NEET 2020registration dateextended till Jan 6NEW DELHI: The last date forsubmission of application form ofNEET (UG) - 2020 has been ex-tended to January 6 (up to 11:50PM), to help the candidates whowere not able to apply online dueto heavy rush on the website.This is being done followingmany requests that have beenreceived by the Ministry of Hu-man Resource Development inthis regard.The date of correction of particu-lars in the online application formremains the same, i.e. from Jan-uary 15 to January 31 (up to11.50 pm).Additionally, candidates from theKashmir Valley, Leh and Kargilcan submit the application formoffline at the Nodal Centres fixedby the National Testing Agency(NTA).

11 Haryana IASpromotedCHANDIGARH: The Haryanagovernment has promoted 14IAS officers of 2011 batch in theJunior Administrative Grade ofIAS.The officers who have been pro-moted are Mr. Amit Khatri, Mr.Vinay Pratap Singh, Mr. AdityaDahiya, Mr. Mukul Kumar, Mr.Naresh Kumar, Ms. AnjuChaudhry, Mr. Mahavir Kaushik,Mr. Yash Pal, Mr. Virender SinghHooda, Mr. Yashendra Singh, Mr.Narhari Singh Banger, Mr. RajivMehta and Mr. Pradeep Kumar.Haryana government has alsogranted performa promotion toMr. Vijay Kumar SiddappaBhavikatti who is presently oncentral deputation.

CBI arrests DRIADG in Rs 25lakh bribery casefrom LudhianaNEW DELHI: The CBI onWednesday arrested an Addition-al Director General of Directorateof Revenue Intelligence (DRI)Chander Shekhar and a middle-man in connection with Rs 25lakh bribery case, officials said.The searches are going on inNew Delhi, Noida and Ludhiana,they said.According to the DRI web site,Chander Shekhar is posted asADG, Ludhiana.The agency had arrested themiddleman while he was alleged-ly receiving the bribe on behalf ofthe officer, they said.During the questioning, the mid-dleman told the sleuths that thebribe was allegedly for the officer,they said.The agency suspects it to be apart payment of a huge bribewhich was discussed betweenthe two, they said.

Two soldiers martyredin combat operation inRajouri's NowsheraJAMMU: Two soldiers onWednesday attained martyrdomin a combat operation in Now-shera area along the Line ofControl in Rajouri district of Jam-mu and Kashmir.Defence spokesman here saidthat two Indian Army soldiersmartyred during a cordon andsearch operation in Nowsherasector."The operation is still inprogress," he added.The spokesman added thatsearch operation was carried outon Tuesday evening acting on tipoff about presence of group ofsuspected terrorists.

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Maruti clocks 3.9 pcrise in Dec sales; total 1.33 lakh unitssold in festive season

Major rejig: 25 HCS officers transferred inHaryana

CM dedicates developmental projects worth Rs. 525 crore forShimla town

Priyanka Choprabids adieu to 2019 by videoloaded with fondmemories

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AGENCYMUMBAI, JANUARY 1

A special court here has permitted a consor-tium of 15 banks led by the State Bank of In-dia (SBI) to utilise movable assets of formerliquor baron Vijay Mallya towards repaymentof his debt.

The assets, comprising financial securitieslike shares of the United Breweries HoldingsLimited (UBHL), were attached by the specialPrevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA) court in 2016 when it declaredMallya a proclaimed offender.

Under provisions of the Criminal Proce-dure Code, a court orders attachment of a per-son’s movable assets after he or she has beendeclared a proclaimed offender.

A person against whom a warrant hasbeen issued can be declared a proclaimed of-fender if the court believes that he or she hasabsconded or is evading execution of warrant.

The consortium of banks earlier filed anapplication before the special court, seekingrelease of Mallya’s movable assets to utilisethem for repayment of loans given to him.

Senior counsel Rajeev Patil, appearing forthe consortium, said the special court on Tues-day lifted the attachment on the movable as-sets.

The court has, however, stayed its order

till January 18 to enable the parties concernedto approach the Bombay High Court in ap-peal.

Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing forMallya, said the court had ordered lifting ofattachment of assets, which are UBHL shares.

“However, we do not know if the courthas ordered for the assets to be restored to SBIor the consortium. We are waiting for the or-der copy for further clarity,” Desai said.Mallya, who is accused of money launderingby the Enforcement Directorate, fled India inMarch 2016 and is now based in London.

AGENCYBENGALURU, JAN 1

ISRO on Wednesday announcedthat the launch of country's thirdlunar mission, Chandrayaan-3may happen next year and saidfour from the Indian Air Forcehave been selected for the ambi-tious Gaganyaan programme,whose astronaut training wouldcommence soon in Russia.

The announcement comes aday after Union Minister JitendraSingh said India will launchChandrayaan-3 in 2020.

Addressing a press confer-

ence here, ISRO chairman KSivan said work related to thethird lunar mission was going onsmoothly.

It will have a lander, roverand a propulsion module like itspredecessor, he noted.

He also said the launch ofChandrayaan-3 may shift to nextyear.

Work on both Chandrayaan-3and Gaganyaan, the country'smaiden manned space mission,was going on simultaneously, headded.

Noting that Chandrayaan-2orbiter's mission life was seven

years, he said it would be usedfor the third lunar mission aswell. Giving an estimate of the

project cost for Chandrayaan-3,Sivan said, "it would cost Rs 250crore." On the launch pad tocome up in Tuticorin in TamilNadu, Sivan said, "apart from thespace port at Sathish DhawanSpace Centre in Sriharikota, theland acquisition for a second onehas been initiated in Tuticorindistrict. As regards the choice oflocation, he said, "It was mainlyto get advantages of southwardlaunch especially for SSLV(Small Satellite Launch Vehi-cle)." Observing that the pad,once set up would be used forlaunching SSLVs initially, he

said it may be expanded for bigones in future.

On future missions, he said,"25 missions have been plannedfor 2020." The missions that wereplanned in 2019 and could not becompleted would be finished byMarch this year," he said.

When asked what wentwrong with Vikram lander ofChandrayaan-2, he said it wasdue to velocity reduction failure."The velocity reduction failurewas due to internal reasons," hesaid. Chandrayaan-2 mission wasIndia's first attempt to land on lu-nar surface. The ISRO had

planned the landing on the SouthPole of the lunar surface. Howev-er, the lander Vikram hard-land-ed. Sivan also congratulated theChennai based techie who recent-ly located the Vikram lander thathard-landed and maintained thatit was the space agency's policynot to release picture of thecrashed module. Elaborating onthe country's maiden mannedspace mission, Gaganyaan, theISRO chief said, four astronautshave been identified for the mis-sion and their training will startfrom third week of this month inRussia.

Chandrayaan-3 launch in 2021: ISRO

Court gives go ahead to banks toutilise Mallya’s movable assets

ED attaches Rs 18-crassets of Gujarat firmNEW DELHI: Nine wind turbine generatorsand land, belonging to a Gujarat-based compa-ny, worth over Rs 18 crore have been attachedby the ED in connection with its probe in an al-leged bank fraud case, the agency said onWednesday.The Enforcement Directorate case pertains toa Surat-based company Nakoda Ltd, its chair-man and managing director (CMD) BabulalGumanmal Jain, his son and joint MD Deven-der Babulal Jain and others.The company, the agency said in a statement,"had availed fund-based and non-fund basedfinancial assistance from a consortium of 13banks led by Canara Bank and later on default-ed in repayment of loans to the tune of Rs2,107 crore." Probe found that the Jains "con-spired" with a trader Puneet Rungta and Char-tered Accountant Jagdish Somani to carry out"fake" sale and purchases of fancy fabrics withthe companies floated by the latter two, it al-leged. "On the strength of fake purchase in-voices, Nakoda Ltd opened 1,212 Letters ofcredit (LCs) with banks amounting to Rs 4,207crore. Investigation also revealed that out ofthe 1,212 LCs, 202 worth Rs 827.98 crore de-volved due to non-payment by the company,"the ED charged.

AGENCYJAMMU, JAN 1

There is no respite from thecold weather conditions onWednesday as well as Jam-mu recorded minimum tem-perature 2.6 degrees whiledue to poor visibility, oneflight was cancelled and fivedelayed at Jammu Airport.

A weatherman here saidthat the Jammu district wit-nessed maximum tempera-ture Jammu 16.8 degree Cel-sius and the minimum was2.6 degree Celsius while inBanihal, the maximum tem-perature was 12.6 degreesand the minimum was minus2.2, Batote recorded maxi-

mum 11.6 degrees and mini-mum minus 1.4, at Katra themaximum temperature was16.0 degrees and the mini-mum was 4.7 degrees whileat Bhadarwah 9.9 degrees

was the maximum tempera-ture and the minimum wasminus 2.0.

He further added that onJanuary 2, maximum andminimum temperatures will

be around 12°C and 05 0 C,respectively. However, oneflight from Gwalior-Jammu-Gwalior was cancelled due

to poor visibility and threeDelhi bound, one to Mumbaiand one to Srinagar were de-layed.

One flight cancelled, five delayed

AGENCYNEW DELHI, JAN 1

India and Pakistan on Wednesdayexchanged the lists of prisoners andfishermen lodged in jails of the twocountries simultaneously as part of abilateral agreement.

"India and Pakistan today ex-changed, simultaneously at NewDelhi and Islamabad, the lists ofcivilian prisoners and fishermen intheir custody. This is in keeping withprovisions of the 2008 Agreementunder which such lists are exchangedon 1st January and 1st July, everyyear," an official statement said.

"India handed over lists of 267Pakistan civilian prisoners and 99fishermen to Pakistan, who are in In-dia's custody.

Similarly, Pakistan has sharedlists of 55 civilian prisoners and 227fishermen in its custody, who are In-dians or believed-to-be Indians," itread.

India has called for early releaseand repatriation of the prisoners,missing defence personnel and fish-ermen along with their boats fromPakistan's custody. In addition, Pak-

istan has been asked to provide im-mediate consular access to 14 be-lieved-to-be Indian civilian prisonersand 100 Indian fishermen who are inPakistan's custody, the statementsaid.

"The government has alsosought Pakistan to expedite thegrant of visas to the members of themedical experts team and facilitatetheir visit to Pakistan to assess themental condition of believed-to-beIndian prisoners of unsound mind,lodged in different jails of Pakistan;to organise early visit of the JointJudicial Committee to Pakistan,and to organise early visit of the 4-member team to Karachi in connec-tion with release and repatriation of22 Indian fishing boats," added thestatement.

India, Pak exchange listsof nuclear facilities as

part of agreement

CHANDIGARH: Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar re-leased the Calendar-2020 de-signed by Information, Public Re-lations and Languages Depart-ment and printed by Printing andStationery Department here onWednesday. Besides MLA Deep-ak Mangla, Principal Secretary toChief Minister and AdditionalChief Secretary, Information, Pub-lic Relations and Languages De-partment Rajesh Khullar, Director,Information, Public Relations PCMeena were present.

Haryana CM releases newyear calender-2020

AGENCYNEW DELHI, JAN 1

Newly-appointed Chief ofDefence Staff General BipinRawat on Wednesday said thearmed forces stay far awayfrom politics and work as perthe directives of the govern-ment in power, remarks thatcome amid allegations thatthe forces were being politi-cised.

He also said that his focusas the CDS will be to inte-grate the efforts of the threeservices and to work as ateam.

"I want to assure you, thatthe Army, the Navy and theAir Force will work as a team.The CDS will keep controlover them, but action will betaken through teamwork,"said Gen Rawat after receiv-ing a Guard of Honour by thethree services.

Asked about allegationsthat the Army was beingpoliticised and questions be-ing raised by the Congressover the creation of the CDS'post, he said, "We stay away,we stay far away from poli-tics. We work on the direc-tives of the government inpower." The Congress onTuesday had raised severalquestions over the appoint-ment of Gen Rawat as theCDS, saying the governmenthas started on a "wrong foot".

Some Opposition politi-

cians have accused GenRawat of having politicalleanings. Gen Rawat, whotook charge as CDS onWednesday, said his focuswill be to ensure best and op-timal use of resources allocat-ed to the three services. "Thetask cut out for the Chief ofDefence Staff is to integratethe three services and en-hance their capability.

GST collection at Rs1.03 lakh cr in Dec

NEW DELHI, JAN 1

For a second time in a row, the GST revenue collection re-mained above the Rs 1 lakh crore mark with December mop-up at Rs 1.03 lakh crore indicating a pick-up in consumption.

GST collection in November stood at Rs 1,03,492 crore.Before that it was in July when the mop-up crossed the Rs 1lakh crore mark at Rs 1.02 lakh crore. The GST collectionstood at Rs 94,726 crore in December 2018, as per an officialstatement. According to official sources, the GST revenue lastmonth reflects a pick-up in consumption and improvement incompliances. "The GST revenue during the month of Decem-ber 2019 from domestic transactions has shown an impressivegrowth of 16 per cent over the revenue during the month of De-cember 2018," the statement said.

We keep ourselves awayfrom politics: Gen Rawat

Modi congrats NEW DELHI: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdaycongratulated former Armychief Bipin Rawat for takingover as the first Chief of De-fence Staff and called him an"outstanding officer" who hasserved India with great zeal."I am delighted that as we be-gin the new year and newdecade, India gets its firstChief of Defence Staff in Gen-eral Bipin Rawat. I congratu-late him and wish him the verybest for this responsibility. Heis an outstanding officer whohas served India with greatzeal," Prime Minister Modi saidin a series of tweets.

Jammu shivers at min 2.6 degreesRain predicted today in northChandigarh The weather remained clear in Chandigarh on the firstday of the New Year though minimum temperatures dropped evenas the weatherman forecast rain on Thursday and Friday becauseof Western disturbances.The minimum temperature also dipped to 3.5 degrees Celsius onWednesday from Tuesday’s 4.8 degrees C. “Due to the Westerndisturbances wind speeds picked up, clearing the low clouds. Thisled to a cold night but the weather remained sunny on Wednesdaymorning,” an official of the Indian meteorological department said.Visibility also went beyond the 2000 metre mark after around twoweeks, he added.Light rain is expected on Thursday and Friday with low level east-erly winds.

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

NATION NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has opened 28 Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASK) as part of its plan to start 114 standalone enrolments and update centres across the country. These are in addition to about 38,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres run by banks, post offices and state governments, UIDAI said in a statement on Wednesday. These ASKs which are open on all days of the week, have so far catered to over 3 lakh residents of which a sizeable number are Divyang persons, it said. These centres have a capacity to handle up to 1,000 enrolments and update requests per day and are operational from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm and are closed only on public holidays, it said.UIDAI plans to set up 114 Aadhaar Seva Kendras in 53 cities across the country, it added.While Aadhaar enrolment is free, it said, a nominal charge of Rs 50 is payable for updating details like adding mobile number to Aadhaar, updating address, etc.

UIDAI opens 28 Aadhaar Seva Kendrasacross the country

PAGE2

BRIEFNEWS

NEW DELHI: Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd exported 10,791 units in December 2019, registering its highest ever monthly shipment in 5 years. The company also reported 2,169 units of domestic sales in December 2019, posting a month on month growth of 49%. Commenting on the performance, Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd, said, “Domestic volume increase of 49% month on month with improved performance of KICKS showcases the strength of Nissan’s global SUV DNA. Exports in December are the highest-ever single month shipment in the last five years, highlighting a strong thrust on Make in India.”“Going forward, we are aligning our business strategy for sustainable growth volume with Nissan as Primary brand with introduction of multiple new product offerings while also strengthening the value propositions in Datsun products,” he added.

AGENCY vehicles were seized for flouting KOLKATA, JAN 1 norms, he said, adding that 14 mobile

phones that went missing were also As many as 3,678 people were recovered.arrested from different parts of the Altogether, 234.68 litres of liquor, city on New Year's Eve for their and 2.33 kg ganja were seized and alleged involvement in various 2.5 kg fireworks confiscated, the crimes -- ranging from disorderly senior officer stated. "Several arrests conduct, to drunk driving, and have been made on the New Year's violation of traffic norms -- a senior eve. We are still accumulating the police officer said. details," he said. Over 5,000 police Of the 3678, 148 were nabbed under personnel have been deployed non-bailable charges, 531 for drunk across the city since Christmas, driving and rash driving, 654 for with special focus on ensuring triple-riding on two-wheelers and women's safety. "Strict vigil and 1289 for not wearing helmets, he patrolling will continue tonight. said. At least 50 people were picked Senior officers will be deployed at up as a preventive measure, and 831 crucial points to avoid any menace," One person was arrested for carrying the officer said.apprehended for disorderly conduct. the police officer said.illegal arms, and four for rowdyism, During Tuesday's revelry, around 18

V.P. Singh Badnore greets people on gurpurb of Guru Gobind Singh Ji

CHANDIGARH, JAN 1 tyranny of the rulers of those times. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

The Punjab Governor and sacrificed his four sons, father and Administrator, Union Territory, mother for preserving human and Chandigarh, Shri V.P. Singh secular value are rare in the annals Badnore in a message on the of mankind. Their heroic struggle Gurpurb of Sri Guru Gobind and sacrifice against the Mughals Singh Ji, called upon the people to will always be remembered till rededicate themselves to the ideals eternity. The Governor said that and goals set out by the great Guru Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s teachings and work for creating a and philosophy is particularly harmonious society, based on relevant in the present day values of humanism and complexed and materialistic secularism. The Governor said world. He appealed to the people that Guru Gobind Singh Ji, a saint- to celebrate Parkash Utsav in a soldier, symbolized the virtues of spirit of social harmony, equality truth, righteousness and universal and well being of the people, brotherhood. He was a great which the great Guru preached warrior and launched a crusade and practiced throughout his life.against social injustice and

Nissan India registers highest-ever monthly exports in 5 years

Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what

makes the universe exist. Be curious.

Stephen Hawking

I , Balvi r S ingh S/o I, Iqubal Singh army No. I, Reshma Khan W/o I Arshdeep Kaur W/O I Anchal W/O Arjinder I Sukhpal & Satpal S/o Sh I Binde r S ingh S /o I, Simranjeet kaur W/o S. Kashmiri Lal R/o Vpo. 15561456K S/o Maghar Mohammad Imran R/o Manpreet Singh Januhe Singh Lamser R/O Vill Sadhu Ram Village Amin D a r s h a n S i n g h R / o A m a n p r e e t S i n g h Bheen Teh-Nawanshahr Singh R/o Vill: Rauni Q.No. 55 A.S. Atwal R/O H:NO. 9/96 Mandi Budhel Tehsil Raikot Distt Distt Kurukshetra have R a m e a n a ( F a r i d k o t ) R/o.19, Paras Enclave (SBS Nagar) changed my Teh-Payal (Ludhiana) Police Colony Phillaur Mullanpur Distt. Ludhiana Ludhiana Changed My declared that the deponent have changed my name Kot Mahna Singh Singh name to Balvir Kumar. changed my minor son (Jalandhar) DOB 09-01- Have Changed My Name Name To Anchal Kaur called two name Sukhpal and to Balwinder Singh. T a r n T a r a n R o a d

63372 name from Jaskarn Singh 1980, changed my name A r s h d e e p K a u r To Lamser After Marriage. Satpal. Both name are one 98723 Amritsar Punjab have I, Rajesh Kumar alias to Jaskaran Singh. to Reshma. Arshdeep Kaur Januhe. 63372 and same person . The correct I Jagdeep Singh S/o Changed my name to Rajesh Kumar Verma S/o 63372 63372 63372 I, Gurdeep Singh Dhaliwal name is Sukhpal. Balraj Singh R/o Kothe Simranjit Kaur. Plz note Chajju Ram R/o Sunam I, Amaninderdeep Kaur I, Gurpreet Singh Bajaj I, Kishan Chand S/o S/o Jagsir Singh R/o 100074 Dashmesh Nagar Kot it (Sangrur) changed my W/O Parminder Singh S/O Darshan Singh Bajaj Gurdas Ram R/o Vill: R o m a n a A j i t S i n g h I Naresh Kumari W/O Bhai Distt Sri Muktsar 72737name to Rajesh Kumar Gill R/O Langiana Nawan R/O 247-AX, Model S u l t a n p u r T e h - (Faridkot) changed my Judhishtir Rana VPO Sahib Have Changed I Ram Kishan S/O Hans Verma. (Moga) Have Changed T o w n E x t e n s i o n Nawanshahr (SBS Nagar) name Gurdeep Singh. Bakhlaur Tehsil Nawanshahr M y N a m e J a g d e e p R a j R / O V i l l

63372 M y N a m e T o L u d h i a n a C h a n g e d changed my name to 63372 District SBS nagar have Singh Sran Kangniwal Po Hazara I, Iqubal Singh army No. Amaninderdeep Kaur Name Gurpreet Singh. Krishan Chand. I Sushma Kadiyan W/o Sh. changed my name to Naresh 62647 J a l a n d h a r H a v e 15561456K S/o Maghar Gill. 63372 63372 S a n d e e p K u m a r , Rana. Please note. I Lucky S/o Sh. Husan C h a n g e d M y N a m e Singh R/o Vill: Rauni Teh- 63372 I, Nihal Singh Brar S/O I, Nirmala W/o Jaspal Residence H.No.-1765, 98765 L a l R / o V i l l a g e From Ram Kishan To Payal (Ludhiana) changed I, Manish S/o Ashok Jagmail Singh R/O 151, Singh R/o Vill: Bulewal Sector-3, Urban Estate I Mani S/O Bhavishan Dhilwan PO. Dakoha R a m K r i s h a n A l l my minor daughter name Singla R/o H.No. 95/16 Street No 1, Partap (Ludhiana) changed my Kurukshetra Haryana have Kumar VPO Sheikhu pur Teh & Distt. Jalandhar. Concerned May Please from Simronpreet Kaur to Dhannu Mal l S t ree t Colony, Mundian Kalan, name to Nirmaljit Kaur. changed my name From Teh Nawanshahr District I have changed my Note Simranpreet Kaur. Kotkapura (Faridkot) L u d h i a n a C h a n g e d 63372 S u s h m a K a d i y a n t o SBS nagar have changed name from Lucky to 72737

63372 changed my name to Name Nihal Singh. I, Monika D/o Satnam Sushma. Please note all my name to Mani Rana. L u c k y K u m a r . A l l Manish Singla. 63372 Singh R/o Vpo. Dhamai concern. "Rana " is my surname. concerned please note.

63372 T e h - G a r h s h a n k a r 100074 98765 72778(Hoshiarpur) changed my name to Monika Kumari.

63372I Ramanjit Kaur W/O Sukhwinder Singh R/O Patti Karam Chand, Mehraj Distt Bathinda Have Changed My Name To Ramanjeet Kaur Sidhu.

63372I Ramanjeet Kaur Sidhu R/O Patti Karam Chand, Mehraj Distt Bathinda Have Changed My Minor Son Name To Harmanjeet Singh To Harmanjeet Singh Sidhu.

63372I Ajib Kaur W/O Amarjit Singh R/O Patti Karam Chand Mehraj Distt Bathinda Have Changed My Name To Ajaib Kaur Sidhu.

63372I, Satnam Singh S/o Gurbaksh Singh R/o Kot Ise Khan (Moga) changed my name to Satnam Singh Gill.

63372I, Jaswinder Kaur Gill W/o Nirbhai Singh R/o Vill: Gidri (Ludhiana) have changed my name to Jaswinder Kaur.

63372I, Tarlock Singh S/O Shivdev Singh R/O Vill.Katour, Po.Manhota, Distt.Hoshiarpur, Punjab Have Changed My Name To S i n g h Ta r l o c k (Surname As Singh).

63372

RNI NO. 61323/95 | Printed and Published by Gaurav Goel for Yugmarg Prakashan from 28/1, Industrial Area Phase-II, Chandigarh and printed at Yugmarg Publications,

Kurali Road, Khanpur, Kharar Distt. Mohali (PB), Editor Chander Trikha, Ph.:(off) 0172-5002721, 2972414. E-mail: yugmarg@gmail.com

Postal Code No. G/CHD/0186/2016-2018

CONTACT

0172-5002721

CONTACT

0172-2972414

PUBLIC NOTICESI, Ex Army No. 9505278F Hav Karnail Singh S/o Bhan Singh Village Garjeli Jalota Dasuya (Hoshiarpur) Pb, my wife name Saravjit Kaur DOB 18 years has been written wrongly in records. Actually her name is Sarbjit Kaur and DOB is 30-09-1958.

63372I,Charanjit Kaur D/o Gurdial Singh R/o Subhash Basti N e a r P o l i c e Q u a r t e r (Bathinda) changed my name to after marriage Lovepreet Kaur W/o Balkaran Singh Vill: Nandgarh (Bathinda).

63372I, Naresh Gumber s/o Parmod Gumber r/o Vill. Mohri, Tehsil Radour (Yamuna Nagar) declare that in my LIC Insurance Policy No. 173238523 my Name wrote Harsh Kumar, But in my other Documents my Name wrote Naresh Gumber. Naresh Gumber & Harsh Kumar both are the name of same person i.e.me, But now I known as Naresh Gumber. Please correct Name in my LIC Insurance Policy.

52724I, Kanta Devi W/o Sukhi Ram R/o Ward No. 3, Kharkhoda, Distt. Sonipat declare that my house original Sale deed no. 147 dated 26.04.2004 has been lost on dated 20.12.2019 in main road Kharkhoda Distt. Sonipat, it is police Fir no. 132390511901439. If any person has found this sale deed please contacts my address.

72779

LOST & FOUND It Is Notified For The I n f o r m a t i o n T h a t M y O r i g i n a l Q u a l i f y i n g Examination Certificate Of Secondary Examination Of Year 2015-16 And Roll No. 2 2 5 2 8 1 0 A n d S e n i o r Secondary Examination Of Year 2017-18 Roll No. 2742695 Issued By C.B.S.E Has Been Actually Lost . N a m e O f C a n d i d a t e Lakhwinder Singh .Full Address V.P.O Jatana Kalan ,Dist:Mansa .Tel:98881-54034.

63372Certified That I, Sunil Kumar Bagga S/O Rajinder Kumar R/O H.No.260/5, Avtar Nagar, Jalandhar, Punjab Have Lost The Power Of Attorney No. 5882 Date 1 6 . 1 0 . 1 9 6 6 O f S a m e Premises Cited Above. If Anybody Found Can Contact At 70097-78458, Please Note.

63372I , Kiran Devi W/o Virender S/o Kishnu R/o Vpo Fatehpur Teh. Pundri Distt Kaithal Declares That I Have Purchased A Rakba 104 Sq. Yds Under Sale Deed Vasika N o . 2 0 0 7 / 1 D a t e d 11/12/2007. The Above Sale Deed Has Been Lost At Previous One Month Near Girdhar Chowk , Fatehpur , Pundri. I Have Not Taken Any Kind Of Loan From Any Bank/nigam/deptt. If Anyone Found Please Inform The Above Address.

84451

0172-5002721Plot No. 28/1, Industrial Area, Phase-2, Chandigarh

Email: yugmarg@gmail.com

PUBLIC NOTICEThis is to inform and seek objections, if any, from general public that our client sanction loan against property to M/s Shree Radhe Medicos located at Property Shop Part of property No. 170-C/3 New No. 1086/4. Measuring 35 Sq. Yards, situated at Sheranwala Gate, Patiala through Regd. Sale deed No. 2293 dated 11-10-2013 owned by Sh. Rakesh Kumar Gupta S/o Mehar Chand and Rohit Gupta S/o Rakesh Kumar Gupta in equal shares. The earlier gift deed No. 2883 dated 19-05-2010 regarding 8.75 sq. yards as executed by Anil Kumar Dev S/o Khem Chand Dev in favour of Rajni Dev W/o Varinder Kumar Dev, in original of mentioned property was lost. The DDR in respect of the same was lodged vide DDR No. LR N: 45244/2019 dated 27-12-2019 at Patiala. That in case any person having any claim, right, title or interest in the above said property in any manner whatsoever by way of sale, gift, lease, inheritance, exchange, mortgage, charge, lien, trust, possession, easement, attachment otherwise howsoever, shall bring the same to the notice of the undersigned in writing with supporting documents/evidence within a period of 15 days from the date of this notice failing which such claim if any, shall be considered to be waived, abandoned and it shall be presumed that no person has any claim of any nature in respect of the above said land and any subsequent claim shall not be bind our clients or their successors/nominee/assignees in any manner whatsoever.

Surinder Mohan Singla,Advocate, G-34, Tej Bagh Colony, Patiala,

9815337878

PUBLIC NOTICEThis Is To Notify General Public On The Behalf Of My Client Axis Bank Ltd. Jalandhar That Munish Kumar S/O Sh. Mahinder Pal Has Applied For Home Loan To Purchase The Property Owned By Tara Rani W/O Tialk Raj Measuring 3 Marla At 23 New Rasila Nagar Basti Danish Manda Jalandhar 144002.Below Is The List Of Lost Original Documents GPA No. 892 Dt. 25-05-11 Original Sale Deed No. 4460 Dt. 02-12-2009 If Any Member Of General Public And Financial Institution Having Any Information Claim Objection To The Above Transaction And Mortgage Of Said Property He/She May Kindly Contact Me Within 7 Days From The Date Of Publication Of This Advertisement In The Below Mentioned Address Falling With No Claim Will Be Entertained Take And Axis Bank Ltd. Will Disbursed The Loan To Property Customer.

Address: Advocate Vikas Kumar Gupta, Chamber No. 123, New

Courts Jalandhar. M.No. 94631-82928

CLASSIFIED

City disappoints again in Swachh Survekshan League 2020CHANDIGARH, JAN 1: Minister of Swachh Survekhsan League 2020 will be weightage for the final cleanliness survey. Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), integrated with the fifth edition of ‘Swachh The quarterly assessments of cities assign Hardeep Singh Puri, announced results of Survkeshan’ – the annual cleanliness survey ranks in three broad categories – cities with Swachh Survekshan League 2020 at New to assess cities and towns of India on their population below one lakh, cities with Delhi. The results of first two quarters Q1 and cleanliness quotient set to be conducted from population between one lakh to ten lakh and Q2 (April to September, 2019) were also 4th January, 2020. As part of the SS league cities with population above ten lakh. The webcasted live by the NIC. In a bid to sustain 2020, there is a quarterly cleanliness quarterly rank of cities will play a crucial the onground performance and efforts of assessment of cities and towns in India. The role in overall annual rankings in Swachh cities and ensure continuous monitoring of assessment is conducted in first three quarters Survekshan 2020 because of the 25 per cent service level progress, the MoHUA had – April to June, July to September and weightage is given to these quarterly introduced Swachh Survekhsan (SS) league October to December of 2019. Each quarter assessments under Swachh Survekshan 2020 on 6th June, 2019. The results of carries 2000 marks with pre set varying League 2020.

Er.Baldev Singh Sran CMD is releasing Wall Calender of PSPCL for the Year 2020 here today in Patiala .Sh.R.P.Pandove Director

Administration, Sh.Jatinder Goel Director Finance ,Er.O.P.Garg Director Commercial and Er.S.K.Puri Director Generation are also

seen in the Photogarph.

3,678 people arrested in Kolkata on New Year's Eve

NEWS BRIEFS

3HARYANAVoluntary blood donation camp heldSHIV SHARMAKURUKSHETRA: At the beginning of the new year today National Gold Medalist DiamondBlood Donor and environmentalist Dr. Ashok Kumar Verma organised 261st Voluntary BloodDonation Camp at LNJPN Hospital Kururkshetra. In this camp Dr. Krishan Kumar was chiefguest while Raj Kumari Panwar presided over the camp. Satyanarayan Verma was guest ofhonour. In this camp the chief guest Dr. Krishan Kumar donated blood with his sons on theeve of their birthday and new year. Dr. Ashok Kumar Verma welcomed the guests and thedonors by saying that this is the most holy work. Chief guest Dr. Krishan Kumar said that heand his family donate blood every year on the beginning of the year. He is very lucky that heis donating blood regularly. YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Rally in villagegives message ofsave daughters

SHIV SHARMAKARNAL: NSS volunteers ofGuru Nanak Khalsa College organ-ised a public awareness rally in vil-lage Kachhwa. Ajay Kumar flaggedoff the rally. Sanjeev Kumar of thevillage and Naresh Mann, chairmanof Vinayak College also collaborat-ed with him. Volunteers awarenesson other social topics including BetiBachao Beti Padhao, Water conser-vation, Environmental protection,Energy conservation, Plant trees,Cashless India, Communal harmo-ny, no burning of stubble in thefields, Women education, HIVAIDS, Sanitation campaign,Swachh Survekshan -2020 Gave amessage of During the rally, volun-teers visited the entire village andthe villagers were inspired andmade aware. The Secretary of Col-lege Management Committee in theevening session Surindrapal SinghPasricha talked to the volunteersand inspected the camp. PrincipalPritapal Singh Pannu, who was themain speaker, threw light on the bi-ographies of the patriots and thesacrifices of the Sahibzadas. Onthis occasion, Pramod Kumar, Prof.Pradeep Chauhan, Prof. MeghaGupta, Prof. Anju and volunteerswere present.

60 feet highnational flag to behoisted in school

SHIV SHARMAKARNAL: On the New Year day inthe Government Primary School,Taparana, national flag of the coun-try was hoisted by District Educa-tion Officer Ravindra Chaudharyand State Elementary TeachersUnion Government Executive. The60 feet high national flag will behoisted in the school and childrenwill develop the spirit of patriotism.Speaking on the occasion, the Dis-trict Education Officer said that cel-ebrating the National Flag RaisingDay in schools in this way is a hugeachievement for children and forhonouring the nation. Those whogave extra time with their hard workand perseverance have changed themap of the school and have createdan interesting and educative envi-ronment. On this occasion, StatePrincipal of the Government Prima-ry Teachers Association, TarunSuhag said that this would developthe spirit of patriotism among thechildren. The District Commission-er Anil Saini welcomed all the visi-tors and praised the work done bythe school. But school heads SushilKumar, Rajesh Kumar, PradeepAtri, Vinod Rana, Narendra Mann,Sanjay Yadav, Sudhir Dalal, Jogin-der Mann, Purushottam, ShammiMalhotra, Sarpanch Dharampal,SMC Pradhan, and other staff mem-bers were present.

Ravi Sharmaappointed

ABVP convenorGURMEET KASHYAPKARNAL: The 51st session of theAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishadwas held in Rohtak today. Centralofficials and province officialsstayed in this three-day programme.This information was given by thenewly appointed district convenorRavi Sharma. He informed that twostudents from Karnal have also beenmade state executive members, in-cluding Lovpratap Rana and SimranSharma. Ravi explained how his ob-jective would be to raise the demandfor education in the college and fillthe post of vacant teachers. At thesame time, vigorous work will bedone on issues like water conserva-tion, and efforts will be made to seehow India will forward to becomeworld leader again. The provinceofficials were elected by election inwhich province president RajendraDhiman was re-elected and SumitJaglan was elected as the provinceminister. Ravi said that he will con-nect the students with the counciland at the same time will always beready for the social issues and serv-ice of Karnal.

Guru Gobind Singh’sPrakash Utsav held

SARBJIT SINGHASSANDH: Nagar Kirtan was heldto mark the 353rd Prakash Utsav ofDhan Dhan Guru Govind Singh inthe city. The special programmeTook place in Guru Dera Sahib.Thousands of devotees participatedenthusiastically in Nagar Kirtan. TheGatka Party showed its zeal and theFoji Band led the Nagar Kirtan andproceeded. MLA Shamsher SinghGogi also reached the venue at JCCollege. Shamsher Singh Gogi saidthat Guru Gobind Singh ji sacrificedhis entire family to save Hindutvaand Sikhism cannot be forgotten forthis act of bravery abnd sacrifice. Hesaid people should follow the pathshown by Guru Govind Singh ji.Jathedar Gurwant Singh Jatari saidthat the lighting festival of tenthGuru Govind Singh Ji of Sikh socie-ty was celebrated with great pomp.He said that every year a processionis carried out in the entire city bydecorating the Guru Granth Sahib ina palanquin.

BUREAU CHANDIGARH, JAN 1-

Haryana Government has issuedtransfer and posting orders of 25 HCSofficers with immediate effect.

Jag Niwas, awaiting orders ofposting, has been posted as Sub Divi-sional Officer (Civil)-cum-AdditionalCollector, Loharu, relieving ManojKhatri of the said charge.

Mahender Pal, Joint Director(Admn.), PGIMS, Rohtak has beengiven the additional charge of Addi-tional Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak,Special Officer, APZ, Rohtak andSecretary, Regional Transport Author-ity, Rohtak.

Surjit Singh, awaiting orders ofposting, has been posted as City Mag-istrate, Bhiwani, relieving PradeepKumar-III of the said charge.

Amardeep Jain, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Zila Parishad and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, District Rural Devel-opment Agency, Sonepat has beenposted as Additional Commissioner,Municipal Corporation, Gurugram.

Naveen Kumar Ahuja, City Mag-istrate, Panchkula has been posted asSub Divisional Officer (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Bilaspur, viceGirish Kumar.

Vivek Kalia, General Manager,Haryana Roadways, Delhi and EstateOfficer, Haryana Shahari Vikas Prad-hikaran, Faridabad has been posted asEstate Officer, Haryana Shahari VikasPradhikaran-II, Gurugram, relievingSanjiv Kumar of the said charge.

Meenakshi Dahiya, Joint Trans-port Commissioner, Haryana has beenposted as Chief Executive Officer,Zila Parishad, Sonepat and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer, District Rural Devel-opment Agency, Sonepat, viceAmardeep Jain.

Pooja Bharti, awaiting orders ofposting, has been posted as City Mag-istrate, Karnal, vice Amarinder SinghManais.

Girish Kumar, Sub Divisional Of-ficer (Civil), Bilaspur has been postedas Sub Divisional Officer (Civil),Barara, vice Bharat Bhushan.

Satish Kumar Singla, Secretary,Haryana Electricity Regulatory Com-mission, Panchkula has been postedas Secretary, Haryana Agro IndustriesCorporation, vice Varsha Khangwal.

Surender Pal, awaiting orders ofposting, has been posted as City Mag-istrate, Charkhi Dadri, vice JitenderSingh.

Ashutosh Ranjan, General Man-

ager, Haryana Tourism DevelopmentCorporation has been given the addi-tional charge of Sub Divisional Offi-cer (Civil), Sonepat, vice JitenderSingh.

Jitender Kumar-III, awaiting or-ders of posting, has been posted asDeputy Chief Executive Officer,Mewat Development Agency, Nuh.

Bharat Bhushan, Sub DivisionalOfficer (Civil), Barara has been post-ed as Joint Commissioner, MunicipalCorporation, Yamunanagar. He hasalso been given the additional chargeof Joint Chief Executive Officer,Saraswati Heritage Board.

Sanjiv Kumar, Estate Officer,Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran,Gurugram-I and Secretary, Commis-sion of Inquiry headed by Mr JusticeS.N. Jha at Gurugram has been postedas General Manager, Haryana Road-ways, Delhi, relieving Vivek Kalia ofthe said charge. Sanjiv Kumar willalso look after the work of Secretary,Commission of Inquiry headed by MrJustice S.N. Jha at Gurugram.

Vijay Singh, Sub Divisional Offi-cer (Civil), Sonepat has been postedas Secretary, Haryana State Agricul-tural Marketing Board, relieving Am-rita Singh of the said charge.

Sushil Kumar-III, Sub DivisionalOfficer (Civil), Panchkula has beenposted as City Magistrate, Panchkula,vice Naveen Kumar Ahuja.

Shashi Vasundhra, Sub DivisionalOfficer (Civil), Guhla has been postedas Controller Examinations, HaryanaStaff Selection Commission.

Major rejig: 25 HCS officerstransferred in state

CHANDIGARH, JAN 1

In a special drive Haryana police have arrest-ed over 1,000 people during the past 13months, on the charges of drug peddling in Sir-sa district.

According to an official statement,Haryana Police, during the past 13 months,have registered 617 cases and arrested 1,063people on the charges of drug peddling in Sir-sa district alone, where a huge quantity of nar-cotics worth crores of rupees had been confis-cated under a special drive.

Director General of Police (DGP) ManojYadava on Wednesday said, "As many as 8 kg757 gram 393-milligram heroin, 27 kg 313-gram opium, over 2,277 kg chura post anddoda post, 34 kg 706 gram ganja, over 4.15lakh restricted pharma pills and more than1.08 lakh capsules were seized from the pos-session of arrested accused during this period.The special drive is in line with the govern-

ment's commitment to make Haryana a drug-free state."

The DGP said that the crackdown on drug-peddlers is being conducted on a daily basis inthe entire state especially in the districts shar-ing borders with Rajasthan and Punjab. Com-mon people are also supplementing the effortsof the police in tightening the noose on thoseinvolved in the peddling of drugs.

He also lauded the efforts of the districtSenior Superintendent of Police (SSP) DrArun Singh and his entire team for freeing thedistrict of drug menace. He urged the people tocome forward fearlessly and share informationagainst the sale, consumption and use of nar-cotics at Interstate Drug Secretariat mobilenumber 7087089947, toll-free number 1800-180-1314 and landline number 01733-253023.

Apart from taking stern action against thepersons involved in drug-peddling, Police arealso making the general public aware of the ill-effects of drug addiction.

Over 1000 arrested inSirsa in last 13 months

for drug peddling

MAINPAL KASHYAPINDRI, JANUARY 1

Undri MLA Ramkumar Kashyapattended the function organised atthe newly built BDPO office ofKunjpura on Wednesday on the oc-casion of the New Year. The MLAwas warmly welcomed by villagerswho made him wear turban and of-fered garlands. On this occasion,the MLA duly inaugurated the of-fice by offering a sacrifice in a ha-van-yagna and placed BDPO An-grez Singh on his chair. DDPO Ra-jbir Khundia, Kunjpura MarketCommittee Chairman Ilam Singh,were present on the occasion.

While wishing the villagers presentin the program for the new year, MLARamkumar Kashyap said that this officebuilding was inaugurated by the ChiefMinister from Karnal on the previous

days. He said that Chief MinisterManohar Lal has added a new chapter ofdevelopment in this area by giving Kun-jpura village the status of block. TheChief Minister has also given develop-ment works worth crores of rupees for

this block earlier and now projects ofnew development works will also beavailable during this period. No workwill be allowed to be incomplete. He alsolistened to the problems of the peopleand resolved them.

MLA Kashyap inaugurates BDPO office

ROHIT LAMSARTARAORI, JAN 1

On behalf of Jai Bharat YuvaMandal (Regd.) And RahgiriTeam Tarawari, a Mega Tal-ent Show was organised at theNew Year's Festival in ShivShakti Satsang Bhawan inwhich G.V. MD of Rice UnitVinit Bansal, Chunit Bansal,MD of Charu Trading Com-pany MD of Rinku Bansaland Daata Ram FurnitureHouse Ravi Chawla attendedas the Chief Guest.

The programme waschaired by Jai Bharat YuvaMandal Tarawadi Presidentand State Media In-charge

Rohit Lamsar and Vice Presi-dent Sandeep Kataria. Thestage was conducted byMehak Sharma. On one sidein the mega talent showwhere the lyricist expressedemotion through his excellent

and melodious voice. At thesame time, beautiful dramasand jaques also entertainedthe audience. As the artistswere performing their art onstage, the entire pandal wasechoing with applause.

Talent show held to marknew Year celebrations

Jersies distributed to children ondeath anniversary of Chanda Singh

ROHIT LAMSARTARAORI: A jersey distribution ceremony was held at Government Senior Secondary SchoolCo-education Tarawari on the death anniversary of former minister Late Chanda Singh. Thisprogramme was organised in collaboration with the Bharat Vikas Parishad branch Padwala inwhich former minister Late Chanda Singh's son and senior Congress leader Lalit Butana at-tended as the chief minister. He started the programme by lighting the lamp in front of MotherSaraswati. The stage was conducted by philanthropists Ranjit Bhardwaj and Ramesh ChandSharma. The programme was presided over by Rampal Lather, President of Bharat VikasParishad Branch Padwala and Sultan Singh Solho, Vice President.

SHIV SHARMAKARNAL, JANAURY1

The Anti Corruption Foundation ofIndia was conferred with the GlobalAchievers Award by the GlobalAchievers Council for outstandingwork in the field of awareness of erad-ication of corruption at the five-starSamrat Hotel in Delhi. Narendra Aro-ra, National President of Anti Corrup-tion Foundation of India and NationalChief Director Gurjit Singh receivedGlobal Achievers Award. Former CBIDirector VN Sehgal was the ChiefGuest and Global Peace UniversityUSA Director John Peter, Dean Dr.Andrew Taylor, Global AchieversCouncil Chairman Dr. Selvam, AIACDirector Abhishek Bachchan, etc. TheAnti Corruption Foundation of Indiawas given special recognition for out-standing work in the field of bringing

awareness in India in the field of eradi-cation of corruption. The Anti Corrup-tion Foundation of India was given spe-cial recognition for outstanding work inthe field of bringing awareness in Indiain the field of eradication of corruption.

On this occasion, Narendra Arora saidthat the Anti-Corruption Foundation ofIndia would disseminate the online vowof duty of the Central Vigilance Com-mission for awareness of corruptioneradication

Anti Corruption Foundation gets Global Award

GURMEET KASHYAPKARNAL, JANUARY 1

On the first day of the yeartoday, a seminar was or-ganised by District Gener-al Secretary Kisan Mor-cha BJP Master NarendraGorsi in presence of thesarpanch and the peoplepresent in the Assemblyunder the chairmanship ofthe Market CommitteeChairman JayabhagwanSikri in Nilokheri. Ad-dressing the people pres-ent in the seminar, Naren-dra Gaurasi said that de-spite belonging to the im-portant section of the soci-ety, it is our duty to give abefitting reply to the peo-ple who spread misconceptionsabout the Citizenship AmendmentAct in the country.

He said that every person

should take a pledge in the nation-al interest and tell the commonman that the Act has been broughtby the government, this act does

not take away the citizenship ofanyone, but will work to get citi-zenship of those belonging to theminority community who are tor-

tured on the basis of re-ligion. In the seminar onthe CAA, NeelokheriMarket CommitteeChairman JayabhagwanSikri, Master Satish Ku-mar, Kisan MorchaMandal President AjmerSingh, ArjahediSarpanch Ramnivas,Sarpanch Ramkumar,Panch Anil Kumar,Sarpanch Rinku,Sarpanch Anil,Sarpanch Rajkumar, RajSingh, Subhash ChandraSaini, Sardar KarnailSingh, Devraj, Rakesh,Gautam, Subedar, JagatSingh Chauhan, VirbhanPanchal, Anoop Singh,Subhash Kumar, M

Gangaram, Krishna Kumar, VinodKumar, Gurdial Singh, SureshChandra, Sarpanch Vikram werepresent.

CAA decision is in national interest: Gorsi

Army recruitment drive from Feb 10CHANDIGARH: A recruitment drive will be organised by Indian Army for the youth of fourdistricts of Haryana namely Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat from February 10 to 20, 2020at Rohtak.

Giving information regarding this, a spokesperson of the Army recruitment office, Rohtaksaid that this recruitment rally will be held from Feb-10 to Feb-20, 2020 at Rajiv Gandhi SportsComplex in Rohtak. Three more districts namely Jhajjar, Sonipat and Panipat are also includedin this recruitment drive along with Rohtak. He said that it is necessary for candidates to regis-ter online to participate in the recruitment process. He also informed that online registration canbe done by January 25, 2020 and admit cards of will be sent to the concerned candidates via theirregistered email from January 26, 2020. The spokesperson said that it is compulsory for the can-didates to reach the recruitment site at the mentioned date and time on the admit card. He cau-tioned that the recruitment in the Army would be free, fair and completely merit-based, and nomiddleman could get the candidates admitted in the Army.

NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

4

GAURAV GOELCHANDIGARH, JAN 1

Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Wednesdaylauded the marked improvement inseveral key sectors under the Sus-tainable Development Goals(SDG) in Punjab, while calling formore aggressive efforts to boostperformance in others.

Niti Aayog’s ‘SDG Index2019-20’ report, based on 17 goalscovering 100 indicators, showedthat the state, under the CaptainAmarinder led government, haddone exceptionally well in areaslike Open Defecation Free (ODF),internet subscribers, PradhanMantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) anddoor to door waste collection, be-sides showing improvement in theaverage annual dropout rate at sec-ondary level, according to an offi-cial spokesperson.

The State of Punjab ranked10th position with Index Score 60among the states against India’soverall score of 57 points in NITIAayog’s first report ‘SDG IndexIndia 2018’, based on 13 goals cov-ering 62 priority indicators.

The Chief Minister appreciatedthe constant and effective monitor-ing by various departments, cou-pled with field visits senior offi-cers, that had led the state to score62 points as compared to India’s In-dex Score of 60 points.

As per the SDG report, Punjabhad made remarkable improvement

with respect to these indicators:districts verified to Open Defeca-tion Free (ODF) (%) improvedfrom 40.91 to 90.91, internet sub-scribers (per hundred population)grew from 52.67 to 84.1, homescompleted under PMAY (%) im-proved from 0.74 to 28.12, wardswith 100% door to door waste col-lection(%) went up from 65.82 to97.45, children under age 5 yearsstunted (%) declined from 25.7 to24.3, average annual dropout rateat secondary level (%) came downfrom 8.86 to 8.6.

However, there were a few in-dicators where the state’s perform-ance had marginally declined, saidthe spokesperson. Employment un-der MGNREGA (%) decreasedfrom 81.63 to 76.12, the sex ratio atbirth decreased from 893 to 886,reported cognizable crimes against

children (1 lac population) in-creased from 21 to 24.3.

The Chief Minister, who is reg-ularly monitoring the state’s per-formance under the indicators en-visaged under Sustainable Devel-opment Goals, asked the concerneddepartments to work more zealous-ly to achieve the desired targets andensure better citizen-centric servic-es. Notably, Punjab has adopted theUnited Nations 2030 DevelopmentAgenda, with 17 SDGs, 169 Tar-gets and 306 Indicators, with theChief Minister closely overseeingthe planning, implementation andmonitoring of the progress to real-

ize Sustainable DevelopmentGoals. The State is in the process ofpreparing 4-Year Strategic ActionPlans of all departments. Till now4-Year Strategic Action Plans of 16departments have been preparedand approved at the cabinet level.

An Online Monitoring Systemis also being put in place to regu-larly evaluate the progress of reali-sation of the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals, which will help thestate in improving its outcome, be-sides evolving appropriate strate-gies and interventions to bringgreater efficiency in its perform-ance.

Amarinder lauds marked improvementin SDG indicators in key sectors

Balbir Sidhu hands overappointment letters to 11drugs controller officers

SUMER GARGCHANDIGARH, JAN 1

To further improve the func-tioning of FDA Punjab (Food& Drug Administration De-partment), the Health MinsterBalbir Singh Sidhu todayhanded over the appointmentletters to 11 Drugs ControllerOfficers.

While addressing on theoccasion, the Minister saidthat Punjab Government hascelebrated the New Year byappointing Youngsters on theimportant posts. He said thatFDA has already 48 DrugsController Officers in placeand now the strength wouldgo up to 60 sanctioned posts.He said that FDA is conduct-ing the regular inspection ofwholesale and Retail saleDrugs Licenses across thestate with a view to keep tabon the illegal sale of habitforming drugs.

He said that now with therecruitment of these 11 DrugsController officers, the FDAwould expedite the actionagainst the chemists who areindulging in unethical trading

of drugs and further the qual-ity of medicines available inmarket will also improve.The Minister further said thatto reduce the pendency ofanalysis of samples in CEL(Chemical Examiner Lab),Kharar, 5 Analysts and 4MLTs have also inducted inthe department. He said thatthese newly recruited em-ployees would help the Assis-tant Chemical Examiners andSenior Analysts for analysisof viscera, excise samplesand record keeping of reports.

Balbir Singh Sidhu alsosaid that around 4000 recruit-ments of Medical & ParaMedical and other Clericaland Ministerial staff had beenmade in department whichhas resulted in extensive im-provement in governmenthospital performance.

The Minister added thatthe Union Government hadgiven the target to Punjab forconverting the 2950 sub cen-tres into Health & WellnessCentres by 2023 while withthe tireless efforts of PunjabGovernment it would beachieved by 2021.

Sarkaria meets officials of water resources departmentCHANDIGARH: Punjab Water Resources Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria on Wednesday metand exchanged new year greetings with officials of Water Resources Department at his office here.Principal Secretary Water Resources A. Venu Prasad, Chief Engineers and other senior officials ofthe department were present at the interaction. Congratulating the officials, Sarkaria appreciated thegood work being done by them and encouraged them to carry on their efforts in future as well. Mr.A. Venu Prasad assured the minister that they would not leave any stone unturned to take the De-partment to new heights.

Shri Sukhmani SahibPath held in office ofDistrict Attorney

DALJIT AJNOHAHOSHIARPUR: Shri Sukhmani SahibPath held at Court Complex in office ofDistrict Attorney the leadership ofDistrict Attorney Balwinder Singh, withthe support of the staff on the occasionof New Year. Additional and SessionJudges, Neelam Arora and CJMHimashim Galhotra joined. TSGarewal, Deputy DA, Rajidar Singh,Satnam Singh, Pawanpreet. Singh,Raminderjit Singh, Manoj Kumar, NitinBerry, Charanjit Singh, Nayab Singh,Kiratipal Singh, Daljit Singh, PreyaDutt Handa, Anand Sarup, RPRandhir, Advocate Rakesh Marwahawere present on the occasion.

Tea Matthi served on New Yearto mark birth anniversary ofGuru Gobind Singh

VERMAGURDASPUR: Tea and Matthilangars were served by shopkeepersof the main market on the occasion ofthe New Year and the celebrations ofbirth anniversary of Shri Guru GobindSingh Ji. Ashok Nayyar informed thatsimilar langars are made every yearwith the help of the shopkeepers ofhis market. He said that there isgenuine happiness in serving others.So they celebrate this day withreverence so that their whole year willbe auspicious and they continue topractice the help of the afflicted byfollowing the path shown by a greatpersonality like Shri Guru GobindSingh. Honey Bhatia, Chintu Mahajan,Mukesh Kumar, Mani Bhatia, SunnyBhatia, Nitin Nayyar, Ritin Nayyar, RajKumar, Ashok Nayyar, etc. werepresent on the occasion.

2019: An Year ofachievements for HMV

HARPREET SINGH LEHALJALANDHAR: Hans Raj Mahila MahaVidyalaya is working in the field ofwomen education and womenempowerment from the last 93 years.HMV is catering to the educationalneeds of more than 5000 girls andproviding them skills and educationaccording to the needs of the industry.The institute is providing education inthe fields of Humanities, Science,Computer and IT and Commerce. Thecollege has got highest grade in NAACaccreditation twice. Each day of 2019had been a day of innovation andcreativity for HMV. The collegereceived ASSOCHAM EducationExcellence Award for the excellentcontribution of the institution infostering affordable quality educationand taking initiatives for socialresponsibility and nurture anatmosphere of excellence in February2019. In June 2019, HMV wasdeclared as an excellent college byOUTLOOK magazine in their editionon India's Best Professional Colleges.

Medical camps held forslum dwellers acrossthe districtMOHALI: Making a healthy start in theNew Year, the district healthdepartment organized special medicalcheck-up camps for people living injhuggis at eight different places acrossthe district on Wednesday. The Healthand Family Welfare minister Mr BalbirSingh Sidhu inaugurated the district-level camp held at a jhuggi nearBhagomajra in Mohali. Addressing the people present at thecamp, Mr Sidhu said that thegovernment was fully committed toproviding quality and good healthservices to the people in the state. Hesaid that on the first day of the year2020, the health department has madea good start to meet the medicalneeds of people living in slums. Thepurpose of these camps is to providethe services of specialist doctors at thedoor steps of those who sometimescannot reach the health institutions forsome reason.

MP Aujla inauguratesdevelopment works

in Mananwala

KULJEET SINGHJANDIALA GURU, JAN 1

Beautification of main market in village Mananwalawas inaugurated today with CCTV cameras at Sha-heed Jaimal Singh Bal Senior Secondary School fol-lowed by CCTV cameras and street drains in the en-tire village. This inauguration was made MP Amrit-sar Gurjit Singh Aujla and Attari MLA TarsemSingh. DC was also present on the occasion. DCsaid that this Government Senior Secondary Schoolwas named after the martyr Jamal Singh Bal of thisvillage. He was martyred while fighting with theNaxalites while doing duty in CRPF. MP claimedthat Mananwala village has become first village inthe area in which the entire village along with theGovernment Senior Secondary School have beenequipped with cameras. This will reduce the inci-dence of theft and other crimes and will keep a closewatch on the security of the village. He said that thecredit goes to village sarpanch Sukhukraj SinghRandhawa because of his constant effort in this re-gard. Surinder Singh Randhawa, Baljinder SinghChairman Block Committee Verka, Bikramjit SinghB.D.P. O Verka, Samithar Singh East Sarpanch,Jaswinder Kaur Member Block Committee.

RAKESH SHARMAFARIDKOT, JAN 1

Baba Farid University ofHealth Sciences, Faridkot en-visaged the Mother and ChildHospital project with a provi-sion of 260 beds in both Moth-er and Child wing of this hos-pital along with two lifts,ramp, registration block anddiagnostic block having180000 sq. ft. covered areawith Estimated cost of Rs. 35crore.

Construction of first phaseof Mother and Child Hospitalconsisting of Mother Wing &Registration Block of theMCH in Guru Gobind SinghMedical College, Faridkot iscomplete. It has total coveredarea of approximately 90000

sq. ft. It has two buildings, oneis four storeyed Mother hospi-tal and other building is twostoreyed Registration blockand Operation theatre block. Ithas total bed strength of 130beds with three major opera-tion theatres, labour room,seminar rooms, general wardsand special rooms. Besidesthis, Emergency ward havingthe strength of eight beds, sev-en rooms for consultants arethere in OPD wing includingone lift and ramp facility. Thetotal estimated cost of thisproject is approximately Rs.15 crore.

The wing has the all themodern Facilities like 24 hourgenerator supply, centrally airconditioning for O.T and emer-gency area and firefighting.

Mother and childhospital envisaged

DHARAM PAL PUNNIJAITU, JAN 1

'No reduction will be allowed indevelopment works Jaitu con-stituency' these words revealedby Parliament Member of Con-gress Party form Faridkot Mo-hammad Sadiq while he was in-augurating renovation work ofRamlila Graound Jaitu today.Hetalking about to this develpo-ment project to media personssaid that It is a project of rupees15 lakh and grant will be man-aged by MP funds.

This Ground is heart of theJaitu town,upcoming days peo-ple could see, it will make ex-cellent. He explained that, aboundary wall will be con-structed around the Ramlila

Ground.Street lights will be In-stalled around the ground andset up the sitting benches in thethis place, where veteran citizenand other people will be satsome time and become less ten-sion. he added. Local peoplethanked to member parliamentfor this project . Residents con-gratulated each other and dis-tributed sweets . on this occa-sion senior congressi leaderSuraj Bhardwaj,AdvocateMadan Lal, Pardeep Garg Mal-out wale, Satish Kumar Bhirilegel adviser of pres clubgangsar Jaitu,Kulwinder Singhleader of youth congress,Sandip Kumar tony Patil seniorleader of BJP, Bhushan Ro-mana,Mehar Singh Karirwaliwere also present.

No reduction will be allowed indevelopment works: Mohammad Sadiq

RAM RESHAM SHARAN BATHINDA, JAN 1

A seven-day NSS trainingcamp was held at UniversalPublic Senior SecondarySchool Talwandi Sabo. Dur-ing the camp, candle marcheswere carried out to fightagainst social service, envi-ronmental protection, drugabuse, and daughter protec-tion and social evils. The vol-unteers were told all this dur-ing the camp.In the campdedicated to the 50th birthday

of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji,the students were told thatdiscipline, social service,planting of plants, pollutionof environment, protection of

Punjab from drugs,cultivation of goodmoral qualities amongunity and maintainingsolidarity are best wayto do.

On the first and sec-ond day of martyrdom,the anti-drug forummade the volunteersaware of the drugs and

organized the rangoli compe-tition. Sukhchain Singh Sidhuand Principal Manjit KaurSidhu told the volunteers howto be in discipline.

BUREAUCHANDIGARH, JAN 1

Aiming to weed out corrup-tion from the society, thePunjab Vigilance Bureau(VB) has started a new ini-tiative to attach the proper-ties of offenders underwhich properties to the tuneof Rs 101,64,82,194/- wasattached during the year2019.

Disclosing this VBChief Director-cum-ADGP,B.K. Uppal said the VB hastaken the bold initiative to at-tach the ill gotten propertiesof accused during the periodin four different cases. "Tocorner the bribe seekers and

to generate awarenessamong the public with a res-olute stand to curb this socialmalady thebureau haslaunched mul-ti-pronged ap-proach", headded.

In order tocheck corrup-tion in engi-neering anddevelopmentprojects, he said the Bureauhas launched a ‘Social AuditScheme’ to reveal detail in-formation of projects to thepublic. Under this Scheme,‘Citizen InformationBoards’ would be installed

by the Chief Vigilance Offi-cers of the respective depart-ments under which informa-

tion about the proj-ects will be writtenin English and Pun-jabi thereby peoplecould also madetheir contribution incurbing malprac-tices.

Giving moredetails BK Uppalinformed that VB

has been able to nab 147 of-ficials of different depart-ments and 18 private per-sons while accepting bribesin 129 trap cases during lastyear. Adopting a zero toler-ance policy towards all

forms of corruption, Bureauhad nabbed 13 gazetted offi-cers (GOs) and 134 non-gazetted officials (NGOs)since January 1 to December31, 2019. VB Chief revealedthat during the year, apartfrom other departments, 63personnel of Punjab Police,28 of Revenue Department,13 of Power, 3 of Panchayatsand Rural Development, 7of Health department, 6 ofLocal Bodies and 3 of Food& Civil Supply department,4 of Excise and Taxation and5 of Water Supply and Sani-tation were nabbed redhanded while demandingand accepting bribes in dif-ferent cases.

CHANDIGARH, JAN 1

“The Punjab Government isfully committed to provide acongenial environment to the‘Divyang’(Differently Abled)people of the State as it con-siders an article of faith towork tirelessly for their wel-fare.” These views were ex-pressed here today by the So-cial Security, Women andChild Development MinisterMrs. Aruna Chaudhary on theoccasion of launching the up-dated website of the depart-ment. The minister said thatthe website http//:sswcd.pun-

jab.gov.in has been made ‘Di-vyang’ friendly with manystate of the art features helpingthem to access the informationregarding the various schemesof the department. The minis-ter further divulged that theblind/partially blind people

would also be able to ac-cess info to be uploaded onthe website at regular inter-vals. Chaudhary alsoadded that while updatingthe website, special carehas been taken to ensurethat the design, content andthe pictures uploaded canbe accessed by the ‘Di-

vyang’people in a hassle freemanner. Disclosing more, theminister added that the newlook website includes manyspecial features such as ScreenReader and Magnifier thus en-abling ‘Divyang’ persons tohave a better viewing experi-

ence. Elaborating further, theminister said that as many as40 websites of various Gov-ernment Departments includ-ing those of 22 Deputy Com-missioners and the Social Se-curity, Women and Child De-velopment, Information andPublic Relations Department,Food and Civil Supplies,Housing and Urban Develop-ment, Revenue and Rehabili-tation, Information Technolo-gy, Technical Education, Pun-jab Aids Control SocietyChandigarh have beenadorned with the ‘Divyang’friendly features.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab ChiefMinister Captain AmarinderSingh has extended his greetingsto people across the globe on theauspicious occasion of PrakashPurb of Dasmesh Pita Sri GuruGobind Singh ji.

In his message, the ChiefMinister said that the Sikh com-munity would always rememberthe great saint soldier for creatingthe Khalsa Panth at Sri AnandpurSahib in 1699, thus promotingthe undying spirit of well-being(Chardi Kala) amongst the com-munity. Observing that Sri GuruGobind Singh ji's universal mes-sage of peace, humanity, love and

brotherhood continued to be rele-vant even in the contemporarynational and international sce-nario, Captain Amarinder calledupon the people to imbue theGuru’s ideology, which hademerged as a unifying force bind-ing the entire country in an un-breakable social fabric.

Captain Amarinder remindedpeople of the Guru’s unparalleledcontribution to upholding theage-old traditions of secularism,besides safeguarding humanrights and ensuring religious free-dom, for which he sacrificedeverything including his ownfamily.

Capt greets people on PrakashPurb of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji

VB attaches properties of offenders worth Rs. 101 cr in year 2019 7-day NSS Camp held at UniversalPublic Senior Secondary School

Website of Social Security, Women & Child Development goes ‘Divyang’ friendly

Lyallpur KhalsaCollege regularises

services of AssistantProfessors

JALANDHAR, JAN 1

Lyallpur Khalsa College hasbecome the first college ofthe region to regularize withfull pay grades, the servicesof Assistant Professors, whohave duly completed theircontractual period of threeyears in September 2018, asper the directives of the Gov-ernment of Punjab. Presidentof the Governing Council,Sardarni Balbir Kaur andPrincipal Dr Gurpinder SinghSamra congratulated the ben-eficiaries of this new regula-tion and hoped they wouldcontinue to work for the bet-terment of higher education.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Principal Dr GurpinderSingh Samra thanked Capt.Amrinder Singh, CM, Punjaband Tripat Rajinder SinghBajwa, Cabinet Minister forHigher Education on the de-cision to regularize theseaforementioned posts on theeve of the new year. He alsoexpressed his delight on thebehalf of the institution wit-nessing 12 of its facultymembers among the total of127 beneficiaries on the firststage of the process.

NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Dr. Baldi joins as Chairman RERASHIMLA: Dr. Shrikant Baldi today joined as first Chairman of the RealEstate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Himachal Pradesh while retired IASofficer B C Badalia and retired chief architect R. K. Verma joined as itsmembers. Dr. Baldi has a vast experience as an administrator and hasserved the state on various important posts during his service period of 34years. Dr. Baldi has served as Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary to theChief Minister, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Planning, Excise andTaxation, Principal Secretary, Education, Rural Development, SecretaryPower, MD HRTC, Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Solan, DirectorInformation & Public Relations and Primary Education, MD HPMC andheld various other key posts.

JK: Vaishno Devitemple witness heavyinflux of pilgrims onNew YearKATRA: A heavy influx of pilgrims wasseen at Vaishno Devi temple whothronged the hill shrine to seekblessings for a peaceful year ahead.On the occasion of New Year, a largenumber of people from across thecountry visited the temple. "Since thelast 20 years, we have been cominghere on New Year's Eve. The numberof devotees has been increasing everyyear here. The facilities have madevery convenient for us to come to thetemple. The administration is doing agreat job," Sunil from Ambala Cant,Haryana told . Devotees also said thatthey were at the shrine to seekblessings as it gives them peace ofmind and hopes to enter the new yearwith great vigour. "Everybody has adifferent style to welcome the year. Wehave come here to seek blessings. Itis great to see people in such largenumbers here on New Year becausenowadays people are usually partying.After visiting the temple always givesus hope of peaceful year ahead. It is agreat feeling to start the year with theblessings of Mata Ji," GaneshChandra from Delhi said.

Director IPR mournsdemise of Satpal SinghSHIMLA: Director Information andPublic Relations Harbans SinghBrascon has expressed deep griefover the demise of late Captain SatpalSingh Rohewal, father of ManjeetSingh, Senior Video Cameramanworking in Information and PublicRelations Department. He breathedhis last in his residence in districtShimla today morning after prolongedillness at the age of 87. He hailed fromModel Town Jalandhar. In hiscondolence message, Harbans SinghBrascon has conveyed deepsympathies with the bereaved familymembers and prayed to the Almightyto grant peace to the departed soul.Officers and officials of the Departmenthave also expressed theircondolences to the bereaved familymembers.

Guv convenes splsession of HP AssySHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh GovernorBangaru Dattatray has convened aspecial session of the State LegislativeAssembly on January 6, 2020.According to a notification issued byVidhan Sabha Secretary Yash PalSharma, the Governor has convened aone-day special session of HimachalPradesh Assembly on January 6,exercising special power under Article174 (1). Mr Sharma said the sessionwas convened to ratify theConstitutional Schedule Caste and TribeReservation Amendment Bill, extendingit's deadline to January 25, 2020.

SMS, broadband inhospitals resumeafter 149 daysSRINAGAR: The Short MessageService (SMS) and broadband internetof Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) in Government hospitals wereresumed after 149 days in the Kashmirvalley. However, common people,including professionals, mediapersons, students, traders and Doctorswere not so lucky due to continuedsuspension of pre-paid mobile andinternet service of all Cellularcompanies, including BSNL sinceAugust 5, when the Centre scrappedArticle 370 and bifurcated the stateinto two Union Territories (UTs). TheSMS service has been restored fromTuesday mid-night in the Kashmirvalley, where authorities also resumedbroadband internet service inGovernment hospitals only. Peoplewelcomed the restoration of SMS andwere seen sending New Year greetingmessages on the first day of 2020 toeach other. They demandedrestoration of internet service also inthe valley, where hundreds had to shiftto Jammu and other parts of thecountry to work for their national andinternational companies. Allcommunication network, includinglandline, mobile and internet, wassuspended in the Jammu and Kashmirhours before the special status wasscrapped on August 5. However,landline, mobile and broadbandinternet service were resumed inJammu and Ladakh after some days.

J-K HC withdrawsnotification for filling updistrict court vacancies onpan-India basisJAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir HighCourt has withdrawn its advertisementnotification to fill up 33 non-gazettedposts in district courts of the UnionTerritories of J&K and Ladakh, a movewhich triggered an opposition outcryagainst the opening of employment toall Indians after the nullification ofArticle 370 in August last year. Theadvertisement to fill the vacancies wasissued by the J&K High Court'sRegistrar General Sanjay Dhar onDecember 26, 2019 with the last datefor submission of applications beingJanuary 31, 2020. "It is hereby notifiedfor information of all concerned thatthe advertisement Notice of December26, 2019, whereby applications wereinvited for different posts in Non-Gazetted category in the High Court ofJammu and Kashmir stands withdrawnwith immediate effect," Dhar said in afresh notification issued on Tuesdayevening.

CM dedicates developmental projectsworth Rs. 525 crore for Shimla townLays foundation stone of WSS to Shimla City

AGENCYSHIMLA, JAN 1

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakurtoday laid foundation stonesand inaugurated developmentalprojects worth Rs. 525 crore forShimla town which includefoundation stones of SmartPedestrian Path from IGMC toSanjauli at Sanjauli beingconstructed under Shimla SmartCity Mission by spendingRs.17.36 crore. He also laidfoundation stone of MultiStorey parking and link road tonew OPD IGMC Shimla underShimla Smart City Mission byspending Rs. 32 crore andinaugurated the augmentationof Lift Water Supply SchemeChaba (Kol Dam) to Shimla aswell as existing pump stationGumma completed by spendingan amount of Rs.70 crore andlaid foundation stone of WaterSupply Scheme to Shimla Cityfrom Satluj river to becompleted by spending Rs. 406crore. While addressing thepeople on the occasion, ChiefMinister said that the 406 croreambitious water supply scheme

for Shimla city from Satluj riverwould be completed by the year2022. He said that this wouldprovide over 67 MLD water toShimla town and ensureadequate water supply to townupto year 2050. Jai Ram Thakursaid that the Chaba (Kol Dam)-Shimla lift water supply schemewhich was formally inauguratedtoday was ensuring 10 MLDwater to Shimla town. He saidthat both these water supplyschemes would prove boon tothe residents of Shimla townwhich was not only capital ofthe State but also a worldfamous tourists destination.

Chief Minister said that in orderto facilitate the residents as wellas tourists visiting Shimla, acovered footpath on valley sidealong with the stretch of roadleading from IGMC Shimla toSanjauli was being constructedunder Shimla Smart CityMission which would becompleted by spending anamount of Rs. 17.36 crore. Hesaid that the path would havesmart poles with speaker,CCTV lighting facility and Wififacility. He said that smartdigital signage and monkeyrepellent devices would also beinstalled along side the path. Jai

Ram Thakur said that the multi-storyed parking complex androad linking the new OPDBlock of IGMC wouldfacilitate parking of over 420vehicles and contributeextensively in easing out theparking problem at IGMC. Hesaid that link would provide aneasy and additional accessfrom Cart Road to new OPDBlock of IGMC. EducationMinister Suresh Bhardwajthanked the Chief Minister fordedicating and layingfoundation stones ofdevelopmental projects worthcrores of rupees for Shimlatown on day one of the NewYear 2020. Irrigation and PublicHealth Minister MahenderSingh Thakur, UrbanDevelopment Minister SarveenChaudhary, Mayor SatyaKaundal, Deputy MayorShailender Chauhan, PresidentDistrict BJP Ravi Mehta,Secretary IPH Dr. R.N. Batta,Secretary Urban DevelopmentC. Paulrasu, CommissionerMC Shimla Pankaj Rai andother senior officers werepresent on the occasion.

Jai Ram receives new yeargreeting from public

DINESH AGARWALSHIMLA, JAN 1

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakurreceived greetings on New Yearfrom his counterparts of differentStates, Union Ministers, seniorparty leaders, Ministers of variousStates, his Cabinet colleagues,Members of Legislative Assembly,senior bureaucrats, heads ofdepartments, Chairpersons andVice Chairpersons of variousBoards and Corporations andMayor, Deputy Mayor andCouncillors, MunicipalCorporation, Shimla.

Jai Ram Thakur also called onGovernor Bandaru Dattatraya atRaj Bhawan and wished himHappy New Year.

Chief Minister also called upWorking National President BJPJagat Prakash Nadda and wished

him a very happy new year.People from all walks of life

visited official residence of ChiefMinister at Oak Over early in themorning and later a large numberof people also reached his office toextend their good wishes on NewYear. He also received greetingsthrough telephone calls.

Jai Ram Thakur thanked all fortheir New Year greetings,especially the people of HimachalPradesh who had always beenextending their overwhelmingsupport to the State Governmentfor making Himachal Pradesh asone of the leading State of thecountry in all major sectors.

Chief Minister released aposter ‘Himachal Says No to Drug’brought out by First Verdict Media-Solan in the presence of journalistsMadan Himachali, Ajay Kaushikand Gagan Sharma.

SHIMLA, JAN 1

Principal ResidentCommissioner (PRC) andPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister Sanjay Kundugreeted all the officers andofficials on the new year andheld a review meeting atHimachal Bhawan, NewDelhi, today.

He initially apprisedabout the various worksundertaken and theemployees welfare stepstaken by the office of PRCand thereafter he reviewedthe various ongoing worksand welfare measures andpassed on the requisitedirections.

He stated that Chief

Minister is determined toimplement the variousdevelopmental schemes forupliftment and welfare ofpeople of the state andemployees.

Sh Vivek MahajanDeputy ResidentCommissioner also wishedhappiness and good healthfor everyone and apprisedabout the latest updates and

welfare measures beingtaken. Vivek Mahajanapprised that a free healthcamp is being organised forstate government employeeson 16th January, 2020 atHimachal Bhawan andrequested the employees toavail the facility.

The employees alsomade a demand for grantingthem house rent allowance(HRA) on the Centralgovernment pattern to thestate government employeesposted in office of ResidentCommissioner at Delhi.

Officers and officials ofTourism, Information &Public Relations and LegalCell were also present on theoccasion.

Sanjay Kundu reviews various ongoingworks at Resident Commissioner office

Anil Kumar Khachi assumescharge of Chief Secretary

SHIMLA, JAN 1

Anil Kumar Khachi assumedthe charge of new ChiefSecretary of HimachalPradesh, here today. He is aHimachal Pradesh Cadre IASOfficer of 1986 Batch. AnilKumar Khachi was born on22nd June, 1963. He is analumnus in St. Stephen’sCollege of Delhi Universityand Delhi School ofEconomics. He has a richadministrative experience of33 years. He has held severalimportant assignments in theState of Himachal Pradeshsuch as DeputyCommissioner, Kullu, Exciseand Taxation Commissioner,Secretary Finance, Food &Civil Supplies and Labour,Managing Director of HPState Industrial DevelopmentCorporation and HimachalPradesh FinancialCorporation. Prior to his

Central deputation in June,2010, he was Chief ElectoralOfficer and successfullyconducted the 2009Parliamentary Elections. Hehas served as AdditionalChief Secretary, Finance,Planning, Economics &Statistics and 20 PointProgramme to theGovernment of HimachalPradesh. In Delhi he hasserved as Deputy DirectorGeneral in UIDAI where hewas responsible for the designand rollout of the enrolment

eco-system for AADHAR. Hewas also instrumental indeveloping protocols for allenrollment related activitiesof the Project. After 3 yearsstint with UIDAI, he movedas Joint Secretary in theMinistry of Labour &Employment where he wastasked with all matters relatedto child labour and womenlabour, besides looking afterthe administrative andcoordination issues of theMinistry. The amendments tothe Child Labour ProhibitionRegulation Act (Regulation),1986 were piloted by himthrough the ParliamentaryStanding Committee andMinistry of Law and Justice.He was also instrumental forinitiating work on amendmentof the EPF Act andconceptualizing and initiatingwork on a composite LabourAct for Small and MediumEnterprises.

Serpentine queue on Unaroad on New Year witnessed

PREETI RANAUNA, JAN 1

From the arrival of the New Year, the situation of the road jamfrom the district headquarters Una Purana bus stand to the collegewas worsened as vehicle owners had to wait for more than anhour to cross the Una Red Light. Two-wheelers including bigvehicles owners in traffic near Kobhari faced serius problems.Long queues of vehicles continued throughout the day at MainChowk Sengal Road, Hamirpur Road and Amb Road in the city.On Nangal Road, there were long queues of vehicles up to thecollege. The police administration immediately shut down thetraffic lights as the jam situation worsened. After which dozensmore police personnel along with the traffic police were alsotaken out on the road to smooth the traffic system. But despitethis, people were seen struggling with the jam situation till lateevening. People are fiercely shopping on the new year's sale.

13th annual function of Himotkarsh Kanya College heldPREETI RANAUNA, JAN 1

Under the leadership ofChief Minister Jai RamThakur, the StateGovernment is providingqualitative education inrural areas and modernfacilities are being raisedin government educationalinstitutions, so that goodand qualitative educationcan be provided to thestudents studying in ruralareas. This was stated byRural Development,Panchayati Raj, Fisheriesand Animal HusbandryMinister Virendra Kanwartoday on the occasion ofthe 13th annual prizedistribution ceremony of

Himotkarsh KanyaCollege. BJP statepresident Satpal Satti wasspecially present in thisprogram. He said thatinstead of opening neweducational institutions,the priority of thegovernment is tostrengthen the existingones. He said that today isa period of competition,that is why Una Super-50programme has been

started to providecoaching facilities to themeritorious studentscoming from ruralenvironment. Meritoriousstudents have beenselected for this programthrough exams and theyare being providedcoaching for competitiveexamination of JEE freeof cost. For theconvenience of studentscoming from far-flung

areas, Una Super-50 sub-centers have been openedin Amb and Thana Kalan.Apart from this, the stategovernment has decidedto provide books for freeto students studying in 9thand 10th schools ingovernment schools. BJPstate president Satpal Sattisaid that a strong-willedgovernment is working atthe center and due to thisdetermination, triple talaqand Article 370 have beenabolished and the CitizenAmendment Act has beenbrought. Both Kanwar andrewarded the meritoriousstudents during the annualfestival. On this occasion,college students presenteda colorful program.

CM calls on Guvon new year

SHIMLA, JAN 1

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur called on the GovernorBandaru Dattatraya to greet him on the occasion ofNew Year at Raj Bhawan here today. Chief Ministerwished him a happy and joyful new year and hopedthat it would bring happiness and prosperity. EducationMinister Suresh Bhardwaj, Chief InformationCommissioner Narender Chauhan, Director General ofPolice S.R. Mardi, Chairman Himachal Pradesh RealEstate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Dr ShrikantBaldi, Member of HP Public Service Commission Dr.Rachna Gupta, Vice-Chancellors of Universities,Senior officers of State Government, prominentpeople of the town also visited Raj Bhawan and greetedthe Governor on the occasion.

Students shine in fifthgrade annual exam

ASHOK KUMAR ARYABHANDAL, JAN 1

As many as 929 students hadapplied for the fifth grade annualexamination of the winterschools of the subdivision, while927 students had appeared in theexamination, two students wereabsent in the examination, 913students passed while 14students failed. In the declaredexam results, Santosh Kumari ofthe primary school Gadetra,under Central Primary SchoolBhandal in the top ten of theblock, secured 93.8 percentmarks, while Ankita Thakur ofCentral Primary School Kiharand Anju Devi of PrimarySchool Jota, 93.5 percent marks.Dipak of Jota, primary school,

finished third with 92.3percentage points. In place,Shruti Kumari of PrimarySchool Ranjani and AnayanaMinhas of Primary SchoolChakhtar and Ishaan Verma ofNirmal Public School Diyurfinished fourth with 91.3 percentmarks, Primary School GadetraDharmendra Kumar and CentralPrimary School Mundah with91 percent marks. CentralPrimary School, Khangu KarnaVerma, with 90.5 per cent marksVidya Thakur of CentralPrimary School Kihar rankedseventh with 90.2 percentmarks, Sunny Thakur of CentralPrimary School, BhuveshKumar of Central PrimarySchool, Chakoli, with 89.8percent marks.

Despite landslides Kashmirhighway open; Mughal and

Leh roads closedSRINAGAR, JAN 1

Despite landslides disrupting traffic for over threehours, the national highway, connecting Kashmirvalley with the rest of the country, was through forone-way traffic and vehicles will ply fro Srinagarto Jammu on Wednesday.

However, the Srinagar-Leh national highway,the only road linking Union Territory (UT) Ladakhwith Kashmir and historic 86-km-long Mughalroad remained closed due to accumulation of snowand slippery road condition due to below freezingtemperature.

There were fresh landslides at Digdol lateTuesday night forcing suspension of traffic on Sri-nagar-Jammu national highway, a traffic police of-ficial told UNI this morning. However, he said, theNational Highway Authority of India (NHAI), re-sponsible for maintenance and widening of thehighway, immediately pressed into service sophis-ticated machines and men and cleared the land-slides.

SHANTI GAUTAMBADDI, JAN 1

Baddi's social organisations distributedblankets on the occasion of the new year.Workers of Baddi's major institutions,Gymnas All-aid Organization, Bharat VikasParishad, Seva Bharti, Press Club Baddi, AryaSamaj, Barotiwala BDC, Barotiwala Bazar,Annuje India Gadadi Kalyan Sabha, HimShikha School and Hindu Mahasabhaactivists reached Chandigarh PGI at 11 pm.and distributed blankets worth Rs 51,000.Social activists BDC members Barotiwala NSharma, Sanjeev Kumar, K Thakur observedin PGI that patients were lying in dew in thecold open parks and some did not even haveblankets, so many used plastic to protectthemselves. As soon as the team of youth ofBaddi Barotiwala reached there, they startedto take the blankets to the needy people. Apartfrom this, the workers of Sarva SahayataSangathan put blankets on top of those who

had slept in the parks and open ground.President of the Sarva Sahayata Sangathan KSharma and Bharat Vikas Parishad GeneralSecretary Raman Sharma said that instead ofspending thousands of rupees on alcohol andfood and inane dance in hotels, it is better tobe inspired to live a new life by giving reliefto an unhappy person. Raman Kaushal,secretary of the Bharat Vikas Parishad saidthat the health department should providetemperature controlled halls and doormats inthe grounds or parks adjacent to the timbersso that everyone can stay there at night.

Blankets distributed to patients

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Army Commander visits forward bases in KG sector,reviews operational preparednessJAMMU: Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Army Commander, Northern Command, accompanied by theWhite Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Harsha Gupta on Wednesday visited forward basesand posts in Krishna Ghati Sector to review the operational preparedness and to wish the sol-diers a prosperous new year.

During the visit to the sector, the Army Commander was briefed by the commanders onground about the current operational situation, prevailing security scenario and the prepared-ness of the formations in dealing with the same.

The Army Commander was also briefed on use of high end technological equipment andinnovations by the units on ground to monitor the intrusions and infiltration bids on Line ofControl.

NEWS AT AGLANCE

6

Rana KP Singh greetspeople on Prakash Purb ofSri Guru Gobind SinghCHANDIGARH: Punjab VidhanSabha Speaker Rana KP Singh onWednesday extended his heartiestgreetings to the people on theauspicious occasion of Prakash Purbof Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji. Paying

tribute to thegreat SaintSoldier, theSpeaker saidthat Sri GuruGobind Singhdevoted his lifeto serving thepeople and

even sacrificed his whole family toupholding truth and justice.The Speaker said that with thefoundation of the Khalsa Panth in1699 at Sri Anandpur Sahib Sri GuruGobind Singh ji gave a birth to awarrior community. The Guru Sahib'sunparalleled contribution to thehumanity would always beremembered and teachings of theSarbansdani would always inspire tofight against injustice.

AGENCYLUCKNOW, JAN 1

The world saw the grandeurof the Kumbh fair, organisedin Prayagraj in the just-con-cluded year alongside, thepeace and atmosphere of har-mony followed by the Ayod-hya title suit verdict by theSupreme Court.

On the other hand, a con-ference of overseas Indians,the Pravasi Bharatiya Sam-melan, was held on such alarge scale at Varanasi.

The grandeur of Ayod-hya's Deepotsav, Vrindavan'sRangotsav, Mathura's Krish-na Janmotsava and Kashi'sDev Deepavali were also ap-preciated by the entire world.Kumbh One of the largest re-ligious gatherings of theworld, the Kumbh fair, was

organised in the Sangam city,which saw numerous saints,seers, devotees, pilgrims and

tourists thronging the megaevent. The confluence of thegreatest cultural gathering of

the world started from Janu-ary 15 and continued tillMarch 4. The Kumbh fair,

which was inaugurated byPrime Minister NarendraModi, with the worship of theholy Ganga, saw over 25crore devotees and touristsfrom the country and acrossthe world taking a dip in theholy Ganges.

The Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment left no stone un-turned to make Kumbh 2019,a divine and grand event.

As a result, the UnitedNations Educational, Scien-tific and Cultural Organisa-tion, commonly known asUNESCO, recognised the fairas an 'intangible cultural her-itage of humanity.'

In a maiden instance, am-bassadors from 72 countriesand representatives of 187countries of the United Na-tions visited the 'divine andgrand Kumbh'.

Rajasthan: Infant diesafter getting burn injuriesin Alwar hospitalCHANDIGARH: A newborn girl whosustained critical burn injuries when afire broke out at a hospital inRajasthan's Alwar, has succumbed toinjuries, a district official said onWednesday.The girl was shifted to JK Lon Hospitalon Tuesday after she received 70 percent burn injuries in the governmenthospital in Alwar, where the short-circuit occurred."There were around 15 children in theward when the short circuit took place.All were rescued by the hospital staff,"state Health Minister Raghu Sharmatold a news ageny.Asked about the infant's death, theminister said that strict action will betaken against those who are foundguilty in the incident."It is a very sad incident. We haveformed a committee of three people tolook into it. Strict action will be takenagainst the culprits," he said.

Mayawati upholdssecular values, extendsNew Year wishesLUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo Mayawati onWednesday saluted the greatpersonalities especially Dr. BhimraoAmbedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule,Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj,Narayana Guru, and the partyfounder Kanshi Ram, saying they hadworked towards an egalitarian societyand dedicated their lives tostrengthen secularism."I want to extend my heartiest wishesand congratulations to all the BSPfollowers and well wishers as well aspeople of the state and country onNew Year-2020," she said.Saying that 2019, had been divisiveand weakened the Indian Constitutiondue to the 'communal and narrowthinking' of the Centre and stategovernments of BJP, the BSP leaderadded that the last year also sawnumerous incidents of violence whichwas extremely unfortunate andperturbing for the country.Alongside, the BSP honcho said thatseveral responsible people of someparties, for their political gains, shouldnot forget that India is a secularcountry. People believing in variousreligions live here and they have theirown way of living, culture andtraditions.

SBI donates blankets to needy peopleCHANDIGARH:State Bank of India Chandigarh LHO today donated 100 blankets to the poorand needy people of the society in view of the ongoing severe winters and sharp dip in temper-atures. These included many women and small children as well.

Rashmi Singh, President of the SBI Ladies Club expressed happiness on the good work doneby the Bank and she is feeling humbled by associating their club with the Bank in this very no-ble cause. State Bank of India is committed to continue to provide such support to the poor andthe needy people in future as well.

Manoj Parida, Adviser to Administrator, UT, Chandigarh addressing UT officers on New Year, appealing them to ensure thatChandigarh becomes number one in the country, at UT Secretariat sector 9 Chandigarh on Wednesday.

CHANDIGARH, JAN 1

A woman hailing fromPunjab's Sangrur was founddead with her throat slit at alocal hotel here on Wednes-day, police said.

The woman identifiedas Sarabjit Kaur was founddead by the hotel staff, theysaid. Preliminary investiga-tion revealed that she hadchecked in the hotel in theIndustrial Area here alongwith her friend ManinderSingh on December 30. Ac-cording to the CCTVfootage, suspect Maninderwas seen leaving the hotelon December 30 night.

Both were in a relationshipfor two years, according topolice. While the victim

was a nurse, the suspecthad left his job in Chandi-garh three months ago, po-

lice said. A murder case hasbeen lodged against thesuspect, police said.

Buddhist Association expresses its gratitudeto Modi govt for Citizenship Amendment Act

RAJIV JAINCHANDIGARH JAN 1

The Buddhist Associationof Chandigarh has wel-comed and thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modiand Union Home MinisterSh. Amit Shah for amend-ing the Citizenship Act of1955 to enable the Bud-dhists, coming from Af-ganistan, Pakistan andBangladesh to acquire theCitizenship of India.

A large number ofBuddhist leaders ofChandigarh greeted & hon-oured Sh. Satya Pal JainEx. BJP MP, AdditionalSolicitor General of India& a Member of the Nation-al Executive Committee ofthe BJP on his visit to theLord Buddha Temple inChandigarh yesterday andsubmitted him a letter ad-dressed to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi thankinghim for the amendment ofthe Act, with a request toJain to forward it to thePrime Minister. Jain as-sured them that he will for-ward their letter of grati-tude to the Hon’ble PrimeMinister immediately.

In this letter addressedto the Prime Minister, theAssociation stated thatatrocities were continuous-ly being committed on mi-norities, including Bud-dhists in Afganistan, Pak-istan and Bangladesh, be-cause of which a largenumber of people belong-ing to minorities wereforced to leave these coun-tries and take shelter in In-dia.

Large number of Bud-dhist migrants from thesecountries, who got settledin various parts of thecountry. They were wait-

ing for a long time to ac-quire Indian citizenshipand, with this amendment,the Buddhist migrants andall those persecuted anddisplaced minorities fromAfganistan, Pakistan andBangladesh would be ableto get Indian citizenship,find peace in our belovedcountry and would be ableto build their roots andcontribute to the develop-ment of the society and theNation.

They also held prayers,praying to Lord Buddha tocontinue to bless and guideSh. Narendra Modi for fur-

ther progress of India.There present on the occa-sion included Sh. ArnusMasih, President, MinorityMorcha BJP, Sh. KewalKrishan Aadiwal, Ex-May-or, U.T. Chandigarh Subhi-lash Barua, President, Bud-dhist Association Tricity,Meenal Barua, GeneralSecretary, Trilok LamaRepresentative TheravadaBuddhist, Lobzang repre-sentative Tibetan & LadakiBuddhist, Venerable Rag-bye Yeshe, VenerableDharmapala, Ashok Barua,Puran Barua, Soname,Satish Chaudhary.

Woman found dead in Chandigarh hotel

Ayodhya, Kumbh, Pravasi BharatiyaSammelan mark 2019 in UP

NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Central Waqf Council member meets J&K LGJAMMU: Dr Darakhshan Andrabi, a member of Central Waqf Council, onWednesday met Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish ChandraMurmu here at the Raj Bhavan. The Lt Governor and Dr Andrabi discussedabout the various important matters concerning the working of the Waqf Boardand the due administration of Auqaf. Dr Andrabi shared with the Lt Governor herviews about the prevailing scenario in the Union Territory of Jammu andKashmir and also apprised the Lt Governor about several measures initiated bythe Council for protection and retrieval of the Waqf properties and removal ofencroachment and implementing Educational and Women Welfare Schemes forskill development.

Five naxals surrenderin Maha's GadchiroliNAGPUR: Five naxals, including threewomen, collectively carrying a rewardof Rs 27 lakhs on their heads havesurrendered on the eve of New year,police said here on Wednesday. "Ajayalias Maneshing Kulyami, Sunil aliasFulsingh Holi, Rajo alias Ganga aliasShashikala Tulavi, Sapna aliasRukhma Wadde and Gunni alias Behrialias Vasanti Madavi," police said.Gadchiroli Superintendent of PoliceShailesh Balkawde said police havesucceeded in reducibg the Naxalsmovement in many parts of the districtdue to its combing operations andother activities. The new recruitment inthe Naxals Dalams also has stoppedfor the last few years, the officialfurther said adding that if the pace ofsurrender continues ,the Gadchirolidistrict will soon be Naxal-free. All thefive surrendered rebels were involvedin a number of naxal-related crimes,police encounter and arson since lastseven to eight years, the releaseadded.

BJP MP Ravi Kishan'sfather passes away inVaranasiVARANASI: BJP MP and Bhojpuriactor Ravi Kishan's father PanditShyam Narain Shukla passed away inthe temple city after a prolongedillness. Pandit Shukla breathed his lastat 2300 hrs on Tuesday, Ravi Kishansaid. The actor's father was admittedto BHU hospital two weeks back afterhe suffered a brain hemorrhage. Thelast rites would be performed atGanga ghat in Varanasi. Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanath hasexpressed grief over the demise ofPandit Shukla.

Trader shoots wife anddaughter dead beforekilling himself inMathura on New YearMATHURA: In a tragic incident onNew Year in the temple city ofMathura, a businessman shot dead hiswife and daughter before committingsuicide in their car near YamunaExpressway on Wednesday. Policesources said that the bodies of threepeople were recovered in the car onthe Jhajhar underpass near Vrindavancut on the Yamuna Expressway. Thedeceased were identified as NeerajAgarwal(40), his wife Neha (36) andtheir six-year-old daughter Dhanya.However, their son Shaurya(10), wascritically injured and was admitted tothe hospital. Superintendent ofPolice(City) Ashok Meena said thatpreliminary investigation revealed thatNeeraj, a native of Ghaughat area ofthe city and engaged in bullion trading,shot at his family and then committedsuicide. Neeraj was involved in illegaltransaction of over Rs 300 crores ofbanned currency after demonetizationwhich led to the extreme step, sourcessaid.

Assam: Devotees throngKamakhya Temple tooffer prayers on NewYear's dayGUWAHATI: Devotees on Wednesdaythronged the Kamakhya Temple inGuwahati to offer their prayers on NewYear's day. People were seen standingin long queues waiting for their turn toperform rituals. "It is the first day of theyear and I have wished for peace andprosperity in the State. If the people ofAssam are successful then the Statewill be strong," Choturam Goyal, adevotee told . Another devotee AshokSingh who had come from UttarPradesh said, "We have come here toseek blessings so that we have apeaceful year. We prayed for thedevelopment of the country."

Mumbai rings in NewYear with peacefulcelebrationsMUMBAI: Lakhs of Mumbaikarswelcomed the New Year with peacefulcelebrations and night-long partiesthough less crowds were witnessed oncity streets and other public placescompared to last year, police said onWednesday. Thousands of peoplethronged popular spots like theGateway of India, Marine Drive,Girgaum Chowpatty, Bandstand andJuhu beach from Tuesday evening towelcome 2020. Around 2 am onWednesday, revelers were asked toleave these places, a police officialsaid. "This time there were less crowdson streets as compared to last year," atraffic police official said. A light showwas held at Bandra Reclamation wherepeople gathered in large numbers,resulting in a massive traffic jam late inthe night. The police later asked peopleto leave the place in a bid to maintainlaw and order, the official said. Somecases of drunk driving, riding two-wheelers without wearing helmet, rashand negligent driving and getting intono-entry zones were reported in thecity, he said. People from Mumbai alsotravelled to Mahabaleshwar, a popularhill station located about 260 km fromhere, and Panvel, on the city's outskirts,to usher in the New Year. At least40,000 police personnel along withofficials of the police's Special Branch,riot-control police, Quick ResponseTeams, Crime Branch and traffic policewere deployed across the city, anotherofficial said. Tight vigil was maintainedat all the popular places, includingbeaches. The police kept a watch oncrowded spots through 5,000-plusCCTV cameras and also used dronecameras to monitor the beaches.

7

AGENCYNEW DELHI, JAN 1

Good monsoon may have laidthe foundation for recordfoodgrain production, but itwas the launch of schemes likePM-Kisan that has set the ballrolling for structural reforms inthe agriculture sector toachieve the target of doublingfarmers' income.

The Centre's focus in 2019,continued to be 'kisan kalyan'(farmers' welfare) in the secondterm of the Modi administration

and the policy changes were asper the recommendations by theDalwai Committee for doublingfarmers' 2015-16 income level,in real terms, by 2022. Not onlythe budget allocation for thesector was hiked over 78 per centto Rs 1.39 lakh crore for thecurrent fiscal, the governmentpersuaded states to adopt longpending agri-marketing reformsas per the Model AgricultureProduce and Livestock MarketCommittee (APML) Act.Besides, it tweaked someexisting schemes for promoting

quick transfer of new farmtechnology and facilitate agri-exports by allowing treatment ofMethylcyclopropene (MCP) forenhancing the shelf life of freshfruits and vegetables amongothers. To mitigate severeagrarian distress, the governmentlaunched a new agri-scheme thePradhan Mantri Kisan SammanNidhi (PM-Kisan), just beforethe Lok Sabha polls, with an aimto provide direct cash benefit ofRs 6,000 annually to each of 14crore farmers. Later it alsounvieled an old age pension

scheme the Pradhan MantriKisan Maan-Dhan Yojana. "Byand large the government'spriority was on improving thefarmers' income and accordinglythe schemes were framed andsome existing ones were tweakedto achieve this objective,"Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar told PTI in aninterview. Asserting that severalof the Dalwai Committee'srecommendations are beingimplemented, the Minister said,"the work is in progress, theresults will be visible soon."

Kerala Assembly insulted Constitutionand Parliament: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

AGENCYNEW DELHI, JAN 1

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi onWednesday said that Kerala Assemblyhas insulted the constitution andparliament by passing a resolutionseeking withdrawal of the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA).

"The Constitution has delineatedclearly the roles of parliament and state

legislatures. Whenpeople who havetaken an oath of theconstitution, destroyit, it is a mostirresponsible act.Both the houses ofparliament havepassed CAA and if astate assembly tries

to hijack the Act it is an insult not only ofthe constitution but the parliament aswell," Naqvi told . The Kerala Assemblyon Tuesday had passed a resolutionseeking withdrawal of the CAA.

Before the resolution was passedagainst the Act, Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan, in a special Assemblysession, targeted the RSS and said thatcitizenship law is part of an agenda.

"The CAA is part of an agenda.Muslims are being considered as internalenemies by RSS, who is controlling theruling dispensation at the Centre," theChief Minister alleged.

NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) internationalworking president AlokKumar on Wednesdayasserted that thegovernment shallimplement the newCitizenship law acrossIndia without comingunder pressure.

"The opposition that istaking place against theCAA is being encouragedby the political partieswhich have lost twice inthe elections. CAA is thelaw of the center and onlythe center has a right toapply it. The governmentshould apply this law allover the country withoutany pressure," said Kumarwhile speaking to ANI.

Being asked about theanti-CAA stand of Keralaand West Bengal

government, he said:"Kerala and Bengal are notindependent states. Bothstates have to implementthis act. The VHP willsupport the Centre in this,we are with the people whohad to flee their countriesafter facing religiouspersecution."

"Confusion is beingspread about CAA that 50-year old documents will bedemanded from Muslims.This is a lie," he added.

He asserted that theAct has nothing to do with"withdrawal or certify an

individual's citizenship.""Only those who were

forced to come to Indiaafter suffering in Islamiccountries on religious linesand living in India for thepast few years will begiven citizenship onhumanitarian ground.Therefore, the law is notagainst any religion orMuslims," the VHP leadersaid. Kumar also assertedthat it is India'sresponsibility to provideeconomic employment andeducational backwardnessto all of them who willgiven citizenship under thenew law.

The CAA grantscitizenship to Hindus,Sikhs, Jains, Parsis,Buddhists and Christiansfrom Pakistan, Afghanistanand Bangladesh who cameto India on or beforeDecember 31, 2014.

Government shall apply CAA acrosscountry without any pressure: VHP

Key accused in murderof 'bhajan' singer and

his family arrestedAGENCYSHAMLI, JAN 1

Police have arrested main accusedin the murder case of devotionalsong singer Ajay Pathak and hisfamily from Panipat in Haryana.

Superintendent of Police VineetJaiswal on Wednesday told UNIthat Ajay Pathak (42), his wifeSnehlata (38), daughter Vasundhara(15) and son Bhagwat (10) used toreside in the posh Punjabi Colonyin the Adarsh Mandi area.

While Ajay's family used tolive in the upper portion of thehouse, his elderly uncle DarshanPathak used to live in the lowerportion. The house has two gatesand only the one on the back sideopens. The SP said that no memberof Ajay's family was spottedoutside the house till Tuesdayafternoon. His brother, who residesnearby, tried to contact Ajay butwhen he did not respond to calls,their other family members andneighbours went to the house tofind the small gate of the main dooropen. After Ajay was called severaltimes and there was no response,they went upstairs to find the gatelocked. When the lock was brokenand they went inside, the bodies ofAjay, his wife and daughter werefound lying there.

The assailant also took the

DVR of the CCTV camera withhim while Ajay's son and car werefound to be missing.

Jaiswal said that consideringthe seriousness of the case, thepolice teams immediately startedtheir investigations and Himanshu,who was once close to Ajay Pathak,was arrested from Panipat(Haryana) on Tuesday night.

The arrested accused said thathe had committed the crime onMonday midnight and afterabducting their son, he had gone toPanipat with the family's car.

Later, he murdered the son tooand after putting his body in the car,he set the vehicle ablaze. The burntbody of the son was recovered bythe cops from the car and it hasbeen sent for post-mortem.

The SP said that Himanshucould be seen entering the house inthe CCTV footage. Himanshu hadearlier worked with Mr Pathak andused to frequent his house. Furtherinvestigation is underway.

Super 30's Anand Kumar inspires Odisha medical aspirantsPATNA/BHUBANESWAR,JAN 1 An initiative by aB h u b a n e s w a r - b a s e dorganisation to help studentsfrom poor financialbackgrounds crack the NEETexam for admission tomedical colleges has beenpraised by 'Super 30' founderAnand Kumar, who iscredited with launching asimilar drive around twodecades ago.

Kumar recently paid avisit to the Odisha capital andinteracted with students ofthe 'Zindagi' programme toencourage the initiative,sources said.

The programme aims atbringing a turnaround in thelives of poor children whodue to lack of resources,could not give wings to theirdream despite being talented,they said.

The 'Super 30' famemathematician showeredaccolades on the founder of

the Zindagi Foundation, AjayBahadur Singh, who like himbattled hardship whilestudying and is empoweringchildren of vegetable sellers,fishermen and marginalfarmers to get admitted topremier institutes, they said.

"More Ajay BahadurSinghs are needed in thesociety as one Super 30 is notenough to take the huge silentrevolution forward withsustained vigour," Kumarsaid.

Modelled along the linesof 'Super 30', theBhubaneswar based non-governmental organisationruns a free coachingprogramme for medicalaspirants with weakerfinancial conditions and alsobears their food and lodgingexpenses.

While Singh'sorganisation preparesstudents for the NEET exam,that of Kumar, which startedin 2002 in Patna, trains IIT

aspirants to qualify the JEE.Singh had to quit his

studies midway due to hisfather's kidney ailment in1990 that had drained thesavings of the family.

He was compelled to selltea and sherbet to help hisfamily survive.

Kumar also had to forgoan opportunity to study in theprestigious CambrigeUniversity in the UK forwant of money.

After his father's death,Kumar had sold 'papads'(thin, crisp and roundflatbread) to help his familymeet its needs.

Singh thanked Kumar forencouraging the programmeby visiting the foundation.

"He (Kumar) gave me the'guru mantra' (advice) tocarry forward the work. Hiswords encouraged me andalso inspired my pupils toachieve success," Singh toldPTI. The founder of theZindagi Foundation had

earlier said he was motivatedto start the programme afterencountering a girl sellinggarlands outside the LordJagannath temple in Puri soshe could meet the expensesof her studies. The 'Zindagi'programme has won laurelsfrom actor Hrithik Roshan,who played Kumar in therecently released biopic'Super 30' based on life andachievements of themathematician.

Launched in 2016, 19students, both boys and girlsfrom across Odisha, are atpresent being prepared by thefoundation for the exam.

Fourteen of thefoundation's students hadcracked the NEET in 2018and 12 of them got admittedin government medicalcolleges in Odisha.

They were also hosted byChief Minister NaveenPatnaik in July last year whoappreciated theirachievement.

NEW DELHI, JAN 1

The chorus against climatechange got louder than ever in2019, and the government tooka slew of measures to mitigateits impact such as launching anational clean air programme,providing financial aid tostates to save forests andHimalayan glaciers besidesenvisaging a national coastalmission to protect India'sshorelines. India also led fromthe front at prominent globalconferences under the UnitedNations convention in 2019and hosted one such meet onland desertification, a majorcontributor to climate change,where Prime MinisterNarendra Modi raised the landrestoration target from 21million hectares to 26 millionhectares to be achieved by2030. The year 2019 also saw

not just environmentalistsbeing critical of thegovernment, but schoolchildren hitting the streetsurging the authorities to beserious about saving the planetfrom climate change. Fromsigning and circulatingpetitions to holding placards inprotest across the country,children did it all to shake theconscience of the authorities todeclare climate change anational emergency andexpedite the process ofreducing carbon emissions.From 16-year-old Swedish girl

Greta Thunberg to eight-year-old Licypriya Kangujam fromnorth-east India, the passion tofight climate change unitedeven the children, who tookthe global stage to urge leadersaround the world to "act now".At the UNCCD COP14, heldin Delhi-NCR in September,over 190 countries participatedand adopted a declarationwhich aims to consider land-based solutions for climateaction and bio-diversity toachieve long-term goals ofParis Agreement. A few dayslater at the UN Climate ActionSummit in New York, Modigave a clarion call for a "globalpeople's movement" to bringabout behavioral change todeal with climate change as hemade a path-breaking pledgeto more than double India'snon-fossil fuel target to 450gigawatts.

Climate fight got boost in2019 with 'act now' call

Temperature drops acrossKashmir, snowfall likely

SRINAGAR, JAN 1

A day after some respite, theminimum temperature acrossthe valley dropped again withthe MeT department predictinga spell of moderate to heavysnowfall in Jammu-Kashmirand Ladakh from Wednesdayonwards. However, there wasimprovement in the nighttemperature in Ladakh Unionterritory, an official of theMeteorological departmenthere said. "A spell of moderatesnowfall in plains of Kashmirand moderate to heavysnowfall in the hilly areas ofJammu and Kashmir andLadakh is likely duringJanuary 1 (afternoon) toJanuary 4, the official said. Hesaid another spell of higherintensity and spatialdistribution is most likelyduring January 6 to 8. Srinagarcity recorded the low of minus4.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday

night down from minus 3.2degrees Celsius the previousnight, the official said. Theofficial said the ski-resort ofGulmarg in north Kashmir wasthe coldest place in the valleywith a low of minus 11.0degrees Celsius last nightnearly four degrees down fromthe previous night's minus 7.2degrees Celsius. The nighttemperature at Pahalgamresort, which also serves as oneof the base camps for theannual Amarnath yatra in southKashmir, settled at a low ofminus 6.9 degrees Celsiusdown from minus 5.3 degreesCelsius yesterday, he said.

Five dead aftertruck crashes intohut in Bardhaman

BARDHAMAN, JAN 1

Five people were killed after a truck plowed into ahut in West Bengal's Bardhaman area on Tuesdaynight. The truck, filled with sand, lost control due toits high speed and crashed into the hut located bythe roadside at the accident site. "The truck, atnight, was moving on the road at high speed. Itsuddenly lost its balance and hit the hut on theroadside. Five people were killed," a resident of thearea told ANI. The Police has reached the spot andis conducting an investigation into the matter.Woman sets self ablaze outside police station inHyderabad Hyderabad: A woman in Hyderabadattempted suicide by setting herself ablaze outsidethe Panjagutta police station. The incident tookplace on Tuesday morning. According to PanjaguttaPolice, on December 31, a woman identified asLokeshwari came to the station along with herhusband. Later she poured kerosene on herself andset herself on fire. "Immediately our police personalnoticed and doused the fire and the victim wasrushed to NIMS hospital," police said. She iscurrently undergoing treatment and investigation ison in the case.

AAP, Cong fannedanti-CAA violence

in Delhi: JavadekarNEW DELHI, JAN 1

BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on Wednesdayaccused both Congress and AAP of fanning antiCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA) violence in thenational capital. 'In a peaceful city like Delhi, the

atmosphere that wascreated by spreadingmisinformation onCitizenship AmendmentAct, and the damage thatwas done to property,Congress and AAP areresponsible for it. Theymust apologise to thepeople,' Union MinisterJavadekar said whileaddressing the media.

'Violence on the CAA issue was spread by AAP andCongress in Delhi,' Mr Javadekar said. But now,Delhi and the people of the country have understoodtheir(Congress and AAP) politics, so now there ispeace in Delhi, he said. 'Everyone has understoodthat CAA is not against any religion. No matter howmuch AAP and Congress try, we will not let themspoil the atmosphere of Delhi,' the BJP leader said.

PM-Kisan, mandi reforms steal the show in 2019

DOMINIC EMMANUEL

The year 2019 has justgone past and we havebarely stepped into

2020, with all its fanfare andundoubtedly with new expec-

t a t i o n s .But beforewe fullyget intoour plansfor theNew Year,it would beworth ask-ing our-

selves if we still have some re-grets hanging at the back ofour mind for the things thatwe for one reason or the other,could not accomplish in thepast year? Would it then notbe a good idea to reflect andpinpoint the reasons for thefailure in achieving a particu-lar goal or set of goals?

It is almost certain that inthese “crossing over days”from 2019 to 2020, most of uswould have received a What-sApp message or two, advis-ing us to forget the past andmove on with life, making re-newed plans to do better. Byitself that is wonderful advice.One must move on towardsthe future with determinationand a positive attitude. But

such counsel is better takenwith a pinch of salt.

I believe that one can domuch better in the New Yearby keeping in mind the factorsthat hampered one’s progressor prevented one from achiev-ing the past year’s goals.More than just a sort kind ofbookkeeping of the events, aproper reflection, possiblywith the help of a good friendor an elder of the family, canthrow up interesting insights,helping us see certain detailsthat we ourselves were unableto recognise.

Among the reflections, itis important to consider whatrole did I assign to God whileexecuting my plans? Was Godat all part of my plans? The

next point would be to see ifeverything I did was donetransparently with utmosthonesty? Did I, for instance,compromise on certain moralvalues and principles thinkingthat no one was watching meor that I would not be caught?Again, what role did prayerplay right from the moment ofmy planning to the daily exe-cution of my plans? Thus, inthe New Year, one of our res-olutions should be to keepGod, not just while planningthings, but in the centre ofeverything.

This means that God is re-membered not only during thetime of need or in a momentof crisis but in all the pursuitsof our everyday life.

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Uddhav Thackeray ended 2019 on a high note by solvingthe biggest conundrum before his government: Cabinetexpansion. The exercise was delayed by over a month

as the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena leadership had to first en-sure their flock stayed together. Over a month after chief min-ister Uddhav Thackeray and six Cabinet ministers took the oathat a grand ceremony at Shivaji Park, Maharashtra governorBhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to 14 ministersfrom the NCP, 10 from the Congress and 12 from the ShivSena. Expectedly, the Cabinet expansion left several legislatorsfrom the Maha Vikas Aghadi unhappy and fuming. NCP MLAMakarand Patil’s supporters resigned from their posts after hewas overlooked. Another NCP MLA, Prakash Solanke fromBeed, announced his resignation Monday night. Shiv Sena MPSanjay Raut was conspicuous by his absence at the swearing-in after his brother Sunil Raut was ignored. The Congress willhave its task cut out while pacifying the likes of three-timeMLA Praniti Shinde.

The makeup of Uddhav Thackeray’s Cabinet is also notwithout its inherent weaknesses. Out of 43, only three minis-ters are women. This includes two from the Congress and onefrom NCP. The Shiv Sena, which is leading the government,has only two women MLAs in Yamini Jadhav and Lata Son-awane. Both are first-time MLAs: possibly the reason why theSena has no woman in the council of ministers.

Aaditya Thackeray has, however, been included in the min-istry and given Cabinet rank despite being a first-time MLA.This has raised many eyebrows. The new team has also becomea case in point of nepotism, as 22 of 43 ministers, including theCM himself, come from political families. Even the threewomen — Varsha Gaikwad, Yashomati Thakur and AditiTatkare — joined politics piggybacking on the legacy of theirfathers. Aaditya’s inclusion only tops the rampant nepotism inMaharashtra politics.

Mr Thackeray will face bigger challenges in 2020. His gov-ernment has to overcome the nepotism and patriarchy tags.While the Sena chief promised good governance in the state,the government’s stability is his first priority.

The government’s “remote control” is in NCP supremoSharad Pawar’s hands. The MVA government was formed onlybecause of Mr Pawar’s crafty political manoeuvring. He wasthe one who gave confidence to Mr Thackeray to break awayfrom the BJP and forced the Congress to support the Sena-ledgovernment. Mr Pawar didn’t disclose all his cards till the Con-gress committed its participation in the MVA government. Hewas the only one among MVA constituents to have the optionof joining hands with the Narendra Modi-led BJP. That optionis still open for him, and thus the government will last as longas Mr Pawar wants it to.

EditorialKeeping Pawar intact

Uddhav’s top challenge

On making New Year plans and resolutionsThus, in the New Year, one of our resolutions

should be to keep God, not just while planningthings, but in the centre of everything

8CHEERS TO A NEW YEAR AND ANOTHER

CHANCE FOR US TO GET IT RIGHT.

OPRAH WINFREY

SOMETIMES TOO MUCH TO DRINK IS BARELYENOUGH.

MARK TWAIN

SPIRITUALISM

STARS TALKSSeemaa Singh, Vedic as-

trologer known for heraccurate predictions of

winning BJP minister KirronKher, as well winning of Pun-

jab electionsby Congress.She has manylectures on as-trology in In-dia andAbroad. ARIES :- Youcan, if you

wish, allow partners to makethe running, so why not settledown and put your feet up?Your own skills extended tothe business world and yourhandling of recent financialscares should have left youwith a sense of confidenceand control.

TAURUS :- You hate to beproved wrong, but it's an un-fortunate fact that Mercury,ruling your brilliant mind, isbound to give the bestideas to partners andassociates. GEMINI :- Evenminor differencesof outlook couldbe the cause ofdisagreement un-der today's stri-dent planetary pic-ture, yet if workingrelationships are in-volved you would be unwiseto risk a dispute just now. CANCER :- Relationshipswith children and youngerrelatives may be slightlyfraught, but at the very leastyou should attempt to get to

the bottom of long- standingdifficulties. LEO :- It's matter of swingsand roundabouts. One thing

to be said in yourfavour is that at

least you knowwhere your loy-alties lie, a factthat is alwaysimportant ingetting youthrough periods

of uncertainly. VIRGO:- The

Moon is playing asubstantial role for my mostof the day, making you slight-ly more sensitive than usual,but also heightening your nat-ural compassion. LIBRA :- In many ways yourfinancial situation appears to

be intolerable, and no onecould blame you for giving upnow. But if you persevere fora little longer the picture willbecome much clearer. SCORPIO :- You are still indanger of banging your headagainst an emotional brickwall. If a particular thing orperson still seems to defy un-derstanding, give yourself alittle more time, and try ap-proaching the question from acompletely different angle.SAGITTARIUS :- It's yourhouse of dreams which isstrong at the moment; some-thing is going on behind thescenes, but you're not quitesure what. For your own partdo not tempted to join anyonein a campaign of rumour orgossip.

CAPRICORN :- Make anearly start today, especially ifyou want to give yourself aleg-up. However, don't act inhaste, otherwise you'll disruptan important partnership.Plus, financial considerationswill keep you in line.AQUARIUS :- Life is farfrom simple. Pluto's stridentalignment may encourageyou to speak your mind andmake firm decisions. PISCES :- The emphasismust now be on long-termplanning rather than short-term results. You may not beaware of the fact that you arerapidly approaching a periodin which your ideals and am-bitions will be called intoquestion as never before. Geta good story ready!

E-SCHOOL sets a benchmark of "9 band record" in year 2019KULBHUSHAN GARG

2019 was an IELTS 9 bandrecord breaking year for Eschool as 115studentssecured 9bands in one or two modules. Inthis year, E school became thefirst institute of Malwa regionwhose more than 300 studentssuccessfully achieved 9 bands.This is the second consecutiveyear of E school when maxi-mum numbers of 9 band achiev-ers are from this institute in Mal-wa. Specialisation in IELTSHelps me to Achieve excellentresults as I am not doing anyother work in any of my branch-es such as Visa Consultancy andthis attitude enables me to focusonly on education. This is one ofthe main contributing factor be-hind the commendable IELTSresults because of the unrelent-

ing devotion of the team mem-bers of all the respective branch-es who are determined to impartquality education since lastdecade".

Moreover, this is the seventhconsecutive year for E schoolwhen it holds the record formaximum 9 bands achieversfrom district Bathinda. In thisyear also highest number of stu-dents of E school Abohar, Eschool Barnala and E school

Sangrur obtained 9 bands fromtheir respective districts. Eschool isquite well-known forits 9 band achievers and even,the number is growing rapidlyevery month. Apart from this, Eschool Bathinda students havesecured 90 out of 90 marks inthe speaking part of PTE. Thefacility of laboratory equippedwith advanced configurationswas opened up for the PTE as-pirants this year. Eschool has es-tablished a prestigious standardfor itself as its results are far bet-ter than the year 2018. Eschool's accomplishmentsspeak for itself as it providesnumber of advance facilitieswhich include Audio IELTS,Video IELTS, Advance Learn-ers' Test Series Class, ExtraClass, 25+ homework books,daily new notes.

The year 2019, which has justended, was a bad year for theeconomy though Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and his BJP managedto divert attention from it and craft anemphatic victory in the May Lok Sab-ha elections. But the Modi govern-ment has no option but to face up to aneconomy that refuses to look up in2020.

Finance minister Nirmala Sithara-man held two important pre-Budgetmeetings, one with the captains of in-dustry, and the other with public sec-tor bank honchos in the last week ofDecember. The industry bigwigsurged the minister to take steps to en-sure that it was easier to do business inIndia, remove the hurdles, thoughthese were not listed. It was clear thatbusinesses were listless, and unable tomake things happen.

This comes somewhat as a sur-prise after India’s rank in the “ease ofdoing business” had improved byleaps and bounds, moving to the 63rdposition among 190 nations in 2019,up from 142 in 2014, according to theWorld Bank’s reckoning. It was clearto them as it was to the finance minis-ter that there was a demand deficit, afact that has been highlighted through2019 but which was ignored in the po-litical hurly-burly of the Lok Sabhapolls in the summer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiand the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partyreturned to power with greaterstrength, an increase of 20 seats, from282 in 2014 to 302 in 3019. But thepolitical highs would not sweep awaythe economic blues which were lin-gering in the shadows. One of themagnates told the finance minister tocut back on the income-tax rate, whichwould leave more money in the pock-

ets of the people to go out and spendand get the economy to chug along.But it seemed a suggestion of despairrather than a positive step forward.

The banks’ non-performing assets(NPAs) are hovering in the dangerzone, with a glimmer of hope flicker-ing before going out. This had natu-rally dampened the credit offtake,which had helped keep the NPAsslightly down, but there was an in-crease in the proportion of stressed as-sets of the banking and non-bankinglenders. The only assurance the fi-nance minister could offer the bankerswas that there would be no harassmentfrom the Central Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI), the Central VigilanceCommission (CVC) and the Comp-troller and Auditor-General (CAG),and that they should not defer takingdecisions to lend or not to lend for fearof retribution if their decisions weretaken in good faith. It is not clear howmuch the bankers actually felt reas-sured. Meanwhile, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi told the members ofAssocham that they should boldly in-vest, an exhortation that soundedrepetitive and hollow due to the decel-

eration in growth rates in the past sixquarters and more, echoing the dismaleconomic situation of 2013.

After presenting a wishy-washyBudget in July, the finance ministerwas forced to announce a series of re-medial measures through August andSeptember to kickstart the economy.The meetings with the bankers and in-dustrialists in late December reflectedthe fact that the economy is still in thedoldrums. The International MonetaryFund’s chief economist GitaGopinathan confessed that she hadbeen taken by surprise. She said thatwithout an increase in private invest-ment and private consumption, theeconomy cannot be expected to comeout of the dumps. The only silver lin-ing appeared to be that the macro fun-damentals of the economy were sta-ble.

The apparently assertive and de-cisive steps taken by the governmenton the political front, such as the ab-rogation of the special status of Jam-mu and Kashmir, its bifurcation andits demotion to a Union territory, andthe enactment of the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA), have raisedthe political temperature in the coun-try and created a sense of uneaseacross India. The countrywide studentprotests that the CAA has triggered isalso an echo of the bleak economicclimate, and it seems that the Naren-dra Modi government is not willing toconnect the dots between the angerand frustration of the young and theeconomic slowdown on the brink of acrisis. The government cannot hopeto divert the focus away from theeconomy by attention-grabbing andprovocative political decisions andspeeches.The ministers of the Modigovernment, however, remain

adamant that there is no problem onthe economic front or over the politi-cal decisions they have made, andthey are far from seeing that the tensepolitical situation will further aggra-vate far from positive economic con-ditions. There is the vicious circle ofa depressed economy leading to polit-ical unrest on the one hand, and polit-ical turbulence pushing the economyinto negative territory on the other.The government’s confrontationalpolitics and the brittle economy arefeeding into the each other, makingthe situation more explosive thanever. Mr Modi has not been the manto step back and review the issues athand. He seems to move forwardagainst the current. This could havebeen a heroic virtue in different times,but his tendency to stick it out in theface of counter-currents could onlyprove counterproductive. Both poli-tics and the economy do well whenthere is a spirit of bonhomie. Thatspirit is entirely missing. The govern-ment is out of sync with economicand political sentiments across thecountry. The equivocal and aggres-sive stance of the Prime Minister andhis Cabinet colleagues does not helpmatters.

The Prime Minister seems to beof the view that he is taking difficultdecisions for the good of the country.But he seems to forget that he needsto take the people into confidence andshare with them the facts of the situa-tion, both on the political and eco-nomic fronts. It is not enough for himto say that he is doing what is goodfor the country, and that the peopleshould trust him. People in a democ-racy are not willing to be led likesheep. They demand informationfrom the government.

What brings a baboonbone — a fibula, tobe precise — to mind

at the end of the year? The Is-hango Bone is a 20,000-year-old reminder that since the be-ginning man has been markingtime. Discovered in 1960 inBelgian Congo, it’s a bonemarked with notches — theirexact purpose is still unknown,but it’s certain they were usedto measure time, possibly bythe moon or some other celes-tial body.

It is probably the world’soldest calendar.

On bark and bone, wallsand stone, on cloth and paper,by the moon and the sun, bysowing and reaping and now,in that ephemeral thing we calldigital space, we humans havemarked and measured time.Life is inconceivable withoutit. Without a calendar plannerto carve and break up time intosmaller bits, life would be a se-ries of endless events withoutcoherence or significance.

At this time, a New Year’sstart by the Gregorian calen-dar, most of us — no matterwho we are or what we do —take stock. Whether it’s beenan annus horribilis or a greatyear, there is that notion thattime has passed by and some-thing new lies in wait.

But as time slipped by, theway we mark it has alsochanged. It used to be that atthis time of the year, we putthe past behind us and brought

in the future — with calendars.A flip, an unfurling of rolled-up sheets, and a new calendarwould be on the wall, herald-ing the start of a new year.

This is how calendarscame to us. If you went to astore sometime in late Novem-ber/December, and you were aregular, the storekeeper wouldgive a big smile and swiftlywhip out from under thecounter a paper roll held inplace with a rubber band, andhand it with a flourish withboth hands, saying “HappyNew Year!”. It was a new cal-endar. His way of saying:“Thanks for shopping withus!”

From the smallest kiranastore to the biggest companies,nearly every business put out

one. A simple but endearingpublic relations exercise, of-fered and received warmly.Not all calendars were createdequal. The most basic oneshad large numbers printed on agrid in simple type and handthe not inconsiderable numberof government holidays print-ed in red. The cheapest had theyear on one sheet, a scroll ofsorts attached to a metal stripon one end and a cloth loop tohang it from. Then there werethe “God” calendars as weused to call them, with a singlecolourful picture of a deity, oc-casionally a classic motherand child image depictingYashodhara and Krishna, in-spired by the iconic paintingsof Raja Ravi Verma. Therewould be a little flip calendar

at the bottom, with pages to beripped off month by month.

On walls and tabletops, inhomes and offices, in stores, inhospitals and clinics, the cal-endar was an ubiquitous pres-ence.

Then there were the calen-dars with heft and sheen — thecorporate ones. “Best compli-ments of ABC Co. Ltd”. Someeven came with a smaller spi-ral-bound desktop version,and the more coveted item —the diary. Much sought after,the diary was a source of con-tention in the family, going tothe elder sibling, if not elders,ostensibly to jot study notes,but sooner or later coveredwith sketches, doodles, andsome very non-academicnotes. Elder siblings went to

great lengths to keep themaway from the prying eyes andhands of pesky younger ones.By the time January ended,there were nearly a dozenaround the house, and by nowthe domestic help and driverswere also getting some.

Of the calendars we re-ceived in Jamshedpur, where Ispent my growing years, therewere a couple of particularlymemorable ones. I particularlyremember the one from TataSteel, or Tisco as it was calledthen. Printed on thick, glossypaper, it was an annual treas-ure that blew all others intobackrooms. I can’t rememberall of them, but I do recall atsome point, the Tisco calendarbecame a veritable repositoryof contemporary Indian artprints. These art calendarswere a limited-edition item,and typically distributed tosenior officers. Somewherethere must have been a simplerone for wider distribution, butthis one was eagerly awaitedin our home.

It was through this calen-dar that I first chanced uponthe long-necked, dark-eyedwomen of V. Prabha; and theguileless, mysterious faces ofAnjolie Ela Menon’s protago-nists, to my best recollection.Later, the strikingly modernistlines of M.F. Husain. Art that Iwould have never been ex-posed to in my little corner ofJamshedpur. So iconic wasthis calendar that it outlived

the year, not leaving the houselong after its time was done.What was its secret? After itscalendar life, the pages wereresurrected as framed artprints on walls in a number ofhouseholds, including mine.Not just that, visiting relativesoften asked for and cartedaway the neatly cut out pages.My mother chanced upon onewhile visiting a home in Patna:they had relatives in Jamshed-pur and the print was identicalto what we had on our walls.Tisco calendar? My motherasked, somewhat undiplomat-ically. Yes. The lady replied, alittle embarrassed. And then aknowing smile was ex-changed!

Today, Google and Win-dows do our time-flipping forus so that we don’t have to.The digital calendars on ourcomputers, mobile phones andwatches automatically ring inthe new year. Facebook algo-rithms generate little calendarsof our activities and friend-ships, sometimes even withour own siblings!

So as time slips by, papercalendars become more andmore relics of a bygone era.Yes, some corporations andstores still put them out, butsomehow they seem to lackthe beauty and class of the oldones. Except the odd doctor’swaiting room or a governmentoffice, I hardly see wall calen-dars anymore. Certainly nonethat catches my attention.

It may be time to bring back the wall calendar!Facebook algorithms generate little calendars of our activities

and friendships, sometimes even with our own siblings!

The political highs andeconomic lows of Modi 2.0

PAGE9

SHORT TALKS

OPPO to kick-off 2020 with a new sleek F series smartphone HEALTH/NEWS

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

mall Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the principal financial institution engaged in the promotion, financing and development of Micro, Small & Medium SEnterprises (MSMEs), organised an Outreach programme for strengthening Micro, Small &

Medium Enterprises ecosystem in Karnal, Haryana in collaboration with Development Commissioner - Ministry of MSME, Department of Financial Services – Ministry of Finance and Government of Haryana. The main objective of the outreach programme wascollaborating with the state government and other stakeholders for taking up further activities for the benefit of MSMEs

and knowledge dissemination on digital platforms.On this occasion, Shri Mohammad Mustafa, IAS, Chairman and Managing Director, SIDBI, said, “This initiative is a part of our SIDBI Vision 2.0 under which Mission Swavalamban is our umbrella initiative. The prime objective of the initiative is to

gauge the expectation of MSME stakeholders, identify the good practices of the State and suggest State-specific schemes. We expect greater participation by MSMEs in these programmes and urge them to make best use of these initiatives.” This outreach programme by SIDBI is based on recommendation of the expert committee on MSMEs headed by Shri U.K. Sinha, former chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for SIDBI to collaborate with State Governments to get MSME units boarded onto digital platforms such as PSBloansIn59minutes, e-commerce platforms, listing on stock exchanges, etc.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab, while considered as the granary of India, has an equally thriving industrial sector. Given its strong agriculture base, thriving machinery manufacturing industry, and ambition to embrace clean energy solutions, Punjab is uniquely placed to support manufacturing and deployment of clean energy based machinery to power rural livelihoods including agro-processing and textiles. Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) a leading, independent policy research institution, and Villgro Innovation Foundation have jointly rolled on a novel initiative "Powering Livelihoods", with a vision to bolster India's rural economy through the scaling up of clean energy solutions. The initiative aims to provide dedicated capital, technical and sectoral growth support to at least five enterprises which are deploying innovative, clean energy-powered livelihood appliances, and shall enable them to undertake large-scale commercial deployments over a period of next three years.

CEEW & Villgro launch "Powering Livelihoods"

fats, as well as boosting well as the nervous system, vegan sources of B12, so you metabolism. keeping both hale and healthy. may have to opt for a Foods to eat: Shiitake Foods to eat: Cheese, milk, supplement if animal products mushrooms, red meat, meats, cod. (There are very few are not an option).avocadoes, peanutsPyridoxine or Vitamin B6Pyridoxine is vital to blood health since it improves the quality of red blood cells. It also aids immunity and keeps the brain alert and agile.Foods to eat: Shellfish, cereals, soya bean, potatoes and lean poultryBiotin or Vitamin B7If you want to lose weight, biotin is the answer! An adequate supply of biotin helps break down the fats in the body effectively.Foods to eat: Cauliflower,

synthesises hormones. It is also green vegetables, poultryne of the most essential mushrooms, egg yolks and good for brain health, keeping Niacin or Vitamin B3components of a healthy salmonthe neurotransmitters in optimal Besides breaking down carbs, diet is vitamins. And of O Folate or Vitamin B9shape. proteins and fats within the body the gamut available, you’ll find Folate or folic acid is vital during Foods to eat: Whole grains, efficiently, niacin is also great that B vitamins are available in pregnancies, to keep foetal health legumes, nuts, seeds, fatty fish for cellular health, making it one many kinds. They’re also one of at its optimum and prevent any Riboflavin or Vitamin B2 of the most potent anti-ageing the key nutrients to a healthy birth defects. It also helps This is important to create ingredients.diet. There are eight different metabolise amino acids.essential enzymes within the Foods to eat: Wheat, eggs, fish kinds of B vitamins that you Foods to eat: Eggs, kale, body and helps with boosting the and meatshould be getting in your diet. spinach, different kinds of beans, body’s energy levels. In addition, Pathogenic acid or Vitamin B5Let’s take a look at them. papayait is also great for eye health. Pathogenic acid aids the body’s Thiamine or Vitamin B1 Cyanocobalamin or Vitamin B12Foods to eat: Dairy (milk, internal process to create Thiamine breaks down sugar, This has a two-fold impact – it yoghurt, paneer), eggs, leafy enzymes, essential proteins and produces fatty acids and affects the circulatory system as

UDHIANA: Reiterating its commitment to quickly roll-out an exciting and comprehensive BS-VI product portfolio for Lits customers, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-

wheeler manufacturer, today launched the first BS-VI motorcycle in the entry segment – the HF Deluxe BS-VI. The commencement of despatches for the HF Deluxe BS-VI come close on the heels of the Company’s first-ever BS-VI product launch – the Splendor iSmart,

thereby reaffirming the leadership role played by Hero MotoCorp in migrating to the new emission regime. With these products coming in quick succession, Hero MotoCorp is rapidly ramping-up its portfolio of BS-VI products and plans to transform its entire range to BS-VI norms very soon. The HF Deluxe, India's most successful and iconic motorcycle in the entry

segment, will be available at Hero MotoCorp showrooms in the country at attractive prices of Rs. 55,925/-for Self-Start Alloy-wheel variant and Rs. 57,250/- for Self-Start Alloy-wheel i3S variant (both prices ex-showroom Delhi) from the beginning of January 2020.

Hero MotoCorp Introduces County’s First 100-CC BS-VI Motorcycle

Blaupunkt India Pvt. Ltd. introduces an exchange offer for New York 750

handigarh : A 150-kg woman suffering from carcinoma endometrium (uterus cancer) and complete heart block was Coperated successfully in a private hospital at Panchkula

recently. 67-yr old Brij Bala Sharma, who hails from Yamunanagar was admitted at Alchemist Hospital with uterus c a n c e r b e s i d e s h y p e r t e n s i o n a n d complete heart block. Due to obesity she could not move with ease and bedridden from quite past time. She was facing problem in getting treatment due to morbid obesity. Dr Kanwarneet Singh, consultant, surgical oncology at Alchemist s a i d t h a t d u r i n g

evaluation for surgery, she was diagnosed with complete heart block. Alchemist team managed surgery by first inserting temporary pacemakers, before surgery. Then radical hysterectomy (wertheims hysterectomy), removing of the whole uterus, tissue on the sides of the uterus, the cervix, and the top part of the vagina was done by surgical oncology team. After surgery, she was discharged without any complication.

elhi: Blaupunkt India, pioneers in car infotainment and sound introduce a one of a kind offer on their Dlatest product New York 750, wherein Delhi

customers; in exchange of any old 2-din car radio in any condition will get an instant discount of Rs. 5000 on the MRP of 21990/- and a free Blaupunkt reverse camera worth Rs. 1850/-. The New York 750 model was launched early 2019.The salient features of this model are: 1. Apple CarPlay Compatibility 2. Android Auto Compatibility 3. PhoneLINK Compatibility Adding to the versatility of this new model is the option to choose between Apple CarPlay or Android Auto & PhoneLINKPhoneLINK is another first from Blaupunkt India, a feature that allows customers to project their phone screen onto the Radio screen via USB cable. There by allowing customers to get access to all their apps on the mobile phone through the radio screen. Pankaj Jagwani, Director, Blaupunkt India said, “This is an attempt to tap the used car market & to give an opportunity to customer to upgrade their OE Radio which may not have these new features. We at Blaupunkt are dedicated and strive to innovate and develop products that will make the lives of our customers easier and simpler. Every product we design is with a view of achieving maximum customer satisfaction. During the development phase of all our new models we keep this vision in mind.

alandhar,: As many as 210 patients from different age groups were examined during a free cardiac and vascular Jcheck-up camp at Udasin Ashram, Gopal Nagar , Jalandhar

today. The camp was organized by Ivy Hospital, Mohali in association with Swami Shantanand ji. Giving information, Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, director of cardio vascular sciences at Ivy said that out of total examined people, 55 were found to be

having heart p r o b l e m s . Among those 1 2 w e r e children below 15-yr of age. He said that a new machine w h i c h measures ABI (ankle brachial

index) in a computerized format was also used for the first time in Punjab to screen the patients for severity of vascular disease. Talking about severity of cardio vascular problem in Punjab , Dr Bedi said that the incidence of heart and vascular diseases is high and approximately 6% of adult population in Punjab. Punjab reports a very high incidence of diabetes, high blood cholesterol level and obesity.

210 screened in a cardiac , vascular camp in Jalandhar

Kids have chosen their favorites at Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2019Chandigarh: Continuing the legacy of being the only empowering award show for kids in India for 4 successful years, Nickelodeon India hosted the 5th edition of the Kids Choice Awards 2019. In an evening replete with slime and magical performances, the Bollywood extravaganza took place in Mumbai and saw the best of showbiz across film, television, mobile gaming and sports take home the coveted Nickelodeon blimp. The Awards will premiere on Nickelodeon on 05th January at 8 pm followed by Sonic, Nick Jr. and Nick HD+. The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards is India’s only award show by the kids, for the kids and of the kids which recognizes and celebrates the best in the world of entertainment across film, television, mobile gaming, sports etc. Breaking last year’s record, this year saw close to 5 lakh votes from the kids, making it a perfect representation of kids and their choices. The one-of-a-kind extravaganza all set to be televised on 5th January, 2020, witnessed the biggest Bollywood heartthrobs such as Sara Ali Khan, Varun Dhawan, Taapsee Pannu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Siddharth Chaturvedi, Darshan Rawal and many more attending the landmark kids’ event. While Varun Dhawan danced on the melodies of famous bollywood songs.

CHANDIGARH :During winters, the lack of moisture in the air tends to take a toll on hair health and quality. While you try to stay warm through layering and moisturise your skin to combat dryness; it is important to do some alterations in your hair care regime as well. The temperature variation indoor and outdoor during the cold weather months makes the hair brittle and prone to damage. Drinking a lot of water helps to retain moisture in your hair and scalp. It is advisable to give your hair that extra time in the winter to air dry before stepping out for the day. In order to save time, you can wash your hair at night, and let it dry. The on-going festival and holiday season aggravate the situation as regular outings necessitate styling. Excessive heat styling is a major reason behind dry and damaged hair.To maintain the lustrous mane, here are few tips by Advanced Hair Studio experts:Temperature fluctuations between indoors and outdoors and dry air during winters dehydrate body and hair. Hydration aids the sebaceous glands to secrete oil, which leaves the scalp and hair nourished and healthy. Wet hair exposed to cold air expands the hair shaft, making the hair more prone to breakage.

Five hair care tips to combat the winter season by Advanced Hair Studio

SIDBI launches outreach programme for strengthening MSME ecosystem in Haryana

Aamir, Neetu emerged winners of North India's Next Top Models Season 7

handigarh: In the world of modeling, North India, especially Chandigarh has produced Big names , in this context 6 names are going to be added further. North CIndia's Next Top Models Season 7 held by Creativators was successfully

concluded recently. Amir and Neetu became the winners of North India's Next Top Models Season 7, Baljeet and Nidhi First Runner Up, Abhinav and Jasmine Second Runner Up * The jury comprised of Dr. Vibha Bawa, Dr. Shalini, Hemant Mehta, Anjana Sharma and Daviana, the organiser of the show was Prashant Sharrma, a well-known name in fashion industry and the chief guest was Dr. Ajay Sharma, the curator of the showbiz industry and beauty academy.Prashant said briefing media persons that modeling is

emerging as a brilliant career and the trend of youth is also increasing in the field of Modelling.. For the 7 successful seasons, we are providing the national platform to budding models. In Season seven more than 100 contestants were competing .and now 6 Winner are ready to rock. Prashant further said that the Punjabi film industry is touching new dimensions these days and in view of the demand of new talent especially models, actors, fashion models, kids models, in 2020 we will provide many more such platforms to youth and children of North India.

handigarh :Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., India’s leading integrated travel and related financial Cservices company, has witnessed a significant

surge in demand of over 25% for travel to iconic Bollywood locations. Hence to cater to this high growth opportunity, the Company has launched Bollywood Blockbuster Vacations- unique group tours to the most picturesque locations across Europe. The itineraries intend to put the traveller in the spotlight, making him/her the protagonist of their Bollywood travel movie! Thomas Cook India’s consumer analytics has revealed that India’s fascination for Bollywood is witnessing a strong and growing demand for movie inspired travel. With ‘Film Tourism’ clearly trending, and Indians setting their travel goals around movie themes, Thomas Cook India’s launch of its Bollywood Blockbuster Vacations intends to capitalise on this viablebusiness potential. Additionally, unique movie-inspired experiences and photo stops on tour offerbraggable rights- a strong driver in today’s social sharing economy. For its launch, Thomas Cook India’s Bollywood Blockbuster Vacations showcase Europe’s top Bollywood destinations: romantic and uber-chic Paris, picturesque Lake Como and historic Venice in Italy, Switzerland’s playground of the rich and famous- Gsaad, Montreux and cosmopolitan Zurich coupled with iconic attractions like Glacier 3000.

Thomas Cook India witnesses 25% growth indemand for Bollywood inspired travel

paceX CEO Elon Musk has shared a video simulation of Swhat the company's Crew

Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS) could look like. The two-minute clip that Musk tweeted on Monday shows flight crew boarding the capsule-like spaceship Crew Dragon, countdown, take off and separation of the vehicle from the Falcon 9 rocket. In the simulation, the capsule is seen docking with the ISS and then detaching before returning to the earth with the help of parachutes.NASA hopes the capsule could be ready for its first crewed "Demo-2" test flight to the ISS in the first quarter of 2020, Engadget reported. In November, SpaceX completed a series of static fire engine tests of its new passenger spacecraft, Crew Dragon, paving the way for an in-flight launch escape demonstration.In April, during a similar set of engine tests, the spacecraft experienced an anomaly which led to an explosion and loss of the vehicle. No one was injured during the tests. SpaceX said that the initial tests were "completed successfully, but the final test resulted in an anomaly on the test stand."

Elon Musk Shares Video of Simulated Crew Dragon

Mission to the ISS

Redmi K30 5G With 10GB RAM Spotted on TENAARedmi K30 5G 10GB RAM variant has been spotted on TENAA, suggesting the arrival of yet another storage variant of the 5G phone. The Redmi K30 and Redmi K30 5G phones were launched earlier this month, and a 12GB RAM option was spotted on TENAA soon after. Now, the Remi K30 5G has been spotted on TENAA once again, this time a 10GB RAM option is included in the mix. The TENAA listing shows 6GB, 8GB, and 10GB RAM options, whereas the storage options are listed to be 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.This new TENAA listing has the Redmi K30 5G with the model number M2001G7AC, and it lists a 10GB RAM option suggesting that a launch may be in the offing. The 10GB RAM option will likely come with 256GB storage offered alongside. This listing's model number is slightly different than the model number of the 12GB RAM option spotted earlier. That one had the model number M2001G7AE, and not M2001G7AC. In any case, we aren't sure which one Xiaomi plans to launch, it could either be both or neither.Currently, Xiaomi offers the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage option as the top-end model in China, and it is priced at CNY 2,899 (roughly Rs. 29,100). The 10GB RAM or the 12GB RAM, whichever the company decides to unveil, should be priced more than the top-end model.

irakpur, : New Year was celebrated in a big way at The Church of Peace, Sanauli, near Dhakoli, Zirakpur today. ZThe function was attended by people from various states.

The participants danced during the programme. Skit and dance was presented on the theme of ‘Yeshu Massi Jiwan’. Pastor Kanchan Mittal said, “We are happy to celebrate this festival of happiness. We did prayer for all the humanity and also organized a prayaer meeting ‘No Carry Over Service’ to aware people about Lord Jesus. The new year 2020 will be the ‘Year of Change’ for all.” A langer was served for the people who came in a large number from far and wide. Eatables and new clothes were distributed among the downtrodden section of the society.

New Year Celebration held at The Church of Peace, Sanauli

urgaon: People of Gurgaon, stay tuned for the much-awaited sale by Gyour favorite fashion brand.

Westside, India’s preferred fashion destination from the house of Tata’s is offering its End of the Season Sale across all the Westside stores. The store located at Trillium Avenue, Gurgaon will witness its second end of the season sale. Avail upto 60% discounts on apparel, footwear, accessories, and cosmetics. The sale will start from January 01, 2020 and will last till end of January. Westside offers a wide range of contemporary and exclusively designed apparel for women. Be it the 9 to 9 collection of Wardrobe, the casual and confident LOV, the young and edgy NUON and Sassy Soda, GIA for curvy women, StudioFit for fitness wear, Wunderlove to enhance your personal fashion quotient, the festive and intricate collection of Vark, Bombay Paisley with its fusion of bohemian prints and global silhouettes, Zuba with its fine silk weaves or the forever favorite Utsa which lets you play with colours and silhouettes - Westside has something for every trend conscious woman. Keeping up with the latest trends in fashion, Westside offers a vast array of apparel for men.

Westside presents its End of the season sale in Gurgaon

150-kg woman with heart condition operated for cancer successfully

McDowell’s No.1 Soda Yaari Jam Originals & Guru welcomes new year with “Yaari”Chandigarh : While the whole world awaits the New Year 2020, McDowell’s No.1 Soda Yaari Jam Originals brings in the Punjabi sensation - Guru Randhawa and popular music producer Vee to wish their fans A Happy New Yaar by releasing the next originals – ‘Yaari’ – that has crossed over 20 million within 24 hours of release. The past year being an extremely successful one for all the originals launched by the brand with renowned artists like Sunidhi Chauhan, Anupam Roy, Tanishk Bagchi, Darshan Raval and Jonita Gandhi. This new track gets the yaars to come together to welcome the new year with a fresh start and a new self!The original has been written and composed by Guru Randhawa while Vee gave music to it.

he Realme 5i was spotted on certification websites in Tthe past and most recently

Realme confirmed that the smartphone will officially launch on January 6. This smartphone will be launched in Vietnam first on January 6th as per a Facebook post by the official Realme Vietnam Facebook page. The upcoming smartphone was now been sighted on Geekbench, indicating key specifications and details about the upcoming smartphone. The Realme 5i has also posted a score in the Geekbench giving us a fair idea of where it stands compared to the other products in the market.The Realme 5i was spotted on Geekbench bearing the RMX2030 model number. The benchmark listing reveals that the Realme 5i will be powered by the Snapdragon 665 SoC and sports 4GB of RAM. The listing also indicates that the smartphone will ship with Android 9 Pie that means that it will most likely run ColorOS 6 on top.

Realme 5i Spotted on Geekbench Ahead of Official Launch

Sennheiser introduces its premium headphones–new MOMENTUM WirelessChandigarh : Sennheiser’s premium MOMENTUM headphone range enters its third generation, with the launch of its much-awaited headphones in India – the Sennheiser MOMENTUM Wireless 3. The headphones are the latest addition to the audio specialist’s iconic range that offers superior sound, a modern design aesthetic, cutting-edge technology, and a touch of handcrafted indulgence to every moment. These exquisitely crafted Bluetooth headphones come with 3 Active Noise Cancellation Modes and Transparent Hearing functionality, allowing you to experience audio on your own terms by either blocking out the world or staying aware of their environment. Thanks to Auto On/Off and Smart Pause features, the new MOMENTUM Wireless headphones start up instantly when unfolded, and sense when put on or taken off to pause and resume playback, ensuring a world of uncompromised sound. Designed to be supremely comfortable for all-day listening sessions, they feature genuine sheep leather and soft padding on the earpads and headband. One-touch voice assistant access lets them stay connected on the move.

handigarh, : Maxxis India, a sub-company of Maxxis Group conducted its dealers’ meet in Bathinda today. The meet was attended by 33 Cdealers from Bhatinda and from neighbouring 6 districts .

In meet the dealers were briefed on Maxxis’s world-class tyre range designed for diverse Indian applications and industry-best warranty policy and transparent claim resolution process.Bing-Lin Wu, Marketing Head, Maxxis India, said, “Our intent is to capture at least 15% of India’s 2-wheeler tyre market by 2023. At present, we have a total of 415 dealers across North India and have added 70 dealers in Punjab. Bhatinda being a primary two-wheeler market offers great prospects for Maxxis and we aim to amplify our reach with strengthening our dealer network for consumer accessibility.”Po-Yu (Jeremy) Hsu, Assistant Vice President, Service, Maxxis India said, “Maxxis has set the tone for innovation in India. Our service standards have set a benchmark globally and customer focus remains a key driver for all our initiatives and we are committed to deliver highest value through our products and services. Today’s meet gives us a great platform to communicate Maxxis’s highest service quality to our dealer partners.”

Dealers’ meet briefed on tyre range for Indian applications

Chandigarh : Ready to kick off the new year in style, OPPO is all set to introduce a new smartphone to its popular F series in India soon. The highly celebrated F series,owing to its combination of innovation, design, and technology has always been popular amongst the youth in its price segment. The eye-catching finishes on the F9 Pro or the gradient design of the F11 Pro,the F series has always showcased the trendiest technology to consumers. OPPO's Selfie Expert F series launched in 2016 drove the‘Selfie’ trend in the smartphone industry. The soon to be launched smartphone, OPPO F15 will elevate the F series with its sleek and fashionable design.The all-new F15 is expected to redefine the standards of lightweight and design making it the most fashionable F series smartphone by OPPO.

The various kinds of B vitamins

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

GLAMOURGLAMOURPAGE10

Priyanka Chopra bids adieu to 2019 by video loaded with fond memories

he year 2019 was indeed a special one for Priyanka Chopra, be it having her wax sculpture at Madame Tussauds or sharing Tscreen-space with her husband in his hit song, to her

contribution in Unicef and what not! Priyanka, on the first day of the new year, shared a video recalling all her milestones in the year that has gone by. Counting on her blessings, India's desi girl on Wednesday took to her Twitter handle to share a video of her achievements and wrote, "Another year, another gift. Cannot wait to see what 2020 has in store. Thank you, God and everyone who has blessed my life. #fullheart #newyear #gratitude." The one-minute and twenty-four-second video began with heartfelt laughter from the star followed by several snippets from 2019 that the actor thought worthy of recalling. The first major landmark in the video saw the 37-year-old posing beside her wax statue at Madame Tussauds, New York. The clip then showcased scenes from American fantasy romantic comedy 'Isn't It Romantic', in which the Bollywood star played a significant role, followed by the snippets of Jonas Brothers' 'Sucker' song, in which she shared screen space with her husband-singer, Nick Jonas. Another major attraction in the video were her looks from the Met Gala and Cannes. Priyanka who is also a goodwill

ambassador of UNICEF had visited Ethiopia to meet refugee children fleeing conflict and humanitarian

crises, and this had a special place in the video. It also featured the various magazine covers that

the actor-singer has donned, followed by shots from her latest Bollywood outing 'The Sky Is Pink'.

The video culminated with all the accolades she has received and with the lovely moments she

shared with her husband and the new member of their family, a puppy-Gino.

Sonam Kapoor looks back at ending decade in gratitude-filled Instagram post

ollywood actress Sonam Kapoor recapped her memorable milestones and achievements for the Bdecade that is now nearing its end. In a short clip on

her Instagram handle, the 'Manmarziyaan' actress can be seen displaying an intimate affection towards her soul mate Anand Ahuja against the sunny and romantic backdrop of Rome. In the caption, she wrote, "This past decade has been the most brilliant. I've acted in some incredible movies where I've met some amazing people who've become lifelong friends. I've made three films with @rheakapoor and realised that sisters make the best partners and can break glass Ceilings together with our films and sartorial choices And taken our passion for fashion and started @wearerheson. I met my soulmate @anandahuja and got married to him and built a home together.

wide open to welcome 2020. The legendary Happy New Year." Fans of Sharukh are in much actor Amitabh Bachchan as he posted couplets anticipation to know about his new project, as from a Hindi poem written by his father, poet Dr the actor who was last seen in 'Zero' have not Harivansh Rai Bachchan. "Varsh Nav, Harsh made any official announcement for his Nav, Jeevan Utkarsh Nav (New year, new joy, upcoming projects. Former Miss Universe, new life with greatness)", the caption read. Sushmita Sen who never misses a chance to The veteran actor shared a family photograph, spread the dose of positivity, wished where Jaya Bachchan, daughter Shweta everyone a year filled with hope and Bachchan-Nanda, grand-daughter have potential as we enter into the new joined the veteran actor and are all smiles, as decade."Happy New Year!! what a fantastic they pose for the camera. King Khan of year it's going to be, filled with new hope & Bollywood, Sharukh Khan wished happy new potential!! Welcome to #2020 Let's share year to his followers by sharing words of our happiness & blessings Love and kisses, wisdom to all. The 'Zero' actor hopped on to A l i sah , Renee @rohmanshaw l & Instagram to share a monochrome picture of #yourstruly #duggadugga #partytime ", the himself, slaying in a denim shirt, making the evergreen actor captioned the post on her ith 2020 already here, Bollywood messy hair look all cool. Twitter. She captioned the post along with a celebrities took to twitter to extend He captioned the post "Not one for telling vivid happy group photograph where her their heartfelt greetings to millions of Wanyone how they should be...or do what should daughters, and boyfriend poses along with the fans and followers through social media. From be done...or what this year & future made to be. I 44-year-old. The veteran actor Anupam Kher Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Amitabh have so many frailties myself...that I wish may wished his followers by reciting a beautiful Bachchan to Bollywood's Badshah Shah Rukh, the future be kind to all of us...and we be who we poem, one that explained the journey of everyone was seen immersed in the festive are. May Allah be kind to us in spite of ourselves. January to December. spirit as they bid adieu to 2019 and kept arms

B-Town welcomes New Year with words of wisdom, positivity and hope

Parineeti misses chiffon saree in valleys of Austria

ctor Parineeti Chopra who is currently enjoying her Aleisure time in the valleys

of Austria, shared a picture from her vacation on Tuesday and expressed her adoration for the Yash Raj Films banner. The 'Jabariya Jodi' actor took to Instagram to share a picture of her posing in the beautiful valley wearing a black puffer jacket and black knee-length boots paired black beanie cap of the same color. "Didn't find a chiffon saree in my bag but I played some Yash ji songs in my head. Same no? #YRFGirlForever," the actor captioned the picture.The remark was indicative of movies produced under the Yash Raj Films banner famous for their songs shot in lush valleys, usually featuring female actors in pretty chiffon sarees.

Hilary reminisces her wedding with Matthew, shares picture

merican actor Hilary Duff drives down memory lane on Monday Aexactly after a week of getting

married to singer Matthew Koma, as she shared an adorable photo from their backyard wedding. The duo walked down the aisle a week ago, and the couple reminisced the beautiful moments and shared a picture from their intimate wedding ceremony. 'The Perfect Man' actor, Hilary hopped on to Instagram to share a happy picture from their fairy tale wedding as they are walking hand in hand down the lane. "Over a week ago I married this handsome devil. Love you @matthewkoma so grateful that I found the one person that gets sad at Christmas. Now I don't have to be alone," the caption read.

'Marriage Story' heads for theatrical run in China

he moviegoers in China will now be able to watch the Netflix- produced 2019 drama T'Marriage Story', as the makers of the movie

decided to release the family entertainer in Chinese multiplex. Since the online streaming platform-Netflix is banned in China, the streamer sealed a deal with Beijing-based local distributor Road Pictures and gave the local big-screen-rights for the film, cited The Hollywood Reporter. Noah Baumbach's awards season favourite 'Marriage Story', received a limited Oscars-qualifying theatrical run in North America, but since Netflix is blocked from operating in China, the company has decided to sell the film's big-screen rights to a local distributor. "Marriage Story is subtle and realistic -- and sometimes humorous, or life-affirming -- portrayal of love, marriage and family in all shapes and forms is sure to evoke strong emotional resonance in the Chinese audience," the company said in a statement. A representative for Road Pictures told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that the company is aiming for a major nationwide rollout sometime shortly after the 92nd Academy Awards in February. State-backed distributor China Film Group will import and release the title, while Road Pictures will handle all marketing and support -- the typical arrangement in China. Scarlett Johansson starring 'Marriage Story', is considered as a strong frontrunner in Oscars in several categories after taking a lead in six nominations at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

Over 300 peopleevacuated fromsupermarket inFrance due to firePARIS: More than 300 customers and35 staff members were evacuated at asupermarket in France's eastern city ofBesancon after a fire broke out at anunderground parking lot, mediareported on Tuesday. The incidentoccurred on Tuesday morning at theInterMarche supermarket, according tothe France Bleu radio broadcaster.One person was reported to sufferfrom carbon monoxide poisoning. Themedia outlet added that unknownpeople set a car on fire at themunicipal parking in the basement ofthe supermarket. The fire then spreadto neighboring cars and the smokerose to the store. According tofirefighters working at the site, theblaze is difficult to extinguish, since thetemperature in the undergroundparking lot has significantly risen, andthe smoke makes it difficult to work.

16 prisoners killed, 5 injured in jail fightin MexicoZACATECAS: An altercation in theRegional center of social reintegration(Cerereso) in the northern Mexicanstate of Zacatecas has left 16 inmateskilled and five others injured, the localPublic Security Ministry said onWednesday. "A joint intervention [ofsecurity services] at about 5 p.m.[23:00 GMT] stropped the prisoners'clashes. As a result of the incident, 15people were killed on the spot and sixothers were taken to a hospital whereone of them later died," the ministrysaid on Twitter. Following the clashes,law enforcement seized four guns andcold weapon items. According to theministry, a thorough inspection a weekearlier found various prohibited itemsstored by the prisoners. Violent riotsand clashes are commonplace inMexican jails.

Core sector outputshrinks by 1.5 pc inNovemberNEW DELHI: Contracting for thefourth consecutive month, the outputof eight core infrastructure industriesshrank by 1.5 per cent in November2019 as five of the eight sectorswitnessed negative growth, accordingto official data released on Tuesday.The eight core sectors had expandedby 3.3 per cent in November 2018.Production of coal, crude oil, naturalgas, steel, and electricity contracted inthe month under review. The growthrate of cement production dropped to4.1 per cent from 8.8 per cent inNovember 2018. The output of refineryproducts and fertilizers increased by3.1 per cent and 13.6 per centrespectively in November 2019 overthe year-ago month.

Rupee starts NewYear on positive note,rises 7 paise to 71.29vs US dollarMUMBAI: The Indian rupee started theNew Year on a positive note and rose 7paise to 71.29 against the US dollar inearly trade on Wednesday as optimismover the US-China trade dealstrengthened investor sentiments.Forex traders said easing crude oilprices and higher opening in domesticequities also supported the domesticunit. At the interbank foreign exchange,the rupee opened at 71.30 then gainedfurther ground and touched 71.29against the US dollar, showing a rise of7 paise over its previous closing. TheIndian rupee on Tuesday had closed at71.36 against the dollar. Traders saidthe rupee gained support amid positivedevelopments on the US-China tradedeal front. US President Donald Trumpon Tuesday said that a partial new US-China trade agreement will be signed inthe middle of next month, announcingthat he will also then travel to China forcontinued talks. "I will be signing ourvery large and comprehensive PhaseOne Trade Deal with China on January15," Trump tweeted moments beforeWall Street was due to open.Meanwhile, brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, fell 1 per cent toUSD 66 per barrel.

Foreign delegationvisits Mysuru for itsstudy on financingMYSURU: A delegation of 28executives from 21 countries visitedMysuru city as part of their study on'SME financing-Approaches andStrategies' and interacted withindustrialists here. The delegates werefrom Mauritius, Tajikistan, Uganda,South Africa, South Sudan, Laos,Maldives, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Liberia,Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh,Uzbekistan, Botswana, Zambia, Mali,Kenya, Ethiopia, and Palestine andrepresented various ministries,promotional organisations, governmentdepartments, banks and others. Thedelegates had extensive interactionwith members of the Mysore IndustriesAssociation and its president Vasu,vice-president Eshwar Rao andofficials of the State Bank of India,SME Metagalli branch, a releaseissued here on Wednesday This wasfollowed by a visit to a few industriesincluding VST Tillers, PrecisionComponent Manufacturing Industry,Sai Sankalp Beverages, Drinkingwater Purification unit and GTTC(Government Tool Room & TrainingCentre) located at Metagalli IndustrialArea.

Two Indian banks to cease operationsin Sri LankaCOLOMBO: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has permitted Indianprivate sector lenders Axis Bank and ICICI Bank to close theiroperations in the island nation, according to online news portalColomboPage. This follows requests by their parent banks. Thelicenses issued to them will be cancelled once the winding-upoperations are complete. ColomboPage said the two banks are nolonger permitted to carry on banking operations, includingaccepting deposits from the public.

Maruti clocks 3.9 pc rise in Dec sales

AGENCYNEW DELHI, JAN 1

Green shoots appeared to beemerging in the auto sector onWednesday with Maruti SuzukiIndia reporting 3.9 per centincrease in total sales duringDecember.

Driven by festive season andheavy discounts, the country'slargest car manufacturer sold 1.33lakh units as compared to 1.28lakh units year-on-year.

Domestic sales grew by 3.5 percent at 1.25 lakh units against 1.21lakh units in December 2018 while

exports grew by 10.2 per cent at7,561 units in December 2019 asagainst 6,859 units in the samemonth of previous year.

Passenger car sales went up by9.1 per cent at 91,341 units against83,729 units while passengervehicle sales grew by 2.5 per centat 1.22 lakh units against 1.19 lakhunits year-on-year.

While the mini-car segmentshowed a decline of 13.6 per centat 23,883 units from 27,649, thecompact-car segment (NewWagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis,Baleno, Dzire) reported 27.9 percent jump in sales at 65,673 units

from 51,346 units. Taken together,the mini and compact segmentclocked a gain of 13.4 per cent.However, the mid-size Ciazreported 62.3 per cent drop inDecember 2019 sales at 1,786units from 4,734 units in the year-ago period.

The sale of vans (Omni, Eeco)too crashed by 51.8 per cent to7,634 units from 15,850 units.

Amid slowdown in economicgrowth and weak demandenvironment, the automobileindustry saw a significant declinein sales during 2019 due toincrease in the cost of acquisitionof a car, more stringent safety and emission (BS 6) norms,increase in vehicle insuranceexpenses and hike in road taxes inmany states.

Total 1.33 lakh units sold in festive seasonHyundai India December

domestic sales down by 9.8 pcMUMBAI: South Koreancarmaker Hyundai Motor IndiaLimited (HMIL) has registered a 9.8per cent decline in domestic salesfor the month of December 2019 at37953 units, as comapred with42,093 units sold in the same montha year ago. Exports in the monthunder review fell by 10.06 per centto 12,182 units, as compared with13,545 units sold in same month ayear ago. Total sales went down by9.9 per cent to 50,135 units duringthe month, company sold 55,638units in December 2018. While inthe calendar year 2019, thecompany posted a decline of 2.6 per

cent in overall sales (domestic andexports) at 6,91,460 units. TarunGarg, Director – Sales, Marketing& Service, Hyundai Motor IndiaLimited said, ''The Year 2019 hasbeen a challenging year for theIndian automotive industry. Evenin such adverse conditions,Hyundai Motor India as committedhas launched 4 new benchmarkproducts in different segments. Asa smart mobility leader, Hyundaibecame the first company to bringthe First Connected SUV–VENUE and First Long RangeFully Electric SUV- KONA in theIndian market. ''

World to witness newstrategic weapon by NorthKorea in near future: Kim

AGENCYYONGYANG, JAN 1

North Korean leader KimJong-un has said that hiscountry would soon introducea “new strategic weapon” inthe near future, adding that hesees little reason to stick tohis country’s suspension ofnuclear and long-rangemissile tests, he had put in place during talks with the US.

Talks between NorthKorea and the US havestalled with Washingtonrefusing to lift sanctions untilPyongyang fully abandons itsnuclear programme. TheNorth conducted severalsmaller weapons tests late in2019, in what was seen as anattempt to pressure the USinto making concessions, theBBC reported.

Speaking at a partymeeting here on Wednesday,Kim said North was nolonger bound by the self-declared moratorium, as theUS continued joint militarydrills with South and hadstepped up their sanctions.

“Under such condition,there is no ground for us toget unilaterally bound to thecommitment any longer, thecommitment to which there isno opposite party, and this ischilling our efforts forworldwide nucleardisarmament and non-proliferation,” state newsagency KCNA quoted Kim assaying.

He also threatened that“the world will witness a newstrategic weapon” by theNorth “in the near future”,while giving no furtherdetails.

Heterosexual couples form 1stcivil partnerships in England

AGENCYLONDON, JAN 1

England and Wales havemarked a new era in whichheterosexual couples canchoose to have a civilpartnership instead of amarriage. The change,mandated by Britain’sSupreme Court last year, tookeffect Tuesday. Thegroundbreaking case hadbeen brought by RebeccaSteinfeld and Charles Keidan,who were among the first toform a civil partnership underthe new rules. They werejoined by their two childrenfor the partnership formed atthe Kensington and ChelseaRegister Office in centralLondon. Steinfeld, 38, calledit “a unique, special andpersonal moment for us” thathad been “rooted in our desire

to formalise our relationshipin a more modern way, focuson equality and mutualrespect.” The new rulesmeans that mixed-sexcouples can opt for a civilpartnership that will givethem similar rights asmarried couples, includingmarriage allowance taxrelief, inheritance taxexemption, and joint parental

responsibility for children. Itis expected to be an attractiveoption for couples whobelieve marriage gives menthe upper hand and also bycouples who don’t want anyreligious element in theirunion. The Supreme Courtruling means that civilpartnerships, which havebeen available to same-sexcouples since 2005, will be

available to everyone.Advocates of the changeargued successfully in courtthat to deny heterosexualcouples the same optionsavailable to same-sex couplesamounted to discrimination.Steinfeld and Keidan losttheir bid in a lower court, buttriumphed at the SupremeCourt. “Against all odds, wesucceeded in a legal battleagainst the government andthen, they did what we askedfor all along,” said Keidan,43. He said the long legalbattle had taken its toll on thecouple’s mental health andstrained their relationship.Same-sex couples have beenallowed to marry in England,Scotland and Wales since2014. Same-sex marriageswill be allowed for the firsttime in Northern Irelandearly next year.

Equity indices close in the green,Adani Ports gains by 3.1 pc

MUMBAI, JAN 1

Equity benchmark indicestraded range-bound onWednesday but closed in thegreen as investorscontemplated stock-specificaction on the first tradingsession of the calendar year2020. The BSE S&P Sensexclosed 52 points up at 41,306while the Nifty 50 edgedhigher by 21 points at 12,190.Sectoral indices at theNational Stock Exchange(NSE) were mixed a day afterFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman announced a Rs102 lakh crore infrastructurepipeline project for the nextfive years at a time whenoverall economic growth isslowing. Among stocks,

Adani Ports was the topwinner with an intra-day gainof 3.13 per cent to Rs 377.45per share. Power GridCorporation gained by 2.8 percent while NTPC ticked upby 2.1 per cent. The otherprominent gainers wereVedanta, Bharti Infratel,Infosys, Mahindra &Mahindra, HDFC, Larsen &Toubro and Hindustan Lever.However, private sector

lenders slipped with IndusIndBank down by 1.5 per cent,Axis Bank by 0.7 per cent andKotak Mahindra Bank by 0.6per cent. Titan was down by

2.7 per cent despite Crisilupgrading its rating on itslong-term bank facilitiestotalling Rs 2,850 crore toAAA with a stable outlook.

Don't really care aboutimpeachment trial: Trump

WASHINGTON, JAN 1

US President Donald Trumpsaid no Tuesday that hewould be happy to stand atrial in the Senate over theHouse of Representatives'impeachment process againsthim, but added that he did notreally care.

"I don't really care. Itdoesn't matter. As far as I'mconcerned, I'd be very happywith a trial because we didnothing wrong," Trump toldjournalists ahead of a NewYear's reception at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

He also called theimpeachment a "big, fat

hoax." In September, theDemocrat-led House ofRepresentatives launched animpeachment inquiry intoTrump over his July 25telephone call with UkrainianPresident VolodymyrZelenskyy. The Republican

president allegedly attemptedto solicit foreign contributionto his presidential campaignfor the 2020 vote by puttingon hold the military aid forUkraine unless Kiev agreesto probe his political rival JoeBiden and son Hunter forcorruption-related misdeeds.

On December 19, theHouse voted to impeachTrump for abuse of powerand obstruction of Congress.Trump has denied anywrongdoing, repeatedlydismissing the impeachmentinquiry as a witch hunt aimedat reversing the outcome ofthe 2016 presidentialelection.

US to deploy 750 troops to MiddleEast after embassy attack in Iraq

WASHINGTON, JAN 1

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper hassaid that the country will deploy about750 troops immediately to the MiddleEast, following the recent attack of pro-Iranian protesters on the US embassy inBaghdad. "Approximately 750#Soldiers will deploy to the regionimmediately & additional forces fromthe IRF are prepared to deploy over thenext several days," said the Pentagonchief in a series of tweets on Tuesdayevening. According to Esper, at thedirection of President Donald Trump,the Pentagon authorized the deploymentof an infantry battalion from theImmediate Response Force (IRF).

"This deployment is an appropriateand precautionary action taken inresponse to increased threat levelsagainst US personnel and facilities, suchas we witnessed in Baghdad today,"Esper added.

The Pentagon's decision came hoursafter hundreds of demonstrators,mourning for the Hashd Shaabimembers killed by a US attack in Iraq

on Sunday, stormed the US embassy inBaghdad's Green Zone.

The protests come after thePentagon said on Sunday it carried out"defensive strikes" against five Kata'ibHezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria inretaliation for the Iranian-backedgroup's attack on a US base near thenorthern Iraqi city of Kirkuk that leftone US defense contractor dead andfour US soldiers wounded on Friday.

Meanwhile, Trump has said that theUS Embassy in Iraq was safe despitebeing attacked by pro-Iranian protestersand warned that Tehran would be heldfully responsible for any damage causedto any US facilities.

APL Apollo clocks 52 pc growthin Q3 sales to 4.8 lakh tonnes

NEW DELHI, JAN 1

Branded building material and steelproducts manufacturer APL ApolloTubes on Wednesday reported salesvolume of 480,225 tonnes duringOctober to December (Q3 FY20), up by52.6 per cent from 314,707 tonnes in Q3FY19. The growth was led by strongdemand across product categories, itsaid in a statement. At 1:50 pm, thecompany's stock was trading 2.65 percent up at Rs 1,924.25 apiece.

The structural steel constructionmaterial for residential and commercialinfrastructure reported 39 per centgrowth to 254,856 tonnes from 183,886tonnes while galvanised structural steelconstruction material infrastructurewitnessed a growth of 31 per cent to87,748 tonnes from 66,872 tonnes. Onthe other hand, sales of galvanisedproducts for industrial and agriculturaluses moved up by 57 per cent to 29,631tonnes in Q3 FY20 from 18,929 tonnes

in Q3 FY19 while sales of constructionmaterial for industrial and agricultureuses rose by 35 per cent to 60,842tonnes from 45,020 in the same period.

APL Apollo Tubes operates 11manufacturing facilities with a totalcapacity of 2.55 million tonnes inSikandarabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru,Hosur, Raipur and Murbad.

Its product offerings include over1,100 varieties for multiple buildingmaterial applications to address urbaninfrastructures, housing, irrigation, solarplants, greenhouses and engineering.

KP Oli greets Modi on New Year,extends invitation to visit NepalKATHMANDU, JAN 1

Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Nepalesecounterpart KP SharmaOli">Nepalese counterpartKP Sharma Oli onWednesday exchanged newyear's greetings andexpressed confidence that theyear 2020 will prove to besuccessful in furtherelevating bilateral tiesbetween the two neighbours.

During the telephonicconversation, Oli alsoextended an invitation toModi to visit Nepal.

"This morning I had atelephone conversation withPrime Minister NarendraModi. We exchanged new

year's greetings and bestwishes," tweeted Oli.

"We shared that the year2019 proved to be successfulin elevating bilateral ties to anew height and expressed ourconfidence that the year 2020will be equally successful intaking our relations to thenext level by resolvingpending issues. I renewed mycordial invitation to Modi fora visit to Nepal," he added.

Russia: 5.6 magnitudeearthquake hits

Kamchatka peninsulaKAMCHATKA: A magnitude 5.6 earthquake onWednesday hit near the coast of the Kamchatkapeninsula, Russia's easternmost region.

This is already the second quake to hit nearKamchatka over the past 24 hours. Another onewith 5.5 magnitudes occurred earlier on Tuesday.

According to the ministry's data, the newquake occurred at a 25-mile-deep epicentre some80 miles east to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with a population of 181,000.

"Kamchatka is at no tsunami risk following theearthquake that occurred on January 1. The seismicevent was felt in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskyand Vilyuchinsky urban districts as magnitude 2-3," the ministry said.

Search brigades and firemen are currentlychecking on socially significant buildings in theaffected areas, the statement read.

There is no reported information on casualtiesat this point.

Gold eases by Rs 131,silver down Rs 590

NEW DELHI: Gold fell by Rs 131 to Rs 39,818 per 10gram in the national capital on the first trading day of 2020amid rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities. OnTuesday, the precious metal had closed at Rs 39,949 per 10gram. Silver prices also witnessed correction, falling Rs 590to Rs 47,655 per kg, from Rs 48,245 per kg in the previoustrade. "Spot gold for 24 Karat in Delhi declined by Rs 131on rupee appreciation. The spot rupee was trading around 6paise stronger against the dollar," HDFC Securities SeniorAnalyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.

12 YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020

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Ranvir ParasharSpecial Correspondent

(Kaithal)YUGMARG