2[Ze¶d T]RZ^ WR]dV _` ecfT\ hZeY 3;A+ ARhRc - Daily Pioneer

16
A s Shiv Sena and Congress struggled to keep their flock together on the day two of the formation of a BJP-led Government in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday rubbished the “mis- leading” claims by his nephew Ajit Pawar that he is still with the parent party and said the breakaway group leader was trying to create “confusion” and “false perception” in the minds of the people. On a day when both the BJP-led Government and Shiv Sena-led front claimed that they had adequate numbers with them to prove a majority in the 288-member Assembly, breakaway group leader Ajit began to play mind games with Sr Pawar, only to be silenced by the NCP chief who denied that his party had no plans to align with the BJP. More than 30 hours after he threw his weight behind the BJP and became the Deputy Chief Minister in the Fadnavis- led Government, Ajit put out a series of tweets thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and other BJP leaders for their best wishes to him, main- taining that he is still with the NCP and claiming that “our BJP-NCP alliance” will provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for next five years. Ajit tweeted, “I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaksSaheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the wel- fare of the State and its peo- ple....There is absolutely no need to worry, all is well. However, a little patience is required. Thank you very much for all your support.” Less than an hour after Ajit linked his party to the BJP-led Government through his tweets, the NCP chief dubbed his nephew’s claim as “false” and said his party’s alliance with the Sena and the Congress was intact and the question of aligning with the BJP did not arise. “There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the Government. Shri Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and mis- leading in order to create con- fusion and false perception among the people,” Sr Pawar tweeted. T he National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has turned down Rajasthan Government’s pro- posal seeking translocation of two big cats from Madhya Pradesh to Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar, saying it has done nothing to curb ‘human disturbance’ which negatively influenced tigers’ breeding in the protected area. The tiger watchdog has made it clear to Rajasthan that unless it addresses the ‘irritants’ to ensure tiger conservation, the NTCA would not allow shifting of any new tiger in the STR. “Key problems like distur- bance from the villagers living in the STR and acute shortage of forest staff continue to exist. There is question of allowing relocation of more tigers in the big cat habitat,” said Anup Kumar Nayak, head of the NTCA. The stinging observa- tion came at a review meeting recently with the State officials when the NTCA, much to its annoyance found that not enough was done to ensure conducive habitat to the tigers in the protected area. There are around 26 villages in the STR spread over 1,200 sq km while staff shortage particularly forest guards is as high as fifty per cent. In the span of two years since 2018, the reserve has lost three fully grown tigers. Presently, the tiger population in the STR is hugely skewed in favour of females-one male tiger for nine tigress. Overall, there are 16 big cats in the protected area-nine tigress, three cubs and four male tigers of which only one is in the reproduction bracket. Three others are sub-adults, not capable of breeding. Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan, Arindam Tomar said that as some of the tigress are infertile, the reserve needs a tigress and a male from Madhya Pradesh to inject fresh gene pool in the predator family. W ith the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi round the corner, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday announced that the BJP will fight the polls under the leadership of Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari and ensure that he becomes the Chief Minister, only to backtrack his statement hours later. Puri later in a tweet said he meant that the BJP would win with a huge mandate under Tiwari’s leadership and the party has not announced any chief ministerial candidate. Puri, who is also a co-in charge of Delhi BJP unit, while addressing a party workers meeting in Delhi earlier in the day, said, “We are going to fight the Assembly election under the leadership of Manoj Tiwari and we will ensure that he (Tiwari) becomes the Chief Minister.” However, later in the day, Puri in a tweet said what he had meant was that the BJP will win under the leadership of Tiwari and that the party has not nominated anyone for the post of Chief Minister so far. “The BJP is headed for victo- ry in Delhi and party has so far not nominated anyone for the post of Chief Minister. Tiwari is the pres- ident of the Delhi BJP and the party is working vigorously under his leadership. My statement meant that the BJP would win the upcom- ing elections under his leadership with a huge vote,” he tweeted. T he Supreme Court on Sunday asked the Centre to place before it on Monday morning the letters of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Devendra Fadnavis about the Government formation exer- cise in the State that saw revo- cation of the President rule in a midnight coup and swearing in of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar early morning of last Friday. While the court asked the Centre to place before it the letters of Koshyari inviting Fadnavis to take oath as Chief Minister, it also asked for the BJP leader’s letter to the Governor staking claim to form the Government, along with the letter of support from the NCP MLAs. The SC, however, did not grant any interim relief to the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress combine to direct the Fadnavis Government to under- take floor test within 24 hours and rather said this issue would be dealt with only after perusing the two letters on Monday. With nearly 50 MLAs reportedly endorsing the removal of Ajit as NCP legisla- ture party leader and signing a letter to the Governor appoint- ing Jayant Patil as the new CLP leader, it will be interesting to see what view the SC takes of Ajit’s claim that he enjoyed the support of these MLAs. This will decide whether these MLAs indeed lend their support to the BJP-NCP Government or Ajit tagged their signatures obtained for different purpose with a cov- ering letter for the Government formation? The court hearing made it clear that the BJP wanted to buy time for the floor test. As part of this strategy no lawyers appeared on behalf of the State Government and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, kept pleading for more time to submit the documents asked by the court. G iven the indications that the Supreme Court may order an early floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly, the Opposition Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress on Sunday inten- sified their efforts to prevent the BJP-led ruling alliance from “poaching” MLAs in bid to prove its majority in the 288- member House. Though senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar said his party, with the help of the “Ajit Pawar-led NCP” would be able to prove its majority in the Assembly, the Sena-led Opposition was confident that it would defeat the Devendra Fadanvis Government in the confidence vote on the floor of the House. Amid speculation that the BJP had already launched “Operation Kamal” along the lines of the one executed in Karnataka, the Sena-led Opposition went overdrive in protecting its MLAs, particu- larly the ones belonging to the Sharad Pawar-led party, from being poached by the ruling party and breakaway group leader Ajit. In their effort to guard their MLAs from being poached, the NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress have lodged their MLAs in three different hotels — Renaissance Hotel, Lalit and JW Marriot respec- tively for the past two days. In a late night develop- ment on Sunday, MLAs of the NCP were shifted from a sub- urban resort to another hotel in Mumbai, sources said.

Transcript of 2[Ze¶d T]RZ^ WR]dV _` ecfT\ hZeY 3;A+ ARhRc - Daily Pioneer

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As Shiv Sena and Congressstruggled to keep their

flock together on the day twoof the formation of a BJP-ledGovernment in Maharashtra,NCP chief Sharad Pawar onSunday rubbished the “mis-leading” claims by his nephewAjit Pawar that he is still withthe parent party and said thebreakaway group leader wastrying to create “confusion”and “false perception” in theminds of the people.

On a day when both theBJP-led Government and ShivSena-led front claimed thatthey had adequate numberswith them to prove a majorityin the 288-member Assembly,breakaway group leader Ajitbegan to play mind gameswith Sr Pawar, only to besilenced by the NCP chief whodenied that his party had noplans to align with the BJP.

More than 30 hours afterhe threw his weight behind theBJP and became the Deputy

Chief Minister in the Fadnavis-led Government, Ajit put out aseries of tweets thanking PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, AmitShah and other BJP leaders fortheir best wishes to him, main-taining that he is still with the

NCP and claiming that “ourBJP-NCP alliance” will provide a stable Government inMaharashtra for next five years.

Ajit tweeted, “I am in theNCP and shall always be in the

NCP and @PawarSpeaksSahebis our leader. Our BJP-NCPalliance shall provide a stableGovernment in Maharashtrafor the next five years whichwill work sincerely for the wel-fare of the State and its peo-ple....There is absolutely noneed to worry, all is well.However, a little patience isrequired. Thank you very muchfor all your support.”

Less than an hour after Ajitlinked his party to the BJP-ledGovernment through histweets, the NCP chief dubbedhis nephew’s claim as “false”

and said his party’s alliancewith the Sena and the Congresswas intact and the question ofaligning with the BJP did notarise.

“There is no question offorming an alliance with@BJP4Maharashtra. NCP hasunanimously decided to allywith @ShivSena &@INCMaharashtra to form theGovernment. Shri Ajit Pawar’sstatement is false and mis-leading in order to create con-fusion and false perceptionamong the people,” Sr Pawartweeted.

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The National TigerConservation Authority

(NTCA) has turned downRajasthan Government’s pro-posal seeking translocation oftwo big cats from MadhyaPradesh to Sariska Tiger Reserve(STR) in Alwar, saying it hasdone nothing to curb ‘humandisturbance’ which negativelyinfluenced tigers’ breeding inthe protected area.

The tiger watchdog hasmade it clear to Rajasthan thatunless it addresses the ‘irritants’to ensure tiger conservation, the

NTCA would not allow shiftingof any new tiger in the STR.

“Key problems like distur-bance from the villagers livingin the STR and acute shortageof forest staff continue to exist.There is question of allowingrelocation of more tigers in thebig cat habitat,” said AnupKumar Nayak, head of theNTCA. The stinging observa-tion came at a review meetingrecently with the State officialswhen the NTCA, much to itsannoyance found that notenough was done to ensureconducive habitat to the tigers inthe protected area. There are

around 26 villages in the STRspread over 1,200 sq km whilestaff shortage particularly forestguards is as high as fifty per cent.

In the span of two yearssince 2018, the reserve haslost three fully grown tigers.Presently, the tiger population

in the STR is hugely skewed infavour of females-one maletiger for nine tigress.

Overall, there are 16 bigcats in the protected area-ninetigress, three cubs and fourmale tigers of which only oneis in the reproduction bracket.Three others are sub-adults, notcapable of breeding.

Chief Wildlife Warden ofRajasthan, Arindam Tomarsaid that as some of the tigressare infertile, the reserve needsa tigress and a male fromMadhya Pradesh to inject freshgene pool in the predator family.

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With the upcoming Assemblyelections in Delhi round the

corner, Union Minister HardeepSingh Puri on Sunday announcedthat the BJP will fight the pollsunder the leadership of Delhi unitchief Manoj Tiwari and ensure thathe becomes the Chief Minister,only to backtrack his statementhours later.

Puri later in a tweet said hemeant that the BJP would win witha huge mandate under Tiwari’sleadership and the party has notannounced any chief ministerialcandidate.

Puri, who is also a co-in chargeof Delhi BJP unit, while addressinga party workers meeting in Delhiearlier in the day, said, “We aregoing to fight the Assembly electionunder the leadership of ManojTiwari and we will ensure that he(Tiwari) becomes the ChiefMinister.”

However, later in the day, Puriin a tweet said what he had meantwas that the BJP will win under theleadership of Tiwari and that theparty has not nominated anyone for the post of ChiefMinister so far.

“The BJP is headed for victo-ry in Delhi and party has so far notnominated anyone for the post ofChief Minister. Tiwari is the pres-ident of the Delhi BJP and the partyis working vigorously under hisleadership. My statement meantthat the BJP would win the upcom-ing elections under his leadershipwith a huge vote,” he tweeted.

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The Supreme Court onSunday asked the Centre to

place before it on Mondaymorning the letters ofMaharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari and DevendraFadnavis about theGovernment formation exer-cise in the State that saw revo-cation of the President rule ina midnight coup and swearingin of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawarearly morning of last Friday.

While the court asked theCentre to place before it theletters of Koshyari invitingFadnavis to take oath as ChiefMinister, it also asked for theBJP leader’s letter to theGovernor staking claim toform the Government, alongwith the letter of support fromthe NCP MLAs.

The SC, however, did notgrant any interim relief to theShiv Sena, the NCP and the

Congress combine to direct theFadnavis Government to under-take floor test within 24 hoursand rather said this issue would be dealt with only afterperusing the two letters on Monday.

With nearly 50 MLAsreportedly endorsing theremoval of Ajit as NCP legisla-ture party leader and signing aletter to the Governor appoint-ing Jayant Patil as the new CLPleader, it will be interesting tosee what view the SC takes ofAjit’s claim that he enjoyed thesupport of these MLAs.

This will decide whether

these MLAs indeed lend theirsupport to the BJP-NCPGovernment or Ajit taggedtheir signatures obtained fordifferent purpose with a cov-ering letter for theGovernment formation?

The court hearing made itclear that the BJP wanted tobuy time for the floor test.

As part of this strategy nolawyers appeared on behalf ofthe State Government andSolicitor General TusharMehta, who appeared for theCentre, kept pleading for moretime to submit the documentsasked by the court.

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Given the indications thatthe Supreme Court may

order an early floor test in theMaharashtra Assembly, theOpposition Shiv Sena, NCPand Congress on Sunday inten-sified their efforts to preventthe BJP-led ruling alliancefrom “poaching” MLAs in bidto prove its majority in the 288-member House.

Though senior BJP leaderAshish Shelar said his party,with the help of the “AjitPawar-led NCP” would be ableto prove its majority in theAssembly, the Sena-ledOpposition was confident thatit would defeat the DevendraFadanvis Government in theconfidence vote on the floor ofthe House.

Amid speculation that theBJP had already launched“Operation Kamal” along thelines of the one executed in

Karnataka, the Sena-ledOpposition went overdrive inprotecting its MLAs, particu-larly the ones belonging to theSharad Pawar-led party, frombeing poached by the rulingparty and breakaway groupleader Ajit.

In their effort to guardtheir MLAs from beingpoached, the NCP, Shiv Sena

and Congress have lodgedtheir MLAs in three differenthotels — Renaissance Hotel,Lalit and JW Marriot respec-tively for the past two days.

In a late night develop-ment on Sunday, MLAs of theNCP were shifted from a sub-urban resort to another hotel in Mumbai,sources said.

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In common parlance, mayarefers to deception, illusionor false appearance. Some

people are, therefore, misled tobelieve that the world is only anillusion. Gita does not sub-scribe to this view. It does notbelieve that the beings, theobjects and the events of the

universe are unreal.The power of self-creation

of the Supreme Lord, Ishvara, bywhich He creates and sustainsthe universe is called maya. It isthe energy which enables Himto produce ever-changingworld. The universe so createdis also referred to as maya.

Krishna says in shloka 4.6that though unborn, imper-

ishable and the lord of all cre-ations ; yet establishing Himselfin His own nature, He comesinto being, through His innerpower (maya). In other words,Ishvara assumes human formthrough maya, His power ofself-becoming.

In shloka 7.7, it is stated thatall the existences of the world areheld together by Ishvara as

beads on the string of a necklace.Further, it has been stated inshloka 18.61 that Ishvara,dwelling in the hearts of allbeings, causes them, by Hismaya, to revolve around in theworld in such a manner as if theywere mounted on a machine.

Thus, Ishvara not only cre-ates the universe through Hismystic power, maya, but also

supports it, holds it togetherand makes it to move in a sys-tematic manner, through thatvery power. Seated in the heartsof all beings, He presides overthe process of evolution.

There is nothing in theseshlokas to suggest that the cre-ations are a mere appearance.The view that the universecreated by Ishvara through Hiscosmic energy, maya, is realand not only an illusion hasbeen re-iterated in shlokas 16.8and 16.9. It has been stated in

these shlokas that only thedemoniac people say that theworld is unreal, without a basisand without a lord. Only suchpeople of low intelligencebelieve that the creation is notbrought about in a regularsequence. In other words, Gitateaches that the material worldis real and it conforms to a set-tled order.

Origin of the universe hasbeen explained in shlokas 7.4 to7.6. It has been stated thatIshvara has two types of naturesnamely the material nature(apara prakriti — the lowernature) and the consciousnessnature (para prakriti — thehigher nature). While the for-mer consists of earth, water, fire,air, ether, mind, buddhi andself-sense ; the latter compris-es of the souls. Whereas thematerial nature is perishable,the soul is immortal and imper-ishable. The cosmic processarises as a result of interactionbetween these two natures ofthe Supreme Lord. All beingstake birth in them. Thus, wholeof the cosmos is created bythese two natures of Ishvara.

The same theme that allbeings arise out of the union ofmaterial and consciousnessnatures has been reiterated inshlokas 14.3 and 14.4. It hasbeen stated in these two shlokasthat mahad brahma (the totalmaterial existence) is the womb(source of birth) of all theembodied beings that appear in

different species of life ; andIshvara is the seed giving father.That is how births of all livingbeings become possible.

It has been stated in shlo-ka 13.27 that whatever being isborn, moving or non-moving,it has sprung from the union ofthe field (kshetra - matter)and the knower of the field(kshetragya - consciousness).

The universe thus arisesout of the union of Infinite withthe finite. As material natureand also the spirit belong toIshvara, He is the father andalso the mother of whole of theuniverse.

Ishvara is the cause andpluralistic world is the effect.Material world is called lowernature of Ishvara as cause isalways considered to be morereal than the effect. The uni-verse is called lower nature alsobecause the varied manifesta-tions of the Supreme Lord aretransient whereas He Himselfis unchanging. Though repre-senting the lower nature ofIshvara, reality of the physicalworld cannot be denied.

The mysteries of maya havefurther been unravelled in shlo-ka 7.14 wherein Krishna says:

‘This divine maya of Mine,consisting of the three modes,is very difficult to overcome.But those who have surren-dered unto Me can certainlycross beyond it.’

The fact that maya hasbeen labelled as divine suggests

that the material world is cre-ated by Ishvara by His ownpower of self-creation. Thatwhich is divine cannot be illu-sionary. When Krishna saysmaya of Mine, consisting of thethree modes, it means that thematerial world belongs to theSupreme Lord. It is supportedand nurtured by Him.

Further, it has been statedthat it is very difficult to over-come maya. Why ? Because Godcreates the universe and hidesbehind His creation. Glamour ofthe universe, so created throughmaya, is very difficult to resist.Attracted by objects of the sens-es, man is inclined towardsthem instead of directing hismind towards the Creator.Attraction of the sense objectsleads him away from Ishvara.Due to such attraction of maya,the soul which is otherwisefree, finds itself in bondage. It isonly when one transcends maya,the prakriti and its modes, thathe can perceive the reality of theSupreme.

How can the veil of mayabe pierced ? Maya can be over-come by surrendering to theSupreme Lord, who is beyondthe gunas. By becoming onewith Him, one can transcendall forms of maya.

(The author is a formerbureaucrat and writes on spir-ituality, philosophy, psychology,religion and other contemporarysubjects)

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Her father was not finan-cially capable to buy a rifle

by paying lakhs for her but thispromising girl did not loseconfidence and began practiceof shooting by procuring arifle on rent.

Once she passed through amiserable condition when theowner out of the blue refused toprovide her rifle just before thematch and she had to participatewith borrowed rifle from a fel-low player but she could notperform as well as expected.Braving all odds, she carried onwith same passion towards rifleshooting and made India proudby clinching two medals, includ-ing gold and bronze, in teamevent during 14th AsianShooting Championship held inDoha (Qatar) recently.

She is shining star KajalSaini who has displayedindomitable spirit of ‘nevergive-up’ through her recentperformances. She is, thesedays, toiling hard at Dr KarniSingh Shooting Range inTughlakabad (Delhi) for SouthAsian Games to be held inKathmandu (Nepal) fromDecember 1. Her father VijaySaini is a resident of Rohtak andemployed with DelhiGovernment. Despite his mon-etary restrictions, he too is leav-ing no stone unturned to estab-lish his daughter a world-classshooter by providing her all pos-sible facilities to hone her talent.

“Kajal’s journey from win-ning gold from college tour-nament to AsianChampionship was not easy.Not only she, but we all too hadto face several challenges. SinceHaryana has no range for 50meter rifle shooting henceKajal had to come to her mater-nal uncle’s house in Najafgarh(Delhi) four years ago so thatshe could practice inTughlakabad range daily. Sheused to board DTC bus fromNajafgarh early in the morningto reach Tughlakabad andreturned late in the evening,”said Vijay who basicallybelongs to Rohtak (Haryana).

He pointed out that Kajal’sperformance gradually startedimproving after practicing inTughlakabad. She showed hertalent by winning nine medals,including four golds, in NationalShooting Championship held inKerala in 2017 and 2018.

Since Kajal was facing mul-tiple issues in practicingthrough rented rifle hence theyhad to borrow money from rel-atives to buy a rifle for Kajal in2017 so that she could practicewithout any hurdle. New rifle

proved lucky for her as shebecame national champion bywinning gold in All India InterUniversity Tournament held inJaipur. Even, she was alsoselected to represent India inWorld University Games heldin Malaysia but she missed theopportunity to clinch medal bya narrow margin, he added.

“Kajal began shootingwhen she was NCC cadet in hercollege. Her NCC teamincharge advised me to send herin shooting after she baggedfirst position in rifle shootingevent during the NCC camp.Thereafter, she won medals atdistrict, state and national level,”maintained Vijay.

Kajal said, “It’s an expensivegame and my father spent majorpart of his salary on my practice.He always supported and moti-vated me for focusing on gameinstead of paying heed onexpenses hence I give full cred-it of my success to my father andcoach Manoj Kumar who tootrained and guided me in a wellmanner. It was not easy for meas no other member of my fam-ily has ever played shootinggame,” she added.

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With the police still grop-ing in dark to crack the

murder case of former Akalisarpanch Dalbir Singh Dhilwaneven about a week after hismurder and the oppositionparties targeting the StateGovernment over the horrificincident, the Batala police onSunday constituted a five-member Special InvestigatingTeam (SIT) to crack the same.

Batala SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP)Opinderjit Singh Ghuman saidthat the team membersinclude DeputySuperintendent of Police(Special Branch) Prem Kumar,DSP Dera Baba NanakLakhwinder Singh, InspectorHarbans Singh (InvestigationUnit), CIA in-charge InspectorSurinder Singh, and StationHouse Officer (SHO) of KotliSurat Malhi Police Station.

Besides, the SPHeadquarters will oversee thework of this investigation team.

SSP Ghuman said thatgiven the sensitivity of thecase, the investigating teamwould closely investigate everyaspect of the murder case and find out the real causes ofthe murder.

“Action has already beeninitiated by the SIT in thisregard and all the facts relatedto this case will be revealed very

soon,” he added.On November 18, former

Akali sarpanch and SAD’sBatala district vice-presidentDalbir Singh Dhilwan wasgunned down and later hackedto death.

He was shot dead with a.12 bore rifle allegedly by hisneighbour Balwinder Singhand his sons Mandeep Singhand Major Singh. An FIR wasregistered under Section 302 ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)and various sections of theArms Act at Kotil Surat Malhipolice station againstBalwinder, his sons and four

unidentified persons.SSP Ghuman had formed

five teams to trace the accused,but there was no breakthroughin the case.

On the other hand, theSAD leaders had all along beenpointing fingers at the stateCabinet Minister SukhjinderSingh Randhawa for havinghand in the murder.

However, senior policeofficers, including Ghuman,denied that the incident hadanything to do with local pol-itics, and “whatever happenedwas at the spur of themoment”.

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Chandigarh: PunjabCongress president SunilJakhar on Sunday said that themurder of two-time sarpanchand Akali leader Dalbir SinghDhilwan in Batala police district area was highly con-demnable.

“None can be allowed totake law into his hands,” saidJakhar adding that it wasunfortunate that Akali Dalleaders were trying hard totake political mileage evenon such crime.

“SAD has lost faith andmoral support of masses inPunjab and its leaders arebattling on wrong footings torecapture the ground by rais-

ing false issues,” said Jakhar.He added that the SAD-

led previous government hadcome under fire on Bargarisacrilege incident that wasreferred to CBI to save its skin;they (Akalis) also referredthe drug issue that hauntedparty leadership toEnforcement Directorate; andJustice Mehtab SinghCommission had to deal with4,500 false cases that were reg-istered allegedly on the behestof Akalis across the State.

“Their clandestine movesstood exposed at all lev-els…And, now they are con-spiring revival on flimsygrounds,” Jakhar added.

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The ruling Congress party inPunjab will organise

protests at the block level acrossthe State on November 25,Monday, over the “anti-peoplepolicies” of the Narendra ModiGovernment.

“This will be in the finalphase of the stir launched bythe party early at district head-quarters this month on theissues relating to price rise,denial of jobs that the NDA hadpromised to youth, recession inindustry etc,” said the PunjabPradesh Congress Committee(PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday while exhort-ing the party workers to ensure sufficient participationat the dharna.

“Demonetisation had trig-gered recession across thecountry. A common man now

can’t afford to purchase a kg ofonions or tomatoes even thatare considered essential com-modity for kitchen. Industrieshave been forced by the situa-tion to go for shut down at leasttwo days in each week. Numberof educated unemployedyouths is sky rocketing and cre-ating frustration among them,”said Jakhar.

He further lashed out at theCentral Government for notreleasing GST share to Punjaband other states to create finan-cial disorders.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) onSunday demanded an inquiry

by a Central agency or a sittingjudge of the High Court into thealleged �1,000 crore extortionracket “being run by gangsterJaggu Bhagwanpur and his asso-ciates under the alleged patron-age of Jails Minister SukhjinderSingh Randhawa”.

The party demanded thatJails Minister Randhawa shouldbe booked and arrested forextending patronage toCongressmen who brutallymurdered former AkaliSarpanch Dalbir Dhilwanbesides investigating the role ofJaggu Bhagwanpur in the mur-der as well as extortion racketbeing run by Jaggu from jail.

“A central inquiry by theCBI or National InvestigationAgency (NIA) or even that by asitting judge of the High Courtcould alone expose theMinister–gangster–police rolein the gruesome murder ofDalbir as well as the role of JagguBhagwanpur in extortions andcontract killings as well asforcible control over Kabbaddiplayers and tournaments,” said SAD leaders Bikram SinghMajithia and Daljit SinghCheema.

Majithia and Cheema said

that it was seven days sinceDhilwan was murdered but hiskillers were still at large. “This isall because of the influence ofSukhjinder Randhawa who isgiving shelter to the killers. If thepolice is serious about arrestingthe assailants it should search theresidence of the Minister aswell as his close associates,”they said.

Providing documentary evi-dence to link Jaggu Bhagwanpurwith the Minister, Majithiapointed how Jaggu and hisbrother Manu were close asso-ciates of Randhawa’s close asso-ciate Babbu Sukharaju. Jagguand Manu Bhagwanpur regu-larly proclaimed their closenesswith Randhawa through adver-tisements in newspapers, headded.

SAD leaders said that

despite these evidences linkinggangsters with the Minister andclear statement of Dhilwan’sson Sandeep that his father’sdeath was a political murder; theBatala police was not taking anyaction in the case.

Majithia said thatRandhawa’s role was also provedfrom the fact that he did notcommiserate with the family ofDalbir who were his constituentsand lived three kilometers fromhis house.

“In fact, Randhawa termedthe family as a family of terror-ists which is shameful and notexpected from any elected rep-resentative…Instead of levyingsuch allegations on anybody,Randhawa should know that hisfamily had a history of har-bouring terrorists,” said Majithiawhile showing the newspaperreports pointing thatSukhjinder’s father SantokhSingh Randhawa was removedas Punjab Pradesh Congresspresident on charges of har-bouring dreaded terroristGurinder Singh.

He said that it was also ineveryone’s knowledge thatRandhawa had made gangsterJaggu Bhagwanpur’s motherHarjeet Kaur member,Panchayat of Bhagwanpur vil-lage and had also given her thecontrol of the panchayat.

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Punjab Government’sProgressive Punjab

Investors’ Summit onDecember 5 and 6 in the IndianSchool of Business at Mohali isexpected to see participationfrom the MSMEs of Punjab, apart from leadingindustrialists, new-age entre-preneurs, foreign missions andother dignitaries.

The Summit will be theideal platform to experiencePunjab’s success story, andexplore the numerous invest-ment opportunities offered bythe State.

“In keeping with theSummit theme — ‘BuildingPartnerships for InclusiveGrowth — MSMEs in theGlobal Value Chain’, the PunjabGovernment has resisted thetemptation of focusing entire-ly on big ticket internationalinvestments and instead hastaken the bold step of inter-nalizing the State’s efforts tosupport the MSMEs throughindustry partnerships whichcan help them shift their tra-jectory of growth,” said theAdditional Chief Secretary ViniMahajan.

She said that the eventaims to highlight that Punjabhouses robust MSME units innumerous sectors which can bevendors or partners of theinternational clients lookingfor ancillary units to supporttheir global value chains.

The Additional ChiefSecretary further said thatPunjab is partnering withJapan, UAE, UK, as well asGerman corporates, as it seesmany mutually benefiting col-laborations with industry basedout of Punjab.

Many international playersfrom these nations have alreadyexpressed their interest inincreasing investment in theState and country sessions dur-ing the Summit will highlightthe potential and opportunitiesfor collaborations that existbetween these countries andPunjab.

Mahajan said that alongwith a key focus on MSMEs, wehave also identified thrust sec-tors such as Agro and FoodProcessing, Healthcare,Manufacturing and LightEngineering, Plastics andPetrochemicals, Auto and AutoComponents, SkillDevelopment, and New andRenewable Energy, NewMobility, Industry 4.0, Textile,Tourism, IT/ITes and ESDM,and Startups which have poten-tial to grow and expand inPunjab.

We will hold sessionswhich include experience shar-ing by Punjab investors, paneldiscussions between industryleaders to understand the needsand demands of the sectorand also highlight the potentialof growth particularly inPunjab.

Also renowned as the Hubfor the MSME sector, the Statehouses over two lakh registeredMSMEs specializing in hi-techauto parts, processed foodproducts and juices, textiles,sports goods, machine tools etc,she said.

The Summit will feature aone-of-a-kind exhibition whichwill showcase the key productsmanufactured in Punjab thathave excelled at the globallevel.

In line with the Summit’stheme, the strength of Punjabbased manufacturers would bedisplayed who have partneredwith international players tobuild strong global value chainsbenefitting the scale of theiroperations and quality of theirproducts.

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Former Indian hockey cap-tain Sandeep Singh, who is

now Minister of State (MoS) forSports and Youth Affairs(Independent charge) in thenewly formed Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP)-Jannayak JanataParty (JJP)-led coalitionGovernment in Haryana sayshe wants to strengthen sportsinfrastructure at the grassrootslevel as well as provide facilitiesto sportsmen so that it can pro-duce champions at the international level.

The 33-year-old Singh is aformer Indian professional fieldhockey player from Haryanaand also an ex-captain of theIndian national team. He ledIndia to Sultan Azlan Shah Cuptriumph in 2009, fought the2019 Haryana Assembly electionfirst time on BJP ticket and wonfrom the Pehowa constituencyof Kurukshetra district.

The first Olympian to jointhe Khattar Cabinet saidHaryana is leading in sports inthe country and theGovernment will take all possi-ble steps to provide better facil-ities to the sportsmen who areliving in villages and cities of theState. He said the stateGovernment will build the foun-dation of the Haryana sportswith the ultimate aim of prepar-ing the State’s sportspersons forthe 2024 Paris Olympics.

In his first interaction withthe officers of department ofSports and Youth Affairs, hemade it clear that officers willhave to work for the bettermentof sportsperson in particularand common person of theState in general. He also warnedthe officials if there is anydelay in executing public worksthey will be suspended.

Officials must work sin-

cerely and resolve people’sgrievances on time. There willbe no delay in taking actionagainst the erring officials,who will keep delaying people’sworks, the Pehowa MLA said.

Singhm — who is also anArjuna Award recipient forachievements in hockey —hails from Shahabad town inKurukshetra and held a DSPrank in the Haryana Police.

A drag-flicker during hisplaying days, he represented theIndian hockey team from 2004-12 and took over as captain ofthe national team in 2009. Hewon the Champions Challengebronze medal and 2010Commonwealth Games silverwith the Indian hockey team.

In 2006, he was seriouslyinjured when he was acciden-tally shot while on his way tojoin the national team whichwas due to leave for the WorldCup two days later. He was onthe wheelchair for a year butlater recovered from the seriousinjury and played the WorldCup for India in 2010. He wasalso the leading goal scorerwith 16 goals in the qualifyingtournament for the 2012London Olympics. Excerptsfrom an interview with The Pioneer:

Congratulations to you, forthe new role. What will beyour first priority as Minister?

Thanks. I understand theresponsibility given to me.Being a Sports Minister, I willtry my best to work forsportsperson of the State.Working for the sportsmenand welfare of people at largeare my priority. Government atCentral and State level havelaunched several welfareschemes and its benefit mustreach to intended beneficiariesand I will work in this direction.

You started yourcareer as sportsperson andnow you have become aMinister after winning theelection first time. Your com-ment

Being a sportsman, I wasdedicated to my sports andIndian hockey team. ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarhas given responsibly of aMinister, I will now serve thepeople of the State effectively.

What is your first priorityafter becoming Minister in-charge of Sports?

I will work for providingfacilities for sportspersons. Iwant to strengthen the sportsinfrastructure at the grassrootslevel with the ultimate aim ofpreparing the State’s sportsper-sons for the 2024 ParisOlympics. I will focus on devel-opment of sports andsportspersons in both ruraland urban areas. Being asportsperson I understand theshortcomings in the system andalso know what are facilitiesneeded for the sportsperson toperform better on the playground. I will do that apartfrom laying emphasis on pro-viding best training to sports-men by world-class coaches togroom them further.

How do you view your role?It is a new experience.

Unlike the past, when I repre-sented a team of country, thistime, I directly connected withthe people at the grassroots.

You recently presided over ameeting with departmentofficers. What is your expec-

tation from the officers? Anytime-frame to deliver the ser-vice in your department?

I have both short-term andlong term goals. My focus is onthe 2020 and 2024 Olympics,besides other internationalevents. I want to showcase thebest of Haryana’s sportsprowess. The officials mustwork sincerely and resolve peo-ple’s grievances on time. Therewill be no delay in takingaction against erring officials,who keep delaying works.Officials will be responsible fortheir performance. Officialsmust listen to the grievances ofthe common man and resolvetheir grievances. I suggest theofficials to shun the ‘VIP cul-

ture’ and visit governmentoffices themselves to get theirworks done.

What is your message foremerging sports persons?

Haryana is a sporting pow-erhouse and its sportspersonswould replicate their success inthe Tokyo Olympics 2020. Oursmen and women hockey teamshave already qualified for nextyear’s Olympics. Besides hock-ey, I expect medals from theIndian sportspersons in otherdisciples as well in next year’sOlympics. I will carry forwardthe good work carried out bymy predecessor Anil Vij. Teamwork is my mantra for the pro-motion of sports in the State.

You became a Minister afterwinning first Assembly election. How do you viewyour this new role?

I am a first time MLA anda first time minister. This is anopportunity to work for thepeople that I will use to the bestof my ability. Haryana’s devel-opment is paramount and Iwant to ensure that everyone’sprogress at any cost.

You have done a great job bywinning medals for the coun-try. What is your action planas a Minister?

All stakeholders need tofeel important and valued forthe State to really make a mark.I have met officials and direct-ed to implement the best prac-tices. After holding couple ofmeetings with the officers I willbe able to unveil my roadmap.

What are challenges ahead for

the newly formed coalitionGovernment?

There is no challengebefore the new Government.All round development tookplace at a rapid pace in last fiveyears of BJP-led Government inthe State. BJP-JJP-led coalition Government will runfive years smoothly.

Both parties have samegoal of working for the peopleand betterment of the State. Isee this as an opportunity towork for holistic developmentof the people of the State. As aMinister I will also work hardon improving the delivery forthe intended beneficiaries. OurGovernment will work for thepeople under the visionaryleader Manohar Lal Khattarwith only agenda of development in the next five years.

When did you think of

joining politics?I have been following BJP for

a long time. I’ve been influencedby Prime Minister NarendraModi. I have also been influ-enced by the capability andintegrity of Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar. I want toserve the nation in every possi-ble way. Before contestingAssembly election I held a DSPrank in the Haryana Police.

How will you meet the expectation of the people ofthe State?

Overall development wascarried out by the BJP-ledGovernment across the State,especially in Pehowa over thelast five years. For the devel-opment of the constituency,large numbers of projectsworth more than crore werespent in the last five years.More works will be done in thenext five years.

What are priorities for yourconstituency?

I thank people of my con-stituency for showing faith andelecting me for the first time.It is true that politics is a 24hour job. I had earlier givenmaximum time on sports andnow I will give maximum timeto public life. Our aim is to pro-mote Kurukshetra as a touristdestination. Pehowa will bedeveloped as a sports hub. Notonly hockey, but also everygame will be promoted. Workfor public welfare will be con-tinued under the newly formedBJP-JJP Government in theState. A strategy for improvingsystem based on effective deliv-ery will be made in collabora-tion with the department offi-cials. The officers have beendirected to speed up the com-pletion of the ongoing devel-opment works.

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Himachal GovernorBandaru Dattatraya has

said that the draft of NewEducation Policy, 2019 was astep taken in the right directionwhich not only caters to thedemand of the present times,but was also future-oriented asper the of the young populationof India.

The Governor wasaddressing a meeting of thesub-committee organised inthe context of 'New EducationPolicy — Higher Education'

during the Governor'sConference at RashtrapatiBhavan, New Delhi. He appre-ciated features of researchdevelopment, innovation anduse of new technology of thispolicy and preserving localand regional languages andthe culture.

The Governor said thatIndia was in the PopulationDividend Phase and has 62.5per cent of its population in theage group of 15 to 35 yearswhich was ever increasing andwould be at the peak around2036 when it would reach

approximately 65 per cent ascompared with other countrieswhere it was decreasing.

He said that the demo-graphic dividend would befully realised only when Indiawould be able to provide uni-versal quality education to itspopulation.

He stressed on the need toprovide skills to meet globalchallenges and create gainfulemployment opportunities forthe youth.

He further said that newjob opportunities in futurewould be based on new skills

and it was necessary that oureducation system should bedesigned as per the future per-spective.

Dattatraya said thatHimachal Pradesh State HigherEducation Council has beenestablished by the StateGovernment to ensure thequality of higher education.

He added that the state wasdoing well in Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan (SSA), RashtriyaMadhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan(RMSA) and RashtriyaUchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan(RUSA).

The State was also a pio-neer in the field of education,especially in elementary edu-cation. Along with technicaleducation, the balance of edu-cation based on characterbuilding and moral valuesshould be inculcated in the stu-dents, he said.

The Governor hoped thatthe new education policywould develop a new con-sciousness of nationalism alongwith overall development ofchildren and they would beable to contribute to the devel-opment of the nation.

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Claiming that the vigilanceteam of Food and Civil

Supplies Department is leavingno stone unearthed to checkthe recycling of out of Statepaddy in the local markets,Punjab’s Food and CivilSupplies Minister BharatBhushan Ashu on Sunday saidthat a surprise check, in asheller premises in Muktsar hasunearthed a bogus billing fraudby the mill owner.

Ashu, giving details, saidthat the Department officers

suspected M/s RK Vishal Rice and General Mills,Bariwala in Muktsar district ofshady deal.

“The raid in the sheller and the subsequent physicalverification revealed that the owner had shown pur-chases made from local man-dis in his record without actu-ally having done so. In fact, thestock was found short of over9,000 bags of paddy whichwere shown allegedly pur-chased from local mandis,” hesaid.

As per the record, 83,303bags (each 37.5 kg) amountingto 3,123 tonnes of paddy was stored in the mill tillNovember 23. But, on the spotonly 74,281 bags with 2,785tonnes of paddy were foundrevealing shortage of 9,022

bags (each 37.5 kg) amountingto 338 tonnes of paddy at themill, he said.

Besides bogus billing, the team of inspection officers found empty bags of out of state paddy including those from UttarPradesh and Bihar. “Thisbrought to fore the fact that themiller had shown the paddy inhis sheller by bogus billingfrom the market, while thepaddy had not actually come tothe mill and the miller wascompleting its requisite stock ofthe paddy by procuring cheappaddy from other states,” hesaid.

The minister informed thatfurther investigation is on, andaction will be taken on the millas per the provisions of custommilling policy 2019-20.

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Chandigarh: A 17-year-oldyouth was burnt to death inPunjab's Mansa district, policesaid on Sunday.

Jasprit Singh was alleged-ly taken to a closed rice mill onSaturday night, where his legswere tied and he was set on fireby pouring some inflammable

material, police said.Accused Jashan Singh,

Gurjit Singh and their anoth-er accomplice had beenbooked, said Sub-InspectorSukhjit Singh.

Jashan Singh is the broth-er of Jasprit's sister-in-law.

Jasprit's elder brother

Kulwinder Singh had marriedhis neighbour and Jashan's sis-ter Raju two and a half yearsago. Both had been living atBudhlada, about 20 km fromthe city.

Police said the accused wereabsconding and efforts werebeing made to nab them. PTI

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Ranchi: The Congress onSunday released its manifestofor the upcoming Jharkhandassembly polls, promising aone-time farm loan waiver ofup to �2 lakh and a stringentlaw to deal with cases of lynch-ing in the state.

Besides the loan-waiverassurance, the manifesto —released by AICC in-chargeRPN Singh here — pledged tofree farmers from the clutchesof money lenders and make theprocess of institutional loanseasier.

"An effective 'Kisan FasalBima' will be introduced andadequate compensation to agri-culture produce affected bypests and natural calamitieswill be provided, and moderntools and fertiliser will be givento farmers on suitable prices,"it said.

The manifesto promisedto enact a strict law againstlynching on the grounds ofcaste, religion and sex, andmeasures for rehabilitation ofthe affected families.

The Congress has stitchedan alliance with the JMM andthe RJD in Jharkhand to con-test the five-phase assemblyelections between November 30and December 20 to the 81-member House. The party'sstatement also said the mini-mum support price (MSP) forpaddy per quintal will be fixedat �2,500. PTI

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Union Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Sunday

once again asserted that nopower could get in way ofconstruction of ‘grand’ Ramtemple in Ayodhya. Rajnathaddressing a public meeting insupport of BJP candidate andhealth minister RamchandraChandravanshi at Pandu underBishrampur Assembly seg-ment, amid slogans of “Jai ShriRam” said, “A grand temple willbe built in Ramjanambhoomi,the site where Lord Rama wasborn and no power in worldcan stop this from happening.”

He said, “BJP is the onlypolitical party in the countrywhich has no difference in itsaction and promise. BJP hasalways advocated for con-struction of Ram temple inAyodhya either though dia-logue or through Court. We arehappy that Court has deliveredits verdict for construction ofRam temple at Ayodhya.”

Rajnath’s remark on con-struction of Ram temple atAyodhya assumes significanceas last week, BJP national pres-

ident Amit Shah addressing arally at Manika (Latehar) hadaccused the Congress of stallingthe Ram temple case inSupreme Court. Shah had saidthat with the blessings of LordRam the Supreme Court hascleared the way for the con-struction of a grand Ram tem-ple. Interestingly, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toowhile speaking in his month-ly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sundayhas welcomed the decision ofSupreme Court on Ayodhyacase.

Rajnath who held theUnion Home ministry in ModiGovernment, also talked aboutthe abrogation of Article 370and 35 (A) of constitutionwhich granted special status toJammu & Kashmir. He said,“The abolition of Article 370has remained the election man-ifesto of BJP since its Jan Sanghera. Dr Syma Prasad Mookerjeehad always advocated that therecannot be two Constitutions,two prime ministers and twoflags in one country. We havefulfilled his dream and lived upto the promise made in our pollmanifesto.”

Shimla: Former state ministerAnil Sharma has been induct-ed in the Ethics Committee ofthe Himachal assembly as itsmember.

The BJP MLA from Mandiwas inducted in the nine-member House panel onFriday against a vacancy in it,said Himachal Pradesh assem-bly Secretary Yash PaulSharma.

Sharma had quit his posi-tion as power minister in theHimachal Pradesh governmentin April this year after his son

Akshay Sharma was fielded bythe Congress as the party can-didate from the Mandi LokSabha seat in the 2019 gener-al elections.

Himachal Vidhan SabhaSpeaker Rajeev Bindal madeAnil Sharma a member of theHouse Ethics Committee,which is, as per the informa-tion on the assembly's website,is mandated to suggest waysfor improving the "falling eth-ical standards of the members"of the assembly both withinand outside of the House.

There are a total of ninemembers in the ethics com-mittee headed by SpeakerBindal.

The other members of thecommittee include ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur, for-mer CM Virbhadra Singh andMLAs Asha Kumar, DhaniRam Shandil, Balbir Singh,Bikram Singh Jaryal and JeetRam Katwal.

Incidentally, two days ago,Sharma was issued a traffic'challan' for parking his car inno-parking zone. PTI

Chandigarh: Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh onSunday expressed shock over thedelay in the release of Rs 4,100crore of GST compensation tothe state and sought the inter-vention of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman inthe matter.

"Shocking that the Centre isdelaying the GST compensationamounting to ?4100 crore ascompensation & arrears toPunjab. Urge PM @naren-dramodi ji & FM @nsitharamanji to intervene & solve the prob-lem which has the potential tobring governance of the state toa grinding halt," Singh tweeted.

His remarks come days afterPunjab Finance MinisterManpreet Singh Badal, alongwith the FMs of Bengal, Kerala,Delhi and Rajasthan, hadappealed to the Union FinanceMinister to release the GSTcompensation without anydelay. On November 20, in ajoint statement, they had said,"GST compensation for themonth of August andSeptember, required to be paidby the Centre , sometimes inOctober, continues to be out-standing till date." PTI

Dera Baba Nanak(Gurdaspur): The number ofpilgrims visiting GurdwaraDarbar Sahib in Pakistan onSunday reached 1,467, the high-est turnout since the Kartarpurcorridor was opened onNovember 9, officials said.

The number of devotees tothe historic Kartarpur shrine—the final resting place of Sikhismfounder Guru Nanak-- had notcrossed the 700-mark per dayeven since the corridor wasopened.

Immigration officialsexpected further increase in

the number as people were get-ting aware about the onlineprocess of registration.

Besides, Suwidha centreswere also playing a vital role inincreasing the number of pil-grims, the officials said.

Gurvinder Bajwa, generalsecretary of Ravi DarshanAbhilashi Sanstha and an aideof the late Kuldeep SinghWadala who had offered prayersfor nearly 18 years for the open-ing of the corridor, demandedthe removal of the conditionrequiring passport to visit theshrine. "The government should

remove the condition of pass-port as a majority of people donot have it but they want to visitKartarpur Sahib," he said.

Once the condition wasremoved, the number of devo-tees would go up, he said,adding that the requirement ofpassport be replaced withother documents such asAadhaar or voter card. In thefirst three days after a grandopening of the corridor byPrime Minister NarendraModi on November 9, just 897devotees had visited KartarpurSahib in Pakistan. PTI

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Interacting with a group ofNational Cadet Corps cadets

during his “Mann ki Baat”radio programme, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSunday said that he never haddesire to enter politics andnow being part of the politics,he is trying to level best for thewelfare of the people. He alsothanked people for showingmaturity after Ayodhya ver-dict.

“I never had the desire toenter politics, but now that I ama part of it I give my best onhow to work for the people,”said Modi.

He also told the Cadetsthat he was also a NCC Cadetin school and never got pun-ished. Modi admitted that “dueto Google”, his reading habitshave suffered as there is ashortcut available to find ref-erences.

When one of the cadetsasked him “had you not beena politician, what would youhave been,” Modi described itas a “difficult question”.

Now this is a very difficultquestion because every childgoes through multiple phasesin life.

Sometimes one wants tobecome this, sometimes onewants to become that, but it istrue that I never had the desireto enter politics, nor I everthought about it,” he said.

He said but now that he isa politician, “I keep thinkinghow I can work for the wel-fare of the country.” Thethought that had he notjoined politics, what would hebe doing never crosses hismind, Modi said.

“Now, wherever I am, Ishould live life to the fullest andI should wholeheartedly workfor my country .I have nowdedicated myself for this pur-pose only,” he said.

Responding to a questionon whether he gets time towatch television and readbooks, he said he was alwaysfond of reading. He had littleinterest in watching films andhe watches very little TV.

“I used to read books. Butthese days I am unable to readand due to Google, the habit ofreading has deterioratedbecause if you want to seek areference, then you immedi-

ately find a shortcut. As is thecase with everyone, certainhabits of mine have also beenspoilt,” he said. In response toa question on his NCC days, hesaid he was never punished“because I was in a way quitedisciplined.”

He said once a misunder-standing had crept up when heclimbed a tree at an NCCcamp to save a bird entangledin a kite string. People firstthough he would be punishedfor indiscipline but his actionlater earned him praise, herecalled.

During the programme,the PM also talked about thesignificance of Armed ForcesFlag Day on December 7.Paying tributes to the valour ofthe armed forces, he appealedto the people to contributetowards the well-being of thewelfare of the personnel of thearmed forces.

Praising people for show-ing maturity during theAyodhya verdict, PrimeMinister said that this showsthat there is nothing biggerthan national interest forIndians.

He also said that after the“historic verdict”, the countryhas moved ahead on a newpath, with a new resolve. “Theresolve. full of new hopes andaspirations. It is my hope andwish that New India imbibesthis feeling and forges ahead ina spirit of peace, unity andgoodwill,” he said.

“This time too, when theSupreme Court pronouncedits judgment on November 9,130 crore Indians once againproved, that for them, nation-al interest is supreme. The val-ues of peace, unity and good-will are paramount in ourcountry,” he said, adding thatthe SC verdict was “embracedwith open arms.

“They accepted the verdictwith ease and with peace... Iam particularly grateful tothem for the patience, restraintand maturity shown by them,”he said.

The Prime Minister was ofthe view that while on the onehand, a protracted legal battlehas ended, on the other, therespect for the judiciary hasgrown in the country. “In thetruest sense, this verdict hasalso proved to be a milestonefor the judiciary in our coun-try,” said Modi.

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President Ram Nath Kovindon Sunday said that

Governors and Lt Governorsare the “most important link”for ensuring better coordina-tion between the Centre andStates, and efforts should bemade by them to shun thecommon perception thatgubernatorial posts have a“colonial legacy of inaccessi-bility”,

In his concluding remarksof the two-day 50th conferenceof Governors’ and LtGovernors’, the President alsoasked them to ensure that RajBhavans become people friend-ly. The President said that onTuesday, the nation would becelebrating 70th anniversary ofthe Constitution.

“On that day a campaignwill be launched to createawareness about fundamentalduties among the citizens,” hesaid, expressing hope that allRaj Bhavans will celebrate theConstitution Day in an effectivemanner and Governors willplay a major role in creatingawareness about the funda-mental duties. The post ofGovernor is the most impor-tant link in our federal system.

Governors have a role in ensur-ing better coordinationbetween the Centre and States,”Kovind was quoted as saying inan official release.

The President also madesuggestions to Governors tomake their Raj Bhavans moreinteractive and accessible toordinary people and represen-tatives of different organs of thestate. While referring to thegubernatorial post as havingthe “colonial legacy of inacces-sibility” with common people,

the President urged Governorsto make conscious efforts toconnect with them and dispelany perception of the RajBhavan being beyond the reachof the people.

The conference laidemphasis on tribal welfare andissues related to water, agri-culture, higher education andease of living.

During the meeting, fivegroups of Governors submittedtheir reports on these issues,and deliberated and identified

actionable points in whichGovernors can play a facilitat-ing role.

The conference took a keeninterest in the tribal welfareissue and pointed out thatpolicies for tribal uplift had tobe tailored in accordance withlocal requirements. Kovindsaid that the discussions heldby Governors and LtGovernors proved to be a fruit-ful exercise.

The participation of min-istries and NITI Aayog hashelped in making these dis-cussions focused and action-able, he said and added that hewas confident that many use-ful solutions would come out ofthe deliberations of this con-ference.

The President said it is thefundamental duty of every cit-izen to protect the naturalenvironment including waterresources like forests, lakesand rivers.

It is also a constitutionalduty to continuously strive forexcellence in all areas for theprogress of country. Individualand collective efforts for excel-lence in the areas of higher edu-cation, agriculture, inclusivegrowth and governance willgive impetus to public welfare,he said.

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Congress on Sunday allegedthat the BJP is “running

away” from proving a majori-ty in the MaharashtraAssembly as it lacked therequired numbers.

Congress’s chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala said theBJP and NCP’s Ajit Pawar have“maligned” the constitutionalvalues and the DevendraFadnavis Government in theState is “illegitimate”. A floortest is the only answer to thecurrent crisis, Surjewala assert-ed.

Former State ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavan saidthey have sought the SupremeCourt’s intervention to order afloor test immediately as anydelay in floor test would lead tohorse-trading of MLAs.

Shiv Sena MP GajananKiritkar, said the letter statingNCP’s support that was givenby Ajit Pawar to the Governorwas misleading. He said theNCP MLAs who backed Ajit

Pawar are back with theparty.

In a dramatic developmenton Saturday morning, BJP’sFadnavis took oath as the ChiefMinister and Ajit Pawar of theNCP was sworn-in as theDeputy Chief Minister. Themove jolted the Congress, NCPand Shiv Sena who were givingfinal touches to Governmentformation in the State, but rat-tled the NCP the most due toAjit Pawar’s rebellion.

NCP president SharadPawar had snubbed Ajit Pawarfor taking decisions unilateral-ly.

Surjewala claimed that theBJP and Ajit Pawar are runningaway from a floor test as theCongress-NCP-Shiv Sena com-bine has the majority. “Ourdemand is simple.

Let us have a floor test andwhoever has the majority willbe established. The BJP and AjitPawar are shying away andrunning away from provingmajority on the floor of theHouse.

The moment a floor test isordered, our majority will beestablished and it will beproved that the BJP, in a sur-reptitious midnight operationusing the office of theGovernor, constituted an ille-gitimate Government,” he said.

Replying to a question onwhether the Cong-NCP-Senahave numbers to prove themajority, Chavan said, “Wehave been insisting on a floortest which means we have thenumbers. It is the BJP which isshying away from it.” SupremeCourt has however not grant-ed any immediate relief to theNCP-Cong-Sena whichdemanded ordering of a floortest in 24 hours.

It has asked SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta to placebefore it by 10.30 am onMonday the letters ofMaharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshiyari recommend-ing revocation of President’s rule in the state andinviting Fadnavis to formGovernment.

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The government will cele-brate ‘Constitution Day’ or

‘Samvidhan Diwas’ on Tuesdayin the Central Hall ofParliament to mark the 70thanniversary of adoption of theConstitution by theConstituent Assembly.President Ramnath Kovind,Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu, Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will address theMPs on the occasion.

The Constitution of Indiawas first amended in 1951 forthe welfare of scheduled castes,tribes and backward classes andits latest amendment was forproviding 10 per cent quota foreconomically weaker sectionsin educational institutions andin appointments. These detailswere provided by a Rajya Sabhapublication titled ‘Rajya Sabha: The Journey since 1952’ whichhas chronicled all the amend-ments. Their details wereshared by the Rajya SabhaSecretariat in a statement.

The first amendment ofthe Constitution in 1951 was toempower the State to undertakeaffirmative action for theadvancement of any socially andeconomically backward classesor categories of ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes byrestricting the application ofFundamental Rights.

The latest 103rd amend-

ment passed in 2019 enabled 10per cent reservation for theeconomically weaker sectionsin educational institutions andin appointments. Since the firstConstitution amendment madeby the Provisional Parliamentin 1951, when Rajya Sabha wasnot in existence, theConstitution has been amend-ed 103 times so far, the UpperHouse Secretariat said.

Of these 103 amendmentsto the Constitution, the 99thamendment for setting up of aNational Judicial Commissionwas held unconstitutional bythe Supreme Court, it noted. Amaximum of 32 amendmentswere related to the matters ofstates including reorganisa-tion, transfer of territories,inclusion of some languages inthe Eighth Schedule of theConstitution etc.

Twelve amendments wereaimed at extending reservationfor SCs, STs and Anglo-Indiansin Parliament and state legis-latures, eight each related toreservations in educationalinstitutions and employment,including in promotions.Another six amendments relat-ed to taxation including intro-duction of the Goods andServices Tax (GST).

Since coming into being in1952, the Rajya Sabha has passed107 constitution amendmentbills out of which one was neg-atived by Lok Sabha while 4 havelapsed on its dissolution, it said.

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While major political par-ties in Maharashtra are

slugging it out to form aGovernment amidst twists andturns, all eyes are now on whatrole 13 Independents and 16MLAs from smaller partieswill play to help the majorplayers to achieve the 145-mark in the 288-memberHouse in floor test.

The Shiv Sena, which is intalks with the Congress-NCP toform a Government sans one-time ally BJP, claims to have thesupport of seven MLAs apartfrom its own flock of 56. TheBJP, which emerged the largestparty in the October 21Assembly polls with 105 seats,claims to have the support of 14more MLAs, taking its tallyeffectively to 119.

It is not certain how manyMLAs, if any, are backing NCPleader Ajit Pawar who joinedhands with the BJP on Saturdayand took oath as Deputy ChiefMinister in the BJP-led gov-ernment under Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis.

Achalpur MLA and PraharJanshakti Party (PJP) chiefBacchu Kadu, who had giventhe Sena a letter of support sev-

eral days ago, on Sunday toldPTI that he and his two legis-lator colleagues will continue toback the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Krantikari Shetkari Paksh(KSP) MLA ShankarraoGadakh has also given a letterof support to the Sena, whichhas also managed to garnerbacking of Ashish Jaiswal(Ramtek), NarendraBhondekar (Bhandara), ManilaGavit (Sakri) and ChandrakantPatil (Muktainagar).

The MLAs supporting theBJP comprise IndependentsRavi Rana (Badnera), KishoreJorgewar (Chandrapur), GeetaJain (Mira Bhayander), MaheshBaldi (Uran), Sanjay Shinde(Karmala), Rajendra Raut

(Barshi), Pakash Awade(Ichalkaranji), and RajendraPatil (Shirol).

The BJP also claims thesupport of PWP MLAShyamsunder Shinde (Loha),Rashtriya Samaj Paksh’sRatnakar Gutte fromGangakhed, Rajesh Patil fromBhoisar, Kshitij Thakur fromNalasopara, Hitendra Thakurfrom Vasai, all from theBahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA),and Jan Surajya Shakti Party’sShahuwadi MLA VinayakKore.

Others in the Assemblyinclude the AIMIM andSamajwadi Party with twoMLAs each, and the CPM,MNS, RSP and SwabhimaniPaksh with one MLA each. In

the polls, results of which weredeclared on October 24, theBJP got 105 seats, followed bythe Sena with 56, the NCP 54and the Congress 44.

Earlier in the day, thesupreme court said the issue offloor test, demanded by theCongress-NCP-Sena combine,would be dealt with on Mondayonly after perusing the two let-ters- of Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari invitingFadnavis and of the BJP leaderstaking his claim to form thegovernment- it has demanded.

For their parts, the BJP andthe opposition combine have claimed that they have therequisite numbers and would win the floor test com-fortably.

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In a bold move, Union HomeMinistry has directed the

Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) to aggressivelyundertake marketing of itssecurity services to big privateindustrial establishmentsostensibly to boost revenue.

For provision of CISF secu-rity services to large industri-al establishments, the CISFearlier this month submitted aproposal for raising the ceilingof current paramilitary strengthof 1,80,000 personnel to3,00,000 posts.

The CISF has already cre-ated a cell for marketing of itsservices after approval from theForce’s DG. The CISF head-quarters has asked all the SectorInspectors General to identifylarge industrial establishmentsin private sector where CISFcan be deployed and forwardtheir report to the CISF head-quarters here.

The proposal for raisingthe ceiling of 1,80,000 to3,00,000 posts and 16 addi-tional Reserve Battalions ispending with the Ministrywhich is likely to take a deci-sion to the effect soon, officialssaid.

The Home Ministry hasalso directed the CISF toundertake contractual appoint-ment of retired defence andformer paramilitary officials toexpand the strength.

Union Home Minister

Amit Shah had on September23 held a meeting with the offi-cials of the Ministry and CISFand decided in favour of con-tractual appointment of retireddefence/ex CAPF personnel inCISF for five years.

The meeting chaired byShah also decided that therewill be a restructuring ofdeployment of CISF personnelin the ratio of 3:2, whereinthree may be permanent per-sonnel and two may be tem-porary.

The CISF is learnt to havesubmitted a consolidated pro-posal regarding the contractu-al appointment and restrictingof deployment to the HomeMinistry on Friday, sourcessaid.

On November 18, DirectorGeneral of CISF Rajesh Ranjanheld a video conference withsenior officials of all the high-er formations and invited theirsuggestions for implementationof the new move.

The CISF had originallysubmitted a proposal in May to

enhance the limit from1,80,000 to 2,15,000 posts andraise four Reserve Battalions.However, the Home Ministryin October asked the paramil-itary to submit a proposal forraising the ceiling of posts tothree lakh and 16 ReserveBttalions. A proposal to theeffect was submitted by theCISF to the Home Ministry onNovember 5, officials said.

The CISF is the designat-ed Central paramilitary forcefor securing vital installations,both in the public and privatesector as also providing pro-tection to the VIPs.

Apart from protecting vitalinstallations like the space andnuclear facilities, ports, air-ports and metro rail servicesand the like, the CISF is alreadysecuring a number of privateinstallations includingPatanjali’s Food Park inHaridwar, Reliance refinery inJamnagar, campuses of IT giantInfosys in Bengaluru, Mysreand Pune besides Tata SteelProject in Odisha among oth-ers in the private sector.

CISF is the only paramili-tary that directly earns revenuefor the government through itssecurity and security consul-tancy services to the govern-ment and private sectors.

Officials said the proposalis under initial stages of imple-mentation as complexities likecommand and control of con-tractual appointments amongothers will have to be workedout.

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Anano-carrier based drugdelivery system developed

by a researcher from Punjab-based ISF College of Pharmacycan ease treatment of skin con-ditions like Psoriasis.

The system, developedwith the financial support ofScience for EquityEmpowerment andDevelopment (SEED) Division,Department of Science andTechnology (DST) under theUnion Science and Technology,can reduce the frequency ofskin application to once a dayas compared to three times aday in case of conventionaldosage of medicine.

The system has resulted inreducing treatment cost andtime to half of market availablegel, as per the website of theDST.

As per researcher AnkitaDaddiwal who has completedthe research under the guid-ance of her Professor RKNarang, the nanocarrier whichdelivers a chemical calledclobestasol propionate, a cor-ticosteroid used to treat varioustypes of skin conditions, canincrease the chemical’s solu-bility, enhance storage stabili-ty, improve permeability,reduce adverse effects, pro-long half-life, and tissue-tar-geted delivery.

These improved propertieshave increased the effectivenessof the clobestasol propionate by

enhancing its penetrationthrough infected skin.

Severity of Psoriasis is mea-sured by Psoriasis Area SeverityIndex (PASI). The developedsystem showed 85 per centdecrease in average PASI scoreas compared to marketed for-mulation which showed only50 per cent decrease in averagePASI score.

The system also resulted“40 per cent more retention inskin and 80 per cent decreaseof drug availability in systemiccirculation as compared tomarketed gel,” as per the DSTwebsite.

Psoriasis is an autoimmunedisease that effects skinthrough inappropriate activa-tion of cellular immune system.As per National PsoriasisFoundation, psoriasis affects125 million people globally.

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Who’s at risk:Genetics; smoking; obesity; aperson having skin injuryand infection such as strepthroat is at risk; hormonalchanges; immune disorderssuch as human immunodefi-ciency viruses (HIV)

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Water cannons and teargas shells were used by

police here on Sunday to dis-perse leaders of the Congressparty who staged a march inprotest against the policies ofthe Narendra ModiGovernment at the Centre.

The “Janvedna March”started from Sadaqat Ashram,the state Congress headquartershere and as it reached theHartali Chowk the Congressleaders tried to breach the bar-ricading in place and headtowards the restricted zonewhere the Chief Ministers res-idence and Raj Bhavan are sit-uated.

The Congress leaders gotlivid when septuagenarian leg-islator Ramdeo Rai fell on theground after being shoved bypolice personnel.

They tried to muscle theirway through the posse of policepersonnel, who also lobbedtear gas shells and fired watercannons.

The agitated Congressworkers were, subsequently,rounded up and taken to theKotwali police station where

they were let off after beingdetained for a few hours.

However, many of theCongress leaders staged a“dharna” outside the policestation alleging that the policehad acted in a “high-handedmanner”.

AICC in-charge of BiharShaktisinh Gohil, talking to

reporters en route, said “wehave taken out the march tohighlight the failures of theModi government which hassquandered the sound foun-dations laid down by the pre-vious Manmohan Singhregime.

The current regime hasbeen rubbing salts into the

wounds of the people reelingunder severe unemployment byinsensitive statements like sell-ing pakodas too should beconsidered a vocation”.

Gohil, Rajya Sabha mem-ber Akhilesh Prasad Singh,BPCC president Madan MohanJha, working president KaukabQadri and MLC Prem Chandra

Mishra also took part in theprocession.

“This is a strange behav-iour of the State Government,which has tried to throttlevoices raised in a democraticmanner by the use of bruteforce”, Mishra alleged.

RLSP chief UpendraKushwaha also rushed to thepolice station to express soli-darity with the leaders of theCongress.

Both Congress and RLSPare part of the five-party GrandAlliance a conglomerate ofopposition parties in Biharheaded by Lalu PrasadsRJD.

Meanwhile, use of tear gasshells and water cannons -besides lathi charge also tookplace elsewhere in the citywhere police tried to disperseactivists of the Jan AdhikarParty (JAP) of controversialpolitician Rajesh Ranjan aliasPappu Yadav.

The activists of the fledg-ling outfit had taken out themarch in protest against the“failure” of the Nitish KumarGovernment to tackle therecent water-logging crisis inthe capital city.

Hyderabad: The indefinite strike bythe TSRTC employees’ unions overvarious demands continued for the51st day on Sunday with protestersincluding women holding demonstrations, taking out ralliesand forming human chains acrossthe State.

Telangana State Road TransportCorporation (TSRTC) JACConvener E Ashwathama Reddytold reporters here that they wouldintensify the agitation with a seriesof picketing programmes onMonday at bus stands, depots andimportant junctions in the state.

Expressing gratitude to the agi-tating employees, Reddy said, “Wethank all those who took part in thestrike for 51 days with determina-tion. The strike will continue.”

The striking employees again

appealed to Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to invite themfor talks. Nearly 48,000 employeeshad begun the indefinite strike onOctober 5 following a call by the

Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) ofthe unions, demand-ing pay revision,recruitment to variousposts, among others.

Earlier, Rao hadsaid under no cir-cumstances would thecorporationbe mergedwith the transportdepartment.

He termed theemployees’ stir as“illegal”, saying itcaused immensein-convenience to the

public. The State Government hasmade alternate arrangements andengaged the services of temporarydrivers and conductors to operatebuses. PTI

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa on Sunday said the party would winall the 15 seats and victory margin of BJP candi-dates would be the matter of debate in theDecember 5 Assembly bypolls in the State.

“With a deep sense of responsibility, I am say-ing that we will win all the 15 seats. The matterof debate, however, is the difference of votes withwhich the BJP candidates will win the by-elections,”he said at an election rally at Banavasi in UttaraKannada district.

Yediyurappa was in Banavasi to campaign forBJP candidate Shivaram Hebbar who was previ-ously elected from the Congress but resigned fromthe assembly and was subsequently disqualifiedby the then speaker KR Ramesh Kumar.

After the Supreme Court allowed the dis-qualified MLAs to contest the bypolls, Hebbarjoined the BJP and is contesting from there.

Addressing the gathering, Yediyurappaacknowledged the ‘sacrifice’ of the 17 MLAs whoseresignation led to the fall of Congress-JD(S) coali-tion government in July this year and paved theway for BJP to come to power in the State.

“If these 17 people had not resigned from theassembly neither I would have had the opportu-nity to speak to you as the Chief Minister of theState, nor Kota Srinivasa Poojary or Govind Karjolcould have become Ministers,” the Chief Ministerpointed out.

“It was a sort of sacrifice. Dejected with thelack of development in their government, theycame out (of their parties). As a result, the BJP isrunning the government in Karnataka,”Yediyurappa said. PTI

Srinagar: For the second consecutive day on Sunday, a five-member civil society delegation,led by former Union MinisterYashwant Sinha, was not allowed tomove outside Srinagar by police.

“We are not allowed to go outof Srinagar district. So, the people,(from) where we were to go, are com-ing here to meet us,” activist SushobaBharve, who is part of the ConcernedCitizens’ Group, said.

She added that the group wouldmeet four-five delegations at a hotelhere on Sunday. Bharve said thepolice stopped them from going to

Pulwama in south Kashmir andBudgam, the district neighbouringSrinagar in central Kashmir.

“We had plans to go to Pulwamaon Saturday, but were not allowed.

We had plans to go to Budgam,but were not allowed even there,” shesaid. On Saturday, former chiefinformation commissioner WajahatHabibullah, who is also a part of thedelegation, said they had plans to goto Pulwama, but were “advised by theSSP, Security that the situation therewas not conducive and there was athreat of an impending terroristattack”. PTI

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Unperturbed by the tremorswithin and outside Indian

desi military aviation company HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL) isready with its three ton classLight Utility Helicopter (LUH)and eagerly waiting for theorders from its clients IndianDefence forces.

A senior executive on thecondition anonymity told ThePioneer that the company iswholly depending on IndianDefence forces for the orderson LUH. He said “ We are con-fident that Indian Defenceforces will certainly buy thisthree ton class very agile LUHto replace its ageing chopperslike Cheetah and Chetak. Weare surely depending on moreorders for Tejus and LUH fromthe Defence Ministry. This is amake in India product and willbe produced in Tumukur fac-tory near Bengaluru.”

He said the LUH would beused for Reconnaissance &Surveillance, reconnaissance,Aerial Photography, AirborneForward Air Controller,Casualty Evacuation and toprovide assistance in emer-gency to civil authorities etc.,

Light Utilty Helicopter(LUH) indigenously built byHindustan AeronauticsLimited is 3-ton class heli-

copter with 4 BladedComposite Main Rotor System,Main Rotor Blade Folding, 4Bladed Tail Rotor System,Single Engine with dual chan-nel automatic fuel control(FADEC) with additional back-up control, Night FlyingCapability, Glass Cockpit withSmart Cockpit Display Systems(SCDS), Skid Landing Gear,Fuselage to accommodate 2pilots in side by side configu-ration and 6 passengers andCrashworthy Crew Seats.

According to availableinformation thr Indian Armyand Indian Air Force togetherare operating about 400Cheetah (France DesignAlouette III helicopter) andChetak (France Design LAMAhelicopter ) helicopters sup-plied by HAL ( Licence pro-duced at HAL, Bengaluru)starting from 1960s. Thesehelicopter fleet have served thecountry for nearly fourdecades, need to be replaced ina phased manner with a moreefficient and state-of- the- arttechnology based helicopter.

It is in this backdrop, theIndian Army and Indian Air

Force finalised therequirement of aReconnaissance andSurveillance Helicopter(to replace Cheetah andChetak helicopter) andissued a GSQR in theyear 2008. The total pro-jected quantity requiredby Armed Forces is 384helicopters, of which, 197helicopters are ear-

marked for direct global pur-chase and remaining 187 heli-copters are classified undermake category, to be indige-nously manufactured by HALbased on Design andDevelopment of Light UtilityHelicopter (LUH).

The GOI accordedapproval to HAL, in February2009 to go-ahead with designand development of LightUtility Helicopter. The timegiven to HAL was 6 years,including a buffer of one yearto accommodate delays inDesign and Development.

“We have done everythingpossible to meet the expecta-tions of the Indian armedforces matching with globalstandards. LUH is beingdesigned to provide excellentperformance at high altitudeoperations.

These features make LUHto stand out in comparison toother contemporary helicopterin its class. The USP of LUHdesigned by HAL is its capa-bility to hover at 6 km altitude(Hover performance) with con-siderable payload”, he added.

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After recovering 11 smartphonesfrom the custody of high profile

political detainees, lodged in a MLAhostel at Maulana Azad road inSrinagar, during a surprise raid,Jammu & Kashmir Police haslaunched a thorough probe to iden-tify ‘black sheeps’ who may haveaided smuggling of these handsetsinside the highly fortified premises.

According to official sources, “atleast 11 mobile phones were recov-ered from the sub jail on Saturdayfrom the detainees during regularanti-sabotage check”.

Local police authorities haveregistered a case ahead of launchinga thorough probe in the matter.

It is learnt, the Union HomeMinistry too had taken serious noteof the security breach and is likely toissue necessary directions to the

UT administration to punish theguilty after completing thoroughprobe in the matter.

Before shifting political detaineesin the MLA’s hostel last week, thesame was declared as a Sub-Jail andit was made mandatory to follow jailmanual strictly.

Official sources said, “the anti-

sabotage raid was conductedas part of regular exercise todetect presence of any item,which these political detainees,were not entitled to use”.

According to officialsources, among 33 detainees,General secretary of NationalConference (NC), AliMohammad Sagar, NaeemAkhtar of PDP, Chairman ofPeoples Conference SajjadLone and bureaucrat turnedpolitician Shah Faesal werelodged there in the hostel.

Interestingly, when these politi-cal detainees were shifted from theCentaur hotel to MLA’s hostel, theytoo had resisted thorough frisking bythe security personnel.

The political detainees had raisedhue and cry over inadequate facili-ties in the centaur hotel to beat thewinter chill. On their arrival in

MLA’s hostel, they again raised theissue of poor facilities and createdscene to hide their mobile phones.The same was used by them to stayin touch with their family membersand communicate with their wellwishers.

Official sources claimed, some ofthese detainees were using the mobilehandsets even when they werelodged in a hotel.

Official sources claimed, familymembers of these detainees may havesmuggled these items inside thehostel with the help of security per-sonnel deployed there in the multi-tier security ring.

Official sources said, the inves-tigating agencies would be screeningthe CCTV footage and other mate-rial like call details and messages toascertain the list of persons who werein touch with these political detaineessince August 5.

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Litmus test awaits three major par-ties of Bengal — Trinamool

Congress, BJP and Left Front —even as the State goes to crucial by-elections on Monday for threeAssembly seats of Kharagpur inWest Midnapore district, Karimpurin Nadia district and Kaliaganj inNorth Dinajpur district.

The elections are crucial forthree reasons experts say. Firstly, itwill show whether an emergingBJP which shocked both theTrinamool Congress and the LeftFront in the May 2019 general elec-tions ha managed to retain itsground and grown further after win-ning 18 out of 42 parliamentaryseats.

The by-polls will also offer asample case for the ruling TMC onwhether it has recovered its lostground to the saffron outfit or con-ceded more space to it.

The by-elections will also put totest the strategic prowess to profes-sional election strategist PrashantKishore who has been instrumentalin winning elections for other politi-cians and who is currently workingon an image-rebuilding exercisefor Mamata Banerjee and TrinamoolCongress.

Besides the nearly-diminishedLeft Front’s political future willonce tested in the elections partic-ularly as it is fighting in alliance withthe Congress another spent force in

the State.The by-elections are important

for the Marxists because the party’svote percentage tumbled from 29.5percent in 2016 to a shameful 7.5percent last May-June. Congressdwindled to a mere 5 percent whilethe BJP rose from 16 percent to 41percent whereas the TMC increasedits strength by getting almost 45 per-cent votes, apparently by exploitingthe saffron fear of minority voterswho switched to its side in largenumbers from both the Left and theCongress.

The last elections saw the LeftFront conceding much of its Hindusupport base to the BJP and Muslimvoters to the TMC. Some expertsalso said that while the BJP suckeda large number of Hindu voters fromTMC the ruling party managed tomake it up by eating into the minor-ity vote bank of the Congress andthe Left.

The elections are also likely toshow whether the shifting of votefrom the Left to the BJP was a merepositive swing for the saffron out-

fit or a strategic transfer of votesfrom the CPI(M) in an apparent bidto shock and overwhelmed MamataBanerjee’s cadres. “If the Left man-ages to gain back even some per-centage of votes it will be considereda good achievement for that party,”a former MP said.

The by-elections are also crucialas it will put to test the much tout-ed National-Register-for-Citizensagenda of the BJP president AmitShah besides examining whether thereal issues of inflation, job loss hadmanaged to push outside the nation-alistic brouhaha post Surgical Strike,Pulwama, Balakote.

It will show whether the TMChas managed to cash in on thesweeping NRC phobia (post AssamNRC crisis where 11 lakh HinduBengalis out of a total of 19 lakhpeople were thrown out of the citi-zens’ list) in Bengal villages that hasseen more than a dozen people diedof panic attacks.

The Ayodhya verdict, whichcleared the way for construction ofa Ram temple at the disputed site,might also have political ramifica-tions, in the elections, experts say.

The elections will also take intoaccount the organizational prowessof the State BJP leadership and theRSS in absence of its central lead-ership particularly Prime MinisterNarendra Modi who is consideredeven by the Muslim electorate as a“master speaker who can sell evena rotten potato for full price.”

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The weekly flea market inSrinagar witnessed a huge rush

of customers on Sunday, fourdays after threatening posters hadenforced a shutdown in most partsof Kashmir, officialssaid.

Shops opened on Sundaymorning at some places in theKashmir valley, including here incivil lines areas of the city and mini buses plied, the officialssaid.

They said few shops were alsoopen in areas around the com-mercial hub of Lal Chowk.

However, officials said, most of

the shops and other business estab-lishments were shut in downtown– the old city areas of the city here.

While there was a semblanceof normalcy in the Kashmir valleyover the past few weeks after aboutthree months of protest shutdownover the abrogation of Article 370, the fresh shutdownstarted on Wednesday as threat-ening posters warning shopkeep-ers and public transport operatorsappeared at some places in the cityhere and elsewhere.

The police have taken note ofthese incidents and several suchmodules have been busted byarresting several persons.

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JD(S) leader HDKumaraswamy on Sunday

slammed Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for spending“most of his time” travellingabroad to shake hands withheads of foreign nations whilethe country’s financial situationhas been ‘deteriorating'.

Addressing an electionrally in YashwanthapuraAssembly constituency seekingvotes forparty candidate T NJavarayi Gowda, he said, “Givea thought to the prevailing sit-uation in India. The country'ssituation is worsening. There isa financial anarchy in thenation.” “Youth don't have jobsand the garment industrieswhere girls were getting jobsare closing down,” the formerchief Minister said.Yashwanthapura is among the15 Assembly segments going tovote on December 5.

Disqualified MLA S TSomashekhar is contestingfrom the constituency on BJPticket.

Somashekhar was previ-ously with the Congress buthad resigned from the assem-bly along with 15 others, whichled to the collapse of coalitiongovernment headed byKumaraswamy.

The subsequent disqualifi-cation of 17 MLAs by the thenspeaker K R Ramesh Kumar oncharges of 'anti-party' activitieshelped install the BJPGovernment.

The former Chief Ministeralleged, “While youth don'thave jobs, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi comes to Indialike a visitor. He spends mostof this time travelling to the for-eign countries and shakinghands with the heads of thosenations.

He is running the nationfrom there (foreign country).”

Kumaraswamy also soughtto know the purpose behinddemonetising the currencynotes of � 500 and �� 1,000denomination.

“Why did he (Modi)demonetise � 1,000 note andintroduced � 2,000? Was that to

assist the cronies to hoardmore black money or to dosome good to the nation?” hequestioned.

The JD(S) leader won-dered why people still vote forthe BJP when the PrimeMinister did not even visit theflood affected areas.

“The Prime Minister nevervisited those places to tell thevictims that he is with them intheir difficult time and con-soled them to face the situationcourageously.

Yet people vote for thembelieving that he will do some-thing,” Kumaraswamy said.

Listing the various propeople welfare schemeslaunched by him when he waschief minister for 14 months tillJuly 25 this year, Kumaraswamyalleged the BJP Governmenthas stopped them.

Instead of assisting thepoor people, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's priority hasnow been to protect the inter-est of the 15 disqualified MLAswhose resignation brought himto power, he alleged.

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Guwahati: The Congress on Sunday saidit has spoken to other Opposition parties inParliament for a united resistance against thecontentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill,which is scheduled to be introduced in theLok Sabha during the ongoing winter ses-sion.

Addressing a press conference here,Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora said theCongress will continue with its objection tothe bill, even if it is passed with modifica-tions. “This bill violates the preamble of ourConstitution. The Congress will oppose itwhen it will be introduced in Lok Sabha,”said Bora, who is also the Assam PradeshCongress Committee (APCC) chief.

The Congress “high command” hasalready spoken to other opposition partiesfor putting forward a joint stand against theproposed legislation, he said.

In the winter session that began onNovember 18, the government is set to pushfor the passage of the contentiousCitizenship (Amendment) Bill, a key BJP

plank which is aimed at granting national-ity to non-Muslim immigrants from neigh-bouring countries.

The government had introduced the billin its previous tenure as well but could notpush it through due to vehement protestsby opposition parties, which criticised thebill as discriminatory on religious grounds.

The bill, which seeks to grant Indian cit-izenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs,Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan if they have fledtheir respective country due to religious per-secution, had lapsed following the dissolu-tion of the last Lok Sabha.

“The APCC will organise a dharna atJantar Mantar in Delhi on December 13 toprotest against the bill and other issues likethe National Register of Citizens (NRC),”Bora said.

He asserted that the Congress will notallow the Centre to reject the updated NRCin Assam, and vowed to oppose any moveto restart the process in any form. PTI

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Arobbery that took place inthe residence of a medical

doctor in Kerala’s Thrissur dis-trict on Saturday has surprisedthe police as well as the localpeople because of the “unique-ness” of the operation and thebehavior of the “intruders”.

The police officials wereawed when Dr Christo AAttokaran of Mannuthy whostays near the Thrissur-Palakkadu National Highwayrecounted his experience withthe robbers.

“It reminded us scenesstraight from some of the oldcowboy movies starring ClintEastwood and Lee Van Cleef,”an investigation officer told ThePioneer over telephone fromMannuthi. The villains enter

the residence of the victimsafter informing the latter abouttheir intentions.

According to Dr Christo ,his younger son woke him upin the wee hours of Saturday .When the homeopathic physi-cian, under the impressionthat it could be a medicalemergency, opened his bedroom door he was greeted bytwo men standing behind hisson. “Excuse us, doctor. Thishouse is being robbed. Pleasecooperate with us for the safe-ty of all,” one of the intruderstold the doctor in chasteEnglish.

“There were four of them.While one of them stood guardat the bed room in the groundfloor where my mother and sonsleeping, the other one was inthe get-away car parked out-side the house. I didn’t see the

fourth man, “ Dr Christo toldThe Pioneer.

While the speaker stoodguard to ensure that the doc-tor, his wife and child do notcreate a scene, the othermasked person asked for thekey of the cupboard. When thedoctor told them that therewere no valuables in the house,the leader retorted; “Come ondoc, we know that you havekept lot of money here. Soplease don’t try to be oversmart.”

His colleague had managedto open the cupboard andpulled down all the materialsstored in it. When some papers,believed to be the profession-al degrees of the doctor felldown, the leader asked hisassistant to be careful of thepapers lest it may get damaged!Disgusted because of their fail-

ure to find out any valuables orcash from the cupboard, theassistant threw the iron rod hewas carrying at the toy ted bearkept atop the shelf . Thatproved to be the anti-climax ofthe operation.

The ted bear which gotbroken spilled the entire jew-ellery and cash which werestored in it. The intruderswalked away with 30 sovereignsand cash worth��80,000 which the doctor hadstored safely in the toy.

No comes the sub plot ofthe story. The night patrol ofMannuthy Police came acrossa car parked nearby the doctor’sresidence . The driver who wasnapping inside the car waswoken up by the police andgrilled him. The drier told thepolice that he was taking a sleepas he was tired because of the

long drive. The police team wassatisfied with the papers of thecar and the explanation gien bythe drier. They asked him totake enough rest and advisedhim to resume the drive onlyafter he felt comfortable.

The police team whichrushed to Dr Christo’s resi-dence on hearing the news gota big breakthrough when thesniffer dog of the departmentpressed into the investigationran from the house to the spotwhere the car had been parked.“An investigation is on based onthe registration number of thecar. Out teams have reachedTamil Nadu and Karnatakatracking the robbers.

The thieves also took withthem the hard disk of theCCTV cameras installed inthe house,” said the inspector ofpolice, Mannuthy.

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Dubbing political develop-ments in Maharashtra as a

‘farzical strike’ (fake strike) bythe Centre, Rajasthan ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot onSunday reiterated his demandfor resignation of theMaharashtra governor onmoral grounds over the “dubi-ous” development in the state.

“The role of Maharashtragovernor in the entire devel-opment is unfortunate. It wasa game and the country is sur-prised at it. The governor ofMaharashtra should resign onmoral ground,” Gehlot saidreferring to the revocation ofthe President’s rule and swear-ing-in of the Chief Ministerand Deputy Chief Ministerthere.

He alleged that the BJPwanted to take the country anddemocracy in a wrong direc-tion and the developments inMaharashtra was its example.

The Chief Minister also

termed the political develop-ment in Maharashtra a ‘farzi-cal strike’ (fake strike) of BJP,saying this was not possiblewithout the Prime Minister’sconsent.

The Chief Minister alsosaid the people, particularlyyoung generation and students,should analyse and understandthat the democracy was indanger under the BJP.

“The BJP and RSS arebehaving in such a manner thatinstitutions are getting dam-aged. Judiciary is under pres-sure. The country is being runin these conditions and gener-ations to come will have to suf-fer in future,” he told reportersat the Congress office here.

Sabarimala: A Kerala HighCourt judge, part of theDevaswom Bench handlingmatters related to temples,on Sunday visited the LordAyyappa shrine inSabarimala and expressedsatisfaction over the facili-ties made for devotees forthe ongoing annual two-month long pilgrimage season.

Justice Devan Ramachandran evaluated the arrange-ments made by the authorities for the devotees fromPamba at the foothill of Sabarimala and till theSannidhanam (temple).

“The high court judge expressed satisfaction in thearrangements made at the shrine,” the TravancoreDevaswom Board, which administers the temple, said ina release.

A day after the temple opened for the annualMandala- Makaravilakku pooja, Devaswom MinisterKadakampally Surendran had chaired a high-level meet-ing of the officials at Sabarimala and discussed variousissues relating to the facilities arranged for the devotees.

The hilltop shrine on Sunday witnessed heavy rushof the devotees. “Nearly 35,000 people visited the shrinetill 6 PM today. The temple will close at 11 PM. The foot-fall is likely to cross 40,000,” an official stationed at theControl Room in Pamba told PTI over phone. PTI

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Classmates of a girl, who died ofsnakebite at a Government

school here, alleged on Sunday thatthey were threatened by some peo-ple, claiming to be past students, forgiving statements against the schoolmanagement.

The students said they werethreatened when they went torecord their statement with theChild Rights Commission aboutthe snake-bite incident.

“They alleged that we havebeen trained to talk against theschool. No, it was not the case. Ourfriend and classmate died. We willstand strong in this case. We willstand with her family,” Nimisha, aclassmate of Shehala told a TVchannel.

Her father Rajesh too saidsome people threatened them bysaying witnesses would have to facethe consequences alone.

“Those claiming to be the for-

mer students threatened us that allthe channels and media will leavethis place after sometime and wewill be alone to face the conse-quence,” Rajesh told themedia.

Kerala has been witnessingprotest against the authorities of thestate-run vocational higher sec-ondary school at Kalpetta in thishigh-range district who had failedto ensure that Shehala, who was bit-ten by a snake in her classroom onNovember 20, was rushed to hos-pital on time.

The police have registered acase in this regard and the StateGovernment had suspended threeschool officials, including the principal and the vice-principal.

The local self-governmentMinistry has issued an order to allthe Panchayats to urgently completeall the pending repair and cleaningworks of schools in theirjurisdiction.

Thiruvananthapuram: Days after afifth standard student died of snakebiteinside the classroom of a Governmentschool in Wayanad, the KeralaGovernment has directed allPanchayats in the State to completepending repair work in all schools intheir jurisdiction.

In a late night order issued onSaturday, Minister for Local SelfGovernment A C Moideen has madeit clear there will not be any shortageof funds for the repair work.

A senior official in the ministrytold PTI the panchayats can use its ownfunds, or the plan fund for the urgentrepair work. “The Minister has alsosaid that the panchayats can seek thehelp of Kudumbashree and daily wagelabourers under theMahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment GuaranteeAct,” the official said. The Minister hasalso directed to construct bathroomsin schools PTI

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena sup-porter allegedly tried to com-mit suicide in Maharashtra’sWashim district apparentlyafter being upset over partychief Uddhav Thackeray notbecoming the Chief Minister, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place atManora Chowk on Saturdayevening when Ramesh BaluJadhav, a resident of Umari vil-lage in Washim, located around580 km from Mumbai, camethere for some work.

When he got the news thatBJP leader Devendra Fadnaviswas sworn in as the chief min-ister, Jadhav, who was inebri-ated, inflicted several cuts onhis hands with a blade, an offi-cial at Digras police stationsaid.

When a traffic policemansaw Jadhav slashing his handswith the blade, he ran towardshim and thwarted his suicidebid, the official said. PTI

Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauton Sunday claimed the Sena-NCP-Congress combine has the support of165 MLAs to prove majority in theMaharashtra Assembly, and said theBJP’s “gamble” of breaking Ajit Pawarfrom the NCP will backfire.

Addressing reporters here, Rautalleged that Governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari allowed the new government(headed by BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis)to be formed on the basis of “bogus”documents shown by Ajit Pawar.

He also said the deadline ofNovember 30 given to the Governmentto prove majority is only to enabledefections.

“The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress(together) have 165 MLAs. If theGovernor calls for an identificationparade, in 10 minutes we can prove ourmajority,” Raut said.

He said Ajit Pawar made the“biggest mistake of his life” by betray-ing Sharad Pawar, a people’s leader.

“Breaking Ajit Pawar from theNCP is the last gamble of the BJP whichwill backfire,” the Rajya Sabha membersaid.

Ajit Pawar “misled” his partyMLAs, he alleged, adding that and mostof them had returned to the NCP fold.

Raut also said that November23 was a “black Saturday” in the historyof Maharashtra.

The BJP has no right to call theEmergency imposed by Indira Gandhias ‘black day’, he said.

In a dramatic turn of events,Devendra Fadnavis on Saturdayreturned as Chief Minister propped upby NCP’s Ajit Pawar, who was made hisdeputy, just hours after the new allianceof Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress reached a consensus that Senachief Uddhav Thackeray will be theirChief Ministerial candidate.

Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar weresworn in by Governor Koshyari at ahush hush ceremony here, leading tolifting of the President’s rule in the State. PTI

Mumbai: The new-foundbonhomie between theNCP and Shiv Sena wason display on Sunday afterUddhav Thackeray metSharad Pawar at aMumbai luxury hotelwhere NCP MLAs werelodged amid the highongoing political drama inMaharashtra.

Incidentally, NCPspokesperson ClydeCrasto dubbed Pawar, the20-year-old party’sfounder, as ‘Renaissance Man’, even asThackeray met the NCP chief at the sub-urban hotel bearing the same name.

“Hey #BJP, Game on. Our‘Renaissance Man’ v/s your modern dayso-called ‘#Chanakya’. Bring it on,”Crasto tweeted.

Earlier in the day, NCP leader andMaharashtra deputy chief minister AjitPawar assured Prime Minister NarendraModi that he would work hard for peo-ple of the state. Responding to AjitPawar’s tweet, Crasto tweeted, “Dear AjitDada, Nice to see you reply to our Hon.PM’s good wishes but just want toremind you that you are being wishedbecause you left the hands of the Man

who held your hand & taught you howto walk in your personal & political life.Wishing you the best for the future.”

The Sena-NCP bonhomie was alsoseen after Shiv Sena leaders EknathShinde and Sena chief UddhavThackeray’s Man Friday MilindNarvekar on Saturday caught SanjayBansod, NCP MLA from Udgir, whowas set to fly out of Mumbai.

There was speculation that he wason his way to Delhi. The buzz on socialmedia was Bansod was missing.

Shinde and Narvekar had thentaken Bansod to the Y B Chavan cen-tre in south Mumbai where an NCPmeet was underway. PTI

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Politics does make for strangebedfellows. Take the case of

Devendra Fadnavis, who in 2014had vowed to send Ajit Pawar to jailfor his alleged corruption in the“irrigation scam”.

On Saturday, after Fadnaviswas sworn in Maharashtra ChiefMinister for a second term, proppedup by the man he had termed cor-rupt not so long ago, videos of histirade against the NCP leader wentviral on socialmedia.

In the video, Fadnavis can beheard describing what Ajit Pawarwould be doing in prison after theelection.

He would be, said Fadnavis,“Chakki peesing and peesing andpeesing”, words from the iconic film‘Sholay’, used to describe prisonersdoing hard, manual labour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi,who had described the SharadPawar-led Nationalist Congress

Party as “Naturally Corrupt Party”,was also among those who con-gratulated Ajit Pawar after hebecame the deputy CM.

In a stunning turn of events inMaharashtra, BJP’s Fadnavis onSaturday returned as Chief Ministerpropped up by Ajit Pawar, who wasmade his deputy, just hours after thenew alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCPand the Congress reached a con-sensus that Sena chief UddhavThackeray will be their chief min-isterial candidate.

The Shiv Sena approached theSupreme Court against the “arbi-trary and malafide actions/deci-sions” of Maharashtra governorBhagat Singh Koshyari of swearingin Fadnavis.

Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar weresworn in by Koshyari at 8 am at ahush hush ceremonyhere after dramatic midnight devel-opments, leading to the lifting of thePresident’s rule in Maharashtra.

Pune: Rivalries between unclesand nephews is not a new phe-nomenon in Maharashtra politicswhich is in churn following NCPleader Ajit Pawar’s coup against theparty chief and his uncle SharadPawar, the tallest political leader inthe State.

Ajit Pawar’s act of joininghands with the BJP on Saturday ata time when the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress combine was beingput in place to form an alternativeGovernment to checkmate the BJP,stunned many. In an early morn-ing development on Saturday, AjitPawar took oath as deputy chiefminister alongside DevendraFadnavis who sworn in as theChief Minister for a second time.

Ajit Pawar’s “revolt” virtuallysabotaged the efforts of the Sena,NCP and Congress to prop up aGovernment of disparate allies.

Interestingly, Fadnavis hadtaken a dig at the Pawars during thecampaigning for the Octoberassembly elections through theold Hindi song: “Bure kaam ka buranatija, kyo bhai chacha, haan bhati-

ja”.However, the same ‘bhatija’

(Ajit Pawar) has stood up againsthis ‘chacha’ (Sharad Pawar).

Another famous case ofnephew-uncle war is that of RajThackeray, who broke away fromthe Sena in 2006 claiming that hisuncle Bal Thackeray was promot-ing the latter’s son Uddhav in theparty. Raj later foundedMaharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) which had won 13 out ofthe total 288 seats in the 2009Assembly polls, before it started los-ing momentum.

Similarly, Dhananjay Mundehad parted ways with his uncle lateGopinath Munde of the BJP, appar-ently over the growing importanceof the saffron stalwart’s daughterPankaja Munde.

Dhananjay later joined theNCP and went on the become theleader of opposition in the stateLegislative Council while Pankajawas elected as an MLA and becamea Minister in the BJP-ledGovernment in the State in 2014. PTI

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Hours after the Supreme Courtasked the Centre to place before

it on Monday the letters ofMaharashtra Governor recom-mending revocation of President’srule and inviting Devendra Fadnavisto form Government, the BJP saidthe court’s decision strengthens itsclaim that Ajit Pawar continues to bethe NCP’s legislature party leader.

The bench declined ferventrequest of Solicitor General TusharMehta seeking two days time to placeGovernor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’scommunication on record and askedhim to produce letters by Monday at10.30 am when the matter will betaken again.

In the special hearing on a hol-iday, the apex court issued notices tothe Centre and MaharashtraGovernment on the petition filed bythe Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress com-bine against the governor’s decisionto swear in Fadnavis as the ChiefMinister.

A bench of Justices N V Ramana,Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna

also issued notice to Fadnavis andDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Reacting to the court’s decision,Shelar said, “The game is up for theCongress, NCP and Shiv Sena. AjitPawar can issue whip to the NCP leg-islators.”

The NCP, however, claimed theDevendra Fadnavis Governmentwill be defeated in the floor test,scheduled for November 30.

Reacting to the Supreme Court’sdecision, NCP leader Nawab Maliksaid, “The swearing-in took place on

the basis of bogus docu-ments. Devendra Fadnavisdoes not have the num-bers.”

“It is better if he quits onhis own, else face defeat onthe floor of the House dur-ing the trust vote,” he said.

Malik also said that outof the five NCP MLAsreported ‘missing’ tillSunday morning, tworeturned and another oneposted a message on socialmedia stating he was withthe NCP.

“We expect the rest to return byevening,” he said. The BJP andthe Sena, which fought the lastmonth’s Assembly polls in analliance, secured a comfortablemajority by winning 105 and 56 seatsrespectively.

The Sena, however, broke itsthree-decade-long ties with the BJPafter the latter declined to share thechief minister’s post.

The Congress and the NCP,both pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54seats respectively.

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Recently, this writer was invited toparticipate in the ninth round ofthe Bangladesh-India FriendshipDialogue, a meeting of youngminds, ideas and leaders from the

civil, political and intellectual spaces.Supported by both Governments, this dia-logue has become a keystone of bilateral rela-tions. The present dialogue assumes signifi-cance in the wake of our eastern neighbourpreparing itself to celebrate the “Mujib Year”from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021, tomark the centenary year of Sheikh MujiburRahman, the founding father of Bangladeshand the father of the current Prime Minister,Sheikh Hasina. Dhaka will also be commem-orating the 50th anniversary of the BangladeshLiberation, following the 1971 war betweenIndia and Pakistan.

Most leaders in Bangladesh have not for-gotten the sacrifices made by the Indianarmed forces during the 1971 war, wherealmost 2,000 Indians died on their soil. Suchwas the surge of emotion that cries of ‘JoyBangla’ filled the streets of Kolkata back then.It is also a good time to remind the worldof the genocide carried out by the PakistaniArmy and their Razakar allies on a millionBengalis, both Hindus and Muslims. Theywere killed with the approval of the PakistaniState and the likes of General Niazi andYahya Khan, who never paid for their crimes.All said and done, the “war” cannot andshould not define the relationship betweenthe two nations, particularly since half thepopulation of both nations is under the ageof 35. For most young Indians andBangladeshis today, relationship between thetwo countries is primarily defined by crick-et. The ongoing Test series is an evidence ofthat, with Bangladesh being the first nationto be hosted by India as the former learnsto play Test cricket under the floodlights.

India’s ties with Bangladesh are also sig-nificant in terms of trade, which touched $10billion last year. Even though it is highlyskewed towards India — in a 9:1 ratio —Bangladesh’s largest item of import from Indiais cloth and yarn, which has powered thatnation’s huge exports of ready-made textilesacross the world. India also imports severalof Bangladesh’s industrial and agriculturalitems. Our neighbour in turn relies on ouragricultural produce. So India’s sudden banon the export of onion, after a price spike backhome, has become a major stumbling blockto furthering relations between the twocountries. If Indians thought that a 1,000 percent increase in onion prices was bad, pricesfor the same crop have gone up 3,000 per centin the neighbouring country, where theGovernment has resorted to airlifting onions.

But crises like onions, the occasional bor-der skirmish and issues surrounding the shar-ing of waters from the Teesta river cannothide the remarkable progress India hasmade with Bangladesh on the diplomacy andsecurity front, particularly in joint-policingand intelligence efforts. And that has bol-

stered trade being conductedthrough waterways. Systemshave been put in place at theBenapole-Petrapole bordercrossing, which have made cus-toms clearances faster for trucks.New train crossings and serviceswill smoothen trade furtherbetween the two nations. Arecent deal to sell power toBangladesh has eased the powersituation in that country dramat-ically. India could use the grid inBangladesh to send electricity topower growth in its own Stateslike Assam.

However, there’s a lot thatremains to be done such as sim-plifying border crossings — par-ticularly in Meghalaya andTripura — and facilitating tradeto and from the North-easttowards ports at Chittagong.There are also some contentiousillegal immigration issues, partic-ularly in India’s North-east, thatneed to be sorted.

India should also learn fromBangladesh, which despite beinga poor country, has taken mas-sive steps in meeting the UnitedNations’ SustainableDevelopment Goals in education,sanitation and women’s health,leaving us behind.

There’s another front whereBangladesh scores well. Fisherymanagement here allows it tomanage and protect the Hilsa onits river system in a much bet-ter way than it is done in India,where the famed delicacy hasbeen almost wiped to extinc-tion. That said, India’s digital

start-ups, with their expertise inseveral areas as well as access toglobal venture capital, can lookat the Bangladeshi market withsignificant demand for onlinecommerce. Indian airlines, too,can expand their services toBangladesh where there is majordemand for medical tourism.This is an attractive prospect forIndia’s burgeoning hospitalchains.

The biggest learning fromCox’s Bazar was not the talksaround trade or economic issues;it was the environment andrefugee crisis. This picturesquecity, with its massive 120-kmlong Inani beach, the longestsandy beach in the world, is amajor draw for domestictourists. Yet it is facing thebrunt of the Rohingya refugeecrisis.

Local Member ofParliament, Asheq Ullah Rafiq,explained how the dramatic flowof over one million refugeesacross the Myanmar border over-whelmed this small town.Unprecedented brutality by theArmy in Myanmar and thesilence of Nobel Peace Prizewinner, Aung San Suu Kyi, haveleft Bangladeshi Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina with little choice.The main refugee camp at Teknafhas conditions described as sim-ilar to those of concentrationcamps. In smaller camps likethose we visited, stories of womenand child trafficking are rife.

Many of the issues sur-rounding the Rohingyas date

back to historical times when theRakhine Kingdom fought warswith the Bengal Sultanate for con-trol of the areas in and aroundCox’s Bazar. The anti-Bengalisentiment is still prevalent inMyanmar and even parts ofIndia’s North-east. However, therefugee crisis will pale intoinsignificance before what isundoubtedly expected to happenin a couple of decades.

Inani Beach may be thelongest beach in the world butthe Bay of Bengal is claiming itback. On a drive between thehotel and the airport alongsidethe beach, giant sandbags by theroadside were a constant sight.Bangladesh is not only themost congested nation — its160 million people arecrammed into just 150,000square kilometres. It is also oneof the lowest-lying nations onplanet earth. Even the city ofSylhet, pretty much on theborder with Meghalaya, is bare-ly 100 feet above the mean sealevel. Global warming is a real-ity, one that we must accept, andit will eventually sink much ofthe lower Bangladesh andsouthern West Bengal. It’s evi-dent not just on the beaches buteven on a flight between Cox’sBazar and Dhaka, where onecrosses the mighty Gangeticdelta. One can see the impact asthe land is getting eaten away.

Bangladesh has faced someof the deadliest cyclones from theBay of Bengal over the years aswell. The simple fact is that peo-

ple will have no option but to runaway from the rising waters. Butwhere will they run? Higher upthe Gangetic plains into northIndia? It does not just end here.The rising tide will also pushsalinity levels up, making freshwater in all these rivers a luxury.A far inland Bihar could be ren-dered infertile by rising salinitylevels, pushing refugees evenfurther. In 1971, 10 millionBangladeshi refugees fled toIndia, to escape the murderousPakistani Army. This put a mas-sive strain on India’s more lim-ited economic resources of thatera. By 2071, which frankly isnot that far away, there could be10 times that number of dis-placed people streaming intoIndia if we do not act to reversethe impacts of global warmingtoday. And this is just consider-ing the impact on Bangladesh.Given our coastal fragility, a sim-ilar number of internally dis-placed people will exist in ourcountry.

The dystopian future withmillions of humans crammedinto highrise slums is not goingto remain in the dreams of aHollywood science-fictionscreenwriter but as conditions inTeknaf show, humanity’s futurewill be very brutal. Yes, India andBangladesh both have a moralimperative to lift millions out ofpoverty but that also includesdoing something about globalwarming before it is too late.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

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Sir — It is sheer tragedy that anine-year-old girl, Shehla Sherin,died of snakebite in her classroomat Sultan Bathery in Wayanad dis-trict of north Kerala. Accordingto sources, the girl could havebeen saved if she had been givenproper medical aid on beingtaken to the hospital immediate-ly after she told her friends andteacher about the incident.

It is indeed sad that theteachers ignored the matter atfirst, thinking that the childwould have got injured by a nailor some sharp object. She wastaken to the hospital only after anhour or so, leading to her tragicdeath. The Ministry of HumanResource Development shouldorder a probe into this matter andpunish the erring staff membersof the school, who remainednegligent about the girl’s deteri-orating health.

This gruesome incident alsohighlights the dilapidated condi-tions of schools in the country. It’stime for the authorities to conductregular inspections and ensurebasic health infrastructure.

M Pradyu Kannur

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Sir — It is unfortunate that the BJPMP from Bhopal, Pragya Thakur,an accused in the 2008 Malegaonblast in which six people died andover 100 injured, has been induct-ed into a parliamentary panelheaded by Defence MinisterRajnath Singh. Steeped in contro-versies, Pragya should not have

been nominated to such a highlyesteemed panel, which consists of21-member parliamentary consul-tative committee on defence.

Congress leaders have hitout at the Narendra ModiGovernment, saying it was iron-ical that a terror accused has beengiven place in a defence panelinstead of opting for clean lead-ers. It is unthinkable that Pragyahas been nominated at a time

when she is facing charges undersections of Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act (UAPA), theIndian Penal Code (IPC), ArmsAct and Explosive SubstancesAct. Besides, she also madeuncharitable comments againstMaharashtra anti-terrorist squadchief, Hemant Karkare, and wentto the extent of calling MahatmaGandhi’s assassin NathuramGodse, a “patriot.” In spite of all

controversial remarks and unsat-isfactory antecedents, the BJPhas defended her nomination,which is nothing but the party’sideological bankruptcy.

TK NandananChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Myths about Kashmir”(November 21). Even after morethan 100 days after the abrogationof Aricle 370, normalcy has notreturned in Jammu & Kashmir.There’s no denying the fact thatleaders continue to be in deten-tion, business activities have notresumed and internet and tele-phone connections remain sus-pended. Home Minister AmitShah’s statement in the UpperHouse that normal activities andbusiness have started is a farce. Ina first move, political detaineesmust be released. By silencingthem, the Government is onlyfuelling apprehensions that all isnot well in Kashmir.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Before the clouds of the 2015 blockade at theIndia-Nepal border could settle, the twocountries are once again facing off over the

demarcation of the bilateral borderline in theKalapani and Lipulekh region in Uttarakhand asNepal claims that the area belongs to it.

With the abrogation of Article 370, whichgave special privileges to the erstwhile State ofJammu & Kashmir (J&K) and following theissuance of the Jammu and KashmirReorganisation Act 2019, two new UnionTerritories of J&K and Ladakh came into exis-tence on October 31. Soon after the release ofIndia’s new political map depicting them,Kathmandu began to witness protests led by stu-dent organisations and Opposition politicalparties. While the Government did not releaseany official statement initially, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs (MFA) in Nepal tweeted onNovember 6, “The Nepal Government is clearthat Kalapani is a Nepali territory and any uni-lateral move to alter the border demarcation isnot acceptable.” In response, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) of India in an officialrelease stated that “The new map has in no man-ner revised our boundary with Nepal. Theboundary delineation exercise with Nepal isongoing under the existing mechanism. We reit-erate our commitment to finding a solutionthrough dialogue in the spirit of our close andfriendly bilateral relations.”

Meanwhile, the issue has snowballed inNepal. Other than the media attempting to pro-ject it as an Indian encroachment, online cam-paigns on Twitter and Facebook with hashtags#GoBackIndia #BackOffIndia are trending,which was also a common phenomenon duringthe 2015 blockade. The alleged dispute betweenthe two neighbours is being resolved through thededicated bilateral diplomatic channels. However,in the changing regional dynamics, the issue isbeing given political hue. The MEA has not shiedaway from accepting that certain areas along theIndia-Nepal border require close bilateral scruti-ny to reach a consensus and that to resolve theexisting differences, diplomatic channels need toexpedite their process. In its official documenton Border Disputes with Neighbours, India hasstated that “India and Nepal share an open bor-der. Strip maps pertaining to 98 per cent of theboundary have been agreed to and signed in2007. The matter regarding the formal signingof boundary strip maps is being pursued with theGovernment of Nepal.”

Kalapani is a 35 sq km area in the Pithoragarhdistrict of Uttarakhand and forms a tri-junctionboundary of India, Nepal and Tibet. It is also thepilgrimage route from India to KailashMansarovar in China as well as a trade route lead-ing into Tibet through the Lipulekh Pass. Dueto its geostrategic importance, the area is guard-ed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).Indian security forces have guarded the tri-junc-tion since the 1962 War with China. Thearrangement to deploy security forces in theKalapani and Lipulekh region was made in con-sultation with the then King Mahendra ofNepal. It was a neighbourly act by India to informNepal about the deployments, as both countrieshad their concerns regarding future advances byChina in the region, and India was in a position

to accommodate Nepal’s security objec-tives.

However, soon after the MahakaliTreaty was ratified in 1996 betweenIndia and Nepal concerning integrat-ed development of the Mahakali Riverto harness its hydroelectricity potential,the area became the centre of contro-versy. The treaty had clearly identifiedthe Mahakali River as “a boundary riveron major stretches between the twocountries.” Also, as per Article 05 of theTreaty of Sugauli between the BritishIndian Government and Nepal, the lat-ter had renounced all claims to areas“lying west of the river Kali.” A promi-nent Technical Committee formed in1981 to resolve border issues hasalready clarified 76 border points outof 78 and more than 180 strip mapsbased on Global Positioning Systems(GPS) have been established. In fact,most of the differences were identifiedand resolved in 2007. With the newGovernment coming to power in NewDelhi in 2014, talks on Indo-Nepal bor-der issues resumed. It was after 23 yearsthat a joint commission meeting washeld in Kathmandu in 2014 and bor-der disputes figured prominently in it.

During Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to China in 2015, the twocountries had agreed to open a tradingpost in Lipulekh. In their joint state-ment, Modi and Chinese President XiJinping had stated that Lipulekh shouldfacilitate bilateral trade between the twonations.

However, Nepal had opposed thestatement saying any matters concern-ing Lipulekh shall be in consultationwith it. Again in February this year,Nepal’s Minister of Foreign AffairsPradeep Gyawali said that India andChina could not discuss or form a con-sensus regarding trade or transitthrough Lipulekh in the absence ofKathmandu — which contradicts the

existing understanding between it andIndia. Historically, Nepal had recog-nised Lipulekh and Kalapani as Indianterritories in the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli.

Amid the ongoing political outragein Nepal, India’s official position on theissue requires a close investigation fortwo reasons. One, in its response toNepal’s note on the new map, India hasindicated that the issues are alreadybeing discussed through a high-leveldiplomatic mechanism to resolve thedifferences and strengthen the existing“special relationship.” “At the sametime, both countries should guardagainst vested interests trying to createdifferences between our two countries,”it added. While the statement does notspecify “vested interests”, it pointstowards China that has lately investedin Nepal and received a welcomingspace from “certain” political forces.The current opposition, led by theNepali Congress Party, had recognisedIndia’s position in the Kalapani andLipulekh region during its tenure in theGovernment. Surprisingly, now it hasbecome the flag-bearer of those organ-ising protests against India’s new map.This throws doubts on the intentionsof these protestors because, in the pre-vious maps, the Survey of India hadshown the same boundary lines as inthe present map.

The other reason concerns themodus operandi of the fringe politicalparties in Nepal. While the rulingCommunist Party of Nepal has main-tained its position that the issue needsto be resolved under the existing diplo-matic mechanism, the pressure toplace the matter before internationalagencies by protestors indicates grow-ing anti-India sentiments attempting tochange the course of the “special rela-tionship” to “conditional relationship.”

Noteworthy, in the new map, thedisputed areas between India and

Pakistan are shown as Indian territo-ries to which Islamabad has objected.But it is as per the position held by NewDelhi for long. A wave of sympathytowards Islamabad was visible afterleaders of Nepal’s Samajbadi Partyallegedly held a secret meeting withPakistani officials last month inKathmandu. Hence, the ongoing protestshould be seen in the broader region-al context attempting to malign India’simage. On November 9, an all-partymeeting was convened under the chair-manship of the Nepalese PrimeMinister KP Oli to discuss the presentborder issues. The meeting was con-vened after protestors had allegedlyburnt effigies of the Indian Governmentand the new map in front of theIndian Embassy in Nepal. Hence, thereare attempts to pressurise theGovernment to act accordingly. Theelement of pressure was clearly visiblein the initial statement issued byNepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thestatement released after the meeting hasalso been drawn on the lines of nation-alism, sovereignty and national integri-ty. As Kathmandu stresses on usingdiplomatic channels wisely, protestorsin Nepal seem to be dissatisfied with theprocess. Considering these develop-ments, the two Governments need towork in close consultation to avoid mis-understandings. The growing politicalpressure in Nepal is undoubtedly inim-ical to India. It has caused trouble in thepast and more mishaps will have a long-term impact on bilateral ties.

For India, the changing strategicdynamics in the region are a reminderto expedite the process of resolving mis-understandings and the border disputewith Nepal, as the protestors inKathmandu seem to be in no mood tosettle for “special relations.”

(The writer is doctoral candidate,Centre for South Asian Studies, JNU)

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Young women (15-24 years)constitute 11 per cent of India’spopulation, out of whom 41 per

cent have faced sexual violence, 27 percent are married before the legal ageand 7.8 per cent (15-19 years) becomemothers or are pregnant. The data onaccess to information on contracep-tives reveals that only 17.7 per centwere informed about family planningby health workers and just 6.9 per centwomen in Bihar and 11.6 per cent inUttar Pradesh (UP) reported usingcontraceptives within marriage.

The policy level commitments onhealth, education and gender parityoften look in absolute terms of chang-ing certain societal norms throughcash transfer based schemes, numberof girls reported to be married beforethe legal age of marriage, status ofbody mass index and nutrition andsometimes enrollment in school and

skill development among women.While evidence in these parametersare significant, this skewed approachto gender equality leaves out a rangeof issues, including prevalence of sex-ual violence and status of accessiblesexual and reproductive health ser-vices. Stigma and fear attached toyoung women’s sexuality act as amajor barrier in achieving genderequality. Young girls are margin-alised within the larger constituencyof youth and remain an invisiblegroup to be addressed by the stake-holders including families, serviceproviders and policymakers. Thisdenial takes them farther from exer-cising their human rights, forcingthem to maintain the disbalanced sta-tus-quo and thus impacting their lives,homes, education and career poten-tial. This manifests itself in five keyaspects of their lives — sexual health,early, forced marriage and early,forced pregnancy, domestic violence,education, economic opportunitiesand income. Restrictive sexual normslimit their access to information onmenstruation, consent, violence andstigma-free relationships, right toabortion, resulting in them feeling dis-empowerment.

Globally women’s reproductiveand sexual health choices have stirreddebates between conservative, protec-tionist and patriarchal groups andrights-based feminist and publichealth movements. Even with a five-decade old law in India, the MedicalTermination of Pregnancy Act in 1971continues to face challenges in imple-mentation due to the stigma, bias, lackof awareness and lack of provision oftrained service providers. This widensthe gap between access to health andchoice for women. Evidence showsthat unsafe abortion continues to bethe third-leading reason of maternalmortality in India. The Lancet GlobalHealth Report estimates 48.1 millionpregnancies with a rate of 144·7pregnancies per 1.000 women aged15-49 years, and a rate of 70·1 unin-tended pregnancies per 1.000 womenaged 15-49 years.

At a public health centre inDelhi, a 25-year-old woman shares herexperience of being denied service onaccount of her marital status. She wasasked by the doctor to come only aftermarriage and if really needed. Similarfindings through audits conducted inVaranasi and Delhi have highlightedthe lack of accessible, affordable and

youth-friendly services on sexualand reproductive health. Additionally,there is an inherent problem with thelanguage that the country’s legal sys-tem adopts which further increasesthe marginalisation of young peoplewho might not conform to the het-eronormative gender and sexual iden-tities. Another legal barrier is the con-volution that has emerged post theimplementation of the Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, 2012. While it has beensignificant in increasing accountabil-ity of a range of stakeholders onresponding to child sexual abuse, themandatory reporting system hasadded to the confusion, reducedintent for uptake of additional respon-sibility and delays from serviceproviders, thus preventing youngwomen from accessing confidentialand safe abortion and reproductivehealth services.

The lack of accessible and com-pulsory sex education across settingsalso compounds the problem as it pre-vents young people from makinginformed choices. In the case of sus-pension of Adult EducationProgrammes, the objections raised byteachers, parents and some policy

makers on the grounds of protectingIndian culture and upholding moral-ity, took precedence over the rights ofyoung people as guaranteed in Article14, Article 15 and Article 21. This hasmade conversations pertaining tobody, sexuality and sexual and repro-ductive health more suppressed. As aresult, unplanned pregnancies,unwanted sexual relationships, sexu-ally transmitted infections, early mar-riage and violence are then endemicin young women’s narratives. Severalstudies mapping the quality of sexu-al and reproductive health and rightsservices on various parameters haverepeatedly pointed out that youngpeople face stigma because of themindset that adolescent sexual behav-ior is not “allowed”. In the case ofunmarried women, the provider ser-vice bias has less impact on seekinginformation on menstruation hygienemanagement but it aggravates in sit-uations where information on contra-ception and abortion is sought. Thecyclic form of violence then forcesyoung women towards harmful healthpractices that impacts their physicaland mental health. The problem atlarge, therefore, emerges from attitudeand availability of trained service

providers, lack of supplies and com-modities, lack of privacy and confi-dentiality and overall lack of contin-uum of care thereby adversely impact-ing young women’s informed decisionmaking capacities on matters of theirsexual and reproductive health.

As a way forward, it is importantthat we work towards bringing soci-etal transformation as well asstrengthening of Government pro-grammes and policies. Culturalunderstanding of family’s honour asdaughters’ responsibility needs to bechallenged to bring about a shift in thestatus quo. It is important to promotea culture where unmarried youngwomen are not judged by any serviceprovider for asking questions aroundmenstruation, sex and relationshipsand where teachers are sensitive andtrained to understand how sexualhealth and rights contribute to youngwomen’s overall well-being. Youngwomen’s aspiration of realising posi-tive and affirmative sexual well-beingshould reflect in the cultural attitudeand behaviour of parents, teachers andhealth service providers.

Service providers and all healthfacilities have a greater role to play inproviding comprehensive and quali-

ty abortion service care includingpost-abortion contraception andupholding the dignity and choice ofwomen. Interventions are needed toprovide women with accurate infor-mation on self-administered drugsalong with provision for follow-upcare. Research is needed to test inter-ventions that improve knowledgeand practice in providing medicationabortion and the Government needsto prioritise improving policies andpractice to increase access to compre-hensive abortion care and quality con-traceptive services that prevent unin-tended pregnancy. AcrossGovernment departments, a robustaccountability mechanism needs to bereinstated for effective implementa-tion of Government- sponsored pro-grammes focussing on adolescent girlsand young women. It should be theGovernment’s mandate to monitorand audit these programmes throughcommittees led by girls and youngwomen, to voice the community’sissues. Hope the voice of women isheard as we celebrate InternationalDay for Elimination of Violenceagainst women today.

(The writer is Pratigya CampaignAdvisory Group member.)

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Sitting on a huge buffer stock,the Government is consid-

ering cutting reserve price ofrice by almost �500 per quin-tal for bulk buyers to boost itssale through open market.

However, there is no planto cut wheat price, officialsources said.

The Government is con-sidering downward revision ofreserve price of rice from�2,785 per quintal to �2,250 perquintal in order to boost salefrom central pool stock underthe Open Market Sale Scheme(OMSS) in 2019-20, sourcessaid.

Food Ministry runs OMSSto sell wheat and rice stored inbuffer stock by the FoodCorporation of India (FCI).

Foodgrains are soldthrough tender at a reserveprice to flour and rice millersand user industries.

However, there is no planfor any revision in reserveprice of wheat, and the currentreserve price of wheat willcontinue to prevail throughoutthe remaining period of 2019-20, they said.

FCI, the Government’snodal agency for procurementand distribution of foodgrains,has 23.1 million tonnes of riceand 37.3 million tonnes ofwheat.

The total foodgrain stockstands at about 60 milliontonnes as on November 1.

FCI has decided to sell 10million tonnes of wheat tobulk consumers this fiscal,over 40 per cent more than the

previous year. The base baseprice of wheat is �2,080 perquintal.

During the last fiscal, FCIhad sold 7 million tonnes of

wheat.The sale of wheat and rice

to bulk buyers is to make spacefor the new crop.

The current foodgrain

storage capacity in the countryis around 88 million tonnes,with over 75 million tonnescovered and 13 million tonnescovered area plinth.

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Continuing their buyingspree, foreign portfolio

investors (FPIs) infused a net�17,722 crore into the Indianmarkets in November so faramid encouraging domesticand global cues.

According to depositoriesdata, overseas investorspumped in a net sum of�17,547.55 crore into equitiesand �175.27 crore in the debtsegment during November 1-22, taking the cumulative netinvestment to �17,722.82 crore.

FPIs were net buyers in thepreceding two months as well.They infused a net �16,464.6crore in October and �6,557.8crore in September into thedomestic capital markets (bothequity and debt).

However, some expertssaid FPIs are still wary of

increasing their allocation tothe Indian markets.

Umesh Mehta, head ofresearch at Samco Securitiessaid, “FPIs have become rela-tively cautious on India giventhe high valuations and Niftyhovering near its all-time highlevels. Huge divergencebetween the large andsmall/midcaps is making themweary to commit further in abig way to the Indian bourses.”

Also, the expectation ofweaker GDP numbers in thecoming months, among otherfactors, is making them “hesi-tant to invest full throttle”, he

added. Himanshu Srivastava,senior analyst managerresearch at MorningstarInvestment Adviser India, saidthe buying broadly indicatesthat FPIs continue to build con-viction on the Indian equitymarkets since “positive domestic and global environ-ment has ensured that FPIs are hooked to the Indianequities”.

He added that “this trendis expected to continue over theshort-term provided there areno surprises and domestic andglobal environment continue tobe conducive.”

Commenting on the futuretrajectory of FPI flows, HarshJain, co-founder and COO atGroww, said that “for inflows tobe very large in quantity, wemight have to wait a bit longeror hope for some big econom-ic factors to play out.”

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Reliance Communicationson Sunday said its lenders

have rejected the resignation ofChairman Anil Ambani andfour other directors, and askedthem to cooperate in the ongo-ing corporate insolvency reso-lution process.

Ambani along with fourdirectors — Ryna Karani,Chhaya Virani, Manjari Kackerand Suresh Rangachar — hadresigned from the companyearlier this month.

In a BSE filing, RCom saidits Committee of Creditors(CoC) had met on November 20.

“...(the committee had)expressed a unanimous viewthat the resignations cannot beaccepted,” it noted.

The filing further said: “...Itis being duly communicated tothe aforesaid directors ofRCom that their resignationshave not been accepted andthey are advised to continue toperform their duties andresponsibilities as the directorsof RCOM and provide all coop-eration to ResolutionProfessional in the corporateinsolvency resolution process.”

RCom had posted a con-solidated loss of �30,142 crorefor the September 2019 quar-ter due to provisioning for lia-bilities after the SupremeCourt’s ruling on statutorydues.

This had marked the sec-ond highest loss posted by anyIndian corporate till date, afterVodafone Idea Ltd’s �50,921crore losses.

During July-September2019, RCom set aside �28,314crore on account of provision-ing following the SupremeCourt order on calculation ofannual adjusted gross revenue(AGR) of telecom companies.

The apex court, last month,upheld the Government’s posi-tion on including revenue fromnon-telecommunication busi-nesses in calculating the annu-al AGR, a share of which has to

be paid as licence and spectrumfee to the exchequer.

RCom’s total liabilityincludes �23,327 crore licencefee and �4,987 crore spectrumusage charges.

The company is goingthrough insolvency proceed-ings following an applicationfiled by Swedish telecom gearmaker Ericsson. The NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) has handed over con-trol of the company to aninsolvency resolution profes-sional.

Sources estimate thatRCom Group’s total secureddebt is around �33,000 crore.Lenders had submitted claimsof around �49,000 crore inAugust.

RCom has put all its assetsfor sale, including spectrumholding of 122 MHz that thecompany before insolvencyproceedings estimated to bearound �14,000 crore, towersbusiness for �7,000 crore, opti-cal fibre network �3,000 croreand data centres worth �4,000crore.

RCom is under insolvencyresolution process under theInsolvency and BankruptcyCode, 2016.

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India’s probe into Swiss bankaccounts held by its citizens

has taken a “royal” turn withthe Indian authoritiesapproaching Switzerland’s taxdepartment for details abouttwo members of the rulingfamily of the erstwhile prince-ly state of Sangli, now inMaharashtra.

Following India’s requestfor “administrative assistance”in this matter, the Federal TaxAdministration of Switzerlandhas issued a public notice ask-ing the royal couple —Vijaysingh MadhavraoPatwardhan and RohiniVijaysingh Patwardhan — toappoint their nominees to dealwith this matter and file theirobjections, if any, against shar-ing of information.

Interestingly, the

Patwardhans are parents ofyesteryear Bollywood actressBhagyashree.

Typically, this is the firststep towards sharing of infor-mation by Swiss authoritieswith the requesting jurisdictionunder Switzerland’s regulationsabout sharing of financialinformation in tax matters.

In two separate but identi-cal notices dated November 19and published in Switzerland’slatest federal gazette in Berne,the Patwardhans have beenasked to appoint their nomi-nees within 10 days.

The notices did not dis-close any further details,besides their names and datesof birth (August 24, 1942 forVijaysingh Patwardhan andOctober 27, 1950 for his wifeRohini).

Repeated attempts to con-tact the family did not elicit any

response, while queries sent tothe registered e-mail ID of acompany where the twoPatwardhans are listed as direc-tors also remained unanswered.

The company,Mangalmurti Investment andExports Private Limited, is reg-istered with Mumbai Registrarof Companies (RoC), with

‘Sangli Villa’ in Mumbai as itsregistered address.

Vijaysingh and RohiniPatwardhan are listed as theonly two directors of the com-pany, while the RoC recordsshow its status as ‘active’, the lastAGM date as September 30,2019 and the date of last bal-ance sheet as March 31, 2019.

The company, which hasan authorised capital of �15lakh, was incorporated onApril 25, 1979, which is alsothe date since whenPatwardhans have been itsdirectors.

According to variousaccounts, VijaysinghPatwardhan became the lastking of Sangli after death of hisgrandfather in 1965, but he haddeveloped keen interest inbusiness early in his age andalso dabbled in film musiccomposition for some time. He

is credited with setting upeducational, medical and otherfacilities for people of Sangliover the years.

One of his daughters,Bhagyashree, became anovernight star after her debutlead role in superhit Hindimovie “Maine Pyar Kiya” in1989.

While an automaticexchange of information onfinancial matters has alreadycome into force between Indiaand Switzerland and the firstsuch exchange took place inSeptember this year, the Swissauthorities have been issuingsuch notices regularly to Indianresidents having accounts inSwitzerland-based banks onreceipt of requests accompa-nied with prima facie evi-dence of financial wrongdo-ings, including stashing of sus-pected illicit funds.

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Bharti Airtel, RelianceIndustries and three others

are likely to bid for the assetsof debt-ridden RelianceCommunications on Monday,according to sources close tothe development.

The last date to submit bidswill end on Monday and RCom(Reliance Communications)committee of creditors willalso meet on the same day toopen bids.

According to the sources,five bidders are expected tosubmit bids for RCOM assetson Monday. Reliance Industrieswill submit its bid through itssubsidiary.

“Varde Partners, BhartiAirtel and Reliance Industries,UV Asset ReconstructionCompany (UVARCL) areamong the main contenders forRCom assets,” sources aware ofthe development told PTI.

Bharti Airtel, which haswithdrawn its earlier bid afterthe CoC granted 10 days’extension for the submission ofbids, will be putting in a fresh

bid, the source said.“All the bidders will be sub-

mitting separate bids forRCom, RTL and RTIL. Therewill be minimum nine bidsfrom four bidders,” anothersource said.

UVARCL had earlier bidfor Aircel assets.

“Also, private equity firm ISquared Capital is bidding forRCom’s Data Centres andOptic Fibre assets,” sourcessaid.

RCom’s secured debt isestimated to be around Rs33,000 crore. Lenders havesubmitted claims of aroundRs 49,000 crore in August.

As per NCLT order, reso-lution professional (RP) has tocomplete the process by 10January, 20 20.

RCom in the past had triedto sell assets to various com-panies, including Reliance Jio,to clear debt but the deals didnot crystallise. Reliance Jiocancelled agreement to buyRCom assets, including spec-trum, as it did not want to bearthe past liabilities of the debt-ridden firm.

New Delhi: BSNL employeeunions have alleged that themanagement is forcing per-sonnel to opt for voluntaryretirement scheme (VRS) bycreating a fear psychosis andhave called for pan-Indiahunger strike on November 25.

The unions, representingmore than half of BSNLemployees, have alleged that themanagement is threateningemployees of reduction inretirement age to 58 years andfar away postings if the employ-ees don’t opt for VRS, All IndiaUnions and Associations ofBharat Sanchar Nigam LimitedConvenor P Abhimanyu said.

“We are not opposing VRS.Those who want and think it isbeneficial for them should optfor it. It is not beneficial forlower level employees and theyare being threatened to takeVRS, else retirement age will bereduced to 58. It is a forcedretirement scheme, therefore weare going on a hunger strike onMonday,” Abhimanyu said. PTI

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India’s gold imports, whichhave a bearing on the current

account deficit (CAD), dipped9 per cent to $17.63 billion(about �1.25 lakh crore) duringApril-October period of thecurrent fiscal, according toCommerce Ministry data.

Imports of the yellow metalstood at $19.4 billion in the sameperiod of 2018-19. Dip in goldimports has helped in narrow-ing the country’s trade deficit to$94.72 billion during April-October period of 2019-20 asagainst $116.15 billion in thesame period of previous fiscal.

Gold imports had beenrecording a negative growthsince July this year. However, itgrew by about 5 per cent to$1.84 billion in October.

India is the largest importerof gold, which mainly caters tothe demand of the jewelleryindustry. In volume terms, thecountry imports 800-900tonnes of gold annually.

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To enhance their geo-strate-gic reach, India’s public

sector enterprises should bidfor international projects as aconsortium, work with the government to designWTO-smart subsidies andenhance exports, according toa report.

The CII report, titled ‘Canthe Indian PSEs enhance theirGeo-strategic reach’, presents aroadmap to expand exportsand geo-strategic reach of pub-lic sector enterprises (PSEs) by2022.

It also points out severaldomestic and external barrierswhich are inhibiting the PSEs’ability to enhance exports.Lack of autonomy, multipleprocedures and managementgaps, among others, lead to lossof potential business opportu-nities, it pointed out.

“Setting up a High-LevelExport Strategy Committeewill implement the five-pointagenda set out by the PrimeMinister for enhancing thecompetitiveness of Indian PSEsby 2022.

“A short-term (5 years)and long-term (10 years)roadmap for the PSEs, clearlylaying down exports andgrowth targets, is the order ofthe day to enhance their geo-strategic reach,” said ChandrajitBanerjee, Director-General,Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII).

The report recommendspublic sector enterprises bid forinternational projects as a con-sortium, leveraging each other’smutual competence, experi-ences and strengths. Theyshould also leverage regionaland bilateral trade agreementsin sectors where they have acomparative advantage.

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The government plans toamend the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code (IBC) toprovide immunity to compa-nies taking over stressed assetsfrom prosecution for financialcrimes committed by erstwhilepromoters. This will help makethe insolvency process moreattractive for the bidders andinstil confidence in them,sources said. The Governmentmay move an amendment tothe Insolvency and BankruptcyCode 2016 during the currentWinter Session of Parliament.

The amendment comesafter several companies that arevying for assets being auc-tioned under IBC expressedconcern regarding getting intolegal trouble over the casesagainst previous promoters.

In many of the cases underinsolvency, the promoters areunder investigation by variousagencies, the sources said.

“We are working out amechanism where the resolu-tion applicant, who throughthis entire court supervisedprocess is acquiring a stressedasset as a going concern, will

not be encumbered by thecriminal liability relating tothe company which has beencaused by the previous man-agement,” an official said.

A clear direction on thiswill not allow occurrence ofcases like Bhushan Power andSteel Ltd (BPSL).

Last month, theEnforcement Directorate (ED)had attached BPSL’s land, build-ings, plant and machinery inOdisha worth more than�4,000 crore in a case related toalleged diversion of bank funds,delaying the resolution processunder which JSW Steel was setto take over the company.

Following the develop-ment, the National CompanyLaw Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) asked the ED and thecorporate affairs ministry toreach a consensus on the issueof attachment of assets of BPSL.

While the ED is of theopinion that it can attach theproperty of BPSL under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), theministry has been maintainingthat the agency cannot do so asproceedings under the IBCare on.

����� #?@�.?A *

The NITI Aayog has askedstates to show more

“alacrity” in procuring smart-phones and growth-measuringdevices for anganwadis underthe National Nutrition Mission,saying the rate had not been“up to the mark”.

At present, 6.28-lakhsmartphones have been pro-cured and 6.37 lakh growth-monitoring devices are avail-able at various anganwadis.

According to the transcriptof the meeting of the NationalCouncil of NutritionalChallenges accessed by PTI,NITI Aayog vice-chairmanRajiv Kumar said five Stateshad still not procured smart-phones and 14 States were yetprocure even the essentialmonitoring devices.

“Unless we do this, theanganwadis would not be ableto provide us the data that we

need, and not only that, theymay even not be able to iden-tify severe acute malnourishedchildren,” Kumar said in themeeting held last month.

The smartphones andtablets are being procuredunder the National NutritionMission or “Poshan Abhiyan”,a programme launched withthe aim to reduce the level ofstunting, undernutrition, ane-mia and low birth weight inchildren. It aims to achievereduction in stunting from38.4 per cent (NFHS-4) to 25per cent by 2022.

The smartphones andtablets have the ‘IntegratedChild Development Services-Common Application’, that areused for drawing nutritionprofile of each village.

Kumar said the rate of pro-curement of smartphones andgrowth monitoring devices was“not up to mark” and statesneeded to work with much

more “alacrity” in the matter.The meeting was also

attended by Women and ChildDevelopment Minister SmritiIrani, WCD secretary RabindraPanwar, officials of the UnionHealth Ministry, the IndianCouncil of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR), IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) and National Instituteof Nutrition among others.

Kumar has sought a week-ly report from the WCDMinistry over procurement ofsmartphones and growth-mon-itoring devices by states.

The NITI Aayog vice-chairman said there was a“huge need” for training andcapacity building of anganwa-di workers. “This is somethingwe need to take seriously. Weneed to work in cooperationwith the HRD Ministry andlocal governments in order todevelop this capacity at locallevel,” he said.

New Delhi: Developments sur-rounding the US-China tradedeal, foreign capital inflows andexpiry of November seriesderivative contracts will setthe tone for the equity marketsthis week, analysts said.

Participants will also betracking the unfolding politicalsituation in Maharashtra, theyadded.

“Markets are likely toremain lackluster this week.Movements will occur based onnews and events that are like-ly to transpire from the gov-ernment in terms of econom-ic policies, disinvestment andinternational geo-politicalevents,” said Jimeet Modi,Founder and CEO, SAMCOSecurities & StockNote.

Geojit Financial Services’Head of Research Vinod Nairsaid, “Going ahead, marketfocus will be on Q2 GDP data.”

PTI

����� #?@�.?A *

Delhi’s upscale Khan Markethas moved up one position

to become the world’s 20thmost expensive retail location,according to global propertyconsultant Cushman &Wakefield. In its latest report‘Main Streets Across the World2019’, the consultant said thatKhan market is ranked 20th inthe list of the most expensiveretail locations with an annu-al rent of $243 per sq ft.

Last year, Khan marketwas at 21st place with a rent of$237 per sq ft a year.

Causeway Bay in HongKong retains the number oneranking, commanding anannual rent of $2,745 per sq ft.New York’s Upper 5th Avenue

is at second position ($2,250per sq ft), followed by London’sNew Bond Street ($1,714 per sqft) and Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris($1,478 per sq ft).

Via Montenapoleone inMilan, Italy ranks fifth with anannual rent of $1,447 per sq ft,the report said.

The rankings are based onrentals during the second quar-ter of 2019 calendar year. TheCushman & Wakefield reporttracked 448 locations across 68countries. On the India market,the report said that “rentaltrends over the past year havelargely been pointing upwards,with the lack of availability in thebest shopping malls pushingmore brands to seek out promi-nent, high footfall locations in

the main commercial corri-dors”.

While high street rents inthe bigger cities of Mumbai,Delhi-NCR and Bengaluruhave experienced only mar-ginal increases, other citiessuch as Chennai, Pune andKolkata, which have a morevibrant high street culture,have recorded much strongerrental uplift, it added.

The consultant highlightedthat the growth sectors includefood and beverage (F&B),clothing and accessories, alongwith hypermarkets and e-com-merce retailers opening phys-ical stores. Some large store for-mats are also experimentingwith standalone outlets close tokey commercial and residentialmarkets along major

����� #?@�.?A *

Traders’ body CAIT onSunday appealed to

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman to initiate a high-level enquiry to probe allegedavoidance of pending tax lia-bility by Amazon and Flipkart.

The Confederation of AllIndia Traders (CAIT) wrote tothe finance minister allegingthat e-commerce companies,including Amazon andFlipkart, were selling variousproducts on their platforms ata price much lower than fairmarket value. It also said thattheir act is in utter disregard ofthe provisions of FDI policyand causing tax loss.

“Since FDI is governed by theFEMA & Reserve Bank of India,it is demanded that an anotherenquiry may also be initiated onpattern of receivable funding andits disbursement,” CAIT said.

The traders’ body said theconcept of charging GST at theselling price does not holdgood in such kind of supplieswhere the fundamental of fairmarket value is not observed.“In this way instead of charg-ing value on actual price theyare charging GST on muchlowered price.

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As impeachment hearingsplay out in Washington,

high-level officials, many ofthem immigrants or children ofimmigrants, who have testifiedbefore Congress are beingforced to defend their loyalty tothe United States.

Ukrainian-born LieutenantColonel Alexander Vindman, aNational Security Councilexpert, rebuffed attacks byproudly stating at the pro-ceedings: “The uniform I weartoday is that of the UnitedStates Army.” Like many of hispeers who have testified, heembodies the “AmericanDream,” as an immigrant whorose to the top.

Having displayed exem-plary service to their country,they boast of patriotic gratitudefor the United States, whichgave them opportunity — andfor some, refuge from oppres-sion. But that attitude has given

them little cover from attack asthey participate in theimpeachment investigationagainst Donald Trump, spurredby a phone call in which heasked Ukraine to investigateone of his potential 2020 pres-idential election opponents.

Vindman, whose familyfled anti-Semitism in the SovietUnion to New York when hewas just three, has been subjectto sharp criticism from thepresident and his allies.

As a respected member ofthe White House NationalSecurity Council, he testifiedbefore the House IntelligenceCommittee on Tuesday wear-ing his dress blue uniform dis-playing his combat infantrybadge, campaign ribbons anda Purple Heart received forwounds suffered by a roadsidebomb in Iraq.

Following his testimony,which touched on the pressurethe president’s cohorts hadplaced on Kiev, Trump cast

doubts on his allegiance.One guest commentator

on the conservative TV chan-nel Fox News even accused himof being a spy for Ukraine.

During the hearing, anattorney for the HouseRepublicans questioned him atlength about the fact that aUkrainian official had offeredhim the position of minister ofdefense in Kiev. Vindmanexplained that he never knewif the offer was serious andimmediately declined.

Repeating multiple timesthat he is an American, he toldthe Intelligence Committeethat “as a young man I decid-ed that I wanted to spend mylife serving the nation thatgave my family refuge fromauthoritarian oppression.”

Two day later, formernational security council expertFiona Hill, who was Vindman’ssuperior, echoed the same mes-sage. Almost “everyone immi-grated to the United States at

some point in their family his-tory. And this is for me whatreally makes America great,”said Hill who was born inEngland and became anAmerican “by choice” in 2002.

“This country has offeredme opportunities I never would

have had in England. I grew uppoor with a very distinctiveworking-class accent. InEngland in the 1980s and1990s, this would have imped-ed my professional advance-ment,” she said.

She herself has been

described by far-right detrac-tors as a “globalist” and “mole”of George Soros, the billionairephilanthropist who is oftenthe subject of anti-Semiticcampaigns.

Hill joked about the mat-ter but said she was furious that

the former ambassador to Kiev,Marie Yovanovitch, who wasborn in Canada to parentswho fled the Soviet and Naziregimes, suffered such attacks.

Yovanovitch was calledback to the United States inMay, after a smear campaignorchestrated by DonaldTrump’s personal attorneyRudy Giuliani. Her absence,Democrats say, gave Trumpand his allies freer rein in thecountry. Less than an hour intothe hearing, the presidenterupted spectacularly onTwitter with an attack on thehighly regarded former envoy.

Asked what effect Trump’stweet might have on her andother witnesses, Yovanovitchappeared unnerved. “It’s veryintimidating,” she told the panel,after also speaking of her “grat-itude for all that this country hasgiven my family and me.” USambassador to the EuropeanUnion Gordon Sondland, whoseparents fled Nazi Germany first

to Uruguay and then to Seattlein the United States, grew up ina family that he said “was eagerfor freedom and hungry foropportunity.”

In an editorial Will Bunchof the Philadelphia Inquirercalled out what he said was a“subliminal theme” runningthrough the proceedings: thatimmigrants fleeing oppression“became zealous defenders -only to see a dangerous dem-agogue threaten to drag theircountry into a muck.”

Adam Schiff, chairman ofthe Democratic-controlledHouse committee conductingthe impeachment inquiry, saidthat “the few immigrant storieswe’ve heard just in the courseof these hearings are among themost powerful I think I’ve everheard.

“You and Colonel Vindmanand others are the best of thiscountry and you came here bychoice and we are so blessed thatyou did,” he told Hill.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Thesecretary of the US Navy saidhe doesn’t consider a tweet byPresident Donald Trump anorder and would need a formalorder to stop a review of a sailorwho could lose his status as aNavy SEAL.

“I need a formal order toact,” Navy Secretary RichardSpencer said Saturday. OfTrump’s tweets, “I don’t inter-pret them as a formal order.”

Trump tweeted Thursdaythat the Navy “will NOT betaking away Warfighter andNavy SEAL Eddie Gallagher’sTrident Pin,” inserting himselfinto an ongoing legal review ofthe sailor’s ability to hold ontothe pin that designates him aSEAL. AP

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Six protesters were killed onSunday in Iraq’s south, where

resurging anti-governmentdemonstrations turned up theheat on paralysed politicians fac-ing the country’s largest grass-roots movement in decades.

Three demonstrators werekilled and around 50 woundedin clashes with security forcesnear the key southern port ofUmm Qasr, the Iraqi HumanRights Commission reported.

An AFP correspondentsaid security forces had firedlive rounds at protesters tryingto block access to the port.

Since October 1, Iraq’s cap-ital and majority-Shia southhave been swept by massdemonstrations over corrup-tion, lack of jobs and poor ser-vices that have escalated into

calls for an overhaul of the rul-ing system.

Top leaders have publiclyacknowledged the demands aslegitimate and promised mea-sures to appease protesters,including hiring drives, electoral

reform and a cabinet reshuffle.But the rallies have continued,waning on some days butswelling when demonstratorsfelt politicians were stalling.

On Sunday, protesters inthe southern city of Nasiriyah

blockaded five main bridges,shut down schools and burnedtyres outside public offices inanger. They blocked access tooil fields and companiesaround the city, torching as wellits Shiite endowment centre, agovernment body that managesreligious sites.

Medical sources saidovernight three protesters hadbeen shot dead and at least 47others wounded by securityforces in the city, some 300 kilo-metres south of the capitalBaghdad. An estimated 350people have been killed andthousands wounded sinceOctober 1, according to a tallycompiled by AFP as authoritiesare not providing precise orupdated figures. That makes theprotests Iraq’s deadliest grass-roots movement in decades, butalso its most widespread.

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Old newspapers can be usedas a low cost, eco-friend-

ly material to grow single-walled carbon nanotubes on alarge scale, says a study.

Carbon nanotubes are tinymolecules with incredible phys-ical properties that can be usedin a huge range of things, suchas conductive films for touch-screen displays, flexible elec-tronics, fabrics that create ener-gy and antennas for 5G net-works.

“Newspapers have the ben-efit of being used in a roll-to-roll process in a stacked formmaking it an ideal candidate asa low-cost stackable 2D surfaceto grow carbon nanotubes,”said lead researcher BruceBrinson from the RiceUniversity in the US.

However, not all newspa-per is equally good - onlynewspaper produced with siz-ing made from kaolin, which ischina clay, resulted in carbonnanotube growth, said theresearchers.

The study, published in theJournal of Carbon Research,details the research experimentscarried out in producing carbonnanotubes which could have thepotential to solve some of theproblems associated with theirlarge scale production such as,the high cost of preparing a suit-able surface for chemical growthand the difficulties in scaling upthe process.

The research team discov-ered that the large surface areaof newspapers provided anunlikely but ideal way to chem-

ically grow carbon nanotubes.While there have been pre-

vious research that shows thatgraphene, carbon nanotubesand carbon dots can be beensynthesised on a variety ofmaterials, such as food waste,vegetation waste, animal, birdor insect waste and chemical-ly grown on natural materials,to date, this research has beenlimited, according to theresearchers.

“With our new research,we have found a continuousflow system that dramaticallyreduces the cost of both sub-strate and post synthesisprocess which could impact onthe future mass manufacture ofsingle walled carbon nan-otubes,” said Andrew Barron,Professor at Rice University.

“Many substances includ-ing talc, calcium carbonate,and titanium dioxide can beused in sizing in papers whichact as a filler to help with theirlevels of absorption and wear,”said Indian-origin researcherand study co-author VarunShenoy Gangoli.

New York: Shaking head is oneof the most common methodspeople use to get rid of waterin their ears, but it can can alsocause complications asresearchers have found thattrapped water in the ear canalscan cause infection and braindamage. Researchers at CornellUniversity and Virginia Tech inUS, revealed that shaking thehead to free trapped water cancause brain damage in smallchildren.

“Our research mainlyfocuses on the accelerationrequired to get the water out ofthe ear canal,” said Indian-ori-gin researcher and study authorAnuj Baskota from CornellUniversity. “The critical accel-eration that we obtained exper-imentally on glass tubes and 3Dprinted ear canals was aroundthe range of 10 times the forceof gravity for infant ear sizes,which could cause damage tothe brain,” Baskota said.

For adults, the accelerationwas lower due to the larger

diameter of the ear canals.They said the overall volumeand position of the water in thecanal changes the accelerationneeded to remove it.

“From our experimentsand theoretical model, we fig-ured out that surface tension ofthe fluid is one of the crucialfactors promoting the water toget stuck in ear canals,” saidBaskota. Luckily, theresearchers said there is a solu-tion that does not involve anyhead shaking.

“Presumably, putting a fewdrops of a liquid with lowersurface tension than water, likealcohol or vinegar, in the earwould reduce the surface ten-sion force allowing the water toflow out,” Baskota said. IANS

London: Women who spendlonger periods of their earlylives in less affluent neigh-bourhoods are at a greater riskof experiencing violence dur-ing their early adulthoods at thehands of their intimate part-ners, according to a new study.

The research, led by theUniversity of Oxford with theUniversity of Bristol in the UK,looked at the participants ofBristol’s Children of the 90sstudy who were followed frombirth and reported on theirexperiences of intimate partnerviolence between ages 18 and 21.

The researchers examinedthe level of deprivation inwomen’s neighbourhoods overthe first 18 years of their lives.

“This is the first UK study,to our knowledge, to demon-strate that long-term exposure todeprived neighbourhoodsappears to be an important fac-tor contributing to increasedrisks of violent victimisation inyoung women by their partners,”said the study’s senior authorDavid Humphreys from theUniversity of Oxford. IANS

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Voters in Hong Kong turnedout in droves on Sunday in

district council elections seen asa barometer of public supportfor pro-democracy protests thathave rocked the semi-autonomous Chinese territoryfor more than five months.

The Electoral AffairsCommission did not immedi-ately provide the final turnoutrate after voting ended at 10:30p.m. But an hour earlier, it saidthat 69% of the city’s 4.1 mil-lion registered voters had castballots. That sharply exceededthe 47% turnout in the sameelection four years ago.

The election was carriedout peacefully, with hardly anyvoters seen wearing protesters’trademark black clothing orface masks.

David Alton, a member ofthe British House of Lordswho is among a group of inter-national observers, hailed thehigh turnout. “It shows thatthere is a great groundswell inHong Kong who believes indemocracy,” he said.

Election results wereexpected early Monday.

The normally low-key racefor 452 seats in Hong Kong’s 18district councils has taken onsymbolic importance in a city

polarised by the protests. Astrong showing by the opposi-tion would show that the pub-lic still supports the protesters,even as they resort to increas-ing violence.

Protesters have smashedstorefronts of businesses seen assympathetic to China, torchedtoll booths, shut down a majortunnel and engaged in pitchedbattles with police, counteringtear gas volleys and water can-nons with torrents of gasolinebombs. More than 5,000 peo-ple have been arrested.

One voter, Christina Li,said it was important for olderpeople like herself to supportthe youth who are at the fore-front of the protests.

“Younger generationsmight not be able to enjoy therights that we are enjoyingnow,” she said as she waited inline outside a polling station.“We cannot take it for granted.”

Many people in HongKong share the concern ofprotesters about growingChinese influence over theformer British colony, whichwas returned to China in 1997.The protesters’ demandsinclude democratic electionsfor the city’s leader and legis-lature, and an investigationinto alleged police brutality insuppressing the protests.

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Asmall passenger plane car-rying at least 17 passengers

crashed shortly after takeoffSunday in Congo’s eastern cityof Goma, killing at least 25people, including people on theground. There are two sur-vivors, including one memberof the crew, according to theNational Border HealthProgram, which confirmed 25dead in a statement laterSunday. The survivors arebeing cared for at a local hos-pital, it said.

The 19-seater aircraftcrashed into residential homesin the Mapendo district nearGoma’s airport in the NorthKivu province shortly after“missing” its takeoff, accordingto provincial governor NzanzuKasivita Carly. Black smokerose from the plane in themorning, whose wreckagecould be seen amid destroyedhomes as dozens of men triedto help with the rescue efforts.The smoke cleared as rescue

workers carried bodies instretchers and hundreds gath-ered at the scene.

Placide Kambale, a localpilot, said he took a taxi to thescene of the crash to help out.When he got there, the planewas on fire.

“I called other young peo-ple from the neighborhood,

they helped me to try toremove those who still moved,”he said. “We have managed torecover two that was quicklysent to the hospital,” but thenthe fire expanded.

Joseph Makundi, coordi-nator of the North-Kivu civilprotection, said that at least 25people had been killed.

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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson on Sunday

launched the ConservativeParty manifesto for theDecember 12 general electionwith a central pledge to “getBrexit done” and make theUK “Corbyn-neutral byChristmas”, as well as forgecloser ties with India.

The party’s manifesto,unveiled 18 days ahead of thepolling day, makes a specificreference to the post-Brexitties with the dynamic Indianeconomy and engage diasporacommunities to enhance UKbusiness access to such emerg-ing markets.

“We will also forge strongerlinks with the Commonwealth,which boasts some of theworld’s most dynamiceconomies such as India, withwhich we already share deephistorical and cultural con-

nections,” notes the manifesto.“We will use export finance

to increase our businesses’access to emerging marketsand engage diaspora commu-nities in the UK with thisagenda,” the document states.

“Our goals for British tradeare accordingly ambitious. Weaim to have 80 per cent of UKtrade covered by free tradeagreements within the nextthree years, starting with theUSA, Australia, New Zealandand Japan. These will be nego-tiated in parallel with our EUdeal,” it adds.

At a Telford rally inShropshire in the WestMidlands region of England,the Conservative Party leaderpromised not to raise the ratesof VAT, income tax andNational Insurance, dubbed a“triple tax lock”.

“Unlike any other partystanding in this election we’regoing to get Brexit done,” said

Johnson. “Let’s go for sensiblemoderate one nation but tax-cutting ConservativeGovernment, and take thiscountry forward,” he said torousing applause from his partycolleagues. As he laid out howa Tory majority would makethe UK “the greatest place tolive, to breathe, to be, to raisekids, to start a business thegreatest place on earth”, hewent on to warn against afeared coalition governmentbetween the Opposition forcesof Labour Leader Jeremy

Corbyn and Scotland FirstSecretary Nicola Sturgeon.

“Do you want to wake upon Friday 13th December andfind a nightmare on DowningStreet, a Corbyn-Sturgeoncoalition of chaos? Let’s gocarbon neutral by 2050 andCorbyn neutral by Christmas,”he said.

The 59-page manifestoincludes promises such astraining 50,000 new nurses, ata cost of 750 million pounds ayear, and creating 50 millionmore doctor’s appointments.

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Amarble-textured woodendining table instantlyattracts attention in the

middle of a living room. Green,animal-printed plates andlanterns are strewn around a cof-fee table alongside vintage frameswith black-and-white pho-tographs of historic Delhi mon-uments. A white wood table liftsthe chaise lounges accompanyingit while in the bedroom. AFrench beige-coloured bedsheetis offset by the grey and white-patterned tiles all around the walland the floor, giving a contempo-rary yet classic look. Earth ele-ments, even in faux and lookalikematerials, are set to dominate ourhomes in the coming year.

Or so Anupama Dalmia andNupur Gupta, who have put outtheir new collection,Amalgamations, in their studioon Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road willhave us believe. They bringtogether a range of materials,ideas and sensibilities and widenthe possibility of looking at theroom as not just a living spacebut a three-dimensional can-vas.

As one enters the long lobby-like store, a huge mirror onyour right, embellished withsmaller mirrors on its border,welcomes you. Nupur says theduo had started curating this col-

lection a year ago. “We startedlast August and have finishednow. A lot of detailing and lay-ering has been done since thecurrent trends are more aboutcreating a detailed and thought-out look. Even the furnituredemands some layering.Everything is kept subtle andsimple but intensely conceived,”adds she.

Age-old trends and tradi-tions make an appearance infloor tiles that lend character tothe most plebeian layout andmake a statement in bathroomsand kitchens. Using tiles forbedroom the walls is a newtrend that is expected to be a ragenext season. The way the design-er duo has used the modern iter-ations of wooden tiles is almostindistinguishable from the realdeal. The square tiles certainlygive a very wallpaper-like, matte

vibe. “These are actually pack-aged tiles. We have used themseamlessly. Uniformity of astretch of wall can be boring andwe wanted to break that monot-ony,” says Nupur.

Anupama points out thattiles are becoming the new the-

atre. She says, “Earlier, they wereonly used for bathrooms andkitchens. However, I feel that tileshave a lot of character. Andnow, since spaces are being inte-grated with materials, there is ascope for innovation. It’s now thetime to use materials creatively

and create new looks. Tiles asmaterials are very practical andwith a range of designs you gettoday, you can actually create alook which is special.”

Another little observation— There is no bright colour onthe walls and instead have beendone up in nude shades. This off-sets the detailing of furniture fora clutter-free look. Colours arewoven in only through variouselements like cushions, lights,accessories, home plants andflowers and rugs. “Putting colourin everything could be too harshand turn out to be boring aftera point. With the basic furniture,we have used neutral and justaccessorised it through colours.That way, it looks more classyand gracious,” says Nupur.

She adds that the homeplants and floral elements wereabout “bringing the outdoors

in.” It is also about making onefeel happy. Anupama adds,“Nature always makes you feelpositive about things. It hasalways inspired me too. Andinterior is all about creating afeeling rather than creating aproduct because you look at itevery day.”

The designers have also cre-ated various living room options.While there’s a formal livingroom area, there are other spaceswhich, Anupama explains, areperfect to entertain the guests in.Instead of walls, there are whitewooden panels with delicate fil-igree works which separate twosections. She says, “We wanted togive the rooms a seamless lookand keep them minimalistic.The panels add to the designswhile enhancing the space. Glassis also used for that. The demar-cation of rooms through walls isfading away. It will be moreintertwined with the ambienceand more continuous spaces willemerge with walls coming down.”

Talking about where thetrends of 2020 are headed to,Anupama and Nupur tell us,“Solid wood is the next bigtrend. It gives a very layered look.There will be contemporarypieces which will be accentuat-ed with crafts and artists’ works.Accessorisation is going to playa huge role. The furniture isgoing to be towards mid-centu-ry modern design.”

The trends also pointtowards the use of more neutraland serene shades and geomet-ric patterns making their way onrugs, cushions and chairs.Bedrooms and bathroom spaceswill be transformed into moreethereal spaces by using rich,earthy elements as well as met-als, wood and stone. Lastly, fromterracotta to terrazzo, no deco-rative element or accessory willbe left to chance.

Well, it all certainly explainswhy the duo, who have beenfriends since school, named theirventure, Alchemy, where twomaterials are combined to pro-duce “one element of magic.”

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����<�������Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbachdirects this incisive and compassionate look at a marriagecoming apart and a family staying together. Starring ScarlettJohansson, Adam Driver and Laura Dern, the film releaseson December 6 on Netflix.

The much-hyped unveiling ofTesla’s electric pickup truck

went off script when supposedlyunbreakable window glass splin-tered twice when hit with a largemetal ball.

The failed stunt, which rankshigh on the list of embarrassingauto industry rollouts, came justafter CEO Elon Musk braggedabout the strength of “Tesla ArmorGlass” on the wedge-shaped“Cybertruck.”

On a Los Angeles-area stagewith Musk, Tesla design chiefFranz von Holzhausen hurled asoftball-sized metal ball at the dri-ver’s side window to demonstratethe strength of the glass, whichMusk called “Transparent MetalGlass.” It shattered.

“Oh my... God,” Musk said,uttering an expletive. “Maybe thatwas a little too hard.” They tried ita second time on the left passen-ger window, which spider-crackedagain. Musk recovered with a one-liner: “At least it didn’t go through.That’s a plus side.”

The failure overshadowed thetruck’s slick unveiling, with someanalysts panning its looks. Thetruck, a stainless-steel covered tri-angle, resembles the much derid-ed Pontiac Aztek SUV sold byGeneral Motors in the early 2000s.

Investors apparently didn’t likethe stunts or the truck’s futuristicdesign, which is aimed at getting afoothold in the most profitable partof the US auto market. Tesla sharesfell more than 6 per cent Friday.

“Tesla’s Cybertruck reveal willlikely disappoint current pickup

truck owners and we see the vehi-cle remaining a niche and not amainstream product,” Cowen

Investment Research analyst JeffreyOsborne wrote in a note toinvestors. “While we are pleasedto see Tesla enter the mostprofitable segment of the NorthAmerican passenger car mar-ket, we do not see this vehiclein its current form being a suc-cess.”

Over the years, suchstunts have been common athighly rehearsed auto indus-try unveils. In a tweet Friday,Musk indicated Tesla hadrehearsed its stunt as well,

saying the same ball wasthrown at the same window of thetruck before the event and it “did-n’t even scratch the glass.”l

But like Tesla, others haveseen some embarrassing mishaps.At Detroit’s auto show earlier thisyear, an Infiniti concept electricSUV missed its introduction whenit wouldn’t start and the companycouldn’t move it onto the stage.

Perhaps the most famous mis-cue came in Detroit in 2008 whenChrysler showed off the new Rampickup truck with a cattle drive out-side the convention center. Butsome of the cattle started mating,drawing attention away from thevehicle.

“You can rehearse it 100 timesand the 101st is the time you do itbefore the public and it fails,” saidBud Liebler, who was head ofmarketing and communications atChrysler from 1980 through 2001.

He was in charge whenChrysler became famous for auto-show stunts, including driving aJeep Grand Cherokee up the entrysteps and through the front win-dows of Detroit’s convention cen-ter in the 1990s.

Liebler said he considers theTesla event a “fiasco,” but said Muskdid the only thing he could whenthe glass broke. He joked about it

and continued on with the show.“It’s got to be an embarrassment,”Liebler said.

With the Cybertruck, Teslawas aiming for Detroit’s profitmachine, the full-sized pickup.The truck came onstage with lasersand flames, and a demonstration ofits stainless steel skin developed byMusk’s SpaceX rocket companywent well. Von Holzhausen swunga sledge hammer at the driver’s sidedoor, and it bounced away harm-lessly without any damage.

Musk said the Cybertruck willstart at $39,900 but a tri-motor,long-range version will have abase price of $69,900. It will havea battery range of between 250miles (400 kilometers) and morethan 500 miles and will be able totow up to 14,000 pounds (6,350kilograms). Tesla says the truck cango from zero to 60 mph (97 kph)in 2.9 seconds.

The electric pickup truck willbe in production in 2021, Musksaid. With the truck, Tesla is gun-ning for buyers with fierce brandloyalty.

Many pickup truck buyersstick with the same brand for life,

choosing a truck based on whattheir mom or dad drove or whatthey decided was the toughestmodel, said Erik Gordon, a profes-sor at the University of MichiganRoss School of Business.

“They’re very much creaturesof habit,” Gordon said. Getting aloyal Ford F-150 buyer to consid-er switching to another brand suchas a Chevy Silverado, “it’s like ask-ing him to leave his family,” he said.

Tesla’s pickup is more likely toappeal to weekend warriors whowant an electric vehicle that canhandle some outdoor adventure.And it could end up cutting intoTesla’s electric vehicle sedan salesinstead of winning over tradition-al pickup truck drivers.

“The needs-based truck buyer,the haulers, the towers at the work-sites of the world, that’s going to bea much tougher sell,” said AkshayAnand, executive analyst at KelleyBlue Book.

The truck will help Musk entera new market but it’s not likely tomake a bunch of money for thecompany. Instead, Tesla will rely onits mainstream Model 3 sedan andthe forthcoming Model Y smallSUV due to go on sale in early 2021.

Musk stands to face competi-tion when his truck hits the mar-ket. Ford, which has long dominat-ed the pickup truck landscape,plans to launch an all-electric F-150pickup. General Motors CEO MaryBarra said its battery-electric pick-up will come out by the fall of 2021.

Rivian, a startup based nearDetroit, plans to begin productionin the second half of 2020 on anelectric pickup that starts at $69,000and has a battery range of 400-plusmiles (640 kilometers).

Tesla has struggled to meetdelivery targets for its sedans andsome fear the new vehicle will shiftthe company’s attention away fromthe goal of more consistently meet-ing its targets.

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�����������Hit man Frank Sheeran looks back at the secrets he kept as aloyal member of the Bufalino crime family in this acclaimedfilm from Martin Scorsese. Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacinoand Joe Pesci, the film releases on November 27 on Netflix.

Searching for afresh start, a nursepractitioner movesfrom LA to aremote northernCalifornia townand is surprised bywhat — and who—she finds.Starring AlexandraBreckinridge,Martin Hendersonand TimMatheson, theseason 1 releaseson December 6 onNetflix.

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We all are aware that Indiaattained independence

on August 15, 1947. Duringthe freedom struggle, the toil-ing masses of India baredtheir chests to the volleys ofbullets, shed their blood andsacrificed their property andfamily-life for the emancipa-tion of Mother India. Manymothers lost their sons andwives lost their husbands asthey fell under the severeblows of police-batons. Infact, it was all a tale of tears ona long and torturous journeyto freedom. But even then,there was so much enthusiasmamong the people for theybelieved that with the dawn ofindependence, the days ofnational humiliation, abjectpoverty and enormous suffer-ing, caused by foreign domi-nation, would be over and itwould mark the beginning ofan era of human dignity,social and economic justice,self-rule and self-reliance.

They had a vision of aunited, strong, dynamic andprosperous India, whichbecause of its great culturalheritage, would again rise toa place of high esteem amongother nations of the world.Ultimately, this strong aspira-tion for a free India was ful-filled on the mid-night ofAugust 15, 1947. But it wasaccompanied with the nation-al trauma of Partition and thesubsequent mass-migrations,communal riots and gorybloodshed.

People thought that thisman-made calamity wouldsoon be over and then therewould be an era of Ram Rajya.But, not even a full year hadpassed when Gandhi, the pro-ponent of and the crusader forRam Rajya, was hit fatally byan assassin’s bullet. Even thenpeople did not lose hope.They thought there will beother leaders who will fulfillGandhi’s dream of Ram Rajya.They also thought now sincethe country has a Constitutionand a system of democraticelections, there will be a gov-ernment of the people, by thepeople and for the people.And, so, the days of miseryinflicted by a foreign govern-ment would soon be over. Butnow we realise that thesevisions were mere mirageswith no real water around toquench the people’s thirst forlove, unity and peace. These

days, when even hard-corecriminals are fielded in somestates as candidates duringelections to the State orCentral legislatures and par-ties adopt a no-holds-barredattitude to capture the leversof power, the people are real-ly disappointed and disillu-sioned. They feel that the sys-tem does not ensure a govern-ment for the people. And, per-haps, there would be no endto their long travails andtribulations. Now, post elec-tion results and people’s ver-dict in a Western Indian state,it is for the parties and theirleaders, who had beenpromising paradise on a plat-ter, to fulfill their promises.

However, the situationthat is seen on television andnewspapers is something else.It is very unfortunate andpainful for a voter to see sucha scenario. The Simple reasonfor this is the falling level ofmoral values in our society.Hence, we should let everyleader and the motley crowdread the writing on the wall.The first one is that, withoutuniversal love, brotherhood,compassion for the deprivedand the weaker sections,integrity and purity of mind,nothing can be done for thewell-being of the people.Secondly, for cultivating thesequalities, universal spiritualknowledge and meditation areessential. Thirdly, it is impor-tant to realise that this is, per-haps, the last chance. If noth-ing practical is done to raisethe moral standards of thepeople and the leaders evennow, then there will really bea deluge of tears of the poorand the suffering millions,mixed with bloodshed by thefanatics, the criminals andthe communalists. It is hightime that we take these lessons,do some heart-searching,throw off the yoke of vices andchange for the better.

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The taboo around menstruationneeds to be broken at the initialstage itself. Schools are taking up

the campaign in earnest to makeyoung girls aware of ways to take bet-ter care of themselves while, at thesame time, maintaining hygiene. Whileit is easier to encourage such conver-sations in the urban space, it is diffi-cult to imagine them taking place inthe remote areas in Jharkhand. Ateacher at the Kasturba GandhiResidential Girls School, Dumka,Usha Kiran Tudu said that the girlsfrom 11 to 14 years in school are madeaware about menstruation early on.They are told that their body willchange but there is no need to panic.The Udaan programme in the schoolstarts from sixth grade itself. Sheadded that now the awareness amongthe girls has increased as they havestarted talking about it openly. Theyhave not only become aware of sani-tation and hygiene, but have also start-ed sharing their knowledge withfriends in their villages.

Another teacher, SohaginiMarandi, said that in some schools,sanitary pads and incinerators havebeen made available by the govern-ment, where �5 per student has to bepaid for sanitary pads. But that, too,is a substantial amount for many stu-dents who are financially weak. Thus,free sanitary pads have been provid-ed by the government to all the girlsresiding in schools and hostels.

However, proper disposal of usedpads is still a major problem. Citing anexample, she said, “While there are 400girls in my school, there is only oneincinerator machine, in which the padis burnt. In such a situation, many girlsgo to the temporary incinerator adja-

cent to the school toilet and burn thepad. The smoke emanating from thisis dangerous to the environment.”

But that is not the only reason whysanitary napkins can cause pollution.Gender co-ordinator, Mini Tudu, saidthat plastic has been banned in thecountry. But many companies whichmake sanitary pads are still using plas-tic in it, which in turn increases pol-lution when it is burnt. She added thatthe government needs to pay attentionto this immediately and find betteroptions in order to ensure that womendo not contract infections while usingthese pads. In addition to sanitationissue, it also creates problem for theenvironment.

Lack of electricity is also a reasonwhy the pads are burnt in the open.The incinerator needs electricity andmany schools do not have a sufficientand continuous supply, thus negatingthe very purpose of this machine.

A major point of concern is alsothat most of the women in tribal areassuch as Jharkhand do not use sanitary

pads. Instead they use plain cloth asper tradition.

According to a study conducted bythe Tata Institute of Social Science(TISS) in 2016, where 97,000 girls fromall over the country were interviewed,eight out of 10 girls were forbidden tovisit religious places during their peri-ods and six out of 10 were not allowedto touch food and were forbidden toenter the kitchen during periods. Insome areas, during menstruation,girls were kept in separate rooms in thecorner of the house. The surprising

revelation was that many girls were notaware about hygiene associated withperiods. It should have been theresponsibility of the mother or an elderin the house to make them aware ofmenstruation and other physicalchanges. In the absence of properinformation, girls experiencing men-struation for the first time remain con-fused.

Sunita Kumari, a woman consul-tant working at Dumka Sadar Hospital,said that women should pay specialattention to cleanliness during periods

as it causes weakness, irritability andabdominal pain. She advised womento consume more water and fruits likewatermelon during menstruation asthese are beneficial. There should bean increase in the intake of fruit andmilk. She also stressed upon the needto consume spinach as it contains highamount of iron which fulfills anemia.

Dietician Nirupama Singh said,“During menstruation, women shouldalso consume more bananas, becauseit contains high amount of potassiumand vitamin B. This helps in physicaland mental health. Women eat lessfood during these days. This in turnleads to fatigue, mood swings andbody cramps.”

Being silent on menstruation isnot only fatal for women but also ahindrance to building a healthy soci-ety. When girls enter adolescence, it isvery important for them to understandthe changes that they are goingthrough as physical changes directlyaffect mental health of young minds.

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Rising global temperaturesare worr ying truff le

hunters around the Italiantown of Alba, where the mostprized specimens can fetchtwice the price of gold. Thisparticularly warm October,eight out of 10 white trufflesunearthed by Carlo Oliverowith his trusty 3-year-old dogSteel were dark, withered anddried out.

“They are clearly signs ofthe temperatures,’’ Oliverosaid, holding one that he keptin his pocket. The rest he con-signed to the soil, allowing thespores to spread and hopeful-ly replenish future production.

Alba, located in the north-western region of Piedmont,has earned the moniker“white truffle capital of theworld” for its particularly fra-grant variety of truffle, its truf-fle fair each fall and its annu-al charity auction, whichpushes prices of the tubermagnatum pico up into thestratosphere.

A truffle weighing 1,005grams fetched 120,000 euros— more than twice the priceof gold — from a Hong Kongbuyer at this year’s auction.

The longer-term impactof rising temperatures on thehighly prized white truffles isstill being studied, but they,like other fungi, grow best incool, rainy conditions.Climate change has in effect

delayed peak production fromOctober into November.

“It has been a few yearsthat we have been worryingabout truffle production,” saidAntonio Degiacomi, presi-dent of Italy’s national centerfor truffle studies. “We havehad over the last three seasonsone terrible year, one excellentseason and one that is decent.”

To stave off the longer-

term climate change impacton the production of the high-ly prized white truffle, expertshave launched initiatives tobetter preserve the territorywhere they grow. The goal isto safeguard the symbiosisbetween the truffle and thehost plant by encouragingsymbiosis between the trufflehunter and the land owner —whose interests often con-

flict.Olivero recalled a maker

of the region’s famed Barolored wine who wanted to cutdown two oaks — trees thatare perfect hosts for truffles —that were shading his vines.

“I told him, ‘The day youtake all the oaks, only you willdrink your wine,’” Oliverosaid. “Because the truffle andthe Barolo are two formidable

components. It is a system thatworks on the table, but needsto go together first in nature.”

Unlike the more commonblack truffle, delicate whitetruffles cannot so far be cul-tivated, which makes preser-vation of their environmentcritical. Incentives include aprogramme paying 24 euros ayear to property owners tomaintain host trees they mightotherwise remove. Truffleassociations also strike agree-ments with absentee landown-ers to keep their woodedproperty cleared in a way thatpromotes truffle growth.

This year’s charity auctionwhite truffle price — 12,000euros for 100 grams — com-pared with a high price at thisyear’s fair of about 380 eurosper 100 grams. The fair pricecan increase to as much as 750euros per 100 grams in yearsof scarce production.

After an unusually hotand long summer, thisNovember’s damp, foggy

weather has proved perfect fortruffle hunting around Alba.“In these days, the quality isespecially high,’’ said trufflejudge Stefano Cometti. “Thelow temperatures augmentthe organic characteristics ofthe truffle and force it toretain the aroma.” Thatincluded a 730-gram (1pound, 9.75 ounce) whitetruffle unearthed by DavideCurzietti, the largest of theannual truffle fair to date.Judges certified the prove-nance of the behemoth tuber,which Curzietti sold immedi-ately to a restaurant in Osakafor 3,800 euros.

Even after more than fourdecades on the truffle hunt,Olivero still gets emotionalwhen Steel stops his energeticsniffing of the damp ground.Steel’s nose is fault less.Through a carpet of wetautumn leaves and muddyearth, the dog picks up thesweet, distinctive aroma of awhite truffle and signals hisfind by rapidly digging on thesurface.

“I cal l it the magicmoment, because it meansthat there is something underthere that we were looking for.We still don’t know thedimensions, how big it will be,but the heartbeat speeds upbecause in that moment, weknow there is something,’’Olivero said. A��

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Gonzalo Higuain grabbed asecond-half brace to fire

Juventus to a 3-1 win at Atalantathat kept the champions top ofSerie A on Saturday, despiteInter Milan’s comfortable 3-0win at Torino thatkept them in touchwith the leaders.

Juve stay onepoint ahead of sec-ond-placed InterMilan, who out-played Torino in tor-rential rain in Turin, as Atalantadrop to sixth place after theirfourth league game without awin.

In Turin, Inter Milan earnedtheir first win in three years overTorino despite difficult condi-tions with the game starting 10minutes late because of heavyrainfall in northern Italy.

Torino captain and Italyforward Andrea Belotti went offafter 10 minutes after falling onthe water-logged pitch and aminute after his departureLautaro Martinez opened thescoring, before Stefan de Vrijvolleyed in a Cristiano Biraghicross just after the half an hourmark.

Romelu Lukaku hit his 10thleague goal of the campaign inthe 55th minutes as Inter ham-mered home their title creden-tials.

“I’m happy above all for thelads who are getting big results,”said Conte, “but the thing thatmakes me happiest is that wedidn’t concede today.”

But the pressure is mount-

ing on Napoli coach CarloAncelotti ahead of his side’sChampions League trip toLiverpool midweek followingtheir disappointing 1-1 draw atthe San Siro.

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Real Madrid and Barcelona bothcame from behind to seal victo-

ries that extended their advantageover the chasing pack at the top ofLa Liga on Saturday as Gareth Balewas jeered by his own fans at theSantiago Bernabeu.

Barca needed a late winnerfrom Arturo Vidal to beat bottom-club Leganes 2-1 after Luis Suarezheaded home a Lionel Messi free-kick to cancel out a brilliant open-er from Leganes forward YoussefEn-Nesyri.

Madrid were behind after 110seconds against high-flying RealSociedad but Karim Benzemascored his sixth goal in five games,before Fede Valverde and LukaModric wrapped up a 3-1 win in thesecond half.

It means AtleticoMadrid lost furtherground by being held toa 1-1 draw at Granada,with Real Sociedadremaining fifth, fivepoints off the top.

Madrid’s comeback was over-shadowed by the whistles for Baleafter his controversial celebrationfollowing Wales’ win over Hungarylast week. He celebrated with a flagthat read: “Wales. Golf. Madrid. Inthat order.”

The fans jeered when his namewas announced before kick-off andeven louder when he came on as asubstitute in the second half.

“I can’t tell you it’s fair or unfair,”said Zidane after the match. “But weneed our fans to be with us. I can’tcontrol it, neither can Gareth or any-one. But Gareth came on and heplayed very well.”

Earlier without Bale, Benzemacontinued his excellent form withanother goal and an assist forModric late on. In between, Valverdegave Madrid the lead with a deflect-ed shot from the edge of the area.

Madrid’s fans were also giventhe chance to see Martin Odegaard,their 20-year-old Norwegian loaneeat Real Sociedad, who has been keyto their strong start to the season.

Odegaard impressed, with onethrough ball in the first half evendrawing gasps of approval from thehome support.

Menwahile, Atletico wereunable to find a winner as theyplayed out their seventh draw of theseason, the joint most in the divi-sion.

Ronan Lodi scored his first LaLiga goal after being slipped thoughby Hector Herrera but Herrera wasat fault for the equaliser, losing hismarker as German Sanchez poweredin a superb header to earn Granadaa point.

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Chelsea manager FrankLampard believes the gapbetween his side and

Manchester City has narroweddramatically in his first few monthsin charge despite City comingfrom behind to beat the Blues 2-1at the Etihad on Saturday.

A first defeat in the PremierLeague since September seesChelsea slip behind third-placedCity in the table, but there wasplenty of encouragement forLampard on a ground where theywere thrashed 6-0 last season.

City, who finished 26 pointsahead of Chelsea last season, hadthe lowest percentage of possessionever recorded by a Pep Guardiolaside in 381 league matches.

“Big parts (of the game) weregood, some parts we can improveon, but that’s why there is a gap toMan City and Liverpool,” saidLampard.

“We’re coming to close the gap,I don’t want to shout that too loud-ly. Now we have to show a responseafter a great run of wins.”

Liverpool’s late win at CrystalPalace earlier in the day meant Citystarted 12 points behind the lead-ers and looked in danger of failingto cut that gap when N’Golo Kantegave Chelsea a deserved lead mid-way through the first half.

However, Kevin De Bruyne’sdeflected strike breathed new lifeinto Guardiola’s men and a trade-mark left-footed finish from RiyadMahrez saw City edge a thrillingencounter.

“They are an incredible team,”said Guardiola in praise of Chelsea.

“Most of the teams at the topnow, they have the courage to play.Liverpool, Leicester, our team,Chelsea, they want to play, to goforward.

“They are a top side, but wefought a lot and we had a good vic-tory.”

A vital three points, however,was soured for City by more injuryproblems.

Rodrigo, David Silva andSergio Aguero all had to bereplaced in the second halfwith Guardiola particularlyconcerned about Aguero’savailability ahead of thepacked festive schedule.

“Hopefully we’ll knowtomorrow, but the first indi-cation is not good. It’s a muscularinjury,” added Guardiola onAguero’s fitness.

However, it was Chelsea whobegan to take control of the gamein the first quarter.

There was no surprise when

the visitors eventually tookthe lead 21 minutes inwhen Kante made runfrom midfield before slot-ting the ball under Edersonfrom Mateo Kovacic’s won-derful pass.

City bemoaned theirluck in defeat at Anfield a

fortnight ago, but got the slice offortune they needed to gain afoothold back in the game eightminutes later when De Bruyne’stame shot deflected off KurtZouma to leave Kepa Arrizabalagawrong-footed.

Mahrez then turned the gameon its head with a brilliant jinkingrun and finish into the far corneras City clicked into gear.

‘PREPARED TO DIG DEEP’Kevin De Bruyne says

Manchester City know the hardwork they have to put in after theycame from behind to beat Chelseaand leapfrog them into thirdplace.

“We had a couple of chancesat the beginning and didn’t hit thetarget,” De Bruyne told Sky Sports.

“They scored but then we

reacted with two quick goals. In thesecond half we kept it tight — theymight have had more of the ball butwe created the better chances.

“We don’t care what happens toother teams — Liverpool, Leicester,Chelsea — we have to keep run-ning. Weknow afterthe last twoyears thehard workwe have toput in.”

Ma h re zsaid: “It was ad i f f i c u l tgame but wereacted verywell after weconceded thefirst goal.This type ofgame it’smost impor-tant to getthree points.We’re notgoing to playvery good allthe time.”

& ��&���� Australian captainTim Paine said he would preferall home Test series to begin atthe Gabba after his side record-ed a dominant win overPakistan in the first Test onSunday.

The Australians went oneup in their two-Test series whenthey won the opening match atthe Brisbane fortress by aninnings and five runs late on thefourth day for their 29th con-secutive Test victory at thevenue dating back to 1988.

“We like playing here andwe’ve done well here for a longtime, so we’d like to start hereagainst anyone,” Paine saidwhen asked whether India

should open next year’s Testtour in Brisbane, the tradition-al start to an Australian sum-mer.

On India’s last tour ofAustralia, the first Test wasmoved to Adelaide where thetourists won by 31 runs.

Pakistan were left chasingthe match once they werebowled out for 240 in their firstinnings having won the toss andelected to bat.

Australia replied with 580on the back of big centuries byman-of-the match MarnusLabuschagne and opener DavidWarner.

After beginning their sec-ond innings 340 runs behindAustralia and then losing threecheap wickets in the afternoonsession on Saturday, thePakistanis put up stern resis-tance Sunday before finally

succumbing late in the final ses-sion.

Babar Azam scored a mag-nificent century andMohammad Rizwan fell fiveruns short of his first as Pakistanwere dismissed for 335 late onthe fourth day.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah alsomade his highest Test score witha fighting 42 to allow thePakistanis to head to the secondTest in Adelaide with somemomentum despite the loss.

But there was to be nodenying an Australian attack onSunday which probed andstruck at vital moments, when-ever Pakistan seemed to begetting the upper hand.

Josh Hazlewood was thepick of the Australian bowlerswith 4-63, while Mitchell Starctook 3-73, Pat Cummins 2-69and Nathan Lyon 1-74. AFP

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Flamengo came back from thedead to break the hearts of

holders River Plate and win theCopa Libertadores in Lima onSaturday with a thrilling latebrace from Gabriel Barbosa thatdecided the final 2-1 at thedeath.

Barbosa scored in the 89thminute and again in injury timeto see his side bounce back fromRafael Santos Borre’s 15th-minute opener for River after agame largely dominated by theArgentine side.

After turning the game onits head in a frantic finale,Barbosa then got sent off alongwith River’s Ezequiel Palacios.

River had never looked likerelinquishing their lead againstthe surprisingly slugglishBrazilians after Borre had putthem ahead.

But then came Barbosa’slate show. With barely a sniff allgame from a robust Riverdefence, the Flamengo strikerpopped up at the far post in thelast minute to tap home aftergood work on the left by the tire-less Bruno Henrique.

Two minutes into injurytime he latched onto a long ballout of defence, moving into thebox before firing crisply pastRiver keeper Franco Armaniand sending Flamengo’s fansdelirious.

Palacios, River’s best player,was then sent off for kicking outat Henrique, quickly joined byInter Milan loanee Barbosa,

who had sarcastically applaud-ed the referee.

The striker left the field asthe South American competi-tion’s top scorer, with nine goals.

Flamengo’s first CopaLibertadores victory in 38 yearsmeans they will go to the ClubWorld Cup in December.

“At Flamengo we have a say-ing: ‘to the end’. We never stopbelieving, because the matchonly ends when the refereeblows his whistle,” saidHenrique.

“We believed, we foughtuntil the last minute, and wecould not leave without beingchampions, the team deserves itso much,” he said.

The South American show-piece was originally set forSantiago, but the venue wasswitched to Lima because of thelast month’s deadly socialprotests in Chile.

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An untested pink ball was notable to reduce the glaringgulf between the two teams

as India bulldozed Bangladesh byan innings and 46 runs in their firstever day-night Test to record their12th home series win in a row.

With Bangladesh resumingtheir second innings at 152 for sixon day three and trailing India by89 runs, it was simply a matter oftime for the home team to com-plete formalities.

The Virat Kohli-led side even-tually completed the job in less

than 50 minutes for their fourthstraight innings victory, becomingthe first team to achieve the feat.

Barring Mushfiqur Rahim(74), Bangladesh batsmen wereonce again found wanting againsthigh quality pace bowling, foldingup for 195 in 41.1 overs. They werebowled out for 130 on day one.

For the second time in theseries, the match finished wellinside three days. India had ham-mered Bangladesh by an inningsand 130 runs in the series-openerin Indore.

With the resounding win,

India also extended their lead inthe World Test Championship bycollecting 120 points from thetwo-match series, taking theiroverall tally to 360 from sevengames.

“Only your belief can makeyou win. With the way these guys(pacers) are bowling now, they canpick up wickets anywhere. Even thespinners. These guys are very hun-gry and I feel we are in the rightkind of space and everyone isenjoying playing in this team,” saidKohli at the post-match presenta-tion.

Resuming on 59 with theteam’s score of 152/6, Mushfiqurbatted in aggressive fashion,smashing Ishant Sharma andRavindra Jadeja for two boundarieseach in their respective overs.

Umesh Yadav brought an endto Mushfiqur’s innings when hemistimed a hit, which was takeneasily by Ravindra Jadeja.Mushfiqur’s valiant innings had 16boundaries in it.

Retired hurt on 39,Mahamudllah did not come to batas India sealed the victory in stylewith Yadav (5/53) having Al-Amin

Hossain caught behind.Yadav finished with a match

haul of 8/81, while Shami had a ter-rorising effect despite taking just2/36 in the first innings.

Ishant looked unplayable withhis inswing and the legcutter-likedelivery that he finished with amatch haul of 9/78 wickets includ-ing 4/56 in the second innings.

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Following a thunderous suc-cess of the first-ever day-

night Test at Eden Gardens,BCCI president SouravGanguly on Sunday promisedto take the pink ball game toall parts of the country.

Eden Gardens played theperfect host for the historicgame with packed crowds onall three days, bringing backmemories of the times whenTest cricket was more popular.

However, the lack of com-petition on the field wasnowhere close to the hypesurrounding the game.

“I am relaxed, relieved andhappy. We wanted to do thisfor Test cricket. It is so impor-tant. People were not turningup for Test cricket. We did a lotof things (promotion) duringand before this Test. It was soldout all throughout even todaythough the game was expect-ed to f inish early,” saidGanguly, who finally got Indiato play a pink ball Test, fouryears after it was played first.

“I remember the 2001 Test(India-Australia). There weremore than 100,000 people inthis stadium and you don’twant champions like Kohli,Rohit or Ishant to play in

front of empty stands. So, I amextremely happy to see this,”Ganguly told Star Sports.

Kohli too has welcomedthe move but has clearly stat-ed that the day-night Test can

be a one-off and not a regularfeature.

Ganguly said he will soonspeak to Kohli to know histhoughts about the game andsaid it can’t be held in Kolkataevery time despite the over-whelming response from localcrowd.

“Hopefully it will spread toother parts of the country andI am convinced it will. This willrevive Test cricket because it isdifferent for people.Everything changes with timeincluding people’s taste.

“I remember when T20started in 2007 and India wonthe World Cup, the format was

not given a lot of value. 10years later, not a single seat isempty when a T20 is played.And this was the first pinkTest.

“I believe (that it will be asuccess) because I have playedthe game. I want these cham-pion players should alwaysplay in front of packed stadi-um,” said the former India cap-tain.

“It can’t just be in EdenGardens all the time. It needsto go to other parts of thecountry. There are very biggrounds in India. Peoplethroughout the country shouldexperience this.”

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Emerging triumphant in the men-tal battles that Test cricket throws

began in the era of Sourav Gangulyand the current Indian side hastaken it forward with sheer hardwork and self belief, skipper ViratKohli said.

“Test cricket is a mental battle.We’ve learnt to stand up — it all start-ed from Dada’s (Sourav Ganguly)team. The belief is key and to be hon-est we’ve worked hard, and reapingthe rewards of it,” Kohli said at thepresentation ceremony, when askedabut his side’s dominating run in thelongest format.

India’s fast bowling unit hasbeen in tremendous form. In theabsence of the injured JaspritBumrah, the pace trio of Ishant

Sharma, Mohammed Shami andUmesh Yadav grabbed all Bangladeshwickets on offer in the second Test.

Skipper Kohli said the success ofthe pace unit at home, which has tra-ditionally been a breeding groundfor spinners, is because now thespeedsters are armed with the beliefthat they can do well in any condi-tion.

“It’s similar to when we play inother countries, it’s about the belief.The way these guys are bowling theycan pick wickets anywhere. Even thespinners, it’s about believing they canpick wickets overseas. We’re in theright frame of mind to capitalise onthe opportunities and we’re enjoyingit.”

Man of the series Ishant, whoended with 12 wickets in the twoTests, said he faced difficulties with

the pink ball initially. “Pitching the ball up is some-

thing we developed during the lastgame. Me and bowling coach dis-cussed it. It wasn’t a fluke. Pink ballis a little difficult, it didn’t swing atthe start and we need to adjust to theconditions.”

Meanwhile visiting captainMominul Haque said his team willlook to learn from their mistakes.

“Definitely, the gap between thetwo teams is concerning. We’ve tolearn from these two matches andfollow up what happened. The pinkball, new balls are challenging and wecouldn’t take the challenge with thenew ball.

“If we lose no problem, but therewas some positives. Ebadat bowledwell. Riyad bhai and Mushfiqur bhaibatted well.”

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Indian captain Virat Kohli onSunday endorsed a home and

away format for the World TestChampionship, saying it wouldbe more reflective of the team’sperformance.

India have easily made cleansweeps over the West Indies 2-0 in an away series before con-tinuing their ruthless domina-tion at home against SouthAfrica (3-0) and Bangladesh(2-0) to firmly lead WTC stand-ings with 360 points. Theirnearest rivals, Australia, are on116 points.

“I think the more balancedformat would be one serieshome and one away. We areplaying very good cricket but weplayed only two Tests away inthe Test Championship,” theIndian skipper said.

“You can praise our team onour performance. But to say thatwe are dominating like no otherteam is a very subjective thingto think of. If we played twoseries away and two at home andwe had 300 points, then you cansay we played really well,” saidKohli, who had earlier pro-posed doubling points for awaywins.

As per the existing format,a team is supposed to play sixseries in the WTC, three homeand three away but they are notscheduled alternatively.

He pointed out the intense-ly-fought Ashes earlier this yearwhen Australia and Englanddrew 2-2.

“I don’t think there should

be any kind of tags attached toany team. In the TestChampionship, even if we makethe finals, there’s only one gameso whoever plays will win thechampionship.

“So it doesn’t matter howmany points you have at the endof the day. But a good formatwould be one home one awayand then you keep that balanceand keep moving forward.”

India also became the firstteam to complete four successiveinnings wins with their pink-ballTest win over Bangladesh.

“I can only say we are at thetop of our game. You can’tjudge your team's dominancewith just seven games. We’requite excited about how we areplaying and what the challengesare.”

Kohli said their mindset isnow to play the next series asthey are looking forward to thetwo Tests against New Zealandnext year.

“Now the frame of mind isto get to the next series in Testcricket. And not like we finishedplaying at home let's see whathappens abroad. We are waitingto play Test cricket. So I thinkthat mindset has changed now.”

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