Follow us on: @TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneer instagram.com/dailypioneer/RNI NO.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18 ESTABLISHED 1864 PUBLISHED FROM DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018; PAGES 16 `3 VOL. 154 ISSUE 302 *AIR SURCHARGE EXTRA IF APPLICABLE

2LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018the pioneer

PNS n NEW DELHI

The much awaited “semi-finals” in the run up to the

Parliamentary elections nextyear is all set to begin onMonday when Chhattisgarhgoes for the first phase ofAssembly elections for 18 seatsin Naxal-hit districts, as part ofthe simultaneous polls in foursother crucial States — MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoramand Telangana.

The polls, however, havebegan with a Naxal attackwhere a BSF jawan was mar-tyred when Maoists detonatedan IED a day before the pollsin Kanker. In another incident,a Maoist was gunned down inan encounter with police.

Security has been tightenedin the eight districts going topolls in the first phase onMonday. Around one lakhsecurity personnel have beendeployed to ensure smoothconduct of elections.

Naxals have called for theboycott of polls in the State andhave executed half a dozenattacks in the last 15 days, threeof them major ones which left13 people dead, including acameraperson of nationalbroadcaster Doordarshan.

The elections in this Hindiheartland is being touted as aNarendra Modi-Rahul Gandhiface-off as Modi exudes confi-dence of retaining power forsecond term in 2019 whileRahul looks to stop the Modijuggernaut by unitingOpposition parties.

If the Congress manages toupset its dominant rival inthese Assembly polls, then itwill be a big boost to theOpposition for the Lok Sabhapolls, while a good show by theBJP will energise its cadre andgive a fillip to its hopes ofretaining the power at theCentre in 2019.

In 2013, the BJP had won165, 163 and 49 seats in

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Chhattisgarh respectively,with the Congress securing58, 21 and 39 seats. InMizoram, the Congress hasbeen in power since 2008,while in Chhattisgarh and MP,the BJP has been ruling for thelast 15 years.

In 2013 ChhattisgarhAssembly polls, there was a dif-ference of 10 seats between the

BJP and the Congress, the dif-ference between their voteshare was just 0.75 per cent.The BJP is facing anti-incum-bency, while the Congress is upagainst the challenge of the AjitJogi-Mayawati tie-up.

Jogi-Mayawati’s supportbase comprises mostly mem-bers of the SC community andif they get a few seats, it will beat the expense of the BJP. The

BSP had won just one seat inthe State last time, but had gar-nered a 4.27 per cent vote,which if it sticks to this time itcould prove to be the decisivefactor. Smaller regional coali-tions — such as the onebetween the GondwanaGantantra Party and theSamajwadi Party which hadsecured 1.5 7 per cent and 0.29per cent votes in the last polls— are another key factors.

The Congress-BJP battlehas become more bitter in theState after Congress’ workingpresident Ramdayal Uikeyswitched sides to the BJP.

In MP, the contest is toughas the anti-incumbency is a bigfactor in the State with theCongress consistently doingwell in the by-elections held inthe last one-and-a-half year.

Continued on Page 7

RAHUL DATTA n NEW DELHI

With highly educatedyoung men, including

postgraduates and PhD schol-ars, picking up the gun inJammu & Kashmir, the securi-ty establishment has decided tointensify its efforts to reach outto the parents to counsel theirwards before it’s too late. Moreso, since the casualties amongterrorist ranks indicate thatthe survival tenure of newly-recruited ill-trained youths isjust six months from the timethey jump the fence.

Security forces have so farneutralised 200 terrorists thisyear and at least 60 per cent ofthem were in the age group of18-20 and all of them were localKashmiris who got swayed bythe so-called cause. Besidesurging parents to caution theirchildren about the conse-quences of resorting to vio-lence, the Army has alsoannounced that during anencounter if a trapped localultra wants to surrender he willbe allowed to do so.

Elaborating upon this mea-sure, officials said here onSunday security forces realisethat gullible youths fell for thelure of the gun and allowingthem to surrender is a goodwillgesture. However, they admit-ted notwithstanding the highcasualty rate, nearly 165 youngmen have picked up the gun forthe cause as compared to 127for the entire last year therebyringing alarm bells in the secu-rity establishment over thespike. It means that reversesfaced by terrorist organisa-tions in terms of ultras killedhave failed to deter the impres-sionable minds from fightingfor the cause, officials said.

Anticipating that the num-ber of youths joining the terrorgroups may go up before theyear ends, the operational com-manders are also worried thatit may give a boost to the ter-rorists’ organisations with more

than 250 trained ultras alreadyactive in the Kashmir Valleyand 300 plus waiting to infil-trate into the State from acrossthe Line of Control (LoC) inthe coming weeks.

In fact, the security forcesare bracing themselves for adetermined bid by Pakistan-backed terrorists to sneak intothe State from the launch padsin Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(POK) in the next few daysbefore snow blocks ingressroutes in the upper reaches.The main objective of these ter-rorists is to increase levels ofviolence even during the win-ter months when generally ter-rorism comes down due toharsh weather conditions.

The security forces willmaintain the tempo of opera-tions even during the wintermonths to deny ultras freedomof space and movement.

Continued on Page 7

2019 semi-finals begin in C’garh

On eve of 1st phase poll for 18 seats in Naxal-hit dists, Maoists kill BSF jawan

Security forces to

convince parents

to woo back their

radicalised sons as

they fall to forces’

bullets in 6 months

Forces ask local ultrasto give up for new life

2 Naxals have called forboycott of polls inChhattisgarh and haveexecuted half a dozenattacks in the last 15 days

2 In 2013, the BJP had won165, 163 and 49 seats inthe Hindi heartland Statesof MP, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh respectively

2 Congress had secured 58,21 and 39 seats in MP,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarhrespectively

2 In Mizoram, the Congresshas been in power since2008; while in Chhattisgarhand MP, the BJP has beenruling for the last 15 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, and other leaders during the party’s Central Election Committeemeeting for the forthcoming Assembly polls, at party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday PTI

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WORLD 12

RAJAPAKSA ENDS PACT WITH SIRISENA'S PARTY

OPINION 8

THE CHINESEDICHOTOMY

ANANYA A

FASHIONISTA IN

THE MAKING

14 VIVACITY

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LUCKNOW, MONDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

city 04LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

QUICK TAKES

PNS n LUCKNOW

With activities hotting up inAyodhya over the issue of

construction of Ram templeand leaders of Shiv Sena regu-larly visiting Karsewakpuram,Uttar Pradesh governmentspokesman and HealthMinister Sidharth Nath Singhsaid that everyone was wel-come in Ayodhya but beforepaying obeisance to Ram Lalla,they should understand themeaning of Ram rajya.

“We welcome leaders of allpolitical hues in Ayodhya. Thisgovernment has imposed norestriction on darshan of RamLalla. But we expect leaders vis-iting Ayodhya to understand theethics of Ram rajya and supportthe government inMaharashtra,” Singh said in anoblique reference to SanjayRaut’s visit to Ayodhya. This willbe the third visit of senior ShivSena leader Sanjay Raut, who isalso the spokesman of the party.It is believed that Shiv Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray is alsoexpected to visit Ayodhya soon.

“The law and order in UP isvery good. Whosoever tries todisturb communal peace will beseverely dealt with. The leaders

are welcome in UP but theyshould not give vitriolic state-ments,” Singh said here onSunday.

Meanwhile, activities haveintensified in Ayodhya over theproposed dharma sansad to beheld there on November 25.

Besides Ayodhya, similardharma sansads will be held inBengaluru and Nagpur. It will befollowed by a dharma sabha inNew Delhi on December 9.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad’ssenior leader Champat Raireviewed the preparation for thedharma sansad in Ayodhya.Local Member of ParliamentLalloo Singh, Mayor RishikeshUpadhaya and local legislator ofthe Bharatiya Janata Party helda meeting with VHP leaders.The ‘dharma sabha’ will be heldat Panch Kosi Parikrama Margfrom 12 noon on November 25.

On the other hand,Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghleaders held a meeting atKarsewakpuram. VHPspokesman Sharad Sharma saidthat RSS, VHP and BJP wereworking in tandem to make thedharma sansad a success.

Over one lakh people wereexpected to attend this dharmasansad, he said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

To give impetus to the RamMandir movement, Bajrang

Dal has started a ‘trishul diksha’campaign to raise a dedicatedforce that can act whenrequired.

Under this campaign, over10,000 Bajrang Dal activistshave been given ‘diksha’.Bajrang Dal is the youth wingof Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

VHP secretary of AwadhPrant, Devendra Mishra, con-firmed that so far 10,000Bajrang Dal activists of theAwadh region had been given‘trishul diksha.’

“At present we are concen-trating only on Awadh regionbecause Lucknow is the heartof this region. If needed, theBajrang Dal activists of otherregions would be imparted thesame training,” Mishra told‘The Pioneer’ here on Sunday.

He said that as the agitationin favour of Ram Mandir con-struction gathered pace, theVHP would be needing youthswho could come out on theroads within stipulated time.

“Therefore, we are nowconcentrating on Awadh regionby giving ‘trishul diksha’ toBajrang Dal activists of theregion,” the VHP leader said.

The Awadh region com-prises 12 districts but for theVHP it has 25 zones.

Incidentally, VHP stoppedits ‘trishul diksha’ campaignafter the Dara Singh incident ofOdisha in 2006, though everyyear, firearms training campsare held at various venues.

In 2016, the firearms train-ing camp was held in Ayodhya,and it sparked a major contro-versy. In 2017, the camp washeld in Hardoi.

Last year, the VHP hadlaunched a membership driveunder which over 10 lakhyouths were enrolled in BajrangDal. The criteria for new mem-bership was that the personshould be in the age group of15-35 years and swear by theideology of ‘Seva, Suraksha,Sanskar’.

Muslims were not enrolledin the Bajrang Dal but werewelcome in Rashtriya MuslimManch, the Muslim cell of

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.However, Christians were notaccepted in any RSS orBharatiya Janata Party wing.

The issue of ‘ghar vaapsi’,protection of Hindu communi-ty and opposition to ‘love jihad’,besides service to the poorand downtrodden are some ofthe prime activities of BajrangDal. But now its focus is onlyon the construction of Ramtemple.

“We are not discussing anyother issue other than con-struction of Ram temple,”Mishra added.

He said the governmentwas left with one option — ofbringing a legislation for con-struction of Ram temple.

“Every Hindu is now ques-tioning why there is a delay inconstruction of the Ram tem-ple,” Mishra added.

He agreed that the govern-ment could face some problemsin the Rajya Sabha (for the pas-sage of such legislation) as itdoes not have the requirednumber but it could go for ajoint sitting of the two Housesof Parliament.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Independent MLA from Kunda,Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja

Bhaiya, is gearing up for launching hisnew political party on November 30.

The same day, his supporters willfelicitate him for completing 25 yearsin politics.

T-shirts with photo of RajaBhaiya are being distributed amonghis supporters in Kunda inPratapgarh district and nearby areas.The participants in rally will wearthese T-shirts.

Raja Bhaiya, a six-term MLA,has so far contested the assemblyelections as independent candi-date. He was a minister in theBharatiya Janata Party governmentsheaded by Kalyan Singh, RamPrakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh.He was also a minister in theSamajwadi party government ofAkhilesh Yadav.

The party to be launched onNovember 30 is proposed to benamed as Jansatta Dal and RajaBhaiya could contest the Lok Sabhapoll on its ticket.

“We have completed the process

to register the new political party ledby Raja Bhaiya. We have applied tothe Election Commission of Indiaand have given three names for thenew outfit, one of it being JansattaParty. We hope to get the ElectionCommission’s approval soon,” saidformer Member of Parliament ofSamajwadi Party, Shailendra Kumar,the convenor of the committee setup for organising the rally onNovember 30.

Kumar said a public rally wouldbe held at Janeshwar Mishra Park

here on November 30 in which RajaBhaiya would be felicitated alongwith others and he was likely toannounce his new outfit.

“Raja Bhaiya is the only inde-pendent MLA to have completed 25years in the Assembly of in UP bywinning elections six consecutivetimes from Kunda constituency inPratapgarh,” he said.

A close associate of Raja Bhaiyaand independent MLA VinodKumar Saroj said that youths,unemployed, farmers and sarvasamaj had huge expectations fromthe MLA from Kunda.

“We conducted a survey onsocial media, asking people whatRaja Bhaiya should do. Surprisingly,80 per cent of the respondents sug-gested that he should float a newoutfit and this hastened the deci-sion,” he claimed.

Raja Bhaiya has good influenceamong Thakur politicians and vot-ers in the state and is close to theBJP brass. He had voted for BJP can-didates in the Rajya Sabha electionsin UP in March this year and part-ed company with the SamajwadiParty.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Ram Govind Choudhary,senior leader of Samajwadi

Party and leader of oppositionin Uttar Pradesh assembly, suf-fered a heart attack on Sundaymorning.

He was campaigning in theMadhya Pradesh assembly elec-tion and was staying in Jhansi.

Sources in the party heresaid that the leader was imme-diately rushed to a private hos-pital where he was admitted inthe ICU. Doctors attending onthe SP leader said that hiscondition was serious. A seniorleader of the Samajwadi Partysaid that Choudhary would besent to Medanta Hospital inGurgaon by air ambulance.

The leader of oppositionwas staying at the residence ofa senior SP leader in Jhansi andon Sunday morning he com-plained of chest pain afterwhich he was rushed to thehospital.

Earlier, during the mon-soon session of the UP assem-bly, Choudhary had suffered amild attack during his speechin the House.

A three-time MLA fromdifferent seats in Ballia district,Choudhary was a minister inthe Akhilesh Yadav govern-ment. A close associate of for-mer Prime MinisterChandrashekar, Chowdharywas first elected to UP assem-bly in 1977 during the assemblypolls held after the Emergencyas Janata Party candidate.

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PNS n VARANASI

Prime Minister NarendraModi will inaugurate two

major national highways andan inland waterways project athis parliamentary constituen-cy, Varanasi, on Monday.

The two roads have a com-bined length of 34 km and havebeen laid at a cost of `1,571.95crore. The 16.55-km VaranasiRing Road Phase-I has beencompleted at a cost of `759.36crore, while the four-laning andconstruction of 17.25-km-longBabatpur-Varanasi Road onNH-56 has cost `812.59 crore.

The Babatpur AirportHighway will link Varanasi tothe airport and go on to linkJaunpur, Sultanpur andLucknow. With the flyover atHarhua and a road over bridge(ROB) at Tarna, the new roadplan will reduce travel timefrom Varanasi to the airport,providing relief to the locals andtourists coming here, the state-ment said.

The Ring Road, with twoROBs and a flyover, is expectedto reduce traffic, fuel usage andpollution on NH 56 (Lucknow-Varanasi), NH 233 (Azamgarh-Varanasi), NH 29 (Gorakhpur-Varanasi) and Ayodhya-Varanasi highway. Further, thering road is expected to providesmooth road access to Sarnath,a renowned Buddhist pilgrimagesite.

On the day, at a separateevent, the Prime Minister willinaugurate the first multi-modalwaterways terminal on theGanga river as part of theCentre's Jal Marg Vikas Projectwhich aims to develop thestretch of the river betweenVaranasi and Haldia for naviga-tion of large vessels weighing

1,500 to 2,000 tonnes. Theobjective of the project is to pro-mote inland waterways as acheap and environment-friend-ly means of transportation, espe-cially for cargo movement. TheInland Waterways Authority ofIndia (IWAI) is the projectimplementing agency.

National Waterway-1(Haldia-Varanasi stretch) isbeing developed with technicalassistance and investment sup-port from the World Bank. Thetotal estimated cost of the pro-ject is ̀ 5,369.18 crore, which willbe shared between theGovernment of India and theWorld Bank on a 50:50 ratio.

The project entails con-struction of three multi-modalterminals (Varanasi, Sahibganjand Haldia), two inter-modalterminals, five roll-on-roll-off(Ro-Ro) terminal pairs, newnavigation lock at Farakka,assured depth dredging, inte-grated vessel repair and mainte-nance facility, differential glob-al positioning system (DGPS),river information system (RIS),river training and conservancyworks. Operation, manage-ment and further developmentof the terminal is proposed to beentrusted to an operator onpublic-private partnershipmodel and selection of the oper-ator through an internationalcompetitive bidding is at anadvanced stage and is expectedto be completed by December.

Modi will be accompaniedby Governor Ram Naik, UnionMinister for Road Transport andHighways, Shipping, WaterResources, River Developmentand Ganga Rejuvenation NitinGadkari and Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath. The PM willalso address a public meeting atWajidpur village in Varanasi.

Stage set for PM’s Varanasi visit today

Bhagwat likely to meet ModiPNS n LUCKNOW

It is probably the first timethat Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwatand Prime Minister NarendraModi will be in Varanasi on thesame day on Monday, and theyare likely to have a brief meet-ing against the backdrop of2019 Lok Sabha election withfocus on Ram Mandir.

Bhagwat has alreadyarrived in the temple citywhile Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will be arriv-ing on Monday.

The Prime Minister is slat-ed to inaugurate the Ring Roadand the Babatpur airport road inVaranasi besides dedicating tothe nation the Inland Waterways

Terminal on river Ganga.The RSS will be holding a

six-day meeting in Varanasifrom November 11 to November16. Bhagwat will be in Koirajpurto discuss the RSS ideology andnationalism with workers of theorganisation. The issues of Ramtemple and Lok Sabha poll willalso be discussed.

RSS workers from six statesalong with senior leaders of theorganisation will be attendingthe meet. “This is a chance thatModi and Bhagwat will be inVaranasi together for a fewhours on Monday. There is alllikelihood that the RSS chiefand the PM may have a briefmeeting,” a senior RSS leadersaid. “The meeting will besymbolic so as to send a mes-

sage across the eastern UttarPradesh and Bihar that PrimeMinister enjoys the backing ofthe RSS,” he said.

Varanasi has been the ful-crum of political activities ineastern UP and Bihar. Themessage from Kashi has far-reaching significance andtherefore the backroom man-agers of RSS and BharatiyaJanata Party are trying for abrief meeting between Modiand Bhagwat. They also wantsto make it a photo-op.

Security has been tightenedin the city in view of both theprogrammes while SpecialProtection Group has takenover the security of the venuesto be visited by the PrimeMinister.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Giving momentum to itsreligious tourism policy,

the Uttar Pradesh governmenthas constructed a ropeway atLakshman hills in Chitrakootto carry pilgrims from thebase to the top of the hill, thusreducing the travel time tojust two minutes.

The ropeway has been con-structed under the PPP (pub-lic-private participation) modelby the Tourism departmentand it would be inauguratedsoon, a senior official of theTourism department told ThePioneer here on Sunday.

The ropeway will ferry pil-grims from the base to the 258-metre high Lakshman hill with-in 2 minutes whereas it takesaround 15-20 minutes to walkthis distance.

There were around 500stairs which the pilgrims have toclimb to reach the top, the offi-cial added.

The ropeway has six cars —three going up and three com-ing down. Each car can accom-modate six people and in onehour around 400 people cantravel by the ropeway.

District Magistrate ofChitrakoot, Vishak G, said thecompany which constructed the

ropeway was operating rope-ways in Maihar and Haridwar.

In Chitrakoot, the ropewayhas been constructed at a cost of

Rs 12.5 crore. Another ropeway is expect-

ed to come up in Vindhyachalregion.

Jhansi ropeway to beinaugurated soon

Shivpal opens party

office in Auraiya

PNS n LUCKNOW

Shivpal Singh Yadav moved astep further from the

Samajwadi Party first family ashe opened the office of hisparty in Auraiya neighbouringEtawah district, the home of theYadav clan.

Shivpal had recentlylaunched the PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia). Heformally inaugurated its officein Auraiya on Saturday.

Sources in the SP said thatdespite the best efforts of fam-ily patriarch Mulayam SinghYadav, the split in the SamajwadiParty and the family was final.

The sources said that thepolitical ambivalence shown byMulayam Singh Yadav notwith-standing, the rank and file of theSP now believed that a patch-upwas impossible between warringfactions in the family — ShivpalSingh Yadav and nephewAkhilesh Yadav who id presi-dent of SP. Apparently,Mulayam tried to avert a splitbut eventually failed.

It was soon after the SP lostpower in Uttar Pradesh in 2017that Shivpal revealed his plans toform a front from whichMulayam had distanced himself.

However, Shivpal onSunday advocated for a thirdfront, saying that his partywould contest 79 Lok Sabhaseats in Uttar Pradesh and leavethe Mainpuri parliamentaryseat for Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“I am ready for a third frontin UP for the 2019 Lok Sabhaelection but I have a condition

that the share of seats of thePSP(L) should be the same asthat of the SP,” he said.

Shivpal claimed that he hadtalked to several political partiesand some of them had even sup-ported him to lead the thirdfront in UP.

“Have talked to leaders ofaround 45 political outfits andthey are ready for the thirdfront,” he said.

Shivpal said that except forthe seat from which his elderbrother Mulayam Singh Yadavwould contest the polls, hisparty will field candidates fromall the remaining 79 seats.

Commenting on the fate ofhis new political outfit, Shivpalsaid that everything was goingin a smooth manner and everyday hundreds of SP leaderswere joining the PSP(L).

“In Auraiya itself, morethan 200 SP leaders have joinedthe PSP(L),” he said while dis-closing that by next month, theElection Commission wouldallot election symbol to hisparty.

Shivpal, who describes him-self as a co-ordinator of the newoutfit, said that his party wouldform the government in thestate after 2022 assembly polls.

Claiming that the leaders inthe SP were being insulted andso they were joining the PSP(L),he said that all the leaders join-ing his party would get duerespect and everyone would begiven responsibility so as todevelop a sense of belongingamong the leaders and cadre ofthe party.

Ram GovindChoudharysuffers heartattack

Activities hotting

up in Ayodhya

BD giving ‘trishul diksha’ to raise dedicated force

Raja Bhaiya to launch party on Nov 30

Dalit panel chairman exudes confidence of BJP winning assembly polls in all 5 states

Mathura (PTI): National Commission forScheduled Castes’ Chairman Ram ShankarKatheria on Sunday exuded confidence of theBharatiya Janata Part winning the assemblyelections comfortably in all the five states owingto the Centre’s people-centric works.

“The performance of the state governmentsand successful implementation of people-ori-ented schemes by the Narendra Modi-ledUnion government are the basic reasons of myconfidence,” Katheria told reporters here atShankaracharya Adhokshjanand AshramGoverdhan. He said he did not consider theopposition unity a threat to the BJP in LokSabha elections next year as the same is devoidof any principle.

Modi would again become the prime min-ister after the Lok Sabha elections because thecountry has made tremendous progress underhim, he claimed.

The people have faith in him owing to hishonesty and his commitment to improve theplight of the poor, the farmers and otherdeprived sections of the society, he added.

Katheria asserted that the villagers acrossthe country now have their own houses alongwith provisions of power and toilets, virtual-ly as a gift by Prime Minister Modi to the ruralas well as urban people.

SIX FARMERS INJURED IN LEOPARDATTACK

Banda: Six farmers were injured when aleopard attacked them in Gusiyari village hereon Sunday morning. The incident took placewhen the farmers were returning from theiragricultural fields, said Superintendent ofPolice (Banda) S Anand. Gusiyari village lieson the border of Banda and Hamirpur district.Efforts were on to catch the leopard, the SPsaid. The six farmers were rushed to Banda dis-trict hospital. Among the injured, the condi-tion of four persons continued to remain crit-ical and they were referred to a hospital inKanpur, Dr Vineet Sachan said.

CASE AGAINST QUACK FOR ‘RAPING’MINOR AT CLINIC

Shahjahanpur: A case has been regis-tered against a quack for allegedly raping theminor daughter of a woman who works at hisclinic in Farrukhabad district. The accused,Vinod Kushwaha, came to the woman’s houseat Khajuria Nagla village in Shahjahanpur dis-trict last Wednesday and took her daughter tothe clinic, where he raped the minor after hold-ing her hostage, said Avnish Yadav, stationhouse officer, Allahganj. The accused fled afterthe incident, Yadav said, adding that the minorwent along with the quack as they used to reg-ularly go to the clinic. A case was registered

on Saturday on the instructions ofSuperintendent of Police S Chinappa and thegirl was sent for medical examination.

SHOP DAMAGED AFTER EXPLOSIVES GOOFF; 1 ARRESTED

Muzaffarnagar: A shopkeeper was arrestedfor allegedly storing explosive substances in hisshop in Baseda village here, police said on Sunday.Anshul Singhal was arrested on Saturday underIndian Penal Code sections 286 (negligent con-duct with respect to explosive substance) and 420(cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery ofproperty), Baseda police outpost in-charge,Gyanendra Yadav said, adding that the shop wasdamaged after the explosives went off.

MAN ARRESTED FOR SEXUALLYASSAULTING, KILLING COUSIN

Ballia: A 22-year-old man has been arrest-ed for reportedly sexually assaulting and killinghis minor cousin, police said on Sunday. “Theincident took place on November 8 in Garhwarpolice station area. The accused was arrested onSaturday,” Superintendent of Police SriparnaGanguly said. The body of the 8-year-old wassent for post-mortem, the officer said.

LABOURER HELD FOR EVE-TEASING Muzaffarnagar: A labourer, Shadab, was

arrested on charges of teasing a girl at her housein Shamli district on Saturday.

city 05LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

MARATHONIIM-Lucknow’s Manfest-

Varchasva, in association withUttar Pradesh State RoadTransport Corporation(UPSRTC), organised the 10thedition of Lucknow City Runthemed ‘road safety’ onSunday morning. Themarathon witnessed the par-ticipation of 2,500 people whoexpressed solidarity with thecause. SP (Traff ic) RaviShankar Nim flagged off therun. The marathon beganfrom gate number 3 of LohiaPark in Gomti Nagar and theparticipants covered a dis-tance of 10 km. Women wererequired to cover a distance of

5 km. There was a also specialkids’ category of 5 km.Khushbu Gupta was the win-ner among women whileShravan Kumar in men’s cat-egory. UPSRTC’s chief gener-al manager Jaydeep Vermafelicitated the winners with Rsone lakh, mementos, certifi-cates and t-shirts.

ANNUAL MEETFormer vice-president of

Cantonment Board PramodSharma said on Sunday that hewould hand over the highlightsof the deliberations of theDefence Estate veterans meet-ing to the Union DefenceMinister. The two-day annual

meet of All India DefenceEstates Veterans Forum con-cluded on Sunday. The meetingwas attended by delegates fromall over India. Sharma said thatthe main purpose was to felic-itate the veterans.

‘BLUE CODE’ POSTERCabinet minister Rita

Bahuguna Joshi unveiled theposter of film ‘Blue Code’ at acity hotel on Sunday. Writer DrAlina Khan, who belongs toLucknow, and works with acorporate hospital in Mumbai,said the film was about tripletalaq and how the only hopewas girls’ education. “Themovie is based on a true inci-

dent and about what a girlfaced and how she came out ofthe problem because of hereducation. The film will releaseacross the globe next monthand I have chosen Lucknow forunveiling of the poster becausethis is my home town,” shesaid.

NEW LMRC RECRUITSOver 354 new recruits of

Lucknow Metro RailCorporation (LMRC) havejoined for the balance North-South corridor to be dedicatedto the public next year. The newrecruits for both executive andnon-executive categories havebeen deputed to their respec-tive departments and are beingimparted training in the prior-ity corridor. Once the civilconstruction is handed over tothe Operations andMaintenance, these recruitswill begin their designatedduties. The recruits have com-pleted an intensive trainingprogramme on soft skills and

English proficiency. It was inaddition to the training at theCentre of Excellence forTraining (COET), TransportNagar Metro Depot.

QUANTA-2018City Montessori School,

Chowk, is organising the 23rdInternational ScienceOlympiad, ‘Quanta-2018’, fromNovember 24 to 27 at KanpurRoad auditorium. Nearly 700young scientists representingtop institutions of Germany,Brazil, Malaysia, Finland,Russia, Jordan, Nepal, Lebanon,Bangladesh and India willreach Lucknow to showcasetheir abilities in science andmathematics. Principal AditiSharma (below) said that theworld had great expectationsfrom young scientists and theolympiad endeavoured to maketheir dreams come true byigniting the spirit of inquiryand encouraging rich exchangeof ideas in their inquisitive minds. PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Diabetic expert Dr AKTiwari laid stress on a con-

certed drive to fight the epidem-ic in the country. Dr Tewari saidthat globally, 425 million peo-ple were suffering from diabetesand the situation had assumedalarming dimension in India aswell. Talking to mediapersonson the occasion of WorldDiabetes Day on Sunday, DrTewari said exercise should bepart of family affair to keep thedisease away. “In the past, it wasoften stated that the family that

eats together stays together, butnow it would be proper to saythat a family that exercisestogether stays together,” shequipped. “The theme this yearis ‘Family and diabetes’, and itshould be a joint endeavour totackle the menace. Pointing outthat family is the backbone ofany community, Dr Tewari saidmost of the cases of type-II dia-betes were preventable withgood eating habits and healthylifestyle.

“The measures may go along way in preventing the dia-betes epidemic. Since the cost of

medicines is a big burden onfamily budget, low-cost medi-cines and other supplies are theneed of the hour. At any giventime, one out of two type-II dia-betes patient is unaware of theproblem, hence awareness andeducation at family level canensure early detection, treat-ment and prevention of compli-cations,” he said. He added thatfamily could prove a strong sup-port system for a person suffer-ing from diabetes as emotionalsupport to face problems of achronic disease was of para-mount importance.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Lucknow LiteratureFestival, which will kicks

off at Indira GandhiPratishthan on November 16,will be dedicated to formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee. Key organiser KanakChauhan told mediapersonson Sunday that the inauguralfunction would witness bud-ding poets reciting Vajpayee’spoems. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will release thebook ‘Yudh Mein Ayodhya’,authored by Hemant Sharma.

Among the several attrac-tive sessions, there will be a dis-cussion on ‘Women Power inParliament’ which will see dis-cussions with Shazia Ilmi, JuhieSingh and Bulbul Godiyal.

‘Muskuraiye Ki AapLucknow Mein Hain’ will wit-ness Sorabh Pant and DanishHussain in conversation withCarlyle McFarland while the‘RTI Story’ will have Aruna Royand Ankita Anand.

A session on ‘Hindi DulariAngrezi Par Padi Bhari’ will seethe participation of Mrinal

Pandey, Rahul Dev, SatyanandNirupam and Yunus Khan.

Kapil Sibal will discuss hislatest book ‘Shades of Truth, aJourney Derailed’ with JaideepNarain Mathur. Inspiring soulsof Avadh, a book by Raj Smriti,will also be released on theoccasion. The cultural attrac-tions will include a mono actplay titled ‘Main Rahi Masoom’.

An award on Ram Advanifor excellence in writing will begiven away to Manoj KumarPandey. A session on ImtiyazAli will be called ‘Director byMistake’. The session on ‘YehPublic Hai Boss’ will feature DrAP Maheshwari, JaideepNarain Mathur and DrSrinivas.

The ‘Kahani Connection’session will feature NeeleshMisra and Yunus Khan andShonar Bangla will featureBarun Chanda, AnjumKatyani, Aniruddha RoyChowdhary, Dona Gangulyand Sandeep Bhaturia. Thefestival will also see the launchof ‘Lucknow Diaries’ bybureaucrat Partha Sarthi SenSharma.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Arestaurant owner accusedhis fellow shop owner and

his men of ransacking the for-mer’s shop and decampingwith items worth several lakhrupees in Aliganj on Sunday.Police downplayed the incidentand registered a case of theft inthis connection.

As per reports, RiteshMisra of Gomti Nagar runs theshop (Sooo Tea Café andRestaurant) at Kapoorthalacrossing. He stated in his com-plaint that he was told by someshop owners that his fellowshop owner Arif and his aideshad ransacked the restaurantand had taken away goodsinside it. “On the information,I reached there and found theshutter of the shop lying bro-ken. I then complained to thepolice,” he said. He said thelocal police didn’t help him andregistered a case of theft againstArif and his men.

Police spokesman said the

incident was not a theft case. “Itis a purely a case of dispute overownership. Ritesh had takenthe shop on rent from Arif whohad purchased the same fromShoeb Kidwai in 2008. Later,due to some dispute, Shoebclaimed himself to be theowner and Ritesh started pay-ing the rent to Shoeb and thatled to the dispute,” heexplained. The policespokesman added that Arifhad his shop on the first floorof the building.

Ritesh contested the claimexplaining the Shoeb hadclaimed to be owner of theshop in March 2018 and so hewas paying the rent to him.“Shoeb turned up when a vig-ilance team of LESA servedhim a notice for not paying theelectric bill. It also surfaced thatShoeb had cancelled the saledeed with Arif because of thelack of payment,” he claimed.He thanked the SSP forinstructing the local police toinitiate an action. “Initially,

the police did not take our casebut later it did,” he said.

The police spokesman saida case of theft was registeredand the police were investigat-ing the case. He failed toexplain if the law permittedsomeone to forcibly take awaygoods from the shop if Riteshand Arif had a dispute.

ARRESTED Two miscreants were

arrested on Sunday byGhazipur police for commit-ting theft in different houses.The miscreants identified asSunil Valmiki and RanjeetVishwakarma, both of VibhutiKhand locality, and werenabbed during a routine check-ing. The police recovered ahuge quantity of stolen orna-ments and cash from them. Asper police, the miscreants hadexecuted several cases of theftin Ghazipur and neighbouringpolice station areas in the past.“The miscreants confessed totheir crime,” the police said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Aday after the recovery ofthe body of 20-year-old

Deshraj, the Vikas Nagar policehas failed to make any headwayin the case. “Deshraj’s familymembers identified the bodyon the basis of physical featuresand clothes. The autopsy reportwas yet to be concluded,” VikasNagar SHO Virendra Sonkarsaid. The SHO said the familyhad not registered any missingcomplaint with the Sitapurpolice or with the Lucknowpolice. “Deshraj’s parent hadnot lodged any complaint asyet,” the SHO claimed. He saidno suspect in the case had beenidentified as yet.

“In fact, we are yet to ini-tiate the probe,” he said. Whilethe SHO and police spokesmanAK Singh were blank about thedetails of the autopsy,Mahanagar CO Santosh Singhsaid the victim had injuries onhis chin. “He suffered thewounds probably after he felldown from the roof of anunder-construction building.The viscera of the body hasbeen preserved and the samewill be sent to Forensic Lab toascertain the cause of death ina conclusive way,” he said.

Deshraj was murdered byunidentified miscreants andhis body was dumped on theroof of a house in Vikas Nagarpolice station area. The morethan eight-day-old body wasrecovered on Monday after-noon when some of the shopowners of an adjacent commer-cial complex spotted the bodyand informed the police.

The Vikas Nagar policehad downplayed the incident

saying the youth was workingas a labourer at an under-con-struction site close to the houseand the victim died after he felldown during work. But thecops failed to explain why thecontractor, who had hired him,did not lodge a missing com-plaint when Deshraj did notreport to him at night on thefateful day. The police hadrecovered an Aadhaar cardbearing the name of Deshraj ofSitapur from the victim’strouser and later had soughthelp from the Sitapur police. Ateam of the Sitapur police thentraced the family of the victimand informed them of the inci-dent asking them to reachLucknow to help in identifica-tion of the body which wasrecovered by the Vikas Nagarpolice. Later, the victim’s fam-ily reached Lucknow and iden-tified body of Deshraj.

Interestingly, the police didnot have the list of fellowlabourers as yet. “The policewere yet to talk to the contrac-tor/man who was getting theconstruction work done at thesite. The miscreants seemed tohave an aim to destroy the bodyto hide their crime. But lucki-ly the highly decomposed bodywas spotted by shop ownersand they alerted the police,”sources said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Chhath Puja kicked off with‘nahaye khaye’ on Sunday.

National president of AkhilBharatiya Bhojpuri SamajPrabhunath Rai said men andwomen would observe a fastfrom Monday onwards andwould break it after offering‘arghya’ to the rising sun onNovember 14.

Kamlesh Dubey, a seniorfaculty member fromBhatkhande DeemedUniversity, while giving detailsof the cultural aspects ofChhath Puja, said ‘nahayekhaye’ was about resorting toeating ‘satvik’ food, withoutonion and garlic.

“The devotees eat chane kidaal and lauki. On Monday,the devotees will observe‘kharna’ and will have only two

meals. “On ‘kharna’, the devo-tees eat rice cooked in sugar-cane juice or jaggery, and onthe third day when ‘arghya’ hasto be offered, no food is taken,”he explained.

The festival has becomepopular in Lucknow. “Thereare over 2-3 lakh Biharis whostay in the city and the celebra-tions take place on a grandscale. For Biharis staying inLucknow, the younger gener-ation is more comfortable cel-ebrating it in their homesrather than going back to theirnative villages,” he pointedout. Dubey said that the festi-val in Bihar was celebrated ina grand manner and with thestate sparkled with light in allcorners and banners as well asstreamers hanging on everynook and corner.

Giving the essence of the

festival, he said it was celebrat-ed to pray to the sun for healthand women prayed for the longlives of their husbands andsons. “Chhath Puja is alsopopular in eastern parts of UPsuch as Gorakhpur and Deoria,and people from there arefully conversant with all the rit-uals associated with the festi-val,” Dubey pointed out.

He said that folk songsassociated with the festivalhad always been a rage. “Songsare sung by women as theycarry baskets containing pujasamagri to the banks of river atthe time of offering ‘arghya’.These songs have become pop-ular over the years,” he added.

The items kept in the bas-kets include sweet potatoes,bananas, leaves of garlic &turmeric, pineapples, apples,oranges etc.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Awoman was found deadat her house in Ashiyanaon Sunday. She was

being tormented by her hus-band and her in-laws for dowrysince marriage and had got alife threat a day before herdeath. While the woman’s fam-ily claimed she was done todeath by her husband and her

in-laws for resisting to dowrydemand, the police seemedconvinced with the husband’sclaim that she ended her life.The Cantonment CO had beenassigned the task to probe intothe allegation.

As per reports, the woman,identified as Tabassum of sec-tor O of LDA colony inAshiyana, was married toMohammed Anwar of the

same locality on May 17 lastyear. Her brother Jahim Khansaid Tabassum was beingharassed for dowry since mar-riage. “She was being torturedmentally and physically byAnwar and other members inthe family,” Jahim said.

He alleged that Tabassumreached his house on Saturdaymorning weeping bitterly. “Shecomplained to us that Anwar,

his brothers Laeek and Faridand their sister Shazia hadbeaten her mercilessly. She toldus that Anwar and his familymembers would kill her,” Jahimgave an account of the talks hehad with Tabassum onSaturday. Jahim said he coun-selled Tabassum not to leaveAnwar’s house. “I had told herto return to Anwar’s homesaying for a woman it was prac-

tically difficult to snap a rela-tion so hastily,” Jahim saidweeping inconsolably.

Jahim said they got a callfrom some neighbours ofAnwar that Tabassum had fall-en seriously sick. “I, along withmy family, reached Anwar’shome and found that Tabassumwas lying dead on a bed in one

of the rooms. Anwar was pre-sent in the room while his fam-ily members had absconded,”he told the police.

The Ashiyana police saidTabassum ended her life byhanging herself from the ceil-ing. “She returned to her homeon Saturday night and had averbal spat with Anwar after

which she took the extremestep,” the police said. Theysaid they had interrogatedAnwar and sent the body forautopsy. “If the report ascer-tains that the victim had anyante-mortem injuries on herbody, a case would be regis-tered against the suspects,” thepolice said.

Lucknow Literature Fest

dedicated to Vajpayee

Woman tormented for dowry found dead

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

A35-year-old fast food sell-er was found hanging at

his house where he was stay-ing all alone for the last threedays in Indira Nagar. Policeclaimed that the man endedhis life but failed to explain thereason which prompted him todo so. The body was sent forautopsy. Ashok KumarKashyap of Bahraich was liv-ing at a house in Takrohi in arented house. His wife Gayatri,along with her sons Mayank(8) and Ganesh (2 months),had gone to her father’s house

in Lavkush Nagar in Ghazipurpolice station area onNovember 9.

Gayatri told police that shecalled Ashok around 8 am onSunday to inquire about hiswell being and inform him thatshe would return home short-ly. “He did not attend the callat which I called my neighbourAkash Tiwari and requestedhim to go to the room and seewhere Ashok was. Akash toldme that Ashok was hangingfrom the ceiling with a dupat-ta tied around his neck,” shetold police.

The police spokesman

termed the incident a case ofsuicide. “The doors werelocked from inside when vic-tim’s neighbour Akash went tothe room. He broke open thedoors and found Ashok hang-ing,” he explained. The policespokesman, however, failed toexplain if Akash’s statementabout the incident was admis-sible in view of law. “This is alaw point and I cannot explainthe same,” he said, adding thatthe body had been sent forautopsy to ascertain the causeof death. Ashok ran a shop inTakrohi Bazaar to feed his family.

Eatery owner hangs self

Chhath Puja kicks off

Women during Chhath Puja celebrations at Jhulelal Park on Sunday Pioneer

Lucknow (PNS): The 5thconvocation of Dr ShakuntalaMisra National RehabilitationUniversity will be held onMonday. The chief guest on theoccasion will be West BengalGovernor Keshari NathTripathi. A rehearsal of the con-vocation was held at the insti-tute on Sunday which saw par-ticipation of the staff and stu-dents. Media spokesperson ofthe rehab university DevendraSingh said that 44 gold medalswould be given away on theoccasion — 32 to girls and 11to boys. As many as 25 silvermedals will be given away togirls and 12 to boys.

As for the disabled stu-dents, the Shakuntala MisraMemorial gold medal will beawarded to Sanjeev Kumar of(BEd). The Shakuntala MisraMemorial gold medal andAmit Mittal memorial medalwill be awarded to ShakilAhmad of MA (Hindi). TheRohit Mittal Memorial goldmedal will be awarded to BalMukund Jaiswal of BEd.

44 gold medals tobe given away atSMNRU convocation

Cops clueless about

murder of youth

Restaurant ransacked in Aliganj

A two-day photography exhibition, ‘Life et cetera’, by Kumkum Roy Choudhury kicked off at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra inAliganj on Sunday. The photography exhibition was inaugurated by managing worker and chairman of Sahara India PariwarSubrata Roy Sahara.

Family that exercises together,

stays together, says doctor

WORLD DIABETES DAY

CITYBRIEFS

Students felicitated for excellence by Human Welfare Foundation posing for a group photograph at Gandhi Bhawan auditoriumin Lucknow on Sunday Pioneer

Lucknow City Run, organised IIM-Lucknow’s Manfest-Varchasva, in association with UPSRTC

nation 06LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

PNS n NEW DELHI

For effective implementationof the Real Estate Act, the

Housing and Urban AffairsMinistry will hold a day-longworkshop for home-buyers,bank representatives, buildersand other stakeholders fromnorthern States on Thursday.

According to the official, theparticipants from the northernStates, including Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh and Punjab,will discuss issues pertaining tothe legislation of 2016, whichprovides proper protection tohome-buyers.

The Real Estate (Regulationand Development) Act wasenacted by Parliament and Stateswere given powers to notify theirrespective rules and appoint

regulatory authorities.The official said home-buy-

ers can raise issues pertaining todelay in delivery of flats in theworkshop. The legislation pro-vides for timely delivery ofhousing units by builders whoseprojects are registered under it.

“It has been two years sincethe legislation was enacted byParliament. We want all stake-holders — banks, regulatoryauthorities, home-buyers andbuilders — to discuss issues per-taining to its implementation,”the official said. Similar work-shops had been organised inPune and Chennai earlier.

Till last month, 13 States andunion territories have appoint-ed a permanent regulator, while14 have interim regulators.Kerala is in the process of settingup a regulator. As many as 22

States and union territories havefunctional web portals under thelaw. As many as 32,923 realestate projects have been regis-tered under the legislation acrossthe country. Also, 25,247 realestate agents have been regis-tered under it. The official saidthat barring West Bengal, sixnortheastern States and Jammu& Kashmir, all states and unionterritories have been imple-menting its provisions.

In the Northeast, ArunchalPradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur,Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkimhave not notified the legislationand its rules so far due to land-related and other issues. WestBengal has notified its own realestate act — the Housing andIndustrial Regulation Act, 2017(HIRA) — instead of imple-menting the central law.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress on Sunday accusedPrime Minister Narendra

Modi of benefitting “friends” bypromoting private and cronycapitalists at the expense ofpublic institutions anddemanded an independentjudicial probe into the new ‘59-minute loan scheme’ for theMSME sector.

Alleging the scheme a“scam”, Congress leader GauravVallabh demanded that theaffairs of portalwww.Psbloansin59minutes.Com, processing loans to smallindustries, be fully investigat-ed and its contract with theGovernment cancelled. Therewas no immediate responsefrom either the Government orthe PMO or the ruling BJP overthe charges made by theCongress.

Prime Minister Modilaunched a new facility for

micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) along-side a slew of measures for thesector, which, Vallabh said,incidentally has been batteredfor a long term due to demon-etisation in November 2016.

He said a platform to facil-itate quick loans was launchedon November 2, 2018 with“pomp and promotion showtypical in nature of varioustypes of propaganda of thisGovernment”. The Congressleader alleged that the web por-tal is supported by public sec-tor institutions such as SIDBIand PSU banks as partners,even though it is owned byAhmedabad-based privatecompany CapitaWorldPlatform Pvt Ltd.

He alleged that the com-pany is charging `1,000 andanother `180 as GST fromeach small industry registeredon its website and so far lakhsof entities have been “cheated”

by it. Based on the euphoricresponse, if 1 million MSMEsapply for the same, the saidcompany stands to gain `100crore for lead generation, hesaid and asked, “Should aGovernment scheme beallowed to enrich private par-ties?”

“The Congress partydemands that the agreementwith a private party(CapitaWorld) to ‘loot’ MSMEsector should be cancelledwith immediate effect and anenquiry on the role of PrimeMinister’s Office and FinanceMinister in this ‘massivefinancial fraud’ should be ini-tiated by an independent judi-cial body,” Vallabh toldreporters.

“To benefit his ‘friends’,Prime Minister Modi has givena contract to manage the‘www.Psbloansin59minutes.Com’ to Ahmedabad-basedCapitaWorld private limitedand the company was incor-porated on March 30, 2015 andas per financial year 2017 itsincome is ̀ 15,000 odd withoutany operations till then,” hesaid.

He also alleged that itschief executive officer has been

a part of Modi’s poll campaignin 2014 general elections, whohas now been “benefitted” inthis form.

The Congress leader saidthe company was valued at`19.216 crore pre-investmentas of April 2018 and based onthis valuation nine entities,including SIDBI, Bank ofBaroda and SBI, invested `22crore into this company for 54per cent shareholding and itspost-investment valuation is`41 crore.

Vallabh said the RBI hasraised red flags on bad loans,cyber security and bank fraudsand such “euphoric schemes”initiated by the Government isfraught with very high risks.

SIDBI has, however,claimed that CapitaWorld —the company behind the ‘loanin 59 minutes’ portal launchedby Modi last week — is a pub-lic-sector firm. Public sectorunit (PSU) institutions have anoption to increase stake from56 per cent to 74 per cent in thefuture. “A consortium of sixpublic banks led by SIDBI held56 per cent in the fintech com-pany Capita World which gaveit a public sector character,”SIDBI tweeted.

PNS n NEW DELHI

National Commission forMinorities chief Ghayorul

Hasan Rizvi on Sunday saidRam temple must be built inAyodhya so that Muslims canlive “peacefully” and “respect-fully”. Rizvi also stressed that thedispute should be resolved soonto help strengthen ties betweencommunities.

Some Muslim organisationshad sought the panel’s inter-vention in the Ayodhya title suitcase, Rizvi said. The commissionin its November 14 meeting willdecide whether to approach theSupreme Court for an earlyhearing on the matter or not, headded.

“The National MinorityWelfare Organisation and someother outfits have sent us reportsthat the Muslim community inthe country is living in fear. Theyhave urged the commission totake an initiative to improve thecurrent atmosphere,” Rizvi said.

“During the November 14meeting, we will hold discus-sions on the matter. But, as it issub-judice, we can only urge the

apex court for an early hearing,”he said.

Rizvi further said that theorganisations wanted Muslimsto help in the construction ofRam temple at the disputed siteand make sure that no such con-troversy erupts in future again.The minority panel chief alsomade it clear that there was nopossibility of building mosquesor offering namaz in Ayodhya.

“Even I believe that inAyodhya, neither mosques canbe built, nor namaz can beoffered. The place has a senti-mental value for 100 croreHindus,” Rizvi said. “Therefore,Hindus must be allowed tobuild a Ram temple there(Ayodhya) so that Muslims canlive peacefully, respectfully andwithout any fear while con-tributing to the development ofthe nation,” he added.

New Delhi: The Indian AirForce is “very much alive” toemerging threats that couldarise in the Indo Pacific region,Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoasaid on Sunday, and assertedthat his force was prepared todeal with any challenge to pro-tect India’s national interests.

He also said there is causefor concern over the rate ofmodernisation and inductionof new equipment in India’sneighbourhood, even as Indiafaces challenges emanatingfrom “unresolved territorialdisputes” and “sponsored” non-state and transnational actors.But the IAF is capable of, and

is moving ahead, for counter-ing them effectively, he told PTIin an interview.

Asked whether the IAFcan play a role in smashing ter-rorist training camps across theLine of Control in Jammu &Kashmir, he did not rule outsuch a possibility.

“The IAF is well equippedto take on threats which occurfrom across the border, be it inthe realm of sub conventionalor other domains,” the AirChief Marshal said.

Referring to India’s imme-diate security challenges, with-out naming China andPakistan, he said, “The current

challenges emanate from unre-solved territorial issues, spon-sored non-state actors andtransnational actors who actagainst national intereststhrough the global commons.”

“The IAF is prepared 24x7for any threat and is ready fora befitting response to anycontingency with all our avail-able assets,” he told PTI.

Dhanoa also made an indi-rect reference to China’s rapidmodernisation of its air forceand also about the infrastruc-ture development Beijing hascarried out in the TibetAutonomous Region (TAR)bordering India.

“The IAF is well equippedto take on challenges across theentire range of threats thatcould emanate across our bor-ders. While there is a cause forconcern as regards to the rateof modernisation and induc-tion of new equipment in ourneighbourhood, the IAF isnevertheless, moving aheadwith appropriate measures tocater to these new develop-ments,” he said.

Asked whether the IAFwas capable of playing a role toexpand India’s geo-politicalinfluence in the Indo-Pacificregion, he replied in the affir-mative and talked about IAF’s

capabilities including havingthe second largest fleet of C-17s.

“We have the secondlargest fleet of C-17s in theworld. Therefore, India willpull its heft in helping outfriendly nations in times ofhuman distress and humani-tarian relief. In addition, theIAF is very much alive to theemerging threats that couldarise in the Indo Pacificregion,” he said. At present, theIAF has a fleet of ten C-17Globemasters, used for strate-gic airlift missions, transport-ing troops and cargo for long-range missions. PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

In the wake of a clashbetween Army and police

personnel in ArunachalPradesh’s Bomdila town,Union Minister Kiren Rijiju onSunday said both the institu-tions should respect each otheras they are serving the nation.

In a Facebook post, Rijijusaid the Army is country’spride which secures “ourmotherland” and police are thepillar of internal security.

“We must respect bothgreat institutions. Every indi-vidual and institution func-tions under a system governedby law... Let’s respect andstrengthen each other,” hewrote. The Minister’s com-ments came in the wake ofsome soldiers allegedly van-dalising the Bomdila policestation, and assaulting policepersonnel and civilians lastweek.

During a visit toArunachal Pradesh, DefenceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanand Rijiju took stock of the sit-uation arising out of the clash-es between Army and policepersonnel.

“Our uniform people sac-rifice their personal comfortand family for thenation...There are always ele-

mentary human errors whichcan be taken care of and thematter will be resolved. Iappeal everyone not to jumpinto the matter with loosecomments without knowingthe facts with prejudice mind-set (sic),” he said.

Rijiju, who hails from theState, said the “spontaneous”decision of the DefenceMinister to visit Bomdila,where she interacted with localpeople and district adminis-tration, has “generated a hugegoodwill” among the resi-dents.

Sitharaman met local peo-ple during a visit to ArunachalPradesh to celebrate Diwalialong with soldiers posted inthe forward areas along theSino-Indian border. In aTwitter post, the UnionMinister of State for homesaid that due to “indecorous”acts at individual level, a “rep-

rehensible” incident took placebut the whole institutions can’tbe dragged along.

“My constituency peopleare peace loving. But some out-side elements are making hate-ful comments on social mediawithout any factual knowl-edge,” he tweeted. The Bomdilaincident occurred when agroup of soldiers allegedlymisbehaved with civilians andpolice personnel at the BuddhaMahotsav celebrations lastweek, officials said.

Following this, the localstation house officer went tothe spot and two soldiers werebrought to police station. Afterthat some soldiers allegedlyvandalised the Bomdila policestation, assaulted police per-sonnel and civilians, they said.

Build Mandir,

let us live in

peace: Rizvi

My constituency

people are peace

loving. But some

outside elements

are making

hateful comments

on social media

without any

factual knowledge

—Kiren Rijiju

Army-police scuffle in Arunachal:Kiren Rijiju pitches for harmony

PNS n NEW DELHI

Air India on Sunday ground-ed its chief of operations

Captain AK Kathpalia after heallegedly failed to clear pre-flight alcohol test. Kathpaliawas to operate the airline’sLondon-New Delhi flight onSunday afternoon.

Sources said that Air Indiahad to call another pilot toreplace him and operate theflight (AI-111) which depart-ed after a delay of 55 minutes,causing inconvenience to pas-sengers. “We have groundedCapt A K Kathpalia as he failedtwice in the breath analyser test.He was to operate the Londonflight from New Delhi, but hefailed to clear the pre-flightalcohol test,” said soures.

“He was given anotherchance, but the second test wasalso found positive followingwhich he was grounded,” hesaid. Air India spokespersonhowever was not available forcomments on the matter.

Rule 24 of the AircraftRules prohibits crew membersfrom partaking any alcoholicdrink 12 hours prior to thecommencement of a flight,and it is mandatory for him/herto undergo an alcohol testboth before and after operating

a flight.The prescribed punish-

ment for such offences underthe DGCA rules is suspensionof flying licence for threemonths in case of first breach.For violating the norms for a

second time, the licence is sus-pended for three years and fora third time, the licence is per-manently cancelled.

Earlier, Kathpalia’s flyinglicence was suspended in 2017for three months by theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) for alleged-ly skipping the breath analysertest before a flight. He was sub-sequently removed from thepost of executive director, oper-ations. However, he was laterappointed to the post of direc-tor (operations) in Air IndiaLtd for a period of five years. Asenior official at the DGCAsaid that a decision onKathpalia’s flying licence isexpected to be taken onMonday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by BJP president Amit Shah on his arrival for the party’s Central ElectionCommittee meeting for the forthcoming Assembly polls at party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday PTI

Air India grounds top pilot forfailing in pre-flight alcohol test

Earlier, Kathpalia’s

flying licence was

suspended in 2017

for three months by

the Directorate

General of Civil

Aviation (DGCA) for

allegedly skipping

the breath analyser

test before a flight

India ready to take on threats: IAF chief

Scheme is to benefit PM’sfriends, says Cong, wantsindependent judicial probe

‘Modi’s 59-min loan scheme a scam’

RERA implementation: Centreto hold workshop on Nov 15

Muzaffarnagar: Four uniden-tified persons were on Sundaybooked for the alleged murderof a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riotsaccused, police said.

The body of Ram Das aliasKala (30), bearing a bulletinjury, was found from hishome in Kutba village here.

Circle Officer (CO)Hariram Yadav said the policeregistered a case after a com-plaint was filed by the victim’sbrother, Sanjiv who alleged thatthe four assailants had come onmotorcycles and shot his broth-er. Meanwhile, security wasbeefed up in and around thecommunally sensitive villagewhere eight people had report-edly died and several left injuredduring the 2013 riots.

Extra police personnel weredeployed as a precautionarymeasure to prevent any unto-ward incident, officials said.

The communal clashes inMuzaffarnagar and adjoiningareas in August and September2013 had claimed more than 60lives while over 40,000 peoplewere displaced. PTI

4 booked for

murdering

Muzaffarnagar

riots accused New Delhi: Candidates failingto put out advertisements list-ing their criminal records dur-ing electioneering could facecontempt of court proceedingsand those publishing wronginfo about their rivals’ crimi-nal antecedents could end uppaying penalty for indulging incorrupt practices, the ElectionCommission has said.

Following a SupremeCourt direction, the poll panelhad on October 10 made itcompulsory for candidatescontesting polls to advertisetheir criminal antecedents inTV channels and newspapersat least three times duringelectioneering.

The directive comes intoforce in the Assembly electionsin five States — MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh, Mizoram andTelangana — in November-December.

According to the directive,political parties too will haveto publicise criminal records oftheir candidates.

In a set of ‘frequentlyasked questions’ issued forthe five poll-bound States, the

commission has made it clearthat candidates who do nothave criminal record or ongo-ing cases, need not issueadvertisement.

It said the candidates andtheir parties would have tobear the cost of advertise-ments and it would form partof their election expenditure.

To the question “whathappens if such candidates orsuch political parties do not publicise in the mannerprescribed”, the commissionsaid, “Such failure may be aground for post-electionaction like election petition orcontempt of Hon’ble SupremeCourt.”

Any candidate or voter of

a constituency can file an elec-tion petition in the High Courtof that State challenging theelection of the winning can-didate.

On the issue of “someonepublishing false informationabout criminal cases of anoth-er candidate”, the EC saidthere are already provisions todeal with any case of publica-tion of false statement in rela-tion to a candidate, includingSection 171G of the IndianPenal Code which deals withcorrupt electoral practices andprescribes a fine for suchoffences. PTI

There are alreadyprovisions to dealwith any case of

publication of falsestatement inrelation to acandidate,

including Section171G of the Indian

Penal Code

—EC

Contempt of court for candidates whofail to make criminal records public: EC

Kerala Govt seeks ‘divine intervention’ to win case

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

Aryama Sundaram will besmiling on November 13,

Tuesday, when he appearsbefore the Constitution Benchon behalf of the TravancoreDevaswam Board, (the KeralaGovernment department thatadministers the temples inthe State) to argue why theapex court verdict allowingwomen of child bearing ageinto Kerala’s SabarimalaTemple should stay.

Aryama Sundaram, senioradvocate, is the grandson of SirC P Ramaswamy Aiyar, theformer Dewan of the prince-ly State of Travancore who wasphysically assaulted and drivenaway from Trivandrum by theCommunists. November 13also marks the 139th birthanniversary of Sir CPRamaswamy Aiyar (Sir CP to

friends and acquaintances)making it a sweet revenge forSundaram.

The Communists may beperforming an atonement forthe sins they committedagainst Sir CP in 1947 bypleading with his grandson tosave them from a majorembarrassment. In their overenthusiasm to implement thecourt verdict, the CPI-M ledGovernment has becomethoroughly unpopular withthe devotees.

On September 28, aConstitution Bench led by thethen Chief Justice of IndiaDipak Misra had lifted thelong standing ban on the entryof women in the child bearingage to the temple in a 4-1 ver-dict. Devotees includingwomen had come out and

staged rallies against the ver-dict in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Various organisations hasfiled pleas in the apex courtchallenging the September 28verdict. The court will hear thepleas on Tuesday because thefestival season of Sabarimalacommences on November 17.The shrine had witnessed mas-sive protest against the moveby the CPI(M)-led KeralaGovernment to allow womenin the temple.

More than 4,000 devoteeshave been arrested under var-ious section of the IPC to pre-vent untoward incidents. TheTravancore Devaswam Boardhas sought the services of SirCP’s grandson to argue in thecourt in support of theSeptember 28 verdict.

Travancore witnessed

unprecedented economic andsocial development during SirCP’s tenure as the Dewan(1936-1947). Sir C P acceptedthe post of Dewan on the con-dition that all temples in theprincely State should bethrown opened to theuntouchables who hithertowere not allowed inside tem-ples. “It was at the instance ofSir CP the temple gates werethrown open for the lowerscastes on November 23, 1936,the birthday of the thenMaharaja of Travancore,” rem-iniscences Dr NandithaKrishna, Sir CP’s great grand-daughter.

Sir CP who saw throughthe evil designs of theCommunists and took anuncompromising stanceagainst any kind of anti-devel-

opment activities. He sup-pressed the violent uprisingorganised by the Communistsagainst the State under the pre-text of agrarian agitationwhich later earned the sobri-quet of Punnapra VayalarStruggle. The Lefts retaliatedby deputing a party worker toassassinate Sir CP who wasseriously injured during anattack on him on July 25,1947. Later, after ensuringthat the State of Travancorewas acceded to the Union ofIndia, Sir CP submitted hisresignation as Dewan and leftTrivandrum on August 18,1947 for Coonnor.

The Marxists in Keralakeep on attacking Sir CP, whopassed away in 1966. Thosewho had participated in thePunnapra- Vayalar agitationslater conceded that it was aploy by the Lefts to tarnish theimage of Sir CP.

PETITION AGAINST SABARIMALA VERDICT

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018 nation 07

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Afarmer on Sundayattempted suicide by con-

suming pesticide at a publicgathering of Gujarat ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani inPransli village of Gir Somnathdistrict, some 400 kilometresform here, police said.

Mashribhai Dodiya wasupset with local authorities forfailing to remove an encroach-ment on a panchayat land at theentrance of his farm in Dolasavillage in Kodinar taluka of thedistrict, Gir SomnathSuperintendent of Police RahulTripathi said.

"Someone has illegally cap-tured a panchayat plot outsidethe agricultural land belongingto the farmer, making it hardfor him to enter his own land.Orders had already been issuedby the collector to remove theencroachment but local author-ities have not acted upon it," theSP added.

Dodiya consumed pesti-cide as soon as CM Rupanistarted addressing the public atthe village where he earlierinaugurated a new marketingyard, Tripathi said.

"The victim was held by thepolice deployed at the venueand rushed to a governmenthospital in Veraval. Doctorshave said his condition is sta-ble," he said.

Dodiya told reporters thatthe encroachment of the pan-chayat land, which he claimed

was the handiwork of the landmafia, had made it difficult forhim to enter his own farm.

"Some land mafia closedthe road leading to my farm byencroaching upon a land. I hadapproached the chief minister,who had ordered that theencroachment be removed, butnothing has happened so far,"Dodiya said.

"I have made repeatedappeals to the village Panchayatofficials and the taluka devel-opment officer (TDO) but invain. Fed up of runningaround, I decided to end mylife," he told reporters at thehospital.

Farmer attemptssuicide at GujaratCM’s programme

Dodiya consumed

pesticide as soon as

CM Rupani started

addressing the public

at the village where he

earlier inaugurated a

new marketing yard,

Tripathi said

PTI n PATNA

Union Minister and RLSPchief Upendra Kushwaha

Sunday said he would appriseBJP chief Amit Shah of the"humiliation" he had suffered atthe hands of Bihar ChiefMinister and JD(U) supremoNitish Kumar.

Kushwaha said he wouldalso request Shah to clear the"confusion" over seat-sharingamong the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) constituentsin the State at the earliest.

Before leaving for NewDelhi, the Rashtriya LokSamata Party (RLSP) chief toldreporters at the airport herethat he had sought an appoint-ment with Shah.

Kushwaha said he metRam Vilas Paswan, the presi-dent of NDA constituent LokJanshakti Party (LJP), earlier inthe day and the latter con-curred with his view that seat-sharing talks should be held atthe earliest, involving all thecoalition partners.

Kushwaha has reportedlybeen peeved after the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) and theJanata Dal (United) decided tocontest an equal number ofseats in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelection in Bihar.

The state sends 40 mem-bers to Parliament and after theBJP-JD(U) deal, there is spec-ulation that this would meanfewer seats for other allies likethe RLSP and the LJP.

Kushwaha is also unhappywith Kumar for his alleged"neech" statement. It was madeat a television programme about

a week ago when the JD(U)chief had refused to commenton reports that the RLSP mightend up getting fewer seats thanit had fought and won in the2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Kushwaha took exceptionto Kumar's response that com-menting on the issue would"lower the standard of thediscourse". The UnionMinister has alleged that theremark is tantamount to himbeing called "lowly".

RLSP supporters took outa protest march here Saturday,demanding an apology fromthe Chief Minister.

"During my meeting withShah, I intend to raise both theissues — seat sharing as well asthe humiliation by NitishKumar," Kushwaha said.

He has been maintainingthat his party has a tie-up onlywith the BJP and not with theJD(U).

"I also discussed the issue ofseat-sharing with Paswan. Hetoo was of the opinion that for-mal talks on seat-sharing, tak-ing all NDA constituents inBihar on board, ought to be heldat the earliest in order to dispelconfusion," the RLSP chief said.

Paswan's son and LJP par-liamentary board chairman

Chirag Paswan had recentlysaid his party would like tocontest the same number ofseats it had done in the last LokSabha polls, but he was readyto make a "sacrifice" in the larg-er interests of the NDA.

Kushwaha, however, hasbeen maintaining a stubbornstance, pointing out that anydemand for sacrifice by theRLSP was irrational as of all thecoalition partners, only his partywas denied a ministerial berthin the NDA Government inBihar, formed after the JD(U)'sreturn to the alliance last year.

A former JD(U) leader him-self, Kushwaha had quit theparty in 2013 and floated hisown outfit. He had joined theNDA at a time when Kumar hadsnapped ties with the BJP andhas been viewing the JD(U)'sreturn to the coalition last yearwith much consternation.

The opposition GrandAlliance — comprising theRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), theCongress and the HindustaniAwam Morcha — too has beentrying to woo Kushwaha intoits fold.

Meanwhile, RLSP MLASudhanshu Shekhar met JD(U)national vice-presidentPrashant Kishor, triggeringspeculation of a major crisis inKushwaha's party.

The RLSP had won twoseats in the 2015 BiharAssembly polls. The otherMLA of the party, LalanPaswan, has already sided witha dissident group headed byJehanabad MP Arun Kumar.Shekhar has so far remainedloyal to Kushwaha.

Kushwaha to apprise Shah

of ‘humiliation’ in Bihar

PTI n JAMMU

The terror infrastructure inPakistan remains intact and

around 160 terrorists are wait-ing across the Line of Control(LoC) to infiltrate into Indianterritory, a senior Army officersaid on Sunday.

Lieutenant General ParamjitSingh, who took over as the gen-eral officer commanding of theNagrota-based White KnightCorps, commonly known asXVI Corps, also said that cross-border terrorism will stop onlyif Pakistan changes its policy andintentions.

The officer, involved inthe planning of the 2016 sur-gical strikes on the terrorinfrastructure in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, told PTIin an interview that the Armywas not letting up on "ourpreparedness and the

counter-infiltration grid isstrong enough to deal withinfiltrators".

Lt. Gen. Singh, who hasserved in all three regions ofJammu and Kashmir, said, "140to 160 terrorists at differentlocations in Pakistan are beingpushed into the state."

"The terror infrastructureis intact, and Pakistan's inten-tions have not changed. ThePakistan Army and the ISI'scomplicity in planning infil-tration and terror attacks isevident and it continues," theofficer, who has a vast expe-rience in high-altitude war-fare, said.

To a question on the situ-ation along the LoC, he saidceasefire violations have abat-ed after the DGMO-level talks.

"For troops on the LoC,there is no ceasefire... Thoughperiodic unprovoked firing by

the Pakistan Army andattempts to cause harm to for-ward posts continue. We do notinitiate fire, but we give it backin adequate measure. There isno let up on preparedness andour counter-infiltration gridis strong to deal with infiltra-tors," he said.

Talking about challengesduring winter, Lt Gen Singh,

who is part of the eliteParachute Regiment (SpecialForces), said the Army antici-pates that Pakistani troops willmake an attempt to push infil-trators through heavy snow-bound areas and non-tradi-tional routes.

"We have all contingencyplans ready. We have coordi-nated with all security agencies,and plans are being imple-mented smoothly," said Lt GenSingh, who commanded a spe-cial forces' battalion that par-ticipated in the surgical strikesafter the attack on an Armybrigade in Uri in 2016.

Referring to the recentincident of firing of 107-mmrocket on the Poonch brigade,he said, "Despite DirectorGeneral of MilitaryOperations-level talks in Mayduring which the two countriesagreed to abide by the 2003

ceasefire agreement, Pakistanitroops targeted these loca-tions."

"In response, we conveyedthat Pakistan must exercisecaution before indulging inany misadventure," Lt GenSingh said.

Replying to another ques-tion about causalities sufferedby Pakistani troops in retalia-tory fire by the Indian Army,the officer said, "Pakistan hasnever been open about itscausalities unless the soldier isfrom Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir".

As Major General GeneralStaff at the NorthernCommand headquarters, Lt.Gen. Singh played a pivotal rolein strategising militaryresponse to agitations thaterupted in 2016 after the killingof Hizbul Mujahideen com-mander Burhan Wani.

Around 160 terrorists waiting at launch pads to infiltrate: Lt Gen SinghThe terror

infrastructure isintact, and Pakistan'sintentions have not

changed. The PakistanArmy and the ISI's

complicity in planninginfiltration and terror

attacks is evident andit continues, the

officer, who has a vastexperience in high-

altitude warfare, said

Differences between India, China should not become disputes: Sitharaman

Chennai: A deep depression inthe bay of bengal has intensifiedinto a cyclonic storm and is like-ly to cross the North TamilNadu and South AndhraPradesh coast betweenCuddalore and Sriharikota onNovember 15, regional weath-er office here said on Sunday.

The cyclone, christened'Gaja', which lay around 860kms northeast of Chennai andmoving at a speed of 12 kmphis likely to intensify into a'severe cyclonic storm' withinthe next 24 hours, a bulletinissued at 4 PM said. Galesreaching 80-90 kms per hourwas likely over Tamil Nadu,Puducherry and AndhraPradesh. Speaking to reporters,Area Cyclone Warning Centre

Director S Balachandran saidcoastal areas of north TamilNadu would experience mod-erate rainfall and heavy rainfallin isolated places from the nightof November 14. "OnNovember 15, many places willreceive moderate rainfall andisolated places will get heavyrainfall." Fishermen have beenadvised not to venture into thesea from November 12 andthose already in deep sea havebeen asked to return. TheIndian meteorological depart-ment however said the stormis likely to weaken graduallywhile crossing towards northTamil Nadu and south AndhraPradesh coasts as a 'cyclonicstorm' during forenoon ofNovember 15. PTI

Cyclone to intensify

in next 24 hours

Soldier martyred in Pak sniper attack

PTI n ITANAGAR

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamanon Sunday pitched for dialogues

between India and China on variousissues, saying differences between the twonations should not be allowed to becomedisputes. Both India and China shouldrespect each other and resolve issuesthrough dialogues and join handstogether for peace and prosperity,Sitharaman said. There are variousissues such as defence, border dis-putes, border trades and presence ofIndian and Chinese defence forces in theIndian Ocean which can be resolvedthrough continuous dialogues, the min-ister said. "Competition is normal, butcontest must not turn into conflict.Differences should not be allowed tobecome disputes, she said here.

"Solution lies in dialogue, solutionlies in peaceful engagement. But for this,mutual trust should be there." However,she added, mutual recognition of sensi-tivity in each country should be respect-ed and resolved through dialogues.Sitharaman was delivering the seventh

memorial lecture of former RSS activistfrom Arunachal Pradesh, RutumKamgo, on the theme: 'Towards Bridgingthe Indo-China Relationship for anEmerging Asia'. On a proposal of ChiefMinister Pema Khandu for opening upborder trade with China through BumLa Pass, Sitharaman said trade was pos-sible with the border villages of both thecountries, like the current border haatsat Nathu La in Sikkim and Moreh inManipur. However, she added, the bal-ance of trade between the countries wasin favour of China. "Trade betweenIndia and China is done in large scaleamounting to USD 80-90 billion. But,

sadly, we are purchasing from them inhuge quantities. But, for our products,their market is not open."

"We have several products liketelecommunication, vegetables, tea, soya,raw sugar, pharmaceuticals etc in whichChina evinces keen interest," the defenceminister said, adding that there were cer-tain areas where both the nations couldcooperate, especially in containing ter-rorism and promoting sustainable devel-opment. The minister termed India andChina the growth engines for the entireworld, saying that emergence of both thecountries would pave the way for anemerging Asia.

"Peace, security and development inAsia are possible when India and Chinaare developed. Development of both thenations is possible only when there ismutual respect and understandingamong the two countries." She quotedPrime Minister Narendra Modi as say-ing that both the countries should followthe mantra of samman (respect), sambad(dialogue), sahyog (cooperation), shan-ti (peace) and samriddhi (prosperity) fordevelopment.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central VigilanceCommission is slated to

submit a report on its enquiryagainst benched CBI DirectorAlok Verma on Monday. TheCVC was tasked by theSupreme Court on October 26to probe within two weeks theallegations of bribery and med-dling in high profile cases byVerma as alleged by CBI SpecialDirector Rakesh Asthanathrough a complaint to theCabinet Secretary on August 24.

The apex court is scheduledto hear the matter relating toallegations against Verma onMonday. After going throughthe CVC’s report, it may take acall if further probe is requiredagainst Verma. The SC hadappointed former apex courtjudge AK Patnaik to supervisethe CVC enquiry againstVerma. Amid continuing pub-lic feud between Verma and hisdeputy through allegations andcounter allegations, the duowas sent on leave by theGovernment on October 23and both were divested of theirsupervisory functions of theCBI till the CVC probe was over.

All eyes will be set on thehearing as Verma had appearedthrice before the vigilancewatchdog as part of the enquiryagainst him. While Verma haddenied the allegations levelledby Asthana against him, hecould not explain his failure insubmitting the case files despiterepeated reminders by the CVC.

Verma’s plea challengingthe Government’s move against

him was heard by a three-judgeBench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi on October 26.The matter will now be heard onNovember 12 before a two-judge Bench comprising the CJIand Justice SK Kaul.

During the hearing onVerma’s plea on October 26, theSC had issued notices to theCentre and the CVC while set-ting a deadline of two weeks forthe CVC to complete the pre-liminary enquiry against theCBI Director. The court hadalso restrained CBI JointDirector and IPS officer MNageswara Rao, who has beengiven interim charge of theagency, from taking any majorpolicy decision. On Monday, thetop court would also peruse thedecisions taken by Rao fromOctober 23, including transferof investigations and change ofinvestigating officers and isexpected to pass appropriateorder on such decisions.

During the last hearing,the court had said a list of all thedecisions taken by Rao between“October 23, 2018 and up to this

hour including decisions withregard to transfer of investiga-tions, change of investigatingofficer(s) etc will be furnishedto the court in a sealed cover onor before November 12, 2018where after orders as would beappropriate will be passed by thecourt.” Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the CVCbefore the SC, had said the CVChas been conducting an enquiryinto the allegations made in theAugust 24 note/letter of theCabinet Secretary with regard toVerma. “We want to see pre-liminary probe report in 10 daysto decide whether it requiresfurther probe,” the Bench hadsaid and later extended thedeadline to 14 days when the SGargued for more time to com-plete the enquiry by the CVC.

Asthana has also moved theSC with a separate petition inthe matter challenging theGovernment decision to divesthim of his powers and send himon leave. In his plea, Asthanahad also sought removal ofVerma from the post of CBIDirector.

2019 SEMI-FINALS...The BJP had in 2013 secured a

44.88 per cent vote share toCongress’s 36.38. A key statisticagain here is that the BSP hadbagged 6.29 per cent vote share. TheBSP could prove to be a game-changer if it holds onto its clout.

Madhya Pradesh has also had itsshare of twists with several switch-ing of camps by various leaders.Among the notable switches, SanjaySingh Masani, the brother-in-law ofMadhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan and seniorBJP leader Sartaj Singh joined theCongress, while Premchand Guddu,a Dalit leader, joined the BJP.Rajasthan seems to be a differentbattleground from MP andChhattisgarh as a key statistic hereis that since 1998, the Congress andthe BJP have won Vidhan Sabhaelections alternately, neither able toretain power for consecutive terms.In the 2013 Rajasthan Assemblypolls, the BJP had won 45.17 percent votes, while the Congress hadgot 33.07 per cent. However, votershere traditionally haven’t elected thesame party to power for two termsin a row and hence anti-incumbencyis a major player here than otherStates. Both Modi and the Gandhiscion have been crisscrossing all thepoll bound States, includingTelangana, for hectic campaigns.Polls in MP and Mizoram will takeplace on November 28, whileAssembly elections in Rajasthanand Telangana will be held onDecember 7. Inspector General ofPolice (Raipur range) DipanshuKabra said a team of the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) was out on anarea domination operation in viewof the polls on Monday when Naxalsblew up the improvised explosivedevice (IED) in a forest in Kankerdistrict, around 200 km from theState capital Raipur. BSF sub-inspec-tor Mahendra Singh was seriouslyinjured in the blast and he suc-cumbed to injuries while beingtaken to a hospital, said Kabra, whois the nodal officer for election-relat-

ed security in the State. This is thefourth IED blast triggered by Naxalsin Chhattisgarh in the last 15 days.In another incident, a Maoist, cladin ‘uniform’ was gunned down in anencounter with security forces inBijapur district, located around 450km from here. The exchange of firetook place at a forest in Bedre areawhen a team of the Special TaskForce (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police offi-cial said. The body of the rebel anda rifle were recovered from the spot.Helicopters have been pressed intoservice for air-lifting EVMs, pollingpersonnel and polling materials topolling stations in sensitive remoteareas, a senior police official earli-er said.

FORCES ASK...The aim is to deter the terror-

ists, especially the foreign ultras,from gaining upper hand in thefight against terrorism, they said.There are at least 70 to 80 foreignultras now hiding in north Kashmir.Attributing the high number of ter-rorists killed this year as comparedto 217 for the entire last year toimproved intelligence inflow fromthe local police, they said it hascome about despite several police-men targeted by the terrorists as awarning two months back. Officialssaid the real time intelligence hashelped the security forces, includ-ing the Army and paramilitary, tolaunch operations sometimes with-in seven to 10 minutes after gettingthe vital clue about the whereaboutsof the terrorists. As regard theoverall situation in terms of terror-ism related violence, 14 incidents ofattacks on Army camps took placethis year but the Army foiled mostof them. However, two incidentssaw casualties including six soldierskilled when ultras managed to getinto an Army camp in Sunjwan nearJammu this year. One soldier waskilled on Thursday when terroristsfired from a distance at sentry onguard duty of 42 Rashtriya Riflescamp in Tral.

All eyes on CVC report

on Alok Verma today

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Pakistani Army Sunday car-ried out yet another sniper

attack in Nowshera sector ofRajouri in which one Indianjawan sacrificed his life. In abrief statement the Indianarmy termed it a 'grave' provo-cation while assuring befittingresponse. The 'sniping' inci-dent,however, triggered freshfiring in the forward areawith Indian side choosing toretaliate 'strongly' and 'effec-tively' in response to theextreme provocation from thePakistani side.

This is the third incidentof 'sniping' in a row in lastthree days. At the time of fil-ing the report, tension pre-vailed in forward area alongthe line of control in theregion.

The Indian army is also

anticipating spike in infiltra-tion bids by heavily armed ter-rorists following closing downof mountain passes in thehigher reaches of NorthKashmir owing to fresh snow-fall in the area.

Intelligence reports havealso reported presence of largenumber of trained terrorists inthe launching pads close tothe line of control. Accordingto Defence Spokesman Lt-Col Devendra Anand,"Pakistan army resorted toan 'unprovoked' ceasefire vio-lation in Nowshera sectoraround 2.45 p.m in which 29year old Naik Gosavi KeshavSomgir, injured critically, latersuccumbed to his injuries". Hehailed from Nashik district inMaharashtra and is survivedby his wife.

Meanwhile, 21 year oldRifleman Varun Katal, mar-

tyred in Sunderbani sector onSaturday, was cremated withfull military honours in hisnative village in Samba. Hismortal remains were escortedin a big procession by local vil-lagers. Holding tricolour intheir hands the villagersshouted slogans againstPakistan and hailed Indianarmy for giving them a befit-ting reply. Rifleman Varun,survived by his father had lastinteracted with him on satur-day shortly before he was tar-geted by a sniper fire fromacross the line of control. Hehad promised his father toreturn home soon ahead ofthe marriage ceremony of hiselder sister. A civilian porterdeployed by the Indian armyhad also succumbed to hisinjuries after he was hit by asniper fire in Akhnoor sectoron Friday.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Reddy, aide held in ponzi scam case

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

Former Karnataka Minister andmining baron Gali Janardhan

Reddy was arrested by the CentralCrime Branch on Sunday in the`600 crore fraud case. He will now beproduced to the magistrate. TheCCB has arrested Reddy in connec-tion with Ambidant Marketing pvtLtd 'bribery' case. Janardhan Reddy isaccused of taking a `20-crore bribe tobail Syed Ahmed Fareed, accused in aponzi scheme case, out from theEnforcement Directorate investigation.

The investigating agency said theyhave also arrested Reddy's aide MehfuzAli Khan, who had allegedly struck a

`20-crore deal with Syed AhmedFareed of Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltdto bail him out from the ED investi-gation. After remaining elusive forthree days, the former Minister onSaturday appeared before the police inconnection with an alleged ponziscam, and denied the allegations as a"political conspiracy". Earlier onSaturday Reddy said he never panickedas neither his name figured in the FIRnor was any notice served on him.

Reddy who had dramaticallyappeared before the CCB police onSaturday was arrested and interrogat-ed for allegedly shielding a father-sonduo who have been accused of runninga ponzi scheme in the name of 'Islamic

Banking'. The CCB police confirmedhis arrest and produced him before amagistrate's residence in Bengaluru onSunday. The Additional CP AlokKumar of CCB said "We have taken thedecision to arrest him on the basis ofcredible evidence and witnesses state-ments. We are going to recover the(Ponzi scheme) money and give it tothe investors." On Saturday before hisdramatic appurtenance before theCCB investigating officers Reddyreleased a recorded video to the mediaand claimed innocence. In his record-ed message from an unknown locationalong with his lawyer, Reddy deniedall allegations and said it was a politi-cal conspiracy.

China is a country full ofdichotomies. Take Buddhism.On one side, China promotesBuddhism; on the other hand,Beijing severely represses the

Buddha dharma. On October 28, theWorld Buddhist Forum opened with fan-fare at Putian, in Fujian Province. Accordingto the official release, it was attended by arecord number of over 1,000 Buddhistmonks, scholars and representatives from55 countries. Zong Xing, Vice President ofthe Buddhist Association of China (BAC)and Xiao Hong, a deputy secretary of theChina Religious Culture CommunicationAssociation (CRCCA), the joint hosts, gavea press conference.

Xiao announced that the forum want-ed “to carry forward the positive Buddhistcultural spirit, promote exchanges betweenBuddhism and other religions and makecontributions to building a community witha shared future for humanity.” That soundsgood. One of the themes of the meet was“Buddhism and the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)”, a project dear to President XiJinping. A couple of weeks earlier, the GlobalTimes had reported that a two-day sympo-sium in Qinghai Province discussed the wayBuddhism could better serve the BRI andresist separatism.

The website tibet.cn noted: “Guided bythe core socialist values, the symposiumaims to encourage Tibetan Buddhism toadapt to the socialist society and teach thereligion to serve the construction of the BRI.”Was the Fujian Forum a great success? Itdoes not appear so reading the rare com-ments which appeared in the ChinesePress. One of the problems was that MasterXuecheng, the BCA president and Abbot ofLongquan Temple in Beijing, had to resignin a hurry in August.

The 52-year-old was accused to havecoerced nuns into having sex, overseen ille-gal construction work and embezzledfunds. The claims were made in a 95-pagedocument published on July 31; it imme-diately went viral on Chinese social media,bringing support to China’s #MeToo move-ment. It is not that Xuecheng was not well-connected with the Communist Party; hewas a member of the Chinese People’sPolitical Consultative Conference (CPPCC),but in the present days, even tigers fall(President Xi had warned the ‘tigers’ and the‘flies’ that he would not accept corruption).

One of the BCA’s Vice Presidents wasGyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese-selectedPanchen Lama. He made a timid appear-ance on the first day. He spoke on, “to livetogether in harmony through the MiddlePath”, a purely religious topic; Norbuemphasised a common future for human-ity and the fact that the creation of a ‘com-mon-destiny community’ is more andmore accepted the world over. He men-tioned the Buddhist precepts of living in

symbiosis, equality, tolerance,compassion and harmony: “Weare one family living in the samehouse,” he said. There was noword of praise for Xi.

His presence was hardlyreported by the Chinese media,probably because he did noteulogise Xi Jinping and he ‘for-got’ about the BRI in his speech.The only big shot was YouQuan, director of the UnitedFront Work Department, whichlooks after religious affairs forthe Party’s Central Committee.He hoped that “Buddhist com-munities would look deeperinto Buddhism values and con-tribute wisdom to promotingthe well-being of humanity andsafeguarding world peace.”

Here comes the dichotomy.While Beijing promotesBuddhism’s humanitarian pre-cepts, it takes repressive mea-sures against Buddhist practi-tioners. For the third consecu-tive year, the authorities banneda major Tibetan prayer festivalin Larung Gar, the largestBuddhist institute in Tibet, sit-uated in Serthar County in theGarze Tibetan AutonomousPrefecture of Sichuan Province.The monastery had a popula-tion of 30,000 Buddhist nunsand monks before it was par-tially destroyed by the ‘author-ities’ last year.

According to Radio FreeAsia (RFA), a Chinese officialannounced that the DechenShingdrup festival would bebanned this year. He citedChinese ‘religious affairs man-agement laws’. Further, out-siders should not be invited toLarung Gar. A source told RFA’s

Tibetan Service: “The noticeadvised village leaders andChinese Communist Partycommittee members to informthe public that they would notbe allowed to enter the villagefor any religious events. …Inpast years, when it was allowed,the festival lasted for a wholeweek.” Human Rights Watchpublished a new report on the‘Four Standards Policy’ recent-ly introduced in the TibetanAutonomous Region (TAR).The ‘standards’ are competencein Buddhist studies, politicalreliability, moral integrity capa-ble of impressing the public andwillingness to play an active roleat critical moments. In otherwords, be good CommunistBuddhists.

Sophie Richardson, Chinadirector at Human RightsWatch, commented: “Chineseauthorities have always placedheavy constraints on religiousfreedom, especially in Tibetanand other minority regions,compelling Tibetan monks andnuns to be propagandists for theCommunist Party takesGovernment intrusion in reli-gion to abhorrent new levels.”

The new policy is a contin-uation of the 2005 Regulationson Religious Affairs but withmore oppressive clauses. OnOctober 25, the Global Timessaid that the TAR Governmentwas encouraging Tibetanmonks and nuns “to learn aboutthe laws, a move experts hailedas using education to raise localpeople’s legal awareness.”

Tibet’s Department ofJustice announced that “profes-sional working teams organised

by the regional department ofjustice taught the monks aboutlegislation and law enforce-ment in the region. …Teams arecomposed of prestigiousmonks, legal professionals andofficials that were dispatched totemples.” Xiong Kunxin, a pro-fessor at Tibet University inLhasa, summarised the issue:Legal education on law enforce-ment was weak in Tibet“because some Buddhist prac-titioners consider themselves aspeople beyond judicial reach.”

Already in August, whenWang Yang, the CPPCCChairman and a member ofthe Politburo’s StandingCommittee, visited the Seramonastery near Lhasa, hementioned the new theme ofXi Jinping’s religious cam-paign, “Sinicisation of thereligions in China.” Wangsaid that more efforts shouldbe made to integrate TibetanBuddhism into China’s social-ist society; he asked themonks “to firmly uphold theleadership of the CPC, inher-it and promote patriotismand be courageous to battle allseparatist elements, in orderto further protect the nation-al reunification, ethnic unityand social stability.”

Though China is keen tobecome the world leader inpromotion of Buddhism, itwill never happen because ofthe gap between the Marxisttheory and the repression onthe ground, which are incom-patible.

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

Nobody had really expected to live

through the “baby bust” syndrome

but if a recent survey is to be believed

then it seems 91 nations, most of them

developed, are not producing enough chil-

dren to sustain their current population lev-

els or even replace them. This, when the

global population shows a rising trend sup-

ported by the Afro-Asian world and devel-

oping countries. In fact, India seems to have

one of the best potentials for reaping a

demographic dividend. In short, almost half

the world is underpopulated and resultant

growth is severely skewed with disastrous socio-economic and political con-

sequences. Both trends are explainable. Developing economies have just about

begun clambering out of the poverty trough and come into some prosperity but

have still not rid themselves of the mindset to increase the family earning poten-

tial with more hands in the productive workforce. For developed economies, high-

er education and empowerment have meant that more women have joined the

productive workforce as co-workers, delaying their child-bearing choices. However,

the study while pinpointing the dips and spurts doesn’t quite look at the larger

issue of urban infertility that’s unsparing in its proportions everywhere and poses

a human resource challenge later on. The fertility rate of Indians, which has a

population advantage at the moment, has plummeted by over 50 per cent between

1975 and today, according to the World Population Prospects of 2017. Factors

range from pesticides, climate change, hormonal imbalances, stress, lifestyle

and so on but worryingly there are no signs of recovery.

Of course, developed Western economies have been combatting a human

resource crunch with an immigrant inflow into the workforce. But now that the

immigrants have also risen in prosperity and with some of their home economies

emerging and racing the bull run, they may not be a long-term investment. Besides,

if they do want to adopt the country they work in, then their logical assertion

has to be respected, be it in terms of social and political co-option or rehabili-

tation. Of course, there are many votaries of the fourth industrial revolution claim-

ing that digital and AI-driven processes can fill in the productivity levels of an

ageing populace but can they replace the innovation of the human brain? So

globally, there is an urgent need to revise public health policy and protocols to

accord primacy to strategies at local/national and international level to prevent

infertility and protect human fertility. There should be adequate awareness about

reproductive health in public school curriculum. Affordable living indices should

be prioritised for the aspirational young to choose a settled family life early on.

Simultaneously fertility treatment and assisted protocols must break the barrier

of elitism and become a matter of affordable and safe public convenience.

Four developments in our neighbour-

hood last week ought to have made

foreign policy wonks, security analysts

and strategic thinkers sit up and take notice.

Collectively, they need to advise the

Government to refocus its mind and New

Delhi’s efforts on our immediate vicinity

given constant monitoring and proactive

measures are the price we must pay to

guarantee our peace with security in this

pretty tough neighbourhood.

First, and arguably the most worrisome

development of the lot, is the latest mani-

festation of China’s ‘string of pearls’ or India-

encirclement strategy. Beijing has announced through its mouthpiece media that

it will be building yet another deep-sea port, this time in Myanmar on the Bay

of Bengal at Kyaukpyu, in addition to the ports it has established at Gwadar in

Pakistan and Hambantota in Sri Lanka thereby completing an East, West, South

ringing of the Indian peninsula. That this announcement comes after nearly four

years of negotiations, also tied to the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, is

significant as it implies that China, which has traditionally had friendly ties with

the military junta in Myanmar, has also managed to assuage the concerns of

the democratic civilian Government guided by Aung San Suu Kyi. This spells

trouble for India which has, over the past two decades, been assiduously bal-

ancing its historical support for Myanmar pro-democracy forces with the need

to engage with the Generals in control of that country. When all three above-

mentioned ports are fully operational, the Chinese Navy will, theoretically, have

access to bases on the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea from which

to venture forth as the regional hegemon in control of maritime activity.

There is not much India can do at the moment to offset the massive strate-

gic depth which China is working with single-minded determination to acquire,

except to work in an equally focussed manner to ensure we firm up our strate-

gic footholds in the region. To this end, the move by New Delhi to have first backed

the Maldivian people’s democratic right to choose a pro-India administration dur-

ing the recent elections in that country, and now announcing that Prime Minister

Narendra Modi would be travelling to the Maldives to attend the swearing-in cer-

emony of President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, is a good start. The Chinese

will have to be thwarted in their attempts to muscle India out of the Indian Ocean

nation and security-economic deals with the Maldivian Government must be sealed

quickly. The other island nation in our vicinity, Sri Lanka, presents a highly unsta-

ble scenario. With a General Election now looking imminent there, New Delhi

has to do better than it has done in the past to assess and subsequently assist

those who are simpatico to India’s concerns among the major contenders. The

crucial caveat which must be entered in relation to Sri Lanka, however, remains

that Tamil Nadu’s domestic politics must not be allowed to have any bearing on

our attempts to engage with Colombo; that, as it has been in the past, would be

the kiss of death for India’s efforts to keep Sri Lanka leaning towards India as

opposed to tilting towards China as it has tended to in recent years.

Finally, a word on the non-official participation of an Indian delegation in the

Russia-initiated Afghan peace summit in Moscow which Taliban representatives

are also attending. Obviously, there is no question of engaging in any meaning-

ful manner with the murderous thugs of the Taliban but statecraft requires the

articulation of an Indian position that amplifies our respect for the sovereignty

of Afghanistan and all stakeholders in the peace process there. If for nothing else,

then to keep Pakistan’s influence at bay. Tough times ahead, for sure.

Neighbourhood watch

Goings on in India’s neighbourhood call for NewDelhi to refocus on our immediate vicinity

Bucking the trend

91 nations, most of them developed Western economies,are now combatting the ‘baby bust' syndrome

Restore air quality

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Surviving pollution” (November10). Diwali witnessed very highlevels of pollution in Delhi. It con-cerns all of us that Delhi, whichis at forefront of important nation-al and international activities inthe country, has become so muchpolluted.

Many factors have con-tributed in making Delhi’s air so toxic. Industrial pollution, pol-lution caused by constructionactivities, vehicular pollution,pollution due to burning of cropstubble in neighbouring States aresome of the reasons that aremaking air in the NationalCapital’s so toxic. In order tomake Delhi’s air salubrious again,efforts should be converged anddirected in achieving a specificobjective and that is to make thequality of air safe again.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

Take a cue

Sir — The emphatic win ofCongress-JD(S) combine inKarnataka by-polls is safely attrib-

utable to the numerical superior-ity of the secular vote. Clearly, theappeal of Hindutva, which wasonce overarching or overwhelm-ing, is now waning for theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) toromp home in the face of a unit-ed secular Opposition. By now theBJP must have realised that‘Congress mukt Bharat’ is not anachievable political goal.

Congress-JD(S) success in

Karnataka should persuade thesecular forces to join hands toensure India’s continued exis-tence as a democracy.

By stitching up state-wisealliances, the Opposition partiescan thwart BJP’s Hindutva cam-paign to return to power and pre-vent the consequences of a retreatfrom secularism.

It is a political peculiarity ofIndia that the dynamics of Lok

Sabha election varies from state tostate. The mutual vote transfer tothe alliance partners in Karnatakawas indicative of the shared ide-ology of voters supporting differ-ent secular parties.

The Opposition parties musttake a cue from Karnataka bypollresults and join hands to fight theBJP in 2019 General Election.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

Opportunistic approach

Sir — In a meeting with formerPrime Minister H D DeveGowda, Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N Chandrababu Naiduclaimed that to save democracyand the nation, the Oppositionmust be united. The TeluguDesam Party (TDP) was formedby his father-law, the late NTRama Rao, about 35 years agowith the sole aim to defeat theCongress. Naidu was enjoyingpower with the BJP till recently.But he left the BJP coalition sinceit did not honour his demandfor the special status for AndhraPradesh. Now, Naidu is claimingthat he intends to save democ-racy and the nation and so hasaligned with the Congress. It issheer opportunism. GeorgeBernard Shaw once said: Politicsseems to be the last resort of thescoundrels. Politicians today areonly interested in power andmoney. Time and again, theyprove this to be right.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

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

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op nionLUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

08

The Chinese dichotomy

CALUDE ARPI

Though China is keen to become the world leader in promotion of Buddhism, it will never

happen because of the gap between the Marxist theory and repression on the ground

The least the Governmentcan do is compensatefamilies of those who haddied as a result ofdemonetisation.

Congress leader —Ashok Gehlot

US is not trying to containChina. We want China toact fairly in support ofsecurity and prosperity inboth countries.

US Secretary of State —Mike Pompeo

The fear of losing jobopportunities must stop.Girls must not succumbto sexual pressures justto get work.

Actor—Vishal Krishna

The AIADMK can surviveonly till the bypolls. Theparty is nothing but abranch of the BJP inTamil Nadu.

AMMK leader—TTV Dinakaran

S O U N D B I T E

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

Pollution: Beyond the smoke

This refers to the editorial, “Surviving pollution”(November 10). It is disheartening that Supremecourt ban on bursting crackers has not result-

ed in reducing pollution levels in Delhi-NCR. But weneed to understand two things very clearly — first,it is a pan-Indian problem, and second, it it not onlyabout firecrackers during Diwali or wedding seasons.

We need into look this issue very comprehen-sively and come out with detailed strategy, whichstarts from local panchayat to district levels.Construction dust, crop residue burning, vehicularpollution, all are equally responsible for our plightnationwide, and we as a society, need to start act-ing as responsible citizens and help our environmentand surroundings as much as possible.

The Government can devise strategy to incen-tivise farmers to encourage them to use alternativemethods. It can also urge the urban citizens to use

public transport as much as possible. India is home to nine of the world’s 10 most-

polluted cities. With pollution level rising to emer-gency levels, we can not afford to take this warninglightly anymore.

Bal GovindNoida

WHILE BEIJINGPROMOTES

BUDDHISM'SHUMANITARIAN

PRECEPTS, ITTAKES

REPRESSIVEMEASURES

AGAINSTBUDDHIST

PRACTITIONERS

The period of Diwali and com-bination of industrial andvehicular pollution combined

usually take a huge toll on the envi-ronment every year. This year is notan exception except for the fact thatthe authorities are now taking moreaggressive measures to rein in therunaway pollution. For instance, theSupreme Court-appointed theEnvironment Pollution PreventionAuthority (EPCA) is now planningto bar trucks from entering Delhiand is also banning the plying ofprivate diesel vehicles from usageduring peak pollution periods. Butis this enough?

Given the worsening ambientair quality, it seems not and lookslike the authorities have their guns

trained on wrong sources of pollu-tion as well. India has planned itscities in such a way that whilemotorised vehicles rule the roads,pedestrians, cyclists, and users ofpublic transport face an existentialcrisis. Emission reduction by haltingusage of certain type of vehicles with-out improving fuel, vehicle technol-ogy and public transport, cannotensure sustainability in transport letalone reduce air pollution on along-term basis.

In 2017, India switched to BharatStage IV norms and by 2020, it willswitch to Bharat Stage VI norms,however, this seems more like a knee-jerk reaction considering the fact thatother countries in the world are farahead in this sector.

The Government’s vision of elec-trification of all transport modes maysee light of day soon but India doesnot have an integrated alternativetransport policy, including non-pol-luting modes of mobility such ascycles, which can play a pivotal rolein reducing pollution. While bicyclesare a zero emission mode, buses and

cars contribute 33 per cent and 31per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2)emissions respectively. However,buses carry 58 per cent of all passen-gers while cars carry only four percent. Although two-wheelers formthe majority of motorised vehicles onIndian roads, the number of two-wheelers is same as the number ofhouseholds owning bicycles — about111 million. Thus, it is imperative toprotect and plan for sustainablemodes of transport. The failure to doso can lead to all bicyclists switchingto two-wheelers, which will increaseemissions by 20 per cent.

Of the total commuters who useroad-based transport modes, carsand two-wheelers carry only 20 percent. However, their combined shareof CO2 emissions is as high as 50 percent. Although bicycle users arethrice the number of car users, theGovernment spends much more tofacilitate car-based travel. The cur-rent scenario itself shows what thefuture will be if we were not able tocurtail the number of cars and two-wheelers. The number of registered

motor vehicles in the country hasalso increased 700 times, from 0.3million in 1951 to 210 million in2015. From 2005 to 2015, vehicles inIndia grew at a Compound AnnualGrowth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8 per cent.As of March 2015, the total numberof registered two-wheelers increasedeight times since 1951. While theshare of two-wheelers was 73.5 percent, the share of four-wheelers was13.6 per cent.

Buses constituted one per centand goods vehicles constituted 4.4per cent of the total registered motorvehicles. The share of other vehicles,which include tractors, trailers, three-wheelers (passenger/light motorvehicles ) and miscellaneous vehiclesincreased from 1.3 per cent in 1951to 7.5 per cent in 2014-15. Even theaverage speed on India’s roads isdeclining as roads have becomemore congested. The number ofregistered vehicles for every 100km of road witnessed an increasefrom 1,630 in 2001 to 3,861 in 2015,or by 137 per cent.

The number of vehicles per

1,000 persons increased from eightin 1981 to 167 in 2015. However, ascompared to developed countries,the total motor vehicle penetrationin India is low. In contrast, the pen-etration of two-wheelers in develop-ing countries is higher than thedeveloped countries.

Developed countries, such asGermany and the US have car pen-etration rates (car/1,000 persons)higher by factors of about seven andfive to that of China and by factorsof 29 and 19 to that of India, respec-tively. However, in India and a fewother developing countries, the pen-etration level of two-wheelers ismuch higher compared to developedcountries.

Clearly, the motorisation rateposes a worrying scenario at suchlow level of vehicle ownership. It isfor anyone to imagine the implica-tions if Indian vehicle ownershipcomes close to that of developednations. According to the Society ofIndian Automobile Manufacturers(SIAM), more than 25 million vehi-cles, including passenger, commer-

cial vehicles, three and two-wheelers,were produced in India in 2016-17alone. This was at a growth of 5.41per cent than the previous year. Oneimportant fact to note is 2016-17 sawan increase of 24 per cent in thenumber of vehicles manufacturedfrom 2011-12. Similarly, the sale ofautomobiles witnessed the same sce-nario. A total of almost 22 millionvehicles have been sold in India in2016-17, a growth rate of 6.81 percent as opposed to 2.49 per cent in2012-13.

Given these factors, is Indiadoing enough to make a robust pub-lic transport robust given the poten-tial it has? The Paris-basedInternational Energy Agency (IEA)estimates that a bus can displace any-where between five to 50 other vehi-cles and allows enormous oil and pol-lution savings. The Government mustcapitalise on this inherent potential ofthe public transport, as this alone candeliver us from the vexing problem ofvehicular pollution.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

Science in classrooms

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

WE HAVE TO PROTECT OURSELVES WITH RESPECT TO

THE THREATS POSED BY COUNTRIES LIKE CHINA,

RUSSIA AND EVEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

—FRENCH PRESIDENT

EMMANUEL MACRON

MACRON HAS JUST SUGGESTED THAT EUROPE BUILDS

ITS OWN MILITARY IN ORDER TO PROTECT ITSELF FROM

THE US, CHINA AND RUSSIA. IT IS VERY INSULTING.

—US PRESIDENT

DONALD TRUMP

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

In May 1974, India announced its entry intothe exclusive club of nations that hadnuclear weapons of their own. Courageouslyconfronting criticism and internationalsanctions, it went ahead with Pokhran II in

1998. Now, after another 20 years, the 6,000-tonnenuclear ballistic missile submarine, Arihant, isfully functional. It has caused ripples in interna-tional circles, particularly amongst China andPakistan. India launched its first satellite —Aryabahatta — in 1975 and progressed towardsthe spectacular launch of 104 satellites in one goin 2017. Leaving other aspects apart, everyIndian is proud of the achievements of its vision-ary scientists, dexterous technical experts and boldpolicy-makers. India is also proud of its institu-tions like Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,Indian Space Research Organisation, BhabhaAtomic Research Centre, Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation, and several others.

Young Indians have earned global commenda-tion for their intellectual proficiency in NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) andsubsequently at the Silicon Valley. Amongst all therecollection of Indian achievements in science, tech-nology, space physics and ICT, my mind drifts toteaching and learning science in Indian schools. Iam convinced that only around 30 per cent of chil-dren in Indian schools are getting education at an‘acceptable level’. Could some institutional researchprove me wrong in this hypothesis? The HRD min-ister announced a couple of months ago that thecurriculum load in schools would be reduced by50 per cent. If achieved successfully, it would be amemorable landmark in school education. Onelooks forward to it with great expectations of tan-gible changes in teaching and learning of sciencethat would be woven around the power of imagi-nation, curiosity and creativity. The pre-requisiteis to prepare teachers who internalise the difference,making children memorise the content in sciencetextbooks vis-à-vis learning the ‘science’ con-tained in it. Over the last three-four decades, com-placency has damaged the system.

Deterioration in the quality of teacher prepa-ration, delays in recruiting regular teachers andneglect of practical work in school laboratorieshave also contributed to the malaise. Our suc-cess in science and technology should not leadus to ignore that in majority of schools, scienceteaching, particularly laboratory work, is border-ing on farce. Proper teaching and learning of sci-ence could effectively contribute in total person-ality development, particularly in bringing the bestout of body, mind and spirit. This would be pos-sible only when certain basics are comprehend-ed properly by all those responsible for teachingscience — right from policy formulation to teach-ing science, and that too, not only in classrooms,but more of it outside, in real life situations.

Dr Radhakrishnan, former President, whiledelivering a convocation address in Bangalore in1965, posed a couple of simple queries andanswered them: “What is science? It is the pur-suit of the truth. What is truth? It is the under-standing of nature and its mysteries. Can youunderstand nature and its mysteries if you are apart of nature? The man, the human being hasin him a spirit which makes him different fromthings, from objects, from materials, et al. It is the

capacity to reflect on nature, to sit injudgement on nature, to mould natureto his own pattern; it is that which dis-tinguishes the human being from oth-ers. There is a spark which is not nat-ural, which is non-natural, which issuper-natural. The pursuit of truth tellsus that man is capable of remouldinghis own environment, changing it,making it into a different pattern alto-gether.”

While the 20th century wasacknowledged as the century ofunprecedented change, the 21st issurely the century of the ‘pace ofchange’. The credit goes to the advancesin science and technology that haveimpacted human lives beyond recogni-tion. From an information society, wehave moved towards knowledge soci-ety, and the words of wisdom like“future empires shall be empires ofknowledge” are often emphasised bylearned ones across the globe. At thisstage, we are face-to-face with one prac-tical reality: Man has proved — beyondan iota of doubt — his dexterity, capac-ity and creativity in moulding ‘his ownenvironment’. Even two simple terms —connectivity and mobility — are suffi-cient enough to convey how miracu-lously human ingenuity has trans-formed the Earth into a global village.But has all this advancement been in theright direction? To comprehend thecontrast, one may recall that in mid50s of the last century, school childrenwere writing essays on the “age of sci-ence”, and then it was “boons of tech-nology” that quickly transformed to“ICT revolution”. The last one heardrecently was the “age of accelerations.”

Never before, human beings hadsuch a profound familiarity with andcomprehension of the secrets andforces of nature, and the skill to utilisethe bounties of nature for human wel-fare. Man has moulded nature to hisown patterns and liking. But probablyhe forgot to reflect on the man-nature

relationship — on his responsibility toensure that this sensitive bond betweenthe two is not disturbed because of hismaterialistic pursuits and inherenttraits to ‘acquire and accumulate’.

It appears that under the influenceof the gadgets that offered more andmore comfort in daily life, man forgotto ‘reflect on nature’. On one hand, sys-tems are under human control thatcould annihilate poverty, hunger, ill-health from the surface of the globe,and on the other hand, nations are suf-fering violence, wars, hunger, migration,rejection and malnutrition on anunprecedented scale.

What should children learn in sci-ence in schools must be determined bythe facets of the world before them, andwhat could be the challenges ahead ofthem. If man had reflected on Nature,one lakh children would not be dead inIndia in a year, only because they weredeprived of their divine right to breathefresh air. India would not be sufferingthe ignominy of having 10 out of 15most-polluted cities of the world. If manhad realised that in the man-nature rela-tionship, responsibility lies solely on him,there would be no need to organise Earthsummits, global meets on environ-ment, climate change or ozone depletionand the like.

We have reached a stage in whichsystems of governance have deteriorat-ed in basic elements of humanity.What happened in Kedarnath was cer-tainly a man-made disaster. TheKerala floods of this year are anotherexample. In fact, there is no shortage ofevidence explaining how the race forquick materialistic gains have obliter-ated the human vision, the conse-quences of which are polluted rivers,low quality air, vanishing ponds anddeforestation.

We were not deficient on knowl-edge, skills, understanding or tradition.We knew which tree is to be plantedwhere — near the home or away from

human population — what were theiruses in the daily life of people. But lackof developing scientific temper, sharingand caring has proved disastrous.

Dr Homi Bhabha and Dr VikramSarabhai were the pioneers in India’snuclear and space research initiatives.They put India on par with developedcountries in these sectors. Dr Bhabhaplanned the Atomic Research Centre inMumbai, now known as the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC), withunmatched scientific, artistic and aes-thetic sense. All those who visit BARCmarvel at the landscape designing of thecampus. One old mango tree that hadlived there for over 100 years stood atthe spot that was to be swallowed by anewly-planned road. The engineer, asexpected, recommended cutting of thetree. It disturbed and distressed the sci-entists. To save that one tree, DrBhabha suggested re-alignment of theroad. The tree still survives. Should suchan anecdote not find a place in text-books of Class V or VI? The motiva-tional impact would be everlasting.

Now is the time to re-orient theprocess of learning of science by push-ing it towards real life situations and theperils that face us because of unwise useof science and technology. Could onethink of children learning science out-side the classrooms of elementaryschools? Relate the process to local ele-ments, environment, flora, fauna, waterbodies, forests, people, social habits,cleanliness, health issues, pollution andadulteration. A fresh look on how toimprove experiential and experimentallearning in school science is necessary.

India has done well in science so farbut it has the responsibility to continu-ously upgrade the teaching and learn-ing experience of science in a majorityof its schools at the earliest.

(The writer is the IndianRepresentative on the Executive Boardof UNESCO)

Spiralling vehicular pollution

Our success in science and technology should not lead us to ignore that in a majority of schools, teaching methods, particularly laboratory work, are bordering on farce

The Government's vision of electrification of all transport modes may see the light of day soon but India does not have an

alternative transport policy, including non-polluting modes of mobility, which can play a pivotal role in reducing pollution

NOW IS THE TIMETO RE-ORIENT THE

PROCESS OFLEARNING OF

SCIENCE BYPUSHING IT

TOWARDS REAL LIFE

SITUATIONS, ANDTHE PERILS THAT

FACE US BECAUSEOF UNWISE USE OF

SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY. AFRESH LOOK AT

HOW TO IMPROVEEXPERIENTIAL AND

EXPERIMENTALLEARNING IN

SCHOOL SCIENCEIS NECESSARY

analysis 09W I T H O U T P R E J U D I C E

Cross-border

learnings

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

KOTA SRIRAJ

One cannot help but rue the inadequate attentionthat thinking, research and analytics are payingto the changing nature of cross-border realities

JS RAJPUT

FOREIGNEYE

The entire Chinese societydid not expect that the“Made in China 2025” planwould elicit such a strongreaction from the US andother Western countries.China is developing at itsown pace. The developmentof the high-tech industry isthe only path towards thecountry's modernisation.

(Global Times editorial)

NOW IS NOT THETIME TO BOW DOWNTO PRESSURES

www.dailypioneer.com

The truth of life is that some people will, simply, not change.

It is equally true that the world will stay steady on its path of

change. This is the root cause of much personal misery which

then blows on to other aspects of life. But that is another story.

Reference to this principle of existence becomes necessary to lead

up to what follows. For, there are people on this planet who still

live with a primitive mindset and ironically, are unaware of it. It may

be nearly impossible to change them. But equally, there are other

patches on Earth which are changing with a speed which is almost

impossible to measure.

The point being made will become clear by referring to the

simple art of storytelling, which popularly is ascribed to grand-

parents and/or nannies. As a method of communication and learn-

ing, storytelling slowly percolated to the corporate world and one

started hearing of international certifications in the art of story-

telling. Now, one is hearing of storytelling’s digital transformation.

This was one of the major workshops at world’s largest virtual

HR summit with 30,000 HR professionals in attendance earlier this

month. The summit, hosted by Glassdoor and BambooHR, drew

wide participation including that of Adam Grant, an organisation-

al psychologist and a New York Times best-selling author. It was

one of those conferences where physical presence did not mat-

ter. There was only one Asia-based speaker, from Singapore, Dr

Tanvi Gautam. It struck me between the eyes, because I read about

this summit as I was packing for the 45th Annual Conference ses-

sion of a Global HR Federation and heading for Taipei.

As all this was going on, I received a message from a col-

league in Malaysia, who was also going to the same conference

but routing herself through Vietnam. This was my second encounter

with a strange reality. She was routing herself from Kuala Lumpur

via Vietnam because her son, a 10-year old, wanted a 19th immi-

gration stamp on his passport. I was left wondering about how

so many realities could co-exist. The first illustration underscored

the ephemeral character of physical presence in the digital era. The

second example was ‘ridiculing’ cross-border realities by almost

reducing it to a count — much like in the way stamp collectors

count stamps. One cannot help but rue the inadequate attention

that thinking, research and analytics are paying to the changing

nature of cross-border realities. One has, indeed, heard of cultur-

al ergonomics and one is abundantly conscious of varying tech-

nological realities across boundaries. However, there remains a

huge domain waiting for the pioneers. Consider the complexities

of transfer-pricing regulations and assessment criteria differing across

countries. Especially in a country where there can be such sus-

tained attempts to make an issue of the Rafale deal that even the

courts get interested but little attention is paid, in the so-called debate,

to the concerns of pricing regulations and assessment criteria.

The danger of supercilious social narratives is deeper than is

being gauged. It conditions the mind of the impressionable and

can mislead the unthinking. No one gains and collectively every-

one stands to lose. Reference has been made above to cross-bor-

der issues of frameworks of reference and indicators of social norms.

However, time seems to have come to pay singular attention to

cross-border problems of not just communication or technology

transfer, but also of putting various country regulators at least in

a position of active communication. An example will clarify fur-

ther. Regulators of service-based industries (accounting, health-

care et al) do not always recognize degrees awarded by the oth-

ers and require further studies to be undertaken before practicing

in a different geography. One wonders if the international account-

ing bodies or the World Health Organization has thought it worth-

while to reflect on these issues.

Soon after World War II, the United Nations moved into the

place occupied by the League of Nations. A number of world bod-

ies were spawned in the years following, some were related to

United Nations and some were not. UNESCO was a good exam-

ple. There was the World Health Organization and bodies related

to food and agriculture. The US and its role in the setting up of the

International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is well-known.

However, barring a few columnists and commentators who saw

through the chinks in the working of such institutions, hardly any

attempts were made to highlight the gaps. This inhibits the natur-

al growth of cross-border learning and exchange in a sustained

manner. That in turn impedes sustainable development. It is essen-

tial that this concern is also seen as a part of the component of

any North-South dialogue. It needs to be addressed as an emerg-

ing frontier of cross-border learning.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant)

money 10LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

PTI n MUMBAI

As an unprecedented fightplays out between the RBI

and the Government, it is thecentral bank’s 18 board mem-bers who are being keenlywatched for their next courseof action — they are not onlycentral bankers andGovernment officials but alsobusiness leaders, economistsand activists.

The RBI board is sched-uled to meet next on November19 amid an ongoing tusslewith the Government on mul-tiple fronts.

Going by the public utter-ances of the RBI andGovernment officials so far, thecontentious issues are how tomanage the huge surplus theRBI has accumulated, howshould it deal with errantlenders and borrowers amid apersisting bad loan crisis andwhat could be the ‘public inter-est’ for the Government todictate directions so that it isnot seen as an attack on thecentral bank’s autonomy.

As per the RBI website, itscentral board currently has 18members, though the provisionis that it can go up to 21.

The members includeGovernor Urjit Patel and hisfour deputies as ‘full-time offi-cial directors’, while the rest 13have been nominated by theGovernment, including twoFinance Ministry officials —Economic Affairs SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg andFinancial Services SecretaryRajiv Kumar.

There are also Swadeshiideologue SwaminathanGurumurthy and cooperativebanker Satish Marathe, nomi-nated by the Government as“part-time non-official direc-tors”.

The entire board isappointed by the Governmentunder the RBI Act, which man-dates the central board with“general superintendence anddirection of the Reserve Bank’saffairs”.

The Government cannominate 10 ‘non-official’directors from various fieldsand two Government officials.The four non-official directorsare one each from the fourregional boards of the RBI.

Besides Patel, the four offi-cial directors are N SVishwanathan and ViralAcharya, both of whom havegone public with their direct orindirect criticism of anyattempt to undermine the RBI’sautonomy, as also B P Kanungoand M K Jain.

Patel became Governor inSeptember 2016 after serving asDeputy Governor since January2013. Previously, he had servedat the International MonetaryFund (IMF) and was also ondeputation from the IMF to theRBI during 1996-1997. He wasa Consultant to the Ministry ofFinance from 1998 to 2001 andhas a PhD in economics fromYale University, an M Philfrom University of Oxford anda BSc from the University ofLondon.

Acharya is a New YorkUniversity Professor of

Economics, while Kanungoand Vishwanathan are careercentral bankers. Jain wasappointed as a DeputyGovernor in June 2018 andpreviously headed IDBI Bankand Indian Bank, among otherprofessional banking roles.

The business leaders on theRBI board include Tata groupchief NatarajanChandrasekaran, formerMahindra group veteran BharatNarotam Doshi, TeamleaseServices co-founder ManishSabharwal and Sun Pharmachief Dilip Shanghvi.

The other members areSudhir Mankad (retired IASofficer whose last assignmentwas as Gujarat Government’sChief Secretary), Ashok Gulati(agricultural economist),Prasanna Mohanty (ex-IASofficer and economist), SachinChaturvedi of Delhi-basedthink-tank Research andInformation System forDeveloping Countries (RIS)and Revathy Iyer (a formerDeputy Comptroller andAuditor General).

In the past also, the RBI’sboard has had several businessleaders such as Ratan Tata,Kumar Mangalam Birla, NRNarayana Murthy, AzimPremji, G M Rao, Y CDeveshwar and K P Singh.

Recently, the tenure ofboard member Nachiket Mor,who had previously been anexecutive director at ICICI Bank,was cut short — nearly a yearafter he was re-nominated by theGovernment in August 2017 fora second term of four years.

RBI vs Govt: 18 men tasked

to supervise Mint Street

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former Union FinanceMinister P Chidambaram

on Sunday asked the Centrewhat was its “tearing hurry” to“fix” the capital framework ofReserve Bank of India when theruling dispensation had justfour months to complete theterm.

In a series of tweets, thesenior Congress leaderslammed the Government forallegedly seeking funds fromthe RBI despite claiming that its(Centre) fiscal math was cor-rect.

“The NDA Governmenthas competed 4 years and 6months of its term. It haseffectively 4 months left. Whatis the tearing hurry to ‘fix’ thecapital framework of RBI?” hesaid.

Chidambaram said if theGovernment did not need anymore money this financial year,why was it “mounting pressure”on the central bank in the lastfour months of its tenure.

“Why did it keep silent for4 years and 6 months?” he said.

The Congress leader saidthe Government had claimedthat its “fiscal math is correct”and “boasts” that it had givenup `70,000 crore of borrowingfor 2018-19.

“If so, why does it needmoney from the reserves ofRBI this year?” he said.

The central Governmenthad on Friday said it was dis-cussing an “appropriate” size ofcapital reserves that the central

bank must maintain, butdenied seeking a massive cap-ital transfer from the RBI.

The RBI has a massive`9.59 lakh crore reserves andthe Government, if reportsare to be believed, wants thecentral bank to part with athird of that fund — an issuewhich along with easing ofnorms for weak banks andraising liquidity has broughtthe two at loggerheads inrecent weeks.

Economic Affairs SecretarySubhash Chandra Garg took toTwitter on Friday to clarify thatthe government was not in anydire need of funds and thatthere was no proposal to askthe RBI to transfer `3.6 lakhcrore.

“There is no proposal toask RBI to transfer (`) 3.6 or (`)1 lakh crore, as speculated,” hetweeted.

“Government’s FD (fiscaldeficit) in FY 2013-14 was5.1%. From 2014-15 onwards,Government has succeeded inbringing it down substantially.We will end the FY 2018-19with FD of 3.3%. Governmenthas actually

foregone (`) 70,000 croreof budgeted market borrowingthis year,” Garg said.

The official said the onlyproposal under discussion wasto “fix appropriate economiccapital framework of RBI”.

Economic capital frame-work refers to the risk capitalrequired by the central bankwhile taking into account dif-ferent risks.

What is Govt’s ‘tearinghurry’ to ‘fix’ RBI capitalframework: Chidambaram

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s 12 major ports wit-nessed a 5.31 per cent rise in

cargo traffic at 403.39 milliontonnes (MT) during April-October of the current fiscal, theIndian Ports Association (IPA)data showed. These top portshad handled 383.05 MT cargoduring the corresponding seven-month period of the last fiscal.

The growth in the cargotraffic was mainly attributed toincrease in handling of coal,mainly coking coal, containersand petroleum, oil and lubri-

cants (POL). Among the 12major ports, Kamarajar Port(erstwhile Ennore) recordedthe highest growth in trafficduring the April-October peri-

od with an increase of 20.42 percent, followed by Cochin Port13 per cent, Paradip Port 11.22per cent, Kolkata Port (includ-ing Haldia) 8.65 per cent and

Deendayal Port (erstwhileKandla Port) 8.46 per cent.

Jawahar Lal Nehru Port(JNPT) recorded 6.93 per centgrowth, Vishakhapatnam portrecorded a 5.58 per cent rise incargo traffic, New Mangalore3.56 per cent and Chennai3.11 per cent. However, VOChidambaranar, Mumbai andMormugao have recorded neg-ative growth during the period.

In terms of maximumcargo volume, Deendayal Porthandled 68.47 MT cargo, fol-lowed by Paradip’s 62.03 MTand JNPT Port at 40.54 MT.

There are 12 major portsunder the control of the Centrebesides 187 minor/intermedi-ate ports under the jurisdictionof states along the 7,517 kmlong coastline of the country.

The 12 major ports —Deendayal Port, Mumbai Port,JNPT Port, Mormugao Port,New Mangalore Port, CochinPort, Chennai Port, KamarajarPort, V O Chidambarnar Port,Visakhapatnam Port, ParadipPort and Kolkata Port (includ-ing Haldia Port) handled -approximately 61 per cent ofthe country’s total cargo traffic.

Major Ports cargo traffic up 5.31% to 403 MT in Apr-Oct

PTI n BEIJING

China’s e-commerce giantAlibaba broke last year’s

‘Singles’ Day’ record by logging$24.3 billion in sales by mid-day during the annual onlineshopping fiesta on Sunday.

The Alibaba Group’s vari-ous shopping platforms brokethe 10 billion-yuan ($1.44 bil-lion) sales threshold withinthe first two minutes and fiveseconds, after the e-commercegiant kicked off the 10th yearof its iconic Double 11 shop-ping gala (also called 11.11sale).

The Alibaba Group sur-passed last year’s Singles’ Dayrecord with more than eighthours to go before the end of the24-hour shopping festival,cementing its position as theworld’s biggest retail event andassuaging concerns that Chineseconsumer sentiment is soften-ing, Hong Kong-based SouthChina Morning Post, which isowned by Alibaba, reported.

Also known as Double 11,the shopping extravaganza willdraw to a close at midnight.Consumers spent a total of168.5 billion yuan ($24.3 bil-lion) by the afternoon, thereport said.

Last year, the AlibabaGroup reported $25.3 billion oforders.

Other brands and e-com-merce retailers like JD.Com,Mogujie and VipShop tooreported heavy sales.November 11 is being cele-brated since 2009 as an onlineantidote to the sentimentalitysurrounding Valentine’s Day. Itwas named “Singles’ Day”

because its date, 11/11(November 11), consists offour “ones,” representing foursingles.

November 11 has becomea default date for people to snapup things and binge on enter-tainment shows. Alibaba isalso using the occasion to testthe limits of its cloud comput-ing, delivery, and paymentcapabilities, as well as try outnew business endeavours thatare uprooting traditional retail-ers.

Sales were helped by theparticipation of Alibaba’sSoutheast Asia unit Lazada, aswell as subsidiaries Ele.Me,Koubei, supermarket chainHema and other business units.

The total gross merchan-dise volume (GMV) for thisyear’s Singles’ Day — or thevalue of total transactions onthe platform — is keenlywatched as a barometer ofconsumer spending and retailhealth in the world’s second-biggest economy amid thetrade war with US.

The US has slapped addi-tional tariffs on $250 billionworth of goods demanding

China toreduce $375billion tradedeficit.

Within halfan hour ofSingles’ Day, 30brands, includ-ing Nike,Uniqlo, Adidas,Procter &G a m b l e ,Xiaomi andApple hadcrossed 100

million yuan in sales. In justone second, 3,700 Singles’ Dayspecial edition MAC lipstickswere sold out.

Health supplementstopped the list of most popu-lar imported items purchasedby consumers in China as of 12pm, followed by milk powder,facial masks and milk powder,according to Alibaba. Skincareproducts were also among themost-bought items fromabroad, the data showed.

Residents of Shanghai werethe biggest spenders, followedby those in Beijing, Hangzhouand Guangzhou.

Alibaba hosted a star-stud-ded gala on Saturday night inShanghai, featuring superstarsinger Mariah Carey andCirque du Soleil to pump sales.

Pre-sales prior to the eventwere brisk, with 33 brands onTmall reporting 100 million-yuan worth of pre-orders, thecompany said. Down paymentsfor consumer electronics onTmall have jumped nearly six-fold year-on-year, with popu-lar brands including Apple,Huawei, Siemens and Dyson,state run China Daily reported.

Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales hits

new high, $24.3 billion by mid-day

PTI n MUMBAI

Anew suburban corridor onthe Central Railway (CR)

was inaugurated Sunday, link-ing Nerul and Belapur in NaviMumbai with Kharpokar inUlwe, a rapidly developingnode in the satellite city.

The 12km Nerul-SeawoodsDarave-Belapur-Kharkopar cor-ridor in Navi Mumbai was com-missioned by Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal along withMaharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis. This is thefirst phase of the 27km Nerul-Belapur-Uran corridor on theHarbour route of the CR thatextends suburban trains toadjoining Raigad district.

Regular services on thecorridor will start fromMonday and link Ulwe node inNavi Mumbai with ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Terminus(CSMT) and Panvel on theHarbour route besides Thaneon the Trans-Harbour corridor.

The Ulwe node is locatedopposite the upcoming NaviMumbai International Airport.

This is the first suburbancorridor in the Mumbai met-ropolitan region in 13 years andcomes after the Trans- HarbourLine, connecting Thane withNavi Mumbai, was thrown

open in 2005.Speaking after commis-

sioning of the corridor at theKharpokar railway station,Fadnavis said in the modern eratransportation and mobility playkey role in human settlement.

“In earlier days of civilisa-tion, people would settle nearrivers where they could easilyget water. But now people starthabitation at places which areequipped with means of trans-portation and mobility,” he said.

Fadnavis said large-scaleinvestments are being made inMumbai’s suburban railwaynetwork to enhance connec-tivity and improve passengeramenities.

“We are also investing Rs 1lakh crore in various metroprojects that will also be inte-grated with suburban net-works,” the Chief Minister said.

The Seawoods-Belapur-Uran line was conceived in late1990s to augment the Harbourrail network. The commission-ing of the new rail corridor wasto take place in December 2017,but it got delayed by nearly a year.

The CR will operate 40 ser-vices daily from Monday, ofwhich 20 will run betweenKharkopar and Nerul and therest between Belapur andKharkopar stations.

VIKAS KUMAR n PUNE

Midea Group, a consumerappliance maker and a

Fortune 500 Company, laidthe foundation stone for theTechnology Park at SupaParner in Maharashtra. ThePark will have manufacturingfacilities for home appliances,HVAC and compressors.

The foundation stoneswere laid by MaharashtraChief Minister DevendraFadnavis, Midea Groupfounder Xiangjian He andMidea Group Chairman PaulFang.

“The Technology Park isexpected to generate employ-ment opportunities for morethan 2,000 people. The com-plex is likely to commencecommercial operations at thebeginning of 2020,” CarrierMidea India and MideaGroup Managing DirectorKrishan Sachdev told ThePioneer.

The technology park willalso attract investment fromother ancillary units to supplyto Midea’s factories.

Midea Group laysfoundation forMaha Tech Park

First phase of Nerul-

Seawoods-Uran rail

line commissioned

PTI n NEW DELHI

Shareholders of Usha Martinhave approved the sale of the

company’s steel business toTata Steel as a going concern ona slump sale basis.

A special resolution in thisregard was passed with requi-site majority at Usha MartinLimited’s extraordinary gener-al meeting, with 99.99 per centshareholders voting in itsfavour, the company informedthe exchanges in a regulatoryfiling late night on Friday.

Tata Steel had earlier saidit has executed definitive agree-ments for the acquisition ofUML’s steel business for ̀ 4,300-4,700 crore through a slumpsale on a going concern basis.

According to Usha MartinLimited (UML), the sale of itssteel business to Tata Steel willhelp the company significant-ly reduce its debt.

UML’s steel business com-prises the specialised 1 milliontonne per annum (MTPA)alloy based manufacturingcapacity in long products seg-ment based in Jamshedpur, aproducing iron-ore mine, acoal mine under developmentand captive power plants, TataSteel had said.

Usha Martin

shareholders

approve sale of

steel biz to Tatas

PTI n MUMBAI

Despite the overall increase inlending rates, for first time

in over five years, bank creditrose by a healthy 14.41 per centduring the fortnight to October26, the Reserve Bank has said.

This growth is at a five-yearhigh, after the 16.6 per centachieved by the system inOctober 2013 and the data comeamid reports of an increase indemand from the troubled non-bank finance companies(NBFCs) from banks.

NBFCs are facing liquid-ity pressure and has around`60,000 crore worth repay-ments between November 1and 9. They another `90,000crore repayments by the endof the month, of `70000 croreare commercial paperredemption.

Provisional figures releasedby the central bank showed theoverall bank credit increased14.41 per cent to `93.01 trillionas of October 26 from `81.29trillion in the year ago period.

Bank credit grew 4.45 per

cent for the fortnight toOctober 12, the data show.

According to reports,NBFCs are finding it difficultto secure short term fundingfrom the money markets andare increasingly looking up tobanks for their liabilities.Money markets have beenimpacted following thedefaults by IL&FS.

Apart from that, analystssay liquidity problems atNBFCs offer an opportunity forthe banks for recoup theirmarket shares by lendingdirectly to the segments servedby the shadow banks.

A host of banks, startingwith the largest lender SBI,have shown greater confidenceon credit growth for the ongo-ing fiscal year in recent man-agement commentary.

The systems depositgrowth came in at 8.83 per centto ̀ 120.71 trillion, which how-ever is marginally down fromprevious fortnight of onOctober 12, when it had stoodat `120.87 trillion, the RBIsaid.

NBFCs push creditdemand by 14.4%to a 5-year high

Scheme NAV 1Yr %Tata Digital India Fund-Reg(G) 14.1 34.54ICICI Pru Technology Fund(G) 57.51 32.24SBI Technology Opp 60.26 26.19Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Digital India 50.74 26.09Fund(G)ICICI Pru US Bluechip Equity 27.01 23.84Fund(G)Franklin India Technology 153.1 20.75Fund(G)Franklin India Feeder - 29.61 20.63Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 21.3 20.62Fund-A(G)Reliance US Equity Opp 14.59 20.56Fund(G)DSP US Flexible Equity 25.69 20.21Fund-Reg(G)DHFL Pramerica Global 17.82 18.72Equity Opp Fund(G)Kotak US Equity Fund(G) 16.86 17.09Reliance Pharma Fund(G) 155 14.8ICICI Pru Global Stable Equity 15.35 13.2Fund(G)Sundaram World Brand 14.53 12.53Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)Sundaram World Brand 14.7 12.5Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)DSP World Agriculture 17.29 10.9Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL CEF-Global 25.28 9.53Agri-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Real 19.15 8.37Estate Fund(G)DSP Global Allocation 12.32 7.12Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Feeder - 12.96 6.62Invesco Global Equity IncomeFund(G)HDFC Index Fund-Sensex(G) 310.88 6.55Tata Index Fund-Sensex 86.38 6.54Plan(G)ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G) 225.6 6.3Reliance Index Fund - 17.33 6.06Sensex Plan(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-2(DP) 11.28 5.72Axis Midcap Fund(G) 34.12 5.57Reliance Japan Equity 12.89 5.3Fund(G)Axis Bluechip Fund(G) 25.71 5.11UTI Equity Fund-Reg(G) 131.55 5.01ICICI Pru Business Cycle 14.32 4.91Fund-2(G)SBI Banking & Financial 15.46 4.55Services Fund-Reg(G)DSP World Energy 13.44 4.5Fund-Reg(G)Tata India Pharma & 8.97 4.22Healthcare Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Nifty Fund-Reg(G) 21.8 3.95HDFC Index Fund-NIFTY 95.88 3.7950 Plan(G)ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G) 281.29 3.78UTI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 68.73 3.75ICICI Pru Focused Equity 29.68 3.7Fund(G)Tata Index Fund-Nifty Plan(G) 63.73 3.59Canara Rob Bluechip Equity 22.84 3.49Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Equity Tax Saver 59.42 3.47Fund-Reg(G)Axis Long Term Equity 41.24 3.45Fund(G)SBI Consumption Opp 111.34 3.42Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund 355.02 3.39(Tax Saving)(G)SBI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 90.69 3.28Tata India Consumer 17.09 3.11Fund-Reg(G)Axis Focused 25 Fund(G) 25.73 3.04Aditya Birla SL Global 13.05 2.98Commodities Fund(G)Reliance Index Fund - Nifty 17.7 2.98Plan(G)DSP World Mining 8.08 2.89Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Index 101.97 2.84Fund(G)Franklin India Index 83.84 2.67Fund-NSE Nifty(G)Kotak India EQ Contra 48.53 2.62Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Index 103.81 2.57Fund(G)Invesco India Feeder - 11.02 2.5Invesco Pan European Equity Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Large and Mid 32.33 2.33Cap Fund(G)Mirae Asset Great Consumer 32.26 2.29Fund-Reg(G)UTI MNC Fund-Reg(G) 192.21 2.21IDBI Nifty Index Fund(G) 19.51 2.17Sundaram Select Focus(G) 163.7 1.95Edelweiss Large Cap 32.77 1.93Fund (G)Canara Rob Equity Diver 122.31 1.83Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Large Cap Fund(G) 32.63 1.67

Principal Global Opportunities 29.2 1.6Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Discovery 143.89 1.57Fund(G)Invesco India Contra Fund(G) 45.07 1.51Parag Parikh Long Term 23.03 1.47Equity Fund-Reg(G)JM Large Cap Fund(G) 64.35 1.35DHFL Pramerica Large Cap 11.61 1.34Fund-2-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-8(D) 10.34 1.31UTI Dividend Yield 62.6 1.3Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Equity ESG 95.57 0.91Fund-Reg(G)UTI Mastershare-Reg(G) 113.94 0.91UTI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 85.7 0.78DHFL Pramerica Euro Equity 13.62 0.74Fund(G)Invesco India Tax Plan(G) 47.64 0.72ICICI Pru Growth Fund-1(DP) 10.53 0.61SBI Focused Equity 126.95 0.53Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G) 39.86 0.45Invesco India Growth 31.76 0.44Opp Fund(G)IDBI Diversified Equity 20.36 0.34Fund(G)

ICICI Pru India Recovery 16.56 0.3Fund-4(G)Mirae Asset India Equity 46.96 0.24Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-5(G) 14.88 0.13Mirae Asset Tax Saver 16.2 -0.08Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Small Cap 42.09 -0.25Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Consumer 35.3 -0.25Trends Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Top 100 Fund(G) 457.11 -0.35Edelweiss Eur Dynamic 10.93 -0.68Equity Off-shr Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL MNC Fund(G) 712.34 -0.69Aditya Birla SL India Gen 76.3 -0.78Next Fund(G)UTI Value Opp Fund-Reg(G) 57.15 -0.84IDBI Equity Advantage 25.94 -0.84Fund-Reg(G)L&T India Large Cap 25.09 -0.91Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Multi Cap Fund(G) 91.44 -1.01Kotak Standard Multicap 32.31 -1.05Fund(G)Invesco India Largecap 26.08 -1.06Fund(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv 12.97 -1.23Fund-Sr I-Reg(G)ICICI Pru R.I.G.H.T Fund(G) 41.02 -1.32Invesco India Midcap Fund(G) 46.9 -1.55Sundaram Value 15.27 -1.55Fund-II-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv 13.96 -1.56Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)L&T Equity Fund-Reg(G) 78.74 -1.57Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief 29.81 -1.62'96(G)Principal Dividend Yield 51.3 -1.65Fund(G)ICICI Pru Exports & Services 56.22 -1.68Fund(G)SBI Healthcare Opp 124.46 -1.71Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss Multi-Cap 13.51 -1.81Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss Emerging 11.91 -1.88Markets Opp Eq. Offshore Fund-Reg(G)Principal Focused Multicap 59.78 -1.9Fund(G)Reliance Close Ended 17.13 -2Equity Fund-II-A(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-15 (G) 10.28 -2Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap 28.91 -2.02Fund-Reg(G)UTI India LifeStyle 24.59 -2.12Fund-Reg(G)

Aditya Birla SL Intl. 17.78 -2.13Equity Fund-B(G)Franklin India Taxshield(G) 534.84 -2.14Reliance Quant Fund(G) 24.11 -2.18SBI Large & Midcap 206.81 -2.22Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Global Advt(G) 16.4 -2.26HDFC Equity Fund(G) 617.58 -2.32Kotak Bluechip Fund(G) 213.64 -2.35Reliance Capital Builder 12.2 -2.44Fund-II-B(G)Mirae Asset Emerging 48.63 -2.53Bluechip-Reg(G)Tata Large & Mid Cap 187.67 -2.56Fund(G)Tata Ethical Fund(G) 151.65 -2.6SBI BlueChip Fund-Reg(G) 36.61 -2.65ICICI Pru Value Fund-11(G) 11.77 -2.81Principal Nifty 100 Equal 69.42 -2.87Weight Fund(G)IDFC Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 30.11 -2.94Baroda Pioneer Banking 20.04 -3& Fin Serv Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Frontline 210.54 -3.03Equity Fund(G)L&T Tax Advt Fund-Reg(G) 53.28 -3.1Franklin India Equity Fund(G) 559.83 -3.11Reliance Banking Fund(G) 253.81 -3.14Franklin India Bluechip 440.4 -3.15Fund(G)Baroda Pioneer Large Cap 13.39 -3.18Fund(G)Motilal Oswal Focused 25 19.89 -3.27Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Capital Builder 278.2 -3.3Value Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity 684.32 -3.36Fund(G)SBI Tax Advantage 22.37 -3.59Fund-III-Reg(G)HDFC Growth Opp 106.72 -3.62Fund-Reg(G)DHFL Pramerica LT 13.27 -3.63Equity Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Tax Saver Scheme(G) 40.17 -3.63BNP Paribas Large 80.3 -3.64Cap Fund(G)DHFL Pramerica Large 153.01 -3.75Cap Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-3(D) 10.33 -3.78Tata Large Cap Fund(G) 199.96 -3.84IDFC Core Equity 42.95 -3.89Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Focused 55.29 -3.95Equity Fund(G)DSP Top 100 Equity 188.9 -4.02Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Global 161.62 -4.21Fund-Reg(G)DHFL Pramerica Tax Plan(G) 28.76 -4.23IDFC Tax Advt(ELSS) 53.31 -4.31Fund-Reg(G)UTI LT Equity Fund 81.55 -4.39(Tax Saving)-Reg(G)Invesco India Financial 49.82 -4.47Services Fund(G)SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 14.83 -4.59I-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Large & Mid 312.07 -4.61Cap Fund(G)Franklin India Equity 75.47 -4.73Advantage Fund(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.26 -4.74Fund-IV-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Multicap 44.49 -4.96Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Value Fund(G) 69.49 -4.96DSP Focus Fund-Reg(G) 21.19 -4.97ICICI Pru Banking & 57.59 -5.03Fin Serv Fund(G)Motilal Oswal Long Term 16.08 -5.07Equity Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-3(DP) 9.9 -5.08JM Tax Gain Fund(G) 15.39 -5.23Tata India Tax Savings 16.33 -5.24Fund-Reg(G)L&T Long Term Advantage 48.62 -5.35Fund-I(G)Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G) 109.36 -5.42DSP Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 43.71 -5.45Canara Rob Emerg Equities 86.87 -5.45Fund-Reg(G)DSP Equity Fund-Reg(G) 35.24 -5.49Franklin India Prima Fund(G) 900.81 -5.6ICICI Pru Value Fund-2(D) 10.53 -5.7IDFC Multi Cap Fund-Reg(G) 87.96 -5.74Tata Banking & Financial 15.96 -5.78Services Fund-Reg(G)Templeton India Equity 43.68 -5.8Income Fund(G)Reliance Close Ended Equity 22.37 -5.87Fund-A(G)UTI Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 59.97 -5.97JM Multicap Fund(G) 28.93 -6.03DHFL Pramerica Diversified 12.38 -6.14Equity Fund-Reg(G)Tata Equity P/E Fund(G) 127.32 -6.32Kotak Global Emerging Mkt 14.83 -6.38Fund(G)JM Core 11 Fund(G) 8.19 -6.47DSP Equity Opportunities 204.26 -6.64Fund-Reg(G)

ICICI Pru Value Fund-1(D) 10.56 -9.91L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 130.44 -9.93UTI LT Adv Fund-III(G) 13.14 -9.99HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G) 73.73 -10.17Sundaram Select Small 13.2 -10.18Cap Series-IV-Reg(G)DHFL Pramerica Midcap 17.69 -10.29Opp Fund-Reg(G)IDBI Midcap Fund(G) 10.71 -10.3SBI Contra Fund-Reg(G) 104.64 -10.37Franklin Asian Equity Fund(G) 19.89 -10.65Baroda Pioneer Mid-cap 8.59 -10.71Fund(G)Invesco India Infrastructure 16.2 -10.79Fund(G)Sundaram Select Small 13.16 -10.81Cap Series-III-Reg(G)UTI Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 98.28 -10.96Kotak World Gold Fund(G) 7.83 -10.97BNP Paribas Multi Cap 43.97 -11.11Fund(G)Templeton India Value 237.58 -11.29Fund(G)Franklin India Smaller 52.16 -11.47Cos Fund(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.26 -11.56Fund-III-Reg(G)UTI Focussed Equity 12.58 -11.69Fund-I(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity 381.45 -11.82Advantage Fund(G)Baroda Pioneer ELSS 96(G) 41.54 -11.92Kotak Small Cap Fund(G) 67.79 -11.98ICICI Pru Infrastructure 48.03 -12Fund(G)Edelweiss Gr China Equity 24.04 -12.06Off-Shore Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Mid Cap Fund(G) 447.27 -12.13DSP Natural Res & New 32.12 -12.33Energy Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Midcap 279.72 -12.46Fund(G)Tata Infrastructure Fund(G) 51.61 -12.56Aditya Birla SL Dividend 156.32 -12.56Yield Fund(G)SBI Magnum MidCap 69.52 -12.82Fund-Reg(G)L&T Infrastructure 15.91 -12.82Fund-Reg(G)DSP World Gold Fund-Reg(G) 10.43 -12.85UTI Infrastructure 48.98 -12.91Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Comma 34.85 -12.97Fund-Reg(G)Tata Infrastructure Tax 22.85 -12.98Saving Fund(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.54 -13.13Fund-I-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.77 -13.28Fund-II-Reg(G)Tata Resources & Energy 13.68 -13.53Fund-Reg(G)UTI Transportation & Logistics 102.52 -13.61Fund-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-V(G) 9.35 -13.72SBI Infrastructure 13.65 -13.85Fund-Reg(G)L&T Business Cycle 14.48 -14.2Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Vision Fund(G) 508.22 -14.46DSP India T.I.G.E.R 83.76 -15.1Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Infra Advantage 29.75 -15.96Fund(G)Reliance Power & Infra 96.18 -15.98Fund(G)DSP Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 53.54 -16.4BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G) 30.4 -16.45Kotak Infra & Eco Reform 18.75 -16.83Fund(G)Canara Rob Infrastructure 42.77 -17.11Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 8.67 -17.65Adv Fund-Sr V-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-IV(G) 10.01 -17.88Aditya Birla SL Pure Value 51.99 -17.91Fund(G)Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) 53.79 -17.98Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Small Cap 33.97 -18.51Fund(G)Invesco India PSU Equity 16.49 -18.53Fund(G)Sundaram Select Micro 12.88 -18.58Cap-Series X-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure 30.51 -19.67Fund(G)ICICI Pru Smallcap Fund(G) 23.19 -20.53Aditya Birla SL Emerging 14.79 -20.82Leaders Fund-4-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Emerging 12.78 -21.16Leaders Fund-7-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 8.84 -21.64Tax Adv Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 10.38 -21.97Adv Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)IDFC Infrastructure-Reg(G) 14.58 -22.05Aditya Birla SL Emerging 14.04 -22.17Leaders Fund-3-Reg(G)SBI PSU Fund-Reg(G) 9.88 -24.31Sundaram Small Cap Fund(G) 78.43 -24.46HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G) 15.71 -27.08

Reliance Small Cap Fund(G) 40.15 -6.67SBI Magnum 134.84 -6.74TaxGain'93-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Banking & 25.67 -6.79Financial Services 39.28 -6.87Fund-Reg(G) Sundaram Rural and Consumption Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-9(G) 11.65 -6.95Principal Multi Cap 136.39 -7.01Growth Fund(G)SBI Tax advantage Fund-II(G) 33.19 -7.01IDFC Focused Equity 35.72 -7.08Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Focused 37.22 -7.09Equity Fund(G)Reliance Consumption 60.32 -7.16Fund(G)DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 51.1 -7.26Franklin India Opportunities 68.59 -7.35Fund(G)Edelweiss Long Term Equity 42.94 -7.4Fund (Tax Savings)-Reg(G)Principal Tax Savings Fund 199.79 -7.47ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G) 92.98 -7.54Motilal Oswal Multicap 35 24.04 -7.61Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Close Ended 22.57 -7.63Equity Fund-B(G)

Principal Emerging 99.78 -7.64Bluechip Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-10(G) 11.09 -7.66Principal Personal Tax 187.84 -7.75saver FundICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 24.23 -7.8Index Fund(G)Sundaram Diversified 94.45 -7.81Equity(G)HDFC TaxSaver(G) 495.18 -7.83Sundaram Fin Serv 36.16 -7.88Opp Fund(G)IDBI India Top 100 Equity 22.06 -7.93Fund(G)L&T India Value Fund-Reg(G) 34.33 -7.94Invesco India Multicap 45.33 -8.15Fund(G)UTI Banking and Financial 89.04 -8.17Services Fund-Reg(G)L&T Emerging Businesses 24.57 -8.22Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Dividend Yield 16.38 -8.34Equity Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity 13.12 -8.44Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Long Term 34.81 -8.53Equity Fund(G)L&T Large and Midcap 45.39 -8.55Fund-Reg(G)IDBI Nifty Junior 20.63 -8.58Index Fund(G)Tata Mid Cap Growth 125.55 -8.71Fund(G)IDFC Sterling Value 49.87 -8.76Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Growth Fund(G) 1037.2 -8.96Motilal Oswal Midcap 23.41 -9.0130 Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Emerging Equity 35.93 -9.04Scheme(G)Reliance Focused Equity 43.41 -9.14Fund(G)Edelweiss Mid Cap 25.26 -9.2Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities 51.74 -9.24Fund(G)Sundaram Select Micro 28.64 -9.24Cap-Series IV-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-4(G) 20.47 -9.34Franklin Build India Fund(G) 38.36 -9.48Sundaram Select Micro 30.1 -9.52Cap-Series III-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 30.76 -9.64Cap-Series I-Reg(G)JM Value Fund(G) 29.69 -9.64IDBI Small Cap Fund(G) 9.28 -9.73SBI Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 49.74 -9.76Sundaram Select Micro 30.56 -9.85Cap-Series II-Reg(G)

funds 11LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

world 12LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

TROTTINGTROTTINGGLOBE

DEATH TOLL TOPS 200IN EBOLA OUTBREAKKinshasa: The death toll froman Ebola outbreak in easternDemocratic Republic of Congohas risen to more than 200, the health ministry said onSunday. The Ministry said it hadrecorded 201 deaths from thevirus and that 291 cases havebeen confirmed since theoutbreak began in August.

REBELS KILL 6, KIDNAPFIVE IN EAST DR CONGOBeni (DR Congo): SuspectedUgandan rebels killed sixpeople, hacking one woman todeath, and kidnapped five others — mostly children — in theDemocratic Republic of Congo’srestive east, officials said onSunday.

GUNBATTLE KILLS ADOZEN IN AFGHANISTANJalalabad (Afghanistan): Over adozen people, mostly securitypersonnel, were killed as armedterrorists stormed securitycheckpoints in Burka district ofAfghanistan’s northern Baghlanprovince, an official said onSunday.

PTI n COLOMBO

Sri Lankan strongmanMahinda Rajapaksa, who

was appointed Prime Ministerin a controversial move byPresident Maithripala Sirisena,on Sunday ended his five-decade-long association withthe SLFP and joined the newly-formed Sri Lanka People’s Party(SLPP).

Rajapaksa’s move signalledthat he would contest the snappolls, to be held on January 5,under his own party bannerand not that of Sirisena’s SriLanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The former Presidentobtained the membership ofthe SLPP, launched by his sup-porters, Sunday morning.

His father Don AlwinRajapaksa was a foundingmember of the Sri LankaFreedom Party, which wasformed in 1951. The SLPP wasformed last year by Rajapaksa’ssupporters to create a platformfor his re-entry into politics.The party in February’s localcouncil election won two-thirdof the total 340 seats. The 72-year-old strongman, who ruledLanka for a decade from 2005,was unexpectedly defeated byhis deputy, Sirisena, in thepresidential election held inJanuary 2015 with the supportfrom Wickremesinghe’s UnitedNational Party (UNP).

However, the power-shar-ing arrangement betweenSirisena and Wickremesinghebecame increasingly tenuouson several policy matters, espe-cially on economy and securi-ty. Finally, on October 26,Sirisena abruptly oustedWickremesinghe and replacedhim with Rajapaksa, after

three-and-a-half years of anestranged relationship withhim. The island nation plungedinto a constitutional crisis fol-lowing the move.

Sirisena had suspendedparliamentary proceedingsuntil November 16. Later,owing to domestic and inter-national pressure, he issued anotice to reconvene parlia-ment on November 14.

However, on Friday,Sirisena dissolved parliamentand announced snap polls onJanuary 5 next year after itbecame evident that he did nothave enough support in theHouse to prove the premiershipof Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa need-ed the support of minimum113 parliamentarians in the225-member House to provehis majority.

SRI LANKA CRISIS

Rajapaksa ends pact

with Sirisena’s party

Joins newly-formedSri Lanka People’s Party

PTI n COLOMBO

Accusing PresidentMaithripala Sirisena of

“usurping” the rights of legis-lators, Sri Lanka’s parliamen-tary Speaker Karu Jayasuriyaasked public servants not tocarry out his “illegal orders”.

Jayasuriya also hit back athis critics who suggested thathis improper conduct forcedSirisena to dissolve parliamentlast Friday.

On October 26, Sirisenaabruptly sacked RanilWickremesinghe as prime min-ister and replaced him withMahinda Rajapaksa, afterthree-and-a-half years of anestranged relationship withhim. The island nation plungedinto a constitutional crisis fol-lowing the move.

Sirisena had suspendedparliamentary proceedingsuntil November 16. Later,owing to domestic and inter-national pressure, he issued anotice to reconvene parlia-ment on November 14.

However, on Friday,Sirisena dissolved parliament

and announced snap polls onJanuary 5 next year after itbecame evident that he did nothave enough support in theHouse to prove the premiershipof Rajapaksa.

“I have watched over thelast two weeks as the executivebranch has seized the rightsand usurped the powers ofmembers of parliament whowere elected to represent thepeople,” Jayasuriya said.

“I call upon all public ser-vants to refuse to execute anyillegal orders they may receive,no matter from whom,” hesaid.

Referring to remarks bySirisena loyalist SarathAmunugama, Jayasuriya said,“I lament that the purportedforeign minister, a highlyregarded politician, has falselyalleged that I intended to pre-vent the president from deliv-ering the statement of govern-ment policy when parliamentwas set to reconvene onNovember 14. It is on thisimaginary premise that theminister suggests that parlia-ment had to be dissolved.”

Parliamentary Speakeraccuses Sirisena ofusurping rights of MPs

PTI n UNITED NATIONS

UN chief Antonio Guterreshas expressed concern

over Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena’s decisionto dissolve the nation’sParliament, underlining the“utmost importance” ofrespecting democratic process-es and resolving differences inaccordance with the rule of law.

Sri Lanka’s political crisisdeepened Friday as PresidentSirisena dissolved theParliament and announcedsnap polls on January 5 after itbecame evident that he did nothave enough support in theHouse for Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa, who wasappointed by him under con-troversial circumstances.

The Secretary-General“learned with concern”Sirisena’s decision to dissolveSri Lanka’s parliament andmove to new parliamentaryelections, a statement issued on

Saturday by Secretary-GeneralGuterres’ Deputy SpokesmanFarhan Haq said.

Guterres underlined the“utmost importance of respect-ing democratic processes andinstitutions and resolving dif-ferences in accordance with therule of law and due process.”

He renewed his call on theSri Lankan government toensure peace and safety for allthe countrymen and uphold itscommitments to human rights,justice and reconciliation.

Sri Lanka was plunged intoa political crisis after Sirisenasacked Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe on October26 and replaced him with for-mer president Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe, whodubbed the move as a “consti-tutional coup”, has refused tovacate his official residence,saying he is the lawful primeminister and that the presidenthas no constitutional right toreplace him.

UN chief expresses

concern over Lankan

Prez’s decision

AFP n PARIS

World leaders gathered inthe driving rain in Paris

on Sunday to mark 100 yearssince the end of World War I,with host Emmanuel Macronwarning against nationalism ata time of growing strainbetween Europe and DonaldTrump’s America.

Around 70 leaders includ-ing US President Trump andhis Russian counterpartVladimir Putin marked thecentenary of the 1918Armistice in the French capi-tal at 11am local time (1000GMT).

After church bells rang outacross France, the leaders sattogether at the Tomb of the

Unknown Soldier at the Arc deTriomphe for a memorial thatincluded a performance bystar cellist Yo-Yo Ma and thereading aloud of letters byWWI soldiers.

Macron delivered a 20-minute speech that called onhis fellow leaders not to forgetthe lessons of the past andworldwide hopes for peace.

“Ruining this hope with afascination for isolation, vio-lence or domination would bea mistake for which futuregenerations would rightly findus responsible,” Macron toldthem.

He also delivered a stingingindictment of nationalism, call-ing it “the exact opposite” of thepatriotism shown by soldiers.

“Nationalism is a betrayal,”he said.

“By saying our interestscome first and others don’tmatter we are erasing whatmakes a nation precious, whatmakes it live, what makes itgreat and most importantly ofall, its moral values,” he said,watched by Trump, who prideshimself on being called anationalist.

The service concluded withthe bugle call that was playedat 11am on November 11, 1918to signal the end of fighting onthe Western Front.

Elsewhere, ceremonies inNew Zealand, Australia, India,Hong Kong and Myanmarbegan a day of remembranceservices around the world for

a conflict that involved millionsof troops from colonised coun-tries in Asia and Africa.

The leaders ofCommonwealth nations —whose forces were deployedunder British command 100years ago — also deliveredmessages of peace.

“This was a war in whichIndia was not directly involvedyet our soldiers fought worldover, just for the cause ofpeace,” Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi said on Twitter.“For our tomorrows, they

gave their today,” AustralianPrime Minister Scott Morrisontold people gathered at a cere-mony in Canberra.

British Prime MinisterTheresa May and PrinceCharles, standing in for QueenElizabeth, attended a separateremembrance event in Londonwhere thousands of well-wish-ers also paid their respects tofallen soldiers.

(From L) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Morocco’s Prince Moulay Hassan, Moroccan King Mohammed VI, US FirstLady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macronand his wife Brigitte Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove attend aceremony the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as part of the commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11November 1918 armistice, ending World War I on Sunday AP

AFP n HODEIDA

At least 61 combatants havebeen killed in clashes in

Yemen’s flashpoint Hodeida,medics and a military sourcesaid Sunday, and dozens ofwounded taken to hospitalsoutside the city. Medics in theRed Sea city reported 43 Huthirebels and nine loyalists killedin clashes over the past 24hours. Another nine loyalistfighters were reported killed bymedics at a hospital in gov-ernment-held Mokha, south ofHodeida. A government mili-tary source confirmed the toll.

Dozens of wounded rebelswere transferred to hospitals inthe provinces of Sanaa and Ibb,further inland, a source at theHodeida military hospital said.

A pro-government alliance,led by Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates, arepushing to seize Hodeida from

Yemen’s Shiite Huthi rebels,who are linked to Iran.

More than 400 combatantshave been killed in 10 days ofclashes in Hodeida, a city onYemen’s Red Sea coastline thatis home to the impoverishedcountry’s most valuable port.

Government forces havepressed further into the strate-gic port city, seizing its mainhospital in heavy fightingSaturday, as they try to advanceon Hodeida’s vital docksHodeida has been controlled bythe Huthis since 2014, when therebels seized the capital Sanaaand a string of port cities.

The World HealthOrganisation estimates nearly10,000 people have been killedsince 2015, when Saudi Arabiaand its allies joined theGovernment’s war against theHuthis, driving the insurgentsfrom the Red Sea coastline butfailing to retake Hodeida.

At least 61 killed

in clashes in

Yemen’s Hodeida

World leaders mark 100 years since WWI Armistice

AFP n PARIS

French police on Sundayarrested three topless rights

protesters who approachedthe motorcade of US PresidentDonald Trump on theChamps-Elysees in Paris head-ing to a ceremony marking100 years since the end ofWorld War I.

One of the protesters, whohad slogans including “fakepeacemakers” and “hypocrisyparade” written on their chests,got within metres of the rearof the motorcade after jump-ing over a barricade.

She was grabbed by apolice officer, while a secondwoman could be seen beinghauled away by security ser-vices on the edge of thefamous thoroughfare.

A third woman, who waspositioned a little higher upthe avenue, also managed to

breach the security cordonand run towards Trump’s con-voy with her arms raised.

She too was quickly over-powered by the police and allthree were arrested.

The incident revealedchinks in the tight security putin place for the event, withsome 10,000 security forcemembers deployed around acity which has been hit by aseries of jihadist attacks since2015.

Interior MinisterChristophe Castaner saidTrump’s security had “in noway been threatened”.

Inna Shevchenko, one ofthe leaders of radical feministgroup Femen, confirmed thegroup was behind the protest.

“FEMEN activists ‘wel-comed’ the cortege of@realDonaldTrump twice onhis way to Arc de Triumph,”she tweeted.

Topless protesters

arrested in bid to

‘welcome’ Trump

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s mainOpposition BNP, led by impris-oned ex-premier Khaleda Zia,on Sunday said it would par-ticipate in the general electionnext month, after it boycottedthe 2014 polls that returnedPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina’sAwami League to power due tofears of rigging.

Opposition parties haveexpressed concern that thepolls will not be democraticand have threatened protests.

The BNP is part of thenewly-formed oppositionalliance - National Unity Front

(NUF) which has demandedthat the December 23 polls bedeferred by one month.

“We have decided to par-ticipate in the polls as part ofour movement,” said BNP sec-retary general Mirza FakhrulIslam Alamgir said at a pressconference with senior NUFand BNP leaders present.

Prime Minister Hasinaimmediately welcomed theopposition party’s decision say-ing “it will strengthen thedemocracy.... We will jointlycontest the poll to reflect theverdict of the people”. PTI

PTI n MELBOURNE

ASomali-origin man, whoset a car on fire and

stabbed three people, killingone of them, before being fatal-ly shot in the Australian city ofMelbourne, did not have a“definite link” to the dreadedIslamic State but was “inspired”by it, the Government said onSunday.

Hassan Khalif Shire Alistabbed three members of thepublic and attacked police offi-cers in the Bourke Street onFriday before he was shot andkilled by the police.

The 30-year-old, who wasdriving a Ute, loaded with gasbottles, into the Bourke Street,

allegedly set it alight and beganstabbing members of the public.

Home Affairs MinisterPeter Dutton said authoritiesdid not believe Ali, who had hispassport cancelled in 2015,was a member of the IslamicState and had not been knownto be ready to act.

“There was no evidenceavailable to the police... Thatany attack was imminent orthat he had been part of plan-ning,” Dutton told reporters.

“The judgment that wasmade (by authorities) was …that he was not in the planningstage of an attack,” he added.

“In relation to his connec-tions with ISIL (another name

for IS) or with any terroristgroup... There’s not, as I’madvised, a membership of anorganisation or a definite linkto ISIL.”

However, the terror group’spropaganda outlet, Amaq, ear-lier said “The perpetrator of theoperation... In Melbourne...Was an Islamic State fighter andcarried out the operation... Totarget nationals of the coalition”fighting the Islamic State.

“The working theory is atthe moment, (it’s) a case wherethis person has been down-loading information or receiving messages in his ownmind about what he should bedoing. It’s an inspiral (sic) asopposed to affiliation,”

Duton said.There was “no evidence”

available to intelligence servicesthat the terrorist behind theBourke Street stabbings waspreparing an imminent attack,Dutton added.

He added that theAustralian intelligence agencieswere in touch with their UKand US counterparts to see ifother technological solutionswere available to assist inanalysing thousands of docu-ment.

He said over 400 peoplewere being probed by policeand intelligence services butneed a tip-off or alert from thepublic to stop a spontaneous act.

Melbourne stabbing attacker ‘inspired’ by ISIS: Govt

AFP n PARIS

Europe should not spendhigher defence budgets on

US-made weapons, FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronsaid in an interview due to airon Sunday, after a defence rowwith President Donald Trump.

One of dozens of worldleaders attending World War Icommemorations in Francethis weekend, Trump tweetedafter landing in Paris thatMacron’s call for a “realEuropean army” was “insult-ing”.

In an interview recordedon Saturday with CNN aftertalks with Trump, Macron saidthe two leaders had spokenabout what his office has por-trayed as a misunderstanding.

“We had a regular discus-sion this morning and he con-firmed in front of the press thathe was ok,” Macron told CNN.

Both leaders agree thereshould be “better burden-shar-ing within NATO”, meaningEurope should be less reliant onUS spending for its defence,Macron said.

But Macron told CNN:“To be very direct with you,what I don’t want to see isEuropean countries increas-ing the budget in defence inorder to buy American and

other arms or materials com-ing from your industry.”

Macron had last monthcriticised Belgium’s decisionto buy US-made F-35 fighterjets instead of European planes,saying it “goes againstEuropean interests”.

In his CNN interview hestressed the need for Europe totake charge of its defence.

Whereas “after the SecondWorld War we needed the USto be present for our security,I think now the momentum forEurope is to build its ownsecurity and its own sover-eignty,” he said. He refrainedfrom commenting on Trump’s“insult” tweet, beyond saying,“I always prefer having directdiscussions or answering ques-tions than making my diplo-macy through tweets.”

In a radio interview thisweek, Macron had named theUnited States alongside Chinaand Russia as sources of risk.

He said the EU needed tobe less dependent on theUnited States, not least follow-ing Trump’s withdrawal from aCold War-era nuclear treaty.

Trump on Friday calledMacron’s comments “veryinsulting”. The French presi-dency later sought to defuse therow, saying Macron remarkshad been misinterpreted.

Macron snubs US

arms in defence

spat with Trump

Los Angeles Fire Dept., hoses down hot spots on a wildfire ravaged home on Saturday in Malibu, California.The death tollfrom the most destructive fire to hit California rose to 23 on Saturday as rescue workers recovered more bodies of peoplekilled by the devastating blaze AP

PTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan police has arrestedthree suspects in connec-

tion with the assassination oftop cleric Maulana Samiul Haq,who was also known as the‘godfather of Taliban’, accordingto a media report.

Haq, the 82-year-old cler-ic was stabbed to death onNovember 2 by unidentifiedattackers at his residence in thegarrison city ofRawalpindi.

Police have arrested threesuspects involved in the mur-

der of the chief of the hardlinepolitical party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S). The sus-pects have been shifted to a safecell under strict security andare being grilled, The ExpressTribune reported.

The suspects were takeninto custody on Saturday withthe help of Haq’s mobile phonedata and geo-fencing of the pri-vate housing society where hewas stabbed to death, the reportsaid.

Three different teams wereset up for the investigations ofthe murder.

Pakistan police arrests 3

suspects in JUI-S chief’s

assassination case

Bangladesh Opp BNP

says will take part in polls

North and South Korea begindestroying border guard postsAFP n SEOUL

The two Koreas begandestroying 20 guard posts

along their heavily-fortifiedfrontier Sunday under a plan toreduce tensions on the border.

Under an agreement madebetween their generals in lateOctober, North and SouthKorea agreed to each remove10 posts and preserve one oneither side of the frontier.

The militaries on Sundaybegan destroying the 20 borderguard posts in the DemilitarsedZone dividing the two Koreas

after withdrawing troops andequipment from them, Yonhapnews agency reported, citingSeoul’s defence ministry.

South Korea has around 60such posts along the rest of theborder while the North hasabout 160, Yonhap said.

The border truce village ofPanmunjom — or the JointSecurity Area (JSA) — is theonly spot along the tense, 250-kilometre (155-mile) frontierwhere soldiers from the twoKoreas and the US-led UN Command standface to face.

Smoke forces Air

France-Shanghai flight

to divert to Siberia

Moscow: An Air France flightcarrying 282 passengers fromParis to Shanghai made an unex-pected stop in Siberia on Sundayafter smoke and a bitter smellfilled the cabin, the companysaid. No passengers were hurtand they were put up in a hotelnear Irkutsk airport in easternSiberia, Air France told AFP.

“The crew of AF116 on aBoeing 777 from Paris toShanghai decided to divert toIrkutsk in Russia after an acridsmell and light smoke appearedon board,” the French carriertold AFP. AFP

B’desh to start

repatriating

Rohingya on

Thursday

Yangon: Top Myanmar officialssay the repatriation of ethnicRohingya Muslims fromBangladesh, to which morethan 7,00,000 fled since lastyear to escape deadly violencecarried out by Myanmar’s secu-rity forces, will begin onThursday. Minister Win MyatAye said on Sunday at a newsconference that Bangladeshhad informed Myanmarauthorities that repatriation.

AP

CELLPHONE-BASED TOOL TO DETECT HIV

WHY IS GRIEF BAD FOR THE HEART

As well a source ofnutrition, breast milk alsoplays an important role inshaping a healthy oralmicrobiome in babies,suggests a study.

The study, led byQueensland University of Technology (QUT), showed thatthe growth of some microbes was inhibited for up to 24hours following breast milk and saliva mixing. This slowingdown was irrespective of whether the microorganism wasconsidered to be “pathogenic” (harmful) or “commensal”(normally found) in an infant's mouth. It could be theinteraction of neonatal saliva and breast milk that releasesantibacterial compounds, including hydrogen peroxide.“Breast milk is high in an enzyme called xanthine oxidasewhich acts on two substrates, found in babies' saliva,” saidEmma Sweeney, from QUT's Institute of Health andBiomedical Innovation. It was noted that composition ofnewborns' mouth microbiota was important for health.

AI TOOLS MAY FAIL DURING MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS

In a first warning when itcomes to Artificial Intelligencerole in analysing criticalhealth data, a team of USresearchers has said that AIin the medical space must becarefully tested forperformance across a wide range of populations as the deeplearning models may fall short.

The findings should give pause to those consideringrapid deployment of AI platforms without rigorouslyassessing their performance in real-world clinical settingsreflective of where they are being deployed, observed theteam from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiSchool of Medicine. AI tools trained to detect pneumonia onchest X-rays suffered significant decreases in performancewhen tested on data from outside health systems, accordingto the study published in a special issue of PLOS Medicineon machine learning and health care.

Sleep disturbance among people grieving

the recent loss of a spouse may put them

at an increased risk for cardiovascular

illness and death, as per a study.

Recently widowed people are more

likely to suffer from sleep disturbances,

such as insomnia, that may lead to

increased levels of inflammation in the

body. Higher levels of inflammation may in turn increase risk for

heart diseases, as per the findings published in the journal

Psychosomatic Medicine. The study found that the link between

sleep disturbances and inflammation was two to three times higher

for the bereaved spouses. “The death of a spouse is an acutely

stressful event and they have to adapt to living without the spouse

that adds to their already-stressful situation,” said Diana Chirinos

from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago,

US. The study included 101 people (on an average, 67). Half were

bereaved and the rest were included in a control group.

Researchers at PurdueUniversity have developed aflexible and translucent basefor silicon nanoneedlepatches to deliver exact drugdoses directly into cells andexpand observationalopportunities.

The researchers say skincancer could be one of theapplications for the patches. “This means that eight or ninesilicon nanoneedles can be injected into a single cell withoutsignificantly damaging a cell. So we can use thesenanoneedles to deliver biomolecules into cells or eventissues with minimal invasiveness,” said Chi Hwan Lee,Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Siliconnanoneedles patches are usually constructed on a rigid andopaque silicon wafer. The rigidity can cause discomfort andcannot be left in the body very long. “These qualities areexactly opposite to the flexible, curved and soft surfaces ofbiological cells or tissues,” Lee said, adding that they havenow resolved this problem.

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018vivacity {mindspace} 13

WEARABLE BIOPATCH FOR DRUG DELIVERY

A team of researchers has developeda portable and low-cost mobilediagnostic tool, utilising a cellphoneand nanotechnology that can detectHIV viruses and monitor theirmanagement in resource-limited regions.

Investigators from Brigham and Women'sHospital have designed this cellphone-based novelplatform, in a paper published in the journal NatureCommunications. “This rapid and low-cost cellphonesystem represents a new method for detecting acuteinfection, which would reduce the risk of virustransmission and could also be used to detect earlytreatment failure,” said senior author Hadi Shafiee,PhD, Principal Investigator in the Division ofEngineering in Medicine and Renal Division ofMedicine, Brigham. The device detects the amplifiedHIV nucleic acids through on-phone monitoring of themotion of DNA-engineered beads without using bulkyor expensive equipment. The total material cost of themicrochip, phone attachment and reagents was lessthan $5 per test.

BREAST MILK BOOSTS BABIES’ HEALTH

Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.— Steve Maraboli

The whole world is facing manyglobal problems which are

connected with each other direct-ly or indirectly and which, togeth-er, have created a very complex andgrave situation. These problems aretoo many and too well-known toneed any listing here. Till datemany solutions have been tried tosolve these problems but it hasbeen noticed that every solutionhas, in the process or at the end,created some new problems evenif it has partially solved the oldones. The solutions chosen or theremedies applied have been thesociety’s response to the situation,confronting it. Man’s response tothese problems, some of whichthreaten even the survival ofhumankind, generally emanatefrom his knowledge of some aca-demic disciplines and so, it istermed as economic, political,social, legal, technological or mil-itaristic response. Or, if it is basedon his intuition or common sense,it is called his intuitive or layman’sresponse.

Since there has been anunprecedented advancement inthe above mentioned and otherdisciplines during the last two cen-turies or more, it would be natur-al for anyone to expect that ourproblems should have gottensolved by now but the truthremains that we are nowhere nearcomplete or final solution. On theother hand, it is strange but truethat most of our problems haverisen during a period when ourknowledge of the academic disci-plines had tremendously beenincreasing and a larger and largernumber of people have beenreceiving high-level education. Infact, as our efforts to resolve prob-lems gain momentum our prob-lems have been multiplying insteadof abating. The reason why thesolutions, adopted by man, havebeen unable to fulfil his dream isnot only that the solutions havebeen piecemeal and of ad-hoc andfragmentary nature but what ismost important is that some essen-tial element, that should generatehappiness and inner satisfactionhas been missing. So, even afterstrenuous efforts and huge expen-diture, the result achieved has notbeen a lasting respite and relief.There is, therefore, the need toknow or to explore that missingelement. An analysis of humanaction, in general, would suggestthat our response is, invariably andalways, based on our belief system.There is no person, educated andcultured or rustic and unlettered,who does not have a set of beliefswhich serve as the springboard forhis behaviour and actions. Ourbelief system includes in it our cho-sen goal and our role model. Ourvalues also emerge from our beliefsystem. These together determineour perception and interpreta-tion of a given situation and formour outlook and attitude and lead,

finally, to our response or action. At present, our outlook, our

values, our attitudes and ouractions are often prompted by thebelief system that is built from ourknowledge of science and technol-ogy and other disciplines such aseconomics, politics, etc., and there-fore, our response is mainly mate-rialistic, secular, mundane or influ-enced by body-conscious. It is notmoral and spiritual or of a quali-ty higher. Our motives, goals andefforts are coloured by merelyworldly or material considera-tions and immediate concerns.They do not take into account thedurable gain and a higher, noblerexperience. They violate moral andspiritual laws for immediate gainand neglect the well being of thesoul to attain a short-lived, plea-surable, sensual experience. Ourpresent predicament thus is due tothis missing element which shouldelicit the soul-conscious or the spir-itual response.

Spiritual response is a blend ofvalues like universal love, goodwill,co-operation, concern for the well-being of mankind, based on theconstant and living awareness thatwe are souls and children of oneSupreme and are divine in ournature and origin. We must thusremember that without this kindof spiritual response, no problem,whether you call it political, eco-nomic, ethnic or by any othername, can be solved.

The current education system inIndia is perhaps slightly flawed

given its massive impetus on theo-retical learning alone. There is a lackof practical application and theconstant marathon to attain marksshatters the thirst of true learning.The aim of education must be todrive students to significantly con-tribute towards social and econom-ic growth. However, the current cur-riculum fails to accomplish this.

Internships in curriculum designThe current design is outdated

as students remain unprepared andunaware of how the economic,social or political sectors function.They are merely given a picture atface value but hardly have any per-spective on realistic problem solv-ing. The only way this practicalknowledge can be earned is viaincorporating internships in thecurriculum. It is the sole way to pushstudents to gain exposure in sever-

al industries and allow their vaguecareer choices to become clear.

The optimal goal must be toprepare a student for the organisa-tional world as much as possible.This would significantly reduce thecosts of training incurred by com-panies while providing enhancedgrowth prospects. In addition, it isthe vital experience gained from var-ious internships that elevatesprospects of attaining jobs via pre-placement offers in college. This isbeneficial for colleges as well sinceit is not possible for them to teacheverything.

Prior work experienceThere are certain concepts that

can be learnt only via practical expe-riences like work ethics, work-lifebalance and professionalism, whichcan’t be taught by academia. Hence,to an extent it can be said that theamount and quality of work expe-rience can overshadow the number

of degrees an individual has in thedynamic work environment today.Companies prefer to employ orrecruit candidates with quality workexperience prior to joining theirorganisation. This substantiallystrengthens the initial trust laid onthe candidates. Companies opt forthis method of recruitment where

field work is given more emphasisbecause it primarily saves time andeffort.

There exists a wide gap betweenthe demand of corporates today andthe supply of fresh talent where thelatter are unable to satiate the for-mer. This points to a lack in quali-ty experience in a particular field.

There are however leading institu-tions that have embarked on bridg-ing this gap by inculcating credits forinternships in the curriculum itself.This makes it mandatory for stu-dents to gain work experience eitherduring vacations or after collegehours.

It is thus advisable that schoolsand colleges urgently lay moreemphasis on internships andhands-on work experience. Ratherthan increasing the quantity of the-oretical assignments and projects,it is perhaps best to send studentsout into the real world to gain expe-rience that cannot possibly beattained within the walls of theclassroom. The sense of profession-alism can only be acquired throughexperience, which in turn makes amassive difference in an individual’sperformance later.

(The author is the founder ofa platform for connecting with

industry experts.)

India is a country which has his-torically been the most vegetari-an in the world but the recent

increase in meat consumption isalarming. Indeed, recent governmentstudies highlight this shift (reportinga clear decline in vegetarianism overthe last decade surveyed), and newsstories continue to confirm thesefindings.

But what does this all mean? Italked to my Indian colleagues, whohave been doing critical work in thefood justice space, to find out. Itseems that more Indians than everbefore are enthused about eatingmeat, often because they feel doingso reflects a more aspirational or pro-gressive way of life. Eating meat isperceived by some as saying no towhat they see as outmoded traditionsor religious doctrine, and saying yesto rationality, open-mindedness,innovativeness, progressivism andfreedom.

However, unbeknownst to most,this new meat-eating ethic is in someways regressive, often much more sothan the attitudes and practices theyassociate with the traditional vege-tarianism that they are rejecting. Plus,in the land that gave birth to the com-passionate value of ahimsa, this newethic is rooted squarely in himsa, andit brings with it the potential for

tremendous harm to India. Thenew trend toward eating meat is insome important ways a step back-ward, not forward. So, how is thisincrease in meat-eating fosteringthe opposite ideals to those that someIndians are claiming to embrace inthe name of modern values?

CARNISM: THE HIDDEN STORY

There is more to the story than mostpeople — Indians and Westernersalike — realise. Carnism is the invis-ible belief system, or ideology, thatconditions people to eat certain ani-mals. To better understand howentrenched carnism is, think of thecult-classic film The Matrix. In it, thecharacters believe themselves to beliving normal lives when in fact theyare hooked up to machines that haveimprisoned their minds. Like thematrix, carnism is invisible, so peo-ple don’t realise how the system hasshaped their attitudes, feelings andbehaviours — their whole perceptionof reality.

And carnism is a global system:in meat-eating cultures around theworld, people learn to think of asmall handful of animals as appro-priate to eat, deeming all other ani-mals off limits and often disgustingand even offensive to consume. Theonly thing that varies across cultures

is the type of species considered edi-ble. Most of us go through our entirelives and never wonder why we may,for instance, care about dogs but eatchickens, or care about a dog we’venamed but eat dogs who remainanonymous.

It relies on a set of psychologi-cal defence mechanisms that distortour thoughts and numb our feelingsso that we act against our core val-ues such as ahimsa and justice.

AN INVISIBLE, BLOOD-STAINED

INDUSTRY

And just what are the consequencesof carnism? For one, animal agricul-ture is a leading cause of extensiveharm to all animals (includinghumans) and to the natural environ-ment. More farmed animals areslaughtered in one week than thetotal number of people killed in allwars combined. Even contemporarydairy farming, which was originallymeant to honour the sacredness ofthe cow, follows brutal carnisticproduction methods whereby cowsand buffaloes are forcibly impregnat-ed, cruelly beaten and made to diepainful deaths. In addition, accord-ing to the Food Safety and StandardsAuthority of India, almost 70 per centof the dairy that Indians consume iscontaminated with additives, rang-

ing from water to salt to detergent.Furthermore, the World HealthOrganisation has linked meat con-sumption to some of the most preva-lent and deadly diseases in the worldtoday. The United Nations reportsthat animal agriculture is a key con-tributor to some of the most seriousenvironmental threats our planetfaces. The increase we’re seeing inmeat and dairy consumption inIndia forebodes a potentially massiveincrease in animal suffering, publichealth problems and pollution.

Carnism discourages our aware-ness of the problems it causes in partby teaching us to believe in a set ofmyths that I call the three Ns of jus-tification: eating meat is normal, nat-ural and necessary. And the three Nshave been used to justify all oppres-sive systems, including patriarchyand casteism. Moreover, these mythsare institutionalised, embraced andmaintained by all major institu-tions, from the family to the state. Sowhen we study nutrition, for exam-ple, we actually study carnistic nutri-tion.

Because carnism and its mythsare invisible, we don’t realise how ourthoughts, feelings and behaviourshave been guided by this ideology.Most people believe that eating meatreflects exercising their freedom ofchoice but in many ways it reallyreflects carnistic conditioning, whichis essentially another form of indoc-trination.

VEGANISM

But there is a way forward.Veganism, which is a new kind ofvegetarianism, is just beginning totake root in India. It is a rejection ofcarnism that is being exported by theWest to developing countries. Thisnew vegetarianism is at once future-oriented, critically informed, ratio-nal and compassionate. Indeed, it isbased on ahimsa, a value that isdeeply rooted in India than anywhereelse on earth.

You may be wondering how youcan help. I recommend, for those inpositions of privilege, people who areeconomically or geographically ableto choose what foods they consume,to try to be as vegan as possible. Thismeans reducing, and ideally eliminat-ing, your consumption of carnisticproducts. And it’s also important toinclude veganism in the critical con-versations about social justice andenvironmental sustainability thatare increasingly gaining attention.Since vegetarianism was birthed in India, what better place for thevegetarianism of the future to beraised?

(The author is a Harvard-edu-cated American psychologist.)

The problems the world faces will notget solved purely through academicknowledge. The search from within willcreate a peaceful humankind. By RAJYOGI

BRAHMAKUMAR NIKUNJ JI

CALL IT BY

ANOTHER NAME

There is noperson,educated andcultured orrustic andunlettered, whodoes not have aset of beliefswhich serve asthe springboardfor his behaviourand actions

BEYOND VEGETARIANISMIndia is where ahimsa should be followed more than anywhere else. Why then do we continue to kill certainanimals for eating, asks DR MELANIE JOY

India needs an educational overhaul where practical experience is given more importance. By NIKHIL CHAINANI

‘Internships should be mainstream’

MOST PEOPLEBELIEVE THATEATING MEAT

MEANS EXERCISING THEIR

FREEDOM OFCHOICE BUT INMANY WAYS IT

REALLY REFLECTSCARNISTIC

CONDITIONING,WHICH IS

ESSENTIALLYANOTHER FORM OF

INDOCTRINATION

Bollywood stars DEEPIKA

PADUKONE and RANVEER SINGH

were twinning in white as they leftfor Italy for their wedding in thepicturesque Lake Como nextweek.The actors were seen leaving theMumbai airport.Deepika, unper-turbed by thecrowd, smiledher way to theentry gate atthe airport andthen struck asmiling posefor the shutter-bugs, andRanveer foldedhis hands,expressing grat-itude for thelove.The bride-to-bewas dressed ina white skirt and a turtle necksweater and Ranveer was dressedformally in a bandhgala. His fam-ily members made their way intothe airport with huge bags.

Actress KELLY RIPA joked withhusband MARK CONSUELOS asshe began filming for Riverdaleas his mistress. After announcingthat she would be starring along-side her husband on the CWdrama, the two headed to worktogether and documented theirday on their respective Instagram

stories. “I'm usually against

his mistresses but thistime I'll make an excep-

tion,” Ripa joked.She shared a videofeaturing the mar-ried couple of 22years, where theymade awkward

small talk to createsexual tension.At one point, the“Live with Kelly andRyan” hostannounced that theduo was hangingout in her hus-band's trailer, towhich Consuelosresponded with:

“What couldpossibly gowrong?”

Deep-Veer headto Italy

Kelly beginsfilming with Mark

Ananya Panday,who will soon

make herBollywood debutwith Karan Johar’sStudent of theYear 2, has alreadyproved that she is afashionista in themaking. Over thepast year, her rangeof sartorial choiceshas been ratherimpressive. Theyoungster wasrecently spotted attending KaranJohar’s Diwali bash and her fresh takeon festive wear has caught our atten-tion. Styled by celebrity stylist AmiPatel, Ananya was seen wearing a pairof lime-hued flared trousers teamedwith a shimmery bralette top and a bellsleeves longline jacket. The matchingseparates from designer AnushkaKhanna’s Flash Dance collection wasfurther accessorised with an embell-ished belt. We think Ananaya’s outfitwas a breath of fresh air from the sarisand lehengas that most celebs wereseen donning during Diwali. Patel kepther accessorises minimal and styledher outfit with a pair of statementjhumkas from Minerali Store andpeep-toe heels. A dewy make-uppalette with pink lips, well-defined eyesand a sleek hairdo gave finishingtouches to her look. Ananya’s Diwalifashion statements has been nothingshort of stunning. Prior to this, shewas seen donning a gorgeous lehen-ga from Sabyasachi. The beige and sil-ver outfit teamed with golden chaand-balis looked lovely on her. She alsoadded a pop of colour to her look withred lips.

Excessive use of social mediaincluding Facebook, Snapchat,

and Instagram is associated withpoor well-being which could lead todepression and loneliness, researchershave warned.

The study, published in theJournal of Social and ClinicalPsychology, showed that limitingscreen time on these apps couldboost one’s wellness.

“When you are not busy gettingsucked into clickbait social media, youare actually spending more time onthings that are more likely to makeyou feel better about your life,” saidMelissa Hunt from the University ofPennsylvania in the US.

For the study, researchers fromthe varsity, included 143 undergrad-uate participants.

The team designed their experi-ment to include the three platformsmost popular with the participants.

They collected objective usagedata automatically tracked by iPhonesfor active apps, not those running inthe background, and asked respon-dents to complete a survey to deter-mine mood and well-being.

The participants were then ran-domly assigned to a control group,which had users maintain their typ-ical social-media behaviour, or anexperimental group that limited timeon Facebook, Snapchat, andInstagram to 10 minutes per platformper day.

In addition, the participantsshared iPhone battery screenshots forthe next three weeks to give theresearchers weekly tallies for eachindividual.

The team then looked at sevenoutcome measures including fear ofmissing out (FOMO), anxiety, depres-sion, and loneliness.

The results showed that using lesssocial media than you normallywould lead to significant decrease inboth depression and loneliness.

However, young people agedbetween 18 to 22 should not stopusing social media altogether, suggest-ed the findings.

“Because these tools are here tostay, it is incumbent on society to fig-ure out how to use them in a way thatlimits damaging effects,” Hunt noted.

Are you depressed?

vivacity 14LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018

T E C H T A L K

Teams of elite chefs vie to impress theworld’s toughest palates as they whip up

iconic dishes from nine nations in this star-packed competition. The show features 12teams by two chefs as they compete in dif-ferent challenges, winners of which will thenhave a chance to compete at the final table,featuring chefs such as Enrique Olvera,Grant Achatz, Yoshihiro Narisawa andAnne-Sophie Pic as the chef judges who willpick a final winner.

Each episode will focus on a country ofone of the judges, taking in local cuisine, cul-ture and traditions along the way. Amongthe nine judges are Anne-Sophie Pic fromFrance, Andoni Aduriz from Spain, CarloCracco from Italy, Clare Smyth from the UK,Enrique Olvera from Mexico, Grant Achatzfrom the USA, Helena Rizzo from Brazil,Yoshihiro Narisawa from Japan, and VineetBhatia from India.

The show releases on Netflix onNovember 20.

Witness the birth of the Mexicandrug war in the 1980s as the new

Narcos saga chronicles the true story ofGuadalajara Cartel.

Led by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo(Diego Luna), we’re going to witness thetragic events that unfold as American DEAagent Kiki Camarena (Michael Peña) andother Narcos officials try to dismantle it.

Before becoming the most powerfulfigure in the Mexican cocaine trade,Gallardo sees potential among Mexico’sindependent and relatively disorganisedmarijuana growers. Unlike more flam-boyant cartel leaders like Pablo Escobar,Gallardo is quiet and focussed as he useshis business sense and high-poweredconnections to build a confederation ofgrowers and dealers.

Describing his character in theseries, Luna said that Gallardo’s story isneither black nor white. “It is not astereotypical drug dealer that we have

seen before. Definitely not a cliche. Heis much more of a businessman. He isone step ahead of everyone. The storyis not black and white. His story staysin the grey areas,” he said.

Keeping the show authentic, it willhave actors speak in their native lan-guage and also in English. Talkingabout having subtitles in the show,Luna said that it was one of the thingsthat he celebrated. “If you are going totell a story then you should be authen-tic and respect the context, and whenyou show respect to stories like that,people appreciate it. I grew up watchingcinema with subtitles, and for me it wasnormal,” he added. Starring MichaelPeña, Diego Luna, Tenoch Huerta, theshow is created by Carlo Bernard, ChrisBrancato, Doug Miro.

The series is set to release on Netflixon November 16.

(With agency inputs)

Not everybody who marries ismeant to be a parent. Wemarry, plan our lives and

eventually even have children butwhat if we discover much later thatraising a child is not our cup of tea?Or that we assumed it to be a nat-ural task of life?

Director Vinod Kapri exploresa dark fear and urban nightmare inPihu, the story of a little girl con-fined, or may be trapped, in herapartment, doing her own thingunpoliced and unwatched, as shetries to draw the attention of herdead mother on the bed, the adultprobably a victim of domestic vio-lence. The trailer showed us how thetwo-year-old child roams andwrecks a house as she goes abouttrying to cook, entertain herself andin the end almost tips over a bal-cony! So is this film about parentalnegligence, domestic violence or asocietal numbness to the needs ofits young? Kapri does not confirmany theory but says that in the endthe film deals with family concernsand is definitely not a thriller.

The film grabbed eyeballs whenpeople got calls from a crying childand then the phone line went dead.On calling back people heard apromo for Pihu. While some peo-ple were offended, Kapri said thatbeing a former journalist he knowsthat it was a good way to go forwardas those from the profession like tofocus on negative stories. “I hopethat those who were offended alsocome to watch the film. When youhave a single protagonist smallbudget film, you try innovativesales methods,” says he.

The germ for the story came tohim while he contemplated what

his pet does when his family goesout for a couple of hours or whenhe heard of maids leaving childrenalone at home for a few hours, tak-ing advantage of the fact that bothparents were working profession-als. But the idea of this film cameto him when he heard about a four-and-a-half-year-old boy in Delhibeing trapped at home for days.Asked if he was inspired byRajkummar Rao’s Trapped, he saidthat Rao’s film was shot after Pihu,which was shot in 2015 when theyoung actor was only two.

“There are many single protag-onist films like Buried, 127 Hoursbut this one is unique since we seeit through the eyes of a child,” hetells us.

The woman we see in the trail-er is her real mother PrernaVishwakarma, a journalist. Prernaand Rohit Vishwakarna helpedKapri understand the young child,whom he met when she was onlyone year and eight months old. Herinnocence was an immediate pulland he ended up amending hisscript to fit the thinking of a child.

“I had a screenplay ready by thetime I met her but I spent monthsobserving and engaging with herwhich led me to change the screen-play because with a child you can’texpect them to give multiple retakes.We used three cameras to shoot themovie over 33 days during whichher parents were on set with us,” hesays.

Despite the hints of domesticviolence that the trailer showed us,he called it a family film that canbe watched by everyone. The filmhas received an U certificationalready. Asked if he thinks India is

ready to watch a film on parentalnegligence and guilt, he refuses toconfirm if that is the subject of thefilm but says that not everybody ismeant to be a parent even if that’swhat society expects of marriedcouples. He did not think of delib-erately exploring dark fears ofpeople living in the urbanscapewhen making Pihu but knew intu-itively that this was a subject thatneeds to be dealt with.

Maybe, the film, backed bySiddharth Roy Kapur and RonnieScrewvala, would put the audienceon toes about child safety in Indiaor it could be only a thrilling enter-tainer. Either way, the trailer is proofof how many heartstrings the filmhas the potential to pull.

Kapur, who has produced themovie, says, “He (Kapri) has kept itso gripping, so edge of the seat... It’slike a thriller but a very emotionalfilm at the same time and I think ouraudience will find it a very uniqueexperience. Ronnie Screwvala andI both watched it and decided thatthis is something we would definite-ly have to back.”

The special screening of the filmhere saw Union Science andTechnology Minister HarshVardhan Harsh Vardha, Congressleader Rajeev Shukla, BJP’s Delhichief Manoj Tiwari, Rajya Sabha MPAmar Singh and more in atten-dance.

According to a statement,Shukla said after the screening: “Iwas not expecting that this film willbe such a shocker; it takes time foryou to absorb the incidents happen-ing in the film. The girl has done afantastic job and it is worth show-ing on an international platform.”

China is set to overtakeFrance as the world’s

number one tourist destina-tion by 2030 as a growingmiddle class in Asia looks tospend more on travel, accord-ing to experts at marketresearch group EuromonitorInternational.

In a report published at anindustry conference inLondon, Euromonitor said itis predicting that there will be1.4 billion trips made in 2018,up by five per cent from thelast year. Stronger growth inmany major economies meansindustry receipts will rise byan estimated 11 per cent.

By 2030, internationalarrivals are expected to haverisen by another billion, cor-responding to around $2.6trillion in receipts. China isexpected to have overtakenFrance by then to become theworld’s number one traveldestination.

Much of the sustainedboom in travel and tourism,which has outpaced growth inthe global economy for eightyears, is centered in the Asia-Pacific region, where trips areexpected to grow by 10 percent this year. The region hasbenefited from rapidly grow-ing economies as well as anexpanding middle class thatseeks to spend disposableincome on leisure.

Euromonitor’s senior trav-el analyst, Wouter Geerts saidthe gradual process of loosen-ing visa restrictions has madetravelling in the region easier,with 80 per cent of arrivals inAsia originating from theregion. He also said that sport-ing events will likely boost theregion further, with Tokyohosting the 2020 SummerOlympic Games and Beijingthe 2022 winter event.

“Tourism is a key pillar ofthe Chinese economy, andmuch investment has beenmade to improve infrastruc-ture and standards, in additionto tourism-friendly policiesand initiatives,” he said. Otherbright spots in the forecast arecountries like Egypt, Tunisiaand Turkey, which have seen

sharp falls in tourist numbersover the past few years linkedto security concerns.

Egypt, in particular,appears to be doing well, fol-lowing a long period ofdecline largely linked to thepolitical upheaval since a pop-ular uprising in 2011 and thedowning of a Russian passen-ger plane over Egypt’s Sinaipeninsula in 2015 by an affil-iate of the Islamic State group,killing 224 people.

Though Egypt’s bookingswere up 134 percent in 2017-18 from the year before,according to Euromonitor,the industry is still short ofwhere it was in 2010. Egyptiangovernment figures show 8million tourists visited thecountry last year, way downon the 14 million recorded in2010.

Europe is also provingresilient and growing strong-ly despite economic and polit-ical turmoil in some countriesand a slew of extremist attacksin recent years.

One source of uncertain-ty for the outlook centers onBrexit. A ‘no-deal’ Brexit,which would see Britaincrashing out of the EuropeanUnion in March, would seemillions opting to stay athome — an estimated 5 mil-lion in 2022 — rather thanbook overseas holidays, thereport says. That would havea ripple effect across manydestinations, notably in Spain,where UK travellers accountfor around a fifth of thetourist-related revenues.Euromonitor also warned thatthe US tourism industry couldface a hit if the trade tensionsbetween the US and Chinaescalate.

—AP

Social media use linked to depression,loneliness, says a study

W E B B E D

NARCOS: MEXICOTHE FINAL TABLE

According to a report, the Middle Kingdomwill be a tourist favourite by 2030 becauseof rising spends in the region, friendlyinitiatives and hospitality infrastructure

China to overtake

France as top hotspot

WHOSE

WORST

NIGHTMARE?

Pihu director VINOD KAPRI talks to ASMITA

SARKAR about a dark reality of urban nuclear

homes and its impact on children

‘I HAD ASCREENPLAY

READY BY THETIME I MET PIHU

BUT I SPENTMONTHS

OBSERVING ANDENGAGING WITHHER WHICH LEDME TO CHANGE

THE SCREENPLAYBECAUSE WITH ACHILD YOU CAN’TEXPECT THEM TO

GIVE MULTIPLERETAKES’

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018 sport 15

CHIDI GIFTS NEROCA FIRST WIN IN I LEAGUE

Srinagar: Felix Chidis brace helped Neroca FC totaste their first win of the I-League as they defeatedReal Kashmir FC 2-0 on Sunday. In the 28th minute, afine cross from Ashok Singh from the left landed rightin front of Felix Chidi who made no mistakes in puttinghis foot forward to help the ball slide into the goalwithout any worry ensuring that Neroca FC draw thefirst blood in the high paced first half of the game.Neroca FC doubled their lead in the 74th minute whenanother defensive lapse by Real Kashmir saw FelixChidi make no mistakes in earning his second goal ofthe day. Neroca FC now with one win, two draws andone loss has five points and is placed fourth while RealKashmir FC is now placed sixth in the I-League point'stable.

NO1 MOMOTA WINS CHINA OPEN TOURNEY

Shanghai: World champion Kento Momota wonbadminton's Fuzhou China Open on Sunday to addanother title to his already spectacular season. Japan'sworld number one survived a spirited challenge fromTaiwan's Chou Tien-chen, defeating the fourth seed21-13, 11-21, 21-16 in 66 minutes. The 24-year-oldMomota collapsed to the court floor and lay on hisback exhausted after finally seeing off Chou. Momotahas been in scorching form this year, winning theWorld Championships, the Asia Championships andnow four events on the World Tour. His defeat of Chouwas a repeat of the Denmark Open final in October,when the explosive Momota similarly prevailed inthree games. He is now set to compete at Hong KongOpen. He is drawn to face ageing former number oneLin Dan of China in his opening match.

INJURED CHANDIMAL OUT OF 2ND ENG TEST

Colombo: Sri Lanka's skipper Dinesh Chandimal willmiss the second Test against England after injuringhimself in the opening match of the series, the cricketboard said on Sunday. It is also doubtful he will returnfor the third and final Test after being ruled out bydoctors for two weeks, Sri Lanka Cricket said. SurangaLakmal will lead Sri Lanka while Charith Asalanka willbe inducted into the team as a replacement.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka team manager CharithSenanayake quit for "personal reasons" and wasreplaced by Jeryl Woutersz, the SLC said. The nextTest against England begins from Wednesday atPallekele and the final match will be in Colombo fromNovember 23 to 27.

GHOSAL WINS KOLKATA INT’L SQUASH

Kolkata: Saurav Ghosal held his nerves to overcomesecond seed Zahed Salem of Eygpt in a tense five-game final to retain his crown in the KolkataInternational invitational squash meet here on Sunday.Locked 2-2, Ghosal showed his class in the decisivegame to seal the issue 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5in a 86-minute contest. "It was quite a nervy affair.There were some questionable calls. For that I got a bitrattled," Ghosal said criticising the standard ofrefereeing. "The entire ecosystem has to change. Weneed to educate everyone as the youngsters arewatching these games," Ghosal, who will compte in atournament in Hong Kong next week, said.

DANANJAYA REPORTED FOR SUSPICIOUS ACTION

Colombo: Sri Lanka off-spinner Akila Dananjaya wasreported over a suspect bowling action during the firstTest which England won by 211 runs, the InternationalCricket Council said on Sunday. "Dananjaya's bowlingaction will now be scrutinised further under the ICCprocess relating to suspected illegal bowling actionsreported in Tests, ODIs and T20Is," the governing bodyof the sport said in a statement. Dananjaya, 25, tooktwo wickets giving away 184 runs in the match thatconcluded in four days at Galle on Friday. Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n CHENNAI

Left-handed batsman NicholasPooran's quick-fire half-cen-tury powered West Indies to a

competitive 181 for 3 in the thirdand final T20 International againstIndia here on Sunday.

Pooran blasted four boundariesand as many sixes in his 25-ball

unbeaten innings. His blis-tering 87-run unbeatenpartnership in 43 ballswith fellow southpawDarren Bravo (43 off 37balls) enabled the team

move from 94 for 3 to181 in the allotted 20overs.

Reeling after twocrushing defeats, the West

Indies showed the stomachto fight as they batted with

a lot more purpose at the M AChidambaram stadium here.

Pooran, who has been on thefringes for a while and did well in theCaribbean Premier League (CPL),showed why he is rated highly, bat-ting with a lot of enterprise.

He wasn't afraid to go for hisshots and also employed the switch-hit on a few occasions, includinghammering a six off Chahal. Bravooffered him great support and hit acouple of big sixers of his own.

Chahal, who got a lot of turn offthe wicket, was the most successfulIndian bowler with 2 for 28 from hisfour overs, but faced the heattowards the end when Pooran andBravo went on the attack.

Washington Sundar, who tookthe wicket of Denesh Ramdin (15),was the other wicket-taker.

Young pacer Khaleel Ahmedhad a good start to his spell but hecouldn't make much of an impres-sion. Experienced Bhuvneshwar

Kumar too remained without wick-ets.

Earlier, openers ShimronHetmyer (26) and Shai Hope (24)got the visitors off to a brisk start andlooked to score from the word goafter captain Carlos Brathwaite wonthe toss and elected to bat.

Hetmyer, one of the success sto-ries of the series for the Windies,cracked the first boundary in thesecond over bowled by WashingtonSundar. Hope too got into the act inthe next over from Khaleel.

The stylish right-hander hit thefirst six of the innings, loftingKrunal Pandya over long-on. He

perished in going for another big hit,caught on the boundary by Sundaroff Yuzvendra Chahal's first ball ofthe match. His contribution was 24in a first wicket partnership of 51.

Hetmyer slammed four bound-aries and a six in his 21-ball 26 butwas dismissed when trying to cut adelivery from Chahal. The ballbounced a little more than thesouthpaw expected and his shot wassnaffled by Pandya.

India brought in Chahal andSundar for Kuldeep Yadav andJasprit Bumrah, who have beenrested while West Indies retained theXI that played in Lucknow.

AFP n HOBART

David Miller and Faf du Plessisplundered big-hitting centuries

in a batting masterclass as SouthAfrica beat Australia by 40 runs towin their one-day series and inflictanother defeat on Justin Langer'smisfiring side.

The pair shared in a 252-runstand to power the Proteas to 320-5 in the third and final match inHobart - a record fourth wicket part-nership by South Africa against thehosts in Australia.

They came together at 55-3 inthe 16th over with Miller swatting139 for his fifth limited-overs cen-tury and du Plessis smashing 125 —his 10th one-day ton.

A composed Shaun Marshcracked a fighting 106 in the runchase, ably supported by MarcusStoinis (63) and Alex Carey (42) - an

improvement on recent batting dis-plays but still not good enough.

Pace spearheads Kagiso Rabadaand Dale Steyn both took threewickets. The victory handed SouthAfrica their first ODI series win inAustralia since 2009.

After winning the toss andputting the visitors into bat, Australiagot a dream start with Quinton deKock out in the third over.

And after few more setbacks,hard-hitting Miller joined skipper duPlessis and the scoreboard began rac-ing along.

Du Plessis was dropped on 29and Miller escaped an lbw dis-missal on 41 that was overturned onreview.

They made the most of their sec-ond lives and began swinging theirbats as du Plessis reached his centuryin 105 balls with 11 fours and onesix before falling to Stoinis going for

another big hit at the death.Miller made the landmark in 95

balls, including eight fours and twosixes, and was finally caught atdeep midwicket off Josh Hazlewoodin the last over.

Australia experimented withChris Lynn as opener for the runchase, but it spectacularly backfiredwhen Steyn snared him for a gold-en duck. Australia's woes werecompounded when Aaron Finchsoon followed him back to thepavillon.

It was down to Marsh andStoinis to open their shoulders andlook for boundaries. They put on animpressive 107 before Stoinis wascaught at backward point.

Carey supported Marsh as hemade his sixth one-day ton in 98balls, with six fours and four sixes,before he was caught at deep mid-wicket and hope began to evaporate.

AFP n DHAKA

Mominul Haque andMushfiqur Rahim shared

a record partnership with cen-turies apiece to put Bangladeshin a strong position in the sec-ond Test against Zimbabwe inDhaka on Sunday.

Mominul made 161 whileMushfiqur added an unbeaten111 as Bangladesh reached 303-5 at stumps on the opening dayat Sher-e-Bangla NationalStadium.

Mominul and Mushfiqur

shared 266 runs in their fourthwicket stand, helpingBangladesh bounce back from26-3 to cross the 200-run markfor the first time in their last nineTest innings.

Mominul faced 242 ballsand hit 19 fours in his seventhTest century, while Mushfiqursmashed nine fours for his sixthTest hundred.

They surpassedBangladesh's previous record-high for a fourth wicket stand of180 runs, shared by Mominuland Liton Das against Sri Lanka

earlier this year.After some early success,

Zimbabwe had to wait for thesecond new ball to break thepartnership, when TendaiChatara forced Mominul to givea catch at gully to Brian Chari.

Kyle Jarvis removed night-watchman Taijul Islam for fourin the penultimate over of theday to give Zimbabwe a boostbefore stumps.

Zimbabwe, buoyed by their151-run victory in Sylhet —their first Test win in five years— applied pressure in the firsthour through their seamers andwere rewarded early.

The visitors hammeredBangladesh in the morning ses-sion as paceman Jarvis removedopeners Imrul Kayes and Litonwhile Donald Tiripano handeddebutant Mohammad Mithun aduck.

Jarvis forced an inside edgeform Imrul Kayes to earn thefirst breakthrough as wicket-keeper Regis Chakabva tookthe catch. Imrul, who faced 16balls, was unable to open hisaccount.

Fellow opener Liton pickedout the midwicket fielderMavuta after he flicked Jarvis inthe bowler's next over.

PTI n KOLKATA

Indian bowlers pinned Pakistandown for most part of their

innings before allowing them towriggle out for 133 for 7 in theirICC Women's World T20 matchhere Sunday.

Opting to field after winningthe toss, India made a great startwith the ball, reducing Pakistanto 30 for 3 in the seventh over.

Pakistan made a fine recov-ery thanks to half centuries fromBismah Maroof (53) and NidaDar (52) as the duo stitched 93runs for the fourth wicket to taketheir side to a competitive total.

Opening bowler ArundhatiReddy immediately gave India thebreakthrough by having AyeshaZafar caught at the slips by VedaKrishnamurthy for nought inthe final delivery of the firstover.

Pakistan were yet to openaccount then and they couldhave been in a worse situationhad Smriti Mandhana notdropped captain Javeria Khan inthe third over.

But two run-outs in the spaceof three overs gave India theupper hand. First an outstandingdirect throw from 18-year oldJemimah Rodrigues sentUmaima Sohail back to the pavil-ion in the fourth over while cap-tain Javeria witnessed the samefate in the seventh over after amixed-up.

Pakistan were on the ropes

but India allowed them to gaingrounds by having three droppedcatches. All the three were regu-lation catches.

Veda Krishnamurthydropped Nida Dar while on 15 inthe 11th over. Poonam Yadavdropped the same batswoman inthe 13th over when she was on 23.The next over, Poonam made amess of a Bismah Maroof skier asshe completely misjudged the tra-jectory of the ball.

Pakistan were still not out ofthe woods as they could onlyreach 53 for 3 at the half-waystage but the sloppy Indian field-ing allowed their two batswomenDar and Maroof to gain in con-fidence.

The Pakistani duo began tohit boundaries at regular intervalsand both reached to their fiftiestowards the end of the innings.Maroof was the first to reach toher fifty in the 17th over whileDar did the same in the next over.

But both were out in thesame 19th over in the space ofthree balls with DayalanHemalatha picking the two wick-ets. Poonam Yadav then scalpedtwo Pakistani wickets in the finalover — that of Aliya Riaz (4) andSana Mir (0).

Pakistan were penalised forfive runs twice during theirinnings for their batswomen run-ning on the danger area. Thus, 10runs will be added to India'sinnings when they come out tobat.

AFP n LONDON

GKevin Anderson overpow-ered Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-

6 (12/10) to win his ATP Finalsopener on Sunday as RogerFederer prepared to launch hisbid for the 100th title of his sto-ried career.

South African giantAnderson came into the matchwith a healthy 6-2 lead overThiem in head-to-heads but hadlost their two most recent meet-ings, including a straight-setsdefeat at the US Open.

The Wimbledon finalist,who stands at 2.03 metres (sixfeet eight inches) tall, estab-lished an early grip on the matchat London's O2 arena, dominat-ing the early exchanges andsecuring the crucial break.

The 32-year-old, making hisdebut at the season finale, won84 percent of his points on servein the first set, compared withjust 58 percent for his raggedAustrian opponent.

Thiem tightened up hisgame in the second set andlooked far more aggressive, withhis serving numbers rocketinghigher but Anderson held firmto take the set into a tie-break.

In a see-saw tie-break, 25-year-old Thiem had two chancesto level the match but Andersonkept his cool to seal the victorywith an ace on his fourth matchpoint.

In the later match in theLleyton Hewitt group, secondseed and six-time championRoger Federer takes on Japan'sKei Nishikori.

The title is contested bythe eight players whohave accumulated themost ranking pointsover the season and isin a round-robin for-mat, with the best fourplayers reaching theknockout semi-finals stage.

World num-ber one NovakDjokovic, whoheads the GugaKuerten group,will be in actionon Monday

against John Isner whileAlexander Zverev takes onMarin Cilic.

Djokovic, who is gunning fora sixth title to equal Federer'srecord, has stormed back to thetop of men's tennis from theunlikely position of 22nd in theworld as recently as June, win-ning Wimbledon and the USOpen along the way.

In the second game of theopening day in the season endtourney, Australian Openchampion Roger Federer willstart his campaign for his

record 100th title in ATP circuitwhen he face US Open

semifinalist KeiNishikore, who

made it to thet o u r n a m e n t

after US Openfinalist JunaMartin delPotro with-

draws afterinjury.

WINDIES WHITEWASHED

AFTER LAST-BALL FINISH

Dhawan, Pant score fifties as India wrap three match series against world champions

Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant during the 3rd and final T20 match against West Indies in Chennai on Sunday PTI

Mominul Haque plays a shot during his 161 run innings against Zimbabwe ICC

David Miller congratulates Faf du Plessis after SA skipper reaches his 10th ODI century; (right) South African players pose with the trophy AP

Nicholas Pooran plays ashot during his quickfire53-run innings againstIndia in the final gameof the three match T20series at Chennai PTI

SHIMRON HETMYER (26)AND SHAI HOPE (24) GOTTHE VISITORS OFF TO A

BRISK START ANDLOOKED TO SCORE FROM

THE WORD GO AFTERCAPTAIN CARLOS

BRATHWAITE WON THETOSS AND ELECTED TO

BAT

Dar, Maroof fifties liftPakistan to 133

Mominul, Rahim put

B’desh in command

Miller, du Plessis plunder

tons as SA win series

Anderson beats Thiem in ATP Finals Wimbledon finalist upsets Dominic in straight sets on his maiden game in tour finals

AFP n MILAN

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipascapped a breakthrough

season by rallying from a setdown to beat Australian Alexde Minaur in the Next GenATP final on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Tsitsipas,ranked 15th in the world, camethrough 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (7/3), 4-3 (7/3) against 19-year-old deMinaur after one hour and 41minutes for his second title afterStockholm last month.

Tsitsipas, one of the sport'smost improved players thisyear after starting the seasonranked 91st, also finished run-ner-up to Rafael Nadal inBarcelona and Toronto.

The top seed claimed thetitle by winning all five of his

matches during the week, tosucceed South Korea's ChungHyeon, who won the inaugur-al edition last year in whichTsitsipas only played an exhi-bition match.

Tsitsipas wins Next Gen Final

PRAGUE: Katerina Siniakova wonthe first reverse singles on Sundayto lead the Czech Republic to itssixth Fed Cup title in eight years.Siniakova defeated Sofia Kenin 7-5,5-7, 7-5 to give the Czechs aninsurmountable 3-0 lead over thedefending champion United Statesin the best-of-five final.In a hard-fought battle that lastedmore than three and a half hours,the 22-year-old Czech saved twomatch points and converted hersecond match point on an indoorhardcourt at the sold out O2 Arena.On Saturday, Barbora Strycovarallied for a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 victoryover Kenin to put the Czechs 1-0ahead and Siniakova doubled theadvantage with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) winover Alison Riske. AP

Czechs beat US 3-0

in Fed Cup final

LUCKNOW | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 12, 2018 sport 16

AFP n LIVERPOOL

Liverpool returned to the top ofthe Premier League table —temporarily at least — with a

2-0 win at home to basement clubFulham at Anfield on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp's side continuedtheir unbeaten start to the PremierLeague season as Mohamed Salah'seighth goal this term and a secondfrom the recalled Xherdan Shaqirihelped them equal their best startto a campaign.

While the scoreline suggesteda comfortable victory, the gameappeared to turn on a controversialdecision five minutes before half-time.

Fulham captain Tom Cairney'scurling cross was headed home bySerbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovicbut the linesman's flag was up foroffside.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alissonquickly passed the ball to TrentAlexander-Arnold whose perfectpass released Salah to put the ballin the Fulham net seconds after thevisitors' thought they had taken thelead.

Fulham's sense of injustice willonly have been heightened whenreplays suggested Mitrovic's effortcould well have been allowed tostand, with the London club seem-ingly on the wrong end of the kindof decision that so often goesagainst teams at the bottom of thetable.

Liverpool, however, might sug-gest they were due some luckafter an incorrect flag haddenied them a possible vic-tory over Arsenal a weekearlier.

After an impeccably-observed minute's silence tomark the centenary of theArmistice in World War I,it was Liverpool who start-ed the stronger.

Alexander-Arnold's lowcross eventually found Sadio Maneand he should have done betterwith a shot which drifted well wide.

Roberto Firmino, operating inthe hole behind Salah, found spaceto feed Shaqiri, whose shot flew justwide of the post.

Liverpool manager Klopp hadasked his team to rediscover the joyin their football following theirshock midweek Champions Leaguedefeat by Red Star Belgrade, and italmost arrived 15 minutes in.

Salah and Firmino twiceexchanged give-and-goes to cut

Fulham apart but Sergio Ricowas swiftly off his line todeny the Egyptian.

Liverpool continued topress, with Fabinho's fine

diagonal headed over byAlexander-Arnold, whileSalah's powerful drive froma narrow angle was turned

away by Rico.Indeed a rare mistake from Joe

Gomez presented Fulham with thegame's best chance midwaythrough the half.

The England defender failed todeal with Mitrovic's header, allow-ing Ryan Sessegnon to close in on

goal but he somehow pulled hisshot wide with only Alisson to beat.

Fulham were encouraged anda few minutes later AndreSchurrle's drive was spilled byAlisson, with a timely interventionby Virgil van Dijk required toclear the danger.

But Salah's opener allowedLiverpool to gain control and theyunderlined their dominance eightminutes into the second half whena short corner routine saw AndyRobertson's curling cross find anunmarked Shaqiri, who scoredwith a fine volley.

This defeat was Fulham's sev-enth successive loss in all compe-titions and sixth in a row in theleague. And while their perfor-mance at Anfield was far betterthan last week's showing atHuddersfield, this result will do lit-tle to ease the pressure on manag-er Slavisa Jokanovic.

HAMILTON CLAIMS MERCEDES' 100TH POLESau Paulo: Record-breaking Lewis Hamilton claimed his 10thpole of the season and Mercedes' 100th in Formula One onSaturday when he dominated a rain-threatened qualifying sessionfor Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. The new five-time worldchampion clocked a track record best lap in one minute and

7.281 seconds on his second run in the final session to boost hishopes of a rare Interlagos victory and Mercedes bid for a fifthstraight teams' title. That lifted him clear of Sebastian Vettel ofFerrari by almost one-tenth of a second with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who took pole last year, third ahead of KimiRaikkonen in the second Ferrari. The leading four drivers were

scrapping for any advantage for their teams as Ferrari bid to out-score Mercedes by 13 points to keep alive their bid to stop themretaining the constructors' championship. It was a record-increasing 82nd pole for Hamilton, who has won only once inBrazil, in 2016, and the first time he has taken a pole position inany races after he has won the championship.

SEE OFF STRUGGLERS

SALAH AND

SHAQIRI

SALAH'S OPENERALLOWED LIVERPOOL TO

GAIN CONTROL ANDTHEY UNDERLINED THEIR

DOMINANCE EIGHTMINUTES INTO THE

SECOND HALF WHEN ASHORT CORNER

ROUTINE SAW ANDYROBERTSON'S CURLING

CROSS FIND ANUNMARKED SHAQIRI,WHO SCORED WITH A

FINE VOLLEY Juan Foyth, center, celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game during their English Premier League match against Crystal Palace atSelhurst Park; (top) Xherdan Shaqiri celebrates after scoring Liverpool’s second goal against Fulham at Anfield Premier League

Attacking duo strikes to get Reds

back to winning ways against Fulham;

Chelsea play draw against Everton

AFP n DORTMUND

Paco Alcacer scored the winner asBundesliga leaders Borussia

Dortmund twice came from behind tobeat defending champions BayernMunich 3-2 and move seven pointsclear of their third-placed rivals.

The result on Saturday piles addedpressure on Bayern head coach NikoKovac, as his side's chances of winninga seventh straight title in his first sea-son in charge took another blow.

"We allowed ourselves to be beat-en twice on the counter, that should-n't have happened,"said Kovac. "We shouldhave been more com-pact and unfortunatelywe lost a game whichshould have been adraw," he added afterRobert Lewandowskihad two second-halfgoals disallowed for offside. Bayernhave now been beaten in three of theirlast six Bundesliga games after defeatsby Hertha Berlin and BorussiaMoenchengladbach, managing justeight points from the last 21 available.Lucien Favre's Dortmund remainunbeaten and four points clear of sec-ond-placed Gladbach at the top of thetable. After Lewandowski twice gaveBayern the lead at Signal Iduna Parkagainst his former club, Dortmund cap-tain Marco Reus hit two equalisersbefore substitute Alcacer struck in the73rd minute. "We didn't trust ourselvesin the first half, but we played awesomefootball after the break and it was greatfun," said Reus. Alcacer has now scoredeight goals in six league appearancessince signing on loan from Barcelona.

Bayern took a deserved lead whenSerge Gnabry curled in a cross for

Lewandowski to power a header paststand-in Dortmund goalkeeperMarwin Hitz on 26 minutes. It was 1-0 at the break, but Dortmund drew levelwhen Manuel Neuer brought Reusdown in the area in the 49th minuteand the skipper calmly converted thepenalty. Lewandowski restored thelead three minutes later, heading homehis second — his 14th goal in 16 match-es for Bayern against Dortmund, whohe left in 2014 on a free transfer. Reushad a chance cleared off the line on 59minutes, just before Lewandowski hadthe ball in the Dortmund net, but was

flagged for offside.

TENSE FINISHIt was end-to-end stuff as

Alcacer, then Reus blew goldenchances before both madeamends with goals. Reus final-ly fired Dortmund level whenhe volleyed home a Lukasz

Piszczek cross in the 67th minute. Thenwhen Franck Ribery gave the ballaway, Alcacer showed some classy fin-ishing by rounding Neuer to putDortmund ahead for the first time.Bayern kept the pressure on during atense five minutes of added time.Lewandowski had the ball in the net fora fourth time, but again the flag wentup for offside to the delight of the homefans in the sell-out 81,365 crowd."That was a crazy game, a great advertfor the Bundesliga and the win wasn'tundeserved," said Dortmund bossFavre. Earlier, Alassane Plea scored aquickfire hat-trick for second-placedGladbach, who are three points aheadof Bayern, in their 3-1 win at WerderBremen. Ten-man Hertha Berlin, wholike Bremen have seen their title aspi-rations fall apart, crashed to a 4-1 defeatat struggling Fortuna Duesseldorf.

Marco Reus, from left,Franck Ribery and Leon Goretzka challenge for the ball AP

Alcacer scripts epic

Dortmund comeback