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Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Wednesday

expelled two senior mostleader-Prashant Kishor andPavan Verma from the Janatadal (U) for accusing him ofcommitting “ideologicalbetrayal” by supporting theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and aligning with theBJP for the Delhi Assemblypolls.

Nitish took the extremestep after Kishor on Tuesdaylaunched a vehement attack onhim tweeting, “Nitish Kumarwhat a fall for you to lie abouthow and why you made mejoin JDU!! Poor attempt onyour part to try and make mycolour same as yours!”

He was responding toNitish’s claim that he inductedKishor on Amit Shah sugges-tion.

Though the immediatecause for the expulsion ofKishor and Verma is seen astheir objection to CAA andDelhi poll truck with the BJP,observers point to Kumar’sanger over their making pub-lic a series of behind-the-cur-tain political moves as themain reason for showing themdoors.

The relation betweenKishor and Nitish were appar-ently also strained ever sine theformer took the responsibilityof managing the assembly elec-tion of Trinamool Congresschief Mamata Banerjee. TheTMC and BJP share a bitterrelation and it was becoming

untebable for the JD(U) lead-ership to justify how could oneof their senior leaders be man-aging the poll campign ofMamata Banerjee.

In a statement, partyGeneral Secretary KC Tyagisaid, “As both the party leadershave been broken the party dis-cipline, they are being expelledfrom the primary member-ship of the party.”

Kishor had joined the JD-U in September 2018. He wasalso made the Vice President ofthe party. While Varma is a for-mer Rajya Sabha member ofthe JD-U.

Soon after their expulsionfrom JD(U), both the dissent-ing leaders took a dig at Kumarby `congratulating` him for

being successful in his powerpursuits by compromising`ideology’.Prashant Kishoroffered Kumar his best wishesto “retain” the chief minister-ship of Bihar.

In a tweet minutes after theJD(U) suspended Kishor,Kishor said, “Thank you NitishKumar. My best wishes to youto retain the chair of ChiefMinister of Bihar. God blessyou.”Varma, after beingexpelled from JD(U), too gaveleft-handed complements toKumar. “ I congratulate NitishKumar ji for removing all theobstacles and impedimentsfrom his path in his pursuit ofshort term political gain. Thispursuit is clearly now com-pletely without any fidelity or

loyalty to ideology”, he said. The election strategist had

a couple of days ago sought toembarrass Sushil Modi by shar-ing an old video clip wherein,as the then leader of opposi-tion, he had spoken harshly about the ChiefMinister.

Kishor had raked up theepisode by way of a riposte toSushil, who had indirectly chid-ed him for troubling Nitish byrepeatedly violating his ownparty’s line.

Both Kishor and Varmacame from apolitical back-ground. Kishor made a name asa professional poll strategistafter his involvement inNarendra Modi’s successfulcampaign as the BJP’s prime

ministerial candidate in the2014 Lok Sabha polls. He wasalso seen as a key force in seal-ing Nitish’s alliance with theRJD in 2015 and then with theBJP in 2017 before joining theJD(U) and being made its vicepresident.

Varma, a former diplomat,was sent to Rajya Sabha by theparty as Nitish felt that he couldbe useful as an articulate voicein the national Capital.

Their expulsion from theparty will be seen as a victoryfor its seasoned hands likeLalan Singh and RCP Singhwho had not taken kindly tothe rise of Kishor in the partyand believed that his andVarma’s outspoken views ill-served its interests.

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As the lethal coronaviruscontinues to spread far

and wide, claiming 132 livesand infecting over 6,000 othersin China alone, India onWednesday issued a fresh advi-sory asking people not toundertake ‘unnecessary’ travelto the neighbouring country.Also, its only two passengercarriers that fly to China —IndiGo and Air India —announced suspension of mostof their flights to the country asa precautionary measure.

Airlines based in Asia,North America and Europehave already announcedrestricted operations to theregion in view of the outbreakof the virus.

India has requested Chinafor permission to operate twoflights to bring back its nation-als from Hubei Province, theepicentre of the outbreak, theMinistry of External Affairssaid.

The Indian Embassy inBeijing on Wednesday circu-lated registration forms and

consent notes for the Indians inWuhan and Hubei province tobe filled by them.

While IndiGo airlines saidon Wednesday that due tocoronavirus outbreak in China,it has decided to suspend itsflights on the Bengaluru-HongKong route from February 1and on the Delhi-Chengduroute from February 1 to 20.

Air India spokesperson said thenational carrier is suspendingits flights on Delhi-Shanghairoute from January 31 toFebruary 14.

In India, many people areunder observation in hospitalsfor suspected coronavirusinfection including inMaharashtra, Goa, Odisha andthe national Capital. The Union

Health Ministry has asked peo-ple to use 24x7 helpline (011-23978046) for queries related torespiratory infection.

Efforts have been steppedup to handle any emergencysituation in case arising due tothe mysterious disease.Thermal screening has beenexpanded to 20 airports fromseven, along with addition of 10new laboratories to test thevirus, as a precautionary mea-sure.

The Government has acti-vated four new laboratories—the Indian Council ofMedical Research’s viralresearch and diagnostics labnetwork — at Alleppey,Bengaluru, Hyderabad, andMumbai for testing samples. Sofar, Pune’s National Institute ofVirology was conducting thetests. A total of 20 samples haveso far been tested by NIVPune and all were found neg-ative.

Meanwhile, Mumbai PortTrust has been instructed notto give shore permit to any ves-sel coming from China.

Continued on Page 6

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a leg-

islation extending the upperlimit for permitting abortionsfrom the present 20 weeks to 24weeks for “special categories ofwomen”, which would includerape survivors, victims ofincest, differently-abled andminors.

The Medical Terminationof Pregnancy (Amendment)Bill, 2020 which amends theMedical Termination ofPregnancy Act, 1971 will beintroduced in Parliament ses-sion to begin from January 31.

While addressing the

media after the Cabinet meet-ing, Union Minister PrakashJavadekar said the upper limitfor permitting abortions hasbeen extended from the present20 weeks to 24 weeks.

The law will help the rapevictims, ill and under-agewomen to terminate theunwanted pregnancy lawfully.Also, in case of deformity of thefoetus, a medical board willprovide a safe pathway forabortion,” the Minister added.

He also said that this willensure safe termination ofpregnancies and also givewomen reproductive rightsover their bodies.

“In a progressive reformand giving reproductive rightsto women the limit of 20 weeksof medical termination of preg-nancy has been increased to 24weeks. This is importantbecause in first 5 months thereare cases where the girl con-cerned doesn’t realise and hasto go to court. This was dis-cussed with various stake-holders.

“This will reduce maternalmortality,” Javadekar said as hepointed out that according toestimates, “eight per cent ofdeaths in maternal mortalitydata are due to unsafe abor-tions”.

A statement issued by theGovernment here said the“upper gestation limit” formedical termination of preg-nancy will not apply in cases of“substantial foetal abnormali-ties” diagnosed by the MedicalBoard.

Continued on Page 6

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Rohit Sharma smashed con-secutive sixes in the final

two balls of the thrilling SuperOver, leading India to theirmaiden T20 series win in NewZealand following a nerve-wracking finish in the thirdmatch here on Wednesday.

Needing 18 off six balls inthe Super Over, India had man-aged just 10 off the first fourballs. Then, Sharma smackedtwo big hits, one over mid-wick-et and the other over long off,to help India pull off a nail-biter.

Before the Super Over,New Zealand had it all undercontrol with two runs neededoff four balls and six wickets inhand to overhaul India’s 179 forfive. However, the hosts threwit away from a comfortableposition as Mohammad Shamibowled a brilliant death over totie the game, stretching it to aSuper Over, bringing backmemories of the 2019 WorldCup final which New Zealandhad agonisingly lost to Englandon boundary count. Kane

Williamon did all he could,both in the run chase (95 off 48balls) and the Super Over (11),but it did not prove to beenough to get his team over theline in a must-win game.

It was Williamson’s highestT20 score as the Black Capsscored 179-6 (20 overs) in replyto India’s 179-5 (20 overs).Rohit’s 65 off 40 balls had pro-pelled the visitors after theywere put into bat. India’s firstT20 series in New Zealandcame after a 1-2 loss to the BlackCaps almost 12 months ago. OnWednesday, India’s fieldingeffort was poor, including aneasy drop from Ravindra Jadejawith Jasprit Bumrah (0-45)proving expensive on the night.

Bumrah went for 11 runsin the penultimate over. Shami(2-32) conceded a six off thefirst ball of the 20th but thenremoved both Williamson andbowled Ross Taylor (17 off 10balls) in the next five balls tosnatch a tie.

Detailed report on P16

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Citing provocative lan-guages used by Union

Minister of State for FinanceAnurag Thakur and DelhiBJP MP Pravesh SahibSingh Verma in campaignral l ies , the Elect ionCommission (EC) onWednesday ordered the BJPto drop both of them fromthe list of star campaignersfor the Assembly elections inDelhi.

Both of them shouldconsidered themselves luckybecause despite facing accu-sation of making provocative

hate speech and using abu-sive language, the EC letthem escape with minorpunishment.

Thakur and Verma canstill canvass for the BJP butthey will have to bear thecampaign expenditures.

“ The Elect ionCommission has ordered theremoval of Thakur andVerma from the list of starcampaigners of the BJP forthe general elections to theLegislative Assembly of theNCT of Delhi with immediate effect and untilfurther orders,” an EC notestated.

The final order will beannounced by the poll panelafter examining their replies.

The comments byThakur and Verma are partof a string of controversialcomments and communallydivis ive rhetor ic usedin the Delhi election cam-

paign.Continued on Page 6

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In the midst of poll frenzy inthe national Capital, the BJP

on Wednesday had a prizedjoining as former world num-ber one badminton player

Saina Nehwal joined the saffron party hailing PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as an “inspiration” withhis “hard work” for the country.

Detailed report on P5

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The European Parliamenthas decided not to conduct

a vote on Thursday on a reso-lution against India’s new citi-zenship law, a move seen as anattempt to not jeopardise PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s visitto Brussels in March for abilateral summit with the 28-member block.

The European Parliamenton Wednesday decided to takeup the voting against theCitizenship Amendment Actduring its new session begin-ning March 2.

Government sources calledthe deferment of the voting adiplomatic victory, adding that

friends of India prevailed overthe friends of Pakistan in theEuropean Parliament onWednesday.

India reached out to almostall countries of the powerfulblock, trying to persuade themagainst going ahead with theresolution against the CAA.

Sources said the Europeanlawmakers agreed to delay thevoting to get a direct perspec-tive from about the CAA fromExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar who is scheduled tovisit Brussels to prepare theground for Modi’s visit in mid-March.

The EU lawmakers alsowanted to wait for judicialreview of the contentious law

by India’s Supreme Court.Diplomatic sources said

the vote on the resolutionagainst the CAA may takeplace between March 30 and31, but a debate on it will go onas scheduled later onWednesday.

Six political groups ofmembers of the EuropeanParliament had moved a jointresolution against India’s citi-zenship law, calling it discrim-inatory.

“Strenuous efforts of out-going British MEP (Member ofEuropean Parliament) ShaffaqMohammad to have a resolu-tion passed by the EuropeanParliament against India on the

Continued on Page 6

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Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra

took a dig at Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath over deployingPWD engineers to restrict straycattle from his programmeduring Ganga Yatra inMirzapur.

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Criticising the PrimeMinister for “forgetting to

provide jobs to youths”,Rashtriya Lok Dal statechief Masood Ahmad saidthat Narendra Modi hadconveniently forgottenthe promise he had made tothe youth of the countryduring the Lok Sabha polls in2014.

Ahmad was reactingto the PM’s address to NCCcadets in New Delhi inwhich he only spokeabout Citizenship(Amendment) ACT andPakistan’s role in spreading

terror in India.“Modi was merely playing

with words. He cleverlyskipped the issue of growingunemployment in the country.He should have spoken onmeasures being taken toimprove the economy which isunder stress and on jobswhich the youths of the coun-try need the most at this time,”he said.

The RLD leader said thatseveral lakh youth were laid offafter the Union governmentdemonetised high value cur-rency notes.

“In 2014, Modi hadpromised two crore jobs foryouths which he never provid-

ed. Now he is trying to woo theyouths by speaking on issuesrelated to Pakistan to hide thefailures of his government,” hesaid.

Ahmad said the PMdid not speak about theviolence by masked persons onthe Jawaharlal NehruUniversity campus some timeback.

“Modi and other BharatiyaJanata Party leaders are used topropagating issues which suittheir policies the best. Theyouth of the country are awareof these political gimmicksand they have got fed up ofsuch speeches,” the RLD statechief said.

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Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said on

Wednesday that his govern-ment was working for holisticdevelopment in the state andwould focus on supplying ofpure drinking water to everyhousehold through Har GharNal Yojana and developingMaa Vindhyavasini Dham.

Addressing a public meet-ing at the Government InterCollege grounds in Mirzapuron the third day of the GangaYatra, the chief minister said a` 6,000-crore project had beenprepared for development ofMirzapur.

Yogi said the Bundelkhandand Vindhya regions, whichhad been neglected for decades,were now witnessing rapiddevelopment.

The chief minister said the

river Ganga was not only a sym-bol of faith but also the base ofIndian economy, adding thatthe Ganga Yatra was a conflu-ence of faith and economy andeveryone should contribute toit. Yogi started his address rais-ing slogans in praise of MaaGanga and Maa Vindhyavasiniand appealed to the people tokeep the river clean. The five-day Ganga Yatra is being takenout from Bijnor and Ballia andboth the legs of the yatra wouldconverge at Kanpur on January31.

Yogi said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadlaunched the Namami GangeProject to make the river Gangaclean and ever-flowing. Thechief minister said that hisgovernment had taken up thework of cleaning the Ganga ona war-footing.

“Earlier, the sewage of

Kanpur used to fall directly intothe Ganga, badly polluting itswater and making it poisonous.But now, not a single drop ofsewage falls in the river,” he said,adding that once Bhagirathhad brought Maa Ganga fromheaven to earth and today PMNarendra Modi had become amodern Bhagirath for makingall efforts to clean its water.

Highlighting the achieve-ments of his government, Yogisaid that medical colleges hadbeen established in Mirzapurand Sonbhadra and the entireVindhya region was marchingtowards overall development.

“Since decades, Bansagarproject was pending and its filewas gathering dust during theprevious regimes but Modi hasmade the dreams of the regiona reality,” the chief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion,Union Minister Narendra Singh

Tomar said that the GangaYatra was being taken out for agreat purpose and everyoneshould contribute to it. “Gangais our culture. River Gangaprovides salvation to us notonly in this world but hereafteralso,” he said.

He said that through theNamami Gange project, PrimeMinister Modi had started thework of making Ganga clean in2014 but the then UP govern-ment did not contribute to it.

“You handed over the reinsof the state to Yogi Adityanath.Now, Modi and Yogi are hereamong you to clean the Ganga.Definitely, their efforts willbear fruit and the Ganga willbecome clean,” the Union min-ister added.

BJP state chief SwatantraDev Singh said the Ganga Yatraaimed to bring prosperity in thelives of the downtrodden and

the underprivileged.Later, Chief Minister Yogi

Aditya Nath went to Allahabadto receive the Ganga Yatra.

After his helicopter landedat the Reserve Police Lines, theChief Minister went to theCircuit House. After spendingsome time at the Circuit House,he went to Naini in the trans-Yamuna belt and received theGanga Yatra which came fromMirzapur. The chief ministersaid the aim of the governmentwas to ensure a clean and pol-lution-free Ganga. He said thatGanga was a symbol of faithand the lifeline of economicprosperity.

Yogi said that his govern-ment had successfully imple-mented Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s NamamiGange project. The chief min-ister told youth that it was theprime duty and responsibility of

everyone to keep the Gangaclean and pollution-free.

He asked youth to sparesome time and contribute in thecleaning of the river on a reg-ular basis.

Taking a dig at pseudo-sec-ularists for opposing theCitizenship (Amendment) Actand resorting to violence, thechief minister warned them thataction would be taken againstthem if they took law intotheir hands.

In the evening CM YogiAdityanath performed Gangaaarti and met the saints includ-ing Shankaracharya SwamiNishchalanandji Maharaj,Mahamandaleshwar, SantoshDas Satuwa Baba, Swami NrityaGopal Das and SwamiVasudevanandji Maharaj. Thechief minister visited theircamps and was closeted withthem for some time.

“In the entire UttarPradesh, farmers are facing alot of problems due to stray cat-tle menace but for the chiefminister’s programme inMirzapur, the governmentdeployed engineers armed withropes to check entry of cattlewhich could hinder Yogi’s fleetor during his programme,”tweeted Priyanka.

The Congress leader askedthe Bharatiya Janata Party gov-ernment in UP to take upresponsibility of providing safe-ty to farmers’ crops from straycattle.

Interestingly, Priyanka alsouploaded a video along withher tweet in which farmers areseen singing folk songs tohighlight how stray cattle aredestroying their cops afterentering their fields.

A few days back, PublicWorks Department ExecutiveEngineer in Mirzapur,Kanhaiya Jha, had issued anorder asking nine junior engi-neers to be present fromReserve Police Lines to theCM’s programme venue inBirohi with ropes to prevententry of stray cattle on the routethat the CM was to take to goto the venue. The junior engi-neers were also asked to keepthe cattle tied in case any onewas found roaming near thevenue.

Diploma Engineers’ Sanghhad reacted strongly to theorder and its chief Vijay Singh,while condemning the order,claimed that JEs were nottrained to catch stray cattle sowho would take responsibilityin case any one of them gotinjured. He suggested that suchduties be assigned to spe-cialised cell of nagar palikasand nagar nigams concerned.

After the objection ofDiploma Engineers’ Sangh,District Magistrate of Mirzapurtook cognisance while the exec-utive engineer who issued theorder tried to come out clean,saying the order was issued bydefault and it had been with-drawn.

Sources confirmed thateven the CM’s office took aserious note of the order andasked the Mirzapur administra-tion to send a detailed reporton how and on whose directionthe order was issued and laterwithdrawn.

Action is likely to be initi-ated against the PWD officialsresponsible for issuing theorder.

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Awoman advocate was thrashedfor objecting after the pet of her

neighbour pooped outside her housein Gudamba. The police are inves-tigating the case.

According to complainant RichaMishra of Rajiv Nagar in Kalyanpurlocality of Gudamba, her neighbour,whose husband is a junior engineerin PWD, used to walk her dog everyday near her house and the dog usedto poop there.

“I was observing this for a longtime and objected to the dog’sowner when she was walking her petnear my house. The woman lost hercool and started shouting at me. Sheincited the dog to bite me. She latercaught me by my hair and pulled medown. When I objected she bit at myhand,” Richa alleged.

Inspector, Gudamba, RPSingh, said the police received acomplaint from Richa in this con-nection.

“We are probing the allegationand will initiate action accordingly,”he said.

��An unidentified miscreant

duped a man of Rs 32,000 in thename of verification of KYC inJankipuram.

Reports said the victim, ArvindAdhikari of Sahara Estate, got a callfrom an unknown number onJanuary 27 about KYC verification.“I have a Paytm account. The callertold me that KYC verification wasneeded for continuing the Paytmaccount and asked me to get itupdated. When I asked the proce-dure, he told me to contact a num-ber that he sent me through mes-sage. I contacted the person on thatnumber and told him the entiredetails. Later I got a message thatmoney was debited from myaccount,” Arvind said. Police regis-tered a case and are making inves-tigation. In another incident, a manposing as an armyman duped ayouth of Rs 25,000 in Madiaon.

Reports said the victim, SandeepYadav of Preeti Nagar, called amobile phone number given in anadvertisement for sale of a motor-cycle.

“When I contacted the number,the man at the other end introducedhimself as an armyman. Believinghim to be true, I finalised the dealfor the two-wheeler and transferredRs 25,000 in his bank account. Themiscreant then demanded anotherRs 11,500 as transportation charges.When I objected he threatened meand refused to return the money,”Sandeep alleged. The police saidthey were investigating the case.

��Six passengers travelling in an

auto sustained injuries when its dri-ver lost control on the wheels andthe three-wheeler rammed into aroadways bus from behind andoverturned at Bhithauli crossing inMadiaon on Wednesday afternoon.

Those injured were identified asDilip Kumar and Sandeep Yadav,both of Madiaon, Om Prakash andRam Sewak, both of Mahanagar,Vikas and Khusboo, both of Para.

The auto going towards BakshiKa Talab. The auto driver fled thescene after the accident. The com-muters rushed the injured passen-gers to hospital.

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The ongoing protest againstthe Citizenship

(Amendment) Act at ClockTower in Hussainabad enteredits 13th day on Wednesday.

Samajwadi Party leaderAbhishek Mishra visited theprotest venue on Wednesdayand extended his support to thewomen sitting on dharna, brav-ing the inclement weather con-ditions. The protesters, howev-er, asked Mishra to talk tomedia persons outside the areain which they were stagingprotest.

Talking to newsmen,Mishra said the Constitutiongave equal rights to people ofall castes and religions and todiscriminate them on the basisof religion and caste wasunconstitutional.

The light drizzle failed todampen the spirits of thewomen protesters, who usedpolythene sheets and umbrel-las to save them from beingdrenched. The number of pro-testers, however, did not dwin-dle even in the poor weathercondition.

The anti-CAA protest atUjariaon in Gomti Nagar alsocontinued on Wednesday.

The women protesters car-ried placards with BharatBandh inscribed on them.

It may be mentioned that

various organisations had givena call for Bharat Bandh onWednesday in protest againstthe CAA National Register ofCitizens.

Meanwhile, All-IndiaMuslim Personal Law Boardvice-president Dr Kalbe Sadiqappealed to the government tohold talks with the protestersand find an amicable solutionto the deadlock.

He said registration of FIRs

against the protesters was notjustifiable.

Meanwhile, the womenprotesters decided to keep a faston Thursday to commemorateMahatma Gandhi.

They put the portrait ofMahatma Gandhi at the protestvenue.

Meanwhile, the ‘BharatBandh’ called by several orga-nizations, including theBahujan Mukti Morcha, the

Bhim Army and thePurvanchal Sena, to protestagainst the new citizenshiplaw and the NRC onWednesday witnessed a luke-warm response in the UttarPradesh capital.

In Muslim-dominated oldcity, traders downed shuttersover the Citizenship(Amendment) Act and theNational Register of Citizens(NRC). But there was no

impact of the shutdown call inother areas like Hazratganj andGomti Nagar.

Police said no untowardincident was reported any-where in the city.

In Deoria, former RajyaSabha MP Aas Mohammadand his wife were detained bypolice near the Salempur areawhen they were headingtowards Subhash Chowk toregister their protest against theCAA and the NRC.

When information aboutthe detention of Mohammadand his wife spread, localsrushed to the Kotwali policestation demanding theirrelease.

“Me and my wife haddecided that we will hold apeaceful protest but policedetained us,” Mohammad said.

When contacted,Superintendent of Police,Deoria, Sripati Mishra said,“The former MP and his wifewere taken to Kotwali policestation as there was possibilitythat the protest will affect lawand order negatively.”

Pamphlets were distrib-uted Tuesday evening inMuslim-dominated areas ask-ing people to observe shut-down in protest against theamended citizenship law andthe NRC. In Gorakhpur, theresponse to the bandh call wasseen in a few areas.

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Hundreds of youths assem-bled near a masjid close to

Mohanlalganj railway station inprotest against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act onWednesday, sending the copsinto a tizzy for hours.

The police rounded up 10protesters after a minor scufflewith them.

Those arrested were iden-tified as Shailendra Gautam,Bablu Ambedkar, Raju Rawat,Sanjay Rawat, Amarjeet,

Raghvendra, Jai Prakash, RajNarayan, Bindra Prasad andDilip Kumar, all of neighbour-ing localities.

As per reports, aroundnoon, the youths started assem-bling near the mosque andsoon their numbers reached200.

They were carrying blueflags and placards with anti-CAA slogans and claimed to beactive members of Bhim Army.The news reached to the policeand a heavy force was rushedto the spot.

The protesters were askednot to assemble in large groupsas Section 144 of CrPC wasimposed in the city. This led toan argument and the police hadto use mild force to disperse themob.

Inspector of Mohanlalganjsaid a case under Section 188of the IPC for violation ofprohibitory orders was regis-tered against those detained.

Sources said the police sus-pect the hand of some politicalleaders behind the protestbid.

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Chilly westerly winds willmake Basant Panchami a

cold day on Thursday. Met office Director JP

Gupta said the easterlies whichmake the weather warmer willstop blowing from Wednesdayand the chilly westerlies wouldtake over from Thursdayonwards making the weathercold.

Wednesday started as afoggy day. However, it becamewarm as the sun came out forsome time but from afternoon,the sky became cloudy at inter-vals. In the evening, light rainswere witnessed in many partsof the city making the weath-er cold. The city recorded amaximum temperature of 24.4degree Celsius and a minimumtemperature of 12.6 degreeCelsius.

Climate experts said that asper the Hindu calendar, thecold weather should have sub-

sided with the onset of Basantor spring on January 30.

Climate expert fromLucknow University and pro-fessor at geology department,Vibhuti Rai, said the Hindu cal-ender had been apt till now as

far as weather changes wereconcerned but it was no longerso because of the new systemsand circulations developing inthe atmosphere. “These Hinducalender had been written atthe time when there was noindustrialisation and through

the acute observations of theancient wise elders but with thepassing of the time the climatechange scenario has createdwestern disturbances that havebeen blowing this year andbringing in the cold windsfrom hills that have witnessedsnowfall. Basant will be colderthis year in comparison to lastyear,” he said.

Meanwhile, some institutescelebrated Basant Panchamion Wednesday itself.

The KGMU organised itsannual Basant celebrations thatkicked off with Saraswati pujaand witnessed enthusiastic par-ticipation of the students.

The inauguration of poo-jan ceremony was done byVice Chancellor Prof MLBBhatt.

Basant celebrations onThursday will witness the dis-tribution of fruits and fooditems that are yellow in coloursuch as raspberries, ber, khich-di, tehri and poha.

��

Aman was abused and given life threat fordemanding back the money he had loaned to a

relative in Chinhat on Tuesday. The police registered a case in this regard.As per reports, Rajesh Pratap Singh of Rehman

Nagar in Chinhat had given Rs 40,000 to his rela-tive Alok Ranjan of Gorakhpur. On Tuesday, whenAlok along with his father visited Singh’s house, thelatter reminded his kin about the money he had givento him. This led to a verbal dispute and Alok andhis father Shyam Bihari abused Singh and threatenedto kill him. Singh said he fled the house in fear anda little later when he returned home he found hisbriefcase missing. He alleged that Alok took away thatcontained a gold ring, a gold bracelet and someimportant papers. The police are investigating thecase.

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Lucknow (PNS): TheSanatkada Fest which kicks off onJanuary 31 with the theme of qas-bas (townships) of Lucknow, willalso highlight the Dewa qasba ofBarabanki.

Sanatkada Fest mediaspokesperson Harshita Mishra saidthat they had carried out extensiveresearch on Dewa township. Shesaid that the qasba represented theunifying values of our heritage.

“Dewa is a major Sufi pilgrim-age town in Barabanki with a pop-ulation of about 16,000. It is thebirth place of Haji Waris Ali Shah(1818-1905) who is revered for hismessage of universal love andhumanity. Waris Ali Shah was

buried at the spot where he died anda monument was erected in hismemory by his followers, bothHindus and Muslims. A believer insulh-i kul, he is held in high esteemby people of all religions,” she said.

An Urs is organised duringKartik every year (October-November) and a 10-day fair, theDewa Mela, is held.

“The Dewa Mela now sees lakhsof pilgrims from all parts of thecountry coming to pay homage toWaris Ali Shah and his fatherQurban Ali Shah. Brightly lit anddecorated shops offer a variety oftoys, handicrafts, household items,snacks and sweetmeats. The fair alsohas a big cattle market.

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AProvincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawanwas killed while six of his colleagues were

injured when a police vehicle carrying them tocourt collided head-on with a truck near NaveenKrishi Mandi on National Highway 2 inChandauli.

As per reports, the PAC jawans were goingfrom Naveen Krishi Mandi to the collectorate forduty when the tragedy took place on Wednesdaymorning.

The body of PAC jawan Man Ram (55) wassent for post-mortem and the injured jawans,identified as Sunil Kumar (45), Prakash Rai (50)Rishidev Gupta (47), Hemchandra Yadav (58),Puneet Kumar (24) and Sanjeev Kumar (42), wererushed to district hospital for treatment.

A case was registered against the truck dri-ver but no one was arrested.

In another incident reported from Bhadohi,a 42-year-old pushcart vendor was killed after aspeeding car knocked him down on Chauri Roadunder City Kotwali police station on Tuesdaynight.

Vendor Bechu Gupta was returning homewith his pushcart when the speeding car, appar-ently being driven by a drunk youth, hit him nearBadi Bagh area.

While Gupta died on the spot, the car driveralso sustained serious injuries and was referredto the Trauma Centre in Varanasi.

Infuriated over the accident, the locals stageda protest and refused to allow the vendor’s bodyto be removed. They were pacified by senior offi-cials and later the body was sent for autopsy.

In yet another accident in Fatehpur, twoyouths were killed after being hit by a truck onBanda-Tanda road on Wednesday afternoon.

As per reports, Jani (22) and Ravi Kumar (20)were changing a wheel of their truck nearDhakaili Katka turn in Mallawan police stationarea, when a truck coming from the oppositedirection hit them.

The bodies were sent for autopsy and a huntwas on to nab the erring truck driver.

�� : C)3!

Uttar Pradesh Real Estate RegulatoryAuthority (UPRERA) announced to

set up e-Courts to redress complaints ofaggrieved parties through an integratedmanagement module.

The new system will come into effectfrom February 2, 2020.

“The Authority has envisioned anevolutionary process of addressing com-plaints of aggrieved parties through anintegrated complaints management mod-ule, to be known as e-Courts,” said a seniorUPRERA official.

UPRERA Chairman Rajive Kumarsaid in Lucknow on Wednesday, “The e-Courts will ensure transparency, efficien-cy and effectiveness of judicial system withfocus on achieving the vision of digitalnation. The Authority thus seeks greater

participation and support from variousstakeholders in the success of the systemfor managing complaints in a digital fash-ion.”

The module is dedicated towardsinviting complaints, processingthem through logical rules and disposingthem of in a time-bound manner digital-ly.

However, the UPRERA has decidedto continue with the old complaint formstill 12 midnight of February 2, 2020. Fromthe next day, complaints can be submit-ted only on the new forms.

The e-Courts comprise of steps start-ing with registration of complaintsthrough an online form that collectsrequired information in a mutually exclu-sive and collectively exhaustive fashion.Then the complaints are pre-processed/scrutinised by RERA for missing informa-

tion in the complaint. The complainants and respondents

will have an interactive dashboard whereall information related to their cases willbe visible.

All information from parties will besought online, aiming for transparency inthe process and achieving a paperlessapproach.

Besides, the process entails adoptinga robust communication engine for send-ing timely notifications.

Sources said that presiding officerswould have an equally interactive dash-board, having all information about thecomplaint and necessary integration withproject-related information.

The last part involves partly automat-ing the process of order generation so thatno essential information is missed in theorder.

�� : C)3!

Close on heels of two sisters being rapedby men in uniform in Sambhal, in

another sensational incident, two teenagedgirls were abducted by their neighbours andgang-raped in Ballia on Saturday.

A case was registered after the girls wererescued on Tuesday

The victims, aged 16 and 17, wereabducted by Asif and Chunnu Qureshi whilehis aide Suraj Chauhan confined the girls atan unknown location where they were gang-raped on Saturday.

On Wednesday, acting on the complaintof a victim’s mother, the police rescued bothteenagers and sent them for medical exam-ination. The police also arrested the threeaccused. Investigations are on.

Meanwhile, in a bizarre incident report-ed from Faizabad, some villagers chopped offthe nose of a man and a woman from differ-ent faiths for having an affair, at Kand Pipravillage in Patranga police station area on theintervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

Additional police force was deployed atthe village to ensure peace between the twocommunities.

The police said that the 28-year-old manvisited the 35-year-old woman’s house whenher father-in-law and other kin caught them.They thrashed the duo before chopping offtheir noses.

The woman’s husband works in SaudiArabia.

SSP of Faizabad, Ashish Tiwari, said thewoman’s father-in-law and others involved inthe crime were arrested and the victims wereadmitted to district hospital where their con-dition was said to be stable.

Meanwhile in Mathura, a 27-year-olddoctor, who sustained gunshot injuries alongwith a sub-inspector when gun-runnersopened fire at them on Tuesday, succumbedto his injuries at a hospital later in the night.

Acting on a tip-off that some gun-run-

ners were to meet on the outskirts of Siraulivillage, Sub-inspector Ajai Awana of KosiKalan police station went to the spot in civil-ian clothes along with Dr Amar Singh (27)on Tuesday evening.

But as they reached there, the group start-ed firing indiscriminately, injuring Awana andSingh. Both were rushed to KD Hospitalwhere Singh succumbed to his injuries onTuesday night. Awana was later shifted to aprivate hospital in Noida.

Dr Amar Singh of Hatana village of KosiKalan police station area ran a clinic in Falenvillage. It is not yet known why Singh was atthe spot. The body was sent for autopsy.

Two country-made pistols were recoveredfrom the spot. A manhunt has been launchedto nab the assailants and two FIRs have beenlodged against the group.

��NOIDA: A Greater Noida resident on way toDelhi airport in a cab was allegedly robbedof his money and a chain by three men,including the taxi driver, hours before he wasto board a flight abroad, police said onWednesday.

The incident was reported to the policeon January 27 and an FIR was registered inthe case at Phase II police station, officialssaid.

“Ankur Chauhan, a resident of AjnaraDaffodils society in Greater Noida’s Surajpurarea, had taken the Ola cab at 12.15 am forthe Delhi airport. Midway, the driver stoppedthe car and two other unidentified menboarded the vehicle,” a police spokespersonsaid.

“They robbed Chauhan of his chain, Rs1,000 cash and USD 1,500 before dumpinghim on the road and fled,” the spokespersonsaid.

A Phase II police station official saidChauhan, however, managed to catch hisflight to a foreign country for which he wasscheduled to reach the airport by 3.30 am.

�� : C)3!

The UP Housing andDevelopment Board

(UPHDB) will take up in itsgeneral body meeting the pro-posal to reduce the prices ofunsold flats in Awadh Vihar,Vrindavan and Amrapalischemes by 5 per cent.

Over 3,000 flats are lyingunsold in these prestigioushousing schemes for the pastseveral years. HousingCommissioner AK Chauhansaid the rebate could be offeredas no one had come forward tobuy these flats for unknownreason. The UPHDB would befinancially benefited if theseunsold flats were disposed of,

he added. Another key issue onthe agenda will be the proposedhousing scheme in Sector H ofAmrapali Yojana. It will have600 flats of all types of cate-gories. The UPHDB had pre-pared the blue print of thescheme three years ago but itfailed to discuss the scheme inthe past meetings. The housingcommissioner said the schemecould be discussed in the meet-ing. A proposal to allot 5 percent of the developed land tofarmers whose land wasacquired, in the Vrindavanhousing scheme along withthe due compensation, willalso be tabled in the meeting.The land to the farmers wasacquired under the land pool

policy. The UPHDB will alsohold discussion on regularisingunauthorised structures atVrindavan scheme that havecome up after 2002.

A proposal will also bemoved to introduce pensionscheme for the employees.Interestingly, the state govern-ment had issued orders in thisregard three years ago but noinitiative was taken by theauthorities to table the propos-al in the meeting.

The UPHDB will also dis-cuss plan to design and con-struct a hi-tech communitycentre and a ultra-modernsport complex in Sector 7 ofVasundhara housing scheme inGhaziabad.

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�� 5��6Teams of City Montessori School,

Mahanagar campus and Rajendra Nagarcampus were awarded first prizes fortheir performances in group dance anddrill performance respectively in theRepublic Day parade. CMS tableau basedon 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam' was awardedthe second prize. The tableau is now keptat CMS Kanpur Road campus for publicviewing.

7�� Nandini Sharma was conferred with

‘student of the year’ award in a felicitationceremony held at DPS Indiranagar.Around 26 students from the outgoingbatch of class XII were honored under var-ious categories. With the aim to inculcatethe leadership qualities a grandiose cita-tion ceremony was held wherein titles wereassigned to the members of the DPSStudent Council -2020-21 and badges werehanded over by the present office bearers.Lucknow University professor (Zoology)Monisha Banerjee was the chief guest.Banerjee enlightened the students aboutthe essential tools that each student shouldcarry as they continue with their onwardjourney in life.

��

Renowned IVF expert GitaKhanna said that IVF treat-ment has reached newadvancements and the successrate has also gone up, thanks tothe technological advance-ments and researches thatevolved in past two decades.While speaking at an academ-ic session on Creating Familiesheld at AICOG 2020, she alsomentioned that now younggynaecologists were focusingon IVF as their career, whichused to be a mission for many,three decades ago. The work-shop ended up with a brain

storming panel discussion onchallenges in infertility man-agement and was attended byNandita Palshetkar, AlpeshJoshi, Reshma Pai, HD Pai,Meera Agnihotri, SoniaMallick, Kamla Salveraj, SudhaPrasad, Jaideep Malhotra,Narendra Malhotra, ManjuShukla, Indu Tandon, VineetaDas, Kuldeep Jain, Asha Baxi,Asha Rao and Fessy Louis.

��( ��7��( ��Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail

Corporation managing direc-tor Kumar Keshav inaugurat-ed the Innovation Festivalorganised by the RegionalScience City on Wednesday.Keshav interacted with partic-ipants on almost every projectand expressed his views on thequality and theme of the pro-jects and wherever needed he

gave various tips. He appreci-ated some of the projects hav-ing high innovative compo-nents like cater cleaner, mobilecharging jacket, hydraulic chair,smart dustbin, bank securitysystem, nitrogen fixer, automat-ic drip alarm and many otherprojects.

�� Residents of Sarfarazganj

locality on Hardoi road haveappealed to Lucknowmunicipal commissioner toget the choked drains intheir locality cleaned. In a let-ter to the municipal commis-sioner, they said the drainswere choked as a result ofwhich the drain waterwas overflowing on the roadsin the locality. Local residentsQmar Abbas, Manzar Abbasand Ravi Shanker said theLMC officials did not addresstheir problem though theymade several complaints inthe past.

��(�� : C)3!

The ambience of the venue was breath-taking — cloudy skies and a light driz-

zle on the banks of the river Gomti withbirds returning home against the backdropof military bands playing patriotic tunes,the band leader swirling up his baton inrhythmic motion.

The Beating the Retreat ceremony,which marks the conclusion of theRepublic Day celebrations, was held at theReserve Police Lines grounds here onWednesday and it cast a spell on the audi-ence.

Governor Anandiben Patel was thechief guest at the Beating the Retreat cer-emony, organised jointly by the Army, 35Battalion PAC and the district adminis-tration.

The ceremony dates back to the peri-od when troops stopped fighting for theday at sunset. Listening to the tune ofthe retreat, the soldiers would collecttheir arms and walk back towards theircamps.

The lilting tunes, the immaculatelydressed band members marching in per-fect unison — at times at fast pace and attimes taking slow steps, raising their legshigh in the air, brought loud clapping fromthe audience.

The bands entered the grounds to thetune of the buglers, followed by theNational Anthem. They marched at a fastpace to the tune of ‘Vijay rath’ that cast aspell till the time the bands played.

The Military Pipe and Drum Bandentered next and played ‘Hai Kanchha’ and‘Brig of Down’ to a thunderous applausefrom the audience. They also played pop-ular tunes like ‘Haren haren’, ‘Kilt in myside’ and the evergreen ‘Kadam kadambadhaye jaa’.

The Pipe Band of Central TrainingInstitute played the tunes ‘Haver rifle’, ‘Dedi hame azadi bina khadag bina dhal’ and‘Aye mere watan ke logon’ and ‘Sare jahanse achha’ which brought a patriotic feel.

The Homeguards Brass Band was thenext and they had everyone cheering with

the song ‘Jahan daal daal pe sone kichiriya’. The PAC Band played ‘Bharat kejawan’, ‘Hathroi’, ‘Hai preet jahan ki reetsada’ which had everyone tapping theirfeet.

The Military Band marched in vari-ous formations played the popular tunesof ‘Army Star’, ‘Dhwaj ke Rakshak’ ‘Sarejahaan se achha’, ‘Abide with me’ and‘Kadam badhaye jaa’.

A majority of the people in the audi-ence were seen capturing the bands intheir mobile phones.

The Military Band included RajputRegimental Centre and AMC Centreand were led by Hawaldar Laxman Singhand Subedar MS Reddy The Pipes andDrums Band included 1/11 Gorkha Rifles,Rajput Regimental Centre and 9 Rajputand was conducted by Hawaldar RoniLimbu, Subedar Major Shiv Ratan Singhand Hawaldar Ashok Kumar. The PACBand was led by Sub-inspector VishramSingh and the Homeguards Pipe Band byHari Om. The main coordinator of thebands was Major SR Bhusal. This was fol-lowed by the prize distribution.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved allo-

cation of 30 per cent funds ofthe North Eastern Council(NEC) for new projects forfocused development ofdeprived areas and neglectedsections of society.

As per the plans, allocationof 30 per cent of NEC fundswill be for new projects underthe existing ‘Schemes of NorthEastern Council’ for focuseddevelopment of deprived areas;deprived or neglected sectionsof society and emerging priority sectors in theNortheastern States.

The Cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi decides to pro-vide the balance allocationshall be bifurcated in the exist-ing two components — Statecomponent-60 per cent and

central component-40 per cent.There will be a revision of theNorth Eastern Council (NEC)guidelines for simplificationof appraisal and approvalmechanism.

Projects will be allowedunder State component, up to25 per cent of each State’s nor-mative allocation, for sectorsnot covered in the mandate ofNEC, but which are consideredimportant as per local feltneeds as per the recommen-dations of the StateGovernments.

Briefing media, UnionMinister Prakash Javadekarsaid the the projects under theexisting “Schemes of NEC”will accrue socio-economicbenefits to the marginalisedand vulnerable groups of peo-ple in backward and neglectedareas of the Northeastern states.It will lead to faster decision-making and quick implemen-tation of projects, he said.

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The National Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) on

Wednesday launched a portalenabling people to search formissing persons and checkpolice records of any vehicle andgenerate a no-objection certifi-cate (NOC) for it from a coun-trywide database.

The citizen-centric serviceshave been launched on the Crimeand Criminal Tracking Networkand Systems (CCTNS) platformand can be accessed on -”http://digitalpolicecitizenser-vices.Gov.In”digitalpoliceciti-zenservices.Gov.In portal orthrough a link in the existing‘Digital Police Portal’, an officialstatement said.

“So far, such services arebeing provided through the state

citizen portals and it is the firsttime that these are being launchedcentrally,” it said. IntelligenceBureau Director Arvind Kumar presided over the launchceremony.

“The two citizen servicesnamely ‘Missing Person Search’and ‘Generate Vehicle NOC’ willnow be available online to citi-zens,” NCRB Director Ram Phal

Pawar said. “Citizens can searchfor their missing kin against thenational database of recoveredunidentified found person orunidentified dead bodies fromtheir homes. This will hugelybenefit relatives of missing personsand save them from running pil-lar to post, as all such detailsincluding photos are available inCCTNS and will now be accessi-

ble to citizens through this portalat their convenience,” he said.

On the ‘Generate VehicleNOC’ service, the NCRB directorsaid it allows citizens to ascertain

the status of a vehicle before itssecond hand purchase, as towhether it is suspicious or cleanfrom police records. “This searchcould be made against nationaldatabase based on vehicle’s details,one can generate and downloadthe relevant NOC, required by theRTO before the transfer of own-ership,” Pawar said, according tothe statement.

IB Director Arvind Kumaralso inaugurated the Cyber Tiplinemonitoring facility in the NCRB.Cyber Tipline is centralisedreporting system for the onlineexploitation including traffickingand sexual, of children. “Theintersection between crime andtechnology is more apparent todaythan ever before. Digital tech-nologies and the internet have notonly spurred cybercrimes but alsomade them much more sophisti-cated,” Kumar said.

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In the midst of poll frenzy inthe national Capital, the BJP

on Wednesday had a prizedjoining as former world num-ber one badminton playerSaina Nehwal joined the saffronparty hailing Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as an “inspira-tion” with his “hard work” forthe country.

The BJP may deploy the“youth icon” in the ongoingDelhi election campaign, espe-cially to reach out to the mil-lennial voters and youngsters.

The 29-year-old bad-minton poster girl, who joinedthe BJP along with her elder sis-ter Chandranshu at a ceremo-ny at its headquarters here, said,“I am a hard-working personand like hard-working people.Narendra Modi sir has beenworking day and night for thecountry. If I can do somethingfor the country with him, it willbe my good fortune. I draw a

lot of inspiration from Modi sir.He inspires me,” she said.

Ahead of the 2019 LokSabha polls, while the BJP hadseen the likes of cricketerGautam Gambhir joining theparty and going on to win fromthe East Delhi parliamentaryconstituency, it saw hockeyplayers like Sandeep Singh andwrestler Babita Phogat join it totake the plunge in HaryanaAssembly polls.

Nehwal has been vocal onTwitter in her support for theUnion government’s policies.She said the BJP has beendoing “a lot of good”, and shewould work to do her bit as itsmember. Nehwal is the firstIndian badminton player tohave won an Olympic medal, afeat she achieved in the 2012London games where she wasa bronze medallist. ThePadma and Arjuna awardee,

who later met BJP president JP Nadda, also referred to thegovernment’s ‘Khelo India’ ini-tiative and praised it.

BJP general secretary ArunSingh told reporters that Sainahas brought glory to the coun-try with her 24 internationaltitles, including gold in theCommonwealth Games, andthe people of India are “proud”of her. “She is an inspirationalfigure,” he added.

The shuttler’s mother, UshaRani, said, “I am very happy.Saina was doing well in sportsand she will do well in politicsalso. BJP is doing good for thecountry, Saina is very hard-working and will work hard inthis field as well.”

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Aday after US PresidentDonald Trump unveiled his

Middle East peace plan to solvethe long standing Israel-Palestine conflict, India onWednesday reaffirmed its call fora two-state solution and askedboth sides to resolve all issuesthrough direct negotiations.

Asserting that New Delhihas been consistently support-ive of the Palestine cause,Ministry of External AffairsSpokesperson Raveesh Kumarsaid here India has called for atwo-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

“We reiterate our view thatthe final status issues should beresolved through direct nego-tiations between the two par-ties and be acceptable to both.We urge the parties to engagewith each other, including onthe recent proposals put for-ward by the United States, andfind an acceptable two-statesolution for peaceful coexis-

tence,” Kumar said in responseto response to a question on theIsrael-Palestine issue. He alsosaid India will continue to fol-low developments in the regionand engage with the partiesconcerned.

Trump on Tuesday saidJerusalem “will remain Israel’sundivided capital” as heunveiled his Middle East peaceplan aimed at solving theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict,describing it as “historic” anda “giant step” towards peace.

Standing along with IsraelPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu in the White House,Trump proposed a “realistic”two-state solution to solve oneof the world’s longest-runningconflicts, saying it would bringlasting peace in the Middle East.

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Representatives of the con-troversial outfit Popular

Front of India (PFI) and NGORehab India Foundation onWednesday met EnforcementDirectorate (ED) officials toseek more time for its officebearers to appear before theagency for questioning in con-nection with a money launder-ing probe against them.

Four officials, includinglegal representatives, of the twooutfits met ED officials at anagency office here onWednesday.

The ED is probing PFI andNGO Rehab India Foundationunder criminal provisions ofthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) aspart of a case registered in 2018.

A recent ED report hasclaimed that violent protests inUttar Pradesh and other partsof the country against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) had an alleged “financiallink” with the PFI. This aspectis also under the scanner of theED along with some purport-ed dubious deposits in thebank accounts linked to theRehab India Foundation (RIF).

The agency had issuedsummons to seven office-bear-

ers of the two outfits onTuesday in connection thealleged funding for the anti-CAA protests.

Those summoned by theagency include PFI and RehabIndia Foundation (RIF)Chairman E Abubacker, PFIvice-chairman O M AbdulSalam, General Secretary MMohammed Ali Jinnah andnational secretaries AnisAhmed and Abdul Wahid Sait.

Similar summonses werealso sent to RIF general secre-tary Remiz Muhammed andsecretary A Chandrankandy.

The agency may issue afresh date for Abubacker’sappearance before it. The otheroffice bearers are scheduled toappear before the investigatingofficer of the case next week,officials said.

Officials said the agency isalso probing remittances andwithdrawal of funds from ninebank accounts of RFI apartfrom a deposit of �20 lakh fromDubai in its accounts.

At least Rs 1.04 crore wasdeposited in several bankaccounts linked to the PFIbetween December 4 last yearand January 6 in various partsof the country, sources said,adding this was the time whenParliament cleared the passage

of CAA. A total amount of �120

crore, credited at varied timesinto the bank accounts linkedto the PFI, RFI and few others,is under the scanner of theagency, sources said.

“The Popular Front ofIndia has stated it multipletimes that we fully complywith the law of the land and theallegation of �120 crore trans-ferred from the Popular Front’saccounts just before the CAAprotests is totally baseless andthe people who are levellingthese allegations should provethese claims,” the organisationhad said in a statement issuedon Monday.

The ED took cognizance ofa National Investigation Agency(NIA) FIR and charge sheetagainst the PFI to file thePMLA case against the outfit in2018.

The ED is probing the PFI’salleged role with respect tosuspected terror-funding andpossible creation of assets byusing suspected “proceeds ofcrime.”

The PFI was formed inNovember, 2006 in Kerala andis suspected to have subse-quently shifted its headquartersto Shaheen Bagh in the nation-al capital.

�� )0!�10�2�

Alleging that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has violat-

ed the poll code by addressingan NCC rally a day before, theCongress on Wednesday urgedthe Election Commission totake note of it even as it raisedquestions over the credibility ofthe poll panel.

Congress leader PrithvirajChavan said it does not behovethe prime minister to makesuch remarks to impressionableminds while addressing theNCC rally on Tuesday here.

“We have got serious ques-tions about the impartiality of

the Election Commission,”Chavan told reporters.

On two BJP leaders whohave been removed by theElection Commission from thelist of star campaigners, he said,whatever BJP does, it is for thepoll panel to take it up with theBJP leadership but we would liketo raise the issue of PM’s speechat the NCC rally.

“Election (campaign) isgoing on in Delhi and the

prime minister’s speech in theNCC rally, particularly to theyoung minds, I deplore thatwholly and I request theElection Commission to take itup seriously. Just because he isthe prime minister, he shouldnot violate the rules. He cannotviolate the guidelines of theElection Commission,” he said.

Addressing the AnnualPrime Minister’s NationalCadet Corps (NCC) Rally2020, Modi had on Tuesdaysaid his government brought inthe Citizenship (Amendment)Act to correct “historical” injus-tices and recalled the Nehru-Liaquat pact to assert that thelaw fulfils India’s “old promise”to religious minorities in neigh-bouring countries.

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The Congress on Wednesdayasked the Government to

announce a national farm loanwaiver in the upcoming UnionBudget and spell out measuresto ensure that farmers’ incomedoubles by 2022.

Congress leader PrithvirajChavan demanded reduction inGST rates on agriculture inputsto less than 5 per cent and saidthe Government shouldannounce measures like uni-versal basic income to put moremoney in the hands of farmersand the poor so that their con-sumption increases.

He demanded that theGovernment bring petrol anddiesel under the GST regime asit would help provide relief tothe farmers, who have beenpaying higher rates, and said the

Centre had earned over �13.5lakh crore by way of taxes onpetroleum products.

He said the Governmentmust tell how much has farm-ers’ income increased in the lastfive years under it, as part of itspromise of doubling farmers’

income by 2022. “We want toknow, as we are aware thatnothing has happened so far.The budget should also providea detailed outline of how todouble farmers’ income by 2022and what steps have beentaken,” Chavan said at AICC

Press conference. Chavan said the

Government should announcea national farm loan waiver onthe lines of the previous UPAGovernment’s step undertakenin 2008 to benefit 14 crorefarmer families in the country.

“We demand that theGovernment should put moremoney in the hands of 95 percent poor who live in rural areasand help improve consumptionthrough schemes like MNRE-GA. The Government shouldalso bring a universal basicincome scheme to ensure thatthere is direct benefit to peopleand money should go into theiraccounts directly to helpimprove consumption levels,”he said.

Chavan, a former ChiefMinister of Maharashtra, saidfor farmers’ income to doubleby 2022 the agriculture sectorhas to grow by at least 12 percent compounded annually.But, under the ModiGovernment the agriculturesector has seen a growth of only2.9 per cent in the last five years,he noted, wondering how thiswill double farm incomes.

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Newly appointed ForeignSecretary Harsh Vardhan

Shringla, who assumed chargeon Wednesday, said hereForeign Service is a public ser-vice and its every effort shouldbe dedicated to contributingtowards the nation in the formof security and prosperitythrough external engagements.

Shringla, who was India’senvoy to the US before assum-ing the new responsibility, willget a fixed two-year term asForeign Secretary. He suc-ceeded Vijay Gokhale follow-ing his retirement.

Shringla is taking charge ata time of the high-profile postat a time when India is facinga plethora of foreign policychallenges including rampingup of diplomatic outreach inthe wake of criticism by somecountries and global institu-tions of the new CitizenshipAmendment Act(CAA). Indiais also facing an increasinglyassertive Trump administrationand China’s attempt to expandits military and economic influ-ence in the region.

Speaking to reportersahead of taking the charge,Shringla, a 1984-batch officerof the Indian Foreign Service(IFS), said “I am as committedto the ministry’s role in nation-building as I was almost 36years ago when I entered these

portals as a young profession-al. I look forward to function-ing under the guidance of thePrime Minister (NarendraModi) and the External AffairsMinister (S Jaishankar), ourpolitical leadership and withthe support and cooperation ofmy colleagues both within theministry and outside,” the 57-year-old diplomat said.

The Government did notfollow the seniority principle inappointing Shringla to the toppost. Indian HighCommissioner to the UKRuchi Ghanshyam, a 1982-batch IFS officer, was also incontention for the post.

Shringla had played animportant role in successfulhosting of the “Howdy Modi”event in Houston in Septemberwhere US President DonaldTrump and Prime MinisterModi jointly addressed theIndian Diaspora.

“I am conscious of the factthat I am stepping into theshoes of my illustrious stalwartsand seniors who have upheldthe highest standards of pro-fessionalism and integrity totheir work. In this context mytwo immediate predecessorscome to mind — ForeignSecretary Vijay Gokhale whoset impeccably high standards,and Dr Jaishankar who weknow is one of the leadingauthorities on foreign policy inIndia and anywhere in theworld,” Shringla said.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has set aside the direc-tion of National GreenTribunal ordering status quoon construction of a housingcomplex adjacent to the DelhiUniversity campus.

Applying the“Precautionary Principle” ofenvironmental law, the NGT onJanuary 8 had ordered the sta-tus quo and said that evaluationof relevant data was required bya joint Committee comprisingrepresentatives of the CentralPollution Control Board,Ministry of Environment andForests and IIT Delhi.

A Bench, comprisingJustices R Banumathi and A SBopanna, said on Tuesday thatwhen the counter affidavitalong with the documents wasavailable on record, a detailedconsideration was necessaryby the tribunal. PTI

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!*3<��%��%��=�� "%��#-�� New Delhi: The CentralInformation Commission(CIC) on Wednesday said anArmy Welfare HousingOrganisation (AWHO) offi-cial not providing informa-tion on sale of flats in Noidacasts a “rather murky shadowon the affairs of the organi-sation” and referred the mat-ter to the Army Chief.

The transparency panelmade the comments whilehearing an RTI applicant’s pleaseeking information from theArmy Headquarters on sale offlats of a defaulter privatebuilder’s project at Noida’sSector 143 to Army personnelas advertised by the AWHO inFebruary 2018. AWHOSecretary Colonel Abhisheksaid he would not be sharingthe information under the RTIwith the Army Headquarterseven after the CIC’s orders. PTI

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The recent killing of a 24-year- oldDalit man in Madhya Pradesh has

triggered a war of words between theopposition BJP and the rulingCongress, with the latter onWednesday accusing the saffron partyof disturbing the communal harmonyfor its vested interests.

The Congress’s allegation comes aday after the BJP held a protest overthe Dalit man’s killing at Sagar city inthe state, where it had criticised theKamal Nath government for adoptingthe policy of “minority appeasement”.

The Congress also accused twoBJP MLAs of disrespecting the corpseof the Dalit man during the cremation.The victim, Dhanprasad Ahirwar (24),was allegedly set on fire by four per-sons after being doused with kerosenein Dharmshri Colony in Sagar, around

170 kms from here, on January 14. Hesuffered 70 per cent burns and suc-cumbed to his injuries in a NewDelhi hospital on January 23.

According to police, the fouraccused- Chhuttu, Ajju Pathan, Kalluand Irfan- who were arrested after theincident, wanted Ahirwar to withdrawa police complaint he had lodged.Addressing a press conference onWednesday, MP Congress working pres-ident Surendra Chaudhary said, “Thissaddening incident was a result of theenmity between two families. Theaggrieved family does not want anypolitical intervention, but the BJP lead-ers are out to disturb the communal har-mony for their vested interests.” “TheBJP leaders even forced the wife of thedeceased to share the stage with themduring their protest even before the fam-ily’s 13-day mourning period ended.This is shameful,” he said.

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Anti-CAA movementclaimed more lives in

Bengal when two persons werekilled and at least three otherswere seriously injured afteralleged Trinamool Congresssupporters opened fire andhurled bombs at Congress andLeft workers backing a bandhat Jalangi area of Murshidabaddistrict bordering Bangladesh,sources said.

Congress leader inParliament Adhir Chowdhurywho is also an MP fromMurshidabad accused theTrinamool Congress saying thelocal leaders of the Bengal rul-ing outfit were under instruc-tions from the higher leadership to thwart anti-CAAmovement by other Oppositionparties.

“The local TMC leadersorganised the attack when thepeople of Jalangi were observ-ing a bandh in protest againstCAA,” Chowdhury said questioning the true face ofMamata Banerjee’s movementagainst CAA.

A local villager said TMC’sJalangi Block PresidentTahiruddin opened fire at theprotesters, killing two peopleand injuring several others.The two deceased have beenidentified as Maqbool Sheikh

and Anirudh Biswas.“The police did not inter-

vene despite repeated requestsfrom the villagers when we sawTMC goons assembling withdeadly weapons,” ShahrulBiswas, son of one of thedeceased.

“Today, a strike was calledin protest against CAA-NRC.

While my father was returning,a few motor vans came and theJalangi Block President of TMC Tahiruddin started firing randomly.

Police were present therebut did not do anything to stopit,” Biswas said.

While local TMC MP AbuTaher denied that his party was

involved in the clash CPI(M)’sMd Salim said “today’s attackonly proves how the MamataBanerjee does not walk the talk.She says something and doessomething else.

The TMC similarly tried tospoil the bandh called by theLeft and the Congress againstCAA and NRC last year, he

said, adding “this proves thatModi and Didi are not onlyfriends in need but also friendsin deed.”

State BJP president DilipGhosh said “the way the TMCmen opened fire and hurledbombs only proves that theparty belongs to anti-socialelements.”

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A‘Bharat bandh’ called bysome organisations against

the Citizenship (Amendment)Act and proposed NRC saw a clash between two groupsin Maharashtra’s Dhule onWednesday, besides incidents ofstone-pelting in a few districtsand a train blockade in Mumbai.

There were no reports ofanyone getting injured duringthe sporadic violence. In northMaharashtra’s Dhule district,two groups clashed during a rallyagainst the CAA and theNational Register of Citizens(NRC). The incident took placeon Hundred Feet Road inChalisgaon Road police stationlimits during the rally where alarge number of Muslims werepresent. A group from the Hinducommunity gathered at the spotand started shouting slogans insupport of the CAA and NRC,which was followed by a clashand stone-pelting from bothsides, a police officer said.

To disperse the mob, policefired four rounds in the air andlobbed six teargas shells andbrought the situation undercontrol, he said.

There were `Rail Roko’(blockade on railway tracks) atBalapur in Akola district andincidents of stone-pelting in

Washim and Yavatmal districts,the police said.

At Yavatmal, police usedbaton-charge to disperse themob after two groups clashed.

In Aurangabad district, acivic-run bus was pelted withstones at Harsul while a statetransport bus was attacked nearHimayatbag.

In Palghar near Mumbai,protesters tried to block theMumbai-Ahmedabad highwaynear Vasai.

In Thane district, impact ofthe shut-down call was feltmainly in Bhiwandi, Mumbraand Ulhasnagar.

Multiple organisations,including Bahujan KrantiMorcha, had called for BharatBandh in protest against therecently passed CAA and theproposed NRC. In Mumbai,the country’s financial capital, atleast 47 protesters were arrestedduring a Rail Roko at suburbanKanjurmarg railway station.

At least 100 protesters gath-ered on the tracks around 8 inthe morning, affecting suburbanservices of the Central Railwaybriefly, the Government RailwayPolice said. Shops and officesremained closed in Muslim-dominated areas in Dongri,Byculla, Nagpada, Mahim,Bandra-Behrampada, Kurla PipeRoad, Kasaiwada, Andheri,Jogeshwari, Malad-Malwani andVikhroli in Mumbai city, thepolice said.

The Bandh call failed toevoke much response in Pune

city, barring few areas in the citywhere shops remained shut. Atleast 315 persons were detainedfor holding protests in areas suchas Sarasbaug, Swargate, GolibarMaidan, Chandan Nagar,Yerwada, Kondhwa, Wanwadi,Deccan and Khadak.

Public transport remainedunaffected and schools and col-leges remained open. In PuneCamp, Kondhwa and BhavaniPeth, some shops and com-mercial establishments downedtheir shutters.

In Pune district, the bandhreceived good response inBaramati, Indapur and Daundtehsils as shops, markets andcommercial establishmentsremained closed. “There was noreport of any untoward inci-dent,” said Sandip Patil,Superintendent of Police, Punerural. In Solapur in westernMaharashtra, the Bandhreceived a lukewarm responsewith shops remaining shut onlyin few areas of the city.

At Walsang in Solapur dis-trict, a group of protesters triedto disrupt a weekly vegetablemarket, but relented after localtraders and police informedthem that veggies come for salefrom far-off places.

In Miraj town in Sangli dis-trict, an auto-rickshaw was van-dalised after its driver refused totake part in the bandh. “We havedetained two persons,” a localpolice officer said. The Bandhcall received no response inKolhapur and Satara districts.

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Amid a high voltage protestand boycott by the

Opposition Congress-led UDF,Kerala Governor ArifMohammed Khan onWednesday presented his poli-cy address in the assembly andread out references to anti-CAAresolution passed by the house,despite disagreeing with it.

Reading out the the anti-CAA stand of the StateGovernment, the Governorsaid “our citizenship can neverbe on the basis of religion as thisgoes against the grain of secu-larism which is part of the basicstructure of our constitution.”

Referring to the unani-mous anti-CAA resolutionpassed by the Assembly, Khan,who has been at loggerheadswith the State Government formoving the Supreme courtagainst the law and the resolu-tion against it, said theGovernment believes the Act“goes against the cardinal prin-ciples” underlying theConstitution.

“Strong states and strongcentre are pillars of our feder-alism. The voices of genuineapprehension of the states needto be considered by the centralGovernment in the right spir-it keeping broad national inter-est in mind, particularly whenconstitutional values areinvolved and there are wide-spread anxieties and appre-hensions among a large num-ber of our citizenry,” he said.

It’s learnt that the Governordecided to read out the refer-ence to the state’s anti-CAAstance after a letter was sent byVijayan this morning, in whichthe Chief Minister had request-ed Khan to read the policyaddress “in its entirety sansany additions or deletions.”

“Since the constitutionalfunction under Art 176 is exer-cised with the aid and advise ofthe council of ministers, it isrequested that the addressapproved by the council of

ministers be read in its entire-ty sans any additions or dele-tions”, the letter stated.

The day also saw anunprecedented protest by theUDF members, who also boy-cotted the policy address.

As the Governor was beingushered into the Assembly hallby Speaker P Sreeramakrishnanand Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, UDF members,blocked Khan, raised “Go Back”slogans holding aloft “RepealCAA” and “Recall Governor”placards and banners.

Speaker was seen repeat-edly trying to pacify the agi-tating MLAs but in vain, afterwhich the watch and wardpersonnel, who stood as a wallprotecting the Governor,

cleared his path to the dais.In his policy address, Khan

said though he had his “reser-vations and disagreement” overthe subject, he would read thepara 18 containing reference toanti-CAA matter, just to “hon-our” the wish of the ChiefMinister. When Khan beganhis policy address, the opposi-tion members trooped out ofthe assembly hall raising slo-gans and staged a sit in protestat the gate of the Assembly.

“This august body (KeralaAssembly) unanimously passeda resolution requesting theCentral Government to abro-gate the CAA 2019 which mygovernment believes goesagainst the cardinal principlesunderlying our Constitution,”

he said.The Government has also

filed a petition in the supremecourt invoking Article 131 ofthe constitution, Governor said.As he was leaving the assembly,reporters asked him about theunprecedented protest faced byhim, to which the Governorquipped that he had facedworst protests than this.

Meanwhile, taken by sur-prise over the governor’s moveto read out Anti CAA referencein his address, Leader ofOpposition, RameshChennithala, who protestedalong with his front MLAs, toldmedia that the StateGovernment and the Governorhad come to a “truce”.

“The double stand of theChief Minister has beenexposed now. The CM beggedthe Governor to read the pol-icy address in full. Why is theCM silent on the Governorwho has insulted the people ofKerala? This is a ploy to escapefrom the Lavlin case which maycome up soon,” Chennithalaalleged. The Top Court hasbeen hearings a batch of peti-tions challenging the KeralaHigh Court’s 2018 order dis-charging Vijayan, the thenState Electricity Minister, andothers in an alleged graft caseinvolving an award of contractto a Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin for the renovation andmodernisation of threeHydroelectric projects in 1997.

Expressing solidarity withthe Governor, BJP’s Kerala unittook out a march to theAssembly complex. Attackingthe UDF, former BJP President,Kummanam Rajashekharanasked, “who gave authority toCongress to stop theGovernor?..” “By blocking theGovernor, the UDF has insult-ed the people of Kerala,” he said.

Khan had made it clearthat he was not a “rubberstamp” and it was “improper”that he was not informed by theGovernment before movingthe apex court.

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The ‘Bharat Bandh’ called byseveral organizations,

including the Bahujan MuktiMorcha, the Bhim Army andthe Purvanchal Sena, to protestagainst the new citizenshiplaw and the NRC onWednesday witnessed a luke-warm response in the UttarPradesh capital.

In Muslim-dominated oldcity, traders downed shuttersover the CAA and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC). Butthere was no impact of the shut-down call in other areas likeHazratganj and Gomti Nagar.

Police said no untowardincident was reported any-where in the city. In Deoria,

former Rajya Sabha MP AasMohammad and his wife weredetained by police near theSalempur area when they wereheading towards SubhashChowk to register their protestagainst the CAA and the NRC.

When information aboutthe detention of Mohammad

and his wife spread, localsrushed to the Kotwali police sta-tion demanding their release.

In Gorakhpur, the responseto the bandh call was seen in afew areas.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Wednesday

amped up his attack on AamAadmi Party (AAP) convenerArvind Kejriwal challenginghim to take his shirt off andtake a dip in the Yamuna,mentioning the river continuesto be in a state of neglect.

“AAP had said that theywill clean the water of riverYamuna. Kejriwal ji, today Ichallenge you to take off yourshirt and take a dip in riverYamuna. You will realise thecondition of the water of riverYamuna,” said Shah in aNukkad meeting in NajafgarhAssembly constituency.

Pertinently, ahead of theannouncement of the UnionBudget for the financial year2020-21, Kejriwal wrote to theUnion Minister to escalateCenter’s share for Delhi citingvarious issues pertaining toair and Yamuna pollution, san-itation and other developmentworks.

Taking a jibe at Kejriwal forhis promise to make Delhi’sroad like Europe, Shah said he(Kejriwal ) cannot figure outpotholes on Delhi’s roads.

Shah also attacked theKejriwal Government for itsstatement related to trans-forming Delhi’s infrastructureto international standards whileaddressing meeting in supportfor Najafgarh BJP’s candidateAjit Khadhari.

Once again, deviatingmasses from Delhi’s issue, Shahspoke about Citizen(Amendment) Act (CAA) andShaheen Bagh protesters.“Delhi people will decide bytheir vote whether they are withthe anti- CAA protesters or

with the Government whichsends anti- National elementsto jail,” Shah said.

Hitting out at AAP, thesenior BJP leader said that theKejriwal Government hadpromised to open 1000 newschools in Delhi but failed to doso, he (Kejriwal) is runningschools in such buildings whichhave been marked for demoli-tion. “AAP has put the lives ofinnocent children in danger,”Shah said while mentioningabout other promises made byAAP during 2015 Assemblyelections like induction of DTCbuses and assurance of pukka house for slumdwellers.

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The Civil Aviation Ministry has beentold to ask airlines to make in-flightannouncement and distribute “healthcards” to all flights with direct or indirectconnectivity to China. The Home Ministryhas to ensure integrated check posts ini-tiate screening of visitors across Nepal bor-der.

People returning to the country aftervisiting China are being regularly screenedfor the deadly virus at airports across thecountry.

Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a largefamily of viruses that causes illnesses rang-ing from common cold to acute respira-tory syndromes. The virus is a novel strainnot seen before.

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The AAP leaders have accused thatthe BJP of trying to polarise the voters ofa particular community because it can-not effectively counter ‘free electricity, freewater, free travelling and corruption freegovernance of Arvind Kejriwal” in theAssembly polls.

When asked, a senior functionary ofthe poll panel said “they will not get anyfinancial concessions that star campaign-ers get. It is just a financial penalty. Thecost of a star campaigner’s canvassing is notadded into the expenditure limit set foreach candidate; rather the expenses areconsidered under the net expenditure doneon campaigning by a political party.

While political parties have no limit on theamount they can spend for electioneering,candidates can spend a maximum of Rs 28lakh for campaigning in Delhi Assemblypolls,” he said.

During an election rally in Delhi’sRithala, Thakur criticised the section ofpeople opposing the CitizenshipAmendment Act, and egged on the crowdto raise an incendiary slogan - “desh kegaddaron ko....” (traitors should be shotdown) - equating anti-CAA protesters withanti-national elements.

Likewise, west Delhi MP Verma alsocame under the EC’s scanner after he saidthe Kashmiri Pandit exodus fromKashmir could happen in Delhi, warn-ing that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters inShaheen Bagh could enter people’s homesto “kill and rape women”. Verma hadstoked a storm by claiming at Bagpat inUP that “Muslims had never cast theirvote for the BJP as they perceive it as a‘patriotic’ party” and that “all terroristsare Muslims”.

The poll panel had taken cognisanceof allegations of poll code violation againstThakur and Verma and issued the duo ashow-cause notice, saying prima facie theremarks had the “potential of disturbingcommunal harmony”. The EC has alsoissued show cause notice to Verma for hisremarks and sought reply by January 30 onWednesday.

In the show-cause notice, the ECreferred to section 123 of theRepresentation of the People Act, dealingwith attempts to promote enmity orhatred between different classes of citizenson the grounds of religion, race, caste,community or language. It said the rulingBJP leader also made “certain other objec-tionable statements” at the meeting.

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The composition, functions and otherdetails of Medical Board will be prescribedsubsequently in rules to be framed under theAct. “It is a step towards safety and well-being of the women and many women willbe benefitted by this. Recently several peti-tions were received by the courts seekingpermission for aborting pregnancies at a ges-tational age beyond the present permissiblelimit on grounds of foetal abnormalities orpregnancies due to sexual violence faced bywomen of foetal abnormalities or preg-nancies due to sexual violence faced bywomen” said the statement.

0: ��*��0)$�10��7�83$0�3)� ��3$�3)�penultimate day before Brexit were defeat-ed,” a source said. The government has beenmaintaining that the CAA is a matter inter-nal to India and it was adopted following adue process through democratic means. Thesources said they expect that their per-spectives in this matter will be understoodby all objective and fair-minded MEPs. Amove by a group of MEPs to totally rejectthe resolution against the CAA was thwart-ed at the EU Parliament. The new law passedby Parliament last month offers citizenshipto non-Muslim persecuted religious minori-ties from Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan. India has been witnessing mas-sive protests against the new law, with oppo-sition parties, civil rights groups and activistssaying granting citizenship based on religionis against the Constitution’s foundationalprinciple.

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The Bharat Bandh called byseveral organisations

against the CAA and the pro-posed nationwide NRC onWednesday evoked mixedresponse in Bihar. Leaders ofvarious political parties hit thestreets in the State capitalwhich was, by and large, unaf-fected by the bandh with shopsand offices remaining open.Roads in Patna witnessedmajor traffic snarls due todemonstrations staged by lead-ers of parties.

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India is among the top 30countries at “high-risk”

from the spread of the dead-ly coronavirus, according toa study based on the numberof air travellers predicted toarrive in the countries fromthe worst affected cities inChina.

Thailand tops the list ofmost “at risk” countries orregions worldwide followed by Japan, and HongKong. The US is 6th on thelist, Australia 10th, the UK17th and India 23rd,researchers f rom theUniversity of Southampton inthe UK said.

The University ’sWorldPop team, Bangkok,Thailand, had compiled a listof cities and countries theybelieve are at high risk fromthe 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) — which haskilled over 132 people so far,and infected thousands.

It said Thailand is cur-rently the city most at riskfrom a global spread of thevirus. Hong Kong is secondon the list, followed by Taipeiin Taiwan. S

ydney, New York andLondon are among the top 20other major internationalcit ies ranked in theresearch.

Within mainland China,the c it ies of B eij ing,Guangzhou, Shanghai andChongqing are all identifiedas high-r isk by theresearchers, along with theChinese provinces ofGuangdong, Zhej iang,Sichuan and Henan.

“It’s vital that we under-stand patterns of populationmovement, both withinChina and globally, in orderto assess how this new virusmight spread — domestical-ly and internationally,” saidAndrew Tatem, a professor atthe University ofSouthampton.

“By mapping these trends

and identifying high-riskareas, we can help informpublic health interventions,such as screenings andhealthcare preparedness,”Tatem said.

The team usedanonymised mobile phoneand IP address data — which helps to identifydevices — along with inter-national air travel data tounderstand typica l patterns of movement of peo-ple within China, and world-wide, during the annual 40-day Lunar New Year celebra-tions.

The team, includingresearchers f rom theUniversity of Toronto inCanada, and the ChinaCentre for Disease Controland Prevention, was thenable to rank the top 30 mostat-risk countries and citiesaround the world.

The researchers acknowl-edge that their analysis isbased on ‘non-outbreak’ travel patterns, but highlightthat a high proport ion of people travelled withsymptoms at an early stage ofthe outbreak, before restric-t ions were put in place.

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As things stand, Telanganadoes not have a testing

facility or appropriate testingkits to detect the dreadfulnovel coronavirus, whichoriginated in the Wuhanprovince of China and hasbeen spreading in certainparts of the world. All thatthe state does now is to sendsamples of swabs of suspect-ed carriers of the virus to theNational Institute of Virology(NIV) in Pune.

Health authorities inTelangana, however, said onWednesday they had identi-fied and set aside 100 isola-tion beds in three public

health care facilities here.State Health Minister

Etela Rajender, who reviewedthe preparedness of stateagencies and resources avail-able for management of coro-navirus, again urged the gen-eral public not to believe inrumours or get carried awayby fake news on coronavirusbeing circulated on varioussocial media platforms.

The Minister said thatthe State Government hadtaken steps to screen peoplewho might have beenexposed to the virus so as toprevent its spread in the State.He requested the Centre toprovide kits that wouldenable the State Government

to conduct the necessary teststo detect cases in Hyderabaditself.

At present, samples takenin Hyderabad are being sentto the National Institute ofVirology (NIV) in Pune.

Stating that many stu-dents from Telangana werepursuing medical courses inChina’s Wuhan province,which was at the centre of theoutbreak, Rajender said thatthey were being screened onarrival at the Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport (RGIA)here.

A special officer, Dr VijayKumar, has been appointed tooversee arrangements inTelangana.

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New Delhi: The Union AYUSH Ministry onWednesday issued an advisory for coronavirus,“based on the Indian traditional medicine prac-tices Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani” and rec-ommended that homeopathic and unani medi-cine could be effective in the prevention of novelcoronavirus infections.

It also mentioned some Ayurvedic practiceswhich can help recess symptoms of respiratory tractin possible virus infected cases. The Ministry hasrecommended that homoeopathic medicineArsenicum album 30 could be taken empty stom-ach daily for three days as a preventive medicineagainst the infection. Advisory listed several“Preventive Management Steps” as per ayurvedicpractices, and several “Unani Medicines useful insymptomatic management of coronavirus infection”.

The advisory suggests general hygienic mea-sures for prevention of air-borne infections suchas washing hands often with soap and water forat least 20 seconds, avoiding touching eyes, noseand mouth with unwashed hands, and avoidingclose contact with people who are sick. The min-istry has advised covering face while coughing orsneezing and preferably using an N95 mask whiletravelling or working in public places to avoiddroplet transmissions. It also recommended pro-phylactic measures/immunomodulatory drugs asper Ayurvedic practices and taking measures tostrengthen the immune system through a healthydiet and lifestyle practices. PNS

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IN MAHARASHTRA: 10UNDER OBSERVATION

Mumbai: Ten persons areunder observation at hospitalsin Mumbai, Pune and Nandedfor possible exposure to novelcoronavirus while there is noconfirmed case of the infectionin the State, MaharashtraHealth Minister Rajesh Topesaid on Wednesday.

As many as 4,600 passen-gers have been screened at theChhatrapati Shivaji MaharajInternational Airport heresince January 19. A total of 27persons are under observationin the State, he said.

As a precautionary mea-sure, ten of them have beenquarantined -- six at KasturbaHospital in Mumbai, three atPune’s Naidu Hospital andanother at a hospital inNanded, he said.IN KERALA: 806 PEOPLEUNDER OBSERVATION,

10 IN ISOLATION WARDSThiruvananthapuram: At

least 806 people who returnedfrom China over the past fewdays are under observation inKerala for possible exposure tothe novel coronavirus, Healthofficials said on Wednesday.

Out of the total of 806 peo-ple, 173 had arrived in the Stateon Wednesday. While ten ofthem are under observation inisolation wards at various hos-pitals across the State, the

remaining are under homequarantine.

IN MANIPUR: WOMANKEPT UNDER WATCH

Imphal: A Manipuriwoman, who recently visited aSouth East Asian country, hasbeen kept under observation ather residence by personnel ofthe State Health Services, aftershe developed symptoms “sim-ilar” to those caused by thedeadly coronavirus. She hasmild fever and running nosesince Monday, an official said,adding the woman is beingtreated at her home in ImphalWest district.

IN GUJARAT: NO CASE SO FAR, AIRPORT

SCREENING IN PLACEAhmedabad: The Gujarat

Government has put in place ascreening facility atAhmedabad airport to detectpossible cases of coronavirusand also set up an isolationward in a civil hospital here totreat patients suspected of con-tracting the infection, officialssaid on Wednesday. The StateGovernment said it has steppedup efforts to bring back stu-dents from Gujarat, who arecurrently studying in China,following their appeal to theauthorities to evacuate them atthe earliest.

IN ARUNACHAL: TAKESSTEP TO CHECK

POSSIBLE OUTBREAKVIA BORDER HAATItanagar: The authorities

have issued an advisory to theChanglang district adminis-tration asking it for takingpreventive measures to stop thepossible spread of coronavirusthrough goods on sale at a bor-der haat. The focus is on thePangsau Pass Border Haat in Changlang district,which is close to Myanmar aswell as southern China, as the deadly virus could bespread through goods sold toIndian customers.

IN RAJASTHAN: MANWITH SYMPTOMS TESTSNEGATIVE, 18 OTHERS

TOO FINEJaipur: A man, who was

found with symptoms of coro-navirus here, tested negativeand 18 other suspects inRajasthan were also in goodhealth, Additional ChiefSecretary (Medical and Health)Rohit Kumar Singh said onWednesday. Blood sample ofthe man, who was admitted tothe Isolation Ward of the SMSHospital, was sent to theNational Institute of Virologyin Pune for examination, hesaid, adding that the secondsample would be taken accord-ing to the prescribed norms.

IN KARNATAKA: FOURCHINESE NATIONALS

QUARANTINED INBENGALURU

Bengaluru: The KarnatakaFamily Health and WelfareDepartment has quarantinedfour Chinese nationals in thecity, as part of coronaviruspreventive measures, an officialsaid on Wednesday. “Doctorsare visiting the Chinese nation-als every day, currently lodgedin a hotel. They are underobservation,” the department’sCommunicable Diseases wingjoint director, BT PrakashKumar told IANS. In additionto the Chinese, the doctors arealso observing two moreBengalureans.

IN TAMIL NADU: STATETO MONITOR

PASSENGERS FROMCHINA FOR 28 DAYSChennai: The Tamil Nadu

Government will monitor thehealth condition of thosereturning from China for 28days to see whether they areaffected by Coronavirus, said asenior official in Directorate ofPublic Health and PreventiveMedicine. He said passengerscoming from Chine and land-ing in Chennai, Madurai,Coimbatore and Trichy air-ports are monitored and theirdetails are being collected.

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From global aviation andautomaker companies to

Starbucks and Apple, thealarmed industrial world onWednesday scrambled to stoptravel to China while closing cer-tain operations as the number ofconfirmed Novel Coronaviruscases jumped to 5,974 — sur-passing the 5,327 cases in main-land China during the SARSoutbreak in 2002-2003.

The death toll climbed to132 — still lower than 348 peo-ple who died owing to SARS inChina but the greater threat

loom as nonone has answers tohow severe the 2019-nCoVoutbreak is.

Warning of an upcomingfinancial hit from the Chinavirus outbreak, Starbucksclosed nearly 2,000 restaurantsout of 4,292 stores it operatesin the country.

British Airways (BA) sus-pended all direct flights to andfrom mainland China becauseof the coronavirus outbreak,reports the BBC. BA operatesdaily routes to Beijing andShanghai from London’sHeathrow airport.

Several other airlines like

United Airlines, Air Canadaand Cathay Pacific Airwayshave already cancelled someflights to China.

According to The New YorkTimes, automakers Ford andToyota said they would idlesome of their vast Chineseassembly plants.

Ford and Renault wouldonly resume production attheir China factories afterextended breaks for theChinese New Year holiday.

Facebook and other high-profile US firms havealso told their employees not totravel to China.

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The Madras High Court onWednesday allowed a

petition filed by DMK can-didate Marudu Ganesh seek-ing a CBI probe into thealleged bribery of voters lead-ing to cancellation of the R KNagar by-election in April2017. A bench of justices MSathyanarayanan and RHemalatha a l lowed theprayer to implead CBI asparty respondent to the andissued notice to the agencyreturnable by February 11.

Ganesh and others hadoriginally moved the courtseeking registration of FIRagainst those accused ofbribery in the bypoll to theassembly segment, which wascancelled a week before it was

to be held, following I-Traids at var ious places .Searches were carried out atseveral places including atthose related to Tamil NaduHealth Minister CVijayabaskar, on April 7,2017. During the searches,various documents were

seized in different placesallegedly containing infor-mation on distribution ofmoney to voters in the con-stituency. Based on a com-plaint by the state ChiefElectoral Officer (CEO), anFIR was registered. However,it was quashed by a singlejudge bench of the high courtlater.

After that MaruduGanesh (who lost the poll),moved the miscellaneouspetition seeking CBI probeinto the alleged bribery ofvoters in the constituency. Inthe previous hearing onDecember 16 last year, the ECinformed the court that it hasdirected the CEO to file afresh complaint. The peti-tioner has stated in theamendment petition that the

plea was to take actionagainst the people whosenames were mentioned inthe Election Commissionreport based on which theCEO lodged the police com-plaint.

“All is not well. Nowwhat is the status? whetherthey have filed a fresh com-pliant or not. So we requestyou (judges) to transfer theinvestigation to CBI,” he said.

The by-election to RKNagar constituency here wasnecessitated following thedeath of late chief minister JJayalalithaa in December2016.

Elections subsequentlyheld in December 2017 sawindependent candidate andAMMK chief T T VDhinakaran win the polls.

India’s controversial Defence MinisterVK Krishna Menon was recently in thenews, courtesy a well-researched book,which did not elaborate enough on theimplications for the country on account

of having a wrong person at the wrong placeand at the wrong time. Menon was one of thestrangest characters, who appeared on thepolitical scene after independence. PKBanerjee, the Indian chargé d’affaires inBeijing in 1962, who often encountered thehaughty politician, wrote in his memoir:“Krishna Menon’s appearance in the Indianpolitical arena was as sudden as it was unex-pected... he had his education and wasenrolled as a Barrister. He hardly had any legalpractice …[but] became a protégé of PalmeDutt, a lawyer and founder member of theBritish Communist Party.”

How, after independence, he was sud-denly nominated as the Indian HighCommissioner in the UK is still not clear.A few years later, he came back to India andwas made the Defence Minister: “In addi-tion, for all practical purposes, he func-tioned as Foreign Minister de facto,” notedBanerjee. Menon was certainly brilliant insome ways. He joined the Union Cabinetas a Minister without a portfolio in 1956.It was former Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru who appointed him as the DefenceMinister in April 1957.

Sixty-three years later, India still suffersbecause of Nehru’s choice. One of the manyblunders that he committed was to stopusing the seniority system in the Army,replacing it with the so-called merit-basedmethod of promotion; in fact, posting hisfavorites in positions where they should havenever been. This eventually led to the res-ignation of the then Chief of Army Staff,General KS Thimayya.

Let’s take a look at a few examples ofthe wrongs committed by Defence MinsterMenon at the time when the Chinese troopsattacked India in the North-East FrontierAgency (NEFA) and in Ladakh. It was onlyafter meeting Wing Commander JagMohan (Jaggi) Nath, the first of the six offi-cers who have been twice decorated withthe Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), India’s sec-ond highest war-time military award, thatI realised that the outcome of the 1962 warcould have been completely different hadIndia used its Air Force.

Nath received his first MVC for his rolein reconnaissance missions between 1960and 1962 over the Aksai Chin and Tibet. Hismissions proved immensely useful to learneverything about the Chinese militarybuild-up on the Tibetan plateau.Unfortunately, the political leadership (firstand foremost the Defence Minister) refusedto believe the hard evidence gathered dur-ing of his sorties. After one of his missionsover the Aksai Chin and Tibet, a messagecame that Nehru, Menon and their favoriteGeneral, Biji Kaul, wanted to be briefedabout Nath’s reconnaissance sorties.

Along with former Air ViceMarshal DAM Nanda, the thenDeputy Chief of the Air Force,Nath went to South Block tomeet Menon. They were waitingoutside the Minister’s roomwhen Kaul came and he startedtalking non-stop: “I know, Iknow, these fellows [the Chinese]are there. They asked me tothrow them back. I can throwthem back, not a problem! Butthey will be back the next day. Ithas to be planned out properly.”

Nath was surprised thatGen Kaul would speak this wayin front of a junior officer: “Iwas a low-level officer” but[Kaul] continued shouting:“You saw the Chinese soldiers.”I said, “Yes, sir, I saw them.”“OK, go to the DefenceMinister”, he finally said.

Nanda and Nath finallylanded up in Menon’s office.Nath recalled: “He did not askanything”, he just said, “Did yousee the Chinese soldiers?” Ianswered: “Yes sir, I saw them.”“That’s alright, you can go.” Thatwas it. Nath concluded: “Therewas a total breakdown.”

In a secret report written ashe was forced to resign inNovember 1962, the flamboyantDefence Minister wrote: “Chinais reported to have the thirdlargest Air Force in the world.This may well be true.” Though

Menon was aware of the fuelissue: “[China] had inadequatefuel capacity in terms of warrequirements,” he ignored thefindings of the brave airman,who explained: “If we had senta few airplanes [into Ladakh orNEFA], we could have wiped theChinese out and everythingcould have been different in the1962 war. The political leadershipdid not believe me that Chinahad no Air Force…”Unfortunately, the then Chief ofAir Staff did not have the courageto put his foot down. This led toone of the greatest tragedies inIndia’s modern history. Maohad bluffed Nehru and it worked.

Another sad story aboutthe 1962 episode was recountedby Lt Col (later Maj Gen) KKTewari, the Commander of theSignal Regiment of the Corpsbased in Tezpur (Assam),responsible in the early 1960s forthe Tawang sector of the NEFA.Tewari wrote: “On the 19th[October], Brig Dalvi[Commander of the 7th InfantryBrigade] talked to the GeneralOfficer Commanding [GOC] atZimithang [near the Tibet bor-der] on the telephone. He waspleading with the latter to let himmove up to a tactically sounddefensive position.” He describedthe existing position along theriver where he had been ordered

to stay by the CorpsCommander [BM Kaul] beforehis departure for Delhi as a“death trap.” Brig Dalvi was told“not to flap but to obey ordersand stay put. He was visibly upsetand was very abrupt on the tele-phone to his boss. He passed thetelephone to me.”

Tewari told the GOC thatthe Chinese were moving downthe Thagla Ridge like ants. Hecould also see at least half a dozenmortars, which were not evencamouflaged: “The Chinesecould not be there for a picnic,their attack was imminent on amassive scale,” he added. ButDalvi and his men were told thatthey had been informed by the“higher authorities in Delhi”that the Chinese would notattack …at a time they hadalready attacked.

Today, though the trauma ofthe 1962 thrashing remains,many things have changed on theground. The creation of a post ofChief of Defence Staff should goa long way in overcoming thecomplete lack of coordinationbetween the three services expe-rienced in 1962. This, however,will not absolve Nehru’s wrongchoice of making Menon theDefence Minister, a post heoccupied for five crucial years.

(The writer is an expert onIndia-China relations)

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“A censure too far” (January 28).Goose pimples ran up the Centre’sspine with rage and it criticised theEuropean Parliament, whichdecided to debate the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) resolutions, saying itshould not take actions that callinto question the rights andauthority of democratically-elect-ed legislatures. Further, the draftresolutions urge India to engageconstructively with the anti-CAAprotesters and consider theirdemands to repeal it.

Why is the EuropeanParliament so hell-bent to take upresolutions to tell India to desistfrom implementing the CAA?The matter is entirely an internalissue of India and the fact that EUis going to champion the causehas become an irritating issue asfar as India is concerned. Whycan’t it highlight the killing ofinnocent people in Syria, Iraq,Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan,Nigeria and elsewhere? It will bebetter if the European Parliamentdrops the resolution against India.

TK NandananChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Selling the jewel” (January 28).Given the leverage that Air Indiaenjoys in a premium and growingsector, it is sad that it has been fac-ing perpetual loss. A precipitateand full disposal of a blue chip assetcould result either in a no-sale orworse, a very bad deal that willhaunt for long. It would havebeen better if the Governmentwould have opted for a 51 per centstake sale and let the best player(s)run the airline.

Synergy between theGovernment and a professionalmanagement would have max-imised the nation’s asset and thenthey could have build on it. Fulldilution of any Government hold-ing has now become the norm evenas interests of the employees finda stable and agreeable solution. UKPrime Minister Margaret Thatcher’speremptory PSU reforms had lefta sharp decline in GDP growth, bigloss of industrial capacity and the doubling of unemployment.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Expectations ride high on Finance Minister (FM)Nirmala Sitharaman’s second Union Budget torevive the feel-good factor, which has been

missing since negative news flow continued to dom-inate national and international headlines. At a timewhen the country seeks to increase investments fromFDI and the local industry, the Government needsto pull every lever that can restore business confi-dence and make India the preferred investment des-tination. The 2020 Budget will be bold, it will be dif-ferent. It will be a win-all one. It has to be, becauseit’s a “do-or-die” situation for the Government whichhas to course correct all that ails the economy.Undoubtedly, these are challenging times for any FMto present a Budget, as achieving the goal of a $5 tril-lion economy by 2024 necessitates doubling thegrowth rate to 12 per cent year on year for the nextfive years, which currently seems a distant dream.

What is unmistakable is that never before hasany Prime Minister immersed himself so deeply inthe pre-Budget exercise to get a first-hand sense ofground realities from India Inc, economists and pol-icymakers. And, never before has an FM presentedvirtually four mini-Budgets in quick succession afterher maiden Budget last year in an attempt to recal-ibrate if Government interventions are producingthe desired outcomes to achieve whatever it takesto set the economic wheels in motion.

Fixing the economy and employment genera-tion is the top priority of policymakers, as the win-dow to capitalise on our demographic dividends isa finite one. Time is running out, as the labour forcein the middle and lower levels is ill-equipped forabsorption into Industry 4.0, which will worsen theproblem of unemployment unless we make quan-tum leaps on our Human Development Index.

Thus far, the economy has been propped up byGovernment spending, which is only an interim solu-tion till the private industry does not participate injob creation and expansion. World over,Governments are following a similar template forrevival by marginally exceeding fiscal prudence bya percentage point in order to satisfy rating agen-cies. Since the global economic crisis of 2008, exceed-ing fiscal deficit targets has become the “new nor-mal”, as a decade of easy money has accumulated arecord $250 trillion debt, which is a cumulative ofsovereign, corporate and household leverage. Centralbankers, from the European Central Bank to the IMF,have encouraged Government spending in the hopeof reaping economic dividends, regardless of mount-ing debt to GDP ratios. Globally, we are livingthrough the Age of Uncertainty, beset by more vari-ables than constants than we ever faced in the last50 years. This is the third slowdown India is facingsince 1991, and if we look back at the commentarypost the Lhman-led global collapse in 2008, senti-ments were even more dismal than they are today.Though the financial sector continues to face mas-sive NPA problems, this is not just an India-centricproblem but a worldwide phenomenon. A flashbackto what got us here in the first place is that nothingjeopardised the already beleaguered and brokenIndian banking sector more than the collapse ofIL&FS in 2018 and DHFL in 2019. This was trulyIndia’s unacknowledged Lehman moment, as IL&FSalone accounts for defaults of about �91,000 croreowed to banks, institutional investors and mutualfunds. While there is enough liquidity available withbanks, they are not lending to long-gestation pro-jects in infrastructure, housing or heavy industry such

as steel and cement, which has a cascad-ing effect in delaying their completion. Thesolution lies in creating a separateDevelopment Finance Institution to boostlong-term lending for projects like rail-ways, ports, power and so on, as also afaster resolution of the insolvency processthat would boost credit flows.

Expectations are that the Budgetwould lay the road map for a consolidat-ed action plan to jumpstart the multiplepropellers of growth by incentivisingboth the supply and the demand side.Starting with agriculture, housing, con-struction, automobiles and telecom, to theunorganised sector and MSMEs, all ofwhich await a bailout plan. MSMEs con-tribute 45 per cent towards manufactur-ing output and over 28 per cent towardsthe GDP, while creating employment forover 11 crore people. The Centre has donewell in earmarking �100 lakh crore forinfrastructure by 2025, provided a �25,000crore fund to revive the realty sector andallocated �75,000 crore for improving farmproductivity. Yet, the agri-crisis remainsunresolved, as prices of fertiliser, diesel andelectricity keep rising and prices of rice,wheat and sugar continue falling due to asurplus, making crop diversification andagro-based industries a priority.

Coming to the corporate sector,recent tax cuts have made Indian corpo-rate tax rates competitively benchmarkedto international rates. But as the industryhas prioritised on using the cuts to de-leverage — and already has an average of30 per cent excess capacity — the spinoffsfrom lower corporate taxes will takelonger to play out and they will first waitfor demand to pick up before looseningpurse strings. The economy relies on sevenmajor vectors of growth for revenue that

goes towards nation-building and job-cre-ation: Direct tax collections, Governmentspending, private industry, domesticdemand, disinvestment proceeds, exportsand FDI infusion. Typically, during peri-ods of global buoyancy, countries pursuean Export-Led Growth strategy.Conversely, during periods of recession orde-globalisation, the Domestic Demand-Led Growth strategy dominates in orderto keep the local economy insulated fromglobal shocks. It is the contraction indomestic driven demand that has this timefailed to keep the economy afloat. It is esti-mated that 70 per cent of economic growthcomes from consumption, the rest frominvestment. Exports have been the otherlaggard as any comprehensive plan can-not make up the numbers if our share inworld exports languishes at 1.7 per centamid a period of bleak global trade.Consequently, tax collections have beenbelow target in a contracting economy,leaving the Government limited avenuesto raise additional resources.

Also, the Government is very likely toagain miss the FY 20 disinvestment tar-get, as divestment beyond 0.5 per cent ofthe GDP cannot be absorbed by the mar-kets. Expediting disinvestment of AirIndia, Bharat Petroleum, CementCorporation and Shipping Corporation isnot easy as there is not enough appetitefrom retail or corporate investors to has-ten this process. Though India hasimproved on six out of 10 parameters inthe Ease of Doing Business and despiteopening up multiple sectors to foreigninvestment in 2018-19, the foreign invest-ment to GDP ratio has also taken a hit,falling to a decade’s low of 1.1 per cent froma high of 3.6 per cent in 2014-15. Foreigninvestments are vital for India’s growth, and

despite the PM’s powerful pitch to attractinvestments, there is a mismatch on theground, when the likes of Amazon or thelargest foreign investor like Vodafone arelocked in adversarial positions with thecourts or the Government.

Perception, as they say, is moreimportant than reality, so intent for cre-ating an enabling business environmentmust be followed through with leniencyand amicable dispute resolution by courts,regulators and line-ministries. Disputesalso have a domino effect on job losses andbanks that lent to the businesses, sendingnegative signals to oversees investors.

All said and done, the worst could wellbe behind us, as we are nearing the phaseof capitulation. So the only way from hereis up, which offers FIIs very favourablerisk-reward ratios to resume investmentsas we bottom out. Seasoned investorsknow that investing in totally risk-freeassets yields negative returns when adjust-ed to inflation. So FII money will ultimate-ly flow back into emerging markets likeIndia, which has strong fundamentals, astable currency, vibrant demographics andhigh foreign exchange reserves. We will getto $5 trillion, albeit it may take longer than2024 to achieve the goal. Regardless of thetemporary slowdown, India’s weightagewill continue to increase in playing a lead-ing role in restructuring the global eco-nomic order, once we regain momentum.But for now, Sitharaman will have to adda lot of sweeteners to this Budget and con-form to Chanakya’s prescription that,“the king should collect taxes from the tax-payers like a bee collects honey from aflower, without disturbing its petals.”

(The writer is an author, columnist,Chairperson of the National Committee forFinancial Inclusion at Niti Aayog)

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The growing disease burdenshould compel the country’spolicymakers to allocate a fair

chunk of funds for public healthcareinfrastructure. The recent news oninfant deaths in Muzaffarpur districtof Bihar due to Acute EncephalitisSyndrome and in Kota district ofRajasthan due to hypothermia areglaring examples of existing faultlines within the primary healthcaresystem in India. Such incidents senda grave reminder that affordable andaccessible, good quality healthcarestill remains the biggest challenge inthe rural hinterlands of our country.

The Centre’s ambitious flagshiphealth insurance scheme, Ayushman

Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (AB-PMJAY) has immensepotential to correct the healthcarebasics in the country. It holds a lotof promise and has the right intent,but one can just hope theGovernment and healthcare author-ities take the right partnershipapproach to a more inclusive partic-ipation.

In the last Union Budget, thebudgetary allocation for the health-care sector stood at �60,908.22 crore,with �6,400 crore earmarked for theAB-PMJAY.

The scheme aims at providingannual health cover of up to �5 lakhper family for secondary and tertiarycare hospitalisation to over 10.74crore vulnerable families (approxi-mately 50 crore beneficiaries).Rationalisation of treatment packagesand speeding up the recovery processare essential elements that willencourage more private hospitals toempanel under this scheme.

Let us focus on the basics: Thehealthcare sector is one of the biggestcontributors to the Indian economyand accounts for six per cent of the

country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP). The hospital industry inIndia, accounting for 80 per cent ofthe total healthcare market, is wit-nessing a huge demand from globalas well as domestic investors. It isexpected to reach $132 billion by2023 from $61.8 billion in 2017;growing at a CAGR of 16-17 per cent.The country’s medical tourism mar-ket is expected to grow from its cur-rent size of $3 billion to $7-8 billionby the end of 2020.

Yet, the country’s spending onpublic healthcare is estimated only at1.3 per cent of the GDP. Besides hav-ing a poor infrastructure withinpublic health facilities, there is alsoa lack of adequate resources. Whenover two-thirds of the sector is dri-ven by private players, theGovernment should be more willingto get into a partnership-basedapproach with them to achieveUniversal Health Coverage in linewith the United Nation’s SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs).

A multi-pronged approach: Werequire a multi-pronged approachfrom the Government to strengthen

and reform the health sector. On theone hand, it involves improving thestate of public healthcare by increas-ing budgetary allocation, establish-ing more medical colleges andimproving primary healthcare facil-ities. On the other hand, it involvesmeasures to enable the private sec-tor to spread its presence beyond theurban landscape. This will help inimproving accessibility for secondaryand tertiary care in tier-II and tier-III towns, besides rural areas.

For the latter to happen, theGovernment must offer major incen-tives and tax breaks to private health-care organisations setting shop innon-urban areas.

The incentives can includeincome tax breaks for the first fewyears of operations, help in procur-ing land, making medical equipmentGoods and Services Tax (GST)-freefor such hospitals and relaxation onservice tax on hospital inputs.Similarly, establishing a mechanismto offer fund support or subsidisationin treatment costs to private hospi-tals in smaller towns and rural areascan go a long way in bridging the

prevalent accessibility gap. The cost of medical equipment

is another pain point, which requiresthrust and making the medicaldevices and equipment a part of the‘Made in India’ initiative shall ben-efit this sector.

Impetus to innovation: There isalso a need to provide an impetus toinnovation within the medical tech-nology sector. For that, special fundsfor start-ups that manufacture med-ical devices would specificallyaddress the needs of the Indianpopulations, serving as a big boostto the sector.

The introduction of ArtificialIntelligence (AI) and predictive ana-lytics for patient monitoring will addto significant financial savings andwill increase the reach of healthcarein the country.

The need of the hour is that theprimary care system should bestrengthened in such a way that it iscapable of doing the initial assess-ment, diagnosis and basic manage-ment and appropriate referral ifneed be. A thorough assessment andinvestigation at primary care or sec-

ondary care level can lead to a sig-nificant saving of resources at the ter-ritory level. The Government shouldfacilitate more Continuous MedicalEducation to help professinalsupgrade their skills which can solvethe problem of shortage of traineddoctors.

That Government must alsoconsider oral health as an integralpart of healthcare and give it theimportance it deserves. TheNarendra Modi Government shouldprovide an enabling environment forthe healthcare sector to grow. This iswhere the forthcoming UnionBudget can show some vision andleadership.

This being the first Budget of thenew decade, it will not only be amarker of the Government’s assess-ment but also a vision for the econ-omy over the next 10 years.

Let 2020 and the decade turn outto be in the larger interest of health-care, making it more accessible,more affordable and patient-friend-ly.

(The writer is founder and CEOof a dental healthcare chain)

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Mukesh Ambani-ledReliance industries has

approached National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI) foroffering its ‘waste plastic-to-road’ technology that uses end-of-life plastic for road con-struction.

The company has alreadypiloted a few projects and hasconstructed nearly a 40 kilo-metre-road by mixing 50tonnes of end-of-life plasticwaste with bitumen at itsNagothane manufacturing sitein Raigad district.

“It took us some 14-18months to develop this mech-anism where we can use theend-of-life waste plastic likepackaging of snacks and flim-sy polyethylene bags, amongothers, in road construction.

“We are in talks with NHAIto share our experience and tohelp the use of end-of-life plas-tic for road construction,” thecompany’s COO PetrochemicalsBusiness Vipul Shah toldreporters. Apart from NHAI,RIL is also in talks with stategovernments and local bodiesacross the country for offeringthe technology, he said.

End-of-life plastic cannotbe recycled.

Explaining the benefits ofthe usage of end-of-life wasteplastic, Shah said, “it not onlyensures sustainable utilisationof plastic but is also financial-ly viable”.

“Our experience showedthat 1 km of road uses 1 met-ric tonne (mt) of waste plasticand can save nearly �1 lakh asit can be utilised as a substitutefor bitumen to the extent of 8-10 per cent. So, roughly wesaved �40 lakh. Besides, thisplastic also enhances the qual-ity of roads,” he said.

Shah also said the roadsmade using end-of-life wasteplastic were completed in twomonths and sustained the tor-rential rains of last year with-out any erosion.

“NHAI is expected to con-struct 10,000 kms of roadswith average four lanes inFY2021, which is around40,000 kms of roads that canuse nearly 40,000 mt of wasteplastics. Besides, other stateauthorities and local bodiesare expected to construct23,000 kms of around four-lane roads.

“This is a good 86,000 mtof waste plastic,” RIL head ofbusiness development (sus-tainable solutions) KRSNarayan said.

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Market benchmark Sensexrallied 231.80 points on

Wednesday, driven by gains inindex heavyweights HDFCBank, ITC, RIL and Infosys.

The 30-share BSE indexsettled 231.80 points, or 0.57per cent, higher at 41,198.66. Ithit an intra-day high of41,334.86 and a low of41,108.19.

Likewise, the broader NSENifty closed 73.70 points, or0.61 per cent, up at 12,129.50.

In the Sensex pack, BajajFinance was the biggest gain-er, rising 4.95 per cent, followedby Nestle India, ITC, Infosysand NTPC.

On the other hand, TCS,HDFC, Sun Pharma, ICICIBank, Bharti Airtel and AxisBank ended in the negative ter-ritory.

According to traders,recovery in global equities andhopes of growth-boosting mea-sures in the upcoming Budgetbuoyed market sentiment.

Further, short-coveringahead of January derivativesexpiry also lifted key indices,they said.

Bourses in Japan and SouthKorea ended with gains, whileHong Kong closed with sharplosses as the market openedafter the Lunar New Year break.Bourses in China remained

closed.Stock exchanges in Europe

opened on a positive note,even as investors assessed therisks posed by the Wuhancoronavirus.

Brent crude oil futures rose0.71 per cent to USD 59.93 perbarrel.

On the currency front, theIndian rupee appreciated by 7paise to settle at 71.24 againstthe US dollar following gains inthe domestic equity market.

Forex traders said rupeeconsolidated in a narrow rangeas market participants areassessing the economic impli-cations of the coronavirus out-break and awaiting cues fromthe Union Budget.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened at 71.23.During the day, the local unitsaw a high of 71.17 and a lowof 71.29. The domestic unitfinally settled at 71.24, up 7paise from its previous close.

The rupee had settled at71.31 against the Americancurrency on Tuesday.

“Indian rupee gained asrisk sentiment recovered amida rebound in the global anddomestic equities. Market play-ers assessing the economicimplications of the coronavirusoutbreak,” said VK Sharma,Head PCG and Capital MarketsStrategy, HDFC Securities.

Sharma further said thatstrong foreign fund flows alsosupported strength in rupee asthey have bought USD 2.21 bil-lion equities so far this month.

��7��23�� 55��2��

Leading stock exchangesBSE and NSE will shift sever-al scrips to the restricted trad-ing segment from Thursday toensure safety of investors in thecapital markets.

BSE will shift as many as 30stocks, including McDowellHoldings, Emami Realty,United Van Der Horst,Hindustan Everest Tools,Technofab Engineering andLactose India, to the trade-for-trade segment represented by Tor XT groups. At the sametime, NSE would transfer 13scrips to the trade-for-tradesegment segment on its plat-form.

In this segment, no specu-lative trading is allowed anddelivery of shares and paymentof consideration amount aremandatory.

With a view to take pre-ventive surveillance measure toensure market safety and safe-guard the interest of theinvestors, BSE and NSE havedecided to move shares of thesecompanies to T or XT Groupwith effect from January 30.

��2��7��2��2��New Delhi: IT company NIIT Technologies onWednesday reported a 66.29 per cent jump inits consolidated profit at �123.3 crore for thethird quarter ended December 31, 2019. Thecompany had posted a profit of �100.2 crore inthe corresponding quarter a year ago.

The revenue from operations of NIITTechnologies increased by 11.8 per cent to�1,088.2 crore during the reported quarter, from�973.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of2018-19, the company said in a regulatory fil-ing. America, which contributes the biggestchunk of the company’s revenue, grew byaround 10 per cent, while European businessgrew by about 23 per cent.

The company recorded the highest growthin profit before tax in the American region fol-lowed by Europe. However, the operational prof-it of the company declined in India and AsiaPacific region.

The company declared a dividend of �10 perequity share.

� � ��7�� 5��(�� '��7�� 0�1��New Delhi: Bajaj Finance Ltd (BFL) onWednesday reported highest ever quarterly con-solidated net profit at �1,614 crore in December2019 quarter on the back of healthy interestincome. The non-banking finance companyposted a 52 per cent jump in Q3 net profit ascompared with �1,060 crore in the year-agoquarter.

Total income of the company grew 41 percent to �7,026 crore for October-December of2019-20 as against �4,992 crore in year ago peri-od, Bajaj Finance said in a regulatory filing. Thenet interest income was up by 42 per cent at�4,537 crore from �3,206 crore while the inter-est income increased by 39 per cent to �6,105crore from �4,387 crore in Q3 of 2018-19.

The company’s asset under management(AUM) as on December 31, 2019, rose to

�1,45,092 crore, up 35 per cent from �1,07,507crore. New loans booked in terms of volumeincreased 13 per cent to 76.7 lakh from 67.7 lakh,it added. The consolidated figures of BFLinclude the results of its wholly-owned sub-sidiaries Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd (BHFL) andBajaj Financial Securities Ltd. From 2019-20,BFL and its subsidiary BHFL have opted for thereduced rate of 25.17 per cent for computationof income tax as per recently inserted sectionof the Income Tax Act, 1961, the company said.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) and netNPA as on December 31, 2019, stood at 1.61 percent and 0.70 per cent, respectively.

Bajaj Finance also informed that its boardof directors has appointed Deepak Bagati as theChief Risk Officer of the company with imme-diate effect. Bagati will take charge in place ofFakhari Sarjan.

�5�� '��033�� New Delhi: CG Power and Industrial Solutionson Wednesday reported widening of its consol-idated net loss to �1,595.21 crore in quarter endedin September 2019, from �101.83 crore loss yearago, mainly due to lower income. Total incomeof the company fell to �1,548.50 crore in the sec-ond quarter of this fiscal from �2,115.27 croreyear ago, according to a BSE filing.

The company’s consolidated net loss alsowidened to �1,668.81 in April-September this fis-cal from �212.09 crore loss in same period yearago, it said. The company had reported a con-solidated net loss of �507.13 crore in 2018-19.

Total income of the company in the first halfof this fiscal declined to �3,330.87 crore from�3,958.87 crore year ago. The company had ear-lier informed the bourse about the delay in sub-mission of the financial results of first and sec-ond quarter of this fiscal.

“During the quarter and six months endedSeptember 30, 2019, the group has carried outthe process for recovery of outstanding advancesby issuing recovery notices to various third par-ties,” the company said. PTI

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Script Open High Low LTPCCL 200.55 215.00 195.05 207.95HDFC 2442.00 2447.70 2400.00 2403.65ICICIBANK 531.00 534.80 525.30 526.45BAJFINANCE 4240.00 4444.40 4221.00 4421.75HDFCBANK 1227.00 1242.00 1222.85 1235.95STAR 450.00 454.80 441.75 446.90RELIANCE 1476.00 1494.45 1465.00 1479.70TATAMOTORS 178.15 188.80 178.15 188.05CUMMINSIND 621.00 652.80 594.10 600.45TCS 2187.25 2187.60 2148.65 2152.70INFY 783.00 792.55 783.00 789.45TATASTEEL 453.20 459.45 449.75 452.10HAVELLS 618.80 619.30 611.60 615.85ESCORTS 733.80 754.80 724.30 748.20JINDALSTEL 178.00 181.00 170.65 175.00IBULHSGFIN 324.90 328.10 313.95 315.15YESBANK 41.90 42.35 41.00 41.20SBIN 317.20 319.70 315.70 316.40CHOLAFIN 325.50 333.50 325.00 327.75TTKPRESTIG 6075.15 6075.15 5959.55 5974.80LT 1353.00 1374.90 1352.00 1365.45BHARTIARTL 493.00 501.45 488.50 490.05MARUTI 7020.00 7115.00 6978.00 7011.90M&MFIN 359.25 380.00 359.05 368.00NIITTECH 2000.00 2041.80 1919.70 1938.80IDEA 5.37 5.67 5.19 5.26BPCL 483.10 486.90 476.75 479.45INDUSINDBK 1273.60 1276.60 1251.10 1258.25WOCKPHARMA 346.90 354.50 340.30 349.45AXISBANK 740.00 745.50 733.55 735.35BANDHANBNK 467.90 467.90 445.35 451.10DRREDDY 3180.00 3207.75 3101.00 3148.60APLAPOLLO 2061.65 2077.95 2047.00 2056.95JUBLFOOD 1761.15 1775.00 1719.00 1744.75ITC 231.20 237.60 231.20 236.85DLF 258.95 261.75 256.80 258.70BOMDYEING 92.25 98.50 91.30 97.40TATAGLOBAL 383.00 393.20 382.25 383.65BAJAJFINSV 9650.00 9935.40 9650.00 9902.25SRTRANSFIN 1087.45 1120.00 1087.45 1107.60GAYAPROJ 59.80 59.80 59.80 59.80EICHERMOT 21400.00 21400.00 20097.50 20189.60BIOCON 289.35 303.70 289.35 297.65

JUSTDIAL 596.00 603.05 587.75 596.70APOLLOHOSP 1681.80 1694.00 1674.75 1688.60COLPAL 1500.00 1502.50 1481.00 1485.50IRCON 457.00 495.00 457.00 484.70KOTAKBANK 1628.00 1645.80 1623.65 1641.15INDIGO 1455.00 1479.70 1438.15 1462.20HDFCAMC 3200.00 3206.10 3162.00 3173.60PEL 1696.60 1727.60 1690.00 1702.30JSWSTEEL 258.30 264.40 258.30 261.30MANAPPURAM 192.00 194.60 185.70 186.70GODREJPROP 1079.95 1109.90 1075.50 1087.95SBILIFE 990.00 1011.80 990.00 1007.60ZEEL 276.70 277.00 271.75 274.05ACC 1565.00 1574.15 1545.05 1550.50PIDILITIND 1471.95 1510.50 1467.20 1499.75PFC 116.90 119.40 116.85 117.95VEDL 144.00 145.40 141.90 142.15DMART 1935.00 1984.00 1930.40 1974.00RBLBANK 341.05 343.65 334.05 335.30L&TFH 119.20 120.50 119.05 119.95RVNL 27.55 29.25 27.25 28.90DIVISLAB 1952.00 1994.00 1937.10 1961.30CROMPTON 261.00 262.55 255.00 258.20MGL 1232.50 1246.80 1220.40 1225.50FINEORG 2339.40 2475.00 2310.00 2418.70IOC 118.80 119.90 117.90 118.30RPOWER 1.81 1.85 1.79 1.79HINDUNILVR 2074.90 2085.00 2063.65 2073.60PIIND 1587.10 1587.10 1521.50 1537.35BEML 990.95 998.60 984.55 988.95HINDALCO 197.55 200.40 197.05 197.80HINDPETRO 243.00 248.10 241.50 245.55ONGC 117.20 118.15 116.50 117.60HEROMOTOCO 2479.00 2511.10 2472.00 2485.85TITAN 1200.00 1207.05 1183.35 1186.65ADANIENT 232.65 238.15 231.50 232.50BANKBARODA 94.15 94.20 93.35 93.65RAMCOCEM 855.00 858.35 801.00 811.75VBL 833.00 838.80 783.05 806.05INFRATEL 237.15 246.90 237.15 245.20RITES 319.65 331.00 317.15 328.85CANFINHOME 475.50 495.80 472.80 487.65FORCEMOT 1334.05 1350.00 1306.75 1313.85

DISHTV 14.90 14.94 13.62 14.28SUNPHARMA 454.90 456.75 449.45 450.05IDFCFIRSTB 43.60 44.65 43.55 44.00NTPC 112.30 114.85 111.80 113.25PNBHOUSING 450.05 458.00 445.05 448.80POWERGRID 190.45 193.60 189.35 192.35TECHM 799.00 807.15 793.80 804.15ULTRACEMCO 4628.00 4648.85 4558.60 4568.10SAIL 47.65 48.40 47.45 47.65SPARC 202.00 204.40 196.65 201.05COALINDIA 191.45 192.95 188.20 190.90VINATIORGA 2311.00 2321.15 2252.75 2285.40NAVINFLUOR 1212.55 1259.90 1210.80 1244.50DIXON 4499.45 4499.45 4250.00 4323.70BHEL 43.80 45.10 43.60 44.55CGCL 192.30 192.30 186.20 190.00SRF 3784.00 3804.65 3751.00 3769.75AUBANK 1051.00 1068.95 1033.80 1047.65M&M 575.40 580.75 572.15 577.45UJJIVAN 375.00 379.45 369.65 374.20GODFRYPHLP 1381.75 1397.75 1236.15 1247.30ADANIPORTS 374.00 387.55 374.00 383.30JAICORPLTD 110.50 113.75 110.20 112.00IBREALEST 109.20 113.00 102.85 104.95HDFCLIFE 606.00 610.95 602.50 604.95TATACHEM 752.35 770.70 752.05 756.60PAGEIND 25110.00 25323.75 24701.00 25045.55TATAMTRDVR 74.65 78.00 74.60 77.65LICHSGFIN 455.00 464.90 455.00 458.75UPL 546.00 546.00 537.50 542.00ASHOKLEY 85.25 85.60 84.35 84.65RAJESHEXPO 728.70 730.30 716.00 722.45GLENMARK 345.00 345.75 334.60 335.45EQUITAS 112.90 114.75 111.55 113.45ICICIPRULI 530.00 533.00 520.45 527.15CANBK 207.50 207.70 203.55 204.05ASIANPAINT 1788.00 1803.00 1781.10 1796.50JUBILANT 605.50 609.15 594.60 603.10PNB 61.05 61.45 60.80 60.95NAM-INDIA 365.90 369.80 361.50 366.70GPPL 89.80 91.95 89.75 90.95GODREJCP 735.20 753.95 720.00 742.10SIEMENS 1515.00 1538.65 1490.45 1528.35GAIL 127.50 128.65 125.70 126.25NBCC 36.95 37.10 36.25 36.40GRAPHITE 304.10 309.00 303.00 304.55MARICO 335.05 347.25 335.05 344.45AUROPHARMA 506.70 511.00 503.65 507.30IGL 514.90 515.05 506.50 511.75BRITANNIA 3200.00 3244.80 3200.00 3214.25NESTLEIND 15547.00 15900.00 15444.00 15869.80NAUKRI 2726.00 2849.45 2726.00 2835.00SPICEJET 99.70 100.70 98.70 98.85RALLIS 230.55 246.80 226.80 228.60ADANIGAS 171.90 174.40 169.00 169.80BEL 101.00 101.20 99.75 100.55HCLTECH 604.10 611.50 602.30 609.05NCC 57.80 58.30 57.50 57.65TATACOFFEE 106.70 107.20 102.40 103.30CASTROLIND 133.40 136.55 133.40 135.40AMBER 1480.00 1585.05 1480.00 1529.30ADANIPOWER 64.30 65.00 63.75 64.00TATAELXSI 957.70 962.45 924.45 931.35BIRLACORPN 733.00 770.00 729.15 753.15AVANTI 670.00 682.55 665.00 669.45FEDERALBNK 96.00 96.30 94.65 94.85MOTHERSUMI 140.00 142.55 140.00 141.50GRASIM 814.00 822.70 800.20 802.55INFIBEAM 59.50 60.30 56.40 58.15NH 368.55 389.00 367.00 377.25NMDC 123.90 125.90 121.45 122.50MCX 1386.00 1398.40 1369.30 1377.65RECLTD 145.60 147.80 145.00 147.05SHREECEM 23560.00 23722.90 23450.00 23521.75GUJGAS 293.40 298.50 288.10 294.70MINDAIND 420.00 420.00 402.85 405.75BERGEPAINT 565.00 574.40 561.40 573.05JKLAKSHMI 384.00 389.35 366.75 369.80WELCORP 177.45 178.90 174.30 177.85GLAXO 1690.00 1745.00 1690.00 1696.10ITI 83.30 88.50 82.55 87.70DELTACORP 185.05 188.70 183.75 184.50OBEROIRLTY 557.95 557.95 542.45 553.20QUESS 605.20 631.20 595.70 619.05BATAINDIA 1836.10 1859.85 1823.00 1856.10NOCIL 117.40 118.35 116.60 117.15BAJAJCON 232.30 232.30 226.95 227.85HEG 1090.00 1096.80 1065.30 1081.95ABCAPITAL 102.80 104.55 101.30 101.65MEGH 63.60 65.65 57.80 59.70MFSL 516.85 517.00 508.40 512.70NATIONALUM 45.30 45.80 44.60 44.80DHANUKA 518.00 558.25 505.75 544.60BAJAJ-AUTO 3068.00 3098.90 3065.25 3091.35AMBUJACEM 217.50 218.30 213.35 214.00MRF 70190.00 70517.70 70032.45 70276.45LINDEINDIA 740.00 791.30 735.85 766.10CIPLA 466.20 467.30 460.30 461.35TATAPOWER 61.00 62.00 60.35 60.90LUPIN 750.00 752.60 743.85 744.65RADICO 395.85 399.50 382.90 384.55ERIS 507.00 546.45 507.00 537.35ISEC 461.00 478.95 461.00 467.60STRTECH 131.00 131.70 127.60 129.00BALRAMCHIN 169.05 175.80 169.00 174.25WIPRO 244.75 247.35 243.30 246.70POLYCAB 999.00 1010.00 981.95 989.80BALKRISIND 1088.00 1103.30 1077.50 1084.65

SCI 60.55 62.65 60.50 61.90SUNTV 495.30 498.25 488.25 492.00MOTILALOFS 821.00 834.55 805.20 810.20KEI 578.85 580.00 555.00 562.40RAYMOND 655.00 664.95 651.40 658.15KRBL 295.95 295.95 272.05 275.15LTTS 1719.00 1749.95 1705.00 1728.15BLISSGVS 143.65 144.70 143.00 143.90DALBHARAT 860.00 918.00 860.00 887.30PETRONET 278.30 278.30 272.50 273.90DABUR 490.00 495.15 488.70 491.65ADANIGREEN 189.10 192.95 185.05 186.35APLLTD 638.00 641.60 631.15 634.30JINDALSAW 94.00 95.95 93.35 95.30UBL 1299.50 1299.50 1269.10 1273.95GRANULES 153.05 155.00 151.20 153.20TRENT 590.00 599.00 578.25 582.30ATUL 4940.00 5012.25 4890.00 4911.35BBTC 1183.70 1203.55 1171.05 1188.90WABAG 216.35 224.10 214.45 222.95INDIANB 104.70 105.20 103.40 103.75ICICIGI 1338.00 1346.55 1321.60 1323.75GNFC 207.00 207.90 201.15 202.10CREDITACC 858.00 881.85 851.15 859.35TVSMOTOR 463.20 471.40 462.60 469.85TORNTPHARM 1915.00 1954.85 1911.95 1937.25CONCOR 575.20 582.00 571.00 579.45AAVAS 1956.05 1993.00 1955.95 1975.80SUNTECK 401.15 404.50 395.55 399.65CARERATING 671.00 680.00 663.40 669.50OIL 141.25 141.25 136.20 139.90PFIZER 4379.00 4379.00 4284.75 4334.10TORNTPOWER 326.20 328.95 325.05 325.90GREAVESCOT 140.00 142.90 137.20 140.20EXIDEIND 202.25 205.40 202.00 202.60VOLTAS 715.85 718.40 706.00 707.80PVR 1940.00 1965.55 1940.00 1958.10EDELWEISS 99.10 101.45 97.25 98.00MUTHOOTFIN 761.55 769.25 758.00 760.90PHILIPCARB 137.90 139.35 134.55 135.05BHARATFORG 501.30 512.50 501.30 505.00FSL 42.95 44.40 42.35 44.10DEEPAKNI 404.80 405.00 397.45 399.05ORIENTELEC 237.90 240.00 217.00 235.90IRB 112.00 114.50 111.75 112.95JKTYRE 83.10 84.30 82.30 83.90SWANENERGY 116.90 119.45 115.15 115.70BASF 1017.20 1022.00 997.30 1002.50FORTIS 155.15 157.00 155.00 156.15METROPOLIS 1670.00 1710.00 1662.40 1679.05NBVENTURES 86.00 87.05 72.90 73.90ASTRAL 1228.00 1245.15 1176.00 1187.30HINDZINC 201.25 202.80 198.25 198.60JMFINANCIL 105.75 106.10 101.00 103.25RELINFRA 22.10 22.95 22.10 22.95GMRINFRA 23.80 24.05 23.70 23.80RAIN 116.90 117.80 114.00 114.60BLUESTARCO 861.70 887.00 831.20 843.35MIDHANI 165.05 171.95 165.05 167.75CADILAHC 274.90 275.15 272.00 273.35SUZLON 2.43 2.49 2.40 2.46RELCAPITAL 9.21 9.51 8.97 9.51INDIACEM 87.00 88.25 86.15 86.30KEC 341.00 347.70 334.00 344.50MINDTREE 881.85 888.85 881.10 886.60HEXAWARE 355.20 360.60 349.30 351.00PNCINFRA 195.35 205.30 193.60 196.65ALKEM 2333.00 2349.85 2250.00 2298.30VENKYS 1727.45 1732.00 1702.00 1703.85NHPC 27.50 27.70 26.05 26.15GET&D 164.90 168.65 163.00 164.55IEX 171.25 171.65 165.90 166.70LALPATHLAB 1768.00 1785.55 1756.00 1768.95DEEPAKFERT 118.05 118.35 112.15 113.50DCBBANK 179.15 180.55 174.25 175.15APOLLOTYRE 174.60 175.60 173.60 174.15GSFC 92.70 94.50 92.00 93.85DBL 406.30 413.20 402.60 406.05PARAGMILK 145.00 146.90 143.20 145.45RCF 56.95 57.50 56.05 56.25CHAMBLFERT 180.90 180.90 175.25 176.80WESTLIFE 444.80 445.00 433.00 437.60WHIRLPOOL 2499.00 2499.00 2415.00 2421.25LTI 1955.00 1961.05 1943.70 1957.40BOSCHLTD 14740.00 14858.80 14680.00 14732.10ABFRL 230.00 232.00 227.30 228.00GALAXYSURF 1598.10 1598.80 1555.55 1579.30BAJAJHLDNG 3300.20 3424.40 3269.70 3416.60ENGINERSIN 99.15 99.45 96.60 96.90IPCALAB 1257.95 1257.95 1223.75 1230.45IIFL 174.00 174.00 166.00 170.30HUDCO 43.30 44.10 43.10 43.403MINDIA 22375.75 22479.90 22000.00 22150.85MOIL 148.50 157.35 148.50 155.55ASTRAZEN 2669.70 2724.00 2647.70 2707.25GSPL 262.50 263.00 259.05 262.00GICRE 264.80 264.80 254.80 255.40SOUTHBANK 10.98 11.03 10.89 10.91RESPONIND 92.05 92.45 90.80 91.70INOXLEISUR 406.00 407.95 404.00 405.80TRIDENT 7.09 7.13 6.90 6.98JSLHISAR 77.95 79.00 76.50 77.00TIMKEN 997.10 1009.50 989.10 999.90INDHOTEL 139.55 142.30 139.50 140.00COCHINSHIP 396.45 399.80 384.50 385.20MPHASIS 930.00 949.15 930.00 936.25ENDURANCE 1165.00 1179.90 1115.20 1125.15JKCEMENT 1408.00 1408.00 1378.00 1401.55

PRESTIGE 386.55 386.65 375.65 376.90RELAXO 723.40 723.60 716.10 718.80GHCL 192.05 195.50 191.90 193.20CUB 241.90 241.90 235.80 237.50FRETAIL 336.60 341.15 329.60 332.50TV18BRDCST 25.85 26.35 25.75 25.80IFBIND 661.40 661.40 618.20 620.40SCHNEIDER 85.55 86.50 83.05 83.60SUNDRMFAST 519.00 523.35 513.00 517.70

PGHL 4456.05 4456.05 4397.45 4408.95DCAL* 83.95 85.00 79.80 81.35GODREJAGRO 574.75 579.15 564.50 571.30HSCL 68.50 68.65 67.05 67.20COROMANDEL 618.20 623.10 612.70 618.40KAJARIACER 578.45 584.45 569.45 578.20BANKINDIA 66.40 67.25 66.25 66.40JSWENERGY 67.45 67.80 65.80 66.15WELSPUNIND 46.00 46.95 45.15 45.40JISLJALEQS 8.16 8.16 7.71 7.74INTELLECT 171.05 173.50 171.05 171.95SUDARSCHEM 481.00 485.00 476.00 476.95SOLARINDS 1248.00 1280.00 1225.00 1273.35ASHOKA 115.70 116.80 114.15 114.95PCJEWELLER 23.00 23.00 22.70 22.80ADANITRANS 326.25 329.05 321.00 323.85LEMONTREE 53.60 55.40 53.60 55.15AMARAJABAT 795.60 804.00 794.75 795.75AKZOINDIA 2055.70 2130.00 2003.25 2097.70UNIONBANK 51.70 51.95 51.25 51.45ESSELPRO 181.50 191.60 181.50 186.35IDBI 35.00 35.15 34.40 34.50TCIEXP 849.00 861.00 843.90 855.90VIPIND 470.00 473.00 467.70 470.60MAHSCOOTER 4272.70 4445.00 4272.70 4432.45LAURUSLABS 429.00 439.15 428.00 437.55EMAMILTD 320.80 325.00 317.50 318.95JBCHEPHARM 501.50 517.90 494.00 494.95KNRCON 293.05 302.40 292.00 298.00LAXMIMACH 3389.00 3409.00 3332.00 3339.85HINDCOPPER 44.80 45.10 44.00 44.35CESC 737.10 746.00 736.10 740.40FINOLEXIND 562.00 579.90 558.00 562.95AJANTPHARM 1169.60 1169.60 1138.55 1149.80IDFC 37.10 37.10 36.85 36.90NIACL 163.90 164.35 160.10 160.60TEAMLEASE 2565.00 2573.45 2506.00 2526.15TIINDIA 507.00 507.00 478.50 485.60LUXIND 1464.00 1507.80 1443.50 1451.35BDL 298.00 310.95 296.55 303.85CENTRALBK 19.90 19.90 19.00 19.05ALLCARGO 118.20 119.60 116.70 117.10CEATLTD 1001.50 1002.60 994.00 998.95MMTC 21.40 21.70 21.15 21.40UFLEX 217.10 220.00 215.55 217.15DHFL 15.10 15.20 14.30 14.30HFCL 17.45 17.45 16.95 17.00SYMPHONY 1282.00 1282.00 1262.35 1265.95SUPREMEIND 1350.00 1361.95 1343.00 1352.35VMART 1970.35 2025.00 1970.35 2010.05HEIDELBERG 201.50 202.10 198.65 200.10TATAINVEST 879.00 890.40 876.00 877.10OFSS 2947.10 2947.10 2878.10 2904.10PHOENIXLTD 840.00 863.20 830.45 856.50PTC 60.00 60.60 59.70 59.80GESHIP 324.90 324.90 313.90 315.65NATCOPHARM 646.00 653.50 637.55 644.30GSKCONS 8981.00 9007.15 8929.00 8949.70CHENNPETRO 137.70 138.60 133.05 133.70SJVN 26.10 26.15 25.80 25.85CYIENT 494.90 498.75 488.30 490.45BLUEDART 2660.00 2780.30 2613.60 2739.95KTKBANK 76.30 76.40 75.35 75.80REDINGTON 116.75 119.50 115.75 117.95INDOSTAR 275.00 284.00 265.00 266.15KANSAINER 526.00 526.00 511.75 512.80DCMSHRIRAM 387.00 394.40 375.00 382.05CHOLAHLDNG 551.70 558.60 541.00 544.55ITDC 299.70 304.00 296.40 297.70AIAENG 1750.00 1835.50 1732.60 1803.45GUJALKALI 414.25 418.20 404.00 406.45ORIENTBANK 52.45 52.75 51.85 52.00EIDPARRY 227.40 230.00 224.40 227.70IFCI 6.45 6.49 6.41 6.42ORIENTCEM 84.40 85.80 83.45 84.30REPCOHOME 330.20 343.00 329.75 334.70CRISIL 1760.50 1765.40 1717.00 1743.35GODREJIND 430.35 441.15 426.05 430.60GILLETTE 6290.00 6357.80 6265.00 6276.60MAXINDIA 89.10 90.65 88.00 88.15NESCO 757.00 757.00 735.00 738.75AEGISLOG 209.00 210.80 207.75 208.85

GARFIBRES 1481.05 1522.00 1446.85 1473.90ASTERDM 165.70 170.00 164.45 165.05PERSISTENT 727.30 728.90 696.15 700.90BRIGADE 232.15 235.05 226.15 228.35SYNGENE 313.10 317.50 309.90 312.60BALMLAWRIE 123.75 124.30 120.50 121.80TAKE 99.70 100.40 97.85 98.05LAOPALA 192.90 193.85 186.10 187.35WABCOINDIA 6643.70 6750.00 6643.70 6735.60BAJAJELEC 384.75 391.80 382.10 383.00MRPL 46.40 46.70 46.05 46.40VRLLOG 288.00 288.65 280.40 287.75HAL 836.15 842.00 816.00 825.55IBULISL 123.00 124.95 117.10 118.50MAHINDCIE 174.75 179.00 173.20 178.05JSL 43.05 43.65 42.65 43.15PGHH 10990.00 11273.15 10988.80 11172.25MASFIN 918.35 931.15 913.10 924.40SONATSOFTW 354.00 354.00 346.40 350.30PRSMJOHNSN 73.95 73.95 70.90 71.20SHANKARA 405.00 405.00 390.00 391.90OMAXE 157.75 157.75 155.45 155.50JCHAC 2351.00 2381.00 2331.00 2363.90GRINDWELL 668.10 668.10 632.80 637.70HIMATSEIDE 130.70 131.75 129.00 129.70JAMNAAUTO 44.25 44.45 43.60 43.80SIS 528.65 548.00 523.50 537.60INOXWIND 42.70 42.70 40.50 41.50FDC 230.00 230.00 227.30 227.95SOMANYCERA 212.00 214.85 209.55 209.75TEJASNET 85.70 86.10 82.45 83.40J&KBANK 27.70 27.90 27.30 27.50ABBOTINDIA 12720.80 12720.80 12629.15 12648.10TATAMETALI 627.05 627.10 614.00 616.75MINDACORP 105.00 107.15 103.30 104.65ITDCEM 62.70 64.15 61.50 61.90KALPATPOWR 449.90 454.10 447.05 450.30THERMAX 1070.00 1074.55 1061.85 1063.75JYOTHYLAB 159.20 159.55 154.15 155.50GICHSGFIN 154.00 154.75 152.70 152.85IOB 10.75 10.79 10.44 10.45FINCABLES 413.95 413.95 400.00 404.45EIHOTEL 146.65 147.00 145.35 146.40SYNDIBANK 26.80 26.80 25.70 25.90FCONSUMER 24.35 24.50 23.95 24.05TNPL 192.30 195.50 191.40 191.85NLCINDIA 59.20 59.85 58.65 58.95HONAUT 27825.00 28000.00 27790.00 27965.00VSTIND 4546.00 4546.00 4482.00 4500.70VGUARD 226.10 228.40 225.00 225.85GEPIL 696.50 712.95 690.00 704.60STARCEMENT 88.70 89.75 88.25 88.45GMDCLTD 64.00 65.00 63.50 63.65VAIBHAVGBL 995.00 1008.00 983.15 997.80ALBK 18.35 18.60 18.35 18.45NILKAMAL 1459.10 1465.25 1439.20 1452.40SANOFI 6740.00 6750.00 6707.20 6725.65THYROCARE 571.95 575.85 563.00 566.80ZENSARTECH 177.00 177.50 173.85 175.65ECLERX 674.40 674.40 662.30 666.30DBCORP 140.75 142.35 140.05 141.35NETWORK18 27.30 27.90 26.80 27.05CENTURYPLY 171.70 171.75 169.50 170.95JAGRAN* 70.00 70.30 69.30 69.65ARVINDFASN 395.00 403.00 391.80 393.35MAHLOG 417.90 423.25 417.60 420.00BAYERCROP 4120.00 4144.70 4090.20 4117.90MAHLIFE 401.70 408.05 401.30 404.55MAHSEAMLES 398.85 398.85 391.95 394.75ANDHRABANK 17.00 17.00 16.70 16.75ZYDUSWELL 1545.00 1545.30 1521.15 1522.15KPITTECH 99.50 101.70 96.95 98.90ADVENZYMES 175.35 175.40 172.60 173.30SOBHA 442.00 443.00 438.20 442.05TCNSBRANDS 597.85 609.75 597.85 605.90TVSSRICHAK 1748.00 1767.00 1705.60 1712.00GDL 137.70 141.45 136.00 138.65CENTRUM 22.80 22.80 21.90 22.00CAPPL 290.00 293.00 287.00 287.20CORPBANK 23.55 23.70 23.50 23.55MAHABANK 13.00 13.11 12.90 12.91SHOPERSTOP 420.55 421.95 415.00 419.95SCHAEFFLER 4606.10 4722.00 4578.85 4695.15KPRMILL 698.45 698.90 685.20 696.45TIMETECHNO 56.80 57.20 55.60 56.35VARROC 489.25 492.00 481.75 482.45VTL 1047.35 1047.35 1023.60 1032.95MAGMA 62.20 62.25 60.90 61.00MHRIL 237.80 237.80 234.45 234.70FLFL 412.90 416.20 412.75 413.30RATNAMANI 1210.00 1230.80 1205.00 1216.10UCOBANK 15.95 15.95 15.75 15.75HATHWAY 19.65 19.80 19.45 19.75SADBHAV 129.55 129.80 127.20 128.15SUPRAJIT 205.15 205.15 201.00 203.25SHRIRAMCIT 1388.10 1418.65 1360.45 1364.65HERITGFOOD 374.55 379.85 366.05 367.20UNITEDBNK 9.05 9.05 8.89 8.91GULFOILLUB 810.00 814.55 805.00 809.45CARBORUNIV 347.10 348.00 342.65 344.00LAKSHVILAS 15.75 15.90 15.40 15.60SHILPAMED 271.20 273.00 260.00 263.95SHK 113.70 115.40 112.85 113.05SKFINDIA 2193.50 2193.50 2141.55 2147.55SFL 1483.85 1486.75 1463.20 1481.95CERA 2695.30 2695.30 2680.00 2681.50TVTODAY 249.20 251.10 247.65 247.80CHALET 333.00 335.60 329.45 331.60

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12114.90 12169.60 12103.80 12129.50 73.70TATAMOTORS 178.80 188.90 178.55 188.10 12.00BAJFINANCE 4244.90 4444.00 4215.10 4426.20 213.20INFRATEL 240.90 246.90 238.35 245.55 7.95BAJAJFINSV 9649.00 9929.00 9649.00 9924.00 292.70NESTLEIND 15585.00 15899.95 15440.00 15858.30 441.65ITC 231.50 237.65 231.15 237.30 6.55ADANIPORTS 377.50 387.75 373.75 382.50 9.55JSWSTEEL 259.00 264.60 258.30 261.25 6.00POWERGRID 190.45 193.80 189.25 193.60 3.15INFY 786.60 792.80 784.25 790.00 12.00NTPC 112.10 114.90 111.75 113.65 1.60LT 1353.10 1374.95 1352.10 1365.05 18.40HCLTECH 605.00 611.50 602.20 608.85 7.40TECHM 796.90 807.20 793.55 803.75 9.50ONGC 117.35 118.15 116.45 118.00 1.40BAJAJ-AUTO 3079.00 3099.00 3060.00 3094.75 33.85ASIANPAINT 1787.00 1803.85 1781.00 1798.00 18.90COALINDIA 191.00 193.00 188.00 191.10 1.95HDFCBANK 1225.30 1242.00 1222.25 1235.80 12.60TATASTEEL 452.80 459.70 449.60 450.45 4.20WIPRO 244.60 247.40 243.25 246.30 2.25UPL 543.90 545.90 537.05 541.80 4.85KOTAKBANK 1633.00 1646.20 1623.05 1639.55 13.50HINDALCO 197.65 200.40 197.10 197.45 1.45M&M 577.50 580.70 572.15 576.70 4.20BRITANNIA 3200.00 3245.50 3190.05 3204.10 22.85HEROMOTOCO2484.00 2510.00 2470.00 2485.25 16.40SBIN 317.85 319.70 315.55 316.95 1.85RELIANCE 1474.05 1494.40 1464.05 1480.00 8.25IOC 118.80 119.95 117.80 118.45 0.55HINDUNILVR 2062.05 2085.80 2062.05 2070.00 9.40MARUTI 7010.00 7116.25 6975.00 7022.00 24.95ZEEL 275.00 277.10 271.60 273.45 0.95INDUSINDBK 1268.90 1276.70 1251.00 1256.55 1.80GAIL 127.70 128.85 125.60 126.20 0.05VEDL 144.45 145.40 141.90 142.15 -0.05BHARTIARTL 493.10 501.40 488.25 490.70 -0.55AXISBANK 740.00 745.50 733.55 735.50 -1.65ICICIBANK 531.55 534.80 525.30 526.90 -1.30BPCL 483.95 486.90 476.65 478.65 -2.30SUNPHARMA 454.85 456.75 449.45 450.45 -2.45GRASIM 814.00 822.85 800.00 804.20 -4.70CIPLA 464.70 467.40 460.35 461.05 -3.65TITAN 1198.50 1207.90 1181.60 1185.00 -10.00ULTRACEMCO 4625.00 4653.50 4559.50 4568.25 -40.80HDFC 2446.00 2447.50 2400.00 2406.30 -25.30TCS 2185.00 2186.95 2150.00 2154.00 -29.75DRREDDY 3189.15 3201.85 3099.20 3145.15 -44.00YESBANK 41.85 42.35 41.00 41.05 -0.60EICHERMOT 21236.00 21236.00 20100.00 20136.00 -950.65

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 29025.20 29145.70 28980.75 29045.40 156.65BAJAJHLDNG 3279.00 3428.00 3260.00 3407.00 142.45PIDILITIND 1466.20 1509.90 1466.20 1508.50 46.90MARICO 336.15 347.35 336.05 345.75 10.65BIOCON 289.05 303.90 289.00 296.85 8.25SRTRANSFIN 1087.00 1121.00 1084.80 1110.00 30.15SBILIFE 992.00 1012.15 988.00 1012.00 24.15BERGEPAINT 561.85 574.85 560.75 574.45 13.70DMART 1932.00 1984.25 1928.00 1973.85 43.40PFC 116.70 119.50 116.60 118.10 2.10HINDPETRO 243.00 248.25 241.35 246.00 3.65MOTHERSUMI 139.80 142.65 139.70 141.05 2.05SIEMENS 1513.00 1539.40 1490.30 1528.70 21.90PEL 1697.00 1727.95 1687.00 1703.70 24.20CONCOR 575.00 581.90 570.45 579.00 7.25PNB 61.10 61.50 60.80 61.05 0.55PGHH 11190.00 11250.50 10980.00 11197.00 84.45COLPAL 1494.70 1503.00 1480.25 1492.55 10.40DIVISLAB 1956.00 1994.40 1936.05 1959.00 12.25DABUR 490.90 495.50 488.70 491.35 2.95BANKBARODA 93.75 94.20 93.35 93.65 0.45INDIGO 1475.00 1480.35 1436.55 1460.60 6.85L&TFH 119.35 120.50 119.00 119.90 0.55CADILAHC 273.00 275.85 271.00 273.35 0.95AUROPHARMA 505.40 511.15 503.25 505.50 1.40DLF 259.00 261.80 256.65 258.30 0.65HDFCLIFE 605.95 611.00 602.25 604.90 1.15BOSCHLTD 14690.00 14886.95 14665.45 14707.20 17.65HINDZINC 200.00 202.75 198.00 198.65 -0.10ASHOKLEY 85.15 85.60 84.30 84.60 -0.05HAVELLS 618.00 621.05 611.45 615.40 -0.80ICICIPRULI 530.85 533.10 519.90 525.55 -1.10PETRONET 277.60 277.60 272.50 272.65 -0.65PAGEIND 25220.00 25399.20 24670.00 25066.00 -79.45UBL 1279.90 1297.00 1270.00 1272.00 -4.60LUPIN 750.00 752.75 743.55 744.30 -3.10HDFCAMC 3199.70 3205.00 3163.00 3178.95 -14.05NIACL 162.25 165.00 160.00 160.40 -0.75AMBUJACEM 216.75 218.25 213.25 214.40 -1.75SHREECEM 23539.10 23780.00 23206.10 23240.65 -201.35ACC 1564.25 1574.00 1545.20 1546.50 -14.85IBULHSGFIN 324.80 328.40 313.70 317.00 -3.20ICICIGI 1339.80 1348.45 1322.00 1323.00 -14.35OFSS 2930.00 2959.90 2878.05 2880.00 -34.80NMDC 124.20 125.95 121.50 122.30 -1.55GODREJCP 741.70 754.00 719.25 722.65 -13.75IDEA 5.35 5.70 5.15 5.25 -0.10GICRE 261.00 263.75 254.00 254.75 -5.15BANDHANBNK 465.00 466.00 445.25 451.20 -11.10MCDOWELL-N 652.00 657.40 629.40 633.30 -22.60NHPC 27.50 27.75 26.00 26.25 -1.05

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President Donald Trump hasreleased his long delayed

Israeli-Palestinian peace plan,promising “a new dawn,” butangry Palestinians called itbiased and deserving to go inthe “dustbin of history.”

Standing alongside IsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu in the WhiteHouse’s East Room, Trumpsaid on Tuesday that his plancould succeed where decades ofprevious US attempts to inter-vene had failed.

“Together we can bringabout a... new dawn in theMiddle East,” Trump said to anenthusiastic audience thatincluded throngs of Israeli andJewish American guests — butapparently no Palestinian rep-resentatives.

They are flat out rejectingthe plan, which grants Israelmuch of what it has sought indecades of international diplo-macy, namely control overJerusalem as its “undivided”capital, rather than a city toshare with the Palestinians.The plan also lets Israel annexWest Bank settlements.

Trump praised Israel fortaking “a giant step towardpeace” with the plan, which laysout a vision for futurePalestinian statehood if a seriesof strict conditions are met.

These include requiringthe future Palestinian state tobe “demilitarized,” while for-malising Israeli sovereigntyover settlements built in occu-pied territory.

The US president, whowas followed at the podium byNetanyahu, painted a futurewhere some USD 50 billion in

investments would eradicatethe misery grippingPalestinians today, while allow-ing Israel never “to compro-mise its security.”

Criticizing previous USdiplomatic efforts as overlyvague, Trump noted that hisversion was 80 pages long andcontained a map depicting theproposed future neighbouringstates.

However, the Palestiniansangrily rejected the entire plan.

“This conspiracy deal willnot pass. Our people will takeit to the dustbin of history,”Palestinian president MahmudAbbas said.

Trump promised a “con-tiguous” future Palestinianstate, addressing the current sit-uation where Israel controlsbroad territory separating thetwo main population centers ofthe Gaza Strip and the WestBank.

But the map showed theWest Bank remaining riddledwith Jewish settlements linkedto Israel and only a long roadtunnel connecting the areawith the seaside Gaza Strip.

The plan makes clear thatIsrael is free to annex its set-tlements on Palestinian landsright away.

On the flashpoint issue ofJerusalem, Trump said Israelshould retain control over thecity as its “undivided capital,”Trump said. At the same time,the Palestinians would beallowed to declare a capitalwithin occupied EastJerusalem, he said.

The Hamas Islamist move-ment, which runs the GazaStrip, said it could never acceptcompromise on Jerusalembeing capital of a future state.

The announcement cameas both Trump and Netanyahufight for their political futures.

Trump is in the midst ofan impeachment battle overhis alleged abuse of power andhe faces a difficult reelectionin November.

Netanyahu was formallyindicted on three corruptioncharges Tuesday after he aban-doned an attempt to seek par-liamentary immunity.

His right-wing Likud facesa neck-and-neck race withrival Benny Gantz’s centristBlue and White party in amonth. But he is expected to

benefit from the high-profilepartnership with Trump.

Netanyahu called the pro-posal “the deal of the century”and said to Trump “you havebeen the greatest friend thatIsrael has ever had in theWhite House.” Trump said hehad written to Abbas to enlisthis support.

“I explained to (Abbas)that the territory allocated forhis new state will remain openand undeveloped for a periodof four years,” Trump said.“This could be the last oppor-tunity they will ever have.”

Trump’s son-in-law Jared

Kushner, who authored theplan behind the scenes but hadminimal contact withPalestinian negotiators, wassimilarly blunt, telling themnot to “screw up this oppor-tunity.” “I think that they willhave a very hard time lookingat the international commu-nity in the face, saying they’revictims,” he told CNN.

Trump’s plan triggeredimmediate condemnation onthe streets of the Gaza Stripand the West Bank, withdemonstrations expected tocontinue through the week.

Thirteen people were

wounded in the West Bank inclashes with the Israeli army,the Red Crescent said.

There was also anger fromIsraeli hardliners. TransportMinister Bezalel Smotrich,from the far-right Yeminaunion, said his party “won’tunder any conditions agree torecognition, whether explicitor implicit, of a Palestinianstate.”

The ambassadors fromthree Arab nations — Oman,the UAE and Bahrain — wereat the White House, providingsome evidence of Trump’sclaim to have growing supportaround the region.

But international reactionwas at best cautiously positive.

Saudi Arabia said it“appreciates” Trump’s effortsand called for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Russia, a growing force inMideast politics, soundedskeptical. “We do not know ifthe American proposal ismutually acceptable or not,”Deputy Foreign MinisterMikhail Bogdanov toldRussian news agencies.

Top EU diplomat JosepBorrell said the bloc would“study and assess” the US pro-posals, while Germany’s for-eign minister said “only anegotiated two-state solution,acceptable to both sides”would work.

British Foreign SecretaryDominic Raab called it a “seri-ous proposal, reflecting exten-sive time and effort.”

Among the strongest for-eign condemnations werefrom Turkey, which brandedthe plan “stillborn” and Iran,which called it “doomed tofail.”

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UN chief Antonio Guterressaid the global body

remains committed to sup-porting Palestinians and Israelisto resolve the conflict on thebasis of UN resolutions, inter-national law and bilateralagreements, a day after USPresident Donald Trumpunveiled his Middle East peaceplan aimed at settling one of theworld’s longest disputes.

“The Secretary-Generalhas seen the announcement ofthe United States plan for theMiddle East. The position ofthe United Nations on thetwo-State solution has beendefined, throughout the years,by relevant Security Counciland General Assembly resolu-tions by which the Secretariatis bound,” a statement issued byUN Secretary-GeneralGuterres’ spokesman said hereon Tuesday.

The world body “remains

committed to supportingPalestinians and Israelis toresolve the conflict on thebasis of United Nations reso-lutions, international law andbilateral agreements and real-izing the vision of two States —Israel and Palestine — livingside by side in peace and secu-rity within recognized bor-ders, on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.” However, Abbasrejected Trump’s plan, saying itwill “not pass.”

“After the nonsense that weheard today we say a thousandno’s to the Deal of TheCentury,” Abbas said during apress conference on Tuesday inthe West Bank city ofRamallah.

Netanyahu hailed Trump’splan as “historic day” for Israel.He compared Trump’s Planwith the day to May 14, 1948,when the then President HarryTruman became the first worldleader to recognise the State ofIsrael.

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Qatar responded cautiouslyWednesday to US

President Donald Trump’sIsraeli-Palestinian peace plan,saying it welcomed efforts tobroker “longstanding peace”but warned that was unattain-able without concessions tothe Palestinians.

The plan grants Israelmuch of what it has sought indecades of international diplo-macy, namely control overJerusalem as its “undivided”capital, rather than a city toshare with the Palestinians.The plan also lets Israel annexWest Bank settlements.

Qatar is a supporter of thePalestinian cause and has pre-viously hosted leaders ofHamas, the Islamist movementthat rules the Gaza Strip.

The gas-rich Gulf state hasprovided millions of dollars inaid to Gaza to fund fuel deliv-eries to the territory’s solepower station and cash hand-outs to needy families.

But Qatar is also a strongally of the United States. It hostsWashington’s largest airbase inthe region. claiming to havespent $8 billion supporting USoperations and pledges toinvest $1.8 billion more toupgrade the facility.

“Qatar welcomes all effortsaiming towards a longstandingpeace in the occupiedPalestinian territories, appre-ciating the endeavours of the

current US administration tofind solutions for thePalestinian-Israeli conflict,” thestate-run Qatar News Agencyreported.

“Qatar reaffirms its com-mitment for supporting thePalestinian institutions, notingthat peace cannot be sustain-able if Palestinians rights intheir sovereign state... includ-ing east Jerusalem, and theright of return are not pre-served.”

On the flashpoint issue ofJerusalem, Trump said Israelshould retain control over thecity as its “undivided capital” —effectively ruling out the pos-sibility it could be split betweenIsrael and the Palestinians.

The plan would also endthe so-called “right of return”.Millions of Palestinians or theirdescendants who fled or wereforced out when the Jewishstate was created in 1948 wouldno longer have a case to goback.

Criticising previous USdiplomatic efforts as overlyvague, Trump said his versionwas 80 pages long and con-tained a map depicting the pro-posed future neighbouringstates.

However, the Palestiniansangrily rejected the entire plan.

“This conspiracy deal willnot pass. Our people will takeit to the dustbin of history,”Palestinian president MahmudAbbas said after Trumpunveiled the plan on Tuesday.

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Emboldened by a supportiveWhite House, Israel appears

to be barreling toward a show-down with the internationalcommunity over its half-cen-tury-old settlement enterprisein the West Bank.

With the prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Courtpoised to launch a war crimesprobe of Israel’s settlementpolicies, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu onTuesday announced plans tomove ahead with the poten-tially explosive annexation oflarge parts of the occupiedWest Bank, including dozens ofJewish settlements.

He spoke in Washington asPresident Donald Trumpunveiled a Mideast peace planthat matches Netanyahu’snationalistic stance and under-cuts Palestinian ambitions.

This confluence of forcescould make 2020 the year thatfinally provides clarity on thestatus of Israeli settlementsand the viability of a two-statesolution.

“History is knocking atthe door,” Israeli DefenseMinister Naftali Bennett, a

patron of the settler movement,said as he urged Netanyahu toimmediately annex all of Israel’ssettlements and snuff out anyhopes for Palestinian indepen-dence.

“Now the campaign ismoving from the White Houseto the Cabinet room inJerusalem,” he said.

“Take everything now.” ThePalestinians want the WestBank as the core of a futureindependent state and see thesettlements there — home tonearly 500,000 Israelis — asobstacles to their dream ofindependence. The interna-tional community backs thisview and overwhelmingly con-siders the settlements to be ille-gal.

Since capturing the WestBank in the 1967 Middle Eastwar, Israel has slowly andsteadily expanded its settle-ments while stopping short ofannexing the territory. Theinternational community con-demned the construction asillegal but has refrained fromimposing sanctions or seriouspunishment.

This status quo began tochange after Trump took officein early 2017. Surrounded by a

team of advisers with close tiesto the settlement movement,Trump took a more sympa-thetic line toward Israel andhalted the automatic criticismof settlements of his predeces-sors. This resulted in a surge ofIsraeli construction plans that

are just getting underway.“Over the next year and

certainly two years, we’re goingto see a sharp increase” in thesettler population, said BaruchGordon, director of West BankJewish Population Stats, a set-tler group. In its annual report,

the group said the West Banksettler population grew lastyear to 463,353 people, in addi-tion to some 300,000 settlersliving in Israel-annexed eastJerusalem.

“We’re here and we’re notgoing anywhere,” he said.

The major turning pointfor Israel was in November,when the US declared that itdid not consider settlements tobe illegal. That landmark deci-sion appears to have played akey role in Netanyahu’sannouncement that he plans toannex the Jordan Valley, astrategic area of the West Bank,and Israel’s more than 100 set-tlements.

Ironically, this warm USembrace could prove to beNetanyahu’s undoing. Movingahead with annexations is like-ly to trigger harsh interna-tional condemnations and pos-sible legal action.

Last month, the chief pros-ecutor of the InternationalCriminal Court, FatouBensouda, declared there is a“reasonable basis” to believethat settlement constructionconstitutes a war crime.Pending final approval fromthe court, she intends to open

a formal investigation, aprocess that could cause deepembarrassment and discomfortfor Israeli leaders.

Yuval Shany, an expert oninternational law at the IsraelDemocracy Institute, saidannexation would “signifi-cantly” raise the risk of trig-gering prosecution at the ICC.

Settlements are widelyviewed as illegal based on theGeneva Convention principlethat an occupying power isbarred from transferring itspopulation into war-won ter-ritories.

“That could be a relative-ly low-hanging fruit for theprosecutor to identify a spe-cific act that is either part ofthe transfer or significantlyaids and abets that transfer,”he said.

While Israel does notaccept the court’s authority,Netanyahu appears to be tak-ing the threat of prosecutionseriously. He has launchedharsh attacks against Bensoudaand the court, saying the caseagainst Israel is “pure anti-Semitism.” He also has tried,with limited success, to rallyinternational opposition to theICC.

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Brexit Day is to be set in stoneWednesday when the

European Parliament in Brusselscasts a vote ratifying the terms ofBritain’s divorce deal from the EU.

The historic legislative act —the last for the 72 remainingBritish MEPs who will leaveafterwards — will allow Brexit toofficially take effect on Friday at2300 GMT, midnight for most ofcontinental Europe and 11:00 pmin Britain.

British Prime Minister BorisJohnson insists that date will seeBrexit “done”. But the EU under-lines that the next, thornierphase of the split — working outa treaty to define the future rela-tionship between the two sides —is about to begin.

Those negotiations are to goto late this year. At the end of2020, a transition period easingBritain out of EU rules and reg-ulations will expire, unlessextended by both sides — some-thing Johnson has ruled out.

The transition period, astandstill provision, means ordi-nary Britons and EU citizens willsee little visible change, andindeed London will continue tocontribute to the EU budget.

But from this weekendonward, Britain will be excludedfrom the EU’s institutions anddecision-making.

It will officially be what the

bloc calls a “third country” — anon-EU state. A close neighbour,and an important trade andsecurity partner, but on the out-side of Europe’s single-marketclub, reduced to 27 nations anda combined population of 450million.

“Brexit is a loss for us all,”European Commission VicePresident Maros Sefcovic saidafter a regular EU ministers’meeting on Tuesday.

He said it was important forthe EU “to maintain our unity”as it negotiates the future part-nership with the UK.

The British minister forEurope attending the meeting,Christopher Pincher, expressedoptimism on what that wouldyield. “We’re looking forward toa very different world and a verydifferent relationship,” he said.

The divorce deal, or “with-drawal agreement”, to be ratifiedWednesday, protects the rights ofEU and British citizens current-ly residing in each other’s terri-tory, Britain’s financial obliga-tions, and a customs regime thatwill keep the UK territory ofNorthern Ireland largely underEuropean rules.

Britain’s Johnson and QueenElizabeth II and Brussels’ mostsenior officials signed off on theaccord last week. Ratification bythe European Parliament is a for-mality, albeit a necessary oneunder European law.

Pro-Brexit figures seeBritain’s departure as a liberationfrom an overweening Eurocracy.

Brexit Party MEPs, withleader Nigel Farage at the fore,plan to celebrate in Brussels onWednesday, before heading toLondon to host Brexit parties onFriday.

But Johnson, conscious ofUK divisions entrenched sincethe 2016 referendum that ush-ered in Brexit, is steering clear ofa public display of triumphalism.He has dismissed a proposal tohave London’s Big Ben tem-porarily revived from a costlyrenovative hiatus to symbolical-ly chime in the moment.

Although bolstered by a bigparliamentary majority, he facesresentment from British“remainers”, a resurgent inde-pendence push in anti-BrexitScotland, and fears among UKbusinesses about what the loss offrictionless access to the EU’s sin-gle market will mean for revenuesand jobs.

Above all, he has to demon-strate the UK can navigate soloin a world increasingly roiled bygeopolitical tussles between thethree biggest players — the US,the EU and China — that areaffecting policies on trade, tech-nology, security guarantees andclimate change.

Neither the US nor the EUlook to be offering Britain an easyride.

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US Secretary of State MikePompeo visits London on

Wednesday to salvage a post-Brexit alliance with an oldfriend whose defiance onChina and Iran underscoresWashington’s diplomatic isola-tion. Prime Minister BorisJohnson has been touting theprospects of a big new tradedeal with the United States thatcan fill the void of Britain’sdeparture from the EuropeanUnion on Friday.

But Pompeo’s meetingswith Foreign SecretaryDominic Raab and Johnson onWednesday and Thursdaythreatens to become a damagelimitation exercise for the “spe-cial relationship”.

Pompeo had been doinghis best to convince Johnsonthat allowing China’s Huaweitech giant to help build Britain’snext-generation 5G networkintroduced a long-term secu-rity threat.

Britain approved a limitedbut still important role forHuawei on Tuesday.

“The United States is dis-appointed by the UK’s deci-sion,” a senior administrationofficial said in a terse statement.

And Johnson had beenpushing Washington to sendback the wife of a US diplomatwho is using the cover of diplo-

matic immunity to avoid pros-ecution over the death of ateenager in a road accident inEngland last August.

The United States rejectedAnne Sacoolas’s extradition toBritain last week.

“We feel this amounts to adenial of justice,” Raab said inresponse. “The UK would haveacted differently if this hadbeen a UK diplomat serving inthe US.”

Disagreements about Iranand a US prosecutor’s com-plaint that Prince Andrew wasstonewalling an FBI investiga-tion into the late sex offenderJeffrey Epstein only add to thelayers of tensions.

Johnson might now simplybe hoping “there are no pre-cipitous statements from theUS saying that’s it, this loveaffair is at an end”, said IanBond of London’s Centre forEuropean Reform.

Bond pointed out that USofficials had repeatedly warnedhow Huawei’s inclusion inBritain’s 5G rollout could forceWashington to stop sharingintelligence with London.

“It would probably be safeto say that the British have nottaken those (threats) very seri-ously and now is the momentwe will find out whether theyshould have taken them moreseriously or not,” Bond toldAFP.

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India successfully managed touse digital platforms to

reduce disparities among pop-ulation groups, a flagship UNstudy has said, noting that thecountry’s experience of com-plementing mobile technolo-gies with the Aadhaar identifi-cation system to reduceinequality is likely to be repli-cated in other countries infuture.

The World Social Report2020, published by the UNDepartment of Economic andSocial Affairs (DESA), noteshow India harnessed the poten-tial of digital technologies formore inclusive development.

In the report, the UN saidthe experience of India suggeststhat mobile digital technologiesneed to be complemented byother technologies to reduceinequality in access to financialservices.

“India managed to achievemore equal access to financialaccounts by complementingmobile technologies with anational system of digital IDsand an affordable electricitysystem that provides an unin-terrupted supply of stable cur-rent,” it said.

Given that many develop-ing countries currently havedigital ID systems and somecountries are on track toachieve universal access to

modern energy during the2020s, the report said “theexperience of India is likely tobe replicated in other countriesin the near future.”

The report highlightedthe role played by theAadhaar identification sys-tem to achieve financialinclusion in India.

“India has successfullymanaged to use digital tech-nologies to reduce disparitiesamong population groups. Acombination of new publicinfrastructure and governmentaction was behind the successof a new identification systemthat is increasing ownership offinancial accounts and makingpublic services more effective,”it said.

The report, released lastweek, added that in 2014, theIndian Government instructedbanks to provide accounts topeople not having one, usingtheir Aadhaar numbers orother sources of informationabout their identities andaddresses.

It noted that the number ofpeople without bank accountsdeclined by more than half,from 557 million in 2011 to 233million in 2015.

“By 2017, 80 per cent ofadult Indians had at least onebank account, which is signif-icantly higher than the averageshare in developing countries(63 per cent). The biometric ID

helped reduce gender- income-and education-based gaps inaccess. In fact, the system hasalso been used to enhance theeffectiveness of social protec-tion, health and voting pro-grammes.”

The UN report furthersaid that before the introduc-tion of Aadhaar unique IDs, theless advantaged segments of thepopulation were unlikely tohave an official registered ID,which was necessary to open abank account.

Improvements in electric-ity access have facilitated theopening of financial accountsand their use. Electrificationhas reached 82 per cent of thecountry’s population, and theInternational Energy Agencypredicts that India will achieveuniversal access in the early2020s.

The report, however, notedthat despite this success, 48 percent of bank accounts in Indiawere reported as inactive in2018, suggesting that the gov-ernment programme to pro-mote account ownership,launched in 2014, “is still in itsinfancy.”

“However, more accountsare expected to become activeas a greater number of peopleacquire mobile phones.Two-thirds of inactive account hold-ers now have mobile phones,and this share is increasing,” itsaid.

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The deadly coronavirus con-tinues to wreak havoc in

China with 25 new fatalitiesreported from central Hubeiprovince, taking the death tollto 132 and the confirmed infec-tion cases to nearly 6,000, ashealth experts warned that theepidemic may reach its peak inthe next 10 days resulting inlarge-scale casualties.

The Chinese health author-ities announced on Wednesdaythat 5,974 confirmed cases ofpneumonia caused by the novelcoronavirus had been reportedin 31 provincial-level regionsby Tuesday.

China’s National HealthCommission said in its dailyreport that 1,239 patientsremained in critical conditionand 9,239 people were sus-pected to be infected with thevirus.

A total of 103 people havebeen discharged from hospitalafter recovery, the commis-sion said.

For the first-time, Tibet tooreported a suspected case ofcoronavirus.

Till now, barring Tibet, allChinese provinces reportedthe virus cases, posing a majorchallenge for the health author-

ities to contain it.Tuesday saw 1,459 new

confirmed cases, 3,248 newsuspected cases, including onein Tibet Autonomous Regionand 26 deaths, with one inHenan province and the rest inHubei, the Commission said.

A total of 65,537 closecontacts had been traced, thecommission said, adding thatamong them, 1,604 were dis-charged from medical obser-vation on Tuesday. A total of59,990 people were still undermedical observation.

By the end of Tuesday,eight confirmed cases had beenreported in Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region, sevenin Macao SpecialAdministrative Region andeight in Taiwan.

Hubei, the epicentre of thevirus, has reported 840 newconfirmed cases, indicatingthat the virus continues tospread at a faster rate.

The coronavirus can bepassed between humansthrough close contact, Chinesemedical experts say.

The novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) outbreak mayreach its peak in one week oraround 10 days, Chinese res-piratory expert Zhong Nanshansaid.

“It is very difficult to defi-nitely estimate when the out-break reaches its peak. But Ithink in one week or about 10days, it will reach the climaxand then there will be large-scale increases,” Zhong toldstate-run Xinhua news agency.

Zhong is the head of anational team of experts set upfor the control and preventionof the novel coronavirus-caused pneumonia and an aca-demician of the ChineseAcademy of Engineering.

“There are two keys totackling the epidemic: earlydetection and early isolation.They are the most primitiveand most effective methods,” hesaid. Zhong said fever andweakness were the typicalsymptoms of the coronavirusinfection found in majority ofthe patients.

Ten to 14 days is a soundperiod for isolation and obser-vation. When the incubationperiod ends, those who fall sickwill get timely treatment andthose who do not will be justfine, he said.

He suggested that hospitalsbe staffed with not only infec-tious disease specialists, butalso specialists in treatingsevere cases to better savepatients. Epidemiologically, the

virus is homologous to thevirus discovered in a type of batin 2017, said Zhong, addingthat the 2019-nCoV probablyhas an intermediate host thatmay be a certain kind of wildanimal.

“The SARS (Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome) out-break lasted about six months,but I don’t believe the novelcoronavirus outbreak wouldlast that long,” said Zhong.

The country has taken aseries of powerful measures,especially early detection andearly isolation.

“We have sufficient confi-dence in preventing a majoroutbreak or a recurrence aslong as the two measures are inplace, although we still need toconduct much scientificresearch,” he said.

Noting that the key forWuhan is how to reduce infec-tions inside hospitals, Zhongsaid he supported the con-struction of makeshift hospitalsin the city to control the infec-tious disease.

The activation of top-levelpublic health emergencyresponse was aimed at reduc-ing the chance of infection, hesaid, adding that the vaccinedevelopment may need three tofour months or even longer.

“Now scientists are speed-ing up research of neutralizingantibodies of the virus, but ittakes time. With help fromacross the country, Wuhan, aheroic city, will pull through,”Zhong said.

Chinese President XiJinping on Tuesday called thecoronavirus a “demon” whichshould be brought under con-trol.

China has ramped upefforts to contain the virus. Thecountry has extended the NewYear Festival holidays tillFebruary 2 to prevent reversemigration of millions ofmigrant workers to return totheir work after holidays.

Universities, primary andmiddle schools and kinder-gartens across the country willpostpone the opening of thespring semester until furthernotice.

The government isfocussing on efforts to preventmass gatherings and mass trav-el to ensure the virus does notspread fast.

Beijing has also launchedtemperature detection at 55subway stations, includingstops at railway stations andBeijing airport. Passengers withabnormal body temperatureswill be sent to hospital.

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Japanese citizens evacuatedfrom Wuhan, the epicentre of

a deadly virus outbreak,described an atmosphere ofconfusion and fear in theChinese city and expressedrelief as they arrived in Tokyoon Wednesday.

A total of 206 Japanese cit-izens landed at Tokyo’s Hanedaairport on Wednesday morn-ing, with health professionalscarrying out checks on boardand at the airport, but nomandatory quarantine wasplanned. Five passengers whosaid they felt unwell were hos-pitalised on arrival, but therewas no confirmation ofwhether they were infectedwith the virus.

The flight arrived as severalcountries worked to extracttheir nationals from Wuhan,with an American charter flightalso leaving the city onWednesday, bound for an air-port in the Los Angeles area.

Takeo Aoyama, a NipponSteel employee who arrivedon the evacuation flight,described confusion in Wuhan,with travel restrictions intend-ed to contain the virus making

it hard for those in the epicen-tre to know what was happen-ing.

“The number of patientsbegan increasing rapidly at acertain point. That was veryworrying,” he told reporters atthe airport.

“We were not able to movefreely, so we only had partialinformation. The restrictionson the flow of goods and trans-port were extremely strict.”

He said food was available,but supply was uncertain, withshops selling out on some days.

“It wasn’t a situation wherewe couldn’t get anything at all.But it wasn’t a situation whereyou could get anything freely,either,” Aoyama said.

Takayuki Kato, whoworked in Wuhan for the firmIntec, said the atmosphereinside the city had changed asthe scale of the crisis becameclear.

“Everyone in the city beganwearing masks. On the 23rd,when transport was shut down,I became very alarmed,” hesaid.

The evacuation had gonesmoothly, he added. The flight“was quiet. People were cool-headed”.

The Japan flight arrived inWuhan overnight, carryingemergency relief suppliesincluding 15,000 masks, 50,000pairs of gloves and 8,000 pro-tective glasses, the foreign min-istry said.

Four medical officials werealso on board to monitorreturning passengers andadminister health question-naires. All passengers will betested for the new strain ofcoronavirus, which has killedmore than 130 people andinfected thousands.

And while there were noplans to confine the arrivals, theevacuees would be asked toremain at home in “self-quar-antine” at least until the resultsof their tests were known, offi-cials said.

Those with somewhere tostay in and near Tokyo wouldbe taken there by private trans-port, with others taken to localhotels initially. Japanese offi-cials say there is no legal basisto forcibly quarantine peoplewho have not tested positive.

The health ministry has sofar confirmed seven cases of thevirus in Japan, including oneman who had not travelled toChina.

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Australian scientists said onWednesday they have suc-

cessfully grown the novel coro-navirus in a lab, for the firsttime outside China, a “signifi-cant breakthrough” which theysay may help combat the dead-ly virus that has claimed over130 lives and infected thou-sands.

The researchers from thePeter Doherty Institute forInfection and Immunity — ajoint venture between theUniversity of Melbourne andthe Royal Melbourne hospital— said the advance will allowaccurate investigation and diag-nosis of the virus globally.

“Chinese officials releasedthe genome sequence of thisnovel coronavirus, which ishelpful for diagnosis, however,having the real virus means wenow have the ability to actual-ly validate and verify all testmethods, and compare theirsensitivities and specificities -it will be a game changer fordiagnosis,” said Julian Drucefrom The Royal MelbourneHospital.

“The virus will be used aspositive control material for theAustralian network of publichealth laboratories, and alsoshipped to expert laboratoriesworking closely with the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)in Europe,” Druce said in a

statement. Doherty InstituteDeputy Director Mike Cattonsaid the possession of a virusisolate extended what could beachieved with molecular tech-nology in the fight against thisvirus. The deadly coronavirushas claimed 132 lives and near-ly 6,000 infection cases havebeen reported in China, main-ly in the central city of Wuhan.

The grown virus is expect-ed to be used to generate anantibody test, which allowsdetection of the virus inpatients who haven’t displayedsymptoms and were thereforeunaware they had the virus, theresearchers said.

“An antibody test willenable us to retrospectively

test suspected patients so wecan gather a more accurate pic-ture of how widespread thevirus is, and consequently,among other things, the truemortality rate,” Catton said.

“It will also assist in theassessment of effectiveness oftrial vaccines,” he said.

The virus was grown froma patient sample that arrived atthe Royal Melbourne Hospital’sVictorian Infectious DiseasesReference Laboratory (VIDRL)at the Doherty Institute onJanuary 24.

“We’ve planned for an inci-dent like this for many, manyyears and that’s really why wewere able to get an answer soquickly,” Catton said.

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The United Arab Emiratesannounced on Wednesday its

first case of the new coron-avirus, in a family from Wuhan,in what is thought to be the firstconfirmed case in the MiddleEast. “The UAE Ministry ofHealth and Preventionannounced a case of the newcoronavirus affecting peoplefrom one family coming from thecity of Wuhan in China,” the statenews agency WAM reported,without saying how many wereinfected.

“The health condition ofthose affected was stable andunder medical monitoring,” itcited the ministry as saying.

Gulf airports, includingDubai which is home to one ofthe world’s biggest aviation hubs,said last week they would screenall passengers arriving fromChina amid the outbreak of thedeadly virus. The disease hasspread to more than 15 countriessince it emerged out of Wuhanlate last year, with the death tollsoaring to 132 and confirmedinfections nearing 6,000.

All confirmed fatalities haveso far been in China. Confirmedcases have been reported acrossthe Asia Pacific region and inNorth America and Europe, butthe Wuhan family in the UAEappear to be the first in theMiddle East. Dubai’s govern-ment said Thursday that some

989,000 Chinese tourists visitedthe glitzy emirate last year — anumber expected to cross the onemillion mark in 2020.

About 3.6 million Chinesetransited through the emirate’smain airport in 2019.

The UAE’s Abu DhabiInternational Airport, anothermajor hub, has also begunscreening passengers arrivingfrom China.

Between them, the twoEmirati hubs operate dozens offlights a week with Chinesecities.

China is the UAE’s top trad-ing partner and Abu Dhabi isamong the 15 top crude oil sup-pliers to Beijing. Several hundredChinese companies have offices

in the UAE.The coronavirus has caused

alarm because of its similarity toSARS (Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome), which killed nearly650 people across mainlandChina and Hong Kong in 2002-2003. Like SARS, it can be passedamong humans via the respira-tory tract.

The UAE health ministrysaid it has taken “all the necessaryprecautions” in line with stan-dards approved by the WorldHealth Organisation.

It said that the country’shealth system “works very effi-ciently and that the ministry isclosely following the situation ina way that guarantees the healthand safety of everyone.”

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The US has filed lawsuitsagainst five companies and

three individuals allegedlyresponsible for making hun-dreds of millions of fake robo-calls to American consumersfrom abroad, mostly fromIndia, and causing massivefinancial losses to the elderlyand the vulnerable.

Seeking a restraining orderagainst such call centers androbocalls, the Department ofJustice in its class action lawsuitalleged that the companieswere warned many times not toplace fraudulent robocalls —including government andbusiness-imposter calls — yetthey continued to do so andfacilitated foreign-based fraud

schemes targeting Americans.“The calls, most of which

originated in India, led to mas-sive financial losses to elderlyand vulnerable victims acrossthe nation,” it said on Tuesday.

One case has been filedagainst Ecommerce NationalLLC d/b/a TollFreeDeals.com;SIP Retail d/b/a sipretail.com;and their owner/operators,Nicholas Palumbo, 38, andNatasha Palumbo, 33, ofScottsdale, Arizona.

The other case has beenfiled against Global VoicecomInc, GlobalTelecommunication ServicesInc, KAT Telecom Inc., aka IPDish, and the owner/operatorJon Kahen, 45, of Great Neck,New York.

In each case, the

Department of Justice soughtan order immediately haltingthe defendants’ transmissionof unlawful robocall traffic. Afederal court has entered atemporary restraining orderagainst the Global Voicecomdefendants.

“Robocalls are an annoy-ance to many Americans, andthose that are fraudulent andpredatory are a serious prob-lem, often causing devastatingfinancial harm to the elderlyand vulnerable members ofour society,” said AssistantAttorney General Jody Huntfor the Department of Justice’sCivil Division.

According to federal pros-ecutors, Americans have expe-rienced a deluge of robocallsover the past several years.

Many of the robocalls origi-nate from abroad.

Recently, foreign fraud-sters have used robocalls toimpersonate governmentinvestigators and to provideAmericans with alarmingmessages.

The calls facilitated bythe defendants falsely threat-ened victims with a variety ofcatastrophic governmentactions, including termina-tion of social security benefits,imminent arrest for allegedtax fraud and deportation forsupposed failure to fill outimmigration forms correctly,the justice department said.

“Each of these claims is alie, designed to scare the callrecipient into paying largesums of money.

“Social Securityimposters, IRS imposters, andtech-support schemes (inwhich callers impersonatelegitimate technology compa-nies) have proliferated in partbecause of the ease with whichrobocalls can reach millions ofpotential victims every hour,”it said.

In the cases announced onTuesday, the US alleges thatthe defendants operated voiceover internet protocol (VoIP)carriers, which use an internetconnection rather than tradi-tional copper phone lines tocarry telephone calls.

Numerous foreign-basedcriminal organisations arealleged to have used the defen-dants’ VoIP carrier services topass fraudulent government-

and business-imposter fraudrobocalls to American victims.

The complaints filed inthe cases specifically allegethat defendants served as“gateway carriers”, makingthem the entry point for for-eign-initiated calls into the UStelecommunications system.

According to theDepartment of Justice, theycarried astronomical num-bers of robocalls.

For example, the com-plaint against theowners/operators ofEcommerce National d/b/aTollFreeDeals.com alleges thatthe defendants carried 720million calls during a sample23-day period, and that morethan 425 million of thosecalls lasted less than one sec-

ond, indicating that they wererobocalls.

The complaint furtheralleges that many of the 720million calls were fraudulentand used spoofed (fake) callerID numbers.

According to allegationsin both complaints, the defen-dants ignored repeated redflags and warnings about thefraudulent and unlawfulnature of the calls they werecarrying.

“We are using all availabletools and resources to stopforeign call center scammers— and for the first time theirUS-based enablers — fromconning elderly and vulnera-ble victims in New York andthroughout the United States,”said US Attorney Richard

Donoghue. Protecting indi-viduals from schemes thatresult in catastrophic losses tothe victims is a priority of thisOffice and the Department ofJustice, he said.

“Today’s events are theculmination of months ofhard work, and a critical stepin holding these and othercompanies accountable forbeing the link between over-seas scammers and their vic-tims,” said Social SecurityAdministration InspectorGeneral Gail Ennis.

He said the US will con-tinue to pursue those whoexploit the country’s tele-phone system and allow scam-mers to deceive consumersusing the good name of SocialSecurity, Ennis added.

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The US House ofRepresentatives has passed

a bill that authorises financialand travel sanctions againstChinese officials who interferein the process of selecting thesuccessor to the Dalai Lama,the exiled spiritual leader ofTibet.

Introduced byCongressman James PMcGovern, Chairman of theHouse Rules Committee andthe Congressional-ExecutiveCommission on China, thebill was passed by a over-whelming vote of 392 to 22 onTuesday.

The bill, if passed by theSenate and signed into law bythe president, will also prohib-it China from opening any newconsulate in the US untilBeijing allows Washington toopen its diplomatic station inLhasa, the Tibetan capital.

According to the bill, thesuccession or reincarnation ofTibetan Buddhist leaders,including a future 15th DalaiLama, is an exclusively religiousmatter that should be decidedsolely by the Tibetan Buddhistcommunity.

Under the draft legisla-tion, Washington would freezeany American asset and ban UStravel of Chinese officials ifthey are found to be involvedin “identifying or installing” aDalai Lama approved byBeijing.

Addressing the House,Speaker Nancy Pelosi said thebill sends Beijing a clear signalthat it will be held accountablefor interfering in Tibet’s reli-gious and cultural affairs.

The proposed legislation,she said, makes it clear that“Chinese officials who meddlein the process of recognising anew Dalai Lama will be subjectto targeted sanctions, includingthose in the Global MagnitskyAct”.

The Global Magnitsky Actallows the US to sanction for-eign government officialsimplicated in human rightsabuses anywhere in the world.

Pelosi said the bill deploysAmerica’s diplomatic weightto encourage a genuine dia-logue between Tibetan leadersand Beijing.

“It is unacceptable that theChinese government still refus-es to enter into a dialogue withTibetan leaders...We are sup-

porting the Tibetan people’sright to religious freedom andgenuine autonomy by formal-ly establishing as US policy thatthe Tibetan Buddhist commu-nity has the exclusive right tochoose its religious leaders,including a future 15th DalaiLama,” she said.

Though introduced as astand-alone piece of legislation,the bill serves as an amendmentto the Tibet Policy Act of 2002,which codified the US positionof support for the Tibetan peo-ple.

“Our bill updates andstrengthens the Tibetan PolicyAct of 2002 to address the chal-lenges facing the Tibetan peo-ple. But perhaps as important-ly, it reaffirms America’s com-mitment to the idea thathuman rights matter. That wecare about those who areoppressed, and we stand withthose who are struggling forfreedom,” CongressmanMcGovern said on the Housefloor. “It should be clear that wesupport a positive and pro-ductive US-China relationship,but it is essential that thehuman rights of all the peopleof China are respected by theirgovernment,” he asserted.

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At least 10 policemen werekilled when Taliban fighters

attacked an outpost in northernAfghanistan, officials said onWednesday, as fighting ragedacross the country despite ongo-ing talks between Washingtonand the militant group.

The multi-pronged assaulttook place in Khwaja Alwan dis-trict of Baghlan province earlyTuesday, said the provincialpolice spokesman Ahmad JawedBasharat. “The Taliban attackedthe police checkpoint from sev-eral directions. The fighting last-ed several hours. Ten policemenwere martyred. The Taliban alsosuffered casualties,” he told AFP.

The Taliban also ambushedthe police forces sent to reinforcethe checkpoint, he added.

Interior ministry spokesmanNasrat Rahimi also confirmedthe toll to Afghan broadcasterTolonews. Dr Muhibullah Muhib— the public health director ofBaghlan — gave a slightly lowerdeath toll, saying seven bodiesand two wounded policemenwere brought to a local hospitalafter the clash.

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Lawyers representing DonaldTrump at his impeachment

trial said the abuse of powercharges against the US Presidentwere “driven by political desires”,as they wrapped up their open-ing arguments.

“The articles of impeach-ment fall far short of any con-stitutional standard,” WhiteHouse Counsel Pat Cipollone,who led Trump’s defence, said onTuesday.

“What they are asking youto do is to throw out a success-ful president on the eve of anelection, with no basis and inviolation of the Constitution,” hesaid.

Urging the Senate to acquitthe president of the abuse ofpower charges, the White Housecounsel argued that overturningthe last election and “massivelyinterfering” with the upcomingone would cause serious andlasting damage to the people ofthe United States.

“The Senate cannot allowthis to happen. It is time for thisto end, here and now,” he said inhis closing remarks at the Senatefloor.

The Senate is conductingTrump’s trial as the House ofRepresentatives voted lastmonth to impeach him onarticles of abuse of power andobstruction of Congress, bothrelated to his dealings withUkraine.

Trump is accused of cheat-ing in his 2020 reelection bid bypressuring Ukraine, a US ally,to announce probe intoDemocratic presidential hope-ful Joe Biden and his sonHunter and a conspiracy the-ory, promoted by Russia, thatKiev helped the Democrats in2016.

According to theimpeachment charges, Trumpfroze military aid to Ukrainefor two months last summer toput pressure on PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky to pub-licly announce the investiga-tions, illicitly drawing a foreignnation into American electoralpolitics.

Trump’s legal team said hedid nothing wrong and the arti-cles of the impeachment are“constitutionally deficient andthey fail to state impeachableoffences”.

The lawyers said the entire

process that led to the House ofRepresentatives voting for thepresident’s impeachment was“completely partisan” and wasnot based on any wrongdoingby Trump or any constitution-ally sufficient theories forimpeaching the president.

“It was simply a partisanprocess that was driven bypolitical desires to overturn thelast election and to affect the2020 election,” the legal teamsaid.

Meanwhile, Democratssought to have the Senate sub-poena former national securi-ty advisor John Bolton as a wit-ness, following leaks from hisforthcoming book that sug-gested he could supply damn-ing evidence against Trump.

Republicans, however,exuded confidence that theyhave enough votes to thwartany such move. In the 100-member Senate, RepublicanSenators have a 53-47 leadover the Democrats.

Bolton reportedly writesthat Trump directly withheldsecurity aid to Ukraine for hisown political benefit.

During the three days ofarguments, Trump’s lawyers

painted him as a victim of apartisan attempt to undo the2016 election.

Referring to Bolton’s alle-gations, Trump’s personal attor-ney Jay Sekulow said, “It is nota game of leaks or unsourcedmanuscripts.”

With the conclusion of theopening arguments of Trump’slegal team, the Senate trialnow moves into a two-dayperiod of questioning, duringwhich each party will alternatequestioning for up to 16 hoursthroughout Wednesday andThursday. The senators will notask questions themselves butsubmit them for Chief JusticeJohn Roberts, who is presiding,to read.

A vote on whether or notto call witnesses in the trial isexpected on Friday.

“No matter how many wit-nesses you give the Democrats,no matter how much informa-tion is given, like the quicklyproduced Transcripts, it willNEVER be enough for them.They will always screamUNFAIR. The ImpeachmentHoax is just another politicalCON JOB!” Trump tweetedlate Tuesday night.

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Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLimited (BHEL) has

declared 2020 as “The Yearof Transformation” with theobjective of putting the com-pany on the path of becom-ing a global engineeringorganisation. Towards thisend, it has kicked off a multi-dimensional transformation-al strategy to address themultiple business challengesit currently faces — includ-ing decline in its traditionalmarket for thermal powerequipment, disruptive tech-nology developments andincreasingly stringent cus-

tomer requirements. Withthis, the company aims toturn the current challengesinto opportunities for thefuture.

In its over five-decadejourney, BHEL has been akey contributor to India’sindustrial development.Presently, more than 50 percent of the electricity gener-ated in the country comesfrom BHEL manufacturedpower generation equip-ment.

As part of the transfor-mation strategy, it has takenup the task of reviewing and

revamping processes,redesigning business models,expanding into new marketsand developing a committedworkforce with a strongleadership at all levels.Specific strategic initiativesfocus on quality, project exe-cution, cost reduction, diver-sification, digital enablementand technology upgrada-tion. These initiatives arebeing coordinated and mon-itored through a“Transformation Office” setup at the corporate head-quarters.

The company has

recently launched “QualityFirst” initiative aimed atstrengthening the qualityculture, focussing on deliv-ering world class productsand services.

Revamp of project exe-cution capabilities is anoth-er major initiative underway with the objective ofarresting project delays andconsolidating its position asa leading project executionorganisation. Under this ini-tiative, a number of stepshave been taken up, includ-ing implementation ofIntegrated Project

Management Software(IPMS) for real-time projectmonitoring, streamlining thesupply chain to supportsmooth erection work atsites, strengthening pre-engi-neering activities for longterm EPC excellence.

The company’s twopronged product strategyfocuses on defending thecore through excellence inexecution, cost competitive-ness, focus on spares andservices and diversificationinto new business areas byengaging a leading consul-tancy agency .

Digital enablement isanother focus area for thecompany. Various initiativesbeing taken in this directioninclude installation of IPMS,implementation of e-Officeand integration of multipleERP platforms for end-to-end monitoring of manufac-turing, project execution toimprove the overall efficien-cy of the organisation.

In line with its philoso-phy of being a committedcorporate citizen, BHEL istransforming its townshipsinto model / smart town-ships.

As a part of the quality man-date, University Grants

Commission (UGC) has set thegoal to get every HigherEducation Institution accredit-ed. In order to achieve this goalUGC has introduced a schemecalled Paramarsh (Consultant).Under this scheme institutionslike SRMIST which are accred-ited and acclaimed by variousagencies act as mentors andadopt unaccredited institutionsand mentor them towardsaccreditation. SRMIST hasadopted five institutions in andaround Chennai under thisscheme.

The inaugural workshopfor these institutes was conduct-ed at SRMIST, Kattankulathurcampus recently where thenuances of accreditation byNAAC were expounded byexperts from SRMIST. It wasalso highlighted how SRMIST,which was first accredited byNAAC way back in 2006,improved its performance byleaps and bounds to attain thepresent exalted status. The fiveinstitutes are: Pachaiyappa’sCollege for Women,Kanchipuram, Pachaiyappa’sCollege for Men, Kanchipuram,C. Kandaswami Naidu Collegefor Men, Rajalakshmi Instituteof Technology and ThangaveluEngineering College.

Welcoming the representa-tives from other colleges,Registrar Dr N Sethuramansaid, “This programme isorganised so that other highereducation institutions get men-tored and we get the opportu-

nity to lend our helping handto other institutions.”Inaugurating the workshop,Vice Chancellor Dr SandeepSancheti said, “Consultations isthe key to improvement in anydomain. Things can be doneeasily when we start consulting,however, this is not followedmuch in the field of education.Consulting with experts, stake-holders is an important way tohandle issues. Sharing the prob-lem also helps in growth. Thisworkshop will also aid inremoving ignorance and helpinstitutions improve their qual-ity, which is an importantbenchmark.”

On SRMIST conductingthis workshop, he said, “It is oneof the first institutions to getsA++. Only a handful of univer-sities have this status under thepresent NAAC system. So thisexpertise that we have can helpother institutions apply for cer-tification.”

He emphasised on theimportance of active learninglaboratory, foreign languages,faculty exchange programmesand so on that enabled SRMInstitute of Science andTechnology in becoming a top-rated ranking university.

Dr Latha Pillai, director(Quality Assurance andRankings) presented anoverview of Parmarsh andNAAC accreditation. Therewere several criterion — wiselectures by accreditationambassador, dean, IQAC andstanding committee membersof SRMIST’s Paramarsh team.

Council of Architecture(COA), the governing

body of all architects in Indiaorganised a “National Awardsfor Excellence in Architecture2019” for students from allover the country. The presidentof COA, Ar Habeeb Khanpresided over the function.The “Best Student ofArchitecture Award” was givenby the chancellor and presidentof DY Patil University, NaviMumbai.

With a view to encourageand motivate the students ofarchitecture, the Council ofArchitecture has instituted theNational Awards for Excellencein: Architecture in thesis andand JK AYA Best ArchitectureStudent of the Year Award and, COA National Awards forExcellence in Post GraduateThesis in Architecture, COAStudents’ Awards forExcellence in Documentationof Architectural Heritage,COA Griha’s National Awardsfor Excellence in ArchitectureThesis on SustainableArchitecture Design. Theaward for excellence in docu-mentation of architectural her-itage is already instituted in

India by Council ofArchitecture since 2018.

The motto behind institut-ing these awards is to inspireand stimulate the architectur-al students to bring glory andpride not only to them but alsoto the profession and architec-tural colleges. It will simulta-neously act to sensitise thesociety and create awareness topromote architecture as acareer option.

In order to create publicawareness, the ceremony forthe National Awards forExcellence in Architecture wasconducted as a two day eventon Friday and Saturday withexhibition and awards ceremo-ny. The ceremony was attend-ed by eminent architects, pro-fessionals, academicians,teachers and students in archi-tecture from all over the coun-try.

The award encouragedstudents to excel in their aca-demic pursuit and spread theawareness about architectureand the architect’s role in thedevelopment of the societythrough exhibitions and openjuries associated with theawards programme.

CRPF-the Central Armed PoliceForce of the country has been

awarded with 76 medals for gallantrywhich include one President’s Policemedal for Gallantry. With this, thetotal number of gallantry medals wonby the dedicated force personnel tillnow has reached upto 1976, thehighest ever among all the CAPFs inthe country. 62 force personnel havealso been awarded with servicemedals. There are also seven CRPFbravehearts whose valour has beenrecognised by the nation more than

once. Among them Naresh Kumar,assistant commandant is honouredwith the prestigious PMG for the sixthtime.

Dr AP Maheshwari, DG, CRPFhas congratulated all the medal win-ners and their families. As announcedby the government on the eve of the71st Republic Day, four braveheartsof the force have been awarded withthe prestigious gallantry medals.

Shaheed constable Utpal Rabhaof the 209 CoBRA Bn- the PPMGawardee, had not only held his

ground in the face of indiscriminatefiring by the maoists but in theprocess ensured the safety of his teammembers too. He laid down his lifefighting the maoists in the dense jun-

gle of Khunti in the West Singhbhumdistrict of Jharkhand.

The same strand of courage andconviction, valour and vivacity, per-sistence and patriotism, selflessness

and sacrifice runs through the gallantacts of all the brave force personnelwhich rightfully fetched them the dis-tinguished honour in the shape of thePPMG & PMG.

Tamil Nadu industrialist and chair-man, KPR group of Industries KPRamasamy visited KISS and KIIT

on Saturday. He visited all campuses ofKIIT and various units of KISS.Addressing the students of KISS he said,education is the fundamental instru-ment for economic and social growth.

Most of the students of KIIT andKISS are providing value based educa-tion. Dr Samanta always thinks aboutKalinga-the Odisha. It is in his heart.

During afternoon Ramasamy wasfelicitated by KIIT, deemed to be uni-versity. He also met Naveen Patnaik,chief minister of Odisha and discussedon establishment of industry by KPRGroup in Odisha. Ramasamy said thathe will explore to establish apparelindustry in Kandhamal and a trainingcentre will be opened there by KPR MillLtd. He was accompanied with highlevel officials of KPR Group.

Few days ago, Dr Achyuta SamantaMP, Kandhamal visited Chairman,KPR Ltd at Coimbatore during his tourto Tamil Nadu. During an interactionwith Ramasamy Dr Samanta request-ed him to establish an industry inOdisha.

In recognition of thecourage and bravery

displayed during vari-ous duties rendered by

Border Security Forcepersonnel, thePresident awarded 60medals, which include

nine Police Medal forGallantry (PMG)including six posthu-mously, five President’s

Police Medal forDistinguished Services(PPMDS) and 46 PoliceMedal for Meritorious

Services (PMMS) tothe BSF personnel onthe occasion ofRepublic Day.

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The Election Commissionof India has awarded

the Chief Electoral OfficePunjab with the “Best Statefor Accessible Elections”award for making elaboratearrangements to facilitatethe Persons WithDisabilities voters duringGeneral Elections 2019. ThePresident of India Ram NathKovind conferred this awardupon the Chief ElectoralOfficer Punjab Dr S KarunaRaju during NationalVoter’s Day function held atZoravar Auditorium inManekshaw Centre. Onreceiving the award, Dr SKaruna Raju said that thishonour was the result ofadministrative cooperationof Chief Secretary of Punjaband active support ofPrincipal Secretary Financeand commendable arrange-ments made during theelections in collaborationwith the departments ofRural Development andPanchayats, Health & fam-ily Welfare and SocialSecurity.

He said that exemplary

arrangements were put inplace as per the instructionsof the Election Commissionof India for the facilitationof Divyang voters in elec-

tions. Dr Raju added thatthe credit also goes to thehard work and efforts ofadditional CEO KavitaSingh, Sibin C, Gurpal

Singh Chahal, BhupinderSingh, all deputy commis-sioners and SSPs to trans-late the vision of ECI intoreality.

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Art that captures the imaginationis often that which serves a wit-ness to and a reflection of con-

temporary times. The populist senti-ments against migration being voiced bymany of the political parties has natu-rally found a reaction at the latest edi-tion of the India Art Fair. There is amigration series — You Will Know Me,curated by Tara Sabharwal by The ArtAlive Gallery. The works are about theartists who have migrated to the US andGermany. There are stories aroundartist like Vir Munshi on his return tohis exiled home in Kashmir, Ritu Sarinand Tenzing Sonam’s film on the expe-rience of Tibetans in exile, LavanyaMani’s dyed textiles on migrations,Sarojini Lewis’ prints on her grandfa-ther’s migration during his service inBritish Army at the time of World WarII and Tara Sabharwal’s collage depict-ing refugees on boats. Sunaina Anand,director of the gallery, says that theywanted to tell people about the migra-tion stories through art.

But then this is not surprising.Going by the exceptional outing thatIndian art and artists had at last year’sIndia Art Fair, the expectations are nat-urally high this year. The hopes centrecertainly centre around not just biggerand better offerings for art connoisseursbut also diverse media, international art

galleries expanding their collectionsacross geographies and mediums andconversations across the art world tak-ing up more space at exhibitions and gal-leries, feel experts.

The director of the fair, JagdipJagpal, shares that the 12th edition pre-sents a strong line-up of leading artists— Maya Krishna Rao, national-awardwinning theatre performer and socialactivist; Lagos-based multimedia artistJelili Atiku, whose works address polit-ical concerns for human rights and jus-tice; multi-disciplinary artist PiyaliGhosh and Raisa Kabir, an interdiscipli-nary artist exploring the politics and cul-tural anxieties around globalised neo-colonial textile production and nation-hood.

It also offers a platform for dialoguesand discussions — Auditorium Talks,which will feature artist presentations,memorial lectures and conversationsacross the art world with critics, collec-tors and institutions across the globe. Forinstance, modernist Nilima Sheikh,Turner prize nominated filmmakerNaeem Mohaiemen and Magnum pho-tographer Martin Parr.

Says Jagdip, “This year’s memorial

lectures will be dedicated to life andworks of modernist Ram Kumar andartist Tushar Joag. Other topics includediscussions on South Asian Textile Artwith curator Uthra Rajgopal from theWhitworth, Plans for Future Museumswith Sophie Makariou and KamaniSawhney from The Guimet and Museumof Art and Photography, amongst oth-ers.”

Outdoor art projects will showcasesix large-scale installations by Indian andinternational artists. The metal sculptureby Anita Dube’s untitled 1994-2019 is alarge-scale installation, taking the shapeof a hollow cyborg to reflect her con-cerns with personal and societal loss ina technocratic age. Another in line willbe Farah Mulla’s Crosstalk 2019, sup-ported by Serendipity Art Foundation.She presents an interactive installationexploring the connections between theaudience, space, sound and colourvibrations. There is Martin Parr’s LivePhotography Project, 2020, Supported byPhotoink, too. Magnum photographerMartin will capture people and presentlive photography at his booth.

Another in line is the Vadehra ArtGallery that focuses on promoting

young and contemporary artist alongwith showcasing the new works ofmodern masters — Shakti Burman,Maite Delteil and Manu Parekh. In con-temporary artists, the gallery will show-case new works of Suman Chandra,Purvai Rai, Portarasan Suban.Portarasan will present a ceramic sculp-ture depicting that the city that we livein has so much radiation. Purvai createslandscapes through textures of her tex-tiles. Suman, with his Jharkhand draw-ings, will depict the misuse of land andhow it has destroyed our environment.Roshini Vadehra, director of the gallery,feels that the current scenario of art mar-ket is very challenging but the mood ispositive. It is that time of the year whenart is foremost on everyone’s mind andpeople are looking forward to newexhibitions. They are eager to knowabout the world of art.”

DAG’s offering at the fair,Masterpieces: 100 Years of Indian Art,includes the collection of modern art inone space. Ranging from a portrait of ajewelled dancer from the South to thedelicate “wash style” associated with theBengal School (KshitindranathMajumdar) to the pathbreaking progres-sives (K K Ara, M F Husain, KrishenKhanna, S H Raza) and a phenomenalrepresentation of the Madras ArtMovement (K Sultan Ali), there are a lotof masterpieces on the display.

Ask Ashish Anand, MD and CEO ofDAG, about the current art market? Hesays, “India’s art market is still youngand, therefore, challenging, with a smallbase, insufficient infrastructure andlack of knowledge about art in general.”While he believes that art has to beaccessible and understood by peoplebefore a viable market can exist, Jagdipfeels that the South Asian art market hasundergone a massive transformationsince the downturn in 2009.

Through such fairs one can see theIndian art industry evolving at a glob-al level. The international exchange ofart and artists is giving a plethora of rea-

sons to the the ones originating in Indiato leave their imprint. Ashish says, “Inthe recent years Indian art is making aglobal presence. Exhibitions and retro-spective of Indian artists have openedoutside, whether Nasreen Mohamediand Mrinalini Mukherjee at the Met inNew York, Nalini Malani in Paris orBhupen Khakhar at Tate London, amongothers.”

Jagdip shares that the galleries are con-tributing to the development of the cultur-al scene within the South Asia art indus-try by laying a foundation for longer-termgrowth of the Indian art market. “We hearthat galleries are making significant salesat all price points to both established anda new, younger generation of collectors,who will be important in shaping the artmarket of the future. A growth in non-commercial art market initiatives is creat-ing new platforms for discussing, contex-tualising and promoting contemporary art.”

She believes that over the past decadethe region has seen a massive increase incultural activity with the establishment ofnew annual and biennial contemporaryart initiatives such as the Kochi-MuzirisBiennale, the Colombo Art Biennale, theLahore Biennale, Pune Biennial, theSerendipity Arts Festival and the DhakaArt Summit. Private patronage for the artsin India and South Asia continues to grow,with increasing support from organisa-tions such as Gujral Foundation and insti-tutions such as Kiran Nadar Museum ofArt, Kolkata Centre for Creativity and theforthcoming Museum of Art &Photography, Bangalore. “In conjunctionwith this, contemporary Indian andSouth Asian art and artists have beenincreasingly visible around the globe, gen-erating even greater understanding of theregion’s cultural diversity. There have beenmajor exhibitions at the Guggenheim, TheMet Breuer as well as high profile part-nerships cross-continent between SouthAsia and Europe, such as the New Northand South network which brought togeth-er 11 institutions in the UK and SouthAsia,” she adds.

Tamil Superstar Rajinikanthhas appealed for water con-

servation on a war footing as hemarks his TV debut after 43 yearsof cinema via Discovery channel’sInto The Wild with Bear Grylls.“This war (water conserving) hasto be led at all levels includinggovernment, community as wellas on the individual front. Ibelieve this show is a perfect plat-form to take the message ofconserving water to every homeacross the country,” said theactor.

The 69-year-old Southernsuperstar shot for the programmein Karnataka’s Bandipur TigerReserve. It’s an 874 sq km nation-al park, formed by integratingmost of the forest areas of erst-while Venugopala Wildlife Parkestablished in 1941, and laterenlarged to its current state inChamarajanagar district, about220 km Southwest of Bengaluru.The tiger reserve lists 28 speciesof mammals to be thriving in theforest, including royal Bengaltiger, Asian elephant, commonleopard, bonnet macaque, Indianpipistrelle and barking deer,among others.

In August 2019, Grylls hadhosted Prime Minister Modi inthe Man vs Wild show, whichwas shot at the Jim CorbettNational Park in Uttarakhand inFebruary 2019. Other interna-tional icons who featured in theshow include United StatesPresident Donald Trump’s prede-cessor Barack Obama, Titanicstar Kate Winslet, Tennis virtu-oso Roger Federer andHollywood great Julia Robertsand others.

“Into The Wild is a trulyunique show, at one level it

offers adrenaline pumpingaction, while at another, theshow lends itself beautifully todriving a specific purpose for thelarger good of society,” saidRajinikanth.

“Bear Grylls has tested thesurvival skills of multiple celebri-ty guests, pushing them to theirlimits. I look forward to the sur-vival challenge in the mesmeris-ing wilderness of India,” headded. Also focussing on waterconservation in the new pro-gramme, Megha Tata, managingdirector, Discovery, South Asia,said that the channel wanted toadd a layer of purpose with eachepisode.

“Last year, the show featur-ing Modi, generated muchdesired attention on conservationof wildlife. We are confidentthat the forthcoming episodewill sensitise each one of usabout conservation of water,”Tata said.

Grylls heaped praise onRajinikanth, saying that the actoris a phenomenon, who has cap-tivated the audience across theworld with his work both onscreen and off screen.

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With the current trend towardde-cluttering and downsiz-

ing, there are plenty of booksabout how to winnow down pos-sessions to the few that are trulynecessary and loved. This bookshows how you can live well oncethat’s done. In Downsize: LivingLarge in a Small House (2019, TheTaunton Press), author SheriKoones focuses on practical waysto live well at home once you’vestreamlined your belongings andare living more compactly.

“It scares people to think ofmoving into a smaller space, butevery single person I interviewedwho has made the transition saysthey are so happy they did,”Koones says. “Time and again,people used the word ‘liberated’ todescribe their move to a smallerspace, with homes requiring farless time and money to maintain.”

Koones, who recently relocat-ed from a sprawling 6,800-square-foot house in Greenwich,Connecticut, to a 1,400-square-foot home closer to town, hasexperienced the transition herself.

“It’s not just empty nestersanymore,” she adds. “Youngerpeople, too, are in couples wherethey’re both working, they’re hav-ing children later, they want to beactive and they don’t want to bedoing maintenance on the week-ends. They don’t want to be tieddown to mowing lawns and doingall the other chores that come withliving in a big house.”

Living more sustainably andsaving on energy costs is also partof the attraction of downsizing,Koones says. So is aging in place.There are people of all ages look-ing for features like a master bed-

room on the main floor or barri-er-free showers.

“Yes, older people with dis-abilities need them but evenyounger people break a leg skiingor have situations where theywant a barrier-free shower,” shesays.

The book features photos andillustrations of 33 well-designedsmall homes in urban and ruralsettings in the US and Canada. Itexamines the features that makeeach home a success, with adviceaimed at those building, renovat-ing or even just organising their

homes.Some of the features that

Koones says can make a smallhome feel more spacious:

- Raised ceilings, well-posi-tioned windows and light wall col-ors.

� Multifunctional furniture, liketiny kitchen tables that can expandto accommodate dinner guests.

� Flexible rooms that can serveas office, bedroom and hobbyroom, for example. One house fea-tured in the book has a garagewith light fixtures and doors thatopen in front and back so that itdoubles as an entertaining space.

� Creative storage ideas, likechairs that can hang on wall pegs,hooks for bicycles, and making thebest use of alcoves or space understairs.

� Fewer hallways, which allowsfor more livable space.

� Koones details specific types ofroofs (like standing-seam metalroofs), flooring (concrete) andheating systems that are moreenergy-efficient and low-mainte-nance. “The key is to have a homethat is efficiently designed, both interms of energy use and in termsof space,” she says. “I refer to it as‘downsizing,’ but a better word forit might be ‘right-sizing.’ For mostof history, houses were moremodestly proportioned, and welived quite comfortably in thosesmaller homes. Over time hous-es got too big. Now the trend isheading toward smaller again.”

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�� AC Milan will meet Juventus inthe Italian Cup semi-finals after beatingTorino 4-2 in an enthralling encounterto continue their Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired revival.

Extra-time goals from substitutesHakan Calhanoglu and Ibrahimovicsealed passage into the last four for aMilan side who have been reawoken bythe return of the Swede last month.

They will be relishing the tie with theItalian champions, who thumped Roma3-0 in their quarter-final match last week.

The superstar striker’s second goalsince returning to Milan came on a nightthe club honoured Milan fan KobeBryant — who spent much of his child-hood in Italy — with the message“Legends never die” on the San Sirobig screens.

It was Calhanoglu who savedMilan’s skin just after coming offthe bench, as the Turk’s deflectedshot in the dying seconds of nor-mal time took the match to extra timeafter Torino goalkeeper Salvatore Siriguhad held the hosts at bay.

The hosts had dominated most of thematch but had found themselves behindto two Gleison Bremer goals with 19 min-utes left after Giacomo Bonaventura hadgiven Milan the lead in the 12th minute.

Ibrahimovic missed two chances tosnatch the tie after Calhanoglu levelled,

first somehow shooting over the barfrom inches out, then seeing hissmart shot well pushed away bySirigu.

Sirigu was on top form again inextra time when he pulled off a

superb double save, first charging out tostop Theo Hernandez before quickly get-ting up to keep out the rebound.

However he couldn’t stopCalhanoglu putting his side ahead earlyin the second half of extra-time, his pow-erful shot escaping the Italian stopper’sgrasp before Ibrahimovic slotted homeLeao’s neat lay-off two minutes later, end-ing Torino’s resistance. AFP

�� Trezeguet struck deepinto stoppage time to send AstonVilla into their first League Cupfinal for a decade with a 2-1 winover Leicester on Tuesday toprogress 3-2 on aggregate.

Matt Targett’s early opener putVilla in front, but Leicesterenjoyed the majority of thechances and finally found a waypast Orjan Nyland when KelechiIheanacho levelled 18 minutesfrom time.

However, Villa snatched vic-tory and a trip toWembley on March1 to faceManchester City orManchester Unitedwhen Trezeguetconnected perfectly

with fellow Egyptian AhmedElmohamady’s cross three minutesinto added time. “It was emotion-al for everyone when that goalgoes in,” said Villa boss DeanSmith, a lifelong fan of the club.“Taking this club to Wembley, Iwill be a very proud man.”

Defeat ends Leicester bossBrendan Rodgers’s unbeaten runof 31 straight domestic cup match-es after a dominant spell at Celticand he rued his side’s inability toturn their dominance into goals.

“I thought we were excellentin the game. We played with a nicecontrol and composure, but theirgoalkeeper has made some out-standing saves,” said Rodgers.

“I’m gutted for my playersbecause we put so much into thegame. I thought at the end therewas only one team was going towin it, but we switch off at the lastminute.” AFP

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Dominic Thiem shocked top seedRafael Nadal and Alexander

Zverev ousted former championStan Wawrinka as tennis’s youngpretenders stole a march on the oldguard to reach the Australian Opensemi-finals on Wednesday.

Austria’s Thiem, 26, beat Nadal7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) —his first win in six attempts atGrand Slams, including two FrenchOpen finals — to end the 33-year-old’s bid to equal Roger Federer’srecord 20 Major titles.

Earlier Zverev, 22, beat 2014champion Wawrinka, 34, to go intoa semi-final with Thiem, meaningthat one of them will reach Sunday’sfinal against Roger Federer or NovakDjokovic, who have won 12 of thelast 14 Australian Open titles.

Thiem had Nadal’s measure inthe first two sets and he recoveredfrom dropping the third to win thefourth-set tie-breaker, getting off thefloor after falling to win one pointand enjoying some luck from the netcord to set up the third and decisivematch point.

“I was lucky in the right situa-tion — the net cord was really on myside,” Thiem said. “But it’s necessarybecause he is one of the greatest ofall time. You need some luck to beathim.”

Several young players have beenknocking on the door of the BigThree of Nadal, Federer andDjokovic, and either Thiem orZverev will get a chance to kick itopen in Sunday’s final.

�� Germany’s Zverev rallied from

a set down to halt three-time Major-winner Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and reach his first Grand Slam

semi-final.Big things have been tipped for

Zverev since he burst intothe top 10 in 2017, but hesaid that until now he hasbeen pushing himself toohard at the Majors.

“I was doing things ina way too professional way. I was nottalking to anybody. I wasn’t goingout with friends. I wasn’t having din-ner. I was just really almost toofocused.”

“I changed that a little bit thisweek... maybe this is how it shouldhappen,” he added.

Wimbledon champion SimonaHalep has also benefited from a

more relaxed approach asshe swept aside AnettKontaveit 6-1, 6-1 to reachthe semi-finals withoutdropping a set.

The Romanian fourthseed, who is spending time awayfrom tennis between matches, saidshe was finally feeling comfortableon the biggest stage.

“I just feel more confident andI feel like I‘m able to do it,” saidHalep, who is going after her thirdMajor title. “It’s just a feeling that

you don’t see this trophy as impos-sible anymore.”

Halep’s semi-final is against fel-low two-time Slam-winner GarbineMuguruza, who continued herimpressive return to form by beat-ing Russian 30th seed AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-3.

“I’m excited to play my firstsemi-final here,” said the unseededformer world number one, who wonthe 2016 French Open and 2017Wimbledon.

“I’ve known her (Halep) forquite a long time so it’s going to bea tough match,” she added.

�� 3$ 20;�$*33�

Star javelin thrower NeerajChopra has qualified for

the Tokyo Olympics with athrow of 87.86m at the ACNELeague meeting here, makingan impressive return to the cir-cuit after recovering from anelbow injury.

The 22-year-old Indian,who missed the entire 2019 sea-son due to the injury, breachedthe Olympic qualification markof 85m in his fourth attemptand secured the top place at theinternational event on Tuesday.

He threw the spear to81.76m at the start and keptimproving with every throw.

He managed 82m in his secondattempt and 82.57 in the third.

The throw of 87.86m is hissecond-best behind 88.06,achieved during his Goldmedal winning show at 2018Jakarta Asian Games.

“I am extremely pleasedwith the performance. Goinginto the competition, I did nottry to put much pressure onmyself and was keen to testmyself out as it was my firstmeet in a long time,” Choprasaid.

“The warm-up throwswent very well, and eventhough my first three throwswere around the 81-82m mark,I felt there were some flaws I

could work on. This was amajor target for me during myrehab and I’m happy to havequalified.”

Chopra said he will contin-ue with his regular training inPotchefstroom with his coachand physio for few days.

“I will look to competemore in the coming monthsand am looking forward tomore high quality competitionat the Federation Cup and theDiamond League circuit.”

Another Indian in fray,Rohit Yadav threw 77.61m tofinish second.

The other three competi-tors did not even touch the 70mmark.

�� )0!�10�2�

Ramkumar Ramanathan wason Wednesday handed a wild

card for the men’s singles maindraw of the Tata OpenMaharashtra and the organisersmay grant a similar entry to vet-eran Leander Paes in the men’sdoubles event.

India’s top two singles players,Prajnesh Gunnewaran and risingstar Sumit Nagal have entered themain draw on their own.

For 25-year-old Ramkumar,who has sipped to 185 in the rank-ing ladder, will make his third

appearance at India’s only ATP 250event in Pune from February 3.

“There are three singles wildcards for the main draw of whichwe have announced one forRamkumar. We are yet to decideon the other two wild-cardentrants,” said TournamentDirector.

“First time it has happenedthat two India players have madeto the main draw of the tourna-ment with a direct entry. We wishthat an Asian or an Indian winsthis tournament,” he added.

According to Sutar, legendaryPaes has also made a request for

a wild card entry into the men’sdoubles event and it will be con-sidered in a “positive” manner.

Surprisingly Rohan Bopannaand Divij Sharan, who won thistournament last year together,are not teaming up this year.Bopanna is also seeking a wildcard entry with local lad ArjunKadhe and so is Purav Raja withRamkumar.

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan andN Balaji have also sought a wildcard entries, making it tough forthe organisers to take a call sincethere are only two wild cardentries for the doubles event.

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Badminton fans inHyderabad are set for

a spectacle as the first ofthe three double headersof the PBL 2020 is sched-uled to take place todayat the GMC Balayogi SatsIndoor Stadium. Withthe table toppers ChennaiSuperstarz taking on thethird-placed Pune 7 Acesand the Mumbai Rocketsmeeting the NorthEastern Warriors later inthe day.

What makes the firstclash a highly entertain-ing one is how robustboth the teams havelooked so far. With theChennai team remainingunbeaten in three tiesand Pune in two, one willtaste its first defeat in thefifth edition.

The biggest attrac-tion of this tie is the pos-sible face-off betweenChennai’s SatwiksairajRankireddy and Pune’sChirag Shetty, who part-nered each other to a his-toric Thailand Open winlast year. Having knowneach other’s games insideout, it will be interestingto see how they perform

on the court as adver-saries.

Satwik’s smashes andhis dancing skills havebeen a major talkingpoint of the league as the19-year-old looks to bethoroughly enjoying hisfirst stint with the yellowbrigade. Shetty, mean-while, has shown excep-tional chemistry withworld champion HendraSetiawan and has gone aflawless 2-0 in Pune’soutings so far.

“It will be interestingto face Chirag on theopposite side of the netthis time. Both of us

know each other’sstrengths and weakness-es very well and the onewho holds his nervesunder pressure, will winthe match,” said Satwikon the impending clash.

Pune, on the otherhand, has been bolsteredby the arrival of theCommonwealth GamesGold medallists Chrisand Gabrielle Adcock,who have shown tremen-dous fighting spirit togrind out wins for theirteam. 2019 ThailandMasters champion LohKean Yew has also beena valuable addition tothe team as evident fromhis one win and a fight-ing loss in two outings.

�� Tottenham announced the signing ofDutch international Steven Bergwijn from PSVEindhoven for an undisclosed fee on Wednesday.

He became Jose Mourinho’s second perma-nent signing of the transfer window after thenorth London club converted Giovani LoCelso’s loan move into a full-time deal.

With Harry Kane injured, Mourinho waskeen to bolster his attack as he targets aChampions League qualification spot.

“We are delighted to announce the signingof Steven Bergwijn from Eredivisie side PSVEindhoven,” Spurs said in a statement.

“Steven has signed a contract with the clubthat will run until 2025 and will wear the num-ber 23 shirt.”

The 22-year-old added: “It’s an honour forme to be here, a dream to play in the PremierLeague and I will give whatever I have, whatev-er I can bring, I will give it all for the club andfor this team.”

“It’s an amazing move for me, an amazingclub. “Just look around the training ground, it’samazing. It’s an honour to be here. I just spoketo the manager as well. When I was a young boyI looked up to a coach like Jose Mourinho, nowI play for him.” AFP

�� Arsenal have signed Spanishdefender Pablo Mari on loan for therest of the season with an option to buyat the end of the campaign, the PremierLeague club announced on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old joins fromBrazilian side Flamengo, where hehelped them to win the Brazilian titleand the Copa Libertadores last year.

“Pablo is an experienced playerwho will provide us with additionaldefensive quality," said Arsenal techni-cal director Edu.

"We have been monitoring Pablo'scareer for a while and we are verypleased to have reached agreement withFlamengo for him to join us initiallyuntil the end of our season."

Mari said: "It's a massive opportu-nity for me to come to England,which is the best league in the worldright now. "Being able to play in thisleague and having the opportunity toplay for Arsenal is incredible, so I'mreally looking forward to wearing theshirt as soon as possible." AFP

�� )0!�10�2��

India's ace sprinterDutee Chand on

Wednesday said she iseyeing to qualify for theTokyo Olympics in com-petitions, scheduled to beheld next month.

The sprinter's imme-diate goal is to make the2020 Games. The quali-fication mark for the100m event has been setat 11.15 seconds.

"I haven't qualifiedfor the Olympics yet. Ihave to attain the quali-fication mark of 11.15seconds. I'll get a chanceto qualify for theOlympics in competi-tions, which will be heldin February," said Dutee.

The athlete believesthe Khelo IndiaUniversity Games willhelp in unearthing new

talent.The first edition of

the competition will beheld in Bhubaneswarfrom February 22 toMarch 1.

The sprinter, whoclinched gold at theWorld University Gameslast year, feels that mostof the sporting talentexist in schools and col-leges.

"The Khelo IndiaUniversity Games is agreat way to unearth tal-ent in this country.People study and playsports side by side. So,most of the talent existsin schools and universi-ties. Sports are playedmostly by students. Wewill get to know who hastalent in the UniversityGames. I will be takingpart in the tournament aswell," said the 23-year-

old.Dutee, who set a per-

sonal best and betteredher own national 100mrecord with a timing of11.22 seconds at theNational Open AthleticsChampionships last year,thanked the Odisha gov-ernment for supportingsportsperson and helpingthem to make a career insports.

"The Odisha govern-ment is supporting thesports circuit very well.Athletes are getting jobsin the government sectorand they are providingfacilities for all athletes toperform as well.

"So I am very happythat the athletes are beingsupported by the govern-ment. Earlier, one couldmake a career only bystudying, but now it haschanged. One has a

chance to make a careerin sports as well," saidDutee.

The national recordholder, who will partic-ipate at the Khelo IndiaUniversity Games forthe Kalinga Institute ofIndustrial Technology(KIIT), is extremelyhappy to see the athletesin India being support-ed by the government.

"Earlier, the focuswas only on cricket, butnow athletics is alsobeing promoted.Athletes from rural areasare getting a chance toshowcase their talentthrough the Khelo IndiaGames. They are beingprovided with facilitiesas well. There's a SAIcampus in every statewhere the upcomingathletes can train," saidDutee.

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The Indian women’s hockeyteam suffered a 0-1 loss to

New Zealand in its third matchof the ongoing tour here onWednesday.

New Zealand’s Hope Ralph(37th) was the lone scorer of thematch.

India had earlier registereda 4-0 win in their first matchagainst the New ZealandDevelopment squad but lost 1-2 in the following match.

India were quick to get offthe blocks on an attacking mode,winning a PC in the secondminute of play but they missedthe chance to convert it and putNew Zealand on the back foot.

In the following minutes,New Zealand created two PCsbut India's defence was rocksolid to deny them a goal.

"Today we tried a few thingson the defensive side and thatallowed New Zealand to come inour circle and create opportuni-ties but it's better to practicethese variations now in thematches as this Tour is moreabout our preparations for theOlympic Games and see how wecan be better," explained ChiefCoach Sjoerd Marijne after thematch.

"Our game is improvingevery match and today wasagain better than the previousmatch. At this moment, resultsare not important but the processis and we are working on somenew tactics that will help us inthe long run," added Marijne.

After ending the first halfwith the scoreboard reading 0-0 stalemate, New Zealand beganthe third quarter on a positivenote with Hope Ralph convert-ing a field goal in the 37thminute.

In the last quarter thoughboth teams traded PCs withNew Zealand earning two PCsand India creating one, neitherfound success ending the matchwith the scoreboard reading 0-1 in favour of New Zealand.

India will take on GreatBritain on February 4.

7�� 0��3:*)0

Novak Djokovic is everrespectful of “great fighter”

Roger Federer, but the Serbgoes into their Australian Opensemi-final as clear favouriteafter beating the Swiss maestroin every Grand Slam meetingsince Wimbledon 2012.

The pair enjoy one of worldsport’s greatest rivalries and willbe facing each other today fora 50th time stretching back to2006. Djokovic leads 26-23.

While Federer won theirlast clash at the ATP Finals inNovember, the Serb has a psy-chological edge at the Slams,beating him in all five show-downs since losing in the AllEngland club semis eight yearsago.

Sixteen-time Grand Slamwinner Djokovic has also beenin fine touch at Melbourne Parkas he targets a record eighthtitle, dropping just one set enroute to the last four.

In contrast, Federer haslived dangerously, two pointsfrom defeat against JohnMillman in thethird round andincredibly savingseven matchpoints in his quar-ter-final against TennysSandgren.

Djokovic pointed toFederer’s heroics in that epic asto why he can never be writtenoff, despite being 38 and in thetwilight of his career.

“What he did (againstSandgren) was amazing. Heshowed me he’s one of the bestplayers of all time. I mean, henever gives up. When it mattersthe most, he’s focused and heplays his best tennis,” said theworld number two.

“He’s a great fighter.Obviously I have lots of respect

for him.”Federer and Djokovic have

dominated the Australian Openfor years with the all-conquer-ing pair sharing 12 of the last14 titles.

Djokovic is the defendingchampion but Federer won in2018.

“I think conditions suit uswell here. Probably somethingto do with court speed, feelingcomfortable down here,” saidworld number three Federer,who is gunning for a 21stMajor crown.

“I mean, Novak also hasgone on all these runs like I didfor 10 years. He did the samefor the last 10 years. It helpswhen you start the year off witha bang. We were able to do thatquite a few times.”

Djokovic insists his recordover Federer at the Slams since2012 doesn’t tell the full story,pointing to their classicWimbledon final last year.

In that memorable fight,the Swiss had two match pointsand was one shot from victory.

“It’s not like I’ve been dom-inating thematch-ups. I’vehad successagainst him, inGrand Slams in

particular. But Roger is Roger,”he said.

“You know that he’s alwaysgoing to play on such a highlevel, regardless of the surface.

“He loves to play thesekind of matches, big rivalries,semis, finals of Grand Slams. Imean, he’ll probably confirmthat that’s probably the biggestreason why he’s still competing.”

Federer goes into today’sblockbuster on Rod LaverArena after playing 14 gruellingsets in his last three matches,but insisted “I feel pretty goodright now”.

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Virat Kohli said New Zealanddeserved to win the third T20

after India prevailed in the Super Overto take an unassailable 3-0 lead in thefive-match series.

Rohit Sharma smashed consecu-tive sixes in the final two balls of theSuper Over to lead India to theirmaiden T20 series win in NewZealand following a nerve-wrackingfinish.

Needing 18 off six balls in theSuper Over, India managed 10 off thefirst four balls. Rohit then smackedtwo sixes — one over mid-wicket andanother over long off — to helpIndia pull off a nail-biter.

“I thought we were gone at onestage. I told our coach that they

deserved to win. The way Kane wasbatting, on 95. Feel bad for him, Iknow what it’s like to play thoseknocks when things don’t go your way.On the last ball, we had a discussionand we came to a conclusion that wehad to hit the stumps,” the India cap-tain said at the post-match presenta-tion ceremony.

Rohit turned out to be the star forIndia as he also top-scored with a 65-run knock to guide the visitors to 179for five in their 20 overs.

New Zealand had it all under con-trol with two runs needed off four ballsand six wickets in hand to overhaulIndia’s total, but they faltered.

Mohammed Shami bowled a bril-liant final over to tie the game andbring back memories of the 2019World Cup final, which New Zealand

agonisingly lost to England on bound-ary count.

New Zealand captain KaneWilliamon did all he could, both in therun chase (95 off 48 balls) and the SuperOver (11), but still it did not prove to beenough.

“Last ball we had a discussion, we hadto hit the stumps because if you don’t, it’sa single anyway. Rohit was outstanding,both in our innings, and the last two ballsas well. We knew if he got one hit, thebowler was under pressure immediate-ly,” Kohli said.

With the series in pocket, the Indiaskipper hinted that he will try out hisbench strength in the remaining twogames.

“It’s important to give a couple of theothers some game time as well. We wantto see how they do in these conditions,

someone like Washington Sundar, or(Navdeep) Saini,” Kohli said.

Meanwhile, Rohit said there is notraining possible for Super Over eventu-alities. In fact, the Indian team wasn’taware of the Super Over and was madeaware of the situation only after the matchhad finished in a tie.

“I don’t know if you can train for aSuper Over. We’ve got a T20 specialist inBumrah. For him, Super Over or whetherhe bowls in a T20 match is the same forhim. There’s no training required therefor him.

“But for the batters, you generally seewho’s in good nick on that particular dayand you assess and try and get that guyto bat. Probably if I hadn’t got the 60today, probably it wouldn’t have been megoing to face the Super Over. It could havebeen Shreyas Iyer or someone else.”

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“Super Overs aren’t really NewZealand’s friend,” skipper Kane

Williamson said after a heart-breaking lossin the thrilling third game.

India defeated The Back Caps viaSuper Over to take an unassailable 3-0 leadin the five-match series. Rohit Sharmasmashed consecutive sixes in the final twoballs of the eliminator to lead the visitorsto their maiden T20 series win in NewZealand.

The defeat brought back memories ofthe 2019 World Cup final, which NewZealand agonisingly lost to England onboundary count.

“Super Overs aren’t really our friends.To be honest we would have liked to getacross the line earlier and not in the SuperOver. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t getpast the line,” said a disappointedWilliamson at the post-match press con-ference.

“It is pretty disappointing to be on thewrong side of the result after doing a lotof hard work. (But) There was a lot ofimprovement after the first two games.

“If we reflect on the match, then it wasa brilliant game. India had a good total onthat surface and they did well with the ballbecause it was taking some turn as well.The guys fought back nicely after the startIndia got with the bat. And we were ableto build partnerships and take the gamedeep,” he added.

Asked about yet another disappoint-ing outing in the Super Over, the NewZealand skipper said: “In my opin-ion we shouldn’t have them(jokingly). Look it is what itis. It’s good fun. We had afull house at midnight,which is really cool. It’sgood entertainment.

“I am probably notthe person to ask as wecame second in theSuper Over tonight likea few other times. So itwas not ideal but peoplehave enjoyed that, andthat’s fine.”

Williamon did all he could,both in the run chase (95 off 48balls) and the Super Over (11), but stillit did not prove to be enough.

Williamson was especially harsh onJasprit Bumrah (0/45), who had an off dayand then was expensive in the Super Overas well.

“You are just trying to do what isrequired for the team, as best you can, andthere are a number of other contributionsthat are really important,” Williamsonsaid.

“Starting on that surface was quitechallenging. Everybody found so but onceyou got in then you try to get a bit ofrhythm and the partnerships were themost positive thing of that run-chase.Overall it was a much better perfor-mance.”

Williamson, however, said he didn'thave any specific plan against Bumrah.

“No, not really targeting him (Bumrah),it was just that we need 10s (per over).There are big challenges that we have seenin every game but I guess you are trying todo the best and keep up with the askingrate.”

“Maybe ask AB (de Villiers) or othersuperstars (how to play Bumrah), but forme I was just trying to look for areas on thatsurface. It doesn’t always come off but it wasnice that we were able to get so close with-out quite getting across the line,” he added.

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Jaydev Unadkat picked upsix wickets as Saurashtra

held their nerve to win byfour wickets against Barodain a Group B Elite game onWednesday.

Saurashtra had 200 tochase down and were on themat at 113/6. But AarpitVasavada and PrerakMankad got together andthey took the bull by thehorns, adding 87 to takeSaurashtra over the line byfour wickets.

Vasavada made 48 notout, Mankad fin-ished with anunbeaten 36.The outrightw i nstrengthensthis positionas far as quar-ter-finals qualification goes.In six games, they have 25points with three wins.

In Surat in a Group Agame, Gujarat need 105 moreto win against Vidarbha.

At 104/6, Vidarbha weredown in the dumps, leadingby just 36. Then, they werelifted by a seventh-wicketpartnership of 82 betweenAkshay Wadkar and AdityaSarvate to help swell theirlead. Wadkar top scored with87.

At close of play, Gujarat

were tottering at 74/4 withAditya Thakare picking up allfour wickets for the defend-ing champions.

�� Hosts Bengal andDelhi fought hard for threepoints as rain and bad light

allowed less than an hour’splay on the penultimateday of their Group Amatch.

Middle-order batsmanJonty Sidhu was unbeatenon 49 after surviving an lbwoff a no-ball, while SubodhBhati looked edgy for his

25-ball seven as Delhi were217 for 7, still trailingBengal by 101 runs as only9.3 overs were possible inthe entire day.

Both the teams willlook to get a first inningslead to secure three points,even as more rain is forecastfor the final day.

�� (��Amit Verma ledby example with a match-haul of nine wickets and anunbeaten century as Goarecorded an innings and336-run win overArunachal Pradesh insidethree days in their Plategroup fixture. The bonuspoint victory helped Goa(37 points) to the top spotin the Plate group, fourpoints clear of Puducherry.

Nine for three after fol-lowing-on, ArunachalPradesh were bundled outfor 170 in 49.2 overs withlegspinner Verma returningwith 6/71.

Rahul Dalal waged alone battle with a 98-ball 68but Verma cut short hisresistance en route to hissixth five-wicket haul infirst-class cricket.

Arunachal were shotout for a paltry 83 in replyto Goa’s mammoth 589/2declared in the first innings.��

�� Openers KunalSaikia (62 batting) andSubham Mandal (40 bat-ting) led Assam’s fightback inthe second innings with acentury parntership afterbeing forced to follow on byOdisha on the third day ofGroup C match.

Assam was bowled outfor 238 in reply to Odisha’sfirst innings score of 436 withRanjeet Mali (59) and open-er Kunal Saikia (53) beingthe major contributors.

Resuming at theovernight score of 59 for 3,the visitors slipped to 147 for7, losing the wickets ofRishav Das (37) and talent-ed Riyan Parag (43).

Wicket-keeper Saikiaand Mali, batting at No 9,launched a rearguard actionand added 58 runs for theeighth wicket.

Asked to follow-on,Assam was provided a solidstart by Mandal and KunalSaikia, who was promoted toopen, as they added 102runs in 31 overs.

The visiting team stillneeds 96 runs to makeOdisha bat again.

Meanwhile in Agartala,Maharashtra scored 103 for2 in the second innings andneeds 101 more runs tosecure a victory againstTripura.

7�� 2�*�*0

Zimbabwe all-rounder SikandarRaza picked up a career-best

seven wickets as the hosts built a175-run lead over Sri Lanka on thethird day of the second Test hereon Wednesday.

Off-spinner Raza claimedthree wickets apiece in the morn-ing and afternoon sessions to fin-ish with figures of seven for 113 asSri Lanka were bowled out for 293.

Raza’s haul was the second bestfor Zimbabwe in Test cricket, afterformer legbreak bowler PaulStrang’s eight for 109 against NewZealand at Bulawayo in 2000.

Rain again brought an early

end to the day as Zimbabwereached 62 for 1 at stumps in theirsecond innings with PrinceMasvaure unbeaten on 26.

Craig Ervine was the onlyZimbabwe wicket to fall after teawhen he edged behind off Vishwa

Fernando for 13. Play will startearly on Thursday at 07:35 GMT.

For the second Test in succes-sion Zimbabwe were forced tomake a concussion substitutionafter opening batsman KevinKasuza was again struck on thehelmet while fielding at short leg.

Kasuza was diagnosed withmild concussion and will take nofurther part in the match. All-rounder Timycen Maruma hasbeen drafted in to take his place.

Angelo Mathews, who madehis first Test double century in theseries opener, top-scored for SriLanka with a gritty 64 from 158balls before he was caught behinddown the legside off Mumba.

�� 0)3)�

Kristian Clarke came up with anall-round performance to help

New Zealand beat West Indies by twowickets in a low-scoring affair andenter the semifinals of the ICC U-19World Cup here on Wednesday.

Clarke (4/25) first shone with theball to restrict West India to 238 andthen made an unbeaten 46 off 42 ballsto take New Zealand home in thecompany of Joey Field, who was notout on 38.

Batting first, West Indies werebowled out in 47.5 overs with KirkMcKenzie top-scoring with a 104-ball99.

Besides McKenzie, KevlonAnderson (33) and Antonio Morris(31) also made useful contributionswith the bat.

Right-arm pacer Clarke pickedup four wickets for New Zealand,while left-arm spinner Jesse Tashkoff(2/35) and Field (2/52) shared fourwickets between them.

Chasing the modest total, NewZealand lost wickets at regular inter-vals to find themselves in a spot ofbother at 153 for 8 in 34.5 overs.

But Clarke and Field had otherplans as they duo joined hands andshared unbeaten 86 runs for the ninthwicket to take New Zealand home,finishing at 239 for 8 in 49.4 overs.

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� �� Vice-captain RohitSharma on Wednesday empha-sised on India’s recent winningstreak in the shortest format,calling it a good sign headinginto the T20 World Cup.

Rohit has forged two greatopening partnerships for Indiawith KL Rahul and ShikharDhawan. He said that the teammanagement will decide whichone comes to the fore later forthe T20 World Cup.

“Whenever anyone’s got anopportunity, they have made itcount. Shikhar as well, when heplayed the last series against SriLanka, he got a crucial 50 andthen KL has been in good formover the last 7-8 T20s, he’s gotprobably 4 or 5 fifties,” Rohitsaid.

“So it’s a good sign for theteam. That’s how we look at it.It’s important for most of ourplayers to stay in good formand then what happens withthe final XI and everything thatwill be only decided once all theplayers are available and thecaptain and management willsit together and identify whoare the right guys to play thatparticular game. That’s how Ilook at it.

“For me, I want everyoneto stay in good form, which hashappened through the series. Itis a great sign for us movingforward in this particular for-mat at least. I wish the next twogames too we don’t relax. Wejust want to keep the momen-tum going. It’s a good sign,” heopined.

India wouldn’t have wonthe third T20I without his twoSuper Over sixes but a modestRohit credited MohammedShami for the victory.

Shami took two wickets inthe final over to dismiss bothKane Williamson and Ross

Taylor.Rohit hit two sixes off the

last two balls in the SuperOver as India took an unas-sailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Both teams weretied on 179 runs each afterfifties from Rohit andWilliamson cancelled eachother.

“I think MohammedShami’s last over was crucial,and actually that got us the vic-tory. Not my two sixes. It wasShami’s over where we defend-ed nine runs. It’s not easy withthe dew,” Rohit said at thepost-match press conference.

The India vice captainadded, “The wicket settling innicely and two set batsmen outthere as well... One batsmanwas batting on 95 and theirmost experienced player wasat the other end. Hats off toShami to bowl that over andget us back into the game andinto the Super Over.”

Last but not the least,Rohit opined that it was toughnot to feel for New Zealandwho have been on the wrongend of Super Over results fora while now.

“Kane Williamson playeda solid innings. Of coursetheir team will feel disap-pointed about how they couldlose such a game. But wehave to look at how we cameback into the game.

“The last over that Shamibowled was very important forus and a positive sign becausewe could play a game like thisin the World Cup. Then whatdo we do.

“We can’t lose hope. Wewill need to stay strong, evenif you need defend five runs,you have to show a positiveattitude, and we showed thathere,” Rohit signed off. PTI

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