Maharashtra CM assures complete farm loan waiverNCP president Sharad Pawar, who is chairman of the institute, was also present. During his speech, Thackeray took a dig at former chief

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RNI: MAHENG/2017/74287www.acrossstates.com

Year:3 Issue : 22 Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020 Rs.5/- Pages- 24 Editor in Chief : Sanjay M. Bhaire

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PM slams those who

damaged public property in

UP during anti-CAA protests

Christmas festivitiesbegin across Goa

Census, NPR: Objectives,

characteristics,

differences

Maharashtra CM assurescomplete farm loan waiver

PuneMaharashtra Chief Minister

Uddhav Thackeray on Wednes-day assured a complete farm loanwaiver in the state.

Thackeray's statement came aday after the Shiv Sena- led gov-ernment formally approved a loanwaiver scheme under which short-term crop loan up to Rs 2 lakhtaken by farmers between April 1,2015 to March 31, 2019, will bewritten off.

Under the scheme, short-termrestructured crop loan arrears upto September 30, 2019, will alsobe waived.

"We have waived loansworth Rs 2 lakh (per farmer) asimmediate relief to cultivators.But we will also make sure thattheir entire (crop) loan iswaived," Thackeray said.

He was addressing the an-nual general meeting of theVasantdada Sugar Institute here.

NCP president Sharad Pawar,who is chairman of the institute,was also present.

During his speech,Thackeray took a dig at formerchief minister DevendraFadnavis over his statement thatthe BJP was the single largestparty in the Maharashtra assem-bly.

"Sharad Pawar has taught ushow to grow more from less areaof land, and also how to form agovernment with less number ofMLAs in the legislative assem-bly," Thackeray, who is ShivSena president, quipped.

The BJP and the Sena foughtthe October 21 assembly pollstogether, but their alliance col-lapsed after the latter walked outand joined hands with the Con-gress and the NCP.

The three parties then formedthe Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)government in November-end.Pawar is considered the chief ar-chitect of the ruling alliance, thefirst such political arrangement atthe state-level in Maharashtra'shistory.

Pawar taught us how to formgovt with fewer MLAs: Uddhav

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has taught him how to grow more fromless as well as how to form government after getting fewer seatsthan one's rival, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeraysaid on Wednesday.

Thackeray was addressing the annual general meeting of theVasantdada Sugar Institute here. Pawar, who is the chairman of theinstitute, was also present.

During his speech, Thackeray took a dig at former chief minis-ter Devendra Fadnavis, who has often stated that the BJP is thesingle largest party in the Assembly, though it lost power.

"Sharad Pawar has taught us how to grow more from less area ofland, and also how to form government with less number of MLAs,"Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, quipped.

The BJP and Sena fought the October 21 assembly polls intogether, but their alliance collapsed after the Sena walked out andjoined hands with the Congress and NCP.

The three parties formed an unlikely coalition government ofwhich Pawar is considered the chief architect.

Thackeray also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi."I was told that this was the same venue where someone had

said he came into politics holding Pawar's finger."I don't want to say that Pawar saheb has made another mistake

by bringing me into politics," he said. Modi had said at a functionat the institute some years ago that Pawar, then agriculture ministerin the UPA government, guided him a lot when Modi was Gujaratchief minister and was unfamiliar with Delhi politics.

2 Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020

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BJP seeks probe in attackon man for anti-Uddhav post

Maharashtra govt "instigating"anti-CAA protests: Shelar

MumbaiThe Shiv Sena-led gov-

ernment in Maharashtra is"instigating" protestsagainst the new citizenshiplaw and spreading "misin-formation" about the con-troversial legislation,former minister and seniorBJP leader Ashish Shelar al-leged on Tuesday.

Shelar raised the issueof anti-CAA protests andthe government's allegedrole in them with GovernorB S Koshyari whom he metalong with Mumbai BJPpresident Mangal PrabhatLodha and a group of partyMLAs at Raj Bhavan here.

Like in other states,Maharashtra, too, has beenrocked by protests againstthe Citizenship (Amend-ment) Act (CAA), passedby Parliament two weeks

ago, and the proposed na-tionwide National Registerof Citizens (NRC).

Speaking to reporters,the BJP leader said, "Itseems the government inMaharashtra is itself pro-viding some misinforma-tion to those protestingagainst the CAA.

"Hence, we met the gov-ernor and asked him towatch the way some peoplein the government are act-ing on the CAA."

Shelar accused theSena-NCP-Congress gov-ernment of "instigating"anti-CAA protests andasked it to refrain from do-ing so.

"The state should notinstigate any particulargroup for agitation and thegovernor should keep aneye on such develop-

ments," the former ministersaid.

Asked about thegovernor's response, Shelarsaid, "Koshyari asked us tomeet the chief minister aswell and inform him aboutsuch misinformation."

The new citizenshiplaw, approved by the Presi-dent, has triggered massiveprotests across the country.The legislation promisesIndian citizenship to perse-cuted non- Muslim refugeesfrom Pakistan, Bangladeshand Afghanistan.

CAA's critics say the lawis discriminatory and vio-lates the core values of theConstitution.

The proposed NRC issupposed to documentbonafide Indian citizensand identify illegal immi-grants.

MumbaiBJP MLA R Tamil

Selvan on Tuesday metMaharashtra Governor B SKoshyari and sought hisintervention for a high-level inquiry in a casewhere a man was assaultedby suspected Shiv Senaworkers for his "deroga-tory" post against ChiefMinister UddhavThackeray.

The man, RahulTiwari, was assaulted bysome men, suspected to beassociated with the rulingSena, who also tonsuredhis head for posting a'derogatory' message on

social media againstThackeray.

The post was inresponse to Thackeray'sremarks comparing thepolice action against anti-Citizenship AmendmentAct protesters in Delhi'sJamia Millia Islamia (JMI)to the British-eraJallianwala Bagh massa-cre. A BJP delegation ledby Selvan met thegovernor and submitted aletter seeking his inter-vention to start legalaction against theassailants of Tiwari.

The letter has beensigned by Selvan, the

MLA from the Sionkoliwada constituency inMumbai, as well as someother BJP leaders.

The North Indiancommunity is scared afterthe attack. Tiwarisdisapproval ofThackeray's remarksresulted in him gettingbeaten up by some localswho raised slogans likeUddhav ThackerayJindabad and Shiv SenaJindabad and forcefullytonsured his head, theletter said.

Tiwari was beaten upover his post that disap-proved of Thackeray'sremarks comparing thepolice action against JMIuniversity students withthe 1919 JallianwalaBagh massacre, it said.

We request you toorder a high-level inquiryin this matter, the delega-tion told the governor.

Meanwhile, formerBJP MP Kirit Somaiya onTuesday met Tiwari at hisresidence in the AntopHill area along withSelvan.

Thane BJP corporatorbooked for molestation

ThaneA case has been

registered against a BJPcorporator for allegedlymolesting a 32-year-oldbar singer inMaharashtra's Thanecity, police said onTuesday.

According to thecomplainant, who is asinger at a bar nearMulund Check Naka,BJP corporator VilasKamble was in arelationship with her, an

official said.When Kamble had

refused to marry her, thewoman registered a caseagainst him, which iscurrently sub judice, headded.

On Monday, when thevictim had come to theThane court with hersister, the alleged accusedmade lewd gestures at her,threatened and flashedher, the complaint stated.

Following this, thevictim filed the present

complaint, the officialsaid, adding that thematter was beinginvestigated.

The police hasregistered an offenceagainst Kamble undersection 354A (sexualharassment) and otherrelevant provisions ofthe Indian Penal Codewith the Thane Nagarpolice station, he said,adding that no arrest hasbeen made in thisregard.

3Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020

Mumbai basks inChristmas festivities

MumbaiHomes and churches were

tastefully decorated with festivelights, Christmas trees andwreaths, as sprightly Mumbaikarscelebrated the birth of JesusChrist on Wednesday with tradi-tional fervour.

Devotees thronged churcheslike Saint Michaels (in suburbanMahim), Mount Marys Basilica(Bandra) and St Thomas Ca-thedral (Fort, south Mumbai),among others, to attend mid-night mass and special prayers.They sang Christmas carolsand exchanged greetings andgifts on the occasion.

Churches, homes and com-mercial establishments in sev-eral parts of the financial capi-

tal were tastefully decoratedwith stars and cribs depictingthe nativity scene.

Preparations for the fes-tive season had begun lastweek itself with city marketswitnessing hustle-and-bustleas revellers binge shopped,purchasing decorative items,gifts, clothes and sweets.

Celebrations will continuetill the Mumbaikars welcomethe New Year.

Meanwhile, NCP patriarchSharad Pawar extended greet-ings of the people on the oc-casion of Christmas, known asthe festival of lights, gifts andjoy.

Christmas wishes to every-one and season's greetings!

May you all be blessed withgood health, joy, happiness andpeace in this festive season!#MerryChristmas2019, Pawartweeted.

Maharashtra minister andstate Congress presidentBalasaheb Thorat also greetedthe people on the festival. Wish-ing everyone a #MerryChristmas& Happy New year! May thisChristmas fill your hearts withlove, warmth, peace, and joy!#MerryChristmas2019, Thoratsaid on the micro- blogging site.

Another minister and NCPfunctionary Jayant Patil andLeader of the Opposition in theMaharashtra Assembly DevendraFadnavis of the BJP, too, ex-tended greetings to the people.

MHADA to legalise nearly

600 unauthorised

structures in CharkopThe Maharashtra Housing

And Area Development Author-ity (MHADA) has proposed tolegalise at least 600 unauthorisedconstructions at Charkop inKandivali (West). The structureswill be regularised as a part ofthe redevelopment of 15,834tenements at Charkop’sPrabodhankar Thackeray Nagar,officials said. The proposal willsoon be sent to Housing Minis-ter Jayant Patil forhis approval.

According toMHADA’s Repairand Reconstruc-tion Board, the re-development willbe carried out un-der the Develop-ment ControlRegulation (DCR)33(9), which covers cluster rede-velopment schemes.

The project entailsregularisation of an additionalfloor along with tenements onground floors that will give de-velopers an enhanced FloorSpace Index (FSI) of six.

FSI is a development tool thatdefines the extent of construc-tion permissible on a plot. It isthe ratio of the built-up area of aplot to the plot area.

In Charkop, more than eight-acre plot, owned by MHADA,houses 15,834 tenements ofwhich majority are ground-plus-one structures. As per Repair andReconstruction Board, ground-

plus-one structures amount to anunauthorised extension of thetenement and is, therefore, ille-gal.

In order to take action againstillegal structures, MHADA had,on November 27, sent a noticesaying it will demolish the struc-tures in Sector 2 on December 14.

Nearly 600 families residingat Sector 2 along with corporatorShubhda Gudhekar had report-

edly met MHADA repair boardchairman Vinod Ghoshalkar re-cently, demanding that the housesshould not be razed as the occu-pants have been residing in themfor about 30 years. Ghosalkarstopped the demolition work af-ter the meeting and issued a clari-fication that MHADA will rede-velop the project like they hadplanned for Motilal Nagar inGoregaon”(East). “We are goingto legalise the ground-plus-onestructures. But structures whichare more than ground-plus-onewill have to be demolished byoccupants within 15 days, fromDecember 2 onwards,”Ghoshalkar told media.

Sachin Tendulkar’s security cover

withdrawn, Aaditya Thackeray’s

upgraded to Z categoryMumbaiThe Maharashtra govern-

ment has withdrawn the securitycover of former Rajya Sabha MPand cricket legend SachinTendulkar, although a police es-cort will be provided for everytime he steps out.

On the other hand, the secu-rity was upgraded from Y+ to Zsecurity for Aaditya Thackeraywho is the newly elected MLAfrom Worli constituency and theson of Chief Minister UddhavThackeray.

“The security modificationis done on the suggestions madeby the police. It depends on theinputs they receive about an in-dividual. A report is then sub-

mitted to government follow-ing which a security assess-ment review meet is called bythe bureaucrats,” said an of-ficer.

“Tendulkar’s security wasof ‘X’ category but it was down-graded,” said an IPS officer.

The modifications on secu-rity of around 90 prominentcitizens were declared after anassessment by Maharashtra au-thority committee, comprisingchief secretary Ajoy Mehta, ad-ditional chief secretary (home)Sanjay Kumar, Maharashtra DGSubhodh Jaiswal, intelligencedepartment Rashmi Shukla andMumbai Police CommissionerSanjay Barve.

WR plans steps to help motormende-stress and improve safety

MumbaiA “tranquility” room for motor-

men, a calmer ambience aroundtheir lobby and creating anotherlobby in Virar are some of the mea-sures that Western Railway (WR) isset to take to improve safety. Thesemeasures were suggested to tackleincreasing cases of “Signal Passingat Danger” (SPAD) on suburban rail-ways, which are treated as “avertedcollisions” and can lead to amotorman’s removal from service.WR witnessed about three SPAD casesduring March-November this year onits suburban network. Every SPADcase is treated as an averted collisionas a result of a motorman’s failure tostop the train in time before the sig-nal. It results in serious departmentalaction following an inquiry. Therehave been 44 cases of SPAD between

2006 and 2019.A senior WR official said there

has been an increase in number ofloco pilots of freight trains beingpromoted as motormen of subur-ban locals following a change inRailway Board’s policy in 2014. Atleast 40 per cent of motormen ofMumbai’s local trains have beendrawn from loco pilots of freighttrains.

According to officials, the fami-lies of most of these loco pilotsturned motormen live away fromMumbai in areas like Valsad,Udhna and Vapi. “Most of thesemotormen do not have their fami-lies in Mumbai but travel long dis-tances, which can be stressful. Totackle this, we are working at hav-ing a motormen’s lobby in Virar tocut their travel time to work,” a se-

nior WR official said. Yogesh Vyas,secretary of running staff branchfrom Churchgate, said, “We are veryhappy with the new divisional man-agers’ approach and the new lobbyat Virar will help us in cutting downnearly three hours of travelling timedaily. But the issues have to be ad-dressed at several levels. Meditationbefore piloting a train should be in-cluded as a part of duty.” He addedthat at present the distance betweenthe stop mark and signals in someplaces is not even 20 metres. Vyasdemanded that the training durationof motormen be increased. Hepointed out that while earlier a re-cruit would go through a year-longtraining, those who come after serv-ing as loco pilots are expected tolearn things in four months,which is difficult.


Alliance will form govt in Jharkhand,Hemant Soren will be CM: Cong

Ganja worth 65lakh seized in TN,

two heldRamanathapuram (TN)Ganja weighing over 80 kg and val-

ued at Rs 65 lakh, meant to be smuggledto Sri Lanka, was seized in Rameswaramin the district on Wednesday and two per-sons arrested in this connection, policesaid.

Acting on a tip off, Superintendentof Police Varun Kumar intensified patrol-ling in Rameswaram island, where theyfound the ganja hoarded in a garden

The ganja was packed in 39 bundlesand weighed 81 kg, they said.

The main accused, who is abscond-ing, is suspected to have links with inter-national smuggling gangs, they added.

Tgana: Protestsagainst CAA

continueHyderabadProtests against the Citizenship

Amendment Act (CAA) continued atsome places in Telangana on Tuesdaywith different groups holding rallies.

A huge rally was taken out at Nirmaltown against the CAA and NRC by dif-ferent organisations, political parties andstudents organisations, a senior police of-ficial told PTI. The protestors raised slo-gans and held aloft placards, demandingimmediate withdrawal of the CAA. How-ever, a case was registered against theorganisers of the rally as it was taken outwithout permission, the official said. The'United Muslim Action Committee', com-prising various Muslim organisations,including AIMIM, held a protest meet-ing against CAA at Mahabubnagar,AIMIM sources said.

Alamgir Alamelected

Jharkhand CLPleader

RanchiAlamgir Alam was on Tuesday

elected the Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader in Jharkhand.

Alam's name was proposed byJharkhand Pradesh Congress Committeepresident and newly-elected MLARameshwar Oraon, and seconded byMLA Rajendra Prasad Singh, JPCC work-ing president Rajesh Thakur said here.

The Congress contested the assem-bly election in the state in alliance withthe JMM and RJD, and managed to win16 seats in the 81-member House.

The party registered a vote share of13.88 per cent.

The opposition combine bagged 47seats (JMM 30, Congress 16 and RJD 1).

Christmas festivities begin across Goa

New DelhiAs the JMM-led alliance appeared set

to cross the majority mark in the JharkhandAssembly polls on Monday, the Congress

exuded confidence that the alliance willform the government with Hemant Sorenas chief minister.

All India Congress Committee in-

charge for Jharkhand, RPN Singh said, "Wewill form the government as we fought theelections for the people of the state by rais-ing issues that affect their lives and liveli-hoods. Prime Minister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shah tried to divertthe attention of the people away from fun-damental issues but the people did not getswayed." Reiterating that Hemant Sorenof the JMM will be the chief minister asdeclared earlier, Singh said the Jharkhandresults are a defeat of BJP's "arrogance anddiversionary tactics".

Congress coordinator for Jharkhandpolls Ajay Sharma said this is the defeat ofBJP's corruption and its arrogance.

BJP gave tickets to corrupt candidateswhom the people rejected. The Congresskept the focus on people's issues and ar-ticulated common man's problems whichthe BJP failed to solve, Sharma said.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance inJharkhand is leading in 42 out of the 81seats of state Assembly till 12 noon onMonday, while the ruling BJP is ahead in28 seats.

PanajiWith the pealing of the bells at

various Churches, the faithful usheredin the Christmas festivities across Goaon Tuesday night.

Christmas is a major festival in thecoastal state, where Christianscomprise nearly 27 per cent of thepopulation.

The state had been getting readyfor the festivities since the lastfortnight with markets selling acces-sories required to decorate homes.

Markets in Panaji, Margao,Mapusa, Vasco besides other placeswere packed with shoppers doing last-

minute buying for the festival, whichcelebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

As part of the celebrations, cribsdepicting the birth of Lord Jesus wereset up at homes by the faithful.

Meanwhile,Governor Satya PalMalik extended his heartiest greetingsand best wishes to the people of Goaon the occasion of Christmas.

The governor, in his message, hassaid "on this day, we celebrate thebirth of Lord Jesus Christ, who gaveus the eternal message of peace,tolerance, sacrifice, love and brother-hood. Christmas also reminds us ofthe importance of giving and sharing

with friends and family.He said Christmas unites the

people of all faiths."It is a festival which people from

all religions and faiths celebrateworldwide irrespective of caste andcreed. It is the essence of this festivalwhich unites all the people, Malikadded.

On this occasion, let us re-dedicateourselves to put into practice thegreat message ofLord Jesus Christ tolive in peace, strengthening bonds,and work together for the prosperityand glory of our society," the gover-nor said.


Devote particular attention to people living

in remote J&K areas: Lieutenant governor

Top Congress leaders sit

on 'Satyagraha' at Rajghat

ACB officialbooked for

graft in Nagpur

JammuLieutenant Governor

Girish Chandra Murmu onTuesday appealed to allstakeholders in Jammuand Kashmir to come to-gether and commit them-selves to promotingtransparent and account-

able governance for rapidimplementation ofschemes and projects fordevelopment.

In his message on eveof the 'good governanceday', Murmu observedthat for achieving speedygrowth and development

in the country, the effi-cient functioning of thegovernment machinerywas of vital importance.

He appealed to al lstakeholders to come to-gether and commit them-selves to promotingtransparent and account-

able governance, sayingit was the foundation forsecuring rapid implemen-tat ion of schemes,projects for growth anddevelopment.

Murmu said the gov-ernment would always re-main geared up to provideprompt, efficient, trans-parent and accountableadministration for thebetterment and welfare ofthe people.

The lieutenant gover-nor urged the govern-ment officers and officialsto ensure participatoryadministrat ion at thegrassroots level and de-vote particular attentionto the difficulties facedby the neglected seg-ments of society who livein remote, backward andunconnected areas ofJammu and Kashmir.

New DelhiTop Congress leaders led

by Sonia Gandhi on Mon-day sat on a 'Satyagraha' atMahatma Gandhi's memorialRajghat here, demanding thatthe rights of people as en-shrined in the Constitution beprotected.

Top Congress leaders, in-cluding former prime minis-ter Manmohan Singh, formerparty chief Rahul Gandhi andgeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra, participated inthe 'Satyagraha'.

The party held that inline with the path of non-violence shown by Ma-hatma Gandhi, it will fightagainst the "dictatorial"government and to protectthe "sacred" Constitution.

The Congress said thereis widespread resentmentagainst the recent actions ofthe BJP government, wherepeople across the country,especially the youth, aredemanding the restorationand maintaining the sanc-tity of rights guaranteed by

the Constitution.The party has also stood

in support of the studentsprotesting against the BJPgovernment at the Centreand the use of "indiscrimi-nate police force" against or-dinary citizens in the nameof maintaining law and or-der.

This, the party said, hasled to further worsening andspiralling of the situation.

The Congress has saidthat it is committed to up-holding the principles en-

shrined in the Constitutionand fight for the continua-tion, maintenance and safe-guard of the rights of all.

The party is up againstthe government for using"brute" force against "silentand peaceful" protestersacross the country and for"stopping" people from hold-ing demonstrations againstthe new citizenship law andthe National Register ofCitizens (NRC), proposedto be implemented acrossthe country.

NagpurIn a classic case of irony,

the Anti-Corruption Bu-reau on Tuesday registeredan offence against its ownofficial for allegedly takinga bribe of Rs 50,000, policesaid.

A case has been regis-tered against inspectorPankaj Ukande of ACBNagpur for accepting abribe of Rs 50,000 from awoman official of the citysurvey department inMaharashtra's Nagpur city,an official said.

Ukande had demandedRs 2.5 lakh from the offi-cial of the city survey de-partment in exchange ofnot naming her in a graftcase, he said.

Ukande was the inves-tigation officer in a graftcase registered againstAshray Madhukar Joshi(40), who wascaught onNovember 8 while accept-ing bribe of Rs 1 lakh, theofficial said.

During investigation,the accused inspector ap-proached a woman officialof the department andthreatened to implicate heras a co-accused in the caseand later threatened towrite to her superiors to takeaction against her, he said.

The woman officialgave Ukande Rs 50,000cash two weeks ago, but heallegedly demanded Rs 2lakh more to settle the mat-ter, he added. Fed up of theharassment, the womanlodged a complaint withthe ACB Nagpur last week,the official said, addingthat the complainanthanded over call recordingsandCCTV footage as proofof Ukande's involvement.

An offence under sec-tion 7 (public servant tak-ing gratification) of the Pre-vention of Corruption Actwas registered at Sadar Po-lice station against Ukande,who is presently abscond-ing.

Plea moved in HC for

recovery of damages

for property destroyed

in anti-CAA protestsNew DelhiA plea was moved in

Delhi High Court onTuesday seeking direc-tions to the authorities torecover damages fordestruction of public andprivate property duringanti-CAA protests fromthose responsible. Thematter was mentionedbefore a bench of ChiefJustice D N Patel andJustice C Hari Shankar byBJP leader Ashwini KumarUpadhyay who urged thecourt to either take up theissue on its own or topermit him to file anapplication on thesame.The court whiledeclining any urgenthearing on the issue raised

by Upadhyay, said he wasfree to file an applicationwhich shall be listed inthe normal course.Upadhyay, also a lawyer,told the court thatthousands of crores ofproperty, including publictransportation, has beendamaged in the protestsand the amounts berecovered from thoseresponsible as it wasbeing done in the state ofUttar Pradesh. There havebeen several protests inthe national capital sincethe Citizenship Amend-ment Act (CAA) has comeinto force and police hasdetained and arrestedseveral persons involvedin the agitations.


Census, NPR: Objectives,characteristics, differences

New DelhiThe government is all

set to carry out two megaexercises -- the Censusand updating data of theNational PopulationRegister (NPR) -- acrossthe country involvingevery resident next year.

Below are the objec-tives, characteristics anddifferences between theNPR and the Census.

The National Popula-

tion Register (NPR):The NPR is a register

of usual residents of thecountry. It is beingprepared at the local(village/sub-town),subdistrict, district, stateand national level underprovisions of the Citizen-ship Act, 1955 and theCitizenship (Registrationof Citizens and Issue ofNational Identity Cards)Rules, 2003.

A usual resident isdefined, for the purposesof the NPR, as a personwho has resided in a localarea for the past six

months or more, or aperson who intends toreside in that area for thenext six months. The lawcompulsorily seeks toregister every citizen ofIndia and issue anational identity card.

The NPR exercisewill be carried outbetween April andSeptember 2020 in allstates and UTs, exceptAssam, along with thehouse listing phase of

the census exercise.Assam has been

excluded because theNational Register ofCitizens (NRC) exercisehas already beenconducted in the state.

The objective of theNPR, being carried outunder the aegis of theRegistrar General andex-Officio CensusCommissioner, India, isto create a comprehen-sive identity databaseof every usual residentin the country. Thedatabase would containdemographic as well as

biometric particulars.The demographic

details of every indi-vidual are required forevery usual resident:name, relationship tohead of household,father's name, mother'sname, spouse's name (ifmarried), sex, date ofbirth, marital status,place of birth, national-ity (as declared),present address of usualresidence, duration of

stay at present address,permanent residentialaddress, occupation,educational qualifica-tion.

In comparison, moredetails are required forcensus like informationon demography, eco-nomic activity, literacyand education, andhousing and householdamenities besidesothers.

The data for NPRwas last collected in2010 along with thehouse listing phase ofthe Census 2011.

Updating of this datawas done during 2015by conducting door todoor survey.

A gazette notifica-tion for the forthcomingNPR has been publishedby the central govern-ment in August.

On Tuesday, theUnion Cabinet ap-proved funds to thetune of over Rs3,941.35 crore for theNPR exercise.

The Census:The decennial

census is the largestsingle source of avariety of statisticalinformation on differentcharacteristics of thepeople of India con-ducted on the basis ofthe Census Act enactedin 1948.

The census, 2021will be done in twophases. In the firstphase, the work ofhouse-listing or hous-ing census will be

conducted from April toSeptember, 2020. In thesecond phase, theenumeration of popula-tion will be done fromFebruary 9 to February28, 2021 with referencemoment as 00:00 hoursof March 1, 2021.

For snow-boundareas in Jammu andKashmir, HimachalPradesh andUttarakhand, thereference date will beOctober 1, 2020.

The census is thebasis for reviewing thecountry's progress in thepast decade, monitoringthe ongoing schemes ofthe government andplan for the future.

The census providesdetailed and authenticinformation on demog-raphy, economicactivity, literacy andeducation, housing andhousehold amenities,urbanisation, fertilityand mortality, scheduledcastes and scheduledtribes, language, reli-gion, migration, disabil-

ity besides others.The enumerators also

collect data related tocultivators and agricul-tural labourers, their sex,occupational classifica-tion of workers in non-households industry,trade, business, profes-sion or service by classof worker and sex.

There will be de-tailed survey on genderand literacy rate, numberof towns, slum house-holds and their popula-tion.

Information is alsocollected on sources ofpotable water, energy,irrigation, method offarming, whether ahouse is concrete,thatched or others.

With a history ofmore than 130 years,this reliable, time testedexercise has beenbringing out a veritablewealth of statistics every10 years, beginningfrom 1872 when the firstcensus was conducted inIndia non-synchro-nously in different parts.

The government ofIndia decided in May1949 to initiate steps fordeveloping systematiccollection of statisticson the size of popula-tion, its growth, etc., andestablished anorganisation in theMinistry of Home Affairsunder Registrar Generaland ex-Officio CensusCommissioner, India.

This organisationwas made responsiblefor generating data onpopulation statisticsincluding vital statisticsand census. Later, thisoffice was also entrustedwith the responsibilityof implementation ofRegistration of Birthsand Deaths Act, 1969 inthe country.

The Union Cabineton Tuesday approvedthe proposal for con-ducting Census 2021 ata cost of Rs 8,754.23crore.


Leader like Vajpayee bornonce in centuries: Nadda

New DelhiBJP working president

J P Nadda paid rich tributesto party stalwart Atal BihariVajpayee on Tuesday, say-ing a leader like him is bornonce in centuries and thathe lived up to his name 'atal'by staying firm to his ide-ologies and convictions.

Speaking at an event tocommemorate the formerprime minister, whose birthanniversary is on Wednes-day, Nadda said Vajpayeewas a man of great depth

who touched the life of ev-eryone with his words.

The BJP leader recalleda few incidents involvinghim and Vajpayee to shedlight on his personality.

Nadda noted thatVajpayee, who died in2018, was to address a pressconference once during alot of political heat over anissue, and he as the thenBJP youth wing presidenthad organised slogan-shouting by its workers inhis support.

Vajpayee asked himwhy he had done so towhich he replied that it wasdone to make "mahaul" (apositive atmosphere).

It can be done so alsowith love and without cre-ating any fear, Vajpayeetold him.

In party meetings theforemost BJP leader of histime would ask his col-leagues to do what is theright thing to do and theywould invariably lean to-wards what he had in hismind, Nadda recalled.

However, whenVajpayee found that mostof his colleagues had a dif-ferent view than him, thenhe would support them aswell, the party workingpresident said.

Nadda also recalled hispoetry and examples of hiswit, as he said that it is dif-ficult to be a poet and ora-tor like him but people canlearn from him his firmnessto the ideologies and con-victions he believed in.

3 convicted by MCOCA courtfor killing man in Mumbai bar

MumbaiThe MCOCA court in

Mumbai on Tuesday con-victed three persons for kill-ing a gangster in a bar insuburban Khar in 2013.

Special Judge RRBhosale in likely to pro-nounce the quantum ofpunishment on December27.

While they were con-victed under sections of theIPC, Arms Act andMaharashtra Police Act,the three were acquitted ofMaharashtra Control of

Organised Crime Act(MCOCA) charges.

As per the prosecution,gangster Vijay Pujari andfour others had gone to a barin Khar, where the three con-victs came and shot andstabbed him.

Pujari died en route tohospital and police probeled to the arrest of AjayPandit, Sai Karne, PramodJathar, Deepak Sharma,Virendra Singh alias VirenThakur, Vijendra Nayakalias Zendu, Ajit Singh andBhupendra Singh alias

Lala. According to the pros-ecution, there were quarrelsbetween Pujari and ab-sconding accused Rahuland Deepak.

Initially, they belongedto the same gang headed byPandit but parted ways later.Pandit too was arrested bythe police in the case. Mainaccused Rahul remainedabsconding.

Of the eight accused,the court convictedDeepak, Thakur and Panditfor murder and criminalconspiracy.

Ugandan womangang-raped in Pune

Pune A 28-year-old Ugan-

dan woman was allegedlyraped by two men who of-fered her a lift on their mo-torcycle in Pune inMaharashtra, police said onTuesday.

The incident occurredafter a motorcyclist ap-proached the woman whowas waiting outside a res-taurant in Koregaon Parkarea around 12 midnight onMonday, a Viman Nagarpolice station official said.

In her complaint, thewoman stated while sheagreed to go with the mo-torcyclist, the latter calledhis friend and the duo madeher sit between them, hesaid.

When the victimtracked the location of herhome on her mobile phone,she realised that the duowere taking her somewhereelse, the official said.

"Despite urging them tostop the motorcycle, theytook the woman to a de-serted place and raped her,"he said. As per the com-plaint, when the suspectstried to abandon her at theisolated spot, the victimurged them to drop her tillthe main road, which theyagreed to, he added.

As their motorcycle ap-proached the main road, thewoman spotted a group ofyoungsters and raised analarm, the official said quot-ing the complaint.

"As the group startedapproaching the two-wheeler, its rider lost hisbalance, causing all threeof them to fall," he said, add-ing that the accused man-aged to flee. Police are try-ing to obtain CCTV foot-age from near the restaurantfrom where the womanclaimed she was picked upto identify the suspects, theofficial added. A case hasbeen registered under vari-ous sections of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) including376 (rape), he said.

Cabinet clears ordinance tofurther amend insolvency law

New DelhiThe Union Cabinet on

Tuesday approved an ordi-nance to further amend theInsolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC), which will helpremove certain ambigu-ities.

With the changes, therewould be no liability on acorporate debtor for an of-

fence committed prior tocommencement of the in-solvency resolution pro-cess, an official release said.

Further, the corporatedebtor would not be pros-ecuted for any such offencefrom the date of resolutionplan being approved by theadjudicating authority.

Union Minister Prakash

Javadekar on Tuesday saidthe Cabinet has cleared anordinance to amend theCode.

"The amendment willremove certain ambiguitiesin the IBC, 2016 and en-sure smooth implementa-tion of the Code," the re-lease said.

On December 12, the

government introduced abill in the Lok Sabha toamend the Code.

The bill, introduced inthe Lok Sabha, seeks to re-move bottlenecks andstreamline the corporate in-solvency resolution pro-cess, wherein successfulbidders will be ring fencedfrom any risk of criminal

proceedings for offencescommitted by previouspromoters of companiesconcerned.

The Code -- which pro-vides for resolution ofstressed assets in a time-bound and market-linkedmanner -- has already beenamended thrice.

Maha: Outfit holdshunger strike for

Vidarbha statehood

Senior Maoistleader surrenders

HyderabadA 51-year-old senior leader

of the banned CPI (Maoist) witha Rs five lakh reward on hishead surrendered beforeTelangana police on Tuesday.

K Srinivas, who had goneunderground since 1990 andwas working with centralcommittee members, surren-dered before the KamareddyDistrict Superintendent ofPolice, they said.

"Srinivas, who hails from

Telangana, had some disputeswith the Maoists centralleadership, their ideology andalso had some personal reasonsand so surrendered before thepolice," a senior police officialtold PTI. Srinivas is a notifiedunderground cadre and carriesRs five lakh in cash reward onhis head, he said."He worked invarious cadres of the Maoistparty in Uttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh and Jharkhand," theofficial said.

Nagpur A pro-Vidarbha outfit on

Tuesday observed a one-day hun-ger strike in several districts de-manding statehood for the region.Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiticonvener and farm leader RamNeole said protests were held in120 places between 11am and

5pm in 11 districts of Vidarbha de-manding statehood, and reductionof electricity tariffs here by 50 percent. He said the outfit planned toblock roads as part of the protest onFebruary 10 and rail traffic on Feb-ruary 25, besides observingVidarbha bandh on May 1, officiallycelebrated as Maharashtra Day.


First notices go out in UP to28 residents: Pay Rs 14 lakh

for damage to property

Days after 16 peoplewere killed in Uttar Pradeshwhere protests over the citi-zenship law led to a policecrackdown and a warningfrom Chief Minister YogiAdityanath that “revengewill be taken”, the Rampurdistrict administration be-came the first in the state toinitiate the process for re-covery of damage to gov-ernment property includ-ing police motorcycles,barrier, dandas.

In identical notices is-sued Tuesday to 28 people,including an embroideryworker and a hawker ofspices who are already incustody, the administra-tion, while holding themresponsible for acts of vio-lence and damage to gov-ernment property, hassought explanation on whyrecoveries should not bemade for damage worth Rs14.86 lakh.

Embroidery workerZameer’s mother MunniBegum told The IndianExpress that she does noteven have money to hire alawyer for her son in cus-tody. “I have not receivedany recovery notice fromthe district administrationso far. We don’t even havemoney to arrange a lawyerfor Zameer. How can we payany compensation?”.

She said police came totheir house in Nai BastiSunday afternoon and tookZameer with them. “Theydid not say why they weretaking away Zameer. Thenext day, we came to knowpolice had booked Zameerfor the Saturday violenceand sent him to jail. Myson, who has studied onlytill Class IV, is innocent. Onthe day of the violence, hewas at home,” she said.

Zameer’s neighbourMehmood, who sold spiceson a cart for a living, wasalso arrested by police onSunday in connection withthe same incident.Mehmood’s brother-in-lawFaheem, a daily-wagelabour hand, saidMehmood too was home onSaturday. “There was noneed for him to participatein the violence… He livesin a rented accommodationand earns a meagre amount.How can he pay such a hugecompensation sum?”.

Near Bilaspur Gate inRampur, Seema, wife oflabour hand Pappu, said herhusband had been wronglyarrested in a case of arson.She too said her husbandwas home on Saturday, andthat the police came thenext day. “No one was readyto listen,” she said.

Zameer, Mehmood and

Pappu have since been sentto Rampur jail. Police saidZameer and Mehmood werearrested for their allegedinvolvement in Saturday’sviolence at Hathi Khancrossing that left one per-son dead and five injured.

Rampur District Magis-trate Aunjaneya KumarSingh said: “We issued no-tices to 28 persons whoserole were found by policeduring investigation. Po-

lice submitted evidencesagainst them. They (28)have been asked to submittheir response within aweek, otherwise the processof recovery against themwill be started. Of the 28, afew have been arrestedwhile raids are on to traceothers. An accused and hisfamily can submit evidenceto support their plea thatthey have been wronglybooked in the case.”

The district administra-tion said the notices wereissued following a stategovernment order based ona direction from theAllahabad High Court. Thenotices were issued on thebasis of information pro-vided by local police. Po-lice have video clips andphotographs, includingfrom media houses and lo-cal residents. Police havealso collected footage of

President Kovind offers prayers at Tirunallar temple

CCTVs near the incidentsite. In the notice, loss ofproperty worth Rs14,86,500 has been cited.It lists, among others, a po-lice jeep of Bhot police sta-tion (Rs 750,000), motor-cycle of a sub-inspector (Rs65,000), motorcycle of CityKotwali police station (Rs90,000), wireless set,hooter/loudspeaker, 10dandas, three helmets, threebody protectors

KaraikalPresident Ramnath

Kovind offered prayers atthe famous shrine of LordSaneeswarar in Tirunallarnear here on Tuesday.

The president accom-panied by his wife wasaccorded ceremonialtemple honours on his ar-rival.

They worshipped atall the 'sannadhis' (sub-temples) in the temple.

It may be noted thatTirunallar is the onlyplace in South India tohave a separate 'sannadhi'for Lord Saneeswara in abenign pose.

Earlier, the presidentarrived from Puducherry bya helicopter.

He was received byPuducherry Lt GovernorKiran Bedi, Chief MinisterNarayanaswamy, Ministers

and top government offi-cials at the helipad.

Later, the President re-turned to Puducherry.

The entire Karaikal dis-trict has been brought un-der security blanket inview of the President's visit.


US welcomes Saudi Khashoggi

verdicts as 'important step': officialWashingtonThe United States on Monday wel-

comed death sentences issued by SaudiArabia against five people over the mur-der of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"Today's verdicts were an importantstep in holding those responsible for thisterrible crime accountable," a State De-partment official told reporters after theruling, which was lambasted as a travestyby Turkey, rights groups, and The Wash-ington Post, to which Khashoggi contrib-uted. The court however exonerated twotop aides to Saudi Arabia's powerfulCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,whom the United States Senate considersresponsible for Khashoggi's murder in Oc-tober last year at Riyadh's consulate in

Istanbul. The United States "encouragedSaudi Arabia to undertake a fair and trans-parent judicial process," the officialadded. "We're pressing them for moretransparency and for holding everybodyaccountable."

Riyadh has described the murder as a"rogue" operation, but both the CIA and aUnited Nations special envoy have di-rectly linked Prince Mohammed to thekilling, a charge the kingdom vehementlydenies.

The government of US PresidentDonald Trump has been careful to not at-tribute such blame to the prince, givingpriority to maintaining good relationswith the kingdom which is a major armsbuyer and ally against Iran.

China attacksUS SpaceForce asthreat toouter spacepeace

BeijingRising space power

China on Mondayattacked the newlycreated US Space Force asa "direct threat to outerspace peace and security".

Foreign ministryspokesman Geng Shuangtold reporters that Chinais "deeply concernedabout it and resolutelyopposed to it".

"The relevant USactions are a seriousviolation of the interna-tional consensus on thepeaceful use of outerspace, undermine globalstrategic balance andstability, and pose a directthreat to outer space peaceand security," Geng said ata regular briefing.

China's space programhas advanced rapidlysince its first crewedmission in 2003.

In a report lastFebruary, the Pentagonasserted that China andRussia have embarked onmajor efforts to developtechnologies that couldallow them to disrupt ordestroy American andallied satellites in a crisisor conflict.

China in 2007conducted an unan-nounced missile strikeagainst one of its owndefunct satellites, creatingan enormous amount ofspace debris.

Geng dismissed suchconcerns, calling them"unfounded countercharges" that merelyprovided the US with ajustification for its ownactions. China, he said,has consistently opposedthe weaponisation ofspace and believesinternational treaties on

arms control in outerspace need to be negoti-ated.

"We hope that theinternational community,especially the majorpowers concerned, willadopt a cautious andresponsible attitude toprevent outer space frombecoming a new battle-field and work together tomaintain lasting peaceand tranquility in outerspace," he said.

The establishment ofthe Space Force is seen bythe US military as arecognition of the need tomore effectively organizefor the defense of USinterests in space espe-cially satellites used fornavigation and communi-cation. The Space Force isnot designed or intendedto put combat troops inspace. Space has "evolved

into a war-fightingdomain of its own,"Defence Secretary MarkEsper told reportersFriday.

Space has becomeincreasingly important tothe US economy and toeveryday life.

The Global Position-ing System, for example,provides navigationservices to the military aswell as civilians. Itsconstellation of about twodozen orbiting satellites isoperated by the 50thSpace Wing from anoperations centre atSchriever Air Force Basein Colorado.

China has establisheda similar, independentnetwork, the BeiDouNavigation SatelliteSystem, assembled from42 separate satellitelaunches.

Former US adviserwarns of 'imminent'

North Korea riskWashingtonFormer US national security adviser John Bolton on

Monday sharply criticized President Donald Trump'sNorth Korea policy, warning that the Asian country posedan "imminent" threat.

"The risk to US forces & our allies is imminent &more effective policy is required before NK has the tech-nology to threaten the American homeland," tweetedBolton, who was dismissed in September amid growingdisagreements with Trump, particularly regarding hisNorth Korea policy.

The erstwhile advisor, a longtime hawk on NorthKorea, was openly skeptical of the 2018 summit betweenTrump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and en-couraged the US president to be cautious.

The denuclearization process has been largely dead-locked since the collapse of a second summit in Hanoi atthe start of this year. North Korea promised an ominous"Christmas gift" earlier this month if Washington doesnot give ground by the end of December.

In an interview with news site Axios published Mon-day, Bolton also said he thinks the Trump administrationdoes not really intend to stop Pyongyang from becom-ing a legitimate nuclear power capable of firing missilesat other countries, otherwise "it would be pursuing a dif-ferent course."

"The idea that we are somehow exerting maximumpressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true,"he said. Should North Korea conduct a major test or makesome other significant provocation after the ultimatumexpires, Bolton said he hopes Washington will acknowl-edge its mistake and say, "We've tried. The policy's failed."The US should then work with allies to show that "whenwe say it's unacceptable, we're going to demonstrate wewill not accept it," he added.

Bolton also criticized Trump for saying the NorthKorean short-range missile tests don't bother him.

"When the president says, 'Well, I'm not worried aboutshort-range missiles,' he's saying, 'I'm not worried aboutthe potential risk to American troops deployed in theregion or our treaty allies, South Korea and Japan,'" hecharged. "We're not nearly three years into the adminis-tration with no visible progress toward getting NorthKorea to make the strategic decision to stop pursuingdeliverable weapons," Bolton said, noting that "time ison the side of the proliferator.

10 Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020 Edit

Bested in Jharkhand

Printer-Publisher & Editor In ChiefSANJAY MANGESH BHAIRE

Allied publication Across Mumbai (Marathi & Hindi)

Managing Editor Legal AdvisorSUCHITA BHAIRE ADV. AMEET MEHTAEditor Feature EditorLEELADHAR KUNDER BIJU CHERIANSpecial Correspondents Chief DesignerK V RAMAN VIKRAM JADAVVINOD RAGHAVANCartoonist PhotographersSUNIL VINEKAR AJIT RAUT

BHOOSHAN KOYANDEContributors Advertising ExecutiveSATISH SHETTY SAVITA TIWARIJ D RODRIGUES Circulation Dept.

DINESH GUPTASUCHIT KUMAR SAYTONDAY

THE Jharkhand Assembly election result is a setback for theruling BJP, but also a refreshing sign of resilience of Indiandemocracy that keeps correcting the course of the politicalnarrative, reinforcing hope for a pluralistic polity. The saffronparty's loss comes a year after its defeat in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, even as it survived a scare inHaryana a couple of months ago and failed to form the gov-ernment in Maharashtra despite emerging as the single-larg-est party. While the BJP continues to rule at the Centre, hav-ing got a resounding majority in the Lok Sabha elections,

several states have voted for alternatives. Raghubar Das be-came the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand to have completeda five-year term, but the alienation of tribal people who re-sented the changes in land laws and saw these as an attempt todeprive them of their rights added to the anti-incumbency,along with the after-effects of economic policies — risingjoblessness and a bleak entrepreneurial scenario. For a statethat was the hub of industrialisation, with cities likeJamshedpur and Bokaro bearing testimony to the transforma-tion of independent India and its minerals laying the founda-tion for many an enterprise, attracting workforce from all over,the downturn is an unfortunate development. The JharkhandMukti Morcha has ridden the crest of this anti-BJP wave, alongwith a nonchalant Congress and a languorous Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD) that has struggled to keep itself afloat with LaluPrasad Yadav in jail. The portents are obvious. Jharkhand isset to witness —for the first time — a pre-poll alliance comingto power. The RJD was given seats bordering Bihar to contestand its win will send signals there. Out of power at the Centre,the Congress has kept chipping away at the BJP in the states,keeping itself relevant. For the BJP, it’s time for introspection.The outcome of the state elections may not be a referendumon the Centre’s performance, but it does show that the windsof change have started blowing.

Trump impeached

Guilty, politically speaking

A SPECIAL court in Pakistancreated history when it pro-nounced the death sentence onthe country’s former military dic-tator, Gen Pervez Musharraf, who‘has been found guilty under Ar-ticle 6 for violation of the consti-tution of Pakistan’. The Articlerefers to high treason and subvert-ing the constitution of the coun-try, and the charges againstMusharraf emanate from his im-posing an emergency in Pakistanwhen he faced a popular uprisingin 2007. He was to resign a yearlater under the threat of impeach-

ment.Military dictators have ruled

Pakistan for almost half the timesince it came into being. The spe-cial court’s verdict is seen asmostly symbolic since Musharrafis currently in Dubai and unlikelyto return to his country. However,it has tremendous value as thejudiciary’s assertion of its inde-pendence. Predictably, the Paki-stani army is displeased, as is theTehreek-e-Insaf government,whose Attorney General AnwarMansoor called the trial ‘unfair’and said he would defend the

General during an appeal filed onhis behalf.

An elected government de-fending a former dictator is un-usual, to say the least. Even thecourt’s majority verdict, with oneof the three judges dissenting, isseen through a political lens.While it has been welcomed forbeing the first time that a dicta-tor has been convicted, some po-litical parties have condemnedit, wondering why this particu-lar dictator was singled outwhereas others never had to facejustice. The special court is butone step in a lengthy judicialprocess that is likely to outlastthe ailing General. Still, there islittle denying that the December17 verdict will resound inPakistan’s political establish-ment for time to come. PrimeMinister Imran Khan’s defenceof the dictator gives him someimmediate credit with the mili-tary establishment, but may costhim in the long run. Signs of in-stitutional pushback against theomnipotent military of the coun-try demonstrate a degree of inde-pendence which is as welcome asit is elusive.

As the Democrats-dominatedHouse of Representatives im-peached Donald Trump onWednesday, he became the thirdUS President in history to be puton trial for removal from the highoffice over charges of a gravecrime. However, cocksure of anacquittal next month in the otherHouse of US Congress, the Sen-ate, where his Republican partymen hold sway, Trump was dis-dainfully dismissive of this igno-miny heaped upon him. In hischaracteristic defiance of any fin-ger-pointing aimed at his ways of

functioning, Trump pooh-poohed the historic rebuke as awitch-hunt and hoax. With hisscorn of the development, he hasundermined Congress’ duty touphold the constitution and serveas a check to presidential over-reach.

Trump faces two articles ofimpeachment — one, for abuseof power and the other obstruc-tion of Congress in the Ukrainescandal. He is accused of abus-ing his office to get a favour fromUkraine by asking it to initiate acorruption probe against his po-

litical rival Joe Biden. This pro-posed smear campaign was in-tended to make a dent in theopponent’s image. Otherwise, hethreatened, he would withholdthe $400 million military aid toUkraine. However, this financialassistance was released whenCongress acted after awhistleblower blew the lid off thescam. Subsequently, as some gov-ernment officials testified thatTrump had pressured Ukraine, theblame of jeopardising US na-tional security stuck on him.

Now, as the impeachment pro-ceedings unfold in January, theyare fraught with a loss of face inthe public eye for the President.With 2020 being the electionyear, the developments will playa major role in the already viti-ated presidential election cam-paign. Only time will tell whichparty — Democrat or Republican— gains in the long term from theCongress investigation into thecharge of gross misconduct byPOTUS of perverting foreignpolicy for his political gain. Per-haps, eventually, Trump will ac-tually be made to ‘feel like he isbeing impeached’. Both the othertwo Presidents impeached — An-drew Johnson (in 1868) and BillClinton (1998) — did not returnto power.


PM slams those who damaged publicproperty in UP during anti-CAA protestsLucknowPrime Minister

Narendra Modi onWednesday slammedthose who damagedpublic property duringprotests in Uttar Pradeshagainst the amendedcitizenship law, sayingthey should understandthat rights and duties gohand in hand.

"They (the vandals)

should ask themselveswas it right. Whateverwas torched, was it notof their child's use?What has happened tothose common peopleand policemen who gotinjured?" Modi asked.

He said he wanted totell those who damagedpublic property "not toforget that rights andduties go hand inhand".

Over 15 people werekilled, 263 policepersonnel injured andstate-owned propertydamaged in violenceduring protests againstthe Citizenship(Amendment) Act inseveral Uttar Pradeshdistricts.

Modi was addressinga gathering afterunveiling a statue ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee atthe Lok Bhawan here onthe former primeminister's birth anniver-sary. He also laid thefoundation stone for theAtal Bihari VajpayeeMedical University in

the Uttar Pradeshcapital.

Referring to Article370, Modi said it wasan "old disease" and itwas resolved peacefully.

"How old a diseasewas Article 370. Howdifficult it appeared.But it was our responsi-bility as to how to facesuch difficult chal-lenges. And, it was done

easily. 'Sabki dhaarnaye choor choor ho gaya'(everyone's perceptionwas smashed)," he said.

The RamJanmabhoomi issue wasalso resolved peace-fully, the prime ministersaid.

On the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, Modisaid giving citizenshipto those who came toIndia from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Af-ghanistan to "save thedignity of their daugh-ters", was anotherproblem whose solutionwas found by 130 croreIndians.

"With this self-confidence, Hindustanisare entering a newdecade. Whatever is leftto be done, all Indiansare trying to find asolution," he said.

However big thechallenge may be, "it isin our nature to chal-lenge the challenge", hesaid.

The prime ministersaid the road map to

better health care wasbased on four pointswhich are preventivehealth care, affordablehealth care, supply-sideintervention and mis-sion-mode intervention.

He also highlightedthe schemes of hisgovernment towards thisdirection.

On the medicaluniversity, Modi said it

will provide affiliationto government, semi-government and privatecolleges, and help inimproving the quality ofmedical education inUttar Pradesh.

Defence Minister andLucknow MP RajnathSingh welcomed Modion behalf of the peopleand thanked ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathfor installing the grandstatue of Vajpayee.

"His (Atalji's) memo-ries are alive within us.He influenced not onlythe people of the countrybut people world over.Jawaharlal Nehru hadonce said that he(Vajpayee) will becomePM one day. He was theperson who only thoughtabout national interest,"Singh said.

Uttar Pradesh Gover-nor Anandiben Patelreceived the primeminister. In his speech,Adityanath paid tributesto Vajpayee and recalledthe work done by him invarious spheres.

PM Modi unveils statue of AtalBihari Vajpayee in LucknowLucknowPrime Minister

Narendra Modi on Wednes-day unveiled a statue offormer Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee at the LokBhawan in Lucknow.

He also laid the founda-tion stone for the Atal BihariVajpayee Medical Univer-sity in the Uttar Pradeshcapital.

The state governmenthas given 50 acres of landfor the varsity.

The event coincidedwith the birth anniversaryof Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who represented Lucknowin the Lok Sabha five times.

Earlier in the day, Presi-dent Ram Nath Kovind,Prime Minister NarendraModi and several union

ministers paid tributes toAtal Bihari Vajpayee on his95th birth anniversary.

A prayer meeting washeld at Sadaiv Atalthe me-morial to Atal BihariVajpayeeto mark the birthanniversary of the formerprime minister.

BJP veteran LK Advani,Defence Minister RajnathSingh, Home Minister AmitShah, Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla and members ofVajpayee's family wereamongst those who paidtributes to the BJP leaderamid the playing of hymnsand devotional music.

The memorial was dedi-cated to the nation in De-cember last year.

Vajpayee was born in1924 in Gwalior, Madhya

Pradesh. He died on August16, 2018 at AIIMS in NewDelhi.

"Tributes to Atal BihariVajpayee, who is etched inthe hearts of the country-men, on his birth anniver-sary," Modi wrote on Twit-ter.

He also posted a briefvideo on Vajpayee, recall-ing his contributions to thecountry.

Paying tributes toVajpayee, Home Ministerand BJP President AmitShah recalled contributionsof the former prime minis-ter and said on one handVajpayee as an efficientorganiser, propelled theparty at the all-India level,on the other hand, he ledthe country.

12 Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020 Spiritual Science

Shiva, the Supreme Vaishnava

Incredible ISKCON

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Golden Avatar of RadhaKrishna and founder of Hare Krishna Movement

Peerless Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for KrishnaConsciousness, ISKCON

By Gaura Sharana Dasa

Devotees of LordKrishna honor Lord Shivafor his celebrated qualitiesand his exalted status in thehierarchy of beings.

Srimad-Bhagavatam isan amazing collection of theglories and activities of SriKrishna and His devotees,the Vaishnavas . TheBhagavatam (12.13.16) de-clares Lord Shiva to be thegreatest of all Vaishnavas:vaishnavanam yathashambhuh. Lord Shiva’sspecial position, his post, hispersonality, and his activi-ties are fascinating to know.The following is a short col-lect ion f rom theBhagavatam of various at-tributes and activities ofLord Shiva.

Shiva’s PositionSrila Prabhupada writes:“Lord Shiva is not actu-

ally like a living entity [jiva],but he is not the SupremePersonality of Godhead. His

position is somewhere be-tween Vishnu, the SupremePersonality of Godhead, andBrahma, the living entity.Lord Shiva is therefore ex-plained in Brahma-samhita(5.45) in this way:

kshiram yatha dadhivikara-vishesha-yogat

sanjayate na hi ta tahprithag asti hetoh

yah shambhutam apitatha samupaiti karyad

govindam adi-purusham

tam aham bhajamiLord Shiva is considered

to be like yogurt (dadhi).Yogurt is nothing but trans-formed milk; nonetheless,yogurt cannot be acceptedas milk. Similarly, LordShiva holds almost all thepowers of Lord Vishnu, andhe is also above the quali-ties of the living entity, buthe is not exact ly l ikeVishnu, just as yogurt, al-though transformed milk, isnot exact ly l ike milk .(4.30.24, Purport)

And: ”Learned scholarsin transcendental subjectshave carefully analyzed thesummum bonum Krishna tohave sixty-four principal at-tributes. All the expansionsor categories of the Lordpossess only some percent-ages of these attributes. ButSri Krishna is the possessorof the attributes cent per-cent. And His personal ex-pansions . . . possess up toninety- three percent ofthese t ranscendental a t-

tributes. Lord Shiva . . . pos-sesses almost eighty-fourpercent of the attributes.”(1.3.28, Purport)

Lord Shiva is consideredthe father of this universe,and material nature, or god-dess Durga, is consideredthe mother. Shiva is neitherthe Supreme Lord nor a jiva(an infinitesimal spirit soul,the category to which webelong). Shiva is the formthrough which the Supreme

Lord works to inject the liv-ing entities (jivas) into thismaterial world.

Shiva’s Post – AGunavatara

Lord Shiva is in chargeof the tamo-guna, the modeof ignorance, and is thus inthe category of incarnationsknown as gunavataras. SutaGoswami says, "The tran-scendental Personality ofGodhead is indirectly asso-ciated with the three modesof material nature, namelypassion, goodness, and igno-rance, and just for the ma-terial world's creation, main-tenance, and destruction Heaccepts the three qualitativeforms of Brahma, Vishnu,and Shiva." (1.2.23) As thegod of annihilation, Shiva isresponsible for destroyingthe universes during the par-tial and complete devasta-tions, which occur respec-tively at the end of each dayof Brahma and at the end ofhis life.

Srila Prabhupada writes,"The dissolution of the threeworlds is effected by the in-carnat ion of darkness ,Rudra [Shiva], represented

by the fire of eternal timewhich blazes over the threeworlds." (3.11.28, Purport)Shukadeva Goswami says,"Thereafter, at the end ofthe millennium, the LordHimself in the form ofRudra, the destroyer, willannihilate the complete cre-ation as the wind displacesthe clouds." (2.10.43)

Shiva’s Personali ty –Ashutosha

From being s imple-

hearted to being tricky, frombeing easily pleased to blaz-ing with anger, Lord Shivadisplays many facets of per-sonality, all in the service ofhis dear Lord Sri Krishna.He exhibits dependence onKrishna and His devoteesas well as surrender andservice to them.

One of the prominent at-tributes of Lord Shiva is be-ing quickly pleased with any-one. Amongst all the demi-gods, Lord Shiva can bepacified even by the lowestclass of men, who need onlyoffer him obeisances andleaves of a bael tree. Thushis name is Ashutosha,which means that he ispleased very quickly. BeingAshutosha, Shiva is ap-proached by various types ofbeings – demigods, demons,pious and impious humanbeings, devotees of Krishna,and so on. However, asLord Shiva knows the inten-tions of everyone, he tricksthe demons, satisfies thematerial ists , blesses thesimple-hearted with devo-tional service to the Su-preme Lord, offers heartfelt

benedictions to devotees,and associa tes wi th ad-vanced devotees. In thisway Lord Shiva blesses dif-ferent people according totheir position and at the sametime exhibits his devotion untothe Lotus feet of the Su-preme Lord.

Shiva’s Mercy on theVaishnavas

Although Lord Shiva be-stows benedictions upondevotees and demons alike,

there is a gulf of differencein the way he blesses them.He is always pleased with thepure devotees of LordKrishna, as he himself says:

yah param ramhasahsakshat

tri-gunaj jiva-samjnitatbhagavantam vasudevamprapannah sa priyo hi me“Any person who is sur-

rendered to the Supreme Per-sonality of Godhead, Krishna,the controller of everything –material nature as well as theliving entity – is actually verydear to me.” (4.24.28)

How much he is pleasedwith Krishna’s devotees canbe seen in how he sometimesappears before them evenuninvited. For example, thePracetas were the ten sonsof Pracinabarhi, a king in thedynasty of Dhruva Maharaja.Before taking charge of thekingdom, they went to per-form devotional austerities toplease Lord Krishna. Know-ing this, Lord Shiva came be-fore them to bestow hismercy upon them by guidingthem in devotional service.Thus He taught them theRudra-gita. (Canto 4, Chap-

ter 24)Similarly, Lord Shiva

came to Markandeya Rishi, agreat devotee of the SupremeLord, glorified his devotionalattributes, and gave himbenedictions of knowledge,renunciation, realization ofKrishna, and the post of spiri-tual master of the Puranas.(Canto 12, Chapter 10)\

To Be Contd.


PM Launches Atal Bhujal Yojana

On the Birth anniversaryof former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee, PrimeMinister Shri NarendraModi launched Atal BhujalYojana (ATAL JAL) andnamed the Strategic Tunnelunder Rohtang Pass afterVajpayee, in an event heldin New Delhi.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Prime Minister saidthat today the name of a bigproject which is veryimportant for the country,Rohtang Tunnel, connectingManali, Himachal Pradeshwith Leh, Ladakh andJammu Kashmir, will nowbe known as Atal Tunnel.He also said that this strate-gic tunnel will change thefortunes of this region. Itwill help in promotingtourism in the region.

On Atal Jal Yojana, PMhighlighted that the subjectof water was very importantto Atal ji and very close tohis heart. Our Governmentis striving to implement hisvision. Atal Jal Yojana or theguidelines related to the JalJeevan Mission, are bigsteps in proving the resolveto deliver water to everyhousehold in the country by2024, the PM added. Hesaid that this water crisis isworrying for us as a family,as a citizen and as a countryalso it affects development.New India has to prepare us

to deal with every situationof water crisis. For this, weare working together on fivelevels.

Prime Minister empha-sized that Jal Shakti Minis-try freed the water out ofCompartmentalized Ap-proach and laid stress on aComprehensive and HolisticApproach. In this monsoon,we have seen how extensiveefforts have been made forwater conservation on behalfof the society, from the JalShakti Ministry. He said thaton one hand, Jal Jeevan

Mission, will work towardsdelivering piped watersupply to every house, andon the other hand Atal JalYojana, will pay specialattention to those areaswhere groundwater is verylow.

To incentivise grampanchayats to perform betterin water management, PrimeMinister said that a provi-sion has been made in theAtal Jal Yojana, in whichbetter performing grampanchayats, will be givenmore allocation. He saidthat in 70 years, only 3crore out of 18 crore ruralhouseholds have access topiped water supply. Nowour Government has set thetarget to deliver clean

drinking water to 15 crorehomes in the next five yearsthrough pipes.

Prime Minister empha-sized that water-relatedschemes should be madeaccording to the situation atevery village level. This hasbeen taken care whilemaking the guidelines of theJal Jeevan Mission, headded. He also said thatboth Union and StateGovernments will spend Rs3.5 lakh crore on waterrelated schemes in the next5 yrs. He requested thepeople of every village to

make a water action planand create a water fund.Farmers should make awater budget where ground-water is very low.

Atal Bhujal Yojana(ATAL JAL)

ATAL JAL has beendesigned with the principalobjective of strengtheningthe institutional frameworkfor participatory groundwa-ter management and bring-ing about behavioralchanges at the communitylevel for sustainable ground-water resource managementin seven States, viz. Gujarat,Haryana, Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh. Implementa-tion of the scheme is ex-

pected to benefit nearly8350 Gram Panchayats in 78districts in these States.ATAL JAL will promotepanchayat led ground watermanagement andbehavioural change withprimary focus on demandside management

Out of the total outlay ofRs. 6000 crore to be imple-mented over a period of 5years (2020-21 to 2024-25),50% shall be in the form ofWorld Bank loan, and berepaid by the CentralGovernment. The remaining

50% shall be throughCentral Assistance fromregular budgetary support.The entire World Bank'sloan component and CentralAssistance shall be passedon to the States as Grants.

Tunnel under RohtangPass

The historic decision toconstruct a strategic tunnelbelow the Rohtang Pass wastaken by former PrimeMinister Atal BihariVajpayee. The 8.8-kilometrelong tunnel is the world'slongest tunnel above analtitude of 3,000 metres. Itwill reduce the distancebetween Manali and Leh by46 kilometres and savecrores of rupees in transport

costs. It is a 10.5-metrewide single tube bi-lanetunnel with a fire proofemergency tunnel built intothe main tunnel itself. Thebreakthrough from bothends was achieved onOctober 15, 2017. Thetunnel is now nearingcompletion and is a step inthe direction of providingall weather connectivity toremote border areas ofHimachal Pradesh andLadakh which otherwiseremained cut off from therest of the country for aboutsix months during winters.


Over 1,000 experts call for globalaction on 'depleting' groundwater

New DelhiNearly 1,100 scien-

tists, practitioners andexperts in groundwaterand related fields from 92countries have called onthe governments andnongovernmentalagencies to "act now" toensure global groundwa-ter sustainability.

In a statement, thegroup noted that ground-water represents 99 percent of the Earth'sfreshwater.

This makes it criticalfor supplying drinkingwater, ensuring foodsecurity, adapting toclimate variability,supporting biodiversity,sustaining surface waterbodies and meeting theUN's Sustainable Devel-opment Goals (SDGs).

"Unfortunately, inmany regions, groundwa-ter is increasinglydepleted or polluted,hampering socio-eco-nomic development and

threatening water andfood supplies andecosystems," according tothe statement.

"At the same time,

advances in research,technology and policyoffer innovative solutions.There is a unique, but

shrinking window ofopportunity to act -- andnow is the time for actionto ensure groundwatercontinues to benefit

society today and in thefuture," it said.

Abhijit Mukherjee,who is a part of the global

scientist group and anAssociate professor atIndian Institute ofTechnology (IIT)Kharagpur told PTI "we,in India, are abstractingthe largest volume ofgroundwater in humanhistory and are rapidlydepleting a relativelynon-renewable naturalresource that is essentialfor our survival."

Mukherjee and othersignatories noted thatgroundwater challengesand opportunities areoften overlooked innational and internationalstrategies for sustainabledevelopment, climateadaptation andbiodiversity.

"As a global group ofscientists, practitionersand other experts ingroundwater and relatedfields, we call on interna-tional and nationalgovernmental and non-governmental agencies,development

organisations, corpora-tions, decision-makersand scientists to addressthree action items, thestatement said.

The experts emphasiseon putting the spotlighton global groundwatersustainability by complet-ing a UN World WaterDevelopment Report,planning a globalgroundwater summit, andrecognising the globalimportance of groundwa-ter in the UN's SDGs by2022.

They also highlightedthe need for managingand governing groundwa-ter sustainability fromlocal to global scales byapplying a guidingprinciple of groundwatersustainability by 2030.

The statement alsocalls for investment ingroundwater governanceand management byimplementing groundwa-ter sustainability plans forstressed aquifers by 2030.

Groundwater is thedrinking water source formore than two billionpeople, and provides over40 per cent of the waterfor irrigated agricultureworldwide, the expertssaid.

They noted thataround 1.7 billion peoplelive above aquifers --geologic formations thatprovide groundwater --that are stressed byoveruse.

Groundwater contami-nation disproportionatelyhits poor people withaccess to insecuredrinking water sources --often unprotected shallowgroundwater resources,according to the state-ment.

Mukherjee said "ourimmideate priority shouldbe to assess how muchsafe and sustainablegroundwater is availablein India and across theglobe, for our futuregenerations.


2020 to be observed as'Susashan Sankalp Varsh': Khattar

ChandigarhHaryana Chief Minister

Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednes-day announced that 2020 wouldbe observed as 'Susashan SankalpVarsh' during which suggestionsand reforms in the field of gover-nance would be invited from thepeople of the state.

A dedicated website wouldalso be prepared for the purposeon which the people could up-load their suggestions. The bestamong all such suggestions to be

received on the website would beconsidered by the state govern-ment, Khattar said while address-ing a state-level 'Good Gover-nance Day' programme inGurgaon.

He also announced three cat-egories of awards for the outstand-ing government employees, ac-cording to an official statement.

In all, 500 awards would begiven to the employees in thestate on December 25, 2020.

Earlier, the chief minister

launched five new e-initiatives,including website of 22 districtsof Haryana.

With the launch of additional42 new schemes and services on'Saral Portal' on Wednesday, thenumber of such schemes and ser-vices has reached to 527.

These schemes and servicespertaining to the 38 departments,boards and corporations are be-ing provided to the people of thestate through more than 6,000'Atal Seva Kendras' and 115

Antyodaya Kendras throughout22 districts of the state, he said.

The 'Lokayukta Portal' hasbeen developed with several fea-tures like acceptance of complaintor grievances, marking of com-plaint or grievances, enquiry ofcomplaints, disposal of com-plaints, finalization of complaintsand daily cause list.

'Web-Helris', which was alsolaunched on the occasion, is aweb-enabled integrated solutionfor deed registration and land

records management."Today we are celebrating the

birth anniversaries of late primeminister Atal Bihari Vajpayee andfreedom fighter Madan MohanMalaviya," Khattar said.

He said in November 2014,Prime Minister Narendra Modihad announced that every yearDecember 25 would be celebratedas Good Governance Day.

"In the same series, today thesixth Good Governance Day wasbeing celebrated, the chief min-ister said. "People elect their rep-resentatives with some aspira-tions and it is the responsibilityof government employees andofficers to provide the commonmasses uninterrupted servicesnearest to their home," he said.

This, he said, could be pos-sible through e-governance.

Khattar said there are about3.50 lakh government employeesin Haryana and they all shouldwork efficiently adhering to thetimelines.

While describing corruptionas a big menace, he said minimiz-ing human interface and adop-tion of e-governance could go along way in eradicating this men-ace from society.

On the occasion, the chiefminister also exhorted the em-ployees not resort to agitationsand dharnas to press for their de-mands and always help maintain-ing an atmosphere of peace, har-mony and brotherhood in thestate, the statement said.

He said they should be cau-tious of those divisive forceswhich try to create an environ-ment against the government .

Anti-CAA violence part ofconspiracy, says BJP MP

MangaluruThe violent incidents

during the anti-CitizenshipAmendment Act protests inMangaluru on December 19was part of a pre-plannedconspiracy by the Oppositionparties, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP andformer state minister ShobhaKarandlaje alleged Wednes-day.

Addressing reporters here,she congratulated the citypolice for quelling the distur-

bances in an effective manner.Hundreds of video clips

covering the disturbancescreated by the violent mobhave been received fromcitizens, she said.

She blamed the govern-ments led by Siddaramaiahand H D Kumaraswamy fornursing organisations creatingtrouble.

They had withdrawnseveral cases registered against1,600 "criminals" belongingto Popular Front of India

(PFI) and released them, shecharged.

Karandlaje said it was adisturbance sponsored by theCongress and a detailedinvestigation was underway.

She also put the blame onformer state minister andMangaluru MLA U T Khaderfor inciting violence.

Students from Kerala whohad come here for education,are overstaying in hostels hereand participating in protests,she alleged.

Three held in Mumbai for‘copper iridium’ scam

MumbaiThe Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested three persons

for allegedly duping a man of Rs 1.54 crore through what is knownas ̀ copper iridium' or ̀ rice puller' scam, an official said on Wednes-day. The accused were identified as Yogendra Hansraj Prajapati(58), Sayyad Babul Kabir Raizada (51) and Pragnesh JayantbhaiDawda alias Thakkar (41). They were booked under IPC section420 (cheating). The accused lured victims into investing in ma-chines that tested the quality of copper iridium which suppos-edly attracts rice grains and has some extraordinary properties.The accused told potential investors that copper- iridium is highlyin demand from government for top-secret projects. They alsoshowed forged documents which stated that the Defence Researchand Development Organisation (DRDO) had certified their com-pany to deal in this material. Similar scams have come to light invarious parts of the country.

16 Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020 Centre Spread 17

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu honourswinners at 66th National Film Awards

New DelhiVice President Venkaiah Naidu on Mon-

day presented the National Film Awards tothis year's winners with actors VickyKaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana andKeerthy Suresh receiving top honours.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who wassupposed to receive the Dadasaheb PhalkeAward at the ceremony, skipped the eventciting ill health. The 77-year-old actor willnow be honoured by President Ram NathKovind on December 29 at a high-tea, to behosted at Rashtrapati Bhavan for all thewinners.

Naidu said he was happy that filmswhich were recognised at the 66th editionof National Film Awards broke stereotypesand attacked superstitions.

"The feature films this year are as muchabout emotions as they are about intelli-gence... In the banquet of films, we havefilms that break stereotypes and attack su-perstitions sensitively. We see through themakers' imagination the orthodox traditionsgiving way to modern solutions," Naidusaid during the ceremony.

He also praised non-feature films fordealing with a wide range of subjects suchas female infanticide, human trafficking andadoption.

Information and Broadcasting ministerPrakash Javadekar called cinema the softpower of a strong country like India.

"I always believe that cinema is a softpower of a strong India. The influence ofthis soft power is visible when I go to othercountries. The culture and art of a countryis its power and we need to present thispower to the whole world," he said.

Bollywood actors Ayushmann andVicky, who won the best actor award fortheir work in "Andhadhun" and "Uri: TheSurgical Strike", attended the ceremony withAkshay Kumar, the co-producer and star of"Pad Man".

Keerthy, the winner of best actressaward for her portrayal of yesteryear Telugustar Savitri in bilingual biopic "Mahanati",was elated to get recognised for the film.

"I'm happy that my effort has been ap-preciated. I feel blessed and honoured toreceive the National Award for a film whichis so close to my heart," the actor told PTI.

Apart from Vicky, director of "Uri...",Aditya Dhar, also won his first NationalAward for directing the film based on the2016 Indian Army's surgical strikes on terrorlaunch pads in Pakistan after Uri attack.

"It is the best feeling. Since childhoodwhenever I used to think about getting intofilms, the first thought that would come tomy mind was to win the National Award oneday and receiving it for my debut film is sur-real," Dhar told PTI.

"Hellaro", a Gujarati film on women em-powerment in a patriarchal society, won the

best feature film honour.Director Abhishek Shah said as a femi-

nist, it was great to receive the award for asubject that he is so passionate about.

The best popular film providing whole-some entertainment went to "Badhaai Ho!",a story breaking the stereotype of middleage pregnancy through easy narrative.Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma saidhe never imagined the film would touchso many hearts.

"It's overwhelming. I never imaginedwe will get so much love. Audience

loved the movie and critics appreciatedit. It all feels like a dream," he told PTI.

For her portrayal of cantankerous yetsympathetic matriarch in the film, veterantheatre and film actor Surekha Sikri wonthe best supporting actress award.

Sikri, who received an standing ova-tion, said it was an emotional moment forher.

"National Award is a big honour andgetting standing ovation was a very emo-tional moment for me. This love hasadded years to my life," she told PTI.

Music composer-actor SwanandKirkire won his first the best support-ing actor award for his heartwarmingperformance in Marathi film "Chumbak".

"I never thought that I will get thishonour for acting in a small film like'Chumbak'. National Film Awards don'tdiscriminate between Hindi or regionalfilms or big and small films. I'm happythat I got this award for a Marathi film,"Kirkire told PTI.

The award for the best Hindi film waspresented to "Andhadhun", directed by

Sriram Raghavan."I'm very happy. I didn't expect all of

this. The movie got a lot of love last year,so more love is always good," Raghavantold PTI.

The filmmaker also won the NationalAward for best adapted screenplayalong with co-writers Arijit Biswas, PoojaLadha Surti and Hemanth Rao.

Surti added it felt "fabulous" to wina National Award.

"We were a team of writers so it feelsgreat to be recognised," the writer told

PTI.Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali won the

award for best music direction (songs) forhis magnum opus "Padmaavat".

The director said he loved creating themusic for the film, which also won best cho-reography for Kruti Mahesh Madya andJyothi D Tommaar, and best singer for ArijitSingh. Bindhu Malini Narayanswamy wonthe best female playback singer for"Nathicharami". Both the singers gave theceremony a miss.

"'Padmaavat' has had a journey of its ownand that has made this film even closer to myheart. The film's music was something I per-sonally loved. Whether 'Ghoomar' or 'BinteDil', they had their own beauty," Bhansalisaid in a statement.

"Hellaro" actor Neelam Panchal, who wasone of the 13 actors to receive the specialjury award at the ceremony, said their

hardwork has paid off.Kannada film "Ondalla Eradalla", won the

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film onNational Integration, while Priyanka Chopra'sproduction "Paani" received the best film onenvironment conservation/preservation.

Four child actors -- PV Rohit ("OndallaEradalla"), Sameep Singh Ranaut("Harjeeta"), Talha Arshad Reshi ("Hamid")and Shrinivas Pokale ("Naal") -- shared thebest child artiste award.

In the non-feature film category, 22 titleswere given the National Film Award.


Economic slowdown puts a questionmark on 14 per cent GST compensation

New DelhiAs the Centre grapples with

lower GST collections, a fresh ten-sion now engulfs the Union Fi-nance Minister-chaired GSTCouncil with a certain sectionquestioning the assumption of a14 per cent “high” revenuegrowth rate covered by a compen-sation mechanism mentioned inthe Goods and Services Tax(Compensation to States) Act.

“With inflation hoveringaround 4-5 per cent and India’sgrowth expected to be 5-6 percent, it will be difficult for theUnion government to providecompensation to states at 14 percent annualised rate,” a FinanceMinister of a BJP-ruled state toldThe Indian Express.

With an increase in GST rateruled out for now, the focus hasshifted to the actual growth rateof taxes collected by states, butsubsumed under GST since July2017. In the three years preced-ing 2015-16, the growth rate intaxes for non-special categorystates was just 8.9 per cent. Thisis significantly lower than the 14per cent growth rate assumed overthe 2015-16 base year whilecommitting compensation.

Including the special cat-egory states, the all-India averagetax growth had worked out to10.6 per cent in the three yearspreceding 2015-16.

According to data availablewith the GST Council, the aver-age revenue to be protected forstates in 2018-19 stood at aboutRs 49,020 crore a month. Theaverage monthly collection forstates was lower at Rs 43,166

crore. This meant, the Centremade good the gap of almost Rs6,000 crore a month, or Rs72,000 crore a year.

However, in 2019-20, thisgap has increased to almost Rs13,000 crore a month, or Rs1,56,000 crore for the year. Thisis more than double the previ-ous year’s compensation, leavingthe Centre hard-pressed to findresources. States have already ex-pressed displeasure over delayedpayment of GST compensation.

The Centre has estimated Rs1.09 lakh crore as compensationcess in the Budget for the cur-rent financial year. Cess collec-tion till November was Rs 64,528crore. Extrapolated for the fullfinancial year, it is expected toyield Rs 96,792 crore, which willstill leave a shortfall of Rs59,208 crore.

Had the GST growth rate as-sumption been less than 14 per

cent, the compensation amountwould have been lower.

The state-wise breakup ac-cessed by The Indian Expressshows that only eight states outof 17 non-special category statesrecorded a double-digit averagerate for revenue growth in thethree-year period (2013-14 to2015-16): Jharkhand (13.1 percent), Bihar (13 per cent), Haryana(11.7 per cent), Rajasthan (11.6per cent), Madhya Pradesh (11 percent), Karnataka (10.7 per cent),Goa (10.5 per cent) and Kerala(10.4 per cent).

Manufacturing states likeGujarat and Maharashtra had anaverage revenue growth of 3.6 percent and 9.4 per cent, respectively,while states such as AndhraPradesh, West Bengal and UttarPradesh had recorded average rev-enue growth of 3.5 per cent, 7.7per cent and 9.4 per cent, respec-tively.

While fixing the projectedgrowth rate of compensation, theGST Council had discussed sev-eral options including consider-ing average revenue growthachieved in three years preced-ing 2015-16 or five years preced-ing the base year or three of thefive years preceding by exclud-ing outliers or a rate equivalentto the nominal GDP growth rateof the country.

A growth rate equivalent tothe nominal GDP growth rate ofthe country had not found favourwith the Centre as it was felt thatsince revenue earned depends onthe growth of the economy, incase, sufficient revenues are notgenerated due to an economicslowdown, it would not be pos-sible to pay compensation athigher growth rates.

While chairing the first fewmeetings of the GST Council, thethen Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley had, in fact, proposed arevenue growth rate of 10.6 percent as being closer to realitysince it was the average all-Indiagrowth rate during the three yearspreceding 2015-16. However,GST Council meeting’s recordsshow that the suggestion of 14per cent revenue growth was ac-cepted “in the spirit of compro-mise” to reach a unanimousagreement on the proposal.

In the GST Council meetingheld in Goa in September, the15th Finance Commission hadsuggested lowering of the legallyguaranteed 14 per cent annualgrowth rate for states in the re-maining compensation period ofthree years till 2022. The Com-mission cited that the rates werefixed keeping in mind the pre-GST rates, which have been low-ered significantly. States, how-ever, had not agreed with the pro-posal, saying the GST rate andstructure should be the prime ob-jective of the Council instead offrequent tinkering.

GST revenues have been de-clining over the last few monthsraising concerns for both statesand Centre. Barring November,GST collections contracted forprevious two months, which evenled to delayed compensationpayments to states. Even thoughofficers committee recommendeda rate hike for revenue augmen-tation, the GST Council in its lat-est meeting decided against a ratehike as a knee-jerk reaction butinstead focus on plugging leak-ages and curb tax evasion.

We will fight Chinas power of the gun with the power of truth: Dalai LamaGaya (Bihar)The Dalai Lama on Wednesday

vowed that Tibetan Buddhists willcontinue to fight with "the power oftruth" the communist regime in Chinawhich, according to him, thrived onthe "power of the gun".

The Tibetan spiritual leader madethe statement at the MahabodhiTemple in Bodh Gaya near here, theplace where Buddha is believed tohave attained enlightenment more thantwo millennia ago.

He arrived at Bodh Gaya onTuesday night on his annual fortnight-long visit of the pilgrim town duringwhich he offers discourses besides

organizing the Kala Chakra initiationceremony.

"A survey conducted three yearsago has shown a massive rise in thenumber of Tibetan Buddhists in China.We have the power of truth while thecommunist regime in China has thepower of the gun," the Dalai Lamasaid.

The Buddhist monk, who is also arecipient of the Nobel Peace Prize,paid glowing tributes to "ancientIndian education system" and itsemphasis on "non-violence, compas-sion and democracy" citing theexample of the Nalanda University, theruins of which lay less than a 100

kilometers away from Bodh Gaya."As social animals, we cannot do

without compassion.It is a virtue essential to achieving

mental peace. The world is reelingunder violence, often in the name ofreligion. This must not happen andhumanistic values must be promoted,"he added.

About the spread of Buddhism inChina, which has been officiallyatheist since the communist revolution,the Dalai Lama said, "China hastraditionally been a Buddhist country.

Among the adherents of variousreligions, Buddhists are the largest innumber.

"Moreover, many citizens of Chinaare practising Tibetan Buddhism andits universities have a large number ofBuddhist scholars," he added.

The Dalai Lama had sought asylumin India in 1959 after he fled hishomeland in the wake of repression bythe Peoples Liberation Army.

Massive security arrangements arein place in the temple town, whichwill remain till the conclusion of theDalai Lamas 14-day-long stay.

His tour here in January last yearwas rocked by a low-intensity bombexplosion at the very venue where hehad delivered a discourse a few hoursago.

Mumbai, Thursday 26 December 2019- 01 January 2020 19

Amitabh Bachchan tobe honoured with

Dadasaheb Phalke onDec 29: Javadekar

New DelhiMegastar Amitabh Bachchan, who skipped the National Film

Awards ceremony on Monday due to ill health, will be presented withhis Dadasaheb Phalke honour on December 29, Information andBroadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

President Ram Nath Kovind will host a high-tea for all the winnersat the Rashtrapati Bhavan where Bachchan will be presented withIndian cinema's biggest honour, Javadekar said during the NationalFilm awards ceremony here.

Bachchan, 77, tweeted on Sunday that he would have to give theceremony a miss as he was down with fever and doctors had advisedhim to avoid travelling.

"Down with fever .. ! Not allowed to travel .. will not be able toattend National Award tomorrow in Delhi .. so unfortunate .. my re-grets ..," the veteran actor wrote.

The award, named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke who is reveredas the father of Indian cinema, was instituted in 1969, the yearBachchan made his debut in Hindi film industry with "Saat Hindustani".

Considered the highest honour for an artiste in Indian cinema, theaward comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl,and a cash prize of Rs 10,00,000.

It was conferred upon late actor Vinod Khanna in 2017.Vice President Venkaiah Naidu presented the National Film Awards

to the winners on Monday.Traditionally, the National Awards are handed out to the winners

by the President of India.

Writer moves HC against'Chhapaak', seeks credit for storyMumbaiA writer has approached

the Bombay High Courtagainst Deepika Padukone-starrer "Chhapaak", claim-ing he originally penned anacid attack survivor's storyon which the film is based.

The petitioner, RakeshBharti, has sought that heshould be given credit asone of the writers of thefilm.

The suit filed by Bharticlaimed that he had con-ceived an idea/script for amovie, tentatively titled'Black Day', and got it reg-istered with the IndianMotion Pictures Produc-ers' Association (IMPPA)in February 2015.

Bharti said since thenhe has been working onthe script and approach-ing several artists and pro-ducers, including Fox StarStudio, for narration.

"However, the projectcould not commence dueto unavoidable circum-stances. The plaintiff had

narrated the idea to FoxStar Studio, which is theproduction house for'Chhapaak'," the pleasaid.

Bharti 's advocateAshok Sarogi said theplaintiff later came toknow that an identicalfilm is being produced bythe defendants (Fox StarStudio and others) and di-rected by MeghnaGulzar.

Bharti submitted com-plaints to the producers butdid not get any reply fol-lowing which he ap-proached the high court.

In his plea, Bharti hassought that he be givencredit as one of the writersof the movie 'Chhapaak'and the film's release bestayed until due credit isgiven to him.

He has also sought foran expert to be appointed

to compare his script andthat of 'Chhapaak'.

Sarogi said the pleawill be heard by a vaca-tion bench of the highcourt on December 27.

'Chhapaak', based onthe life of acid atack sur-vivor Laxmi Agarwal,stars Deepika Padukoneand Vikrant Massey. It isslated for release on Janu-ary 10, 2020.

Robert Pattinson says hedoesn't know how to act

LondonActor Robert Pattinson

says before shooting ascene he has to force him-self into character as hedoesn't "really know how toact".

The actor, who will nextbe seen in the black-and-white psychological horrorfilm "The Lighthouse", saidhe would"drink mudfrom puddles"and "punchhimself in theface" to pre-pare for a shot.

"Because Idon't reallyknow how toact, I kind ofwanted to somehow makeit real, and one of the waysI've always thought makesthat a little bit easier is ifyou shake up your physi-cal state just before action,"Pattinson told The Ob-server.

"You end up walkinginto a scene having a dif-ferent... feeling," he added.

The 33-year-old actor

said he would often gag sohard he would throw up.

"And I forgot I had a micon the whole time, so theproducers and the director,before every single take ofthe movie, would get... Itkind of puts everyone elseoff," he said.

Pattinson describedhimself as a "catastrophist".

"I'm always thinkingthat the worst-case scenariois actually going to happen.So when it does happen, I'mlike: 'Gah! OK! I'm pre-pared!'"

The actor stars along-side Willem Dafoe in theRobert Eggers-directedfilm as two lighthouse keep-ers slowly slipping into in-sanity on a remote island.


Don't think heroism incinema will ever die:

Salman KhanMumbaiFresh from the success of "Dabangg 3",

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan saysthere are times when the makers go over-board with "heroism" but believes he islucky to have struck the right balance inhis films.

"Dabangg 3" saw Salman reprise his roleof Robin Hood-like cop Chulbul Pandeyand the film released on December 20, mint-ing over Rs 90 crores in its opening week-end.

The actor, who has cemented his imageas a larger-than-life hero with films like"Wanted", "Kick", "Bharat" and the"Dabangg" series, said heroism is here tostay.

"I feel when fans go to theatre theyshould want to be you and they should comeout happier. Basically that is my funda todo movies. I don't think heroism can everdie.

"It can never die. There are times whenyou feel there is too much of it (heroism) soyou try and control it, to get the right bal-ance is difficult. I am lucky on cracking it,"Salman, 53, said in a group interview.

Growing up, the actor said, he watchedBruce Lee on screen and used to imitate themoves of the Hollywood martial arts leg-end.

"I am a big movie fan myself. We wouldsee the posters of a film and decide whetherwe want to see the film or not. Today, wehave trailers and people make their mind tosee a movie if they liked it. When I wouldcome out of a movie theatre after watchinga film, I wanted to be that hero, feeling good.

"We would watch all the films of BruceLee and we would fight and kick peoplearound (like he used to). Everyone was amartial artist at that point of time in a funway," he said.

Salman said no star has the power tohold the audience in the theatres if the filmis not good.

"... Till the time the emotion is correct...If you do something selflessly for someone-- it could be your mother, family or wife ordog or country -- that emotion works. Yousay star power (works), but if the film is notgood, then it doesn't hold at all," he said.

"The subject is important. The scenesand music have to be good. If a boring scenecomes, people get busy with their phones,"he added. Salman is currently busy shoot-ing for "Radhe".

"I am hearing scripts from Farhan(Akhtar) when something comes up, we willsee," he added. The actor also has "Kick 2"and "Veteran", the Hindi remake of 2015South Korean film.

Saif Ali Khan reacts on nationwide CAA protestsMumbaiReacting to the ongoing na-

tionwide protests against the Citi-zenship Amendment Act (CAA),actor Saif Ali Khan said as a citi-zen he is concerned about thecurrent situation in the coun-try.

The 49-year-old star is oneof the few big names fromBollywood to react on the un-rest due to the protests againstthe legislation.

"There are many things thatgive us a cause for concern,watching and wondering howwhere it will all end up," Saifsaid on the political scenarioin the country.

Several Bollywood celebri-ties such as Farhan Akhtar,Parineeti Chopra, RichaChadha, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub,Anurag Kashyap, ShabanaAzmi, Javed Akhtar, HrithikRoshan and Swara Bhaskeramong others have voiced theirdisappointment over theamended Citizenship Act.

The silence of the A-listers

from the film industry is beingquestioned on social media butthe "Sacred Games" star saideverybody has a right to ex-press their opinion or not.

"It is everybody's right toprotest peacefully andeverybody's right not to," theactor told PTI in an interview.

Saif said he trying to under-stand the situation better andwill make up his mind after heis well-informed.

"I would like the protest tobe associated with exactly whatI am protesting against. Theremight be a possibility that Iwill end up representing a dif-

ferent kind of protest. So I amnot sure yet. Until I am surewhat I am protesting againstand whether it is going to betaken that way, I need to thinkmore. "There is so much beingwritten in the press, there areso many things that give usconcern about what we are read-

ing."In many ways, India has to

define herself, the actor said."She will be defined by ei-

ther the judiciary or the gov-ernment or ul t imately thepeople and we will know inwhat kind of environment weare living in. But it is still alittle... That is dwelling onwhat I am reading and what Iam told."

Protests broke out acrossthe country after the Citizen-ship (Amendment) Bill wascleared by Parl iament andsigned by President Ram NathKovind into an Act.

According to the Act,people from Hindu, Sikh, Bud-dhist, Jain, Parsi and Christiancommunities who have come toIndia till December 31, 2014,from Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan due to religiouspersecution there will be givenIndian citizenship.

The protesters claim thatthe legislation was "unconsti-tutional and divisive" as it ex-cludes Muslims.


First detention centre in

Karnataka to house illegal

Rahul Gandhi to launchtribal dance fest in

C'garh on Dec 27

BengaluruAmid nation-wide protests

over the controversial citizenshiplaw, the first detention centre inKarnataka, reportedly meant tolodge illegal immigrants and mi-grants overstaying in the coun-try, has been opened inSondekoppa village near here.

The facility with severalrooms, a kitchen and toilets hasbeen kept ready on the directionsof the government, a social wel-fare department official said.

However, Home MinisterBasavaraj Bommai objected tothe term 'Detention Centre'.

Speaking to reporters on Tues-day, he had said, "In qualifiedterms, it is not a detention centre.There is no purpose per se to de-tain someone on the issue of citi-zenship."

He ruled out that the centrehas been operationalised.

".. please check with the so-cial welfare department. At least Ihave no information that it hasstarted.

If at all it has beenoperationalised then there shouldbe some detenue there? No one isthere," he added.

According to Bommai, the

purpose to keep the facility readywas to lodge African nationalsoverstaying in India and indulg-ing in drug peddling.

He said their illegal activitiescreate a law and order situationin the country.

"It is only to keep them (Afri-can nationals) there and sendthem back to their nation," headded.

A social welfare departmentofficer told PTI on condition ofanonymity that they have got thedirection to keep the 'CentralRelief Centre' (CRC) ready beforeJanuary 1.

The 20-year-old building wasa hostel for more than 18 yearsfor the poor and downtroddencommunity but as the number ofstudents dwindled, it was lyingvacant for almost two years wait-ing for the habitants. Explainingthe reason behind including theSocial Welfare Department in thisproject, the officer said, "Food,accommodation and clothes willbe provided to the detenus by ourSocial Welfare Department."

But, Foreign Regional Reg-istration Officer Labhu Ram, said,"Please check with the SocialWelfare Department. The deten-tion centre is looked after by thesocial welfare department.

RaipurCongress leader Rahul

Gandhi is scheduled to visitChhattisgarh capital Raipur onDecember 27 to take part in theopening ceremony of the na-tional tribal dance festival, offi-cials said on Wednesday.

AICC General SecretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra and othersenior leaders are also scheduledto remain present at the inaugu-ration ceremony, they said.

The state is going to hold athree-day 'National Tribal DanceFestival 2019' at the Science Col-lege ground here from Friday,wherein over 1,350 artistes from25 states in India and six othercountries are expected to takepart.

Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhiwill be the chief guest at the in-

augural function of the event at10 am on Friday, while ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel willpreside over the occasion, a gov-ernment public relation officialhere said.

Leader of Opposition in theRajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad,deputy leader Anand Sharma,Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel,AICC General Secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra and several othersenior party leaders would bepresent on the occasion as spe-cial guests, he said.

The venue of the dance festhas capacity to accommodatenearly 4,000 people and it willhave a food zone, book exhibi-tion, stalls of forest produce, in-dustrial promotion stalls, exhibi-tion related to Chhattisgarh's his-tory, tourism, culture and cuisine,he said.

The dance competition willbe based on four themes- danceduring weddings or other auspi-cious occasions, dance duringharvest and agricultural-relatedfestivals, dance during traditionalfestivals and rituals and the lastcategory is other folk and classi-cal dance forms, he said.

Around 39 tribal troupes willbe making a presentation in thesefour different categories coveringaround 43 dance styles, he added.

Earthquake Disaster Risk Index: Ratnagiri at high riskfor casualties; Mumbai, Pune in ‘high exposure’ category

Mumbai

Port town Ratnagiri is at a high riskfor casualties in the event of anearthquake, an Earthquake DisasterRisk Index (EDRI), released earlierthis month, has found.

The report, prepared by NationalDisaster Management Authority(NDMA), indicates that whileMumbai and Pune are in the medium-risk category, high density of popula-tion makes them susceptible to “highexposure”.

The EDRI also indicates thatabout 56 per cent area of India isprone to moderate to severe earth-quakes.

The NDMA, along with Interna-tional Institute of InformationTechnology (IIIT), Hyderabad, hasprepared EDRI for 50 cities and onedistrict on a pilot basis in seismicallyactive zones around the country. Therisk levels for casualties have been

graded as low, medium and high.According to the index,

Ratanagri is observed to have thirdhighest risk at 69 per cent among allcities in seismic zone IV, afterShimla and Panipat.

Ratanagri has 40 per cent ofreinforced concrete sample buildingsthat fall in “collapse” category.According to the index, the city hasmulti-storey buildings with theground floor open for parking orother purposes, and are not designedfor earthquake.

Also, buildings touching orlocated close to adjacent ones areseemingly unsafe.

The cities were selected for thepilot study based on the populationdensity, housing threat factor and ifthey were identified as smart cities.Seismically active regions in India,that is, seismic zones IV and V, werethe main focus of the study.

The report was prepared on the

basis of field visits to 25 cities andcollection of secondary data from theremaining cities. Among 50 cities, 13cities were found to have high risk,30 with medium and the remainingseven with low risk level.

It was observed that among 13cities with high risk level, sevencities have high hazard level. Aizawl,Solan, Gangtok and Vijayawada arethe four cities which have highexposure among the 13 high-risklevel cities.

Similarly, Ghaziabad, Pune andMumbai are three cities which havehigher exposure among 30 cities withmedium risk level.

According to EDRI, cities withhigh risk and high vulnerabilityinclude Shimla, Aizwal, Pithoragarh,Nainital, and Uttarkashi; and mediumrisk with high vulnerability areDarbhanga, Patna, Mandi andChennai. Using a combination ofphysical surveys on ground and risk

assessment, the team also recordedvibration data on selected buildings.

This was then fed into computermodelled buildings to simulate theeffects of earthquakes of varyingintensities to quantify physicaldamage to buildings during earth-quakes.

The risk, which is initiallyestimated of individual buildingtypology in a city, was eventuallyprojected onto the city using theCensus data of total number ofbuildings in that city of that typol-ogy. The project also aims to increasegeneral awareness about earthquakesafety and to make homes earthquakeresilient.

The report also observes that oneway is to educate architects andengineers is by putting in place anadequate framework for new build-ings, determining the risk of existingbuildings and suggesting techniquesfor reinforcing them.


Book to chronicle India's Olympic journey

New DelhiA new book will chronicle

India's journey in the globalsports arena of Olympics - thewins, the misses, the starsportspersons, their stories, andthe challenges and possibilitiesthat lie ahead of India to make itsmark at the mega sporting event.

"Dreams of a Billion: Indiaand the Olympic Games" writtenby Boria Majumdar with NalinMehta will be brought out byHarperCollins India in January2020.

The book provides an insideview of what goes on backstagein the Indian Olympics world

alongside a quick history of howIndia has fared at the Olympicsover the past century and a lookat how the Indian Olympics worldhas changed in the last decade.

Speaking about the book,Majumdar says, "To bring ourOlympic champions alive and togo backstage with them and dis-

cuss their trials and tribulationswas an enriching experience."

According to Mehta, "Ourconversations with India's fore-most athletes have given us someunbelievable tales of raw cour-age and unbending grit. Thisbook combines these with thewider story of Indian Olympic

sports to show us where we camefrom, the paths we have travelledas a sporting nation and the manypossibilities that now lie aheadof us."

Udayan Mitra, publisher (Lit-erary) at HarperCollins India,terms "Dreams of a Billion" as afascinating book about India'sOlympic journey and prepara-tions for the 2020 Tokyo Olym-pics, on which the country'shopes are pinned.

"It's an anecdotal, insightfullook at the inside workings ofIndia's sporting world, andmakes for an absolutely fascinat-ing read. We're excited to pub-lish this very special book un-der the Harper Sports imprint,and hope that a lot of readers aregoing to join us in the excite-ment for Mission Olympics," hesays.

Ace shooter Abhinav Bindrasays Indian sport has grown fromstrength to strength on the backof inspiring stories of courage,determination, and the passionto achieve excellence and as asportsperson it is humbling to bea part of this collective journeychronicled in the book.

Badminton great PullelaGopichand feels as sports culturein India grows, it is very impor-tant that story-telling aboutsports develops as well.

Leander prepares for onelast roar, to retire in 2020

New DelhiIndian tennis icon Leander

Paes on Wednesday announcedthat he will bring the curtainsdown on his illustrious career in2020, which will be his farewellseason on the Pro-circuit.

His cupboard overflowingwith hundreds of trophies, thatinclude 18 coveted Grand Slamdoubles titles, the 46-year-old hasbeen enduring a lean patch forsome time. The last of his 18

Grand Slams came in 2016 FrenchOpen mixed doubles withMartina Hingis.

Paes, who is the most success-ful doubles player in the historyof Davis Cup with 44 wins, re-cently dropped out of top-100 forthe first time in 19 years.

"I want to announce 2020 asmy farewell year as a pro tennisplayer," Paes wrote in a statement,which he posted on his twitterhandle.

"I am looking forward to the2020 tennis calendar where I willbe playing a few select tourna-ments, travelling with my teamand celebrating with all myfriends and fans around theworld," the statement read further.

"It is all of you who have in-spired me to become me and Iwant to take this year to say"Thank You" to you."

Paes is targeting to be the onlytennis player in the history of the

sport to play eight successiveOlympics. In a career spanningnearly three decades, duringwhich he also overcame a braintumour, Tokyo Olympics (pro-vided he qualifies) is expected tobe his swansong.

He is the only tennis playerfrom the country to have won asingles Olympic medal as hegrabbed a historic bronze at the1996 Atlanta Games, beatingArgentina's Fernando Meligeniin the play-off.

With compatriot MaheshBhupathi, he created an awe-in-spiring partnership during whichthey dominated the circuit in late1990s, winning three Grand Slamtitles together and claiming thenumber one rank.

In their partnership, they alsoweaved a a record 24-match un-beaten streak before splitting asa team due to difference of opin-

ion.India's Davis Cup hero

thanked his parents Dr Vece Paesand Jennifer, both of whom rep-resented India at the highest level,for giving him sports genes.

"I want to thank my parentsfor their genetics, guidance, dis-cipline, environment they createdand unconditional love they'vealways shown me throughout mylife, I would not be who I am with-out your unstinting support andbelief in me, I love you."

He also thanked his two eldersisters and daughter Aiana.

Paes asked fans to share theirfavourite memories of him overthe years using #one last roar.

"2020 is going to be an emo-tional one and I look forward toseeing all of you out there roll-ing with me. It has been an honourbeing your lionheart," he con-cluded.


Kohli, Dhoni named captains of Test and

ODI team of the decade by Aussie website

MelbourneVirat Kohli has been named captain

of the Test XI of the decade by CricketAustralia's official news website, while

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was chosen asthe leader of its ODI team of the decade.

It is not a surprise that Kohli findshimself in both the Test and ODI teams.

The 31-year-old has arguably been thebest batsman over the last decade. Hehas already amassed 70 internationalhundreds and is only behind Ricky

Ponting (71) and Sachin Tendulkar(100).

Kohli, who averages more than 50 inall formats, is also third in the list ofleading run-scorers of all time with21,444 runs, behind Ponting (27,483)and Tendulkar (34,357).

The India skipper has scored runsall around the world but Australia hasbeen a special place for him, havingscored nine hundreds (six in Tests,three in ODIs) Down Under.

Kohli is primed to shatter morerecords, having ended 2019 as theleading run-getter.

The others in the Test XI of thedecade include Alastair Cook, DavidWarner, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith,AB de Villiers, Ben Stokes, Dale Steyn,Stuart Broad, Nathan Lyon and JamesAnderson, 'cricket.com.au' posted.

The website's ODI team of thedecade is led by Dhoni, who captainedIndia to two World titles, in 2007 and2011, respectively.

Rohit Sharma, who had a memo-rable 2019, which included fivehundreds in the World Cup, is one of theopeners in the team alongside HashimAmla.

Kohli is the undisputed numberthree, followed by de Villiers, Shakib AlHasan, Jos Buttler, Dhoni, Rashid KhanMitchell Starc, Trent Boult and LasithMalinga.

Serena Williams, Wozniacki to play doubles in New ZealandAucklandLong-time friends Serena Williams and

Caroline Wozniacki will play doubles to-gether for the first time at the WTA Tour'sASB Classic in Auckland beginning onJan. 6.

Former No. 1 Wozniacki has started herseason in Auckland every year since 2015and has made the hard court tournamentthe first stop of her short farewell tour.

The 29-year-old Wozniacki was diag-nosed with rheumatoid arthritis shortlyafter winning her the 2018 AustralianOpen and will retire from tennis after play-ing the Open in Melbourne next month.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam win-ner, has not played doubles with anyoneother than her sister Venus since the FedCup World Group playoff in 2015. Herlast WTA tournament in doubles withoutVenus was in 2002.

Wozniacki hasn't played doubles formore than three years.

The pair are close friends. Williamswas Wozniacki's bridesmaid at her wed-ding earlier this year and will play an ex-hibition in Copenhagen in May,Wozniacki's final match before retirement.

"We've been wanting to play doublestogether for a long time but it just hasn'tworked out so I'm really excited that it'sfinally going to happen, especially at oneof my favorite tournaments on tour,"

Wozniacki said."It's going to be so much fun!" "This

is a pairing that I think tennis fans havebeen waiting to see for a long time," tour-nament director Karl Budge said Tues-

day."To have Serena and Caroline on court

together, on the same side of the net, is anamazing opportunity for tennis fans tosee history being made.


Printed, Published and Owned by Mr. Sanjay Mangesh Bhaire. Printed at Somani Printing Press, Gala No. 4, Amin Industrial Estate, Sonawal Cross Road-2,Near Jawahar Nagar Fatak Brudgem Goregaon (East 400 063 and published at B/2, Mangal Murti, Goregaon Subhash Nagar Co-op. Hsg. Soc, Near

Sankardham College, Goregaon (west), Mumbai- 400 104. Editor : Mr. Sanjay Mangesh Bhaire phone : 022-49719932 email : [email protected]

On his birth anniversary, remembering social reformer Baba AmteDecember 26, 2019 is the 105th

birth anniversary of Baba Amte, thesocial reformer and activist whodevoted his life to serving leprosypatients and removing the stigmaaround the ailment.

Winner of the Padma Vibhushan(1986) and the Ramon MagsaysayAward (1985), Baba Amte in 1949established Anandwan, a leprosy carecentre, in Chandrapur district ofMaharashtra, where patients wereoffered care and a self-reliant way oflife.

Baba Amte was born MurlidharDevidas Amte, on December 26, 1914,in Hinganghat, Wardha. Called Bababy his parents, Amte was born inluxury — his father was a landownerand British government official. Hetrained as a lawyer and for a while,enjoyed the life of a rich young man,horse-riding, hunting, playing bridgeand tennis.

However, he was soon involved inthe freedom struggle, and beganworking with Mahatma Gandhi. Thewebsite of Anandwan describes howan encounter with a leprosy patientchanged Baba Amte’s life — the sightof Tulshiram filled him with fear.

“I had never been frightened of

anything. Because I fought Britishtommies to save the honour of an Indianlady, Gandhiji called me ‘AbhaySadhak’, fearless seeker of the truth.When the sweepers of Warora challengedme to clean the gutters, I did so; but thesame person quivered in fright when hesaw the living corpse of Tulshiram.”

Baba Amte was convinced thatleprosy patients could be truly helpedonly when the society found a cure forwhat he called ‘Mental Leprosy’ — the

stigma and fear associated with thedisease.

Thus was founded Maharogi SewaSamiti, Warora — or Anandwan —where leprosy patients were providedwith medical care and a life ofdignity, engaged in agriculte andvarious small and medium industries.Baba Amte’s wife, Sadhanatai Amte,played a crucial role in setting up andrunning the village.

To fight the stigma associated with

leprosy, Baba Amte injected himselfwith bacilli from a pateint, to provethe ailment was not highly conta-gious.

Baba Amte also involved inother social causes. In 1985, helaunched the first Knit Indiamission for peace — at the age of72, he walked from Kanyakumari toKashmir, a distance of more than3,000 miles, to inspire unity inIndia. He organised a second suchmarch three years later, travellingover 1800 miles from Assam toGujarat.

In 1990, he left Anandwan totake part in the Narmada BachaoAndolan, and lived on the banks ofthe Narmada for seven years.

Baba Amte passed away onFebruary 9, 2008. He was buriedand not cremated, as he wanted hisbody to be of use even after death.“Baba would say that every bit of hisbody should be of some use. Burialmakes the body useful for the micro-organisms in the soil as against ashimmersion in rivers which pollutes thewater, he said. Also, he would say thatwood used to burn a body can be usedto cook food for 1,000 people,” saidhis son Vikas Amte.

Documents

Maharashtra CM assures complete farm loan waiverNCP president Sharad Pawar, who is chairman of the institute, was also present. During his speech, Thackeray took a dig at former chief