· Mishra and Deepak Gupta said as per Central Pollution ... You may go for full odd-even ... stubble burning have been detected since October 1 in Punjab, Haryana and UP so

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As Delhi faced emergencysituation second time in

the season due to severe plusAir Quality Index (AQI) withvalue 540 on the NationalAmbient Air quality Index(NAAQI) on Friday, the rulingAam Aadmi Party (AAP) saida final call on extending theodd-even scheme will be takenon Monday as the air quality isexpected to improve in nexttwo-three days.

The road-rationingscheme, rolled out onNovember 4, ended on Friday.“We do not want people to faceunnecessary inconvenience.The residents cooperated verymuch in implementation of thescheme. There were 250-300challans every day, which arevery less considering the pop-ulation. Air quality is predict-ed to improve over the nexttwo-three day. A final call onextending the odd-evenscheme will be taken onMonday,” Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal said.

The Central Pollution con-trol Board (CPCB) has said thevehicle rationing scheme willnot help in improving Delhi’sair more than four per cent.

Forecasting on the air qual-ity for next three days, Systemof Air Quality and WeatherForecasting And Research(SAFAR) said the air quality inDelhi may improve onNovember 17.

If air quality data of mon-itoring agencies are to bebelieved there is no significantimprovement recorded in pre-vious week as levels of harm-ful Suspended ParticulateMatters (SPMs) were recordedabove 500 for ParticulateMatter (PM) 10 and 300 plusfor PM 2.5.

On Friday also, values ofboth were recorded 582 and

390 as a thick layer of toxicsmog enveloped Delhi for thefourth consecutive day.

All monitoring agenciesrecorded an AQI above 500 inDelhi on Friday. NeighbouringFaridabad (450), Ghaziabad(475), Greater Noida (445),Gurgaon (461) and Noida(474) too continued to reelunder severe air quality.

Air quality at differentplaces in Delhi also recordedhazardous level. Dwarka Sector8 and Okhla phase-II were ontop with overall AQI 558 and688 respectively. Mundka,Punjbai Bagh, Anand Viharand RK Puram recorded AQIabove 400.

Air quality in Patparganjalso breached severe category

with value 475 recorded atReal Time Ambient air quali-ty index of Delhi pollutionControl Committee (DPCC).Capital’s Mandir Marg record-ed AQI 650.

Najafgarh, Narela and afew outer areas faced noxiousair with AQI above 500.Levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10were nearly eight times high-er than normal at severallocations. An AQI between201 and 300 is considered“poor”, 301-400 “very poor”and 401-500 “severe”.

According SAFAR, drizzleon Thursday night provedcounter-productive and led toformation of secondary parti-cles — a situation Delhi wit-nessed in the first week of

November. The situation may worsen

due to a drizzle on Fridaynight, it said.

A cloud cover and slowwind speed due to a westerndisturbance have been uncon-ducive for dispersion of pollu-tants, experts said.

Gufran Beig, project direc-tor, SAFAR, said though theimpact of stubble burning isexpected to reduce onNovember 16, high humiditydue to isolated light rains mayworsen the situation.

“Drizzle (last night)delayed the recovery andhence, improvement in ar qual-ity is now expected only byNovember 17,” the SAFARsaid.

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In what could be bad news forpaedophiles, the CBI has set

up an Online Child SexualAbuse and Exploitation( O C S A E )Prevention/Investigation Unitin the national Capital under itsSpecial Crime Zone to proac-tively check child porn andassociated crimes throughdetailed investigation.

The newly-established spe-cialised unit will collect, collateand disseminate informationregarding publication, trans-mission, creation, collection,seeking, browsing, download-ing advertising, promoting,exchanging, distribution ofinformation relating to onlinechild sexual abuse and exploita-tion and probe related crimes.

The unit will also conduct

investigation of such offencescovered under the provisions ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC),the Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act and theInformation Technology Act2000 and under various otherlaws.

“Rapid growth of the inter-net and information & com-munication tools over the pasttwo decades has created unpar-alleled opportunities for chil-dren and adults alike to learnand explore the world aroundthem. Today, in many coun-tries, these technologies areubiquitous — permeating everyaspect of our lives — personaland professional, individualand social. These technologieshave simultaneously created anew dimension, wherein thesexual exploitation of children

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The Supreme Court onFriday said the odd-even

vehicle rotation scheme of theDelhi Government was a “half-baked solution” to the severepollution level in the nationalCapital as it is not effective inreducing pollution.

The apex court questionedthe exemptions given, includ-ing to two and three wheelers,during the scheme and askedthe Delhi Government as towhether it helped reduce pol-lution.

A Bench of Justices ArunMishra and Deepak Gupta

said as per Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB), thecontribution of cars in pollu-tion was around 3 per cent andodd-even was not a permanentsolution to the problem.

“This odd-even is also ahalf-baked solution. You maygo for full odd-even withoutany exemption,” the Benchtold senior advocate MukulRohatgi, who was appearingfor the Delhi Government.

“We have seen that in spiteof imposition of odd-evenscheme the pollution isincreasing in the city of Delhiand the NCR region and pol-lution has reached to very

severe level. Drastic steps arerequired to be taken by all con-cerned working in tandemand to cooperate with eachother as it is not an adversari-al litigation,” the Bench said.

Additional SolicitorGeneral ANS Nadkarni,appearing for the Centre, toldthe Bench that as per CPCB’sstudy, odd-even scheme has noeffect on reducing the pollutionlevel. Rohatgi countered thissubmission and said as perstudy reports, the pollutionlevel has reduced from five to15 per cent during odd-evenscheme.

“If exemptions areremoved, it might reducemore. There are large numberof two wheelers in the city andif we stop them (during odd-even scheme), the whole citywill collapse,” he said, adding,“The real culprit is stubbleburning”.

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In the last couple of days,Punjab witnessed an over 50-

fold decline in stubble burninginstances from 520 onNovember 12 to just 10 onNovember 13, while Haryanahad an over four-fold dropfrom 68 to 16 instances.

Uttar Pradesh registeredabout three-fold decline from210 to 79. The latest figures onthe basis of satellite imageryshow that Uttar Pradesh may

have registered an overalldecline in the last two days butnow has the dubious distinc-tion of being ahead of Punjab

and Haryana in terms of stub-ble burning instances.

As per data compiled bythe Agriculture Ministry, thenumber of stubble burningcases has decreased from 792on November 12 to 105 onNovember 13.

As per data, no stubbleburning was detectedMahamayanagar, JyotibaphuleNagar and Varanasi whileAgra, Hathras, Mahoba, Mau,Jaunpur recorded one inci-dent each of farm fire till date.

As many as 54,776 cases ofstubble burning have beendetected since October 1 inPunjab, Haryana and UP sofar. Of them, 46,221 incidentswere found in Punjab; 5,823 inHaryana and 2,732 in UP.

There was a decline of12.4 per cent this year as com-pared to the last year till date.UP recorded 41.3 per centdecline, Haryana recorded16.26 per cent decline andPunjab recorded 9.3 percentdecline of stubble burning.

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Confusion over BJP andAJSU Party alliance con-

tinued on Friday, with AJSUannouncing names of six morecandidates from the seatswhere BJP has already fieldedcandidates.

However, State BJP electionin-charge Om Prakash Mathurwho is known for managingcrisis reached state capital onFriday. Mathur, talking tomedia person at Birsa MundaInternational Airport threw

the ball to Central leadershipclaiming that BJP parliamen-tary board will take the finalcall on alliance with AJSUparty.

The six seats for whichAJSU party announced theircandidates today includes,Majhgoan (Nandlal Birwa),Mandar (Hemlata Oraon),Potka (Bullu Rani Singh),Ichhagarh (Harelal Mahto),Hatia (Bharat Kashi Sahu), andGhatsila (Pradeep KumarBalmuchu). Balmuchu the for-mer state Congress presidenthas joined AJSU Party onThursday.

Interestingly, the sixAssembly seats for which AJSUparty announced its candi-dates many of them are con-sidered as Saffron party bastion

with BJP already announcingcandidates in these seats. Asenior state BJP leader request-ing anonymity said, “TheCentral leadership should

immediately take a decision tosnap ties with AJSU Party asthey strategically fielding can-didates from seats which areconsidered as traditional bas-

tion of BJP.” The leader furthersaid, “AJSU party being analliance partner of NDA issecretly working on a missionto cut the vote share of BJP can-

didates as while selecting thenames of candidates the AJSUparty is going by caste config-uration.

For instance, from Hatiathe party is fielded BharatKashi Sahu with an aim todivide Sahu vote bank who areconsidered as traditional votersof BJP.” The BJP leader’s state-ment assumes importance asboth BJP candidate NaveenJaiswal and Bharat Kashi Sahucomes from Vaishya commu-nities.

Similarly from IchhagarhAJSU party has announcedthe name of Harelal Mahto,from where BJP sitting MLASadhu Charan Mahto is in frayfor second consecutive time.

Meanwhile, BJP electionin-charge Om Prakash Mathur

who reached Ranchi today toend the impasse had series ofmeeting with State’s top BJPleadership including ChiefMinister Raghubar Das, elec-tion co in-charge Nand KishoreYadav and state BJP organiza-tional secretary DharampalSingh and others.

Mathur said, “The ball is inthe court of AJSU party. We areyet to take any decision on nineseats for which the party hasnot announced any candidates.”On being asked whether BJPstrategy in Jharkhand has col-lapsed, he said BJP’s strategynever fails as the party is con-fident of achieving mission 65plus in Jharkhand.

Moreover, AJSU party chiefand two times former deputychief minister Sudesh Mahto

said, “AJSU party is a politicaloutfit, which has born withJharkhand movement. We haveto look into aspirations of peo-ple who had fought for creationof a separate State.” On the issueof Mathur’s claim that AJSUparty seats demand has beenincreasing day by day, Mahtosaid, “BJP is bigger party butthey have to go with regionalparty aspirations.”

Sources said that the deci-sion over alliance with AJSUparty will be taken within acouple of days.

Sources said that if AJSUparty snaps ties with BJP, it willbe double setback for the saf-fron party as the Lok JanshaktiParty has already announced toend ties with BJP in Jharkhandin this election.

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During his whirlwind tourto Kolhan, Chief Minister

Raghubar Das attacked formerChief Minister Shibu Sorenand his family for looting andplundering Jharkhand wealth.

He accused Soren family oflooting the land of innocenttribals of the State and askedthem to return the land to orig-inal owners.

Addressing public meet-ings after BJP candidates KunalSarangi filed his nominationfrom Bahragora and MenkaSardar from Potka, Das dared

the Sorens to tell people whatthey have done for welfare oftribals and claimed that theyhave only used people for votebank and filled their coffers.

Das said land of SohraiBhawan in Ranchi and 50acres of land in Pakur was ille-gally acquired by Soren fam-

ily which they should returntoreal owners.Continued onpage 4CM: Soren’s to returnlooted land of tribals.

The Chief Minister laterposted a Tweet on the sameand asked the Sorens to returnlooted land.

Continued on page 4

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With the date of votinginching closer

(December 7), the districtadministration has gone busyworking out the securityarrangements for the Maoistinfested areas of differentAssembly constituencies.

The civil and policeadministration are jointlyframing in the blue print forthe safe and secure electionsthis time around. However,the security forces haveincreased night vigil at bor-dering areas. Notably, the nax-als have apparently beenalmost eliminated fromDumaria block in Ghatshila

sub-division. Similarly, atPatamda and Bodam, whichwas also a hot-bed of naxals,the naxalism was almost van-ished after the local residentsstood against them followingatrocities on the villagers.

However, some naxalactivities at neighbouringSeraikela Kharsawan districthas been matter of concern forthe police department.

Sources informed that asudden rise in the Maoistsactivities have let the forcesintensify the patrolling. Thepolice have beefed up securi-ty in the naxal-infested areasof Seraikela.

A senior police officialsaid: “At the time when thevoting will be held nextmonth, joint operation ofpolice and paramilitary is allessential as rebels will tend toconcentrate on the Singhbhumside of the border during the

time. The joint anti-insur-gency operation atPatamda,Dalma and Ghatshilaregion will keep the area large-ly free from activities of nax-als in the wake of the elec-tions."

He said as there are a largenumber of villagers, who haveshifted their base from thenaxals to the police, it is theduty of the police administra-tion to instill a sense of con-fidence among such villagers.

Nevertheless, the politicalparties have reacted moder-ately to the issue of possiblesecurity threat in the ruralareas of the constituency dur-ing the ensuing elections.

“We agree Naxal activitieshave increased in the districtover the years however,Government agencies will takecare of it but, campaigning willnot suffer due to Maoist threat,hopefully," said a JMM leader.

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Palamu police are to hiremotorcycles for poll patrol

in its five Assembly con-stituencies. There are 1,795polling booths in the fiveAssembly constituencies inPalamu. Voting is here onNovember 30.

Sources said there are morethan 45 police stations, out-posts, pickets in the districtwhere there is a shortage ofmotorcycles for patrol.

Sources said there are fourwheelers but four wheelerscannot negotiate by lanes andnarrow roads as motorcyclescan do and for intensive patrolin every nook and corner of thedistrict bikes are most pre-ferred. SP Palamu Ajay Lindasaid, “I have given orders topolice stations, police outpostsand pickets to hire motorcyclesfor poll patrol.”

Linda said each police setup has been asked to hire amaximum of 10 motorcycles.Lesliganj police station hasgone first for this hiring ofmotorcycles.

Town police stationMedininagar has its own fleetof about 15 motorcycles whichcops ride and are calledPanthers, said officer in chargeof Town police station AnandK Mishra.

DSP headquarter SandipKumar Gupta said, “We are

conducting road checking andpatrolling all sensitive areaswith great dedication.”

Gupta said a cop on bikesends an immediate signal ofpolice watching and takingnote of things around. Cops onbikes will add more teeth to ourpatrol reminded Gupta.

DSP further said duringthis Ayodhya verdict day herepolice took out flag marchwherein police took the motor-cycles of the chowkidars ortheir families and got it runwith fuel cost born by therespective police stations.

Cabinet (election) depart-ment Jharkhand governmenthas fixed rate for hiring anddetention of all modes of vehi-cles for the purposes of the con-duct of poll. According to anotification of Transportdepartment of Jharkhand gov-ernment Memo number 101dated January 23 2019 it is 220rupees only for hiring anddetaining a motorcycle perday.

There is a facility of hiringand detaining cycles too @ of40 rupees a day but it is nothired by the cops. Sources saidpolice vigil is quite up inPalamu. Security forces havestarted coming over here. Fortheir lodging NPU’s colleges 3alone in Daltonganj are to berequisitioned. Town Hall herehas already occupancy of secu-rity forces now.

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City based author Dr RaziAhmed (34) of the highly

acclaimed modern day murdermystery ‘The Secret of thePalamu Fort’ has won the BestBudding Author 2019 awardfor his debut novel.

The author was nominat-ed for the category by hisMumbai based publisherStoryMirror. The event IndiaIcon Awards 2019 was held onNovember 10 in Bangalorewith Indian model and actressDia Mirza as the chief guest.

“I got to know about thefinal selection in October andit was a very pleasant surprisefirst to be in the top six andthen to win the prize. I had notreally expected to win thisaward for my first book,” saidthe ecstatic author.

Including Razi the cate-gory had a total of six con-tenders. The top six bookswere selected on the basis ofsales, reviews and online rank-ings. “Receiving this award hasbeen quite over whelming.

It has immensely boostedmy confidence and also moti-vated me to work on my nexttwo books as well,” added thenovelist. The author is alreadyworking on his next book andis hoping to release it sometimein the coming year.

The story teller hasplanned to keep the protagonistof the story Detective RobinHoro and the other main char-acters like Inspector PactrickMinj, Naseem bhai andBabulalji as part of his nextbooks to continue the series.

“For my upcoming booksI have selected some otherhistorical places of Jharkhand.Based on different cases eachnovel will be a standalone fic-tional story with just the maincharacters being the same. Iwant to get the folklores ofJharkhand in the main stream

fiction of India,” Razi said.The budding author

intends to feature DetectiveHoro in the ranks of SherlockHolmes and Byomkesh Bakshiand known as Ranchi’s veryown detective.

In his first book the authorhas managed to create an illu-sion of paranormal activities.The simple English and shortchapters make the book an easyread. The multiple time lineaspect has also worked well anddoes not clash with the readers’perception.

“My friends and colleaguesoften call me ‘Dr Who’ refer-ring to the BBC character whois a time lord and travels backand forth in time on his timemachine TARDIS,” remarkedthe author.

A critical care specialistassociated with the Bhagwan

Mahavir Medica SuprespecialtyHospital Ranchi, the authorfeels it is a struggle to jugglebetween his profession and hispassion. “It’s difficult to balanceall three-family, profession andpassion for writing and some-times 24 hours are just notenough.

The time it takes for me totravel to and from work everyday is the only time I get tomyself and think about what Iwant Detective Horo to donext to solve the mystery,”added the doctor who wants tobe known as a well knownauthor in times to come.

Razi is also working on anon fictional book based on hisICU experiences. Adapting thenovel titled The Secret of thePalamu Fort in a movie or aweb series is also in thepipeline.

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The Centre for Peace andJustice, XLRI and Centre

for Research and Training inEducational Leadershiporganised a two days Dramaand Storytelling Workshop‘The Creative & The Critical:Transforming ThroughCreative Learning’ by a world-renowned theatre artist, play-wright, actor and masterstory-teller Mr Daniel Kelinfrom the Honolulu Theatre,USA and also affiliated withthe National School of Drama,Agartala.

The theme of the work-shop was “The Creative andCrit ical : Transformingthrough Creative Learning”.

Daniel was welcomed bya group of Santhali dancersfrom Jamshedpur and girlsfrom the local Sacred HeartCommunity College followedby a formal inauguration in

the presence of Fr. FrancisPeter, S.J., Professor ParamjyotSingh and Sister Valsa. Theworkshop was attended by

teachers from various schoolsaround Jamshedpur like KPSSchools located in Gamharia,Mango, Kadma, Burma Mines

and NML. Other schools wereJH Tarapore, Jusco SchoolSouth Park, Kasidih HighSchool, Sacred Heart Convent,

Gulmohur School and LoyolaSchool,Baripada. The partic-ipating students of LoyolaCollege of Education andCarmel Community Collegefelt deeply inspired by DanielKelin’s use of innovative tech-niques to make drama andstory-telling an integral part oftheir teaching-learning toolsand create high impact envi-ronment for students.

At XLRI Daniel also inter-acted with the Dracula dramagroup and GMP students onusing drama and theatre as atool to break free of inhibi-tions and develop new theatretechniques.

The students were fasci-nated by his storytelling andteaching of the art of writinga script, planning a drama anddeveloping the plot. ProfessorParamjyot Singh, chairper-son, Centre for Peace andJustice, XLRI Jamshedpur,said, “The theatre workshop

was indeed a very successfulone. The participating teacherand student community got adeep understanding that mak-ing drama and story-telling anintegral part of the teach-ing–learning tools can createa high impact environment forstudents.

Participants got theopportunity to interact with adist inguished FulbrightAcademic and ProfessionalExcellence Awardee DanielKelin. We at Centre for Peaceand Justice, XLRI are extreme-ly happy to host this work-shop.

“Daniel Kelin has trainedtens of thousands of schoolchildren and teachers throughcreative engagement of dramaand storytelling both in Indiaand USA. He makes a specialconnection with India by say-ing, “He is a man of birth inthe USA and his soul is inIndia”.

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Ranka police claimed to havesolved a case of rape and

murder of a 24 year old womanafter arrest of two accused inthe connection. On October 23the accused had raped andkilled the woman by strangu-lating her to death. The accusedthen dumped the body in bush-es.

According to police,accused Husain Ansari (30)and Jamshed Ansari (27), werearrested on Friday after sus-tained interrogation. “We haddetained two three peopleresiding in 1-2 kilometer areaof the crime scene. During sus-tained interrogation, bothaccused broke down andadmitted their crime,” said

SDPO Ranka Manoj Mahto.The both accused are neigh-bours of the deceased and theyabducted her under the influ-ence of alcohol. “On the day ofincident both accused tookher in bush and raped aftershutting her mouth . Afterraping the woman, the accusedpersons strangulated her withthe thread tied on her neck bydupatta in the fear of theiridentity got revealed,” theSDPO said.

Later, the accused dumpedthe body in the bush. Body ofthe woman was recovered onOctober 29, while she killed onOctober26. The father of thedeceased Hasan Ali reportedthe incident to police afterfailing to find the girl.

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Atruck carrying coal par-tial ly hanged over a

bridge, nearly 15 feet highfrom the ground. The inci-dent occurred today at 10amat Nimiaghat bridge, nearLaxamanpur on NH-2.

Both the driver and thespotter were rescued fromthe vehicle as a crane imme-diately responded to the spotalong with a police team fromNimiaghat police station hereon Friday.

According to the locals,the mishap took place whenthe driver tried to avoid acci-dent with another vehiclethat tried to overtake thetruck.

Driver lost control overthe truck and crashed withthe boundary wall of thebridge.

The front part of the truckincluding driver’s cabin washanging while back portion

was on the ground. Due toheavy load, the truck main-tained a balance which evad-ed further disaster.

Soon a large number ofpeople gathered around andpolice was informed. Thetraffic at highway was alsoaffected for more than an

hour. A crane helped inpulling the hanging part ofthe truck back to the groundand both injured driver andhis assistant were rescued.

According to sources, thetruck coming from Giridihwas carrying coal and wasgoing towards Dhanbad.

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The cyber cell of Giriihcrime branch have arrest-

ed eight persons, in connec-tion with a multi-crore cyberfraud case. The suspectsarrested have been identifiedas Saroj Mandal,DineshM a n d a l , R a j e n d r aM a n d a l , M u k e s hM a n d a l , D h a n r a jMandal,Papu Verma,PawanVerma and Pratap Saw.Theybelong to different locationsof Giridih district,said CyberDy SP Sandeep Suman.

The Cyber crime branchsleuths of Giridih have recov-ered, 15 mobiles,10 ATMcards and 2 fake Sim cards.

Suman said that the sus-pects were arrested based on

the information. Furtherinvestigation of the call detailrecords and bank accounts ledthe trail to the suspects.

The cyber cell officialscarried out a detailed investi-gation of the accounts andfound that they were openedon submission of fraudulentand forged documents.

Upon inquiry with thelocal residents, the cybercrime officials received infor-mation that the suspects wereresident of different villages inGiridih.

Accordingly, a raid wascarried out at the premiseswhere all the suspects wereimmediately arrested undervarious Sections of IPC andcyber cell is further investi-gating the case.

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Two youths were killed aftera Maruti car collided with a

pick-up van near Bhalpahririver bridge Samana in Taratard’sGiridih district early on Friday.

Police sources said that, thehead-on collision betweenMaruti car and Mahindra pick-up van took place at around 9am near Bhalpahari area onFriday morning.

Police said that two mem-bers of a family were killed onthe spot while driver of Pick upvan was, suffered serious injury

in the accident. The injured dri-ver was rushed to nearby hos-pital while two youths identifiedas Chandan Kumar and MunaPandit were rushed to hospi-tal,Dhanbad ,they succumbed toinjuries.

Police sources said that thecar was coming from Bhalpahriside when it collided with pick-up van near river bridge andboth the vehicles were badlydamaged in the accident,” policesaid, adding that they to cut thebody of pick-up van to extricatethe driver from the badly man-gled vehicle.

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Congress party’s Jharkhand In-charge RPN Singh on Friday

marked the beginning of cam-paigning for the Assembly electionshere by taking jibes at the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) over its weak-ening ties with its allies – a trendthat has made its way to poll-boundJharkhand after making the BJPgrapple for a majority inMaharashtra and Haryana.

He blamed the BJP’s allegedarrogance for its severing ties withlong term allies, and said that theparty’s “arrogance” will eventuallylead to its downfall. “We have seenwhat has happened in Maharashtraand Haryana.

And now, it is happening inJharkhand too,” he said. The BJPsevered its ties with Shiv Sena aftera high voltage drama inMaharashtra recently. InJharkhand, the party’s 19-year-oldally AJSU Party has been at log-

gerheads with the BJP over seatsharing in the alliance equation. Onthe other hand, the Congress partyhas joined hands with JharkhandMukti Morcha (JMM) andRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) here.Singh on Friday said that the partywill run joint campaigns along withJMM and RJD in Jharkhand. “Ourposters and flexes too will have pic-tures of JMM and RJD leaders,” hesaid.

Singh, who has been on a cri-sis management mission since for-mer State president Ajoy Kumarspilled the beans about infightingin the party here, decided to blamethe former president of acting outof desperation for getting an elec-tion ticket. “The Congress party isrun by its workers. There is no placefor self-centered people in thisorganization,” said Singh.

Ironically, his statement onFriday came at a time when sup-porters of former Kanke LegislatorSuresh Baitha were staging protestsagainst the party for fielding formerDirector General of Police RajivKumar—apolitical greenhorn-from the constituency. Singhdodged questions about Baitha’s fateand said that the party will stand

in support of its workers. Under theleadership of former Seva DalChief Ghulam Javed, severalCongress workers raised slogansagainst Singh and party’s Statepresident Rameshwar Oraon out-side Congress Bhavan on Friday toexpress their discontentment overfielding former Deputy Mayor AjayNath Shahdeo from Hatia. The

Congress party will field candidatesfor 31 Assembly segments here asper the seat sharing equation of theUPA alliance.

The party, by now, hasannounced the names of 25 candi-dates and some of them are relativesof veteran Congress leaders. Theparty, however, has not named aChief Ministerial face for

Jharkhand and has decided to sup-port JMM Executive PresidentHemant Soren as the CM face.

Taking jibes at the BJP, Singhsaid that starvation deaths, unem-ployment and lawlessness plaguedJharkhand under the NDA regime.The Congress party, he added, willtake up these issues during the pollshere.

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State BJPSpokesperson Pratul

Shahdeo today saidthat rejecting imagi-nary allegations ofRahul Gandhi onRafale issue theSupreme Court hassaid that there was noweight in his appealsand they are baseless.

He said thatSupreme Court hasrejected the efforts ofCongress party to takepolitical benefits bydeceiving the peopleof the country anddemoralise the IndianArmy and has provedthat the Congress haslied and misguided thepeople of the nation bylaunching a fake cam-paign against the hon-est Prime Minister ofthe country.

On the other hand,on the removal of the

name of PriyankaGandhi Vadra from thelist of star campaignersof the Congress,Shahdeo said that theCongress no longer hasconfidence in its firstfamily.

The absence ofPriyanka GandhiVadra in the list showsthat either she has beenremoved from the listdue to the extinct massbase of the Gandhifamily or RahulGandhi has taken suchdecision by seeing that

the law has tightenednoose around herbrother-in-law RobertVadra.

Pratul said thateven after 24 hours,the Congress has keptsi lence af ter theBharatiya Janata Partyasked to remove thename of the Congress'sstar campaigner.

He said that byseeing the way inwhich mutual disputescontinue in the firstfamily of the Congress,it can be said that nei-ther the nation nor thepeople can be benefit-ed from the Congressparty.

Troubled by thesecircumstances, threeformer Congress pres-idents PradeepBalmuchu, SukhdevBhagat and Dr. AjayKumar have left themembership of theparty recently.

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The poll battle in Jharkhand hasassumed fascinating dimension

with parties fielding former bureau-crats and ex top cops in the year-endelections. Nearly, half a dozen formerbureaucrats are going to contest theelection.

While the ruling party BJP hasfielded two former bureaucrats and asenior retired IPS officer, CongressState president Rameshwar Oraon, a1972 batch retired IPS officer is con-testing election from LohardagaAssembly segment. Congress has alsofielded former DGP Rajiv Kumar,another prominent face which caughtthe ticket probable by surprise, fromKanke, a reserved seat for ScheduledCastes.

Kumar had joined the Congressahead of the 2019 assembly elections.He was one of the front runners fromPalamu Lok Sabha seat. However, theseat was allotted to the RJD during theseat sharing. He had now been com-pensated by giving an Assembly tick-et. Similarly, retired ADG (Wireless)Rezi Dungdung is contesting electionfrom Simdega as Jharkhand Party (JP)candidate. The number of retired IASand IPS officers contesting election

would have been more had the BJPwould have given ticket to four ex-babus and top cops who joined saffronparty last month. On October 24,former Jharkhand police chief DineshKumar Pandey, former IAS officersSuchitra Sinha and R P Singh and for-mer IPS officer Arun Oraon joinedthe BJP, but the Saffron party decid-ed to rely on old warhorse (retired IASand IPS officers), who joined BJP in2014.

Jyoti Bhramar Tubid, a former IASofficer who could have become StateChief Secretary has been fielded byBJP from Chaibasa seat for secondconsecutive term. In 2014, monthsbefore the Assembly election he joinedBJP after taking VRS from his active

service. Tubid was serving as princi-pal secretary for Revenue and LandReforms as well as in the Cabinet sec-retariat when he applied for VRS justbefore the elections were announced.

He was due to retire in 2019, butcontested on BJP ticket from Chaibasa(Scheduled Tribe) seat losing toJharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)Dipak Birua.

Though he lost the election in2014 Assembly election, but he con-tinued working both in his con-stituency and in party. The BJP hadgiven the role of party spokespersonto Tubid. Similarly, BJP has fielded exbureaucrat and former state Congresspresident Sukhdeo Bhagat as partycandidate from Lohardaga. The

Saffron party has again fielded retiredIPS officer Laxman Prasad Singhfrom Dhanwar seat.

In 2014 before the Assembly elec-tion, Singh along with others hadjoined BJP and contested electionfrom Dhanwar seat but lost to CPI(ML) candidate Raj Kumar Yadav.This time again the Dhanwar seat isgoing to have poll battle betweenLaxman and Yadav.

Another IPS officer who is pollbattle is retired ADG Rezi Dungdung,who filed his nomination fromSimdega on Jharkhand Party (JP) tick-et. Dungdung said, “I had sincerelyworked as an IPS officer and afterretirement I decided to render serviceto people as a public representative

and decided to join politics.” The IASand IPS officers who joined BJP fewmonths back claim that they don’t feelremorse on party denying their claimthis time.

Former Punjab cadre IPS officer,Arun Oraon said, “We are just monthold in BJP. I had join BJP without anydemand to contest election. The partyhas assigned me job to help BJP can-didates in Assembly constituenciesfalling under LohardagaParliamentary seat.”

Sources said that IAS and IPSofficers are joining political parties asthey are influenced with the senior asmany IAS and IPS officers havereached top in their political careertoo.

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Amid political churning going onin the State ahead of Assembly

elections AJSU party has emerged asthe first choice for turncoats as sev-eral prominent leaders have joined theparty after being denied tickets fromBJP, Congress and JMM. A number ofleaders joined the party on Friday atthe party headquarter in the StateCapital.

Former Minister in BiharGovernment and former MLA fromJharia constituency, Aabo Devi, EastSinghbhum Zila Parishad ChairpersonBulu Rani Singh and Harelal Mahtofrom Ichagarh joined the AJSU Partywith his hundreds of supporters onFriday in presence of AJSU PartyCentral Committee president SudeshKumar Mahto.

During last couple of days manystalwarts of the State politics joined theparty such as former JharkhandPradesh Congress Committee (JPCC)president, Pradip Kumar Balmuchu,

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)MLA from Pakur, Aquil Akhtar, for-mer BJP Chief Whip RK Kishire andothers. Speaking on the occasionMahto said that the faith of people ofJharkhand has increased in AJSU

Party. “The party wants to protect peo-ple’s honour and pride in Jharkhandalong with culture of the State. Theparty has a big responsibility towardsbetterment of the State its residents.With this great accountability, we are

fighting for the bet-ter interests of thepeople of the Stateand to protect theirself-respect,” headded.On the ques-tion of the BJPannouncing its thirdlist on new seats,Mahto replied thatthe BJP is a bigparty, so it thinksmore. But afterreaching the peak,there is a problem inlooking down, headded. Sudesh saidthat the party is stillfirm on its stand onthe question ofalliance with BJP.

The party released the second list ofcandidates this evening. A third list ofcandidates will also be released short-ly. Speaking on the occasion, formerJharia MLA, Aabo Devi said that peo-ple’s faith has increased many fold on

AJSU Party. Sudesh Mahto has capac-ity to carry forward the State. BuluRani Singh said that she wants to bemember of the team which carries for-ward the State in leadership of SudeshMahto. She said that the workers ofPotka constituency demanded her tocontest the State Assembly electionsfrom the seat.

Meanwhile, AJSU Part announcedits second list on late evening. BulluRani Singh nominated as AJSU Partycandidate from Potka, and HarelalMahto from Ichagarh and PradeepBalmuchu from Ghatshila.

However, it has not been disclosedhow many seats the party willannounce candidates for. It is expect-ed that the candidates of Pakur andGhatshila may be announced in addi-tion to Tamar, Dumri and Tundi.

It is also considered sure to gettickets for the sitting MLA RajkishoreMahato from Tundi. Apart fromthese, former MLA Aquil Akhtar, whojoined AJSU, could be announced asthe party candidate from Pakur.

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As many as five candidatesin the first two lists of 17

candidates released by theJharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) for the Assembly elec-tions here are women – adecision that the party leaderssee as evidence to JMM’sagenda of empowering womenand encouraging their partic-ipation in active politics.

Former Chairperson ofJharkhand State Women’sCommission, Mahua Maji,who will contest Ranchi con-stituency with a JMM ticketfor the second time, said thatthe party has always encour-aged women to take up activepolitics and planned policiesfor their empowerment.

“I contested the 2014elections when I was the chair-person of the Women’s

Commission here. At thattime too we wanted to workfor women empowerment. Iam sure that our list of candi-dates will have the highestwomen participation,” shesaid.

The list released by JMMon Thursday late night alsoincludes the names of sittingSilli Legislator Seema Mahto,who won the 2018 by-electionsafter her husband and thenSilli Legislator Amit Mahtowas sent to jail for assaultinga public servant. Besides, JMM

has fielded Sabita Mahto fromIchagarh, Babita Mahto fromGomia and Joba Manjhi fromManoharpur – all woman can-didates.

The JMM’s list also carriesnames of some veteran leaderslike sitting Saraikela LegislatorChampai Soren and ChaibasaLegislator Deepak Birua. Theparty has fielded sitting MLAVikas Munda from Tamar.

Munda, son of assassinat-ed former Minister RameshSingh Munda, recently quitAJSU Party and joined the

JMM. He is likely to contestagainst former Maoist KundanPahan, who faces charges ofassassinating Vikas’ father, andhas showed interest in con-testing from Tamar.

The party has alsoannounced names of SameerMohanty from Baharagora,Sanjeev Sardar from Potka,Jigga Susaran Horo from Sisaiand Ramdas Soren fromGhatsila.

Sitting BaharagoraLegislator Kunal Sarangi wonwith a JMM ticket in 2014, and

moved to the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) fold before the2019 polls were announced.He will contest the seat with aBJP ticket this time.

The JMM will field candi-dates for 43 Assembly seg-ments here, as per the seatsharing equation in theMahagathbandhan. The othertwo allies – Congress partyand Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD)—will field candidatesfor 31 and seven seats respec-tively. The Congress party hasalready announced its candi-

dates for 25 of 31 seats, whilethe RJD has announced thenames of five candidates so far.JMM still has to announce itscandidates for 25 more con-stituencies in Jharkhand.

JMM is the second largestparty in the 81-member StateAssembly.

It is the toughest com-petitor for the BJP here andthe Mahagathbandhan hasunanimously decided to makeJMM’s Executive PresidentHemant Soren the ChiefMinisterial face of UPA here.

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In a major breakthroughRanchi District Police

arrested five persons whilethey were planning to resultcriminal incident at TitalaChowk under Ratu PoliceStation in Ranchi District onFriday.

Addressing a press meetRanchi District RuralSuperintendent of Police(SP), Rishabh Kumar Jhasaid that acting on tip offreceived by Jha, a team ofpolice was constituted on hisdirection to investigate theissue.

“The Police team raid-ed the spot and arrested fivepersons, while they are plan-ning to result a criminalincident. During investiga-tion the all five arrestedpersons confessed that theywere planning to commitcrime,” he added.

“The Police teamarrested Umakant Dubeaged 43 years, resident of

Village Jhumardihra underBarun Police Station inAurangabad District, BabluKumar Verma, age 42 years,

resident of New Area VisarTalab under Civil LinesPolice Station in GayaDistrict, Shashi Kumar, age

30 years resident of VillageBhakhara under JamhourPolice Station ofAurangabad District,

Mukesh Bitiya, age 35 yearsresident of Bania Ghatraiunder Madanpur PoliceStation of Aurangabad

District and YudhisthirSingh, age 36 years residentof Village Sipra under BarunPolice Station ofAurangabad District as all ofthem are resident of neigh-bouring State Bihar,” saidJha. Police also recoveredweapons from the spot, headded. Jha also informedthat Ranchi District Policearrested two person in con-nection with loot at JewelerShop situated at UpparBazar under Kotwali PoliceStation in Ranchi.

“Police arrested SumitKumar Khaka, age 20 yearsresident of Rugarigadhaunder Sukhdeonagar PoliceStation in Ranchi Districtand Mohammad SahidKhan age 24 years residentof Kanadu under PithoriaPolice Station in RanchiDistrict for looted theJwellery Shop and recoveredsome stolen ornamentsfrom them,” said Jha. TheDistrict Police sent both ofthem to jail.

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Birsa Munda’s crusadeagainst the exploitation of

landlords and money lenderscan never be forgotten, saidGovernor Droupadi Murmuwhile addressing a gathering onthe occasion of Birsa Munda’sbirth anniversary functionorganised at Birsa AgricultureUnivercity (BAU) here onFriday.

Speaking on the occasionMurmu said lord Birsa not onlywaged war against the Britishfor country’s freedom but alsocontributed a lot in social, cul-tural and spiritual develop-ment of the tribes.

“He will be also remem-bered for his tireless efforts fortribal unity and campaignsagainst superstitions prevailingthose days.

He sacrificed his life cru-sading against exploitation,poverty and slavery. He want-ed an exploitation free society,”she added.Environmentalistand Padma Shri awardeeYamuna Tudu asked the gath-ering to plant at least 10

saplings on the birth of femalechild and her marriage.“Besides home district EastSinghbhum, I am activelyinvolved in creating awarenessin other 4-5 districts forincreasing forest cover,” sheadded.

BAU Vice Chancellor DrRam Shankar Kureel welcomedthe guests and outlined theachievements of the universi-ty. He said BAU has preparedan ambitious plan for devel-oping Ulihatu, birthplace ofBirsa Munda as a model village.Registrar Dr Narendra Kudadaproposed a vote of thanks.

The Governor also releaseda number of publicationsbrought out on the occasionand flagged off the buses ofRabindra Nath TagoreAgriculture College, Deogharand Tilka Manjhi AgricultureCollege, Godda and AnimalAmbulance cum MobileTreatment Van of RanchiVeterinary College.

She also distributed prizesto students who stood first indifferent sports and culturalcompetitions.

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From page 1

Das said that JMM isruled by a particular fami-ly only and if anyone wantsto make big in the party heneeds to take birth in thatfamily. Das said that mostof the CNT-SPT Act viola-tion has been done by Sorenfamily in the State alone.The family bought largechunk of lands misusingthe act.

Das claimed that theSoren family has been fillingtheir vote boxes by mis-leading poor tirbals for yearsthrough propaganda. TheSoren family violated CNT-SPT Act.

They looted the land oftribals and became zamin-dars of Jharkhand. He saidthat prior to 2014 there wasthe UPA government at theCenter, But the exercise torestart the closed mines ofGhatshila did not begin.

The untiring efforts ofJamshedpur MP VidyutVaran Mahato resulted inthe opening of closed minesand paving the way for localpeople to get employment.“Closed mines of Ghatshilawill open within the coming6 months.

There are also huge pos-sibilities of tourism inGhatshila, keeping in mindthat plans are being workedout. The state's economywill be strengthened due tothe development of tourismsector.

Local people will alsoget direct and indirectemployment. The State hasmoved ahead in the field oftourism,” he added.

The CM expressed con-fidence that his party willwin more than 65 seats. Hesaid that with the support ofpeople, BJP will achieve thetarget of 65 plus seats inJharkhand and will not need

any other support. The firstphase of the five-phaseAssembly election inJharkhand commencesfrom November 30, whilethe second phase election isscheduled on December 7and the third phase of theassembly polls is scheduledon December 12.

The first phase will seeelections in 13 seats promi-nent being Chatra, Gumla,Garhwa, Lohardaga andDaltonganj, the secondphase will see elections in 20seats prominent beingGhatshila, Jugsalai,Jamshedpur East,Jamshedpur West, Chaibasa,Chakradharpur, Khunti andSimdega.

The third phase will seepolls in 17 seats, prominentamongst them beingKoderma, Barhi, Barkagaon,Hazaribagh, Ramgarh,Ranchi, Hatia, Khijri andKanke seats.

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Amid an assertion by formerChief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis that no Government ispossible in Maharashtra withoutthe BJP, Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) president Sharad Pawar onFriday expressed confidence thatthe Shiv Sena-NCP-CongressGovernment would soon beformed in the State and it wouldlast for a full five-year term.

Addressing a news confer-ence at Nagpur, Pawar said,“The process has started... Don’tworry. Things will roll out soon-er or later. There is no questionof mid-term polls in the State.This (Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress)will be formed and it will last forfive years. We will be ensure thatthis Government lasts for its fullterm.” Replying to a question, theNCP president said, “Our effort isto see that there is stableGovernment which is develop-

ment-oriented. We want aGovernment that will successful-ly address major problems in theState. Towards this end, we will doeverything that is necessary”.

Declining to give a timelinefor the formation of the three-party Government in the State,Pawar indicated that he wouldmeet AICC president SoniaGandhi in New Delhi and dis-cussed whatever remaining issuesrelating to the Government-for-mation in the State. Asked aboutthe Sena’s demand for the ChiefMinister’s post, Pawar said,“Discussions are going on. They

are still in initial stages. If anyparty wants the Chief Minister’spost we will definitely considerthe demand”. When his attentionwas drawn to a statement byFadnavis that no Governmentwas possible without the BJP andif any Government was to beformed in Maharashtra it wouldbe a BJP-led Government, Pawartook a jibe at the former ChiefMinister and said, “Somethingelse was going on in my mind...that is (Fadnavis’ oft-repeatedstatement during election rallies)me punha yenar, me punhayenar... (I will return as the ChiefMinister)”.

On being asked aboutFadnavis’ statement that a non-BJP Government would not lastfor even six months, Pawarquipped, “I have known Fadnavisfor quite some time. But I did notknow he is an astrologer too.”Queried as to how the NCP andCongress would deal with theHindutva issue championed bythe Shiv Sena while in a three-party Government, Pawar said,“This issue must have figured inthe meeting that the NCP-Congress leaders had with theShiv Sena leaders on theCommon Minimum Programme(CMP).

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The Railway Board hasdecided to hike price of

meals on board Rajdhani,Shatabdi, Duronto trains,resulting in slight hike intheir fares, according to aGovernment order.

According to the neworder, in first class AC andexecutive class, tea will cost�35, up by �6, breakfast �140,up by �7, lunch and dinner�245, up by �15.In secondclass AC, third class AC andchair car, tea to cost �20, upby �5, breakfast �105, up by�8, lunch and dinner �185, upby �10. It has also been decid-ed that snacks of regional

flavour will be introduced, theorder stated. The ‘Snack Meal’

shall be of 350 grams portionand shall be made available at

�50, inclusive of GST.“IRCTC shall be account-

able for providing the newlyintroduced menu options ina way that the quantity andquality are commensuratewith the tariff and no unduebenefit is passed on to the ser-vice provider,” the order read.

A review of menu andtarif f of pre-paidRajdhani/Shatabdi/Durontotrains and standard meals orfood items that are provid-ed to passengers of mail orexpress trains on paymentbasis, has been done takinginto consideration therequests received fromIRCTC and the recommen-dations of the menu and tar-iff committee set up by theboard, the order said.

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Pu n j a bGovernment

has disbursed�19 croreamong 29,343n on - b a s m at icultivating smalland marginalfarmers who did not burn paddyresidue.

The Government has decided togive Rs 2,500 per acre as compensationto small and marginal farmers whohave refrained from burning paddystraw, a major contributor to air pol-lution in the region.

Agriculture Secretary Kahan SinghPannu said the compensation hasbeen released directly to the bankaccounts of the farmers as per the listsupplied by the field officers.

As many as 85,000 applicationshave been received till now, Pannu said,adding the last date for submission ofthese applications is November 30.

"Every application has to be veri-fied by village panchayat and then byrevenue authorities to ensure thatonly the non-basmati cultivating farm-ing families owning land up to 5 acresand having not burnt any part of thefield, are recommended for compen-sation," he said in an official release.

Pannu warned that any sarpanchor revenue officer wrongly recom-mending any applicant would facestern action.

He also cautioned that farmers giv-ing wrong undertaking to seek com-pensation would also face action forfraudulently claiming the public money.

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Worsening environmentalpollution in the national

Capital may be getting loads oflip-sympathy from celebritiesand the political class but inreal terms not many seem tobe really geared to mitigate thepoison around as was evidentfrom the 'scary' absence ofmost of the MPs and officialsfrom a meeting of aParliamentary panel on theissue on Friday. The issuegained political connotations asthe non-presence of the DelhiMP and former cricketerGautam Gambhir was circu-lated by the AAP in the socialmedia by showing him as'enjoying Jalabis` with his com-mentary teammates coveringthe India-Bangladesh crickettest match in Indore.

Gambhir was the only MPfrom Delhi who had been

summoned to the meeting ofthe Parliamentary StandingCommittee on UrbanDevelopment scheduled tostart 11 am. Attendance waspoor, with only four of 29MPs on the panel list turningup, according to sources.

Members present at themeeting were upset with thoselike the three municipal com-missioners, DDA vice chair-man and Secretary/joint sec-retary of the EnvironmentMinistry absent and plan toraise the issue with the Speaker.They asked junior officials toconvey to their seniors thatthey should have attended themeeting, sources said.

"Instead of sitting in com-mentary box and enjoy-ing.. .We challenge@GautamGambhir to stopplaying blame games over pol-lution and ATTEND MEET-INGS ON AIR POLLUTION

which he skipped ", tweeted@AamAadmiParty.

In his explanation, the for-mer cricketer-turned-BJP MPsaid his work "will speak foritself " and then criticised theAAP for "making my com-mercial engagements (whichwere entered into before I hadbecome an MP) an issue..."

In an extraordinary " carea damn" response , top officialsof the Environment Ministry,DDA and municipal commis-sioners too stayed away froma key meeting of the parlia-mentary body that too on theeve of the Winter session ofthe Parliament which isexpected to deliberate on thedeadly poison spreading acrossthe city.

The Environment Ministryclarified that " some of its offi-cials were present during thedeliberations" while one wasbusy in critical Supreme Court

hearing. The questions that the

members were planning toraise included: As there areabout 50 lakh cars on theroads in Delhi, is theGovernment coming up withany sort of car pool policy orregulation?

Another question was thatas per the Union Government,�1,150 crores were given by theCentre to the states in the lastone year to combat air pollu-tion along with 14,000machines. Does theGovernment have a quantita-tive and qualitative utilisationreport of the money disbursed?

The third question to beraised pertained to theSupreme Court's recent obser-vation that everybody rangingfrom the secretary to the ̀ grampradhan` will be held respon-sible for losses due to air pol-lution.

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Days after blaming KejriwalGovernment for not

doing enough to curb smog,Union Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar on Fridaycalled for "joint action" by allagencies to combat the wors-ening air quality in the nation-al capital. Addressing a pressconference here, Javadekarsaid it was not the time for dif-ferent agencies to blame eachother.

"Delhi pollution is not theproblem of this city. Delhi's airhas been worsening since1990s. There are new chal-lenges everyday as circum-stances change. We haveworked towards reducingindustrial pollution, con-

struction waste and dust etc.There is continuous work.

"But everyone shouldwork together. Cooperation ofPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh, DelhiGovernment, all three MCDsand NDMC, DDA, and allother agencies is required to fixthis. Everyone has to work

together," the minister said.He said the Government

was "very serious about theissue of air pollution. "Air pol-lution is an issue to be tackledcollectively by agencies. It isnot the time to blame eachother. We are very seriousabout the issue of pollution,"the Minister said.

A few days ago, Javedkarhad slammed the DelhiGovernment for not doingmuch to curb the pollution.

Replying to another query,the Minister said theGovernment has withdrawnthe 'officers' draft on amend-ments in the Forest Act, 1927as the Government is com-mitted to protect the rights oftribals and forest dwellers.

Javadekar said that the

draft was not officially pre-pared by the UnionGovernment.

The provision in theamendment which invitedcriticism was the one whichallowed forest officials to usearms against people to preventforest offence.

The provision read, "Anyforest-officer, may if necessary,to prevent the commission ofany offence under this Act orunder the WildlifeAmendment proposed to pro-vide indemnity to forest-offi-cer using arms etc, to preventthe forest offence.This indem-nity shall be in addition to theimmunity provided under sec-tion 197 of Code of CriminalProcedure 1973 for certaincategories of Public Servant."

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Outgoing Chief Justice India(CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on

Friday expressed his inability tohave one-to-one interview withscribes and lauded the press forits "maturity" and "character" inpreventing "canards and false-hood" in "trying times" of thejudiciary.

Justice Gogoi, the 46th CJIand the first from a north-east-ern State, said it was not therequirement of the SupremeCourt that judges "reach out toour citizenry through thepress".

"Such outreach (to the

press) ought to be symbolic ofan extraordinary situationdemanding an exception tothe norm," said Justice Gogoiwho would demit office onNovember 17, a Sunday.

Justice Gogoi and threeother senior most apex courtjudges - Justices J Chelameswar,Madan B Lokur and KurianJoseph had held an unprece-dented press conference onJanuary 12, 2018 alleging thatthe administration and alloca-tion of cases in the apex court,then headed by the then CJIDipak Misra, was "not inorder".

In a three-page common

letter to journalists, the CJIdeclined the request for inter-views and said: "I would not beable to meet your request for aone-to-one meet."

The letter said: "I am keenthat you would appreciate thatthe ordinary freedoms are fine-ly balanced in our institution-al functioning - while you havethe Bar whose members canexercise their freedom ofspeech to the extent of evenpushing the boundaries of suchfreedom, the bench requires itsjudges to maintain silence,while exercising their free-doms.

"This is not to say that

Judges do not speak. They dospeak, but only out of func-tional necessity, and no more.Bitter truth must remain inmemory."

The CJI lauded the role ofmedia for its reportage duringthe "trying times" of the apexjudicial institution.

"Good press is also a para-meter amongst others that isknown to be indicative of ourinstitutional health. In suchview, I do wish to put onrecord that by and large, thepress corps has been kind tomy office as well as to our insti-tution during my tenure at thehelm of the institution.

"Even during trying times.When our institution was keep-ing an ambush or two at bay,most members of the press dis-played maturity and characterad exercised exceptional dis-cretion to prevent canards andfalsehood from clogging thenews space," the letter said.

Justice Gogoi said that as apublic functionary, who wasentrusted with onerousConstitutional duties to per-form, the idea of "courting thepress" never came as a choicefor him in the interest of theinstitution.

"I chose to belong to aninstitution whose strength lay

in public confidence and trustearned not through good press,but through our work as Judgeson the bench.

"In fact, our work-placesare, by our functional necessi-ty, required to be public placesas justice is ordained to bedelivered in presence of ordi-nary citizens to ensure that it isnever far removed from them.In that view, our institutionalconnect and interface with thecitizenry is proximate," the let-ter said.

Though the CJI isofficially retiring on November17, a Sunday, Friday was hislast working day.

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Union Home Ministry onFriday told the

Parliamentary standing com-mittee on Home Affairs thatthe situation in J&K was gettingnormal after the quashing ofArticle 370 but did not give anytimeframe for the release of thedetained political leaders,including former ChiefMinisters, as sought byOpposition MPs.

Union Home SecretaryAjay Kumar Bhalla andAdditional Secretary in theHome Ministry GyaneshKumar and other Ministryofficials briefed theParliamentary standing com-mittee on Home Affairs,chaired by senior Congressleader Anand Sharma, on thesituation in the union territo-ries of Jammu and Kashmir,and Ladakh.

Opposition MPs quizzedtop Government officials onthe detention of political lead-ers, particularly the formerChief Minister FarooqAbdullah, Omar Abdullah andMehbooba Mufti. It is learnedthat Opposition MPs were agi-

tated while asking questions tothe officials on this regard.Responding to questions on therelease of the detained politicalleaders, Bhalla and his team ofofficers conveyed that somehad been released and otherswill be freed gradually butrefrained from giving any timeline, sources said.

The Home secretary,sources said, told the MPs thatthe situation in the UT of J&Kis getting normal, schools areopen and the apple trade isgoing on, sources said. TheMPs also raised the issue ofcurbs on the internet in theValley since August 5. HomeMinistry officials, it is learnt,said the restrictions wereimposed as the internet couldbe used by terrorists for sub-

versive activities as well as byanti-social elements to spreadrumours.

According to sources pre-sent at the meeting, differ-

ences between the BJP and theCongress MPs cropped up overthe issue of J&K being dis-cussed in the panel. While BJPmembers cited the rule book to

say the panel should not inter-fere in the work of the execu-tive, Congress MPs said theissue was important and had tobe discussed, the sources said.

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The Supreme Court Fridayheld Former Ranbaxy pro-

moters Malvinder andShivinder Singh guilty of con-tempt for violating its order thathad asked them not to divesttheir shares in Fortis HealthcareLimited. The apex court hadearlier asked the Singh brothersto give it a plan as to how theywould honour the arbitral awardof �3,500 crore granted by aSingapore tribunal against them,in favour of Japanese drug man-ufacturer Daiichi Sankyo.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi and JusticeDeepak Gupta held them guiltyof contempt of court and saidthat they had violated its earli-er order by which the sale oftheir controlling stakes in FortisGroup to Malayasian firm IHHHealthcare was put on hold.The apex court said it wouldhear the Singhs on the quantumof sentence later. The Japanesefirm had filed contempt petitionagainst them alleging that exe-cution of their arbitral awardhad been in jeopardy as the

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Aday after the SupremeCourt left a scope for a fur-

ther probe into the the Rafaledeal, lawyer Prashant Bhushanand former BJP leader andMinister Arun Shourie onFriday demanded that the CBIshould register a case regardingthe deal.

Bhushan, Shourie alongwith another former BJP mem-ber and Minister YashwantSinha had filed a review peti-tion in the apex court after itcleared the Government lastyear in the �59,000 crore dealfor procurement of 36 Rafalefighter jets from France in agovernment to Governmentdeal. Other review petitions onthe same issue were filed bylawyer Vineet Dhanda andAam Aadmi Party lawmakerSanjay Singh.

The apex court onThursday again gave a cleanchit to the Modi Governmentand said there is no ground toorder an FIR by the CBI or aroving inquiry into allegationsof irregularities in the deal.

But Bhushan referred tothe judgment of Justice K MJoseph, one of the three judgesof the bench headed by Chief

Justice Ranjan Gogoi that gavethe verdict.

In his separate but con-curring judgement, Joseph saidthe CBI, the country's premierprobe agency, is expected to act"completely independent" ofthe Government of the day andprofessionalism of "highestquality", uncompromisingindependence and neutrality isexpected of it.

"The CBI has to seek thepermission of the Governmentfor probing the case and it hasthree months to do so,"Bhushan said. If the CBI doesnot do so, it has to cite reasonsfor not probing the case.

Bhushan said here it isbinding on the CBI to probe

their complaint despite theruling by the three-judge apexcourt bench. If the CBI fails todo so, it will again approach theSupreme Court, Bhushan toldreporters at a press conferencealso addressed by Shourie.Sinha was not there.

He also said it has beenmore than a year since thecomplaint was submitted to thethen CBI Director Alok Verma."Accordingly, we expect RishiKumar Shukla, his successor, toseek the necessary approvalfrom the competent authorityunder Section 17A to begin thenecessary inquiry into the com-plaint in earnest in conformi-ty with the judgement of thecourt," he contended.

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The government must readthe "extremely important"

dissenting verdict for imple-mentation of the 2018 judge-ment allowing women of allages to enter Kerala'sSabarimala temple and ensureits compliance, Justice R FNariman of the Supreme Courtsaid on Friday.

A five-judge Constitutionbench, by a majority of 3:2, onThursday referred to a largerseven-judge bench the pleasseeking review of the 2018judgement allowing all womenand girls to enter Sabarimalatemple.Justice Nariman, whopenned the minority verdict onbehalf of himself and Justice DY Chandrachud, did not agreethe majority view of referringthe issue to the larger benchand reiterated that the court's2018 verdict, allowing allwomen and girls into theshrine, be strictly implement-ed.

As the majority verdict,penned by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi, kept review pleas pend-ing for the 7-judge bench anddid not stay the 2018 majorityjudgement, women of all age

groups will be entitled toundertake the pilgrimage to theshrine.

On Friday, a bench head-ed by Justice Nariman whichwas hearing the appeal ofEnforcement Directorateagainst grant of bail toCongress leader D KShivakumar, observed that theGovernment must read his"extremely important" dissent-ing verdict in Sabarimala caseand ensure its compliance.

"Please tell yourGovernment to read the dissentjudgement delivered in theSabarimala case yesterday. Thisis extremely important. Wecannot allow violation of ourorder and it has to be complied

with. Inform your authorityand the Government to read it,"he told Solicitor

General Tushar Mehta,who was appearing for the EDin the case. A bench of justicesNariman and S Ravindra Bhatdismissed the appeal of EDagainst the Delhi High Court'sorder granting bail to theCongress leader in a moneylaundering case.

When Justice Nariman toldMehta that the Governmenthas to comply with the orderspassed by the apex court, thesolicitor general said that thecourt should not have animpression that theGovernment would not complywith the directives.

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The Supreme Court onFriday dismissed the

Enforcement Directorate's pleachallenging the Delhi HighCourt order granting bail toKarnataka Congress leader D KShivakumar in a money laun-dering case.

A bench comprising jus-tices R F Nariman and SRavindra Bhat rejected therequest of Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, who appearedfor the ED, and said the issueshould be heard as it raises animportant legal question.

The High Court had onOctober 23 granted bail toShivakumar, saying he cannottamper with evidence or influencewitnesses and no material hasbeen shown to indicate that hewas a flight risk. Shivakumar, aseven-time MLA in Karnataka,was booked along withHaumanthaiah, an employee atthe Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi,and others for alleged offencesunder the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA). TheED had arrested Shivakumar onSeptember 3 in the money laun-dering case.

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The Congress on Fridayattacked the Modi

Government over the deten-tion of mainstream politicalleaders in J&K, and askedwhether sitting Lok Sabhamember from SrinagarFarooq Abdullah will beallowed to attend Parliamentfrom Monday. It also allegedthat the Centre had left "nostone unturned in interna-tionalising Kashmir" and hitout at the Government forallowing European Union(EU) lawmakers to visit theValley but not Indian leaders.Former Chief Minister and

senior National Conference(NC) leader Farooq Abdullahwas detained under the con-troversial Public Safety Act(PSA).

"Kashmir has been in alockdown situation for the last103 days. The Prime Minister(Narendra Modi) is goingaround the world saying 'all iswell'," Congress spokesper-son Pawan Khera said at apress conference.

He said the Governmentmust give reasons as to why ithas kept leaders of estab-lished political parties underdetention. When FarooqAbdullah "sings 'Ram Bhajan'or says 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'", he

does not think what theresponse of separatist forceswill be, Khera said.

The Congress spokesper-son hit out at the ModiGovernment for granting adelegation of EU MPs accessto Kashmir whenParliamentarians of the coun-try were not allowed.

The Government onFriday did not spell out atimeline for the release ofpolitical leaders detained inJ&K even as it said that the sit-uation in the troubled regionis getting normal post therevocation of special statusand bifurcation into twounion territories in August.

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Congress has drawn up anelaborate plan to corner

the Modi Government duringthe month long WinterSession of Parliament thatbegins on Monday and hasbeen in talks with otherOpposition parties to come onboard on raising commonissues concerning citizens likeeconomy, employment, NRCetc. Congress in particular willagain raise the demand ofJPC in Rafale scam.

The performance ofCongress in the just conclud-ed Assembly polls leading toformation of a Government inMaharashtra with its long termally NCP, has also given hopesto opposition parties to buildupon the pressure in corneringthe BJP Governments.Congress leaders said that theissue of an Israeli software tosnoop on Indian civil societywill also rock the Parliament

debates and in this regard theleaders of Opposition togeth-er have written to PresidentRamnath Kovind also to takeup the matter with theGovernment.

The Opposition parties,particularly Congress, are nowhopeful that the result could beused to build consensus uponelectoral understandings, polit-ical positioning and policyviews.

Senior opposition leaderssay that the immediate impactof this can be seen in upcom-ing winter session ofParliament and elections inJharkhand slated for later thisyear.

"Certainly the poll perfor-mance will boost greater coor-dination on the floor ofParliament during winter ses-sion. Two key issues which aunited opposition is likely totake up in the session includestate of economy and situationin J&K.

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Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa on Thursday said dis-

qualified MLA R Shankar will be madea member of Legislative Council and aMinister as he announced Arun KumarPujar as the BJP candidate to contestfrom Ranebennur seat represented byhim in the December 5 bypolls.

The move is seen as an apparent bidto mollify Shankar, who along with 15other disqualified Congress and JD (S)MLAs joined the BJP on Thursday andwas keen to contest from Ranebennur.

Yediyurappa announced the nameof Pujar on Friday for Ranebennur seat.

With this, the BJP has named can-didates for all 15 seats for which bypollswill be held following the disqualifica-tion of the Congress-JD(S) MLAs and13 of them have been fielded in theirrespective constituencies.

Bypolls are being held to 15 of 17seats represented by disqualified MLAs,whose resignation and absence from thetrust vote had led to the collapse of HD Kumaraswamy-led coalitionGovernment in July.

By-elections to Maski and R R

Nagar constituencies have been withheldas separate cases with regard to them,are pending before the High Court.

“I have promised Shankar that it ismy responsibility to make him an MLCand a Minister. I am the one who keepsthe promise,” Yediyurappa said after ameeting with Shankar here.

The Chief Minister said he hadasked Shankar to assist Pujar, adding itwas decided to give ticket to him(Pujar) because everybody in the partydesired so.

Though Shankar was adamant oncontesting the byelection, the ChiefMinister had persuaded him to relent,party sources said.

Reacting to the development,Shankar said the Chief Minister hadassured to make him a Minister.

Shankar was elected on theKarnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party(KPJP) ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls,and had repeatedly switched sides sincethen. Subsequently, he had merged theKPJP with the Congress.

As he had camped with rebel MLAsleading to the fall of coalition gov-ernemnt, he was disqualified on theCongress’ petition.

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Amid reports he was miffed at beingdenied the BJP ticket for December

5 bypolls, Karnataka Deputy ChiefMinister Laxman Savadi on Friday saidhe was a “disciplined soldier” of theparty and will abide by its decision.

He said the party which made himthe Deputy Chief Minister, despitehim not being a legislator, will decideon his future.

The BJP has fielded disqualifiedCongress legislator Mahesh Kumatalli,who had defeated Savadi in 2018Assembly polls as the party candidatefrom Athani.

“I have been saying that I’m a dis-ciplined soldier of the party. Whateverdirections the party will give me fol-lowing it has been my practice, sincethe beginning. I will abide by theparty decision,” Savadi said.

Speaking to reporters, the DeputyChief Minister said he will put all possible efforts in the bypolls to cam-paign for the party candidates andensure their victory.

Savadi was made Deputy ChiefMinister despite him not being a mem-ber of the Assembly nor or the Council.

His induction into the Cabinet hadcaused resentment among severalsenior BJP legislators as they felt side-lined.

Savadi had not been seen at partyforums and was said to be “out of reach”,after the BJP inducted disqualifiedMLA Kumatalli into the party andfielded him from Athani, from wherehe was planning to enter the fray.

Amid reports that Savadi was upsetand sulking, Chief Minister B SYediyurappa spoke to him and alsoHome Minister Basavaraj Bommaimade efforts to convince him, partysources said.

Responding to a question for notattending the party event where dis-qualified MLAs were inducted onThursday, Savadi said, “Yesterday I hadtold party president, as I had personalprogramme, I could not attend theparty event...I have met the ChiefMinister and have discussed regardingthe polls.”

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JD(S) patriarch HD DeveGowda on Friday said Chief

Minister BS Yediyurappa was“perturbed” about thewinnability of disqualifiedMLAs, whom the BJP has field-ed as party candidates for theDecember 5 bypolls and hencehe was issuing statements aboutmaking them Ministers, withan intention to lure voters.Yediyurappa has spoken aboutmaking all of them Ministers,what is the sanctity (for elec-tion), Gowda told reporters atHassan.

He claimed that soon afterthe apex court paved way forthe disqualified MLAs to con-test bypolls, Yediyurappa hadsaid they will be madeMinisters.

“It shows he was perturbedwhether they were going towin. If you say they will bemade Ministers, people of theconstituency will vote think-

ing that their MLA will becomeMinister.

It is in a way luring.... Justto keep the voters on their side,he said.

Welcoming disqualifiedCongress-JD(S) legislators whojoined the BJP, Yediyurappa onThursday had addressed themas “future MLAs andMinisters”.

The BJP has fielded 13disqualified legislators as itscandidates for the December5 Assembly byelections, hoursafter the rebels joined the rul-ing party in the State.

Stating that JD(S) is con-

testing in all the seats in thebypolls, Gowda said “Whetherwe will win or lose I dont know,its in the hands of the people.I cant say what they will decide.

He said he will be cam-paigning in all the 15 con-stituencies. JD(S) on Thursdayhad announced candidates for10 out of 15 Assembly con-stituencies that will go to thebypolls.

The party has decided tosupport BJP rebel SharathBachegowda, who is contest-ing as an independent candi-date in Hoskote constituency.

Bypolls are being held to 15of the 17 constituencies repre-sented by disqualified MLAs.

By-elections to the Maskiand R R Nagar constituencieshave been withheld as litigations related to them arepending before the KarnatakaHigh Court.

Of the 15 seats, 12 wererepresented by the sCongressand three by the JD(S).

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The Tripura and MizoramGovernments on Friday

differed on the number of Brurefugees repatriated and there isa mismatch of 193 people in thefigures provided by the twoStates.

Mizoram Home SecretaryLalbiakzama said 892 people of221 internally-displaced Bru fam-ilies have been repatriated, whileNorth Tripura DistrictMagistrate Ravel H Kumar putthe figure at 699 refugees belong-ing to 144 families.

Altogether 4,447 Bru dis-placed families, lodged in reliefcamps at Kanchanpur andPanisagar sub-divisions of NorthTripura district, are scheduled toreturn to neighbouring Mizoramfrom where they had fled since1997 following ethnic clashes.This ninth round of repatriationprocess, stated to be the “final”one, will come to an end onNovember 30.

The Mizoram home secre-tary said 892 Bru people, includ-

ing 351 children, belonging to221 families have been repatri-ated till November 14.

Of them, 134 families havebeen settled at Mamit district, 68in Lunglei and 19 in Kolasib dis-trict of Mizoram, Lalbiakzamasaid.

Kumar on Friday sent anofficial report to the chief secre-tary’s office providing date-wisenumber of people repatriated toMizoram between October 3,when the process began, andNovember 15.

However, he said in thereport, no Bru person went toMizoram since October 31,though the process has been on.

The displaced people hadlaunched a roadblock atKanchanpur from October 31demanding resumption ofcash-dole and free ration tothem. It was withdrawn onNovember 7 following anassurance from TripuraDeputy Chief Minister JishnuDeb Varma to resume supplyof free ration.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs has stopped all allowancesto the displaced Bru personsfrom October and the MizoramBru Displaced People’s Forum(MBDPF), a major body of therefugees, claimed that six peoplehad died of starvation after theration supply was stopped.

The Tripura Government,however, said four people diedand the cause of the deaths wasbeing ascertained.

Meanwhile, the MBDPF onFriday said a delegation of theBru refugees had visited NewDelhi to meet Union HomeMinister Amit Shah but couldnot meet him due to his busyschedule.

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Against the backdrop of theSupreme court’s decision to

refer the Sabarimala case to alarger bench, the Lord Ayyappashrine is all set to open onSaturday, even as theGovernment said those womendesirous of visiting the hilltemple should get a “courtorder. “

The top court has decidedto set up a larger bench to re-examine religious issuesincluding those arising out ofits earlier verdict that lifted acenturies-old ban on women ofmenstruating age visiting theshrine.

With the two-month longannual pilgrimage season set tocommence from November17, Devaswom Minister

Kadakampally Surendran saidSabarimala was not a place foractivism and the LDFGovernment would not sup-port those who makeannouncements about enteringthe hill shrine for the sake ofpublicity.

Dismissing reports thatpolice would provide securityto women activists whoattempt to enter the shrine, hesaid there was “some confu-

sion” over the latestSupreme Court order andwomen desirous of visit-ing Sabarimala should geta “court order.”

Government wouldnot encourage thosewomen who want to visitthe shrine for publicity, headded.

The CPI(M) Statesecretariat, which met here, dis-cussed the verdict andexpressed a similar opinion.

“The common emotion ofthe secretariat was not to allowwomen to enter the temple tillthe apex court finalises the ver-dict. Those who want to enterthe temple can approach thecourt and get a favourablejudgment,” a source close to theCPI(M) State leadership toldPTI.

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New Delhi: The CBI on Fridayconducted searches at theoffices of AmnestyInternational India Pvt. Ltd(AIIPL) and Indians forAmnesty International Trust(IAIT) in the national Capitaland Bengaluru for alleged vio-lation of Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act (FCRA).

The CBI had registered acase on November 5 followinga complaint from Union HomeMinistry AIIPL, IAIT, AmnestyInternational India FoundationTrust (AIIFT) and AmnestyInternational South AsiaFoundation (AISAF) besidesunknown others.

“It was alleged that the pro-vision of the ForeignContribution (Regulation) Act,2010 and Indian Penal Codewere contravened by the afore-said entities by receiving for-eign contributions from M/sAmnesty International U.Kthrough AIIPL even thoughprior registration or permis-

sions were denied to M/sAmnesty International IndiaFoundation Trust (AIIFT) andother Trusts under FCRA,” aCBI official said.

Searches were conducted atthree places places inBengaluru and one place inDelhi.

“The Central Bureau ofInvestigation today conductedsearches at the offices ofAmnesty International IndiaPrivate Limited and Indians forAmnesty International Trust inBengaluru.

Over the past year, a pat-tern of harassment hasemerged every time AmnestyInternational India stands up

and speaks out against humanrights violations in India,”Amnesty India said in a state-ment.

Amnesty InternationalIndia stands in full compliancewith Indian and internationallaw, Amnesty claimed in itsstatement.

“Our work in India, aselsewhere, is to uphold andfight for universal humanrights. These are the same val-ues that are enshrined in theIndian Constitution and flowfrom a long and rich Indiantradition of pluralism, toler-ance, and dissent,” it said..

As part of the Nobel Prize-winning movement, AmnestyInternational India holds itselfto the highest evidentiary stan-dards. Over four millionIndians have supportedAmnesty International India’swork in the last six years andaround 100,000 Indians havemade financial contributions, itadded. PNS

Chennai: DMK pres-ident MK Stalin onFriday expressedconcern over “bleak”economic outlookfollowing an official survey whichreportedly pointed toa fall inconsumer spendingand urged the Centreto take measures toboost rural economy.

A media reportcited a latest con-sumption expendi-ture survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) to claimthat consumer spending fell for the first time in more than40 years in 2017-18, primarily driven by slackening ruraldemand.

“NSO Consumer Spending Data points to a dire eco-nomic situation and a bleak economic outlook. Data showsthat people are spending less for the first time in 40 years,”Stalin, also the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil NaduAssembly, tweeted.

“Union Govt must pay heed to the key indicators onspending and immediately take measures to boost ruraleconomy,” he said and tagged the media report. PTI

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In yet another incident of asaffron worker getting

hanged allegedly for politicalreasons a BJP member VarshaHansda was on Friday foundhanging from a tree atSantoshpur village of Dantonblock in West Midnapore dis-trict.

The BJP immediately com-plained that Hansda, 44 hadbeen murdered by theTrinamool Congress goons soas to thwart the saffron outfit’sadvance in the area.

The police have registeredcase of “unnatural death” andsent the body for autopsy.

The BJP had done exceptionally well in the lastyear’s Panchayat elections andthis year’s parliamentary pollsin the jangalmahal districts ofWest Midpanpore, Bankura,Purulia etc.

This is the fourth suchincident in the past couple ofyears when BJP workers were

allegedly murdered and hangedfrom trees in the neighbouringPurulia district. Alleged mur-der and hanging (from trees) ofthree BJP workers — JagannathTudu, Trilochan Mahato, DulalKumar had hit countrywideheadlines last year.

The incidents were repeat-edly referred to by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andBJP president Amit Shah dur-ing election campaigns.

Reacting to the incidentBJP national general secretaryKailash Vijayvargiya said theTMC was trying to unleash areign of terror in the State. TheTMC was “trying to terroriseBJP workers by establishing areign of terror in the state. Anactive and popular BJP activistwas brutally murdered by TMCgoons. He was the only earn-ing member of his family,” he.

The TMC leadership how-ever dismissed the charge asbaseless saying it was an out-come of intra-party rivalry inthat party.

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There was no respite tothe ongoing conflict

between Raj Bhavan andNabanna (State secretariat)even as Bengal GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar onFriday fired a fresh salvo atthe Trinamool CongressGovernment for denyinghim a chopper to visit Farakkaand Malda in North Bengal.

The Friday’s developmentcame barely a day after ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeecharged Dhankhar with transgressing his constitution-al limits before appealing to thecentral Government to rein theGovernor in.

“I am not a tourist inBengal and have been deputedto my office with an oath to discharge certain dutiestowards the people of the State,”the Governor said censuringthe Government’s decision todeny him a helicopter for hisvisit to Malda and nearby areas.

“I have never crossed myduties,” the Governor saidapparently referring to theChief Minister’s allegations that“some people (read theGovernor) are acting like BJP’smouthpiece.” Complainingagainst the Government’s deci-sion to deny him a chopper hereiterated “touring the State ofwhich I am the Governor doesnot amount crossing myduties,” and said, “had I crossedmy limits I would have receiveda letter from the Governmentwhich I have not,” adding “Iwill give a reply if an when suchletter comes to me.”

Hitting out at theTrinamool Congress func-tionaries for questioning hisrecent visit to Singur — once anepicenter of Mamata Banerjee’santi-Left land movement thatfinally saw the moving out ofthe much publicised Tata Nanosmall car plant from the area —Dhankhar said “I went to

Singur not without informingthe Government. I had pre-informed the administration,”wondering “what is there tohide in Singur.”

He said “some people aretrying to hide matters in Singurand Nandigram where I wantto visit too because it seemsthat they (Government) aretrying to keep something offpeople’s notice.” He asked “whatis there to hide so that theirleaders raised a hue and cry assoon as I threw a glance atSingur. It seems something isfishy in Singur and Nandigramwhere I will definitely go.”

Earlier the Chief Ministeron Thursday said without refer-ring to the Governor, “I gen-erally do not say anything onconstitutional posts but thereare some people who arebehaving just like BJP’s mouth-pieces,” adding, “they (theGovernor) are running paral-lel administration in the State.”

Returning fire StateMinister ChandrimaBhattacharya questioned theneed of a helicopter to visit thedistricts. She said “theGovernment must know whyhe needs a helicopter. MamataBanerjee travels in a helicopterbecause she has administrativefunctions to discharge. In factshe takes the entire adminis-tration to the districts. Buthere the Governor has no busi-ness to interfere in adminis-trative matters without inform-ing the Government and moreso do the same by using a chop-per provided by theGovernment.”

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Kolkata: The VHP will launchan awareness programme inWest Bengal from next week onthe need for National Register ofCitizens (NRC) to weed outBangladeshi muslim infiltratorsfrom the state and theCitizenship (Amendment) Billto grant citizenship to refugees,its senior leader said. The VHPwill hold its membership drivein the state between November17 to December 1 and willspeak of the two issues duringtheir door to door campaign,VHP leader and spokespersonSourish Mukherjee said onFriday. The VHP has set a tar-get of increasing its number ofmembers from 55,000 to twolakh. “We have been campaign-ing on NRC in Bengal for thepast few months. But within thenext few days we will launch itin a massive way. This time wewill campaign for both NRC andCAB,” he said. PTI

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In complete violation ofNational Green Tribunal

(NGT) directives pertaining tosand mines in Bihar, the StateGovernment on Fridayapproved a Bihar Mining Planeven though the green tribunalhad raised apprehensions in thecomplete mining process in theState.

The State Mines andGeology Department last monthhad suspended the e-auctioningof sand mines following NGTorder and hired a consultant forpreparation of Draft Mine Plan.

The development of

approval of a mining plan forSon River (a copy of which iswith The Pioneer) is a matter ofconcern. This is also in contra-diction to the departments ownNovember 9 order that that e-tendering process for auction ofsand ghats has been suspendedtill the disposal of the case by theNGT.

“When the matter is yet tobe disposed in the NGT, thisnew policy of the departmentraise serious matter as what wasthe hurry by the State,” said K SPrasad, a green tribunal lawyer.People from the State had chal-lenged the new sand mining pol-icy of September 2019 in NGT

on the plea that it is not consis-tent with the Supreme Courtguidelines related to the sameand there was lot of loopholes inthe system ensuring corruptpractices.

Sources said there arearound 400 sand mining ghatsacross the state. The e-tenderingwhich was suspended on NGTorders was being done for freshallotment of the mining rights asper new sand mining policybased on September 2019 Policy.The principal bench of NGT,New Delhi, in its October 23,2019 order stated that e-auctionshall not be carried out until thefinal disposal of the matter.

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Maharashtra’s nextGovernment will be led by

the Shiv Sena and the commonminimum programme (CMP)being worked out along withthe Congress and the NCPahead of its formation will bein the “State’s interest”, saidparty spokesman Sanjay Rauton Friday.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led saffron party will lead theGovernment in Maharashtrafor the next “25 years” and notjust five years, claimed Rautwhile talking to reporters here.

The Rajya Sabha MP, whoturned 58 on Friday, wasresponding to questions onwhether his party will share theChief Minister’s post with theNCP and the Congress, its alliesin the prospective three-partyGovernment.

“Talks are on with theCongress and the NCP to workout a common minimum pro-gramme which will be in theinterest of the State and its peo-ple,” he said.

“Whether it is a single partyGovernment or an alliance, anagenda for governance is nec-

essary. There are infrastruc-ture projects to be taken for-ward, (and issues related to)drought,unseasonal rains (areto be tackled).

“Those coming with us areexperienced administrators. Wewill benefit from their experi-ence,” he said.

Regarding alliance with theCongress, the Sena’s politicalrival till recently, Raut said lead-ers of the country’s oldest partyhave contributed to freedomstruggle as well as develop-ment of Maharashtra.

Asked whether the Senawill share the CM’s post on arotational basis in the next dis-pensation, Raut said, “We wantto have the chief minister’s postfor the next 25 years. The ShivSena will provide leadership tothe state no matter who triesbest to stop it.”

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The Chief Minister’s postin Maharashtra will go to

the Shiv Sena in theGovernment being plannedby the saffron party with theNCP and the Congress, NCPchief spokesman Nawab Malik has said.

The Shiv Sena contested the October21 Assembly polls in alliance with theBJP as part of the ‘Mahayuti’ (megaalliance), which was in a comfortableposition to form Government in theState, winning 161 seats in the 288-member house.

The two parties, however, fell outafter the Uddhav Thackeray-led partypersisted with its demand of sharing theChief Minister’s post on a rotationalbasis.

The Sena is at present working withthe NCP and the Congress on a com-mon minimum programme (CMP) thatwill guide the actions of the Governmentthe three parties plan to form.

“The Chief Minister will be from theShiv Sena. It walked away from the‘Mahayuti’ on the issue of the ChiefMinister’s post. “It is our responsibility

to respect its sentiment,”Malik said. The threeparties are likely to bepart of the Governmentand negotiations onsharing portfoliosamong them are on,sources said.

Earlier, the Congress was expectedto support the Government from outside.“The Congress must be part of theGovernment to ensure its stability,”sources in the NCP said.

The BJP emerged as the singlelargest party, winning 105 seats in theelection, followed by the Shiv Sena with56 seats.

The NCP and the Congress, also pre-poll allies, won 54 and 44 seats, respec-tively.Any party or alliance seeking toform Government in the state needs tosecure support of at least 145 MLAs onthe floor of the House.

The State is currently underPresident’s rule. At a meeting here onThursday, representatives of the NCP, theCongress and the Sena prepared a draftCMP, which will be forwarded forapproval to top leaders of the three parties.

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RJD president Lalu Prasadon Friday slammed Nitish

Kumar Government for metingout “undignified” treatment tothe renowned mathematicianVashishtha Narayan Singhwhose family was denied anambulance after his death atPatna Medical College andHospital (PMCH) hereThursday.

The 74-year-old Singh,who once worked at NASA andCalifornia University, breathedhis last at PMCH after pro-longed illness.

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Amid the current political stalemate inMaharashtra, Union Minister and BJP

leader Nitin Gadkari has likened politics withcricket, saying “anything” could happen inboth these fields as those who appear to belosing the match might actually winthe game.

Gadkari’s statement came at a time whenthe BJP’s estranged ally Shiv Sena is makingefforts to form the Government with the helpof the Congress and the NCP, its politicalrivals till recently.

The three parties have already prepareda draft common minimum programme(CMP) that will guide their prospectiveGovernment.

“Anything can happen in cricket and pol-itics. Somewhere you feel you are losing thematch, but the result is exactly the opposite,”Gadkari said when asked about the current political situation inMaharashtra.

He was speaking at the ‘Outlook BusinessLeading Edge 2019’ event in Mumbai onThursday.

The Minister of Road Transport, however,declined to discuss in detail the political cri-sis in Maharashtra, saying he spends moretime in Delhi and doesn’t know much aboutpolitics in his home State.

Bharuch: Mansukh Vasava,BJP MP of Bharuch in Gujarat,on Thursday claimed SupremeCourt gave a verdict “in ourfavour” on the RamJanmabhoomi dispute inAyodhya because a BJPGovernment is at the Centre.

It drew condemnationfrom the Congress whichdemanded an apology andaccused the MP of “fanningcommunal tension”.

Vasava, how-ever, later claimedhe was only point-ing to how the BJPgovernment (atthe Centre) wasable to maintain law and orderafter the SC verdict was deliv-ered on November 9.

The Supreme Court in aunanimous verdict cleared theway for the construction of aRam Temple at the disputed

site at Ayodhya,and directed theCentre to allot a 5-acre plot to theSunni Waqf Boardfor building a

mosque.Addressing a gathering of

BJP workers in Bharuch townon Thursday evening, Vasavasaid, “The Ram Janmabhoomiissue was quite old. So manyyears went by. The Ram

Janmabhoomi movement wasgoing on even before India gotindependence. So many peoplewere martyred and many tookpart in the movement (to builda Ram Temple at the disputedsite).”

“The Supreme Court hadto give a judgement in ourfavour because the BJPGovernment is at the Centre,”Vasava said at the gathering. PTI

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In their first joint effort toaddress the issues facing the

state ahead of the formation oftheir Government inMaharashtra, a delegation ofthe Congress, NCP and ShivSena will meet GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari to seekrelief for the unseasonal rain-affected farmers across theState.

Confirming this, StateNCP spokesperson NawabMalik said on Friday eveningthe delegation of Congress,NCP and Shiv Sena wouldmeet the Governor at 3 pm onSaturday.

“After the imposition of thePresident’s rule, the adminis-tration has come to a grindinghalt in theState. The outgoingGovernment announced arelief of �10,000 crore to therain-affected farmers. Afterburning their destroyed crop,the farmers are readying them-selves for sowing. Neither arethey getting relief nor croploans. The farmers are anaggrieved lot”.

“In Mantralaya, applica-tions made by patients seekinghelp from the Government aregathering dust. At yesterday’smeeting, we all decided to goand meet the Governor andrequest him to activate thedormant Government machin-ery and to request him for reliefto the rain-affected farmers,”Malik said.

Earlier in the day, formerMaharashtra Chief Ministerand BJP leader DevendraFadnavis met Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari and urged himto release funds for farmers

affected by unseasonal rains.Fadnavis also urged the

Governor to reopen and ensuresmooth functioning of the CMRelief Fund through the gov-ernor’s office to ensure timelyhelp for needy persons as theState was currently underPresident’s rule.

Fadnavis said that theGovernor had accepted bothhis demands.

“Met Hon GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari ji at RajBhavan, Mumbai to requestrelease of funds to the farmersaffected due to unseasonalrains. Hon Governor assuredimmediate action on this,Fadnavis tweeted after hismeeting with the Governor.

“I also requested forreopening & smooth func-tioning of CM Relief Fundthrough Hon Governors officeso that no needy patient isdeprived of necessary & time-ly support,” the former chiefminister said.

Meanwhile, NCP PresidentSharad Pawar — who touredthe wet drought-affected areasof Vidarbha region — said onFriday afternoon that he wouldraise the issue of huge lossessuffered by the farmers duringthe winter session ofParliament beginning onNovember 18 and demandmaximum compensation tothe affected farmers.

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Progress and development are thekey pursuits of an aspirational gen-eration in a globalised world.India, too, is on the move, strivingto accelerate transition from the

status of being a developing to a developednation. In this march ahead, there is littletime to seriously monitor regular onslaughtson the democratic principles and norms,imbued with moral and ethical values asenshrined in the Constitution. Is “politicswithout principles” no more a sin — asMahatma Gandhi had termed it in 1925 —but more of a routine practice?

On November 8, 2019, a couple of well-informed individuals — achievers —expressed disappointment on the machina-tions indulged in Maharashtra after theAssembly elections. This was not for the firsttime. Even before, there was a severe senseof disappointment in this group, where noneis bound by political or ideological con-straint. But they appeared seriously involved,concerned and worried. Yes, they all loveIndia; they value its democracy, ethical,moral and spiritual heritage for which thecountry is eulogised globally even today.They were just not able to comprehend howa political party with just 56 seats out of a288-member Assembly could stake claim tothe top post with unimaginable arrogance.One more blazing instance of the decline ofdemocratic values came with Haryana’s cul-ture of “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram”, whichbecame a practice and has resulted in sev-eral anomalous situations.

We have had Prime Ministers andChief Ministers, who should have never beenthere. In the current context, while lengthyreports on the herding of MLAs to hotels ashostages were highlighted in both electron-ic and print media, hardly was there anymention of the trampling of democratic val-ues, neglect of the wishes of the people, whoelect their leaders and expect some swiftaction from them on a plethora of pendingissues that impact daily life. Do the electedrepresentatives in Maharashtra, irrespectiveof their party affiliation, owe no debt of grat-itude to the freedom fighters of India, theirsacrifices, their indomitable spirit, whichalone is responsible for their newly-acquiredperks and privileges and the exalted posi-tions? Did the people elect them to indulgein such unsavoury public conduct forpower, position and creamy Ministries?

It is indeed shocking that not even oneMLA could protest against his/her herdinginto the hotels, which was apparently done“to save them from poachers of the otherside.” Are our leaders so weak and vulner-able? Maharashtra is only a repeat of whathas been happening in several States in thepast few decades. Why should herding notattract the attention of Parliament? Shouldsome provision like making it mandatory toinstall a new Government — in full strength— within seven days of the declarationresults not be put in the statutes? There wasno justification — moral, ethical orConstitutional — for the non-formation ofa full strength Government in Haryana even

after three weeks. All that hap-pens in the intervening periodis that the credibility of democ-racy and of the elected represen-tatives is lowered. It is shamefulto term certain Ministries as“creamy.” People interpret it intheir own way and they arerarely incorrect.

On October 2 this year,India celebrated the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi. It was a time to recallhis life, values and that immor-tal one-line statement: “My lifeis my message.” If political lead-ers of today — baring exceptions— reflect on this one-liner, theywill realise what they have doneto Swaraj of Gandhi: “RealSwaraj will come not by acqui-sition of authority by a few butby acquisition of the capacity byall to resist authority when it isabused. In other words, Swarajis to be obtained by educatingthe masses to a sense of theircapacity to regulate and controlauthority.”

On March 19, 1931, Gandhiwrote in Young India: “Theword ‘Swaraj’ is sacred, it is aVedic word, meaning self-ruleand self-restraint and not free-dom from all restraint, whichindependence often means.”Gandhiji wanted Swaraj “tokeep intact the genius of ourcivilisation.” This hardly needsany elaboration: Think of the lastman in the line, his welfare andyour role and responsibility tobetter his life. The Mahatma’s

writings are universallyacclaimed for their simplicity,sensitivity, originating from theheart and are based on hardexperiences and realities of life.To comprehend and to putthem into practice, one requiresinner strength, perseveranceand empathy for others. Swaraj— Independence — is a dynam-ic living entity and it has to bemaintained and sustained withpersistent individual and nation-al effort. It can be sustained onlyif certain basic values and prin-ciples of democracy are adheredto by the people and more seri-ously by their democratically-elected representatives.

Gandhiji tells us how thiscould be achieved: “Swaraj canbe maintained only where thereis majority of loyal and patriot-ic people to whom the good ofthe nation is paramount aboveall other considerations, includ-ing their personal profit. Swarajmeans Government by themany. Where the many areimmoral or selfish, theirGovernment can spell anarchyand nothing else.”

Expectations of Gandhi —and all other stalwarts of thefreedom struggle — and thepeople were that, “If Swaraj wasnot meant to civilise us and topurify and stabilise our civilisa-tion, it would be nothing worth.The very essence of our civilisa-tion is that we give paramountplace to morality in all ouraffairs — public or private.” It

was a warning articulated withunimpeachable logic even beforeSwaraj was anywhere on thehorizon.

In fact, in 1922, Gandhijihad mentioned in a letter thatSwaraj would not bring happi-ness to our people as four thingswould weigh heavily on them.Defects of elections was promi-nent among these four. Theother three were injustice, bur-den of administration andtreachery of the rich. Was he notprophetic indeed?

Post-Assembly electiondevelopments in Haryana andMaharashtra must be viewed asa serious warning sign, whichcreate distress and erode people’strust and confidence in theelectoral process that is so crit-ical to sustain democracy in itstrue spirit. A brighter side couldopen even in a clumsy politicalarena if everyone in the positionof power realises how the worldvalues our contributions andachievements in creative andfields — right from the ancienttimes to the launch ofChandrayaan.

Let Our MPs and MLAsrealise their responsibility inthe light of India’s achievementsin space sciences, ICT andalso that of young Indians,who have brought us fameand global attention throughtheir presence in the SiliconValley, NASA, particularly intop slots in big corporate andglobal institutions. This thread

of India’s greatness becomesvisible in practically every seri-ous analysis of the current sit-uation. It is indeed necessaryfor inspiration and motivationto move ahead with renewedvigour on the path of progressand inclusive growth.

One evening, an interac-tion closed at a point whensomeone mentioned that theAyodhya judgment would bedelivered tomorrow, that allnecessary steps are being takento beef up security, maintainlaw and order and ensure thatno breach of law and ordertakes place. And what a great9/11 this was in India in theyear 2019. It must have causedacute anxiety and anguish tothe perpetual detractors of thecountry, who were expecting acountry-wide unrest, whatev-er the judgment be.

But on this day, the worldsaw a glimpse of a united India,one which was proud of itsancient culture of acceptance ofall, every conceivable diversityand that India has learnt to “livetogether” over a couple of mil-lennia, a skill that some of theWestern nations have no escapebut need to learn now. Our polit-ical representatives should notpresent a disheartening sce-nario before the people. Onceelected, they owe a debt to thecountry, its people andGandhiji. It was a proud achieve-ment for the country, its democ-racy and the Constitution.

People have very high hopesfrom the elected, young repre-sentatives, who must chalk outtheir own path. They can learnso much from the likes of ourgreat leaders like SwamiVivekananda, Sri Aurobindo,Rabindranath Tagore, MahatmaGandhi and other luminaries,who continued to grow in lifeand were at peace with them-selves. JRD Tata had once said,“Always aim at perfection foronly then will you achieve excel-lence.” Gandhiji did just that allalong the journey of his life. Thiscan be the aim of life for anyone.Look around but never be slackin looking within.

To comprehend it, one mustrecall the words of John Dewey:“Not perfection as a final goal,but the ever-enduring process ofperfecting, maturing, refining, isthe aim in living. The bad manis the man who, no matter howgood he has been, is beginningto deteriorate, to grow less good.The good man is the man who,no matter how morally unwor-thy he has been, is moving tobecome better. Such a concep-tion makes one severe in judg-ing himself and humane injudging others.” This canenlighten the path of those inpublic life.

(The writer works in educa-tion and social cohesion)

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Sir — The nation today is in a fluxover reviewing the role of thepantheon of leaders, who helpedshape a post-Independent India.Together, Mahatma Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru and SardarPatel represented our nationalethos, which stands incompletewithout any one of them. Nehruis under debate not because theCongress is not in power but ourhistory’s palimpsest is overwrit-ten by aspirations of the day.Because the Nehruvian era wasahead of its times, it helped ussustain both democracy and eco-nomic progress at fair levels.

The first of the famed IITs wasestablished ahead of our first gen-eral election of independent India.In foresight, the Right to Educationwent hand-in-hand with the rightto vote and technological andresearch institutes formed the bul-wark of macro economics. Thereare lessons for a progressive nationlike India. History is not for selec-tive reading. It matters less as towhere we started but more on howwe intend to progress quickly andinclusively.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Sabarimala takeaways” (November15). The Supreme Court hasreferred the Sabarimala issue to alarger bench of seven judges. Thecourt expressed its opinion that“courts should tread cautiously” on“issues pertaining to religion,including religious practices.”Ideally, this view should have been

taken by the top court when it wasdisposing of the case in 2018 itself.By allowing the entry of women inthe age group of 10-50 in 2018, reli-gious sentiments have been hurt. Soit would be better had the courtinterpreted its decision back then aspart of a process to restore demo-cratic rights of women. In this sense,rescinding the 2018 judgment isonly a damage-control exercise.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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Sir — It is indeed welcome thatthe Supreme Court’s verdict putthe office of the Chief Justice ofIndia (CJI) under the arc of theRight to Information (RTI) Act.The verdict will usher in an eraof transparency in the way thehigher judiciary functions. Whilethe judiciary is the mostrespectable institution, it has

often been subject to publicscrutiny, too. In a similar way, allpublic institutions must comeunder the RTI purview.

The top court’s order mayallow the citizens to seek informa-tion regarding theappointment/transfer of thejudges but constraints will remainas most of the collegium’s deci-sions are largely based onIntelligence Bureau reports, whichare not covered under RTI.

Kavya ShahUjjain

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Pay heed to warning signs”(November 15) by Ajoy Kumar.The clash between the police andthe lawyers was uncalled for andshows the country in poor light.This is a delicate issue and needsto be handled prudently. With thelawyers still continuing their strike,the Bar Council of India mustcounsel the lawyers and ensurethat tensions do not escalate.

AkanshaVia email

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Air pollution is all around us, killing usslowly but surely. Because it is an invis-ible killer, (till it doesn’t form a toxic smog

that hangs low in the air during the wintermonths) it often goes unnoticed. However, inignoring the problem, we are letting ourselvesbecome victims of it. Today, air pollution killsmore people than poor diet, smoking, lack ofphysical fitness and high blood pressure do, puttogether. It is an ongoing public health emer-gency in India, claiming one in every eight lives.Larger portions of India’s economy are being lostto health issues, reduced agricultural yields anddamage to biodiversity and ecosystems causedby air pollution. Delhi’s air pollution has beenmaking international headlines and while Indiaendeavours to become a global super power, thestate of air pollution in the national Capital isticking all the wrong boxes for global tourists,investors and the international perceptiontowards India.

When one looks at the various causes ofdeaths, a worrisome fact emerges. According toa health commission report (2017) published byLancet, diseases caused by air pollution wereresponsible for an estimated nine million pre-mature deaths in India in 2015. This was almost16 per cent of all mortalities worldwide; threetimes as many deaths as by AIDS, tuberculosisand malaria combined; and 15 times more fatal-ities than caused by wars and other forms of vio-lence. It is estimated that there could be a 30 percent increase in air pollution-related deaths inIndia by 2021 if particulate matter levels in theair do not come down from the present haz-ardous levels. Continued exposure to pollutedair is causing diminished lung function and acuteand chronic respiratory symptoms like cough,wheezing and asthma in children.

The occurrence of these symptoms is morein areas with higher levels of pollution.Furthermore, air pollution caused by seasonaloccurrences such as stubble burning by farm-ers soon after harvest of the rice crops inOctober-November and fireworks used duringDiwali, triggers diseases during those periods.

The national Capital, for instance, observesepisodic pollution events during the post-monsoon season (roughly from October 26 toNovember 15), due to open burning of paddyresidue in the three neighboring States ofPunjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (UP).

The problem is exacerbated by the burningof firecrackers during the festivals of Dussehraand Diwali. This year the very next day ofDussehra, PM10 concentration went up to 191ug/m3, which was a 50 per cent increase fromthe previous day’s concentration. In fact, Delhihas earned the dubious distinction of becom-ing the most polluted major city in the worldwith an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 527 onNovember 15, as per data by Air Visual on theWorld AQI rankings. Delhi’s air quality brokeall records on November 5, when it was in thehazardous range for nine consecutive days, mak-ing this the longest spell of hazardous air qual-ity since public records began.

Six of the top 10 cities fall in the Indian sub-continent, Delhi, Lahore, Karachi, Kolkata,

Mumbai and Kathmandu. So within Asia, airpollution is concentrated in South Asia. ThreeIndian cities are on the list, Delhi, Kolkata andMumbai. So air pollution is not necessarily aproblem specific to northern India althoughDelhi’s pollution is double that of Kolkata.

According to a study conducted by TERI in2016, about 36 per cent of the PM2.5 pollutionin Delhi during winter was contributed by localsources, while the rest was owing to trans-boundary pollutants. Even though theGovernment is making efforts to reduce emis-sions within Delhi, it won’t change pollution lev-els by much, because the air quality deteriora-tion during this time has less to do with Delhi’slocal pollution and it is more about meteorolog-ical conditions. Stable wind conditions preventthe pollutants from dissipating, while the shal-low planetary boundary layer (PBL) traps theemissions, increasing its concentration. The lowPBL height is owing to the prevailing low tem-perature, which results in temperature inversionat a lower height. These meteorological condi-tions remain largely unchanged from Octoberto January.

A research report published by theInternational Journal of Epidemiology estimatesthat the economic and health cost of air dete-rioration caused by stubble burning in India isaround $30 billion per year. It further suggest-ed that people, who live in areas where residueburning is intense, are associated with threetimes higher risk of acute respiratory infection.Children are most susceptible to health effectsof crop burning. Many proposals have been for-mulated by environmentalists and Governmentofficials to curb the practice and to promote theusage of alternative sustainable managementmethods for paddy straw. These include the useof Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC) to ban burning of paddy; The AirPrevention and Control of Pollution Act, 1981;The Environment Protection Act, 1986; TheNational Tribunal Act, 1995 and The NationalEnvironment Appellate Authority Act, 1997.Stringent directions have been given by theNational Green Tribunal (NGT) to limit crop-residue burning in the States of Rajasthan, UP,

Haryana and Punjab.Despite all researches pointing to stubble

burning as the major contributor to Delhi’s ris-ing pollution levels, not much has been doneabout it on-ground, because biomass burningis an issue of public concern. The NGT bannedresidue-burning in 2015 but it is still widely prac-tised due to weak enforcement of the order, polit-ical economy issues and lack of viable alterna-tives among poor farmers. The best alternativewould be to use the crop residue on-site, with-out any need of transportation, logistics and stor-age, such that there is sustainable use for the end-product in the agricultural field itself. Accordingto a research on stubble burning in India, pub-lished in 2018 in the International Journal ofEnvironmental Research and Public Health,there are two practices that farmers can adopt— composting and biochar production.

Composting is not a new concept in India,but doing it with residue has its advantages.Composting with organic waste doesn’t have asecure market but compost made with cropresidue can be fed into one’s own field to increasesoil productivity and agricultural yield. InIndia, the practice of biochar production is notwidely prevalent but if crop residue is used tomake biochar, it can secure a market that willhelp farmers economically as well as the watertreatment and construction sectors and the foodand cosmetics industry.

The issue of residue burning is at present farfrom reaching a successful resolution. The inter-ventions undertaken so far, while significant,have been limited in their impact despite theefforts and time that have been invested in them.It is time to think out of the box and tackle theproblem head-on.

The stakeholders — implementing author-ities, citizen groups, industry representatives, sci-entists, researchers, non-government organisa-tions and others — must come together andchalk out a better plan to address the issue, inthe short-term and the long-term, and providethe citizens of India the pollution free air thatthey are entitled to.

(Suresh R is Fellow and Shivang Agarwal isProject Associate at TERI)

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Did Harper Lee know in 1960when she wrote her seminalnovel To Kill A Mockingbird

that her character’s model of persis-tent and peaceful resistance wouldstrike a strong chord with activists ofthe civil rights movement?

Could she have possibly imaginedthat America would continue to feelthe influence of her novel well into the21st century — in the national con-versation on criminal justice, the“Black Lives matter movement” andthe more recent prison reforms.

The powerful work of fiction is atestament to the ways in which sto-ries can reflect society’s mores andattitudes, penetrate public conscious-

ness and set the stage for socialchange. It is not just To Kill AMockingbird that has had considerableimpact on a cultural movement.Almost all of the world’s major reli-gions are built on the bedrock of pow-erful stories that have the power toshape human behaviour and history.In recent years, there have been anumber of initiatives that have recog-nised the power of purposeful storiesto educate and influence the behav-iour of people for the better.

A great example is Amar ChitraKatha, the comic series started by edu-cationist Anant Pai. It used storiesfrom mythology, epics, oral folk-tales, literature and history to impartvalues to a generation of Indian chil-dren.

Underneath the engrossinglywritten stories were subtle hints onpeople’s behaviour, motives and dri-ves. They were designed to preparechildren for the real world that theywould soon enter. A scientist byeducation and an entertainer byvocation, Pai later launched the fort-nightly magazine Tinkle featuringunforgettable characters and stories

that entertained, edu-cated and informedkids simultaneously.Their success rests ona very simple formu-la, one that packageseducation in enter-tainment by harness-ing the power of sto-rytelling. If you areable to weave lessonsinto a story, both chil-dren and adults aremore likely to learnfrom it.

Brands and the power of story-telling: In 2013, an advertisement byGoogle India proved to be so impact-ful that its vibrations were also feltacross the border in Pakistan. The“Reunion advertisement” that narrat-ed the story of two friends separatedby the Partition and reunited with thehelp of Google, became bigger thanits brand as it touched a chord withpeople on both sides of the RadcliffLine. This powerful example of sto-rytelling tells us how this art can behighly useful for brands.

Even in the world of business and

technology, compa-nies are beginning tounderstand thepower a story has toshape markets andw o r k p l a c e s .Maximising humaninterest helps peopleset and attain goalsthat are worth pursu-ing. People genuine-ly crave real values sothat they can becomea better version of

who they are. They look for trust andto be worthy of their trust, brandsmust have the power to change theway they think and act. If you wantto inspire people to change theirbehaviour, storytelling is the best toolat your disposal. There is a growingtrend of brands using strong narra-tives to make profound comments onour social and behavioural traits. Anumber of brands have propagatedideals through stories of equality,comments against patriarchy and onsocial harmony.

The power of narratives: Thereis a neurological basis to the power of

narratives. Researchers from Spainfound that when people are present-ed with vivid and captivating stories,a lot of different centres in the brainlight up. For example, if a battle sceneis described graphically in a novel, thebrain’s movement and sight centreslight up (even if you cannot fight).When a scent is described in evoca-tive detail, the smell centre lights up.In other words, you have a more emo-tional and immersive experiencecompared to a tiny blip in the brainwhen it is presented with a bare fact.Sociologically speaking, stories havethe power to establish and reinforcebehavioural norms that are in align-ment with what you are trying to pro-mote. If a relatable character in a storymakes a healthy diet choice or exer-cises regularly, it conveys the idea thatthis is what people do and the listen-er or viewer should do it too. It worksbecause you are not just promoting aproduct but a better quality of life, onethat resonates with the viewer. Forinstance, the South African series,Soul Buddyz, an award-winning mul-timedia edutainment experience,closely chronicles the lives, hardships

and joys of children. It captured thepublic imagination so fiercely thatthousands of young ones from acrossthe country wrote to the non-govern-mental organisation (NGO) behindthe show, Soul City Institute, askingto participate. Pretty soon, the NGOwas able to establish over 8,500Buddyz Clubs, with nearly 1.5 lakhchildren, dedicated to the education,physical and mental well-being of theyoungsters.

There is a wide body of evidenceto support the power of story-basedadvertising and media to create a sig-nificant shift in societal norms, beliefsand values much more effectively thantraditional advertising and messaging.

Digital technology and socialmedia have made it possible forbrands to maximise the reach of thesestories at negligible costs. Just as ToKill A Mockingbird catalysed thenationwide conversation on civilrights, strong narratives hold thepower to change our world and livesfor the better.

(The writer is director and creativestrategist at an advertising and consult-ing agency.)

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The Supreme Court Fridayset aside a NCLAT order

which gave equal rights to thesecured and unsecured credi-tors during the insolvency pro-ceedings of debt-ridden EssarSteel, clearing the decks for ittakeover by Lakshmi Mittal-ledArcelorMittal.

Setting aside the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) order, a 3-judge headed by Justice RFNariman, said the two set ofcreditors will be treated differ-ently during the insolvencyproceedings and taking over ofa debt-ridden firm by anothercompany.

There is no principal ofequality between secured andunsecured creditors, said thebench, also comprising JusticesSurya Kant and VRamasubramanian.

“The NCLAT judgmentwhich substitutes its wisdomfor the commercial wisdom ofthe Committee of Creditors(CoC) and which also directsthe admission of a number ofclaims which was done by theresolution applicant, withoutprejudice to its right to appeal

against the aforesaid judgment,must therefore be set aside,”said the bench.

The NCLAT had said thateverybody (secured and unse-cured creditors) will get 60.7per cent of their dues in theevent of takeover of a debt-rid-den company by another firmunder the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC), saidsenior advocate RakeshDwivedi, who represented oneof the parties in the apex courtin the case.

“The appeals filed by theCoC of Essar Steel Limited and

other Civil Appeals are allowed.The impugned NCLAT judg-ment is set aside,” the top courtsaid.

Reacting to the verdict,Essar Steel said: “We wishArcelorMittal and Nippon Steelthe very best on their entry intothe Indian market. They areacquiring a world-class facili-ty in a market that has a longrunway for growth.”

The apex court clarifiedthat the Corporate InsolvencyResolution Process of thedebtor in this case will takeplace in accordance with theresolution plan of ArcelorMittaldated October 23, 2018, asamended and accepted by theCoC on March 27, 2019.

It has provided foramounts to be paid to differentclasses of creditors by follow-ing Section 30(2) andRegulation 38 of the IBC, thecourt added.

It said the adjudicatingauthority can send back the res-olution plan to the CoC forimplementation in accordancewith the guidelines but cannotchange the commercial deci-sion taken by the committee.

The bench also relaxed thetimeline of 330 days to find a

resolution plan as prescribedunder the IBC.

“It is only in exceptionalcases that time can be extend-ed, the general rule being that330 days is the outer limit with-in which resolution of thestressed assets of the corporatedebtor must take place beyondwhich the corporate debtor isto be driven into liquidation,”it said.

The verdict came on theCoC plea challenging NCLAT’sorder of July 4 in which it hadapproved steel tycoon LakshmiMittal-led ArcelorMittal’s�42,000-crore bid for the acqui-sition of Essar Steel after thetribunal had rejected a plea bythe lead shareholder of thedebt-laden firm challengingthe eligibility of the bidder.

The National CompanyLaw Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) had, however, givenoperational creditors equal sta-tus as lenders in the distribu-tion of the ArcelorMittal’s bidamount among the creditors ofEssar Steel.

Essar Steel was auctionedunder the new IBC to recover�54,547 crore of unpaid dues offinancial lenders and opera-tional creditors.

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Realty firm Pacific Indiaexpects about �40 crore of

rental income per year from itsshopping mall at Dwarka in thenational capital. The mallbecame operational fromFriday.

The company completedthe shopping mall and multi-level car parking project, whichit bagged last year from DelhiMetro Rail Corporation(DMRC) through an auction process, with aninvestment of about �100 crore.

“We have completed ourshopping mall project ‘PacificD21’. The mall will open fromtomorrow. This is our fourthmall,” its executive directorAbhishek Bansal said.

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Global steel giantArcelorMittal on Friday

said it is looking forward toclose the acquisition of debt-ridden Essar Steel soon.

The remarks followed theapex court verdict that gavenod to ArcelorMittal’s resolu-tion plan, paving way forArcelorMittal’s takeover ofEssar Steel for �� 42,000 crore.

Essar Steel was auctionedunder the new Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC) torecover ��54,547 crore of unpaiddues of financial lenders andoperational creditors. “We lookforward to the closing of theacquisition soon,” ArcelorMittalsaid in a statement adding thatit is “very pleased with thejudgment that our resolutionplan has been approved”.

The Supreme Court on

November 15, paved the wayfor ArcelorMittal takeover ofdebt-ridden Essar Steel for �42,000 crore and set aside theJuly 4, NCLAT order givingequal status to financial cred-itors and operational credi-tors. The verdict came on a pleaof the committee of creditorschallenging NCLAT’s order ofJuly 4, in which it had approvedsteel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal-ledArcelorMittal’s ��42,000-crorebid for the acquisition of EssarSteel after it rejected a plea bythe lead shareholder of thedebt-laden firm challengingthe eligibility of the bidder.

A bench headed by JusticeRF Nariman clarified thatfinancial creditors enjoy pri-macy over operational creditorsand the adjudicating authoritycannot interfere with the deci-sion approved by the commit-tee of creditors.

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India’s exports contracted forthe third month in a row in

October by 1.11 per cent to$26.38 billion mainly onaccount of a significant dip inshipments of petroleum, carpet,leather products, rice and tea.

Imports too declined by16.31 per cent to $37.39 billionin October, narrowing the tradedeficit to $11 billion, accordingto the government datareleased on Friday.

Gold imports increased byabout 5 per cent to $1.84 bil-lion in the month.

The trade deficit stood at$18 billion in October 2018.

Out of the 30 key sectors,as many as 18 segments showednegative growth in exportsduring the month underreview.

Shipments of petroleumgoods, carpet, leather products,

rice and tea contracted by 14.6per cent, 17 per cent, 7.6 percent, 29.5 per cent and 6.16 percent respectively.

The country’s outboundshipments have remained sub-dued so far this year. It mayhave a bearing on the overalleconomic growth, which fell toover six-year low of 5 per centin the first quarter of the cur-rent fiscal.

Industrial output declinedby 4.3 per cent in Septemberdue to poor performance bymanufacturing, power generation and mining sectors.

The outbound shipmentscontracted by 6 per cent inAugust and 6.57 per cent inSeptember.

In October, oil importsdeclined by 31.74 per cent to$9.63 billion, and non-oilimports fell by 9.19 per cent to$27.76 billion.

New Delhi: The telecom depart-ment has not yet approached theregulator for its views on floorprice for tariffs, Trai ChairmanRS Sharma said on Friday.

“We have not received any-thing,” Sharma said when askedif the Department of Telecom(DoT) has approached TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(Trai) for its opinion on floorprice or minimum tariff fixa-tion for mobile services.

The government has con-stituted a committee of secre-taries to explore a financialbailout package for the telecomsector. Last month, when the

high-level panel was set up, anofficial source had said that sec-tor regulator Trai is expected toexamine prescribing minimumcharge for voice and data ser-vices, which will ensure long-term viability and robust finan-cial health of the sector.

In fact, this is not the firsttime that floor price is beingtalked about in telecom indus-try circles. Way back in 2017,certain operators had initiallysuggested fixation of mini-mum floor price for voice anddata services, but Trai hadsubsequently ruled out impo-sition. PTI

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharman on Friday said

the Government will bring leg-islations on raising insurancecover on bank deposits fromthe current �1 lakh and regu-lating multi-state cooperativebanks.

These legislations will bebrought during the WinterSession of Parliament startingcoming Monday, the Ministertold reporters here.

These legislations assumesignificance in the wake ofscam in the Punjab andMaharashtra Cooperative Bankaffecting lakhs of customerswho are facing difficulties inwithdrawing their entiremoney due to restrictionsimposed by the Reserve Bankof India.

At present, bank depositorsget an insurance cover of �1lakh on their amount by theDeposit Insurance and credit GuaranteeCorporation.

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The Government on Fridaynotified rules under the

insolvency law to deal with res-olution of systemically impor-tant financial service providers,excluding banks.

The corporate affairs min-istry has notified theInsolvency and Bankruptcy(Insolvency and LiquidationProceedings of FinancialService Providers andApplication to AdjudicatingAuthority) Rules, 2019 (Rules).

It will provide a genericframework for insolvency andliquidation proceedings of sys-temically important FinancialService Providers (FSPs) otherthan banks, an official statementsaid. Section 227 of the Codeenables the central governmentto notify, in consultation withthe financial sector regulators,FSPs or categories of FSPs forthe purpose of insolvency andliquidation proceedings.

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Market benchmark Sensexended 70.21 points high-

er on Friday, led by gains inBharti Airtel and SBI, amidpositive cues from global equi-ties.

The 30-share index, whichopened on a firm note, wit-nessed a sell-off at the fag endof the session as investorsturned cautious tracking con-cerns over slowing economicgrowth.

After rallying over 363points during the day, the 30-share Sensex ended 70.21points, or 0.17 per cent, high-er at 40,356.69.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty rose 23.35 points, or 0.20per cent, to end at 11,895.45.

Bharti Airtel was the topgainer in the Sensex pack, ral-lying 8.42 per cent.

The telecom operator hadon Thursday posted a massive��23,045 crore net loss for theSeptember quarter due to pro-visioning of ��28,450 crore inthe aftermath of the SupremeCourt ruling on statutory dues.

However, experts said con-sistently strong operationalperformance underscores thecompany’s ability to executeamidst a challenging environ-ment.

Other gainers includedSBI, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma,Tata Motors, M&M and Tata

Steel, rising up to 5.19 per cent.On the other hand, Hero

MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti,ITC, Vedanta, NTPC and TechMahindra fell up to 1.85 percent.

Investors remained on theedge after weak macroeco-nomic releases this week,experts said, adding that fore-casts of slower GDP growthover the past few days alsoweighed on market mood.

“Global markets showedmixed performance during theweek as markets saw profitbooking on conflicting signalsregarding progress on a tradedeal between the US andChina,” said Sanjeev Zarbade,VP PCG Research, KotakSecurities.

Meanwhile, the Indianrupee appreciated 14 paise to71.81 against the US dollarintra-day. Brent crude futures,the global oil benchmark,slipped 0.42 per cent to USD62.02 per barrel.

Meanwhile, gold prices onFriday fell Rs 149 to Rs 38,875per 10 gram in the nationalcapital on the back of weakglobal cues, according toHDFC Securities.

In the previous session,the precious metal closed at Rs39,024 per 10 gram.

Silver prices also shed �473 to � 45,375 per kg from �45,848 per kg in the previoussession.

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Finance CommissionChairman NK Singh on

Friday said the current economicslowdown is episodic andexpressed hope that sluggishnesswill not continue for long.

India’s economic growth hita six-year low of 5 per cent in thefirst quarter of the current fiscal.It is estimated that the growthmay further slip to below 5 percent in the second quarter andoverall the economy is likely toregister a less than 5 per centexpansion for the full fiscal.

“I do not regard that the cur-rent economic sluggishness issomething that the country isgoing to experience for too long.I remain optimistic that the cur-rent slowdown is as much as

anecdotal, episodic as much ascyclical and structural,” he said atan event here.

Singh, however, stressed thatIndia should continue with bothstructural and cyclical reforms.

On Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP),he said global economic structureis changing, but India is not at adisadvantage.

It is inherent that India wasbetter off in a multilateral worldthan in a bilateral world, he said,adding that the country shouldcontinue to strengthen multilat-eral activity, but should alsokeep its own interests in mind.

Earlier this month, Indiadecided not to join the megaRegional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP)deal as negotiations failed to

address New Delhi’s concerns.Pointing out that India

improved overall budgetaryresources to the health sector, hesaid there is scope for furtherimprovement especially on thefinancing side. The finance com-mission had constituted a groupto study the health sector to holis-tically examine best internation-al practices for the health sectorand seek to benchmark frame-work to these practices for opti-mising benefits keeping in mindlocal issues.

The panel is also evaluatingthe existing regulatory frame-work in the Health sector andexamine its strength and weak-nesses for enabling a balanced yetfaster expansion of the health sec-tor keeping in view India’sDemographic profile.

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To safeguard the interest ofworkers in formal sector,

particularly working class, theCentre is planning to introduce‘One Nation, One Pay Day’ sys-tem, Labour Minister SantoshGangwar said on Friday.

“There should be a pan-India single wage day everymonth across various sectors toensure that workers get timelypayment of salaries. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is keenon this legislation to get passedsoon. Similarly, we are also look-ing at uniform minimum wagesacross sectors which will safe-guard better livelihood of work-ers,” said Gangwar addressing at‘Security Leadership Summit2019’ organised by the Central

Association of Private SecurityIndustry (CAPSI).

The central government is inthe process of implementingOccupational Safety, Health andWorking Conditions (OSH)Code, and Code on Wages.Parliament has already passed theCode on Wages and rules arebeing framed for its implemen-tation.

The OSH Code was intro-duced in the Lok Sabha on July23, 2019. The Code will stream-line the private sector by enhanc-ing the coverage of workersmanifold by merging 13 centrallabour laws relating to safety,health and working conditionsinto a single code.

The OSH Code has manynew initiatives like mandatoryissues of appointment letter by

employers, annual free medicalcheck up of workers and broad-ening coverage of all type ofworkers in the country under it.

Gangwar mentioned thatsince taking the office in 2014,Modi government has consis-tently worked on reforminglabour laws. “We have taken up44 complex labour laws to reformthem. We are talking to all stake-holders to make these laws moreeffective and useful.

“Similarly, we are preparinga ‘Single Page’ mechanism forvarious sectors to complete var-ious compliances to ensure easeof doing business. We are alsopreparing an online system of allgrievance redressal to ensurethat all problems are resolvedwith 48 hours without any phys-ical interface,” said Gangwar.

Script Open High Low LTPCIPLA 447.00 467.85 435.60 463.10SBIN 312.00 323.50 310.00 322.00BHARTIARTL 354.40 398.00 354.40 393.20ERIS 417.50 424.20 407.65 410.15RELIANCE 1465.25 1486.50 1463.25 1469.30YESBANK 69.10 70.20 68.30 68.70IBULHSGFIN 213.55 218.80 207.55 210.30ICICIBANK 499.00 509.60 496.75 499.30CANBK 203.80 214.10 203.00 206.00IDEA 2.66 3.89 2.61 3.68BANDHANBNK 564.45 569.20 556.25 559.80MARUTI 7290.00 7360.00 7120.05 7147.00ICICIPRULI 527.20 527.20 520.00 522.00FORTIS 158.05 161.00 129.00 143.70POWERGRID 190.00 190.00 186.80 187.40HDFCBANK 1283.00 1285.00 1271.00 1278.30HDFC 2226.00 2238.10 2208.05 2224.20TATASTEEL 392.50 403.00 390.65 394.40TATAMOTORS 169.00 173.35 167.45 168.60INFY 707.30 712.65 702.15 703.95HDFCAMC 3629.00 3639.65 3482.75 3497.35JINDALSTEL 141.60 145.80 139.95 143.65GLENMARK 298.00 305.40 290.20 301.20RBLBANK 322.00 329.35 316.20 317.80IIFL 149.90 159.00 143.90 154.90LICHSGFIN 422.45 423.50 414.50 415.30ZEEL 286.00 293.00 278.70 287.50BANKBARODA 93.90 96.55 93.70 94.30ASHOKLEY 82.95 83.45 78.95 79.50SIEMENS 1616.00 1622.70 1565.30 1576.60ADANIENT 202.20 205.00 200.95 203.45LT 1384.50 1393.15 1366.60 1377.50PNB 60.75 63.75 60.75 61.90AUROPHARMA 400.10 415.95 396.40 410.05GRASIM 739.00 767.30 722.00 756.00INDUSINDBK 1375.10 1388.15 1346.90 1359.50TCS 2199.00 2211.00 2168.55 2174.80INFRATEL 204.90 233.15 203.45 227.70KOTAKBANK 1614.90 1629.00 1602.95 1623.00AXISBANK 717.90 723.40 710.25 716.55DMART 1926.00 1934.00 1850.00 1869.05DLF 209.20 215.50 208.30 212.00BAJFINANCE 4215.00 4246.95 4178.05 4187.85VEDL 145.50 146.10 141.70 142.10INDIGO 1516.15 1517.00 1457.10 1464.85DIVISLAB 1661.95 1759.00 1627.15 1747.95UNIONBANK 51.95 54.70 50.80 53.45BANKINDIA 66.55 71.25 66.55 69.35JUSTDIAL 515.00 525.45 500.15 503.80ITC 254.60 255.80 250.15 250.65TATAGLOBAL 295.00 302.50 295.00 297.55HINDUNILVR 2067.00 2098.00 2050.00 2057.25BALKRISIND 819.00 879.25 813.90 862.85APOLLOHOSP 1443.95 1445.00 1380.25 1394.25SUVEN 323.80 334.90 308.00 310.40EICHERMOT 21701.00 21990.00 21236.55 21265.05BAJAJFINSV 9085.00 9140.00 9030.00 9052.00IOC 136.80 136.80 131.25 131.70BERGEPAINT 483.40 489.60 482.50 487.15RNAM 361.00 369.00 354.45 357.95SUNPHARMA 412.05 418.75 410.20 414.90LTI 1640.00 1697.70 1638.10 1695.00NAUKRI 2618.85 2675.00 2600.00 2644.55UPL 537.00 541.95 518.20 528.75SAIL 36.75 37.45 36.10 36.35HDFCLIFE 587.80 588.40 576.00 577.65MOTHERSUMI 137.90 138.50 133.80 134.40GDL 81.15 89.00 81.15 88.00COLPAL 1547.25 1589.30 1538.65 1578.85SUNTV 492.45 501.00 481.60 489.30ULTRACEMCO 4045.00 4094.00 4018.00 4078.55PETRONET 280.00 280.40 273.60 278.00CONCOR 578.00 581.20 568.20 570.15GRINDWELL 595.00 603.25 595.00 600.45NCC 54.80 56.85 54.65 56.00ESCORTS 656.40 668.80 653.80 658.50NESTLEIND 14201.05 14434.70 14166.15 14297.20HCLTECH 1148.00 1159.00 1140.00 1143.70BPCL 514.50 514.95 504.10 505.90BHEL 54.00 54.85 53.75 54.15GODREJCP 712.00 717.50 709.30 710.85MARICO 359.90 360.00 353.35 355.25JSWSTEEL 245.85 250.00 242.40 244.70APOLLOTYRE 165.00 169.50 164.35 167.95SRF 3168.00 3243.85 3161.25 3208.00HEROMOTOCO 2613.60 2615.85 2532.45 2542.85PEL 1770.00 1790.00 1761.60 1767.20BATAINDIA 1710.10 1743.05 1709.70 1736.50BRITANNIA 3249.00 3255.75 3184.95 3195.25MGL 1039.75 1040.00 996.55 1002.20M&M 583.50 590.75 579.55 582.55TATAMTRDVR 78.80 80.75 77.65 78.20CHOLAFIN 310.05 330.65 309.40 330.65RELINFRA 39.60 42.00 38.40 38.65AVANTI 534.80 546.00 527.20 539.70AUBANK 825.00 826.20 786.80 800.65TITAN 1172.00 1173.90 1155.45 1158.30GRAPHITE 304.45 307.40 296.80 298.05PAGEIND 24014.90 24680.45 23616.40 23652.00ACC 1490.00 1505.00 1483.40 1483.50ADANIPOWER 61.60 62.35 60.45 60.85DISHTV 13.28 14.05 13.10 13.52IDBI 32.30 34.50 32.15 32.90ONGC 137.50 138.80 135.10 135.55JUBLFOOD 1624.50 1632.00 1609.20 1622.05RAYMOND 750.00 766.80 736.15 741.55FEDERALBNK 85.00 85.40 82.90 84.30JAICORPLTD 98.50 101.85 96.10 99.25HINDPETRO 288.90 293.00 286.45 290.05

NBCC 37.25 38.40 36.40 37.40HEG 1044.00 1052.00 1011.00 1018.95EDELWEISS 130.40 134.25 125.00 129.10NIITTECH 1500.00 1519.75 1474.65 1489.20GAIL 123.20 124.60 122.05 124.30ASIANPAINT 1780.00 1783.75 1757.40 1761.65BHARATFORG 439.25 442.90 429.00 439.15L&TFH 96.00 98.30 96.00 97.70SBILIFE 1009.95 1025.55 996.50 1002.10NOCIL 105.60 107.75 103.55 105.95SPICEJET 107.00 108.30 106.10 106.45RAJESHEXPO 709.00 711.45 681.45 701.00PCJEWELLER 34.00 34.00 32.00 32.15MUTHOOTFIN 711.35 713.20 700.00 701.30BAJAJ-AUTO 3240.00 3251.40 3188.30 3188.30VENKYS 1710.10 1764.80 1685.15 1729.90PVR 1751.60 1768.00 1735.00 1739.15PIDILITIND 1348.00 1348.00 1315.00 1317.10BEML 953.70 974.35 948.00 952.55BIOCON 255.80 262.10 253.25 257.30MAXINDIA 72.00 77.40 70.65 75.25EQUITAS 84.75 87.30 84.35 86.20TATAELXSI 796.80 807.60 786.80 792.70JUBILANT 500.20 509.50 490.00 494.00PARAGMILK 129.10 130.10 125.50 126.15ICICIGI 1374.00 1394.40 1370.40 1379.15POLYCAB 909.95 938.00 895.05 897.35IGL 433.80 433.80 421.60 423.20HINDALCO 189.00 190.10 187.05 187.50IBREALEST 70.25 74.60 70.25 72.60OMAXE 186.90 186.90 182.05 183.70MFSL 479.50 486.15 474.05 474.65UJJIVAN 277.40 282.45 273.10 279.65GMRINFRA 20.80 22.05 20.80 21.60LUPIN 739.20 747.45 732.00 742.25WOCKPHARMA 275.10 280.90 267.55 271.00NTPC 119.00 119.00 116.90 117.20BEL 110.00 112.25 109.75 111.20COALINDIA 202.50 204.50 200.60 201.10STRTECH 125.00 128.40 123.50 124.55CEATLTD 965.05 977.15 955.65 957.30VOLTAS 716.00 719.00 711.50 713.00CHAMBLFERT 161.75 163.05 154.50 156.00GODREJPROP 922.00 928.75 903.00 906.05TVSMOTOR 451.00 459.95 449.70 451.50IDFCFIRSTB 41.90 42.50 41.70 42.20MOTILALOFS 715.00 741.35 702.05 730.75BOMDYEING 81.45 82.35 78.15 79.00ADANIGREEN 96.40 96.70 94.50 95.50DRREDDY 2747.75 2749.20 2712.65 2726.05PFC 112.00 112.40 109.90 111.20ADANIPORTS 369.50 370.80 365.70 366.40WIPRO 254.95 254.95 251.70 252.50ABBOTINDIA 12288.00 12441.00 12105.00 12410.00TATAPOWER 55.00 55.40 54.25 54.50BOSCHLTD 15250.00 15360.00 14992.05 15076.80EXIDEIND 191.95 193.45 189.80 190.75SUNTECK 407.20 407.20 393.00 398.65ABCAPITAL 80.60 82.50 79.75 81.45FRETAIL 362.00 362.00 323.55 330.65SPARC 149.30 154.45 148.25 152.15WHIRLPOOL 2289.95 2330.00 2250.00 2304.60MCX 1125.00 1169.80 1125.00 1161.60NMDC 98.70 100.40 97.80 99.50TECHM 760.00 763.00 749.70 750.45INDIANB 115.30 120.35 114.90 116.90GREAVESCOT 139.90 148.00 139.00 139.00HUDCO 43.60 44.25 42.90 43.20QUESS 582.95 592.70 546.40 551.80RVNL 24.15 24.65 24.10 24.55M&MFIN 330.35 330.60 322.50 324.20MANAPPURAM 161.80 164.55 161.40 162.30NIACL 163.00 165.00 156.30 158.25TATACHEM 633.00 641.80 632.25 639.10GICRE 270.00 274.00 256.70 258.00IBVENTURES 148.00 151.40 141.95 149.30AMBUJACEM 200.95 202.30 199.00 201.40ORIENTBANK 51.60 53.85 51.10 52.20RITES 293.50 298.25 286.60 295.10LALPATHLAB 1600.00 1638.90 1552.60 1592.35UBL 1253.30 1259.15 1240.85 1249.95NAVINFLUOR 895.15 950.00 895.10 909.10AMARAJABAT 750.50 753.50 742.90 745.00EIDPARRY 187.75 202.20 183.60 191.00HAVELLS 676.25 683.20 671.15 672.80COFFEEDAY 45.85 45.85 45.55 45.85DBL 400.00 407.25 379.80 397.90AIAENG 1630.05 1650.00 1625.00 1637.00

SOLARINDS 1021.70 1048.90 1005.00 1015.50RECLTD 135.00 136.20 133.20 133.90RALLIS 170.80 184.00 169.00 174.75GRANULES 124.30 126.10 122.50 123.35ABFRL 209.00 214.75 206.00 213.65SRTRANSFIN 1140.00 1146.60 1124.00 1128.25PNBHOUSING 545.00 547.50 525.10 529.95CENTURYPLY 177.95 181.60 174.20 175.65VBL 729.45 732.60 702.00 707.80CADILAHC 234.10 237.10 230.80 234.50FORCEMOT 1064.95 1079.25 1019.10 1026.95MRF 63660.00 64190.00 63420.55 64083.65ASTRAZEN 2651.00 2700.00 2603.75 2626.00DELTACORP 191.30 194.10 189.00 189.00STAR 388.40 390.20 374.80 376.45ENGINERSIN 104.65 105.30 101.90 102.05SUZLON 2.49 2.55 2.15 2.47PRSMJOHNSN 72.90 74.85 68.00 69.00JKLAKSHMI 300.85 301.45 295.80 298.80CREDITACC 759.95 786.00 730.00 773.00CORPBANK 16.90 18.80 16.80 18.40RADICO 314.65 319.40 303.55 307.00NATIONALUM 42.30 42.55 41.65 42.15LTTS 1417.35 1431.90 1405.00 1422.00FSL 41.00 42.00 40.70 41.25CASTROLIND 145.80 147.30 144.20 145.05INFIBEAM 45.05 45.60 44.50 44.90INTELLECT 147.00 147.05 138.90 145.35SWANENERGY 102.55 103.35 100.70 101.25CYIENT 400.50 401.00 395.60 397.60CANFINHOME 380.25 388.40 378.40 386.00CROMPTON 261.00 262.75 259.25 260.00SCI 58.40 58.85 57.25 58.00NH 307.00 307.70 290.30 294.40GODFRYPHLP 1253.00 1260.45 1201.10 1213.45HEXAWARE 334.90 337.90 334.00 335.75INDIACEM 82.25 83.45 80.60 82.90PHILIPCARB 123.25 126.25 120.20 125.00RCF 48.85 49.00 47.90 48.05DABUR 463.05 465.60 460.20 461.15RAIN 105.50 107.70 103.75 104.50TORNTPOWER 294.45 296.45 292.55 293.20DEEPAKNI 358.15 358.50 352.00 353.15WELCORP 138.00 138.95 135.20 136.20SHREECEM 19719.00 19729.20 19367.70 19507.00PGHH 10948.00 11338.25 10802.00 11155.75JAMNAAUTO 45.00 46.20 43.40 45.75JMFINANCIL 89.50 94.70 89.50 94.05CUMMINSIND 561.00 568.05 557.20 562.55ITI 85.90 88.45 85.75 87.00MOIL 142.90 143.45 139.30 139.60GNFC 193.85 196.00 191.00 192.70BBTC 1190.00 1209.95 1165.90 1167.00GLAXO 1598.00 1610.00 1595.00 1608.00BLUESTARCO 794.00 827.55 791.05 812.70OIL 160.85 161.60 157.05 160.45INDHOTEL 156.00 157.75 152.35 154.10VINATIORGA 1971.00 1971.00 1922.00 1945.70IPCALAB 1137.00 1152.25 1109.90 1112.70MINDTREE 680.05 702.10 680.05 689.30PFIZER 4014.60 4014.60 3975.05 3978.65FINEORG 1935.00 1970.00 1900.00 1933.50ATUL 4004.60 4071.65 3992.25 4038.65ABB 1485.95 1485.95 1455.00 1467.45ADANIGAS 147.45 148.90 146.20 146.45BLISSGVS 137.00 140.50 136.90 138.85BALRAMCHIN 147.00 149.70 146.45 147.65ADANITRANS 270.40 274.30 266.45 268.00IDFC 34.50 34.85 33.70 34.65KTKBANK 75.90 77.30 75.75 76.55THOMASCOOK 137.95 145.00 135.45 141.65SUDARSCHEM 391.30 395.75 388.40 389.85VIPIND 434.00 448.20 432.65 435.85IRCON 402.60 417.95 402.60 407.90ITDC 372.15 372.15 351.30 353.65MPHASIS 889.85 913.90 884.40 908.60SHANKARA 330.80 341.30 327.00 328.00HINDZINC 210.00 211.05 207.95 208.20KEI 549.75 549.75 523.00 530.70PNCINFRA 184.90 197.00 183.25 187.95CENTRALBK 19.30 21.50 19.15 21.00SOBHA 399.30 400.50 395.00 397.65SOUTHBANK 10.56 11.09 10.48 11.00RAMCOCEM 784.30 793.90 781.00 789.10TORNTPHARM 1771.00 1796.10 1765.00 1779.35SUPREMEIND 1133.55 1152.00 1131.75 1143.00GUJGAS 197.30 197.45 193.20 193.25KEC 280.90 283.95 278.65 278.65PERSISTENT 669.00 670.50 635.65 650.15JKTYRE 72.00 72.75 70.30 70.60RPOWER 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.99PGHL 4305.00 4350.00 4250.00 4291.65NILKAMAL 1337.45 1354.95 1317.00 1331.65MEGH 55.85 56.20 53.30 53.65AAVAS 1621.00 1645.60 1600.95 1608.60GALAXYSURF 1526.75 1554.85 1521.10 1554.85LAKSHVILAS 18.25 19.05 17.90 19.05KANSAINER 542.50 552.35 533.25 550.95AEGISLOG 180.00 180.00 171.00 174.85BAJAJELEC 322.25 329.75 322.00 326.35JYOTHYLAB 177.00 182.80 174.25 176.55ALKEM 2040.35 2075.00 2037.70 2065.00SJVN 24.65 24.85 24.45 24.503MINDIA 22300.00 22495.00 22033.35 22215.00HFCL 17.70 17.85 17.20 17.25METROPOLIS 1399.80 1420.00 1364.80 1369.55TRENT 500.25 504.90 494.00 499.40GILLETTE 7245.00 7245.00 7080.50 7116.65GODREJIND 439.85 452.95 437.95 440.65LAXMIMACH 3220.05 3425.00 3195.00 3390.00

KNRCON 246.50 253.50 240.05 240.05BALMLAWRIE 190.00 192.50 188.10 190.05LUXIND 1345.00 1352.55 1308.20 1308.20JBCHEPHARM 396.80 399.00 392.40 396.05PIIND 1434.05 1440.00 1422.25 1435.00AKZOINDIA 1938.80 1941.00 1904.25 1941.00HINDCOPPER 38.30 38.30 37.10 37.40SYNGENE 322.75 325.00 317.00 317.60PTC 55.95 55.95 55.15 55.20CUB 208.00 212.00 208.00 211.60RCOM 0.58 0.60 0.58 0.59CAPPL 381.00 381.00 370.00 370.00SYNDIBANK 25.70 27.65 25.70 26.70ASHOKA 97.70 97.70 93.10 94.45ASTERDM 154.15 158.40 143.00 148.60COCHINSHIP 409.90 410.00 402.00 402.05FCONSUMER 24.15 24.15 22.65 23.10GSPL 218.45 221.35 218.45 219.80NHPC 23.55 23.65 23.30 23.40NESCO 620.00 623.45 595.55 608.00ZYDUSWELL 1452.10 1497.55 1436.50 1462.75HSCL 62.55 65.10 62.55 64.40IRB 71.90 72.55 70.70 71.35J&KBANK 30.90 31.90 30.60 31.15SANOFI 6575.80 6594.00 6472.00 6472.00KAJARIACER 522.75 523.45 514.95 519.00JINDALSAW 81.70 82.40 80.20 80.40BAJAJCON 242.65 246.50 240.55 241.30ADVENZYMES 168.00 169.45 166.05 167.50PHOENIXLTD 705.00 729.05 705.00 718.10REDINGTON 114.80 115.25 111.50 115.00LAURUSLABS 354.30 355.80 337.30 341.50WELSPUNIND 55.75 55.75 52.70 53.00STARCEMENT 99.95 102.00 97.05 99.70DCAL 123.70 124.35 120.00 121.20TATACOFFEE 81.50 82.85 80.15 80.20MAHSCOOTER 4840.00 4841.15 4810.00 4811.20FLFL 396.00 403.70 381.60 395.00HONAUT 27150.00 27777.00 27018.00 27150.00AJANTPHARM 978.00 978.00 968.00 973.00CENTRUM 21.80 22.50 20.00 21.70GODREJAGRO 472.60 474.75 468.45 468.60COROMANDEL 473.30 480.00 473.00 480.00PRESTIGE 301.00 301.55 285.60 286.75TEAMLEASE 2451.65 2491.05 2426.00 2453.60MINDACORP 96.30 97.55 93.55 96.60VGUARD 235.00 236.50 228.40 228.40ISEC 316.90 317.00 311.20 313.55DCBBANK 182.90 184.10 182.10 182.15BIRLACORPN 664.75 664.75 638.50 648.00KRBL 202.40 204.55 196.05 197.10MMTC 17.75 17.95 17.40 17.85MHRIL 216.75 223.00 213.10 214.55GICHSGFIN 152.20 153.15 147.30 149.40GSFC 72.60 72.65 71.40 71.75TV18BRDCST 23.15 23.15 22.60 22.75CARERATING 508.30 508.30 500.00 504.80DALBHARAT 830.65 838.50 827.00 830.00SYMPHONY 1220.00 1223.30 1205.55 1214.80BASF 961.30 971.00 942.30 946.80RELAXO 546.00 550.00 515.75 546.85TTKPRESTIG 6000.00 6090.00 6000.00 6011.60IOB 10.70 10.70 9.80 9.92

TAKE 107.05 107.10 102.50 103.00SCHNEIDER 68.90 68.90 65.70 65.70GPPL 89.80 89.80 81.65 83.45IFCI 7.64 7.64 7.12 7.20BAJAJHLDNG 3723.25 3735.45 3706.05 3716.20JSLHISAR 69.90 70.95 68.20 68.90BAYERCROP 3315.00 3431.00 3294.90 3335.05ALBK 25.60 26.15 25.30 25.55CGPOWER 16.20 16.30 15.40 15.50TEJASNET 68.40 69.00 64.70 67.75MAHSEAMLES 385.50 394.00 376.60 380.50TIMETECHNO 63.70 65.50 61.55 62.05OBEROIRLTY 515.00 518.00 508.50 510.30SUNDRMFAST 465.15 465.15 457.05 459.85ANDHRABANK 17.30 17.80 17.15 17.25TRIDENT 62.50 63.30 62.15 62.40THYROCARE 581.00 581.00 558.20 562.00BDL 340.00 344.00 332.25 333.25DEEPAKFERT 95.40 97.00 95.05 96.20GESHIP* 300.05 303.00 299.00 303.00

JPASSOCIAT 2.03 2.11 2.03 2.09OFSS 3063.80 3080.00 3050.00 3053.70JSWENERGY 70.25 72.30 69.20 70.85GSKCONS 8860.00 8960.00 8827.00 8844.00HEIDELBERG 191.95 191.95 187.50 188.50FDC 182.80 185.00 180.00 183.65THERMAX 1070.35 1070.35 1045.00 1053.00ITDCEM 54.00 54.00 51.60 53.00EMAMILTD 316.10 321.35 311.85 313.30VSTIND 4510.00 4616.95 4510.00 4560.00WABAG 170.30 172.50 167.95 168.50ZENSARTECH 186.50 191.25 186.00 188.00JAGRAN 54.50 54.50 51.60 51.95CRISIL 1434.10 1488.00 1430.00 1488.00GEPIL 679.35 699.00 674.85 686.65MINDAIND 337.35 342.90 332.30 337.85ALLCARGO 99.80 99.80 94.35 94.40JISLJALEQS 12.70 13.15 12.65 12.65KALPATPOWR 448.60 456.00 445.00 447.00ESSELPRO 139.15 139.85 133.00 133.90SCHAEFFLER 4300.00 4300.00 4260.00 4279.00WABCOINDIA 6199.00 6210.00 6190.00 6210.00JSL 36.85 36.90 35.55 35.75NLCINDIA 54.50 54.75 54.20 54.25FINOLEXIND 588.00 588.00 570.00 571.75CCL 226.00 226.00 197.10 204.20VARROC 458.90 458.90 445.00 445.25HAL 811.05 817.10 803.50 805.00LINDEINDIA 592.05 600.00 592.00 594.20LEMONTREE 60.95 61.00 59.10 59.40CHENNPETRO 141.00 142.65 139.35 139.35TIMKEN 889.90 894.90 864.45 871.65GHCL 207.50 207.50 206.00 207.00ECLERX 438.75 452.00 433.80 434.00EIHOTEL 149.80 149.80 147.15 147.80APLLTD 564.50 569.00 555.25 558.55KPRMILL 666.85 667.65 655.80 655.80GUJALKALI 408.25 423.50 408.25 413.65DHANUKA 315.00 331.40 315.00 327.40ASTRAL 1083.15 1096.45 1083.15 1088.00ORIENTELEC 189.85 190.30 186.50 188.25SUPRAJIT 170.00 177.85 168.80 177.25NATCOPHARM 562.80 567.05 562.00 564.45CHALET 333.00 341.30 329.90 338.00RELCAPITAL 21.05 21.05 21.05 21.05JKCEMENT 1158.45 1164.00 1155.00 1163.05INOXWIND 33.25 33.50 32.60 32.85ENDURANCE 1050.05 1085.55 1033.65 1075.05UCOBANK 12.75 13.70 12.75 13.28MRPL 48.10 48.50 47.65 47.85GMDCLTD 59.00 60.00 58.50 59.55DHFL 23.20 23.20 23.20 23.20TNPL 184.40 184.55 180.50 182.25INOXLEISUR 360.00 360.40 357.10 357.25EVEREADY 49.80 52.50 49.80 51.95INDOSTAR 183.00 183.30 179.00 180.00WESTLIFE 357.55 365.00 348.60 352.00TATAMETALI 561.00 579.30 561.00 574.25BLUEDART 2183.05 2183.05 2141.55 2145.55SONATSOFTW 306.00 306.90 302.35 304.50IFBIND 748.60 749.00 724.20 724.20SREINFRA 9.10 9.39 9.00 9.00APLAPOLLO 1501.50 1516.90 1486.95 1516.90TATAINVEST 827.00 829.00 818.00 818.00CERA 2469.40 2525.60 2441.05 2518.50MAGMA 44.00 44.00 39.00 41.50SFL 1274.25 1313.65 1262.00 1300.00IBULISL 77.50 77.50 77.50 77.50UFLEX 201.00 207.80 200.15 204.90NETWORK18 22.85 23.75 22.85 23.35HIMATSEIDE 132.05 134.50 130.55 131.00DCMSHRIRAM 315.00 318.00 314.05 316.10TIINDIA 446.75 451.00 445.40 450.00MAHABANK 11.79 11.79 11.22 11.42SIS 918.95 928.30 915.00 925.00JCHAC 1900.00 1928.35 1890.60 1904.95NBVENTURES 65.00 65.00 62.25 62.80ORIENTCEM 74.30 75.10 73.75 73.90IEX 142.80 143.50 141.60 141.60FINCABLES 366.00 366.00 354.00 356.00TRITURBINE 98.20 100.55 96.50 98.00UNITEDBNK 8.70 9.00 8.59 8.86GET&D 178.00 180.00 172.60 175.00SADBHAV 116.25 121.00 116.15 120.00CHOLAHLDNG 479.40 480.55 468.00 476.75TCNSBRANDS 689.05 694.45 680.00 686.20GULFOILLUB 887.00 887.00 852.90 870.00REPCOHOME 288.65 289.05 281.05 281.05SOMANYCERA 180.15 183.00 177.40 179.05VTL 896.10 909.80 893.05 906.40SHILPAMED 300.00 302.30 291.05 292.20MAHLOG 401.00 404.50 395.00 396.05LAOPALA 148.00 148.00 140.00 143.55MAHINDCIE 146.60 147.40 143.35 143.35HATHWAY 19.50 20.45 19.50 20.00MASFIN 720.00 725.00 715.55 719.00GAYAPROJ 93.75 100.00 92.95 96.05TVSSRICHAK 1736.30 1736.30 1706.00 1734.00APARINDS 490.10 500.85 486.85 486.85SKFINDIA 2131.50 2138.00 2118.85 2126.55TVTODAY 294.80 297.20 293.40 294.00MAHLIFE 400.65 400.65 390.55 392.55DBCORP 142.95 143.05 141.50 141.60HERITGFOOD 319.05 325.85 319.05 320.45CARBORUNIV 309.40 312.70 309.00 309.80VMART 1714.15 1726.65 1696.90 1697.00SHK 120.00 121.00 116.40 117.00SHOPERSTOP 362.40 372.00 362.40 364.40RATNAMANI 969.50 969.50 960.05 962.55JSWHL 2441.50 2520.80 2441.50 2520.80

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11904.20 11973.65 11879.25 11895.30 23.20INFRATEL 203.95 234.00 203.05 228.90 20.25BHARTIARTL 357.85 398.50 357.25 396.00 33.50SBIN 312.00 323.70 310.05 322.95 16.95ZEEL 284.55 293.30 278.30 293.00 11.00GRASIM 735.00 768.00 724.80 756.35 22.40CIPLA 448.00 468.05 435.40 462.20 10.80GAIL 122.95 124.50 122.00 124.30 2.50ULTRACEMCO 4043.85 4094.00 4015.00 4079.95 76.55KOTAKBANK 1606.00 1629.00 1602.50 1623.25 25.65SUNPHARMA 412.75 418.90 410.15 416.00 5.80TATAMOTORS 169.00 173.40 167.35 168.90 1.85M&M 583.75 590.85 579.75 581.80 3.35NESTLEIND 14261.85 14437.00 14153.05 14305.00 73.65HDFCBANK 1283.85 1285.00 1271.10 1279.75 5.85TATASTEEL 392.00 403.00 390.60 393.40 1.45YESBANK 69.20 70.20 68.30 68.95 0.20RELIANCE 1465.65 1486.80 1463.15 1466.80 4.05ICICIBANK 497.85 509.70 496.00 498.85 0.20AXISBANK 716.75 723.50 710.60 716.20 0.30BAJAJFINSV 9070.20 9140.00 9033.60 9057.90 -3.95HDFC 2220.10 2238.75 2208.00 2226.00 -0.80WIPRO 254.00 254.20 251.65 252.55 -0.20INFY 709.05 712.95 702.30 704.60 -0.70DRREDDY 2748.00 2748.00 2712.30 2728.00 -6.05LT 1383.60 1392.70 1366.20 1376.00 -4.45POWERGRID 188.00 188.90 186.75 187.35 -0.65HCLTECH 1150.95 1159.80 1140.00 1143.15 -4.65HINDALCO 188.50 190.15 187.10 187.70 -0.80JSWSTEEL 246.00 250.00 242.20 244.60 -1.15BAJFINANCE 4220.20 4247.25 4175.55 4190.65 -19.90HINDUNILVR 2062.25 2099.00 2050.55 2057.45 -11.60ONGC 137.30 138.80 135.15 135.35 -0.85ASIANPAINT 1780.85 1784.00 1756.30 1760.00 -11.85COALINDIA 202.95 204.50 200.50 200.95 -1.40TECHM 758.35 763.25 749.30 752.40 -5.95TITAN 1173.00 1174.80 1155.90 1160.00 -9.10BRITANNIA 3230.20 3260.00 3185.15 3203.00 -27.80ADANIPORTS 369.10 370.90 365.50 365.80 -3.30BAJAJ-AUTO 3240.00 3252.45 3200.00 3204.10 -29.20TCS 2196.00 2211.50 2168.75 2174.45 -22.35UPL 539.00 541.75 518.35 529.90 -5.65NTPC 118.55 118.85 116.95 117.25 -1.30INDUSINDBK 1377.10 1388.20 1345.70 1358.00 -17.10ITC 254.25 255.75 250.00 250.65 -3.25EICHERMOT 21850.00 21900.00 21241.30 21275.00 -283.15VEDL 145.80 146.15 141.70 142.10 -1.90MARUTI 7300.00 7359.00 7116.20 7140.00 -107.15BPCL 513.95 513.95 504.00 505.05 -9.60HEROMOTOCO2600.00 2614.95 2530.25 2541.25 -50.40IOC 136.85 136.90 131.20 131.55 -5.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28266.65 28329.30 28103.65 28193.45 17.85IDEA 2.70 3.90 2.40 3.75 0.80DIVISLAB 1645.00 1758.95 1627.00 1741.05 84.55AUROPHARMA 402.00 415.95 396.25 410.20 14.40PNB 60.90 63.80 60.80 62.00 1.70L&TFH 96.05 98.25 96.00 97.65 1.80COLPAL 1550.00 1589.95 1538.05 1570.00 22.80DLF 210.00 215.60 208.35 211.80 2.90PGHH 10999.00 11350.00 10862.90 11132.25 143.85ASHOKLEY 82.90 83.40 78.90 80.00 1.00BANKBARODA 93.65 96.55 93.65 94.30 1.00BERGEPAINT 484.25 489.60 482.55 487.00 5.00BIOCON 255.00 262.00 253.10 257.30 2.60NMDC 99.00 100.50 97.60 99.45 0.90MCDOWELL-N 616.90 627.25 614.00 624.00 5.55NIACL 163.00 164.50 156.50 159.50 1.25AMBUJACEM 200.30 202.25 199.00 201.75 1.20PETRONET 277.45 280.55 273.55 277.95 1.65LUPIN 739.85 747.80 731.55 742.70 4.35BANDHANBNK 560.75 569.00 556.20 560.00 2.45HINDPETRO 287.75 292.95 286.35 289.50 0.95BAJAJHLDNG 3724.80 3738.80 3706.50 3728.00 11.75PEL 1770.05 1790.00 1760.00 1763.75 5.65SBILIFE 1008.20 1026.00 995.45 1002.80 2.90ICICIGI 1380.00 1394.00 1370.10 1376.95 3.40UBL 1246.00 1260.45 1240.95 1252.90 2.65PAGEIND 23999.95 24694.30 23625.50 23627.00 43.10CADILAHC 234.85 237.30 230.70 234.50 0.25OFSS 3026.65 3078.85 3026.65 3060.00 1.20HAVELLS 674.40 682.90 671.10 671.60 -0.60MARICO 357.45 357.50 353.10 356.00 -0.55ACC 1488.15 1505.85 1483.00 1484.15 -2.75SHREECEM 19793.40 19800.00 19368.05 19610.00 -60.50DABUR 464.50 466.60 460.05 461.00 -1.55IBULHSGFIN 212.40 218.85 207.50 210.55 -0.80ICICIPRULI 526.40 527.50 520.05 522.50 -2.90PFC 111.50 112.35 109.75 111.25 -0.65NHPC 23.60 23.70 23.30 23.40 -0.15SRTRANSFIN 1136.00 1147.70 1123.25 1130.00 -7.25GODREJCP 714.95 718.80 710.00 710.60 -4.85HINDZINC 209.20 211.25 208.00 208.35 -1.70CONCOR 576.10 581.70 568.25 570.35 -5.05MOTHERSUMI 137.65 138.60 133.85 134.85 -1.50BOSCHLTD 15290.00 15385.95 14925.05 15006.00 -189.95HDFCLIFE 588.35 588.35 576.10 578.45 -7.90PIDILITIND 1345.00 1345.00 1314.35 1316.45 -27.95SIEMENS 1613.30 1623.20 1564.60 1575.50 -37.00DMART 1923.95 1936.80 1852.55 1875.00 -45.00HDFCAMC 3625.00 3639.90 3483.10 3486.00 -118.00INDIGO 1510.00 1516.20 1456.15 1464.35 -52.55GICRE 269.00 273.45 256.50 257.65 -10.65

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India is learnt to have alignedwith China, Russia and Japan

to oppose use of 26Ghz spec-trum band for 5G operations,but industry bodies haveexpressed their reservationsabout the decision.

China and Russia haveopposed 5G operation in 26Ghz band to defend their mil-itary operations, while Indiahas aligned with them as theIndian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) wantsthis spectrum band for satelliteservices.

At the ongoing WorldR a d i o c o m m u n i c a t i o nConference (WRC) 2019,China, Russia and Japan werein support of using alternativebands for 5G services witharound 3000 Mhz of frequen-cies, while India is yet to decideon alternative bands havinglarge chunk of airwaves tosupport the next generationtelecom services, according to

industry bodies.According to industry

body Global Mobile SuppliersAssociation (GSA), China isworking to deploy 5G in 3.3-7.125 Ghz range. Signal trans-mitted in low frequency bandsprovide higher coverage com-pared to the transmission in ahigher frequency bands. Thisalso leads to proportionatereduction in cost of telecomnetwork.

Industry body COAI haswritten to telecom secretary

Anshu Prakash saying that theproposal submitted by theDepartment of Telecom (DoT) touse low power of 7 decibel-wattfor 5G base station will require 16times more base stations to ade-quately provide coverage, thusmaking the rates of service unaf-fordable for the people.

At WRC 2019, the matterwill be under considerationfrom November 28 toDecember 23 at Sharm ElSheikh, where a decision isexpected on the use of 26 giga-

hertz (Ghz) spectrum bandfor 5G services.

The DoT has accepted thedemand of ISRO to use 26 Ghzband, in which 5G ecosystemhas been developed, primarilyfor satellite service.Consequently, the departmenthas submitted this proposal forconsideration to theI n t e r n a t i o n a lTelecommunication Union(ITU), which sets globalbenchmark for wireless ser-vices, for discussion at WRC

2019. The GSA in its commu-nication to the DoT onNovember 10 said that 188member countries out of 192are having liberal view over useof 26 Ghz band for 5G servicesand India, Russia, Japan andChina are having a commonand highly restrictive position.

The GSA said that ISROhas not taken any global posi-tion and in the absence of glob-al resolution, satellite serviceswill be hampered by interfer-ence from other countries.

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Santa Clarita: Authorities saythe biography on an Instagramaccount believed to belong to thegunman who killed two studentsat his California school said,“Saugus, have fun at schooltomorrow.” Los Angeles Countysheriff ’s officials say the messagewas posted on Thursday but it’s

unclear. Authorities say off-dutyofficers whose children went toSaugus High School were thefirst on scene and provided firstaid to the victims. A 16-year-oldstudent shot five classmates andthen himself. It's unclear if theyhad any relationship, and amotive is unknown. AP

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China on Friday condemnedan incident in which Hong

Kong’s justice secretary was jos-tled by masked demonstrators inLondon, and accused Britain offuelling pro-democracy unrest.

Teresa Cheng, Hong Kong’sdeeply unpopular Secretary forJustice, fell while being sur-rounded by a crowd of jeeringpro-democracy protesters asshe prepared to attend a speak-ing event on Thursday night inLondon.

She regained her feetmoments later and was escort-ed away with no visible signs ofinjury in video footage of theincident.

But China called it an“appalling attack” and hasdemanded that Britain offersecurity protection to the HongKong minister.

“If the British side does notchange its wrong practices,and continues to add fuel to the

fire, sow discord and instigateothers, and make false coun-tercharges, then it will bringcalamity on itself,” foreign min-istry spokesman Geng Shuangsaid at a regular press briefing.

Geng said that failing to acton “anti-China elements” inHong Kong will not only causetrouble in the semi-autonomous territory, but willalso “cause serious interfer-ence and destruction to theinternational communityincluding the UnitedKingdom.”

He called for Britain to“bring the culprits to justice,and... Safeguard the personalsecurity and dignity of allChinese personnel in the UK.”

Former colonial rulerBritain, which handed HongKong back to China in 1997,has urged Beijing and HongKong to seek a political solutionfor protesters and condemnedthe escalating violence on bothsides.

New York: An estimated 13.8million people watched livecoverage of diplomats WilliamTaylor and George Kent on thefirst day of the House’s publicimpeachment hearings on

President Donald Trump.The Nielsen company said

10 different networks aired liveor taped coverage of the hear-ing, which stretched nearly sixhours on Wednesday. AP

Bossier City : PresidentDonald Trump said onThursday that the impeach-ment probe has been “veryhard” on his family, even as hetried to flex his political mus-cle to flip the governor’s man-sion in deep-red Louisiana.

Speaking in friendly terri-tory in a state he carried in2016 by 20 percentage points,Trump lashed out atDemocratic investigators andwhat he called a “derangedimpeachment witch hunt.”While arguing it was a politi-cal boon for his reelection, heacknowledged for the first timea personal toll from theimpeachment process thatstands to cloud his legacy.

“I have one problem,”Trump said. “Impeachment tome is a dirty word, it’s been very

unfair, very hard on my fami-ly.” The House began publicimpeachment hearingsWednesday.

Trump repeated his denialsof wrongdoing in his dealingswith Ukraine, asserting he hadno need to ask that nation toinvestigate former VicePresident Joe Biden and hisfamily.

“We took down Bush,Clinton, Obama, with no expe-rience, but I had you and wewon,” Trump said of his 2016victory. “Think about that andthen think about me — ‘gee,let’s get some help fromUkraine in order to beat sleepyJoe Biden.’ I don’t think so.” Headded, “The people of thiscountry aren’t buying it,” claim-ing polls show a benefit toRepublicans as Democrats

focus on impeachment.“We did nothing wrong,”

Trump insisted, “and they’redoing nothing.” AP

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Washington: The House willhear from a singular witnessFriday in the Trump impeach-ment hearings: MarieYovanovitch, the former U.S.Ambassador to Ukraine whowas targeted by the president’sallies in a “smear” campaign nowcentral to the inquiry.

The career diplomat, whoserved both Republican andDemocratic presidents, is expect-ed to relay her striking story ofbeing suddenly recalled byTrump and told to “watch myback” in a swiftly developingseries of events that soundedalarms about the White House’sshadow foreign policy. AP

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Boris Johnson reiterated onFriday that the country willleave the European Union (EU)by January 31, 2020, following the December 12general election.

“There is absolutely noreason why between Januaryand the end of next year weshouldn’t complete that freetrade deal and have a wonder-

ful new partnership with theEU based on zero tariffs, zeroquotas and getting on with allthe other ways in which wewant to be a pro-Europeancountry,” Johnson told the BBCBreakfast programme.

The UK is currently due toleave the EU by January 31,2020, the end of the currentextension period granted by thebloc. AFP

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Gaza City: Israel launchedfresh strikes against IslamicJihad targets in Gaza earlyFriday in response to rocketfire, underscoring the fragilityof a ceasefire agreed after anescalation that killed 34Palestinians. The ceasefirebegan on Thursday followingtwo days of fighting triggeredby Israel’s targeted killing of anIslamic Jihad commander. TheIsraeli military said it carried outnew strikes overnight againstIslamic Jihad, the second mostpowerful Palestinian militantgroup in the Gaza Strip afterHamas. AFP

Colombo: Sri Lanka will go tothe polls on Saturday to choosea new president, an electionthat will decide the future of thecountry that struggles with secu-rity challenges after the EasterSunday bombings and increas-ing political polarisation.

The election will see a closecontest between former wartimedefence secretary GotabayaRajapaksa, 70, and the rulingparty candidate SajithPremadasa, 52. Anura KumaraDissanayake from the NationalPeople’s Power (NPP) coalitionis also a strong candidate.

There are 15.9 million eligi-ble voters who will choose a suc-cessor to President MaithripalaSirisina among a record 35 can-didates. Sirisena, who was elect-ed in 2015, is not seeking a re-election. The front runner can-didates would be either depend-ing on their legacies or hopingthat the larger electorate wouldforget them while making theirchoices. PTI

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Seoul: North Korea haslaunched a visceral diatribeagainst US Democratic presi-dential candidate Joe Biden,calling the former vice-presi-dent a “rabid dog” — while alsoborrowing the terminology ofDonald Trump.

Pyongyang is renownedfor its vitriol, but the verbal del-uge was unusually ferociouseven by its own standards.

Biden “had the temerity todare slander the dignity of thesupreme leadership of theDPRK”, the North’s officialKCNA news agency said lateThursday, referring to thecountry by its official name.

“Rabid dogs like Biden canhurt lots of people if they areallowed to run about,” it wenton. “They must be beaten todeath with a stick.

“Doing so will be beneficialfor the US also,” it added. AFP

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Be it the role of a terrorist, a gang-ster, a photographer, a writer, apoliceman, a politician, a teacher or

just a person from the crowd, actorNawazuddin Siddiqui has left no stoneunturned in making his presence counton the big screen. However, in his list ofversatile characters and film genres,only a romantic one was missing.

And with his latest venture,Motichoor Chaknachoor, that space hasbeen filled. He tells us what promptedhim to pick up this character since he hasnever essayed such a role before. He says,“I had been thinking on it for a long time.I have played roles like that of Manto,Thackeray, Gaitonde, which could be cat-egorised as serious and intense ones. Sonow, I wanted to do some light-hearted,easy films. I wanted to try the romancegenre too. And then I came across thisscript. It had all those halka-phulka(light) elements as well comedy that I waslooking for.” Another reason for him tochoose this genre was his eight-year-olddaughter. “I also wanted to make a filmwhich my eight-year-old could watch.She is usually not able to watch my filmsbecause they are mostly A-Certified. Iwant her to watch my films as she isgrowing up now,” he says and recalls howshe couldn’t even watch Manto, since ithad some “intense” scenes.

Set the Bhopal, the film revolvesaround Pushpender Singh, a 36 year oldman, who is desperately looking for awife, and Annie (played by AthiyaShetty), who is looking to marry an NRIguy and has her dreams and eyes set inDubai.

Even though with women becomingmore independent now, the idea of themlooking for NRI men to settle is an oldone. They can very much go by them-selves. However, Nawaz clarifies that thefilm is about mid-city aspirations, notmetros. He adds, “If you go in smalltowns, you’ll find girls who are still look-ing for such men, with whom they cansettle abroad. And even though theymight not find someone themselves,they’re free to tell their preferences totheir parents. Even parents ask them

now.”For Nawaz, it is not important that

every film gives a message if the contentis good. “Message automatically comesacross. Deliberately thinking that a filmshould have a message looks preachy.Here, without digging deeper, you auto-matically get to know that the film fol-lows a guy and a girl, who have theirrespective conditions to get married. Thegirl wants her husband to be working inDubai so that she can update herFacebook status as that. The guy has ageda bit and hence, is desperate for marriage.They both live in their own differentworlds and when the two meet, the girlgets to know that the guy doesn’t workabroad. She is disappointed,” he says,highlighting that it’s very much the rea-son why the film is titled as MotichoorChaknachoor. He adds, “Kyunki, uskemotichoor ke sapno ka chaknachoorhojaata hai.”

The film is added to the list of thosewhich have talked about or showcased astory from the small towns in India. Andthere have been numerous recent exam-ples of them, where the hero could beflawed and poor and the heroine couldbe non-glamourous and one among thecrowd yet a powerful one. Nawaz, whosePhotograph was a recent example, pointsout that it’s the trend that Bollywood fol-lows — changing its pattern every fiveyears. He says, “You didn’t watch such‘realistic’ films five years ago. Things keepevolving with time. If you watch a filmthat was made five years ago, it would bedifferent than what is made today. Fiveyears from now, we would again see somedifferent kind of content. And storiesfrom small towns being shown on the bigscreen is a good thing. This way morepeople are able to connect to films andin a way that they remember their ownlives when they watch them. Vaise isse bhibore hojayenge kuch dino me. Then,there will come another trend (laughs).”

He pauses for a while, smiles andcontinues with an example of how filmson bandits and gangsters had become thetalk of the town some years ago. “Sabhipicture bas daakuon ke upar hi thi (All the

films mostly revolved around bandits.There was various types of daakus likeChambal Ka Daaku. And then there wasAakhiri Daaku, the last one!” he chuck-les.

For Pushpender’s role, Nawaz didn’thave to do any special research or hardwork since it came from everyday life.In fact, if there was any reference, it camefrom his own experience. “People willfeel connected with this film becausethey can find its characters around theirneighbourhood. Even I have beenthrough it when my mother waslooking for potential girls for meto get married,” he says andlaughs.

Nawaz’s roles have beena testament of how theidea of the Indian hero hasevolved. The idea herocould be found even in asupporting actor. So how isit that he selects his. He says,“If the role takes me out ofmy comfort zone and chal-lenges me, I’d like it.”

So how have such versatileroles in films like Gangs ofWasseypur, Haraamkhor, SacredGames, Manto, Thackerey, Talaashshaped or transformed him as aperson? The answer lies in emptiness.“Just like they say that if you take some-thing from a character, even that takesa lot from you,” he says and adds, “At theend of the day, I realise that I am emptyin a way that mera apna kuch nahi bacha(there’s nothing that belongs to me). Tofill that up, I go back among my peopleand the world. I try to feel what it’s liketo be around them and hear their stories.And then when I get a role, I fill up thatspace with it.”

For Nawaz, every role is like takingwater from a well and pouring it some-where else to fill it up. “That’s what I do.For me, the world is a well, which is filledwith water. And I keep drowning myselfinto it and dig out the stories and expe-riences of people, which are like water forme.”

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Do you think you really know theclosest person of your life

inside-out? What if one day you findout that he’s not actually who he pre-tends to be? Well, writer, director andactor, Rakesh Bedi’s latest play, PatteKhul Gaye, exposes the hypocrisyand double standards that exist inour society. “Patte Khul Gaye isa metaphor which means youare exposed. Whenever westare into adversity, we dropour guard and our true selfemerges. My play depicts thatthere are various layers behindevery person and when some sit-uations arise, one can be shockedto find out the s/he is not thesame person anymore whothey think they knew,” hesays.

It’s a story of DrManoj Rai (played byAnant Mahadevan)and his wife ManjuRai (played by RoopaliGanguli), who haveinvited their closegroup of friends fordinner. Manju hasplanned a lavish menuand has been doing thepreparations since thepast three days. Withtheir childhood friend Bob,comes Shireen (played by KishwarMerchant), who is extremely richand does not belong to the mid-dle class strata, like the rest ofthem.

The message that Rakesh is try-ing to convey is that the rich have allthe privileges and Shireen argueswith Manju that she has worked hardto get them. However, Manju doesnot agree with her. Her belief is thatthe rich have reached where they are

because of the middle class as theyare the ones who pay huge

taxes. She asserts, ‘Don’tforget that you are

because ofus’.

“Ek tarazu ki sui agar beech meinhogi tabhi toh society chalegi,” feelsthe actor, who has director plays likeMera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha, ShimlaCoffee House and Jab We Separated.

Proceeding further, all the char-acters get together and within notime their masks start falling off andsecrets of one and all start tumblingout to the fore. The ultra richShireen exposes the middle class val-ues and hypocrisy of the others andcondescendingly exposes theirpitiable condition. It’s like a warbetween both strata of society — richand the middle class. She tells themhow the middle class is alwaysshowing off what it has and hidingunder the carpet what it does not.The lady of the house Manju refus-es to buy this argument and takesShireen head on and stronglydefends the great Indian middleclass.

Ask Rakesh where have he takenthe references from to make sucharguments? He states an instancefrom his life saying, “You go to anypart of India, you will find such peo-ple who spend huge amount on wed-dings just for the motive of showingoff. It’s shocking to see. I can recallthat I went to visit a friend once andhe took me to somebody’s wedding.The family where we went took meto show all the arrangements thatwere done for their daughter’s big day.Lastly, he took me to the stall of thedeserts and very proudly said, Bedisahab, ‘please choose any desert of

your choice as we have 54 differentvarieties’. It was very evident from hisactions that he was trying to impressme but I had a feeling of anger. I ama person who would be interested inall this stuff. I really feel sad. I meanis there even a point of keeping 54varieties of something just becauseyou want some kind of approval fromthe society? Aap 2, chalo zada se zada3 ya fir 4 desserts rakhlo lekin voh bhitoh akhir mein muh hi meetha karengena. It’s like participating in a rat race,which you already know that nobodyis going to win and which is nevergoing to end.”

The story takes unexpected turnsand hostess Manju, who has toiled forthree days for the dinner, is unable toeven serve the starters as the dinnerand the party goes for a toss. To topit all, one of the guests Akela (playedby Rakesh Bedi), a poet comes outwith a funny couplet at the drop of ahat, to ease tense moments.

Rakesh believes that the play isan unbelievable comic journey full ofunpredictable twists and turns that issure to leave the audience in splits. Forhim, entertainment is the bottom linefor everything that he does. “Themain principle of life is to convey any-thing with a hint of humour. No mat-ter how serious the might be, Iwould try and move it with the ele-ment of comedy,” says he.

(The play will be staged today at4 pm and 7 pm and tomorrow at 3.30 pm at Shri Ram Centre, MandiHouse.)

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Actor Riteish Deshmukh, who has rede-fined popular comedy genre like nobodyelse, seemed quite different in real life

— quiet and serious. As he sat in a hall’s cor-ner, entertaining people and giving interviewsappeared to be a task for him. When asked ifhe was tired or sleepy, the actor smiled and said,“No, it’s just been a never-ending month forme!” Indeed, he is set to play a villain after acouple of above �100-crore mark films — TotalDhamal (154 crore), and Housefull 4 (200 crore)— in Marjaavaan.

Even though his roles in films like GrandMasti, Masti, Dhamaal, Housefull 4 might haveset a new benchmark as far as the genre is con-cerned, the actor doesn’t want to confine him-self to a single genre and wants to keep explor-ing. So is this an attempt to rebrand himself?“After being in this industry for 16 years I don’tthink I am trying to rebrand myself now. I justwant to do better comedy, different roles andfilms. I also want to explore regional cinema.I want to be in a space where I am happy work-ing with people and enjoy that.”

He feels that he is among the few luckypeople of this industry who have got the oppor-tunity to work with legendary actors likeAmitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty,Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit andmany more. He said, “Just to be there and workwith them is great. Everyone comes in thisspace looking for something. I am happy andsatisfied that I got what I was looking for inthis industry.”

Marjaavaan, directed by Milap MilanZaveri, is a love story of Raghu and Zoya. Thevillain, who is a vertically challenged (dwarf),Vishnu (played by Riteish Deshmukh) is a manwith evil intentions, and makes their life hellbecause of his hatred towards them.

There’s an obvious comparison of the filmwith Ek Villain as Sidharth and Riteish aretogether and the latter is playing a villain again.But denying the claims, the actor said that itis a new story and in a completely differentzone. He added, “You can see the difference inthe trailer itself. Marjaavaan is more massy anddialogue-oriented. At the same time the char-acter is completely different. Also Mohit Suri’s(director) sensibility of film making is com-pletely different from Milap Zaveri’s (directorof Ek Villain).” However, Milap is the writer hereand was the director of the 2014 hit. So oneassumes that the direction of one might be sim-ilar to the writing of another. But the actor said,“Writing style is like a colour. Though you mayhave a single colour but you can make a lot ofpaintings from that which have differentinterpretations.”

What excited the actor to go for this rolewas playing the role of a villain again as he feelsit is an unparalled experience. “One becomesa good hero only if the villain is good. Usually,the sequences in a film are such that a threatis created by the villain and the hero has towork on that, there is a hurdle and then he hasto work on that. Whenever you cross a hur-dle, it excites as it becomes a heroic moment.If you see a big boy beating a small boy thereis no heroism. That’s understood. Hence, the

importance of a villain is always there,” said he.Vishnu, who is a vertically challenged has

a dark and mean sense of humour. And theentire story has a reason behind his evilness.It is because his father is a huge mafia ofMumbai. And Vishnu feels that his fatherfavours Sidharth more because he is anorphan and is capable of doing the stuff whichhe can’t. So his insecurity and hatred towardsSidharth grows. “It was exciting. I have alwaysbeen cracking jokes or laughing in a good man-ner but this was different. Vishnu’s sense ofhumour is mean and ruthless. Though he’s adwarf but all his jokes are about heights like,Khushi ki height kya hai, competition ki heightkya hai? (What is the height of happiness andcompetition?),” said he.

But playing a three-feet dwarf is certain-ly not easy. There were scenes where the actorhad to walk on his knees. Not only that he wasalso expected to be visually strong. There weresequences where the actor had to look into theblank spaces and say the dialogues with suit-able expression. That was more challenging forRiteish. There were times where he even feltlike he was handicapped.

When asked if this role enriches his jour-ney or is just a continuity, the actor said thatit is a continuity and it is great to be back intothe space you wanted to.

After investing 16 years of his career inBollywood, the actor doesn’t feel the need tobe ahead or different than anyone. “Everyonein this industry fortunately gets films and spacethey want. Few actors are more lucky than theothers to be offered a certain kind of role. ButI feel there is space for every kind of a film. Andan actor is more capable than the roles that he’sstereotyped for. Today’s audience is slightlymore receptive towards change. People areexcited about me playing this role, so it addsto that acceptability of me doing this. There arevarious kinds of films and as actors we are opento everything. I would be more than happy indoing content driven films too.”

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�How would you describeJake and Amara’s relation-ship?

They are constantly forcedto work together without anyclarity of whether they like eachother or not. But I think whenthey are shipped over to theShatterdome in China, they seethe similarities and help eachother navigate through an envi-ronment that they don’t under-stand. Well, she doesn’tunderstand the environ-ment fully and Jake kind oflost touch with what itmeans to be a part of thesame. So they finda great siblingkind of rela-tionship, whereJake’s like anolder brother.

�How was itworking withC a i l e eSpaeny?

Ia b s o l u t e l ylove workingwith her,because she remindsme of myself, just likeAmara reminds Jake ofhimself. It’s coolbecause you’re able tolook into someone’seyes and see your pastinnocence. We have agood bond and share agood chemistry. So ithas been lovely work-ing with that little girl.

�What drew you to comeback to the franchise?

I was drawn to the fran-

chise because of the opportu-nity to work as a producer, andto have my first co-producinggig in a studio that I reallyadmire. Secondly, the role! Itwas fantastic. And thirdly,Steven DeKnight who is anamazing director and withwhom I always wanted to workwith. He has worked forSpartacus and Daredevils andis directing his first feature film.

I felt like it would be greatcollaborating with him. Itfelt like a fantastic oppor-tunity.

�Do you thinkpeople enjoy

monster ver-sus robotfilms?

I thinkit’s just thescale of it andthe adventure.

Everybody toa certain extenthas felt the actionfigures in films orwhen you watchfilms like Godzillaand King Kong, thescale of the beast orthe creature goingto the city creates aninstant excitement.

What Pacific Rimdoes is that it givesan answer back tothose monsters thatwe have grown up

watching. So we loveKing Kong andGodzilla but if theywere going to attackus what would we

have? We have the

Jaegers. Seeing that face off ishaving a ticket to the bestbooks in my shelf.

�What would you say on theinternational appeal of PacificRim?

What stands out for me inthis film is that it definitely hasan international appeal. Notonly through the characters butthrough the message too. It saysthat people from all around theworld must work together for

the survival of the planetbecause it has got to a pointwhere there is no fight amongthe countries anymore. It’s likewe’ve got a bigger enemy justrunning around through thecities and around the world.They are in unison, so we toohave to be. So that gives astrong message of unity. Andwhen you go to Shatterdome inChina, there are people from allaround the world who haveflown in and come across.

That makes a story diverse andenergetic.

�Tell us more about the film?This film is larger than life,

its epic, scaled and hard toimagine. It’s nice knowing thatPacific Rim handled the giantof the giant realm in which theheroes are kind of demigods.For me it was something thatI loved being involved in andits scale was absolutely crazy tome. We had a lot of fun withthat.

�Audience loves your charac-ter as you are the hero andanti-hero too. They love theway you play the father figure.It’s phenomenal as it shows alot of empowerment.

Well it’s a film with a bunchof young people, but withinthat group you find that Jaketakes a mentor figure forCailee’s character — Amara.But at the same time theylearn from each other andform a tiny group.

�Since you have also pro-duced the film, tell us aboutyour changing roles?

Acting in the film was notnew for me, I knew about it asI am used to it. But coming asa producer was new for me. Butit was not easy. I had to jumpon a horse while it was moving,and learn and discover differ-ent things simultaneously. I wasable to exercise the educationand training I have collected onthe way. It was fun, I reallyenjoyed it.

(The film premieres at 9 pmon Sony PIX.)

Nupur Sanon has followedher more illustrious elder

sister Kriti Sanon into theworld of glamour with herdebut appearance in B Praak’snew music video Filhall, whereshe features along withBollywood superstar AkshayKumar. Nupur says Kriti is veryprotective about her, and actslike a mother to her, and addedthat apart from complimenting

her for her efforts, Kriti is alsoquite honest about pointing outher flaws.

“Whenever Kriti compli-ments me about something, shealso gives me some kind of neg-ative feedback, because she isvery protective and she is alsolike my chhoti mummy so,” saidNupur about her elder sister,adding that she was scaredabout how Kriti would react to

her debut work.“I didn’t contact her after

the release of my video. Ithought she would contact meafter watching it because shehas been away shooting inMandawa. So, she sent me along text message and there wasnothing negative in it. She waslike ‘I loved the song and I amso proud of you’. I am reallyhappy after reading her mes-sage,” said Nupur, while inter-acting with the media at successpress meet of song along withsinger B Praak and lyricistJaani.

Filhall garnered more than97 million views within fivedays of release.

Asked when she woulddebut as a Bollywood actor,Nupur said, “Hopefully soon. Iam glad that I took my time todo my first music videobecause I never ever dreamtthat I would work with super-star Akshay Kumar in my veryfirst project. I am going to waitfor right opportunities. I am intalks with a few people but Ihaven’t signed anything as ofnow. A lot people haveapproached me after seeingthe music video but I want totake things easy. This career forme is about longevity. I am inno hurry but I just want to bethere for the longest time.”

Talking about the audi-ence response to the song,Nupur said, “I am over-whelmed with the response toour song. We expected thiskind of response because thesong is good. B Praak hasbeautifully sung it and Jaani hasbeautifully written it, so weexpected love from the audi-ence. The kind of love we aregetting is really special.”

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Roger Federer produced a near-flawless performance as heavenged his Wimbledon defeat

by Novak Djokovic and qualified forthe last four of the ATP Finals witha 6-4, 6-3 victory on Thursday.

The Swiss started the tourna-ment with a chastening straight-setsdefeat to Dominic Thiem but foundhis best form when it mattered.

Defeat for the second seed spellsthe end of his bid to overtake RafaelNadal and finish as year-end num-ber one. Roared on by a raucouspacked house at London’s O2 Arena,six-time champion Federer lookedin the groove from the start, crank-ing up the pressure on Djokovic’sserve and dropping just three pointson his own serve in the first set.

The Serbian upped his game atthe start of the second set butFederer, 38, saved the one breakpoint he faced and broke twice tocanter to victory.

The third seed, making his 17thappearance at the ATP Finals, is intohis 16th semi-final at the year-endevent.

Djokovic needed to win thetitle to have a chance at knockingNadal off the top spot, but now theSpaniard is guaranteed to finish theyear as the top-ranked player for thefifth time, tying him with Federer,Djokovic and American JimmyConnors.

“Great atmosphere, great oppo-nent,” said Federer, who hit 23 win-ners and made just five unforcederrors. “It was definitely incrediblyspecial. I enjoyed it from the begin-ning.

“I played incredible and I knewI had to because that’s what Novakdoes. It was definitely magical.”

Speaking about what was differ-ent from the Wimbledon final,where he squandered two champi-onship points on his own serve, hesaid: “I won match point I guess.

“It was so close atWimbledon. It was a privi-lege to play that match, somany ups and downs. Icouldn’t be more happyright now.”

Federer finishes sec-ond in Group BjornBorg, behind Thiem,who also beat Djokovicearlier this week. The Swisswill face the Group AndreAgassi winner today.

METRONOMIC FEDERERDjokovic looked nervy at the

start of the winner-takes-all contest,double-faulting twice in the thirdgame, in which he was broken tolove.

As cries of “Let’s go Roger, let’s go”rang around the cavernous stadium,Federer was dead-eyed on his serve,hitting eight aces, including a sec-ond-serve ace, in the first set.

Federer’s service level dipped inthe second set and 32-year-oldDjokovic earned his first breakpoint of the match in the fourthgame, which the Swiss saved.

In the next game Djokovicslipped to 15-40 and sailed a fore-hand long to give Federer his secondbreak of the match. The Swiss brokeonce more to close out victory.

Djokovic had won his past fivemeetings with Federer, includingtheir epic five-set battle in the finalat Wimbledon in July.

“He was the better player in allaspects and absolutely deserved to

win,” said Djokovic.“He served great,moved well,returned myserve verywell.... He dide v e r y t h i n gright.”

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Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the semi-finals of the $400,000 Hong Kong Open after

Olympic champion Chen Long of China decided toquit the contest owing to an injury, here on Friday.

Unseeded Srikanth, ranked 13th in the world, wasleading by a game when Chen decided to concede thematch, thus handing the Indian a place in the last-fourof a BWF World Tour event for the first time sinceMarch.

The last time Srikanth crossed the quarterfinalstage was at the India Open Super 500. He had fin-ished runners-up at the event.

The former world No 1 will next face localfavourite Lee Cheuk Yiu today.

Lee defeated former world champion ViktorAxelsen of Denmark 21-14, 21-19 in another quarter-final. Srikanth had beaten the 23-year-old Lee instraight games at the India Open last year in their onlycareer meeting.

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Minutes after the Blue Tigers secured a point againstAfghanistan, thanks to the late equaliser from

Seiminlen Doungel in added time, coach Igor Stimac shift-ed his focus to Muscat where his wards are slated to face-off with Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complexin Muscat, Oman on Tuesday (November 19, 2019).

“Oman are much better now than the team weplayed against in Guwahati. We know for a factthat match is going to be very difficult forus. We need to see how quickly we recov-er after the difficult game that we hadjust played,” Stimac mentioned afterIndia played a 1-1 draw withAfghanistan at the CentralRepublican Stadium in Dushanbe.

“We have many new young play-ers coming through and it’ll be difficultto expect great results from them imme-diately. I have enough players in my dispos-al and I’m not afraid to put an all-new teamagainst Oman,” Stimac further added.

“Earlier, it was not very common when Indiaused to come back after conceding. In the last twogames we came back and snatched points in thedying minutes. It clearly shows that we are not ready

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The Euro 2020 line-up began to takeshape on Thursday after big-hittersFrance and England qualified for

next year’s finals alongside Turkey and theCzech Republic.

World champions France reached thetournament without having to kick a ballthanks to Turkey sealing their own qual-ification after a goalless draw with Icelandin the day’s early match.

Chelsea outcast Olivier Giroud thenmoved to within two international goalsof France great Michel Platini with a latepenalty that ensured a comeback win overa Moldova side ranked 175th in theworld.

The scrappy victory at a chilly Stadede France put Didier Deschamps’ side twopoints ahead of Turkey at the top of GroupH ahead of their final match at Albania onSunday.

The celebratory mood was initially

dampened when Vadim Rata punishedabject defending to give Moldova a shockninth-minute lead.

However Raphael Varane levelled forthe hosts 10 minutes before break despitefurious protests from the Moldovan play-ers and their coach, who were convincedGiroud had fouled goalkeeper AlexeiKoselev in the build-up.

Giroud then slotted home his 39thFrance goal from the spot in a confidentmanner that defied the fact he has onlyplayed 20 minutes for Chelsea since lastmonth’s international break.

“I could and should have scoredbefore the penalty. We quite simply did-n’t get off to the start we should have done,”Giroud told French television.

LIONS CONFIRMS TICKETHarry Kane fired England into the

Euros in style with a hat-trick that helpedthe 2018 World Cup semi-finalists disman-tle poor Montenegro 7-0 at Wembley.

Kane struck his treble in the first halfas Gareth Southgate’s side racked up fivebefore the break in England’s 1000thmatch, making light of the absence ofRaheem Sterling, who was dropped bySouthgate earlier in the week after an alter-cation with teammate Joe Gomez.

“We wanted to put on a show in our1,000th game and with five goals in the firsthalf I think we did that,” said Kane.

England displayed the firepower thatwill make them one of the favourites fornext year’s European Championship asthey sealed top spot in Group A.

Thursday’s demolition took them to 33goals in seven qualifying matches follow-ing Tammy Abraham’s first internationalgoal, further strikes from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Marcus Rashford and anown goal from Aleksandar Sofranac.

Kane meanwhile moved sixth in theall-time list of England goalscorers by tak-ing his tally for the qualifying campaignto 11.

The Czech Republic followedEngland into the tournamentafter coming from behind tobeat third-placed Kosovo 2-1.

They join former WorldCup winners Spain and Italy,who kick off the multi-hosttournament at Rome’s StadioOlimpico on June 12, darkhorses Belgium, Poland,Russia and Ukraine.

RONALDO EYES PORTUGALCENTURY

Reigning European championsPortugal were made to wait for theirplace despite Cristiano Ronaldo hittinghis ninth international hat-trick in a6-0 thrashing of Lithuania in Faro.

Pizzi, Goncalo Paciencia andBernardo Silva rounded off an easywin that keeps Portugal second inGroup B behind already-qualifiedUkraine and one point clear ofthird-placed Serbia, who beatLuxembourg 3-2.

They will secure their spot atnext year’s finals with a victory inLuxembourg tomorrow.

Ronaldo has now scored 98international goals after a seventh-minute penalty, a superb curlingeffort midway through the first halfand a simple finish in the 65thminute, and the Juventus attacker willbe hoping to become the second-everplayer to reach 100 this weekend.

The Netherlands and four-timeworld champions Germany will makeadd to an already mouth-watering line-up today should they make it out ofGroup C.

Ronald Koeman’s resurgent Dutchneed just a draw atNorthern Irelandtoday to guar-antee a spotat their firstinternation-al tourna-ment sincecoming thirdat the 2014World Cup.

J o a c h i mLoew’s Germanymeanwhile have to better theNorthern Irish’s result if they areto make the finals.

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Ben Stokes admitted on Friday he isnot interested in captaining England

in the future.Stokes has emerged as one of the

most charismatic and exciting Englandstars for decades, but the all-rounder isn’tkeen to shoulder the extra responsibil-ity of the captaincy.

After playing a key role in England’shistoric first 50-over World Cup victo-ry earlier this year, Stokes also shone inthe Ashes series against Australia.

He currently serves as deputy to Testskipper Joe Root, but doesn’t believe hewould thrive as the team’s leader.

“That’s not an aspiration of mine. It’sjust not one of those things I’m desper-ate to do,” Stokes told the BBC’s Todayprogramme.

“I’m very happy at the momentbeing vice-captain, we’ve got a greatleader in Joe.

“You never know how you handlethe pressure of being England captainunless you do it. Being the Test captainof England — so much pressure comeswith it.

“It’s a huge burden to carry becauseeverything falls back on you, especiallyif it goes bad, and you never know howyou’ll handle that pressure until you walkout onto the field as England captain.

“So I’ve got no idea how I’d handleit if I did it but, as I say, it’s not an aspi-ration of mine.”

Stokes, 28, is on tour with Englandin New Zealand at present as he looksto finish a memorable year on a highnote.

While he doesn’t like the idea ofbeing a captain, when he eventuallyretires, Stokes would welcome a coach-ing role.

“I guess there always comes a timewhen you have to start seriously think-ing about it and I always say I’d love tobe a coach in the future,” he added.

“But I’m still only 28, I have got plen-ty of years in the tank hopefully. But I’dlove to stay in the game somehow andif that was as a coach I’d love to do that.”

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to give up until the final whistle,” Stimac comment-ed.

“This is a primary trait of a football team wholoves to challenge themselves. We are a team whoprefers to push their limits when they’re behind — thatmakes me proud.”

“Whoever watched the match, must have enjoyed.It was an action-packed exciting match. In the end,

neither of us could have been happy with a draw butthat’s how it is. I feel we deserved more. We cre-ated a few more chances than Afghanistan and so,we deserved at least a point if not three,” theCroatian coach analysed.

Seminlen Doungel, who was introduced inthe 77th minute at the expense of Pritam Kotalblasted the back of the net to provide much-need-ed relief to the Indian dugout. The agile midfield-er expressed his “joy and satisfaction” after scor-ing the equaliser which earned India their con-

secutive third draw in the campaign.“A footballer always nurtures a dream of rep-

resenting his country. I’m no different and then scor-ing for your country when it was needed, gives meimmense joy and satisfaction. But, it’s just the start-ing of the journey for me, I need to keep my headdown and continue the good work as long as pos-sible,” a humble Len spoke.

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Chris Lynn, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkatand Chris Morris were among the 71

players released by their respective fran-chisees on Friday ahead of next month’s IPLauction.

Friday was the deadline for releasing,trading and retaining players. A total of 127players have been retained including 35 for-eigners.

Lynn, the big-hitting Australian open-er, was released by Kolkata Knight Ridersafter five fruitful seasons when he got theteam off to a flying start on umpteen occa-sions.

The other 10 released KKR playersinclude West Indian Carlos Brathwaite,South African Anrich Nortje, former Indiaplayers Piyush Chawla and Robin Uthappa,who struggled to get going last season.

Kings XI Punjab go into the auction onDecember 19 with a purse of �42.70 crore,the biggest among the eight teams after theyreleased eight players including SouthAfrica’s Miller, Englishman Sam Curran andmystery Tamil Nadu spinner VarunChakravarthy, who was bought for a whop-ping �8.4 crore last year.

Miller went on to become one of the bat-ting mainstays for Kings XI Punjab over the

past eight seasons, scoring 1850 runs in 79games at a strike rate of 138.78.

“Kings XI Punjab now have the high-est salary cap available going into the auc-tion while Royal Challengers Bangalore havethe most number of player slots (12) avail-able (including 6 overseas slots). After today’sdeadline, Chennai Super Kings have thelargest squad size (20),” read a BCCI state-ment.

“Of the eight franchises, RoyalChallengers Bangalore (12) have released themost players while Sunrisers Hyderabad (5)have released the least players from theirsquad,” it added.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians

have retained 18 players including veteranSri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga despite hisfitness issues while releasing 12.

Among the released players are

Australian fast bowler Jason Behrendorffand Alzarri Joseph of West Indies, NewZealand’s Adam Milne, Beuran Hendricksand Ben Cutting.

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh,who quit all forms of cricket including IPLearlier this year, has also been released.

Kiwi seamer Trent Boult, WestIndian Sherfane Rutherford andMumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarniare the three trade-ins for thefranchise.

Three-time IPL championsChennai Super Kings havereleased England cricketers SamBillings and David Willey besidesthree Indian players including2015 World CupperMohit Sharma. With 20players already in theirsquad, CSK go into theauction with a meagrepurse of �14.60 crore.

Virat Kohli-ledRoyal ChallengersBangalore have let go oftheir 12 players includ-ing seven foreigners.The big namesreleased are SouthAfrican pacer DaleSteyn, New Zealandall-rounder Colin deG r a n d h o m m e ,Australian Marcus

Stoinis and West Indies batsman ShimronHetmyer. They roughly have �28 crore towork with at the auction.

Delhi Capitals, who had traded inRavichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahanefrom KXIP and Rajasthan Royals respective-ly, have retained young Prithvi Shaw whosedoping ban ends on Friday. There was spec-ulation over Shaw being traded to the Royals.

The Delhi franchise has released nineplayers including two South Africans, all-rounder Morris and power-hitter ColinIngram. New Zealand top-order batsman

Colin Munro has also been released andso has been India’s Test specialistHanuma Vihari.

Rajasthan Royals have released 11players including pacer JaydevUnadkat, whom they had boughtback for �8.4 crore last year after pay-ing �11.5 crore for him in the previous

season.The franchise also

announced that starAustralian batsman

Steve Smith will con-tinue to lead the team.

S u n r i s e r sHyderabad havereleased the least

number of play-ers — five —and theyinclude ShakibAl Hasan, who

has been bannedby the ICC, New

Zealand openerMartin Guptill, Deepak

Hooda and Yusuf Pathan.

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The fast-rising JemimahRodrigues starred with

the bat after India’s spinnerswreaked havoc to set up aseries-clinching seven-wick-et win over the West Indies ina low-scoring third women’sT20 International in Guyana.

The spinners restrictedWest Indies to a paltry 59 for9 in the stipulated 20 oversbefore Rodrigues played anunbeaten innings of 40 (51balls) to take India home with20 balls to spare and for theloss of just three wickets.

The triumph sealedIndia’s second consecutive

T20 series win. They hadbeaten South Africa at homelast month.

Spinners Radha Yadav(2/6), Deepti Sharma (2/12),Poonam Yadav (1/8) and

Anuja Patil (1/13) were thearchitect of the win that reaf-firmed India’s supremacyover West Indies, who havenow lost six T20Internationals on the trot.

� ��

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hitthe nets in his hometown

Ranchi but it is unlikely that thetalismanic former captain willmake himself available for theupcoming limited-overs homeseries against the West Indiesnext month.

Dhoni, who has not played acompetitive game since the WorldCup semifinal against NewZealand in July, had a net sessionat the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi onThursday, raising hopes of a come-back.

However, he remains unavail-able for the three T20s and asmany ODIs against the WestIndies starting December 6 in

Mumbai.“He is not available for the

West Indies series,” a BCCI officialsaid on Friday.

Ever since that World Cupsemifinal loss to New Zealand,Dhoni's future has been a subjectof intense speculation but theplayer himself has not spoken aword on it.

Host broadcaster Star Sportswanted Dhoni to commentate inIndia’s first-ever day-night Test,against Bangladesh, fromNovember 22-26, but he will notbe doing that as he remains a con-tracted player of the BCCI

As per the existing constitu-tion, Dhoni commentating wouldhave also amounted to conflict ofinterest.

� �� &��

Opener Mayank Agarwal grind-ed a below-par Bangladeshbowling unit with a career-best

second double hundred as Indiaburied the visitors under a deluge ofruns on the second day of the open-ing Test here on Friday.

Agarwal’s third Test hundred,

243 off 330 balls, formed the corner-stone of India’s 493 for 6, which gavethe home side a sizeable lead of 343runs.

Friday solely belonged to Agarwal,who in this particular innings, man-aged to overshadow a batting line-upthat has Rohit Sharma (6), CheteshwarPujara (54 off 72 balls), skipper ViratKohli (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (86 off

172 balls) in its ranks.Agarwal’s partnership of 91 for the

second wicket with Pujara and 190 forthe fourth wicket with Rahane werehowever important in the context ofthe Indian innings.

A whirlwind partnership of 123 in23.5 overs with Ravindra Jadeja (60batting) for the fifth wicket onlyadded insult to injury for Bangladesh.

The match might be over insidethree days if India declare overnight.

Bangladesh’s brittle batting line-up may not have the mental capacityto withstand India’s pace barrage iffirst innings was any indicator.

For Agarwal, his voraciousappetite for runs, carefully cultivatedthrough solid performances at thedomestic and India ‘A’ level, is payingdividends.

Exactly one year ago, Agarwalwas in the fringe, scoring those“Daddy Hundreds” but lost out to theprodigious talent of Prithvi Shaw, whowas given preference and a headstartat the international arena.

Destiny, however, had other plansas Shaw got injured and also lost a bitof focus. That was the openingAgarwal was looking for and he isshowing with each innings that he isnot going anywhere too soon.

The Shubman Gills and theShaws may have to wait a wee bitlonger.

Having scored those tough runsDown Under, Agarwal has nowearned the right to consolidate hisplace with some heavy duty scoring.And he is doing that exactly.

It did help that Bangladesh gottheir bowling combination awfullywrong.

On a pitch, where someone withexpress pace and variation was need-ed, the visitors fielded two specialistspinners in left-arm orthodox TaijulIslam (0/120 in 28 overs) and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraj (1/115in 27 overs).

The spin duo was like lambs forslaughter as Agarwal went after them

with all his might.All the eight sixes that he hit came

off the two spinners. This apart, healso hit 28 boundaries during hiscareer-best international score.

The coveted double hundredcame by lofting Miraj over long-onwhile the stand-out six was an insideout over extra cover off Taijul. Thenthere was one down the ground anda couple over long-off.

The spinners were either bowlingtoo short or too full outside the off-stump. At one stage, Miraj, a formerBangladesh U-19 captain, complete-ly lost confidence as he started com-ing round the wicket.

The negative field placement foran off-spinner — a deep point for sav-ing a cut shot and deep square leg forsaving a pull-shot — was a reflectionof Bangladesh’s approach.

Abu Jayed (4/108 in 25 overs) wasthe only bowler, who showed someheart getting the wickets of Pujara,Kohli and Rahane but his new ballEbadot Hossain (1/115 in 31 overs)neither had pace nor the variation totrouble the Indian batsmen.

They attacked him at will anddefended when they found it neces-sary.

The lack of pace also became afactor and the pitch on which Indianpacers looked menacing, Bangladesh’smedium pacers merely went throughthe motions.

Each boundary left their shoul-ders dropping further and by the timeAgarwal was out trying to hit hisninth six, the visitors had resigned tothe fate that the remainder of this Testmatch will now be a mere formality.

� ��&��

The slump in form that heendured early in his career

has taught Mayank Agarwalto make hay while the sunshines and he did exactly thatagainst Bangladesh, smashinga career-best 243 on the sec-ond day.

For someone whose con-sistency was an issue someyears ago, Agarwal has nowscored two double hundredsin his last four Test appear-ances. And he wants to makeevery opportunity count tillthis kind of dream form lasts.

“I think it goes down tounderstanding that there hadbeen times when I have notgot runs. So I must respect thegame that I am batting well.When I am doing that I haveto make sure that I make it bigand put the team in driver’sseat or put it in such a posi-tion that they cannot losefrom there,” Agarwal saidafter the second day’s play.

There are players onwhom selectors would puntpurely on talent and there aresome like Agarwal, who hadto break the door open witha mountain of runs.

Asked if it makes himmore aware that he mightalways have to score morethan say a Prithvi Shaw to bein the mix, Agarwal spokeabout how “his journey is dif-ferent from others.”

“I don’t look at it that way.My journey is not going to besame as someone else’s and Idon’t like comparing two peo-ple’s journey because some-body might get chance quick-ly and somebody might getchance late,” he said.

“But that (chance) is notunder our control and it is

important to understand thethings that are in my controland think I’m glad to play forthe country and from therebuild on.”

The opener gave a peekinto his mindset as he wentonto build a marathon knockwith 28 fours and eight sixes.

“I think it goes down togameplan. Who you are feel-ing comfortable against andwho you want to attack andthen pick the right balls. Youcan’t just say that okay I amgoing to hit each and everyball. You can’t do that. It’s notgoing to happen that way,” hesaid.

“It’s a case of understand-ing, okay, this is the bowler Iam playing well today and thisis the ball that I can go after.Pick those balls and thenhave mental discipline tobuild your innings on that.”

He, however, agreed thatsecond day was better forbatting compared to the firstday.

“The wicket has settleddown compared to what itwas yesterday. It got better tobat on as there is good bounceand good value for yourshots.”

He said that his skipperwanted him to continue andget a triple hundred but he gotout going for a ninth maxi-mum.

“I could have playedlonger. But the ball was in theslot. The captain was backingyou and he wanted the bestfor me more than what hewants from himself. That is abig thing,” said Agarwal.

So how does Mayankunwind after a hard day?“Mayank Plays Pub G,” hereplied and broke into laugh-ter.

� �� &�

Senior India cricketers RohitSharma, Cheteshwar Pujara

and Ravichandran Ashwin gota first feel of playing with thepink ball under lights during aday-end net session at theHolkar Stadium on Friday.

With only two training ses-sions are possible under lightsbefore the day/night Test at theEden Gardens startingNovember 22, the Indian teamis trying to make most of thetime at their disposal.

Couple of days before thefirst Test, skipper Virat Kohli andother top-order batsmen had athrowdown session in the after-noon but Friday was the firsttime when they had a nearly 35-minute session under lights.

It was opener Rohit and pre-mier spinner Ashwin, whospend considerable time in oneof the nets with head coach RaviShastri keeping a close watch onthe proceedings.

Skipper Virat Kohli spokeabout adjusting to the newcolour under lights and that pre-cisely was the exercise as the two

senior players faced each other.Ashwin bowled with the

semi-new ball as Rohit andlater Pujara also had a go. In theother nets, reserve batsmenHanuma Vihari and ShubmanGill faced throwdown expertsRaghavendra and NuwanSeneviratne.

But it was the first net onwhich all eyes were trained onas Rohit was seen trying to giveAshwin the charge. Rohit andPujara took turns to face Ashwinand Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep incidentally wasvery effective during the firstDuleep Trophy that was playedwith pink Kookaburra balls asthe batsmen were unable to pickthe seam when the left-armwrist spinner would flight thedeliveries.

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