SCHOOLS UP TO CLASS 8 CLOSEDLucknow: In view of intense coldweather and foggy conditions,District Magistrate Kaushal RajSharma on Friday orderedclosure of all schools up to Class8 till January 4, 2018. Theopening time for Class 9onwards will be 10 am.

AIRLINE STOPS DHAWAN'SWIFE, CHILDREN IN DUBAICape Town: Indian openingbatsman Shikhar Dhawan onFriday slammed the EmiratesAirlines for not allowing his wifeand kids to catch the connectingflight from Dubai to South Africa.

MARKETS SIGN OFF2017 WITH 28% GAINSMumbai: Equities rallied on lasttrading session of 2017, bringingto close a remarkable year thatsaw benchmarks surging pastmilestones and rewarding inve-stors with stellar 28% returns.

NITI SLOWEST IN DISPOSINGOF PUBLIC GRIEVANCESNew Delhi: Government think-tank NITI Aayog is slowest whenit comes to addressing publicgrievances, says a Govt report.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

In order to provide qualityeducation, the Delhi

Government on Friday decid-ed to introduce a new type ofschool named ‘School ofExcellence’ in the nationalCapital. The new buildings of‘School of Excellence’ inRohini, Khichdipur, Kalkaji,Madanpur Khadar and Dwarkaare ready.

Deputy ChiefMinister ManishSisodia said theseschools wouldimpart educa-tion throughEnglish languageand the admissionprocess for nurseryto class five and, Classnine and 11 would

start from next year.The decision was taken at

a Cabinet meeting, chaired byChief Minister ArvindKejriwal. At present, there arethree categories ofGovernment-run schools inthe national Capital — RajkiyaVidalaya, Pratibha VikasVidalya and Sarvodaya Vidalya.

Briefing the mediapersonsabout the Cabinet decisions,Sisodia, who also holds the

education portfolio, saidthe Government would

set up a model of goodeducation by openingthe ‘Schools of

Excellence’.I n

P r a t i b h aVidalaya, stu-

dents are admittedafter entrance tests

while in Sarvodaya and RajkiyaVidalaya, there is no such con-dition, he said.

“For admission to Schoolsof Excellence... Neighbourhoodcriteria will be followed. Thenumber of seats in theseschools would be limited — 25students in each section of

nursery to Class V. However,there will be written tests foradmission in Class IX andClass XI,” he said.

Apart from this, the Cabinethas also decided to set up aworld-class skill centre in South-West Delhi’s Jaunapur area.

“The Cabinet has approved

`254 crore for setting up theworld-class skill centre.Construction of the skill cen-tre will be completed in thenext two years,” Sisodia said.

This would be second suchskill centre in the nationalCapital after one such facility inEast Delhi’s Vivek Area.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu once near-

ly fell victim to a misleadingadvertisement about weightloss. Naidu made this disclo-sure in the House as he direct-ed the Government to findways to restrict such adver-tisements. Consumer AffairsMinister Ram Vilas Paswanurged the House to pass a Billpertaining to this issue.

Narrating his experience,Naidu said after becoming theVice President he came acrossthe advertisement claimingweight loss in 28 days. Aftermaking payment of `1,230 tothe company as demanded inthe advertisement, more moneywas sought for delivering the“original” medicine, he said inhis characteristic witty style.

Upon learning about the

demand, Naiduthen saidhu m o r o u s l y,“You know mymentality. I didnot leave thematter there,”

adding that he asked his staff toraise the matter with the con-cerned Ministry. The Ministerconcerned, he said, actedpromptly and an inquiry wascarried out. However, it was found that the adver-tisement originated from theUS, the Minister informedhim, Naidu said.

He revealed his ordeal afterNaresh Agrawal (SP) flagged theissue seeking strict laws to checkadulteration and misleadingadvertisements. While severalcountries had already crackeddown on adulteration, Agrawalsaid some eminent film per-sonalities in India were endors-ing products claiming weightloss, height gain and six packs.

Responding to the con-cerns of Naidu and others,Paswan admitted that it was aserious matter and said the cur-

rent Consumer ProtectionAct is 31 years old. The

NDA Governmenthas drafted a newBill. The Bill wasintroduced in theLok Sabha in 2015

and referred to theStanding Committee

after discussion.The Standing Committee

gave “good suggestions” andthe Union Cabinet approved thenew Bill recently as it coveredmost of the concerns, he saidadding the Bill will be intro-duced soon in the Lok Sabha. Heurged the Elders not to refer theBill again to the StandingCommittee once it comes to theUpper House so that the Bill canbe passed at the earliest.

On another issue, Naiduassociated himself with theMPs after Ritabrata Banerjee,who was recently expelled fromthe CPI(M), urged theGovernment to declare NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose’s birth-day on January 23 as a nation-al holiday and “Desh PremDiwas” (day of patriotism). Itwill be fitting tribute to the“forgotten hero” of theIndependence struggle,Banerjee said and narrated thetale of Bose’s daring escapefrom house arrest by the Britishin Kolkata to reach Germanyvia Afghanistan. Cutting acrossparty lines, the Elders backedBanerjee’s submission.

Continued on Page 6

ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI

In a shocking development inpoll-bound Meghalaya, eight

sitting MLAs of the MeghalayaLegislative Assembly — includ-ing five of the ruling Congress— on Friday resigned from theAssembly to join the NationalPeoples’ Party (NPP) foundedby former Lok Sabha Speakerlate PA Sangma.

The eight sitting legislators— Siawbhalang Dhar,Comingone Ymbon, HopefulBamon, Stephanson Mukhim,Prestone Tynsong, RemingtonPyngrope, Rowell Lyngdoh andNgaitlang Dhar — submittedtheir resignation letters toAssembly Secretary AndrewSimon on Friday morning.

All the eight legislators arelikely to join the NPP formal-ly at a function to be held onJanuary 4. The NPP is a partner of the BJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance(NDA) and also part of theBJP-led coalition Governmentin Manipur.

With Friday’s resignation,which comes days after anoth-er MLA PN Syiem quit the

Congress, the number of partyMLAs in the 60-memberMeghalaya Assembly has comedown to 24 from 30.

Although the developmentahead of the forthcomingAssembly polls slated for earlynext year came as a shocker forthe ruling Congress, there is noimmediate threat to theCongress Government as ithas support of nine Indepen-dents which takes its tally to 33.

“I am from the Congressbut I have decided to leaveparty since leadership in theState had failed to fulfil theaspirations of the people. Evenin the Cabinet meetings he(Mukul Sangma) never con-sults anything with us anddoes whatever he likes,” saidPrestone Tynsong after ten-dering his resignation. He saidthat the style of functioning ofthe Chief Minister also forcedhim to quit.

It may be mentioned herethat Tynsong was droppedfrom the Meghalaya Cabinetearlier this year.

It may be mentioned herethat trouble seems to havestarted in the Governmentafter the Chief Minister had inAugust this year droppedTynsong and SniawbhalangDhar and inducted CelestineLyngdoh and ComingoneYmbon. Interestingly, Ymbonhad also resigned.

Continued on Page 6

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Government on Fridaycautioned investors to be

wary of virtual currencies likeBitcoin, saying they are likePonzi schemes with no legaltender and protection.

“There is a real and height-ened risk of investment bubbleof the type seen in Ponzischemes which can result insudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, espe-cially retail consumers losingtheir hard-earned money.Consumers need to be alertand extremely cautious as toavoid getting trapped in suchPonzi schemes,” the FinanceMinistry said in a statement.

Virtual currencies (VCs)are stored in digital/electronicformat, making them vulnera-ble to hacking, loss of pass-word, malware attack, etc.,which may also result in permanent loss of money, it said.

Noting that there has beena phenomenal increase inrecent times in the price ofVCs, including Bitcoin, in Indiaand globally, it said, the VCsdon’t have any intrinsic valueand are not backed by any kindof assets.

“The price of Bitcoin andother VCs, therefore, is entire-ly a matter of mere speculationresulting in spurt and volatili-ty in their prices,” it said.

Detailed report on P10

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

At least 14 people, including11 women, were killed and

55 others injured when aninferno gutted three upmarketdining restaurants and pubs,including Mojo’s Bistro lounge,in the happening Kamala Millscompound at Lower Parel insouth-central Mumbai in thewee hours of Friday.

A majority of those killedin the tragedy were suffocatedto death as fire broke out inMojo’s Bistro lounge and spreadto neighbouring ‘1 Above’ casu-al dining restaurant andLondon Taxi Gastropub atTrade House building in theluxurious building complex.

There were in all 25women among the 55 personinjured in the accident. Of theinjured, 41 people were treat-ed and allowed to go homefrom different hospitals, while13 are undergoing treatment atBhatia Hospital and theremaining one is admitted tothe National Burns Centre atAiroli in Navi Mumbai.

More than a dozen fire ten-ders rushed to fight the blazewhich was finally broughtunder control and extinguishedaround 7 am. However, evenafter the fire was brought undercontrol, there were reports ofsmouldering fire in the area.

Eyewitness accounts saidthat anywhere between 150 to200 people were trapped in theblaze when the fire envelopedthe three crowded restaurantsand pubs and spread to neigh-

bouring establishments, dis-rupting among other thingsoperations at the various television channels of Times Network, where opera-tions were suspended and all of its employees were evac-uated safely.

People ran helter-skelteras the affected restaurants andpubs were up in leaping flames and the area came undera thick cloud of toxic fumes.

New Year-eve get-togethersand birthday parties were on atall the three restaurants-cum-pubs when the fire broke out.

Among those killed in themishap was Khushboo JayeshBhansali, who was celebratingher 29th birthday in a restau-

rant with her husband andtheir friend when the incidenttook place.

Among others killed were

two brothers Dhairya Lalani(26) and Vishwa Lalani (23),who were on a holiday inMumbai from the US. Theyhad returned to the KamalaMill compound in search oftheir aunt. The three were cel-ebrating a New Year-eve partywith other friends at the ‘1Above’ restaurant and pub.

There were conflicting ver-sions about the the cause of thefire. While the initial reportssaid the fire had been triggeredby a short-circuit, there wasother theories like un-extin-guished cigarette-butts or cur-tain catching fire because of ahukkah being inhaled by acustomer in one of the restau-rants might have sparked fire.

Continued on Page 6

14 killed in Mumbai pub inferno

Birthday girl among dead; 55 hurt, 3 dining restaurants in Kamala Mills compound gutted

m Among those killed in the mishap was Khushboo Jayesh Bhansali,who was celebrating her 29th birthday in a restaurant with herhusband and their friend, when the incident took place

m Among others killed were two brothers Dhairya Lalani (26) andVishwa Lalani (23), who were on a holiday in Mumbai from the US. They had returned to the Kamala Mill compound insearch of their aunt

m The Times Network with offices of all its major channels in the samecomplex was affected temporarily. However, all the employees wereevacuated safely

m Five officials of the BMC had been suspended after they were foundguilty of giving illegal permissions, while a criminal offence had beenregistered against the owners and managers of the affectedrestaurants and pubs

DECEMBER 18: 12 labourers killedand 10 hurt when a fire broke outin a dry snacks and ‘farsan’wholesale shop in Sakinaka,Andheri east

SEPTEMBER 29: 23 commuters killedand 39 hurt in a stampede on anarrow, congested foot overbridgeon Elphinstone Road of WesternRailway connecting with Parel ofCentral Railway, allegedly due toheavy rains and rumours

AUGUST 31: 33 residents were killedand another 17 hurt when acentury-old dilapidated buildingcollapsed off Pakmodia Street inthe densely-populated BhendiBazaar area of south Mumbai

AUGUST 5: 3 students of the UnalMill High School, Mahim, washedaway into the Arabian Sea as hugetidal waves lashed the city’sshoreline at the Dadar Chowpatty

JULY 25: 17 persons were killedand 11 others injured when a four-storied building Sai Darshansuddenly collapsed in Ghatkopar

JANUARY 23: Six minor children,aged between six and 13,sustained burns in a fire that brokeout in a slum pocket in the LCCCompound, adjacent to the MasjidBunder station. Though all thechildren later survived despite theirburns, the Central Railway wascompelled to halt all operations fornearly an hour as power supplywas switched off to prevent spread of the blaze or damage torailway assets

Naidu asks Govtto restrict suchads; Min urgesRS to pass Bill

Even V-P trapped by fake weight-loss ad

Jolt for Cong as 5

dissidents walk out

in protest against

CM ahead of polls

Bitcoin like

Ponzi scheme,

Centre warns

investors

Govt plans excellence in select new schools

Meghalaya on way toCong-mukt! 8 MLAsto join BJP’s partner

P6: B’luru residents cry overrooftop eateries

P6: Drunken stupor, selfieobsession delayed evacuation

P6: Kamala Mills fire latest inMumbai’s ‘29’ series of tragedies

P6: Blame game breaks outbetween two pub owners

Disturbing news aboutthe fire in Mumbai.Condolences to thebereaved families andwishing the injured an earlyrecovery. Commend the valiantefforts of firefighters and those inrescue operationsPRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND

Anguished by the firein Mumbai. Mythoughts are with thebereaved families inthis hour of grief. Ipray that those injuredrecover quicklyPRIME MINISTER’SOFFICE

Disturbing to know about the loss oflives in unfortunate Kamala Mills fireincident in Mumbai. My thoughts arewith the families who lost their lovedones and I pray for the speedyrecovery of the injured. Directed the BMCCommissioner to conduct an in-depth enquiryMAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

I share the grief ofthe families of thevictims. Thereshould animmediate probeinto the incidentand the guilty shouldbe punished sternlyRAHUL GANDHI

CAPSULE

RAGING FLAMES

MUMBAI’S TRYSTWITH TRAGEDIESHours before 2017 fades intohistory, it leaves behind a trail ofdeaths, destruction and disasters that cropped up inMumbai at regular intervalsmaking the city hit the headlinesfor all the wrong reasons

SEE INSIDE

A team of policemen inspect the site aftera fire broke out (left) in Mumbai onFriday PTI/AP

New buildings for 6

English-medium

‘Schools of Excellence’

in Rohini, Khichdipur,

Kalkaji, Madanpur

Khadar, Dwarka ready

For admission toSchools ofExcellence...Neighbourhoodcriteria will befollowed. Thenumber of seatswould be 25 studentsin each section ofnursery to Class V

MANISH SISODIA

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

SPORT 15

HONOURS EVEN ON 1STDAY OF RANJI FINAL

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

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

Late City Vol. 153 Issue 352*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864

LUCKNOW, SATURDAY DECEMBER 30, 2017; PAGES 16 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

}

RAHMAN TO

PAY TRIBUTE TO

HIS HOMELAND

16 VIVACITY

MONEY 10

FISCAL DEFICIT BREACHESFY'18 TARGET TILL NOV

WORLD 12

12 KILLED IN NY’SDEADLIEST FIRE

}

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will celebrate

the New Year with theVantangiya community inMaharajganj and give certifi-cates to the villagers of 18gram sabhas in that region, anofficial disclosed here onFriday. A highly-placed sourcesaid that the Chief Ministerwould have interaction with thevillagers to find out whetherthey were getting the benefitsof government schemes. Hewould also declare 18Vantangiya villages as revenuevillages, the source added.

A revenue village is a smalladministrative region — a vil-lage with defined borders. Onerevenue village may containmany hamlets.

Conversion of tribal-dom-inated forest villages to revenuevillages under the provisions ofthe Scheduled Tribes and OtherTraditional Forest Dwellers(Recognition of Forest Rights)Act will enable the adminis-tration to take developmentmeasures such as setting up ofschools, dispensaries and otherfacilities in these villages.

There are around 40,000Vantangiyas spread over in

Gorakhpur and Maharajganjdistricts. The Vantangiya com-munity comprises people whowere brought from Myanmarto plant trees for afforestationduring the colonial rule.

The official said that thecommunity faced problemsrelated to use of natural forestproduce like fruits, honey, wax,wood and leaves to meet theirdaily needs as the forests inhab-ited by them were not consid-ered revenue villages. InOctober, the Chief Ministerhad celebrated Diwali with theforest dwelling Vantangiyacommunity in Gorakhpur anddeclared five of their settle-ments as revenue villages. At afunction held in a Vantangiyavillage, the Chief Minister haddistributed sweets, fruits andtextbooks to the children andwheelchairs to the differently-abled people.

CM to celebrateNew Year withVantangiyas

Allahabad: The AkhilBharatiya Akhara Parishad, theapex body of Hindu sadhus, onFriday released a second list of“fake babas”. The list consists ofthree names- Virendra DixitKalnemi (Delhi), SachidanandSaraswati (Basti, UP) and TrikalBhawant (Allahabad).Releasing the list, the parishad’spresident Swami Narendra Girisaid, “We appeal to even thecommon people to beware ofsuch charlatans who belong tono tradition and by their ques-tionable acts, bring disrepute tosadhus and sanyasis.” Theparishad is a council of akha-ras, which are monastic ordersdrawing their spiritual lineagefrom 8th-century seer AdiShankara, who is said to haveestablished orders of martial

monks with the aim of defend-ing the Hindu Dharma.

On September 10, itreleased the first list of 14 suchself-styled godmen whichincluded names such asGurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,Radhey Ma, Nirmal Baba,Rampal, Asaram Bapu andhis son Narayan Sai. Theparishad took the move in thewake of controversies sur-rounding self-styled godmen.“We have passed a resolutionthat the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment should set up a mon-itoring committee whichwould keep a close eye on thework being done for KumbhMela, 2019 and this commit-tee should consist of a mem-ber from each akharas,” Girisaid. PTI

Second list of fake

babas released

city 02LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

PNS n LUCKNOW

Expressing its serious reser-vations on the Muslim

Women (Protection of Rightson Marriage) Bill passed by theLok Sabha on Thursday, theAll-India Muslim Personal LawBoard said that it may move theSupreme Court against thetriple talaq bill once it waspassed by the Rajya Sabha andbecame a law.

“The AIMPLB will takesteps through democraticmeans to amend, improve orscrap (the bill). The board mayapproach the Supreme Courtagainst the triple talaq billonce it is passed by the RajyaSabha,” said Zafaryab Jilani,secretary of AIMPLB.

“An option is always opento challenge a law passed byParliament in the apex court ifit is against the SupremeCourt’s judgement and theIndian Constitution. Convenorof our legal committee hasalso suggested that it can bechallenged in the court.However, we will decide ourfuture course of action once theBill is passed and the law isenacted,” Jilani said.

“We will take whateversteps are required throughdemocratic means for scrap-ping of the proposed law. Thebill was introduced with unduehaste in Parliament withoutconsulting the stakeholders.The AIMPLB should have beentaken into confidence by thegovernment before rushing toLok Sabha with the bill,” AIMPLB spokespersonMaulana Khalil-ur-RehmanSajjad Nomani said here onFriday.

“Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad, while tablingthe bill in Parliament, alsoquoted the board (AIMPLB)and a women MP of the ruling

party tried to answer thequeries raised by the board ina letter to the Prime Ministerproving that the governmentrecognises the board. So theboard should have been takeninto confidence,” Nomani said.

Maulana Nomani said theAIMPLB wanted the tripletalaq bill not to be in conflictwith either the Constitution,the Supreme Court order or theMuslim Personal Law Board.

“We had demanded thatthe bill be prepared only afterconsultation with representa-tives of Muslim women organ-isations, All-India MuslimPersonal Board but it did notmean that we were against thebill. We only wanted that thebill should not be in conflictwith the Constitution of India,the Supreme Court judgementor Muslim Personal LawBoard,” he said.

All-India Muslim WomenPersonal Law Board presidentShaista Amber has welcomedthe passage of the triple talaqbill in the Lok Sabha. She has,however, clarified that any lawenacted in this regard should bein the light of the Quran andthe Constitution to make itacceptable to the community.

The All-India Shia MuslimPersonal Law Board, mean-while, advocated more strin-gent punishment to thoseindulging in triple talaq.

Maulana Yasoob Abbas ofthe AISMPLB said that he hadsent a letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for makingthe punishment to thoseindulging in the practice morestringent.

“I have urged the PrimeMinister through a letter thata jail term of 10 years be pro-vided for those indulging intriple talaq and registration ofa criminal case against them,”Yasoob Abbas said.

Lucknow (PNS): The influential Islamicseminary Darul Uloom Deoband has opposedthe triple talaq bill passed by the Lok Sabha onThursday.

Reacting strongly to the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill that seeksto criminalise triple talaq, the mohtamin (Vice-Chancellor) of Darul Uloom Deoband, MaulanaMufti Abul Qasim Nomani, said the bill not onlytargeted Muslim men but was also against thewelfare of Muslim women.

“It is not a matter of single or triple talaq.

If the bill is passed then in the eyes of the law,a divorce will stand void. But the society will seethem (the couple) as divorced. Under the law,the man will be sent to jail. If that happens, whowill take care of the woman and her children,the court or the government? While the man willsuffer in jail, the fate of the woman and her chil-dren will hang in the balance,” Nomani argued.

“In Islam, we have provision for meher (asum committed to wife by husband at the timeof marriage) and maintenance but the bill issilent on these aspects,” he added.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Industry Minister SatishMahana said that the YogiAdityanath government was

committed to generatingemployment in the state byinviting industrialists to investin different parts of UttarPradesh.

He said the investmentswould generate revenue andalso provide employment to theyouths.

“Recently, the governmenthas held roadshows in manyparts of the country to inviteindustrialists to the InvestmentMeet to be held in Lucknow onFebruary 21 and 22. Theresponse has been very good as

investors have liked the pro-industry policy, coupled withthe commitment shown by theYogi government to spruce upthe law and order,” Mahanasaid while taking stock of thepreparations for the InvestmentMeet here on Friday.

He said the response ofinvestors to the roadshowsheld in Delhi, Bengaluru,Hyderabad and Mumbai wasvery encouraging.

The next roadshow will beheld at Kolkata on January 5and then in Ahmedabad.

“The meetings of ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath withbankers in Mumbai have beenvery encouraging. Almost allthe top banks have shown

interest in investing in UP andhave assured all help to the stateif someone comes up with aproposal of investment,” theminister said.

Mahana has asked theheads of all departments tosubmit the project profile oftheir departments to the gov-ernment.

“We are expecting invest-ments not only from India butalso from foreign countrieslike the Netherlands, Finlandand Czechoslovakia whichhave sent their letters ofapproval. We are also expectingrepresentatives from otherembassies to take part in theInvestment Summit,” the min-ister said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The National Human RightsCommission has indicted

the UP Police for illegal pro-ceedings in a case of lovemarriage resulting in graveviolation of human rights of anewlywed couple inBalrampur.

This included wrongfuldetention, custodial rape, falseimplication and delay in initi-ating criminal proceedingsagainst the accused sub-inspector.

The NHRC has issued anotice to the UP governmentthrough the Chief Secretary toshow cause why the victim

woman, her husband andfather-in-law should not berecommended to be paid Rs 5lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakhrespectively as monetary reliefin the case.

The Chief Secretary hasbeen given three months’ timeto submit his reply.

The National HumanRights Commission said in itsreport that a young man anda girl from Balrampur hadeloped and got married inMumbai. The girl’s fatherlodged a complaint of abduc-tion with the police, followingwhich the newlywed couplewas called to Mathura policeoutpost of Balrampur district.

However, instead of takinga proper legal recourse in themater, the man and the girlwere detained in separate cellsat the police outpost onAugust 12 and 13 in 2014, theNHRC said, adding that thesub-inspector subjected thegirl to sexual assault.

When the girl complainedabout her sexual assault by thesub-inspector, no prompt law-ful action was taken in thematter. The police continuedto pursue the case of underagemarriage of the couple despitea city court having held bothof them to be of major age andhaving allowed the girl to livewith her husband as per her

wish, the NHRC said. Not only this, the police

subsequently charged the girl’shusband with rape by addingSection 376 to the main caseand also falsely implicated herfather-in-law. She was alsocoerced to retract her allega-tion in another FIR aboutcharges of rape against hersupporters.

The National HumanRights Commission also foundthat in response to its notices,the Superintendent of Police ofBalrampur had failed to give aclear sequence of events hav-ing unity of time, action andplace involving the couple’smarriage and action taken on

another FIR registered by thegirl, alleging sexual assault bya sub-inspector.

Taking a serious exceptionto the functioning of thepolice, the National HumanRights Commission observedthat this was an extremely sordid case that had comebefore it.

Not only the police offi-cials failed in conducting fairand correct investigation, theyhad also failed to appreciatethe provisions of law, as far asthe applicability of Section376 of Indian Penal Code wasconcerned, the NationalHuman Rights Commissionsaid.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Mohsin Raza, the loneMuslim in Yogi

Adityanath’s Council ofMinisters, has slammed thosesupporting triple talaq, sayingthat if uttering the word nikah(wedding) thrice does notsolemnise a marriage, how canthe uttering of the word talaqthrice result in divorce.

“My simple question is, ifsaying talaq thrice results indivorce, then saying nikahthrice should mean that thewedding has been solemnised,”Minister of State for Waqf andHaj, Mohsin Raza, said a dayafter the Lok Sabha passed theMuslim Women (Protection ofRights on Marriage) Bill, 2017.

He said going by the samelogic, saying namaz thrice shouldmean that the prayer had beenoffered. “Nowhere is it writtenthat saying talaq thrice will resultin divorce. Do you think that bysaying roza thrice, my roza willbe complete?” he said, and added:“Roza is a process which has tobe completed. Haj is a processwhich has to be undertaken. Justsaying Haj-Haj-Haj will not suf-fice. Similarly, talaq is a process,”he said.

Condemning the All-IndiaMuslim Personal Law Board,Raza said the board had madea mockery of the Muslim per-sonal law and it was opposing

the proposed legislation banningtriple talaq for serving its narrowvested interests.

“The AIMPLB should firstlearn the basic tenets of Islamand Islamic law” he said.

Mounting attack on oppo-sition parties for opposing thetriple talaq bill, Raza said, “Theopposition should first say onwhat basis the AIMPLB shouldhave been made a stakeholderwhile finalising the draft of thebill. The board is a registeredsociety or an NGO. There aremany organisations working forsocial welfare and the AIMPLBis one of them,” he said, addingthat the AIMPLB was neitherShariat nor the Constitution ofIndia.

“As far as the oppositionparties are concerned, they arealways eager to take undueadvantage of casteist and com-munal sentiments. They pointfingers at us and accuse theBharatiya Janata Party of beinga communal party. In fact, theremote control of AIMPLB is inthe hands of the oppositionparties, who have been baffledby the triple talaq bill,” the min-ister said. “More than the AIM-PLB, it is the opposition partieswho are baffled by the billagainst triple talaq as they seekvotes of a particular communi-ty and hence they are talking likethis,” he alleged.

“Please try to think why the

BJP or Prime Minister NarendraModi had to take an initiativeand draft a law in this regard atthe first place. What was theneed to do so? You call Modi asanti-Muslim. If the AIMPLB isa well-wisher and thinks for thewell-being of the Muslim com-munity, then it should list thewelfare work done by it for theMuslims since its inception.

“In fact, the AIMPLB in thegarb of welfare, talks aboutexploitation even today. Tripletalaq is nothing but exploitationof poor women,” Raza said.

On whether the provisionsof the bill infringed the rights ofMuslim men, Raza said, “Therights of women had been gross-ly violated. Unlike the AIMPLB,the BJP believes in ‘Sabka SaathSabka Vikas ‘ and we stand forstrengthening Muslim women.”

“Muslim women have beendominated for ages by Muslimmen. If the AIMPLB is so muchconcerned for the Muslim soci-ety, why in 1985 in the ShahBano case, when the SupremeCourt had awarded mainte-nance allowance to the divorcedwomen, the AIMPLB mobilisethe clerics and mounted pressureon then Prime Minister RajivGandhi to reverse the judgementin Parliament. This resulted inMuslim women facing hardshipssince 1980s, and the AIMPLBand Congress are responsible forit,” Raza said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

In pursuance of theannouncement of Chief

Minister Yogi Adityanath, nec-essary instructions have beenissued to all state governmentoffices, including LegislativeAssembly, Legislative Council,state secretariat, public sector,municipal corporations/coun-cils, educational institutions, toput up a picture of Dr BhimraoRamji Ambedkar in theiroffices.

All these offices have beenasked to ensure necessaryaction immediately.

Giving this information, astate government spokesmansaid as per the instructions, itwas mandatory to inscribe thedates of birth and death of DrBhimrao Ramji Ambedkarunder the picture.

It may be pointed out herethat the Chief Minister, onDecember 6, had directed allstate government offices,including Legislative Assembly,Legislative Council, state secre-tariat, public sector, municipalcorporations/councils, educa-tional institutions to put up apicture of Dr Bhimrao RamjiAmbedkar in offices.

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. Tel: (0522) 2438656 / 9336266608.

Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (95532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (95512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (95542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi

Office: Link House, II Floor, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002. Tel: (011) 23755271-274, 41509074.

lYrur cgknqj b.Vj dkyst cnykiqj tkSuiqjesa l0v0 ds rhu in fjDr gSaA in fgUnh dsnks] ,oa vaxzsth fo"k; ds 01 in ds fy, U;wure;ksX;rk izf'kf{kr Lukrd ,oa U;wure vk;q 21o"kZ gSA bPNqd vH;FkhZ foKkiu frfFk ls 15fnu ds vUnj viuk vkosnu i= izsf"kr djldrs gSaA lk{kkRdkj fnukad 21-01-2018 dksizkr% 10 cts fo|ky; izkax.k esa gksxkA dksbZ;k=k HkRrk ns; ugha gksxkA

izcU/kdlYrur cgknqj b.Vj dkyst]

cnykiqj] tkSuiqjA

vko';drk gS

vko';drk gS

Investments to generate

jobs, revenue: Mahana

Orders issued to put up Dr Ambedkar’spicture in offices

UP Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit administering oath to BJP’s newly-elected MLA Ajit Pal in the Tandon Hall ofVidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on Friday Pioneer

Mohsin Raza slams those

supporting triple talaq

Triple talaq bill against women: Darul Uloom

AIMPLB may moveSC if triple talaq billis passed by RS

NHRC notice to UP Police in marriage case

Six killed in road accidents

Lucknow (PNS): Six per-sons were killed in separateroad accidents during the last 24hours.

Three persons were killedwhen their car rammed into amini-truck on the Delhi-Lucknow National Highway inheavy fog in Bareilly. The acci-

dent took place near Zed villageon Thursday night, killing threepersons including two womenon the spot. Efforts were on toascertain the identities of thedeceased aged 25 to 40 years.

In Lakhimpur Kheri also,three persons were killed in twoseparate road accidents.

Anil Kumar (30) andMahendra Kumar (31) werekilled when when a speedingtruck hit their motorcycle nearDaudpur village. Bahure (47)was killed and his friend Rajeshinjured when their motorcyclecrashed into a tractor nearRoshannagar village.

Wanted ‘criminal’killed in shootoutwith police

Bulandshahr: A wantedcriminal carrying a reward of`50,000 was killed on Friday ina shootout near Sikandrabadtown here, police said. Theincident took place in the earlyhours when Sonu opened fireon a police party at Santpuracanal when they tried to appre-hend him, police said, addingthat policemen retaliated andhe was killed. SSP Muniraj Gsaid Sonu hailed from Jawantown of neighbouring Aligarhdistrict and he had 27 cases ofdacoity registered against him.

Since last week, a numberof dacoities have taken place inSikandrabad circle, followingwhich the police intensified itsvigil, the SSP said. PTI

city 03LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The air quality level dete-riorated appreciably inview of foggy conditions

prevailing in the state capital.Uttar Pradesh PollutionControl Board (UPPCB) offi-cials said the air quality index(AIQ) was very poor with anaverage recorded at 326. “At326, the air quality falls in thevery poor condition,” he added.Incidentally, the city has latelybeen facing bad air conditionquite frequently.

A scientist from an insti-tute of the city said conditionslike these were not good forhealth. “The air has a combi-nation of all these gaseoussubstances and particulate mat-ter as well as traffic effluentswhich are not at all good forhealth,” he added.

The IITR report of theambient air quality of 2017details the adverse impact ofpollutants. It states that high-er levels of air pollutants,including metals, have anadverse effect on human andenvironmental health. Air pol-lution creates a series of sig-nificant health problems,including premature death,aggravated asthma and acuterespiratory symptoms as well asdecreased lung function in theform of shortness of breath orchronic bronchitis.

The report said that par-ticulate matter is also a majorcause of visibility impairmentenhancing co-efficient of hazein many parts of Asian coun-tries and United States becausethese particles can scatter andabsorb light. Further fine par-ticles can remain suspended inthe air and travel long distancesacross regional and interna-tional borders without sinkingand settling. Numerous epi-demiological studies indicatethat an increase in particulatematter concentration is asso-ciated with increased mortali-

ty, increased hospitalisationfor respiratory and cardiovas-cular diseases, increased respi-ratory symptoms anddecreased lung function.

Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)cause a wide variety of healthand environmental impactsbecause of various compoundsand derivatives in the family ofnitrogen oxides, includingnitrogen dioxide, nitric acid,nitrous oxide, nitrates andnitric oxide.

“Nitrogen dioxide can haveboth acute and chronic effectson health, particularly in peo-ple with asthma. NO2 causesinflammation of the airways.Inorganic components consti-

tute a small portion due to themass of particulates. The highlevel of lead can induce severeneurological and hematologi-cal effects on the exposed pop-ulation, especially children,”states the report.

“Particulate matter has adiameter of 10 μm and a diam-eter of 2.5 μm when inhaledwould penetrate beyond thelarynx. Small particles pene-trate deeply into the lung andcan cause respiratory diseasessuch as emphysema and bron-chitis and aggravate existingheart disease. Ultra fine par-ticles ranging from 0.001 to 0.1micron in diameter are able topenetrate deep into the lung

and to the alveolar sacs wheregaseous exchange occurs.Further these particles increasethe rate of blood flow and vas-cular permeability to the whiteblood cells, elevating clottingactivity, constriction of the air-ways and fever induction,”states the report. It furtherstates that elevated value of sul-phur dioxide may cause irrita-tion of the eyes, nose andthroat, choking and coughing.

“Reflex cough, irritationand a feeling of chest tightness,which may lead to narrowingof the airways, is particularlylikely to occur in people suf-fering from asthma and chron-ic lung disease, whose airways

are often inflamed and easilyirritated. Oral inhalation oflarger volumes may reach thesegmental bronchi and damagethe organ and exposure of theeyes (eg in an industrial acci-dent) can cause severe burnsresulting in the loss of vision.Repeated or prolonged expo-sure to moderate concentra-tions may cause inflammationof the respiratory tract, wheez-ing and lung damage and otherhealth effects include headache,general discomfort and anxiety.

“Nitrogen causes a widevariety of health and environ-mental impacts because of var-ious compounds and deriva-tives in its family, including

nitrates and nitric oxide.Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) isassociated with mortality anda range of morbidity outcomes.It can be used as a marker oftraffic proximity and conve-nient metric for modelling thehealth impacts of traffic pollu-tion and evaluating abatementpolicies. “Long-term exposureto nitrogen dioxide may affectlung function and lower theresistance to diseases such aspneumonia and influenza. Anextremely high-dose exposureto nitrogen dioxide may resultin pulmonary oedema, diffuselung injury and development ofacute or chronic bronchitis,”said the report.

Fog adds to Lucknow’s poor air quality index

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Dense fog added to thechill in the state capital

on Friday. The visibility waspoor in the morning even asit deteriorated in the night.

Lucknow recorded themaximum temperature at19.5 degree Celsius, whichwas three notches below nor-mal. The minimum temper-ature settled at 9 degreeCelsius, which was just anotch above normal.

The weatherman pre-dicted dense foggy conditionsin isolated parts of the stateand moderate fog in the cap-ital. Lucknow remainedenveloped by fog till late after11 am. The sun made anappearance thereafter.However, the fog returnedreturned in the evening.Commuters had a tough timewith the poor visibility. Metdirector JP Gupta said thatthe fog was caused by mois-ture in the atmosphere withno wind blowing. The lack of

any system in the eastern partof the state was also creatingsuch conditions, he said.

Gupta said moderatefoggy conditions would pre-vail on the New Year eve. Theforecast for Lucknow is mod-erate to dense fog in themorning. The maximum andminimum temperatures areexpected to be around 19 and9 degrees respectively. Theforecast for the state is drywith moderate to dense foglikely at many places over eastUP and at isolated placesover west UP.

The Met departmentissued a warning for dense tovery dense fog at few placesover eastern UP and isolatedplaces over western UP.

Airport officials said thatflights had been divertedbecause of fog. Railway offi-cials said seven trains weredelayed by more than threehours. In the state,Muzaffarnagar remained thecoldest with a minimum tem-perature of 4 degree Celsius.

Met dept predictsfoggy 2018 eve

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Eight persons, including sixof a family, were killed in

separate road mishaps in thelast 24 hours while three sus-tained minor injuries.

The victims of the samefamily included Vishnu (30),a native of Amethi, and hiswife and children. They werekilled in a road mishap nearKaningnra village (Agra-Lucknow Expressway) underKakori police station onFriday morning. The policesaid Vishnu, his wife SunitaDevi (27), daughter Muskan(9), son Rishab (3) and twoyounger brothers — Rinku(25) and Mohan alias Ram Raj(23) — were killed in the acci-dent. Vishnu was driving thecar. The family was returningfrom New Delhi to Bahegi vil-lage in Amethi via Lucknow to

attend a function in connec-tion with New Year.

Vishnu, along with hisfamily, lived in New Delhi andhas a laundry shop whileRinku used to help him in thebusiness. Ram Raj went toNew Delhi for some work aweek ago and was also return-ing with the family. Vishnu’scar had a head-on collisionwith a speeding truck.

The truck hit anothervehicle, owned by VK Agrawal(50), a resident of Wazirganj.The car occupants includedAgrawal, Bhawana Gupta (45),also of Wazirganj, and Rakesh(30). They sustained minorinjuries. The errant truck dri-ver, identif ied as JungBahadur, managed to escapeabandoning the vehicle onthe spot. He is a native ofMotihari (Bihar).

Those injured were

rushed to the nearby com-munity health centre wheredoctors declared Vishnu,Rinku and Sunita Devi dead.Muskan, Rishab and Ram Rajwere rushed to KGMUTrauma Centre but they suc-cumbed to injuries after awhile. Traffic in and aroundthe village remained stuck foraround four hours. The policesaid the mishap was caused bypoor visibility due to fog.They, however, added thatthe truck was moving on thewrong side.

Meanwhile, a 26-year-oldtempo driver, identified asAnkit Chauhan, was killedafter being knocked by aspeeding truck on ShaheedPath under Gomti Nagarpolice station around mid-night. Ankit parked his vehi-cle in Chinhat at 11.45 pm andleft for his house in Deen

Dayal Upadhyay Nagar(Telibagh) under Gosainganjpolice station on his motor-cycle. He was hit by anunidentified truck. A passer-by informed the police afterwhich cops reached the spot.They rushed Ankit to Dr RamManohar Lohia Hospitalwhere he succumbed toinjuries. The errant truck dri-ver managed to speed off.

In another accident, 30-year-old truck driver, identi-fied as Manveer of Hathras,was killed while his helperAjay Sharma sustainedinjuries in a head-on collisionwith another truck in UdvatKheda under Mohanlalganjpolice station. The duo wererushed to the communityhealth centre where Manveersuccumbed to injuries whileAjay’s condition was said to bestable.

6 of a family killed in mishapLucknow (PNS): Members

of Hindu Jagran Manchprotested demolition of an oldLord Shiva temple inMohanlalganj and police’salleged misbehavior with saints.They started an indefinite fastat GPO on Friday. The pro-testers, led by Manch’s generalsecretary Rishi Mishra,demanded that an FIR be reg-istered for temple demolition.They also demanded recon-struction of the temple andaction against district admin-istration officials andMohanlalganj inspectorDhirendra Kushwaha.

They said as their demandswere falling on deaf ears,resentment was brewingamong locals and saints in thearea. They also demanded anapology to the saints whoallegedly faced humiliation.

Hindu Jagran

Manch protests

temple demolition

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Managing director ofLucknow Metro Rail

Corporation Kumar Keshavsaid on Friday that their focusfor year 2018 would on the startof East-West corridor and com-pletion of North-South civilconstruction by over 95 percent.

Talking to The Pioneer,Keshav said they had complet-ed 65 per cent of the civil con-struction work and were aim-ing for completion of over 95per cent by December nextyear. “Apart from civil con-struction, we will have all oursystems in place by March2018. We are trying to do thecivil construction in such amanner that we can start thesystem work in parallel. Wehave already started the OHEwork on the elevated corridorfrom KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadiumto Munshipulia and we willstart laying the track shortly,” headded.

About the special span,which wil l come up inNishatganj, Keshav said theywere planning to complete thepiers on both sides of the fly-over by March next year. “Wewill get the steel structures to beput up at this point around thesame time, and hence the pierswill be completed by thismonth,” he said. He added thatrecruitments would also beginfor additional staff.

“A decision in this regardwill be taken after the LucknowMetro board meeting is heldshortly. We plan to recruitmore staff and train them sothat they are ready to do theirduties in six months,” he said.

The managing director saidthat the East-West corridorwas on their priority list. “Weare planning to start this corri-dor in 2018,” he added.

TOY TRAIN MODELS TO BE PUT UP FOR SALE

Lucknow Metro RailCorporation will be putting itstoy train model for sale at all thestations on December 30 & 31and January 2018. “These toytrain models will be available atRs 140 per piece at Charbagh,Alambagh, Singar Nagar,Krishna Nagar & TransportNagar stations,” senior PRO ofLMRC Amit Srivastava said.“People can buy these trainmodels from 8 am to 8 pm. Inaddition to this, passengers canalso purchase LMRC pockettable calendar from the samecounters by paying Rs 30,” headded.

Keshav: Focus on starting

EW corridor next year

A city road enveloped by dense fog on Friday morning Pioneer

Fog added to the chill asminimum temperature inLucknow settled at 9 degreeCelsius on Friday Pioneer

city 04LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

m0iz0 ikoj VªkUlfe'ku dkjiksjs'ku fy0 &'kqf) i=&bl dk;kZy; }kjk vkefU=rfufonk la[;k 123 ,oa

124@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@2017&18] tksfnukad 28-12-2017 dks [kksyh tkuh Fkh] dslEcU/k esa fuEu 'kqf) i= tkjh fd;k tkrkgSA fufonk la[;k 123 ,oa 124@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@2017&18 ds [kqyus dh frfFkfoLrkfjr dj nh x;h gS] vc ;g fufonkfnukad 11-01-2018 dks 14%00 cts rdviyksM ,oa Lohdkj dh tk;sxh ,oa fnukad12-01-2018 dks 12%00 cts lkoZtfud :ils [kksyh tk;saxhA fufonk dh vU; fu;e o'krsZ ;Fkkor jgsaxhA fufonk ds vU; fooj.kwww.etender.up.nic ,oa www.upptcl.org ijns[ks tk ldrs gSA v/kh{k.k vfHk;Urk fo|qrikjs"k.k e.My 220 ds0oh0 midsUnz ifjljtsy jk sM] xk s.Mk la[;k964@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@ fnukad 28-12-17^jk"Vªfgr esa fctyh cpk;sa lk/kkj.k cYc dsLFkku ij ,ybZMh cYc dk iz;ksx djsaA*

m0iz0 ikoj VªkUlfe'ku dkjiksjs'ku fy0 &'kqf) i=&bl dk;kZy; }kjk vkefU=rfufonk la[;k 116 ,oa

121@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@2017&18] tksfnukad 27-12-2017 dks [kksyh tkuh Fkh] dslEcU/k esa fuEu 'kqf) i= tkjh fd;k tkrkgSA fufonk la[;k 116 ,oa 121@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@2017&18 ds [kqyus dh frfFkfoLrkfjr dj nh x;h gS] vc ;g fufonkfnukad 09-01-2018 dks 14%00 cts rdviyksM ,oa Lohdkj dh tk;sxh ,oa fnukad10-01-2018 dks 12%00 cts lkoZtfud :ils [kksyh tk;saxhA fufonk dh vU; fu;e o'krsZ ;Fkkor jgsaxhA fufonk ds vU; fooj.kwww.etender.up.nic ,oa www.upptcl.org ijns[ks tk ldrs gSA v/kh{k.k vfHk;Urk fo|qrikjs"k.k e.My 220 ds0oh0 midsUnz ifjljtsy jk sM] xk s.Mk la[;k960@fo0ik0e0@xks.Mk@ fnukad 27-12-17^jk"Vªfgr esa fctyh cpk;sa lk/kkj.k cYc dsLFkku ij ,ybZMh cYc dk iz;ksx djsaA*

m0iz0 ikoj VªkUlfe'kudkjiksjs'ku fy0 vko';dlwpuk fo|qr ikjs"k.k e.My

xks.Mk] dk;kZy; }kjk vkeaf=r fufonkla[;k 115@fo0ik0e0@ xks0@2017&18] dks vifjgk;Z dkj.kksa ds dkj.kfujLr fd;k tkrk gSA v/kh{k.kvfHk;Urk fo|qr ikjs"k.k e.My 220ds0oh- midsUnz ifjlj tsy jksM] xks.Mkla[;k 963@fo0ik0e0@xks0 fnukd 28-12-17 ^jk"Vªfgr esa fctyh cpk;salk/kkj.k cYc ds LFkku ij ,ybZMh cYcdk iz;ksx djsaA*

iwokZUpy fo|qr forj.kfuxe fyfeVsMbZ&fufonk frfFk foLrkj

lwpuk fo|qr uxjh; forj.ke.My&izFke] bykgkckn ds vUrxZrfofHkUu dk;k s Z a g sr qhttp://etender.up.nic.in ijvkWuykbu vkefU=r bZ&fufonkla[;k 118] 119] 122] 123] 124 ,oa128@SE/EUDC-IA/2017-18ftUgsa ,d ckj foLrkfjr dj fnukad29@12@2017 dks vijkUg 14%00cts rd izkIr dj fnukad30@12@2017 dks [kksyk tkukizLrkfor gS] ds fo#) i;kZIr la[;kesa fufonk;sa izkIr u gksus ds dkj.kfufonkvksa dh frfFk fuEuor iqu%foLrkfjr dh tkrh gS %& 1-osclkbV ij viyksM djus o gkMZdkWih tek djus dh vfUre frfFkAfnukad 06@01@2018 vijkUg14%00 cts rdA 2- fufonk dk izFkeHkkx [kksyus dh frfFkA fnukad08@01@2018 vijkUg 12%00 ctsAfufonk esa fufgr vU; fu;e ,oa 'krsZiwoZor jgsxhA foLr`r fooj.k 'kkludh osclkbV http://etender.up.nic.in ij miyC/k gSAv/kh{k.k vfHk;Urk fo|qr uxjh;forj.k e.My izFke iwokZapy fo|qrforj.k fuxe fyfeVsM 57 tktZVkmu] bykgkckn i=kad 2546fnukad 29-12-17 ^jk"Vªfgr esafctyh cpk,a*

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Chief conservator of endangeredspecies, Forest department, AP

Sinha said here on Friday that due tointense cold and availability of waterin the sanctuaries there had been a 10to 15 per cent increase in the numberof migratory birds coming to the state.The senior forest official pointed outthat the birds started coming by thethird week of November but theirnumber had significantly increased inthe current conditions.

“These birds which are coming tothe state of Uttar Pradesh are fromSiberia and Mongolia and there aredifferent batches which arrive at dif-ferent times and leave at differenttimes during the month of March.However, with the cold increasinglately their number has gone up in abig way,” he said.

The official said that a total of 1.25lakh migratory birds which hadarrived in the state included 10,000birds at the Nawabganj Sanctuary inUnnao, 20,000 at the Lakh Bahausiarea in Kannauj, over 25,000 atSamaspur in Rae Bareli and over15,000 at the Sandi Bird Sanctuary inHardoi. He said that their numbercould be very high with the localmigratory birds such as the paintedstorks included among them. Sinhasaid that the varieties of the birdswhich were coming were the usualones such as the grey leg goose,white teals, red-crested pochards anda significant number of coots.

He said that the availability ofwater was one factor which played asignificant role in getting these vari-eties of birds. “There are three typesof birds which come to the birdsanctuaries which include the waders,the dabblers and the divers. Thesebirds as their names indicate wade,dabble and dive in the water and they

need a specific depth for doing so. Forexample waders require three cen-timetre depth of water and dabblersrequire a 90 cm-120 cm depth ofwater. These waters also contain crus-taceans and aquatic water life such aswater plants which these birds feed onand hence the presence of water isnecessary to attract them,” he said.

Sinha said that the NawabganjSanctuary had specially attracted alarge number of birds this year. “Uptillnow the water had been sparse in thesanctuary but 20 days ago we broughtthe water through the Sharda Canaland now there is plenty of it in thesanctuary which has helped in attract-ing these birds,” he said. “ Apart fromthese bird sanctuaries the Sur SarovarSanctuary in Agra also attracts a largenumber of flamingoes,” he said.

The official said that the numberof visitors had also significantlyincreased at these sanctuaries.“Though we charge an entry ticket ourpurpose is not to earn any revenue butto connect the people to nature,” hesaid. Sinha said that these bird sanc-tuaries could be the best destinationfor the tourists.

“With the Lucknow-AgraExpressway connectivity which isavailable at these destinations they canbe attractive for the tourists who canvisit them and come back the sameday,” said the official.

He pointed out that these birdswere found in large numbers even inthe wetland areas of the state. “Onecan see birds with their entire fami-lies even in the wetlands which unfor-tunately are disappearing and need to

be resurrected,” he said. The forestofficial said that they were mulling onallowing the researchers from differ-ent universities to come and carry outresearch on the wetlands. “There is somuch that can be researched aboutthese wetlands and sanctuaries forwhich we are thinking of inviting theresearchers,” he added. He said thatthere were several school studentswho also visited the sanctuary.

Director, Lucknow zoo, RK Singhsaid that a large number of paintedstorks and herons were visible near-by. “These birds can be seen in closevicinity of the zoo. They usuallydon’t come to the areas where thereare a large number of trees,” he said.Bird lovers said that in Lucknow onecould spot the local migratory birdson the outskirts of the city.

Intense cold brings in 10-15 pc more migratory birds: Sinha

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The 7th annual meeting ofthe Breast Reconstructive

and Aesthetic Surgeons’Association (BRASCON-2018)will be held from February 2to 4 next year at the SGPGIConvention Centre here.

A press conference washeld on Friday in the office ofSecretary, RamakrishnaMission, SwamiMuktinathananda, whoinformed newspersons that alive operative workshop wouldbe organised by renownedsurgeons at VivekanandaPolyclinic and Institute ofMedical Sciences to demon-strate the various surgical treat-ments available there for deal-ing with breast problems.

With increasing awarenessand extensive use of surgery todeal with breast cancer andreconstructive breast surgery,India is the new frontier for all

the breast surgeons in generaland the plastic surgeons in par-ticular. Increasing trendstowards breast-conservingsurgery and prophylactic mas-tectomy had fuelled interest inreconstructive breast andoncoplastic surgery.

“As an offshoot of theseprocedures used for recon-structive surgery interest inaesthetic breast surgery hasalso risen manifold and is oneof the commonest aestheticsurgery procedures, beingpractised around the world.Keeping with the trend ofmulti-specialty managementof all breast-related problems,the SGPGI Breast Course hasbeen expanded to includereconstructive breast surgery,oncoplastic surgery and radi-ation oncology as well.The2018 SGPGI Breast Coursewill be a joint academic meet-ing of the “SGPGI BreastCourse and 7th annual meet-

ing of the BreastReconstructive and AestheticSurgeons’ Association (BRAS-CON-2018)” to be held fromFebruary 2 to 4 at the SGPGIConvention Centre,” he said.

The operative workshopwill be organised at theVivekananda Polyclinic andInstitute of Medical Sciences,(VPIMS),Lucknow. “Morethan 20 leading surgeons inbreast surgery will attend theconference. These will bejoined by many from theSAARC region and Indianstalwarts. In India manywomen and men are unawareabout the various techniquesavailable for treatment of breastproblems,” he said. He furthersaid that the commonest prob-lems were congenital, recon-structive and aesthetic.

“The congenital problemsinclude absence and asymme-try, reconstructive like post-burn and post-cancer prob-

lems and the aesthetic ones likethe females’ size and shape andin the case of males it is theissue of enlargement. Morethan 200 breast surgeons fromIndia are expected to attendthis meeting which is beingheld for the first time inLucknow. An operative work-shop is being organised toshowcase various surgicaltreatments available for breastproblems. Senior and highly-experienced breast surgeonsfrom the country will be oper-ating on these patients.Moreover surgeons fromabroad and stalwarts fromIndia will also discuss variousproblems,” informed theorganisers.

In this regard a patientawareness programme is beingorganised at the VPIMS withthe objective to inform thosewho have breast-related prob-lems to register themselvesfor it. “Patients who can ben-

efit from surgery will be givenan option of getting it done freeof cost at VPIMS, where thenational senior surgeons willoperate on them. However theidentities of these patients willnot be revealed to maintaintheir privacy. Other patientswho will like to get a secondopinion about their problemsfrom our national and inter-national faculty are alsoencouraged to get themselvesregistered,” it was stated.

“Regarding the joint aca-demic meeting at the SGPGI,Lucknow, we have planned athree-day-long scientific onewith video workshops, paneldiscussions, symposia and lec-tures on various aspects ofbreast surgery, includingreconstructive and aesthetic.Free paper and poster ses-sions along with best paper andbest poster award for delegates will also be included,”he said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Abrainstorming session washeld on Friday in the com-

mittee room of LU’s adminis-trative building to discuss themodalities of research on Vedicliterature.

The meeting was chairedby Vice-Chancellor SP Singhand attended by Pro Vice-Chancellor, registrar, IPPRdirector, deans of faculties andteachers from departmentsinterested in some way or theother in pursuing research inVedic literature with referenceto Mathematics, Biology,Natural Science, BehaviouralSciences, Commerce, etc.

Media incharge ofLucknow University NKPandey said Abhinav GuptaSansthan would be made thecentre of Vedic literatureresearch. “Faculties from var-ious departments will workon different aspects of Vedic lit-erature at the centre. A boardconsisting of faculties fromvarious faculties and depart-ments will be formed to run thecentre.

“Vedic literature, studymaterials and books will bepurchased and put in theAbhinav Gupta Sansthanlibrary for researchers to con-sult,” said Pandey. He addedthat a review of areas forresearch would be published inbook form or as special issue ofa journal published fromSanskrit department.

“An initial research fundingas seed money may be provid-ed by the university to start aproject. The university willstrive to get funding of majorprojects that though variousfunding agencies. It wasemphasised in the meetingthat focus on projects should beon utility aspect and not mere-ly on the academic,” he point-ed out.

It was also decided that theresults of the research shouldreach the society and benefitpeople at large. “It must haveoutreach aspect. It was feltthat as part of extension pro-gram the knowledge of Vedasshould be part of the schoolcurriculum. This will keep stu-dents interested in Vedicknowledge from the begin-ning. The university is alreadyorganising expert lectures onvarious topics on Saturdays. Itwas decided that experts ofVedic literature should becalled as experts to deliver lec-tures for understanding of fac-ulty and students. Later if theneed be workshops on Vedicliterature will be organised,” hesaid. He added that it waspointed out that the Vedicknowledge of fine art was notknown to the public or studentsand there was need to popu-larise it through curriculum inschools. “It was also pointedout that there was need to pop-ularise the knowledge of Vedicliterature for the benefit ofmasses,” Pandey said.

MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICTThe second day of wildlife

journalism training course atWildlife Institute of LucknowUniversity saw a lecture on‘Wetlands biodiversity andecology’ by Neeraj Srivastavaand ‘Wildlife laws, man-ani-mal conflict and tiger project’by PCCF Rupak De. De sharedhis personal experience ofwildlife and about man-animalconflict with the students. Alecture on ‘Nuances in wildlife- biodiversity writing for massmedia’ was given by SanjayKumar Pandey.

Over 200 surgeons to attend BRASCON-2018

CHILDREN’S CAMP TO BE INAUGURATED TODAYThe month-long international children’s camp called ‘Happy

People Village’, hosted by City Montessori School, will be inaugu-rated at school’s Kanpur road auditorium on Saturday. Health MinisterSiddharth Nath Singh will be the chief guest on the occasion whilethe participating children will introduce themselves and present var-ious educational-cultural presentations. CMS is hosting the month-long camp from December 28 to January 24 (2018), which will beformally inaugurated on Saturday. Children from 13 countries —Italy, Mexico, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, America,Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica and Thailand — besides India are stay-ing under one roof and getting acquainted with the custom, culture,traditions, life style, food habits of each-other besides learning thelessons of brotherhood, world unity and world peace, cooperation,friendship and global understanding.

Meeting at LU discussesmodalities of research in Vedic literature

INTER-UNIV SPEECH COMPETITION

An inter-universityspeech competition was organ-ised in the AP Sen Hall ofLucknow University on Friday.Twelve students participated inthe second round on Friday.The judges’ panel includedformer Vice-Chancellor ofNational Law University BalrajChauhan and director ofHigher Education (Allahabad)RP Singh. Vice-ChancellorSurendra Pratap Singh gavethe initial comments on theimportance of the speech com-petition. He said those whotalk about individuals or inci-dents did not bring about rev-olution or change, rather thechanges could be brought bythose who advocated revolu-tionary philosophy.

RECOMMENDEDGomti Pollution Board, a

unit of UP Jal Nigam, onFriday recommended imme-diate suspension of its assistantengineer PN Mishra andjunior engineer Surjeet Singh

as they were found absentduring a surprise inspectionconducted by the members of

pollution board. This was dis-closed in a press release issuedon Friday.

Municipal corporation employees protesting in favour of their demands at LMCoffice on Friday

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government on Fridayhad a narrow escape from

facing an embarrassment in theUpper House, as the RajyaSabha rejected by just threevotes a private Bill seeking toguarantee employment to everycitizen above 18 years of age orprovide them unemploymentallowance. The private mem-ber Bill was rejected by 21 votesin favour and 18 against, afterVishambhar Prasad Nishad ofthe Samajwadi Party refused towithdraw it twice, necessitatinga division and voting on it.

During the monsoon ses-sion, the Government had faceda major embarrassment whendue to the absence of its MPs inthe Rajya Sabha, the Oppositionforced an amendment in a Billto accord constitutional statusto the reconstituted NationalCommission for BackwardClasses over its compositionand making existing State com-

missions infructuous.There were about 40 mem-

bers in the House when the Billwas being debated. The presentRajya Sabha has 245 members.Nishad, while moving theConstitution (Amendment) Bill2016 (insertion of new article 16A), sought the support of theHouse for it, emphasising thatdue to lack of employmentopportunities, the youths werebeing forced to indulge in crim-inal activities.

In his intervention duringthe debate on the measure,Labour Minister SantoshGangwar said “Government iscommitted to create newavenues of employment despitethe fact that it is not a fund-

mental right. There are well-crafted policies.” Listing outgovernment initiatives to createjobs, the minister urged Nishadto withdraw the Bill.

Replying to the debate andthe minister, Nishad saidGangwar has not answered hisqueries and was going by theBJP’s mainfesto which promisedcreation of two crore jobs everyyear. When Deputy ChairmanP J Kurien asked Nishadwhether he would like to with-draw the bill, the SP leaderinsisted on moving it for voting.

After a voice vote, the Housewent for a division in which 18members supported the bill and21 opposed it. Earlier movingthe legislation, Nishad had said

that “as per this bill, any citizenof the country who has attainedthe age of 18 years should havea right to emplyment and if hedoes not get it, there should bea provision of unemploymentallowance which should bedecided by Parliament.”

He said there were variousreasons for rise in joblessnessin the country, including rise inpopulation, industrial closuresand lack of irrigation in variousparts. “Unemployment hasnegative impact on the growthof the country leading to rise inpoverty,” he said.

Supporting the bill,Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu ofCongress said UPA regime inits 10 year rule providedstipend to around 14 crorepeople in the agrarian sector.

However, the BJP-led gov-ernment had promised in 2014that it would provide employ-ment to over 2 crore peopleevery year but in reality, onlyaround 80,000 jobs were beinggenerated, he said.

Rapolu said economicinequality in the country wasrising and it can lead to seriouschallenges like agitations andeven civil war. “If employment

can be provided to all deserv-ing people, only then peace canbe maintained,” he added.

Opposing it, MaheshPoddar and Vikas Mahatme(both BJP) said the focus shouldbe on making people employ-able rather than making themdependent on governmentallowance. Vijila Sathyananth(AIADMK) said it is the righttime to amend the Constitutionmaking employment a right.

Anil Kumar Sahani (JD-U)also supported the bill, while DRaja (CPI) said if the govern-ment fails to address the prob-lem of unemployment, then itwill also fail. Similar viewsechoed by Chhaya Verma(Congress) who said that as perestimates made by differentbodies, 15 to 20 crore peoplelost their jobs due to demon-etisation. She also raised theissue of charging GST on work-ers” wages in some states.

Neeraj Shekhar (SP) sup-ported the bill saying the peo-ple having B Tech and MBAdegrees were not getting jobs.He criticised government forchanging its stand on creating2 crore jobs and now sayingthat it would create job-givers.

RS rejects pvt bill by just 3 votes

PNS n NEW DELHI

Based on Interpol’s alert, CBIregistered case against three

manpower consultants for traf-ficking 23 students to France, byshowing fake documents claim-ing Rugby training camp.According to CBI, the dubiousoperation was exposed after oneof the student approached aGurudwara in France andFrench police was alerted.

The case is registeredagainst Lalit David Dean,Sanjee Raj and VarunChowdhary for cheating andtrafficking young boys ranging13-15 years. The agents col-lected `25 lakh to `30 lakhfrom the parents by givingpromise of continuation ofstudies settlement of France infuture. The boys belong toDelhi, Punjab and Haryana.

Case registered against 3

agents for illegally taking 25minors from Punjab to Francein the name of a rugby tourna-ment The Central Bureau ofInvestigation has registered acase U/s 120-B,370, 420, 465,468 & 471 of IPC against three

private persons,residents ofDelhi & Faridabad and otherson the allegations ofCriminalConspiracy, Human Trafficking,Cheating, Forgery and usingForged documents as genuine.

“It was further alleged thaton February 1, 2016, a group of25 students shown as students oftwo Kapurthala(Punjab) basedschools led by said private per-sons embarked at Delhi Airport

to Paris- CDG to participate inInternational RUGBYTrainingCamp in Paris on the basis ofalleged invitation received fromFrench Federation, Paris. All ofthem visited Paris and thereafter,the said 25 students also attend-ed a RUGBY training campatParis for about a week. It was alsoalleged that the visa in respect ofsaid students wereobtained fromFrench Embassy at Delhi on thebasis of forged and fabricateddocuments. It was further allegedthat all the 25 childrenwere leftin Paris and their return ticketswere got cancelled by saidac-cused persons. However, 02 stu-dents could return to Delhi,” saidCBI in a statement.

Searches were conductedon Friday at four places at Delhiwhich resulted in recovery ofincriminating documents andother articles from the premis-es of accused persons, said CBI.

CBI books 3 for trafficking

23 students to France

PNS n NEW DELHI

China has sought detailsfrom India about its citizen

who was apprehended from theManipur-Myanmar border onsuspicion of spying early thisweek. The Chinese embassy inNew Delhi has also warned itspeople against venturing intorestricted Indian territoriessaying illegal behaviour will notbe tolerated.

The person identified asQin Min Xiv Xiang (55), hail-ing from Fuzian province, wasarrested by the Assam Rifles inManipur’s Tengnoupal districta few days ago.

He was in possession ofChinese, Vietnamese andMyanmarese documentsbesides foreign currencies, apen drive and a compass. Newsreports claimed that Qin wasapprehended following inputson the movement of a sus-pected Chinese intelligenceoperative agent attempting toinfiltrate into India fromMyanmar through a track nearT Minao village.

The Chinese governmenthas sought details of its arrest-ed national from the Indiangovernment. “According to theinformation we received, theChinese embassy in India hasrequested the Indian side tonotify the relevant information.We will continue following thedevelopment of the incidentclosely,” the Chinese ForeignMinistry said in a statement inBeijing.

In Delhi, the ChineseEmbassy issued an advisory toits tourists in mandarin askingthem to abide by local laws andavoid straying into restricted

areas. It alsomade it clearthat theChinese gov-ernment willnot tolerateillegal behav-iour by its cit-izens. “Anyoneviolating thelaws could befined or jailed.The embassycan protect

the safety of Chinese citizensand the rightful claims ofChinese enterprises and per-sonnel in India...But cannot tol-erate any illegal behaviour,” itsaid.

“There have been consec-utive cases of Chinese citizensbeing detained, fined or inves-tigated, charged or even sen-tenced due to alleged lawbreaking in India. To this end,the Chinese Embassy in Indiaspecifically reminds Chinesecitizens to strictly observe therelevant laws and regulations ofIndia,” the embassy said in anotification.

China seeks details of ‘spy’citizen arrested in India

PNS n NEW DELHI

Even as the Governmentsaid it has conveyed to the

States that it would foot thebill for hiring best doctorsin rural areas, a demand wasmade on Friday in the LokSabha by a BJP MP to set upa regulator to oversee thefunctioning of private nurs-ing homes and healthcarefacilities and curb profiteer-ing and overpricing of med-ical procedures and services.

Raising the issue in theLok Sabha, BJP's MeenakshiLekhi said the private health-care sector was virtuallyunregulated and the timehas come to make themaccountable and do businessunder a specific framework.

Citing examples ofalleged malpractices, she saidthough the government hasreduced price of stents, thehospitals have increased therates for the procedure toinsert them so as to com-pensate for their losses.

A stent is a device

placed in an artery throughsurgery after removal ofblockages in it to ensureproper blood flow.

“The doctors in theGovernment hospitals areoverworked and underpaid.The doctors in private hos-pitals do their job like busi-ness. We need to address it,”she said, raising the issue dur-ing Zero Hour.

She said there was a needfor setting up of a bodywhich can regulate medicalpractices and fix rates for var-ious procedures.

"The telecom sector hasTRAI (Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India). Themedical sector also needs aregulator," she said.

Currently, the NationalPharmaceutical PricingAuthority (NPPA) examinesdrug pricing in India.

Answering supplemen-tary questions, HealthMinister JP Nadda informedthe house that the Centre hastold states to hire specialistdoctors in various fields forrural areas with good paypackets, the salary bills forwhom would be footed by it.

Nadda said the states arefree to hire experts such asgynaecologists for ruralhealth facilities on a good sal-ary and the Centre will pay it.

Seeking to ensure largerintake of doctors, 5,000 seatshave been added in medicalcolleges, he said.

Reports have it that therewas a mere 19 per cent avail-ability of specialist doctors inthe community health centres(CHCs), especially those inthe rural areas, across thecountry.

PNS n NEW DELHI

ABill that envisages constitutionof four autonomous boards to

conduct undergraduate and post-graduate medical education wasintroduced on Friday in the LokSabha. It would replace the apexmedical education regulator --Medical Council of India (MCI) -with a new body.

Congress members protestedthe introduction of the NationalMedical Commission Bill by HealthMinister JP Nadda, demandingthat it be sent to the parliamentarystanding committee for a thor-ough scrutiny. But Nadda said thebill incorporates suggestions madeby a standing committee.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan saidmembers should give prior noticeto air their disagreement with thebill’s introduction.

The bill aims at bringing

reforms in the medical educationsector which has been under scruti-ny for corruption and unethicalpractices.

The bill provides for the con-stitution of four autonomous boardsentrusted with conducting under-graduate and post- graduate edu-cation, assessment and accreditationof medical institutions and regis-tration of practitioners under theNational Medical Commission.

The bill states that the com-mission will have government nom-inated chairman and members,and the board members will beselected by a search committeeunder the Cabinet Secretary. Therewill be five elected and 12 ex-offi-cio members in the panel.

It also proposes a commonentrance exam and licentiate examswhich all medical graduates willhave to clear to get practicinglicences, the official said.

Bill to replace MCIintroduced in LS

BJP MP seeks regulator for private hospitals‘The doctors in

the Govthospitals are

overworked andunderpaid. The

doctors in privatehospitals do theirjob like business.

We need toaddress it’

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Railway ConventionCommittee that submitted

its report in Parliament onFriday on vigilance in IndianRailways expressed seriousconcern over lack of infra-structure in the railways’ vigi-lance directorate to deal withcybercrimes. The report comesa couple of days after the CBIbusted a ticketing scam in thenational transporter.

The Committee said they were not satisfied that theMinistry’s vigilance directoratewas foolproof as far as dealingwith cybercrimes was con-cerned.

“When there is no requisiteinfrastructure or expertiseavailable with the railways to

effectively deal with cybercrime and softwaremanipulation, the e-tenderingand e- auction system introduced by the ministrycannot be claimed to be fool-proof,” the committee said,raising doubts over the security of all e-platforms used

by the railways.The committee urged the

ministry to induct personswith “ample experience” inhandling cybercrimes, eitherthrough deputation or permanent absorption, so as toeliminate any scope of “manip-ulation of the system by vest-ed interests”.

The parliamentary panel,chaired by BJD MPBhartruhari Mahtab has 12members from Lok Sabha andsix from Rajya Sabha.

The CBI had onWednesday arrested its soft-ware programmer for devel-oping an illicit software toubvert the railways Tatkalreservation system, allowinghundreds of tickets to bebooked in one go.

Concern over lack of infrain rlys vigilance directorate

THE COMMITTEEURGED THEMINISTRY TOINDUCT PERSONSWITH ‘AMPLEEXPERIENCE’ INHANDLINGCYBERCRIMES

PNS n NEW DELHI

Area under pulses rose by 9per cent to 150.63 lakh

hectares but wheat acreagedeclined to 273.85 lakhhectares in the ongoing rabi (winter-sown) season sofar. Area under pulses was150.63 lakh hectares so far inthis rabi season as against138.34 lakh hectares in theyear- ago period.

As per latest report, wheatacreage fell to 273.85 lakhhectares from 290.74 lakhhectares during the periodunder review. "As per prelim-inary reports received from thestates, the total area sownunder rabi crops as onDecember 29, 2017 stands at565.79 lakh hectares as com-pared to 571.47 lakh hectarethis time in 2016," the state-ment said.

Rice acreage is up at 16.33lakh hectares from 11.55 lakhhectares. However, sowing areaof coarse cereals is down mar-

ginally at 50.71 lakh hectaresfrom 51.28 lakh hectares.Oilseeds acreage, too, is downat 74.27 lakh hectares from79.56 lakh hectares. India pro-duced a record 275.68 milliontonnes of foodgrain in the2016-17 crop year (July-June).

Crops which are grownduring the winter season(October-March) are calledRabi crops. Seeds of thesecrops are sown in the begin-ning of the winter season.After maturation of crops, they are harvested at the end of the winter season (April-May).

PARLIAMENT TO RESUMEWORK ON JANUARY 2

New Delhi: Parliament will have along weekend and resume work onJanuary 2, as both the Houses willhave a holiday on the first day of2018. In Rajya Sabha, Minister ofState for Parliamentary Affairs VijayGoel said political parties andseveral members, especially thosefrom the remote parts like theNortheast, had urged that January1 be declared a holiday.

DO NOT USE TERM ‘BEG’IN HOUSE: RS CHAIRMAN

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu on Friday yetagain asked the Ministers not touse the term ‘beg' while tabling thelisted official papers in the House.Normally, the ministers say “I begto lay the papers ... listed againstmy name in today's order paper.”Naidu had on the opening day ofthe winter session also advised theministers and members to shedthe “imperial mindset” of using “Ibeg to lay...” the papers in theHouse.

98 PRIVATE MEMBERS’BILLS INTRODUCED IN LSNew Delhi: As many as 98 privatemembers' bills were introduced inthe Lok Sabha on Friday includingone to constitute a board forprotection and control of straycows.

SECURITY IMPROVED INCOUNTRY: RAJNATH

New Delhi: The security situation inthe country, including in Jammuand Kashmir and Naxal-hit areas,has improved considerably, HomeMinister Rajnath Singh said onFriday. Singh made the remark atan inter-ministerial meeting,convened to discuss developmentissues in Jammu and Kashmir, LeftWing Extremism-affected statesand the Northeast region. Thehome minister said the overallsecurity situation in the country hadshown considerable improvement,an official statement said.

RLY UNIVERSITY PROPOSAL

TURNED DOWN: GOVT

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh hadpitched to set up the country's firstrailway university, but the proposalwas turned down as plans forsetting up the same is underway inGujarat's Vadodara. In a writtenreply in Rajya Sabha, Minister ofState for Railways, Rajen Gohain,said Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu had soughtthe establishment of the railwayuniversity in the State.

IN SHORT

Information and Broadcasting and Textiles MinisterSmriti Irani interacts with schoolchildren atParliament on Friday PTI

A seven-member delegation of residents and artists of Kathputli Colony, activists and renowned theatre personality Arvind Gaur led by Rajya Sabha member D Raja of CPImet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and presented him with their memorandum of demands, in New Delhi on Friday PTI

Pulses acreage up

by 9%, wheat dips

Saves Govtblushes

Agents collected `25Lto `30L from parentsby giving promise ofcontinuation ofstudies settlement

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017 nation 06

VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI

The conspiracy behind thebrutal murder of local BMS

leader CT Manoj (PayyoliManoj, 38) in Kerala’sKozhikode district in 2012was hatched at the CPI(M)’slocal committee office, theCBI on Friday informed acourt in Kochi which left thenine CPI(M) men arrested theother day in the agency’s cus-tody for 12 days.

According to the remandreport the CBI filed in theErnakulam Chief JudicialMagistrate Court in Kochi,the CPI(M) had hatched theconspiracy to murder Manoj,unit secretary of the BMS inPayyoli and an autorikshawdriver, at its local committeeoffice in Payyoli on February9, 2012. Manoj, who cameunder attack on February 12,succumbed to injuries the fol-lowing morning.

The agency said that thedecision taken at the CPI(M)local committee level to killManoj was put into practicewith the clearance of the areacommittee. The nine CPI(M)men were arrested onThursday in connection withthe murder on the basis of sci-entific evidences, the CBI,which had taken over theprobe into the murder one-and-a-half years ago, said. TheCPI(M) decided to murderManoj as an act of revenge forthe attack on a CITU worker,

Babu, and because of hisincreasing popularity as apolitical leader in the area,according to the agency. Itsaid seven of the nine CPI(M)men arrested the other day haddirect role in Manoj’s murderwhile the two others werechief conspirators. Confirmingthat it was indeed a case ofpolitical murder, the CBI saidmore accused, including twopersons who were presentlyabroad, had to be held. Thearrested accused submittedbefore the court that the caseagainst them was fabricatedbut the court responded bysaying this was a matter to beproved during the trial.

The CPI(M) men arrestedin the Manoj murder case onThursday were district com-mittee member T Chandu,local committee secretary PVRamachandran, area commit-tee member C Suresh, munic-ipal councilor KT Likhesh,local committee member NCMusthafa, former branch sec-retary PK Kumaran, P Anoop,Akhilnath and Ratheesh.

The CBI had arrested themby calling them to its campoffice in Vadakara, Kozhikodefor questioning and had takenthem immediately to Kochi.Expressing satisfaction at thearrest of the killers and con-spirators, Manoj’s widowPushpa said, “I believe that theCBI would catch all thoseinvolved in the act.”

A gang – some reports had

put the number of members init at 25 – of masked men hadattacked Manoj’s house on thenight of February 12, 2012 andhacked him brutally in front ofhis mother and wife. Manojsuccumbed to the injuries atthe Medical College Hospitalin Kozhikode the followingmorning. The local police whoprobed the murder had regis-tered a case against 15 personsand arrested 14. However, afterbeing released on bail, they andtheir relatives claimed thatthey had nothing to do withthe killing and that they werevictims of the CPI(M)’s betray-al, putting the Marxist partyleadership in an indefensiblesituation. Though the case wastaken over by the CrimeBranch of the Kerala Policelater, Manoj’s relatives andfriends alleged that the probewas not on the right track afterserious contradictions came upbetween its findings and thoseof the local police. The CBItook over the case after Manoj’sfriend Sajad moved the court.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M)observed a dawn-to-dusk shut-down in Payyoli and adjoiningareas to protest the arrest of thepartymen who, according to it,were innocents. Though therewere reports about tension inPayyoli, no untoward inci-dents occurred during the har-tal. State CPI(M) secretaryKodiyeri Balakrishnan saidnobody should hope to destroyhis party using the CBI.

Plan plotted at CPM’s

office, says CBI

MURDER OF BMS LEADER IN KERALA

ED gearing up to attach more Rose Valley assets

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Even before the smoulderingfire died down at the Kamla

Mill compound in south-cen-tral Mumbai where 14 personswere killed on Friday, a majorblame game broke out betweenthe owners of the two diningrestaurants-cum-pubs thatwere reduced to ashes, witheach of them claiming that thefire emanated from the neigh-bouring establishment.

“The facts of the incident,as seen by our staff, indicate arising fire that began toemanate from the adjoiningquarters to 1Above. We pre-sume the unmanageable natureat the preliminary source of thefire resulted in its escalation toour property where all owners,staff and restaurant manage-ment from 1 Above engagedimmediately in clearing thecrowd from the establishment,”a statement put out by 1AboveManagement said.

Claiming that their fire-prevention set up was in aproper shape, 1AboveManagement said: “1Abovehas all its fire safety regulations,licenses, procedures and normsin place - we have been able tohelp save many lives thanks toour fire safety protocols and aregrateful to our staff for theirpresence of mind and help inthis time of crisis”

“There was no escape fromMojo’s Bistro therefore webelieve that all their guestswere told go through thepremises of 1Above as we havean emergency exit. Hencepatrons from Mojo's Bistroalso began to rush into ourpremises as we helped the FireBrigade that had arrived at thescene to evacuate guests,”1Above Management claimed.

In its statement, Mojo'sBistro statement said: “Mojo'shas all its fire safety norms, cer-tificates and procedures inplace. The staff are thorough-ly trained in fire drills hence

our staff were able to evacuateall our guests and themselvesout to safety with zero injury.There were NO cylinders onour premises. We are fullycomplying with the authoritiesto help in any way we can”.

One of the senior officials,who was at the mishap, saidthat the fire broke out first atthe “1 Above” pub on the ter-race and spread to Mojo pub onthe third floor one level below.The officials also claimedhookah was illegally madeavailable to their patrons in oneof the affected restaurants.

Dr Sulbha Arora, a gynae-cologist who was among thosewho survived the the mishap,said that she was at the "1Above" rooftop restaurant fordinner with friends when thefire broke out.

“The #KamalaMills firestarted at 1 Above. I was thereand barely made it out alive.Some were not so lucky.Praying for the injured and thedeceased. It was the scariestthing I have ever survived!There was a stampede andsomeone pushed me. Peoplewere running over me even asthe ceiling above me was col-lapsing in flames. Still don'tknow how I got out alive.Some powers were definitelyprotecting me," Dr Aroratweeted, recalling her ordeal.

Yesteryear actress andRajya Sabha member JayaBachchan put the fire mishapin perspective when she said: “Ihave been to Kamala Mills, itis like a bhool bhulaiaya, hasnarrow lanes. So obviouslythere has been negligence”.

In a related development,Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) functionary MangeshKalaskar claimed that he hadcomplained to the BMC onOctober 11, 2017 that therestaurants in Kamala Millswere illegal. “ But I got a replyfrom the concerned BMCdepartment that everything islegal in Kamala Mill com-pound. ..The people responsi-ble for the mishap are theowners of the restaurants, theowner of Kamala Mills and thefire department. They shouldbe charged with murder,”Kalaskar said, as he displayeda copy of the complaint that hehad made to the BMC.

PTI n MUMBAI

Some patrons of ‘1 Above’casually took selfies of the

massive flames that leaptmetres into the sky, while a fewothers lay immobilised indrunken stupor, delaying evac-uation from the pub that wasdevastated in the blaze thatkilled 14 people here, eyewit-nesses said on Friday.

Difficulty in finding theexit door also impeded rescueefforts, forcing nervous cus-tomers to lock themselves up intoilets.

The blaze at the rooftoppub during a party spreadrapidly through the building,trapping many inside. Amongthose killed were 11 women,including Khushbu Bansali,who was celebrating her 29thbirthday, and many of her

friends. “At around ten minutespast midnight, I got out of myoffice after hearing commotion.A sea of people came rushingat me. They were basicallyrunning wherever the pathwayled them to," Mahesh Sable,who works for a private secu-rity agency, told PTI.

Sable said his agency pro-vides security at the offices ofnews channel Times Now,which has satellite-linkingequipment on the terraceadjoining '1 Above' where thefire started.

He said some of them eveninsisted on taking refuge insidethe security agency's office onthe terrace. "They came up bythe lift and knew nothing aboutthe place, like the proper exit.I guided about 150-200 peopleas I knew the way down," hesaid.

KAMALA MILLS FIRE

Blame game between pub owners on

PTI n MUMBAI

India’s financial capital wasrocked by three tragedies

this year - a deluge, a stampedeand a major blaze -- all on the29th. The series of ‘29’ beganon August 29 when torrentialrain brought Mumbai to itsknees, disrupting rail, roadand air services, uprootingtrees and leaving hundreds ofMumbaikars stranded. At least10 people were killed inMumbai and its neighbouringareas. Exactly a month later, onSeptember 29, 23 people losttheir lives in a stampede on abridge linking the ElphinstoneRoad and Parel stations.

And today, in the dyingdays of the year, tragedy struckagain on the 29th with a firebreaking out in a pub in abuilding in the Kamala Millscompound hosting a birthdayparty. The midnight blazekilled 14 people, including 11women, and injured 21.

The three tragedies, on thesame day of various months,were also linked by allegationsthat they were the result of apa-thy and could have been avoided.

PTI n MUMBAI

The pub was 1 Above, themusic was loud and the

cake was chocolate. The settingwas perfect as Khushbu Bansalirang in her 29th birthday withfriends and family in therooftop restaurant of a poshMumbai building.

But Khushbu, who turned29 on the 29th, did not live tosee the day. The merrimentsoon turned into mayhem as afire broke out shortly aftermidnight, reducing the restau-rant to a heap of smoulderingbamboo and wood.

Fourteen people werekilled, 11 of them women,most of them asphyxiating todeath, officials said.

Among the dead was thebirthday girl who just a shortwhile ago was blowing outcandles to the chorus of“Happy Birthday” and wishesfor a long life.

As is the wont in these daysof social media, her friendstook little time in uploading thevideo of a laughing Khushbu,dressed in a black top, cuttingher cake.

PTI n MUMBAI

Following the devastatingfire that burned out 14 lives

in earlier in the day, hotels andrestaurants associations onFriday admitted that there aneed for better infrastructure,particularly for fire safety.

“The Mumbai fire inci-dent reiterates the need forimproving infrastructure con-ditions, in particular fire safe-ty," National RestaurantAssociation of India (NRAI)president Rahul Singh said ina statement. The associationwill continue to engage with thestates on how best to improvethe fire safety measures so as toprevent such type of recur-rences in future, he added.

“As an immediate step, weare convening a meeting toexplore possible avenues forimproving and strengtheningfire safety measures in oursector," Singh said.

On a long-term basis, theassociation will be exploringthe possibility of launching aprogramme to address occu-pational safety and health con-ditions, including adequate firesafety and training mecha-nisms, he said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Akin to SRK’s famous dia-logue “Bade bade deshon

me mein aisi chhoti chhotibaatein hoti rehti hai, Senorita!! in Dilwale Dulhania LeJayenge , Mumbai MayorVishwanath Mahadeshwar onFriday put his foot in themouth when he said that oneshould not expect him to beaware of “whatever that hap-pens” in the country’s com-mercial capital.

Mahadeshwar came withhis comment when he visitedthe fire mishap site at KamalaMills compound found at least

10 hours after the incident.“I can’t be aware of all that

is happening in Mumbai.What do we have the wardofficers for? Fourteen peoplehave lost their lives and it is aserious matter. An inquiryhas been ordered and a reportwill be sought to see who isresponsible. Action will betaken," the first citizen ofMumbai said.

“The inquiry report willconsist various aspects like- anysuch unauthorised construc-tion, and whether fire audit wasdone or not, monsoon shedhad permission or not," theMumbai Mayor said.

Mumbai mayor’s

foot in mouth

Pramila Laxmichand Kenia (70)Vishwa Jayant Lalani (22)Dhariya Jayant Lalani (26)Khusbhu Jayesh Bhansali (29)Parul Rakesh Lakdawala (49) Tejal Bhaven Gandhi (36)Kavita Piyush Dharani (36)Sarabjit Samrendra Pereira (23)Yasha Alap Thakkar (22)Prachi Mahendra Khetani alias Prachi Ankit Sheth (30)Preeti Rajesh Rajgadia (49)Shefali Pranav Doshi (45)Kinjal Jayesh Mehta alias Kinjal Bharat Shah (28)Manisha Nimesh Shah (47)

List of deceased

NAME AGE

Fire latest inMumbai's ‘29' series oftragedies

She was 29 on29th: A birthdayand inferno thatfollowed

Industry bodyfor better infra,fire safety steps

Drunken, selfie obsession

delayed evacuation

A totally charred roof top restaurant is seen among other high-rise buildings inMumbai, on Friday PTI

PTI n KOLKATA

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) probing the Rose

Valley ponzi scheme scam is inthe process of attaching morehotel properties owned by thetainted firm located at variousplaces in the country. EDsources told PTI that the agencywas in the process of identify-

ing the properties which wereeither built or purchased out ofthe crime proceeds. A few otherproperties have already beenattached.

Rose Valley, according toED estimates, had mobilisedmoney illegally from the publicto the tune of ̀ 17,000 crore, outof which `8,600 crore wasrepaid as the principal amount

to the depositors. Also anamount of around ̀ 1,700 crorehad been paid as interest to thedepositors, while `3,500 crorewas expended towards givingcommission to the agents at 20per cent on the total moneymobilised. This resulted in atotal deductible amount of`13,800 crore and this did notinclude the establishment costs.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

14 KILLED... President Ram Nath Kovind,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi,Vice-President M Venkaiah Naiduand Congress president RahulGandhi are among the prominentpersonalities who expressed griefover the incident and offered theircondolences to the families of thevictims.

Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis, who visited themishap site in the afternoon andtook stock of the situation,announced that five officials of theBrihanmumbai Mumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) had been sus-pended after they were found guiltyof giving illegal permissions, whilea criminal offence had been regis-tered against the owners and man-agers of the affected restaurants andpubs. “There is no question ofsparing any one found guilty of anyirregularity. I have asked BMCMunicipal Commissioner to holda comprehensive inquiry into theincident and submit a report to thestate government,” Fadnavis said.

Similarly, the Chief Ministerordered immediate demolition ofillegal structures in the Kamala Millcompound and directed the author-ities concerned to conduct a safe-ty audit of the establishments locat-ed in the compound.

“The post-mortem conductedon the fire victims revealed that amajority of them had either due toasphyxia or after inhaling poiso-nous fumes from the burningmaterials,” Dean of the KEM

Hospital Dr Avinash Supe said.Kamala Mill compound, locat-

ed in south-central Mumbai, hasbecome destination for moneypeople and elite classes in recentyears. There are many major cor-porate offices, TV-radio-printmedia set-ups, at least 20 to 25high-end restaurants, pubs, etc.

The Times Network withoffices of all its major channels inthe same complex was affected tem-porarily. “The magnitude of fire washuge, disrupting our operationstemporarily. All our employeeswere evacuated safely,” a statementissued by the media organisationsaid. “After the disruption, TimesNow, Times Now HD, ET Now andMirror Now are operational by latemorning, while Movies Now,Movies Now HD, MN+, MNXHD, Romedy Now, Romedy NowHD, and Zoom would be back onair shortly,” a Times Networkspokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya JanataParty MP Kirit Somaiya camedown heavily on the Shiv Sena-ruled BMC for lapses on its partthat led to the blaze. He demand-ed a complete fire audit of all build-ings in the city. Leader ofOpposition in the AssemblyRadhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of theCongress alleged corruption in theBMC had led to the illegal con-structions in the compound. Hedemanded a Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) enquiry into theincident.

Mumbai Congress president

Sanjay Nirupam demanded strin-gent action against those responsi-ble for allowing the illegal eateriesin the compound.

Congress legislator Nitesh Raneclaimed that a hookah parlour hadcaused the fire and not a short cir-cuit as was speculated. He allegedthat Mojo and another restaurantare only issued food licences, butnot for serving hookahs to cus-tomers. Yuva Sena president AdityaThackeray, who had in the recentpast gone whole-hog for promot-ing nightlife in Mumbai, said imple-mentation of fire safety norms wasa must and BMC would comedown hard on violators.

EVEN V-P TRAPPED BY...Naidu then said Bose is a

“great hero” and asked theGovernment to take note of thedemand made by the MPs. He,however, clarified that Banerjee was“sentimentally right” and it is up tothe Government to take a decision.

Drawing the attention of theHouse to the plight of farmers,Dilip Tirkey (BJD) asked theGovernment to raise the minimumsupport price (MSP) of paddy tohelp more than 60 lakh farmersengaged in cultivating it in Odisha.Several MPs from various partiesassociated themselves with Tirkeyand also backed demand for waiv-ing off loans of farmers in the back-drop of agrarian crisis in the coun-try. This issue was raised by KKRagesh (CPM). Harivansh (JD-U)drew the attention of the House to

three recent incidents of mistreat-ment of passengers by private air-lines including physical assault ofa passenger and rude behaviourwith sportsperson PV Sindhu. Heasked the Government to ensurethat private airlines follow rules andregulations. Agrawal quipped whileMPs are banned by airlines for anymisdemeanor, employees of the air-lines are not punished.

Rajani Patil (Congress) raisedthe issue of the major fire that brokeout in a building in Kamala MillsCompound in Lower Parel inMumbai. Shwait Malik (BJP)demanded a strict law to checkcyber crimes like hacking, cyberbullying and cyber terrorism, say-ing cyber crime was like a termitewhich is eclipsing the achieve-ments made in IT and digitaladvancement. Pramod Tiwari(Congress) raised the issue ofunspent amount of Rs 2,600 croremeant for Ganga river cleaning.

MEGHALAYA CONG-MUKT...Another distress for the ruling

party, particularly ahead of thepolls, could be the fact that veteranparty leader and former ChiefMinister DD Lapang, who is thepresident of the Meghalaya PradeshCongress Committee (MPCC) hasalso decided not to contest theforthcoming polls due to his age.Following Lapang, Deputy ChiefMinister RC Laloo and HealthMinister Roshan Warjri also decid-ed not to contest the forthcomingpolls.

ABHIRAMI VINOD/SHEFEEK PM

n NEW DELHI

Delhi Crime Branch has bust-ed an inter-State gang of

auto lifters operating in Delhi,Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab,Rajasthan and North-Eastregion. Six members — includ-ing one thief, four receivers anda carrier of stolen cars — havebeen arrested and 28 stolenluxurious cars have been recov-ered. Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Crime) Rajesh Deo said,“The unique modus-operandiwas discovered wherein thestolen cars were transported toNagaland through containersfrom Haryana and NarendarSingh, Lal Bahadur, Sarik, Sonu,Vijay Dhaiya were the gangmembers caught. Out of five,Sonu is proficient in openinglocked car and can commit theftof a car within minutes. Narenderand Vijay are prime receivers ofexpensive stolen vehicles. Theytransported the stolen vehicles toNagaland through transport con-tainers. Accused Sariq and LalBahadur also work with them ascarriers to transport the vehiclesto Nagaland.”

The Chankyapuri policehad on December 15, appre-hended Narendar Singh,LalBahadur, Sarik from Rehtaroad, Meerut cantt, near flyoverwith one Scorpio car havingfake number plate.

Inter-State gang of vehicle liftersbusted, six held

nation 07

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30 , 2017

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

It may be a strange coinci-dence that on the first

anniversary of VK Sasikalagetting unanimously electedas the general secretary ofthe AIADMK, TTVDhinakaran, her nephew,was sworn in as an inde-pendent member of theTamil Nadu legislativeAssembly. It was onDecember 29, 2016, the gen-eral council of the AIADMKmet at Chennai and unani-mously elected Sasikala asthe general secretary of theparty following theDecember 5, 201 demise ofJ Jayalalithaa.

Then Chief Minister OPanneerselvam accompaniedby the Deputy Speaker of theLok Sabha, R Thampi Duraiand other leaders includingEdappadi Palaniswamy haddriven down to Veda Nilayamin Chennai and handed overthe resolution of the generalcouncil to Sasikala whoaccepted the same with tearsrolling down her eyes. Theincident happened around12.30 pm.

On December 29, 2017,Dhinakaran was sworn in asa MLA in the legislativeAssembly by Speaker PDhanapal around the sametime which is being describedas a sweet revenge by theaunt-nephew duo on the Edappadi Palaniswamy-OPanneerselvam combine. Thelast one year sawPanneerselvam losing hischief ministership, Sasikalagetting imprisoned followingthe apex court upholdingthe trial court verdict in theDisproportionate Asset caseand swearing in ofPalaniswamy as ChiefMinister. But Palaniswamy

joined hands with OPS toease out Sasikala andDhinakaran from the party.

The swearing-in ofDhinakaran caused wideresentment in the EPS-OPScamp which on Fridayexpelled more than 100 loy-alists of Sasikala andDhinakaran from the party.

“Let then expel all theMLAs and MPs and otheroffice-bearers of the party.They are all out supporters.Though they are in the EPS-OPS camp, it is only becauseof their fear that they maylose their membership inthe legislative Assembly andParliament. Though they arephysically with the EPS-OPScamp, their heart is herewith us,” said ThangaTamilchelvan, a Dhinakaranloyalist who was disqualifiedas MLA by the Speaker.

Speaking to reporters atFort Saint George,Dhinakaran said the count-down has begun for thedownfall of the presentGovernment. “It is certainpeople’s enthusiasm to keepanother political party ingood humour which result-ed in them losing the elec-tion. This is the begining ofthe end of the AIADMKGovernment,” saidDhinakaran.

The BJP-led NationalDemocratic Allaiance mayface problems from theAIADMK in the Rajya Sabhaat the time of introducing theTriple Talaq Bill as theAIADMK made it known onFriday that the party wouldoppose the new legislationthat bans Triple Talaq.Anwahar Raja, AIADMKMP, said the Bill banningtriple talaq can never bepassed in the present formatas his party was opposed tocertain provisions in it.

Dhinakaran takes

a step closer to

stake his claim

Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran being sworn-in as a member ofTamil Nadu Assembly at the Secretariat in Chennai on Friday PTI

KESTUR VASUKI n

BENGALURU

The water-sharing fromKalasa and Bhanduri —

two tributaries of riverMahadayi (Mandovi ) — tothe parched districts ofnorth Karnataka districtshas become a major stum-bling block for the BJP andthe ruling Congress ahead ofcrucial Assembly polls. BJPstrongman BS Yeddyurappahas now asked Congressleader Sonia Gandhi who isin Goa to intervene to con-vince Congress leaders toresolve the contentious issuebetween Karnataka and Goa.

Yeddyurappa said inShivamogga on the side-lines of his Rath Yatra onFriday that Sonia Gandhishould convince theCongress leaders from Goawho are opposing release ofwater for drinking purposeto the north Karnataka dis-tricts . He asked her toimpress up on the GoaCongress leaders for an ami-cable settlement of the dis-pute. “Sonia Gandhi is cur-rently in Goa on a holidaytour. She should speak to herparty leaders as they areopposing release of water byGoa Government ruled byBJP. The State leadersincluding Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah should appealto her to hold talks with

Congress leaders,” he said.He said “BJP has done itsbest to solve the threedecade old Mahadayi issue,but the Congress partyinstead of extending supportour efforts is blaming andprovoking farmers againstus, “ he said.

“I had held talks withGoa Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar in thepresence of BJP NationalPresident Amit Shah andParrikar had agreed fortalks. But ruling Congress inKarnataka has taken strongexception for Parrikar writ-ing letter to me instead ofSiddaramaiah”, he added.

He said that his party iscommitted to protect theintrests of the people ofKarnataka on water sharingand other issues and the rul-ing party leaders shouldextend supporting handinstead of blaming for polit-ical gain.

Yeddyurappa answeringKS Eshwarappa anothersenior BJP leader who ques-tioned his decision toannounce some of thenames for certain con-stituencies without Clarenceand consent from the partyhigh command said partypresident Amit Shah willtake a final call in announc-ing the candidates for ensu-ing Assembly polls inKarnataka.

MAHADAYI ROW

Yeddyurappa seeks

Sonia’s intervention

Now that the initiators of the #MeToocampaign have been named as “peo-ple of the year” by conventional

media, it is an acknowledgment of thepower of the digital platform to gallop up andbecome a tool for women’s empowermentand tidal change. Social media, which was sofar considered an air-headed shoutout for sea-sonal activism, saleable trends and flightyfame, was actually leavened by maturedebates and actionable relevance.

Sexual harassment or sexual violencegraduated from being just a conscience prick-er or moral outrage on discussion boards toactually forcing a course correction in the realworld. Thanks to the faceless women whospoke up against their abusers at the work-place, the offenders had to step down fromtheir exalted positions in industry and gov-ernance with the delivery of retrospective jus-tice. For the first time, global citizenrytamed a medieval expression of dominationand coercion into being a despicable misfitof the modern world. It even fostered acounter movement of men who took to theconfession box, admitting they had violatedboundaries or unknowingly offended womenaround them. For the first time, gender neu-trality didn’t seem like a slogan but a societalsensitivity that will shape the way we builda new world. And most importantly, for thefirst time again, it forced a revision of the fem-inist movement itself as regular women askedtheir privileged and successful counterpartswhy they still tolerated predatory men andremained tight-lipped despite being aware oftheir odious character. Did success mean onlybreaking the glass ceiling and becoming anacolyte of an elite preserve of Fortune 500?Did it mean compromising others andbecoming nothing more than a black suit?

In India, the #MeToo campaign surgedtoo, albeit with little impact on retributive jus-tice, but set the ball rolling for a discourseon gender parity. A pattern of womenempowerment emerged on Twitter thisyear. The Women’s World Cup hashtag#wwc17 helped make the case for marketmajors to invest equally in women’s cricket,which has a potential for spectator engage-ment and traction. There were avid conver-sations on triple talaq that saw a volcanic out-pouring by generations of wronged womenat the mercy of male fancy than logic. The#Ain’tNoCinderella movement, following thestalking of a young woman by a politician’sson and a moral supercop’s statement thatgirls should not be out at the midnight hour,generated a wave of cross-sectional protestand defiance against a chauvinist curfew.Independent adult everyday women from thesmallest of cities and across age groups post-ed videos in a relay race, claiming their rightnot to be judged and arguing they had asmuch right to work night shifts as they didto let their hair down. On the celebrity index,@deepikapadukone became the most fol-

lowed on Twitter, as the fringe threatened tochop off her nose Surpanakha style, overPadmavati. In the post #MeToo world, shedidn’t need a bhai to rescue her. Legions ofyoung women did that by just pushing upher brand value where it mattered most, onsocial media. And by the end of it all, womenhad decided to organise and collate theirefforts online and manifest them offline, asynergy that worked as much for claimingrights as for making their kind of celebra-tory identity statement. The old #100 sariscampaign actually resulted in pride in ourtextile heritage, accelerating its revival.

For the first time perhaps, a social mediacrusade for gender justice complemented theone that has been tirelessly fought for yearson the ground. For the first time, “I” became“we.” For the first time, it brought about a rev-olutionary change at the primary level of thejustice delivery system, the police. TheKolkata police, which at one time was con-sidered the biggest obstacle and a judgmen-tal bully when it came to registering harass-ment complaints of young women, surpris-ingly moulted and effected changes in thecomplaint registry system even before#MeToo could become a wave. With mem-ories of the Nihar Bano rape case inside apolice station and the hounding of a ParkStreet reveller for staying out late scarring cit-izens’ minds, the turnaround was more aboutshock than awe. “We want you to be very, veryangry about the leering verbal and physicalabuses, to be not afraid,” it posted on itsFacebook page. It has now started a projectcalled “Dear boys” in schools to treat girls andtheir bodies with respect. The Mumbai police,too, overturned the helplessness of a NewYear’s midnight molestation from years ago,by taking swift action on the ground for anygirl who tweeted them about stalking, mis-

behaviour, abuse or harassment. This empa-thy may not have had an impact yet in thehinterland but a female complainant, who sofar felt distressed and traumatised by the veryidea of reporting a misdemeanour, has at leastfelt a reassuring pat.

Most surprisingly, it forced young Indianmen to think and revise their attitudes in theireveryday dealings with women. A gender-based assault is not always about a violentrape, extreme abuse or slut-shaming but abouta culture where sexualising a woman by wayof a hand gesture, inappropriate words or acrass intonation is seen as normal. Where awoman’s “no” is still interpreted as a sign ofVictorian bashfulness to be negotiated withguile rather than it being considered a vocif-erous rejection. The men’s counter-narrative#HowIWillChange had proponents askingwomen in their homes, colleagues and peergroups what behavioural traits had irked themduring their interactions all these years. Theshared hashtag was not just about pouringyour guilt, shame and pain online but aboutstarting micro-level conversations that wouldultimately result in a paradigm shift.

Social media, as an alternative space forunpoliced truths and as a democratic plat-form upholding the right to be heard, hasalways been crucial for women’s empower-ment. Twitter data as of early Novembershowed that users in the United States, UnitedKingdom, India, France, and Canada usedthe hashtag #MeToo most heavily. In the safe-ty of numbers, the anonymity of online han-dles, the situational familiarity of case stud-ies and the surge of empathy, reluctant Indianwomen decided that they would no longerslip a part of themselves through the cracksbut hold themselves up, warts and all. Somespoke out robustly. Those who could not justtyped in their acknowledgment, repeating

and recirculating the hashtag till it acquiredgale force momentum. Many individual bat-tles of disgust and despair found catharsis andredress in this collective group therapy. In aworld summarised by graphic images,#MeToo had unparalleled stories of survivaland hope. In that sense, this campaign,woven around strings of words and thoughts,even crossed the limits of traditional main-stream media, which has shoved genderissues as boring and opinionated pieces tobe placed on lean news days.

The campaign gave credibility to womenas a potent market force. By the end of thisdecade, women are expected to surpass menwith a greater share of the productive work-force. Top brands have already startedreworking their storyboards to reflect a50/50 world, with an international clothingmajor unfurling the #UnitedByHalf cam-paign. A detergent brand at home exhort-ed men to #share the load of dirty laundry,a watch major celebrated the ‘new Indianwoman,’ Ms World Manushi Chillar andactor Akshay Kumar mainstreamed men-strual hygiene as a major health imperativewhile two sanitary napkin brands went viralwith the hashtag #I’mNotdown and#TouchThePickle, deciding that whispersnever did achieve anything. And if you fol-lowed a telecom major, you would know thata wife could be as much a boss as a caringpartner if both were connected.

Hashtags were originally conceived tofilter content online and guide interestgroups to an easy engagement of ideas.Today, it has become one of the most inter-active modes of dialogue between peoplethat is impacting thinking in the realworld and giving it asset value.

(The writer is Associate Editor, The Pioneer)

Many people were horrified when Donald J Trump stood on the steps of the USCongress this past January and took oath to become the 45th President of theUS — some even refused to accept the results of the US Presidential Election

— but the fact remains that Donald Trump won fair and square even if the style andformat of the US Presidential Election is a rather twisted form of democracy. TheAmerican media, particularly those television channels and newspapers, that termsthemselves bastions of liberalism, failed. The fact is that modern America is possi-bly more ideologically divided than modern India and Trump is not the cause of thisdivide. Rather he is an effect of the divide even if some have you believe otherwise.Has Trump’s first year in office been the foreign policy disaster that many thought itto be? Rex Tillerson, former Chief Executive of Exxon-Mobil, remains the Secretaryof State, yet Trump’s policy of announcing major decisions over Twitter seems to haveexasperated Tillerson, particularly with Trump’s policy regarding North Korea and KimJong-Un, with the US President referring to the North Korean dictator as Rocketman.However, as much as many rue Donald Trump’s use of Twitter, one has to admit that

he has given the platform a new lease of life.Indeed, Donald Trump’s ascension to powerhas given a new lease of life to several mediaorganisations as well, most notably The New

York Times and CNN, both of which havewithstood withering attacks by Trump. Yet,Trump himself has been seemingly immuneto attacks by those who detest him. Indeed,attacks on Trump only seem to strengthenhis base. And much like in India with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, those pitchedagainst Trump do not understand the coreof his likeability, that is with the base and dis-miss Trump’s base as ‘deplorables’ as HillaryClinton did much to her electoral cost. ButTrump faces elections himself later in 2018

with the US mid-term elections and some are predicting that because of Trump, hisRepublican Party could lose control of both Houses of the United States Congress.But then again, not a single established poll or pundit expected Trump to win the elec-tion either such was their reading of Trump’s core support. The US’ relationship withIndia under Trump has improved, which might not have been the case under HillaryClinton. TheTrump Administration wants to use India as a bulwark against China andthe use of the term Indo-Pacific and the United States’ lead in forming an alliance ofitself, India, Japan and Australia is something for India to welcome. However, the TrumpAdministration has dithered over Pakistan and needs to chop the head of the terrorsnake because only it can force Pakistan to mend their ways. On the whole, the yearof Trump has not been as bad as many would have you believe.

Climate change is perhaps not a felt crisis economically, largely because we asso-ciate it with an abstract health calamity of pollution or environmental damage offlood, drought and natural disasters, issues which are too gigantic or nebulous

to deal with than tailoring your household budget post GST. Yet if the last risk indexis to be believed, then India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate changeimpact, sixth after Haiti. Cold statistics estimate that climate-related impact on oureconomy could eat into our GDP by about two per cent. With a spike in emissionsand energy use categories, India has climbed six places to 14th position among 60countries in the latest Climate Change Performance Index. However, its per capita emis-sion is still below the sub two degree Celsius slab. What needs to be understood isthat about two-thirds of India has gone into the next phase of infrastructure expan-sion and growth, the imperatives of which cannot be ignored but which will have acascading effect on our carbon footprint. India, apart from meeting its own challenges,also has to bear the retrospective burden of past rapacious growth in the rich nations.

As an emergent economy, that is also goingto be of great consequence in the world mar-ket, and with a sizeable population that can-not be denied its aspirations, India has amonstrous target of peaking a new econo-my at a frugal climate cost. Since we makeup at least a fifth of mankind, we determinethe global stakes as well. Unlike the US,which mocked the Paris agreement bowingto domestic concerns, India has accepted thegrowth template, powering it on jetpacks ofclean and renewable energy, rural electrifi-cation and reducing the use of fossil fuels.

The Government’s smart cities projecthas solely been cast on green logic with areliance on self-sufficient micro communi-

ties, reducing need-based commute, LED lighting, an efficient waste management sys-tem, ensuring rainwater harvesting, maintaining a mandatory green cover of nativeplants that oxygenate rather than beautify, reducing and recycling debris load and set-ting zero effluent targets. The bigger challenge is with existing urban infrastructure.Cities like Delhi, with a radial metro system, a CNG fleet and now a pod taxi pilot scheme,are yet to tackle the voluminous gusts of vehicular emissions. While the Governmenthas announced 2030 as the cutoff year after which clean vehicles can only take toroads and with hybrids slowly picking up traction, the aspirant ownership and theirresultant blowback continues to be a matter of concern. Even in smart cities, whichcan afford a crucible test, a mass rapid transport linkage system has to be workedon and made attractive enough to contain private vehicle runs. Growth incentives arein-built in the clean energy mission. A recent survey shows that India’s goals havethe potential to create heartland jobs in the solar and wind power sectors. But it isthe displacement of productive labour and their changing migrant patterns broughton by extreme weather events that need to be factored in as a rehabilitative cushion.The flooding of our rivers with regular frequency and the post-cyclone erosion of ourcoastlines have had devastating impact on local agri and water-based economies.Heatwaves and extreme monsoon rains have resulted in costly fatalities among oursizeable labour force and massive property damage. Coastal protection policy mustlook beyond temporary relocation and allow for alternative livelihoods for climate refugeesbefore they can become a demographic slag. Most importantly, we must individu-alise the crisis and internalise mitigatory measures than rely on policy.

Meeting climate goals

As an emerging economy, India must

keep climate costs frugal

opinion 08LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

2017: When hashtagput on a thinking cap

The year of Trump

The year has ended and all fears about being in

midst of World War III have proved untrue

Authoritarian leader

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Four more years” (December28). Russian President VladimirPutin is leaving no stoneunturned to gain electoral suc-cess for his fourth term as thePresident of the RussianFederation. The debarment ofGovernment crit ic AlexeyNavalny from contesting the2018 presidential elections putsa question mark on the legitima-cy of the upcoming presidentialelections.

It was Russia which pavedthe way for a changed econom-ic and political configurationsacross the world in the aftermathof the Russian Revolution of1917. Putin’s manoeuvres to getelected at any cost will definite-ly alter Russia’s position in theglobal space. Though it may beagreed that Putin salvaged Russiafrom the turbulent Yeltsin years,the absence of a healthyOpposition, a basic requirementfor a democracy, clearly estab-lishes the authoritarian tenden-cies uncalled for a person of thestature of Putin.

Bishal DasNew Delhi

Respect culture

Sir — This refers to the article,“New narrative for a civilisation-al India” (December 27) byAnirban Ganguly. To imposeHindi-Hindu-Hindustan as theideals of Indian culture is noth-ing but an attempt to thwart ourgreat legacy. The ideals of ourculture is to achieve unity not

only by showing respect to diver-sity but also by accepting it as ourown. In his famous Chicagospeech, Swami Vivekananda hadsaid, “We believe not only in uni-versal toleration, but we acceptall religions as true.”

Sri Ramkrishna was anembodiment of a real catholicHindu who himself practicedIslam, Christianity and otherreligions to live his words —“many opinions, many paths”.

Sri Aurobindo had said,“There are two Hinduisms; onewhich takes its stand on thekitchen and seeks its paradise bycleaning the body; another whichseeks god, not through the cook-ing-pot and social convention,but in the soul. The latter is alsoHinduism and is more enduringthan the other.” On being askedabout his views on Hindi beingthe common language of India,Sri Aurobindo had said, “Englishwill be all right and even neces-sary if India is to be an interna-tional state. In that case, Englishhas to be the medium of expres-sion, especially as English isnow replacing French as a world— language.”

Now, if we try to imposeHindi and allow intercaste mar-riage vigilantes, interreligiousmarriage vigilantes, cow vigi-lantes and fairy tale vigilantes tomake us forget the great teachingsof Maha Upanishad — vasudhai-va kutumbakam meaning ‘thewhole world is one family’ then itwill be against the ideals of whatIndia has always stood for.

Sujit DeKolkata

www.dailypioneer.com

p a p e r w i t h p a s s i o n

Send your feedback to: letterstopioneer@gmail.com

SOUNDBITE

All of us, including legis-

lature, executive and

judiciary are under

Constitutional sovereign-

ty and we have to sur-

render to Constitutional

supremacy.

Chief Justice of

India

—Dipak Misra

RINKUGHOSH

Hashtag activism was perhaps the most dominant component this year not only for women, who took tothe social media in protest, but also for online conversation that is impacting thinking in the real world

India is facing big chal-

lenges in gender justice.

The Government has pri-

oritised women's issues in

its policies and pro-

grammes but there is

need for greater

momentum.

UN Women official

—Lakshmi Puri

Real test for Indian

cricket is yet to come

This refers to the editorial, “Year of reckoning” (December 28). It wouldnot be an exaggeration to say that the year 2017 belonged to the Indiancricket team, which performed exceptionally well in all three formats

of the game. But having said that, the teams real test lies ahead when itwill tour to South Africa, Australia and England because those are the fron-tiers which are yet to conquered by the Indian cricket team. We shouldremember that the West Indian cricket team of 1970s and 1980s and theAustralian team of 1990s were invincible because they performed equal-ly well on both home and overseas tours.

So, it would be really interesting to see how this team, which hastalent, skill and also the right attitude to win on tough tours, perform onthose bouncy, swinging and seaming conditions. And yes, until and unlessthe Virat Kohli-led team does well over the next 18 months, when it willbe touring above countries, it can not be termed as the greatest team inrecent history. Coming to the new entrants, like Afghanistan and Irelandinto test playing nations, it should not be forgotten that it is T20 formatlike the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League, which has givenhuge platform to these players to perform against the best in the world.Hopefully, both these nations will get more chances to play against bestsides in test cricket so that their standard improves and game of crick-et reaches to newer boundaries.

Bal GovindNoida

LETTERS TO THE EDITORBanks and creditors will

have to take a haircut on

bad loans, even as default-

ing promoters can make

their businesses

operational again by

paying the outstanding

interest on the loan.

Union Finance Minister

—Arun Jaitley

Cultural heritage is one of

the most key aspects for

any country. But unfortu-

nately, various forms of

folk dances and music

are dying in India. We

must protect them.

BJP MP

—Hema Malini

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017 3rdeye {saturday special} 09

OTHER VOICE

PERSPECTIVE

YASIR ALI MIRZA

Any effort without

amicable settlement of

the range of issues in

Israel-Palestine arena,

particularly Jerusalem, is

like a pipe dream. Trump’s

Jerusalem decision is a

serious obstruction to

desired and enduring

peace in West Asia

In a reckless move strayingfrom the consistent US policyon Israel-Palestine peace

process, the Donald Trumpadministration recently defied allinternational concerns and recog-nised Jerusalem as Israel’s newcapital, asserting that it wouldmove the US Embassy from TelAviv to the occupied city. Thismove triggered debates sur-rounding the protracted Arab-Israel conflict which has been lin-gering on since 1948. However, theTrump administration decisioncame as no surprise as the USPresident has extended anunprecedented support to a pow-erful Jewish lobby in the corridorsof power in the US. After facingglobal outrage and isolation,White House defended PresidentTrump’s decision, asserting that itwas a reflection of “ground reali-ties” as they “want to continue topush forward in those conversa-tions and those discussions”.

The issue of Jerusalem is sodelicate that US’ staunchest allies— EU, NATO countries — andeven its “poodle” Britain are desist-ing to follow the suit and giveleverage to the international pub-lic opinion and sensitivity of theissue. Even Trump’s predecessorshad earlier deferred to implementthe Congressional law of 1995called Jerusalem Embassy Actwhich calls for recognisingJerusalem as Israel’s capital. TheUS’ recognition of Jerusalem asIsrael’s capital violates UN SecurityCouncil Resolution 478 and lendscredence to 1980 Israel’s “Basiclaw” which declared entireJerusalem ‘complete and united’ asthe capital of Israel. Fundamentallyit is an issue of final status settle-ment between the Arabs and theIsraelis and to dodging it may havea major political, legal and moralimplications for the region.

The contested cityThe genesis of the recent cri-

sis lies in the 1917 BalfourDeclaration in a form of a letter inwhich British Foreign SecretaryLord Balfour promised to carveout a Jewish homeland in the wakeof rising anti-Jewish feelings in

Europe. Since then the colonialwestern powers’ vested interestsmade the region bad to worst.Jerusalem or Al-Quds is a citywhich houses holy places of all theAbrahamic religions — JudaismChristianity and Islam in histori-cal order — and is claimed by bothPalestinians and Israelis. Thisremains a bone of contentionbetween the warring parties as itwas given an international statusor corpus separatum (separateentity) in the resolution 181 ofUnited Nations Security Council(UNSC) in 1947 despite the totalrejection of Palestinians and thelarger Arab world. In the UN-imposed Partition Plan, the landof Palestine was divided into threeentities i.e. Israel, West Bank &Gaza, and Jerusalem (under inter-national observation). After thewithdrawal of Mandatory Britishforces, Israel flouted this resolutionand annexed West Jerusalem andwar broke out in 1948, followingthe Naqba ‘the Catastrophe’ inwhich Zionist militias forciblyevicted around 7 lakh Palestiniansfrom their land. In 1967 Six DayWar, Israel again annexed theEast Jerusalem area where pre-dominantly Arabs, includingMuslims and Christians, coexistwithout citizenship rights underthe Israeli occupation.

Jerusalem is the focal point ofreference for both the Palestiniansand Israelis of their respectednarratives. But the importance ofthis city in engraved in the col-lective memory of wholePalestinian community.Palestinians consider it as a futurecapital of the State of Palestine.Any effort without amicable set-tlement of range of issues partic-ularly the Jerusalem city is like apipe dream. So, this US-Israelimeasure is a serious obstructionto achieve a comprehensive, justand enduring peace in West Asia.

Bizarre moveTrump wants to send out a

message that he is a tough decisionmaker and can act unilaterally tobring peace in the West Asianregion. The bizarre Jerusalemmove is overt support for sheer

perversity for ‘Eretz Israel’(Greater Israel) and intends tolegitimise the Israeli occupation ofPalestinian territories.

Trump’s decision bears testi-mony to the power the Jewishadvocacy groups, like AmericanIsraeli Public Affairs Committee(AIPAC) and American JewishCommittee (AJC), are enjoying inthe corridors of power inWashington DC. It also ques-tions the morality of the US andits role as non-partisan peacenegotiator in the Arab-Israelipeace process. It has also mademockery of human rights andprinciples of justice forPalestinians.

The Trump’s decision has setoff a new controversy, making thePalestinian territory susceptible tofresh violent clashes as Hamas hascalled for third intifada to take onthe Zionist occupation. Furtheraggravating tension in the region,Organisation of IslamicConference (OIC) emergencysummit in Istanbul declared EastJerusalem as the capital of State ofPalestine. Iraq’s Sadrist move-ment Shia Islamist leader SyedMuqtada al-Sadr announced themobilisation of volunteers to freeAl-Quds on the pattern al-Hashadal-Shabi (Popular MobilisationForces). The powerful Hezbollahin Lebanon, which beaming withconfidence after hard fought bat-tle with the fringe groups in Syria,too may to join forces againstIsrael. Showing its uprightness,Iranian President Hassan Rouhanireaffirmed at the OIC Summit thatit is ready to cooperate without any“preconditions” and “reservations”for the liberation of Palestine. Inthe given scenario, the enduringpeace is evasive in near future.

Cruel deceptionIt is pity that Gulf monarchi-

cal demagogues are engaged incontaining the imaginary Iranianclout and so-called “Shia Crescent”in the region. They have estab-lished cordial relations with Israelat the expense of the legitimaterights of the Palestinian people.The Trump administration knowsthe spinelessness of some Muslim

nations, especially the Gulf littoralsheikhdoms, that is why he hadspoken to Saudi Arabia’s belea-guered monarch before takingthis step. Notably, Saudi Arabia’sfickleness about the Palestiniancause has played a role in theTrump’s Jerusalem decision.

India’s lukewarm responseKeeping in mind the thriving

India-Israel relationship and at thesame time the growing unrest inthe world against the Trump deci-sion, India had to walk a difficulttightrope at the UN. In fact, it waspragmatic to vote against theTrump’s move.

Ministry of External Affairsspokesperson Raveesh Kumarsaid, “India’s position on Palestineis independent and consistent. Itis shaped by our views and inter-ests, and not determined by anythird country.” India has been astaunch backer of the Palestiniancause from its very inception andalways expressed solidarity withthe cause. There is a long historyof India’s opposition to Israel’soccupation and its apartheid pol-icy towards Palestinians. Indiawas among the first non-Arabcountries to recognise YasserArafat-led Palestine LiberationOrganisation as sole representativeof the Palestinian people.

However, realising its owndomestic obligations, India hastilted towards Israel in recentyears, mostly because of defenceties and agricultural technologicalcooperation. These “interests”have led to a paradigm shift inIndia’s policy towards Palestiniancause, and it was visible as Indiaavoided condemning the Trump’sJerusalem declaration. Despitehaving voted in favour of Palestineat the UN, the Modi Governmentis trying to set a precedent in itspolicy towards the Israel-Palestineissue as Israel’s contribution toIndia’s civil and defence require-ment is tremendous.

(The writer is a doctoral can-didate at Centre for West AsianStudies, School of InternationalStudies, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, New Delhi)

US does Israel-Palestine peace a bad turn

What ails strategic and politi-cal thinking along with the

rigmarole of the diplomatic par-lance and practice? The recentvituperation by the Indian thinkersand so-called intellectuals of theIsrael-Palestine problem leaves alot to be desired along with thewarped analysis. The fundamen-tal premise of the Arabs aboutPalestine is not a wrongly placednotion, but the issue that missesthe academic point is that wherewe place the plight of the Jews asthey have always been part of theobscurantist sequesters. Broadlyspeaking, the targeted Jews had tofight a lonesome battle surround-ed by all and sundry West Asiannations. The tale of the Jews’ suf-fering has never been permitted tobecome a telltale narrative, whichit ought to have become part of themyth, lore and practice of WestAsia and the larger internationalsystem. It has always been awarped and one-sided narrativewhich quintessentially pits theUnited States of America as the tai-lor-made interventionist and thefar-off laughing international actorand the Israeli establishment as aden of “tyrannical entrepreneurs”.

Admittedly, it has been part ofthe standard American policythat they have been supportive ofTel Aviv’s diplomatic and strategicstandpoints both on and off theUnited Nations Security Council’sheady portals. We seldom delib-erate upon the rites of passagewhich the Jews had to undergoafter the dismemberment of theOttoman Empire and under theaegis of the Third Reich. Who canforgive the fortitude of the Jewcommunity while being incarcer-ated in the Sobibores andAuschwitz of the World War IIlore, pain and suffering too. Thisis not woolly sentimentalism.

The regulating US has alwaysbeen the mediator nation parexcellence with its superior mili-tary muscle, diplomatic refrainand economic reach. Though theAmerican efforts have not yield-ed practical gains in the context ofthe Israel-Palestine question, theone ought not to relegate the striv-ings of President Jimmy Carterand his Camp David accords inthe times of Menachem Begin andAnwar Sadat along with the state-ly efforts of President Clinton in2000. The road-map approach inthe early years of the twenty-firstcentury too need not be kept out

of the deliberation loop. In fact, ifthe Americans want they canspawn their own narrative wherein American interest and strivingswith the West Asian counterpartscan initiate a solution for theIsrael-Palestine quagmire. Apartfrom the talk surrounding the kid-napping of Harriri of Lebanon andthe question of the Yemeni strife,the status of Jerusalem has onceagain come into to the limelight.A two-state solution might be theideal solution for both the Israelination and the Palestine regionsmarked by West Bank and GazaStrip, with the ruling denomina-tions of Hamas and Fatah.

President Trump once offeredto mediate between India andPakistan, which was parried off byNew Delhi but an American redoas negotiators with other nationscan serve the cause of peace andstability in the West Asian region.The surprising lurch and search ofsome of the leaders and theirstooges all across the internation-al system has been the systemicsideling of the American nation asnegotiators and stake holders inthe region. But when it comes toousting a leader and or a rulingoutfit in the form of PresidentBashar-Al-Assad in Syria,Washington is expected to serve asa benefactor and provider nationpar excellence. This amounts to adeplorable duplicity which needsto be corrected auspiciously whichhas made the deliberations on theIsrael-Palestine quagmire as astrict no-no in Third World statesand particularly in the developingsegments of the World Polity.Delivery of global justice need notbe one sided and singularly fenced.

It was part of the campaigntrail heralded by President Trumpin 2016 that the resolution of thestatus of Jerusalem city wasadvanced a foreign policy premise.In a way, President Trump hasdelivered on his campaign trail’sforeign policy promises. The deci-sion to shift the AmericanEmbassy to Jerusalem from TelAviv has thus been advanced byPresident Trump as his “reaction”to the talk on the America’s WestAsian premise in the contempo-rary context. Israeli PresidentBenjamin Netanyahu called thedecision as advancing peace andbeing “historic” in nature andimplementation. One media por-tal reports about the historicity ofthe rationale why Israel’s capital

should shift to Jerusalem andthus decrease the nightmare in thisregional hotbed of conflict.President Netanyahu has com-mented, “The Jewish state wouldmaintain status quo at the holysites ensuring freedom of worshipfor Jews, Christians and Muslims.This is a historic day. It’s been thecapital of Israel for nearly 70years. Jerusalem has been thefocus of our hopes, our dreams,our prayers for three millennia. Ithas been the capital of the Jewishpeople for 3,000 years. It was herethat our temples stood, our kingsruled, our prophets preached.”

Fredrico Mogherini, the chiefdiplomat of the European Union,and other progressive leaders haveexpressed “serious concern” aboutthe Trump’s proclamation to des-ignate Jerusalem as the novae cap-ital of Israel in an interesting diplo-matic demarche very characteris-tic of the American supremo.

According to the NewTestament also, Jerusalem happensto be the place of Abhramical sac-rifice; so Jerusalem attains extremesignificance for the Israeli nation.Germany has attempted to stick tothe ideational two-state solution,where in the status of the holy cityof Jerusalem can be decided onlyunder the framework of the two-state solution. Even after theworldwide gamut of protests andthe Israeli bombing of targets inWest Bank and Gaza strip,President Trump remains at his

defiant best in the context of hisJerusalem decision. According toa Guardian report, PresidentTrump said, “My announcementtoday marks the beginning of anew approach to the conflictbetween Israel and thePalestinians.”

The Atlantic says, “ThePalestinian militant group Hamascalled for three ‘days of rage’ toprotest the decision. Many peopleanswered that call.” Emma Greenwrites in the Atlantic, “The divid-ed city is one claimed by bothIsraelis (in West Jerusalem) andPalestinians (in East Jerusalem) astheir capital, and AmericanPresidents have typically treated itsstatus as an issue to be resolvedthrough negotiations. In the wakeof Trump’s announcement, peoplein the Palestinian half of the cityare angry, but few seemed eagerfor the new intifada or uprisingthat some Muslim leaders arecalling for.”

No one might be yet preparedfor the Naqba in the forties, theGalilee war in the sixties or theYom Kippur war in the seventies.A common refrain in the affect-ed region is that Hamas and Fatahwill forget the American procla-mation after a few days and every-thing will be back to normal.

(The writer teachesInternational Relations at IndianInstitute of Public Administration,Delhi)

Trump’s Jerusalem justice for Jews

In theory, the legitimate authority to use vio-lence in a given state is its armed and securi-

ty forces. They are the guardians of the state’sconstitution, rule of law and territorial integri-ty, and thus their monopoly over the use of vio-lence is a must in order to protect the state andits citizens. When a government does not pos-sess violence monopoly, it engages in power-sharing deals with political groups with use offorce capacity to establish a fairly peaceful gov-erning order to achieve its goals. Such govern-ments are described in the Limited AccessOrders and the Political Marketplace regime the-ories.

Case AfghanistanAfghanistan’s state security forces lost vio-

lence monopoly when different factions over-threw the Communist regime in 1992 that result-ed in the disintegration of the country’s nation-al army and security forces. Consequently, thestate’s violence monopoly fell into the hands offactions (Hezbe Jamiat-e Islami, Hezb-e Islami,Junbish-e Milli and Hezb-e Wahdat) involved inousting the Communist regime. They were (andstill are) political parties with military wings.

Jamiat formed a Government headed by its leader Professor BurhanuddinRabbani on June 28, 1992, and declared its armed forces along with defectedCommunist regime military personnel as the guardians of the state. Hezb-e Islamiof Hekmatyar refused to join and demanded the removal of Jamiat’s military leaderAhmad Shah Massoud from the Ministry of Defence, which indicated its fearof losing violence monopoly.

For that reason, Hezbe-e Islami declared war against the Jamiat-ledGovernment. Wahdat and later Junbish followed suit. As a result, there was anoligopoly of violence in Afghanistan. Kabul alone was divided among factionsinvolved in the war. Jamiat controlled centre of the capital and others occupieddistricts on the outskirts.

Taliban’s rise & fallThe rise of the Taliban in the mid-1990s significantly affected the order of

violence oligopoly in Afghanistan. They eliminated the military might of all par-ties involved in civil war. They killed the leader of Hezb-e Wahdat and forcedGeneral Dustom of Junbish-e Milli and Hekmatyar flee to the neighbouring coun-tries. They also pushed the Jamiat-led Government retreat to Panjshir Valley andBadakhshan province. Even so, Jamiat remained the ultimate force to fight theTaliban and overtime recuperated its violence monopoly.

First, the Taliban elimination of Jamiat’s rivals handed Jamiat the leadershipof the anti-Taliban front. Hence, a centre of command known as Jabha-eMoqawemat (the Resistance Front) was created on the basis of the 1992Government and supports were extended to other anti-Taliban forces to regroupunder Jamiat’s command. Jamiat assisted all parties, including Hezb-e Islami (later,joined the Taliban), Wahdat and Junbish to enter the Jamiat-led anti-Taliban coali-tion. This process significantly strengthened Jamiat’s military might and sphereof influence further to its long-time military competitors’ strongholds. For instance,facilitation of an escape passage to Hekmatyar through Panjshir Valley won thehearts of many Hezb-e Islami senior commanders to pledge allegiance to Jamiat.

Second, the technical and military hardware supports directed to Jabha-eMoqawemat from countries with the anti-Taliban sentiment in the region andbeyond were done mainly through Jamiat’s overseas military attachés. Lastly, whenthe international community intervened militarily in Afghanistan after 9/11, itrevived Jamiat-led anti-Taliban forces what they called, the Northern Alliance.As a result, Jamiat’s monopoly over the use of force in Afghanistan became nation-wide and the Taliban were defeated by the end of 2001.

Nation-building & monopoly transitionThe Bonn Conference of 2001 followed by the formation of the Transitional

Islamic State of Afghanistan in June 2002 facilitated a peaceful transition of powerfrom Jamiat to the transitional president, Hamid Karzai. The process of disar-mament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) was implemented, in whichJamiat and its allies surrendered most of their heavy artillery and machine gunsto their alliance Government. However, the transition also helped Jamiat’s rivals,the Taliban and Hezb-e Islami reclaim violence monopoly in remote parts ofAfghanistan.

Nonetheless, Karzai’s Governments were heavily dependent on powerful polit-ical figures with direct influence over armed groups across the country. For thisreason, Karzai had utilised the influence of Marshal Fahim and Ahmad ZiaMassoud, two of Jamiat’s main figures. Through them, he offered Jamiat and itsaffiliates socio-political and economic incentives in order to restrain from useof force and allow the evolving Afghan national army and security forces tomonopolise violence.

President Ghani’s leadershipPresident Ghani has been in the driving seat since 2014 when the Unity

Government was formed in a 50/50 power-sharing accord with Jamiat, brokeredby the UN and the US. Nevertheless, Ghani inherited a state with national armyand security forces backed by the US and NATO militaries that give him someuse of force leverage to accelerate the transitioning process of violence monop-oly from Jamiat to the state. He has adopted a direct anti-Jamiat policy, in whichhe has been removing Jamiat personalities from Government leadership and thestate security institutions. He has isolated Jamiat representatives in the UnityGovernment and has been attempting to remove General Atta Noor, the pow-erful Jamiat figure from the realm of Balkh province.

Ghani has also forced General Dostum, his first vice president and a long-time anti-Taliban ally of Jamiat, in a self-imposed exile to Turkey. He seems tobe in the process of dismissing the Deputy Chief Executive Officer MuhammadMuhaqqiq and another longtime anti-Taliban ally of Jamiat.

On the other hand, Ghani has already signed a peace agreement withHekmatyar, in which the Hezb-e Islami leader, an eternal Jamiat rival is grantedvarious privileges and his name is cleared from the UN Security Council Blacklist.A recent report claimed that Ghani’s national security team has been in constantcontact with the Taliban in secrecy without keeping the power-sharing partnerJamiat involved. Hence, the President is accused of ethno-nationalism, sinceHekmatyar and the Taliban leaders are from the same ethnic group as him.

Current developments Like the Taliban time, once again Jamiat, Junbish, and Wahdat have formed

a coalition, the United Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. Even though theirmove has received criticism for forming an opposition alliance against the veryGovernment they hold leadership positions, they base their rationale on the fol-lowing developments:

r Afghanistan’s First Vice President is forced in exile to Turkey and thePresident has striped him of his constitutional rights

r Civil society demonstrations have been dealt with use of force resultingin a number of deaths

r Jamiat and other political and civil gatherings are hit by suicide attacks.The reference point here is the three suicide bombings that took place consec-utively at the funeral of the Deputy Senate’s son (He was killed by the Afghansecurity forces in the civil society demonstration in the aftermath of the biggestsuicide bombing in Kabul) where almost all of Jamiat leaders were in attendance.In fact, Jamiat viewed these attacks as orchestrated plots against its leaders anddemanded for the removal of Ghani’s National Security Advisor and the dismissalof heads of security institutions for negligence. This surely raises the questionwhether suicide bombers are another type of violence monopoly thatGovernments’ intelligence agencies could use against political rivals in conflict-prone countries?

r The Taliban and ISIS fighters are increasing in numbers in the northernparts of Afghanistan in the Jamiat and Junbish strongholds where atrocities havebeen committed against civilians.

In conclusion, if Afghanistan is to transform into a stable and successful state,the transition of violence monopoly from all political parties to the country’sarmed and security forces must take place vigilantly. While this transitional processis continuing to shape, collaboration with legitimate parties with use of forcecapacity is highly important to avoid conflict

(The writer is a PhD candidate in Government and Public Policy School atOP Jindal Global University, Sonepat. Prior to this, he was the Regional CooperationAdviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan.)

EISA KHAN AYOOB AYOOBI

If Afghanistan is to

transform into a stable

and successful state, the

transition of violence

monopoly from all political

parties to the country’s

armed and security forces

must take place vigilantly

Politics of violencemonopoly in Af

MANAN DWIVEDI

The fundamental premise

of the Arabs about

Palestinians’ rights is not

a wrongly placed notion,

but the issue that misses

the academic point is that

where we place the plight

of the Jews as they have

always been part of the

obscurantist sequesters

Masked supporters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold their national flag during a protest against US President Donald Trump'sdecision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on December 22 AP

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017 money 10

The private sector can runairlines far better thanGovernment running them. Thatis why we are also goingthrough the strategicdisinvestment process with AI—MINISTER OF STATE FORCIVIL AVIATION JAYANT SINHA

90 per cent of farmers fail to getthe benefit of four per cent

interest subsidy as they don'tmake timely repayment of loansand end up paying 11 to 12 per

cent of interest instead—BIHAR'S DEPUTY CHIEF

MINISTER SUSHIL KUMAR MODI GOVERNMENT

FROM

BUZZ

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government on Fridaycautioned investors to be

wary of virtual currencies likeBitcoin, saying they are likePonzi schemes with no legaltender and protection.

“There is a real and height-ened risk of investment bubbleof the type seen in Ponzischemes which can result insudden and prolonged crashexposing investors, especiallyretail consumers losing theirhard-earned money.Consumers need to be alertand extremely cautious as toavoid getting trapped in suchPonzi schemes,” the FinanceMinistry said in a statement.

VCs are stored in digi-tal/electronic format, makingthem vulnerable to hacking,loss of password, malwareattack etc. which may alsoresult in permanent loss ofmoney, it said.

Noting that there has beena phenomenal increase inrecent times in the price of vir-tual currencies (VCs) includingBitcoin, in India and globally,it said, the VCs don't have anyintrinsic value and are notbacked by any kind of assets.

“The price of Bitcoin andother VCs, therefore, is entire-ly a matter of mere speculationresulting in spurt and volatili-ty in their prices,” it said.

Earlier in the day, Ministerof State for Finance PonRadhakrishanan in the LokSabha said the Department ofEconomic Affairs had consti-tuted an inter-disciplinarycommittee to examine theexisting global regulatory andlegal structures governing

Bitcoin; suggest the frame-work for regulation of Bitcoinif among others etc.

The committee has sub-mitted its report which is underconsideration of the govern-ment, the minister said in awritten reply to the Lok Sabha.

The Finance Ministry state-ment further said that users,holders and traders of VCshave already been cautionedthree times by the ReserveBank of India (RBI) about thepotential financial, operational,legal, customer protection andsecurity related risks that theyare exposing themselves to byinvesting in Bitcoin or othersuch currencies.

The RBI from time to timehas also clarified that it has notgiven any licence or authorisa-tion to any entity to operatesuch schemes or deal withBitcoin or any virtual curren-cy, it said.

Besides, it said, the gov-ernment or RBI has not autho-rised any VCs as a medium ofexchange. Further, the gov-ernment or any other regulatorin India has not given licence

to any agency for working asexchange or any other kind ofintermediary for any VC, itsaid.

“The government alsomakes it clear that VCs are notlegal tender and such VCs donot have any regulatory per-mission or protection in India.The investors and other par-ticipants, therefore, deal withthese VCs entirely at their riskand should best avoid partici-pating therein,” it said.

As transactions of VCs areencrypted they are also likelybeing used to carry out illegalactivities, such as terror-fund-ing, smuggling, drug traffick-ing and other money-launder-ing acts, it added.

“VCs are not backed bygovernment fiat. These arealso not legal tender. Hence,VCs are not currencies. Theseare also being described as'Coins'," it said.

There is, however, no phys-ical attribute to these coins, itsaid, adding, persons dealing inthem must consider these factsand beware of the risksinvolved in dealing in VCs.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's fiscal deficit at the endof November breached thetarget and touched 112 per

cent of the budget estimate for2017-18 mainly due to lowerGST collections and higherexpenditure.

In absolute terms, the fis-cal deficit — the differencebetween expenditure and rev-enue — was `6.12 lakh croreduring April-November 2017-18, according to the data bythe Controller General ofAccounts (CGA).

During the same period of2016-17, the deficit stood at85.8 per cent of that year's tar-get. For 2017-18, the govern-ment aims to bring down thefiscal deficit to 3.2 per cent ofGDP. Last fiscal, it had met thetarget of 3.5 per cent of GDP.

The CGA data showed thatthe government's revenuereceipts were at `8.04 lakhcrore in the eight months toNovember, which work out to53.1 per cent of the budget esti-mate (BE) of `15.15 lakh crorefor 2017-18.

The receipts, comprisingtaxes and other items, were at57.8 per cent of the target in theyear-ago period.

The Goods and ServicesTax (GST) collections slippedto their lowest in Novemberas rates were cut on dozens ofgoods to make the newnational sales tax regimemore acceptable.

Total collections under

the GST in November slippedfor the second straight monthto `80,808 crore, down fromover `83,000 crore in theprevious month.

The GST was implementedfrom July 1, 2017 to amalga-mate the excise duty, service tax,VAT and several other indirecttaxes. As per the data, the gov-ernment's total expenditurewas `14.78 lakh crore atNovember-end, or 68.9 percent of the budget estimate. Itwas 65 per cent of the budgetestimate a year ago.

Capital expenditure duringApril-November of 2017-18was higher at 59.5 per cent ofthe BE compared to 57.7 percent in the same period of theprevious fiscal.

Revenue expenditure,including interest payment,was 70.5 per cent of the BEduring April-November 2017-18. This compares with 66.1per cent a year earlier.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The mega telecom dealinvolving acquisition of

wireless assets of debt-ladenReliance Communications byReliance Jio is a “good and wel-come development” that fullyprotects lenders' interest, a topSBI official said on Friday.

At the same time, the dealalso sets a great example forpromoters of other stressedcompanies, StateBank of India (SBI)Chairman RajnishKumar told BTVi.

The two com-panies, on Thursdayevening, announceda blockbuster dealunder whichReliance Jio, pro-moted by MukeshAmbani, willacquire the wirelessassets of the troubled RCom, acompany owned by youngersibling Anil Ambani.

The transaction, whichincludes acquisition of spec-trum, towers, and optical fibrenetwork is estimated, by thebanking circles, to be in therange of `24,000 crore to`25,000 crore.

“In general terms, I can saythat it is a very good and wel-come development where thebanks have been fully protect-ed and no loss is expecteddespite the fact that there is astress in the telecom sector,”Kumar said.

He further hoped the dealwill “set a very good examplefor the other promoters also of

the companies which are understress”.

The proceeds of the deal,slated to be completed betweenJanuary-March 2018, will pro-vide much-needed respite to theReliance Communications(RCom) whose debt stands at astaggering `45,000 crore. Thecompany hopes to use theentire proceeds to pare its debt.

Just two days before thedeal was unveiled, RCom

announced its exitfrom the strategicdebt restructuring(SDR) and outlinedan ambitious revivalplan that involvedzero write-offs tolenders.

Over a dozenbanks, includingSBI, PNB, and Bankof Baroda, have anexposure to

Reliance Communications.Thursday's deal — timed

with the 85th birth anniversaryof Reliance founder, lateDhirubhai Ambani — packs in122.4 MHz of 4G Spectrum inthe 800/900/1800/2100 MHzbands, over 43,000 towers,1,78,000 kilometres of fibre and248 media convergence nodes.

In a statement onThursday, Jio — whichamassed 160 million cus-tomers just over a year into 4Goperations — said these assetsbeing acquired are strategic innature and are expected tocontribute significantly to itslarge scale roll out of Wirelessand Fiber-to-Home andEnterprise services.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Loan defaulters can participate inbidding under the insolvency pro-

ceedings after paying due interest andmaking their bad loan accounts oper-ational, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid on Friday.

The government cannot allowloan defaulters to “merrily walk back”by paying a fraction of the dueamount, he said while replying to adebate in the Lok Sabha on theInsolvency and Bankruptcy CodeAmendment Bill, 2017, which waslater passed by a voice vote.

The bill seeks to replace an ordi-nance which was promulgated in

November to prevent unscrupulouspersons from misusing or vitiating theprovisions of the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC).

The ineligible persons or entitieswill include undischarged insolvent,

wilful defaulter and those whoseaccounts have been classified as non-performing asset.

These persons, however, canbecome “eligible to submit a resolu-tion plan” if they clear all the overdueamounts with interest and othercharges relat ing to their NPAaccounts.

Those defaulters who had partic-ipated in the insolvency proceedingsbefore November 23 can also bid forstressed assets provided they cleartheir dues in a month.

Taking a dig at Congress memberGaurav Gogoi, the minister said thatNPA was a “legacy problem” and wasmainly on account of the reckless

lending undertaken by the banksduring the erstwhile UPA regime.

Gogoi had said that NPAs, whichwere low during the UPA regime, haveescalated during the rule of the pre-sent government.

Responding to him, Jaitley said,“But I am sorry that Gogoi has still nottake cognisance of what the problemis. How did this problem of NPAs hap-pen in such a big magnitude? Gogoijihas studied in good educational insti-tutions of the world and he must havemany times heard of the proverb thatthere were three types of lies — lies,damned lies and statistics. Today hehas himself become a victim of thethird one,” he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government on Fridayextended by ten days the

last date for filing of finalsales return GSTR-1 tillJanuary 10 under the Goodsand Services Tax.

Businesses with a turnoverof up to `1.5 crore will have tofile GSTR-1 for July-Septemberby January 10, 2018, as againstDecember 31, 2017 earlier, asper a government notification.

For businesses with aturnover of more than `1.5crore, GSTR-1 has to be filedfor July-October period byJanuary 10.

Earlier these businesseswere required to file GSTR-1return for July-October byDecember 31. The same for themonth of November is to befiled by January 10.

For the month ofDecember, for businessesabove `1.5 crore, GSTR-1 is tobe filed by February 10 andfor subsequent months, itwould be tenth day of the suc-ceeding month.

The GST Council had inNovember allowed businesseswith a turnover of up to `1.5crore to file final returns GSTR-1 quarterly.

Businesses with a turnoverof up to `1.5 crore will have tofile returns by February 15 forOctober-December and thatfor January-March by April 30.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Equities rallied on the lasttrading session of 2017 on

Friday, bringing to close aremarkable year that saw thebenchmarks surging past mile-stones and rewarding investorswith a stellar 28 per cent returns.

The BSE Sensex rose 209points to finish at a fresh life-timehigh of 34,056.83 on Friday,while the broad-based NSE Niftyjumped 52.80 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 10,530.70, just shyof its closing peak.

Power, IT, auto and infra-structure stocks witnessedrobust buying, while the begin-ning of the January 2018 seriesof futures and options added tothe momentum.

It has been an upbeat yearfor the markets. The Sensexand Nifty surpassed the 34,000and 10,500 levels for the firsttime, shrugging off below-expected corporate earnings aswell as uncertainties on the

global front.While the implementation

of the GST caused short-termdisruptions, investors feel thegovernment will stay firm on itsreforms agenda, backed by theBJP's strong showing in Gujaratand Himachal Pradesh assem-bly elections, brokers said.

The Sensex clocked its bestperformance in recent years,rising by 7,430.37, or 27.91 percent in 2017. It had gained508.92 points, or 1.94 per cent,last year. The Nifty too rallied2,344.90 points, or 28.65 percent, in 2017.

“Market surprised theinvestors with a positive note

on the final trading day of 2017.Expectation of a pick up inthird quarter earnings andstrengthening of rupee sup-ported the sentiment. Focuson upcoming Union Budgetand government's reformswill direct investors to turnsector/stock specific. We feelthat though the outlook onmain indices is moderate inthe short to medium-term,the broad market will main-tain its vibrancy as business-es flourish,” said Vinod Nair,Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services.

The 30-share index start-ed the day on a strong note at33,889.39 and hit a high of34,086.05 before closing at34,056.83, up by 208.80points, or 0.62 per cent.

It surpassed its previousclosing high of 34,010.61reached on December 26.The broad-based NSE Niftyrose 52.80 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 10,530.70 aftertrading between 10,538.70and 10,488.65.

Both the indices rose forthe fourth straight week.The Sensex advanced by116.53 points, or 0.34 percent, while the Nifty gained37.70 points, or 0.35 percent, during the period.

Mumbai (PNS): Led by atepid 1 percentage point growthin industrial credit, non-foodcredit as a whole of banks roseby 8.8 per cent in November,which is almost double fromthe 4.8 percentage point growthclocked in the year-ago month,according to the RBI datareleased on Friday.

Significantly, advances tothe industry rose by 1 percent-age point in the reportingmonth compared to a 3.4 per-centage point contraction inthe year-ago month. In Octoberthis year, non-food bank cred-it had risen by 6.6 per cent.Credit to agriculture and alliedactivities increased by 8.4 percent in the reporting monthwhich is slower than the 10.3per cent growth in the samemonth last year. Personal loansincreased by 17.3 per cent com-pared to 15.2 per cent growthin the same moths last year.“Credit to major sub-sectorssuch as infrastructure, vehicles,vehicle parts and transportequipment, basic metal andmetal products and mining &quarrying contracted,” the cen-tral bank said. However, cred-it growth to textiles, chemical &chemical products, all engi-neering, food processing andconstruction accelerated.

Fiscal deficit

breaches FY’18

target till Nov

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government hasachieved nearly 67 per cent

of the direct tax collection tar-get for the current fiscal,Parliament was informed onFriday.

As against the Budget esti-mate (BE) of `9.80 lakh crore,the government has collectednearly `6.49 lakh crore asdirect taxes till December 18.

This is 67 per cent of theBE. In a written reply to a ques-tion in the Lok Sabha, Ministerof State for Finance Shiv PratapShukla said the growth rate ofdirect tax collection in 2017-18financial year is 16.6 per centas against the target rate of15.32 per cent.

The government had lastfiscal exceeded the directtax collection target set inthe Budget.

It had collected over `8.49lakh crore against the Budgetestimate of `8.47 lakh crore.

Lok Sabha passes IBC Amendment Bill

Industrialdemand pushesbank credit by up to 8.8%

Mkts bid adieu to 2017,close on a happy note

Direct tax mop-upsat 67% of budgetestimate, says Govt

FinMin warns investors against virtual currencies

Deadline fixedfor final GSTRtill January 10

RCom-RJio dealprotects lenders'interest: SBI chief

Sensex ends at a fresh lifetimehigh, up 209 pts;Nifty jumps 52 pts

THE RBI FROM TIMETO TIME HAS ALSOCLARIFIED THAT IT

HAS NOT GIVEN ANYLICENCE OR

AUTHORISATION TOANY ENTITY TOOPERATE SUCH

SCHEMES OR DEALWITH BITCOIN OR ANYVIRTUAL CURRENCY

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian economy sloweddown in 2016-17, with the

gross domestic product declin-ing drastically from 8 per centin 2015-16 to 7.1 per cent thenext year, Government said onFriday. Finance Minister ArunJaitley said the slower econom-ic growth reflected lower growthin the industry and the servicessectors, due to a number of fac-tors including structural, exter-nal, fiscal and monetary factors.

He said in the Lok Sabhathat the lower rate of global eco-nomic growth in 2016, alongwith a reduction in gross fixedinvestment to GDP ratio,stressed balance sheets of thecorporate sector, lower creditgrowth in industry sector weresome of the reasons for the lowgrowth rate in 2016-17.

“Slower growth in 2016-17reflects lower growth in indus-try and services sector.Economic growth of a countrydepends on a number of factorsincluding structural, external,fiscal and monetary factors,” he

said during Question Hour.As per the latest estimates

from Central Statistics Office,the growth rate of GrossDomestic Product (GDP) atconstant prices was 7.5 per cent,8.0 per cent and 7.1 per centrespectively in 2014-15, 2015-16and 2016-17. The growth inGDP at constant market priceswas 5.7 per cent and 6.3 per centin Quarter 1 (Q1) and Quarter2 (Q2) of 2017-18 respectively.

Jaitley claimed that despitethe slowdown, as per the IMF,India was the fastest growingmajor economy in 2016 and sec-ond fastest growing major econ-omy in 2017 in the world.

He said the Government hastaken various initiatives to boostthe growth of the economy,including a giving a fillip tomanufacturing, concrete mea-sures for transport and powersectors as well as other urbanand rural infrastructure, com-prehensive reforms in the for-eign direct investment policyand special package for textileindustry. The Minister said theGovernment had alsoannounced various measures inthe 2017-18 budget to pro-mote growth in which includ-ed a push to infrastructuredevelopment by giving infra-structure status to affordablehousing, higher allocation tohighway construction and focuson coastal connectivity.

“For highways develop-ment, the BharatmalaPariyojana has been launched.The Government has launcheda phased programme for bankrecapitalisation. This entailsinfusion of capital to the pub-lic sector banks, that is expect-ed to encourage banks toenhance lending,” he said.

Govt: India’s GDP growth

slowed down in FY’16-17

PNS n NEW DELHI

Over 25,800 fraud casesinvolving about ̀ 179 crore

related to credit/debit cards andInternet Banking were reportedin 2017 (up to December 21),Parliament was informed onFriday. “As per the data provid-ed by Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on frauds related toATM/Credit/Debit cards andnet banking as reported by thebanks, 10,220 cases of fraud werereported in the December 2017quarter (up to December 21),” ITMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid in a written reply to theRajya Sabha.

The amount involved was

`111.85 crore in the said quar-ter, he added. Prasad said7,372 cases were reported inSeptember quarter, 5,148 casesin June quarter and 3,077 casesin March quarter of 2017,with the amount involved

adding to `67.13 crore. In 2016, 3,156 cases and

4,147 cases were registered inthe September and Decemberquarters, respectively. Theamount involved -- in these twoquarter was --`45.50 crore, theMinister said.

As per the state-wise details offrauds involving amount of over ̀ 1lakh, Maharashtra topped the list ofcredit/debit card and Internet bank-ing-related frauds in the fiscal 2016-17 with 380 cases involving `12.10crore. Haryana ranked second with238 cases (̀ 8.27 crore), followed byKarnataka (221 cases worth `9.16crore), Tamil Nadu (208 casesworth ̀ 4.38 crore) and Delhi (156cases worth `3.43 crore).

‘Over 25,800 online banking fraud cases reported in 2017’

money 11LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

PTI n NEW DELHI

The government on Fridaysaid it has no plans to

waive corporate loan andbanks are advised to resolvestressed accounts speedily orstart insolvency proceedingscase by case. “No proposal forwaiver of corporate loan isunder consideration of thegovernment,” Minister of Statefor Finance Shiv Pratap Shuklasaid in a written reply to theLok Sabha.

He was replying to a ques-tion if the government hastaken note on nation-widestrike by bank employeesagainst various moves, includ-ing increase in bank charges,merger of banks and waiver ofcorporate loans. Referring tothe data from NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), the minister said 2,434fresh cases have been filedbefore NCLT till November 30,2017 and 2,304 cases of wind-ing up of companies have beentransferred from various HighCourts since the enactment ofthe Insolvency and BankruptcyCode, 2016.

Of these, 2,750 cases havebeen disposed of and 1,988cases were pending by the endof November, he added. TheRBI has asked certain banksreferring 12 accounts with fund

and non-fund based outstand-ing amount more than Rs 5,000crore and with 60 per cent ormore as non-performing byMarch 2016 to start insolven-cy process, the minister said.These 12 accounts constitutedabout 25 per cent of the grossnon-performing assets (NPAs)of the banking system.

Public sector banks hadbad loans of Rs 7.34 lakh croreby the end of second quarter,a bulk of which came from cor-porate defaulters, accordingto the Reserve Bank. On theother hand private sectorbanks’ non-performing assets

(NPAs) were considerably lowat Rs 1.03 lakh crore bySeptember 30.

Shukla said the ReserveBank has given banks opera-tional freedom in dispensationof their credit related mattersand banks are free to extendunsecured advances to bor-rowers. The stressed advancesratio of the banks fell to 11.75per cent by September-endfrom 12.1 per cent by the endof June this year, the ministersaid. While, the restructuredadvances ratio declined from2.1 per cent (end-September)to 1.91 per cent (end-June).

Min says no plans to

waive corporate loans

PTI n NEW DELHI

General elections being justover one year away

notwithstanding, the govern-ment is not looking at slowingdown on labour reforms in2018 and is likely to get at leasttwo codes on wages as well asindustrial relations passed byParliament.

The Ministry of Labourand Employment has envis-aged to concise over 44 labourlaws into four broad codes inwages, industrial relations, socialsecurity, and occupational safe-ty, health and working condi-tions. Labour Secretary MSathiyavathy expressed the min-istry’s intent to push all fourcodes for passage in Parliamentnext year. “Government is notgoing slow on labour reforms.All four codes would be pushedin 2018,” she said. The codifi-cation of the labour laws willremove the multiplicity of def-initions and authorities leadingto ease of compliance withoutcompromising wage securityand social security to workers.The draft Code on Wages Bill2017 was introduced in theLok Sabha in August 2017. Thebill will be pushed for consid-eration and passage in the LokSabha and subsequently in theRajya Sabha in 2018.

The Code on Wages ratio-

nalises, amalgamates and sim-plifies the relevant provisions ofthe four labour laws — TheMinimum Wages Act, 1948;The Payment of Wages Act,1936; The Payment of BonusAct, 1965, and The EqualRemuneration Act, 1976.Similarly, Code on IndustrialRelations Bill has been finalisedby a group of ministers headedby Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyand is likely to be approved soonfor putting it before UnionCabinet so that it could bepushed for passage inParliament next year.

The Trade Unions Act,1926, the IndustrialEmployment (Standing Orders)Act, 1946, and the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947, would becombined into the code onindustrial relations. The unionshad objected the proposedamendment in the bill to allowunits with up to 300 workers toretrench, lay off or close downwithout the permission of thegovernment. Presently, all unitswith up to 100 workers canretrench, lay off or close downwithout the government’s per-mission. The government ismost likely to keep this provi-sion in the new code. Therefore,the codification of industrialrelation laws would not allowbusinesses to hire and fireabruptly.

AFP n WASHINGTON

Uber and SoftBankannounced a deal allowing

the Japanese tech titan to takea large stake in the US rideshar-ing giant, making a hefty cut inthe valuation of the biggestventure-backed startup.SoftBank will acquire 15 percent of Uber’s equity at a dis-count of 30 per cent from itsmost recent value, according toa source familiar with the termsof the deal.

The new investment, whichwill be finalised in January, ispart of an effort by Uber tomove past a series of scandalsand missteps and reform itsboard structure as it gears up fora 2019 public share offering. Asource familiar with the dealsaid SoftBank had reachedagreements with investors toachieve its target of a 15 per centshare. The two firms did notprovide details of the valuationbut the source said the invest-ment was based on Uber’s worthof USD 48 billion, down from$71 billion earlier this year.“We look forward to workingwith the purchasers to close theoverall transaction, which weexpect to support our technol-ogy investments, fuel ourgrowth, and strengthen ourcorporate governance,” Ubersaid in an emailed statement.

A separate statement fromRajeev Misra, chief executive of

SoftBank Investment Advisers,said, “We are appreciative of thesupport from Uber’s share-holders in the successful tenderoffer and look forward to clos-ing the overall investment in January.”

“We have tremendous con-fidence in Uber’s leadershipand employees and are excitedto support Uber as it continuesto reinvent how people andgoods are transported aroundthe world,” he added. The sourcesaid SoftBank’s total investmentin Uber will amount to $7.7 bil-lion including a $1 billion infu-sion announced earlier thisyear. The earlier investmentwas made at the higher valua-tion and the share repurchasesat a lower value, leaving a“blended” valuation for Uber at$54 billion, according to thesource. The investment is partof the effort by SoftBank tobecome a major player in theglobal tech world with a massive$100 billion fund, much of it tar-

geted for Silicon Valley startups.At Uber, new chief execu-

tive Dara Khosrowshahi hasvowed to fix the company’swork culture and business prac-tices, after taking over earlierthis year from ousted founderTravis Kalanick. Even as Uberhas seen unprecedented growthby expanding to dozens ofcountries, it has been hurt bymissteps including allegations ofexecutive misconduct, a toxicwork atmosphere and poten-tially unethical competitivepractices. The SoftBank deal isexpected to put an end to liti-gation among stakeholders andclear the way for new boardmembers, further looseningKalanick’s grip. Uber, however,still faces numerous challengesincluding rulings from regula-tors that it unfairly competeswith taxi operators, withLondon authorities havingpulled its license.

Uber is also seeking tobecome a major player inautonomous cars, and hasagreed to buy and adapt vehiclesfrom Volvo to begin operatingself-driving taxis. But it faces atrail from former Google carunit Waymo alleging Uberexecutives stole trade secrets.The ridesharing group’s websitesays it has operations in 616cities in 77 countries and some16,000 employees. In most casesUber drivers are treated asindependent contractors.

SoftBank seals deal for large

Uber stake, trimming valuation

Govt unlikely to slowdown on labourreforms in 2018

Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 19000 -360.9 -1.868KMILES 906.95 -6.15 -0.67AARTIIND 1137.9 69.25 6.48ABAN 203.2 0.85 0.42ABB 1399.5 11.35 0.82ABBOTINDIA 5509.2 10.4 0.19ABFRL 172.35 0.9 0.52ACC 1757.3 11.95 0.68ADANIENT 166.35 1.2 0.73ADANIPORTS 406.5 7.75 1.94ADANIPOWER 41.65 0.95 2.33ADANITRANS 222.9 1 0.45ADVENZYMES 276.7 -1.85 -0.66AEGISLOG 284.9 -1.1 -0.38AIAENG 1546.15 -34.35 -2.17AJANTPHARM 1493 14.45 0.98AKZOINDIA 1835.8 33.55 1.86ALBK 73.4 -0.75 -1.01ALKEM 2204 18.05 0.83ALLCARGO 208.4 0.05 0.02AMARAJABAT 842.1 -4.05 -0.48AMBUJACEM 271.2 0.15 0.06ANDHRABANK 58.4 -0.75 -1.27APARINDS 807 12.05 1.52APLAPOLLO 1989 4.2 0.21APLLTD 531.15 -11.4 -2.1APOLLOHOSP 1207.4 -21.45 -1.75APOLLOTYRE 268.05 -0.5 -0.19ARVIND 450.1 1.65 0.37ASAHIINDIA 369.5 -7.2 -1.91ASHOKA 245.05 1 0.41ASHOKLEY 119.25 1.5 1.27ASIANPAINT 1157.9 13.3 1.16ASTRAL 839.6 10.9 1.32ASTRAMICRO 114.2 0.75 0.66ATUL 2729.95 -5.35 -0.2AUROPHARMA 687 2.35 0.34AVANTI 2533.35 25.5 1.02AXISBANK 562.4 15 2.74BAJAJ-AUTO 3325 23.55 0.71

BAJAJCORP 477.1 -2.85 -0.59BAJAJELEC 496.85 3.65 0.74BAJAJFINSV 5238.4 -74.05 -1.39BAJAJHIND 15.35 0.85 5.86BAJAJHLDNG 2870 -8.6 -0.3BAJFINANCE 1756.8 2.15 0.12BALKRISIND 1196.55 1.65 0.14BALMLAWRIE 274.55 -1.6 -0.58BALRAMCHIN 132.35 1.1 0.84BANKBARODA 160.5 -2.25 -1.38BANKINDIA 169.7 -0.4 -0.24BASF 2133.9 -7.35 -0.34BATAINDIA 747.75 4.65 0.63BAYERCROP 4457 -16.1 -0.36BBTC 1699.8 77.25 4.76BEL 182.05 0.9 0.5BEML 1617.65 29.4 1.85BERGEPAINT 271 10.55 4.05BFUTILITIE 506.1 32.95 6.96BHARATFIN 995.2 1.45 0.15BHARATFORG 731.9 1.1 0.15BHARTIARTL 530 -1.05 -0.2BHEL 92.6 0.4 0.43BIOCON 537.25 -2.95 -0.55BIRLACORPN 1154 26.2 2.32BLISSGVS 211.25 -3.3 -1.54BLUEDART 4540 -60.4 -1.31BLUESTARCO 813.9 -0.3 -0.04BOMDYEING 277.5 0.15 0.05BOSCHLTD 20103.05 38.6 0.19BPCL 518.7 -6.1 -1.16BRITANNIA 4676.6 1.45 0.03CADILAHC 433.6 8.7 2.05CANBK 360.9 -0.05 -0.01CANFINHOME 473.45 -2.9 -0.61CAPF 692.65 1.65 0.24CAPPL 628.65 -3.75 -0.59CARBORUNIV 375.1 -6.9 -1.81CARERATING 1335.05 -1.95 -0.15CASTROLIND 193.15 0 0CCL 298.4 -1.2 -0.4CEATLTD 1950.7 2.05 0.11CENTRALBK 72.6 -2.25 -3.01CENTRUM 72.6 0.5 0.69CENTURYPLY 340.25 2.45 0.73CENTURYTEX 1430 4.7 0.33

CERA 3721.35 -16.2 -0.43CESC 1048.55 3.05 0.29CGPOWER 92.85 0.3 0.32CHAMBLFERT 152.25 1.35 0.89CHENNPETRO 430 1 0.23CHOLAFIN 1294.15 9 0.7CIPLA 609.6 4.55 0.75COALINDIA 263 0.05 0.02COFFEEDAY 273.75 -3.95 -1.42COLPAL 1095.6 13.35 1.23CONCOR 1383 6.85 0.5COROMANDEL 576.4 13.45 2.39CORPBANK 39.55 0 0COX&KINGS 271.45 0.2 0.07CRISIL 1872 10.1 0.54CROMPTON 274.5 7.15 2.67CUB 177.6 -1.25 -0.7CUMMINSIND 902.8 -9.7 -1.06CYIENT 595 13.7 2.36DABUR 349.8 3.7 1.07DALMIABHA 3197.95 -21.8 -0.68DBCORP 352 -3.15 -0.89DBL 986.8 -12.5 -1.25DCBBANK 195.55 1.7 0.88DCMSHRIRAM 555.7 -8.35 -1.48DEEPAKFERT 425.9 -0.4 -0.09DEEPAKNI 232.2 -0.5 -0.21DELTACORP 307.7 2.95 0.97DENABANK 25.3 -0.05 -0.2DHANUKA 738.45 7 0.96DHFL 582.85 -3.85 -0.66DISHTV 82 0.45 0.55DIVISLAB 1098.2 -16.05 -1.44DLF 259.35 -4.45 -1.69DMART 1180 34.05 2.97DRREDDY 2414.4 -17.35 -0.71ECLERX 1573.25 14.85 0.95EDELWEISS 297.3 4.9 1.68EICHERMOT 30288.05 336.3 1.12EIDPARRY 370.95 -0.5 -0.13EIHOTEL 145.3 -1.45 -0.99ELGIEQUIP 308 1.5 0.49

EMAMILTD 1349.95 43.25 3.31ENDURANCE 1355 -13.05 -0.95ENGINERSIN 199.6 0.55 0.28ENIL 749.6 -12.3 -1.61EQUITAS 148.05 -0.45 -0.3ERIS 789.15 12.1 1.56EROSMEDIA 198.9 0.35 0.18ESCORTS 787.2 14.8 1.92ESSELPRO 294.7 -0.7 -0.24EVEREADY 438.15 -3.95 -0.89EXIDEIND 222.85 4.15 1.9FCONSUMER 75.15 -0.85 -1.12FDC 249.75 -0.7 -0.28FEDERALBNK 108.8 -0.35 -0.32FINCABLES 705 8.45 1.21FINOLEXIND 656.1 -8.4 -1.26FLFL 345 -2.6 -0.75FORCEMOT 3691.5 -49.75 -1.33FORTIS 160.3 -1.65 -1.02FSL 40.8 0.35 0.87GAIL 500.1 -10.6 -2.08GATI 135.55 -0.45 -0.33GAYAPROJ 226.4 10.15 4.69GDL 234.55 -8.2 -3.38GEPIL 730 3.1 0.43GESHIP 402.25 -0.7 -0.17GET&D 443.5 12.25 2.84GHCL 318 0.3 0.09GICHSGFIN 462.7 -5.95 -1.27GILLETTE 6789.75 78.4 1.17GLAXO 2480.9 49.6 2.04GLENMARK 595.05 2.2 0.37GMDCLTD 166.65 1.25 0.76GMRINFRA 22.45 2.2 10.86GNFC 494.05 2.45 0.5GODFRYPHLP 986.55 -2.8 -0.28GODREJCP 999 17.4 1.77GODREJIND 605.6 3.8 0.63GODREJPROP 695.9 -3.5 -0.5GPPL 136.8 0.8 0.59GRANULES 137.3 0.15 0.11GRAPHITE 709.6 30.9 4.55GRASIM 1164.05 34.7 3.07GREAVESCOT 137.05 0.5 0.37GREENPLY 335 -3.1 -0.92GRINDWELL 549.4 16.05 3.01

GRUH 500.05 -2.85 -0.57GSFC 156.1 4.1 2.7GSKCONS 6528 -59.55 -0.9GSPL 226.6 1.45 0.64GUJALKALI 744.05 25.25 3.51GUJFLUORO 908 -0.8 -0.09GUJGAS 841 2.3 0.27GULFOILLUB 980 -6.9 -0.7HATSUN 824 -8.7 -1.04HAVELLS 562.15 12.55 2.28HCC 40.95 0.35 0.86HCLTECH 893 14.8 1.69HDFC 1710.4 15.9 0.94HDFCBANK 1871 -3.65 -0.19HDIL 65.5 6.4 10.83HEG 2332.35 111.05 5HEIDELBERG 153.05 -1.2 -0.78HERITGFOOD 827.45 5.65 0.69HEROMOTOCO 3802 88.5 2.38HEXAWARE 340.45 2.2 0.65HFCL 28.6 -0.1 -0.35HIMATSEIDE 399.6 3.9 0.99HINDALCO 273.7 -1.65 -0.6HINDCOPPER 100.9 -1.65 -1.61HINDPETRO 416.3 -5.25 -1.25HINDUNILVR 1368.1 10.75 0.79HINDZINC 309 -1.95 -0.63HSCL 153.55 -0.5 -0.32HSIL 504 0.3 0.06HUDCO 82.7 0 0IBREALEST 223.2 0.9 0.4IBULHSGFIN 1194.75 -3.95 -0.33IBVENTURES 265.6 2.6 0.99ICICIBANK 314 -0.25 -0.08ICICIPRULI 383.55 -6.25 -1.6ICIL 124.25 -1.1 -0.88ICRA 3957.4 57.4 1.47IDBI 60.15 -0.2 -0.33IDEA 108.2 6 5.87IDFC 62.95 0.2 0.32IDFCBANK 54.25 -0.05 -0.09IFCI 30.9 2.3 8.04IGL 334.95 6.2 1.89IL&FSTRANS 83.55 0 0INDHOTEL 118 0.25 0.21INDIACEM 182.6 2.75 1.53INDIANB 379.75 -0.7 -0.18INDIGO 1200.55 -6.95 -0.58INDUSINDBK 1649.1 -0.9 -0.05INFIBEAM 141.35 -23.3 -14.15INFRATEL 377.65 9.65 2.62INFY 1039.3 5.3 0.51INOXLEISUR 291.25 9.75 3.46INOXWIND 143.95 -0.2 -0.14INTELLECT 165.2 -2.1 -1.26IOB 22.25 -0.4 -1.77IOC 388.4 -3.85 -0.98IPCALAB 597.65 -7.5 -1.24IRB 238 4.7 2.01ISGEC 7890 -104.45 -1.31ITC 263.1 1.8 0.69ITDCEM 215.35 -3 -1.37J&KBANK 78.75 -0.3 -0.38JAGRAN 179.35 1.75 0.99JAICORPLTD 174.75 -2.5 -1.41JBCHEPHARM 334.45 0.4 0.12JBFIND 225.85 -2.9 -1.27JCHAC 2700 141.4 5.53JETAIRWAYS 831.3 14.25 1.74JINDALSAW 140 1.45 1.05JINDALSTEL 204.95 2.75 1.36JISLJALEQS 125.8 -2.45 -1.91JKCEMENT 1107.15 3.25 0.29JKIL 296.65 -6.1 -2.01JKLAKSHMI 442.75 11.35 2.63

JKTYRE 147.05 -0.5 -0.34JMFINANCIL 156.85 6.4 4.25JPASSOCIAT 26 2.8 12.07JSL 104 -2.15 -2.03JSLHISAR 227 -0.9 -0.39JSWENERGY 92.3 3.15 3.53JSWSTEEL 269.7 -1.55 -0.57JUBILANT 788.05 17.5 2.27JUBLFOOD 1752 39.7 2.32JUSTDIAL 521.85 -1.3 -0.25JYOTHYLAB 384.65 4.4 1.16KAJARIACER 731 20.5 2.89KALPATPOWR 474.3 -12.55 -2.58KANSAINER 573.05 18.65 3.36KEC 384 15.15 4.11KEI 375.6 13.55 3.74KESORAMIND 138.05 0.95 0.69KIRLOSENG 381 -6.35 -1.64KOTAKBANK 1009.1 4.5 0.45KPIT 180.4 6.95 4.01KPRMILL 805 21.15 2.7KRBL 601.1 -0.6 -0.1KSCL 549 0.45 0.08KTKBANK 151.8 1.9 1.27KWALITY 113 -0.25 -0.22L&TFH 173.8 -0.05 -0.03LAKSHVILAS 147.95 -2.15 -1.43LALPATHLAB 900 14 1.58LAOPALA 608 -1.45 -0.24LAURUSLABS 541 -1.65 -0.3LAXMIMACH 5831.9 -14.5 -0.25LICHSGFIN 564.8 3.15 0.56LINDEINDIA 533.55 17.7 3.43LT 1256.95 3.7 0.3LTI 1116.55 20.75 1.89LTTS 1017 1.15 0.11LUPIN 884.65 3.8 0.43M&M 751.05 0.75 0.1M&MFIN 471.5 3.1 0.66MAGMA 160.6 1.55 0.97MAHABANK 22.85 0.45 2.01MAHINDCIE 257.75 -1.4 -0.54MAHLIFE 460 -4.75 -1.02MANAPPURAM 123.3 2.15 1.77MANPASAND 436.75 -2.15 -0.49MARICO 322.15 5.1 1.61MARKSANS 39.9 -0.35 -0.87MARUTI 9731.35 100.85 1.05MAXINDIA 124.7 0.5 0.4MCLEODRUSS 205 -2.8 -1.35MCX 912.8 -25.5 -2.72MEGH 106.8 -0.4 -0.37MFSL 591.15 -8.85 -1.48MGL 1094 3.85 0.35MHRIL 337.7 2.55 0.76MINDAIND 1282.25 -6.9 -0.54MINDTREE 610.1 -3.4 -0.55MMTC 73.25 -1.85 -2.46MOIL 242.35 3.8 1.59MONSANTO 2518.7 62.65 2.55MOTHERSUMI 378.8 7.15 1.92MOTILALOFS 1509 28.1 1.9MPHASIS 730 8.6 1.19MRF 72348.15 -1164.5 -1.58MRPL 128.15 -0.75 -0.58MUTHOOTFIN 474.4 -0.65 -0.14NATCOPHARM 958.1 0.85 0.09NATIONALUM 85.95 -0.5 -0.58NAUKRI 1381.2 74.15 5.67NAVINFLUOR 828.85 5.9 0.72NAVKARCORP 187 -3.45 -1.81NAVNETEDUL 164 1.8 1.11NBCC 246.75 -0.7 -0.28NBVENTURES 146.65 -1.85 -1.25NCC 133.8 -0.25 -0.19

NESTLEIND 7845 124.1 1.61NETWORK18 60.75 -0.15 -0.25NH 298.5 -0.95 -0.32NHPC 32.65 0.8 2.51NIITLTD 102.65 3.8 3.84NIITTECH 649.6 -0.1 -0.02NILKAMAL 1835.75 5.9 0.32NLCINDIA 109.6 0.7 0.64NMDC 137.9 -0.3 -0.22NOCIL 181.5 -0.05 -0.03NTPC 177.2 1.45 0.83OBEROIRLTY 479.8 8.35 1.77OFSS 4104 48.6 1.2OIL 372.2 -2.2 -0.59OMAXE 230.4 0.05 0.02ONGC 194.65 1.65 0.85ORIENTBANK 120.7 -1.1 -0.9ORIENTCEM 170.2 2.7 1.61PAGEIND 25450 260.15 1.03PARAGMILK 297.2 7.65 2.64PCJEWELLER 458 0.75 0.16PEL 2863 20.15 0.71PERSISTENT 718.5 21.9 3.14PETRONET 254.5 3.75 1.5PFC 121.55 1.6 1.33PFIZER 2060.9 11 0.54PFS 37.25 0.5 1.36PGHH 9380.95 -28.05 -0.3PHILIPCARB 975.3 -1.3 -0.13PHOENIXLTD 621.55 -21.95 -3.41PIDILITIND 902.55 -0.35 -0.04PIIND 965.9 9.3 0.97PNB 171.5 0.8 0.47PNBHOUSING 1337 24 1.83PNCINFRA 203.2 -4.5 -2.17POLARIS 391.05 -2.85 -0.72POWERGRID 200.35 1.35 0.68PRAJIND 111.7 1.35 1.22PRESTIGE 317.2 -2.35 -0.74PRISMCEM 112.6 -0.95 -0.84PTC 118.8 3.3 2.86PVR 1417.95 9.85 0.7

QUESS 1156.5 23.95 2.11RADICO 292.5 4.85 1.69RAIN 371 8.9 2.46RAJESHEXPO 803.8 1.7 0.21RALLIS 264.65 -4.85 -1.8RAMCOCEM 785.8 -8.55 -1.08RATNAMANI 1095 1.3 0.12RAYMOND 1055.65 5.3 0.5RBLBANK 509.25 1.5 0.3RCF 96.3 0.25 0.26RCOM 36.22 5.26 16.99RECLTD 155.65 0.85 0.55REDINGTON 175.2 -6.1 -3.36RELAXO 675.6 -6 -0.88RELIANCE 921.05 -3.35 -0.36RELINFRA 553.75 -1.45 -0.26RENUKA 16.35 0.3 1.87REPCOHOME 684 4.2 0.62RNAVAL 49.25 0.8 1.65RPOWER 50.25 5.35 11.92SADBHAV 425.9 6.3 1.5SAIL 92.15 -0.6 -0.65SANOFI 4702.95 -42.6 -0.9SBIN 309.5 1.2 0.39SCHAEFFLER 5813 22.65 0.39SCHNEIDER 127 -0.85 -0.66SCI 94.7 0.35 0.37SEQUENT 98 -0.45 -0.46SFL 1768 73 4.31SHANKARA 1778.05 -6.25 -0.35SHARDACROP 452.15 2.55 0.57SHILPAMED 616.8 9.25 1.52SHK 299.95 6.7 2.28SHOPERSTOP 553.8 1.25 0.23SHREECEM 18001.25 60.35 0.34SHRIRAMCIT 2115.85 77 3.78SIEMENS 1236.8 -2.9 -0.23SINTEX 27.3 2.05 8.12SITINET 25.8 0.3 1.18SJVN 33.95 0.55 1.65SKFINDIA 1921.7 28.2 1.49SOBHA 618.3 -8.7 -1.39SOLARINDS 1199.95 14.95 1.26SOMANYCERA 910 11.75 1.31SONATSOFTW 278.65 4.7 1.72SOUTHBANK 31.05 0.1 0.32

SPARC 506.9 -5.65 -1.1SPICEJET 145.95 0.3 0.21SREINFRA 99.5 0.55 0.56SRF 1984.1 39.95 2.05SRTRANSFIN 1480.15 22.9 1.57STAR 822.75 -6.85 -0.83STRTECH 291.8 -0.45 -0.15SUDARSCHEM 373.15 -6.4 -1.69SUNCLAYLTD 5431.3 3.25 0.06SUNDRMFAST 583.8 12.1 2.12SUNPHARMA 570.8 2.9 0.51SUNTECK 422.8 -0.4 -0.09SUNTV 988.5 -12 -1.2SUPPETRO 382 1.75 0.46SUPRAJIT 330.65 -9.3 -2.74SUPREMEIND 1291.1 49 3.94SUVEN 203.3 1.75 0.87SUZLON 15.54 0.45 2.98SWANENERGY 190.45 -0.3 -0.16SYMPHONY 1743 38.1 2.23SYNDIBANK 79.9 1.3 1.65SYNGENE 540.45 -4.9 -0.9TAKE 161 -0.35 -0.22TATACHEM 730.85 0.15 0.02TATACOFFEE 166.8 2.15 1.31TATACOMM 683 3 0.44TATAELXSI 976.65 31.95 3.38TATAGLOBAL 315.55 8.95 2.92TATAINVEST 888.05 20.3 2.34TATAMETALI 882.55 47.5 5.69TATAMOTORS 431.2 12.8 3.06TATAMTRDVR 244.8 7.1 2.99TATAPOWER 93.85 1.55 1.68TATASPONGE 989.6 45.05 4.77TATASTEEL 732.45 -2.2 -0.3TCS 2700.4 71.55 2.72TECHM 505 6.55 1.31TECHNO 412.2 7.15 1.77TEJASNET 389 1.25 0.32TEXRAIL 112.2 0.35 0.31THERMAX 1240 46.45 3.89THOMASCOOK 256.2 -3.5 -1.35

THYROCARE 689.8 -6.25 -0.9TIMETECHNO 207.25 -2.7 -1.29TIMKEN 884.35 -13.05 -1.45TITAN 856 3.6 0.42TNPL 445.7 8.3 1.9TORNTPHARM 1422 32.3 2.32TORNTPOWER 282.55 11.45 4.22TRENT 336.9 7.15 2.17TRIDENT 89.5 0.7 0.79TRITURBINE 134 0.8 0.6TTKPRESTIG 7672.95 -92.55 -1.19TV18BRDCST 61.3 0.7 1.16TVSMOTOR 773.8 10.75 1.41TVSSRICHAK 3900.1 109.95 2.9TVTODAY 431.85 -4.1 -0.94TWL 166.45 1.1 0.67UBL 1082.25 6.1 0.57UCOBANK 29.8 -0.3 -1UFLEX 486.3 -2.05 -0.42UJJIVAN 388.7 -3 -0.77ULTRACEMCO 4320.8 44.65 1.04UNICHEMLAB 331.65 6.65 2.05UNIONBANK 144.35 -1.55 -1.06UNITECH 9.64 1.48 18.14UPL 761.5 -3.25 -0.42VAKRANGEE 421 6.4 1.54VBL 651.35 25.8 4.12VEDL 329.75 -2.75 -0.83VENKYS 2781.8 -6.9 -0.25VGUARD 243.3 6 2.53VIJAYABANK 68.35 -2 -2.84VINATIORGA 1003 8.9 0.9VIPIND 349.55 2 0.58VMART 1482.5 -17.5 -1.17VOLTAS 655.7 0.5 0.08VSTIND 3204.95 -5.05 -0.16VTL 1367.55 42.15 3.18WABAG 611.6 -8.8 -1.42WABCOINDIA 7322 240.85 3.4WELCORP 135.4 -1.9 -1.38WELSPUNIND 71.15 -1.2 -1.66WHIRLPOOL 1567.6 34.3 2.24WIPRO 313.4 5.85 1.9WOCKPHARMA 930.5 18.5 2.03YESBANK 315.05 1.55 0.49ZEEL 585.75 -1.2 -0.2ZENSARTECH 882.2 8.95 1.02

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGETATAMOTORS 418 433.45 417.15 431.2 12.6INFRATEL 369.7 380.55 367.1 379.15 11AXISBANK 548.2 567.85 547 562.7 15.85TCS 2,623.10 2,708.90 2,618.55 2,700.00 73.05HEROMOTOCO 3,730.00 3,809.85 3,720.05 3,807.00 90.35HCLTECH 878.3 901.75 875 895.95 17.65ADANIPORTS 401.15 407.15 399.3 406.7 8EICHERMOT 29,900.00 30,466.45 29,899.95 30,351.00 518.55TECHM 499.8 505 495.65 503.9 6.85ASIANPAINT 1,145.10 1,172.50 1,142.05 1,160.00 15.6WIPRO 305.4 316.4 303 312 4BAJAJ-AUTO 3,295.00 3,341.00 3,285.50 3,331.75 36.6MARUTI 9,659.00 9,769.00 9,650.00 9,735.30 106.1ULTRACEMCO 4,270.00 4,333.00 4,270.00 4,322.95 46.5ONGC 194 195.9 192.5 195.05 2.05HDFC 1,699.00 1,713.00 1,697.55 1,710.50 14.35INFY 1,030.10 1,048.80 1,030.00 1,041.25 8LUPIN 895 899.9 881.55 887.05 6.5LT 1,262.00 1,270.00 1,247.95 1,261.40 8.65HINDUNILVR 1,359.00 1,374.90 1,350.00 1,362.25 7.75POWERGRID 199.55 201.7 199.45 200.25 1.1ITC 262.5 264 262.25 263.25 1.4SBIN 310 312 309.05 310 1.6AUROPHARMA 689 690 684 686.9 3.5YESBANK 313.5 315.8 312.8 315.1 1.6KOTAKBANK 1,003.25 1,012.00 1,002.50 1,009.50 4.75BAJFINANCE 1,749.25 1,765.90 1,748.15 1,760.00 4.85SUNPHARMA 572.7 579 568.2 569.95 1.55M&M 751 753 743.9 751.5 1.55CIPLA 606.15 611.9 604.1 607 0.95NTPC 176.95 178.25 175.8 176.35 0.2BOSCHLTD 20,110.00 20,231.20 19,942.15 20,084.00 11.4COALINDIA 263.1 264.45 261.8 263 -0.15BHARTIARTL 531.8 538.45 522 530.7 -0.65AMBUJACEM 272.4 274 270.55 271.25 -0.35UPL 767.9 772 757.35 762 -1.3INDUSINDBK 1,652.00 1,661.90 1,645.10 1,647.40 -3.05ICICIBANK 313.9 315.75 312.5 314.25 -1.05HDFCBANK 1,876.80 1,879.20 1,868.15 1,871.40 -6.65HINDALCO 276.75 276.75 270.7 274.15 -1.1IBULHSGFIN 1,205.00 1,205.00 1,191.50 1,193.00 -4.9RELIANCE 926.5 932.3 918.5 920.1 -4.1DRREDDY 2,429.95 2,445.95 2,403.15 2,414.25 -15.75VEDL 334.75 335.5 326.75 330.55 -2.15TATASTEEL 738 744.85 730 731 -5.25IOC 394 395 387.35 388.95 -3.05ZEEL 586.15 589 579 581.3 -4.55HINDPETRO 422 425 415.3 419 -3.65BPCL 523.25 529.75 515.4 517.5 -8.7GAIL 513.95 514 496.85 500.9 -10.3

SE 500B

VITAL STATS

GOLD SILVERMumbai 30770 41000 Delhi 30213 41000Kolkata 30855 41000

BSE: SENSEX

Open

High

Low

Current value

Previous close

Change (Pts)

Change (%)

63.93

86.06

76.39

0.57

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGEIDEA 103 108.9 102.25 108.35 5.95NHPC 32.3 33.3 32.15 32.75 0.95DMART 1,148.00 1,194.45 1,148.00 1,178.50 30.15CADILAHC 424.3 436 424.3 434.8 10.95GLAXO 2,462.65 2,534.70 2,422.05 2,500.00 59.6MOTHERSUMI 380 380.65 375.8 379.5 8.15HAVELLS 554 569.9 550.65 561.9 11.4TORNTPHARM 1,409.85 1,425.00 1,394.05 1,420.00 23.9ASHOKLEY 118 120 117.2 119.7 2COLPAL 1,082.00 1,103.50 1,082.00 1,103.00 17.3GODREJCP 993.8 1,006.00 989.6 1,000.00 15.55TATAPOWER 92.75 94.75 92.3 93.4 1.35PETRONET 251.45 256 251.05 254.2 3.6DABUR 345 350.1 345 349.75 4.95PFC 120.4 122.5 120.1 121.5 1.65MCDOWELL-N 3,654.00 3,688.00 3,630.80 3,673.10 48.8SRTRANSFIN 1,452.00 1,496.50 1,450.00 1,473.00 19.15MARICO 317.7 325.3 317.7 321.3 3.85ABB 1,382.10 1,409.00 1,382.10 1,403.00 15.85OFSS 4,066.40 4,112.35 4,066.40 4,105.00 43.45BRITANNIA 4,666.05 4,728.95 4,666.00 4,715.20 49.15RECLTD 154.5 157.15 154.5 155.9 1.4ACC 1,754.90 1,770.00 1,747.50 1,764.00 15.35SIEMENS 1,234.50 1,249.00 1,226.25 1,245.00 10.5TITAN 854.5 863.75 851.4 858.35 6.65EMAMILTD 1,306.00 1,349.95 1,295.00 1,322.05 9.8PEL 2,850.00 2,878.90 2,823.40 2,864.00 18.45CONCOR 1,379.90 1,393.85 1,370.20 1,383.90 8.3SHREECEM 17,850.00 18,148.30 17,850.00 18,080.00 103.75GLENMARK 596 602 592 595.05 3.3BHEL 92.5 93.6 92.25 92.65 0.5LICHSGFIN 562.35 568.4 560.3 563.5 2.45PNB 171.8 173.65 170.65 171.55 0.75BEL 182.25 185.4 181.75 182.15 0.6PIDILITIND 902.3 914.5 900 901.85 0.35JSWSTEEL 271.4 273.8 266 270.45 -0.85INDIGO 1,205.00 1,222.00 1,202.30 1,203.00 -4.3NMDC 139 140.3 137.15 138 -0.55PGHH 9,408.40 9,450.00 9,365.20 9,368.00 -40.4SAIL 93.1 93.75 91.55 92.2 -0.55GSKCONS 6,564.25 6,605.00 6,482.00 6,540.00 -50.6CUMMINSIND 920.6 924.7 899 906 -7.05BANKBARODA 163.6 164 160.15 161.4 -1.35SUNTV 999.6 1,009.60 983.55 991.2 -8.4HINDZINC 313.5 314 307.8 308.7 -2.75BAJAJFINSV 5,280.05 5,330.00 5,185.25 5,234.00 -71.75DLF 265.1 266.4 257 260 -3.8MRF 73,499.00 73,950.00 72,101.10 72,325.00 -1,172.95OIL 375.5 377.65 369.5 369.55 -6.4ICICIPRULI 389.8 394.45 381.45 383 -7

33889.39

34086.05

33889.39

34056.83

33848.03

208.80

0.62

BSE: GAINERS

UNITECH 9.64 (18.14)

RCOM 36.22 (16.99)

JPASSOCIAT 26.00 (12.07)

RPOWER 50.25 (11.92)

GMRINFRA 22.45 (10.86)

Current (Chng %)NSE: GAINERS

TATAMOTORS 431.20 (3.01)

INFRATEL 379.15 (2.99)

AXISBANK 562.70 (2.90)

TCS 2,700.00 (2.78)

HEROMOTOCO 3,807.00 (2.43)

Current (Chng %)BSE: LOSERS

INFIBEAM 141.35 (14.15)

GDL 234.55 (3.38)

REDINGTON 175.20 (3.36)

CENTRALBK 72.60 (3.01)

RTNPOWER 7.84 (2.73)

Current (Chng %)NSE: LOSERS

GAIL 500.90 (2.01)

BPCL 517.50 (1.65)

HINDPETRO 419.00 (0.86)

ZEEL 581.30 (0.78)

IOC 388.95 (0.78)

Current (Chng %)

SENSEX NIFTY

world 12LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

I’m content without being in a relationship

Los Angeles: Actor DrewBarrymore says she never knew shecould be “this content” withoutbeing in a relationship. The 42-year-old star, who is currently single aftersplitting from husband WillKopelman last year, said she is real-ly focused on raising her kids - Olive,five, and Frankie, three, reportedInStyle magazine. “My daughters areso fulfilling that I feel like my cupis just avalanching over. If lovetook on a physical analogy form, I’dbe an overstuffed turkey or pinata.“So I’m not really hungry for it atthis moment. I don’t think I wouldhave ever known that I could be thiscontent, this whole, without beingin a romantic relationship. Thatwould have been a surprise to myyounger self,” Barrymore said.

Lindsay Lohan bitten by a snake

Los Angeles: Actor Lindsay Lohanhas revealed she was bitten by asnake during a hike in Phuket,Thailand. The “Mean Girls” starsaid she is doing fine now.Speaking in her Instagram Story,Lohan shared: “I love this, sobeautiful. Amazing place. Asidefrom my snake bite. I got bit by asnake on a hike the other day...The positive side of it is I’mokay. Happy new year and godbless.” Lohan, 31, said her shaman(healer) on the journey told herthe snake bite was actually goodluck.

GLOBEGLOBETROTTINGTROTTING

12 killed in NY’s

deadliest fire

PTI n NEW YORK

Amassive fire swept througha five-story apartment

building in New York, killing atleast 12 people including a tod-dler and injuring four others inthe deadliest blaze to hit the cityin decades. The fire broke outaround 6:50 pm (local time) yes-terday on the first floor of theProspect Avenue apartment inthe Bronx borough of the cityand spread quickly, officialssaid, adding that the cause of theblaze is under investigation.

New York City Mayor Billde Blasio during a late nightbriefing outside the building,near the Bronx Zoo, called thefire the “worst fire tragedy inthis city in at least a quarter cen-tury.” “This is the worst fire

tragedy we have seen in this city— it will rank as one of theworst losses in a fire in manyyears,” the mayor said. Morethan 160 firefighters helpedbring the blaze under control.The building had no elevators.

A one-year-old child wasamong those killed in the blaze.“The victims, ranging in agefrom 1 to 50, died on variousfloors of the apartment build-ing,” New York Fire DepartmentCommissioner Daniel Nigersaid. He said that the tragedy is“historic in its magnitude”.

At least 12 people were res-cued, but the search of thebuilding continues, and thedeath toll could rise further, themayor warned. New YorkGovernor Andrew Cuomo in a

tweet said that he is closelymonitoring the devastating firein the Bronx. “As always we arethankful for our first respon-ders. Our thoughts are with thevictims and their familiestonight,” he said. The building,which had more than 20 flats,was builtjust over 100 years ago,the New York Times reported,adding that it was not fireproof.The daily citing the City recordssaid that the building had sixopen violations, including onefor a defective smoke detectoron the first floor. That wasthe floor where the fire began,Commissioner Nigro said.Theblaze was the worst in the citysince 87 people were killed in a1990 inferno at a Bronx socialclub. Firefighters respond to a deadly fire on Thursday in the Bronx borough of New York. AP

Fighting in NW Syria kills 66: Monitor

Beirut (AFP): Clashes pitting main-ly jihadist and rebel fighters against

regime forces backed by Russianwarplanes killed at 66 people on the

edge of Syria’s northwestern Idlibprovince, a monitor said on Friday.Among the victims were at least 19civilians killed by air strikes, theBritain-based Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said, adding thatthe casualties were over 24 hours offighting in an area straddling Idliband Hama provinces. The head of the Observatory, RamiAbdel Rahman, said seven childrenwere among the civilian victims.

He said 27 soldiers and membersof allied paramilitaryunits were killedin the fighting as well as 20 anti-regimecombatants, from Islamistrebel groups the former Al-Qaedaaffiliate Fateh al-Sham.

The fresh violence in the area

appeared to signal the initial phaseof a major government operationagainst Idlib, the only province in thecountry that completely escapesregime control.

An AFP correspondent near thefighting said aerial activity wasintense and the entire area rocked byfrequent air strikes.

Rebel leaders issued warningsthrough loudspeakers informingremaining civilians in the area thatFriday prayerswere cancelled andthat all residents should stay home.Hundreds of civilians fled the scat-tering of villages in the area, creat-ing queues of cars and pickup trucksheading towards the city of Idlibloaded with bags and furniture.

10 people killed in terrorattack on Egypt churchCairo (PTI): Ten people werekilled and eight others injuredin a terrorist attack on a churchin Egypt’s capital on Friday, thegovernment said. A healthministry spokesman said theattack took place when gun-men on a motorbike openedfire outside Mar Mina churchin Helwan area. At least 10 peo-ple, including eight Coptic

Christians, were killed in theshootout outside the southCairo church, he said, adding,one gunman was shot dead aswas a security officer.

State-run MENA newsagency reported that the othergunman fled the scene.Theministry said two of the injuredare women, adding it employed10 ambulances to transfer the

injured to hospitals. The attackcomes days before the Copticcelebration ofthe new year andorthodox Christmas Day onJanuary 7. Egypt’s CopticChristian minority has beentargeted byIslamic terroristsin several attacks since last yearthathave killed over 100 peopleand wounded many others.

Priest David, the head of Mar Mina church, is greeted by people outside the chruch, in Helwan, Cairo, Egypt on Friday. AP

Sharif calls Musharraf coward

PTI n LAHORE

Pakistan’s ousted primeminister Nawaz Sharif on

Friday called former militarydictator Pervez Musharraf a“big coward” and asked thecountry’s judiciary to bringhim back from self-exile andmake him accountable forhis crimes. Musharraf is fac-ing treason charges inPakistan for imposing emer-gency rule in November 2007,arresting judges and limitingtheir powers. He could facethe death penalty, if convict-ed

Musharraf, 75, who cameto power in a bloodless coupin 1999, has been living inDubai since last year when hewas allowed to leave Pakistanon the pretext of medicaltreatment. Sharif, 68, calledMusharraf a “big coward”and said he should be broughtto justice.

“Musharraf is a big cow-

ard who is hiding abroad. Ifany courage is left in him heshould return and face casesagainst him,” Sharif said,adding Musharraf had abro-gated the Constitution and hemust be punished for that.

“We will soon bring thistraitor to just ice,”Sharifpledged and demandedthe judiciar y to bringMusharraf back and makehim accountable for his sins.“This coward man is makingexcuses of his bad health toextend his stay abroad. Time

is not far away to bring suchtraitors to justice,” Sharif said.

Musharraf had toppledSharif ’s government in 1999.He remained in power till2008. Sharif who returned topower in 2013 instituted atreason case againstMusharraf who left the coun-try in 2016 when the apexcourt allowed him to travelabroad on medical grounds.

Sharif ’s comments came aday after Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) ChairmanBilawal Bhutto accused

Musharraf of killing his moth-er Benazir Bhutto. Bilawalsaid his mother paid the pricefor fighting against the dicta-torship and Musharraf gother killed. “Pervez Musharrafdirectly threatened my moth-er that theguarantee of hersecurity upon her return toPakistan depended onBhutto’s cooperation with thegovernment. I personally holdPervez Musharraf responsiblefor the assassination of mymother,” he said.

Musharraf, however, dis-missed Bilawal’s claim, sayingsome “rouge” elements in theestablishment might havebeen involved in her killing.Benazir, the Pakistan PeoplesParty chief and a two-timeprime minister, was killedalong with more than 20 peo-ple in agun and bomb attackin Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Baghduring an election campaignrally on December 27, 2007.She was 54.

China seeks details of citizen held in IndiaBeijing (PTI): China on Friday said it has soughtdetails from India of a Chinese national report-edly arrested along the Myanmar border inManipur. “According to the information wereceived, the Chinese embassy in India hasrequested the Indian side to notify therelevantinformation,” the Chinese foreign ministrysaid in a statement to the media here.

“We will continue following the develop-ment of the incident closely,” the ministry said.Media reports said a person, identified as QinMin Xiv Xiang (55), hailing from China’sFuzian province was arrestedby the Assam Riflesin Manipur’s Tengnoupal district a few days ago.He was in possession of Chinese, Vietnamese

and Myanmarese documents besides, foreigncurrencies, a pen drive and a compass.Apparently after the incident, the Chineseembassy in NewDelhi issued an advisory warn-ing its tourists to abide by local laws, includingavoiding straying into restricted areas, addingthat illegal behaviour will not be tolerated. Thenotice posted on the website of the embassy onWednesday did not give details of any violations,but warned its citizens to abide by laws cover-ing six areas. These included not carrying pro-hibited items such as ivory and rhino horns, notoverstaying visas, not working in India illegal-ly and not breaching the law by entering areasbarred to foreigners.

Indian studentshot dead in USWashington (PTI): An Indian-origin student was shot deadduring an attempted armedrobbery in the US, becomingone of the latest victims of gunviolence in thecountry. AnotherIndian was injured in the attack.

Arshad Vhora, 19, was shotdead on Thursday at the Clarkgas station at 142nd andLangley in Dolton in Chicago,CBS News reported.

Police said two people wereshot during an armed robberyattempt inside the conveniencestore.

The second victim, whowas not named, was criticallywounded, police said, addingthe victims are related.

Vhora was filling in for afamily member at the conve-nience store and gas station, rel-atives were quoted as saying bythe report. The suspects fled thescene. No one has been arrest-ed yet. A USD 12,000 reward isbeing offered to help solve thecase, the report said.

S Korea seizes Hong Kong ship for oil transfer to North: SeoulSeoul (AFP): South Koreabriefly seized andinspected aHong Kong-registered ship inNovember for transferring oilproducts to a North Korean ves-sel and breaching UN sanctions,a foreign ministry official saidon Friday.

The Lighthouse Winmore,which was chartered by aTaiwanese company and carry-ing around 600 tonnes of oilproducts from South Korea’sYeosu port, transferred part ofits cargo to a North Korean ves-sel on October 19, the officialsaid. South Korean customsauthorities briefly seized andinspected the ship when itreturned to Yeosu Port onNovember 24, he said.

The ship, chartered byTaiwanese company Billions

Bunker Group Corp, previous-ly visited Yeosu on October 11to load up on Japanese refinedoil before heading towards itspurported destination inTaiwan.

Instead of going to Taiwan,however, the vessel transferredthe oil to the North’s Sam Jong2 as well as to three other non-North Korean vessels in inter-national waters, the official said.

“This marks a typical caseof North Korea shrewdly cir-cumventing UN SecurityCouncil sanctions by using itsillegal networks”, the officialtold journalists.

“The actions taken will bereported to the UN SeucityCounci sanctions committeeon North Korea in the future,”he said. South Korea has shared

intelligence with the US aboutthe detection of the illegal trans-action, he added.

The Sam Jong 2 was one offour North Korean ships thatwas blocked from internation-al ports by the UN Security

Council on Thursday oversuspicions of carrying or trans-porting goods banned by sanc-tions targeting Pyongyang’sweapons ambitions, diplomatstold AFP.

The Security Council hasslapped three sets of sanctionson North Korea this year: oneon August 5 targeting the iron,coal and fishing industries;another set on September 11aimed at textiles and limiting oilsupply; and the most recent onDecember 22 focused onrefined petroleum products.

‘New skin patch mayhelp reduce obesity’Singapore (PTI): Scientistshave developed a new type ofskin patch that may helpreduce bulging tummy fatsand obesity by deliveringdrugs that turn energy-storingwhite fat into energy-burningbrown fat. This innovativeapproach developed by scien-tists from the NanyangTechnological University,Singapore reduced weightgain in mice on a high fat dietand their fat mass by morethan 30 per cent over fourweeks. The new type of skinpatch contains hundreds ofmicro- needles, each thinnerthan a human hair, which areloaded withthe drug Beta-3adrenergic receptor agonistor another drug called thyroidhormone T3 triiodothyro-nine. When the patch ispressed into the skin for abouttwo minutes, these micro-needles become embedded inthe skin and detach from thepatch, which can then beremoved. As the needlesdegrade, the drug moleculesthen slowly diffuse to theenergy-storing white fatunderneath the skin layer,turning them into energy-burning brown fats.

Brown fats are found inbabies and they help to keepthe baby warm by burningenergy. As humans growolder, the amount of brownfats lessens and is replacedwith visceral whitefats.Published in the journalSmall Methods, this approach

could help address the world-wide obesity problem withoutresorting to surgical opera-tions or oral medicationwhichcould require largedosages and could have seri-ous side effects.“With theembedded microneedles inthe skin of the mice, the sur-rounding fats started brown-ing in five days, which helpedto increase the energy expen-diture of the mice, leadingtoa reduction in body fat gain,”said Xu Chenjie, from theNanyang TechnologicalUniversity.

Obesity which resultsfrom an excessive accumula-tion of fat is a major healthrisk factor for various diseases,including heart disease, strokeand type-2 diabetes. TheWorld Health Organisation(WHO) estimated that 1.9billion adults in the worldwere overweight in 2016 with650 million of them beingobese, researchers said.

“What we aim to developis a painless patch that every-one could use easily, is unob-trusive and yet affordable,”said Chen Peng, from theNanyang TechnologicalUniversity. “Most important-ly, our solution aims to use aperson’s own body fats toburn more energy, which is anatural process in babies,”Peng said. The treated micealso had significantly lowerblood cholesterol and fattyacids levels compared to theuntreated mice.

In this Nov. 16, 2017 photo, Mustafa Hansen, left, helps his father Ahmed Mohammed, center, and his grandfather MohammedTahar, clear the alley leading to their house in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq. Lacking enough funds from the government , Iraqishave begun to rebuild on their own, dipping into savings and borrowing from friends and family. AP/File photo

world 13LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

S Africa’s top court delivers

Zuma impeachment blow

AFP n JOHANNESBURG

South Africa’s top court onFriday ruled that parlia-

ment failed to hold embattledPresident Jacob Zuma account-able for using state funds toupgrade his private home, in amove that could triggerimpeachment proceedings.

The opposition had gone tocourt arguing that the Speakerof parliament had failed toinstitute appropriate processesto hold Zuma accountable forhis failure to abide by the anti-corruption watchdog’s recom-mendations in 2014 over refur-bishments at his rural home inthe eastern KwaZulu Natalprovince using some $15 mil-lion of taxpayers money. Thescandal came to a dramatic cli-max when the ConstitutionalCourt last year found the pres-ident guilty of violating his oathof office by refusing to pay backthe money.

“We conclude that(National) Assembly did nothold thepresident to account,”said Constitutional Court judgeChris Jafta. “The failure by theNational Assembly to makerules regulating removal of the

president... constitutes a viola-tion,” of the constitution, thecourt said. It ordered that thenational assembly “must com-ply” with the constitution tomake rules that could be usedfor the removal of the president“without delay”.

Defeated in court and fac-ing mounting public criticism,Zuma later relented and paid$500,000, a sum set by the trea-

sury. In power since 2009,Zuma stepped down last weekas president of the ruling ANCparty after a 10 year termmarked by numerous damningcourt judgements against him.

Friday’s ruling is expectedto pile up more pressure on thebeleaguered leader. Zuma wassucceeded by his deputy CyrilRamaphosa in a tightly foughtcontest in which his former

wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zumaalso ran. He is due to resign asstate president after generalelections in 2019. The ANC’sdeputy secretary general JessieDuarte said the party hadnoted the ruling and would“discuss its full implications”when the party decision-mak-ing body the NationalExecutiveCommittee meets in just undertwo weeks on January 10, 2018.

In this Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 photo, outgoing ANC president and South African President Jacob Zuma, looks on after the newlyelected African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa, was announced president at the elective conference inJohannesburg. AP/File photo

US vows to ‘work closely’ withAfghanistan after terror attack

Washington (PTI) The US todaycondemned a “barbaric” attack on aShiite cultural centre in Afghanistan thatkilled 41 people and vowed to “workclosely” with theAfghan government tohunt down the terrorists. White HousePress Secretary Sarah Sanders said in astatement that the “enemies” ofAfghanistan will not succeed in theirattempts to destroy the country anddivide the Afghan people, who areresilient and committed to establishingpeace and stability.

The US strongly condemns today’sbarbaric attack at a cultural and socialcentre in Kabul, Afghanistan, and offersits deepest condolences to the victims andtheir families,” she said. She said, “The USstands firmly with the government andpeople of Afghanistan and will workclosely with the National UnityGovernment to bring the perpetrators ofthis heinous attack to justice.”

The UN Security Council also con-demned “the heinous and cowardly” ter-rorist attack and underlined the need tobring “perpetrators, organisers, financiersand sponsors of these reprehensible actsof terrorism to justice.

” The UNSC urged all states to coop-erate actively with the Afghanistan gov-ernment and all other relevant authori-ties in this regard.

Expressing solidarity with the peopleand the government of Afghanistan, UNSecretary-General Antonio Guterres said

the world body firmly believes that apeace process is the only path to ensureAfghanistan’s stability.

An Islamic State suicide bomber

struck a Shiite cultural center in Kabulyesterday, killing at least 41 people andunderscoring the extremist group’s grow-ing reach inAfghanistan.

People carry the coffin of a relative who died in Thursday's suicide attack on a Shiite cultural center in Kabul,Afghanistan on Friday. AP

B’desh targets 100,000 for first Rohingya repatriationCox’s Bazar : Bangladesh wants tosend up to 100,000 Rohingya back toMyanmar in the first batch of repa-triations of Muslim refugees who fledethnic violence this year, officialssaid on Friday.

Senior minister Obaidul Quadersaid a list of 100,000names was to besent to Myanmar authorities on Fridayso repatriations could start in lateJanuary under an accord between thetwo governments. More than 655,000Rohingya from Myanmar’s Rakhinestate have sought refuge in Bangladeshsince a military crackdown in lateAugust, fleeing what the US andUnited Nations have described asethnic cleansing. That added tomore than 300,000 in camps inBangladesh after fleeing earlier vio-lence in the Buddhist majority state.

The two governments signed anagreement in November allowing forrepatriations from January 23.

Many aid groups and diplomatsdoubt that fearful Rohingya will agreeto return. The Rohingya have been thetarget of past pogroms in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which does notrecognise the group as a genuine eth-nicity and has stripped them of citi-zenship.

Quader said repatriations wouldstart as soon as a working group ofofficials from the two countries finalisea list of names. “Based on the decisionof the joint working group, a first listof 100,000 Rohingya will be sent to theMyanmar government today for theirsafe and honourable return,” Quader,road transport minister and deputyleader of the ruling Awami League,

told reporters during a visit to Cox’sBazar where the refugee camps are.

“The next meeting of the workinggroup, which will be held in Myanmar,will decide how the repatriationprocess begins,” Quader added. “Thislist will be finalised as early as possi-ble. The repatriation process willbegin after the list is finalised.” AbulKalam Azad, the government reliefcommissioner for Rohingya refugees,

said a decision was made Thursday byBangladeshi members of the repatri-ation working group to send a list of100,000 refugees to Myanmar. Hetold AFP repatriations would beginafter Myanmar verifies the list and theauthorities in Bangladesh get consentfrom willing refugees.

Most Rohingya refugeesapproached by AFP in the camps insistthey do not want to return, saying

Rakhine is not safe enough. Diplomatshave expressed doubt about whetherMyanmar will allow substantial num-bers to return.

According to Azad, nearly onemillion Rohingya live inBangladesh,many of whom have been there fordecades. Myanmar has agreed to takeback those refugees who arrivedsinceOctober 2016, believed to num-ber about 700,000.

In this Sept. 20, 2017 photo, Rohingya Muslim child cries as she stands amid a crowd of elders to receive food being distributed near Balukhalirefugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. AP/File photo

Russia probe makes US

look very bad: Trump

Washington(AFP): USPresident Donald Trump hassaid he believes the probe intoRussian meddling in the USelection “makes the countrylook very bad,” according toThe New York Times.

Speaking to the newspaperon Thursday, Trump said hebelieves special counsel RobertMueller will treat him fairly —a view in contrast with recentattacks on Mueller’s credibili-ty from Republicans, who havepressed for a new independentprosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias.

“It makes the country lookvery bad, and it puts the coun-try in a very bad position,”Trump told the Times. “So thesooner it’s worked out, thebetter it is for the country.” Thepresident added that he was notconcerned about the ongoinginvestigation — which hislawyers insisted would be fin-ished by Thanksgiving — as“everybody knows” there wasno Russian collusion.

“There’s been no collu-sion. But I think he’s going tobe fair,” Trump said of Mueller.He repeated the allegationswere invented by Democrats“asa hoax, as a ruse, as an excusefor losing an election,” theTimes reported.

Trump also distanced him-

self from ex-campaign chair-man Paul Manafort, who wasindicted in October in the firstlegal action stemming from theinvestigation.

“He worked for me for —what was it, three and a halfmonths?” he told the Times,mentioning Manafort’s con-nections to other Republicansincluding John McCain andRonald Reagan. According tothe newspaper, Trump added itwas “too bad” that AttorneyGeneral Jeff Sessions recusedhimself from overseeing the

probe — pointing out thatalthough he did not want to“get into loyalty,” BarackObama’s first attorney general,Eric Holder Jr, “totally pro-tected him.”

Meanwhile, questioned onthe re-opening of the investi-gation into Hillary Clinton’semails, Trump maintainedfocus on the collusion probe.He told the Times that “for pur-poses of hopefully thinkingI’m going to be treated fairly,I’ve stayeduninvolved with thisparticular matter.”

2 dead in ‘mistaken identity’ shooting by Philippine policeManila (AFP): Philippinepolice have killed two people,including a woman on her wayto hospital, after mistakingthem for gunmen, authoritiessaid today, the latest deaths atthe hands of law enforcementunder President RodrigoDuterte. The incidentoccurred last night whenpolice were called to a Manilasuburb following an earliershooting during an argumentbetween residents.

But they mistakenlyopened fire on a van that theythought was carrying theshooter but which in fact wastaking a woman injured in theincident to hospital, saidManila police chief OscarAlbayalde.

The wounded womanlater died and one of her com-panions in the van was alsokilled while two others werewounded, he told reporters. “Ifind no excuse (for) this unfor-tunate event that has causedthe death of two individualsand the wounding of two oth-ers,” he said in a statement. Hesaid village watchmen hadbeen the first to open fire onthe van but said police wouldinvestigate why they hadfirearms which are not nor-mally issued to such person-nel.

Albayalde said 36 shellsfrom fired rounds had beenrecovered and that all theguns of the police and watch-men would be checked to seewho had fired on the van.

“They said that practical-

ly all of them fired their guns.Itwas only some guys whoarrived last who did not firetheir guns,” Albayalde said,referring to the respondingpolicemen.

Videos of the incident,aired on local television, showpolicemen with guns drawn,surrounding the van as gun-shots ring out. “We are nothiding anything here. We arenot discounting the fact thatthere is the possibility thatthere may have been overkillor violation of our POP (policeoperating procedure),”Albayalde said. Duterte’sspokesman Harry Roquereleased a statement saying“(the) matter will be investi-gated fully even if thereappears to be excessive forceutilised by police authorities”.

He also stressed that the

policemen involved have beendisarmed and their move-ments restricted while thecase is being investigated. Boththe Justice Department andthe official Commission onHuman Rights said they wouldinvestigate the shooting aswell. The deadly shootingcomes as Duterte wages a bru-tal war on drug-related crime,openly urging police to killsuspects and vowing to protectthem from legal liability insuch incidents. Governmentfigures show that almost 4,000“drug personalities” have beenkilled by government forces aspart of Duterte’s anti-drugcampaign since he took officein mid- 2016.

Human rights groupscharge that thousands morehave beenkilled by shadowyvigilantes.

‘Pak must demonstrate its desire to partner with US’New York (PTI): Pakistan mustdemonstrate its desire to col-laborate with the US in itsfight against terrorism,Secretary of State Rex Tillersonsaid on Friday. In an op-ed pub-lished in The New York Times,Tillerson reiterated what theTrump administration has beensaying aboutPakistan for thepast several months now afterPresident Donald Trumpannounced his South Asia pol-icy in August.

Trump while announcinghis South Asia Policy had crit-icised Pakistan for not doingenough to combat terrorism.“Pakistan must contribute bycombating terrorist groups onits own soil. We are prepared to

partner with Pakistan to defeatterror organisations seeking

safe havens, but Pakistan mustdemonstrate its desire to part-

ner with us,” Tillerson said. “Acommitment to stop Islamistterrorism and extremism alsomotivated the administration’sdecision to adopt a new SouthAsia strategy, which focuses onAfghanistan.

That country cannotbecome a safe haven for ter-rorists, as it was in the daysbefore the September 11attacks,” he wrote as he sum-marised up his key diplomaticaccomplishments in the firstyear. Defeating terrorismremains one of Trump’s highestpriorities, Tillerson said.

“The administration’saggressive strategy to counterthe Islamic State delegatesgreater authority to American

military commanders on thebattlefield, giving our forcesmore freedom and speed to dowhat they do best, in partner-ship with indigenous fightingforces,” he asserted.

As a result, the GlobalCoalition to Defeat the ISIS hasaccelerated operations and hasrecaptured virtually all of pre-viously held Islamic State terri-tory in Iraq and Syria, he said.

“While our military washelping clear Iraq and Syria ofIslamic State forces, our diplo-mats were following up withhumanitarian aid and assis-tance, such as clearing landmines, restoring water andpower, and getting childrenback inschool,” Tillerson wrote.

Uganda charges 45 with ‘terrorism’Kampala (AFP): Uganda hascharged 45 Rwandans withterrorism following their arrestat the border with Tanzaniaearlier this month, a policespokesman said on Friday.

“We arrested 43 Rwandansuspects at the border withTanzania on December 11. Onfurther investigations two othersuspects were arrested,” policespokesman Emilian Kayimatold AFP. All have been charged“with carrying forged docu-ments,false identities and theserious charge of terrorism astheir intentions were pointingto that,” he said without pro-viding more details.

The suspects are beingheld at Nalufenya prison, eastof the capital Kampala, oftenused to jail those accused ofter-

rorism or involvement withrebel groups. The suspects hadbeen living in Uganda andclaim they were travelling toTanzania as evangelists.

But Rwanda says they aremembers of the RwandaNational Congress, an opposi-tion party in exile led by formerallies of President Paul Kagame,that Kigali deems a terroristorganisation. NeighboursRwanda and Uganda have afractious relationship, withtheir leaders competing forregiona influence.

Rwanda has long blamedUganda for harbouring dissi-dents. Two days after the 45arrests, Rwanda’s foreign min-istry in a letter pressuredUganda to charge the suspects.The ministry accused Kampalaof facilitating the recruitmentof rebels and their travel totraining camps, allegedly ineastern Democratic Republic ofCongo.The same letterdenounced “multiple unjusti-fied arrests” of Kigali loyalistsin recent months, includingmembers of the rulingRwandan Patriotic Front.

Ugandan authorities saythe loyalists were abductingand killing dissident Rwandanrefugees, a claim backed byhuman rights groups but dis-missed by Kigali.

India hatching conspiraciesagainst CPEC: PakistanKarachi (PTI): Pakistan hasaccused India of usingAfghanistan for hatching con-spiracies against China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC).

Interior Minister AhsanIqbal said the “enemies ofPakistan” were using differenttactics and propaganda to failthe the USD 50 billion CPECeconomically, the Dawnreported.

“India is hatching con-spiracies against CPEC butPakistan will foiled them withthe support of the people,” hetold journalists yesterday afterinaugurating an executivepassport office in Quetta.

“India is using the soil ofAfghanistan for such conspir-acies,” he said but expressedhope that the CPEC projectwould be made successful.The minister also said that theUnited States should stop hurl-ing threats at Pakistan andrecognise the sacrifices it hadrendered in the war against ter-rorism. China has offered toextend its ambitious CPECproject to Afghanistan.

China’s offer to extendCPEC is significant fromIndia’s point of view consider-ing New Delhi’s strong objec-tion to theproject which tra-verses through Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir.

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017

quoteunquote

Our dream is to win atthe 2020 Olympics. Thelong-term goal is to do

well in the World Cupnext year

— Sjoerd Marijne

14

p There was a surprising change inthe coaching department as SjoerdMarijne (previously with thewomen's team) was made coachof the Men’s team

p Harender Singh, coach ofthe junior World Cupwinnng team was givencharge of the Indianwomen’s team

p Roelant Oltmans was sackedas the coach of the Indianmen’s team as theauthorities were not happywith the results produced

p Sardar Singh foundhimself out of favourafter being played as adefender instead of amidfielder in Asia Cup

p V Raghunath also wentout of the team and twomembers of the juniorWorld Cup winningteam Dipsan Tirkey andHarmanpreet Singh tookcharge of the defence

p Due to injury, P Sreejeshalso missed manytournaments and AkashChitke and Suraj Karkeramanned the goal-post intheir absence

Tributes, wishes and reactions. Socialmedia was as animated this year by sport-related events as any in the pastHere is a list of the biggest sporting eventsthat sent Twitter on an over drive withsample tweets:

AP n MELBOURNE

Melbourne's fickle weather slowedEngland's push for a consolation vic-

tory in the fourth Ashes test on Friday, withrain forcing an early end to the fourth daywith Australia struggling after Alastair Cookbatted through histeam's entire firstinnings.

Trailing by 164runs after England'sfirst innings endedon 491 on the first ball of the day, Australiacrawled to 103 for two in its secondinnings when play was suspended beforetea because of the storm, increasing theprospect of a drawn match with only oneday remaining.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground flood-lights were illuminated and ground staffcovered the center wicket in the hope thatthe match would recommence before theumpires eventually called off play for theday and ordered an early start on Saturday.

"Anytime there's a bit of rain and you'reon top in the game, it's a bit frustrating,"England's Australian-born coach TrevorBayliss said. "But we have an opportunitytomorrow to win so that's the attitude we'vegot to take.

"We showed in the first innings that wecan take a number of wickets reasonablyquickly and 98 overs is more than enoughtime if we play well to force a result."

Australia was still 61 runs in arrears andunder enormous pressure to get back intothe contest as England pressed for amorale-boosting win after losing the firstthree matches of the five-test series to con-cede the Ashes.

First-innings century-maker DavidWarner, batting with extreme caution, wasunbeaten on 40 from 140 balls when playwas interrupted with the Australia captainSteve Smith 25 not out and the pair need-ing to build a big partnership on the finalday to salvage a draw. "The atmosphere isstill great in the change rooms," Australianallrounder Mitch Marsh said. "We obviouslyknow that we've got a big day tomorrow ofbatting ahead but hopefully we can comeout with a draw."

Normally free-scoring batsmen,Warner and Smith added just 38 runs forthe third wicket in 22.4 overs as they bat-tled to keep their wickets intact afterEngland captured two early victims.

Australian opener Cameron Bancroftwas dismissed for 27 when he chopped aball from Chris Woakes back on to hisstumps. Then Usman Khawaja, who got offthe mark with a massive six off Englishspinner Moeen Ali, departed for 11 whenJimmy Anderson found the edge andwicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow took a rou-tine catch.

"Even though it's still a very good (bat-ting) wicket, it still gives us an opportuni-ty to force a result," Bayliss said. "If we canget rid of those two guys (Warner andSmith) early on tomorrow and put somepressure on their lower order, then anythingis possible."

Resuming on 491-9, England's firstinnings ended after just one delivery whenAnderson was dismissed for a duck, caughtby Bancroft at short leg off Pat Cummins.

Cummins finished with 4-117 while fel-low paceman Josh Hazlewood and spinnerNathan Lyon captured three wickets eachas the Australians struggled in the absenceof injured strike bowler Mitchell Starc.

Cook was left stranded on 244 not out,becoming first player to carry his batthrough a full innings in a test at the MCG,test cricket's oldest ground, having hostedthe sport's inaugural test in 1877.

Cook set a stack of records during hismarathon innings, which started onWednesday and spanned more than 10½hours at the crease.

The 33-year-old opener became thefirst Englishman to carry his bat since MikeAtherton did it against New Zealand inChristchurch 20 years ago.

The left-hander also became the firstbatsman to achieve the rare feat in an Ashesseries since Geoffrey Boycott at Perth in1979 and posted the highest score by a play-er to carry his bat, eclipsing New ZealanderGlenn Turner's unbeaten 223 in 1972.

PTI n CAPE TOWN

Afit-again Faf du Plessis will returnto lead a full-strength South

Africa squad, also comprising leadpacer Dale Steyn, for the first Testagainst India beginning here onJanuary 5.

Du Plessis and Steyn could not bepart of the four-day Test againstZimbabwe due to illness.

Ab de Villiers, who played his firstTest in almost two years, had led SouthAfrica to a comfortable win againstZimbabwe in Du Plessis' absence.

Fast bowling all-rounder ChrisMorris too has been added to the 15-man squad, joining the likes of Steyn,Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada,Vernon Philander and AndilePhehlukwayo in a formidable paceattack.

Morris, who has not played forSouth Africa since suffering a backinjury during the tour of England inJuly, has replaced fast bowler DuanneOlivier in the only change in the 15-man squad that was picked for theZimbabwe Test.

There is stiff competition in thepace department and it remains to beseen who will be picked in the elevenalongside probable starters Rabadaand Philander.

Steyn, who is returning to actionafter a shoulder surgery that kept himout of the team for more than a year,has a good chance to play.

Morkel has increased the selectors'headache by taking a five-wicket haulagainst in his comeback game againstZimbabwe.

Quinton de Kock, who pulled ahamstring while batting on day one ofthe one-off Test, has been named asthe sole wicketkeeper in the squad. DeVilliers had kept wickets in hisabsence.

The lone specialist spinner in thesquad is left-armer Keshav Maharaj,who took a fifer in the second innings

against Zimbabwe.Theunis de Bruyn, picked as a

reserve batsman against Zimbabwe,retained his spot for the series-open-er.

De Villiers' welcome return to thefive-day format has bolstered the bat-ting. He had a decent outing againstZimbabwe, scoring a 65-ball 53.

India, who have never won a Testseries in South Africa, arrived here lastnight after a long flight from Mumbai.

The remaining two games of thethree-match Test series will be playedin Centurion ( Jan 13-17) andJohannesburg (Jan 24-28).

SQUAD Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim

Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton deKock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB deVilliers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj,Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, ChrisMorris, Andile Phehlukwayo, VernonPhilander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn

Australia vs England

Live from 4:30am IST

SONY SIX

TOP SPORTS HASHTAGS IN 2017#IPL#INDVSPAK#CT17#INDVSAUS#WWC17

GOLDEN TWEET OF THE YEAR

TWITTER TALK

Thanks for always being the leader a youngsterwants to have around him. You'll always be mycaptain @msdhoni Bhai VIRAT KOHLI

DHONI STEPS DOWN AS CAPTAIN When MSD gave up cap-

taincy of the limited overs team,the tributes to him were led byhis successor who was effusive inhis praise for the outgoing skip-per

EPIC SINDHU-OKUHARA CONTESTEven though PV Sindhu lost theWorld Championship Final,there was nothing but admira-tion for her efforts in what wasone of the greatest badmintonmatches of all time

SEE-SAW YEAR FOR INDIAN HOCKEY

2017 produced mixed results for national hockey team. Here is look back at major developmentsRESULTS FOR INDIAN HOCKEY TEAMS THIS YEAR

MEN'S TEAM

WOMEN'S TEAMp Women's team won the Asia

Cup after 13 years under thecaptaincy of Rani Rampal andcoaching of Harender Singh

p Broke into the rankings top-10 for the first time

p The last time the women’steam won the Asia Cup wasin the year 2014

p Won bronze at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

p Finished sixth in the HockeyWorld League Semifinal event

p Won the Asia Cup after a gap of 10 years

p Won bronze in the HockeyWorld League Final at home

p Finish the year ranked sixth

YOUNG GUNS

There seemed to be a conscious move on the part of the selectors to move on from the senior players and blood in more youngsters

p Three exciting young forwardsemeged of the big stage - AffanYousuf, Armaan Qureshi andMandeep Singh

p While Mandeep has become aregular feature of the seniorteam and has shown greatstrking ability, Affan and Armaanare yet to fully establishthemselves at the highest level

p Two young defenders who impressed in the junior World Cuplast year — Dipsan Tirkey and Harmanpreet Singh becameregulars in the team

NEW MAN

IN CHARGE

UNCERTAINTY FOR SENIORSRESHUFFLE IN THE COACHING DEPARTMENT

p Manpreet Singhcontinued his rise inIndian hockey bybecoming the captainof the senior team,replacing P Sreejesh

p He has also becomethe main playmakerin the mid-field andhas replaced SardarSingh from thatposition

I have to say @ImRo45 captaincy was first class.Under pressure he backed his gut instinct. A hugecongratulationsMICHAEL CLARKE

HEART-STOPPING IPL FINALMumbai Indians snatched a 1-run victory on the last ball ofthe IPL Final. FormerAustralian Captain MichaelClarke praised Rohit Sharma'scaptaincy under pressure

This performance will be remembered long byboth Indian and Pakistani fans :) Pakistan 'vemade this #CT17 truly memorableSHAHID AFRIDI

INDIA-PAKISTAN FINALThe least fancied team in theChampions Trophy - Pakistan -emerged victorious in the Finalby triumphing over arch-rivalsIndia in the most Tweeted aboutODI ever with 1.8 million Tweets

Raging performance by @ImHarmanpreet????way to go.. #Girlpower ??#IndvsAus #WWC17HARBHAJAN SINGH

HARMANPREET'S DEVASTATINGKNOCKHarmanpreet Kaur played pos-sibly the greatest innings inwomen's ODI cricket againstAustralia in World Cup semifi-nal. Bhajji could not stop sharinghis admiration for another Punjabi

Congrats @Pvsindhu1 ,winning n loosing is part ofsports n life but U played like a brave gladiator??We as a nation are proud of PV #Sindhu@MAJORPOONIA

Sunil Gavaskar: Convert 1s into 2sRohit Sharma: Convert 100s into 200s@TRENDULKAR

ROHIT 'HIT'MAN SHARMARohit Sharma has gone whereno man has before by scoringhis third double hundred inODI's. A parody account of theperson who scored the first putit best

Warner, Smith & rainstand in England’s way

Faf, Steyn in SA squad for India series

New Zealand win 1st T20 against WI

STEYN, WHO ISRETURNING TOACTION AFTER A

SHOULDERSURGERY THAT

KEPT HIM OUT OFTHE TEAM FOR

MORE THAN A YEAR,HAS A GOOD

CHANCE TO PLAY

AFP n NELSON

The West Indies were left ruing one badover by Kesrick Williams after being

trounced by New Zealand in the openingTwenty20 game here on Friday.

Set a target of 188 to win, the reign-ing world champions suffered a battingmeltdown after star opener Chris Gayle fellcheaply for 12 and were eventually all outfor 140 in the 19th over.

But captain Carlos Brathwaite said the

real damage was done in New Zealand'sfinal over when Mitchell Santner and TimSouthee plundered 25 off Williams in awild over that included three no balls.

"For the first 19 overs we bowled asgood as we did. But it happens. KesrickWilliams has been the best bowler in theworld this calendar year and he just wentawry," Brathwaite said.

"It wasn't even a bad day, just one badover and that gave them some momentumgoing into our innings and we never real-

ly got that big over."But credit to them (New Zealand).

Sometimes you have to give credit to theopposition. They bowled with disciplineand they fielded really well."

Southee (10 not out), who partneredSantner (23 not out) in the final over runspree, acknowledged that New Zealandneeded the bonus runs after struggling to162 for seven after 19 overs.

"We struggled early on with the bat butthe guys hung in there and were able to

finish really strongly and then the way wefielded and bowled was exceptional," saidSouthee with Colin Munro (53) andGlenn Phillips (56), producing the onlyinnings of note.

Debutant Seth Rance sparked the WestIndies batting capitulation when he baggedthe prized scalp of Gayle and ChadwickWalton (seven) with successive deliveries.

It left the West Indies at two for 19 andthey never recovered from the initial set-back.

South Africa’s Test captain Faf du Plessis (L) and Dale Steyn in a file photo AP

David Warner in action on Day 4 of Ashes Test AP

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017 sport 15

SUSHIL, RANA SUPPORTERS CLASH AT CWG TRIALSNEW DELHI: The wrestling trials for next year'sCommonwealth Games turned into anunprecedented brawl here on Friday afterdouble Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar beatarch-rival Parveen Rana in one of the bouts,triggering a clash between their respectivesupporters. The opening day of the trials,attended by, among others, WrestlingFederation of India (WFI) President BrijbhushanSingh Sharan, ended on a stormy note at theIndira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here. Things tookan ugly turn when Rana, after losing to Sushil inthe semifinal clash, claimed that the decoratedwrestler's supporters beat him and his elderbrother "for daring to take the ring" againsthim.

DJOKOVIC PULLS OUT OF ABU DHABI COMEBACKWELLINGTON: Former world number one and12- time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovicwithdrew from the Mubadala World TennisChampionship on Friday with elbow pain to raisefresh doubts over his fitness. The 30-year-oldSerbian star had targeted Abu Dhabi for his firstmatch since his quarter-finals loss atWimbledon in July this year. Djokovic wasscheduled to play Spain's Roberto Bautista Agutin the semi-finals of the exhibition tournament at1900 local time. But four hours before that,Djokovic released a statement on his websiteannouncing his intention. It is not clear still if hewill play the Qatar Open where he is top seednext week. "I am terribly disappointed that I amforced to withdraw from the Mubadala WorldTennis Championship," Djokovic said in thestatement.

MUMBAI CITY TRIUMPH 4-0 AGAINST DD IN ISLMUMBAI: There seems no end to bottom-placedDelhi Dynamos’s misery as they slumped totheir fifth consecutive lost against Mumbai CityFC, who trounced them with a 4-0 win in HeroIndian Super League at the Mumbai FootballArena here on Friday. The home-side took a 2-0lead in the first half itself through Lucian Goian(12th minute) and Everton Santos (43rdminute). While Dynamos rued missed chances.Both sides were reduced to 10-man after a on-pitch mishap between MCFC’s Sehnaj Singh andMatias Mirabaje. After the start, Hero of thematch, Santos scored his brace early in thesecond half. And Balwant Singh scored in the79th minute to become the highest Indian goalscorer in ISL.

S I N G L E S

PTI n INDORE

Displaying steely resolve,Dhruv Shorey stood out withan unbeaten century and

steered Delhi to 271 for six, butVidarbha did just enough to sharehonours on day one of the RanjiTrophy final here.

The 256-ball 123 was Shorey'sthird, and undoubtedly the mostimportant, knock of his first-classcareer. Batting almost through theday, Shorey hit 17 boundaries.

The 25-year-old, who walkedinto bat in the very first over of thematch following Kunal Chandela'sdismissal, survived testing openingspells by the Vidarbha seamersbefore opening up himself at theHolkar Stadium. Shorey added 105runs for the fifth wicket withHimmat Singh, who produced a flu-ent 66 off 72 balls with the help ofeight boundaries and two sixes.

Considering that they lost theiropeners, including the seasonedGautam Gambhir, within the firsthour of the big final, Delhi would becontent with the way the day pro-gressed. Given the flow he was in, theseven-time winners, though, couldbe disappointed with Himmat's dis-missal.

Himmat was going great guns,hoisting left-arm spinner AdityaSarwate over long-on and long-offfor sixes and punishing RajneeshGurbani for three boundaries in anover, before a debatable caughtbehind decision cut short his stay inthe middle.

Debutant seamer AdityaThakare, playing in place of UmeshYadav, and Rajneesh Gurbani fin-

ished the day with two wicketsapiece. Thakare gave his team, a first-time finalist, as well as his first-classcareer a head-start as he removedKunal Chandela in the first over.After beating the opener with an out-swinger, the India U19 World Cupstandby induced an edge with anoth-er away-going delivery, and skipper

Faiz Fazal pounced on to the offerat first slip.

Delhi were 1-1 in the big final,and in came Shorey to join Gambhir.

Vidarbha did not take long tobreak into another round of cele-bration as off-spinner AkshayWakhare clean bowled Gambhir (15)with a ball that went straight through

after hitting the batsman's pad. It wasa milestone of sorts for Wakhare ashe reached his 200th wicket in frontof a handful of spectators. The side'ssenior-most batsman back in thedressing room, Delhi needed a part-nership, but that was not to be asNitish Rana (21) was trapped in frontof the wicket by Thakare.

Going through an indifferentrun of form this season, skipperRishabh Pant (21) showed poor tem-perament when he slashed a widedelivery to give semifinal heroGurbani his first wicket of thematch. With Delhi in a spot of both-er at 99 for four, Himmat joinedShorey and the duo looked to

rebuild the innings. While Himmatplayed fluently, Shorey was a pictureof concentration as they helped theseven-time champions come backinto the game.

Having lost the openers withinthe first hour, Delhi did much bet-ter in the post-lunch session, adding91 runs for the loss of just one wick-et in 27 overs. The turnaround wasdue to the 105-run fifth-wicketpartnership between Shorey andHimmat.

‘TAPPING RURAL AREA TALENT WAS KEY’Vidarbha's remarkable progress

to a maiden Ranji Trophy final hasleft the domestic cricket circuitpleasantly surprised and VCA vice-president Prashant Vaidya on Fridaysaid tapping talent in districts andrural areas went a long way in build-ing a strong state team. First-timersVidarbha are currently playingseven-time winners Delhi in the finalof India's premier domestic compe-tition.

"You need to have a good struc-ture; that is most important. I alwaysbelieved talent is going to be theremore in rural areas, that is where weneed to get the junior lot- the U-15,U-16 sides," said Vaidya, who hasplayed four One- day Internationalsduring a nearly decade-long first-class career.

The former pacer representedBengal the most in first- class crick-et and was at one point consideredthe fastest in India.

"Once that happens, then youhave a continuous flow of U-16, U-19 graduating into the higher side.That's where you get teams to per-form consistently," Vaidya said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

World No 1 and worldchampion Viktor Axelsen

of Denmark has slammed theBWF for next year's crammedcalender and described thenew service rule as "ridiculous"and "unfair". Axelsen, whoclinched two Super Series titlesat India and Japan and finishedrunner-up at China Open, saidBWF needs to focus on improv-ing the quality of the tourna-ments instead of crammingthe calender with moreevents.

"I think BWF need to focus

on making the quality of thehighest standard instead ofputting more tournaments inthe calender," said the Odense-born shuttler, who also defend-

ed his title at the Dubai SuperSeries Final this season.

"We had some great bad-minton but if we can get thechance to practice and take careof our body we will have longercareers and better quality," hesaid after a PBL game lastnight.

When asked about the newservice rule which will be test-ed starting with the All EnglandChampionship next year,Axelsen said: "I think it is aridiculous rule. You don't lowerthe basket in basketball becausetaller players have an easier timedunking.

ADITYA K HALDER n NEW DELHI

Despite a bad form at home, FCPune City's Vishal Kaith said they

are aiming to get closer to the top ofthe table as they are just four pointsoff the top (Chennaiyin top with 16points) as they take on ninth-placedNorthEast United at the Shree ShivChhatrapati Sports Complex in Puneon Saturday.

"This match is very important forus, recent losses of Goa and Bengaluruhas opened up opportunities for us toget closer to the top of the table," saidthe shot-stopper. "We have preparedwell for the game, coming backhome after defeating FC Goa hasgiven the winning momentum backto the team and brought the confi-dence back in the dressing room. Weare charged up to take on NorthEastand get all the three points."

Oozing with confidence after astrong goalkeeping performanceagainst Goa in a 2-0 win (via goalfrom Jonatan Lucca and EmilianoAlfaro). Kaith still wants to keep hisfeet grounded as he feels the strug-gling Highlanders can't be takenlightly, who are coming off a defeatagainst Mumbai City FC at home.

"I feel NorthEast is a good team,they have a strong fanbase but theyhaven't been consistent in the leagueso far and we hope to capitalize onthat. But that doesn't mean we are tak-

ing them lightly," said the 21-year-oldgoalkeeper.

Pune coach Ranko Popovic wasslammed with a four-match ban and`5 lakh fine for his remark on the ref-erees after the Goa match.

Kaith thinks coach’s absence will"affect them a bit".

"It is first time that coach won'tbe there with us on the bench, it will

affect us a bit. But we have beentogether for a while now, so we under-stand what coach expects from all ofus. It's all up to the individual play-ers how they react to it," said the Indiaunder-23 player.

Being at the Pune-based club forthe second consecutive year, Kaithhad the experience to work with bothJose Antonio Habas and Popovic.

Kaith feels Popovic's aggressive men-tality has made them an attackingside.

"They are very much similar incharacteristic as they both (coaches)like to win matches and ask playersto give their best. The major differ-ence could be Habas gave a lotimportance to defence first and thenattack, while Popovic likes to attackfirst and put pressure on the oppo-nent's defence and which also I thinkis our plus point," he said.

Before his permanent move toISL, Kaith played for Shillong Lajongfor past three seasons and thinks amoving permanently to the cash-richleague is fruitful for his career'sgrowth. "It did feel bad to leaveShillong Lajong as I was there for along but the move was good for mycareer as I feel this league is at a high-er level compared to I-league. We geta lot of big players here and the infra-structure provided to us is also bet-ter. We keepers get to train with for-eign coaches who came with the expe-rience of coaching in bigger leagues,"he concluded.

Saturday’s rival NorthEast willlook to turn the tide after series of dis-appointing performance. Coach Joaode Deus have argued that despite theunfavourable results, they are anorganised side and knows how todefend. Attack is where they needimprovement.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In the Hero I-League debut at their ownMaidan Stadium, Mohun Bagan could only

earn a draw against the 10-man Indian Arrowsin Kolkata on Friday.

Aser Pierrick Dipanda Dicka scored fromthe spot in the 27th minute but Rahul KannolyParveen equalised in the 33rd minute. IndianArrows skipper Amarjit Singh Kiyam wasexpelled in the 65th minute but MohunBagan were unable to take advantage of thenumerical advantage thereafter.

Eze Kingsley made his comeback from aone-game suspension as Rana Gharami, whowon the 'Hero of the Match' award in the goal-less draw with NEROCA was relegated to thebench. Talisman Sony Norde could only sit inthe director's box owing to his prolonged injuryas Nikhil Kadam got another start of the sea-son.

For the Indian Arrows, overjoyed with their3-0 win over Shillong Lajong, Luis Norton deMatos made two changes to his lineup. Afterhis wondrous goal, Nongdamba Naoremforced his way into the first eleven.

Right after the historic kickoff on the icon-ic Maidan ground, it was actually the young-sters who pressed hard despite the stiff resis-tance and the poor ground conditions. Thehosts had two chances in the first twenty min-utes.

However, the deadlock was broken by theGreen and Maroon, only through a spot-kick.Nikhil Kadam was brought down by Ashish Raiinside the box in the 25th minute.

AFP n PERTH

The amazing Roger Federerwill embark on his 21st

professional season when heleads Switzerland in the mixedteams Hopman Cup startinghere on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Swiss iscoming off an extraordinaryyear where he took his majorstally to 19, with a fifthAustralian Open title and arecord eighth Wimbledon.

Federer finished the year atnumber two in the worldbehind Spanish rival RafaelNadal, having started at 16,after a season-leading seventitles, including three Mastersat Indian Wells, Miami andShanghai.

It was a sensational seasonby any standards, but especial-ly as Federer has been playingprofessional tennis since 1998— a year when Bill Clinton waspresident of the United States,and James Cameron's "Titanic"won 11 Oscars.

Federer will again partnerBelinda Bencic at the HopmanCup, his only event beforelaunching his Australian Opentitle defence on January 15.

"It's totally different thistime around," said Federer,whose appearance at the pre-vious edition of the HopmanCup followed a rare six-monthabsence as he recovered frominjury.

"I had a great off-season. Imean, I did have a good off-

season too last year but I justwasn't sure what to expect.

"Now expectations arehigher but at the same time Itry to remind myself, 'Justdon't think it's normal and real-istic to aim for the same thingsI did this year in 2017'.

"I've got to try and keep itcool, try my best and see whathappens -- but the prepara-tion's been good so far."

Federer and Bencic teamedfor the first time at last year'sHopman Cup, only just miss-ing out on sending Switzerlandinto the final.

Bencic missed five months

of 2017 after undergoing wristsurgery.

"She had a tough year afterthat so it's nice to see her backin shape as well," Federer said.

Three guaranteed matchesin the Hopman Cup's roundrobin stages are a perfect prepa-ration for Federer, who alsothrives in the relaxed setting ofPerth with his family in tow.

He will be up againstAmerican world number eightJack Sock in his pool, while hecould face Germany's worldnumber four Alexander Zverevplaying in the opposite side ofthe draw in the final.

Shorey stars for Delhi on even day

Teams share honours after Dhruv's unbeaten ton takes 7-time champions to 271-6 at stumps

‘Aiming to get closer to top’

Viktor unhappy with BWF calendar2 decades for Roger but still going strong

THE 256-BALL123 WAS

SHOREY'STHIRD, AND

UNDOUBTEDLYTHE MOST

IMPORTANT,KNOCK OF HIS

FIRST-CLASSCAREER.BATTINGALMOST

THROUGH THEDAY, SHOREY

HIT 17BOUNDARIES

Mariners held to 1-1 draw by

10-man Arrows in I-League

NATURESCAPE 20 MINUTES

I am very particular about the

make up products I use. I love

to glam up but my make up

has to be of good quality and

animal cruelty free. And, if I am

not shooting or going out, then

I prefer to go with just a little

blush, a swipe of lip gloss and

my eyelashes curled. But it’s

nice to give your skin a break

atleast once a week.

S H O R T C I R C U I T S

The past 25-years have been

truly incredible. It has been a

beautiful journey and I am

grateful to my fans as I look

forward to perform in

Chennai, my home city. The

people of Tamil Nadu are very

special and performing before

them in my 25th year is a priv-

ilege. I thank all of them on

this occasion

When I came to India, I was

told to never talk about my

menstrual cycle in open

because it was a taboo. With

Padman coming up, I'm

glad that the society will be

more open about it now. I

want to congratulate Akshay

Kumar for being the brave

actor that he is and making

a movie on such a subject.

RIDLEY SCOTT

I was not particularly

interested in helming All

The Money In The World,

which revolves around oil

tycoon J Paul Getty. The

word Getty conjured up a

specific memory for me, I

knew about him and was

familiar with the incident.

So, I wasn't really inter-

ested initially.

ELLI AVRRAM

In my eyes, I look up to

Beyonce as my role model.

She is the boss. She’s so

strong, powerful and really

tells her story in her own

way.

Beyoncé is my number

one idol and whatever she is

doing, I will be truly influ-

enced by it for sure.

JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2017vivacity {48 hours} 16

ENCOUNTER 20 MINUTES

Iwant my paintings to make theonlookers feel as if they are lit-erally standing in the woods, sur-

rounded by the colours of nature.This is what all artists want — forthe people to experience what theydo,” shared Vimal Chand, who withhis skillful application of impastotechnique, brought his latest collec-tion of artwork, titled, GreenAmbience to life.

On display were around 30abstract works wherein he present-ed a wholesome picture of flora withan aim to educated the viewers of itssignificance and thus conserve it.Said he, “We are not ignorant aboutthe fact that nature is being exploit-ed to fulfill our unending greed. Itis gradually moving towards degra-dation and if we don’t mend ourways it will ultimately collapse.And I wanted to spread this messagethrough my work.”

Chand’s paintings are basedmainly on the fundamental elementsof this environment such as air,water, soil and vegetation. If one seeshis paintings closely, one can feel thefreshness of breeze; the coolness ofwater and can enter the dense for-est walking through the narrowpathways. In today’s era where theidea of a green environment is justa misconception, His paintings givea soothing effect to the visualiser —an impression of that nature, whichwe humans have degraded long backand which our ancestors conserved.

The city-based artist was alwaysinclined towards scenic beauty andshared a deep bond with naturesince childhood. The time he spentwalking through south Delhi’sJahanpanah City Forest as a boy leftan indelible mark on his intrinsicartistic soul. Thus, creating numer-ous works of art, encapsulatingnature, which he fondly refers to ashis children.

In acrylic on canvas, the artistbrings to life scenes from the for-est using a multitude of soft coloursagainst strong and warm tones.Some of his paintings even inves-tigate the shifting facets of light andshadows that hint at his sfumatoexpertise. But the most intriguingaspect was the absence of humanelement. When asked about thereason behind it, Chand explained,“The core idea was to keep theviewer’s attention fixed to thescenic aspect, while focussing onthe flora.”

For Chand, painting is not justlimited to vibrant canvases orextravagant designs. “Art is aboutfocusing on intricate detailing.” Heuses yarn as his paint brush toachieve the impression of leaves.He first dips them it into coloursand then give form to his vision onthe canvas. This very aspect of hisperception of soft colours establishhim as a pastelist too. “All artistsinspire me. I welcome any tech-nique that helps to express thecurative power of nature. Natureinspires me. And I want my paint-

ings to encourage people to com-mune with nature,” said Vimal whohas travelled extensively acrossthe globe, which has in turnexpanded his creative boundaries.“Whenever I travel and I alwaysfind something interesting aboutnature. I usually capture the vieweither through photography ormake a quick sketch, which even-tually finds its way to the canvas.”

But over the period, Chand hasextensively scrutinised the alter-ation of colours in budding leavesand therefore has tried to imbibe

variations of colours in his artwork.The artist strongly believes thattravelling turned him into a morecreative and thoughtful person.

Besides pursuing his passion,the artist is by profession a Seniorlecturer along with running hisown art studio. “After classes, Ispend the rest of my day in the stu-dio. Students too have the access tostudio where I happily teach themabout art techniques. This is no lessthan an achievement for me tocarry out both passion and pro-fession simultaneously.”

Anna Kendrick dons manyhats, she is an actress as well

as a skilled singer who beganher career as a child actor intheater productions. PictchPerfect was not her first musi-cal as she has worked in aBroadway musical High Societyin 1998, that earned her a TonyAward nomination for BestFeatured Actress in a Musical.She even made her film debutin the musical comedy Camp.Kendrick gets candid abouther latest release Pitch Perfect 3

nWere you looking forward toreturning to this role and tothe female acappella groupknown as The Bellas?

Yes, I think it was interest-ing to see them out of schooland at that point in their liveswhere they are kind of thrustinto the world with no protec-tion which is an interestingmoment in anybody’s life. Yourfirst reaction is. “I’m just out ofschool.” and then one start ask-ing themselves things like, “AmI supposed to be an adultnow?” So, I knew it would beinteresting to see how these par-ticular group of misfits handlethe real world.

nThe original Pitch Perfectwas a small movie that endedup being a worldwide success,and now you have completedthe third film of the series.

What do you attribute thatsuccess to?

I think it all starts with KayCannon’s writing. Her script forthe first movie was so funny andsubversive, with a special bite toit. I think that was the magicingredient.

nIt all started for The Bellascompeting for a college acap-pella competition, and soonthey won the WorldChampionship and becamehugely popular. But now thatpart of their lives has endedand they have to face the real-ity. Is it true?

Yes, this movie is about usbeing in the real world, until wekind of retreat back to TheBellas and go on a US tourbecause we don’t want to dealwith being real-life adults. AndI think that’s something manypeople can relate to. At least Ido.nWhere is Beca in her life at

the beginning of Pitch Perfect3 and is she still living with FatAmy?

Beca is working for a musicproducer she doesn’t care for, soshe kind of impulsively quits herjob and throws herself intobeing a Bella again. Yes, she isstill living with her and that’sprobably because Beca is theonly one that can put up withFat Amy’s terrible habits. Becais a nurturing roommate, andeven though Fat Amy can bebrash one can really buy that weare good friends. So, even in thescenes where we are making funof each other there is an elementof sweetness to them.

nDoes Rebel Wilson returnsto the hilarious role?

What’s great about Rebel isthat she is unapologeticallysmart and professional. Whenthe cameras are rolling she justturns into this fountain ofcomedic genius playing Fat

Amy. But, she is not one ofthose actors that are on all thetime, so it's really interesting tosee how someone who is seri-ous can also have that sort ofinsanity inside her

nAnd what do you thinkBrittany Snow brings toChloe?

First of all, Brittany is assweet as pie in real life. And shebrings this insane energy to thecharacter that is fun to watch.I love the moments when shegets so emotional and goes

from 0 to 100 in a second.

nAnd what do you thinkBrittany Snow brings toChloe?

First of all, Brittany is alsosweet as pie in real life. And shebrings this insane energy to thatcharacter that is fun to watch.I love the moments when shegets so emotional and goesfrom 0 to 100 in a second.

nAnna Camp also playsAubrey again, a character thatclashed with Beca in the first

movie until they figured out away to get along. Actually, it’s funny because inthis third movie there is amoment where Aubrey is tellingus all to go and do somethingwhile I echo that distinct ener-gy of hers, which puts a smileon our faces because I thinkboth Anna and I realised thatthere was a real fun to our rela-tionship at this point. We areequals now and both havelearned to love those aspects ofour characters that were whatthey initially hated about eachother.

nOn the first day on set, didyou all easily reconnect as ifyou had just finished shootingthe previous movie?

Like with old friends, themoment we get together every-thing falls into place as if notime has passed at all. Just likethat.

nWhat do you enjoy aboutportraying Beca? She must befun to play.

She is really fun because insome ways Beca is kind of thestraight man in the group, aseverybody else’s character is

quirkier. At the same time shenever feels boring or I feel likeI got the short end of the stickwith the role because she is sosavvy. So, Beca is at her fun-niest when she encountersabsurd people. Her reactionsto Chloe, Aubrey or Fat Amyare always fun because she getsto point out the absurdity ofthe situations they are in,which include but are notlimited to the a cappella groupsituations. In that sense it’s niceto be the person who says,“Why are you all stressedout?” I like that Beca is some-what of a normal persondropped into all that craziness.

nA new director has steppedin for the third movie of theseries. What can you sayabout Trish Sie?

That she is an absolutedream! We were very lucky tohave Trish because this moviehad so much going on. Apartfrom the music and the dancesit also had action and all thesenew characters. I don’t thinkanybody else could have han-dled it. Trish was just very pos-itive and had so much energyon set. And in a way she wasa fan of the movie and lovedwhat we each brought to ourroles. She was very encourag-ing and warm, and such a greatleader to have in that environment.

VIMAL CHAND paints his sojourns in forest in his latest artwork,Green Ambience. By TEAM VIVA

A WALK TO REMEMBER

ALL-INCLUSIVE

GLAM ACAPELLAANNA KENDRICK feels that shedoesn’t do the choreography well,when the camera is on her

AR RAHMAN

‘I WELCOME ANYTECHNIQUE THAT

HELPS TOEXPRESS THE

CURATIVE POWEROF NATURE.

NATURE INSPIRESME. AND I WANT

MY PAINTINGS TOENCOURAGE

PEOPLE TOCOMMUNE WITH

NATURE’

In a country with 1.3 billion citi-zens, where identifying as

LGBTQIA is a crminal offence andhighly sigmatised. But there is abright side to the story growing upalongside. The capital saw transmodels, models with disability anddrag queens by some of the bestnames in the fashion industry, suchas Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahliani, andPallavi Mohan at Kitty Su.

“The shooting at a gay pub inOrlando made us realise we need toopen more inclusive spaces alloverthe world, and especially in India,”said Monish, who choreographedthe Under the Rainbow event.

The trans models were trainedby Reena Rai, a heterosexual womanwho started the Trans Queen Indiapageant in 2016. She says platformslike these are important to give vis-ibility to the community. This is whyshe is taking her next show to analtogether different level, she adds.

This show also featured AlexMatthew, who wants to fight against

inequality towardsindividualism, gen-

der equality and fem-inism.

Such eventsredefine set society

norms and canmake a differ-

ence inchangingthe per-cept ion

of individ-uals.

Photos: PankajKumar

ZARA LARSSON