5V]YZ a`]]d UReV R_jeZ^V RWeVc ;R_ ' - Daily Pioneer

16
T he Election Commission (EC) may announce the schedule for the Delhi Assembly polls after the final publication of electoral roll on January 6. The polls will be cru- cial for both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP. After losing Jharkhand, the BJP is desperate to capture power in the national Capital, whereas for the AAP it will be a test to see if a string of welfare mea- sures initiated by the Kejriwal Government is suffice to buck the anti-incumbency factor The EC has begun a series of meetings in preparation for the polls scheduled early next year. The first meeting of EC officials took place on December 24 and the second one on Thursday. The third one by the Chief Secretary of Delhi is expected on Monday. During the review meeting, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh and Special Commissioner of Police Pravir Ranjan, who is State Police Nodal Officer, made a presen- tation about the general law and order situation prevailing in Delhi and action being planned by the Delhi Police to enforce all the measures as mandated by the commission. Officials privy to the delibera- tions said the Delhi Police top brass is of the view that law and order situation in the national Capital is well under control and that the force was prepared for the elections. As per the presentation by the CEO of Delhi, there are 1.45 crore electors in the national Capital as on December 18. Of them, 79.98 lakh are men and 65.73 lakh women. The number of trans- gender voters is 707. The 2015 elections were announced on January 12 and the voting was held on February 7. The AAP had won 67 out of 70 seats. The BJP had managed to secure just three seats in 2015 while the Congress had drawn a blank. The tenure of the 70-mem- ber Assembly expires on February 22, 2020. Banking on a string of freebies, including free water and power, the ruling AAP is confident of repeating its per- formance. Last week, the AAP released its five years report card. The AAP Government has listed quality education, free health facility, good gov- ernance, and subsidised elec- tricity as its main achieve- ments. There is possibility that the ruling AAP may return to power due to weak Opposition parties — both the BJP and the Congress. The BJP is banking on granting ownership right to people of unauthorised colonies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image. Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, the BJP has directed its party lead- ers to hold public outreach pro- grammes in Assembly con- stituencies across Delhi. Party’s national general secretary BL Santosh discussed the programmes during the meetings with party’s Delhi unit leaders. The party will organise a social media work- shop on December 26 which will be attended by a represen- tative from every Assembly constituency. From January 2 to January 15, the leaders will address people through video broadcast rallies. The Delhi CEO informed the EC regarding special mea- sures taken for facilitating per- sons with disabilities and senior citizens, including pick and drop facility from home to polling booths. He also informed the com- mission about the facilities being created at all polling sta- tions; like provision of crèche facility, ramp, water facility, mobile locker, selfie point, waiting area and wheel chairs. Sources said the full com- mission comprising Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra reviewed poll pre- paredness for Delhi Assembly elections. The meeting was attended by District Election officers, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Joint Commissioners of Police, chairman of New Delhi Municipal Council, Commissioners of three Municipal Corporations, Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Cantonment and other stake- holders. The commission also held a separate meeting with Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and the Delhi Police Commissioner. During the meeting, Delhi CEO Singh presented pre- paredness with regard to elec- toral rolls, manpower avail- ability, EVMs/VVPATs, train- ing of all election officials, and SVEEP activities focusing and targeting low turnout areas for increasing the number of voter turnout. “The EC also reviewed the status of preparation at the level of Districts. All district election officers along with their respec- tive DCPs gave detailed pre- sentations of their district to the Election Commission,” said officials. A rmy Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday found himself in the thick of a major controversy after his remark on the violent protest against anti- Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) invited backlash from political parties, veterans of the services and others. Speaking at an event here, Rawat said, “Leaders do not lead masses in inappropriate directions as we are witnessing in a large number of universi- ty and college students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns. This is not leadership.” Rawat was addressing a health leadership summit here. The Congress, the CPI(M) and the AIMIM among others slammed the Army Chief for “breaching his institutional limit” and “speaking against constitutional democracy.” The CPI(M) demanded an apology from him for his “indiscretion”, claiming his remarks have adverse ramifications for the constitutional arrangement. Citing the example of protests by a large number of university and college students, the Army Chief said, “A leader is the one who leads you in the correct direction, gives you the right advice, and then ensures that you care for the people you lead.” Rawat added the leadership is conveyed through personal example. “That is what we in the armed forces are proud of,” he said. Incidentally, Rawat’s state- ment comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had denounced the destruction of public property during the protests, saying rights go along with duty. “I want to ask people who resorted to violence in UP to sit at home and ask themselves whether what they did is good or not. They destroyed buses and public property that belongs to the future genera- tion,” he said. A ccusing the Congress of supporting violence during the protests against Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) in the national Capital, Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah said it is time to punish the tukde-tukde gang which was responsible for the violence in the streets of Delhi with the help of the Congress party. “There were discussions held in Parliament on CAA and then no one said anything but when the Bill came out, mis- information was spread and peace was disrupted in the national Capital,” said Shah at a rally in city on Thursday. With the Assembly elec- tions round the corner in Delhi, the Union Government on Thursday announced a slew of developmental projects for the overall development of Delhi and welfare of its people. Speaking on the occasion of foundation stone laying cer- emony of Integrated Development of East Delhi Hub city, the Union Minister said creation of riverfronts on both banks of the Yamuna and its beautification, a dedicated cycle track in Delhi to promote green transportation and reduce road accidents, devel- opment of JJ clusters are some of the works to be taken on pri- ority basis. Shah said 116 kilometre of new Metro lines out of which work on 70 kilometre route has already started. Moreover, 18 projects worth 802 crore had been completed under the AMRUT scheme in the city. Also, he said the Regional Rail Transport System between Delhi and Meerut, Panipat and Alwar was being developed by the Union Government on a fast-track basis. Shah said 1,400 crore and 30 hectares have been dedicat- ed for this scheme, and assured that the scheme would be com- pleted well in time. He noted that this would be a mixed use scheme, with 70 per cent land earmarked for residential purposes, 20 per cent for commercial purposes and 10 per cent land for pub- lic facilities. He said the scheme would include housing for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as well as stations for pink and violet Metro lines. He said 4,526 units will be for mid- dle class and 288 for EWS. H uge swarms of Pakistani locusts have descended on agricultural fields in Gujarat and Rajasthan and inflicted major damage on crops of mustard, castor, fennel, cumin, cotton, potato, wheat and jat- ropha. The Gujarat Government on Thursday promised com- pensation for farmers in Banaskantha district and other areas of north Gujarat which has been facing the massive locust attack over the last two weeks. Worried over huge loss of crops, 27 teams have been formed to tackle the problem of locusts entering various dis- tricts of the State and damag- ing crops. The Ministry of Agriculture has despatched 11 teams to Gujarat while the State Government has set up 16 teams to keep a watch the movement of swarms and to spray pesticide. Top officials of the Agriculture Ministry said mas- sive swarms of locusts — which are mainly tropical grasshop- pers with strong powers of flight — descended on Banaskantha, Mehsana, Kutch, Patan and Sabarkantha dis- tricts in the last few days in Gujarat, and Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur of Rajasthan. “They entered Gujarat from the desert areas of Pakistan. This is the second time in a month that locusts have invad- ed the fields in north Gujarat and Rajasthan. 27 team will take all necessary steps, including spraying of pesticides, to con- tain the attack. The teams will remain in the State until the problem is solved,” officials said. The Ministry is exploring the possibility of using drones to spray insecticides. Officials said that a team of experts will conduct survey on the Locust Warning Oganisation’s report and spray pesticides. Farmers have been directed to deploy various mea- sures to deal with the situation, including burning tyres in fields, playing drums and clanging utensils, switching on table fans near crops and even blaring out music from a mini truck-mounted console, an agriculture department offi- cial said. According to the Gujarat Government, in Banaskantha, crops over 8,000-10,000 hectares have been damaged. Locusts were first seen in Suigam, Danta, Deesa, Palanpur and Lakhni tehsils of Banaskantha last week. From there they moved to Satlasana tehsil in Mehsana district. A few days ago a huge swarm, spread across 30 to 35 square kilometres, descended in Tharad tehsil and devoured mustard, castor, funnel and wheat crops, he said, adding that locusts are still present in neighbouring areas of Jalore district in Rajasthan and in the Tharparkar desert of Pakistan. In Rajasthan, as many as 128 places have been identified in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur under the spell of the locust attack. A n UP Minister on a visit here on Thursday refused to meet the families of the two Muslim men who died in the recent protests against the new citizenship law, terming them upadravi” (vandals). “Why should I go to van- dals’ place? How can those who are involved in vandalism and put the entire country and state in arson be social,” Minister Kapil Dev Agarwal defended his decision to not visit the homes of the two Muslim families. S lamming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for their ‘double standards’ on the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday asked the party to clarify their stand on support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which they were an ally in the Central Government. “SAD had supported the ruling NDA’s Citizenship Amendment Act in the Parliament, but had since come out with conflicting statements on the legislation, as well as the NRC,” Capt Amarinder point- ed out, lambasting the Akalis for misleading the people on these sensitive issues. Capt Amarinder, reacting to the recent statements of SAD president Sukhbir Badal and SAD”s Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral seeking inclu- sion of Muslims in CAA, said that it was patently obvious that the Akalis were playing double games in the matter. “It is clear that the SAD leaders had decided to back- track on their earlier stand in view of the public protests and backlash triggered by CAA/NRC…This is not the first time the Akalis had shown such dual standards with regard to their relations with the BJP,” said Capt Amarinder, pointing to the SAD’s support to Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD in the Haryana assembly elections even while continuing to be a part of the NDA. In fact, even while siding with INLD in Haryana, the SAD had allied with BJP in Punjab, where by-elections were being held at the same time in a couple of constituen- cies, he added. It was time the SAD clari- fied their stand on their alliance with the NDA, said Capt Amarinder, adding that the people wanted to know whether the Akalis favoured BJP’s divisive and hardline ide- ology on key issues, including those that affect the Indian Constitutional principles and values. The people are no longer willing to be fooled by the SAD’s dual standards and misleading statements, he said. “Such contradictory stands and statements had exposed the fact that the Akalis were only interested in promoting their vested political interests, and has no ideological princi- ples on any issue of national importance,” he said. A day after Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), MLA and senior leader Ram Kumar Gautam resigned as party's vice president, triggering a political crisis of sorts saying he was upset with the functioning of the party, JJP chief Dushyant Chautala on Thursday sought to downplay the issue "He (Gautam) is one of the senior leaders and if he has any complaint, he should speak to the party," the Deputy chief minister said, adding that he got to know about the resignation from media only. Speaking to reporters here, Chautala said he has not received any resignation and added that the party's senior leadership will soon meet Gautam and resolve the con- cerns and issues raised by him. "Ram Kumar Gautam is our elder and I do not mind his words. He has contributed greatly in the expansion of party's organizational structure in the state," the JJP leader said. The Deputy Chief Minister also cleared that it was great honour when Gautam had him- self brought the proposal for coalition in the meeting of JJP's MLAs. He said that party's presi- dent and other senior leaders of JJP will hold consultations with Gautam and sort out his issues if any. "Nothing is going right in the party. I am upset with the way it is functioning and I have resigned as party's vice president. Moreover, I was made all India vice president in the party even though the party has influence in a limited pocket in Haryana," Gautam had said a day before. On a question regarding resentment of other MLAs, Chautala said that whole team of JJP is working like family and party's MLAs are working in unison for strengthening the party. Replying to a question that everything was not right in the party and some MLAs want to become Minister and Tohana JJP MLA Devendra Babli had recently come out public and raised the issue of corruption in the Government, Dushyant claimed that there are no dif- ferences among party leaders. Continued on Page 4

Transcript of 5V]YZ a`]]d UReV R_jeZ^V RWeVc ;R_ ' - Daily Pioneer

������������ ���������������������������������� ��������� ������������������ ������������������������������������ ������������� �� ������������ �!�������" �����#������$���%������������� �����#�� �����������&

����������������������������� ������ ��������� �� !"#� '�(�)�����*���$��� �������������������+,�����+�������������+�������������������������+������+ ����� ���!$����� ��-���+����'���+��������. �+ ��.���������� ���/0���, ���+ &

������� �����������$% �&��'� ����������� ����("()#� �"$��+�����������������������*, ���1�����. ��.������������������ ���������*���*��������� ������+���������������*���������� ���������������� ��*+���.�����" �����#��������2���+����+�����#�����/3��#��(#������+�����$*�+����� ���&

�������

����� �-��'-45$

The Election Commission(EC) may announce the

schedule for the DelhiAssembly polls after the finalpublication of electoral roll onJanuary 6. The polls will be cru-cial for both the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) and the BJP. Afterlosing Jharkhand, the BJP isdesperate to capture power inthe national Capital, whereasfor the AAP it will be a test tosee if a string of welfare mea-sures initiated by the KejriwalGovernment is suffice to buckthe anti-incumbency factor

The EC has begun a seriesof meetings in preparation forthe polls scheduled early nextyear. The first meeting of ECofficials took place onDecember 24 and the secondone on Thursday. The third oneby the Chief Secretary of Delhiis expected on Monday.

During the review meeting,Delhi Chief Electoral OfficerRanbir Singh and SpecialCommissioner of Police PravirRanjan, who is State PoliceNodal Officer, made a presen-tation about the general lawand order situation prevailingin Delhi and action beingplanned by the Delhi Police toenforce all the measures asmandated by the commission.Officials privy to the delibera-tions said the Delhi Police topbrass is of the view that law andorder situation in the nationalCapital is well under controland that the force was preparedfor the elections.

As per the presentation by

the CEO of Delhi, there are1.45 crore electors in thenational Capital as onDecember 18. Of them, 79.98lakh are men and 65.73 lakhwomen. The number of trans-gender voters is 707.

The 2015 elections wereannounced on January 12 andthe voting was held onFebruary 7. The AAP had won67 out of 70 seats. The BJP hadmanaged to secure just threeseats in 2015 while theCongress had drawn a blank.

The tenure of the 70-mem-

ber Assembly expires onFebruary 22, 2020.

Banking on a string offreebies, including free waterand power, the ruling AAP isconfident of repeating its per-formance. Last week, the AAPreleased its five years reportcard. The AAP Governmenthas listed quality education,free health facility, good gov-ernance, and subsidised elec-tricity as its main achieve-ments.

There is possibility thatthe ruling AAP may return to

power due to weak Oppositionparties — both the BJP and theCongress.

The BJP is banking ongranting ownership right topeople of unauthorisedcolonies and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s image. Aheadof the Delhi Assembly polls, theBJP has directed its party lead-ers to hold public outreach pro-grammes in Assembly con-stituencies across Delhi.

Party’s national generalsecretary BL Santosh discussedthe programmes during the

meetings with party’s Delhiunit leaders. The party willorganise a social media work-shop on December 26 whichwill be attended by a represen-tative from every Assemblyconstituency. From January 2 toJanuary 15, the leaders willaddress people through videobroadcast rallies.

The Delhi CEO informedthe EC regarding special mea-sures taken for facilitating per-sons with disabilities and seniorcitizens, including pick anddrop facility from home to

polling booths. He also informed the com-

mission about the facilitiesbeing created at all polling sta-tions; like provision of crèchefacility, ramp, water facility,mobile locker, selfie point,waiting area and wheel chairs.

Sources said the full com-mission comprising ChiefElection Commissioner SunilArora, Election CommissionersAshok Lavasa and SushilChandra reviewed poll pre-paredness for Delhi Assemblyelections. The meeting wasattended by District Electionofficers, Deputy Commissionerof Police, Joint Commissionersof Police, chairman of NewDelhi Municipal Council,Commissioners of threeMunicipal Corporations, ChiefExecutive Officer of DelhiCantonment and other stake-holders. The commission alsoheld a separate meeting withChief Secretary Vijay Dev andthe Delhi Police Commissioner.

During the meeting, DelhiCEO Singh presented pre-paredness with regard to elec-toral rolls, manpower avail-ability, EVMs/VVPATs, train-ing of all election officials, andSVEEP activities focusing andtargeting low turnout areas forincreasing the number of voterturnout.

“The EC also reviewed thestatus of preparation at the levelof Districts. All district electionofficers along with their respec-tive DCPs gave detailed pre-sentations of their district to theElection Commission,” saidofficials.

����� �-��'-45$

Army Chief General BipinRawat on Thursday found

himself in the thick of a majorcontroversy after his remark onthe violent protest against anti-Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) invited backlash frompolitical parties, veterans of theservices and others.

Speaking at an event here,Rawat said, “Leaders do notlead masses in inappropriatedirections as we are witnessingin a large number of universi-ty and college students, the waythey are leading masses ofcrowds to carry out arson andviolence in our cities andtowns. This is not leadership.”Rawat was addressing a healthleadership summit here.

The Congress, the CPI(M)and the AIMIM among othersslammed the Army Chief for“breaching his institutionallimit” and “speaking againstconstitutional democracy.” TheCPI(M) demanded an apologyfrom him for his “indiscretion”,claiming his remarks haveadverse ramifications for theconstitutional arrangement.

Citing the example ofprotests by a large number ofuniversity and college students,

the Army Chief said, “A leaderis the one who leads you in thecorrect direction, gives youthe right advice, and thenensures that you care for thepeople you lead.” Rawat addedthe leadership is conveyedthrough personal example.“That is what we in the armedforces are proud of,” he said.

Incidentally, Rawat’s state-ment comes a day after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi haddenounced the destruction ofpublic property during theprotests, saying rights go alongwith duty.

“I want to ask people whoresorted to violence in UP to sitat home and ask themselveswhether what they did is goodor not. They destroyed busesand public property thatbelongs to the future genera-tion,” he said.

�������������� �-��'-45$

Accusing the Congress ofsupporting violence during

the protests against CitizenAmendment Act (CAA) in thenational Capital, UnionMinister of Home Affairs AmitShah said it is time to punishthe tukde-tukde gang whichwas responsible for the violencein the streets of Delhi with thehelp of the Congress party.

“There were discussionsheld in Parliament on CAA andthen no one said anything butwhen the Bill came out, mis-information was spread andpeace was disrupted in thenational Capital,” said Shah ata rally in city on Thursday.

With the Assembly elec-tions round the corner in Delhi,the Union Government onThursday announced a slew ofdevelopmental projects for theoverall development of Delhiand welfare of its people.

Speaking on the occasionof foundation stone laying cer-emony of IntegratedDevelopment of East DelhiHub city, the Union Minister

said creation of riverfronts onboth banks of the Yamuna andits beautification, a dedicatedcycle track in Delhi to promotegreen transportation andreduce road accidents, devel-opment of JJ clusters are someof the works to be taken on pri-ority basis.

Shah said 116 kilometre ofnew Metro lines out of whichwork on 70 kilometre route hasalready started. Moreover, 18projects worth �802 crore hadbeen completed under theAMRUT scheme in the city.

Also, he said the RegionalRail Transport System betweenDelhi and Meerut, Panipat andAlwar was being developed bythe Union Government on afast-track basis.

Shah said �1,400 crore and30 hectares have been dedicat-ed for this scheme, and assuredthat the scheme would be com-pleted well in time.

He noted that this wouldbe a mixed use scheme, with 70

per cent land earmarked forresidential purposes, 20 percent for commercial purposesand 10 per cent land for pub-lic facilities. He said the schemewould include housing forEconomically Weaker Sections(EWS) as well as stations forpink and violet Metro lines. Hesaid 4,526 units will be for mid-dle class and 288 for EWS.

��'����������� �-��'-45$

Huge swarms of Pakistanilocusts have descended

on agricultural fields in Gujaratand Rajasthan and inflictedmajor damage on crops ofmustard, castor, fennel, cumin,cotton, potato, wheat and jat-ropha.

The Gujarat Governmenton Thursday promised com-pensation for farmers inBanaskantha district and otherareas of north Gujarat whichhas been facing the massivelocust attack over the last twoweeks.

Worried over huge loss ofcrops, 27 teams have beenformed to tackle the problemof locusts entering various dis-tricts of the State and damag-ing crops. The Ministry ofAgriculture has despatched 11

teams to Gujarat while theState Government has set up 16teams to keep a watch themovement of swarms and tospray pesticide.

Top officials of theAgriculture Ministry said mas-sive swarms of locusts — whichare mainly tropical grasshop-pers with strong powers of

f light — descended onBanaskantha, Mehsana, Kutch,Patan and Sabarkantha dis-tricts in the last few days inGujarat, and Jaisalmer, Barmer,Jalore, Jodhpur of Rajasthan.

“They entered Gujarat fromthe desert areas of Pakistan.This is the second time in amonth that locusts have invad-

ed the fields in north Gujaratand Rajasthan. 27 team will takeall necessary steps, includingspraying of pesticides, to con-tain the attack. The teams willremain in the State until theproblem is solved,” officialssaid. The Ministry is exploringthe possibility of using dronesto spray insecticides.

Officials said that a team ofexperts will conduct survey onthe Locust WarningOganisation’s report and spraypesticides. Farmers have beendirected to deploy various mea-sures to deal with the situation,including burning tyres infields, playing drums andclanging utensils, switching ontable fans near crops and evenblaring out music from a minitruck-mounted console, anagriculture department offi-cial said.

According to the GujaratGovernment, in Banaskantha,crops over 8,000-10,000hectares have been damaged.Locusts were first seen inSuigam, Danta, Deesa,Palanpur and Lakhni tehsils ofBanaskantha last week. Fromthere they moved to Satlasanatehsil in Mehsana district.

A few days ago a hugeswarm, spread across 30 to 35square kilometres, descendedin Tharad tehsil and devouredmustard, castor, funnel andwheat crops, he said, addingthat locusts are still present inneighbouring areas of Jaloredistrict in Rajasthan and in theTharparkar desert of Pakistan.

In Rajasthan, as many as128 places have been identifiedin Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore,Jodhpur under the spell of thelocust attack.

������������ ����� ������ ������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������������������

������ ���������������������������� �����!������������������������������������ ����� ���!��������� � " ��������� #

"������������ ���� �#��� ����������$� ���������% &'$�����!!"���������!� ������ �%����� � ���������� ���

����� !$6�7�

An UP Minister on a visithere on Thursday refused

to meet the families of the twoMuslim men who died in therecent protests against the newcitizenship law, terming them“upadravi” (vandals).

“Why should I go to van-dals’ place? How can those whoare involved in vandalism andput the entire country andstate in arson be social,”Minister Kapil Dev Agarwaldefended his decision to notvisit the homes of the twoMuslim families.

&���������"� ���� ��"������������ ��� �����"�����'�#

������������������ ��� �������������������������� ����� ������ ��������� ����������� ��

(��������(�������� ���� ����)�*������+�*������

*�" ��(+�)" +�(, �! (-#�./(00 0��1��,��-0�)���(,,+��)�(,0���(�-�2#�! �� �#���,��#)# 0�(�-�)���0333�"#0�#0���)�! (- ,0"#45

�� �������� ����� ������� ������������������ � ��� ���������� �!����� �����������������������"��� ���� �������� �� ��#�!�"��� ���������� ���

����� �5*�'$1*�5

Slamming the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) for their

‘double standards’ on the issueof National Register of Citizens(NRC) and the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA),Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Thursdayasked the party to clarify theirstand on support to theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ofwhich they were an ally in theCentral Government.

“SAD had supported theruling NDA’s CitizenshipAmendment Act in theParliament, but had since comeout with conflicting statementson the legislation, as well as theNRC,” Capt Amarinder point-ed out, lambasting the Akalisfor misleading the people onthese sensitive issues.

Capt Amarinder, reactingto the recent statements ofSAD president Sukhbir Badal

and SAD”s Rajya Sabha MPNaresh Gujral seeking inclu-sion of Muslims in CAA, saidthat it was patently obvious thatthe Akalis were playing doublegames in the matter.

“It is clear that the SADleaders had decided to back-track on their earlier stand inview of the public protests andbacklash triggered byCAA/NRC…This is not thefirst time the Akalis had shownsuch dual standards with regardto their relations with the BJP,”said Capt Amarinder, pointingto the SAD’s support to OmPrakash Chautala’s INLD in theHaryana assembly electionseven while continuing to be apart of the NDA.

In fact, even while sidingwith INLD in Haryana, theSAD had allied with BJP inPunjab, where by-electionswere being held at the sametime in a couple of constituen-cies, he added.

It was time the SAD clari-fied their stand on their alliancewith the NDA, said CaptAmarinder, adding that thepeople wanted to knowwhether the Akalis favouredBJP’s divisive and hardline ide-ology on key issues, includingthose that affect the IndianConstitutional principles andvalues. The people are nolonger willing to be fooled bythe SAD’s dual standards andmisleading statements, he said.

“Such contradictory standsand statements had exposedthe fact that the Akalis wereonly interested in promotingtheir vested political interests,and has no ideological princi-ples on any issue of nationalimportance,” he said.

����������,�$�����- ������� �� �.����/+�0���������������� ������� ������� �����������������

8" �'���#������ ��+�(��,&+��9����#������(����"��)

����� �����������

�*+�,��-."5$�'�'*:�7��

�5�$�"%*���4*�5-��$��5;

�������&+��9����#������9

4�������# ��!3�/3��00� <=<>*������+ ����-?�������*����+�(��

��(��� ���������'-45$��4��;�7� !57�*4��!5�!*�-��*�

�*��5$��*$��� �5*�'$1*�5�'-5�*'�� 5:'-�*!*'�@$6*:�*'*

�0)(6!#0" -�$78%������������� ��������������

���� �����9��� �&� �������:;9�:<$=>�������$8��:

�+��/�+/�0�57���4-�"5-��77�"A

$�+�1�-2������!-*"�!�$15"7��$���-%$-��4-*1�-��4*�5

������������ ��� ���������������������

����'�������� �5*�'$1*�5

Aday after Jannayak JantaParty (JJP), MLA and senior

leader Ram Kumar Gautamresigned as party's vice president,triggering a political crisis ofsorts saying he was upset withthe functioning of the party, JJPchief Dushyant Chautala onThursday sought to downplaythe issue

"He (Gautam) is one of thesenior leaders and if he has anycomplaint, he should speak tothe party," the Deputy chiefminister said, adding that he gotto know about the resignationfrom media only.

Speaking to reporters here,Chautala said he has notreceived any resignation andadded that the party's seniorleadership will soon meetGautam and resolve the con-cerns and issues raised by him.

"Ram Kumar Gautam isour elder and I do not mind hiswords. He has contributedgreatly in the expansion ofparty's organizational structurein the state," the JJP leader said.

The Deputy Chief Ministeralso cleared that it was greathonour when Gautam had him-

self brought the proposal forcoalition in the meeting of JJP'sMLAs.

He said that party's presi-dent and other senior leaders ofJJP will hold consultations withGautam and sort out his issuesif any.

"Nothing is going right inthe party. I am upset with theway it is functioning and I haveresigned as party's vice president.Moreover, I was made all Indiavice president in the party eventhough the party has influencein a limited pocket in Haryana,"Gautam had said a day before.

On a question regardingresentment of other MLAs,Chautala said that whole teamof JJP is working like family andparty's MLAs are working inunison for strengthening theparty.

Replying to a question thateverything was not right in theparty and some MLAs want tobecome Minister and TohanaJJP MLA Devendra Babli hadrecently come out public andraised the issue of corruption inthe Government, Dushyantclaimed that there are no dif-ferences among party leaders.

Continued on Page 4

���" ������"���� ���" ������������� ������������ �

�� ���

����������� ������ ����� ������������� ������������������������� ������� ����!������ �����������"������������#$%�%��&�����'�������(�������)*+�������(��+%$**)*�,���-��*%.)+/$*01/.�������������23��� �����������������-��))�����+44�4��������������������5����!�����6���+�������������7�������!�����6���� ��������47�27�5�78!��7��%�**!��6�������7����� �� ���9��-����6���:���6��� �;����� ������6 �(����;�������������6��3�����'����#�����6-��$� �����8�� �9�� �������<����(�-�9'����+%%***)������6*%%+/*%%*/==�������������#�����6&+0%�������$�-#4'��8��� ���-(�+)*%0*%�2��������6*%)*+/1.>1**;/1.>>**�������9#�����6/��&���������������(�������&�? �7���������9+))$*%$�,���������6*=))+)0/$//0+/=

���������� ����������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������������������������������������ ��������������� �� ��������������� ����� ��������������������������������������� ����������� ���� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

�������������������������� ����������������&�"(�-#.(,"B�5��#�������+�� ��������� ������������� ��������������(�������)������������������������(���/C00)/C0)/</3�������� ���� ��������������� �����+������������� �������&�5��#�������+����,�������������� ����#�������. �� ����#��������������������������#���.��,������ ���+��� �������.�� �� ������+�&�$�������������������+�������(�����������(������(���D0CD0CEE3D�������������(���0/D<<)F=<0F<��(������������������+��)����&���8 �#&��&�����$���������'�����+��������&�$�������G�������#�.�����(��,���+���������������������(�����.����.����������(������������������++���������+�+��������������&

�'������������������������������� �����"#/!(B�5���+ ��������� �� ������+�����#�'��� ��,���!������������� ������������� ���(��������.�� �5������(�����+����#����� �+����+ �+���������������+���+��#����� �����6������(�� ������4���������6��4�&���������������6��4�(������������" �����#��'��!������������������?�����������(������������?����.���������#������.�������+����#������ �����.������ ����������� ������������ ����&�*�����������(�����.���������������������6��4&

��'��������� ������������� ��������������� �&�"(�-#.(,"B�5��#���5����%�������*���@�2�.������������������ ���� �#����������� ��'�����+����(��+�������������1�����+��������������'�+��(���FD���� ����������������� ����+�����+ �#��(��������������������+�����/F���&�*����������/=����(�����.����(����+��������� ��������������� �����,�������&

���������������������������������������"#/!(B�5���+ ��������� �1�������!������'�������#����" �����#��������� ��$���������� �(�������������������*���+����$��*�������.� ��������������(#�5���+ ��������� �@��������5���� �*���+�������������+����.�� �� ��#��� ��������������&�" �����������������(#� ���������1�������&�" ��1���������������� ��#��� ��������������������#��.�#����������������������+�������������+����#����������������������+ ��+��������&�

������������ �������'�������������� ���"(�-#.(,"B�$���������������+��+����� ��������������+���������+������ ������������ �������������$��'�������2���������+����#�+ �������+���)F/�����������������#���������+����+���&�*����/00�������������+�����=0�(�#�����=0������������+�������.�� ������� ���������� ��+����(�������� ��� �������H6���� �,�������.�+ ! �����*( �#�G&�@��������+��������������������.���� ����(#�� ��?������������ ��+�����+����������������������,��������������������������������������������������+��������������������� ���&

��������������� �������������������������"(�-#.(,"B�*�+��#�(����������)������,���"�+ �����������������4�������� ���+�������.�� ����� �����(���������+�����I���,���I. ����#��������������+���(�������.����.�� �#��������+�����++�����&" �������+��������������(��������������.��������(�� �1��������#���������*����G��*��������&�*������.��� �������)��� �������������2�(���������,��1��������1������������������������$���������; �����, �%������ ������&�� ����;������������������$���2�����,,�������%�������6������� �������������.&�

������������������������?����9�������������"(�-#.(,"B���������1����"��(���G����1"����������+��������+ ������6����+����������������������������.�� ��� ������(�����������$*������� ��1���������+ �+����?�����'��!�(��4���������� �����" �����#����������)� ��������, ��� ����������������+��������+���+�����������������+������������1"�����+����&��" ������+���������������;�� ��� �������� ������1������������������+����=<&" ��+�������������+����� ������+���������?�������.��,������+��������+�������. ����.�����.������������ ��+ ��������������.����.�����.�������� ����������&

��������&������������������ ������������&�����"(�-#.(,"��5��#���1����������#�����������*�#����" �����#+������������������������������+������.�� �#��� �.������������������� ������������+ ���+����(����������� ��#��� ����� ��� ������������+���#�+������ ���(������� ���&�

�������� 5�#��"������?+ ���������+�����������-!�!��� � �5*�'$1*�5

Under the CentralGovernment concept of Ek

Bharat Shrestha Bharat (EBSB),Haryana and Telangana areexchanging mutual culture, cus-toms, and traditions.

As per the guidelines ofMinistry of Human ResourceDevelopment (MHRD),Telangana is the partner State ofHaryana and the students ofboth the States are participatingin this concept as they are get-ting an opportunity to learn thetraditional, lingual and culturalvalues of each other States.

An official spokesman on

Thursday said the concept of EkBharat Shrestha Bharat (EBSB)was launched to celebrate theUnity in Diversity of our Nationand for the exchange of eachother’s literature and cultural her-itage. He said that as per guide-lines of Ministry of HumanResource Development(MHRD), the concept will con-tinue till June 2020.

"Students of both the Statesare increasing their knowledgeby learning the alphabetical lan-guage, songs, and proverbs. Themain highlight of this concept isthat the activities organizedunder the EBSB are meant to cre-ate an enjoyable learning envi-ronment and will be treated as apart of extra-curricular activities.There will be no pressure ofexamination related to the activ-ities of EBSB for students," thespokesman said.

He said that this concept,initiated by the Ministry ofHuman Resources andDevelopment, aims to show-case the rich heritage and culture,customs, and traditions of eitherState and to create an environ-ment that promotes learningbetween States by sharing bestpractices and experiences fos-tering a sense of common iden-tity.

��������������� ���������������� �5$%4*

BJP President and HomeMinister Amit Shah will

address a massive public rallyon the Ridge here on Friday tocelebrate BJP's second yearstint in the state led by chiefminister Jai Ram Thakur.

The rally comes in themiddle of heavy tourist rush inthe hill station.

Tourists from all over thecountry have converged inShimla and the surroundingareas to celebrate Christmasand New Year.

Beneficiaries of variouswelfare schemes by theHimachal PradeshGovernment will attend thesecond anniversary function,chief minister Jai Ram Thakur

had said earlier.Effective and foolproof

security arrangements will bein place to ensure the securityof the visiting dignitaries, offi-cials said.

They said steps will also betaken so that the general pub-lic does not face any inconve-nience due to traffic regulations.

On the occasion, a bookletas well as a documentary filmhighlighting the achievementsof the BJP government in thelast two years will be released.A ground breaking ceremonyof MoUs worth �13,790 crorewill be performed in whichover 250 entrepreneurs areexpected to participate.

Tourists are expected toencounter traffic bottleneckson the route to the hill station

with over 50,000 supportersheading there for the rally.

Earlier, Shimla DeputyCommissioner Amit Kashyapsaid in light of the heavy traf-fic expected in Shimla due tocelebratory function of com-pletion of two years of theGovernment on December 27,the residents and tourists areadvised to avoid the use of CartRoad.

He said the Governmenthas made adequate arrange-ments of public transport and

requested the people to makemaximum use of it.

He also advised the ownersof the vehicles not to park vehi-cles on the road and urged thepublic to use available parkingspaces other than theTuttikandi parking.

Kashyap urged the resi-dents and tourists coming tothe city to cooperate with theadministration and police forsmooth flow of traffic so thatminimum inconvenience iscaused to the public.

"���������� ���������� ��$���������������������� ��������������� ������%������������������� � ������������� �5$%4*

Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Thursday

presided over a meeting hereto review the preparednessfor proposed mega rally beingheld at Shimla on December27 on completion of two yearstenure of the present StateGovernment.

Thakur said party workersand general public throughoutthe State would be participat-

ing in this rally which wouldalso be graced by the NationalBJP leaders, Ministers andother leaders of the State.

He said effective and fool-proof security arrangementhave been made for visit of theHome Minister. He directedthe officers to ensure thatthere was a marked passage forambulance and other essentialservices. He said that the gen-eral public and tourists shouldnot face any inconveniencedue to this rally.

Thakur directed to installLED screens at strategic pointsin Shimla town besides all dis-trict headquarters so that peo-ple could watch and listen tothe speech of Union HomeMinister.

Chief Minister also direct-ed the officers concerned toensure adequate arrangementsof drinking water and mobiletoilets besides ensuring clean-liness at the rally area to facil-itate the people coming fromvarious parts of the State. Hesaid that control rooms shouldbe established in strategic loca-tions to facilitate the partici-pants.

5���+ ����%������.�������������������������#

� !(�.(�(�#0�)" �4(,)� ,�)() ��1��(,+(�(�(�-�)" 0)�- �)0��1�6�)"�)" ��)() 0(, �4(,)#�#4()#�.�#������ 4)

(0�)" +�(, �. ))#�.�(��44�,)��#)+�)��! (,��)" ),(-#)#��(!9�!#�.�(!�(�-��!)�,(!�2(!� 0��1� (�"�

�)" ,��)() 0

�� ����������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

������������������������������������� ���������� *�'$1*�5

As a part of PunjabGovernment’s concerted

efforts to bring in greater effi-ciency and transparency in theimplementation of various pro-jects, the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Thursdaygave the go-ahead for SocialAudit of Engineering Projectsin the State.

Giving his approval to theVigilance Bureau’s proposalfor the same, the Chief Ministersaid that the move would con-tribute further to eliminatingcorruption from the project

implementation process.“An informed citizenry is

critical to ensure transparencyin work execution, as well inreducing or eliminatingavenues that can be used toindulge in corrupt practices,”said the Chief Minister.

As part of the VigilanceBureau proposal, ‘CitizenInformation Boards’ containingimportant particulars regardingon-going or future work of theGovernment will be put up atwork sites for information ofcitizens or tax payers, said anofficial spokesperson, givingdetails of the social audit

scheme.Additionally, it will be

mandatory for the concerneddepartment to post this infor-mation on their website, underthe new Preventive VigilanceScheme.

In addition to engineeringworks, a few other boards ofnon-engineering nature havealso been approved, said thespokesperson.

Various departments to becovered under the scheme arePublic Works Department(Buildings and Roads), PunjabMandi Board, PUDA, UrbanLocal Bodies, Panchayati Raj,

PSIEC, Irrigation (WaterResources Department),Punjab Police HousingCorporation, Punjab HealthSystem Corporation, PunjabSchool Education Board,Punjab Water Supply andSanitation Department.

Sewerage Board, SoilConservation Department,Punjab Water ResourcesManagement andDevelopment Corporation,PSPCL/PSTCL, Punjab HealthDepartment, Food CivilSupplies and Consumer AffairsDepartment, Pungrain,Punsup, PSWC and Markfed

are also part of the scheme.It has been decided that for

linear works like canal or roadetc, there would be at least twoboards — one each near startand end location of the work.For extensively long projects,boards would need to beinstalled in-between at regularintervals as well.

The scheme entails instal-lation of these boards on orbefore the commencement ofwork, and the same should remain in place at leasttill the expiry of defect liabili-ty period.While one side of theboard would have the relevant

information in Punjabi, theother side would be written inEnglish.

The State Vigilance Bureauhas already drafted specimensof 26 different boards, coveringdifferent work-types or infor-mation, along with the basicrules for execution of thescheme.

The Bureau is in the process of communicatingto the Chief Vigilance Officersof the concerned departments,to ensure social audit of theprojects or works throughimplementation of this preventive vigilance scheme.

�'�����������('����������������(��*�����1���������2 �*����*������� �5*�'$1*�5

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Thursday wrote to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi seek-ing Punjab’s inclusion in the�6,000 crore the ‘Atal BhujalYojana’ for conservation ofground water resources.

In his letter, CaptAmarinder cited media reportsabout exclusion of Punjab fromthe scheme, and urged thePrime Minister to direct theMinistry of Jal Shakti toinclude Punjab in the same.

Ministry of Jal Shakti hasselected seven states underthe new �.6000 cr Atal BhujalYojana for conservation ofgroundwater resources.

The scheme is proposed tobe implemented in 8350water-stressed villages in theseven states of Gujarat,Haryana, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra,Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

Expressing surprise andconcern over Punjab’s non-inclusion in the scheme giventhe fact that the rate of deple-tion of ground water is thehighest in Punjab, Capt

Amarinder pointed out that 20 of the 22 districts of theState (other than Pathankot and Muktsar) are under seri-ous stress of depletion ofground water.

In fact, he pointed out, theUnion Ministry of Jal Shaktihad deputed officers to visitthese districts earlier this year.

He further mentioned thatover 3/4th of the blocks in theState had been declared water-stressed, including some ascritical, as per a recent reportof the Central GroundwaterBoard.“I need not over-emphasise the fact Punjab haddepleted its only naturalresource, i .e.groundwater thanks to the practice of inten-sive agriculture, especially cul-tivation of paddy, for achiev-ing food security for thenation,” the CM wrote.

The Chief Minister furtherpointed out that availability ofsurface water had alsodeclined in the last fewdecades.

Therefore, based on empirical data, Punjab presentsa strong case for immediateassistance for water conservation, he added.

������ �5*�'$1*�5

Cold wave intensified in Punjab andHaryana on Thursday as the min-

imum and maximum temperaturesfurther plummeted in the two states.

Narnaul in Haryana was colder asthe minimum dropped to 2.5 degreesCelsius. Hisar was also chilling witha minimum of 3.3 degrees Celsius, aMeteorological Department weatherreport said. The minimum temper-ature also dropped in Rohtak (3.4)Karnal (6), Bhiwani (4.8), Sirsa (4.3)and Ambala (5.3).Bathinda in Punjabwas the coldest place recording a lowof 4 deg C. Faridkot (4.5), Ludhiana(6.6), Patiala (6.4), Halwara (5.8),Adampur (6.8), Pathankot (6.4) andAmritsar (6.5) too experienced acold night.

Chandigarh, the common capitalof the two states, recorded a low of 6.5degrees Celsius. On Wednesday, themaximum temperature in Chandigarhdropped to 9 degrees Celsius, whichwas twelve notches below normal. Itbroke the 19-year-old record when theday temperature in December had set-tled at 9.2 degrees Celsius.

Even Manali (10.6) and Shimla(12.3) on Wednesday recorded slight-ly higher day temperature comparedto Chandigarh and many other placesin the plains including Ambala (9.5),Karnal (9) and Amritsar (9.8).

Severe cold wave and foggyweather conditions will continue toprevail in the two states includingChandigarh over the next three days.Weather office said dense fog is like-ly to engulf the plains of the regionaround December 28. However, vis-ibility should improve aroundDecember 31, but cold wave condi-tions will continue to prevail.

SUNNY BUT FREEZING INHIMACHAL

Though the main hill stations ofHimachal Pradesh onThursday experi-enced sunny condi-tions, but tempera-tures were close tothe freezing point atseveral places. And,there are no chancesof snowfall tillD e c e m b e r30.Weather officialssaid dry weather toprevail in the state tillDecember 30. InShimla, a bright,sunny but bone-chill-ing weather dashedthe hopes of revellersto celebrateChristmas amidsnowfall.

Besides Shimla, other populardestinations like Kufri, Narkanda,Kasauli, Dalhousie and Manali toowere totally devoid of snow fall.Shimla saw a low of one degreeCelsius, while it was minus threedegrees in tourist resort Manali.

The weather office said therewere chances of snowfall in mid andhigh hills of the state from December31. The western disturbances areapproaching the region fromDecember 31. If these remain activefor a few days, snow would cover mostof the tourist spots.

�� ����������������(��*���� �&������

"����� ��� �� �� ���! ����������� ���&���"����' � ���(�� � ������� �5*�'$1*�5

Condemning the ruling Congress Government for delay-ing distribution of winter school uniforms for the second

year in a row, the SAD on Thursday demanded immediatedismissal of Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla forshowing utter lack of responsibility. The party, at the sametime, demanded stern action against the officials whose “crim-inal neglect” was making thousands of students suffer in bit-ing cold weather conditions.

“The Education Minister is not taking any interest inaddressing the grievances of students as well as teachers andbelieved only in using oppressive methods and abusive lan-guage in face of any crisis in the education department,” saidthe former Education Minister and senior SAD leader DaljitSingh Cheema.

He said: “Recently, he ordered a police lathi-charge againstthe protesting teachers while using abusive language againstthem. Not providing winter uniforms to hapless school kidsin this extreme cold shows that Singla neither has a sense ofduty nor any human compassion. So he should be dismissedimmediately.”

Cheema said that Congress Government’s failure in pro-viding winter uniforms in government schools had affectedthe studies of around 65,000 students. “The procurementprocess should have started in March to ensure delivery ofuniforms to the needy students before the winter began. Butit was unnecessarily dragged to September making the time-ly delivery of winter uniforms next to impossible,” he saidadding that the officers responsible for this grave negligenceshould be taken to task.

�!�� ����������)� ����������������������!������� ������� ��������������� ���������*�� ����

����� �5*�'$1*�5

Aday after the SAD demanded Punjab Social WelfareMinister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot’s resignation in alleged

case regarding embezzlement of scholarship money meant forDalit students, the Minister on Thursday termed the allega-tions as “a pack of lies”, while clarifying that there was “nobungling in the scholarship amount”.

Clearing the air, Dharamost shared the details of the PostMatric Scholarship Scheme for SC and OBC category point-ing that under the scheme, the total demand pertaining to2016-17 was Rs 780.31 crore in which the Centre’s share comesto Rs 719.52 crore while that of the State Government is Rs60.79 crore. Out of the central share, Rs 303.92 crores has beenreceived and Rs 415.60 crores is pending.

The Minister said that out of Rs 303.92 crores receivedby the State Government, Utilization Certificate regarding Rs231.20 crores have been sent to the Central Governmentwhereas the Certificates pertaining to Rs 72.72 crore wouldbe sent shortly. “Sanction for Rs 14.40 crore related to the OBCScholarship has also been accorded. As per the directions ofthe Union Government, the process to credit the same in theaccounts of the students is on,” he said.

Dharamsot elaborated that the approval with regard tothe release of the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCamount of Rs 72.72 crores has also been given, and the samewould be credited directly into the account of the students.

���������������������

$ �������� ��,�$���������������-��������������

�������������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

����� ;���;�5-"�*

Thousands of devotees tooka dip in the holy waters of

Brahma Sarovar at Kurukshetraon the occasion of solar eclipsewith the district administrationmaking elaborate arrangementsfor the event.

The solar eclipsed tookplace at 8:15 am. It is widelybelieved that if one takes a dipin the holy water during solareclipse the person achievessalvation. The eclipse lastedfrom 8.15 am to 10.55 pm.

Hundreds of naga sadhusand saints came from Haryana,Punjab and nearby states to

take a dip. Devotees fromNepal, Punjab, Benaras,Ayodhya, West Bengal, TamilNadu, Himachal Pradesh andJammu and Kashmir had cometo take a dip in the holy waters.

The district administra-tion had made traffic diver-sions, parking arrangements,reception hall and informationcenter.

On the year’s last solar

eclipse fair, the minimum tem-perature was four degreesCelsius, however despite thechilly weather; devotees start-ed thronging the town, in thewee hours to take a dip at theSarovar, offered prayers andperformed Havan for theirancestors.

Apart from the main infor-mation center, 35 other infor-mation centers were set up bythe Information, PublicRelations, and LanguageDepartment.

Deputy Commissioner, S.S.Phulia, said said district admin-istration had made specialarrangements.

���������������������������

������ �� ��������'�����������-������ ����%�,�$����� �5*�'$1*�5

Asking Punjab ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder

Singh to rename hisGovernment as ‘clean chit gov-ernment’, the Shiromani AkaliDal on Thursday said that thepeople of the State are not sur-prised at clean chit given by thepolice to “Sukhi-Jaggu nexus” asit has come on expected lines.

“This government isrepeatedly shielding its minis-

ters by giving them clean chits.During last three years, peoplehave seen how the Governmentgave clean chit to its Ministersin Jora Phatak accident case,Batala Blast Case and all otherissues in which its Ministerswere directly involved,” saidSAD’s senior vice presidentand spokesman Mahesh InderSingh Grewal.He said that inpresent case, not only MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawabut dreaded gangster Jaggu

Bhagwanpuria has also beengiven clean chit and a clear mes-sage has been sent to the policethat whosoever will opposeJaggu Bhagwanpuria, will meetsame fate as of DSP Sekhonwho exposed Minister BharatBhushan Ashu’s wrongdoings.

“When the Chief Minister,while marking enquiry intothe issue of Sukhi Randhawa,had given him clean chit, howcan we expect any official orpolice officer dare to challenge

his clean chit by indicting theMinister?” he asked.

Grewal said that everyoneknows that village of JagguBhagwanpuria is just few kilo-meters away from Randhawa’shouse and his mother is anactive worker of SukhiRandhawa who had facilitatedher election without any oppo-sition in the village duringPanchayat polls.

He said that concrete evi-dence is there that Jaggu cele-

brated his birthday, made videocalls from inside jail and isenjoying five-star facilities in jail“but in this case too, a clean chitwas given completely ignoringthe involvement of Jail Ministerand Jail Staff ”.

SAD leader dared the StateGovernment that if it was notprotecting this nexus of Sukhi-Jaggu, “it should hand over thisinquiry to NIA or CBI and theirinquiry will place truth beforethe public”.

����������������������� ������������������� ������ �5*�'$1*�5

With a focus on infra-structure development,

Punjab Medical Education andResearch Department has pre-pared its four years strategicplan.

The plan’s draft was dis-cussed at length in a meetingheld on Thursday where delib-erations were held at lengthupon the projects and infra-structure required in nearfuture, their feasibility andtheir operation and mainte-nance requirements.

The state’s MedicalEducation and ResearchMinister OP Soni said that thefocus of the strategic planwould be on strengthening theinfrastructure of the medicalcolleges and the hospitals andequipping them with the stateof art machinery or equip-ment.

He said that the strategicplan includes major projectslike development of Advanced

Trauma Centres atGovernment Medical Colleges(GMC) at Amritsar and Patiala,setting up of Mother and ChildCare units at Faridkot, CancerInstitute, Radiotherapy andNuclear Medicine Block inGMC Amritsar, Constructionof New Pulmonary HealthCare Centre in TB Hospital,Burn unit in GMC Patiala,New Liquid Oxygen Plant forGuru Nanak Dev Hospital,Amritsar, construction of hos-tels for senior residents or fac-ulty and students, upgradingblood banks and operationtheaters and equipping theGovernment Medical Hospitalswith state of art equipment.

Besides, the requirementsof Dental and AyurvedicColleges have also been incor-porated in the plan, he said.

He said that the yearly tar-gets and budget for the samehas been worked out so that theprojects may not face anyfinancial hiccup. “Once thedraft of the strategic plan is

finalized, it will be submitted tothe Department of Planningand thereafter to the FinanceDepartment for requisite bud-get provision in the ensuing fis-cal,” said Soni.

The Minister exhorted theheads of medical colleges andhospitals to work proactivelyfor strengthening their institu-tions and also directed them toensure that all the funds allot-ted for the ongoing projects areutilized and subsequentUtilization Certificates are sub-mitted to the treasury so thatfurther in flow of funds is notinterrupted.

“Non-utilization of fundsby an institution reflects thepoor administration by thehead of the institution andwill not be tolerated upon ascolleges and hospitals aremeant for welfare of public,” hesaid adding that hampering ofdevelopmental projects due toshort sightedness or the laxityof the heads of will invite sternaction.

����� *%�$"�*�

The Amritsar police hasbooked Bollywood actress

Raveena Tandon, director-choreographer Farah Khanand comedian Bharti Singhfor allegedly hurting the reli-gious sentiments of a com-munity in a TV show.

A case was registered onWednesday on the basis of acomplaint filed by Sonu Jafar,president of Christian Frontof Ajnala Block, along withvideo footage of the showaired on Christmas eve.

The complainant alleged that "the religioussentiments of Christians havebeen hurt".

The FIR was registered atAjnala police station hereunder section 295-A of theIPC (deliberate and maliciousacts, intended to outragereli-gious feelings of any classby insulting its religion orreli-gious beliefs).

"We have registered a caseagainst the three and furtherinvestigations are being held,"Amritsar Rural SSP, VikramJeet Duggal said.

,��� �- ���� �.������/����/������� ����������0�1����.�����.�1�����������2

�������������� !57�*4

The Nazeerabad Police hasbusted a gang involved in

producing counterfeit curren-cy notes and recovered fakecurrency notes over Rs 1 lakhfrom four miscreants; mainaccused of the gang was nabbedfrom Indore and recoveredprinter, computer and paperused.

The police nabbed a mis-creant from weekly marketidentified as Manoj Chouhanand recovered 12 fake curren-cy notes of denominations ofRs 200 were recovered from hispossession.

The nabbed accused wastracked and his movementswere watched from past fewdays and he was nabbed onDecember 20, 2019. In theinvestigation Manoj who wascaught in suspect to stealingvegetable from the market butlater it was revealed that he wasinvolved in circulating fakecurrency notes and provideddetails of the main accused.

Based on the details pro-vided by Manoj, police

searched several places inIndore and Hoshangabad andtracked Anees Kourav aliasSikander from Indore andarrested him.

Anees confessed that hewanted to make big money andlearnt making of fake curren-cy notes from internet andlater produced fake currencynotes which were circulated inthe state and in other stateswith the help of Raju Sirsagarand Ajay Nath.

Police have registered acase under section 489 A, B, Cand D and 34 of the IPC andstarted search for other mem-bers of the nexus. More regionswere the gang members used tocirculate fake currency wouldbe investigated in the furtherinvestigation. The period forwhich the gang members wereactive is yet to be revealed.

3������������������� ���'(��4� � �����������5�

������!�""""From Page 1

"Party is united. JJP leadersand members are working tostrengthen the organisation atgrass root level.

Tohana MLA is a memberof the monitoring committee ofthe membership campaign ofthe party in which campaign isbeing conducted fromDecember 20 to January 20.Babli is also monitoring thecampaign by visiting variousdistricts of the State", he said.

Referring to corruptioncharges made by Babli,Dushyant said that if any offi-cer is promoting corruptionsomewhere, as a MLA Babli hasthe right to raise his voiceagainst it and get it investigat-ed by informing the govern-ment. “Being a Minister, I willtake action against the officialsif they are found indulging incorruption in the departmentsallocated to me,” he said.

����� �-��'-45$�

Prime Minister NarendraModi's assertion that there

was no detention centre in thecountry led to a bitter war ofwords between the Congressand the BJP on Thursday amiddisclosure about existence ofsuch camps in Assam andKarnataka.

The Congress has alsoattacked the Government overNational Population Registerand said that there was a designto bring in NRC in the garb ofNPR.

Taking to Twitter, Congressleader Rahul Gandhi attached avideo clip showing a detentioncentre being constructed inAssam. While accusing theCongress, its allies and "UrbanNaxals" of spreading therumour that Muslims will besent to detention centres, thePM had denied presence of anysuch centre in the country.

"RSS's Prime Minister lies toBharat Mata," Rahul said in thetweet in Hindi with the hashtag'jhoot jhoot jhoot (lies, lies,lies).

Reacting on Rahul's liarjibe at the Prime Minister, BJPspokesperson Sambit Patradescribed him as "joothon ka

sardar" (master of lies) and say-ing detention camps in Assamwere set up when the Congresswas in power both at the Centreand the State.

BJP spokesperson allegedthat after apologising to theSupreme Court on the Rafaleissue, Rahul is now spreadinglies on the detention centres.

He asserted that the PrimeMinister had only said there isno such detention camp inwhich Muslims of India will beplaced after NRC.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Patra showed the officialstatement issued by theCongress-led UPA Governmentin 2011 and 'White Paper' on theissue of foreigners published bythe party-led Government inAssam in 2012, and claimed thatas per these documents, deten-tion camps were established inthe State.

"Rahul Gandhi is joothonka sardar. The three detentioncentres were set up in Assam atthe time when his party was inpower both at the Centre andthe State," Patra said.

On October 20, 2012, theCongress Government inAssam released the White Paperon the issue of foreigners and onits page number 38, it was writ-ten that the CentralGovernment has directed theAssam Government to set updetention centres, Patra claimed.

As per the details availablein the White Paper, a detentioncentre each was established inGolpara, Kokrajhar and Silcharby the then CongressGovernment, in which 66, 32and 20 foreigners were keptrespectively.

He said there is no connec-tion between detention centresand the National Register ofCitizens.

"Rahul Gandhi has noknowledge on any subject, buthas to speak on every subject.His attack is neither intended onthe issue of NPR nor CAA butto attack Modi. The Congressparty is unable to digest how atea seller became PrimeMinister," the BJP spokespersonsaid.

Government sources,meanwhile, said detention cen-tres were set up in different partsof the country in full compli-ance with law and with theSupreme Court's cognisance.

Detention centres or hold-ing centres or camps are con-finement centres where foreignnationals are confined pendingnationality verification andissuance of travel documents bythe Governments concernedand their deportation to theirnative countries.

Such detention centres werein existence in various States forthe last few decades and the set-ting up of such centres was notat all connected with theNational Register of Citizens(NRC), the sources said.

!���#��$ ��������������������

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ ������

����� �-��'-45$

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Thursday

searched the residence ofarrested RTI activist AkhilGogoi in Guwahati and seizedseveral documents and a laptopcomputer.

The activist, who advisesvarious farmer organisations,was arrested when Assam washit by widespread protestsagainst the Citizenship(Amendment) Act.

Agency sleuths searchedGogoi’s residence in Nizaraparaarea of Guwahati and alsoseized copies of his PAN card,an SBI debit card, an ElectoralPhoto Identity Card (EPIC)and a bank passbook.

After the three-hour searchthat began at 7 am, the seizeditems included a certificate ofregistration by the Registrar ofCooperative Societies, a letterfrom SuperintendingArchaeologist of ASI Milan

Kumar Chauley, files marked"Credit-Deposit ratio KMSSFile Misc", "Jail 2015", "JailDiary 2014" and "NHPCLSHEP 2015" featured in thelist.

While showing a list of theseized items to reporters inGuwahati after the searches,Gogoi's wife Gitashree Tamulysaid, "They (NIA) wanted to seethe files in our house and

selectively took some of them.I asked them to give me copiesof the seized files but theydeclined. I was also asked ifAkhil had met militants whenhe was jailed earlier."

The NIA team also askedfor the documents relating tothe KMSS orchid environmentpark in Kaziranga but his wifetold them that she had noinformation about them.

The KMSS office inGandhibasti area of the city wasalso raided and nine books,including one on the life ofChina's revolutionary leaderMao Zedong, Marxism, andKMSS leaflets were seized,KMSS president Raju Borasaid.

The Krishak MuktiSangram Samiti (KMSS) leader,whose NIA custody was to endon Friday, was brought fromNew Delhi and will be pro-duced before a court here.

While being taken to theNIA court, Gogoi only inquired

about the well being of thewaiting journalists.

The NIA has accusedGogoi of being involved in "ter-ror activities" and using thepassage of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill to promoteenmity among different groupsthat was against national inte-gration.

He has also been accusedof having links with the bannedultra-Left outfit CPI (Maoist).

Meanwhile, a special NIAcourt in Guwahati on Thursdayremanded to judicial custodyfor 14 days.

The special court alsoturned down NIA's plea toextend his police custody for 10days.

Gogoi was arrested by theNIA from Jorhat on December12 when large scale protests against the CAA going on in Assam under thestringent anti-terror law-Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

%&'��������������������(��������*������ ���) ��������+ ���$*������������������+����������������*�����(���+���

%� ����'��� ������������ � �+%'��,���� ������ ��-� � � ����������������#�������� ��-�!���� ����������� ���

����� �-��'-45$

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has attached assets

worth over �36 crore of aretired Gujarat cadre officerSanjay Gupta and his family onmoney laundering charge in acase of criminal misconductand misappropriation of fundsof Metro Link Express forGandhinagar and AhmedabadCompany Ltd, (MEGA).

The ED has attached assetsworth �36.12 crore held byretired IAS officer of Gujaratcadre Sanjay Gupta, his wifeNeelu Gupta along with assetsheld in the name of his NeesaGroup Companies like NeesaLeisure Ltd., NeesaTechnologies, Neesa Agritech& Foods Ltd. under Preventionof Money Laundering Act.

The attached propertiesinclude flats in Ahemdabad atDhananjay Towers, Satellite,Casela Towers, Jodhpur, oneflat at Agarwal Apartment,Vejalpur, Satellite, Cambay

Hotel at Thaltej, and plots andfactories at Visalpur,Changodar and Daskroi.

Based on FIR andchargesheets filed by CIDCrime, Gandhinagar Zoneunder various sections ofIndian Penal Code includingcriminal conspiracy and pro-visions of the Prevention ofCorruption Act, the ED hadinitiated investigation underPMLA against Gupta and oth-ers for misappropriation ofpublic funds from MEGA.

Gupta was a 1985 batch IASofficer of Gujarat cadre who quitservice in 2002 and started hisown hospitality business in nameof Neesa Group of Companies.He became Chairman of MEGAin April 2011 and continued tillAug 2013.

Investigation under PMLArevealed that Gupta, during histenure as Chairman, MEGA,arbitrarily appointed his closeassociates in various officialpositions in MEGA who werepreviously working with him in

Neesa Group, the ED said. Accused Gupta also float-

ed a number of paper/dummycompanies with these employ-ees, as Directors and got openedbank accounts of these compa-nies during 2012-13, it said.

These fictitious companiesfurther raised fabricated/bogusbills/invoices to MEGA withoutany supply of Goods/Services.

Dummy companies wereawarded contract on pretext forsupply of goods/services toMEGA and bogus bills/invoic-es were raised. These bogusbills/invoices were certified bythe illegally recruited MEGAofficials and payments werefinally approved by him, as theadministrative and financialpowers were vested in him.

The proceeds of crime tothe tune of �65.73 crore werereceived from MEGA throughbogus bills/invoices as well asillicit Cash/DD/Chequesdeposits in the accounts of thedummy companies floated andcontrolled by Gupta.

�$������ ��������� �)�*��� ��6�,�������������������� ��71����

����� �-��'-45$

India and Japan have vowedto deepen maritime cooper-

ation and also held consulta-tions on disarmament, non-proliferation and export con-trol.

The 5th Round of India-Japan Maritime AffairsDialogue was held in Tokyo onTuesday with the Indian dele-gation led by Indra ManiPandey, Additional Secretary(Disarmament andInternational Security Affairs),Ministry of External Affairs,while Japanese delegation wasled by Ambassador YamanakaA Osamu, Deputy AssistantMinister, Deputy Director-

General in Foreign PolicyBureau.

The two sides exchangedviews on various topics ofmutual interest in maritime domain and identi-fied the means for further strengthening theirmaritime cooperation, aMinistry of External Affairsstatement said.

Both sides reiterated theimportance of the dialogue asan important mechanismbetween the two countries forconsultations on issues ofmutual interest in maritimeaffairs and agreed to hold thenext round of talks on a mutu-ally convenient date in India, itsaid.

Meanwhile, the 8th Roundof India-Japan bilateral con-sultations on disarmament,non-proliferation and exportcontrol was held in Tokyo onDecember 23.

The Indian side was led byPandey, while Japanese dele-gation was headed byAmbassador Hisajima Naoto,D i r e c t o r - G e n e r a l ,Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and ScienceDepartment, Ministry ofForeign Affairs.

During the consultations,the two sides exchanged views on issues of mutual inter-est in these fields, the MEAsaid.

$�����6������.������������������+��������� ����� �-��'-45$

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Thursday said

most people residing in theDefence cantonment areas arepoor and the cantonmentboards should ensure that suchpeople do not feel scared in anyway due to the behaviour of theboard officers.

In a Defence cantonmentarea, public services such ashealth, sanitation, primary edu-cation etc are provided by theconcerned cantonment board,which is a civic administrationbody under the Ministry ofDefence.

"I was telling Army ChiefGeneral Bipin Rawat that mostpeople living in the canton-ments are extremely poor.From the bottom of my heart,I would like to appeal that you

must ensure that because ofyour behaviour, they shouldnot feel scared," Singh said inhis speech after giving away the"Awards for Excellence 2019" tothe cantonment boards.

He added that such people

should have the trust that ifthey go to an officer in a can-tonment area, they would begiven protection.

"It is my experience...Thata poor man's cry is the worst.God has given you this respon-

sibility. It is not just to rule overthem (poor people), it is toserve them. This precautionmust be taken," Singh said.

The cantonment boardswork under the DirectorateGeneral of Defence Estates

(DGDE). Currently, DeepaBajwa is the Director Generalof Defence Estates, the topmostofficial of the DGDE.

"Not only the DGDE, butit is also the responsibility of theofficials below it that theyshould go to the cantonmentsand listen to people's problems.At a local level, people's prob-lems are heard, but thoseshould be heard at this (seniorofficials') level too. This is myexpectation," Singh said.

"Your department (DGDE)is doing the important work ofmanaging defence land with anarea of more than 17 lakhacres, catering to the landrequirements of the three wingsof the armed forces and

providing civil and munic-ipal services to over 20 lakh res-idents of 62 cantonment areasof the country," he added.

������������� ��"����������������&���.����

����� �-��'-45$

The Supreme Court has dis-missed a plea of Delhi

University (DU) on account ofinordinate delay in challenginga 2011 decision of the DDAallowing a private real estatefirm to construct a high-rise inthe university campus withoutany height restriction.

Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA), on May 12,2011, had allowed M/S YoungBuilders (P) Ltd to construct ahigh-rise group housing soci-ety in the north campus ofDelhi University.

Out of total three hectaresland, which was earlier given toDelhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) by the Ministry ofDefence for construction of themetro station, two hectareswas leased out to the privatefirm for building the housingsociety.

The Delhi Universitymoved a plea before a singlejudge bench of the Delhi HighCourt after a delay of seven toeight years.

The single judge benchtook note of the "delay andlaches" and dismissed DU'splea on April 27, 2015.

The DU did not get its acttogether even after dismissal ofits first plea and filed the con-sequential intra-court appealbefore a two-judge bench of theHigh Court after a delay of 916days.

The larger bench of thehigh court declined to condonethe delay of over 2.5 years in fil-ing the appeal to challenge thejudgment of 2015 and it led theDU to file an appeal before thetop court.

Assailing the DDA's actionto allow a high-rise buildinginside the campus, the DU

sought condonation of delay infiling the first plea and theappeal in the high court.

The DU said the permis-sion sought by M/s YoungBuilders Private Limited forconstruction of a group hous-ing society in the Universityenclave was violative of theMaster Plan of Delhi-2021 andwas against the larger publicinterest, "given the fact that theproject site in question and itsvicinity are within the NorthCampus of the University andthat it contains various histor-ical and archaeological build-ings".

It also alleged that thelocation of various ladies' hos-tels of the University in closevicinity of the proposed con-struction site raised "an impor-tant privacy concern".

The top court bench com-prising Justices R Banumathiand AS Bopanna said it was inagreement with the two judge-ments of the Delhi High Courtwhich dismissed the plea of theDU on the ground of delay andlaches.

�����������������

����� �-��'-45$

Amother, who was convict-ed and sentenced to life

imprisonment for allegedlystrangulating her baby hoursafter her birth as she was a girl,has got relief from the SupremeCourt which acquitted her bysaying that it was "totallyunnatural" for the woman tokill her own child.

The apex court, whileallowing the appeal filed by thewoman challenging the March2010 judgement of the DelhiHigh Court upholding herconviction and sentence, saidthere was no "clear evidence onrecord" to hold her guilty of theoffence.

"It is true that in the post-mortem, doctor has opinedthat death (of child) is due toasphyxia and there were marksof strangulation, but at thesame time if totality of evidenceon record is considered, motiveis not established and it istotally unnatural for the appel-lant-mother to kill her ownbaby by strangulation," a bench

of Justices M MShantanagoudar and RSubhash Reddy said.

In its December 17 verdict,the bench said it was clear fromthe evidence on record thatimmediately after birth, thebaby was put in an incubatorwith oxygen mask and she hadneither opened her eyes norcried.

According to the prosecu-tion, the woman had deliveredthe child at a hospital here onAugust 24, 2007 and hadallegedly strangulated the babyas she was a girl after she washanded over to her on the samedate.

On August 26, 2007 post-mortem was conducted and onAugust 31, 2007 a case was reg-istered against the mother forthe alleged offence under sec-tion 302 (murder) of the IndianPenal Code (IPC).

The trial court had deliv-ered the judgment inDecember 2009 and sentencedher to life imprisonment afterholding her guilty of murder-ing the child.

The woman hadapproached the high courtchallenging the trial court'sverdict. The high court had inMarch 2010 upheld the trialcourt's verdict.

����� �-��'-45$

Four months after comingout with an estimate that the

country has over 2,900 tigers,the apex body tasked with theirconservation has proposed toincrease the number of TigerCells to perform the task of bigcats' head count more effi-ciently and transparently.

A senior Government offi-cial told PTI that the NationalTiger Conservation Authority(NTCA), a statutory bodyunder the Ministry ofEnvironment, has sent a note tothe Wildlife Institute of India(WII), which too comes underthe Ministry, to revamp theTiger Cell and increase itsnumbers.

According to officialsources, the country's lone TigerCell is based in Dehradun andit has been a challenge to sourceand disseminate informationwith just one such office.

Asked if the move is aimedat removing the alleged dis-crepancies in the tiger popula-tion estimates released in July

this year, the official said it hasnothing to do with the sum-mary report and the final datawas to be finalised by the endof December.

"There were no discrepan-cies in the report. It was noteven a final report. The deci-sion to expand the Tiger Cell isindependent of any study doneso far. It is a call to improve theefficiency of the system. Wewill come out with the finalreport by the end of thismonth. The Ministry will takea call on when to release it," YV Jhala, one of the lead authorsof the tiger estimation reportand senior scientist from theWII, said.

Tiger Cell is the bodyresponsible for the counting ofbig cats and has DNA finger-prints from tiger reservesacross the nation with theirphotographic evidence.

The NTCA and WII hadreleased a summary report oftiger count in India in July thisyear with its data showing a 33per cent rise in the number ofbig cats in the country.

)�����*���!���#�����������#%*!'��������+&&

����� �-��'-45$

Within a few months of herswitching from BJP to the

Congress, former MP SavitriBai Phule on Thursday resignedfrom the grand old party tooand announced that she willform her own outfit. She ten-dered her resignation on theground that her "voice is notbeing heard" in the Congress.

Phule had joined theCongress in May this year.The Congress had hoped thather strong Dalit connectionwould help the party in easternUttar Pradesh in the 2019 LokSabha elections. Phule, how-ever, failed to garner enoughvotes from Bahraich, fromwhere she was the sitting MP.

Phule had quit BJP in Declast year, alleging that party was

playing "divisive politics" andwas "misusing money to con-struct temples and statues."

"Constitution is underthreat under the BJP regime.BJP wants to do away withreservation and I believe that ifanyone can stop BJP at thenational level, it has to be theCongress and not the smallerparties. This is why I decidedto join the Congress," she hadsaid in May. Prior to BJP, Phulewas with the BSP.

����� �-��'-45$

Delhi could be in for the sec-ond coldest December of

the century even as it may rainin several parts of the countryas we enter the New Year.

"The average mean maxi-mum temperature(MMT) ofDecember (till December 26) is19.85. The expected MMT forDecember 2019 is 19.15. If ithappens, then it will be the sec-ond coldest December of thecentury," the IndiaMeteorological Departmentsaid on Thursday. For now,December 1997 holds therecord of being the coldestmonth in the century in northIndia since 1901.

The IMD also maintainedthat north, northwestern andcentral regions of the countryare expected to get rainfallfrom December 31 to January3.

Severe cold day conditionspersisted in north and north-

western India as the mercurycontinued its downward trend.Temperatures are likely to dropfurther in the coming days.

This is due to an unusualand powerful spell of "WesternDisturbances", interaction withlower level easterlies, has madethe J&K, Himachal Pradesh,Uttrakhand, Punjab, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,Chandigarh and Uttar Pradeshshiver for the past fortnight.The rain will bring down thetemperature further in theseregions.

IMD officials said thatthe thick cover of smog on theIndo-Gangetic plains and theuneven warming of the IndianOcean has a role to play in thisrobust spel l of Western Disturbances, theextratropical storms originat-ing in the Mediterraneanregion causing sudden winterrain to the northwestern partsof the Indian subcontinent,which have brought the day

temperatures in some Indiancities below 12 degreesCelsius.

Cold wave intensified inPunjab and Haryana as theminimum and maximum tem-peratures further plummeted inthe two states. Narnaul inHaryana was the coldest placewith the mercury dropping to2.5 degrees Celsius.

Hisar was also chilling witha minimum of 3.3 degreesCelsius. The minimum tem-perature also dropped inRohtak (3.4), Bhiwani (4.8),Sirsa (4.3), Ambala (5.3) andKarnal (6). Bathinda in Punjab

was the coldest place recordinga low of 4 degrees Celsius. Faridkot (4.5),Ludhiana (6.6), Patiala (6.4),Halwara (5.8).

According to the IMD,snowfall in middle and highhills of the Himachal Pradeshbetween December 31 andJanuary 1 is expected.

The weather remained dryand cold with the minimumtemperature settling 2 to 3degrees Celsius below normalat many places in HimachalPradesh. Low visibility due todense fog was observed in theplains and lower hills, includ-ing Una and southwestern partof Kangra district, it said. Theminimum temperature inShimla and Dalhousie was 1and 1.7 degrees Celsius respec-tively.

According to KuldeepSrivastava, head of the IndiaMeteorological Department'sregional forecasting centre, a"cold day" is when the maxi-

mum temperature is at least 4.5notches below the normal. A"severe cold day" is when themaximum temperature is atleast 6.5 degrees Celsius belowthe normal, he said.

The Drass belt of Kargildistrict became the coldestplace in the twin UnionTerritories of J&K and Ladakhrecording a minimum tem-perature of minus 30.2 degreesCelsius.

The minimum tempera-ture across Kashmir andLadakh remained severaldegrees below the freezingpoint. Night temperaturesplummeted at most places inthe region, with Srinagarrecording its coldest night atminus 5.0 degrees Celsius..The minimum temperature inwinter capital Jammu settled at6.4 degrees Celsius, 1.8 notch-es below the season's average.The minimum and maximumtemperatures in Drass wererecorded at minus 30.2 degrees

Celsius and minus 13 degreesCelsius respectively. Lehrecorded a low of minus 18degrees Celsius, the weatheroffice said. Pahalgam, in southKashmir's Anantnag district,was the coldest recorded placein the valley, he added.

Katra, which serves as thebase camp for pilgrims visitingthe Vaishno Devi shrine inReasi district of Jammu region,recorded 3.2 degrees Celsius,the official said, adding thatBhadarwah township of Dodadistrict was, however, the cold-est place in the region with aminimum recorded tempera-ture of minus 2.7 degreesCelsius, followed by Banihal atminus 2.2 degrees tempera-ture.

Kashmir is currently underthe grip of 'Chillai-Kalan'-the40-day harshest period of win-ter when the chances of snow-fall are most frequent andmaximum and the temperaturedrops considerably.

$� �������������������/���8���%�6'$

/� ��' � �������"���������.������ ����� ����!�������������'���� (��!�������0���������1234���! ������������!��������� �� ��#�!�"��� ����������� ���

%�� ���+ ������������������������� �����+ ������

"/5��������� ���������� ���� ��6� �� �������������� 0���

� ��� �!"����!

#�$%�$$�#�� � &���'�� ������ ��(�"#�'#�&�)��#�&�! �$

��*��������� "&����$�($'�%��(��$$

"-%�-�*"��-�4$;-4:�"7�'�7����"5-��$��"5-�7%$�1�'*:���*:��%-"�

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ �����+

���������������� ��5-��*$

Model-cum-activist ResmiR Nair and her partner

Rahul Pashupalan, leaders ofKiss of Love agitation, aprotest that “rocked” Kerala and other parts of the country in2014, are in trouble as theCrime Branch of Kerala Policefiled chargesheet against themunder various charges rangingfrom online sex rackets, trafficking women and minorgirls and using them for prostitution.

The duo had formed anonline community and socialmedia collective for fleshtrade and the police tookfour years to decipher theencrypted data.

The Kiss of Love , of whichResmi and Rahul were the

main promoters, was staged inprotest against the moral polic-ing unleashed across Keralaand Tamil Nadu by a section ofHindu and Islamic organisations which questionedand opposed kissing and hug-ging by lovers in public.

The duo of Resmi-Rahulsucceeded in drawing hun-dreds of thousands of youthand middle aged couples to thestreets on November 2, 2014 totake part in the public demon-stration of love and passion.

Though the agitationpassed of smoothly, the couplewas held by the Crime BranchPolice of Kerala as part of“Operation Big Daddy”, a mis-sion launched to prevent child trafficking andsex trade.

They were arrested in 2015from a hotel near Cochin

International Airport whileengaged in trafficking and sextrade using children broughtfrom Bangalore and Chennai. According to thechargesheet accessed by thisnewspaper, Resmi and Rahul(CPI(M) activists) and 11 oth-ers were caught for traffickinggirls and forcing them intoprostitution.

They have been chargedunder relevant sections of theIPC, IT Act and POCSOAct.

A senior official of theCrime Branch said from theState capital that the police hadcollected adequate evidenceincluding digital evidenceagainst the two ‘love birds’and their associates.

“Operation Big Daddy”was launched in 2015 to curbthe menace of the flourishingsex trade in the State and the

first two persons to be arrest-ed were Resmi and Rahul.

Officials in Crime Branchsaid that the delay in filing thechargesheet was because of thetime taken to collect the digi-tal evidence which were in theform of high level encrypteddata.

The Forensic ScienceLaboratory of the Kerala Policecould mot decipher thisencrypted data and we had toseek the services of Centre forDevelopment of AdvancedComputing (C-DAC) for thsame.

This was a time consum-ing process and hence thedelay,” said an official. He saidthat Resmi and Rahul were themaster brains behind the inter-State sex racket and they hadhored the services of goondasto take care of the smooth con-duct of the business.

% ���7���������������������������0������

Mumbai: The ShreeSiddhivinayak Ganapati TempleTrust has sanctioned � 10 crorefor the Maharashtra Govern-ment's drive of giving pneumo-coccal vaccines to the childrenin tribal areas of the State.

Chairman of the Trust,Aadesh Bandekar, said this ina statement issued here onThursday.

“Of the 16 tribal-domi-nated districts in the State, thefirst phase of the vaccinationwill be carried out inNandurbar, Palghar,Gadchiroli, Amravati andNashik for 1.41 lakh children inthe age group of 0-1 years,” hesaid. PTI

����� @$6*:*�*'*

Ending suspense over threeState capitals for AP, Chief

Minister YS JaganmohanReddy is in all likelihood toannounce at the end of theFriday’s Cabinet meeting that afull-fledged capital city will belocated in Visakhapatnam.

Citing shortage of funds toset up capital city of interna-tional repute at Amaravati, theFriday’s Cabinet meeting willchoose setting up of the capi-tal in Visakhapatnam.

Fulfilling the long-pendingdemand of the Rayalaseemaregion, the State’s High Courtis going to be located inKurnool. If it is not feasible, inthat case at least the HighCourt Bench will be located inKurnool. A clear picture in thisregard will emerge after theresponse of the Supreme Courtis out.

Fearing revolt from farm-ers, the venue of the StateCabinet meeting has been keptsecret. Heavy security bando-bust arrangements are made atPrakasam barrage and alongother routes for the meeting toavoid any untoward incident.

According to Governmentsources, the administration ofthe State should be dispensedfrom the steel city from June2020 onwards.

The Government has beencontemplating giving goodpackage to the Amaravati afterreturning the farmers of 29 vil-lages in the capital developmentregion of their land. A com-mittee will be constituted to fixthe quantum of compensationto be given to farmers depend-ing on the nature of the land:

private land, assignment land,patta land and so on. It willnegotiate the terms and con-ditions of surrender of theland with the affected farmers.

The committee will haveministers BugganaRajendranath Reddy, BotsaSatyanarayana, Kannababu andNarayanaswamy.

The State Governmentmay also consider extendingthe payment of lease for thelands by another five yearsapart from the current five yearlease period. The Governmentis also considering giving devel-oped lands in Visakhapatnamin lieu of the lands acquired.However, a final decision is notyet taken.

The TDP regime’s promiseof free education and freehealth for the farmers andtheir families who had pooledtheir lands for Amaravati couldnot materialise so far. TheYSRCP Government is likely toannounce their urgent imple-mentation.

To compensate for the lossof the capital city, theGovernment has plans to set uptwo major industrial parks inAmaravati region to provideemployment to the locals. A

committee will also be consti-tuted soon to look into the mat-ter.

The decision of establish-ing a single capital will set atrest all clamours from variousregions, mainly fromRayalaseema region, to set upcapital city in their region.

The direct fall out of thedecision would be nullify theTDP in its stronghold- theNorth Coastal Andhra. Withthe shifting of the capital toVisakhaptnam, the elimina-tion of the TD Party would betotal in the region, which stoodas a strong bastion for theregional party in all elections.

Chief MinisterJaganmohan Reddy’s decisionto shift the capital toVisakhapatnam would be togive no credit to the TDP as faras the State capital is con-cerned.

Even if the YSRCP to set upa full-fledged state capital inAmaravati, the credit wouldinvariably go to the TDPbecause of its efforts at poolingover 36,000 acres of land fromfarmers of 29 villages, includ-ing Tulluru, in the capitalregion development authoritylimits.

����� %�%!*$

The much-awaited expan-sion of the Maharashtra

council of Ministers will takeplace on December 30,Congress sources said onThursday.

As many as 36 Ministerscould take oath on that day,sources added.

Currently the UddhavThackeray-led Cabinet has sixministers besides ChiefMinister Thackeray.

The swearing-in is likely totake place at the VidhanBhavan (state legislature complex) here.

Meanwhile, state Congresschief Balasaheb Thorat toldreporters here that his party'slist of the leaders who wouldtake oath as ministers wasready.

When asked if theCongress was seeking the post

of deputy Chief Minister,Thorat said, cryptically, “Mediacan run this story.”

As to why the cabinetexpansion which was likely totake place earlier this week wasdelayed, he said the entire stateadministration was in Nagpurfor the winter session of the leg-islature till last week.

“It takes time to makepreparations for the swearing-in of so many Ministers,” hesaid.

Thorat and Nitin Raut ofthe Congress, Eknath Shindeand Subhash Desai of the ShivSena and Jayant Patil andChhagan Bhujbal of the NCPtook oath alongwith Thackerayon November 28.

According to the power-sharing formula agreed on bythe three parties, the Shiv Senawould have 16 ministers (apartfrom chief minister), NCP 14and the Congress 12.

When asked if NCP chiefSharad Pawar — seen as thearchitect of this unlikelyalliance — was the `remotecontrol' of the StateGovernment, Thorat said thethree parties have framed acommon minimum program,which guides the Government.

The Shiv Sena joinedhands with the Congress andNCP, its traditional adversaries,after its alliance with the BJPcollapsed.

Srinagar: Srinagar recorded the cold-est night of the season so far as themercury continued its downwardspiral across Kashmir valley, the Metoffice said on Thursday.

The minimum temperatureacross Kashmir and Ladakh remainedseveral degrees below the freezingpoint on Thursday owing to clear sky,an official of the MeteorologicalDepartment said.

He said Wednesday night was thecoldest in Srinagar as the minimumtemperature settled at minus 5 degreesCelsius — 0.7 degrees down fromminus 4.3 degree Celsius the previousnight, leading to freezing of water sup-ply lines at several places.

The ski-resort of Gulmarg innorth Kashmir recorded a low ofminus 11.2 degrees Celsius last night-– down from the previous night'sminus 9 degrees Celsius, he said.

The night temperature atPahalgam resort, which also serves asone of the base camps for the annu-al Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir,settled at a low of minus 12.7 degrees

Celsius as against minus 11.4 degreesCelsius on Wednesday, he said.

Pahalgam, in south Kashmir'sAnantnag district, was the coldestrecorded place in the valley, he added.

The official said Qazigund-- thegateway town to the valley in southKashmir recorded a low of minus 9.8degrees Celsius — a decrease ofnearly two degrees from minus 9.4degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

Kokernag town, also in south,recorded a low of minus 6.9 degreesCelsius, while Kupwara, in north, reg-istered a minimum temperature ofminus 5.6 degrees Celsius, the officialsaid. PTI

����� �*415*�

Acase has been registeredagainst 11 people for alleged-

ly kidnapping, raping and tor-turing a 21-year-old girl for morethan a year in Vasai taluka ofMaharashtra's Palghar district,police said on Thursday.

The Vasai police onWednesday registered an offenceagainst 11 people and no arresthas been made in this regard,police public relations officerHemant Katkar said.

According to the com-plainant, the accused, who are res-

idents of Rangaon and Kalam inVasai, allegedly kept her in con-finement, raped and torturedher, he added.

In July 2018, one of theaccused allegedly entered into arelationship with the victim, theofficial said, adding that the accused along with a fewothers later abducted the woman.

The victim was forced tosign blank papers and affidavitsto prove that she had married oneof the accused, he said.

During her time in confine-ment, the woman was subjected

to repeated rapes, as a result ofwhich she gave birth to a babygirl, Katkar said.

The abuse lasted tillDecember this year, followingwhich the victim registered acomplaint with the police, headded.

An offence under sections376 (rape), 366 (kidnap), 342(wrongful confinement) andother relevant provisions of theIndian Penal Code has

been registered against thealleged accused, who have notbeen arrested as yet, he added.

�����!������,��������������-.

Mumbai: Ahead of theexpansion of the MaharashtraCabinet next week, the Stateunit of the Congress is unhappy about the portfoliosallocated to it, a party sourcesaid on Thursday.

State unit leaders haveconveyed their resentment tothe Congress high command,he added. The much-awaitedexpansion is likely to takeplace on December 30.Currently the portfolios havebeen distributed among sixMinisters who make up thecabinet — two each from theShiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

The Congress has beengiven revenue and PWD,among other portfolios.

A senior party leader saidmost of the ministries allocat-ed to the party do not have“direct connection” with peo-ple.

“Ministries such as animalhusbandry and textiles whichwe have got should be mergedwith agriculture and indus-tries,” he said.

The issue is likely to bediscussed with Congress gen-eral secretary MallikarjunKharge who will be inMumbai on December 28 forthe foundation day pro-gramme of the party, he said.

“If a good deal is notworked out now, the Congresswill suffer in Maharashtra,” theleader said. PTI

������������ ����������������������

Mumbai: The MaharashtraPradesh Congress Committee(MPCC) will take out 'SaveBharat-Save Constitution' flagmarch here on December 28,on the occasion of the party'sfoundation day, to protestagainst the “undemocratic andunconstitutional” policies ofthe BJP Government.

The flag march will start at10 am from August KrantiMaidan and end near theLokmanya Tilak statue atGirgaum chowpatty, party’sState unit chief and RevenueMinister Balasaheb Thorat toldreporters here on Thursday.

He appealed to the secularorganisations, party workersand citizens to participate in

the flag march.Thorat said it was on

December 28, 1885 that theCongress was founded inMumbai.

In the very first session ofthe party, it was decided toadopt the policy of 'All IndiaOne Nation' and it vowed toovercome any discriminationwhether based on caste, regionor religion, Thorat said.

“Keeping up with thismotto, the Congress started theIndependence movement. Itwas during this movement thatIndia got independence underthe leadership of LokmanyaTilak and Mahatma Gandhi,”he added.

After the Independence, our

Constitution was written underthe leadership of Dr BabasahebAmbedkar. And the country isrun as per this Constitution, theCongress leader said.

“But the BJP Government'sunconstitutional and anti- demo-cratic policies and decisions arecausing divisions in the societyon the basis of religion. TheCentre has attacked the basictenets of the Constitution likefreedom of speech, brother-hood, democracy,” he alleged.

The BJP government hasbrought back the divide-and-rule policy used by the British.And so we will have to onceagain start an independencemovement, this time againstthe BJP rule, he said. PTI

������������������ ���$8��-��������������5������� ����������!

(���%�9������*�������� ��:� ���� ������� ����� ������������

/�0���������1���������� �'������'��������������������������������������������������� ������������������

��������������� %�%!*$

Two Army jawans werekilled and five others

injured in a mishap that tookplace during bridge construc-tion training at the College ofMilitary Engineering (CME) inPune on Thursday.

The jawans were undergo-ing bridge construction train-ing at the Pune-based CME,when a tower support col-lapsed all of a sudden.

An official defencespokesperson identified thetwo Jawans killed in the mishapas Lance Havildar Sanjivan PKand Naik Waghmode BK, whosuccumbed to injuries at amilitary hospital.

“Troops were undergoingbridge construction training atCollege of Military Engineering(CME), Pune, when the towersupport collapsed. Six to seventroops were injured. They wereimmediately shifted to MilitaryHospital (MH), Kirkee andCommand Hospital (CH),Pune. Lance Havildar SanjivanPK and Naik Waghmode BKsustained serious injuries andlost their lives during the treat-ment,” an official statementsaid.

Official sources said thatthose killed were two combatengineers, while those injuredincluded a junior commis-sioned officer.

A Court of Inquiry hasbeen ordered into the incident,while the families of the jawanskilled in the mishap have beeninformed. Located at Dapodinear Pune, the CME is a pre-mier technical and tacticaltraining institution of theCorps of Engineers for theIndian Army. This includesCombat Engineers, MilitaryEngineering Service, BorderRoads Engineering Services(BRES) and Survey.

Among other things, thejawans are trained at CME inbuilding mobile bridges that areused by soldiers to scale diffi-cult terrains in the fields.

,''�!��&�$"�!�$�$��#� ���� $��-�&&�#.�����.�!%/���(����$0�. �&�� $���1"��#

�!&"#�#���1"��!%%�$$��#

''�!��

'���&�33� �������� ����� ������� ���136��6�� ���������:����,������������� ���� ������� ������������

���� ����#�,"����������������/0�+����������++�����������

9��������������������� ���������������� ������-�������� ���������� ��� ��9����� ����������� ���

����� ���������� ������ ��������� ����������� �� ��������� �122:�������3;������ ������������������ ������������� ������� ������<������������ �����+���� ��������� ����,� �������� ����������� ���

����� ���������=���$����������$�������������� ������ ���������� �������>2�������$������$�������� ���� � ��������� �%���������������� ���

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ �����2

Kolkata: West Bengal stateBJP chief Dilip Ghosh said onThursday that NRC is requiredin the State because infiltratorshave become the vote banks ofthe ruling Trinamool Congress.

He criticised West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee's opposition toNational Population Register(NPR) and said that it hasbecome her habit to resistwhatever is good for the coun-try.

Ghosh told newsmen here,"The National Register ofCitizens (NRC) should beimplemented in West Bengal.Mamata Banerjee needs thehelp of the infiltrators, whohave become its votebank, towin elections".

"Let the CitizenshipAmendment Act happen firsthere, then we will see what todo with NRC," he said.

Regarding updation of theNRC in Assam, Ghosh said BJPhas no link with it as it wasdone under the directions ofthe Supreme Court.

"But there had been somelapses which are being sortedout presently," he said.

About NPR, he said it wasstarted by the Congress in2010. "Subsequently we (BJP)came to power. It is the duty ofthe government to continuewith the process." PTI

����������������� ;74;*"*

Warning the BJP againstplaying with fire Mamata

Banerjee on Thursday con-demned the saffron party for itsbid to confiscate the propertiesof those who were protestingagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act and NationalRegister for Citizens.

Instead of compensatingthe people who died in policefiring during peaceful agita-tions the “BJP is threatening toconfiscate their properties,”Banerjee said reminding thenon-BJP Governments toocould apply the same medicineagainst the BJP workers intheir respective States.

“Some 16 people have diedin the police firing in UP, twoin Karnataka, three in Assamand many others in other statesof which we do not have anyinformation right now…instead of compensating thefamilies of those who died inpolice firing the BJP is threat-ening to penalise them andconfiscate their properties. Thisis playing with fire. I wouldwarn the BJP not to play withfire,” she said.

“In my State too we havesimilar laws to make people payfor destroying public propertybut we don’t do that in case ofspontaneous movements. Herethe movement against CAAand NRC is spontaneous and

so the BJP is taking a verywrong and oppressive deci-sion from which they shoulddesist because if the non-BJPGovernments like us start usingthe same tactic against the BJPpeople then what will happento them?

So I ask them not to playwith fire,” Banerjee said.

The Chief Ministerdescended on the streets for thefifth day on Thursday. Leadinga massive anti-CAA rally sheattacked the Narendra ModiGovernment for misleadingthe people by peddling untrueand contradictory statements.

Speaking on the Centre’sdecision to go ahead with theNational Population Registershe said “it is the same oldthing in new wrap…

What we have gatheredfrom the untrue, confusing

and misleading statementsmade by their top leaders wehave gathered that there is nodifference between NRC andNPR so I have stopped thework of NPR in Bengal becausein the morning their leaders sayone thing, in the noon they saythe other and yet in the nightthey say something other,”apparently referring to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sstatement that his Governmenthad not discussed impositionof NRC in India contradictingHome Minister Amit Shah’srepeated assertions that NRCwas a reality and it would hap-pen in the entire country.

Banerjee who had beentaking out large rallies also hitout at the Prime Minister forallegedly hounding out every-

one in the name of drivingaway the infiltrators. She said“if you chase out everybodyhow will you stay? Will you stayalone in the country?”

In an apparent reference tothe Prime Minister’s earlierreference that the mischiefmongers could be identified bytheir dresses Banerjee said,“they (BJP) are sending insome agents wearing particu-lar dresses (read the dressesthat identify them as Muslims)to create trouble from thepeaceful rallies so that they canfire at the protesters and thenarrest them on false charges.You have to remain alertagainst these people becausethey are the agents of the BJPwho want to fail your move-ment.”

Once again calling the BJPas a “washing machine” ofsorts she said by joining thatparty all stains are washedaway. “The BJP paints otherparties in black and takes prideto portray itself in white.”

Vowing to fight for all thecommunities, “because this isHindustan,” Banerjee said “wewill not allow any party tosnatch away our rights... Ifneeded we will lay down ourlives to protect the movemen-tagainst CAA.” Banerjee whodeclared a compensation of �5 lakh compensation for thefamily members of those whowere killed in police firing inKarnataka slammed the BSYedurappa Government of thatState for refusing to compen-sate the family members ofthose who died in police firing.The Trinamool CongressGovernment will send a dele-gation to meet the victims’families at Mangaluru she said.

Promising to stand by thestudents of various academicinstitutions like Jamia MilliaIslamia, IIT Kanpur and otherplaces Banerjee said “I willalways take the side of the stu-dents in their peaceful protests.I will request them not to scareanybody and not to get scaredby anybody,” condemning theCentre for asking the studentsof various central educationalinstitutions for vacate theirhostels.

����� @*�*�*�$

Over 50 faculty members ofBanaras Hindu University

and affiliated colleges haveissued a statement condemningthe controversial amendmentsto the citizenship law and pro-posed implementation ofNRC.

"We, the teachers of BHU,IIT BHU and affiliated collegesare deeply pained, and aghastwith the recent Citizenship

Amendment Act passed by theParliament of India and thedeclared follow up by imple-mentation of NationalCitizenship Register,” said astatement signed by 51 facultymembers, including Professorsand Associate Professors.

"This is completely againstthe spirit of freedom struggleand the idea of a pluralistdemocracy. This is not accept-able in the land of Gandhi andTagore. This is clearly an

attempt to divide society oncommunal lines, so that realissues of day to day living ofcommon man are relegated tothe back ground," it said.

The faculty members car-ried out a signature campaignon Wednesday against theNational Register of Citizens(NRC) and the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) andappealed to the government torethink the long term impli-cations of these exercises.

Bengaluru: Anti-CAA protestsrefused to die down inKarnataka with hundreds ofMuslim women taking the cen-tre-stage on Thursday holdingprotests here and atShivamogaa and Kalaburagi.

The women staged aprotest at Eidgah Grounds inShivamogga holding thenational flag, banners and plac-ards declaring their oppositionto CAA (CitizenshipAmendment Act) and NRC(National Register of Citizens).

A similar protest was heldin front of the Bengaluru'stown hall that was attended bylarge number of Muslimwomen.

At Kalaburagi, protesters,mostly women, staged a

demonstrationfrom Jagat Circleto DeputyCommissioner's(DC) officeshouting slogansagainst the CAA.

Anti-CAAprotests anddemonstrations

have also been held in Mysuru,Bagalkote and Dharwad,among other places.

Hundreds of protesters hadtaken part at an agitation inDaharwad, organised by "pro-gressive organisations", whichwas attended by seniorCongress leader and formerMP V S Ugrappa.

Police had made elaboratesecurity arrangements so thatno untoward incidents takeplace.

At Mysuru's Town Hallgrounds too, thousands of peo-ple staged a protest called byseveral Muslim organisations,amid tight security.

Holding national flags, theprotesters demanded the with-drawal of CAA as they said itwas anti-democratic. PTI

L u c k n o w :Favouring imple-mentation of theNational Register ofCitizens (NRC), theUttar Pradesh ShiaCentral Waqf Boardon Thursday saidIndian Muslims donot have any threatfrom it.

" H i n d u s t a n iMuslims do not have any threatfrom NRC. It should be imple-mented in the country. The realmatter is of identification ofintruders, who are real threat tothe country," UPSCWBChairman Waseem Rizvi said.

"The intruders are votebank for the TMC and the SP.The Congress is making voteridentity cards of intruders fromBangladesh, Pakistan andAfghanistan. If NRCis implemented their real facewill come to the fore," he said.

His statement comes amidraging protests across the coun-try against the proposed imple-mentation of NRC and con-troversial amendments to thecitizenship law.

The NRC was conducted

in Assam to identify genuineIndian citizens living in thestate since March 24, 1971, orbefore, and also illegalBangladeshi migrants. Out of3.3 crore applicants, over 19lakh people were excludedfrom the state's final NRCpublished on August 30.

Rizvi said while Hindusfrom other countries havecome to India due to atrocities,Muslims have come for their"personal gains or for harmingIndia".

Only Indian Muslims areHindustani and rest are intrud-ers and should leave the coun-try, he asserted.

Referring to the recentclashes during anti-CAAprotests, he said these were partof a "conspiracy". PTI

����� 4��;�7�

Alleging that the BJPGovernment was afraid of

Hindu-Muslim unity,Samajwadi Party supremoAkhilesh Yadav on Thursdaysought to know when a probeinto "police brutality" duringwidespread protest in the stateagainst CitizenshipAmendment Act will beordered.

"The Government is afraidof Hindu-Muslim unity. It ismaking allegations that peopleare criminals. It wants to con-fiscate property of the poor. Itis commenting on people's dress... Threatening totake revenge from citizens.

“But, the Governmentshould tell (people) when willit initiate probe into police brutality," Akhilesh said in a tweet inHindi, days after17 people were killed during

widespread protests in UttarPradesh against the amendedcitizenship law.

����� !-�1*4���

Sending out a stern warning,Karnataka Revenue Minister

R Ashoka on Thursday said thestate government would emu-late Uttar Pradesh and confis-cate properties of those whocaused damage to public prop-erties during protests againstthe Citizenship (Amendment)Act.

Everyone has to obey thelaw of the land and not give anopportunity for such an actionby the Government, he toldreporters here.

"...The way in which UttarPradesh Government hasdecided to confiscate the prop-erties of those indulging in vio-lence - if such things (violence)happen again (here), it will bebrought in Karnataka also,"Ashoka said.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath hassaid that properties of thoseinvolved in the violence wouldbe seized and auctioned tocompensate destruction ofpublic and private assets during the protests over theamended citizenship law.

On Wednesday UP offi-cials had said over 60 peoplehave been "identified for vio-lence" during last week's antiCAA protests in Rampur and

Gorakhpur and issued notices,asking them to explain theirposition or pay for damagecaused to public and privateproperty.

Meanwhile, Karnataka BJPGeneral Secretary and Memberof Parliament ShobhaKarandlaje too urged the stategovernment to identify thosewho caused damaged to pub-lic property during the protestsin the state and make them payfor it.

"They should not be letaway, no one has the right todestroy public property... Anyone can protest, but if theycause damage to public prop-erty, government should makesure that they pay for it," sheadded.

Anti-CAA protests hadreached its peak in the state lastweek and turned violent inMangaluru, resulting in thedeath of two in police firing.

Defending the CAA,Ashoka said, India was not acharitable lodging place andevery one has to abide by lawof the land.

"The Act (CAA) that hasbeen brought in, is right....India is not a charitable lodg-ing place for those fromPakistan and Bangladesh tocome and stay here, there islaws and rules here and one hasto abide by it," he said. PTI

��������������� %�%!*$

Charging that the RSS andBJP-led Government had

hatched a “conspiracy” to create unrest in the countrythrough CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) andNational Register for Citizens(NRC), Dalit leader andVanchit Bahujan Aghadi(VBA) President PrakashAmbedkar on Thursday con-tended that the CAA and NRCwere not only against Muslimsbut they were also against 40per of the Hindus in the coun-try.

Addressing a massive rallyof his Dalits and Adivasis atDadar in north-centralMumbai to oppose CAA andNRC, Ambedkar demandedto know from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi if he wouldseek the resignation of orchange the portfolio of UnionHome Minister Amit Shah formaking a statement in

Parliament for making astatement that NRC wouldbe implemented across thecountry.

Singling out the RSSand ruling BJP for avicious attack on the cur-rent unrest in the country,Ambedkar said: “If some-one has hatched a con-spiracy to trigger unrest inthe country over CAA,NRC and NationalPopulation Register (NPR), it isno one else other than the RSSand BJP-led Government”.

“If Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is saying thatthere has been no discussion onNRC in Parliament or in hisCabinet, how did Union HomeMinister Amit Shah say in various forums that theGovernment would implementNRC across the country? If hehas made the statement with-out the Prime Minister’s per-mission, I would like to ask thePM if he would seek the resig-

nation of Amit Shah or changehis portfolios. If you do notdon’t do both the things, shouldwe consider this an another lie coming from thePrime Minister along the linesof his � 15 lakh in each bankaccount promise made by him during the 2014 LokSabha poll campaign?,”Amedkar wondered.

Maintaining that NRC andCAA would affect large sec-tions of people across the coun-try, Ambedkar said: “Theselaws are 100 per cent against

Muslims. But, theyare also against 40per cent of Hindusacross the country”.

C o n t e s t i n gModi’s claim that nodetention centreshad been set up tohouse the illegal cit-izens, Ambedkar —grandson of late BRAmbedkar —likened the “exist-

ing” detention camps to theones set up by the British tohouse criminal tribes under the Criminal Tribes Act(CTA).

“The British came out withCriminal Tribes Act in 1871.Under this law, the British des-ignated certain sections of thetribals as habitual criminals andput them in detention centres.The tribals were lodged inthese detention camps for yearson end. It was then PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru whoreleased the detained tribals

from these camps in 1952”“The detainees were there

in these for more than 75years. Many of them were bornand died in detention camps.You will be surprised to knowthe numbers who had been cat-egorized as criminal tribes anddetained in these centres. InMaharashtra alone, 16 per centof the total population belongto these tribes,” Amnbedkarsaid.

“These tribals do not haveany documents or records withthem. Even now, you can get tosee thousands of them roamingon the streets in the state withdonkeys and horses. There are also other Advisiswho do not have documents. Here are the tribals who do notknow where their fathers andgrand fathers died. If you askthem to produce documents,where will they produce thedocuments from?,” the Dalitleader asked.

“The RSS wants to contin-

ue its rule through the BJP inthe country. It wants to finishthe Opposition. That’s why ithas brought CAA and NRCafter due deliberation. We willhave to respond to CAA andNRC through agitation. If youdo not want to locked up indetention centres, then bettercome out and raise voiceagainst the BJP Government atthe Centre,” Ambedkar told theAdivasis who had turned out inlarge numbers for the rally.

Thousands of people, par-ticularly Dalits and Adivasis,participated in the rally organised by the VBA.

The demonstrators carriednational Tricolour, photographsof Dr BR Ambedkar, MahatmaGandhiji, the Constitution,placards proclaiming ‘RejectCAA — Boycott NRC’ andbanners with anti-CAA-NRCslogans.

They raised slogansdemanding the withdrawal ofCAA and NRC.

2 ������!����+�3 ����� ������%)!

"'����� :��� ������������;���������������������������������������������������������� ������ �����

��!���B'�����1 ��

�'�������������=���$�������� ���' � ����'������$����.������������������������ ������������ � ?��� ����������#���� ��%���������������� ���

%(�����' ��!��������� ��� ��������� ����������������� ����� � �����

'����������*��������#�����������;��������

$8��-������ ���@ ���6'�� ��� ��&���� ���

:��2&<�������������������������������� ������������/+�

���������!��������������� �������������� ���������������� � ?��� ������� ��'��������������� ���

�����#������.������ 6'�� ��� ��������� ���:2A�@ ���&���������� �����

As the year comes to a close, in thisweek’s article, let’s take a look backto see how we have come by. Theyear 2019 marked the com-mencement of polling in the

world’s largest democracy. The rhetoricespoused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)led to it winning the elections with a comfort-able majority of its own. After the swearing-in of the Narendra Modi-led BJPGovernment, the nation saw the appointmentof Amit Shah as the Union Home Minister.This is when things got interesting. Ever since,the year has been most obviously punctuat-ed by events with the Home Minister at itsforefront.

In the years between 2014 and 2019, Shahwas primarily viewed as the orchestrator ofthe BJP’s victories in a few States, somethrough strategy and others through blatantsubversion of democracy. Each such victory— whether through subversion or strategy —was lauded by certain media organsiations.Some news anchors came up with the kindof servile praise that would make even theKorean Central News Agency look on in admi-ration.

After giving another five years to theModi-led BJP Government, we saw Shah riseto a much more prominent position, inadministration and in the Government. Thisis surely distinct from the much more clan-destine and behind-the-scenes role thatHome Ministers have been given whileworking for the party. As the BJP president,rumours and discussions were already doingthe rounds about just how much power andinfluence Shah held even then. But now, thereis hardly any debate. He is possibly the mostpowerful man in the Government and itsagenda is being driven by the Home Minister.The change in dynamics was visible evenbefore the new Government was sworn in,most visibly during the Press conference heldby the Prime Minister. If one were to watchthe briefing even now, it will be evident thatthe address was led by Shah. It was incredi-ble to see a Prime Minister, the head of theGovernment, look at the soon-to-be HomeMinister before answering questions putbefore him. This set the tone for 2019.

Then came one of the first significantdecisions of this Government, the abrogationof Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu& Kashmir into two Union Territories.Whatever one’s views on the change in sta-tus of Kashmir may be, there can be littledebate that this change in status came withlittle or no discussion or debate with the realstakeholders in Kashmir, namely the peopleof the former State. Instead, what we saw wasthat in the blink of an eye, a tectonic changein India’s political and Constitutional land-scapes was thrust down our throats evenbefore we were given a chance to debate theniceties. It is good governance and frankly, abasic principle of our federal democracy thatthe Central Government, while exercising adecision that affects each citizen of the State,

takes the concerns of its peopleinto account. However, therewas no debate or discussion onArticle 370 as to what could havebeen the best way to take such amove forward.

Instead, what we have seenand what we continue to see isan entire State still under lock-down. This is a State, whereinternet services have been shutdown for almost half a year nowand where the local leadershiphas been silenced through notonly the internet embargo butalso through house arrests. Fromthe reports that have emerged inthe international media andfrom what we have seen inother States, where internet ser-vices have been shut (such asAssam and Uttar Pradesh),major repercussions and reac-tion of the people of Kashmir tosuch a move can really begauged after the internet block-ade is lifted. All we can hope isthat the damage and oppressioncaused by such a move does notresult in us losing Kashmir alto-gether. I believe that the entireepisode could have been han-dled by involving all stakehold-ers, especially the people, whoare the most affected.

The same brazen approachwas followed by theGovernment during the passageof the Citizenship AmendmentBill, now the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA). I havealready written in detail about

how the CAA goes against thespirit of the Constitution and thevery idea of India that theframers of our Constitution andthe builders of modern Indiahad envisaged. I will not go intothese details again but the per-son leading the CAA and theone who forced it down our col-lective throats was the HomeMinister. The standard proce-dure for the passage of any Billcalls for it to be presented beforethe Standing Committee.However, in the case of CAA, theGovernment did not deem it fitto take the views of theOpposition or of the public.

The CAA and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) aretwo sides of the same coin. It wasinteresting to see the juxtaposi-tion between the Prime Minister’sunderstanding of the NRC andthat of the Home Minister. Inlight of the protests against thedivisive CAA, the Prime Ministerspoke to the nation to presum-ably pacify those, who have beenprotesting against the Act.However, he left the citizenslargely confused.

The Prime Minister saidthat the Government does notintend to implement a pan-IndiaNRC. However, Shah explicitlystated on more than one occasion(including in Parliament) that theNRC will take place all across thecountry. So who’s right? Whomdo we trust? Is it the PrimeMinister or the Home Minister?

Recently, the Cabinet gave ago ahead to the NationalPopulation Register (NPR).There is widespread fear that thedata collected as part of theNPR will be the basis of the NRC.This squarely provides theanswer. While the HomeMinister and the Prime Ministermay deny any link between theNRC and the NPR, they havegiven us little reason for theirdecisions. It is this trust that thePrime Minister and the HomeMinister will need to earn back.

So, it appears that from thedate of the infamous Press con-ference — the only one by thePrime Minister — till today, theBJP and the ruling Governmentare increasingly being cast in theimage of the Home Minister.

A word of warning thoughshould be in order. The year 2019has till now been the year of Shahbut he would do well to note thatthe end of the year has seen apolitical voice emerge: Those ofIndia’s young and oldConstitutionalists, who havegrown tired of the oppressive,divisive and high-handed acts ofthe Government and have decid-ed to voice their concern in alargely peaceful and democraticmanner. The BJP would do wellto note that while 2019 may havebeen largely about Shah, 2020could well belong to our youth.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and current-ly a member of the AAP)#�%��������� ������������

���� �� ����������� �� �� �������$���������!�����) $!*������+����

��������������������������������������������������������,���� �������������������� �������� ���������������-���+���������������)-��*����� �������!�������-���+��) !-*���������������������������������� ������.�����������������������/�����(���������������������������������0����$�����)��������������������*��������(

�������������������� ����,��������� ���������������������(���������������������������������������������������������(�������,����������� � ����������� ��� ����� �������������� ��1��������� ��������������������������������������������������������������� !-��������������������(��������������������������������� ��������������������� ����(�����������������������%������������� ����������(�����������������������(��������� ������������������ �� ����������������������� ������������ ����&�������������2���������%���������������&��������������������������������������������3�������� �����������������������������������������++�4����&�������������������

#����������������������������� $!���������������������� ��������&������ ��������������� ��������(�����������(�������� !-�5�������� ��������������������������������(������ ��������������������������������������������� ����(������ !-�#�%��������� ������������������������� �������� ����0����$���������������)0$�*�����6����0$������7898����������������������788:������������� $!����������������������� !-�#� !-�������������788;�!��:����-���+�����)!������������-���+�����4����� �������4����� -����*!����788:������������ $!�������������������������� !4-��������������������������������$��������������������������� ������������������������������� ��������������� ������������ �������6�������������������������������������� �����������������������%�������&���������������%����������������������������������������� ��-���<����������������������������������� $!���������� ��������������������� ���������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������(��������������������������������������&������(� ����,��������

5������ ����� �����������"������ ���� 3��

���� ������������ ����� ������ �� �� ��� ��

�������� ����������������������������#�����������������������������������������������#���������������789=������������������������������789>�?�������������� ��%���������4������������������������������������������������������������������������������/������������������� ����������(�����������������������������������������,��������� �����(���� ����������4���������� ���������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �.����������������� ������������������������������������������������������������ 4������������������ ���������������� ������������������������������������������(�����������������4���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!���6�����4����)!64*����������������@�����<������ �� (����������������������������������� ���������#��������� ������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� �

#�����������������������������������������������������������#������������������������������������������������(������� ������������ ���� �#������������� �����)���������*#����&����������������������������������������-�����#���(���������������%������������������(��������������������(���� ������������ �#���������������������������������� ����������#���������������������������������������� �������������������� ����������������#����������%�����������������(�� ���������7878����������������6����������������������������������������������������������������������(��� ����������#��������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ���������������������� ������(����� ����������������������������� ���������#�4���������(����������������������������������������������������(� ����������������������������������� �������������� ���,���������������������������������%�������,�����#��)%,#*���������������������������������6,(4A��6,(A4������������,����������������������������������������� ������������������������������ ������������������789B�����

.��������������������������@������������������������%���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4����&�:88(���������������������������������������������������� ����������������%����������������� ���������������� ���#�����������������������������#������������������������A����������4������������������� ��(�������������������������$���� (�����������������������4����������������������������������������������#� ���������������������������������������������4����������������������� �������������,������������������������������������������������4���������������(� �����%�������������������������������������������������(������������������������#������� ���������������������� ��������6����������4����&���������������������������� ���������(������� ������ ����������� ������������ ���������������$���<������ ������<���&�����������������C;������������� � 787;��������������� ���������������������������� ���������

'���������������

������������ ���

Sir — This refers to the report,“UP rioters get recovery notices”(December 26). The YogiAdityanath Government is doingthe right thing. Those indulgingin rioting, arson and violencedamaging public and privateproperties have no place in acivilised society. They need to bedealt with strictly. No one hasstopped these vandals fromexpressing their views and regis-tering their protest in a democ-ratic manner. Causing inconve-nience to the public in general isin no way Constitutional, refer-ring to which has become a fash-ion these days. I hope the educat-ed masses, at least, do not get mis-led by divisive forces, which areout to disturb the communalharmony of the country.

Rakesh SinghLucknow

����������������������

Sir — The Union Cabinet’sannouncement that the NationalPopulation Register (NRC) will beupdated before September 2020,coming at a time when agitation

against the Citizenship AmendmentAct and the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) is still to die down,is certainly ill-timed. It is a surprisethat the Cabinet failed to put off thedecision for at least a few weeks fornormalcy to be fully restored.

This will provide protestingagitators, backed by Oppositionparties and the media, an oppor-tunity to stir the pot of protest andagitation against the ModiGovernment. As if this was notenough in the backdrop of the rag-

ing controversy over the citizenshiplaw, activist Arundhati Roy, thetorch bearer of the “liberals”, urgedlike-minded persons to lie or fur-nish fake names when NPR is gen-erated through house-to-houseenumeration. Speaking at a protest

against the CAA, Roy was seen tobe suggesting, “Whenever the offi-cials come to collect your informa-tion for NPR, you can give wrongnames like Ranga-Billa or Kungfu-Kutta and also give wrong addresslike 7, Race Course Road.” In herhurry to criticise the Government,it is surprising that she is ignorantof what Ranga-Billa stands for. Itrefers to two hardcore criminals,who made headlines for the bru-tal rape-murder of a young girl andher brother in the 70s.

Padmini Raghavendra Secunderabad

�� �����������������

Sir — It is ironical that a Germanstudent was subjected to such aharsh treatment for taking part inanti-CAA protest. After all, theIIT-M owes its existence to tech-nical and financial assistancefrom the former Government ofWest Germany. The student’s act,in no way, had the potential ofeven remotely causing any prej-udice to our national interest.

TriptiVia email

' � ) � + & * � � ' � � & 4 %

���������������������+�(��,&+��9����#��������J 8" �'���#��������J �������&+��9����#������9

����������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

�3

= �������� �������>

�!" 4����

" ��#����F0/E� ���(������� � �(��� ��.�������.������������ ���� ���������.���������+������+������B�" �������$���G��#����. �� �������,��������� ��1�������G�� � ) �������

%������#������(��.���$������� ������������������ ���.��*�������������������+���������������� ���?+ �������� ��(�����&

� �#�,�������!�� !I���K��

*����������#��.�������������������&�" ���������)�������.�� ��1$��� ��,�����������.��������,���� �������� ���.��������������� ���������.�&�

��)�,I�����*���; �

$��.�� ����������,�(�+,����L���#���������#���++�����&�$�L���#������. �+ ��������� �������������� ���.�� ��������.����������#�������������������&�

��-#(��-#4!�/()I�#���*,(������

� , � � � � � � �

� � � � � � � � , � �� 5 � � � � � � , �

����������������������������������

" �������������� �������������M" ��(��������N��'�+��(��FO�&�-������'�+��(������������������(��� ��+���)������� �������FF�#������� ��.��������#������+���&�" �

$����%���������+���'����������$%'�� ���.������ ��+���������������� ��+����#������?��+��������?�����+��+���.����+�������������� ���?��� ��������������#�&�*++������� � �� $%'� ����+����� � �� ���+��#� ��� ��,��#� ��� ����� ��3������������.��� ���+��������.�������������+������ )���$���&�'��������.)������+�����+������� ��.����.����+���������(��.��������� .��������+����������.��. �+ +������#�+��������.����������#����.�������������������� )������������$���������'�+��(���FE&�*�����(����?�����+���� ��������������� ����(��� �������.��������������� ��������#���#���.&

$���������+��� ���$���� ������#������������������(���O�000�������&�" ��5�����#����������� ��+����.��������+������*���������������$���&�$������������� ��������� ���$���� ������������.��������+�����������+������*���&!������� �������������$���� ����� ���.��������������+��������� ���&�'����.��������� ������������� � �5�����#���.������ � ���������&�" ���������.��������� ��������(��.����� ������ ��. ������������������.&�" ������������ ��5�����#������ ��$������������������+����+������.��� ��������� ��.��������������� ��������)

�����������������.���������������&�*��+����.���+����������������������������� ����������������.������������������������� � ������#&�%�#�����������+����+�������&�" �� ���������������+��������,���������� ��� ������&�" ��1���������������,����������������������� ��������� �����+������������� �� �����������,)�������++����� �����������+����.��� ���+���������'�� ������� ������������� ��+����#&�

����(�-(�(��������

�7��$"�*��-*��"5*"���7%�"5-

'*"-�7��"5-$��*%7�����-���7��-�-��-�I

"5-�7�4:�7�-�!:"5-���$%-

%$�$�"-��I�"$44"7'*:��"5-�!6�

*�'�"5-���4$�117@-��%-�"�*�-

$���-*�$�14:!-$�1��*�"�$�

"5-�$%*1-�7��"5-57%-�%$�$�"-�

��������������� ������&! )) ,0)�4#�� ,@./(#!3��/�

)�1����% )

" ��1��������������������5���)%���������#&�$�������,)������������� �������������+�������&�!������� ������������������. ��.�����������������(����������+��(�������#&

���0�4, /�I*, ���� �:����

9?�@�������������� �������������� ���������� ����������� ��6� ������������� �� ����������� �������

�������������� ������� ����������������� ���������������������������������������������������� ��������������

A�� ���������

�������������������� ����� �����������&�����������������&����������������

�����������������������3A������������ ��

��������� ��

��������� ��������������������3������ ��������������������������������������������������������������&�������������3A'�������������������������

�!#$%�,������!#$%�

Planted across his one acre of land inBrahmavur village in Udupi district,Karnataka, are Dogu Koraga’s mostprized possessions. These are 30 coconuttrees, 30 banana plants, 30 areca nut trees

and over 50 jasmine plants. In between grows sweetpotatoes, brinjal, beans and bitter gourd. Rain orsunshine, Dogu is up at daybreak, tending to themlovingly. Not only does he water each plant him-self after drawing water from the well, he only usesself-made manure.

“It is because of these trees that I am self suf-ficient today. I am not dependent on anyone, noteven my sons,” said Dogu proudly.

Dogu’s journey towards self-sufficiency anddignity may not have been possible had he not beenable to access his traditional land rights. Being aKoraga, a particularly vulnerable tribal group(PVTG) and the most backward of all tribal groupsin Karnataka, Dogu faced considerable social andeconomic deprivations, especially as the commu-nity is considered untouchable. Various legislationslike the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963, and theWildlife Protection Act, 1972, alienated the tribes-men from their sources of livelihood. Ousted fromthe forest land their ancestors had occupied for gen-erations, the primitive tribal group eked its livingfrom weaving baskets made from bamboo and for-est creepers and manual scavenging.

What pushed the Koragas further back was thecustom of anjal, wherein hair, nails and other ined-ible substances are mixed in food and given to themto eat by the upper caste in the belief that their trou-bles would, thus, be transferred to the Koragas. Forgenerations, the community followed this inhu-man custom. Food leftovers and old clothes thusgiven was the only way for survival.

But Dogu was able to stand up against anjaland rebuild his life, thanks to the Koraga Federation(comprising community members), SamagraGrameena Ashrama (SGA), a local community-based organisation, and ActionAid India, a not-for-profit working for the empowerment of themarginalised. Together, they were able to break thecycle of caste-based oppression and stigma facedby the Koragas like Dogu. They supported the com-munity through a slew of measures to help themaccess their right to land and housing and becomeeconomically independent. The initiative has notonly helped them restore their dignity but has alsoawakened the community to their right to educa-tion, health, nutrition and livelihoods.

Over the last 10 years, this intervention hashelped secure nearly 49,000 acres of forest land —47,000 acres under community forest rights and2,000 acres under individual forest rights, in addi-tion to 1,000 acres of agricultural land for tribalcommunities. Earlier this month, this remarkableaccomplishment was chosen among 200 global ini-tiatives as the 2019 Gold Award winner by WorldHabitat in recognition of the collective achieve-ment by ActionAid, SGA and Koraga Federationto empower the community reclaim their rightsand dignity. This annual award, given in partner-ship with the UN Habitat, honours transformativeinterventions that support the community to accesstheir rights to land and housing.

Dogu became the first Koraga to benefit fromthis programme in Udipi district where 117 acresof land has been secured so far for the communi-ty. Dogu never thought his dream of cultivating

his own land would come true. Likemany others, he was reconciled to till-ing somebody else’s land to earn a living.In 2003, when the Koraga Federation’smovement for lands rights led to the allo-cation of land in Udupi district, Dogu’sdreams came true.

It took him one year of hard physi-cal work to make his piece of land, over-run by brambles and weeds, worthy ofcultivation. Jasmine plants, given by theFederation, were the first to be planted.As the money earned through the saleof the jasmine flowers increased, Doguplanted vegetables, coconut, areca nutand banana. Once a daily wage labour-er, Dogu made appropriate use of theland he was allotted. It is no wonder thenthat his is considered a model farm.

Ashok Shetty, SGA coordinator,who saw the land before it was given toDogu, said not many of them hadthought the transformation was possible.“The credit goes to Dogu. It was not easyto toil on this land without help. ButDogu showed it was possible and this iswhy others, who have received land, areencouraged to follow his example,” saidShetty.

Even Dogu believes that cultivatinghis land gave him the opportunity tobecome his own master. “This farm hasgiven me so much. I may not have muchsavings but I also don’t have any debts.I am happy and live a life of dignity,” hestated.

Getting their own land has also beentransformational for 45-year-old Shinaand his 39-year-old wife, Mamta Koraga.For residents of village Kanjarkatte inUdupi district, the couple are a rolemodel for the community. Not only havethey used their land to turn around their

lives but have equal decision-makingpowers, share the household expensesand even have separate bank accounts.

But it was not always so. Spendinga part of his meagre income as a sweep-er at a hotel on alcohol had pushed Shinafurther into indebtedness and poverty.Life took a turn for the better after theuneducated Shina became a part of theKoraga Federation in 1999. Not only washe able to overcome his alcohol addic-tion with their help but his incomesimproved after he opted for jasmine cul-tivation, which offered livelihood reha-bilitation. Although it took time, onceprofits made from selling the jasminestarted trickling in, Shina ploughed alarge part of his income back to improvecultivation. This helped increase produc-tion and boost profits.

His wife Mamta, who received train-ing from the Government’s IntegratedTribal Development Programme undertheir livelihood scheme to make and sellcostume jewellery, also pools in a part ofher income. “Since both of us work nowand share the expenses, I no longer needto take loans to make two ends meet asI did before,” said Shina.

Both are keen to give their three chil-dren a good life. They want to make surethat none of them are forced to follow thecallous practice of anjal. Shina knowswhat effect it had on him as he hadaccompanied his parents to collect left-over food as a part of anjal rituals as achild and, later, as an adult. It was onlyafter he became a part of the Federationthat Shina became aware that anjal hadbeen legally abolished under theKarnataka Koragas (Prohibition of AjaluPractice) Act in 2000.

Although anjal and caste-based dis-

crimination is technically illegal now,such practices continue where inequal-ities and prejudices remain. It has alsobeen difficult for some to completelyovercome the trauma. Although Shinastill struggles at times with a feeling ofinferiority born out the practice of anjal,his wife Mamta has been able to breakthese shackles. Having studied tillClass 8, Mamta, who is also the secre-tary of the taluk Koraga committee,knows her rights, thanks to variousawareness programmes initiated bythe Federation and its partners, SGAand ActionAid India. This knowledgeprompted her to register her four-year-old daughter at the local anganwadi andensure her regular attendance.Although the only Koraga child in thatanganwadi, Mamta’s daughter has notfaced discrimination that her motherdid when she went to school. Thanksto the enabling environment created bythe Federation with the help of Mamtaand other women of the community.

Community members like Dogu,Shina and Mamta are the backbone ofthe Koraga movement to end oppres-sion, discrimination and stigma. Thework put in by the Koraga Federationand its partners to make the commu-nity believe in itself and stand up fortheir rights has brought tangible out-comes evident in the land secured andadvances in education, nutrition andgender equality. But the biggest achieve-ment is their aspirations for a life of dig-nity and the determination to claimtheir rights. There is self belief withinthe community members that they canbe the change. However long the jour-ney, they are willing to walk.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

" ������� ����������������� ����������#��� ������������������������ ��;�������������������������������� ����� ��������������� ��� ������� �����������������

��&)$�$ �6� � � � � � , � � � �

%�����������&����

' $% $(� ���5��

��� ��������������������.����.����������+������������,�����������#����+����17� ����������� �����������.�� �������������

') �$ ��7�����

7@-��"5-�4*�"/0�:-*����"5$�$�"-�@-�"$7�5*��5-4�-'

�-���-��-*�4:3E�000�*��-��7��7�-�"�4*�'�I

3D�000�*��-���'-�

�7%%��$":�7�-�"��$15"�

*�'�F�000�*��-���'-�

$�'$@$'�*4�7�-�"��$15"��$��*''$"$7��"7/�000�*��-��7�*1�$��4"��*4

4*�'��7��"�$!*4�7%%��$"$-�

4������������������������������������ %.������������������������������������������������������������������������D8��������������������� %.�

��� �� ���� ��� ���� ��� �� ���� ��������� � ��%���������������������������9�=88 %.����������� ����������������������������������������� ������������������@�����-�����������!�����������)@-!�*�#����������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������� ���������

���������������������� (���������������������(�������,������������������������������������������(� ������2�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������,��������������� ��������������"�������������#������� �� ���� ���� �� -���� ������� ���� -������� ,�����!����������� )-,!*������������������������������97����������������

#���������-,!�������������"��������������������������������������������������������������������� �����-,!������������������������������������%������ ������������������������������������������������������ ����#� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������

5������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� %.��������������������������������� ���������������������4������������������(��������������� �#������������������ �����������������(�����������-��������� �����������������������������-,!���������� ����� ������ ����� �� �������� �������������� ����������������������������#����������������������� %.�������������� �������������������������������� �������������������������������������0��������������������������������������(������������������������������� %.��#������������������������(���������������������������������(� (�����������������

����� ����������� %.��������������(������������ �(��������������������������������������,������������(���� ��� ��������������� �������������� ������ ��� ������������������������������"���������������������(���������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ����#����������������������������������� ������������� %.����� �������5������(��� ���������������������E���������������F��� ����������������������(�������������#��������� ������������ (��(�� ���������������������������������������������������������������(����������������������������

����������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������������������������(���������������������������������� ���������������������� ����������������� %.������������������ �����������������-6.������������#��������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ���������� ������������#� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

������(������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������#������� ����������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������� ����������� ��������������� �������������������������

5�������������������������������������������������� ������#�������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ��������������������(������������������������������������������������(����������� ��� ����������������������������#� �������������������������������������������������(��������������(�����������(��������������������

#�������������������������������������������(�����������������(������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����� ������� @�������� ������������� �� ����� ������� ��� ��������������������������������� �����������������(�����������-,!�����������������������������������������(���� �������������� ������������������

���������������� �� ������������������������ ����� ��� ���������� ������ �������������������

Despite nation-wide protests, theTransgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Act,

2019, received presidential assent onDecember 5, 2019 and became a law.Ostensibly enacted to protect the rightsof the transgender community, the Actseeks to dilute core promises, includ-ing the right to self identification, whichwas the cornerstone of the SupremeCourt’s landmark judgment in NALSAvs Union of India. There appears to bea unique situation, where a supposed-ly progressive law meant to furtherrights and ensure welfare of the trans-gender community has not only led todisappointment but will also altertheir existing rights.

LGBT+ rights have made signifi-cant strides over the past decade, with

the Supreme Court recognising trans-gender rights and decriminalisingsame-sex relationships. The decisionsin both NALSA vs Union of India andNavtej Singh Johar & Ors vs Union ofIndia marked the culmination of advo-cacy initiatives and years of struggle thatthe LGBT+ community had to under-go to successfully build their cases. Thetop court’s judgments not only expand-ed rights but were also cognizant of therealities of LGBT+ persons in India.Read together, both judgments lay thefoundation for expanding the citizen-ship rights of LGBT+ persons.

Law reforms post these orders havenot followed up on the court’s ordersin responding to the lived realities ofthe community. Therefore, while theTransgender Persons (Protection ofRights) Act, 2019, should have been astep in the direction of progressive lawreform, in its current form, it points toa glaring disconnect between lawmak-ers and the ground realities faced bythe transgender community.

For instance, the Act prescribes along and complicated process to obtaina certificate of identity. This certificateis of immense importance as it confers

rights and serves as a proof of recog-nition of identity as a transgender per-son. While details of how such certifi-cates will be issued have been left to thedelegated legislation, the possibility ofintroducing invasive procedures toprove one’s identity may have a detri-mental effect on the right to self iden-tification, which has been recognisedby the top court and High Courts.

It is unclear whether applying forsuch a certificate of identity is manda-tory. For instance, will those transgen-der persons, who already possess iden-tity documents identifying themselvesas such, also have to apply? The Act alsodoes not envisage any streamlinedappellate procedures in case the certifi-cate of identity is not issued. This maylead to costly and time-consuming lit-igation in case of denial.

Members of the transgender com-munity have also pointed out how pro-visions on the right to residence withimmediate families or in the alterna-tive, requiring them to reside in reha-bilitation centres, are ignorant of socialrealities. This because natal families areoften sites of violence for young trans-gender persons, thereby forcing them

to leave home and reside with the com-munity members. Further, rehabilita-tion centres may not be an ideal alter-native because often, such establish-ments do not possess the requisitedegree of sensitivity to deal with theissues of transgender persons.

In the case of adults, such a pro-vision ignores the fact that transgen-der persons above the age of 18 arecompetent to make their decisions.Further, community members haverued that while the Act provides forpunishment for sexual abuse, thesame is much lesser when comparedto punishment for similar offences inthe male-female binary in the IndianPenal Code. This creates a hierarchyof condemnation between offencesagainst different identities that areotherwise similar in substance.

The structure of the legislation alsorenders it difficult to implement anddoes not provide realistic ways toenforce the rights guaranteed by it. Forinstance, the pan-India NationalCouncil for Transgender Persons is amammoth body, which is unlikely tomeet with any degree of regularity toaddress issues faced by transgender per-

sons. Further, it only includes five rep-resentatives from the community. Thisis too small a number when comparedto the size of the council. The Act alsofails to provide cogent methods forgrievance redressal. Therefore, whileone of the functions of the council isto redress grievances of the transgen-der persons, it is unlikely to redressindividual grievances with any degreeof reasonable efficiency given its com-plex composition. While the Actrequires establishments to appoint acomplaint officer to redress griev-ances for violation of the provisions, nopowers have been conferred on thecomplaint officer. No details havebeen provided regarding how such anofficer would redress complaints.

The definitions of the Act also indi-cate a lack of conceptual clarity regard-ing the realities of the transgender com-munity. The definition of “transgenderpersons” includes “persons with inter-sex variations”, thereby conflating thetwo identities. Moreover, the definitionof “family” by restricting itself to rela-tionships of “blood or marriage oradoption”, continues to operate in a het-eronormative context, thereby ignor-

ing the many ways in which transgen-der families have been traditionallystructured in India.

Deficiencies of the Act, therefore,make what would have otherwisebeen a welcome legislation, counterpro-ductive, unresponsive and incapable ofmeeting the needs of the community.The Act, thus, fails to maintain focuson the concerns of the community andpoints to the lack of public consulta-tions in its drafting process.Considering the progressiveness of theapex court judgments, law reformsseem like the obvious next step in real-ising equal citizenship rights. However,the Transgender Rights Act indicatesthe many pitfalls in enacting legalframeworks without fully accountingfor the realities and views of those theyseek to protect. Any way forward forlaw reform, therefore, must keep theLGBT+ community front and centreand should proceed on the basis ofextensive community consultations.After all, rights are only meaningful ifin their operation, they respond to therealities of the right-holders.

(The writer is a Research Fellow atthe Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy)

'������������������������������������������ ������� �� ��������������� ������ ������� ������������������ ������������

������� �������������� � ������� ������������������������������

*'+ %��8��9��

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

�������������������

�,�� �8� � �:�

4�(���������+��+����� ��#�������� ��������������+ ��+ ����������. �+ ������������.��� �-�� �����&�!������� ����+�����#��� ������������������� �������#����� �����#�� ��+��(�����+���(�+,����� ��������������������������#� ��������#����(�����������.����������������+������ ���������9��+�������������F0F0&������ ��������� ����

"�7�!4$�1��$1��7��"5$�1��"7��7%-

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ %�)�;�

����������,�����������B��������%8C������������$�&:<�����D���� ����� ! �����*P*�1������$����+�����2����������(��.���! �����-�����������������$���L��������(����������������*P*��������� ��.����L��������������+��+�������������#������ ��+����#� �������������3O�����+�����.� ������������.�������������������/�=CO�+�������� �������� ����������+����#����F0/E)F0���������/�0CD�+�������� ��+�������������+������������#������&����������� �������#�(���������������+����� �������� ������F0/E)F0��%�&���2��������������%����'���+�������� ���-?�+������7���+����! �����*P*�1������$����+���������Q" �� ���� #���(��)�������.� ���� �������� �������� ������+����+��������������+���������+ ������ ���(����+ ������(#�� �+��������(����(��.��� ��������������+�(������������+��������������#������+����������+ ����&�����?��+�������.�(������� ��������#��� ����+��� �������F0/E)F0����.���&LL5����������������+�����������.���(������.� ������(#�+�����+����������������+������� ���� ������+�&�" ��+����#L����+�������������,���%-�R�%�%-�#���������DE�����+�����.� ���� �+�����+��������������&�$���+���������+�����(������������ ����.�� ������������+�������+������������� ��� �(��,����������+���������� ���� ������� �+�����,���� ������(�� �� ���������&

E$0) ���?&����&����������� ������������� �

������������������������������F������G����� �� !"#� %�������������������5���#�$���������R���(��+-������������������������#*��������*�2������%� .��������������+����$����������7�-G�;�������+������������*�(�������������� ������������������� �������R%����������*�(���������������(#�������������+�������(��+�-���������&

B�������� ���� ����������������������" �������' � ������@������� ��"������������B�� � ���7���������+���������,����� ����%������ �����8 ��" �������' � ������< �������"������������< ���� ������� ��������%������� ��������� ��"��� ��%�����������������"������" �������' � �����@������� ���"������������B�� � ���7����������������������� ���$�����%�����'�����������#������������� ��� �����

����� �-��'-45$

Debt-laden Air India hasstopped issuing tickets on

credit to officials of variousGovernment agencies such asthe CBI and the EnforcementDirectorate, which owe it morethan �10 lakh each, a seniorofficial of the national carriersaid on Thursday.

While disinvestment-bound Air India's net loss in2018-19 was around �8,556crore, its current total debt isover �60,000 crore.

"Various agencies, includ-ing the Central Bureau ofInvestigation, EnforcementDirectorate, InformationBureau, Central LabourInstitute, Border Security Forceand the Indian Audit Board,have been told that tickets

would not be issued to theirofficials on credit.

Each of these agencies owemore than �10 lakh to thenational carrier," the seniorofficial said.

In total, these Governmentagencies owe around �268crore to the national carrier, hesaid, adding that "around �50crore has been recovered fromthese agencies by the airline".

"Officials of (aforesaid)government agencies can pur-

chase tickets like any otherordinary customer. They wouldnot be issued any tickets fromhere on credit," the officialadded.

On December 5, CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puri had told Parliamentthat the preparation ofPreliminary InformationMemorandum (PIM) for invit-ing Expression of Interest (EoI)for Air India disinvestmentwas in the process.

�������������1�������5.6����'&�����������������6� ��.������������� �����������1?�???������

������ %�%!*$9�-��'-45$

Fed up with the uncertaintyover their own future tagged

with the fate of Air India, airlineemployees are in the process todeciding to either take the NCLTroute to recover their dues ordeclare a general strike to putpressure on the Governmentfrom privatising the nationalcarrier. The two options werearrived after all the recognisedAI unions and other employeebodies met in Mumbai.

However, a final course ofaction will be decided after fur-ther discussion and is expect-ed soon. If the strike option ischosen, then it will be initiat-ed from January 8, 2020.

The decision to considereither the National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT) route orthe strike comes days after theairline's pilots and engineersdemanded immediate paymentof their dues.

"We all met today and havedecided that the privatisationexercise should cease immedi-ately and some clarity be pro-vided first," a senior officebearer of engineers' union told

IANS from Mumbai."The country can not

afford to loose the national car-rier which provides affordabletravel options to passengers. Itis also an engine of economicgrowth during the time ofslowdown."

On Monday, the airline'spilot union had requested theCentre to allow them to quitthe passenger carrier withoutserving their notice periods.

"We are in a state of dis-tress," a senior officer office-bearer of the pilots union, theIndian Commercial Pilots'Association (ICPA), told IANS.

"If the government wantsto close down the airline, thenthey should say so and relieveus as soon as possible, so thatwe can find alternate employ-ment. We also want that ournotice period should also bewaived-off." On Monday, theICPA in a letter to CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puri said: "It is unfair forthe Government of India tokeep us bonded with the noticeperiod while we are not beingpaid on time and our dues arenot cleared."

����6� �����������������������������������/�A"����������

����� �-��'-45$

All new recruits in railwayswill be inducted through

the UPSC civil services examsunder five specialities, RailwayBoard Chairman VK Yadavsaid on Thursday, days after theCabinet approved the merger ofits eight services into one — theIndian Railway ManagementService (IRMS).

He said just like aspirantsto the Union Public ServiceCommission, candidates aspir-ing to get into railways will haveto appear for their prelimsafter which they will indicatetheir preference for IRMSunder five specialities — fourof them engineering specialitiesfor 'technical' operations com-prising of civil, mechanical,telecom and electrical, and one'non-technical' speciality whichwill recruit officers foraccounts, personnel and traffic.

"The exact details will beworked out, but the thinking islike this — the aspirants take theprelim and then indicate theirchoices. They will be given anoption to appear for IRMS also,"

Yadav said."We are going to send an

indent specifying our recruit-ment for the five specialisations-- four for engineers, includingthat of stores (department) andanother for non-engineering inwhich anyone can come fromhumanities side who will beutilised for manning theaccounts, traffic and personnelservice. All of them will be pro-moted at the same time," saidYadav. The first batch will berecruited in 2021, while the newfive-member board with mergedofficers will be in place by themiddle of next year, officials said.

Yadav also clarified that theChairman, Railway Board, whowill also be the CEO of thenational transporter, will be anofficer of Indian RailwayService and not from any otherservice. "Officers from IndianRailways who have experienceof 35 yrs will only be posted asChairman/CEO," CRB Yadav,who is due for retirement bythe end of this month, said.

He also said the decision tomerge the services was toensure that officers put railwaysfirst instead of their servicewhich had become the caseunder the present system.

"All officers would contin-ue to work in their specialisedservices till modalities wereworked out regarding cadremerger. We would ensure thatnot even a single officer is dis-

advantaged in their career pro-gression," said Yadav, amidstfears among officers that themerger of railway serviceswould cost them seniority.

Yadav said the railwayswill try to "pull up" those offi-cers who are lagging behindinstead of "pulling down" thosewho are ahead in their careers.

The Cabinet on Tuesdayapproved big ticket reforms inthe railways by merging itseight cadres and and depart-ments into a single entity.

With these new changes,the Chairman along with fourmembers responsible for infra-structure, operations and busi-ness development, rolling stockand finance respectively willform the Railway Board.

The Chairman shall be thecadre controlling officerresponsible for HumanResources (HR) with assis-tance from a DG (HR). Threeapex level posts shall be sur-rendered from Railway Boardand all its remaining postsshall be open to all officersregardless of the service towhich they belonged. TheBoard will also have someindependent non-executivemembers, who will be highlydistinguished professionalswith deep knowledge and 30years of experience including atthe top levels in industry,finance, economics and man-agement fields, Yadav said.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank ofIndia on Thursday announcedsimultaneous purchase andsale of Government securitiesthrough special open marketoperations (OMOs) for �10,000crore each on December 30 fol-lowing a review of liquidity sit-uation.

Earlier this week, the cen-tral bank had conducted asimilar OMO and purchasedsecurities worth �10,000 croreand sold worth �6,825 crore.

"On review of the currentliquidity and market situationand an assessment of the evolv-ing financial conditions, theReserve Bank has decided toconduct one more simultane-ous purchase and sale of gov-ernment securities under OMOfor �10,000 crore each onDecember 30, 2019," it said ina statement.

The results of the auctionwill also be announced onDecember 29, the RBI saidwhile announcing the specialOMO. The RBI further said itreserves the right to accept orreject any or all the bids oroffers either wholly or partially without assigning any reasons. PTI

������ �-��'-45$

Given the tight revenue posi-tion of the government,

Union Budget 2020-21 may notbe giving out any extraordinaryfiscal sops just to boost per-sonal income to push con-sumption and demand andwould be taking a sectoralredressal policy where inter-ventions are needed, officialssaid.

"Government is not averseto put growth as a top priorityover fiscal prudence andspending will happen where ithas a direct bearing on the con-sumption and demand. IncomeTax rejigs have been sought bythe industry, but the govern-ment is not convinced so farthat it may lead to any surge inconsumption that's the need ofthe hour on the supply side",said an official, adding afterincome tax cuts (if it happens)government fears people mayjust save and not spend, defeat-ing the entire purpose taking ahuge risk on direct tax frontwhen it is not on a promisingtrend.

"There is little fiscal head-room unless government takesa huge risk in tax cuts furtherafter giving corporate tax cutsin September in �1.45 lakhcrore outgo. That has so far notshown any result", said officials.

������ �-��'-45$

Railway Board ChairmanVK Yadav on Thursday

said that the railways is in theprocess of "rationalising" itspassengers and freight fares,but declined to reveal if theywill be increased.

Speaking to reporters here,Yadav said: "Although the rail-ways has initiated a number ofmeasures to counter its dwin-dling revenues, increasing faresis a sensitive issue and it had tobe discussed at length before afinal decision was taken.

"We are going to ratio-nalise the fares and freightrates. Something is beingthought about. I cannot divulgemore, this is a sensitive subject.

While the freight fares arealready high, our target is todraw more traffic from road torailways in this regard."

The Indian Railway hasbeen hit hard by the econom-ic slowdown, with the earningsof the national transporter suf-fering a dip of �155 crore and�3,901 crore in passenger andfreight fares, respectively, in thesecond quarter of the currentfiscal, compared to the previ-ous one, according to an RTIreply.

In the first quarter (April-June) of financial year 2019-20,the railways earned revenue of�13,398.92 crore from passen-ger fares. This dipped to�13,243.81 crore in the July-September quarter.

Mumbai: The rupee erased itsearly gains to settle down by 4paise at a three-week low of71.31 against the US currencyon Thursday, marking its fifthstraight day of losses amidheavy selling in domestic equi-ties and steady rise in crude oilprices.

Month-end dollar demandand weakness in domestic equi-ties weighed on the domestic

currency, forex traders said.At the interbank foreign

exchange market, the rupeehad opened higher at 71.26against the US dollar. Duringthe day, the domestic unit fluc-tuated between a high of 71.22and a low of 71.35. The rupeefinally settled at 71.31 againstthe US dollar, lower by 4 paiseover its previous close of 71.27on Tuesday. PTI

����� �-��'-45$

The Government has madeAadhaar mandatory for sub-

scribers of the Pradhan MantriVaya Vandana Yojana(PMVVY), a pension schemefor senior citizens. The scheme,which envisages an assured rateof return of 8 per cent annual-ly, is being implemented throughLife Insurance Corporation ofIndia (LIC). The scheme wasannounced in Union Budgets of2017-18 and 2018-19.

"An individual eligible forreceiving the benefit under thescheme shall hereby berequired to furnish proof ofpossession of Aadhaar number(the unique 12-digit biometric

identity number) or undergoAadhaar authentication,"according to a finance ministrynotification. The notification,dated December 23, has beenissued under the Aadhaar(Targeted Delivery of Financialand Other Subsidies, Benefitsand Services) Act, 2016.

It further said any individualdesirous of availing benefit underthe scheme who does not possessthe Aadhaar number or has notyet been enrolled for Aadhaar,"shall be required to apply forAadhaar enrolment before reg-istering for the scheme".

In cases where Aadhaarauthentication fails due to poorbiometrics, the the ministry'sDepartment of Financial

Services through its imple-menting agency will make pro-visions to help the beneficiariesget the Aadhaar number.

Further, where biometricor Aadhaar one-time pass-word or time-based OTPauthentication is not possible,benefit under the scheme maybe given on the basis of phys-ical Aadhaar letter whoseauthenticity may be verifiedthrough the quick response(QR) code printed on theAadhaar letter, the notificationsaid. In the Budget 2018-19, themaximum limit underPMVVY was doubled to Rs 15lakh per senior citizen. Thescheme is available for sub-scription till March 2020.

������ �-��'-45$

Severe cold and dense fog havetriggered concerns among

farmers. Experts, however, saidthat no crop will be affectedexcept potato. Agricultural sci-entists say that if there is a fur-ther fall in temperature, frost willstart, which may pose a risk ofspoilage for many rabi crops.Also, there have been complaintsof scorching potatoes due toincreasing humidity and fog.

Manoj Kumar, Joint DeputyDirector of the Central PotatoResearch Institute-RegionalCenter Modipuram, Meerut,told IANS that the temperaturehas not dropped much so thereis no frost but due to fog and theabsence of sunlight there ishumidity in the atmosphere,which has increased the risk ofa late blight in potatoes. Theinstitute comes under theIndian Council of AgriculturalResearch (ICAR).

He said that complaints ofscorching in potatoes havebeen received from UttarPradesh and Punjab and anadvisory has been issued by theinstitute.

����� %�%!*$

GoAir, which has comeunder fire from passengers

for cancelling dozens of flightsabruptly earlier this week, onThursday attributed the dis-ruption in network to delay inaircraft deliveries and non-availability of engines.

In a clarification issued onThursday, the budget carrieralso sought to defend its choiceof Pratt & Whitney engines forits A320 Neo fleet. GoAir can-celled as many as 40 flightsbetween November 23 and 24,during which it also reportedair turn back of two if its aircraftdue to engine glitches, whichwere later taken out of opera-tions for further inspection.

"GoAir has placed an orderfor 144 Airbus A320neo air-craft and has experienced deliv-ery delays during the month ofNovember and December,adding to its operational chal-lenges," the airline said. The air-line further said "during thesame time, non-availability ofPratt & Whitney spare engineshave also hampered thesmooth functioning”.

����� �-��'-45$

The Department of Telecomwill soon seek sector regu-

lator Trai's recommendationson pricing and other modalitiesfor coveted 5G bands of 24.75-27.25 GHz, and wants to putthis new spectrum up for auc-tion sometime next year,sources said.

This new 5G chunk is sep-arate from the �5.22 lakh crorespectrum sale plan approved bythe Digital CommunicationsCommission on December 20,under which 8,300 MHz of air-waves across 22 circles are setto be put on the block inMarch-April 2020.

The Department ofTelecom (DoT) sources saidthat the government will soonapproach the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(Trai) for its recommendationson 'millimetre wave bands' of24.75-27.25 GHz, the covetedbands for 5G.

DoT plans to approach theregulator in January for viewson these additional 5G bands,sources stated.

Although DoT ideallywants these bands to be put for

sale earlier in the year, there arespecific timelines involved inTrai reference and responses,they pointed out.

That said, DoT wants toput this additional spectrumbelonging to new 5G bands forauction sometime during 2020,they noted.

Asked about the indus-try's low appetite for spectrumat a time when it is strugglingwith payment of additionalstatutory dues after a recentSupreme Court ruling onAdjusted Gross Revenue(AGR), the sources pointedout that the industry, includingits association COAI, has been asking for 26GHz band to be referred toTrai.

On whether there will betakers for additional spectrum,given the industry's reserva-tions on current prices, thesources said they would not liketo "pre-judge the issue".

Offering back-of-the-enve-lope calculations on the currentrates, the sources said thatwhile �5.22 lakh crore is theoverall reserve price for 8,300MHz of airwaves, only 35 percent is for 5G bands.

������ �-��'-45$

Demand in the real estatesector plunged in the sec-

ond half of 2019 as housingsales fell around 22 per cent inJuly-December compared tothe total sales first six months,a report by Anarock PropertyConsultants said.

It said that out of the total2.61 lakh units sold during theyear so far in seven major cities,around 1.47 lakh flats weresold in the January-June period,and the remaining 1.14 lakh hadbeen so far sold in the secondhalf. This slump in sales comesdespite the slew of measuresannounced by the governmentin the past few months to easeliquidity and boost demand.

)�&����������#�����7����1����5.#...����������������

*��������������������������������������� )�������

�������2 �!8!������)���1�������

�� �!����������������� ���������� ������ �� �� �

�����#� ����� �����������������8�)���1���

�� ������ ����� ���������('BB8����������� ���

������������������99:���$���7��8�'�����

� ,����������� ��;������

3����� ����������� �����������������������������

������������ ���������������������������1��8���'�

$�"���������"���.��������������:)���������C�������������� ��������� �����9?9?

%�)�;;�������� ��! " ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

����� %�%!*$

Reflecting the woes of thebroader economy, fund

raising through IPOs plungedto a low �12,362 crore in 2019,down a full 60 per cent from2018 when the street moppedup �30,959 crore.

The outgoing year sawonly 16 initial public offerings(IPOs) as against 24 in 2018,show the data collated by thepremier database on the cap-ital market Prime Database.

That the economy is inbad shape — Q2 GDP hascome in at near seven-year-low of 4.5 per cent and thereis no sign of any improvementgoing forward — is clear fromthe fact that as many 47 com-panies who got Sebi nod toraise over �51,000 crorethrough IPOs allowed thesame to lapse.

However, driven by offer-for-sale and qualified institu-tional placements, the streetsaw 28 per cent growth inoverall fund raising at �81,174crore in 2019, against �63,651crore in 2018 but this is 49 percent lower than the all-timehigh of �1,60,032 crore raisedin 2017, says Pranav Haldea,managing director at PrimeDatabase Group.

The year 2017 saw 36IPOs mopping up �67,147crore, while 2016 saw 26 issuescollecting �26,494 crore and

�13,614 being raised in 2015through 15 issues and 2014being the worst at �1,201crore from five IPOs, show thedata. The largest IPO in 2019was from Sterling & WilsonSolar which raised �2,850crore, while the average issuesize was �773 crore.

Only three of the 16 IPOsthat hit the market had aprior PE/VC investment, anotable change from previousyears. OFS by such PE/VCinvestors stood to �803 crore,accounting for just 6 per centof IPO amount. OFS by pro-moters at stood at �7,513crore, or 61 per cent of totalIPO amount.

Seven IPOs got megaresponses of over 10 times(IRCTC at 109 times followedby Ujjivan Small Finance Bank100 times), CSB Bank 48times, Affle 48 times, Polycab36 times, Neogen Chemicals29 t imes and IndiamartIntermesh 20 times), one issuewas oversubscribed by overthree times, the balance sevenwere oversubscribed betweenone and three times.

But from the listing side,the year was good with IPOswith strong debut trade. Ofthe 15 IPOs which got listed,seven gave a return of over 10per cent, based on closingprice on listing date. IRCTCgave a stupendous return of128 per cent, followed by CSB

Bank (54 per cent), Ujjivan(51 per cent), IndiamartIntermesh (34 per cent),Neogen Chemicals (23 percent), Polycab (22 per cent)and Affle (17 per cent).

Significantly, unlike inprevious years, only two IPOstocks are trading below theissue price now with the rest13 stocks trading between 21per cent and 170 per centabove the issue price as ofDecember 23.

For the first time since theSME platform started fiveyears ago, the IPO activitydeclined in 2019 as there wereonly 50 SME IPOs in the yearcollecting a paltry �621 croreas against 141 issues in 2018worth �2,287 crore and 133issues in 2017 raising �1,679crore and 67 issues raising�537 in 2016 and 43 issuesraising �260 in 2015 and 40IPOs collecting �267 crore in2014.

The OFS to dilute thepromoters’ holding saw a hugeincrease from �10,672 croreraised in 2018 to �25,811crore in 2019. Of this, gov-ernment divestment account-ed for �5,871 crore or 23 percent of the total led by it dilut-ing its stake in Axis Bank inFebruary worth �5,358 crore,followed by SBI Life (�3,524crore) and HDFC Life (�3,366crore).

OFS accounted for 32 per

cent of the total public equi-ty markets amount in theyear. The street saw 11 com-panies mobilising �35,238crore through QIPs, which is112 per cent more than�16,587 crore raised in 2018.The largest QIP of 2019 wasfrom Axis Bank raising�12,500 crore, accounting for35 per cent of the total QIPamount. QIPs were dominat-ed by banks, NBFCs and real-ty companies accounting for87 per cent (�30,688 crore) ofthe overall amount.

InvITs/ReITs also sawgood traction with the yearseeing the first ever ReIT list-ing by Embassy Office Parksraising �3,874 crore. The over-all amount raised throughInvITs and ReITs was 127percent more than in previousyear.

Of the total �81,171 crore,fresh capital was �45,937 croreor 57 percent and the remain-ing �35,234 crore being offersfor sale.

But the year was bad fordivestments as against thebudgeted �1,05,000 crore on�17,744 crore or 17 percenthas been achieved till date.

According to Haldea, theIPO pipeline continues toremain strong with 21 com-panies holding Sebi approvalto raise �18,700 crore andanother 13 wanting to Sebi notto raise �18,000 crore.

���,�,����������������#������9<=��������>?4�,�������� %�%!*$

Benchmark indices nursedlosses for the thirdstraight session on

Thursday, led by selling inmarket heavyweights RelianceIndustries and HDFC Bankamid expiry of Decemberderivatives contracts.

After tumbling 328.37points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 297.50points, or 0.72 per cent, lowerat 41,163.76. It hit an intra-daylow of 41,132.89.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty closed 88 points, or 0.72per cent, down at 12,126.55.

Bharti Airtel was the toploser in the Sensex pack, drop-ping 2.23 per cent, followed byReliance Industries, L&T, SunPharma, HDFC Bank, Maruti,Titan and Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, ONGC,NTPC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Financeand M&M rose up to 1.63 percent.

According to traders, mar-ket turned volatile on expiry ofDecember futures and options(F&O) contracts.

Further, investor partici-pation has also thinned onaccount of year-end holidays indomestic and global markets,they said.

“Market started-off on aflat note on holiday-shortened

week, however consolidationextend on account of F&Oexpiry led volatility and con-cern over the fiscal math of thegovernment due to possible

delay in divestments plannedthis fiscal.

“Global markets seem to bein comfort zone fuelled byhopes of easing trade tension,

while the domestic market isexpected to wait for cues fromthe Budget,” said Vinod Nair,head of research, GeojitFinancial Services.

BSE telecom, energy, cap-ital goods, bankex, oil and gas,teck and healthcare indiceslost up to 1.73 per cent.

Metal and basic materialssettled up to 0.66 per centhigher.

Broader BSE Midcapclosed 0.13 per cent lowerwhile the smallcap indexinched up 0.38 per cent.

On the currency front, therupee rupee pared its earlygains and settled lower by 4paise at 71.31 against the UScurrency on Thursday.

Month-end dollar demandand weakness in domesticequities weighed on thedomestic currency, forextraders said.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeehad opened higher at 71.26against the US dollar. Duringthe day, the domestic unitfluctuated between a high of71.22 and a low of 71.35. Therupee finally settled at 71.31against the US dollar, lower by4 paise over its previous closeof 71.27 on Tuesday.

Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, advanced 0.33 percent to USD 67.42 per barrel.

������������������������#� ����������� �Hong Kong (AFP): Asian equities rose on Thursday in subduedtrading, holding the gains recently spurred by the US-China tradethaw. Following the Christmas lull across world markets, eyesare now on US unemployment data and also on Japanese indus-trial and retail data scheduled for release on Friday.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 0.6 percent higherafter a flat start. Shanghai put on 0.9 percent, while Seoul wasup 0.4 percent. Singapore, however, was down 0.3 percent.“Investor sentiment towards the global economy is improving,”said Rakuten Securities chief strategist Masayuki Kubota.

Hong Kong, Sydney and Wellington were closed for a pub-lic holiday.

“With the... tech sector giants leading the way, investors areshowing no fear as the market remains underpinned by the thaw-ing in the US-China trade squabble and easy central bank pol-icy,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, saidin a report.

Volumes are typically light during the holiday season, andthe muted activity in Asia followed sleepy Christmas Eve ses-sions in many world markets. “No news being good news, Asiashould maintain... gains ahead of a US session likely to be pos-itive,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific atOANDA, wrote in a note earlier in the day.

In oil markets, the main contracts traded higher as the com-modity remained strong thanks to trade optimism as well as theOPEC+ output reduction agreement. Brent Crude and West TexasIntermediate were both up 0.2 percent.

3�� �������������6(!���������1?D���9?�@��������������������

Script Open High Low LTPHDFC 2416.80 2432.70 2405.00 2412.00IBULHSGFIN 311.95 319.55 293.55 297.25RELIANCE 1545.95 1553.30 1510.95 1515.95YESBANK 51.00 51.60 48.25 48.70BBTC 1000.00 1016.40 995.85 999.20TATASTEEL 463.50 471.65 463.50 467.80FRETAIL 350.00 378.00 342.25 347.35JSWSTEEL 267.70 271.95 266.75 269.30SBIN 333.00 333.20 328.05 329.85JINDALSTEL 160.25 164.75 159.95 163.55BPCL 476.05 484.65 474.50 477.05MARUTI 7323.90 7338.60 7224.75 7240.75ICICIBANK 541.50 542.30 537.70 539.00LT 1301.50 1307.10 1277.00 1279.25HCLTECH 561.00 565.20 559.75 560.85RBLBANK 335.00 337.00 327.85 332.60IDEA 6.34 6.42 5.96 6.05ZEEL 298.80 298.80 291.20 297.00VEDL 148.95 152.45 147.65 150.65HDFCBANK 1297.40 1297.40 1265.10 1271.55FORCEMOT 990.00 1131.00 975.10 1096.35TATAMOTORS 176.00 176.35 174.10 174.60BHARTIARTL 455.30 456.75 445.45 447.15BAJFINANCE 4169.00 4199.90 4134.30 4181.75DCAL 71.00 79.30 71.00 79.30INDIGO 1308.00 1338.60 1299.35 1315.90TCS 2219.00 2227.90 2197.10 2201.05INDUSINDBK 1524.80 1529.50 1504.80 1514.15HDFCLIFE 627.80 638.80 622.95 635.55INFY 734.00 734.70 727.00 729.25SUNPHARMA 432.95 432.95 420.85 422.30BANKBARODA 100.10 100.35 98.65 99.00TITAN 1205.10 1213.60 1190.35 1192.55DLF 229.90 229.90 225.55 226.75SAIL 41.10 42.75 41.10 42.40INFIBEAM 48.00 55.90 47.45 54.95HDFCAMC 3220.00 3230.00 3180.45 3222.30HINDALCO 216.85 217.60 214.50 214.70GAIL 119.75 120.35 117.70 118.10MCX 1151.05 1169.50 1148.65 1159.85SRF 3332.55 3426.65 3331.15 3419.05SBILIFE 998.00 999.80 987.90 990.00ADANIENT 209.40 211.00 205.60 208.80AXISBANK 739.00 740.45 733.80 736.15PNB 63.55 63.75 62.55 62.80TATAELXSI 850.00 851.40 811.15 815.60UBL 1287.00 1295.10 1240.30 1271.00M&M 531.00 536.25 527.25 528.45HEROMOTOCO 2446.35 2454.85 2426.00 2440.80ITC 239.45 239.50 236.40 236.80HINDUNILVR 1947.90 1952.00 1939.20 1945.10INFRATEL 259.00 260.25 251.60 254.60EICHERMOT 21992.80 22200.00 21924.85 22026.35ONGC 126.85 129.45 124.55 128.05NMDC 124.55 127.00 124.25 126.25HINDPETRO 262.00 264.55 258.00 258.85CANBK 225.10 225.30 219.70 220.30NCC 53.95 54.10 52.65 52.90TATACHEM 685.50 688.35 665.00 668.50PEL 1652.00 1655.90 1623.45 1648.00UNIONBANK 58.50 58.55 54.05 54.45SPICEJET 95.60 98.40 94.95 96.25UPL 569.50 577.25 566.70 568.95BAJAJFINSV 9314.00 9392.35 9297.55 9351.50IOC 127.00 127.45 124.70 125.20BHEL 43.50 43.65 42.40 42.50BANDHANBNK 500.00 504.85 496.05 501.50JUSTDIAL 584.95 585.80 570.75 572.00DISHTV 13.54 13.59 13.08 13.19TATAGLOBAL 316.00 319.55 312.10 313.30BEL 100.25 100.70 98.35 98.80CGCL 200.00 201.40 197.80 199.00CIPLA 479.50 482.85 472.75 473.30LICHSGFIN 422.00 428.20 421.30 425.95NTPC 115.75 118.00 114.05 116.55ASIANPAINT 1800.85 1818.90 1798.10 1808.65MOTHERSUMI 146.90 148.85 145.75 146.75RNAM 343.80 351.00 340.55 348.70ABCAPITAL 95.05 100.80 94.15 98.10KOTAKBANK 1713.95 1715.00 1690.10 1694.05GRAPHITE 306.80 309.00 303.75 304.80ADANIGAS 156.60 159.95 154.35 155.00ASHOKLEY 80.00 80.50 79.20 79.40WHIRLPOOL 2298.95 2494.75 2255.60 2434.90PCJEWELLER 23.40 24.25 23.35 23.60RAJESHEXPO 689.75 689.75 674.50 680.35DIXON 3740.00 3954.85 3730.20 3914.20UJJIVAN 337.60 340.25 334.75 336.90JUBLFOOD 1573.10 1601.55 1567.50 1598.20BLISSGVS 150.35 153.10 147.65 148.80ULTRACEMCO 4097.00 4123.05 4050.00 4061.10BHARATFORG 486.15 493.65 483.25 491.80MINDTREE 782.50 795.80 770.00 791.70TATAMTRDVR 72.70 74.10 72.45 72.80PIIND 1461.45 1469.00 1460.00 1461.00WOCKPHARMA 248.90 254.70 246.00 250.40DMART 1909.00 1925.00 1909.00 1917.35COALINDIA 198.70 201.00 195.20 197.70ESCORTS 620.20 624.85 614.15 617.15L&TFH 115.40 115.55 114.00 114.45BERGEPAINT 519.20 521.80 512.45 513.50NBCC 34.95 34.95 33.50 33.75AUROPHARMA 465.10 466.00 458.50 459.70BALRAMCHIN 174.00 177.25 171.80 175.15IGL 431.50 434.25 426.50 427.80NIITTECH 1610.20 1619.35 1602.00 1607.55BRITANNIA 3091.10 3116.55 3055.05 3061.50

TECHM 772.60 778.85 768.80 772.00ICICIGI 1428.45 1439.90 1410.00 1419.05JUBILANT 526.20 526.45 517.40 519.90GRASIM 740.00 745.10 734.10 736.30KANSAINER 522.00 524.00 518.25 520.00STAR 368.05 370.30 361.20 366.20NATIONALUM 43.00 43.90 42.55 43.30WIPRO 252.00 252.40 249.75 250.45PIDILITIND 1379.40 1395.60 1379.30 1389.25IDFCFIRSTB 43.90 44.00 42.90 43.55HEG 1123.00 1129.00 1102.00 1105.85MUTHOOTFIN 745.00 752.50 742.00 752.40ADANIPORTS 373.00 373.00 362.40 362.40NAVINFLUOR 1008.00 1047.30 1008.00 1029.65AVANTI 581.45 584.65 570.30 573.90BIOCON 289.50 291.30 287.00 289.45TVSMOTOR 464.00 468.80 452.00 460.55EXIDEIND 176.00 179.80 176.00 178.00EQUITAS 101.00 102.75 101.00 102.00ICICIPRULI 500.50 503.00 492.45 493.70GNFC 167.00 177.50 166.80 173.50DRREDDY 2904.50 2909.95 2861.25 2865.65CANFINHOME 396.65 397.70 390.40 392.00HEXAWARE 330.00 334.10 320.20 323.00PAGEIND 21947.00 22500.00 21909.65 22391.55RITES 282.10 291.75 282.10 291.65VENKYS 1801.95 1815.70 1770.05 1776.20MFSL 526.40 532.05 525.25 529.30DEEPAKNI 368.00 376.40 362.80 371.95MARICO 334.10 340.10 334.10 339.25QUESS 499.85 505.70 478.60 480.15SRTRANSFIN 1150.35 1167.10 1150.35 1153.90BANKINDIA 69.30 71.60 68.65 70.90OMAXE 157.00 162.55 151.30 156.55M&MFIN 325.00 325.00 319.60 321.60MAHINDCIE 160.50 179.10 160.35 170.70ADANIPOWER 61.30 61.30 59.90 60.05DIVISLAB 1817.00 1834.65 1810.10 1814.95BALKRISIND 954.30 964.65 953.30 961.15ACC 1469.00 1469.90 1449.65 1452.75SIEMENS 1538.70 1539.00 1517.35 1521.35NESTLEIND 14582.00 14700.00 14550.00 14563.35BATAINDIA 1714.45 1721.15 1700.00 1715.70DBL 400.00 406.10 392.70 397.50GODREJAGRO 509.00 509.60 502.00 503.90PVR 1810.00 1831.45 1810.00 1818.00APOLLOHOSP 1383.50 1387.55 1372.00 1380.00HAVELLS 653.90 653.90 639.60 640.80SUNTV 449.95 450.00 444.20 445.20RADICO 316.00 321.55 311.60 317.85TATAPOWER 56.00 56.30 55.00 55.10CASTROLIND 131.00 131.20 128.55 129.05GLENMARK 350.10 352.05 346.00 346.00CHAMBLFERT 144.95 152.00 143.45 147.10AMARAJABAT 721.75 724.30 704.00 712.05

BEML 975.00 983.50 965.75 969.45BAJAJ-AUTO 3227.15 3239.35 3203.40 3227.70DELTACORP 207.00 207.75 204.00 204.50FEDERALBNK 85.65 86.00 85.20 85.70LUPIN 770.00 770.55 755.15 757.45RELINFRA 26.60 26.70 25.45 26.70RAYMOND 659.00 659.00 635.50 638.35MANAPPURAM 172.00 173.20 171.80 172.95VOLTAS 651.50 654.75 645.50 651.70SUNDRMFAST 438.75 484.55 436.85 464.80RCF 44.35 47.00 43.85 46.20BOMDYEING 73.35 74.70 73.05 73.65RECLTD 136.60 139.05 136.60 138.60STRTECH 112.00 114.00 111.70 112.50AUBANK 784.35 827.35 783.85 819.15RESPONIND 91.35 95.00 91.15 94.10JAICORPLTD 91.10 93.10 89.75 90.15DABUR 466.00 466.00 457.00 458.15COLPAL 1485.70 1485.70 1456.60 1458.95IBREALEST 60.50 60.60 58.60 59.65GODREJCP 698.95 698.95 680.40 685.45GMRINFRA 21.35 21.55 21.05 21.20APOLLOTYRE 163.00 163.95 161.05 161.25MRF 63602.05 63665.70 62982.20 62986.00NAUKRI 2576.15 2579.50 2511.15 2532.05ISEC 383.55 383.95 362.50 363.95NESCO 674.90 678.00 656.00 663.00LALPATHLAB 1475.00 1500.00 1475.00 1498.00CADILAHC 259.50 260.50 256.30 256.90MGL 1055.00 1059.75 1042.00 1044.30ADANITRANS 335.05 338.00 330.05 333.30EDELWEISS 112.80 118.30 112.35 114.50SPARC 162.40 162.40 155.00 155.60SUNTECK 431.20 431.20 422.10 426.15BOSCHLTD 15425.00 15518.30 15255.00 15371.00

SWANENERGY 105.90 108.85 105.85 107.45PETRONET 272.00 272.95 269.35 269.85GODFRYPHLP 1310.35 1326.40 1282.80 1290.45POWERGRID 188.00 188.00 184.10 185.55SCI 62.10 63.40 61.65 61.85PFC 111.95 112.60 110.80 111.45KRBL 289.00 292.00 275.30 278.20BDL 287.10 305.00 287.10 304.80PFIZER 4225.00 4265.00 4146.70 4163.20CARERATING 493.70 524.15 493.70 509.05POLYCAB 959.00 966.35 943.55 960.75CRISIL 1871.10 1906.25 1835.30 1844.00DALBHARAT 796.00 803.90 787.00 795.55RPOWER 3.39 3.44 3.31 3.39ECLERX 566.75 572.00 546.95 554.75ORIENTBANK 54.05 54.15 50.45 51.50ASTRAZEN 2772.65 2777.55 2650.00 2667.20HINDCOPPER 38.50 39.95 38.35 38.85CUMMINSIND 555.70 559.55 553.30 555.50OIL 151.90 151.90 148.50 149.00CONCOR 568.50 574.00 566.00 568.50AMBUJACEM 195.00 197.35 193.80 194.65TORNTPOWER 282.10 282.40 278.40 280.35FORTIS 131.00 133.00 130.10 130.75LTI 1775.00 1785.80 1763.10 1769.20INDIANB 105.00 105.55 103.10 104.25ADANIGREEN 155.00 156.20 155.00 156.20HFCL 17.15 17.75 16.95 17.35REPCOHOME 319.15 322.65 314.55 317.40SUZLON 2.02 2.06 1.95 2.01ABFRL 229.00 233.30 226.80 231.45TORNTPHARM 1857.35 1857.35 1831.50 1846.55TRENT 524.00 526.00 515.25 526.00HINDZINC 212.00 214.45 211.85 211.90EIDPARRY 201.10 203.80 196.90 200.00MIDHANI 158.75 159.90 154.90 156.85KEI 452.00 468.00 452.00 465.35ITDC 319.95 321.50 314.75 314.75GODREJPROP 942.00 953.00 936.55 951.60PNBHOUSING 431.25 436.20 426.75 427.95IPCALAB 1152.00 1160.00 1127.00 1148.00IDFC 35.45 36.00 35.10 35.50MINDAIND 354.00 365.65 346.70 348.90JISLJALEQS 8.07 8.41 7.87 8.40PRESTIGE 347.75 348.40 332.35 333.00BAJAJHLDNG 3436.10 3500.00 3409.80 3409.80PGHH 11466.00 11790.85 11402.60 11488.90VIPIND 418.00 423.55 415.15 416.60NOCIL 97.05 101.35 96.40 99.35INDHOTEL 144.85 145.55 140.85 143.25DCBBANK 170.00 171.20 166.40 166.55MASFIN 814.65 882.40 809.00 879.00ITI 94.30 95.25 92.65 93.00GRANULES 130.00 130.85 122.40 122.95SUVEN 304.50 304.90 300.45 302.50JAMNAAUTO 47.50 48.00 46.30 46.50IRB 68.20 68.20 66.25 66.45JSLHISAR 67.75 70.00 66.60 68.00ASHOKA 98.80 99.20 96.90 98.25COROMANDEL 515.85 526.25 515.85 525.55DEEPAKFERT 90.30 94.20 89.40 93.85KAJARIACER 511.00 517.00 510.30 514.00IRCON 392.15 407.20 392.15 403.60PGHL 4208.80 4233.00 4120.00 4158.70JKTYRE 71.85 73.15 71.25 71.85CESC 742.10 747.40 729.00 731.90CEATLTD 1000.50 1001.00 981.00 985.40AEGISLOG 172.50 188.00 167.50 174.10MEGH 48.95 50.50 48.30 49.80MINDACORP 91.05 99.65 90.85 96.25BALMLAWRIE 128.25 131.70 127.30 128.40IDBI 37.45 37.50 36.95 37.10RVNL 23.00 23.10 22.75 22.95RELCAPITAL 13.85 14.10 13.70 14.10GUJGAS 224.40 225.30 222.70 224.00CHOLAFIN 302.95 303.30 300.00 300.70TRIDENT 7.00 7.00 6.75 6.90MPHASIS 871.80 896.95 870.00 888.10HSCL 57.80 57.80 55.60 56.50METROPOLIS 1409.95 1409.95 1363.15 1384.05AMBER 1057.00 1086.55 1035.05 1081.00EMAMILTD 308.40 309.85 303.00 304.05NIACL 141.90 141.95 137.30 138.25GREAVESCOT 130.00 132.15 128.10 131.00GESHIP 297.00 302.50 291.00 299.35DHFL 15.70 15.80 15.00 15.80UCOBANK 16.10 17.80 15.75 16.80GSFC 67.65 70.30 67.30 69.20ALBK 18.70 18.80 16.75 17.75ERIS 467.65 467.65 456.05 458.25PHOENIXLTD 787.15 816.00 782.25 800.653MINDIA 21645.00 21687.15 21410.00 21410.00ATUL 4025.00 4056.65 4007.00 4040.00PHILIPCARB 113.50 114.65 113.15 113.95CROMPTON 246.10 246.70 242.40 242.90GICRE 229.50 232.50 225.60 226.50INDIACEM 70.30 70.80 70.10 70.30SYNDIBANK 29.05 29.30 25.80 27.05MOTILALOFS 735.90 735.95 720.00 720.00IFCI 6.93 6.94 6.51 6.55J&KBANK 30.15 30.80 29.75 30.50CENTURYPLY 162.00 162.75 159.45 159.60MAXINDIA 77.35 78.55 76.55 76.70CREDITACC 770.30 772.45 764.90 770.45SUDARSCHEM 406.80 407.20 397.35 401.85KEC 298.40 298.40 293.70 294.75RELAXO 634.00 634.00 613.05 616.85DHANUKA 387.25 406.50 387.00 400.00

JBCHEPHARM 427.00 431.95 424.05 428.00INOXLEISUR 374.60 377.25 374.20 375.85MOIL 141.10 144.00 140.55 141.60ENGINERSIN 101.00 101.80 100.65 100.85APLAPOLLO 1700.10 1722.80 1690.00 1720.00IIFL 139.00 143.55 139.00 142.70GLAXO 1636.00 1637.00 1619.55 1625.00SJVN 25.10 25.10 24.85 25.00RAIN 100.05 101.55 99.35 100.10DCMSHRIRAM 359.05 371.00 354.10 362.00SHREECEM 20236.05 20382.75 20201.10 20382.75LINDEINDIA 655.85 674.05 655.85 663.45BAJAJELEC 337.65 342.50 336.85 337.90ENDURANCE 1040.30 1068.00 1036.25 1048.00LUXIND 1295.10 1300.00 1261.00 1261.00LTTS 1490.50 1495.55 1477.60 1480.00AAVAS 1851.55 1875.00 1849.05 1861.65TV18BRDCST 21.05 21.35 21.05 21.05CORPBANK 25.00 25.20 24.55 24.85SOBHA 399.70 401.00 395.25 397.05

RAMCOCEM 753.00 756.70 749.00 749.65TIINDIA 483.70 499.50 470.00 489.75FSL 40.60 40.75 40.10 40.20GHCL 178.45 184.05 178.45 180.55JMFINANCIL 89.55 89.80 87.00 87.65PRSMJOHNSN 60.35 62.85 58.65 59.85JINDALSAW 71.05 72.05 70.50 71.15WELSPUNIND 47.85 48.35 47.40 47.90CENTRALBK 18.35 18.35 17.45 18.00PARAGMILK 137.00 141.50 135.00 138.15JSL 37.90 38.30 37.00 37.00ABBOTINDIA 13105.40 13220.95 13004.80 13025.00TCNSBRANDS 609.00 615.00 590.00 599.55COCHINSHIP 398.00 399.00 388.40 394.80FINEORG 1914.35 1928.50 1880.00 1896.00SANOFI 6884.15 7001.75 6764.95 6964.70TATACOFFEE 92.00 92.30 91.50 91.65WELCORP 132.20 132.35 130.35 131.40JAGRAN* 62.40 64.45 62.00 63.80GSPL 217.00 217.50 214.40 214.80RALLIS 169.75 172.00 168.10 169.20TVTODAY 242.20 245.45 239.65 239.85SOUTHBANK 10.39 10.40 10.29 10.31TIMKEN 883.25 899.90 879.60 893.00CHALET 337.05 341.95 331.20 339.40MMTC 19.05 19.10 18.65 18.80BAYERCROP 3674.00 3680.00 3618.30 3618.30FCONSUMER 23.40 23.50 22.90 23.00ALKEM 2000.95 2048.50 1999.00 2042.55GODREJIND 422.70 427.95 418.65 424.85THYROCARE 543.85 550.60 540.10 541.70KTKBANK 72.75 72.75 71.65 71.80IOB 10.17 12.13 10.00 11.26LEMONTREE 64.05 64.50 63.35 64.20SCHNEIDER 62.80 64.45 62.45 63.90CYIENT 415.10 416.95 407.50 408.80HIMATSEIDE 121.20 125.95 120.20 123.30TATAMETALI 624.20 631.50 622.00 622.50ESSELPRO 174.90 174.90 168.80 168.95CAPPL 311.95 311.95 301.25 302.00GICHSGFIN 161.40 162.65 159.00 159.00NHPC 24.15 24.20 23.95 24.00GUJALKALI 396.00 398.65 390.75 398.65NILKAMAL 1255.00 1259.00 1226.80 1228.60EIHOTEL 140.30 142.00 136.00 136.30INOXWIND 34.35 35.90 34.00 34.15OFSS 2894.00 2896.75 2820.00 2834.60HEIDELBERG 179.00 179.00 176.35 176.50MHRIL 235.00 235.00 228.00 229.00WABAG 172.50 172.50 169.70 170.25ASTRAL 1142.15 1162.45 1135.00 1151.00VINATIORGA 1918.60 1921.95 1900.85 1909.20NATCOPHARM 576.45 576.45 571.40 574.00GMDCLTD 61.75 63.30 61.45 62.15GILLETTE 6614.10 6636.90 6593.00 6620.00THERMAX 1049.85 1057.50 1039.55 1054.60BAJAJCON 234.10 235.90 231.85 231.85TEJASNET 79.00 85.70 79.00 82.45IFBIND 694.00 718.90 693.45 703.00OBEROIRLTY 522.30 523.25 514.75 520.50VARROC 410.00 421.00 410.00 418.40IBULISL 83.45 85.00 79.90 80.75NLCINDIA 54.05 54.30 52.75 53.45MAHABANK 12.00 14.16 11.78 12.78GSKCONS 8315.85 8367.40 8315.85 8350.00TTKPRESTIG 5736.75 5745.35 5605.00 5660.45ASTERDM 156.60 157.30 153.00 154.00

VBL 699.65 700.50 693.00 694.95SHANKARA 303.90 311.55 303.00 305.95ITDCEM 46.35 48.80 45.50 48.55REDINGTON 114.85 119.50 114.05 115.40BIRLACORPN 590.45 593.00 577.80 579.60MAHLOG 390.00 390.00 384.90 385.75GDL 96.15 101.20 96.15 99.60TATAINVEST 801.00 804.55 797.00 800.65INTELLECT 142.80 144.75 141.75 141.85NH 305.55 311.75 303.60 303.80PTC 53.70 54.00 53.70 53.75SOMANYCERA 209.80 223.50 208.90 213.85FINCABLES 358.70 358.70 350.00 356.10HUDCO 35.70 35.85 35.60 35.60JKCEMENT 1156.85 1163.60 1154.00 1155.00HONAUT 26629.25 26762.85 26500.00 26504.70VGUARD 212.95 213.75 211.40 211.40TAKE 97.65 98.90 97.30 98.00ADVENZYMES 165.85 168.00 162.45 163.15HATHWAY 18.90 19.70 18.85 19.15AJANTPHARM 950.80 960.00 948.80 957.65LAXMIMACH 3247.20 3333.00 3247.20 3270.00HAL 720.00 737.80 718.00 723.40BASF 995.55 1005.75 992.00 1002.35SYNGENE 308.30 311.45 305.50 311.45CUB 227.75 230.00 225.05 228.65PERSISTENT 671.20 673.95 665.00 666.20UFLEX 194.35 194.65 192.75 192.75APLLTD 550.00 554.00 544.85 546.20SONATSOFTW 306.40 310.70 305.40 306.00MRPL 41.00 41.00 40.55 40.65BLUESTARCO 784.80 792.40 780.60 790.00IEX 142.10 143.45 140.55 140.55FDC 207.55 210.40 206.35 206.50ZYDUSWELL 1440.55 1449.40 1438.00 1444.00ALLCARGO 96.50 97.15 95.65 96.90CERA 2684.00 2687.05 2654.00 2659.60LAKSHVILAS 17.55 18.15 17.10 17.65TCIEXP 755.75 759.00 747.80 747.80MAHSCOOTER 4454.85 4496.00 4408.15 4412.10WESTLIFE 340.40 347.00 340.00 341.30VTL 942.60 970.85 937.55 953.70VAIBHAVGBL 775.00 813.95 773.00 801.00GAYAPROJ 80.05 80.05 77.95 77.95JYOTHYLAB 149.05 149.30 147.50 149.00JKLAKSHMI 274.20 275.20 272.90 273.00BLUEDART 2202.10 2203.20 2166.05 2190.00GET&D 147.65 150.80 146.65 147.15SUPREMEIND 1122.65 1129.00 1120.00 1123.45SADBHAV 112.05 113.00 111.10 112.15SYMPHONY 1150.90 1165.80 1144.40 1144.40KALPATPOWR 396.00 403.25 393.05 400.50ORIENTELEC 195.95 197.75 192.90 196.20KNRCON 231.45 231.75 229.65 230.40ARVINDFASN 382.50 382.50 373.00 377.85JSWENERGY 69.50 70.05 69.35 69.70FLFL 401.15 402.50 395.00 400.05SUPRAJIT 184.60 189.50 181.20 184.00AKZOINDIA 1951.90 1951.90 1929.00 1930.35VSTIND 4208.15 4213.25 4174.35 4190.00LAURUSLABS 369.90 370.30 362.75 365.20CHENNPETRO 112.15 112.25 110.25 110.25TNPL 165.90 166.05 165.00 165.60FINOLEXIND 544.45 544.55 540.30 542.45GALAXYSURF 1463.00 1471.90 1422.65 1433.40UNITEDBNK 8.78 8.90 8.58 8.90CCL 193.30 196.45 189.10 192.25NETWORK18 25.05 25.40 24.30 25.05GARFIBRES 1151.00 1176.55 1151.00 1161.50ANDHRABANK 17.40 17.50 17.20 17.25TIMETECHNO 51.10 51.10 50.10 50.55SHK 107.10 109.35 106.75 108.90HERITGFOOD 350.45 350.45 340.00 343.00SHILPAMED 281.55 282.00 271.00 273.75CENTRUM 19.95 20.00 19.50 19.60ORIENTCEM 67.00 71.00 66.60 71.00AIAENG 1630.00 1659.95 1630.00 1653.65NBVENTURES 67.60 68.00 67.35 67.35GULFOILLUB 820.05 834.85 811.40 834.70PNCINFRA 193.00 194.00 191.60 192.00JCHAC 1917.80 1918.05 1904.10 1913.70WABCOINDIA 6360.05 6385.95 6360.00 6360.00GEPIL 692.00 704.10 692.00 700.00MAHSEAMLES 372.00 375.65 366.75 375.65VMART 1652.80 1652.80 1612.20 1620.00SOLARINDS 1050.15 1065.25 1050.10 1054.50MAGMA 52.60 53.00 52.05 52.50TEAMLEASE 2506.50 2530.00 2484.50 2500.00SHOPERSTOP 345.45 345.45 339.95 341.60DBCORP 132.60 133.30 131.50 133.10KPITTECH 90.45 90.45 88.45 89.30CARBORUNIV 321.05 323.55 320.40 321.90GPPL 85.10 85.10 84.20 84.20SIS 931.55 947.60 930.00 945.70RATNAMANI 1027.00 1036.80 1023.50 1034.00SFL 1325.00 1325.00 1282.00 1282.00VRLLOG 267.05 267.20 264.30 264.75MAHLIFE 394.20 395.00 389.80 389.80INDOSTAR 174.05 175.00 172.10 172.10STARCEMENT 89.00 89.40 88.40 88.50SKFINDIA 2129.60 2138.45 2129.10 2130.00LAOPALA 145.90 145.90 142.40 144.25SCHAEFFLER 4474.20 4570.00 4474.20 4555.00KPRMILL 664.80 665.00 653.85 653.85ZENSARTECH 172.20 172.75 171.25 172.70TVSSRICHAK 1653.00 1685.65 1650.85 1670.40CHOLAHLDNG 496.50 499.95 495.70 499.95SHRIRAMCIT 1381.35 1387.00 1370.35 1387.00

�������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12211.85 12221.55 12118.85 12126.55 -88.00ONGC 126.00 129.55 124.50 129.15 3.15VEDL 148.30 152.50 147.55 150.90 2.85JSWSTEEL 267.00 272.00 266.70 269.40 2.65NTPC 115.15 118.30 114.00 116.30 1.10BAJFINANCE 4149.95 4196.45 4133.25 4179.00 39.50TATASTEEL 463.00 472.00 463.00 467.20 4.20EICHERMOT 21990.00 22200.00 21901.10 22045.75 177.10BAJAJFINSV 9325.00 9392.00 9290.00 9347.90 53.05COALINDIA 198.40 201.40 195.20 200.00 1.05ASIANPAINT 1799.40 1819.70 1797.05 1811.00 7.55HEROMOTOCO2432.65 2454.95 2425.05 2439.00 6.35HDFC 2412.75 2433.35 2404.30 2416.60 3.85M&M 530.00 536.20 527.05 528.25 0.75HCLTECH 561.65 565.00 559.55 560.60 0.05TECHM 771.00 779.05 768.05 772.00 -0.05ZEEL 297.70 299.00 291.10 297.00 -0.25AXISBANK 737.50 740.65 733.90 739.90 -0.75UPL 572.70 577.00 566.25 568.55 -0.60HINDUNILVR 1950.80 1954.25 1938.50 1943.80 -2.60NESTLEIND 14600.00 14715.00 14560.00 14560.45 -25.55BPCL 476.00 484.55 474.25 476.50 -1.30BAJAJ-AUTO 3226.00 3239.00 3204.00 3216.65 -10.10INFRATEL 255.00 260.45 251.65 254.35 -0.95SBIN 333.00 333.45 328.10 330.20 -1.25ICICIBANK 541.10 542.40 537.65 538.80 -2.30INDUSINDBK 1517.10 1529.60 1504.65 1514.55 -7.30TATAMOTORS 175.90 176.45 174.10 174.60 -0.90INFY 732.00 734.55 726.55 729.50 -3.90HINDALCO 216.75 217.60 214.30 214.95 -1.30TCS 2216.40 2229.00 2195.20 2202.00 -13.60GRASIM 739.60 745.80 734.00 734.00 -4.50ITC 238.90 239.40 236.35 236.95 -1.80WIPRO 252.00 252.40 249.55 250.30 -1.95DRREDDY 2896.55 2914.75 2860.00 2870.00 -25.95TITAN 1209.95 1213.75 1190.60 1193.00 -11.10POWERGRID 187.30 187.50 184.05 185.35 -1.80BRITANNIA 3090.00 3118.00 3054.15 3061.50 -29.55KOTAKBANK 1711.05 1715.00 1689.70 1695.00 -16.55ULTRACEMCO 4097.00 4125.00 4048.75 4055.00 -42.35CIPLA 478.70 482.55 472.25 473.45 -5.25IOC 127.00 127.50 124.60 125.90 -1.50MARUTI 7334.00 7343.45 7222.00 7237.25 -90.55GAIL 119.70 120.35 117.60 118.00 -1.75HDFCBANK 1289.70 1291.85 1264.65 1269.85 -19.30LT 1299.65 1306.70 1277.00 1279.30 -21.70ADANIPORTS 368.80 370.60 362.10 362.10 -6.50SUNPHARMA 430.90 431.40 420.65 421.90 -7.90RELIANCE 1541.65 1552.95 1510.15 1515.80 -30.65BHARTIARTL 455.30 456.50 446.00 448.05 -9.10YESBANK 51.00 51.60 48.25 48.95 -2.25

�������

�����������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28409.10 28435.25 28259.75 28280.25 -102.60MARICO 334.90 340.35 334.30 339.75 6.15HDFCLIFE 627.90 639.00 623.10 636.60 11.30PAGEIND 22059.90 22540.00 21873.45 22273.30 342.85NMDC 124.90 127.05 124.20 126.25 1.50INDIGO 1304.95 1339.20 1298.05 1320.00 13.05PIDILITIND 1384.10 1396.00 1377.00 1389.50 12.60BANDHANBNK 499.70 504.80 495.90 501.90 3.50SHREECEM 20298.95 20429.25 20189.45 20400.00 130.70DMART 1908.00 1926.00 1908.00 1918.30 10.90HDFCAMC 3220.00 3230.00 3180.20 3225.00 13.80HINDZINC 212.00 214.50 211.90 212.25 0.80SRTRANSFIN 1149.90 1167.60 1147.90 1157.00 3.00BOSCHLTD 15400.20 15523.00 15231.00 15399.95 36.20BIOCON 288.00 291.20 286.70 289.20 0.60MOTHERSUMI 146.45 148.90 145.75 146.70 0.20PGHH 11400.00 11800.00 11380.00 11450.00 7.50NHPC 24.10 24.20 24.00 24.00 0.00DABUR 457.70 461.20 456.70 456.85 -0.85PEL 1654.00 1655.00 1623.45 1645.05 -3.30DIVISLAB 1815.00 1833.00 1808.75 1812.00 -4.90MCDOWELL-N 592.00 596.30 581.70 589.70 -1.60PFC 111.95 112.65 110.80 111.50 -0.45SBILIFE 998.25 999.70 988.10 990.55 -4.20CADILAHC 259.35 260.60 256.30 257.20 -1.25L&TFH 115.00 115.50 113.95 114.35 -0.60ACC 1464.40 1470.00 1448.10 1451.70 -8.90ASHOKLEY 79.95 80.50 79.20 79.40 -0.50DLF 228.60 229.10 225.55 227.15 -1.50BAJAJHLDNG 3450.00 3500.00 3410.25 3415.20 -26.15BANKBARODA 100.30 100.35 98.55 99.10 -0.80GODREJCP 691.30 691.55 679.25 685.65 -5.65ICICIGI 1430.00 1440.40 1410.55 1420.00 -11.90PETRONET 271.95 273.20 269.25 270.00 -2.35GICRE 229.30 232.25 225.25 226.20 -2.20AUROPHARMA 463.40 466.60 458.05 460.50 -4.55HAVELLS 649.20 651.00 640.00 641.60 -6.50SIEMENS 1536.15 1541.35 1516.00 1520.25 -15.45COLPAL 1478.00 1478.00 1456.00 1458.60 -15.60ICICIPRULI 502.00 502.40 492.50 494.60 -5.35LUPIN 767.00 771.00 755.05 756.90 -8.25AMBUJACEM 196.60 197.45 193.60 194.40 -2.15BERGEPAINT 521.50 521.50 512.55 514.00 -6.20PNB 63.40 63.75 62.60 62.70 -0.80CONCOR 575.00 575.70 566.00 567.80 -7.40OFSS 2891.30 2904.00 2814.00 2835.90 -39.75HINDPETRO 261.00 264.65 257.85 258.20 -4.25UBL 1285.00 1296.00 1268.00 1270.00 -29.40NIACL 140.50 142.00 137.05 137.70 -4.20IDEA 6.30 6.45 5.95 6.10 -0.20IBULHSGFIN 312.00 319.80 293.70 294.75 -15.30

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ .�&#�;�

��,����8��,����88�,���

��� ������������������������ ��������0!(/(6(-B ������*��(��G��.�#���������������%����������+���������(���� ����)��������������$�����(�����" �����#��� ����)��#����������������� �+����#&�*�)�����.�����+�����(#�� ��������%�������� � %� �����K���� ������ �%�����#����������*��������%��*���. ����� �#���+������(����������������������������������������������������������������������������.�&

���&�����F���B���������������������������� �0!(/(6(-B�" ����,����1����������" �����#�������������.���������������� ��������������G����+������(���������������� ���?�������������+�����*��#�+ ����1�K�����6�����!�2.�&�*�� ���)���(������?�+�����(�+ ������(#�� ��+ ����2����+��*���������; �����������(���FC����������?)��� ��?��������1��!�2.��������(����������(#�� ����������� ������������.����������������������� ��?�����9����������������*��#�+ ����.�� ����?���� �&

������������������������������������������ ��!� " ��������.���#������������� ��;������������������������������+,���������" �����#�����������������+�������� ������� �;�����+�����+���#��������2��������+����������� ������������+��������������,�&

��B������� �����H�����������F���������&� I#����#)+� " ��%�?�+�1�������� ��������� ������� ��������.����#��������+������ ���(�������(��� ��������������(���#���!�������+�������4������. �����������+��������� �1������������������!���������������-���%������� ���(�����������������,����#����������� &

H����������������'����������� ����&����F���(,(��" ��"��,�� ����������.������6����#��������������������������������4�(#������������� ����)(�+,��1����������"������������������+���"�##���-���������" �����#&�M���.������������ ������������������������4�(#�����������������������������N���6����#�D�-������������������+ ��*,���&

���� 6-���*4-%

Israel carried out air strikesagainst the Gaza Strip

overnight in response to a rock-et fired from the Hamas-con-trolled Palestinian enclave, thearmy said on Thursday.PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuwas at campaign event inAshkelon north of Gaza onWednesday evening when whatthe army called a “projectile”was fired from the strip, settingoff warning sirens.

The army said the “projec-tile was fired from the GazaStrip towards Israeli territory

and was intercepted by the IronDome defence system”. Inresponse, it said, “planes andhelicopters hit several Hamasterrorist targets in the GazaStrip. Military posts wereamong the targets.” No injurieswere reported on either side,though a security source inGaza said damage was report-ed at a number of Hamas sites.

Israel’s public broadcasterKAN 11 showed images of asecurity guard informingNetanyahu, who is campaign-ing for re-election as head of hisLikud party, of a “red alert” lateon Wednesday.

���� 47�'7�

Atop Brussels official haswritten a “love letter” to

Britain expressing his grief at itsdecision to leave the EuropeanUnion — and stressing it wasalways welcome back.

“I know you now. And Ilove you. For who you are andwhat you gave me. I’m like anold lover. I know your strengthsand weaknesses,” EuropeanCommission Vice-PresidentFrans Timmermans wrote inThursday’s edition of TheGuardian newspaper.

“You have decided to leave.It breaks my heart, but I respectthat decision,” he added in a mis-sive titled “My love letter toBritain: family ties can neverreally be severed”. TheDutchman’s letter concludedwith the words: “We’re not goingaway and you will always be wel-

come to come back.” Theprospects of Prime MinisterBoris Johnson reversing hisdecision to take Britain out of theEU on January 31 are close to nil.

Johnson won a thumpingmajority in this month’s gener-al election on a promise to “getBrexit done” after more thanthree years of indecision anddelays. Britons voted by a 52 to48 per cent margin to leave theother 27 EU member states ina 2016 referendum. Most opin-ion polls indicate a slight major-ity in favour of remaining in theEuropean Union today. Butparties supporting a secondBrexit referendum that couldreverse the first one got drubbedin this month’s vote.

Johnson has further indi-cated that he has no plans toextend the post-Brexit transi-tion period beyond the end ofnext year.

���� �:'�-:

Australia has launched anew tourism campaign

starring singer Kylie Minogueaiming to attract British tourists fatigued by Brexit toescape on a laid-back DownUnder holiday.

The three-minute adver-tisement, which premieredahead of the queen’s televisedChristmas Day address inBritain, begins with a primlydressed Minogue apparently atSandringham, the monarch’scountry home, before the setdisappears to show the pop staron a beach of the same namein Australia.

London-based Minoguebegins by singing “This year’sbeen tough and confusing, butprogress is moving” beforeantipodean comedian AdamHills jumps in with “Well, at aglacial pace”.

“But all of Australia lovesyou, and we’ll never judgeyou,” the 51-year-old formerNeighbours star continues. The“Matesong” video later alludes

to Brexit again with the lyrics“negotiating tricky trade dealsis a shocker”.

Tourism Australia said theAus$15 million ($10 million)campaign was its largest invest-ment in the British market formore than a decade.

���� %*�$4*���5$4$��$�-��

Astrong typhoon that bar-reled through the central

Philippines left at least 20 people dead and forcedthousands to flee their homes,devastating Christmas cele-brations in the predominantlyCatholic country.

Typhoon Phanfone strand-ed many people in sea and air-ports at the peak of holidaytravel, set off landslides, flood-ed low-lying villages, destroyedhouses, downed trees and elec-trical poles and knocked outpower in entire provinces.

One disaster response offi-cer described the batteredcoastal town of Batad in Iloiloprovince as a “ghost town” onChristmas Day.

“You can’t see anybodybecause there was a total black-out, you can’t hear anything.The town looked like a ghosttown,” Cindy Ferrer of theregional Office of the CivilDefense said by phone.

The storm weakenedslightly on Thursday as it blew into the South ChinaSea with sustained winds of 120kilometers (74 miles) per hourand gusts of 150 kph (93 mph) after lashing islandafter island with fierce windsand pounding rain onChristmas Day, the weatheragency said.

Most of the 20 deathsreported by national policeand local officials were due todrowning, falling trees andaccidental electrocution.

���� 57�1�;7�1

Hong Kong endured a thirdstraight day of political

unrest over the Christmas peri-od Thursday as police andpro-democracy protestersclashed inside shopping malls.

Protesters spent the after-noon on Thursday marchingthrough multiple malls chant-ing anti-government and anti-police slogans. Riot policeswooped on dozens of black-clad protesters in one mall inTai Po district using pepperspray as well as blue dye tomark suspects, said an AFPreporter on the scene.

Further clashes broke outin four other malls with policemaking multiple arrests and

many shops shuttering theirstore fronts on what would nor-mally be a bumper day.

Hong Kong has been bat-tered by more than six monthsof protests that has upended thefinancial hub’s reputation forstability and helped tip the cityinto recession.

The city’s many malls havebecome regular protest venuesas demonstrators try to causeeconomic disruption and pres-sure the city’s pro-Beijing lead-ership. The last month had seena relative drop-off in violenceand protests after pro-democ-racy candidates won a landslideat local elections.

But with Beijing and cityleaders refusing further con-cessions, rallies and clashes

have reignited over theChristmas period.

Christmas Eve saw some ofthe worst violence in weeks asprotesters and police foughtrunning battles for hours in abusy shopping district.Sporadic and less severe clash-es broke out again inside mallson Christmas Day.

On Wednesday, HongKong’s pro-Beijing leaderCarrie Lam said violent pro-testers had “ruined” Christmas.

The Government issued anew statement on Thursdaycondemning protesters forusing violence over the last sixmonths. “Unprecedented vio-lence, reckless and organiseddestruction became the norm,”the statement said.

*��������� �!�������������������@

������������������������� ���C7 ������@���%�������������� ����B���� ��D�������� ��� ������������� ������� �������� ������!���$��� ��@���%������������ ��

���� � �*�5$�1"7�

Republican Senator LisaMurkowski has said that she

was “disturbed” by her party’sstance before President DonaldTrump’s impeachment trial, itwas reported on Thursday.

The Alaska Senator’s com-ments come after SenateMajority Leader MitchMcConnellpledged “total co-ordination” with the WhiteHouse, the BBC said in a report.

Murkowski told Alaska’s

KTUU news channel onWednesday that she wasuncomfortable withMcConnell’s comments about“total co-ordination”.”When Iheard that I was disturbed,” shesaid. Murkowski also said thereshould be distance between theWhite House and the Senateover how the trial is conducted.

“To me it means that wehave to take that step back frombeing hand in glove with thedefence,” the BBC quoted heras saying to KTUU channel.

She added the impeach-ment proceedings were“rushed”. Murkowski, a mod-erate Republican, has criti-cised President Trump on anumber of policy issues. InOctober 2018, she opted not tovote to confirm Trump’s nomi-nee for the Supreme Court,after sexual assault allegations.On December 18, Trump wasimpeached by the Democrat-controlled House ofRepresentatives for abuse ofpower and obstruction ofCongress. He now faces a trialin the Republican-dominatedSenate, whose members aresupposed to remain impartial.

Trial could begin nextmonth, after holiday break.However, Trump, thirdPresident in US history to beimpeached, was unlikely to beremoved from office because ofRepublican control of Senate.

���� � ����E� ��� ��(���������(������� ������� ����������

New York: The final bend of USPresident Donald Trump’simpeachment process, a Senatetrial, has suddenly slid intolimbo after his Democraticrivals who control the House ofRepresentatives have broughtthe until-now rapid fire specta-cle to a screeching halt and leftpoliticos scratching their headsabout how this story ends.

“Timing is everything,” thePresident’s most consequentialrival in the US Congress andthe heroine of the Democraticresistance Nancy Pelosi saidbefore launching the impeach-ment inquiry against Trump.

While political punditsbegan predicting an earlyJanuary trial, Pelosi has nowinserted a twist in the storylineafter bottling up impeachment.She is asking SenateRepublicans what a trial mightlook like.

Pelosi has refused to sub-mit articles of impeachment tothe Senate and the standoff islikely to last a few weeks at leastbefore the high stakes feudresumes on the other side of thenew year.

Republicans control theSenate 53-47. Even if allDemocratic Senators vote to

remove Trump, at least 20Republicans will have to flip forhim to be convicted andremoved from office. A twothirds vote in the Senate isrequired to remove animpeached US President.

Throughout the impeach-ment tumult so far, the WhiteHouse has kept its sights firm-ly on the Senate trial, whereTrump is almost certain to beacquitted.

Pelosi says the House can-not choose impeachment man-agers “until we know whatsort of a trial the Senate willconduct”. IANS

������ ������������� ���� ��� ���� � ������ �������������������� ���� ��������

���� 6-���*4-%

Israel’s embattled premierBenjamin Netanyahu faced a

challenge on Thursday for theleadership of his Likud partyfrom a longtime rival, formerinterior minister Gideon Saar.

Likud’s roughly 116,000 eli-gible voters have until 11 pm(2100 GMT) to choose betweenNetanyahu and Saar, with theresult expected by early Fridaymorning. A defeat forNetanyahu, 70, would be ashock, but even a relatively closeresult could weaken his influ-

ence over the conservative partyhe has dominated for 20 years.

After a decade in power,Netanyahu is Israel’s longestserving premier but he hasbeen weakened by a series ofcorruption indictments.

After months of politicalstalemate, he faces a third gen-eral election within 12 monthsearly next year — but only if hefirst defeats his challenger.Saar, 53, a former interior andeducation minister, is seen asslightly to the right ofNetanyahu and has called foran even more hawkish policy

towards the Palestinians.The Israel-Palestinian con-

flict as ever loomed over poli-tics. On Wednesday eveningNetanyahu was rushed off stageat a campaign event inAshkelon in southern Israelnear Gaza after alarms sound-ed indicating incoming firefrom the Palestinian enclave.

Turnout was expected to belower than previous primaries,the last of which was in 2014,as much of Israel was hit bywinter storms, although it wasunclear which of the candidateswould benefit from this.

6��������� ���� �/������ ��������������� ��� ���� �����

#&����&���,�&�-.��������,��������� ���

*������������'�����������A����� �(������������� ���������������������.�� �������� ���*������������ ���,#������������" �����#�����M����������N��������+�����&�" ����)+�������������+���������. �+ ��� ��������������� �����������������(����+�����(��������������� �����+ �������$���������,�������" ���������$������&

*�� ����������$��������������������+�������� ������������+�������������������+����.���G��#��&�" ��������������� ���,#����+ ���������+���������� �������������������������,��(����������� ���.���������(�����#������� ���,#�������,���&� �

@����������� �������������������$������!����� ����� �������������� � �� ������������ ��

��� ����������������12������ ���� � �� ��

�<�� ����������-�������������2������������2�����

�������,���1������1�2����������#�40������2@

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

*+����������� ���������. �����#�������������������)���.������� ������ +���������?��� ���#�������������� �������#��� ���� ������������+ ���������+������������ �.�#���+���#����������.����. ������������+������ ���+�������������������������������� ����������&

M$��������������������#���$�,�.�� �����������������#���������#�������&� ����.�����������+ ������ ������ ��� ���������&�7�������� ���� ����(��������+����+���������,�� �����������+�(���� ����?����+������ ���������� ������&�$����.����������������(��� ����+���#���,����� ���������� �������.������� �������� ������������������ �������� �� ��&�$���������������#���������+���������+���#&�$�������������N�� ������&

*+������ �������������� ������������#�����)���� �����������@�,���!���������� ������5����#����� �� ���� ������� ��� �������. �+ � ��+����� ������)�������2�+���.���� ����(��������+��(#� ��&

$�� ��������(�+,���(#�;���6� ��L��' ����������+�����������+����(#�@�� ��@���� ��� ����#���������!������. ���������. ����������� �������+������ ������. ������+�������$����������������������,��������������������� �;������������/EEE&

<��("�(�!���/���/�������'���)�!��=����� ��!��� ���(�(�� �!�&&!������ ������ �!��)

/�=��)�%��*���$��!��������.�&#�'�&&�#.�� �(�����!����.�� � &��. �����$�*�$��#���� ��������� ��. ����� �)�!%��'�%!��$�$���%�����=�9������&(������ �� �$��. ������ �$��$ �'����5&&).#���/���5&&).#=����%�(�(��!��"��&�*�(���#����#�-�� �'&)�(���#�"�=>?�&����@�&

*�*�!��)�;�

<�!���)�%�-�$��.%��'��&�$��)>

<���� �$�� ��.�$�� �(��A*��$��>��������������� ���L����,�������������������� ��+�����+�����)+����������� �����+����.�������+������� �5���#.��������&�� ����#��������� �M.���������N�� ���� �� ����������&

��������*���.�4��#���(��L���+��+�����+�������������+���������� ������+����"�#).���+ ������� ���*�#

!��,�(�� ������ ������� ������(#�7�+��).������+����"���5���������)

�������� ������+���������.��������&

" ���+�������,���".����������?������ �����.���(����� ������&M���� ����+�����#.������ ��$�� �� ����.�����(������$������#�� �� ����.�����(�� ����(��&�!��$��������+ ����&�� #.�����#���+ ��� ��+ ������)

� #A�N�����������&

The interior design of a property isunmistakably important in givinga home its status and an all-

embracing character. And while thefocus has been on outdoors in therecent past, elements that evoke a strongconnect to nature and environmentwill be big in the coming year if we lookat decor style trends. In 2020, we shallsee an influx of designs and aestheticsinspired by nature. Using natural crys-tals to create a rejuvenating space hasbeen another viral home decor trend,globally.

Amazonia, my new collection, hasalso been inspired by all these elementsas it brings them together seamlessly. Ituses natural materials and embossedmetals while the roots delve into anorganic space of the jungles of Amazon.The collection takes my work withinlay to a creative crescendo and com-bines it with precious and semi-preciousstones.

���������������Neutrals will hold their turf in

2020. However, they are getting mor-phed a bit. We’ll be witnessing a shift

from cool neutrals to warmer ones. Blueswill also take the spotlight this comingyear with shades of muddied and dark-er blue climbing to the top. Remember,that the Pantone colour for 2020 is clas-sic blue? It will definitely be a majortrend this coming year. Here are sometips on how you can incorporate it inyour homes:

- A good way to add classic blue toyour already existing décor is by usingit in soft furnishing and small décoraccents like a crystal collection.

- Pewter colours go very well withclassic blue. If you are inclining towardscreating a warm, relaxing effect, usetones of blue with white — certainly aclassic.

��� ���������&�������������Another emerging trend in 2020 will

be a niche term called the‘Grandmillenial’. The look is a tradition-al design with a twist that blends ele-ments of classic design like Chinoiserie,scallops, natural fibre rugs, topiaries, andmore, with a contemporary edge —

modern art and clean-lined furniture.For those who don’t know, Chinoiserie,a French term, is the European interpre-tation and imitation of Chinese and EastAsian artistic traditions (here, in the dec-orative arts and garden design).

�����������Investing in a piece of art is always

a good idea. Abstract paintings are apowerful technique for creating anemotionally-charged interior. It embod-ies pure energy, free form and objectiv-ity. Abstraction is important to “makefriends” with the interior.

����?������������High-gloss paints and subtle textures

in neutral tones are the soaring trend in2020. If you are thinking of giving yourhome a revamp, indulge your walls inthat. It’s a way to add brightness, rich-ness and a certain kind of a mood thatdoesn’t weigh down or dominate aspace.

Classicism is also back. Busts andGrecian subtleties add the ideal perspec-tive to any contemporary vignette.Embrace these revered components aselements of fun is the ideal touch.

����������� ��������������������

Monochromatic doesn’t always needto be pale as it sounds. Hues like cobaltblue, Kelly green or even aubergine caninspire monochrome boldly, loadedwith character and polish. Strikingmonochromatic shades will be huge in2020. Also, single prints can create theright drama. What could be simple andyet incite more drama and style than aroom covered in the same print from thefloor to the ceiling? I have been usingthis in my designs forever. But for thisyear’s forecast, it will be a major trendas it is overtly glamorous and timeless-ly chic.

At the end of it, HyundaiVenue won the ICOTY

2020 award by nine points,with scores of the 18 judges col-lated by Grant-Thornton. Thiswas one of the closest resultsand thanks to the scoring sys-tem, which was fair enough, tofind one clear winner. The newBMW 3-series was the winnerof the Premium Car award byICOTY, which is in its secondyear. Its stablemate, the newBMW X5 gave it tough compe-tition.

Since the award, many peo-ple have asked how can theHyundai Venue beat out KiaSeltos? While I cannot speak forthe other judges, it was a closecontest in most of the minds.Make no mistakes, the KiaSeltos is a brilliant new vehicle,and if you are looking for a mid-sized Sports Utility Vehicle inthe �15-20 lakh price range, theSeltos is by far and away theright choice. But there is a lot incommon between the Hyundaiand the Kia. Not least becausethey were developed by thesame engineers. Hyundai andKia share not only the same par-ent but also the same researchteam, although they have verydifferent design philosophiesand aggressively competitivemarketing and communica-tions teams. Both cars havemade significant changes totheir segments, thanks to thewidespread introduction ofturbo-petrol engines coupledwith Dual-Clutch gearboxes.Sure, they’re not the first tobring in such technologies inthe country, Ford andVolkswagen have tried it aswell. In fact, the VolkswagenPolo GT TSI is still the most funhatchback you can buy in India.However, the Hyundai and theKia packaged the system along-side great interiors, good info-tainment systems with emer-

gency service assistance (again,pioneered by Ford) as well asreliability and the ability tohold value. But in the ICOTY,affordability plays a major role,like it does in most COTYawards as well as whether avehicle defined or redefined asegment.

The Venus clearly rede-fined the compact SUV seg-ment giving a far superior offer-ing as compared with anythingelse in sight. And it was moreaffordable, at least, in my opin-ion as well as of those of theother jury members.

In addition, the IndianMotorcycle of The Year awardwent to the Hero X-Pulse 200.All the awards were given out byRaghupati Singhania,Chairman, JK Tyre, a copy ofwhich has supported ICOTYand IMOTY since its initialyears.

But these two cars were notthe only ones to surprise me thisyear. In third place, voting wasin favour of the Renault Triber,which in my opinion was themost surprising car of the year.Yes, the one-litre 71 horsepow-er engine is underpowered, not

so woefully. It can get the job,not very fast, but it sure can. Interms of packaging and pricing,the Triber is a genuine head-scratcher because it is so good.Indeed, I have wondered ifRenault India had added a lit-tle bit of class, steering controlsand 10-12 more horses, it couldhave been the winner easily. Butif you want a spacious littlemini-estate, which is what theTriber is, you can’t go wronghere.

Another car that genuinelytook me by surprise was theHyundai i10 Nios, not justbecause Hyundai does smallcars just right but also becausethe company has got the han-dling bang-on with this car. Itwas a surprise on the track.With the 120 horsepower 1.0turbo-petrol engine from theVenue, which it is expected toacquire early next year, this carcan be the best affordable hothatchback in India since theMaruti Zen. Despite its issues,the Honda Civic was also astrong contender. TheMahindra XUV 300 might havestood a chance, if it wasn’t upagainst the Venue and also if the

car had made it to the juryround in the first place. ICOTYrules state that unless a car is atthe jury round it cannot be con-sidered.

Of course, all these pale incomparison to the most fun carthat I have driven this year,which was the stunningLamborghini Huracan Evoaround the Madras MotorSpeedway, which was, despite a360-degree spin or possiblybecause of it, the most fun thatI have had this year. Over thenext few weeks, I will be releas-ing a bunch of videos onYouTube and other platformswhere I will be in conversationwith other automotive jour-nalists from the Indian mediaabout a whole host of topics.The first video of the series,where I am in conversation withthe editor of Evo India, SirishChandran, is out and can beviewed atwww.youtube.com/kushanmi-tra.

Here is wishing every sin-gle one of you a very happy newyear and hopefully 2020 will bea better year for everyone andthe Indian automotive industry.

It’s been almost six months sinceBekhayali from the Shahid

Kapoor-starrer Kabir Singh becamethe song of the year. The love songstill continues to be on everybody’splaylist. Whether it is the heartwrenching lyrics or the perfectblend of different emotions, rang-ing from harsh angst to mellowromance, the seven-minute trackcontinues to be a huge hit. It is noteasy, however, for the song’s com-posers Sachet Tandon andParampara Thakur to deal with thefame that they have been witness-ing after Bekhayali because peoplenow expect them to recreate thesame magic in every new song.

“There is more responsibilityon us to create good music follow-ing the success of Bekhayali.Sometimes people approach usand say, Behkayali jaisa song chayie.It can’t be like that always. Peopleshould understand it was createdaccording to the story of KabirSingh. Bekhayali exists because ofKabir Singh. We can’t create thesame song every time. Also, thesame type of song should not becreated every time. There shouldalways be songs that prove original-ity and bring in fresh air,” the duoemphasized.

Keeping aside the challenge,the duo also expressed happiness

on receiving so much love frompeople, and spoke about how lifehas changed after the blockbustersong. “Creating a hit standalonesong was much needed to scale ourgrowth in the industry, and that’swhat Bekhayali did for us. We areextremely grateful to people forshowering immense love on ourlong. After Bekhayali, we have gota lot of projects and touchwood,people have loved all our songs thatreleased this year be it Dilbara orPal Pal Dil Ke Paas. More offersstarted coming our way after KabirSingh,” Parampara added.

The musical duo, who startedtheir musical journey in Bollywoodwith Toilet: Ek Prem Katha almostthree years ago, recently com-posed the Ghamand Kar in AjayDevgn’s forthcoming ambitioushistorical, Tanhaji: The UnsungWarrior.

Asked what is their USP, thetalented composers laughed andsaid, “Sab god’s gift hai. We arelucky enough that we are born withsuch talent. We believe that to beextraordinary in today’s time, onecan’t be just ‘okay’. You have to bedifferent and unique in order tosurvive. So we always try to sur-prise our listeners with somethingnew,” they concluded.

F��#�

;��5*��%$"�*

�,,4��8����� �

=+6"6/)�!/�"&��=�AA>/������&&��� ���&�

��� &�������0������������&�����

1 '223�-(�1 3&����&�&����

�������&������4�,��&��������������������������������5656�

�����������&

)�����������" ��&��� ���B���������� ��6� �����������" ��8����E6�!"8F���� �����9?9?���������������������� �������������� ��;���,����

�������0��������������� �����������&�������

*�*�!��)�3��4�;�

�����'�� ��5�� �����������H��������.�:���G��������������������������+�+��������������)������#������&�" ����.����(�

�������������(����!�� �������������+���������������������������� �������*���+ �+,���,�.������%�� �������������!������������.�� %����������������+#�����������������������������#�����&� () �"����'�+��(���</��,#� ��/�F00��������?��������.���� �� �������'�� �5�� ���������������&

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+

!������������� ��#���.�� �������#���

�? ������������������?�����+������5#������+#�'�� �&�" �����������+�����������(��������������������++���!��������.����� ����.���� ������1��������!��(�#����� �����*(������-�#?��!�+������������&�" ����������+�������+�������5#����+��(����(���&�*�$����������������4�������������(����������+�������.�:���G������(�������. �+ ������������������������ �.+����� ��(�������$������+������(#�� ���1������4�����&��,#� ���C�000��������?���� �� ��5#�������+#�'�� �&

����(������ ����.�:���L������.�� ������<C�1����������� ����������+����H' ����� �

.�� �'6�����&G�-2�#������������� �����+�.�� ������������������(��������������&� () ��'�+��(���</��#/ ��C����.�������������� ���,#� � ��������#�(������?+������������?���S��3�=00��+������S��<�000�������S��F�=00������������ �� �������<C��+,�����!���R�;��+ ����#(���5�(��1������&

������������������ ����.�:����.�� �#������������������#����" �������������� ����

�����+������.�:����-��G������#&�1���������� ���������'6����#������������� ��+ ��+���+����+���������������(�������&� () �'�+��(���</��#/ ��D�������3�����,#� ��/0�000��������?��������+�������� �� � " ��"7�:��4�!�R�4�����" �������&

'$!)� 33'7 �1#�!%��1(���� 33'�����&������ ● @����������B�/00�● *���+���2��B�F0��● "����������#B�F0��● '���++�����+�+���BF0��● ��� �.����B�F0��● ���B�/=���● *���+���+��#���������B�F0��● � ����(��������������B�/00��● $+������B�=0��

����� ● $���(�.�����?+��� ������������+���2���������������#�����++�����+�+����+�� �.�����������&● '������� ����?��������� ����������(����&

������ ��(�����.�� (������+������+����������+���&�,�6�)) ,��, (/�● $�� ��(�.�������������?����������.�� � �������������+ ����(����� ��(����������������������������������� ������(���

��������&● *���� ���+���������� ��(�.�����(��������+��(���&$+������� ����������(����� �������������������������.�������&�

������&������9 ����������������������@���G�

����(������ ���������#����� �#�������!�������+��&�-2�#

�����+����#)+������������(#� �����(�����*�������.�� ���������+���������� ������?�����+�&�-?+��������������������+����#���������(������.���&� () �'�+��(���</��,#� ���<�F=0���� ������+� ���S��3�F=0�.�� ���+� �����#/ � D&<0����.������ �� ��4��%�������1������&

5�����1�����$��1�����!����� ���������������.

:����(�� &������ �����+�+������,������������������������������������+ �����(�,������ ��"������! ��.�������+�����������������!���(���#�+ ����+�,����+�+,�����&� () � '�+��(���</�#/ � D�������/F�����,#� ��C�000������+�������

(�(�����"$

�!�!$(%���!($%"���+!�!3 %2�����&������ ● '�����+�+���B�F�+����● ��+�������B�3=��● ��+����+����B�E0���● ��.����������B�O0��● @������,�+ �+�����B�<00������� ● *���� ��������+�+�����+�+��������+�+����+����������.�������������� �(������������������?����&● � ����� ������������������ ��+�+�����?���������(���&● ���+��� ��+�+����(��������(�,�����#+�������.�� ����+ ������������������������������/=����<0�������&�

● � ����� ��(���#�(������������������������ ��+ �+�����&● %����� ��@���'��,�+ �+��������� ���+��.���&● " ��+�������+ �(���.�� ��������+ �+�����(#������#�����������&● *���.�� ������(���#�(������������������(����/=������������ ������������#��������&

������&�������� �������� �G

� $23328228�� 99#33#��

�����&������ ��,�4(� !! �● � �+,)���������B�<00��● 7��������● �������������● � ������������#�,��(JJ#!!#�● ��������B�<=0��● 1��������������+ ����B�/00��● !�����+���(�● �����B�/00���● 7��������● ����● ������

● �����

����� �,�4(� !! �

● %�?�� ��������.�� �.�����������+ ������������+ ������������#&%�?�.����.�� �����������������������)�������� &�

● � ��� ����� ��������#�����+������� �����#�����������&�" ���� �� �����(������+�������� �+,������� ������+��������&���������������+�������+�����������+�������� ����&�

● " �������������(#�� ��������������� ����� ��������������������� ������+�������������������������������&�'������#����� �&�� �����#��� �#��������+������ ��(����(��,���.�� ���������������������.

�������������&

�,��(JJ#!!#�

● !��������������������������.����������� ���&�

● *���<0����������������������+ ������(�����+���(���������������������������&�%�?���.���&�%�,������?���������������������.��������������#&�

● �������+#�����+���+�� ������.�� �� �����������?������ ��+���� ������ ����������?��������� ���� ��(�����+���(�����+ ����&�

● ��#�� ��+�� ��������������.�� �(��������������&

● ������� �����������(�.�&��������#B�" ��������!�.�������#�

1������&

Food is one thing which hasthe power to bring everyone

— friends and family —together. People of every cul-ture, country, religion bondover food. Following are someof the trends that many foodconnoisseurs will be workingon the next year:

HEALTHY ALL THE WAYHealthy food is totally in.

Fermentation which is good for gut is cer-tainly catching on. We have a brand, AllGood Deli, which is all about health andgood for gut ingredients. It has on offerkombucha (a fermented, slightly alcoholic,lightly effervescent, sweetened black orgreen tea drink commonly consumed forits supposed health benefits) and ferment-ed dairy. Yoghurts with almond or soymilk, tofu and kefir in various flavours willpick up traction. There is a constant risein convenience cooking without compro-mising on the health aspect. Convenienceof all ingredients packed into a self-cookbox is a concept gaining popularity.

HEIRLOOM AND ANCIENT INGREDIENTS

There will be a lot of experimentationon heirloom varieties of millets like ragi,barley, millets, teff and spelt. A major focusarea will be on lost ingredients andrecipes. Home chefs are putting the focuson ancient recipes. It’s not difficult in Indiato move back to sustainable heirloomingredients as we just have to look backtwo generations. If I get stuck anywhereon sustainability, I just think what wouldmy grandma do in such a situation. Thereis a lot of focus on reviving the old cook-ing methods, cookware, techniques andrecipes. There is a growing appreciationfor ghee and cold pressed seed oils whichwere used by our ancestors.

DESIREGIONAL STREET FLAVOURSMore and more chefs are getting

inspired by the regional street foods ofIndia. Menus in the most popular restau-

rants will be curated based ondesi flavours, be it small plates,mains or even dessert. Themillennials who are socially,financially and culturally inde-pendent are experimentativeand want to try something newwhich is driving chefs to inno-vate and create new regionaldishes. The youth also travelsfor dining experiences.

CLOUD KITCHENS AND HOMECHEFS

With growing number of workingcouples especially in the cities, there is ahuge rise of “dining in”. Food delivery isshowing an upward movement, thus giv-ing rise to more and more cloud kitchenswhich are run by home chefs. This is espe-cially getting popular when we look at itin combination with health trends. Eventhough the customer has to eat food froma commercial kitchen but they prefer ifthat is managed by a home chef who canprovide ‘ghar jaisa khana’. Rise of cloudkitchens will be seen as a global trend in2020.

ZERO-WASTE BLISSFUL FOODSWe are all aware that with a rising

population threatens food security. Therewill be a growing trend to reduce foodwastage as much as possible and developrecipes which can make even peels deli-cious. The trend does not just revolvearound blissful food from waste but alsococktails and beverages using food waste,peels and ingredients like apple pulp,orange peels and much more.

LOOK EASTThere was a time when eating food

from Western countries was fashionable.Now the trend is headed towards East.South East Asian flavours are getting verypopular, be it Thai or Japanese. Lesserknown cuisines from the East likeBurmese, Vietnamese and Laos are gain-ing popularity especially among millen-nials.

When it comes to newtrends in dining out,more than ever, cus-

tomers are switching over tohealthy and natural food, whichis pesticide free. Whatever sci-ence says, many guests havemade up their minds that theydo not wish to include foodwhich has been genetically tam-pered with as these crops havebeen modified to boost produc-tivity. People are always on thelookout for healthier alternativesin their food. The year 2020 willbe even more focussed onGMO-free ingredients andthings will become more intensein the coming years. Also withan increasingly urban lifestyleinvading our houses, it is affect-ing the way we eat and cook ourmeals. So one pot dishes are tobe look forward to in 2020 andare surely the next big thing.Moreover, with working partnersin a nuclear family who arealways crunched for time onepot dishes become the supereasy, highly nutritious mealswith adequate protein and starchcontent. You can also call iturban cooking.

From 2020 onwards, chefswill be faced with new challengesbecause the new FSSAI regula-tions impose a lot of restrictions

on imported ingredients. Owingto that, most chefs will have tocurate a menu with the locallyavailable ingredients becausesourcing imported essentials ora brands will become increasing-ly difficult. We have to devise away to look out for local ingre-dients because they are consis-tently available and are extreme-ly flavourful too.

Food holds out memoriesand can transport you back intime. Many chefs are working on

this aspect called ‘emotionalfood’. They are taking this con-cept quite seriously now and areresearching to bring backmama’s flavours for one to feeltruly nostalgic. I personally havemany memorable ones andremember them whenever Iencounter such a scenario. Thememory of digging into instantnoodles for the first time isfresh in my mind and I distinct-ly remember that I didn’t like thetaste at first go. So my mother

started making coconut payasamwith noodles, a taste that I wasfamiliar with and l iked.Whenever I eat payasam orinstant noodles I rememberwhat it tasted like back then.Many a times these memoriesare embedded deep inside mymind and are hard to forget.That is also the reason whyculinary experts are diggingdeep and finding lost tribalrecipes.

Food is now a highly-rated

genre and connoisseurs arealways looking out for age-oldcooking techniques, forgottenand classic global recipes astheir essence lies in simple andstraight flavours. For instance, anintrinsic cooking method of oneof the tribes of Rajasthan was tomake pits in the ground andcook their meat. This is stillprevalent in the state. So, 2020will see a revival of such old clas-sic signature cooking techniques,recipes with presentationinspired from the bygone era.

As various countries start tolegalise marijuana, there aremore opportunities to experi-ment with this secret ingredientas it has many medicinal bene-fits. It’s perhaps the most inter-esting new food market whichwill appear in the coming yearsas chefs work on new foundways of cooking with cannabis.

EATING CART TO ADAPT IN2020 FOR YOUR DIETMAKEOVER:

·Grains: Chia seeds, wholewheat and whole maize are morefibrous which facilitates betterdigestion

·Greens: All greens provideanti-oxidants which are essentialfor a glowing skin

·Roots: All root vegetablesfor natural carbohydrates andpure energy

·Worm bit vegetables andbeak bit fruits: Worm bit vegeta-bles and beak bit fruits have lesspesticides. Buy from a smalllocal vendor who offers lessvariety of food which is grownin a small yard

·Pure water: It is a must forhealthy life

·Deep water ocean food: Asof now it is considered as thebest available organic producesince pollution hasn’t affected itas yet

·No sugar soda: Sparklingwater only

�,,4��8����� �

BACK TO THE FUTURE=�� ������������������������������ �������� ��������������� �������������� �� ����� ��������������������� ����������� ������9?9?����� �����(+�'�;�(!)�;<A������������� ������" ��6������

7��++�������� �����������(���������� �� �� �+�������� ����������������������+�����+����,��+ ��(��� �#������������������� ��� ����������� �������������������������� ���&�@$�--"�%*�7�5*����������+�����������+�����#��4����!��������������+����������������� ��+�����,��+ �����F0F0

>�������� �����

) � ! & � �

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ $ ���;�

GOA SURVIVE CHENNAIYIN RESURGENCEChennai: ���1����������� ����������� ��� ��5����$���������4������������������� ���#������������)��)� �)�����+������ ��������3)<�������������� ����������� ������" �����#&������) �������������* ����6� �� ��FOL���!��������������3/L�����5��!��������3OL������� ��1�������� ����.�#&�� ���#��� ����������+���� (�+,� .�� � ����� ����� *���� �+ ��(��� �=DL�� ��� ������������������=EL��(�������������������O<L��������������� �����1��(�������������������������������� �������(�+,����2��#����������������������������� &�5�.������������4�(���L������� �������������� ��.�&����1��� ����� ����(���.�� �F/������������/0���+ ���. ������� ���#�L������� ��������� �������� � �.�� ��������������������#�����&�

SUMIT SANGWAN SUSPENDED FOR 1 YEARNew Delhi: �������*��������������������� (�?�����������.�.�����" �����#�(�����������#����(#�� ����������*��)'���*�+#���*'*�����������������������&���.���. ��+���������� ��F0/F�4����7�#���+����� �������#���E/),�+�����#�(�?���.���������������������� ��7�#���+� ���������������&�!���� ���.�������(������(����.���� �������������������.�� ���������������+�&�M�������.��(���� ����/�#����.�� � ��������������+�� ����+��������+��������� �(�������(���+��N��*'*�'1������*��.����������� ��� ".������ ����&� ��.�L�� ������� .��� +����+���� M���� ��+���������N� �77��� �� 7+��(��� /0� ��� �� ������� ��������� ���*+������������� . �+ � ��� ������� ��� '������+�� ��� ���,�� ����������=�����*'*L��F0/E���� �(�����4���&

DRAVID, GANGULY DISCUSS NCA MATTERSMumbai: !��$�����������������1���#����5����������+,������� ��������� ���+,��� *+����#� �� ��� '������ ���� ��� � �� !����L� ��� ������� ���� �� " �����#� ��� ���+������ ��� ��� � ��������������� ��� � �� ��*&� " �������� +����� ��#�� ������ � �� ��*� �������������+���+�������������������+������� ����6�������!���� �. �������������������(�+,��2��#&�� ����'�����������������,���� �� .����� ������� 1���#� ��������� � ��� � �#� ��� �� ��������+����������*&�

‘ICC RANKING IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE’Melbourne: ������� -���� +������ %�+ ���� @�� �� ���������� � �� $���������� ���+,��� ���+��L�� ��,�� �#�����������������M�(���������(��N&�$��������+������#���,�����(����� �� $��� "���� ����� ��,���� �����.��� (#� ��.� T������� ���� *���+��� -���� ��� *��������&� " �� +��+,����)�����)+�����������������.�T���������-������L����������������� ����+���������� ��������� ��$���"������,������� �#� ���L��.����� �"���������� �� � �� ����� �.��#����&� M$�.����(������� ������(���� � �� $����,��&�$�� �,�� �#������(���������(���N�@�� ��.��� ����������#��(#�� ���������� ������ ���&

��������

�&%�6��

>����'���'����+�����������������������%���� �������������+��� ���������#���,�!�� ��

���� 47�'7�

Dele Alli got Tottenhamback on track as theEngland midfielder

capped a gritty escape act withthe late winner in Thursday’s 2-1 victory against Brighton.

Jose Mourinho’s side werein danger of a second successivePremier League defeat whenAdam Webster headedBrighton into a shock lead at theTottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But HarryKane equalisedafter the intervaland Alli finishedoff a flowingTottenham movein the closingstages to erase thebitter taste of lastweekend’s acrimonious Londonderby loss to Chelsea.

“I’m very happy with sec-ond half. I’m not saying playerswere wrong but we changed bitsand that makes a difference,”Mourinho said.

“It’s hard after a defeat tohave confidence and we start-ed poorly, it affects the confi-dence. Brighton have monstersin the air and it affected the self-esteem of our team.

“In the second half theplayers put all the negativeaside and were very strong intheir performance.”

Avenging their defeat atBrighton in October,Tottenham, unbeaten in BoxingDay fixtures since 2003, havewon three of their last fourleague games as they try toclimb into the top four.

Saluting Alli’s crucial con-tribution, Mourinho said:“Another goal and anotherincredible performance andeffort. The work rate wasabsolutely incredible from Dele.

“The little details are moreimportant than what peoplelook at. His attitude and fight-ing spirit was so good.”

Since Mourinho’s first gamein charge of Tottenham, noPremier League team had con-ceded more goals than the 14his side allowed across all com-petitions heading into thisround of matches.

Those defensive frailtieswere on display when StevenAlzate lost his marker andforced Paulo Gazzaniga into asprawling save.

Kane has a knack of scor-ing on Boxing Day and theTottenham striker thought hehad netted again when he firedhome from Winks’ pass, but thegoal went to a VAR review andwas ruled out by the narrowestof offside decisions.

CLINICAL KANEBrighton made the most of

that let-off to take the lead in the37th minute.

Pascal Gross swung over afree-kick and Webster roseabove Toby Alderweireld andDavinson Sanchez to plant apowerful header past Gazzanigafor his third goal of the season.

Mourinho must have beenfurious that Tottenham wiltedagainst such a simple set-pieceand his team’s record of oneclean-sheet in his nine match-es suggests a defender could behigh on his January shoppinglist.

Underlining the urgency toaddress that problem area,Brighton’s Bernardo forcedGazzaniga to save from a cor-ner moments later to the audi-ble frustration of theTottenham crowd on a dank,wet day in north London.

Mourinho, standing rain-soaked on the touchline,revealed before the game thathis Christmas was ruined bythe death of his family’s petYorkshire Terrier.

But Kane put a smile backon his manager's face in the53rd minute when he seized ona deflection off Lucas Mouraafter the Brazilian’s determinedrun.

Drilling a shot that MatRyan could only push back out,Kane gobbled up the reboundwith a clinical finish for hiseighth goals in five PremierLeague games on Boxing Day.

Kane’s 16th club goal thisseason was followed byMourinho making a significant

switch when he sent onChristian Eriksen for HarryWinks.

Eriksen made an immedi-ate impact in the 72nd minutewhen he floated a delicate passto Serge Aurier who flicked theball into the path of Alli, whoguided a superb lofted finish

over Ryan.

"������� ����� ������������� �����������(������������� ���$� �������� ���$0 ���"������������������ "������� H�! ����

�������� ��!�" ���# !��$�$%�$ �&'(�&)*+ $ ���;+

����� �-��'-45$

Ishant Sharma bowled a sharp spell topolish off the tail after Simrajeet Singh'sfour-wicket burst, putting Delhi on the

cusp of an innings victory againstHyderabad in their Ranji Trophy group Aencounter.

After scoring 284 in their first innings,Delhi dismissed Hyderabad for 69 in just29 overs with Ishant (4/19 in 10 overs) andSimarjeet (4/23 in 10 overs) sharing thespoils on day two.

Left-arm seamer Pawan Suyal (2/25 in8.4 overs) bowling from a four-step run-upalso did his bit. Having enforced follow-onon another curtailed day due to solar eclipse,Delhi reduced the visitors to 20 for 2 intheir second essay with seam bowling all-rounder Kunwar Bidhuri grabbing boththe wickets.

Hyderabad still need to score 185 runsto avoid innings defeat with two days leftin the game.

The conditions were conducive forseam bowling as all Delhi pacers neededto do was pitch in the right areas and thelateral movement did the rest.

“My job was to support Ishant bhaiyaby bowling tight lines. Initially, he wasbeating the batsmen but they took lessrisks against him. Perhaps, they thoughtthey can attack me more and I got thosewickets. Ishant bhaiya’s brief was simple,pitch the ball in right areas,” Simrajeet told

reporters.Initially, Ishant’s was beating the bat

at will but not getting the edges. Suyal onthe other end drew the first blood,breaching opener Akshath Reddy’sdefence.

Simrajeet then trapped his Reddy’sopening partner Tanmay Agarwal legbefore and Hyderabad never recoveredfrom the loss.

The Hyderabad players looked intim-idated by the pace and bounce generat-ed by Ishant. He didn’t go full tilt but apercentage effort, bowling within himself,was enough to scare the batsmen. Someof the lower-order Hyderabad players

were retreating towards leg-stump inorder to avoid getting hurt by Ishant’sdeliveries.

“They are not a below-par side justthat there was help from the wicket,” saidSimarjeet, son of a former national levelhockey player.

Earlier, Delhi lost their last fourwickets for 15 runs after Shikhar Dhawan(140) was the eighth batsmen to be dis-missed. Pacer M Ravi Kian took all fourwickets in the morning.

RAILWAYS TAKE BIG LEAD�������Railways skipper Karn Sharmaled from the front, as he hit a gritty cen-

tury and helped his team takea massive 152-run first innings

lead againstMumbai on the sec-ond day of theirElite Group B gameat Wankhede stadi-um.

In their second essay,Mumbai were struggling at64/3, as the 41-time domesticchampions, are still trailing by88 runs.

It was due to Sharma’s hero-ics with the bat (112 not out)and a valiant 72-run knock byArindam Ghosh, that theRailways were able to go past the250-run mark, after they wereteetering at 43/5 at one stage.

Left-handed Sharma andGhosh played cautiously andkept frustrating the Mumbaibowlers, as they stitched a 116-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Sharma, in his unbeatenknock, hammered 15 fours and

four sixes, while Ghosh hit 12boundaries.

Their stand not only pulledthe Railways out of trouble, butalso put them in a good position.

In Mumbai’s secondinnings, young prodigy PrithviShaw, who had failed in the firstinnings, again was unable toconvert his start.

He fell on 23 after slammingfour boundaries.

His opening partner JayBista too fell on 13 as Mumbaiwere in a spot of bother at 37-2 and it soon became 45-3 aftercrisis man Siddesh Lad fellcheaply for 8.

After that Test specialistAjinkya Rahane (3 batting)alongside skipper SuryakumarYadav (15 batting) held the fortand ensured that there was nofurther damage.

They will need to bat as longas possible on the third day.

BENGAL TOPPLE FOR 289���������Bengal were bowledout for 289 before bad lighthalted play on the secondday against Andhra.

There were three inter-ruptions before Bengalinnings folded in 104 overs at1:35pm. Poor visibility even-tually forced the day’s pro-ceedings to be called off withAndhra yet to bat in their firstinnings.

Only 101 minutes of playwas possible on the day, dur-ing which 21 overs werebowled, as Bengal lost theirremaining six wickets in 48runs after resuming at 241/4.

Left-handed openerAbhishek Raman was dis-missed for 112 in the secondball of the day, adding just tworuns to his overnight total.

Raman was cleaned up byStephen and after four oversin the morning the match washeld up for 20 minutes.

On resumption at 9.27am,Bengal were unable to get apartnership going as ShahbazAhmed became Stephen’sfourth victim. The pacerreturned figures of 4/78.

Then, due to solar eclipse,the match was again held upfor two hours, as Bengal hadan extended lunch breakstretching till 11.48.

With the light playinghide and seek, Bengal keptlosing wickets as their lastfour wickets could add justnine runs.

In Group C, openerShantanu Mishra remainedunbeaten on 54 to helpOdisha secure a first inningslead over Uttarakhand.

Resuming on 98/3,Odisha lost Biplab Samantrayfor 37 after he was trapped byPradeep Chamoli (2/36) inthe third over of the day.

Mishra stayed on even aswickets kept on falling at theother end on a day when only16.2 overs were possible, help-ing Odisha go pastUttarakhand's first inningstotal of 117.

At the Palam A Stadiumin New Delhi, medium pacerManishankar Murasinghreturned brilliant figures of7/63, as Tripura bundled outServices for 173 for a firstinnings lead of 47 runs.

"��� ����������� ���� �����"��!��������! ������������������������������������������ �����. �������� �������������� ���@����� �����������8� �������� ��� ��#�!�"��� � ���

1�:��%�����3�4�������;�<6���#'%

�4*�*')

������������ ��@������9 ��� ����� �����! ������������%�9��� ���������������� � �����$������ ������ ���

�� �!���� ���6������� ����������������������� ����� � 06! ������������� ���'�� � � ���

,������6� ������������&� ����