TO HARD WORK: MADHURI DIXIT 14 VIVACITY Alok Verma … · New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on ... lived as he could resume office for just two days. Verma is retiring

SHIVRAJ, RAJE, RAMANAPPOINTED BJP V-PsNew Delhi: Ahead of the LokSabha polls, the BJP onThursday appointed former ChiefMinisters Shivraj SinghChouhan, Raman Singh andVasundhara Raje as its vicepresidents, bringing its threepowerful State leaders into thenational politics.

YES BANK LISTS IN RBIMD, CEO PROBABLES Mumbai: Lending major YesBank on Thursday submitted thenames of the potentialcandidates for its ManagingDirector and Chief Executive postto the RBI.

TRIPLE TALAQ ORDINANCEREPROMULGATED New Delhi: The Union Cabineton Thursday approved the re-issuance of an Ordinancemaking the practice of instanttriple talaq a criminal offence,sources said.

CAPSULE

RAKESH K SINGH n NEW DELHI

The high-powered SelectionCommittee led by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi onThursday sacked CBI DirectorAlok Verma after two-and-a-half hours meeting. ChiefJustice of India’s nomineeJustice AK Sikri and Leader ofOpposition in the Lok SabhaMallikarjun Kharge were twoother members of the SelectionCommittee.

The panel decided to sackVerma with a 2-1 majority,wherein Mallikarjun Khargeopposed his removal. BothModi and Justice Sikri voted infavour of Verma’s removal. Thecommittee had met onWednesday but that meetingwas inconclusive.

Interestingly, Kharge hadfiled a dissent note againstVerma’s appointment as CBIchief during the SelectionCommittee meeting.

Verma was sacked on thebasis of a CVC report charginghim of corruption and derelic-tion of duty. The CVC reportindicted Verma with eightcounts of charges, includingforming a coterie of officials ofdoubtful integrity.

Verma’s joy of reinstate-ment by the SC as the CBI bossafter a gap of 77 days was short-lived as he could resume officefor just two days. Verma isretiring from service onJanuary 31.

The panel also decided toappoint a new CBI Director

within two weeks and removeall officials of doubtful integri-ty from the agency.

The panel decided to trans-fer Verma as DG, Fire Services,Civil Defence and HomeGuards. The SelectionCommittee also decided tomake CBI Additional DirectorM Nageshwara Rao as theinterim Director till the highpowered committee decideson a name for posting as thenew CBI Director. List of probables include UttarPradesh DGP OP Singh, NIADG YC Modi and CISF chiefRajesh Ranjan.

Verma had resumed dutyas CBI chief on Wednesday fol-lowing a Supreme Court orderreinstating him as the agencyboss. Verma along with hisdeputy Rakesh Asthana wereon October 23 sent on forcedleave following a bitter feudbetween the two. Both Vermaand Asthana leveled corruptionallegations against each other.Verma also booked Verma in agraft case on October 15despite express recommenda-tion by the CVC not to goahead with filing any FIRagainst Asthana.

Following this, the CentralVigilance Commission inter-

vened to restore the integrity ofthe CBI and recommendedtheir forced leave till an enquiryby the anti-corruption watch-dog was over. Based on theCVC recommendation, theGovernment sent them onforced leave and appointedthen Joint Director MNageshwara Rao as the in-charge CBI chief during thependency of the CVC probeagainst Verma.

Verma then moved theSupreme Court challengingthe Government decision tosend him on leave and divesthim of his powers, functionsand supervisory role in the CBI

saying the post enjoys a two-years fixed tenure. The SC onTuesday trashed theGovernment order to sendVerma on leave and reinstatedhim as CBI chief. The apex

court also directed the Centreto refer the issue of Verma’sremoval to the high-poweredSelection Committee.

Meanwhile, the Delhi HighCourt on Friday will decide ona plea of Asthana for quashingof the graft case registered atVerma’s behest.

While the SC order rein-stating Verma as the CBI chief,it specifically barred him fromtaking any major policy deci-sions, but he continued withthe spree to order transfers andposting in the agency. Vermahad on Wednesday throughtwo different orders rescindedtransfers and postings done byincharge Director Rao. Raohad transferred 13 officialsincluding the team probingthe case against Asthana.Verma revoked most of thetransfers and postings.

On Thursday too, Vermatransferred or changed postingsof seven officials, includingthe posting Superintendent ofPolice MK Gupta, to probe thebribery case against Asthana.

The CVC report alsoreferred about the controversialmeat exporter Moin Qureshi’scase and claimed that the CBIteam looking into the casewanted to make Hyderabad-

based businessman SathishBabu Sana an accused in thecase but Verma never gaveclearance. The probe in thiscase was led by Asthana.

The CVC report also con-tained intercepts from theResearch and Analysis Wing(RAW), in which “moneychanging hands with numberone in the CBI” is talked about,officials said.

Incidentally, Sana is thecomplainant for the briberycase against Asthana. Sana hasalso mentioned the name ofSamant Goel, the second-in-command of RAW, of beinginvolved in protecting the mid-dleman, Manoj Prasad. Theother case relates to aPreliminary Enquiry registeredby the CBI about acquisition ofland in Gurgaon. The CVC, inits report, alleged that Verma’sname had figured in the caseand at least `36 crore hadchanged hands. The CVC hadrecommended a thoroughprobe into the case.

The CVC, which has asuperintendence role over theCBI, had also alleged thatVerma tried to save an officer in the IRCTC caseinvolving former UnionMinister Lalu Prasad.

The Commission alsoalleged that Verma was tryingto bring in tainted officials intothe CBI. It claimed that effortsseeking cooperation from theCBI chief did not yield resultsas he continued to keep the filesaway from the CVC.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a political development inthe national Capital ahead of

the Lok Sabha polls this year,former Delhi Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit was on Thursdayappointed as the chief of theDelhi Congress.

Her name was cleared bynone other than party chiefRahul Gandhi following abrainstorming meeting of StateCongress leaders on Thursday.

Dikshit is an old war horseand a favourite among the partyworkers for her experience ofbeing three-time Chief Ministerof Delhi. In view of her age andhealth concerns, the Congresshas appointed three workingpresidents to assist her.

Dikshit, 80, makes a come-back into Delhi politics aheadof the Lok Sabha elections. Thelongest serving Chief Minister

of Delhi — from1998 to 2013 —Dikshit stayed awayfrom active politicsfollowing theCongress’ defeat inAssembly elections.Dikshit had repre-sented Gole Marketconstituency of New Delhithrice and was one of the mostsuccessful Chief Ministers whois credited for adorning thelandscape of Delhi.

Interestingly, she replacesAjay Maken, who is known asher protégé-turned-bête noire.Maken had been appointedpresident of the Delhi Congressfollowing the party’s defeat inthe Assembly elections in 2014,when Dikshit was vanquishedby Aam Aadmi Party conven-er Arvind Kejriwal.

AICC incharge of DelhiCongress PC Chacko

a n n o u n c e dDikshit’s appoint-ment at a Press con-ference at the partyheadquarters.

The three work-ing presidents whowill assist Dikshitare: Devendra

Yadav, a two-time MLA andAICC secretary, Rajesh Lilothia,also a two-time MLA, AICCsecretary and known Dalitleader, and Haroon Yusuf, whowas a Minister in the DikshitGovernment. Maken had ear-lier conveyed to the party lead-ership, his inability to contin-ue as the DPCC chief in viewof the serious health issues heis facing. He is suffering froma spinal ailment, said sourcesclose to the Delhi leader.

Despite being perceived ashaving worked hard to revivethe party in Delhi, Maken met

with little success electorally.The party failed to win any ofthe three municipalities inDelhi, and could not register avictory in the by-elections.According to sources, he wasunhappy with a section of partyleaders who want to forge analliance with the AAP in Delhi.

With just months to go forthe general elections, this isDikshit’s third major assign-ment from the party after rul-ing Delhi for 15 consecutiveyears. She served as KeralaGovernor and then Congresshad named her the chief min-isterial candidate during theUttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

During her three terms, shebecame the face of developmentof Delhi but the rise of Kejriwaldue to corruption against theCongress led to her downfallafter 15 years in the saddle.

Continued on Page 7

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Thursday decided toconstitute afresh the five-judgeConstitution Bench to hear onJanuary 29 the politically-sen-sitive Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid land title dispute inAyodhya after a judge, JusticeUU Lalit, recused himself fromthe hearing.

Justice Lalit, who was part ofthe five-judge ConstitutionBench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi, “expressed hisdisinclination to participate inthe hearing any further” andopted himself out of the con-tentious matter. The apex courtsaid since Justice Lalit has optedout of the hearing in the matter,there was no option left but toadjourn the case “to fix a date ofhearing and to draw up a timeschedule for hearing of the case”.Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan,appearing for a Muslim party,said Justice Lalit had appearedas a lawyer for former UP CMKalyan Singh in a connectedmatter “sometime in the year1997”.

He said Singh, as then CMof UP, had “failed in his promiseto maintain the status quo”over the disputed structure atAyodhya which was demol-ished on December 6, 1992. TheBench, also comprising JusticesSA Bobde, NV Ramana, and

DY Chandrachud, which heardthe matter for 20 minutes, notedin its order that Dhavan has “noobjection to Justice UdayUmesh Lalit hearing the matter,the ultimate decision in thisregard is for the learned judgeto take”.

“The said facts being point-ed out, Justice Uday UmeshLalit has expressed his disin-clination to participate in thehearing any further. We, there-fore, have no option but toadjourn the case to anotherdate for the same purpose i.e.To fix a date of hearing and todraw up a time schedule forhearing of the case,” the Benchsaid.

Fourteen appeals havebeen filed in the apex courtagainst the 2010 AllahabadHigh Court judgement, deliv-ered in four civil suits, that the2.77-acre land be partitionedequally among three parties --the Sunni Waqf Board, theNirmohi Akhara and RamLalla.

Dhavan, who was appear-ing for lead petitioner M Siddiq(since dead) and now repre-sented by his legal heirs, point-ed to the September 27, 2018judgement, by which the topcourt had refused to refer the1994 verdict in Ismail Faruqui

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Bill to provide 10 per cent reser-vation to general category poor in jobs

and education was on Thursday chal-lenged in the Supreme Court on thegrounds it breached the 50 per cent ceil-ing on quotas, barely a day after the mea-sure secured Parliamentary approval.

A petition filed by an NGO Youth ForEquality and its president Dr KaushalKant Mishra said in the present form theupper limit of quota goes up to 60 per centwhich violated the decisions of the apex court.

The organisation sought a stay andquashing of the Constitution (OneHundred and Twenty FourthAmendment) Bill, 2019 as it was violativeof the basic structure of the Constitutionand that the economic criterion cannotbe the sole basis for reservation. The Billnow goes to the President for approval.

It was contended that reservation oneconomic grounds cannot be limited tothe general categories and that the 50 percent ceiling limit cannot be breached.

Referring to the nine-judge benchdecision of the apex court in the landmark1992 Indira Sawhney case, the petitionsaid the latest amendment completely vio-lated the Constitutional norm that eco-nomic criterion cannot be the only basisof reservation.

“Such an amendment is hence vul-nerable and ought to be struck down asit merely negates a binding judgement,”it said.

Continued on Page 7

Alok Verma ousted for ‘graft’

Selection Panel shifts him to Fire Services, restores Rao as interim CBI chief for 2 weeks

Sacking CBI chief AlokVerma twice in a rowclearly shows PMModi is now prisonerof his own lies

RAHUL GANDHI

Indeed, Mr Mallikarjun Kharge is a man of amazingconsistency. When Shri Alok Verma was appointedCBI chief by the Selection Committee, he dissented.Now, when Shri Alok Verma has been removed by thesame Selection Committee, he has dissented

UNION MINISTER PIYUSH GOYAL

Sheila back to steer Delhi Cong in LS polls As Delhi unit chief, Dikshit to be assisted by 3 working presidents of State Congress

Justice Lalit recusesfrom Ayodhya case,SC to reconstitutefive-judge Bench

10% gen quota Bill

challenged in SC

m Verma was sacked on thebasis of a CVC reportcharging him of corruptionand dereliction of duty

m The CVC report indictedVerma with eight counts ofcharges, including forming acoterie of officials of doubtfulintegrity

m Panel decided to appoint anew CBI Director within twoweeks and remove allofficials of doubtful integrityfrom the agency

m Verma is retiring fromservice on January 31

Gay sex can’t be allowedin Army: Gen Rawat

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

www.dailypioneer.com

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WORLD 11

FURIOUS TRUMP WALKS OUTOF SHUTDOWN TALKS

OPINION 8

A BLIP ININDIA'S STORY

SPORT 16

MARY REACHES TOP SPOT IN WOMEN’S BOXING

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Late City Vol. 155 Issue 10*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

Established 1864

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

LUCKNOW, FRIDAY JANUARY 11, 2019; PAGES 16 `3

NO SUBSTITUTE

TO HARD WORK:

MADHURI DIXIT

14 VIVACITY

}

PTI n NEW DELHI

In a “massive relief ” to smallbusinesses, the GST Council

on Thursday doubled the limitfor exemption from paymentof goods and services tax(GST) to `40 lakh andannounced that the higherturnover cap of `1.5 crore foravailing composition schemeof paying 1 per cent tax will beeffective from April 1.

The Council also allowedKerala to levy a 1 per centcalamity cess on intra-statesale of goods and services fora period of up to two years tomobilise revenues to meet thecost of rehabilitating parts ofstates that were ravaged byfloods last year.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley said the taxpayers withan aggregate turnover of Rs 40lakh would now be exemptedfrom the GST. For the northeastern states, the exemptionwould now be `20 lakh.Currently, businesses with aturnover of up to `20 lakh isexempt from GST registration,while the limit for hilly andnorth eastern states is `10lakh.

Sources said the annualrevenue loss on account ofdoubling exemption limit to`40 lakh, considering that allstates implement it, is `5,200crore. Jaitley said the GSTComposition Scheme, underwhich small traders and busi-nesses pay a 1 per cent taxbased on turnover, can beavailed by businesses with aturnover of `1.5 crore, againstthe earlier `1 crore, with effectfrom April 1.

Also, service providersand suppliers of both goodsand services up to a turnoverof `50 lakh would be eligibleto opt for the GST composi-tion scheme and pay a tax of6 per cent.

The twin decision underthe composition schemewould have an annual revenueimpact of about `3,000 crore.

“The GST Council in its32nd meeting today accordedmassive relief for MSME sec-tor,” Jaitley tweeted.

On GST rate for realestate, the council has decid-ed for form a seven-membergroup of ministers after dif-ferences of opinion emerged atthe meeting, he said, adding

there were diverse views onlottery. A ministerial panelwill look into it as well.

Businesses opting for thecomposition scheme wouldhave to file just one tax returnannually but pay taxes onceevery quarter. Also freeaccounting and billing soft-ware will be made available tosmall assessees up to `1.5crore turnover.

Jaitley said: “A very largepart of GST comes from for-mal sector and large compa-nies. Each one of these deci-sions is intended to help theSMEs. You have given themvarious options. If they are inservices sector, they can get 6per cent compounding, if theyare in manufacturing and trad-ing up to `1.5 crore they canget 1 per cent compounding.They can make use of exemp-tion of up to `40 lakh”.

The finance minister saidthere would be two thresholds— `40 lakh and `20 lakh —for exemption from registra-tion and payment of the GSTfor the suppliers of goods,with the facility that one can‘opt up or opt down’ depend-ing on revenue.

GST exemption limit

doubled to `40 lakh

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n NEW DELHI

Army chief General Bipin Rawaton Thursday indicated that the

Supreme Court verdict on decrimi-nalisation of gay sex and adultery maynot be implemented in the Army, cit-ing the “conservative” nature of theforce.

Making this assertion here in theannual news conference ahead of theArmy Day on January 15, he saidthough the Army is not above law ofthe land, yet when a person joins thearmed forces some of the rightsenjoyed by the civilian counterpartsare taken away. He was responding toa question on the Army’s views onSection 377 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and adultery.

A five-judge Constitution Benchof the Supreme Court in Septemberlast year unanimously decriminalisedpart of the 158-year-old colonial lawunder Section 377 which criminalis-es consensual unnatural sex, sayingit violated the rights to equality.

The apex court last year alsostruck down another colonial eraanti-adultery law saying it was uncon-stitutional, dented the individuality ofwomen and treated them as “chattelof husbands”.

Rawat said the Army is conserv-

ative and we cannot allow it to per-petrate into the Army.

Explaining the rationale for notimplementing the Supreme Courtverdict in the armed forces, theArmy chief said the force is a hugefamily and when an officer or jawan is posted on the front heleaves behind his family in militarystations.

The families are looked after bythe local military unit. In this contexthe referred to incidents of stealing theaffection of brother officer’s wife inthe force parlance, and said it “can-not be allowed to happen”. Section 63of the Army Act covers all suchactions like gay sex and adultery andthe guilty are punished.

Elaborating on the two issues ofgay sex and adultery, the Army chiefsaid when the Army Act was framedmany years back no one ever thoughtsuch matters will come up and saidthe issue of adultery is very serious.An officer or jawan has to be assuredthat his family is safe to enable himto given his best at the front, the chiefadded. Rawat also said it remains tobe seen how the society reacts todecriminalisation of gay sex andadultery.

Law of the land

is supreme, but

Army rules are

conservative, says

Gen Rawat

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh visiting Akshay Vat in Allahabad on Thursday Pioneer

city 02LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

Lucknow (PNS): The police are reportedly facilitating UPCongress president Raj Babbar in getting the quarters on NehruBhawan campus vacated by the former employees of the party.

Sources said a police team reached UPCC campus onThursday evening and served notices on about a dozen formeremployees of the party. In the notice, Babbar has asked them toimmediately vacate the premises as they are living there ‘illegal-ly’. Interestingly, the Congress is already fighting a mutation case in Lucknow Nagar Nigam over the ownership of the saidbuilding.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh policearrested Bharatiya Janata

Yuva Morcha leader ShikharAgarwal, accused of instigatingviolence in Bulandshahr, lateWednesday evening.

Sources in the police heresaid that Shikhar, also one ofthe accused in the killing ofpolice inspector SubodhKumar Singh, the station houseofficer of Siyana police station,was arrested from Hapur.

Shikhar Agarwal was inter-rogated by police before beingproduced in a local court,which sent him to 14-day judi-cial custody, they added.

On December 3 last year,violence had erupted in Siyanatehsil of Bulandshahr after cat-tle carcasses were found strewnin the fields outside Mahaw vil-lage, resulting in the murder ofSubodh Singh and a youthnamed Sumit Kumar.

According to police,Shikhar Agarwal was involvedin instigating the mob whichwent on the rampage onDecember 3, and killed the

police officer and set a policeoutpost and a number of vehi-cles on fire.

The police took more thana month to arrest ShikharAgarwal though he kept onuploading his videos on socialmedia claiming his innocencein the whole incident. He alsogave interviews to several TVchannels while in hiding.

Around six months back,Shikhar Agarwal was appoint-ed head of the newly-formedSiyana unit of BJYM, a policeofficial said.

Siyana police station hadregistered an FIR against 27named people and 50-60unidentified persons in con-nection with violence.

Local Bajrang Dal leaderYogesh Raj, also a main suspectin the case, was arrested by thepolice on January 3.

The police said that over 35people had been arrested so farin connection with the case,including Army jawan JitendraMalik, Prashant Nat whoallegedly shot the inspectordead and Kalua who hadattacked him with an axe.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The rookie Jansatta DalLoktantrik, founded by

independent MLA from Kundaand former minister of UttarPradesh, Raghuraj Pratap Singhalias Raja Bhaiya, will contestall the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UPin the 2019 general election.

This was announced byformer MP and MLC AkshayPratap Singh, cousin of RajaBhaiya, here on Thursday.

Talking to reporters here,Akshay Pratap Singh said theJansatta Dal Loktantrik (JDL)would be the third alternativein the state after the BharatiyaJanata Party and the mahagath-bandhan.

“We are building our basein all districts and will emergeas an alternative to two bigforces,” he said

Akshay Singh said RajaBhaiya was a popular leader ofPratapgarh and after he float-ed his own party, people fromall over the state had startedshowing interest in him and the

JDL.“We are getting requests

from leaders seeking tickets.The final call will be taken byRaja Bhaiya himself,” he said,adding that the party was get-ting overwhelming responsefrom everywhere in the stateand youths were joining it inlarge numbers every day.

The JDL leader also criti-cised the political parties in thestate for using caste and reli-gion for their electoral gainsand said youths had always suf-fered by this. “Therefore, they(youths) dislike these partiesand are showing interest in RajaBhaiya’s new party,” he said.

The JDL demands a com-pensation of one crore rupeesfor the families of those mar-tyrs who fought for the causeof youths, Akshay Singh said.

Raja Bhaiya had organiseda big rally in Lucknow onNovember 30 last year in whichhe had announced his newpolitical party and declared itsintention to contest the LokSabha polls.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Former chief minister ofUttar Pradesh and nationalpresident of Samajwadi Party,Akhilesh Yadav, will hold an e-chaupal — the SamajwadiSamvaad — at Faqirpur villagein Kannauj district where hewill inaugurate a twitter kioskand have interaction with peo-ple on twitter about their prob-lems and party’s programmes.

Samajwadi Partyspokesman RajendraChoudhary said here onThursday that Akhilesh Yadavwould attend the chaupal alongwith Twitter global vice-presi-dent Colin Crowell.

“He will listen to the prob-lems of the masses and inter-act with them. People can havea chat with the former chiefminister on #Akhilesh ki chau-pal, Chaudhary said in a state-ment issued here.

This e-chaupal is seen as anattempt of Samajwadi Party tolaunch its poll campaign fromKannauj, from where DimpleYadav, wife of Akhilesh, is thesitting Lok Sabha member. As

Dimple has reportedly refusedto contest the Lok Sabha pollsthis time, hence AkhileshYadav is all set to contest theLok Sabha elections fromKannauj.

The SP spokesman saidthat Faqirpur was a solar pow-ered village. The 250 MWsolar plant was set up duringAkhilesh’s regime and it wasinaugurated by formerPresident of India Dr APJAbdul Kalam.

“It is the beginning. Soonsuch chaupals will be held in

many villages of Kannauj dis-trict. The officials from Twitterwill make people aware how toregister themselves on Twitterand run it. They will also bepresent in these chaupals,” hesaid.

“The chaupals are com-mon in villages where peoplediscuss various political issues.But in the era of IT revolution,these e-chaupals are likely torevolutionise the system ofcommunication. People fromother parts of the state or thecountry can also communi-cate with the SP president orother senior leaders throughthese chaupals,” Choudharysaid.

Kannauj, a renowned per-fume centre of the country, isvery close to the heart ofAkhilesh Yadav, as he had rep-resented the seat three timesfrom 2000 to 2012. Thereafterhis wife Dimple was electedMP from there.

Kannauj has the distinctionof electing socialist ideologueDr Ram Manohar Lohia in1967 and Mulayam SinghYadav in 1999 Lok Sabha polls.

PNS n LUCKNOW

An internal survey of theBharatiya Janata Partyhas shown that majori-

ty of party MPs from UttarPradesh have failed to live upto the expectations of the peo-ple and at least 57 of them maybe denied ticket in the comingLok Sabha elections.

This has been categoricallyconveyed to the party leaders ofUP by BJP national presidentAmit Shah in a meeting held inNew Delhi on Wednesday. Themeeting was called to evaluateparty’s position in UP. The inter-nal survey was carried out by aprivate US-based research insti-tute which interviewed people in822 blocks spread over 8,135nyaya panchayats.

“The bottom line of the sur-vey is that majority of the MPshave failed to deliver and theymight be denied ticket in thecoming Lok Sabha elections,” a

senior BJP leader told ‘ThePioneer’ here on Thursday.

It is believed that axe mightfall n 57 sitting MPs.

BJP had won 71 Lok Sabhaseats out of 80 in UP on its ownin the 2014 parliamentary elec-tions but it lost three seats inthe Lok Sabha bye-elections,including Gorakhpur andPhulpur. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and his deputyKeshav Prasad Maurya hadwon from Gorakhpur andPhulpur, respectively, in 2014and had vacated the seats afterthey joined the UP Cabinet.

A senior BJP leader saidthat the survey was holistic andincluded “voices” from over97,000 villages across the state.

“The basic finding of thisstudy was that majority of theMPs have failed to connectwith the masses. Selection ofbeneficiaries of various welfareschemes was left to administra-tion and these MPs never tried

to meet the people and makean attempt to tell them thatwhatever benefits they weregetting was because of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChief Minister YogiAdityanath,” the leader said.

The BJP has launched aseries of campaigns to educatepeople about the welfareschemes that the governmenthas launched. It has repeatedlyasked its leaders and elected rep-resentatives to meet the benefi-ciaries of these schemes. Theidea behind this is that the ben-eficiaries should be motivated tovote for BJP in the next electionbecause of the benefits they hadavailed of in this regime.

The survey has highlightedmany USPs of the BJP govern-ment — from farmers’ welfare toproviding houses and free elec-tric connections to the people.

“The crop loan waiver hasfailed to make any politicalimpact as the BJP leaders have

failed to make farmers realisethat it was the Yogi Adityanathgovernment that was instru-mental in extending the loanwaiver. With the passage oftime, the memory faded andnow farmers do not talk aboutit,” the survey has said.

The survey report alsohighlights failure of the MPs toredress local grievances offarmers. At many places, theMPs even stopped meetingpeople, thus widening thechasm between the farmersand them,” it said.

Interestingly, some of theBJP MPs are aware of the faitaccompli and therefore theyhave started knocking thedoors of Samajwadi Party.

Sources in the SP claimthat at least 4 BJP MPs haveapproached the party and onlyone of them, Savitribai Phulewho represents Bahraich inthe Lok Sabha, has got a posi-tive response from the party.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has hailed the

GST Council’s decision to keepsmall companies with turnoverof less than Rs 40 lakh out ofthe ambit of goods and servicestax, saying the decision willhelp MSME sector and smalltraders.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi deserves all creditbecause the proposal wasmooted by him. This decisionof the GST Council will helpthe Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSME) sector togenerate more employmentopportunities,” Yogi said in astatement issued here onThursday.

He said the GST Council’sdecision to increase the com-position limit of traders fromexisting Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.50crore was praiseworthy.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh’sFinance Minister RajeshAgarwal, who attended the32nd GST Council meeting,

said the Council had acceptedthe demands of the UP govern-ment to exempt singhara(water chestnut) and hand-made soap from GST. “Thiswill help poor people and localartisans,” Agarwal said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Even as Director General ofPolice OP Singh patted the

back of cops for the reducedresponse time to distress calls,the state witnessed three broaddaylight murders, two inHathras and one in Mirzapur,besides a loot in Jaunpur onThursday.

In Hathras, unidentifiedScorpio-borne assailantsopened a burst of fire at a Swiftcar, killing both of its occupantson the spot, at Jagiyabanbehamlet on Iglas Road onThursday afternoon.

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NOTICE

I last my ICICI Bank I.D.Card No.-05056 Card used willbe unvalid regards - JitendraNarayan Vartex FinancialServices Gulmarg Appartment5 Jopling Road Lucknow.

At least 57 BJP MPs from

UP may be denied ticket

CM hails GST relief to small businesses

UP govt reduces price of urea

Lucknow (PNS): In amajor sop to farmers, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathannounced to reduce theprice of urea, which has goneup due to hike in price of nat-ural gas after increase inVAT. The announcement wasmade on Thursday night andthe new prices will be applic-able from Saturday next.

According to the govern-ment order, the price of a 45kg urea bag will now be`266.50 against the earlierprice of `299 and that of 50kg urea bag, ̀ 295 against theearlier price of `330.50 .

Akhilesh to hold e-chaupal

at Kannauj village

Local BJYM leaderarrested from Hapur

BULANDSHAHR VIOLENCE

Three shot dead in broad daylight

After killing both the per-sons, the assailants escaped.

The victims were identifiedas Lakshman Phulwani, hailingfrom Iglas, and Ravi. The localpolice sent both the bodies forpost-mortem and claimed to beprobing the case.

In Mirzapur, a 42-year-oldtrader was shot dead andanother injured when miscre-ants opened fire on them infront of city police station overa land dispute.

Superintendent of PoliceVipin Kumar Mishra saidTriloki Mali was shot dead,allegedly by Sanjay Singh, whenhe was sitting in his shop,

The victim’s shop is locat-ed opposite to the city policestation. While Triloki died onthe spot, another person, Sunil,who was sitting with him, wasinjured. Sunil was admitted toa hospital, where his conditionwas stated to be critical.

In Jaunpur, MohammedArshad, a native of Shahganjwho was running a moneytransfer outlet, had withdrawn`7.5 lakh from the local PunjabNational Bank branch onThursday morning. As he wasgoing to his outlet, two motor-cycle-borne miscreants inter-cept him and looted the cash atgunpoint and escaped.

In the last incident reportfrom Rae Bareli, police foundthe body of a girl inside bush-es in Saidanpur area ofBhadhokhar on Thursdaymorning.

Circumstantial evidencesuggested that she was kid-napped, gang-raped and killedand her body was dumpedthere to conceal the crime.

The police sent the bodyfor post-mortem and are mak-

ing further investigation. Meanwhile, patting the

back of the cops in Lucknow,DGP OP Singh said the UPPolice’s emergency manage-ment system ‘UP-100’ had suc-ceeded in reducing its responsetime by around 10 minutes toextend the much needed reliefto the victims.

He said the service hademerged as a true and timelyhelp to citizens in distress.

“We have managed tobring down the response timeof UP-100 vehicles from 24minutes to 14 minutes and 49seconds,” the DGP said whilepresenting the annual report(2018) of UP-100.

He said the next targetwas to “further reduce responsetime to 10 minutes” and ensuresmooth conduct of generalelections and Kumbh Mela,where a large gathering wasexpected.

“As per the desire of ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath, wefocussed on increasing visibil-ity at public places to instill asense of security in the com-mon man. In 2018, over 52 lakhevents were handled by ‘UP-100’, which are 10 per centmore as compared to 2017,when over 47 lakh events weretaken up,” he said.

Stating that emphasis was given on training, theDGP said, “A first respondercourse was specificallydesigned after two months ofanalysis and it was the mostdetailed training given to the first responders anywherein India. Due to this, there were fewer complaints againstpolice, better action on the spot and improved morale ofthe force.”

LS polls: Raja Bhaiya’s JDL to contest 80 seats

Police helping Babbar in freeing

quarters from UPCC ex-staff

Yogi opens ‘Akshay

Vat’ darshan for all

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Thursday

opened the ‘Akshay Vat’ dar-shan for all and thanked thePrime Minister, the DefenceMinister and the defence per-sonnel for making it possibleafter 450 years.

The CM also unveiled anidol of Goddess Saraswati atSaraswati Koop within the fortand the Kumbh Media Centre.

Talking to newspersons onthe occasion at the newly-established Media Centre, YogiAdityanath said that with thepositive support of all theywould be able to make thisoccasion into a bhavya anddivya and a clean and safeKumbh.

Kumbh is the biggest reli-gious and spiritual congrega-tion on earth and it had beenrecognised even by the

UNESCO. A beautiful tentcity has been developed forthe foreign delegates and theNRIs.

Yogi said efforts were ini-tiated 18 months earlier tomake the Kumbh-2019 amemorable occasion and nowthe dreams were coming truewith the infrastructure devel-opment by the Union as wellas the state governments.

Representatives from 71countries and a good numberof NRIs will be visiting thisKumbh which is being organ-ised on 3,200 hectares of landon the banks of the Sangam.

Besides constructing 15flyovers and underpaths,widening 264 roads and devel-oping and beautifying 64 cross-ings, Prayagraj has now a bet-ter connectivity with differentparts of the country throughair, waterways, roads and rail-way.


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Aday after the grisly mur-der of businessmanAmanpreet, locals took

to streets demanding immedi-ate arrest of the prime accused,Raju Sardar aka Kaliya. Theprotest ratcheted up pressureon the police even as ASP(East) Sarvesh Mishra coun-selled the crowd against vio-lence. Hours later, the protest-ers decided to budge.

Amanpreet was pepperedwith bullets around 10.30 pmon Wednesday night when hewas closing his shop. The mis-creants reached the scene andopened a burst of fire. A pro-fusely bleeding Amanpreet wastaken to Lok Bandhu Hospitaland later to KGMU TraumaCentre, where he succumbed toinjuries.

Initial probe revealed thatRaju Sardar was a liquor smug-gler and he also used to extortmoney from people in thearea. Sources said the locationRaju’s phone was found inAlambagh about an hour afterthe murder. “Raju’s phone wasswitched off minutes after heallegedly killed Amanpreet,”the sources said.

They said the police failedto find any conclusive CCTVfootage from the scene.“Amanpreet’s shop is located ina narrow lane and the CCTVcameras installed at differentshops were found turned off.The night-vision camera atAmanpreet's shop was alsoswitched off at the time of theincident,” the sources said.

However, they said thecops found some footages inwhich a white scooty was spot-ted near the crime scene. “Itsuggested that some personswere standing near the crimescene and they fled after theincident,” the sources said,adding that the miscreantswere riding a motorcycle andthey had kept its engine onwhen they opened fire.

They said the miscreantsused pistol to execute thecrime. “It could not be a coun-try-made pistol as there was astaccato. It could be of a foreignmake or one that some gangsprovide to their sharp-shoot-ers,” the sources claimed.

On Thursday, the policeteam remained busy in tracingthe numbers by which theprime suspect got the calls.“The phone of the prime sus-pect was switched off. Wefound the call detail records ofhis phone and then sortedsome numbers. Some of thenumbers have been put onsurveillance while some teamshave asked to glean informa-


Manager of Nepal TourismBoard Nabin Pokhrael

said on Thursday that thenumber of visitors to Nepalfrom India had increased by25 per cent. The board hadorganised a roadshow at acity hotel on Thursday.

Talking to The Pioneer, hesaid that due to the proximi-ty of the two countries and therecent initiatives of the Centralgovernment which includedthe flagging off a bus fromNepal by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, there was alarge flow of religious touristsfrom India to Nepal.

“There is an increase of 25per cent and this only includesthe passengers who were arriv-ing by plane. We do not havethe count of the tourists com-ing by road,” he said.

He said that they haddiversified their tourism prod-ucts in a big way for thetourists. “Lucknow is barely200 kms away from Nepal andthere are several luxury resortsand hotels which have been setup closer to the state capital.We have also upgraded the oldones. The tourists will get anew feeling and new ambiencebecause the roads have beenrebuilt after the earthquakewhich occurred in the year2015,” he said. He said thatthey had something for every-one whether he or she was ahigh-end tourist or a middleclass one. Asked about whatthe Lucknow tourists pre-ferred, he said that they wereinterested in going toKathmandu for its rich cultur-al and religious heritage andalso to Pokhara for its variedattractions.

It was further said that the

Indian outbound to Nepal hasbeen growing rapidly owing tothe fact that the destinationcaters to the demands of all agegroups and that this growthwill surge in the coming years.”

It was also stated there hadbeen a steady increase in smallgroups travelling to Nepalfrom India. The NepalTourism Board has set a tar-get of two million touristarrivals in the year 2020.Currently the country seesnearly one million visitorsannually, who are expected todouble as the Board continuespromoting the ‘Visit Nepal’campaign aggressively. By2020 the government plans tooperate two new internation-al airports - Pokhara andLumbini - and introduce theAirbus 330-200 to provideairline services to the growingnumber of tourists. The gov-ernment also plans to runTribhuvan InternationalAirport for an additional threehours from the regular 18 toensure continued availabilityof service to both incomingand outgoing tourists. Theprivate hotel sector, too, hasplanned to add 4,000 rooms inthe four and five-star cate-gories in Kathmandu, Chitwanand Pokhara.


An artificial pair of lungswas installed by an organ-

isation, Climate Agenda, underthe ‘100 per cent UPCampaign’ in front of theLucknow MunicipalCorporation office in Lalbaghon Thursday to demonstratethe impact of air pollution. The10-day event started with theopening remarks from mayorSanyukta Bhatia, respiratorymedicine expert Dr Surya Kant(KGMU), MunicipalCommissioner IndramaniTripathi, and director ofClimate Agenda Ekta Shekhar.

“Lucknow’s air qualityplummets to severe levels every

year and causes health hazards.It’s high time we recognised itas a threat to health and hap-piness. Adoption of renewableenergy, public transport andcleanliness has the potential tobring back the clean air.Unveiling of these artificiallungs in Lucknow is a welcomestep and we hope that it willstrengthen the discussion andour fight for clean air,” themayor said.

About this initiative, EktaShekhar said: “These whiteartificial lungs are made withhigh-efficiency particulate air(HEPA) filters which will turnblack in the coming days byabsorbing the pollutants pre-sent in ambient air. It will

clearly depict the impact of airpollution on health. As per arecent report, UP saw 2,60,000deaths due to air pollutionwhile the figure was more than12 lakh in India during 2017.This event along with associat-ed activities will help make ‘theinvisible visible’ as one can’t seethe pollution in air but theimpact is clearly visible, estab-lished and proven. We are yetto see solar energy and electricvehicles as permanent solutionsof air pollution.”

Dr Surya Kant said HEPAfilters and fans used in thestructure made these artificiallungs work like the human res-piratory system. “When thesewhite lungs start turning grey,they will help people under-stand and visualise the impactof air pollution on our lungs.Earlier, only smokers’ lungswere found with black or greyspots during medical examina-tions, but now even non-smok-ing patients suffer from respi-ratory problems and have greyto dark black lungs. This showsour reluctance and passive-ness towards the issue. Wehave delayed and ignored theissue of air pollution longenough and now without los-ing any more time, we shouldact together for cleaning theair,” he elaborated.

Indramani Tripathi it wasnecessary to bring awarenessamong citizens. The devil of airpollution would only be defeat-ed if the general public knewabout do’s and don’ts. “LMC istrying its best to keep the cityclean. These artificial lungswill surely have a positive andand unprecedented impact onthe administration as well as onthe general public to search,adopt and implement solu-tions and we all need to com-mit ourselves to work togeth-er to make the air of the cityclean and breathable.”


Aman immolated himselffollowing a verbal spat

with his wife under Malihabadpolice station on Thursday.Amrish aka Hori Lal ofMirzaganj had a verbal duelwith his wife Arti around 7 pmwhen he returned home in aninebriated state. After this,Hori Lal went into his roomand bolted it from inside. A lit-tle later, Arti saw fumes ema-nating from the room andraised an alarm. Neighboursreached the scene and brokeopen the doors but Amrish hadsuccumbed by then.

Malihabad SHO MukulPrakash Verma said after a tiffwith his wife, Amrish closedthe door and tried to hang him-self from the ceiling fan, but invain. “He then poured keroseneon himself and set himselfafire. He suffered almost 90%burn injuries. A kerosene bot-tle was recovered from the

room,” the SHO said, addingthat the body had been sent forautopsy.

The SHO said the policewere investigating the case onthe basis of information givenby victim’s wife. “We are wait-ing for the autopsy report andaction will be initiated accord-ingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-oldgirl was found hanging at herhouse in Itaunja. No suicidenote was recovered from thehouse. The victim, Rinki ofPrithvinagar locality, was found

hanging from the ceiling witha dupatta tied around her neck.A police spokesman said thefamily did not mention any rea-son as of now. “The police willtalk to them in a couple ofdays,” he added.

MAN KNIFED TO DEATHA man was knifed to death

while several others sufferedinjuries after two groupsclashed over a petty issue inBanthra on Thursday night.The deceased, Vipin (25) ofNoorpur village in the locality,was at loggerheads with agroup over irrigation. OnThursday night, Vipin pickedup a fight with his rival Ajesh.Later, supporters from both thesides converged on the sceneand attacked one another. Apolice spokesman said Vipinsuccumbed to injuries on thespot, probably due to excessivebleeding. He added that sevenpersons had been detained andwere being interrogated.

Prime accused at large, protest erupts

TRADER PEPPERED WITH BULLETS IN ALAMBAGH


Was businessmanAmanpreet killed due to

rivalry among the warringliquor mafia? A day after hismurder, the police are alsoprobing this angle. While thepolice were non-committalabout sharing details of theinvestigation, sources claimedthat Amanpreet had a goodrapport with policemen and hehad helped them on a numberof times in the past by disclos-ing to them transportation ofsmuggled liquor via Alambagh.

He was jailed for hisinvolvement in liquor smug-gling a few years back. “Lastyear, a local goon, Jugnu Walia,who is a close aide of the erst-while mafia, had shot at himnear Chandernagar police out-post and a case was registeredin this connection,” the sourcessaid. They said Amanpreet wasfriends with one Vinod Singh,who was killed in rivalry overliquor smuggling business lastyear.

“In the recent past, the

police had arrested some liquorsmugglers and they had dis-closed that they knewAmanpreet,” the sourcesclaimed. They said the gangs ofthe warring liquor mafiainformed police about smug-gling by their rivals.

“In the past, this rivalryhad claimed lives of severalfrom both the sides. This time,Amanpreet fell prey,” thesources claimed. However, theysaid the modus operandi didnot seem convincing.

“Amanpreet was shot atseven times and the bullets gotlodged in his body. This modusoperandi of the crime sug-gested that the miscreants hada definite plan to liquidateAmanpreet and dispute overmoney-related issue did notsound convincing,” they said.

The sources said that therivalry apparently cropped upin the recent days. “Amanpreetwas probably in the know ofsome smuggling and he waskilled as he could have createdhindrances,” the sources said.

Alambagh circle officer

Sanjeev Sinha said Amanpreet’sfamily had named Raju Sardaraka Kaliya in the murder case.“We have detained some per-sons and they are being inter-rogated. The prime accused isyet to be arrested,” he said.

The CO said Amanpreetused to give loans to those inneed of cash. “He had given Rs20 lakh to a suspect named Paliwho did not return it on thepromised date. Two days back,Amanpreet had forcibly takenPali’s SUV after which therewas an altercation betweenthem and Amanpreet wasthreatened with dire conse-quences,” the CO said.

He said a case of murderhad been registered and thepolice teams were working onthe case. “Some teams have alsobeen sent outside Lucknowfor investigation of the case,” hesaid. Police spokesman AKDwivedi said a team of surveil-lance cell and sleuths of cybercell, led by Hazratganj circleofficer AK Mishra, has alsobeen pressed into service,” headded.

Rivalry with liquor mafiacost Amanpreet his life?

tion about other callers,” thesources said.

Alambagh circle officerSanjeev Sinha said the policewere looking for Raju Sardar

aka Kaliya right now. “We areprobing the case on the allega-tion leveled by the victim’sfamily, so there is only oneangle right now. If we arrest

Raju Sardar and he disclosesthe motive, we will probe otherangles too. As of now, we areyet to get any lead about theprime suspect,” he added.

Artificial lungs to demonstrate

impact of city’s polluted air

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia speaking at the start of a 10-day event to demonstrate theimpact of air pollution on lungs Pioneer

Kirti becomes first female finance officer of LULucknow (PNS): Kirti Sinha, who is the dean ofScience faculty at Lucknow University, on Thursdaybecame the first female finance officer. Kirti is the

daughter of sub-editor CP Sinha,who worked with The Pioneer inLucknow from 1960 to 1973. Kirtisaid her priorities would be toensure that the financial problemswere resolved in time. She saidthat coming from a scientificbackground, she hoped to have asystematic approach and betteranalysis while working as a

finance officer. “I will follow the rules and regula-tions and lay emphasis on computerised workbecause handwriting is not legible at times,” she said.Kirti said she used to be called ‘Newton’ in school,thanks to her love for Physics. “I wanted to go foradministrative services and Kiran Bedi was my rolemodel, but I got trapped in academics because asa topper in MSc, I got a CSIR fellowship,” she added.

25 pc increase in

number of Indian

visitors to Nepal

ACCORDING TO MANAGER

OF NEPAL TOURISM

BOARD, LUCKNOW

TOURISTS ARE

INTERESTED IN GOING TO

KATHMANDU FOR ITS RICH

CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS

HERITAGE AND ALSO TO

POKHARA FOR ITS

VARIED ATTRACTIONS

Man immolates self after

verbal spat with wife


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U.P.POWER TRANSMISSIONCORPORATION LTD. E-TEN-DER NOTICE Following E-Tenders are invited from the

experienced/reputed contractors/suppli-ers for the execution of following works:-For more details login on websitewww.etender.up.nic.in. 1. Very ShortTerm E-Tender No. 283/AETC/2018-19:-Carriage of tower structure from site storesehda to 132 KV S/S Lalganj underElecty. Trans. Division, Azamgarh. EarnestMoney Rs. 2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand)only. Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs, TwoHundred Thirty Six) only. 2. Short Term E-Tender No. 284/AETC/2018-19:- Operationand Maintenance of 220/132/33 KV 2x160MVA (SAS) Sub. Station, Azamgarh-IlBadgahan under Electy. Trans. Division, Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs. 33,000.00(Rs. Thirty Three Thousand) only. TenderCost: Rs. 3894.00 (Rs. Three ThousandEight Hundred Ninety Four) only. 3. ShortTerm E-Tender No. 2851 AETC/2018-19:-Erection & Cornm issioning of New 160MVA T/F-III required at 220 KV S/SJaunpur under ETD, Jaunpur. EarnestMoney: Rs. 8.000.00 (Rs. Eight Thousand)only. Tender Cost: Rs. 944.00 (Rs, NineHundred Forty Four) only. 4. E- Tender No.286/AETC/2018-19:- Cleaning, verminproofing and other associated work of con-trol & relay panel installed at 132KV S/SMehnagar & Koilsa under ETD, Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Es. 1000.00 (Rs. OneThousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00(Rs. Two Hundred Thirty Six) only. 5. E-Tender No, 287/ETC/2018-19:- Annualrepairing and servicing of 33KV Isolatorsat 132KV S/S Lalganj, Koilsa andMehnagar under ETD, Azamgarh. EarnestMoney: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand)only. Tender Cost: Rs . 236.00 (Rs. TwoHundred Thirty Six) only. 6. E- Tender No.288/ETC/20 18-19:- Painting of equipment& structures at 132K V S/S Lalganj underETD, Azamaarh. Earnest Money: Rs.2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand) only. TenderCost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. Two Hundred ThirtySix) only. 7. E- Tender No.289/AETC/2018-19: Procurement of high voltage rub-ber mat at various 132KV S/Ss under ETDJaunpur. Earnest Money: Rs. 2000.00 (RsTwo Thousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs.236.00 (Rs. Two Hundred Thirty Six) only.8. E-Tender No.290/AETC/2018-19:Painting of various equipments at 132KV S/S Mariyahu under ETD, JaunpurEarnest Money: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs TwoThousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00(Rs. Two Hundred Thirty Six) only. 9. E-Tender No.291/AETC/2018-19:Procurement of different type of hardwareand material for construction of 2x5 MVARCapacitor Bank at different 132KV S/Ssunder ETD, Azamgarh. Earnest Money:Rs. 2000.00(Rs. Two Thousand) only.Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. Two HundredThirty Six) only. 10. E-TenderNo.292/AETC/ 2018-19: Installation &Commissioning of new CT in place of oldCT at 400KV S/S, Azamgarh under Electy,

400KV S/S Division, Azamgarh. EarnestMoney: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs Two Thousand)only. Tender Cost: Rs.236.00 (Rs. TwoHundred Thirty Six) only. 11. E-TenderNo.293/AETC/ 2018-19: Procurement ofexpansion type terminal connector ofTwin Trantulla conductor made of LM-6Alluminium Alloy one end suitable for 400K V Rotary head Isolator under Electy. 400KV S/S Division, Azarngarh. EarnestMoney: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs Two Thousand)only. Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. TwoHundred Thirty Six) only. 12. E-TenderNo.294/AETC/2018-19: Procurement ofexpansion type terminal connector ofTwin TrantulIa conductor made of LM-6Alluminium Alloy one end suitable for CTTerminal (Flat type) under Electy: 400KVS/S Division, Azamgarh. Earnest Money:Rs. 2000.00 (Rs Two Thousand) only.Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. Two HundredThirty Six) only. 13. E-TenderNo.295/AETC/2018-19: Overhauling andmaintenance work of Mulsifire system at220 KV S/S Jaunpur under ETD, Jaunpur.Earnest Money: Rs. 6000.00 (Rs SixThousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs.708.00(Rs. Seven Hundred Eight) only. Earnestmoney will be in shape of RTGS/NEFT dulypledged in favour of SuperintendingEngineer, Elccty. Transmission Circle,UPPTCL, Azamgarh. Tenderer can uploadtheir tender bids against Very Short TermE-Tender No. 283 upto 17.00 Hrs. of 21.01.20 19 and the same will be opened ondated 22.01.2019 at 12.00 hrs. through E-Tendering. Tenderer can upload their ten-der bids against E-Tender No. 284 to 285upto 17.00 Hrs. of 30.0 1.20 19 the samewill be opened on dated 31.01.2019 at12:00 hrs. & 13 :00 hrs, respectivelythrough E- Tendering. Tenderer canupload their tender bids against E-Tender No. 286 to 290 upto 17.00 Hrs.of 11.02.20I9 the same will be opened ondated 12.02.2019 at 12:00 hrs., 13:00hrs., 14.00 hrs., 15:00 hrs. & 16:00 hrs.respectively through E-Tendering.Tenderer can upload their tender bidsagainst E-Tender No. 291 to 295 upto17.00 Hrs. of 12.02.2019 the same willbe opened on dated 13.02.2019 at12:00 hrs. 13:00 hrs., 14:00 hrs., 15:00hrs. & 16:00 hrs. respectively through E-Tendering. Intimation regarding openingof Tender Bid Part-II i.e. Price Bid will begiven on above e-website in due courseof time. Please visit web site www.cten-der.up.nic.in for details/down load and forany other corrections/ amendments/modification extension till the date of sub-mission of tender. In case the tenderopening date is holiday or undersignedremain our of headquarters the date ofsubmission and opening of tender willstand extended to next working day.Undersigned has the right to reject/divideany tender without assigning any reasonthereof'. Conditional tenders shall not beaccepted. Superintending Engineer(Trans.) Azamgarh No. 60 Dt. 9.1.19 SaveElectricity in the interest of nation.

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Unidentified miscreantskilled a leather manufac-

turing workshop worker some-time on Wednesday night. Theincident came to light after thebody was spotted by the vic-tim’s brother early Thursdaymorning. As per reports, thevictim, identified asMohammed Siraj (35) ofMadhavganj locality in Hardoi,worked at the workshop inChikmandi (Maulviganj),Aminabad, and was living in ahouse on rent in the area. OnWednesday night, he left hishouse for some work but didnot return.

Apprehensive of his safety,his brother MohammedFaiyyaz went out to search forhim early Thursday morningand reached near Jagat cinemahall where he found Siraj’sbody lying on a wooden cot.The deceased had head injuriesand there were blood stains onthe cot and floor. As Faiyyazstarted crying, cops sitting in apolice van near the cinema hall,reached there. They called theAminabad police after which ateam reached the place. Policesources said Siraj had headinjuries and it appeared that hewas attacked during a brawl.

“Some of the youths whowould often be seen with thevictim are missing. The policeare trying to find out who waswith the victim on Wednesdaynight,” they said, adding thatsome suspects were being inter-rogated. “The possibility that hefell down and suffered headinjuries cannot be ruled out,”investigation officer (sub-inspector) Vijay Singh said.He said the police did nothave any witness account toclaim that the victim wasattacked on Wednesday night.“We quizzed the pavement-dwellers and also those whospend night in the open,” headded.

Lucknow (PNS): DGPOP Singh made a surprisevisit to the Naka police stationearly Thursday morning.However, the top cop did notfind any shortcomings andpraised the policemen forbeing vigilant.

He reached the Nakapolice station around 6.30am on Thursday. After hisfleet took a halt outside thepolice station and the sentryspotted the same andinformed his bosses, the cops,who were apparently relaxed,became attentive and some of

them were seen adjustingtheir caps as per protocol. TheDGP had a talk with AjaySingh who was on night dutyat the police station. Hesought to know from thecops about their working andhandling of complaints. “I wasresting in my room when Iwas told about the DGP’s visitsince I was on night duty. TheDGP inspected the room inwhich complaints are regis-tered. He asked the cops toremain vigil even during earlymorning hours,” Naka SHOVishwajeet Singh said.

SILVER JUBILEEThe Corps of Army Air Defence celebrat-

ed the silver jubilee of its raising at the CentralCommand Headquarters in Lucknow onThursday. To commemorate the occasion,Brigadier (Retired) Sunil Dhawan and BrigadierSanjay Sethi (Army Air Defence) laid a wreathat ‘Smritika’ war memorial in remembrance ofthe martyrs. This was followed by a felicitationceremony of veterans and ‘veer naris’ andlunch at Sainik Institute for veterans and serv-ing junior commissioned officers, and otherranks of Army Air Defence. General OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, Central Command, LtGen Abhay Krishna commended all ranks of theCorps of Army Air Defence for their contribu-tion towards keeping the nation’s air space safeboth during peace and war. He also comple-mented them for maintaining high standards of

operational readiness and exhorted them torededicate themselves to the resolve of achiev-ing the pinnacle of professionalism.

CARDIO-DIABETESSUMMIT ORGANISED

Lucknow Diabetes StudySociety (LDSS) on Thursdayorganised a cardio-diabetessummit to make people awareabout the rising cases of heart-related diseases due to diabetes.Dr Jitin Vora, who came fromthe UK, presented his views ondiabetes and heart failure. DrRajiv Awasthi, Dr SK Dwevidiand Dr Nakul Sinha also spokeon the rising problem. Dr Vorasaid the possibility of cardiacarrest among diabetics wasthree to five times more thanother patients. He laid stress onthe importance of balanceddiet and regular exercise.Secretary of the society DrMukulesh Gupta also spoke onthe issue. Dr SK Dwivedi saidthe number of patients wasincreasing largely because ofirregular lifestyle. “Peopleshould avoid sugar, rice, sweetsand other such eatables. Wehad recently presented a paper

at a conference in Germany inwhich it was explained that lowsugar in body was more dan-gerous than high sugar. Thepaper was appreciated at theconference,” he pointed out.

WORKSHOPA workshop with youth on

‘Inequality in education’ wasorganised at Karamat HusainMuslim Girls’ PG College bythe Education department onThursday. Former Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow

University Roop Rekha Vermawas the chief guest on theoccasion. Nasiruddin HaiderKhan, a socialist and an activist,was the special guest. He talkedabout the role of JusticeKaramat Hussain, founder ofthe college, in abolishing theinequality in schools. A reporton ‘A study on problems ineducation in primary schools’was also presented by thedepartment. Principal QudsiaParveen delivered the vote ofthanks.

GOLD MEDALDeependra Singh, a class

VIII student of City MontessoriS c h o o l ,Gomti NagarCampus II,won the goldmedal ins t a t e - l e v e linter-schoolBrainobrainWonderkidsCompetition.He show-cased his tal-ent in various subjects andwalked away with the goldmedal. The organisers were allpraise for his talent and award-ed him a gold medal and cer-tificate.

Lucknow : A gang ofthieves struck three shops inBazaar Khala on Wednesdaynight. However, the thievescould steal cash only fromone shop as other shop-own-ers woke up and challenged themiscreants. Interestingly, thepolice were nowhere to beseen when the thieves werebeing chased.

Anurag Mishra ofMotijheel Colony runs a med-ical store on the ground floorof his house. Around 3 am, heheard a commotion and wokeup only to find that somemen were breaking the shutterof another drug store opposite

his shop. “I raised an alarmand also threw stones on thethieves, forcing them to fleethe scene. Locals also woke upand they gave a chase to thethieves and threw stones atthem,” he said. Anurag said hecame down to see his shop andfound the shutter broken. “Ifound Rs 16,000 missing fromthe shop. The thieves had alsobroken the shutter of a bakeryin the locality,” he said. Thepolice said theft was commit-ted only in one shop and Rs9,000 were stolen. The policesaid they were scanning CCTVcamera footages to spot thethieves. PNS


Cyber thieves siphoned offRs 9.62 lakh from the

accounts of ten persons in thecity. In Ghazipur police area,the miscreants fraudulentlywithdrew Rs 2.51 lakh fromthe bank account of PratimaYadav of Indira Nagar onJanuary 8. In PGI police area,the miscreants withdrew Rs19,999 from the bank accountof VK Srivastava on January 9.

In Gudamba, the miscre-

ants siphoned off Rs 50,000from the bank account ofKamlesh Varma of Kalyanpurlocality.

In Chinhat, two miscre-ants tricked Pannalal ofMatiyari when he had gone towithdraw cash and duped himof Rs 14,000. In Ashiyana,miscreants tricked VishalVerma of Aurangabad localityand withdrew Rs 50,000 from

his account. In Gomti Nagar,the miscreants duped salesmanSanjay Kumar of Vivek Khandof Rs 15,000.

In Madiaon, the miscre-ants duped Rajkumar Singh ofRs 20,000 while LU employeeAlok Singh was duped of Rs1.2 lakh. As sum of Rs 3 lakhwas withdrawn from the bankaccount of Sarla of Madiaonand Rs 52,000 from the bank

account of Tasavvur ofNagram. Meanwhile, twounidentified miscreantsconned a jeweller, identified asAnuj Soni, in Sarojininagar onThursday evening. Reportssaid the miscreants reached theshop and asked Soni to showthem her gold rings. Later, oneof them pocketed a box con-taining several rings and bothfled the scene.


Aspirants who appeared inthe entrance examination to

PhD courses of LucknowUniversity held on Thursdayfound the paper easy but lengthy.Most of them had mixed reac-tions as they said the paper wasbased on the LU syllabus alonewhen it should have been a pan-India one.

Shivangi Pandey said thereshould have been a model paper

which should have been given byLU. “We thought that the paperwould be similar to the onewhich is given in the NETexamination and preparedaccordingly. I prepared for theexamination on the lines of theBanaras Hindu Universitymodel paper for PhD examina-tion,” she said. Shivangi hasdone MSc in Mathematics fromLucknow University, securing 84per cent marks.

Ayushi Dwivedi, who has

done graduation from LucknowUniversity and PG inMathematics from RML AvadhUniversity with 63 per centmarks, said the questions werebased mostly on the syllabusfrom LU whereas it should havebeen much wider.

“When students who havedone MSc from other universi-ties are also appearing in theexamination, the syllabus shouldbe broad-based,” she said. Onbeing asked whether the

research creativity of a studentcould be measured through anentrance examination, she saidthat it was better assessed at theinterview level as the examina-tion was just an assessment ofthe knowledge of the student.

Suman Singh, who alsoappeared in the entrance exam-ination, secured 67 per centmarks in MSc (Mathematics),LU. She said that the paper waseasy but too lengthy. She saidthat she was interested in doing

PhD because she wanted to fol-low a career in academics.

Anusha Jaiswal, who hassecured 78 per cent in MSc(Mathematics) from LU, saidthat the second paper was verylengthy in comparison to thetime which had been given.

DP Mishra, who has doneMSc from the BHU and is cur-rently a lecturer at theGovernment Polytechnic, saidhe wanted to do PhD to upgradehimself from the career point of

view. Mishra said that he foundthe paper easy. RK Verma, fromthe same department who is alsoteaching Physics at theGovernment Polytechnic, saidthat the paper was easy. “I sat forthe examination for securing aPhD degree so that I couldupgrade myself,” he added.

LU admission incharge AnilMishra said that the total sched-uled students for the examina-tion were 6,938 and those pre-sent were 5,960 which was 85.9

percent attendance and for thedouble subject 261 studentswere present out of the sched-uled 298 students.

Responding to the reac-tions of the students, he said that

it had already been specified thatthe syllabus of the examinationwould be from LU. Regardingthe provision of the modelpaper, he said that was notdone by any university per se.


District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharmaon Thursday carried out an inspection

of Clock Tower, Satkhanda and PictureGallery, which are under the Hussainabadand Allied Trust.

The DM was apprised that illegal con-struction was being carried out on the landof HAT. The DM directed the ASI officialsto identify the sites and demolish unautho-rised structures. He also inquired from theASI as to why no action was taken againstthe encroachers earlier. The DM wasinformed that Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority would be constructing a foodcourt and museum and Rs 133-crore ten-ders had already been given and Rs 95-crore worth of tenders already approved.The DM said instead of a food court andmuseum, it was important to construct aboundary wall so that miscreants could bestopped from entering the place and

spoiling the ambience. He directed theofficials to send a letter to the PrincipalSecretary (Housing) for construction of theboundary. He said that the buses stationednearby should be removed and an Awadh

Haat be set up on the nazul land in front.He directed the officials to send a propos-al for the same. Sharma said the rents ofshops under HAT should be increased fromRs 5-90 to Rs 1,000-2,000 to bring revenue.

LU PhD entrance exam evokes mixed reaction

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

CANTTWATCH

Worker of leather mfg

workshop found dead

`9.62 lakh siphoned off from bank a/cs

DM carries out inspection at Hussainabad

Police sources said

the victim, Siraj,

had head injuries

and it appeared

that he was

attacked during a

brawl. Some of the

youths who would

often be seen

with the victim

are missing

Workshop at Karamat Husain Muslim Girls’ PG College

Thieves strike 3 shops,chased by locals

DGP catches Naka

cops by surprise

nation 05LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI

As situation in strife tornJammu & Kashmir is slow-

ly improving over the past fewmonths, Pakistan will adoptnew tactics of sending in moreinfiltrators from across theLine of Control (LoC) to keepthe State “boiling”, Army ChiefGeneral Bipin Rawat said onThursday.

He also said while the newregime under Prime MinisterImran Khan is “vocally” talkingof peace with India, the situationon the LoC, hinterland and pro-paganda from across the borderfor radicalisation of youth in theState tells a different story.

Sounding this note of cau-tion, Rawat said the rate ofrecruitment of local youth inthe militant outfits had sloweddown in the last four to fivemonths with just three inDecember last year therebyindicating that the generalKashmiri populace was nowrealising the futility of violence.Given this fact, the Army Chief,said, however, with more than300 terrorists waiting across the

border to sneak in, the “west-ern” neighbour will try to sendinfiltrators even during thewinter months when snowblocks ingress routes.

When asked about hiscomments on IAS topper ShahFaesal of Kashmir quitting theservice on Wednesday, theArmy Chief said it has to beseen if the topper, who achievedall success in the present system,resigned to protest against thenumber of terrorist killed dur-ing encounters or number oflocal youth picking up gun forthe so-called cause. Rawat won-dered if Faesal will reach out tothe misguided youth to comeback into the mainstream andappeal to the youth not to fallprey to radicalisation.

Faesal was the firstKashmiri who topped the cov-eted IAS examination about tenyears back. He quit service toprotest against “unabatedkillings in Kashmir and mar-ginalisation of Indian Muslims.”He also wrote on his Facebook“I wish to remind the regimethat subversion of institutionslike the RBI, CBI and NIA hasthe potential to decimate the

constitutional edifice of thiscountry and it needs to bestopped.”

On present Kashmir situa-tion, the Army Chief said secu-rity forces and Governmenthad adopted twin strategy of“hard power and soft power.”Admitting that earlier even asmany terrorists were killed,there was no drop in the num-ber of new recruits, Rawat saidit was due to propaganda andfervour during the funeral ofthe slain terrorists.

In an effort to wean awaythe gullible minds from jump-ing the fence after attending

such funerals, the agenciesstarted restricting the numberof people attending such occa-sions and it was now bearingresults, he said. Moreover, theagencies were now approachingparents of those youth pickingup the gun so that they couldpressurise their wards to returnto the mainstream and this wasalso bearing some results,Rawat said. Giving an example,in December last year onlythree young men joined mili-tancy as against the earliertrend of ten to 15 per month,Rawat said the local populationwas realising once a youthpicks up gun he will be finallyneutralised.

PNS n NEW DELHI

An estimated 12,000 dele-gates are expected to attend

the two-day National Councilof the BJP, beginning here onFriday that would showcase theModi-Government’s pro-poorprogrammes during its tenureand work out the election cam-paign agenda for the Lok Sabhapolls. It would be a two-dayopen session.

It would be one of thelargest BJP gatherings in therecent times and would beattended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, party presi-dent Amit Shah, all the partyState heads, BJP ChiefMinisters, MPs, MLAs andother council delegates.Council is the highest policymaking body of the BJP.

The Narendra ModiGovernment’s outreach to dif-ferent sections of society is like-ly to be a key theme for thecouncil meeting which wouldcommence with the address ofShah on Friday and concludeon Saturday with the PrimeMinister’s speech. The LokSabha poll which is only fewmonths away and expected tobe a tough contest given BJP’selectoral reverses in MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh, would be themain focus of the council meet.

The passage of the billproviding 10 per cent reserva-tion in jobs and education foreconomically weaker sectionsin the general category hasraised the upper caste reach ofthe BJP across the country. Themove may also push reverseconsolidation for the regionalcaste-based political parties,particularly in Uttar Pradeshand Bihar.

The BJP feels the bill,which will come into forceafter getting the President’snod — a mere formality — will

consolidate its core vote ofupper castes in the Hindi-speaking states and alsostrengthen its appeal amongpolitical significant communi-ties like Jats, Patidars andMarathas, among others.

A section of the partybelieves that anger amongupper castes played a role in itsloss in the recent State polls.

Party sources said theModi Government’s measures,like granting constitutional sta-tus to the OBC Commissionand strengthening the law onatrocities against Dalits andtribals, are likely to be high-lighted and projected as part ofits “social justice” project.

Shah has often assertedthat the BJP will win more seatsthan the 2014 polls, when ithad won its first ever majorityby bagging 282 of the 543 LokSabha seats.

But BJP’s rivals believe thatthe party is facing a resurgentCongress in several states whilethe expected alliance of theSamajwadi Party and the BSPwill dent its prospects in UttarPradesh, making the likeli-hood of its repeat of 2014 featchallenging.

New Delhi/Mumbai: MajorBollywood stars such asRanveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor,Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawanlanded in the Capital onThursday for a meeting withPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting comes weeksafter the PM met Bollywoodproducers and discussed issuesfaced by the industry, which ledto the reduction in GST on filmtickets by the Government.

“There is a meeting hap-pening with PM today with

people from the film industry,including actors,” sources closeto the development told PTI.

The insider, however, didnot disclose the agenda of themeeting. The delegation, whichis a mix of directors and actors,has been organised by film-maker Karan Johar, the sourceadded. The line-up fromBollywood also includes direc-tors Rohit Shetty and AshwinyIyer Tiwari, producers EktaKapoor and Mahaveer Jain,actors Rajkummar Rao, Vicky

Kaushal, AyushmannKhurrana, Bhumi Pednekarand Sidharth Malhotra.

After December 19 meetingwith PM drew flak on socialmedia for not having any femalerepresentation on panel, inclu-sion of names such as Alia andBhumi is a step up. Actors-pro-ducers Ajay Devgn, AkshayKumar, Karan Johar, SidharthRoy Kapur, Ritesh Sidhwaniand others were censured byinternet users for not, includingany women in the panel. PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

After missing several dead-lines, much-awaited Rs

300-crore National Clean AirProgramme (NCAP) was final-ly unveiled on Thursday focus-ing on 102 cities beginningwith “modest target” of reduc-tion of 20 to 30 per cent in par-ticulate matter (PM) by 2024with 2017 as the base year.

The 102 cities underNCAP that includeChandigarh, nine cities fromPunjab, Delhi, seven fromHimachal Pradesh, two fromJammu & Kashmir and twofrom Uttarakhand are thosewhich did not meet the annu-al national standards of cleanair from 2011 to 2015.

Taking into account theavailable international experi-ences and national studies, thetentative national level target of20 per cent to 30 per centreduction of PM2.5 and PM10concentration by 2024 is pro-posed under the NCAP taking2017 as the base year for thecomparison of concentration,said Union EnvironmentMinister Dr Harsh Vardhanafter the release of the plan atan event here.

“Overall objective of the

NCAP is comprehensive miti-gation actions for prevention,control and abatement of airpollution besides augmentingthe air quality monitoring net-work across the country andstrengthening the awarenessand capacity building activi-ties,” the Minister added.

The NCAP, a nation-wide

pollution abatement step, willfocus on 102 polluted citieswith a budget of Rs 300 crorefor financial years 2018-19 and2019-20 — about Rs 2.9 croreper city.

Under the programme, theGovernment will set up anational inventory, issue guide-lines for indoor air pollution,

expand air quality monitoringnetwork in cities and in ruralareas and conduct air pollutionhealth impact studies.

CK Mishra, UnionEnvironment Secretary added,“Our plans to combat air pol-lution have been NCR-centricso far, but with launch of theNCAP we have tried to reach

out to different parts of thecountry.”

CEO NITI Aayog ,Amitabh Kant termed theNCAP as ‘a path breaking ini-tiative’ and one of the most crit-ical and most significant pro-gramme as it addresses one ofthe most alarming challenges ofurbanisation i.e. air pollution.

“Today cities occupy just 3per cent of the land, but con-tribute to 82 per cent of GDPand responsible for 78 per centof Carbon dioxide emissions;cities though are engines ofgrowth and equity but theyhave to be sustainable and it isin this context that NCAP beinga very inclusive program holdsspecial relevance,” Kant said.

However, green activistslike Sunil Dahiya, senior cam-paigner with Greenpeace Indiaexpressed doubt on its success,saying that the “NCAP is notbacked with a strong legalmandate and clear account-abilities, implementing it on the ground will be a bigchallenge”.

Nevertheless, the NGOadded that, considering thelevel of India’s air quality, thefact that our country now hasan action plan to combat airpollution is worth celebrating.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Citing the passage of QuotaBill for the people from

economically weaker sectionsas “special achievement”,Parliamentary Affairs MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar said onThursday the productivity ofthe Lok Sabha was about 47 percent and Rajya Sabha 27 percent in the just-concludedWinter Session of Parliament.

According to data collatedby think-tank PRS LegislativeResearch, productivity ofParliament during the sessionwas the “third lowest” in the16th Lok Sabha. TheControversial Citizenship andtriple talaq (instant divorce)bills could not get passed in theRajya Sabha after approved by

the Lok Sabha. An ordinancecould again be pronounced bythe Government in reference tothe triple talaq.

“Special achievement of thissession of Parliament was thatboth houses passed the 124thConstitutional Amendment Billthat seeks to provide 10 per centreservation people from eco-nomic weaker sections.

“It has been a historicalachievement. This was an aspi-ration of crores of underprivi-leged Indian citizens,” he saidwhile addressing a press con-ference in Parliament.

As about the pending billsin Rajya Sabha, Minister ofState for Parliamentary AffairsVijay Goel said the governmentis committed to the passage ofthe triple talaq bill and the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Goyal said the message of

the bills was clear thatGovernment wants “Sabka Saath,Sabka vikas.” The Lok Sabha,which provided 17 sittingsspread over a period of 29 days,was adjourned sine die onTuesday, while the RS, whichprovided 18 sittings over a peri-od of 30 days, was adjourned sinedie on Wednesday.

“The productivity of theLok Sabha was about 47 per centand that of the Rajya Sabha wasabout 27 per cent,” Tomar said.During the session, 17 bills —12 in Lok Sabha and five inRajya Sabha — were intro-duced. Five bills were passed byboth Houses of Parliament andfour pending bills were with-drawn in the Rajya Sabha.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Agriculture Ministry hasstarted inter-State mandi

(Agriculture Produce MarketCommittee (APMC) tradethrough the electronic NationalAgriculture Market (e-NAM) toboost farmers income and theirproduce. The very first inter-state transaction in tomatoeshas been carried out betweentrader of Bareilly e-NAMAPMC of Uttar Pradesh andfarmer of Haldwani e-NAMAPMC of Uttarakhand.

The inter -state transac-tions in potatoes, brinjal andcauliflower have been carriedout between the e-NAM man-dis of Uttarakhand and UttarPradesh. In all the cases, e-pay-ments have been made throughe-NAM portal. This will helpsfarmers get better marketaccess, more buyers and tradersto realise better prices for theirproduce. Farmers can access

the information on e-NAMeasily through their mobilephone from anywhere. Thisonline trading platform aims atreducing transaction costs,bridging information asym-metry and helps in expandingthe market access for farmers.Earlier trade used to happeneither within the APMC orbetween two APMCs situatedwithin same State.

The ministry has integrat-ed 585 wholesale regulatedmarkets/ (APMC) markets in16 States and 2 UnionTerritories (UTs), who havecarried out requisite reforms intheir State APMC. Currently,seven States - Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Uttarakhand -are working on the modalitiesto establish interstate trade.

Trade in 585 mandis iscurrently happening on theelectronic network, which helps

discover price real time in atransparent manner. TheGovernment aims at integrating200 mandis this year and anoth-er 215 next year with the e-NAM platform. There are about2,700 APMC mandis and 4,000sub-market yards in India.

Founded in April 2016,eNAM is a virtual market-place with a physical market(mandi) at the backend, net-working the existingAPMC/mandis to create a uni-fied national market for agri-cultural commodities for pan-India electronic trading.Mandis handle huge volumes

of farm produce. eNAM pro-vides quick quality assayingsolutions (preferably within aminute/parameter) to promoteonline trading.

Amid thousands of farm-ers committing suicide everypassing year and with thenumbers increasing, self-suffi-ciency in agriculture has beenthe top priority for the Indianagriculture ministry. eNAM isseen as an important step totransform the existing informalagricultural infrastructure intoa more formal and transparentone. It is also viewed as a wayto create agripreneurs out offarmers who could also markettheir produce smartly.

India ranks second in theworld in farm output. However,despite the fact that over 55 percent of the Indian populationis dependent on farming, agri-culture and allied sectorsaccount for only 17.9 per centof the country’s GDP.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a move to maintain cam-paign silence during last 48

hours before the conclusion ofpolling in the light of theincreasing influence of digitaland social media, a high-levelcommittee set up by theElection Committee (EC) onThursday submitted report toit. The committee headed bydeputy election commissionerUmesh Sinha suggested mod-ifications and changes in theprovisions of the Section 126and other sections of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct 1951, provisions of ModelCode of Conduct.

Sources said the recom-mendations made by theCommittee, when implement-ed (after adoption by the ECwith necessary modification oradditions), will help in min-imising the possible interference

of activities which aim at indi-rectly influencing voters duringthe valuable silence period of 48hours provided to them.

The Committee haddetailed consultations with allmajor stakeholders includingvarious political parties, nomi-nees/ representatives of thePress Council of India (PCI), theNews Broadcasters Association(NBA), the Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI),the Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting, the Ministryof Electronics and InformationTechnology (MeitY) as well asrepresentatives of several inter-mediaries and technology com-panies including Facebook,WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter,and Google. The Committeealso had several rounds of dis-cussions and consultations withthe legal and other divisionswithin the ECI.

The committee has exam-

ined the present provisions ofthe Section 126 and other relat-ed Sections of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct, 1951 and identify diffi-culties/critical gaps to regulatethe violation of the said provi-sions of the act, particularlyduring the prohibitory periodof 48 hours before the com-

pletion of the poll, mentionedin section 126 and suggestnecessary amendment/modifi-cation. The committee has alsoImpact of new media plat-forms and social media duringthe prohibitory period of 48hours before the close of polland its implication in view ofthe provisions of section 126.

New Delhi: Malaysia’s rul-ing party leader AnwarIbrahim on Thursday calledon Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and dis-cussed bilateral, regionaland global issues of mutu-al interest.

Anwar, a member ofthe Malaysian Parliamentand the leader of the PartiKeadilan Rakyar Party, is inthe national Capital to par-ticipate in the ‘RaisinaDialogue’, consideredIndia’s flagship annualgeopolitical and geo-strate-gic conference.

Anwar was accompaniedby two other members of theMalaysian Parliament —Kesavan Subramanian and

Santhara Kumar Ramanaidu,the Ministry of External Affairssaid in a statement.

Prime Minister Modi con-

gratulated Anwar on hisrecent election as presi-dent of the PKR Party.Modi fondly recalledtheir last meeting inMalaysia in May 2018and conveyed his regardsto Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad.

The two leaders dis-cussed bilateral, regionaland global matters ofmutual interest, the state-ment said. Anwar servedas the Deputy PrimeMinister of Malaysia from1993-1998 and as theFinance Minister from

1991-1998 when he was amember of the UMNO, a majorparty in the ruling BarisanNasional coalition. PTI

Pak infiltrators to disturb J&K peace: Rawat

Army chief OK’s talk with Talibanbut not with militants in ValleyNew Delhi: Favouring talkswith the Taliban as India hasinterests in Afghanistan, theArmy Chief, however, ruled outapplying the same strategy inJammu & Kashmir.Several political parties hadsaid if the Indian Governmentwas willing to engage theTaliban then they should do sowith separatists and otherorganisations in Jammu &Kashmir to bring peace afterthe Army chief in a conclave onWednesday said India should talk with the Taliban asmany other countries werealso doing so.

Reiterating his opinion onThursday, Rawat said theIndian Government was willing to talk every section in Kashmir after theyshun violence.

However, it was not hap-pening, he said. Similarly,Kashmir is a issue betweenIndia and Pakistan and New

Delhi is willing to come to thenegotiation table but talks andterror cannot go together, theArmy Chief said.

On Afghanistan, Rawatsaid since India has intereststhere and since many countriesare already talking to theTaliban, “We cannot out of thebandwagon.”

He also said India has to beinvolved directly or indirectlyin talks though it should nottake the lead adding “we shouldnot be left out.”

“Unless you are not sittingon that table you will not knowwhat is discussed. Because a lotof this is discussed in closeddoors. That’s why we are say-ing sit on the high table, and seehow it suits you. We have our issues. I think we needto take our call on our ownterms but unless you are sittingon the high table how do you know what is happening,’”he said.

Army Chief General BipinRawat said the rate ofrecruitment of local youth inthe militant outfits hadslowed down in the last fourto five months with just threein December last yearthereby indicating that thegeneral Kashmiri populacewas now realising the futilityof violence

12K to attend BJP’stwo-day nationalcouncil meet today

It would be one of thelargest BJP gatherings in therecent times and would beattended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, partypresident Amit Shah, all theparty State heads, BJP ChiefMinisters, MPs, MLAs andother council delegates.Council is the highest policymaking body of the BJP

Bollywood stars meet PM

Agri Min starts inter-State mandi through e-NAM

Anwar Ibrahim meets PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands withMember of the Malaysian Parliament, Datuk Seri AnwarIbrahim, in New Delhi, on Thursday PTI

Productivity of LS 47%, RS 27%: Tomar

Govt finally unveils National Clean Air ProgrammeNCAP focuses on 102 cities beginning with ‘modest target’ of reduction of

20 to 30 per cent in particulate matter by 2024 with 2017 as base year

Andhra Pradesh: Guntur, Kurnool, Nellore, Vijaywadaand Vishakhapatnam

Assam: Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sibsagar andSilchar

Chandigarh: Chandigarh

Chattisgarh: Bhillai, Korba and Raipur

Delhi: Delhi

Gujarat: Surat and Ahmedabad

Himachal Pradesh: Baddi, Damtal, Kala Amb,Nalagarh, Paonta Sahib,Parwanoo and Sunder Nagar

Jammu & Kashmir: Jammu and Srinagar

Jharkhand: Dhanbad

Karnataka: Bangalore, Devanagere, Gulburga andHubli-Dharwad

Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal, Dewas, Indore, Sagar,Ujjain and Gwalior

Maharashtra: Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad,Badlapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon,Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai,Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Pune,

Sangli, Solapur and Ulhasnagar

Meghalaya: Byrnihat

Nagaland: Dimapur and Kohima

Odisha: Angul, Balasore, Bhubneshwar, Cuttack,Rourkela and Talcher

Punjab: DeraBassi, Gobindgarh, Jalandhar, Khanna,Ludhiana, NayaNangal, Pathankot/Dera Baba,Patiala and Amritsar

Rajasthan: Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur

Tamilnadu: Tuticorin

Telangana: Hydrabad, Nalgonda and Patencheru

Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Allahabad, Anpara, Bareily,Firozabad, Gajraula, Ghaziabad,Jhansi, Kanpur, Khurja, Lucknow,Muradabad, Noida, Rae Bareli andVaranasi

Uttarakhand: Kashipur and Rishikesh

West Bengal: Kolkata

Bihar: Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur

EC panel's report on social media & polls submitted

New Delhi: The EC is holding a two-day meet of Chief ElectoralOfficers (CEOs) on January 11 and 12 to review preparedness forLok Sabha polls, due for later this year. During the conference,the commission will discuss key issues related to poll prepared-ness such as updating of electoral rolls, functioning of ERO Net,polling station arrangements and EVM-VVPAT, a statement said.Apart from reviewing poll preparedness, the commission will alsodiscuss the takeaways and learnings from the recent Assemblyelections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthanand Telangana. During the conference, the CEOs will make theircomprehensive presentations of their poll preparedness on allimportant parameters.

Two-day meet of CEOs to review

preparedness for Lok Sabha polls

LIST OF 102 CITIES CHOSEN FOR NCAP INTERVENTION

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019 nation 06

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

At least two Indian soldiers,including a senior Army

officer received injuries in freshincident of ceasefire violationalong the Line of Control inManjakote sector of Rajouri onThursday.

In response, the IndianArmy retaliated strongly andgave a befitting reply to thePakistan Army.

Defence spokesman inJammu confirmed, anotherincident of ceasefire violationwas reported in the forwardareas of Manjakote in Rajourion Thursday.

Official sources claimed,two soldiers, injured in thecross border firing were safelyevacuated to a nearby hospitalwhere they are undergoingtreatment. “Their conditionwas stated to be stable till thetime of filing the report", offi-cial sources said.

For last couple of daysPakistan army is indulging inblatant ceasefire violations inthe region and provokingstrong retaliation.

Large number of borderresidents in frontier districts ofRajouri and Poonch, living inthe direct line of enemy fire,have been adversely affected bythe random incidents of firing.

The border residents havebeen regularly pleading beforethe Governors' administrationto expedite construction ofbunkers in the forward villagesto ensure their safety.

Issue of absence of ambu-lances in the worst affectedareas has been raised by thelocal residents but so far ade-quate measures have not been

taken in some of the forwardareas witnessing heavyexchange of cross bordershelling.

Local reports claimed,Pakistan army on the other sideof the line of control has beeninitiating ceasefire violations

with a view to facilitate infil-trators to cross and give themcover to cross across the line ofcontrol.

2 jawans injured in Pak firing

CEASEFIRE VIOLATION IN J&K

Chennai: A Government AIDScontrol body in Tamil Naduwill propose that all futureblood donors in the Staterecord their biometric details sothat issues related to fake cre-dentials are addressed andtimely medical care could beprovided if they test HIV pos-itive during the screeningprocess.

The proposal by the TamilNadu State AIDS ControlSociety (TANSACS) comesclose on the heels of a pregnantwoman being transfused withHIV infected blood donatedby a youth in SivakasiGovernment blood bank,which led to an outrage andraised questions over the pre-sent screening process.

The move is also aimed atensuring timely initiation ofantiretroviral therapy to donorswho test positive for HIV when

the blood is screened afterdonation at banks.

As many as 23 donors test-ed positive for HIV during2015-18 but could not beinformed of their status for avariety of reasons.

"We are going to propose tothe Government to have a pro-gramme to capture the bio-metrics of blood donors,"Project Director, TANSACS,Dr K Senthil Raj told PTI.

Of the 23 donors, somewere untraceable, a section ofthem did not cooperate andothers had provided fake iden-tity and false contact details, hesaid.

"In such cases, biometricswill help identify and bringthem into the system by doinga test to confirm the presenceof the virus through informedconsent," he said.

After the test, if the results

were positive again, counsellingand later ART could be initi-ated. "Timely initiation of ARTand strict adherence to the reg-imen is key to tackling HIV.Biometrics will not only helpinitiation of ART at the righttime but will offer additionalhelp to avoid transfusion ofinfected blood," he pointedout. Some infected men donateblood under peer pressure justto avoid disclosure of theirHIV+ status and hence providefalse details during blood dona-tion, he pointed out. "Whilesome of them later inform usdiscreetly to not use theirblood, others don't."

"HIV is only an infectionand there is nothing to beashamed of it. Unfortunately,since a section of society stillcling to the stigma some tendto hide their positive status," hesaid. PTI

Srinagar: The Army has a rangeof options to exercise against thecontinued infiltration fromacross the Line of Control (LoC)in Jammu & Kashmir to give abefitting reply to Pakistan, a topArmy commander said onThursday.

"It (infiltration) has car-ried on… We have a range ofoptions that are available to theIndian Army and depending onthe situation and depending onwhat is the effect that we desire,we decide on whatever optionhas to be exercised," Armycommander, NorthernCommand, Lt Gen Ranbir

Singh told reporters at Gulmarg— 55 kms from here.

Lt Gen Singh was talking tothe media after inaugurating theGulmarg Winter Youth Festivalat the famous ski-resort innorth Kashmir's Baramulla dis-trict.

He said ceasefire violationson the LoC was a ploy by thePakistani army to push theinfiltrators into Indian territo-ry. "As far as the ceasefire vio-lations are concerned, they havecontinued on the LoC, but it isessentially the adversary, thePakistani army, on the other sideof the LoC initiating ceasefire

violations with a view to facili-tate the infiltrators and givethem cover to cross over theIndian side," he said.

The Army commander,however, said the Pakistaniarmy is given a befittingresponse whenever a ceasefireviolation takes place. "Our strat-egy is very clear. Whenever anyceasefire violations are carriedout by the Pakistan army, theyare given a befitting responseand it is to the credit of all thetroops deployed on the LoC thatwe have been able to keep theenemy under tremendous pres-sure," he said. PTI

Cross-border infiltration: Army commander saysoptions available to give befitting reply to Pak

Chennai: In a stinging counter-attack on the Rafale issue,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Thursday accused theCongress of stalling defenceprocurement if there was “nodeal” for it.

He also said the allegedmiddleman Christian Michelwas close to the Congress firstfamily and the people deservedto know the role played by himin the 10-year delay over theRafale deal during UPA regime.

Interacting with boothlevel BJP workers of TamilNadu through video-confer-encing, he said many peoplethink that the biggest failure ofCongress was mismanagementof the economy and corruption.

"But they did deep damageto our armed forces. Not manyknow how much damageCongress culture did to ourdefence sector for decades.They had made the defencesector a den of Bofors and bro-kers and middlemen.

"In their government, pro-curement would only happenif there was a deal. If there wasno deal their approach was tosimply stop buying anything forthe armed forces," Modi said inresponse to a question.

Recalling Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman's state-ment during the debate in LokSabha over the Rafale issue,Modi said when India's neigh-

bours were strengthening theirforces with fourth and fifthgeneration fighters, the thenCongress Government stalleddefence procurement.

Recently, between 2004-15, one of India's neighboursadded 400 aircraft while anoth-er doubled the air force fleetstrength with many of thesebeing fourth and fifth genera-tion fighters, he said.

"What was the CongressGovernment doing at thattime? It stalled Defence pro-curement for want of its dealwhile our neighbours increasedcapacity. Congress actuallydecreased ours. Such hugedamage to the defence forces,all for the sake of a deal,"Modi alleged. Referring tonegotiations to purchase 126Rafale fighter jets during theUPA regime, Modi claimedMichel, being probed over theAugustaWestland chopper deal,had access to inside informa-tion like the timing of a Cabinetmeet on security and aGovernment file on a relatedmatter. PTI

PM questions Michel'srole in stalled Rafaledeal during UPA

Guwahati: After making theissue of illegal infiltration amajor poll plank in the 2014 LokSabha and 2016 Assembly elec-tions in Assam, the ruling BJPon Thursday claimed noBangladeshi national has illegallyentered into India in the last 10years.

BJP spokespersons claimedat a press conference here thatthe controversial Citizenship(Amendment) Bill will not bringin any new foreigner into India.

"No infiltration is happen-ing at this moment. Illegal migration happenedonly earlier.

"We can say that in the last10 years, no infiltration took

place from Bangladesh," BJP spokesperson SwapnanilBarua said.

Bangladeshis are notmigrating to India because ofeconomic reasons as they nowgo to Europe, Gulf or otherdeveloped regions, he said.

"In Europe or Gulf, they geta minimum wage of around`3,000 per day. In India, theycan earn a maximum of ̀ 1,000.So, why should they comehere," he asked.

Another spokespersonMominul Awal said that theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,if passed, will not bring any newHindu Bangladeshi into India.

PTI

No infiltration took

place from B’desh

in last 10 yrs: BJP

Biometrics in blood banks to giveleg up to HIV treatment in TN

A camel getting its fur cut by Japanese hairdresser, Megumi Takeichi, before Camel Festival in Bikaner on Thursday PTI

Chennai: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said onThursday that the BJP is opento alliances and cherished itsold friends, in a hint that itwas looking to strengthenthe NDA in Tamil Naduahead the Lok Sabha elec-tions.

Slamming Congress forits "arrogance" and slightingregional parties, Modi saidthat the party was haughtyenough to say that they wouldspring a "surprise" despitehaving none to rub shoulderswith in Uttar Pradesh.

In an interaction withparty booth-level workers

from five districts in TamilNadu through video confer-encing, he recalled the "suc-cessful coalition politics" ush-ered in by former PrimeMinister, the late Atal BihariVajpayee in the 1990s andsaid the BJP's doors were"always open".

" . . .20 years ago thevisionar y leader Atal j ibrought in a new culture inIndian politics, that of suc-cessful coalition politics.

He gave utmost impor-tance to regional aspirations...BJP has followed the wayAtal ji has shown us," Modisaid.

The Prime Minister, inthe fourth interaction withparty workers in the state,was responding to questionsfrom a worker on whether theBJP would a l ly withAIADMK, DMK or Tamilsuperstar Rajinikanth, who isyet to form his political party.

The BJP had fought the2014 Lok Sabha elections inTamil Nadu leading a six-party alliance comprisingsmaller parties, including theDMDK, the PMK and Vaiko-led MDMK, and won two ofthe 39 seats — one each bythe saffron party and PMK.

However, all five parties

snapped ties with the BJPlater. The Prime Ministersaid a strong NDA was "anarticle of faith for us".

"It is not a compulsion.Even when the BJP won astrong majority on its own,we preferred to run the gov-ernment with our allies. Wecherish our old friends andour doors are always open forparties," Modi said.

However, Congress had"ill-treated" regional parties,he said, adding "What Atal jidid was in direct contrast tothe Congress which has nevercared for regional aspira-tions. PTI

PM says BJP open to alliances

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Bengal will not be a part ofCentral initiatives like

Ayushman Bharat as they werebeing used as propaganda toolby the BJP, State Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Thursdaysaid. Coming down heavily onPrime Minister Narendra Modifor doing “dirty politics”,Mamata said her State would“not contribute 40 per cent ofthe funds for the AyushmanBharat. I withdraw from it.From now, they will have to paythe full amount and run thescheme.”

Addressing a huge audi-ence at Nadia, Mamata asked,“Why should we contribute tothe (Ayushman Bharat) schemeif the Prime Minister’s imageaffixed is on the letterheadalong with the picture of lotus(the BJP’s party symbol) insteadof India’s national insignia,”alleging the CentralGovernment was running theBJP’s campaign with the peo-ple’s money and the money sentin by the federal States.

“We withdraw from theAyushman Bharat. Let themnow fund the scheme andcarry it forward. We have ourown similar schemes and han-dle that in more successfulmanner,” Banerjee said addingBengal had a better option inArogyashri.

Incidentally, the BengalGovernment had alreadyearned international accoladesfor bringing social welfareschemes like Kanyashree,Rupashree, Sabuj Saathi allbrain child of the ChiefMinister.

Bengal was also likely towithdraw from crop insurance,Prime Minister rural roadschemes etc, sources later said.

Referring to the Central

health insurance and otherschemes Banerjee said, “theyare claiming to be implement-ing programmes out of theCentre’s but in fact they aredoing so with the fund gener-ated by the States. This is afraud done on the people ofIndia.”

Wondering why the Centrewould take away income taxcollected from the people shedemanded “our own share ofincome tax that you take awayfrom the people of this State.”

Attacking the PrimeMinister further for “mislead-ing the people” by implement-ing the 10 percent job quota forthe economically backwardpeople from the upper castesegment of the society, Banerjeesaid they not only misled thepeople but also “ruined thefuture of the farmers’ andworkers’ children,” adding“Prime Minister is doing dirtypolitics over this and I con-demn it.

Elsewhere, senior TMCleader and MP AbhishekBanerjee attacked the BJP.

Didi junks ‘PM’s brainchild’

Ayushman Bharat in Bengal

Govt trying to create emergency-like

situation in Assam: RTI activist Gogoi

Guwahati: The BJPGovernment has gone “mad”and is attempting to create an“emergency-like” situation inAssam, noted RTI activistAkhil Gogoi said after police onThursday registered a seditioncase against for making com-ments on the citizenship bill.

However, the BJP accusedGogoi of having links withMaoists, being a “professional”agitator and working to fulfilthe political agenda of others.

Besides Gogoi, sedition

cases were also registeredagainst Sahitya Akademiawardee Assamese litterateurHiren Gohain and senior jour-nalist Manjit Mahanta for theircomments on the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, a policeofficial said.

“The BJP Government hasgone mad and is trying to cre-ate an emergency-like situationto suppress a spontaneousmovement by the people ofAssam against the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill,” Gogoi,

who is also Krishak MuktiSangram Samiti (KMSS) chief,told reporters here.

The KMSS along with its70 partner organisations is onthe forefront of protests againstthe bill in Assam.

“It is unfortunate that alearned person like Gohainsir has been targeted by thegovernment. I am used tocase upon case being filed onme and going to jail hasbecome a lifestyle for me,”Gogoi said.

NEW DELHI | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019 nation 07

Members of Indian Muslim Women Solidarity Forum hold placards during a protest against Triple Talaq Bill in Kolkata onThursday PTI

JUSTICE LALIT...case to a five-judge constitutionBench to examine the obser-vation that a mosque was notintegral to Islam. He drew thecourt’s attention to “certainspeculations prevailing as towhy the matter has now beenfixed for hearing before a five-judges bench though the three-judges bench” by its September27, 2018 order had expresslydirected that the matter be list-ed before a three-judges bench.Senior advocate Harish Salve,appearing for a Hindu party,submitted, “I understand that ifa constitutional question has tobe decided, then it should notbe decided by a bench of lessthan five-judges”. Clearing thedoubts, the bench said thedecision to post the matterbefore a five-judge bench wastaken by the CJI on adminis-trative side in exercise of hispowers under Order VI rule 1of the Supreme Court Rules,2013 which mandates that“every cause, appeal or mattershall be heard by a bench con-sisting of not less than twojudges nominated by the ChiefJustice”. “Order VI rule 1 of theSupreme Court Rules, 2013prescribes the minimumnumerical strength of the benchand it is always open for theChief Justice to decide, havingregard to the various relevantfacts and circumstances, whichcannot be exhaustively laiddown, to constitute benches ofsuch strength that the the ChiefJustice deems it proper,” JusticeGogoi said.

“This is how the presentbench of five-judges has beenconstituted which is, in noway, contrary to what has beenlaid down by the three-judgesBench in the aforesaid judg-ment and order datedSeptember 27, 2018,” the CJIadded. The Bench, in its order,noted that Secretary General ofthe apex court registry hasinformed the CJI that in foursuits, out of which these appealshave arisen, in all 120 issueshave been framed for trial anda total of 88 witnesses wereexamined. It noted that depo-

sitions of witnesses run into13,886 pages and a total of 257documents were exhibited.

While the order was beingdictated, Dhavan pointed thatnumber of exhibits were 533,including three archaeologicalreports. The Bench noted thatthe high court’s verdict runsinto 4,304 printed pages, whichaccording to the registry, are8,533 typed pages.

“The Bench has beeninformed that the originalrecords are lying in 15 sealedtrunks in a room which has alsobeen sealed. Whether the depo-sitions and documents whichare in Persian, Sanskrit, Arabic,Gurumukhi, Urdu and Hindi,etc have been translated is notclear,” the Bench said. It said theapex court, in its August 10,2015 order, had indicated thatthough counsel for parties hadattempted to submit sometranslated version of evidence,“there is a dispute with regardto the correctness of the trans-lations made”.

“In these circumstances,the registry of this court isdirected to physically inspectthe records which are lyingunder lock and key; make anassessment of the time that willbe taken to make the casesready for hearing by engaging,if required, official translators ofthe requisite number and givea report thereof to the court,”the order said.“The said reportwill be submitted to this courtby the registry on January 29,2019 when the reconstitutedbench (without Uday UmeshLalit, J), as may be, will assem-ble once again to take up thematter for further orders,” itsaid. PTI

10% GEN QUOTA...It also said that the amend-

ments fail to consider thatArticles 14 and 16 form thebasic feature of equality, andthat they have been violatedwith the doing away of therestraints that were imposed onthe reservation policy, i.e. The50 per cent ceiling limit and theexclusion of economic status asa sole criterion. “The

Constitution amendment com-pletely violates theConstitutional norm that eco-nomic criterion cannot be theonly basis of reservation as hasbeen laid down by the 9 judgesin Indira Sawhney, withoutremoving the basis of the judge-ment”, the petition said.

“By way of the presentamendments, the exclusion ofthe OBCs and the SCs/STsfrom the scope of the econom-ic reservation essentially impliesthat only those who are poorfrom the general categorieswould avail the benefits of thequotas. “Taken together withthe fact that the high creamylayer limit of Rs 8 lakh perannum ensures that the elite inthe OBCs and SCs/STs capturethe reservation benefits repeat-edly, the poor sections of thesecategories remain completelydeprived. This is an over-whelming violation of the basicfeature of equality enshrined inArticle 14 of the Constitutionand elsewhere,” it said. Later ina press release, the organisationsaid in principle it’s a welcomestep and that deprivation andnot the caste has been made thebasis of protective discrimina-tion. “However, the limit of totalreservation is increased to 60per cent. This will open a pan-dora’s box. Now more andmore political parties/castegroups will claim for increasedpercentage of reservations, bothat the Centre and state level,” itsaid. The Youth for Equalitydemanded that the 27 per centOBC reservation also must bebrought under the economiccriterion test and not accordingto caste consideration. TheParliament Wednesdayapproved the quota bill after theRajya Sabha passed the mea-sure. The Lok Sabha cleared thebill on Tuesday. PTI

SHEILA BACK...After her loss she was

appointed Governor of Keralain 2013 but she resigned afterNarendra Modi came to powerin 2014. She was briefly givencharge of Uttar Pradesh but quitfor health reasons.

AICC sources said Sheilat’spolitical acumen is more thanthe current run of part leader-ship in Delhi politics and herinduction at the helm of DelhiCongress is seen as a signal ofthe party’s seriousness about itsprospective alliance with AAPto defeat the BJP which is hold-ing all the seven Lok Sabha seatsin Delhi.

Kejriwal -- who was at log-gerheads with the Congressafter their partnership endedwith his 49-day tenure as ChiefMinister in 2013 -- has been co-opted into the proposed GrandAlliance against the BJP.Andhra Pradesh chief NChandrababu Naidu who quitNDA and joined theOpposition bandwagon hasalong with DMK chief MKStalin have persuaded Kejriwalto drop the “negative stance”against the Congress to take onModi juggernaut. Dikshit’scomment on the prospectivepartnership had marked a freshstance that took the big pictureinto account and helped cata-pult her to the pole position inthe race for the party’s top jobin Delhi. Asked about thealliance, Dikshit in an interviewlast had said the “high com-mand, Rahul and all will decideand whatever they decide willbe acceptable to all of us”.Achange of guard was alsoannounced for HimachalPradesh with senior partyleader Kuldeep Singh Rathore’sname cleared by Rahul to handhim the batons of HimalayanState by replacing SukhwinderSingh Sukhu.

Congress chief also clearedRathore’s appointment afterdeliberations with State unitleaders. Rathore is a member ofthe All India CongressCommittee (AICC) and formergeneral secretary and chiefspokesman of the HimachalPradesh Congress Committee.The removal of Sukhu cameahead of the parliamentaryelection as the faction led byformer Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh was at log-gerheads with him and wantedhis removal.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI

External Affairs MinisterSushma Sawaraj said India

is a proactive and constructivecontributor to maintaininginternational peace and secu-rity. Emphasising on educatingthe mass in the country aboutchanging dynamics ofInternational Politics, Sushmasaid, for us, transformation isnot just a national agenda, buta global vision.

“Through the Ministry ofExternal Affairs, we hope toelevate research and our knowl-edge base by reaching out tovarious institutions, buildingpartnerships. Increasingknowledge lies at the heart ofIndia’s aspirations in the worldarena,” she said during ongoingRaisina Dialogue series in New

Delhi. On international SolarAlliance, Sushma said thattremendous strides were beingmade in launching interna-tional solar alliance in part-nership with France.

India and other countries alike must rememberthat the world is one family,”she said. In another talks inRaisina Dialogue series, titledThe World in a Moment:Looking Back, Looking ahead,Looking Hard, emergingpower equation between Chinaand United States were dis-cussed. In discussions formersecurity officer expressed con-cern over trans -Atlantic rela-tionship and also sought toopen the alliance for India.General David H Petrarus(Retd), Chairman, KKR Globalinstitute, USA said, “India has

to decide and has to take a sidein the new world order shapedby rising China and resurgentRussia. Echoing the same view,Former foreign secretary SJaishankar said,”Yes, India musttake a side.”

Paolo Gentiloni, FormerPrime Minister, Italy said thatEurope is more aware of Chinaand the issue of cooperation.“There is a worry about the unpredictability of hostileescalations between China andthe US, adding,”Perhaps,Europe and India can standtogether in the face of theseconcerns.

On China’s emergence atglobal platform in business,trade and commerce, security,General David said, The Chinasituation has become the defin-ing issue of our time, and it will

become more relevant withdifferent countries becomingkey players in the internation-al system.” adding, the trendssuggest that what seems toemerging is in a way, a newcold war between the two greatsuperpowers,” he added.

Experts also said the trans-Atlantic alliance andEurope is not keen to have aconfrontational attitudetowards Russia. We have todefend and transform our mul-tilateral, global strategies toeradicate the current risingtensions.

“In the current political cli-mate, there has been concernaround the complacency ofEuropean nations in terms ofthe events taking place in Asia,”said Dr Jai Shankar. “India needs to reiterate its

commitment to their beliefsand stand in terms of thepower dynamics.

A part of the problem withthe US for us today is the abil-ity to distinguish between thebaby and the bath water,” hesaid further. On common inter-ests to resolve security andtrade issues, experts highlight-ed that Europe has failed todevelop a common defenceagenda and we need to delvedeeper into solving this issue.

Giving preference toEurope for its pivotal geopolit-ical role, Gentiloni said,” Theprimary concern in Europehas been the conditionsrequired to accord China, amarket economy status. This complex process requiresmany decisions to facilitatethis situation.

India contributing to global peace: Swaraj

New Delhi: Nepal on Thursdaysaid when India and China risetogether, the rise of Asia is"unstoppable" and hoped forharmonious ties between itstwo "big neighbours".

Nepal's Foreign MinisterPradeep Kumar Gyawali, in hisaddress at the Raisina Dialoguehere, also pitched for strength-ening of the South AsianAssociation for RegionalCooperation (SAARC), Bay ofBengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical andEconomic Cooperation (BIM-STEC) and the implementationof the agenda of Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN)sub-regional cooperation.

"India and Nepal can worktogether towards commonprogress and prosperity, betterphysical connectivity andgreater people-to-people con-nection," Gyawali said.

On the sidelines of thedialogue, the Nepalese foreignminister met her Indian coun-terpart Sushma Swaraj andreviewed recent developmentsin bilateral ties across diversesectors, including developmentprojects and connectivity,according to Ministry ofExternal Affairs Spokesperson

Raveesh Kumar.In his address, Gyawali

said: "Next door, we havealways emphasised the goodand harmonious relationsbetween our two big neigh-bours (China and India). Whenthese two rise together, the riseof Asia becomes unstoppable."

"We were encouraged inthis context by the positive vibethat last year's Wuhan summit(between Prime Minister Modiand Chinese President XiJinping) created. We are of theview that one country's riseshould not be seen as a threatto the other. It could be anopportunity to rise together," hesaid.

Gyawali said amity with alland animosity with none is thebasis of Nepal's foreign policy.

A country like Nepal hasbeen a firm advocate of a rule-based, predictable internation-al order, he said.

"We are a believer of mul-tilateralism where we can getour voices heard, problemsand challenges recognised andsupport be extended.

"Rules-based order isessential for our survival. Wehave always been the sup-porter of multilateral institu-tions like the UN. What wehave wanted though is itsreform to reflect the currentreality," he said. PTI

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj greets her Nepal counterpart PradeepKumar Gyawali in New Delhi on Thursday PTI

When India, China grow together,rise of Asia is unstoppable: Nepal

Another biopic, now on

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Thiruvananthapuram: Acatholic nun, who took part ina street protest here against arape-accused bishop somemonths ago, continued to drawflak with a pro-church dailyslamming her on Thursdayfor violating norms, even as shedubbed it as an "attempt tohumiliate" her. This comesdays after the FranciscanClarist Congregation (FCC)served a notice to Sister LucyKalappura accusing her of lead-ing a life, which was against the"principles of religious life".

The warning notice wasissued after the nun had post-ed her photo wearing a 'SalwarKameez' on her Facebook page,bought a car and published apoetry collection, even after shewas denied permission by thechurch authorities.

Reacting to the article pub-lished in the Malayalam news-paper, the nun said she had noregret over whatever she haddone. "I am a person observingall vows and I have no regret inwhatever I have done," thenun, belonging to FCC, said.

"The article is an attempt tohumiliate me through themedia. But, I will not give up,"she said.

The daily predominately,run by Catholic priests and laypersons, carried a lengthy arti-cle in its editorial page againstthe actions of the nun withoutnaming her.

The article, penned by aNoble Parakkal, accused thenun of insulting the churchthrough her acts, taking part inthe protest against the bishopwithout seeking permission,posting her photo on socialmedia and grabbing mediaattention by spreading lies.

Sister Lucy had invited thewrath of the Church leadershipby participating in a streetprotest here by five nunsbelonging to the Catholic reli-gious order Missionaries of

PRIYANKA TANWER n

NEW DELHI

In the season of biopics,another one on the Indian

National Congress and free-dom fighter Maulana AbulKalam Azad is all set to hit thescreens on January 18. Woh JoTha Ek Massiah MaulanaAzad, directed by RajendraGupta Sanjay, will featureLinesh Fanse, Sirali Gupta and Marmik Gupta as leadcharacters.

The director mentionedthat biopic on Azad has noth-ing to do with current politicsin the country. "Our movierevolves around Azad's supportto the Congress party duringtheir split in Naram Dal andGaram Dal. He had undergonemany ups and downs to helpCongress from losing their

charm and helped finding theirfuture in coalition."

He also said that for lead-ers like Azad, it was not impor-tant to be Hindu or Muslim tolead our country however,being Indian and spreadinghumanity was their main focus,"We should also have the samemindsets like Azad in terms ofspreading humanity since theirmotive is to spread humanitythan to be fanatisme towards

any caste, he further said.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

took part in most of the impor-tant movements. He presidedover the special session ofCongress in September 1923and at the age of 35 he becamethe youngest man to be elect-ed as the President of theCongress. All the artists inthis movie are theatre artist butLinesh Fanse, who is playingrole of Maulana Azad, had towork hard as he had beenworking in Marathi, Gujaratiplay so it was bit difficult forhim to have good commandover hindi and urdu. Lineshsaid he got lead role for thebiopic while he went to giveaudition for the role of Jinahwhere the director had reject-ed him for the role and offeredhim the lead role and that madehim very surprised.

Jesus demanding the arrest ofBishop Franco Mulakkal, whowas accused of raping a nun.

The nun said the articleaccused her of violating thelaw and disciplines of thechurch at a time when sever-al male priests were continu-ing to live an "unethical" life,she said. PTI

NCW issues notice toRahul Gandhi for‘misogynistic' remarks

New Delhi (PTI): TheNational Commission forWomen on Thursday issued anotice to Congress presidentRahul Gandhi for his "extreme-ly misogynistic, offensive andunethical" remarks againstDefence Minister NirmalaSitharaman at a rally in Jaipur.In the notice, the women'spanel said it has taken suomotu cognisance of newsreports which appeared in var-ious print and electronic mediadated January 9, "wherein it isreported that you have alleged-ly made remarks insultingagainst a woman Minister".

"What is @rahulgandhitrying to imply with his misog-ynistic statement— "... Ekmahila say kaha meri rakshakiijiye."? Does he think womenare weak? The irony- calling anaccomplished defence ministerof the largest democracy aweak person. @nsitharaman@narendramodi @ncwindia,"NCW chief Rekha Sharmatweeted. Gandhi at the farm-ers' rally on Wednesday hadsaid, "The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told awoman, Sitharaman ji, defendme. I won't be able to defendmyself, defend me."

Kalka-Shimla Hill Rlys provides broad band services

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Railways have alwaysbeen in the forefront of

Nation building by creatingbetter Travel and Tourismopportunities in a region.Northern Railway has effec-tively contributed towardsPrime Minister’s “Digital India”initiative under the visionaryleadership of Minister ofRailways of turning many

Railway stations over the zoneinto platforms for Digital inclu-sion by providing free Wi-Fiservice. In this regard 15 sta-tions on the Kalka-Shimla HillRailways, a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site have been turnedinto free Wi-Fi zones. Earlierthis facility was available onlyat 03 stations, Kalka, Shimlaand Solan in the section. Nowthe Wi-Fi facility is available atall the stations coming under

this Hill Railway which includeBarog, Dharampur Himachal,Gumman, Koti, KumarhattiDagshai, Sonwara, Taksal,Kandaghat, Salogra, Knoh,Kathleghat, Shoghi, Tara Devi,Jutogh and Summerhill.

The Broadband InternetConnectivity has been madelive with ‘RailWire’ Wi-Fi byRailTel, which is a Mini RatnaCPSU under the Ministry ofRailways.

This comes days

after FCC served a

notice to Sister

Lucy Kalappura

accusing her of

leading a life,

which was against

the "principles of

religious life"

Kerala nun slams newsarticle against her in pro-Catholic church daily

The ‘Free Hugs Campaign’ is a socialmovement that involves individu-als who offer hugs to other peopleto showcase the power of a randomact of kindness. The movement is

motivated by the phrase ‘sometimes a hug isall you need’. Foreign policy is a broad termused to describe the approach/strategy of onecountry vis-à-vis the other or a union repre-senting countries, for example, the EuropeanUnion. The two statements mentioned abovemay seem incongruous but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s practice of ‘hugplomacy’ withIndia’s neighbours and friends, while tacklingthe nuanced area of foreign policy, makes boththese statements relevant. Unfortunately,since foreign policy and the arena of interna-tional relations are serious matters, this is oneof those times where a hug may not be enough.In this week’s column, I will examine how thePrime Minister’s foreign policy has been a fail-ure and will talk in detail how the significantinvestments behind the Prime Minister’s jetsetting ways have not really borne any tangi-ble results.

The amount spent on Prime MinisterModi’s foreign trips is about `2,021 crore,which dwarfs the `1,346 crore spent on for-eign trips during former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s term from 2009-2014.Therefore, purely relying on numbers and thesheer amount spent on foreign trips, one canreasonably say that foreign policy appears tobe an area of focus of Prime Minister Modi.But let us evaluate what fruits this investmenthas borne. As stated above, while foreign pol-icy has no clear definition or boundary, thiscolumn, too, is limited by word constraint and,therefore, I will evaluate three heads: Economicprowess, strategic capability and how otherworld leaders view the Indian Government.

On the issue of economic prowess,reports are not encouraging. A popular met-ric to measure the economic success of aGovernment’s foreign policy is the amount offoreign direct investment (FDI) that a coun-try receives. In the financial year 2017-18, theincrease in FDI stood at a five year low of threeper cent and there is a growing concernamong foreign investors about India. Thebuck must surely fall with the Prime Minister.This concern among foreign investors isinspired by the overarching approach of thisGovernment to discard expertise in favour ofimage-management. Repeatedly, questionshave been raised about the manner in whichthe ruling Government has changed and howshould growth be measured, which hasflummoxed even the best statisticians andeconomists.

In order to encourage foreign investment,it is imperative that the Government providesaccurate numbers about the status of theIndian economy so that at the very least,investors understand what they are getting into.The moment doubts arise about the authen-ticity of the numbers published by aGovernment, it will inevitably lead to hesita-tion and trepidation among potential investors.

The Government’s colour-ful approach to numbers is notthe only cause for concern.The economic catastrophe, ie,demonetisation, is yet anotherexample that reflects the unre-liable, ill-thought out andunpredictable approach of theGovernment that has donegreat damage to India’s story.The past few years of thisGovernment were littered withexamples of an approach thataggressively countered expertisewith compliance. Just take theresignation of two Reserve Bankof India Governors in the pastfour years as an example or thenomination of mere yes-men topositions that demand integri-ty and expertise. All of theseinstances are only a few exam-ples as to why foreign investorsare hesitant about the Indianeconomy.

Another area of foreign pol-icy where Prime Minister Modihas missed a trick is strategicprowess. In this context, it will berelevant to note that there arecertain interesting developmentsin the world that India has failedto take advantage of. For exam-ple, the past few years has seena clear deterioration of the rela-tionship between China andthe United States, especially withrespect to trade. Since China isa manufacturing hub that ser-vices a number of requirementsof the American economy, thisdispute between the two coun-tries could have been a boon for

India where it had an opportu-nity to showcase its own prowessso as to fill the void that wouldexist due to the present stand-offbetween the US and China.

Instead, what we have seenis the US looking to other coun-tries to fulfill its requirementsand a deterioration of the rela-tionship between it and India.The clearest example of this hasbeen the postponement of the‘2+2 dialogue’ between the USand India for the third consec-utive time (the ‘2+2 dialogue’ isa mechanism where two coun-tries’ defence and external affairsministries discuss among otherthings the scope for strategicpartnerships).

Another way in which thesuccess of a Government’s for-eign policy is gauged is by themanner in which other worldleaders view our Government.The term ‘diplomacy’ impliesthat this determination can rarelybe made on the basis of explicitstatements or acts but rather haveto be inferred. While the BJP wasextremely proud to talk abouthaving a leader with a 56-inchchest, this arrogance has had totake a beating over the past fewyears. The most obvious exam-ple is that of the surgical strikes,where in order to win politicalpoints, the BJP created noise andcelebrated victory about a tacti-cal strike, despite the fact thatsuch strike acts have taken placea number of times in the pastwithout the same cries of victo-

ry or celebration. It was inevitable then that

the Prime Minister and thisGovernment has been a lotmore coy and sheepish while fac-ing uncomfortable questionsabout Chinese incursions inDoklam. Celebrating prematurevictories and appropriating thebrave acts of soldiers for winningpolitical points presents anopportunity to other countries topush back a Government that isalready on the back foot, domes-tically, because it has presenteda less than accurate picture of itsmight.

This coupled with the recentexamples of how PresidentTrump belittled the massivecontribution of India inAfghanistan and how our rela-tionship with our neighbours hassuffered due to the aggressive, ill-thought foreign policy of thisGovernment, shows that whenPlan A, ie an aggressive foreignpolicy fails, the Prime Ministerand his Government do not havea Plan B which involves tact ordiplomacy.

Richard Haass, a famousdiplomat, once said, “Success inforeign policy, as in carpentry,requires the right tools for thejob.” On the basis of the past fewyears, it appears that the PrimeMinister only has one tool in hispocket and it has not really donethe job.

(The writer is JharkhandPCC president, former MP andIPS officer. Views are personal)

Ayoung man who makes a lot of

money playing professional sports has

outdated views about women and treats

them like playthings. This really should not

be surprising. Whether it is Hardik Pandya or

any number of young footballers or American

professional sports athletes, it would hard-

ly surprise anyone. What is unexpected is that

the young man is stupid enough to make

insensitive comments on a public forum.

Pandya’s employers and publicists have failed

badly in not sensitising the young man about

how he should talk and develop the successful ability to disconnect his primor-

dial brain cells from his mouth without a layer of control. If Pandya discovers

that all this has cost him sponsors and credibility, he will have learnt his lessons.

But he should have been given lessons on social etiquette and political correct-

ness earlier. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should take a part

of the blame for this. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has made very rich men

out of hundreds of young Indian cricketers and unfortunately, young men, who

have suddenly hit the jackpot, cannot be expected to speak and act like mature

people. It is important, therefore, to teach these young men how to behave. One

cannot expect this to happen automatically but these young male athletes ought

to be taught about the risks of acting like teenage delinquents in public in an age

of instant social media updates, cameras and videos. The IPL has also made

celebrities of many cricketers and not the few who play for the Indian national

side. Of course, this does not preclude the fact that parents and schools have

a role to play in this as well.

As for the television host who is drawing some flak for asking ‘leading’ ques-

tions, he did the job of a good television host, who is obviously trying to get his

guests to make controversial statements. In that regard he did nothing wrong

and pointing fingers at him is like blaming the messenger. If a young man is stu-

pid enough to be indiscreet, that is his call. Young athletes have temptations around

them and they often fall into this trap. They can learn a lesson from their seniors

who despite the occasional bone-headed statement almost always say the right

thing. This is also important because many other children look up to these play-

ers as role models and mimic them.

Clearly, the Opposition has been

stumped by the BJP’s googly in the

form of the quota Bill for economi-

cally weaker classes, which is all set to

become a key narrative of the Lok Sabha

polls without the government having to do

much but dangle another carrot instead. And

a fat one at that. Touted as a revolutionary,

caste-agnostic measure for the poor, the

BJP did not do anything original really. It

just borrowed something that the

Opposition, including the Congress, could

not venture into legislation-wise though

keeping it part of their promises, and

claimed it as its own. In the process, it also trapped parties which expressed

the intent to deliver but in one masterstroke reduced their promise to empty rhetoric

and left them with no option but to pass the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Who wants

to appear anti-poor when garibi hatao has been a banner campaign of eternal

sunshine through the decades for all political parties concerned? Obviously, the

Opposition can now count on the judiciary for stalling the quota on grounds that

it breaches the 50 per cent reservation barrier set by the Supreme Court and

that economic criteria alone don’t quite make the cut unless seen in totality with

social histories. But the BJP clearly has nothing to lose as it has scored a much-

needed legislative win and an implied benefit for its core upper caste votebase.

Even the TDP of Andhra Pradesh and TRS of Telangana, despite being the only

two parties in the country running special corporations for minority Brahmins

for two years now, couldn’t make political capital out of their novel plan. Moreover,

once they have supported the passage of the Bill in principle, what face would

they have in criticising it? This is the dilemma that the Opposition is currently

caught in. However, it is hoping that the cascading debate over particularities,

the judicial intervention and the rather illogical and arbitrary assumptions in the

Bill would give its leaders a chance at mounting counter-campaigns.

But can the quota Bill reap anything at all? The legislation undoubtedly has

been hastily sewed up without proper debate and discussion for it to be effec-

tive. Even the Mandal Commission recommendations came after years of study

and impact assessment. In this Bill, there is no empirical data collection or bench-

marking of cutoffs, which makes it rather amorphous. Also there is no detailing

on where and by how much would the quotas apply in higher educational insti-

tutions and jobs. The Opposition could draw up a charter demanding specifics

and go to the people rather than calling it a mere jumla for the polls, consider-

ing the BJP had failed to create two crore jobs per year as promised in 2014.

Though our economy can pull up a decent growth rate, job creation is still at its

lowest with a manufacturing push hardly delivering the result. Also what of exist-

ing educational and job quotas that remain unfulfilled? Although the BJP has

promised 180 Central institutes, including IIM and IITs, an additional 10 lakh seats

for a higher student intake, would there be enough available talent to qualify given

the meritorious nature of these institutions? Or would nobody talk about meri-

tocracy anymore considering that almost 95 per cent of the population has been

covered by the markers of the new bill and there’s no general category left whose

hurt feelings need to be assuaged. Some parties like the Samajwadi Party are

demanding proportional quotas with Ram Gopal Yadav insisting the category for

OBCs be enhanced to 54 per cent, keeping in mind the increase in their popu-

lation, since the government had decided to break the 50 per cent barrier any

way. The BSP is asking why the NDA did not not introduce another amendment

to introduce reservation in promotion, its long pending demand. Meanwhile the

Trinamool Congress is questioning the `8 lakh per year in the quota bill, saying

it straightaway moves the poverty line to ̀ 2,100 a day and makes the tax payer

(anybody earning more than `2.5 lakh per annum has to pay taxes) poor in a

blunderous swathe of populism. Then the `8 lakh cut-off is the same for OBCs

and the creamy layer among them. This flat plane criteria means that the upper

caste poor would easily be preferred. The real challenge for Opposition parties

is to coalesce their points and expose the jumla the Bill can become rather than

appear as clever nitpickers.

Quota bomb

The new Bill has opened a Pandora’s box. Can theOpposition wrest the pre-poll narrative from the BJP yet?

Hollow empowerment

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Quota politics” (January 9).Universally, communism hadbeen accused of being an ideolo-gy that was predicated on distrib-ution of poverty and not on thecreation of wealth. That Chinacould break out of this mould tocarve out an enviable economyshould be an enduring lesson forall. Despite this fact, our law-mak-ers have chosen to burn the mid-night oil on ‘quota-communism’and have passed the Bill withgreater alacrity than increasingtheir own remuneration. One onlywishes our leaders had all pooledtheir time and effort on the presentstate of persisting joblessness.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

Focus on welfare

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Quota politics” (January 9).Since poverty is not the sole pre-serve of the ‘lower’ castes andbeing creamy is not the monop-oly of ‘upper’ castes only, in theprevailing caste-obsessed reali-ties, extension of reservation for

the economically-weaker sectionof the ‘upper’ castes is fairenough. However, if the con-cerned authorities, be it at theCentre or States, are seriousabout the welfare of citizens,they should have ensured theprovision of reservation beextended to only the financial-ly downtrodden, irrespective of

their demographic background.But ours is a country where peo-ple are not compassionatetowards the poor or the down-trodden. Things that sell like hotcake are religion, race, language,caste, sub-caste and tribe.Thanks to such laggard mindset,with every passing day, India isonly getting fragmented.

It is, therefore, not surpris-ing that instead of ensuringwelfare of the citizens, our polit-ical class as well as Governmentsact as a messiah for select demo-graphic groups even as somezealous leaders immerse incheap parochial quota politics.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

Lessons in verdict

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Lameduck CBI” (January 10).The Supreme Court’s judgmentreinstating CBI Director AlokVerma is a reminder to the highestand the powerful that blatant inter-ference with the institutions creat-ed by the legislature or theConstitution will not be tolerated.The court dismissed the superflu-ous arguments advanced by thelearned Attorney General andwarned him that he should notalways toe the line of theGovernment without any reason.This judgement is a slap on the faceof both the Central VigilanceCommission and the ModiGovernment’s autocratic midnightcoup. Even then, the silver line ofthis CBI versus CBI fight is that thecountry and its investigative bodyremains lucky that it will not beheaded by the corrupt. This may bethe last golden opportunity for theModi Government to bring backlost credibility, public trust and insti-tutional autonomy into governance.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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


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op nionLUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

08

A blip in India’s story

AJOY KUMAR

Economic prowess, strategic capability and the way world leaders perceive a nation are crucial

markers of our foreign policy. The Modi Government has failed on each count

Undoubtedly China is spend-ing a huge sum of money indeveloping its military capa-bility. China Navy is a forceand it is here to stay.

Navy Chief—Admiral Sunil Lanba

Let Pakistan opine whatever itwants, have people stoppedwatching TV? People to peo-ple contact won’t end withone man’s statement.

Union Minister of State —VK Singh

Passion for the nation mustbe proclaimed loudly. Termssuch as chest-thumpingnationalism and jingoism arebeing used to shame people.

Actor—Kangana Ranaut

The world will take note ofShah Faesal’s cry of anguishand defiance. Every word ofhis statement is an indict-ment of the BJP Government.

Congress leader— P Chidambaram

S O U N D B I T E

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

Playing to the gallery benefits none

Affirmative action is imperative for the uplift of the under-privileged and the backward. But it should be premisedon eliminating sources of tangible disadvantage for the

intended beneficiaries and not on political considerations. Itis common understanding that caste-based reservations havebecome a convenient tool to this malady more because ofthe political solidarity they encourage and less for the socialbenefits they offer. The Bill, guaranteeing 10 per cent quotain education and employment to the economically weakersections in the general category, shows the inability of ourpolitical class to transcend parochial political interests. It isunfortunate that the NDA Government, through its unapolo-getic political manoeuvre, is trying to create an uneasy par-ity between the socially backward classes and their econom-ically weak Savarna counterparts by defining arbitrary eligi-bility criteria. Reservations will only reinforce existing prej-udices and stereotypes against the beneficiary groups.

It is time the Government considered the quota issuefrom an egalitarian point of view and accepted the fact thatreservation has become an easy route for politicians to ascendto power. Beneficiaries, too, reach top echelons by compro-

mising on merit. A level-playing field, through better educa-tion and training, and a constant vigil can ensure action againstthose who undermine equality for all as promised by theConstitution. The Government should not set a precedent forthe alleged disadvantaged groups in other parts of the coun-try by succumbing to unreasonable demands. It should lookat an evidence-based approach that includes multiple dimen-sions of disadvantages that include but are not limited to casteand/or economic grounds.

Shreyans JainDelhi

IN ORDER TOENCOURAGE

FOREIGNINVESTMENT, ITIS IMPERATIVE

THAT THEGOVERNMENT

PROVIDESACCURATENUMBERS

ABOUT THESTATUS OF THE

INDIANECONOMY SOTHAT AT THEVERY LEAST,INVESTORS

UNDERSTANDWHAT THEY ARE

GETTING INTO

Send your feedback to:[email protected]

Pandya spoke exactly like most entitled athletes across theworld do unless they have had public speaking training

Career suicide

In December, the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) came up with a notifi-cation requiring banks to manda-

torily convert at least 40 per cent of thesanctioned amount for accounts hav-ing fund-based working capital limitsof ̀ 150 crore or more to a working cap-ital loan, with effect from April 1, 2019.As per this, the loan limit will be revisedto 60 per cent. It was introduced witha view to instill greater credit disciplineamong borrowers.

As per RBI data, by the end of June2018, the number of accounts havingcredit limits exceeding `100 crorestood at around 12,000. The totalamount of credit outstanding betweenthem was around ̀ 26 trillion, indicat-ing an average amount outstanding ofover ̀ 200 crore per account. It is impor-tant to understand the problem the RBI

is trying to solve through this regula-tion. Firms can seek working capitallimits far exceeding their require-ments, thereby shifting their liquidityrisk to the lending banks. Cash creditlines involve a commitment of cash ondemand on the bank and allow firmsto dip into this bucket as needed. Banks,therefore, are forced to invest much ofthese committed funds into liquidassets at low interest rates and incur anopportunity cost. Besides, since inter-est is charged on actual use rather thanthe committed amount, this facilityallows firms to hedge their cost of bor-rowing as well.

Another problem that can arisewhen banks sanction limits that exceedfirms’ genuine requirements is the pos-sibility of diversion of working capitalfunds to finance long-term assets ortowards completely non-business uses.This increases the probability of defaultand these disbursements turning intoNPAs. So the problems that the RBI isseeking to address are genuine and seri-ous. But can this regulation reallyaddress the issue or is the RBI barkingup a wrong tree?

RBI data show that 83 per cent of

the accounts having more than `100crore of working capital limits are in thesub-12 per cent interest rate range andaccount for 85 per cent of the total out-standing credit of this category, indi-cating that majority of large accountsare good credits. Of course, thisassumes reliable credit ratings by theCRAs and interest rates on workingcapital facilities to be good indicatorsof financial health.

Second, the average utilisationrate of cash credit limits across thebanking sector is 66 per cent with the6-12 per cent interest rate accounts util-ising anywhere between 65-75 per centof their limits. This is based on aver-age of balances as at the end of fivequarters — June 2017 to June 2018.Utilisation of less than 40 per cent isseen among the riskier accounts attract-ing higher than 17 per cent rate of inter-est with varying pattern across bankcategories. This simply means that theintersection between large accounts andthose with low utilisation is close to neg-ligible. So how will mandating largeaccounts having limits of `150 croreand higher to convert at least 40 percent of their limits to a working capi-

tal loan solve the problem of low util-isation? For most of the accounts, it willsimply convert the existing cash cred-it utilisation to a working capital loan,at probably the same rate of interest.

Accounts with low utilisation ofless than 40 per cent constitute less thanone per cent of the total number of allPSBs’ fund-based working capitalaccounts as well as limits sanctionedand belong to the 17 per cent plusinterest rate categories. In the case ofPSBs, such accounts comprise close to50 per cent of all accounts and aboutseven per cent of the limits andbelong to the 20 per cent plus rate ofinterest category. Nearly 80 per centaccounts of foreign banks holding 16per cent of limits sanctioned show poorutilisation and belong to the 17 per centplus groups.

These accounts are ripe cases formis-utilisation of funds and futureNPAs. As they comprise a very smallpercentage of the total limits sanctionedacross the banking system, they do notpose a systemic risk but default in theseaccounts might have significant impactfor the individual banks.

While PSBs seem to have been

more prudent with their overall limitsportfolio, they run a concentration risk— the sanctioned limit per account ishighest in the 16-18 per cent interestrate category, besides the sub six percent category. The private sector andforeign banks though, have awardedlargest limits to their better clients,attracting sub 10 per cent interest rates.This increases the impact of a proba-ble default in these PSB accountswhile the diversified portfolio of privatesector and foreign banks in the riskycategory might be a saviour except inan economy-wide crisis.

Nearly all the 17 per cent plusinterest rate accounts belong to the ̀ 10lakh and below categories, ie MSMEs.These accounts comprise 76 per centof all working capital credit outstand-ing. The greater than `100 croreaccounts are negligible in this interestrate bracket — they are less than 250in number with an average exposure of`75 crore. Their total amount outstand-ing accounts for nine per cent of thebanking system’s, definitely not aninsignificant proportion from a defaultrisk perspective. So is the RBI regula-tion meant for these 250 to 300

accounts? Shouldn’t there be a morepractical and probably effective solu-tion for individual banks to simplyidentify these accounts and disciplinethem? Besides, this regulation will donothing to rein in the smaller accountsdiscussed earlier that are also culpritsin this problem.

Another risk of implementing thisregulation is adverse selection leadingto the possibility of misuse of funds tobecome a reality. Good accounts areeither already utilising more than 60 percent of their limits or will not mindreducing their fund limits as they areconfident of getting them enhancedwhen the need arises. It is the riskieraccounts that would not like to let goof a sanctioned limit in hand and if 40per cent of it has to be mandatorilydrawn down, these funds are very like-ly to make their way into long-termassets funding, risky financial assets, orworse, completely diverted out of thebusiness. By using a cannon to kill a fewflies, albeit poisonous ones, the regu-lation may just encourage the type ofbehaviour it is trying to prevent.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Accounting & Finance, MDI, Gurgaon)

The stellar logic of Kumbh

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

NARENDRA MODI HAD FIELDED A WOMAN MINISTER

TO DEFEND HIM IN PARLIAMENT BECAUSE HE WAS

AFRAID TO FACE THE HOUSE.

—CONGRESS CHIEF

RAHUL GANDHI

IN A PARTY WHERE WOMEN ARE THE STRONGEST,

INCLUDING INDIRA GANDHI AND SONIA GANDHI, WE

DON'T EXPECT SUCH SEXIST REMARKS FROM RAHUL.

—NCW CHAIRPERSON

REKHA SHARMA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Aperusal of the official web-site of Kumbh Mela, 2019— hosted by the PrayagrajMela Pradhikaran, UttarPradesh — reveals why

this is not a kumbh at all. It mentionedtwo celestial alignments under whichKumbh can be held in Prayagraj(Allahabad). These are: a) When Jupiterenters the Aries constellation and theSun and the Moon are in Capricornconstellation, the Kumbh festival is heldat Prayagraj on the new moon day andb) When the Sun is in Capricorn andJupiter moves in to Taurus, the Kumbhfestival is held at Prayagraj.

Jupiter is nowhere close to eitherAries, let alone Taurus at present. Thebulky planet is residing in Scorpio(vrischik raashi) since October 11,2018, and will move into Sagittarius(dhanu raashi) on March 30, 2019,seven-and-a-half months ahead of itsusual residency period of 13 monthsin one sign. Throughout the year, itwill travel back and forth betweenScorpio and Sagittarius several times— an uncommon though not impos-sible phenomenon when a planet’smotion along its orbit is observedfrom the Earth against the backdropof constellations.

Critics were quick to point outthat the Kumbh Mela was organisedin erstwhile Allahabad (Prayagraj) asrecently as 2013. That was the timewhen Jupiter was residing in Taurus.The 2019 mela should, thus, becalled Ardha Kumbh. But the YogiAdityanath Government in UttarPradesh, in an image-building exer-cise, went overboard to describe it asKumbh. Exhibitory Hinduism is notwithout its drawback. Ardh Kumbhno doubt is as conventional asKumbh itself. However, on a theoret-ical premise, it militates against theconcept of Kumbha Yoga. Either aplanetary position exists, or it doesnot. Jupiter in Scorpio is Jupiter inScorpio. It cannot be expressed interms of half or one-fourth of Jupiterin Taurus or Aries.

The Kumbh Mela is held at fourdifferent locations in India viz,Haridwar, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Ujjainand Nasik, under four different kindsof planetary combinations. Their timeis determined mostly by the position ofplanet Jupiter and Sun in different con-stellations. The name Kumbh is derivedfrom the sign of Aquarius (kumbharaashi). But against popular misconcep-tion, no planet needs to be positionedin that sign for the mela to take place,except in the case of Haridwar.

The beginning of Kumbh or ArdhaKumbh 2019 coincides with MakarSankranti. It refers to transition of theSun into the sign of Capricorn (makar

raashi). The event recurs annuallysince the Sun transits across the entirezodiac band once every year, residingin one sign for a month. MakarSankranti is celebrated with fervouracross India, marked by holy dip inrivers, including the Ganga and waterbodies. Since the solar calendars inIndia are actually sidereal rather thantropical, the month’s beginning ismarked by the entry of the Sun in a newzodiac sign. The transit point from oneto the other is called Sankranti.

Traditional calendars used in east-ern and southern parts of India aremostly solar. Those used in northernand western parts are mostly luni-solarie lunar calendar with provision for anintercalary month (adhi-masa) tobring it at par with solar year. A luni-solar calendar like Vikram Samvattreats the months as sacrosanct but theyear length as incidental. The monthsare coeval with lunation — fromShukla Pratipada to Amavasya. In side-real solar calendars, months are asimportant as the year. The monthchanges as the Sun goes over each ofthe 12 divisions of the zodiac.

The Gregorian calendar, by con-trast, is tropical by nature. The extentof the natural year, in a diagrammat-ic representation, is coeval with great-est limits of the Sun’s declination in theNorth and the South. These areTropic of Cancer (230 26’12.5”N) inthe North and the Tropic of Capricorn(230 26’12.5”S) in the South where theSun is directly overhead on June 21and December 22, respectively. For thenorthern hemisphere, the date June 21is summer solstice, signifying thelongest day and December 22 is win-ter solstice, signifying the shortest day.They are reversed, like the seasonalcycle itself, in the southern hemi-

sphere. The days and nights are equal(Equinox) on March 21 andSeptember 21 when the Sun is over-head at noon on the Equator. TheGregorian calendar functions withoutany reference to zodiacal backgroundor phases of the moon. The two sol-stices and two equinoxes — all ofthem astronomical events — form thefour pillars of the calendar. The proofof the calendar being in order is thatthese events should correspond todates specified for them.

The Julian calendar (estd, 45 BC)had to be corrected by Pope GregoryXIII in 1582 AD by — dropping 10 days— because the Spring Equinox hadgradually crawled up to March 11(same with two Solstices) over a mil-lennium and a half. The Pope broughtin corrective rules of leap year to replacethe ones formulated by Julius Caesar.The leap years were dropped from thebeginning of the century (00 year)unless the year was perfectly divisibleby four. Under the new rules, theGregorian calendar can go wrong byone day maximum in 5,000 years, a flawthat can be rectified by further drop-ping of leap years once in 1,000 years.

The names of Tropic of Cancer andTropic of Capricorn, however, arereminiscent of the times when the Westtried to interpret a solar event by zodi-acal background. This was sometimebefore the beginning of the Christianera. The Tropic of Capricorn was sonamed because the Sun used to be inCapricorn constellation when it cameoverhead that line of latitude (23026’12.5”S). But now due to the axial pre-cession of earth (sometimes referred toas precession of equinoxes) the Sundoes not reside in the constellation ofCapricorn on Winter Solstice(December 22). It is still in the constel-

lation of Aquarius. The story follows asimilar script for Tropic of Cancer.

This forms the point of departureof the Western (now called Gregorian)calendar from the Indian solar calen-dars. The Hindus have chosen to pre-serve the (reference to) constellation,whereas the West civilisation the ref-erence to tropics. The entry of the Sunin the constellation of Capricorn(makar raashi) is celebrated as MakarSankranti which occasions annualMagh Mela and at pre-determinedintervals the Kumbh Mela. But whatis the significance of Makar Sankranti,that we celebrate it out of 12 possibleSankrantis during a year? This isbecause it is observed as Uttarayan,when the Sun begins its (half-yearly)northward journey. It is the beginningof the day of gods.

But in reality, the Sun is overhead(at noon) at the southernmost pointof tropic on December 22. It beginsits northward journey on its apparentpath soon afterwards.

It seems plausible that Uttarayan,which is a tropical phenomenon, andMakar Sankranti, which is a sidereal(related to stars or constellation) phe-nomenon, coincided in time more than2,000 years ago. It was acceptable todescribe them as being synonymous.But gradually, due to axial precessionof the earth, they diverged. Thus,today, coinciding Uttarayan and MakarSankranti implies the calendar is goingwrong. This means that the seasons areshifting as per the Indian solar calen-dar. Restructuring is called for on thelines suggested by Calendar ReformsCommittee, 1952.

(The writer is an independentresearcher based in New Delhi. The views expressed herein are his per-sonal)

Using a cannon to kill the flies

Calendars can fall victims to the phenomenon of culture and nationalismsupplanting astronomical principles that lie at their foundation

By drafting norms to modify the loan system for large borrowers only, is the Central bank trying to be a helicopter parent again?

Smaller accounts, too, are culprits. The RBI must look for a more practical and effective way of financial discipline

analysis 09

Justice delayed

but not denied

NAVNEET ANAND

S VEENA IYER

While VP Singh’s overnight embrace of MandalCommission recommendations caused a seriousstir, the 2019 tool is a step in the right direction

PRIYADARSHI DUTTA

F O R E I G N E Y E

A nasty tide has been risingin the online arena, whereincivility is normal; abuseand death threats are toocommon. A worrying trendis for that decline in politicalculture to cross into the realworld, making public spaceless safe. Reversing that isnot just a matter of curbingbad behaviour. Everyonewho practises politics in allof its various styles, fromthe Commons chamber tothe street corner, has aresponsibility to treatopponents with civility.

(The Guardian editorial)

GROWTH OFVIOLENT TRENDS


F I R S T C O L U M N

The summer of 1990 was simmering in more ways than one.

The decision to implement the controversial Mandal

Commission recommendations led to widespread agitation.

As young students, aspiring to join the elite Indian Civil Services,

many of us felt that it was a brutal assault on our opportunities,

regressive and a desperate ploy by the then Prime Minister VP

Singh to latch on to a plank that would ensure his survival. While

Delhi boiled literally, agitation gripped large parts of north India.

Anger was enormous and spilled over to the streets — it was a

mass protest of anguish and rejection of populist politics. Thirty

eight years later when a new provision has been made to allow

10 per cent reservation in jobs and education for the economi-

cally-backward people in unreserved category, the mood is that

of justice done; protests are confined to those who have pur-

sued a regressive political ideology. India has moved on. The

warmth of social engineering tool of reservation to those who

need it has subsumed the chill of January 2019.

For many of us, who grew up young and were in awe of a pro-

gressive, non-conventional Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh

was an iconic opportunist. Desperate to latch on to a turf that he

had scaled with shrewd political manoeuvres, and by raising a pitch

of honesty in the wake of Bofors murmurs, Singh sensed the Mandal

Commission recommendations as a tool that would cement his shaky

political standing. He became the Prime Minister in 1989 after a

regional coalition of political parties, called the National Front, won

the general election, earning a simple majority. Parties like the BJP

and the CPI supported the National Front from outside and Singh

was dramatically installed as the Prime Minister, causing severe heart-

burn in Chandra Shekhar, who, too, aspired to occupy the slot. Within

days of taking over, Singh faced a huge crisis when the daughter

of his Home Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was kidnapped

and the Government had to release dreaded militants in exchange.

Sensing his dwindling political fortunes sooner than he had antic-

ipated, Singh embraced the Mandal Commission by championing

the cause of reservation and projecting himself as a messiah of

social justice for the backward classes despite he coming from the

upper caste. He notified the implementation of the commission’s

suggestions that would grant 27 per cent reservation in jobs in Union

Government and public sector undertakings to members of the Other

Backward Classes. The recommendations section of the Report

read: “As the Commission had concluded that 52 per cent of the

country’s population comprised OBCs, it initially argued that the per-

centage of reservations in public services for backward classes should

also match that figure. However, as this would have gone against

the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court, which had laid down

that reservation of posts must be below 50 per cent, the proposed

reservation for OBCs had to be fixed at a figure, which when added

to 22.5 per cent for SCs and STs, remains below the cap of 50 per

cent. In view of this legal constraint, the Commission was obliged

to recommend a reservation of 27 per cent only for backward castes.”

The 52 per cent figure was certainly flawed and many alleged that

the Census data was compromised by partisan politics.

Along with widespread protests, the recommendations also trig-

gered an intense intellectual debate with many saying that the esti-

mates were problematic. According to the National Sample Survey

1999–2000, about 36 per cent of the country’s population could

be categorised as OBC. The proportion would fall to 32 per cent if

the Muslim OBCs were excluded. A National Family Health Statistics

1998 survey put the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per

cent. In fact, LR Naik, the only Scheduled Castes member in the

Commission, refused to sign the Mandal recommendations, argu-

ing that intermediate backward classes are relatively powerful, while

depressed backward classes, or most backward classes (MBCs)

remain economically marginalised. The 10 per cent reservation pol-

icy has received widespread support, barring some notional polit-

ical Opposition. On Wednesday, after the 124th Amendment Bill was

passed by the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it

was “a victory of social justice.” He added that the Bill would ensure

“wider canvas for yuva shakti to showcase their prowess and con-

tribute towards India’s transformation.”

This perhaps sums it up. The difference between the ‘summer

of 1990 and winter of 2019’ is the statement of intent. While VP

Singh was a desperate Prime Minister wanting to create a new con-

stituency of supporters, which would ensure his sustenance in office,

Modi’s act is that of a series of equity tools being unleashed for all

classes of people. While Singh’s overnight embrace of the Mandal

Commission recommendations caused a serious stir, the 2019 tool

is viewed as one of delayed and deserved, justice for a class of

people who suffered the ignominy of neglect by myopic political

ideologies. It promises to bring parity and corrects a historical folly.

(The writer is a strategic communications professional)

IT SEEMSPLAUSIBLE THAT

UTTARAYAN,WHICH IS ATROPICAL

PHENOMENON,AND MAKARSANKRANTI,WHICH IS ASIDEREAL

(RELATED TOSTARS OR

CONSTELLATION)PHENOMENON,COINCIDED IN

TIME MORE THAN2,000 YEARS AGO.

IT WASACCEPTABLE TODESCRIBE THEM

AS BEINGSYNONYMOUS.

BUT GRADUALLY,DUE TO AXIAL

PRECESSION OFTHE EARTH,

THEY DIVERGED

money 10LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

New Delhi (PTI): Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) on Thursday said it had increased pricesof its select models by up to ̀ 10,000 with imme-diate effect to offset adverse impact of increasein commodity prices and foreign exchange rates.

“The price change varies across models andranges up to `10,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi),”MSI said in a statement.

While most of the company’s models wouldsee an increase in price, the recently launchednew version of Ertiga has been left out of theexercise. The MSI sells a range of vehicles start-

ing from entry-level Alto 800 to the premiumcrossover S-Cross that were priced between`2.53 lakh and `11.45 lakh (ex-showroom,Delhi) before the price hike.

In December, the company had said that itwould hike its car prices from January but didnot specify the quantum of hike.

Besides MSI, automakers like ToyotaKirloskar Motor and utility vehicle makerIsuzu Motors India had also announced plansto hike prices of their respective models fromJanuary this year.

New Delhi (PTI): HondaCars India said it had launcheda new variant of its mid-sizedsedan City priced at `12.75lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).The new trim — ZX MT — ispowered by 1.5 litre petrolpowertrain mated with manu-al transmission and comeswith added features like rearparking sensors. The compa-ny said it had brought in thenew trim due to high demandfrom buyers for top spec petrolvariant in manual transmission.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Reserve Bank and thegovernment need to ensure

timely and affordable bank cred-it for exporters to boost out-bound shipments, EEPC Indiasaid on Thursday.

Engineering ExportsPromotion Council (EEPC) saidthere was a sharp annualiseddrop of over 54 per cent in thegross bank credit deployment inthe export sector.

“Against a gross credit

deployment of `434 billion(`43,400 crore) till October-end 2017, the figure dropped54.6 per cent year-on-year to`197 billion (`19,700 crore) in2018,” the council said in astatement.

EEPC India chairman RaviSehgal said while several glob-al factors such as trade warbetween the US and China anduncertainties over Brexit werehitting the export demand, thecost of credit remained a bigconcern for exporters. “Subdued

flow of credit is also seen in theengineering segment as well, asper RBI data. Credit is the life-line of the industry and exportersand the situation need to beaddressed sooner than later,” headded.

Besides, exporters are facingmany problems in the wake ofRBI’s instructions to banks tonot to honour shipping billsolder than two years under theExport Data Processing andMonitoring System, he said.

“Ironically, these irritants are

surfacing at a time when thegoing is difficult in the globalmarket due to trade tensionsbetween the US and China andother issues,” Sehgal said.

The sector contributes about26 per cent to the country’s totalmerchandise exports.Engineering exports were USD76 billion in 2017-18 and areexpected to touch USD 80 bil-lion this fiscal. Shipments to theUS and Europe account forabout 40 per cent of the totalexports from the sector.

PTI n MUMBAI

The country’s largest soft-ware exporter TCS on

Thursday reported 24.1 percent growth in net profit at`8,105 crore for the quarterended December 2018.

The company had posted anet profit of ̀ 6,531 crore in thesame period last fiscal as perIndian accounting norms.

The Tata Group firm,which accounts for the lion’sshare of the group’s overallprofit, reported a revenuegrowth of 20.8 per cent at`37,338 crore for the said quar-ter, up from `30,904 crore ayear earlier.

Revenue growth stood at12.1 per cent on constant cur-rency basis.

“We are wrapping up 2018

with a strong revenue growthof 12.1 per cent in theDecember quarter, which is thehighest in 14 quarters, withcontinued growth accelerationin key verticals and across allgeographies,” TCS chief exec-utive officer and managingdirector Rajesh Gopinathansaid in a statement.

The strong client metrics,industry leading growth indigital services, a very strongorder book and deal pipelineare validations that customersrecognise TCS’ differentiatedcapabilities, he added.

Digital accounted for 30.1per cent of the revenues, reg-istering year-on-year growth of52.7 per cent.

Company’s chief financialofficer V Ramakrishnan saiddespite headwinds from the

rupee volatility against variouscurrencies, and the higher costof doing business in somemajor markets, TCS’ operatingmargins have been resilient.

“We remain focused ondriving rigour in our opera-tions, generating strong cashflows and steering profitabili-ty back to our preferred range,while continuing to investstrongly for future growth,” headded.

During the October-December 2018 quarter, TCSadded 6,827 people (net), tak-ing the overall employeestrength to 4,17,929 employees.Attrition rate was at 11.2 percent on last twelve months(LTM) basis.

The company has declareda third interim dividend of `4per equity share.

PTI n MUMBAI

Breaking its four-day risingspree, benchmark Sensexended over 100 points

lower on Thursday, led by sell-ing in banking shares, asinvestors stayed on the back footahead of key results. Lacklustreglobal cues and a weakeningrupee added to the wariness ofparticipants, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexsettled 106.41 points, or 0.29%,down at 36,106.50, while thebroader NSE Nifty fell 33.55points, or 0.31%, to finish at10,821.60.

The fall was led by bankingstocks, with IndusInd Bank,Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, AxisBank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bankand SBI declining up to 2.36%.

Other losers included

ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, SunPharma, HDFC, HeroMotoCorp, ITC and HCL Tech,falling up to 1.31%.

Shares of TCS were flatahead of its quarterly earnings.

On the other hand, TataMotors, NTPC, Infosys, YesBank, M&M, L&T, BhartiAirtel, and HUL were the topgainers, rising up to 1.34%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfo-lio investors (FPIs) bought sharesworth a net of `276.14 crore onWednesday and domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) were netbuyers to the tune of `439.67crore, provisional data availablewith BSE showed.

“Earnings will providesome sense of where thingsstand... Clearly, after four yearsof lackluster earnings growth atthe index level, earnings need

to start coming through andinvestors will be keenly focusedon forward commentary inparticular,” said Sunil Sharma,chief investment officer,Sanctum Wealth Management.

On the macro front, therupee depreciated 10 paise to70.56 against the US dollar.

Global markets turnedweaker as optimism over theUS-China trade talks fizzled out,while oil prices traded above theUSD 60 per barrel mark.

In Asia, Korea’s Kospi fell0.06%, Japan’s Nikkei dropped1.29% and ShanghaiComposite Index slipped0.36%, while Hong Kong’sHang Seng rose 0.22%.

In Europe, Frankfurt’sDAX was down 0.51%, ParisCAC 40 fell 0.82%, andLondon’s FTSE shed 0.29%.

New Delhi (PTI): Private sector lender Bandhan BankThursday reported a 10.3% rise in net profit to `331.25 crore forthe third quarter ended December 31, 2018. The bank had record-ed a net profit of `300.04 crore in the October-December quar-ter of last fiscal. Total income of the lender also increased to`1,883.65 crore during the October-December 2018 as against`1,336.42 crore over the corresponding period of the previousfiscal, Bandhan Bank said in a statement.

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 2.41% ofthe total advances during the quarter, against 1.67% at the endof third quarter of the previous fiscal. However, net NPAs of thebank declined to 0.80% in the quarter from 0.70% of the netadvances. During the December quarter, the Net InterestIncome (NII) grew by 53.5% at ̀ 1,124 crore as against ̀ 732 crorein the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Net InterestMargin (NIM) for the December quarter stood at 70.3% against9.9% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Earlier this week, Bandhan Bank agreed to acquire HDFCLtd promoted affordable housing finance firm Gruh FinanceLimited. The share exchange ratio accepted by the boards ofBandhan Bank and Gruh is 568 equity shares of face value of`10 each of Bandhan Bank to be issued for every 1,000 equityshares of face value of `2 each of housing finance company.

Markets take a breather TCS Q3 net grows 24.1 pc

Maruti Suzuki hikes vehicle prices by up to `10,000

Bandhan Bank Q3 net profitrises 10 pc to `331 crore

EEPC for timely, affordable bank credit

Honda Cars drives in

new City variant

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 13.85 14.00 13.64 13.82GRUH 234.80 244.45 233.45 240.40YESBANK 188.00 191.00 184.40 186.70BANDHANBNK 456.00 475.00 450.00 471.70ASHOKLEY 96.90 97.00 94.80 95.00LINDEINDIA 684.90 773.00 683.50 745.65SBIN 305.15 307.20 302.95 304.65TCS 1904.00 1906.80 1874.10 1888.15SUZLON 5.32 5.50 5.31 5.44INFY 681.15 682.00 672.65 679.75WABAG 278.00 325.20 278.00 320.85TATAMOTORS 183.65 186.80 183.40 185.55DELTACORP 262.50 264.80 252.95 258.00AXISBANK 667.20 670.00 655.50 663.00IBULHSGFIN 820.00 828.35 808.75 812.80TATASTEEL 479.60 483.65 477.50 480.30JPASSOCIAT 7.45 7.52 7.38 7.42INDUSINDBK 1611.00 1611.10 1555.00 1566.45ICICIBANK 380.10 382.10 376.20 379.70DHFL 227.70 229.65 223.00 224.00RCF 62.10 67.80 62.10 66.80ITC 290.70 293.65 289.00 289.55SOUTHBANK 15.70 16.10 15.25 15.80BHARATFIN 1003.95 1005.10 984.70 990.80JETAIRWAYS 241.00 248.90 239.25 242.20M&M 731.70 735.00 723.85 733.30AMBUJACEM 213.35 215.10 210.90 212.45TITAN 953.00 967.80 949.30 965.50STRTECH 289.50 294.80 286.00 290.70MARUTI 7483.30 7502.05 7220.00 7385.95IOC 131.40 131.65 129.40 129.70RELIANCE 1108.40 1110.65 1102.10 1105.65NCC 90.55 93.25 90.00 92.75RELINFRA 300.00 311.80 300.00 305.80HINDPETRO 237.70 238.00 231.80 233.65DLF 182.10 187.05 181.45 183.35SUNPHARMA 441.05 447.55 440.60 443.85JINDALSTEL 151.80 153.65 149.05 149.95ICICIPRULI 339.40 353.35 337.25 346.50RELCAPITAL 217.80 222.50 216.70 217.80BOMDYEING 110.10 115.60 110.10 115.60VEDL 195.85 196.25 193.70 195.10IDFCBANK 46.25 47.30 45.85 46.75PCJEWELLER 82.40 82.55 80.35 80.75AUROPHARMA 756.05 778.00 753.40 775.70TRIDENT 68.55 71.75 68.55 70.85LT 1390.20 1399.00 1383.60 1390.25HDFCLIFE 396.05 409.00 395.80 406.60GNFC 351.35 364.25 349.20 358.50HEXAWARE 329.00 330.45 320.00 321.15BAJFINANCE 2539.95 2541.70 2505.00 2515.85BHARATFORG 478.00 483.60 476.00 482.35PNB 80.70 81.60 80.10 81.20JISLJALEQS 67.00 67.85 66.45 67.60GRAPHITE 721.00 734.30 721.00 724.55WIPRO 330.00 331.35 323.40 326.55BPCL 337.00 338.60 332.80 335.80UBL 1387.00 1387.00 1363.20 1378.35HDFC 1999.00 1999.00 1971.90 1979.00SPICEJET 80.00 81.35 79.00 80.65IBREALEST 87.30 90.00 87.30 88.50BHEL 70.75 70.75 68.70 68.85DMART 1608.95 1615.05 1581.65 1586.80ESCORTS 740.00 747.85 737.00 743.70AMARAJABAT 740.00 764.25 737.70 757.70L&TFH 144.95 146.00 143.40 144.45ONGC 145.60 147.00 143.30 143.55MFSL 439.35 463.00 439.20 458.45BATAINDIA 1149.00 1172.15 1143.00 1163.30KOTAKBANK 1235.00 1240.30 1216.50 1221.35ABFRL 211.00 214.80 207.90 211.40BANKBARODA 122.80 124.05 122.05 123.40HINDALCO 206.20 206.50 203.10 203.90NAUKRI 1636.60 1714.15 1566.15 1579.80PIDILITIND 1098.00 1125.90 1086.65 1114.90NTPC 147.90 149.40 147.00 147.75MPHASIS 895.55 920.00 890.50 903.00LTI 1767.00 1821.75 1750.35 1780.40HDFCBANK 2116.00 2123.15 2103.50 2109.55STAR 479.50 484.05 470.40 479.80PETRONET 215.70 215.75 211.15 214.20RECLTD 120.75 124.35 120.75 122.75DIVISLAB 1469.00 1524.40 1468.05 1516.25PEL 2350.00 2350.00 2283.45 2303.50BEML 911.00 911.45 899.00 906.55TORNTPHARM 1827.25 1879.90 1827.25 1853.45EICHERMOT 20398.90 20583.70 20315.35 20526.50UPL 763.90 779.40 763.90 772.10JSWSTEEL 291.95 292.95 288.00 289.65BIOCON 631.85 635.80 620.55 629.50MANAPPURAM 94.90 98.80 94.85 98.40PFC 108.35 110.20 107.40 107.95UNIONBANK 92.10 93.45 91.35 92.75ITI 91.05 94.45 91.00 93.00BANKINDIA 105.50 107.00 105.20 106.10RAIN 116.00 119.40 115.70 117.00HCLTECH 940.65 940.65 932.30 935.85CHAMBLFERT 158.05 164.50 158.00 163.50BEL 92.50 93.15 91.60 92.35INFIBEAM 44.50 44.90 43.40 43.75GODREJCP 777.25 782.95 769.90 779.20IDEA 36.90 37.60 36.85 37.05WOCKPHARMA 510.55 520.20 507.05 517.35BLISSGVS 170.85 175.00 166.60 167.95COALINDIA 232.95 233.85 232.25 233.05JUBLFOOD 1236.05 1243.10 1225.50 1234.35BHARTIARTL 335.20 338.25 332.60 337.25HUDCO 43.15 44.90 43.10 43.80

CANBK 280.55 283.15 278.80 281.05VIPIND 502.80 507.00 494.00 498.35COCHINSHIP 369.00 391.55 365.00 367.00NIITTECH 1162.95 1167.70 1148.95 1153.90HINDUNILVR 1786.05 1799.00 1779.50 1785.90GAIL 345.00 345.45 339.25 344.30MINDTREE 823.55 827.75 806.70 811.25DEEPAKFERT 143.80 147.60 143.05 145.50MOTHERSUMI 162.00 162.95 160.30 161.70LUXIND 1284.70 1284.70 1131.20 1143.50NBCC 61.90 62.15 60.85 61.25JAICORPLTD 111.70 113.00 110.50 111.20DBL 395.00 398.55 390.15 393.15NESTLEIND 11260.00 11467.80 11157.55 11416.85DRREDDY 2593.20 2607.00 2584.90 2599.55FEDERALBNK 97.20 97.20 95.25 95.70ASIANPAINT 1387.10 1402.35 1387.10 1397.55NMDC 91.60 91.90 90.85 91.10SAIL 52.50 52.85 51.95 52.45RBLBANK 578.00 583.85 573.70 578.75AARTIIND 1498.95 1554.00 1493.00 1544.50AUBANK 634.95 655.05 633.85 649.90KTKBANK 113.75 115.65 113.20 115.25MUTHOOTFIN 517.65 529.75 517.20 523.75BAJAJCORP 371.00 385.75 371.00 384.10HFCL 22.90 23.60 22.75 23.15HEG 3644.05 3700.00 3626.20 3663.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2700.00 2725.00 2687.55 2718.75FRETAIL 450.00 458.25 446.00 450.25GSFC 112.35 114.45 112.35 112.80INDIACEM 88.90 89.25 87.60 88.15LTTS 1660.00 1661.55 1630.30 1638.95HAVELLS 685.90 690.70 676.50 688.40RAYMOND 795.55 817.00 792.85 808.75GMRINFRA 16.90 17.20 16.65 16.75HEROMOTOCO 2935.00 2947.90 2915.10 2922.65INFRATEL 289.65 289.65 281.60 285.45OBEROIRLTY 456.05 469.00 454.30 460.50JUBILANT 714.25 737.00 712.70 718.75TVSMOTOR 538.50 544.70 537.00 539.60DABUR 426.90 426.90 418.65 421.35ICICIGI 863.95 895.00 860.65 891.00TATAELXSI 977.80 977.80 965.00 969.20TATAPOWER 74.10 74.95 73.85 74.80COLPAL 1307.00 1330.50 1302.65 1325.00

TATAMTRDVR 97.00 98.50 97.00 98.05SIEMENS 1058.80 1074.55 1051.10 1070.50MERCK 3240.00 3408.00 3240.00 3356.35INDIGO 1094.65 1102.00 1085.00 1097.15SRTRANSFIN 1205.00 1220.50 1180.25 1186.55ZEEL 454.00 455.35 449.15 451.95JUSTDIAL 488.80 494.40 486.60 490.25SHANKARA 518.20 538.25 517.55 520.80ABCAPITAL 96.55 97.50 96.15 96.80NATIONALUM 62.65 63.00 62.35 62.75GODREJPROP 741.00 746.00 728.00 734.80CONCOR 682.00 692.90 681.15 689.35LICHSGFIN 476.80 485.00 474.05 483.25SUNTECK 343.00 344.25 335.30 337.55ORIENTBANK 99.05 100.40 98.35 99.00SBILIFE 642.95 647.90 631.85 635.05APOLLOHOSP 1261.95 1290.10 1261.00 1285.65RADICO 411.05 413.00 408.00 409.85ULTRACEMCO 3821.10 3848.90 3809.00 3819.40PHILIPCARB 206.45 208.50 205.00 206.50TECHM 694.75 696.70 688.90 693.35UJJIVAN 284.70 288.50 284.50 286.65ADANITRANS 206.25 218.00 205.65 215.65SUNTV 589.00 597.60 586.65 589.95NOCIL 171.00 172.00 165.30 166.10IBVENTURES 386.25 393.00 380.00 384.30PVR 1616.60 1643.20 1601.40 1633.70FORCEMOT 1617.35 1638.90 1617.00 1622.75GLENMARK 657.50 669.80 652.25 666.80KAJARIACER 515.55 524.50 513.50 522.70NLCINDIA 68.00 68.25 65.00 67.25IDBI 65.00 65.00 62.45 62.70ASTRAZEN 1493.00 1591.45 1493.00 1576.70MRPL 71.50 71.55 68.30 70.85EQUITAS 121.70 123.80 120.80 122.05MCX 734.30 755.40 734.30 751.60BAJAJFINSV 6400.00 6432.40 6350.00 6368.55LUPIN 835.00 842.00 833.40 838.20RPOWER 29.60 30.10 29.50 29.65FCONSUMER 43.65 43.65 42.85 43.00KEC 285.90 289.95 284.25 289.10SRF 2030.00 2055.00 2014.70 2050.80OMAXE 213.20 213.60 212.60 212.90

ADANIPORTS 378.90 381.50 377.40 379.85BRITANNIA 3100.00 3100.00 3073.30 3088.40EDELWEISS 183.00 183.00 176.50 179.00RALLIS 169.05 172.25 167.25 167.80BALKRISIND 892.95 894.95 872.00 888.20DCBBANK 177.00 178.65 175.85 177.25ADANIPOWER 50.60 50.95 50.20 50.50TORNTPOWER 263.00 264.65 259.20 260.20KSCL 548.00 558.00 541.90 556.40GRASIM 837.50 837.55 818.10 820.15SOBHA 480.90 493.80 468.50 475.85ENGINERSIN 124.50 127.60 124.50 125.20JMFINANCIL 88.50 89.25 87.15 87.85TATACOMM 518.95 524.20 512.05 517.60ACC 1456.00 1462.50 1445.00 1448.30SUVEN 226.20 228.85 224.40 227.10PNBHOUSING 890.00 918.00 882.00 909.10HSIL 239.15 251.00 239.15 247.95SYNGENE 562.90 575.00 543.50 549.15SREINFRA 35.90 36.95 35.25 35.75CIPLA 509.90 514.60 509.90 513.55CGPOWER 45.25 46.10 45.00 45.45JSLHISAR 84.05 85.90 83.55 84.70CADILAHC 345.60 350.95 345.60 349.75CENTRALBK 37.40 37.40 35.80 35.95INTELLECT 222.20 222.70 219.25 220.65PAGEIND 23195.25 23353.30 22983.55 23160.15ASTRAL 1180.00 1207.05 1180.00 1186.45VENKYS 2370.10 2380.00 2331.25 2341.20WHIRLPOOL 1450.00 1505.40 1450.00 1466.10AVANTI 383.85 383.85 376.65 378.45GESHIP 318.90 328.60 313.80 323.65GICHSGFIN 263.10 272.75 261.65 264.45JSWENERGY 69.70 70.50 69.50 69.85CEATLTD 1250.00 1272.00 1248.00 1264.15COROMANDEL 465.95 465.95 456.40 460.85CHENNPETRO 269.90 269.90 264.95 267.35TATAGLOBAL 214.00 214.85 212.50 213.85M&MFIN 460.00 461.25 455.00 459.20FSL 47.60 47.60 46.80 47.10CHOLAFIN 1196.95 1208.00 1186.20 1193.40APOLLOTYRE 222.00 227.80 222.00 227.10KANSAINER 450.60 452.90 442.70 449.45INDHOTEL 141.95 143.45 141.10 141.65MARICO 385.00 389.00 383.65 387.55SPARC 188.00 188.50 186.30 188.15KPIT 207.60 209.00 204.20 205.65TATAINVEST 862.05 864.00 853.05 855.30JAMNAAUTO 61.90 62.75 61.75 61.90IDFC 43.20 43.70 42.50 43.00VOLTAS 536.15 542.55 533.90 538.75NAVINFLUOR 683.90 695.05 674.00 675.25GSPL 170.55 172.25 168.95 169.90NHPC 26.05 26.05 25.40 25.60OIL 176.90 176.90 173.70 174.20POWERGRID 196.70 197.00 195.10 196.10LALPATHLAB 948.00 985.40 940.40 968.35NATCOPHARM* 685.00 694.15 681.25 685.55JKTYRE 102.15 102.50 101.30 101.65PIIND 866.30 868.00 853.00 854.45INDIANB 251.95 255.25 251.00 251.95SYNDIBANK 40.75 41.05 40.10 40.50WESTLIFE 384.50 393.00 381.40 391.25HINDCOPPER 49.30 49.60 49.10 49.20ASHOKA 133.50 134.80 129.00 132.60PERSISTENT 565.00 569.50 562.00 564.90ALBK 46.25 46.45 45.50 45.80TATAMETALI 637.00 650.00 637.00 646.45CUMMINSIND 856.25 861.85 850.65 854.10AJANTPHARM 1163.95 1170.80 1151.00 1163.25CANFINHOME 274.75 280.00 273.50 275.95SADBHAV 222.10 228.50 213.90 226.00EXIDEIND 257.00 263.15 257.00 261.40VGUARD 205.40 207.95 205.25 206.85GET&D 296.00 315.00 296.00 311.85VINATIORGA 1630.70 1636.45 1587.00 1600.35TATACOFFEE 97.50 99.25 97.20 98.75TATACHEM 695.25 702.00 695.20 700.30RAJESHEXPO 577.15 577.15 566.00 569.00DENABANK 14.00 14.00 13.70 13.75GODREJIND 539.65 544.85 520.25 543.55PHOENIXLTD 580.00 581.00 552.70 572.40PARAGMILK 242.05 244.75 241.50 242.00KEI 360.00 362.00 355.85 358.20BBTC 1301.70 1305.95 1290.00 1292.65IRB 156.85 159.55 156.20 157.65CENTURYTEX 898.90 900.20 885.10 890.70MAHINDCIE 241.00 242.90 238.95 240.95BERGEPAINT 323.50 327.10 321.75 324.25CENTURYPLY 174.00 186.30 174.00 184.15SJVN 25.15 25.60 24.75 24.80QUESS 724.80 735.00 702.00 730.45SUPREMEIND 1045.20 1082.00 1045.15 1074.85WELSPUNIND 61.05 61.75 60.85 61.25REPCOHOME 423.00 428.40 414.30 418.35IGL 266.40 267.85 265.05 266.35TIINDIA 334.90 339.60 323.05 324.95IFCI 14.60 14.84 14.55 14.68GUJFLUORO 945.05 965.50 941.40 949.85DCMSHRIRAM 360.10 360.10 348.80 354.30GREAVESCOT 121.00 122.55 120.75 122.10BAJAJHLDNG 3014.70 3025.00 2963.00 2976.65SHOPERSTOP 503.10 527.50 502.00 525.35IBULISL 311.00 336.90 311.00 336.90MEGH 56.95 57.55 56.00 56.20ABB 1296.00 1309.00 1295.95 1299.70CASTROLIND 150.00 151.20 149.40 150.65MINDAIND 349.70 349.70 313.00 315.90J&KBANK 37.00 37.10 36.55 36.75

HAL 782.20 787.60 777.00 778.95DISHTV 39.25 40.00 39.25 39.70UCOBANK 21.10 21.20 20.70 20.80LEMONTREE 69.20 70.60 67.70 70.35GUJALKALI 531.00 535.50 526.45 529.30AIAENG 1660.00 1702.50 1660.00 1690.70PTC 92.00 92.50 89.95 91.60TV18BRDCST 37.65 38.20 37.65 38.10JINDALSAW 81.10 82.10 80.50 80.75DBCORP 183.10 183.10 175.50 177.45HINDZINC 270.15 277.15 270.15 275.10MMTC 28.95 29.30 28.50 28.90EIDPARRY 225.05 228.35 222.05 225.15MGL 899.05 902.75 894.20 899.75HONAUT 21896.20 22064.25 21896.20 21905.05SHK 172.00 181.40 171.30 178.05GRANULES 90.20 91.50 89.60 90.15MOIL 167.20 167.90 166.50 166.90GICRE 262.95 265.50 260.40 262.05MINDACORP 151.00 152.00 149.30 150.55SONATSOFTW 303.40 303.75 297.00 297.60LAKSHVILAS 77.55 80.65 75.90 79.30TRITURBINE 112.90 115.40 112.45 113.05MHRIL 204.40 214.75 204.40 213.85PFIZER 2741.15 2761.00 2715.10 2752.10IEX 163.40 166.00 160.00 160.70ABBOTINDIA 7994.35 8199.00 7994.35 8092.55TIMKEN 590.00 608.00 588.00 589.05REDINGTON 85.15 86.20 82.30 83.10NAVKARCORP 50.80 51.00 49.90 50.15MOTILALOFS 692.25 693.80 683.00 689.85CARBORUNIV 365.00 369.00 363.00 367.45VMART 2362.25 2376.85 2287.95 2294.75GHCL 246.00 250.00 243.25 246.35ITDCEM 118.70 118.85 116.20 117.35MAHLIFE 391.00 396.00 375.70 389.30HSCL 129.50 130.00 128.65 129.55VBL 819.00 825.00 812.65 818.15ITDC 318.75 323.20 310.00 314.05SYMPHONY 1124.85 1144.25 1123.05 1128.25TRENT 350.00 355.00 346.10 353.90MRF 66198.90 66890.00 65747.20 66550.55BAJAJELEC 484.90 493.20 484.90 490.45SCI 45.35 46.25 45.00 45.10VIJAYABANK 49.50 49.80 49.00 49.20SWANENERGY 98.60 100.95 97.55 99.90ALLCARGO 109.40 111.00 108.90 110.55GUJGAS 663.00 675.00 656.00 671.75JKLAKSHMI 300.00 301.95 289.90 294.45IPCALAB 788.95 788.95 775.45 777.00CYIENT 604.05 608.85 603.00 605.35DCAL 243.05 244.60 237.55 240.15PRESTIGE 228.00 229.85 217.75 220.65BOSCHLTD 19569.00 19723.50 19349.75 19666.95NESCO 481.00 481.00 471.20 477.85GPPL 94.80 95.00 92.60 93.55NBVENTURES 116.60 116.65 114.90 115.10CROMPTON 230.00 231.40 227.40 229.05PRSMJOHNSN 82.70 88.50 82.70 88.00CARERATING 989.95 1014.00 980.70 1010.60ISEC 266.95 269.10 256.00 267.05GLAXO 1440.55 1493.75 1438.00 1479.95MAHABANK 15.20 15.29 15.06 15.14GODFRYPHLP 905.95 908.45 885.05 890.15EMAMILTD 421.00 425.50 420.00 422.20CUB 192.10 194.85 191.20 191.95SOMANYCERA 364.90 378.00 359.10 368.50FORTIS 138.80 140.35 138.80 140.15RAMCOCEM 618.65 631.10 618.65 629.05APLAPOLLO 1109.50 1109.50 1096.00 1099.35DEEPAKNI 220.00 223.65 220.00 222.25EVEREADY 181.15 182.50 180.00 181.50MAXINDIA 85.45 85.50 84.00 85.05CAPPL 383.65 384.90 376.05 378.30GSKCONS 7500.00 7542.30 7451.00 7496.50OFSS 3577.00 3669.00 3572.85 3644.00TEJASNET 216.95 221.50 215.50 220.50JAGRAN 118.60 118.60 115.00 115.30TNPL 238.30 240.50 231.50 239.00WELCORP 134.95 135.00 133.50 133.90TAKE 149.00 150.00 148.20 149.30NIACL 179.00 182.00 178.50 178.85GODREJAGRO 496.40 499.80 496.40 498.95UFLEX 266.55 271.65 266.55 267.95SCHNEIDER 98.90 100.00 98.55 99.10SHREECEM 16302.80 16595.00 16302.80 16455.15ENDURANCE 1210.50 1219.00 1200.50 1207.20BDL 285.00 291.30 284.25 287.60ANDHRABANK 29.80 29.95 29.50 29.55ADVENZYMES 173.15 175.00 169.20 171.95RELAXO 737.85 759.85 735.80 758.15INDOSTAR 351.00 356.15 350.00 355.35INOXWIND 76.00 76.75 74.00 74.65MANPASAND 84.85 85.75 84.25 85.60BALMLAWRIE 196.00 198.85 194.55 197.15EIHOTEL 188.05 189.10 186.00 187.70SUNDRMFAST 520.00 526.70 515.00 516.75GDL 117.95 121.00 116.00 116.95AEGISLOG 209.10 211.00 204.00 207.80PGHH 9971.00 10060.55 9940.10 9951.20THERMAX 1123.75 1156.05 1123.75 1147.85ZENSARTECH 232.40 235.40 232.15 234.10LAXMIMACH 5700.05 5769.35 5700.00 5757.95GREENPLY 141.20 145.00 138.30 143.50TIMETECHNO 100.70 102.00 100.05 100.40JSL 32.80 33.00 32.65 32.75CORPBANK 28.95 29.05 28.35 28.75SKFINDIA 1935.00 1948.75 1931.75 1944.65KRBL 291.30 297.30 290.55 292.80

NILKAMAL 1449.40 1454.05 1438.00 1444.20ATUL 3448.00 3479.00 3442.75 3474.10IOB 14.56 14.82 14.55 14.63AKZOINDIA 1765.40 1765.40 1735.00 1739.75ZYDUSWELL 1314.80 1344.45 1314.75 1329.90SANOFI 6289.95 6297.95 6200.00 6221.70TTKPRESTIG 7537.65 7612.45 7520.00 7564.80INOXLEISUR 252.00 252.10 249.15 249.75SUPRAJIT 222.90 222.90 214.95 218.20JYOTHYLAB 205.00 205.00 201.95 202.15FINOLEXIND 541.15 541.15 531.30 536.80ADANIGREEN 40.70 41.05 40.45 40.75KALPATPOWR 379.05 384.00 378.30 382.05FORBESCO 2220.00 2250.00 2200.00 2235.90GMDCLTD 87.80 88.55 87.25 87.60GULFOILLUB 834.00 841.45 830.00 836.85TVSSRICHAK 2456.00 2489.00 2431.30 2450.30HATSUN 675.95 685.50 671.60 682.85RNAM 157.10 157.80 156.05 156.60THOMASCOOK 233.85 235.20 232.85 234.75APLLTD 595.00 595.00 588.95 591.00SHRIRAMCIT 1575.40 1624.00 1575.40 1607.60KPRMILL 535.05 536.00 532.00 533.70ERIS 685.15 686.00 671.05 674.90TIFHL 470.00 478.00 462.00 474.80HERITGFOOD 528.20 528.35 520.95 521.95WABCOINDIA 6396.35 6505.05 6390.00 6486.00MAGMA 108.55 108.75 106.55 107.50KNRCON 212.55 217.20 210.30 216.15ASTERDM 163.50 163.50 159.20 162.10COFFEEDAY 267.85 268.00 266.00 266.95ISGEC 5030.00 5049.00 4960.20 4990.45ALKEM 1984.75 1984.95 1953.75 1973.25FLFL 390.00 398.35 388.55 391.75JKCEMENT 705.50 718.00 702.80 708.85HIMATSEIDE 211.00 213.00 209.35 210.85NETWORK18 40.10 40.10 39.80 39.90ECLERX 1045.00 1084.00 1045.00 1076.70BLUESTARCO 615.30 618.70 606.80 610.80GALAXYSURF 1215.10 1215.10 1192.00 1196.00FINCABLES 449.25 450.00 448.35 449.10GEPIL 809.90 822.35 809.90 819.55CENTRUM 35.55 35.75 35.05 35.25JBCHEPHARM 301.50 303.35 300.00 302.00SHARDACROP 298.95 300.00 292.90 299.35TVTODAY 369.90 369.90 366.00 368.15FDC 175.00 176.70 172.90 173.40LAURUSLABS 375.00 376.45 373.00 375.10ORIENTCEM 80.25 80.50 77.50 78.45NH 206.30 210.00 203.05 206.10DHANUKA 422.45 425.45 420.00 421.25BAYERCROP 4239.00 4239.00 4202.00 4212.653MINDIA 20378.00 20882.00 20378.00 20680.65ESSELPRO 107.75 107.75 105.40 107.40BIRLACORPN 565.05 571.00 565.00 566.15SUDARSCHEM 354.75 354.75 345.75 347.10MONSANTO 2620.00 2637.50 2581.00 2593.85SHILPAMED 387.25 387.25 381.00 381.35VTL 1088.25 1095.00 1085.05 1087.05CRISIL 1650.00 1654.00 1634.75 1638.25TEAMLEASE 2763.00 2850.35 2763.00 2821.20SCHAEFFLER 5685.60 5700.00 5666.75 5672.60MAHLOG 501.80 508.40 494.30 506.95ASAHIINDIA 255.10 256.50 255.00 255.00THYROCARE 549.60 550.00 547.00 549.40NAVNETEDUL 106.10 109.50 105.10 109.05CCL 266.05 269.60 266.00 268.65KIOCL 147.30 152.95 147.25 149.70ELGIEQUIP 251.80 251.80 249.00 250.65BASF 1517.50 1529.05 1517.50 1521.65GILLETTE 6492.50 6499.00 6475.00 6494.15BLUEDART 3297.00 3310.00 3253.00 3290.50HEIDELBERG 148.90 150.35 148.65 149.05GRINDWELL 554.70 555.00 550.00 553.70CERA 2612.35 2630.00 2599.80 2623.05STARCEMENT 103.00 103.00 101.00 101.50PNCINFRA 147.15 147.50 146.40 147.45SUPPETRO 199.00 199.00 197.50 197.90APARINDS 629.80 630.05 622.40 627.10SOLARINDS 1045.65 1054.00 1045.65 1050.85SIS 760.35 763.45 755.00 762.75JCHAC 1816.00 1816.00 1742.50 1758.80SFL 1360.00 1375.00 1334.10 1367.50RATNAMANI 919.80 919.85 902.00 902.00IFBIND 830.30 840.80 828.25 836.40SUNCLAYLTD 3384.00 3400.00 3380.00 3400.00LAOPALA 216.30 216.55 216.25 216.40

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10859.35 10859.35 10801.80 10821.60 -33.55TITAN 950.40 969.40 948.55 968.00 15.05TATAMOTORS 183.65 186.85 183.55 185.50 2.45EICHERMOT 20360.00 20600.00 20345.05 20530.00 238.95BAJAJ-AUTO 2700.00 2729.00 2680.00 2724.00 27.10NTPC 146.95 149.55 146.75 148.00 1.45CIPLA 509.00 514.90 509.00 514.50 4.40M&M 728.00 734.85 722.80 732.50 6.20UPL 765.80 780.00 765.05 771.00 6.20YESBANK 188.00 188.90 184.20 187.90 1.45BHARTIARTL 336.55 338.65 332.40 337.00 2.50GAIL 343.00 345.10 339.25 343.80 2.45ADANIPORTS 377.95 381.80 376.95 380.00 2.70INFY 681.60 682.00 672.55 680.80 4.70VEDL 195.00 196.20 193.45 195.50 0.75LT 1388.00 1398.90 1383.25 1391.00 4.95DRREDDY 2598.10 2610.00 2583.15 2609.25 6.15COALINDIA 233.80 233.95 232.05 233.00 0.35TATASTEEL 480.00 484.15 477.50 479.60 0.40HINDUNILVR 1785.00 1799.10 1779.00 1786.00 1.00SBIN 305.10 307.50 303.50 305.40 0.10ZEEL 452.50 455.50 448.80 451.00 -0.25TECHM 695.00 696.95 689.15 693.20 -0.50ULTRACEMCO 3820.00 3847.00 3804.05 3811.10 -6.15ASIANPAINT 1390.00 1400.00 1388.65 1399.70 -2.30TCS 1890.00 1905.00 1872.10 1883.00 -3.95RELIANCE 1107.75 1111.00 1103.00 1107.60 -3.15ITC 290.75 293.70 288.90 289.50 -0.90BAJFINANCE 2526.00 2542.45 2504.70 2515.00 -9.35HCLTECH 943.00 943.00 932.00 934.00 -4.40HDFCBANK 2117.00 2123.80 2092.65 2106.60 -10.20JSWSTEEL 290.00 292.70 287.65 289.30 -1.45ICICIBANK 380.95 382.15 376.05 379.90 -2.35AXISBANK 668.90 668.90 654.60 665.20 -4.90HEROMOTOCO 2932.00 2949.95 2912.55 2915.50 -21.95HINDALCO 206.00 206.65 203.05 204.00 -1.70BAJAJFINSV 6425.00 6430.00 6337.70 6339.95 -59.15HDFC 1993.00 1993.00 1971.30 1976.00 -18.95SUNPHARMA 445.10 448.00 440.45 444.20 -4.55IBULHSGFIN 822.00 828.70 810.60 812.75 -9.00WIPRO 330.80 331.05 323.00 325.25 -3.75POWERGRID 197.45 197.45 194.90 195.00 -2.60ONGC 145.90 147.00 143.00 143.35 -1.95BPCL 336.90 338.75 333.00 335.40 -4.65IOC 131.10 131.80 129.45 130.05 -1.95KOTAKBANK 1239.00 1242.00 1216.35 1218.00 -20.25MARUTI 7500.00 7511.00 7360.15 7367.00 -125.90INFRATEL 290.10 290.40 281.60 285.00 -5.35GRASIM 834.60 837.45 819.00 819.00 -16.30INDUSINDBK 1607.85 1607.85 1554.00 1563.00 -38.75HINDPETRO 236.55 237.95 231.20 232.40 -6.60

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27719.40 27820.60 27675.95 27798.20 114.70BANDHANBNK 452.00 474.80 451.10 472.90 17.50ICICIPRULI 338.00 354.00 337.30 348.15 11.40ICICIGI 861.00 893.00 861.00 889.00 24.80HDFCLIFE 396.65 409.35 395.05 405.90 9.90AUROPHARMA 756.00 779.00 753.15 775.50 18.25COLPAL 1308.95 1330.95 1306.10 1327.95 24.40PIDILITIND 1095.00 1127.25 1087.00 1114.80 16.70MARICO 385.10 388.85 383.80 388.80 5.05BOSCHLTD 19440.00 19739.95 19390.00 19707.00 230.65MRF 66249.00 67094.95 65909.00 66851.00 780.65SIEMENS 1058.00 1075.00 1052.00 1065.60 12.05LICHSGFIN 478.00 485.25 474.00 481.60 5.45OFSS 3619.00 3647.00 3570.75 3639.50 40.40ABCAPITAL 96.25 97.40 96.00 97.30 0.90GICRE 260.15 266.00 260.10 265.00 2.10CADILAHC 346.90 351.30 345.85 350.45 2.75GODREJCP 776.80 783.20 769.05 780.00 6.10HAVELLS 682.95 690.55 676.00 687.10 5.35DLF 183.10 187.15 181.35 183.50 1.40ASHOKLEY 96.60 96.60 94.80 95.10 0.65NIACL 178.25 180.05 178.15 179.00 1.20CONCOR 684.30 692.90 681.70 688.70 4.25BANKBARODA 122.50 124.15 121.85 123.55 0.60SHREECEM 16470.00 16600.00 16299.80 16413.15 67.75BEL 91.90 93.00 91.50 92.60 0.25SAIL 52.60 52.80 51.95 52.35 0.10ABB 1301.20 1304.00 1298.55 1301.95 2.35PGHH 10049.80 10111.00 9940.05 9999.00 16.55IDEA 37.00 37.60 36.80 37.00 0.05AMBUJACEM 213.85 215.40 211.30 213.00 0.15MOTHERSUMI 162.05 162.90 160.50 162.00 0.05SUNTV 588.00 597.70 588.00 589.00 0.10DABUR 422.50 423.90 418.55 421.55 0.05HINDZINC 274.95 277.60 272.85 275.40 -0.05BRITANNIA 3100.00 3100.00 3073.00 3089.00 -3.65PETRONET 214.40 214.80 210.80 214.00 -0.40NMDC 91.10 91.80 90.80 91.00 -0.25BIOCON 631.00 632.25 620.15 630.00 -1.85DMART 1608.00 1614.00 1580.25 1591.00 -4.75L&TFH 144.65 146.00 143.25 144.20 -0.45ACC 1455.25 1462.80 1444.00 1449.55 -4.60LUPIN 836.60 842.90 833.50 835.30 -2.85INDIGO 1089.95 1102.70 1085.90 1099.95 -4.90NHPC 25.95 26.00 25.35 25.65 -0.30OIL 176.00 176.30 173.40 173.60 -2.20SBILIFE 642.10 648.40 631.00 633.50 -9.45PEL 2340.00 2344.95 2280.55 2305.30 -36.60MCDOWELL-N 594.60 594.60 582.50 584.20 -9.95BHEL 70.25 70.50 68.70 68.80 -1.45SRTRANSFIN 1208.00 1220.85 1180.00 1184.05 -25.90

world 11LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

Furious Trump walks out of shutdown talks

PTI n WASHINGTON

Negotiations betweenDonald Trump and the

Democrats to end a partial gov-ernment shutdown have col-lapsed after the presidentstormed out of a crucial meet-ing as the opposition leadersstuck by their refusal to allocateUSD 5.7 billion for his contro-versial US-Mexico border wall.House Speaker Nancy Pelosiand Senate Minority LeaderSenator Chuck Schumeraccused Trump of slamminghis hand on the table before heexited the White House meet-ing, and they said the furiousignored their pleas to reopenthe federal government as theycontinue to negotiate over hisborder wall demand.

Funding for a border wallto prevent the entry of illegalimmigrants has been the mainsticking point in negotiationswith Democrats to reopenparts of the federal governmentthat have been shut for 19 days.

A wall along the US-Mexico border was one ofTrump’s signature campaignpromises. The Democrats arerefusing to allocate the money,arguing that a wall would becostly and ineffective. Mexicohas rejected Trump’s demand topay for the border wall.

The standoff triggered apartial government shutdownon December 22, shutteringnine federal departments andseveral smaller agencies andforcing some 800,000 workersto go on unpaid leave or workwithout pay. The shutdownentered its 19th dayWednesday, making it the sec-ond-longest in history afterthe 21-day shutdown in 1995-96.

The president’s walkoutfrom the meeting with Pelosiand Schumer starts a newphase of political uncertainty inthe US. White House officialssay that the administration isincreasingly frustrated withthe refusal of Democrats tomake a deal, US media report-

ed.Trump was furious that

Pelosi said no when he askedthe Democratic leaders if theysupport the move to fund theborder wall within the next 30days if he ends the partial gov-ernment shutdown that hascrippled many offices.

“Just left a meeting withChuck and Nancy, a total wasteof time. I asked what is goingto happen in 30 days if I quick-ly open things up, are you goingto approve Border Securitywhich includes a Wall or SteelBarrier? Nancy said, NO. Isaid bye-bye, nothing elseworks (sic)!” a furious Trumptweeted.

Trump earlier said impos-ing a national emergency tobuild the wall is the last optionand threatened to use it if theDemocrats do not allocateUSD 5.7 billion funding for hisplan.

He argued that the currentsituation, wherein people are

entering the country illegallyand there is a massive smug-gling of drugs, poses a nation-al security threat.

“I have the absolute right toimpose national emergency ifI want,” Trump said.To a ques-tion why he did not declare anemergency during his prime-time address to the nation onTuesday night from the OvalOffice, the president said,“Because I think we mightwork a deal and, if we don’t, Imay go that (national emer-gency) route.”

Talking to reporters afterTrump’s walkout from themeeting, Pelosi and Schumerasserted that under no cir-cumstances the Democrats arewilling to fund a border wall.Blaming Trump for the partialgovernment shutdown that hasbadly hit the functioning of thefederal government, the twoleaders indicated that theirparty is not going to change itsstand over the issue. The

Democratic party enjoys amajority in the House ofRepresentatives.

Vice President Mike Pencesaid their doors are still openfor the Democratic party lead-ers to come up with their ownproposal. However, Trump hasmade it clear that there will beno moving forward withoutfunding approval for a wall. Inrecent days, the president hasshowed signs of some flexibil-ity by proposing a steel barri-er instead of a 30-foot-highconcrete wall.

The meeting with Pelosiand Schumer took place in theSituation Room of the WhiteHouse.

Trump entered the roomand shared candies with theCongressional leadership, butwalked out soon after getting‘no’ for an answer from theHouse Speaker.

“It’s cold out here and thetemperature was not muchwarmer in the Situation

Room,” Pelosi told reportersoutside the White House afterthe meeting.Schumer allegedthat Trump “sort of slammedthe table” as the talks fellapart.“He couldn’t get his wayand he just walked out of themeeting,” he said, adding, “Wesaw a temper tantrum becausehe couldn’t get his way.

”Alleging that theDemocrats are unwilling tochange their position over theissue, Vice President Pencesaid the Democrats want toreopen the government beforenegotiations can begin.

Trump is scheduled totravel to the southern border inTexas on Thursday to have afirst-hand assessment of the sit-uation.

A new opinion poll sug-gests just over half ofAmericans (51 per cent) blamePresident Trump for the shut-down, but that 77 per cent ofRepublican voters back hisdemand for wall funding.

... after Democrats reject his demand for wall funding

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., stand with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnell of Ky., as Trump speaks while departing after a Senate Republican Policy luncheon, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday. AP

Rebel drone bombs Yemenmilitary parade, kills 6AP n SANAA

Abomb-laden drone flown byYemen’s Houthi rebels flew

into a military parade onThursday outside of the southernport city of Aden, killing at leastsix troops from a Saudi-led coali-tion and their allies in a brazenattack threatening UN-brokeredpeace efforts to end the years-long war tearing at the Arabworld’s poorest nation.The attackat the Al-Anad Air Base, whereAmerican special forces onceled their fight against Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, targeted high-ranking military officials inYemen’s internationally recog-nised government.

The attack also raised newquestions about Iran’s allegedrole in arming the Houthis withdrone and ballistic missile tech-nology, something long denied byTehran despite researchers andUN experts linking the weaponsto the Islamic Republic.“Onceagain this proves that the Houthicriminal militias are not ready forpeace and that they are exploit-ing truces in order for deploy-ment and reinforcements,” saidInformation Minister Moammaral-Eryani, who said two seniormilitary officials were woundedin the attack.“This is time for theinternational community to standby the legitimate governmentand force the militias to give uptheir weapons and pull out of thecities,” he added.

The Houthis immediatelyclaimed the attack through theiral-Masirah satellite news channel,saying the attack targeted“invaders and mercenaries” at thebase in the southern province ofLahj, leaving “dozens of dead andwounded.” Yemeni officials saidthat among the wounded wereMohammad Saleh Tamah, headof Yemen’s Intelligence Service,senior military commanderMohammad Jawas, and Lahjgovernor Ahmed al-Turki,adding that authorities were stillsearching for wounded amongthe rubble.

The officials spoke on con-dition of anonymity as they werenot authorized to talk to

reporters.Local reporter Nabilal-Qaiti was attending the cer-emony and standing in front ofthe stage when he saw a droneapproach and hover nearbyabout 25 meters high in the air,minutes after the parade start-ed. Army spokesmanMohammed al-Naqib was deliv-ering a speech from a podiumwhen the drone exploded.“Itwas a very strong explosion andwe could feel the pressure,” hesaid, adding that two of the peo-ple standing next to him — asoldier and a journalist— werewounded. Al-Qaiti saw manywounded but no dead.“Thedrone was packed with explo-sives,” he added.Some 8,000soldiers had been taking part inthe parade, as well as two gov-ernors and a large number oftop military commandersincluding the chief of staff.Initial reports said six troopswere killed.

Yemen plunged into civilwar in 2014 when the rebels cap-tured Sanaa, and the Saudi-ledcoalition intervened a year later

when they pushed further south.The coalition, which is fightingalongside government troops,has since been trying to restoreYemen’s internationally recog-nized government topower.Hopes were raised lastmonth that the country wasmoving toward peace, after thetwo sides agreed to a prisonerswap and cease-fire in the portcity of Hodeida, where rivalforces were to withdraw to allowhumanitarian aid flows to returnand hopefully relieve a countrypushed to the brink of famine bywar.

Fighting has largely abatedin Hodeida but progress on thewithdrawal has been slow. TheUN humanitarian aid chiefWednesday accused the rebels ofblocking humanitarian suppliestraveling from areas under theircontrol to government-heldareas. Mark Lowcock told the UNSecurity Council that the rebelsalso recently informed humani-tarian agencies that 72 hours’notice is required ahead of anymovements instead of 48 hours.

‘Trade talks with US were extensive,

promoted mutual understanding’

PTI n BEIJING

China on Thursday saidthat the just-concluded

round of talks with the US toend a trade war were exten-sive and established a foun-dation for the resolution ofeach others’ concerns, echo-ing posit ive sent imentsexpressed by American nego-tiators.

Trade tensions betweenthe world’s two largesteconomies escalated last year,putting global stock marketson edge. The US announcedtariffs on USD 250 billionworth of Chinese goods,while China countered withits own.

A US delegation arrivedin Beijing on Monday for thefirst face-to-face dialoguewith Chinese officials sincePresident Donald Trump andhis Chinese counterpart XiJinping agreed to a three-month tariff truce during ameeting held on the sidelinesof the G-20 summit inArgentina.

In early December,Trump and Xi agreed to atemporary ceasefire, givingboth sides until March toreach some agreement ontrade and issues such as theforced transfer of technology.

The latest talks lasted forthree days in Beijing — oneday longer than had been pre-viously announced, whichanalysts said indicated thediscussions were makingsome progress.

The US delegation wassupposed to end its visit onTuesday. However, the vice-ministerial talks were extend-ed till Wednesday whichChina said reflected the seri-ousness of the negotiations.

“It’s been a good one forus,” Ted McKinney, US Under

Secretary for Trade andForeign Agricultural Affairs,said after the talks conclud-ed. The discussions “wentjust fine”, he said withoutelaborating.

In its first reaction afterthe ta lks , the ChineseCommerce Ministry said onThursday both sides haveactively implemented the sig-nificant consensus reached bythe leaders of the two coun-tries and conducted exten-sive, in-depth and detailedexchanges on trade and struc-tural issues of common con-cern.

“The talk has enhancedmutual understanding andlaid a foundation for address-ing each other’s concerns,” itsaid. Both sides have agreedto continuously keep in closecontact it said.

The US delegation, ledby Deputy TradeRepresentat ive Jef f reyGerrish, included represen-tatives from the departmentsof energy, agriculture, trea-sury and commerce.

The Chinese side was ledby Commerce Vice MinisterWang Shouwen. The USTrade Representative (USTR)said negotiators focused on

China’s pledge to buy a “sub-stantial amount” of agricul-tural, energy, manufacturedgoods and other productsand services.

The USTR statementemphasised American insis-tence on “structural changes”in Chinese technology policy,market access, protection offoreign patents and copy-rights and cyber theft of tradesecrets.

The results of the talksare expected be analysed at aseparate meeting between UStrade representative RobertLighthizer and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He after whichthe two sides were expectedto announce a decision.

Trump, who has beenaccusing China of indulgingin unfair trade practices con-tributing to the huge tradedeficit with the US amount-ing to USD 375 billion, onTuesday said the trade talkswith Beijing were going on“very well”.

He had earlier warnedthat if a deal is not reached byMarch 1, the end of the 90-day grace period, the US willincrease the tariffs on theUSD 200 billions of goodsfrom 10 per cent to 25 per

cent.China is facing the

daunting task of presenting acredible plan to meet Trump’sdemands to cut down thetrade deficit. In recent weeks,China has showed some signsof flexibility or acceding tothe American demands.

It softened its stand byoffering a mix of conces-sions by resuming purchasesof US soybeans, suspendedpunitive tariffs on imports ofUS cars and toned down its‘Made in China 2025’ plan,which aimed at breaking thecountry’s reliance on foreigntechnology and pull its hi-tech industries up to westernlevels.

China also proposed clearbans on forced technologytransfer in new draft foreigninvestment legislation. Lastyear, the US imposed tariffhikes of up to 25 per cent onUSD 250 billion of Chinesegoods.

The move promptedChina to increase tariffs onUSD 110 billion of US goods.

China is current lyAmerica’s largest goods trad-ing partner with USD 635.4billion in total (two way)goods trade during 2017.Goods exports totalled USD129.9 billion; goods importtotalled USD 505.5 billion.

The US goods tradedeficit with China was USD375.6 billion in 2017.

Trade in services withChina (exports and imports)totalled an estimated USD75.0 billion in 2017.

Services exports wereUSD 57.6 billion; servicesimports were USD 17.4 bil-lion.

The US services tradesurplus with China was USD40.2 billion in 2017.

China’s Xi hopes US, NorthKorea will ‘meet halfway’AFP n SEOUL

Chinese President Xi Jinpingoffered North Korean

leader Kim Jong Un firm back-ing in deadlocked nuclear talkswith the US, insisting the twosides should meet “halfway”,state media said Thursday.Kim visited Beijing by train thisweek for two days of discus-sions that reasserted China’srole in the process, and wereseen as a strategy session aheadof a second summit betweenthe North Korean leader andUS President Donald Trump.At their first meeting inSingapore in June, Kim andTrump signed a vaguely word-ed document with Kim pledg-ing to work towards the “denu-clearisation of the Koreanpeninsula”.

But progress has sincestalled with Pyongyang andWashington — which stations28,500 troops in South Korea— disagreeing over what thatmeans.

North Korea wants relieffrom the multiple sets of sanc-tions imposed on it over itsnuclear weapons and ballisticmissile programmes, while theUS wants the measures toremain in place untilPyongyang gives up its arms —something it has made no pub-lic promise to do.

China also wants the sanc-tions relaxed and Xi said he“hopes that the DPRK and theUnited States will meet eachother halfway” according toChina’s state news agencyXinhua, using the initials of teNorth’s official name.

Xi “spoke highly of the pos-itive measures taken by theDPRK side”, it added. NorthKorea has carried out sixnuclear blasts and launchedmissiles capable of reaching thewhole of the United States, buthas performed no such tests for

more than a year, and blew upthe entrances to a nuclear test-ing ground it said it no longerneeded.

Pyongyang has rejecteddemands for what it calls its“unilateral” disarmament as“gangster-like”. China is theNorth’s sole major ally and keytrade partner but relations haddeteriorated over Pyongyang’snuclear activities, before warm-ing up last year, with Kimmeeting Xi three times.

Kim noted the “difficultiesand concern” in talks with theUS, according to Pyongyang’sofficial KCNA news agency,which said the Chinese leaderhad issued a ringing endorse-ment of the North’s position.

Xi said that “the principledissues suggested by the DPRKside are deserved requirementsand its reasonable points ofconcern should be resolvedproperly”, it said.

Each of the previous Kim-Xi meetings have come short-ly before or after the NorthKorean summits with eitherTrump or South KoreanPresident Moon Jae-in.

Trump said Sunday theUS and North Korea werenegotiating the location oftheir next summit, a meetingMoon said Thursday was“imminent”.Pyongyang needed

to take “bold, practical mea-sures for denuclearisation” toensure sanctions are lifted, hetold reporters, but added that“corresponding measures” werealso needed from the US, suchas agreeing a “peace regime”and formally declaring an endto the 1950-53 Korean War.

Moon acknowledged theSingapore agreement was“somewhat vague”, and therewas “scepticism” over Kim’sdenuclearisation pledge. ButKim had assured him andother leaders that his view ofdenuclearisation was “no dif-ferent in any way from what theinternational communitydemands”, Moon said, andPyongyang would not link it tothe presence of US forces in theSouth or nearby.

Nonetheless a commen-tary carried by KCNA lastmonth stressed that whenPyongyang refers to “denu-clearisation of the Koreanpeninsula”, it includes theNorth, the South, and “sur-rounding areas from wherethe Korean peninsula is tar-geted”.

Kim Han-kwon, an analystat the Korea NationalDiplomatic Academy warnedthat preliminary talks betweenPyongyang and Washingtonwould be crucial.

File photo of Chinese President Xi Jingping with US President Donald Trump

Bangladeshi man sentenced foraltering photos ofSheikh Hasina, ex-Indian PMDhaka (PTI): A 35-year-oldBangladeshi man has been sen-tenced to seven years in prison forcirculating photoshopped imagesof Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinaand other politicians includingformer Indian premierManmohan Singh, amid criticismthat her government is usingtough internet laws to silence dis-sent.

Monir Hossain from Tangailwas jailed by Bangladesh CyberTribunal judge Mohammad As-Shams Joglul Hossain onWednesday.

Monir had been on bail andappeared in court for the verdict,bdnews24.com reported.Alamgir Hossain and Subrata Shil— two others accused in the casestarted under the the Informationand Communication Technology(ICT) Act — were acquitted ascharges against them were notproved, the report said.

Monir used to run his ‘MonirTelecom’ shop at Tangail’sNagarpur. He had sent doctoredimages of Hasina, late presidentZillur Rahman and former Indianpremier Singh to mobile phonesof users in 2013, said the verdict.Saturia Police arrested Alamgirafter finding out that he wasshowing around the vulgur ‘pho-toshopped images’ on his phone.Following his arrest, Alamgirtold police he got the images fromMonir Telecom. Rights groupshave criticised the government forusing the the ICT laws to silencecriticism. Critics have lashed outat the government for crackingdown on free speech and anincreasingly authoritarian rule.Some the recent strengthening ofdefamation laws with a newDigital Security Act (DSA) hasspread a climate of fear.

File photo of N Korean leader Kim Jong-unwith Chinese President Xi Jingping

Older adults more likely to share fake news: Study

PTI n NEW YORK

Older adults are more likely toshare links to “fake news”

sites on Facebook and other plat-forms than younger people, a USstudy has found.

The study, published in thejournal Science Advances,showed that only a small per-centage of Americans — less thannine per cent — shared “fakenews” links on Facebook duringthe 2016 presidential election

campaign. However, theresearchers from New YorkUniversity (NYU) and PrincetonUniversity in the US showed thatthe behaviour was dispropor-tionately common among peopleover the age of 65.

“Despite widespread interestin the fake news phenomenon, weknow very little about who actu-ally shares fake news,” said JoshuaTucker, a professor at NYU.“Perhaps most significantly, we

find that sharing this type of con-tent on Facebook was a relative-ly rare activity during the 2016presidential campaign,” Tuckersaid.

Among the overall sample ofstudy participants, drawn from apanel survey conducted by thepolling firm YouGov, only 8.5 percent shared links from fake newssites via Facebook. Just three percent of those aged 18-29 sharedlinks from fake news sites, com-

pared with 11 per cent of thoseover age 65. The association withage appears to be independent ofrespondents’ ideological or par-tisan affiliations.

“If seniors are more likely toshare fake news than youngerpeople, then there are importantimplications for how we mightdesign interventions to reduce thespread of fake news,” said AndrewGuess, an assistant professor atPrinceton University. Researchersoutlined how the correlationwith age could reflect differencesin more fundamental traits or

skills — such as digital media lit-eracy — that are theoreticallyrelated to social media sharingbehaviour. Exploring these pos-sibilities, they note, should be afocus of future research. JonathanNagler, a professor at NYU, saidthat teaching digital literacy inschools — no matter how bene-ficial that might be for other rea-sons — is unlikely to fully addressthe sharing of fake news if suchsharing is more prevalent amongolder citizens.

By contrast, education,income, and gender were not sys-

tematically related to being morelikely to share fake news, the studyfound.The researchers did find astrong partisan difference: 18per cent of Republicans sharedlinks to fake news sites, comparedto less than 4 per cent ofDemocrats. However, they cau-tioned against associating ideol-ogy with an underlying procliv-ity to share fake news, noting thatthis finding might simply be aresult of the fact that most fakenews produced during the cam-paign was pro-Trump or anti-Clinton in orientation.

world 12LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

Australian police arrest man

for sending suspicious parcels

PTI n MELBOURNE

A49-year-old man has beenarrested by Australian

police for allegedly sendingdozens of suspicious packagesreportedly containing asbestospowder to diplomatic missionsacross the country, includingthe Indian consulate here.SavasAvan was arrested at his homein Shepparton on Wednesdaynight, hours after over 10 con-sulates in Melbourne andSydney and embassies inCanberra were forced intolockdown due to suspiciouspackages.

Authorities are yet to con-firm what was in the parcels,but early reports suggestedthey appeared to containasbestos. The white powderwas mailed through AustraliaPost and is suspected to havebeen sourced from Avan’shome.Only 29 of the 38 pack-ages have been discovered sofar, but police said they haveput processes in place to recov-er the outstanding parcels safe-ly. The Australian FederalPolice and Victoria police saidthe man was charged withsending dangerous articles tobe carried by a postal service,which carries a maximum

penalty of 10 years jail.He was remanded in cus-

tody following a MelbourneMagistrates’ Court hearingThursday, media reports said.A prosecutor told court thedeliveries contained asbestos,and Avan did not apply for bail.

“Police have so far recov-ered 29 of these packages, withforensic testing to be under-taken on them to determine theexact composition of the mate-rial in them,” the federal and

state police said in a jointstatement.“Police have identi-fied all intended recipients andhave put processes in place torecover the outstanding pack-ages. There is no ongoing threatto the general public.”

The Indian and the USconsulates on St Kilda Roadwere among a number ofdiplomatic missions acrossMelbourne and Canberra tar-geted with suspicious packageson Wednesday, sparking an

emergency “hazardous mater-ial” response and some evacu-ations.

It came two days afterSydney’s Argentinian consulatewas partially evacuated fol-lowing reports of a suspicioussubstance. At least two con-sulates, including that ofPakistan in Melbourne did notcontact authorities about pack-ages until they received anemail from the Australian gov-ernment, media reports said.

Hazmat and fire crews work outside the Indian and French Consulate in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday. AP

AFP n KINSHAS

The Democratic Republicof Congo early Thursday

was set to finally unveil theresults of presidential elec-tions whose repeated delayshave stoked fears for the giantcountry’s stability. TheIndependent National ElectionCommission (CENI) began togive the results from legislativeand provincial elections thattook place in parallel, a processexpected to take several hours,and this would be followed bythe outcome of the presidentialvote.

As the lengthy results wereread out on nationwide TV,police were deployed at strate-gic spots in the capitalKinshasa where, for the secondevening running, many resi-dents went home and lockedtheir doors early.

Vast, poor and burdenedby a history of bloodshed, theDRC is in the grip of a two-year-old crisis over the suc-cession of President JosephKabila. Kabila, 47, was due tostep down two years ago butclung to office, sparking wide-spread protests that wererepressed at the cost of scoresof lives.The elections wereheld on December 30, butCENI last weekend said pro-visional results, expected onSunday, would be held upbecause of logistical problems.

The long delay sparkedblunt warnings from insideand outside the DRC, but alsocoincided with an apparentoverture to Kabila from oppo-sition leaders.

According to the initialtimetable, after provisionalresults are released, definitiveresults are due on January 15with the swearing-in of thenew president three days later.

After deploying tens ofthousands of its own electionobservers, the powerfulCatholic Church last week saidit knew the outcome of the bal-lot and called on the authori-ties to reveal the result “inkeeping with truth and justice”.

Campaign groups onWednesday called for theimmediate release of the resultsand told people “to be prepared

to go out onto the streets inmassive numbers” if the out-come failed to accuratelyreflect the vote.

“Results contrary to thetruth of the ballot box will beconsidered as a constitutionalcoup,” said a joint statementfrom the groups, which includeLucha (Struggle for Change)and Filimbi.

South Africa and Zambia,DRC’s neighbour to the south,joined the clamour to publishthe results.

“The delay in releasingthe results of the elections canlead to suspicions and com-

promise peace and stability ofthe country,” South AfricanPresident Cyril Ramaphosaand Zambian counterpartEdgar Lungu said in a jointstatement.

The turmoil surroundingthe election revived traumaticmemories of the DRC’s brutalpast. The mineral-rich countryhas never had a peaceful tran-sition of power since it gainedindependence from Belgium in1960.

Bloody clashes marredelections in 2006 and 2011, andtwo wars between 1996 and2003, drawing in armies from

around the region, claimedmillions of lives. When Kabilaannounced last year he wouldstep down after 18 years inpower, he hand-picked a loy-alist, former interior ministerEmmanuel Ramazani Shadary,as his party’s candidate.

The choice fuelled accusa-tions that Kabila — concernedabout possible retribution —would use Shadary to protecthis interests after the vote.

But on Tuesday, the oppo-sition hinted at a rapproche-ment. “There’s no spirit ofrevenge,” said Felix Tshisekedi,the candidate of the longtimeopposition UDPS party.He alsotold the Belgian newspaper LeSoir that Kabila could be hon-oured for ushering in a peace-ful transition.

Kabila and Tshisekedi“have an interest in meeting toprepare a peaceful and civilisedtransfer of power,” said UDPSSecretary General Jean-MarcKabund. The other main oppo-sition candidate, former oilexecutive Martin Fayulu —who was tipped as favourite inthe few pre-election opinionpolls — also sounded a con-ciliatory tone on Tuesday.

“Mr Kabila is a Congolesecitizen. He has a place here inCongo. He will do what hewants. The constitution is clear— he (as former president) willbe a senator for life.

The keyword for us is:There’s no revenge.” Fayulu isbacked by former Katangagovernor Moise Katumbi, con-sidered a traitor by Kabila, andex-warlord and former vicepresident Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Pompeo meets Egypt’s Sisi AFP n CAIRO

US Secretary of State MikePompeo met Thursday

with Egyptian President AbdelFattah al-Sisi in Cairo, part of atour to address concerns ofAmerican allies in the MiddleEast. The visit by Washington’stop diplomat comes amid con-fusion in the region over a sur-prise plan by President DonaldTrump’s administration to pullUS troops out of Syria.

Pompeo arrived in Cairolate Wednesday following stopsin Jordan and Iraq, in his longesttrip since taking the post lastyear.

He met with Sisi inIttihadeya Palace and is sched-uled to hold talks with ForeignMinister Sameh Shoukry beforegiving a keynote speechThursday at the AmericanUniversity in Cairo outlining USMiddle East policy.

The United States andEgypt enjoy warm ties under theTrump administration. Trumpand his Egyptian counterpartSisi have lavished one anotherwith praise on several occasions.

Since 1980, the US govern-ment has provided Egypt withmore than $40 billion in mili-tary and $30 billion in economicassistance.From Cairo, Pompeois scheduled to head to Bahrain,United Arab Emirates, SaudiArabia, Qatar, Oman andKuwait.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, shakes hands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry after holding a pressconference, at the ministry of foreign affairs in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday. Pompeo is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian leaders ashe continues a nine-nation Middle East tour aimed at reassuring America's Arab partners that the Trump administration is notwalking away from the region.

DR Congo poised to issue delayed election results

Residents celebrate in Kinshasa on Thursday after learning that opposition presidential candidate Felix Tshisekedi had beendeclared the winner of the elections. AP

Kuala Lumpur (AFP): Threepeople have been arrested inMalaysia for allegedly insultingthe former king on socialmedia after his shock abdica-tion, sparking anger Thursdayfrom activists at the use of“draconian” laws. SultanMuhammad V stepped aside atthe weekend after just twoyears on the throne. No officialreason was given, but it cameafter he reportedly married aRussian ex-beauty queen whileon medical leave.

It was the first time aMalaysian monarch had givenup the throne before the end ofhis term. Under a uniquearrangement, the thronechanges hands every five yearsbetween the rulers of the ninestates headed by Islamic roy-alty.National police chiefMohamad Fuzi Harun saidtwo men aged 46 and 27, anda 26-year-old woman, werearrested under tough seditionlaws Tuesday for allegedlyposting insulting remarksabout the abdication onFacebook and Twitter.

The trio face up to threeyears in jail if found guilty.While their role is ceremoni-al, Muslim-majority Malaysia’sroyalty command greatrespect, and criticising them isseen as deeply offensive. Peopleare regularly arrested under thecolonial-era sedition act forinsulting royals. But Latheefa

Koya, executive director ofrights group Lawyers forLiberty, criticised the arrests,telling AFP: “The police shouldnot give in to mob rule amidthe push by some people forthe authorities to act.” A state-ment from the group, whichpushes for legal reforms, addedthat the sedition act was a “dra-conian piece of legislation”and it was shocking Malaysia’snew administration was usingit.The government, whichcame to power last year afterousting an authoritarianregime, had pledged in itselection manifesto to abolishthe act and several other lawsseen as repressive, but is yet todo so.

Prime Minister MahathirMohamad also suggestedauthorities should notoverzealously target peopleaccused of posting insults.

“With regards to freedomof speech, if someone speaksfactually, you cannot crimi-nalise the person,” he said.

Rights groupdemands trial ofnew SL armychief for allegedwar crimesColombo (PTI): A globalrights group has demandedthe international prosecution ofSri Lanka’s new Army ChiefMajor General Shavendra Silvaover allegations of war crimesduring the final military battlewith the LTTE militant groupin 2009. The Johannesburg-based International Truth andJustice Project (ITJP) said Silvawas named by a UN investiga-tion for his part in command-ing the 58 Division of thearmy “which was the unitresponsible for repeated anddeliberate attacks on hospitals,food distribution queues anddisplacement camps resultingin tens of thousands of civiliandeaths” towards the end of thethree-decade civil war whenthe LTTE was finally crushed.

“Sri Lanka now has achief of army staff who risksarrest every time he travelsabroad, if any country is fool-ish enough to give him a visa,”an ITJP release said.

The ITJP said that in2011, a war crimes lawsuit wasfiled against Silva in New Yorkbut had failed because heenjoyed diplomatic immunityat the time. Silva was appoint-ed as army chief by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena onWednesday. Considered anoutstanding military officer,Silva was the youngest in the SriLankan Army to become amajor general.

Anger at arrests inMalaysia for allegedroyal insults

Nepali women, two sons die in menstruation hutKathmandu(PTI): A 35-y e a r - o l dNepali womanand her twosons have diedreportedly dueto suffocationafter theyspent a nightin a window-less hut as partof a bannedpractice thatconsiders women untouchableduring menstruation, accord-ing to a media report. The inci-dent happened in Nepal’sBajura district when AmbaBohora, who was on the fourthday of her period, on Tuesdaynight had dinner with her twosons aged 9 and 12 and laterwent to the hut to sleep with afire near to keep the hut warm,the Kathmandu Post reported.

The hut neither had win-dows nor ventilation. The nextmorning when Amba’s moth-er in-law opened the door ofthe hut, she found all threedead.

All three had died of suf-focation due to a fire, thereport said.

“The mother and her chil-dren may have suffocated bysmoke after the blanket theywere using to warm them-selves caught fire while they

were asleep,” a senior villagerwas quoted as saying. While thebodies were sent for postmortem, the Chief DistrictOfficer Chetraj Baral said ateam including the districtpolice chief was sent to the inci-dent site to probe the matter,the paper reported.

As part of the traditionmany communities in Nepalconsider menstruating womenimpure and force female ofmenstruation age to stay insheds away from the familyhome once a month despite thepractice being banned.

In 2005, Nepal’s SupremeCourt banned such practiceswhich was followed by a newlaw in 2017 to criminalise it. In2018, a 23-year-old woman inNepal was found dead at anisolated hut where she was leftalone as part of the bannedpractice.

Meghan moves into more visible

roles in UK royal family

PTI n LONDON

Meghan, the Duchess ofSussex, is taking an

increasingly visible role in theBritish royal family as shebecomes the patron of fourorganisations including theprestigious National Theatre.

Kensington Palace saidThursday that Meghan will

take over two roles as patronthat have for decades been heldby Queen Elizabeth II and istaking two other roles as well.The palace says the queen“has passed on” the role ofpatron of the National Theatreand the Association ofCommonwealth Universities.In addition, Meghan will

become patron of two addi-tional charities: Smart Works,which helps vulnerable womenfind the skills needed to work,and Mayhew, a grassrootsorganisation active in Londonand internationally.

Meghan and her husbandPrince Harry are expectingtheir first child this spring.

‘Excessive social media useakin to drug addiction’PTI n WASHINGTON

Scientists have found a con-nection between excessive

social media use and impairedrisky decision-making, whichis commonly deficient in sub-stance addiction. “Aroundone-third of humans on theplanet are using social media,and some of these people aredisplaying maladaptive, exces-sive use of these sites,” said DarMeshi, an assistant professor atMichigan State University(MSU) in the US.

“Our findings will hope-fully motivate the field to takesocial media overuse serious-ly,” Meshi said. The findings,published in the Journal ofBehavior Addictions, are thefirst to examine the relationshipbetween social media use andrisky decision-making capa-bilities.

“Decision making is often-times compromised in indi-viduals with substance use dis-orders. They sometimes fail tolearn from their mistakes andcontinue down a path of neg-ative outcomes,” Meshi said.

“But no one previouslylooked at this behaviour as itrelates to excessive social mediausers, so we investigated thispossible parallel between exces-sive social media users and sub-stance abusers. “While we did-n’t test for the cause of poor

decision-making, we tested forits correlation with problemat-ic social media use,” he said.

Researchers had 71 par-ticipants take a survey thatmeasured their psychologicaldependence on Facebook, sim-ilar to addiction. Questionson the survey asked aboutusers’ preoccupation with theplatform, their feelings whenunable to use it, attempts to quitand the impact that Facebookhas had on their job or studies.

The researchers then hadthe participants do the IowaGambling Task, a commonexercise used by psychologiststo measure decision-making.

To successfully completethe task, users identify outcomepatterns in decks of cards tochoose the best possible deck.

The researchers foundthat by the end of the gamblingtask, the worse people per-formed by choosing from bad

decks, the more excessive theirsocial media use.

The better they did in thetask, the less their social mediause. This result is complemen-tary to results with substanceabusers. People who abuse opi-oids, cocaine, methampheta-mine, among others — havesimilar outcomes on the IowaGambling Task, thus showingthe same deficiency in deci-sion-making. “With so manypeople around the world usingsocial media, it’s critical for usto understand its use,” Meshisaid.

“I believe that social mediahas tremendous benefits forindividuals, but there’s also adark side when people can’tpull themselves away.

We need to better under-stand this drive so we candetermine if excessive socialmedia use should be consid-ered an addiction,” he said.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, centre, is welcomed by Lady Juliet Hughes-Hallett, chair of Smart Works, and Kate Stephens,Smart Works' CEO, as she visits Smart Works charity career centre in West London on Thursday. Meghan on Thursday hasbecome patron of the Smart Works charity which supports unemployed women to return to work. AP

If you’ve had one of those days, andyou find yourself glancing at theclock only to discover that it’s

already 5 pm. (What!?) and dinner isnot simmering cheerfully on the stove,then you may feel like you have lim-ited options. Yes, there is the frozenmeal or take-out route. And sure, youcan still start from scratch, shoppingand cooking and sitting down to eatlate and exhausted. Or, you can brushup on some little food shopping hacksthat can significantly cut your prep andcooking time, and get you and yourfamily to dinner faster.

Here are six tips for the next timeyou’re in the supermarket, whether thedinner clock is ticking or you’re justpaying it forward.

MAKE THE SALAD BAR YOUR SOUS CHEF

Walk on over to that salad bar andtake a good look at it from an ingre-dient perspective. So many preppedfoods to choose from! Sliced peppers,diced onions, cubed zucchini, shred-ded chicken, cooked beans, washedbaby spinach leaves, broccoli florets .

a bounty of prepped items, all readyto turn into a stir fry, vegetablelasagna, frittata, soup — and sure,maybe even a salad. And the nice thingis, you can buy exactly how much ofeach item you want.

EXPLORE OTHER PRECUT/WASHED/PREPPED PRODUCE

Next to the whole fruits and veg-etables you can find a section of otherprepped produce, usually uncooked.Shredded carrots, spiralized sweetpotatoes, peeled garlic, shelled peas,bags of washed salad lettuces, and soon. I know I’m not alone when I saythat peeling, seeding and cubing a win-ter squash at the end of a busy day canfeel like a real obstacle to dinner, but

a container of peeled, cubed squash isa game changer.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN - BESTDINNER SAVER EVER

Cold, warm right out of the con-tainer, or reheated, there are fewsupermarket gifts as happy-making asa rotisserie chicken. Add a salad andsomething starchy and you are done.BUT shred up that meat and you havea springboard for a bazillion other din-ners: chicken salad, quesadillas, enchi-ladas and burritos, soups, stir fries,casseroles. I buy a rotisserie chickenoften because I know that it will get meto some chicken dinner in the comingdays, and usually a different oneevery week.

STOCK UPOnce a month, do a little inven-

tory of your most-used ingredients andmake sure you’ve got a good stash ofall of them. Pasta, beans, rice, broth,canned tomatoes, and fridge stapleslike eggs and grated cheese — havinga full inventory saves you last-minutedashes to the market. Bonus points ifyou can stock up when these items areon sale.

BUY BULKBuying in the bulk-food aisle def-

initely saves money, and offers yousome nice whole-food choices. But itcan also save you time once you get ithome. Decant all of your bulk items— quinoa, lentils, rice, oatmeal — intocontainers, preferably clear ones, andlabel them. Organize them by catego-ry in your cabinets or pantry closet —for example, whole grains, cereals, bak-ing ingredients. Then when you areready for them, there they will be, easyto find and easy to access. It’s also easyto see when you are running low onany of them.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE FREEZER AISLE

Yes, you will want a carton of icecream and maybe a frozen pizza forbackup, but there are so many ingre-dients and meal components in thefreezer aisle that can help you getdinner on the table faster. Frozenvegetables are of really high quality,often quite economical, cook upsuper quickly, and don’t have to bedefrosted before using. Peas, corn,edamame — all of these are quickways to get vegetables onto the plateor into a dish. Many now come inmicrowavable pouches. Frozenfruits make quick smoothies; frozenhash browns aren’t just good witheggs but also as a pot-pie topping;and frozen shrimp and fish cook upin a flash. —AP

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019 vivacity {food} 13

RED VELVET CAKE

WHAT YOU NEED

● Vegetable oil: 1.5 cups

● Eggs: 2

● Buttermilk: 1 cup

● Vinegar: 1 tbsp

● Vanilla: 1 tsp

● Granulated sugar: 2 cups

● Unsweetened cocoapowder: 1 tbsp

● Salt: 1 tsp

● Baking soda: 1 tsp

● Flour

● Red food coloring

METHOD

● Preheat oven to 350°F.Coat 3, 8-inch round panswith nonstick spray. Cutparchment rounds to fit inthe bottom of the pans.Place the parchmentrounds in the pans andcoat again with nonstick

spray. Set aside.

● In the bowl of your standmixer fitted with the whiskattachment add the oil,eggs, buttermilk, vinegar,and vanilla. Mix onmedium speed untilcombined. Add in thesugar and mix untilincorporated.

● Next add the cocoa

powder, salt and bakingsoda, mixing on mediumspeed for 30 seconds, oruntil no lumps remain inthe cocoa powder.

● Turn mixer to low and addin the flour and red foodcoloring. Mix untilsmooth, 30 seconds – 1minute, scraping the sidesof the bowl as necessary.

● Divide the batter equallyinto the 3 prepared pans.

● Bake for 25-30 minutes oruntil a toothpick insertedin the center comes outclean.

● Cool in pan for 10 minutesand then turn the cakesout onto a wire rack tocool completely.

● Frost as desired.

Courtesy: Executive Chef,Gajender Singh at Bokan Cafe

& Deck

DAMDAMA KADHI

CHAWAL

WHAT YOU NEED

For baking corn sauce:

● Besan: 300 gm

● Lassi (Curd): 300 ml

● Turmeric: 50 gm

● Chopped garlic: 20 gm

● Sliced onion: 70 gm

● Methi seeds: 20 gm

● Jeera: 20 gm

● Chopped tomato: 70 gm

● Curry leaves: 60 gm

● Salt: To taste

● Water: For mixing of besanand curd

● Basmati rice: 300 gm

● Roasted papad: 2

● Chopped coriander: Togarnish

METHOD

For Kadhi:

● Mix and whisk Haldi, besan,water, curd in pan.

● Cook till cooked and wait forbubbles.

● Prepare making the Tadka ofKadhi separately while themix settles.

● Take oil, add jeera seed,methi seed, curry leavesand saute them.

● Add chopped garlic,chopped onion and tomatoand salt.

● Pour into the Kadhi and mixwell. Cook for at least halfhour.

● Serve hot.

For Pakoda:

● Mix besan, oil, choppedonion, tomato, salt andmake a soft dough.

● Make pakoda pieces anddeep fry them in oil.

For Kadhi Chawal:

● Soak rice for at least an hourand make steamed ricefrom it.

● Mix that rice with temperedKadhi.

● Garnish it with crushedpapad and coriander.

Courtesy: Praveen Kumar Bainsla,commis chef, The GatewayResort, Damdama Lake.

BACON WRAP DATES

WHAT YOU NEED

● Dates: 150 gm.

● Goat cheese: 70 gm

● Strips bacon: 100 gm

● Mint leaves: 10 gm

● Walnut: 10 gm

● Sturdy toothpicks

METHOD

● Preheat oven to 375°F.

● With a small sharp knife,make a slit in one side ofeach date and removethe pit.

● Stuff about 1 teaspoon ofcheese into the cavity.

● Wrap 1/2 slice of baconaround each date.Secure with a toothpick.

● Place on a rimmed bakingtray (lined withparchment paper) andbake for 10 min.

● Remove from oven, turneach one over and bakefor a further 6-8 minutes.Repeat this step onemore time, or until baconis cooked. Cook longer ifyou prefer crispierbacon.

● Drain on paper towel.Cool for 5 minutesbefore serving.

● Refrigerate leftovers.

Courtesy: Executive ChefNaresh Chinni at The

Drunken Botanist

Taj City Centre, Gurugram, brings a culinary tribute to theharvest festivals of India. Presenting a themed brunch

and dinner buffet and lohri bonfire, it makes a festive moodfor Pongal, Lohri and Makar Sankranti. On offer aretraditional delicacies like makke ki roti, sarson ka saag,sweets, and jaggery. Date: January 13 Time: 12.30 to 3.30pm; 7.30 to 10.30 pm Price: `2,300 plus taxes per personVenue: Culina 44, Taj City Centre, Gurugram.

Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel presents an all-new menu curatedby speciality chefs at Shang Palace — Chef Ye Haijun, a

dimsum culinary master; Chef Kong Fanyi; an expert ofChinese barbeque; and Chef Fulei, a proficient wok chef.They present a special menu combining cuisines likeSichuan, Cantonese and the mystical cuisine of Yunnan.Time: Lunch: 12.30 to 2.45 pm Dinner: 7 pm to 11.45 pmVenue: Lobby Level, Shangri-La’s - Eros Hotel, 19 AshokaRoad.

Bo Tai launches thefirst modern Thai

drunch on everySunday promisingan extensive spreadof soups, salads,appetizers, maincourse and a host ofdelightful dessertsRelish the grilledvegetables andChing Mai curriedpork sausage fromthe grills section. Forthe vegetarians,there is crispy lotusstem, wrenchedjackfruit tacos.Time: 12:30 to 3:30 pm Price: `2,395 (plus taxes) onwardsVenue: Bo Tai Mehrauli

Winter weekends just got more delicious with TownhallGurgaon’s specially crafted Sunday brunch, which is

sure to indulge your guilty pleasures. On offer are distinctivedishes like Morning Glory Donbury, Baked Quinoa, ChickenKra Pow, Indian Opakapaka with Udon Noodles, ChickenShawarma and Tiramisu, Red Velvet, Fruit Tarts and OreoTarts to satisfy your sweet tooth. Time: 12 pm to 4 pmVenue: Townhall, Gurgaon Price: 2,490 ++ (includes foodand alcoholic beverages) and 1590++ ( food and soft drinks

gorge us

R E C I P E S

What makes for a perfect eveningafter getting done with a heavybag of tasks at workplace? Anenduring meal, isn’t it? So we headto a place hoping that it fits in our

cravings. As we walked towards Connaught Placelooking for it, we came across a British-inspiredgastro pub, House of Commons. In keeping withits name, the long rectangular space reminds oneof the lower house of the British Parliament. Buttruth be told, there’s nothing British about the food,or a colonial fusion, but just a saleable mish-mashthat goes by the label of multi-cuisine —Continental, Mediterranean and Indian cuisines,coupled with drinks and live music.

On a Wednesday night, when the temperatureswere hovering around 14 degrees, we quicklyretreated in the comfy ambience of the place. Weentered and found the best table around the cor-ner where a flickering lamp kept exactly on its rightgave the room a cosy lived-in air, exactly the waywe wanted.

HOC has a casual vibe with red sofas andwooden tables. The walls have a brick finish all overand was showcased with witty frames and quirkyaccessories.

Chef Vinay Kumar, who has been in the busi-ness for over two decades now, believes in infus-ing creativity in his culinary art. He said, “Theindustry is quite big and every chef has his or herown taste. So I do not compete with anyone else.I believe in competing with myselfand my everydish speaks volumes about that.”

He recommended that before we started witha full meal, we should induge in some light snacks.So we ordered cheese and vegetable Spring rollsthat were crisp on the outside and tender inside.These were served with a sweet red sauce. The dishhad a satisfying combination of fresh flavours andcontrasting textures. Then there was Paalak pattachaat — made with spinach leaves that were coat-ed with cornflour batter, deep fried and topped withtamarind chutney, sweet curd as well as some mintsauce. A sprinkle of bhujiya and chaat masala fur-

ther enhanced the tastes. This one is for the truechaat lover.

Next, we tried the Hummus falafel with pitabread. This is a complete platter in itself and theflavours of the dip were subtle. To accompany thisthere was a specially curated cocktail by HOC,MacDonald Windsor, that added a twist to theclassic cocktail with some vodka, pineaplle,peach schnapps, blue curacao and orange ice.

Other cocktail worth mentioning is Drunkentea master — two classy beverages came togeth-er to make a great master. It consisted of a rarecombination of vodka, tea, spices, honey and sourmix.

Non-drinkers also have a variety of mocktailsand shakes to choose from — Tropical Sling, Appleand Cinnamon Smash, Rose Orchard and manymore.

Can you imagine beer flambe creamy pasta?It was tossed with parmesan cheese and butterforming a smooth and rich sauce coating. Indeed,it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Next up was the main course, I went for Dalmakhni, usually cooked with butter and creamwhich gives the finished dish a smooth, creamytexture. Given the addition of butter and cream,the dish has a rich mouthfeel, with a complex com-bination of dried and fresh spices and herbs andjust a hint of smokiness. Then there was Himachalichana paneer ka madra — a quintessentialHimachali dham item, cooked with whole spicesmaking it flavorful and aromatic. Chef Vinay saidthat Madra is generally made with rajma (kidneybeans) or chana (Chickpea) or Black eyed peas butthen there are other variations with paneer.Chickpeas are cooked in yoghurt based gravy withroasted raisins, cumin seeds and cloves.This dishhas an extremely simple recipe and has a tangyand a mildly sweet flavour. We had this with but-ter naan.

And as they say no matter how stuffed youare after the main course you always have roomfor a little dessert. So to end it on a sweet note, Ihad Tiramisu and phirni.

Kitchen

smarts

Here are six tips for thenext time you’re in thesupermarket, whether

the dinner clock isticking or you’re just

paying it forward

There are manymeal components in

the freezer aislethat can help youget dinner on the

table faster. Frozenvegetables are ofteneconomical, cook-up

super quickly anddon’t have to bedefrosted beforeusing like peas,

corn and edamame

GO AHEAD, DIG IN

House of Commons, unlike its grand name, dishes out a palate of a saleable

mish-mash of global cuisines, says AYUSHI SHARMA

All the luxury car brands in Indiahave declared their sales figures for2018; and sales in the luxury car

segment are reflective of the sales figuresin the overall car market in India for2018. That is, described in a singleword, tepid. But, while the overall carmarket in 2018 has been slow, one rea-son for that seems to be because salestend to go slow and even fall in pre-elec-tion years. Long story short, sales in 2018for the leading brands were the follow-ing. Mercedes-Benz, 15,538; BMW (withMINI) 11,105; Audi, 6,463; Jaguar-LandRover, 4,579 and Volvo, 2,638. Throw inthe few hundred cars sold by the likes ofPorsche, Ferrari and other supercarmakers and ultra-luxury brands such asBentley, in and overall sales of luxurybrands in India would touch around40,000 units. If you throw in sales of allcars that exceed `30 lakh in value, saleswould touch around 50,000 or so cars— a very small proportion of the over-all car market in India of three million.

Some might say that this is becauseIndians are prudent car buyers, which

is a pity and is reflective of the overallIndian economy. And the comparison Iwill make is with China, all three Germanluxury car brands sold over 600,000 carseach in China in 2018. To put that blunt-ly, it means that each luxury car brandsells more cars in China every monththan the entire industry sells annually inIndia. And that has meant that most car-makers are not just manufacturing inChina, often in multiple locations, but arealso designing cars for China, aspects ofthe new BMW 3-series that was reviewedlast month in this column are clearlydesigned for the Chinese market. WithChina accounting for one-third of salesfor all major brands and almost all their

growth, little wonder.It is a sign of India’s lack of leverage

and the fact that luxury cars are still con-sidered a sin, that India’s economy is stilldriven by a very strange way of lookingat wealth. A couple of years ago, pricesof luxury cars had dropped when newtaxes under GST came down. This was

a positive thing, despite taxes falling mar-ginally, sales increases were dispropor-tionately large. There is a pent-updemand for luxury brands in India butwith insane levels of taxation both exciseand GST, it has been impossible to lift updemand.

For even a second, I do not doubt

that driving luxury vehicles in Indiasometimes seems incongruous. Drivinga Mercedes-Benz S-Class through thebylanes of Noida, where there is pover-ty staring at you in your face, is a blatantdisplay of the wealth gap in India. But onething has to be remembered — protec-tionist policies and povertarianism do notwork until you can generate more wealthto distribute. Successful India will wantluxury cars to show off their wealth, theydo not care about the optics of it all tooutsiders and if you have made yourmoney you should be able to display it,if it is through a car, good for you. Andthe government should make money onthis car, but tempering the amount ofmoney they make will only serve toincrease demand and thus may make thebrands set up proper manufacturingbases in India, not just factories that putthe cars together like a Lego kit, all thepieces shipped in from Europe, Americaor even China.

Just look at China, all the majorbrands are manufacturing there, China’sauto industry is taking a lead in new tech-nologies such as battery-electric vehiclesand hybrids and more. Of course, I donot expect duties on luxury cars to comedown and the thinking of politicians tochange overnight, but maybe now it is high time that it does.

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

Actress RICHA CHADHA will befeatured in 12 different avatars, asShakeela makers will soon launcha first-of-its-kind 90s pulpmovies-inspired calendar. For thefirst time a film will have a dedi-cated calendar beinglaunched starring it’s centralcharacter. It will have Richaposing in postersinspired by genre of thecheesiest, quirkiestpulp films of the 90swhich would be equallyhilarious and yet willbe induced with a greatdeal of thought as anhomage to the genre.Richa said, “Eventhough our film is inpost-production, wewanted to do some-thing special. Theteam thought weshould pay thishomage to Shakeelaand the films that shehas been a part of. I hopepeople find the humourin this calendar.”

The title of forthcoming film CheatIndia has been changed to WhyCheat India after the Central Boardof Film Certification (CBFC)expressed concern over it, the mak-ers have said.A statement issued on behalf of thefilm's producers andEmraan Hashmi Filmsread, “The CBFC hadconcerns about thetitle Cheat India. Wehad an extensive con-versation with theExamining Committeeand Revising Committee regardingthe proposed change as the film hasbeen in public domain for a year,and more importantly, because thetheatrical teaser, trailer and televi-sion promos had already been certi-fied with the original title.”The film releases January 18.

I like chaos:Christian

Academy award-winning actorCHRISTIAN BALE, who is known forundergoing physical transforma-tions for his performances, says helikes chaos.He has delivered ondemanding performances— whether it was his skele-tal frame in TheMechanist or theHerculean built in TheDark Knight Rises,the mentally exhaust-ing character of asadistic psychopathand a deranged seri-al killer in AmericanPsycho or as DickCheney in Vice,where he has man-aged to bulk up andtry prosthetics.Asked if there isanything else heaspires to do, Balesaid, “I have neverhad a plan or astrategy. I likechaos. So, I waitto see what hap-

‘I was fortunate to getgood songs andcollaborate withamazingchoreographers to

creatememorablesongswhich arestill lovedand enjoyedso much.There is no

substitute to hardwork. To succeed,two per cent is geniusand 98 per cent ishard work. I havetried to give my bestin every role.’—Madhuri Dixit Nene

vivacity 14

Richa’s 12 avatarsfor Shakeela

Did you know an aver-age T-shirt uses 400 to600 gallons of water tobe produced? Or thata pair of jeans uses

uses 1,800 gallons of water? Or thatthe fashion industry uses at least1,600 chemicals during their dye-ing processes? That the industry isthe world’s second largest polluter,after oil, and what perhaps is themost shocking, is its impact —improbably high and far-reaching.

The more you research aboutthe way fashion is produced andconsumed, the more alarming arethe numbers and a concern for theenvironment.

Sustainability in fashion is anissue that is increasingly becomingan important concern. One suchinitiative is by the Lakme FashionWeek, March 2019, that aims tointroduce circular fashion as a con-cept aimed to reduce waste thatgoes into landfills and increase thelifespan, reusability and recycla-bility of the products created. It cre-ates fashion just the way it is, how-ever causing the least harm to theenvironment.

As it honours eight fashionentrepreneurs from across thecountry, for their approach towardssustainable fashion, four of them,— Pozruh by Aiman Sabri, Bareekby Aman Singh, Lifaffa by KanikaAhuja and Doodlage by Kriti Tula— talk about their design compo-sitions and principles.

NEED OF SUSTAINABLE

FASHION

While Kanika puts moreemphasis on the need to thinkabout raw materials and labourpolicies that the fashion industryfollows in order to understand ifthey are really following an ethicalsupply chain, Kriti urges upon theneed “to start working together tocreate alternate economies withnew age brands thinking locallyand selling globally.” She says thatthis would begin right from theworking upon the raw materialsthat is used, energy that is con-sumed, and also “how that energyis produced all the way to the pack-aging and delivering of the prod-uct.”

She believes that sustainabili-ty cannot be achieved by simplyintroducing a new fabric in a lim-ited collection. She says, “It mustbe rooted in the DNA of thebrand and communicated with thisentirety to the consumer.”

Her designs, inspired by sub-cultures from around the world,Aiman believes that more than theconsumers, designers have theforemost responsibility to createsustainable trends to follow, as they“have the ability and power to do

it.” Aman, who takes inspiration

from beaches and the Basilicanarchitecture in Goa, for his designs,says, “Some times there is a needof taking a step back in order tomove forward.” He believes that theindustry and its patrons are evolv-ing, and people are consumingconsciously. “We are becomingmore aware of the textile industryand its impact on the environment.It’s high time we all started think-ing before we buy or before wemake,” says he.

LOOKING AT ALTERNATE

RAW MATERIALS

From recycling discarded fab-rics from t-shirts, end of the linematerial from local scrap dealers,to reusing wires, waste bags as tex-tures and patterns, with eco-friend-ly dyeing and printing, Aiman alsouses waste cuttings from post pro-

duction. She believes that usingnatural dyed organic cotton andhandloom fabrics are the firststeps to giving fashion an organictouch.

She says, “The concept of cir-cularity as the base of a brandmakes it the most exquisite. We arenot just making products for itsappeal but equally consideringthe environmental changes that itcould create.”

Waste could be anything. It’sabout you making use of it. Amanmakes the best of waste by col-lecting waste plastic from thebeaches in Goa. He explains, “Weuse khadi, GOTS-certified organ-ic cotton, naturally-dyed hand-looms as well as other dead stockhandloom cotton fabrics that aremade by under-utilised craft clus-ters from different parts of thecountry. We are also experiment-ing with recycled PET yarn derived

from waste plastic bottles.”The designer believes that

packaging has a lot to do withorganic fashion, and hence incor-porates seed paper tags and recy-cled packaging for his collection.

Owner of Doodlage, Kritiwho started eight years back isusually inspired by the fabric itselfwhile creating her collection.Taking the example of a young girlor a flower, all her designs and sil-houettes have a hint of delicatelace. She points out that three keyraw materials — cotton, nylon andpolyester — make use of all exten-sive natural resources and areextremely polluting to the envi-ronment.

For her, “it was always sus-tainability as her first subject. Iknew if I ever conceptualise mylabel, it would always begin fromfinding an alternate raw material.”

She says that it’s mostly “fac-tory waste” that she works with.“Mass-producing factories dis-card massive quantities of fabric tomeet the need of fast-paced pro-duction. These are rejected forsmall weaving defects, stains,colour variations, post cuttingand stitching waste and is alsoavailable as end-of-line fabrics. Butthere are a lot of resources that gointo producing these fabrics evenif the cost of fabrics is low enough.We explore ways to produce shortfeasible collections using thiswaste. It is used to make texturesfor our home and bags collectionand the last bits are used to createpaper which is used to make ourconstant collection,” she explains.

For Kanika, the influencesare her parents, who have had beenworking for sustainable environ-ment since years. Through a num-ber of researches and experi-ments, she says, they came up withan invention of fabric made ofplastic waste, Handmade RecycledPlastic (HRP). She explains, “HRPis a great alternative to leather andbeing a fashion enthusiast, westarted designing accessories fromit.”

She has also used recycledplastic fabrics, that she saysaccounts for 85 per cent of her col-lection. “It is the PET fabric andour own HRP fabric. We have alsoused woven jacquard from recy-cled textiles, crochet of recycledtextiles thread and fabric madefrom hemp,” she informs.

KEEPING UP WITH

GLOBAL FASHION

Who says organic doesn’tinclude style? The four designershave very different approacheswhen it comes to combining inter-national style, Western silhou-

ettes with Indian aesthetics offashion.

Kanika collaborates with agroup of Afghani refugee womenin India, who are skilled in tradi-tional handicrafts. She says thatthrough this they also try to builda new life for themselves and theirchildren by launching a new brandcalled Akseer. “We have incorpo-rated traditional Afghani embroi-dery in our designs to blend tra-dition while using futuristic mate-rials to create sustainable fashion,”says she.

Kriti believes that with onlineshopping and social media, eventhough there’s not much of a dif-ference left between fashion pat-terns of India and other interna-tional cultures, she uses “Indianembroideries, fabric weaves andembellishments and then blendsthem with Western silhouettes.”

While Aiman prefers hand-work and embroidery techniques,for Aman, bringing together thebest of Indian craft and localdesign influences, fusing it withclassic silhouettes works best.

THE RIGOROUS COMPETITION

As the Circular DesignChallenge (CDC) saw 900 regis-trations from over 30 cities inIndia, the selection process hasbeen a highly competitive one. Ofthe eight finalists, the awardee willbe felicitated with `20 lakh cashprize.

The designers were required toincorporate circular componentsacross the textile value chain intheir design through the applica-tion of circular-design principlesand demonstrate a positive impacton the environment and on soci-ety. They were evaluated andscored on usage of waste in theircollection, fashion and aestheticquotient, business viability/scala-bility, value chain and collabora-tions.

Aiman, who has been a mas-ter in sustainable fashion, says thatshe has been in tune with the con-cept. For her, “it was not difficultto achieve the goal since my appli-cation was already aligned with herthoughts and the concept.” Theaward would mean the perfectboost for her label.

Aman says that a lot of refine-ment and chiseling went throughit before getting a “watertightconcept” for CDC. He says thatwhether he wins the contest or not,he is “elated that the next genera-tion of designers and textile com-panies alike are focussing on craft,sustainability and bringing circu-larity to the fore. For me, that’salready a win.”

Kanika, who is excited to be apart of the cohort of eight design-ers at the LFW, says that her visionhad always been to bring sustain-able materials to the forefront incontemporary and wearabledesigns. “To show that sustainablematerials can be as mainstreamand way cooler than traditionalmaterials was what I dreamt of,”she says, adding that her vision hasalready been validated by being inthe top eight shortlists.

“If I win, it would bring therecycled fabrics that we have cre-ated to a global forefront. It wouldalso mean a lot more investmentthat we can put into our R&Defforts to create more recycled andsustainable fabrics which webelieve to be the future of fashion,”says she.

Kriti also shares the samevision of making circular fashion“possible and more accessible.” Shebelieves that such an award is afirst-of-its-kind as it recognises theneed for circular fashion and itsimpact.

A tiny marketThe sales figures have come in, and while several

luxury car manufacturers have had great years, the Indian market is still miniscule

The fact that luxury carsare still considered a sinin India is because thecountry’s economy is stilldriven by a very strangeway of looking at wealth

KUSHAN MITRA

A FASHION THAT

LASTSDesigners AMAN SINGH, AIMAN SABRI, KANIKAAHUJA and KRITI TULA believe that creators haveto take the first step towards ensuring sustainableand organic clothing before the consumers follow.By CHAHAK MITTAL

‘MASS-PRODUCINGFACTORIES

DISCARD MASSIVEQUANTITIES OF

FABRIC TO MEETTHE NEED OF FAST-PACED

PRODUCTION.THESE ARE

REJECTED FORSMALL WEAVINGDEFECTS, STAINS,

COLOURVARIATIONS, POST

CUTTING ANDSTITCHING WASTE’

Clockwise: Pozruh by Aiman Sabri, Doodlage by Kriti Tula, Bareek by Aman Singh, Lifaffa by Kanika Ahuja

sport 15LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

AFP n MELBOURNE

World number ones Novak Djokovic andSimona Halep were named top seeds onThursday for next week's Australian Open,

with 23-time major winner Serena Williams lurkingat 16 on the women's side.

Djokovic heads long-time rival Rafael Nadal anddefending champion Roger Federer, with young-gunAlexander Zverev seeded four as he targets a maid-en Grand Slam title.

The Serbian world number one is aiming to makehistory by claiming a record seventh Australian Opencrown when the tournament starts at Melbourne Parkon Monday, as is Swiss legend Federer.

The pair faces a stern challenge from Zverev, thetorch-bearer for the next generation who has so farfailed to get beyond the quarter-finals at any major.

With world number five Juan Martin del Potromissing through injury, South Africa's KevinAnderson is elevated to fifth seed with last year's beat-en finalist Marin Cilic at six.

Halep takes the top seeding among the womencourtesy of her world number one ranking, but sheenters the tournament with only one match in fourmonths under her belt after an injury lay off.

The Romanian, the beaten finalist last year, isreturning from a herniated disc and was bundled outof the Sydney International at the first hurdle.

Denmark's defending champion CarolineWozniacki, is seeded three, one behind Germany'sAngelique Kerber. US Open champion NaomiOsaka is at four while Sloane Stephens, who alsoslumped out of Sydney early, is at five.

Overshadowing them all is the mighty Williams,who last played the tournament in 2017 when shewon while eight weeks pregnant.

The 37-year-old enters the tournament seeded16, but is the hot favourite to claim a record-equalling24th Grand Slam.

PTI n MELBOURNE

In-form Prajnesh Gunneswaraninched closer to his maiden Grand

Slam appearance with anotherstraight-set win but Ankita Rainaand Ramkumar Ramanathan wereousted from the Australian OpenQualifiers after suffering narrowdefeats, here on Thursday.

Prajnesh, seeded sixth, got thebetter of Spain's Enrique LopezPerez 6-3, 6-3 in the men's singlessecond round.

"I played a better match thanyesterday and remained solidthroughout. I did the right things,attacked when I got chances.Looking forward to the final roundtomorrow," he added.

The world number 112 will nexttake on Japan's Yosuke Watanaki,

ranked 192 in the world.If Prajnesh wins Friday's match,

it will be his first main draw com-petition at a Grand Slam. InjuredYuki Bhambri had played in all fourGrand Slam main draws in 2018.

Placed 132 in the world rank-ings, Ramkumar played a very closematch before losing 7-5 5-7 6-7(6)to Germany's Rudolf Molleker,ranked 207.

In the women's singles, AsianGames Bronze medallist Ankitaalso had a one-set advantage butwent down 6-4 2-6 4-6 to Spain's29th seed Paula Badosa Gibert,world number 142.

Meanwhile in the practicematch, Novak Djokovic exposedAndy Murray's frailties in a practicematch with the Scot calling it a daywhile losing 6-1, 4-1.

AFP n SYDNEY

Petra Kvitova sent defendingchampion Angelique Kerber

packing from the rain-affectedSydney International onThursday to book a semi-finalspot and get an edge over herrival heading into the AustralianOpen next week.

It was always going to be atight match with the pair tied 6-6 in 12 previous meetings.

Kvitova kept the pressure onand got a crucial break in gamefour of the second set and therewas no way back for Kerber whomeekly surrendered 6-4, 6-1.

Her reward is a clash withBelarusian qualifier AliaksandraSasnovich, who beatSwitzerland's Timea Bacsinszky— on the comeback trail after a14-month winless spell — 6-3, 6-3.

Australia's Ashleigh Bartyfollowed up her giant-killingwins over world number oneSimona Halep and formerFrench Open champion JelenaOstapenko by easily accountingfor 10th seeded Belgian Elise

Mertens 6-3, 6-3.The 22-year-old is now on

a six-match win streak, datingback to her career's biggest titleat the WTA Elite Trophy inZhuhai.

She will play seventh seedKiki Bertens who blasted pastYulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2 for aplace in the final.

In the men's draw, veteranAndreas Seppi derailed top seedStefanos Tsitsipas' title hopes.

Seppi, 14 years older than

his 20-year-old Greek oppo-nent battled back for a gutsy 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Seppi will now play thirdseeded Argentine DiegoSchwartzman, who needed tofight hard to beat YoshihitoNishioka 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1)

In other quarter-final action,fifth seeded teenager Alex DeMinaur continued his strongstart to the season with a 7-6(7/4), 6-3 victory over fellowAustralian Jordan Thompson.

GIRONA : Vinicius Junior starred andReal Madrid steadied the ship as a 3-0 win over Leganes put them on thebrink of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. Vinicius, the 18-year-oldBrazilian signed by Madrid last sum-mer, capped an electric display at the SantiagoBernabeu with a stunning volley, his third goal for theclub and the team's third of the night. By then, SergioRamos had converted a first-half penalty and LucasVazquez doubled the advantage to set Madrid on theirway to a much-needed first victory of 2019. It will takea seismic comeback for Leganes to overturn the deficitin next week's second leg but more important to coachSantiago Solari was the rhythm regained, followingtwo La Liga games without a victory. Vinicius was theshining light, however. The striker was alive to everyball in the final third and his finish, a sweet shot withhis body off balance, was a triumph for technical tal-ent.

AFP n MANCHESTER

Holders Manchester City canlook forward to defending

the League Cup in next month'sfinal at Wembley as GabrielJesus struck four goals in a 9-0thrashing of Burton Albion intheir semi-final, first leg.

Kevin de Bruyne,Oleksandr Zinchenko, PhilFoden, Kyle Walker and RiyadMahrez were also on targetagainst Nigel Clough's LeagueOne side as City ensured theirvisit to the Pirelli Stadium onJanuary 23 is a mere formality.

After also thrashingRotherham 7-0 in the FA Cupwith a much-changed side, Pep

Guardiola was able to againhand a rest to a number of hiskey players but named a strongside with De Bruyne continuinghis comeback from injury.

And the Belgian set the tonefor the evening by heading Cityinto a fifth-minute lead as hetimed his run into the box per-fectly to head home DavidSilva's cross.

It took City until the halfhour mark to double theiradvantage, but a glut of threegoals in seven minutes followedto put the tie to bed before thebreak.

Jesus headed home his firstfrom close range after BradleyCollins had denied Leroy Sane

before the Brazilian slottedhome Silva's cushioned pass viathe inside of the post. City did-n't need any luck, but still got

some whenZ i n c h e n k o ' sintended cross thenlooped over Collinsto make it 4-0.

Other sidesmay have slacked

off in the second period, butwith competitions for places sofierce among Guardiola's side,the hosts were ruthless to matchthe Catalan's biggest ever win asa coach.

Jesus powered home aheader to complete his secondhat-trick of the season.

De Bruyne was thenreplaced by home favouriteFoden, who was surprisingly leftout the stating XI, just before thehour mark.

It took just four minutesfor the 18-year-old to score histhird City goal as he profitedfrom the rebound after Collinsdid well to parry Jesus's firsteffort.

Jesus did soon have hisfourth with a delicate finishfrom Sane's cross and City'sdominance was summed upwhen right-back Kyle Walkerstrode forward to fire home hisside's eighth of the evening.

Mahrez made it nine sevenminutes from time.

AFP n PARIS

Paris Saint-Germain saw their 43-match winning run in domestic cup

competitions come to an end as ThomasTuchel's men suffered a shock 2-1 homedefeat by Ligue 1 bottom club Guingampin the French League Cup quarter-finals.

The visitors were awardedthree penalties at the Parc desPrinces in a dramatic secondhalf, as PSG failed in their bidfor a sixth straight League Cuptitle.

It was only a second defeat in all com-petitions this season for the capital club,after a 3-2 loss to Liverpool at Anfield inthe Champions League last September.Guingamp, who have won just two leaguegames all season, join Monaco, Strasbourgand Bordeaux in the semi-finals.

Neymar broke the deadlock in the63rd minute after Thuram missed fromthe spot, but Guingamp rallied, withThuram's successful injury-time penaltysnatching victory with a shootout loom-ing.

"We played with too much confidence,we were not hungry enough to finish thematch," admitted PSG coach ThomasTuchel. "It's very hard to lose with threepenalties. I was angry with the second one,I can see the VAR 100 times, it's not apenalty."

Earlier on Wednesday, Monaco goal-keeper Loic Badiashile scored the winningpenalty in a marathon shootout againstRennes.

Monaco, runners-up in the past twoseasons, salvaged a 1-1

draw after normal timethanks to Rony Lopes'second-half equaliser,

before Badiashile'sheroics as he alsosaved three spot-

kicks.T h i e r r y

Henry's young teamare floundering inLigue 1, sitting sec-ond-bottom andfive points fromsafety, but man-

aged to keeptheir coach'shopes of a firsttrophy alive atthe StadeLouis II.

DJOKER, HALEP START AS FAVOURITES

Eyeing record seventh title at Rod Laver Arena, World No 1 Novak start campaign as top seed

AFP n MELBOURNE

Serena Williams hasbeen handed a chal-

lenging draw in her questfor a record-equalling24th Grand Slam title atthe Australian Open,starting with Germany'sTatjana Maria in the firstround.

The American, seed-ed 16, is gunning tomatch Margaret Court'srecord of singles majorsand claim an eighthAustralian Open crown.

The 37-year-oldenters the tournamentseeded 16, but has provedin the past that suchnumbers mean little toher.

But Williams is in atough half of the draw

and could meet worldnumber one SimonaHalep in round four, andif she gets through thatKarolina Pliskova in thelast eight.

Before thosepotential ties,either Chinesewildcard PengShui orCanadian EugenieBouchard would awaitWilliams in the secondround.

Halep, who entersthe tournament havingplayed just one game infour months after a backinjury, was handed achance to avengeEstonia's Kaia Kanepi,who beat her in the firstround of the US Open inAugust.

If she comes throughthat dangerous openingshowdown, she couldmeet Venus Williams inround three.

Defendingchampion andthird seedC a r o l i n eWozniacki startsagainst Alison

Van Uytvanck of Belgiumand could meet 2008champion MariaSharapova in round three.

"Coming back asdefending champion, it'ssomething I alwaysdreamed of. I feel at homehere. These courts aresuited for me. I'm enjoy-ing every minute," saidthe Dane at Thursday'sdraw, while paying tributeto Williams.

"Serena is the great-est player to have playedthe game. Her experi-ences have been alearning experiencefor me. It's be funthough as well. She hasa baby now! It's amazingbeing back on tour sosoon."

The 2016 winnerAngelique Kerber, seededtwo, begins her drawagainst Slovenia's PolonaHercog and could meetfifth seed Wozniacki inthe semis.

Japan's NaomiOsaka, the US Openchampion, kicks off hertournament againstPoland's Magda Linetteand is in line to meetAustralia's DariaGavrilova round two.

AFP n MELBOURNE

World number one NovakDjokovic will start his bid to

win a record seventh AustralianOpen title next week against aqualifier following Thursday'sdraw.

The Serb had a magnificent2018, making an astonishingclimb back from outside theworld's top 20 in June, winning

Wimbledon and the US Open onthe way to reclaiming the numberone ranking in November.

He will start his drive to makehistory against a yet-to-be-decid-ed qualifier and could meetFrance's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in thesecond round.

Champion Roger Federer,seeded three and also gunning fora seventh Melbourne title, starts histitle defence against world number99 Denis Istomin and could meet

Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals."He (Djokovic) continues to

challenge me. I played him in hisprime when he was virtuallyunbeatable. It was important not toget frustrated by it. I always enjoymy matches against him," 20-timeGrand Slam winner Federer said at

the draw."We are both natural attacking

players. We are aggressive. He is upthere with Nadal and Hewitt theymake me rethink my game. I liketo play attacking tennis, so I'vecome full circle."

Second seeded Nadal beginsagainst Australian JamesDuckworth, fourth seed AlexanderZverev faces Slovenian AljazBedene while last year's runner-upMarin Cilic has a tricky encounterwith Australian Bernard Tomic.

A highlight first round clashwill see Australia's unseeded NickKyrgios up against Canada's big-serving 16th seed Milos Raonic,with the winner facing either StanWawrinka or Ernests Gulbis.

Three-time Grand Slam win-ner Andy Murray has a tough clashwith 22nd-seeded SpaniardRoberto Bautista Agut as hereturns from a hip injury.

Prajnesh gets close to main draw

Serena handed tough draw Novak faces qualifier in 1st round

Noavk Djokovic chats with Andy Murray AO

Gabriel Jesus celebrates after goal AP

Vinicius inspires

Real Madrid to

much-needed win

Kvitova blasts past Kerber

and enters Sydney semis

PSG stunned bystruggling Guingamp

MAN CITY HIT NINE PAST BURTON

India's defender Anas Edathodika, left, and United Arab Emirates' forward AliMabkhout al Hajeri fight for the ball during the AFC Asian Cup group A soccermatch between the United Arab Emirates and India at Zayed Sports City in AbuDhabi, United Arab Emirates on Thursday

SOHAN WINS GOLD FOR UP Sohan Singh of Mathura bagged the gold medal

while Pooja Yadav won the bronze medal to open UttarPradesh’s account in Khelo India at Pune on Thursday.The medals were given away by Shri RajyavardhanSingh Rathore, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India, New Delhi.

VOLLEYBALLThe Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Memorial

Volleyball Tournament will be organised at LDAStadium from January 13. Interested teams may con-tact on 8299563622.

HOCKEY CAMPAs many as 25 probables have been selected for

the training camp of the Uttar Pradesh team, whichwill take part in the 9th Hockey India JuniorWomen’s National Hockey Championship at KollamKerala from January 31. The camp will begin at theMohammad Shahid Synthetic hockey stadium.THE PROBABLES: Kareena Kumari, Pratibha Saroj,Anjali Shukla, Simran Singh, Vandana kushwaha,Trapti Mishra, Pooja Kumari, Shail Gupta, Pallavi,Vinamrata, Pratibha, Ambika Sahu, Juli Gaur, SaritaRai, Prachi Kushwaha, Varsha Aarya, ArchanaBhardwaj, Sapna Devi, Hina Bano, RuchikaUpadhyaya, Anuradha Pal, Pooja Yadav, Shashikala,Priyanka Nishad, Hema Navet. Reserves: Sunayna,Parerna.

UAE blank India 2-0

ABU DHABI: India wasted asmany as six scoring chances asthey go down to United ArabEmirates 2-0 in the Group Amatch of the 2019 AFC AsianCup at Abu Dhabi onThursday.

India was unlucky onThursday. They hit the cross-bar twice in the second half,

after missing five clear chancesin the first half.

UAE played the posses-sion game and scored their twogoals in the counter.

UAE jumped to top in theGroup A standings with fourpoints, while India droppeddown to second with threepoints.

LOCAL EVENTS

sport 16LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 11, 2019

PTI n SYDNEY

Australia all-rounder MitchellMarsh has been ruled of the

first ODI against India due to ill-ness and the home team hasdrafted uncapped AshtonTurner as his cover.

Marsh has gastritis and hasspent the past two days in hos-pital.

Coach Justin Langer saidMarsh will not play in the firstODI against India here onSaturday and will monitor theall-rounder's progress ahead ofthe final two matches inAdelaide (January 15) andMelbourne (January 18).

Langer said the PerthScorchers player Turner's abili-

ty to finish off an innings withthe bat and his ability to createpressure with his lightning run-ning between the wickets werewhat got him the nod.

"That might sound like thedumbest thing you've everheard but you watch AshtonTurner, the way he runsbetween wickets is unbeliev-able. He's such a great athlete,it puts so much pressure (on theopposition)," he was quoted assaying by Cricket Australiaofficial website'cricket.Com.Au'.

The 25-year-old Turner,who has played in three T20International matches in 2017,has been in good form in BigBash League.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Bengaluru will host the first match of Australia's limited overstour of India with a T20 International on February 24, the BCCI

announced on Thursday.The second T20I will be played in Visakhapatnam on

February 27, followed by five ODIs.The first ODI will be held in Hyderabad on March 2, followed

by matches in Nagpur (March 5), Ranchi (March 8), Mohali (March10) and New Delhi (March 13).

Both T20Is will be night matches starting at 7pm, and all fiveODIs will be day-night affairs, starting at 1:30 pm, according to aBCCI release.

For Australia, this tour is set to be their last international assign-ment before the World Cup which starts on May 30 in England.

For India, this series will be followed by a home assignmentagainst Zimbabwe, before the players head into the IPL ahead ofthe World Cup.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The celebrated M C Mary Kom'sunprecedented sixth world title

triumph has propelled her to thenumber one position in theInternational Boxing Association's(AIBA) latest world rankings.

The diminutive Manipuribecame the most successful boxerin world championships' history

when she claimed the 48kg categorytop honours in November last yearin Delhi.

In the updated rankings put outby AIBA, Mary Kom is placed topof the charts in the weight divisionwith 1700 points.

The 36-year-old will have tojump to 51kg in pursuit of her 2020Olympic dream as 48kg is not yetincluded in the Games roster.

The mother-of-three enjoyed astellar 2018, picking up Goldmedals at the CommonwealthGames and a tournament in Poland.She also won Silver at the presti-gious Strandja Memorial inBulgaria.

Among other Indians, PinkiJangra is placed eighth in the 51kgcategory list.

Asian Silver-medallist Manisha

Maun holds the same position inthe 54kg category.

Former world Silver-medallistSonia Lather was placed at the sec-ond spot in the 57kg divisiondespite enduring a disappointing2018, during which she finishedmedal-less at the Asian Games.

World Bronze-medallistSimranjit Kaur (64kg), who wascrowned the national champion a

few days back, took the fourth posi-tion in her weight category.Following her was former worldchampion L Sarita Devi at the 16thspot.

India Open Gold-medallist andworld Bronze-winner LovlinaBorgohain took the fifth position inthe 69kg category.

The men's rankings have notbeen updated as yet.

PTI n MUMBAI

Rishabh Pant might have created a new recordfor an Indian wicket keeper by

taking 11 catches in a Test inAustralia, but former stumperFarokh Engineer says the Delhiyoungster has a lot of technical prob-lems in his primary job, while prais-ing the left hander's batting heroics.

Engineer said Pant remindshim of his young days.

"His approach is same as M SDhoni's. But don't praise him sky-high at the moment. Encourage him.(But) He's technically so incorrect,"said the one-time flamboyant wick-et keeper batsman.

Pant had also scored a blazing hundred, thefirst by an Indian wicket keeper in Australia, inthe drawn final Test at Sydney to top his recordnumber of catches behind the stumps in the firstmatch of the series at Adelaide.

Pant's flamboyant batting exploits, however,have impressed Engineer so much that he won-dered how the Indian selectors can afford to leavehim out in favour of the seasoned Dhoni for this

year's World Cup in England."Question is, for the World Cup will you pick

Dhoni? How can you drop Pant? He has done sowell. These are the questions for theselectors —the three selectors whobetween them must have played oneand a half Tests," he said, before he wascorrected that there was a five-manselection panel now with two moreadditions to the list.

"I don't want to sound harsh. Givehim time. He (Pant) will improve. Iwish I could have a couple of timeswith him to make him a good wick-et keeper," said Engineer.

Explaining further, Engineer saidPant snatches the ball, gets up too earlyand does not move his feet.

"A good wicket keeper moves his feet, goesto the ball and does not dive all the time; uses hisfeet all the time," the Mumbai-born stumper ofthe 1960s and 1970s said.

"He's young he will learn from mistakes.Wicket- keeping is not taught, it's a natural thing.He has to iron out certain elementary things. I lovehis approach. He's such a good, natural player. Iam sure his wicket keeping will improve," he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Committee ofAdministrators chief

Vinod Rai on Thursday rec-ommended a two-ODI ban onIndia players Hardik Pandyaand KL Rahul for their con-troversial comments onwomen in a TV show but fel-low COA member DianaEdulji referred the matter tothe BCCI's legal cell.

If the ban is imposed, theduo could miss the first twomatches of a three-ODI seriesagainst Australia startingSaturday in Sydney.

"I am not convinced withHardik's explanation and Ihave recommended a two-match ban for both players.However the final decisionwill be taken once Diana givesher go ahead," Rai said.

Pandya's comments on'Koffee with Karan ' were

slammed as misogynistic andsexist, prompting the CoA toissue a show cause notice onWednesday. The all-rounder,in response, said he was sin-cerely regretful and would notrepeat the behaviour.

"Diana has sought legalopinion whether the duo canbe banned. So, obviously adecision will be taken once shegives her nod. As far as I am

concerned, the comments werecrass, in bad taste and unac-ceptable," Rai said.

Edulji also sought theopinion of BCCI acting pres-ident CK Khanna, acting sec-retary Amitabh Chaudharyand treasurer AnirudhChaudhry on the issue.

Responding to her query,Anirudh recommended a sus-pension for the two and a gen-der sensitisation programmefor them.

"The players must beimmediately suspended pend-ing a proper inquiry and mustbe allowed to join the team (ifselected) only once they havegone through a proper sensi-tisation in addition to servinga ban, if imposed upon them,"he said.

Anirudh said there shouldalso be an investigation intohow the two players appearedon an entertainment show.

PTI n SYDNEY

Australia coach Justin Langeron Thursday said he has

never seen a batsman concen-trate as hard as CheteshwarPujara, who beats even the greatSachin Tendulkar in that aspect.

Speaking for the first timesince the visiting team's maidenTest triumph on Australian soil,Langer said Pujara's concentra-tion was a challenge for hisbowlers.

"...I have never seen a bats-man watch the ball as closely ashe (Pujara) does, and thatincludes Sachin Tendulkar andRahul Dravid. His concentrationwas a challenge. And we have tokeep getting better just like him,all our batsmen and bowlers,"Langer said.

Langer said his bowlerswere stretched to the limit in theTest series, especially inMelbourne and Sydney.

"The guys are working veryhard and they are going okay.The first innings in Melbourneand Sydney, honestly, sucked thelife out of us because when youare in the field for two days, withonly one spin bowler, that takesenergy out of the group," he saidahead of ODI series.

"We have the best spinnerand three outstanding pacebowlers, against the outstandingPujara and Kohli. So it takessome mental and physical ener-gy out. "There are new playersand new staff for these threegames, so that brings new ener-gy to the group...," he added.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Overwhelmed by the comparisons withVirender Sehwag after his 'dream debut' in

Australia, Mayank Agarwal says he will be happyif he could do even half of what the former Indiaopener achieved in his illustrious career.

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar andhis personal coach Irfan Sait are among those whofeel that "there is a little bit of Sehwag" in Agarwal,who drew the flattering comparison with hisaggressive style of play.

Drafted into the squad in the middle of a well-poised series, the 27-year-old rose to the occasionwith a 77, 76 and 42 in Melbourne and Sydney,playing a crucial hand in India's maiden Test seriestriumph Down Under.

"Honestly, I am not a fan of comparisons buthe is one of the greats of Indian cricket. I just liketo go in the middle, give my best and see whatcomes out of it. Having said that, if I could do evenhalf of what he (Sehwag) did, I will be happy," theKarnataka batsman said after returning home.

Agarwal had replaced the injured Prithvi Shawin the squad and facing the likes of JoshHazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc wasas tough a challenge as he could face in his debutinnings on Boxing Day.

"Definitely, it was (special), to make my debutat the MCG and most importantly, to win the Test

series in Australia. We became the first team fromthe sub-continent to win a series in Australia.There can't be a better start than this," saidAgarwal, who finally got his opportunity afterbeing on the fringes for a long time.

Agarwal saw off the new ball with HanumaVihari on day one of the third Test before end-ing with an impressive 76 off 161 balls.

Asked about his mind-set going into theMelbourne game, Agarwal said, "I was very excit-ed that I have been called to represent India inAustralia in a well poised series. My thought wasI want to be a part of the action than sit out. WhenI got the call from the selectors, I was very excit-ed. It is a big moment for any cricketer, more soif you do that in MCG on Boxing Day."

PTI n SYDNEY

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsmanMahendra Singh Dhoni'sindifferent form has come

under the scanner in recent times butIndia Vice-captain Rohit Sharma onThursday backed him to the hilt, say-ing he will play a pivotal role in theWorld Cup later this year.

Rohit said besides his finishingabilities, Dhoni's mere presence lendscalmness to the team, especiallyyoungsters, and that would be crucialin a big tournament like the WorldCup, which starts May 30 in England.

"Over the years we have seenwhat sort of presence he (Dhoni) hasin the dressing room and on the field.With him being around, there is asense of calmness in the group,which is very important, and also abit of help to the captain because hestands behind the stumps," Rohit saidahead of the first ODI againstAustralia on Saturday.

"He has captained India for somany years and been successful. Sohe being around with the team alwaysis helpful. He is like a guiding lightaround the group," he said.

Dhoni's much-vaunted finishingskills are under scrutiny but Rohitsaid the former captain has it in himto continue being useful with the bat.

"...Batting down the order, gettingus through the line, his finishingtouch is very important and he hasfinished so many games for us. Hiscalmness and advice, what he thinksabout the game and what we should

do right now is very important."His presence around the group

is a massive factor for us," said the 31-year-old right handed batsman.

Rohit said young bowlers likeYuzvendra Chahal and KuldeepYadav can benefit from Dhoni's pres-ence behind the stumps.

"Chahal and Kuldeep are bothdoing really well so somebody likeDhoni standing behind the stumpsand helping those guys about whatthe batsman is trying to do, it makesa huge difference I think.

"These guys started playing for

India in 2017 and since then theyhave done really well in and outsideIndia. And one of the reasons for thatis MS and how he has guided thesetwo guys in the middle about how tokeep things tight and field place-ments.

"He has played a massive role eversince the time he has left captaincy,"he added.

WC SQUAD SETTLEDVice-captain Rohit Sharma on

Thursday said India's World Cupsquad is more or less settled but

nobody should take his place forgranted as poor form could lead toomissions.

Rohit said there could be one ortwo changes in the squad, which willtake on Australia and New Zealandin upcoming ODI series, dependingon poor form and injury in the com-ing months.

"The squad that plays these 13ODIs is more or less the same squadthat will go to the World Cup. Therewill be one or two changes, keepingin mind the form and injury con-cerns over the next few months,"

Rohit said ahead of India's first ODIagainst Australia.

"We played a lot of cricketthroughout the year, so injuries arebound to happen. And there will besome concerns about form and fit-ness. I don't see there will be anydrastic changes to the squad," headded.

Talking about the slots in theplaying eleven, he said, "...More orless, the slots are pretty much takenby individuals but having said that,I feel everything will depend on theform of each player. Nobody is guar-anteed that flight to England as yet.

"I would not say every individ-ual that is going to be part of the nextfew series would be playing theWorld Cup. You have got to perform.But there won't be drastic changes,"said the stylish top-order batsman.

India last played ODIs inAustralia in 2016, and lost the five-match series 1-4. Their top-ordercomprising Rohit, Shikhar Dhawanand Virat Kohli had excelled backthen too, but the middle order didnot support them enough.

Rohit was confident that thoseshortcomings have been overcomeespecially in preparation for theWorld Cup.

"It's not about one or two indi-viduals, it's about 11 of us con-tributing, including the 7 or 8 bat-ters that will be playing. Individualsmay win one or two games but towin the championship, the battingunit needs to come together and atsome stage put their hands up andsay 'I'm going to take that challengeand make the team get through thefinishing line.

"There will be times when yourtop-order fails and the middle-orderhas to take the responsibility andthey know that. I think they havedone that in the last series we haveplayed, in the Asia Cup, and alsoagainst the West Indies in India," headded.

PROTEAS NAME VAN DER DUSSEN IN ODI SQUAD Cape Town: Batsman Rassie van der Dussen is a new cap in SouthAfrica's 14-man squad named on Thursday for the first two one-dayinternationals against Pakistan, starting on January 19. Van der Dussen,29, has featured for the South African Twenty20 international team andwas the leading scorer in the recent Mzansi Super League T20tournament. Five one-day internationals against Pakistan and five moreagainst Sri Lanka are South Africa's final one-day engagements beforethe Cricket World Cup in England and Wales that starts on May 30. Fastbowler Dane Paterson was also recalled to the one-day squad for thefirst time since 2017. Batsman JP Duminy and fast bowler Lungi Ngidiwere not considered because of injury.

UP MAKE QUARTERS AFTER DRAW AGAINST ASSAMKanpur: Uttar Pradesh became the second side from Group C to makeit to the Ranji Trophy quarter- finals after Rajasthan when they drew theirfinal league game against Assam. Uttar Pradesh took the first inningslead in their drawn affair against Assam to snatch three crucial points,while the visitors had to be content with a lone point. UP finished secondto Rajasthan (51 points) with 41 points and the two teams entered thequarters from this group. Meanwhile, in their last league gameJharkhand left- arm spinner Shahbaaz Nadeem spun his web aroundJammu and Kashmir to guide his side to an innings and 48 runs win.However, both the teams did not make it to the next round.

EKANA TO HOST RANJI TROPHY Q/F MATCHLUCKNOW: Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana InternationalCricket Stadium will host the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match betweenUttar Pradesh and Saurashtra from January 15 to 19. Undefeated so far,UP on Thursday drew with Assam at Green Park, Kanpur to book thequarters berth.

BENGAL FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR KNOCK-OUTSKolkata: Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran's maiden doublehundred went in vain as Bengal failed to qualify for the knock-out stagesafter their final Ranji Trophy group B encounter against Punjab ended ina draw. Abhimanyu batted close to 10 hours and remained unbeaten on201 from 373 balls (16x4) in his marathon knock that delayed Bengal'sdeclaration to post-tea session in the must-win contest. Bengal declaredat 432/6 after Abhimanyu completed his milestone, setting Punjab animprobable target of 173 in 16 overs, with one-hour's play left on thefinal day. The contest was reduced to a T20 affair with Manpreet Gony(58 from 28 balls; 2x4, 6x6) leading Punjab charge. But Gony wascleaned up by Pradipta Pramanik in the 13th over as Punjab wererestricted for 132/5 in 15 overs to settle for three points on basis of theirfirst innings lead. Both the teams finished with 23 points to finish behindMadhya Pradesh (24) and Kerala who became the only to qualify fromgroup B with 26 points.

TAMIL NADU SECURE THREE POINTS AGAINST DELHI Chennai: Tamil Nadu gained three points for securing the first inningslead against Delhi on the final day of its final Ranji Trophy Group Bmatch. Resuming at the overnight score of 268 for 6, Delhi's was all outfor 336 runs in first innings. Batting a second time, Tamil Nadu was 113for 1 in 40 overs when it chose to declare and bring an end to theproceedings. Meanwhile at Amtar, Kerala beat Himachal Pradesh by fivewickets on the final day to grab six points and reach 26 points.

GHOSAL PULLS OUT OF CCI SQUASH TOURNAMENTMumbai: Indias World No 12 Saurav Ghosal on Thursday pulled outfrom the quarterfinal stage of the CCI International JSW Indian SquashCircuit due to a calf injury that he had sustained on Wednesday.Defending champion and third seed Ghosal, who secured a 3-1 win overEgypts Mohamed Reda on way to the last eight, was due to facecompatriot Ramit Tandon, ranked 68th, in the quarterfinal.

SINGLES

NEW HIGH FOR MAGNIFICENT MARYIN THE UPDATED

RANKINGS PUT OUT BYAIBA, MARY KOM ISPLACED TOP OF THE

CHARTS IN THE WEIGHTDIVISION WITH 1700

POINTS

Aus tour to begin on Feb 24

MITCH MARSH RULED

OUT OF FIRST ODI

‘Dhoni is our guiding light’

Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul pose forphoto with Karan Johar in his show

Rohit Sharma backs out of form former

skipper to perform wellin World Cup and says

his presence will bebeneficial for youngsters

Rai recommends 2-ODI

ban on Pandya, Rahul

Pant has technical issuesin keeping: Engineer

‘NEVER SEEN A BATSMAN

CONCENTRATE LIKE PUJARA’

Mayank avoids comparison with Sehwag

Documents

TO HARD WORK: MADHURI DIXIT 14 VIVACITY Alok Verma … · New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP on ... lived as he could resume office for just two days. Verma is retiring