6iecR[fUZTZR] [fdeZTV W`c 9jU cRaZded \Z]]Vcd - Daily Pioneer

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I n the early hours of Friday, the nation woke up to the news that the four men accused of brutally gangraping and immolating a 26-year-old vet- erinarian were shot dead in an alleged exchange of fire with the police between 5.45 am and 6.15 am. The four were taken by a 10-member police team to the scene of their crime at Chatanpally, 50 km near Hyderabad, for the recon- struction of events as part of the investigation into the rape- murder. More than eight hours after the four rape-murder accused were killed in the encounter, the police allowed the media into the area that had been cor- doned off until then. The four bodies lay close to each other, barely 5 metres apart. Areef, who, according to the police, smothered and killed the vet after she was raped, could be seen holding a gun in his right hand. In a yel- low T-shirt and jeans, his body lay on the ground face-up, no wounds visible on the body, but blood underneath him sug- gested that he was shot in the back. Perpendicular to him was the body of Jollu Shiva, who was wearing a white shirt. It was evident from his body, face up, that he received the gunshot in the chest. A few metres away was the body of Jollu Naveen in an orange shirt. Speaking about the alleged encounter, Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said that an investigation was required to reconstruct the crime scene in the November 27 rape-murder case, hence the four accused were taken to the Chatanpally culvert where the vet’s charred body was found late a day later. “When the cops were ques- tioning them about the location of the missing cell phone, the four accused tried to attack the police with sticks and stones. Areef snatched a revolver from the police. The cops present at the site told the four to sur- render. However, they did not heed the warnings. This result- ed in crossfire. They continued to attack cops and were even- tually shot dead,” Sajjanar said. The accused were shot dead barely 500 metres from the Chatanpally underpass, where they had set the veteri- narian body’s on fire last week. According to sources, the accused were taken from Cherlapally jail around mid- night to the scene of the offence, which is about 70 km away, as there was a threat posed to them by the public. The encounter took place in an agricultural field owned by one S Satyam. “They were not hand- cuffed. They ganged up and assaulted us with the sticks found here. Two of them snatched weapons and fired at us. A sub-inspector and a con- stable suffered injuries in the crossfire, the two have been admitted to hospital. One of the accused attacked S-I Venkateswarlu with a stone, he was hit on the right side of his forehead and constable Arvind Goud was hit on his right shoulder with a stick. He suf- fered soft tissue injury. Condition of both policemen is stable. Two revolvers were recovered from Areef and Chenakeshavulu,” revealed Sajjanar. Doctors from Mahbubnagar hospital con- ducted postmortem at the spot. Replying to a question about the criticism from NHRC and others regarding the encounter, he said, “The law has done its duty.” T he encounter killing of the four men accused of gan- graping and murdering a Hyderabad veterinarian on Friday set off a chorus of appreciation as well as concern and criticism among general public, politicians and human right activists. People from different walks of life, including stu- dents, in Telangana on Friday showered praise on Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar with some performing “milk bath” to his portraits in Hyderabad and elsewhere. School and college stu- dents and members of differ- ent organisations raised slo- gans like “Jai Police and Jai Jai Sajjanar”. “We are proud of Sajjanar Sir. He has ensured justice. We want police official like you,” said a schoolgirl in Hyderabad. The families of the Hyderabad veterinarian victim and of Nirbhaya, the 23-year- old paramedic student who died days after being brutally gangraped in Delhi in December 2012, have both come out in support of the policemen involved in the encounter. The BJP, the Congress and the entire political class was divided in its reaction to the encounter killing. BSP chief Mayawati praised the Hyderabad Police saying, “The action that has been taken by the Hyderabad Police is praiseworthy. In UP, this (rape) is happening every day not just in one district but in every district.” Members of Parliament, like Jaya Bachchan, saw it as speedy justice for the rape victim, others such as Maneka Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor said extrajudicial killings are a matter of concern. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi slammed the Telengana Police while BJP’s Telengana BJP spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao said India is not “Banana Republic.” “However, India is not a banana republic and is bound by legal and constitutional framework. Politics over crime cannot set a right precedence. Telangana State Government and DGP should call a Press conference immediately,” the BJP said. “As a responsible national party the BJP will react only after official police statement,” he said. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is in Ranchi, said an enquiry into the matter to ascertain the facts were needed. I t’s a tale of two encounters 11 years apart with many simi- larities — both in December and both featuring VC Sajjanar in a central role. Cyberabad Commissioner Sajjanar, who was hailed by many as a hero on Friday for the encounter killing of four men accused of gangraping and murdering a Hyderabad veterinarian, was superinten- dent of police in 2008. T h e story began in Warangal o n December 10 that year. Swapnika and T Pranitha, both electrical engineering stu- dents, were riding home on a two-wheeler when three youths on a bike came alongside and threw sulphuric acid on them. Swapnika, who was riding pillion, was the target and took the full impact of the acid attack. Pranitha, who was wear- ing a helmet, was not so badly injured. The incident led to protests across the then unified Andhra Pradesh. Sajjanar headed the probe. Soon, three men — S Srinivas, D Sanjay and P Harikrishna — were arrested. Three days later came the news about the three being killed in the encounter, propelling Sajjanar to the sta- tus of instant hero. P resident Ram Nath Kovind on Friday called for abol- ishing the provision of mercy petitions for those convicted of sexual offences against children saying “demonic” attacks on women have shaken the con- science of the country. “In this context, several things are coming up. Such convicts have been given the right of mercy petition by the Constitution. I have said that there should be reconsideration on this... In cases under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, they be deprived of the right of mercy petition. They do not need any such right,” he said. The Union Cabinet has given its nod to amend certain sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to include provision of death penalty in cases of sexual offences against children. T he condition of rape sur- vivor from Unnao, who had suffered 90 per cent burns after five men, including two of the rape accused, allegedly set her on fire while she was on her way to court, and was airlifted to Delhi on Thursday and admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital is extremely critical and on ventilator, doctors attending to her said on Friday. They said her health con- dition is being consistently monitored by a team of doc- tors. “The condition of the patient is extremely critical and she is on ventilator. Even her vitals are very low,” said Dr Shalab Kumar, Head of Burn and Plastic Surgery at the hos- pital. The Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday provided a “green corridor” for hindrance-free movement of the ambulance carrying her from the airport to the hospital. T he Government has can- celled the passport of con- troversial self-styled godman Nithyananda and rejected his application for fresh one, External Affairs Ministry said on Friday. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said the Ministry has sensitised all its missions and posts abroad about Nithyananda. Nithyananda is wanted for several crimes including rape in India and is believed to have fled the country. Reports indi- cate he has purchased an island near Ecuador in South America to form a ‘Hindu Nation’ by the name of ‘Kailaasa’. The Ministry spokesman said, “We have sensitised all our missions and posts and told them to inform local Governments about him.” Nithyananda is wanted in India for multiple cases including alleged rape and abduction. Kumar said Nithyananda’s passport was cancelled before its validity was to expire in 2018 and that his application for a new one was also rejected because of cases pending against him. Asked about reports that Nithyananda declaring found- ing his own country called ‘Kailassa’ in his website, Kumar said, “Setting up a website is different from setting up a nation.” In a related development, the embassy of Ecuador, in a statement, categorically denied that the Nithyananda was given asylum by it or has been helped by its Government in purchas- ing any land or island in South America near or far from Ecuador. T he CBI has booked Allahabad High Court judge SN Shukla in a corrup- tion case for allegedly favour- ing a medical college and con- ducted searches at his Lucknow residence. The CBI carried out searches in Meerut and Delhi. Besides Shukla, the agency has also named IM Quddusi, a retired judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, Bhagwan Prasad Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust, the trust and private persons Bhavna Pandey and Sudhir Giri in the graft case, officials said. The accused were booked under section 120-B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After registering the FIR, the CBI started conducting searches at multiple locations in Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi, they said. It was alleged in the FIR that Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences based at Lucknow was debarred by the Centre for admitting medical students for the forthcoming two years due to sub-standard facilities and non-fulfilment of the required criteria in May, 2017, along with 46 other medical col- leges, which were debarred on similar grounds, officials said. This decision of the Centre was opposed by the medical institute before the Supreme Court. “Subsequently, a con- spiracy was hatched between the accused and the writ peti- tion filed before the SC was withdrawn with the permission of the court and a writ petition was filed before the Division Bench of Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench on August 24, 2017,” the CBI said in a statement. T he Union Home Ministry has sent to President Ram Nath Kovind the recommen- dation of the Delhi Government rejecting the mercy plea of Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case. The move came two days after the file rejecting the mercy plea was sent by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to the Home Ministry. The file has been for- warded to the President for consideration and final deci- sion. The mother of Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old paramedic student who died days after being brutally gangraped in Delhi in December 2012, on Friday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy petition filed by one of the four men convicted in the case. The letter written by Nirbhaya’s mother to Kovind said the petition filed by one of the convicts — Vinay Sharma — “deliberately tries to avoid the execution of the death sen- tence and hamper the dissem- ination of justice.” Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows for the rape-and-murder of a 23- year-old paramedic student, had filed the mercy petition before the President. Unnao: A day after a woman was set afire here by five men, including two accused of raping her, Unnao rape survivor’s uncle, who lives in a rented house here and runs a small shop, told reporters that a relative of the accused Shivam had called him and threatened that he will have to face “dire consequences”. “Your shop will be set on fire and will not let you live,” the victim’s uncle described the caller as saying. “I am going to inform the police and demand action in this regard,” he said. Police has not yet received any complaint in the matter. PTI Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday directed the State Government to pre- serve the bodies of four acc- cused in the rape and murder of a young veterinarian till 8pm on December 9. The High Court gave the order on a representation received in the office of the Chief Justice, requesting judi- cial intervention

Transcript of 6iecR[fUZTZR] [fdeZTV W`c 9jU cRaZded \Z]]Vcd - Daily Pioneer

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In the early hours of Friday,the nation woke up to the

news that the four men accusedof brutally gangraping andimmolating a 26-year-old vet-erinarian were shot dead in analleged exchange of fire withthe police between 5.45 am and6.15 am. The four were takenby a 10-member police team tothe scene of their crime atChatanpally, 50 km nearHyderabad, for the recon-struction of events as part ofthe investigation into the rape-murder.

More than eight hours afterthe four rape-murder accusedwere killed in the encounter,the police allowed the mediainto the area that had been cor-doned off until then.

The four bodies lay close toeach other, barely 5 metresapart. Areef, who, according tothe police, smothered andkilled the vet after she wasraped, could be seen holding agun in his right hand. In a yel-low T-shirt and jeans, his bodylay on the ground face-up, nowounds visible on the body, butblood underneath him sug-gested that he was shot in theback. Perpendicular to himwas the body of Jollu Shiva,who was wearing a white shirt.It was evident from his body,face up, that he received thegunshot in the chest. A fewmetres away was the body ofJollu Naveen in an orangeshirt.

Speaking about the allegedencounter, Cyberabad PoliceCommissioner VC Sajjanarsaid that an investigation wasrequired to reconstruct thecrime scene in the November27 rape-murder case, hence thefour accused were taken to theChatanpally culvert where thevet’s charred body was foundlate a day later.

“When the cops were ques-tioning them about the location

of the missing cell phone, thefour accused tried to attack thepolice with sticks and stones.Areef snatched a revolver fromthe police. The cops present atthe site told the four to sur-render. However, they did notheed the warnings. This result-ed in crossfire. They continuedto attack cops and were even-tually shot dead,” Sajjanar said.

The accused were shotdead barely 500 metres fromthe Chatanpally underpass,where they had set the veteri-narian body’s on fire last week.

According to sources, theaccused were taken fromCherlapally jail around mid-night to the scene of theoffence, which is about 70 kmaway, as there was a threatposed to them by the public.The encounter took place in anagricultural field owned byone S Satyam.

“They were not hand-cuffed. They ganged up andassaulted us with the sticks

found here. Two of themsnatched weapons and fired atus. A sub-inspector and a con-stable suffered injuries in thecrossfire, the two have been

admitted to hospital. One of theaccused attacked S-IVenkateswarlu with a stone, hewas hit on the right side of hisforehead and constable Arvind

Goud was hit on his rightshoulder with a stick. He suf-fered soft tissue injury.Condition of both policemen isstable. Two revolvers wererecovered from Areef andChenakeshavulu,” revealedSajjanar. Doctors fromMahbubnagar hospital con-ducted postmortem at the spot.

Replying to a questionabout the criticism fromNHRC and others regardingthe encounter, he said, “The lawhas done its duty.”

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The encounter killing of thefour men accused of gan-

graping and murdering aHyderabad veterinarian onFriday set off a chorus ofappreciation as well as concernand criticism among generalpublic, politicians and humanright activists.

People from differentwalks of life, including stu-dents, in Telangana on Fridayshowered praise on CyberabadPolice Commissioner VCSajjanar with some performing“milk bath” to his portraits inHyderabad and elsewhere.

School and college stu-dents and members of differ-ent organisations raised slo-gans like “Jai Police and Jai JaiSajjanar”.

“We are proud of SajjanarSir. He has ensured justice.We want police official like

you,” said a schoolgirl inHyderabad.

The families of theHyderabad veterinarian victimand of Nirbhaya, the 23-year-old paramedic student whodied days after being brutallygangraped in Delhi inDecember 2012, have bothcome out in support of thepolicemen involved in theencounter.

The BJP, the Congress andthe entire political class was

divided in its reaction to theencounter killing.

BSP chief Mayawatipraised the Hyderabad Policesaying, “The action that hasbeen taken by the HyderabadPolice is praiseworthy. In UP,this (rape) is happening everyday not just in one district butin every district.”

Members of Parliament,like Jaya Bachchan, saw it asspeedy justice for the rapevictim, others such as ManekaGandhi and Shashi Tharoorsaid extrajudicial killings are amatter of concern.

Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil Kumar Modislammed the Telengana Policewhile BJP’s Telengana BJP

spokesperson K Krishna SagarRao said India is not “BananaRepublic.”

“However, India is not abanana republic and is boundby legal and constitutionalframework. Politics over crimecannot set a right precedence.Telangana State Governmentand DGP should call a Pressconference immediately,” theBJP said.

“As a responsible nationalparty the BJP will react onlyafter official police statement,”he said.

Senior Congress leader PChidambaram, who is inRanchi, said an enquiry intothe matter to ascertain the factswere needed.

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It’s a tale of two encounters 11years apart with many simi-

larities — both in Decemberand both featuring VC Sajjanarin a central role.

Cyberabad CommissionerSajjanar, who was hailed bymany as a hero on Friday forthe encounter killing of fourmen accused of gangrapingand murdering a Hyderabadveterinarian, was superinten-dent of police in 2008.

T h estory beganin Warangalo nD e c e m b e r10 that year.S w a p n i k aand TP r a n i t h a ,

both electrical engineering stu-dents, were riding home on atwo-wheeler when three youthson a bike came alongside andthrew sulphuric acid on them.

Swapnika, who was riding

pillion, was the target and tookthe full impact of the acidattack. Pranitha, who was wear-ing a helmet, was not so badlyinjured. The incident led toprotests across the then unifiedAndhra Pradesh.

Sajjanar headed the probe.Soon, three men — S Srinivas,D Sanjay and P Harikrishna —were arrested. Three days latercame the news about the threebeing killed in the encounter,propelling Sajjanar to the sta-tus of instant hero.

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President Ram Nath Kovindon Friday called for abol-

ishing the provision of mercypetitions for those convicted ofsexual offences against childrensaying “demonic” attacks onwomen have shaken the con-science of the country.

“In this context, severalthings are coming up. Suchconvicts have been given theright of mercy petition by theConstitution. I have said thatthere should be reconsiderationon this... In cases underPOCSO (Protection ofChildren from SexualOffences) Act, they be deprivedof the right of mercy petition.They do not need any such

right,” he said.The Union Cabinet has

given its nod to amend certainsections of Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, 2012 to includeprovision of death penalty incases of sexual offences againstchildren.

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The condition of rape sur-vivor from Unnao, who

had suffered 90 per cent burnsafter five men, including two ofthe rape accused, allegedly sether on fire while she was on herway to court, and was airliftedto Delhi on Thursday andadmitted to the SafdarjungHospital is extremely criticaland on ventilator, doctorsattending to her said on Friday.

They said her health con-dition is being consistentlymonitored by a team of doc-tors.

“The condition of thepatient is extremely criticaland she is on ventilator. Evenher vitals are very low,” said DrShalab Kumar, Head of Burnand Plastic Surgery at the hos-pital. The Delhi Traffic Policeon Thursday provided a “greencorridor” for hindrance-freemovement of the ambulancecarrying her from the airportto the hospital.

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The Government has can-celled the passport of con-

troversial self-styled godmanNithyananda and rejected hisapplication for fresh one,External Affairs Ministry saidon Friday.

MEA spokespersonRaveesh Kumar also said theMinistry has sensitised all itsmissions and posts abroadabout Nithyananda.

Nithyananda is wanted forseveral crimes including rape inIndia and is believed to havefled the country. Reports indi-cate he has purchased an islandnear Ecuador in South Americato form a ‘Hindu Nation’ by thename of ‘Kailaasa’.

The Ministry spokesmansaid, “We have sensitised all ourmissions and posts and toldthem to inform localGovernments about him.”Nithyananda is wanted in Indiafor multiple cases includingalleged rape and abduction.

Kumar said Nithyananda’spassport was cancelled before

its validity was to expire in 2018and that his application for anew one was also rejectedbecause of cases pendingagainst him.

Asked about reports thatNithyananda declaring found-ing his own country called‘Kailassa’ in his website, Kumarsaid, “Setting up a website isdifferent from setting up anation.”

In a related development,the embassy of Ecuador, in astatement, categorically deniedthat the Nithyananda was givenasylum by it or has been helpedby its Government in purchas-ing any land or island in SouthAmerica near or far fromEcuador.

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The CBI has bookedAllahabad High Court

judge SN Shukla in a corrup-tion case for allegedly favour-ing a medical college and con-ducted searches at his Lucknowresidence. The CBI carried outsearches in Meerut and Delhi.

Besides Shukla, the agencyhas also named IM Quddusi, aretired judge of theChhattisgarh High Court,Bhagwan Prasad Yadav andPalash Yadav of the PrasadEducation Trust, the trust andprivate persons Bhavna Pandeyand Sudhir Giri in the graftcase, officials said.

The accused were bookedunder section 120-B of theIPC (criminal conspiracy)and provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act.After registering the FIR, theCBI started conductingsearches at multiple locations

in Lucknow, Meerut andDelhi, they said.

It was alleged in the FIRthat Prasad Institute of MedicalSciences based at Lucknowwas debarred by the Centre foradmitting medical students forthe forthcoming two years dueto sub-standard facilities andnon-fulfilment of the requiredcriteria in May, 2017, alongwith 46 other medical col-leges, which were debarred onsimilar grounds, officials said.

This decision of the Centrewas opposed by the medicalinstitute before the SupremeCourt. “Subsequently, a con-spiracy was hatched betweenthe accused and the writ peti-tion filed before the SC waswithdrawn with the permissionof the court and a writ petitionwas filed before the DivisionBench of Allahabad HighCourt, Lucknow Bench onAugust 24, 2017,” the CBI saidin a statement.

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The Union Home Ministryhas sent to President Ram

Nath Kovind the recommen-dation of the DelhiGovernment rejecting themercy plea of Vinay Sharma,one of the convicts in the 2012Nirbhaya gang-rape case. Themove came two days after thefile rejecting the mercy plea wassent by Delhi LieutenantGovernor Anil Baijal to the

Home Ministry.The file has been for-

warded to the President forconsideration and final deci-sion. The mother of Nirbhaya,the 23-year-old paramedicstudent who died days afterbeing brutally gangraped inDelhi in December 2012, onFriday urged President RamNath Kovind to reject themercy petition filed by one of the four men convicted inthe case.

The letter written byNirbhaya’s mother to Kovindsaid the petition filed by one ofthe convicts — Vinay Sharma— “deliberately tries to avoidthe execution of the death sen-tence and hamper the dissem-ination of justice.”

Vinay Sharma, one of theconvicts facing the gallows forthe rape-and-murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student,had filed the mercy petitionbefore the President.

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������ ���������� ������������ ������������Unnao: A day after a woman was set afire here by five men,including two accused of raping her, Unnao rape survivor’s uncle,who lives in a rented house here and runs a small shop, toldreporters that a relative of the accused Shivam had called himand threatened that he will have to face “dire consequences”.

“Your shop will be set on fire and will not let you live,” thevictim’s uncle described the caller as saying. “I am going to informthe police and demand action in this regard,” he said. Police hasnot yet received any complaint in the matter. PTI

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Hyderabad: The TelanganaHigh Court on Friday directedthe State Government to pre-serve the bodies of four acc-cused in the rape and murderof a young veterinarian till8pm on December 9.

The High Court gave theorder on a representationreceived in the office of theChief Justice, requesting judi-cial intervention

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Haryana Vidhan SabhaSpeaker Gyan Chand

Gupta on Friday said that asmany as 20 rooms in theVidhan Sabha which were allo-cated to Haryana on October17, 1966 during formation ofthe State have been possessedby Punjab government sincethen.

"Today Haryana needssuch rooms as State is facing acrunch of space in VidhanSabha," he said.

Gupta said that around ayear ago, Haryana governmenthad written a letter to PunjabVidhan Sabha chief engineerseeking possession of 20 suchallocated rooms to Haryana butnothing has happened so far.

“To secure the possessionof 20 rooms, I met PunjabVidhan Sabha Speaker RanaKanwar Pal Singh and dis-cussed this issue with him. Itwas a productive and positivemeeting between us. We bothhave decided to have a secre-tary level meeting to resolve theissue. Such meeting will becalled soon,” the HaryanaSpeaker said.

Referring to availablerecords, Gupta said that duringformation of Haryana in 1966,the total area in the VidhanSabha was 64,430 square feetand out of which 24 630square feet was allocated toHaryana while 30,890 squarefeet to Punjab and remaining10,910 square feet to PujabVidhan Parishad which todaydoes not exist. The division ofareas in the Vidhan Sabha was

in the ratio of 60:40.He said Haryana was hav-

ing 54 assembly seats in 1966,81 in 1967 and 90 in 1977. TheHaryana Speaker said the statehas got only 27 per cent of totalallocated areas in the VidhanSabha while remaining 13 percent has been in the possessionof Punjab since then. Roomnumbers which were allocatedto Haryana in the VidhanSabha but has been in the pos-session of Punjab are 23, 26, 27,28, 29, 30, 101, 102, 103, 104,106, 107, 108, 109, 110,, 111,112 and 113, he said.

“We need all allocatedspace to accommodate minis-ters and officers in the VidhanSabha which will help us com-pleting Vidhan Sabha relatedworks smoothly and effective-ly," he added, hoping that thematter would be resolved soon.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Friday said that the state hasover 16,000 ponds and in thefirst phase 1,800 of themwould be rejuvenated within ayear.

A decision in this regardwas taken at a meeting here.

Khattar directed that inthe first phase, about 200ponds in those villages whichare included in the MahagramYojana and ponds of havingreligious and historical signif-icance be taken up on priori-ty basis. He said primarily thestate government aims toensure drinking water supplyto households through tapsand also to purify the waterused in the householdkitchens.

He said that primarily, theState Government aims toensure drinking water supplyin the households throughtaps and also to purify the

water used in the householdkitchens by pouring into theponds so that the same couldbe utilized by cattle for drink-ing purpose. He said thatthereafter, the remaining waterwould be utilized for irrigatingcrops through micro irriga-tion. He directed the officersto identify agriculture fieldsfor discharging water of bigponds.

It was informed at the

meeting that as per the surveyconducted by the district pondmanagement, 600 ponds havebeen identified in urban areasand 15,946 in rural areas forrejuvenation.

An action plan has beenprepared for rejuvenating allthe ponds in 10 years. TheHaryana Pond and WasteWater Management Authority,urban local bodies, the irriga-tion department and pan-chayats would work jointly forthe improvement of the ponds.

Among those present inthe meeting includedAdditional Principal Secretaryto Chief Minister V.Umashankar, Additional ChiefSecretary Irrigation and WaterResources DepartmentDevender Singh, PrincipalSecretary Development andPanchayats DepartmentSudhir Rajpal, DeputyPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister Ashima Brar andother senior officers of theState Government.

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The Chandigarh Police onFriday claimed to have

unearthed a drug racket withthe arrest of two Nigeriannationals.

Two accused namelyObibulu, 31 years and Azuka,38 years, both Nigeriannationals were arrested in twoseparate cases and heroin wasrecovered from them.

“With their arrest, a totalof 418 gm heroin has beenrecovered which is approxi-mately having value of Rs 2.5crore,” said an off icialspokesman of PoliceDepartment.

Giving detai ls , thespokesman said that the in thefirst case, police team underS.I Naveen Kumar, PoliceStation Sector 39, was onpatrolling duty near Sector-38A & B, on Thursday whenthey nabbed the Nigeriannational on suspicion. Theaccused has been identified asObibulu, who was living inNew Delhi and was in Indiaon Business visa since March.He had allegedly tried tothrow a packet, in which 207grams heroine was found onchecking.

In the second case, a teamunder Sub InspectorSukhjinder Singh PoliceStation Sector-39 Chandigarhwas on patrolling duty onThursday near turn Sector-39C & D when they apprehend-ed another foreign national onsuspicion. The accused

revealed his identity as Azuka,a Nigerian national. 211 gramsheroine was recovered fromhis possession. It has beenrevealed that Azuka was livingin Delhi and was in India onmedical visa since April.

He said that both Nigeriannationals disclosed that theycame to know that tricity isgood customer hub. Earlierthey have visited tricity severaltimes for the disposal ofdrugs, the spokesman added.

Notably, till December 6this year, 39 cases under theprovisions of the NarcoticDrugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act havebeen registered at PoliceStation, Sector -39 and 40accused have been arrested inthese cases. During last year,17 cases under NDPS Actwere registered at PS 39- and18 people were arrested.

The details of seizure byUT Police this year at PS-39show huge quantity of heroin,Ganja, Charas, Poppy Huskand Injections/tablets, worthcrores of rupees internation-al market.

According to the data withUT Police, Police has seized603.09 grams heroine, 400 gmcharas, 450 gm Ganja, 7.580kg poppy husk and 516 injec-tions/tablets till December 6this year in jurisdiction of PS39. Last year, the UT Policehad seized 451.08 gmsmack/heroine, 4 kg ganja, 25gm heroine and 1000 gmopium in the same jurisdic-tion.

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Extending his government’sfull support to the industry

to meet all their needs, PunjabChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh on Friday pitched Punjabas a state that offered them afuture, with the assurance of“peace and security” to protecttheir investments at all costs.

Capt Amarinder, address-ing a galaxy of industry andbusiness leaders at the valedic-tory session of the ProgressivePunjab Investors Summit(PPIS) 2019, made it clear thathis Government was preparedto change its decades-old poli-cies to transform the State froman agricultural to an industri-al economy.

Underlining the need for amuch-needed change to pre-vent children from going out insearch of greener pastures, CaptAmarinder declared, “We can-not continue with policies thatare 50 years old. We have tochange if we want to remain inthe game.”

It was imperative to takePunjab in the direction of a pro-gressive future, for the sake ofthe next generation, he assert-ed, expressing concern overthe brain-drain from the State.

Speaking to the audience“man to man, a Punjabi to aPunjabi, and a Punjabi to thosewho will be Punjabis soon”, theChief Minister said: “I’ll giveyou what you want...Tell mewhat’s needed, I’ll do everythingthat is needed (for facilitatingthe industry).”

“I hope you go from hereconvinced that we are com-mitted to your welfare. We willgive you security, we will ensurepeace for you,” he said, point-

ing out that Punjab offered aconducive environment forindustrial development, with aproductive workforce “whoseoutput is as good as anywherein the world…in fact better.”

There are no labour prob-lems in Punjab, no strikes, headded, reaching out to the hon-chos of industry and businessgroups.

“The Government is com-mitted to the promotion ofindustry and investment andhas already taken several mea-sures on this count includingfacilitation of access to financefor MSMEs through an MoUwith HDFC bank, which hadcompleted disbursement ofloans worth Rs 1100 crores tillyesterday, approval to PunjabRight to Business Ordinanceand creation of a State GroundWater Authority,” said the ChiefMinister, amid applause.

The positive results of thegovernment’s efforts over thepast two years, said the ChiefMinister, were visible ingrounding investments worthover Rs 50,000 crore across dif-ferent sectors including foodprocessing, manufacturing andlight engineering petrochemi-cals and pharmaceuticals. “Theelectricity demand from indus-try sector has increased by 26percent, which is also a directindication of enhanced indus-trial activity in the State,” hesaid.

He added that PunjabGovernment had recently col-laborated with STPI, ISBMohali & and Punjab TechnicalUniversity to set up (soft launchof the hub was done onSeptember 30, 2019) a StartupPunjab Hub at STPI Mohali.

The new facility, spread

over 1.40 lakh square feet ofbuilt up space, is one of thecountry’s largest incubationfacility, he said, adding thatunder the Neuron initiative,three Centers of Excellencehad been established in the hubto promote research and devel-opment across IoT, AI, DataAnalytics, and Audio, Visualand Gaming.

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With Industry 4.0 unleash-ing a new industrial revolution,focused on technological invest-ments, Punjab has opened anew wave of opportunities forindustry in the State.

Setting the tone for‘Industry 4.0’ session centeredon theme of ‘Punjab: ChangingGears for Industry 4.0’, thestate Principal Secretary(Science, Technology andEnvironment) RK Verma saidthat the State Government wasfacilitating the investment andgrowth of technology, under theIndustrial and BusinessDevelopment Policy 2017, tokeep pace with the revolution.

The panelists, includingPTC, India Head IoT/AIBusiness Raj Kiran, ISB MohaliSenior Associate DeanChandan Chowdhury,Automation IndustryAssociation director AnupWadhwa, and SchneiderElectric VP- Eco Struxure andDigital Pankaj Goyal, sharedtheir ideas and spoke abouttechnologies that could be usedby the industry for the growthof production /quality enhance-ment etc.

Focusing on the MSMEs,the panelists appreciated thatthe growth of economy in theState of Punjab was contributedby about two lakh MSMEs andapproximately 500 large andmedium units. The presence ofstrong textile, food processingand light engineering sectorsmakes the industrial scenario avibrant platform, they said.

The Industry 4.0 conceptfocuses on modernization ofmanufacturing process throughintegration of advanced tech-nologies and physical produc-tion elements. It creates a fullydigital value chain by the simul-taneous use of communica-tion, IT, data, physical ele-ments etc.

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Despite witnessingunprecedented growth indomestic and foreign tourists’arrival in the last decade,Punjab still has a great poten-tial to become the tourist hubof South Asia, believed thepanelists and delegates fromacross different segments in thetourism sector on Friday dur-ing the session on ‘Tourism inPunjab: Unlocking TourismPotential of Punjab’.

Notably, Punjab has seen aphenomenal CompoundAnnual Growth Rate (CAGR)of nearly 30 percent in ForeignTourist Arrivals and 27 percentin Domestic Tourist Arrivalsover the period 2009-2018. SriHarmandir Sahib in Amritsar,popularly known as the GoldenTemple, was awarded the mostvisited religious place in theworld by the World Book ofRecords (WBR).

The state Principal

Secretary (Tourism andCulture) Vikas Pratap said thatPunjab witnessed arrival of 1.2million foreign tourists and44.5 million domestic touristsin 2018 because Punjab isknown for its rich religiousplaces, cultural heritage, tradi-tional fairs and festivals, muse-ums, memorials, cuisines, artand craft, farms and eco-tourism.

There was a discussion onnew emerging area or theme inthe tourism sector and the roleof hospitality sector in increas-ing the tourism activities in anyregion.

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To harness Punjab’s massivepotential to emerge as a med-ical tourism hub, the medicoson Friday call for more inter-national flights from the State,which already has the state-of-the-art infrastructure, skilledmanpower and governmentsupport to set up new multi-specialty hospitals, coupledwith its vibrant hospitality sec-tor.

Delegates at the session on‘Developing Punjab into a hubof International and DomesticMedical Tourism’, stressed thatthe “only thing” the PunjabGovernment needs to do is topress upon the CentralGovernment to bring moredirect international flights inthe State from CIS nations, suchas Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,and to cater to NRI populationsin USA, Canada, UK, Australiaand New Zealand, in order toattract NRI patients.

Punjab has six MedicalColleges, 13 Dental Collegesand a sizeable number of nurs-ing colleges, besides all themajor healthcare players likeFortis, Ivy, Max, Apollo,Medcard, Swift Hospital,Grecian, Global, Capitol, CMC,DMC, had their hospitals in theState.

New Medicity for medicaleco-system over a projectedarea of 350 acres would be com-ing up by next year adjoiningChandigarh wherein promi-nent healthcare players weresetting up their healthcareestablishments.

Padma Bhushan AwardeeDr KK Talwar said that Punjabwas already witnessing MedicalTourism from Central Asiannations, US, UK-based NRIsand from adjoining states suchas Jammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh andUttarakhand.

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With the leading textileplayers eyeing massive growthin Punjab through technolo-gy upgradation and skilledmanpower, the giants of thetextile industry and delegatesduring the brainstormingpanel discussion on ‘Punjab:New Destination forGarmenting and TechnicalTextiles’ on Friday maintainedthat the State need to devel-oped local skilled manpoweras it was currently mostlydependent upon the migrato-ry labour.

The panelists spoke on var-ious aspects of the textile indus-try, garment clusters, centre ofexcellence in apparel, technol-ogy advancement, skilled man-power, labour subsidy, use ofinformation technology forgrowth, among others.

The participants agreedthat there were ample oppor-tunities for growth and invest-ment in the textile sector inPunjab. However, they felt thatthe State needed to developedlocal skilled manpower as it wascurrently mostly dependentupon the migratory labour.

They also said that dis-semination of knowledge by thetextile giants, exchange of ideas

and best practices to the otherscould do wonders for Punjab, toenable it to develop on the linesof Tirupur city, which leads thecountry in the textile sector.

Trident Group chairmanand business tycoon RajinderGupta described Punjab thefinest state for the textile sector,and stressed the need to pro-mote cultivation of cotton, alsocalled white gold, in the wholeof Punjab.

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Punjab Government onFriday signed a tri-party MoUto establish a Centre ofExcellence in Microelectronics— Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC)Design to be established on thepremises of SoftwareTechnology Parks of India(STPI) in Mohali.

The MoU was exchangedby Punjab’s IT Departmentdirector Tanu Kashyap withthe heads of Semi-ConductorLaboratory (SCL) and STPIduring the panel discussionsession on ‘IT/ITeS and ESDM— Emerging IT Technologies:Opportunities for Industry andState’ on the concluding day ofongoing Summit.

The state PrincipalSecretary (Finance) AnirudhTewari said that Punjab is onway to transition from agribased to a technology-driveneconomy and has identifiedIT/ITES/ESDM as a thrustsector. The government isdedicatedly promoting thissector by offering specialincentives over and above thenon-thrust sectors and imple-menting state policy initiativesthat support the industry, hesaid.

IIT Ropar director SK Dassaid that Punjab particularlyMohali emerging as innovativeand researching hub inInformation Technology basedon Artificial Intelligence (AI)

and availability of semicon-ductor designing and manu-facturing here.

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Major auto giants on Fridayappreciated the policy reformstaking place in Punjab, whichwas all set to pole vault to a newera in mobility.

Leading auto industry play-ers, during a panel discussionon ‘Future of Mobility inPunjab-Challenges andOpportunities’, said that theconditions in the State wereconducive for investment.

Hero Electric VehiclesPrivate Limited’s managingdirector Naveen Munjal saidthat policy reforms were indeedtaking place in state, thus help-ing to create a perfect platformfor the automobile industry toinvest here.

Expressing similar views,Volvo Group’s president andmanaging director Kamal Balisaid that the automobile indus-try has witnessed a sea changeduring the past few years, andPunjab had the potential to pro-duce more industrial units thatcould change the scenario inindustrial sector.

Sharing his ideas about thefuture of mobility sector inPunjab, Hyperloop One’s man-aging director (India andMiddle East) HarjinderDhaliwal underlined the impor-tance of using high-end tech-nology to ease traffic woes.

SML Isuzu’s CFO GopalBansal said: “We should lookforward to switch over to elec-tric vehicles from the diesel-based battery operated vehi-cles.”

Bicycle Industry tycoonNaveen Munjal said: “We haveplanned expansion at our cur-rent electric 2W facility atLudhiana to ramp up pro-duction to 5 five lakh unitsannually.”

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Thursday urged the JapaneseAmbassador to India SatoshiSuzuki to impress uponJapanese companies to set upventures in the upcoming MegaIndustrial Parks at Rajpura andBathinda.

The Japanese envoy calledon Capt Amarinder Singh afterattending the ProgressivePunjab Investors Summit-2019at ISB Mohali on Day 1.

The Chief Minister point-ed out that Rajpura, beinglocated in the vicinity of theworld-class Mohali city, offersbasic infrastructure in terms ofroad and air connectivity, with

prestigious educational insti-tutes. He also mentioned thatRajpura Thermal plant wouldcater to the power require-ments of companies intendingto set up their units in theIndustrial Park.

Suzuki appreciated the con-genial investment atmosphere inthe state and assured the ChiefMinister that several Japanbased companies in varioussectors would be looking atmaking investments in Punjab.He also extended an invite toCapt Amarinder Singh to visitJapan for exploring investmentopportunities for Punjab.

The visiting envoy alsorequested Capt Amarinder todepute a dedicated officer to liai-son with the Japan External

Trade Organisation (JETRO) forsetting up of industries, besidesforging technical alliances andcollaborations with Japanesecompanies.

The state Additional ChiefSecretary (Industries andInvestment Promotion) ViniMahajan apprised the JapaneseAmbassador that severalrenowned Japanese companieslike Aiche, Isuzu, Yanmar andKansai had already collaborat-ed with Punjab VardhmanGroup, Swaraj Mazda Limited,Sonalika and Nerolac paintsrespectively.

She also requested Suzuki tovisit the state-of-the-art STPIIncubation Centre at Mohali,and to be a partner in this pres-tigious institute.

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In a bid to ensure safety ofwomen, Haryana Chief

Minister Manohar Lal Khattaron Friday issued direction to startspecial buses for them on a pilotbasis in five districts--Ambala,Panchkula, Yamunanagar,Karnal and Kurukshetra dis-tricts. He was reviewing theprogress of Chatra ParivahanSuraksha Yojana here.

He said that special buses arebeing started keeping in view thesecurity of girl’s students. He saidwomen police constable wouldalso be deputed in each such busso as to keep a vigil on the anti-social elements.

Initially, educational insti-tutions of Higher Educationwould be included for to and frofacility for the girl’s students andlater on other educational insti-tutions would also be includedunder this scheme. He directedthe officers to prepare the routesof buses in such a manner thatthe time and buses both could beeffectively utilized.

Khattar directed the officersof Education Department thatwhile preparing route in eachdistrict, a senior officer beappointed as Nodal Officer whowould coordinate with the offi-cers of Transport Department forpreparing better routes for thesebuses. He said that places wherebig buses are not required, girl’sstudents should be providedtransport facility.

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Friday

announced to set up a dedi-cated MSME Marketing Cell,besides establishing a �100crore Startup Fund in a focusedendeavour to boost the MSMEsector and the Startup culturein the state.

The MSME Marketing Cellwill work for forming tradelinkages for Punjab MSMEs,said an official spokesperson,giving details of various deci-sions taken by the ChiefMinister after two days ofdeliberations during theProgressive Punjab InvestorsSummit (PPIS) 2019.

Giving details of theStartup Fund, the spokespersonsaid that it will be set up by theState Government in partner-ship with IKG PunjabTechnical University, for thepromotion of incubators, pro-viding seed or scale up fund-

ing to Startups.Of this, 25 percent shall be

used to promote SC andwomen entrepreneurs, he said,adding that VCs or AngelNetworks like Indian AngelNetwork and Bharat Fund maycontribute to this corpus fund.

In a major reform measure,responding to the industry’sconcerns about the interferenceby regulatory bodies for envi-ronment and pollution, CaptAmarinder also decided on‘Auto Consent to the GreenCategory Industry onIntimation’.

With this, the StateGovernment will do away withinspection by any regulatorybody and consent shall begiven to the industry the sameday of intimation, said thespokesperson.

Further, to encourage thenon-paddy based agri pro-cessing sector to wean thefarmers away from paddy,thereby saving water and pre-

venting air pollution fromstubble burning, the ChiefMinister has decided on certainamendments to the GST reim-bursement policy for this pur-pose. Based on his discussionswith the UAE delegation, led bytheir Ambassador to India,Capt Amarinder has directedInvest Punjab to immediatelyestablish a ‘Dedicated UAEDesk’ at their office, said thespokesperson.

To take the PPIS agendaforward, the Chief Minister hasalso ordered a monthly roundtable to be conducted at thelevel of the Chief Secretary withthe partner countries of theSummit by rotation.

Spokesperson said thatCapt Amarinder has takencognizance of the suggestionsand recommendations thatemerged from the discussions.

Taking note of the keytakeaways from each engage-ment, interaction as well as ses-sion, he has decided to consti-

tute a Working Group, chairedby the Chief Secretary, withinseven days, to ensure expedi-tious delivery on all points.

A report shall be submit-ted by the Working Group onthe feasibility of implementingsuggested policy measureswithin a month.

In response to some otherconcerns and demands raisedby the industry to boost ease ofbusiness, Capt Amarinder hasdecided on giving permissionfor sale of independent floorsin apartment buildings, and fora minimum FAR of three,throughout the State.

He has also agreed to bringin a land leasing law, as urgedby industry, at the earliest,said the spokesperson.

Spokesperson added thatthe Chief Minister has alsotaken note of the need to mar-ket the state more aggressive-ly, both in terms of its tourismpotential and investmentopportunities.

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A17-year-old girl, who hadaccused four men of her

village in Palwal district ear-lier this year of raping her, has

alleged the four kidnappedand raped her again early thisweek, said police on Friday.

Palwal Superintendent ofPolice Narendra Bijarniya saidthe victim alleged in her com-plaint that she was kidnappedand raped by four men of hervillage when she had gone outof her house on December 4.

The accused took her to asecluded area and committedthe crime, she alleged.

On the victim''s com-plaint, the police have bookedthe four and probing the mat-

ter.Two of

the accusedare agedabove 30,one isaround 45-y e a r - o l dw h i l ea n o t h e rone is at e e n a g e r,Palwal SPtold PTI

over phone.The SP said the girl had

also lodged a rape complaintagainst the same accused, whohail from her village, earlierthis year as well.

The case, however, wascancelled later as forensicreport and other evidence didnot back her allegations, hesaid.

“In the fresh complaintlodged now, we have imme-diately registered a case atwomen police station underrelevant provisions of the law.The statement of the victimhas been taken and her med-ical examination conducted,”he said, adding investigationswere under progress.

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Haryana Home Minister AnilVij on Friday said all four

accused in the Hyderabadwoman veterinarian rape-and-murder case getting killed in anencounter with police was the"right thing" and the victim hadgot justice.

The four men, all lorryworkers, aged between 20 and24, were arrested on November29 for raping and killing thewoman by smothering her andlater burning her body.

The woman''s body wasfound under a culvert inShadnagar, near Hyderabad, onthe morning of November 28, aday after she went missing.

According to the Hyderabadpolice, the accused were shotdead around 6.30 am on Fridaywhen they tried to escape afterthey were taken to the site of theoffence for reconstruction ofthe crime.

"Hyderabad gangrapeaccused killed. Whatever hap-pened, howsoever it happened,but the right thing happened," Vij

tweeted in Hindi."The rape victim has got jus-

tice," the minister, who was inDelhi, later told PTI over phone.

Pointing out that the con-victs in the Nirbhaya case havenot yet got punishment, Vij saidsummary trial should be held insuch heinous cases.

"Changes should be made inthe rules and summary trial ofsuch cases should be held.Eminent persons of that areashould be included as jury mem-bers and whatever decision istaken by the jury, there should be

no appeal against that," he said.Earlier in the day, Nirbhaya''s

family hailed the Hyderabadencounter and said theTelangana police had set anexample.

They also urged authoritiesnot to punish the policemenresponsible for the action.

Nirbhaya, a 23-year-oldparamedic student, was gang-raped in December 2012 inNew Delhi and later succumbedto her injuries. Her rapists, whowere sentenced to death, are stillawaiting their fate.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Friday

presided over the inauguralfunction of Hamir Utsav held atHamirpur. He participated inShobha Yatra starting fromDeputy Commissioner Office toShiv Temple, performed puja.

Industries Minister BikramSingh, Union Minister of Statefor Finance and CorporateAffairs Anurag Thakur, MLAsNarender Thakur and BhoranjKamlesh Kumari, amongst oth-ers were also present.

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Himachal PradeshGovernor Bandaru

Dattatraya on Friday awardedMerit Scholarships to 87 stu-dents of the state in the pres-ence of Nand Lal Sharma,Chairman & ManagingDirector, and other offiicials ofSJVN.

SJVN under its CSR ini-tiative - ‘SJVN Silver Jubilee

Merit Scholarship Scheme’ hasawarded scholarships to mer-itorious students of class 12thfor academic session 2018-19,from the states of its opera-tions.

The Governor said thatSJVNL was not only a reputedcompany in the power sectorbut also working towards itssocial responsibility obliga-tions, adding that scholarshipfunction was a unique andinspiring initiative in the fieldof education taken by the com-pany.

Stressing on moderniza-tion while preserving culturalvalues and heritage, Dattatraya

said that India has a name inthe world in computer scienceand digitization. Now, therewas a need for development inthe medical and agriculturalsectors also. He expressed hap-piness that besides educationsector the corporation washelping the local students,farmers and people in skilldevelopment.

CMD of SJVNL, Nand LalSharma in 2012, the SJVN

Foundation launched SilverJubilee Merit ScholarshipScheme to inculcate competi-tive spirit among students andassist them in pursuing high-er studies in different streams.He said that these meritoriousstudents of class 12th werebeing selected from CBSE,ICSE and State EducationBoard schools from the statesof SJVN’s operations. Theseselected students were award-ed a scholarship of Rs. 2,000per month till completion oftheir course. He said till dateSJVN has awarded 1537 meritscholarships under thisscheme.

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Amentally-challenged youthhas set an example for many

with his unique achievementand rigorous efforts to meet hismission of life.

Rabi Sabar (26), a residentof Maragada village under SadarBlock in Nuapada district, is amentally-disabled person.However, the divyang hasbecome an inspiration for oth-ers for his selfless service andnoble cause for which he is sur-viving.

He was conferred with aState award by Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik on occasion ofInternational Day of Personswith Disabilities for his dedi-cated service at a school. Hereceived a cheque of Rs 25,000as reward for achievement. Hewas in top of the list of 8divyang nominees out of 44candidates for the award.

However, the reward prizeis not only an acknowledgementto him but also a big amountthat he is saving for his sister’smarriage.

According to reports, Rabi’sfather Lakshman Sabar is amentally ill person and hismother Birabai Sabar is workingoutside the State as a bondedlabourer for livelihood. Aftermarriage of his two sisters, theyoungest sibling is taken care ofby Rabi.After diagnosed withcerebral palsy, a group of neu-rological disorders that appear inearly childhood and perma-nently affect body movement.

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The Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG)

has pulled up the OrdnanceFactories for delays, especiallyfor supplying weapons to theArmy, and said it affected theoperational preparedness ofthe force. The factoriesachieved the production targetsfor only 49 per cent of items,and the exports decreased by39 per cent in 2017-18 over2016-17.

Making these observationsin its report tabled inParliament on Friday, the CAGalso expressed concern overpending production orders andsaid the oldest such order per-tained to 2009-10. The reportreviewed the performance ofthe Ordnance Factory Board(OFB)for the year ended March2018.

The OFB is producingweapons for the armed forcesfor the last 150 years and at pre-sent has 41 factories spread allover the country with its head-quarters in Kolkatta. It man-ufactures the entire range ofweaponry including tanks,rifles, ammunition besidesstores like clothing.

In its report, the CAG saidthe OFB received a budgetarygrant of �14,793 crores forcapital and �804 crore for rev-

enue expenditures in 2017-18.The ordnance factories sup-plied material of �14,251 croresto its different indentors in thesame period. The Indian Armybeing the major consumeraccounting for nearly 80 percent of total items.

The report said the facto-ries achieved the productiontarget of only 49 percent of theitems and a significant quanti-ty of the Army’s demand forsome principal ammunitionitems remained outstandingas on March 31, 2018 thusadversely impacting their oper-ational readiness.

In addition, the exports bythe OFB decreased by 39 percent in 2017-18 over 2016-17.In fact, the watchdog remarkedthe exports by the OFB during

2013-14 to 2017-2018 was very‘meager” compared to totalitems produced by the factories.

The OFB exports brakeparachutes, Prahari guns andKavach launchers. These itemsare exported to Italy, Mauritius,Indonesia, Malaysia andTajikistan. Underlining theneed for a road map forenhancement of export activ-ity, the CAG said value ofexports decreased by 39 per-cent from �22.69 crores in2016-17 to �13.94 crores in2017-18.

As regards pending orders,the CAG said work-in-progressconstituted 32 per cent of thetotal inventory and noted thisas area of concern. The reportsaid the oldest pending orderpertained to 2009-2010.

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Ashort bio-break’ by UnionMinister Ravi Shankar

Prasad on Friday forced a briefadjournment of proceedings inthe Rajya Sabha as OppositionMPs protested the absence ofany Minister in the Housewhen it was discussing privatemember business.

The house is mostly desert-ed during this time when indi-vidual MPs bring laws that theyfeel Parliament should enact. Inalmost all cases, such Bills areturned down by the House.

According to the proce-dure, a Cabinet Minister is pre-sent during such a discussion.On Friday, Law and TelecomMinister Prasad was on roster

duty. Congress member BKHariprasad pointed out therewas no Cabinet Minister pre-sent in the House. Thisprompted Derek to stop mid-way, citing rules.

This was the time TMC’sDerek O’Brien was to table hisThe Elder Persons (Care andProtection) Bill calling for anational policy to ensure thepreservation of rights and pro-vision of specialised care tosenior citizens.

“I am raising the Bill butmy colleagues are saying theMinister is not here... I do notwant such an important Bill forelders to become infructuous,”he said, demanding adjourn-ment of the proceedings till theMinister is present in the

House.He got support from

Jairam Ramesh of theCongress, Javed Ali Khan of theSamajwadi Party and someother members.

In an attempt to pacify theagitating members, RajyaSabha Deputy ChairmanHarivansh Narayan Singh stat-ed that the Minister has gonefor a washroom break andwould be back soon.

V Muraleedharan, theMinister of State forParliamentary Affairs, alsomade a statement informingabout the short break taken byPrasad but this was not enoughto pacify the agitating mem-bers. “The minister was here tilljust now. He has gone for the

washroom, he would be coming back,” Muraleedharansaid.

The Deputy Chairman alsotried to pacify the memberssaying “I have been informedthat he has gone for washroomfor 5 minutes. He would comeback.” On this, Derek asked theChair to adjourn the proceed-ings for 10 minutes. “Youadjourn the house for the No1 or No 2 break, whichever,” hesaid. The house proceedingswere then adjourned for 10minutes.

No sooner had the pro-ceedings adjourned, Prasadwalked in and looked amusedat the turn of the events. Afterthe break, the House resumedfunctioning.

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The National TigerConservation Authority’s

(NTCA) proposal for declaringthe Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary(DWS) in ArunanchalPradesh’s Dibang district astiger reserve has failed to cutany ice with local organisations,including the Idu MishmiCultural & Literary Society(IMCLS), the apex body of thecommunity which have calledfor re-demarcation and reviewof the protected habitat.

Now, the NTCA has askedthe State Government to forma panel to look into the con-cerns of the public and refixingof erroneous boundary pillars,if any.

According to the minutesof the consultative meetingwhich was attended by officialsof top tiger protection bodyand State’s forest department

with the community inOctober, the communityorganisations have made itclear to the Centre that any talkon declaration of the tigerreserve can proceed only afterre-demarcation of the area.

Anup Kumar Nayak, head

of the NTCA told The Pioneerthat a panel comprised of theDibang Valley district admin-istration, Idu Mishmi organi-zations, PCCF (Wild) and offi-cials from the forest depart-ment will be formed to lookinto the matter.

He said that the need fordeclaring the DWS as tigerreserve has been felt after theDehradun-based WildlifeInstitute of India (WII) sub-mitted its research findingssaying that 11 big cats werecamera-trapped in the DWLS

and the ‘Mishmi Hills’ in theregion. “Upgradation of thesanctuary to the tiger reservewill ensure regular fund andmonitoring,” said Nayak.

The locals including thoserepresentating the IMCL havebeen seeking reorganization ofthe boundary of the DWS fromcurrent 4149 sq kms to 2500 sqkms.

The IMCL and other com-munity members have claimedthat the notification of thesanctuary in 1998 was “doneunilaterally by suppressing,misleading and misrepresent-ing the indigenous habitants,”depriving the community oftheir land and their culturaland traditional values.

They also claimed that noconsultations was done withthe affected local populationwhile notifying the sanctuary.

“The indigenous habitantsare not against the constitution

of the wildlife sanctuary butpray that the land acquired forthe purpose be justified insuch (a way) that the traditionalvalues and ancestral land wouldnot be disturbed. The tigerreserve would not be wel-comed until the matter ofDWLS is amicably resolved,”the representation read, as per the minutes of the meeting.

“The total area of DibangValley district is 9,149 sq kms,within which the DibangWildlife Sanctuary is spreadacross 4149 sq kms. Half of thedistrict is under the sanctuary,”said Eva Mipi of the IMCLS.

However, this is not thefirst time that the NTCA hassought declaration of the sanctuary as a tiger reserve. Ithad written to the forestdepartment twice —in 2014and 2016 seeking the same.

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Members of Hindu, Sikh,Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and

Christian communities, whocome from Afghanistan,Bangladesh or Pakistan facingpersecution there, will not betreated as illegal immigrants butgiven Indian citizenship whenthe proposed amendments tothe six-decade-old CitizenshipAct come into effect.

According to theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,2019, which was distributedamong MPs, the new law, how-ever, will not be applicable inthe Inner Line Permit (ILP)regime areas and those tribalregions which are governed

under the Sixth Schedule of theConstitution.

The controversialCitizenship (Amendment) Bill(CAB), which generated wide-spread protests in theNortheastern States, is expect-ed to be tabled in Lok Sabha on

Monday for consideration andpassage. The Bill says therefugees entered beforeDecember 31, 2014 are eligibleto get Indian citizenship.

The Bill also proposes togive immunity to such refugeesfacing legal cases after being

found as illegal migrants. TheBill also says: “Provided furtherthat the person who makes theapplication for citizenshipunder this section shall not bedeprived of his rights and priv-ileges to which he was entitledon the date of receipt of hisapplication on the ground ofmaking such application”.

According to the proposedlegislation, the amendment willnot be applicable to the tribalareas of Assam, Meghalaya,Mizoram or Tripura as includ-ed in the Sixth Schedule to theConstitution and in the areascovered under The Inner Line,notified under the BengalEastern Frontier Regulation,1873.

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Incidents of setting afire arape victim in Unnao and

police encounter of allegedrapists in Hyderabad echoed inLok Sabha on Friday withOpposition and TreasuryBenches trading charges ofpoliticisation of the issueagainst each other.

Leader of opposition AdhirRanjan Chowdhury who spokeduring zero hour created anuproar in the house by sayingthat while Government wasplanning to construct a templefor Lord Ram, “ sita ko jalayajar rahan hai” (Sita is beingburnt) and accused theGovernment of inaction. Hewas referring to the Unnao casein Uttar Pradesh, a BJP-ruledstate, where a woman rape-survivor was burnt alive thisweek by the rape accused onthe bail. The woman with 90per cent burnt is in criticalcondition in a Delhi hospital.

The Unnao incident inUttar Pradesh happened aday after a woman veterinar-

ian in Hyderabad was gang-raped, killed and her bodyburnt as the stranded womanwas seeking help after her two-wheeler’s got deflated at asecluded place. All the fouralleged rapists of Veterinarianwoman were sensationallykilled in a controversial`encounter` on Friday night.

Chowdhury said whilethere are talks to make UttarPradesh a Uttam Pradesh (bestState), it is become “AdharmPradesh” (broadly land of law-lessness).

Intervening, Irani said itwas unfortunate that incidentsof rape and killing of womenare being communalised andpoliticised.

She said the oppositionmembers are not referring to asimilar case in Malda in WestBengal.

“Yes, setting afire a womanis condemnable, yes, the rapeand killing of a woman isinhuman, but do not politicisethe issue. No one has ever com-munalised the issue in thisHouse,” she said responding to

Chowdhury’s comments onUnnao rape and killing case inUP.

At this point, CongressMPs T N Prathapan and DeanKuriakose came to the aislenear the Well and shoutedsomething. One of them waspulled back by some Congressand NCP members. Tampersrose high with verbal exchangesdisrupting the house proceed-ings. Speaker Om Birlaadjourned the house untillunch break.

When house resumed pro-ceedings , the Governmentsought an apology from twoLok Sabha members of theCongress for their “threateningposition” towards Irani, whenshe was speaking on the Unnaorape issue in the House.

“This is the most con-demnable behaviour. Theycame in threatening posi-tion...When she was speaking.She is a lady member of thehouse. It is most uncalled andthey should apologise,”Parliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhad Joshi said in the House

when it assembled after lunchbreak.

Meenakshi Lekhi, who wasin the Chair, told Congressleader Adhir RanjanChowdhury to ask his partyMPs to come to the House andseek an apology. The two MPsdid not turn up in the house.The house was then adjournedfor the day.

The Speaker is expected totake against the two CongressMPs on Monday. The BJP hasgiven a notice to the Speakerto suspend two Congress mem-bers for their alleged unrulybehaviour against Irani in theHouse.

Earlier speaking on therape and Hyderabad policeencounter issue during ZeroHour, Lekhi (BJP) said policehad to open fire when theaccused tried to escape. TheMP sought to justify encounterof rape accused.

“Police ko hatiyar sajane keliye nahin diye gaye” (Policehave not been given weaponsfor keeping as show piece), shesaid.

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Former chief of CRPF andadviser to Jammu &

Kashmir Governor K VijayKumar has been appointed assenior security adviser in theUnion Home Ministry. The1975-batch Tamil Nadu cadre

IPS officer will “advise theMinistry on security relatedmatters of Union Territory ofJK and Left Wing Extremism(LWE) affected States,” theorder said.

The 67-year-old Kumaremerged as super cop afterelimination of notorious forestbrigand Veerappan in 2004.

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Congress seemed to be adivided lot on the issue of

encounter of four accused inHyderabad on Friday. Whilesenior party leader and alawyer Abhishek ManuSinghvi has come out in sup-port of the Hyderabad policeaction, former Home MinisterP Chidambaram demanded athorough probe. Anothersenior leader of the party anda Lok Sabha member ShashiTharoor said extra-judicialkillings were not acceptable.

While the leadersexpressed their opinions andalso took to social mediaparty’s General SecretaryPriyanka Gandhi is all set tolaunch a protest to highlightthe plight of women and farm-ers across the country and par-ticularly in Uttar Pradesh ofwhich she is incharge. Sourcesclose of the Priyanka said she

has asked workers to ensurefullscale youth and womenmobilization for a proposed‘Bharat Bachoa Rally’ rally onDecember 14 in nationalCapital.

The Congress GeneralSecretary is on a two-day visitto Lucknow where she met thestrategy group of the party anddiscussed the law and ordersituation in the state and howto begin mass protest at thebackdrop of Unnao andHyderabad rape cases inwhich the victims wereburned.

The party however late inthe evening officially said thatonly after a magisterial inquirya stand can be taken on theencounter of all the four menaccused of raping and mur-dering a 25-year-oldHyderabad woman veterinar-ian last month.

“A magisterial inquiry istaking place. I just cannot

speak on what will be the out-come of the magisterialinquiry, but we should wait...We need to hear the policeversion because all encounterscannot be bracketed into thesame terminology,” CongressMP Amee Yajnik said at aAICC press conference.

Chidambaram said theencounter should be thor-oughly inquired into to findout if it was a genuineencounter. “I am not aware ofthe facts and what happenedin Hyderabad. As a responsi-ble citizen, I can say it must bethoroughly inquired into, tofind out if it was a genuineencounter whether they weretrying to flee or was it any-thing else,” said Chidambaramwho is ut on bail after 106 daysin Tihar Jail in a corruptioncase.

“Agree in principle. Weneed to know more, forinstance if the criminals were

armed, the police may havebeen justified in opening firepreemptively. Until detailsemerge we should not rush tocondemn. But extra-judicialkillings are otherwise unacceptable in a society oflaws,” Tharoor said.

Priyanka took to socialmedia and slammed BJP MPfrom Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj,for wishing MLA KuldeepSingh Sengar, accused of rapeon his birthday. “A lawmakerand BJP MP is giving bestwishes to rape accused MLA.Only yesterday (Thursday) inUnnao, a rape survivor was seton fire. When lawmakers will stand in support of rape accused, howwill anybody fight with thecriminals,” Priyanka tweeted.

Sakshi had posted hisbirthday wishes for Sengarfrom his official Twitter handle on Thursday.

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The Central paramilitaryforces like CRPF, BSF and

ITBP are set to adopt signaturefabric of the nation — khadi —for uniforms following a direc-tive from Union HomeMinister Amit Shah who hassought introduction and use ofthese products from the cottagesector as part of the ongoingcelebration of 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

Besides the adoption ofthe khadi fabric, the paramili-tary forces are also going tointroduce only “swadeshi” ori-gin items manufactured by thekhadi sector in messes and can-teens. Officials of various para-military officials have alreadycontacted the Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC) with their specifica-tions of the fabric and the listof items as also volume of theproducts required for theircanteens and messes.

The KVIC has has provid-ed the samples of the disruptivepattern/camouflage designs ofthe khadi fabric includingwoolens.The uniform fabricwill be in the nature of Poly-khadi (70 per cent cottonenriched with 30 per cent poly-ester), cotton besides woolencloth.

The KVIC has also provid-ed a list of swadeshi items for themesses and canteens like pick-les, papad, honey, soaps, deter-

gents, shampoos, phenol, teaand mustard oil among others

During a meeting withchiefs of the paramilitary forcesrecently, Shah instructed theofficials to rely on khadi fabricfor uniforms and items manu-factured by the sector for thecanteens and messes.

With a combined strengthof nearly 10 lakh serving per-sonnel in the seven paramili-tary forces under the commandof the Union Home Ministry,the decision is expected torevolutionize the khadi sectorand will create lakhs of man-hours for the cottage sectorartisans across the country.

Besides the CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF)which is the biggest with overthree personnel in strengthand Border Security Force(BSF), Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP), CentralIndustrial Security Force(CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB), National SecurityGuards (NSG) and Assam

Rifles (AR) are under theadministrative control of theHome Ministry.

After Shah pitched for thekhadi fabric and products inthe paramilitary forces, theKVIC is set to create a platformfor huge number of livelihoodopportunities in the Khadi andVillage Industries sector whichis successfully creating jobs inremote and rural areas, theCommission officials said.

Following the HomeMinister’s directive, severalmeetings were held betweenthe KVIC and paramilitaryofficials.

Sources said that the meet-ings had been going on for thelast two weeks and havereached the stage of finaliza-tion, after several samples wereshared by KVIC for approval bythe paramilitary Forces.

The Chairman of KVICVinai Kumar Saxena told thePioneer, “The samples of cot-ton and woolen uniforms,blankets and camouflage uni-

form etc. provided by the para-military forces have been devel-oped by KVIC and submittedto few forces for final approval.The sample developed for cam-ouflage fabric was not onlyliked by one of the para-mili-tary forces but was also foundquite superior from the exist-ing material used by the forces.”

Saxena further said, “Thismove will not only double theannual turnover of Khadi andVillage Industries which isnearly �75,000 crores current-ly, but also create millions ofadditional man hours for theKhadi artisans who will weavemillions of meters of Khadi fab-ric for our paramilitary forces.

The Khadi fabric is mostsuitable for the tropical climateconditions in the country as thehandwoven fabric is “breath-able” in nature and also easy tomaintain besides being eco-friendly, he said.

The BSF alone wouldrequire 11 lakh metres of fab-ric for the uniform of nearly 2.5

lakh personnel. “As the Home Minister has

also asked the forces to keepdifferent village industries’products in all their canteens,it will certainly create faith andconfidence among the arti-sans, as their niche productswill now be showcased beforethe real guards of our nation,”Saxena said, adding one thedesigns are approved, the KVICwill fulfil the supply commit-ments within two months.

Khadi, which is a symbol ofpride and patriotism has beenachieving several accolades inthe recent past under the cur-rent regime. Quite noticeably,various steps are being taken byKVIC for increasing the salesand promotion of Khadi andVillage Industries products,such as sale of Khadi GiftCoupons, partnerships withecommerce portals for the saleof Khadi products, promotionof pottery at railway stations,ban on import of agarbatti, banon import of National Flag,new HS Code for 11 khadiproducts, new Khadi storesand development of centralizedGovernment Supply modules.

KVIC has also taken anumber of initiatives to checkthe malpractices by variousbogus institutions, and penal-izing the violators in order toensure the quality of Khadi andVillage Industries productssold under the brand Khadi ispure and genuine.

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The narration about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 that happened

in the national Capital immediate-ly after the assassination of thethen Prime Minister Indira Gandhihad taken a new turn on December4, Wednesday, with former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh chargingPV Narasimha Rao, the then HomeMinister, responsible for the pogromwhich claimed the lives of more than3,000 Sikhs.

While addressing a meetingorganised in New Delhi, ManmohanSingh said that Rao failed to sum-mon the Army to put an end to theriots and this was the reason for themurder and mayhem of thousandsof innocent Sikhs in Delhi as a retal-iation for the assassination of Indira

Gandhi by two members of hersecurity wing, both of whom belong-ing to the Sikh community.

“When the sad event of 1984took place, Gujaral Ji on that samesad evening went to the then HomeMinister P V Narasimha Rao, andsaid to him that the situation is sograve that it is necessary for the gov-ernment to call the army at the ear-liest. If that advice would have beenheeded , perhaps the massacre thattook place in 1984 could have beenavoided,” Singh is quoted as saying.

Though Gujral lived up toNovember 30, 2012 ( 28 years, to beprecise), he has not uttered any-where about the meeting he hadwith Rao and his request to summonthe army to prevent the anti-Sikhriots. Gujral has not mentionedanywhere about the meeting

between him and Rao as alleged bySingh.

Interestingly, in his widely readautobiography “Matter ofDiscretion”, published in 2011,Gujral has written a lot aboutNarasimha Rao and his tenure asForeign Minister in the Cabinet ofIndira Gandhi. But in the chapterdealing with the assassination ofIndira Gandhi, Gujral has indirect-ly blamed Rajiv Gandhi for the anti-Sikh riots that shook the conscienceof humanity.

“To this day, I don’t know forcertain under what circumstancesand on whose advice she had firstimposed internal emergency in June1975 and later let the Bhindranwalecrisis fester, ending in the fatefulOperation Blusestar! These twodecisions had blotted her otherwisefair name and bright era. The mis-

fortune did not end with her death.The era of her son Rajiv Gandhibegan ominously with the torrent ofanti-Sikh riots , which continue tohaunt the nation to this day,” writesGujral in Chapter 32 (IndiraGandhi’s Assassination-page 246).

After going through the book,one gets the impression that Gujralhad no love lost for Rao. Hedescribes that Narasimha Rao’semergence as Prime Minister waspure accident.

“Nobody ever expected it. Noteven he himself! In fact even beforethe general elections wereannounced, after the fall ofChandrasekhar’s Government, Raohad decided to retire from public life.

His decision was motivated bythe fact that his influence in theCongress Party had declined tosuch an extent that he was not even

considered for membership ofParliament. It was indeed calloushow an extremely capable leader anda scholar to boot who had spent allhis life in politics was so contemp-tuously discarded by the powers thatbe, as if he had never existed”,says Gujral (Page 344-345 Chapter49).

The question being asked is ifGujaral could be so open mindedabout Rao and G K Moopanar(whose Prime Ministerial dreamsimmediately after the 1996 electionswere demolished by none otherthan the latter’s acolyte PChidambaram and DMK leader MKarunanidhi), why the diplomat-turned-politician should hide thisincident from the general public?The answer is Manmohan Singh haslost some links somewhere in thisdiscourse.

Washington/London: Thedeath of all the four accused inthe sensational rape and mur-der of a young veterinarian inHyderabad on Friday receivedprominent coverage in theworld media which highlight-ed the enormous public sup-port while also drawing atten-tion to concerns over the extra-judicial executions.

All four men arrested onNovember 29 for allegedly rap-ing and killing the 25-year-oldwoman by smothering her andlater burning her body wereshot dead by police on Fridayduring a pre-dawn exchange offire near Hyderabad, a toppolice official said.

The Washington Post in adetailed report said the deathssparked praise in some quartersin a country that has grappledwith a series of gruesome crimesagainst women and girls. Butactivists and lawyers said theshootings bore the hallmarks ofextrajudicial killings.

Killings by police of sus-pected criminals are so wide-spread in India that they havetheir own terminology. Suchincidents are known as“encounter” killings, and theofficers involved typically state

that they acted in self-defense.But activists say that in practice,police officers enjoy broadimpunity and that the killingsare not followed by thoroughinvestigations, the report said.

Terming it as one of India’s“most troubling” rape cases ofrecent months, The New YorkTimes noted that the chillingincident was brought to a sud-den and shocking end on Friday.

“The officers are beinghailed as heroes, and wereshowered with rose petals byresidents who thronged thestreets of Hyderabad to celebratewhat they saw as an act of swiftretribution for a horrific crime.So many people poured into thestreets on Friday to celebratethat traffic was brought to astandstill,” it said. The woman’scharred remains were foundnear a highway underpass onNovember 27, sparking nation-wide outrage and protests inseveral major cities includingBengaluru and New Delhi. PTI

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Mamata Banerjee on Fridaysaid that she was ready to

support a religion-neutralCitizenship Amendment Billand said her party would“oppose tooth and nail the Billin its current shape.”

Attacking the NarendraModi Government for bringinga communally oriented bill, theBengal Chief Minister saidthere was no differencebetween the National Registerfor Citizens (NRC) and theCitizenship Amendment Billboth of which were the twosides of the same coin.

Speaking on the 27thanniversary of the Babrimosque demolition, Banerjeesaid NRC has claimed 30 livesin Bengal and she would notallow more deaths to happen inthe State.

“We have seen 30 deaths inBengal due to the NRC panic.No more deaths should follow.

The Government is trying tocreate a communal divideamong the citizens by intro-ducing this Bill … no citizencan be given citizenship on thebasis of religion. This is uncon-stitutional,” Banerjee saidadding she was ready to sup-port a religion-neutral bill.

In its current shape the billscheduled to be tabled onDecember 9, Banerjee said,“both NRC and CAB are thetwo sides of the same coin andboth are unconstitutional intheir present form,”

The amended bill seeks togrant citizenship to peoplewithout valid documents fromminority communities (readonly Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,Jains, Parsis and Christians)from Afghanistan, Bangladeshand Pakistan after six years ofresidence in India.

Union Home Minister hason multiple occasions gone onrecord saying that “no Hindu,Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and

Christian who have migratedfrom Afghanistan, Pakistanand Bangladesh following per-secution would be deprived ofcitizenship in India.”

The new CAB wouldamend the Citizenship Act of1955. The Trinamool Congresson Friday said that it has issueda whip directing its MPs toremain present in Parliamenton December 9 when it wouldbe tabled.

The party would opposethe bill in parliament. Banerjeetold the gathering in Kolkatathat her party would opposethe bill at all level regardless of

the fact that BJP with its brutemajority might get it passed inParliament.

“You (BJP) have majorityand may pass CAB in LokSabha and Rajya Sabha. But wewill not accept it and willoppose till the end because wedo not believe in religious dis-crimination.

Referring to the recentUnnao incident in UttarPradesh where a rape victimwas set on fire, Banerjee saidthe state’s BJP government hadnot provided security to thevictim. Slamming the BJPGovernment in Uttar Pradeshfor allowing the “Unnao rapevictim to be burnt alive” by tor-mentors Banerjee said “boththe Hyderabad and Unnaoincidents are shameful,” won-dering “why was there a secu-rity lapse for the Unnao girlwho had earlier faced life-threatening attacks on her. Myheart bleeds for the victims”

Kolkata: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onFriday said both Hyderabad andUnnao incidents are “shameful”and demanded stringent legisla-tion to deal with cases of rape.

Her comment comes in thebackdrop of all the four accusedin the rape and murder of ayoung veterinarian in Hyderabadbeing killed in an encounter onFriday during a pre-dawnexchange of fire near theTelangana capital.

The news of death of thegangrape accused was welcomedby some and sparked concernover “extra-judicial” killingsamong others.

“Law should always take itsown course and no one can takeit into their own hands,” she saidin a veiled refernce to the inci-dent. Banerjee, a strident critic ofthe BJP, referred to the ghastlyincident at Unnao in UttarPradesh where a rape survivor

was set on fire by her tormentorsand sustained 90 per cent burns,and said that the government inthat State had not provided secu-rity to the victim.

“Both the Hyderabad andUnnao incidents are shameful.My heart bleeds for the victims.There should be stringent laws todeal with such crimes,” the chiefminister said.

“We do not tolerate anycrimes against women. Everyoneknew about the Unnao case, yetattempts were made to burn thevictim,” she said.

Banerjee said safety forwomen will never be compro-mised in West Bengal. “Police,administration and judiciary willcarry out their duties.

Instructing the police to filechargesheet in cases of crimesagainst women within 10 days,she said the State adminsitrationwill take stringent steps in caseof police inaction. PTI

Kolkata: A day after high-voltagedrama,West Bengal GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar went inside theWest Bengal Legislature Assemblycomplex on Friday through the gatedesignated for him, and said he is ready to sit for talks withChief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Dhankar who was on Thursdaymade to wait outside the Assemblyas the gate designated for his entrywas locked and made entrancethrough a gate meant for mediapersons and officials, on Fridaywent inside with his wife throughthe gate designated for theGovernor.

He was warmly received byHouse Marshall, other officials andthe MLAs. However, Speaker

Biman Banerjee, who was presentin the house was not there toreceive the Governor, as he wasattending a Business Advisory (BA)committee meeting.

Undeterred by his experiencethe previous day, Dhankharreturned to the Assembly premis-es on Friday to pay floral tribute atthe statue of Dr B R Ambedkar onhis birth anniversary.

Dhankhar, who has been at log-gerheads with the TMC govern-ment on several issues since hisarrival here in July last, said he isready to sit for talks with the chiefminister.

He told reporters at theAssembly that it is not for the firsttime that he has spoken about it(talks with cm). PTI

Gopalganj (Bihar): Blamingporn sites for the rising inci-dence of sexual crimes againstwomen, Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Friday urgedthe Centre to ban all suchinternet platforms which prof-fered voyeuristic pleasurethrough video clips of rapespurportedly filmed by the per-petrators themselves.

Referring to the infamousrape and murder case ofHyderabad after which a cou-ple of similar incidents havebeen reported from Buxar andSamastipur districts of Bihar,Kumar said he was planning towrite a letter to the centre seek-ing a complete ban on suchsites across the country.

“A disgusting trend hasbeen witnessed..Incidentsinvolving women in far-offHyderabad, in Bihar, in UP.. Inall places. I have always

expressed reservations aboutthe social media and the ill-effects of technology, while notdenying its enormous benefits”,Kumar who is techno-savvyand an engineer by trainingsaid here.

The chief minister was inthis north Bihar district on thefinal day of the first phase ofhis “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra”during which he proposes tocover the entire length andbreadth of the state with hismessage for environmentalconservation and combatingclimate change. In his nearly45-minute-long address,Kumar referred to sexualcrimes after speaking about histhrust on climate changewhich, he asserted, was in linewith his social reform mea-sures like prohibition andcampaigns against child mar-riage and dowry. PTI

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Fear would have been instilled inthe people’s minds had the

Hyderabad woman veterinarianrape-murder case’s accused beenhanged in public square after following due legal process, NCPchief spokesperson Nawab Maliksaid on Friday.

Malik also disapproved of thekillings of the four accused in anencounter in Hyderabad, sayingjustice cannot be delivered in an“unjust manner”.

All four accused in the rape-and-murder case of the 25-year-oldveterinarian near Hyderabad lastmonth were killed in an exchange of

fire with police on Friday morning,police said.

“The accused were killed in anencounter. But this is not the way ofgiving justice. Justice cannot bedelivered in an unjust way,” Maliktold reporters here.

“Fear would have instilled in theminds of the people had they beenhanged in chowks after following lawand due judicial process,” he added.

The Hyderabad encounter tookplace around 6.30 am when theaccused were taken to the site of theoffence for reconstruction of thescene of the crime as part of theinvestigation, a senior police officialsaid.

“They (accused) snatchedweapons from police and fired onpolice and tried to escape... Policefired in retaliation in which the fouraccused died,” a senior Telanganapolice official said.

Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhesaid the accused should have beenpunished after following the dueprocess of law.

“I see this is as a conspiracy...Itwas important that the accusedwere punished as per law,” Gorhetold TV9 Marathi news channel.She also said it has been observed inmany encounters in the past thatpolice themselves ask accused to runaway and then open fire at the lat-ter.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa on Friday backed theTelangana police action killing fouraccused in the rape and murder of awoman veterinarian near Hyderabad,saying they acted in self- defence.

“They (accused) tried to attack andescape when they were taken to spot (ofcrime), so the encounter was inevitable tosave their (police) lives,” he told reportershere. According to Cyberabad police, thefour, arrested in connection with the bru-tal incident, were shot dead after they‘attacked’ the personnel and attempted toescape when taken to the spot for crimereconstruction early Friday. PTI

Lucknow: Hours after all four accused inthe rape-and-murder of a 25-year-oldwoman veterinarian were killed in anencounter with police in Hyderabad onFriday, Samajwadi Party supremo AkhileshYadav said he was “happy” that someone gotjustice.

The four men, all lorry workers, agedbetween 20 and 24, were arrested onNovember 29 for raping and killing thewoman by smothering her and later burn-ing her body. They were remanded to sevendays’ judicial custody.

According to Hyderabad police, the

accused were shot dead around 6.30 am onFriday when they tried to escape after theywere taken to the site of the offence forreconstruction of the scene of the crime.

“Those running away from law...Howfar could they run from justice. I am happythat someone has got justice but real hap-piness will come when there will be effec-tive preventive security arrangements andsocial atmosphere that such heinous crimesnever happen with any sister or daughter,”Yadav tweeted in Hindi, without mention-ing the Hyderabad encounter. PTI

Jaipur: Two Rajasthan Ministers onFriday said the rape accused inHyderabad should have been caughtalive by the police and that justiceshould be provided only through judicial means.

While the state’s ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal saidthat rapists should be hanged as soonas possible but only through the judi-cial system, Social Justice andEmpowerment Minister Bhanwar LalMeghwal said that encounters are notthe solution to crimes.

“There is no doubt over the quantum of punishment to rapists.There should be speedy trial and theymust be awarded death penalty by thecourts. But as far as encounter is con-cerned, this raises doubts and manyquestions,” Dhariwal said.

He questioned why the policemencould not catch the rape accused alivein Hyderabad and instead encounteredthem.

“Several questions are raised whenan encounter happens. When thepolice force was present there, whythey could not catch the rape accusedalive?

If an accused is found guilty ofrape, he must definitely get death pun-ishment but only through court,” hetold PTI.

Dhariwal also said that theGovernment should ban porn contenton the internet. PTI

Jammu: The family of aneight-year-old girl, who wasgang-raped and murdered inKathua in January last year,expressed satisfaction over theencounter killings inHyderabad, saying at least thefamily of the victim will nothave to face “nightmare” oflengthy trial.

The biological father ofthe Kathua victim, MohammedAkhtar, told PTI over phonefrom his residence in Samba, 30km from here, that if these peo-

ple had indulged in the heinouscrime, “I feel justice has beendone with the victim and herfamily”.

They deserved death forwhat they have done and theirend would at least relieve theveterinarian’s family of theordeal of the courts and lurk-ing threat of the acquittal of theaccused. All four accused in therape-and-murder of a 25-year-old woman veterinarian lastmonth were killed by police onFriday morning. PTI

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The Hyderabad encounter offour accused in a rape and

murder case was an outcome ofpublic anger against the grue-some crime, Gujarat ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani said onFriday.

All four accused in therape-and-murder case of a 25-year-old woman veterinariannear Hyderabad last monthwere killed in an exchange offire with police on Fridaymorning, police said.

Rupani said the rape andmurder of the woman hadcaused widespread outrage andanger.

There is a feeling that thosewho commit inhuman crimesshould be given harsh punish-ment, Rupani told reporters atSongadh in Tapi district.

Today morning wereceived the news that theaccused of the gruesome inci-dent in Hyderabad were killedin an encounter.

“There was palpable angeramong the people of the coun-try and result of that has comeout as an encounter, saidRupani when asked to react tothe Telengana encounterkilling.

The encounter took placewhen the accused were taken tothe site of the offence forreconstruction of the scene ofthe crime as part of the inves-tigation.

“They (accused) snatchedweapons from police and firedon police and tried to escape...Police fired in retaliation inwhich the four accused died,”a senior Telangana police offi-cial said.

Unnao (UP): The family mem-bers of the rape victim who wasset ablaze here on Friday saidthey are “happy” with the deathof the Hyderabad rape-and-murder accused in a policeencounter and sought “similarpunishment” in the UttarPradesh case. The Unnaowoman was on Thursdayallegedly set on fire by five men,including two accused of rap-ing her in December last year.

“We are happy that therapists in the Hyderabad casewere killed in an encounter. Wewant similar punishment inthis case also, otherwise suchatrocities will continue,” thevictim’s father said.Her unclealso justified the Hyderabadencounter.

“Such action will instil fearamong those involved in suchheinous acts. If there is not fear,this will continue,” he said. PTI

Hyderabad: A large number ofpeople in the city on Fridayexpressed happiness over theencounter killing of the fouraccused arrested in the rapeand murder of a woman vet-erinarian near here.

A section of people reachedthe “encounter” site and congratulated the police andraised slogans in favour ofthem like ‘Telangana policezindabad’ and “We got justice”and said this would act as adeterrent for people from committing such crimes.

Some women were seendistributing sweets to policepersonnel.

Members of the public cel-ebrated the killing of the fouraccused by bursting fire crack-

ers in other parts of the city.“It has brought peace to

soul of Disha and her familyhas got justice. They (police)have done encounter we arereally happy. It will act as adeterrent. Those want to docrime they should fear...Thepolice have done a very goodjob,” a Hyderabad resident said.

Earlier, public anger overthe rape and murder of thewoman was evident onSaturday last as a restive crowdpelted stones at a police vehi-cle carrying them to jail.

Protests were also held bydifferent student groups andothers at various places in thestate, demanding capital pun-ishment for the accused. PTI

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Maharashtra’s Anti-Corruption Bureau

(ACB) has given a clean chit toNCP leader and former deputyChief Minister Ajit Pawar inthe multi-crore Vidarbha irri-gation scam.

The ACB, in its affidavitsubmitted in the Nagpur Benchof the Bombay High Court, hasruled out Pawar’s involvementin cases of alleged irregularitiesin approval and commissioningof irrigation projects in theState.

The affidavit was submit-ted on November 27, a daybefore the Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) Government of theShiv Sena —NCP—Congresswas sworn-in the State onNovember 28.

The court had asked theACB to clarify its stand on therole of Pawar, a former WaterResources DevelopmentMinister, in these cases.

Pawar, the NCP MLA fromBaramati in Pune district, wasWater Resources DevelopmentMinister during 1999-2009when the Congress—NCPcombine was in power inMaharashtra.

Pawar had also served aschairman of Vidarbha

Irrigation DevelopmentCorporation (VIDC), whichhad cleared irrigation projectsin which irregularities werealleged.

The affidavit said therewere lapses on the part of exe-cuting agencies of the tenderwork — that is engineers, divi-sional accountants and respec-tive contractors of these pro-jects.

“However, the VIDC chair-man/Minister of WaterResource Department (WRD)cannot be made responsible forthe acts of the executing agen-cies as there is no legal duty onhis part,” it stated.

The ACB is inquiring intoa total of 2,654 tenders relatedto 45 projects of VIDC as pertwo PILs filed in 2012 beforethe Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court.

On November 25, the anti-graft agency had said it hasclosed probe in nine cases of

alleged corruption inirrigation projects, butclarified none of themwas linked to Pawar.

“These enquirieswere closed as no crim-inal offence was madeout after enquiry againstanyone. None of thesenine enquiries was in

respect to Ajit Pawar, the thenchairman of VIDC,” the ACBhad said.

About the November 27affidavit, a senior ACB officialsaid the court had asked theagency to submit a ‘statusreport’ on the VIDC scambefore November 28.

“We have not closedinquiry into the VIDC cases. Insome cases we have filedchargesheets and investigationis also going on. Similarly,investigation into FIRs relatedto these cases are also going on.

“We have submitted thestatus report on investigationgoing on into tenders that wereissued (by VIDC),” he said.

He said the HC had askedthe ACB to submit a report onthe PIL filed by one Atul Jagtapconcerning award of tendersfor an irrigation project inAmravati. Pawar was named arespondent in this PIL.

“Concerning this we had,in our previous affidavit, writ-ten that we have referred thismatter to the government foropinion. “Now, we have gotopinion from the Governmentthat Ajit Pawar was notinvolved in it (the scam) andthis we have communicated tothe court a few days back.

“Besides, Ajit Pawar wasnever an accused in any of ourcases and investigation intoVidarbha irrigation tendercases are still on,” the ACB offi-cial said.

The November 27 affidavitsaid, “There are two allegationsagainst the (then) chairman ofVIDC (Pawar) —(A)regardinggrant of sanction to the liabil-ity of the tender cost includingthat of updated cost and(B)grant of mobilisationadvance to the contractordespite there was no mentionof the same in the tender book-let.”

“Detailed enquiries/inves-tigations have been conductedin this regard and opinion ofthe expert committee membersappointed by the Governmentfor advise in the course ofenquiry on technical issueshave been obtained. Similarly,queries were referred toGovernment also,” it said.

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Kolkata: Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil Kumar Modisaid on Friday that the BJP’smove to form Government inMaharashtra with the supportof Sharad Pawar’s nephew AjitPawar was a “misadventure”.

He said the BJP mighthave had a “misplaced faith” onAjit Pawar for getting the num-bers to form Government and“so this has happened”.

“It was a misadventure.Rather I will say a miscalcula-tion,” the BJP leader said at the‘India Today Conclave East’here.

In the last week ofNovember, BJP’s DevendraFadnavis was sworn in as theChief Minister of Maharashtrafor the second time with thehelp of Ajit Pawar, who brokeaway from the NCP along withsome party MLAs.

However, failing to gatherthe numbers for provingmajority, Fadnavis had toresign, even as Ajit Pawarpatched up with his uncle andwent PTI

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The ruling KarnatakaGovernment led by Chief

Minister BS Yediyurappa eventhough waiting for bypollresults is in a celebration mood.

The prediction of exit pollsby some of the local channelshas given a majority to the saf-fron party which consolidateLingayat strongman’s positionin the State. S Prakash the Statemedia coordinator said theywere confident of winningmore than 11 seats and expectsdecimation of both Congressand the JD(S) in Karnataka. Hesaid “we are confident we willwin in most of the seats butsure to win in 11 seats whichgives us more than majority inthe Government. All the exitpolls conducted have been pre-dicting a big win for us. This isbecause of our PMs good workand also the brilliance of ournational president Amit Shah.”

For the first timeKarnataka has faced 15 bypolls at a time and crucial forboth the ruling BJP and theCongress which is struggling tokeep its identity in Karnataka.Yediyurappa who has taken achallenge and accommodatedall the rebels who have con-tested is confidant of consoli-dating his position to answerboth his distracters inside and

in Delhi. Yediyurappa who isleading a minorityGovernment needs seven moreseats to consolidate his positionin the 224 member house. Twomore by polls are pending. Therebels who were responsible forthe fall of Kumaraswamy ledJDs and Congress Governmenthave all been contesting thepolls.

Yediyurappa said he wassure of winning in almost allthe places. He blamed Congressand said they have failed to givea good governance along withJDs in the State. His close aideswere happy on the predictionsof the exit polls and feel that itwould help him to consolidatehis position in state politics.

The vernacular TV chan-nels for the first time gettinginto the exit poll business andgiven full majority to BJP. Theexit polls in predict that the rul-ing BJP will win the majority ofThursday’s by-elections in 15Assembly segments. Power TV,a Kannada news channel, hasestimated a minimum of eightand a maximum of 12

Assembly seats for the BJP.ForCongress, it predicted three tosix wins in the by-elections and0 to two seats for Janata Dal(Secular).

Public TV, also a Kannadanews channel, predicted 8 to 10seats for BJP, 1 to 2 seats for JD(S) and 3 to 5 for theCongress.BTV, another ver-nacular news channel, esti-mated the BJP to win 9 to 11seats, 0 to 2 seats for JD(S) and2 to 4 seats for the Congress.Power TV, a Kannada newschannel, has estimated a min-imum of eight and a maximumof 12 Assembly seats for theBJP. This will come as a mas-sive booster shot for ChiefMinister Yeddyurappa.

In 4,185 polling stations,37.77 lakh electors, including4,711 service electors, cast theirvotes on Thursday, the ElectionCommission said. OnThursday, the by-elections wereheld in Athani, Kagwad,Gokak, Yellapura, Hirekerur,Ranibennur, Vijaynagara,Chickballapura, K.R. Pura,Yeshwanthpura, MahalakshmiLayout, Shivajinagara,Hosakote, K.R. Pete andHunsur. As many as 248 can-didates, 234 males and 14females, contested the by-elec-tions for 15 constituencies inthe state. Counting of votes willtake place on December 9.

Gorakhpur (UP): The BajrangDal and the Vishwa HinduParishad here on Friday cele-brated the 27th anniversary ofthe demolition of the Babrimosque as “Shaurya Diwas”while the AIMIM observed itas a black day.

Members of the VHP andthe Bajrang Dal gathered at theKali temple in the Daudpur area of Gorakhpur,reciting the Hanuman Chalisa.

The AIMIM on the otherhand demonstrated outside theoffice of the district magistrate,seeking punishment for thosebehind the razing of the dis-

puted structure. Members of the AIMIM

also handed over a memoran-dum addressed to the presidentto City Magistrate UmeshMishra in this regard.

Addressing the gathering atthe Kali temple, Bajrang Daloffice-bearer Durgesh Tripathisaid in 1528, emperor Babar’scommander Mir Baqi haddemolished the Ram temple inAyodhya and constructed amosque as a symbol of victo-ry.

For the construction of thetemple, our ancestors fought 76battles, he claimed.

“On December 6, 1992, a

wave from the Hindu commu-nity erased the symbol of insultand this year on November 9,the Supreme Court cleared thehindrance in the way of theconstruction of a Ram temple,”he said.

City VHP president VijayKhemka appealed to theHindus to come forward andwork to make the communityaware and strong.

Meanwhile, AIMIM’s dis-trict president Mohd Islamsaid the hearing of cases againstthe accused of the Babrimosque demolition should befast tracked and punishment begiven to them. PTI

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Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

said that abrogation of Article370 which gave special status toJammu & Kashmir was the truetribute to Dr BhimraoAmbedkar who fought for theunity of the country but wasignored by the then rulingCongress party.

“Congress leaders werejealous of Dr Ambedkar’s tal-ent because of which theynever paid heed to him. Despitethe warnings of Babasaheb,they added Article 370 to theConstitution in 1952. Asexpected, this Article becamethe cause of separatism.

Finally, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi honouredDr Ambedkar by abrogating

this Article,” Yogi said whileaddressing a programmeorganised by Dr AmbedkarMahasabha to mark DrAmbedkar’s Parinirvan Diwashere on Friday.

The Chief Minister saidthat post-Independence, manypromises were made for thewelfare of the most deprivedsection of society but no workwas done with honesty.

“Had the work been done,the social and financial dis-parity would have beenremoved to a considerableextent by now. Actually, thosewho made the promises had nointention of fulfilling them.These were the same peoplewho murdered theConstitution, whose architectwas Dr Ambedkar. Those whoinsulted the Constitution aretoday fighting for their ownsurvival,” he said. PraisingPrime Minister NarendraModi, the Chief Minister saidthat “actual work in the inter-est of the poor has been doneby the Prime Minister and weare carrying it forward”.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar methere on Friday evening to discuss allocationof portfolios and expansion of the week-oldMaha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) Government in thestate.

The meeting at Nehru Center was attend-ed by Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde,Sanjay Rautand Subhash Desai, and the NCP’sAjit Pawar and Jayant Patil, sources said.

Pawar stressed the need for allocationofportfolios to the ministers who were swornin with Thackeray on November 28 at the ear-liest, sources said.

Portfolio allocation is likely to happen onMonday, but before that another meeting couldbe held with Congress leaders, they added. The expansion of council of ministers will bedone after the winter session of State legisla-ture, sources said. PTI

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The NationalS t u d e n t s ’

Union of India(NSUI) on Fridaygave a call for aState-wide bandhof all colleges inGujarat onDecember 7 overthe issue of alleged irregulari-ties in the recruitment examheld last month.

The students’ wing of theCongress gave the bandh call toexpress solidarity with theyouths demanding cancella-tion of recruitment exam overthe allegations of irregularities.

Meanwhile, a large numberof youths continued with theprotest in Gandhinagar for thethird consecutive day on Fridayover their demand for cancel-lation of the exam, even as theState Government on Thursdayannounced formation of a four-member SIT to probe allegedirregularities, including mass-copying and paper leak.

The protesters alleged thatthe announcement of SIT wasjust an eyewash and said theirprotest will continue until thegovernment scraps the exam.

Gujarat NSUI president,Mahipalsinh Gadhvi, said,“Both- NSUI and YouthCongress- are with the agitat-ing candidates. We fully sup-

port their demand for cancel-lation of the exam,”

“We have given a college-bandh call for tomorrow in thestate. I appeal to all studentsand college authorities torefrain from academic work onSaturday and show solidaritywith these youths and theirdemand,” he added.

The agitators warned thatthey will not budge till the gov-ernment accepts their demand.

“Formation of SIT was notour demand. What is there toprobe when all the evidence isavailable? This SIT is just aneyewash. We will not backdown till the Government can-cels the exam,” said one of theagitators.

Hundreds of job aspirants,who had appeared for the writ-ten test conducted by theGujarat Subordinate ServiceSelection Board (GSSSB) onNovember 17, are part of theprotest, seeking cancellationof the exam held for recruiting3,910 non-secretariat clerksand office assistants.

Jammu: The JKNPP on Fridaycalled for a ‘Jammu bandh’ onDecember 7 to protest theinternet blockade followingthe abrogation of certain pro-visions of Article 370 and thesetting up of a toll plaza atSarore.

The Congress said it willsupport the ‘bandh’.

“We appeal to the people toparticipate in the peacefulbandh tomorrow (Saturday) against the authoritarian movesof the government. Over 34organisations, includingtraders, transporters and stu-dents are supporting our‘bandh’ call,” Jammu andKashmir National PanthersParty (JKNPP) chariman HarshDev said. He accused the gov-ernment of “ruthlessly sup-pressing” the genuine aspira-tions of the “nationalist” peo-ple of the Jammu region.

“It is an insult to the peo-ple of Jammu who are beingsubjected to an internet gag anda communication blockade,” headded.

Internet services in Jammu& Kashmir have been sus-pended since August 5, whenthe Centre revoked the erst-while state’s special status underArticle 370 and announcedthe decision to bifurcate it into

two Union territories.Minister of State for Home

Affairs G Kishan Reddy, inresponse to a written questionin Lok Sabha on Tuesday, saidthe restrictions had beenimposed to check aggressiveanti-India social media postsbeing pushed from Pakistan to instigate the youthin the valley. Referring to newlyset up toll plaza at Sarore inSamba district, Dev said thecity of temples was being con-verted into a “city of tollplazas”.

The toll plaza at Sarore wasinaugurated by the NationalHighway Authority of India onOctober 11, drawing a strongreaction from the people fromall sections of the society andpolitical parties.

Private buses stayed offthe roads for days as trans-porters went on a strike andstaged demonstrations at dif-ferent places against the settingup of the toll plaza. A Congressspokesperson said the partywill support the ‘bandh’ callgiven by the JKNPP. PTI

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/78�� #�+������������������� � �#�� �������,9����Banihal/Jammu:The Jammu-Srinagar nation-al highway, theonly all-weatherroad linkingKashmir withrest of the coun-try, wasreopened forvehicular trafficon Friday afterremaining closed for 15 hours following a land-slide in Ramban district, an official said.

The highway has been reopened for vehicu-lar traffic on Friday and only stranded vehicleshave been allowed to move, the official said.

The 270-km highway was blocked by the land-slide at around 5 pm on Thursday, the official said,adding that over 1,000 vehicles were stranded.

Three people had a narrow escape when atruck came under the debris of a landslide and gottrapped at Ramban’s Mehar belt, the official said.

There is a traffic jam on the highway’sBanihal section, the official added. PTI

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Whenever an aggrieved per-son approaches theSupreme Court, he/she iswell aware that this body isat the very apex of the

judicial hierarchy and that no further appealis possible before any other authority,beyond this court. As such, the commonman would naturally appreciate that this isthe end of his/her quest for justice. While thisis true, the fact is also that by virtue of thepowers vested in the top court, through pro-visions in Article 142 of the Constitution, ithas been empowered to deliver complete jus-tice. So, does this mean that the delivery ofjustice, except for as provided in Article 142,will remain incomplete or lacking in anymanner? While this is obviously not the case,in order to fully appreciate the importanceof Article 142 and the meaning of completejustice, we must look back at its genesis andsubsequent interpretations over a period oftime. For, complete justice travels far beyondthe concept of giving justice to a party.Complete justice strives at imparting justicenot just for one side, but for all.

While taking Article 210 from theGovernment of India Act, 1935, a modifi-cation was made and the draft Article 118was finalised by the Constituent Assemblyas: “The Supreme Court in the exercise ofits jurisdiction may pass such decree or makesuch order as is necessary for doing completejustice in any cause or matter pending beforeit.” It is this draft that was finally adopted asArticle 142 in the final version. This waspassed by the Constituent Assembly as it is,and without a debate on May, 27, 1949,except that during the stage of revision, thewords “and until provision in that behalf isso made in such manner as the Presidentmay by order prescribe” were added to it.

It was observed by the Supreme Courtitself that the power to do complete justiceis entirely of a different level and quality andcannot be limited or restricted by the pro-visions of the statutory law. Further, powershave been conferred for due and properadministration of justice and whenever thecourt sees that the demand for justice war-rants exercise of such powers, it will reachout to ensure that justice is done by resort-ing to this extraordinary provision intro-duced in the Constitution to meet thedemands of just such a situation.

Broadly, the apex court has acted in suchmatters where there is some manifest ille-gality or where some palpable injustice hasresulted and the grant of relief is beyond theparameters of the statutory law. On certainoccasions, the decrees passed under thisArticle appear to have assumed the shape ofexecutive directions, which are, of course, inlarger public interest, from which the soci-ety has benefitted immensely. One of themost celebrated matters where such direc-tions were issued under this Article happensto be the Taj Trapezium case. As is wellknown, on account of severity of environ-

mental pollution in the Agra-Mathura area, the marble of TajMahal, an iconic heritage mon-ument, had begun to fade intoshades of yellow. The SupremeCourt, under Article 142,imposed severe restrictions inthe Taj Trapezium zone andensured stringent enforcementof its orders. This has sinceresulted in the Taj Mahal return-ing back to its old glory.

In yet another case, onaccount of our painfully slowand archaic criminal justice sys-tem, it was discovered that inhundreds of cases, undertrialprisoners continued to be in cus-tody for periods more than thatprescribed for maximumimprisonment on conviction. Allsuch prisoners were given duerelief by the top court.

Similarly in the Bhopal Gastragedy case, too, the top court,acting under Article 142, whileawarding a compensation of$470 million to the victims,stated that the power under thisArticle must be exercised spar-ingly for furthering the ends ofjustice. But if such power wasconditioned by any statutorylimitations, it would defeat thevery purpose for conferment ofsuch wide powers. In a way, thiscould be interpreted as theSupreme Court having placeditself beyond and above thestatutes. But this impressionwas subsequently corrected,where it was said that Article 142could not be used to supplantthe existing law but only to sup-plement the law. However, appli-

cations have varied from case tocase as this provision offers a cer-tain degree of elasticity.

On the other hand, therehave been cases where the useof Article 142 appears to havegone into the domain of theexecutive. Very often, legalluminaries have cited the can-cellation of coal block allot-ments in this context, whereindividual allottees were notheard but penalties wereimposed. Similarly, the direc-tions under this Article cameunder a lot of criticism as theapex court imposed a ban onliquor stores within 500 metresof the national highways aswell as the State highways.The order led to hundreds ofjob losses besides loss of rev-enue. Ultimately, it was discov-ered that drunken drivingresulted in only 4.2 per cent ofthe accident cases in 2015 asagainst 44.2 per cent causeddue to over-speeding.

The current debate is onwhether Article 142 can betreated as a source of substan-tive power in ensuring theobservance of the due processof the law. The concept of dueprocess of law was originallynegated by the ConstituentAssembly in favour of a proce-dure established by the law inrelation to Article 210. At thesame time, there have beenopinions on whether Article142 confers substantive powerson the apex court or is it mere-ly a procedural instrument?

According to former Chief

Justice of India Justice PBGajendragadkar: “It may bepertinent to point out that thewide powers, which are given tothis court for doing completejustice between the parties, donot bind the court to adhere tothe relevant procedures if it issatisfied that a departure fromthe said procedure is necessaryto do complete justice betweenthe parties.” It is clear that exer-cising these and similar otherpowers would mean that Article142 gives the liberty to theSupreme Court only in mattersof procedure. He further elab-orated: “An order, which thiscourt can make in order to docomplete justice between theparties, must not only be con-sistent with the fundamentalrights guaranteed by theConstitution but it cannot evenbe inconsistent with the sub-stantive provisions of the rele-vant statutory laws.”

In the context of the recent-ly-concluded Ayodhya matter, ithas been observed that in assess-ing the submissions of the par-ties and arriving at the eventu-al conclusion, the needs of jus-tice required specific attention tothe peculiarities of the case.The case canvassed the rule oflaw, religion and law and con-quest, besides a myriad of con-flicting interests. These could notalways be comprehended with-in the available statutory frame-work applicable to the presentfacts. All these make the role ofthe court even more sensitive asit has to craft a relief that accords

with justice, equity and goodconscience.

As observed in the judg-ment, the obliteration of theIslamic structure was an egre-gious violation of the rule of law.At the same time, it was men-tioned that the Supreme Courtcannot entertain claims thatstem from the actions of theMughal rulers against Hinduplaces of worship in a court oflaw today. But the court went onto say that in exercising the pow-ers under Article 142 of theConstitution, it must ensurethat a wrong committed must beremedied. Justice would notprevail if the court were tooverlook the entitlement of theMuslims, who have beendeprived of the structure of themosque through means thatshould not have been employedin a secular nation committed tothe rule of law. As ourConstitution postulates theequality of all faiths, toleranceand mutual co-existence nour-ish the secular commitment ofour nation and its people.

In conclusion, one can onlysay that in the normal course, thebasic structure of theConstitution invoking separationof powers between the threeorgans of the State, while at thesame time ensuring the suprema-cy of the rule of law, needs to beour guiding principle at all times,including the application ofArticle 142 to various situations.

(The writer is a retired DelhiPolice Commissioner and formerUttarakhand Governor)

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“India Inc worried” (December 4).Veterans in any field should soundwarning bells on any worrisomedevelopment, be it political, socialor about governance. Bajaj Groupchairman Rahul Bajaj has comeout against the current politicaldispensation on all three grounds.The Government, however, react-ed to his sharp observations withunusual sobriety. Perhaps this isa result of the recent electoral set-backs for the BJP.

The saffron party has aban-doned the development plankthat had launched it to power in2014 in favour of polarising theelectorate along communal linesto get votes. With no concernabout the economy, demonetisa-tion seems to be have been imple-mented with the singular inten-tion of robbing the Opposition ofits campaign funds right beforethe elections in Uttar Pradesh.The BJP won the State, of course,but has been misleading theeconomy ever since. The nationis now paying a heavy price.

To cover up the miserablestate of the economy, the BJP hadno qualms about using diversions

such as the implementation of theNational Register of Citizens inAssam, leveraging social divides,keeping opponents besieged byCentral agencies and, all thewhile, managing to spin an ideathat all is well simply by jugglingdata. Worse, it continues to blame

the Opposition for each of its ownfailures. GDP is at a six-year low,private investment is negligibleand unemployment at its peak.The BJP never had the acumen orbench strength in economics.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — Yet another incident of adead rat being found in the mid-day meal for school children inMuzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh,has been reported. As a matter of

fact, complaints of unhygienicfood being served in trains, too,are routine. The system should besuch that only packaged food isserved both in schools as well astrains. The Government canmotivate companies to providepackaged food under theCorporate Social Responsibilityprovision. A better option wouldbe for the IRCTC to set up unitsin all districts for providing pack-aged food for the mid-day mealscheme as well as in trains.

Madhu AgrawalNew Delhi

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Sir — The Telangana police’sclaim that the four suspects,accused of the gang-rape andmurder of a Hyderabad veterinar-ian doctor, were killed in anencounter has raised troublingquestions. Even as the evidenceagainst them was still to be putthrough a judicial process, theywere killed. This goes against thespirit of democracy.

RashmiVia email

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The residents of Ayodhya believe that LordRam was born in this temple town some900,000 years ago. Their belief made peo-

ple call this city Ram Nagri (Ram’s town). Therecent Supreme Court (SC) verdict cemented thisbelief, settling the nearly 132-year-old dispute,which even witnessed the demolition of BabriMosque over 27 years ago on December 6. TheSC’s verdict may have opened a Pandora’s Box,with the Hindu saints wanting to be involved inthe proposed Ram Mandir Trust and some sec-tions of the Muslims unhappy about it. But, noone is talking about the opportunity the apexcourt’s order has thrown open for the Centre andUttar Pradesh (UP) to transform Ayodhya intoa religious tourism hub.

Almost a month after the verdict, the inco-herent voices of the sants are emanating fromAyodhya about which model should be used forconstruction of the Ram Temple or who shouldhead the trust, but no one is talking about howto develop Ayodhya into a tourism centre notonly for Hindus but also for Buddhists becauseof its proximity with Kushinagar.

This part of UP, which was once the centreof Awadh culture, is basically an agricultural belt.But agricultural productivity has been steadilycoming down because of repeated fragmentationof farmlands. The smaller the farm, the lesser theyield and this has adversely affected the econo-my of the region. This poverty-driven region hasfailed to make an impact because no Governmentever took pains to develop Faizabad district —which has now been renamed as Ayodhya — intoan industrial hub despite Tanda, a small town ofthis region, having made a mark in weavingsarees and clothes. With the passage of timeTanda lost its charm and Ayodhya remainedneglected.

Faizabad, which is full of sugar refineries andmills for extracting oil from seeds, is a marketcentre for the produce of the surrounding area,including grain, oilseeds, cotton and tobacco. Ahydroelectric plant is located nearby. As per theUP State Industrial Development Corporation(UPSIDC) the growth rate of industries inFaizabad district is 5.4 per cent annually.However, this is just limited to the micro andsmall-scale sector as the medium and large-scalesectors have a meagre annual growth rate of oneper cent. These industries give direct employmentto less than 10,000 people.

So, why has Faizabad-Ayodhya failed totransform into an industrial hub?

Almost all the industrial chambers say thatlack of development in this area is primarily dueto the poor power supply and drainage system.The other problems include non-availability ofskilled manpower, lack of awareness regardingMSME schemes and technological and financialsupport. Some say lack of political support alsohampered development of the region.

When the Ram Temple agitation gatheredmomentum in the late 80s, no Government daredto pump in money in different projects, mainlyindustrial, because of the fear that communal vio-lence could have an impact on the economy ofthe region. Many parties refused to talk aboutAyodhya because they felt it damaged their “sec-ular” image.

Government records say that Faizabad has

a population of 167,544 with 50,000 ofthem in the Ayodhya temple townaccording to the 2011 census. The lit-eracy rate of the region is around 86.52per cent, which is higher than thenational literacy average of 74.04 percent. The credit for this goes to the pres-ence of good educational institutions inthe region. Thriving on the academicexcellence of the students, hundreds ofcoaching institutions have mush-roomed in the twin cities of Ayodhya-Faizabad.

The flourishing coaching insti-tutes have proved to be good businessfor those who run them or those whoteach in these institutions as facultymembers. But they are largely “out-siders” from bigger cities, depriving thelocal talent of jobs. The city has twouniversities, the Rammanohar LohiaAvadh University and the AcharyaNarendra Deva University ofAgriculture and Technology.

In this scenario, religion is the onlyforce that can drive the economy of thisregion. Residents claim that the linkbetween Lord Ram and Ayodhya is sostrong that of the 6,000 Hindu shrinesand temples in the city, more than 4,000are dedicated to him. Besides, every sec-ond month Ayodhya hosts religious fes-tivals stretching from Magh to KartikPurnima. These fairs are organised onthe banks of the Saryu River and pro-vide a good source of income for peo-ple and small traders.

Official records suggest that over 30lakh pilgrims visit Ayodhya annually —this figure excludes the people fromsurrounding areas who gather at thefairs. People from across the country —particularly from Gujarat, Maharashtra,Bengal and South India — visitAyodhya to pay obeisance to Lord Ram.

This is a huge number and can helpin reviving the economy of the region.

The question often raised is why notdevelop Ayodhya on the lines ofVaranasi and Allahabad? Ayodhya is asimportant for Hindus as Varanasi is.The difference is that Kashi or Varanasisymbolises moksha (salvation) whileAyodhya symbolises karma, whichasks people to fulfil their putra dhar-ma (filial duty) and karma dharma. But,the basic difference between Kashi andAyodhya is that Ayodhya lacks theinfrastructure required for promotingreligious tourism while Kashi has a verygood infrastructure, including a work-ing airport and good rail and road con-nectivity.

Apart from this, Ayodhya does nothave proper hotels despite having amajor footfall of pilgrims. The onlystay-ins are dharamshalas (shelters)which are of poor quality and lack basicfacilities. The only good hotels arefound in Faizabad and they are few innumber and very expensive.

The only thing that will helpAyodhya turn into a Kashi is goodhotels, preferably on the bank of SaryuRiver, with rooms facing the RamTemple. Besides, the city needs goodroads, permanent electric supply andgreater rail and road connectivity. Aworking airport with flights from citieslike Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai wouldadd to its popularity. Fortunately, theYogi Adityanath Government haslaunched many projects in Ayodhyaand the Chief Minister has been advo-cating construction of a Ram Temple.He even proposed the construction ofthe tallest statue of Lord Ram on thebanks of Saryu River and gave the fes-tival of Diwali a new meaning. He is onrecord saying that his Governmentwould ensure that Ayodhya regains theglory it had achieved during the TretaYug (second age of mankind).

UP made a Guinness World Record

by lighting over 500,000 earthen lampson Deepotasava on the banks of theSaryu River in October. Helicoptersshowered flower petals and modelsfrom Delhi dressed as Ram, Sita andLakshman descended in a chopper.

The Union Government has comeup with an ambitious project that willbe executed by the UP Government.Ramkatha Park will be part of a new�133 crore “Ramayan circuit” that willinclude a market and a Korean templeon the Saryu riverfront. The project willdepict events described in theRamayana. An imposing Ram courtwill be constructed at the site whereAdityanath held a Diwali puja. Thecourt will include a gallery depicting thestory of Ram and a state-of-the-art dig-ital museum.

The beginning seems to have beenmade. But much more is required to bedone. The ancient should amalgamatewith modernity. Ayodhya should retainits pristine beauty but also have some-thing to attract the young generation.The Government should come out witha blueprint and involve the citizens inthis work. Good roads and electricitywill make work easy for the planners.Good incentives to hoteliers mayprompt them to invest here. Even theinvolvement of the Korean Governmentcan add a new dimension.

Time is running out. The day theGovernment plans to lay the founda-tion of the Ram Temple, it should alsoannounce mega projects for the city.Only good planning can transform theregion into a tourist hub, which in turnwill create jobs for the youth and usherin prosperity. Only then will it truly beRam’s Ayodhya. In the end, that routewill have to find its way through eco-nomics.

(The writer is Executive Director,News, The Pioneer, Lucknow)

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India has no dearth of environ-mental problems and they seemto be mounting by the minute.

Thankfully, there is no paucity ofenvironmental protection laws andregulations in the country and thepolitical will to enforce them.Ambitious Union Governments rollout environmental protection mea-sures with impressive alacrity and theCentre’s efforts are complemented byinstitutions like the National GreenTribunal (NGT). The tribunal doesa yeoman’s service to safeguard theenvironment by passing judgmentsand laws that seek to neutralise realtime threats. However, in spite of allthis, the country does not seem toemerge from the perpetual environ-

mental crises it finds itself in: Be it airpollution, water pollution, soil con-tamination or ground water contam-ination, we have it all.

So what ails our environmentalscenario? Given that we make all theright moves on paper, one can onlyconclude that our nation is high onlegislation and very low on compli-ance. Be it the ban on plastics, cropresidue burning, waste segregation,adherence to the vehicle rationingodd-even scheme, littering, Indiansseem to have a major problem listen-ing to the Government or complyingwith the laws pertaining to environ-mental protection. This inherentdisregard for rules seems to beingrained in us to the extent that weare not even alarmed by the fact thatthis is worsening each day and willaffect not just us but our children andthe generations after them. No won-der India has the dubious distinctionof being ranked as one of the mostpolluted countries in the world.According to a latest study byAirVisual and Greenpeace, seven ofthe 10 worst-polluted cities globally,are in India.

Why is there such a major dis-connect between environmental lawsand the people’s intent to observe andcomply with them? Why do we feelsuch an inexplicable satisfactionupon breaking a law as opposed tohaving a great feeling on adhering toit and doing our bit to save the envi-ronment?

For instance, not long ago theDelhi Government had launchedthe waste segregation initiative and agood amount of public money was

spent in installing two types of wastebins, one for recyclable materials andone for non-recyclable waste.Similarly, a substantial amount, too,was spent on creating awarenessthrough advertising campaigns sothat citizens would follow the segre-gation protocol. But, in spite of allthis, none of the waste in Delhi’shouseholds or public areas gets seg-regated. There is no success storyhere, nor any encouraging statistics.Predictably enough, the NGT has

intervened to prevent the waste seg-regation initiative from failing and hasset a one-year deadline for the civicbodies to fall in line and comply withthe waste segregation guidelines.This has spurred the civic authoritiesinto taking action and ensuring thatsegregation is done. This launch andre-launch of initiatives have ensuredone thing and that is the people’sinterest has been lost for good. Nownobody is interested, as everyone isof the opinion that every new initia-tive by the Government is just a pass-ing fad, not realising that it was thelack of compliance by citizens thathad caused the failure of the initia-tives in the first place.

So what is the solution? Theanswer lies in a penalty-backed com-pliance system, similar to the recent-ly-tweaked Motor Vehicles Act.Before the current amendments tothe Act, the fines for violations weremarginal. For example, driving with-out a licence used to attract a fine of�500. But under the new rules, thesame offence now attracts a penaltyof �5,000 and this has caught theattention of the Indian motorist like

never before. The result is that traf-fic violations have fallen sharply.Delhi alone witnessed a massive 79per cent fall in traffic violations. Is thisa cue for the Government? Is this howthe common man will listen and fallin line and observe rules? It may actu-ally work as financial penalties mayact as the most effective deterrentsand ensure much-needed compli-ance. The concept of penalty-backedcompliance is not new in environ-mental conservation. We currentlyhave many fines for various environ-mental offences but none of them arestiff enough nor are they enforcedstringently. This makes the wholeexercise futile. This can be made tochange on the lines of the newMotor Vehicle Act when non-com-pliance of environmental laws by cit-izens or businesses will attract steepand instant penalties. This may seemharsh but is necessary to ensure acourse correction in the larger inter-ests of the environment and moreimportantly for our precious futuregenerations.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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China will waiver tariffs on"some" imports of US soy-

bean and pork, it said onFriday, in the latest sign of eas-ing trade tensions betweenBeijing and Washington asthey try to finalise a partialtrade pact.

The world's two biggesteconomies have exchangedblows for more than a year,with levies now imposed onhundreds of billions of dollarsin two-way trade.

The olive branch comes asthe two sides edge towards amini agreement Washingtonsays includes a Chinesepromise to increase the pur-chase of US farm products.

It is also just before a freshround of US sanctions are dueto kick in on December 15,which observers fear could joltthe negotiations.

"The Customs TariffCommission of the StateCouncil is carrying out theexclusion of some soybeans,pork and other commoditiesbased on applications fromenterprises," the finance min-istry said in a statement.

Chinese companies havealready "independently import-ed certain quantities of goodsfrom the United States", thestatement said, without offer-ing details.

The duty on soybeans hasgone up from three to 33 per-cent, after two rounds of tariffs-- 25 percent in July, 2018 andanother five per cent inSeptember.

China is the world's biggestconsumer of soybean and hasbeen shopping elsewhere, suchas Brazil, to boost supplies.

Beijing has increased tariffson US pork three times sincethe trade war started, raisingthe total duty from 12 to 72percent between April 2018and September this year.

Exempting tariffs on porkcould also help ease a surge inprices of China's staple meat,which has more than doubledover a year, with an outbreak ofAfrican swine fever last Augustleading to the culling of near-ly of third of the country's pigherd.

The country has tapped itsstrategic reserve of the meat butthat has not stopped costs spi-ralling.

Hopes had risen last monththat Beijing and Washingtonwere close to reaching a minideal.

But comments from USPresident Donald Trump andrecent US legislation backingHong Kong pro-democracyprotests and China's Uighurminority appeared to throw thetalks off track.

On Tuesday, Trumpappeared to dash hopes for adeal this year by suggesting hewould be happy waiting untilafter the 2020 presidential elec-tion before signing off on it.

China echoed those com-ments Wednesday by sayingthey "will not set any time limit"on signing an agreement.

But China's commerceministry spokesman Gao Fengsaid at a news briefingThursday that the two sideswere "maintaining close com-munication." He added, how-ever, that "if the two sides areto reach a phase one deal, tar-iffs should be reduced accord-ingly".

Trump has insisted thatChina should buy $40-$50 mil-lion-worth of US agricultureproducts as part of the deal,which critics say is difficult toachieve.

China's imports of US farmgoods fell in 2017 to $19.5 bil-lion, before dropping sharplylast year to just over $9 billionafter Beijing imposed burden-some taxes on US imports inretaliation for similar mea-sures by Washington.

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Lenders to Jaypee Infratechwill have to take a haircut of

over �3,700 crore while 20,000homebuyers will not get paidany penalty for delay in con-struction of their homes in thetakeover proposals brought byMumbai-based Suraksha Realtyand state-owned NBCC for thedebt-laden firm.

As against the admittedclaims of secured financialcreditors of �9,783 crore,Suraksha and NBCC are offer-ing repayment of only 62 percent of their outstanding duesdespite the liquidation value ofthe company being around�13,000 crore, sources privy tothe development said.

The two suitors onDecember 3 submitted revisedoffers for the takeover of thedebt-laden firm that just a fewyears back built the country'sfirst expressway wide enough toallow fighter jets to land inemergency situations.

While bringing in very lit-tle cash, the two firms haveoffered land out of the landbank of Jaypee Infratech to set-tle some of the dues of thelenders.

Sources said neither isoffering any penalty to home-buyers whose houses has beendelayed.

Homebuyers have receiveddelay penalty of �325 crore dur-ing the insolvency but the twobidders, called resolution appli-cants under the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code, are not offer-ing any, they said, adding thatpossession of over 7,500 flats

has also been given in the lasttwo years.

Jaypee Infratech's revenuestood at over �1,000 crore in thefirst half of this fiscal with pos-itive EBIDTA of �43 crore,sources said. The net worth ofthe company stood at around�3,500 crore.

NBCC is offering to infuse�120 crore as equity in JaypeeInfratech and Surakasha only�25 crore, while the two biddersare estimated to gain by over�10,000 crore from underlyingassets of the company includ-ing land bank, additional FSI,hospitals and expressway,sources said.

On December 3, NBCCand Suraksha Realty offeredmore land parcels to lenders intheir final bids to acquire bank-rupt realtor Jaypee Infratechthrough the insolvency process.

This is the third round ofbidding process for resolutionof Jaypee Infratech, which is asubsidiary of crisis-hitJaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL).

Sources has earlier saidNBCC in its final bid hasoffered 1,526 acres of landunder the land-debt swap deal.It has proposed to complete thepending flats in three-and-a-half years but is not offering anypenalty to homebuyers fordelays in completion of apart-ments.

For lenders, the public sec-tor firm has also proposed toincrease concession agreementby 10 years on YamunaExpressway, which it has pro-posed to transfer to bankers.However, NBCC has proposedto take �2,500 crore debt against

toll income of the expressway,which connects Noida andAgra, for completion of pend-ing flats.

On the other hand,Suraksha Realty is offering2,220 acres of land under theland-debt swap deal. It hasincreased upfront cash pay-ment to lenders to �175 crorefrom �25 crore earlier.

For homebuyers, SurakshaRealty has set aside land worth�250 crore for delay penalty butis not infusing any fresh fundfor this purpose.

Suraksha will retainYamuna Expressway with itself,but has proposed a line ofcredit worth �2,000 crore forcompletion of pending housingprojects. Jaypee Infratech wentinto insolvency process inAugust 2017 after the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) admitted an applica-tion by an IDBI Bank-led con-sortium.

Anuj Jain was appointed asthe interim resolution profes-sional (IRP) to conduct theinsolvency process and alsomanage the affairs of the com-pany.

In the first round of insol-vency proceedings conductedlast year, �7,350-crore bid ofLakshdeep, part of SurakshaGroup, was rejected by lenders.

The Committee ofCreditors (CoC) rejected thebids of Suraksha Realty andNBCC in the second roundheld in May-June this year.

The matter reached theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT)and then the Supreme Court.

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Maruti Suzuki on Fridayannounced to recall

63,493 units of 'petrol smarthybrid' variants of Ciaz, Ertigaand XL6 models due to a like-ly issue with their motor gen-erator units (MGU).

In a regulatory filing, thecompany said: "A possibledefect may have occurred inthe MGU during manufactur-ing by an overseas global partsupplier."

The company said thatstarting Friday, owners of thevehicles under this recall cam-paign would be contacted byMaruti Suzuki dealers forinspection and replacement ofthe faulty part.

"Maruti Suzuki has decid-ed to proactively recall thevehicles for inspection andthose found 'OK' will bereleased immediately. Vehiclesrequiring replacement of faultypart will be retained for partreplacement free of cost.

Keeping in view customer con-venience, Maruti Suzuki deal-ers may make alternate mobil-ity arrangements in such cases,if required," the filing said.

Recall campaigns are under-taken globally to rectify faultsthat may be potential safetydefects. At 2.47 p.m. on Friday,shares of the company on theBSE was trading at �6,898.55,lower by �107.05 or 1.53 per centfrom its previous close.

Earlier in the week, thecompany announced toincrease the prices of its vehi-cles from January 2020, whichit attributed to the rise in theinput costs.

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The auto component indus-try's turnover witnessed

worst ever decline in the first halfof the current fiscal leading to ajob loss of around 1 lakh tem-porary workers till July this year,industry body ACMA said onFriday.

The turnover of the indus-try dropped to Rs 1.79 lakh crorein the April-September period,down 10.1 per cent from Rs 1.99lakh crore in the year-ago peri-od, Automotive ComponentManufacturers Association(ACMA) said.

The industry body said theslowdown has also resulted in aninvestment loss of up to USD 2billion dollars during the period.

Exports, however, registereda marginal growth of 2.7 per centto Rs 51,397 crore (USD 7.5 bil-lion) during the period, whileaftermarket segment grew by 4per cent to Rs 35,096 crore(USD 5.1 billion).

Import of componentsdeclined by 6.7 per cent to Rs57,574 crore (USD 8.4 billion),

ACMA said."The automotive industry is

facing a prolonged slowdown.The vehicles sales in all segmentshave continued to plummet forthe last one year," ACMAPresident Deepak Jain toldreporters here.

Considering that auto com-ponents industry grows on theback of vehicle industry, a cur-rent 15-20 per cent cut in vehi-cle production has adverselyimpacted the component seg-ment, he added.

The last time when the autocomponents industry witnesseda decline in turnover was in2013-14 when it dipped by 2 percent, ACMA said. On job loss-es, Jain said retrenchment hastaken place from October lastyear till July 2019.

"Primarily, it is the tempo-rary employees who have lostjobs during the period," Jain said,adding it was due to componentmakers adjusting production todemand.

He said a 10 per cent growthwould have added USD 6 billionof revenue, for which the corre-

sponding investment could havebeen around USD 2 billion.

"Therefore, the investmentloss due to the slowdown wouldbe around USD 1.5-2 billion," headded.

Currently, he said the com-ponents industry's capacity util-isation has come down to 50 percent from around 80 per centwhen the growth was at the peak.ACMA said subdued vehicledemand, recent investmentsmade for transition to BS-VIfrom BS-IV, liquidity crunch,lack of clarity on policy for elec-trification of vehicles, amongothers had an adverse impact onexpansion plans for the compo-nents sector.

Jain said on BS-VI transitionalone, the auto industry as awhole has invested around Rs80,000-90,000 crore, out of whichthe components sector has put inRs 30,000-35,000 crore.

Seeking government inter-vention for a sustainable long-term growth of the auto com-ponent industry, he said one ofthe key demands of the sectorhas been for a uniform GST rateof 18 per cent on all parts.

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The Reserve Bank of India isexpected to retain a dovish

bias going forward and itsemphasis may switch towardsensuring that the aggressiverate cut this year gets trans-mitted to commercial lendingrates, says a report.

After five consecutive cutsin interest rates this year, thesix-member Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC), headed byRBI Governor Shaktikanta Das,unanimously voted to hold thekey repo rate at 5.15 per centand reverse repo rate at 4.90 percent.

“We think that the RBI willretain a dovish bias, but theemphasis may now switchtowards ensuring that theaggressive rate cuts this year(cumulative 135bps) getstransmitted to commerciallending rates,” Singapore's DBSbanking Group said in aresearch note.

The RBI reiterated that itwould maintain an accommodative stance as longas necessary to revive eco-nomic growth but cut its GDP growth forecast to 5 percent for the 2019-20 fiscalfrom the earlier estimate of 6.1per cent.

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Shares of oil and gas compa-nies fell on Friday amid

reports that OPEC and othermajor producers are looking tofinalise a deal to cut production.

Oil and Natural GasCorporation's shares fell 1.71per cent to �126.60 per unit onthe BSE and 1.86 per cent to�126.50 on the NSE.

Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd (HPCL) saw itsstock decline by 1.09 per cent to�263.05 a unit on the BSE and0.71 per cent on the NSE to�264.

Shares of Indian OilCorporation Ltd (IOCL) weredown by 1.39 per cent to�124.25 apiece on the BSE and1.23 per cent on the NSE to�124.40.

Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL) scripslipped 0.65 per cent to �488.30on the BSE and 0.59 per cent onthe NSE to �488.95.

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Ministers from the powerfulOPEC group of oil pro-

ducers got together again onFriday, a day after failing in amarathon meeting to agree on a fresh output reduction dealthey hope would stem priceswhich have been under pressurefrom abundant reserves andweak global economic growth.

Friday's so-called OPEC+ meeting includedRussia, the world's second-largestoil producer and not a memberof the cartel. Saudi Oil MinisterPrince Abdulaziz Ben Salman, who is attending hisfirst meeting in the post, admit-ted that Thursday's six-hourmeeting had seen delegations"labouring... Until 11 o'clock inthe evening, squashing theirheads, squeezing their brains" insearch of an agreement.

However, ministers seemedhopeful about the prospects of aneventual deal on an overall out-

put level and each member'sshare.

Arriving at Friday's meeting,the chairman of Libya's NationalOil Corporation MustafaSanallah said of the negotiationsthat there was "no problem at all,just discussions".

OPEC countries have beenmulling an additional cut thatwould go beyond their agree-ment to reduce output by 1.2million barrels per day fromOctober 2018 levels.

That deal was originallyfixed in December last year,was extended at OPEC's lastmeeting in July, and is due toexpire in March 2020.

On Thursday, RussianEnergy Minister AlexanderNovak said a preliminary gath-ering of ministers had recom-mended an additional cut of500,000 barrels per day be con-sidered for the first quarter of2020.

Novak added that levelcould be re-examined during an

"extraordinary meeting" inMarch.

On Friday Novak said it was "extremely important in today's condition to send avery clear message to the market and to determine and show what the next stepshould be".

Oil prices have however not been significantlyaffected, because markets con-sider any cut "more of a housekeeping move that willnarrow the gap between (producers') current target andthe overcompliance we have seen from the alliance,"Oanda analyst Edward Moyatold AFP.

Prince Abdulaziz used theopening of the meeting to hintat Saudi irritation that not allcountries have been sticking tothe production quotas agreedunder the current deal.

While Saudi Arabia has vol-untarily pumped below its quotaother producers — includingRussia, Iraq and Nigeria —have been exceeding theirs.

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New Delhi: Nominated RajyaSabha member Narendra Jadhavon Friday moved a private mem-ber's bill that seeks to set up acommittee to scrutinise foreigninvestments in financial ser-vices, critical infrastructure andtechnology sectors having bear-ing on national security.

Moving the ForeignInvestment in Financial Services,Critical Infrastructure andTechnology Affecting NationalSecurity (Regulation) Bill, hesaid, "This bill seeks to protectnational security while promot-ing foreign investment."

"This is sought to be done byreforming the process by whichforeign investments are exam-ined in the light of national secu-rity considerations," he added.

The bill seeks to establish acommittee on foreign invest-ment headed by the economicaffairs secretary to effectivelyguard against the risk to national security posed by cer-tain types of foreign investmentin financial services, criticalinfrastructure and technologysectors. PTI

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The US wants India to ensurethat its data localisation plan

does not "stymie growth” andAmerican financial transactioncompanies are treated "fairly",Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin has said. Mnuchinalso insisted that America has noproblem if countries want tohave local data for regulatorypurposes as long as they do noteliminate it outside the country.

Data localisation is the prac-

tice of physically storing data onservers located within a country'sterritory. The RBI had, in Aprillast year, asked payment firms toensure their data were storedexclusively on local servers, set-ting a tight six-month deadlinefor compliance.

US firms like Google,Mastercard, Visa and Amazonhave lobbied against data local-isation rules around the worldincluding India, stressing that itwould make their operationsmore complicated and costly.

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Vodafone Idea Ltd, India’sthird largest mobile service

provider, will shut down if the government does not provide relief on the liability it faces in past statutory duesfollowing a Supreme Courtorder, its billionaire chairmanKumar Mangalam Birla said onFriday.

“If we we are not gettinganything then I think it is endof story for Vodafone Idea,”Birla said at am event whenasked about the future ofVodafone Idea in absence of agovernment relief on pay-ment of �53,038 crore dues.

Birla’s Idea Cellular andBrit ish telecom giantVodafone plc’s India unit hadmerged last year to competewith the onslaught of freevoice calling and dirt cheapdata unleashed by richestIndian Mukesh Ambani’sReliance Jio.

In the process, it accu-mulated �1.17 lakh crore debtand had just weeks back post-ed corporate India’s biggestloss after it provisioned for theliability arising from theSupreme Court upholding thegovernment’s position onwhat base should statutory lia-bilities be calculated.

“It does not make sense toput good money after bad.That would be end of story for

us. We will shut shop,” he saidin a response when asked ifVodafone Idea will put inmore money.

Market leader BhartiAirtel, Vodafone Idea andother telecom players have topay as much as �1.47 lakhcrore in payment of telecomlicence fee and spectrumusage charge together withinterest and penalty for past14 years.

Both Airtel and VodafoneIdea have petitioned the gov-ernment for relief in waiver ofinterest and penalty, whichwill halve the dues, and alsofiled a review petition in theSupreme Court.

Birla was however hopefulof a relief from the govern-ment not just for the telecomsector but the industry as awhole to pull out the econo-my from a six-year low GDPgrowth of 4.5 per cent.

“They (the government)have realised the fact thatthis (telecom) is a very criti-cal sector. The whole digitalIndia programme rests onthis. This is a strategic sector,”he said.

The government, he said,has publicly stated that itwants three players from theprivate sector and one playerfrom the public sector.

“I think that we canexpect much more stimulusfrom the government because

it is required for the sector tosurvive. If we weren’t gettinganything then I think it is endof story for Vodafone Idea,” hesaid.

The government had latelast month deferred by twoyears the payment due fromtelecom companies for spec-trum they bought in past auc-tions. This relief totalled�44,000 crore for the industrybut companies are expected topay this due together withinterest after the two yearmoratorium.

Asked about the specificrelief sought, Birla said, “Thebig elephant in the room isAGR. Which is actually Ithink something which lies inthe court of judiciary. I believegovernment can have a dia-logue. This was a suit filed bythe government against tele-com service providers.”

AGR refers to adjustedgross revenues, a percentageof which the telecom compa-nies pay as statutory dues. TheSupreme Court had upheldthe government position thatnon-telecom revenues haveto be included in the adjust-ed gross revenue for calculat-ing dues.

“Since the governmenthas won, it gives them head-room to talk to judiciary andtry to find some of solution. Idon’t know which form orshape it takes,” he added.

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Indian equity indices buck-led under selling pressurefor the second straight day

on Friday as slowing growthand lack of buying triggers tooka toll on investor sentiment.

Market mood was risk-averse a day after the RBI dis-appointed on the rate cut frontand also projected slowergrowth for this fiscal, traderssaid. Additionally, concernsover the fiscal deficit and aweakening rupee weighed onbourses, they added.

After opening on a positivenote, the 30-share BSE Sensexwitnessed a continuous slideand went on to hit an intra-daylow of 40,337.53. The indexfinally settled at 40,445.15,down 334.44 points or 0.82 percent.

Likewise, the 50-shareNifty shed 96.90 points or 0.81per cent to settle at 11,921.50.

On a weekly basis, theSensex dropped 348.66 pointsor 0.85 per cent; while the Niftylost 134.55 points or 1.11 percent.

Yes Bank was the biggestlaggard in the Sensex pack onFriday, diving 9.82 per centafter Moody’s Investors Servicedowngraded the private sectorlender’s ratings.

Other top losers were SBI,

IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors,Mahindra and Mahindra andHDFC, tumbling up to 4.89 percent.

On the other hand, KotakBank, Tata Steel, RIL, AsianPaints, TCS, Infosys and HDFCBank closed with gains.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 23closed in the red and seven fin-ished with gains.

“Clouds over economicgrowth outlook and premiumvaluation influenced investorsto stay away from rate-sensitivestocks. While rising 10-yearyield due to spike in inflationand potential slip in fiscal pathmay result in near term con-solidation in the market,” saidVinod Nair, head of research atGeojit Financial Services.

Sectorally, BSE auto indexsuffered the most by losing over1.80 per cent, followed byfinance, utilities, realty andbankex.

Telecom index was the solegainer on the chart.

Vodafone Idea sharescrashed about 9 per cent onFriday, spooked by company’schairman Kumar MangalamBirla statement that the telco“will have to shut shop” in theabsence of government relief.

Shares of oil and gas com-panies fell amid reports thatOPEC and other major pro-ducers will announce freshoutput cuts.

ONGC fell 1.39 per cent,HPCL 0.47 per cent, IOCL 0.23per cent and BPCL 0.20 percent. Shares of Petronet LNGsaw a dip of 0.17 per cent to�271.65.

According to reports,OPEC and Russia along withother producers agreed to oneof the biggest output cuts to pre-vent oversupply in the market.

Crude benchmark BrentFutures rose 0.30 per cent totrade at USD 63.58 per barrel.

The Indian rupee appreci-ated 9 paise to close at 71.20against the US dollar on Friday.At the interbank foreignexchange market, the local unitopened at 71.30 and shuttledbetween a high of 71.19 and alow of 71.43. It finally finishedat 71.20, lower by 9 paise. Thedomestic unit had settled at71.29 against the US dollar onThursday.

In contrast to the Indianmarket, optimism over theChina-US trade talks keptAsian markets buoyant onFriday, with investors bettingthe two will eventually sign apartial deal, though theyremain nervous as next week’sdeadline for fresh tariffs drawscloser.

Sentiment across tradingfloors has ebbed and flowedthrough the week as observerstry to gauge the state of play inthe long-running negotiations,

with both sides making posi-tive, then negative commentson the outlook.

The latest soundingsallowed investors to return tothe buying that has helpedpropel global markets forweeks, sending Wall Street tomultiple records.

Hong Kong climbed morethan one per cent, Shanghaiand Sydney added 0.4 per cent,while Tokyo, Singapore,Wellington, Manila, Bangkokand Jakarta each gained 0.2 percent.

Seoul jumped more thanone per cent and Taipei edgedup 0.1 per cent but Mumbaislipped 0.4 per cent.

In early trade, London andFrankfurt each rose 0.3 percent, while Paris gained 0.2 percent.

“It’s been rather a strangeweek for global equity markets,”said Michael Hewson at CMCMarkets UK.

“Moving from an expec-tation that we could well seesome movement on tradebetween the US and China inthe next couple of weeks, tothe prospect that any solutionmay well not happen untilafter the next presidential elec-tion. As a result of these mixedsignals investors appear to betaking a more cautious view asto what may happen next,” headded.

New Delhi (PTI): Markets reg-ulator Sebi on Friday said it willentertain only those complaints,where an investor discloses hisidentity and provides support-ing documents to substantiate anallegation.

The Securities and ExchangeBoard of India in a statementsaid, it will not take any action oncomplaints, where it is not ableto reach back to the com-plainants. The statement comesin the backdrop of an individualCharul Singh making severalcomplaints against a marketinfrastructure institution where-in he made grave allegations overcertain issues and demandedinvestigation by Sebi into eachallegation. Sebi said the com-plainant made these allegationswithout any supporting docu-mentary evidence and withoutdisclosing his/her real identity.The name turned out to be fake,the address and phone numbernon-existent and there was noresponse from the e-mail ID.

The complainant, purport-ed to be whistle blower, sharedhis unsubstantiated allegationswith various media houses, itadded. As per Whistle BlowerProtection Act, a whistleblowershall make a complaint, indi-cating his/her identity accom-panied by supporting docu-ments.

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Script Open High Low LTPYESBANK 61.00 61.00 55.20 56.00IBULHSGFIN 287.25 295.20 270.25 272.40SBIN 338.50 338.50 318.00 319.80RBLBANK 366.00 369.75 334.50 338.80RELIANCE 1558.00 1568.20 1541.40 1554.95POWERGRID 187.75 188.20 185.80 186.60JINDALSTEL 139.65 145.75 135.10 139.10ZEEL 299.00 302.00 283.60 287.75TCS 2130.00 2130.00 2101.00 2122.95BANDHANBNK 584.00 584.00 551.60 562.35IDEA 7.12 7.35 6.66 6.92TATASTEEL 401.00 407.40 394.25 402.95EQUITAS 113.65 113.70 108.35 112.15INFRATEL 254.00 261.90 247.85 259.40TATAMOTORS 167.90 168.00 160.05 161.50DLF 221.15 222.40 216.10 218.25PETRONET 270.00 273.80 266.70 268.25HDFCAMC 3224.00 3265.30 3175.05 3182.00MARUTI 7007.00 7050.00 6862.15 6881.35SUNPHARMA 439.00 443.95 427.15 428.50HINDUNILVR 2052.00 2052.00 2022.25 2027.40BANKBARODA 103.45 103.65 96.40 97.15ICICIBANK 530.40 533.60 521.65 524.75INFY 717.90 720.00 709.65 715.15KOTAKBANK 1650.00 1679.00 1644.35 1674.30L&TFH 116.60 116.60 111.90 113.10BAYERCROP 3672.35 3683.30 3591.00 3591.00BHARTIARTL 451.55 452.10 442.65 443.90HDFCBANK 1255.00 1259.70 1238.50 1246.20LT 1310.00 1310.00 1283.40 1290.30AXISBANK 734.70 735.25 715.00 717.55INDUSINDBK 1513.00 1518.35 1455.30 1463.75HDFC 2330.00 2332.55 2247.00 2264.00PFC 114.15 115.65 107.25 109.85DISHTV 14.50 14.67 11.67 12.56INDIGO 1328.80 1334.45 1306.80 1321.65BIOCON 289.20 293.35 286.15 289.15BAJFINANCE 4011.00 4025.00 3926.95 3962.90JSWSTEEL 251.65 256.75 249.90 253.25BERGEPAINT 495.00 515.55 495.00 500.40PNB 62.75 63.00 59.90 60.10NCC 55.60 56.15 51.90 52.35BEL 103.65 104.00 101.55 102.55DRREDDY 2925.00 2947.00 2874.30 2883.00BHEL 49.25 49.25 46.00 46.50TATAELXSI 863.00 869.00 843.75 846.05TITAN 1194.80 1194.80 1168.35 1172.25APOLLOTYRE 178.15 178.15 171.20 173.15JUSTDIAL 579.60 581.75 562.00 568.80CANBK 218.40 219.80 206.40 208.20HEROMOTOCO 2396.70 2416.05 2352.00 2362.40ERIS 445.50 509.30 445.20 476.95UJJIVAN 356.95 358.05 348.10 352.75VEDL 143.75 144.25 140.65 141.95GRAPHITE 315.00 323.90 303.40 305.45LICHSGFIN 450.00 450.10 424.00 426.10ITC 247.15 247.15 242.60 243.30BPCL 492.00 496.40 483.50 488.30MARICO 350.00 350.00 339.00 341.45MPHASIS 855.00 855.00 834.00 843.55EICHERMOT 21600.00 21623.45 20693.90 20910.00ADANIPORTS 370.05 371.40 363.60 366.25STAR 385.00 387.60 376.10 376.10APOLLOHOSP 1480.00 1510.40 1460.00 1465.40ASIANPAINT 1714.00 1747.50 1713.00 1717.80PEL 1720.95 1720.95 1630.00 1643.35M&M 530.00 530.00 508.85 510.30GAIL 121.60 121.75 115.90 117.15ESCORTS 619.75 623.10 600.25 603.15RECLTD 134.20 135.00 127.90 129.05DMART 1827.60 1829.00 1715.00 1802.05ASHOKLEY 77.00 77.20 75.65 76.45LUPIN 781.65 785.65 760.10 760.10SAIL 38.85 39.55 37.80 38.25TATAPOWER 56.00 56.70 53.25 53.50VOLTAS 695.60 695.60 674.50 689.65HINDPETRO 265.90 269.00 261.95 263.05ADANIENT 209.90 210.15 205.15 206.40M&MFIN 343.70 344.15 324.60 327.60MFSL 527.00 535.00 506.70 516.85BRITANNIA 3099.00 3099.00 3061.00 3072.00JKTYRE 80.00 81.45 76.10 77.30DELTACORP 216.00 216.65 209.50 213.55MOTHERSUMI 131.80 133.95 131.45 132.60RNAM 352.80 354.60 338.80 341.05FEDERALBNK 87.00 87.45 83.80 84.25PIDILITIND 1310.10 1337.90 1308.55 1316.60SCI 58.25 61.95 56.70 58.45BAJAJ-AUTO 3250.00 3256.30 3192.25 3209.15BAJAJFINSV 9039.00 9039.00 8829.30 8859.05GRASIM 773.00 779.60 764.05 765.50IOC 126.00 126.80 123.85 124.25DIVISLAB 1800.90 1823.60 1773.70 1780.35GLENMARK 330.00 337.50 323.00 324.95COALINDIA 196.60 197.30 190.90 191.65HDFCLIFE 577.00 579.55 571.40 575.00IGL 402.35 409.35 397.90 402.40BATAINDIA 1705.00 1723.00 1691.45 1702.00HINDALCO 199.20 200.60 195.75 197.80OMAXE 182.70 194.55 143.95 143.95RAYMOND 709.75 713.10 691.10 697.50UNIONBANK 59.05 59.05 54.60 54.95COLPAL 1456.65 1494.45 1456.65 1480.95DABUR 469.25 471.80 460.80 464.90IDFCFIRSTB 44.70 44.95 43.10 43.30PVR 1815.00 1822.00 1713.00 1756.80POLYCAB 1044.65 1069.75 1004.80 1018.00

SPARC 156.05 161.30 151.00 153.70MUTHOOTFIN 695.50 703.00 690.55 692.05ABCAPITAL 107.00 107.90 102.15 103.10ONGC 129.00 129.00 126.30 126.60NBCC 35.95 36.20 34.00 34.35RAJESHEXPO 684.85 684.85 674.50 674.75JUBLFOOD 1580.10 1604.85 1563.85 1571.35IRB 72.00 72.20 68.70 69.55BALKRISIND 952.00 953.85 912.00 921.20WOCKPHARMA 252.00 253.10 242.40 243.85CONCOR 569.55 575.55 556.45 560.75ADANIPOWER 60.95 61.35 58.80 59.55MMTC 21.00 21.50 19.70 19.95HEG 1068.90 1081.40 1041.20 1044.95SRF 3230.15 3252.85 3210.00 3225.35HCLTECH 562.00 566.20 558.45 560.20SBILIFE 963.20 973.20 944.75 962.95AUROPHARMA 449.55 453.50 442.75 444.45TECHM 752.50 771.20 752.50 758.35ADANIGAS 151.40 155.15 150.00 150.55ADANIGREEN 130.00 131.25 123.50 126.40NMDC 110.70 111.35 109.15 110.40ACC 1500.40 1501.25 1464.25 1479.00BANKINDIA 71.50 71.50 67.80 67.85TATAGLOBAL 313.50 319.80 312.40 312.40CEATLTD 965.35 972.00 959.75 964.75NTPC 114.95 114.95 112.25 112.55TATAMTRDVR 69.30 70.45 67.40 67.90ULTRACEMCO 4174.30 4194.70 4125.50 4159.35BEML 1004.85 1007.35 976.45 980.85HAVELLS 666.50 667.85 652.50 660.00UPL 568.00 570.50 558.50 561.70PNBHOUSING 504.00 511.50 483.00 485.25GODREJCP 673.40 683.95 662.95 666.70EDELWEISS 121.05 122.25 114.20 114.20CANFINHOME 417.25 419.60 407.80 415.30EXIDEIND 187.50 187.50 181.70 182.25SRTRANSFIN 1107.15 1108.70 1069.40 1073.20TVSMOTOR 451.15 454.30 438.20 444.75PERSISTENT 690.00 692.00 683.40 690.00ICICIPRULI 490.45 500.20 489.45 492.25NAUKRI 2469.80 2486.50 2438.00 2445.70PRESTIGE 334.80 337.85 313.60 326.00BOMDYEING 77.80 78.20 74.00 74.65SPICEJET 108.75 108.75 105.50 106.25MANAPPURAM 160.00 160.55 157.30 157.80GILLETTE 6901.70 7013.75 6693.00 6707.10SUNTECK 411.00 411.00 393.05 394.00GRANULES 127.55 130.00 120.20 121.55WIPRO 244.00 244.45 240.35 240.95JUBILANT 538.80 541.65 512.70 517.75ITDC 359.80 367.05 344.75 348.85CIPLA 465.00 466.80 454.00 455.60JAICORPLTD 96.00 96.00 90.50 90.95PCJEWELLER 27.50 27.60 25.80 26.00ABB 1435.00 1448.80 1425.00 1444.60GUJGAS 224.50 228.30 220.50 227.35

CADILAHC 257.85 260.60 253.25 256.40PAGEIND 22000.00 22091.70 21662.00 21755.15ABFRL 221.60 226.90 219.00 225.70SUNTV 473.20 474.75 462.45 464.85MINDTREE 758.00 762.25 736.80 738.20SUVEN 275.00 282.45 270.00 279.15AMBUJACEM 204.00 204.00 199.60 200.80ADANITRANS 325.05 326.80 314.45 319.80MRF 62399.95 62600.00 61333.00 61600.00GODFRYPHLP 1341.90 1366.80 1276.90 1306.10MCX 1150.00 1154.00 1130.25 1134.90VIPIND 423.95 427.00 420.00 426.20VENKYS 1737.90 1748.50 1701.00 1702.80SHREECEM 20515.65 20570.00 20236.05 20329.40NH 309.90 318.60 299.90 305.10BALRAMCHIN 166.70 166.95 159.00 163.00CROMPTON 252.95 253.00 245.35 247.65HEXAWARE 337.00 340.75 332.75 334.10CESC 740.50 740.50 720.15 722.35ISEC 345.00 359.75 345.00 355.05AVANTI 509.50 512.00 496.40 500.00IBVENTURES 164.00 164.45 155.75 155.75IDBI 35.85 36.15 34.40 34.65ORIENTBANK 56.70 56.90 54.05 54.05DCMSHRIRAM 352.90 364.50 349.65 359.10CUMMINSIND 542.30 542.30 519.50 521.80OBEROIRLTY 551.60 559.80 542.80 558.45STRTECH 124.25 125.55 121.60 122.65GLAXO 1645.05 1660.00 1616.30 1632.35EIDPARRY 189.00 194.00 187.00 192.55

TORNTPHARM 1879.80 1884.10 1842.00 1850.50HINDCOPPER 40.00 41.00 38.50 38.65IBULISL 91.00 91.25 82.65 82.65IBREALEST 63.30 64.00 60.35 60.60SUZLON 2.32 2.40 2.21 2.23MGL 1015.00 1033.15 1015.00 1018.90ADVENZYMES 163.95 164.60 161.45 162.40SWANENERGY 101.50 103.40 100.50 101.70GSPL 216.85 226.45 216.75 219.15NESTLEIND 14295.95 14307.20 14150.00 14159.50ITI 89.35 90.45 86.40 87.05TORNTPOWER 278.95 279.20 269.90 272.65BOSCHLTD 15716.30 15724.10 15100.00 15179.75INFIBEAM 50.30 51.25 48.75 49.15CUB 234.70 236.80 228.80 233.45TATACHEM 675.90 675.90 658.00 664.25INOXLEISUR 376.90 376.95 359.20 364.85MAHINDCIE 152.80 152.80 144.65 147.90FORCEMOT 1040.00 1052.55 1015.00 1019.00NOCIL 104.35 104.35 97.00 97.35GMRINFRA 21.40 21.40 20.20 20.35CASTROLIND 137.50 137.65 134.10 134.50BAJAJELEC 327.75 327.75 320.30 321.95GODREJAGRO 509.70 515.00 498.80 499.50SIEMENS 1485.00 1489.25 1457.75 1475.25BDL 307.00 310.60 297.30 301.40MAGMA 50.70 51.50 48.60 49.05ICICIGI 1372.75 1378.00 1353.70 1360.80JPASSOCIAT 2.49 2.59 2.41 2.41ASTRAZEN 2717.10 2770.00 2641.00 2654.40OIL 158.95 159.70 154.30 156.00INDIACEM 76.85 76.85 74.50 74.70CYIENT 392.90 402.40 391.00 397.35AMARAJABAT 738.10 741.45 724.60 728.70RELCAPITAL 13.20 13.30 12.55 12.55TATACOFFEE 97.00 98.25 94.60 97.55JSWENERGY 77.15 77.20 72.45 73.35SOUTHBANK 11.00 11.04 10.74 10.79DBL 390.00 394.85 376.15 379.35PFIZER 4338.40 4385.00 4275.15 4311.85COFFEEDAY 49.00 50.30 47.40 48.00ALLCARGO 97.00 98.90 94.15 97.00BLISSGVS 141.70 141.70 139.05 141.45GODREJPROP 899.00 899.25 884.65 885.40COCHINSHIP 400.50 401.05 391.50 393.50RELINFRA 24.20 24.30 22.75 22.75MASFIN 765.00 798.00 750.00 779.90IPCALAB 1105.00 1115.10 1066.55 1090.00WHIRLPOOL 2410.05 2410.05 2324.35 2347.70GNFC 182.10 182.95 177.25 178.20LTTS 1490.50 1515.00 1472.05 1510.95FDC 192.00 211.00 191.60 204.60MEGH 49.30 51.60 49.30 50.55NATIONALUM 43.65 43.95 42.95 43.20RADICO 305.00 309.70 300.50 302.00BHARATFORG 444.85 447.45 440.20 440.20GICRE 260.00 260.50 248.00 249.55PHILIPCARB 119.40 119.70 115.85 116.45FRETAIL 339.10 339.10 328.65 332.75RPOWER 3.60 3.60 3.39 3.39DEEPAKNI 341.85 345.65 330.10 332.80BAJAJCON 243.00 243.00 239.55 241.50RITES 280.30 281.55 279.00 279.80WESTLIFE 358.40 368.60 352.00 352.00LALPATHLAB 1668.00 1689.00 1658.70 1670.00INDIANB 123.60 124.10 118.70 119.10ABBOTINDIA 12784.80 12815.00 12750.00 12805.00NIITTECH 1470.00 1490.00 1460.00 1462.90AUBANK 811.00 814.70 798.00 802.15AAVAS 1755.15 1794.00 1740.00 1760.00INDHOTEL 150.90 150.90 146.20 148.25CREDITACC 810.00 829.60 800.00 800.00HUDCO 38.25 38.40 35.70 36.20BIRLACORPN 673.00 673.00 639.00 644.00METROPOLIS 1372.00 1375.00 1350.00 1360.30LUXIND 1409.75 1441.95 1365.00 1388.00IIFL 159.90 161.80 150.55 152.20NIACL 148.95 148.95 140.75 141.60PARAGMILK 144.00 149.00 142.30 145.20TRIDENT 71.60 71.60 68.60 68.80DALBHARAT 852.60 860.80 839.95 845.00UBL 1255.00 1255.00 1212.00 1218.40RCF 47.55 47.60 45.60 46.25CENTRALBK 21.00 21.20 18.95 19.75HINDZINC 211.80 213.85 210.05 210.90SUDARSCHEM 409.00 409.00 384.00 388.00KEC 271.35 273.00 268.75 271.95RAIN 104.40 104.40 97.15 97.60FSL 40.75 40.75 39.15 39.70VGUARD 229.30 229.60 225.25 225.85TRENT 500.00 508.80 495.75 499.40RALLIS 181.60 184.80 175.45 180.10JINDALSAW 75.80 76.00 73.35 74.30DHFL 18.10 18.15 17.10 17.10PTC 54.40 54.50 53.40 53.40BBTC 1090.30 1090.30 1045.00 1050.90KTKBANK 74.50 75.25 74.00 74.25J&KBANK 31.85 32.45 30.55 31.15SCHNEIDER 66.80 67.50 65.40 65.50EMAMILTD 320.55 321.90 317.00 318.00NESCO 645.00 647.35 623.40 631.15VBL 718.85 723.20 701.25 706.50CHOLAFIN 302.70 303.30 296.30 299.65KEI 504.00 505.45 491.00 495.25WABAG 164.00 173.70 164.00 165.55IDFC 36.00 36.00 33.60 33.95KRBL 209.00 216.35 203.00 204.30JISLJALEQS 9.94 9.94 9.09 9.13

NHPC 24.05 24.10 23.80 23.95ASTRAL 1193.45 1193.45 1147.05 1151.60RVNL 24.00 24.00 23.55 23.60SYMPHONY 1118.20 1118.20 1090.00 1109.00HFCL 18.85 18.95 17.80 17.90MOTILALOFS 753.00 753.00 724.95 730.35BALMLAWRIE 199.75 199.75 189.70 190.10DCBBANK 175.80 178.55 173.55 176.20PGHH 11411.35 11500.00 11088.60 11467.05TV18BRDCST 23.00 23.00 21.90 22.00CORPBANK 25.60 25.60 23.85 24.25HEIDELBERG 182.75 184.40 180.50 181.60ALBK 23.00 23.10 22.20 22.35RELAXO 610.00 610.00 597.00 601.70KANSAINER 521.35 529.00 506.45 523.00DCAL 121.90 126.20 121.85 123.85GREAVESCOT 133.50 133.50 128.75 129.05UCOBANK 17.20 17.25 16.10 16.25LTI 1649.90 1666.00 1649.90 1659.05JAGRAN 62.20 63.15 60.25 61.95SJVN 24.80 24.95 24.75 24.75WELCORP 135.60 136.20 132.80 132.80IRCON 402.30 408.55 396.50 399.30HONAUT 26430.50 26691.00 26136.05 26245.85ENGINERSIN 103.95 104.00 102.50 102.70ORIENTELEC 196.60 197.50 187.90 190.35VINATIORGA 1931.20 2016.00 1931.20 1980.00SUNDRMFAST 467.40 467.40 456.20 459.20GESHIP 305.00 305.00 295.50 295.50HSCL 61.00 61.85 60.35 60.85JMFINANCIL 86.10 89.25 85.15 88.40TATAMETALI 600.00 602.90 571.00 583.35FINEORG 1909.90 1909.90 1860.00 1891.85PGHL 4327.15 4330.00 4236.35 4255.00GSFC 69.35 69.60 68.05 68.20FCONSUMER 25.30 25.50 24.30 24.45NAVINFLUOR 872.75 892.00 857.00 881.30COROMANDEL 491.30 497.80 483.05 495.60OFSS 2930.00 2947.05 2917.90 2930.25KALPATPOWR 440.45 441.50 433.00 435.50WELSPUNIND 50.40 50.90 49.20 49.45CENTURYPLY 171.40 171.40 164.90 165.10ESSELPRO 152.70 154.50 149.05 152.85RCOM 1.01 1.01 1.01 1.01ALKEM 2092.45 2092.65 2050.30 2091.00CHAMBLFERT 146.20 149.05 145.05 145.80GODREJIND 437.00 437.00 432.00 433.00IFCI 6.95 7.03 6.70 6.75NATCOPHARM 590.10 601.00 590.10 593.90QUESS 489.45 489.45 475.00 477.15MINDACORP 94.25 95.25 90.50 91.40INOXWIND 44.10 45.40 39.50 40.00NETWORK18 29.05 29.20 27.20 28.20KAJARIACER 517.50 520.00 514.00 514.40MINDAIND 340.00 344.55 334.25 342.55JSL 37.65 38.50 36.65 38.453MINDIA 21885.00 21885.00 21610.00 21700.00SHOPERSTOP 348.00 360.75 344.40 357.45HATHWAY 22.80 22.80 20.20 20.20CGPOWER 12.61 13.00 12.14 12.25MOIL 135.95 135.95 134.30 135.15JKCEMENT 1153.00 1165.70 1129.00 1137.15GALAXYSURF 1441.70 1457.15 1420.90 1450.30SYNGENE 306.90 309.30 304.45 307.35ITDCEM 57.05 59.00 54.90 54.90JAMNAAUTO 43.25 43.25 40.10 40.15AJANTPHARM 984.80 984.80 975.60 981.00SANOFI 7055.80 7058.95 6945.95 6986.25CAPPL 311.05 312.50 309.00 312.50BLUEDART 2263.05 2311.00 2218.10 2223.60FORTIS 138.15 138.70 137.00 137.25UFLEX 206.00 206.00 191.90 191.90GSKCONS 8914.00 8914.00 8737.20 8775.30TEAMLEASE 2472.00 2472.00 2341.00 2355.05SUPREMEIND 1131.00 1132.00 1118.30 1118.30LAKSHVILAS 20.95 21.40 19.75 19.90GHCL 216.00 216.00 197.05 197.35APLAPOLLO 1572.80 1594.80 1552.20 1561.50PNCINFRA 202.00 202.00 196.95 197.10GAYAPROJ 71.55 72.95 70.00 72.40ASHOKA 93.65 93.75 91.50 92.80SHANKARA 314.70 319.85 295.05 297.95PIIND 1524.80 1529.95 1473.75 1483.25PHOENIXLTD 757.35 760.00 747.05 747.05ZYDUSWELL 1401.05 1521.95 1401.05 1426.20ECLERX 504.50 510.30 485.10 490.85NBVENTURES 73.25 73.70 71.00 72.85BLUESTARCO 808.50 811.00 800.40 801.00LINDEINDIA 639.00 652.45 622.05 622.05ATUL 4045.90 4052.80 4013.85 4024.10

TIMETECHNO 50.00 50.80 47.70 47.70TTKPRESTIG 5605.60 5669.85 5539.45 5557.00MAHSCOOTER 4447.40 4541.75 4419.65 4500.00INTELLECT 150.90 152.80 150.90 151.85SOBHA 398.15 400.55 392.50 394.30RAMCOCEM 789.00 791.35 776.65 787.10CHENNPETRO 117.30 117.75 114.55 114.55REDINGTON 111.05 111.50 109.00 109.85EIHOTEL 152.00 154.50 148.50 154.50CHOLAHLDNG 490.10 498.80 487.80 489.40JKLAKSHMI 289.00 293.40 281.20 281.20CARERATING 479.60 481.00 476.50 480.05BAJAJHLDNG 3549.00 3549.00 3410.00 3417.45AEGISLOG 195.50 196.00 191.00 191.35SOLARINDS 1045.00 1050.00 1021.40 1036.50CRISIL 1652.50 1653.35 1637.85 1645.00SOMANYCERA 219.20 226.65 217.00 220.10BASF 990.85 990.85 969.50 976.20INDOSTAR 180.00 181.00 175.25 176.30TIMKEN 865.00 869.90 853.55 857.30GEPIL 748.75 760.00 721.00 721.00DEEPAKFERT 92.05 93.00 90.75 90.90MAXINDIA 78.95 78.95 75.50 76.00FINOLEXIND 576.00 576.10 565.00 565.00DHANUKA 313.00 328.80 310.00 315.90FINCABLES 361.70 361.70 347.05 354.00SONATSOFTW 300.00 301.60 298.40 299.90EVEREADY 53.75 53.85 52.90 53.50APLLTD 558.40 562.00 556.00 560.70GICHSGFIN 154.60 155.90 152.00 152.95WABCOINDIA 6239.00 6251.00 6210.00 6210.00HAL 765.00 772.50 760.00 762.00IOB 10.29 10.41 10.10 10.13KNRCON 226.95 228.00 224.00 224.00SHILPAMED 345.00 346.00 298.50 307.00MRPL 46.55 48.50 46.10 46.40HERITGFOOD 365.15 366.90 352.60 361.80LEMONTREE 63.70 63.70 61.55 61.55JCHAC 2080.00 2142.70 1966.05 1979.00TNPL 180.00 180.25 170.35 171.05TEJASNET 95.05 95.05 90.85 91.20SYNDIBANK 29.00 29.00 27.60 28.00TCNSBRANDS 693.25 693.25 674.20 674.20PRSMJOHNSN 66.35 66.50 64.60 64.60MAHLOG 401.00 414.90 391.00 405.00ANDHRABANK 18.25 18.25 17.60 17.70NILKAMAL 1299.00 1306.10 1286.65 1293.00THYROCARE 577.25 580.00 563.30 569.10LAXMIMACH 3295.00 3295.05 3261.00 3264.80TATAINVEST 819.85 821.85 803.00 810.55SREINFRA 8.33 8.40 7.90 8.01CENTRUM 21.95 22.35 20.85 21.85THERMAX 998.10 1003.50 981.60 981.60AKZOINDIA 1970.00 1976.35 1893.60 1909.20VTL 924.85 948.00 910.50 911.20GPPL 90.00 90.00 83.40 83.60GRINDWELL 587.45 587.45 570.00 574.35VARROC 430.30 430.30 414.00 420.20GUJALKALI 394.50 405.30 394.00 395.85CCL 199.30 201.50 197.10 197.10TAKE 96.75 97.00 94.20 94.70TIINDIA 482.50 484.00 474.20 476.75REPCOHOME 295.20 297.05 290.00 290.10GULFOILLUB 783.00 798.80 782.60 790.00JYOTHYLAB 165.90 166.15 163.95 164.50MAHLIFE 372.15 378.80 370.00 378.70CARBORUNIV 323.05 328.60 319.50 322.25AIAENG 1634.20 1649.60 1634.20 1644.35JBCHEPHARM 405.40 406.00 402.10 402.10NLCINDIA 54.40 54.65 54.30 54.65ASTERDM 156.40 156.40 153.65 153.65IEX 140.15 140.60 140.00 140.00LAURUSLABS 342.60 344.00 337.50 337.50MAHABANK 12.70 12.70 11.95 11.95SKFINDIA 2131.55 2145.60 2114.40 2126.70VSTIND 4399.90 4399.90 4170.10 4248.00TVSSRICHAK 1744.00 1744.00 1708.30 1709.40SCHAEFFLER 4405.45 4468.90 4301.05 4463.05APARINDS 438.30 439.25 428.60 430.65SADBHAV 122.45 123.35 119.75 120.20STARCEMENT 92.00 93.55 90.45 90.45GMDCLTD 57.20 57.35 55.50 56.05CERA 2524.15 2542.15 2514.30 2542.00SHK 105.40 105.40 103.00 103.80ENDURANCE 1063.75 1069.75 1047.50 1048.00ZENSARTECH 184.55 186.00 184.00 184.50GDL 98.50 98.65 97.00 98.00JSLHISAR 69.80 69.80 67.15 68.00TVTODAY 267.70 268.00 258.30 258.75MAHSEAMLES 373.20 373.20 356.70 362.75DBCORP 141.30 141.40 137.30 138.50IFBIND 625.60 625.60 605.70 607.50RATNAMANI 983.00 990.25 979.65 986.00CHALET 341.25 342.15 328.00 340.00HIMATSEIDE 129.95 130.75 127.30 128.40VMART 1705.35 1717.40 1692.00 1692.00SUPRAJIT 174.15 177.80 174.15 177.35UNITEDBNK 8.90 8.90 8.69 8.71MHRIL 215.30 216.60 213.95 213.95GET&D 150.50 151.50 146.00 146.55TRITURBINE 93.00 95.90 92.15 95.90ORIENTCEM 75.20 75.20 74.10 74.90LAOPALA 133.50 134.80 133.00 133.05JSWHL 2358.55 2358.55 2275.95 2275.95SHRIRAMCIT 1414.30 1414.30 1378.00 1404.75FLFL 400.40 405.60 390.00 396.25KPRMILL 659.10 659.10 656.70 656.70SIS 917.90 917.90 917.25 917.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12047.35 12057.05 11888.85 11921.50 -96.90INFRATEL 247.60 262.00 247.55 259.00 12.95KOTAKBANK 1650.00 1680.00 1643.30 1676.25 26.95JSWSTEEL 252.90 256.70 250.10 253.30 1.85TATASTEEL 401.45 407.50 393.85 401.95 2.15DRREDDY 2887.70 2949.00 2871.65 2881.00 9.40RELIANCE 1553.00 1568.00 1541.10 1554.50 3.65ASIANPAINT 1722.90 1747.60 1712.85 1719.30 3.45TCS 2124.00 2128.00 2101.00 2123.65 2.35ULTRACEMCO 4180.00 4196.20 4124.20 4161.20 0.25HDFCBANK 1248.95 1260.00 1238.20 1245.40 -0.20INFY 715.95 720.00 709.60 714.50 -0.35HCLTECH 563.90 567.05 558.65 560.00 -0.90VEDL 143.30 144.35 140.60 142.00 -0.50BRITANNIA 3090.05 3098.20 3059.70 3071.20 -11.70GRASIM 775.00 779.65 764.10 766.10 -3.20HINDUNILVR 2044.00 2049.00 2022.00 2027.80 -9.65HINDALCO 199.00 200.70 195.65 197.50 -1.05ICICIBANK 530.05 533.50 521.65 525.25 -2.85POWERGRID 187.45 188.15 185.85 186.25 -1.05BPCL 491.00 496.50 483.50 488.95 -2.90BAJFINANCE 4010.00 4027.80 3927.40 3958.95 -31.90WIPRO 243.70 244.50 240.35 241.50 -2.20TECHM 763.20 771.35 755.55 758.00 -6.90BHARTIARTL 451.90 452.40 442.85 442.95 -4.40UPL 570.90 570.90 558.15 563.00 -5.55NESTLEIND 14301.00 14324.35 14149.00 14150.00 -139.65BAJAJ-AUTO 3243.10 3258.00 3193.10 3210.00 -33.10ADANIPORTS 370.65 371.30 363.40 364.60 -3.80LT 1308.85 1309.00 1283.10 1287.85 -14.35TITAN 1189.80 1189.80 1168.90 1170.55 -13.70BAJAJFINSV 9012.00 9035.50 8824.25 8860.00 -105.50NTPC 114.70 114.70 112.20 112.70 -1.40IOC 125.90 126.90 123.85 124.40 -1.55CIPLA 463.00 467.00 454.00 455.50 -6.10HEROMOTOCO2411.00 2416.60 2351.00 2363.00 -33.60AXISBANK 732.80 735.25 715.00 718.00 -11.25ITC 247.00 247.15 242.50 243.00 -3.95MARUTI 7012.85 7050.00 6864.10 6886.75 -126.10ONGC 129.50 129.50 126.30 126.50 -2.40SUNPHARMA 440.30 444.20 427.00 428.40 -8.30EICHERMOT 21500.00 21634.65 20665.00 20920.05 -497.00COALINDIA 196.40 197.00 190.90 191.45 -4.95M&M 527.80 527.90 508.10 510.00 -14.75HDFC 2326.50 2335.00 2246.45 2262.00 -65.55TATAMOTORS 167.00 168.00 160.05 161.05 -5.05GAIL 121.30 121.70 115.85 117.15 -4.05INDUSINDBK 1517.00 1518.65 1456.00 1458.70 -51.05ZEEL 298.00 302.40 283.40 286.20 -13.85SBIN 336.70 337.65 318.00 318.20 -18.00YESBANK 60.10 60.75 55.15 55.60 -6.50

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28221.20 28264.95 27741.55 27854.05 -291.50COLPAL 1453.00 1494.00 1453.00 1479.90 29.10BERGEPAINT 495.00 515.65 495.00 500.50 7.00BIOCON 288.05 293.35 286.05 289.20 2.60NHPC 23.90 24.10 23.80 24.05 0.20PGHH 11474.80 11525.00 11402.00 11445.00 94.75PIDILITIND 1312.90 1338.00 1308.15 1318.90 7.95MOTHERSUMI 131.55 134.00 131.30 132.45 0.75INDIGO 1325.00 1335.00 1305.55 1325.55 4.30NMDC 110.30 111.45 109.10 110.00 0.35HDFCLIFE 577.75 579.20 571.25 576.55 0.65ASHOKLEY 76.90 77.20 75.65 76.50 0.05SIEMENS 1483.70 1489.65 1456.40 1476.95 -2.10AMBUJACEM 202.15 203.00 199.35 200.85 -0.35SBILIFE 971.00 974.00 945.20 963.00 -3.40ICICIGI 1374.70 1378.80 1352.25 1360.00 -6.20SHREECEM 20490.00 20578.50 20239.85 20290.00 -102.55HINDZINC 211.50 213.95 210.00 210.60 -1.25DABUR 468.75 471.85 460.90 463.25 -2.85HDFCAMC 3225.00 3264.90 3175.20 3180.00 -21.20HINDPETRO 265.00 269.00 262.00 264.00 -1.90AUROPHARMA 449.15 454.95 442.25 445.55 -3.60CADILAHC 258.00 260.95 253.00 255.30 -2.35ACC 1496.00 1501.50 1462.55 1479.00 -14.00ICICIPRULI 494.00 500.25 489.20 490.00 -4.90GODREJCP 672.00 684.40 662.30 665.00 -6.80BAJAJHLDNG 3457.80 3457.80 3405.10 3414.00 -34.85OFSS 2945.45 2974.75 2915.00 2920.00 -31.05PAGEIND 22091.00 22091.00 21654.65 21700.00 -254.40CONCOR 567.60 576.00 555.60 560.85 -6.75DIVISLAB 1802.00 1824.00 1772.55 1780.15 -21.35UBL 1232.15 1237.90 1211.45 1214.00 -16.35DLF 221.90 222.50 216.00 217.95 -3.15MCDOWELL-N 603.30 605.95 586.45 591.20 -9.25HAVELLS 670.95 670.95 652.35 660.00 -10.40DMART 1826.00 1834.80 1795.00 1796.30 -28.45PETRONET 271.50 273.70 266.80 268.05 -4.40MARICO 348.50 349.75 338.85 341.30 -6.70L&TFH 115.60 116.40 111.75 113.10 -2.45NIACL 147.50 148.50 140.50 141.05 -3.05GICRE 258.45 260.40 247.80 249.95 -6.10BANDHANBNK 580.25 581.25 551.40 563.50 -13.90LUPIN 783.00 786.00 759.00 759.00 -20.65SRTRANSFIN 1108.20 1108.80 1069.00 1071.20 -37.60PNB 62.55 62.70 59.90 60.15 -2.15BOSCHLTD 15615.00 15725.00 15097.25 15110.00 -548.30PEL 1721.90 1724.45 1629.75 1643.25 -63.25IBULHSGFIN 287.90 295.20 270.15 273.50 -11.60PFC 114.80 115.70 107.20 109.25 -5.65IDEA 7.10 7.35 6.65 6.90 -0.40BANKBARODA 103.30 103.65 96.20 96.55 -5.70

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ASouth African animalorphanage says a baby

giraffe that was befriended bya dog after it was abandoned inthe wild has died.

The Rhino Orphanage in aFacebook post on Friday said Jazz the giraffe col-

lapsed after hemorrhaging inthe brain.

The orphanage said thegiraffe had been unstable on itsfeet in recent days.

“Our team is heartbroken,”the orphanage said. It added thatresident watchdog Hunter wasby the giraffe’s side when it died.The dog then sat in front of the

empty room for a while.The giraffe arrived at the

orphanage a few weeks ago, justdays after birth.

A farmer found him in thewild, weak and dehydrated,and called the centre for help.

Caretaker Janie VanHeerden said the two animalshad bonded immediately.

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House Democrats movedaggressively to draw up

formal articles of impeachmentagainst President Donald Trumpon Thursday, with SpeakerNancy Pelosi saying he “leavesus no choice” but to act swiftlybecause he’s likely to corrupt thesystem again unless removedbefore next year’s election.

A strictly partisan effort atthis point, derided immediate-ly by Trump and other leadingRepublicans as a sham and ahoax, it is a politically riskyundertaking. Democrats say itis their duty, in the aftermathof the Ukraine probe, whileRepublicans say it will drivePelosi’s majority from office.

Congress must act, Pelosisaid. “The democracy is whatis at stake.”

“The President’s actionshave seriously violated theConstitution,” she said in asomber address at the Capitol.“He is trying to corrupt, once

again, the election for his ownbenefit. The President hasengaged in abuse of power,undermining our nationalsecurity and jeopardising theintegrity of our elections.”

Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong. Hetweeted that the Democrats“have gone crazy.”

At the core of the impeach-ment probe is a July phone call

with the president of Ukraine,in which Trump pressed theleader to investigateDemocrats, including politicalrival Joe Biden. At the sametime the White House waswithholding military aid fromUkraine, an ally bordering anaggressive Russia.

Drafting articles of impeach-ment is a milestone moment,only the fourth time in US his-

tory Congress has tried toremove a president, and it inten-sifies the rigid and polarising par-tisanship of the Trump era thatis consuming Washington anddividing the nation.

The speaker delivered herhistoric announcement insolemn tones at the Capitol,drawing on the Constitutionand the Founding Fathers inforcefully claiming Congress’oversight of the president in thenation’s system of checks andbalances. Democrats arealready beginning to preparethe formal charges, pushingtoward House votes, possiblybefore Christmas.

“Sadly, but with confidenceand humility, with allegiance toour founders and a heart full oflove for America, today I amasking our chairmen to pro-ceed with articles of impeach-ment,” Pelosi said.

Seemingly eager to fight,Trump tweeted that ifDemocrats “are going toimpeach me, do it now, fast.”

Though he has fought theHouse investigation, trying tobar current and former officialsfrom testifying, he said he nowwants to move on to a “fairtrial” in the Senate.

Approval of articles ofimpeachment is consideredlikely in the Democratic-major-ity House. Conviction in a fol-lowing trial in the Republican-dominated Senate seems veryunlikely. Once reluctant topursue impeachment, warningit was too divisive for thecountry and needed to bebipartisan, Pelosi is now lead-ing Congress into politicallyuncertain terrain for all sidesjust ahead of the election year.

Republican are standinglockstep with Trump,unswayed by arguments thathis actions amount to wrong-doing, let alone impeachableoffenses. That is leavingDemocrats to go it alone in acampaign to consider remov-ing the 45th president fromoffice.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosisaid on Thursday that

Democrats will draft articles ofimpeachment against PresidentDonald Trump, a crucial steptoward a vote of the full House.

The articles are likely tomostly encompass Democrats’findings on Trump’s dealingswith Ukraine. Democrats arestill writing them, but the arti-cles could charge Trump withabuse of office, bribery andobstruction.

Lawmakers and staff areexpected to finish drafting thearticles in the coming days, aprocess that is being led byPelosi and the House JudiciaryCommittee.

That panel could approvethe articles as early as nextweek, setting up a vote of the

full House in the days beforeChristmas.

Articles of impeachmentare charges against the presi-dent. If the House approvesthem, they are then sent to theSenate for a trial and eventualvote. There can be as few or asmany articles as the Housedecides. In a Senate trial, sen-ators are jurors and selectHouse members act as prose-cutors, or impeachment man-agers. The chief justice of theSupreme Court presides.

If the Senate approves anarticle of impeachment with atwo-thirds vote of “guilty,” thepresident is convicted andremoved from office. If all thearticles are rejected, thePresident is acquitted.

While the process has thetrappings of a criminal trial, thedecision is purely political.

Bratislava (Slovakia): A gasexplosion in an apartmentbuilding in eastern Slovakiakilled at least five people Friday.Firefighters said other peopleare trapped on the roof as thebuilding burns and is in danger

of collapse. The explosion tookplace in the 12-story building inthe city of Presov shortly afternoon. Firefighters said theexplosion was between the 9thand 12 floors, and several peo-ple fled to the roof. AP

PENSACOLA: A shooteropened fire in a classroombuilding at the Naval AirStation in Pensacola on Fridaymorning in an attack that leftfour people dead, including theassailant, and multiple peoplewounded. The shooting — thesecond at a U.S. Navy base thisweek — prompted a massivelaw enforcement response anda lockdown at the base.

Escambia County SheriffDavid Morgan said four peoplehad been killed and that thetwo sheriff ’s deputies who werethe first to respond, includingone who killed the shooter,were wounded but expected torecover.

Eight people were taken toBaptist Health Care inPensacola, and one of themdied, Morgan said.

NAS Pensacola employsmore than 16,000 military and7,400 civilian personnel,according to its website. One ofthe Navy’s most historic andstoried bases, it sprawls alongthe waterfront southwest ofdowntown Pensacola and dom-inates the economy of the sur-rounding area. AP

London: Boris Johnson cameunder fire on Friday for failingto face one of Britain’s top polit-ical interviewers as he preparedfor a final head-to-head debatewith the main opposition leaderbefore next week’s election.

Four other major partyleaders have subjected them-selves to an uncomfortablegrilling from the BBC’s AndrewNeil but the prime minister hasso far declined to do so.

The spat comes before thesecond and final televisedshowdown betweenConservative party leader

Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, ofthe main opposition Labourparty, at 8:30 pm (2030 GMT).

Neil, a former editor of theSunday Times, said he wantedto put questions of trust toJohnson.

After quizzing Brexit Partyleader Nigel Farage on Thursdaynight, Neil told viewers theseries of 30-minute leaders’interviews was done “on yourbehalf to scrutinise and hold toaccount those who would gov-ern us. That is democracy.

“We’ve always proceeded ingood faith that the leaders

would participate. And in everyelection they have. All of them.Until this one.”

Corbyn meanwhile claimedin a speech in north London onFriday that he had uncoveredconfidential documents provingJohnson was “deliberately mis-leading the people” about hisBrexit deal.

He said the governmentpapers suggested there would becustoms declarations and secu-rity checks between mainlandBritain and Northern Ireland,contrary to what he hadclaimed. AFP

Beijing: China said on Fridayit will now require USDiplomats to give five days’notice before holding meetingswith Chinese officials and aca-demics in retaliation for a sim-ilar restriction by Washington.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokeswoman Hua Chunyingsaid at a daily briefing that therule was a direct response toWashington’s move in Octoberto require all Chinese diplo-mats to preregister for meetingswith officials down to the

municipal level as well as vis-its to educational and researchinstitutions.

Hua said the US Should“correct its mistakes, revoke therelevant decision, and providesupport and convenience forChinese diplomatic and consularstaff in the US To perform theirduty.” The tit-for-tat restrictionscome amid a trade war betweenthe world’s two largesteconomies and US allegationsHuawei poses a security threatto Western democracies. AP

Islamabad: For the second timein a week, nearly 100 protesterson Friday besieged the office ofa Pakistani newspaper, chantingslogans against the organisationand setting copies of its editionson fire, for publishing a newsreport in which the LondonBridge attacker was identified asa “man of Pakistani origin”.

The Dawn newspaper in itsheadline had identified UsmanKhan, a convicted Islamist ter-rorist from Pakistan-occupiedKashmir who stabbed two peo-ple to death in a terror attack onLondon Bridge on November29, as “UK national of Pakistaniorigin, unlike many other localdailies which said he was bornand brought up in Britain andhad no link with Pakistan.

Nearly 100 people arrived invans and gathered outside thenewspaper’s office and besiegedDawn’s Islamabad bureau —the second time this week —and chanted slogans against themedia group and set copies ofthe newspaper on fire, the paperreported. Police arrived at thescene but the protesters dis-persed on their own after about40 minutes, it said. PTI

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� What made you take on theshow?

The first thing that you look atis the writing. In this case, I had thereference of the original DoctorFoster. It is an interesting part andI haven’t done anything similarbefore.

� Adultery has been dealt with infilms, TV shows and web series.Was there a reason you felt thetreatment was unique?

I think it was because of thestance that the protagonist takes andthe way she deals with it. Andtreating it like a thriller is quite aunique way of dealing with the sub-ject, which hasn’t been done before.You can say in Khoon Bhari Maang,the treatment was similar. But if yousee the show, it has been dealt withvery differently.

� You play a 40 something fatherin the show and you are roughly thesame age. Why does the idea ofeternal youth not enamour youunlike most celebrities?

(Guffaws) I don’t think that it iscelebrities alone. It affects everyonenow. I find it largely annoying thateveryone around me wants to stayyoung and youthful. There is agreat joy in accepting who you areand how you are and it is nice tohave the same energy and buzzwhich you had at a younger age.Only that it is a different kind of abuzz. It is energy with maturity. Ifyou are holding on to what you wereat 18 or 19, it is a recipe for stagna-tion. If we are looking at evolution,then you have to look at maturity.That is how I look at it rather thanas getting old.

� What is the character like?(Laughs) Having just spoken of

maturity, this character is quiteimmature. He is someone who is try-ing to hold on to that age and try-ing to feel young. He wants toexperience the first flush of love. Heis involved with a younger woman.Even in the interactions with his son,he is more like a buddy than a father.Akarsh has that thing about wanti-ng to be 18 or 19 again and have thatyouthfulness without taking up theresponsibility that comes with age.He tries hard to be a good father anda husband. He has a loving relation-ship with his wife where they havea great physical and romantic chem-istry but he feels that he has toomuch of love to offer. And he has itfor more than one person so hewants to disburse it.

� A co-star is someone who caninspire a better performance. Whatdoes Rasika (Dugal) add to yourcharacter?

If there is one reason that oneshould see the show, it is Rasika. Sheis fantastic! She is a powerful actorand this is a perfect role for one andshe has done justice to it. She is an

absolute joy to work with. When youare two actors on a set, it is a danceof sorts. You throw something ateach other, react to it and take it for-ward. When you have a great co-star,then you really enjoy giving back anddoing things in tandem.

Coming back to your question,I think nobody could have made fora better Dr Meera Kapoor and it isa big responsibility to play the titlepart. I look at her as the protagonistand Akarsh, my character, as theconflict of the show. Both are impor-tant and would fall flat without eachother. On the set, we were startingfrom a level that was quite high andthen we tried to see how much high-er we could take it.

� Web series means uncensoredcontent so often people try to usethat to grab eyeballs by using tit-illation and unprecedented vio-lence. Does it call for some amountof self-censorship on the part of themakers?

I think that it is essential for theaudience to choose the makers of theshow wisely. I don’t agree that cen-sorship should exist in any form.What should exist is viewer’s dis-cernment to choose what to watch.If I want to watch crass, then I will.There are creative people in the busi-ness and then there are people whoclaim to be creative and want tomake money. It can also be their ideaof creativity. Censorship impliestreating the audience like children.Ye to bachcha hai, usey samajhnahin aayega. Humein isey yehnahin dikhana chahiye violent hojayega (A child should not beexposed to such content). An audi-ence that has been treated like thatbecomes like that. You have to nur-ture and push creative thought.People who do that will have a fol-lowing of people who want to watchsuch shows. Moreover, you as a jour-nalist will talk about the shows thatyou enjoyed watching or foundcrass as you are the medium throughwhich creativity ultimately reachesthe reader and the consumer.Censorship should lie with peoplewho make informed choices.

Moreover, a filmmaker mightuse sex in context and not just fortitillation. Or maybe even to titillatebecause it is a creative process as hewants the viewer to be sexuallyaroused. For me, anything that is cre-ative where a good writer and direc-tor are trying to take the audienceon an emotional journey, which hasmany layers, should not be censoredby an external agency. Even whenthe emotions are negative like anger,arousal or hate, these media helprelease them. If someone is feelingaggressive, they see that emotion onscreen which can help them releasethat emotion. If I feel like sheddinga tear and watching a great show orperformance that takes me throughan emotional journey which I con-nect with, I feel “Wow, that has

helped me.” Monitoring and tryingto control is wrong. The scary bit isthat often you realise that people aregetting the entertainment they wantto see. Creative people have toaccept that.

� Content in the past two yearshas seen a drastic improvement. Isstar power not enough to make anyfilm a hit?

All through eternity, star powerhas not carried a film through.What it does is get the numbers.That is what star power is used forcleverly. I heard a story recently. Idon’t know if it is true or not. Studiosare looking at Instagram followersand casting people. It doesn’t mat-ter if they are actors or not.

Having said that, many stars aregreat actors and that is why they aresuccessful. For me, a star is a face thatmakes it easier for marketing. I ambringing its reference to your indus-try also. When you have a knownperson, it is easier for the PR to bringin the journalists as the readers wantto see them on the cover. Carryinga project forward needs content anda lot of intelligent stars in our coun-try move with the trends. If some-thing is working, they position

themselves in those films.

� You have been a VJ and havealso done films, TV and web series.How have the different media con-tributed to the journey?

I enjoy watching films morethan anything else because in films,there is some sort of closure. Inseries, because they are trying toengage you for longer, it seemsnever-ending. I am not complainingon the career front (laughs) but I amtalking in terms of a viewer.

But yes, I do get absorbed in aseries. For instance, Doctor Foster, onwhich this is based, is a series Iwatched in one night. It was so good.On the internet, the content ispushing the bar in terms of creativ-ity because there is a lot of moneyinvolved. Two, people are trying tomake content that is great. Three,they are trying to capture an audi-ence that had not had representationfor a long time so they are trying todiscover who this audience is andwhat they want. This is the audiencethat had stopped going to theatresbecause they were so disappointedwith the kind of films that werebeing made. Suddenly, there is a plat-form where they can be entertained

in large numbers, especially in Indiawith its 1.3 billion people. So creativ-ity is being pushed and they are try-ing new things. In next few years,people will go into little niches andsee what works or find their ownaudience and try to keep them.

In the 22 years that I haveworked, I have had a very consistentgraph in terms of the amount ofwork that I do. I got some reallygood roles in films in the past. Theweb is for eternity unlike a film,where there is always the fear that ifit does fail, it will be replaced on aMonday or a Thursday. People canwatch a web series any time. So thereis more possibility of people seeingmy work on the web. I see it as a pluspoint.

I am pushing the creativity a biton web. But then I have not donefilms which are run-of-the-millstuff. Creativity is such a thing thatwhen you see something or areexposed to something, it opens upyour mind. My Brother Nikhil wasreleased in 2005 and it had a verylarge impact in a positive way. Iremember my very traditional unclecoming out of the film and saying,“I really enjoyed it.” He was takenby the friendship that Onir (the

director) had displayed more thanthe love relationship. Today, youhave a country which has legalisedhomosexual relationships. The filmset the ball rolling. (Pauses) I’ve goneon chatting so much that I’ve lost mytrain of thought. (Guffaws).

I will come back to the originalquestion that what is the differencebetween the three. As an actor,whether you are acting in films, webor TV, you are acting as someoneelse. I think about the medium thatI am performing for to decide thelevel of performance or how I wantto play things out. When you arehosting a show, you are really beingyourself and not anyone else. Youare really functioning from beingPurab Kohli. That is the straightfor-ward answer to your question.(Laughs)

� You have anchored shows onChannel V, which at the time wasa purely music channel. Whatwould you say about the way suchchannels have changed their for-mats?

I am not from the business endof the channels so maybe I am thewrong person to comment. But yes,I know how it works. I rememberhaving a chat with my boss who saidthat Channel V never made moneybut was seen adding value to a bou-quet of channels and was sold as ayouthful, trend-setting, fashionablemusic channel, which made theentire package look great. But whenthat shifted and they wanted tomake money out of the channels,they became mini-GECs (GeneralEntertainment Channels). Thesewere no longer trendsetting chan-nels. Also, with the birth of internet,Instagram moved cool people to theweb, you find many of them thereand you don’t find people like us ontelevision. Also, a larger audiencehas become ‘cool’. Satellite TV cameto India in 1993-94 and in 1999, wejoined Channel V as the first bunchof Indian VJs as earlier, there wereonly foreigners. We were the dooropeners to that ‘cool’ space. Let usnot call it cool as it means differentthings to different people. We canrather call it the unexplored space.That gateway is now wide-open andthere are a lot of gate-keepers whoare all on Instagram.

� How did Hip Hip Hurray hap-pen?

It was very random. I comefrom a film family. Actors, directorsand technicians have always beenaround me while I was growing up.But I never wanted to be an actor.I wanted to be a pilot. This was in1995-96 when Jet Airways had juststarted and was the first non-gov-ernment airlines that was flying oneflight a week. It was ridiculous. Andthen Vayudoot had shut down. Itwas a very fragile time in the airlinebusiness which seems to have car-ried on forever (laughs). It is verysad to see the collapse of Jet Airwaysbecause when I started travellingand flying around, it was an airlinethat people were proud about as itwas something that was reallyIndian with international standards.

But then, this is besides thepoint as this is not what the inter-view is about. I was training tobecome a pilot. I realised it wasgoing to be very hard to get a jobafter the very expensive course. Iwas very conscious at a young ageabout taking too much money fromhome. I wanted to go out and do myown thing. It was at this time thatmy aunt, who is very close to myfamily, said that “a friend who is abudding director is looking fornew faces and you are a decent look-ing guy. Why don’t you go and justmeet her?” So I decided to do justthat. Nupur Asthana, the director,called me to the UTV office foraudition. I thought I would just goand chat with them. During theaudition, there were two peopleincluding Nilanjana Sharma, wholater played Mona. We did someimprovisations and jigs, I don’teven know what we were doing. Butwe were certainly having fun. After10 days, I was called for a secondround to Nupur’s house. I tookalong two friends and told them thatI will quickly go in and say that Idon’t want to do it as I am not inter-ested. When I reached, the entirecast was there. I was probably thelast one to arrive. I walked in andrealised that I couldn’t say this infront of everyone. So my friendswere out there waiting for me for agood 45 minutes to an hour. Thesewere pre-mobile phone days and Icouldn’t call them to tell them that

I was stuck. During that time, Istarted chatting with some of them.One or two of them were with mein school or college and I realisedthey are not a bad bunch of people.I don’t mind hanging out withthem. It will be like a weekendshooting and I could still go to col-lege from Monday to Friday.Moreover, it would mean extramoney. I was getting �800 from myfather and this would give me�5,000, which sounded really good.The shoot was a party and I neverlooked at it as work. There was thisenergy which can never be recreat-ed. We were 12 innocent kids, whowere having a great time and that iswhat translated on screen as well.When we moved out into the world,we were bitten by the television bugand got famous. The energy start-ed changing. Nupur realised it anddecided to end the show.

� Most people who come from afilm family usually have a hugelaunch. You didn’t want to takethat route?

Like I said, I never wanted to bean actor. In fact, when I did Hip HipHurray, my lovely grand uncle,who was very close to my family,called me and asked me to meethim.

� Yes, Dev sa’ab was known tolaunch newcomers...

No, this was not Dev sa’ab. Itwas his brother Goldie Uncle, VijayAnand, who was very close to myfamily. I remember him calling meand telling me, “Tu bohot acha lagtahai screen pe (You look very goodon screen). You are quite a goodactor but you need to loosen up abit. Why don’t you come and workwith me?” But I did not want to bean actor. I was so caught up havingfun that I told him, “Uncle, I don’treally want to act. I am doing thatbecause I am having fun and mak-ing some money. All my friendshave gone to America to study. AndI want to do the same.” And withthat, my opportunity to work withone of the greatest directors wentdown the drain. I had some greatinteractions with him as granduncle. But not the opportunity toactually sit down and work withthem. Now I have the maturity tolook at it. That is why I don’t wantto be stuck at 18! (Guffaws) It allconnects.

� When did you finally decidethat you wanted to be an actor?

After My Brother Nikhil. Iremember watching it at a screen-ing that Onir had done for a verysuppressed community, that ofHIV+ people, in the theatre. Andthey were so moved by the film thatit broke my heart. I said to myself,“What a powerful medium!” Thatis the moment I started growing up.Today, when we speak about them,I don’t know how many of them arealive. And to see their representa-tion in the film and a story beingtold about them, I really felt thepower of cinema. Even now as I amtelling you this story, it is giving megoosebumps. I was lucky to havethat experience. That is when I satback and said that “this is what I cando because this is the impact that itcan have on people. And if I havebeen given the skill by this universe,I need to exercise it as much as Ican.”

I live in London and work inIndia so everything becomes verycalculated as every project meansleaving my family behind for longperiods. There is so much happen-ing now that it is easy to get stuckin the wave of doing a lot of workand I have never done that. I tendto sit back and watch what is hap-pening. Out of Love is a great showwhich is quite impactful in its sto-rytelling. It is a good representationof the female story. I hope they alldon’t go out and start doing whatshe does. (Guffaws) But none theless, it is quite empowering.

� What do you do when you arenot working?

There is a little tech businessthat I am involved in. I give sometime there. I am also a father of twochildren and I try to spend asmuch time with them as possiblebecause once I am at a shoot, itextends for long hours. Even if theyare at the location, I get very littletime with them. There is also somewriting that I do. These three thingstake my time besides reading 150scripts a day. (Laughs)

(The show is streaming onHotstar.)

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Threads, knitting and net are inter-twined for the exhibition SpeakingThreads. Through it, Pranati Panda

explores landscapes and human organsin sculpture, prints and paintings whichshe fondly refers to as ‘time pieces’.

Pranati wanted to have a confluenceof two energies. So she used both, whatshe perceives as ‘feminine’ materialssuch as thread and fabric alongside‘masculine’ materials such as net andjaali. Said she, “I grew up watching mymother knit so I was very clear that Iwanted to use it. I particularly used netsin my brain work because in our coun-try women still need freedom and jaalisymbolises a cage that they are trappedin. Though we suppress our feelings andemotions and don’t talk freely about thembut we want to be free from all the atroc-ities.”

As a mother and a woman, I havegone through many expereiences in mylife. And this is what I wanted to reflectin my paintings,” said artist PranatiPanda. Why did you choose thread as thecore element for your work? Said Pranati,“They connect one idea to another, ormaybe one idea to many and vice versa.They can hold the masculine and femi-nine energy together. And the best partis that they are seamless, there is no nar-ration of time. Ideally that is what life is.There couldn’t have been a better mate-rial than this to describe my journey.”

Much of Pranati’s oeuvre continuesto be driven by self-analysis, her experi-ences and philosophies. Often when anexhibition revolves around one person’sexperiences, it doesn’t necessarily inter-

est everyone. But she feelsthat though each one ofus lead our lives dif-ferently, we arevery connected.Every humangoes throughsimilar emo-tions in dif-ferent phas-es of l ife.Even theo b j e c t s ,nature andthe outerworld is con-nected to eachother as humanreactions have adirect impact onthe outside world. Soshe believes that peoplewill be able to connectclosely with her work.

Known as the father of neuroscience,Dr Santiago Raman has been her sourceof inspiration as his work and journeyfascinated her. Apart from him, theeveryday ordinariness that she witness-

es around her inspires hertoo. “I learn from every

moment and person.Not only that, I

even learn frommy dog because

he loves mewithout anyexpectations.I learn frommy maidstoo. When Italk to themI feel thatthey have

s i m i l a rdesires in life.

The only differ-ence is that they

feel it is hard ornearly impossible to

accomplish them,” saidshe.

She was keen to showcase thebrain sculptures as the organ is the pow-erhouse of thoughts. So it governs ourideation process, everyday activities andrelationships.

Most of her work has rampant use of

red, which represents blood and life force.When questioned about the overpower-ing colour, she shared an incident aboutthe loss of her first child while givingbirth. And the artist somehow still liveswith that particular moment. She said,“Not only this, I connect to this colourbecause of other reasons too. I belong toOdisha, where we believe that when youwear anything red, you find your soul-mate. And my mother always used to puta big red bindi, sindoor and wear red ban-gles. So while growing up, I have seen itall around. Even today I wear somethingor the other which is red. Maybe a bindior a bangle. For me this colour is my lifeenergy.” She added that she lost her moth-er at a very young age. And when shecloses her eyes, the first thing that grabsher attention is the colour. For her, itsymbolises her mother’s presence ormaybe her bindi.

This absence played a huge role inher works as three to four of them weretitled, Essence of absence which remindsher of her child and her mother’s pres-ence.

Other than this, some paintingseven seemed inspired by nature. The

artist expressed her love for nature sincechildhood as she had spent most of herearly life in village. Said she, “My child-hood was very colourful. I have seen bothvillage and city life. So I have always beenvery close to nature and animals. Eventoday I love spending time with plantsand talking to them as they have similaremotions.” But she feels that the hassles

of so-called modern life have takenthose small joys away. Now the intensi-ty between humans and nature is less.

Pointing towards a painting with lay-ers of white thread she said, “Theydepict my hidden emotions, some pleas-ant, some unpleasant.”

(The exhibition is on till January 15,2020 at Vadehra Art Gallery.)

Recently, a girl’s post on Twitterwent viral as she was trying to

find a groom for her mother. Sheposted a picture of herself with herand captioned it, “Looking for ahandsome 50-year-old man for mymother! Vegetarian, Non-Drinker,Well Established. #Groomhunting.”It’s not often that we see childrenlooking for life partners for theirparents since it is always the otherway round. However, SonyEntertainment Television’s latestoffering Mere Dad ki Dulhan, whichstars actors Varun Badola andShweta Tiwari together for thevery first time, builds on the ideaof a daughter looking for a bride forher father.

Shweta believes that as a parent,if you choose your partner, it’stough to make your children under-stand the reason for the choice. “Ifyou have accepted that person, itdoesn’t mean that they will do sotoo. If the children like someone,they expect their parents to acceptthat person. So why can’t it be thesame in case of us (parents)?Shouldn’t it be the other way roundtoo?” she asks.

The show also portrays how afather-daughter duo navigatesthrough life and the dynamics oftheir relationship which focusses ontheir dependence on each other.Not many shows have touchedupon the fact that even single par-ents need and long for companion-ship after a certain stage. Thisimportant message is the essence ofthe entire show.

So does the concept of the showfit into the real life scenario? Arechildren open to finding and wel-coming a step parent? Varun feelsthat probably children from themetro towns are addressing this

issue a lot faster but that is happen-ing because of the exposure theyget. “It will still take time to reachthe B and C towns. There are cer-tain things you just enjoy becauseof the presentation in the story. Andhere, a lot of girls are able to relateto the show because they see theirown father in my character. I feelthat there should be some kind ofconnect, irrespective of what thatis. It is not necessar that everydaughter should go out and look fora partner for her father. Peoplecould relate to it in any manner thatthey want to. Why should we dis-card the fact that a good story willalways remain a good story?” sayshe.

Varun was fascinated with theshow because of its interesting andunique characterisation. He says,“More than that I feel proud to bepart of this transition phase thatIndian television is in. It is great tosee how we are slowly letting go ofthe age-old formulaic narratives andfinally welcoming fresh and uncon-ventional storylines which are relat-able to the new generation.”

His character, Amber Sharma,is a stubborn straight-forward per-son, who doesn’t believe in changeand lives his life in a set pattern. Heprefers being anti-social. “Thischaracter allows me to step out ofmy comfort zone, which is essen-tial for every actor and performer.The show addresses an issue whichstill remains a taboo in society.Sooner or later, we will have to con-front it. Viewers will definitely geta new flavour with this show,”Varun adds.

The mere reason why Shwetaagreed to do the show was because ofits title. She says, “Nowadays, whogives such title? It is so self explana-

tory that it gives a complete insightinto the concept of the show.” Sheplays the character of Guneet Sikka,a 40-year-old single woman, wholives with her mother. She has triedsearching love online but failed.Despite being shamed several timesby her mother for being single, she ishappy to have a roof over her headand food to eat.

The Kasautii Zindagi Kay (2001)actor has had a tough life and shenever denies the fact. So how has itinfluenced her perception of theworld and the world’s perception ofher? Well, she is one of those whodoesn’t like to make perceptions foranyone and she expects the same frompeople. “If they want to get inspiredor hate me, it’s completely upto them.

Nothing really bothers me. I did somekissing scenes and I was told that I amnot a good wife. People can keep suchmindsets with themselves. I have aquestion for those people who said

how can her marriage go wrong a sec-ond time. Why can’t things go wrong?At least, I have the courage to facethem and come out in the open. Thisis what matters the most,” says she.

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Actor Vidyut Jammwal hasreacted on the storm over

his recently-released filmCommando 3, by saying thatcontroversies are part and par-cel of the film industry. Vidyutadded saying that makers of thefilm did not intend to hurtpeoples sentiment with the par-ticular scene that has raisedobjections from certain sectors.

Commando 3 landed in acontroversy over a scene involv-ing wrestlers, who are shownharassing schoolgirls. So far,many netizens have criticisedthe film terming the sequence asderogatory towards wrestlers.Well-known Indian wrestlerSushil Kumar has also objectedto the particular scene, where agroup of wrestlers are shown totry and molest a girl because shewears skirt to school. Previously,wrestlers Bajrang Punia andYogeshwar Dutt had also object-ed about the scene.

Vidyut was interacting withthe media after the success ofCommando 3, along with co-actor Gulshan Devaiah, when afemale reporter asked himwhether such a controversywould benefit the film. “WhenPakistan throws bombs inIndian territory, then I don'tunderstand why journalists askthe question like whether it'sright or wrong. People havedied and how do you feelabout it? I think thesekinds of questionsare ridiculous. I feelreally bad,” Vidyutretorted.

“Journalistsshould stop ask-ing questionslike rape hashappened andhow do youfeel about it?Now you(reporter) areasking mewhether thiscontroversy isbenefiting thefilm or not, It'ssuch a ridicu-lous thing to ask.We don't do these

things for our benefit. I feel con-troversies are part and parcel ofthis industry, so I do not agreewith your (reporter) question,”he said.

Vidyut added, “I am associ-ated with an Indian martial artnamed Kalaripayattu and I cansay with pride that I am con-nected with this country asmuch as anyone else. My father,grandfather, paternal and mater-nal uncle have served in theIndian Army. My maternaluncle died in the 1971 war, so toask me such a question is not acorrect thing. I respect everysingle athlete of India be itwrestlers, body-builders, boxersor others. I would like to tellthem that if knowingly orunknowingly, we have hurt yoursentiments, then I would like toapologise for that, and from nowI will ensure we don't hurt any-one's sentiments.”

Commando 3 has collected�27.19 crore at the box-officewithin six days of release. The

film is directed byAditya Datt and

produced byV i p u lA m r u t l a lShah, RelianceEntertainment

and MotionPicture Capital.

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Both sides of theManchester divide willbe hoping some derby

delight can add impetus to dis-appointing seasons when Cityhost United today, whileLiverpool travel toBournemouth aiming to surgefurther clear at the top of thePremier League.

Manchester United got abadly needed win for managerOle Gunnar Solskjaer onWednesday, inflicting a firstdefeat as Tottenham manageron Jose Mourinho as thePortuguese returned to OldTrafford.

The Red Devils were againreliant on Marcus Rashfordgoals as the England forwardstruck twice to take his tally to12 in 13 games for club andcountry.

There has been precious lit-

tle for United fans to enjoy thisseason, but just a fifth PremierLeague victory in 15 games wasenough to lift them up to sixth.

That is still 11 points adriftof third-placed City, despitetheir own struggles at times.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sayssmiles are back on the faces ofhis Manchester United playersafter their victory againstTottenham as he prepares totake on defending championsManchester City.

“Confidence is a strangething in football,” he said at hispre-match press conference onFriday. “You can get perfor-mances and results likeWednesday night and it boostsit so much.

“And I know our boys willbe up for it, energy-wise theyshould be fine, 24 hours lessrecovery time shouldn’t matter(City played on Tuesday), go onadrenaline. I expect them to

have had a good night’s sleepand the smiles are back onfaces.”

The Norwegian describedCity as “arguably the best teamin England” even though theytrail leaders Liverpool by 11points.

“I said it before (Spurs) thatthis is a chance for everyone. Itwas doom and gloom, but it’s achance to turn that doubt intobelief and, for us, if we canmanage to get another perfor-mance the confidence, the waywe played against Tottenham, ifwe can do that at the Etihad wecan come out of it with a result.

“People say ‘why do you nothave better results in othergames?’. But the Premier Leagueis hard.

“No matter who you play,it’s margins, I think it’s a com-pliment to the league. You’vegot City, Liverpool, Leicesterconsistent, but the other gamesare really tight.”

Paul Pogba will be absentagain following his ankle injurybut Anthony Martial returns tothe squad.

Pep Guardiola’s men lookedmore like their old selves inthrashing Burnley 4-1 onTuesday with Gabriel Jesusstepping up in the absence ofthe injured Sergio Aguero toscore twice.

City have lost just one of sixleague meetings with Unitedsince Guardiola took chargethree years ago and cannotafford to slip up if they are tomaintain any aspirations ofcatching Liverpool in the titlerace.

The English championscould kick-off at the Etihad 14points behind the leaders,should Jurgen Klopp’s mencontinue their scintillating format Bournemouth earlier atVitality.

STRENGTH IN DEPTHKlopp could even afford the

luxury of leaving RobertoFirmino and Mohamed Salahon the bench for a 5-2 thrash-ing of Everton in theMerseyside derby in midweek.

Both are expected to returnfor the visit to the south coast,

but Klopp may rest some of his starswho did start against Everton ahead ofa huge week for the European cham-pions.

Liverpool travel to Salzburg in theChampions League on Tuesday need-ing to avoid defeat if their defence of thetitle is not to embarrassingly end in thegroup stages.

Divock Origi scored twice againstEverton and Xherdan Shaqiri struck onhis first start of the season to proveKlopp does have the strength in depthto successfully shuffle his pack.

CHRISTMAS NO 1 SPOTJurgen Klopp says he does not care

about being top at Christmas as he pre-pares his team for a hectic few weeks.

A win on the south coast wouldmean Liverpool cannot be caughtbefore December 25.

Only three times in the past 11years has the top-placed team atChristmas failed to go on to win the title— and on every occasion it wasLiverpool, including last year.

Klopp, targeting Liverpool’s firstEnglish top-flight title for 30 years, saidhe was not interested in such numbers.

“There are a lot of people who cel-ebrate already, a lot of people who worrystill and a lot of people who hope thatwe will still fail so that’s it,” he said athis pre-match conference.

“I don’t listen to (any) of them, tobe honest. So I’m completely fine. Wewant to try and win at Bournemouth.

“What that means for Christmas, Inever thought about. So it’s not reallyinteresting. We know that we are in areally, really difficult situation with thegames coming up.

BRRIGHT ON SPOT������� Caretaker manager FreddieLjungberg said Arsenal “did not showup” for the first 45 minutes as theGunners’ winless streak reached ninegames in a 2-1 home defeat toBrighton on Thursday.

Neal Maupay headed in a deservedwinner for the Seagulls 10 minutes fromtime after Alexandre Lacazette had can-celled out Adam Webster’s opener forBrighton.

Defeat leaves Arsenal in 10th placeand 10 points adrift of fourth-placedChelsea in the hunt for ChampionsLeague qualification next season.

On this evidence there is littlechance of Ljungberg landing the job ona permanent basis as another sparsecrowd at the Emirates greeted the finalwhistle with a chorus of boos.

“You cannot give away a whole halfagainst any team in the Premier

League,” said Ljungberg.“We did not show up in the first

half, we very passive, we didn’t move.We had chat at half-time, made a tac-tical change and all of a sudden welooked like the team we wanted to for20 minutes.”

Brighton made the most ofGunners poor run to win on the roadin the Premier League for the first timesince the opening weekend of the sea-son.

Victory for Brighton takes them towithin a point of Arsenal and four clearof the relegation zone.

“We had lots of quality andcourage,” said Brighton boss GrahamPotter, whose side enjoyed more pos-session and more shots on goal than thehosts.

“The main stat is the scoreline. Atthe end it’s nice for the players and sup-porters that you get a reward for the waywe are trying to play.”

Elsewhere, Newcastle taughtSheffield United a lesson in taking theirchances as the Magpies won 2-0 atBramall Lane despite enjoying just 27percent possession.

Allan Saint-Maximin headed thevisitors in front with his first goal for theclub and Jonjo Shelvey secured the threepoints when he played on as the Bladesdefence stopped at the sight of the off-side flag going up against Andy Carroll.

A VAR review showed Carroll wasonside as he flicked the ball intoShelvey’s path.

EVERTON SACK SILVA��������� Everton sacked managerMarco Silva after 18 months in chargeat Goodison Park on Thursday after a5-2 thrashing by Liverpool saw theclub fall into the relegation zone.

“Everton Football Club can confirmthat manager Marco Silva has left theClub,” Everton said in a statement.

“Duncan Ferguson has taken tem-porary charge of the first team and willmanage the side for the game againstChelsea on Saturday.”

David Moyes has been linked witha return to Goodison as Silva’s succes-sor as a stop-gap until the end of the sea-son.

Silva becomes the fourth PremierLeague manager to be sacked in littleover two weeks after Tottenham, Arsenaland Watford also fired MauricioPochettino, Unai Emery and QuiqueSanchez Flores respectively.

The former Hull and Watford bossbecomes the fourth managerial casual-ty since Farhad Moshiri took charge ofEverton in 2016 after Roberto Martinez,Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce.

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��� ����� Indian men’shockey captain ManpreetSingh was on Friday nomi-nated for the Player of theYear award by theInternational HockeyFederation (FIH) after heled the country to a TokyoOlympics berth.

Two other Indian players,Vivek Prasad andLalremsiami, were also nom-inated for the men’s andwomen’s FIH Rising Star ofthe Year Award respectively.

The 27-year-oldManpreet, a veteran of 242international caps, is the mid-field pivot of the Indian team.Under his captaincy, Indiabeat Russia 11-3 on aggregatein Bhubaneswar last monthto qualify for the TokyoOlympics.

The 19-year-old Prasad,a midfielder, led the Indianteam in the Youth Olympics

last year where the countrywon a Silver medal. He wasalsonamed the best youngplayer at the FIH Series Finalsthis year.

Lalremsiami, a forward,was a part of the AsianGames Silver-winningwomen’s squad. She is also 19years of age.

Australians EddieOckenden and AranZalewski, Argentina’s LucasVila and Belgians ArthurVan Doren and VictorWegnez were the other fivenominees for the prestigiousFIH Player of the Year award.

Ockenden, a 32-year-oldveteran of 340 matches, andZalewski led the Australianteam in their country’s multi-player captaincy policy andthey were part of the FIH ProLeague 2019 Gold winningteam. Zalewski was namedthe best player of the tourna-

ment.Vila was a part of the

Argentina team that won theGold in 2016 Rio Olympicsand 2019 Pan AmericanGames.

The Belgian duo of VanDoren and Wegnez playedmajor roles in their country's2018 World Cup title win and2019 FIH Pro League run-ners-up finish.

National associations,players, fans and journalistsacross the world can vote forthe award.

The voting is open until17 January 2020. The winnersof all 2019 FIH Hockey StarsAwards, which also includethe FIH Coach of the Year,will be announced inFebruary 2020.

However awards for theFIH Coach of the Year willnot be voted but will bepicked by an FIH panel.PTI

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Skipper Azhar Ali on Fridaysaid the Test series loss in

Australia is unacceptable and ithas hurt the pride of Pakistancricket.

Pakistan had a forgettabletour of Australia as they lost theT20 series 0-2 before sufferingembarrassing innings defeats inthe two Tests, which were partof World Test Championship.

“It is very disappointinghow we lost the two Tests. Thedefeats in Australia have hurtour cricket pride and it is hardto accept,” Azhar told reportersin Lahore after returning fromAustralia.

“We had gone there with allthe right preparations and witha positive mindset. So the twoinnings defeat is not acceptableand I will offer no excuses forthis.”

Azhar insisted his teamhad prepared well for the seriesbut it failed to properly execute

the plans.“We didn’t get wickets with

the new ball, we didn’t forge bigpartnerships, we didn’t build ongood starts and our plansagainst David Warner also did-n’t work as he countered themwell,” he said.

“We had picked a youngpace attack for the Tests and we

batted first in the first Test andI think that showed our intentthat we wanted to play positivecricket.

“The truth is we weredoing catch up game in bothTests and once you get behindin Australia it is very difficultto catch up in Tests,” Azharadded.

The Pakistan skipper saidhe had confidence that theteam will go forward positive-ly.

“We need to trust eachother. I am not scared aboutbeing sacked as captain. I can’tcontrol that I can only controlour performances. We need toend the fear factor in our team.That is the key,” he said.

About the upcoming Testseries against Sri Lanka athome, Azhar said it won’t beeasy as most of the players,including himself, would beplaying a Test in Pakistan forthe first time.

“When we played in UAEwe had a plan as to how to getresults there but here we willhave to first look at the pitch-es and then see what plans tomake to get results in Pakistan.

“We have to come up witha new game plan. We want atrack that suits us. We need tostart afresh on how to win testsin Pakistan.”

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Cricket Australia (CA) is set torequest the BCCI to agree for

more than one Day/Night Testduring India’s 2021 tour DownUnder but Indian Board chiefSourav Ganguly on Friday said sucha proposal would be a “bit toomuch”.

A CA delegation, led by itsChairman Earl Eddings, is expect-ed to meet BCCI top brass duringthe three-match ODI series inIndia starting January 14 next year.

“As you build that trust andbuild that relationship you have thatchat,” Eddings told ESPNCricinfo.

“Pleasingly they’ve played theirfirst day-night Test and won easi-ly. Now they’ve got through that itmight give them the right build-upto it over here. I’ve got no doubtthey’ll consider playing one andmaybe even more day-night Testmatches. But that’s down the trackto when we catch up with them inJanuary,” he added.

However, Ganguly didn’t seemkeen on the idea.

“I have not heard anything offi-cially from Cricket Australia. Twoout of four will be a bit too much...Itcan’t replace traditional Test match-es. But we can have one Pink Testevery series,” Ganguly said duringthe India Today Conclave (East) inKolkata.

CA Chief Executive KevinRoberts, while talking to ABCRadio recently, also spoke abouthaving more than one Day/NightTests during what is meant to be afour-match Test series.

“...In my heart I’d say fourfrom four, in my head we’d love toplay one of the four as a day-nightTest”, he said.

Eddings said CA also wants theBCCI to consider adding one moreTest to the traditional four-matchseries that the two countries play.

“Ideally we want to be playingfive Tests against India, hopefullyin the future we can do that as well,”he said.

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West Indies batting icon Brian Lara onFriday said the Kieron Pollard-led

side should target becoming an improvedoutfit by the end of its limited-overs seriesagainst India here even if it fails to win muchin the rubber.

“...He (Pollard) will have to build ateam...Playing against India in India isalways a tough proposition and he mustleave here not necessarily winning but hemust leave here a better team after this tour-nament,” Lara said at an event.

Lara backed Pollard’s appointment asthe team’s skipper for the limited-overs for-mat.

“Over a period of time, his represen-tation for West Indies may not be a lot buthe has played all around the World in dif-ferent leagues. He has gained a lot of respectfrom the opposition. I didn’t see it as a baddecision (to appoint him as a captain),” Laratold reporters.

“He (Pollard) has easily gained therespect of his team-mates and he can moveforward. There is a (T20) World Cup inunder 12 months and you are looking forthe right person, someone who can keep theground running. He has that experience todo so. It is a good decision, but it is still goingto be an uphill battle,” explained the 50-year-old.

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Shimron Hetmyer struck a quick half-century as West Indies produced a finebatting display to post a challenging 207

for 5 against India in the first T20International of the three-match serieshere on Friday.

An aggressive Hetmyer made 56 off 41balls which was studded with two bound-aries and four hits over the fence to holdWest Indies from one end after being sentinto bat.

He first added 37 runs with BrandonKing (31 off 23 balls) and then shared 71runs with skipper Kieron Pollard (37 off 19balls) to lay the base for the West Indies total.

The Indians, however, were far fromimpressive on the field as WashingtonSundar and Rohit Sharma dropped a fewcatches.

Off-spinner Washington Sundar (1/34)leaked runs in the first over before DeepakChahar (1/56) gave India the breakthroughin the next over, taking the wicket of LendlSimmons, caught by Rohit Sharma in thefirst slip.

Evin Lewis (40 off 17) and young Kingthen added 51 runs for the second wicket,during which they played some fearlessshots, to take West Indies forward.

Lewis, in particular, was the moreaggressive of the two as he dispatched to thestands any bad delivery that came his way.

He pulled Chahar for two sixes in thefourth over to make his intentions clear.

Lewis continued the onslaught andstruck comeback man Bhuvneshwar Kumarfor a six and a four in consecutive balls. Hethen smoked off-spinner Sundar over thecover boundary but perished in the next ball,LBW in search of one shot too many.

Young King and Hetmyer then added37 runs for the third wicket before the for-mer was stumped by Rishabh Pant offRavindra Jadeja's (1/30) bowling.

Hetmyer, on the other hand, went abouthis business in a quiet fashion, hitting thebad deliveries out of the park to register hisfifth half-century in T20 cricket in 35 balls.

But a double breakthrough by leg-spin-ner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/36) in the 18thover put a check on West Indies' scoringrate.

Hetmyer was the first to depart in thefirst delivery of the 18th over when he gavea simple catch to Rohit at deep backwardsquare and then a ball later, Pollard wascleaned up by Chahal.

Jason Holder (24 not out off 9 balls) andDinesh Ramdin (11 not out off 7) remainedunbeaten as West Indies scored 63 runs offthe last five overs.

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BCCI President SouravGanguly on Friday rub-

bished, as pure speculation,allegations that he would bevindictive towards chief coachRavi Shastri, saying that per-formance alone will be theparameter of judging indi-viduals during his tenure.

Shastri and Ganguly hada public fallout in 2016 whenthe former reapplied forcoach’s job and the latter wasa part of the Cricket AdvisoryCommittee (CAC), whichselected Anil Kumble for theposition.

In 2017, Shastri got backthe job after Kumble resignedfollowing his much-publiciseddifference of opinion withskipper Virat Kohli. DuringIndia Today Conclave (East) onFriday, Ganguly was askedabout conjecture that he has anaxe to grind with Shastribecause of past differences.

"That's why these arecalled speculations. I don'thave an answer to these ques-tions," said Ganguly, dismiss-ing the supposition.

For Ganguly, it all boilsdown to performance on the

field."You perform and you

continue, you don't, someoneelse takes over. That was alsothe case when I played," heasserted.

"There will be talks, leaks,rumours but concentrationshould be on what happens on22 yards," he said.

He then cited examples ofVirat Kohli, who has 70 inter-national hundreds and SachinTendulkar (100 tons) to makehis point.

"Life is about performanceand nothing can substitutethat," he said.

As he stated during hisfirst press interaction aftertaking over, Ganguly reiterat-ed that, "Kohli remains themost important man in Indiancricket as he leads the team onthe field."

"Virat is a fantastic rolemodel as to how he conductshimself on and off the field. He(Kohli) will get all the supportrequired to succeed. Virat,Ravi everyone will get every-thing required. But at the endof the day, we will demandperformance," he said.

After the 2011 World Cuptriumph, the Indian team fal-

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Batting legend VVS Laxman onFriday inaugurated the newly-

refurbished North Stand of the RajivGandhi International Stadium in hon-our of former India captain andnewly-elected Hyderabad CricketAssociation (HCA) presidentMohammad Azharuddin.

While Laxman cut the thread tomark the opening of the stand, formerIndia off-spinner Noel David,Venkatpathy Raju and fast bowlerMohammed Siraj were also present onthe occasion.

Talking about the moment, Azharsaid he was honoured.

“I am extremely honoured to bebestowed upon such an honour. I havealways played the game to the truespirit and will be striving to developthe game in Hyderarabad,” Azharsaid.

Asked about the efforts requiredto arrange the first T20I here at sucha short notice, Azhar said: “The dayMumbai showed their reluctance tohost the first T20, I then and there saidto my colleagues, we will host it nomatter what.

“I then contacted BCCI presidentSourav Ganguly and the MumbaiCricket Association officials and aftera few parleys managed to convincethat Hyderabad is ready to host thematch.”

Azhar said during his tenure hisprerogative would be to takeHyderabad cricket forward.

“I am here to serve the gamewhich gave me what I am today. Iinvolved with administration to takeHyderabad cricket forward and we areready to host many more internation-al matches in the future when theBCCI asks us come what may,” he said.

Hyderabad was earlier supposedto host the third T20I on December11 but the BCCI was forced to shift thefirst game of the series from Mumbaiafter Mumbai police refused to pro-vide security for the match.

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Former India all-rounder MohinderAmarnath has expressed concern over

the injuries that all-rounder HardikPandya and ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrahare suffering from. The 1983 World Cuphero said that back injuries are always dif-ficult to come back from for any bowler.

Amarnath said in his column forTimes of India that while the Indian teamlooks like a settled side with formidabletalent across department, he hopes Pandyaand Bumrah heal well.

"The only concern I have is for theinjured duo, Jasprit Bumrah and HardikPandya. A back injury is always hard tocome back from for a bowler," he said.

"It is either caused by a faulty actionor trying for extra pace. I hope I amwrong, but a stressed back can make the

return to top pace a long, arduous one.Both these lads are very, very importantfor the team, and I hope they heal well."

He also said that with the team so sta-ble across departments, no player shouldbe allowed to choose matches and dictateterms. "Nobody should be in a positionto dictate terms regarding his selectionwithout playing adequate domestic crick-et. There is no player who should be ableto tell the team that he wants to choosehis matches," he said.

"It would be an unhealthy trend tostart, particularly when there are hundredsof cricketers across India who are toilingin domestic cricket. This would send awrong message about merit and hardwork to them. Wriddhiman Saha, RishabhPant and Sanju Samson are all very com-petent and the thrust should be to lookforward."

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tered at the semifinal and finalhurdle of most ICC tourna-ments save the 2013Champions Trophy.

"It's not an ability issue butmind issue. They need to crossthe mental barrier in biggames," he said.

Talking about the 2020World T20, the former skipper

has one piece of advice for hismen out there.

"T20 is about playing fear-less cricket with freedom. Don'twalk out there in the middle,playing for your place in theteam," he said.

Ganguly has made asmooth transition from aplayer to an administrator. He

also battled conflict of inter-est charge for his multiplecommitments. Ganguly saidthe clause is coming in theway of getting former crick-eters on board for administra-tive roles.

"I am unable to get ex-cricketers on board because ofConflict of Interest. (We need

to deal with) Conflict ofInterest with a lot of commonsense. Someone like Sachinhad to leave.

"It's got to be practical.Conflict of interest shouldapply only to administratorsand cricketers should be leftout of it," he said.

Home Minister Amit

Shah's son Jay Shah is the sec-retary and the BCCI presidentwants his colleague to be"judged independently".

"Jay Shah has won an elec-tion. He should be judgedindependently. He isadjustable. His father is apolitician but we should judgehim personally," Ganguly said.