris Karius smothered well.

Redmond was caught out by the goalkeeper's reactions, butmade amends within a minute as Klavan's inability to deal witha simple ball forward cost his side.

Rodriguez was alert to capitalize on the botched attemptto clear, beating former teammate Dejan Lovren with a deftpass to put Redmond through. This time, Redmond did notfalter, keeping his composure to direct past Karius.

That blow after such a comfortable start threw Liverpooloff kilter, with the visitors failing to attack with any intensitybefore halftime.

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Sania Mirza has closed in on hersecond title of the season in as

many tournaments after reachingthe final of the WTA ApiaInternational with Czech partnerBarbora Strycova, here on Thursday.

The top seeds thrashedAmerica's Vania King and YaroslavaShvedova from Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2 in just 51 minutes.

Sania and Barbora saved all fivebreakpoints in the semifinal matchand broke the rivals twice in each set.

They will clash for the title withTimea Babos and AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova, who defeatedAndreja Klepac and María JoséMartínez Sánchez 6-3, 6-4 in theother semifinal.

After splitting with MartinaHingis last year in August, it isSania's sixth final in eight tourna-ments. She won the Cincinnati andTokyo events with Strycova and theNew Haven tournament withMonica Niculescu. It's only at theUS Open (Quarterfinals) andBeijing (2nd round) events that shemade an early exit.

Last week, Sania had won theseason-opener Brisbane event with

Bethanie Mattek-Sands but ironi-cally lost her world number onerank to the American, who jumpedfive places to dislodge the Indianfrom the top spot.

��)����� �����������@�!������Yuki Bhambri inchedcloser to the Australian Open sin-gles main draw after getting the bet-ter of Serbian Pedja Krstin 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the qual-ifying event, here on Thursday.

24-year-old Yuki, who wonthe junior Australian Open title in2009, saved all the three break-points in the match that lasted 68minutes.

The Indian youngster broke hisrival once in each set, and remainedsolid throughout.

His next opponent is 21st seedAmerican Ernesto Escobedo, whobrushed aside Tatsuma Ito fromJapan 6-1, 6-3 in his second roundmatch.

�� �� 09:��9)15

Jaipur Ninjas triumphed over UPDangal 4-3 to seal a spot in the semi-

finals of the Patanjali Powervita ProWrestling League Season 2 at the K DJadhav Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

The evening commenced with atight bout between two Georgianwrestlers, Tariel Gaphrindashvili fromUP and Jakob Makarashvili fromJaipur. The experienced Makarashviliheld his nerve to keep an attackingGaphrindashvili at bay to win 6-4 inthe 74 kg Men's category.

Jaipur's Pooja Dhanda took onUP youngster Manisha in the 58 kgWomen's category and ended with adominant 8-4 victory.

UP Dangal's Geeta Phogat wasruled out of Thursday's tie on med-ical grounds.

UP made a comeback in thematch as Andrey Kviatkovski prevailedover Jaipur's Rahul Mann in a close-

ly fought 65 kg Men's category bout.Jaipur retorted strongly as Venezuelanwrestler Betzabeth Arguello handed a8-1 defeat to UP's Pinki, who hasreplaced Babita Kumari for theremainder of the league.

Jaipur Captain Elizbar Odikadzeclinched the tie in his team's favouras he defeated UP's Mausam Khatri5-2 in the 97 kg heavyweight Men'scategory and continued his unbeat-en run in the tournament so far.

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World number ones AndyMurray and Angelique

Kerber were named the top seedstoday for next week's AustralianOpen with organisers aligningwith the current rankings.

Scotland's Murray is chasinghis first title at Melbourne Parkafter losing in the final five times,including in 2011, 2013, 2015 and2016 to Serb rival NovakDjokovic, who is seeded two.

Kerber will be defending herfirst Grand Slam having upsetSerena Williams, seeded two thisyear, in the decider last year.

Big-serving Canadian MilosRaonic, who lost to Murray in the2016 semi-finals, is the thirdmen's seed with 2014 championStan Wawrinka fourth andJapanese hope Kei Nishikori fifth.

Swiss legend Roger Federer

starts at 17 as he makes a come-back after six months out with aknee injury. His old foe RafaelNadal, also returning from injury,is ninth. Serena Williams, gun-ning for a 23rd Grand Slam titleto beat Steffi Graf 's Open-erarecord, is scheduled to again

meet Kerber in the women's final.But there are a host of dan-

gerous players looking to stop her,with Poland's AgnieszkaRadwanska seeded three andRomania's Simona Halep four. USOpen finalist Karolina Pliskovarounds out the top five.

����� 09:��9)15

Olympic gold medallistCarolina Marin and nation-

al champion Sameer Vermanotched up contrasting victoriesto guide Hyderabad Hunters tothe semifinals of PremierBadminton League season 2 witha 5-2 win over Delhi Acers in anexciting contest here on Thursday.

Saina Nehwal's AwadheWarriors were the first to qualifyfor the knockout stage andChennai Smashers and MumbaiRockets also had joined them inthe semi-finals but the door wasstill open for Hyderabad and theygrabbed the last spot after topplingBengaluru Blasters today.

Needing three points to earna place at the semifinals, theHyderabad team was led bySameer, mixed doubles pair of

Chau Wah Hoi and SatwiksairajRankireddy and two-time worldchampion Marin, who took themhome after winning their respec-tive matches. In the semifinals, itwill be a mouth-watering contestwhen Saina's Awadhe Warriorswill fight against P V Sindhu'sChennai Smashers whileHyderabad will face off MumbaiRockets in a double header at theSiri Fort Stadium here on Friday.

Starting the proceedings,Sameer fought back from a gamedown to snuff aside the challengethrown by young Siril Verma, a sil-ver medallist at 2015 World Juniorchampionship, 8-11 11-3 11-2 inopener. Hong Kong's Chau Wahand India's Satwiksairaj thendished out a superlative perfor-mance to outclass the famed pairof Jwala Gutta and Russia'sVladimir Ivanov 11-3, 11-4 in

mixed doubles to make it 2-0 infavour of Hyderabad Hunters.

China Open champion andWorld No 2 Jan O Jorgensen thenbrought Delhi back into the con-test with a dominating 11-5 11-7win over 2010 CommonwealthGames silver medallist RajivOuseph of England in their TrumpMatch to level the score 2-2.

European champion and 2015All England winner Marin thentook the court in Hyderabad'sTrump Match amid huge cheersand and sealed the match for herteam with a hard-fought 15-14 11-4 victory over World No 16 ThaiNitchaon Jindapol.

In the inconsequential fifthrubber, Boon Heong Tan andWee Kiong Tan then defeatedVladimir Ivanov and IvanSozonov 11-9 13-11 to completethe proceedings.

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Flavour of the season Rishabh Pantsizzled in his first ever match forIndia A and his smashing 59 off

only 36 balls overshadowed senior proAjinkya Rahane's compact 91 as a new-look India A side cruised to a six-wick-et victory over England in the secondwarm-up game, here on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 283, India Aknocked off the runs in 39.4 overs.Sheldon Jackson 59 off 56 balls also didhis bit adding 119 runs for the open-ing stand with Rahane.

Senior pro Suresh Raina did the fin-isher's job with a 45 off 34 balls.

However it was Pant, whose per-formance was awaited and he didn't dis-appoint the CCI crowd as he hit eightfours and two huge sixes.

Such was his dominance that hiscontribution was 59 out of the 78 runsin only 8.4 overs that he added for thesecond wicket with Rahane. Rahanealso showed no signs of rustiness hit-ting 10 fours and a six in 83 balls.

It was Deepak Hooda (23) andIshan Kishan(5) at the crease whenIndia A reached their target.

Earlier, opting to bat first theEngland innings was nurtured in themain by half centuries from openerAlex Hales (51) and Jonny Bairstow (64)before it got into the mire against thehome side's spin attack. They were final-ly revived by the last wicket pair of AdilRashid and David Willey who put on71 runs.

Strangely Pant, who is a regularopener for Delhi in ODIs and T20salong with IPL was demoted to No 3but it did not dampen his spirits.

The left-handed Pant, whoslammed pacer Jake Ball for two foursand a short-arm pulled six in three suc-cessive balls, raced to his half centuryin just 32 balls before impetuosity costhim his wicket.

In trying to cart leggie Adil Rashid,who he had hoisted over long on for hissecond six off his previous delivery, theupcoming Delhi lad was caught at thesame position after adding 78 runs in8.4 overs for the 2nd wicket with

Rahane who watched the youngsterblast his way from the other end.

These first two partnerships thatcame at a rate above the asking rate andpushed the total very close to the 200mark were enough to put the hometeam in sight of overhauling theirrivals' score.

After Rahane's dismissal when heplayed on in trying to clip Willey, Rainaand Deepak Hooda took the total pastthe 260-mark when the left-hander wascaught in the deep off Ball.

Earlier, choosing to bat first on win-ning the toss, England sailed along mer-rily and were 116 for one when theystarted losing wickets in bunches main-ly against the home team spinners to beleft struggling at 165 for six three overspast the halfway mark of their allottedquota.

Openers Jason Roy (25) and AlexHales (51) got the visitors off to anoth-er good start of 42 and then the latterand one-down batsman Jonny Bairstow(64) took the score past the 100-markbefore the slump began.

In 12 overs, England squandered

five wickets - including that of captainEoin Morgan for a duck, his second suc-cessive flop in two games.

Only Ben Stokes stood solid amongthe middle order in making 38 and heand Chris Woakes (16) took the scoreclose to 200 before another in anotherslide England lost three more wicketsbefore the 40th over with only 211 onthe board.

The last wicket partnership of 71 injust under ten overs between AdilRashid (39) and left handed DavidWilley, who remained unbeaten on 38and struck the only two sixes of theentire innings, helped England advanceto a competitive score in the end.

In spite of the last wicket pair's halfcentury stand the England inningsended with seven balls remaining. Forthe hosts, off-spinner Parvez Rasool wasthe most successful bowler with figuresof 3 for 38 off 10 overs, while left-armslow bowler Shahbaz Nadeem pickedup a brace along with medium pacersAshok Dinda, who took his wickets intwo balls in two separate overs, and leftarmer Pradeep Sangwan got one.

����� �'09

MS Dhoni had a phenomenalcareer as captain and one of the

highlights of his leadership tenurewas the apt handling of senior play-ers in the team, said current Indiacoach Anil Kumble who himself hadmade way for the wicket-keeperbatsman to be Test captain in 2008.

Dhoni succeeded Kumble asTest captain after the leg-spin legendannounced his retirement midwayinto home series against Australia in2008.

Kumble recalled the time whenDhoni was made captain in all threeformats.

"The first phase was probablyeasy for me because I was old, it waseasy for me to say 'MS take over'. Itwas difficult for me to continue atthat time, the body was not willingbut I thought it was the right time forme to leave as well. MS (Dhoni) wasready to take over Test captaincy,"said Kumble ahead of the first ODIagainst England here on Sunday.

Dhoni's glorious tenure as cap-tain began with the World T20 tri-

umph in 2007."From there to 2007 to 2017, 10

years of captaincy is phenomenal. Itgoes to show the capabilities of MSas a leader and also what he has beenable to achieve during the transitionphase and also when the seniors leftas well, it is not easy coming into theteam as captain and having so many

senior players. He managed themreally well.

"He (Dhoni) not just got the bestout of them but also got the best forthe team. Both as number one Testside and later on winning the WorldCup and then Champions Trophyand many other victories, he has beenpart of," he said referring to the time

when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar,Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman,Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravidplayed under Dhoni.

Kumble lauded Dhoni for thetiming of stepping down from cap-taincy.

"In this team, besides Yuvi,everybody else has started theircareers under MS. So that is the kindof transition he has seen. It has beenphenomenal to be able to achievewhat he has been able to achieve. Weall know the value that he brings asa player and as a batsman and keep-er and of course his value on the field.

"It is never easy to take a call.Hats off to him. That shows how self-less he is and he probably thought itwas the right time for Virat to takeover. Like how I felt back then it wasthe right time for MS to come in, itis great for the team to have MS onthe field with Virat leading the side.

"Like I mentioned, Virat cameinto the side when MS was captain,so the bonhomie and bond that theyshared will only help Virat grow asa leader. And Virat has shown thathe has exceptional quality.

����� 50��(9

Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyermade a fine half-century to keep mul-

tiple-time champions Mumbai in the huntafter the title holders conceded the firstinnings lead to Gujarat in the summit clashof the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament hereon Thursday.

Iyer made 82 off 137 deliveries with thehelp of nine boundaries and two sixes asMumbai reached 208 for three in their sec-ond innings to take a handy lead of 108 runsat stumps on day three of the five-dayencounter.

Besides Iyer, young Prithvi Shaw, whomade 71 in the first innings, smashed aquickfire 44 off 35 balls upfront.

Shaw and Akhil Herwadkar (16) gotMumbai off to a quick start in the secondessay with 54-run opening stand beforemedium pacer Chintan Gaja (3/54) pickedup both the Mumbai batsmen in quick suc-cession.

Gaja first accounted for Herwadkar inthe 10th over and then induced an edgefrom the dangerous-looking Shaw in the14th over which Gujarat skipper ParthivPatel accepted with both hands.

Then, Iyer and Surya Kumar Yadavjoined hands and stitched a 127-run part-nership for the third wicket to bring

Mumbai back into the game after the for-mer champions conceded the first inningslead to their opponents.

But Iyer, who was batting confident-ly till then, fell in similar fashion like Shaw,giving a straight-forward catch to Patelbehind the stumps off Gaja in the 60thover with Mumbai scoreboard reading193.

At stumps, Yadav was batting on 45along side Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare

(13 not out).Earlier, resuming their first innings on

291 for six in reply to Mumbai's 228 allout, the remaining four Gujarat batsmencould add just 37 runs before beingbowled out for 328 in 104.3 overs.

Paceman Shardul Thakur (4/84)picked up four wickets for Mumbai whileBalwinder Sandhu (3/63) and AbhishekNayar (3/101) shared the remaining sixwickets between them.

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Hashim Amla made a centuryin his 100th Test match as

he and JP Duminy put SouthAfrica in command on the firstday of the third and final Testagainst Sri Lanka on Thursday.

South Africa reached 338 forthree at the close of play, withAmla unbeaten on 124 at theWanderers Stadium.

Duminy made 155 before he wascaught at second slip off LahiruKumara in the penultimate over ofthe day, ending a third wicket part-nership of 192.

Amla became the eighth playerand second South African after for-mer captain Graeme Smith tomark 100 Tests with a hundred.

After a lean run of form, Amlastruggled early in his innings.

The left-handed Duminy wasthe dominant partner as he shep-herded Amla, who was dropped byDhananjaya de Silva at gully offSuranga Lakmal when he had five.

Amla only scored six in thepair's first 50 runs together.

Gradually, though, Amla found histiming and he reachedhis first half-century in11 Test matches shortly

before tea. He had faced109 balls and hit seven fours.

He blossomed to hit hissecond half-century off only 60balls, reaching his 26th Testhundred when he skippeddown the wicket and loftedRangana Herath over mid-offfor his 14th four.

Duminy, by contrast,cruised to his half-centuryoff 62 balls with ten bound-

aries and went on to his sixthTest century after facing 140

deliveries and adding four moreboundaries. Duminy's previous

highest score in three previousTests at the Wanderers was 29.

Amla and Duminy came togeth-er when both opening batsmen,Stephen Cook and Dean Elgar, were

dismissed within six balls when thetotal was on 45. Cook and Elgar sur-vived the first hour before both were

out soon after the mid-morning drinksbreak.

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Adominant innings of 56 by Tamim Iqbaland a patient unbeaten 64 by Mominul

Haque on Thursday steered Bangladesh to 154-3 at stumps on a wet and windy opening dayof the first test against New Zealand.

Rain allowed only 40.2 overs of play beforebad light ended play following a day on whichgale force winds battered the stadium, makinglife uncomfortable for batsmen and bowlers.

Tamim played a key role after Bangladeshwas sent in to bat on a green but spongy wick-et at the Basin Reserve.

He raced to his 20th test half century - hisfourth in six innings against New Zealand inNew Zealand - from 48 balls from which hehit 10 fours.

When he posted his half century,Bangladesh was 56-1, of which he had scored52.

While the pitch had bright green hue thatsuggested aid for seamers, it was softer thanexpected which negated their pace.

Iqbal scored freely from the outset but losthis opening partner, Imrul Kayes, who hookeda short ball from Tim Southee directly to TrentBoult on the fine leg boundary.

After lunch, Tamim rushed quickly to hishalf century.

He was especially hard on Boult who strug-gled to find his length as he bowled with thegale force wind as his back. Tamim took sixboundaries from the first 19 balls he faced fromBoult whose first spell of three overs cost 26runs.

But Boult had his revenge when hetrapped Tamim lbw for 56 when Bangladeshwas 60. The prospect of play in the final ses-sion looked bleak. But at 5.40pm, in fadinglight, the players took the field again andanother 11.2 overs were bowled.

In that time Mominul reached his halfcentury from 79 balls with nine fours and asix. And Mahmdullah fell to a catch by wick-etkeeper B.J. Watling off Neil Wanger whofinished with 1-28 from 11 overs.

Shakib Al Hasan was dropped by MitchellSantner off Watling and ended the day 5 notout.

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England batsman JonnyBairstow conceded that

facing up to the twin threatfrom the Indian spin duo ofRavichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja would con-tinue to pose a big challengeto his side in the One-DayInternational series starting atPune on January 15.

"I have faced Ashwin andJadeja in Test matches (thatpreceded the limited over partof the visit). We know theyhave got skills which are welldocumented.

“It's a great challenge,"said Bairstow after the secondwarm-up game lost by thetourists to an India A side ledby Ajinkya Rahane onThursday.

Off spinner Ashwinsnapped up 28 wickets, twomore than his left arm spinpartner who spun the visitorsto their doom in the former's

home venue in Chennai witha seven wicket haul in the lastinnings to help India completea 4-0 triumph over England inthe five-Test rubber.

He was pleased with hisinnings, although he wanted itto be bigger, but was under noillusion that he will be preferredto Joe Root, who has joined theteam late, despite it.

����� ��� �������� B���England were bolstered by

the arrival of their top batsmanJoe Root here in time for trav-elling with the squad tomorrowto Pune for the first of threeODIs on January 15. Root hadstayed back for a few days forthe birth of his first child.

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