CAPSULE

2 PRE-TEENS AMONG 7 INUP COW SLAUGHTER FIRBulandshahr: Of the sevenpeople from Naya Bans namedin an FIR on cow slaughterrelated to the mob violence here,two are pre-teens, one does notstay in the village and a fourthwas away at a Muslimcongregation 40 kilometresaway, angry villagers said onWednesday.

SC OK’S DRAFT WITNESSPROTECTION SCHEMENew Delhi: The Supreme Courton Wednesday approved theCentre's draft witness protectionscheme and asked all the Statesto implement it till Parliamentcomes out with a legislation.

KEJRIWAL LAUNCHES FREETEERTH YATRA YOJANANew Delhi: Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal on Wednesdaylaunched the ‘MukhyamantriTeerth Yatra Yojana' under which1,100 senior citizens from eachof the 70 Assemblyconstituencies here canundertake free pilgrimage.

BJP MOVES HC, SEEKS NODFOR BENGAL RATH YATRAKolkata: The BJP moved theCalcutta High Court onWednesday claiming that theWest Bengal administration andpolice were not responding to itsapplications for permission totake out three rallies, includingRath Yatra, in West Bengal fromDecember 7.

PNS n SUMERPUR/DAUSA

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday turned

the deportation of ChristianMichel, the alleged middle-man in the `3,600-croreAgustaWestland chopper deal,as the final weapon on the lastday of campagning against theCongress in the RajasthanAssembly polls, saying Michelwill now reveal the secrets ofthe political master he hadserved.

“I had mentioned theVVIP helicopter case, I spokeabout it, about the letter writ-ten by Sonia Gandhi. After BJPcame to power, we looked forthe files, we dug around. Theyhad hidden it away. But onemiddleman finally was caughtafter years of digging,” Modisaid at an election rally in Pali.

Modi, who also addressedrallies in Sumerpur in Pali dis-trict and in Dausa, alleged theGandhi family have beenenjoying privileges for fourgenerations. He claimed theGovernment’s “win” in theapex court on Tuesday was the“victory of the honest”.

On Tuesday, the SupremeCourt allowed the Income-Tax Department to reopen thetax assessment of Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi andhis mother Sonia Gandhi for2011-12 in connection with theNational Herald case.

“Now I will see how youescape... Look at the courage ofa ‘chaiwala’ who took thoserunning country for four gen-erations to the court’s door,”

Modi said in Sumerpur in a ref-erence to his “chaiwala” roots.

Referring to the deporta-tion of Michel, he said, “Theentire family is shivering. The‘raazdar’ (one who hidessecrets) will speak up and theydon’t know whose name he willdisclose… It was a matter ofthousands of crore so they arein a state of panic.”

Continuing his attack onthe Congress, Modi said inDausa the Congress is a con-fused party with confused lead-ership.

“They don’t know the dif-ference between Kumbharam

and Kumbhkaran,” he jeered,referring to Rahul Gandhi’sgaffe on Tuesday when he mis-takenly referred to the AshokGehlot Government startingthe “Kumbhkaran” lift projectinstead of saying “Kumbharam”project.

Modi said such a confusedleadership cannot be good forthe party or the country. “Theydo not have leader, policy andintention,” Modi said.

The Congress, he asserted,has lost the election and is nowcontemplating who to holdresponsible for its defeat.

Continued on Page 7

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

Several issues were discussedby political parties during

the Telangana Assembly elec-tion campaign to win heartsand minds of voters. WhileChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao tried toride on Telangana sentimentsand his Government’s numer-ous welfare schemes for varioussections, the OppositionPeople’s Front highlightedissues like the family rule, cor-ruption, farmers’ distress andfailure of the Government inkeeping its promises on the jobfront.

The BJP, which is the thirdcorner of the electoral fight,was falling back on its tried andtested formula of trying topolarise the voters by raising

issues like alleged minorityappeasement by the major par-ties and reservation dangle forMuslims.

A cursory look on theissues in the campaign:

Telangana sentiment:No election speech of care-

taker Chief Minister andTelangana Rashtra Samitisupremo K Chandrasekhar Raowas without reference to therole he and his party played inmore than a decade-longmovement for separateTelangana State.

He continued to contrastthis with the dillydallying bythen ruling Congress andantagonistic role of the TDP. Hewas also trying to use the sen-timents to quest the right of theChief Minister of neighbouringAndhra Pradesh and TDP

president N ChandrababuNaidu to interfere in Telanganapolitics.

“Will you allow a man tocome here who tried every trickto obstruct Telangana State,” heasked creating apprehensionsthat if the Opposition alliance“Praja Kutami” or People’sFront wins it will be remotecontrolled by Rahul Gandhi inNew Delhi and Chandrababuin Amarvati at the cost ofTelangana pride.

While the TRS was seekingsupport from the farmers, thedominant force in ruralTelangana, citing 24 hours freepower supply and schemes likeinvestment support and freeinsurance for farmers as itsmajor success, the Congress-TDP alliance was trying to rundown the claims of the TRS.

KCR also pointed out in everymeeting that his Governmenthad fulfilled the promise ofwaiving `2 lakh loans of everyfarmer. KCR has promisedanother loan waiver of ̀ 1 lakhon returning to power benefit-ing 4.2 million farmers.

Congress president Rahulmade frequent references tosuicide by 4,500 farmers dur-

ing the TRS rule for not gettingthe minimum support price.While the KCR and hisIrrigation Minister T HarishRao had gone to town withtheir claims of realising thedream of Kaleshwaram lift irri-gation project on riverGodavari, the Congress coun-tered saying the TRS regimeonly redesigned an old project,

inflating the cost from Rs40,000 crore to Rs 90,000 croreto benefit his family.

In this context Rahul useda new name for KCR as “KhaoCommission Rao” (East theCommission Rao). TheCongress also charged corrup-tion in projects like MissionBhagiratha of drinking watersupply and Mission Kakatiya ofirrigation tanks.

Though separate State wasexpected to bring economicbenefits to the locals, manypointed out most of TRS con-tracts were awarded to samecontractors from Andhra whoruled the roost in the past.

Jobs were one of the threepillars of movement for sepa-rate Telangana but KCR failedto keep it turning the youth

against his Government somuch so that he could not darevisit Osmania university, oncethe hub of the movement.

Now he has promisedmonthly unemploymentallowance of Rs 3016 if hereturns to power.

While Congress leaderswere questioning TRS perfor-mance on job front, K TarakaRama Rao, son of KCR andthe second most powerfulman in the Government saidthe Government created200,000 jobs in private sectorevery year.

For Opposition leaders,one of the major talking pointswas the domination of KCRfamily in the Government andthe party. “While Telanganayouth remain unemployed onlyKCR family benefited from

Telangana State,” said Rahul. Healso questioned how assets ofKCR’s son jumped by 400 percent in last four years.

While the wide range ofwelfare schemes and sops ofKCR had something for everysection of society, grousesremained. It was a mixed bag.Aarogyasri or scheme of freemedical treatment for the poorintroduced by YS RajasekharReddy was in the news recent-ly as the private hospitalstopped attending the patientbecause the government hadfailed to clear their dues of Rs1,200 crore.

While minorities werehappy with setting up of morethan hundred residentialschools for boys and girls, theywere bitter that KCR could not

Continued on Page 7

PTI n BENGALURU

Asuspected cylinder blastkilled a 32-year old tech-

nician and injured three othersduring an experiment in theaero-dynamics laboratory ofthe Indian Institute of Science(IISc) here on Wednesday,police said. Four technicians ofa private start-up companywere involved in some experi-ment at the laboratory when anexplosion occurred suddenlyaround 2.20 pm, they said.

Technician Manoj fromMysuru died on the spot whilethree others suffered injuries.

The injured have beenadmitted to a private hospital

where their condition is said tobe stable, police said.

Though the nature ofexplosion and its cause are yetto be established, it is suspect-ed that the incident occurreddue to a blast in a cylinder con-taining some gas, they said.

Assistant Commissionerof Police Niranjan Raj Urs toldPTI that the start-up company,Superwave TechnologiesPrivate Limited, was having atie-up with the IISc for carry-ing out experiments pertainingto its research.

“Forensic experts wouldascertain the actual cause of theaccident but it seems like acylinder blast,” he said.

PTI n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Wednesday

expectedly kept interest ratesunchanged at 6.5 per cent butheld out a promise to cut themif the upside risks to the infla-tion do not materialise. All thesix members of the monetarypolicy committee voted for ahold on the rates.

The RBI also coaxed banksto lend more in order to sup-port the slowing economy.

The central bank loweredretail inflation projection to2.7-3.2 per cent for the secondhalf of the current fiscal, citingnormal monsoon and moder-ate food prices.

It retained its GDP forecastfor the current fiscal at 7.4 percent and said growth will accel-erate to 7.5 per cent in first halfof 2019-20.

Commenting on the RBI’spolicy announcement, theMinistry of Finance saidassessment of the RBI withregard to growth and inflationis same as that of theGovernment.

India Inc too said RBI’sstatus quo decision was onexpected lines in view of head-winds, though it sought moremeasures by the RBI toimprove the credit flow to theeconomy.

PTI n LONDON

Fugitive liquor baron VijayMallya on Wednesday took

to social media with an offer topay back 100 per cent of “pub-lic money” to various Indianbanks and urged theGovernment to accept his offer,days ahead of a UnitedKingdom court’s decision onhis plea not to extradite him to India.

The 62-year-old formerKingfisher Airlines boss, whohas been on bail in the UK onan extradition warrant since hisarrest in April last year, isfighting extradition to India oncharges of fraud and moneylaundering allegedly amount-ing to around `9,000 crore.

A ruling in the case isexpected at WestminsterMagistrates’ Court in Londonon December 10, but the busi-nessman stressed that theextradition issue was a “sepa-rate” matter which will take its“own legal course”.

“The most important pointis public money and I amoffering to pay 100 per centback. I humbly request thebanks and Government to takeit. If payback refused, why,” hequestioned in one of his postson Twitter.

Continued on Page 7

Michel gives Govt ammunition against CongThe entire family is shivering as the raazdar will spill secrets of politicians he served, says Modi

PNS n NEW DELHI

Accusing Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of being

the “protector, benefactor andpromoter” of AgustaWestlandand its parent companyFinmeccanica, the Congresson Wednesday demanded aCBI probe into Modi’s role in“exonerating” the Italiandefence and aerospace majorwhich was blacklisted by thethen UPA Government.

The party in a statementsaid the BJP and the PrimeMinister are “latching” on toChristian Michel for a “smear

campaign” against Oppositionleaders.

AICC chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala alleged thatfacing “imminent defeat” inState polls, Modi and the BJPGovernment are seeking to“weave a web of lies” and con-struct a “mesh of deception to

hoodwink” the people of Indiain the chopper scam case.

In his rally in Rajasthan onthe last day of campaigningbefore the State elections onFriday, Modi referred to theextradition of Michel saying,“The Government has broughtthe middleman involved in ahelicopter scam from Dubai.He served politicians and willnow disclose secrets.”

“While the BJP and PMModi are seeking fake creditwithout being subjected toinvestigation by the CBI fortheir own complicity and con-nivance, they are latching on to

Christian Michel for commit-ting a smear campaign againstOpposition leaders. The truthof Christian Michel is alreadyout in the open,” he claimed.

Surjewala alleged the state-ment made by Michel’s advo-cate Rosemary Patrizi DosAnjos after his detention in Julyhad “clearly brought out” thatthe Modi Government and itsagencies were forcing him tosign a false confessional state-ment naming UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi in return forcomplete exoneration from anycharge whatsoever in the case.

Continued on Page 7

RAKESH K SINGH n NEW DELHI

Hours after he was deport-ed to New Delhi from

Dubai, Christian Michel,accused and middleman inthe AgustaWestland VVIPchopper deal scam, was onWednesday produced before aDelhi court which allowed hisfive-day custodial interroga-tion. The CBI had sought a 14-day police remand.

Michel will again be pro-duced in the court onDecember 10. Michel was pro-duced before Special CBI JudgeArvind Kumar, who alloweddiscussion between him andhis advocate for five minutes.Michel landed in the nationalCapital around 11 pm onTuesday. He was then taken tothe CBI headquarters at theLodhi Road here at 1.30 am.

In its remand application,the CBI submitted that the cus-todial interrogation of accusedChristian Michel is required tounearth the deep-rooted con-spiracy and to identify hisaccomplices, including the IAFofficials, bureaucrats andpoliticians, who were instru-mental in changing the deci-sions, which madeAgustaWestland eligible to

participate in the biddingprocess and ultimately baggedit. The CBI submitted theaccused has to be confrontedwith a number of documents.

The counsel for CBI sub-mitted that investigationrevealed that Michel hadentered into as many as 12 con-tracts through two of his firms,namely Global TradeCommerce Ltd, London, andGlobal Services FZE, Dubai,with Finmeccanica,AgustaWestland, WestlandHelicopters, UK among othersto legitimise the illicit com-mission on the procurement of

VVIP helicopters by theMinistry of Defence, India.

The CBI also submittedthat an amount of Euro 42.27million was paid by theWestland Group Companies tothe firms of accused ChristianMichel as kickbacks withoutundertaking any work againstthe receipt of such amount.

The counsel for theaccused vehemently opposedthe remand application sayingthere is no need for police cus-tody and none of these docu-ments has been produced inany international court.

Continued on Page 7

Agusta scam fixer sentto 5-day CBI custody

Telangana sentiments, family rule, farmer woes hog campaign

RBI keeps ratesintact, lowersinflation outlook

1 dead, 3 injuredin IISc lab blast

Mallya offers torepay 100% ofbanks’ principal

BJP using Michel with freedombait against Opp leaders: Cong

Forensic experts conduct investigation inside the aero-dynamics laboratory of theIndian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bengaluru on Wednesday PTI

AgustaWestland scam accused middleman Christian Michel being taken to theCBI headquarters in New Delhi early on Wednesday PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election rally a day ahead of theRajasthan Assembly elections in Sumerpur in Pali on Wednesday Video grab

Modi is protector,and promotor ofAgustaWestland,alleges Surjewala

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Late City Vol. 154 Issue 326*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

Established 1864

RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18

LUCKNOW, THURSDAY DECEMBER 6, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

KAREENA ISOPEN TO DOA WEB SERIES14 VIVACITY}

PNS n LUCKNOW

With the Bulandshahrpolice coming a cropper

in netting prime accused andBajrang Dal chief Yogesh Raj,two videos, one in which theprime accused is seen pleadinghis innocence and the otherpointing to the involvement ofleaders of Hindu outfits also incow slaughter, caused consid-erable consternation amongthe law enforcing agencies.

Not only this, at a timewhen the Bulandshahr policeare on a high alert, fresh cattlecarcasses where found nearMishra brick kiln onJahengirabad-Daulatpur high-way in Bulandshahr onWednesday morning.

With cow vigilantes againconverging on the spot to raisethe issue, cops summonedbackhoe (JCB) and got thecarcasses buried in nearbyfields.

Sources claimed thatBulandshahr violence primeaccused Yogesh Raj released avideo, pleading his innocence.In the video he said that he waspresent at the police station tolodge a report of cow slaugh-ter when the violence brokeout.

In the video, Yogesh isseen chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’and introduces himself asBulandshahr district convenor

of Bajrang Dal. Later, he saysthat the police were “portray-ing him as a history-sheeter”even as the cow slaughter led toviolence.

“There were two incidentsthat happened on that day.The first related to cow slaugh-ter at Mahav village near Syana.On being informed, I reachedthere with my supporters. Thepolice also reached there andwe went to Syana police stationfor filing our complaint on cowslaughter,” he says in the video.

Raj says that while theywere still at the police station,they came to know that vil-lagers were pelting stones. Italso surfaced that there was fir-ing as well in which a youthand an inspector suffered gun-shot injuries.

He trashed charges thatBajrang Dal was involved in theviolence. “When the policewere writing our complaint,why would Bajrang Dalprotest? I was not present at thelocation of the second incident.I have nothing to do with it. Ihave full faith in God that I willbe cleared of all charges,” he isheard saying in the video.

On Tuesday, ADG (Lawand Order) Anand Kumar had

Continued on Page 7

CM to meet slaincop’s kin todayPNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will meet the

family members of InspectorSubodh Kumar Singh who waskilled in the violent clashsparked by recovery of beef andcarcasses said to be of cattle.

A government spokesmansaid in Lucknow on Wednesdaythat Yogi Adityanath wouldmeet the family members ofSubodh Kumar Singh at his 5,Kalidas Marg official residencehere on Thursday morning.

The state government hasannounced a compensation ofRs 40 lakh to the slain cop’swidow, Rs 10 lakh for his par-ents and a government job fora member of the family.

The Chief Minister mighthand over the compensationcheque to the kin during themeeting.

Bulandshahr violence accusedpleads innocence in video clip

city 02LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

On the direction of Lucknowbench of the Allahabad High

Court, the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) registered a casein connection with irregularities inthe examination held for recruitmentof 68,500 assistant teachers in thestate.

The case was registered undersections 120b/409/230/201/467/468/471 of the IndianPenal Code pertaining to criminalconspiracy, destruction of evidence,criminal breach of trust, cheating,forgery for the purpose of cheating,using forged documents as genuine,and criminal misconduct of publicservants (120B \ 409 \ 230 \ 201 \ 467\ 468 \ 471). The case was registeredwith CBI’s Lucknow office onWednesday morning.

Unidentified officials of BasicShiksha Parishad office in Allahabad,Examination Regulatory Authorityin Allahabad, and other public andprivate persons have been accusedin the FIR.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi

Adityanath will inaugu-rate a four-day-longKhadi Mahotsav atIndira GandhiPratishthan here onThursday.

Union Minister ofState for Micro, Smalland MediumEnterprises, GirirajKishore, and Khadi andVillage IndustriesCommission chairmanVinay Saxena will also par-ticipate in the event.

State Minister for Khadiand Village IndustriesSatyadeo Pachauri said hereon Wednesday that theKhadi Mahotsav, whichwould conclude onDecember 9, was beingorganised to promote thetraditional khadi craft.

He said a seminar would

also be organised duringthe mahotsav and it wouldhave experts from the fieldof small and village andcottage industries as speak-ers.

Pachauri said that at themahotsav, khadi productswould be available for salefor the visitors.

On the inaugural day ofthe mahotsav, a khadi fash-ion show has been organ-ised.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Terming the Bulandshahrincident as unfortunate,

Rashtriya Lok Dal state presi-dent Masood Ahmad demand-ed a CBI probe into thesequence of events leading tothe violence.

He said the incident wasthe outcome of misgovernanceand irresponsible statement ofChief Minister YogiAdityanath.

“At the time of assumingpower, Yogi boosted the moraleof police officers by askingthem to gun down criminalsand this resulted in the killingof several innocents. On theother hand, the Chief Ministeralso encouraged workers ofBharatiya Janata Party and itsfrontal outfits like Hindu YuvaVahini, Bajrang Dal andVishwa Hindu Parishad,promising action against offi-cers who did not listen to theircomplaints. This emboldenedboth the police and workers of

the BJP and its frontal outfitsand led to numerous show-downs in the past,” MasoodAhmad pointed out.

“There have been numer-ous instances in which the BJPand its allied workers con-fronted cops and even assault-ed them. On some occasions,the workers were assaulted orkilled by cops,” the RLD statechief explained.

Ahmad said that in theBulandshahr incident, a BJPsympathiser, Sumit, was alsokilled besides Inspector SubodhKumar Singh.

Speaking about the com-pensation given to the family ofthe slain police inspector,Ahmad said that no compen-sation could repay the lossthat the family had suffered.

“Similarly the loss to thefamily of Sumit cannot becompensated by any assis-tance,” he added.

The RLD state presidentalso demanded the ChiefMinister’s resignation.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Fighting the perception ofbeing an additional shop in

an already crowded marketand a ‘vote katwa’ (votedivider), Shivpal Singh Yadavled Pragatisheel SamajwadiParty (Lohia) (PSPL) is seekingto establish its identity as acredible secular political alter-native in the state’s realpolitik.

The PSPL is organising abig rally and aims to be makeit “historic” in crowd partici-pation in Lucknow onDecember 9.

The PSPL has pinned itshopes on exploiting the con-tradictions in the proposedSamajwadi Party-BahujanSamaj Party alliance to createa political space for itself dur-ing 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“We are not a ‘vote katwa’party. Instead, we are a main-

stream secular political partycommitted to fighting com-munal forces in the state in the2019 Lok Sabha elections,”said former Rajya Sabhamember Veerpal Singh, whoswitched from SamajwadiParty to the PSPL.

Without namingSamajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav, Singh said,“Those who are trying to dis-credit us as the B team ofBharatiya Janata Party shouldexplain their conduct andtheir relations with the BJP.”

“In fact, it is not us butSamajwadi Party and BahujanSamaj Party who were croniesof the BJP. Both parties,despite their negligible or noexistence in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh,contested almost all assemblyseats there and this will ben-efit the BJP. The three poll-

bound states are known forbipolar polity where Congressand BJP are locked in a directcontest. There is no space fora third player yet the SP andBSP fielded candidates thereto divide anti-BJP votes,”charged Veerpal Singh.

The former leader of SPsaid, “Akhilesh not only field-ed candidates from all assem-bly constituencies in MadhyaPradesh, he also aggressivelycampaigned against theCongress. But he has theaudacity to call us the B teamof BJP.”

A former minister inAkhilesh Yadav governmentand now a confidant ofShivpal Yadav, Singh said, “Allis not well between the SP andthe BSP as the latter has con-ceded only 33 seats to the for-mer and kept the rest 47 foritself (in UP). The BSP has

also asked the SP to accom-modate Congress, NishadParty, Peace Party andRashtriya Lok Dal from itsquota of 33 seats.”

“The SP is expected toleave two seats — Amethiand Rae Bareli — as per tra-ditional understanding forCongress, three for RashtriyaLok Dal, the seat ofDumariyaganj for Peace Partyand one seat for Nishad party.The effective tally of the SPwill then be 26 seats.

With this, there will be noSP candidate on as many as 54of the 80 Lok Sabha seats inUP. “The 54 seats are equal tothe total seats of Bihar andJharkhand. On the otherhand, the PSPL will field itscandidates on all 54 seats andmost of these candidates willbe from the Samajwadi Party,”Singh said.

Ayodhya (PTI): Mohammed Azim, anauto-driver in Ayodhya, still recalls thefrightening night of December 6, 1992 whenhe along with a group of other Muslim res-idents of the temple town had taken shel-ter in the fields fearing for their lives. Azim,who was just 20 then, said, “An army of‘karsewaks’, in a grip of frenzy, had broughtdown Babri Masjid, triggering unrest andpanic. We were so terrified, we did not knowwhat to do.” The 46-year-old, now a fatherof four, feels upset that Ram Temple issueis again being raked up by some politicians,threatening the “fragile peaceful atmosphere”

of Ayodhya, whose residents are still tryingto come to terms with the tragedy.

“Every year around this time, we fightthose emotions. We have tried to put the pastbehind us, but the tragic memories justrefuse to go away. And, with all the noisearound the temple issue in Ayodhya andelsewhere, it has opened our wounds again,”he rued. Azim says it was a Hindu familywhich gave him shelter when “the two com-munities were baying for each others’blood”.

Mohammed Muslim, 78, who now dri-ves an e-rickshaw, gets perturbed talking

about the incident and says he wished politi-cians and Hindu-outfits would not whip upcommunal frenzy. “We were unsafe then,and today also we feel insecure when out-side crowd comes to our town (referring tothe recent Dharma Sabha of the VHP),” hesaid. But, it is not just minority communi-ty, which feels the pain, as Vijay Singh, a doc-tor who lives near the disputed RamJanmabhoomi, said, the recollection of theincident sends chills down the spine. He wasin Ayodhya on the day and saw the violencethat followed in the holy city. “It was terri-ble. We do not want another tragedy.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Security has been furtherbeefed up across the state in

the wake of the anniversary ofBabri Masjid demolition onThursday.

Vishwa Hindu Parishadworkers along with some akha-ras are set to observe ShauryaDiwas on the occasion atAyodhya.

VHP spokesperson inAyodhya, Sharad Sharma, said,“Shaurya Diwas will be tradi-tionally celebrated. In Ayodhya,the VHP and various Hinduorganisations are likely toorganise a number of religiousprogrammes, including ahawan, so that a grand templeof Lord Ram is built.”

Sharma also said that spe-cial prayers for GoddessSaraswati (the goddess of learn-ing) were likely to be held sothat the people, especiallypoliticians do not “hinder theconstruction of a Ram temple”.

“Sarva baadha muktihawans (hawans seeking to getrid of all obstructions) too willbe held. Tributes will also bepaid to the innocent karsewakswho faced bullets and losttheir lives,” he said and com-pared the karsewaks to Jatayu,the vulture who tried to rescue

Sita from demon king Ravan inthe epic Ramayana.

As per reports, a heavysecurity force has beendeployed in the twin towns ofAyodhya with the VHP andBajrang Dal planning to cele-brate Shaurya Diwas (Day ofValour) and Muslim organisa-tions observing the day asYaum-e-Gham (Day ofSorrow).

Taking note of the gravityof the situation and the adviso-ry issued by the Centre, theAyodhya district administrationhas made elaborate securitydeployments in its twin towns.

Meanwhile, police person-nel were also deployed outsidea Hanuman temple inMuzaffarnagar on Wednesdayas priests of the area soughtprotection from a group ofDalit activists, who enteredthe shrine and started perform-ing rituals.

The activists offered prayersat the temple on Tuesday, aweek after Chief Minister YogiAdityanath triggered a row byterming Lord Hanuman a Dalit.

The Dalit group stormedthe temple, one of themassumed the role of a priest andstarted performing rituals. They

also put up a banner of ‘DalitHanuman Mandir, HanumanChowk, Muzaffarnagar’ in frontof the temple.

Priests of differentHanuman temples in the areasought police protection afterthe incident. They also lodgeda complaint at Kotwali policestation and it is being lookedinto.

On Sunday, Bhim Armychief Chandrashekhar Azadhad urged members of Dalitcommunity to take over allHanuman temples in the coun-try and appoint Dalits as prieststhere.

Meanwhile, ahead of the26th anniversary of the demo-lition of the 16th-centurymosque, the Babri MasjidAction Committee asked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChief Minister Yogi Adityanathto maintain status quo at thedisputed site as per the SupremeCourt orders.

Babri Masjid ActionCommittee (BMAC) will senda memorandum to Modi andAdityanath on Thursday whenthe anniversary of the demoli-tion falls.

It has requested the peopleto observe the day peacefullyand hold special prayers forearly resolution of the dispute.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Congressfired a fresh salvo at the

Yogi Adityanath government,charging the Chief Ministerwith being insensitive.

“It is strange that YogiAdityanath, who during hismeeting with senior officerson Tuesday night, expressedconcern for cow slaughter butdid not utter a word for theloss of life of an inspector anda youth in the Bulandshahrviolence. This only speaksvolumes about his insensitiv-ity,” UP Congress Committeegeneral secretar y VinodMishra in Lucknow onWednesday.

Mishra said that due tothe communal divide engi-neered by the Bharatiya JanataParty, incidents l ikeBulandshahr were happeningregularly with the right wing“goons”, who had no fear oflaw enforcing agencies, target-ing innocents in the name ofcow vigilantism.

Taking a dig at the Chief

PNS n LUCKNOW

Hitting out at his minis-terial colleague OmPrakash Rajbhar,

Deputy Chief Minister KeshavPrasad Maurya said that someleaders wanted to remain inlimelight and therefore issuedstatements.

“Om Prakash Rajbharalways wants to be in news andtherefore issues such state-ments. One should not takehim seriously,” Maurya told aselect group of journalists inLucknow on Wednesday.

Suheldeo Bharatiya SamajParty president and UP Cabinetminister Om Prakash Rajbharhad said that the Bulandshahrincident, in which a policeinspector was among the twokilled, was the handiwork ofright wing Hindu outfits. Heeven said that it was an attemptto foment communal tension inthe state in view of the 2019

Lok Sabha poll.Maurya said that Rajbhar

did not know the full facts. “It is wrong to name any

outfit behind this incident soearly. Police probes are on andthe culprits will be arrestedsoon. Clear directions havebeen given to the police not tospare anyone,” the DeputyChief Minister said.

“At the face of it this lookslike a conspiracy to defame thegovernment. The probe will

bring out the truth,” Mauryasaid

When asked about the ter-ror threat in Uttar Pradesh, par-ticularly at Sankat Mochantemple in Varanasi, the DeputyChief Minister said thatCongress had patronised ter-rorism during its regime.

“But in the (Narendra)Modi rule, the NDA (NationalDemocratic Alliance) govern-ment has reined in terror activ-ities,” he said.

“Rahul Gandhi should bereminded by his leaders that heis a national leader and shouldnot talk like state or districtpresident of the Congress,”Maurya said.

Another UP Cabinet min-ister, Moti Singh, also askedRajbhar to restrain from issu-ing any statement on govern-ment functioning.

“Om Prakash is a goodfriend. Probably he does notknow the full facts,” Singh said.

Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident

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Rajbhar issuing statements

to be in news: Maurya

CM to inaugurate KhadiMahotsav today

CBI registers case

in teachers’ exam

irregularities

Security beefed up across UP for

Babri demolition anniversary

A sadhu walks down a road as police personnel keep vigil, on the eve of theanniversary of Babri mosque demolition, in Ayodhya, on Wednesday PTI

Bulandshahr incident

unfortunate: RLD

UP Congress slams

CM’s ‘insensitivity’

Minister, Mishra said, “A fewhours after the Bulandshahrincident, Yogi Adityanath wasinaugurating a kabaddi showand later enjoyed a soundand light show in Gorakhpur.It was more than 24 hoursafter the opposition partiesraised the issue that the ChiefMinister woke up from hisslumber and rushed toLucknow to review the situa-tion. However, Yogi again leftfor election rallies in differentstates on Wednesday morning,showing scant concern forthe state he rules and its peo-ple. It is appalling.”

PSPL seeks to establish its identity

as a credible political alternative

Ayodhya residents recall the horrors of 1992 tragedy

city 03LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Keeping in view the request madeby stall owners, Governor Ram

Naik officially announced the exten-sion of Lucknow Mahotsav tillDecember 9 .

Addressing the audience onthe occasion of the closing ceremo-ny of Lucknow Mahotsav organisedat the Smriti Upvan on Wednesday,Governor Ram Naik said that hehad interacted with people at thestalls while taking a round ofMahotsav and was making theannouncement conceding to theirdemands.

Paying tributes to former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ,Ram Naik said that he had visitedthe Atal gallery at Mahotsav whichbrought back memories of his timespent with the former PrimeMinister.

“It is unlikely that we can havea leader like him in the comingfuture. There are some photographswhich I have also shared at theGallery and this includes the pho-tograph of the first convention of theBJP at Mumbai,” he said.

Recalling other times with theformer Prime Minister, theGovernor said that he was especial-ly touched when Atal visited his res-idence unexpectedly after he wasdiagnosed with cancer. “He wasgoing for a foreign visit and was inMumbai for barely two hours andstill Atalji came to visit me,” headded.

District Magistrate Kaushal RajSharma, while speaking on theoccasion, said that LucknowMahotsav was organised every yearwith the prime aim of attractingtourists.

The cultural evening began

with performance by Soma Ghoshfrom Varanasi and she started offwith “Shiv Tandav” following it witha thumri “Hamari Attariya”. She also

presented a kajri in support of BetiBacchao “Arre Rim Jhim”. She saidthat heritage music should beencouraged.

Arushi Nishank , a kathakdancer from Uttarakhand, present-ed Sufi kathak “Tere Ishq Mein”which had a lot of fusion elements.

Lucknow (PNS): ReserveBank of India stall at LucknowMahotsav attracted 24000 peo-ple. RBI AGM Jai Prakash saidthat they exchanged new notesto the tune of Rs 2 crore, thehighest figure for noteexchange in the recent past.

He said that last year theyhad exchanged of Rs 1 crorecurrency notes for theMahotsav 2017 and 6000 peo-ple had visited the stall. In 2016,no stall was set up because ofdemonetisation.

The AGM said that themain reason for the goodresponse was that the stall wasplaced at a vantage point. Hesaid that the profile of visitorswas that there was maximumparticipation by youths. “Mostof the youths were mostly ask-ing about whether it was safe totransfer money throughmobile. Most of the women

complained about the problemswhich they faced in banks andthey were told that they couldapproach the Reserve Bank 30days after they had made acomplaint with the bank con-cerned. The Reserve Bank ofIndia established a FinancialLiteracy Knowledge Hub dur-ing the Mahotsav. He pointedout that the Financial LiteracyKnowledge Hub was an effortto highlight the importance offinancial literacy and also toprovide an opportunity to com-mon people where they couldinteract with different expertsfrom RBI during Mahotsav.

An expert was present atthe Knowledge Hub each dayto answer queries and also toenrich visitors with thematicpresentation in the second halfof the day. Visitors participat-ed in Financial Literacy Quizand won token prizes.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The arrest of two brothersSalman and Adnan in the

grisly murder of BJYM leaderPratyush Mani Tripathi inMahanagar is seemingly goingto be an albatross around policeneck in the due course of time.

Two days after the murder,the police have failed to recov-er the knife by which theaccused had attacked the victimon Monday night. The policealso have failed to find the loca-tion of both the accused aroundthe crime scene at the time ofthe incident. Besides, the policeare yet to find any CCTVfootage or any eyewitnessaccount to corroborate thecharges against the accused.“The lack of evidence will weak-en the case against the accusedin the court,” sources said.

They said the sister of theaccused persons had lodged acase of eve-teasing against theslain BJYM leader and the policedid not act on the case underthe pressure from seniors. “Inview of that case, the accusedbrothers had a clear motive toattack the victim as the policedelayed action against Tripathi.But the lack of evidence will goin favour of them,” the sourcessaid.

It may be noted that bothTripathi and the sister of the

accused persons had lodgedcross FIRs against one anotherwith the Kaiserbagh police butthe police delayed the investiga-tion due to obvious reason.They said the surveillance team,consisting of cops of excellenttrack record, failed to gleanany concrete evidence againstthe persons who had beencharged on murder count.

“The victim had no injurieson his hand or any other partsof the body. In case of attack bya knife, the victim tries to fendoff the attackers or he tries tosnatch the knife or sharp-edgedweapon from attackers. In thatcase, a victim suffers injuries onhis hand or other parts of body.In Pratyush murder case, noother injuries were detected,” thesources in the team which con-

ducted the autopsy disclosed. On condition of anonymi-

ty, a police officer said:“Pratyush wife Pratima lodgeda case on Tuesday namingSalman, his brother Adnan andothers in the murder. Policemade Pratima’s complaint abase and arrested Salman andAdnan to deflect the criticismfor the poor show on law andorder front.”

Mahanagar SHO VikasPandey said the police were yetto recover the sharp-edgedweapon from the miscreants. Herubbished the claims of thesources that the accused broth-ers were not in Lucknow oraround the crime scene at thetime of the incident. “We are yetto trace the location of the mis-creants,” he said, adding thatefforts were on to collect evi-dence against them.

On the other hand, theLucknow police failed to explainthe delay in investigation of thecross FIRs which were registeredat Kaiserbagh police station.

On Wednesday, the policeinterrogated friends of Tripathito know the details about hisvisit to Mahanagar. The policeare also trying to find out ifTripathi was accompanyingsomeone on the day of the inci-dent. A team is also probing ifTripathi had enmity with someother persons.

Mahotsav earns

whopping ` 5cr

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Lucknow Mahotsav has grossed Rs 5crore, the highest amount of income this

year. Mahotsav Samiti secretary RP Yadav saidthat the amount included Rs 2.80 crore fromtenders for swings on the Mahotsav grounds,Rs 2 crore from the allotment of the tents andpavilions and Rs 1 crore from the sale of thetickets.

He added that the highest amount interms of tickets was grossed on December 2which was a Sunday with the total amountearned being Rs 19 lakh. “This is an all-timerecord for the Mahotsav held as far as the saleof the tickets was concerned,” he added.

He said that the crowds also came in largenumbers on December 4, the penultimate dayof Lucknow Mahotsav to watch the performanceof Guru Randhawa with the total earnings beingRs 12 lakh from tickets.

He said that among the artistes, the maxi-mum crowds were garnered by Guru Randhawaon the Punjabi nite followed by Pawan Singhon the Bhojpuri nite on December 1. “ In caseof Pawan Singh, the fans were limited to the areawhere he was performing at the main culturalpandal. However, in case of Guru Randhawa,the fans filled the entire ground and spread allover,” he added.

Yadav said that good earnings fromLucknow Mahotsav could be attributed to sev-eral reasons. “ First, Lucknow Mahotsav washeld at Awadh Shilpgram last year so a major-ity of the people missed out on attending theMahotsav. Hence the crowds poured in this year.Secondly, the double amount which was leviedfor the tickets made the earnings better. Earlierthe entry ticket was priced at Rs 10 but this yearit was Rs 20. The presence of good artistes alsoattracted the crowds to Mahotsav,” he said. Headded that the implementation of the GST hadbrought an increase in the amount of moneyearned through tenders made for swings.

He pointed out that the feedback which theyhad received from sellers and artistes was over-whelming.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Two unidentified bike-borne miscreants opened fire at an office-bearer of Hindu Yuva Vahini Bharat Vikas Singh Vishen

in Indira Nagar on Wednesday night. The leader had a narrowescape as attackers missed their aim. Police claimed that open-ing of fire on the leader was not verified when a team visited thecrime scene.

As per reports, Vikas of Manas Enclave in Indira Nagar dealsin property-related business and is also the incharge of Mahanagarunit of the above named organisation. Around 9.30 pm, the mis-creants came near his XUV when he was going to Khurram Nagar.“The pillion-rider opened fire aiming me but he missed the aim.I was scared out of wits and hid myself inside the XUV. The mis-creants sped off after the attack,’ he claimed.

The Indira Nagar police said a team was sent to the place toverify claims made by Vikas. “We quizzed some of the shop own-ers but none of them confirmed the same. Also no dent was foundon Vikas’s XUV,” the police said, adding that a case was being reg-istered in this connection.

GIRL ATTEMPTS SUICIDEDenied permission to go to Lucknow Mahotsav by her fam-

ily, a class XI girl student attempted to end her life in PGI policestation area on Wednesday. Police said the girl tried to jump beforea moving train but later dropped the idea when the train cameon the tracks. Due to a strong gush, she was thrown back, fell downand suffered head injuries.

As per reports, some residents alerted the police controlroom about an accident that had taken place on railway tracksnear Bajaj showroom in PGI police station area. On information,a public response vehicle, led by HCP Ram Prasad andconstable Abhay Kumar Singh, reached the scene. They tookthe girl to Trauma Centre where the girl was undergoing treat-ment.

Police spokesman said the girl is a resident of Saleh Nagar ofAshiyana and studies in class XI at a private school. “The fami-ly of the girl was also informed about the incident. The police areinvestigating the case,” he said. The police spokesman said thepolice would talk to the girl after she recuperated.

RBI stall a big drawMahotsav extended till Dec 9

(Clockwise) Anuj Mishra and Arushi Nishankh presenting sufi dance, Padamsri Soma Ghosh performing and DM Kaushal Raj presenting amemento to Governor Ram Naik at Lucknow Mahotsav on Wednesday

Pratyush murder: Arrest

of 2 bros raises queries

“In view of thatcase, the accusedbrothers had aclear motive toattack the victimas the policedelayed actionagainst Tripathi.But the lack ofevidence will goin favour of them”

Yuva Vahini leader shot at

city 04LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

U.P. POWER TRANSMISSIONCORPORATION LTD.TENDER NOTICE SealedTenders are hereby invited in two

parts (containing earnest money in 1st partand rates terms & condition in 2ndpart) frommanufacturer/authorized supplier/experi-enced contractors as details given below:-Tender No. 13/ E.400 KVS/S D(M)/2018-19 Providing of one No. diesel vehi-cle along with driver for ten Month, fordepartmental work at E.400 KV S/SDivision, Kasara-Mau as per tender spec-ification. Earnest money deposited Rs.2000.00 (Two thousand) Only in shape ofF.D.R/C.D.R/D.D./cash in favour ofExecutive Engineer, E.400 KV S/S Kasara-Mau. The above tender opening on date:- 30.12.2018 TERM & CONDITION:- 1.Tender document can be obtained from thisoffice by paying tender fee for Rs.200+24=224.00 in shape of cash/D.D. infavour of undersigned up to 13:00 hrs. ofthe opening date. Tender fee is nonrefundable. 2. The above tender shouldbe reached to this office on the date ofopening at 14:00 hrs. & shall be openedat 16:00 hrs. before all tenders/ represen-tatives. 3. If the opening date falls on hol-iday, tender shall be received & opened onnext working day. 4. The undersignedreserves the right to reject, split, cancel anyor all the tenders and accept in full or partwithout assigning any reasons thereof. 5.Tender documents will be sold only to thosefirms/contractors who are registered intrade tax department and have past. 6.Tender part-Il will be opened after receiptof part-I in complete form. ExecutiveEngineer, Electy. 400 K.V. Sub-StationDivision U.P. Power TransmissionCorporation Ltd, Kasara-Mau No. 1353Date 30.11.18 SAVE ELECTRICITY INTHE INTEREST OF NATION

Notice Inviting Tender(E-Tendering Mode)

Request for Qualification (RFQ) cum request for proposal (RFP) for development and construction of Kanha Gaushala at Village Jana Jajmau Kanpur

OnTURN KEY BASIS

Bids are invited from the eligible bidders for Development &Construction of Kana Gaushala for Stray Cattle, Including DefectLiability Period for one year at Village Jana Jajmau, Kanpur. U.P.on behalf of Municipal Commissioner, Kanpur MunicipalCorporation, Kanpur, U.P.

1. Ref. No.2 Completion Period for 06 Months

Construction3 Period and Places for From 06.12.2018 from 1:00 pm

sale of Bidding to 13.12.2018 till 12:00 Noon.Dacument online The documents are to be

downloaded from the website of http:// etender.up.nic.in

4 Last Date and Time for 13.12.2018 Time : 3:00 pmonline bid submission

5 Total Project Cost (INR) Rs. 717.68 Lakes (With Tax)6 Cost of Tender document Rs. 10,000.00 thousands

non refundable7 EMD/Bid Security Rs. 14.36 lacks

(refundable)8 Technical bid opening From 13.12.2018

date and time Time 04:00 pm9 Financial bid opening After the complication of

date and time technical bid evaluation on thesame day or will be communicated letter.

10 Place of Bid opening Kanpur Nagar Nigam11 Address Motijheel, Harsh nagar, Kanpur

U.P. 20800212 Eligibility Criteria

● Bid is open for all the developer/contractors, should be expert& experienced of at least 5 years in the field of contractionsof similar projects.

● Joint Venture approach for bidding is acceptable.● Bidder should have an experience at least for one project

of Bio Gas.● The firm/company should have adequate financial capabil-

ity to undertake such project and should have minimum tocumulative turnover of Rs. 7 corers for the last three years.Latthree years balance sheet are to be furnished (documen-tary evidence to be provided)

● The firm/company should declare by way of an affidavit stat-ing the followings:-01- That there has never been default in paying Statutory

laxes and Duties.02- That it has never been black listed/debarred by any

Govt/Undertaking Private Organization.03- That there are no civil suits are pending as on date.

● Municipal Commissioner has right to reject one or all tender's without assessing any region.Tender documents can be downloaded from the e-tender-

ing website http://etender.up.nic.in from 06.12.2018 from 13:00Hrs to 13.12.2018 till 12:00 Noon.

Bidders are requested to submit the Tender fee receipt inthe office of Veterinary Medical Officer, Nagar Nigam, Kanpurin the form of DD/Bankers Cheque issued in favor of ‘ChiefAccount Officers, Nagar Nigam Kanpur’ payable at Kanpur.

Bidders are requested to submit the Earnest MoneyDeposit (EMD) receipt in the office of Veterinary Medical Officer,Nagar Nigam. Kanpur in the form of FDR/NSC or Bank Guarantee(BG) issued in favor of ‘‘Chief Account Officers, Nagar NigamKanpur’’ payable at Kanpur

The deadline of online bid-submission is 15:00 Hrs. on13.12.2018.

Bid documents shall be submitted/received through onlinemode only.

VETERINAY OFFICERNAGAR NIGAM KANPUR

ADD. MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONERNAGAR NIGAM KANPUR

PNS n LUCKNOW

Cracking a whip against theblack sheep in Lucknow

police, SSP Kalanidhi Naithanisuspended four policemen foraccepting bribe from heavy vehi-cle drivers to allow them entry intoa no-entry zone in Banthra onWednesday. The action gave anx-ious moments to cops posted atdifferent police stations in the cityas they feared a similar surprise‘raid’ by police officers in theirpolice station area. Much to theirrelief, the operation was not con-ducted at any other place till lateWednesday night.

Those suspended were iden-tified as head constable VimleshKumar, constables Dheeraj Kumar,

Vipin Pandey and Vinod Kumar,all posted at Banthra police station.

Police spokesman AK Singhsaid ASP Abhishek Verma wassent to the no- entry point to checkcomplaints of money extortion bypolicemen.

“In civvies, the ASP stood ata place in the no-entry zone andhe found that the above namedpolicemen were stopping heavyvehicles and allowing them entryafter accepting bribe,” the policespokesman said. He said that theaction was taken under ‘OperationClean’ which is being run in thecity to nab cops indulging in mal-practices.

The police spokesman addedthat the drive would continue inthe time to come.

KILLEDA retired railway employee

was killed in a road mishap inAshiyana on Tuesday night. Thevictim identified as BhagwatiPrasad Verma (72) of Telibagh,along with his family, had gone toLucknow Mahotsav on Tuesday.Around 10.00 pm, the family leftfor home on an e-rickshaw.Around 10.30 pm, when the rick-shaw reached the VIP road, a carknocked the rickshaw. BhagwatiPrasad suffered serious injuriesand was rushed to Javitri Hospitalin Telibagh. However, the doctorstermed his condition as seriousand he was referred to CityHospital in South City. Here alsothe doctors could not treat himand he was referred to Trauma

Centre where he died around 3 amon Wednesday.

The victim’s son lodged a casein this connection. He also statedthat his mother Urmila also suf-fered serious injuries in themishap. Police had identified thecar and efforts to track down theowner were on. Recalling the inci-dent, the eyewitnesses told policethat the impact was so intense thatthe rickshaw was tossed up in theair and the passenger sitting in itfell down on the road. “The rick-shaw rolled and then struckagainst the kerb of the road beforecoming to rest,” they said. Thepolice spokesman said sub-inspec-tor Sunil Mishra had beenassigned the task to investigate thecase.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

AMemorandum ofUnderstanding was signed

among the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare, Coal India Ltd andSGPGI’s Hematology departmentfor starting a collaborative pro-gramme for bone marrow trans-plantation (BMT) of thalessimicchildren.

The Coal India Ltd under itsCSR programme will provide afinancial support of `10 lakh perpatient for bone marrow trans-plantation in children who cannotafford it. Overall `2 crore for 20bone marrow transplantations willbe funded by Coal India Ltd.

The MoU was signed in front ofMinister for Medical EducationAshutosh Tandon, who was thechief guest of the occasion. He com-plimented efforts of the Hematologydepartment of SGPGI for doing acommendable job in medical andresearch fields. He also thanked theCoal India Ltd for its support to thenoble cause. The programme was

attended by Pankaj Kumar, Missiondirector, NHM (UP), and secretary,Health, Vineeta Srivastava.

AK Pandey, general manager,Coal India Ltd, and Prof KK Gupta,DGME, along with other dignitariesand experts were present on theoccasion.

Prof Rakesh Kapoor, director,SGPGI, also spoke about the initia-tive taken by the governmenttowards the treatment and eradica-tion of thalassemia in the countryand the Coal India Ltd for provid-ing financial support for this cause.The MoHFW besides organisingawareness and training pro-grammes, support for genetic diag-nosis and ante-natal counselling,provides funds to the state NHM forfree transfusions and iron therapyof thalassemic patients.

The curative therapy for tha-lassemia is bone marrow transplan-tation and Coal India Ltd under itsCorporate Social Responsibility isextending financial support of up toRs 10 lakh per patient for bone mar-row transplantation in children

who cannot afford it at five centresin the country.

“The department ofHematology, SGPGIMS, is commit-ted towards the state and nationalmission on the eradication andoptimal management of tha-lassemia. It has been selected as thesixth centre by the CIL for this sup-port. It is the only centre of UP per-forming bone marrow transplants(BMTs) and has performed 90 ofthem till date with results compa-rable to good international centres,”informed the doctors at the SGPGI.

The programme was followedby three public lectures by expertson ante-natal diagnosis and genet-ic counselling, optimal chelationand BMT in thalassemia. The fam-ilies of thalassemic patients werealso invited to the function. Theprogramme concluded with aninteractive question-answer sessionamong national experts, govermentofficials and representatives ofThalassemics India and ThalasseniaWelfare Society with families of tha-lassemic patients.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

With the changing agricultur-al scenario in the country

community-based organisations,FPOs and SHGs are now lookingforward to national institutions fortechnical support.

Central Institute ofHorticulture (CISH) signed anMoU with Avadh Aam UtpadakEvam Bagwani Samiti (AAUEBS)which is headquartered at NabiPanah, Malihabad, primarily formanagement of pests and diseasesof mango and guava, mangoorchard-based poultry farmingand post-harvest management ofhorticultural crops.

It’s a win-win situation forboth CBO and Institute, explainsthe director, CISH, Lucknow.“The society has about 270 regis-

tered members. The institutetechnologies will easily reachstakeholders through the CBO.On the other hand, farmersconnected with the societywill reap the benefits in termsof technological back- up fromthe Institute,” said DrShailendra Rajan.

Shailendra Rajan, director,CISH, Dr Raghuveer Singh,president, and Upendra KumarSingh, secretary, Avadh AamUtpadak Evam Bagwani Samitiexpressed their satisfactionand said that this MoU wouldprove to be a milestone forfarmers. Upendra KumarSingh said that more than 20society members followedGAP under the Farmer FIRSTproject and later the MandiParishad helped in transport-ing the mangoes to theHyderabad market where theyfetched Rs 60 per kilogram,almost twice the rate atLucknow. He hoped that suchan alliance would help a larg-er farmer community ofMalihabad. The MoU wasfacilitated by ITMU of theInstitute. The MoU betweenCISH and Avadh AamUtpadak Evam Bagwani Samitiwill not only benefit membersof the society but also those ofadjoining villages. “The com-munity-based organisation hashelped researchers in transfer-ring their technologies whichrequire a good number ofextension workers and with thehelp of CBO many of its tech-nologies can be adopted by thefarmers convincingly.Financial assistance throughorganisations will be easierfor the CBO as CISH will playan important role in support-ing their efforts. Mango mar-keting requires aggregation offarmers for supplying consid-erable volume of fruits and inmost cases in north, the farm-ers’ groups are not able to han-dle the bulk demand by vari-ous marketing organisations”said Shailendra Rajan.

CISH, AAUEBS sign MoU

ASEAN Defence

Ministers’ meet ends

on cordial note

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’Meeting plus Expert Working Group

Mid Planning Conference culminated onWednesday. The initial site survey for theupcoming multinational field training exer-cise was conducted by the representatives ofASEAN & ASEAN Plus countries at theLucknow Military Station. The delegateswere briefed upon field training exercise andthe suitability of the site was assessed and areaswere identified for various events of fieldtraining exercise which is planned to be heldfrom March 10 to 16, 2019.

The delegates from ASEAN and ASEANplus countries also participated in a table topexercise which was conducted on December4 as a part of the ongoing ASEAN DefenceMinisters’ meeting plus Expert WorkingGroup on Military Medicine. The participantswere addressed by Manoj Yadav, DIG,National Disaster Response Force onWednesday (December 5) Different chal-lenges faced by the NDRF team as firstresponder during national and internationaldisaster scenarios were discussed and delib-erated upon.

The various challenges and opportunitiesfor India, ASEAN and ASEAN plus countriesin view of the Military Cooperation forHumanitarian Assistance and the variousparameters were discussed in a cordial andcooperative environment. The rich traditionof hospitality of the Indian Army was dis-played in its full glory.

The conference concluded on a cordialand friendly note having finalised the futureroadmap for mutual cooperation and layingdown the groundwork for the field trainingexercise which is being planned in the monthof March 2019.

Four cops suspended for accepting bribe

FOUNDER’S DAYSeth MR Jaipuria School celebrated its 26th Annual

Founder’s Day on December 2-3. Major General VinayaChandan, faculty at the National Defence College, New Delhi,was the chief guest who was present at the two-day celebra-tions. The senior, middle and the junior school students put upan enthralling show for guests and parents. An exhibition wasalso organised with a view to encouraging and inculcating a sci-entific temper among students.The exhibition sought toengage children and teachers to synergize experiences and moti-vate each other to design and develop something novel. Vice-chairperson Anjali Jaipuria inaugurated the exhibition by light-ing the lamp of knowledge. Students from numerous city schoolsvisited the exhibition.

CONCLUDED

The four-day International Young Mathematicians’Convention (IYMC-2018) organised by City MontessoriSchool, Gomti Nagar Campus I, concluded on Wednesday atCMS, Kanpur Road auditorium. Participating students and prize-winners in various competitions from 16 countries were hon-oured and awarded shields, medals and certificates at the clos-ing-cum-prize distribution ceremony organized amidst thecolourful educational-cultural programmes. The overall cham-pionship in junior category was bagged by Pratabong Academy,Thailand, while the overall championship in the senior cate-gory went to Allen Career Institute, Kota, Rajasthan. Over 700budding Mathematicians from 16 countries, namely, Bangladesh,Brazil, Bhutan, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan,Thailand, UAE, US, Iran, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam andvarious states of India participated in various contests held dur-ing the four days of International Mathematics Convention.

Vital MoU inked for thalessimic children

PNS n LUCKNOW

The general House meeting ofLucknow Nagar Nigam (LNN),

which lasted for over eight hours,passed proposals, including pipedgas supply to all, water boring, sew-erage charges, issuing of bond fromMunicipal Corporation, mecha-nised road cleaning, movie screen-ing tax, on Wednesday.

The meet cleared all 14 propos-als mentioned in the general Housemeeting agenda. Mayor SanyuktaBhatia and MunicipalCommissioner Indra Mani Tripathipresided over the House. As per thecleared proposals, LNN House gaveconsent for piped line gas supplyfacility to be set up in city parts.

Now LNN will take stern actionagainst illegal water supply and nocommercial use of water supplycould be done by submersible pumpusers. The pumps installed onmunicipal land and roads will beseverely penalised. Tripathi statedthat municipal bonds of Rs 200crore would be issued and subsidyof Rs 26 crore would be earned byLNN. Now under Swachh Bharatscheme, all wards will pay Rs 1000

for septic tank sewerage cleaning.Now single screen movie hall willpay Rs 50 per show as tax. This

It announced to form commit-tees on number of issues includingauctioning of 16 shops, land andother areas. The proposals includ-ed Atal Smriti Upvan constructionat Rahimabad, a new fire station atAmausi, land acquisition for cowconservation, clearance of land forPrime minister Awas Yojna, mini-

mum wages for outsourcing staff asper labor laws and others.

The house started on a stormynote as Opposition members in thebeginning started raising concernover the setting up of promotioncommittee in every ward underSwachh Bharat Mission. The mem-bers led by Girish Mishra, MamtaChaudhary and others confrontedthe mayor and registered theirprotest.

LNN gives nod to piped gas supply

Corporators arguing with mayor Sanyukta Bhatia

SCHOOLSCAN

nation 05LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

Seeking to put to rest thecontroversy over EVMs in

Sagar, the ElectionCommission on Wednesdayrejected the Congress' chargeof "suspicious arrival" of thevoting machines in anunmarked bus to the districttreasury office. It said the buswhich was pointed out as“unmarked” (without anynumber) by the Congress,was officially requisitionedfrom the local municipality inSagar on November 15 itself.The EC also showed that theCongress candidate hadsigned the punchnama forthe safe deposit of the EVMsin the district treasury office.

In its complaint to EC,Congress MP Vivek Tankhahad claimed that 48 hoursafter the closing of polls inMadhya Pradesh, a schoolbus bearing no number plateand carrying EVMs reachedthe Sagar district collector'soffice. "This incident is a clearcase of certain parties andindividuals engaging in cor-rupt practices to manipulatethe outcome of the recentlyconcluded election," Congresshad said.

"There has not been anytampering whatsoever with

the machines. The responsibleNayab Tehsildar and AssistantReturning Officer RajeshMehra have been suspendedfor the delayed submission ofthe machines," the EC said.The Commission alsoremoved Vikas Singh, return-ing officer of Khurai con-stituency and placed Tanvihooda in his place.

According to EC, NaibTehsildar and Mehra weregiven the duty to bring thesereserved EVMs and depositthe same.

"These machines werebrought were brought in fourvehicles, three bearing num-bers MP-15-A-4636, MP-15-BA-0559, MP-15-40GA-0970and one without any numberbelonging to the local munic-ipality which had been requi-sitioned for election duty. 50-Bus, 26-CUs and 42 VVPATin Khurai constituency were

deposited on November 30 inthe district treasury office,Sagar. A verification of the listof these deposited machineshas been done by tallyingtheir numbers with the over-al l l ist of the reser vedmachines and no discrepancyis noticed," the EC said in itsorder.

Earlier, Tankha had

claimed, "The objective ofthis was ostensibly to depositthese machines with the officeof the col lector. These spare EVMs were to bedeposited two hours after thepolls and not after two days.This happened in the Khuriaseat from where the StateHome Minister is contestingthe polls."

EC rejects Cong’s EVMs charge

SUSPICIOUS ARRIVAL OF VOTING MACHINES IN UNMARKED BUS

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission onWednesday ordered the

removal of Superintendent ofPolice of Telangana's Vikarabaddistrict over the arrest ofCongress' A Revanth Reddy aspolice observer found his deten-tion "unwarranted".

An official communicationissued by Telangana ChiefElectoral Officer Rajath Kumarin Hyderabad said, "TheElection Commission of Indiahas ordered the transfer of TAnnapurna, IPS, SP Vikarabad,immediately and posted SriAvinash Mohanthy IPS (RR

2005) in place of her withimmediate effect."

It is also directed thatAnnapurna's services are notutilised for election purpose, theorder said. The commissionhas also directed thatAnnapurna be attached to thepolice headquarters, EC officialssaid. The observers are deployedby the EC to keep an eye on var-ious issues related to elections.

In the early hours ofTuesday, the Vikarabad policehad taken Telangana PradeshCongress Committee workingpresident Reddy into preventivecustody citing law and orderissues.

Reddy's arrest came aheadof Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao 's meetingat Kodangal. Reddy had givena Kodangal bandh call andasked the party workers to stageprotests across the constituencyagainst the visit of the chief min-ister.

He was let off, but only afterRao's meeting at Kosigi in theAssembly segment got over.Condemning the police action,Congress president RahulGandhi had said the TelanganaRashtra Samithi governmentresorted to it "due to fear ofdefeat." Telangana goes to pollson December 7.

Vikarabad SP transferredfor arresting Revanth in T

New Delhi: CBI Director AlokVerma and Special DirectorRakesh Asthana were fightinglike "kilkenny cats", exposingthe country's premier investi-gating agency to "publicridicule", the Government toldthe Supreme Court onWednesday while justifyingthe decision to divest Verma ofhis duties.

Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal also told thebench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi that theGovernment was well "withinits right to intervene" and send

both officers on leave by divest-ing them of their powers. Thetop law officer also assertedthat "only the God knowswhere and how this fightbetween the two top officerswould have ended" if the gov-ernment would not have takenthe action which was aimed atrestoring the public faith in theCBI.

"The Government waswatching with amazement. Thetwo top most officers werefighting like kilkennycats...Dispute between the CBIDirector and Special Directorwas pulling down integrity andrespect of premier institution,"Venugopal told the bench, alsocomprising Justices S K Kauland K M Joseph.

"fight like a Kilkenny cat"refers to an old Irish story

about two cats who fought tothe death and ate each other upsuch that only their tails wereleft. It is often used figurativelyof two people who are vehe-mently opposed in attitudes oropinions to the extent thatthey will never agree and willspark fire off each other when-ever they meet.

The AG further submittedthat the two top officers, Vermaand Asthana, were "fightingagainst each other and wentpublic which exposed CBI topublic ridicule."

Referring to media reports,he said that their public fightgave print and electronic media"a field day". "It was the duty ofthe Government to ensure thatconfidence of public in this pre-mier institution is restored," hesaid. PTI

FROM SUPREME COURT

Justifies decisionto divest Vermaof his duties

CBI’s top 2 were fightinglike kilkenny cats: Govt

New Delhi: Continuingits crackdown on theembattled AmrapaliGroup, the SupremeCourt on Wednesday

ordered attachment and sale of the realty firm's five-starhotel, cinema hall, malls and factories across India, callingit "a worst kind of cheater" and "a perfect liar" for not com-plying with the court's direction.

The top court also ordered attachment of four swankycorporate offices of Amrapali Group situated in Noida andGreater Noida, and asked the Debt Recovery Tribunal(DRT), Delhi to auction them.

The top court gave a window to the firm's directors andtheir family members to return home-buyers' money, if theyhave it, by December 10. It asked the firm to explain bynext week the diversion of around `3,000 crore of home-buyers money for other purposes. A bench of Justices ArunMishra and U U Lalit issued notice to the Amrapali GroupCMD Anil Sharma and its directors, Chief Financial offi-cer and statutory auditor Anil Mittal, asking them why acriminal case for breach of trust should not be lodged againstthem. "You (Amrapali Group) are a worst kind of cheaterin the world. You have cheated the home buyers all alongand now you want to sell the facilities created for them. Thefacility area created for the home buyers is not a charity youhave done to them," the bench said after it was told thatthe real estate firm wants to sell a nursery school, an openspace and a nursing home to raise funds. PTI

Seizure of mall,luxury hotel ordered

Amrapali called liar, cheater

New Delhi: Delhi is facing "severeproblems" due to unauthorised con-struction and encroachment which canbe gauged from the fact that the spe-cial task force (STF) has already clearedas much as 28 lakh square metre ofsuch area, the Supreme Court said onWednesday.

A bench headed by Justice MadanB Lokur was informed that the STF,constituted in April following the apexcourt's order to oversee enforcement oflaws on illegal construction and mon-itor the removal of encroachmentshere, has also cleared about 3,202 sq mtof roads, streets and footpaths.

The bench, also comprisingJustices Deepak Gupta and HemantGupta, was told that so far the STF hasreceived around 7,000 complaints outof which about 3,400 complaints havebeen dealt with and efforts were beingmade to recruit additional staff for thetask force so that they could do theirworks expeditiously. PTI

About 28L sq mt area

in Delhi cleared from

encroachment: STF

New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Wednesday approved theCentre's draft witness protectionscheme and asked all the Statesto implement it till Parliamentcomes out with a legislation.

A bench headed by JusticeA K Sikri said they have madesome changes in the scheme.

The issue of witness pro-tection scheme had cropped upearlier when the top court washearing a public interest litiga-tion (PIL) seeking protectionfor witnesses in rape casesinvolving self-styled preacher

Asaram Bapu.During the hearing on

November 19, Attorney GeneralK K Venugopal had told theapex court that the draft scheme,which has now been finalised,would be made into a law "indue course", but till then thecourt should direct the States tostart implementing it.

The top court was also toldby advocate Gaurav Agrawal,who is assisting the court as anamicus curiae in the matter, thatthe Government has finalisedthe draft witness protection

scheme after discussing it withall the States.

The draft witness protectionscheme, finalised in consultationwith the National Legal ServicesAuthority (NALSA) and Bureauof Police Research andDevelopment (BPRD), has threecategories of witnesses based onthe threat perception.

In April this year, the Centrehad informed the top courtthat it had framed a draft witnessprotection scheme and it wascirculated among the states andUnion Territories administration

for comments.The court had asked the

Centre to finalise the schemeafter getting response from theStates and Union Territories.

The court had said thatwitness protection scheme canbe implemented for at least sen-sitive cases and the Ministry ofHome Affairs could come outwith a comprehensive plan. Thedraft of the Witness ProtectionScheme, 2018 states that it is thefirst attempt at the national-levelto holistically provide for theprotection of the witnesses,

which will go a long way in elim-inating secondary victimisa-tion.

The witnesses, being eyesand ears of justice, play animportant role in bringing per-petrators of crime to justice, thedraft noted. "This schemeattempts at ensuring that wit-nesses receive appropriate andadequate protection. This will goa long way in strengthening thecriminal justice system in thecountry and will consequentlyenhance national security sce-nario," the draft said. PTI

Centre’s draft witness protection scheme OK’d

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Federation of Hotel andRestaurant Associations of

India (FHRAI) on Wednesdayaccused two major online travelaggregators (OTAs) of allegedlyoffering 'illegal' discounts that, itsaid, were harmful to hoteliers andcustomers in the long run.

Citing violation of the legalpact, the FHRAI has now putMakeMyTrip and GoIbibo onnotice and also threatened to holda nationwide protest against OTAentities.

Terming as 'unethical' and'exploitative' business practices bythe OTAs, the FHRAI in a state-ment issued here alleged, "Thebiggest industry concern is thatafter securing discounted ratesfrom a hotel, the OTAs further dis-count it on their online platformswithout our consent. This damagesour reputation and distorts themarket scenario."

FHRAI Vice President andHotel and Restaurant Associationof India, Western India, presidentGS Kohli pointed out that they(OTAs) have a clause in theiragreement forbidding hotels fromdiscounting their own rates but arethemselves free to do so, besidesdemanding exorbitant commis-sions, hosting illegal and unli-cenced Bed & Breakfast accom-modations.

The OTAs commissions rangefrom 18-40 per cent, adversely hit-ting the revenues, business andlivelihood of the hotel industry, healleged.

"An immediate solution to theissues that threaten our livelihood,investments and businesses isextremely necessary and call for anactive dialogue with the OTAs,"added FHRAI Joint SecretaryVenkada Subbu.

The FHRAI also called theOTAs move to provide Bed &Breakfast (B&B), motels or accom-modations even when they wereunlicensed on their platforms as"illegal", which disrupt the businessof the organised hotels.

"More than 40 per cent of theroom inventory available on theOTAs is illegally operated. The socalled B&Bs are operating withoutvalid licenses from local or Stateauthorities. Since these operators donot have to pay for licences and thestatutory fees, they are cheaper bydefault. This disrupts the spirit of alevel playing field by pitting the flyby night operators against the organ-ised sector and is also a huge loss tothe exchequer," S K Jaiswal, VicePresident (North), FHRAI alleged.

E-travel aggregatorsaccused of offeringillegal discounts

PNS n NEW DELHI

Army Chief GeneralBipin Rawat on

Wednesday urged girlstudents from Jammu& Kashmir to studyhard and compete forArmy's 'Super 30'coaching programmeand build their careerthrough good educa-tion.

Making this pointhere while interactingwith 18 girl studentsfrom various schoolsin the Valley, he saidthere is no other placelike Kashmir when itcomes to scenic beautyand a sublime environ-ment. "But, terrorismhas vitiated the atmos-phere," he said.

"Unlike Kashmir,you do not see bunkersin Delhi or gun-totingsecurity personneleverywhere. Peopleroam here at night inpeace. The KashmirValley also had peaceand people in Srinagareven used to go forstrolling in parks atnight or for a movie, but it's not there anymore," he said.

Rawat reiterated that infiltrators come from Pakistanto our side and create trouble and said if you also wantprogress and development in the Valley, take this mes-sage from here, and tell the people there that guns arenot good. Various militant outfits have been trying toradicalise the youths in Kashmir valley by using differ-ent means including online propaganda.

During the interaction, the Army Chief asked the stu-dents about their aspirations and while some said theywanted to become civil servants or police officers or doc-tors, only a single student said she wanted to be a teacher.

Rawat told them that the Army runs "Kashmir Super-30" — a free, special coaching programme for studentsto prepare them for entrance examinations for admissionto IITs and NITs.

He also said the Army is working with NGOs to havea similar programme for medical examination aspirants."So, work hard, compete for 'Super 30' for engineering career,and for NEET exam too, once we have it in place," he said.

The Army had earlier this year signed an MoU witha state-run firm and the National Integrity EducationalDevelopment Organisation (NIEDO) for medical aspi-rants, under which selected students will be provided withfree residential coaching for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The students, ranging from class 7-11 arrived hereon Monday and have visited the Red Fort, Rajghat andConnaught Place market in Delhi, and will see the HazratNizamuddin Dargah and take a Metro ride before head-ing to Chandigarh, an official accompanying them said.

“IF YOU ALSOWANT PROGRESS

ANDDEVELOPMENT INTHE VALLEY, TAKE

THIS MESSAGEFROM HERE, ANDTELL THE PEOPLETHERE THAT GUNSARE NOT GOOD”

FHRAI issues notices

to MakeMyTrip and

GoIbibo

More than 40 per cent

of the room inventory

available on the OTAs is

illegally operated. The

so called B&Bs are

operating without valid

licenses from local or

State authorities

—S K Jaiswal, vice president(North), FHRAI

Representational image

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Wednesday observedit was "extremely unfortunate"that Jharkhand Governmenthas not yet prepared an actionplan for urban homeless andsaid that the State should do itsoon so that such people were"spared the vagaries of winterseason".

A bench headed by JusticeMadan B Lokur was informedthat except states of Jharkhandand Jammu & Kashmir, allother states and union territo-ries have finalised action plansfor urban homeless for the win-ter season. When the bench,also comprising Justices DeepakGupta and Hemant Gupta,asked Jharkhand's counsel aboutit, the lawyer said he hasreceived instructions only thismorning and sought a days timeto apprise the court about it.

"It appears that the state ofJharkhand has no plan for thewinter. This is extremely unfor-tunate. We expect the state ofJharkhand to prepare a planwithin next couple of days sothat urban homeless are sparedthe vagaries of winter season,"the bench said. The counselappearing for Jammu &Kashmir said as per 2011 cen-sus, the number of urbanhomeless in the State wasaround 250 and provisionshave been made to provideblankets and other facilities tothem. PTI

Extremely unfortunatethat J’khand not readywith winter action planfor urban homeless: SC

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will inauguratethe Bogibeel Bridge — thelongest rail-road bridge in thecountry — on December 25,coinciding with the birthanniversary of late prime min-ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, asenior railway official said onWednesday.

The 4.94-km BogibeelBridge is the country's longestrail-road bridge, connectingthe south bank of theBrahmaputra river inDibrugarh district of Assamwith Silapathar in Dhemajidistrict, bordering Arunachal

Pradesh."The prime minister will

inaugurate the bridge onDecember 25, which is alsoobserved as the GoodGovernance Day by the gov-ernment," the official told PTI.

While the then prime min-ister, H D Deve Gowda, hadlaid the foundation stone forthe bridge in January 1997, thework had started only in April2002, after Vajpayee laid thefoundation stone for the pro-ject, along with the then railwayminister, Nitish Kumar.

The first freight trainpassed through the bridge on

December 3 after several dead-lines for the completion of theproject were missed in thepast 16 years.

The bridge, which hasthree-lane roads on top and tworailway tracks below, is part ofinfrastructure projects plannedto improve the logistics alongthe border in ArunachalPradesh. This includes the con-struction of a trans-Arunachalhighway on the north bank ofthe Brahmaputra and new roadand rail links over the mightyriver and its major tributariessuch as the Dibang, Lohit,Subansiri and Kameng. PTI

New Delhi: Uttar PradeshGovernment told the SupremeCourt on Wednesday they havepaid 80 per cent money, `51.89lakh, to Delhi-based School ofPlanning and Architecture(SPA) which is entrusted withthe task of preparing a visiondocument for protection ofTaj Mahal.

The State Government tolda bench of Justices Madan BLokur, Deepak Gupta andHemant Gupta that the balanceamount as per the terms of ref-erence would be released short-ly to SPA which would sooncome out with the document.

Advocate Aishwarya Bhati,appearing for Uttar Pradesh,said that besides this, remu-neration of about `6 lakh forthree experts who have workedwith SPA in the exercise, hasalso been sanctioned.

On November 29, the apexcourt had told the Uttar PradeshGovernment that the visiondocument should be made pub-lic once it is finalised as there is"nothing secret" about it.

The SPA had told the courtthat process of preparing thedocument would be complet-ed within a "few days" and asper terms of reference, they

would submit it to the StateGovernment.

The Centre had alsoinformed the court that firstdraft of heritage plan for TajMahal, which is to be submit-ted to the United NationsEducational, Scientific andCultural Organisation(UNESCO), was ready and itwould be finalised within eightweeks.

The top court had earlierasked the authorities to take alarger perspective on issues ofpollution and green cover whilepreparing a vision document,saying there would not get a

"second chance" to preserve theTaj Mahal.

The top court, which hasbeen monitoring developmentin the Taj Trapezium Zone(TTZ) to protect the Taj, hadearlier slammed the Centre,Uttar Pradesh Governmentand TTZ authority for theirfailure to restore the pristineglory of Taj Mahal.

The TTZ is an area ofabout 10,400 sq km spreadover the districts of Agra,Firozabad, Mathura, Hathrasand Etah in Uttar Pradeshand the Bharatpur district ofRajasthan. PTI

Paid 80% amount to SPA: UP GovtTAJ VISION DOCUMENT

PM to inaugurate country's longestrail-road bridge in N-E on Dec 25

MoS for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju being greeted by one of the students among 7 North-East representatives who are on theNational Integration Tour conducted by the Assam Rifles in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

Compete for Army'sSuper 30: Gen Rawat toKashmiri girl students

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018 nation 06

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

The DMK-led Oppositionparties in Tamil Nadu have

warned the Centre that theywould break India and get theState seceded from the Union.The ultimatum was issued byVaiko, founder of the MDMKand K Veeramani, the DravidaKazhakam leader, during amammoth rally held atTiruchirapalli late on Tuesdayevening.

MK Stalin, president,DMK, who was the chief guestof the rally declared that hefully endorsed the demandsmade by Vaiko and Veeramani.The DMK chief went one stepfurther and declared that hisparty would not allow PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toenter Tamil Nadu.

The root cause for theoutbursts of the Dravidianleaders was the permissiongiven by the Central WaterCommission to theGovernment of Karnataka toprepare a detailed projectreport (DPR) on the dam tobe built at Mekedatu acrossthe Cauvery River.

“We will break India. Wewill not allow Narendra Modi

to enter Tamil Nadu even foran election campaign,” saidVaiko. Others who were pre-sent during the occasionincluded S Thirunavakarassar,president, TNCC.

“Secession from India willbecome inevitable for TamilNadu if Karnataka is allowed tobuild a dam across Cauvery,”declared Vaiko and Veeramani.The DMK leader remindedthe Centre that DMK founderCN Annadurai had said that hisparty would give up thedemand for secession but hehad announced that the reasonsfor secession were still alive.

Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswamy has writ-ten a letter to Prime MinisterModi informing him about theconcerns of the State over themove by Karnataka to go aheadwith the preparation of theDPR to build the Mekedatu bal-ancing reservoir-cum-drinkingwater project, Palaniswamy hadalleged in his letter thatKarnataka’s motive behindbuilding the dam was not onlyto provide drinking water but toincrease the extent of irrigationin that State and this was againstthe verdict of the Cauvery WaterDispute Tribunal.

Vaiko’s call for secession

and Stalin’s support for thesame has come at a timewhen the Tamil NaduLegislative Assembly is meet-ing to discuss the contentiousissue. Governor BanwarilalPurohit ha convened a specialsession of the legislativeassembly on Thursday to dis-cuss the proposal of theKaranataka Government tobuild a reservoir.

What is to be noted is thatthe call by Dravidian leadersto secede from India hasbecome quite frequent in thelast one year. Stalin, whileaddressing a meeting at Erodein March declared that southIndian States should standtogether and demand a sepa-rate Dravida Nadu.

“If such a situation comes,it would be welcome. We hopethat such a situation arises,”Stalin had said. The DMK his-torian K Thirunavukarassupointed out that the demandfor separate Dravida Nadu wasa live issue and it still figuredprominently in theConstitution of the party.

Govind Bharathan, seniorlawyer, pointed out that Stalin,Vaiko and Veeramani havelanded in trouble with the dec-larations they made onTuesday. “They could be hauledinto a court of law under theprovisions of the Sedition Act.It will cost them dear,” saidBharathan.

The threat of Dravidianleaders to break from India hascome at a time when TamilNadu is preparing to host thesecond edition of the GlobalInvestors Meeting in the monthof January 2019.

Dam project: Opp wantsTN secession from India o Vaiko demands breaking the

country. DMK president MK Stalin

declares support to Vaiko’s

demands

oRoot cause for the outbursts is

the permission by the Central Water

Commission to the Karnataka Govt

to prepare a DPR on the Mekedatu

dam project

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

The saffron proliferation inBengal is a direct outcome

of a crumbling red fort. And theTrinamool Congress will neverallow the “CPI(M) harmads” toresurrect into a “saffron jallads(butcher)”, Mamata Banerjeesaid on Wednesday.

The Bengal Chief Ministerwas addressing a rally atBajkul in East Midnaporewhere she told a huge crowdthat “the CPM’s harmads whohad once unleashed a reign ofterror in your area — elimi-nating tens of innocent peo-ple who left their homes neverto come back — are nowentering the saffron camp torise their ugly heads onceagain. They will have to bestopped once again.”

Alleging that the CPI(M)was supplying manpower to theBJP and the Bengal unit of theCongress was playing a catalystto this Mamata’s Bengal wouldnever back a party that was

responsible for driving awaythe Bengalis from Assam.

“They are trying to captureBengal. But why will the peoplehere vote for them when theirparty is driving away Bengalisfrom Assam in the name ofNation Register for Citizens.Out of 40 lakh people who arein NRC’s rejection list, 23 lakhare Hindu Bengalis,” Mamatasaid asking “will you still backthe BJP which is victimisingyour brothers there in Assam?”

The BJP divide people onthe basis of caste, language andreligion and their Governmentin Gujarat was driving away theBiharis. Attacking the BJPGovernment for slappingdemonetisation “that ruined theeconomy” Mamata said “thepeople from Bengal — particu-larly from Malda, Murshidabad,Midnapore North and South 24Parganas who had gone to BJP-ruled States like Gujarat andMaharashtra are now comingback not only out of fear of per-secution but also because they

have lost their jobs due todemonetization.”

Listing the good works herGovernment had done notwith-standing an unfriendly andnon-cooperative CentralGovernment up there in DelhiMamata said “we have intro-duced Kanyashree (providingcycle to lakhs of girl students),Rupashree (providing monetaryhelp for higher studies), SabujSaathi (providing bicycles toboys), ̀ 2 per kg rice to about 8crore people, old-age andwidow allowance scheme, apartfrom free education, and med-ical health in newly built super-speciality hospitals.”

None of the Governments inIndia could compete with thegood works her Governmenthad done in Bengal.

“But the BJP is trying toundermine the development byimporting a new divisive culturein our State. They are trying toincite communal violence but wewill not allow them to do so,” theChief Minister said.

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Patidar leader Hardik Patelon Tuesday urged the

Congress party to move a pri-vate member's bill in the nextsession of the GujaratLegislative Assembly for reser-vation to his community.

Patel met Leader ofOpposition in the Assembly,Paresh Dhanani, inGandhinagar to discuss the issue. During their meeting,Dhanani told him that his partyhad already moved a privatemember's bill seeking 20 per centreservation for economicallyweaker sections among the unre-served category.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Gandhinagar after themeeting, Patel said, "We havecome to the leader of opposi-tion with a demand that in thenext session of the state leg-islative assembly, they shouldbring a bill for quota."

He said he urged theCongress to table a bill in theHouse as the BJP Governmentin the State was "not payingheed" to their demands.

"In Maharashtra also thereis a BJP Government. Butthere, the Maratha communi-ty has been given reservation.In Gujarat, the BJP has beenruling for the last 25 years stillthey have not provided any

quota to us," he said.A bill that grants 16 per

cent reservation to Marathas inGovernment jobs and educa-tion was unanimously passedby both the Houses of theMaharashtra legislature onThursday, meeting a long-pending demand of the influ-ential community, which con-stitutes 33 per cent of the state'spopulation of around 13 crore.

"If a private member's billcomes up for discussion, thenthe BJP will have to make itsposition clear on quota for ourcommunity," Patel said.

Dhanani, who was alsopresent at the press confer-ence, said in March this yearhis party's state unit chiefAmit Chavda (who is also anMLA) had moved a bill forreservation to economicallyweaker sections among theunreserved category.

"I told Hardik that theopposition party has alreadydone this," he said.

However, before every ses-sion of the Assembly a draw isconducted to randomly selectthe private members' bills fordiscussion in the House,Dhanani explained.

"I would request the rulingparty to take up the reservationbill without holding a draw inthe next session of the assem-bly," he said."In the bill, we have

sought 20 per cent quota for theeconomically backward amongthe upper castes," he said.

In May 2016, the GujaratGovernment had issued anordinance for 10 per centreservation to economicallyweaker sections among theunreserved category in edu-cational institutions andGovernment jobs.

The decision was takenfollowing an agitation by thePatel community. The reserva-tion was to be given over andabove 50 per cent reservationsfor SCs, STc and OBCs.

However, that ordinancewas quashed by the GujaratHigh Court in August 2016,terming it as "unconstitution-al" and "illegal".

From August 2015, Patelhas been spearheading aprotest against the state gov-ernment for quota to thePatidar community.

"It is good that after thePatel community gave an appli-cation last month to the chair-man of OBC commissionSugnaben Bhatt with a demandto conduct a survey of the com-munity to establish its socialbackwardness, some membersof the Rajput and Brahmincommunities have alsoapproached the same commis-sion for a survey of their castesalso," Patel said.

CPM’s harmads are

joining BJP: MamataPNS n KOLKATA

With the BJP-sponsoredtriple Rath Yatras — the

first one scheduled to begin onDecember 7 from Coochbeharin North Bengal — hitting aroad block in the absence ofadministrative clearance theBengal saffron leadership onWednesday moved the CalcuttaHigh Court seeking appropri-ate orders on the issue.

Approaching the Court ofJustice Tapobrata Chakrabartythe BJP leadership said despiterepeatedly writing letters seek-ing permission from the StateDirector General of Police,Home Secretary and theInspectors General of Policeconcerned they had notreceived any communicationfrom the other side.

The BJP’s Yatras are sched-uled to start from Coochbeharon December 7, Ganga Sagaron December 9 and Birbhumon December 14. All the Yatraswill be inaugurated by partypresident Amit Shah and will

be addressed by top party lead-ers like UP and Assam ChiefMinisters Yogi Adityanath andSarbananda Sonowal. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi willalso address four rallies atSiliguri, Durgapur, Malda andBirbhum during the Yatra.

Responding to the petitionState Advocate General KishoreDutta said that the BJP had notwritten to the appropriateauthorities for permission towhich the saffron outfit saidsimilar letters had also beenwritten to the SPs of the dis-tricts concerned. The Judgehowever advised the parties tosettle the issue amicably beforereturning to the Court. Thematter would be taken up forhearing on Thursday noon.

BJP moves HC for

Rath Yatra clearanceThe BJP’s yatras are

scheduled to start from

Coochbehar on

December 7, Ganga

Sagar on December 9

and Birbhum on

December 14

Srinagar : NationalConference onWednesday paid tributesto the party founderSheikh MohammadAbdul lah, popularlyknown as Sher-e-Kashmir, on this 113thbirth anniversary. Commemorative func-tions were held across theState, with main congre-gational function held athis mausoleum at NaseemBagh on the banks of DalLake.

National Conferencepresident FarooqAbdullah and vice presi-dent Omar Abdullah ledthe senior party leaders

and functionaries in payingtributes to Sher-e-Kashmir.

"The best tribute toSher-e-Kashmir would beto leave no stone unturnedto fight for the honour anddignity of our people whohave suffered immenselydue to various politicalmachinations, instabilityand turmoi l , " Farooq Abdullah said afteroffering 'fatiha' at his father'sgrave.

Omar Abdullah, whilepaying tributes to his grand-father, said the party is com-mitted to nurture his legacyof secular thinking andinclusive approach for oneand all. PTI

NC pays tribute to party

founder Sheikh Abdullah

Hardik urges Cong to move pvt

member Bill for Patidar quota

Agartala: Ruling BJP’s allyIPFT has postponed itsWednesday’s shutdown inTripura following a meetingwith Chief Minister BiplabKumar Deb, an IndigenousPeople’s Front of Tripura(IPFT) spokesman said here onWednesday.

They will, however, goahead with a proposed sit-in-demonstration in Delhi nextweek to press for its decade-olddemand for separate State forthe tribals, introduction ofNRC in Tripura, he added.

"After a high level meetingbetween Chief Minister BiplabKumar Deb, Deputy ChiefMinister Jishnu Dev Varmaand our top party leaders thestrike was postponed lastnight (Tuesday)," IPFTspokesman and AssistantGeneral Secretary MangalDebbarma said.

The party delegation was ledby Revenue Minister and IPFTPresident Narendra ChandraDebbarma. "However, we arefirm to hold a sit-in demon-stration in Delhi next week andsubmit a memorandum toPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Home Minister RajnathSingh highlighting the party'sdemands," Debbarma said.

The IPFT, a tribal basedparty, as part of its agitations ear-lier announced to observe a 12-hour shutdown in the Tripura

Tribal Areas AutonomousDistrict Council (TTAADC)areas on Wednesday.

"The IPFT and its sevenfrontal organisations had calledfor the strike in the TTAADCareas in support of the party'slong pending demands." Theother IPFT demands includeintroduction of the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) inTripura, withdrawal of theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,2016, introduction of inner-linepermit in the TTAADC areasand inclusion of tribals'Kokborok language in the 8thSchedule of the Constitution.

The IPFT has been agitat-ing since 2009 for a separateState to be carved out byupgrading the TTAADC,which has a jurisdiction overtwo-thirds of the State's 10,491sqkm area, home to over12,16,000 people.

In the nine-memberCouncil of Ministers, headedby Chief Minister BiplabKumar Deb, there are twoIPFT ministers — Debbarmaand Tribal Welfare and ForestMinister Mevar Kumar Jamatia(General Secretary).

Meanwhile, another tribalbased party — IndigenousNationalist Party of Tripura(INPT) — has also called aroad and rail blockade in Tripuraon December 10 on almost thesame issues. IANS

Tripura's IPFT deferagitation on Statehood

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In a relief to the MaharashtraGovernment, the Bombay

High Court on Wednesdayrefused to grant an interim stayon its new legislation granting16 per cent reservations ineducation and Governmentjobs to the Maratha commu-nity.

Two days after AdvocateGunaratna Sadavarte filed aPublic Interest Litigation (PIL)on behalf of his client JayashreePatil, a member of the IndianConstitutionalist Council (ICI)challenging the new MarathaReservations Act, a HC benchof Chief Justice Naresh Patiland Justice MS Karnik brieflyheard the petitioner and thestate government, beforeadjourning the petition for adetailed hearing on December10.

While refusing to order aninterim stay on the newMaratha Reservations Act, theHC agreed to grant a detailedhearing on all pending peti-tions on Maratha reservationson December 10.

The PIL, filed by Sadavarte,says that the new MarathaReservations – better known asthe Maharashtra State (of seatsfor admission in educationalinstitutions in the state and forappointments in the publicservices and posts under thestate) for Socially andEducationally BackwardClasses (SEBC) Act, 2018 — isin violation of the 50 per centcap imposed by the SupremeCourt on reservations.

Among other things, the

petition States that the Marathacommunity — the Kunbi-Marathas — have already beengiven a reservation under theOther Backward Classes (OBC)category and the additionalreservations will only create aclass within a class, affectingthose who do not belong to anyreserved category.

Opposing a stay on thenew Maratha Reservation Actsought by Sadavarte, State’scounsel VA Thorat told thecourt that the petitioner couldnot seek a stay on the state leg-islation through a PIL.

In his argument, Thoratsaid that most of the pendingpetitions pending in the highcourt opposed the Marathaquota on the basis of the 2014Act that provided for reserva-tion to those belonging tosocially backward communitiesin the State. However, the 2014Act now stood repealed and thestate legislature had recentlyratified the new MarathaReservation Act to cover theissue of quota for the commu-nity. "The new legislation takescare of all legal grievances thatexisted in the 2014 Act," Thorattold the HC bench.

After hearing both sides,the HC bench decided to com-bine together all the pendingpetitions on the issue ofMaratha reservation and hearthem collectively on the nextdate.

With the high court agree-ing to a PIL challenging theMaratha Reservations Act,there is considerable appre-hension in the minds of the rul-ing BJP, Opposition parties

and Maratha community thatthe new reservation might getentangled in the legal compli-cations.

Their apprehension stemsfrom the fact that by enactinga law granting 16 per centreservations to Marathas, theMaharashtra Government hasexceeded the 50 per cent cap onreservations imposed by theSupreme Court and in theprocess followed the suit of theTamil Nadu Government.

Currently Maharashtra has52 per cent reservations injobs and educational institu-tions. Of the total 52 per centreservations, SCs and ST com-munities account for 13 and 7per cent, respectively, whileOBCs have 19 per cent per cent

reservations, Together, SpecialBackward Class and NomadicTribes account for 13 per cent.

The Marathas, who havenow been accorded 16 percent reservations in educationand Government jobs, accountfor nearly 33 per cent of thetotal 11.25 crore population ofMaharashtra.

Once the MaharashtraState SEBC Act comes intoforce, then the total reserva-tions in the State will go up to68 per cent — next only toTamil Nadu that has 69 percent reservations.

Though DevendraFadnavis dispensation has notclarified as to how it would facethe scrutiny of the new law inthe Supreme Court, it looks likethe Maharashtra Governmentwill take the route taken by theTamil Nadu Governmentunder late chief ministerJayalalithaa, which achievedits objective of increasing reser-vations to 69 per cent by pass-ing the Tamil Nadu Act of 1994and adding the 1994 Act to theNinth Schedule of theConstitution.

Article 31B of theConstitution stipulates that thelegislation in the NinthSchedule cannot be challengedin courts. However, in 2007, theSupreme Court in IR Coelho v.State of Tamil Nadu ruled thateven those laws which areplaced in the Ninth Scheduleare subject to judicial review ifthe laws violate the basic struc-ture of the Constitution.Interestingly enough, a petitionchallenging the Tamil NaduReservation policy is expectedto come up for hearing before

the Supreme Court in the near future.

Even for getting itsMaharashtra Reservation Act2018 included in the NinthSchedule of the Constitution,the BJP-led MaharashtraGovernment will have toinvolve the BJP-led NarendraModi Government which ofcourse will be more than will-ing to help the DevendraFadnavis dispensation. But, themove will have to undergodue Constructional processeswhich will take time – a thingthe BJP-led MaharashtraGovernment does not have onhand.

As a precautionary mea-sure, the Maharashtra had onMonday filed a caveat in theSupreme Court seeking a hear-ing in the event of anyone chal-lenging the new MaharashtraReservation Act granting 16per cent reservations toMarathas in education andjobs.

The move came three daysafter Maharashtra GovernorC Vidyasagar Rao signed theMaratha reservation bill enact-ing the law. The bill had earli-er been passed unanimously byboth the Houses ofMaharashtra on November 29.

The caveat, filed byAdvocate NishantKatneswarkar on behalf of theMaharashtra Government inthe apex court, reads thus:“No order be passed in the mat-ter without notice to theMaharashtra Government. Thecaveator (MaharashtraGovernment) was the autho-rised party who issued theMaharashtra Act.”

HC refuses interim stay on quota Bill

RELIEF FOR MAHA GOVT OVER MARATHA RESERVATION

The apprehensionstems from thefact that byenacting a lawgranting 16 percent reservationsto Marathas, theMaharashtraGovernment hasexceeded the 50per cent cap onreservationsimposed by theSupreme Courtand in theprocess followedthe suit of theTamil NaduGovernment.

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018 nation 07

B’Shahr violence: Bajrang Dal asksYogesh Raj to surrenderPTI n BULANDSHAHR

The Bajrang Dal onWednesday asked its

Bulandshahr convenor YogeshRaj, the main accused in themob violence here which lefttwo people dead, to surrenderbefore police and said it believedhe is innocent.

The right-wing group alsodemanded a probe into theincident by the CBI, saying thepolice themselves were the com-plainant.

Inspector Subodh KumarSingh, who had initially probedthe 2015 lynching ofMohammed Akhlaq, and a 20-year-old local man, SumitKumar, died of gunshot injurieson Monday as a rampagingmob protesting alleged illegalcow slaughter torched a policepost in Bulandshahr and clashedwith cops. Raj is among thenearly 90 people booked for riot-ing and violence.

Some villagers in Mahav,

where the cow carcasses werefound strewn, have claimed thatthe locals had agreed to com-promise and wanted to bury theanimals’ remains. But the right-wing activists carried them tothe police post, creating aruckus.

“Yes, we admit havingbrought the carcasses to thepolice station because we want-ed action against those involvedin cow slaughter. But when thepolice had agreed to ourdemand and registered an FIR,then why should we createruckus?” Bajrang Dal’s WesternUttar Pradesh region co-con-venor Praveen Bhati asked.

Asked why then Raj’s namehad cropped up, he said, “It isbecause the two incidents havebeen linked. The people whohad gathered here were outragedover cow slaughter and YogeshRaj went to the police station toget a case registered.”

“What happened here (vio-lence at Chingrawathi police

post) in the meantime, YogeshRaj has got nothing to do withit. He is our district convenor, weare with him and he is innocent.He will cooperate with thepolice and come out at theright time,” he said.

Bhati claimed Singh andKumar were shot with guns ofsame bore.

“Sumit was killed by a pri-vate weapon and the police hadfired that bullet. The FIR men-tions that Subodh Kumar’s pri-vate pistol was robbed. Whatwas he doing there with the pri-vate weapon? The bore of theguns with which both wereshot are the same,” he said.

Bhati said Raj should sur-render. “Certainly he shouldsurrender, but I should alsomake it clear that the probeshould be conducted by a big-ger agency for the truth to berevealed. In this FIR, the policethemselves are the complainantand in such a situation how canthey carry out a fair probe?”

Bhati asked.When told that a special

investigation team is probing theincident, he said, “I am not sat-isfied with this, I think the CBIshould probe it. All over thecountry the Bajrang Dal’s imageis being maligned and we arebeing portrayed as a violentorganisation...”

“At least the truth shouldcome out that a district levelworker of Bajrang Dal cannot dosuch things,” he added.

Bhati said connectingSingh’s death with that fact thathe was probing the Akhlaqlynching case would be incor-rect. The Bajrang Dal leaderclaimed Raj was on cordialterms with the inspector.

Bhati said he last spoke toRaj on the night of the incidentand till then there was no com-plaint against him.

“Truth should come outand Yogesh should be broughtto book if he is found guilty,” hesaid.

PTI n AYODHYA

Mohammed Azim, an auto-driver in Ayodhya, still

recalls the frightening night ofDecember 6, 1992 when healong with a group of otherMuslim residents of the templetown had taken shelter in thefarm fields fearing for theirlives.

Azim, who was just 20then, said, “An army of ‘karse-waks’, in a grip of frenzy, hadbrought down Babri Masjid,triggering unrest and panic. Wewere so terrified, we did notknow what to do.”

The 46-year-old, now afather of four, feels upset thatRam Temple issue was againbeing raked up by some politi-cians and the Sangh Parivar,threatening the “fragile peace-ful atmosphere” of Ayodhya,whose residents are still tryingto come to terms with thetragedy 26 years later.

“Every year around thistime, we fight those emotions.We have tried to put the pastbehind us, but the tragic mem-ories just refuse to go away.And, with all the noise aroundthe temple issue in Ayodhyaand elsewhere, it has openedour wounds again,” he rued.

Azim says the fateful nightstill flashes before his eyes. Hesays it was a Hindu family whogave him shelter when “the twocommunities were baying foreach others’ blood”.

“We were panic-stricken,so a group of us in our neigh-bourhood ran outside the townand into the farm fields to hideourselves from a frenzied mob

running amok in the streets,”he told PTI.

“We spent almost the entirenight in the fields. It was a coldand painful night, I will neverforget it. At the crack of dawn,we knocked the door of aThakur family, who knew me,and he sheltered us for a fewdays,” he recalled as tears welledup in his eyes.

Mohammed Muslim, 78,who now drives an e-rickshaw,gets perturbed talking aboutthe incident, and says hewished politicians and Hindu-outfits would not whip upcommunal frenzy. “We wereunsafe then, and today also wefeel insecure when outsidecrowd comes to our town(referring to the recent DharmaSabha of the VHP),” he said.

Muslim, Azim and manyother members from theircommunity describe the inci-dent as a “blot on democracy”when “mobs were allowed totake over the city”.

“The demolition firstdemoralised our community

and then the ensuing violencein Ayodhya and riots in otherparts of the country fracturedour faith in the system. I hadrun away to Barabanki after theunrest in 1992, I was so terri-fied,” Muslim recalled.

But, it is not just minoritycommunity, which feels thepain, as Vijay Singh, a doctorwho lives near the disputedRam Janmabhoomi, said, therecollection of the incidentsends chills down the spine.

The 48-year-old medic sayshe was present in Ayodhya onthe day the 16th centurymosque was demolished andsaw the violence that followedin the holy city. “It was terrible.We do not want anotherAyodhya tragedy,” he said.

“We want to preserve thepeaceful atmosphere, but politi-cians stoke fire to suit theiragenda. Even in 1992, so manypeople had come from outsideto bring the structure (mosque)down. It was a very tragic andunfortunate incident thataffects Ayodhya till this day,”

Singh said.Azim, Singh and many

other residents of the holytown reckon that Hindu andMuslim communities havelived here in peace for ages, andeven after the tragedy, no onewants any fresh political trig-ger for disharmony.

Activist Shabnam Hashmisaid Ayodhya has always beena place of ancient culture andcommunal harmony andalleged that its syncretic naturewas “hijacked” in 1992, and the“city is still paying the price”.

Hashmi said in 1993,Delhi-based SAHMAT hadorganised a meticulous exhi-bition — Hum Sab Ayodhya —documenting the history, her-itage, geography and culture ofAyodhaya, accompanied bycultural programmes in variouscities across India.

In August 1993, Muktnaad,a mushaira was held inFaizabad and Muktnaad inAyodhaya, a unique, night-long cultural performance onthe banks of Saryu at Ram KiPaidi, where some of the notedartists performed.

“The events were to letpeople achieve catharsis. It wasthe first event held in Ayodhyaafter the violence. It was the‘breaking of the ice’, but it wasnot easy putting it together, andhad to run from Faizabad toLucknow for permission,”Hashmi said.

“The anniversary, everyyear brings back the tragicmemories. Politicians shouldlet people’s wounds heal andnot reopen them to suit theiragenda,” she said.

Ayodhya residents recall

horrors of 1992 tragedy

PTI n MUMBAI

The Shiv Sena Wednesdayattacked ally BJP over the

violence in party-ruled UttarPradesh’s Bulandshahr, askingif it was orchestrated to polarisesociety on religious groundsahead of the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls.

The issue of cow slaughterand consuming its meat iswidely prevalent in Goa,Mizoram, Nagaland,Arunachal Pradesh andTripura, but no violence ormob lynchings have beenreported there as these stateshave negligible Lok Sabha seats,the Sena said in remarks lacedwith sarcasm.

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) could come to power atthe Centre in 2014 as it won 71out of total 80 Lok Sabha seatsin UP, the party noted.

The BJP has realised thatrepeating the performance isnot possible and on top of it, if

the Opposition comes togeth-er, like it did in the Kairana by-polls (in UP), the ruling partycould be easily defeated, theSena said.

“Was the Bulandshahrincident orchestrated like theMuzaffarnagar incident beforethe 2014 polls? The BJP knowsthat the 2019 elections will notbe easy for it. Therefore, has itused its weapon of religiouspolarisation?” the Sena asked inan editorial in party mouth-piece ‘Saamana’.

The communal clashes inUP’s Muzaffarnagar districtand adjoining areas in August

and September 2013 hadclaimed more than 60 liveswhile over 40,000 people weredisplaced.

The Sena, a ruling ally ofthe BJP-led Maharashtra gov-ernment, said the 80 Lok Sabhaseats of UP could be a “gamechanger” for the BJP.

“Was the bloody pattern ofcommunal flare and polarisa-tion of votes spread for it?” theparty further asked.

Inspector Subodh KumarSingh, the station house officer(SHO) of Siana, who was killedby a mob in Bulandshahr, hadconducted a probe in UP’sDadri lynching episode of 2015and taken a firm stand onarresting the accused, the Senapointed out. “The questionnow being raised is if there isa link between the Bulandshahrviolence, Subodh Kumar’sdeath and the Dadri lynchingincident,” the UddhavThackeray-led party said.

In September 2015,

Mohammad Akhlaq, a man inhis 50s, was lynched inside hishouse at Bisada village fallingunder Dadri sub division ofUP’s Gautam Buddh Nagardistrict on the suspicion thatbeef was consumed.

On Monday, a mob ofsome 400 people, includingright-wing activists, foughtpitched battles with police inSiana area of Bulandshahr dis-trict, apparently after right-wing activists were angeredby the discovery of cow car-casses strewn in a nearby jun-gle. They set fire to dozens ofvehicles, hurled stones andalso opened fire at police per-sonnel who retaliated withgunfire.

In the violence, InspectorSubodh Kumar Singh and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar werekilled. Police arrested four peo-ple on Tuesday and were hunt-ing for a Bajrang Dal activist inconnection with the mob vio-lence.

“Was theBulandshahrincidentorchestrated likethe Muzaffarnagarincident before the2014 polls?

Sena suspects religious polarisation

angle in Bulandshahr violence

BULANDSHAHR VIOLENCE ACCUSED PLEADS INNOCENCE

From Page 1told media persons that the police were looking for Raj.

Meanwhile, the Bulandshahr police arrested two persons —Sairafuddin and Sajid — in connection with cow slaughter onWednesday. The duo was named in the FIR. The cops alsodetained Nane and Asif for quizzing. Sairafuddin and Sajidclaimed that they were attending a religious function on the fate-ful day somewhere else.

Sources claimed that after failing to arrest prime accusedYogesh Raj, the Bulandshahr police picked up his brotherDevendra and uncle Chaman, along with Asheesh Chauhan andwere grilling them to extract information about Yogesh Raj'swhereabouts.

Reports also said that the intense security cover that wasput in place in and around the Chingrawathi village was vis-ibly reduced on Wednesday. Personnel of Rapid Action Force(RAF), Police Armed Constabulary (PAC) and local policewere deployed near the Chingrawathi police post and the vil-lage.

A small unit of PAC was present at a temporary office,which was set up next to the police post that was attackedby the mob on Monday. The police stayed put in Chingrawathiand nearby villages of Naya bans and Mahav.

Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Avanish Awasthisaid: “The Chief Minister has directed (officials) for a thoroughprobe into the incident. Instructions have been issued to takestringent action against people involved in cow slaughter. Theincident is part of a bigger conspiracy, and hence all directly orindirectly related to cow slaughter be arrested in a time-boundmanner.”

Villagers question 4 names

in cow slaughter FIR

Mallya offers to repay...

Michel gives Govt ammunition against Cong

BJP using Michel with freedom bait against Opp...From Page 1

“Even Christian Michel’ssister had come out and reit-erated the coercions of falselynaming Opposition leaders asa ticket of exoneration ofChristian Michel,” he said. Heclaimed that never before in thehistory of India has a Prime

Minister been found “com-plicit” in gaining “false evi-dence” against Oppositionleaders to seek “revenge”.

Surjewala also said it istime the CBI investigatedthe Prime Minister for hisalleged role in “exonerating”AgustaWest land and

Finmeccanica instead of“weaving a fake story” todeflect attention from the“imminent defeat” in fiveStates.

The ruling BJP had said onTuesday that the extradition inthe case from the UPA era is adiplomatic victory for India

and could spell “serious trouble” for theCongress’ “first family”, refer-ring to Gandhis. It also asserted that the developmentwas an unequivocal affirmationof the Modi Government’s“seriousness in fighting cor-ruption”.

Agusta scam fixer sent to 5-day CBI custody From Page 1

“Keeping in view the factsand circumstances, submis-sions made by the parties, Ideem it fit to grant 5 dayspolice remand of the accused.Accordingly, the accused isremanded to police custody for5 days. The CBI shall get theaccused medically examined,as per rules. The accused shallalso be entitled to get assistancefrom his advocate during inter-rogation. The CBI will permitcounsel for accused Aljo kJoseph or his associate VishnuSankar Sriram Parakkat toassist the accused between 10am to 11 am and from 5 pm to6 pm on each day, Special CBIjudge Arvind Kumar noted inhis order.

Michel’s counsel had alsofiled an application for bail butsought his application to bekept pending.

CBI sources, meanwhile,said, Michel expressed anxietylast night after which he wasexamined by doctors whoadministered him medicines.Subsequently, his mood waselevated and remained jollythrough the day. However, hehas not been cooperative dur-ing the quizzing despite intensegrilling by the agency sleuthsafter he reached the agencyheadquarters.

Amid the grilling, he sleptbarely for two hours. After themedication to cure his anxiety,he was subjected to intensegrilling about money trail and

identification of documents inthe mega scam.

Sources said he wasallowed to sleep for twohours between 4 am and 6 amon Wednesday before beingprovided with breakfast.After 6 am, he was againquestioned by the officials ofthe Special InvestigationTeam of the CBI before beingproduced in the special courtat about 4 pm.

The sources said he isbeing served normal food fromthe CBI canteen and providedbottled mineral water.

Michel’s lawyer Aljo kJoseph who was national in-charge for legal department ofIndian Youth Congress wasexpelled later in the

evening by the Congress thatclaimed he appeared as thelawyer of the accused in hispersonal capacity.

The Brit ish HighCommission on its partsought consular access toChrist ian Michel onWednesday, a day after theBritish national was broughthere from the UAE to face thelaw enforcement agencies inthe `3,600-croreAgustaWestland chopper deal.

A spokesperson of theHigh Commission said infor-mation has been sought fromthe Indian authorities urgent-ly on Michel’s “circumstances”and that the BritishGovernment is in contact withhis family.

From Page 1“The Congress’ ‘gaaje-baaje’

company thought the BJP wasfinished in Rajasthan. Now theyare saying they are losing due toinfighting and rebel candidates,”he said.

He said in Dausa that four

generations of “naamdars”(dynasts) had shown no con-cern for tribal communities.Modi has often referred toGandhi derisively as “naamdar”.

“Their family is everythingfor Congress. The 125 crorepeople of the country is our

family,” he said. Making a pointto mention khadi, for whichDausa is famous, he said theGandhi family had shatteredMahatma Gandhi’s khadi dream.“Mahatma Gandhi worked tomake khadi self-reliant, but thefake Gandhi family obliterated it,”

he said. Predicting a win for theBJP, he said people in the desertState were clearly in favour of theparty coming back to power. “Those singing Raag Darbari inNew Delhi will not come to knowabout the direction of wave flow-ing,” he said.

From Page 1In reference to some Indian

media reports claiming thathis offer is linked to an expect-ed ruling in the extradition caseon December 10, he added:"Usual nonsense! I have madesettlement offers since 2016."

After weeks of silence,Mallya shot off a series oftweets since the early hours ofWednesday to defend the loanshe had acquired from variousbanks as a means of keeping hisnow-defunct Kingfisher Airlineafloat.

"Airlines struggling finan-cially partly because of highATF prices. Kingfisher was afab airline that faced the high-est ever crude prices of USD140/barrel. Losses mountedand that's where banks moneywent. I have offered to repay100 per cent of the principalamount to them. Please take it,"reads one of his posts.

Making a reference to hisliquor group United Breweries,Mallya said that "India's largestalcoholic beverage group" hadcontributed "thousands of

crores" to the state exchequerover the years. "KingfisherAirlines also contributed hand-somely to the states. Sad loss ofthe finest Airline but still I offerto pay Banks so no loss. Pleasetake it," he said.

In a further lament againstthe Indian government andmedia, he adds: "Politiciansand the media are constantlytalking loudly about my beinga defaulter who has run awaywith PSU Bank money. All thisis false. Why don't I get fairtreatment and the same loudnoise about my comprehensivesettlement offer before theKarnataka High Court. Sad."

Mallya's tweets came hoursafter alleged AgustaWestlandVVIP chopper deal middlemanChristian Michel was broughtto India from Dubai, the firstsuccessful extradition sinceIndia initiated similar pro-ceedings against alleged eco-nomic offenders like Mallya,Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

Mallya is fighting his extra-dition from the UK to India ina trial which opened in London

on December 4 last year. TheUK's Crown ProsecutionService (CPS), arguing onbehalf of the Indian govern-ment, has attempted to lay outa prima facie case of fraudagainst Mallya and establishthere are no bars to him beingextradited to face Indian courtsover the allegations relating toloans made out to erstwhileKingfisher Airlines.

In separate legal proceed-ings, the businessman had lostan appeal in the UK's Court ofAppeal earlier this year againsta UK High Court order infavour of 13 Indian banks torecover funds amounting tonearly 1.145 billion pounds.The banks, led by State Bank ofIndia (SBI), have since beenpursuing ways of recouping thedebt as part of a worldwidefreezing order.

In one of the most recentorders in the case last week,they had acquired the court'spermission to pursue any sur-plus funds from the sale of aluxury yacht formerly ownedby Mallya.

Telangana sentiments, family rule, farmer woes hog campaign

From Page 1deliver on promise of

increasing quota from 4 to 12per cent for them. KCR blamedthe Central Government led byNarendar Modi for it.

Biggest complaint ofwomen was not getting duerepresentation in politicalprocess as KCR did not includea single woman in his Cabinet.In the rural areas the grousewas that once power women’sself help groups were com-pletely ignored and were notgiven any financial assistance.

But KCR projected rela-tively less crime againstwomen, safe and secure envi-ronment as one of his biggestachievements. Constitution ofShe Teams of police inHyderabad and other majorcities to deal with the issues likeeve teasing and sexual harass-ment was referred to as big suc-cess.

Similar ensuring better lawand order, modernising of

police force with betterweapons, mobility and com-munication systems, no com-munal riots and curfew freeatmosphere were also high-lighted as Government’sachievement.

All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen, a major Muslimpolitical force in the State citedit as the reason for its direct andactive support to TRS in thiselection.

Congress-TDP counteredit by saying that KCR washand in glove with Modi as hesupported every major decisionof the BJP Government at theCenter. They warned that KCRwould not hesitate to supportthe BJP in the nextParliamentary elections or afterthat.

For the BJP the major issuein the State was the clout ofMIM over the ruling TRS. Allthe big wigs of the BJP includ-ing Modi asked the peoplewhether they want a Chief

Minister who was a puppet inthe hand of MIM.

However it was seen moreas an exaggeration of MIM’sinfluence to create a fear in theminds.

The other issue throughwhich BJP president Amit Shahand Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath triedto polarise the voters was theissue of 12 per cent reservationsfor Muslims. Even Modi triedto create a scare saying it willbe a treachery with the nationand will be at the cost ofDalits, backward classes andscheduled tribes (read Hindus).

Yogi also tried to importthe idea of renaming of his-toric places and cities in hisown state to Telangana bypromising to renameHyderabad as Bhagyanagar.Issue of cow protection alsofigured in BJP manifesto.Party promised to distribute10,0000 cows and set up cowshed in every mandal.

Bulandshahr (PTI): Of theseven people from Naya Bansnamed in an FIR on cowslaughter related to the mob vio-lence here, two are pre-teens,one does not stay in the villageand a fourth was away at aMuslim congregation 40 kilo-metres away, angry villagerssaid on Wednesday.

The FIR is based on acomplaint filed by Bajrang Dal'sdistrict convenor Yogesh Raj,the main accused in the vio-lence that broke out Mondayafter cow carcasses were foundstrewn in a jungle, killing apolice inspector and a 20-year-old man, police officials said.

Raj has been abscondingsince Monday.

Police is investigating theviolence that led to InspectorSubodh Kumar Singh and

Sumit Kumar dying of gunshotinjuries on the basis of twoFIRs — one on cow slaughterand the other on violence.

Naya Bans village, less thanthree kilometres fromChingrawati where the violencetook place, is the focal point ofthe cow slaughter FIR. Allseven named are from the vil-lage and all are Muslims.

According to the villagers, a10-year-old Class 5 student anda 12-year-old Class 6 student areon the list. The two, who can'tbe identified because of theirminor status, are cousins.

"Their names should beremoved from the FIR whichaccuses them of cow slaughter.Just look at them," said thefather of the Class 5 student,pointing to the children.

The 42-year-old, who lost

his right foot during a motor-cycle accident six years ago,said the children stay at home.

"I was summoned to thepolice station in Siyana onTuesday. I was told the names(of the children) are in the FIR.I was made to wait for threehours and told that 'kaptan saa-hab' (local police chief) wouldenquire about something. Butnothing happened and Ireturned home," he said.

The mother of the Class 6student said police reachedher home at 2.15 am onTuesday and started conduct-ing a check at that unearthlyhour. They were not sure of thename of her son and keptlooking for a "Shehzaad" and"Qasim", she said.

"They left at 2.30 am beforeleaving everything in the house

messed up," she claimed,adding that they kept askingwhere she was hiding him. Herhusband lives and works inDelhi. Tempers were runninghigh in the village with resi-dents disputing two othernames. One was not a residentof the village and the other wasworking in the Ijtima (Muslimcongregation) about 40 kmaway. Mohammad Hussainsaid his brother Safruddin, 36,was wrongly named in theFIR. "Several people from NayaBans, including Safruddin,went for the Ijtima. He wasthere from November 29 andreturned yesterday. He wasgiven the task of managingparking at the Ijtima," Hussainsaid, showing an Ijtima man-agement slip that namedSafruddin as a park

China has lately become very fondof archaeology though it is main-ly a ‘political’ archaeology. OnDecember 1, Xinhua publishedan article titled: ‘Qinghai-Tibet

Plateau first conquered by humans at least30,000 years ago.’ Does this mean that Chinaconquered Tibet much earlier than thought?History books tell us that the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) entered EasternTibet on October 7, 1950.

The news agency explained the earlier‘occupation’: “Thousands of stone artifactsrecovered from a paleolithic site in the TibetAutonomous Region (TAR) in southwestChina indicate that humans might have con-quered one of the highest and most ecolog-ically-challenging places on the globe.”

A total of 3,683 stone artifacts have beendiscovered from the 30,000-40,000-year-oldsite, including blades, flakes, chunks andtools, the last of which range from scrapers,awls, choppers, notches and burins. Thoughthe environment then was much warmer andmore humid, Gao, a researcher from theInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology andPaleoanthropology, Chinese Academy ofSciences (CAS), admitted that humans didnot settle down permanently on the plateauat that time.

Xinhua concluded: “Most agree that thediscovery enormously prolonged human his-tory on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with indis-putable archaeological evidence.”

Another article in Science mentioned alocation where the CAS team found piecesof stone artifacts, pottery shards as well as ani-mal bones. It was in a village in Nyingchi inthe TAR. What is interesting (and worrying)is that these researches come close to the dis-puted Indian border. The same phenomenonis happening elsewhere on the Indo-Tibetborder. For example, in Ngari Prefecture ofWestern Tibet. China is probably trying toestablish its political bonafide in the region.

Last month, Xinhua reported: “Chinesearchaeologists have excavated more than 20tombs thought to be around 2,000-year-oldin southwest China’s TAR”. The conclusionwas: “ancient tombs provide clues to mys-terious civilisation in Tibet.”

The idea is to prove that Tibet has notalways been Buddhist (which is true), sidelin-ing the importance of the religious Buddhisthierarchy, particularly the Dalai Lama. In earlyJuly, a project was launched by SichuanUniversity — Huo Wei, head of the School ofHistory and Culture of the universityannounced that “more than 70 artifacts havebeen found in these tombs in Peyang Tunggar[Dungkar] ruins [near Tholing, the capital ofthe former Guge Kingdom], including bronzemirrors, fabric, pottery, and accessories. Wefound millet in a pottery cup and tea in awooden box, which are believed to date backbetween the Han Dynasty and Jin Dynasty.”

Huo explained: “The discoveries showedthat there was a long stage of civilisation in the

Peyang Tunggar region, and thecivilisation had close ties with thesurrounding areas. BeforeBuddhism was introduced toTibet in the seventh century,there was a period calledShangshung culture according tohistorical recordings.”

Why is it important forIndia? It appears that Beijing isgoing to duplicate in Ngari whatit did in Nyingchi area and theexcavations give China a politi-cal legitimacy — it is the first the-oretical step, the road infrastruc-ture leading to the border and astring of model villages are thenext practical stages.

Moreover, three new air-ports will soon be constructed inthese frontier areas — Lhuntse(in Lhoka prefecture, north ofArunachal), Tingri (in ShigatseCity, close to the Nepal border)and Purang — which is locatedat the tri-junction with Nepaland India on way to the Kailash-Manasarowar yatra in Ngariprefecture. But that is not all.

A few days ago, China TibetNews reported that the TAR’sPreserving Institution ofCultural Relics had completedsome archaeological work onRelics of the Qing (Manchu)Dynasty at Yatung in theChumbi Valley, near Sikkim, anarea which witnessed theDoklam incident last year.

The so-called occupationof the Chumbi Valley by theManchus is a new way torewrite history and show thatthese areas close to the Indianborder have always belonged to

China …and are part of the SilkRoad, dear to ChinesePresident Xi Jinping.

The website speaks of “anirreplaceable section of SouthAsian corridor on the Silk Road,Yatung Custom Relics has beenrecognised as the witness of theCentral Government’s [Beijing]valid ruling over Tibet andChina's claim on sovereignty.”

‘Valid’ ruling is a new term,at a time when nobody disputesChina’s occupation of Tibet anylonger. The TAR ordered the‘repairing-for-salvage work’ ofthe relics and the TAR CulturalRelics Bureau set up a jointexpert group and conducted afield research, “during which sixbuildings and roads linking thebuildings have been discovered.”

The press release men-tioned: “The whole relics werefilled with collapse piles, and alarge number of porcelains, ironand bronzes were unearthed,too. Analysis on layout, scale andinterior structure of these build-ings has preliminarily shownthat they have been used asworking offices, dormitories forworkers and garrison, theTemple of Guan Yu, customsclearance place, as well as dailygoods trading center.”

Did the Manchus everoccupy the Chumbi Valley?Nobody has heard of thisbefore. China now wants to pre-serve the ‘evidence’ and con-serve the relics. The YatungCounty’s Communist Partycommittee and the YatungCounty Government jointly

formulated an EmergencyProtective Repair Plan withworking priorities for thepreservation.

Chinese ‘experts’ affirmedthat the Yatung Custom Relics“carries a lot of historical mem-ory. Preserving the relics hassignificant practical and histor-ical significance to study bor-der culture, develop patrio-tism, carry forward fine tradi-tions, safeguard national unity,as well as develop local tourismand economy.” A good prepa-ration to bring millions oftourists (soon by train) toIndia’s border! But there isanother angle omitted byXinhua and its other associatewebsites.

India had a beautiful TradeAgency in Yatung. The build-ing belonged to theGovernment of India. It wasvisited by the Prime Minister ofIndia in September 1958. It wasdestroyed by the Chinese PLAafter the 1962 war. Did not theYatung Relics Committee lookfor the vestige of Indian pres-ence in Tibet? Their approachthen seems rather selective!The Yatung Relics Departmentshould be asked to excavate thearea and open it to pilgrims,passing through the ChumbiValley on their way to theKailash Yatra. But perhaps theWuhan consensus does notallow such requests. Rules ofengagement should be fair.

(The writer is an expert onIndia-China relations and anauthor)

The European Space Agency’s

Ariane 5 Rocket left the shores of

South America vaulting the GSAT-

11 satellite into the orbit. This massive

satellite weighing 5,854 kilograms is the

heaviest object sent into the space by

the Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO). And given that weight is at a pre-

mium when it comes to space, this satel-

lite is loaded with technology. The pri-

mary purpose of this satellite is a com-

mercial one — it will dramatically

enhance throughput for India’s Direct-

To-Home (DTH) satellite broadcasters

and allow them to not only broadcast

more channels in High-Definition but also prepare for the next-generation

of definition on televisions, which is 4K broadcast. At the same time, GSAT-

11 with its improved bandwidth capabilities, should also enable Indian air-

lines to provide satellite-linked Internet services onboard planes.

ISRO must be commended for launching the GSAT-11. This advanced

satellite programme puts it way ahead of all but a few G-20 nations in the

world as India can design and develop such advanced space missions. If

there is one small negative, it is the fact that India had to hire an Ariane

rocket to carry this payload as our Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

rocket system is not capable to carry such a large object into the space.

But the work being put in by the rocket scientists at ISRO will hopefully mean

that within the next few years, the next-generation of heavy GSAT satellites

should be able to launch an Indian rocket, although GSAT 20, 30 and 31

— the next in the series of heavyweight GSAT missions — will continue

to use the European Ariane vehicle. That said, the commercial benefits of

these heavy satellites are huge. DTH providers (and DTH subscribers, indi-

rectly) will pay huge sums of money to use satellites like GSAT-11 which

are also essential for ISRO to be able to fund India’s more advanced sci-

entific missions such as Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan in addition to India’s

ambitions of putting a man into space. India might depend on importing

some crucial things for its survival, particularly oil, but its space programme

is a matter of pride and a point of envy of the West, marked by offensive

columns and cartoons even in respectable newspapers such as The New

York Times. India has come a long way from the first APPLE satellite that

was carted on the back of a bicycle and whatever other flaws this nation

has, we have a space programme that is one of the best in the world.

The extradition of AgustaWestland

“fixer” Christian Michel is no doubt a

masterstroke of the Modi Government,

considering that it has been under constant

attack for its inability to bring back scam-

sters who have fled the country, jeweller

Nirav Modi, his relative Mehul Choksi and

former Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya being

cases in point. But now that he has been

escorted out of Dubai, under the watchful

eyes of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval

no less, the Modi Government has some-

thing to show for its efforts, which began

with a deportation plea as early as 2015,

and counter barbs of not having enough gall

to go after VIP absconders. It will help bolster his election plank of freeing the

country of corruption and bringing errants to book. And this scam has the scale

to capture eyeballs — Michel is accused of paying a few hundred crores as

bribe to political leaders and playing around with tender guidelines after palm-

ing off bureaucrats of the then Government for sealing the contract of buying 12

VVIP helicopters from Agusta. Further, as trial court proceedings in Italy produced

the communication between Michel and another middleman Guido Haschke, it

implied that five per cent of the deal value of ̀ 3,500 crore was to go “The Family”

and that Michel shared proximity with the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Though Michel denied ever meeting Sonia, saying that the confession was extract-

ed from him in exchange for relief, a hand-written note by Haschke does men-

tion one “AP” leading to speculation. In short, this case has the political magni-

tude to put the Congress’ first family in the dock.

In the charged atmosphere in the run-up to the general elections of 2019,

the ruling BJP seems to have stolen the march over the Congress temporarily.

The new Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has over the past few months badgered

the Modi regime over the Rafale deal and gratifying a “friendly” corporate by mak-

ing it an offset partner at home. He has even linked it to farmers’ unrest and fuel

prices, issues that can generate a perceptible common wave, implying that the

Modi regime was for the suit boot and not for the common man. But Rafale

remained swirling in a sea of technicalities that were observed or not observed

and no way could implicate one person or even the system, of which the UPA,

too, was once part of in the first-round negotiations. However, the AgustaWestland

deal points to some beneficiaries by implication and Michel, therefore, has become

the BJP’s proverbial stick to beat the Congress with. Particularly at a time when

the Congress is in coalition mode, gathering as many allies as it can from the

Opposition to build a polarity before the Lok Sabha polls. Of course, the Congress

is blaming the Modi Government for using the Central probe agencies to “tar-

get the Gandhis and tarnish the image of the Opposition.” Sonia and Rahul Gandhi

are already under the I-T scanner in the National Herald case. But if the Agusta

probe is pushed through to its logical end, the Congress could be stuck in a pick-

le and Modi could appear to be much cleaner by comparison. It would also help

common people thread this to the Bofors memories and bulk up the BJP nar-

rative of the Congress first family receiving kickbacks while it was helming the

Government. Michel’s alleged links to the Congress will also give the BJP enough

dough to keep the anti-corruption ball going and keep the Congress on the defen-

sive, particularly from building an embarrassing campaign around Rafale. Now

that the State election verdicts are but days away, the Agusta story could still

dim the Congress image even if it were to creditably win at least two States. If

the Congress, even by mischance, doesn’t deliver as expected, it would sure-

ly be then left with no face-savers and Agusta could take it back to square one.

Modi’s masterstroke

Michel’s testimony in the AgustaWestland case can stemthe Cong crusade on Rafale and put it in a tough spot

Heavy weight

GSAT-11 is the bulkiest Indian satellite sent into the orbit.It should enhance India’s communications capabilities

Poll battle heats up

Sir — This refers to the article,“Semi-finals before the 2019face-off ” (December 5) byKalyani Shankar. In terms ofpersonality and stature, therecan be no comparison betweenPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Congress chief RahulGandhi. Having said that, theCongress scion has been able tomake inroads into the people’smind by aggressively increasinghis social media presence andraising crucial issues like theRafale deal, demonetisation,farmers’ issues, among others.

But a question arises: Arethese efforts enough to pose aserious challenge to Modi’s lead-ership? The jury is still out.Coming to the ongoing electionsto five States, Rajasthan seems tobe a forgone conclusion. TheCongress will register a big win.

And if the grand old party isable to make a comeback eitherin Madhya Pradesh or even inChhattisgarh, even a 2-0 resultwill act as a moral booster forRahul Gandhi and his party inparticular. The twin wins willsurely give more teeth to theCongress to ask for a bigger

pound of flesh in the proposedmahagathnadhan against PrimeMinister Modi.

Bal GovindNoida

Lead from the front

Sir — This refers to Army ChiefBipin Rawat’s statement thatthe Army is not yet ready to

send women on the frontline forcombat duties. To quote NelsonMandela, “It always seemsimpossible until it is done.”

It is the lack of opportuni-ties and awareness that detersmost Indian women from join-ing the Army and other defenceservices. Even their parents arenot informed and, hence, theirdreams get buried inside theirhearts.

To accelerate the pace ofdevelopment, it is obligatoryfor the Government to eradicatesuch stereotypes from the soci-ety and promote more recruit-ment of women in the IndianArmy. It must be rememberedthat it is not always necessary tobe great to make a start inorder to be great.

Tushar Anand Kolkata

Aggravating problems

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Farmers’ plank” (November3). Farmers protest in Delhi,Mumbai and elsewhere bringfore the grim reality that they arefurious, and rightly so. Their aggression is understand-able. They had voted for the pre-sent Government with the beliefthat it would address agrariandistress.

Things as they stand todayare worrisome as farmers’ sui-cides have seen a massive rise.Besides, their problems haveworsened. Farm incomes havebeen affected by slower outputgrowth, higher costs andincreased vulnerability to cli-mate change. The policiesannounced by the Government,like loan-waivers and MinimumSupport Price for their cropshave not yielded results. Years ofcrippling debt, drought andfalling income have cast a shad-ow over the future of Indianfarming.

SatyaVia email

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op nionLUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

08

Archaeology and politics

CLAUDE ARPI

China’s new-found fondness in preserving ‘evidence’ and ‘conserving’ relics makes for a

good preparation to bring millions of tourists to India’s border but it is sadly mistaken

Priority must be given tocases in which certainpersons are facing alle-gations because they aregoing to be our leaders.

Vice President—M Venkaiah Naidu

We continue to see theTaliban being utilised as ahedge against India ratherthan as part of a stable,reconciled Afghanistan.

US commander—Kenneth F McKenzie Jr

India has been over-looked by internationalartistes. There is a mas-sive opportunity for NowUnited in India.

Music mogul —Simon Fuller

S O U N D B I T E

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

Unemployment: The new paradigm

This refers to the article, “Of jobs and employment”(November 30) by Prafull Goradia. According toLabour Bureau's data, India created only 1.35 lakh

jobs in 2015 in comparison to 4.19 lakh in 2013 andnine lakh in 2011. This shows that instead of grow-ing, several livelihoods were lost in India on a dailybasis. India also lost 550 jobs per day in the last fouryears. On the basis of this report, a Delhi-based civilsociety group, Prahar, predicted that employment inIndia will shrink by seven million by 2050, while pop-ulation will grown by 600 million. Instead of protect-ing labour-intensive sectors like farming, unorganisedretail, micro and small enterprises, that mostly con-tribute to current livelihoods, we are going gaga overcapital intensive technology.

While employment to population ratio stood at58.6 per cent in 1994, it alarmingly came down to 52.4per cent in 2016. Unemployed persons receive a hand-

some allowance from the state in the countries likethe US but there is no such security in India. Indianeeds a paradigm shift from macro and capital inten-sive to micro and labour intensive technology to relieveitself of unemployment.

Sujit DeKolkata

THE SO-CALLEDOCCUPATION OF

THE CHUMBIVALLEY BY THEMANCHUS IS A

NEW WAY TOREWRITE

HISTORY ANDSHOW THAT

THESE AREASCLOSE TO THE

INDIAN BORDERHAVE ALWAYSBELONGED TOCHINA …AND

ARE PART OF THESILK ROAD,DEAR TO XI

JINPING

The Congress is contest-ing the Assembly elec-tions on the lines of com-munalism, dynasty andappeasement politics.

BJP president—Amit Shah

With Delhi’s air quality slippingagain to the severe category,a series of desperate emer-

gency measures, such as ban on con-struction activities and restrictions ontraffic, has been imposed in the capi-tal. The Supreme Court-appointedEnvironment Pollution ControlAuthority is even considering a dras-tic ban on the use of non-CNG vehi-cles if air quality continues to deterio-rate. Delhi is just a case in point. Asmany as 14 Indian cities figure in thenotorious list of the world’s 20 ‘mostpolluted’, putting an entire generationof Indians at serious health risk.

Unfortunately, current policiesseem to be working on two fronts —knee-jerk emergency measures (most-ly coming from apex court directives)

and long-term plans to shift to electric-ity. But make no mistake, rolling outelectric vehicles (EVs) will take sever-al decades. And Indian cities do nothave the luxury of waiting for 50 yearsto see EVs become a reality. We needbreathable air now! The need is for animmediate policy intervention to phaseout the most polluting vehicles whilebringing about a rapid shift to cleanergaseous fuels, such as LPG and CNG.

BS-VI norms must be imple-mented immediately: Even amongpetrol and diesel run cars, the most pol-luting are the ones that adhere to 10-year-old emission standards. Replacingthe current fleet of BS-IV vehicles byBS-VI compliant ones rapidly canbring about significant improvement inair quality. BS-VI norms can reducePM 2.5 matter from diesel-run cars by80 per cent and nitrogen oxides by 70per cent. Nitogen Oxide emissions toowill reduce by 25 per cent in petrol-runvehicles after the implementation of BS-VI norms while sulphur emissions areexpected to come down from 50 partsper million to 10 ppm.

It was only last month that the

Supreme Court had directed theUnion Government to ensure thatonly BS-VI vehicles are sold in thecountry from April 1, 2020. TheGovernment must set clear targets toachieve this goal, and look for waysfor faster implementation by offeringincentives and tax breaks to manufac-turers to upgrade their technology. Itis claimed that implementing thesenew norms will require an investmentof nearly $0.013 trillion for newtechnology and upgradation of vehi-cles in inventory. However, the costof unhealthy citizens owing to loss ofman-hours worked on the nationaleconomy, at three per cent of the $2.6trillion GDP, is still larger.

Shift to quickly deployablegaseous fuels: Instead of single-mind-edly chasing the target of shifting toEVs, we need to look for some low-hanging fruits immediately. Switchingpublic transport to CNG in 2001 hadhelped Delhi significantly improve itsair quality in the initial years. However,these gains were offset by the risingnumber of private vehicles on the roads.It is necessary to convert a large num-

ber of private vehicles to gaseous fuelsas well. Again, focussing on CNG willbe another myopic act. Auto LPG isanother viable and quickly deployableoption for private vehicles.

In fact, auto LPG has severaladvantages over CNG. Globally, autoLPG is the third most commonly usedautomotive fuel after petrol and diesel;and seven of the 10 largest car manu-facturers produce LPG-powered cars.Auto LPG occupies meagre space in carboots and can be transported in cylin-ders via lorries to reach distant outpostsfor quick accessibility. Rapidly shiftingto a mix of these two gaseous fuels isa much easier task than shifting to EVs,and can bring about an immediateimprovement in air quality.

The Government needs to incen-tivise vehicle owners who convert toauto LPG and CNG. Incentives, suchas subsidising conversion costs and per-mit-free usage, can prompt a numberof users to make the shift to cleanerfuels. One important policy interven-tion urgently required is changing theexisting system of type approval byagencies like Automotive Research

Association of India. The prohibitiveapproval cost, which is as high as `4crore every three years, has beenextremely detrimental to the CNG andLPG retro fitment industry. TypeApproval Validity must be made per-petual in line with European norms asthere is absolutely no logic for the samevehicle to undergo the same cost pro-hibitive tests every three years.

Focus on two-wheelers:According to a recent report by theIndian Institute of TropicalMeteorology, Pune, under the Ministryof Earth Sciences, emissions from thetransport sector rose by a whopping 40per cent between 2010 and 2018 in theNCR region. The total emission of thedeadly particulate matter (PM 2.5) wasfound to have increased by 15 per centover these eight years, with the trans-port sector accounting for 42.230 giga-grams of emission every year. Notably,more than 40 per cent of the vehicu-lar pollution in Delhi comes from two-wheelers. Across the country, two-wheelers account for more than 75 percent of the vehicular population.

Unfortunately, most policy inter-

ventions fail to address this significantcause of pollution. Two-wheeler pol-lution cannot be addressed by EVs inthe long run. Much like four-wheelers,we need to start pushing two-wheelerstowards cleaner fuels. Here again, autoLPG makes for the most viable alter-native with a Two Wheeler ConversionKit available at an affordable price ofabout `5,000-5,500 along with a con-venient side fitment of LPG tank.

Reward clean commuters: Oneof the most interesting examples isthat of several European countries,such as France, Belgium,Luxembourg and Italy, that offer taxbreaks to those cycling to work. Theidea of rewarding sustainable com-muting behaviour is reaping rich div-idends. For example, over 400,000Belgians, or nine per cent of thecountry’s workforce, receive a cyclingreimbursement based on kilometrescycled to and from work. India cantake a leaf or two out of these suc-cess stories and start incentivising itscitizens who opt for green transport.

(The writer is Director-General,Indian Auto LPG Coalition)

Mass movement with words

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

KARTARPUR SAHIB GURDWARA WENT TO PAKISTAN

BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF VISION OF CONGRESS

LEADERS OF THAT TIME.

—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

MODI IS RAISING QUESTIONS AT SARDAR PATEL SAYING

THAT KARTARPUR WENT TO PAKISTAN DUE TO LACK OF

SOOJH BHOOJH OF THE CONGRESS LEADERS OF THAT TIME.

—CONGRESS LEADER

RAHUL GANDHI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

He wrote as Baba Nagarjun in Hindi butis revered as Vaidyanath Mishra ‘Yatri’in Maithili. Much has been writtenabout the poetic contribution by thisveteran bilingual writer. The truth, how-

ever, is that he was not only a poet par excellencebut also a distinguished novelist who did a great dealto democratise Maithili language and, particularly,its literature through his creative works. Yatri is oftenreferred to as a people’s poet. Accordingly, he choseto write in a language spoken by the ordinary peo-ple and took his subject matter from the life and expe-riences of those common men and women whomauthors before him largely ignored.

His first collection of poems called Chitra, pub-lished in 1949, has been read, understood and inter-preted as a path-breaking work in Maithili literature.It manifests a definite kind of rupture with the wayin which poetry was written by preceding poets, whoemployed ornate poetic diction and focussed on var-ious kinds of myths and conventions for their poet-ic practices. Yatri preferred to chart a different tra-jectory altogether. So, he parted ways from his pre-decessors in no uncertain terms and went ahead torefine and elevate colloquial idioms of the Mithilaregion by writing highly entertaining, engaging andsocio-politically transformative kind of poetry.Equipped with enormously useful literary tools andtechniques, such as irony, wit, humour and sarcasm,Yatri inaugurated what is usually termed as the rad-ical and modernist trend in Maithili literature.However, he never forgot to present a stringent cri-tique of the ill-effects of the idea of modernity itself.

A poem, Param Satya, of this collectionunequivocally highlights the tenets of what are calledprogressive thoughts. It is seen as an indicator of thefact that Yatri did not have inhibitions to exhibit hisindebtedness to Marxist ideas, which supposedly hadtremendous influence on the formation of his cre-ative consciousness. Such influences, indeed com-mitments to an ideological persuasion for certainkinds of socio-political transformation, are bothenabling and disabling for a wonderfully gifted andinsightful author of his stature. These enabled himto openly repudiate both in terms of language andcontent stereotypical conventions perpetuated by theapparently privileged previous poets. It is also dis-abling in the sense that ideologically-oriented poet-ry tends to lose sight of the fact about literature, pri-marily meant to maintain an autonomous status andavoid overtly occupying political space, whichinevitably turns out to be selective, rather exclusivein its approach and reach.

His second collection of poems namely,Patrahina Nagna Gaachha, was published in 1967and it brought the prestigious Sahitya AcademyAward for Yatri the following year. This collectionconsists of 43 poems. They narrate the misery andmisfortune, insult and humiliation, trial and tribu-lation of the people from the periphery because ofthe aggressive and unbridled onslaught of theprocesses of industrial modernisation. It subtly indi-cates the consistent decline and decadence of villages,migration of villagers to the urban centres, and dis-tasteful indulgence of city-dwellers that caused innu-merable problems to the disadvantaged. It indeedembodies the disturbing menace which the so-calledidea of progress has generated in the name of indus-trial development. The very title of the poem remindsus that the notion of industrial growth is inherent-

ly antithetical to the health and happinessof trees and in turn to the sustenance ofour environment. Yatri was critical of thebandwagon of modernity that went hor-ribly wrong despite its vociferous claimsto be a harbinger of progress and prosper-ity all around.

However, in no way was he willing toeither romanticise or glorify traditionalrural structures. In fact, he was extreme-ly critical of some of the prevailing sys-tems of pre-modern set-up. Being akeen observer of the existing realities anda highly discerning mind to make senseto their contemporary relevance, Yatriwalked a tightrope, aiming to bring outthe kind of changes required for a harmo-nious and peaceful co-existence betweennature and human beings. Yatri wrote asmany as 12 novels of which three werewritten in Maithili. Drawing upon the tra-dition of novel-writing by Harimohan Jha,he decided to delve much deeper into theissue of incompatibility in marriage withall the subsequent catastrophic conse-quences in the first two novels, such asParo and Navaturia. The first one unfoldsthe entire story in the first-person narra-tive by protagonist Birju, who narrates theunimaginable sort of suffering and pathosof his cousin, Paro. Through his narration,he brought to fore the inexplicably inhu-man practice of child marriage prevalentin the then Mithila region. Older men withriches and wherewithal used to get mar-ried with young girls with consent andcomplicity of their fathers who, becauseof their abject poverty, could not resist thetemptation of monetary gains out of suchmurky marital deals.

To ensure the successful completionof those material transactions, a personcalled ghatak was always available. Thisperson would arrange meetings betweenthe two parties belonging to the bride andthe bride groom respectively. And hemade sure that marriage took placeaccording to the set terms and conditions.The unfortunate fact was that most of suchmarriages were destined to get doomed

as was that of Paro. Emotionless, aged hus-bands, who were actually agents of cru-elty, tortured young brides. They knewnothing about expressing love and affec-tion, generated not only anger, bitterness,disappointment and frustration, but alsodownright hatred for them and hostilityfor the very institution of marriage. Yatriappeared to ruthlessly expose the brutal-ities committed against young girls in anunequal relationship that mark suchincompatible marriages.

Moreover, the novel mentions themutual attraction, sacrosanct love and afine understanding between two cousins.Paro very categorically acknowledgesher wish that marriage between brothersand sisters would be extremely wonder-ful. Both Birju and Paro nurture beauti-ful wishes for each other but remain alertto the limitations and restrictions that thesocial code of conduct imposes uponthem. This novel rightly raised many eye-brows. A number of readers and criticsdisliked what they thought to be the themeof incest. This part caused such furore thatit was discussed much more for the con-troversy it generated than for the socialproblem it so successfully raised.

Nonetheless, it was an innovativeattempt to deal with the issue of incom-patibility in marriage. With tremendouspoise and poignance, Yatri unfolded thereprehensible behaviour of utterly insen-sitive, irresponsible and indeed absolute-ly cruel men against their own wives, whodue to irresistible kinds of social pressures,were compelled to make many compro-mises to unsuccessfully save the failedmarriages.

His second novel, Navaturia, builtupon the same theme of incompatibilityso pervasive in the then marital relation-ships of the region. He was keen ondemonstrating that young and energeticminds need to come together to sensitisesociety, sometimes even resorting totough measures if persuasive means failto deliver that. The way youngsters comeforward and prevent an ugly marriage

between a 60-year-old man and a younggirl, Visesari, who finally got married witha young boy with a progressive outlook,shows the pre-occupation of the novelistwith making a significant statementabout the indispensability of a concertedactivism for the resolution of the problemof incompatibility in marriage. Besides,Yatri also tried to re-awaken the collec-tive consciousness of the young genera-tion that can effectively protest against theunjust practices of the older generation inorder to free young women from theshackles of an entirely suffocating systemof marriage.

His third and last novel in Maithili,Balchanma, was about a dynamic herowho came from the socio-politicallybackward caste. Yatri’s engagement withdemocratising Maithili literature wasexplicit and at its peak in this novel, whichfocussed on the enterprising character ofpeople from the periphery. It also empha-sised on the need for a mass movementalong democratic socialist lines to sharp-en the sense of camaraderie among thepoor and exploited for the sake of encour-aging them to participate in the decisive,democratic struggle for a just socio-polit-ical order devoid of poverty, exploitationand oppression of any kind.

By and large, his oeuvre evidentlypresented a serious kind of indictmentof those regressive traditions andcounter-productive modern tenden-cies which proved to be a disaster for thedowntrodden as was pretty much evi-dent from his scathing critiques of notjust obscure socio-cultural practices butalso emergent modernity which endedup creating numerous problems for themasses. His creative endeavours weremainly governed by the democraticprinciples dealing as they do with thefundamental question of justice, aimingequality in human relations and theestablishment of an egalitarian societyin our country.

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

India needs better fuels, not just more of them

Through his novels, Vaidyanath Yatri presented a serious indictment of those regressive traditions andcounter-productive modern tendencies that proved to be a disaster for the downtrodden

We do not have the luxury of time to deal with the mounting air pollution problem that is choking almost all cities now. The time

for desperate emergency measures is now gone. We need immediate policy interventions to make the shift to cleaner fuels

YATRI PARTED WAYS FROM HIS

PREDECESSORS INNO UNCERTAIN

TERMS AND WENTON TO REFINE AND

ELEVATE THECOLLOQUIAL IDIOMS

OF THE MITHILAREGION FOR

WRITING HIGHLYENTERTAINING,ENGAGING AND

SOCIO-POLITICALLYTRANSFORMATIVE

KIND OF POETRY. HEINAUGURATED WHATIS USUALLY TERMED

AS THE RADICALAND MODERNIST

TREND IN MAITHILILITERATURE

Winter in Delhi is now no longer what it used to be, what

with some of the residents still using fans and most citi-

zens yet to don woollens. There are no tell-tale signs that

December has arrived. Even retail stores selling customary woollen

clothes have been caught unaware as sales have understandably

plummeted. This state of affairs has been almost endorsed and

made official with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) con-

firming that this winter would be warmer than usual.

Considering that last winter was already the third consecu-

tive warm one, hopes were riding on this year to be normal. But

going by predictions made by weather experts and IMD, this may

not be so. Last year too, mean temperatures for January-February

2018 were 0.53°C, higher than the normal of 22.17°C. The seri-

ousness of the feeble winter season can be understood by the fact

that February 2018 itself was the 12th warmest month in the last

118 years. This decidedly clear shift in temperatures is due to

increasing levels of pollution and the resultant spike in average mean

temperature.

As we speak of pollution, the National Green Tribunal had

recently levied a `25 crore fine on the Delhi Government for

its inability to rein in the pollution levels that went through the

roof. We are quite happy with “very poor air days” for the past

two months. Thanks to raging toxic fires in the Mundka waste

dump yard, the situation is slowly but surely getting out of hand.

A pertinent question that needs introspection is: Was the levy-

ing of `25 crore the only thing that the NGT could do? Does

money, if paid, set things right? If this be the case, anyone

can get away by polluting the environment. Sadly, we have no

answers to these questions.

Instead, the NGT could have set an example of sorts and boost-

ed the morale and confidence of the Mundka residents by com-

pelling the State infrastructure to extinguish these fires in record

time. In fact, it could have asked the Delhi Government to use the

same `25 crore to engage private pollution handling companies

to deploy helicopters to spray special fire extinguishing agents to

quickly bring the fire to a halt. Unfortunately, the belief of the author-

ities to move according to the slow administrative template means

that when decisive and fast actions are needed, the Government

is seen to be slow and ineffective — the resultant sufferers are

the environment and the citizens.

The blame also lies squarely at the doorstep of the Delhi

Government, which has literally done next to nothing to segre-

gate garbage. To take the example of the Mundka waste dump

yard once again, a visit to the place presents a depressing sce-

nario and reinforces the sad reality as to why India may never

make it to the list of bigger nations who have a responsible and

sophisticated waste segregation policy and more importantly,

a policy that is fully in action. The Mundka waste dump yard is

a mixed bag of discarded sports shoes, tonnes of plastic, mar-

ble dust waste and broken bathroom plastic fittings. The list is

endless. Clearly, there exists no on-ground agency, with quali-

fied personnel wearing health protective gear sifting the garbage.

Instead, there are barefooted children rifling through the waste,

who do not wear masks and inhale toxic substances such as

plastic burning smoke and asbestos dust.

With conditions such as these, it is not surprising that Delhi

is unable to present to its people clear air days. People who are

unlucky enough to be staying near the dumping yards are getting

subjected to year round supply of polluted and toxic air. If the NGT

and associated authorities do not rectify these conditions on a war

footing, very soon school timings will have to be changed to that

time of the day when the air quality is better than in the morning.

Moreover, the elderly will have to leave the city if they need better

life as this punishing pollution levels will eventually tax the fragile

health of our senior citizens.

Lack of priority in tackling pollution is the key determinant

as far as Delhi is concerned. Sample this: The NGT and the spe-

cially-appointed pollution control panels of the Government are

chasing the subject of vehicular pollution and banning those vehi-

cles that are more than a specific year old, but are turning a

total blind eye to methane-spewing mountains of waste that are

on fire, giving out toxic smoke. How can the authorities be so

mixed up with their priorities is a mystery. One can understand

if the Government makes a move to ban vehicles if a robust and

effective public transport system is in place but that is still nowhere

to be seen. Meanwhile, Delhiites will have to make do with a

watered down version of the winter season and wear more masks

than woollens.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

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

No thrill without

the chill

KOTA SRIRAJ

SUYASH GUPTA

Blame global warming and rising pollution levels forthe inordinate delay in the arrival of winter. Looks like

this season we have to do away with our woollens

SACHIDANAND JHA

FOREIGNEYE

Studies show barely two in10 people now think thecurrent system ofgoverning Britain is good atperforming any of its keyfunctions. In parliamentarysystems, a gridlock isrelatively rare. When primeministers can no longercommand legislativesupport, the impasse isresolved by a new election.If she attempted to do thisanytime soon, British Primeminister Theresa Maywould surely be deposed.

(The Guardian editorial)

CAUGHT IN A BREXIT

STRAITJACKET

www.dailypioneer.com

money 10LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

PTI n MUMBAI

Measures over the last twomonths have eased liq-

uidity for NBFCs and there isno necessity for the RBI toextend help to the crisis-hit sec-tor as a lender of last resort,deputy governor Viral Acharyasaid on Wednesday.

The central bank was guid-ed by the principle of address-ing system-wide liquidityrequirements, Acharya said,enlisting the measures under-taken since problems startedwith the non-banking financecompanies (NBFCs).

“The RBI also stands readyto be the lender of last resortbut that is provided conditionswarrant that sort of an extrememeasure. In our assessment,there is no such necessity at thepresent,” he said at the custom-ary press conference after thefifth bi-monthly policy review.

Acharya said the “soundhealth” of the economy, wherethe credit growth is comfort-ably above the nominal GDPgrowth with a fair distributionacross sectors, make the RBIconfident that such support willnot be required.

The RBI has also augment-ed system-wide liquiditythrough various moves, hesaid.

According to reports, thegovernment has been wantingmeasures like a special liquid-ity window for the NBFCs,

which employ crores of people.There was no mention of theNBFC sector in a press state-ment issued by the regulatorafter a marathon board meetlast month.

Acharya said the RBI hasbeen watching developmentson this front since late-Augustand has also been in touch withSebi to understand the poten-tial redemptions.

It may be noted that theIL&FS crisis burst out in lateAugust, and the worries quick-ly spread to other NBFCs andthe possible asset liability mis-matches that they may face,which had made investorscagey.

Giving details of the mea-sures undertaken, Acharya saidbanks could raise more againstthe collateral of governmentsecurities for onlending toNBFCs and housing financecompanies (HFCs) and theconcentration limits have alsobeen upped.

“RBI has also taken mea-sures to facilitate asset and

risk transfers within the finan-cial system. This can be consid-ered as reintermediation acrossfinancial players or risks. Webelieve this is healthy for finan-cial stability overall,” he said.

Measures on partial cred-it enhancement (PCE) to aidbond raising by NBFCs andalso liberalisation on the secu-ritisation front are a part ofthese measures, he said.

“Our assessment is thatthese measures have collective-ly eased the funding stress in asteady manner over the pasttwo months. They have giventhe NBFCs and HFCs time andthe opportunity to make theirown balance sheet adjustmentson both assets and liabilitiesside,” he said.

In comments directed atanalysts who have wonderedthe efficacy of some of themoves, he explained these mea-sures were chosen from the full“set of available options” basedon an analysis of the reasonsbehind the funding stress forNBFCs and HFCs.

Acharya said it was therecognition of asset qualityissues in the banks, which ledto a greater play by the NBFCsin the financial system.

Rating agency Crisil onWednesday said NBFCs’ assetgrowth was expected to halveto around 10 per cent in thesecond half of the current fis-cal on difficulties in gettingfunding for the sector.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Reserve Bank onWednesday retained its

GDP forecast for the currentfiscal at 7.4 per cent and saidgrowth would accelerate fur-ther to 7.5 per cent in first halfof 2019-20, driven by acceler-ation in investment activity.

The central bank said thatthe GDP growth in April-September of current fiscalhad been broadly in line withRBI projection of 7.4 per centfor full fiscal.

Stating that accelerationin investment activity bodeswell for the medium-termgrowth potential of the econ-omy, the RBI called forstrengthening of macroeco-nomic fundamentals.

“The time is apposite tofurther strengthen domesticmacroeconomic fundamentals.In this context, fiscal disciplineis critical to create space for andcrowd in private investmentactivity,” the RBI said in its fifthbi-monthly monetary policy.

“Based on an overall assess-ment, GDP growth for 2018-19has been projected at 7.4 percent (7.2-7.3 per cent in H2) asin the October policy, and forH12019-20 (April-September)at 7.5 per cent, with riskssomewhat to the downside,”RBI said.

India’s economic growth

fell to 7.1 per cent in the sec-ond quarter (July-September)of the current fiscal, from 8.2per cent in the April-June peri-od. The growth was 7.7 percent in the January-Marchperiod.

The Central Bank saidgoing forward, lower rabi sow-ing may adversely affect agri-culture and hence ruraldemand. Financial marketvolatility, slowing globaldemand and rising trade ten-sions pose negative risk toexports.

However, on the positiveside, the decline in crude oilprices is expected to boostIndia’s growth prospects byimproving corporate earningsand raising private consumptionthrough higher disposableincomes, the central bank noted.

The price of Indian basketof crude oil fell below USD 60to a barrel by end November,from USD 85 to a barrel inearly October.

“There has been significantacceleration in investmentactivity and high frequencyindicators suggest that it islikely to be sustained. Creditofftake from the banking sec-tor has continued to strength-en even as global financialconditions have tightened. FDIflows could also increase withthe improving prospects of theexternal sector,” the RBI said.

Patel parries questions

about spat with govt

PTI n MUMBAI

Reserve Bank GovernorUrjit Patel on Wednesdayrefused comments on

the friction with the govern-ment, including the invocationof the never-before-usedSection 7 or the proposed eco-nomic capital framework forthe central bank.

Speaking at the customarypost-policy presser after thefifth bi-monthly policy review,wherein the policy rates wereleft unchanged, Patel parriedthree questions on these issues.

“I would avoid those ques-tions because we are here dis-cussing the monetary policyresolution,” the Governor said.

Another question seekinghis views on deputy governorViral Acharya’s public postur-ing on RBI autonomy and onthe economic capital manage-ment framework were also metwith similar replies.

“Is this related to the MPCresolution? I don’t think so. Weare here to discuss the MPCresolution and the macroecon-omy,” said Patel, who was fac-ing the press for the first timesince the issues came out intothe open in October.

Relations between theMint Road and North Blocksoured since late October, afterthe Finance Ministry man-darins started consultations

under the never-before-usedSection 7 of the RBI Act whichempowers government todirect the central bank toundertake certain policy mea-sures in public interest.

According to central banksources, the government hadsent three letters to the RBIbefore October 10 with nearlya dozen demands, which werereplied to within a week.

The government primarilywants the RBI to help the strug-gling non-bank lenders andMSMEs get some liquidity sup-port, liberalise the prompt cor-rective action framework on 11of the state-run banks andundertake other steps whichwill help push growth, while theRBI has been maintaining aconservative stance avoidingany bad precedents.

The poll-bound govern-ment, which is staring at fallingrevenue and a likely fiscal slip-page, also wants the RBI to partwith a large portion of ̀ 9.6 tril-lion of its cash surplus, whichthe central bank has been stern-ly opposing.

As the public spat betweenthe two got wider public atten-tion, the RBI’s central board, atits November 19 meeting, haddecided to climb down anddecided to set up a panel tostudy the quantum of capital itrequires apart from restructur-ing loans of up to `25 crore togive a succor to the troubledMSMEs.

At the policy review onWednesday, the RBI said it wascommitted to act as a lender oflast resort to NBFCs but under-lined that it does not feel thenecessity do so now. It alsoformed a panel to look at theissues plaguing NBFCs. Thepanel will submit its report inJune 2019.

The frictions came to lightthrough a public speech bydeputy governor Viral Acharya,wherein he warned of investors’wrath if the RBI’s autonomy iscompromised.

After reports of actionunder Section 7 came up, thegovernment had tried to easetensions by stating that autono-my is “essential” and an accept-ed governance requirement.

RBI Governor Urjit Patel looks onduring a press conference in Mumbaion Wednesday

RBI retains GDP projection for current fiscal at 7.4%PEGS APRIL-SEPT FY’20 GROWTH AT 7.5%

Acharya: No need for RBI to help

NBFCs as lender of last resort

‘Banks could raisemore against thecollateral of govern-ment securities foronlending to NBFCsand housing financecompanies (HFCs)and the concentra-tion limits have alsobeen upped.’

Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 22163.50 -269.65 -1.208KMILES 190.35 -10.00 -4.99AARTIIND 1470.80 -0.10 -0.01ABB 1374.30 -7.50 -0.54ABBOTINDIA 7682.60 -68.80 -0.89ABCAPITAL 100.05 -2.70 -2.63ABFRL 183.10 -1.75 -0.95ACC 1473.75 -32.60 -2.16ADANIPORTS 374.15 0.30 0.08ADANIPOWER 54.00 -2.15 -3.83ADANITRANS 218.15 0.00 0.00ADVENZYMES 180.05 -2.25 -1.23AEGISLOG 212.15 -1.35 -0.63AIAENG 1691.75 -44.70 -2.57AJANTPHARM 1098.35 -41.30 -3.62AKZOINDIA 1580.90 -9.10 -0.57ALBK 45.75 -1.50 -3.17ALKEM 1910.70 3.15 0.17ALLCARGO 106.35 -0.95 -0.89

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BPCL 328.80 -4.80 -1.44BRITANNIA 3092.50 -5.45 -0.18CADILAHC 358.30 5.55 1.57CANBK 252.70 -1.10 -0.43CANFINHOME 248.85 -12.60 -4.82CAPF 518.00 -15.75 -2.95CAPPL 396.20 -1.25 -0.31CARBORUNIV 348.65 -2.30 -0.66CARERATING 992.45 -2.85 -0.29CASTROLIND 148.70 -2.80 -1.85CCL 265.05 -3.75 -1.40CEATLTD 1259.85 -9.20 -0.72CENTRALBK 28.80 -0.30 -1.03CENTRUM 38.40 -0.45 -1.16CENTURYPLY 177.70 0.05 0.03CENTURYTEX 905.20 -3.85 -0.42CERA 2352.55 -6.85 -0.29CGPOWER 39.10 -1.50 -3.69CHAMBLFERT 151.00 -3.00 -1.95CHENNPETRO 270.55 -3.10 -1.13CHOLAFIN 1281.75 -15.90 -1.23

CIPLA 529.15 -17.20 -3.15COALINDIA 245.00 -7.20 -2.85COCHINSHIP 376.20 0.65 0.17COFFEEDAY 263.20 -0.80 -0.30COLPAL 1227.75 -6.65 -0.54CONCOR 673.20 -5.05 -0.74COROMANDEL 416.35 6.85 1.67CORPBANK 26.10 -0.20 -0.76CRISIL 1545.85 8.05 0.52CROMPTON 219.70 0.95 0.43CUB 176.10 3.55 2.06CUMMINSIND 783.00 -27.80 -3.43CYIENT 608.25 -8.05 -1.31DABUR 410.20 0.95 0.23DBCORP 172.85 -3.75 -2.12DBL 445.80 -13.25 -2.89DCBBANK 152.70 -6.30 -3.96DCMSHRIRAM 346.45 -15.90 -4.39DEEPAKFERT 156.05 -2.90 -1.82DEEPAKNI 243.40 -5.10 -2.05DELTACORP 236.00 -0.55 -0.23DENABANK 15.70 0.05 0.32DHANUKA 430.20 -7.80 -1.78DHFL 210.85 -12.25 -5.49DISHTV 35.10 -1.45 -3.97DIVISLAB 1479.40 -13.00 -0.87DLF 176.55 2.85 1.64DMART 1497.90 12.60 0.85DRREDDY 2670.40 -34.70 -1.28ECLERX 1071.35 1.50 0.14EDELWEISS 192.95 6.25 3.35EICHERMOT 22823.60 -561.35 -2.40EIDPARRY 208.80 -7.95 -3.67EIHOTEL 185.15 -5.45 -2.86ELGIEQUIP 230.00 -1.85 -0.80EMAMILTD 434.85 -2.70 -0.62ENDURANCE 1124.75 -0.35 -0.03ENGINERSIN 112.55 -4.05 -3.47ENIL 613.25 1.25 0.20EQUITAS 118.50 -5.70 -4.59ERIS 626.95 -4.35 -0.69ESCORTS 659.75 -36.10 -5.19ESSELPRO 95.20 1.65 1.76EVEREADY 203.65 0.70 0.34EXIDEIND 253.30 -4.10 -1.59FCONSUMER 45.35 -0.05 -0.11FDC 186.00 -3.45 -1.82FEDERALBNK 83.90 -1.00 -1.18FINCABLES 470.80 0.40 0.09

FINOLEXIND 539.90 -1.15 -0.21FLFL 398.40 3.40 0.86FORBESCO 2565.25 -72.90 -2.76FORCEMOT 1656.70 -21.40 -1.28FORTIS 147.50 -0.95 -0.64FRETAIL 521.55 -4.30 -0.82FSL 53.75 0.10 0.19GAIL 349.20 -5.55 -1.56GDL 137.70 -4.35 -3.06GEPIL 827.85 17.95 2.22GESHIP 290.90 -3.95 -1.34GET&D 226.70 -7.00 -3.00GHCL 228.55 0.30 0.13GICHSGFIN 228.15 0.00 0.00GICRE 274.65 -3.60 -1.29GILLETTE 6465.80 -9.60 -0.15GLAXO 1377.10 -14.40 -1.03GLENMARK 625.85 5.45 0.88GMDCLTD 85.90 -0.25 -0.29GMRINFRA 15.60 -0.50 -3.11GNFC 338.70 -5.30 -1.54GODFRYPHLP 894.55 -14.75 -1.62GODREJAGRO 512.75 2.20 0.43GODREJCP 752.20 -10.45 -1.37GODREJIND 541.75 -9.20 -1.67GODREJPROP 693.65 -0.95 -0.14GPPL 92.85 -1.80 -1.90GRANULES 86.50 0.30 0.35GRAPHITE 882.95 -34.25 -3.73GRASIM 825.90 -20.05 -2.37GREAVESCOT 122.55 -1.60 -1.29GREENPLY 132.05 -2.15 -1.60GRINDWELL 491.40 -11.30 -2.25GRUH 299.20 -0.20 -0.07GSFC 103.70 -3.60 -3.36GSKCONS 7645.45 145.10 1.93GSPL 185.40 0.20 0.11GUJALKALI 546.45 -5.25 -0.95GUJFLUORO 894.45 3.95 0.44GUJGAS 632.95 -3.30 -0.52GULFOILLUB 768.50 -3.20 -0.41HAL 775.85 -8.25 -1.05HATSUN 624.50 7.85 1.27HAVELLS 694.35 -5.20 -0.74HCC 11.24 -0.22 -1.92HCLTECH 1051.25 15.15 1.46HDFC 1973.20 34.00 1.75HDFCBANK 2099.45 10.70 0.51HDFCLIFE 395.30 -2.05 -0.52HDIL 21.60 -0.05 -0.23HEG 4029.65 -57.55 -1.41HEIDELBERG 151.25 0.25 0.17HERITGFOOD 487.90 -9.20 -1.85HEROMOTOCO3055.10 -6.95 -0.23HEXAWARE 325.15 -5.80 -1.75HFCL 18.20 -0.40 -2.15HIMATSEIDE 214.95 -5.00 -2.27HINDALCO 221.40 -11.90 -5.10HINDCOPPER 48.00 -0.75 -1.54HINDPETRO 226.50 -1.50 -0.66HINDUNILVR 1845.60 37.35 2.07HINDZINC 269.85 -3.40 -1.24HONAUT 23231.45 -165.55 -0.71HSCL 131.30 -0.55 -0.42HSIL 202.90 -0.95 -0.47HUDCO 42.00 -0.70 -1.64IBREALEST 79.95 0.75 0.95IBULHSGFIN 775.80 -26.35 -3.28IBVENTURES 389.20 8.20 2.15ICICIBANK 351.10 -6.90 -1.93ICICIGI 889.70 -0.70 -0.08ICICIPRULI 318.15 -0.60 -0.19ICIL 60.35 -2.35 -3.75IDBI 60.70 0.85 1.42IDEA 34.05 -1.15 -3.27IDFC 38.80 -2.30 -5.60IDFCBANK 37.70 -1.35 -3.46IEX 156.85 -1.55 -0.98IFBIND 836.25 -41.85 -4.77IFCI 13.17 -0.37 -2.73IGL 259.25 0.50 0.19IL&FSTRANS 13.50 -0.70 -4.93INDHOTEL 146.80 3.25 2.26INDIACEM 91.00 -2.60 -2.78INDIANB 222.50 -2.75 -1.22INDIGO 1000.40 4.05 0.41INDUSINDBK 1603.45 -32.70 -2.00INFIBEAM 47.30 -3.15 -6.24INFRATEL 258.35 3.90 1.53INFY 681.45 -3.00 -0.44INOXLEISUR 227.90 0.40 0.18INOXWIND 80.30 -0.55 -0.68INTELLECT 220.70 -10.80 -4.67IOB 14.35 0.01 0.07IOC 134.30 -0.90 -0.67IPCALAB 796.50 -2.10 -0.26

IRB 145.20 -4.40 -2.94ISEC 262.25 -2.35 -0.89ISGEC 5298.75 -8.75 -0.16ITC 275.25 -6.60 -2.34ITDC 300.90 -3.60 -1.18ITDCEM 100.10 -1.95 -1.91ITI 90.55 -1.70 -1.84J&KBANK 37.75 -0.95 -2.45JAGRAN 110.15 1.50 1.38JAICORPLTD 102.05 -4.10 -3.86JAMNAAUTO 64.30 -2.10 -3.16JBCHEPHARM 301.95 -0.60 -0.20JCHAC 1760.00 -23.40 -1.31JETAIRWAYS 286.90 -16.50 -5.44JINDALSAW 80.05 -1.70 -2.08JINDALSTEL 148.45 -8.20 -5.23JISLJALEQS 63.65 -1.80 -2.75JKCEMENT 709.00 3.05 0.43JKIL 124.90 -4.95 -3.81JKLAKSHMI 272.85 -1.85 -0.67JKTYRE 95.15 -2.75 -2.81JMFINANCIL 85.65 -0.90 -1.04JPASSOCIAT 6.61 -0.23 -3.36JSL 36.05 -1.35 -3.61JSLHISAR 89.50 -0.05 -0.06JSWENERGY 68.85 0.05 0.07JSWSTEEL 304.40 -9.10 -2.90JUBILANT 819.05 0.10 0.01JUBLFOOD 1323.35 -8.95 -0.67JUSTDIAL 490.55 -1.00 -0.20JYOTHYLAB 187.35 -1.40 -0.74KAJARIACER 437.75 -1.40 -0.32KALPATPOWR 343.80 -11.85 -3.33KANSAINER 447.35 -1.00 -0.22KEC 273.85 -8.55 -3.03KEI 379.70 6.15 1.65KIOCL 148.65 -2.80 -1.85KNRCON 195.50 -2.25 -1.14KOTAKBANK 1211.30 -14.05 -1.15KPIT 209.80 0.15 0.07KPRMILL 581.40 -7.05 -1.20KRBL 306.50 -2.50 -0.81KSCL 516.35 -10.30 -1.96KTKBANK 101.80 -1.75 -1.69KWALITY 9.57 -0.50 -4.97L&TFH 144.10 -1.70 -1.17LAKSHVILAS 87.95 -1.20 -1.35LALPATHLAB 963.55 20.40 2.16LAOPALA 223.55 1.50 0.68LAURUSLABS 377.05 -7.80 -2.03LAXMIMACH* 5768.05 -29.60 -0.51LICHSGFIN 433.75 -10.35 -2.33LINDEINDIA 666.65 -4.75 -0.71LT 1395.65 -24.00 -1.69LTI 1546.55 -28.40 -1.80LTTS 1575.20 18.75 1.20LUPIN 859.05 -29.00 -3.27LUXIND 1461.45 -6.00 -0.41M&M 717.60 -24.70 -3.33M&MFIN 420.65 -20.10 -4.56MAGMA 115.35 -0.45 -0.39MAHABANK 12.96 -0.05 -0.38MAHINDCIE 249.65 -6.10 -2.39MAHLIFE 388.30 -3.35 -0.86MANAPPURAM 82.75 -2.10 -2.47MANPASAND 87.95 -3.35 -3.67MARICO 355.70 -2.65 -0.74MARUTI 7559.55 -165.20 -2.14MAXINDIA 64.30 -0.25 -0.39MCX 718.85 -7.90 -1.09MEGH 57.20 -1.65 -2.80MFSL 432.70 -1.95 -0.45MGL 867.65 12.35 1.44MHRIL 207.30 0.95 0.46MINDACORP 133.10 -4.10 -2.99MINDAIND 331.05 0.20 0.06MINDTREE 871.00 -13.85 -1.57MMTC 28.20 -0.20 -0.70MOIL 168.15 -0.05 -0.03MONSANTO 2735.05 -10.95 -0.40MOTHERSUMI 157.75 -9.40 -5.62MOTILALOFS 614.05 -10.65 -1.70MPHASIS 985.40 -15.60 -1.56MRF 65188.20 -867.25 -1.31MRPL 71.65 -1.85 -2.52MUTHOOTFIN 447.70 2.30 0.52NATCOPHARM* 721.20 9.05 1.27NATIONALUM 65.00 -3.05 -4.48NAUKRI 1579.05 -53.05 -3.25NAVINFLUOR 713.85 4.25 0.60NAVKARCORP 56.05 -3.15 -5.32NAVNETEDUL 106.20 0.40 0.38NBCC 54.75 -1.00 -1.79NBVENTURES 117.75 0.25 0.21NCC 83.85 -3.15 -3.62NESTLEIND 10484.55 -105.10 -0.99

NETWORK18 39.05 -0.85 -2.13NH 210.25 -4.75 -2.21NHPC 26.05 -0.30 -1.14NIACL 197.45 -0.35 -0.18NIITTECH 1112.40 -3.70 -0.33NILKAMAL 1503.10 -28.90 -1.89NLCINDIA 80.10 -1.00 -1.23NMDC 92.00 -3.45 -3.61NOCIL 164.50 -3.00 -1.79NTPC 140.90 -2.15 -1.50OBEROIRLTY 468.40 -9.85 -2.06OFSS 3567.05 10.00 0.28OIL 183.25 -3.40 -1.82OMAXE 208.65 -0.80 -0.38ONGC 143.70 -2.50 -1.71ORIENTBANK 87.00 -3.75 -4.13ORIENTCEM 78.30 -1.80 -2.25PAGEIND 25171.10 -777.35 -3.00PARAGMILK 247.60 1.40 0.57PCJEWELLER 68.00 -2.95 -4.16PEL 2163.85 -32.00 -1.46PERSISTENT 605.15 -3.55 -0.58PETRONET 210.00 -2.60 -1.22PFC 92.30 -5.20 -5.33PFIZER 2760.10 -1.05 -0.04PFS 16.35 -0.65 -3.82PGHH 9605.00 -67.65 -0.70PHILIPCARB 209.50 -3.90 -1.83PHOENIXLTD 609.80 -12.40 -1.99PIDILITIND 1155.95 -3.95 -0.34PIIND 792.35 -12.20 -1.52PNB 68.85 -0.75 -1.08PNBHOUSING 933.60 -1.90 -0.20PNCINFRA 136.50 -1.40 -1.02POWERGRID 183.40 -3.60 -1.93PRESTIGE 207.45 -4.75 -2.24PRSMJOHNSN 82.05 -1.05 -1.26PTC 80.70 -2.30 -2.77PVR 1481.20 -8.65 -0.58QUESS 677.75 -21.50 -3.07RADICO 391.40 -5.05 -1.27RAIN 129.95 -4.15 -3.09RAJESHEXPO 570.60 -0.30 -0.05RALLIS 167.80 -0.60 -0.36RAMCOCEM 597.65 1.40 0.23RATNAMANI 878.90 4.00 0.46RAYMOND 799.85 -12.20 -1.50RBLBANK 558.00 0.50 0.09RCF 60.10 -2.05 -3.30RCOM 16.31 -0.79 -4.62RECLTD 105.10 -1.30 -1.22REDINGTON 84.15 -3.30 -3.77RELAXO 754.70 -6.25 -0.82RELCAPITAL 219.35 -13.75 -5.90RELIANCE 1154.85 3.30 0.29RELINFRA 307.60 -21.70 -6.59REPCOHOME 354.75 -7.75 -2.14RNAM 181.70 -0.95 -0.52RNAVAL 13.00 -0.85 -6.14RPOWER 29.15 -0.80 -2.67SADBHAV 207.70 -1.00 -0.48SAIL 53.00 -2.60 -4.68SANOFI 6184.90 -6.45 -0.10SBILIFE 571.50 2.10 0.37SBIN 280.20 -2.10 -0.74SCHAEFFLER 5465.00 -7.75 -0.14SCHNEIDER 108.15 -3.30 -2.96SCI 42.10 -0.40 -0.94SFL 1450.00 -24.00 -1.63SHANKARA 579.60 16.05 2.85SHARDACROP 295.85 -6.55 -2.17SHILPAMED 375.90 2.60 0.70SHK 175.85 -8.70 -4.71SHOPERSTOP 494.70 -1.35 -0.27SHREECEM 16408.05 -272.70 -1.63

SHRIRAMCIT 1584.00 -37.20 -2.29SIEMENS 907.35 -33.65 -3.58SIS 765.15 2.40 0.31SJVN 26.70 -0.20 -0.74SKFINDIA 1924.20 -1.15 -0.06SOBHA 453.25 -13.10 -2.81SOLARINDS 1030.20 0.50 0.05SOMANYCERA 297.85 -1.10 -0.37SONATSOFTW 297.55 -6.25 -2.06SOUTHBANK 16.15 -0.45 -2.71SPARC 223.40 -16.60 -6.92SPICEJET 80.10 0.05 0.06SREINFRA 32.05 -1.10 -3.32SRF 2116.80 -61.35 -2.82SRTRANSFIN 1122.95 -26.50 -2.31STARCEMENT 100.95 -0.55 -0.54STRTECH 324.35 -11.35 -3.38SUDARSCHEM 329.55 -8.30 -2.46SUNCLAYLTD 3504.90 79.90 2.33SUNDRMFAST 520.45 -1.55 -0.30SUNPHARMA 413.60 -29.20 -6.59SUNTECK 349.60 -0.05 -0.01SUNTV 573.40 -17.75 -3.00SUPPETRO 201.30 -8.40 -4.01SUPRAJIT 207.10 -6.55 -3.07SUPREMEIND 988.90 4.80 0.49SUVEN 232.90 -3.55 -1.50SUZLON 5.27 -0.17 -3.13SWANENERGY 103.05 1.65 1.63SYMPHONY 1000.35 -34.70 -3.35SYNDIBANK 33.75 -0.90 -2.60SYNGENE 546.20 -12.30 -2.20TAKE 133.55 -4.20 -3.05TATACHEM 666.70 -17.40 -2.54TATACOFFEE 93.90 -1.05 -1.11TATACOMM 518.50 -4.75 -0.91TATAELXSI 1042.60 5.55 0.54TATAGLOBAL 211.50 1.90 0.91TATAINVEST 858.70 -5.10 -0.59TATAMETALI 619.95 -6.95 -1.11TATAMOTORS 169.20 -6.50 -3.70TATAMTRDVR 92.50 -3.70 -3.85TATAPOWER 80.40 -0.90 -1.11TATASTEEL 515.30 -23.00 -4.27TCS 2006.10 -3.30 -0.16TEAMLEASE 2933.35 -83.60 -2.77TECHM 725.25 1.40 0.19TEJASNET 223.35 1.55 0.70TEXRAIL 52.85 -1.30 -2.40THERMAX 1116.50 13.90 1.26THOMASCOOK 224.50 -7.10 -3.07THYROCARE 552.80 -0.15 -0.03TIFHL 515.80 -8.70 -1.66TIMETECHNO 102.85 1.30 1.28TIMKEN 516.15 -4.10 -0.79TITAN 922.30 -3.35 -0.36TNPL 251.15 0.85 0.34TORNTPHARM 1722.60 -17.85 -1.03TORNTPOWER 260.60 -3.55 -1.34TRENT 331.80 -1.30 -0.39TRIDENT 66.70 -2.00 -2.91TRITURBINE 115.45 0.10 0.09TTKPRESTIG 7099.70 -47.35 -0.66TV18BRDCST 35.15 -0.95 -2.63TVSMOTOR 554.75 -0.25 -0.05TVSSRICHAK 2439.50 -27.75 -1.12TVTODAY 371.55 3.45 0.94UBL 1206.55 -27.65 -2.24UCOBANK 18.20 -0.15 -0.82UFLEX 283.30 -8.05 -2.76UJJIVAN 224.55 -7.00 -3.02ULTRACEMCO 3963.80 -66.50 -1.65UNICHEMLAB 200.85 -2.15 -1.06UNIONBANK 76.25 -2.70 -3.42UPL 747.70 -4.55 -0.60VBL 776.75 -2.45 -0.31VEDL 198.45 -7.70 -3.74VENKYS 2306.85 -22.90 -0.98VGUARD 210.45 -2.05 -0.96VIJAYABANK 42.25 0.35 0.84VINATIORGA 1476.15 -11.80 -0.79VIPIND 522.10 -7.65 -1.44VMART 2723.20 75.40 2.85VOLTAS 551.35 -1.70 -0.31VTL 1062.35 2.35 0.22WABAG 259.95 -4.45 -1.68WABCOINDIA 6522.25 -59.65 -0.91WELCORP 150.75 -5.40 -3.46WELSPUNIND 60.15 0.05 0.08WHIRLPOOL 1379.50 -23.85 -1.70WIPRO 335.85 1.35 0.40WOCKPHARMA 516.20 -11.25 -2.13YESBANK 173.65 -2.90 -1.64ZEEL 477.75 -6.70 -1.38ZENSARTECH 231.40 2.15 0.94ZYDUSWELL 1224.80 -9.00 -0.73

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10820.45 10821.05 10747.95 10782.90 -86.60HINDUNILVR 1803.00 1854.80 1788.00 1852.00 44.35HDFC 1927.00 1979.80 1920.60 1970.50 31.05INFRATEL 255.00 259.40 253.35 258.00 3.15HCLTECH 1036.45 1058.00 1022.00 1046.05 9.80HDFCBANK 2078.00 2105.30 2075.95 2103.00 17.45TECHM 711.05 739.90 711.05 728.00 4.45RELIANCE 1143.75 1158.80 1139.30 1158.15 5.85WIPRO 333.00 338.70 328.15 336.25 1.30ADANIPORTS 375.00 376.75 372.70 374.20 0.40BAJAJ-AUTO 2759.00 2774.50 2731.10 2765.00 1.15ASIANPAINT 1328.50 1343.00 1323.60 1328.20 -1.25UPL 749.00 754.00 737.20 749.10 -2.35TCS 2006.00 2018.00 1985.00 2003.90 -6.95TITAN 921.00 925.65 901.55 919.80 -4.00INFY 683.00 683.65 672.50 682.05 -3.20HINDPETRO 228.15 232.00 225.15 226.70 -1.50HEROMOTOCO 3059.90 3081.95 3028.40 3043.90 -25.25SBIN 282.45 283.20 277.05 280.20 -2.35KOTAKBANK 1221.55 1228.40 1203.00 1213.65 -11.65IOC 135.45 138.20 132.55 134.20 -1.45BPCL 332.15 338.35 328.05 330.05 -3.65DRREDDY 2696.00 2713.95 2646.60 2673.05 -31.00ZEEL 481.40 484.40 474.10 479.00 -6.15AXISBANK 620.90 623.95 613.40 614.90 -8.35BAJFINANCE 2539.90 2539.90 2470.30 2508.00 -35.55GAIL 354.70 356.40 347.25 348.85 -5.50LT 1412.00 1419.00 1389.15 1397.05 -22.85ULTRACEMCO 4020.30 4029.40 3954.15 3965.00 -65.65NTPC 142.95 144.90 139.20 140.70 -2.50ICICIBANK 355.30 356.35 350.45 351.25 -6.70YESBANK 173.50 178.45 172.20 173.10 -3.40INDUSINDBK 1630.00 1630.00 1591.80 1603.25 -32.50ONGC 145.95 148.10 142.40 143.20 -2.95POWERGRID 185.10 187.70 182.50 183.35 -3.90BHARTIARTL 319.70 320.85 310.20 311.85 -6.70ITC 281.00 281.80 274.20 275.90 -5.95GRASIM 843.20 843.20 816.25 827.40 -18.30MARUTI 7696.70 7739.90 7520.00 7546.90 -174.75EICHERMOT 23280.00 23280.00 22685.00 22860.00 -541.40BAJAJFINSV 6070.00 6070.00 5838.75 5917.00 -153.20COALINDIA 251.50 252.45 244.00 245.30 -6.95M&M 740.30 740.30 715.10 718.90 -21.40JSWSTEEL 310.00 311.00 302.25 304.20 -9.10CIPLA 546.00 548.90 525.30 530.00 -16.45TATAMOTORS 173.00 173.00 168.60 170.05 -5.70VEDL 202.35 204.45 197.45 198.10 -8.10IBULHSGFIN 795.00 799.95 769.00 772.00 -31.70TATASTEEL 533.00 533.00 515.00 516.50 -21.70HINDALCO 229.05 230.40 220.30 221.25 -12.10SUNPHARMA 443.00 445.25 401.50 417.20 -25.70

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27472.90 27490.50 27124.70 27215.25 -383.90DLF 172.95 178.00 171.65 177.40 3.60CADILAHC 355.50 363.50 354.50 358.20 4.90DMART 1484.00 1508.90 1475.15 1504.95 19.25SBILIFE 565.00 575.00 565.00 574.00 4.15OFSS 3560.00 3605.00 3528.55 3578.55 15.95INDIGO 995.10 1012.00 985.50 1000.30 4.50ICICIGI 877.00 899.70 871.30 889.95 3.35BIOCON 620.90 630.00 619.45 625.40 1.80DABUR 408.40 412.70 401.80 410.00 1.00NIACL 198.00 199.65 196.90 198.00 0.05BRITANNIA 3090.00 3109.40 3065.05 3088.55 -4.55BANKBARODA 106.80 108.20 106.05 107.65 -0.20PGHH 9820.00 9820.00 9553.30 9700.00 -32.90PIDILITIND 1161.30 1178.00 1147.20 1156.50 -4.80ICICIPRULI 319.00 322.30 316.25 318.00 -1.60COLPAL 1232.40 1235.00 1207.05 1227.20 -6.50HAVELLS 693.00 698.00 685.25 695.20 -4.10BOSCHLTD 18518.90 18860.00 18292.90 18403.00 -110.85ABB 1381.95 1382.15 1362.55 1372.00 -10.05HDFCLIFE 394.00 398.65 392.50 395.55 -3.15MARICO 358.00 358.90 352.70 355.00 -3.30HINDZINC 271.50 273.50 267.35 270.60 -2.55NHPC 26.35 26.35 26.05 26.15 -0.25BEL 83.05 83.90 81.00 83.10 -0.80CONCOR 674.90 681.60 667.45 671.00 -6.55GICRE 277.05 279.95 275.00 275.50 -2.90GODREJCP 751.00 757.95 744.00 754.00 -8.95SHREECEM 16513.20 16732.45 16252.60 16470.00 -209.95PETRONET 211.50 213.20 209.00 210.00 -2.80AMBUJACEM 218.80 218.80 215.35 216.05 -2.95PEL 2185.00 2201.15 2136.30 2165.00 -31.60MRF 66000.00 66196.65 65136.00 65170.00 -958.75LICHSGFIN 440.00 446.60 428.50 437.20 -6.60L&TFH 146.10 146.15 143.00 144.05 -2.30OIL 186.35 189.40 182.75 183.00 -3.70MCDOWELL-N 655.05 655.05 641.10 644.60 -13.40BANDHANBNK 484.50 486.60 476.00 476.50 -10.65SUNTV 589.65 593.55 568.20 575.90 -14.15ACC 1504.00 1506.50 1465.85 1470.00 -38.95ABCAPITAL 102.00 102.40 99.35 99.80 -2.70SRTRANSFIN 1142.00 1149.00 1110.15 1116.45 -33.30SIEMENS 933.00 939.95 901.85 912.65 -27.95ASHOKLEY 106.65 106.90 102.65 103.90 -3.40NMDC 95.00 95.00 90.85 92.30 -3.10LUPIN 888.00 889.80 848.00 858.45 -29.20AUROPHARMA 821.00 826.80 792.00 795.80 -27.75IDEA 34.85 34.95 33.80 33.95 -1.25SAIL 55.00 55.25 52.80 53.05 -2.55MOTHERSUMI 165.00 165.00 156.45 158.30 -8.85BHEL 69.75 70.25 66.10 66.45 -4.05

world 11LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

Gigi is a master chef in the home kitchen

Los Angeles: So we know the Gigi Hadid hasthe catwalk on lock, but how's her handle onthe kitchen arenaTo be truthful, we've neverreally thought of Hadid as much of a foodie theway we do her besties/amateur chefs TaylorSwift and Karlie Kloss. Does she have the skillsto serve up a dish that'll win Ramsay's elusivestamp of approval? "When I was 11, I made truf-fle risotto for my family for Christmas dinner,"Gigi Hadid recalls when asked about her proud-est cooking moment. Pretty impressive, but willthe pressure of the competition get to her?"What's more intimidating?" Ramsay asks in theteaser clip below. "Is it the fashion runways orthe MasterChef kitchen?" "Honestly, it's this,"Hadid admits, "because I only get starstruckover chefs." So we know the Gigi Hadid has thecatwalk on lock, but how's her handle on thekitchen arenaTo be truthful, we've never real-ly thought of Hadid as much of a foodie the waywe do her besties/amateur chefs Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss.

Emma Stone to play Cruella in a new movie

Los Angeles: Emma Stone is set to star inDisney’s live-action take on Cruella de Vil,the antagonist from “101 Dalmatians”.According to The Hollywood Reporter, “I,Tonya” director Craig Gillespie is in earlynegotiations to helm “Cruella”. Stone willplay the infamous villain in what is beingbilled as an origin story, set in the early 1980swith a punk vibe. Hollywood veteran GlennClose famously portrayed the role of themaniacal, notorious, fur-loving dog-hatinghead of a fashion house who would go to anylengths to get hold of more and moreDalmatian fur in “101 Dalmatians” and “102Dalmatians”. Prior to Gillespie, Alex Timberswas on board to direct the project, the dealcould not go through due to schedulingissues. Andrew Gunn is producing “Cruella”with Marc Platt and Kristin Burr.

GLOBE TROTTING

‘Pakistan continues to use Af

Taliban as hedge against India’

PTI n WASHINGTON

Pakistan continues to useAfghan Taliban as a “hedge”

against India, a top US com-mander has told lawmakers, ashe expressed America’s frus-tration over Islamabad’s failureto take concrete steps to denysafe havens to terrorist groups.Marine Corps Lt GenenralKenneth McKenzie’s remarkscame days after US PresidentDonald Trump sought PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan’shelp in the Afghan peaceprocess.

The Trump administra-tion, in the recent months,has intensified its efforts to seeka negotiated settlement ofAmerica’s longest war inAfghanistan where the US haslost over 2,400 soldiers sincelate 2001, when it invaded thecountry after the 9/11 terrorattacks. The Taliban are fight-ing to flush out US-led inter-national forces and re-establishtheir regime in Afghanistanafter their ouster in 2001.

“Pakistan is an essentialelement in long-term stabilityin Afghanistan,” McKenzie toldmembers of the Senate ArmedServices Committee Tuesdayduring his confirmation hear-ing for commander of the USCentral Command (CENT-COM). Pakistan could play akey role in facilitating talksbetween the Taliban and gov-ernment of Afghanistan, hesaid.

“Pakistan does not appearto be using the full extent of itsinfluence to encourage theTaliban to come to the table,”he said. “We continue to see theTaliban being utilised as ahedge against India rather thanas part of a stable, reconciled

Afghanistan,” McKenzie said.His answers to the SenateArmed Services Committeecome after it became publicthat Trump has written a letterto Imran Khan, seeking hishelp in the Afghan peaceprocess.

“President Trump sent aletter to Prime Minister Khan,requesting Pakistan’s full sup-port to the US-led Afghanpeace process and SpecialRepresentative for AfghanistanReconciliation AmbassadorZalmay Khalilzad’s upcomingtrip to the region,” a spokesper-son of the National SecurityCouncil, White House, toldPTI. “In the letter, the Presidentrecognises that Pakistan has theability to deny the Talibansanctuary on its territory,” thespokesperson said.

“The letter also makes itclear that Pakistan’s assistancewith the Afghan peace processis fundamental to building anenduring US-Pakistan part-nership,” the spokesperson said.McKenzie told lawmakers thathe did not see much of achange in Pakistan’s behaviourtowards Afghanistan or itsstand against terrorist groups.Despite Pakistan’s positive

rhetoric in support of the US’South Asia Strategy, violentextremist organisations (VEOs)operate along its border withAfghanistan, he said. “WhilePakistan has conducted someoperations against VEOs inthe country, they must contin-ue to expand these operationsand remain aggressivelyengaged,” McKenzie said.“Taking concrete steps thatdeny VEO safe havens inPakistan, as well as VEO free-dom of movement fromPakistan to Afghanistan,remains an important task thatPakistan needs to fulfil.Pakistan must leverage theirinfluence over the Taliban lead-ership to help compel them tocome to the table for reconcil-iation negotiations,” he added.

McKenzie said the USCENTCOM would continue tosupport the State Departmentas it works towards a diplo-matic solution to the conflict inAfghanistan which includesensuring that Islamabad’s equi-ties are acknowledged in anyfuture agreement.

“Pakistan’s action or inac-tion, as it relates to stability inAfghanistan, has often led toUS’s frustration,” he said,adding that stability in theSouth Asia region remains themost important mutual strate-gic interest for both the US andPakistan.

“We must continue toengage with the Pakistani lead-ership to realise how we canachieve this mutual interest,”McKenzie said.

“I do believe that anysolution in Afghanistan is goingto require the assistance ofPakistan. It has to be a region-al solution, not just a solutioncentred in Afghanistan,” he

said. It is in Pakistan’s long-term interest to have a gov-ernment in Afghanistan that isstable, and that that they can dobusiness with, he said. “So Ithink Pakistan has not shownindications, by and large overthe last few years, of being aserious partner in this regard,”McKenzie said. US SpecialRepresentative for AfghanistanZalmay Khalilzad on Tuesdaymet Pakistan Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi inIslamabad. McKenzie said thatthe meeting was to see if the UScan find some way forward. Itwill be hard to reach a settle-ment without some form ofassistance or Pakistan.

“Probably Pakistanknows very clearly that theirassistance will be required toreach an end-state inAfghanistan. I think the taskthat we have is to make itattractive to them so that theysee that it is in their best inter-est to do that,” McKenzie said.The size of the Taliban inAfghanistan is now estimatedto be around 60,000 and theycontrol about 44 per cent of theAfghan territory, he said,adding that it is not a good ideato leave this war-torn countryat this point of time.

“If we left precipitouslyright now, I do not believe they(Afghan security forces) wouldbe able to successfully defendtheir country.

I think it’s a conditions-based approach we’re going togo through this winter. We’llsee how they do in the first-generation phase of this winter,”he said. Responding to ques-tions, McKenzie refused togive a timeline for the with-drawal of US forces fromAfghanistan.

If US develops banned missiles,so will Russia, says PutinAP n MOSCOW

Russian President VladimirPutin on Wednesday

warned the United States thatif it walks out of a key armstreaty and starts developingthe type of missiles banned byit, Russia will do the same.Putin’s remarks to Russiannews agencies on Wednesdaycame a day after US Secretaryof State Mike Pompeoannounced at a NATO meet-ing that Washington will sus-pend its obligations under theIntermediate-Range NuclearForces Treaty (INF) in 60days, citing Russian “cheating.”

The U.S. has shared intel-ligence evidence with itsNATO allies that it says showsthat Russia’s new SSC-8ground-fired cruise missilecould give Moscow the abili-ty to launch a nuclear strike inEurope with little or no notice.Russia has denied the accusa-tions. President DonaldTrump earlier this yearannounced his decision towithdraw from the INF, accus-ing Russia and China — which

is not a signatory to the treaty— of violating it. Putin onWednesday accused theUnited States of making upexcuses for pulling out of thepact, saying that the U.S. firstmade up its mind to walk outof it and only then “started tolook for the reasons why theyshould do it.”

“It seems that ourAmerican partners believe thatthe situation has changed somuch that the U.S. has tohave this type of weapons,” he

said in televised remarks.“What would be our response?A very simple one: in that case,we will do the same.”Speaking at a briefing of for-eign military attaches earlier,Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chiefof staff of the Russian military,warned of a Russian responseand said that it would be thecountries that host U.S. inter-mediate-range missiles thatwould become immediate tar-gets for Russia. When signedin 1987, the INF treaty was

lauded as a major safeguard forglobal security since they elim-inated shorter-range missilesthat take just a few minutes toreach their targets. Theremoval of such destabilizingweapons would in theoryallow more time for decision-making in case of a warning ofa missile attack.

U.S. ally Germany, whichhas been keen to preserve thetreaty, called on Russia to tryto save it while it still has thetime. “The INF treaty is ofgreat significance for securityin Europe,” governmentspokeswoman Ulrike Demmersaid in Berlin on Wednesday.

“The German govern-ment welcomes the fact thatthe American government isgiving its preservation anoth-er chance,” she added, refer-ring to the 60-day deadline.

She also noted that theissue came up in a meetingbetween Chancellor AngelaMerkel and Trump inArgentina on Saturday. “It isnow up to Russia to avert theend of the treaty,” Demmersaid.

Washington (AFP): RobertMueller, the special prosecutorin charge of the Russia electionmeddling probe, recommend-ed Tuesday that PresidentDonald Trump’s former nation-al security advisor MichaelFlynn face no jail time due tohis “substantial” cooperationwith the investigation.

Mueller said in a court fil-ing that Flynn, who admittedlast year to lying about his con-tacts with Russians followingTrump’s November 2016 elec-

tion victory, had helped in hisand other unspecified federalcriminal investigations, includ-

ing being interviewed 19 times.Mueller also told the

Washington Federal court that

despite his “serious” offense, theretired three-star general andformer Pentagon intelligencechief had a strong record ofmilitary and public service.

The surprise recom-mendation came ahead ofFlynn’s upcoming sentencing,which had been postponedfour times over the past year.

Those postpone-ments indicated that, once hos-tile to the investigation thatthreatens Trump and his innercircle, he had possibly become

Mueller recommends no jail time for Flynn

Pak supports peace and reconciliation inAfghanistan: Khan tells US special envoyPTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan told America’s

special envoy Zalmay Khalilzadon Wednesday that peace andreconciliation in Afghanistan isin Islamabad’s abiding interestand he will continue to supportpeace efforts in the war-tornneighbouring country. Khanheld talks with Khalilzad, whoarrived here on Tuesday tocoordinate closely with thePakistani leadership on the USefforts to bring the Taliban tothe negotiating table to end the17-year-long war inAfghanistan. The prime minis-ter “reiterated Pakistan’s abidinginterest in achieving peace andreconciliation in Afghanistanthrough a political settlement,”according to a statement by thePM Office “Pakistanwants a political solution to

Afghan peace and reconcilia-tion,” he told Khalilzad. Duringthe meeting, the US specialenvoy conveyed PresidentDonald Trump’s best wishes.

“The US leadership is look-ing for a peaceful solution to theAfghan peace process andmutual cooperation betweenthe two sides,” Khalilzad told thepremier. Khalilzad also met

Foreign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi and reiter-ated President Trump’s desire toseek Pakistan’s cooperation forpeace and stability inAfghanistan, according to aForeign Office spokesman.

“The FM assured the USside of Pakistan’s steadfast sup-port for a negotiated settle-ment,” said the spokesman.

“Pakistan will continue to coop-erate with sincerity for politicalsettlement in Afghanistan.Long-lasting peace inAfghanistan is in Pakistan’s bestinterest,” Qureshi tweeted.

Khalilzad also held a meet-ing with Foreign SecretaryTehmina Janjua, where offi-cials from diplomatic, securityand defense from both sidespresent at the meeting. “

Peace and political settle-ment in Afghanistan was dis-cussed,” according to thespokesman. Pakistan is accusedby both US and Afghanistan ofsupporting the Taliban whohave waged a more than 17-yearold insurgency.

Pakistan maintains that theTaliban have long shifted toAfghanistan where they controla sizeable area and that it has lit-tle control over them.

Turkey prosecutor seeks arrest of crown

prince allies over Khashoggi murder

AFP n ISTANBUL

ATurkish prosecutor hasdemanded that arrest war-

rants be issued against twoSaudi nationals close to CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salmanover the murder of journalistJamal Khashoggi, a Turkishsource close to the investigationsaid Wednesday.

Khashoggi, 59, was killedshortly after entering the Saudiconsulate in Istanbul onOctober 2 to obtain paperworkfor his upcoming marriage.

The chief prosecutor’soffice in Istanbul filed an appli-cation Tuesday to obtain thewarrants for Ahmad al-Assiriand Saud al-Qahtani, describedin court documents as being“among the planners” of themurder of the WashingtonPost contributor Khashoggi.Assiri often sat in during PrinceMohammed’s closed-door

meetings with visiting foreigndignitaries and Qahtani was akey counsellor to the crownprince. Both were sacked afterRiyadh admitted Khashoggiwas killed in the Saudi con-sulate.

According to Turkey, a 15-member Saudi team was sent toIstanbul to kill Khashoggi.Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan has said the order tokill Khashoggi came from the

highest levels of the Saudi gov-ernment, but has insisted it wasnot King Salman.

Riyadh has since detained21 people over the murder.Despite speculation that thepowerful crown prince orderedthe hit, the kingdom hasstrongly denied he wasinvolved. But two key USRepublican senators said aTuesday briefing by the CIA’sdirector only strengthened

their conviction that PrinceMohammed directed the mur-der. The Istanbul prosecutor incharge of the investigation saidin late October that the Saudiformer insider turned critic wasstrangled then his body was cutinto pieces.

The remains of Khashoggi’sbody have not been found.There has been speculation inpro-government media thathis body was dissolved in acid.A senior Turkish officialWednesday said the prosecu-tor’s move “reflects the viewthat the Saudi authorities won’ttake formal action against thoseindividuals”. The official, whodid not wish to be named,pointed to the fact that thewording of the prosecutor’srequest suggested that the cur-rent list wasn’t necessarilyexhaustive, appearing to indi-cate that more arrest warrantscould be sought.

PTI n LOS ANGELES

Scientists have analysed brainactivity to better understand

why people experience ‘cuteaggression’ — the urge to squeezea puppy or pinch a baby’s cheeks.The study, published in the jour-nal Frontiers in BehaviouralNeuroscience, found that whenpeople are overwhelmed by cute-ness, the brain’s reward systemresponds with aggression. Untilnow, research exploring howand why cute aggression occurshas been the domain of behav-ioral psychology, said KatherineStavropoulos, an assistant pro-fessor at the University ofCalifornia (UC) Riverside inthe US. However, Stavropouloshas taken formal study of thephenomenon a few steps further.In her research, Stavropoulosuses electrophysiology to evalu-ate surface-level electrical activ-ity that arises from neurons fir-ing in people’s brains. By study-ing that activity, she gaugesneural responses to a range ofexternal stimuli. Stavropouloswondered whether there was aneural component to cuteaggression. She hypothesisedthat the brains of people whoreported experiencing cuteaggression would, in fact, provideevidence of detectable activity.She suggested the activity mightbe related to the brain’s rewardsystem, which deals with moti-vation, feelings of “wanting,”and pleasure, or to its emotionsystem, which handles emo-

tional processing — or, morelikely, to both. UC Riversidedoctoral student Laura Albarecruited 54 study participantsbetween the ages of 18 and 40,all of whom agreed to wear capsoutfitted with electrodes. Whilewearing the caps, participantslooked at four blocks of 32 pho-tographs. After viewing eachblock on a computer screen, par-ticipants were then shown a setof statements and asked to ratehow much they agreed withthem on a scale of 1 to 10.

The survey was designed toassess how cute participantsfound each block of photographs— known as “appraisal” — andhow much cute aggression theywere experiencing in response.Participants also rated how over-whelmed they felt after viewingthe photos and whether they feltcompelled to take care of whatthey had just viewed.

They self-reported more sig-nificant feelings of cute aggres-

sion, being overwhelmed,appraisal, and caretaking towardcute baby animals than towardless cute adult animals. Amongthe two categories of babies —cute (enhanced) and less cute(non-enhanced) — theresearchers did not observe thesame pattern. Using electro-physiology, Stavropoulos alsomeasured study participants’brain activity before, during,and after viewing the sets ofimages. Based on the neuralactivity she observed in partici-pants who experienced cuteaggression, Stavropoulos’s find-ings offer direct evidence ofboth the brain’s reward systemand emotion system beinginvolved in the phenomenon.

“There was an especiallystrong correlation between rat-ings of cute aggression experi-enced toward cute animals andthe reward response in the braintoward cute animals,”Stavropoulos said.

Why people feel urge to squeeze cute puppies, babies

Over 200 Hindus arrive in Pakto attend religious festivitiesLahore (PTI): Over 200 IndianHindus arrived hereWednesday to attend festivitiesin connection with the 310thbirth anniversary of Shiv AvtariSatguru Sant Shada Ram Sahibat Mirpur Mathelo in Pakistan’ssouthern Sindh province.Evacuee Trust Property Boardchairman Tariq Wazir greetedthe pilgrims at the WagahBorder.

“The Pakistani embassyhad issued visas to 219 IndianHindus, of them 206 arrived inLahore on Wednesday,” ETPBspokesperson Amir Hashmitold PTI. He said this timemore Indian Hindus have comecompared to the last year totake part in the festival to beheld in Sukkur in Sindhbetween December 5 and 16.

Hashmi further said allarrangement regarding thetransportation and security ofthe pilgrims have been made.“The yatrees have left by trainfor Mirpur Mathlu where themain event will be held onThursday,” Hashmi said.

Talking to the media at theWagah border, the Indian pil-grims’ leader Yaudhshatar Lalasaid: “We have brought themessage of love. We want cor-dial relations between the twocountries. We are happy to seeour temples protected here.”Shadani Darbar Tirth, a 300-year old temple in Sukkur, is asacred place for Hindus. It issaid that the foundation of thetemple was laid in 1786 by SantShada Ram Sahib, who wasborn in Lahore in 1708.

10 Indian men, 24 Thai women held over fake-marriage scam

Bangkok (PTI): Ten Indianmen and 24 Thai women have beenarrested in Thailand for theiralleged involvement in fake mar-riages aimed at extending spousalvisas in the country, authorities said.At least 20 other Indian men andsix Thai women are said to be onthe run, The Nation newspaperreported on Tuesday. The arrests arepart of an ongoing crackdownlaunched by the Immigration PoliceBureau on foreigners living unlaw-fully in the country, it said. The sus-pects were among 30 Indian menand 30 Thai women wanted in

court-issued arrest warrants forforging state documents, usingforged documents and filing faultyinformation to state officials whichmay result in others’ damages,police said. Immigration PoliceBureau 1 in Bangkok had detect-ed fake marriages between 30men and 30 women, which werefalsely documented in order toextend spousal visas for the men,most of whom made a living inThailand as illegal moneylenders orsalesmen for pay-by-installmentgoods such as clothing and electricalappliances, the police said.

world 12LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

Yemen govt team heads

to crunch peace talks

AFP n RIMBO/ SWEDEN

Yemeni government repre-sentatives were expected to

join a rebel delegation inSweden on Wednesday forhigh-stakes peace talks aimedat ending four years of devas-tating war. A 12-member teamfrom the Saudi-backed gov-ernment headed by ForeignMinister Khaled al-Yamani leftRiyadh early Wednesday,sources told AFP, a day afterrebel delegates landed inStockholm accompanied bythe UN peace envoy.

The first Yemen talks since2016 are widely seen as the bestchance yet for peace, as theinternational communitythrows its weight behind effortsto resolve a conflict that haspushed the Arab world’s poor-est country to the brink offamine. The government dele-gation was carrying the “hopesof the Yemeni people to achievesustainable peace”, the head ofexiled President AbedrabboMansour Hadi’s office,Abdullah al-Alimi, said in atweet. The delegation haddelayed its departure until therebels had arrived inStockholm after they failed toshow up for the last UN bid toconvene peace talks inSeptember, sources close tothe government told AFP.

On that occasion the rebelscomplained they had receivedinsufficient guarantees of safepassage through the blockadeenforced by a Saudi-led coali-tion since March 2015.

The rebels flew in toStockholm on a Kuwaiti planefrom Sanaa on Tuesday, accom-panied by UN envoy MartinGriffiths, who had promised totravel with them to allay theirconcerns. On Wednesday, ahalf-dozen members of therebel delegation could be seenon the grounds of the venue forthe talks, the JohannesbergsCastle — a large estate with agolf course in the countryside20 kilometres northeast ofStockholm’s Arlanda airport.Bundled up against the wintrycold, rebel delegates could beseen chatting and walking onthe grounds, which were cor-doned off by police.

The rebels’ arrival followedtwo major confidence-boostinggestures — a prisoner swapdeal and the evacuation of 50wounded insurgents from therebel-held capital for treat-ment in neutral Oman.

The US State Departmenthailed the peace talks inSweden as a “necessary and

vital first step” and called on allparties to “cease any ongoinghostilities.” The United ArabEmirates, another key backer ofthe Yemeni government, saidthe planned talks offered a“critical opportunity” to bringpeace to a country in the gripof what the UN has describedas the world’s worst humani-tarian crisis. No date has beenannounced for the start of thenegotiations, but Yemeni gov-ernment sources said theycould begin Thursday.

The head of the 12-mem-ber rebel delegation,Mohammed Abdelsalam, saidit would “spare no effort tomake a success of the talks torestore peace and end theaggression”.

At the same time, he calledon rebel fighters to remain“vigilant against any attempt ata military escalation on theground”.

The announcement of adeal on Tuesday to swap hun-dreds of detainees was hailedby the International Committeeof the Red Cross as “one step inthe right direction towards thebuilding of mutual trust”. TheICRC will oversee the exchangeafter the first round of talks inSweden.

The agreement, struck bythe UN envoy in weeks ofshuttle diplomacy, came afterthe wounded rebels were flownout for treatment on Monday,meeting a key rebel precondi-tion for joining the talks.Yemeni government officialHadi Haig said between 1,500and 2,000 pro-government per-sonnel and between 1,000 and1,500 rebels would be released.On the government side, they

include former defence minis-ter Mahmoud al-Subaihi, whohas been held by rebels sincethey overran the capital in late2014, and President Hadi’sbrother Nasser, a general andformer senior intelligence offi-cial. Thousands of prisonershave been captured by bothsides in the grinding war ofattrition that has devastatedYemen at a cost of nearly10,000 lives since the Saudi-ledcoalition intervened in March2015, according to WorldHealth Organization figures.Human rights groups put thedeath toll far higher.

The resulting humanitari-an crisis, already the world’sworst, will deteriorate in 2019,the UN said on Tuesday, warn-ing the number of people need-ing food aid is set to jump byfour million.

Roughly 75 per cent ofYemen’s population will needhumanitarian assistance in2019, UN humanitarian chiefMark Lowcock told reportersin Geneva. If the negotiationsin Sweden show results, “it ispossible that we could find bythe second half of the year thatthe extreme edge could gettaken off the suffering of thosepeople who have no form ofincome.” I

nternational support forthe peace bid has been spurredby UN warnings that 14 millionYemenis are at risk of famine.The Norwegian RefugeeCouncil on Wednesday calledfor the two sides to put a haltto the fighting.

“Yemen needs an immedi-ate ceasefire and concrete stepsto restore public services,” itsaid in a statement.

In this Oct. 1, 2018 photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at theAslam Health Center, Hajjah, Yemen. Envoys from Yemen’s warring parties areheaded to Sweden for another round of peace talks to stop the three-year-old war, butwith few incentives to compromise, expectations are low for little more thanimproving a faltering de-escalation. (AP/File)

7.5 quake off New Caledonia triggers tsunamiNoumea (AFP): A powerful7.5-magnitude earthquakestruck near New CaledoniaWednesday, triggering a tsuna-mi alert and emergency evacu-ations across a swathe of theSouth Pacific, but there were noreports of serious damage orinjuries. Authorities said thequake, followed by at least 20strong aftershocks, was centredabout 170 kilometres southeastof New Caledonia’s LoyaltyIslands at a depth of just 10 kilo-metres.Island residents said theinitial quake shook the walls ofbuildings and in places turnedthe sea foamy.

Tsunami waves were record-ed moving out from the epi-centre, prompting people to fleeto high ground. The Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center ini-tially warned surges of up tothree metres (10 feet) could beexpected and shallow quakes ofthat magnitude can be devas-tating. But the centre laterreported waves measured by itsmonitors around the regiononly reached about 72 centime-tres (2.4 feet) on the island ofTanna, Vanuatu.

Civil defence officials inNoumea said tsunami waves hitparts of the Loyalty Islands andthe Isle of Pines, but caused nodamage. “Reports from the areaconfirm that the strength of thetsunami has fallen significantlyand there is no longer a majorrisk for the population,” said aspokesman for the civil defencedepartment. “There have been

no injuries or damage,” he said.Almost three hours after thequake, the Hawaii-based PacificTsunami Warning Centerreported the threat stemmingfrom the initial quake “has nowpassed”.

Multiple aftershocks of up tomagnitude 6.6 hit the area in thehours following the initial quake,according to the US GeologicalSurvey. The quake triggeredemergency warning systems inNew Caledonia, where resi-dents received an urgent textmessage directing them to go torefuges immediately. BasileCitre, a municipal official on theLoyalty Island of Mare, said hehad been in a meeting at thetown hall when he felt a smalltremor followed by a bigger

shock. “The building shook,but there was no damage,” hetold AFP. “When the sirenssounded, the population head-ed for higher ground for safety.For now, nothing serious hashappened.” A spokesman forthe Vanuatu geohazards obser-vatory said the sparsely popu-lated island of Tanna was expect-ed to be most affected but noevacuations had been ordered.“There are no sirens on Tannabut the people on the island arefamiliar with these situationsand they will have taken pre-cautions and gone to higherground,” he told AFP.

CCTV footage showedbathers still frolicking in crys-talline seas off Noumea, seem-ingly unaware of the seriousness

of the threat on the other coast,just 50 kilometres away. NewCaledonia, with a population of269,000 people, is a FrenchPacific territory.

It sits along the so-calledPacific “Ring of Fire”, where tec-tonic plates collide and many ofthe world’s volcanic eruptionsand earthquakes occur. Theisland’s citizens last monthrejected independence in a ref-erendum, though the voterevealed lower-then-expectedsupport for remaining part ofFrance. New Caledonia is hometo a quarter of the world’sknown supplies of nickel — avital electronics component —and is a foothold for France inthe Pacific, with French troopsstationed on the island.

UN relief chief appeals for funds

to support 132 million people

PTI n UNITED NATIONS

Conflict has pushed tens ofmillions of people into a

situation where they are inurgent need of help, the UNrelief chief has said, in anappeal for funds that could topUSD 25 billion to support life-saving aid projects in over 40countries next year. Speaking atthe launch of a major annualanalysis of global humanitari-an needs, Emergency ReliefCoordinator Mark Lowcocksaid that a total of 132 millionpeople will need assistancenext year.

Of that number, the UNand its partner organisationsaim to support 93.6 million.While conflict is the maincause, climate-related riskssuch as drought and tropicalstorms are also significant con-tributors to the number ofpeople in crisis. “Somethinglike one person in 70 aroundthe world is caught up in cri-sis and urgently needs human-itarian help or protection,”Lowcock said. “We have a larg-er number of people displaced,mostly by conflict than wehave seen in the world before,nearly 70 million.” The UN’sGlobal Humanitarian Appealfor 2019 amounts to USD 21.9billion; it is expected to increaseto USD 25 billion, once Syria’sfinancial needs have been cal-culated.

As of mid-November,donors have provided a recordUSD 13.9 billion in funding,which is about 10 per centmore than at the same time lastyear, according to the UN

Office for the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA).The conflict in Yemen is one ofthe main reasons why nextyear’s funding appeal is sohigh, amid ongoing violencebetween Government forcesand Houthi opposition, that hasleft at least eight million peo-ple close to famine.

Highlighting the near-eco-nomic collapse of Yemen’seconomy which will requirelong-term financial supportfrom the international com-munity if it is to recover,Lowcock warned that nextyear, three-quarters of thecountry’s population – 24 mil-lion people - are likely to needhelp. “The country with thebiggest problem in 2019 isgoing to be Yemen,” he said,before insisting that the UN’scoordinated response planshelp the humanitarian com-

munity “to deliver, more andbetter” to millions of people.

In total the UN is seekingUSD 4 billion for its Yemenappeal, Lowcock said, addingthat “there’s going to need to bebillions of dollars” additionalsupport for the Government ofYemen from the internationalcommunity, because oil rev-enues are down 85 per cent.“Unless they get help the prob-lems associated with plum-meting currency are going tohappen again,” the UN officialsaid, while also stressing theneed to tackle the root causesof conlicts everywhere. BeyondYemen, needs will remain“exceptionally high” in Syria,the Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC), Ethiopia,Nigeria and South Sudan,Lowcock said.

Every month in 2018,humanitarians have reached

eight million Yemenis withfood assistance and 5.4 millionSyrians with supplies, medicalassistance and protection,Lowcock said. “This is hap-pening even as threats to thesafety of aid workers are on therise,” he noted.

People’s insecurity has alsoworsened significantly inAfghanistan because ofdrought, political instabilityand an influx of returningrefugees, according to theGlobal HumanitarianOverview 2019, as well as inCameroon and the CentralAfrican Republic (CAR), owingto an upsurge of conflict andviolence.

Turning to the high humancost caused by climate hazards,the UN official noted thatthere is an 80 per cent chancein 2019 of an El Nino event,which is linked to extremeweather events.

While the impact is notexpected to be as widespread asin 2016, it is still likely to be a“significant” event and affectsome 25 countries withdrought, tropical cyclones andfloods including South Africa,Malawi and Madagascar,Lowcock warned.In anotherfinding, the OCHA reportshows that the average UNhumanitarian response nowlasts more than nine years; in2014, the norm was 5.2 years.This year, moreover, nearlythree-quarters of people receiv-ing assistance are in countriesthat have been affected byhumanitarian crises for sevenyears or more.

Briton sayspsychologicallytortured in UAEdetentionLondon (AFP): A British manconvicted in the United ArabEmirates for spying saidWednesday he was psycholog-ically tortured and that hiscaptors asked him to turn dou-ble agent against the Britishgovernment. Matthew Hedges,a university researcher, wasdetained at Dubai airport onMay 5, held in solitary con-finement for months and sen-tenced to life in prison onNovember 21 before beingpardoned by UAE authoritiesfive days later.

In his first broadcast inter-view since returning last week,Hedges was asked on BBCradio’s Today programmewhether he had been torturedand replied: “Psychologically,correct, yes.” Hedges describedbeing put in ankle cuffs when-ever he left his cell to go to thebathroom and said he was“blindfolded and handcuffed”when being moved to differentpremises. One day when herepeated his denials that he wasnot spying for the British gov-ernment, he said his inter-rogators forced him to stand upfor an entire day wearing anklecuffs. “It’s mentally exhausting.Physically, the adrenaline takesover. It’s how it made you feelmentally,” he said.

Hedges said he suffereddepression and anxiety andwas given “a cocktail of med-ication” by his captors. “I askedfor the medication to beincreased,” he said. When hisinterrogators increased the psy-chological pressure, he said heconfessed to being an MI6agent. “At that point, I had noother option,” he said. He saidhe told his interrogators he wasa “captain” in MI6 — a rankthat does not exist in the for-eign intelligence service —only because it was suggestedby them.

A few days after beingdetained, he said he also suf-fered a panic attack after one ofhis interrogators asked him“to steal official documentationfrom the Foreign Office”. “I saideven if I wanted to I couldn’t,I don’t work for the ForeignOffice,” he said. He describedthe sentencing as “an explo-sion”. “I wasn’t able to processit right in the court. It was toomuch,” he said, adding that hewas not able to say goodbye tohis wife Daniela Tejada whowas in the courtroom. His pri-ority now is to “try and relax”before trying to “clear myname”, he said, complainingthat the UAE conviction on hisrecord could limit his traveloptions. Hedges has said he wascarrying out research on theUAE’s foreign and securitypolicies after the Arab Springrevolutions in 2011 for a doc-torate at Durham UniversityThe case caused outrage inBritain, a close ally of UAE. TheUAE continues to assert that hewas a spy and says Hedges wastreated fairly.

Washington (PTI): The massdetention and deployment ofhigh-tech surveillance tech-nologies to systematically repressUighurs, Kazakhs, and otherMuslim minority groups inChina’s Xinjiang province is themost severe human rights crisisin the Communist nation sincethe Cultural Revolution, theTrump administration has toldUS lawmakers. The situation inresource-rich Xinjiang has beenrestive as the native MuslimUighurs have been resistingincreasing settlements of major-ity Han Chinese from otherprovinces.

An estimated 1.1 millionpeople have been placed ininternment camps, includingre-education camps where,according to former detaineesand other witnesses, inmatesare subjected to intense politicalindoctrination and abuse.Testifying before a Congressionalcommittee, Laura Stone, ActingDeputy Assistant Secretary ofState for East Asian and PacificAffairs, alleged that China is dou-bling down on repressive domes-

tic controls in stark contrast tothe universal values that the USand its partners have champi-oned for many decades.

“The most severe humanrights crisis in China - perhapssince the Cultural Revolution -is the mass detention and deploy-ment of high-tech surveillancetechnologies to systematicallyrepress Uighurs, Kazakhs, andother Muslim minority groups inXinjiang,” Stone told lawmakersduring a Congressional hearing.

“In recent years, we have wit-nessed a regression in terms ofChina’s respect for human rights

and fundamental freedoms,including religious freedom; therule of law; and civil society,” shesaid. “China’s mass detentions ofmembers of Muslim minoritygroups in Xinjiang, while per-haps the most egregious exam-ple, is only one of many recentactions taken by the Chineseleadership that run counter notonly to China’s internationalhuman rights commitments, butalso to Chinese law,” she said.According to Stone, there havebeen continued reports thatTibetan Buddhists have beensubjected to forced disappear-

ance, physical abuse, arbitrarydetention, and arrest. TheChinese government assertsauthority over the selection,approval, and veneration of rein-carnations of Tibetan Buddhistlamas and supervises their reli-gious education. According tohuman rights activists, Chinaseverely restricts the religiouspractices of Uighur Muslims inXinjiang and continues to sup-press religious rights of TibetanBuddhists.

“We remain concernedabout the lack of meaningfulautonomy for Tibetans, and weregularly urge China to ceaserestrictions on the rights ofTibetans, as well as their uniquereligious, linguistic, and cultur-al traditions and practices,” shesaid.

Recently, oppressive activi-ties aimed at residents of theXinjiang Uighur Autonomousregion reportedly have severelyintensified, as documented bythe dogged reporting of diplo-mats, reporters, academics, andMuslim communities abroad,she alleged.

Washington(PTI): Real-worldlearning experiences, like sum-mer camps, can significantlyimprove children’s knowledgein a matter of just days, a studysuggests. Researchers fromthe Ohio State University in theUS found that 4- to 9-year-oldkids knew more about how ani-mals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo.

It was not that childrenwho attended just knew morefacts about animals, theresearchers noted. The campactually improved how theyorganised what they knew — akey component of learning.“This suggests organisation ofknowledge doesn’t requireyears to happen. It can occurwith a short, naturalistic learn-ing experience,” said LaylaUnger, lead author of the studypublished in the Journal ofExperimental ChildPsychology. “It highlights theenriching potential of real-world programmes like sum-mer camps. They aren’t justrecreation,” Unger said. Thisstudy is one of the first to show

how quickly knowledge organ-isation changes can occur inchildren. “We didn’t know if itwould take months or years forchildren to accomplish this.Now we have evidence that itcan happen in days,” Ungersaid. The study involved 28children who took part in afour-day summer zoo camp inPittsburgh, US.

They were compared to 32children who participated in adifferent summer camp in anearby neighbourhood ofPittsburgh, which was not at

the zoo and didn’t involve ani-mals. At the beginning and endof each camp, all children com-pleted two different tests thatmeasured how well they under-stood the differences betweenmammals, birds and reptiles.

The zoo camp consisted oflessons, interactions with pre-served and live animals, toursof the zoo, games and craft ses-sions. “Most of the themes atthe zoo camp were not orient-ed towards explicitly teachingchildren biological taxonomicgroups,” Unger said.

Foreign, domestic leaders prepare goodbyes to BushAFP n WASHINGTON

International dignitaries willjoin US leaders present and

past on Wednesday in sayingtheir final goodbyes to formerpresident George HW Bush,whose life will be honoured ata funeral service in Washington.The nation’s 41st president,who died Friday at age 94, haslain in state since late Mondayin the US Capitol rotunda.

Tens of thousands ofAmericans have quietly filed into pay their respects to a manwho steered the nation throughturbulent times including the

end of the Cold War — and ina style dramatically differentfrom the bombast and com-bativeness championed by thecurrent commander-in-chief,Donald Trump.

The country’s five livingpresidents — Jimmy Carter, BillClinton, Bush’s son George W.Bush, Barack Obama, andTrump — are scheduled toattend the service atWashington NationalCathedral, the Neo-Gothic spir-itual center point of the US cap-ital. Britain’s Prince Charleswill be there, as will GermanChancellor Angela Merkel,

King Abdullah II and QueenRania of Jordan, and formerPolish president Lech Walesa,among others.

Trump’s ascendancy to thehead of the Republican Partysaw him exchange vitriolicattacks with the Bushes, includ-ing mocking Bush senior’s“thousand points of light”phrase and slamming the pres-idential son’s 2003 invasion ofIraq as “one of the worst deci-sions in the history of ourcountry.” But he has takenpains to demonstrate unitysince Bush’s death, and made alow-key visit to the Capitol late

Monday with First LadyMelania Trump to salute Bush’scasket. And on the eve of thestate funeral, the couple metwith George W. Bush and for-mer first lady Laura Bush at thepresidential guest residenceBlair House.

Trump’s relations with theRepublican establishment havebeen rocky since his insurgentcampaign took him to theparty’s nomination and then ashock election win in 2016. Hedid not attend the funeral thisyear of George H.W. Bush’s wifeBarbara Bush, even thoughother presidents were there.

Trump has declared Wednesdaya national day of mourning.Many federal offices will beclosed along with Wall Streetstock markets.

Congress has also sus-pended votes — even in themidst of a looming potentialshutdown that requires con-gressional action before mid-night Friday. The passing ofBush, only the second presidentto see his son follow him to theOval Office, has led Americansto reflect on his life of duty andservice to country as a leader ofthe so-called “GreatestGeneration.”

A final salute is rendered by the honor guard standing watch over the flag-draped casket of the late president, George H.W.Bush, as the public viewing comes to an end at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda onWednesday. AP

Real-world learning experiencesboost kids’ knowledge: Study

Campaign of repression in Xinjiang mostsevere human rights crisis in China: US

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018usp 13

IMD betters warning systems

● Is artificial rain a solution to tack-le air pollution in Delhi?There are multiple factors that con-tribute to the air pollution in Delhi.The local emissions are already veryhigh in the capital where the transportsector contributes the maximum.Though NASA regularly gives outsatellite images of burning of the cropresidue, they were given more consid-eration when it started to affect the airquality of Delhi about two years ago.Apart from this, the transfer of dustfrom the Gulf also contributed to thisissue. One has to understand that thisis a winter phenomenon in the citysince the air is denser and thus the pol-lution settles. However, artificial rainis not a solution. For artificial rains, theclouds are injected to produce rains butin winters there is hardly any cloud for-mation and thus it is not a workableoption.

● What are some of the proposedsolutions to combat poor air qual-ity in Delhi?There are multiple actions required toaddress this issue which have to beboth long term and short term. Wehave to first monitor the pollution toknow which part of the day, which partof the city is facing the issue, or if thehot spots are static or dynamic beforewe can come up with a solution. Tomonitor the same, we have 44 stationsin the city to keep a check on the airquality and identify the emissionsources. We also have to update theemission inventory to accommodatethe new contributors. A high levelcommittee has been formed which willadvise steps to the capital and theneighbouring state governments tocombat this issue. The GradedResponse Action Plan (GRAP) is alsoput in place to come up with shortterm fixes so that emissions can bemodulated. Implementation of Odd-Even, shutting of thermal powerplants, avoiding the movement ofdebris and trucks are some of the shortterm solutions.

● Has accuracy of weatherimproved over the years? What hasbrought about this improvement?The accuracy depends on the quali-ty of input data from observation sys-tems. We not only measure the sur-face temperature but to measuretemperature, humidity and windspeed above the surface, we use the

balloon and payload method. Thistechnology has undergone improve-ments in the last few years. We tracka payload which is attached to a bal-loon filled with hydrogen gas andthen released in the atmosphere.When the inside pressure of the bal-loon is more than the external pres-sure, the balloon bursts, which ismostly at 20 to 22 km and then themeasurements are taken from 43locations across the country, twice aday. We plan to increase this to 55locations in a year’s time. Duringafternoons and nights, we measureonly the wind speed from 60 stations.Almost 40,000 payloads are requiredper year and as per the global ratecontract, currently we pay $59 dollarsper payload, which is a heavy invest-ment made only on upper air mea-surements as the data received fromthese activities are the lifeline of mostof the services.● How are IMD services helping theagriculture sector?Improvements in weather forecast

have had a significant impact on theagriculture industry. We have iden-tified 130 agriculture monitoringstations, set up in the agriculture uni-versity campuses, research farms andIndian Council of agriculturalResearch (ICAR) labs to generateforecasts. Under the Gramin KrishiMausam Seva, agro-advisory ser-vices are provided where these 130stations cover four to six nearby dis-tricts and generate customised weath-er forecasts, twice a week on Tuesdayand Friday for the next four days, forfour major crops. This way, we coverall 656 districts of the country. Aweekly outlook is also provided by theICAR. Apart from this advisory, 42million registered farmers receivetheir crop related advisory through anSMS and on the m-Kisan portal.When we had started this service,only three million farmers were tak-ing the benefit which has nowbecome 42 million. We are nowworking with states to generate thedatabase of the remaining farmer

households and then disseminatethis information further. In 2015,according to a survey conducted bythe National Council of AppliedEconomic Research, to assess the eco-nomic impact of this service, it wasfound that the total GDP contributionwas `48,000 crore. It was alsoobserved that if this service wasexpanded to 22 crops and penetrat-ed to the block level, then it had thepotential to have an economic impactof `3,50,000 crore. Keeping this inmind, we are now expanding themonitoring units to each of the 656districts. We are going to use theICAR’s Krishi Vigyan Kendras(KVKs) to set up these units. We have130 stations already in place and of theremaining units we plan to open 200units by the end of this year.

● The loss of lives of fishermen atsea has been attributed to the lackof timely information about weath-er changes. How are you addressingthis issue?

Open sea communication is a chal-lenge and to address that we havecome up with some measures to warnthe fishermen of changes in weatherconditions. The GPRS system deliv-ers alerts up till 12 nautical miles butbeyond that, it is difficult to informthe fishermen about possible calami-ties. We are linking the VHF frequen-cies at lighthouses with the fishermenboats to reach a larger radius withNAVTEX, wirelessly. This networkcan cover a distance of 12-30 nauti-cal miles. The Tamil Nadu govern-ment has also brought around 1,000satellite phones to inform the fisher-men not only about sea roughness butalso the atmosphere condition. Thefishermen can also be alerted aboutnatural disasters while they are at thesea using the NaVIC system, a home-grown GPS. Since there is no mobilenetwork coverage in the deep seasbeyond 12 nautical miles, we haveintroduced NaVIC, which can bemounted to the mobile device and willhave bluetooth connectivity.

C O R P O R A T E B R I E F S

The Indian Meteorological Department has not only inducted technology to improve its accuracy ofweather forecast but has also made remarkable progress in curbing loss of life with timely predictions.The Director General of Meteorology of IMD, K J RAMESH, in an interview with ANKITA SAXENA, detailshow the services of the organisation are helping improve day-to-day lives of the citizens

The ancient civilisationsof both Turkey andIndia have a similar

passion for the woven textile.The exuberant use of metal-lic thread embedded in thesoftest silk, the great caregiven to stylised motifs andprecision weaving were theirshared hallmark and imageryand iconography transcendedgeographical borders, includ-ing the Buddhist influences,reflecting in the Ottomontextiles.

The exhibition aimed tointroduce the audience to the

Banarasi process of weaving,the hands that work the loomsand the mind that plans thecontext of the textile. In anunusual gesture, female mem-bers of the weavers’ familieswere also present, andendorsed their age-old artis-tic excellence. The exhibitionalso showcsed a threeminutetrailer to a documentary filmtitled—‘Bunkar–The Last ofthe Varanasi Weavers’, thatpremiered in the IndianPanorama at IFFI this year.

Morarka and her team ofweavers staged live looms as

master weavers showcasedtheir skills. As live classicalmusicians played tunes toexport the audience to the

land of Ghats, there weresmall salons where the origi-nal weavers from Varanasialong with a woman member

of their family were spottedcasually interacting with eachother. The women weredressed in TANTUVI Sareesby Smriti Morarka.

“Being able to showcasethe very best from the loomsof Banaras to the discerningpatrons in Delhi is always aprivilege. This time it waseven more special as we wereable bring to the fore thehands behind the looms thatwork tirelessly to create thesemagnificent works of art,”said Morarka.

While on one hand, therewas a setup of a Banarasi shopto exhibit sarees, on the otherhand, a fashion consultantfrom Mumbai tutored theaudience about modern,interesting ways of draping aBanarsi by demonstrating thesame on the contemporaryIndian models. What madethis exhibition even morespecial was the array ofBanarsi delicacies, speciallycurated for the evening.Delhi’s prominent citizensincluding spouses ofAmbassadors of variousnations to India, historians,fashion designers, blue-chipentrepreneurs, socialites, artcurators, textile connoisseursand patrons were spottedenjoying this authentic exper-ince.

Sharing details about thebrand, Morarka informed thatshe started TANTUVI, whichmeans ‘weaver’ in Sanskrit, in1998 as an attempt to revive

the dying weaving traditionsof Varanasi. She said, “Theoriginal famed techniques ofweave were no longer in usesince the weavers found themeconomically unfeasible.TANTUVI worked closelywith them to move from dis-closing these techniques usedby their ancestors to thenactually producing piecesmade in these ways. The chal-lenges were to make thedesigning sensibilities onethat would appeal to the newand still toe the line with thetraditional, as well as the costof using these laborious tech-niques. It is my endeavor atTANTUVI, to bring beforemy buyers the very best, usingclassic and timeless patternsand motifs along with duethought given to the fabric,texture and quality.”

The fabrics made underthe label of TANTUVI aremade in natural yarns of cot-ton and silk, its derivatives orin the combination of both.Providing support to the localreal zari industry, all the zariused by the organisation ispure. The primary pitch ofTANTUVI is sarees producedwith patience, skill and dedi-cation. “By making the sareesin limited numbers, we do ourbit to ensure its exclusivity. Bynot falling into the rhythm ofmass production and com-mercialisation, we commit toensure that the unique charmof each of our designs is sus-tained,” added Morarka.

NATIONAL AWARDS CONFERED ON INTERNATIONALDAY OF PWDSThe Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, conferred the NationalAwards on individuals, institutions/organisations and state/districtsfor their outstanding achievements and work towards empowermentof Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in Delhi. The Union Minister forSocial Justice and Empowerment, Thawarchand Gehlot, Ministers ofState for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar,Ramdas Athawale and Vijay Sampla, Secretary DEPwD, Shakuntala DGamlin and various dignitaries also graced the occasion. On theoccassion, 56 individuals and 16 institutions were awarded.

BSF COMPLETES 53 YEAR INSERVICE OF THE NATIONThe Border Security Force completed53 years of its dedicated,distinguished and glorious service tothe nation on December 1. On thisoccasion, the Force personnel paid ahomage to the 1879 brave hearts,who made supreme sacrifice on thealtar of duty and attained martyrdom.The supreme sacrifice and valour of

the bordermen has been duly recognised by the Government of Indiaby awarding one Mahavir Chakra, 13 Veer Chakras, 4 Kirti Chakras,13 Shaurya Chakras, 232 PPMsG and 921 PMsG.

STB AND OLA CO-CREATE A UNIQUE IN-TRIPEXPERIENCE FOR OLA PASSENGERSThe Singapore Tourism Board (STB) hasannounced a partnership with Ola where theride-hailing company will run a campaignfrom December 1 to 15 on its platformsacross 19 cities in West and Central India forits customers to win a trip to Singapore. TheRegional Director–South Asia, Middle Eastand Africa (SAMEA) of STB, GB Srithar,informed that the Ola users will have to take aminimum of three rides and enter thepromocode ‘SINGAPORE’ to participate in thecontest. Three pairs of winners will be selected and will be notifiedthrough emails by December 31. In addition to the campaign, theSTB’s brand of ‘Passion Made Possible’ will be further entrenchedthrough the showcasing of their branded content across Ola’splatforms.

BANARSIEXPERIENCEREVATILISEDTo celebrate this ancienct heritage oftextiles between India and Turkey, thehandloom revitalist, SMRITI MORARKA,showcased her Banarsi saree collection atan interactive exhibition at the residenceof the Ambassador of Turkey to India. By ANKITA SAXENA

INDIAN VISITORS TOGREECE UP BY 119 PERCENTAs per the statistics released by theGreece National Tourist Office (GNTO)and Athens International Airport,38,046 Indian tourists visited Greecein the nine months in 2018 vis-à-vis17,376 Indian tourists during the

same period in 2017, registering an increase of 119 per cent, informedthe secretary general of GNTO, Konstantinos Tsegas.

JCC FOR INDIA-JAPAN PROJECT ON ‘CAPACITYDEVELOPMENT ON RAILWAYS SAFETY’The first meeting of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) for India-Japan Project on ‘Capacity Development on Railway Safety’ was heldat Northern Railway Headquarter in New Delhi. The meeting waschaired by the general manager Northern Railway T P Singh and theofficials from the Railway Board, Northern Railway, Dedicated FreightCorridor Corporation Limited and Commission of Railway Safety

Organisations represented the Indian side. The Japaneserepresentatives included officials from the Government of Japan,Japanese Embassy, Japan Transport Safety Board and the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency.

MBCN RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR ‘BESTINSTITUTION WORKING FOR THE CAUSE OF PERSONSWITH DISABILITIES’Mata Bhagwanti ChadhaNiketan (MBCN), aninitiative of the PontyChadha Foundation,received the National Awardfor Empowerment ofPersons with Disabilities(Divyangjan) 2018 by theVice President of India,Venkaiah Naidu. The awardwas received by the trusteeof the foundation, ShanamChadha, under thecategory—‘Best Institutionworking for Cause ofPersons with Disabilities’. Chadha said, “It was my father’s vision tocreate an environment where children with special needs could becomesocially and economically independent; and today I am proud that hisdream project has reached this pinnacle. Working on his philosophyand vision, we strive to work towards creating a better society for thespecial children. I am thankful for all the support received from thePrincipal, teachers, parents and well-wishers who have workedtirelessly towards the betterment of this segment.”

INDIANOIL CHAIRMAN CONFERRED WITHDISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD BY IIT-ROORKEEThe Indian Institute Technology-Roorkee felicitated the chairman ofIndianOil, Sanjiv Singh, with its most prestigious ‘DistinguishedAlumnus Award’ for 2018 for his outstanding professionalaccomplishments. Sanjiv Singh, Class of 1980, became the firstchemical engineer from his alma mater to be felicitated with thishonour. Singh said, “I accept the award with pride and utmosthumility as such a recognition by one’s alma mater is the indeed theultimate honour.”

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

Actress KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN

says she is game to star in a webseries only if the content is as“wonderful” as Sacred Games.“I do not think Saif hasgot so many complimentsfor a film the way he hasgot for the series(Sacred Games)....InIndia, to have suchbold content has notbeen done before,”she said.Kareena is open todo a show on digi-tal platforms. Shesaid, “As an actorI think I shoulddo differentthings so thatfans allover get tosee me.”

‘I always tell every-body that I feel I amliving my dream.

Whateveris hap-peningwith mehasalwaysbeen adreamfor meand Inever

thought that all thiscan become a realityone day. People havemade me so big nowwhich I neverthought I can be as afemale singer.’—Neha Kakkar

Former Castle star STANA KATIC,who played an agent in the JamesBond movie Quantum of Solace,says there are many excitingopportunities in the spy/espionage

film genre for actresses.While actor DanielCraig's successor asthe suave fictionalBritish spy JamesBond is yet to bedecided, like others,Katic is also excited

about finding outwho will replacehim.“The film series

is so engrained inall of us becauseof the work of the

Broccoli family(producers of the

series). I trust themto do best for thenext installment. Iknow for sure that I'llbe one of those sit-ting in the audiencelooking forward to

watching it,” Katicsaid.

Comedian-actor-producer KAPIL

SHARMA has started shooting fora new edition of The KapilSharma Show with Bollywoodsuperstar Salman Khan as its first

celebrityguest.The episode,which will beaired on SonyEntertainmentTelevision, willalso feature

Salman's brothers Sohail Khanand Arbaaz Khan as well as theirfather Salim Khan, read a state-ment.Kapil will be joined by his originalgang — Chandan, Kiku Shardaand Sumona Chakravarti.Meanwhile, Kapil will marry hisfiance, Ginni, at her hometown inJalandhar on December 12.

Kareena open to doweb series

‘Much scope in spy genre’

vivacity 14

There are more than ahundred people — theswish set of Delhi kit-ted out in their best tosafeguard against the

vagaries of nature while answer-ing suitably to the demands offashion, tinkling their glasseswhile talking about books, liter-ature and more. But in the sea ofhumanity, one person is hard tomiss. He greets everyone withequal warmth, asks appropriateand specific questions of eachperson and tells them to helpthemselves to the hors d’oevre

that are circulating on the gardenterrace of a hotel in central Delhi.And it seems that it is around theshock of grey white hair sport-

ed by founder and director ofTeamwork Arts Sanjoy K Roy,that most of the action circumam-bulates at the curtain raiser of theJaipur Litfest. Roy along with co-directors, noted historian WilliamDalrymple and writer NamitaGokhale, are the most prominentfaces of the Jaipur Literary Festivalwhich will be held betweenJanuary 24 and 28 next year.

This year’s constellation ofspeakers includes ColsonWhitehead, author of nine booksof fiction and non-fiction, includ-ing the Pulitzer Prize winning TheUnderground Railroad, MarkusZusak, the international best-selling author of The Book Thief,which was on New York Timesbestseller list for a decade and hasbeen translated into more than 40languages, Andrew Sean Greer,bestselling author of six works offiction, including the 2018Pulitzer Prize winning novel Lessamong others.

So when one asks Roy howdoes he manage to have such awide variety of names each year,pat comes the reply, “People wantto come to us. That’s the big news.The way we look after people isone reason. It is not just an expe-

rience but also because it is animportant place to be for books.”And with the business of bookshaving practically exploded overthe years, JLF is certainly a placeto go to. “Ten years ago, a best-seller was 3,000 hardback copiesmaximum. Today you are talkingof 30,000. We sell about a 1,00,000from the bookstore over fivedays which is the number that fivebookstores sell in a month in amain city,” he adds.

The mammoth size of the fes-tival, which has been the subjectof study at the Harvard BusinessSchool, “was an accident” saysRoy. They never started out tobecome the largest festival of itskind. “The five pillars that westand on include that today Indiaacross the world is seen as a placethat one should get to know. Butit is seen as way too confusing.Maybe the festival gives the audi-ence a sense of what India is. It isa window to another world andanother philosophy,” says Roy.

The setting of Jaipur with itsold world charm and forts furtheradds to the pull of the place alongwith the Indian hospitality. “It islike the great big Indian weddingof the literature festival. Everyonegoes away as an ambassador afterattending it,” says Roy. Besides thehospitality, heritage, great pro-gramming, what made the num-ber of visitors swell from 5,000-6,000 in the initial year to abouthalf a million last year, is the factthat, “We are able to bring theworld to India and take India tothe world. All of that has com-bined to create the pillars onwhich the festival sits on. We arenot precious about reserving seatsas it is first come, first serve irre-spective of whether it is a ChiefMinister or a Minister. The factthat it is open access and there areno reservations also makes itspecial. Often some celebratedpeople told me that they did not

get seats while all the kids weresitting there. I believe that the fes-tival is for younger people, whichis evident from the fact that 61 percent of visitors are below the ageof 25. When writers look at this,it is an awakening for thembecause everywhere else it is a seaof this,” he says pointing to hisgrey hair. He also says that someof the best questions and the mostintelligent ones at the sessions areasked by younger people.

Roy feels that it’s the audiencethat lends JLF its incredible vibe.“The joint energy and its effusionthat you feel at JLF is somethingsimilar that that you feel duringa Kumbh Mela or when you gofor a pilgrimage. It is what makesthe festival what it really is,” saysRoy whose Teamwork Arts hasseveral other successful culturalfestival including Ishaara PuppetTheatre, Mahindra KabiraFestival, The Sacred Pushkar andmany other national and interna-tional ones under its ever-expand-ing belt.

The JLF is certainly thebiggest of their brands and Royhas actively worked to ensure thatits philosophy has remainedunchanged. “We try and ensurethat the speaker is presentedwith a platform where he or shedoesn’t have to say what he or shehas already said on 500 other plat-forms. Moreover, when they see

the vast sea of humanity, they stepup to the vast table and conver-sations change,” says Roy.

JLF is also known to openlyaccept dissent. “We don’t acceptit, we openly celebrate it,” assertsRoy and by way of example says,“The left, right, centre, far left, farright — everyone can take cen-trestage. Of course that means wedo get bashed by all sides but thatis our job, for I believe that weneed to give as many platforms topeople as possible to give them aperspective so that they can makeup their own mind.”

And his vision is in a waybeing realised as since the incep-tion of the JLF, many more festi-vals have sprouted on the samelines. Roy says, “We supportmany of the festivals that happenaround us. We share the authorsand we believe that there can bemore platforms in the sub conti-nent. Our only advice is that theyshould find their USP. Every fes-tival can contribute to its localeconomy to the publishing,music, theatre and more becausethere is an economics around it,”he says.

He believes that the idea ofJLF is that one can come here anddiscover the world, listen toincredible ideas and go awayfeeling amazed with it all. “Youcan disagree, you can have dis-sent, you can do whatever but if

you go away with five, 15, 50 or500 different viewpoints, that iswhat make the festival great,” hesays.

However, many of its dis-senters say that over the years theJLF has descended into a massivejamboree which has to do witheverything but books. Roy coun-ters, “You can come for whatev-er reason that drives you. You cancome to take a selfie, eat whatev-er food that we offer. Of course,we could have held it an IndiaInternational Centre or IndiaHabitat Centre or their equivalentbut this is about celebrating ourbuilt heritage and culture and thelegacy of writing which we hadforgotten for a long time.”

JLF has also travelled to anumber of places outside thecountry and while each destina-tion has contributed to its growth,each location has also made itspecific to that place. “In London,it is programmed for London. InBoulder, it is very specific toAmerica so you will have Latino,African, Caribbean and NativeAmericans and issues that arelocal. We have a local, nationaland international perspectivewhich is what makes it different.This helps us to discover amaz-ing writers that otherwise wewould have had no access to,” hesays with a satisfied smile.

Bollywood superstar SalmanKhan is the richest Indiancelebrity, according to the

2018 Forbes India Celebrity 100list, which he has topped for thethird consecutive year. ShahRukh Khan has fallen out of thetop 10 list.

The 2018 Forbes IndiaCelebrity 100 List ranking arebased on estimates of entertain-ment-related earnings of celebri-

ties. The period under consid-eration is October 1, 2017 toSeptember 30, 2018.

The actor’s earnings arepegged at `253.25 crore. Salman,52, cemented his place in the topspot thanks to the success of hismovies Tiger Zinda Hai andRace 3. His earnings werebacked by endorsements of sev-eral consumer-facing brands,and constitute 8.06 per cent of

the total earnings — `3,140.25crore — of the top 100 celebri-ties for the year.

Indian cricket captain ViratKohli jumped one spot to thesecond rank, with total earningsof `228.09 crore, a sharpincrease of 116.53 per cent fromthe previous year. Actor AkshayKumar completed the top three,with `185 crore in earnings.

With no movie releases in2017, Shah Rukh Khan, who wasat the second spot on the 2017Forbes India Celebrity list, fellout of the top 10. His earningswere down 33 per cent thisyear, at `56 crore from endorse-ments, placing him at rank 13 onthe list.

Newly-wed actress DeepikaPadukone broke into the top fiveas per the Forbes — the firstwoman celebrity to find place inthe top five with earnings of`112.8 crore, placing her firm-ly at rank 4.

Cricket star Mahendra SinghDhoni rounded up the top fivewith `101.77 crore, followed byAamir Khan (`97.50 crore),Amitabh Bachchan (`96.17crore), Ranveer Singh (`84.7crore), Sachin Tendulkar (`80.00crore) and Ajay Devgn (`74.50crore) making it to the top 10.

There is mixed representa-tion from the prolific SouthIndian film industry. There are17 celebrities from the South thisyear against 13 on the 2017 list.The number of Bollywoodactors is down from 33 to 31,despite their cumulative earn-ings increasing by 12.89 percent from the previous year.

Indian cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya, withearnings to the tune of `28.46crore, was the highest gainer (inpercentage terms), with hisannual earnings rising nearlynine times.

Actress Nayanthara, whoseearnings stand at `15.17 crore, isthe only woman from the SouthIndian film industry to make itto the list, following the successof her dark comedy, KolamavuKokila and the thriller Aramm.

—IANS

SANJOY ROY has helmed manypathbreaking festivals but it is the Jaipur

Literary Festival, which celebratesdissent and India, where he has left his

impeccable mark, says SAIMI SATTAR

CzarCulture

WITH THE BUSINESSOF BOOKS HAVING

EXPLODED OVER THE YEARS,

JLF IS CERTAINLY APLACE TO GO TO

Actor SALMAN KHAN is the wealthiest Indian celebrityaccording to an index by a magazine

The richest of them all

Pho

to:

Pan

kaj

Kum

ar

Indian celebrities like Sonam Kapoor Ahuja andSwara Bhasker, and singer Sona Mohapatra, have

criticised journalist Mariah Smith for writing a“racist” article about actress Priyanka Chopra andAmerican singer Nick Jonas’ wedding.

In The New York Mag’s TheCut article, thejournalist called Priyanka, a “global scam artist”,who tricked young Jonas, into a lifelong commit-ment when all he really wanted was a fling.

“Priyanka: She is a modern-day scam artist,in my opinion. That’s right: Nicholas Jonas mar-ried into a fraudulent relationship against his willthis past Saturday,December the 1st,and I’ll tell you whyI think so...,” it read.

After the articlegot circulated onsocial media, it gar-nered huge f lakfrom some of themembers of Indianfilm fraternity.

“For a publica-tion that ‘showswomen what theyare made of ’,TheCut has a lot toanswer for. The arti-cle on Priyanka was sexist, racist and disgusting.Also it’s written by a woman which is so sad. Itreeks of envy and bitterness. Mariah, shame onyou,” Sonam wrote on social media.

Swara also expressed her disappointment onthe micro-blogging site.

“Depressed with the state of the world and cur-rent affairs? Here is some good old fashionedpuerile filth published by TheCut to add somepointless venom to your day. Also someoneinvite Mariah to an Indian wedding, mightassuage some of her misguided angst! YellowJournalism,” wrote the Tanu Weds Manu actress.

In the article, Smith also said, “Priyanka’sindulgences and what she views as necessities speakvolumes to her personality and what she’ll do, orthink she needs to do, for her career....”

Smith also slammed the couple, who got mar-ried in Jodhpur last week, saying they had theirhigh profile wedding just to make money.

“Priyanka and Nick are finding ways for their‘love’ make them money — circumventing themethods used by the celebrities of yore, who stuckto selling their wedding or baby photos to maga-zines,” the article added.

Veteran writer-producer Vinta Nanda was left

“shocked” after reading Smith’s write-up.“What does the writer mean by saying that he

is gotten married against his will to a fraudulentrelationship? Does the writer not see in picturesthat it was one of the most beautiful weddingsever?” added Nanda.

Sona found the article “deeply disgusting.” “To character assassinate a hardworking, dri-

ven, achiever like Priyanka Chopra in this warped,petty manner and for TheCut to publish such alow-brow piece is the lowest of the lows. ‘Priyanka’splan to make this Nick Jonas opportunity her for-ever b***h?’ Sick,” Sona sighed.

The former Miss World was in New Delhi onWednesday for the launch of the dating appBumble, in which she is an investor as well.

—IANS/Photo: Pankaj Kumar

Bollywood bats for PeeCeeActors SONAM, SWARA cutjournalist MARIAH SMITH

to size for calling PRIYANKA a scam artist and

conning NICK JONAS

PeeCee made her first professional appearance after her weddingfor the launch of the Bumble app in New Delhi on Wednesday

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

15

AFP n LONDON

Manchester City opened upa five-point lead at the top

of the table with a seventhstraight Premier League victo-ry, but was made to work for a2-1 win at Watford on Tuesday.

City's goals came either sideof half-time as Leroy Sane chest-ed home to end Watford's resis-tance before Riyad Mahrezswept home early in the secondperiod. However, they had towithstand a nervy finish afterAbdoulaye Doucoure bundledhome five minutes from time.

Pep Guardiola made sixchanges to his starting line-updespite also missing SergioAguero and Kevin De Bruynethrough injury.

Yet, City were still far toostrong for the dogged hosts, whohad goalkeeper Ben Foster tothank for the visitors not rack-ing up the 5-0 and 6-0 thrash-ings they did on their two pre-vious visits to Vicarage Road.

Guardiola changed hisentire back four from Saturday's3-1 win over Bournemouth andleft the in-form Raheem Sterlingon the bench for the full 90 min-utes.

Mahrez came in for theEngland international and theluxury of options on offer toGuardiola was obvious as bothhis wide men found the net inSterling's absence.

However, Watford were leftto rue their chances before thebreak against a City defence thatappeared to miss AymericLaporte as the Frenchman was

rotated for the first time in theleague this season.

City got uncharacteristical-ly slack in the final quarter,though, and were made to paywhen Doucoure finally turnedhome after a goalmouth scram-ble.

Guardiola was forced tothrow on Laporte and NicolasOtamendi in the closing stages

to repel Watford's aerial assault,but City held on.

Elsewhere, Bournemouthmoved above ManchesterUnited, who host Arsenal onWednesday, up to sixth thanksto a 2-1 win over Huddersfield.

Brighton edged into thetop half as despite playing forover an hour with 10 men, theybeat Crystal Palace 3-1.

AFP n MONACO

Kenyan marathon masterEliud Kipchoge and

Colombian jumper CaterineIbarguen won the IAAF menand women's 2018 awards onTuesday.

Kipchoge set a newmarathon world record inBerlin in September, smashingthe previous best by an incred-ible 78 seconds as he clocked2hr 1min 39sec.

The 34-year-old Olympicchampion's effort was thelargest single improvement onthe marathon world recordsince Derek Clayton improvedthe mark by 2:23 in 1967.

Acclaimed as the greatestmarathon runner of the mod-ern era, Kipchoge has domi-nated marathon racing sincemaking his debut in Hamburgin 2013 after a successful trackcareer that saw him win worldGold and Silver (2003, 2007) inthe 5000m and Olympic Silverand Bronze (2008, 2004) overthe same distance.

He has notched up 10 winsfrom the 11 marathons he has

raced, winning three times notonly in Berlin but also London,with victories in Rio forOlympic Gold as well as inHamburg, Rotterdam andChicago.

Ibarguen, also 34, wonboth horizontal jumps at theCentral American andCaribbean Games, the IAAFContinental Cup and at theIAAF Diamond League finals- winning the latter two titlesin two different cities withinthe space of 24 hours.

Sweden's 19-year-old polevaulter Armand Duplantis wonthe men's rising star award afterequalling the second best evervault with 6.05m at theEuropean champs in Berlin inAugust. "Pole vaulting's a verystrange discipline," saidDuplantis. "All the stars alignedfor that one meet." Handed theaward by France's RenaudLavillenie, the world recordholder with a best of 6.16m,Duplantis was in a playfulmood.

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

Two-time champions Germanyoutclassed last edition Silvermedallist Netherlands 4-1 in

their second Pool D match to inchcloser towards booking a direct quar-terfinal berth.

Germany came back from a goaldown and scored through MathiasMuller (30th minute), LukasWindfeder (52nd), Marco Miltkau(54th) and Christopher Ruhr (58th)to register their second consecutivewin in the pool.

Netherlands, however, took theearly lead through Valentin Verga inthe 13th minute.

By virtue of this win, Germany isatop Pool D with six points from twowins ahead of Netherlands, who areon three points.

Germany had earlier defeatedPakistan 1-0 in their opening match,while Netherlands had mauledMalaysia 7-0.

In the battle between world num-ber 4 Netherlands and number 6Germany, the Dutch were the earlyaggressors but the Germans came tothe party as the match progressed.

Netherlands captain Billy Bakerhad the first real scoring opportuni-ty in the eighth minute but his shotfrom a close range was brilliantlysaved by German keeper TobiasWalter.

But the Netherlands, who werethe better team at least in the firstquarter, were not to be denied the leadas Verga broke the deadlock in the13th minute, tapping in MircoPruijser's reverse hit cross from closerange.

The Germans got their firstpenalty corner seconds before the endof first quarter but were unlucky asMathias Muller's strike from a superbvariation struck the post. Another

Germany attempt, this time fromNiklas Wellen's reverse hit was savedby Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak.

Germany continued to press hardand at the stroke of first quartersecured back-to-back penalty corners,

the second of which resulted in abeautiful goal by Muller from asuperb, well-executed variation.

The Germans continued to beaggressive after the change of ends butit was Netherlands who got four

penalty corners in a span of two min-utes but wasted all the opportunities.

The missed opportunities costNetherlands dear as Germany scoredfrom their fourth penalty cornerwith Windfeder finding the back ofDutch goal with a low grounded flick.

Two minutes later, Germanymade the scoreling 3-1 in their favourwhen Miltkau deflected in a NiklasWellen pass from the right flank. Asif that was not enough for the Dutch,Germany struck again two minutesfrom the final hooter from a penaltystroke which was converted by Ruhr.

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

Four-time champions Pakistanplayed out a hard-fought 1-1

draw with Malaysia in a Pool Dmatch as both the teams remainedin the hunt for a knock-out roundberth on Wednesday.

After failing to break the dead-lock for a long time, Pakistan drewthe first blood in the 51st minutethrough Muhammad Atiq's fieldstrike before Malaysia restoredparity four minutes later whenFaizal Saari converted a penalty cor-ner to stay afloat in the competition.

The draw meant both Pakistanand Malaysia remained in the frayfor the knock-out rounds, havinggarnered a point each from twooutings.

Germany are leading the poolwith six points ahead ofNetherlands and Pakistan. Malaysiaare placed last because of an infe-rior goal difference.

Pakistan had earlier lost by asolitary goal to Germany, whileMalaysia were thrashed 0-7 by theNetherlands.

Pakistan will round off theirpool engagements againstNetherlands on December 9 whileMalaysia, with a goal difference ofminus 7, have an uphill task againstthe Germans the same day.

In the encounter betweenworld number 12 Malaysia andnumber 13 Pakistan, there werehardly anything to separate the twosides.

Malaysia started brightly earn-ing two penalty corners in the thirdminute. While the first attempt wasblocked by the Pakistani runner, thenext try was kept at bay by keeperImran Butt.

Next, it was Pakistan's turn toearn a penalty corner but Aleem

Bilal's drag-flick directed at the topright corner was blocked byMalaysia goalkeeper KumarSubramaniam.

Malaysia came close to scoringin the ninth minute but Butt cameup with yet another great save tostop Razi Rahim's drag-flick direct-ed at the bottom centre.

It was an end-to-end battle asexperienced Subramiam madeanother smart save to keep away areverse flick from a midfield passof Tasawar Abbas.

Pakistan attacked mostlythrough the centre with 80 per centof their circle entries coming fromthat area, while Malaysia tried tofind spaces on the right side.

Faizal Saari earned Malaysiatheir fourth penalty corner in the23rd minute but Butt once againmade a good save to deny Saari.

Both the teams made forayswith pace and trickery on eitherends but they lacked the final passinside the box.

Two minutes from half-time,

Umar Bhutta earned Pakistan theirsecond short corner but Bilal'sdrag-flick hit the runner's footresulting in another set piece,which they wasted while going fora variation. Both the teams failedto break the deadlock in the firsttwo quarters.

Ten minutes into the thirdquarter, Malaysia won their fourthpenalty corner but to no avail.

Pakistan finally tasted successin the 51st minute, courtesy skip-per Muhammad Rizwan's inchperfect pass to Atiq inside the box.The striker first received the pass,created space on the right, took a360 degree spin to shoot the ballpast Subramaniam.

Malaysia desperately needed agoal to stay afloat in the tournamentand five minutes from the finalhooter their efforts succeeded whenthey earned their fifth penalty cor-ner and Saari was up to the task,flicking the ball high to the top rightcorner of Pakistan goal to share thespoils.

GERMANS ROLL

DUTCH IN EURO RIVALRY

BY VIRTUE OF THIS WIN, GERMANY IS ATOP POOL

D WITH SIX POINTS FROM TWO WINS AHEAD OF

NETHERLANDS, WHO ARE ON THREE POINTS.

GERMANY HAD EARLIER DEFEATED PAKISTAN 1-0

IN THEIR OPENING MATCH, WHILE NETHERLANDS

HAD MAULED MALAYSIA 7-0

Pak, Malaysiaplay out hard-fought draw

Sane, Mahrez strengthen City’s lead

Kipchoge, Ibarguen scoop IAAF awards

TODAY’S FIXTURES

ESP vs NZ 5:00pm

ARG vs FRA 7:00pm

LIVE ON

STAR SELECT NETWORK

BAREILLY ENTER SEMISBareilly thrashed

Devipatan 6-1 to enter thesemi-final of State-Level SeniorWomen’s Hockey Tournamentat Mohd Shahid Stadium onWednesday. Raunak scoredin the 3rd and 5th minute togive Bareilly an early lead. Inthe 21st minute ManjuChaudhary scored forDevipatan. After that Kushboo,Kajal, Shivani and Samreenscored to make it 6-1 in favourof Bareilly. In the second quar-terfinal, Meerut beat Varanasi8-1.

INTER-SCHOOLLPS Sector 9 Vrindavan

Yojana defeated Army PublicSchool by 17 runs in AICC 2ndSAJS Alambagh Campus Inter-School Cricket Tournament atSeth Anandram JaipuriaSchool on Wednesday.BRIEF SCORES:LPS: 136 (Sumit Singh 68, AmanYadav 38, Aditya Yadav 10;Abhay Kumar 16/1)APS: 119 (Adarsh Kumar 53,Rajveer Singh 12, Rajendra Singh11; Vinay Kumar 25/3, UtsavSingh 15/1, Aditya Yadav 19/1).

LOCAL EVENTS

sport 16LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 6, 2018

PTI n ADELAIDE

An Indian team brimming withconfidence will aim to finallyshed the poor travellers' tag

when it takes on a circumspect Australiain what is being perceived as thetourists' best opportunity to win a Testseries Down Under in 70 years.

While the narrative remained sameduring the earlier tours of South Africa(1-2) and England (1-4), Virat Kohli andhis men will like to walk the talk asIndia's tough cycle of away assignmentends with this four-Test series beginningat the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

The series is even more importantfor Kohli as it would also define his lega-cy as a leader havingalready establishedhimself as world's pre-mier batsman.

India's past Testrecord in Australia is quite abysmal. In44 Tests on Australian soil, they haveonly managed five wins thus far.

In 70 years and over 11 tours, onlytwo drawn series, under Sunil Gavaskarin 1980-81 and with Sourav Ganguly incharge in 2003-04 is more a reflectionof temperament of touring sides over theyears rather than quality.

While the idea will be to playaggressive cricket but Indian team man-agement's choice of 12 with both RohitSharma and Hanuma Vihari in the mixis an indicator that they have climbeddown from their aggressive five-bowler

ploy in order to get 20wickets.

Injured all-rounderHardik Pandya's absence

does upset the balance of the side butgetting an Australia side, which is stillreeling under the after-effect of the balltampering scandal with Steve Smith andDavid Warner serving their respectiveone-year suspensions.

Rohit Sharma is a prime contenderfor the extra batsman's slot in Pandya'sabsence.

He last played Test cricket in SouthAfrica, and had a torrid time, manag-ing only 78 runs in four innings whilebatting at number five. He is back in themix, once again on the back of limited-overs' form, and his ability to play hor-

izontal bat shots well.Tested against the English bowling

attack at the Oval, rookie Vihari lookedcomfortable in scoring his maiden half-century there.

The Indian team management hasgone to great lengths trying to explainthat the two scorelines aren't necessar-ily true reflections of the contests, itremains to be seen if the lessons fromthose two prior tours have been learnt.

India has faced two key issues, andthe first has to do with the batting line-up not firing enough to support skip-per Kohli.

While Kohli scored 286 runs inthree Tests in South Africa, the nexthighest cumulative total was 119 byHardik Pandya and he scored 93 of those

in one innings at Cape Town.Cheteshwar Pujara only managed

100 runs in three Tests, while MuraliVijay (102 runs in three Tests) and KLRahul (30 runs in two Tests) came acropper.

Opening issues continued to plagueIndia in England as well. After only 26runs in two Tests, Vijay was sent home.

While Rahul did scored 299 runs infive Tests there, 149 of those came in thefinal innings of the series at the Oval.

His previous nine innings on touryielded only 150 runs and 37 was hishighest score, again in the first inningsat the same ground. Shikhar Dhawan,who is not part of the current Test squad,scored 162 runs in four Tests.

In total, India used four differentopening partnerships in eight Tests,including the Johannesburg Test where-in Parthiv Patel opened with Vijay.

In the second innings. Overall, theopening pair averaged 18.16 in threeTests in South Africa, and 23.70 in fiveTests in England.

Further, it didn't help that the mid-dle-order didn't start scoring runs untilthe third Test at Nottingham.

Pujara scored 278 runs in four Testsin England, albeit only managed 146runs in seven innings. Rahane tooscored 257 runs in five Tests there, butonly had two noticeable scores of 81 (atNottingham) and 51 (at Southampton)therein.

That Kohli needs more supportfrom other batsmen is a fact that hasbeen noticed by Australia.

Prithvi Shaw's ankle injury hasopened doors for the Rahul-Vijay com-bination.

In the past, captain Kohli has goneto great lengths to make room for Rahul- dropping Rahane in South Africa(2018), dropping Pujara and himselfmoving up to number three againstWest Indies (at St. Lucia in 2016), anddropping Pujara against Australia(Sydney 2015).

The bowling attack is predictablewith Ishant Sharma, MohammedShami, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwinmaking up four-pronged line-up.

It will go head-to-head withAustralia's similar foursome of MitchellStarc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwoodand Nathan Lyon.

TEAMS India (12): Virat Kohli (capt), KLRahul, Murali Vijay, CheteshwarPujara, Ajinkya Rahane, RohitSharma, Hanuma Vihari, RishabhPant (wk), R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma,Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami.Australia (playing eleven): Tim Paine(capt & wk), Marcus Harris, AaronFinch, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head,Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb,Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, PatCummins, Josh Hazlewood.

PTI n ADELAIDE

The Indian bowling attack, rated as the most bal-anced in recent years, will have its task cut in

all-rounder Hardik Pandya's absence but the addi-tional workload on hard Australian wickets should-n't be perceived as "burden", reckoned skipper ViratKohli.

Pandya is currently recuperating from a backinjury and many pundits believed that Baroda all-rounder suited Australian conditions.

The Indian skipper agreed that four-man attackled by Ishant Sharma will have to share those extraovers amongst themselves, a cushion that all-rounder Pandya would have given.

"Losing the all-rounder obviously has an impact.I mean every side would like to have a fast-bowl-ing all-rounder, which we don't have right now withHardik (Pandya) injured. That obviously is a greatluxury to have for any side," Kohli said on the eveof the first Test starting Thursday.

"We don't so we have to go with best possiblecombination. Again, the workload on guys who willplay in the absence of an all-rounder will be highbut that is something that has already been dis-cussed," Kohli said.

The hard bouncy tracks and big grounds couldtest a bowler's strength and stamina but the skip-per believes that his bowlers won't treat it as anadversity but a challenge.

"They (bowlers) should look forward to that andnot think of it as a burden or something which isgoing to be tough. Because at international level,things are tough. So, we will just have to embracethat and make something out of the resources thatwe have at present and try to put in the performancesthat the team expects from the players," Kohliexplained team's mindset.

While admitting Pandya's absence is an issue butnot a major one, felt the skipper.

"I don't see it as a major one because in Australiayou still have to bowl really well even if you are anall-rounder. To contain the batsmen is always a chal-lenge here," he added.

PTI n ADELAIDE

Gaining the respect of hiscountry is as big a priority

as taming India for Australianskipper Tim Paine, whoWednesday said that winningmatches and winning heartsare not mutually exclusive tasksfor him.

Setting the tone for thefour-match Test series that getsunderway on Thursday, Painesaid the Australian team, stillrecovering from the furore ofthe ball-tampering scandal, hasidentified the areas that need-ed some changes.

"Both (winning matchesand hearts). That's what we arehere for, we play Test cricket towin, there is no doubt about thatand clearly we've realised weneed to do some work in someareas. Gaining the respect of ourcountry is as high a priority asis winning," said the wicket-keeper-batsman in the pre-match press conference here onWednesday.

The hosts have named afour-pronged attack with JoshHazlewood and Pat Cumminsreturning to the side after miss-ing the Pakistan series in UAE.Paine said playing always helpsand he was confident that afour-bowler attack would do thenecessary job in the first Test.

"Having Josh Hazlewoodand Pat Cummins back in aswell is going to be different. Thestyle of play in Australia com-pared to the UAE is complete-ly different...We are going to goabout it the same way we didover there, it's just going to betactically slightly different.

Paine expressed confidencethat the four-bowler attack will

get through the four Tests with-out any fitness concerns.

"They got through theAshes last year I thought andbowled a hell of a lot of overs.So, they are fresh and ready togo. They have had a great prepa-ration and are ready to go.

"They are fine to go. Theywill be bowling big overs if needbe, and they are totally com-fortable with that," he said.

PTI n ADELAIDE

Young opener PrithviShaw is recovering

quickly from his ankleinjury and might return atthe Boxing Day Test inMelbourne, India coachRavi Shastri said onWednesday.

The 19-year-old fromMumbai was ruled out ofthe opening Test after hurt-ing his left ankle while try-ing to take a catch at thedeep mid-wicket boundaryduring India's practicematch against CricketAustralia XI at the SydneyCricket Ground last week.

"It was heartbreakingto see him go down the wayhe did but the good thingis he is recovering well. Hehas started walking, may be

if we can get him runningby the weekend, that willreally be a good sign,"Shastri told Australianradio channel SEN'sWhateley.

"With youth by hisside, he might recoverquickly, we will take a callas we go close to Perth," headded.

India will begin thefour-Test series againstAustralia with the firstmatch here Thursday andShastri said he expects thehosts to come hard at ViratKohli and his men.

"No team at home is aweak team, every team athome is a strong team, nomatter which oppositionyou are playing against andI would imagine Australiato come out all guns blaz-

ing," he said."But we have the talent

and experience; in thebowling department wehave the skills, so it will beone heck of a series."

The India coach saidthey need to do well con-sistently and not just insome sessions.

"You can't have one ortwo good sessions, youhave to compete the wholedistance because matchescan turn on its head in anhour or so. So the boys areaware of it and they knowthey have to be top ofgame at all times," he said.

"You need a collectiveeffort, you need at least 6-7 guys delivering all thetime and if that happens wecan well be in the winningside."

TEST ENCOUNTERS

Venue M Ind Aus T Draw

In Australia 44 5 28 - 11

In India 50 21 13 1 15

Total 94 26 41 1 26

Since 2000 38 15 14 - 9

At Adelaide 11 1 7 - 3

STATISTICS IN AUSTRALIA

Highest Innings totals

India: 705-7 decl at Sydney 2003-04

Australia: 674 at Adelaide 1947-48

Lowest Innings totals

India: 58 at Brisbane 1947-48

Australia: 83 at Melbourne 1980-81

Highest Individual scores

India: 241* Sachin Tendulkar at Sydney 2003-04

Australia: 329* Michael Clarke at Sydney 2011-12

Best Bowling

India: 8-106 Kapil Dev at Adelaide 1985-86

Australia: 7-27 Mike Whitney at Perth 1991-92

Faisel Features

India await glory Down Under

Australia vs India

Live from 5:30am IST

SONY SIX & TEN 3

Young, In-form and upbeat India look capitalise bestchance to win first Test series

India's past Test recordin Australia is quite

abysmal. In 44 Tests onAustralian soil, they

have only managed fivewins thus far

Bowlers shouldn'tlook at workload asburden, says Kohli

Indian pace trio of Bumrah, Ishant and Shami train during nets BCCI

Prithvi Shaw rolls his ankle as he attempts to catch out CAXI's Max Bryant during their tour match in Sydney AP

Australian skipper Tim Paine speaks during pre match press conference ICC

ADELAIDE: Virat Kohli is confident that "lines won't becrossed" by either India or Australia as far as on-fieldbehaviour is concerned but at the same time doesn'twant players to just show up without emotion.

"I don't see stuff happening,which has happened in the pastwhere both teams have crossedthe line. But still it's acompetitive sport at the end ofthe day and it's internationalcricket. We don't expect guys tojust come, bowl and walk back,"Kohli's statement made it clearthat he would like the contest tohave its share of spice.

The Indian skipper hinted that there could be a bit ofverbal banter without violating the 'Code of Conduct'which had happened in some of the earlier series."Obviously, there are going to be times when you haveto put the batsmen under pressure. Not necessarilycrossing the line, but just get into their heads which youexpect from any side in the world, not just Australia. It'sgoing to be there, but it's not going to happen at thelevel, which has happened in the past, where bothteams have lost control," Kohli elaborated. PTI

‘LINE WON'T BE CROSSED’‘Shaw likely to return for Boxing day Test’

‘GAINING RESPECT ASIMPORTANT AS WINNING’

ADELAIDE: With Australia inturmoil, India are "smelling blood"but Virat Kohli's men would alsobe under great pressure toperform during the four-Testseries starting here Thursday,coach Justin Langer said onWednesday.

"You sense they're smellingblood. Just like the greatA u s t r a l i a ncricket teamof 2001 feltand we justfell short (ofwinning inIndia) and wewere able to(win in)2004," Langertold Australian radio channelSEN's Whateley.

"You sense these moments.I'm sensing India feel that."

India have never won a Testseries in Australia and their recentoversees record has also beenpoor with 1-2 loss to South Africain February and 1-4 defeat toEngland in September. However,Langer said Kohli and Co is agood team and the hosts willshow respect to the visitors. PTI

INDIA ARE SMELLINGBLOOD: LANGER

AFP n ABU DHABI

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq hitcenturies to leave Pakistan in

command of the third and finalTest against New Zealand inAbu Dhabi despite a batting col-lapse that curtailed their first-innings lead.

Azhar hit an attractive 134for his 15th Test hundred whileShafiq scored 104, but debutantNew Zealand off-spinner WillSomerville took four wickets torestrict Pakistan to 348 all out.

Pakistan appeared set tobuild a huge lead before col-lapsing from 286-3 to lose theirfinal seven wickets for the addi-tion of just 62 runs.

The 34-year-old Somervillefinished with 4-75 while left-armspinner Ajaz Patel took 2-100and pace spearhead Trent Boultchipped in with 2-66.

That gave Pakistan a 74-runlead — the same they got in thefirst Test at the same venuebefore losing by four runs.

New Zealand were thenreduced to 26-2 at stumps withKane Williamson unbeaten on 14and nightwatchman Somervilleon one not out to leave themtrailing by 48 runs with eightwickets intact.

Paceman Shaheen ShahAfridi trapped Jeet Raval for

nought while leg-spinner YasirShah had Tom Latham caught forten, his 199th wicket in Tests.

Yasir needs just one morewicket to become the fastest to200 wickets, in his 33rd Test, arecord currently held byAustralian leg-spinner ClarrieGrimmett who reached the mile-stone in 36 Tests, 82 years ago.

Azhar and Shafiq put on 201for the fourth wicket, but oncethey were dismissed only SarfrazAhmed (25) and Babar Azam(14) offered some resistance.

Azhar edged medium pacerColin de Grandhomme throughthe slips to complete his first cen-tury since May 2017 against theWest Indies in Dominica — andhis first hundred against NewZealand.

He took 210 balls to reachthe three-figure mark, beforebeing caught sweeping offSomerville, just before tea.

Shafiq brought up his 12thTest ton with a sharp single offSomerville before falling leg-before to Patel to a straightdelivery.

Somerville then had Azamand Hasan Ali (nought) bowledand wrapped up the innings bygetting Sarfraz caught at mid-wicket.

Earlier, Azhar and Shafiqfrustrated New Zealand's searchfor early wickets as they tookPakistan to 224-3 at lunch.

New Zealand skipperWilliamson took the second newball in the 81st over withPakistan comfortably placed at213-3, but the bowlers struggledto extract much life from a flatpitch at the Sheikh ZayedStadium.

AFP n ANTIGUA

Middle-order batsman Darren Bravowas recalled on Wednesday after

more than two years away from ODIcricket as the West Indies named a 15-man squad for their three-match seriesagainst Bangladesh.

Left-handed Bravo won the last ofhis 96 one-day international caps againstPakistan in October 2016, but returnsafter featuring in the West Indies' recentTwenty20 series in India.

Regular T20 skipper CarlosBrathwaite and Roston Chase were alsobrought back for the ODI series startingin Dhaka on Sunday.

Recent debutants Fabian Allen,Chandrapaul Hemraj and OshaneThomas retained their places after theODI series against India last month.

In the absence of injured JasonHolder, batsman Rovman Powell wasnamed interim captain as the visitorsseek to make amends for their 2-1 homeseries defeat to Bangladesh in July.

"With two more ODI Series beforethe 2019 World Cup, the Bangladeshseries allows us to narrow our search forour final 15-member World Cup squad,"chairman of selectors Courtney Brownesaid in a statement.

"Darren's experience will add valueto the batting, which in turn will place

selection pressure for spots in the squad."The second and third matches of the

series will be held on December 11 and14 in Dhaka and Sylhet.

Squad: Rovman Powell (Capt),Marlon Samuels, Devendra Bishoo,Roston Chase, Chandrapaul Hemraj,Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, ShaiHope, Carlos Brathwaite, Keemo Paul,Kieran Powell, Fabian Allen, KemarRoach, Sunil Ambris, Oshane Thomas.

2 early wickets jackpot for Pak

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq run between thewickets during third day of final Test AP

Darren Bravo plays a shot during against India AFP

BRAVO RETURNS

FOR B’DESH ODIS